July 2011 by Wusik Dot Com

Editorial Lets have some fun! Wusik Sound Magazine www.wusiksoundmagazine.com Issue July 2011 Managing Editor: MoniKe Assistant Editors: Johnathan Pritchett - aka Trusty A. Arsov Production Manager: MoniKe Articles by: A. Arsov www.arsov.net Adrian Frost - aka anzoid www.anzoid.com Ben Paturzo - aka Astrin Dave - aka dmbaer Ginno 'g.no' Legaspi www.facebook.com/ginnolegaspi ginno@wusik.com Jay - aka LeVzi www.soundcloud.com/levzi Jeffrey Powell jsp_wsm@yahoo.com Johnathan Pritchett - aka Trusty www.myspace.com/crosssoldiers Stickybeats@yahoo.com Rishabh Rajan www.rishabhrajan.com Tomislav Zlatić http://bedroomproducers.wordpress.com/ bedroomproducers@gmail.com

Proof-Reading by: Adrian Frost Ben Paturzo LeVzi Dave - aka dmbaer Tomislav Zlatić

Life was meant to be FUN! It's hard to believe sometimes, but it's true. It's all about one's point of view. Even our most difficult moments bring us gifts. And so life may call upon us to be a bit "philosophical" now and then; to embrace the "low's" along with the "high's." The trick, of course, is gratitude. Therein will you find both your peace and your joy. If you aren't having fun, certainly you're doing something wrong, or not, in fact, embracing your true feelings. We have to enjoy life, ourselves, and everything that we put our mind and heart into. Sometimes I forget this, I have to confess it, but there's always someone who reminds me. Now, I'm doing my part with you. So, lets have some fun talking about this issue! We have a lot of interesting reviews of products, effects, sounds; creating sounds, and tutorials to enjoy. First, you have to enjoy the good reading, as well as learning about those products and finding the right one to buy or get free. In many cases, more than one. Then, you have to enjoy learning how to use the new software; explore the new sounds, and experience this opportunity in full. Finally, you must enjoy creating something from it. Enjoy your creation, present it to your friends and family. But, do not forget to have fun throughout the process! It doesn't matter if you are professional or not. The writers did that, they had fun doing these articles (I always recommend that!). For myself, I really have fun doing the layout, add colors, messing with forms, and enjoy even more when it's all done and you can see our work with a smile on your face. Well, go ahead! Have some fun! MoniKe

EVE’s Advertising: Henry Gibson Cover, Backcover and some Pictures from: www.dreamstime.com Some of the products reviewed in Wusik Sound Magazine are copies provided free of charge for reviewing purposes.

Trusty

A. Arsov

MoniKe

Table of Contents Table of Contents Creating Sounds: Additive Synthesis 04 Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy by Ben Paturzo

Focus On: 86 Chris Kerry by Ben Paturzo

Freebies You Shouldn't Have Missed Last Month: 17 Free Software - part 1

114

55 119

Free Software - part 2 Mini-Review: 126 Soundware Roundup by Ginno Legaspi

Free Soundware - part 3 by Tomislav Zlatic

Tutorial: 38 Geist - Ground Up Tutorial 2 by Trusty

44 46

Sensomusic Usine by Ben Paturzo

EnergyXT 1 • 2 • 3 by Ben Paturzo

134

MeldaProduction Free Audio Effects by Adrian Frost

138

Mini Reviews by Ginno Legaspi

Blast from the Past: 172 Albino 3 by Adrian Frost

Kick Drum Enhancing by Rishabh Rajan

Reviews 18 LoopNation

62 Kubik

by Ben Paturzo

22 Urban Guitars Vol. 1 & 2

by Adrian Frost

66 Turnado

by Trusty

116 Midnight Suite by LeVzi Dubstep and Steamworx

120 Alchemy Expansions by Trusty

24 Mic Mod efx

72 The Nebula Phenomena

by Trusty

26 The Glue

by LeVzi

DDMF IIEQ Pro v 3.0 by A. Arsov

CP3V Compressor & CS1V Channel Saturator by Rishabh Rajan

by Adrian Frost

28 Twin 2 Sound Sets by Trusty

Sawer and Toxic Biohazard by A. Arsov

140 Pultronic EQ-110P + Twisthead VS-206 by LeVzi

144 NUSofting Knagalis by Ben Paturzo

148 QuikQuak.com - Part 2 by Ben Paturzo

82 Epic World by Ginno Legaspi

154 Aether & Breeze by LeVzi

Total Workstation 2 Instrument Bundle by A. Arsov

92 Forest Kingdom by A. Arsov

162 Universal 120 by Jeffrey Powell

96 Alchemy 50 BBE STOMP WARE

by Ben Paturzo

by Trusty

166 Vintage by Adrian Frost

106 Groove3 52 Maasai

by Ben Paturzo

by Jeffrey Powell

by Ben Paturzo

110 RMI Electra Piano 56 Breverb by LeVzi

170 SoundGarden

by dmbaer

Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy To all who managed to take in all of last issue's installment of this series, I have a small token of my esteem, Figure 1. Yes, it was a bit of a long slog, eh? But now that the theory is out of the way, we can carry on with the fun. But first! Let's recap. We know that we can add up a number of sine waves to get a steady-state periodic waveform (sustained note). We can also mimic the dynamics of real world sounds by varying over time the amplitude and phase of each sine wave, which will vary the sound's "shape" (waveform) over time. We also know that for any appreciable number of partials, or sine waves that are integer/noninteger multiples of the fundamental sine wave, we will end up having to monitor and adjust many controls, including, for each sine wave partial, starting phase, level of inharmonicity to the fundamental, maximum 04

Figure 1 Figure 2

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July 2011

by Ben Paturzo

level (amplitude), and rates of attack, decay, and release of each sine wave's amplitude. This could be considered the purist approach, but it is too bruteforce a method for any practical implementation.

Figure 4 Figure 3

Fortunately for us, many developers and companies have sought to tame the Additive Synthesis beast. Camel Audio's Alchemy, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, is a very capable instrument, especially so for Additive Synthesis aficionados such as ourselves. Indeed, capable as it is for Additive Synthesis, this is only a small part of Alchemy's repertoire. By clearing Alchemy (Figure 2) we end up with a very simple synth that we will use to build up some Additive Synthesis examples. Click on "A" in the Source panel (Figure 3), then click on "Additive" and "ADD" (Figure 4). July 2011

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Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds Figure 5

Take a look at Figure 5, where the cursor is on the "NOsc" (Number of Osc) button. In the VST display above you can see the number 60, which indicates the number of oscillators available for Source A. This can be cranked up to 600. Yowza! I just saw my core i7 leap out of my computer case and go running down the street! Figure 4 also shows, above the Additive button, the "EDIT" button which you click to get to the screen shown in Figure 6. Here I've clicked on the Additive button and the "AMP" button, then simply "drawn" in the amplitudes of each partial. In the figure you'll note that I stopped at position 28, although I could have gone up to 60. Note also that there is an "Edit Mode" and "Shape" that increase the versatility of this edit screen.

Figure 6

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July2011

Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Figure 7

I then clicked on the "PHASE" button and in similar fashion, drew in the starting phase for each partial (Figure 7). Then click on EDIT (next to "SOLO") and you're back to the view as seen in Figure 8. This patch is very basic; the cursor is on the only thing being modulated -- the Amp knob in the Master panel. Since this knob is selected you can see that output amplitude is being modulated by AHDSR1 and key Velocity (left yellow arrow), and that the AHDSR module has only Sustain and Release values dialed in (right yellow arrow). Basic. Sounds like some sort of electric piano.

Figure 8

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Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds

Figure 9

In Figure 9 I've clicked on the "Pitch" knob -you can see that the display indicates 50%, which means that all the partials I've drawn in are harmonically related to the fundamental, or whole-number multiples of the fundamental frequency. Anything above 50% gives you "stretched tuning." So I modulate this tuning with another AHDSR by clicking the drop down arrow in the Modulation panel (left yellow arrow). Now I carefully adjust the "Depth" knob (Figure 9, right yellow arrow) until the display reads about 20% -- a little "stretching." This gives a more hollow sound with some bell overtones. Now, adjusting the AHDSR timings can have a significant effect on the overall sound. We can also swap out the AHDSR module for an LFO so that the partialtuning stretching occurs both below and above 50% -- about 20% on the LFO Depth control gives a "springy" tone to the sound, something like a saxophone. Keep in mind that at 0% on the Pitch knob, all of the harmonics match the fundamental -- one sine wave tone; at 50% whatever partials we have Figure 10 drawn in the editor window are integer multiples of the fundamental; at 100% we have extreme stretching of partial tuning. Turning off the modulation for the Pitch knob, I turn on modulation for the Amp knob, using both an AHDSR and LFO (Figure 10). Notice in Figure 10 that there are several methods by which the Amp control will effect our partials. The method chosen here, Fundamental, works in this way: set Amp above 50% to boost the fundamental and cut the other partials, or below 50% to cut the fundamental and boost the other partials. Another 08

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July2011

Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Figure 11

Figure 12

example is OddEven â&#x20AC;&#x201C; set Amp above 50% to boost the even partials and cut the odd ones, or below 50% to do the reverse. Boosting the odd partials creates a "hollow" tone resembling the sound of a square wave. Not bad for using only sine waves and no filters or other special effects! In fact, using the modulation for just this one control (Amp), I was able to achieve everything from an organ sound to something approaching a sitar. So far we've been able to achieve quite a range of sounds using the partial mix of Figures 6 and 7, and modulating only two controls! However, referring to Figure 5 and the NOsc control, we'll now modulate the number of partials being generated. Alchemy is unique in this ability, as far as I know, especially as I've talked to more than one developer about doing this exact same thing. In Figure 11 I've cleared Alchemy and started fresh. Notice that I have only a few partials here, and some, like partial 22, approach the level of the fundamental. With a harmonic structure like that of Figure 11, you would expect an appreciable high-frequency content and tone, and the glassy bell tones do tend to dominate the hollow organ underpinnings. By modulating the NOsc control with an AHDSR and an LFO (Figure 12), I can now change over time the number of partials being generated. This leads to the ability of "balancing" the sound so the bells and organ play well together, or one has a little more effect than the other, to one dominating the other. Quite a range, again for one control. July 2011

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Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds Figure 13

So far we haven't touched the Breakpoint Envelope display, which is the lower half of the Additive Editor. As seen in Figure 13, I've selected the first breakpoint, which is a "snapshot" of what you see in the Amplitude window above. Each breakpoint you add is a snapshot of amplitude, phase, pitch, and pan of all the partials, at that particular time. I've gone and added a few partials for the selected breakpoint.

Figure 14 If I add another breakpoint (rightclick), I can modify the partials by increasing the amplitudes of the existing partials as well as adding a few more partials, as seen in Figure 14.

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Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Figure 15

Now, if I add another breakpoint, between the two existing points, I get Figure 15; this shows how Alchemy interpolates between the two "end" breakpoints to get a smooth interpolation of partials at the "inbetween" breakpoint. Let's do something a little different. Add a breakpoint "outside" of the others, to the right. Up to now we've been using even partials; now, let's switch to odd. If, as Figure 16 shows, we have only odd partials at a breakpoint, and there is a breakpoint with only even partials to the left, what happens if we add a point between the two?

Figure 16

July 2011

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Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds Figure 17

Why Figure 17 of course! Alchemy creates an inbetween, if you will, that includes partials common to both, and transitions the levels to give a smooth result. I added quite a few more breakpoints, squeezing in some areas and stretching out other areas, moving the breakpoint "levels" up and down, creating peaks and valleys to simulate real-world spectral change, as shown in Figure 18. This is really an efficient way to do Additive Synthesis: adding a breakpoint allows you to fix, in time, the exact harmonic content of a sound, by simply drawing in the levels of each harmonic, in terms of amplitude, pitch, starting phase -even pan. Dragging the breakpoints horizontally can increase or decrease the time between points, and, therefore, the time between changing harmonic content; dragging the breakpoints vertically affects the parameter selected (Amp, Pitch, etc.), plus you can fine-tune each parameter by selecting one partial at a time. Sure beats having to set hundreds of ADSR's, LFO's, and whatnot!

Figure 18

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Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Figure 19 Even though we can create our own snapshots in the Additive Editor to emulate instruments, the thought naturally turns to how can we use samples of actual instruments. In Figure 19, in the Additive Editor, I've clicked on the Source dropdown and selected the Import Audio option. In Figure 20 I've selected Factory, Keys, and made sure that "Additive" is selected as my Import option. Scrolling down to PianoSteinway, you can see that Camel Audio went the extra mile, as there are samples from C0 to G6.

Figure 20

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Creating

Additive Synthesis

Sounds

In Figure 21, I select the sfz file to import in all the multi-sample goodness. What Alchemy does is take the samples -- look at Figure 22 (a C3 sample), with Figure 23 "zoomed-in" -and, from the manual: Resynthesis is a two-step process. First, an audio file (in a standard format such as WAV or AIFF) is analyzed to determine its partials and

their behavior over time. And second, a replica of the original sound is synthesized using the results of the analysis.

phase of each partial, you can manipulate sounds in ways that would be impossible to achieve with a conventional sampler.

Resynthesis in Alchemy produces results that are remarkably close to the sound of the original audio file. But then the real fun begins: because you now have independent control over the amplitude, pitch, pan, and

You can audition the sample files in the Import Audio box seen in Figures 20 and 21. In this way, you can compare the sample against the resynthesized versions that Alchemy creates. To me it's amazing how close they are, but you'll have to judge for yourself!

Figure 21

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After Alchemy does its magic, you get what you see in Figure 24. I had to zoom out so you can see all of the partials at one breakpoint -- over 150! I also had to zoom in to see the individual breakpoints at the bottom.

July2011

Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Figure 22

Figure 23

Figure 24

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Creating

Additive Synthesis Part 2: Camel Audio Alchemy

Sounds

What you normally would see is Figure 25 -- a "solid" line of breakpoints! Just in case you think all of this is no big deal, look at the displays, for one breakpoint (!), of Pitch (Figure 26), Pan (Figure 27), and Phase (Figure 28). The fact that we used no envelope generators, phase shifters, frequency modulators, amplitude

modulators, filters, reverb, or any other effect to achieve a realistic sounding piano, playable over several octaves, is to me, phenomenal. I really had to restrain myself not to italicize "phenomenal." Phenomenal. So much for restraint. Other additive synths do offer things like resynthesis, breakpoints, and some additive

Figure 25

building blocks. Alchemy seems to do it all, however, and very well indeed. The level of control over so many parameters is extraordinary, especially when you consider how easy it is to make the changes, down to each individual partial. This is what a piano tuner must see and hear: the ability to tune his instrument, key by key, until it sounds "perfect." So that's where we'll leave it. You've seen a number of ways to tackle Additive Synthesis, and still have a full head of hair afterward. Alchemy is not perfect, and there are some other excellent additive synths, which we'll be exploring in future issues. See you then!

Figure 26

Figure 27

Figure 28

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July2011

Free

by Tomislav Zlatic Just a short introduction before we begin. Freebies You Shouldn't Have Missed Last Month is a new series of articles in WSM which will be covering all notable freeware releases which appeared since the last issue, including both software and soundware. It's incredible how many interesting and useful freeware music production tools have been appearing lately, and keeping track of all the quality stuff is not always easy. I will do my best to choose all the fine stuff each month, and make an easy-to-read list which may help to keep your software studio arsenal fresh and updated without spending a dime. And now without further ado, on to the freebies!

After releasing the amazing Tyrell N6 freeware synth in April 2011, Urs Heckmann of u-he has now also given away Zebralette. Previously released as magware, Zebralette is now a 100% free virtual synthesizer, featuring some of the great functionality found in u-he's flagship Zebra 2 VST synth. (http://goo.gl/glV9G) MeldaProduction has updated their great freeware bundle with two brand new free VST plugins, MAutoPitch and MOscillator. MOscillator is a test signal generator which can also be used as a sub bass synthesizer, featuring alias-free waveforms. MAutoPitch is a free pitch correction utility, designed for vocals and other monophonic instruments. (http://goo.gl/7hMU0) Speaking of pitch correction, g200kg has released an updated version of KeroVee, another great freebie Auto-Tune style utility in VST plugin format, available for Windows. The updated version features a neat Pitch Graph for easier operation and an improved pitch correction algorithm. (http://goo.gl/DZvOQ) Platinumears has released 5ORCERY, a great freeware multiband compressor in VST plugin format. 5ORCERY was compiled with SynthMaker (available for Windows only), but it's definitely not a generic SynthMaker creation and is certainly a plugin worth checking out if you're short on multiband compressors. The plugin was designed to avoid phase cancellation issues which occur in standard multiband compressor designs. (http://goo.gl/EpbRO) The great sounding TAL-NoiseMaker by Togu Audio Line has been updated with three new filter types. Even though we say that what's not broken shouldn't be fixed, TAL has done a great job once again and given their brilliant noise maker a fresh dose of character with this new set of softer sounding state variable filters. (http://goo.gl/e1gOK) July 2011

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LoopNation Prime Loops Ambient Producer Combo Deal PrimeLoops.com by Ben Paturzo

Prime Loops is known for excellent 24-bit loops and samples at reasonable prices. They went a step further with this combo deal by gathering up six of their popular titles and dropping the price more than 30%. The included titles are: Ambient Illusions Bleep Machine Babylon Beats Ambient Fractals Phatmospheres Trip Fantasia With more than 650 loops and samples, this collection has over 2GB of authentic ambient synth loops, drum loops, one-shot SFX samples, bleeps, cinematic atmospheres, and much more.

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July 2011

evokes the '50's type of sci-fi movie sixties sci-fi thrillers and eighties acid Ambient Illusions has over 120 score, while the "Icepage Synthloop" attacks, and includes "Zap FX," "LFO ambient textures, arpeggio patterns, chord progressions, intricately crafted is modern ambient. I dare say there is FX," "Percussion FX," and an assortment of FX loops, all 24-bit sound effects, and sculptured wall-of- something for, ahem, everyone, as audio with tempos ranging from 80sound atmospheres, ranging between the "Proctoscope Ambinetloop" demonstrates. I don't want to know 140BPM. The "Blaster" oneshots will 65 and 140 BPM. Prime Loops has get you all the Star-Trek-Wars-Phaseused synths such as the Roland Alpha guys. Laser sounds to shoot up a cantina on Juno, Roland Juno-106, Roland MKSTatooine. In the "Bleep" loops, the 10, Polyvox, and Korg Poly-800, to Bleep Machine was inspired by the Zaps_Loop01/02 is R2D2 getting get a distinctive sound, full of analog golden era of the BBC Radiophonic tickled, but in different areas. The warmth, definition and character. Workshop. This seven-category pack Sampling a few such as the sub-bassy of experimental electronic pulses and "Percussion" group has over two dozen "Himalayas Synthloop," the soothing glitches was recorded exclusively with useful oneshots. This pack is obviously excellent for a sound designer "Leaf MusicLoop," and the Moroderclassic analogue synths such as the esque "LoadSeq Synthloops," you get Roland Juno 106, Roland MKS-30, the creating effects as well as the ambient producer. a sense of the wide range of sounds in Korg Monopoly, and the Polyvox. The this pack. The "IceCrystal Synthloops" collection draws inspiration from

July 2011

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LoopNation

the base or foundation of your Babylon Beats adds some down melodies, not as competition to those tempo rhythms to the mix. Over 120 melodies. Well done. grooves, rhythm patterns, and nicely crafted percussion loops, ranging between 60 and 90 BPM make up this Ambient Fractals has more than 250 one-hit SFX such as fluid atmospheres, pack. The "Gltchy Break" caught my experimental LFO sounds, intriguing ear, as well as "Loft Break" -definitely some possibilities there. The ambient chords as well as a nice "RubbRock Break" and the "Riffle Break" selection of 20 FX loops from 90130BPM. I was digging the groove of show the rhythmic imagination of the "SHFilter FxLoop," same for "Woohply PL lads and lassies. Very nice and FxLoop." The "LoBi FxLoop" and the workable. The "Hippohone Break" "DigitalMonster FxLoop" are definitely could easily be used in dubstep or in for my next Indie flick. As for the other dance genres. The humanizing oneshots, there are over a dozen is there, with the gentle shuffling of the downbeat patterns. In other words, categories of clips, from Synths to the rhythm stays where it should -- as Atmospheres to "Weirdos." Guess

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which one I went to first. Weirdos has some pretty cinematic sounds, ranging from horror movie tension to sci-fi equipment chirps to cartoon melodies. The Synths group tended towards the sci-fi side of things. PL says they used "state-of-the-art kit" like the Waldorf Q, Access Virus, Roland JP8000, Korg Prophecy, and Clavia Nord to produce this pack, and I definitely heard the Virus. I sampled clips from the LFOs group, the Chords group, the Pitched group, and others, and I must say this is a very cinemaevocative pack!

Phatmospheres has over 40 "dark textures," made up of eerie ambiances, melodic soundscapes, and droning atmospheres. If anything, it ups the ante on the Ambient Fractals. I could not find one clip that couldn't go into my next Indie flick -- all very cinema-soundtrack ready. Most could be used in ambient tunes as well, especially as there are about 20 rhythmical and beat-mapped soundscapes ranging from 74 to 140 BPM. Very nice and very usable.

Trip Fantasia is definitely Ambient, "SoundScape Fauna" will have you Inc. Man, it got so chilly, I had to dreaming of electric sitars on retrieve me paisley shawl! You will overdrive, and you might just be enjoy sampling all 48 of these slowly- moved by the lovely minor-chord evolving ambient soundscapes for progression of "SoundScape their relevance in music, mood, and SpecTron." Not a clunker in the bunch. atmosphere. On the web site they Nicely done. refer to this pack as "beautifully sculptured," and I will agree without Well, there you have it! A very nice reservation. The lads (and lassies) package of very evocative, moodreally went all out, and just to show altering sounds, all done in excellent how much effort they put into this quality and obvious attention to detail. pack, they included "SoundScape Prime Loops definitely is on my webDrunkBeez" to show their mental page bookmark list, and if they aren't state afterwards! Seriously, clips like on yours yet, why not give them a "SoundScape Lifeforms" will have you try? hearing voices (for real this time),

July 2011

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ModernBeats

Urban Guitars Vol. 1 and 2 by Trusty

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Twang Ta Do Dat Thang 97bpm and 102bpm, separated by I am not a guitar player. This much folders with some thirty loops in each. should be well known because I They're categorized as verses and always comment about my lack of hooks, with variations. Of course, if skills, despite my love for the you need them to be a bit harsher or instrument and all kinds of effects made for it. I love guitar sounds in my warmer one can always apply effects and amp sims. I really enjoyed these beats and other music I make. I am always glad to get my hands on more loops and entire songs can be built guitar sounds and this collection fills a around them to help round out one's gap nicely and is easier to use than sound. To be sure, due to the nature of "urban guitar licks", they chop up session musicians. nicely in a sampler and can be put to work in alternative order. These packages offer a nice selection of loops, from simple laid back Volume 1 has over 420 loops, Volume strumming to a bit more hyped up licks. Think OutKast, Kanye, Neptunes, 2 has about 350 and with the variants and Timbaland here. Think Beyonce and modern sampler gear, there is a ton to work with to deliver far more and Jay-Z driving in a covertable out in the middle of the desert. It is some songs than advertised. Getting good urban guitar loops is rare enough and sizzling stuff and laid out in a well getting guitar players to play at this organized manner. The loops are set level for the style is equally rare. So, to appropriate tempos though, of for about $70 for each volume, you course, samplers, host's time are getting way more value than stretching algorithms, and so forth can do all sorts of wonderful things to hiring a session guitarist to do work them. The tempos are 87bpm, 92bpm, that will not be near this level. July 2011

Besides, for a lot of you producers out there, the only dude you know that even plays guitar is that white guy who plays crappy rock songs in his momma's garage. Be sure to check out the audio demos at http://www.modernbeats.com/urbanguitar-loops.php Ask yourself if that pseudo-Slash wannabe kid on the other side of town is really gonna be able to play like that. It will not take you that long afterwards to place your order for both volumes. There is a ton of gold in here and it could help you reach platinum!

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Mic Mod efx One Plug-in, Many Mics by Trusty

Good looking out, Antares The original, ahem...award-winning Antares Microphone Modeler (Antares deservedly wins a lot of awards you know) plug-in was one that I really wanted for years. I enjoyed that sort of thing from an older Roland MMP-2 mic modeling preamp that was built around this kind of feature, and it sounded good, but was rather limited in its options. I sold it, intending to use the money for Microphone Modeler, but for some reason the money was spent elsewhere. I had been just getting into a mainly software set-up, and it probably went to some instrument I no longer use, or something to that effect. Anyway, for a while, I was simply stuck with the sound of my M-Audio Solaris mic, a mic I still enjoy using by 24

the way, and back then the choice of plug-ins was limited to channel strip emulations and so forth. What was missing was that little bit of extra. Sadly, that old plug-in was eventually discontinued before I had scraped up enough cash to get it. However, back in November, Antares released the Mic Mod efx, bringing back this old gem with beefed up quality and a great GUI that brings it in line with the rest of their current line-up. Using their Spectral Shaping technology there are over 125 mics ranging from cheap to expensive brands, modeled here to incredible precision. This is not merely clever EQ'ing or anything of the sort, this is steller, firstrate sonic reproduction down to the last detail, including options for micspecific settings with various options available.

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My Mic Doesn't Suck Anymore (and yours won't either...) The plug-in is very easy to use as well. Select your brand of mic (or use the generic types if your mic isn't available) in the source mic slot, and the mic you wish it was in the modeled mic slot. There are options beneath it to make your settings proper, and they emulate the mic's behavior extremely well. This plugin is probably not exactly like having that arsenal in hardware, but it is close enough to it that I don't buy mics, or see the need to. This plug-in gives you options without having to dig though bags of gear. It also increases the quality of your mic if your mic isn't up to snuff. It really does make my relatively inexpensive mic shine when I want it to, and sound terrible when I want it to. The tube emulation is packed in there to add extra warmth, sheen, and dirt as well.

ins. Surprisingly, given the deep modeling and improvements over the original, it is not a CPU killer. It is a rather light plug-in that can be used on multiple channels at once when recording, say, a drum kit with that low quality Nady drum mic'ing kit you bought used at a pawn shop after being thoroughly abused by the local church. Even people with a nice arsenal of microphones, or at least a few good ones, will still find lots of benefit by adding this plug-in. More is sometimes more, and Mic Mod efx certainly gives more. Priced at about $129 (the cost of that cheap mic you were thinking about adding to your collection), it is an incredible bargin, especially given that the original was $249 or so. The required iLok is a groan for some people (not me, I like them actually), but well worth the trouble. In fact, I own an iLok specifically for Antares products. Their tools are part of my sound, because they make my sounds sound better. Check it out for more info on the mic models available at their website:

It is a handy plug-in with multiple uses, and its versatility is part of why it is such a bargain. It is first in my vocal plug-in chain, and it plays extremely well with other vocal or channel strip http://www.antarestech.c plug-ins, and it certainly om/products/mic_mod_ef plays very well with other x.shtml Antares vocal toolkit plug-

July 2011

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January 2011

Cytomic's

The Glue

I have to start this review with a confession. I don't know much about compressors. But I have folders and folders filled with various compressors that I've downloaded for free or even bought. Of all the effects that are out there, for some reason, I just like collecting compressors. Don't ask me why; I don't know. Although I don't know much about them, I know what controls to expect, and I get, more or less, how they work, or are supposed to work. I'm guessing you do too; if not, well, ask somebody else. One name that keeps cropping up to do with compressors is Cytomic. I'd hear "Cytomic this", "Cytomic that" and wondered what all the fuss was about... something to do with glue. This "glue"...what is it? I had to find out. After a quick trip to Cytomic's website (www.cytomic.com), all becomes clear. "The Glue" is a compressor. How can this be? Be still my beating heart! According to the website, The Glue "is a high quality analog modeled plug-in based on The classic 80's British big console 26

buss compressor with some additional features. It uses the same high quality algorithms used in circuit simulation packages but optimised for real time use. It's quick and easy to use and has an uncluttered interface." Nice. The classic 80's compressor is later revealed to be a cross between an E and G series SSL(c). OK, time to load up The Glue and have a look and a listen. I've been working on a track for what seems like forever. It's an instrumental track with a fairly deep, sequenced, thudding bass along with a high pad, some string stabs, a piercing (but likable) lead, and a few synth effects thrown in for good measure. It sounds OK, not really bad, but not really great either, just OK. So, as for The Glue, all controls are present and correct and the interface looks gorgeous. It has just the right mix of classic and modern that makes you want to dive in and get to work. Personally, I do like "hardware" style interfaces so The Glue gets an immediate thumbs up.

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July 2011

by Adrian Frost

The only control that I'm not familiar what I say is often recorded, it's nice listened and adjusted The Glue's with from my extensive compressor to know I can make it sound good too controls I found the mix opening up. collection is the "Range" control. - even though I hate having to listen The highs became more distinct but Thankfully, a quick trip to the PDF to myself while I edit and clean up the slightly less piercing and the bass manual enlightens me: "it allows you audio. sounded fuller. Mids retained a good to limit the depth of compression and feel, but I felt that they sat better maintain a more natural sound. Since The Glue comes with 76 presets and with the highs and lows. The sound transients typically have the highest you can either flip through them using remained clean but everything peaks in audio the Range Knob has a the left and right arrows at the top of somehow seemed to fit together just large effect on their sound, but also the plug-in or by clicking the that bit better. Turning on "Peak Clip" limits the total compression depth downward pointing arrow to open the instantly gave the sound a grittier, possible." In practice, Range seems to preset manager. If you modify a driven sound. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not quite what I'm smooth things out and make your preset, a small asterisk will appear by looking for on this track but certainly peaks a little less peaky, which helps its name to remind you that you've something to keep in mind for the to bring the mix together. It's a subtle made changes. You can either save future. effect but noticeable once you get them into the original preset or create used to using it. a new preset. And that's the thing: The Glue has a future. I can see myself using it on For those who want to use it, The One of the handy features included every track I make. It really does glue Glue also offers sidechaining with an with The Glue is a simple A/B button. a mix together. You can use it on additional high-pass filter. It can be If you leave 'B' on the default preset it individual tracks, but it truly shines useful for reducing the pumping that makes checking the effect of the when applied to the whole mix. Will I sometimes occurs when sidechaining compressor much easier to hear keep all of my other compressors? Yes, a signal. However, if you want that compared with having to fumble probably, as they all have their place, pumping sound, you can have that around in your host to bypass the but The Glue has become king. too! effect. However, you can also make changes to 'B' in comparison to 'A' The Glue is available from Cytomic's The mix control allows you to try out a and flick between them to decide site, www.cytomic.com, in case you forgot, and costs $99 (about â&#x201A;Ź69 or bit of parallel (or New York style) which you prefer. It's simple, clear ÂŁ60). Compared to some of the "big compression, too. You can adjust the features like this that make The Glue name" analogue compressors that are balance between the wet and dry a nice compressor to use. available, this is crazy cheap for such signal very simply with the "Mix" a good, well thought out, and control. I tried this on a vocal track, So, what about the track I mentioned professionally executed plug-in. not singing, but speech, and it lifted above? I stuck The Glue on the the sound quite nicely. Seeing as how master output (I'm using EnergyXT) I have to speak regularly in public and and hit "Play" on the sequencer. As I July 2011

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Twin 2 Sound Sets by Trusty

Electro-SHOCK Ouroboros must love Twin as much as I do. Twin is my main virtual analog synth. Everyone knows how powerful it is, how explosive it sounds, and how unique it is among all the pretenders. In the hands of a capable sound designer, it is a weapon to get the heads nodding. Just the sounds in this set give birth to new tracks ready to carve up even the most static drink sipper in a club. To be honest, electro is a guilty pleasure, but electro sounds in the hands of a hip-hop producer can deliver smack-ready beats in no time. Of course, there are lots of unique and stand-out sounds among the 140 or so here on offer. Basses,

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leads, drums (surprisingly good...Fabfilter needs to make a drum synth), keys leads, and padsâ&#x20AC;Śtheyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all excellent. Of course, the patches in the category designated "Jewelry", are where the collection is really set off. They complete it with all the tweaks that are needed to decorate any track. Hip-Hop heads take note: this has "those" sounds you hear often but have no idea how to make or what genre they were borrowed from. Look no further. Get this one. It is not to be missed. For a mere $26 bucks, you will soon see why Twin 2 is the worst kept secret of synthesizers. Ouroboros instructs us on why this is so...with patches for electro or no.

July 2011

Synths Classics demonstrates why Twin is a classic synth Daniel Maurer has the right idea. Not content to show that Twin is far and away one of the most capable synths to sound like the analogs of yesteryear, he adds a breath of much needed fresh air to the sounds we all love and love to reproduce. Here, the classics are given a nice little edge, with functionality built into the design only Twin can deliver. There are leads, pads, "pluck-struck", and the big polysynth selection, and many to be had in each category. While I love that vintage sound, I never personally sought to get those sounds in my more "modern" music, but Daniel's

Great Sounds for a Great Synth

work reminds me and everyone who listens to the palate he has served up that those types of sounds are far from done and far from overused. There are still new spins and new ways for them to leap from old genres to new forms of music. I keep finding the goods from this collection, even if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not looking for them. Does Twin have the capability to give those vintage analog sounds? Certainly, it does. But in the hands of creative people, those sounds are given a new lease on life. Once again, at $26, one can hardly complain.

Rob Lee wants you to dance...or at basses are killer, and the moving least make music that causes sounds are incredible, adding much flavor to any track. When your others to dance... favorite effects are finally added to the mix, you will see just how Seriously, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rob Lee. His work awesome Twin really is, especially in speaks for itself. The name alone the hands of a great sound sculptor. I means this is good. All kinds of stuff am a Rob Lee fan and a Twin fan, no turn up in the categories of bass, leads, "moving sounds", fx perc, pads, doubt, but with these kinds of sounds, one is hard pressed to find a reason and techno. What is amazing is how for another VA synth in the arsenal. well he pulled off these sounds The amount of heat in this set is well without relying on the effects (other worth the paltry $26 price tag. than delay) that most dance sounds are drenched with. The result of this Check out the deals at Fabfilter's bank is superior dance sounds website: www.fabfilter.com because of it. Looking at the patch design, no parameter gets untouched as Rob Lee gets the best that Twin's capability has to offer. The leads and

July 2011

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Image Line

Sawer and Toxic Biohazard by A. Arsov

I've got plenty of synths and I'm not keen to write about them if they are not something special, if they don't give me something that I don't already have. Also I'm a bit bored reading synth articles that explain to me again and again the same things. The whole thing about the synthesizer is its sound. You like it, you don't like it, you think that it sounds thin or it sounds fat. The included library could be bad or inspiring and highly usable. Same things with guys discussing ladies. We are musicians after all, playing animals. Have you heard someone saying that some ladies have a long intelligent arms or self oscillating legs? No, we always talk about the filters: "Hey dude, have you seen her filters? So big and so inviting". After that always comes a debate about the shape. Some like filters in a pear shape, some rely only on size, so called melon lovers, while some love the asymmetry, size of the middle frequency or simply the way that are attached to the interface. One way or another, one thing is for sure, we all love filters, we like to tweak them, discuss and dream about them, nothing else counts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; at least in a real world. And when we talk this way, many ladies think that we are plain idiots and that we are not capable of discussing anything essential. It is not

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true. The discussion may look totally abstract but at the end of the chat, we all know everything we need to know about the particular engine. That's how things are. The Filters â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Abstract Part I like the Sawer and Toxic Biohazard's filters. Most of the Image Line's synths have this clean, big and a bit darkish sound. You can recognize a virtual analog synth by its screaming, almost unpleasant, upper highs. Good synths, like Sylenth 1, are not unpleasant but they still have the strong, screaming upper highs. Sawer and Toxic Biohazard presets are clean, present but not so "screamy"; they have an almost "Black Sabbath" like accompanying sound which add a nice distinction and special character to them. The low end is not much different from other good virtual synths, it is nice and solid. Consequence That was about the color. So, let's go to the sounds. Some people like to program their own sounds, but the rest use presets, or at least use them as a starting point. Life is somehow a bit too short for doing everything from the scratch.

July 2011

Sawer "Nomen est omen." The last few years most contemporary electro tunes heavily rely on sounds programmed with sawtooth waves, the magical sound of Glam rock distorted guitars reproduced with modern synths. It seems that almost everyone is looking for good sawtooth presets. Image Line struck the Zeitgeist making a sawtooth oriented virtual synthesizer. To tell the truth, Sawer is much more than just the "musical saw" machine. Nevertheless, if you can't find in Sawer a proper sawtooth preset for your music, then you are maybe in the wrong genre. It cuts nicely through the mix. Sawer is loaded with all sorts of sounds, from ambient pads, effects, nice analog basses, arpegiated sounds, keys and leads to some percussive sounds. But no matter how different are those sounds, almost all of them have some aggressive Wagner or Black Sabbath sort of quality. This is definitively a synth with a lot of unique character. According to Image Line the main part of this character was caused by accident through a coding error, which added some special spectral characteristics to the main oscillator.

July 2011

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Sawer

Speaking of the oscillator, the second, Sawer has one of the most effective became addicted. Pads or hits, no biggest reason for this unique sound graphical interfaces I've yet seen. It is matter what you chose, you will get orientation lies in the nature of the a pure pleasure to program, or just an out of this world sort of sound. It is main oscillators. They generate only a tweak and adopt pre-programmed usually a combination of essential sawtooth shape which can be further sounds to your taste. All parameters tone along with some sneaky, filtered. The main oscillator has got are also MIDI controllable. In FL rumbling addition in the background. only two additional controllers. Noise Studio you just need to right click on Ian Hunter had an album: "You are level and sync frequency. There is the desired controls. In other never alone with Schizophrenia." Trust also a sub oscillator which can sequencers it is not just a one click me, the same happens with Toxic generate saw and square shapes and affair but at the same time neither is Biohazardâ&#x20AC;Ś if you ever dreamt about which has a few additional controls: it rocket science. The matrix being lost in space and suddenly a detune, level, phase and octave. Not modulation window also offers an nasty beast comes to eat you. We all such a standard cup of tea, but option for selecting the MIDI source know those sort of crazy dreams. It obviously it works pretty well. The for the parameters selected inside the could eat you in a thousand different rest of the controls are pretty matrix window, so yes, in this case it ways. One way or another, every common to most modern virtual is a one click solution, no matter Toxic Biohazard preset could easily synthesizers. Arpeggiator, modulation which sequencer you use. serve as an ideal musical background matrix window, ADSR section filter for any variations of this nice romance section and effect section containing I've cried for such a synth the last few between you and the imaginary beast. four essential effects: chorus, phaser, years and now my dreams have come I'm working on a new project at the delay and reverb. Every section offers true. Now I can finally be an moment and, as I need some unique some small additional sweet candies, aggressive dude with an attitude. sounds, I ended up with seven a nice touch here and there to make it instances of Toxic Biohazard, but even more user friendly. The filter section Toxic Biohazard one instance could add unique has two additional knobs, one called character to any of your compositions. KBD Track, which links cutoff It is hard to describe this beast. It frequency with keyboard MIDI note. combines FM synthesis with Writing about such synth is a pretty This makes the coloration of the sound subtractive synthesis. It looks like a tricky thing. It's the same problem as consistent throughout the keyboard control panel from the space shuttle, if you try to describe a beautiful lady. range. The second one is VEL Track, a but thankfully it is loaded with a more It is not easy to understand her but velocity tracker with a similar than satisfying quantity of great she sounds beautiful. I've always lost purpose: softer notes have darker sounding presets, so no matter if you myself whenever I've tried to program sound while hard striking a note ever learn how to drive it or not, you FM synths, so I presume that this will results in a brighter sound. It is nice can happily use it for years to come. be a no-go for me to achieve to have such controls at hand. As soon as I put my fingers on a something from scratch. But who keyboard and heard a few presets, I cares as long as there are enough 32

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July 2011

Toxic Biohazard

sounds to play with! Ambient textures, unusual deep basses, keyboards, leads, pads, percussive sounds, rhythmical, sequenced, synthetic sounds and effects are all provided.

modulated with EG Amount, which determines how strongly the envelope affects the filters. The next thing is a powerful, and a bit complicated, matrix window in the middle with additional options for sequencer and MIDI modulation. For those who care These are a useful combination when you understand them, but Of course, it is not impossible although I'm working on it, I'm to learn how to program Toxic afraid that I'm not still there. As I Biohazard. As an Image Line understand it, the matrix window customer you have access to is where you can route each their video tutorials page oscillator to another or itself, where you can find a good selecting the amount of pan, level, number of video clips which LFO or master pitch modulation. will help you learn how to Basically, as you see, it is not make your own sounds. The hard to understand separate parts same is true of Sawer. All you of this synth, but making them need is a box of cookies and work together is a bit like learning soft seat for spending some to play drums ... all of them, not time in this musical cinematic just a snare or a kick. It is not so experience. hard to make one oscillator work, but when you try to get A short description of time something out of more than three and the universe oscillators, then you are on your own. Okay, in most cases you will Let's start with something that make the main sound with one, everybody knows and mostly two oscillators using others understands. At the bottom of just to add some noise, so this is the graphical interface is a part not so impossible. As a matter of reserved for effects. Toxic fact, nothing is impossible. A lot of Biohazard has a global people learned how to play drums, distortion, equalizer and two so take a time and try to create slots for selecting one of the some sounds on your own. At the six included effects: delay, moment, I'm more than happy chorus, reverb, flanger, phaser with the included content. and lo-fi. The only thing I'm not so happy Toxic Biohazard also has six with is the preset system in both customizable anti-aliasing synths. Both synths have nice, oscillators along with six easy to use preset windows, but envelope generators, one for the main problem is that you will each oscillator. We've already need to download most of the mentioned the filters and their presets from the Image Line site. KEY track and VEL track As you know, there are a lot of controls. The filters can be people who doesn't have internet

on their music computer. But on the other hand, as a registered user you will find some interesting additional sounds on Image Line's forum. Both synths are unique with well defined characters and purpose that make them different and very usable. One is an axe and another one is an alien space station. A very good combination. Sawer will cost you 99 USD, same for the Toxic Biohazard (And no, they are not mostly dance oriented synths... you can get the wrong impression listening to demo clips on the Image Line site).

July 2011

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IK Multimedia

Total Workstation 2 Instrument Bundle by A. Arsov

Yesterday's News Why I've decided to write about this rather old bundle as we all know how fast the time is passing in the computer world. First off all, it is still available and secondly I found it pretty useful. Total workstation 2 Instrument bundle contains a well chosen assortment of instruments representing the bread and butter foundation for almost every production. Maybe not so much for a Trance, Dance or Techno music, but if you are in any other electro, downtempo, fast-tempo or even rock, garage or whatever, than this could easily become your cup of coffee.

The bundle contains a nice mixture of really essential acoustic and electric instruments combined with some rare and unusual but highly usable ones. As you know, every instrument is as good as how much as you use it. It is a tough competition in a VST world and some new things sounds fantastic nowadays, so I would be not so senseless trying to convince you how all instruments in this bundle sounds fantastic and ultimate and so on. The main issue is the usability of the

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whole collection. At a first glance it looks like nothing special, but slowly you find yourself coming back again and again using various instruments from various parts of the bundle. If I need realistic string section, or just a pizzicato, separate violin or even the whole orchestra I simply use Philharmonic. I have few other superior string libraries, but usually I could write the whole song on my acoustic guitar while I'm waiting the library to load. If I try to load another instrument, my disk started to whimper like an old pig and few minutes later I usually got this magical “memory too low” message. I low you too, my dear memory. I know, it is a time for buying a new computer and time to switch to Windows 7. You can freely call me Mastodon, but it makes me sick if I even think about the fact that I should collect and install all those 64 bit plug-ins and maybe I'm not keen enough to learn to work with another operating system. Philharmonic sounds good enough without killing my PC and it load sounds without offering me a coffee break. And Philharmonic is only one fifth of the bundle. Some other instruments from this bundle sound so unique that I use them much of the

July 2011

time, and some others have sounds that most of other libraries don't have. One way or another I’ve used at least one instrument from this bundle in every song I’ve made lately. So far, this is the best reason for me to owning this sample library collection.

Sample Library? Yes, generally all instruments in this bundle are Romplers, more or less. Sample Tank 2,5 XL is also a fully featured sampler supporting a nice number of third party sample formats, but I use it mainly as a Rompler. It has excellent sampling ability, but to be honest, I haven't sampled instruments for years. Ten or fifteen years ago I did my whole production with one sampler and one synth module, but now I record things directly to the disk. Eh, I'm afraid that classical sampling for most users is a bit of a yesterday story.

Sample Tank 2,5 XL Sampletank is stocked with an impressing number of bread and butter sounds. A nice collection of

July 2011

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Bass, Brass, Vocal, Piano, Drums and like to call it. It is a best “for found that in this case a good external Strings instruments augmented with immediate use” orchestra and choir compressor does a better job. The plenty of variations inside the every collection. Strings usually come into whole Philharmonic library is highly section. They are not the best and the mix at the end (I presume you are effective and easy to use tool that most realistic collection of essential also not a classical composer). So bring us really good, and what is the sound you have ever heard, but they when you've already opened twenty most important, highly realistic results. are far, far better than any of those synths you really don't need The violin sounds like a violin and GM libraries or GM synths we know or something to kill your system. The contra bass like a contra bass. The own. If you don't overdo the things Miroslav Philharmonic module includes same can be said of the choirs and and if you add a touch of a good delay nice natural sounding reverb which is brasses. Of course you can find better and reverb you can easily fool also preprogrammed for every single orchestra libraries costing far more someone that they’re hearing a real instrument. You can reduce it if you than the whole bundle, but if you instrument. (This is not always the don't like it but I found it sounds just need it just to add some realistic case even with better GM libraries.) perfect, so I rarely touch this button. orchestral, choir or brass parts here Put the bass through a virtual All instruments have proper acoustic and there to your arrangement, this is amplifier and you will get the most positions, so all you need to do is to it. The whole thing is a millions miles realistic bass guitar that samples can know how to combine them together. away from various instant libraries produce. Brass instruments are also Player includes all the controllers you that are lying around not bad, especially if you use it to add could dream about, so it is really easy a punch to main line or to add some to fine tune the sound you are alternative line to prerecorded brass working with. LFO, filter, envelope, Sampletron loops. Pianos are cool and useful (to compressor tune, microtune, velocity Is my favorite library in this bundle. be honest, on most of the other and few similar things are available synths they are usually not so useful). along with the ability to add up to four It’s an excellent collection of instruments from various Chamberlain, Various vocals and choir samples can instances from the impressive Melotron, Novatron, Optigan, easily make a good background collection of included effects. Orchestron and similar Mastodontrons. atmosphere and strings do an Of course you can't make full This Sampletron has some realy, adequate job. What else do you orchestra just loading a patch called really retro sounds that can give a expect from the bread and butter Orchestra, but with nice layering it is nice splendor to your songs. If you library? not so hard to make a good orchestra. are into a chill, downtempo sort of For that purpose you can use Combo music then this is a must. Almost any presets. Sometimes a whole thing is string section from this instrument Miroslav Philharmonic crying for some additional can really work wonders adding such compression. While there is one Miroslav Philharmonic is the next a special atmosphere to the song. implemented as an on-board effect, I module, rompler or whatever you’d Choir and vocals from Bela Lugosi’s

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July 2011

time ... admittedly is not scary nowadays, but it adds a ton of charm. And the flute sounds as if it was taken directly from sweaty old black and white Slovenian classic movie for the children. You can almost hear how Mojca is screaming: Kekec, Kekeeeec!!! Come back. Don't go! (I presume that in every nation you have similar old classic that seems funny to you but kids still love it. Just be so kind and change those names for the one used in â&#x20AC;&#x153;yourâ&#x20AC;? movie.) This is not a library for every genre, but it definitively adds special color to the arrangement.

Sonic Synth 2

Samplemoog As the name suggests, this is a collection of various patches from various Moog instruments. As all other libraries, this one is also very well programmed, so all patches sounds realistic, especially when you use portamento, you can easily hear the music from the past. You, Lake and Palmer is the name of the game. A ton of various leads, bleeds and rumbles are there for any need, from the most normal leads to the most abnormal ones. Yes, that's the Moog ... evil and kind at the same time. Trust me, it is not so hard to find some place for one of those synth sounds between all other virtual ones you already have. A good sample library always sounds more realistic than a virtual modeled analog synthesizer.

not need a manual to find your way around while working with this bundle. It is truely plug and play technology.

For this price you get a really good essential instrument collection. Maybe not the only one you will ever need, but most definitively the one you will use more than you thought. This is a bread and butter collection that covers very wide array of everything that you need to start a song or finish it with some additional spice and color. For all of you who don't owe Sitar, jazz bass guitar, Memorymoog, a family female choir or even a full symphonic orchestra at your home, this is for you.

28 Gigabyte of samples providing It is not what name suggests but it is 14,000 sounds for 299.99 Eur. a more or less some sort of additional (399.99 USD). Not a bad deal. content for Sample Tank. Not a bad At the time this article is being one. It is a nice collection of additional published, IK Multimedia is having a guitars, strings, brasses, basses, A Common Issue significant group buy sales event that effects, voices, pads, synths, ethnic All instruments or modules have a ends Sept. 15, 2011. If you buy an IK instruments, electronic drums and similar graphical interface containing product prior to that date, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d much more. I thought at first that it's all the controllers you'll need to fine qualify for one (and probably two) not so usable a collection. But I later tune your sound, depending on the other IK products of equal or lesser found some good sounds when module you use. But all of them value for free. Check this deal out at: searching for some things that can't contain a good number of additional be found anywhere else. This is a effects and only one click away are good source for fulfilling your oddest http://ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?1 filters, envelopes and LFOs, while pan, wishes. 5/groupbuy.php. volume, wet/dry and a few other essential things are directly accessible in main window. It is so refreshing to A bread and peanut butter A. Arsov

July 2011

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Geist tutorial

Ground Up Tutorial 2 by Trusty

Back at it with the Beast of Beats Geist. In this part of the tutorial of making a "Club Banger" we are going to be taking the kit we have made, tweaked and tweaked again and resample it. This will accomplish two things. First, it will free up some resources that we are probably going to need later as the beat comes to fruition. Second, and more importantly, we just want to show off how dead easy it is to resample a kit in Geist. Start by loading the kit and clicking the sampler tab at the top right of the GUI. Then, underneath it, you will see the source tab. Click on it and the drop-down menu will appear. Select "Resample Master". What works best is to set the "Trigger Mode" to "Threshhold". Adjust the start and stop time to the desired db ranges. Next, be sure to have the record mode set to "Free". Then "Arm" the sampler, and trigger the pad. [See Fig. 1] We will begin by resampling the kick and continue this process until all the kit has been resampled. The exception to this is the hi-hats pad. This is because of the random triggering we

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have set up. We will have to remove delete the other sample layers (if they this setting, resample each hat are there) as well as manually delete individually through the effects all effects that are just on that pad. processes we have on them and then After going to the Pad Mixer and re-layer them on the pad. Thanks to removing the effects assigned to that Geist's "Export/Send" options this is pad we are ready to repeat this not as difficult or time consuming as it process for the other samples on the may seem written here. other pads. Geist offers several options once the sample is made. You can keep the take and try again, given that you are not happy with the result of the resampling, or you can make multiple takes at different velocities, or whatever else you can think of. To keep things tidy it is best to name each sample. You also have the option of clearing out all the takes and starting over. Lots of experimentation and variation can be had and only the best can be kept if so desired. In any case, once you have the desired sample (or samples) you can use the "Export/Send" tab to decide what to done with them. There are several options but the option used here will be to send the sample to the currently selected pad. Since there is no send option to a current pad while deleting all other samples on that pad one must flip over to that pad screen and

June 2011

For the hi-hats the first step is to go to the Pad/Layer screen for Pad 4 (where we assigned the hi-hats) and change the "Layer Play Mode" from "Random" to "Round Robin". [See Fig 2] Then, perform your sampling takes. There should be four takes since we did four layers. Each take should trigger each layer in succession. Once this is done export them back to the current pad. Delete all the samples there previously, as before, remove the effects, and put the trigger mode back to random. After everything is resampled be sure to remove the Reverb effect that was on the engine by clicking on the "Engine Mixer" tab. Now we have our kit with no processing being used up and it sound exactly as it did before all the resampling process.

tutorial

Figure 1

Figure 2

June 2011

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Geist Part 2

tutorial

Figure 3

Figure 4

Now, it is time to make the basic four bar pattern for the track. Select the pattern tab and adjust the tempo to around 85-88 bpm. I like to use the multi-tool for pattern composition. See the Figures 3 through 6 for where I place my samples in the pattern.

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June 2011

tutorial Figure 5

Figure 6

June 2011

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Geist Part 2

tutorial

Figure 7

Then see Figures 7 through 10 to see some of my fine tuning in the patterns. I have added a lot of "Shift" to the timing of the kicks and snares. I also added some repeats to the hi-hats and I adjusted the master swing. Then I entered song mode to lay out the first four patterns to use as a base for my beat. [See Figure 11]

Figure 8

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Figure 9

June 2011

tutorial Figure 10

Next time, we will add more variation and beat patterns for the hook and the breakdown. Then we will also play around with triggering the various drum patterns in Scene Mode. Finally, we can resample some of the drum loops and chop them up just to see how easy it is. Remember, we are still doing all of this on Engine 1 of Geist. There are tons of possibilities ahead of us. Cheers, Trusty

Figure 11

June 2011

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EnergyXT

EnergyXT 1 â&#x20AC;˘ tutorial Figure 1

You're using your favorite DAW and things start to get crowded. [see Figure 1]. You'd like to have more room to actually see your music, and you don't want to keep minimizing and restoring your instrument windows. If you're using EnergyXT (www.energy-xt.com), here's what you do:

Figure 2

Right click on an instrument's title bar and select Dock, New Page. [see Figure 2] You now have a new page in EnergyXT devoted to just that instrument. But it gets better. Right click on the new page and select Rename. [see Figure 3] Name the page something appropriate.[see Figure 4] Then for each of your other instruments, right click on the title bar, and select Dock, " Page Name ". [see Figure 5] All the instruments are now docked to that page. Your music has the space it needs [see Figure 6], and your instruments are all nice and tidy. [see Figure 7] Keyboard shorts: F1 - prior page; F2 - next page. Simple!

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July 2011

tutorial

2â&#x20AC;˘3 Figure 3

by Ben Paturzo

Figure 6

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 7

July 2011

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Kick Drum tutorial

Enhancing the Kick with a Sine Wave by Rishabh Rajan

This tutorial will demonstrate a really quick way to extend the perceived bottom end of a kick drum just by using a sine wave generator. I am going to show you how to do this in Apple's Logic Pro 9 but this concept can be translated to any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that has a sine wave generator and a gate plug-in with a side-chaining feature. In Logic, I have already set-up a kick track in my session.

I am going to add a new audio track and insert a signal generator plug-in There is a stock plug-in called 'Test Oscillator' with a sine wave generator which works perfectly for this situation. Depending on your DAW, the signal generator may be named differently.

Side-Chaining: This feature is usually associated with dynamics processing like compression and gating where a source audio is processed based on an alternate input signal level. Side-chaining is used in radio stations a lot where the volume of the music is reduced when the disk jockey speaks. So a compressor is applied to the music but the input signal of the compressor is the disk jockey's voice. This is also called ducking. Another area where the side-chaining feature is exploited is in dance music production where the synth or pad sounds have a compressor running on them which is listening to the kick track. This creates the stereotypical rhythmic synth pad sound.

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July 2011

tutorial

At this time you should be hearing a constant sine wave playing at the chosen frequency. When you play your track you will hear this constant sine wave which seems to be rather inappropriate. Of course we are not quite done yet.

The Test Oscillator in Logic generates many different waveforms so I am going to set it to sine wave and give it a frequency of approximately 40Hz. This will be the frequency that you want to exaggerate in the kick drum.

I will now insert a gate plug-in on the track that has the Test Oscillator. It is imperative that the gate plug-in is placed after the sine wave generator in the signal chain otherwise the result will not be what we are expecting.

July 2011

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Kick Drum Enhancing

tutorial

If everything has gone according to plan, the sine wave track will be gated but will be listening to the kick drum track via the side chain input. At this point you can play the session and start reducing the threshold on the gate plug-in until you see or hear activity on the sine wave track. The sine wave should now only be playing when the kick drum is playing. Essentially what is happening is that the gate is opening when the level of the kick drum reaches the threshold value, hence the sine wave appears to be triggered by the kick drum. The threshold value to be set will vary according to the level of the kick drum track. I found -30 dB to be just right in my situation.

You may choose to add any gate plug-in that has a sidechain feature. I chose the 'Noise Gate' plug-in in Logic. Now the side-chain input needs to be set to the Kick drum track in the gate plug-in. Again, depending on your DAW this process will vary but in Logic it is as simple as If you hear clicks on the sine wave track it may be due to choosing the track from the 'Side Chain:' drop down menu. the attack and release settings. The gate I am using has controls for attack, release and hold. I set them to 5ms, 25ms and 30ms respectively. Playing with these values will shape the amplitude of the sine wave so feel free to set values that work for you. You can also balance the level of the sine wave track with the kick drum according to taste. Now you have serious bottom end on the kick drum track without doing any sample replacement, EQ or compression. Drums without kick drum enhancement http://www.4shared.com/audio/NocN 3wKJ/kick_without_enhancement.ht ml Drums with kick drum enhancement http://www.4shared.com/audio/Hgp MIguE/kick_with_enhancement.html

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July 2011

Nomad Factory's

BBE STOMP WARE by Trusty

You didn't overlook these did you?

The Nitty is...

On the Platter

Free Fuzz is modeled after that ...that there are eight stop boxes and vintage 70's fuzzy distortion. It My, my my...what a shame if you did. the maximum controls on any one of Seriously, Nomad Factory is ace when them is five, most have less. Each has sounds warm and fuzzy but if you use it in DI mode it adds even more dirt. it comes to emulating things. They are a cool retro GUI to stare at which adds to their charm. In common, they It sounds great on just about anything ace period in terms of quality and each have the on/off stop, and a needing a little heat to it and you can ease of use. This nice bundle of plugselector between DI and Amp. When tell from its saturating drench that it ins offers superior quality in a dead livens up in a mix quite nicely. simple package. I mean, my goodness, appropriate to the effect, there is a sync switch that puts the effect in I am not even a guitar player...far The Green Screamer is a vintage tube from it (and haven't the slightest clue sync with the host's tempo. overdrive and packs a lot of power how they compare to the originals), into the little stomp. For those but, sometimes I just want instant The Gritty is... wanting hot rather than warm it gives goodness without the complication of that extra gritty sound to anything all my synths and samplers and vocals. These little stomp box plug-ins deliver ...every single one of these little stomp passing through it. This is that perfect boxes. "distortion" pedal without overly that goodness with style. distorting your original signal. Very nice. 50

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July 2011

The Mind Bender is a modulation sounds that adds texture to the sound. stomp that offers chorus, vibrato and "Oooh Baby" is what you think when rotary type effects. For having few you hear the effect. parameters it delivers big on sound. Offering sync, speed, and depth Tremor is, as its namesake suggests, controls it can be tailored to the signal a tremolo. I never got into tremolo and is rich and full in its output. effects much, but this little thing is opening me up to it and has found use The Opto Stomp is an opto in a few songs so far. It also doubles compressor reminiscent of those mid- as a quick and easy auto-panner and 60's compressors but in a little stomp. selecting the stereo/mono mode does The sound is transparent and with this with ease. Adjusting the speed only output and threshold controls on and depth knobs makes dialing in the offer it does most of the work for you. desired result a snap. It does pack a punch for a little compressor stomp so don't overdo it with your speakers on full blast. The Sonic Stomp is a sonic maximizer in a pedal. What more could you ask for? Surprisingly accurate and light on the CPU it adds that nice sheen to it that is the bread and butter of BBE's Sonix Maximizer. Soul Vibe is described as a rotary speaker/vibe plug-in. What it does is adds cleverly phased wah-sh type

Finally, the Two Timer effect is a model of an analog delay. It offers that great space echo effect as well as giving a warm, reverb-ery sound. Operating in mono or stereo for two times delay capabilities the stunning reproduction here of a discontinued classic adds a great and unique tool to the arsenal. It's probably the best of the bunch here. Nomad Factory gives you a great reproduction of that vintage goodness.

July 2011

Now That You Know... Do not even think of hesitating picking this package up. It doesn't get a lot of press but it deserves more press than other (less) quick and (less) dirty effects are getting these days. At $149 it shakes out to about $19 per plug-in. Not bad at all. For some the thought may occur that it still seems a bit pricey, even for eight plug-ins, since there are not a lot of "features". Blah...at this price it is a bargain. This is mainly due to the extremely high quality delivered in these stomp boxes without the fuss of a lot of features that take hours to get your head around. Compare that with some $30 effect plug-ins that no matter how much tweaking is done, still only sound half as good. And good sound is all that matters, and these stomps sound good! Find out more at http://www.nomadfactory.com/produc ts/bbe_stompware/index.html

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Sonokinetic's

Maasai by Jeffrey Powell

Sonokinetic is one of a small number of sample companies that sell unique and interesting libraries that can be found nowhere else on the planet. Among their products, you'll find a wide variety including an extremely detailed concert harp, weapons sound effects, a carousel organ, Middle Eastern voices, and a wide variety of world instruments and ensembles. In this review, we're going to take a look at one of these world libraries called Maasai, which aims to bring African tribal music to your DAW.

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July 2011

choose from one of the categories listed above. Once you select a Before heading into the nitty gritty category, the different sets of loops At its core, Maasai is an impressive details of this library, there's one in that category are listed on the collection of over 570 looped detail about this library that should page. A single click on one of the samples (over 1.89 GB) from actual loop set's name will play a quick be noted at the outset. One of the recordings of native music in creators of this library is Russ preview of the loops. Once you've Kenyan tribal village communities. Landau, the Emmy-winning found the loops you want to load, The loops themselves are composer known for his distinctive click "Add" on the interface. You'll categorized into Vocals (male, work on U.S. television shows Fear then be given the option to map Factor, Survivor, and others. Now, I female, and children), Instruments, that collection of loops (usually 8 to must admit that I've been an avid Drums and Percussion, Tribe 12 loops) chromatically anywhere Survivor watcher since the very first Ensembles (drums & instruments on the keyboard that you want. This U.S. season. Since that first season, combined), and Compositions (by is a really handy feature that allows Survivor has spawned versions in Russ Landau). Normally, a loop you to quickly put at your fingertips collection of this size and breadth over 45 other countries around the the exact loops that you want. You would be difficult to sort through, world. For those who watch it, the can map as many different loop sets music is one of the most distinctive but Sonokinetic have provided these as you want to the keyboard (even features of Survivor, and the music loops in an impressive custom overlapping them) and most for each season incorporates the Kontakt interface that makes importantly, the loops aren't loaded previewing and mapping the rhythms and sounds of the into RAM (or streamed) until you indigenous peoples in that location. samples quick and easy. actually add them to the keyboard. So, needless to say, Maasai So, Sonokinetic have come up with certainly benefits from having Russ The most important part of the main a great way to preview, map, and Landau's involvement and page of the Kontakt interface is the load samples to fit your project. experience. drop down menu that allows you to Previously On Survivor

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July 2011

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Maasai

On that same page, you'll also find a then build the other elements of the standard ADSR envelope along with track around those loops. For example, speed and volume controls. These are I'd take several loops of a drum applied per loop set so you can speed ensemble to flesh out a rhythm track. up one set without changing the Then, I'd add instruments on top that speed of another loop set. On the FX worked well with that rhythm track. and Convolution tab, you'll find a This is a little different way of working standard delay and 3-band EQ along for me (as usually I'd just build both with a convolution reverb. For this around standard beats and measures), collection, Sonokinetic has provided a but it was oddly a bit freeing as well. I unique collection of four impulse also found the chromatically mapped responses. Three of them are from loops really pushed me toward using African huts, and the fourth one is shifting "meters" (to use the more from a jungle area. All in all, the focus traditional term), so the loops really here is on providing authentic sounds can inspire some new directions in in an easy to use interface. your music. I'll Tally the Votes Of course, the quality of this product is truly dependent upon the quality of the loops, and I can say that the loop collection is very impressive. There is a wide variety in the over 40 loop sets provided and, as noted above, each loop set has on average 12 different loops. The loops are 24-bit, 44.1 KHz, and are zero-crossed looped. As they are authentic recordings, these loops are not tempo-sync'd. This makes the loops a little less versatile (even with the speed control on the interface), but it's certainly more realistic as I've never seen a tribal ensemble playing along with a metronome. So, I found that it worked best to determine which loops I wanted to use first and

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think I found any that I thought wouldn't be useful. As noted above, the Kontakt interface looks great and provides a really quick workflow. It didn't take long before I was putting together my own Survivor-like cues and, most importantly, having fun doing it! The Tribe Has Spoken

Sonokinetic's Maasai is really a unique and inspiring product that can bring authentic African tribal music to your music. The non-tempo sync'd loops take a little bit of getting used to, but they give realism to the loops that can If I were to offer some points for help stretch your creativity and improvement, I'd say that a more writing. For 59.90 Euros, Maasai thorough documentation of the loops offers an excellent and diverse would be helpful. Nearly all of them collection of African tribal loops in a are looped, but a few that can be used useful and well-designed Kontakt to end a phrase are not. It'd be interface. The .wav files are included helpful to have more detailed as well, but you'll be missing out on a information on hand so that it great deal of usability without the wouldn't be necessary to just audition Kontakt interface. Be sure to check them all at the start. Also, just for out their website (given below) to see fun's sake, I'd love to have seen a more about Maasai and the other mini-tutorial or tips on how the pros Sonokinetic libraries. might use these to piece together a track. I think that would be interesting. Company Website: www.sonokinetic.net Overall, though, these are minor points. The loops sound fantastic and inspiring. In the collection, the drum ensembles and the vocal chants are the real highlights to me, but I don't

July 2011

Free

by Tomislav Zlatic

Distorque has released Plusdistortion, a freeware emulation of the MXR Distortion+ guitar pedal. Worth a look out if you're a guitarist using software amps, or if you like having multiple choices with your distortion VSTs like I do.(http://goo.gl/NXX0v) stw-audio has released Reflex, an ambience generator in VST plugin format for Windows. Somewhere between a reverb and a delay (or a bit of both actually), this plugin is useful for creating anything from simple room ambiences to epic soundscapes. (http://goo.gl/1HiOu) de la Mancha has re-released jellyfish and metamorph, two of his older commercial VST plugins which are now available as freeware. (http://goo.gl/NAd8f) Stargate by izonin is a lightweight supersaw VSTi synth with a compact GUI and solid sound. Don't be deceived by the simple looks, this thing really sounds good and chances are you'll love it if you're a trance addict, or simply like using lightweight synths with a low CPU hit. (http://goo.gl/gU3ws) If you're into running your software effects from a laptop on gigs or other live situations, check out Pedalboard2 by Niall Moody. It is a free VST host application, pretty easy to operate and offers decent functionality. (http://goo.gl/W8u9W) Forge Audio Designs has released BEAT to MIDI, a neat freeware utility for converting audio loops to MIDI data. Not exactly a freeware version of Recycle, but still a useful tool for triggering drum samples over acoustic drum recordings, or converting classic drum breaks to MIDI and applying a bit of that magical swing to programmed drums. (http://goo.gl/86Qgr) Finally, Benedict Roff-Marsh has generously released all of his SynthStudio plugins as freeware. The SynthStudio bundle features all kinds of tools, from classic VA and FM synthesizers, to sequencers and various effects - you'll need to spend a whole day checking out this stuff and probably find more than a few plugins worth keeping. (http://goo.gl/NRHx6)

July 2011

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Overloud's

Breverb

Overloud's

Breverb by LeVzi

Over the last month or so, I've become more and more fascinated by many different reverb effects and styles. I did a lot of auditioning of various plug-ins that may or may not suit my needs. If I ever happened to talk to another producer about reverb effects, the same names kept cropping up in conversation, some being new plug-ins, others being more old, tried and tested solutions. So off I went in search of the definitive reverb plug-in. What I soon learnt was that like so many other effects, reverb units are no different. They each have their own character which distinguishes them from one another, some are more spacey, others are more driven by realism, some are intense others are very light. I soon accepted

that I don't think one single reverb unit can fill in all the gaps, but a combination of a few might just do that. One name that cropped up more than once was Overloud's Breverb plug-in. It seems to have been around forever, so I was familiar with it, but had never actually tried it. When the opportunity came to review it for the magazine, I jumped at the chance. One thing that has changed recently in my set-up, is I am only using 64bit plug-in's now, as I have switched to a 64bit version of Cubase, so it is important to me that the plug-in's I use have a 64bit version or at least can be bridged successfully. Breverb has a 64bit version available, and installation was no problem, so I was over the moon with this.

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July 2011

So lets take a look at Breverb, and see how it works: Breverb has a really nicely laid out GUI, with all major options right there in front of you making it as simple as you'd like. There are 4 main types of reverb algorithm available: Room, Hall, Plate, Inverse, the latter being sometimes known as reverse reverb. As you can see there are a series of options in the main window that allow you to tweak and alter the way this unit will sound, depending on what you want to achieve. It doesn't stop there, as you can see also, there are an additional 6 sliders that have multiple options for the parameters they can influence. You have the option to turn them off if you wish, but being the kind of person who loves to fine tune everything, I would leave them there. So not only are there controls on the main screen of Breverb, there are 6 additional sliders for further control, and that would normally be that, but

Overloud have also included a further 5 tabs on the main screen, these control predelay, frequency, dynamics, EQ and gating. I have to be honest, in my early production days, I was almost fearful of using reverb units, as I could never really get them to sound as I expected, or at least hoped, so when it came to actually trying Breverb for real, I was sceptical that I could show this unit's potential. Oh how wrong was I! I loaded a standard percussion loop into my DAW and added Breverb as an insert. Normally I use reverb units as send/returns, but with the advanced parameters Breverb has, I wanted to try it in the insert chain. Due to Breverb having so much control over the reverb itself, you can basically think of it as a send effect, as you can alter the wet / dry ratio to suit. I turned the dry signal off, so the loop wasn't being heard at all, and then started to adjust the actual reverb I

July 2011

was getting. Seeing as the loop was percussion, I wanted a short, snappy reverb that wasn't going to overpower the sound or drown it out completely. Firstly I adjusted the time parameter, this is in essence the length of the reverb's tail, and I set this around 800ms, which sounded ideal. Then, to take out some of the reverb in general I reduced the size parameter down to 25%, which would emulate a small hall (Hall being the algorithm I was using for this first test) and now I had a very workable amount of reverb for a fast loop. The next three parameters in the main window were diffusion, shape and spread, to which I had no idea what this meant, so I quickly loaded up the help file which is in PDF format, by clicking the ? On the panel. I quickly found the descriptions for the parameters which were as follows : ● Diffusion: controls the degree to which the initial

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Breverb

echo density increases over time. ● Shape: it works together with the SPREAD parameter to control the overall ambience of the reverberation created by BREVERB. It specifically determines the contour of the reverberation envelope. With SHAPE all the way down, reverberation builds explosively and decays very quickly. As SHAPE value is raised, reverberation builds up more slowly and sustains for the time set by SPREAD. ● Spread: controls the duration of the initial contour of the reverberation envelope. A low SPREAD setting results in a rapid onset of reverberation at the beginning of the envelope, with little or no sustain, while higher settings spread out both the build-up and sustain. 58

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For someone who hasn't really spent a lot of time with reverb units, this crash course is proving interesting. Part of me still cannot accept that what I am hearing might be, or probably is, an accurate emulation of an actual reverberation in a place that I am purely imagining, but it is doing it, and doing it well. I think this is the reason some people still prefer convolution reverbs over algorithmic ones as they are actual samples from the place in question. But even so, they still have to be converted to code to translate the sample to adjustable reverb through the plug-in. As I have found with most reverb units, they are very heavy on the CPU, and as I have really relied upon a convolution plugin for most of my reverb needs, I'm used to seeing the CPU usage grow with each instance of the reverb plugJuly 2011

in I used. It was at this point I happened to glance at my ASIO/CPU meter. Well , I glanced, then I had to look twice, as nothing was registering on that meter. That is not something I was expecting. I loaded up 8 instances of Breverb on the channel, then a further 8 on a send, and the meter hardly jumped. Breverb is one of the lightest on CPU reverb units I've come across. If you like to use a lot of instances of a reverb plug-in, this could be a worth while investment on that alone. Back to the testing, I continued with the changes to the diffusion, which was set to 20%, shape to 15% and spread to 8%. More trial and error and educated guessing than actual experience and knowledge but it

sounds spot on, which is exactly how you should judge all audio.

learning how a plug-in works. These are the parameters

The next tab along brings up the predelay settings, and various other parameters to alter the way the predelay effects the reverb over time. For this purpose, I am not going to have any pre-delay, so it is set to 0, in fact they are all set to 0. I want the reverb to happen straight away. Maybe not so natural, or maybe more natural, either way, I am using my ears to judge this.

● Low: Sets the reverberation time of the low frequencies relative to the master reverberation time. It is expressed as a time multiplier. For example, setting Low to 1.8x means that the reverberation time of the low frequencies is 1.8 times longer than the master reverberation time. ● Low Freq: (Hz) It is the crossover frequency which defines the low frequencies. ● High: Sets the reverberation time of the high frequencies relative to the master reverberation time. It is expressed as a time multiplier. For example, setting High to 0.6x means that the reverberation time of the high frequencies is 0.6 times shorter than the

Next is the frequency tab, and once again I am blown away by the depth of features held within Breverb, but once again I am off to the help file, as I'm lost as to how this works. That is not a criticism of Breverb, it is something I find essential when

July 2011

master reverberation time. ● High Freq: (Hz) It is the crossover frequency which defines the high frequencies. ● Damping: real environments tend to attenuate the high frequencies due to the damping factors of the materials the walls are made of or of the objects in the room which mostly absorb high frequencies. The Damping parameter controls the amount of this absorption and can be used to simulate different types of hall padding. ● Low Cut: (Hz) It sets the cutoff frequency under which the tone is not reverberated. It can be used to avoid rumbling in the low frequencies depending on the source material.

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Breverb

This section is particularly useful in the test I am performing, as I don't want too much going on in the low end of the spectrum, so I set the low cut to around 300hz and also increase the damping, I don't want a complete storm of high end going on either. When I play this back, I think there is still a bit much in the low end, so I increase the low cut a bit more, the sweet spot seems to be around 550hz. Next tab across is the Dynamic tab, which basically offers the user three different methods of influencing the reverb further. These are: ● To Level: (%) controls the degree of influence the level of the signal present at BREVERB's inputs will have on the Wet output level. Positive values will raise the Wet level when the input level raises, negative values will lower the Wet level when the input level raises (and vice versa). ● To Time: (%) controls the degree of influence the level of the signal present at BREVERB's inputs will have on the Reverb Time parameter. Positive values will raise the Reverb Time when the input level raises, negative values will lower the Reverb Time when the input level raises (and vice versa). ● To EQ: (%) controls the degree of influence the level of the signal present at BREVERB's inputs will have on the overall colour of BREVERB. Positive values will raise the Wet level when the input level rises, negative values will lower the Wet level when the input level rises (and vice versa).

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The 'To EQ' control doesn't influence any of the other 'EQ' parameters in the GUI, instead it uses a 'hidden' first order hi-shelving filter with a very soft action. While someone with more experience with reverb units could probably easily make this work for their purpose, as an amateur I left these alone. The reverb I have at the moment at 100% wet, sounds almost perfect for the effect I am trying to achieve. The penultimate tab is the EQ tab, which is a 2 band EQ, with adjustable Q values. I find this a really good addition to a reverb plug-in as you have control over the total EQ of the wet signal if you wish without the need for a further plug-in. It is also a quick way for someone to adjust the reverb if they are not too experienced with other methods, but know their way around an EQ. (Like me) I left the EQ switched off though, I don't feel the need to make any further adjustments now. Finally there is the gate tab, which is something new to me when talking about reverb plug-ins. The use of a gate for reverb was something I'd never even considered, but while experimenting with it, I can see its use. Reverb can be extremely useful in the stereo field, adding ambience etc., but there are times when you feel it goes on a bit long, or is muddying up certain areas. Well now, thanks to Overloud's clever thinking, you can literally add a gate to the

July 2011

reverb, which essentially will cut the wet signal off once it dips below a certain threshold. The normal gating parameters are there, and the fine tuning of this is easy to use and throws up some interesting results, especially considering I am using a short staccato like reverb effect with this loop. I use the gate in a harsh manner to open and close very fast at the -10db threshold, with a moderate slope. This has really sharpened up the reverb effect to suit this loop no end. It's almost per hit now, instead of a slight end to end style. Bare in mind I am working with just the wet signal, not the dry, that is still muted. But now the moment of truth, to reintroduce the dry signal with the wet, and see how this sounds. It sounds perfect, even if I do say so myself. The loop has a different feel to it now. It feels more "real" for want of a better word. When I bypass Breverb to hear the dry loop, it sounds great, but lifeless, but with the reverb included it sounds deeper, more alive somehow and seems to fill up the speakers (Spatially speaking of course) I think I've found a new best friend. It didn't end there. I started messing about with the time slider, and with the gate in effect, it made for a really interesting sound so I thought, with the right automation, this could get interesting. And it did. I automated the time setting over 4 bars, and just ramped the time parameter from 0 to 100%. Really weird effect, and what's more it is useful. As I said before, I shied away

from reverb in the past, now I am intrigued by it. Lets see what a different algorithm sounds like used on a synth. I loaded up an instance of the powerful HalionSonic SE from Steinberg, and looked for a nice lead synth sound. I found a suitable preset called Rich and Famous, and I disabled the internal effects. Now it is a dry lead synth sound, crying out for some reverb. Instead of going through all the various controls again, I am going to check out a few of the many presets within Breverb. I started doing this at 9:32pm , it is now 9:57pm... Not only do I have a strong love for HalionSonic SE, but Breverb has brought out new character to one preset I've been using. Furthermore, I thought it would be instructive to be able to tweak parameters in real time as I play, so I quickly set-up Breverb and Automap so it now runs from my little Nocturn, then I just started playing. Even though the music that I make is quite extreme, it's moments like these that I suddenly think to myself this is how the likes of Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis or Mike Oldfield must feel when they are just playing. Going through the plate and room presets just show that all the algorithms within Breverb are of extremely high quality. And the CPU use is incredible, even a weak CPU wouldn't worry about running this.

The inverse reverb was something that I would normally use in a different way, but after experimenting with it briefly it has a multitude of uses that I'd never considered. I even took this preset I was playing with and turned it into a bouncy style stab, which I was rather pleased to hear. One more thing I wanted to try with Breverb, something I have always loved the sound of is the 303 style acid bass line. I created a quick MIDI track on my favourite 303 emulation, Alien303. It was short, fast and almost arpeggiated. I wanted to see how I could give this depth, ambience and yet keep it distinct with reverb, as the tail of the verb would clash. I quickly set the parameters for a room reverb algorithm, and adjusted all the parameters to suit a fast, short and sharp acid line. I then used the EQ to bring some high frequencies under control, and the reverb tail for this acid line sounded amazing. The thing that really set this off, was adding some pre-delay. It brought out a whole new character to this acid line, one that made me think hard about tracks I've done before that maybe lacked the vibrancy and feel that reverb offers, especially Breverb. Knowing how light it is on CPU I could quite happily go back and add more instances of reverb in the form of Breverb to my existing tracks to bring out sections with more life. I feel somewhat enlightened about aspects of reverb I didn't really understand as well as I may have. The good thing about Breverb, is that the important

July 2011

stuff is right there in front of you, and it sounds incredible. I now have a complete love for reverb, and Breverb in particular. Overloud have stated this is the one stop shop for reverb needs, and I am inclined to agree. So many options, so many choices, seemingly unlimited power for zero computer drain. Overloud have made a diamond with Breverb. Highly recommended. VISIT : http://www.overloud.com/breverb.ph p?idarg=71 For more information. Breverb is priced at 199 Euros + VAT and comes in AU/VST/RTAS formats.

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ConcreteFX's Kubik

Rock Solid Synthesis by Adrian Frost

In last month's issue of Wusik Sound Magazine I got the chance to take a look at ConcreteFX's Unison and Micron soft-synths. This double act of subtractive synths was great fun to use and there was plenty to explore, even on Micron which is, reportedly, the simpler version of Unison. My feeling was that I'd never get to the end of what these synths could do.

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Then Jon Ayres, ConcreteFX's owner and coder offered me a copy of Kubik for review. How could I turn him down? Kubik is a wave sequence wavetable synth that follows in the footsteps of PPG and Waldorf. It's also my first real foray into nonsubtractive synthesis, although there's enough there that is familiar that I don't feel too lost.

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First up, let's take a look at Kubik. ConcreteFX's synth interfaces tend to be quite plain and functional, workman like, you might say. Some people hate them. Personally, I like them. Everything is neatly labelled and you can see clearly where you are and what you're doing. My only wish would be for a bit more contrast between the control values that are

currently a dark blue and the dark slate background of the synth. It's a minor quibble and generally doesn't detract much from the use of the synth. One thing that is handy on controls, particularly sliders, of which there are many, is that clicking the control reveals its current value. It is touches like that that make Kubik surprisingly easy to use. One thing that impressed me about Kubik's workflow is that it is quite logical. You set up your oscillators and global bits and pieces in the upper half of the synth and then work your way from left to right through the tabbed (and sub-tabbed) pages that take up the lower half of the synth, setting everything up as you go along.

It's quite smooth and the relative positions of the different elements makes good sense. When you come to set up your wave sequences in detail you'll also find that you have more than one way to achieve the same effect - one that suits those of us who are more visual and one that is better for those who are used to trackers and like doing everything in lists. Since Kubik isn't your standard, common or garden subtractive synth most of us will need something of a helping hand. Thankfully Kubik ships with a decent manual in PDF form. It's brief and to the point and you can work through it fairly easily in one sitting. In fact, may I suggest that you download the demo from www.concretefx.com, install Kubik, July 2011

either print out the manual or grab your laptop, go run yourself a nice hot bath and take half an hour to read through the manual at your leisure? I'll be here when you get back. OK, now you've done that we can carry on. Kubik can operate as a simple two oscillator subtractive synth but that would be like me buying a Ferrari (I can dream) and then just driving it down to the local shops half a mile away. Like my mythical Ferrari, Kubik has some serious power under the hood and we must not let it go to waste on local shopping trips - at which point my analogy more or less breaks down even if the Ferrari keeps purring along happily.

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Kubik's "motor" is the wave form panel. At the top of this panel you have 64 slots into which you can enter a whole range of different waveforms to manipulate later using the sequencers or the mod tables. The picture shows what happens when you select all of the slots you can see the first slot's waveform overlaying the last slot's waveform. You can either load up a waveform from the list on the right, draw one in by hand in the editing window or use the additive features (See Ben's first article on Additive synthesis theory in last month's edition) to create your own custom waveform. If the thought of clicking on each of the 64 slots and adding or editing a waveform doesn't float your boat then you can use Kubik's set of morphing and interpolation tools to fill in the gaps. Simply choose three or four slots spaced equally across all 64, set a waveform in each of those slots and then tell Kubik to figure out the rest. Easy, and the tools prove to be quite powerful. Kubik even offers resynthesis for the creation of waveforms but that is one area I really didn't have time to delve into.

After the ADV tab which looks after the advance settings for the 2 oscillators you have the ENV tab. Envelopes can affect 8 different elements of the synth and you can have up to 15 sections in your envelope. For my example I've chosen to set up a 4 section, ADSR style envelope on Wave1. Kubik offers a whole range of extra options in a right-click menu.

Once you've filled your slots it's time to set envelopes and then work on your sequences. Here some screenshots will be the best way to show you how things work if you haven't managed to install a copy of Kubik to play with. 64

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Next we have Kubik's LFO tab. As you can see you have very precise control over the waveform of your LFO. Again, you can have your LFO affect up to 8 different elements of the synth. It's quite rare to see this much control available over this part of a synth you generally just get a few waveform options, rate and sync.

ConcreteFX's Kubik

Kubik can function in the manner of a normal subtractive synth if that is what you want to do and the supplied MATRIX and MOD tabs take care of those aspects of the synth. If, however, you're intent on exploring the wavesequencing side of things the next stop is the SEQ and GRAPH tabs. There are two sequencers available and each contains 64 steps though you're not obliged to use them all. SEQ A controls what happens to the wave set of oscillator 1 and SEQ B controls what happens to the wave set of oscillator 2. Although this might sound a little odd, both oscillators actually use the same wave set but with the two sequencers you can access different parts of that set. Each step of a sequence can control the pitch of the waveform being played, the length of that waveform in quarter beats as well as control the filter and pan position of the waveform, and even how the waveform is mixed with the other sequencer. There's a lot of power in the sequencer and this truly is one area where you need to try it out for yourself and get a "hands on" feel for what's happening.

If you prefer to do things visually you So you might ask, why bother? Well can just head over to the GRAPH tab there is plenty that you can do with and adjust all of the same settings Kubik that you'll never, ever, be able using a step sequencer style interface. to do with a subtractive synth. Any changes you make in GRAPH are Wavetable synths and wavesequencing, reflected in SEQ and vice-versa. in general, brings a new dimension of Personally I prefer working directly in movement and depth to your sounds the sequencer but it's great to have that you simply cannot achieve with the option to try things out a different even the best subtractive synth. Kubik, way too. in particular, allows you to harness the power of wavesequencing in a Synthesis for everyone... package that is deceptively plain but It's clear that Kubik is a powerful extremely versatile. First impressions synth with many possibilities, I feel as may well be "Whoa, this is too though I have barely begun to cover different, no thanks!" But time spent what it is capable of. Kubik is certainly getting to know his synth is time well more complicated than your average spent. Sometimes the old clichĂŠs synth but my experience with it has really are true. shown that if you have a reasonable, general understanding of subtractive The overarching question though synthesis, moving on to a synth like always has to be "How does it sound?" Kubik is evolutionary rather than My answer? I love it, the sound has revolutionary. That's not to say that plenty of guts, basses are solid and Kubik itself is just a variation on a leads are sweet or growling. Where theme. no, it goes much further than Kubik really wins out though is in pads that and takes you into a whole new and long sequences. I have yet to try realm of sound creation. However the any other synth that can beat Kubik in principles behind its operation aren't a this particular area. Anyway, million miles from the familiar, to download a copy and try it out for most of us, territory of the two yourself. I'm pretty certain that you'll oscillator, one filter and a couple of be pleasantly surprised, and that even LFOs soft-synths we're used to. more so when you see the price of this synth. Kubik sells at $75 / 55 Euros / ÂŁ45 (plus VAT). It's maybe not quite a "no brainer" price for a lot of us but it is worth what you'll pay, and then some.

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Turnado Whirlwind of Fun by Trusty Caught Up In The Wind Sometimes, not often, but sometimes a plug-in comes along that is just so close to perfect one ought to just go ahead and give it the label anyway. Turnado kicks up a whole lot of dust and grit on whatever it passes. I do not think I am aware of any plug-in, including Sugar Bytes own Artillery 2 and Effectrix plug-ins, that can beat Turnado in the fun factor. It is elegant, deep, intense, high quality, and again, loads, and loads of fun. Do you have hours to kill? You will find that you do even if you think you do not. When I got my hands on this one, I set it up with my Novation Remote 25 controller and went to town on some Microtonic presets. Three hours had passed in an instant. I discovered what it was like to be swept up in the wind. It has that instant satisfaction thing going for it. It is easy enough to use, but do not mistake easy for simple. In fact, there are endless possibilities with Turnado. On the Surface It looks simple enough. Along the left hand side there are 24 effects to load into eight slots on the screen. Above each slot is a knob. Turn the knob, and the effect is on. Turn the knob even more, the effect increases in its operation on the audio. Turn the knob back off, and the effect is off. There are bypass buttons next to each knob in case you need to switch it off. Clicking on each of the effect slots brings up a menu of presets for the effect that is on that particular slot. The amount of 66

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presets per effect depends on the effect, with some effects having more presets than others. The main display in the top right has global preset information, a slider for global dry/wet amount for the plug-in, a settings button, and the Dictator button, which activates the dictator screen on the left where the effects choices are normally. In Dictator mode, there is a global slider that activates all the effects. Users can determine the range in the slider position when each effect is activates as the slider is increased. Each of the eight effects has a dice roller so that the amount and range in the Dictator view can be randomly assigned. There are even preset settings for the Dictator screen. Beneath the Surface On each effect slot, there is an edit button. When you click it, what opens up is a panel with more in-depth controls. This is where things get interesting. I know what some of you were thinking. You were probably thinking that you would be able to assign eight knobs of some controller or other to Turnado and be done with it. Yes, you can do that of course, but you won't be getting the most fun out of the plug-in. Across the top of each edit panel, there are eight mini knobs in the upper left, allowing you to switch between the eight effects from within the edit screen. This is helpful when in full edit mode. By edit mode, I mean when you are in the mode to make detailed tweaks from one effect to another and this allows for instant access. To the right is the effects tab, in which you can change the effect out to another July 2011

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Turnado one from within the edit screen. Then there is the effect preset screen. Finally, in the upper right, there is the Key Sync function which will activate the effect, when the knob is turned, to the next beat in the bar. This can be quantized to quarter note, eighth note, or sixteenth note resolution.

effect. To the left and right of these are the LFO settings, with many waveforms available for selection. The bottom left and right contain the LFO controls. In the bottom center there is the envelope follower control. This is an audio signal dependent control in which the incoming audio determines the amount of the envelope generated Directly below this, there are four to modulate the other parameters different parameter boxes, with the within the effect. controls being effect dependent, The Envelope meaning that the effect selection Follower and the determines which parameters are two LFOs are available. Given each of the options different colors, depending on the effect, there are and following the tons of control options. Switches color scheme to determine whether or not that various switches in particular parameter is going to be the control boxes effected by the LFOs and Envelope makes it easy to Follower (see below). Each section has understand how a parameter controller, and each of the LFOs underneath that is the amount and Envelope controller. Turning the amount Follower is linked to controller alters what you see in the various parameters parameter controller and the within the edit relationship between that parameter screen. This was and the effect overall. Under each very cleverly amount controller knob is a waveform thought out, and selector to determine the makes operating transformation curve of how the the plug-in much amount affects the parameter. The easier to follow and fifth box to the far right is common to understand. Of all the effects and controls that course, one can rad particular effect's dry/wet settings, the manual to find with multiple options available. all the odds and ends and other Beneath that, in the dead center is the details about the knob controller for that particular controls, and since

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they can be MIDI-mapped, you will want to save room on your controller to tweak these more in-depth controls while using Turnado in action. The configurations are endless, and the amount of control, while being more than some may need (though are necessary for even those happy with the presets), is plenty enough to get what you want.

Stay Tuned Be sure to read subsequent issues of WSM, because following this review is going to be a series of article tutorials looking at each particular effect thoroughly, and providing tips and tricks on what the different settings within the Edit Panel work best for certain tasks, along with detailed

explanations of what they do. There is a lot to explore since the various parameters are dependent on which effect is being used. Tons of tweakable goodness is packed into this effect. To be sure, playing with Turnado and deconstructing the presets is always going to be the best tutor, but some people may not fully comprehend what they are deconstructing, so these forthcoming tutorials will greatly assist in getting the most out of Turnado. Nevertheless, Turnado provides instant fun and usage with what is delivered out of the box. Be Blown Away If Artillery2 and Effectrix set the standard for multieffect plug-ins, only Sugar Bytes could surpass it and set a new one. It seems like these types of effects are all the rage these days, and there are plenty of options for glitched-out, FSU madness, but make

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no mistake, Turnado is now the one to beat. Sugar Bytes are certainly in a league of their own, and in reality they are only competing against their own abilities like true professionals, and not worrying about the rest. If tools like this are old hat for your personal genre of music, do yourself a favor and make life easier by getting Turnado. If you want to get into that controlled chaotic style and spice of glitched-out madness to add to your style, Turnado is the best, and by far easiest way into that realm. You can work it live, you can automate it in a sequencer, you can use it sparingly or drench your music with it; but the bottom line is that you need to just get it. This one is tops! At $179 USD it is worth every penny you spend. It may seem pricey in this economy, but Turnado is a beast, and is a better addition than any two instruments or effects in your arsenal right now, much less instruments of effects you may be considering to buy, in terms of what it can do for your music, and your level of enjoyment when making or jamming your music. Also, unlike even less expensive plugins, Sugar Bytes trusts their buyers and the copy protection is a hasslefree serial number. For more information, check out the website: http://www.sugarbytes.com/content/products/Turnado/ index.php?lang=en

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The Nebula Phenomena by LeVzi

Since I started my journey into music production, I've tended to observe a lot of different things with interest, but from a safe distance. The Nebula system is one of these things. I've heard it mentioned many times on many different forums, blogs,even in magazines, or if I was just talking to someone about an idea I was mulling over. I finally thought it is time to stop thinking and start doing, so it's time to find out more about the Nebula family.

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When you visit the Acustica-Audio "Nebula is a radical VST Plugin website, you are instantly transported based on Volterra Kernels Series", to the realm where Nebula is the which is something I have never centrepiece of everything. But what is heard of before. I did some quick Nebula? Well, the definition taken researching online and found from its own Wiki page reads as information on the Volterra series. follows

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When I saw that, it took me back to my applied mathematics days, but shows the complexity of the whole system. I asked Giancarlo, the man behind Nebula, what the Volterra Series was,

WSM: What exactly are the Volterra Kernels Series? Giancarlo: Volterra series is a model for non-linear behaviour described by an equation composed by infinite terms. Nebula is based on a simplification of this model named "diagonal volterra series", just to explain it quickly there is a sort of impulse response for each harmonic. This response is named "kernel". First kernel is more or less the classic impulse response used in common convolver plug-ins. Obviously this description of the target system is somewhat limited and, more important a static description. But if you use different set-ups of kernels switching the context following external user variables, time, input and output dynamic

assessments, you could get something absolutely dynamic, complex and (more important) new.

existing models there is a sort of "best of breed" issue, and the time required to validate the new algorithm or DSP. You should create a lot of demo's, blind tests, People who are familiar with and so on. On the other side when convolution reverb units will be you sample something, even if the used to using Impulse sampling result is not perfectly Responses. It seems Nebula matched you have a better takes this concept far beyond reference and a better explanation anything before. But how did of what you are releasing. For this whole concept come along? example, when you release a new UREI emulation, everyone WSM: How did you come up understands what you are trying with the idea for the Nebula to achieve. So the main issue is System? not "what" you are trying to achieve, but "how", and "how Giancarlo: I was going to create a close" it is. The discussion moves sort of convolution plug-in for my later to "how useful" and "how own scopes, but I was not better". On the other side moving satisfied by the harmonic away from "what" is very distortion generated by the basic troublesome. I think it explains initial dynamic technique. the success of sampling techniques in general. WSM: How are the various modules created within Nebula? I think that is something all Are they sampled from the developers have to be wary about hardware itself? when emulating traditional hardware, and there is such a demand for Giancarlo: Yes everything for the accurate hardware emulations that a exception of a few demo examples system where sampling the original located in our basic commercial for use in the software, for me, is library. I was going to push in this probably the most innovative idea I've new direction, but it seems like heard of. That is the power of Nebula. the market is happier with a pure Giancarlo has really opened my eyes sampling approach technique. I to something totally new and think it moves the imagination in extremely usable with Nebula, and it a better way. When you create doesn't end there. Nebula is being something new, or based on ported to support CUDA technology,

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Nebula

which basically means that the plug-in will use the Graphics CPU of your Nvidia graphics card for its processing needs, thus reducing the strain on the main CPU of your computer. It is much the same sort of system a dedicated DSP card would offer. Personally I think this is a great leap forward in major plug-in development, as graphics cards tend to remain mostly idle when not running videos or games or such like. CUDA is something very under-rated, and under used if the truth is told. ATI users need not fret, I should imagine Stream will eventually be supported. WSM: You mention CUDA on your website as a possible way of reducing the CPU use Nebula uses, do you see CUDA (and/or Stream) as a viable method for more power to plug-ins such as Nebula, or would a more dedicated DSP Card still be a better offering and something you have considered?

Giancarlo: Well nebula3 is just a nebula2 with a slightly better UI. So the answer is about the whole nebula development in general. I think it has been the time varying sampling technique. Anyway I think it is the less used and underrated feature of the engine. Once again, it doesn't end there, Nebula has a server version which allows for shared resources over a TCP/IP network connection. I asked Giancarlo about this. WSM: The Nebula Server bundle offers a way of sharing resources on a network, which is pretty innovative for plug-ins, do you see this as a method of having a central hub for all resources, and then allowing others too connect to it, maybe even one day over the internet? (I actually hadn't thought of that really, a central server for it, is that even viable?) Giancarlo: Well, the server already

Giancarlo: Yes, at the moment our CUDA bridge supports long tailed kernels, so just to explain it in simple words, "reverbs" and few equalisers. We are porting the whole engine to CUDA, and I hope to support all libraries soon. WSM: What has been the biggest challenge you've faced while developing Nebula into its third incarnation?

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works over the internet if you want, because it's based on the TCP/IP protocol. Everything depends on the connection bandwidth: what you are saying it's viable, and someone even proposed it to me. I don't know if this sort of cloud solution could be interesting for the final user, though. I think that cloud is trendy now, but I'm not sure this will be the real direction for audio I think that just using more servers from the same client/DAW and controlling them using an iPad (we are working on that) could be enough appealing even without a remote server farm. Now you know some of the background and planned ideas for the Nebula platform, let's put the plug-in to the test and see how it actually works, and more importantly sounds. Now I am no expert in how the hardware units sound, in fact I have little experience of them at all, but

that is why I was so keen to review Nebula. I want to show how practical it is for anyone who produces music. How many times have you seen the words "Virtual Analogue" or "Hardware emulation" mentioned when talking about VST units? In terms of synths, there are always references to the likes of the Junos, JPs, etc. from Roland, the Virus from Access, etc. etc. Also, for some of the vintage compressors, or EQ's etc., the list goes on and on, and now Nebula offers the users actual sampled emulations of those old effects units of days gone by that you can use in your modern day DAWs. I did a Google search for Vintage Compressors, and some of the top searches came from forums where people were asking for emulations of some of the older hardware units, and for most of which there probably were no single plug-ins. The Nebula system is a vessel for an interchangeable independent effect. What I mean by that is that you load up Nebula as an effect in the normal way, then from a menu, you can load up whichever effect you want. You install all the libraries you want in the Nebula folder and then they are all loadable from within Nebula itself. It is a very useful way of loading a series of effects to listen to each one in turn, without having to reload the whole effect from scratch. There are two versions of Nebula you can load. One is for most effects and the other is for reverb. Installation of the plug-ins is straightforward and easy. Once you install the base Nebula program, you can then install the libraries. Once Nebula is all installed with its libraries and the plug-in is authorised, you can load it into your project as an effect using the normal NebulaCore version, or, if you are going to use it for reverbs, the NebulaCoreReverb

version. If you wish you utilize CUDA (It's not set-up as default), the instructions how to do this are on the Acustica-Audio website. I suspect as Nebula continues to be developed, things like a CUDA version, and the reverb version, will be amalgamated into one. Nebula is very much a work in progress, nothing like this has existed before, and it is something totally new with the sky being the limit for how far it can go. I am sure the veterans in the world of plug-ins are aware of Nebula, but I suspect there are a great deal of producers around who do not know about this system, and how it could benefit them. Let's try some of the compressors in the libraries to see how it all works. Once again, I reach for a trusty loop to test this with, and the Boeing 747 compressor. Well, the compressor is modelled on a very high end dual mono compressor, and it certainly behaves like one. I like testing compressors on various loops as they have quite a varied dynamic range. Ideally, I am looking for something that will deal with that, without causing any audible issues such as distortion. Many compressors these days are modelled on successful hardware units, and this 747 version for Nebula is a very gentle compressor. It is dealing with all the transients very cleanly, also very transparently. I am using the s(m)exoscope within Cubase to monitor the waveform as it passes through Nebula, and it takes a crazy spiking loop, and turns it into a uniform waveform without losing any of its character. I decide to crank things up, and push the compressor hard, and lower the threshold to its minimum value. Then maxing out the ratio, reducing the attack, and setting the release to max, I try to squash the loop to the point of distortion. Unfortunately for me, I cannot force this loop to distort.

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So where is the breaking point? Let's throw something a little more harsh at it. A quick snippet from a full track is thrown into Cubase, and this is a fully mastered track that has a great deal of distortion already in it. With the compressor set to squash the track, everything at maximum compression at a very low threshold, once again, I am stunned by how this copes. There is no difference, other than the actual volume of the loop, it is intact, not distorted, and as clean as the uncompressed version is. That is a lovely thing to hear, and I can understand why someone would pay a fortune for a top end hardware compressor that is that gentle or harsh, with no drawbacks. But there is no hardware, it doesn't cost a fortune, and it's purely software. Once again I am back in my chair with a bewildered look on my face thinking, "How do these people do these things?" One thing I've heard mentioned about Nebula is that it's a resource hog. It eats CPU and needs a powerful system to run. Well, with this compressor running, nothing is registering on the ASIO meter in Cubase. My AMD Hex core 1090T @ 3.2Ghz is quite a powerful CPU, but I'm used to it now. I know what taxes it, and what I actually consider a resource hungry plug-in. As far as I am concerned, Nebula does not fall into that category. Maybe with the reverbs it might, but we shall see. Now let's try some of the other libraries, starting with PongChampion, which is a sort of auto panner. It has one simple control, a rate of pan which is measured in hertz. Very simple, and very effective. And yet again, there is nothing on the ASIO meter. I tried a few Chorus, Phasers and Tremolos, and each work exactly as you'd hope. But, as I have no hardware to compare it against, I cannot tell you how accurate the www.WusikSoundMagazine.com

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emulation actually is. For me at least, that isn't really important. I always look for plug-ins that are useful, and exceptional in certain areas. Nebula certainly is that as far as compressors are concerned. Bearing in mind I focused on the 747 compressor here, rest assured that I tried a lot of the others, and they have a different character. Some are less forgiving, and others are more gentle.

some of them. I think there are amazing plug-ins around that equal hardware, I know I have them in my arsenal of effects, but now I am beginning to see why there is an aura around Nebula, and why it's quoted as being "The future of plug-ins" by more than one person.

I could go on with how each library sounds, but I won't. However, it is safe for me to say that they all do Now let's try some of the EQs. I was sound unique, unlike anything I've shocked to see just how many there used before in software form, and so are in the library, and there are so far very light on CPU. But, I am now many different types. There are Hi going to load in the reverb version end, Parametric, Lo End, and the list and see how that sounds, and if that goes on. Some of the EQs tend to only uses up a lot of CPU. have 1 band, which I assume is to cut down on CPU drain, but I should The plug-in shell is identical to the imagine as CPUs and computers in non-reverb one, so it's nothing new to general increase in power, Nebula will learn. It just uses a different XML file start to incorporate more bands into which introduces a 16k amount of various EQs. As to how they sound, latency for the reverb. But, seeing as they have a distinct character. Some Cubase has automatic compensation are not clean, crisp and digital which for this, it isn't an issue in the is what I'm more used to. I used one slightest. of the Hi EQs to augment the top end of a synth loop, which added some I am going to use a vocal for testing nice harmonics to the sound, and and start with a small room. The one I really brought out the brightness. I use is called Small Vocal, and load it loaded a standard EQ in and bypassed Nebula, and did the same thing. I then A/B'd between them, by-passing one then activating the other, and what I found was the Nebula EQ was not as harsh as the other one. It sounded clean and sparkling, which is hard to describe really. It was almost like the phasing was not an issue with the Nebula version, but had become an issue with the other, as there were some top end harmonics that were not pleasing to the ear. Yet, with the Nebula one, they were. Maybe this is exactly what is trying to be achieved with accurate hardware sampling in the Nebula system. If hardware units are this forgiving, yet so powerful, I am not surprised they are still so popular, and that the VST market really is still playing catch up with 76

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up. Now I can see the need for a more powerful CPU. The meter has risen a lot, and now is showing about a third. But the question is, am I concerned about this? The answer is no. Nebula is no different from any other plug-in, some are more CPU intensive than others. I have reverb plug-ins that run at higher use than this, which is acceptable. I think in certain cases, where low power CPUs are used, when you load a hungry plug-in into an already pretty full project, you max out your CPU and get the clicks and pops from an overloading CPU. But most modern DAWs have the option to export tracks to audio or freeze a track to audio and unload the plug-in, only to have the option to unfreeze it to make changes. So should anyone be concerned about the CPU use? No, if you are sensible about how you use your DAW, and think ahead, Nebula, nor any other plug-in that uses CPU, should be an issue. I managed to load three instances of this Small Vocal Library before my CPU maxed out. But on further inspection, 1 core of 6 maxed out, leaving the other 5 running relatively low at around 10%. I think it's safe to

say that with more and more support for multi-threaded applications, plugins will follow suit. It is a trend I have seen beginning, and I hope it continues. So don't be at all surprised if the Nebula platform supports multicore CPUs. But what is the point of all this? Well, the result is an absolutely stunning reverb unit. The Small Vocal that I selected added presence and space to the vocal I was using it on. I've been very lucky this month to review a number of reverb units, and they are all of the highest possible quality. Nebula is absolutely no different. Small Vocal is exactly that to a T, and gave the vocal the perfect amount of reverb and length of tail needed to bring it out more in the mix. Not only that, there are wet/dry parameters in Nebula. So again, it went in as an insert, not a send. Obviously you'd want to use it as a send if you are worried at all about CPU issues. The last thing I am going to test with Nebula is the Tape section. There are high, medium and low end tape emulations on offer here in the library. I started experimenting with the low end. I used an old school drum and bass loop for my experimenting to see if I could take the digital sheen off it and make it sound like the tapes I still very much listen to now from back when tapes were actually the most widely used medium. Did it work? The answer was a resounding yes. The tape emu's that I tried in Nebula stripped the signal back to the familiar sound of tapes I used to listen to on a walkman. If tape saturation or degradation is what you're after, then Nebula's libraries nail this to perfection. Tape is a bit like vinyl in the sense

that it has its own character and quality, and you tend to become used to it being far less polished than a lot of modern audio is. Music actually sounds more vibrant this way.

emulations are in comparison to the actual units, but from the point of view of someone who uses plug-ins exclusively, I am always looking for something different and/or unique. Ever since I started producing, the demand for analogue sounding plugIncluded in both the Nebula3 Pro ins has been immense. I think now I Bundle and Nebula3 Server Versions can see why. What I have also found is the N.A.T. Sampler, which is the method of sampling the hardware and is a community that is growing for importing it into Nebula for use. Taken other users of Nebula who share their libraries with each other. There are from the website : also sites dedicated to providing more libraries; all taken from genuine "N.A.T. is the FX Sampler. It is able to analogue hardware units. I really am sample the greater part of audio blown away by Nebula3, how well it signal processors like: compressors, works, and, more importantly, how equalizers, filters, pre-amplifiers, good it sounds. Admittedly, some of guitar and bass amplifiers, tapes, the reverb libraries eat a lot of CPU, reverbs, microphones, Time variant but as with many reverb units, that's effects and HRTF (Head Related the price you pay for amazing sound. Transfer Function) N.A.T. is based on I am amazed Nebula isn't talked about VVKT too. It allows one to sample the more in the music production world, original linear impulse responses especially by those searching for a (traditional convolution), the original true analogue sound from their effects. non-linear impulse responses e.g. Nebula is also very much a work in original harmonic distortions, the progress too. It is being updated and dynamic behaviour, e.g. compressors improved with each and every new and the time variant behaviour e.g. release. Giancarlo strikes me as a choruses, flangers and generic time developer who not only takes pride in variant processors." his work but is also an extremely intelligent developer who is always And if that wasn't enough, the looking to get the most out of what Nebula3 Server Bundle includes the resources he has. Nebula TCP/IP server, which allows different workstations to share resources, thus lowering the needed If you want to find out more, go to: processing power further. Because the connection is TCP/IP, you could use http://www.acustica-audio.com the internet as well. There are many versions of Nebula available, from the full Pro bundle to CONCLUSION the Free (Yes free) version that will whet your appetite for more. During my testing of Nebula, I've come to realise that the ideas behind it are an incredible feat of coding and The Pro Bundle comes in at 139 Euro's and comes with the N.A.T. sampler. It sampling. Everything I tried out for is available in VST for windows both the purpose of this review not only 32 and 64bit, and VST AU for Mac. sounded excellent, but had a (N.A.T. is only available for Windows) character and feeling that I've not heard before, yet I would be keen to use. I've never owned hardware, so I am not able to state how accurate the July 2011

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DDMF IIEQ Pro v 3.0 by A. Arsov

One of the best kept secrets in the VST world has reached a new incarnation. It has a new graphical interface, built in spectral analyzer, and new additional filter types, along with a more than friendly price. If you add in a crystal clear sound and low CPU consumption, you get all the reasons that this plug-in kills all

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competitors in a most ruthless way. Let them rest in peace. DMF IIEQ is one of the best sounding equalizers on the market. It is clean with a nice, pleasant, additional, analog feel. It offers you a bright sound, and what is more important, it doesn't swamp you with unpleasant frequencies when you overdo it with

July 2011

the bands. As we've already mentioned, IIEQ Pro is also extra light on the CPU. I did a simple test to prove this â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I recorded a guitar track, used the same settings on all tested equalizers and copied the track twenty times. DDMF IIEQ Pro beats all its competitors. CPU consumption was stable and low.

We get up to ten bands and 19 filter types. Among the common ones are high-pass, low-pass, band, notch, low shelf, high shelf, etc. We also get some very useful and desirable ones, like the so called "Butter Low pass" and "Butter High pass" for special steep cuts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from 6 to 60 decibels slope per octave. No more problems with extra high or low ends. There are also other "Butter" filter types with similar characteristics, such as butter high shelf, low shelf, band shelf, band stop and band pass. Adding bands is dead easy. Double click inside the equalizer's window and you get a new band. With a right click you can select the filter, and with the mouse, you can shape the width of the curve.

frequency range to find the problematic issue in selected area. The real time spectral analyzer can be activated by pressing the Analyzer button and it shows input spectrum along with output one. This way you know exactly how much the equalizer affects your original sound. With command and shift commands, you can zoom the affected area, or decrease and increase the loudness resolution for the spectral analyzer. In the previous version, I had a problem whenever I used the frequency analyzer with quiet sounds, because the analyzer curve was placed too low at the bottom of the window. Now, with this zoom option, it works as it should. There were also some other minor issues in previous versions, but it seems that everything is fixed.

A nice new addition is an Auto-listen option for soloing the desired

There is also an option for separately equalizing the left and the right

So, what else do we get for 29 USD?

July 2011

channel of the signal, or mid and side channel. If you click on any of those LR or MS buttons you get another instance of IIEQ Pro under the main window for controlling the equalizer curves for separate channels on separate windows. There is not much else to say about this plug-in. It is stable, usable, and sounds good. The technical support is excellent. It is inexpensive, and better than most of its high price competitors. As you know, for good production you need only one good equalizer, one good reverb, compressor and one good delay. So, at least for equalizer, you don't need to look any further. I've been using IIEQ Pro since its first version, and it is still my first choice whenever I need equalization. And I need it all the time. A big fan and trusted user A. Arsov. www.WusikSoundMagazine.com

Mellowmuse

CP3V Compressor &

CS1V Channel Saturator by Rishabh Rajan

Vintage analog emulation plugins are highly sought after in the primarily digital world of music production. Mellomuse has added a few more options in this market of hardware emulation plugins, and more importantly, made them affordable. Graphical User Interface The visual design of these plugins makes you feel like you are actually using a real hardware unit. The shading on the knobs while rotating them gives it a very realistic and inspiring feel. I particularly like the large knobs and simple layout. The VU meters show compression amount and have a glassy shine, not unlike many hardware units. The only problem I had was with the RTAS version of 80

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CS1V, which does not fill the entire plugin view, so there is a gray background which doesn't complement the visual design of the plugin. Understandably, a lot of developers have the same problem with RTAS plugins that have a portrait layout. I'm guessing this is more of a Pro Tools issue rather than the plugin itself, because this problem is not present in Logic Pro. CPU usage The CP3V & CS1V have 64 bit internal processing, unlike many of Mellowmuse's competitors. I tested a few instances of both the CP3V & CS1V in Logic Pro 9 running in 64 bit mode. The plugin seems to run very smooth, even with multiple instances July 2011

running at the same time. The CPU hit was quite minimal, though this can be quite subjective depending on the specification of the computer being used. In Pro Tools 9, the plugins are running with a delay of 3 samples for the CP3V, and 4 samples for the CS1V, which can be considered negligible. With Automatic Delay Compensation now available in Pro Tools 9, this delay should be considered inconsequential. The CPU hit was slightly more on Pro Tools as compared to Logic Pro. I am not going to comment further, as this area of comparison can be quite debatable and subsequently inconsequential. The Pro Tools vs. Logic Pro war is never-ending.

Sound

plugin, and have the two main parameters of this plugin grouped to have a more uniform saturation. This is great, because if you think about it, adding saturation to individual elements rather than adding it to the entire mix can give you more of an analog 'feel'. Also, this internal grouping ensures that the host groups are saved for other purposes. I've never really run out of groups in a session but having the plugin provide the grouping feature can make life a lot easier, and workflow a lot smoother.

I tried the CP3V on a variety of sounds, but found it to be really effective on percussive elements. I like the sound of this compressor when used at extreme settings. It was quite easy to bring out the 'snap' that most people associate with snare drums. The attack and release knobs respond pretty well, and despite the plugin having no presets, playing around with the controls gives an audible change that can be instantly usable. Pushing the input and output over a kick drum, with a very fast attack and release, gave a really punchy sound that was surprisingly Final Thoughts effective. Some of the more renowned plugins can take some time getting These two plugins used to before getting such results, are not the 'end but with the CP3V, it was a breeze. all' in analog emulation, but for The CS1V has a lot more subtle sonic the price they are impact compared to the compressor, a great add-on to which is not a bad thing at all. any analog Pushing the drive control all the way emulation plugins to the max was giving me the ideal that may already result on drums. On vocals, and some be in your sonic other melodic elements, the drive arsenal. They will would sound best at about half way add some variety through. The CS1V plugin also has a to your sound, 'Channel/Buss' mode selector, where and help you the channel mode works the usual create music that way, but on stereo tracks the 'Buss' doesn't have that mode can create a subtle crosstalk 'mixed in the box' between the two channels. sound that everyone is trying The most unique thing about the so desperately to saturation plugin is that it has 8 built- avoid. If you are in groups, which link the 'Drive' and new to producing 'Tone' parameters across all instances music using of the same plugin in your entire Digital Audio session. So instead of bussing Workstations, elements and sending them to one these plugins are instance of the CS1V, you can pretty a great way to get much have unlimited instances of the you started with

July 2011

third party plugins, and won't leave you wanting for more, for a while. Personally I can never have enough analog emulation plugins, so the more the better for me, and at this price I don't have to worry about breaking the bank. Cost CP3V $99 CS1V $59

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Best Service

e by Ginno Legaspi

What is Epic World

asked me to activate the program "QUICK EDIT" page. It includes the using Yellow Tools' E-License most commonly used features Epic World - Cinematic activation process. Epic World and parameters of the loaded Landscapes is a virtual instrument employs 'challenge/response' instrument for immediate access. created by Eduardo Tarilonte for copy protection which is fairly The Quick Edit page is freely Best Service of Germany. Its aim easy to deal with. After the online designable by the sound is to provide sound sources for authorization validated the serial designers and developers. This (1) media composers, film scores, and product code, I immediately includes the background screens music for TV, documentaries, got a response code for unlimited and the design and position of the video games and (2) composers use. parameters. Every instrument of new age, ambient drones, and (Layer) can include a different experimental music. It is loaded The Interface/Pages design, background, and with patches and instruments parameter set. The Quick Edit Epic World/Engine 2 GUI is pretty page will immediately switch as created from both synthetic and real sounds. Epic World is a straightforward since it's the soon as the respective Layer is stripped down version of Yellow wellspring of old, modern, and selected/loaded. This unique Tool's flagship software creative sounds. feature makes ENGINE the single Independence. It's nothing fancy - most powerful sample player Copy Protection it's functional, very intuitive and available: You can load ANY easy to understand. Everything is ENGINE based product into the laid out as it should be with not This might be a Best Service same software, but you still have much clutter. Epic World's product but the sample player the custom Quick Edit pages for interface is divided into 5 sections every instrument. engine is developed by Yellow or 'pages' namely; the Quick Tools (www.yellowtools.us) in cooperation with Best Service. Edit, Pro Edit, Mixer, Browser Pro Edit Page: If you want to Installing the program was a Preference sections. Information get more into the details and piece of cake. Once I installed the about each of the pages is as customization of the instruments, main app, which is the Engine 2 follows: the PRO EDIT page is exactly Sample Player, the next step was what you need - in particular the to copy the 7 GB content to my Quick Edit Page: When using Flexible Modifiers. With tempoDAW's hard drive. The first time I the premium upcoming sound synchronized LFOs, the use of any launched the Engine 2 Sample libraries of ENGINE "out-of-theexternal MIDI controller, Player, the E-License manager box", the default start page is the randomizers and flexible free 82

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envelopes, ENGINE offers anything you need to modify your music. The ingenious structure of the modifiers and the perfect integration into the user interface enable a quick, easy, and unmatched workflow. On this page you can also add Filters and Effects to your instruments. Mixer Page: The professional built-in MIXER of ENGINE allows you to edit, mix, and finish your instrument projects completely independently from your host. You can assign UNLIMITED BUS channels to your project. For your individual settings, each Layer channel contains 5 BUS sends (selectable as pre and post). Furthermore, you can add an unlimited number of "Custom" channels (internal virtual channels) which let you customize the Sections of each Layer. Thus you can create additional virtual channels for easier and more comfortable editing of your Layer. Browser Page: The sophisticated file BROWSER of ENGINE gives you immediate, fast and easy access to any files you can use in ENGINE. You get an overview of your ENGINE Projects, Layer Sets, Layers and Sections and also all available MIDI 84

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import of up to 2 octaves (25 files) of your own samples or audio files! Preference Page: The PREFERENCES page contains parameters to adjust ENGINE to your needs and to the power of your computer. Besides the general output and MIDI settings, you can also configure the basic surround settings for ENGINE and save them in presets. ENGINE also includes "Multi-Core Support" so you can decide how many of your CPU cores you want to use with ENGINE. The Sounds The patches are and audio files. Besides the clear broken down into two folders, each overview, you can also search for any with sub-folders. The Ambience folder of your files in a way you have never has 'Drones', 'Pads', 'Changelings' and experienced before in a software 'SFX' while Instrument & Voices has sampler: You can search not only for sub-folders of 'Instruments' and the file names but also for categories, 'Voices'. Over 1000 loops reside in the dates, authors, etc. Searching for latter folder. MIDI files can be done using attributes like bars, bpm, meter, etc. By combining existing acoustic and the audio file search even accepts instruments with found and synthetic attributes like channels, beats, sample elements, Epic World is not your usual rate, size, etc. ENGINE also allows the dose of bread and butter sounds. Yes, July 2011

Epic World uses samples but this 'Hiding from Nazgul' as these are ROMpler plug-in is more than that. really scary and spooky. Meanwhile, The real fun happens when you go to 'Dark Caves', 'Lost into the Mist', the Pro Edit page and start tweaking 'Beautiful Landscape IV', and 'Augury' the parameters. Those who use a are some nice evolving pads. There wealth of beds, pads, and drones in are lots more that are nicely their compositions will be rubbing programmed, innovative patches, but their hands with excitement because the ones I mentioned grabbed my this library spans a wide range of left- attention. But the highlight or strong field and unusual timbres. And the appeal of Epic World, I think, lies in patches speak for themselves. Epic the ability to tweak the 'Layer' (each World ships with a massive amount of Layer has its own gain slider and content 7 GB (44.1kHz/24-bit), with instrument name for precise control) more than 350 patches that are parameters in the Quick Edit page. categorized into instruments, vocal This can yield some interesting results phrases, effect sounds, drones and especially when automated. pads.

Verdict Epic World has got everything you need to make a professional soundscape production. It is very versatile; pretty much any genre is covered. The patches are programmed very well, and the sound-sculpting tools it comes with gives users a ton of tweaking possibilities. If you're a producer who's looking for an instrument for quick results, many quality sounds, and one that will invite you to start composing, then Epic World is worth considering. It is not cheap, but it is highly recommended.

In use As I was playing and flipping through the patches, there is one thing I couldn't deny; Epic World is highly addictive. There is some good, evocative stuff in here. The fusion of realistic and fantasy instruments creates an emotional element that can add new depth and dimension to any arrangement. Epic World covers everything from bright to dark and from beautiful soundscapes to downright terrifying sounds. The drones, pads and the 1000 loops cover a vast sonic landscape. The 'one-finger' drone-y sounds are some of my favorites as they are very inspiring. These could very well be used as beds or background layers to enhance compositions. Some of my favorite patches in the Drones folder are 'Dead City', 'Energetic Place', and

Web: www.bestservice.de , www.soundsondemand.com Format: VST, AudioUnits, RTAS Price: $353.17, ÂŁ215.83 ex Vat ÂŁ259.00 inc Vat System Requirements: Mac OS 10.4, 10.5 or higher Min. recommended: G5 or Intel Mac 1.8GHz, 1GB Ram Interfaces: Standalone, AU, VST, RTAS (32bit) Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 32bit & 64bit Min. recommended: Pentium/Athlon XP 3.0GHz, 1GB Ram Interfaces: Standalone, VST (32bit and 64bit), RTAS (32bit only) DVD drive Internet connection for product activation required (on any computer). Additional hard disc space according to the library size.

July 2011

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Chris Kerry

Chris Kerry CK_Modules www.chriskerry.f9.co.uk

by Ben Paturzo

When I was searching KVR for info on various modular synths and plugs the name Chris Kerry kept coming up. The overall impression I got was that quite a few developers had been using his modules for some time, including no doubt some popular products you own. You see, there is a program called SynthEdit created by Jeff McClintock (www.synthedit.com). This program allows you to create your own VST instrument using the built-in SynthEdit modules. Chris had created quite the reputation in the SynthEdit developer community, especially when

Figure 1

folks had asked for new, unique, or improved modules, and Chris had delivered. Initially giving them away for free, he finally ended up charging for them to make peace with certain people that will complain even when they get something for free! Fortunately, there are developers like Rurik Leffanta (xoxos.net) who appreciate Chris's work and do support him. To show you how widespread is the adoption of Chris Kerry SynthEdit modules, I've included Figures 1 through 3 that show the contents of the VST PlugIns

Figure 2

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July 2011

folders for three different developers of VST instruments. I could do this many more times. Chris has created over 500 modules! He has always priced them far too cheaply, to the point, frankly, where I've become annoyed with him. People often associate low prices with low quality, it's a known marketing fact. My understanding is Mercedes cars are priced high here in the states, relative to Germany, even though they rank pretty low in Consumer Reports ratings for things like long-term reliability. Apple has made a fortune

Figure 3

N Figure 4

Figure 5 using this high-price-you're-elite type of marketing strategy. Address your cards and letters to Dear jerk_mac-hater@blablabla. You know it's true. Besides SynthEdit creates VST plugins for PC, not mac. So there. So if you go to www.chriskerry.f9.co.uk, you will find all of his SynthEdit modules for sale at extremely low prices, with the "Bulk Pack", all 502 modules, at a 45 % discount of the extremely low prices, coming in at 90 GBP. In dinero Americano, that's about $145, or less than 30 pennies per module. I just got a splitting headache. Folks, did I tell you these modules are written in Assembly Language, just about the most difficult way to program, something designed by Skynet in the future, to blow up our brains in the present? If Apple were marketing Chris's modules -- the iChris -- people would be waiting in line for three days, and be jubilant, just red-cheeked it's-Christmas happy, all to be

paying the reasonable price of only 9,000 GBP. Remember, the modules come in a thin aluminum substrate. Chris, I'm on the phone with Foxconn now. They say we can have 100,000 units of the iChris by Q4. Stat. Chris lives in the small town of Eckington, in Derbyshire, England. In his early formative years he would regularly torture his cello whilst in school, graduating to electronic music as the 80's unfolded and influences like Kraftwerk tugged at his teenage synapses. Those tender tendrils were further twisted as computers became widely available. In the UK, for any lad of talent but not necessarily great wealth, that meant a Sinclair ZX81, especially one in kit form (Figure 4). Getting the program fever on this machine, he eventually graduated to the Sinclair follow-up, the Spectrum (Figure 5), but still managed to find a good use for his ZX81 (Figure 6). Programming on the

Figure 6

July 2011

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Figure 7

Figure 8 Spectrum led to the release of his game, Jack and the Beanstalk, and from the proceeds of that sale, young Master Kerry bought himself a Roland Jupiter6 Analogue Synthesizer. He was 17. Games programming seemed to be a good career path, so he and artist brother Steve developed games for the Spectrum, Amstrad, Commodore C64, Atari ST, Amiga, PC, Nintendo SNES and Nintendo Gameboy -- all in -- the migraine is coming back -Assembly Language. According to Chris: “The highlight of my Games career was owning my own company with my brother and a friend, and then moving to California, USA to develop the first "Jurassic Park" game on the Nintendo SNES. But, shortly after that I decided to leave the Games industry, due to broken promises and being "burnt out" by the industry etc. Basically, I got fed up with making other people rich ha!”

GUI's, sound lovely -- make that modules that are powering at least some of the VST's you're using. As an fabulous -- include a Pattern ARP analogy, let's say you meet a guy who (Figure 10), a Multiple-Effects panel (Figures 11 and 12), extensive designed and built everything that went into a Ferrari F430 Spyder, modulation routing and control (Figure 13), and enough control over sound Figure 9. Excuse me, I think I got something in my eye. Ma è così bello! design and synthesis to satisfy just about anyone. If you're a tweaker, Okay I'm alright. This guy not only designed and built everything, he can you'll be in heaven; if you just like to play, your creativity will flow Exactly how I felt just before leaving build you the exact same car at a unencumbered; if you're a performer, engineering. Not that anyone cares. fraction of the price. It won't say you'll really appreciate the Ribbon and Especially the mac people I offended. Ferrari, maybe Aldo, or Nino, but wouldn't you still grab it and run, Figure 9 Chris has ventured into VST I mean, drive off? That's what instrument design as well, in his quest you have with Chris's for the almighty pound sterling. Figure instruments. A lifetime of 7 shows his synth, the X-Jupitae programming and music education, training, "WideBoy," and Figure 8 shows his other synth, the X-Jupitae "Flexoid." experimentation, development, all leading to what you find at This is what you need to know about all of Chris's synths and effects VST's: his site. The Flexoid and this is the guy that programmed the WideBoy synths have gorgeous 88

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Chris Kerry Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

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N Figure 14

XY Pad controllers; if you're a I'll leave you with some words from musician on a budget, run like heck to the Wizard of Xoxos, Rurik Leffanta: Chris's site and pick both of these jewels up, they are that underpriced, â&#x20AC;&#x153; My image of Chris is exemplified by before Master Kerry comes to his his first VSTi release. The first version senses. While you're there, take a of X-Jupitae used default SynthEdit look at the other VST's: Multi FX graphic elements, e.g. functional yet (Figure 14), Multi-Band Processor-FX generic combo boxes. Pragmatically, (Figure 15), Pattern ARP (Figure 16), he was concerned with the audio and Polyphonic MIDI Step Sequencer engine and not with graphic appeal. (Figure 17). They're all solid units, After a short time it became clear that priced so low that it staggers belief. You will Figure 15 be most happy with any and all of these instruments. Chris generously offers a special bundle price for all his VST's. Chris also collaborates with a few companies and developers to create custom versions of his SynthEdit modules. Figure 18 shows one of those companies: Times Concept. This partnership has produced some lovely acoustic guitar VST's. Chris is as devoted to his custom programming as his other efforts. The quality is always there, guaranteed!

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July 2011

most people were unenthused by the stock GUI elements. He pulled the download for a few days and came back with a crisp, condensed, and contemporary design, the work of someone who is able to apply themselves wholly to what they do because they enjoy it. Chris distinguished himself among SEM [SynthEdit] developers by using

Chris Kerry

Figure 16

Figure 17 ASM [Assembly Language] to produce bafflingly efficient processes, some covering regions of audio processing I don't think I'll ever get to. Because of his extensive knowledge and what seems to be a very genuine motivation for development beyond the pecuniary [$$], I do expect to be impressed by Mr. Kerry's contributions to audio technology at temporal junctures mapping forward, and appreciate his generosity to those who weren't born Rockefellers.â&#x20AC;? Thanks Rurik, and thank you Chris for all these wonderful VST instruments and SynthEdit modules. Cheers!

Figure 18

July 2011

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Forest Kingdom by A. Arsov

What it seems to be What it is At first sight it looks like a tree-hugger collection, with plenty of nature; the green, green grass of home in a jungle. It is a great collection of exotic pads along with a few additional instruments. Maybe you will take an additional minute or two to listen to the audio demos, realising that those pads really sound fantastic, but as you rarely use pads in your production you could easily find that this is maybe not exactly your cup of coffee. Then, you will press another link looking for something more appropriate. Such a small step for browsing mankind, but one great mistake for a single man!

STOP. Rewind time, go back one minute, and before you press another link, please press the "Video demos" button on the Bestservice Forest Kingdom site and stare with surprise. Yes, it's a bomb in a box. And when you get the package, you easily find out that the whole thing is even better than you thought. I work with one of Slovenia's most talented opera divas. She lives only a mile and half away from my home, so whenever I need some opera vocals, I phone her and everything is soon on

track. At the moment I'm working on some jingles and, for the first time, it happened that I didn't bother her and I did the job with the ethereal solo voice patch from the Forest Kingdom. I needed some opera voices singing just a simple voice and Lara's voice did the job perfectly. The only limitation is that her voice ends on a G note, so you need to adapt the melody to G major. Otherwise, when Lara goes with a legato from a lower note to high G, she kills my compressor in a same way as my dear friend Janja. There will be no vocoder in this century to overtake the usability and authenticity of this sample set. Every single instrument in this library has got a bunch of key switches for changing the general mode in real time; from portamento to legato, or

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July 2011

adding ornaments, or anything else that specific instrument requires. Same with this vocal patch. I tried all mods, and then in a minute I got exactly what I wanted. A combination of short notes with a few legato ones. In the voice section you will also find three different Shamanic voices; usable for adding some mystery charms to your compositions.

The next bombastic thing in the box is Amazing and far beyond reality. It is a flute part. Most of the flutes you can like standing near the live player in find in other sample libraries are some really good acoustic place. realistic and good enough for any kind Eduardo and Ivan, you really nailed of production. Flutes are one of the that. It contains Panpipe, Bulgarian rare sampled instruments that sound piccolo flute, double flute, Kiowa realistic without any additional native American flute, Xiao flute and tweaking. Maybe they can't stand on Fula flute. As one of my Balkan friends their own and you can't do wonders used to say: "If anyone spots the with them, but they do their job. So difference between the real player and what's with this collection? If you those played with this library, I can have seen the video clips than you give him a bucketful of Bรถrek!" have already got the impression.

July 2011

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As this is not a culinary review, you will not get that though. You can't spot the difference! All these instruments, with all these included key switches, sound so good that even if you didn't originally have any intention to use them you will definitely want to. Those flutes are the ultimate tearjerker collection. As a bonus you get a useful and epic sounding collection of not so common percussion. Metal bells, hits, sheets, ambiances, and other such things. Ocean drums, shakers, a few war drums, wind chimes, wind tubes are included as well. All in all, like everything in this library, they are top notch, and if you need it, feel free to use it. Another two exotic smaller additions are the Fantasy Creatures parts with some strange animal like voices and birds calls and swishes. If you are in the down-tempo or new age business then you can't go wrong with this. The last and the biggest part of the library is the Pads section. There are out of this world atmospheric pads, or maybe we can call them drones, as 94

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they constantly evolve over time. The as a bonus, you get your ultimate pad best thing is the great looking control selection along with some magnificent window inside of Engine 2 where you percussion and few other useful, can mix various parts included in a additional atmospheric moments. But, particular pad, adding parts/noises or it is definitely not a library aimed only taking them away, adapting them in at cinema, advertising or video game real time to your composition. As you composers. If you are a contemporary already get the impression, all of the musician and producer, no matter pads are really something special, but which genre, take some biscuits, find the only problem for most of our this product on Bestservice site and readers, the desktop musicians, is watch the included video clips. You where to use it? In a dance production will get the point, very soon. you need simpler pads. Also, in a rock Definitely not just a tree-hugger or electro music you often don't need collection! such epic pads. If you are in any cinematic, advertising or new age We don't have any award system at business, than this is a must have. Wusik Sound Magazine but this One thing is for sure, this is an product absolutely deserves an ultimate pad collection. It is the most enormous bucketful of Bรถrek for exotic and mystical sounding pad Bestservice and one huge first class collection I have ever heard. golden pizza with free balcony view You will not find a similar for Eduardo Tarilonte who backed this library anywhere else. library. Crescendo Even if you are not into new age sort of music, this library as a whole is a winner. Ethereal voice, along with the Flute section will blow up your production to a totally new level, and July 2011

Hugging the Forest Kingdom at the Bestservice (www.bestservice.de/) jungle will cost you 199 euro. By kitchen slave A. Arsov.

Wusikstation

Improving by the minute.

www.wusik.com

Camel Audio

Alchemy by Ben Paturzo

Figure 1

The Alchemy manual is over one hundred and fifty pages long, clearly written, logically laid out, has plenty of large, clear illustrations, and includes many examples throughout to guide you as you read through the well-presented material. Rather than serving as a full tutorial, these examples serve as mini-tutorials -- quick, easy to take in, and right-to-theFigure point. The manual also includes a revision history, with hypertext links to the sections affected. The Camel Audio website has the entire manual with the same hypertext links as the PDF version, with an overview video to get you started using Alchemy. The website also has ten professionally-done tutorial videos by Dan Worrall. These videos are easy to follow, simple to grasp, and while they may not answer all user questions, they provide enough groundwork for anyone to use Alchemy. There are also many additional sounds and sample libraries at CamelAudio.com to further expand Alchemy. Note that Alchemy comes with over 5.5 GB of samples, presets, and libraries. The point of all this is the following: you are well-covered in every way a 96

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valued customer should be! The manual appears to be a labor of love, created by people who value their creation. The videos show a dedication to professionally presenting the important attributes of this synth, and the enormous library of included July 2011

sounds shows the sheer effort that has gone into making Alchemy as comprehensive as it is. That is the word you're left with after you've spent some time with Alchemy -comprehensive. This is a deep instrument.

Figure 3

Fortunately, deep is not overwhelming. Figure 1 shows Alchemy in its Simple interface. Figure 2 shows the Factory bank preset categories. After selecting the Leads category, the list of the presets for that category is shown in Figure 3. Selecting the 3 Osc Stack preset gives us Figure 4, where the eight Performance controls have been assigned parameters by the preset. These performance controls are the most useful in terms of modifying the sound of each preset, which is why they are included in the Simple interface. Clicking on the Advanced button next to Simple gives us Figure 5.

Figure 4

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Alchemy

Figure 5

In this figure (5) we see that three oscillators have been assigned as our source: Saw, Square, and something called Pul-Trist which we can see from Figure 6 is from the Virtual Analogue Pulse category of waveforms.

Figure 6

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Figure 7

Figure 8

Switching to the A button in the Figure 7 that underneath the selected Source section shows how the Additive button is the unselected Add button which is used for Additive sawtooth source is set up (Figure 7). The number "3" in the display Synthesis. In this case, as noted in indicates that Alchemy is using three the manual, Alchemy lets you stack oscillators (NOsc knob) for the up to 600 oscillators per source (!) sawtooth, and the Pitch knob provides but the high end of this range is really unison with variable detuning between intended to provide sufficient sine wave partials for detailed additive the three oscillators (20% in this case). The limit in practical use is resynthesis. This is one reason around 20 oscillators per source in Alchemy was chosen for Part 2 of the Additive Synthesis series! this Additive VA mode. Notice in

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Besides Virtual Analog mode, which is part of the Additive soundgenerating element, there is also the Spectral soundgenerating element, which can also be used as a raw white and filtered noise source, and the Granular soundgenerating element, which can also be used for conventional sample playback (Sampler mode). Confused? Take a look at Figure 8. Here we see the flow diagram for Alchemy -- we have four sound sources, A-B-C-D, and each sound source can include an Additive/Virtual Analog element, a Spectral element, and a Granular/Sampler element.

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Alchemy

Figure 9

In Figure 9's preset, the A sound source has a Granular element (Figure 10) that uses a short sound-effects wave file, FlameOn2.wav (Figure 11), as its sample. The waveform for FlameOn2.wav is shown in Figure 12 and it does indeed sound like a flame igniting. The preset in Figure 9 also has the B and C sound sources acting as Sampler elements (Figure 13) using the Synth Leads sample called Cs5DownSweepC0.wav, as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 10

Figure 11

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Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

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Alchemy

Figure 15

Figure 16

The waveform for this sample, which is about ten times the duration of the "flame" sample, is shown in Figure 15. This sample sounds like a synth bass note winding down in amplitude. Finally, we have the sound source D (Figure 16), which is a Virtual Analog (VA) sawtooth. All of this combines to form a very stage-competent synth with some pluckiness and broad pad sweeps. And that's just one preset!

Figure 17

Alchemy is a sound designer's dream tool. Nearly every knob on the Alchemy interface is a mod target, representing a parameter that can be modulated by as many as five modulators. When a knob has one or more modulations assigned to it, a green mod arc is

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illuminated alongside the knob's blue value arc (Figure 17). You can have up to 16 LFO's in the Modulation section, each with several basic shapes (sine, square, ramp, etc.) to more exotic shapes (Figure 18) such as Rnd-32Step (Figure 19). There are other parameters for the LFO modulator, such as Attack, Delay, and Phase, which increase the versatility and usability of this "module."

Figure 18

As for ADSR type modulators, you can have up to 16 AHDSR modulators, with the "H" controlling how long the peak amplitude is held before the decay stage of the envelope begins (Figure 20). Looking at Figure 5, you can see the five additional "shape" controls for the Attack, Decay, and Release slopes. In addition, Alchemy provides up to 16 Multiple Segment Envelope Generator (MSEG) modulators, each with any number of breakpoints. The envelope segments linking these breakpoints can be linear or curved.

Figure 20 Figure 19

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Alchemy

Figure 21

Figure 21 shows the MSEG for the preset 200 Critters. You can see the additional components of Alchemy's modulation section, but some are exotic enough to warrant a separate discussion from this review. The filter sections in Alchemy are shown in the flow diagram of Figure 8.

From the manual: The outputs from all four Sources are sent (in varying amounts, according to their respective FilterMix settings) to the Main filters. Both Main filter modules provide multi-mode filters with identical controls. Each one has its own FX-Mix control, which (like the FilterMix control in a Source) works as a kind of two-channel mixer, or crossfader. • With the FX-Mix control turned all the way to the left, all of the filter’s output is sent to Alchemy’s main output, and none of it to the Effects module. • With the FX-Mix control turned all the way to the right, all of the filter’s output is sent to the Effects module, and none of it to Alchemy’s main output. • With the FX-Mix control set half-way, equal amounts of signal are sent to the Effects module and Alchemy’s main output.

Finally, the Par/Ser knob acts as one more crossfader, allowing you to send the non-FX portion of the Filter 1 signal to the Output stage (when Par/Ser =

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0%), to the input of Filter 2 (when Par/Ser = 100%), or to a mix of these destinations (when Par/Ser has some intermediate value).

Alchemy, each with distinctive characteristics that, again, will serve the sound designer well.

Alchemy doesn't disappoint on effects either. The Effects module is a multieffects processor, offering up to five high-quality effects simultaneously. The available effects include all of the choices found in Camel Audio’s popular CamelPhat and CamelSpace multi-effects plugins as well as its Cameleon 5000 synthesizer. Several new effects, including a highly realistic acoustic reverb, round out the choices. Figure 24 shows the Deep Purple As with all things Alchemy, a preset, with the list of available comprehensive list of filter choices choices for effects. Keep in mind that are available. Alchemy provides a the control knobs for each effect can total of 15 multi-mode filter modules be modulated as well. What does this (two Main filters, four sets of three preset sound like? Amazing. Even the Source filters, and the MMFilter distortion seemed "organic." My module in the Effects section). There woman from To - kay - oh! Any are 50 filter types to choose from in instrument that makes your humble the Main filters and the MMFilter scribe sound like he's with the band is module. There are 42 different LP, BP, worth its weight in gold! and HP filter designs available in Figure 22 shows the filter parallel mode: set the Source FilterMix controls as desired, set Par/Ser to 0%, and set the Filter 1 FX-Mix control as desired. Figure 23 shows the filter serial mode: set the Source FilterMix controls to "100% F1 0% F2", set the Par/Ser knob to 100%, and set the Filter 1 FX-Mix control to 0%.

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Figure 22

Figure 23

Figure 24

So, let's play. I tried Beths Violin by Tim Conrardy, in the Strings category. Very lush, expressive, and a pleasure to play. Tasmodia's Miami Vice preset (Keys category) brought back ol' Jan Hammer, which could be good or bad, depending on your point of view! Luftrum's Airport Breakfast preset (Pads) evoked long monastic chants. All of the Soundscapes presets, such as Jeremy Janzen's Frozen Cave Atmosphere, are evocative, cinema soundtrack-ready jewels. Going to the Loops category, presets such as Artvera's Bastardrum may cause your jaw to drop, especially when you consider that these raucous, uncouth sounds come from the same gal that provides the sweetness of the Christmas Mood preset! You will experience the same joy sampling the presets for yourself. Alchemy may seem pricey at $249, but if comments like a very stage- competent synth, or cinema soundtrack-ready jewels don't get you to at least download the demo and see for yourself, then you are missing a chance to sample one of the great synths. This truly is a wonderful instrumentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;one that inspires a lot of sound designers to develop sound and sample libraries for, because it is so capable, so expressive, and so rewarding to use. Check it outâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;you will not be disappointed! www.camelaudio.com

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Groove3 All-Access Pass www.groove3.com

by Ben Paturzo

When Asa Doyle of Groove3 (www.groove3.com) set me up with a month-long All-Access Pass, I didn't really think this would be of any practical value for me. I'm the kind of guy that prefers to have something "in hand", even if it's a digital download. After all, it's on a hard disk and that's physical. It turns out such a pass has been invaluable to me, as I've been able to do some reviewing of Ableton Live, taken a peek at what Presonus Studio One is all about, and even started to learn Cockos Reaper.

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The All-Access Pass, at $29.99 for 30 days, is a bargain. As you can see in Figure 1, there are over 370 hours of videos at the site, with the categories listed on the left. I like pretty pictures, so here are the training videos in Figure 2. Since I'm already the (happy) owner of the first Sonar X1 training video by Groove3, I'm familiar with the Groove3 video player (why can't Windows Media Player behave as nicely?). Turns out it works very well for streaming video -performance was as if the video were playing off the hard disk.

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Groove3

In Figure 3 you can get a picture of how generous the screen is for the video player. I've left on the right-hand video selection panel; ordinarily, you would select "Hide Menu," and your view would increase that much more horizontally. The videos themselves tend to be very good to excellent, with all the "tutors" obviously taking their teaching tasks very seriously. They all seem to go the extra mile, intent on covering the material, and then some. Some of the presenters have a distinct speaking style, or accent you may not be used to but, in the end, it all works out as you quickly get used to the particular teaching style. It feels so natural, listening and watching the videos, that you're almost ready to raise a hand in question. Well, maybe I just need to get out more.

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There are a series of videos showing how to set up your own home studio, and as Figure 4 demonstrates, even a series of videos on Midi Orchestration. There truly is something for anyone. From music theory to sound design to DAW tutorials, there's something for you if you need some help. The pass is cheaper per-month as you go to 2 months and cheaper still for 3 months. If you need to learn some new software and it's crunch time, I can't think of a better source for tutorials and training videos than Groove3. Oh, there is another great reason to try out the All-Access pass. If you're like me and, ahem, thrifty, the pass is an excellent way to "sample" all of the tutorials you are thinking of purchasing before the fact. Now, if I could only get Uncle Asa to extend my All-Access pass... Cheers!

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Hollow Sun’s RMI Electra Piano by dmbaer

When you think of the sound of an electric piano from the 70s, chances are that your mind’s ear conjures up the sound of a Rhodes or its cousin, the Wurlitzer piano. But there was another instrument in this category that had some notable champions. The RMI Electra Piano was a purely electronic device unlike the Rhodes and Wurlitzer, which amplified the sound tines or reeds being struck. The Electra Piano used pure electronics to create its sounds (transistors ... remember them?) and was in a class all by itself.

own Kontakt 4, as the full version is required to host the instrument. If you do own Kontakt and you enjoy classic keyboard sounds, however, you may be in for a considerable treat. To be sure, the Electra Piano sounds very little like a real piano. Neither its harpsichord nor lute options sound very much like those instruments either. But in today’s world of abundant, inexpensive memory and many excellent sampled real pianos (and harpsichords and lutes), that’s a big “so what?” The RMI Electra Piano is what it is: a classic sound that many will be delighted to have at their disposal.

addressed de facto. If it runs in Kontakt, obviously it’s MIDI enabled. Hollow Sun wisely decided to add velocity sensitivity as an option as well.

The Electra Piano has three primary sounds, two of which have secondary The Electra Piano was used by variations. The numerous masters, from Rick primary sounds, as Wakeman to Stevie Wonder to John mentioned earlier, Lennon. However, it had no greater The Electra Piano was manufactured are Piano, champion than Tony Banks of Genesis. by RMI between 1967 and 1980, so Harpsichord and The “Carpet Crawlers” track from needless to say it lacked a MIDI Lute (and I’m wondering if Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on capability (meaning that those those names should be in quotes, but Broadway is an excellent example of virtuoso riffs by Tony Banks were the I suspect you will have gotten the just what this instrument can do. real deal—actual major chops at work). idea by now that these are pretty Also, the instrument lacked a velocity loose descriptions). The two The good news is that Hollow Sound sensitive keyboard for dynamic control. variations are Piano PP, as in has recreated the Electra Piano for our One volume was all you got, although pianissimo, and Harpsichord PP. You present enjoyment and has made it rumor has it a velocity sensitive model can layer the sounds in any available for the modest price of could be special ordered near the end combination. The pianissimo versions twenty-five dollars. The only bad of the product’s manufacturing run. provide more flexible layering news is reserved for those who don’t Of course, the former limitation is variations. If you want a just little 110

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harpsichord with your piano, click the Harpsichord PP switch rather than full Harpsichord and you’re in business. The lute option does not have a PP version. It is actually rather uninteresting by itself, but it serves well as seasoning to fill out the piano and/or harpsichord sounds. The Electra Piano also offers several other interesting options. One of these is the Organ switch. This

doesn’t even attempt to produce an “patches” could be created. Hollow Sun doesn’t appear to go in for this organ-like sound. Rather it just sort of thing, but if they offered the modifies the amplitude envelope. In normal operation, you get the Electra Piano sounds as an SFZ expected sharp attack and moderately sample set for a reasonable price, I’d paced decay of the real instrument have to give serious consideration to making that purchase. (piano, harpsichord or lute). The organ setting uses the same timbres, but the decay happens very slowly. Another special option on the Electra Piano is a rocker switch labeled Accent, As a brief aside, let me say just how which allows you to layer in a much I’d love to have these raw percussive “knock”. In Hollow Sun’s sounds (sans envelope) available as in own words from the brief Electra SFZ file format to use in an SFZPiano manual: “Don’t expect too much from this, it sounds a bit like layering compatible synthesizer (like ... oh, I don’t know ... say WusikStation?). a bad bongo sample on top!” I’m confident all kinds of wonderful July 2011

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RMI Electra Piano

Two final options exist which are controlled by two small slide switches below the row of rocker switches. The Noise switch adds a bit of hum and even an acoustic “thunk” noise when a rocker switch is thrown. Only the most ardent purest would be interested in enabling this option. The other slide switch, labeled Eco, has a complicated explanation in the manual. Suffice it to say that if your PC is performance challenged, engaging this option may help to prevent dropouts. Users experiencing such audio degradation may be better served, however, by turning the integrated Kontakt convolution reverb off, and adding a lighter-weight algorithmic reverb as an external effect. Hollow Sun has probably done an exemplary job of recreating the sound of this instrument, but since I don’t have a real one to compare it to, I can only speculate that this is so. What I can say with authority is that each of the five sound choices (the three primary and two PP versions) is supplied as one sample per note and the tuning is impeccable. The sense of realism is bolstered by the control panel user interface, which mimics that of the original, except that the velocity sensitivity rocker switch has been added. The range for all sounds is F, MIDI note 29 (two and a half 112

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octaves below middle C) to C, MIDI note 96 (three octaves above middle C). All the sample sets, individually or in combination, sound just fine across the entire range.

Of course, unless you’re running Kontakt in standalone mode, you can throw whatever third party external effects you might have at your disposal into the mix in your DAW. And if you own Kontakt, there’s a fair One additional piece of information is chance you’ll have bought it as part of important but does not appear to be Komplete, meaning you’ve got a huge stated in the manual. You need to be variety of additional options in Guitar running at least version 4.2 of Kontakt Rig. Just play through the Electra or you’ll get an error when attempting Piano presets to understand what the to load the instrument. If you have possibilities are here. By the way, the problems, just download the latest very first factory preset is in fact version and you should see them called “Carpet Crawlers” and to my resolved. ears faithfully recreates the Tony Banks sound in the Genesis recording. If this was just a sound set, this review would be over, but there’s So, is the Electra Piano for you? Well, more to discuss. Chances are good it can be had for less money than it that if you were a user of the original would cost to buy tickets and Electra Piano, you’d plug it into a refreshments for a movie for you and guitar amp and use many of the a companion, so it’s certainly priced typical guitarist tricks to enhance the nicely. As for the rest, you can visit sound. Hollow Sun has provided a the Hollow Sun site very nice bundle of effects built into (www.hollowsun.com) to decide for yourself. There’s only one demo track the instrument. You can easily see of the Electra Piano with less than half the range of possibilities here by a dozen presets represented, so you playing through the nineteen factory presets. The effects are comprised of won’t get a complete picture. However, it should hopefully be an amp cabinet simulation (seven sufficient for you to make an informed options), a chorus effect, a phaser decision. Fans of The Lamb Lies Down effect, and echo and a reverb (six On Broadway will immediately reverb types with twenty-four recognize the first demo piece as a variations in total). All of the effects may be individually enabled/disabled. recreation of the stunning keyboard introduction to the first track of that album. While you’re at Hollow Sun’s July 2011

site, do yourself a favor and check out some of the other exotic offerings theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve conjured up. There are some truly fascinating things to explore there.

Personally, I could not be more delighted with my Electra Piano purchase and have no concerns that this was nothing other than money well spent. Hollow Sun is to be commended for its fine job at resurrecting this important instrument of musical antiquity for our contemporary use. Rocketh on, Hollow Sun!

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Sensomusic

Usine by Ben Paturzo

Overview Sensomusic.com

Just what is Usine? Well, ... Hey check this out (see Figure 1) -I've got Boris K.'s cool psyBOX (mrgt.com) laying down some spacey atmosphere while I play George R.'s sweet Additive synth, Vertigo 2 (discodsp.com) -- all in Usine Pro! Big deal. Any DAW could do that. Why, my Live could host so-Dude. What? Look (see Figure 2). Live is hosting, but it's hosting Usine Pro, while Usine is hosting the two VST's. Dude. I know. Wait, this blows my mind dude. I mean where does it end? Like I'm on that MC Escher stairs, you know? Whoa.. Dude. What? It's not MC Escher, it's M.C. Escher. I mean, he's not like Hammer, you know. The dude didn't wear harem pants, dude. All right all right. I get it. But Usine Pro can do that? Check this out (see Figure 3). I add some hip beats courtesy of the Usine library, or Usine slash Groove Machine slash matrix seq groove patch. Dude. Like I get it. You can just say Usine/Groove Machine/matrix seq groove.pat. I'm not like stoopid.

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Dude!

What?

Figure 3 Okay, sorry. And nobody says hip beats anymore. What's the 411 then? Oh man, you're hopeless. So anyway, you can add some rhythm with this -- what'd you call it -patch? That's a sweet little sequencer. Where did you get it? Man, it comes with Usine Pro. It's called a patch. Here check this out (see Figure 4). This is what a patch looks like. Whoa dude, this is like Algebra all over again. I mean what genius scientist dude thought this up? That's the point dude. Anyone can do it -well, almost anyone can do it. The point is Usine Pro lets you create your own patches and then use them in your grid to make your own interface for live or studio work. Grid? Think of a grid as like a mixing console. Okay.. And the interface is just like it sounds. It's the layout you create to make your music the way you want to. Cool. Dude ya gotta tell me more about this Usine Pro. [They walk off into the sunset] Wait boys, we want to know more about Usine Pro -Later narrator dude. We gotta catch the last wave of the day. See you next issue. Man, I am not stoked! See you next issue then!

Figure 4

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Focusrite

Midnight Suite by LeVzi

Focusrite are a company that have built up a very big following in the audio world, after all they have been going since 1985. They have a big range of products, you only have to visit their website to see that, and they have been making quality unit's for many years, so they have created this Midnight suite of plug-ins to emulate two of their classic units the ISA110 equaliser and ISA130 compressor.

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Let's look at the Compressor first and as you can see the GUI for this plug-in is absolutely stunning. The controls are pretty much what you'd expect from a compressor, Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release, Make Up Gain, a control to increase the in gain, and a wet/dry control which I find a very nice addition. Also there are two graphical displays (which can be changed by a switch) of the gain reduction: the input and the output level going into or out of the

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compressor. I do like this GUI, really easy on the eye and just looks like a hardware unit. So how does this compressor actually sound? Well, I think the first test of any compressor is going to be the percussion area of a track. So I am going to quickly create a kick/snare/hi-hat/clap rhythmical pattern, and send each instrument to its own channel.

First let's see how the Midnight Compressor copes with a kick and snare, and how it sounds when adding punch to the sounds. For the kick, I set a ratio of about 5:1 and a threshold of -30db and adjust the attack time so it is a moderate attack, just left of centre. I leave the release on auto as I frequently find that yields quicker and often better results by letting the plug-in find its own way. The in gain and blend controls are left completely alone. I know this is working as I use the s(m)exoscope from Smartelectronix to see the altered waveform, and I can see the initial hit has been enhanced. Not only that I can hear it plainly. I am now going to do the exact same thing with the snare and clap, only I am going to group them together and compress them as one. This time I

use similar threshold and ratio settings, perhaps a bit less on the ratio, more like 3:1, and I use a much faster attack and faster release, with auto release off this time. There is a definite punch and loudness to the snare/clap combination. I quickly play back the loop, nice and tight, all levels are good, and I just un-mute the hi-hat which I decide not to compress and export the loop to audio. It sounds nice, sounds crisp and clean, and very tight. This compressor is very transparent. With that in mind I run a couple of stress tests to see just how transparent. I take the loop, run it through the compressor with the lowest threshold possible, and highest ratio without going into the infinite setting which would turn it into a limiter. I then

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crank up the make up gain, and the loop comes through more or less unscathed. I was expecting some distortion or something, but no, it was very well preserved. I did the same with the ratio on infinite, which turns the Midnight Compressor into a limiter, and did the same thing again, pushed a very hot signal hard into the limiter set at 0, and it was fine. It became distorted as I expected when driven ridiculously hard, but there isn't a unit, either digital or analogue, hardware or software, that wouldn't have problems at some point. This compressor is clean, easy to use and has a great GUI. I recommend it. Also with the 50/50 mix available for wet/dry it is capable of parallel compression, and the infinite ratio, a limiter, a lot of bang for your buck. Now let's check out the EQ in the Midnight Suite.

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Midnight Suite

As before, the first thing you'll be struck by is the stunning GUI. A lot of thought and effort was obviously made to make these plug-ins not only sound good but look good too. The Midnight EQ essentially has 4 bands and 2 filters for sharp cuts in the extreme low frequency or high frequency areas. The Low filter will create a sharp low cut from 36hz up to 330hz, ideal for rolling off the low end that is not needed. The first main band is a low shelf that can be set from 33hz up to 270hz, and can be boosted from -16 to +16db. The next is a more standard peak band, that can start from 40hz and go up to 1.2khz, also this one offers a +/16db boost, but also the bandwidth has a controller for fine tuning. This band covers the low area nicely, and the next band covers the high, it is the same as the previous peak filter, but this time the frequencies covered are 600hz to 18khz. Finally the high shelf band covers frequencies from 3.3khz to 15khz again with the 16/16db boost available, both the peaking bands and hi/lo shelving bands offer -16 or +16db boosts/reductions, only the low and high filters do not. The Output meter monitors exactly that, the output, and by the side of the meter is the output gain so you can boost or reduce or reduce the output by up to 18db either way.

This time for testing, instead of using individual sections of a track, or loops etc., I used a whole track. I imported the whole piece into my DAW and added Midnight to the inserts. I realise this isn't an ideal test for an EQ really, but I thought instead of doing the normal test, I'd try this. Next in the effects chain is my trusty copy of Voxengo's SPAN spectrum analyser, in solid mode which is a godsend. Now let the cutting and boosting begin.

under 40hz. Now when I run the kick through dry, then wet, I can hear a definite improvement. It is not a hard and fast rule to improving a kick drum, but it does work for this particular sample, and it's a rule of thumb I use when I feel my kick drum needs processing.

CONCLUSION:

I really like these units, in particular Firstly I try the low and high filters, the compressor, though they both they are both very precise, and have stunning GUI's. Like I said obviously have a very steep shelf to before, I don't have access to the them. They are ideal for making a hardware units they are modelled surgical cut in the zones they can be after, so someone who owns them used in. The High and Low shelves are would be the best to ask if you very responsive, excellent for wanted to retire the hardware and completely taking out the high or low just have a software version. I have areas of whatever this EQ is on. Or on to say if the hardware versions were the other hand, I find them useful for like this, then no wonder they were slightly boosting the low or high end, popular. Focusrite are a company I've in a very clean fashion. I did it with come to like a great deal, I am an this test track, and a fractional boost owner of the popular Saffire interface, actually was very pleasing on the ear. which I have come to adore. There is Basically I am using this a bit like a no question over Focusrite's attention mastering EQ. While that isn't what its to detail and the quality of their forte would be, it does do a good job products, as the Midnight Suite as a mastering EQ. With no obvious demonstrates. issues when adjusting values, it's very clean for a non-linear phase EQ. VISIT : http://www.focusrite.com/products/so ftware/midnight_plugin_suite/ I think everyone who owns the Midnight suite would use this EQ for a track equaliser, so I am going to put it For more details, the units are VST/AU/RTAS, and they are available on a kick drum, and run my normal, from all good music production stores, How does this unit sound? Well as everyday tweaks to see how it brings a list is available in your country from with the other midnight plug-in I don't out the best from a standard 909 the Focusrite website. Prices may vary. have access to the original hardware sound. A slight boost at 150hz, and a units they are modelled after to A/B slight boost at around 3khz are made, compare the two, but I found the and this brings out the punch and compressor to be very transparent thump better in the kick drum. I use and usable, and this EQ is no different. the low filter to roll off everyone

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Free

by Tomislav Zlatic

My favorite soundware freebie last month was Small mechanics by ToneScape, a set of 100 SFX samples derived from recordings of various motors and machines. They sound great and can be used to add a bit of raw industrial feel to your drum loops or even whole tracks. (http://goo.gl/MDhYo) Winston Smith has released two interesting sets of free reverb impulse responses, captured from the E-MU E6400 Ultra Sampler and Yamaha R100. (http://goo.gl/exPXS)

BHK Samples has released Freebie Pack 2011, an all-round sample pack featuring drum loops, one shots, stabs, basslines and breaks from their upcoming commercial releases. (http://goo.gl/hSnbr)

Goldbaby has extended the already great selection of freebies on his website with Hapi vs Xylophone, a free sample pack featuring recordings of a Hapi Tank Drum and a Xylophone layered together. (http://goo.gl/GRAZu) Sounds Outside The Lines has released Revolution-909 FREE, a free taster pack for their huge Roland TR-909 drum machine sample library. The freebie pack features only a few samples, but they sound very good and it never hurts to refresh your drum sample folder with some quality sounds. (http://goo.gl/RfwUE) Alex Juno has released an extensive sound collection for Kontakt 4 (and Kontakt Player), featuring sounds captured from the Korg DW8000 synthesizer. Some lovely 80's synth sounds in this pack, really worth a download. (http://goo.gl/4cHmA) Plughugger has released Virus TI vs Ensoniq DP/4, a free sample pack featuring the sounds of Virus TI processed with the Ensoniq DP/4 effects module. They sound raw and gritty, and the included bass sounds should work great for dnb and dubstep producers! The pack is available for download on the Plughugger Facebook page. (http://goo.gl/rbeWj)

Keroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bits & Beats from Twisted Tools features features a free 184MB collection of sounds created by the Detroit Underground Records artist Kero. (http://goo.gl/CFKvz) For vintage analog synth fans, The Electronic Garden has released a set of free VCS3 Synthi Samples, available for Native Instruments Kontakt and Propellerheads Reason. (http://goo.gl/78vkl) Another fresh set of synthesizer sounds comes from Ramjet Productions and their free DSI Mopho analog synthesizer sample pack. (http://goo.gl/yjggL) Finally, Ableton Live users should check out AfroDJMac's ongoing series of free Ableton Live racks. AfroDJMac has released 16 free racks so far, featuring various sound sources - from the Yamaha CP35 electric piano to Nintendo's NES console. (http://goo.gl/si436)

That's it for now, enjoy the freebies and get ready for more quality stuff in the next issue!

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Wobble-Wobble an

Camel Audio's Dubstep and Steamworx Alchemy Expansions by Trusty

The Goods

Opening Salvo

I haven't found a ho-hum expansion The Dubstep expansion has some big yet. I am obviously not an unbiased names attached to this collaborative journalist when it comes to Alchemy effort, and the names I am not too or its expansions. Even if I did want to familiar with are going be on my radar say something negative just to from now on. No doubt, I went maintain the appearance of looking for the Biomechanoid, "objectivity", I won't. This is because I Himialaya, and Bryan Lee stuff, but in can't. As noted last time, Camel between, I found some killer sounds Audio's quality control will best me from the rest of the group. Thumbs up every time. Of course, who are we to Stephan Romer, Andre Ettema, kidding? I don't care to be objective. I Yuroun, Gareth L. Devlin, and care about getting excited about Christian Kjeldsen! This set is all having instruments and sounds that around spot on perfect. I like inspire me to make better, more "Dubstep" sounds even though I unique music, even though genres I technically do not produce Dubstep play in are nothing new or special. music. Well, I occasionally do for fun, Alchemy and its expansions just seem but it is not my main wheelhouse (and to do this consistently for me. I swear Dubstep was started by drunken Brits who were trying to get Camel Audio needs a new tag-line: crunk, realized they couldn't flow like "Wanna melt faces off? Use our stuff!" Three Six Mafia so dropped the That is pretty much what they have rapping, and by mistake turned one going on over there. Camel Audio is in too many LFO knobs while trying to the face melting business and the make the beats...but I am not an streak seems endless. These two music genre history expert, so I can't expansions are sizzling hot like your say for sure). However, this collection momma's griddle. is gold for a lot more than Dubstep. 120

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By the way, I am a Dubstep fanatic, so my not producing it much means nothing in terms of whether or not I like certain styles of music. Martin Walker has been on my radar for a bit now. I really, really bragged on him quite a bit for his work on the Cinematic expansions. I guess it was his time for a solo effort, and anything Biomechanoid approves of and offers feedback on (as noted in the literature with the expansion), I take a meticulous care to pay attention to it. As with most of the solo efforts in these Alchemy expansions, you really do get into the mind of the sound designer and see what they are all about when left on their own to cook up some sounds. I know that sound designers in general release banks for all sorts of instruments, but Alchemy is different. So, solo efforts for Alchemy expansions are bound to be different than what you get from a sound designer that puts out a Sylenth1 trance bank or whatever. In any case, Steamworx is a genius idea with creative sampling that makes

nd Wonk-Dink other "sampling synthesizer" products with supposedly "creative sampling" mostly creative "hype" with a not-socreative outcome by comparison. This isn't merely "look, we set a piano on fire and gave you the samples...have fun"; this is a well-thought-out tour de force of unique sampling and intricate sound design. Here, the creative sampling of clocks, a SID chip, various bells, cymbals, and who knows what else comes with genius results. The ideas and the concepts are great. Let's go deeper into these expansions... Dubstep It is always nice when Himalaya gets the first patch that loads up in an expansion. What is even better is when that first patch is a distorted bass patch that kicks you in the teeth and rattles your privates at the same time. But what is best about this first patch is that by the time you get to the 7th Remix Pad, you can't believe (or have forgotten) it is the same sound that initially came up, or even a distant cousin of it, until you circle back around to the first pad. This is a good sign, and sets a standard matched by everything that follows. Andre and Stephan get the other patches in this distorted bass category, and they are nothing short of deserved bragging rights, saying "look what I can do with the VA engine!" In fact, they have caused me to rethink

sounds in lower octaves. These are why I always feel the need to use samples when rolling my own patches distorted bass sounds at their finest. in Alchemy, bass or otherwise. So, The sub basses are next in the list. they also unintentionally say "Trusty, There are too few of them, but the step your game up...loser." Believe it included ones are very nice. Here the or not, I appreciate that straight talk sounds are smooth and buttery, with to my face, even if it is not intended the right amount of richness and bite by them. It is first class patch in the variations. A word of warning deconstruction tutorial material for learning how to use the engine and though: be sure to keep your volume knob low when previewing. I turned make your own nut-smashing bass the volume up to get a better sense of sounds. It is odd that probably the one of the patches, and while working longest paragraph in this article is dedicated to only five presets (but the through the variations, I almost blew out my speakers. This is not a bad Remix Pad here really does give you thing at all...just a warning. In fact, it 40) that are not even the "staple" is a good thing. The variations keep bass sounds this set is most likely the sub bass sounds from getting designed around, but this is because they are simply incredible bass sounds. boring by the second minute in a three and a half minute track. Sure, a They are harsh and smooth at the steady thump is good for the trunk, same time, with the proper low end but dance floors are different. The still rumbling where they don't sound like your simply using "distorted lead" "aliveness" of the bassline keeps the July 2011

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Dubstep and Steamworx Alchemy Expansions

booties moving and even gets the attention of the snotty "artist producer" not performing that night away from the bar and in the middle of the crowd cheering whoever is performing. The nice work in the Remix Pads make this kind of thing easier to work with when making hot dance tracks with active bass, even sub bass. There are only four of these, and Bryan's (Sub Bass2) and Stephan's (Dub Sub) contributions are the standouts. I will use both of those patches time and again.

including a recently released, selfproclaimed king of dubstep synths by some German company that shall remain nameless? Is it actually possible this is the one to rule them all? The answer is...

take on a certain sound that dominated dirty south rap beats for a while, and makes for a great replacement in that genre as well as being a good build up effect in general. Play with the Remix Pads on that one for some good surprises as well. Yuroun's Dwindling Spirits and Thundery Diplophonia soundscape patches creeped me out in a good way, so I will definitely be finding some uses for those. Mashroom MentaColours by Himalaya is another standout in the soundscapes category.

I don't know what it is about Biomechanoid's Alchemy drum kits. They always seem to dominate the stomp yard and make one long for Alchemy to have multiple outputs. Maybe Camel Audio will make a drum instrument, or Biomechanoid can do a complete library for some drum Gareth's Analogue Squelch patch in sampler I like. In any case, Dubstep Andre and Stephan's contributions to the bass sweeps category stole about bioKit1 is sweet. There are always the synths category are the highlights fifteen minutes of my life away from cool samples thrown in the mix with in that category. The sometimes stark me. I sat there and jammed that some very deep kicks and grime-laden and sometimes subtle changes in the patch for quite a bit, not even noticing percussion. His Dubstep FXKit is off variations for their patches set the the time going by. I mean, WOW! If the chain as well. Lots of cool sounds standard for Dubstep melody sounds. you want "that bass sound", then this in that one, and after playing with it a All the synth sounds are outstanding, is "that bass sound" in the best form bit, it leads to adventure in percussion as well as extremely playable and can you've ever heard it. Amazingly, the and drum programming. Christian's easily lend themselves to other genres variations make it go from “great” to drum offering is pure gutter and grime. like the rest of this set. These aren't “greatest”. Drum and Bass artists need Himalaya 's offering is top notch of the screaming lead variety of synth to get the heads up and spend the quality as well. It is the more sounds, but they are nonetheless $35 just to get this one patch standard drum fare out of the four kits, dominating and stand out in a mix. (technically 8) as well. You'll like the but overall, it is very useful For some reason, Andre's Secret rest of what's here too, so don't let nonetheless. Slaves patch has been stuck in my the "Dubstep" thing fool you. All the head, and it is a rather simple, but yet basses in this category tear it up. There are some very interesting sound complex sound at the same time. It’s Some of the variations, especially in effects and soundscapes in this very interesting. It has a unique wahBryan Lee's Swell patch, can find a expansion. If you were looking for all ish, almost lead-ish sound to it that home in any number of musical those noises you hear in those says "put me out front in a song". genres. dubstep tracks, they have them here Okay, will do. in spades. Yuroun's Beyond the Well, one of the main attractions was Rotation patch is a killer melodic ...you bet. Of course they do. Did you bound to be the wobble bass sounds. effect, with some great variation to it. even doubt it? I mean, come on. Of course, it has the most patches of It actually found itself as providing the Seriously. It isn't just wobble bass all the categories in this collection. Do lead melody sound for a new track. sounds. It is wobble bass sounds with they measure up? Is this Dubstep Oops! See, with Alchemy, you gotta texture, thickness, variation, and expansion for Alchemy just Camel check everything, because the originality that can only come from Audio's afterthought attempt to cover surprises there are mind-blowing as to Alchemy. When you add up the the bases? Can Alchemy plus skilled what you can do with the different variations, which are quite remarkable programmers really deliver the goods? stuff, when they’re used outside of work here in the detail and actual Can Alchemy be the Dubstep synth of their normal spheres. Himalaya's "variation" of the patches, this design choice over and against all others, Modulated Build Up patch is a great team, every one of them, give you a 122

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sound induces the visualization of a certain color. If my readers had thought I had succumbed to synesthesia in the past with these Alchemy expansions, especially the Cinematic expansions, I certainly have now become full blown afflicted with it. While I thought I had been visualizing sounds before, Martin Walker exacerbates this condition with his most excellent offering here. If you do not currently have this issue with your senses getting mixed up, get this expansion and you most certainly will. I think Martin Walker has it as well (just check out his website...link below). Like I have, he embraces synesthesia and runs with it as his sounds take us along into a brand new world in our field of vision with the press of a key on a midi controller. killer variety of "wobble bass" sounds with the inspiration to create your own that will have you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Look at the modulation, and look at the various things going on in the layers of some of the bass sounds, with different wobbles stacked on wobbles at different speeds in sync with your host tempo. You even preview this expansion around 140 bpm for crying out loud... Seriously, it doesn't get better than this. When every single patch in a category is playable, and conjures the rest of the track in your mind while previewing the sounds, you know you have a winner. Just listen to the preset Bathing in Acid, and tell me it isn't worth the price of admission. Look, there is a reason the rise in Dubstep's popularity among fans and producers alike has risen at a time that coincides with the recent increase in additive synthesizers on the market (with many of the companies saying "look, this is a Dubstep synth"). Who do you think owns that arena?

Yep...Camel Audio. Who do you think sets the standard? Yep...Camel Audio. Camel Audio didn't need to tell people that Alchemy is the number one Dubstep instrument out there. Most people who are "in the know" already knew it, while wannabes kept thinking it was a pad or soundscape, atmospheric type synth for video games and movies. It is time for some of you to WAKE UP and realize Alchemy is the greatest synthesizer ever created in the history of the world. Period. This "Dubstep" expansion wasn't even close to being a "hey, we can do Dubstep too" expansion, it was a reminder to the pretenders that Alchemy is the Dubstep synth king. The work from this crack team of sound designers proves it. Steamworx Synesthesia (syn·es·the·sia) –noun: a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when hearing of a certain

July 2011

Even the literature that comes with the package sets you up for this. "Think of H.G. Wells and his Time Machine; Jules Verne and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Think steampower, polished brass, clockwork mechanisms, and the fog-shrouded streets of Victorian London. These worlds inspired Steamworx, along with influences from Japanese animation and the films of Tim Burton." It doesn't get better than that! Robert Brown from the totally awesome, but criminally undernoticed band, Abney Park has to be bonkers over this expansion. I know I am. I have immensely enjoyed every Alchemy expansion, but this is definitely a standout among them for several reasons. Those that know me best know which ones were my top three were and which one got bumped for this one. Some of these reasons we will explore below, but first and foremost, this expansion bridges the gap between music and visualization. It bridges the gap in www.WusikSoundMagazine.com

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Dubstep and Steamworx Alchemy Expansions Alchemy as well, as it brings together much of the variety of genre-specific or cinematic inclined sounds covered in the factory bank and expansions very cohesively to take anyone's musical preferences to the next level in experimentation. Alchemy really feels complete with this sound bank. New, multifaceted movements of musical creations that the next generation (or hopefully current generation) of producers will pioneer seem to overflow. Many will because of Martin Walker's contribution here that brings things together. Mix these sounds with any other Alchemy preset from any expansion and you will see what I mean.

The selection of basses is unique. They have an eeriness to them. Listening to them, I thought that they would be great, though limited in their usage. I could not have been more wrong. I swapped them for bass sounds in songs I already had completed, and as it turns out, they sit perfectly in mixes. They have nice round bottom to them, and they are smooth sounding. The stuff like Snapdragon, on the other hand, has a distinctive pop to them that really sets it apart from other bass sounds that have sharp attacks with quick releases. A pleasant surprise was how well the Iron Conqueror patch does in hip-hop beats. Look out for that one!

If Biomechanoid gives you the drum kits of the year 3000 A.D., Martin Walker gives you the drum kits lost in the year 1764 A.D. only to be rediscovered in the year 3000 A.D. I know...weird. If you want traditional drum kits, look elsewhere. These "kits" are more like percussion batteries of whatever was handy at the moment to make noise. There are lots of unique percussive sounds, clanging The arpeggiated sounds immediately "gong" cymbals, and nice scrape sounding samples thrown in for good conjure up the image of a mad measure. I actually made a banging scientist's laboratory. They are extremely clever and set the tone beat using the Inventor Kit patch. If you are looking for interesting clinks, nicely for the whole thing. One can clanks, and clonks to layer over your almost sense the mood swings accompanying the different devices normal drums, these sounds work sounding to and from opposite ends of extremely well and make for a the lab. Chimes and clocks and super refreshing change from using "ethnic" tight rhythmic patterns pulsate in this drum sounds for those duties. Why be boring and typical when you have category. Sweeping through the Remix Pads on the Fractal Chimes these sounds? Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no reason whatsoever. preset gives a clear indication of the amount of effort and variation that has gone into these sounds. They The Keys category of sounds is very scream for movement to be added by good and highly original. Most of them have a "plucked" sound to them, and using the pads in what are already moving apreggiator sounds. The Ha they are very subtle on first listen. Ha Vocals patch is downright odd, and Nevertheless, they cut through the I love it. mix. One glance at the sound sources and you will find an interesting mix of Is this an overstatement? Well, maybe. But having buried myself in Alchemy for over two years now, I simply do not think about music the same way anymore. Hence, when something like this comes along and it feels like the tie that binds Alchemy's sounds together and connects them in different ways, I get gushy. Deal with it.

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oddities and the synth engine of Alchemy put to work. I appreciate that fine line of bold but subtle approach to this. I really enjoyed the Tin Piano patch for some strange reason. It is beautiful because it isn't a pretty piano. It is the piano that has been gathering dust at your grandma's house that you play every time you visit, but ran through some nice, Camel Phat-like warmth and grit. The Loops category is filled with pulsating beats and musical bits, with excellent Remix action. Whole songs can be derived from some of the more rhythmic ones. The C64 Multiplexer loop has some nice variety of arpeggiated loop variations packed in there. It sounds like you stepped off the zeppelin on a floating dock in the clouds...ready to do some trade. There is some real grit in these selections as well. Lots of "clock" beats with some stirring rhythms. The Mallets are a standout category in this bunch. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re big but occasionally tinny all at once. Some of them have some real bite to them though, and others are downright dirty. The Gothic Bells patch is going to be a staple for me, and all the variations on it work well, whether morphing between them or wanting to use them in separate tracks. Some of the more smooth and eerie ones like Magic Lantern have some nice, atmospheric presence to them. Need an opening sound for a track, and a reprise at the break down? Then, look here for some interesting options. The pads are what you would expect from any Alchemy expansion. They are moody, dirty, evolving, textured, intricate, etc. Many are very good. For some reason, I don't get excited about pads too much these days, but these are some nice ones here that got my attention, complete with the

Alchemy is the perfect instrument to get the kind of sounds no other synth has or inspires. I really like the bravery. I am a preset junkie and a preset tweaker. I do roll my own with Alchemy as well (how could you not?), but the sound designers that are brought in to expand Alchemy have us in mind. The "us" is those who like to compose music and want an edge, but lack the ability to form it from the ground up. Guys like Christian, Martin, Andre, Biomechanoid, and others know what we are after. I should Anyway, hats off to Martin Walker for suspect they are after it too and this very innovative set and the willing to help. There are those of us strange noises from which these sounds are derived. I keep thinking of who are not content with normal, but Abney Park for some reason. Maybe it still want a sense of familiar at the is the art work. Maybe it is the visions same time; those are the people who find the most pleasure from all this. that accompany the sounds. Maybe I That balance is represented in both watched too much Firefly on DVD. the Dubstep and Steamworx, but in Nonetheless, you see exactly what different ways. This only serves to you hear. You envision a strange new increase Alchemy's appeal. More musical world with this collection. I appreciate that it is not in the least bit people need to get on board with it, even though it is very popular already. gimmicky or falsely hyped. It is a I say this because no one person is journey. It is a far and away place of There are big, big-sounding strings in going to use it the same way, but dreams and odd science. It is a this collection. Wow! I thought blending of the harder-edged Alchemy Alchemy and its sound expansions will Cinematic Atmospheres had the most interesting strings patches I had sounds with the subtle, and the bridge spice up and take static musical between all the sound banks. There categories to higher levels. I can't heard in a while, but this set bests them. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fine by me because I had will most likely never be standard fare wait to see and hear (or both at the for Alchemy (though some more same time) what is next from Camel griped that there were too few Audio and all these sound designers. Alchemy-ish takes on brass-type "interesting" strings like that in that sounds would be most welcome and expansion. In Steamworx, Martin are sadly underrepresented in this Steamworx is $59 and Dubstep is $35 Walker has expanded the arsenal. at the Camel Audio website shop. Go Listen to Gothic Romance, Aether expansion), but it will always feel complete with guys like Martin Walker there: Reactor, and Rosen Arcanum and see looking back while keeping an eye to http://www.camelaudio.com/shop.php if you don't agree. These just scream the future when listening to the out to add flavor to any track that Remember, each of these (and other) needs some spice in the string section. sounds in the patch baking process. expansions work with the free This expansion is highly recommended. Alchemy Player that comes with a gig In fact, these strings provide an excuse to add a string section, even if It is in my top three. It is vision sound. worth of sounds and is also available one is not even needed. for download at the Camel Audio site. It is synesthesia. Test drive it. Pick up an expansion or I have been begging and hoping and two and see what you have been Conclusion praying for a while to have an all missing. Martin Walker's website can vocal and choir expansion for Alchemy. be found at Slowly but surely, the expansions are Alchemy is really coming into its own http://www.yewtreemagic.co.uk/ building up the toolkit in this area. In in terms of the sound banks and its meshing of sound design styles. this category, Martin Walker delivers ability to see them in my music. They fit in well with the overall scheme. The sound effects and soundscapes, on the other hand, are an interesting and eclectic selection of sounds. They contain some very interesting combinations, and they seem to match the overall theme of this expansion as well. To be sure, there are some oddball sounds in these effects and scrapes, and they required fantastic programming to get them that way. Other-THIS-worldly would be the right made up word for them. Looking for a bit of spice? Get it right here. All the Fun of the Fair and Devil in the Deep, along with Churchyard and Steam Bow, are my absolute favorite sound effects and soundscapes, respectively. What is funny is that by quickly triggering the All the Fun of the Fair patch, it sounds just like that alien cigar-looking probe from Star Trek IV that came to talk to whales. Try it and see.

great sound patches. They vary from light, to dark, to heavenly, to hellish, and everything in between. Sanctus is exactly what I figured hell would sound like if they had an anti-praise choir. It is a downright unsettling patch. I love it, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great compliment to the Call to Prayer patch. The nice little phrases interspersed here and there in these patches are a nice bonus from the usual tweaked oohs, aahs, and whatnot.

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p u d n u o R e r a w d Soun

by Ginno Legaspi

Wave Alchemy Syncussion Drums

Sounds Of Revolution Tribal Progressive Revolution Vol. 1

Last issue I reviewed Wave Alchemy's Drum Machine Collection and gave it a good review. For this month it's Syncussion Drums a collection of drum hit samples from (you guessed it) the classic analog Pearl Syncussion SY-1 drum synthesizer. The SY-1 is not just your typical classic drum machine but a rare beast that offers a wide variety of sounds. This soundware version is a 320 MB download with 24-bit resolution that includes 1885 samples of the 1979 Pearl instrument. Recording the SY-1 was a laborious task as Wave Alchemy had to capture the true sonic characteristic of the original unit. What I love about Wave Alchemy is that they seem to have an affection for classic, rare and odd bits of pieces of gear. Employed during the sampling session were plenty of great analogue outboard gear and high-end preamp hardware. Not only that, some of the sounds were re-sampled using an E-mu SP-12 for that lo-fi goodness and some one-shots were recorded through a Studer A0 mk1

Tribal Progressive Revolution Vol. 1 is the latest offering from Sounds-ofRevolution that caters to the electrotribal, tribal-tech, house, and progressive house crowd. This sample pack contains 2.80 GB of sophisticated modern sounds such as drums, bass and synth loops with tempos in 127 BPM. Like many of the Sounds-of-Revolution titles, Tribal Progressive is no exception in delivering an assortment of loops in the 'kick-free' (meaning no bass kicks) department, as well as loop kits and live recordings. All in all you get 1200 files that are in WAV, Apple AIFF and REX2

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tape machine to impart a 'warm and analog' sound. The result is a sample pack that is one of a kind. There are tons of great samples here that many producers can use over and over again. Web: www.loopmasters.com Format: 320 MB 24-bit Wav, Ableton Live Pack, Halion, Kontakt, EXS, SFZ, NNXT and Battery Price: ÂŁ19.95 (digital download) July 2011

formats, plus sampler patches for Kontakt 4 and EXS24. What's great about this sample pack is that the style presented here really varies. It can be ideal in a wide variety of genres without having to think if the loops fit into a certain mix or not. With that being said, Tribal Progressive is a good starter library that is loaded with first-rate samples.

Progressive Electro House as the drums and basses sounds fresh and very inspirational. Even the bouncy arped synths are full of high energy. Producers of house music take note; this has a great mixture of loops and samples ready for take your track to the next level.

Web: www.sounds-of-revolution.com

Web: www.loopmasters.com

Format: 2,80 GB Sample Pack, 24-bit Wavs (891 MB/1200 files), plus REX (Stylus RMX ready) & Apple Loops, plus EXS24 & Kontakt 4 Patches.

Format: Wav, Acid, Rex2, Reason Refill, Ableton Live Pack, Apple Loops, Halion, that is duplicated in other audio Kontakt, EXS, SFZ, Stylus RMX, NNXT formats such as Apple Loops AIFF, REX2 and RMX. Tempos range from and GarageBand 60-65 BPM for the looped samples. Together there are 941 original loops Price: and 1325 one-shots for you to twist, ÂŁ34.95 mangle or augment into your own tracks. You'll find all manner of Big Fish Audio Ambient Skyline ambient beds, pads, ambient rhythm, tonal, atmospheric, vocal and ambient Here we have an esoteric sample pack guitar samples. It even has a folder of that has a tremendous usability when ambiences that were recorded in NYC, it comes to ambient, chill-out, with sounds from Grand Central, Penn cinematic and down-tempo Station and 42nd Street. Ambient productions. Ambient Skyline is Skyline exhibits outstanding sonic produced by the innovative minds at quality with plenty of samples Funk/Soul Production with Steve Sechi included. The smeared, alien guitars at the helm. It has 10.88 GB of total are best of the bunch. The chilled content (5 GB of original WAV files) rhythm loops will make their way on many tracks I'm sure. Overall, this is one massive double DVD library. The one-shot guitar samples alone make it a worthwhile investment.

Price: â&#x201A;Ź 67,22 (digital download) Loopmasters Seimus Haji and Paul Emanuel Progressive Electro House It seems like yesterday when I had the chance to review some of the older Artist Series packs by Loopmasters. Oh, how time flies, and now we have sample pack #56 with Seimus Haji and Paul Emanuel's Progressive Electro House. This collection contains plenty of drums, bass, music, chord stabs, bass stabs, oneshots, fx stabs and side-chained loops to go around. In fact, this pack weighs in at 700 MB with all samples recorded in 24-bit resolution and major audio formats and softsample presets supported. There's very little to complain about

Web: www.bigfishaudio.com Format: Apple Loops/REX/WAV/RMX/Acid Price: $129.95 July 2011

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hand is a two-stringed, fretless instrument that is bowed when played. Some igils are carved with a horse decoration on its head because of mythology. Indeed, it is quite a unique instrument. Well, Tuva: Khoomei is a very interesting sample library packed with Tuvan goodies. This is definitely geared for people producing world music.

Loopmasters Dub Tech Are you ready to put some special magic in your dubstep track? If so, take a closer look at Dub Tech - a sample pack suitable for producers who are in the dub, electronic, house and techno scene. This title is stacked full of sounds....dubstyle! This collection includes pads, bass, synths, drum FX, drum hits and plenty of processed sounds. I love the haunting textures, inspiring deep synth sounds, futuristicmodern percussion grooves and basses. Sonically, my favorites are the big, tight basses and the synths marinated with euphoria. Additionally, the drum hits are also good if constructing drum kits in your DAW's drum rack. Overall, this 900 MB/24bit pack sound superb and the quality is what you'd expect from Loopmasters. An absolute must for any electronic heads out there.

Discovery Sound TUVA: Khoomei

Web: www.discoversound.com www.loopmasters.com

Discovery Sound have a long history of releasing good ethnic libraries. Part Format: of their library offering is Tuva: Acid, Rex2, Wav, 16 and 24-bit format Khoomei - a collection of Tuvan voices and instruments showcasing the Price: native country's rich music culture $55 and sounds. Included on the disc are male and female Khoomei samples, in which the performers sing on their throat. Basically, Web: Khoomei has a very distinct www.loopmasters.com approach and fundamental with an overtone singing and melody. Format: The Khoomei style of singing Wav, Acid, Rex2, Reason ReFill, Ableton Live pack, Apple Loops, Halion, reminds me of a human didgeridoo. There are also two Kontakt, EXS, SFZ, Stylus RMX, loop folders of Tuvan GarageBand and NNXT instruments namely; the doshpuluur (35 files) and igil (10 Price: files). Similar to a banjo, the ÂŁ29.95 doshpuluur is a three-stringed instrument made of wood and goat skin. The igil on the other 128

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Organic Loops Verbalism Organic Loops' hot new Verbalism is a collection of vocal samples geared for a wide range of music genres. Its purpose is to give producers or desktop musicians an easy access to a variety of perfectly performed vocal samples. In this collection there are 372 vox phrases, 54 vocal cuts and 20 minimal tech loops. All samples are recorded between 80-127 BPM, delivered in pristine 24-bit resolution and weighs in at 334 MB. Choose between different assortment of vocal samples such as vocoded male and female phrases, spoken word, rap phrases, melodies, hooks and voice FX (glitched) for experimentation, adding vocal fills in certain section of your tracks and just plain making this library perform vocal duties for you. This collection even includes a bunch of samples with the 'Cher' effect. Overall, this is a nice varied collection, and although I find some of the samples to be cheesy, the vocal cuts folder have some nice rhythmic things going on. Web: www.loopmasters.com Format: Wav, Halion, Kontakt, EXS, SFZ and NNXT Price: ÂŁ19.95

your sequencer. The flexibility of MIDI enables you to have the freedom to create whatever you want: rearrange manipulate notes and/or add your own twist as you see fit. 5 Pin Media Prog Tech Synths

Web: www.loopmasters.com

Prog Tech Synhs is a new collection of MIDI-based sampleware. This one, though, is geared for the progressive and tech house genre. Prog Tech Synths is the third of 5 Pin Media's MIDI Focus series. Inspired by the synthesizer sounds of Umek, Quivver, Wehbba, Robert Babicz, Booka Shade and Jamie Anderson, this 200 MB sample pack features 44.1kHz/24-bit WAVs, 117 MIDI files and 28 patches for Live, Kontakt, NNXT, Halion and SFZ samplers (400 multi-samples) formats. Fifty-one of MIDI files are broken down to 10 construction kits and the rest (which 5Pin Media calls 'Elements') appears as individual bass, leads, pads and synth chords. This library also includes an added bonus of 6 drum loops recorded at 126 BPM as well as a handful of SFX sounds. The aim of this library is to have a good selection of MIDI files for July 2011

Format: Wav, 200 MB, 24-bit, 117 MIDI files, Ableton Live Price: ÂŁ19.95

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Push Button Bang Dark Dub 2 This latest sample pack from Push Button Bang focuses on the dark (hence the cover) sound of dubstep, breakstep, electro, dark techno and glitch. Dark Dub 2 has 1.5 GB of 44.1kHz/24-bit resolution files. Its main theme here remains the same as the first one - to provide producers with massive content of dub-inspired urban sound for Dubstep, Breakstep, Electro, Dark Techno and Glitch style of music. This is a complete package that will enable you to create some wobbly and fat tracks in no time. The 1000+ WAV loops and one-shots includes some terrific basses, drum loops and hits, tonal loops, FX and impacts (for adding tensions and interest) and vocal loops. There is even a 500 MB bonus pack of DJ-friendly demo stems that you can use for remixing purposes. Of the entire bunch, my favorites are the basses, because of their filthy and nasty character and the fat drum loops. We all know that Push Button Bang has a complete line of electronic sample libraries but this one has 'wicked' written all over it. Go get it. Web: www.loopmasters.com Format: 1.5 GB, Wav, Rex2, Apple Loops, GarageBand

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about making R'nB and Pop music in the likes of Usher, Ne-Yo, Alicia Keys and Beyonce then this library has some of the most solid guitar performances I've heard in a long time. Web: www.bigfishaudio.com Price: ÂŁ29.95 (download) Big Fish Audio Pop N' Soul Guitars Pop n' Soul Guitars is a collection comprising 625 loops (in WAV), split into 25 construction kits. These 24bit guitar loops are suitable for R'nB, Hiphop, Soul and Pop productions. There are licks, strums, chords and leads but most of them are lightly played because this library is primarily geared for soul and pop. Some of the hottest guitars loops are here - all of them hand-crafted from the ground up and performed 100% live using acoustic, electric and nylon guitars. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good about this library is that each kit has two different flavors. Each kit is divided into two separate folders which give a flexible option of choosing what loops you like or what fits in your production. The "Amped" folder is, well, a guitar recorded through an amp. And the "DI" folder has files that were directly recorded to the tape recorder through a DI box. Everything on this folder is dry and you can add your own touch and effects to taste. If you're passionate

July 2011

Format: Acid, Wav, Aiff Apple loops, REX and RMX Price: $99.95

Andromeda, the Novation X-station, the Jomow X-base 999 and the Roland Juno. Bluezone designed these loops to have one thing in mind; as a sample resource suitable for loud, heavy, filthy and fast music. So how does this compare to other hardcore samples out there? Well, let's just say that Bluezone trumps in this collection when it comes to processing. It's not something for everyone, but if you ever need component parts for hardcore with an edge, the material here could easily be used in your own tracks.

Big Fish Audio Hip Hop India It's East meets West. Hip Hop India is a fusion of programmed hip hop drums and live Indian percussion instruments. This library is recorded and produced by Dinshah Sanjana and performed by Sanket Athale - a skillful player in traditional Indian playing as well as modern western music. The DVD has multiple audio formats supported and weighs at 2.53 GB of 24-bit files. There are 49 construction kits, with each folder containing a hip hop drum loop and all the percussion elements to build a full drum mix. Live percussion loops includes instruments such as duff, shaker, tabla, dimdi, dholak, ghungroo, manjira and more. This is not the first time I have seen Big Fish Audio release a 'modern exotic' library of sort. In fact they have numerous under their belt - which is always good because these types of libraries take you on a journey of two worlds colliding. Good stuff! Web: www.bigfishaudio.com Format: ACID WAV, Apple AIFF loops, REX, RMX, Kontakt Price: $99.95

Web: www.bluezone-corporation Format: Wav, Aiff

Bluezone Corporation Hard Techno Loops and Scharanz Sample

Price: â&#x201A;Ź22.95 (digital download)

If you're a hardcore techno aficionado, Hardcore Techno Loops & Scharanz Sample Collection by Bluezone Corporation has plenty of hard hitting loops and one-shots for your electronic/techno needs. This royalty-free pack comprises punchy drum loops, Schranz beats, processed kick loops, percussion loops and drum hits galore - over 400 MB of content recorded at 142 BPM. Hardware instruments used in the studio for recording include Alesis

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Sample Magic Nu Disco The name Sample Magic is synonymous with high quality EDM samples. By now many producers should know Sample Magic, with their constant dance releases. These guys have been cranking out sample packs since 2006 and Nu Disco is another 'genuine-to-the-genre' release that is simply smashing. We've seen plenty of 'disco' sample packs released left and right since the re-emergence of disco in recent years. The roots of Nu Disco can be traced many decades ago. It is a genre by blending classic elements of Italo and funk with new flavor & styles of electro. The result is a fresh sound that's guaranteed to fill the dance floor. Nu Disco covers a wide variety of sounds including elegant music loops, funked-up drums, fat bass lines, synths, kick-free top loops and many more. This pack also offers a handful of superb drum hits (380 files) such as cowbells, original 70's and 80's snares and classic percussions. Tempos range from 120 BPM to 125 BPM. A lot of the loops have an organic vibe, especially the guitars and live percussions. There's great usable stuff there. But the supplemental synthetic loops works just as well in any production for inspiration or to spice up your track to a new level.

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Web: www.samplemagic.com www.soundstosample.com Format: Wav, Rex2, Sylus-RMX Rex2, Apple Loops, EXS24, Kontakt 3, NN-XT LIST Price: ÂŁ39.90 (digital)

July 2011

Loopmasters Groove Tech V2 - DJ Mix Tools 14 Progressive House and Tech - DJ Mix Tools 15 Mix FX V1 - DJ Mix Tools 16 Loopsmasters continues their DJ Mix Tools series with Groove Tech Vol.2 (14), Progressive House and Tech (15) and Mix FX v1 (16). The idea behind the series is to give DJs and live PA artist an inspiring set of tools for live use or remixing. Each series consists of 4 full tracks that have been

broken down to its key elements (stems) for you to chop, remix, manipulate in real time and to provide your audience something new and unique material. All these packs cover a lot of ground and would work in any dance floors. You'll get all kinds of solid and infectious grooves called Locked Groove (Bass and Drums), breakdowns, top loops, FX Loops, percussion loops, drum loops, chords and musical stems and bonus one-shot FX that can add spice in your productions. What's great about each title in this series is that they work well with each other and previous DJ Mix titles as well. If you already have the other DJ Mix series titles this is something to consider. Not to mention these samples are royalty-free and can be released commercially as part of your new productions. Web: www.loopmasters.com Format: Wav, Ableton Live compatible Price: ÂŁ14.95 per title (download)

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MeldaProduction Free Audio Effects Last month I took a look at the first two plug-ins from MeldaProduction's Free Audio Effects Bundle. Since then a couple of things have changed. Firstly the bundle is now up to version 5 and secondly, I decided to pay the €30 (about £27 or $43) that it costs to upgrade to the "Pro" version of the bundle. What do you get for your €30? Well the first thing that you notice is that little MeldaProduction logo with the suggestion to upgrade disappears. The plugins become resizable and also offer the possibility of oversampling to increase the quality of the sound and lower the chance of any distortion creeping in. You also get the ability to change the colour of the plug-in. As you'll see I went for gray because it looks good and, at least for me, made the plug-in seem more visible. The price is a nobrainer; there aren't many places where you can pick up 15 high quality plug-ins for only €2 each. So, let's take a look at this month's plug-ins: MAnalyser and MFlanger.

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MAnalyser This first screenshot is simply the spectrum analysis of a track that I'm working on at the moment. It's in its early stages and for this screenshot I ran MAnalyser on the sequencer output in EnergyXT. The graph is responsive and clear and also highlights the frequency and note of

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the most significant peaks. You can also get frequency/note information for any point on the graph by letting your mouse stay still for a moment at the point that interests you. To the right you get a couple of meters to help you keep an eye on levels.

by Adrian Frost

Version 5 of MAnalyser adds an extra option for studying your mix, or individual tracks - it's called a Sonogram. As the plug-in "listens" it produces a synced image of how the signal is changing with time. From looking at the sonogram you could, conceivably, work out more or less what was happening in my mix over the space of about 10 seconds. To the left is the bass line plus drums - a fairly simple beat to be sure. The three columns slightly to the right of centre are the pad I'm using - basic three note chords, nothing special. As you move further to the right you get an image of the high frequencies - hi-hats and the sustain of the pad. There's no melody as yet. Next to the Sonogram button we have the Settings button which opens up the Settings window . You can see from the screenshot that you get a good amount of control over all aspects of the plug-in. Most of the controls need no explanation and if you do wonder what something does, click it and watch the main window of MAnalyser to see what happens.

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MeldaProduction

MFlanger Before I ever got into computers and DAWs and VSTs I played the bass guitar. I still do, just a bit less now. For a while I had a flanger effects pedal for my bass and loved the range of sounds I could squeeze from it. Maybe not the most orthodox effect to use with a bass guitar but it was fun. So, I like flangers. Again, MeldaProduction give you a massive amount of control over what the effect can do. You get the standard Rate, Depth and Feedback controls that are essential, plus a whole lot more. MFlanger uses the same waveform editor as MAutopan that I looked at last month, so this time around I've decided to show what the two "Edit" buttons and the "Advanced" do. Firstly, you can edit the signal shape which controls the movement and the perceived depth of the flanged sound. Then, you also have at your disposal a step sequencer which you can use to add up to 32 steps to the basic waveform to create a gated flanger type effect. You have to try it out to appreciate how good it can sound on a lush pad.

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Free Audio Effects

Conclusions Remember, these are free plug-ins, you don't have to pay a penny/cent/euro-cent for them if you don't want to; but the €30 upgrade price is more than worth it and paying will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside... so go get your wallet. It's worth mentioning again that MeldaProduction also offer three different bundles with a whole range of effects some of which build on the foundation laid by the free plug-ins. The three bundles on offer are: The MCreativeBundle at €169 (roughly £150 or $245) for 18 effects. The MMasteringBundle at €399 (roughly £355 or $580) for 20 effects. The MTotalBundle at €599 (roughly £530 or $875) for a whopping 54 effects. Visit : http://www.meldaproduction.com/free vstplugins/ Finally, the Advanced settings give you access to further controls for affecting the shape of the basic waveform. As I mentioned last time regarding MAutopan, you can make things as simple or as complicated as you like. The preset that come with the effect are all good and useful but if you want to dive in and start tweaking you have a mass of controls at your fingertips.

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Mini Reviews

by Ginno Legaspi with plenty of them very usable in many cases. Gotta love the transition samples. Format: AU, VST, RTAS and StandAlone (Mac/PC), Elastik Instrument Soundbank Web: www.bigfishaudio.com Price: $99.95 each (DVD)

Ueberschall Score Elements Ueberschall has been busy releasing libraries left and right for all kinds of different music genres; such as pop, urban, rock, ambient, experimental and for TV/film. This tv/film/soundtrack library is a vast resource of audio assets geared for producers looking for components for on-the-fly scoring. Score Elements comes with the Elastikengine software, and it has over 2.5 GB of sounds that will cater multitudes of genres. It has different categories of sounds that can deliver your soundtracks to new heights. The library is broken down to five main folders with several sub-folders for both easy sound access and fast file browsing. The 'Accents' folder includes certain sounds of what I would call 'add-ons' in that are creepy and scary in nature. They are great for accenting moods to any track. They fill in something that is missing. 'Ambient Beds' are divided into two sections of dark and bright sounds. As the name suggests, these beds are longer files, up to 45 seconds, that can enrich a track by placing them in the background or under main riffs. Meanwhile, the 'Impacts' samples are unique sounds suited for scenes (like in movies) that require low-end booms and reverbed impact sounds. The 'Transitions' folder has many selections of risers and downers that are perfect for smooth segues and transitions between scenes. 138

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Digital Sound Factory Steinway Platinum Grand Piano ReFill Here we've got a ReFill soundpack for Reason 5 Soft Studio that will satisfy even the most discerning piano enthusiasts. Simply called Steinway Platinum Grand Piano, this ReFill from Digital Sound Factory has 14 presets for the Combinator unit. DSF sampled a Steinway Model L grand piano at Whip Records in Berkeley, California, using high-end preamps and a Neumann U67 to capture the essence of the piano. After the 24-bit samples were edited, processed and assembled they were then mapped in Reason's NN-XT sample player. The 14 Combinator presets were the result of combining NN-XT patches and effects processors. How do they sound? They sound very nice and very workable in 'Whooshes' offers plenty of short and a busy mix. The patches have this long whooshes for moving scenes and very bright,yet natural sound. The "Dance Grand" patch has a phaser objects. Like many of Ueberschall's libraries, the 792 sounds on Score effect applied that would be perfect for 90's dance music. The 'Rock Grand' Elements are pretty high quality ...

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patches conjures up those 70's styles prog music, while 'Pop Grand' reminds of piano patches in those timeless Proteus rack synthesizers. The 'Ballad Piano' patch is perfect for love songs and mellow tunes. If you've always wanted to expand your piano sounds in the 'organic' department then this library is worth considering. You will love the bright, 'pop' sound of this Steinway. Format: PC/MAC, Reason 5 ReFill (209 MB) Web: www.digitalsoundfactory.com Price: $29.95 (digital download) Ueberschall Glam Rock Also known also as glitter rock, glam rock is a style of rock that has been adopted since the early 1970's. Artists such T. Rex, David Bowie, Roxy Music and Gary Glitter, to name a few, put it on the spotlight. Today, glam rock has continued support and popularity from bands such as the Scissor Sisters. Glam Rock from Ueberschall is a DVD that is glittered with nostalgic sounds that will take you back in time. It features inspiring samples and loops that cover a wide variety of rock subgenres. You'll get 19 construction kits, with each kit containing 3 variations each. The guitars, drums and basses have all that vibe and authenticity that even serious glam rock connoisseurs will be ecstatic to consider getting this library. I've been reviewing Ueberschall products for a very long time and most of you probably know that Ueberschall products are powered by their own Elastik player - developed by Zplane Development. When the samples are loaded in the player, it allows you to tweak the loops to your heart's content. You can manipulate the pitch shift and time stretch the samples

hit songs. Sometimes finding that right groove, bass line, hook, synth riff and etc. can be time consuming. Not to mention you have to clear the samples and pay royalties. With this Refill, everything you need to make your tracks fly is included. Like many libraries out there this one is dedicated to capturing that old school disco sound. Disco School gives you six songs in three different keys from simple two-chord progressions to more complex themes with all the separate instrument loops included, and loads of variations. Included are lush strings, bass lines, drums+fills, guitar riffs and horn licks that were recorded using top of the line gear. The loops and samples sounds like they were played and performed by without losing quality. That's the advantage of the Elastik Player. It also live musicians, and that is a good thing because you need that live and allows you to do parameter groovy vibe to inject into your own automation, random sound productions. It's authentic, raw and replacement and real time sync to host. So with 1262 loops and samples retro-sounding. The sound quality is tops and the style is pretty convincing, (1.9 GB) included could pretty have especially the sounds with added an endless supply samples for a long distortion effects and reverb. time. Propellerhead did a stellar job of recreating it. Personally, I love the Dr. Format: AU, VST, RTAS and Octo Rex patches that are filled with StandAlone (Mac/PC), Elastic Player percussion loops. You can never have Soundbank too many perc loops and the variety Web: www.bigfishaudio.com on offer here is enormous. If you need Price: $99.95 each (DVD) source material for your own disco or modern club sounds, this 1.4 GB ReFill Propellerhead Software is sure to give you a unique dance Disco School ReFill floor flavor. It's a hit Disco School Refill is a tribute to the Format: ReFill for Reason (Mac/PC) great classic sounds of the 70's and Web: www.propellerhead.se early 80's disco. These were the eras when disco, soul and funk dominated PRICE: $99 the charts and still continue to be popularized by cities with different styles such as like Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles. Many musicians and producers like to sample old 70's records. We've heard sampled material graced in countless of July 2011

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Pultronic EQ-110P + Twisthead VS-206 by G-Sonique by LeVzi

In this modern age of digital audio, rectification, amplification, switching, the search for a more analogue sound or similar processing or creation of is always something that gets electrical signals. Vacuum tubes rely mentioned between producers. I've on thermionic emission of electrons often wondered why there would be a from a hot filament or cathode, that need to go back an era to try and then travel through a vacuum toward emulate something that is virtually the anode (commonly called the plate), obsolete. The answer is due to the which is held at a positive fact that the older hardware had voltage relative to the cathode. characteristics all of its own. Where Additional electrodes interposed the modern digital counterparts are between the cathode and anode never incorrect, always the same and can alter the current, giving the precise to the nth decimal point, the tube the ability to amplify and older analogue hardware had other switch." factors that made things slightly less predictable, such as the heating up of That's the science of the the tubes, circuitry differences, ageing vacuum tube, but it's the of equipment. The developers at Gapplication here we are Sonique have acknowledged the fact interested in. Let's take a look that there is a need for something to at what G-Sonique have to offer bring the character of the analogue so here, starting with Pultronic they took some old hardware units that contained vacuum tubes and created Pultronic + Twisthead, two PULTRONIC EQ-110P units to contain a vacuum tube to deliver the warmth and feel of the old The name and look of this plugunits from yesteryear. in obviously point towards the Pultec EQ, a famous hardware What is a vacuum tube, I hear you ask, unit from days gone by, and it is well by definition a vacuum tube is : dubbed an emulation of those units, but G-Sonique state that "a device that relies on the flow of the Pultronic EQ-110P and the electric current through a vacuum. Pultecs are different because Vacuum tubes may be used for they took the warm

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characteristics of the Pultec and wanted to expand on it, a ploy that worked well for them, landing them an award in the German Professional Audio & Music Test Awards in 2010.

I arrived far too late in the music world to know much about the older style hardware units, so I cannot comment on how the Pultec hardware unit would sound, or what I should expect from this emulation, but in terms of a review, I feel this is a good thing as I am not in favour of one or the other, and I can only judge on what I find as someone who's only ever used digital units. So let's put Pultronic on the bench and see how it works. When you first look at the plug-in, you are drawn (At least I was) to the graphic of the tube itself, after all this is what the unit is all about. Offering not one but three tube emulations in the unit, one for low frequencies, and high, and the main one which the whole signal goes through. I decided

st the 1 thing I'd try this on would be drums. By adding Pultronic to a kick drum, I began to move through each section of settings one by one, just to see how they really affected the sound. The first set of controls are for the low frequency cut, This is in effect a high pass filter, that will round off all frequencies below a set value. These values can range between 20 and 180hz, which is ideal for drums. I took everything below 40hz out of the equation. One criticism I have is that there are no divisions showing the exact frequencies you are working to on any of the frequency dials, or even better a small display in numbers showing the frequency value. Anyway, I dialled in roughly 40hz and then increased the bandwidth to 2, bandwidth being the Q of the filter. That will take the low end off the kick, inaudible but I know it's doing what I

July 2011

want. Also below the Low Cut Frequency dial, there is the drop down box to select what Low Frequency Tube you want to use. The options are Class A Tube, Warm Tube, Vintage Tube, Dirty Vintage Tube, 12AX7 Tube or none at all. Well wanting some grit on the kick, I changed it to Dirty Vintage, and moved to the low frequency area, where you can boost a low frequency through the previously selected tube. I then dialled in the low end of the kick area I want to boost, moving the frequency to roughly 140-160hz then a bandwidth of 1, I gave a 2db boost. Nice bit of low end thump coming through now. Now for the middle frequency where you can select a zone you want to augment or reduce its gain. For this kick drum I chose to select the lowest value I could of 360hz and max out the bandwidth and literally use it to cut , so gain down to the lowest sub value it goes to. Now I have a very clean punchy kick drum, this is really working well. Now to the high end. Under the graphic of the tube, which is pulsing nicely with each beat of the drum as it plays in my DAW, there is an option for what tube you want for the high end of the frequencies, so again, I want a dirty vintage tube sound, so that is what I select. Adjusting the frequency to around the 5khz mark, bandwidth to 2 so as not to boost too much, I added 2db of boost, and this gave the kick drum a nice click/punch feel.

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Pultronic EQ-110P +

With the input volume at 6 and output at 10, I used the on/off switch on the unit to A/B compare the dry and wet kick drums. The effect this unit has had is impressive, it is definitely a punchier kick drum, with a little less mud and a lot more power, although it is quieter overall. It definitely has a different character, and if this is what analogue units offer, then no wonder they are so popular.

experimentation, I used the pre-sets, and found that HF Vitalizer took a mediocre sound and gave it life. Really made the top end of the lead sound sparkle, even the reverb tail had a much nicer sound to it. I am actually quite shocked, I wasn't expecting that kind of result. Really did vitalize the higher frequencies in no uncertain terms. Very impressive.

break. The amen, which is one of the most recognisable breaks of all time, which is worthy of a whole article to itself, will make an excellent test subject for the unit.

I load up the break and insert Twisthead in its effects chain, and I start playing the loop continuously, now to start changing the parameters in Twisthead. The GUI of twisthead So that is the Pultronic EQ-110P from even has a vintage feel to it, again, G-Sonique in a nutshell, now let's take like Pultronic, the graphic of the tube Finally there are the warmth, itself is very striking and glowing saturation drive and brilliance controls, a look at another Vacuum Tube plugin in the form of Twisthead, which is a nicely as the loop plays. I set my I get the feeling this is where I get to vacuum tube pre-amp. input and output values to the same add power to the punch. Firstly I add number, on this occasion being 5, warmth, and set the control to 5, this which allows plenty of headroom for has given the kick the power I wanted, TWISTHEAD VS-206 wow, my desk is shaking, excellent. The tube graphic is pulsing a lot Now we come to Gharder now, so I increase the Sonique's pre-amp saturation drive by a factor of 5 also, modelled around old very subtle , but there is some hardware units that they difference if you quickly A/B it. Finally bought and examined to the brilliance control, I run it hot then see just how these older cold then mid, and see what it sounds units worked. They took like. I decide running this hot with a the principals from these value of 10 suits this particular kick older hardware units, and drum. converted them into code to bring us this vintage Once again I flick the switch on the vacuum tube effect plugplug-in, the on/off, to compare the in. Pre-amp's are what two kick drums. No contest, Pultronic you plug your has taken a pretty standard 909 style instruments into for kick drum and given it some vacuum signal processing prior to tube power that would allow it to rip that signal going to the through any mix. What Pultronic is power amp that drives offering is a very subtle tube effect to the speakers, so this unit your signal, that won't overpower or would be ideal for live destroy it beyond recognition. I could performance or live be a lot harder in the values I am recording. Just add an using, but there is no point, it's done instance of Twisthead to what I was hoping for. your input, and tweak to your heart's content. But That's a basic kick drum put through for the purpose of this Pultronic, let's try something else. I review, I am going to opened up an instance of one of my look at how Twisthead favourite synths, DUNE, and quickly works and sounds as an made from scratch a hyper saw sound. effect in my DAW on With a short decay and no sustain, I various synths or loops or created a quick, snappy riff. I added a whatever I can imagine. bit of reverb from DUNE's own effects then routed the output to the mixer Firstly I am going to use channel 1, where I added Pultronic. it on a standard amen Instead of going through 142

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+ Twisthead VS-206

any rise in output value, and it won't clip. The EQ section in the middle is basically a high and low shelf EQ, which can remove either or both frequencies. With the treble on full and the bass on zero, you get nothing but the high frequencies coming through Twisthead, and vice versa. For my testing purposes, I open both EQ filters fully, allowing everything to pass through unaffected. The left hand side of Twisthead holds the high frequency, tube harmonics and boost controls. What I found was that by increasing tube harmonics, which seems to act similarly to a HF exciter, you could then further control

that with the High Frequency control so it doesn't become overly "top heavy" with too much emphasis on the high frequencies coming through. These effects can be very subtle or complete high end madness, depending on what you are looking for.

it's made the sound cheap, but I am suggesting it's made the sound less perfect, which is what I wanted from the start. I never wanted Twisthead to clean up my sound, I wanted it to dirty it up and make it a bit less agreeable. Mission accomplished.

On the right hand side are three more There are three other switches on the far right of the GUI that are worth controls, and three switches. The mentioning. First is the three main controls are the warmth, vintage/modern switch, where you saturation drive and brilliance. These can jump between the analogue old being pretty self explanatory, can once again be very subtle or far more style sound which is the real purpose of Twisthead, or use a cleaner sound destructive for the sound coming that still has character but nowhere through. Looking at a spectrum near as much as the vintage setting. analyser as I boosted the Warmth The next switch is the low cut, that control, I could see a level increase will set a high pass on either 10 or 27 overall, but also boosts in Hz, which saves putting on an EQ to the low and mid areas. The saturation drive was a remove those bottom end frequencies no one needs. And finally, the on/off lot more destructive in terms of what it did to the switch, which is great to A/B compare sound. If you over do this, your original signal and the twisted head version. it can totally degrade the signal beyond recognition, but done more subtly it CONCLUSION: definitely takes the shine off polished sound, and Both Pultronic and Twisthead are gives it some "grit" or "dirt". The brilliance control excellent at what they do. They do offer a totally different character to definitely makes the top the normal effects you could use, end of the signal shine which is desirable to many. In terms fractionally more than of CPU use, which is something I am before, it is a very subtle very keen on watching, Pultronic was effect, and I suspect that the heavier of the 2, but at 11% of a was the intention. You single core of six, I really don't think have six controls there that's going to be an issue no matter that can be used to sculpt how many instances you use. your sound with the Twisthead was using about 5% of one characteristics of a core, could barely see it register on vacuum tube, and I can the meter I use. honestly say this would work on pretty much anything. How have these The units are priced at: - Pultronic EQ-110P is 38 Euro's experiments effected the (+19% VAT) amen break I was testing - Twisthead VS-206 is 18.90 Euro's with? It has enhanced it, (+19% VAT) nd given it an almost 2 hand shop or flea market Both are VST only. feel. I'm not suggesting

Visit: http://www.g-sonique.com/products.htm July 2011

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143

NUSofting Knagalis by Ben Paturzo

o with this d o t g in h t o Luigi had n How amusing it is that a country of about 300 Million people (US) refers to the music of a country of almost 1.2 Billion people (India) as World or Ethnic music. Say what Nakala turaska ? (jive turkey, Bengali)

Not Luigi... wait, no not him

Or as the "ethnic" character on the TV show, The Big Bang Theory, said, Dude, in India we call Indian music....music. Of course that has nothing to do with our look at Knagalis, other than it is called an ethnic instrument. The creator of this instrument, one Luigi Felici, an ethnic character if ever I met one, is the only person in his native Reggio Emilia (Enza Valley, Italy) not making cheese for a living. You see, like Parma, Reggio is a major producer of Parmesan cheese (properly called Parmigiano-Reggiano). In fact, the cheese had its origins there in the verdant Enza valley between Reggio and Parma, where the pastures are so lush that cows produce the richest milk in Italy. And the pastures also produce the richest creativity as well, witness Signore Felici. (I expect a big tip Luigi)

Ex-wife

Threat

Luigi, whose last name translates to happy, is a well-loved guy at the KVRAudio forums, so it must be in his nature to make others happy, hence Knagalis. After I had installed the demo, and before I bought Knagalis, I was clapping my hands in delight and doing other "ethnic" types of things, like telling Luigi via KVR that I kissed my 144

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Possible drum synth

ife Another ex-w

Happy N USof t

tens Luigi occasionally

ynth - Luig s a z iz P f o e creation h t g in t s a o T

i on lef t

ing custo

me r

finger tips in compliment, because, you see..............I have a secret. I too, am...ethnic. My name is not Ben. Not even close. Oh no, not the Witness Relocation Program, nothing like that. It's just that my Zia Lucrezia thought that none of the kids in America would be able to pronounce Bonaventura. Sigh. So Zia suggested Benny. After a long boat trip across the Atlantic, after having to watch this fat guy hog the pool through the whole trip, braving seasickness and other ailments, I was destined to be called...Benny. Naturally this led to: Jack Benny, Gentle Ben (the TV show about a bear), Ben Cartwright (another TV show, Bonanza), Ben the Rat, which sounds like a cool Mafia nickname but was actually from that gawdawful movie, and on and on. Heck, I was even called Benny and Cecil, which I thought was a real stretch, I mean, come on, that's not even close to Beany and Cecil. Is it? What? Oh, yeah, the "review."

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NUSofting Knagalis Figure 1

Knagalis is a specialized and multifeatured VSTi sample player, modeled around the structural elements of the Sitar (Figure 1), the famous Indian plucked stringed instrument . But its sound set also includes many other ethnic stringed instruments, as well as percussive and melodic instruments from the world stage, like the Turkish Lute, Mbira (Zimbabwe thumb piano), Santur (hammered dulcimer), Bagpipe (Figure 2), Marimba, and Gamelan instruments. If you drew a line that ran through all the countries with instruments included in Knagalis, you would end up circling the world. Now that's what I call World Music! But once I played the Sitar on this miracle of rare device.... It was a miracle of rare device; A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw; It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora. S.T. Coleridge [ed.: Okay, so now it's poetry. First cheese and now poetry.] All right all right. The Knagalis Sitar was so lovely as to transport me back to the wonderful once-a-month mini-concerts at the Temple that Yogananda built. Happy days 146

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Figure 2

when pasty white acolytes would jam with their dark Bengali brothers in a swirl of sitar, tabla, harmonium, manjira, daf, and -- always -- voice. You just knew guruji was there, smiling. Anyway, the sounds of the Sitar are created most realistically because the Knagalis sample set includes three layers: - Lead Layer (monophonic) - Sympathetic Resonance Layer (polyphonic) - Drone Layer (monophonic)

Figure 3

Using this design, it is possible to emulate any melodic instrument which features sympathetic resonances and drones. This is why something like the bagpipes fit perfectly well with the sitar in Knagalis since its legato playing style and drone accompaniment correspond easily to the same three layer modeling concept. It's all quite uncanny how Luigi pulls this off. The

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instrument goes beyond a standard ROM player, with Micro Tuning and 99 ethnic scale presets provided to give an extremely realistic sound and feel. I've played a few African thumb pianos and honestly, I sound a lot better on Knagalis (Figure 3) than on the real thing. Your mileage will vary. The sitar presets sounded spot on, even with a neophyte such as myself. That's what I'm trying to stress here -Knagalis frees you to express yourself using an otherwise unwieldy (and expensive) instrument such as a sitar or even bagpipes and just, play. It is both a relief and a delight to play this instrument. This really is a miracle of rare device. Why Luigi charges only $35 is beyond me. Must be all those ex-wives.

Molte grazie Luigi sei un genio e un tesoro il mio amico!

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QuikQuak.com Part 2 by Ben Paturzo

Figure 1

Last issue we covered several of Dave Hoskins's VST's. This issue we'll complete the roundup, starting first with Pitchwheel, described as a "real-time pitch and timbre plug-in." In Figure 1 we start with a string piece -- very slow and stately, Pachelbel-Canon like. In Live (Figure 2) this clip is assigned to the number 4 Audio slot, and I've put Pitchwheel on the A Return so that the audio from the string clip gets sent to Pitchwheel. Notice that I also have two midi clips, an Industrial Drum clip (2 Midi) and a Trance Bass clip (3 Midi), both being sent to control Pitchwheel. The two midi clips also have "all midi

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Figure 2

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Figure 3 inputs" enabled, allowing me to use a keyboard to "play" my string clip, by controlling how Pitchwheel processes the clip. With Pitchwheel set to "8 Channel midi" (below the virtual keyboard), there is no sound until I play (Figure 2) a note or two or three (up to 8 notes). The amount of pitch shift depends on the keys I play and settings such as Range, which is set here to 12 semitones. Range can be set to 1 semitone on up to 24 semitones. In this mode I can play the string audio in chords, which is great for setting up harmonies, and ideal to match vocal parts. Since Pitchwheel does its magic at sample accuracy, the pitch transitions are smooth and clean -- no stepping artifacts. You can achieve a "DJ Turntable" effect, but the tempo is not changed, so that the sequence timing of the track is unaltered. Nice.

that I can still change the effects of realize what you can do with it, and both pitch and timbre by tweaking the the more you want it! For a live big wheel knobs, or as Live allows me performer, even a DJ, this is one cool plug-in; but a composer could also to map the controls (Figure 2, lower find many uses for it, as just the vocal left), I can use the XY pad in Live to harmonization potential indicates. alter Pitchwheel's magic in real-time. If I engage the Bass midi clip, I find that a more useful effect is to switch BarChimes (Figure 3) is one of those to "Mono - constant" mode (under the instruments that makes me want to walk across the water to Cheltenham, virtual keyboard), which allows me to Midi is as midi does, so if I set down Gloucestershire and buy Dave a pint hear the string clip without the keyboard and engage the Drum interruption, except for a pitch "glitch" of bitter. This percussion instrument midi clip, the midi notes from this has 36 bars which can be individually coming in now and then to remind us percussive track will "play" the string adjusted for length, and therefore track, shifting the pitch in amount and we're not in Germany any longer. Again, I can both play my keyboard pitch. The physics of weight, gravity, in patterns set by the notes of the and friction has been translated into and tweak the XY pad to change the drum clip. The stately string clip now effects as I please, all in real-time, all complex kinematic algorithms that sounds much different, rhythm very smoothly. Pitchwheel is one of produce a highly realistic sound and matching the drum clip, pitch shifting "feel." those effects that, the more you in interesting ways, definitely not spend time with it, the more you Pachelbel any longer. Keep in mind, July 2011

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QuikQuak.com

Figure 4 Figures 4 and 5 indicate the extent that Dave has gone to carefully construct this instrument. Figure 4 shows the various settings for the Physics panel, while Figure 5 shows the settings in the Audio panel. All of these settings affect the interaction between the bars as well as their dynamic spectral content. There are enough presets (Figure 6 shows one) to get you started designing your own Bar Chimes instrument. Keep in mind that BarChimes doesn't translate midi notes directly, so that playing the "natural" (white) keys interacts with the bars to produce sweeps in either direction (or both!). The C# key (default C#4) is used as a dampener. Although simple to understand and easy to play, I found BarChimes to be great fun. If this plug-in doesn't bring a smile to your face, you've had way too much Botox.

Figure 5

Glass Viper, in keeping with Master Hoskins's overall design practice, is smooth and natural, a synth that was intended, from conception, to make sound creation visual and to encourage play and experimentation. Since it comes with 256 categorized presets, newcomers are not faced with the terror of a blank canvas, but will enjoy the rich variety of sounds, and can learn from them as well. Glass Viper has some unique sound design features.

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Part 2

Figure 6 This VST moves the "control points" of a waveform over time, causing the shape to alter and change in a natural manner. Up to four of these "swirling and changing" sounds can be layered together. To me this is a unique take on Additive Synthesis that also allows for the quick sound design found in Subtractive Synthesis. To indicate the output-waveform dynamics of this approach, Figure 7 shows the preset Goblin's Lair (SFX category). The display shows the instrument's changing waveform as a simple riff is cycled. Although an instrument you can enjoy right out of the box, Glass Viper is something you need to play and experiment with to get the most benefit. Reading the manual will start you out. After that, select a preset you like and work through the manual's pages, especially the "Hints and Ideas" section, as you tweak the controls and discover the possibilities. As for me, this synth was unique enough that a little back-andforth with the manual helped a great deal. So let's dig a little deeper.

Figure 7

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QuikQuak.com

Figure 8

In Figure 8 I've got the preset Tubular Piano loaded and we can see the four moving control point types on the waveform for Voice 1: A/Red, B/Green, C/Blue, and D/Yellow. The fifth type, White, allows you to create points that do not move. I've turned up the "gain" on the four dynamic control point types so that you can see how they move (the thin line); keep in mind that travel is vertical about the set point. The travel range is controlled by the gain knob, the frequency of travel by "freq," and "phase" controls the starting phase of this vertical travel.

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Figure 9

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Part 2

To show how you can quickly edit the waveform and alter the sound, I've added (Figure 9) a number of control points (maximum is 16 points per waveform), and I haven't followed any particular order -- an "A" point was placed after C, for example. Also, I changed a "D" control point to B. The sound? Like adding a metallic edge to

the piano. This synth invites you in to experiment and play: turning the cutoff frequency control on a filter module in a standard synth isn't as visually interactive as altering a voice's waveform in Glass Viper. And we haven't even covered the extensive Ring Modulation! Glass Viper is definitely worth downloading

Figure 10

the demo, but spend a little time learning it and you will be rewarded with a great tool for sound design. Well, that's our tour. What, you want more? Hasn't Dave done enough? Oh, alright. Figure 10 shows his newest plug-in, MashTactic. From the website: â&#x20AC;&#x153;MashTactic was initially designed as a mash up tool. It can separate different parts of a full mix, manipulating different frequencies and stereo location. Up to eight zones can be created that can then be panned, emphasized or cut out completely. It can be viewed as an eight band filter that exists in stereo ranges as well as frequency.â&#x20AC;? Oh you kids and your mash ups! We'll cover this VST in a future issue. For now, download the demos of all the QuikQuak plug-ins and see for yourself how useful each one is, and how much fun they are to fiddle with!

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Aether & Breeze by 2CAudio by LeVzi

I've had a real eye opener recently when it comes to the world of reverb plug-ins, I had no idea just how remarkable they are and how each one seems to have a different character and feel to it. As I have checked out different types of reverb (hall, room, and plate reverbs, as well as Impulse Responses or digital algorithms), it has become apparent to me that there is a great deal of choice when purchasing a reverb plug-in - some more advanced than others, and some harder on your computer than others, but this is no bad thing. Having this choice means you can tailor your needs specifically, and build your reverb arsenal around that. 154

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AETHER: 2CAudio appeared on the scene with a Installation was extremely easy, as heavyweight unit called Aether which caused a great deal of excitement was authorising the plug-in for use, so within the ranks of all reverb users, I was up and running with Aether in and more recently, they have released no time at all. I installed the 64bit version of Aether, it comes in both 32 Breeze, a cut down, more lightweight and 64bit, and seeing as I am purely version of its big brother. When the opportunity came to review both, I 64bit for all my production work I am happy to see that 2CAudio are jumped at it. I've had the privilege to supporting this. When you first open review some pretty amazing reverbs of late, and now I can go through Aether, as you can see in the image, these. Let's see just how good these you are greeted with a stunning GUI that is very pleasing to look at, but two siblings really are: perhaps a bit daunting with a great deal of controls. I've often opened new plug-ins only to think "How on earth am I going to learn all of this?"

July 2011

but I find, just by using the plug-in, you'll remember everything.

accurate as if a car had passed over me at the bridge I knew, and the reverb disappeared off into the distance. With the nostalgia aside, I For the purpose of the first test, I am going to reach into my trusty folder of can see that accuracy is paramount here within Aether. OK I'm getting loops and break beats. I use reverb a away from my goal here, but I cannot lot on breaks to give them life and help but be impressed by that quick presence in my mix, therefore I feel more comfortable using a new plug-in side track. I need a smaller reverb on something familiar in order to learn algorithm for this loop so I scan the list again. Small â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Phone Booth, well the controls. that seems pretty small and ideal The first section I look at is the Space really for a plucky loop, so that's the one I choose. Up pops an image of the section on the left, which is traditional red phone box we have accompanied by a nice image of the here in the UK, and if I am not place the reverb is taken from. The mistaken, Battersea Power Station in options are multiple moving from the background. Musical to Narrow, to Nature, Small, Special then Urban. I should imagine these areas were sampled extensively during Aether's programming. They are original and unique to say the least, the urban â&#x20AC;&#x201C; bridge reverb algorithm speaks volumes on how this project was approached. It makes me think back to my youth as my school was a short walk from my home and I used to pass underneath a busy road, under a large bridge, and the noise had a terrific ambience to it. It was loud, like a giant echo chamber that didn't rebound. I had to try it, so I selected the space in the drop down menu and a picture of the scene under a bridge came up and I played my loop. Next thing I find myself nodding as I can picture that exact sound of the reverb tail, being extremely July 2011

Aether is split into three sections, ER (Early Reflections), Master/Input and Late Reflections. This is shown better by this image.

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Aether & Breeze

So concentrating on the early reflections first, I am going to try to sculpt the reverb to suit the loop I am using. Before I do this, there are two things I want to mention about Aether, that I am going to quote from the manual, about linking early and late reflections so that the reverb can be altered as a whole or as individual parts.

whole, as I feel I am not qualified yet to define what influences what and in which order !

more for extremely complicated rooms with many surfaces, leading to a lot of possibilities for how the reverb behaves. I'm going to leave this at 0 as I want to keep it as uniform as I can. There is a pre-delay control here as well, which is for exactly that purpose, introducing a delay in the reverb. Not needed at this present time so that remains off.

Firstly I am going to alter the size of my reverb, or in this case, my telephone booth, but not by much, I wouldn't want a phone booth the size of Wembley arena, although I wouldn't be surprised if that was possible. By working with a 100% wet The next control is interesting, if not a "In a real acoustic space there is no mix, I can affect the reverb directly real distinction between Early and and hear each change. A setting of 10 bit misleading. It is called colour, but Late Reflections and the entire for size works perfectly for this loop. A it refers to the actual simulation of the material used in absorption In other composite response of a real acoustic nice touch also, is that if you double words, how the reflections would space consists of ERs, LRs, and click a dial on Aether, it jumps from sound off metal, wood, stone, plastic frequency characteristics of the given the dial to an input where you can etc. Negative values make the surface environment. Thus in order to truly type in the value you want. If you play a big part in the reverb, making represent a given space accurately all wanted a size of 10.1 you can input it thinner or lighter, and positive make three of these things should align to that. Below size is the Absorb dial, the surface play less of a part thus meet the characteristics of the which is literally that, how much of making the reverb denser. When you acoustic environment. Aether offers the sound is absorbed when it hits a adjust this control you can hear it an intuitive solution to this issue by surface. I wish my studio had a dial quite evidently, the reverb becomes providing a Link button that allows for that. This is a really nice way of almost air like when in the negative various parameters to be linked to the having a reverb tail to suit, then region, which is exactly the effect I Space Type macro control. The st having it soaked up by the 1 surface am after. The next control is the HF additional ER controls, the LR controls, it hits, perfect for a loop, so this gets soft which is a style of high end filter Both set of controls, or None of the a high value of 60. Sounding good that can tame the high frequencies. controls can be linked to Space Type. already, and I've only adjusted a few When you adjust this you will notice This way, when a user selects the controls. One eye is constantly on the the EQ graph move as the filter "Telephone Booth" Space Type for CPU meter and it is barely registering. closes down and, in green, to show example, an appropriate size and It seems Aether isn't a CPU eater, but it's the ER HF Soft that's being reverb time can optionally be set I am using a small reverb space, adjusted. I'm going to use a small automatically as well. Of course the maybe that will change somewhat linked parameters can then be amount to cut just the very high when I test the bigger spaces. frequencies, so I set it at around 25, adjusted by the user as desired and which appears to be a very gentle hybrid presets can also be developed The position control dictates where in shelf cut from around 2k upwards the by quickly combining the the defined space the sound originates. shelf is so shallow it isn't a big cut by characteristics of two or more I should imagine this would make a any means. different Space Types. The end result huge difference if, say, the origin was is a balance of maximum ease of use in a corner with lots of walls to bounce and ultimate flexibility." Next comes the cascade control, off etc. The values correspond with which is a means to feed the early the space selected and in the manual reflections directly into the late This is something that I feel shows it gives actual value to position reflections or vice versa. Basically how in-depth Aether really is. The placings so you know what each value Aether has 2 stereo engines within it. ability to separate early and late means. For this test I am going to The ER (Early Reflections) and LR reflections and in essence work on leave it at 0 which is pretty central. (Late Reflections) and you could deal them separately is almost an alien Next is the shape control which with each one but they were running thing to do as reverb is often relates to the reflective surfaces the in parallel to each other, so the only considered a "whole" thing, as it sound would come in contact with. time they actually were mixed happens all at once. For the purpose Low numbers being more for rooms together was at the output stage of of this I am going to leave it as a with few surfaces, high numbers being 156

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powerful Aether really is, it has a very that is what I am after, I set this to in-depth approach to reverb. For now around 10 as well, although if you want the ER and LRs to have identical everything is going to remain off in the envelope settings. I am happy size values just hit the lock switch with the way it sounds at the moment. under the control. It indeed keeps things on a similar plane by having them at the same value. I did turn The Frequency Control area is, like I this right the way up and noticed the mentioned before, a graphic where time parameter follows it, the size and filters are shown with the time parameters are linked as they corresponding colour to which area have to stay in proportion to one they relate, ER, IR etc. There is a drop another. The same can be said for the down menu at the top of the graph LR Shape control. It does virtually the where you can load a factory preset. same as the ER shape control, but Those presets are split into different bear in mind you are adjusting these sections that offer the following: There are then controls to adjust the parameters for two different times in gain of the ERs, to bypass the ER • Classic: contains settings which the reverb section, early and late, section completely or lock out both emulate behaviour and limitations obviously sometimes it helps to keep the other controls. I am not going to found in classic hardware devices such them the same, but it can be introduce any gain here, so I leave as limited frequency response and interesting to adjust them that section alone. Next comes the ER filter selection independently. There is also, again, Stereo mode, allowing the user to •Natural: contains settings which are another pre-delay for the LR section select how the input is handled in the designed to model behaviour of real but for this instance that will remain ER section, you can also do this for acoustic spaces as accurately as off. the LR section too, and more methods possible using all tools available and were added in Aether 1.5 as well. For You then come to the reverb envelope without artificially limiting frequency this purpose I am going to leave it in section which is completely adjustable. response L-R Stereo, which is a stereo – stereo There are three controls, these being •Modern: contains settings which process. ER Cross and ER Width both Attack, Sustain and Spread. Attack have full to exaggerated frequency related to the ER Stereo mode, in how being the time taken to reach peak responses, are designed with the it is further handled. I am going to initial reverb levels, sustain the time it needs of modern musical styles in leave them at the default values. Let's is held and spread the time it takes to mind, and are not limited to emulation move over to the Late Reflections or go from the attack phase to the of real acoustic spaces LR's. sustain phase. When you have control •Special FX: contains settings which over the reverb length and time etc., are intentionally extreme, bizarre, and First of all you see the big dial in the why add an additional envelope "wrong" to achieve odd special FX and middle marked Time which is the main control? I hear you ask. Well, I think explore experimental sound-design time function for the reverb. You can of reverb as being one thing, a territory set a huge tail here or as I have, constant after a sound is heard, •User: contains user defined settings leave it short and sharp as it is a loop amplitude, direction etc. will alter how I am adding reverb to therefore the reverb sounds, but if the sound is You can of course link this to other anything too long becomes messy. A the same in every way each and every areas in Aether such as the master EQ, value of 1 second is used, perfect. time, the reverb will be the same, but HF Soft etc. For my needs in this test Next up is the size parameter which, that's provided nothing changes. So leaving it set on both is fine. to quote the manual: you can set up a reverb for that to perfection but then instead of altering I hope I haven't bored you to tears "The LR Size control sets the general something major for how the reverb is yet but I am trying to get across how reference delay length, and thus the heard you can adjust these controls to deep Aether is, in fact in any of my perceived size, of the LR Engine." set the envelope. It's almost like a reviews I like to go through each part tweak within a tweak, which allows for as if I am doing it with you here in my For a more natural sounding reverb, very complex modulation of the studio, so that we are both the ER and LR size parameters should reverb. It just goes to show how experiencing it for the first time. have a similar value and seeing as the signal chain. What this cascade does is allow the user to feed the ER into the LR in a series pattern, or vice versa LR into the ER and then to the output. The switch under the control st sets the 1 in the series, then setting 100% in cascade sets it to a complete series circuit. Leaving it at 0% means it remains in parallel. This was only introduced in Aether 1.5 so it shows that 2CAudio are constantly trying to improve and introduce new and interesting options to their plug-ins.

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Aether & Breeze

We then come to the delay curve parameters , being the Low X Low Q, High X and High Q, It's something I'd never heard of, and I'm not surprised, it's a new thing all together. This is taken from the Manual: "Aether employs an industry first, advanced frequency-dependent decay time-scaling process that allows users to specifically sculpt and carve custom reverb damping curves with unprecedented flexibility. Aether divides the audio frequency range into three frequency ranges and allows each frequency range to have its own time scaling factor. To add further flexibility the "Q" or filter slope of both filter cut-off points is adjustable from 0.05 to 1.00 to allow extreme variance from gentle sloping curves to extremely steep ones. This allows the users to keep the mix clean in critical bands while allowing more space in others, and it allows preset designers to achieve both ultimate realism and intentional supernatural effects." It is difficult to explain how they relate to the reverb, but what I advise is that you adjust the various parameters, then adjust the low, mid and high controls below and watch the graphic, you soon see how each one is controlled and once you understand just what it is for, i.e. the reverb damping curve, you can take it further and sculpt it the way YOU want it.

Next come the modulation options, which opens my eyes to something I was completely unaware of. Aether is alive!!! Well not quite, but the developers have included in its programming the ability to mimic subtle changes in the space it's programmed to emulate. In other words, in the real world, no 2 reverb samples could be the same, there would be outside influences, a gust of wind, change in temperature, a building empty or full of people, anything can alter it even by a tiny amount, so convolution reverbs are completely accurate at the time they were sampled. You try and get that exact sample again, it is unlikely you'll get it identical. Aether has a similar thing that's built into it. It can make subtle changes that won't affect anything in terms of pitch, but it basically is a dynamic reverb not a static one. That's an approach to something that I've never heard of, allowing for natural changes in a computer program. I think 2CAudio have hit on some subject matter here. The modulation section allows the user to take this further and beyond what's inside Aether. Whereas the internal reverb "drift" for want of a better word, is extremely subtle and will not alter anything important, the external modulation will. It can be used to introduce pitch changes and strange effects over time. I would say this is more suited to making bizarre special effects but for my test subject they remain off.

The LF Diffuse parameter is used to control the echo density. Low values As with the ER section the LR has the are sharper reflections, high values gain, width and cross controls also are smoother reflections. In all with the stereo selection for how the honesty, for this test I am doing on a LRs are processed. They are loop, neither high nor low settings remaining as they were, with the make any apparent difference so I stereo switch set to L-R Stereo, as it decided to leave it on maximum for smoother reflections. I should imagine was in the ER stage. this is more apparent with a different The master controls are basically to source for reverb than a percussion increase input gain, which in this case loop. is not needed and adjust the wet/dry 158

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level. I have had it set to 100% wet during my experiments as I purely want to hear the reverb but when I want to play back the loop completely I'll set this so that the dry loop is reintroduced at the correct level so that it is not drowned out by the reverb. Exactly the same as using it on a send in your DAW. If you wanted to use it in your DAW in a send bus, then lock the mix at 100%. You then have the master EQ section where you can fine tune the EQ of the reverb. You can set the frequency, the Q (steepness of shelf) and gain of the low and high bands of your reverb, perfect for the final touch up before you are finished with your settings. There is also a button to switch where the filters actually come into play, either during input or before output. Finally, is the VU meter, which is how you can keep an eye on your levels within Aether. There are three modes and they are as follows: â&#x20AC;˘ L-R: Left-Right, Input-Output o The input level is shown in the top hemisphere. Input level is measured before the gain control and represents the true input level coming into the plug-in. The output level is shown in the lower hemisphere. o Left channels are displayed in the left quadrants. Right channels are displayed in the right quadrants. â&#x20AC;˘ M-S: Mid-Side, Input-Output o A Mid-Side conversion is performed before metering. o The input level is shown in the top hemisphere. Input level is measured before the gain control and represents the true input level coming into the plug-in. The output level is shown in the lower hemisphere. o Mid signals are displayed in the left quadrants. Side channels are displayed in the right quadrants.

o This mode is useful to get an idea of how much width is being added to the input signal â&#x20AC;˘ Off: This mode disabled the VU completely. It is offered at the request of some users who experienced excessive CPU usage when using the meter on network host systems such as "FX-Teleport" (tm). There is no need to disable the meter under normal circumstances

just the four oscillators all detuned and octaved. Normally I'd add reverb to this sort of patch to complete it, it doesn't really need anything else, but let's see what Aether can do with it.

I load up an instance of Aether, click on the browser which brings up the list of presets. Also this is easy mode as you have some controls at the bottom that you can basically use to tweak a preset. There are loads of presets, all nicely grouped into sections corresponding to what you I think it's safe to say Aether covers may be looking for, i.e. plates, drums, pretty much everything. Considering vocals etc. I click on instruments, this is the first time I've used it, it is not as complicated as you'd think. I've then trance synth 1, which I expect to suit this synth. I start to play the covered a lot of what options you notes and it is exactly what I'd hoped have, but there is an easy mode for. The controls are just enough to be available if you just want a reverb able to take that preset and without all the options. I recommend manipulate it further. You can adjust you read the manual as it is well laid out and very good at explaining more the size, mix, time and gain of the reverb, also you have the options to about each area of Aether. I was separately increase the gain of the referring to it in parts now I feel I ERs and LRs. know Aether so much better. So how did the loop sound? Well I reintroduced it at around 40-60 mix to reverb in the wet / dry control and as I was hoping, I now have a perfect amount of very light, ambient reverb that is not too long and sits perfectly with the loop. I opened an instance of my spatial meter to check how this loop now works in the stereo field. I then bypassed Aether to see how it looked without. Without Aether the loop was more or less directly in the middle, almost mono, even though it's in stereo, it had no span to it at all. With Aether enabled, it filled a lot more of the spectrum, significantly filling up more L & R areas, which is what I was hoping for. Let's check out Aether on a synth, using some of the presets, and using it in Easy mode. I load up an instance of my trusty friend Sylenth, and create a trance style super saw, but dry as a bone, no effects or filters,

Aether really is a powerhouse of a reverb unit. It has options to manipulate the reverb that take you deep inside what happens naturally in a room. What's more, Aether has a natural side in that it actually doesn't stick to a static rule, it dynamically thinks for itself the way nature changes second by second. That is a testament to what 2CAudio have done with Aether. This Unit is highly recommended. Speaking of Nature, this brings me nicely onto BREEZE: Breeze is the little brother to Aether. 2CAudio saw the need to create a scaled down, simplified version that may appeal to those who are intimidated by the power of its big brother. Also, price comes into play here, those on a tight budget can get the lush sounding reverbs of Aether from within Breeze, maybe not as July 2011

perfectly sculpted, but certainly more than enough to make them very impressive. As you can see the GUI is a great deal more simplified compared to Aether which makes it ideal for those who don't want loads of modulation options yet still want quality. To test Breeze, this time I am going to use a vocal sample. So I quickly scan my folder for a completely dry vocal that needs some reverb. I found some phrases taken from a very old computer speech program that are completely dry and in mono. So I am going to use Breeze to alter the sample and give it more presence and power with the use of reverb. First things first, load up Breeze as an insert, and locate the wet/dry, which is called mix, and turn it up to 100%. I am now hearing the default reverb of Breeze only, the dry signal is muted at the moment, the only thing I can hear is what passes through Breeze. There is also a lock button here, so you can lock the mix at 100% and use Breeze on a send bus as well, allowing you to go through presets without the mix setting changing, and introducing two dry signals. Now I have Breeze setup ready to create a nice reverb for this particular vocal. On the left are the input and output VU meters and a gain slider which controls the output from Breeze. Below this is the time control which is the length of the reverb to be heard. When you adjust this control, you see the graph on the right start to change too. What you are seeing is a graphical representation of the reverb and its decay. Personally I love this in a reverb unit, it gives you an idea of how the reverb is going to sound. It doesn't have to be numerically accurate either, just a visual idea, in my opinion, works so well. The initial www.WusikSoundMagazine.com

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section of the graphical area are the delays for the ERs or Early Reflections, then the body of the reverb is seen in the white filled area which is altered with various settings. I'm going to give this vocal a 2.5s time value, which gives a nice tail, and adds presence to the vocal itself, bearing in mind I am adjusting based on the 100% wet version. Moving along, you come to the predelay and contour settings. Pre-delay is pretty self explanatory, as it is the delay between the dry signal and when the reverb reflections begin. The contour control deals with the Early Reflections before the main body of the reverb begins, it adjusts the attack envelope from a positive to neutral to negative attack. The amount of contour will affect the whole reverb tail and extreme values affect it a lot, but for the purpose of this vocal I am going to leave it set at 0. The next controls are the geometry controls that are size and shape. You 160

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can set the size of the actual reverb area from 1 to 75 meters. You can then further alter how the reverb is heard with the shape function. Low values basically mean it would emulate a clean room with few reflective surfaces, yet a higher value would mean a more complex amount of reflective surfaces like it would be in a strangely shaped room, exactly like it is done in Aether. I am going to use the maximum size of 75 meters, and introduce 25% of shape complexity to add a little difference than just a plain reverb in a uniformly shaped room. It's very subtle but you can hear a difference. Next come the Diffusion and Density controls. The density control basically deals with the amount of reflections causing a much denser reverb or a much thinner one. Obviously the less dense the reflections the less dense the overall reverb sounds, and vice versa. For my test on a vocal I'm going to reduce density as I want an almost floating style reverb, more ambient, not too thick and heavy. So I July 2011

reduce it to -64% which sounds ideal. The diffusion deals with the increase of the density over a period of time. In other words, you can adjust the amount of reflections over time and so make the reverb thicker or thinner beyond the initial setting. This directly effects the Late Reflections, whereas density effects the early ones. I am going to adjust this to quite a high value so the reverb is quite thick throughout its decay period and doesn't disappear too quickly. There is a lo-hi switch here too which refers to the quality of the diffusion and density. It also affects CPU consumption as obviously lo mode would use less CPU. Again CPU use is being monitored, and if it was being sucked away I'd report it, but CPU use is minimal. Then come the modulation options which allow changes in the reverb based on the settings here, making it dynamic and not static, identical to Aether in this regard. I don't feel experienced enough yet to use these controls, so I leave them at their default settings.

I have a nice reverb in place now that suits this vocal but I am going to refine it slightly further using the EQ available in Breeze. This is represented on a graph and you can see how the filter effects the reverb. There are 5 options of EQ available offering Hi-Cut, Hi Shelf, Low-Cut, Low Shelf and off. I am going to use a high shelf and take out some of the low end frequencies as this vocal is fairly high pitched. Plus I don't want it interfering with my kick or bass lines. Above the EQ and the graph is the Damping section with also consists of 5 options that are the same as the EQ. Damping occurs naturally with the surfaces the sound is reflecting off so to get this in Breeze you can use the damping slider combined with the correct filter. I suspect most would use a high cut. For my needs I am going to leave this open to allow, if anything, attenuation of the high end.

think of the film Matrix at times like these when Neo was asked if he wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, I get that feeling with plugins, just how deep do they go? For the cross function I am going to leave it at 50%.

CONCLUSIONS: Both Aether and Breeze are of an extremely high quality. They can both give you lush reverbs and incredible results, considering they are both algorithmic units. Aether offers you everything under the sun really, if you want to emulate the Sydney Opera House, Row 32b , Seat 24, and how the reverb sounds there, then Aether can probably do it. Although if you are less inclined to want to tweak every parameter, Breeze offers everything you'll need from a reverb including the high quality. 2CAudio have really created a couple of gems here and I think their place in reverb unit history is assured.

Finally we have a reverb for a vocal, it sounds incredible just coming through Breeze 100% wet, so I re-introduce the dry signal so it is 40% wet, and I have to say, it sounds out of this world. Not like some kind of alien, I mean it sounds exactly as I was hoping for. The vocal has gone from a boring mono computer talking sample to an almost alive sounding computer making an important speech in a large hall. The spatial difference is big too. The vocal now fills a larger portion of the stereo field hence its presence has Aether is priced at $249.95 and increased. The cost to the CPU is very available for Mac and PC small for such a nice effect. Bypassing Breeze and hearing the original I am Breeze is priced at $149.95 and Finally there are two more sliders at stunned, it really has made a huge available for Mac and PC the bottom of Breeze's GUI. Width difference, so clear and crisp. and Cross. Width deals with how Visit: http://www.2caudio.com/ for more information. much stereo width is added to the For the synth test I always carry out input signal. It is measured in % for reverb units I load up DUNE and where 0 is mono, and 100 is true use one of the presets. I disable its stereo. Note I said added to, not built in delay and reverb and add an reduced to, in other words, 0 Width instance of Breeze to the channel. doesn't change the whole signal to There is no name for the init patch in mono, nor does it take an already Breeze, I assume it's just that, not stereo signal and turn that into mono really supposed to sound like anything, either. For my purpose, the original but with the trance style arp that is vocal is in mono but I want it as coming from DUNE and this setting I natural as possible so that would be a couldn't help but think about Ibiza and stereo sound so I push width to 100%. the videos I've seen of the massive The Cross function is basically the dance hall events there. I move amount each channel will be in the through the presets one by one, opposite one. i.e. How much the left trying the plates, the hall's etc., and channel will go into the right, as it each one sounds incredible, but with would in true stereo. The manual has one major difference, the CPU drain is a deeper explanation of that, better less than its big brother. than I could try to explain it, I often July 2011

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Fisound

by Jeffrey Powell Cakewalk's Rapture synth has been around for a number of years, and it's gained a strong, but somewhat quiet, group of loyal supporters. In mid2009, Rapture 1.2 was released with some new features such as envelope retriggers for the step generator and preset handling for the step and envelope generators. Fisound's Universal 120 pack was the first addon pack to take advantage of these new features. Quite recently, Fisound has updated their add-on pack to version two, which added a huge amount of new content. In this review, we'll take a look at the full Universal 120 v. 2.0 add-on pack for Rapture.

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Some background on Fisound While the name Fisound may not be familiar, those familiar with soft synths might have come across the guys behind Fisound (Chad Beckwith and Tom Brockway) on the internet. On the Cakewalk forums, they post as "Chad" and "b-rock" respectively. Many will know Chad through his Patch Arena website as well. Now, if you spend some time at Cakewalk forums, you'll quickly learn that they are the "go to" members for questions about Rapture. In fact, Chad was the Product Manager at Cakewalk at the time of the Rapture 1.2 release. You can also find some neat and unusual tricks using Rapture that Chad and July 2011

b-rock have posted on the Cakewalk forums. In short, b-rock and Chad know their way around this synth backwards and forwards, so that makes them perfectly suited to create a pack that shows off the newest Rapture features. For Universal 120, Fisound also called on the skills of Francesco Silvestri, who is known on the forums as Fr4ncesco. He's the sound designer behind the rightfully well-regarded Muz3um packs for Z3ta+ and Rapture and the Virus Mod for Z3ta+. As these are generally regarded as some of the best expansion packs for these synths, his sound design skills greatly add to the value of this pack.

So, even if you haven't heard of Fisound, there is a considerable creative firepower behind Fisound's Universal 120 v.2.0.

In other words, you get a great collection of presets, but for those who design their own sounds or want to learn how it's done, the pack also includes tons of additional content that helps in turning sound design visions into reality. Universal 120 v. 2.0 is far more than a preset pack. It is truly an expansion pack.

you get a large collection of quality samples for use in your presets. Perhaps the most remarkable content in this pack are the presets for the step and envelope generators, which were primarily designed by b-rock. At times, the generators for Rapture can be a bit fiddly and time consuming to work with, particularly when you've got an idea you want to implement quickly. That's where these presets can come in handy. Both sets of presets are meticulously organized by type. For the envelope generators, you'll see presets with a fixed number of seconds for attack and release or attack and decay. You'll also find presets that emulate the envelope of blown instruments or bowed instruments. These examples are just a tiny sample of the many presets included here.

Far More Than a Preset Pack Perhaps the most important thing to realize about Universal 120 v.2.0 is that it is NOT simply a preset pack. Here's how Chad of Fisound describes the motivation for the pack: "We In Depth with Samples and wanted to do something different so Generator Presets we really focused on all of the add-on files for Rapture to create what we As noted above, you get over 450 MB called a Rapture Content Construction of samples for use in Rapture with this Kit. We not only wanted to make pack. Some are simply standalone some cool programs/patches but also .wav files which load as oscillators help other people design their own while others are used in included .sfz sounds in Rapture." files which also load into Rapture. A glance at the names of these samples What does this mean exactly? Well, gives you an idea of their sources. You'll find samples from analog synths Universal 120 certainly contains its fair share of presets (584 to be exact), like the MS20, ARP 2600, TB 303, DSI but it also has much more to offer. Mopho, Solina, Oberheim OBX, and First of all, you get over 1,620 others. In the samples, you'll also find As for the step generator presets, you samples (450+ MB!) for use as a number of samples with names like get a huge variety of these as well. oscillators or in .sfz files that load into Square Warp, Sine Rect, Triangle You'll find basically every possible Rapture. Additionally, you get 550 Detune, etc. which help you easily sequence of pulses over eight steps envelope generator presets and 700 find the type of oscillator you're trying with envelope generator retrigger to locate. There are also a few step generator presets neatly steps. For example, Retrigger organized into folders by type. If that surprises like classic 808 samples, a 1110111 puts an envelope generator isn't enough, you also get 80 LFO bowed vibraphone, a series of retrigger step on steps 1-4 and 5-8 waveforms and 32 micro-tuning scales "endless" instruments, and granulated (and then it continues in this pattern in scala format. sounds. There's far too much for me to fill up all of the steps). Also to cover here, but needless to say, included are a number of great rhythmic sequences and those that July 2011

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Universal 120

follow particular scales (for use in the pitch step generators). Once again, they're well organized. As before, there are too many for me to mention, but you'll find just about every type of sequence you can imagine and then some. Overall, these generator presets add a lot of value to the pack. I can see them being used to save time when creating presets or for use as inspiration for taking sounds in unexpected directions. In the pdf manual on their site (www.fisound.com), you can see a screen capture of the categories for the generator presets. Don't Forget the Synth Presets! I'd be remiss if I didn't spend at least a few words on the presets included in this package. The presets come in two categories in the Rapture browser: Universal 120 and Universal 120 v2. In both categories, the presets are organized into categories by type (i.e. pads, leads, keys, etc.). It is my understanding that Chad and b-rock created the presets in the Universal 120 category and Fr4ncesco created the presets in Universal 120 v2. As noted above, there are 584 presets in this collection and they are a 164

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great pads and keys. All in all, the diverse lot of useable sounds. Not presets are fantastic. surprisingly, many of the included presets heavily use the new features in Rapture 1.2 so the presets actually As hard as it is to believe, there's even more content in this pack. For also indirectly provide a tutorial on example, you'll also find some how to creatively use the step and envelope generators. I also found that element presets (for putting into just one of Rapture's six elements) and there were some interesting uses of some handy .sfz template files which the "Step" status on the step demonstrate some of the versatility of generator to add some musical the .sfz format. All in all, there's a randomness to some of the patches. wealth of useful and interesting material to be discovered. I don't have the space to cover the presets in great detail, but I can say a Concluding Thoughts few words about them. I often get frustrated when I get packs of presets that sound great on their own but are Universal 120 v.2.0 is just flat out impressive. It's one of the most useful very difficult to fit into a track. That's expansion packs I've seen for any not the case with these. With just a synth. The amount of included content bit of tweaking, they're ready to drop is staggering and with a price tag of into your tracks. I found that the only $39 it represents an incredible newest set of presets for version two bargain. It's an expansion that was (designed by fr4ncesco and Chad) clearly created with care by some of were especially inspiring. I especially enjoyed the keys and the pads, which the people who know Rapture best. If you want to be inspired by some new brought some interesting sounds Rapture presets or you want to get a without going over the top. Overall, useful set of tools for sound design the presets would work well in most then I highly recommend checking it genres so everyone is likely to find out. As a side note, look for more something that fits their tastes here. presets by Chad and fr4ncesco in the If you're into ambient or chillout factory content for Z3ta+ 2 which music, though, I'd consider this an comes out in August. essential set of presets as there are Company Website: some great mangled pianos, guitars, http://www.fisound.com/ and rhodes keyboards to go with the

July 2011

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TubeOhm's

Serious Fun

by Adrian Frost

Sometimes, every now and then, a synth turns up that just makes you smile. It sounds good, it looks good, and has that extra "something" that moves it into the "fun" category, It brings a smile to your face. TubeOhm's "Vintage" is one of those synths. But first the serious bitâ&#x20AC;Ś "Vintage" was released by TubeOhm in March of this year. Very quickly, word has weren't available to the TubeOhm crew, so they created their own from spread about how good it is. Vintage takes its inspiration from the Roland scratch - in a number of cases using D50 synth that was released way back their own soft-synths as the basis for in 1987, just as the popularity of a sample. This means that whilst Yamaha's DX7 was on the decline. In Vintage can sound similar to a D50, it'll never sound exactly the same. But synth terms then, the D50 is vintage! that is no bad thing considering that a lot of D50 sounds were heavily However, TubeOhm's creation is not just a slavish copy of the original. It overused in the late 80s and early 90s, adds its own magic to the mix. The leading to them becoming musical clichĂŠs. original D50 contained patches created by Roland's Eric Persing. The samples that he used in the D50 166

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When you load up Vintage, the first thing that you notice is that the interface is big. On my laptop it takes up almost the whole screen. It certainly gives you the feeling that you're dealing with a substantial piece of kit. There seems to be quite a lot of wasted space, but once you start digging into other parts of the synth you come to appreciate the giant size interface, as there are a lot of options available under the hood, that, otherwise, would have been rather squashed together.

From the front screen you can choose any one of the 128 included presets, activate the arpeggiator, and also set up the "Keyboard split" option - which brings us neatly to Vintage's main feature. It is actually two complete, independent synths in one "box". Each synth is known as a structure, and every patch can include either of the

structures, or both of them. The included factory presets are, "Keyboard split" then allows you to generally, superb. If you use Vintage dedicate one part of your controller as nothing more than a preset keyboard to the first structure, and machine, you'll more than get your the other part to the second structure. money's worth. Some of the presets If you have a decent sized keyboard, are reminiscent of their D50 this can make for double the fun! equivalents, but there's enough extra sparkle that gives Vintage its own unique voice. July 2011

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Once you start creating your own presets, you move over to the "Structure" pages which is available from the top of the interface. I'm not going to give you a control by control explanation of what everything is and what everything does; but there are some features that are well worth pointing out. Each structure contains two oscillators which can either be standard analogue style waveforms or digital samples. You choose which type of oscillator you want to use from the centre panel, where you have a row of 7 buttons that you can use to flick through the available layout choices. If you choose to use a sample oscillator, you have 128 waveforms at your disposal. As mentioned previously, all of these samples have been created by TubeOhm themselves. The well written, 68 page PDF manual supplied with the synth includes a list of all the samples and what was used to create them. Maybe it is not of a huge amount of practical use, but it is interesting information nevertheless. It's also worth mentioning that Vintage's manual is one of the best I've come across so far - full of

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images which really do help you to orient yourself. Samples can be set to loop as well as run forwards and backwards. This instantly multiplies the possibilities for sound design and is a useful, well thought out feature that has been implemented. All of the included envelopes are multi stage, and the Pitch envelope which affects both "halves" of the structure can also be looped. This means that long, interesting pad sounds are simplicity itself on this synth. Oh yes, it can also act as a simple step sequencer. How's that for versatility?

before putting in your noticeable effects rather than trying to EQ an already affected sound. The only slightly complicated thing in the Effects section is the routing. It's worth clicking the buttons a few times to see what happens - or you could read the manual... although this is practically the only part of the synth that doesn't get a really good explanation... so you'll still have to play around a bit to see how things work. From my own experimentation, it seems to work as follows: The top row of buttons "link" the structure to an effect. If that effect is currently turned off, it will automatically be turned on. If you unlink both structures from an effect it is turned off - which saves a few processor cycles! You'll notice that you can only link to one effect at a time. So, if you want to use multiple effects, you need to use the two lower buttons to chain the effects; the grey lines then show how the effects are chained. Neat!

Moving onto the effects page brings up another goldmine of controls and options. Because the synth's two structures are colour coded (Yellow and Blue) it is easy to see what you're doing when setting effects. The two tube amps allow you to introduce a bit of grit into what is otherwise a very clean, pristine, sound. The built-in EQ is helpful for tweaking your sound without having to add an extra effect to the chain, the fact that the EQ comes before the other effects also Heading back to the front page, means you can sort any problems out Vintage offers a vector control that

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allows you to move between all of the parts of the two structures - i.e. you can listen to just one oscillator, or mix two oscillators from different structures. As you can imagine, this gives you a remarkable amount of control over your sound. There is also a randomise function available, of which the manual says "Yes, it generates random values. Sounds are sometimes good but also sometimes bad and sometimes crap". I love that kind of honesty and sense of humour. Finally, a word about Vintage's "construction". TubeOhm build their synths using SynthEdit by Jeff McClintock. Incidentally, Jeff first released SynthEdit in 1987... the year that the D50 appeared. For some softsynth users, knowing that a synth is made using SynthEdit is almost guaranteed to make them reconsider whether they will purchase it. SynthEdit, unfortunately, has something of a reputation for producing sluggish, bloated, resource hogging VSTs. So why bring this up? Well, TubeOhm are the good guys of the SynthEdit world. They don't just throw together a few stock modules, add a cheesy interface and call it a

day. Modules are created in-house and they spend a lot of time optimising and working on their synths. This is evident from the fact that, even at full bore, Vintage doesn't consume huge amounts of system resources. On my relatively low spec laptop, a preset (Synth Breath) that uses both oscillators in both structures hits about 25% on the performance indicator in my DAW. So, it's not really really lightweight, but is well within tolerances for a synth of its type. There's an awful lot of processing going on to produce such a good quality sound - in that sense, SynthEdit has nothing to do with it. Right, that's all the serious stuff, now a word about the fun. I am a

child of the 80s. The first album I was ever given was called "Chart Hits '81". One of my favourite albums on cassette tape (remember those?) from that period was called "The Hits Tape 7". Funnily enough, it dates from 1987. A couple of years ago I found a copy sitting forlorn and unloved in a second-hand shop - so I bought it, just to relive my youth. Vintage brings the 80s up to date. It pays homage to its roots without trying to make out that they're something that they weren't. You can sit and play with this synth for ages creating, or recreating, that 80s feel. It's all there but slightly more mature, and a little bit more grown up. And that's why it's fun. That's why it brings a smile to my face. Vintage is available from TubeOhm's website at http://www.tubeohm.com It costs 70€ (about ¢ 63 or $100) unless you are already a registered TubeOhm user, in that case it's yours for only 60€ (about ¢ 54 or $86)

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SoundGarden Zero-G

House Fabrik www.zero-g.co.uk by Ben Paturzo

If you're into Deep Tech/Minimal House, Zero-G has just made your day with House Fabrik (see Figure 1). I can't count that high, but my system tells me this DVD has over 1300 samples, 1.3 GB worth, with each in WAV and AIFF formats. There is also 810 Stylus compatible REX2 files, 150 EXS24 Instruments, 150 Kontakt Instruments, and 150 Reason NN-XT Instruments. Riffs, beats, bass lines, FX loops, sub-bass, melodies, atmospheres, pads -- it's all here and more...And all at 24-bit quality. This generous package has so much content that it comes with a 36-page PDF to list it all! Also included are clear instructions on how and where to install the loops, samples, and instruments. Just in case you have musician's block, there a few demo songs to inspire you. For creating your own drum kits, House Fabrik has a generous supply of oneshots on hand. Everything from the standard Kicks, Hats, and Toms, to Robo Hits, Organic Hits, Synth Stabs, and more -almost a dozen categories. Each category has on average 15 samples, while the Synth Stabs group has over 180 samples. You will not exhaust the possible combina-

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tions in this lifetime! The Kicks are in each BPM group and across -- there especially tasty, with a nice full botis only one "Bacon" loop (130 BPM) tom end, perfect for the dance floor. for example. This gives even more The Misc group has some interesting versatility in using the loops, as each electro-pop hits, including a boingy BPM group has its own rhythms and cowbell -- and, you know, I was need- sounds. Also, there is definitely subing just a little more cowbell. The 20 bass here as my room's walls were samples in the Organic group balance shaking! out the Misc group; here we have some nice, wooden-natural sounds, The Drum loops are BPM-categorized like our percussive cousins use all the same as the Bass loops. For my over the world. The Pop group has money, this is where House Fabrik mouth-beatbox sounds. The Snares shines. There are over 120 drum are the snares-claps variety (again, loops each in the 125 BPM and 127 perfect for dance music), the Synth BPM groups alone, and they are all Stabs sound like they could be very competently recorded, with crisp dropped into the next dance hit, and attacks and a very healthy low end. the Toms range from natural to alThe loops are very catchy, and can lay most-kick drum with an enhanced low a strong foundation for your music, or end. They are nicely recorded, crisp serve as perfect DJ segues as the and clean, and quite usable. beats seem to be made for each other. Very nice indeed and extremely useThe Loops are categorized by Bass, able for composing or live DJ work. Drum, Synths and Melodies, and Atmospheres and FX. In the Atmospheres and FX loops, there are 26 Atmospheres and roughly twice that for FX. The loops are usually well-named as "Corkscrew" and "Darksky" (Atmospheres) evoke their namesakes, while "Catz" and "Wale" are indeed those creatures, misspelled for street cred. Of course, some of the Atmospheres could easily be used in Ambient music as well as dance tracks.

The Synth and Melodies group is also categorized by BPM. Here you will find hundreds of loops that demonstrate the enormous versatility of this whole package, as the loops could be used in Techno, Trance, or any kind of modern dance music, as well as, in some cases, Ambient and even cinema music. The range of loops here, in terms of beat, content, and presentation, will definitely spark your creativity. The Synth and Melodies group definitely mesh well with the Drum loops. In fact, the whole House Fabrik content works very well together. It's almost as if the package was designed that way! In all seriousness, House Fabrik is a bargain, especially when you consider the hundreds of Kontakt and Reason instruments you also get. A very complete package!

The Bass loops are further categorized into 5 BPM groups, ranging from 123 BPM to 130 BPM. There is a generous supply of loops here as before, with the 125 BPM group having 61 loops. The loops are distinct here, with-

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LinPlug's Albino 3

LinPlug's

Albino 3 by Adrian Frost

OK, admit it. When you read the title of this article you thought "What is he talking about? Isn't â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blast from the Pastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; supposed to be about synths that most of us have forgotten about?" Well, yes... and no. It is true that LinPlug's "Albino 3" is not exactly forgotten, but who remembers Albino 2, or Albino, or Delta III, or Delta II or GakStoar? All of these forgotten synths, which include a couple you may never even have heard of, have contributed to Albino 3's success. When I first started writing these articles about older synths, the first person I spoke with was Dave Waugh of Muon software. Muon (www.muonsoftware.co.uk) produced the world's first third party VST, "Atom", back in 1999. Dave mentioned that at that time there were a couple of other VST developers around, and one of them was Peter Linsener at 172

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LinPlug who was busy making a name for his company in the third party VST market. Having had the good fortune to be able review MorphoX, I wondered whether Peter would be willing to tell me about his first steps into the VST synth world. He admitted that he's not kept many notes related to his early work but was more than willing to help me piece together the history of Albino 3.

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The first LinPlug synth was called GakStoar. It was released in early 2000 and originally cost the equivalent of about 75 Euros. According to Peter, in response to a question about the synth's name on the KVR forum, "GakStoar btw is what you say if something went wrong (provided you're a 3 year old daughter of mine)." Although the name might have been used when something went wrong for Peter's

young daughter, the synth itself did a lot of things right. GakStoar was a four oscillator synth with 2 filters and a 16 slot modulation matrix. It was the first vst softsynth to offer such a feature and something that would become a virtual "must have" on any synth that offered more than two oscillators. About two months after GakStoar arrived on the market, LinPlug released a smaller, feature-reduced version of their newest synth. This new synth was a free download and was named GakStoar Alpha. If the Alpha name seems familiar, it's because GakStoar Alpha paved the way for LinPlug's later "Alpha" line of synths. GakStoar Alpha, being the little brother, had half as many oscillators and filters and the mod matrix was cut down compared to its big brother. However, it was an influential synth in its time and stands alongside Muon's "Atom" as one of the first free VST synths. At this point, the original GakStoar synth became known as GakStoar Delta.

Information about Delta II is somewhat sketchy. It seems that this particular plug-in wasn't around for very long before Delta III appeared. In fact, Google asks whether you meant "Delta III" when you try and search on "Delta II". Delta II was

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released sometime in 2001 as far as anyone can remember. Even Peter Linsener admits that it was an ugly GUI although you can see in it hints of what was to come.

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LinPlug's

After GakStoar Delta and Delta II, the next to arrive was Delta III. It was released in July 2002 after a few months of public beta testing. In it you can start to see LinPlug's distinctive style developing. Everything looks smoother and crisper, and the layout of the synth is more logical compared to the earlier versions that, it has to be admitted, were starting to look a little rough around the edges.

"Finding each other was not a tricky thing by that time (2003). There were by far not as many virtual instrument manufacturers, and Rob was looking for someone to team up with. He just mailed me and as I know his work for EMU, I was immediately very interested in a collaboration. In the beginning I just thought of him as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the preset guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, but Rob is much more than this. Sure he's a gifted sound designer, but he's also a great musician and businessman. The brought a bunch of new ideas to the Albino was and is a custom made table for his own brand synth. I asked product, which we did a few over the Peter how things started with Rob. His years, but Albino is by far outstanding. reply follows: We kept its basis, the Delta III for

In December of 2002, Delta III, already a popular synth in its own right, morphed into Albino version 1. Albino was the result of a collaboration between Peter, based in Germany, and Dutch synth wizard Rob Papen. Peter supplied the coding skills and Rob 174

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Albino 3

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maybe a year in parallel, but stopped selling Delta eventually.

resources for other instruments. This was no option for me, and for Rob, it was no option to let go of controlling When you work with a sound designer, what to do next and how. So Rob itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural to get feedback about the went with his own team for Blue, later synth engine and suggestions, but Predator and all the others. This was with Albino the difference was that not the right step for him, and I'm we at LinPlug finally decided, but Rob, grateful for the time we had which gave him much freedom to developing Albino, for his personal decide where to go. Of course, we attitude and fairness. Some people discussed things, but it was a bit the assumed that with Rob doing his own other way around as normal, which stuff Albino would be dead, but that's was a good thing. We at LinPlug are not the case. Albino has become a spread around the globe, so it was not classic, and other as in the hardware new to us to exchange only via email world where you need to stop building and chat sometimes. I guess for Rob a synth at some point because the that wasn't as normal as for us, but way it is manufactured is outdated we did well this way and I soon found that this was not only a fruitful collaboration but possibly the best we ever encountered. I feel we were a great team for a couple of years.

and too expensive, in the software world we can continue adapting it to operating system changes and the like relatively easy. So I'm pretty confident Albino will live for at least 10 years to come."

Albino 2 saw the light of day in March 2004, and for the first time, we saw the now familiar polished white and grey livery make its appearance. The big new feature in version 2 was a 32 step arpeggiator that started the trend for great, flexible arps in LinPlug synths.

Finally, Rob had to decide what to do next, and I fully understand why he started with his own team. The point was, that doing more Rob Papen synths would have meant to kind of decease of the LinPlug line, simply because Rob is aiming for the best possible for a certain purpose, and this requires much work, not leaving

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LinPlug's

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Albino 3

Finally, on the 20th of June 2006, LinPlug and Rob Papen announced the release of Albino 3 to an expectant, waiting world. With this update, you got four times the synth for your money as, amongst other things, the new "Layers" feature was introduced; each layer was an almost complete version of the synth in its own right.

There are a number of things that stand out in Albino 3 and that, for me, mark it out as something special amongst all of the other synths that I've tried.

The filters: Silk, Cream, Scream and Comb. In a word, beautiful. Of the first two filters, Silk is the lively one and Cream the calmer, deeper one. Albino 3 is the version of the synth Setting them both to the same values that I have been playing with over the for cutoff, resonance and tracking last month or two. At the time of shows Cream to impart a slightly writing this article, we're only three warmer, fuller sound than Silk. But days away from celebrating Albino 3's both sound just right. Scream does fifth birthday. You'd never have what it says; it makes your sound guessed that Albino 3 is that old - five scream. Go easy on the resonance for years is often perceived as being this one - particularly if you're positively ancient in the VST world! wearing headphones. Finally, the Having said that, LinPlug hasn't been Comb filter is smooth but brings in a sitting on their hands all of that time. nice sense of movement. Albino 3 has seen a number of updates including the jump to being a The flexibility: Where would you like 64 bit plug-in for both Windows and to route your oscillators or LFOs? Mac. Anywhere! Albino 3 has pretty much got it covered. Taking a look at the So what is there to say about Albino 3 Mod Matrix, I counted 26 sources and that hasn't already been said? The 44 different modulation destinations. sound is modern, and the presets, of Add that to the 4 layers, and you've which there are more than 2000, are got massive sound making potential of a consistently high quality. Albino 3 sitting right in front of you. is pretty much everything you could be looking for in a modern subtractive The "Gen" control: As I mentioned, soft-synth. From my point of view as I'm still a relative newcomer to sound someone just starting out in sound design using subtractive synths. I can creation on subtractive synths, I've generally get the sound I want but it found Albino to be surprisingly easy to sometimes takes me a while. Albino's get into. The manual is 79 pages long "Gen" control, which I presume stands and goes into great detail about all for Generator, is a randomiser. It the different controls and settings, but takes the current preset and evolves it. it's neither boring nor too dry and It seems to work best on presets that technical. Reading the manual helps make use of the digital oscillators. enormously, but even then, it's not This is because you'll end up with too difficult to find your way around. more variety since the oscillator type

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is not changed by the Gen control. Gen produces useful randomness from which you can then build. You can click the button as many times as you like until you find something that is along the right lines and then take it from there all on your own. The Look: It has to be said, Albino 3 looks the part. Maybe I'm a bit shallow, but I like to use synths that look good - whether they're going for the hardware "look" or not. It suggests to me that care has been taken on the guts if the outside has been done nicely. Yes, a shiny shell could hide a real failure of a synth, but so far I've never found that to be so. Albino 3 is a great synth. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perhaps one of the greatest, and I don't think that there are too many people who would question that statement. To get the best from Albino, you need to put in some effort, but it helps you along the way. I might not put it into the hands of a totally raw sound design beginner, but even if you just use it as a preset machine, there's enough there to keep you occupied for a very, very long time. Albino 3 can be bought directly from LinPlug at www.linplug.com for 149 Euros, roughly $179 or ÂŁ130. Many thanks to Peter for his help in making this article possible!

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