Feb 25, 2009 2:35 PM, By Jason Scott Alexander

A.I.R. Plugs Exposed

Digidesign’s really taken heat in the past for not including any instruments with Pro Tools. Upping the ante on the competition here as well, we receive an impressive bounty of new virtual instruments and effects plug-ins included free with Pro Tools 8. As part of the A.I.R. “Creative Collection,” you get a hot new electronic rhythm module called Boom: Its look, feel and sound are inspired by classic drum machines, both analog and digital. Plus, a killer-sounding tone wheel organ module called

Also bundled is Mini Grand, a decent little acoustic piano module with seven selectable models from which to choose (atmospheric, soft, ballad and real to bright, hard and dance) and eight velocity layers per key; though capable of sounding great in a mix, when solo'ed it expectedly fell short of knocking out the subtleties afforded by the best 100-plus-GB libraries out there.

Structure Free is a scaled-down version of Digidesign’s acclaimed sampler, while Xpand!2 comes with 1.5 gigabytes of amazing new content on disc. Both are excellent inclusions that sweeten the pot. By far the funkiest, though, is Vacuum. With its dusty and distressed-looking front panel, this unique-sounding dual-oscillator analog-modeling affair employs a form of synthesis based on valve emulation at the filter, amp and stages. It delivers a distinctly rich and lush tone on leads, basses and pads and can be coaxed into generating some pretty squirrelly special effects.

A.I.R. Creative Collection

The following list of virtual instruments and effects are bundled free with Pro Tools 8 as part of the new A.I.R. Creative Collection.

Instruments
Boom
DB-33
Mini Grand
Structure Free
Vacuum
Xpand!2

Effects
Chorus
Decimator
Distortion
Dynamic Delay
Enhancer
Ensemble
Filter-Gate-Sequencer
Flanger
Frequency Shifter
FuzzWah
KillEQ
MultiChorus
MultiTap Delay
Nonlinear Reverb
Phaser
Reverb
Spring Reverb
StereoWidth
Talkbox
Vintage Filter

Additional Plug-Ins Included With Pro Tools 8 (Previously Only Available By Purchase)
Eleven Free
Digidesign Maxim
Digidesign D-Fi
Sci-Fi
Lo-Fi
Recti-Fi
Vari-Fi
Bomb Factory Sans Amp
TL Metro™
TL InTune™
TL MasterMeter™
DigiRack EQ III
DigiRack D-Verb

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