There is no doubt that Gwen Stefani is one of the hottest acts in popular music, recently taking a pit stop from her latest tour to pick up a few Billboard Music Awards. Even when going solo, she packs one of the best bands around, featuring musicians that regularly perform with the likes of David Bowie and others. Keyboardist Kristopher Pooley has joined up with this team, a veteran touring musician with credits from Jane's Addiction to Liz Phair. Kristopher relies on MOTU products to get the job done, especially when he's on the road.

It all started with VintageWarmer, PSP's ground-breaking digital simulation of analog-style, single- or multi-band compression and limiting. Digital audio tracks never sounded so good, once VintageWarmer's - how else can it be said? - warm analog sound was liberally applied in both the tracking and mastering stages. From boutique plug-in to DSP classic, VintageWarmer enjoyed overnight success and inspired the engineers at PSP to launch one of the most celebrated lines of native plug-in processing - and a favorite among Digital Performer users. Now, for a very limited time, PSP's value-packed EffectsPack plug-in bundle can be yours at a 49% …

In the rain forests of Cameroon near the Congo border, a group of Baka musicians have been busy composing music. Inspired by their own traditional songs and by the Congolese music they hear blasting out of the bars on their trips into town, these rain forest dwellers play guitars brought to them by Martin Cradick of the British based band "Baka Beyond" to develop their own truly unique style. Dubbed "Orchestre Baka de Gbiné", the group has been recorded on location in the African forest using Digital Performer, the 828mkII and the Traveler.

Best known as the keyboardist in the Max Weinberg 7 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, now in its 13th season on NBC, New York based musician and composer Scott Healy has been a long-time MOTU user. A native of Cleveland, Ohio with a degree in Composition from the Eastman School of Music, Scott landed in New York and has never looked back, building a long list of performing and recording credits that include the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Al Green, B.B. King, Taj Mahal, Phoebe Snow, Brandi, Sheryl Crow, Jackson Browne, Graham Parker, The Band, Donald Fagan, …

Digital Performer 4.61 is now shipping. If you own Version 4.5x or 4.6, you can download the free Version 4.61 updater here. This maintenance release includes numerous program enhancements and feature updates.

If you are looking for the current state of the art in grand piano virtual instrument technology for your Digital Performer virtual studio, look no further than Ivory™. Ivory is a large, skillfully designed instrument plug-in developed by former Kurzweil engineers who have made a career out of developing instrument sounds. Ivory delivers stunning realism and expression to your piano tracks. And the new Version 1.5 release now features over 4,000 samples combined with an all-new sample playback engine, complete with built-in effects, to bring out the resonance, response and character of the world's finest concert grands.

Making an impact in clubs and on the airwaves worldwide, Kelly Osbourne's "One Word" is the latest #1 remix by Grammy-nominated Producer/Remixer/DJ (and MOTU user) Chris Cox, and the first remix to achieve a hat trick on the Billboard dance charts. According to Billboard Magazine's Dance, Latin and Classical Charts Manager Ricardo Companioni, "Chris Cox's remix of 'One Word' by Kelly Osbourne (Sanctuary) topped Billboard's 3 dance charts (Club Play, Dance Singles Sales, and Dance Airplay) simultaneously for the week ending June 18th. It's the first time in the history of the charts that this has happened."

The 119th Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention is in full swing at the Javits Center in New York city, and MOTU (booth #354) is showing Version 1.1 of the Symphonic Instrument universal orchestra plug-in for Mac and Windows. Version 1.1 adds disk streaming and support for multiple independent outputs. It will be offered as a free update to all Symphonic Instrument plug-in users later this Fall.

As one of the UK's most intriguing artists, Bernard Butler has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the one thing that keeps him going creatively: writing songs. From his brief and meteoric rise to fame with Suede in the early 90's, to their sudden stormy breakup, to his many subsequent collaborations - most recently with David McAlmont, to solo albums, to his reunion with Suede co-writer Brett Anderson to form the new group The Tears, Bernard has done whatever it takes to feed what he calls "the fire".