Category Archives: JamDeck

Discontinuing Support for Mac

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Since we started Oscillicious, we’ve always been keen on making our products cross-platform and available for users on as many desktop platforms as possible. However, due to recent changes in macOS (formerly Mac OS X) and a longer pattern of decisions by Apple, we’ve come to the difficult conclusion that continuing to build and support our software for Mac is beyond our means.

Our current released versions of BeatCleaver, JamDeck, SodaSynth, and Analog Extracts for Mac will continue to be available for download for existing customers. Whether or not they continue working on future versions of macOS is up to Apple. Future updates to all products will be available for Windows only.

We deeply regret the disappointment and inconvenience that this will cause our community on Mac. We’re as disappointed as you are.

If you’ve purchased our products for Mac, your licenses will continue to work on Windows. If you decide to install Windows on your Mac with Bootcamp, or purchase a Windows laptop or PC in the future, you’ll be able to continue enjoying our products.

Albert

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.

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.

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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.

JamDeck Featured in Computer Music Magazine

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Computer Music magazine has an interesting piece on alternative music composition software, which includes an interview with our lead developer about what motivated the development of JamDeck, our latest product:

“Your DAW is amazing. It’s an end-to-end production environment that enables you to create music of professional quality. What’s debatable, though, is whether or not it’s the best place for you to actually write your music, as opposed to ‘producing’ it.”

Read the full article (free) over on Music Radar.

Computer Music Magazine issue 185 (December 2012) is available in news stands around the globe.

 

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.