Today's Top Stories:

  iZotope Introduces New Online Artist Community
This is the kind of news we love reporting because it's really what the Internet was developed for (remember those "information superhighway" commercials?). One of the industry's leaders in the development of digital signal processing, iZotope, is hosting a new online Artist Community where artists, engineers, producers and educators share their real world experience in the creative process of making music. They'll also share personal insights and even some tips on ways to make the technology work for you. There's already a growing number of A-list music and film industry talent represented on the site, such as Trancemeister BT (who's had more than his share of film scores lately), Jonathan Davis, leader of the band KoRn, GRAMMY-winning engineer, mixer and producer Husky Höskulds (whose credits include Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, and Los Lobos) and Charles Dye (who has mixed for Ricky Martin, Jon Bon Jovi, Julio Iglesias, and Sammy Hagar). Interviews for iZotope's Artist Community are ongoing and upcoming additions will include platinum-selling guitarist, singer, and producer Randy Bachman and John Beasley, pianist with Miles Davis, film composer, and Associate Music Director of the hit series America Idol.

  Another Music Industry Crackdown
One of the "Big Four" record companies, Warner/Chappell Music, has gotten cease and desist orders issued against several developers of Mac freeware that searches the Web for song lyrics. Walter Ritter, whose pearLyrics application and widget automatically looks for song lyrics and then adds them to the lyrics field in iTunes, reports he's been told to remove his software or face legal action. "As a freeware developer I cannot afford to risk a law suit against such a big company," Ritter wrote on his Web site. He adds that his freeware only searches and accesses publicly available websites, which can also be done with any combination of a search engine and Web browser. "But I'm just a developer and not a lawyer," he concludes. This latest action has also resulted in the disappearance of almost all the lyrics widgets from Apple's Dashboard pages. Lyrics, as well as music, are protected under the US copyright law.

  New In Stock At Sweetwater

• Vox Cooltron Snake Charmer Compressor - Even after learning to play the latest shred solo note-for-note, you still may have problems controlling your dynamics. But now there's a cure: The Snake Charmer's tube compression circuitry lets you even out those annoying peaks and spikes, which is particularly handy in the recording process. A High/Low Switch lets you select between two overall ratio levels, while gain reduction controls handle the attack and release. Also includes a Gain Reduction Indicator and High-End Emphasis control.
• Vox Cooltron Over the Top Boost - Part of the charm of those original Vox AC30s was the Top Boost circuitry, which added an extra bit of zing to the amp's trademark "chimey" tone, and was a big ingredient in the '60s "British Invasion" sound. Now that same authentic tube preamp circuitry is available in a Vox pedal that runs on battery power. Use it to help your guitar parts cut through a mix or use it to drive your amp input into overdrive. A user selectable EQ mode allows for emulation of the original AC30 or Custom Classic version.

  Guitar Of The Day
In the 1950s, Ted McCarty helped design the world's first "thin" hollowbody guitar. It had a maple top and back with mahogany sides and a mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard and dot inlays. To help cut down on feedback (which was considered terrible at the time - go figure) it had a block of maple running down the middle between the top and back. Now PRS has taken that original concept and updated it for the new century. The PRS Hollowbody II uses a soundpost design to keep feedback under control (we want some, right?), but follows the same classic formula with maple top and back, mahogany neck and sides. The "standard" Hollowbody II comes with a nicely figured, 2-piece maple top and back, with abalone and pearl "moon" inlays (which are modern updates of the classic dots). What's really cool is the way that PRS took their original carved-top Custom model's shape and adapted it to the hollowbody design. It even has the deeply carved top of the custom, so at first glance, you might not even realize you're looking at a hollowbody instrument - unless you spot the two "f-holes" on the top. Hollowbody IIs are available with upgrades, like a "10 Top" (the premium flamed maple top) or even a "Double 10-Top" (premium figured maple on top and back), gold hardware and even an LR Baggs piezo pickup installed in the bridge for pretty darn real acoustic guitar tones.