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Tone2 Saurus

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Developers have been taking a different approach with their analogue synth emulations lately, sacrificing CPU cycles in order to meticulously model the smallest details of analogue synthesiser circuitry.

The results are stunningly realistic emulations such as u-he's Diva and FXpansion's DCAM: Synth Squad. Tone2 claims its new instrument, Saurus, is likewise modelled down to the component level, but that it doesn't make excessive demands on the host computer. Saurus is available in VST, AU and standalone formats, and it'll run on 32- and 64-bit machines.

Fossil growth

First impressions are often hard to shake, and on first blush, Saurus doesn't come off like a retro synthesiser. Why? Because the default preset isa modern take on the ever-popular Hoover sound.

Not, mind you, the 25-year-old 'What the' patch from the Roland Alpha Juno 1, but rather a sequenced, processed and thoroughly modern-sounding variation thereof.

A scroll through the voluminous preset library reveals the instrument's versatility, however. Wobbly dubstep basses and thumping industrial drum beats sit beside funky '70s Minimoog basses and Oberheim-alike brass. The obligatory (and sometimes copious) slathering of delay, reverb and chorus effects ensure that Saurus's sounds are lush and 'produced', rather than raw and bare, as they would have been on an ARP Odyssey or Minimoog back in the day.

A traditional structure

The architecture is conventional: a pair of oscillators (each with a corresponding sub-oscillator) is mixed and routed through a multimode filter before being plumbed through some effects. There are a few familiar modulation options immediately on tap, and many, many more possibilities hidden under the hood.

Saurus' oscillators are far more complex thanthose of your basic analogue hardware synth. You get the usual waveforms - saw, square, pulse - along with a few less-common shapes; but more importantly, each waveform (not just the square) is subject to pulse-width modulation. This immediately broadens the sonic possibilities.

The sub-oscillator offers a slightly different set of waveforms from which to choose. This again breaks from tradition, where the sub was limited to only a couple of waves. Each
sub-oscillator can be mixed with its associated oscillator, and you can feed noise into either oscillator's path. Detuning and ring modulation are both on tap, as is oscillator sync, and you can lock the phase of both oscillators together. A Drift control adds some analogue-esque slop.

All together now

The filter section offers six filter types from which to choose, comprising 12dB and 24dB variations of low-pass, band-pass and high-pass modes. There's a gutsy Drive function, and the resonance whistles like a banshee when pressed.

A Soft Resonance button can dial back some of the squall if it gets too much, while you can dial in some filter feedback if you want a little more screech. The filter has a dedicated frequency modulation knob and, of course, its own envelope generator (ADSR) and key scaling.

There are two further ADSR envelopes - onededicated to the amp, the other assignable. Additionally, a pair of LFOs is onboard, each with four standard waveforms to choose from and tempo sync. You can adjust the phase sync of the LFOs and they can be pushed into the audio range - a nice feature that we don't see nearly as often as we'd like.

A synth with as many dance-friendly presets as this one is bound to sport unison modes for denser tones. This is also useful for emulating certain three- and four-oscillator synths of old.

Another dance must-have comes in the form ofa particularly tasty arpeggiator that features many playback modes, including various chord and octave options. You can draw in the steps you want to hear, play around with the playback order, add swing and more; it's a superb implementation that manages to cram a lot of power into minimal screen space.

The effects are pedestrian: we're talking delay, reverb and chorus, each with a Mix Amount knob and the barest complement of features. The delay offers Time and Feedback, the chorus gets Depth and Speed, while the reverb provides Size and Damping. Tube distortion is provided, too.

Source code

Saurus boasts a fantastic modulation matrix. While most offer a smattering of useful modulation sources and targets that can be connected to one another, few offer the sheer number of options seen here.

Saurus lists over 50 (each) sources and destinations, and almost every imaginable parameter is game. Nearly every front panel control can be selected as a modulation destination, with the unfortunate exception of the effects knobs.

Some unusual destinations are included, too. You can modulate every single stage of all three envelope generators, and choose the matrix slotsthemselves as mod destinations.

The list of sources is even longer, with some unconventional inclusions such as Impulse, which sends a burst of control data to the destination. There are also useful items like Constant (ie, a fixed value, useful for certain modulation situations) and some mathematical modifiers such as Filter(X), X*X, Sqrt(X) and Limit(X) X+Value. These can be used to modify existing source values for deeper control (there's a corresponding target called X=Value).

Saurus may look a bit 'bread and butter' on the surface, then, but a close look at its modmatrix reveals a vast wellspring of synthesis power.

One for the history books

Saurus isn't breaking any new ground, but that's rather the point. Tone2 has knocked together an instrument that's friendly and familiar, with just enough modern functionality to make it relevant to the modern studio. Most importantly, it sounds good.

Does it possess the mojo of a dusty, corroded vintage machine? Not really, butit can be quite convincing at times and doesn't sound clinical by any means.

Unlike some products, Saurus didn't give our system any undue stress playing even the thickest of chords, although it did draw more juice than some other virtual synths. We never hit the wall, but some patches sent Logic's CPU meter up a fair few notches: a fair trade for a quality sound.

If you want to fool the vintage elitists on the synth forums, you might be better off with a no-compromise synth like Diva; but if you just want to get on with making music using quality analogue sounds without investing in a new computer, Tone2 has thrown you a bone.

iZotope Iris

Thu, 31 May 2012 10:15:00 GMT

It seems that the spectral revolution is in full effect, and high-end developer iZotope is embracing it fully.

iZotope's spectrogram-based audio restoration suite, RX, brought us world-class audio manipulation - aimed primarily at restoration jobs, but a creative secret weapon for those in the know. The company's latest release, Iris, repurposes some of that spectral technology to make a virtual instrument (VST/VST3/AU/RTAS/standalone) that iZotope bills as a sampling resynthesiser.

"Iris is capable of pumping out an endless procession of strange and never-before-heard sounds."

So, what exactly is spectral technology all about? Well, in simple terms, a spectrogram maps out the spectral contents of a sound in three dimensions. The horizontal X axis represents time, just as with a normal waveform view, but the vertical Y axis represents frequency rather than amplitude.

This means that the top of the graph is where the treble resides, while the bass frequencies hang out at the bottom of the display. The third dimension (ie, equivalent of the Z axis), which represents amplitude, is indicated using brightness.

Draw something

Iris gets to work as soon as you drag in a sample, automatically detecting the pitch and mapping it across the keyboard. By default, it uses resampling to keyscale (playing the sample faster to go higher, and slower to go lower), but there's also the optional Radius RT.

This is a real-time version of iZotope's proprietary timestretching and pitchstretching algorithm, which preserves the sample length independent of the pitch.

Unlike a standard waveform-style audio editor, Iris's Spectral view is actually used for isolating the parts of the sound spectrum that you want to hear on playback. To do this, you're provided with an array of graphical editing tools.

You could be forgiven for thinking of it as a filter of sorts - and in a way it is - but this is nothing like the filters you might find in your analogue synth emulations. The spectral selections made here represent sharp and clinically 'masked out' portions of the sound that can be drawn to take pretty much any shape you like.

For example, throw in a bright synth pad sample and use the graphical tools to make multiple selections in a speckled, polka dot configuration to produce a twinkling, bird-like atmosphere. Alternatively, if you were to select the entire sample and then draw in a deselection pattern, all manner of phasing, swirling, evolving sounds would be heard on playback due to the 'holes' created in the frequency spectrum.

To give a few more usage examples, you could load a recording of wind blowing through trees and select a narrow band of frequencies to create a shimmering, flute-like patch. Or you might find yourself layering samples (see below) and selecting the characteristics you want to isolate from each (great for drum parts). There's also a lot of mileage to be had loading in random chunks of audio for processing into glitch-type effects.

The editing process is great fun to experiment and play around with, and the interface itself is extremely powerful. Most notably, the magic wand selection tool is capable of detecting harmonic content that's similar to the current selection, then finding and selecting related harmonic overtones with a second click.

Our one criticism in this area is that the non-freehand tools don't feel quite comprehensive enough. It would be good to be able to draw diagonally and even better to be able to soften the edges of selections; we'd love it if future updates included these features.

Layer cake

Iris enables the layering of up to four sounds per patch. The Mix window gives you control over these layers, including the application of amp envelopes, assignable LFOs and a selection of effects.

The first three layers are for your imported samples, while the fourth is the Sub, hosting a menu of 10 low-end‑boosting waveforms. You can still edit these using the spectral view, but the idea behind this particular layer is that it should be used to fatten up the overall patch with something solid that might not be inherently present in the samples you've imported.

Of course, you don't have to use this layer as a sub, and there's nothing to stop you starting a patch off here if you want to, although you should be aware that it can only load its preset waveforms.

The effects on offer include distortion, chorus, delay and reverb. They're all very high quality and can be used in either send or master (insert) mode.

The Mix window also gives you access to a global filter, which features its own envelope and offers a choice of ten different resonant types, which are modelled on a range of analogue filters. All of this makes Iris a sonic chameleon that can easily generate fat bass and melodic patches as well as its trademark quirky sounds.

Full spectrum

Iris is capable of pumping out an endless procession of strange and never-before-heard sounds, similar in quirkiness to other esoteric (re)synthesis methods, such as granular. However, you don't have to be a sound design genius to make the most of it straight out of the box - a diverse bank of over 500 well-organised and inspiring presets is included, drawing on a library of samples that weighs in at around 4GB.

As well as unusual soundscapes and ambiences, Iris is thoroughly capable of producing lush pads, glowing piano patches andother more 'conventional' sounds, with the unmatched ability to add intricate details that would be nigh-on impossible using traditional synthesis methods. It also excels as a general sampler, although using it as such would be to completely miss the point, of course.

Limitless possibilities

As you can probably appreciate, Iris is the sort of application that you really have to try yourself before you can grasp it fully. The interface is well-laid out and the built-in tour teaches you everything you need to know to get started.

If you've never even heard of spectral editing before, it might take some hours of trial and error in the spectrogram before you start to get consistent, predictable results, but take our word for it: the creative potential contained within this program is absolutely immense - potentially limitless, in fact.

Iris deserves to be a big hit with sound designers and hunters of new and unusual noises. If the idea of taking total control over every aspect of your samples, precisely extracting frequency-defined sections and then creating truly unique sounds out of them gets your imagination going, then this is a phenomenal studio tool that you absolutely have to try.

FXpansion Etch

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:15:00 GMT

Following in the footsteps of Synth Squad and Tremor, FXpansion's third DCAM (Discrete Component Analogue Modelling) release is a VST/AU/RTAS dual filter featuring the powerful TransMod modulation system.

Etch's signal path starts with a waveshaping distortion unit, switchable between pre- and post-filter operation and featuring six shaping modes (Diode, OTA, Half-rectifier, etc). These can be used to ingrain anything from gentle warming through moderate dirt to total decimation.

"Etch sounds fantastic, with all the analogue bite, fluidity and energy we've come to expect from the DCAM marque."

Next come two identical resonant filters, capable of self-oscillation, operable in series or parallel, with Pan controls enabling split stereo filtering in the latter mode. Analogue-style audio rate FM can also be dialled in if you fancy it. LFOs 1 and 2 (which can run as fast as 1024Hz), the audio input and the sidechain are available as sources.

A selection of four filter models is available: three of them - Japan, SVF and Fatty - emulating a trio of classic hardware models, the fourth a comb filter. Each filter type has its own array of modes (high-pass, low-pass, 2-pole, 4-pole, etc), Japan boasting a particularly rich variety of single and combination pole/type set-ups, and being the most creative of the three regular types - it's well suited to wild, crazy sweeps and effects.

SVF and Fatty, meanwhile, are more about fatness, depth and warmth - for when you're also looking to add tonal character and bite - and the comb filter is great for weird phasing-, flanging- and resonator-style effects.

The final two stages are a Compressor (featuring a choice of Soft or Hard knee) and the Output, where the level and dry/wet mix are set.

MIDI control

There's so much MIDI going on with Etch, you could almost consider it an instrument. There's your regular MIDI Learn mode, with which MIDI CCs can be quickly assigned to all parameters and TransMod depth, as well as MIDI TransMod sources that we'll come onto shortly; but various other functions can also be controlled by MIDI note input (the required routing for which is host-dependant).

The envelope module, for example, is triggered by note C#-2 on MIDI channel 1 and all notes on channels 2 and 3. The reason for the latter is that Filter 1 and 2's cutoff frequencies track note pitch on those two channels, enabling 'pitched', envelope-controlled filtering from the keyboard. The LFOs also get in on the MIDI note action, with specific notes retriggering them and setting their rates.

Etch is insanely modulatable within its own architecture, but the inclusion of playable MIDI note input is a huge bonus.

Trans phat

FXpansion's TransMod system enables ten modulation sources to be assigned to pretty much anything, including their own and each other's parameters. Click a source, then drag the outer ring of the target knob (or the 'track' of a fader) to set the modulation depth.

Sources include two LFOs, a MIDI-triggered envelope, an envelope follower (with sidechain input), MIDI-triggered Random values, and an XY pad. Whether you're working on a synced dubstep b-line or a slowly evolving ambient dreamscape, Etch is well equipped to give you exactly the movement you need.

The sources are animated too, so you can easily see their movement, and the destination controls have moving indicators to show their modulated position.

Etch sounds fantastic, with all the analogue bite, fluidity and energy we've come to expect from the DCAM marque. If you need it, there's an oversampling 'HQ' mode too, although this will up the not-inconsiderable CPU hit even further.

The dual filter design makes Etch incredibly flexible, and the four filter types and their many, many modes deliver an extraordinary range of flavours. The distortion and compression are both well up to scratch sonically (although a bit more control over the Compressor wouldn't hurt).

The TransMod system makes deep modulation almost too easy, and the MIDI input options bring true playability to the table.

Dance and urban producers looking for straightforward, powerful filtering of basslines, breakdowns, vocals and pads will love Etch's Fatty and SVF filter types, while sound designers will find endless succour in the insane shapes of the Japan and Comb types and the limitless TransMod playground. Etch-ellent stuff!

XILS-lab Chor'X

Thu, 31 May 2012 08:34:00 GMT

There are plenty of chorus plug-ins around, some of them emulating revered classics such as Electro-Harmonix's Small Stone or Roland's Dimension D.

Chor'X from XILS-lab takes a different path, emulating the bucket brigade delay technology found in a range of venerable hardware but beefing it up with numerous modern features. The result is a 'true stereo' processor that uses up to four bucket brigade delays to deliver two independent (left and right) chorus processors.

This basic process is then coupled with further 'chaotic' modulation options and XILS-lab's True Stereo Dynamic Engine for highly controllable stereo placement.

Chor'X is a VST/AU/RTAS plug-in for PC and Mac. It includes three separate chorus types, each modelled on a specific (unnamed) hardware unit: Sy, Di and Cs.

Sy comprises two BBDs modulated by two LFOs per channel; Di has one BBD per channel and one LFO (inverted on one channel); and Cs houses one BBD per channel and two LFOs (which also modulate the level). All types also get a Hiss control for dialling in some vintage noise and dirt.

The true stereo positioner provides independent control over left/right channel signal placement for both wet and dry signals. Finally, the Modulations button activates impulse and envelope follower options, used for transient retention and chorus depth modulation respectively.

X/Y control

There's a lot going on here, and the first step to negotiating it all is understanding the X/Y pads and what they display.

Chor'X features two X/Y control pads, one for each process (chorus and stereo). Both use colour-coded dots (green/yellow = left, red/pink = right) for operation and visual feedback. The Sy chorus (see below) employs all four colours, as does the stereo processor, which uses them to differentiate between dry and wet signals. The global wet/dry control influences dot brightness on the stereo processor, but the Sy chorus' BBD mix controls don't offer the same feature, oddly. While mic separation can be adjusted with the X/Y controls, the knobs below have to be used to set the space width and mic angle.

With animation switched off, the dots are stationary; wind the Animation Amount up and you start to see movement. Changes can be limited to the horizontal or vertical planes using the side buttons, and there's a Freeze option for the chorus. Right-click dragging in the chorus area moves all dots while retaining their relative positions.

Fattening up

Chor'X comes with 128 instrument-categorised presets (guitar, pad, etc), which serve both as good starting points and as ready-made effects.

The three chorus types all sound markedly different. The complexity of Sy mode makes it the most flexible, and with fast modulation settings it can produce odd, twangy sounds. However, it's at its best adding slow complex modulation to mundane pads.

Diand Cs are easier to handle, with Cs sounding much narrower than Di. Cs works really well for subtle chorus on acoustic guitar, while Di delivers the far more obvious sound of an electric guitar chorus pedal. All three chorus types benefit from the edge-adding Hiss effect.

The stereo processor enables you to take theoverall effect some way beyond being 'just' chorus, particularly if you process the dry signal too. Throw in some animation and things can get pretty smeared; turning animation off is the best way to go for accurate positioning of sounds.

We're very impressed not only by Chor'X's ability to place sounds both left-to-right and near-to-far, but also the fact that it does it independently for the processed and dry signals.

Finally, we had great success with the impulse detector, which retains transients for drums, guitars, etc. Grab the green dot to enter transient listen mode, move it to set the threshold, then set the desired mix level.

There are various display options on offer, including a BPM setting for the modulations, but unfortunately no method for syncing Chor'X to host tempo. Our only other gripe is that with so many parameters, coaxing out the exact sound you're after can take time.

Nevertheless, Chor'X sounds good and represents great value.

VIDEO: Plug-in developers talk Reason Rack Extensions, VST and more

Thu, 31 May 2012 08:03:00 GMT

We've already heard a lot from Propellerhead Software about its new Rack Extensions format, but what's the view from the third-party VST plug-in developers that the Swedish company is relying on to actually support it?

The video above features interviews with developers from companies such as u-he, Softube, Korg, GForce Software, FXpansion, Sonic Charge and Rob Papen, all of whom are signed up to produce Rack Extensions.

This being an official Propellerhead production, it won't surprise you to learn that the tone is on the positive side, but the clip still offers an interesting insight into why Rack Extensions came to be (it features contributions from Propellerhead CEO Ernst Nathorst-Böös, too) and how they differ from standard VST plug-ins.

IK Multimedia iKlip Studio

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:17:00 GMT

OK, so what we have here is clearly a rather sketchy justification for IK to release its most mass-market iDevice peripheral yet.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, ofcourse, but there's also nothing about the iKlip Studio that makes it any more or less studio-friendly than any other iPad stand - except, perhaps, its notable stability and the attachable clip for holding the iRig guitar interface.

With that said, it is a very good stand! Seven positioning angles, horizontal or vertical iPad orientation, rubber feet, full port/button/camera access, a speaker 'port', compatibility with all but the thickest cases and the ability to fold completely flat for storage make it a solid option for any iPad user, musician or not.

UltimateSoundBank UVI Electro Suite

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:37:00 GMT

Electro Suite runs within the powerful, included UVI Workstation engine (plug-in and standalone) and offers a set of five electro-orientated ROMplers.

This comprises a hybrid wavetable/analogue monosynth with step-sequencer, a two-oscillator polysynth, a drum machine (with afew analogue modelling synth elements), aloop player and a sweep generator.

The 4.5GB of samples behind the engine are up to USB's usual high standard: polished, beefy and genre-correct. Each instrument has its own custom interface, and everything is well-laid out.

The highlights for us are DrumShaper - particularly the kick drum section, which gives independent editing control over the attack, body and tail - and SweepMachine, which really is a one-stop shop for fully editable sweeps and risers.

The synths both sound awesome, too, and the only element we wouldn't particularly miss is the Mission Control construction kit loop player, which doesn't serve any real production purpose.

Dunlop SturdyStand

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:26:00 GMT

With the sheer number of guitarist-oriented apps and gizmos pouring out of the woodwork these days, it should come as no surprise that some musicians are starting to incorporate Apple's iOS devices into their live rigs.

For those people, Dunlop has introduced the SturdyStand, allowing you to fix your iPad or iPhone to your mic stand for easy access to tab, lyrics or even the odd impromptu game of Angry Birds mid-set.

Waves/Musicsoft Arts Mashup

Wed, 30 May 2012 14:27:00 GMT

In collaboration with NYC-based developer Musicsoft Arts, the mighty Waves is entering the iOS DJ market with a high-end mixing and scratching app for iPad 2 or later.

Mashup centres on two decks, each with tempo-control, half- and double-speed modes, EQ, filtering, automatic syncing, various automatic loop lengths, a speed-independent pitch control and mix record/export. Responsive scratching is a big feature, but it's not so easy to use due to that small interface.

Two things make Mashup stand out. First, the look and feel: the interface is well-designed and easy to navigate, and it's never been easier to import tunes and playlists on the fly.

It all feels much more robust than you might expect, but the real killer feature is the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi monitoring mode. Simply run the app on your iPhone/iPod touch and link it to the iPad app for proper headphone monitoring via the smaller device, as if you were using a multi-I/O audio interface.

It's an awesome system, let down only very slightly by latency and the fact that you can't select the source (when the crossfader is pushed fully left, the monitoring comes from the right deck and vice versa).

There are also some in-app purchases available in the shape of MaxxBass and MaxxVolume, based on the superb Waves plug-in algorithms; however, they can only be applied to the full mix, are blunt instruments on complete tracks and shouldn't be required for modern music anyway. Stick to the EQ and gain, we say.

We'd like to have seen a turntable-style repitch mode, because transients suffer a little when stretching without pitch change, no matter how good the algorithm. That said, the sound is great.

Mashup may be relatively expensive for an iOS app and not that different to the competition in terms of features, but in use it feels like a professional DJ system.

iceGear Cassini

Wed, 30 May 2012 14:08:00 GMT

Following its excellent Argon monosynth and Xenon groove workstation, iceGear's Cassini is an analogue-style polysynth for iPhone that manages to pack a serious amount of programmability into its multiscreen interface.

Three oscillators and a sub-oscillator form the foundation of Cassini's sound. FM, oscillator sync and ring modulation can all be applied, and each oscillator's Shape control enables a degree of waveshaping, the exact effect of which is dependent on the currently selected waveform (PWM for the pulse wave, clipping for the sine, etc).

A good start, then, and the two filters (blendable between serial and parallel operation) keep things moving in the right direction. They offer a solid selection of modes: low-pass, band-pass and high-pass, the low-pass coming in 6, 12, 18 and 24dB/octave varieties.

Modulation-wise, a total of nine DAHDSR envelopes and six LFOs control various oscillator and filter parameters, including level, waveshape and pitch; and LFO frequency and shape can also be envelope-modulated.

The LFOs are particularly impressive, boasting a good array of waveshapes as well as a 16-step sequencer, an accent function and phase control. The envelopes are no slouches either, with Delay and Hold stages, plus velocity and keytrack modulation of the Attack and Decay/Release stages.

A quartet of assignable knobs on the Main page gives instant access to four parameters of your choice from across the entire synth.

Two extremely capable delays - one with delay time modulation, the other with a modulatable resonant filter - a powerful arpeggiator and a 3-band EQ put the icing on an already delicious cake. Beyond the synth itself, the de rigeur iOS music app functions are all present and correct: WAV recording and export via iTunes, plus AudioCopy and CoreMIDI support.

Like Argon before it, Cassini sounds great - gutsy, expressive and rich - and it's equally adept at basses, pads, leads and FX.

Arturia Spark Vintage Drum Machines

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:44:00 GMT

The second release in Arturia's Spark line (which operates standalone and as a VST/AU/RTAS plug-in, and doesn't require the original Spark or the Spark hardware controller) should offer an improvement, comprising as it does nothing but the sounds of 30 classic drum machines.

Included are the Roland TR-606, 707, 808 and 909, Korg KPR-77, DDM110 and 220, Simmons SDS, E-MU SP-12 and Drumulator, Boss DR-55, Linn 9000, Oberheim DMX, Yamaha RX5 and many more.

Two sound-generating techniques are used throughout: drum synths are emulated using Arturia's tried-and-tested True Analog Emulation system, while PCM- and EPROM-based boxes are recreated with samples.

The audio quality is good (on a par with any other decent 'dry' emulation), sounds can be freely mixed and matched between kits (upto 16 at once), and each sound features six bespoke editing parameters, often adding to those of the original hardware. The step-sequencer, meanwhile, does a great job, although the window really needs to be resizable, since the endless scrolling through it soon becomes tedious.

The Spark software is still less intuitive than it could be thanks to the inclusion of the central Spark controller representation screen, which combines the functionality of the other two windows but isn't as accessible as either - how we wish it could be folded away.

Still, the sharper focus of Vintage Drum Machines makes it a more meaningful package than its progenitor, as does the reasonable asking price, and it certainly qualifies as a comprehensive library of classic electronic drum sounds (but you may well already have quite a few of them in your sample library).

6 great percussion performances

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:13:00 GMT

Good percussion parts can have a hugely beneficial effect on almost any track, elevating it both rhythmically and texturally.

Even the addition of just a simple conga or shaker part can transform a dull rhythm track into a more complete sounding, syncopated, 'human' groove, particularly if the main drums are overtly electronic sounding.

The best way to get yourself fired up for some serious percussion programming is to feast your senses on some serious percussionists. Here are some utterly unmissable YouTube videos.

For a complete guide to percussion, check out the June 2012 issue of Computer Music magazine (CM178).

Mongo Santamaria

One of the greatest congueros of all time leads his own band in a super-cool rendition of his own jazz standard, Afro Blue, from 1984. Mongo takes his solo in the intro, but be sure to also check out Sal Santamaria's sublime shekere solo at 4.40. Beautiful.

Giovanni Hidalgo, Johnny Rodriguez and Orestes Vilato

Three percussion legends - Giovanni Hidalgo, Johnny Rodriguez and Orestes Vilato - pay tribute to the late, great Ray Barretto. Feel the push and pull of the clave and pay attention to how perfectly the trio weave their separate lines together without getting in each other's way.

Ray Baretto

Whether leading his own band or contributing to other people's, Ray Barretto's style of conga playing was uniquely characterful. There's not much of him on YouTube, but this number from 1975 ably demonstrates his incredible chops.

NEXT: Chano Pozo, Airto Moreira and Sheila E

Chano Pozo

No video, sadly, but don't let that spoil the Afro Cuban freight train that is Dizzy Gillespie's Manteca, featuring Chano Pozo on congas. Chano, who died a year after this recording was made, was the first of many Latin percussionists to work with Dizzy, who was largely responsible for Latin jazz taking off in the US.

Airto Moreira

The fabulously eccentric Airto Moreira does weird things with his voice, and throws some incredible shapes with a whole armoury of Brazilian percussion.

Sheila E

Sheila E might be best known as Prince's drummer from back in the day, but she's also a superb percussionist away from the kit. That shouldn't come as a surprise, though, given that her dad, uncle, both brothers and various other Escovedo family members are all extremely big-hitters on the US Latin music scene.

WIN plugins and gear from iZotope, Rob Papen, Toontrack and ESI, worth £1059!

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:51:00 GMT

For Computer Music 179's competition, we've got together with UK distributors par excellence Time+Space to give away a huge bundle of gear from ESI, Toontrack, Rob Papen and iZotope!

One lucky winner will receive this little lot, worth £1059 in total:

ESI Activ 05 monitors, £209
ESI U46 XL interface, £152
ESI KeyControl 49XT MIDI keyboard, £85
Toontrack EZkeys virtual piano, £115
Toontrack EZdrummer virtual drumkit, £89
Toontrack EZmix 2 mixing software, £115
Rob Papen Predator soft synth, £125
iZotope Ozone 5 mastering suite, £169

Like our Facebook page to get the entry link, or find it on p79 of Computer Music 179. The deadline is 25 June 2012.

Visit www.timespace.com for more on Time+Space's products.

The stars' favourite music software

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:44:00 GMT

While MusicRadar is always keen to take a tour round a pro's studio, we're well aware that many contemporary producers are now primarily software-based.

With this in mind, our friends at Computer Music magazine are frequently asking artists to name their absolute favourite music software, and if you click on, you'll find a regularly updated gallery that contains links to their responses.

Note that the artists/producers are listed in alphabetical order (either the first letter of the band name or the artist's surname).

VIDEO: Can monkeys play synthesizers?

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:01:00 GMT

Give a monkey an infinite amount of time at a keyboard and he'll eventually come with the complete works of Shakespeare, say the theorem. But what happens when you give six species of them some synthesizers to play?

That was the question asked by Swedish musician Håkan Libdo, and the answer is revealed in the video above. Maybe Alan Partridge could make a TV show out of it.

(Via Create Digital Music)

Benji Vaughan's favourite music software

Mon, 28 May 2012 14:46:00 GMT

"I bought this a couple of weeks ago, and it's brought such a change to the way I work - it's the percussive hub of every track I do now. For a while I found the process of making percussion parts frustrating, but Maschine makes beat programming fun, fast and intuitive."

Read Native Instruments Maschine 1.5 review

VIDEO: Steve Reich talks tape loops, African drumming and Brian Eno

Mon, 28 May 2012 13:48:00 GMT

Ahead of his headline appearance at Bloc festival in London this July, iconic minimalist composer and musician Steve Reich sat down to tell the festival team about his influences.

In the video above he chats about his use of tape loop manipulation, meeting Brian Eno for the first time and the influence of African drumming on his work.

For details of Bloc and other festival action, check out the MusicRadar festival guide.

Ableton Live 9 new features: what we want to see

Mon, 28 May 2012 13:10:00 GMT

The new update to Ableton Live is long overdue and highly anticipated, so we thought we'd round up a selection of Ableton experts and superstars to find out what they would really like to see in Ableton Live version 9.

Claude VonStroke, international DJ and Producer

"A super quick sample preview where you can switch out samples that are playing in a sequence straight from the browser. For example: so you have a kick and you are in your kicks folder in your sample library and you can simply cycle down the list of kicks in real-time while a sequence is playing until you like one. Similar functions for REX loops too would make this an epic feature.
"An ability to make custom plug-in folders for third-party plugs unlimited macros or at least 16. Features from Impulse available on the sampler like stretch and multi-outs."
"There needs to be a super functional step sequencer that's not built in Max For Live."
"Having resizable windows for Ableton devices or at least some way to see all those tiny functions without a spyglass."
"I'd like the sound engine to be a little warmer; even if it's fake I'll take it."

Martin Delaney, Ableton Live expert and writer for Future Music Magazine

"Ableton is going to get its ass severely kicked if I don't see some acknowledgement of iOS. I want Live running on iPad, or at least some kind of 'connected' app, like Propellerhead's Figure app. This should be priority number one for Ableton as it should have done this already."
"Ableton also needs to make sure it covers everything that Bitwig claims it will do. Plus, things like comping in loop mode, freezing of sidechained tracks and to be able to freeze, flatten and consolidate without stopping the transport are really needed."
"They also need a cheaper, or even free version of Max For Live."

Funkagenda, international DJ and producer

"I want floating windows! C'mon Ableton. We all want the ability to look at two waveforms at once, view VSTs from two different channels simultaneously at once etc. At this point, denying your users this feature is a matter of pride rather than anything else."
"Quite often I will create an awesome percussion sound by layering three snares for example. I'll group them, EQ them, compress them and then I'll realise I have to ungroup them again because I want to put them into my drum buss. And yes I know that I could recreate my work as an instrument rack... but I don't want to. I want in-group grouping."
"A 'real' mixer page - that is all."
"It would be nice to have LFO and envelope generators for plug-in parameters. I had a Max LFO generator built for me by Isotonik Studios, but one that is integrated would be far more reliable I think. Imagine being able to create those fluctuating glitchy minimal delays by having an LFO on your channel that altered delay times for you... that would be boss."
"Where is autosave? I'm pretty sure that the code involved in telling the software to recreate your work from the undo history is far more complicated than a piece of code that tells the software to automatically save at user specified intervals, with an appended file name."

NEXT: More Ableton Live 9 new feature suggestions

Iason from international dance music duo, Mason

"We're really Logic users in the studio and only use Ableton only for our live show. However, as we've built a system with Arttech and Deepred.tv for our Mason live show that synchronises all the venue lights and video from within Ableton, there are some rather geeky tweaks that would help us in the synchronising field.Things such as video playback with clips within the Session View and the ability to be able to 'get location of Session clips' from within Max For Live."
"The ability to edit patterns in multiple (floating) windows, so you can use multiple monitors. This would make things easier if you're programming video, light and audio within one tool."

Rob Jones, Ableton Live expert from live-courses.com

"There are a few things I'd like to see in the next version of Live. The first one would be improved automation in the Session view. It'd be great if you could record in parameter movements, rather than just drawing in envelopes in the Clip view. Plus, I'd like to see actual parameter values on the envelope display, rather than arbitrary numbers."
"The effects range can always be expanded too of course. I'd like to see an envelope shaping effect, for bringing out the transients of drums for example, and maybe a modulation effect such as a universal LFO tool, for more easily creating your own automated patterns with tracks."
"Lastly, moving up to 64-bit like some of the other pro apps have done recently would be a good move I think. This would allow increased RAM access, meaning that big sessions containing heaps of audio clips, as well as using instruments with huge sample libraries, would run much faster and more efficiently."

What would you like to see featured in Ableton Live 9? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook

Giorgio Moroder to feature on new Daft Punk album

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:45:00 GMT

During an interview at the International Music Summit in Ibiza over the weekend, legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder reportedly revealed the he has contributed to the forthcoming Daft Punk album.

However, it isn't his production skills that Moroder brought to the table - he was invited in to the vocal booth by the iconic house duo to recite his life story.

According to URB, Moroder found himself in the pair's studio surrounded by a collection of classic microphones dating from the '60s to the present day. When he asked the engineer why there were so many mics set up, Moroder was told that a different mic would be used depending on the decade of his life he was talking about. When he asked if anyone would be able to tell the difference, the engineer replied, "they will know."

It has already been revealed that Chic guitarist and all-round hit machine Nile Rodgers has collaborated on several tracks of the new Daft Punk record.

4TrackTrigger DJing controller announced

Mon, 28 May 2012 08:19:00 GMT

Check out the video above to see DJ RASP mash it up on this brand new controller. We even get a sneak peek of an (included?) foot controller that DJ RASP uses to tweak the filter.

There's not much in the way of spec or pricing details at the moment but, when you consider the spec of manufacturer Glanzmann Digital DJ Solutions' previous 4midiloop controller, it seems likely that this hand-built four-deck device will be aimed at the higher end of the market,

Are we going to see more DJs ditching the jog wheels? Is a new form controllerism set to replace DJing for good?

PRESS RELEASE

4TrackTrigger is the Traktor-Weapon made by the German Faderfox and the Swiss Glanzmann Digital DJ Solutions. A compact and uncompromising 4 Deck Controller, specifically designed for Traktor Pro 2.5 in the external mixer mode. This new instrument is designed with passion for detail and is handmade in Switzerland / Germany. It is the ultimate instrument made by professionals for professionals. It comes with extensive details and a lot of new control features.

150 buttons in different colours and sizes to trigger hot cues, to start samples and to activate effects. 6 displays and 172 LED's for loop length, loop recorder and master clock. 17 encoder for quick access to functions like browse, seek loop-size and loop-move which are a must for a modern digital DJ. 2 additional pedal connections rear sided to control every effect parameter on the fly.

Everything is fitted into an ergonomically and functional aluminium case, powered by Faderfox!

Available mid June 2012, further information will follow shortly...

www.4midiloop.com

Waves InPhase

Sun, 27 May 2012 13:22:00 GMT

Phase issues at the tracking, mix and mastering stages are commonplace in modern productions.

If you're recording an instrument with multiple microphones - drums being perhaps the best example - it's all too easy to find that one sound source captured through a microphone can conflict 'with itself' when captured through another simultaneously.

"The display waveform can be shifted manually, with 'zoom' features in both axes enabling you to see, in extraordinarily high detail, just how (un)aligned the captured sources are."

If these issues aren't addressed at the recording stage, they'll need to be tackled during the mix, but some Phase correction plug-ins these days can even help if this hasn't been done and you're suddenly left to master a stereo mix suffering from alignment problems. Waves' InPhase is the latest plug-in to help you address such issues, offering flexibility to help you shift waveforms in a variety of ways.

InPhase actually provides eight components within the Waves folder of your plug-in list. These are the 'main' InPhase plug-in in mono and stereo form, plus InPhase LT, a cut-down version of the same processor offering key features with extended controls removed, again with mono/stereo options.

Additionally, there's a 'Live' component in both regular and 'LT' form, which cuts latency from the 20ms present in the plug-ins described above to 0ms, making the Live version a great choice at the tracking stage.

You choose

To help inform the decision as to which version of the plug-in best suits your needs, there are three ways in which InPhase can be used.

First, you can use it to align phase between two mono tracks. Second, you can modify the phase relation between both sides of a stereo track and, third, you can align a stereo track to a sidechain source.

Once Phase issues have been detected and highlighted via InPhase's intuitive GUI, issues can be addressed either via a waveform display (which can be adjusted manually) or via a Delay control. Additionally, phase shift filters are built in with adjustable frequency and bandwidth (Q) controls, so it's clear that this plug-in is designed for maximum flexibility.

Wave rider

And so it proves in use too. A signal can be scanned into InPhase via a 'Capture' process that's enabled via a rocker switch, whereupon a waveform display springs into view.

This shows either two mono signals or either side of a stereo file, so that you can easily see how signals align. Below this, a correlation meter keeps you in touch with phasing offsets, with correlation amounts and range displayed upon playback.

The waveform can be shifted manually, with 'zoom' features in both axes enabling you to see, in extraordinarily high detail, just how (un)aligned the captured sources are. On the left-hand side, you can initiate the filters if you so desire, as well as being able to monitor either side/source of your mix and instantly sum to mono as well.

Once phase issues are resolved, it's possible to rebalance the volumes of either side of your mix via a gain dial, while switching the upper input source to stereo automatically toggles the lower one to sidechain operation.

The added features mean that it'll take a little longer to get used to InPhase's modus operandi compared to, for example, UAD's Little Labs' IBP clone. But results are hugely impressive, so if you regularly find yourself with phase alignment issues, this extra period of 'getting familiar' will be time thoroughly well spent.

Roland Jupiter-50

Sat, 26 May 2012 17:03:00 GMT

It's not been long since we reviewed the Jupiter-80, concluding that in the main it sounded fantastic, though its bare bones, screen-centric interface let it down.

Well, since then Roland has been back in the lab and created the Jupiter-50, essentially a stripped down JP-80.

"Film composers should love the JP-80 for its breathtakingly realistic expressive acoustic sounds, while electronic producers will adore its extremely powerful synth section."

So are we in line for an improved screen and more hardware controls? Not so fast. The first thing you'll notice is that the JP-80's large colour touchscreen has been replaced with a smaller mono screen.

Given that the touchscreen in the JP-80 was the reason why Roland felt it was able to shirk realtime hardware knobs, the '50 is even worse off as - once again - this is one powerful synth with so much going on under the hood in the way of parameters that the screen can easily become overloaded with information. And now the lack of colour doesn't help.

There are only two assignable real-time dials, the S1 and S2 switch, three part sliders, the bender/mod stick and the D-Beam, which sounds a lot but in practice it could do with a lot more. Thankfully, the 'tone blender' function from the '80 is retained which facilitates multiple parameter control from the C1 or C2 dial.

Hands on

It's unclear why Roland has such an aversion to multiple real-time controllers, especially as the original Jupiters were so well adorned, but we hope it heads more in the direction of the slider-laden JD-800 (and even last year's excellent screenless SH-01 Gaia) in the future. This is what customers want and a lot of competitors, such as Nord and Korg, know that hands-on means extra sales.

By way of an antidote, Roland has an iPad app (downloadable from Apple's App Store) on the way, which will go a long way to making the JP-50 touchable. Clever? Certainly. Requiring the ownership of an iPad? You got it.

Meanwhile back on the keyboard, the space where the real-time controllers should be is now the perfect place to place your 'Pad. And if you need to buy an iPad to get the most out of programming your '50 then the combined price is approaching that of the '80… Which - for a limited time - now comes with a free iPad 2… Still with us…? Let's just let it go, eh?

The '50 is markedly thinner than the bulky '80 with a keybed more like that on their excellent Juno Stage. Unfortunately that means that it's lacking the aftertouch of it's big brother, and while many other boards at this price are similarly strapped, the JP-50 really misses it, especially when you consider how expressive the Supernatural and behaviour-modelled sounds can be (and how much the feature was all over the complex sounds of the JP-80).

At least the 76-note keybed is almost indistinguishable in feel when put next to the JP-80 - it's super high quality and fast to play yet controllable. How about a weighted version of the JP-50 or '80 for those that want to get more out of the superb onboard pianos and EPs? Oh, and a 61-note cheaper version and rack module would be nice too!

Close to the tone

Out the back we lose the XLR balanced outs and the digital out of the '80 but the sub outs are retained along with USB, MIDI ports (no Thru) and stereo audio in. The two control pedal connections and sustain are still present and the switchgear feels largely the same quality as the JP-80, though the side panels are now silver-painted plastic rather than the much sturdier brushed metal panels on the '80.

One upside to this is that 7kg (almost 15lb) has been shaved off the weight of the JP-80, making this a very lightweight board - so much so that you can easily manage it yourself under one arm in a soft case, or in a lightweight plastic hard case.

Given that Roland sold the '80 as the perfect live 'board this is certainly a step in the right direction. Do watch out though if you have a small car as the JP-50 is actually a little bit longer than the JP80 at 1,268mm.

Sound it out

So what does it sound like? Let's quickly outline the sound structure – there's a bit of a learning curve here.

The main element in a JP-50 sound is a 'tone', which can be a 'Supernatural Acoustic' or a 'Supernatural Synth'. Up to four tones (acoustic or synth) can be layered to form a 'live set' (which includes envelopes, filters, offsets, panning and more) and one live set (two on the JP-80) can be used in what's called a 'registration'.

This registration contains a snapshot of performance-related settings such as splits, layers, note ranges, arpeggiator settings, pedal control assignments and more. It also includes an upper part, combined lower/percussion part and a solo part, each of which has a dedicated front panel volume slider and on/off switch, so that parts and layers can be quickly muted or faded in or out, which is great for live performance.

The dedicated coloured sound category buttons massively aid the sound selection process but we do miss the under-panel registration buttons on the JP-80 - though the '50 still has four on the main panel.

The JP-50's polyphony has been halved from 256 notes (on the JP-80) to 128 notes, which is still decent but perhaps a little restrictive, especially when you consider how much stacking power is available under the hood. As a result we noticed occasional note stealing in complex multi-layered patches, though for the majority of sounds it's not a problem.

Also, there are now three parts per registration (Perc/Lower, Upper and Solo) compared to the four parts on the JP-80. This isn't such a big deal in practice but bear in mind it means less complex splits and layers.

A very handy feature that's debuted on the JP-50 (and that's made its way to the JP-80 with the free Version 2 software) is the manual/single play mode, which immediately switches the JP-50 to a single upper part, from which you can quickly build new sounds. This really simplifies programming a lot.

Unfortunately, the drawbar organ still doesn't have a dedicated B3-style chorus (as noted in our JP-80 review) and though drawbars appear on the screen now you can't touch and drag them…

We can't really quibble with any of the sounds that the JP-50 can produce and the new serial effects routing mode helps open up more sonic possibilities. However, be aware that there are only four effects units, compared to the JP80's eight, plus no dedicated solo/percussion part effects and no mastering effects either. That said they do sound great and are very tweakable.

50-50

Interface gripes aside, the JP-50's real appeal is as a workhorse studio instrument that can cover all of your staple sounds admirably (particularly if you're a Sonar user - the JP-50 becomes a perfect front end for the included Sonar LE software). Film composers should love it for its breathtakingly realistic expressive acoustic sounds, while electronic producers will adore its extremely powerful synth section, particularly with the new analogue modelled filter types on board.

One of the smartest things Roland has done is keeping the great-sounding D/A converters found in the JP-80 and so the '50 sounds every bit as wide, smooth and punchy. It's easily one of the best sounding synths available.

This is a very important point, because the sound quality is one of the most redeeming features of the new Jupiter series and it kind of makes up for the bare interface.

For live performers the iPad editor puts back the missing controls, screen and more, and if you can live without aftertouch and the halved polyphony then definitely consider the JP-50 based for sound quality, scope and portability. Shame the '50 couldn't be cheaper but then we wish that about everything!

Need the extra notes, keys and screen? Go for the '80. But if you need to save a little money and weight, then it's the '50.

MusicRadar Deals Of The Week

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:24:00 GMT

Killer bargains from our recommended retailers.

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Fri, 25 May 2012 14:22:00 GMT

Killer bargains from our recommended retailers.

MusicRadar Deals Of The Week

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:19:00 GMT

Killer guitar, tech, amp or drum bargains from our recommended retailers