JORDAN RUDESS OF DREAM THEATER RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW APP “SAMPLEWIZ” TODAY

Press Release Content:
DATE: June 24, 2011

JORDAN RUDESS OF DREAM THEATER
RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
NEW APP
“SAMPLEWIZ”
TODAY

“Capture your sonic universe!
Listen… Record… Create…”

SampleWiz –the newly developed sampling app by Jordan Rudess, keyboardist/Continuum-player/multi-instrumentalist for prog rock/metal icons Dream Theater, with chief programmer Kevin Chartier—was released for iOS devices today (June 24) via iTunes. Sample Wiz is the follow-up to the pair’s top selling synth-app MorphWiz which won first place in the category of “Best Music Creation App" in the 2010 Billboard Music App Awards, “Best Musical App” in the Best App Ever Awards and best “IPhone/Ipad/Itouch” app in the Electronic Musician's 2011 Editor's Choice Awards.

SampleWiz takes the user a step further by allowing them to capture their sonic universe and create new samples. When asked to describe his new product Jordan Rudess said:

“I wanted to create an instrument that would appeal to the sonic explorer in all of us. Creating a sampler for the iOS devices allowed us to push the boundaries of traditional sampling instruments. From playing a selection of my signature sounds on the SampleWiz keyboard to getting up close and personal with sounds by playing directly on the waveform screen, our mission was to blow your mind, put a smile on your face and expand your creativity.

“In developing SampleWiz,” he adds, “we created partnerships with leading sound developers [see the web site for details] and dug deep into my personal signature sounds to realize the onboard presets. And, we'll be able to provide you with a continuing library of inspiring sounds through in-app purchases. We have poured our hearts and minds into this and driven our families, bandmates and friends insane by sampling everything that moves. I hope you enjoy this very expressive and wild music app creation!”

SampleWiz’s features include:

*Choose from three different sampling modes. Classic-Granular and Modern.
*Classic- the traditional method of sampling where the sound will speed up and slow down as you go higher or lower than the recorded pitch.
*Granular- Wizdom Music's own take on a granular synthesis engine. Adjust grain size and speed while the entire range of notes maintain the same speed.
*Modern- a new take that opens up new sampling possibilities using the Dirac technology to allow formants and time to be adjusted automatically over a device selected range.
*Up to 10 seconds per sample.
*Never before shared Jordan Rudess collection of presets from his private collection
*Resample anything that you do on the playing surface, to create all new samples derived from your existing presets!
*Three playing surface modes allow you to play on the Keyboard, Wave Edit screen and the ADSR window.
*Wizdom Music's Advanced Pitch Rounding for initial attack as well as after a slide.
*Every note you play is an independent event allowing powerful expressive control for controlling things like pitch and amplitude.
*Finger vibrato effect where you can achieve vibrato even when the pitch lock is selected and the pitch is snapping to the grid!
*Unique visuals for each sampling mode. A glow will track your fingers and respond to the amount of amplitude for every note you play.
*Real time drawing of waveform in Keyboard mode and Wave Edit mode.
*Amplitude visual cloud display in all play modes.
*Choose from many different scales and customize your own. This applies to all three play modes.
*Forward or reverse your samples!
*Looping options include standard looping as well as back and forth looping
*Ability to trim samples.
*Unique visualization of your amplitude envelope on the ADSR page
*FX include digital delay with a choice of Tap Tempo, BPM and Seconds control over the rate.
* Have two keyboards on the screen, each with its own range and scale!
* Unique Hold mode where every note you have holding can be in a different synthesis mode!
*Share your presets with friends by mailing them as SampleWiz files or just standard audio files.
*Assign a unique photo icon to any preset.
* Play directly on the waveform and hear the audio that is right under your finger. Slide each finger separately in any direction to change pitch and playback.
*Audio copy paste in Sonoma and standard format.
*Load your own audio waveforms directly within itunes file sharing.
*Onboard help screens explain every parameter. Touch the question mark.

SampleWiz has already garnered praise from the music and technology communities. Here are a few examples of what people are saying:

"Inspiring! Just when you thought nothing could be new in the world of sampling, along comes SampleWiz to fire up the neurons of our creativity in new ways. I love the new realtime interactive noises I can get by 'touching the sound'…the crazy and unique stuff you can do with it is really expressive and fresh!"

— Eric Persing, Founder of Spectrasonics

"SampleWiz gets you playing instantly, and if you like to sample, there's no quicker or more fun way to go from recording to playing your own samples. Amazing controls, easy to understand yet deep enough to let you create musical voices! And it comes with a library of great sounds from Jordan Rudess. SampleWiz is a wiz if ever there was!"

—David Mash, VP of technology and Education at Berklee College of Music

"I have more music apps than my iPad’s memory can hold… but I’d clear them all to make room for Sample Wiz! This new app from Jordan Rudess combines the cool technologies he developed for Morph Wiz and Morph MIDI and brings them to the world of sampling. Sample Wiz makes sampling fun and elevates performing with samples to a whole new level!

–Steve Horelick, publisher of macProVideo.com.

"I expected the best from the creator of MorphWiz, and I wasn't disappointed."

—Gina Smith, editor-in-chief at BYTE