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

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PPrroodduuccttiioonn mmaannaaggeerr:: Laurie Marans

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WWrriittiinngg ffoorr VViirrttuuaall IInnssttrruummeennttss MMaaggaazziinnee:: query

NB@VirtualInstrumentsMag.com or call 818/905-9101.

Our website is really nice! Doesnt 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 whatsin the current issue, get information about advertising, contact info,and

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

First, Id like to invite you all to join our discussion forum, VImag.net,which will be up and running by the time you read this. Its free, ofcoursejust 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. Were look-ing forward to lots of lively discourse.

VImag.net is the sister forum of the VI-Control.net composers forum,

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The next part of the www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com expansion isthat very shortly youll be able to manage your subscription accountsonline. Yes, that includes changing your address if you move (magazinesarent forwarded automaticallythey come back to us with postagedue), change your contact info, and so on. Thats coming online in thenext few weeks.

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

www.VirtualInstrumentsMag.com. Come on down, and buy someshwag while youre there.NB

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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 48Silencing 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.

38MIDI 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 Livesbiggest feature precisely that it does real-timetime stretching (warp). Among other things,its set up to be completely free-formyou canrepeat loops or sections as you see fit, thenmove on to the next Scene. Live also lets youdrag and drop effects, but above all its great forbuilding arrangements on the fly. Download thedemo from www.Ableton.com.

For those not familiar with ReWire, its 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 dont 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 Henningsons article in the 6-7/06 issue(The 3GB Switch).

But the 3GB switch is a tweakyou 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, youllfind a link to Mattias utility for simplifying theprocess. The link is labeled pretty clearly.

Whether theres an advantage to a 64-bitCPU without being able to access lots of memo-ry depends on the programs youre running.Theres 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 MacThe 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 ones 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:nb@virtualinstrumentsmag.com

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 cant 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 hereFig. 1). The sequence was idleat the time, but it is manageable when its 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 whos running where.

Whats 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 itdoesnt 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 howyoure routing the audio back into your DAWi.e. whether youre using hardware or soft-warebut yeah, it does go up. Soundflowers

I hope you find this tip an useful additionto Orrens 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.

Id 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 dont take up CPU(although they do increase memory usageand initial Song load time.)

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

Whats 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 isnt 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 arent loaded automatically. So thisis a trick to use on selected Audio Instruments youdont use all the time.

1 2 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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;Protg

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 Notions 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.

Protg ($99) brings Notions 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 Submersiblesgrowing library of A-list drummer loopcontent 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 L3-16s interfacemakes the unit behave like an equalizer,except that rather than boosting or cut-ting at each frequency, youre 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 companys CSR plug-in, and theirStretch and pitch and time stretcher-shifter.

This orchestra was recorded years ago in Dvork 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 originalGlitch 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

1 4 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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-MUs 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 sectioncomplete with talkbackand 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 Mackies 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

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 1 5

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

Garritans 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 itleft, right,forward, backand 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.

Garritans 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 Leapsix 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; Bsendorfer 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 SD2The 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-Coolchassis 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 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 Zeppelinincluding the same drum instruments Ringo and John Bonham used.

The same companies plus Qup Arts are offering grooves from big-name studio drummersthe 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

1 6 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

Most people associate digital synthswith certain signature sounds: ethe-real ambient spacescapes, crispbells, 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-bles31 one of them, to be exacteachcomprising 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 Wavegoing fromDIGital to BIGital 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

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 1 7

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 synthmaking it notonly VST-capable but alsoAU compliant and compati-ble with Intel Core 2 Duoprocessorsand 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 youll back-burnerany questions about my writing motivationand simply concentrate on the tips Ill 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 lets dive into some of the deeperaspects of the PPG and start making somenoise.

Whats in a wave? We all know that in traditional analog syn-

thesis, sounds are produced by running theoutput of an oscillatorusually a harmonical-

ly rich square or sawtooth waveforminto 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 PPGWaves 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.)

Lets 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; youll 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 firstoscillators 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 panels 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 theres 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. Youllnotice 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, youre like-ly thinking that it could be a bit difficult toget a handle on programming the PPG. Butits 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

1 8 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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, its 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) theres 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, its capable of producing somepretty amazing sounds.

Okay, enough background and theory. Letsget 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 lets go for something decidedly ana-

loga big fat padand 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);youll 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 well 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. Ive chosen wave 30 (the wave numberappears in the graphic display to the right). Ichose it because it sounds about right for the

brightness Im seeking, but there was also alittle math involved in the choice. Heres thedeal:

The PPGs 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 patchwell use offset, and thats 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 thats where it gets a bit tricky. Wevealready 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 Waves 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 waves 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

2 0 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

To avoid these four unwanted stragglers,we dont 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 fouror any combination of theabove adjustments that lowers the total byfour. Since we want our sweep length to bemaximized, lets lower waves-sub to 6, andkeep waves-osc at 30 and env1 waves at 23;30 + 6 + 23 = 59

By the way, if youre 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 youll have.

Okay, time to move ahead. If you playsome chords, youll hear a relatively thick ana-log-sounding pad with a gradually brighten-ing sweepand no filter is involved (yet, any-way). Still, the patch is not overly-inspiring, solets 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. Ahhbetteralready. Now press the digi button. Set keybmode to dual. This doubles the number ofvoices that soundessentially 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 were 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 youve got a nice big basic pad,

pretty much everything you do from thispoint on is a matter of tastevelocity 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 wheels setting is saved in eachpatch.

Waving good-bye.Ive 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 PPGs hood and start explor-ing the sonic possibilities. As the surfers say,theres nothing like catching a big wave, andthey dont 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 dont need to be saved

(until youre ready to close out your entire session). This means you can freely tweak your soundsand not worry that youll 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 youve taken your beloved ElectroVibe SynchroWhatsitpatch and turned it into BlandBlahBlahMush? Is EVSW gone forever?

Happily, no. Heres 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

2 2 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

by Nick Batzdorf

E-mu has been making elec-tronic music instrumentssince the early 70s, andtheyve been making samplerssince the early 80s. Since thentheyve 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 wasBut can it do what Im 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 wont be gone with the hard-ware.

Were 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).

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 2 3

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, Idplace MSO somewhere betweenold school RAM-based orchestrallibraries and the higher-end onesthat require at least two computersto load. Its 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 welltheyre 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, its 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 itsvery much a low-footprint library that youjust load and play. Its also an old-schoollibrary in that it doesnt 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 weve 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 basssoundwhich 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,theres 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, youll find a good selection of pluckedinstruments to use as a substitute for keys orguitars, and in general theres 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 MSOs strength is its compactnessusingthe 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.Youll need 32 MIDI channels (two 16-chan-nel ports) to access all those instruments inthis set-up.

Of course, thats not the entire librarytheres 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 dtache bowings.

Youll 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 todays standards.

The orchestra is set up in position followingthe standard set-up (violins to the conductorsleft, 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

2 4 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

If you possess a general knowledge of eachinstrument and its capabilities and limita-tions, chances are youll be able to sequencesatisfying phrases by using that knowledge incontext. Unfortunately, if you do not have thisknowledge youll 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 thatyoure using cross-fading patchesand quitefrankly thats 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 youll

never be able to apply standard orchestration principles to your MIDI

programming, so Id say its absolutely crucial to get this right.

by Thomas J. Bergersen

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 2 5

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. Its allabout relative expression and natural dynam-ics.

Without knowing the instrument you cantbegin to sequence believable phrases with it.As a general basic rule, its 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 youre 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 Im 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. Theres 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 youre 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 youreplaying 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 musicIll 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). Its 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.

Ive 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 theluxuries 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 its 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.

2 6 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

to imagine that youre 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 (ifyoure 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 youre 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 fffsome-thing most of you can relate toIm sure. Quite satisfying thereand then, but ultimately uselesswhen youre 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 dont 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. Youll 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 Illallow 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 youll 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

2 8 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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 cant keep up

with new software versions. Id 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 Sonys (then SonicFoundrys) revolutionary Acid. Like Acid, Live1.0 could also time stretch or compressloopsincluding the beats insideto 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 toLives MIDI tracks, so it can now work as ahost (but only for Lives 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. thats 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 tohot swap samples while playing, neweffects, and better project management.Its impossible to discuss all of the new fea-

tures in just a few pages, so Im going tofocus on my personal favorites.

For those just joining usIf 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-likeArrangement 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 loopsthey 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 feelin essenceyou are aligning them all to the master grid.You can vary the tempo in real time uponplayback, or set up Tempo Automation onLives 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.

V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S 2 9

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 its 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 loops 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. Ivewanted 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.

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

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 Locatormarkers 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 loopsand 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 stopsound (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.

3 2 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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 Lives 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 (Id 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 modulationsuch asenvelopes and LFOsto 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 youre 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? Youll pay only $16.95 a year or $26 for two years, compared to $59.40 on the newsstand.

Not only that, youll 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.

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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.

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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)

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

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Mungo

3 4 V I R T U A L I N S T R U M E N T S

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, Samplers 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 theres always moreLive 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 Illbe 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 Ive 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 couldnt