Chicken Systems has announced the release of Instrument Manager, an advanced sampler-instrument management program for Mac OS X and Windows.

Instrument Manager is designed to meet every real-world need related to instrument management with any software/hardware sampler. It supports practically all Instrument file formats: Kontakt, Structure, EXS24, Reason NNXT, HALion, MachFive, Independence, GigaStudio, SFZ/Dimension, workstations such as Motif, Fusion, and Fantom, and old samplers such as Akai, Roland, Emu, Ensoniq, Kurzweil, and many more.

Use as a Browser: Type in a simple search query in the iTunes-ish interface and your results come right up, reminiscent of Giga's QuickSound but more powerful. Drag anything off the interface and drop it onto any software sampler that supports dropping of files (Kontakt, Structure, etc.). Four individual customizable views allow total complete ease of use.

Windows and Mac; Any Instrument Format: Whether you use Windows or Mac OS X, Instrument Manager is compatible. No matter what sampler, or what file, Instrument Manager should support it.

No more bad links: Using brand new technology, Instrument Manager can re-link samples quickly and easily when the links are broken. But that's not all: re-direct links to new samples, or change link/sample names using Find/Replace techniques, plus other innovative re-linking schemes.

Power Databasing: Any Instrument can be given metadata tags, and searched upon using those tags. Instruments can be grouped under user-defined groups for later access. Multiple databases are supported. Instrument Manager databasing can be synchronized with other samplers' database schemes.

The other stuff: Use the Bank Builder to make your own custom Banks. Merge Instruments using the Object Merger. Rename Instruments, whether they are files or objects within a file. Audition sounds. Read, write, and browse proprietary disks such as Akai, Roland, Emu, Ensoniq, and Kurzweil.

Instrument Manager is available now from SamplerZone for $79.95. Special prices are available for registered users of selected Chicken Systems software. Free demo limited versions are available for download at Chicken Systems web site.