Sonic State Labs takes a look at the new Apple Logic Pro in this video review.

via sonicstate

Kapling is a simple little standalone physical modeling synthesizer application for Mac OS X built with Max/MSP 5

It is based on the Karplus-Strong algorithm. Kapling uses this method to attempt the emulation of resonant bodies, like a string being plucked, or melodic percussion instrument being struck.

Eight independent voices are triggered by a 32-step sequencer, with a variety of parameters set up to help you sculpt new timbres in realtime. Kapling also features a tempo-synced stereo delay and recording to disk.

In simpler terms, Kapling can help you make twangy, boingy, klonky tones.

You can preview Kapling below. You can download it from the Kapling site.

If you’ve used Kapling, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Key features:

• 8 independent synth voices
• 32-step sequencer
• realtime timbral controls
• randomized initial impulse to provide natural variation over time
• tempo-synced stereo delay
• store presets for pitch, sequences, and timbre, and export them to disk
• record output directly to disk as an aiff file
• cpu monitor helps keep track of the tax on your system
• each voice has a hotkeyed mute switch for ease of live use
• freeware! (but donations are welcome!!)

Note: this is a standalone synth, not a plugin.

What makes Musicbed interesting, though, is that it isn’t a standard collection of stock music, but an application that lets you generate music based on stock themes and the requirements of the job at hand.

Tools within Musicbed let you adapt the stock music themes, giving you control over pitch and tempo. You can also control high-level aesthetic aspects of the music, like whether the music should be more melodic or more percussive, or whether it should be more electronic or more acoustic.

The software also lets you mold the music over time, so that you can build the music to a climax, create sharp transitions, and make the music more or less prominent as needed.

While Musicbed is designed to be easy to use by non-musicians, it also has some professional capabilities, like the ability to export music stems and surround sound support.

Getting Started

Installation is painless. Musicbed comes on one DVD that contains the Musicbed editing application and a library of stock music themes.

When you open Musicbed, you find a sensibly arranged screen (right).

The interface is broken down into three main areas:

• The top section has tools for importing video, exporting finished music and adding Markers.
• The middle section lets you browse and select Music Packages on the left side, and has controls for viewing the completed video on the right.
• The bottom section is a timeline that you can use to scroll to a specific place in the video or the soundtrack. This section is also used to add markers and to create transitions in the music.

To test out the program, we imported a short video. You do this using menus commands or the top icon bar:

Once you’ve imported a video, you can preview it on the right-hand side of the screen:

You can also use this section to adjust the relative volumes of music vs. audio from the film.

Next, you can browse through the Music Packages to select the style of music you want to use:

Music Packages are orchestrated themes. They aren’t stock chunks of music, though; they are malleable themes that you can shape, changing orchestration, tempo, pitch, density, etc.

Musicbed lets you browse by genres, or you can just select a Music Package. You can preview the music by selecting a Music Package and then clicking the play icon.

Once you find the Music Package you like, you can drag it into the timeline and stretch it to the correct length.

Customizing Your Soundtrack

What makes Musicbed interesting is the way it makes it easy to shape and adapt the music. Here are a few examples that demonstrate how the program makes it very easy to create custom soundtracks.

For the purposes of testing out the program, I created a soundtrack section with these (arbitrary) requirements:

• It needs to be thirty seconds long;
• It needs to start fairly laid back;
• After 10 seconds, it should transition to a more driving middle section;
• 25 seconds in, it should peak and then die out.

In order to do this, I selected a Music Package and dragged it to the timeline:

At top of the timeline, you can see markers set at the transition points. The bottom section shows the title of the Music Package, “Full Heart”, structural sections within the music, and a section where you can draw in automation.

I adjusted the music to be the correct length, and selected the structural sections (Intro, Section B & End) that I wanted to use.

Next, I drew in some automation to shape the music. The interface overlays all of your automation curves, with the active parameter highlighted with a bold line. The screen capture above shows the Smooth – Punchy parameter, but you can select any of the other parameters, like Synthetic – Organic or Sparse – Dense, and create automation curves for each.

Here’s an example of what Musicbed sounds like. (MP3)

A feature that will really come in handy for some people is that you can change the Music Package at any time, independent of your timeline and your automation curves.

Here are some variations that were created by changing the Music Package and making minor tweaks to the automation:

• Cyan Music Package – adjusted to be more organic
• Cyan Music Package – adjusted to be more synthetic
• Full Heart Music Package

Once you’ve got the music customized to meet your needs, you can export it as a stereo mix, as stems or as 5.1 surround sound. You can tweak surround settings such as the cutoff for the bass channel.

Summary

Synk Audio’s Musicbed DV is an easy-to-use Mac application that lets you manipulate musical themes to create custom soundtracks. You don’t need any musical knowledge to use the program, but there is a lot of power “under the hood”. Once you get familiar with the program, you can work very rapidly with it.

The program is very responsive. I tested it on an early Intel Mac mini, and was very impressed with Musicbed’s speed. The only times I had to wait on the program were when I imported video or exported the final music.

The Musicbed themes (Music Packages) provide enough variation to meet a variety of needs. I’d like to see inexpensive add-ons that focus on specific styles of music, such as jazzy/downtempo music or electronica. This would make the program more appealing to users and make it easier to get a Music Package that meets your needs.

I asked my contact at Musicbed about this, and she said that “third party music packages are not available right now, though we would very much like that to be the case and are working on strategies to make creating music packages attractive to third party content developers.”

Synk Audio has more Music Packages in the pipeline, but doesn’t have a release date yet.

It would be very interesting if Synk Audio opened up the Musicbed format and provided documentation for it. This would allow a Musicbed community to develop, which could dramatically expand the amount of content available for users to work with.

When I asked Synk about this possibility, they said that “Though we have not settled on a final strategy, in the future the music package format and/or content creation tools will be available for third parties.”

I’ll be interested to see how this develops. If Synk could open their platform and get others to build upon their foundation, Musicbed would be that much more useful as a tool.

Musicbed retails for $249. Synk has created a Musicbed DV screencast that does a great job of introducing the application. You can also download a demo of Musicbed from the Sync Audio site.

Features:

Music Browsing

• Browse by story genres (Action, Drama, Sports, etc.).
• Browse by story moods (Progress, Major Setback, Climax, etc.).
• Browse by music genres (Cinematic, Electronic, Pop, Rock, etc.).
• Browse by music moods (Aggressive, Positive, Melancholy, etc.).
• Browse by music styles (Background, Percussive, Dense, etc.).
• Browse by music texture (Intense, Spacious, Punchy, etc.).
• Browse by music tempo and pitch.
• Browse by factory and user presets (Ambience, Background, Full Mix, etc.).
• Real-time music previews while playing video or audio project.

Music Editing

• Adjust music style (Synthetic, Organic, Percussiveness, etc.).
• Adjust music texture (Intensity, Spaciousness, Smoothness, etc.).
• Adjust music with factory and user presets (Ambience, Background, Full Mix, etc.).
• Adjust pitch and tempo independently.
• Adjust duration without changing pitch and tempo.

Music Timeline

• Automatic generation of music clips for specified start, stop, and duration.
• Non-repetitive music generation without loops.
• Non-linear editing of music clip start, stop, and duration.
• Music clip theme/section editing and arrangement.
• Seamless and gap-less music theme/section transition editing.
• Overlay or overwrite multiple music clips in the timeline.
• Music clip package switching while retaining existing timing, transitions, and keyframes.

Music Keyframes

• Sculpt music style and texture over time with keyframe automation.
• Keyframe add, delete, and edit operations with easy-to-use dragging, button, and keyboard commands.
• Keyframe automation curve overlay display.
• Keyframe snapshots generate style and texture values over a time range. Useful for quickly controlling builds and punctuation.
• Intelligent keyframe generation feature creates style and texture variations at markers or time intervals. Useful for quickly generating evolving styles and textures.

Video

• Any file type supported by QuickTime.
• Project creation via QuickTime file drag and drop.
• Visual markers display video frame at marker location.
• Video timeline scrubbing.
• Video scrubbing during music clip add.
• 30 fps, 29.97 fps drop and non-drop, 25 fps.

Markers

• Visual markers display video frame at marker location.
• Synchronization of music clip start, end, and duration using markers.
• Precise positioning of keyframe time using markers.
• Import chapter and scoring markers from Quicktime, including those from Final Cut.

Export

• Export mixes as stereo audio files.
• Export instrument submixes as stereo audio files (Bass, Percussion, Instruments, etc.).
• Export 5.1 surround music as 6 mono audio files (L, R, Ls, Rs, C, LFE).
• Surround mixes for multiple usage scenarios (Immersive, Theatrical, etc.).
• Export tempo maps.
• AIFF and WAV file types.
• 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz sample rates.
• 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit depths.

Miscellaneous

• Professional audio limiter eliminates digital overs.
• Factory presets for useful stock music styles.
• User music style preset creation.
• Custom location for music content on disk.
• Automatic and manual music detail preferences for optimal system performance.
• Automated cue sheet generation.
• Unlimited undo.
• Royalty-free license, use as many times as you like without incurring additional fees or costs.

The app is currently in beta testing, so the instrument has a built-in expiration date, but it seems stable.

VX-323 lets you play synthesized speech with your Mac using your mouse or a MIDI keyboard, and also lets you record its sounds to use with audio programs.

The interface is a little unusual, though, since it emulates classic vocal synthesis hardware – so we’ve created a quick guide to help get you started with the VX-323:

Download VX-323 from the Bitnotic site. When you open the compressed download, you’ll see the app icon, above. Drag this to a location on your computer. If you just want to test VX-323 out, you can run it from the virtual disk that is created when the file uncompresses.

Open the program. You’ll see a window like this:

To get started, try using the mouse to click on keys. You should here a robotic voice.

Click the up and down arrows on your keyboard, and you’ll navigate the “LCD” screen through different Master options. Clicking the left and right arrows moves the cursor around in the LCD screen.

If you click the Keymap or the Voice buttons, you can see the options for these categories.

Click on the Voice button. Here you can do things like enter text to be spoken, select voices and adjust the voice’s characteristics. Use the up and down arrows to navigate, and make sure you’re on the Voice Phrase screen.

Make sure you’re on the second line in the LCD, and then enter some text for the Voice Synthesizer to “say”:

Try this out by clicking on some keyboard notes. You should here your phrase “spoken” at different pitches.

Now use the left or right arrows on your keyboard to move the cursor back to “Voice Phrase”, and then use the up and down arrows to navigate to “Voice Select”:

In the Voice Select screen, use the left/right arrow keys to move the cursor to the second line, and then the up/down arrows to select a voice. Try out various voices.

You can record your results by selecting Start Recording from the File menu. Play your phrase and then select “Stop Recording.”

Here’s a sample of VX-323 vocal synthesis. (MP3)

Bitnotic’s VX-323 currently is a stand-alone instrument, so some extra steps are required if you want to record it directly into a sequencer. If you want to do this or dig deeper into the program, Bitnotic provides a great PDF guide with the app download.

It’s produced by Marc Van Bork, the producer/programmer behind Sonic Data Volume One and Prosamples Platininum Vapor Virtual Synthesizer. Van Bork’s clearly got an ear for creating cutting-edge electronic sounds.

We called Wavefront massive and overwhelming, and it is – both in scope, and in the sounds that Van Bork coaxes out of his Reason. You could spend hours checking out the thousands of patches in Wavefront, without even digging into the possibilities for patch programming.

Uncompressed, Wavefront weighs in at a sumoesque 4.5 GBs of waveforms. It’s also massive in the number of patches it contains (2,222). It’s obvious that a lot of time and work went into this ReFill.

Most importantly, though, the ReFill is massive where it counts – the sounds. Wavefront offers lead synths, pads, ambient textures and gargantuan drum and bass sounds. While the collection covers a lot of territory, the sounds are unique enough that you’re not likely to find a lot of overlap with existing sound libaries.

The sounds lean towards the cutting-edge electronic, with an emphasis on more digital sounding patches. It sounds like Van Bork has listened to some BT in his day, and it’s a good thing. You won’t find a lot of standard pads and sounds.

If you love vintage sounds or need some great acoustic instrument sounds – this isn’t the ReFill for you. On the other hand, if you want to expand your Reason palette with a set of complex, modern sounds, Wavefront has you covered.

Van Bork notes that “the true soul of Wavefront is in the Combinator patches which provide timbral complexity and expressiveness that you will not find anywhere else. Utilizing the modulation wheel in any patch will provide subtle to drastic emotional and / or rhythmic changes to accent your sequences and performances.” You can hear this in effect in the audio demos for the library at the Bitword site.

Keep in mind that the massive sound of Wavefront doesn’t come for free. Use this with a vintage computer and it’s likely to bring your workstation to its knees.

All in all, Wavefront is a great way for Reason users to expand their options with a wide range of electronic sounds.

Wavefront is $129, and is available via the Bitword site.

Contents:

Combinator:

• PADS = 237
• LEADS = 124
• BASS = 152
• BLIPS = 079
• KEYS = 058
• AMBIENT = 109
• NOISE = 100
• EXPERIMENTAL = 192
• HITS = 221

NN-XT:

• MODULATIONS = 036

NN-19:

• PADS = 267
• LEADS = 096
• BASS = 086
• BLIPS = 069
• NOISE = 205

Redrum:

• KITS = 191

Wavefront Total:

• 2,222 PATCHES

Raw Waveforms:

• TOTAL = 3,390
• 4.68 Gigabytes uncompressed

Total Size:

• 3.2 Gigabytes compressed in the ReFill format.

The library is presented in Native Instruments Intakt format, which means that it’s a pain to register, but compatible with just about anything (it supports VST 2.0, DXi, ASIO, AU, RTAS, Mac & PC). It combines over 1,000 loops with the power of Intakt, letting you take Boddy’s loops and mangle them with downsampling, filtering, distortion, delay effects and more.

The library is described as “100% pure analogue.” It’s hard to tell what that means anymore, when you’ve got digital samples of analog synths running through digitally-modelled analog filters. Nevertheless, with Analogue Sequencer Loops, Boddy and Zero-G capture the essence of classic analog synthesis, with an emphasis on 70’s Berlin-school sequencer sounds.

About the Audio Library

According to Zero-G, Analogue Sequencer Loops is intended to complement Boddy’s Zero-G Morphology virtual instrument, which features Boddy doing his thing with atmospheric soundscapes and effects. We didn’t have a chance to work with Morphology, but A.S.L. is an interesting and flexible collection by itself.

Boddy uses classic analogue synths and hardware analogue sequencers, and they are captured exquisitely in 24-bit sound. The audio loops are broken down into seven categories: Analogue Drums, Bass Sequences, Electronic Percussion, FX Loops, Hi-Hat & Noise Loops, Melodic Sequences & Sine & Pure Sequences. Within each category, loops are organized by BMP, ranging from 90-150.

ASL doesn’t immediately wow you, like some sound libraries. Because of the limited capabilities of old-school sequencers, the loops are all fairly simple. But Boddy does a great job of providing starting points for creating music with that classic analog sound.

Take one of Boddy’s bass sequences and mangle it a bit, like modulating the cutoff with a slow LFO, add a little distortion and delay, and you’ve quickly got something with a lot of life and interest to it.

Zero-G provides a great Berlin-school demo using ASL that gives you a taste of one way the library could be used.

All-in-all, it’s a very nice sample libary. It doesn’t offer the instant gratification of effect laden loops or construction kits, but it instead provides you with some great building blocks, packaged in a powerful virtual instrument that lets you easily take the raw material and manipulate it to your will.

Gear List

Sound Sources :

• Moog IIIC (extended) modular
• Roland System 100M modular
• Doepfer A100 modular
• Analogue Systems modular
• Analogue Solutions Concussor percussion modules
• ARP 2600
• Minimoog
• Moog Voyager
• Oberheim Xpander
• VCS 3

Sequencing:

• Moog 960 sequential controller x 2
• Roland 100M 182 sequencer
• Roalnd 100M 184 polyphonic keyboard arpeggiator
• Analogue Systems RS-200 sequential controller
• Analogue Solutions CV8 – 8 step CV sequencer x 2
• Analogue Solutions GT8 – 8 step gate sequencer x 2
• Analogue Solutions MC01- Master Clock with clock dividers
• Analogue Solutions FS01 – Fill In / Quad Switcher
• Doepfer A100 – various Seq Switch/Clock Dividers/Clock Sequencers

Supported Interfaces:

• VST 2.0, DXi, ASIO, Audio Units, Core Audio, RTAS, Mac & PC

Recommended Retail Price

• $199.95 US Dollars / 169 Euros / £114.95 pounds sterling)

Minimum Requirements

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 400 MHz, 256 MB RAM
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G3 500 MHz, 256 MB RAM

Recommended System

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 700 MHz, 512 MB
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G4 733, 512 MB

More information and sound samples are available at the Zero-G site.

These loop collections are very different than any others that we’ve seen previously. Instead of being royalty-free collections, like most loop libraries, these are faithfully recorded loop-based versions of classic tunes. That means that you can’t take these loops and use them in music that you intend to distribute, without arranging for licensing.

What You Get

Hal Leonard sent us the Classic Rock TrackPak, which has loops and GarageBand arrangements from 12 classic rock songs.

Each song includes full tracks for each instrument: bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and other instruments. Individual loops are provided, along with fully mixed projects. The Pak also includes a book with complete music notation and tablature for each loop, as well as lyrics for each song.

The loops are very nicely recorded, and do a great job of matching the original sounds. The mixed tracks sound very much like the original versions, minus the vocals.

In Use

The publisher suggests that the loops can be used “as a play-along or sing-along, remix your own version, use the loops in your own projects, and even change the tempo or key.”

This may confuse some users, because the loops aren’t royalty-free.

On the other hand, these would be great tools for anybody wanting to learn how to play classic tracks, learn about the arrangements of classic tracks, or interested in creating their own arrangements. For example, you could take the GarageBand arrangement, extend a section to allow for a couple of solos, and then export versions with the bass muted, guitar muted, or keyboards muted – sort of like Music Minus One practice tracks that you can customize.

It’s easy to see how this would be a great investment for anyone interested in learning these tracks.

We were able to create customized arrangements within a few minutes and export them to iTunes, and then sync them to an iPod. This was all very fast and easy, and this could make an iPod a great way to learn tracks. Because the arrangements are loop-based, it would also be easy to speed up or slow down the arrangement.

The one reservation we have about the TrackPak is its presentation. The packaging looks very similar to the packaging for Apple’s loop libraries, and we’d bet that there are a lot of users that may buy these packages thinking that they can use the riff from Another One Bites the Dust or Walk This Way in their next track or remix project.

In fact, the package states “The only limit is your creativity!” Only in the tiny type does it mention that the loops are from copyright-protected tracks and could require licensing from the copyright owner.

We’d prefer that Hal Leonard would create a unique identity for this type of product, which has the potential to be a new category of music libraries, and make sure that it was clear that there are limitations to how these loops can be used.

Summary

The Classic Rock TrackPak is a really interesting use of loops and GarageBand. It’s a very nicely done tool for learning and arranging classic rock tracks. Other TrackPaks are available for other styles of music.

We’d like Hal Leonard to make it clear that these loops are not for tracks that will be distributed. As long as that’s not your interest, the TrackPaks are a great deal at their list price of $29.95.

Tracks:

• Another One Bites the Dust
• Born to be Wild
• Brown-Eyed Girl
• Day Tripper
• Refugee
• Smoke on the Water
• Sunshine of Your Love
• Sweet home Alabama
• Takin’ Care of Business
• Tush
• Walk This Way
• You Really Got Me

Capturing the variety of this rich musical stew in a sample library is nearly impossible, but Zero-G does an admirable job with its new Virtual Sound Module, Sounds of the 70’s.

It’s a sample-based virtual instrument based on a Native Instruments Audio Engine, and is compatible with just about everything (VST 2.0, DXi, ASIO, AU, RTAS, Mac & PC). It provides a huge selection of rock, disco, prog-rock, funk and soul beats, grooves and sounds that faithfully capture the seventies sound. Sounds of the Seventies lets you incorporate the flavor of Seventies songs into your music, while avoiding the legal morass of sampling classic tracks.

Background

The musical samples created for Sounds of the 70’s were written and produced by Mike Wilkie and Matthew Corbett for Zero-G. Wilkie and Corbett went to extremes to get capture the feel of classic Seventies music.

“To faithfully recreate the sounds of the seventies we equipped ourselves with two pairs of loon pants (purple and mauve), brown glitter encrusted platform boots with 5 inch heels, cheese cloth shirts and genuine Afghans. We also had an Afro hairdo, and then, and only then, did we feel ready to proceed on our sonic journey!”

The producers relied on period gear to ensure authentic sounds. “We already had original guitars and basses from the 70’s and before, and soon managed to borrow a Fender Rhodes and a Wurlitzer EP as well as a Hammond with a massive Leslie cabinet with something like a propeller in it.”

“Many synths like our ancient Crumar, which we used a lot, were amped instead of feeding direct and guitars were awash with spidery tones and liberal use of an old Cry Baby. We used a Gibson Les Paul standard (circa 1977) for almost all of the guitars and, surprisingly, most of the bass was undertaken on an old Aria Pro, after rejecting more sumptuous instruments, it just seemed to evoke the era more precisely, we played it through an old Selmer bass amp.”

Once they had sampled the grooves they were looking for, they went the extra mile and put them to vinyl. “We decided the only way to retain the funk was to have everything mastered onto vinyl through 70s valve compressors and EQs. We found a mastering suite deep in South London that ticked all the boxes and got everything transferred to a large stack of laquers, and then back into digital. It sounds like the seventies!”

Installation

We tested Sounds of the 70’s on Mac OS X, using a 1.25 Ghz G4 machine. We encountered no stability problems or other quirks. Installation is very straightforward. Note that a DVD drive is required, because of the size of the library.

Registration of the Native Instruments engine is required as part of the installation process. It may strike some users as strange to have to register to NI for a Zero-G product. A separate program is installed to your hard drive which handles registration. It takes you to an web page, where you exchange your personal information for an authorization code. The registration process, and the proprietary format that the samples are stored in, are unfortunately becoming necessary to avoid unlicensed duplication of sample libraries.

The Technology

Sounds of the 70’s follows trend of recent Zero-G releases, putting large sample libraries into a customized Native Instruments sampler interface. The size of the library, and the proprietary file formats serve to discourage illegal distribution of the samples.

The Intakt sample engine also bring a tremendous amount of power to the end user. Sound of the 70’s retains the rich array of tools from the full version of Intakt, which lets you massively mangle the provided samples. Users that already have the full Intakt or Kontakt samplers can also load the patches and sampes from the Sounds of the 70’s DVD, offering additional flexibility.

The Intakt engine is very powerful, and has an excellent set of features for sample-mangling:

• A great-sounding multimode filter
• Flexible modulation capabilities, including dual LFO’s, AHDSR envelope and envelope follower
• Effects, including delay, distortion, and low-fi effects
• Beat Machine mode beat-slices percussion loops so you can use one slice within a loop
• Time machine mode time-stretches loops to automatically fit samples to various tempos
• Standard sampler mode lets you play samples up and down the scale

It’s also compatible with just any sequencer, with VST 2.0, DXi, ASIO, Audio Units, Core Audio, RTAS, Mac & PC support. This means that, as long as you’ve got a fairly recent machine, Sounds should work with it.

The Sound Library

All this technology would be irrelevant without great samples. Zero-G provides 1.4 gigs of original samples. The samples faithfully capture the grooves and feel of seventies tracks.

The names of the construction kit familes give a hint of their contents:

• 090-Humble Cake
• 090-Smooth Ride
• 095-Freeway Driftin
• 095-Lets Be Friends
• 095-On The Raydio
• 095-The Tranquil Heaven
• 100-East Street
• 100-Mean & Dirty
• 100-Weasley Brothers
• 109-Dukes Of Starski
• 110-Beat Shave
• 110-Doctor Groovenstein
• 110-Groover Funkington
• 110-Lite Up The Bite
• 110-Power Of Tower
• 110-Psalm Of The Star Voyager
• 110-Sky Bird Flight
• 110-Steely Pan
• 110-Taste Of Marmalade
• 110-Too Much Party
• 115-Blackbyrd
• 115-Bold & Delicious
• 115-Children Of The Sun
• 115-Diggin The Scene
• 115-Exeptional Green Band
• 115-Fat Slapper
• 115-Favourite Dancer
• 115-Funky Strut
• 115-Getcha Jaxx On
• 115-Herbs With Albert
• 115-Jazz Cellar
• 115-Not Cricket
• 115-Planet Groove
• 115-Super Wasp
• 115-The James Gang
• 116-Calypso Carnival
• 120-Dingers
• 120-Fusion Illusion
• 120-Le Flic
• 120-Silver Connection
• 120-Winter Dinner
• 130-Flying Disco Melons
• 165-Spit On The Floor

Somebody had a lot of fun coming up with names! The funny names are helpful, though, because you know something like Power of Tower is going to have some great horn work, Le Flic will have some snaky disco basslines and Dukes of Starski will capture that 70’s cop-show vibe.

The quality of the samples is excellent. Many of the construction kits, like Le Flic brought images of specific 70’s bands immediately to mind. Others seem to capture the spirit of various 70’s styles. The sample collection is advertised as Funk & Disco Essentials, but it covers many other of the genres of the 70’s. The samples cover a lot of territory, and should be great for dance, soundtrack work, hip-hop, and any other place where a little retro sound is wanted.

The audio quality is uniformly good. The producers captured a period sound, but without using gimmicks like hiss or pops. The samples sound like they could have been taken from old master tapes. Users that want more of a vinyl sound can always run the loops through a vinyl plug-in.

Because the samples are already looped and sliced as needed, it’s very easy to get started. Open Sounds of the 70’s as a standalone instrument or within a sequencer. Pick a Construction Kit, and then use a MIDI keyboard to audition the loops. Each construction kit features a set of compatible loops, a pre-mixed loop and some one-shot samples. Each loop or sample is assigned to a note on the keyboard, so you can check out mix combinations by simply playing various keys.

In addition to the construction kits, Zero-G ices the cake with B3 organ, bass, drum, Rhodes, synth, guitar, trumpet and Wurlitzer samples and riffs.

Summary

Zero-G successfully recreates the Sounds of the 70’s with their latest sample library. The library is massive, with 1.4 gigs of source material, and gives you plenty of options for customizing the samples, courtesy of Native Instrument’s Intakt engine.

Most importantly, the samples capture both the feel and sound of classic 70’s tracks. The library should provide inspiration for many types of music. The library gives you that authentic 70’s sound, without the costs or legal hassles of sampling old vinyl.

The Sounds of the 70’s collection is perfect for musicians working in dance and hip-hop genres, but should also be useful for anyone that wants to inject a bit of 70’s groove into their tracks.

Pros

• Great samples and construction kits capture the feel of classic tracks
• Zero-G has done all the work of looping and beat slicing the samples
• Intakt is flexible and powerful
• Flexible tools for customizing the samples

Cons

• Samples only available through virtual instrument – no raw samples
• Native Instruments registration is intrusive

Recommended Retail Price

• $299.95 US Dollars (259 Euros / 169.00 pounds sterling)

Minimum Requirements

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 400 MHz, 256 MB RAM
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G3 500 MHz, 256 MB RAM

Recommended System

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 700 MHz, 512 MB
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G4 733, 512 MB

Drum Spirit

The release features master African percussionist Mabi Gabriel Thobejane, who has traveled the world and toured with Sakhile, Amampondo and Juno Reactor. His work can be heard in the soundtracks to Matrix Revolutions and the Mortal Combat films.

On Drum Spirit, Thobejane works his magic on bongos, congas, shakers, timbali and tribal bass drum. The recordings are fairly dry, but capture a bit of room ambience which adds some depth to the sound. The samples are provided unprocessed, with the exception of one vocal phrase, “Africa is the cradle”.

The drum loops are organized by BPM, ranging from 100 to 150 in steps of 10 BPM. For each BPM, Sonic Vision provides several loops for each instrument, ranging in length from 1-bar to 4-bar. The drum parts are full of life and make the rhythms in most loop-based music seem rigid and simple in comparison.

The loops can be used construction-set style to build up arrangements, or used individually to add some African rhythm to your tracks.

In addition to the drum loops, Sonic Vision provides a selection of vocal hits, loops and phrases. While the drum loops are excellent, the vocal samples are a welcome surprise.
The percussive vocal hits and vocal loops are very funky. The CD also has some longer .wavs of Thobejane talking and singing. His voice is very evocative and full of rhythm and melody.

The samples are provided in a variety of formats, including Battery, Kontakt, Exs24 & Reason Kits, as well as .wav files.

The recording and production work on Drum Spirit is very good. We noticed some typos in the file names, but this doesn’t detract from the loops’ usefulness. We would like to have seen Sonic Vision provide more information about the rhythms, especially since African rhythms can have specific stories or ideas associated with them.

Summary

Overall, Drum Spirit is a great set of rhythmic percussion and vocal samples that bring the sound of a master African drummer to your computer.

Sonic Vision has provided preview samples that you can download. The CD is available via the Sonic Vision site.

Sounds of Polynesia, Melanesia and Australia

Zero-G calls Sounds of Polynesia a virtual sound module. It’s a massive 1.4 gig library of sounds organized in a very flexible sampling interface.

The Intakt Engine

Zero-G has based this sample collection on Native Instruments’ Intakt sampler. Intakt is very powerful, giving you quick access to the huge array of sounds. It lets you work with samples in a traditional sampler fashion, beatslice them, and time-stretch them to match any tempo.

The installer is very easy to use, and installs the branded version of Intakt, along with the massive sound library.

Intakt is extremely flexible. It works on Windows and OS X, and supports VST 2.0, DXi, II, ASIO, DirectSound, RTAS, Audio Units and Core Audio. Intakt’s flexibility means that Sounds of Polynesia should work with just about any audio workstation configuration.

Once installed, the Intakt engine needs to be registered with Native Instruments. This is an easy process, as long as you are connected to the Internet. The process could be more cumbersome for those without Internet access. It seems unusual to have to register a Zero-G product with Native Instruments, rather than directly with Zero-G. Some may find the registration process intrusive, but these measures have become necessary to combat software piracy.

For those unfamiliar with Intakt, it is a robust sample engine that supports extensive manipulation of sounds. It gives you three ways to work with samples:

• Sampler Mode plays samples like a traditional sampler, linking pitch with time. If you pitch a sample higher or lower, it gets relatively shorter or longer.
• Time Machine mode treats samples like Acid loops. It lets you stretch or compress the loop’s length, independent of it’s pitch. This, combine with the sampler’s syncing capabilities, lets you play loops in sync with a host sequencer.
• Beat Machine mode lets you beat-slice percussive samples. Each slice of the sample can be assigned to a note on a keyboard, or to a pad on an external controller. This gives you flexible control over the sample, and lets you rearrange the sample slices to make new rhythmic patterns.

Fortunately, Zero-G has done the dirty work of preparing the samples with the most appropriate tools, so you can work with them immediately. Intakt’s power means that if you want to use Zero-G’s samples in ways they didn’t anticipate, you have all the tools that you need.

In addition to the sample manipulation tools, Intakt provides a powerful sound-shaping environment for further sonic mayhem. There is a powerful filter section, AHDSR envelopes, syncable LFO’s and delay, bitcrushing, and distortion. Intakt is very powerful, and makes working with samples a pleasure.

The Sound Library

The power of the Intakt engine would be useless, though, without great samples to work with. Zero-G delivers the goods with Sounds of Polynesia. The first thing you may notice about it is its size. At 1.4 gig, it’s huge, so it requires a DVD for installation.

The sample library covers tremendous ground, both in terms of the geographic diversity of the samples, and the wide sound palette. The samples were made with instruments from countries of the South Pacific. Most are from instruments from Papua New Guinea, one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world.

The samples are well-recorded, which must have been a challenge, given all the types of instruments used. The performances captured in the loops are full of character, and the construction kit loops are tastefully done. There is some variation in the “wetness” of the recordings. This is not objectionable, because it adds some realism to the sounds.

The samples include percussive rhythms, string and wind instruments, and vocals. The list of instruments used looks it could be part of a collection from a natural history museum. There are samples of Garamut, Pate, Pahu Mango, tin can, pan pipes, bamboo stomping tubes, water flutes, bowed harp, conch shells, wooden trumpets, coconut shells, and huge array of unusual instruments. Zero-G has also sampled some more familiar instruments, including guitar, drum kit, bass, and synths. These are used in loops of musical phrases, arrange in loop construction kit families.

For each instrument type, Zero-G has captured and prepared the samples in appropriate ways. For example, wind instruments can be played up and down the keyboard, while percussive loops are beat-sliced so that you can access individual slices by playing various keys on your keyboard. The construction-kits of looped phrases are mapped to notes on a keyboard, so you can experiment with arrangements by just holding down notes on your MIDI keyboard.

The quality of the samples is impressive. The scope is impressive, too; it’s like a musicological tour of the South Pacific. Many of the sounds are exotic and unique to this area of the world. On the other hand, some of the sounds, especially the percussive sounds, have a universal feel. This range means that the sound library is flexible – it could be used in many different types of music.

In Use

Sounds of Polynesia is big enough, and has enough variety, that it could be incorporated into almost any type of music. It is will be most useful, though, to musicians looking to inject some island flavor into their music.

Many of the samples are arranged construction-kit style. This should be ideal for users that need to work quickly, create a vibe and customize it to their purpose. The fact that the rhythmic loops are beat-sliced, though, means that you have these exotic instruments at your fingertips, and can create your own rhythms.

Here is a short demo that demonstrates the flexibility of Sounds of Polynesia. The track briefly explores multiple styles, including indigenous sounds, global-chillout, tribal dance rhythms, and house music. Most of the sounds are from Sounds of Polynesia, with the addition of some 808 and bass synth sounds.

Sounds of Polynesia in Action

Zero-G provides an Intakt Operation Manual, which is all that is needed to install and work with the software. It’s disappointing, though, that Zero-G doesn’t provide a short guide to the samples and instruments. Because of the unique nature of this sound module, it would be helpful to have a guide with a photo of each of the instruments, and some information about how and when they are used. Zero-G did provide some background information with their press release, which we’ve included below.

Conclusions

Sounds of Polynesia is large, powerful and inspirational. In our testing, we encountered no stability problems or problems with the sample editing. It’s amazing that Zero-G can provide a library of this depth and breadth at such a reasonable price. While not a bread and butter virtual instrument, it could easily be used in music ranging from soundtrack work to hip-hop.

Musicians that are interested in incorporating some island flavor into their music and in having a wealth of exotic instruments at their fingertips should check out Zero-G’s Sounds of Polynesia.

Specifications:

Features of NI Interface:

• Access to individual hits (slices) within loops,
• Easy and intuitive user interface,
• User interface is a version of Native Instruments’ INTAKT, based on KONTAKT, the world’s finest software sampling engine,
• Loops use one or more of the three sampler-modes: Beat Machine with ISE (Individual Slice Edit), Time Machine and standard Sampler mode,
• Easy synchronization of loops to MIDI tempo,
• MIDI file export permits groove, accent, and feel manipulation in any host sequencer,
• Integrated effects: Group filter including low-pass, high-pass, band-reject or band-pass modes, global filter, lo-fi, distortion, syncable delay,
• Modulation section provides AHDSR envelope, two individual syncable LFOs, envelope follower and a DBD pitch envelope,
• Total Recall
• Sound Library can also be loaded into other Native Instruments samplers including KONTAKT version 1.5 (which is now available as a downloadable upgrade from the Native Instruments web site), for even greater flexibility and more options for working with the material.

Instruments Used

The Garamut is the “Tok Pisin” name given to slit drums found in PNG, they can be found in many different varieties and sizes. The garamuts used in this library come from Baluan Island in the Manus Province. Manus is a group of small islands found in the north of PNG with over 20 languages and many different styles of drumming and dance. Manus garamuts can range from 30 cm in length and 10 cm in diameter to over 2 meters long and 1.5 meter in diameter. These garamuts are carved out of one piece of timber usually from the Rain Tree using a curved chisel or a car suspension spring sharpened at one end. The Bass garamut are the largest log drums in PNG and are usually carved from the tree trunk of the Rain Tree. The deep sounds waves of the bass garamut can carry over a very long distance, many of them are used simply for their function as a form of distance communication.

Manus drumming usually consists of an ensemble of about 6 drummers. A lead garamut (small), about 4 rhythm garamut (medium size), and one bass garamut (largest). Manus drumming is usually structured in small rhythmic phrases often in 3 or 5 that are strung together to form a medley. There are no skin drums in Manus. Most traditional drumming in PNG unlike central and eastern Polynesian or the Kivai and Torres Strait region skin drums are not played with log drums. The producer/performer on this library, Airi Ingram, was taught Manus drumming by the Kilangit family from Baluan Island in Manus.

The Pate is the name for the Polynesian slit drum. It is originally from the Cook Islands in Central Polynesia; but now exists in most parts of Polynesia. In some parts of Polynesia such as Tahiti and Aitutaki the Pate is also known as the Tokere. The pate is a slit drum usually made from Albany or Mahogany. In the past after the drum had been carved they are soaked in the mud of the taro patch for a period of a few months or in diesel fuel for a period of a few weeks. This adds density and durability to the drum and gives more attack to the tone of the drum. The sticks are usually Iron wood or any other very hard wood. Cook Island drumming is probably the most sophisticated form of percussion in the South Pacific consisting of 4 or 5 rhythmic layers, each consisting of interlocking rhythmic phrases that make up a collective rhythm. The Pate is the main lead log drum and is usually about 1 meter long and 15 cm in diameter, a normal ensemble today consist of about 3 or 4 pate. A smaller high pitched slit drum (tokere or takirua) plays a rolling rhythm with syncopated accents.

The Pahu Mango is a drum similar to a conga; it has a sharkskin head and stands on the ground. Two to four pahu mango make up a set, played by one person in the ensemble. They are usually played with light drumsticks often made from hibiscus tree wood, and generally play a 16th or 32nd back beat and is funked up according to the player’s individual style.

The Pahu is a shark skin bass drum, in the Cook Island drumming ensemble it plays a part that is kind of like a marching band bass drum.

There are two main styles of Cook Island Drumming, the northern style and southern style. The northern style uses small high-pitched slit drums, playing simpler one-handed beats. The Southern style uses larger slit drums and uses a two-hand technique. Contemporary Cook Island drumming is generally in 4/4 and can be extremely fast and energetic with many syncopated breaks and fills. Polynesian percussion is actually one of the most adaptable and contemporary forms of music in the Pacific. At the beginning of the last century skin drums and log drums were never played together and the rhythms were much simpler than they are today. Generally the skin drums came from eastern Polynesia and the log drums came from western Polynesia. However over years of adaptation, migration and acculturation they eventually mixed in the centre, the Cook Islands. Skin drums like the Pahu and pahu mango originated from places such as Hawaii, Tahiti and Easter Island. The log drums that migrated easterly from Tonga and Fiji where they are called Lali. The oldest log drums in the Cook Islands the Ka’ara were found in Mangaia in the south where there still remains much archaeological evidence of the ancient spiritual beliefs of the Cook Islands. Archaeological evidence also point towards Tonga as the ancestral land for the first Cook Island log drums. When log drums were first used in the Cook Islands they had very strong ceremonial and ritual use. They had intricately carvings with a figure eight shaped slit and multi pitched. The older drums in the Cook Islands played much simpler and often triplet ? duplet rhythms, similar to rhythms still used in Fiji and Tonga. After years of development and the influence of missionaries, the log drumming that was once sacred lost its ritual function. But this didn’t mean the drumming died, in fact this opened the drumming up to possibilities such as entertainment, improvisation, creativity, acculturation and expression. Today it is the most sophisticated and virtuosic drumming in the Pacific. For the past few decades Cook Island drumming and dance has been a popular form of entertainment throughout the Pacific. So now these drums that once came to the Cook Islands from east and west have migrated back around the Pacific, and only recently have they begun to be heard around the world.

The producer/performer on this library, Airi Ingram, was taught about Cook Island Drumming by master drummers Ota Joseph, Tepoave Raita and Sonny Williams.

The Kundu is the “Tok Pisin” word for the hourglass shape drum found in most areas of PNG and the Torres Strait in north Australia. In Airi’s language Motu it is called Gaba. It has a goanna or snake skin, which is stretched over one end and stuck there using glue or sap from a tree. Bees wax is also used to tune the skins by sticking small dots of wax in the centre of the skin, this cuts out some of the high frequencies and brings out the deeper tones. There are many different styles of kundu, and each area of PNG has a very distinct style. They can range in size from 30 cm to over 2 meters long. The contemporary style of kundu actually stands up like a conga drum or pahu mango, which allows for a more two handed improvisatory style. The nature of most traditional kundu rhythms however is generally simple one handed beats, the rhythmic structures of the kundu is usually determined by the rhythm of the song it is accompanying or the steps of the dance movements. In my family’s area there are certain categories that kundu beats fit in to, which usually reflects the function of the dance they accompany. Eg. Kitoro – courtship dance (6/8 feel) Motu mavaru – motuan dance, Hiri Moale – celebratory dance with songs relating to the Hiri trade voyage celebration.

Airi’s grandfathers Boga Kwarara, Kokoa Kwarara and Kwarara Kwarara were his teachers of the Kundu and all the Motuan songs and dances from Gabagaba.

The Tin Can is often incorporated into South Pacific drumming and dance. In Central Province PNG it usually plays the same roll as a small garamut, played solo with a triplet – duplet feel to accompany dance. In the Cook Islands the cabin bread tin can is used as part of the ensemble and usually plays a similar roll as the Pahu mango or takirua (small pate). In Samoa it is often used to accompany the fire dance and in Tonga it also accompanies dance. In this CD it?s a bit of a mix of it all.

Bamboo Stomping Tubes are found in many areas of the Pacific but are most common in Bouganville, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. Basically they are just short lengths of Bamboo with the inner knots hollowed out (except for the bottom one). When they are stomped they resonate with the pitch of the Bamboo. The pitch depends on the length of the bamboo and the tone depends on the thickness and age of the bamboo.

Kwakumba is the name of the Bamboo flutes found in the Highlands of PNG. Traditionally only initiated men can play them. They are always played in pairs and are pitched slightly apart, the lower pitch – the masculine and the higher pitch – the feminine. Traditionally they play interlocking triplet rhythms that evoke sounds of the bush and village. Airi Ingram was taught Kwakumba by Tony Subam and Pius Wasi from East Sepik Province.

Pan Pipes come from many areas in the Pacific but are most common in the eastern New Guinea Islands and the Solomon Islands.

Water Flutes are made of two bits of bamboo and some water to create a pitch-sliding flute.

Voice Distorters are made out of 1m lengths of bamboo or cane with the ends split. By singing into one end the vibrations of the split bamboo give the distorted sound.

Split Cane is just split cane about 1 metre long bundled together.

The Bowed Harp is made by tying an electric guitar string or thin wire to two ends of a piece of cane to create a bow. You put one end of the cane on your lips and using your mouth as a resonator pluck the string.

Susap is a Bamboo Jews harp

Conch Shells – found almost everywhere near the ocean. The conch is used in the Pacific to send messages across long distances or as a form of fanfare before an important event or moment. The rhythm and pitch of the conch can send quite specific messages.

Wooden Trumpets are found in many regions of PNG but are most popular in the Sepik and Madang Provinces. They are basically a piece of wood (1m) hollowed at one end and a blowhole at the other.

Shakers – the gourd shakers are probably the same as most around the world. Gourds are dried out and then filled with rice, seeds or small stones to create different sounding shakers. Another shaker is the Kiwai shaker used in the Kiwai and Torres Strait regions for dancing. They are just a bunch of dried seed pods tied together to make a rattle; they can also be attached to Kundu drums, dancing sticks and poles or made into an anklet.

Coconut shells – two coconut shells are used clapping and rubbing them together.

Other instruments used in this sample library: Drum Kit, Bass guitar, Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar, Keyboards, Rhodes piano, Electronic sythns, Sequencing and programming.

Supported Interfaces: – VST® 2.0, DXi, ASIO, Audio Units, Core Audio, RTAS, Mac & PC

Recommended Retail Price – $219.95 (US Dollars), 179 Euro, £129 pounds sterling

Minimum Requirements

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 400 MHz, 256 MB RAM
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G3 500 MHz, 256 MB RAM

Recommended System

• Windows XP, Pentium III/ Athlon 700 MHz, 512 MB
• Mac OS 10.2.6 or higher, G4 733, 512 MB

FabFilter One is the first release from FabFilter Software Instruments. FSI is a Dutch software developer, founded in 2002 by Frederik Slijkerman and Floris Klinkert. They felt that most software instrument companies had rushed into designing complex virtual synths, without putting enough emphasis on sound quality. FSI has taken the opposite approach, focusing on sound, and putting their effort into developing advanced filter techniques, smart parameter interpolation methods and a great oscillator.

FabFilter One is the first result of their approach. One strips virtual synthesis down to its basics. It is a monosynth with one oscillator, a LFO, one envelope generator and a filter. This approach makes One very easy to understand and put to use, but also limits the range of sounds it can generate.

The software installs very easily. The installer will add a standalone version of the application, in addition to a VST version. We tested FabFilter with Sonar, and had no problems with it.

Use

Fabfilter is very easy to use. The interface is attractive and simple. Most options are available on screen at all times, eliminating the need to drill through menus. To get you started, FSI has provided a range of presets, ranging from basses to leads to techno sounds. While the presets are all good, it would have been nice for FSI to provide a larger number. This is not a significant limitation, though, since the synth is so simple to use.

The synth has six main control sections: Oscillator; Portamento and Noise; Frequency Modulation; Filter; Envelope Generator; and Patching Features.

While FabFilter One’s user interface is very attractive, the arrangement of controls is a little counter-intuitive. Most synths group controls that affect one aspect of the sound together in sections, and have these sections follow the sound generation path from left to right. With FabFilter One, the modulation controls are on the right side, and some of the controls seem arbitrarily scattered around the interface. For example, pulse width modulation is in the same section as the oscillator, but frequency modulation is in a different section. Noise controls are spread among the Portament & Noise, Oscillator, and Patching Features sections. It also seems strange that the MG and EG modulation controls for the filter are in the Filter section, but the same controls for the Oscillator are in the Frequency Modulation section. A little more attention to consistency and historic precedents would help the interface.

While the interface layout is a little strange, it is easy to get used to, and users will quickly understand where to look for various controls.

FabFilter One offers flexible modulation of the oscillator and filter. The oscillator has several basic waveshape options, plus you can control the width of the pulse option. The basic pitch can be switched to one of four octave selections, and tweaked up or down 5 semitones. The oscillator’s pitch can be modified by the Modulation Generator (LFO) and the Envelope Generator, which can be used normally or inverted.

The filter controls are straightforward. The frequency control adjusts the filter cutoff, and the peak modifies the filter’s resonance. Controls are also provided for the level of the Modulation Generator (LFO) and the Envelope Generator.

The Patching Features section adds interesting flexibility to the patches that are possible with FabFilter One. This section lets you adjust the noise type, the source of the Pulse Width Modulation, invert the Modulation Generator, and change its shape and frequency.

Presets are available from a pop-up menu within the interface, which allows fast access, and Help is provided through a prominent button. The Help system is thorough, and implemented well.

The Sound

The bottom line for FSI is sound quality, and their focus pays off. FabFilter One has great sound quality. The filter is flexible and can create both smooth and aggressive sounds. The filter is a 12db/octave design, which gives it a relatively smooth and warm sound, with more subtlety than classic Moog or 303 designs. The highlight of the FabFilter One is the subtle gradations in the sounds it creates. As you open or close the filter, modify the portamento, or tweak the resonance “Peak”, there seem to be an infinite number of variations. One flows from one sound to the next fluidly, like classic analog equipment.

While the specs of the FabFilter are basic, it can create a large variety of sound, and do it very well. We put together a brief demo that highlights some of the sounds it is capable of. The demo was created using five instances of FabFilter, including three for percussive sounds, and two for bass sounds.

Compatibility & Stability

We tested the standalone version, and the VST version within Sonar. Both versions were very stable, and were not overly demanding of the PC’s CPU. Within Sonar, we were able to easily use control envelopes to create parameter automation of various FabFilter one controls.

In our testing, we did not experience any crashes or glitches with FabFilter One.

FabFilter is also working on an Audio Units version of FabFilter One for Mac OS X, which they say will be released later this year.

Limitations

FabFilter One offers very flexible modulation options for a basic single-oscillator monosynth, but only offers a single Envelope Generator. This was not uncommon in older monosynths, including some classics. However, it does limit significantly the range of sounds that can be generated. It would be nice to see future versions of the One include a dedicated Envelope Generator for amplitude (volume) modulation.

Conclusion

FSI is taking a step back from the rush to add ever more features to virtual synths, and is instead focusing on getting the basics right. With the FabFilter One, they have created a basic monosynth, but done it very well. A demo version of One is available at the FabFilter site.

While the application has similarities to Sonar’s Project5 and Apple’s Garageband, Kinetic stakes out new territory. What makes it unique is how Cakewalk has focused on groove-oriented production. Kinetic is built on the idea of a “groove” being the basic building block of a song. A Kinetic groove is built of up to 16 tracks of audio or virtual instrument loops. The application comes with an extensive library of audio loops and virtual instrument patterns. Browse through directories of loops and patterns, organized by style, to select the loop you want to assign to any of the 16 tracks.

With the virtual instrument patterns, you select a soft-synth “patch” independent of the pattern. This process is very streamlined. You just click on the pattern you like in the left side of the window, and then the patch in the right hand side. For example, you can select a drum pattern, and then browse for a drum kit that gives you the sound you want with that pattern. Both the patterns and the patches are easily edited, so you can tweak or create new ones to meet your needs.

Once you have a groove built, you can assign it to any button on the “groove pad”. The Groove Picker is tool for organizing and accessing your grooves. The Groove Picker has four buttons, A-D, that toggle between four sets of sixteen buttons, labeled 1-16. This gives you instant access to any of 64 grooves that can be saved within a file. This works very similarly to hardware groove workstations.

Once you’ve tweaked your grooves and saved them to locations on the Groove Picker, you can use them for live performance, or arrange them into songs. The buttons on the Groove Picker can be assigned to respond to MIDI controllers, making it easy to use a hardware controller to switch grooves. If you want to arrange them into a song, the Song Arranger makes short work of it. You can also export grooves into audio files to be used in other applications, or with hardware samples and groove boxes.

Cakewalk is marketing Kinetic to the DJ/remix crowd, but the program is flexible enough that it could be used for any groove-oriented music.

Program Tour

Kinetic’s interface puts all the tools you need to make electronic music on one screen.

Kinetic’s interface has three main sections, from top to bottom:

• The Groove Mixer, where you organize your grooves and adjust channel settings;
• The Part Editor, where you select patterns and patches for each channel;and
• The Song Arranger, where you can put grooves together into songs.

Groove Mixer

The Groove Mixer is made up of two parts, the Groove Picker and the Mixing Strip.

The Groove Picker is used to organize, select and audition grooves. You can select any of the groove buttons, and then tweak the existing groove, or build a new one. Grooves can easily be copied from one pad to another, making it easy to organize up to 64 grooves. Preview grooves using the Groove Picker’s dedicated Play, Rewind and Jog buttons.

Within each groove, the Groove Picker saves the setting for the Mixing Strip, so you can copy a pattern to several pads, and have set different mix settings for each copy.

The Mixing Strip is where you assign loops and patterns to channels, and where you can set levels for each.

It has a fixed 16 channels, and each can be assigned either a soft synth pattern or an audio loop. Clicking on a channel selects it so you can assign patterns or loops or edit the sounds and effects used on that channel. You can also mute or solo tracks and adjust panning and levels.

The mixer is streamlined, eliminating the complexities of things like eq, aux sends and groups. Effects are instead applied as needed to individual tracks. This makes it very easy to use, without overly limiting what you do.

Part Editor

Once you’ve selected a channel, you can work with its pattern or loop in the Part Editor. The Part Editor is split into two panes, where you can browse and select Patterns and Patches. When you edit a pattern or patch, the options available in the Pattern Editor adapt to the task you’re doing.

To add something to a channel, browse to a pattern using the left pane, and select a patch using the right pane. This is very fast, because all the options are on screen.

You can also create or tweak patterns and patches here by clicking the Edit Pattern or Edit Patch buttons on the left side of the screen. The Pattern Editor provides a piano-roll style interface, where you can edit the details of a pattern, including notes, velocities and automation. You can draw notes on screen, or record directly into the pattern editor, if you have an external MIDI keyboard or controller. The Patterns pane also lets you load MIDI patterns into Kinetic, and save new ones that you create.

The Patch Editor lets you customize patches and setup a chain of effects for the channel. The most commonly used controls, filter cutoff, resonance, attack, release, tone and portamento time, are immediately available for editing. Clicking on the instrument icon opens it up in a dedicated window, where you can make more detailed edits.

The Patch editor is also where you apply audio effects. All the common effects are provided, including chorus, flange, tempo delay, parametric EQ, compression and reverb. The effects are high-quality, but basic. If you have other DX effects or “wrapped” VST effects, they will be available in Kinetic. In the effects bin, you can build a chain of effects, which provides a lot of power and flexibility, without adding complexity.

Song Arranger

Once you’ve created a set of grooves and variations, and assigned them to buttons in the Groove Picker, you can arrange them in the Song Arranger.

Kinetics makes arranging a no-brainer. Just select the groove you want, and then “paint” it into the song arranger window. You can move grooves around and copy and paste them to build your arrangement. You can also record your arrangement directly into the Song Arranger.

In addition to arranging your grooves, the Song Arranger lets you automate volume, panning and effects settings.

Presets/Sounds

To help you get started making music, Cakewalk has included hundreds of music patterns and ACID-format audio loops. For the synths, they included hundreds of instrument patches that feature classic Roland drum and synth sounds. The patterns, loops and patches are good quality, and make it easy to get started with the program. The loops and patterns focus primarily on popular electronica genres. Most users will use the patterns as starting points to be tweaked and customized. Once you get the hang of the program, you can make new patterns and import audio loops and create music in any groove-based style.

The soft-synth patches in Kinetic don’t match the quality of high-end soft synths. Most high-end soft-synths, though, cost as much as or more than Kinetic. Kinetic’s sounds are good, easy on your computer, and can be tweaked and effected extensively. Users that want a wider palette can import Kinetic files into Project5 for additional flexibility.

Working with other applications & hardware

While Kinetic provides a great deal of capability, most users will want to use it with other applications and equipment. To begin with, you can play Kinetic’s synths over MIDI. It also can easily be configured so that the on-screen buttons and knobs respond to hardware MIDI controllers. Right clicking on the button in Kinetic brings up a dialog box where you can select the MIDI controller you want to use, or click a button to have Kinetic “learn” what you want to use. This allows you to switch grooves from a keyboard or from pads, and modify the synth sounds using a controller’s knobs or sliders.

Kinetic lets you import audio files in regular .wav or groove clip format. Kinetic includes an “Export This Groove” option that lets you take any groove and save it out as a wave file. This makes it easy to build loops for use in other applications, or for hardware groovebox/samplers. You can also export Kinetic songs as wav files.

Finally, if more features are needed, Kinetic files can be opened in Project 5, and Kinetic is Rewire-compatible, so it can be used with Sonar and other Rewire-compatible applications.

Limitations

Cakewalk has limited Kinetic in many ways in order to keep it easy and fast to use. For example, tracks are limited to 16, there’s no support for VST instruments and no audio recording capabilities. While this limits Kinetic’s functionality, the limitations are reasonable ones and help optimize Kinetic for groove-oriented work. It’s very easy to learn Kinetic, because most controls are available on-screen at all times. Having a fixed set of capabilities should also make it easy to share Kinetic files, which could lead to the types of communities that have grown around applications like Reason.

Summary

Kinetic is designed to make it easy to create, arrange and perform groove-oriented music. Cakewalk has done a great job of limiting the scope of the program to make it easy and fun to use, and has focused on making the most important tasks easy to perform.

In our testing, we encountered no errors, even on a machine that met the minimum requirements.

Cakewalk is targetting Kinetic to DJ’s and remixers, and no traditional music knowledge is required to use the program. However, it’s a powerful tool for creating and interacting with grooves, and could be used by anyone wanting to create groove-based music.

You could nitpick the choices that Cakewalk made in streamlining Kinetic, but the bottom line is that it’s got everything you need to start building groove-based music, it does it well, and it makes the process fun.

Project5 owners may be interested in Kinetic for its library of patterns, patches and loops, and could also use Kinetic as a streamlined sketchpad. Kinetic is an excellent choice for people just getting into computer music that don’t need audio recording capabilities. Its focused feature set and usable interface make it perfect for users daunted by more complex applications. Finally, paired with a MIDI keyboard controller, it can be used as a powerful groove-based performance tool.

System requirements

• Windows 2000, XP (Note: Kinetic does not support Windows 95/98/ME/NT)
• 800 MHz processor
• 256 MB RAM
• 180 MB free hard disk space
• 800 X 600, 16-bit color
• CD-ROM drive (for installation)
• Windows-compatible sound card (Required for audio playback)
• Windows-compatible MIDI interface (Required to connect to external MIDI devices)

iLife, Apple’s set of media applications, includes several great applications that bring multimedia power to Mac users. iTunes is considered by many to be the best digital music player. iPhoto lets you organize digital images, and makes cropping and editing them a no-brainer. iMovie does the same for movies, while iDVD lets ordinary users create very professional DVDs.

iLife GarageBand

With iLife ‘04, Apple is adding a new application, GarageBand. GarageBand is an studio-quality sequencer designed for novices. It’s simple enough that anybody should be able to play around with it and make music that at least sounds polished. GarageBand uses a drag-and-drop interface that makes loop manipulation easy.

The application comes with over one thousand professionally-recorded loops. To get started with the application, you can drag audio loops into the timeline. The application has a very visual interface that makes it very clear what each track represents. For example, each track shows up with a icon that represents the sound of the instrument (see screen capture).

GarageBand isn’t just a loop tool, though. It also includes very good software instruments, including piano, organ, bass, guitars, sax, and drums, and a wide range of synthesizers. GarageBand makes it easy to record music, too, because the software knows what system hardware you have on your machine and adapts to it automatically. This lets you plug in a mic and go.

GarageBand isn’t a replacement for a full-fledged audio/midi sequencer. However, it raises the bar for entry-level software to an amazing standard. Apple is throwing into iLife an audio sequencer that would have been state-of-the art a few years ago.

One of the greatest things about GarageBand is the way Apple integrates it with other Apple apps. You can make some new background music, and then add it to your iPhoto slide shows, burn it to a CD, or use it as a score for an iMovie and burn it to a DVD. You could grumble that GarageBand doesn’t have some features that pros have come to expect, but it is a minor miracle that Apple has made a music studio that mere mortals can use. This may turn out to be one of Apple’s hottest innovations yet.

GarageBand turns your Mac into an anytime, anywhere recording studio packed with hundreds of instruments and a recording engineer or two for good measure. It’s the easiest way to create, perform and record your own music whether you’re an accomplished player or just wish you were a rock star. And GarageBand is the newest member of the iLife family, so you can add your original music to your slideshows, your DVD menus, burn it to CDs or score your iMovie projects.

Using GarageBand

You’ll need an Apple laptop, because iLife is a Mac-only application.

Most users will start with loops. Apple Loops are the building blocks of GarageBand tunes. GarageBand organizes loops by instrument, style and genre. This makes it easy to find one loop out of thousands of them. You can even browse by style.

Once a loop has been imported, it can be drag-and-dropped and extended to any length needed. When the various loops are in place, you can mix and balance each track. The loops that are provided are professional, an cover a broad range of styles.

If you want to record something, just plug a keyboard, mic or guitar into your Mac, and you’re ready to go. GarageBand will recognize what you’ve done, and configure the application to be ready to go. Guitarists will enjoy the built in virtual guitar amps, that let you create a lot of standard amps sounds, including jazz, rock and pop styles. Keyboardist can just plug in a USB keyboard, and then play one of the virtual instruments included with GarageBand.

Once you’ve got a great recording, you can sweeten it with effects. GarageBand includes hundreds of effects presets that are designed to make it easy to get great sounding mixes. The effects include compression, equalization, reverb, echo, and more.

Exporting to iTunes

Once you’ve got something you like, you can Export to iTunes. This makes your track instantly available in iTunes, so you can burn it to CD, put it on your iPod, use it as a soundtrack for a iMovie project.

GarageBand doesn’t break new ground for pro users. Instead, it brings a pro-quality studio into the hands of Mac users for the price of a couple of pizzas.