Native Instruments has gone hog wild with new product announcements Friday for the digital recording market, including Guitar Rig 2, B4 II, Bandstand, NI Essentials, new versions of NI Komplete, and Kontakt 2 Tutorial DVD.
Guitar Rig 2 - Guitar Rig is a bundle of products for guitarists to record music, or just interface with their computer, digitally. It includes a hardware stomp box/pedal, amp modelers for affecting your sound, and a software interface with which to control it.
The new version includes three new distortions pedals modeled after popular real-world units that offer additional crunch, overdrive and hi-gain flavors, seven new effect modules, a stomp compressor, a classic Autofilter model, and a "true-to-life emulation of the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal." The software component also includes a Loop Machine, that allows a guitarist to quickly record a loop and overdub up to 99 layers of audio on the fly.
Other additions include a full bass set up, new features on the stomp box, and more.
Guitar Rig 2 will be available in November 2005 for a suggested retail price of US$579 (€499). For upgrade information on the software or hardware components, visit the Guitar Rig Web page.
B4 II - B4 is NIis software instrument for a Hammond B4 classic organ, though the company is careful not to call it that. The new version offers a "more authentic" sound, according to NI, and new controls and flexibility in controlling the sound of your B4. There is much more information on B4 II at NIis Web site.
B4 II will be available in November 2005 for a suggested retail price of $229 (€199). Upgrade pricing is available at $99.
Bandstand - Bandstand is a new product from NI, a collection of software instruments for musicians working with the General MIDI (GM) format. NI said that Bandstand provides "true studio-quality" instruments, drawing on a two gigabyte library that includes 128 instruments and 9 drum kits. There is much more information on the product at NIis Web site.
Bandstand will ship in November for $229 (€199).
NI Essentials is a bundle of other NI products that includes Absynth 3, a semi-modular synthesizer; Battery 2, a percussion sampler; Pro-53, a Prophet 5 analog synthesizer emulator; Kompakt, a multi-format sampler; and your choice of amp modelers. You can find more information at the NI Web site.
NI Essentials is available now, and is priced $499 (€449).
NI Komplete - Komplete is another bundle of NI products, but one that is more encompassing than the Essentials package.
NI Komplete 3 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $1499 (€1299), and includes Guitar Rig 2, Reaktor 5, Absynth 3, Elektrick Piano, Kontakt 2, Kompakt, Intakt, Battery 2, B4 II, Pro-53, FM7, Vokator, and NI-Spektral Delay.
NI Komplete Sound 2 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $339 (€299), and includes Absynth 3, Kompakt, Battery 2, Pro-53, and some guitar software.
For more information on the Komplete bundles, visit the NI Web site.
Lastly, NI announced Kontakt 2 Tutorial DVD, a high-res tutorial for learning how to use Kontakt 2. The DVD will ship in December and is priced at $45 (€39).