Category Archives: News

JamDeck Now Available in the Mac App Store

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We’re pleased to announce that JamDeck, the organic music sketchpad, is now available through the Mac App Store!

JamDeck for Mac OS X

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To celebrate this launch, we’re offering JamDeck at a special price through the Mac App Store, but only until until March 11th, 2013, so hurry! If you’re a Mac user and you’ve been eyeing JamDeck, now’s your chance to get it while it’s hot.

If you’ve been following our past projects, you might remember that back in February 2011, we launched Mixxx in the Mac App Store, which quickly became the #1 Top Free App across the globe. Though we dream about repeating that success in the “Paid” category instead, our main objective is just to put new tools into the hands of musicians across the globe, and we’re hopeful that the Mac App Store will help us do that. So if you’d like to try something new, a different way of kickstarting your music, give JamDeck a try and let us know what you think!

About JamDeck

JamDeck is organic music production software for capturing brilliant ideas quickly. It takes a new approach to music creation on the Mac, that lets you sit down and jam just like you would with a real instrument. With nearly zero setup and an easy to use live looper, JamDeck is always ready to capture and help you build on those moments of musical inspiration. By combining the feel of an instrument with an easy live looping workflow, creativity just flows.

JamDeck is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

BeatCleaver 1.2.6 Released!

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We’re pleased to announce a new feature update to BeatCleaver!

BeatCleaver 1.2

BeatCleaver is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

 

This update adds a handful of useful features including:

  • Full undo and redo capabilities
  • A “Slice into 64” option in the menu
  • The ability to slide the loop and the corresponding slice points around by clicking and dragging a loop. This can be very handy for finding good loops.
  • The ability to expand a loop by shift-clicking on another area of the loop bar.

Existing customers can download BeatCleaver 1.2 by hitting the download link in their original registration email or entering their registration information on the Oscillicious downloads page.

A free trial is available for download for Windows and Mac OS X today.

About BeatCleaver

BeatCleaver is a standalone software application for beat slicing and music sampling from existing recordings and songs. It makes it easy and quick to split MP3s, WAVs, M4As and more with precision, perfect for hip hop sampling or remixing.

JamDeck 1.1.4 Released!

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We’re very pleased to announce a new update for JamDeck, version 1.1.4!

JamDeck Icon

This new version is primarily aimed at improving PC/Mac keyboard support, but also fixes a handful of little bugs that cropped up over the last month or so.

Without further ado, the improvements in JamDeck 1.1.4 include:

  • No longer having to click on the piano keys once to activate your PC/Mac keyboard. (much requested)
  • New keyboard mappings for AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboards, for our European friends. (Changeable in the preferences dialog.)
  • Improved PC/Mac keyboard responsiveness – things are going to feel a little bit snappier when you’re rocking out with your keyboard.
  • Revamped Intro Tutorial – now much harder to break 😉
  • Added an instruments menu shortcut key (Ctrl-I on Windows, Apple-I on Mac OS X)
  • Fixed a rare crash while loading SodaSynth presets.
  • Fixed some loop recorder rendering bugs.
  • Introduced a new “jambundle” file format for Mac OS X, plus file associations.
  • A couple other minor packaging fixes for Mac OS X.

JamDeck 1.1.4 is a free update for all existing JamDeck owners, and can be downloaded either by clicking the download link in your original registration email, or by entering your registration information on the JamDeck downloads page.

New users can grab the trial of JamDeck 1.1.4 right off the front page of the official JamDeck website.

jamdeck_screenshot3

 

About JamDeck

JamDeck is an organic music sketchpad for capturing brilliant ideas quickly. Available for Windows and Mac OS X, JamDeck lets you instantly jam, brainstorm, and create short songs using a live looping workflow designed to keep your creative juices flowing. With 39 built-in instruments, 29 drum loops, and 5 drum kits, everything you need to jot down musical ideas is at your finger tips. Better yet, all your jams can be exported to your favourite DAW as MIDI and WAVE, so they’re ready to be produced any time.

Try the JamDeck trial today and discover how organic and easy songwriting is with our innovative workflow.

BeatCleaver 1.2.4 Released!

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We’re pleased to announce a small update to BeatCleaver, bringing it to version 1.2.4.

Screen shot 2012-08-02 at 1.59.55 PM

BeatCleaver is our music sampling and beat slicing software for chopping up songs, recordings, and drum loops. Its efficient workflow and fluid zoom make it great for slicing up MP3s, WAVs, M4As, and more.

This minor maintenance release for BeatCleaver focuses on improving soundcard selection on Windows. The changes include:

  • Added improved soundcard preferences and backend.
  • Fixed a rare crash when dragging loop points.
  • Improved loop point dragging feel (more consistent).

Existing customers can download this free update from the bottom of the downloads page.

JamDeck reaches “On Fire” status in the Chrome Web Store

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Our Chrome App has become more popular than ever this holiday season!

Our Chrome App has become more popular than ever this holiday season!

Here at Oscillicious, we’re long time fans of Google’s Chrome Web Browser and were early supporters of new technology Google put into Chrome that’s allowing the creation of a new generation of high-performance multimedia applications on the web. In 2011, we released a demo version of SodaSynth that runs directly in Google Chrome, which became the world’s first “Native Client” application in the Chrome Web Store. SodaSynth for Chrome even included a little live looper, which spurned some new ideas that we eventually brought to life in JamDeck.

Earlier this month, we launched JamDeck for Chrome, allowing you to quickly jam out ideas and make music or beats instantly in your browser. It’s easy to use, responsive, and gives you a good taste of the full desktop JamDeck experience.

JamDeck for Chrome has been gaining so much popularity lately that Google’s now tagged it as “On Fire” in the Chrome Web Store, pushing it to the top! In a sea of Flash-based virtual pianos and toy sequencer applets, JamDeck for Chrome stands out by delivering better instruments, unbeatable responsiveness, and studio sound quality that professional musicians expect. Try it for yourself today!

SongStarter is now JamDeck

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We’re pleased to announce that a new, major update to SongStarter is now available. We’ve made many improvements to SongStarter and are continuing to shape the entire experience to make it an even better environment for songwriting.

As part of this new release, we’ve given SongStarter a fresh new look and a new name that better fits where we’ll be taking it in the future: JamDeck.

JamDeck is SongStarter remixed, refined, and evolved.

It’s the SongStarter you know and love, the songwriting environment that gets you creating and capturing music, but is even more refined now. JamDeck 1.1 is available today as free upgrade for all SongStarter owners.

Visit the new JamDeck website today for more information.

Now with Drum Kits, and lots more.

New in JamDeck 1.1:

A Redesigned User Interface
The new, sleek user interface drops you right into the Jam Setup screen to streamline startup even further.

New Instrument Browser
Includes Categories, allowing faster access to pianos, orchestral instruments, etc.

New Instruments
Since SongStarter 1.0, we’ve continued to add new instruments with every release, and JamDeck 1.1 is no different. New instruments in JamDeck 1.1 include Tack Piano, Harp, Jazz Guitar, Nylon Atmosphere, Sweep Pad, Piccolo, Rock Organ, Synth Bass, Synth Strings, Sweep Pad.

Drum Kits
We’ve added 5 drum kits, so you can now make beats with JamDeck. Laying down a quick beat and throwing a few instrument tracks over top has never been easier. (And with the Freestyle Recorder, you can lay down a beat without even picking a tempo.)

New Drum Loops
We’ve doubled the number of drum loops available, bringing the total to 29. The new beats are extremely fresh.

Mastering Presets
We’ve built on the multi-band compressor we introduced in SongStarter 1.0.2 and added more DSP modules to create three simple, but effective mastering presets that keep things simple, but enhance the overall sound of your jams.

Loop Recorder Erase
A new “Erase” button for the loop recorder allows you to clear specific sections of a loop, great for fixing mistakes. Simply hold down the erase button when you hear the section you want to clear, and it gets swept away.

Transport Controls
Pause and rewind buttons have been added for basic transport control.

MIDI Sustain Pedal Support
Most of the pianos and some of the other sampled instruments now support MIDI sustain pedals. These MIDI CC messages are also captured by the Loop Recorder and exported.

More Soundcard Options 
The preferences dialog got a bit of an upgrade as well, adding an API filter and buffer size (latency) setting for advanced users. JamDeck 1.1 also has improved compatibility with ASIO recording devices.

Improved UI Performance
Users with slower computers will notice animations are a bit smoother in this release.

Bug Fixes 
Over a dozen bugs including:

  • Fixed a bug saving muted loops.
  • Fixed a bug with increased capture latency after changing recording devices.
  • Fixed a rare crash when switching sampled instruments while playing.
  • Tweaked the volume of a few slightly unbalanced instruments.

Oct 8th SongStarter for Chrome Update

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SongStarter for Chrome Updated

An updated version of SongStarter for Chrome is now live on the Chrome Web Store! This update includes a handful of bugfixes from the desktop 1.0 release and other small changes:

  • Fade the drum loops in when previewing to eliminate a click (will be fixed in the next desktop version too)
  • In the Jam Setup screen, the BPM now changes when you select each drum loop.
  • Adjusted the volume of a few of the instruments
  • Integrated the new instrument engine from the desktop version, though no new instruments for Chrome yet. We want to keep the download size small to make everything load quickly but still add more instruments, so there’s a bit of work to do there before we add instruments powered by the new engine to the Chrome version. (In the meantime, the desktop version has all the instruments!)
  • Other changes included from the desktop 1.0 version include stability improvements, new graphics, and lots of bugfixes.

And if you dig what we’re up to, don’t forget to rate SongStarter in the Chrome Web Store!

SongStarter 1.0 Released!

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After many months of development, I’m pleased to announce the release of SongStarter 1.0!

The new SongStarter 1.0 Release

SongStarter is an organic music production app for jamming. It’s a sandbox for musicians that lets you write music naturally by recording and layering loops.

We created SongStarter to give musicians a new way to write music. We love jamming away from our computers because it’s easier to get into a groove, but it takes more work to transcribe or record our ideas. But when we’re at computers, sometimes the complexity of a digital audio workstation is distracting, and we miss the flow of a real live jam.

SongStarter is a bridge between these experiences – It feels like a live jam yet captures all your ideas so they can be loaded into a DAW and produced later. All that’s left is for you to jam and experiment. So download the trial today and find out what you can make with SongStarter.

SongStarter is now available for purchase directly from the Oscillicious online shop, or you can download a free feature-limited trial.

End of Public Beta

Many thanks to everyone who downloaded the SongStarter beta and send us feedback. Several new features were added recently as a direct result of your comments and suggestions, including the external recording feature and improved instruments.

Here’s some of the changes in SongStarter 1.0 that were made after the last beta:

  • Added System Default soundcard on Mac OS X (especially useful on Mac OS X Mountain Lion)
  • Fixed the Freestyle Recorder going bonkers sometimes with the built-in instruments
  • New jam graphics
  • Added a slightly better loading indicator for instruments
  • Added a close button to the instrument picker (if you couldn’t figure out how to close it the first time, you weren’t alone!)
  • Reworked the loop recorder widget again so it paints short notes now
  • Added scanning for DAWs on Windows

The final beta release will continue functioning until October 2nd, but if you’d like to check out out these latest changes earlier, you can grab the SongStarter trial version.

We’re also currently working on SongStarter for Chrome, which is still in beta. We hope to offer an updated version with better instruments within the next few weeks, so stay tuned for more information about that as we get closer to a release.

Bugfix Songstarter Beta Update

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Download the new SongStarter Beta for Windows and Mac OSX here!

Whoops, time for an emergency SongStarter beta update. The old desktop beta releases expired yesterday and redirected everyone to download the latest beta update from September 17th – except that I botched the beta activation code (again), and it turns out that updating wouldn’t actually reactivate your expired copy of SongStarter.

Today’s beta update should actually work and reactivate your copy of SongStarter until October 1st, and includes a number of other bugfixes from the last few days:

  • Fixed freestyle recorder tempo detection graphics (beat chooser)
  • Fixed buzzing bug if you tried to add a beat before previewing a freestyle loop
  • Fixed one rare assert (*cough* crash) on saving
  • Freestyle recorder properly restores the loop length when you bail on creating a freestyle loop
  • Freestyle recorder now wraps MIDI notes properly
  • One obscure Jam Setup bugfix
  • Fixed bugs in the project modified logic
  • But last but not least, this beta shouldn’t expire until it’s meant to expire. (Oct 1st, 2012)

New Instruments, New SongStarter Beta

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We’re pleased to announce another new beta update for SongStarter for Windows and Mac OS X! This update brings more bugfixes and new, great instruments:

New Instruments Coming for SongStarter by Oscillicious

Download the new SongStarter Beta Here

New Instruments in the September 17th, 2012 SongStarter Beta

The new instruments, which are part of the Jam Essentials collection, include:

  • Classic Piano
  • A revamped Studio Piano
  • Cello
  • Claves
  • Mute Guitar
  • Electric Piano
  • Organ
  • Tremolo Strings
  • Tubular Bells
  • Glockenspiel

So hit the front page and download the new beta update now!

This new beta release takes us very close to a final 1.0 release, and we’ll be focusing solely on bug fixing for this final development sprint. There’s a couple more known issues that we need to iron out over the next two weeks, but this latest beta is a huge improvement over our first beta release back in August.

The new instruments are not quite ready for the Chrome version of SongStarter yet, but we’ll be updating it over the next few weeks as we start to wrap up the desktop version of SongStarter.

Stay tuned for the final release, and in the meantime, happy jamming!