virtual instruments magazine april-may.2007

A P R I L / M AY 2 0 0 7 - V O L . 3 N O . 2

USA $4.95CANADA $6.50

AbletonLive 6

Fable Sounds Broadway Big BandPop horns done right (at long last)

AbletonLive 6

Fable Sounds Broadway Big BandPop horns done right (at long last)

a Fab Four Virtual Instrument from East West Soundsonline.com—the sounds of the Beatles!WIN a Fab Four Virtual Instrument from East West Soundsonline.com—the sounds of the Beatles!

www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com

REVIEWED:Big Fish Glitch Hop

Sony Iced: Minimalist ElectronicaE-mu X2 Sound Libraries

Native Instruments Absynth 4Synthogy Italian Grand add-on for Ivory

the famous sequencing instrument adds sampling and videothe famous sequencing instrument adds sampling and video

REVIEWED:Big Fish Glitch Hop

Sony Iced: Minimalist ElectronicaE-mu X2 Sound Libraries

Native Instruments Absynth 4Synthogy Italian Grand add-on for Ivory

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 5

From the

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EEddiittoorr//ppuubbll iisshheerr: Nick Batzdorf

AArrtt ddiirreeccttoorr: Lachlan Westfall/Quiet Earth Design

AAddvveerrtt iissiinngg mmaannaaggeerr: Len Keeler

PPrroodduuccttiioonn mmaannaaggeerr:: Laurie Marans

WWeebb ddeessiiggnneerr: Denise Young/DMY Studios

CCoonnttrr iibbuuttoorrss: Jim Aikin, Jason Scott Alexander, Thomas J. Bergersen,

Peter Buick, David Das, Peter Dines, Doyle Donehoo, Gary Eskow, Jerry Gerber,

Paul Gilreath, David Govett, Ashif “King Idiot” Hakik, Mattias Henningson,

Mark Jenkins, Hilgrove Kenrick, Michael Marans, Monte McGuire, Orren Merton,

Chris Meyer, Dave Moulton, Zack Price, Frederick Russ, Bruce Richardson,

Craig Sharmat, Lee Sherman, Dietz Tinhof, Jesse White.

AAddvveerrttiissiinngg ccoonnttaacctt:: Len Keeler 818/590-0018. [email protected]

SSuubbssccrriippttiioonnss//AAddddrreessss cchhaannggeess:: 818/905-9101, 1-877/ViMagzn,

[email protected]. The best method is to subscribe via our

website: ww ww ww..VViirrttuuaall IInnssttrruummeennttssMMaagg..ccoomm.

LLeetttteerrss ttoo tthhee eeddiittoorr:: [email protected],, or fax: 818/905-5434.

WWrriittiinngg ffoorr VViirrttuuaall IInnssttrruummeennttss MMaaggaazziinnee:: query

[email protected] or call 818/905-9101.

Our website is really nice! Doesn’t www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.comlook great?

Yes, you can go there and subscribe, download More Online files thatgo with articles, download a sample issue to check out, access down-loadable subscriptions, enter our Mungo Giveaway contests, see what’sin the current issue, get information about advertising, contact info,and…

Okay, the truth is that up until now it’s been very useful, but not aplace to hang out. Well, that’s changed, and we’re hard at workexpanding it even more.

First, I’d like to invite you all to join our discussion forum, VImag.net,which will be up and running by the time you read this. It’s free, ofcourse—just go to our website and click on the link.

Please stop by to talk about VI articles, ask questions, get tech help,argue about music and software, rant and vent, or whatever. We’re look-ing forward to lots of lively discourse.

VImag.net is the sister forum of the VI-Control.net composer’s forum,

which is run by Frederick Russ of our MIDI Mockup Microscope seriesfame. VI-Control is a great forum with a lot of very bright people on it,and we’re happy to be in partnership with it. The two forums will com-plement each other nicely.

The next part of the www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com expansion isthat very shortly you’ll be able to manage your subscription accountsonline. Yes, that includes changing your address if you move (magazinesaren’t forwarded automatically—they come back to us with postagedue), change your contact info, and so on. That’s coming online in thenext few weeks.

In addition, we’re launching an email newsletter with a combinationof editorial material—Random Tips, etc.—and new product info as wellas other industry news. And finally, we’re expanding the More Onlinesection with both unique articles and perennial ones from the magazine.

www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com. Come on down, and buy someshwag while you’re there.—NB

Distributor: Rider Circulation Services, 3700Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90065.

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Standard disclaimer: Virtual InstrumentsMagazine and its staff can’t be held legallyresponsible for the magazine’s contents or

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accuracy. All trademarks belong to their owners.Everything in here is subject to international

copyright protection, and you may not copy orimitate anything without permission.

© 2007 Virtual Instruments, Inc.

6 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

48 Trends: SamplingKeeps Advancing by Nick BatzdorfSequencing Samples

by Thomas Bergersen

The Fertile Crescendo. Part 2 in our series on the art of MIDIprogramming.

Letters

Launch

Introductions, updates, news

10

24

14

April/May 2007

V3.N2

Voltage Control by Michael Marans

Wavetable Synthesis with the popular Waldorf Edition PPGWave 48 Silencing the Beast,

Part 2 by Paul Gilreath

Getting the computers out of the room: our guide to makingyour studio quieter and preserving your sanity concludes.

38 MIDI MockupMicroscope by Frederick Russ

In this installment of our series on composers and how theydid their MIDI programming, composer/sample developerMaarten Spruijt discusses two of his cues.

16

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 7

VIcontentsE-mu X2 SoundLibraries by Nick Batzdorf

Three libraries for a rapidly emergingsampler: Modern SymphonicOrchestra, Platinum 88 Grand Piano,and Old World Instruments.

Ableton Live 6 by Chris Meyer

The famous “sequencing instru-ment” branches out into the worldsof video, overdubbing, and sam-plers.

Fable SoundsBroadway BigBand by Nick Batzdorf

A massive library brings sampled pophorns (and some other instruments)up to the same level as the largeorchestra sample libraries.

Synthogy IvoryItalian Grand by Nick Batzdorf

An add-on Fazioli for the popularIvory Grand sampled piano V.I.

Loop Librarian by Chris Meyer

Sound library reviews. Big Fish GlitchHop: Bleeps, Blops, Screetches &Squelches; and Sony Iced: MinimalistElectronica.

NativeInstrumentsAbsynth 4 by Lee Sherman

The magnificent evolving sound-scape synth becomes moreapproachable than ever.

April/May 2007

V3.N2

22

VIreviews28

42

44

54

56

randomtip

Block-level disk images and clones.62

8 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

Thanks very much Scott.Backing into the answer to your first question,

most people would probably consider Live’sbiggest feature precisely that it does real-timetime stretching (“warp”). Among other things,it’s set up to be completely free-form—you canrepeat loops or sections as you see fit, thenmove on to the next Scene. Live also lets youdrag and drop effects, but above all it’s great forbuilding arrangements on the fly. Download thedemo from www.Ableton.com.

For those not familiar with ReWire, it’s a pro-tocol developed by Propellerhead (the companythat makes Reason) that carries sync, audio,MIDI, and transport control between two sup-porting programs running on the samemachine. The ReWire slave streams its audiointo the master. You don’t lose control over aslave when using ReWire; the two are lockedtogether perfectly, and starting one starts theother in exactly the same place.

As to your second set of questions, no, youcan run Reason Grand fine on a machine with2GB installed. Having 3GB of RAM will allowyou make it access more RAM and load otherinstruments, though, as explained in GuruMattias Henningson’s article in the 6-7/06 issue(“The 3GB Switch”).

But the 3GB switch is a tweak—you have tofollow the instructions, and you have to makemost programs large address aware for them totake advantage of the additional RAM. If you goto our website and click on More Online, you’llfind a link to Mattias’ utility for simplifying theprocess. The link is labeled pretty clearly.

Whether there’s an advantage to a 64-bitCPU without being able to access lots of memo-ry depends on the programs you’re running.There’s a 64-bit version of Cakewalk Sonar thatgets a reported 15% processing boost, for exam-ple. But you have to install a 64-bit Windowsthat your software is compatible with.

More about “7GB on One Mac”The above-referenced article in the Dec/Jan

07 article is fantastic. I cannot thank youenough for that article. I am amazed at howmuch I can run simultaneously, and I am justworking on tweaking my set-up to get themost out of it. My plan is to explore the con-cept before installing 8GB of RAM.

I have four instances of Kontakt 2.2 (onefor each section of the orchestra) runningoutside of Digital Performer 5.11 on a G5Dual 2.7 with 4.5 GB of RAM. I am runningthe latest version of OS X Tiger with a bufferof 256 for all audio.

I am curious though what level your CPUsustained when loaded to that extent. Also,am I correct that one’s latency is doubled ascompared to when the plugs are used as V.I.sin a DAW?

Curious, Allan Planchardvia email

Thanks Allan, glad it helped.

VIl e t t e r s

Letterswrite to:[email protected]

MIDI Mockup MicroscopeThanks very much for running the MIDI

Mockup Microscope interview with me in thelast issue. Frederick Russ did an excellent job.

One thing got lost in the translation: thecenterpiece of my set-up is actually SteinbergNuendo running on a dual Opteron machine,not a dual Athlon. That makes a big differ-ence to its performance.

Andrew KereszstesLos Angeles, CA

Of RAM and ReasonHello. I am a new subscriber and I have

been slowly introducing myself to the worldof virtual instruments over the past five years.I have a couple of questions that I thoughtmaybe you could answer.

1. I am now playing Rhodes in a band withlive instruments. I have been a Reason userfor several years and I am trying to incorpo-rate my virtual environment within this moretraditional set-up. So, my main question isabout Ableton Live.

Aside from live audio recording and VSThosting capabilities, what could live add toReason and how well do the two interfacethrough Rewire protocols? What kind of con-trol would I gain from Live, and would I losecontrol of Reason, in a Live master Reasonslave setup? Can I do real-time time stretch-ing in Live to, say, sync loops with my drum-mer?

2. Even with the multiple RAM articles youguys have published, it is still not clear to meif it is worth putting more than 2GB RAM intomy Windows XP/Reason/Live setup? If I use,for example, the new piano sample libraryfrom Propellerhead with only 2 GB RAM will Irun into problems? Will having 3 GB of RAMdo anything more than 2?

Is there any advantage to having a 64-bitCPU in a notebook that can’t hold more than2 GB RAM?

I enjoy your publication very much.Thanks, and keep up the good work.

ScottCambridge, MSA

1 0 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

VIl e t t e r s

You should be able to see the CPU in theActivity Monitor screen dump with the article(reprinted here—Fig. 1). The sequence was idleat the time, but it is manageable when it’s play-ing and the concept really does work. NativeInstruments Kore is at about 37%, which is onthe high side, but the total scale is potentially200% in a dual-processor machine, dependingon who’s running where.

What’s an open question is if or how muchthe amount of RAM you have installed affectsthe overall performance. OS X uses “extra” RAMoutside the active programs for caching, and if itdoesn’t have much available, things could con-ceivably slow things down. But your plan toexperiment before adding RAM is a good one.

The latency depends on buffers and howyou’re routing the audio back into your DAW—i.e. whether you’re using hardware or soft-ware—but yeah, it does go up. Soundflower’s

I hope you find this tip an useful additionto Orren’s wonderful article. After spendingsome time setting it up in my Autoload, myproductivity has GREATLY increased.

Thanks again Nick and company for thewonderful magazine. My only complaint isthe red rings on my butt as a result of readingit too long in the bathroom. :-)

Jonathan TimpePalmdale, CA

latency is adjustable, or I should say its buffer is,and you always want to lower buffers as muchas possible.

Kitchen sink AutoloadThank you for the WONDERFUL Logic Pro

tips in the Dec/Jan 07 issue (“V.I.s in AppleLogic Pro”). Orren Merton does a great jobexplaining everything in a quick yet informa-tive manner.

I’d humbly like to add to the “kitchen sinkAutoload” tip and hopefully make it even bet-ter. Orren states, “Logic Pro 7 allows you tohave up to 128 instrument tracks; you can fillas many as you want and have thembypassed so they don’t take up CPU(although they do increase memory usageand initial Song load time.)”

Well, here’s a little trick that works WITH-OUT having any increase in memory usage orinitial loading time. Instead of bypassing theinstrument/effects, simply turn the AudioInstrument’s channel off. This can be done inthe environment and/or arrange page param-eters box under “channel.” (See screendump, Fig. 2.)

What’s great about this feature is that it willremember everything that was previouslyloaded when you turn the channel back on.This can be used with all V.I.s and effects,even third-party ones like Kontakt orAtmosphere.

Fig. 1: Activity Monitor screen dump for the infa-mous “7GB on One Mac” article in the 12/06 -1/07 issue. The sequence isn’t playing here; theonly thing using a marginally significant amount ofCPU is NI Kore, at 34% of one processor (it idles atabout 25% with nothing loaded). But this machinehas two processors. Depending on what happens tobe running running where, the total can go up to200%.

Fig. 2: Audio Instruments turned off in AppleLogic Pro use no memory or CPU, yet they remem-ber what instruments, plug-ins, and programs youhad loaded when you reassign them to an AudioInstrument (in this case Audio Instrument 1). Thisis a way to save loading time and resources in atemplate, although the obvious downside is thatthe instruments aren’t loaded automatically. So thisis a trick to use on selected Audio Instruments youdon’t use all the time.


LaunchIntroductions, updates, news

VIl a u n c h

Bela D MediaAnthology: Vol.1, Celtic Wind

This new $189.99 library is the first ina series. The library for NativeInstruments Kontakt 2 and TASCAMGigaStudio 3 includes Highland Pipe,Uilleann Pipe, Bombarde, Whistle D, LowWhistle F, Tin Whistle F, Concertina,Accordian, and Celtiberic War Horn. Thelibrary features advanced scripting,multi-speed legato control, breath sam-ples triggered by sustain pedal, lots ofextra noises and articulations for addedrealism, and more.

www.beladmedia

Notion SoloStrings andSessions:Rhythm Sectionexpansion;Protégé

The latest Sound Kits for the Notionmusic composition and performance soft-ware are Expanded Strings 1 ($49), whichincludes section tremolos and various consordino articulations; and Sessions:Rhythm Section ($89).

Sessions: Rhythm Section is intended toexpand Notion’s notation-based approachbeyond orchestral applications. It featuressamples of Roy Wooten on drums, VictorWooten on electric bass, and Vernon Reidon electric guitar, along with upright bass,Rhodes, and Clavinet.

Protégé ($99) brings Notion’s conceptof creating playback directly from notationto the entry level.

www.notionmusic.com

SubmersibleMusic DrumCore2.5 and freeDrumCore LT

The new “MIDI Alive” features in thisdrum/loop program allow it to: operatestand-alone without a host; create hybridkits from all its content; drag and dropsamples onto pads. Other features includereal-time editing, plus a Cue mode forauditioning how loops work in succession.

DrumCore LT is a free DrummerPackplayer that lets you use Submersible’sgrowing library of “A-list drummer loop”content without the full version (whichcan also import WAV, AIFF, REX2, Acid,and MIDI files, as well as edit and createuser drum kits). Just add a $79.99 listPack.

www.submersiblemusic.com

Waves L316Multimaximizer

The L3-16 is the latest plug-in inWaves’ Mercury bundle. This new lim-iter expands the L3 to include 16 bandsof peak limiting. The L3-16’s interfacemakes the unit behave like an equalizer,except that rather than boosting or cut-ting at each frequency, you’re setting athreshold for the limiting to kick in.

www.waves.com

This $49 add-on for Propellerhead Reasonincludes over 360MB of samples and loops;220 drum and percussion REX files; 75 NN-XTsampler patches with thing like drums, FX,stabs, and vinyl FX; and lots of MIDI files andsong starter demo tracks.

The Salazar Brothers are 3-time Grammywinners, and they run a club in Stockholm.

www.propellerheads.se

The Salazar Brothers ReggaetonReFill for Propellerhead Reason

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 1 3

VIl a u n c h

Digidesign Structuresampler, 003Factory/Rack

The Structure sampler (RTAS format for Pro Tools)includes a sample libraryfrom EastWest andimports SampleCell,EXS24, and Kontakt 2sample libraries. Featuresinclude a 128-level multitimbral sound engine and up to 8-channel interleaved samples (7.1 surround), an integrateddatabase and file browser, the ability to drag Pro Toolsregions into the Samplerand use its sample editor, amulti-effects engine includ-ing convolution reverb, anda choice of disk-streamingor RAM playback.

Building on the 002audio interface/control sur-face and 002R rack version, the 003 Factory ($2495) and003 Rack ($1295) add improved mic preamps and wordclock I/O. The FireWire interfaces have eight analog, 8-channel ADAT optical, 2-channel S/PDIF I/O, plus a built-inMIDI I/O. For an additional $400 over the price of the Rackyou can get the Rack Factory, which includes the Pro ToolsIgnition Pack software bundle of effects and V.I. plug-ins.All versions come with the Pro Tools LE software.

www.Digidesign.com

IK MultimediaAmpliTube 2 JimiHendrix Edition;MiroslavPhilharmonikClassik Edition

This modular program includesHendrix’ complete guitar amp andeffects rig, including models ofvintage stomp boxes, amp heads,and cabinet. It includes several

modules (tuner, stomp pedal board, amp head, cabinet/mic, and rackeffects). AmpliTube 2 Jimi Hendrix edition is $259, and for $299 youcan add the StealthPlug 1/4”-to-USB interface cable.

www.amplitube.com

The Miroslav PhilharmnoikClassik Edition

The Miroslav Philharmnoik Classik Edition ($249) is an introductoryversion of the Miroslav Orchestra (reviewed 2-3/06). This 1.5GB work-station plug-in includes 250 sounds, lots of effects, a high qualitymater reverb derived from the company’s CSR plug-in, and theirStretch and pitch and time stretcher-shifter.

This orchestra was recorded years ago in Dvorák Hall in Prague, andbecause of the sound, the library is still useful today.

www.philharmonik.com

TASCAM FireOne AudioInterface

The FireOne ($399) features shortcut keys and a weighted, backlit jog wheelfor scrolling through songs. This 2 x 2 FireWire interface records at up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution and features two mic inputs with switchable phantompower, pad, and line switches; a guitar input for DI recording; and MIDI I/O.

The nine programmable shortcut keys are for controlling all the popularDAWs, plus it has transport controls.

www.TASCAM.com

SonicCoutureKonkrete2 drum andpercussion library

This (EU39) library is the successor to their original“Glitch Drums and Synthetic Percussion” library, with biggerkits and velocity layering. These are electronic sounds in avariety of formats: Native Instruments Kontakt2 and Battery,Steinberg HALion, Propellerhead Reason, and Logic EXS24.

www.soniccouture.com

LaunchIntroductions, updates, news

VIl a u n c h


KV331 AudioSynthMaster

SynthMaster ($99) is a semi-modular syn-thesizer and multieffects plug-in for Windows.It uses additive and subtractive synthesis; ring,amplitude, frequency/phase, and pulse widthmodulation; osc sync; and waveshaping. Itseffects include 8-band parametric EQ/filter-bank, 16-band vocoder, tremolo, chorus,delay, and reverb.

The instrument comes with lots of presetscovering leads, pads, basses, keys, etc.

www.kv331sudio.com

The Emulator XP is reviewed in this issue, but E-MUannounced a Platinum edition at the NAMM Show in

January. This Window Vista-compatible streaming sampler will offer both 32- and native 64-bit applications, as well as multi-processor and multi-threading support.

It comes with a comprehensive 20GB sound library and the Xmidi 2x2 USB MIDI interface.X2 Platinum will sell for $499.99, and upgrades from X2 are $79.00

The Xtreme Lead X sound library ($49.99) has all the samples from E-MU’s Xtreme Lead-1Sound Module. It features a wide range of sounds, from “soothing ethereal pads and scream-ing digital noise to pounding drumkings and percussion.” This library is for Electro/Dance,and it includes real-time control over morphing filters, tempo-based synth parameters, andeffects.

www.emu.com

AlesisMasterControland io|ControlFireWireInterfaces andControl Surfaces

The MasterControl (list price $1099)has two mic inputs with phantom powerand channel inserts, six TRS line inputs,S/PDIF ins, and two 8-channel ADAT light-pipe inputs (which can use the S/MUXprotocol to split each channel of highsample rate audio across two channels). Ithas six analog outputs that can be config-ured as 5.1 or three stereo pairs.

The control surface has nine motorized100mm faders, two sets of eight assigna-ble buttons (each with three banks), a jogwheel, solo/record/mute/select bottons oneach channels, and a control section—complete with talkback…and finally a 1x1MIDI interface. As with the io|Control,Cubase LE is included, and the interfaceoperates at sample rates up to 192kHz.

Alesis’ compact io|Control ($599 list) isa smaller FireWire interface/control surfacewithout faders, and it operates at 24 bitsand up to 96kHz sample rates. It has twomic and two line inputs; 8-channel ADATlightpipe; a custom jog/zoom wheel; 16assignable buttons; and more. Theio|Control can be bus-powered, which isuseful for laptop use.

www.Alesis.com

ASK VideoSibelius TutorialDVD Level 1

This DVD by Kelly Demoline covers thebasics of the Sibelius notation program. It fea-tures over two hours of instruction and costs$55.

www.askvideo.com

Mackie Tracktion 3The new version of Mackie’s digital audio/MIDI

production program adds over 150 new features.These include time stretching/pitch shifting and anew loop browser, which handles Apple, ACID,and REX formats on both Mac and PC.

The Traktion 3 Ultimate Bundle ($319.99) andProject Bundle ($129.99) both include sounds,plug-ins and loops from IK Multimedia, Drumcore,LinPlug, Garritan, and Sonic Reality, as well astraining videos; the Ultimate Bundle adds a 5GBDVD of content, with more plug-ins and sounds.

www.mackie.com

E-MU Emulator XPPlatinum; XtremeLead XElectro/DanceSound library

VIl a u n c h


Garritan Dragand DropSampler/Synth,Solo Cello, andConcert &Marching Band

Garritan’s new player lets you select,load, manipulate, and mix software instru-ments in a single graphical interface; justselect the instrument and drop it onto thesoundstage where you want it—left, right,forward, back—and the player takes care ofconvolution processing and DSP for you.

The Gofriller Cello ($199) uses “sonicmorphing” so you can cross-fade betweendynamic layers without phasing at thetransitions. You can also change the onset,rate, and speed of the vibrato.

Garritan’s Concert & Marching Bandlibrary ($239) has all the brass, winds, andpercussion (including a drumline) for sam-pled bands. The library comes in a NativeInstruments Kontakt Player 2.

www.Garritan.com

EastWest Quantum Leap—six new libraries

EastWest has also announced the first six libraries for PLAY, theirnew 64-bit sample engine (see “Trends”). You can read about oneof them, Fab Four, in the Mungo Giveaway in this issue; here arethe other five.

Quantum Leap Gypsy ($355) includes violin with recorded lega-to intervals; classical, flamenco, Django-style, and Spanish steelstring guitars; Campana, Silvestri, and Excelsior accordions; trombone with legato intervals inclassical and gypsy styles; flamenco dancer; and gypsy percussion. All the new libraries featureimpulse response files.

Quantum Leap Pianos ($445) is a 270GB library of four separategrand pianos recorded from multiple mic positions: Bechstein D-280; Steinway D; Bösendorfer 290; and Yamaha C7. Each note isrecorded at 10-16 velocities, plus there are soft pedal, sustainpedal, and soft sustain samples, as well as a 16-velocity staccatofor every note. Pedal resonance and repetition performances arealso included, as well as lid position simulation.

Quantum Leap Voices of Passion ($495) features five femalevocalists from Wales, Syria, India, Bulgaria, and America. EastWest

describes the 8GB library as “flowing, mysterious, wailing, andwhispering vocals for film, TV, and game composers, as well as songwriters, new age artists, andZen horticulturists.” The library has oo, oh, and ah syllables with legato intervals; over 1000 eth-nic phrases; and a phrase generator for Welsh vocals.

Quantum Leap Ministry of Rock ($495) is an 18GB library of rockdrums, basses, and guitars. Features include round-robin drumsamples; legato and staccato guitar and bass repetitions, plus lega-to samples; drum hits recorded in actual performance; and severaldifferent kits, guitars, and basses. You can mix and match the dualamp recordings.

Finally, Quantum Leap SD2—The Next Generation ($495) is acollection of acoustic percussion instruments. (SD stands forStormdrum.) In addition to “the biggest floor tom on earth,”instruments include: various ethnic gongs; Indonesian hand drums; anklung; udu; Chinese bowldrums; 5-foot daiko; giant log drums; and traditional drums like congas and bongos. SD2 hasindividual hits and also lots MIDI performances (with variations, intros, and endings) created withRoland VDrums and Zendrum percussion controllers.

www.soundsonline.com

UAD-XpanderUniversal Audio, known for their UAD-1

PCI card (and for the great plug-ins thatrun on it, called Powered Plug-ins) has anew ExpressCard DSP system for laptops.This card will run at up to 192kHz andcome in a noiseless, fanless “Alumi-Cool”chassis design. An optional UAD-Xtendakit with a PCIe desktop adapter will beavailable.

There are three versions, all of whichstart with 14 plug-ins: Xpress ($999including a $500 voucher for PowerdPlug-ins); Xpert ($1399 with $1000voucher); and Xtreme ($2199, comes in ahighly polished chassis and includes allUAD plug-ins up to version 4.1, valued atabout $3000).

UAD also released 64-bit drivers forMicrosoft Windows XP64 and Vista.

www.uaudio.com

Sonic Reality drum groove releasesTwo new groove libraries from Sonic

Reality and Joytown Productions are 24-bitmultitrack Rex2, Apple Loops, and AcidizedWave drum loops with control over direct,overhead, and room mic channels (whichstay in phase). They also include individualhits with the same mic channels.

Rhythm and Soul Drum Sessions ($299)has classic ’60s and ’70s soul grooves à la James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Temptations, theSupremes, etc. (Motown, Stax, and Atlantic Records). British Rock Drum Sessions ($299)includes classic British rock grooves from the same time period, with sounds like the Beatlesand Led Zeppelin—including the same drum instruments Ringo and John Bonham used.

The same companies plus Qup Arts are offering grooves from big-name studio drummers—the Studio ProFiles Artist Stereo Master Editions ($129 each)—in Rex2, Apple Loops, andAcidized Wave formats. Stereo drum hits are also included. Drummers include Bill Bruford,Steve Gadd, Jery Marotta, and others.

Sonic Reality announced Ocean Way Drums, a new 24-bit/96kHz library recorded with lotsof custom vintage gear. The library features I-MAP, a proprietary note-mapping layoutdesigned to make it easy to play the kit on the keyboard in real time. Separate mic channelsare available for drum replacement in DAWs.

www.sonicreality.com

VIf e a t u r e


Most people associate digital synthswith certain signature sounds: ethe-real ambient spacescapes, crisp

bells, edgy basses, and the like. And indeed,when the newfangled digital PPG Wave syn-thesizer was introduced back in the early1980s, its clangorous percussive chimes andother-worldly choir sounds were not only dra-matically different from pretty much anythinganyone had heard before, they defined wholenew classes of sounds.

At the root of those sounds were waveta-bles—31 one of them, to be exact—eachcomprising 64 single-cycle waveforms strungtogether in a series. Press a key, and thewaves played back in a pre-arrangedsequence.

The user had the ability to control thewaves in certain ways, such as modulatingplayback speed and choosing which specificrange of the wavetable would sound. He orshe could also access traditional controls,

such as envelopes, an LFO, and a 4-pole(24dB) lowpass resonant filter. The sonicresults produced by this unique parametercomplement ranged from biting organs todissonant metallic bangs and bonks to theclassic evolving wavetables, which soundedsomething like a bicycle chain being draggedacross a piece of sheet metal with the wholething running through a couple of flangers.

Thanks to the miracle of modern software,the innovative but rather steeply-priced PPG(about $8,500 for the basic keyboard unit;closer to $14,000 with the 8-bit samplingoption) was reborn several years ago as a vir-tual instrument. The plug-in was hugely pop-

Voltage ControlWavetable Synthesis with the popular

Waldorf Edition PPG Wave—going from“DIG”ital to “BIG”ital in a few easy steps

by Michael Marans

Fig. 1: The main window of the PPG Wave 2.Vduplicates the look and feel of the original instru-ment. Not available on the hardware version: click-ing on the KEYB button hides the keyboard, allow-ing you to maximize screen real estate.

Examples of several PPG Wave 2.V wavetables are available for downloadfrom www.virtualinstruments.com. The files contain both audio and video,so you can view changes in the waveform shapes as the wavetables play

while hearing the sonic effects of those changes.

moreonline

www.virtualinstrumentsmag.com


ular, and made its way intothe sonic arsenal of comput-er-based musicians world-wide.

Recently, Waldorf, makersof the PPG software, wasresurrected from theiruntimely demise. Gatheringup the original engineeringteam, they revised the pop-ular synth—making it notonly VST-capable but alsoAU compliant and compati-ble with Intel Core 2 Duoprocessors—and re-releasedit as part of the WaldorfEdition, a suite of threeplug-ins that also includesthe analog percussion syn-thesizer Attack and themulti-mode filter processor D-Pole.

This author has the pleasure of beinginvolved with the company that distributesthe Waldorf Edition in the U.S. I tell you thatup front, confident that you’ll back-burnerany questions about my writing motivationand simply concentrate on the tips I’ll beoffering. As any reader of the Voltage Controlseries knows, I like to cover the fundamentalsso that you can take the knowledge andapply it to your own creative pursuits (andleave the factory presets to the other folks).This installment is no different.

So let’s dive into some of the deeperaspects of the PPG and start making somenoise.

What’s in a wave? We all know that in traditional analog syn-

thesis, sounds are produced by running theoutput of an oscillator—usually a harmonical-

ly rich square or sawtooth waveform—into afilter. The filter is then modulated (openedand closed) by an envelope to create sonicmotion over time. As the filter opens andcloses, the spectral content of the outputwaveform changes. It is these changes, cou-pled with complementary volume changes,that give a sound its recognizable timbre (i.e.horns, strings, electric piano) and make itmusically interesting.

Rather than static waveforms, the PPGWave’s oscillators consist of 64-segmentwavetables. Each segment is a unique wave-form (though the last four waves in everywavetable are traditional pulse, triangle,square, and sawtooth waves), and each of the

31 wavetables features a unique spectral com-plement. As a rule, the lower-numberedwaves in a given wavetable tend to be lessharmonically rich than the higher-numberedwaves, so that when a wavetable plays fromstart to finish, it generally goes from a softermellower timbre to a brighter one.

Depending on the wavetable, start-to-finishtimbral shift can be subtle, like graduallyadding organ stops, or truly dramatic, eachsuccessive wave shifting the spectral contentwith seemingly no sonic regard for the previ-ous wave. (See sidebar: A Look atWavetables.)

Let’s listen to a few wavetables in their rawstate. Launch PPG Wave plug-in, and thenclick on the akku button at the lower right ofthe keypad. This will set all parameters to adefault “basic” preset. Now turn the envelope1 attack knob (on the front panel under adsrenvelope 1) fully clockwise. Play a note and

hold it; you’ll hear the sound steppingthrough the wavetable, in this case,wavetable 0.

You can control which wave in a wavetableis heard on key-on, how quickly the sequenceof waves is played, and the range of wavesthat sound. The starting wave of the firstoscillator’s wavetable is determined by thesetting of the waves-osc control (set to 0 inthe “basic” patch). This control is found inthe modifiers section of the front panel.

The initial wave of the second oscillator(called WAVES-sub) is determined by the set-ting of the waves-sub control. Since adsrenvelope 1 is modulating wavetable playback,the rate at which waves are played is con-

trolled by the setting of the envelope 1 attackparameter. The number of waves played isdetermined by the value set in env1 waves,located in the panel’s modifiers control sec-tion. In the default patch this value is set to59, which means that 60 of the 64 waves inthe wavetable will play (waves are numbered0 to 63). Set that parameter to 26, and 27 ofthe waves will play; set it to 63, and theentire wavetable will play.

Remember, the last four waves are tradi-tional analog waveforms. So unless you wantyour unique wavetable to all of a sudden spitout the four basics, settings under 60 are rec-ommended for the env1 waves parameter.

Now press the digi button. In the top leftcorner of the menu that appears there’s afield for selecting which wavetable is used forwaves-osc. Place your cursor over 0 in thewavetable field, and move your mouseupward. This will cause the wavetable valuesto increment.

Audition a number of the wavetables. You’llnotice that some are mellow, some are edgy,some change subtly throughout playback,while others go a bit spectrally nutty.Wavetable 13 is the classic choice for metallic,over-the-top, edgy sounds.

Given the apparently random nature ofsome of the wavetable spectrums, you’re like-ly thinking that it could be a bit difficult toget a handle on programming the PPG. Butit’s really not. In fact, the wavetable approachto sound generation offers some distinctadvantages.

First, in traditional analog subtractive syn-thesis you can only start with a wave with agiven spectra and then subtract harmonicsfrom it. With a wavetable you can have 64distinct spectral shifts, and the brightness or

Fig. 2: Clicking on a button in top row of thekeypad brings up a full-screen menu. Shown here isthe Modulation window, where you enable assortedreal-time controls, such as mod wheel and after-touch. The MOD button is highlighted in red, indi-cating that the MOD programming window isactive.

The innovative but rather steeply-priced PPG

(about $8,000 for the basic keyboard unit; closer

to $14,000 with the 8-bit sampling option was

reborn several years ago as a virtual instrument.

VIf e a t u r e


mellowness of the shifts is relatively unrestrict-ed. Second, you still get to use a filter,envelopes, and the like, so the fundamentalsof traditional synthesis are available.

Disadvantages: given the unique and vary-ing natures of wavetables, it’s not like you canprogram a piano using one wavetable andthen easily switch to another to brighten it

up. Second, it takes a while to get to knowyour wavetables. With 31 x 64 waves tochoose from (quick, do the math) there’s a lotmore spectral content to think about andclassify. (In fact, it could make you long forthe simplicity of mellow sine, hollow square,and bright sawtooth.)

These minor annoyances aside, the PPGsports a very powerful synth engine, andonce tamed, it’s capable of producing somepretty amazing sounds.

Okay, enough background and theory. Let’sget busy.

Bigger is betterRegular readers of Voltage Control know

that I like big sounds. From a programmingaspect, I especially like taking wimpy soundsand using the tools at hand to grow themever-larger. I also like “breaking the mold.”That is, if an instrument is classified as sound-ing “digital” I wanna do my darndest to makeit sound analog!

So let’s go for something decidedly ana-

log—a big fat pad—and build it from thedefault “basic” preset. Start by calling up anypreset and pressing akku. Again, adjust theenvelope 1 attack time to maximum. Nowpress digi and select wavetable 6. Play a note(I generally use C3 when programming);you’ll notice that the wavetable starts outrather muted and mellow, then opens up into

a bright, buzzy timbre, somewhat reminiscentof a sawtooth wave.

We want our sound to start out brighterthan the sound produced by the first fewwaves in the wavetable, so we’ll need to findthe appropriate wave further into thewavetable and select it as the one that playsat note-on. To do this, first turn the env1waves control fully counter-clockwise. Thisprevents the envelope from modulating the

wavetable, so that the sounding wave willremain static while we audition it.

Now turn the waves-osc control slowlyclockwise until you hear the appropriatewave. I’ve chosen wave 30 (the wave numberappears in the graphic display to the right). Ichose it because it sounds about right for the

brightness I’m seeking, but there was also alittle math involved in the choice. Here’s thedeal:

The PPG’s second oscillator (waves-sub)functions in one of three modes (accessed viadigi>sub-waves): direct, in which case theselected wave is static and cannot be modu-lated; offset, in which envelope 1 modulatesthe wavetable, and env 3, in which thewavetable is modulated by ad envelope 3(who would have guessed?). For our patchwe’ll use offset, and that’s where the mathcomes in.

When setting the value of waves-sub in off-set mode, the wavetable is offset by a fixednumber of waves from the waves-oscwavetable. So if waves-osc starts on wavenumber 30, and the waves-sub offset is set to12, the waves-sub wavetable will begin onwave 42. Similarly, as the wavetables aremodulated, their offset relationship is main-tained (e.g. 31-43, 32-44, 33-45, and so on).

And that’s where it gets a bit tricky. We’vealready set waves-osc to 30, so for the purposeof illustration, set waves-sub to 10. That way,the waves-sub wavetable will start on wave 40at note-on. Now set env1 waves to 23.

Play a note. Notice that the wavetablesweep takes place, followed by four abrupttimbral changes; these are the four “stan-dard” waves that are at the end of everywavetable (waves 60-63). The math is simple40 (wave start number) + 23 (number ofwaves modulated) = 63 (final wave heard).

A Look at Wavetables from the InsideAs described in the main article, each of the PPG Wave’s 31 wavetables contains 64 waves. Pictured here is a sampling of the waves from

wavetable 6, which we used to create the analog pad patch in our example. Notice how wave 0, the first one in the wavetable, appears fairlysmooth and pure, indicating that it is relatively free of harmonics and overtones. At the higher end of the wavetable (wave 30, which we used asour starting wave) the waveshape is more complex and “jagged,” indicating that it contains several overtones, which add to the wave’s brightness.

Finally, at wave 59, the waveshape is reminiscent of a buzzy sawtooth wave. Stepping through the wavetable from mellow to bright allows thecreation of “sweep-type” patches without the use of a filter.

Recently, Waldorf, makers of the PPG software,

was resurrected from their untimely demise.

The PPG sports a very powerful synth

engine, and once tamed it's capable of producing

some pretty amazing sounds.

VIf e a t u r e


To avoid these four unwanted stragglers,we don’t want the wavetable to play beyondwave 59. So we can either lower our waves-osc start point by four, reduced our waves-sub offset by four, or reduce our env1 wavesvalue by four—or any combination of theabove adjustments that lowers the total byfour. Since we want our sweep length to bemaximized, let’s lower waves-sub to 6, andkeep waves-osc at 30 and env1 waves at 23;30 + 6 + 23 = 59

By the way, if you’re having difficulty mak-ing fine adjustments to the parameter knobs,

simply click on the knob, then while holdingthe mouse button, move the cursor awayfrom the knob before making the adjustment.The further away from the knob you are, thegreater the resolution you’ll have.

Okay, time to move ahead. If you playsome chords, you’ll hear a relatively thick ana-log-sounding pad with a gradually brighten-ing sweep—and no filter is involved (yet, any-way). Still, the patch is not overly-inspiring, solet’s spruce it up a bit.

Start by hitting the tune button on the key-pad. In the menu that appears, set the

detune parameter to 9 cent. Ahh…betteralready. Now press the digi button. Set keybmode to dual. This doubles the number ofvoices that sound—essentially instant layer-ing.

Now turn the basis knob (at the far left ofthe front panel) fully clockwise. This spreadsthe voices out over the stereo soundstage.Now we’re getting somewhere!

(Side note: When using dual or quad modes,be sure to set the voices parameter at the farright of the front panel to 64, or you couldexperience notes being prematurely cut off.)

More tweaksNow that you’ve got a nice big basic pad,

pretty much everything you do from thispoint on is a matter of taste—velocity andaftertouch control, pitch-bend range, etc. Buthere are a couple of settings I like:

VVaarriiaattiioonn 11.. To give the patch a more tra-ditional analog pad sound, turn env1 vcf fullyclockwise, then set cutoff to 44 and emphasisto 10 in modifiers. Now set up adsr envelope2 as follows: attack 7, decay 50, sustain 0,release 21.

VVaarriiaattiioonn 22.. To give the patch more of abright orchestral horn sound: After makingthe changes detailed in Variation 1, lower theattack time of adsr envelope 1 to 17.

VVaarriiaattiioonn 33.. To turn the patch into anorgan: set all controls in adsr envelope 2 to 0.Now set up adsr envelope 2 to attack 7,decay 50, sustain 0, release 12 (the extendedrelease time is just long enough to eliminatethe click on key-up). Press digi and selectwavetable 14. Now press mod and set key>fil-ter to 33%. (This control causes the sound tostep through successive waves as you play upthe keyboard.) For a little motion, you can setup the lfo with delay 0, waveshape triangle,and rate 34.

Now press tune and turn mod>osc on, butleave mod>sub set to off. When you engagethe mod wheel (slightly!), the detuning ofwaves-osc by the LFO will create a choruseffect. Note that in the PPG structure, theLFO amount is controlled solely by the modwheel, but the wheel’s setting is saved in eachpatch.

Waving good-bye….I’ve only just scratched the surface of what

was arguably one of the most innovative andpowerful synthesizers of its day. Hopefully thispeek has given you the courage to poke yourhead under the PPG’s hood and start explor-ing the sonic possibilities. As the surfers say,there’s nothing like catching a big wave, andthey don’t get much bigger than the PPGWave! VII

Michael Marans is a founding partner of QtecDesigns (www.qtecdesigns.com), distributor ofWaldorf synthesizers in the U.S. and Canada.Some people call what he does work; he thinksof it as playing with toys all day.

Getting Back to Square OneOne of the cooler features of the PPG is that edits made to a sound don’t need to be saved

(until you’re ready to close out your entire session). This means you can freely tweak your soundsand not worry that you’ll lose that perfect patch if you call up another one with having first writ-ten your edited patch to memory.

On the other hand, this “autosave” function means that your original source patch no longerexists once you start tweaking. So what if you’ve taken your beloved ElectroVibe SynchroWhatsitpatch and turned it into BlandBlahBlahMush? Is EVSW gone forever?

Happily, no. Here’s the save: the PPG sports an edit/compare feature, accessed via the cmprbutton in the keypad. Press it to recall your original sound into the patch buffer. Now press thecopy button, which puts the patch in the copy buffer (natch). Last, select a new memory loca-tion, and press the paste button.

Voila! Your original patch is now safe and secure in the new memory location, and thetweaked version is still resident in the location where you performed the edit.

Astute VI readers will likely now also grok that bad edits can be overwritten by using the cmprbutton to recall the source patch, then using copy and paste to put it back in its original memorylocation. —MM

VIf e a t u r e

VIr e v i e w


by Nick Batzdorf

E-mu has been making elec-tronic music instrumentssince the early ’70s, and

they’ve been making samplerssince the early ’80s. Since thenthey’ve been best known for theirEmulator series of hardware sam-plers and then later their Proteusmodules, which containedEmulator-format sounds.

When sampling moved into thecomputer, the first question was“But can it do what I’m able to doon my E-mu sampler in no timeflat?” For years those instrumentshave been incorporating somepretty sophisticated and high qual-ity DSP algorithms that many of usonly discovered recently, mostnotably convolution processingand morphing filters.

Then E-mu came out with theEmulator X software sampler forWindows, followed by the Proteus Xplayer and now Emulator X2. Theseinstruments bring all that, along with modernfeatures like tempo-synced loops, disk stream-ing, and keyswitches into our world. They alsoplay Emulator-format libraries, which means allthose sounds won’t be gone with the hard-ware.

We’re going to take a look at the EmulatorX2 software in detail next issue; here arethree of the libraries available for it and theProteus X2.

Modern Symphonic OrchestraE-mu has programmed a Kirk Hunter-

recorded orchestra that makes use of the X2features. This 10GB streaming library is smallenough to fit on a laptop, yet it has a lot ofmodern sampling features that make it morerealistic than simple on/off playback.

Those features include automatic bow-switching/sample alternation, keyswitched

E-mu Sound Libraries

For the Emulator X2 and Proteus X2:Modern Symphonic Orchestra,

Platinum 88 Grand Piano, and OldWorld Instruments

Modern Symphonic

Orchestra, $449.99;

Platinum 88, $149.99;

Old World Instruments, $69.99

www.emu.com

Format: requires E-mu Emulator

X2 sampler ($399.99) or Proteus

X2 player ($299.99).


ence. Both the Proteus andEmulator X2 have built-in reverbyou can use to glue it all together,and a little reverb is a good ideafor most of the instruments; anexception might be the thunder-ous timps and the harp, whichhave a lot of reverb in the samples.

Subjectively, the best instru-ments in this library are the celestaand the hard-hit timps. As is typicalin many sample libraries, the lowerviolins and other strings are betterthan the high violins, and you real-ly want to use the programs withmodwheel control over dynamicsas much as possible.

In terms of overall quality, I’dplace MSO somewhere between“old school” RAM-based orchestrallibraries and the higher-end onesthat require at least two computersto load. It’s also simple enough toplay almost entirely in real timewithout any MIDI programming.With its low footprint and decentselection of modern programmingfeatures, MSO would make a verygood compact library for composi-tion on a laptop or single machine.

Platinum 88 Grand PianoSound Library

This 7GB grand piano library features aSteinway Model I grand sampled at 24-bitresolution. It has five pedal-up layers, sixpedal-down layers, and a layer of note-offs.There are no loops.

Platinum 88 comes with the full7GB piano plus two memory-sav-ing versions on its two DVDs. Oneis 1GB (on the disk) and the otheris just 200MB. The full versioninside the Emulator X2 takes about666MB of RAM, which is normalfor a good sampled piano.

This piano has about 26 presets,covering everything from a gener-al-purpose natural grand to honkytonk to bright/hard rock to a mild-ly distorted piano with an exagger-ated sustain envelope. These varia-tions are programmed very well—they’re all useful.

Platinum 88 sounds good andplays very nicely. And as with theother two libraries reviewed here,the price is certainly right.

Old World InstrumentsIn terms of programming com-

plexity this is the simplest of thethree. Unrelated to that, it’s alsomy personal favorite. Old WorldInstruments has maybe 70 differentinstruments from all different coun-tries, including a big bank ofsounds from the Proteus 3 Worldsound module.

This library comes on two CDs, and it’svery much a low-footprint library that youjust load and play. It’s also an old-schoollibrary in that it doesn’t have a big stack ofdynamic layers.

There are a lot of interesting, really wellrecorded instruments. This library has manystrengths, but the weakest point is some ofthe winds, in my opinion, although thatcould easily be fixed with the programmed orrecorded legato transitions we’ve come toexpect these days.

But instruments like the concertina workreally well programmed simply, as do a lot ofplucked string instruments and of course per-cussion. The same goes for bowed psaltryfrom the Proteus module, which is one of myfavorite instruments in this library.

Another one that I like is the contra-bassbalalaika. That instrument has a great basssound—which is technically incorrect forRussian folk music, of course, but it couldwork well in a funk tune. If you ever need toscore a scene with a totally drunk Scotchman,there’s a really sick bagpipe program.

With so many instruments there are a lot ofhighlights. The soprano jaw harp is fun, thereare countless different drums and percussiontoys, you’ll find a good selection of pluckedinstruments to use as a substitute for keys orguitars, and in general there’s no shortage offun sounds to play with.

This one would be great for anyoneinvolved in scoring, or for that matter anyonewho can use some different and interestingsounds. VI

articulations, and of course several differentplaying techniques for each of its instruments.But MSO’s strength is its compactness—usingthe preset Symphonic Collection “mutli” set-up, an entire orchestra fits in just 450MB ofRAM, including the Emulator X2 itself at thedefault streaming buffer settings.

That includes representatives of the instru-ments in the library: ten violins, eight violas,twelve cellos, and six basses in legato, stacca-to, pizz, and tremolo; piccolo, flute, oboe,English horn, clarinet, and bassoon; solotrumpet and French horn; two trumpets, twohorns, two trombones, and two tubas; a key-boardful of percussion (various cymbals,snares/rolls, toms, bass drum, tambourine,gong, bongos); timpani; harp; and celesta.You’ll need 32 MIDI channels (two 16-chan-nel ports) to access all those instruments inthis set-up.

Of course, that’s not the entire library—there’s also a 10-piece second violin section,plus oodles of programs for the above instru-ments. For example the first violins aloneinclude a long list of programs with sustainedauto-alternating up/downbows, keyswitches,modwheel dynamics, accented notes, and soon. There are also détache bowings.

You’ll find a similar range of articulationsfor all the winds, brass, and strings. But eventhe Flex programs, which include multiplearticulations that switch in response to veloci-ty or various MIDI controllers, have a smallfootprint by today’s standards.

The orchestra is set up in position followingthe standard set-up (violins to the conductor’sleft, cellos to the right, etc.), and differentinstruments have differing amounts of ambi-

VIr e v i e w

VIf e a t u r e


If you possess a general knowledge of eachinstrument and its capabilities and limita-tions, chances are you’ll be able to sequence

satisfying phrases by using that knowledge incontext. Unfortunately, if you do not have thisknowledge you’ll most likely end up with anunbalanced result.

Perhaps the most classic problem I hear inmock-ups is when brass instruments are play-ing legato lines at full-on triple forte, with

absolutely no regard to natural air flow. Notonly does this sound quite strident, it can alsosound unrealistic and blow away any sense ofillusion you may have had going.

Never ever play a single extended legatoline using only the top dynamic layer of asampled instrument. Instead (provided thatyou’re using cross-fading patches—and quitefrankly that’s pretty much the only way to gofor this application) ride your modwheel and

SequencingSamples

Part 2 in our new series on the art of MIDI programming:

The Fertile Crescendo

In my previous article I tried to explain a little bit about the importance of a

properly balanced orchestral template. Without that basic template you’ll

never be able to apply standard orchestration principles to your MIDI

programming, so I’d say it’s absolutely crucial to get this right.

by Thomas J. Bergersen


VIf e a t u r e

gradually introduce a little bit of the topdynamic layer in the middle of each note.Shape each note in relation to the surround-ing notes, and with an overall attention to themusicality of the complete phrase. It’s allabout relative expression and natural dynam-ics.

Without knowing the instrument you can’tbegin to sequence believable phrases with it.As a general basic rule, it’s good to ride themodwheel controller (CC#1) or the expres-sion controller (CC#11) in a way that mimicsthe natural behavior of most orchestral instru-ments accurately; most of the instrumentstend to speak more loudly as you go higherup in their range (because of increased airpressure etc.). By following this simple rulewith your expression controller you’re almosthalfway to creating a realistic end result.

In many ways the highest note of a phraseis often perceived as a climax, and as such itis usually given the most attention, shape-wise by the performer (in the form of morevibrato, more force, etc.). Of course this ishighly subjective and varies between differentmusical styles, and I’m simply mentioning it

to raise some awareness of theimportance of expressively con-trolled dynamics in mock-ups.

The fertile crescendoAs trivial as the effect and

application may seem to manypeople, it is a key element inorchestral music, and deserves alittle more attention to detailthan it often gets. A friend ofmine asked me the other daywhat I was writing about for thisarticle, and when I said “crescen-do” he simply laughed. “What onearth is there to write aboutcrescendos?”

Well… think about it for aminute. There’s actually quite alot more to it than you may haveinitially thought, for while theconcept is childishly simple intheory, it remains one of themost challenging things tosequence. So if you’re one ofthose who have been thinking ofa crescendo as a crescendo,please read on…

One of the most intriguingaspects of orchestral music is theimmense dynamic range you’replaying with. You have the privi-lege of going from whisper softto ear-deafeningly loud and backagain in a heartbeat.No wonder the orches-tra remains the most

popular choice for aiding equallydynamic visuals.

This “device” is as frequentlyused as it is abused, and can quick-ly make or break a piece. In tradi-tionally structured orchestral musicI’ll always follow the “tension andrelease” principle, by which I meanany tension that is built up in apiece must also be released tosome degree before introducinganother layer of tension.

I do not limit the meaning of theword “tension” to dissonance, buta build-up of energy in general(tempo changes, crescendos,instrument additions, modulations,and so on). It’s basically the sametheory that pertains to harmoniza-tion, applied to dynamics. Thedevice recurs in most orchestralmusic, in various degrees, bothaudible and virtually inaudible,whether performed subconsciouslyor with strict intent.

I’ve found that the most fulfillingbuild-ups of energy are those thatrelease some of the energy in the end. Agood example of this venting theory is a typi-cal romantic piece of music where the orches-tra rises to repeat the key musical theme in itsfull grandeur.

The most successful crescendo for theseoccasions is without doubt the exponentialcurve (more on the different curves later)with a release of energy just before themelody resumes. Release of energy in thiscase would be a slight decrescendo after thepeak of the crescendo (for example bringingthe orchestra down from fff to ff), or allowingthe crescendo to ring out slightly before con-tinuing (often done with the aid of a ritardan-do).

A common mistake is to carry the endingvolume and intensity of a crescendo into theresuming part (this is akin to the indiscretionmentioned above, regarding the sustainedbrass part at its loudest dynamic), leaving theentire build of energy unreleased. The result isa very forced and fundamentally unsatisfyingmusical expression that lends itself much bet-ter to horror music than to emotional pieces.

This is normally a non-existent issue whenmusic is performed by live orchestras, as thetension and release principle happens verynaturally. When people create orchestralmusic using their sequencers they have the“luxuries” of French horns sustaining endless-ly at triple forte, strings that never have tomake bow changes (translates to lack ofrelease of built up energy, although you cando this with certain libraries), endless loops inwind instruments, and so on.

This is another neglected aspect of orches-tral sequencing. Paying attention to all thesethings will get you quite far. You really have

Fig 1: A linear crescendo (as played in real time,which is why it’s not a perfect straight line). Notethe marker at the top of the screen, providing atarget timing and dynamic level.

Fig. 2: The inverted exponential crescendo givesthe sense of progression. It pushes the music for-ward by shifting a sudden attention to the crescen-do. After this quick shift it grows gradually until itreaches the dynamic point of destination.


to imagine that you’re playing a particularinstrument and imagine taking short breathsof air here and there, or making a bowchange when you feel that a release of energyis needed.

Of course if you want to do this the hardcoreway, you could always get a breath controller.A good way to simulate bow changes is with avery quick flick of the wrist on the expressioncontroller (CC#11) or modwheel controller (ifyou’re playing a cross-fading patch) to create atiny crescendo before the “bow change.” Aviolinist will actually employ a wrist motionthat is quite similar to this when he/she ischanging bow directions. This simple tech-nique will add life to your passages and makesure that no unwanted / extraneous energybuilds up in your sequences.

Think of the crescendo and decrescendo asthe way you shape your musical phrases.Employ it expressively for every single instru-ment you record in your sequencer. It is the

best way to create a sense ofmotion in your orchestral music.

Sequencing a crescendo isquite different from notating iton a piece of paper. The firstthing is to determine from thedynamic levels at which it shouldstart and end. Place a marker atthe end of the crescendo, indi-cating the desired relativedynamics. This is not only helpfulas a visual aid while you’re work-ing, but it also serves as areminder so as not to get toocarried away and stray complete-ly off course.

Before I started adding thistiny note in my sequences, theromantic side in me wouldalways take me too far, and whatstarted out as a little crescendofrom p to mf in a lone fluteended up as a full-blown tutticrescendo from p to fff—some-thing most of you can relate toI’m sure. Quite satisfying thereand then, but ultimately uselesswhen you’re composing to pic-ture and need to be careful notto overwrite.

So after adding this marker,figure out the curve of yourcrescendo. Broken down intothree basic variations, you havethe choice between linear, expo-nential, and inverted exponen-tial curves. All these will givevery different feels to yourcrescendo.

ShapesI tend to go to the linear crescendo (Fig. 1)

when I don’t want the impact to be a surpriseelement as much as to seat the audience atthe edge of their chairs, biting their finger-nails in anticipation. It is achieved quite sim-ply by either performing the volume/expres-sion change directly along with the instru-ment part, or by drawing in the curve after-wards. This is the classic tension builder.

The inverted exponential crescendo (Fig. 2)gives the sense of progression. It pushes themusic forward by shifting a sudden attentionto the crescendo. After this quick shift itgrows gradually until it reaches the dynamicpoint of destination. It can be drawn in orperformed with the part; however I recom-mend performing it for each instrument toget a natural effect.

The inverted exponential crescendo is anefficient curve for action-oriented scene tran-sitions in film scoring, as well as being a use-ful aid when modulating between radicalmood changes. You’ll find this type ofcrescendo in a lot of the post-romantic com-posers’ work.

The exponential curve (Fig. 3) is perhapsthe most commonly used crescendo. It givesthe sense of awe and excitement and really

gets to you emotionally when done right.This is the type of crescendo you hear in allthe romantic film scores and romantic classi-cal works of the French impressionists, wherecrescendos and decrescendos serve as waves,rocking the musical foundation gently backand forth.

Perfecting a crescendo like this with sam-ples takes a long time. I strongly adviseagainst drawing in (CC# data) these curvesafter the fact. Always perform the crescendowith the instrument part, or record it on topof your part afterwards. Hold back on the slid-er until you get to the last couple of beatsbefore the climax, then pull the slidersmoothly and firmly up towards the destina-tion and quickly down again at the peak.

These climaxes are hard to limit in dynam-ics, and consequently you often end up witha louder peak than you intended. A marker,as mentioned above, often comes in handyfor this type of crescendo.

Glue between dynamicsFurthermore, the instrumentation can alter

the effect of the crescendo radically, ofcourse. I always let the current orchestrationdetermine to a certain degree how far I’llallow myself to go with the crescendo.

Some instruments can go from whisper softto very loud (clarinets and strings), whichmake them ideal combinations for delicatemusic. They are excellent choices for acrescendo from true ppp to mp, for example.Go above mp and you’ll want to introducemore woodwind instruments, as well as thehorn, with more brass from forte andupwards. Again these are general guidelines,no more, but it helps to think of certaininstruments as glue between various dynamiclevels.

The smoothest orchestral crescendo can bebuilt by starting with flautando strings (vlns,then vlas) in the middle range, along with asingle clarinet in the same range, expandingto the full clarinet ensemble (still playing verysoftly), gently introducing a single flute in itslow register, as well as the bassoon with thecelli, followed by two horns in the middle-lowrange as you add the rest of the flutes and anoboe, one trombone doubling the celli whileyou add the rest of the oboes and a solotrumpet in middle range, gently expanding tofeature the entire brass ensemble with thetuba coming in towards the end.

The effect of the crescendo can be alteredwith a change in tempo, such as anaccelerando (speeding up gradually) or ritar-dando (slowing down gradually). Make thedecision for any tempo changes before youstart recording your crescendo parts.

Again, a conscious choice in direction ofthe music helps you achieve a muchsmoother and confident sounding end result.Happy sequencing! VI

Fig. 3: The exponential curve is perhaps themost commonly used crescendo. It gives the senseof awe and excitement and really gets to you emo-tionally when done right.

VIf e a t u r e


VIr e v i e w

Ableton Live 6: download ver-

sion, $499; boxed version (includes

14 gig Essential Instrument

Collection library, $599. Upgrades

$219 to $399 depending on prior

version owned.

Operator FM synth add-on:

$149; $25 less if bought at same

time as Live 6; Sampler: $199;

$35 if bought at same time as

Live 6.

www.ableton.com

System requirements: Mac OS

X 10.2.8 or later, G3 processor or

better; Windows 2000 XP, 1.5 GHz

CPU or faster.

License: licensed to run one copy

at a time; may install on two differ-

ent computers.

Ableton Live 6This popular “sequencing instrument”

branches into the worlds of video,overdubbing, and samplers.

Review by Chris Meyer

A sign of advancing age is when you can’t keep up

with new software versions. I’d been thinking “I really

should update Live 4 to version 5 sometime soon…”

when Ableton released Live 6. As it turns out, this

new offering is so full of tasty new features that not

even an aging procrastinator like me can resist it.

gressed from one arrangement or audio file tothe next, moving in an orderly fashion fromthe beginning of the song to its end. Youcould cut, paste, and rearrange sections, butoverall you were building a set piece with aset length.

This contrasted with the drum machinesthat came before them, which were based onpatterns. Once the end of a pattern or seg-ment was reached, the machine would checkto see if you had cued up a different patternto play; if not, it would then repeat the cur-rent pattern.

This was particularly well suited to improvi-sation, as you could repeat a groove as longas you wanted until you felt the mood was

right to move onto a different groove. Manydrum machines also accommodated the lin-ear crowd by allowing you to arrange orrecord sequences of patterns into a conven-tional song.

When Ableton Live first appeared at theend of 2001, it was radical in that it broughtthe repeat-as-long-as-you-want drummachine mentality to the world of digitalaudio, samples, and loops. While it is fullycapable of working linearly, this was particu-larly a boon for live performance of loops:previously you either had to trigger loops inreal time from a sampler or build an arrange-ment beforehand in Sony’s (then SonicFoundry’s) revolutionary Acid. Like Acid, Live1.0 could also time stretch or compressloops—including the beats inside—to line upwith other loops as well as transpose them tothe desired key.

And all that was just its performance-ori-ented “Session” mode! Live 1.0 also featured

A partial list of the new features include:• the ability to add QuickTime movies to the

Arrangement view to facilitate scoring topicture;

• ReWire master DAWs can route MIDI toLive’s MIDI tracks, so it can now work as ahost (but only for Live’s instruments);

• two new warp modes that make it possibleto warp the timing of multiple clips at thesame time, and to have other tracks followthe groove of a master track without alter-ing the timing or audio quality of the mas-ter;

• some nice updates to their Operator virtualsynth, a multi-gigabyte instrument libraryfor their Simpler sample playback virtualinstrument (V.I.), and a new optionalSampler V.I. that’s particularly well-suitedfor the experimental and sound designcrowd;

• instrument and effect “racks” that allowyou to bundle together multiple V.I.s andeffects into savable arrangements, withuser-defined macro controls;

• a “deep freeze” mode to save processingcycles while still allowing a significantamount of editing and mixing for V.I.- andplug-in-based tracks

• multicore and multiprocessor support onboth Mac and Windows (Intel Core Duoowners, rejoice);

• and numerous other goodies, such asimproved MIDI mapping, the ability to“hot swap” samples while playing, neweffects, and better project management.It’s impossible to discuss all of the new fea-

tures in just a few pages, so I’m going tofocus on my personal favorites.

For those just joining us…If you do not yet own Live and are wonder-

ing what all the fuss is about, indulge mewhile I give a quick review.

For quite some time, most sequencers anddigital audio workstations (DAWs) were basedaround a linear concept of time: you pro-

a linear sequencer, or DAW-like“Arrangement” mode, thatallowed easy grid-based compo-sition and editing as well as mixautomation. Your improvisationsin Session mode could also berecorded to build anArrangement, and both lineararrangements plus improvisedsessions could be played at thesame time.

Since then Live has grownsubstantially with a majorrelease every year, addingenhanced MIDI support, virtual

instruments, and a host of other refinementsand tricks. Live 6 extends this history, includ-ing the addition of features that make itmuch easier to score to picture and also tocraft remixes and overdubs.

Warp driveOne of the core features in Live is its Warp

Markers. By default, Live assumes each loopor Clip has perfect, metronomic time, andoverlays a timing grid on top of the sample inthe clip editor. (All loops are Clips, but not allClips are loops—they can be any length,audio or MIDI.)

If you see a particular beat that does notline up with this grid, you can enable a Warp

Marker for the nearest grid line and drag it tothe location of that beat. Live will thenemploy a user-selectable algorithm to timestretch and compress (“warp”) the sample inreal time to make sure the audio at thosemarkers play at the correct time against themaster tempo grid.

This in turn enables you to line up thebeats in different loops or clips that may havedifferent internal timings and feel—in essenceyou are aligning them all to the master grid.You can vary the tempo in real time uponplayback, or set up Tempo Automation onLive’s Master track for all of the clip tracks tofollow.

The downside of this scheme is that a loopmight have a timing variation or groove thatyou prefer over perfectly straight time. This isa particular issue if you are starting with a liveperformance and wish to preserve its timingand fidelity (in other words, not have it bewarped) while overdubbing additional loops.


Figure 1: By designating a clip in theArrangement view to be the Master, its WarpMarkers will be used to set a master timing grid forall the other clips in the set. The Master clip itselfwill not be warped.

Since then Live has grown substantially with a

major release every year. Live 6 extends this

history, including the addition of features that

make it much easier to score to picture and also

to craft remixes and overdubs.

VIr e v i e w

Previously it’s been rather difficult to reverseengineer Live to get all of your other loops toplay with the same variation. This had drivenme to take tracks into a normal DAW such asPro Tools and hand-edit each new loop’s tim-ing to match the original.

No more! Live 6 introduces the concept ofTempo Master/Slave. While in theArrangement view only, an additional buttonappears in the Warp section of the clip editor(see Figure 1). If you set one clip to Master, itwill be played back unwarped. Its WarpMarkers will be used to define the tempo gridfor the song. All other clips (the Slaves) willthen be warped to have their timing matchthis new master grid. I’vewanted this feature for awhile, and I am almost besidemyself with joy that it is nowincluded in Live. My only dis-appointment is that this onlyworks in the Arrangementview; I really wish it worked inthe Session view as well, sothat I could also jam withthese warped feels.

Under the hood, Live islooking at the Warp Markers

for the master clip and constructing a TempoAutomation curve for the Master track thatachieves the same result (Figure 2). If morethan one clip is enabled to be a Master, Livewill use the one that is lowest in theArrangement view display (in other words,has the highest track number) to build thecurve. If you like, you can freeze the resultingTempo Automation curve, delete the masterclip, and have everyone slave to this templateyou created from the old master clip.

In addition to Master/Slave, another nicetrick in Live 6 is the ability to set WarpMarkers for multiple clips at the same time.More libraries are now offering either multi-

track breakdowns of loops (such as each micon a drum kit) or 5:1 surround-sound mixesof ensembles with an independent loop foreach surround channel or channel pair. If youdecided you needed to straighten out thetiming of one of these multichannel loops, inthe past you had to edit the Warp Markers foreach component, trying to warp each onethe same. In Live 6, if you select multiple clipsbeforehand, moving a Warp Marker for one

VIr e v i e w

Figure 2: Under the hood, Live is constructing aSong Tempo Automation curve that matches thewarp markers in the Master clip.


clip will make the same change in each select-ed clip.

Movie starAnother significant new feature is the abili-

ty to play back a QuickTime movie insideLive. This now makes it much easier to useLive to compose to picture.

As with Master/Slave warping, this new fea-ture is available only in the Arrangement view.You drag a QuickTime movie from the LiveBrowser window into a track; it will be identi-fied by film sprocket dots bor-dering its name. A floating,reposition-able, resizable videowindow will appear on top ofthe Live interface (Figure 3).Any audio in the movie willalso appear in theArrangement track. Double-clicking the video window willeither make it fill your currentscreen or send it out to a sec-ond monitor.

If your QuickTime moviehas markers embedded in it,these will appear in Live. Youcan add your own “Locator”markers inside Live as well.More importantly, while in the

Arrangement view you can set the video clipto be a Master and start placing WarpMarkers in it. This will warp the other Slavetracks to facilitate hitting visual cues as well aspoints in, say, a dialog track. (Yes, you canmake a video track a Slave and warp its play-back speed to follow another audio track ifyou like.) You can also switch over to Sessionview and jam a soundtrack by switching clipson and off there.

Give us a dollar and we always want tenmore. Seeing video play back from inside Liveinevitably whets the appetite to have videoclips treated the same as audio clips in theSession view, allowing a VJ (Video Jockey) toimprovise video loops or clips and cuts along-side the audio loops—and perhaps evenprocess them in the same flexible way Live

treats audio. Alas, not inthis version. As it is, fullsize video playback occa-sionally skipped on my rap-idly-becoming-vintage dualG5 Mac. Time to upgradeto that multi Core Duo sys-tem (especially since Live 6can now take advantage ofthose multiple cores)…

Plug-in effectsIn addition to accepting

VST and Audio Unit (AU)plug-ins, Live ships with itsown interesting collectionof audio enhancers andmanglers. Version 6 intro-duces two new processors,as well as improvements toseveral others.

A Live track can includeMIDI data as an alternativeto audio. Therefore, theyoffer several MIDI noteprocessors as well. New inLive 6 is Note Length,which quantizes thelengths of incoming MIDInotes. In addition to creat-ing precise rhythmic inter-vals from sloppy perform-ances (you know who you

are), it is handy for providing stable minimumnote durations to softsynths that have troublearticulating too-short notes from some triggerdevices. More creatively, Note Length cangenerate new Note On messages in responseto a Note off, allowing your release to triggera second sound such as a “mute” or “stop”sound (think grabbing a cymbal, closing a hi-hat, or creating synthetic after-notes).

On the audio side, the new DynamicTube plug-in is both a distortion and adynamics processor. In addition to familiarTube Mode, Drive, Tone, and Bias controls,it adds Envelope, Attack, and Release param-

VIr e v i e w

Figure 3 (can trim to around the video windowand the track immediately above it): QuickTimemovies can now be added in the Arrangement view,greatly facilitating scoring to picture.

Figure 4: New in Live 6 is a Dynamic Tube effect.


eters (Figure 4). Overall, it is more of a sub-tle effect than a shredding tube amp over-drive simulation.

For those who desire more extreme shap-ings, the previously-introduced Saturatorplug-in has received a considerable facelift inthis release. It now has two stages, includingan optional limiter on the output for thosetimes when your settings result in too muchinternal gain. The main saturation stage nowfeatures seven different curve types, includingwhat Ableton touts as a “true” analog satura-tion curve plus a user-tweakable parametricwaveshaper that gives a wide range of wildresults (Figure 5).

Also of note is that Live’s EQ Four has beenreplaced by a new EQ Eight. In addition todoubling the number of user-assignablebands and filter types, it now features inde-pendent left/right adjustments as well as amid/side mode. There is also now a globalscaling control, allowing continuous one-parameter adjustment from bypass to yourdesired equalization curve.

Virtual instrumentsLive ships with two V.I.s: Impulse, which is

a sample-based drum machine, and Simpler,which is a simple sample playback instru-ment. To boost the usefulness of Simpler, theboxed version of Live 6 comes with whatAbleton calls the “EIC” or Essential InstrumentCollection: 14 gigs of samples for Simpler

from SONiVOX (formerly known as SonicImplants). This library is heavily weightedtowards orchestral instrumentation, which willbe welcome by film scorers and the like. Forthose with a pop music orientation, there arealso electric piano, organ, P-bass, and cleanStratocaster samples.

With version 6 Ableton introduces Sampler,a more sophisticated sample playback instru-ment. In addition to the features you wouldexpect such as key range and velocity map-

ping, extensive modula-tion routing, and 32-voice polyphony, Samplerhas several features thatseem squarely aimed atthe sound design com-munity and more adven-turous users in general.

For example, eachvoice has a dedicatedaudio range modulationoscillator for AM and FMeffects. There is also apitch envelope that canbe used for the sample orthe modulation osc(Figure 6). Each voice fea-tures a 24 dB filter, awaveshaper, and a very

cool morphable filter (Figure 7) that can bemodulated smoothly between lowpass, band-pass, highpass, and notch modes, includinglooping back to lowpass for continuoussweeps (I’d love to have that as a plug-in tomodify normal loop clips!).

I was particularly intrigued by the loopingoptions. Both sustain and release loops are

supported. You can edit the start, length, andcrossfade duration of the loops interactively.Also, you can route modulation—such asenvelopes and LFOs—to the sample and loopstart as well as the loop length, creating somevery interesting timbral evolutions.

Sampler can access libraries created forSimpler (including the aforementioned EIC),as well as Akai S1000 or S3000, Apple EXS24or GarageBand, Kontakt, GigaStudio, andCreative/Emu Soundfont formats. By design,

Figure 5: The Saturator effect has received aconsiderable upgrade, including new curves, a user-controllable Waveshaper, and an output limiter.

Figure 6 (optional; can trim off the help box onthe L if needed): In addition to playing back a sam-ple, each voice also contains an AM/FM modulationoscillator, and a pitch envelope that can beassigned to the sample or oscillator.

while in the Arrangement view you can set the

video clip to be a Master and start placing Warp

Markers in it. This will warp the other Slave tracks

to facilitate hitting visual cues as well as points in,

say, a dialog track. (Yes, you can make a video

track a Slave and warp its playback speed to

follow another audio track if you like.)

VIr e v i e w

And subscribe to Virtual Instruments Magazine while you’re at it.

Why would anybody want to miss the best writers in the industry, helping you get the absolute most out of your soft-synths and samplers? You’ll pay only $16.95 a year or $26 for two years, compared to $59.40 on the newsstand.

Not only that, you’ll be able to download the magazine before it even gets printed, plus you can access PDF files of ourback issues. Your support will help us print more issues and more pages, which will benefit all of humanity.

But most importantly, you won’t miss a single important issue of VViirrttuuaall IInnssttrruummeennttss MMaaggaazziinnee.

Just go to www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com/giveaway to enter.

GiveawayEnter to win aFFaabb FFoouurr VViirrttuuaall IInnssttrruummeennttfrom East West Soundsonline.com

FFAABB FFOOUURR is a virtual instrument inspired by the sounds of theBeatles, using the same kind of period instruments (much of itfrom collectors) and rare authentic EMI and other recordingequipment the Beatles used to create their music.No expense was spared finding the same kind of period instru-ments and rare authentic EMI and other recording equipmentthe Beatles used to create their sounds to produce this collec-tion. Well over a million dollars worth of instruments, ampli-fiers, microphones, recording desks, outboard equipment, andtube multi-tracks were used in this production.

IINNSSTTRRUUMMEENNTTSS::

Guitars (some costing over $200,000 each) played by LAURENCEJUBER (Paul McCartney and Wings) include Gretsch Firebird(1959), Gretsch Tennessean (1963), Rickenbacker 360-12 (1965),Martin D-28 (1966), Fender Stratocaster (1956), Epiphone Casino(1956), Fender Telecaster (1951), Gibson SG (1960), Les PaulGoldtop (1957), Gibson J200 (1966), Hofner 500 Bass (1963) andRickenbacker 4001S Bass (1964).

Guitars were sampled with up and down strokes, multiple veloci-ties and picking styles, some with chords and effects

Drums played by DENNY SEIWELL (Paul McCartney and Wings)include a rare 1960 Ludwig downbeat kit with Zildjian cymbals(snare 5 x 14/toms 9 x 13/16 x 16/kick 22 x 14/zildjan 20” crashride/18” crash medium/14” Hi-Hat)

Drums are all multi-sampled with up to 16 velocity layers, leftand right hand. The sounds were all matched to a particular style(e.g. A Day in the Drums, Ticket to Drums, Yer Drums).

Keyboards include Baldwin Electric Harpsichord (Because I’m aHarpsichord), Clavioline (Baby I’m a Clavioline), Lucy in theLowery, Strawberry Flutes, We Can Work a Harmonium, andother stringed instruments including Swarmandel Forever.

EEFFFFEECCTTSS::

FAB FOUR includes a software version of ADT (artificial doubletracking) with built-in tape simulator, created and programmedspecially for this project. The software includes the smoothest fil-ters you’ll ever hear, delay, and multiple high quality reverbchoices.

Mungo


it cannot open encrypted Kontakt or Impaktpatches, which includes the numerous copy-protected sample libraries that use these V.I.sas their player. That said, Sampler’s sounddesign possibilities have renewed my interestin manipulating fresh sources from scratch.

Live also has an optional FM-based synthe-sizer called Operator. With Live 6, Operatorgains 24 dB/octave filter modes, plus addi-tional FM algorithms. Both Sampler andOperator are add-on modules that cost extraand can only be used with Live.

Instrument racksAdd just a few effects or V.I.s to a track,

and you can quickly run out of screen realestate to edit them during a performance. Itcan also be a bit of a pain to reconstructfavorite chains of effects in new projects.

In answer to this Ableton has introducedInstrument and Effect Racks. A Rack can con-tain multiple plug-ins or even other racks.Racks can also contain parallel device chains,which include creating splits and layers withmultiple V.I.s on one Live track. You can savethese Racks, and even share them with oth-ers. Live 6 also ships with several pre-config-ured Racks to play with.

What I like most about Racks are its macro

controls (Figure 8). You can assign eight free-agent controllers to any combination ofparameters for the effects and V.I.s inside therack. One control can be assigned to multipleparameters, with independent scaling foreach parameter. This makes it easy to, say,decrease an output volume on one modulewhile increasing the drive or EQ boost on anearlier module in the chain. (By the way, thisconcept of one-knob-controls-many has been

spread throughout Live 6 to include assigningMIDI controllers to Live parameters.)

And there’s always more…Live 6 includes many other refinements.

For example, one of the nicer touches is theability to render a virtual track to an audio fileto save on CPU cycles. This “frozen” track canstill be mixed, trimmed, and triggered. Youcan either “unfreeze” this track to adjust theunderlying V.I.s and effects further, or commitit permanently to an audio track. I know I’llbe using the latter option a lot as I move Livesets from my studio workstation to my con-siderably less powerful live performance lap-

top. In addition, there have been numerousenhancements to the mixer, MIDI controllersupport, and file browsing, plus a FollowAction I’ve been dying for (“Other”).

Ableton has a good amount of documenta-tion on their web site, plus a free download-able demo version so you have ample oppor-tunity to try out everything I couldn’t get to. Iwas also happy to see a thorough built-inHelp system including an Info View window

(“tool tips” on steroids), a PDF of the verycomprehensive print manual, plus a niceselection of integrated lessons accessibledirectly inside Live.

One has to note that while Live’s list of fea-tures has grown over the years, so has itsprice, possibly placing it outside of the realmof being a no-brainer discretionary purchasejust to have around. However, if you workwith loops or can use its flexibility with audio,you should give Live very serious considera-tion. It remains my performance tool ofchoice, and is taking over more of my studiowork as well. VI

More creatively, Note Length can generate new

Note On messages in response to a Note off,

allowing your release to trigger a second sound

such as a “mute” or “stop” sound (think grabbing

a cymbal, closing a hi-hat, or creating synthetic

after-notes).

Figure 7: (can trim off the help box on the L ifneeded): A well-endowed filter section includes acontinuously variable “morphable” filter.

Figure 8: You can save bundles of effects andinstruments as “racks.” These racks can have up toeight global controllers, each of which can beassigned to multiple parameters inside the rack.

VIr e v i e w

You’re invitedYou’re invited

Come to VImag.netThe Virtual Instruments Magazine

Online Discussion Forumwww.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com/forum

In association with the VI-Control.net Composer’s Forum

VIf e a t u r e


In this installment of our series on composers and how they did theirMIDI programming, composer/sample developer Maarten Spruijt

discusses two of his cues. Download them cues atwww.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com and follow along.

Composer Maarten Spruijt has been working as anindependent composer in the Netherlands, wherehis projects included scores for the motion pictureM.A.N. (Robert Matser) and the hit film Afblijven(Maria Peters). Maarten also worked on the music for the policeseries Boks (Talpa) and modern several radio plays for HUMAN.

In 2006 Maarten wrote an opening work for the Gelders FanfareOrchestra, conducted by Tijmen Botma. On a frequent basisMaarten is invited to give lectures and master classes on digitalorchestration and scoring to images. In 2002 he teamed up withmedia composer Vincent Beijer and composer-arranger MarcoDeegenaars founding ProjectSAM (www.projectsam.com), a musiccompany developing, producing, and selling sound sample librariesfor the high-end orchestral sample market.

MIDI Mockup Microscope

By

Frederick Russ

Fig. 1: Maarten’s main rack,simple but powerful. From top tobottom: the four Gigastudio PCs,three power conditioners for thedifferent sections of the studio, aTLAudio valve compressor,Drawmer D-Clock distributor,Focusrite Trak Master for quickrecordings, MADI ADI-648 inter-face, ADI-8 AE converter, LaCiehard drives, Mac Mini, PowerMacG5, and Canopus video unit.


Can you tell us something about your background andinfluences?

Both my parents are classical musicians so as a child I have alwaysbeen surrounded by classical music. I would climb up a chair and con-duct Peter and the Wolf. I studied Composition for Media (also calledComposition in Context) at the Faculty of Art, Music & Technologyhere in The Netherlands. Among the composers I listen to with greatrespect are definitely James Newton Howard, Joe Hisaishi, and JohnAdams. The last one is not a film composer, by the way.

Minimalism is something that influenced me. I like to use slowlyevolving repetitive patterns or orchestrations. Also, I tend to think morein horizontal lines than vertical harmony. The main themes for a film Iwrite on piano, but immediately after that I record right into theorchestral template, in Logic. Notation I only use when the music is tobe performed.

How did you settle on Logic, and what else do you have inyour rig?

Logic was the main plat-form at the facility I studiedat, which made me switch. In2003 I switched fromWindows to OS X, wanting totry out the great look andsolid feel of that OS. It is nowmy main platform. Mysequencing DAW is aPowerMac G5 running Logic7.

Main sampling is poweredby four PCs in 19" racks run-ning TASCAM GigaStudio 3(Fig. 1). When the PC compo-nents are chosen wisely, this isa very stable setup. Thismeans the G5 only does non-orchestral stuff, such asreverb, equalizing, and play-back of any additional samplessuch as pianos, drums, andethnic instruments. I do loadnon-orchestral samples intoLogic, such as the Grand 2and various EXS samples.

For monitoring I currentlyuse the Mackie HR824s. Mymain headphones areBeyerdynamics. Most impor-tantly, I know both systemsvery well, which means I canwork and mix on either one ofthem.

My audio interfaces are allRME. There is an RME MADIsystem connected to the G5

and there are RME Digi cards in the sample farms. (See Fig. 2.)

Please tell us about MADI and why you use it.MADI means Multichannel Audio Digital Interface. It’s usually found

in higher-end gear used for transporting several streams of digital audio(in one direction) between two devices. Historical examples includeconnections between a mixing console and multitrack recorder.Mitsubishi, Neve, Sony and SSL teamed up to form a working groupthat eventually defined the original parameters of the MADI format in1989. A series of frames is what a MADI transmission is when brokendown. All sample data for all channels is stored in one frame.

Want to transfer 48kHz of audio via MADI? You’ll essentially be trans-mitting 48,000 MADI frames per second. This is known as 48k frameoperation. Want to transfer at 96kHz instead? The number of channelsavailable in 96k frame operation will essentially be halved because youcannot exceed the maximum available amount of bandwidth availableto MADI. It uses the time it would normally take to transfer two sam-ples to transfer a single larger sample instead.

The end result in this case is that the maximum number of channelsyou can transfer with 96k frames is 32 in 64-channel mode and 28 in 56-channel mode for a HDSP MADI Card in combination with the ADI-648.

I chose the MADI system mainly because I’ve had solid experienceswith other RME cards in the past and because I needed the largeamount of ADAT ins and outs I could get using the ADI-648. This way Ican have up to two ADAT (8x stereo) channels for each Giga PC rightinto the G5. This gives me a lot of flexibility when mixing or processingthe various instrument busses, in real time. (Fig. 3)

My AD converter for monitoring the ADI-648 and recording audio isan RME ADI-8 AE. About the converter: the signal only needs to beconverted through the ADI for monitoring. The mix you are hearingdidn’t leave the digital domain. About the clock: the MADI clock ispretty solid. In a few weeks, though, when it’s out, I will be getting theDutch-design CC1 from Grimm Audio.

I first heard your music on some demos for ViennaSymphonic Library. Those were very good, but your mock-upshave improved over time. What are you doing differentlynow?

Thanks for the compliment. Difficult question to answer, though. Itrust my ears! Each time I adjust my orchestral template it improves a

Fig. 2: A graphic view of Maarten’s computer set-up.

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Fig. 4: Tracks 126-178from Maarten’s orchestraltemplate in Apple Logic Pro,covering part of the trumpetsection, the trombones andtuba. SAM stands forProjectSAM, SI stands forSonic Implants. The rest iscustom libraries. As you cansee, the tuba is mostly SAMand Sonic Implants.


little. This way each new project using the orchestral template sounds alittle better than the last one: better equalizing, better orchestral bal-ance.

All processing and mixing, even mastering, I often do in real time. Sowhen mastering a track I can still edit the MIDI notes. Occasionally Icompare my sampled mixes to commercial recordings, such as sound-track albums, and try to figure out what there is still to gain in the sam-pled mix.

You’ve been part of custom sample libraries (groups ofcomposers who pool finances and editing time to develop pri-vate libraries) as well being one of the chief developers ofyour highly successful Project SAM. What made you decide tostart doing custom libraries and go on to offer your ownlibraries commercially?

Most commercial libraries try to reach a large group of users. Theytry to offer something foreveryone. When record-ing a private library youcan focus on the featuresyou use most and explorethem deeper, for examplesampling more than theaverage three alternationsper staccato.

A commercial libraryalso has different require-ments than a privatelibrary. It needs to bestructured, cleaned,

tuned, and de-noised. In a private collection, you can have chairs creak-ing in a release trail or have piccolos that are slightly out of tune. Thisall adds to the realism. Yet, when done in a commercial library thiswould get you a negative review. [Not necessarily here, Sir!—Ed]

Commercial and private both serve their purpose. ProjectSAM triesto offer a cross-over between the two, such as articulations and effectsthat you won’t easily find in any other libraries.

Getting to your action track Full Montage: how manytracks are you using, first of all?

(See Fig. 4.) My orchestral template is currently about 350 MIDItracks, but obviously these are not all in use when a cue is orchestratedand done. Normally I end up with 70-100 MIDI tracks after deleting allunused tracks.

These tracks are split up per instrument group: violins, violas, clar-inets, tuba—all have their own audio inputs from the Giga PC into theG5’s MADI. I control the Giga PCs through the network (VNC proto-col), by the way.

The overall production is quite good. Although I’m hearingwhat might be mastering, I do detect a lot of compression.

The track we are discussing here was an underscore for a shortaction film aired on television. This is why the mastering/compressionon this track was a bit more aggressive than I am normally comfortablewith. It is relatively “flat.” There is major EQ-ing and a bit of limiting on

Fig. 3: In this template set-up you can see 4 ADAT groups coming into Logicfrom the Gigastudio PCs. The groups are split by instrument or family and havetheir own send value to the Altiverb loaded on bus 6. On the Master Out youcan see the additional Altiverb tail, EQ and Limiter. Also note that the choirinput has an additional reverb too. The 4 ADAT groups can be expanded to 8,for larger projects, filling up all the MADI inputs.

VIf e a t u r e


the main outs of all my tracks. A mix would simply get too dull/muffledand too dynamic without it.

It is also a score I had to write relatively quickly. I had about fourdays to do the eight minutes of music, including mixing. This is why Idefinitely used some of the quick-orchestration “methods” I talk abouton my website (www.MaartenSpruijt.com).

Between 7 and 32 seconds in: nice writing. In particular,which brass libraries are you using here? These sound great—is this your custom library?

Thanks! The main portion of my winds, brass, and strings, I wouldsay around 80%, is from a custom library, which I complement withsamples from ProjectSAM, Sonic Implants, and Vienna Symphonic. Inthis specific section the brass and strings I used are all custom. All myorchestral percussion is from SAM True Strike. (See Fig. 5.)

The crescendos here are recorded crescendos, simply because theyworked out very well. Using x-fades would have taken much more timeto program.

Between 33 and 55 secs: which woodwinds? Also I’venoticed that your mix seems to be panned very wide. Is this apersonal preference, or is it perhaps based on where somelibraries have their players seated?

That’s mostly Vienna Symphonic there, the older true legatos pro-grammed for GigaStudio 2.5. They are still part of my template and Ihave been too busy to replace them with the improved ViennaInstruments woodwinds. But they still work very well, especially in apassage that doesn’t change dynamically. I sometimes alter the stereoimage a bit, but not too much.

The Altiverb impulses and some old-fashioned MIDI panning (yes Iuse that) do the real work. Actually, stereo imaging is better than MIDI

panning, but as youalready guessed, the pri-vate samples have theplayers seated in orchestralsetting. For all the addi-tional samples I use, regu-lar MIDI panning worksjust fine as long as I useenough reverb.

Are you spendingany time sendinginstruments to convo-lution reverbs to defineyour 3D space? What’syour approach?

(Again, see Fig. 3.) Mymain reverb is Altiverb. Iuse the different “scoringstage” impulses, includingthe ones you can down-load from Audioease’swebsite. These impulsesgive you a great 3D depth,without the long reverber-ation tails that most hallimpulses have.

I don’t really carewhether a reverb is insideor outside a computer, aslong as I have the feelingI’m getting great results. Iused to have a Lexiconreverb that you can still

hear in some of the older tracks on my website, but I sold that one.I’ve lately been experimenting with two reverb layers: one main

reverb creating the ambience, with different sends from each instru-ment group, and a second reverb on the main out that has no earlyreflections, only a tail. This way you get the nice impact of a smallerorchestral space (an Altiverb scoring stage in my case), and the warm,long tail of a bigger hall ringing out on big hits, end chords, and so on(another Altiverb with reflections bypassed using a longer impulse).

That’s a pretty bright harp, and it fits. Which one did youchoose for this cue?

Vienna Symphonic. For this track I assigned an audio input just forthe harp to apply some separate processing. I wanted it to be a bit “ontop of” and “in front of” the orchestra to make sure it could still beheard on TV.

Between 2:30 and 00:02:54: nice timpani swell, lots ofmeat. True Strike? I’m also hearing what sounds like divisistrings, including the downward gliss FX you use, yes?

True Strike it is! I used the recorded short tremolo crescendos there.Those violin clusters and downward glisses are all custom.

What about the cello section tremolos and double bassstaccatos?

All custom. I’m afraid you’ll be hearing that a lot. :) There is definite-ly equalizing on a lot of the group audio inputs coming into the DAW.For example, the low brass and strings get some extra low gain, as wellas the lower percussion such as the grand casa and True Strike ensem-ble hits. I also added a warm, sustaining synth bass on top of the con-trabasses to give you the “cinematic” low-end feel that real strings sim-ply don’t have.

At 3:37 to 4:07 you’re moving triads around while retain-

Fig. 5: 8 ports x 16 channels loaded worth of orchestral percussion, choir,and harp, covering Gigastudio PC #3.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 59)

VIf e a t u r e

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Fable Sounds Broadway

Big Band, $2495

www.sonivoxmi.com,

www.fablesounds.com

License: uses Syncrosoft USB

dongle, can be spread out to

three machines with additional

dongles.

Formats: Mac and Windows XP

ReWire, VST, stand-alone; plus

Windows DXi.


Fable SoundsBroadway Big Band

If the name conjures up neon lights, DukeEllington, Count Basie, and Cole Porter, guessagain: Fable Sounds Broadway Big Band

(BBB) is not geared only toward Broadwayshows or big band jazz. Instead it’s a library ofhorns and other instruments that works in anystyle other than “legit”: jazz, rock, pop, Latin,funk, or even something like Kurt Weill…any-thing that isn’t a concert sound. The problemis that “Non-legit Large Ensemble” doesn’thave quite the same ring to it.

Beyond the terrific samples and program-ming, what’s significant about this ratheramazing library is that it’s the first one tobring pop/jazz horns up to the level we’vebeen enjoying for a few years with orchestrallibraries. The reason that’s taken until now isthat in many ways pop/jazz is more compli-cated, which in turn has to do with the differ-ent goals of “legit” and “pop/jazz” playing.

Legit/concert players work hard to makeevery note controlled and even. In pop/jazzit’s the opposite: every note sounds different

by design, and the whole point is thenuances.

Concert performances obviously have noshortage of nuances as well, but it’s hard toimagine any musician not being aware thatthey sound quite different; what’s known inpop/jazz playing as “character” is known by astring of German swear words in the concertworld. And unlike German swearing, charac-ter requires a lot of note variations, dynamiclayers, complicated note transitions, and quitea few common effects (falls, doits, growls,alternate fingerings for sax, etc.), all of whichare complicated to implement.

Sampled pop/jazz horns reach a new levelin this breakthrough library.

Fig. 1: Fable Sounds Broadway Big Band hasnew twists on the concepts of using legato transi-tion samples that work for connected notes andtrills, and automatic alternation so you don’t hearthe same sample twice in a row. It also has a hugeselection of characteristic effects—bends, doits,falls, etc.

Review by Nick Batzdorf


Yet Fable Sounds has managed to bring allthis under real-time control.

BBBWe got to work with a pre-release version

of BBB that’s probably 95% finished. Whilethe audio content is completed, some of thefinal programming was still in progress as ofthis writing. The few rough spots we encoun-tered should be ironed out in the release ver-sion: a few keyswitches that didn’t quite workas expected, or maybe the note-to-note levelsweren’t finalized. Yet this library is so excitingthat one just doesn’t care about any of that—it’s ready for prime time use as is.

At about 96GB between its several record-ed mic positions, BBB is very much a moderndisk-streaming library. It comes in its ownSteinberg HALion player, and you can alsoopen the programs in the full version ofHALion.

BBB includes soprano, two altos (meaningtwo different solo players), two tenors, andbari saxes; two trumpets; trombone; clarinet;upright bass; drums (sticks and brushes);eukalele; banjo; percussion toys; and a reallyfunky xylophone played with plastic and rub-ber mallets. We didn’t hear all the percussionor the banjo, but the rest of the band was fin-ished and sounding just great.

Instead of loading individual articulations,you load the instrument you want—e.g. altosax or trumpet—at the mic position(s) youneed, and then pretty much everything isthere under your fingertips. You can startplaying medium-smooth lines without doing

anything, and right away you can tell thatthese are the best sampled horns around.

By default BBB instruments come up withprogressive vibrato, and recorded legato tran-sition samples kick in if you hold down onenote while playing the next one. Repetitionsamples cycle automatically so you don’t playthe same recording twice in a row, and ofcourse all the instruments are sampled at sev-eral dynamic levels (there’s more to the repe-titions that we’ll get to shortly). Some of themodwheel crossfades weren’t yet working in

the pre-release version, but the ones that didwork play really nicely.

That’s just the beginning. The exact articu-lations for each instrument vary slightly, butin general there are keyswitches for staccatoand staccatissimo (very short), slight bends orsmears into notes from below and sometimesabove, growl or flutter tongues, various differ-ent vibrato types (deep, progressive, non-vibrato), short and long descending andsometimes ascending chromatic falls(climbs?), grace notes, sometimes sfz notes,alternate sax fingerings, trumpet shakes, aselection of mutes for trumpet and trom-bone…plus you use the automatic legato fea-ture to play trills by holding down the basenote while playing the trill note.

Most likely I’ve left something out, buthopefully it’s clear that this is an incrediblyambitious library. And by now you’re proba-bly wondering how on earth one accesses allthose articulations in real time.

SwitchingThe answer is Broadway Performer, an

included program that intercepts the incom-ing MIDI and manages keyswitches to put allthis under your fingers. Broadway Performerperforms a number of other functions as well.

Fig. 2: By using secondary modifier keys forkeyswitches just like a computer keyboard usesshift/alt, etc., the Broadway Performer applicationhelps make the entire library playable in real time.Some of the sampled playing techniques under thekeyswitches, such as sax growl, can be introducedwhile a note is sustaining. And if your sax playerends a growling note with a fall, the fall growls too.

Fig. 3: This cheat sheet of the Trumpet 1keyswitches is an example of all the breadth ofarticulations included in this ambitious library.

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Synthogy Italian Grand expansion pack for Ivory Grand Pianos,

$139; Ivory Grand Pianos, $349.

www.Synthogy.com, distributed by www.Ilio.com

System requirements: Mac, G4 450 MHz (1GHz recommended), 1GB

RAM (2GB recommended; Windows XP, 1.3GHz P4 or equivalent (2GHz rec-

ommended), 1GB RAM (2GB recommended).

Supported formats: VST (VST 2.0 on Mac), AU, RTAS, stand-alone.

Copy protection: online code-response

Synthogy Italian Grand

Review by Nick Batzdorf

An add-on Fazioli for the popular Ivory Grand sampled piano V.I.

Do you fancy a Fazioli? Synthogy hassampled one to go with theBösendorfer, Steinway, and Yamaha

grands that come with their popular Ivorysampled piano V.I. Of course they can’t actu-

ally use the name Fazioli—or Yamaha orSteinway for that matter—but it’s pretty clearthat that’s what this is.

Faziolis—at least the two I’ve met (one thatI played briefly and another one I heard close-up at a concert)—have a powerful, almostclangorous sound. Some of those characteris-tics are apparent in this sampled one, espe-cially in the low end, and especially when youcompare it to the other three pianos in Ivory.

For whatever reasons, however, what youexpect to hear isn’t always the most distin-guishing characteristic of a sampled piano. Infact the Ivory Yamaha (“Studio Grand”) has aharder and more clangorous strike, possiblydue to harder hammer felts, at the low end.The Italian Grand does have a nice robustsound, but in this case the first thing thatyou’re likely to notice is how its response and

Fig. 1: The main screen in Ivory, naturally shownhere with the Italian Grand loaded. You can see allthe basic features: the soundboard model sustainresonance processing, buttons for the other twoscreens (Effects and Velocity), as well as several“EZ” tweaks.


sound are more even than the other Ivorypianos.

There’s no saying whether that’s due to thepiano itself, the increased velocity layers (12,plus soft pedal and release samples triggeredby velocity and note duration, which can beturned off independently), and/or just theway it’s recorded. But it is saying a lot; theway Ivory’s pianos are mapped to the key-board has always been one of its biggeststrengths. That’s something you probablywouldn’t get from hearing the demos on theSynthogy site, even though they’re veryimpressive—you have to play Ivory to appre-ciate how secure it feels under your fingers.

About IvoryBeing an expansion pack, the Italian Grand

only works inside Ivory. You need to install atleast version 1.5, which the Italian Grandinstaller will update to 1.6. And since noteveryone is familiar with Ivory, let’s startthere.

Ivory came out a few years ago, first forMac only and since then in PC formats aswell. Before Ivory and possibly a couple ofothers that came out around the same time,sampled pianos hadn’t really improved awhole lot since the early 1980s.

That’s a subjective comment, of course,and the choice of which sampled pianos arebest is even more so. But it’s fair to say thatthere isn’t a better one (or collection of threeand now four) than Ivory on the market.

At about 40GB plus about an additional19GB for the Italian Grand, Ivory is a massivelibrary, and it streams from the hard drive.The engine is notably efficient, as we’ll discuss

shortly, and its built-in reverb is good for aplug-in reverb. It’s also programmed verywell, with none of the obtrusive metallic highsparkles that pianos are so good at exciting inbad reverbs. There’s also a chorus programfor those so inclined, as you can see in Fig. 2,plus a 2-band equalizer.

Please see Fig. 1, the main screen. Ivory’sengine has a lot of accessible “EZ”-typeparameters right on the main screen—basictone controls, stereo width, key noise (a.k.a.

hammer thud), and so on. Italso includes sustain reso-nance processing, a DSPeffect that makes a huge dif-ference to the sound even ifit’s only 90% real-sounding.

Ivory also has a simplesynth layer with a selectionof a few pads you can mixin. Used badly, this kind oforchestration with synthsdoubling the piano part notefor note can sound rathercrude, but you can also mixjust a little bit in to enhancethe sound in a pop contextwithout anyone knowing it’smore than just a piano.

All four pianos are mikedpretty closely, which makesthem really versatile. Theydo all want some addedreverb, because without itthey sound like the piano isin a very small, dry space.That’s by design, of course,

and they’re very well recorded.This review was done using a Kurzweil

K2500X (88 weighted keys, a Fatar mecha-nism) as a controller. You can tweak thevelocity response (Fig. 3), but no tweak isnecessary with this keyboard.

System performanceIn the dual 2.5GHz G5 Mac used for this

review, running 24 voices of the Italian Grandnever raised the CPU meter past 25% of one

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On Mac, the Italian Grand inside a DAW will take up a total of somewhere around1.08GB of RAM. If you have 2GB installed, that leaves you maybe half a gig to runother instruments at the end of the day—not a whole lot, but still something.Similarly, a Windows machine with the 3GB switch activated (6-7/06 issue) won’t becompletely exhausted.

But if you have about 5GB or preferably more installed, this is a perfect example ofwhen to employ the trick we explained in “7GB on one Mac” in the 12/06 - 1/07 issue.(Loading 7GB requires 8GB to be installed.)

The concept is simple. Each program in the current versions of Mac OS X can accessabout 3GB of RAM in the real world. So if you run the stand-alone version of Ivory out-side your DAW, Ivory will grab its own up-to-3GB chunk, leaving zero impact on yourDAW’s memory allotment.

On a marginally related note, each instance of Ivory inside the same host program—say, Apple Logic Pro or Native Instruments Kore—will share the same set of samples. Ifyou load a Bösendorfer in one instance and then the Italian Grand inside a second,you’ll see that the first instance now contains the Italian Grand samples. (You have tochange the keymap manually, which Synthogy is planning on addressing in a futureupdate.)

But what if you’re writing a piece for four hands (and your pianist isn’t Siamesetwins so you need two pianos)? The answer is to run both the plug-in and stand-aloneversions of Ivory.

If you aren’t a subscriber with online access to all our back issues (and fail to see thewisdom in becoming one), here’s how you set it up: send the stand-alone versionusing an IAC bus—which should appear automatically, but you can check in AudioMIDI Setup if it doesn’t; then route the audio back into your DAW using theSoundflower virtual audio interface (available from www.cycling’74.com).

More about Ivory’s Performance in Mac OS X

Fig. 2: Grand pianos can easily expose all butthe best reverb processors, but this one is quitedecent. There’s also a chorus and 4-band EQ.


processor, and there are twoof them. Whether the effectsare turned on or off has nonoticeable effect on the CPUusage.

Setting Ivory to 160 voicesand running continuous glissesup and down the keyboardonly brought the CPU meterup to 40%. You don’t normal-ly need more than the default24 voices, apparently due to agood note-stealing algorithm.

Being a huge library,though, Ivory does use a lot ofmemory. With the buffer set toMedium and both soft pedaland release samples turnedon, the Italian Grand takes upabout 750MB of RAM. Forcomparison, the Yamahagrand takes up about 500MB.

That’s the price of all thosevelocity layers, and also tosome degree the price of theexcellent CPU performance.Please see the sidebar “More about Ivory’sPerformance in OS X” for some additionalcomments.

SoundIt’s hard to describe the sound of the Italian

Grand other than to say that it’s really nice. In

general its response feels a little more refinedthan the other Ivory pianos; it has the samepower in the low end as the others, but itdoesn’t bark as much if you really dig in.That’s not to say at all that the others areunrefined or that they bark, just a descriptionof the difference. Powerful, loud notes sound

as if they’d been played harder with slightlysofter hammers.

The only problem I had with the ItalianGrand is extremely subtle, in fact it’s onlynoticeable when you turn off the reverb andlisten to these notes exposed: at middlevelocity ranges (around 68 - 74 or so) themiddle C, B, A, and G sound slightly woodenrelative to the adjacent notes bordering thatrange and to the black notes within it. That isprobably just the Fazioli; regardless, it’s onlybecause the rest of the instrument is so goodthat one even notices it.

At the upper midrange the Italian Grand hasa lot of richness and clarity. And at the verytop, where the dampers stop, there’s not awhole lot of difference between it and, say, theIvory Steinway or Yamaha. Its mic might be afew inches farther back, but that’s about it.

In general, the best thing about the ItalianGrand is not as much the sound—the otherthree sound good too—as it is the feel. Thisinstrument simply makes you want to play it.

Sheeza niceSynthogy Ivory is a great sampled piano

instrument, and the Italian Grand may be thebest of the four pianos available for it. If youhave Ivory or are purchasing it, the ItalianGrand is well worth adding to the other threethat come with it. And if you don’t haveIvory, it’s well worth adding to your arsenaleven if you have other good sampled pianos.VI

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Fig. 3: Ivory provides full control over the velocityresponse, which has a huge effect on how theinstrument responds. That’s especially true of the12-layer Italian Grand, but the other pianos in thecollection (Steinway, Yamaha, Bösendorfer) alsohave several layers.


After your computer is quietOnce your computers are as quiet as possi-

ble, you will need to judge whether you canlive with the amount of noise they’re produc-ing. If so, you’ll want to position them in anappropriate place in your studio.

Fans and hard drives cause vibrations, so ifyou are putting them directly on the floor oron your desk or table, consider putting neo-prene under them to isolate them from thesurface they’re sitting on. Neoprene washesare available at most hardware stores. I uselarge 2” washers that are 1/4” thick (Fig. 1).These decouple the computer from the work-space and greatly decrease vibrations. (Thistechnique also works great for decouplingspeakers from a mixing desk.)

If you have more than a couple of systems,you will probably need to isolate the comput-ers from your listening environment. In addi-tion, any other piece of gear with fans willcontribute to the noise in the room, andsome products can’t be upgraded with qui-eter components. This means putting thecomputers and the offending gear in an iso-lated rack of some sort or in remote area suchas a closet, machine room, or even in anotherroom.

Remote computingAll things being equal, removing all the sys-

tems from your listening environment willproduce the quietest result. In fact, with thisapproach ultra-quiet PCs as we discussed lastissue are not even a necessity.

Moving systems away from your listeningarea does have potential pitfalls, however. Youmight not be able get to them easily to loadsoftware, turn them on or off, reboot themmanually, troubleshoot, etc. Fig. 2 shows youreditor’s set-up, with his computers on a shelfin the garage next to his studio. The trapdoor provides easy access to the fronts of thecomputers.

Regardless, whether you’re moving the sys-tems outside your studio, into an isolationbox, or into a closet inside the studio, you’llbe running a number of wires and cables tothem. These include the following and proba-bly others as well:

- monitor cables (either digital or analog);- USB and/or PS2 cables for your keyboard

and mouse, and also for things like MIDIinterfaces and probably printers;

- a MIDI cable from your keyboard to yourMIDI interface (unless your keyboard has adirect USB connection), plus whatever otherexternal MIDI gear you’re using;

by Paul Gilreath

Silencing the Beast, Part 2

A guide to making your studio quieterand preserving your sanity. Part 2:

getting the computer out of the room.

VIf e a t u r e

Last month we looked at how multiple computers and the noise they make havechanged the studio environment. We mentioned two approaches to restoring quiet

in our control rooms. The first approach is to quiet the computer itself, and welooked at several ways to bring computer noise into a manageable range.

This month we move forward with the second approach, which works in tandemwith the first: moving the computers outside the listening environment.

Fig. 1: A 2” neoprene washer used to isolatevibrations


- digital audio and word clock cables;- audio cables.If your monitors and keyboard will be with-

in a 15-20 feet range from your computers,you can opt for a wireless keyboard andmouse configuration. Typically, a mousecharger is connected directly to the computervia a PS2 and USB cable. The charger servesas an antenna for the keyboard/mouse. Thisprevents you from having to run cables foryour keyboard and mouse.

In addition, you may find a KVM (key-board, video, mouse) switch beneficial. AKVM switch connects one mouse, keyboard,and monitor to multiple computers. KVMswitches come in different port configura-tions. One port equals one computer, so ifyou have five systems, you could considerwant to buy a 5-port switch.

There are lots of them on the market. I use

an IOgear 8-port switch (Fig. 3) that was lessthan $250, and it produces remarkable clarity.These days a lot of monitors have digital con-

nections directly to the monitor card (DVI orDVI-D for 30” monitors), and that producesan even clearer picture. Digital KVM switchersare more expensive; Gefen is one company

that makes these units, but there are othersthat aren’t as high-end.

Another option is to use “virtual KVM,”which works over ethernet—remote comput-ers show up in windows on the monitor con-nected to your main computer. This will alsoallow you to control all your computers withjust one K, V, and M.

If you’re using Windows XP Pro, RemoteDesktop is built right into the operating sys-tem (click on the Remote tab in the SystemProperties control panel and you’ll see whereto enable it). There’s a free Mac client youcan download at www.Mactopia.com thatlets you control Remote Desktop-enabledmachines from a Mac.

If you’re using Windows Home, there arevarious free or inexpensive versions of VNC,an open-source protocol for KVM-over-ether-net. VNC works on Mac and Windows (andother operating systems for that matter). ForMac, if you enable Apple Remote Desktop inthe Services part of the Sharing control panelof the remote machine, you can use pro-grams like Chicken of the VNC to control it.Apple also has a program called RemoteDesktop that does KVM-over-ethernet and anumber of other tricks, but it’s not free($300).

KVM-over-ethernet is not as fast as a directwired connection, but it’s fine for things likeloading sounds into samplers on remote

machines. I seldom need to use my KVMswitch, but if you’re doing things like runningthe BIOS configuration, you must manipulatethe computer from a keyboard directly con-nected to the system. In those situations thephysical KVM switch comes in handy and pre-vents me from having to hook/unhook cablesfrom the computers to the monitor and key-board.

VGA cables can be run up to about 50 feetor more using high quality cables. Longer runsmandate the use of VGA extender modulessuch as those made by Gefen, Minicom, andConnectpro. Extender modules are placed atthe monitor area and at the remote system.These modules are connected by CAT5 cables.Because CAT5 cable is so inexpensive and caneasily be pulled through walls, it makes a greatsubstitute for traditional dedicated cabling.Runs of up to 1300 feet are possible.

Fig. 2: Your editor’s set-up. All the computers are on a shelf in the garage on the other side of the wall,with their fronts accessible behind the trap door (the black/grey acoustic baffles are made by ASC, in caseyou’re wondering). The cables go through a 3” hole by the floor. Yes, after ten years the crumbled weather-stripping foam lining the inside of the door has stuck to the frame and is overdue for replacement…

Fig. 3: An IoGear GCS138 KVM switch used bythe author.

Any piece of gear with fans will contribute to the

noise in the room, and some products can’t be

upgraded with quieter components. This means

putting the computers and the offending gear in

an isolated rack of some sort or in remote area

such as a closet, machine room, or even in

another room.

VIf e a t u r e


USB cables can only be run about 16 feetwithout a “repeater” that regenerates the sig-nal to allow longer length runs. Withrepeaters—or powered USB hubs, which alsoregenerate the signal—USB runs of up to 80feet can be used. For longer runs you mustuse extenders, which use the same CAT5 for-mat as VGA extenders. Another great productis the Minicom Smart KVM extender, whichuses CAT5 and provides connections for amonitor, keyboard and mouse(http://www.minicom.com/kvm_smartext.htm).

Machine closetIf locating your systems remotely won’t

work, you have two other options. Thefirst is to build a computer closet insideyour studio to house the computers, andthe second is to use an isolation case.

A closet can be built fairly easily over aweekend. Building a closet can be messydue to gypsum (drywall or sheetrock)dust, but it provides a relatively inexpen-sive solution for many people. It doesn’thave to be extremely large, and it can befreestanding if you’re not able to attach itto the structure of your building (e.g. ifyou rent an apartment). You can also usedifferent materials, but drywall plaster isprobably the best.

By using conventional soundproofingmethods, you can achieve a virtually silentsolution. These methods use multiple lay-ers of differing thicknesses of gypsumboard without overlapping seams on theinside and outside of the closet, insula-tion, and a solid core door with thresholdand weather stripping.

My last studio was built from scratch as anaddition to my home. The studio had a com-puter closet, which allowed my control roomto be virtually silent. Everything noisy went inthe closet, and it worked like a charm.

Granted, most musicians don’t have orneed a custom-built control room, but mostof the following concepts can be scaleddown. For example, just having a closet withone layer of drywall and a hollow core doorwill be a huge improvement over having harddrives and fans whirring in the room withyou. If you’re thinking about making a built-in closet, check out the techniques publishedby The Gypsum Association(www.gypsum.org).

I had the privilege of working witharchitect, acoustician, and studiodesigner John Storyk of the Walters-Storyk Design Group. For those in thecommercial music business John needsno introduction—he has designed andprovided acoustical planning for hun-dreds of studios. Here are some of hisideas about quieting computers:

“In the past, musicians had largemachine rooms that housed their tapemachines. As Pro Tools became thedominant format in recording studios,the computer replaced large tapemachines and these systems were typi-cally positioned in the listening envi-ronment. The noise made by the com-puter was considered an acceptabletrade-off for the convenience. But nowmusicians and engineers want quietcontrol rooms again, and the trend isto move the computers out of theroom.”

A lot of Pro Tools rooms only use onecomputer; those of us working with V.I.sand large sample libraries typically have

multiple computers—and that includes thoseof us running Pro Tools. This makes computernoise a much bigger problem.

Storyk contines: “I really think there is onlyone way to approach this problem, and that’sto remove the systems from the controlroom. I know some people use isolation racks,but I’ve never recommended one in any ofmy designs. I don’t like them. I think thatthey are big and bulky devices that can addacoustical problems to the room due to the

Fig. 4: Alicia Key’s new studio with machineclosets in the rear.

Fig. 5: Carter Burwell’s studio with machine clos-ets.

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size. By using double layers of sheetrock youcan easily make a more functional environ-ment to house your noisy computers.”

John believes in symmetry in studios foracoustical reasons. “It is so important to makesure that acoustics is part of the overall planwhen you are isolating your computers.Otherwise you’ll have spent money andremoved noise from your room, but in itsplace you may have totally changed theacoustics of the room. We do a lot of back ofroom corner closets, but when I plan for acloset on one side, I always mirror it on theother, even if they do not provide the samefunctions,” says Storyk.

In other words, if you put a soundproofcloset on one side of your studio, considermaking a mirror image of it on the other sideeven if it’s just the outer shell, so that youhave symmetry on both sides. John was kindenough to provide us with some studio pho-tos that show the position of the machineclosets in a couple of his studios.

The first picture is of Alicia Keys’ new studio(Fig. 4). Notice the door at the back left of thephoto. That is an equipment closet with a glassdoor. John also designed film composer CarterBurwell’s personal studio (Fig. 5). Again noticethe equipment closet in the picture, and in theblueprint (Fig. 6) you can see two closet areasin the rear of the studio.

Closet strategistSo how do you go about putting in a clos-

et? The first thing is to decide where it willbe. Remember the symmetry issue. Also,computers generate a lot of heat, and youhave to consider ventilation and possibly airconditioning.

Once you’ve come up with a plan, the con-struction phase is not too complex—as longas you follow some basic guidelines. If youalready have a closet that will hold yourmachines, you have a head start. Use theideas below to augment the current closet ifnecessary.

- Increased mass (additional layers of gyp-sum board) on the walls decreases soundtransmission;

- Two walls separated by an air space ofonly an inch or so have a lower sound trans-

mission than a singlewall, even when thatwall has increasedmass;

- When two wallsare not possible,either stagger studs(using a 2x6 top andbottom plate insteadof a 2x4) or useresilient channel.Resilient channel is aseries of horizontallight metal “rails”that decouple thesheet rock from thestuds to get rid of thetransmission fromone to the other;

- Seal all layers ofgypsum board anddo not overlapseams. This meansthat you have to usea different configura-tion when hangingthe second layer. Theexception is when awall has no seams inthe middle;

- Use soundabsorption in thewalls;

- Limit penetrations

into the wall such as electrical boxes, plumb-ing, and HVAC ducts. Seal all of these pene-trations with acoustical caulk. Seal the periph-ery;

- If you can see into the closet, sound willcome out. Therefore things like power outletshave to be placed strategically.

How loud is quiet?Sound Transmission Class (STC) is a rating

of how well a barrier (wall, ceiling, insulation,window, etc.) attenuates sound. The numberis derived from sound attenuation values test-ed at 16 standard frequencies from 125 Hz to

4 kHz. Due to the restricted frequency range,STC rating is only an approximation of howmany decibels (dB) the barrier will attenuatecomputer noise (or for that matter amplifiedmusic, if you’re using the same constructionscheme to soundproof your studio or isolationbooth).

With computer noise, human beings mightperceive a reduction of 10dB as being about“half as loud,” to put it completely unscientif-ically (of course, the reality is that a 3dBreduction halves the level; the scale is loga-rithmic). A product with an STC of 10 wouldproduce that effect.

But how much attenuation do you need? Itdepends on your computers. If you want tomake sure you are constructing an adequatewall with some built-in “overhead,” you canuse an SPL (sound pressure level) meter tocheck the approximate noise of your comput-ers. These meters are available from manysources, but Radio Shack sells an inexpensiveunit that’s perfectly adequate for our use(although note that inexpensive SPL metersaren’t very accurate at low levels).

For perspective, I consider my systems tobe very quiet. When mounted in a rack, eachsystem has about 35 dB of noise from thefront at a distance of about a foot, and 38 dBfrom the back. At five feet the noise drops to32dB and 35dB. However, cumulatively thenoise from all seven systems at about two feetis 58dB from the front and 62dB from therear.

I also have a Waves APA32 processor thatgenerates a fan noise of 32dB. At 15 feet itproduces about 38dB of noise.

Human whispering averages about 20dB,while breathing is about 10dB. So if you want

Fig. 6: Blueprints for Burwell’s studio. Noticeplacement of the machine closets.

It is so important to make sure that acoustics is

part of the overall plan when you are isolating your

computers. Otherwise you’ll have spent money

and removed noise from your room, but in its

place you may have totally changed the acoustics

of the room.

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to get your computers to the “breathinglevel” and your systems measure about 55dB,you’ll need a wall with an STC of 45dB.

A wall made of 2x4 studs with a layer of1/2” gypsum board on each side has an STCof about 33, so you’ll want to do better thanthat. A wall with a 45 STC rating can beobtained using a conventional 2x4 stud walland two layers of gypsum board on eachside. If you use resilient channel on one sideof the wall and use 5/8” gypsum boardinstead of 1/2”, you only have to use onelayer on each side and you will obtain a 50rating. To reach a STC of 59 you’ll need touse resilient channel, and also two layers ofgypsum board—two layers of 5/8” board onone side and a layer of 5/8” on the oppositewith a finish layer using 1/4” board.

If you tape and mud (but not finish) theinner layers, you will get a better STC rating.Because of the size, this will be an easy task toaccomplish. You don’t have to make the

inside seams look perfect, justcover them with mud.

Stagger the seams, if only bya few inches. Fill the walls withmineral fiber insulation. This issometimes called acoustic boardinsulation. This is available fromRockWool and others at com-mercial insulation companies aswell as sound product compa-nies like Auralex. Storyk alsorecommends using a vinyl barri-er between one of the layer ofsheetrock if your systems areparticularly loud. This will pro-

vide another 4dB of reduction. Finally, he sug-gests using a Sonex-type foam on the walls toprovide absorption.

An excellent alternative to gypsum isQuietRock(http://www.quietsolution.com/html/qui-etrock.html), which has an STC of between49 and 80 so you might only need one layer,and Ultratouch(http://www.bondedlogic.com/ultratouch.htm) is much easier to deal with than fiberglassinsulation.

The doorNow for the final element—the weakest

link in the chain—the door. Without having aspecial door made, your only choice is a solidwooden door, without any type of glass.

These doors provide a good measure ofsound attenuation, but not as good as yourwalls. The STC of a solid core door can rangefrom 30 to 45, so make sure you are gettingone that is at the high end of the scale. Butmost sound does not come though thedoor—it leaks around the door. Consequentlyyou will need to use a heavy gasket around it

Fig. 7: The Mitsubishi Mr. Slim ductless air condi-tioning system.

Fig. 8: A DVD suite with a Mr. Slim unit inthe back left of the photo.

and a threshold under it.For many applications a solid core wooden

exterior door and frame works well in thesesituations, since they are made to seal thedoor, unlike most interior doors. Several com-panies specialize in products that seal doorsfor soundproofing situations. ZeroInternational (www.zerointernational.com) isa leader in this area. They provide severalsolutions for soundproofing doors. They are

also a great source of information, withtechnical drawings that explain how touse soundproofing techniques in a stu-dio environment.

Another issue you need to plan for iswire runs in and out of the closet.Storyk recommends using electrical con-duit positioned in an “S” configuration.Keep the conduit as small as possibleand fill each end with Sonex-type foam.This will help minimize sound transmis-sion.

Air and powerOnce you have committed to build-

ing a closet, you need to make sure youhave adequate power and ventilationfor your systems. As in an Isobox, heatbuild-up in a closet is a real issue, soyou’ll need to make some accommoda-tions to remove the hot air from thecloset.

Intel and AMD both say that runningtheir components at their “nominal”

Fig. 9: The IsoBox by Custom Consoles.

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temperature will greatly lengthen the life ofthe component. The best way to accomplishthis is by providing a constantly cooled envi-ronment for your computers.

In my first closet, I vented to the outsideusing a commercial bath fan mounted in theattic. It was far enough away from the closetthat it didn’t introduce any noise. The fanpulled air out of the closet via a dryer duct; toallow fresh air in, I cut a hole in the wall andinstalled a small baffling box that filterednoise to the control room as air was pulled in.The fan was on a thermostat that kicked intohigh gear if the temperature got too hot. Itworked pretty well, but the temperature wasalways warm in the room and the CPUsalways operated on the highest end of theoperating temperature range.

For my next closet I plan to use a small duct-less fixed air conditioner unit called the Mr.Slim M Series, made by Mitsubishi. This unithas received a lot of attention for music andcomputer room applications. The Mr. Slim Msare small, extremely efficient, and quiet (22dBfor the 9000 and 12000 BTU units).

Mr. Slim consists of an inside blower unit,an outside condenser unit, and the connec-tions between the two units (Fig 7). Theblower unit can be installed on the ceiling oron a wall, and it communicates with the out-side compressor (which can be installed onthe ground, side of a building, or roof) via asingle 3” piece conduit.

Even though the unit uses positive heatexchange for cooling, it can still functionoptimally in outside environments down to0ºF, so it is perfect for use in winter months—during which you still need to cool the closet.These units can be found for about $1200 oneBay and installation will run about $250, sothe entire system can be bought and installedfor less than most computer systems. Storykhas used Mr. Slim in many studios, even inthe control room or live studio (Fig 8).

Isolation racksIsolation racks work well if none of the

alternatives is an option. Essentially an isola-tion rack is a traditional rack mounting withina case that provides a level of sound isolation.Iso racks often include a rack mounting sys-tem for your gear, front and rear access, andsome acoustic treatment (foam) to furtherhelp with vibration and sound transmission.

These are the most expensive solutions fornoise isolation, and because they’re mobilethey don’t typically have the mass necessaryfor total isolation. However, several compa-nies provide excellent products that will pro-duce an acceptable result, including CustomConsoles of Nashville, TN (IsoBox), MiddleAtlantic, XRackPro, and others. 24U racks startat about $1500 and top out around $3000.

When you order these products, it’s essen-tial to measure the total wattage of your gearso that the manufacturer can implement thecorrect cooling system. You must purchase asystem that will not only hold all your com-puters but and also cool them.

Fig. 10: Author’s IsoBox front shows VisionDAWsystems, a Big Ben and the IOgear KVM Switch.

Fig. 11: Rear of IsoBox shows system wiringarray. Neat wiring is a must to help with heat dissi-pation.

When I moved last April, my studiobecame a 20x12 bonus room with small clos-ets under the roof line. Since I needed to getup and running rather quickly, I decided togo with a 24U IsoBox (Fig. 9) made byCustom Consoles in Tennessee (www.custom-consoles.com). It includes four fans, a digitalreadout to display the inside and outsidetemps of the box, and an alarm system thatgoes off if the temperature gets too high or ifany of the fans stop working. It providesabout 25dB of noise reduction.

At the time I purchased the box, I only hadthree systems and a few other rack-mountedsynths installed, and the box worked like acharm—no heat buildup and great isolation.Now I have seven systems (Figs. 10 and 11),and through no fault of the box itself, it can’tcool the systems.

The moral of the story is always to over-estimate what you’ll need. It looks like I’ll be

making a closet for myself very soon.

ConclusionMaybe the next generation of computers

will allow us to get by with fewer computers,reducing the need for noise control. In themeantime, the ideas we’ve discussed hereand in the previous issue should help youregain your quiet surrounding so that you canbe aware of what’s really important: themusic. VI

Paul Gilreath has composed music for featurefilm, television, documentaries and video games.He is the author of The Guide to MIDIOrchestration, 3rd edition, a 700-page bookdetailing how to achieve maximum realismwhen producing orchestral emulations usingsampling technology. www.musicworks-atlanta.com.

Links:Small air conditioner: www.mrslim.com

Gypsum Association wall diagrams:http://www.gypsum.org/pdf/gypsum2.pdf

John Storyk: www.wsdg.com

Zero International: www.zerointernational.com

Custom Consoles: www.custom-consoles.com

Minicom Extender: www.minicom.com/kvm_smartext.htm

VIf e a t u r e


VIr e v i e w

Loop Librarian

Review by Chris Meyer

Sound library reviews

Glitch Hop: Bleeps, Blops,Screetches & SquelchesBig Fish Audio, $99.95

www.bigfishaudio.com/4DCGI/detail.html?1171

Formats: AIFF/Apple Loops/REX/WAV

At first blush, gangsta rappers and comput-er geeks would hardly seem like folks you’dsee hanging out with each other down at theclub. But Glitch Hop has indeed become anactive subgenre of Glitch (which itself is asubgenre of IDM), with recognized artistssuch as Matmos and Prefuse 73.

Rather than the cool minimalism of IDM orGlitch, this Glitch Hop sample collection pro-duced by David Delaski overwhelms the sens-es with a combination of the crunching,head-nodding, lo-fi hip-hop beats overlaid thewashes of power electronics. On the lowertempo songs, the results sound quaalude-induced; as things speed up, the nihilistic fla-vor of industrial music seeps in. Several of thelast few (higher “tempo”) sets dispense withthe drum track all together, leaving you in asea of analog static and malfunctioning digitaldevices.

This library follows what has become thestandard Big Fish layout. The $99.95 DVDcontains WAV, Apple Loop-style AIFF, and REX2 versions of the sounds. The 16-bit 44.1kHzAIFF version weighs in at 1.14 gig; the 1.69

Inhuman imperfection:

“The street finds its own uses for things.” That’s one of the basic tenants of the cyberpunk phi-losophy. And so it is with music: whereas machines are usually introduced to achieve perfection,many worship what happens when the machines fail—or at least, try to simulate failure withclever programming. This issue we’ll listen to two libraries that mix bleeps, bonks, and metallicscronks with groove-oriented genres.


gig WAV version is preserved using 24-bitquality—a nice feature for studio-pure sam-ples, but overkill for these heavily-compressedlo-fi noisefests. Big Fish’s license is pretty stan-dard with no credit required; they use the dis-turbing language that by using their librariesyou are creating a “derivative work” but inpractice they give you full rights to craft yourown songs without worrying about payingthem royalties.

There are 34 song construction kits rangingfrom 75 to 110 bpm in 5 bpm increments.Most have their keys listed; some are atonal.

VIr e v i e wEach kit contains a long demo track plus indi-vidual loops for numerous synth layers as wellas drum and occasional bass tracks. In addi-tion to a full mix drum loop, you also getcomponent loops such as kick, hi-hat, clap,and FX or snare. A handful of one-shot hits isalso usually provided in each kit, adding up toa total of 458 loops and hits. One thing I likeabout Big Fish is that they tend to providelonger loops, with 4 to 16 bars being thenorm. That helps offset the lack of alternativeor variation loops provided.

Iced: Minimalist ElectronicaSony Sound Series: Iced,$59.95 ($39.95 on Sony’swebsite)

www.sonymediasoftware.com/loop_libraries/showloop.asp?SPID=435

Format: 16-bit WAV files, Acidized forAcid and other loop-based software

Iced is one of the newer releases in Sony’sStandard Collection of sounds for Acid andother loop-based software. This cross-platformCD comes with over 600 Acidized 16-bit44.1kHz WAV files totaling 524 Megabytes inexchange for a list price of $59.95 ($39.95 onSony Media Software’s website). The disc also

contains a demo song in Acid format, and acopy of the free Windows-only Acid Xpresssoftware. Sony’s license is pretty standard,with the quirk that you cannot credit theoriginal creator without their permission.

Producer Leo Cavallo has crafted a veryself-consistent, accurately-described library ofmachine-driven electronica that is indeedminimalistic and cold, yet also somehowstrangely alluring—like a cyborg siren’s song.If you are familiar with the more rhythmicworks of Vir Unis and other IDM (IntelligentDance Music) artists, you’ll immediately getthe central vibe. (Interesting, Vir Unis alsoproduces libraries for Sony, but they don’tsound quite the same as his albums that I

have…but I digress.)In addition to the IDM vibe, this library

takes occasional excursions into industrial andhip-hoppish territories, as well as less seriousareas such as the geek-groove of Kraftwerk.There are both hard digital (PPG/Waldorf-ish)and thin analog tonal elements, but they arenot necessarily melodic. The sound is verycompressed with a certain surface tension toit despite the regular use of reverb.

The loops are broken down into elevenfolders including Static Rhythms (the bulk ofthe collection with 226 loops providing varia-tions on 40 core ideas), Abstract Percussion(77 loops), Processed Beats (24 loops), Basses(52 rather minimal bass lines), Synths & Keys(60 loops), Deep Kicks (44 very minimal pat-terns), plus dozens of Drones & Noise Layers,Bleeps & Tones, Sonic Hits, and One-ShotPercussion. Tempos center around 120 bpm,with most loops being 2 or 4 bars long.

Even when the names of the files are notsimilar, many are related, so it would be rela-tively easy to build evolving progressions fromthese loops—in a static, frozen, minimalisticway, of course. I plan to try a few of them outin my next jam session. VI

VIr e v i e w

Native InstrumentsAbsynth 4

The magnificent evolvingsoundscape synth becomes

more approachable than everReview by Lee Sherman


Absynth has long been the favoritesynth for certain electronic music gen-res, composers of ambient sound-

scapes, media composers, and sound man-glers of the most extreme persuasions. Withthe new version 4 it’s still a monster, but it’snow more approachable than ever.

Absynth has been moving steadily awayfrom its earlier resemblance to one of HRGiger’s aliens. While it still retains the color ofits eponymous addictive beverage, it nowfeels more like a useful tool and less like a hal-lucination. As a result, this stand-alone instru-ment or Audio Unit, VST, DXi, or RTAS plug-inis undeniably much easier to learn and use.The Mac version is a Universal Binary, readyfor those screaming Intel Macs.

Absynth 4, $340;

updates from v.3, $120

www.Native-Instruments.com

Formats: Mac—Audio Units, VST,

RTAS; Windows VST, RTAS, DXi;

stand-alone

Copy protection: online

challenge/response using

included utility to manage all

NI authorizations

Raised eye browserNative Instruments is standardizing all its

products around the intuitive KoreSoundsBrowser (Fig. 1). This is great news for KOREusers, as well as for users of multiple NI prod-ucts who now get a common means of man-aging their sound libraries, and even new-comers to Absynth who will find this a usefulway to audition sounds.

Absynth 4 comes with 1,200 KORE-readysounds that can be browsed, searched, and

Fig. 1: Absynth 4 now includes the intuitiveKoreSounds Browser allowing you to search forsounds and filter them according to instrument,genre, synthesis type, and musical attributes liketimbre and articulation


filtered according to specific characteristicsand attributes. 200 of these are new to thisversion. Another standard feature is the newnavigation bar, which allows you to switchbetween the program’s editing windows witha single click.

The browser is the first thing you’ll seewhen you start the program. It’s designed tohelp you zero in on the sound you needquickly, no matter how many sounds are inyour library. The main window lets you navi-gate through instrument type, genre, synthe-sis type, and musical attributes like timbreand articulation. As you click on attributes inthe browser, Absynth narrows the list, display-ing only those sounds that meet your speci-fied criteria.

For quick tweaks to existing sounds, thePerform window, which brings together themost important performance parametersincluding 16-freely assignable macro controlsand a master ADSR section, can come inhandy. Limit yourself to the presets, however,and you’ll be missing out on the true powerof this synth.

Strange brewAbsynth 4 has a semi-modular architecture

that supports a range of synthesis typesincluding FM, sample playback, and granularsynthesis. See Fig. 2; you can choose as manymodules consisting of oscillators, filters andother modulators as you like and combinethem in various ways to produce differentsounds. In previous versions of the software

these moduleswere hard-wiredand could only beturned on or off,so the ability to re-route the signalflow is a hugeimprovement.

Each of threechannels mustcontain anOscillator (whichprovides the basicsound) and eithera ModulationModule, a Filter(14 types rangingfrom various highand low-pass toall-pass and notchfilters), or aWaveshapeModule, whichcan be used toimpart the charac-ter of a specificwaveform on yoursound. The signals

of channels A-C run together through theMaster Channel, where you can activate up tothree additional modules (the first two posi-tions can contain filters or modulators, whilethe third is reserved for effects such as delaysor resonators). One really slick feature is theability to store preset signal routings for laterrecall.

As in previous versions of the software, theoscillator modules offer a choice of six modes:Single, Double, FM, Ringmod, and Fractalize,plus Sample and Granular sample modes. Annew additional mode, the “Sync Granularmode,” can produce more organic soundssuch as blowing or strumming.

WindowsBasic sound design

takes place in the Patchwindow, where youchoose the number andtype of oscillators, fil-ters, and modulators,and determine the sig-nal flow. Parameters foreach module are alsoset here.

Effects are as integralto sound design inAbsynth as any otherkind of modulator. Inthe Effects window youcan choose from variousdelays and resonators(reverb), adjust levels,and control the sur-round sound mix.

The Wave windowhas tools for drawing,editing, and reshapingwaveforms. In addition

to using the factory waveforms, you canimport any AIFF or WAV file or even createyour own. User-generated waveforms can besaved and reused. Wave morphing allows youto combine two waveforms into one.

Modulation in Absynth is as simple as con-necting a source such as an LFO to a parame-ter. The LFO window lets you assign up tothree LFOs for tremolo and vibrato effects orother kinds of modulation.

But it is Absynth’s elaborate multi-stageenvelopes (Fig. 3) that continue to make itthe go-to choice for long, evolving texturedsounds and tempo-synced rhythms. Anyoneused to the standard ADSR controls found onmost synthesizers will have their minds blownby Absynth’s envelope window. Envelopes cannow include up to 68 individual breakpoints.You can create your own or choose from awide variety of envelope templates. The enve-lope step sequencer reduces much of thedrudgery of creating rhythmic sequences.

Absynth has long been the secret weaponof many a studio boffin, but in the latestrelease its performance characteristics havebeen enhanced for the stage. 16 macro con-trols allow multiple settings to be tweakedsimultaneously, and owners of KORE will behappy to hear that they are automaticallymapped onto KORE’s controllers. Envelopescan be automated, a boon to live perform-ance of ambient music.

Surround sound support doesn’t get anymore extensive than it is in Absynth. Whilemost people are still trying to wrap their headsaround 5-channel sound, Absynth can easilyhandle 7.1 heptaphonic and 8-channel octo-phonic. The surround features don’t feel gratu-

VIr e v i e w

Fig. 2: Absynth patches can include powerfulroutings of oscillators, filters, and modulators,which can be freely assigned to produce differentsounds.

Fig. 3: The envelope editor, which supports thecreation of envelopes with up to 68 breakpoints isunmatched by any other software synth.


BROADWAY BIG BAND(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43)

itous, as so many musicians already useAbsynth for soundscapes and film work.Absynth takes a visual approach to the processof moving sounds around the surround fieldthat allows for intuitive placement.

OuterworldlyAbsynth has always been powerful, but

until now that power has only been har-nessed by hardcore sound designers. NativeInstruments’ efforts to simplify operations areeverywhere, from the KORE browser and the

navigation bar to the ability to save andreuse waveforms, envelopes, and signalchains.

Although “sync granular” mode can takeyou part of the way, Absynth isn’t intended tobe an analog synth or to provide realisticemulations of acoustic instrument. Absynths’strong point is that there’s no better synth onthis (and most likely any other) planet fordelivering otherworldly, extra-dimensionalsoundscapes. Budding Enos should look nofurther. VI

The program creates its own internal MIDIbus, and the MIDI signal path isn’t all that dif-ficult to set up (unless you’re using AppleLogic Pro, in which case it’s a little tricky, buta sample environment is included). Almost allof the library is set up so that withoutPerformer the player makes no sound.

The Fable Sounds guys came up with avery clever scheme for managing keyswitches.

If you look at Fig. 3, you can see how FableSounds uses “modifier” keyswitches toincrease the number that are available, justlike you use the Shift, Alt, Option, etc. keyson a computer keyboard. So you hold downtwo notes to produce some effects.

There’s more to it than that, though. Someof the keyswitches, such as the bends intonotes and short and long falls, are tempo-rary—in fact you can sustain a note, thendecide to hit the fall keyswitch, and let go tomake just that note fall. Other keyswitchessuch as the growls and vibrato types will stickuntil you hit another key to turn them off,and ones like the staccato and staccatissimoswitches are active only while you hold themdown.

What interesting is that growls and falls canbe called up while you’re holding a note. Ifyou’re sustaining, say, a tenor sax and feelthat it’s getting boring, you can hit a key toswitch to a growl sound in real time. Samewith different vibrato types. What’s more, thekeyswitches are “multi-dimensional,” mean-ing that if your tenor sax player is growling,he keeps growling when he plays a fall.

It takes a little practice to get the hang ofwhat does what, but in practice you onlyhave to learn the most commonly used

keyswitches, and it’s no coincidence thatthese are the ones that don’t use a modifierkey. And you can always look at the cheatsheet before playing a line. It also helps thatthe keyswitches are as consistent as possiblebetween the instruments, for example thesame key that triggers a trumpet fall triggersa slide in the acoustic bass.

To make it still easier, Broadway Performerhas a window that displays the currentkeyswitch state. This display has a delay in thepre-release Mac version, but it’s still useful

while you’re learning the program. In generalthe keyswitches are programmed really well,and it’s very easy to play in lines that soundastonishingly credible.

Broadway Performer does some other inter-esting things under the hood. One is to setthe levels of samples when doing crossfades.

Another is to manage the legato feature,which is very sophisticated. It’s not justbetween two long notes—if you play a longnote followed by a short note, you get a lega-to transition to the short note. Similarly, withthe drums, if you hit the hi-hat and then“chick” it with your foot, you get a legatotransition sample from open hi-hat to footstomp.

Broadway Performer also manages thealternating samples. If you play repeatednotes, the cycle of alternate samples is differ-ent for each dynamic level of each note ineach articulation. And if you hold down thesustain, you get the actual recorded note rep-etitions.

System performanceIt’s not difficult to fill up a single machine

with this or any other mega-library, so FableSounds allows you to split BBB between up tothree machines (if you add a couple of don-

gles). That’s reasonable, since a program likeTrumpet 1 with modwheel crescendo enabledcan take up about 450MB on top of the100MB the HALion player uses when empty(assuming you have it at the recommended.3 sec Preload into RAM setting). Some pro-grams are smaller, for instance Trombonecrescendo is about 350MB, but there’s nogetting around RAM access if you want lots ofsamples. That is, unless you load thePolyphonic programs, which don’t have allthe same features.

This review was done on a dual 2.5MHz G5Mac, and BBB and Broadway Performer runon Windows as well. HALion player is reason-ably efficient with the processor, and thislibrary doesn’t use much polyphony, unlessyou can combine mic positions for differentdegrees of presence and room sound. You’restill likely to want to use some additionalreverb—possibly just the tail, since the record-ings contain the early reflections.

The bandWe’ve already raved about the horns, but

we should elaborate a little about the rangeof sounds that are possible. The saxes cansound soft and smooth such as you’d wantwhen they’re playing a strings-like role in aband; playing the staccatissimo articulationhard will give you a funky “pop!” sound as inTower of Power; and you can also get a mod-ern hot sax sound, especially in conjunctionwith the growl.

While the trumpets don’t have thestrongest tightened-sphincter screamingMaynard Ferguson sound in history, it’s stillvery capable of playing hard, tight parts—aswell as everything from soft and soulful to aheavy-vibrato Tijuana Brass sound. BBB’s clar-inet, which has deep vibrato (definitely not aconcert sound) is fantastic. This instrument isjust oozing with character and life. And thetrombone has a lot of attitude, whether it’sblatting or playing roundly.

The drums sound really good, and they’revery easy to play. One nice touch is that youopen and close the hi-hat (to tighten andloosen the sound when hitting it) with themod wheel or with a volume pedal; the con-tinuous transition sounds absolutely seamless.All kinds of hits are included, such as sticks onthe tom shells—at different dynamic levels.The release version will have five separatestereo outputs available (bass drum, snare,hats, toms, and cymbals).

BBB’s acoustic bass is just as good as thedrums, and finally, the funky old xylophone isgreat. The sound could have been polished toperfection, but that would have ruined it.

PreviewFable Sounds managed to get the sound

right while making all the Broadway Big Bandinstruments playable in real time. This is oneof the most impressive and ambitious librariesto come around in a few years. VI

Some of the keyswitches, such as the

bends into notes and short and long falls, are

temporary—in fact you can sustain a note,

then decide to hit the fall keyswitch, and let go to

make just that note fall.

VIr e v i e w


ing some semblance of a root to hold ittogether. Sounds very John Williams-ishwith some references to Holst. Thebrass sounds superb.

Yeah, one of the classic ways of creating afeeling of suspended action, as I would call it,especially in the science-fiction genre.Trumpets are custom.

This passage is a typical example where Ihad to use some tricks because of time pres-sure, and still achieve something interestingmusically. I remember first putting down the“root” triplets here, which are played by allstrings and timpani. I then added the triads

played by trumpets, horns, bones, and choir,hitting specific points on-screen.

At 3:46 you can hear I used a recordedtrumpet crescendo underlining the trumpetssustains already playing. Finally, I added thesnare flams and the low percussion hits,which follow the events on-screen. At 3:58you can hear a chromatic violin run I added,anticipating the climax moment.

6:13 to 6:27: here it is again. Movingtriads around, but in this exampleyou’re also moving the bass around,creating new harmonic structures.

Here the bass notes do change, exactly. Idid this intuitively, although it does comedown to certain intervals again and again.This is the moment the bad guy dies rightafter you started feeling sorry for him.

6:41 to 7:01: the strings sound wonderfulhere! How do you get them to bloom likethat? Is that the result of MIDI cc11?

These are diminuendo patches. They haveaccented attacks and then a bit of decrescen-do. Works wonderfully in situations like this,and there is no need for any true legato. The“blooming” is all in the performance of thesamples.

7:07 to 07:36: what fun! You have aHolst-like rhythmic pattern setting thetone while moving around some reallynice sounding brass. These are all cus-tom I presume—they sound fabulous.

The same triad movements are heard hereas at 3:37.

Superb, effective cue from start tofinish. Are you using any kind of specialprogramming or wave audio edits toget this piece to shine? Any tricks youwould like to share?

I do edit a lot of my samples including thecommercial libraries. For example I shortenstaccatos by simply batch-processing themwith a time stretch plug-in. Believe me, youwon’t hear any of the stretching artifactswhen the batched samples are used in a mixwith reverb and along with other instruments.

Sometimes I create looped versions of sus-tained notes. In this way composers canimprove their samples after purchasing, alter-ing them to their liking. I am definitely not afan of locked sample pools.

I see on your digital orchestration

website (www.digitalorchestration.com) that you use Steinberg Wavelab forediting. Here you mention shorteningstaccatos, looping sustains, creatingrelease triggers, and tightening theattacks of sustains. Could you explainthis?

Well Wavelab is just one example of a sam-ple editor, but I use it because it’s quick. Iexport a sample folder holding staccatos fromTASCAM GigaEdit (GigaStudio’s editing pro-gram), do a time stretch batch, import themagain, and save as a new patch. Takes twominutes.

Standard staccatos are often too slow forrapid notes such as triplets. A triplet playedwith staccato samples that are too long, orround, is an instant giveaway. If you look atthe Logic Arrange screenshot you will seemultiple staccato tracks and edited alterna-tions for the trumpets and trombones.

Please describe your MIDI approach.Are you playing in these parts live,scoring them in, or using a MIDI eventeditor of some kind? What type ofMIDI edits do you do generally?

Most of my parts I play in live on the mas-ter keyboard. Depending on the part and theinstrument (and the condition of my fingers) Ieither do a couple of takes to get it right, orleave it as it is and edit it in the piano roll edi-tor (the Matrix editor for Logic users).

Here I often improve the timing of notesand, important, the exact length I want themto have. The end timing of a note should feelnatural, as it would have been interpreted by

a real player. A bad end timing can be just asbig a “mockup” giveaway as the start timingof a note. I use quantization, although withcare. Some of the percussive and repetitiveparts get a bit of quantization, say 50 or60%.

Automation I do both in real time whileplaying, for instance by riding the modwheel,or afterwards by clicking curve points withthe mouse. Often I record it first, thenimprove it using the mouse.

What I’m trying to say is: think about thearticulation. How would real players articulatea certain passage, how would they attack anote, and how would they end it?

Let’s briefly touch upon your piece“Sniper on Second Floor.” Great cue.Tell us what you did here.

There are three percussion libraries usedhere: True Strike 1 for the classical percussion,True Strike 2 for all the world percussion andbig bangs, and Spectrasonics Stylus RMX forthe electronic groove.

To create the world drums I first layered afew patterns with the True Strike 2 AfricanDrum menu. Then I played the same patternusing some deeper hits from the Big Bangmenu. The drums I gave a bit of high gain,the big bangs a bit of low cut to leaveenough room for the orchestra. The result isthe big drums you hear in the final mix.

Very clean writing, arrangement andmix. Any mastering here?

The final master of this track was createdby Gabriel Shadid of Epic Score (thanksGabe!). The pre-master comes straight out ofLogic, with 3 “mastering” effects on the mainout: EQ (mainly low gain, high gain), a limiter(Waves L2), and the additional, subtle reverbtail from another Altiverb I spoke about earli-er.

In this cue the world percussion standsapart a bit from the orchestra. I did add a bitof reverb, but I didn’t put them farther backon the stage in the dry/wet ratio. The orches-tral percussion is True Strike 1, which hasalready been recorded in a hall ambience.

Do you find yourself using a lot ofsamples from your ProjectSAM ses-sions?

Well, as I mentioned before, all of myorchestral and world percussion is from TrueStrike 1 & 2. I do use SAM Solo Sessionsextensively, especially the full tuba and brass“espressivos,” but I do use my custom brassmore often than the ProjectSAM sectionbrass.

With ProjectSAM we just released Flute &Piccolo Effects, the first in an instrumenteffects series. I know I will be using samplesfrom this series a lot, even though I have lotsof effects in my custom library too. The bigadvantage of being part of the SAM team isof course that I get to try out the newlyrecorded samples first! VI

MIDI MOCKUP MICROSCOPE(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41)

I export a sample folder holding staccatos from

TASCAM GigaEdit (GigaStudio’s editing program),

do a time stretch batch, import them again, and

save as a new patch. Takes two minutes.

VIf e a t u r e

VI

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Huge sample libraries have a billion articu-lations for each instrument, and learning asample library is all about getting the soundsof those articulations in your head. But won-derful as it is to have all those articulations atyour disposal, long lists of programs becomeunwieldy in a hurry: solo violin 1, short note,three velocity layers, mf - ff, hard attack,modwheel controls dynamics, progressivevibrato, auto-alternating samples; same thingwith static vibrato; same thing with twovelocity layers; and so on—it can becomedizzying.

VSL’s Vienna Instruments player came alonga year ago, and among other tricks made itmuch easier to deal with their huge library.You can still load and unload all the individualarticulations, but there are also super-presetsthat let you say “I want solo trumpet.” Thenthings like legato samples and repetition sam-ple-rotating are automatic.

PLAY also lets you load the instrument andgo, as does Broadway Big Band. It takes morememory to work that way, but it’s a lot easier.

Fable Sounds had to write their own utilityprogram to manage the keyswitchesBroadway Big Band. Audio Impressions’upcoming mega-system will feature DVZ—automatic divisi—which splits notes to smallergroups of instruments if you play a chord.

TRENDS(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64)

The Vienna Instruments player’s Speed controlswitches to different articulations based onhow fast you play successive notes.

When developing Garritan solo instruments(so far Stradivari Violin and Gofriller Cello),Georgio Tommasini figured out how tophase-align sample layers so you can cross-fade between them seamlessly. We don’tknow everything that’s under the hood inPLAY, but it does have legato and samplealternation available for its programmers.

What all this comes down to is that devel-opers (and musicians) are no longer satisfiedwith standard “push the key and play backthe note” sampling. It’s almost expected thatthere will be a lot of sophisticated processinggoing on in the background. VI

The operating systems these days are way too complicated for the lay-man to troubleshoot when something goes seriously wrong. Andgiven that huge external hard drives are so inexpensive these days, it

makes little sense to try.Instead the best strategy is to make a clone of your system drive while

it’s in good health. Then if something goes wrong, you simply restore thedrive from the clone and go back to work. Who cares what went wrong.

You can use an internal drive for this, but an external FireWire, USB 2, oreSATA drive that you can take off-line is probably safer. Taking it off-lineprevents you or the operating system from getting confused and readingor writing something to the back-up instead of your system drive.

Now, dragging everything off your system drive to the back-up won’twork; there are lots of hidden files that don’t get copied. More importantly,a lot of music software is protected with hidden files. You need a real bit-for-bit, block-level clone of the drive to ensure that your authorizations areintact when you restore them.

Windows users can use utilities like Norton Ghost to do this. Mac OS Xcomes with Disk Tools, which you can find in the Utilities folder (inside theApplications folder, or just command/U from the desktop). Disk Tools doesmake bit-for-bit copies that should restore all your disk-based softwareauthorizations.

There are two kinds of block-level copies: image files, which contain allthe information from the source drive in one file but must be opened; andclones, which look like twins of the source drive. Among other uses, imagefiles would work well for storing multiple versions of a source drive on asingle destination drive (which of course would have to be much largerthan the source).

And now we get to the punch line for Mac OS X users, because theprocess in Disk Tools is not intuitive. See picture 1. Instead of making animage, go to the Restore tab. Drag the source disk onto the source fieldand the destination disk onto the destination field. If you need to restoreyour system drive, just reverse the source and destination. That’s easy.

Check out picture 2. What’s curious is that if you want to make block-level images (again: images, not clones) you go to the File menu and selectNew-> Disk Image from Folder. It’s also a good idea to start up from a dif-ferent drive from the one you’re cloning.

Note that it takes a while to make disk images. For daily back-ups youjust need a program that makes incremental back-ups, which means that itonly copies the files that have changed since. SuperDuper! fromShirtpocket Software is a good one for Mac OS X.

Making bit-for-bit image back-ups of a system drive

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multiple computers for the forseeable future.That scenario is not lost on EastWest, as

evidenced by a seemingly simple feature inPLAY: Network Control. You can load pro-grams into PLAY instances running on slavecomputers directly from the main machine by“remote control.” [Polite clapping.]

We’ve been doing the same thing withMIDI patch changes for years, of course, andseveral hardware samplers are capable ofloading samples in response to MIDI com-mands. But it’s good to see a sample platformdeveloper even acknowledge that it takesmore than one machine to run a modernsample library.

(The only other example that comes tomind is VSL, who allow their dongles to runsimultaneously on two machines, albeit tem-porarily.)

As to the advanced features in PLAY we’retaking for granted, these days most high-endlibraries are recorded from multiple mic posi-tions that you can mix and match. They havesome kind of sample-alternating routine foravoiding the identical note repeating“machine gun” effect.

VSL came along with recorded legato tran-sition samples, and that’s starting to becomecommon. EastWest’s new Quantum Leaplibraries have legato samples, and the FableSounds Broadway Big Band (reviewed in thisissue) has them. Libraries that don’t havethem, such as Sonic Implants SymphonicCollection, are now using sophisticated scriptsin Native Instruments Kontakt 2 to createsmooth transitions.

TASCAM introduced convolution process-ing in GigaStudio 3, not just for space simula-tion but as part of the sample processingitself. The first famous example is Larry Seyer’sterrific Acoustic Drums library, but we’re see-ing instrument body impulses in such librariesas the re-issued version of Dan Dean SoloStrings. At some point TASCAM’s GigaViolinwill come out using the same concept.

VI t r e n d s

Sampling KeepsAdvancing


PLAY, EastWest’s 64-bit sample-playingengine for all their new Quantum Leaplibraries (and for updates to some of

their existing ones), should be out sometimeduring this issue’s life on the shelves. Twothings struck me about this player when I firstsaw it at NAMM in January: 1. it brings anumber of solutions to problems that haveplagued sampling for a long time, and 2.sampling technology is moving so quicklythat we take a lot of its advanced features forgranted—even though this is all very new.

Now, the biggest step forward in PLAY isgreat but hardly a surprise: it has 64-bit mem-ory access. Rather than being limited to areal-world limit somewhere around 3GB perprogram, as all other samplers are for now, it

can access as much RAM for loading sample-starts as you can put in a computer.

So much for biggest problem plaguingmodern sampling technology: the need toresort to multiple computers in order to havelarge sample libraries loaded and ready toplay.

Except that it may not be quite that sim-ple. First, PLAY is not a universal product, butrather an engine for EastWest’s own libraries.Anyone who uses any other company’slibraries in their pallets will have to wait forother 64-bit samplers.

Still, that does seem likely to happen. 64-bit Windows Vista is here and 64-bit Mac OSX 10.5 is about to be, and developers haveknown about them for quite some time. Solet’s assume for the sake of argument that thememory access problem will be solved univer-sally.

After that there’s always the old-fashionedissue of horsepower. Even though the latestmachine is always “screaming,” music soft-ware programmers have a history of writingprograms that require just a little bit moremuscle than the fastest computers du jourhave available. There’s no reason to believethat’s going to change.

For example, word has it that ViennaSymphonic Library’s MIR convolution-basedmixing engine hasn’t appeared yet at leastpartly because of its processing demands, andAudio Impressions requires a dedicated top-line PC to run their DVZ control software andSpace ambience program. It’s not that theseapplications are pigs, it’s that they’re ambi-tious. Plus we like to run a lot of V.I.s andplug-ins, so it’s not difficult to reach the laststraw even with conventional arms.

And then when all’s said and done, thedevil’s in the details—it’s going to take awhile for the dust to settle…four successiveclichés to point out that a lot of softwarewon’t make the transition to 64 bits rightaway, and some will inevitably get leftbehind. So the odds are that those of us run-ning more sophisticated rigs will be running

virtual instruments magazine april-may.2007

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