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Sos Uk 2020 09 PDF
TM
MUSIC PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES / INDEPENDENT IN-DEPTH PRODUCT TESTS / ENGINEER & PRODUCER INTERVIEWS / LIVE SOUND
HOW TO
CHOOSE AN
AUDIO
SEPTEMBER 2020
INTERFACE
www.soundonsound.com
Studio One 5
PreSonus tempt the pros with massive update
REVIEWS: APPLE / ARTURIA / LIQUIDSONICS / CRANBORNE AUDIO / RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS / IK / OUTPUT / AKG / DDMF / NOVATION / VSL
TECHNIQUE: MANAGING SIBILANCE / REMOTE REHEARSAL WITH JAMULUS / DAW WORKSHOPS September 2020 £5.99
LEADER
CHOICES CHOICES
W
hy is Sound On Sound publishing a the best audio interface for me?’, because that
major article about choosing an audio would be silly. It’s a complex question, and like Sam Inglis
interface? Many reasons. One is that most complex questions, it’s best answered by Editor In Chief
audio interfaces are now the most universal item breaking it down into smaller questions that
of studio equipment there is. It’s possible to are more easily answered, as we’ve done in this
make music without a microphone, or without month’s cover feature. “In an increasingly
loudspeakers, but who now does so without However, researching the feature also brought
a computer? home to me that choice can end up feeling like an
crowded market,
Another is that choosing an audio interface illusion. There are thousands of electric guitars on perhaps there
is difficult. Simply identifying your own present the market, but how many are not derived from a
and future needs is hard enough; deciding which 60-year-old Fender or Gibson template? Likewise,
are still untapped
product best meets them is even harder. There are I can buy a 1U rackmounting interface with eight opportunities for
hundreds, possibly thousands of devices on the mic preamps, a couple of headphone amps and
market, and it’s not always obvious what an ADAT port for expansion from dozens of
manufacturers
separates them. manufacturers. But what if I want more than two to make their
Yet another reason is that buying an audio headphone outputs? What if the ideal number
interface is not like buying a guitar or a synthesizer. of preamps for me is 10, or 12? What if I own no
products stand out
It’s not only a difficult decision, but a boring one. other rackmount gear, and would prefer a desktop from the herd.”
The device we use to get audio into and out of our unit? What if I want transformer-balanced preamps
computer isn’t an inspirational one that can help that can be pushed for a bit of saturation and
us reach new heights of creativity. Not many of colour? What if I’d like an audio interface that can
us want to be comparing spec sheets or counting host 500-series modules, or one with an integrated
input connectors when we could be making music. patchbay, or DAW transport controls, or one that
This is where Sound On Sound can bridge the is optimised for driving modular synths?
gap. It’s our job to know what musicians shouldn’t In an increasingly crowded market, perhaps
have to learn in order to make music. And it’s our there are still untapped opportunities for
mission to present that information in ways that manufacturers to make their products stand out
make difficult choices easier. We won’t pretend from the herd — and make choosing an audio
there’s a simple answer to the question ‘What’s interface less boring?
4 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
THE ORIGINAL RED KEYBOARDS
Handmade in Sweden by Clavia DMI AB NEW!
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Distributed in the UK & Ireland by Sound Technology Ltd | 01462 480000 | soundtech.co.uk | info@soundtech.co.uk
124 INSIDE TRACK
IN THIS ISSUE
September 2020 / issue 11 / volume 35
www.soundonsound.com
FEATURES WIN
112 Modular Interfacing 162 Why I Love... The JBL Control One
Everything you need to know to get your DAW talking to your Sound designer Helen Skiera explains her love for a small but
modular system via your audio interface. plucky loudspeaker.
96 HOW TO CHOOSE AN AUDIO INTERFACE
ON TEST
8 IK Multimedia iRig Keys 2 Mini 74 Yamaha CP88 & YC61 142 Soundevice Digital
Controller Keyboard Stage Keyboards SubBass Doctor
Sub-bass Generator Plug-in
10 AKG Lyra 88 Output Thermal
Multi-pattern USB Microphone Parallel Distortion Processor 142 Neunaber Wet Reverberator
12 Yamaha THR10 II 94 Plugin Alliance Brainworx
Reverb Plug-in
Guitar Amplifier
Amek EQ200 144 Sugar Bytes Looperator for iPad
14 Liquidsonics Cinematic Rooms EQ Plug-in Step-based Multi-effects Processor
Reverb Plug-in
116 Arturia AudioFuse Studio 146 Sample Libraries
18 Cranborne Audio EC2 USB Audio Interface Sample Logic Cinematic
Dual-channel Mic Preamp Guitars Motion
120 Novation Launchkey MkIII
22 DDMF Magic Death Eye Orchestral Tools Tableau Solo
Controller Keyboard Strings
Compressor Plug-ins
38 PreSonus Quantum 2626 130 Apple Logic 10.5 Sonic Atoms Baltic Shimmers
IK Multimedia
PAUL WHITE
E
ssentially a cut-down version of
8 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
SM6
AKG Lyra
Multi-pattern USB Microphone
This classy USB mic offers a useful
range of polar patterns.
PAUL WHITE
jack at the base of the unit next to
the USB connector. Don’t forget to
U
SB microphones are nothing mute the source audio monitoring
new but there’s a lot more to in your DAW though, or you’ll hear
the AKG Lyra than its gloriously both the latency-free signal and the
vintage look, which tips a nod towards slightly delayed one that has done
both vintage broadcast mics and AKG’s the round trip to and from your
own C414. While clearly of appeal DAW. There’s a rotary headphone
to podcasters and videocasters, the level control on the front of the mic,
microphone also has applications in along with a mute button that kills
home or mobile music recording. the mic without cutting off the DAW
The Lyra sits atop a custom all-metal playback. Four LEDs show which
desk stand, and the swivel section can mic pattern is selected. On the
be separated by using a coin to unscrew rear panel, alongside the pattern
the threaded thumbscrew that secures selection knob, there’s a control for
it to the base of the stand. The mic and microphone gain.
swivel section may then be mounted on Offering plug-and-play simplicity,
a standard mic stand, and an EU thread the class‑compliant Lyra operates
adaptor is included. Built into the case with 24-bit conversion and can run
is a shockmount for the capsules and a at sample rates of up to 192kHz.
sound diffusor to help reduce plosive pops. No drivers are needed for Mac OS
Power comes from the USB port into which or Windows operation, and for iOS
the mic is plugged; a suitable USB cable is use an Apple Camera Connection
also included. For those who haven’t yet Kit USB adaptor will do the trick.
decided on which DAW to go with, a copy AKG specify the frequency range of
of Ableton’s Live 10 Lite is included. the mic as 20Hz to 20kHz, though
Perhaps the most noticeable departure this isn’t as informative as a proper options provide practical alternatives when it
from convention is that the Lyra actually frequency response (-3dB points) comes to recording music, dual voiceovers or
incorporates four back-electret capsules, figure. The maximum SPL is 129dB, capturing a stereo source. Note though that the
two angled slightly away from each other so as long as you don’t use it for headphone volume control adjusts both the
and forward facing, plus two rear-facing close-miking kick drums or trumpets, DAW playback and the mic’s direct monitoring
capsules angled the same way. AKG you probably won’t run out of level, so if the balance isn’t to your liking, you’ll
call this their Adaptive Capsule Array. headroom. I couldn’t find a noise need to adjust your DAW’s output level. Some
A four‑way rotary switch then selects specification but ,in its intended use, other USB mics provide a DAW/Source balance
between four pickup patterns depending noise was never an issue. control, which does make life a little easier.
on the application. Position one is for In use, I found the desk stand to This is a very flexible little microphone that
a single user sitting in front of the mic be very solid, and weighty enough goes well beyond the usual remit as a simple
and yields a cardioid polar pattern, while at 900g to keep the mic in place. podcaster’s USB mic. The fact that it looks great
position two accommodates a pair of It also has a rubbery non-slip base doesn’t hurt either.
performers, one behind the mic and one in to further prevent it sliding around.
front. This appears to be an omni pattern. The mic delivers a clean, relatively summary
Position three picks up from the front of the uncoloured vocal sound but it also
mic in a tight stereo pattern, while position proved itself perfectly capable The Lyra sounds clean and quiet, looks fantastic
and adds some useful functionality to the usual
four picks up both front and rear in a wide when recording acoustic guitar
USB mic format.
stereo pattern for occasions when more and a wooden flute. The various
ambience is needed. patterns are very useful, and
££ £139 including VAT.
A headphone amplifier with although the first option (cardioid)
TT Sound Technology +44 (0)1462 480000
zero‑latency source monitoring is built is the most obvious choice for EE info@soundtech.co.uk
into the microphone, the headphone podcasting or recording vocals, WW www.soundtech.co.uk
connection point being a 3.5mm stereo those stereo and double-sided WW www.akg.com
10 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
POWER TO CREATE
[ T O R A I Z A S -1 ]
ANALOG SYNTHESIZER
Yamaha THR10 II
Guitar Amplifier
Though small and quiet,
this stereo combo is big on
possibilities...
T
he THR10 II is the smallest in Yamaha’s II Although it’s not monstrously on the 2.4GHz wireless band, the Relay
series, measuring just 368 x 183 x 140 mm and loud, it still packs a hefty G10T requires no licence.
weighing only 3.2kg. Despite this, and looking punch if you crank it up, and The bottom, rear and sides of the
like a typical lunchbox amp head, it’s actually a tiny it could even be loud enough cabinet are made of thick, moulded
combo that caters not only for electric guitar but for a small pub duo gig if plastic, but the top panel and speaker
also for bass and acoustic guitar. What’s more, it has you don’t have to compete grille are fabricated from sheet metal,
stereo capability: as well as the digital modelling side with a drummer. For those giving the amp a robust, professional feel.
of things, it houses a pair of robust 3.1-inch speakers, who are new to the world Orange LEDs glow behind the grille, and
each driven from its own amp. of recording, both versions the power button has an LED ring that
Yamaha describe the two THR10 II amps (there’s come with a download code also lights orange when powered up.
a standard THR10 II and a ‘wireless’ THR10 IIW for a free copy of Steinberg’s When powered down but still plugged it
version, of which more later) as ‘third amplifiers’, Cubase AI (for Mac/Windows) turns green to indicate that the internal
for use on occasions when serious sound quality and Cubasis LE (for iOS) battery is charging.
is required but excessive volume isn’t. And judging DAW software. The THR10 II features some inbuilt
by the tests I’ve conducted, it could certainly earn The THR10 IIW wireless effects, a choice of amplifier type, and
its place either in a studio that’s stuck for space, version, which is otherwise the ability to play back external audio
or one in which there’s a need to keep a check on identical to the non-wireless in stereo, for when you get the urge
sound levels. version, caters for wireless to play along. There’s a USB port for
guitar playing using the connecting to the free editor app, which
Overview optional Line 6 Relay G10T comes in two versions: one for Mac/
While the name suggests this might be a 10W amp, it transmitter. It works only with Windows machines, and a mobile version
is in fact rated at 20W when powered by its included the G10T, not with older Line for both iOS and Android. Usefully, it’s
mains adaptor, or 15W when running off a its internal 6 Relay radio transmitters, also possible to record and play back
lithium battery. (The latter gives you around five hours and it charges the device for directly via USB; the amp appears as
12 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
a class-compliant interface. Another DI recording
option is the speaker-emulated headphones output
— you can connect this to your audio interface’s line
input, or feed it into a more powerful amplification
system if you need to. (The main speakers are muted
when phones are connected.) Should you be looking
for more, it’s worth mentioning that the larger THR30
II has a dedicated line output for this purpose.
The amp models are all based on Yamaha’s
established VCM component-level modelling, and
they are controlled using Gain, Treble, Middle and
Bass knobs, along with the amp’s Master volume
control. Two further controls adjust the overall levels
of the guitar amp sound and the external Aux stereo
mini-jack or Bluetooth source. Five buttons allow the
direct storing and recalling of presets.
From the front panel, you can access eight models,
including acoustic, bass and flat. But this range is
expanded considerably when the app is running,
because this provides a choice between Modern,
Boutique and Classic versions of the selected amp
type. The electric guitar amps are designated Clean, The companion app gives access to lots of
Crunch, Lead, Hi-Gain and Special. Two familiar ‘hair’ to take away the sterility additional functionality, including more cab models
‘segment’-style rotary controls are used for selecting makes for convincing chordal and more parameters for each effect.
and adjusting the modulation effects (Chorus, Flanger, tones. Its more rocky tones
Phaser, Tremolo) and the delay/reverb effects (Echo, also stack up well against can balance the contribution of each of
Echo/Reverb, Spring Reverb, Hall Reverb), and other good-quality modelling the two effects.
turning these fully anti-clockwise turns off the effects. products. The amp deals with The headphone output is very usable
A tap-tempo button, normally used to set delay times, bass very effectively at modest as a DI feed, complete with stereo effects,
activates a very accurate chromatic tuner if held down levels, yet it’s clean enough and that will be useful to some, but I found
for a second or two. and bright enough to work I still preferred the experience of putting
The app offers you greater control a mic in front of the amp.
over the effects, though, as well as It doesn’t have to be
providing a choice of four appropriate “The quality and range of sounds turned up loud to sound
cabinet emulations per amplifier good over a mic, and you
type. In addition it allows access to available from this little amp came can always add some
an internal gate and compressor as a pleasant surprise.” stereo ambience later or
and allows more alternative reverb use two mics if you want
types to be selected (Room, Hall, to capture some of the
Plate or Spring). The Plate sounds beautifully rich and with acoustic guitar using the stereo spread on the effects.
‘three-dimensional’. Other app features include setting Acc setting. So, all in all, the quality and sound is
the guitar DI mode as dry or with effects, choosing Yamaha also use their own impressive for an amp of this size, and
an EQ profile for the auxiliary audio input, and giving stereo enhancement system, the app and USB interfacing make it
an indication of the battery’s current charge level. called Extended Stereo, really versatile. The THR10 II may look
Any of the app-only options, including the three amp to create very spacious compact and cute, but it’s certainly no toy.
variants, can be stored as presets in the THR10 II, so effects and that’s particularly Whether you prefer the wireless model
you only need to revisit the app when creating new noticeable on the reverbs. The or the standard one depends on your
presets that require these deeper functions. general quality of the effects requirements and budget, of course. You’d
is excellent, as you’d expect still need to buy a Line 6 Relay G10T to go
The Sound of Yamaha. Editing them only wireless, but if you do need it, the wireless
Both the quality and range of sounds available from via the front panel limits your implementation is very elegant.
this little amp came as a pleasant surprise. Using the options a little, but the app
app to navigate the three flavours of each of the amp allows for more flexibility, summary
settings and try different cab models I could get close especially when using the
A surprisingly mature-sounding little combo
to just about any of the classic guitar tones. What’s reverb/delay setting. As well
that has serious studio applications as well as
more, you still get the sense of low-end punch that as adjusting the individual practice, live and mobile uses. The wireless
you’d expect from a larger combo, which is impressive effect settings in greater version is easy to use for those who need it.
from such small speakers. Those on-the-edge sounds depth (you get around the
that break up as you dig that bit harder into the strings same number of controls for ££ THR10 II £299.99. THR10 IIW (wireless
can be set up fairly easily using the Crunch Amp each effect as you would on version) £449.99. Prices include VAT.
setting, and dialling in a sound that has just a little a pedal of the same type), you WW uk.yamaha.com
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 13
ON TEST
Liquidsonics
Cinematic Rooms
SAM INGLIS
Reverb Plug-in
P We bask in the reflective glory of a rather
opular wisdom has it that
algorithmic and convolution
reverbs are polar opposites. The special algorithmic reverb generator.
one is endlessly flexible, but compromised
in authenticity; the other can be spookily and he’s since developed his own of users working in surround, and if your
realistic but is essentially preset-based, Fusion-IR technology to offer much of system is capable, multichannel formats
with limited potential for editing. the editing flexibility we take for granted up to 7.1.6 are supported. (Pro Tools, for
That might have been true a decade in algorithmic reverb. Highlights along example, only supports channel formats
ago, but since then, the boundaries have the way have included Seventh Heaven, up to 7.1.2, so a workaround is required
become well and truly blurred. Impulse a semi-official recreation of the celebrated for 7.1.4 and 7.1.6.)
responses have been appropriated to Bricasti M7 hardware unit, and Lustrous Cinematic Rooms is available for Mac
bolster the realism of algorithmic plug-ins, Plates, an open-ended and versatile plate and Windows operating systems, in VST,
while convolution technology has become reverb simulation. AU and AAX Native formats. Both the
ever more mutable in the hands of some With Liquidsonics’ latest product, the basic and the more expensive Professional
clever designers. process has almost reached its logical edition support all the relevant surround
One of the clever designers at the conclusion, because Cinematic Rooms configurations, but the latter provides
forefront of this process has been is very much an algorithmic reverb, more presets and, as we’ll see, more
Matthew Hill of Liquidsonics. His first albeit one that still incorporates some options for tailoring your reverbs within
product, Reverberate, introduced novel convolution elements. It also represents a surround mix. An iLok account is
modulation possibilities into convolution, a serious attempt to address the needs required for authorisation. Being mostly
14 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
algorithmic, Cinematic Rooms also doesn’t
have an enormous IR library, so needs only Decorrelation Coding
200MB drive space.
Perhaps the simplest way to create a sense of the reasons why it still sounds very good
Known Unknowns of space around a signal would be to send even when auditioned in mono. But what no
it to two very short delay lines with slightly reverb can do is eliminate correlation between
Much about Cinematic Rooms’ interface different delay times, and pan those hard left the source signals that are being fed to it. In
will be familiar to anyone who’s ever used and right. If that’s all you did, it would probably other words, if you took those two delay lines
a reasonably sophisticated algorithmic be reasonably effective — until someone and sent both of them to the same reverb
listened to it in mono. Because the left and plug-in, the resulting reverb would inevitably
reverb. As is often the case, early
right channels in such a delay are identical sound comb filtered regardless of the quality
reflections are controlled separately apart from a few milliseconds’ time difference, of the plug-in.
from the reverb tail, and many of the collapsing them together will cause them Cinematic Rooms Professional introduces
controls in both cases are standard. So, to interfere with each other and introduce a novel way around this. If you want to apply
for example, the early reflections section unpleasant comb filtering. the same reverb setting to two or more sources
includes controls for the Reflectivity of This is an extreme example of ‘correlation’, in your mix that are correlated, you can set up
where two signals have ongoing similarities multiple instances of the plug-in and choose
the virtual space, along with the Diffusion
that bring about audible consequences when different ‘decorrelation coding’ patterns for
of the reflections that are generated
they’re combined. There are various things that each. In the example above, you could apply
and the spacing between them (Size), can be done to reduce the level of correlation the same hall or chamber preset to each
while the reverb tail parameters include between two related signals; in the example of the delay lines, and as long as you used
overall Reverb Time and Pre-delay. above, the use of slightly different pitch-shift different decorrelation coding settings and had
High-frequency roll-off and modulation settings on either side is a well-known trick. Cinematic Rooms 100-percent wet, you’d hear
within both early reflections and In a well-designed reverb plug-in, every no comb filtering.
channel’s output should be fully decorrelated In truth, I struggled to find a real-world
reverb tail are also controllable in the
from that of every other channel and from application for this feature — ultimately,
normal way, and there’s an entirely the source itself — whilst, of course, retaining if your source tracks don’t combine
conventional EQ section. enough of the source’s sonic character to be unproblematically in mono then you have
At the same time, though, you’ll also recognisable as reverberation from that source. bigger problems than correlated reverb! — but
notice a few more unusual parameters. This is true of Cinematic Rooms and it’s one it’s a thoughtful provision.
The early reflections section is notable
for a control labelled Proximity, offering
a variety of settings starting with Adjacent tunnel would be very pronounced, but a significantly different character from the
at one end to Far and then Reverse also limited to the side from which the front-back reflections. And in Cinematic
at the other. This idea is to offer more source is approaching. At the other end Rooms Professional, this sort of effect can
realistic and nuanced control over the of the spectrum, completely decoupling be recreated. All parameters default to
apparent position of the source within the the reverb propagation from the source global control, but they operate within
virtual space than is obtainable with just position could also be an effective tool individual stereo ‘planes’: left-right, rear
a pre-delay control, and the results fully in scenes where an actor is struggling to left-right and so on. Any parameter for
justify the means. The reverb tail section, locate the origin of a sound. any plane can be de-linked from the
meanwhile, includes a parameter named This brings us to the other main global setting and varied: so, in the
Bloom, which shapes the build-up or onset distinction between the basic and example above, the horizontal planes
of the reverb. Professional versions of Cinematic Rooms,
which is a concept Liquidsonics call ‘reverb
Plane Simple planes’. As I’ve already mentioned, the Liquidsonics
One of the things that makes Cinematic basic version supports all feasible surround
Rooms unique is a set of parameters formats, but with the limitation that all
Cinematic Rooms
available only in the Professional version, settings apply to all channels equally.
$199/$399
where both early reflections and reverb There are plenty of circumstances where pros
tail feature an X-Feed section. The that would be more than adequate, and • Sounds great.
controls found here determine the way anyone using Cinematic Rooms solely as • Unusually detailed control over
early reflections.
in which reverb from a source in one a stereo reverb will probably get by fine
• The concept of ‘reverb planes’ will be an
channel propagates through the others. without the Professional version. But if asset to anyone working in surround,
The available parameters are Level, you’re mixing for surround configurations especially in post-production.
Delay and Roll-off; the function of each is such as Dolby Atmos that offer precise
self-explanatory, but their purpose might localisation in all three dimensions, cons
• If you want trashy reverbs, you won’t find
not be. The point is to be able to specify there are also circumstances where you
them here.
the extent to which reverb ‘belongs want things to behave in different ways
to’ a source and reflects that source’s in different planes. summary
position in the sound stage. The value of Consider, for instance, how sound Cinematic Rooms is a very high-class
this feature is arguably most important in might behave in a long, thin hall with no algorithmic surround reverb, and although
some of its features are designed with
post-production, especially in surround roof. Apart from a few early reflections
post-production users in mind, it works
sound. Imagine, for example, a film scene from the floor, there would be no extremely well in music mixing and in
where something is moving towards the reverberation in the vertical plane, while stereo too.
viewer along a tunnel: the reverb from the the left-right ambience might have
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 15
ON TEST
L I Q U I D S O N I C S C I N E M AT I C R O O M S
16 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Aston Stealth
The most versatile mic in the world
National Association of
Music Merchants (NAMM)
Cranborne
Audio EC2
Dual-channel Mic Preamp
With added functionality and improved specs,
this great preamp just got better.
HUGH ROBJOHNS Camden 2-channel’ and it is so described All the electronics for both preamps, the
because the EC2 combines a pair of headphone amps, and the power supplies
W
hen it comes to choosing Camden preamps with two high-quality sit on a large motherboard. Subsidiary
mic preamps, some value headphone amps and Cranborne’s cards carry the front-panel controls and
clean performance, while for Ethernet-based CAST interface system. rear-panel connectors. Surface-mount
others ‘character’ is all. A couple of years The CAST system and headphone amp components are used throughout, and
ago, the clever people at Cranborne Audio design were introduced in the company’s an elaborate DC-DC converter section
came up with a way of delivering both in 500R8 500-series interface (reviewed generates the internal power rails from
one design, with a very clever, controllable in September 2019: https://sosm.ag/ an external 24V DC line-lump PSU,
means of adding different characters that cranborne-500r8), and used in the which connects via a locking ‘Power-DIN’
they called ‘Mojo’. It was introduced in the 500ADAT (reviewed November 2019: plug and has a standard IEC mains
superb Camden 500 preamp (reviewed https://sosm.ag/cranborne-500ADAT). As inlet. Unusually, the mains safety earth
in October 2018: go to https://sosm.ag/ the EC2’s various individual elements have is also extended to the rack chassis via
cranborne-camden500 to read more), already been covered in previous reviews, the negative side of the DC supply,
which impressed the editors at SOS so I’ll focus here mostly on how the EC2 and a marked screw on the rear panel
much it was Highly Commended in our works as a complete package. is also provided as a chassis grounding
Gear Of The Year reviews. terminal, if required.
Cranborne have recently built on
Preamp Overview An unplanned benefit of laying out the
this preamp design to create a new 1U Although the preamps in the EC2 appear Camden preamp circuitry for the EC2’s
rackmounting device, the EC2. The name much like the Camden 500 module turned much larger circuit board was slightly
is not an expensive London postcode, on their sides, and sound every bit as improved intermodulation (IMD) and total
but rather it derives from ‘Expander good, the construction is very different. harmonic (THD) distortion figures, both
18 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Cranborne’s clever Mojo circuit can transform this brilliantly clean,
quiet preamp into a wonderfully characterful colour machine.
On the rear, each preamp has a single and one for an external stereo aux input.
XLR for the mic input, with a toggle switch The long, thin control knobs look and feel
to select the remote CAST input instead good, but I’d have preferred some visual
(see below). On the front, a quarter-inch distinction for the master level controls.
TRS socket caters for balanced line and The external auxiliary input comes
unbalanced instrument DI connections. The either from a pair of rear-panel TRS
preamp outputs are presented on both ‘Aux’ sockets, or the ‘CAST Out’ return
XLR and TRS sockets, and a ground-lift signal. The Aux sockets take priority, and
toggle completely isolates pin 1 of the XLR plugging only into the left input provides
(but doesn’t affect the sleeve ground of the a dual-mono signal. By default, the two
TRS socket) when engaged. A brand‑new preamp signals are fed to the headphones
facility for the EC2 is a TRS output socket in stereo, with preamp 1 in the left ear and
labelled ‘Link’, which provides an actively preamp 2 in the right, but a front-panel
buffered, impedance-balanced output
right after the input selector, and before
the gain stage and Mojo sections. This is Cranborne Audio EC2
of which were already spectacularly intended to feed an instrument amplifier £1099
good! Another small improvement, when using the instrument input, like a DI
introduced in the Camden 500 module box, but can also be used for re-amping pros
after serial number 500 and carried duties when using a line input. It’s a very • A pair of superbly clean and quiet Camden
preamps in a 1U rack box.
over into the EC2, improved the thoughtful, handy addition.
• Mojo circuitry is astonishingly
rejection of RF interference. characterful, versatile and controllable.
Operationally, the preamp sections
Headphone Amps • Two independent, powerful headphone
have the same controls and layout The EC2’s headphone amps are amps with external cue inputs and full
as the Camden 500: a switched gain reassuringly quiet and clean, and they’re mixing facilities.
• CAST interfaces for low-cost stagebox and
control, with 12 5.5dB steps, avoids very powerful, being able to deliver over single-cable interconnection options.
gain-bunching problems and allows 0.5W into each earpiece for headphone • Very nicely engineered.
accurate matching of channels; there impedances between 32 and 220 Ω, the
are toggles for polarity inversion, power delivery being at a maximum for cons
a high-pass filter (80Hz, first order), headphones around 100Ω impedance, • The line-lump PSU will disappoint some
potential customers.
phantom power (with status LED) reaching a chunky 1.21W. I could drive all
and input source (mic, line or DI). The of my headphones (ranging from 32-250 Ω) summary
Mojo section has another toggle to to painfully loud levels without difficulty. Cranborne have repackaged their brilliant
select its Cream or Thump modes and Each headphone amp has a front-panel Camden preamps into a dual-channel
rackmount format, combined with a pair
a rotary control for the amount, with quarter-inch TRS output, and the output
of powerful independent headphone
a backstop switch to turn the facility volume is adjusted with a slim rotary knob. amps to provide convenient and flexible
off. A single multicolour LED indicates The other three knobs set the input source latency-free monitoring.
the signal level. levels, with one for each preamp channel
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 19
ON TEST
CRANBORNE AUDIO EC2
As well as the expected inputs and outputs, the rear panel plays host to the CAST ports and a handy ‘Link’ socket,
which allows you to pass a ‘thru’ signal from the instrument input to your amp, or to re-amp mic/line signals.
switch allows auditioning in mono (both the four twisted pairs and screen of an However, for longer runs, and especially
preamps in both ears). Ethernet cable (of up to 100m) to convey with mic-level signals, I’d probably want to
Not many two-channel mic preamps four balanced audio signals, two in each use a Cat7 cable.
include headphone amps, but it makes direction. Although Cat5 is mentioned
a lot of sense for modern project-studio in the name, shielded Cat5e, Cat6 or
Verdict
workflows and practices. For example, Cat7 cables can be used, and individually I was hugely impressed with the sound
when working out the best position for shielded Cat7 is preferred when working quality, technical performance and
placing a mic relative to an acoustic with mic-level signals. It’s an entirely versatility of the Camden 500 preamp,
instrument it’s essential to be able to listen passive system — in the breakout boxes and the EC2 version is every bit as good;
as the mic is moved around; being able to the RJ45 sockets are wired directly to it remains one of my all-time favourite
plug headphones straight into the preamp the XLR/jack sockets — so it’s a very preamps. It boasts not only superbly
to do that is remarkably convenient. But the cost-effective and convenient way of clean, quiet and dynamic performance as
real raison-d’être is to provide convenient, extending connections. a straight preamp, but also an extraordinary
high-quality, latency-free, independent On the back of the EC2 are two CAST ability, courtesy of the Mojo circuit, to
monitoring for up to two performers while sockets, one labelled ‘CAST In’ and one become the most versatile, characterful
recording. Each artist can listen directly to ‘CAST Out’, although both actually carry preamp I know. The fact that the EC2
their mic, with or without a contribution two channels in each direction. The CAST has slightly better technical specifications
from the second mic/instrument input Out socket carries the analogue line than the Camden 500 is a pleasant bonus,
channel, and with a mono or stereo backing outputs from the two preamp channels, although I doubt anyone will hear the
track via the external inputs. The artist can while its return signals are routed to improvements unless working in an area
also balance the input source levels and the headphone amps, along with the with strong RF interference. The rackmount
overall volume exactly as required from the stereo auxiliary inputs. format actually makes it more desirable
front panel. In a small project studio or on A typical application for this would to me, and the inclusion of headphone
location, these facilities make life so much be to connect an EC2 preamp directly to amps that match the high-quality standards
simpler and easier. a 500ADAT or 500USB rack, for example, of the preamps opens a new world of
using just the one Ethernet cable, with convenience and practicality. I could see
CAST a monitor mix from the rack being sent many more manufacturers following this
CAST is an abbreviation of ‘Cat5 Analogue back to the EC2’s headphone amps. idea in the future.
Signal Transport’ and is Cranborne’s On the input side, the CAST In socket Overall, I have to say that the EC2
method for using low-cost shielded allows remote input connections to the is one of the most desirable, capable,
Ethernet cabling instead of traditional preamps, so an Ethernet cable can be used versatile and practical preamps I’ve used
analogue multicore. The system uses to link the EC2 to a CAST breakout box in a very long time. Given its phenomenal
elsewhere in the room, serving as a snake audio quality and flexibility, with two
Alternatives and stagebox. The two return signals excellent preamps, two headphone amps,
Audio interfaces aside, there aren’t many sent back down to the CAST breakout and the CAST interfacing options, it
dual-channel preamps with headphone box come from the headphone monitor represents exceptional value for money,
monitoring. The Neve 1073DPX and the mixers of the two headphone amplifiers, too. If you’re in the market for a serious
new Neumann V402 both have a single
at line level. new preamp, you’d be mad not to put this
headphone amp to monitor the preamp
outputs, but neither accept external cue mix The longest shielded Ethernet cable at the top of your shortlist.
inputs. The only preamp that immediately I had to hand was only five metres, and the
comes to mind with headphone monitoring interface seemed to work perfectly well ££ £1099 including VAT.
and a cue mix input is the Focusrite ISA One, EE info@soundtech.co.uk
but that is only a single mic preamp with
with line, instrument and mic-level sources
WW www.soundtech.co.uk
a separate DI channel on the side. over that distance, with any crosstalk WW www.cranborne-audio.com
between channels completely inaudible.
20 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
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ON TEST
DDMF Magic
10 and Sequoia 14 system was blessedly
simple: the license is provided in a ZIP
file, and you locate it when you first use
the plug-in. Sadly, I’ve no way to confirm
Death Eye
how close the sound of the plug-ins are to
the originals, so I’ve had to assume a very
close kinship and evaluate them on their
own terms.
It Takes Two
Compressor Plug-ins Despite the names, both Magic Death Eye
plug-ins are fully stereo in operation. One,
These two plug-ins bring you the spirit of their which I’ll refer to as MDE, is called ‘Mono’
‘unobtainium’ hardware counterparts! because it is based on the mono version of
the hardware; the ‘Stereo’ version (MDEST)
ERIC JAMES unreasonable amount to ask for a superbly is modelled after the stereo hardware unit.
designed, hand-built vari-mu compressor, There are enough differences between
I
first heard of the Magic Death but it is hardly chump change. the plug-ins to consider having both in
Eye analogue compressor from an So when I learned that DDMF had the toolbox, though their basic design is
American mastering colleague who’d created a plug-in version, I quickly tried the similar and you’d be unlikely to use them in
just taken delivery of one. Intrigued, demo. It was good, and within a couple the same chain.
I looked for more details but sadly soon of hours I’d bought it. Recently, DDMF Both have variable ‘switched’ input
found a few good reasons for me not to released another ‘stereo’ Magic Death Eye and threshold level controls, six fixed
rush out and get one. First, designer/ plug-in. I bought that one immediately too time-constant parameters (labelled 1 to
builder Ian Sefchick can only produce and both plug-ins now have a home in my 6, as on the Fairchilds that inspired the
them when free from the demands of his mastering workflow and have already been hardware MDEs) and fixed-frequency,
mastering career at Capitol Records, so used on several professional projects. switchable high-pass side-chain filters (set
his output is both limited and irregular. There are versions for the common at 150Hz for the MDE; and at 200Hz for
Second, even if one were to become Mac OS (v10.8 or higher) and Windows the MDEST). The MDEST has an additional
available, he doesn’t make them for (32- and 64-bit, v7 or higher) plug-in Master output level knob, whereas the
export outside the USA. Finally, the stereo formats, and an AUv3 version for iOS. MDE’s is hidden, and the MDEST has
version costs $8,800! That’s actually not an Installation and activation on my Windows a ‘Threshold Link’ (which seems a bit
22 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
SONTRONICS
S
O
N
T
R
O
N
I
C
S ® ®
PODCAST PRO
podcast • radio • voiceover • gaming • conference • streaming • video
confusing at first, as a single Threshold control applies to
both channels, but in practice it does tighten things a bit).
Both models also have a GUI which is a painstakingly
accurate representation of their respective hardware. The
screw adjusters of the analogue originals don’t all have a
corresponding digital function, but some, along with the
Magic Death Eye faceplate logo and the power lamp on the
MDEST, have hidden software-only features. On the MDE,
the logo switches in a ‘Punch’ mode (which changes the
compression characteristics and adds a new graphic to the
GR meter), and the screws between the input and threshold
controls adjust Output level (-20 to +12 dB) and wet-dry mix
(0 to 100 percent). For the MDEST, the MDE logo switches
the upsampling rate from normal (Black) to x2 (light blue)
to x4 (dark blue). The power lamp brings in the same Punch
mode (now known as ‘Laura’, and indicated by the L meter
label changing to the name). This time, the balance control
screws adjust the harmonic content from the normal 50
percent (status lights orange) to 0 percent (green) and 100
percent (red). At present there’s no wet/dry mix control
on the MDEST.
The most significant difference between the two versions
is that MDEST has a simple but interesting EQ section,
which operates within the compression circuit. This includes
a low-cut filter (off, 20 and 30 Hz), a switched LF boost (20,
40 and 100 Hz, with up to 5dB of boost in 1dB steps), and
a switched HF boost (5, 12, and 18 kHz, also with 5dB of
boost in 1dB steps). Right-clicking on the Low frequency
control changes the low end to an elliptical filter, mono’d
below the chosen frequency, and right-clicking on the High
frequency control switches the EQ path from stereo to ‘‘Incredible quality...
this is the new
Mid or Sides.
‘‘
information, you can only learn by listening. The MDE
plug-ins are analogue simple, so I approached evaluation of Smooth sound,
both in much the same way as the hardware Hendy Amps built to last… I really
Michelangelo I reviewed earlier this year (go to https://sosm.
ag/hendy-michaelangelo to read more). can’t fault it!’’
Chris Korff, Sound On Sound
I’ll start with the original MDE. As the ratio is not
separately adjustable, there are only really four parameters
which you can use to change the character of compression:
the input level, the threshold, the six preset time
DDMF Magic Death Eye Our new PODCAST PRO dynamic microphone
reproduces your voice with outstanding depth, clarity
and presence. Its superb side rejection allows you to
pros
record group podcasts and interview guests without
• Both sound great, and are pretty difficult to make sound bad! risk of spill, while its internal windshield helps reduce
• Useful ‘hidden’ functions. sibilance, plosives and unwanted noise. NED, DEV
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D
K
EI U
N T E
summary
In attempting to model two of the very rare Magic Death Eye
SONTRONICS USERS INCLUDE: ED SHEERAN • ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
compressors, DDMF have created some special plug-ins.
BLUR • PAUL WELLER • DAVE GROHL • FLOOD • AEROSMITH • MUSE
KINGS OF LEON • PJ HARVEY • GARY NUMAN • KT TUNSTALL
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE • STEREOPHONICS • AND MORE…
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 23
www.sontronics.com
@sontronics @sontronics /sontronicsuk
ON TEST
D D M F M A G I C D E AT H E Y E
Clicking the logo engages Punch mode, which then I discovered a ‘hidden’ feature, not hard-sounding bass. The medium-wide
transforms the compressor behaviour in
even mentioned in the early versions of the HF bell boost got rather more use (in
a wonderful way.
manual: clicking on the Magic Death Eye mastering, almost all at 1dB), as 12kHz was
parameters, and a choice of three additional logo changes the background of the meter occasionally really nice for adding a touch
attack settings (fast, medium and slow). to the kind of pin-up that used to feature of percussive clarity, especially when
Getting things right is a matter of listening on the nose cones of American World War used on the Sides signal only. This added
and tweaking, but on an attended jazz stem II bombers, and does something quite width without sounding like an artificial
mastering project, with a lumpy, bumpily startling to the compression characteristic. enhancement, and the 18kHz added
recorded acoustic bass and a female It’s called the Punch mode, and it is very enough gentle air that I sometimes used it
vocalist with a nicely textured mezzo voice, nice. It allows much more kick to come despite having a nice analogue EQ, since it
I found that I could achieve the desired through and overall gives the sound an freed up an upper band on the latter.
effects pretty quickly. It was interesting additional punch and push. (I used this on At high input levels, it’s possible to
to get the immediate responses of the a track for a forthcoming Faithless album induce some controlled clipping, as
musicians: the bass player thought his tone I was just finishing off at the time.) indicated by the GR meters starting to flash
benefitted from a slight push on the input MDEST is clearly of the same bloodline, red. Judging the amount is made easier
levels, and for most of the songs a medium but it has been optimised for mastering. by the ability to link the input and output
attack and setting 3 or 4 seemed to do the The compression is much more gentle, controls (by ctrl-clicking one of them)
trick, producing an articulate snap when the high-pass filter has an extra 50Hz so that you get a relatively unchanging
needed and controlling any boom. The setting, and then there’s the EQ. Putting monitoring level, though a higher input will
vocalist also liked the medium attack, with this plug-in in the processing chain for the also need a more moderate threshold. All of
setting 3 sounding the most natural for first time brought a very familiar change to this allows some additional perceived level,
ballads, but Fast and setting 1 preferable the music running through it. There wasn’t and it works pretty well for that.
for up-tempo and scat singing. much of a feeling of restraint, but there
When I started mastering stereo mixes, was a very nice additional density. Glue
The Eyes Have It!
it was quite easy to ‘over-control’ things, can become gloop very quickly with some Hopefully, this review makes it obvious
even when using the classic combination analogue vari-mu compressors I’ve used in that I’m very taken with both versions of
of a slow attack and a relatively fast release the past, though. So when pushing things DDMF’s Magic Death Eye. As a mastering
(eg. setting 2). It seemed to grab just a bit a little too hard and still liking the density engineer, if I could really only have one
too much, pushing middle images to the but not the darkness, the hidden feature I’d choose the MDEST, whereas if wanting
back a bit and dulling things down. Dialling that allowed me to dial down some of something for use on the stereo bus
back on the threshold to the extent that the the tube characteristics worked very well. while mixing, I’d more likely choose the
gain reduction needles never even moved The compressor action with the harmonic MDE. That said, there are some things
was a revelation. With such a minimal distortion reduced to about 30 percent is in mastering that still seem to be to be
setting (and the compressor likely doing very seductive, and I’ve now used it on a lot done better with the MDE, and here’s just
a bit more than the GR needles indicated) of mastering projects. one example. In the latest update to the
the MDE seemed to dance along with The EQ section can add some lovely MDEST, a Punch mode has been added.
certain kinds of music, adding a seductive touches but needs a lot of careful listening. I didn’t miss it previously, because I could
movement. I wasn’t always entirely happy Although the manual reports them as and always did use the MDE for that. But
with the effect on the kick when mastering a relatively steep 24dB/octave, the 20 even now, the two modes are not directly
certain styles of music, even with the 150Hz and 30 Hz HP filters seemed to reach an comparable, and a lot of the time I prefer
side-chain high-pass filter engaged. But unexpectedly long way into the lows, so the ‘bigger’ punch of the MDE. It’s just as
sometimes I used the 20Hz one but I didn’t well, then, that there’s a discount available
Alternatives use the 30Hz one much at all. I didn’t use that makes the prospect of buying both
There are many good modelled vari-mu the low-boost, narrow bells at 20 and 40 plug-ins look rather more attractive!
plug-ins available, including the Pulsar much either, but that’s simply because
Mu and the Kush Audio AR-1 and various I had them just prior to an analogue chain,
Fairchild emulations, but there are none that ££ MDE £79. MDEST £119. MDE Bundle
which was often the wrong place to use
offer quite the same character as DDMF’s (both versions) £159. Prices include VAT.
Magic Death Eyes. them. In a different setup, the 100Hz shelf WW https://ddmf.eu
at 1dB can add some nice juiciness to
24 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
COMPETITION
Win!
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WORTH £1697
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ince their founding in 2007, Spitfire Audio have earned perhaps don’t need access to all the individual microphone
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26 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
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INTERVIEW
KAITLYN
AURELIA
SMITH
30 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
and treating its sound. Then, progressing Smith stresses that, like the original
We talk to prolific past making what she calls “bleepy Music Easels, the new models all have
producer Kaitlyn Aurelia bloop” sounds, she’d work with two their own individual characters. “I’ve
oscillators and make incremental played, like, four or five of the newer
Smith about her ambient changes. “Mostly just listening,” she ones and they all are still very different,
explains. “I would practise just making even though they’re remade. Honestly,
compositions and love really subtle adjustments and trying to all Buchla instruments are really different.
of Buchla synths. understand what was happening to the A lot of the original Buchla components
sound. Trying to just really break into aren’t being made any more or are harder
how many things change when you make to find. So, as technology progresses and
TOM DOYLE
a subtle adjustment. I had just come from older components get discontinued, it
I
n the increasingly crowded field of intensive study of building on sound, changes the sound and it changes the way
electronic ambient composers, Kaitlyn and I kind of wanted to go the reverse that it interacts.”
Aurelia Smith stands out. Working way of deducing how sound is affected. While she sometimes uses Moogs
with modular synths — mainly Buchla So, it felt like this research project in in her recordings, Smith is very clearly
systems — Smith’s meditative, new the beginning. devoted to Buchla synthesizers. “Well,
age-y music was initially inspired by ‘60s “Just in general, I’m always wanting to they’re different kinds of synthesis,”
minimalist pioneer Terry Riley, but has find, I guess for lack of better language, she points out. “Buchla synthesizers are
developed since 2012 over eight albums, ‘beautiful’ sounds in every instrument. additive synthesis and Moog synthesizers
resulting in the dreamy soundscapes of And for me beautiful sounds aren’t just are subtractive, so they have different
her latest, The Mosaic Of Transformation. the pleasing sounds. It’s where two approaches.” Smith’s third and fourth
Growing up on Orcas Island, off the extremes are meeting, or where two albums, 2014’s Tides and 2015’s Euclid,
Pacific Northwest coast of America, things that don’t feel like they have were made exclusively using the Music
Smith was first motivated to make music something in common are meeting. Easel. “As far as the sound goes,” she
at the age of 15, after watching a friend So, I think that’s why it was really fun says, “for me there’s a certain resonance
of her family playing piano during a visit for me to explore with the guitar and in Buchla instruments that I really connect
to their home. “I remember seeing the the synthesizer. Trying to find how they to. To me, it has a more potent tone.”
joy that it brought them,” she recalls. can connect through their capacity to,
“I could feel what it felt like to play the like, move air.”
Tools Of The Trade
piano. After they’d left, I remember sitting In terms of DAWs, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
down at the piano and starting to try and
Easel Does It tried out various ones before settling on
emulate what I saw in them. Of course, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s big discovery, Ableton Live. “At school I had learned
it didn’t sound like what I heard for however, and one that was to help shape Logic, DP and Pro Tools,” she says. “So,
a while [laughs]. But it sparked kind of like her sound, was the Buchla Music Easel. Ableton was a really new world to me.
a muscle memory in me that I didn’t know In 2013, Smith bought one of the new I learned it six, seven years ago. I just
was there.” Easels developed by BEMI and launched like how seamless it is to go between
In her late teens, she turned to only three years before Don Buchla’s recording and the live performance.
classical guitar, going on to study death in 2016. It just seems like you can create this
sound engineering, orchestration and “I bought my own,” she says, environment in the software so that it can
composition at Berklee College of Music “or I guess I did with the help of easily translate to live. ‘Cause I really like
in Boston. On a visit home, she happened a community. It was kind of a funny story to be in control of mixing my own sound.
to mention to a neighbour that she was because my husband and I asked for So, when I perform, I always use Ableton
a Terry Riley fan. By chance, the neighbour donations at our wedding for us to buy so that I can set up my effects in it, third
owned a ‘60s-built Buchla 100, which they a cow [laughs]. And then we ended up party or not. I can keep my equipment
generously loaned to Smith for a year. moving to Bolinas, which is a small town load pretty light for travelling and just
“That kind of reopened music for me in West Marin, California, and we didn’t have the hardware be the synthesizers
in this lovely pressure-free way,” she says. have space for a cow there. So we used and not worry about bringing a lot of
“It was a really magical time in my life. that money for a Music Easel instead. pedals and other things.”
I felt like the Buchla was a perfect way to “This was one of the first remakes,” On her fifth album, 2016’s Ears, Smith
explore sound in a really new way for me. she adds. “We were on a wait list before broadened the range of the synths
Because even though I’d just come from they had really shared that they were she used, to include the EMS Synthi,
music school, the aspect of zooming in remaking the Easel. This was when Don ARP 2600, OSC OSCar, Korg Mono/
on what makes sound and how much can was still a part of the company. We were Poly, EML ElectroComp 101 and Moog
be heard in one note I felt was not really number 15 on the wait list and then we Werkstatt-01. When it came to the
covered in music school. It’s one of those got an email that said that the first three rarer, older or more expensive items of
topics that people just assume, if you’re or four were ready, but they didn’t have gear, she travelled to various studios or
into music, it must be innate knowledge. these certain nuts that screw onto the company HQs where the synths were in
But there’s so much wisdom within that switches. They asked if there was anyone residence and she could capture their
basic foundation of sound.” who wanted it, even if it didn’t have sounds on the fly.
Initially, Smith experimented by those. And we were like, ‘Yeah, we want “I started really learning about rare
feeding her guitar through the Buchla it now.’ And so, we got bumped up.” vintage synthesizers,” she says. “I would
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 31
INTERVIEW
K A I T LY N A U R E L I A S M I T H
find out where they still exist and visit In a 2016 ‘In The Studio’ video still album The Kid [2017], and some Jomox
them and just record everything I did. So, available on YouTube, Kaitlyn Aurelia modules. But that’s about as far as it
I would just have all these samples or lots Smith can be seen showcasing some of reaches out for me.
of sessions of recorded takes that I didn’t her techniques, utilising an impressive “In that video I was lent some Eurorack
know what I was gonna do with it yet. setup involving both new and old modular gear, but it never really stuck for me.
“That kind of began a study process gear. In the Eurorack department, she I don’t have negative things to say about
for me of seeking out residencies in places operates Make Noise’s Tempi six-channel it, but I just haven’t found a Eurorack
that have this equipment, rather than polyphonic module as a master clock to oscillator that feels the same to me as the
trying to own it. ‘Cause it’s very expensive trigger various units such as the MATHS vintage oscillators.
and it’s a bigger responsibility. But they all and RxMx synth modules and the 4ms “Sometimes I wish I had a set way
have really incredible aspects. I especially Spectral Multiband Resonator. In addition, that I work,” she says. “But I really don’t.
appreciate the tactile interface of the EMS she uses the ‘70s-era Oberheim Two-Voice It changes from song to song, from day
that makes you feel like you’re playing Pro and the Studio Electronics Sensei to day.”
Battleship as you’re patching [laughs].” Hybrid System.
Ears was the first album that Smith “I don’t actually own any of those,”
Current Rig
made while consciously keeping in mind she laughs. “Those I was borrowing. These days, Smith’s current setup
the fact that she would have to tour The way that I go about equipment in comprises her trusty Music Easel, a Buchla
and perform the album live. “That one general is either through residencies or 200e, a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5,
I wrote just by figuring out what my live finding really kind people to lend me their an EDP Wasp, a Roland SH-101, Moog
set was and then recording it,” she says. stuff. Honestly, I don’t have that much Grandmother and an Oberheim SEM.
“I was practising a live set and then I just experience with Eurorack besides the Also, despite her mixed feelings in regard
pressed ‘record’, basically.” Make Noise system which I used on the to Eurorack gear, she does use a fair few
32 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
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INTERVIEW
K A I T LY N A U R E L I A S M I T H
modules, including Make Noise’s Pressure where it doesn’t feel like it’s repetitive. I have a [different] setup for that. I practise
Points touchplate controller, Mannequins’ It felt like there was always variation for usually, like, a year to a year and a half,
Just Friends tone generator and ALM happening in the way that it lined up. and I don’t change that live setup for the
Busy Circuits Akemie’s Taiko drum voice “That really spoke to me. Even whole album cycle. ‘Cause it takes me so
FM synth. though, to some people, they think that’s long to figure out a live setup.”
“I feel very fulfilled and like I can really repetitive. Like, I know a lot of Nowadays, the centre of her live
make lots of music with all of that,” she people think minimalistic music is really show is her Buchla 200e. “The 200e has
says. “And when I feel like I don’t have repetitive. But it’s those subtle rhythmic a preset manager,” she says, “so I spent
anything that is within a palette that I’m adjustments that have always been really the first four months just programming
trying to communicate, then I have a list exciting to me. all of the sequences or all of the presets,
of residencies to go to.” “So, I’m using the 252 and then I do ‘cause it takes a really long time to do
In terms of sequencers, Smith’s a lot of looping. Looping is oftentimes that. I programmed, like, 17 presets that
workhorse is her Buchla’s 252e Polyphonic the way I go about sequencing things. I’m using in my live set. Then I usually
Rhythm Generator, visually distinctive Sometimes I use sequencers, like I have go through a memory process after
for the interface’s 11 concentric rings some MIDI controllers that are extensions I programme something, where I just
displaying the generated patterns. The that have sequencers. But, again, it really test my memory and my muscle memory.
252e helps her create the complex depends on what I’m doing.” Like, I make a list of how many things
polyrhythms that are a central feature of can go wrong in the live set [laughs].
her sound and which come back to her
Performing And then I come up with a solution for
love of Terry Riley. From Ears on, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith has all of them. I practise quickly solving all
“I’ve always had an appreciation for always remained conscious when making of those, and I practise unpatching and
polyrhythms,” she says. “That’s always felt records of how she’ll perform her modular patching the modular within a certain
like the most natural expression of rhythm music live. “I do have one thing that is time period. Then I go through a muscle
for me. I love the way that Terry Riley’s like a constant in my workflow,” she says, memory for tuning, where if one of the
melodies and his rhythms kind of float “which is when I make an album and oscillators were to go out of tune slightly,
over each other in this very expansive way, I know I’m going to perform with it, then I have it memorised what fundamental it’s
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INTERVIEW
K A I T LY N A U R E L I A S M I T H
Inner Ear
On a perhaps more esoteric level, the
meditative qualities of Kaitlyn Aurelia
Smith’s music, particularly on The Mosaic
Of Transformation, are for her directly
linked to tuning into what she calls her
“inner ear”. During lockdown, Smith has
been doing online consultation sessions
teaching others how to make music and
clear their creative blockages through
what is essentially a meditation process.
“These songs all were made in kind
of like this process of internal listening,”
she says. “‘Cause I’ve always had
a relationship with my inner ear and,
y’know, writing music through closing
my eyes and listening. But this album
in particular was the most I’d used that.
I would do sessions of just listening for
music inside and then try and create it
with the synthesizers.”
That sounds quite, er, hard? “I think it’s
only hard in the beginning when you can’t
hear the music,” she reasons. “Honestly,
I think the hardest part is in the beginning,
learning what are the fundamentals that
make up sound. But then once you start
to practise, like, how many sounds make
up the sound of a door opening, then it
gets easier to break down each sound
that you hear. To be like, ‘OK, it’s really six Despite being a Buchla devotee, other instruments make regular appearances in Smith’s work. Pictured
sounds layered and they’re staggered in are her Moog Grandmother, EDP Wasp, Roland SH-101 and, below, a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5.
this way.’”
Which begs the question: how close one is really nice for performing live. The numbers. “I have eight different vocal mics
does she get to realising the sounds in MOTU ones, you can send CV out. So, and I just have my own names for them,”
her head on her recordings? “It takes me they all have just different functions.” she laughs. “I don’t have a set vocal chain.
a long time,” she laughs. “And I rewrote Monitors-wise, Smith has Genelec It depends on the song. I used all eight on
this new album, like, 12 different times M040s and a 7360A subwoofer. “Yeah, ‘The Steady Heart’ and I heard that way
because it just wasn’t there yet. But I really like those a lot. They’re great. of layering in my ears and I just sang it.
what I’ve shared now was what I heard I haven’t changed actually since I got There’s no processing. It’s just dry voice.”
internally. And so, I just keep going until those. They’ve just been really seamless In contrast, live, particularly going back
it’s there, and take a lot of breaks.” in the mixing process. When I get a song two or three years, Smith’s vocals were
sounding really good on those and then much more processed than they are on
Home Studio I go and listen on headphones or in the her current album. Initially, she struggled
In her studio at home, Kaitlyn Aurelia car or on my laptop, it feels like a pretty to find a harmoniser that could create
Smith, given her complex system seamless transition.” the modal harmonies she was after. Her
of synths, uses various interfaces in While many of Smith’s tracks are solution was to create 27 microtonal
conjunction with Ableton. “I have four instrumental, a handful feature her vocals. pitch-shifted tracks within Ableton and
different interfaces that I use,” she On The Mosaic Of Transformation, one use a Novation Launchpad to control her
explains. “I use the [Universal Audio] song in particular, ‘The Steady Heart’, vocal input by playing chord-like shapes
Apollo, I use a Native Instruments one, stands out with its choral layering of her to manipulate the harmonies. “It’s just
and I use two different types of MOTU voice. Smith name-checks her Peluso me in real time changing the pitch of my
interfaces. Just for different sections in microphone specifically, but as with the voice,” she says. “I like using the Novation
the studio. I use the Apollo for the UAD rest of her collection, she isn’t particularly Launchpad and how you can map it to
plug-ins. Then the Native Instruments interested in mic manufacturers or model whatever you want. I made all those
36 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
ones and Waves and UAD plug-ins. “I really
don’t have a set system. It’s a process of
I think about what I’m gonna do and if
I need an EQ, then I try lots of different
EQs until I find the right one. I think about,
‘Which kind of EQ do I need? Do I need
a parametric EQ?’ And then I do research
on what are all the possible ones out there.
So, sometimes it’s just the Ableton ones,
sometimes it’s the UAD ones, sometimes
it’s Waves. It really depends.”
Speaking of plug-ins, has Smith tried
Arturia’s software version of the Buchla
Easel? “Yeah, I have tried it,” she says.
“To me, none of the emulators sound like
it. They have qualities that I can see are
inspired by it. But it definitely doesn’t
sound like it to me.”
Collaboration
In 2016, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
collaborated with ground-breaking
Buchla artist Suzanne Ciani — who has
been making records since 1970 — on
the album Sunergy, firmly underlining
her place in the lineage of exploratory
modular synthesists.
“That was an enjoyable process and
she’s such a wonderful person,” says
Smith. “It was a really neat experience
to collaborate with another Buchla
synthesist, cause that was the first time
I had tried working with another Buchla
player. I think I learned just how fun it is to
play two Buchlas at once.”
Looking to the future, are there any
areas in particular that Smith would like
microtonal harmonies that I would play as I map it to my hardware faders, it’s at the to move into sonically? “That’s still being
I was singing and then I go through the spot it’s supposed to be mixed at.” born for me,” she says, “‘cause I feel
Music Easel.” like I’m still in the process of sharing
Of course, having only one Music Easel
Mixing this album. And because I haven’t really
at her disposal when performing live, Back in the studio, when it comes to shared this album live yet, that space
Smith compensated for the layering of mixing, Smith chooses to zone in fully hasn’t really opened up for me.
the Buchla that features on her albums by on one sound element at a time before “Usually in the beginning of a project,
sampling its output live into a Teenage stepping back to look at the bigger I start to collect adjectives and textures
Engineering OP-1. “Most of the time, picture. “I mostly do mixing as I’m for the next one. And so, I’m in that
whenever I’m using anything live, it’s as going,” she says. “To me, mixing is a very process right now where I’m starting to
an extension to the Buchla,” she stresses. important part of the composition and get textures. But they’re not in a language
“So, I’m just finding ways to create more each sound has its own way of being form yet. When I hear a sound in the
versions of the Buchla. mixed that communicates something. So, world, it’ll pique my interest, but I won’t
“And then also for live,” she adds, I’ll fully mix one sound and then work on know why yet.”
“because you can create in Ableton your the next one. So, finally then, any specific tech
own version of unity [gain-staging] on each “I’m really sensitive to the way that purchases that she still wants to make?
fader, you can fully mix how you want all other people mix sounds, because “Not at this time in the current economic
of your tracks to be. I tend to have a lot it’s such an important part of the state,” she laughs.
of dry tracks and then I’ll have a lot of composition. Any time when I’ve had In other words, like many of the rest
record-enabled tracks for the Buchla that someone else mix, it changes the of us, she is working with what she’s got.
have different processors on them. Then communication of the song. So, I tend to Given the amount of gear she has at her
I set how I want [the processors] to be be the one who mixes it.” disposal, though, we can expect from
mixed and I make each of those faders When it comes to mix EQ plug-ins, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith many intriguing
the new version of unity, so then when Smith moves between the stock Ableton sonic adventures to come.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 37
ON TEST
W PreSonus Quantum
hen it comes to audio the Quantum 2626.
interfaces, PreSonus have
Quantum Mechanics 2626 €599
a long history of adopting
new protocols. They were among the One thing that sets the Quanta apart in pros
first few companies to make a Firewire a very crowded market is that they all • Excellent latency performance.
interface (the 2003 FireStation, which was dispense with DSP. PreSonus reasoned • Well built.
• Plentiful I/O.
also the first to make use of Yamaha’s that if they can get latency low enough, • DC-coupled outputs.
mLAN protocol), and more recently there’s no need to include a DSP mixer • Insert points for channels 1 and 2.
they’ve been keen early proponents of in the interface itself, since the DAWs • Great price for what’s on offer.
both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. Their we all use have far more powerful mixers
cons
first interface to use the latter was the of their own. It’s an attractive prospect:
• Headphone output doesn’t quite go
PreSonus Quantum, which took full rather than plugging into the interface, fully off.
advantage of Thunderbolt’s data transfer routing the physical input to a DSP mixer • No Thunderbolt cable included.
speed to provide remarkably low latency. channel, piping that into your DAW while
You can read our glowing review of it in also sending it back to a DSP foldback bus, summary
The PreSonus Quantum 2626 offers
the September 2017 issue. The Quantum and routing your DAW back into the DSP
excellent latency performance and
is still available, but is now part of a range mixer, via the foldback bus and thence to a generous amount of I/O for a very
of Quanta that includes the Quantum a physical output — all so you can hear reasonable price.
4848 (a no-frills but high-I/O-count yourself and your backing tracks while
38 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Bundled Software
The Quantum 2626 ships with a licence
for Studio One Artist, as well as the 2020
Studio Magic bundle, which includes
Lite versions of Ableton Live and Arturia
Analog Lab, plus a good selection of
plug-ins from Brainworx, iZotope,
Cherry Audio, Lexicon, Mäag, Native
Instruments, SPL and more.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 39
ON TEST
PRESONUS QUANTUM 2626
For a ‘cut-down’ interface the Quantum 2626 enjoys a generous provision of I/O.
though, I should mention that the 2626 was nothing to fault. Indeed, the noise set up a separate foldback mix would be
can be paired with a PreSonus DigiMax and distortion specs appear completely the icing on the cake.
DP88 ADAT expander (or two), which unchanged across the board compared Next, I repeated the latency test that
does have software-controlled preamps. with the original Quantum, and they are Sam Inglis did in his review of the original
certainly more than good enough to not Quantum, and came up with identical
Firing Up impose themselves. All types of signal results: 0.9ms input latency and 1.0ms
Setting up the Quantum 2626 was I tried it with — mic, line and instrument output latency at a 32-sample buffer size,
a painless affair. You need to register it — were handled perfectly well. I tend to according to both Reaper and a loop-back
with PreSonus, after which you can log in really dig in when I’m playing bass, for test. Which goes to show that, in the
to the PreSonus website and download example, and can easily overload lesser 2626, PreSonus really have left all the
Universal Control, which is a simple app instrument inputs and DI boxes, but that important parts of the Quantum intact.
that takes charge of such exciting things wasn’t the case here. I even had to turn
as firmware updates, sample rate and the gain up a bit on the 2626, which made
Get DSP Hence
sync options (internal, ADAT, S/PDIF a nice change from having to turn my bass Ever since I’ve had a home studio, I’ve
or word clock). This is also where you down or find a device with a pad to put flip-flopped between deciding that I do
can control your DigiMax DP88s, if you between me and the input. and don’t need a mixer more times
have any (if you’re a Studio One user, As important as the sound, however than I care to count. I’ve had a number
you can even control them from your — and especially with an interface bereft of analogue and digital consoles, and
DAW). You hook up the external PSU of any internal routing — is latency. I’ve had some enormously complicated
(which has a twist-locking connector), Guitarists, bassists and keyboardists DSP soundcards (I’m looking at you,
plug into a spare Thunderbolt port (via can generally live with a bit of latency Creamware), and they have all come
any necessary adaptors), with their own joys and
and the light on the front frustrations. But other
panel changes from red “Since using the 2626, I’ve actually come than the ‘niceness’ of
to blue to show that
sync has been achieved.
to enjoy using my DAW more.” having real faders and
knobs to tweak, the main
In my case, UC then reason I’ve kept going
told me that the Quantum 2626 was quite happily because they’re used to back to mixers is the lack of latency.
due a firmware update, which was again being a few feet away from their amps About half a year ago, I decided that
a simple process, taking all of about (each foot adding a millisecond or so mixers were good again, and rejigged
20 seconds. of delay), and for virtual instruments and rewired my ever-changing lab to
The absence of a routing matrix, DSP the round-trip latency is pretty much accommodate one. Since using the 2626,
mixer, built-in effects and so on make halved because there’s no input latency however, I’ve actually come to enjoy using
using the Quantum 2626 refreshingly to deal with. Vocals, on the other hand, my DAW more: having only one place
simple. You select your sample rate, open are more of a challenge. We’re so used to record, to monitor, to add effects and
your DAW of choice, set your buffer size to hearing our voices through our own to noodle around has made me more
(I used the lowest option of 32 samples), skulls that even a handful of milliseconds focused and, I think, more productive. For
and you’re set. Everything behaved can be remarkably distracting when one thing, opening projects has become
exactly as expected, with the one you’re trying to sing. So for my first more of a pleasure than a chore, now that
exception being that the headphone outs test of the 2626’s latency I got a small I no longer have to remember how my
never quite went fully off; even at ‘zero’ analogue mixer, plugged a mic into it, mixer was set up whenever I saved ‘piano
there was still a very low-level signal. In sent it to the Quantum 2626, and routed & bass sketch v43’. And with studio time
terms of sound quality, though, there the direct analogue signal to one bus in ever scarcer supply, that has real value.
and the interface return to the other. In terms of workflow, the Quantum 2626
DC Universe I sang into the mic, alternately PFL’ing
the direct signal and the DAW return
has been perhaps the least imposing bit
of equipment to ever grace my rack, and
All Quantum-series interfaces have busses. And once I’d matched the levels, certainly the simplest multichannel interface
DC-coupled outputs, meaning that, with
I was hard‑pressed to tell the difference. I’ve used. It could well be the interface that
the right software plug-ins, you can send
I make no claims to be a good singer, makes me flip-flop for the final time.
control voltage signals to analogue and
modular synths. I didn’t get a chance to but if I ever felt compelled to commit my
try this out myself, but there’s an excellent crooning to WAV, I’d have no qualms at all ££ €599 including VAT.
feature about it elsewhere in this issue. about monitoring from my DAW. And the WW www.presonus.com
enormous convenience of not having to
40 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
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pros aking advantage of the large live mix. This uproarious racket can be
• The first four titles feature a 70-piece scoring stage which lies at the heard in full effect in BBO: hence the
orchestra recorded with all musicians heart of their creative operation, series’ name, and its marketing slogan,
playing together. Vienna Symphonic Library have pulled ‘Have a Blast!’
• Dorado and Eridanus put the ‘bang’ in ‘big out all the stops for their latest project. The libraries’ musical content was
bang’, while Fornax offers unique tuned
percussion colours. The Big Bang Orchestra series features composed and orchestrated by Johannes
• Ganymede adds a flexible SATB choir of a massive 70-piece orchestra, six Vogel and performed by the Synchron
48 singers. percussionists and 48 singers performing Stage Orchestra, an elite squad of
• The libraries collectively cover effects, textures, hits, chords, clusters, instrumentalists and singers hand picked
a comprehensive range of articulations,
arpeggios, runs, riffs, rhythmic patterns from world-class Viennese orchestras. At
textures, effects and phrases.
• Everything was recorded from multiple mic and single-note multisamples, all recorded the time of writing the series comprises
positions in a state-of-the-art soundstage. from multiple mic positions in VSL’s eight themed collections, with more to
historic Synchron Stage. Designed for come: all run exclusively on VSL’s free
cons
maximum impact with minimal effort, Synchron Player, but are not compatible
• Fails to answer the question, ‘What was
these pre-orchestrated starter editions with the company’s older Vienna
there before the Big Bang?’
are available at entry-level prices, an Instruments player. In this review we’ll
summary incentive for new users to embark on take a look at each BBO library with
Vienna Big Bang Orchestra pushes the a personal exploration of the Vienna a view to giving an overview of the series.
boat out with a massive 70-piece orchestra, musical universe.
a choir and six percussionists letting rip in
It’s one thing to record an orchestra
BBO Free Basics
a series of themed libraries. Recorded in
a historic soundstage from 10 mic positions, in separate sections, quite another BBO Free Basics (1.5GB) contains
this extensive range of ready-to-play, to capture the whole shooting match classic articulations played live by all
pre-orchestrated performances and in one pass. With the latter approach 70 orchestral players. Instruments are
textures takes the strain out of creating
you experience the sonic shock wave blended across a playing range of
dramatic scores. Practical and affordable
for beginners, BBO also has plenty to offer of a large musical ensemble letting rip A#1-D6, but since all notes incorporate
pro users. in the same space, which can rival the multiple octaves you actually hear the
noise of a jet engine — strings, brass orchestra’s full seven-octave span, from
42 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Capricorn provides
ready-to-play, energetic
orchestral phrases played
at three tempos. A built-in
time-stretching feature lets
you change the tempo to fit
your arrangement.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 43
ON TEST
VSL BIG BANG ORCHESTRA
BBO Capricorn
Symphonic Riffs
Vienna Synchron Player
Designed to handle surround-sound formats up Patches can be layered or crossfaded by
By far the largest BBO library, Capricorn
to 9.1, VSL’s Synchron Player takes over where clicking on the ‘stack’ icon at the top right of
(42.6GB) brings you ready-to-play four-bar the stereo Vienna Instruments player software the dimension column. Other facilities include
orchestral phrases, enabling users to leaves off. The latter’s matrix switching system a resizable screen, a great collection of built-in
unleash full-scale symphonic riffs with one has been replaced by the ‘Dimension Tree’, effects (including an algorithmic reverb), and
key press. A grand total of 24 phrases are a series of switches arranged in columns. Each a non-destructive time-stretching feature,
divided into main, low and high patches, column contains a number of colour-coded slots which lets you automatically sync riffs to
displaying the name of a musical ‘dimension’ (ie. your host tempo.
selectable on the fly via keyswitches.
playing style or patch name): the same colours In other good news, the software now works
Played in a choice of three tempos at are shown on the interface’s keyboard, making it standalone on your desktop as well as a plug-in
two dynamics and chromatically mapped easy to learn keyswitch layouts. in your DAW. What’s not to like?
for use in all keys, these looped ostinato
44 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
ON TEST
VSL BIG BANG ORCHESTRA
46 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
BBO’s 70 musicians perform live in the
historic Vienna Synchron Stage.
they’re collectively worth more than most drums, while some lovely ethereal effects these guys simply sing ‘ah’, a lyric
people’s houses, so getting all three are also available if you want to sprinkle few could take issue with.
for less than a hundred quid could be fairy dust on the bell chimes. The tutti effects contain some
considered quite a bargain! great material: dense, atonal clusters
The ‘Drums and Pianos’ preset pits
BBO Ganymede Choirs corresponding to those in Black Eye,
these expensive concert grands against The first leg of VSL’s alphabetical stroll cluster chords which slowly build up
a large taiko drum, timpani and a 36-inch through the cosmos fetches up on from low to high voices and vice versa,
bass drum to deliver thumping, dimly Jupiter’s largest moon. The first BBO histrionic glissando slides and dynamic
clangourous straight notes, dramatic library to contain true legato recordings ‘hah’ and ‘hooh’ shouts performed from
crescendo rolls and some devastating, (the brilliant interval-specific technique a sinister whisper to an exhilarating roar.
enormous-sounding cluster hits. For invented by VSL back in the day, now an This excellent 7.8GB library also includes
more subtle settings, the ‘Big Timpani’ industry standard), Ganymede features sustained tutti major and minor chords
soft beater performances add a gentle a mixed-voice choir of 48 singers divided in a full two-octave voicing, creating
percussive kick, while the bass notes of equally into sopranos, altos, tenors and a triumphal and majestic effect.
‘Low Bells and Pianos’ (which mixes the basses. The four sections were recorded
chimes of tubular and plate bells with the individually and also together in real-time
Space Race
pianos’ grumbling low octaves) would ‘tutti’ performances. As I write, news comes down the wire that
work a treat in a film music cue. I had a great time playing the ‘stacked’ Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit rocket
Though its tuned gongs hail from patches, which seamlessly map the has failed on its debut flight. Ho hum.
Burma, ‘High Gongs’ evokes the jingling sections over a full C2-D6 range suitable The report adds, “The history of rocketry
timbre of Balinese gamelan by adding for two-handed playing. The looped shows that maiden outings very often
triangles and a suspended cymbal. I found three-dynamic sustains are blessed with encounter technical problems.” Over in
that muting the cymbal’s spot mics immaculate tuning and sung in a plain mainland Europe, some space explorers
creates a lighter, more delicate and pretty style free of operatic ‘wobble’, so you are enjoying better fortune. As SOS’s
sound. ‘High Bells’ is also very pleasant, can use them for any kind of music newly appointed rocket correspondent,
an ear-catching chime which adds Eastern without fear of culture clashes. I also I’m pleased to report that VSL’s debut
spice to the formal tones of European liked the graceful dynamic rise and fall venture into the far reaches of the
tuned percussion. You could use this of the ‘espressivo’ performances; by musical cosmos has so far succeeded
patch to trace an orchestral top line, or contrast, the loud, emphatic attack of the admirably, and looks set to give its
even add to a pop chorus. sforzato articulation is ideally suited to buyers an exciting and fruitful voyage.
While this 17.4GB library’s distinctive epic, big-screen productions. Commencing countdown...
character stems largely from its This being an entry-level title, there’s
high‑range instruments, the heavier no ‘word-building’ feature. Latin phrases ££ BBO Andromeda €130, BBO Black Eye
drums and timpani presets should appeal are also mercifully absent (I think if €110, BBO Capricorn €95, BBO Dorado
to those operating within ‘cinematic’ I hear another sampled choir piously €95, BBO Eridanus €75, BBO Fornax
€95, BBO Ganymede €160. Prices
norms. For that style, the ‘Spooky intoning ‘Sanctus’, I’ll go crazy — wake
include VAT.
Melodies’ and ‘Doomsday’ mixer presets me up when they start including rude WW www.vsl.co.at
add explosive aggression to the large football chants). On the vowel front,
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 47
TECHNIQUE
CHRIS TIMSON decent computer from the last few years Networking: You need a fast Internet
should do fine. For Jamulus, Windows, connection. Jamulus specify a minimum
L
atency. Anyone concerned with Mac and Linux are all good. Tablets and of 1Mbps both up and downstream, but
trying to create live music over phones, unfortunately, are right out! faster is better and a low ping time is
the internet will have become very A separate audio interface is a necessity essential. Jamulus recommend the ping
familiar with that word. As I explain in in order to provide a low‑latency time to the Jamulus server (see below)
my article ‘How to Make Zoom Work for connection to the computer. In our own should be no more than 40ms, and the
Music’ (SOS June 2020), latency is like usage, UAD’s Apollo hardware worked lower the (very much!) better.
death and taxes; you can minimise it but well, while a Blue Icicle XLR-USB adaptor All of these applications make the
you can’t avoid it completely and normally wasn’t so effective, adding pops and clicks. same recommendation with regard to
it defeats attempts to play live together. For Windows, Jamulus recommend an Wi-Fi, and that is simply not to use it. You
As anyone who has tried it with the audio interface with a native ASIO driver. must set up a wired Ethernet connection
various video conferencing applications Decent microphones to plug into the between your router and computer.
like Zoom and Teams will know it results in interface give the best sound, obviously, They don’t mention Homeplug and
everyone being out of time with everyone and are well worth having. other powerline solutions but I would be
else, with consequent inclined to avoid them too
cacophony! So you may if you possibly can.
be as surprised as I was
to learn there are a small Distance: That is,
number of applications geographical distance
where the developers between the participants.
refuse to admit defeat on More on this below, but
this and are determined it is very important to
to allow musicians to play be as close as possible,
together live across the geographically speaking.
net. Among these are Headphones: You need
JamKazam, Soundjack them. Jamulus doesn’t
and the subject of this screen out sound from
article, Jamulus. your mic the way that,
say, Zoom does, so your
Environment speakers must be off or
Screen 1: What you’ll see when you first open the Jamulus client.
The first thing to note otherwise you’re heading
about these applications for feedback big time.
is that they all demand Much of this would
a lot of your environment simply not be available to
in order to ensure the the average person, but
only source of latency is likely meat-and-drink
they have to deal with to the readers of this
is the Internet itself. You esteemed magazine.
have to watch out for the
following factors:
Free & Easy
And so to the application
Hardware: A powerful itself. Jamulus is an
computer is always nice to open‑source product
have, but these apps don’t developed under the
put too much demand GNU General Public
on the host machine. Any Screen 2: The settings page, where you tell Jamulus which audio inputs to use. Licence and, as befits
48 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Screen 3: After you hit the Connect button, you’ll see a list of
public servers in order of ping time.
such software, you don’t need to create an account with MicPre Opto-Compressor Equaliser
anybody to use it! The way they achieve this is ingenious.
The application has two parts: a server and a client. In
order to work, a client has to attach to a server. It sends
sound to the server and plays the sound it receives back
from it. A server is a very simple beast in that any sound
received by it from any attached client is bounced out to
all attached clients.
Of course there’s a little bit more to it than that and
we’ll talk about mixing the server performs later, but
you’ll see immediately that with a public server the idea of
a private session is not possible. So connecting to a public
server is fine if you’re looking for a jam session to join in
with and you like the idea of jamming with strangers, and
indeed a lot of people use Jamulus for exactly that. But if
what you want is to have a quiet little rehearsal with the
rest of your band then it’s not going to cut the mustard.
The solution Jamulus have come up with is quite elegant
and is known as the ‘private server’. How this is achieved
is another thing we’ll be looking at later.
Jamulus Client
First we’ll talk about the client and how you install and set
it up. An installer can be downloaded from the Jamulus
website. On Windows it will install both Jamulus client and
Jamulus server; on the Mac you’re offered a choice. You
will always need the client but the server is only for if you
are intending to run one. After installation, start the client
and you’ll see Screen 1.
This is pretty spartan, so you need to click on the
Settings button on the lower left‑hand side. This then
gives you the Settings screen where lots of interesting
stuff lives (Screen 2).
You can see I’ve set this up to use with my UAD Apollo.
This is on a Mac, but if you’re setting up on a Windows
machine then you’ll need to specify the ASIO driver — as
mentioned earlier, a native ASIO driver is preferable.
Jamulus permits two mic inputs per client, but as I’m using FIND
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w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 49
TECHNIQUE
JAMULUS
50 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Once you’ve got your private server in New Zealand (10am here in the UK, seconds. Clearly people connect to public
running then you need to inform your 9pm there). Bob had no problems setting servers, and then if what they hear isn’t
bandmates of your public IP address on up the Jamulus client or connecting to what they’re looking for they drop out
the Internet. (If you need to find this out my private server. However, his latency quickly. This sounds like good etiquette.
then use the website http://ip4.me. It’s was of the order of 300-400 ms. I don’t So playing sessions with friends on
quick, free and ad-free). When you and know if you’ve ever tried talking with the other side of the planet isn’t quite
your bandmates start their Jamulus clients your voice sounding in your headphones here — yet.
and click on Connect, you all ignore delayed by one-third of a second, but
the list of public servers and, in the box it’s next to impossible. So then we tried
Conclusion
down the bottom labelled Server Name/ connecting to a public server that was Jamulus strikes me as a well-thought‑out
Address, you type that public IP address geographically almost exactly midway tool for making music across the Internet,
and click on Connect. Everything else between us (in Japan). Here we both but the great beast latency is not totally
being equal you will hear your bandmates had latency of getting on for 200ms. defeated, and there is a definite element
in your headphones and you can get on Conversation was just possible but playing of luck in whether it works out for you.
with your rehearsal. music wouldn’t have been, so we didn’t Having said that, if you can put your
try. One slightly strange effect we noticed hands on the hardware necessary then do
Geography was that any changes we made to the mix give it a go.
In our own band rehearsals, two of us are were also delayed by latency, so that on I have not covered all the settings
in the same building and the third is just the high‑latency servers, changes were available for tweaking (see the Jamulus
10 miles away. We do have a little latency delayed in a quite disorientating manner documentation for more information on
(just enough to notice, like a very, very until we realised what was going on. This that). It’s hedged around with significant
short delay and the odd pop or click), is due to the fact that the Personal Mix requirements and geographical
but in the main we are able to practice faders affect the mix at the server rather restrictions, but with a little bit of luck
our songs quite successfully. To get than at the client end. and a following wind, and provided you
some idea of the impact of distance on Interestingly, a couple of times while stay fairly local, you really can play music
latency I arranged a Jamulus session with we were connected, other people in real time with other musicians across
friend and studio owner Bob Bickerton connected and then disconnected in a few the Internet.
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I
t’s been 10 years since Studio One and so with version 5 it has something the same interface. There’s a tiny bit of
first appeared as a spunky little DAW for everyone. We have mixer scenes and rejigging in the Inspector channel strip
with ambitious hopes of poaching a listening bus in the console for the and the addition of the Show button,
users from the long-toothed platforms of studio people, we have score writing but otherwise there are no discernible
Cubase, Logic and Pro Tools. Where some and MPE editing for the composers, we changes. I guess they felt they nailed it
52 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
PreSonus Studio One 5
£344
pros
• Mixer scenes will change your workflow.
• Aux Channels.
• Listen bus.
• Love the new-look Analog Delay.
• Decent MPE Editing.
• Score view.
• Show Page is fabulous.
• Sphere all-in bundle is great value.
cons
• No printing in Score view.
• No audio capture in Show Page.
• No new instruments, sounds, content
or plug-ins.
• No included MPE‑compatible
instruments.
summary
Version 5 is a meaty update that broadens
the appeal, improves the workflow and takes
it forward. You have whole new ways to play,
produce, edit and perform your music and
it shows how the term DAW is becoming
increasingly inadequate.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 53
ON TEST
PRESONUS STUDIO ONE 5
You can make all sorts of adjustments with Clip Gain Envelopes.
into External Instruments, which is
wrong. Now you can simply save it as Bus. This is primarily aimed at users making something useful out of the New
a Mixer Scene and come back to it with running a studio situation where you Instrument setup in External Devices.
a single click. You can use it to compare don’t want the musicians monitoring You can create an External Instrument
mixes or perhaps try three different on headphones to be bothered by your in the Browser for each of your external
plug-in chains on the vocals. It’s great for messing about with soloing tracks in synths and sound modules and then drag
storing points of progression in a mix or the control room. With the Listen Bus them into your project like any virtual
trying out new ideas without getting lost enabled and routed to your main speakers instrument. This automatically creates
in lengthy Undo histories. the soloing of a track will only happen an Instrument Track routed to your synth
It doesn’t have to be everything all at on the Listen Bus and not on the Main and an Aux Channel in the mixer ready
once. You can have it recall just the visibility output that’s feeding the vocal booth, to receive the play-through. This greatly
of tracks so you can hide a group or two to headphones and live-room monitors. improves the ease of connection between
focus on a specific collection of channels. This is one of those catch-up features Studio One and your external gear.
You could create scenes based on Mutes that studio users have been after for
for instantly just picking up the vocal tracks, some time now and it’s great to see it
Score
or the drums, the guitars, etc. It’s useful for implemented. Same goes for MTC/MMC For composers and arrangers the arrival of
diving into some ideas and then being able synchronisation, which is something you a Score View and editor into Studio One
to come back to those same tracks later on probably assumed was already present could be what tempts them over from
as if nothing happened. It’s so ridiculously like it is in every other DAW, but we’re established DAWs like Cubase and Logic.
useful that you’ll wonder why it hasn’t there now, so happy days. The Score View exists in the same
always been there. I’ve already allocated editor window as the piano roll and drum
it a keyboard shortcut and it’s dropped
Aux Channels editor. It’s just another view of your MIDI
invisibly into my workflow. An option has opened up in the mixer to data available on a click and it is beautifully
create Aux Channels. These are channels done. Each track is available as a single
Listen Bus in the mixer that are designed for the or Grand Staff for two-handed pieces and
Under the Spanner icon on the mixer play‑through and monitoring of external you can toggle each track on or off so you
you’ll find a new feature called the Listen audio signals without allocating them can see it as individual instruments or as
a track for recording. So, a conductor’s score. There’s also a rather
perhaps you have an external lovely option to flip the look to white notes
synthesizer and want to be on a dark background.
able to hear its output through Studio One will have a decent stab at
Studio One. Previously you interpreting your playing into some kind
would create a MIDI track to of coherent score, but inevitably some
run the synth and an audio editing will be required. Nearly all of
track to hear it. This works the editing tools and features available
fine but can rather clog up in the piano roll editor are absent from
your Arrange View with empty the Score View. None of the Musical
audio tracks. The Aux Channel Functions you’d find on the right-click or
bypasses the Arrange View and from the Action menu exist. Your toolset
gives you a fader in the mixer is reduced to an arrow and a pen, which
set to whatever input the synth may be all you need and certainly keeps
is connected to. the Score view uncluttered and focused
You can make it even on the task of notation.
more elegant by getting The arrow tool lets you change the
pitch of individual notes and chords
You can save various but not the duration or placement. You
attributes in a Mixer Scene. can, however, copy notes and paste
54 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Plug-ins
All the included plug-ins have had the Wherever there is ‘Drive’ you’ll find the
makeover they deserve, as many had a ‘version 3’ State Space logo declaring that their hi-tech
feel. The Scope plug-in has finally been dragged virtual modelling has been used to replicate an
out of its adorable Windows 98-style interface. authentic drive circuit response. This was first
The Analog Delay and Chorus have been found in the Console Shaper and Fat Channel
reskinned into vintage-style effects reminiscent XT and more recently made it into the
of Roland Space Delay and Chorus Echo. The reworking of Ampire last year, but now it’s in
Rotor rotary speaker gets a wooden cabinet the Delay, the Rotor and the Tricomp, bringing
and animated speaker cone visible through some extra character.
a grill. The Tricomp also gets a cool paint job. The Pro EQ has been updated to a new
These are engaging changes that makes them version and now includes a phase linear
very noticeable in the thumbnailed browser list. low-cut EQ with fixed values and a variable
The delay gets an exponential volume curve slope. The spectrum display now has
and dedicated Width and Ping Pong controls a 12th-octave mode and it has a dedicated
them about the place by moving the
and all dynamics plug-ins now have side-chain input meter with adjustable range and
song marker. You can also change pitch
inputs, but otherwise the changes are largely peak hold.
with the arrow keys and move forwards cosmetic except for the noticeable spread of I should mention that you now get
and backwards from note-to-note like PreSonus’ State Space amp modelling. Melodyne Essentials version 5 included.
you can in the MIDI editor, except in
the Score editor it selects whole chords
together and lets you transpose them. from the toolbar, or press 3 to 9 on the You can start with a fresh score and
There doesn’t seem to be a shortcut to keyboard, and click on top of whatever pick up the pen tool to start writing.
deleting notes; no modifier that changes note you wish to change. The score will Choose your note and click it into the
the mouse pointer to an eraser and so you adapt to accommodate it. If you put more empty bars. You can add rests and
have to select the note and press Delete. notes into a bar than the time-signature articulations like ties, trills and glissandos
To change the duration of a note you use allows they will appear as red and will be and they all express themselves over
the Pen tool and select the type of note ignored on playback. MIDI on playback. One neat feature is the
The new Score view is very handsome and can be seen alongside the MIDI editor and clip.
I’m untroubled by the lack of editing
single command under the Action menu will be welcomed by the many people features and the note processing you
which is ‘Fill with rests’ and will fill in any who enjoy working with music in this get in the MIDI editor, but there are
unused space in the score. way. It is basic when compared to more a couple of things that are noticeable
The mouse isn’t the only way to add comprehensive score-editing software but by their absence. You can’t add chord
notes. You can enable step-mode and then it’s easy to use and does the job. You can symbols or text that you think could be
enter notes of the selected duration with also detach the editor window, pin it and easily transferred from the Chord and
a MIDI keyboard or with your QWERTY open the MIDI editor alongside to use Arrange track. You can’t view it as a sheet
keyboard which can be a very fast method them together. You might find it quicker, of paper or export it as anything that
of note entry once you get the hang of it. for instance, to do some quantising in the would be helpful outside of Studio One.
The Score View is a good addition to piano roll rather than tidy up notes by This leads you to the realisation that you
the editing and composing toolbox and hand in the Score view. can’t print it. I guess for that functionality
PreSonus are hoping you’ll upgrade to
Notion. So, the Score view is really only
Key Switches for those people who would prefer it over
One small but useful enhancement to the The Key Switch options are available and the MIDI editor, and that narrows the
MIDI Editor is the introduction of a Key named automatically when using Presence field rather. However, if you own Notion
Switch lane. Key Switching allows a sampled XT and selectable from a drop-down list. For scoring software or the PreSonus Sphere
instrument, like those in the Presence XT, to other instruments like Kontakt you have to subscription that includes it (see box) then
switch between alternative articulations of the create a little Key Switch preset to denote the you can export to it directly from Studio
same instrument by hitting certain low-octave keys and naming.
One for professional score printing.
MIDI notes. You could be playing a legato Studio One also takes the trouble to
stringed instrument and then tap C0 on your exclude the Key Switch notes from MIDI Note Controller
keyboard controller to switch to staccato processing, so when you apply functions in
sounds. These switch commands are present the MIDI editor or when using MIDI effects Hidden away in the automation lanes and
in the MIDI Editor as MIDI notes but they such as the Arpeggiator or the Chord Track next to the Key Switch editor (see box) is
are often hidden from view because the actual they don’t get in the way. the Note Controller, which is Studio One’s
note action is happening in higher octaves. The Key Switch lane gives you a more
foray into MIDI Polyphonic Expression or
The Key Switch lane makes them visible the elegant way of experimenting with and
whole time in a similar style to the Chord or applying articulations that makes this sort of MPE. It lets you edit the alarming amount
Arrange Tracks but beneath the MIDI Editor. orchestral workflow so much simpler. of data produced by an MPE-compatible
controller for individual notes.
56 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Select a note and be as
expressive as you like
with MPE‑compatible
instruments.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 57
ON TEST
PRESONUS STUDIO ONE 5
58 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
controller, or by touch, or by the Studio sequencer. It’s the sort of feature request range of users. The Show Page is excellent.
One Remote app that’s been updated for that might get a lot of traction. It’s well thought out, sophisticated and
the Show Page. That’s phenomenal. could spell the end for other gigging
What’s missing from the Show Page
Conclusion software, but it could be more ambitious in
is any way to capture your performance. PreSonus have paid attention to their capturing those moments that only a live
Being able to record your gig, even diverse user base and brought in a superb situation can produce. The majority of my
as just a mixed stereo file, feels like range of new features. I think the effect criticism is about things I feel PreSonus
a no-brainer and multitrack recording of the Mixer Scenes on your workflow could have done, whereas if I focus on
can’t be hard for what is ostensibly will be huge, while the plug-in tweaks are what they have achieved then there’s
a DAW. I asked PreSonus about it and nice and the Aux channels are useful. The a huge amount to be pleased about. It’s
the official line is that their solution for MPE editing is a timely and important a tremendous update and the other things
live recording is the Capture software, development, although some included may come along in time.
but unfortunately that only works with MPE-compatible instruments would be
their Live desks. Their assumption is that good. While the Score view is beautiful
££ £344 including VAT.
not everything will necessarily be running and competent I feel it lacks the one thing WW www.presonus.com
through the Show Page which is true that would make it appeal to the broadest
enough, although I’d argue that they
are underestimating its appeal.
There’s another aspect that occurs
to me. If I could record everything
going through the Show Page then it
could evolve from being just about live
performance to being about capturing
live jams as well. You could have your
modular synthesizer rig wired through it
Z E N T OU R
and take advantage of software effects
and mixing and record a mix of what
you’re doing while remaining essentially
DAW-less. You could store MIDI SYNERGY CORE
patch changes on your synthesizers
for different songs you’re working
on without dipping into the internal
PreSonus Sphere
We all enjoy a new way of paying for
our software and PreSonus does this
with their ‘everything bundle’ they
are calling PreSonus Sphere. You get
all their software, all the premium
plug-ins and all the extra content.
You also get access to their new online
collaboration tools and 30GB of
storage for shared projects. Studio
One lets you export stems and mixes
directly to ‘Workspaces’ you create in
your Sphere account which can then
be shared with other users. They throw
in some exclusive content, member
exchanges, videos and training and
even give you a direct chat line to the
experts for support.
How much? It’s £12.14 per month Craft Album-Ready Recordings
or £133.92 a year. Compare that to
Pro Tools at £25 a month or even on Your Desktop
something like Adobe Creative, which
for around the same monthly fee only
gets you Photoshop and Lightroom.
The pricing is impressive, achievable,
realistic and it keeps you in the upgrade
loop. The full version of just Studio 18 × 26 DESKTOP
One Professional to buy and keep is THUNDERBOLT™ 3 & USB 2.0
£344.40 and you’d have to pay for any AUDIO INTERFACE
versions upgrades that come along. WITH SYNERGY CORE
FX PROCESSING
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 59
ON TEST
A
• A music-theory assistant in a plug-in.
little music theory can be really identified in incoming MIDI; the middle • Excellent new performance and key
useful in the compositional zone shows either the scale/chord modulation options.
stage of a project, and those combinations that best match those • New audio-detection facility.
• Cracking value for money.
who have not passed Music Theory 101 detected above, or a scale/chord
might find a bit of software assistance to combination from one of Scaler’s many cons
be invaluable! presets; and the lower zone lets you • None.
I reviewed the original version experiment with chord sequences.
of Scaler in SOS December 2018 For auditioning, you can trigger even summary
This highly impressive update to Scaler
— www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ complex chords with a single MIDI key,
boasts some excellent performance options
plugin-boutique-scaler — and, as the monitoring via a very usable selection of and expanded music-theory support for
core features and much of the UI remain internal sounds or any virtual instrument composers. It’s also an absolute bargain.
intact in v2, my main focus here will in your DAW. Some MIDI keys are
60 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Pad mode allows you to
keyswitch between multiple
Patterns (chord sequences) to
experiment with your overall
song structure.
multiple plug-in
versions to cater for
the routing options of
different DAWs and
plug-in formats, but an
impressive new version
caters for a new audio
detection feature. Yes,
Scaler can now attempt
to detect chords/scales
from audio, not just
MIDI. On the whole, this
mapped to specific chords, but the MIDI can be copied to a DAW track for works pretty well when used with a single
rest of the note range can be used for any further manipulation and playback via instrument (keys or guitar, for example).
melody creation alongside your triggered a virtual instrument of your choice. It’s perhaps not as foolproof as the MIDI
chords, and the notes can be constrained detection process, which is no surprise,
to fit the selected key/scale (ensuring
Chord Explorer but it’s a great addition nonetheless.
no duff notes). Whether just as simple So, what new features does v2 bring There are some extensive additions to
block chords, or as a ‘performance’ you to bear on your exploration of which the Songs and Artists chord-set presets,
create from the mapped chords and chords might or might not work in your too. These were always a good source of
scale-corrected melodic key range, the composition? Scaler v1 already installed inspiration for new musical ideas, and the
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 61
ON TEST
PLUGIN BOUTIQUE SCALER 2
extra options have plenty to offer for both correct melodies in the upper
songwriting and media music applications. regions of the MIDI note range,
Also useful are the improvements has two new choices: Chord
in the lower zone, where it’s now much Notes and Chord Extensions.
easier to create multiple chord Patterns These map just the chord tones,
(sequences) in a single Scaler instance. or the chord tones and some
This allows you, for example, to develop additional notes, to the upper
full intro, verse, bridge, chorus and section of the keyboard and
outro sections. This section of the UI provide further, ‘duff-note-free’
can now be expanded to a ‘pad’ view, melody possibilities.
showing your multiple Patterns in a single Version 2 improves the
screen. When in this mode, you can options for saving Scaler
switch between Patterns via keyswitches, presets to, making it easier to
making it easy to experiment with copy a complete configuration
different song/composition structures to other instances of the
without leaving Scaler. plug-in, and to other projects.
Even better are the new ‘sync’
That’s The Way options, that allow selected
When it comes to ‘performing’ with settings to be synchronised
your chosen chords/scale combination, between different instances.
Scaler 2 is much improved in a number For instance, you might have
of ways. For example, there are now three instances of Scaler
additional chord voicing and chord controlling piano, strings and brass The Perform panel brings a whole new
dimension to triggering your selected chords.
variation options in the central section instruments, all configured with different
of the interface, providing you with performance settings for the same
a range of different flavours and/or underlying chord sequence. However, if suggest some really interesting chord
chord-substitution suggestions. you edit the chord sequence for a specific changes/sequences that those without
The highlight, though, is the new pattern (ie. song section) in one instance, a music theory PhD might not find by
Perform panel. There are lots of useful rather than have to make the same edits semi-random experimentation alone. It’s
features, including a substantial collection in all instances, you can ‘sync’ the changes very clever stuff.
of performances, phrases and rhythms. between the various plug-in instances; it
In essence, when you trigger a chord makes for a much slicker workflow.
Scaling Up?
via a MIDI key, the performance presets Scaler was already an extremely useful
provide unique playback patterns — for
Mods & Modes utility plug-in, but Scaler 2 takes the
example, arpeggios or rhythmic triggering Another highlight is the modulation experience to another level. The audio
of the full chord. The panel includes system, which I’ve found very impressive. detection is certainly a useful addition
humanise options for velocity and timing, Accessed via the Modulation button in the but, for me, the absolute highlights
and a voice-grouping feature, which central section, this allows you to explore are the new performance options and
essentially provides various chord-voicing all sorts of possibilities for modulating the impressive modulation system. The
options. For example, the ‘dynamic’ between keys, and offers advice on which first of these gives Scaler a touch of the
option provides you with a bass note chords might form a good pathway to ‘performer’ element found in Toontrack’s
and automatically identifies inversions of do that. Modulation can be achieved EZkeys. Not only do you get help with
each chord, to keep their fingering close in a number of different modes. For your chord selections and melody writing,
to the scale tonic. Other options provide example, starting from your current key but you now also get some interesting
‘grouping’ to force chord playback into in the default Progression mode, you can and expressive performances of them.
particular octave/note ranges, which is select a destination key via the Circle The modulation options might be
useful when composing for instruments Of Fifths graphic. Scaler will show your something that really only interest the
with a limited note range (some orchestral current chord progression transposed more musically adventurous songwriter or
instruments, for example). to the new key, and provide a series of composer, but they can also encourage
Wonderfully, if you engage the Edit chords (sometimes with multiple options) those with a somewhat sketchy grasp of
mode in the lower ‘Pattern’ section, the that provide a pathway from one key music theory to explore what’s possible.
performance options can be specified to the other. Scaler 2 is a bit of a triumph, and
on a per-chord basis. You have control Progression mode is great for simple at this price, whether you’re buying
over the octave, timing and performance key changes when you’re songwriting, new or upgrading, it’s an absolute
details that will be applied when you but the other modulation modes are steal for those wanting to expand their
trigger that chord. When you then hit the well worth exploring in other situations. compositional toolkit.
MIDI Capture button, all these details For example, the Mediants option could
are included in MIDI data that can be be very cool for media/film composers.
££ Scaler 2 £43.73; upgrade from Scaler 1
dragged to a DAW track. It encourages you to explore creative
£16.96. Prices include VAT.
Finally, Scaler’s Key-Lock options, routes between chords that lie outside WW www.pluginboutique.com
which allow you to play harmonically the currently selected key and can
62 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
The power to
push limits
With Intel i9-based audio workstations from 3XS
Rupert Neve
Designs RMP-D8
Eight-channel Dante Mic Preamp
This remote-controllable preamp boasts rotary encoder, a black power button,
and a small colour OLED display.
some unusual features aimed largely at the All the usual preamp facilities
are provided for each channel, with
live-sound market. individually switchable 48V phantom
power, polarity inversion, a 10dB pad, an
HUGH ROBJOHNS broadcast, education, studio-complex and 80Hz (12dB/octave) high-pass filter, and
location-recording sectors. gain that’s adjustable between 0 and +60
A
udio-over-IP (AoIP) continues dB in 1dB increments. If the line input is
to gain popularity, particularly
Controls & Construction selected, the gain range is restricted to
in live-sound and broadcast The RMP-D8 looks nothing like any other a maximum of +30dB, phantom power
applications, and Rupert Neve Designs RND product I’ve seen. With its sturdy 2U is automatically disabled, and the pad
have recently joined the network-audio rackmounting steel chassis and control is engaged. A Reset button restores all
crowd, with the release of the RMP-D8. panel, both finished in plain matt black, channels to their default settings.
This eight-channel, remote-controllable it’s far more industrial-looking than the When one of the channel buttons
microphone preamp incorporates the Portico or Shelford ranges. Ten vertical under the meters is pressed, that channel’s
almost ubiquitous Dante AoIP interface, slots milled into the substantial front settings are shown on the OLED screen.
and although aimed primarily at live-sound panel reveal eight digital bar-graph The preamp’s gain is displayed in large
applications, it offers exemplary audio meters and two LED arrays of status numbers, along with the status of the
quality and simplicity of use for any indicators. User controls comprise 15 phantom power, high-pass filter, pad and
Dante-equipped installation, so should illuminated buttons for channel access polarity options. Also shown is whether gain
also find welcoming homes in the and configuration, a big red indented compensation (GC) is active (more on that
64 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
later), and whether the front-panel rack or an OB truck. These provisions the Dante network. The main outputs are
controls have been locked. Additional are important for applications where the labelled channels 1 to 8, as you’d expect,
menu screens show system information equipment serves in ‘mission critical’ or while channels 9-16 can either be straight
like the current firmware version, PSU arduous roles. There’s a cooling fan, but it’s duplicates (mirrors) of the first eight
voltages and temperature, the Dante temperature-controlled and quiet: on the channels, or ‘gain compensated’ (GC)
connection IP/Mac addresses, Dante occasions it decided to run I could barely versions, selectable on individual channels.
software and ID details, and the device hear it, even when right beside me on This ‘GC’ refers to a feature whereby
ID for use with remote control from the desk. the channel gain can be adjusted for the
Yamaha CL, QL or PM consoles. The eight mic/line inputs are connected output without affecting the previously
The preamp functionality is obvious via a single row of combi XLR/jack sockets set gain structure. For example, if Channel
and efficient, making routine setups on the back panel, and phantom power is 1’s gain is turned up, the GC output has
and operations straightforward, but never present on the TRS connections. I was its gain turned down automatically to
the 20-page manual is necessary surprised at the omission of a multichannel compensate, thus maintaining a consistent
reading if you’re to understand the input connector; there’s plenty of space for level at that output. The GC outputs
more involved Dante configuration a couple of AES59 D-sub connectors for always start with 6dB less gain than the
functionality. The only thing I felt was separate mic and line inputs, for example. main outputs, to build in some working
missing was an instant overview of Another surprise was that there are no headroom, and the automatic gain
all channel settings; the assignable analogue outputs: no line-level preamp compensation only works over a ±12dB
nature of the controls means that the outputs, and no headphone socket for range, and within the limits of the preamp’s
unit’s front panel can’t provide that local monitoring, which would have been 0-60 dB overall gain range.
overview, so I’d very much like to see useful for checking connections and settings Why is this facility provided? Well, in
an overview display page added to the during rigging, or when fault-finding. There a typical live-sound setting the main (1-8)
OLED screen in a firmware update. are four male XLRs carrying AES3 digital outputs would typically be routed to the
The RMP-D8 features true mains outputs from all eight channels, although FOH console and the GC (9-16) outputs
power redundancy: there are two I’m struggling to imagine what these would to a stage monitor console. During the
separate universal voltage (100-240 typically be used for. Also on the rear panel soundcheck, let’s say channel 1’s gain of
V AC) power modules, each fed from is a USB-A socket for firmware updates, and +36dB is stored as the initial setting, and
separate mains supplies, with their a pair of RJ45 sockets providing primary the gain to the GC output will therefore
outputs switched automatically if and secondary Dante network connections. be +30dB. During the show, the FOH
one supply (or PSU) fails. The two engineer wants a bit more level and tweaks
provided mains cords are fitted with
Signal Path the gain up to +40dB, the GC output to
locking IEC plugs, too, so there’s As you’d expect of a Rupert Neve Designs the monitor desk will still have 30dB of
zero risk of the cables falling out after product, the analogue circuitry is described overall gain, so the artists’ monitoring
being bounced around in a wheeled as Class-A and each channel features feeds don’t change either.
a custom-designed transformer. These are While the FOH engineer could use the
not the mic input transformers you might front-panel encoder to change channel
have expected, though; the front end is gains, the RMP-D8 can also be controlled
actually electronically balanced with an
‘instrumentation amplifier’ circuit topology.
Instead, the transformers reside in the Rupert Neve Designs
channel output stages feeding the A-D RMP-D8 £5499
converters, and are credited for delivering
pros
the ‘larger than life’ tone so often
• Dual redundant mains supplies.
associated with Rupert Neve’s preamps.
• Classic larger-than-life sound character.
Apparently a lot of attention has been • Very solid technical performance with
paid to the RMP-D8’s digital clocking and generous headroom.
jitter-reduction arrangements, and its 24-bit • Remote-controllable and compatible with
Yamaha’s RIO system.
converters support all the standard sample
• Provided with locking IEC cables.
rates between 44.1 and 192 kHz. Unusually,
the four common pull-up/pull-down cons
sample-rate modifiers required for some • No display overview of all channel settings.
film/TV shoots are also provided (±0.1, -4 • Fixed-speed encoder makes setting high
gains tedious from the front panel.
and +4.1667 percent). As a pure Dante
• No analogue outputs or local
interface, the desired sample frequency can headphone monitoring.
only be adjusted via the Dante Controller
application; there’s no provision to adjust summary
the sample rate locally. Optimised for professional live-sound
AoIP installations, the RMP-D8
Dante & GC Outputs provides a high-quality eight-channel,
remote-controllable preamp with full
Although an eight-channel preamp, the Dante connectivity.
RMP-D8 actually presents 16 outputs to
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 65
ON TEST
RUPERT NEVE DESIGNS RMP-D8
Two separate power supplies, each with its own IEC inlet, provide true mains power redundancy.
remotely over the Dante network; RND dynamic range figure measured a tad high gains from the front panel can be
provide free Mac/Windows remote-control over 115dB (A-wtd), putting it on a par rather tedious, because the encoder isn’t
applications that run alongside the Dante with the Audient ASP880 and Antelope speed-sensitive — a lot of revolutions are
Controller and it’s possible to control the Orion. The THD figure was 0.007 percent needed to reach +60dB. The controller
preamp channels directly from any Yamaha with an output level of -0.5dBFS, showing app is a lot faster in that respect. I also
CL, QL or PM digital console (the RMP-D8 a slight emphasis of odd harmonics over couldn’t find a way to pair channels for
appears as a native Yamaha RIO preamp, the even ones, thanks presumably to convenient stereo operation.
allowing control of gain, phantom power the output transformer. Although the RMP-D8 is intended to
and high-pass filter settings). The frequency response is easily be used with a Dante network connection,
RND’s remote control app provides within ±0.25dB from about 30Hz up to it can be used as a standalone preamp/
a graphical representation of the eight just below the Nyquist frequency, and converter under certain circumstances.
channels, with gains being adjusted I measured the low-frequency -3dB The unit retains in memory its
either via on-screen knobs or by typing in turnover point at 10Hz, rising to 80Hz with Dante-programmed clocking configuration
numerical values, and switch functions are the second-order high-pass filter engaged. and restores that setting when the power
toggled by clicking the on-screen buttons. The input impedance is a Neve-classic is cycled. So if the unit is connected to
Setting up this interface is a bit ‘geeky’, 5.3kΩ for both mic and line modes and, a computer running the Dante Controller
but it works well. Although the app version unusually, it doesn’t change if the input and programmed to use it’s internal
I used during the review could only control pad is activated. The unloaded phantom clock, it retains that capability afterwards,
one physical RMP-D8, RND were already power voltage was fractionally low, but allowing use as a free-standing preamp
beta-testing an updated version which comfortably within spec at 46.9V, and it with AES3 outputs. It’s not particularly
can address eight units simultaneously, delivered 10.8V at the microphone when convenient, but it works!
and that should be available by the providing the maximum 10mA current, Sound-wise the RMP-D8 is great, being
time you read this. which is also safely within spec. quiet and generally clean, with more
The maximum input level corresponding than enough gain for most live-sound
Performance to 0dBFS (digital clipping) is +25.5dBu, applications. The standard facilities
As you might expect, the RMP-D8 boasts while the SMPTE specification calls are effective and working with normal
some very solid technical specifications, for +24dBu, so RND have effectively headroom margins delivers a sound which
all of which I confirmed with an Audio built 1.5dB of extra headroom into the is full-bodied and does have a slightly
Precision test system. The mic preamp conversion. (While this is potentially larger-than-life character associated with
EIN figure (150Ω source, 60dB gain, useful in a live-sound situation, it means well-engineered mic preamps. It’s not
20Hz-22kHz bandwidth) measured the a standard +4dBu analogue reference obviously coloured, but intentionally driving
equivalent of -127dBu (-92.5dBFS at the doesn’t generate the expected -20dBFS signals into the red results (initially) in
AES3 output), and the system noise floor digital output. Thankfully, only engineering a progressively saturated distortion rather
at unity gain was -100dBFS. The AES17 geeks like me would fret about than the more typical hard aliased clipping.
such trivial anomalies!) Although I feel there are a few areas
where some minor firmware updates
Alternatives In Use would be beneficial, overall this is
There are now several octal Dante mic
preamps, and some of them share a Rupert Once the RMP-D8 is integrated into a good Dante preamp and should do
Neve heritage. These include Neve’s new a Dante network, it’s very easy to use both well in the AoIP live-sound market
1073OPX and Focusrite’s older ISA828 from the front panel and remotely. The for which its unusual feature set has
MkII (which can be equipped with a Dante
interface, but it isn’t remote-controllable).
bar-graph meters show -60 to -9 dBFS clearly been focused.
Focusrite’s Rednet MPR8 is across five green LEDs, with two oranges
remote-controllable, though, and also has for -6dBFS and -3dBFS followed by ££ £5499 including VAT.
dual-redundant power supplies. Other a (helpfully pessimistic) red overload LED. TT Rupert Neve Designs UK & Europe
remote-controllable eight-channel Dante +44 (0)208 191 0058
preamps include Glensound’s DARK8MAI,
(I like a little more warning of high peaks,
EE info@rupertneve.com
Grace Design’s m802 and Millennia’s HV-3R. and would have preferred the -9dBFS
WW https://rupertneve.com
LED to be orange.) Unfortunately, setting
66 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
eaturing eight legendary 1073® remote-controlled preamps with Marinair® transformers, digital/analogue monitor signal path
nd optional USB and Dante digital connectivity for the modern studio environment.
Neve
Neve
w w w. a m s - n e v e . c o m
Further product information available by scanning the QR code (left) or visiting ams-neve.com. Neve® & the Neve logo are
registered trademarks of AMS Neve Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
TECHNIQUE
NEIL ROGERS
A
t some indefinable point in the
past, I completed my transition
from drummer to engineer, and
while I still lay down parts when clients
need them, I stopped thinking of myself
as ‘a musician’ long ago. But last year
I was invited by a client (who I’d played
Time & Place
drums for on one track) to drum on their Recording sessions can be long. If working
latest album. It was a useful experience: with a band you might not need all the artists
being in a different studio (StudiOwz there simultaneously, and they might or
in Pembrokeshire), with someone else might not want to hang around while you’re
engineering, reminded me what it is recording their bandmates. You can’t plan
about recording sessions that helps a session down to the last minute — recording
or hinders performers. With that doesn’t work that way — but if you know you’ll
experience in mind, here are 10 ways be setting up the drum sound all morning and
I think engineers and studio owners can the guitarist and vocalist are free to do what
ensure the studio works as well for the they want until early afternoon, let them know
musicians as it does for themselves. that, and tell them when they need to be back.
68 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Communication Mics
You’ll have a talkback mic in the control room,
but how will the artist talk to you? It’s easy
enough with a vocalist (use the vocal mic),
but you don’t want other performers to have
to keep repeating things because their voice
is faint, or to shout, or stretch to reach a mic
(potentially moving things as they do!). So
have a listen mic or two set up in the room
which can pick up what the artists are saying.
An instrument or room mic might double up
for this purpose, but with a dedicated mic you
can add a compressor to make it easier to pick
up artists from further across the room. Just
be sure not to feed this signal accidentally into
the cue mix! Record it, and as a bonus you’ll
have a record of their reaction after each take.
Manage The Pace depth and power of the kit, which helped me
to avoid overplaying.
Just because you can do things fast doesn’t This advice isn’t unique to drums. A lot of
mean you should. You certainly don’t want guitarists seem more comfortable recording
to move so fast all the time that the session in the live room with their amp and effects
feels hurried. A good engineer should know than playing to speakers in the control room.
when to suggest a little break, how much Committing to sounds created with pedals
time to spend indulging an artist’s new idea, or outboard equipment can terrify new
and when to slow or quicken the pace more engineers, I know, but recording isn’t just
generally. It’s about finding the rhythm for about capturing neat and tidy files that you
a particular artist or session that helps get can create something with at the mix stage, so
the performance in the bag. So learn your it can be worth taking the ‘risk’, and you can
tools and prepare in advance: that way, you always capture a dry insurance signal. When it
can choose when to work quickly and when comes to vocals, having a few obvious effect
to back off the pace. You’ll be in control, and options to hand for the monitor mix can be
you’ll also be seen to be in control, which will useful. A slap delay and a short reverb can
boost everyone’s confidence. often help a singer get into things.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 69
TECHNIQUE
T H E A R T I S T- F R I E N D LY S T U D I O
The Environment
Anything that contributes to a relaxed atmosphere and a good ‘vibe’
will have a much bigger impact on most clients than your collection
of mic preamps. Some studios will benefit from being in a stunning
location or amazing building, but I reckon any studio can be made
inspiring and welcoming in its own way. My studio is in a warehouse
on an industrial estate, so the approach will never be awe-inspiring,
but I’ve put time and thought into making it feel nice, comfortable
and welcoming inside. Lighting, artwork, seating, refreshments,
somewhere to hang your coat... This stuff is really important!
70 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Work smarter not harder
72 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Keep Playing Keep The Buzz Alive
Increasingly, the type of production projects Making musicians wait while you fiddle can ruin a session. With my engineering hat on,
I work on tend to be less about simply recording I could happily spend hours fine-tuning the kit and placing mics, but if the drummer has
a band, and more about helping an individual or come into the studio feeling pumped about recording their latest track, hours spent
a smaller group of people develop and capture hitting individual drums and playing the same loop will really take the edge off. So do as
their sound. Often, this means getting ideas much of the setting up and fiddling as you can before you invite the musicians in to play.
down quickly. And if you, the engineer, can also For drums, the engineering side can be particularly time-consuming, so if the drummer’s
jump behind a drum kit, play a bass line, or lay bringing their own kit, have a plan for when they should bring it and set it up. If you have
down some keys or backing vocals, that’s really an assistant, you can cut out a decent chunk of the buzz-killing soundcheck by getting
helpful. So when you have a bit of downtime, them, not the drummer, to hit individual drums. The same applies to other performers:
sharpen up your old playing skills or learn some the less they have to help you, the more ready they’ll be to deliver when you hit record.
new ones. It will make you a better engineer, Make sure you have enough mic options to hand for a vocalist. If using multiple mics
and you’ll end up getting better performances on a cab, get them in phase and in a great place to start tweaking. Test your cables
down ‘on tape’. regularly so you don’t waste time fault-tracing and swapping them out.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 73
ON TEST
Yamaha look to reclaim their stage keyboard Japanese stage keyboard designs of the
last two decades (not least the CP4) which
crown with two world-class live instruments. have voluminous hidden feature sets in
the depths of menu systems.
ROBIN BIGWOOD And now the YC series makes A Nord-like directness is exactly what
a storming comeback too. Well, we we see here. Although both keyboards
Y
amaha’s stage keyboard heritage already had a sniff of it in the form of the rely on 128x64 dot LCDs and a menu
goes back more than half little mini-key Reface YC of 2015, but system for many tasks, all the individual
a century, and in the 1970s their the new YC61 is a different and bigger sound-generating sections are equipped
CP-series electro-acoustic pianos and YC beast altogether. with chunky knobs, rocker switches,
combo organs were amongst the most encoders (with LED surrounds) and
useful and desirable instruments available
Red Or Dead? two-digit displays. Particularly distinctive
to gigging keyboard players. We’ll dig into the detail of each individual are the retro silver metal switches near
After a long hiatus the CP-series was keyboard in a moment, but let’s first the keyboard: these toggle a section’s
revived a decade ago, and the CP4 Stage consider what unites them. on/off status when you momentarily
(which I reviewed in the February 2015 To start with I’ll just come out and say push them up. The overall design gives
issue of SOS) is often cited as an ideal it: these Yamahas are really Nord-like! If the impression of interacting with lots of
stage piano of the modern era: musical, you’ve even a passing interest in stage single-task discrete devices, very much
practical, versatile and musician-friendly. pianos and Hammond emulators you’ll in keeping with the current vogue for all
It’s not entirely clear yet whether the know that the Nord Stage, Piano and things analogue and/or modular.
CP88 on test here is a complement to Electro are huge players in this field. Another leaf out of the Nord book:
the CP4 or a replacement, but either The Swedish way has always been to these new keyboards are chips off the
way it’s a new interpretation of the stage make most aspects of sound selection same block, clearly part of the same
keyboard concept for Yamaha. and control knobby, tactile, direct and wider family. Casework is all metal, high
74 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Yamaha CP88 & YC61
£1729 & £1599
pros
• The YC61’s Hammonds are state of the art.
• The CP88’s rich piano complement
is perfectly matched by a refined and
renowned hammer action.
• The knobby interfaces invite
experimentation.
• Great-sounding effects and lots of them.
• Sophisticated configuration options and
good memory management.
• Looks like they’d survive a nuclear war.
cons
• The CP88’s non-piano sound provision
is sparse.
• YC61 transistor organs are far from being
faithful recreations.
• Panel controls are not always as
intuitive or powerful as you’d wish for,
and menu-diving is still required for
many tasks.
• No aftertouch.
summary
A pair of pro-level gigging keyboards
that represent a significant departure
from typical Japanese stage piano design,
combining strong piano and tonewheel
organ capabilities with an inviting knobby
and somewhat retro user interface.
quality, and really confidence-inspiring. the more sophisticated of the two models all three sound generators in a send/
The heavy-duty vibe extends out the on test here. It’s cheaper than the big return arrangement, and finally there’s
back too, with sockets nutted firmly to hammer-action board, but not by much. a master-level EQ.
the casework and proper 3-pin IEC mains Centre-stage goes to a fully featured
inlets. The CP88 weighs 18.6kg and the organ emulator, which is supplemented
Organic Reach
YC61 7.1kg. by a broad base of gigging sounds The YC61’s organ section is really versatile.
There are big overlaps in with simple editing features. The On the Hammond front you have the
sound-generating technologies and 61 semi-weighted velocity-sensitive choice between a ‘standard’ model called
soundsets too. Yamaha say an Advanced waterfall-action keys are fast in action and H1, a more aggressive midrange-driven
Wave Memory AWM2 engine is used perfect for slippery organ playing, palm and electrically aged H2, or H3 with its
for everything but the YC61’s organ glisses and fall-offs. Yamaha employ its very pronounced percussion. Beyond this
sounds, but the pianos have the seamless slightly narrower 160mm octave width there are three FM-based organs: a clean
velocity response behaviour of an acoustic here, which I personally don’t notice, and sine-wave model and emulations of British
modelling system, and there’s plenty of should concern only a small subset of and Italian (presumably Vox and Farfisa)
FM knocking about too. Seamless sound players very sensitive to it. transistor designs. The other characterful
switching is evident, allowing presets to There are in fact three separate, originals from the Reface YC — the
be dialled in without silencing anything independent sound generators on Acetone and a ’70s YC — are sadly missing.
already sounding. The implementation board: the VCM/FM Organ, plus two All of the organ models will work as
looks robust except for an edge case identically equipped ‘Keys’ sections, two organs in parallel, with separate
where the YC61 VCM (Virtual Circuit A and B. Tied to these are no fewer registrations for a notional Lower and
Modeling) organ section changes mode, than nine effects processors of one type Upper manual that can be played from
and that is perhaps why Yamaha don’t or another. The Organ has a dedicated either side of a keyboard split, or from the
trumpet this ability in its marketing blurb. preamp drive, and each of the Keys its YC61’s own keyboard in conjunction with
So this is all a bold and interesting own pair of multi-effects in series. An an external keyboard controller feeding
design departure for Yamaha. Let’s see additional multi-effect is on hand to the MIDI In socket.
how it plays out in practice. be applied to a single section of your The Hammond sounds, allied with the
choice and a Speaker/Amp simulator Rotary speaker effect, can be staggeringly
YC61 naturally fulfils Leslie speaker duties, but good. Other manufacturers also get great
Although smaller than the CP88, and at can just as easily dirty up your electric results these days of course: the best
first glance simpler, the YC61 is arguably pianos. A simple Reverb is shared by Nord, Roland and Kurzweil tonewheel
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 75
ON TEST
YA M A H A C P 8 8 & Y C 6 1
The YC61’s rear panel is a tick list of everything ‘Half-moon’ controls for rotor speed is all wrong anyway. I didn’t have one on
you want to see on the back of a keyboard. IEC and brake are on the left-hand side of the hand to directly compare, but everything
power supply: check. Full-size MIDI ports: panel next to the drawbars, and by default I’ve heard of the little Reface YC’s
check. Full provision of quarter-inch pedal inputs
the sprung left-right pitch stick duplicates transistor emulations seems to trounce
and audio I/O: check.
the slow-fast control. These are in fact what’s here. However, in practice, and
merely triggers for the processing taking especially when distorted through some
sounds are also hugely convincing. But place in the Speaker/Amp effect section of the onboard amp/speaker simulations,
the sense of realism and responsiveness further to the right. There you’ll also find the musical effect can still be extremely
here is uncanny, and it really can feel the alternative ‘Rtr B’ Leslie cabinet which potent and persuasive, and various Doors/
like you’re in the company of a large, is capable of frankly unsettling amounts of Who/Floyd timbres can be teased out
loud mechanical presence! At full tilt the throaty transistor distortion, and a further that’ll fool most people most of the time.
organs snarl and growl as does a B3 and four non-rotary guitar amps whose So they’re not bad organs: they’re just not
a cranked Leslie cabinet. All manner of overdrive and distortion characteristics particularly authentic.
remarkable side-band hums and hisses can be well suited to the combo organs
spill out, in a realistically unpredictable and electric pianos. A Tone knob dials in
Key Skills
manner, aided by a menu-adjustable a ‘smile’ EQ curve with boosted treble and Turning to the YC61’s Keys section, this
inter-tonewheel leakage level. The YC61 bass to the right and a drier mid-range consists of two identical general‑purpose
will subtly purr and throb away just as balance to the left. sound generators which can be
readily though, all the while retaining the Now for the FM organs. They’re played solo or layered and split in any
sense of presence and weight. Vibrato/ useful to have... but rather curious. combination with each other, and the
Chorus and Percussion behaviour is Least contentious of the three is the FM organ section.
sophisticated and convincing: I loved the sine organ. As well as some beguiling I found the panel layout confusing to
Vibrato 3 setting particularly, which comes clean, glassy textures it soon roughens begin with. With one set of controls for
with all sorts of electrical degradation, up into a more generic electric sound both it’s not abundantly clear at first that
and there’s a menu option to unlink with the application of drive and there even are two independent sections,
the 1’ drawbar from its default role in speaker simulation. and the black-grey graphics that separate
percussion generation and liberate it as F2 and F3, notionally the Vox and generators and effects are subtle to the
an independent footage. There’s also an Farfisa, are quirky. F2 has only one point of invisibility.
option for an attached expression pedal drawbar, the 4’, which generates With use and experimentation things
to affect only organ volume or Leslie a distinctive square/pulse wave tone, make perfect sense. Keys A and B each
drive as well. while all others are still sine/FM-like. draw from the same set of 139 sounds,
The physical drawbars have a good F3 has an 8’ transistor tone on the 16’ which are selected using a combination of
level of clicky resistance over their drawbar, a 16’ tone on the 5+1/3’, and four-way category knob and bi-directional
movement. They also get LED backdrops a 4’ on the 1+1/3’. Other drawbars are at rocker switch. In the section they’re only
(of user-selectable colour) that indicate similarly unpredictable footages and offer identified by category and number, but in
registration when presets are loaded very muted transistor sounds alongside the LCD you get a full sound name. This
and the physical drawbar positions are tonewheel-like sines. Both these models is not a prodigious soundset, it must be
(inevitably) wrong. Each has a nifty little abruptly lose their buzzy footages above said, but quality is there when you need
transparent section that lets underlying note B5 and also can’t access the Vibrato/ it to be.
LEDs show through, which is an ideal Chorus and Percussion sections, which is Grand pianos include a fully featured
compromise in marrying physical drawbar both hugely disappointing and (with the Yamaha CFX, the flagship sound of the
feel with preset recall, and arguably an majority of Farfisa Compact models in CP4, as well as a focused S700 and
improvement on any methods currently mind) inaccurate. A generic vibrato can be a rather warm, intimate and likeable C7.
employed by other manufacturers. achieved by pushing up the modulation There’s also a U1 upright, brimming with
Matching physical drawbars to saved lever, but it’s a weak affair. character and inharmonicity, two CP80
registrations can be done in a couple of Essentially, if you’re after spot-on electroacoustics and some ready-rolled
ways familiar from the hardware synth transistor emulations, these are not they. CFX pad layers.
world, with options for an immediate Sounds and registrations are off, and In the E.Piano category can be found
value Jump or a more benign Catch. selecting them by Hammond drawbars five Rhodes (or should that be ‘Rhodeses’?)
76 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Exits & Entries
In keeping with all the under-the-hood
niceties, these new Yamahas are well
equipped to meet the outside world.
Alongside the stereo quarter-inch line out
sockets the CP88 gets line-level balanced
XLR outs. Both have a stereo pair of
line ins too — often very handy — with
adjustable gain. You can attach four pedals:
two switches (including a continuous-type
damper pedal) and two expression pedals.
MIDI connections are via DIN in and out,
of different vintages, quite varied in finger twists. Pad sounds, for example, and a B-type USB socket.
character, as well as three variations on often have the EG knob simultaneously In fact MIDI is a strong point here.
All controls can generate and respond to
a Wurlitzer, two Clavinet tones, a single lengthening both attack and release
controller messages, and (on the YC61 at
harpsichord, and seven DX pianos. time, to make them ‘slower’ and
least) controller numbers are shown in the
With all the pianos, the velocity more languid. LCD as you work. There’s also full-blown
response is beautifully implemented, even Precise and direct control with master keyboard functionality, with up
if it’s not always easy to control from the this macro-based system is full of to four independent keyboard zones,
YC61’s light waterfall keys. There’s no inconsistencies, though. Though many working alongside internal sounds or
sympathetic resonance behaviour, but sounds do what you expect, the envelope separate from them, and with the option
to broadcast bank and patch changes,
a pedal-triggered damper resonance can phases of others steadfastly refuse to
volume, pan and other information on the
be inserted in one of the effects slots; change very much (or even at all) in any recall of a Live Set.
not the most naturalistic implementation of the 11 EG modes. At this juncture Lastly, computers see these keyboards
I’ve heard, but effective enough, and with it’s worth comparing Nord’s equivalent as two-channel in/out audio interfaces.
the potential to be creatively tweaked to envelope system on recent Electros, that Computer audio can appear at the output
a reverb-like extreme. Acoustic pianos uses a two-knob combo to intuitively and jacks (balanced with a menu USB audio
volume parameter), but whilst internal
are capable of partial-damping and reliably serve up almost all useful shapes.
sounds can be recorded to a DAW, signals
half-pedalling effects, responding well to But then an Electro has no equivalent of arriving at the input jacks never get into
continuous-type sustain pedals. the YC61’s static filter cutoff knob, so you the USB feed. So this is a useful additional
In the Synth category you get all win some and you lose some... feature, but not one that’ll let you record
kinds of pads, stabs, leads and a few Sounds grouped into the ‘Other’ your vocals.
basses and bells. Many attractive fizzy category include section and solo strings,
Oberheim and Jupiter textures are here, guitars and other plucked instruments, some referencing hardware originals)
nicely warm and lively, along with typical classical and soul/pop brass, a few complement fine amp/speaker
D50/M1 layers and juicy synth brasses. flutes (including a Mellotron), five useful simulations, compression, and three
Some Moog leads would benefit from basses, various mallet instruments, and varieties of wah, the last of which is easily
more brightness in the upper octaves, a couple of squeezeboxes. The quality driven by an expression pedal. There are
and whilst all lead sounds can be made of nearly all these is very high: they’re also digital and analogue-style delays,
monophonic via a menu option (and clean, energetic and dynamic. Actually some respectable reverbs, a lo-fi digital
indeed are almost always presented none is particularly sophisticated, from degrader and a resonant low-pass filter
this way in the factory Live Sets) some a programming perspective, with sample which, though not integrated at voice
subtle envelope retriggering is audible zone transitions clearly audible if you go level, is arguably as useful as the EG knob
with legato playing that you don’t get on looking for them and very little velocity for many jobs.
a real monosynth, even when portamento switching is employed. There’s certainly The master multi-effect (which is
(another menu option) is employed. no fancy articulation switches or legato notably available to the organ section
As for synth-like parameter editing: transitions. But the fundamental quality is too) is equipped with all the same
there’s some, but it’s very limited. Aside high, and various string, sax sections and algorithms except for damper resonance.
from another smile-EQ Tone control even a solo trumpet sound superb, and But it has a couple of its own too: a clean
there’s just a single knob, switchable are very playable. digital-style Tempo Delay, which makes
between EG (Envelope Generator) sense of the Tap [tempo] button, and an
and Filter. In Filter mode it tweaks
Effects intriguing Looper Delay. The idea there
the cutoff of a low-pass filter, against I mentioned there are two multi-effects is to capture riffs (and so on) in real time
some predetermined resonance curves processors for each of the keys sections, from any internal sound generator, which
(selectable in menus, or using a nifty key and the quality of these is in keeping with you can then solo over using any other.
shortcut). In EG mode the knob adjusts that of the soundset. What a difference It works in principle, but the maximum
combinations of Attack, Decay and it makes too, to have effect parameters loop time of less than 1.5 seconds is just
Release at once (ditto). under knob control, even just the two per measly, and unlike a dedicated looper
Many factory Live Sets load up with effect here, rather than buried in menus. there’s no way to define in and out points.
useful knob responses preconfigured, Multiple chorus, flanger and phaser It’s a nice idea, but not ready for serious
and a lot can be achieved in a couple of algorithms (all great-sounding, and use in this implementation.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 77
ON TEST
YA M A H A C P 8 8 & Y C 6 1
CP88
Before I got my hands on the CP88
I’d assumed it to be a Nord Stage
competitor. Actually, despite the control
panel positively bristling with knobs
and switches it’s far closer in scope to
a Nord Piano, because it doesn’t have
a dedicated organ section.
What you do get are dedicated
sections for Piano, E Piano and a ‘Sub’
general soundset. Like on the YC61, they
can be combined flexibly in split and layer
combinations via buttons in each section. The YC61’s drawbars are accompanied by LEDs to show their saved state, which is rather ingenious.
I initially questioned the separation
of acoustic and electric pianos, because and then a second for Chorus, Flanger an unremarkable 11mm. There’s a bit
normally you want one or the other, and Phaser effects. The Sub section, while of a hollow clatter on the downstroke,
rather than a split or a layer of the two. we’re at it, has just a single effect of its much quieter than some cheaper actions,
However, it makes a bit more sense when own, switchable between Chorus/Flanger, and the release is more muted again.
you spot that each section has its own Rotary speaker, Tremolo and Distortion. Subjectively, I found the weight and
special repertoire of dedicated effects. Beyond these insert-type effects resistance beautifully judged, fast, precise,
Acoustic pianos get dedicated Damper there’s a Delay with switchable analogue/ neither light nor heavy, and musically
Resonance and a choice of Compression, digital characteristics, and a simple rewarding for both acoustic and electric
Distortion, Drive or Chorus. The E Reverb, both accessible to any or all of piano sounds. Just as I remember the
Piano section has no fewer than three the sound-generating sections. Finally CP4. It’s a good ’un.
processors in series: a straightforward there’s the same useful three-band The piano sounds themselves are
Drive, feeding a first multi-effect with Master EQ as on the YC61, but for some identical to, and exhibit the same very
various modulation-type effects and wah, reason the CP88 is granted the option of high quality as those in the YC61. Here
having EQ settings and status stored for though, fittingly, there are additional
individual Live Sets. grands. The desirable and versatile CFX,
Later Live C7 and S700 are joined by a plummy
Both the CP and YC store patches as Hammer Rite Bosendorfer Imperial 290 that reeks
what’s termed a Live Set. This is basically The CP88’s keyboard is one of Yamaha’s of old-world class and a really good,
a snapshot of all parameters, and there’s own NW-GH (Natural Wood Graded balanced and neutral CFIII. There’s
room for 160 of them. Over half are
Hammer) models that has wood also one more upright, an SU7 with
occupied by factory presets on both
models, but all slots are user-writable. visible on the sides of the white keys. a surprisingly complex and attractive
Eight dedicated buttons give direct access Under the hand the quite slender and character. You also get the same layered
to pages of eight at a time, or you can use strongly textured black keys made me CFXs and CP80s as in the YC61, along
the big clickable encoder next to the LCD think more than anything of top-flight with a rather coarse, clangourous (and
to select one from a long list. Loading is acoustic grands from the early part bizarrely noisy) ‘Digi Piano’.
pretty much instantaneous.
of the 20th century, which is a big There’s extra value in the E Piano
There’s some impressive supporting
facilities too. Live Sets can be saved and plus-point, as far as I’m concerned. section too, with the YC61’s already
loaded quickly to and from a USB stick, There’s no escapement-like resistance generous line up supplemented by two
and individual ones picked out from on the downstroke, aftertouch or release more Rhodes models, a 73 Studio and
previously saved bulk dumps. There’s even velocity, but the triple-sensor design 74 Stage. These are excellent, amazingly
a Manager page in the menu system for makes for reliable retriggering even responsive, with pronounced key-release
swapping positions and copying them
when keys haven’t been fully released. noises. Really, the CP88’s Rhodes sounds
from place to place in the internal memory.
When you have them where you want Octave width is a standard 165mm are right up there with the very best of the
them, a footswitch can be used to advance (which makes a two-keyboard combo modelling or sample-based competition.
through the list sequentially. with the narrow-span YC61 a subtly Finally the Sub section has 17 pad
strange mismatch), and the white key-dip and string sounds (varying from the
78 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
AUDIOPHILE SOUND MEETS
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ON TEST
YA M A H A C P 8 8 & Y C 6 1
The CP88’s rear panel is much the same as library competition, you’d be hard-pushed once again they don’t work for all sounds:
the YC61’s, but also offers a pair of XLR to tell you weren’t listening to the real Attack is too often disabled for some
audio outputs. thing on a recording. Only anti-musical, string sounds, for example.
forensic single-note ‘pixel peeping’ would I’m also bound to mention the odd
Oberheim-esque synthetic to the give the game away. misfire in the current soundset (and
naturalistic, by way of a single choir Having said that, I was surprised how actually these specific comments hold
and Mellotron strings). Also, 10 organs subtle the piano Damper Resonance true for counterparts in the YC61 too).
that encompass a handful of preset effect is: I often struggled to tell whether The single glockenspiel sound is out
Hammond registrations, a single Vox, it was on or off, especially for the CFX. It’s of tune, quite sharp and together with
Farfisa and an (unusual but nice) Elka not adjustable like on the YC61. a xylophone it has a big unnecessary
Panther, plus full-ranks and single-flute And then, while I’ll readily baked-in room ambience. The two
church varieties. Then it’s 11 chromatic acknowledge that the provided Sub clavinets, meanwhile, are presented an
percussions (think vibraphones, sounds maintain the quality I saw in the octave lower than everything else.
xylophones and some percussive synth YC61, I struggle to understand why there Another grumble concerns the insert
bells), and 25 ‘others’ that include are so few: fewer than 65 compared to effects, which when toggled on and off
basses, synth leads, steel and Strat the 300 on the CP4. There’s virtually no cause momentary interruptions to their
guitars, a few brass instruments, jazz and naturalistic pop/jazz or orchestral brass, sound generator’s output. I remember
Mellotron flutes, and a harmonica. no section or solo woodwind and no a similar problem with the CP4, and it’s
I don’t want to keep repeating myself, orchestral combos, timps or drums. annoying it hasn’t been solved, especially
but just for the avoidance of doubt, the Sound-editing facilities are close to as the same problem is not evident on the
CP88’s pianos are really good. Timbral non-existent too. The CP88 doesn’t YC61. It’s also a shame that the shared
complexity across the pitch range, velocity even get the YC61’s single-knob filter Delay effect has no ping-pong option or
gradation from the NW-GH action, decay control, so there isn’t a filter at all here, tap tempo button.
phase plausibility and nuanced pedal not even lurking amongst the effects. On a brighter note, a menu-accessible
response all stand up to scrutiny. As with It is perversely equipped with separate ‘Advanced Mode’ provides a useful
the best of the hardware and sample envelope Attack and Release knobs, but workaround for when the strictly
80 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
Alternatives
I’ve mentioned Nord’s current line up several
times, and those really are the closest
competitors in terms of the basic design
concept. For piano players the Korg
Grandstage and Roland RD-2000 stand out,
for different reasons, and organists should
check out the ‘new’ Korg-manufactured
Vox Continental as well as Roland’s
budget-friendly VR-09 and 73-key VR-730.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 81
INTERVIEW
Recording Viscerals
The rules of heavy metal are well established,
but for their latest album, Pigsx7 guitarist and
producer Sam Grant added a few of his own.
82 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
form of Grant, a true sonic obsessive with
WILL STOKES
a hawk’s eye for detail, they also enjoy Pigsx7 rhythm guitarist and
I
producer Sam Grant.
t’s probably not a stretch to on-tap access to a studio lovingly built
assume the phrase “don’t let the from the ground up by the man himself in
name put you off” has become the band’s native Newcastle: Blank Studios.
something of an epithet to Pigs
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. In fact,
Road Hogs
few names could better express “King Of Cowards had been out around
the north‑eastern British neo-metal six months,” Sam recalls. “The gigs we
band’s energy, aggression, artistry were doing were really stepping up with
(it’s seven repetitions, no more, no each tour. We were heavily in tour mode,
less) and disarmingly lighthearted so finding the time to write was a bit more
self-awareness. The band’s rhythm tricky. We booked a couple of weeks at
guitarist and producer Sam Grant Blank to demo and write, and we already
cheerily informs me that it’s by no had the recording dates booked in! It was
means the most off-kilter band name a really daunting prospect, starting the
he’s played under, and since this is demo process on tracks that we knew in six
a family-friendly magazine I won’t weeks we’d be recording for an album. That
quote him on that any further. was scary. But we knew what each other
The 2018 release of critically had in terms of the formative ideas, so there
acclaimed LP King Of Cowards saw was a sense of understanding about how it
doors open for Pigsx7 that they’d might look and how it would work.” the album to head. Two: dynamic. That
never previously thought possible, Operating on the boundary of such was a big one. It had to have moments
considering that up to that point a delineated genre as metal presented of respite. Another one was to find the
they had thumbed their nose at the band with a familiar dichotomy. Sam mid frequencies. Do everything possible
almost every sensible career move reflects: “It feels like you have a fork in to pull mids into the record — overload
suggested to them. Suffice to say, the road. You could go down one route it! So then there’s a really rich sense of
when third album Viscerals was and say, this band is heavy, ergo they’re harmonic. Lastly, the plate reverb is the
announced in January 2020 the weight a metal band, and so let’s make it sound primary reverberance.”
of expectation was considerable. ‘metal.’ There are established tropes in Blank’s custom plate reverb was all
Fortunately, the band couldn’t have metal production, with an audience that but installed specifically for Viscerals,
been better equipped to achieve what often expects a particular sound. But then, and has since become a key element
they needed. Not only can they boast there’s this sense that when we write and of the studio. Testament to his diligent
a formidable player-producer in the play music together the driving force is resourcefulness, Grant built it himself. ‘I’d
about euphoria and catharsis, elevation; wanted to do that for a long time, and
and volume and weight are just vehicles bought a massive sheet of cold rolled
for that. We don’t necessarily want to steel a few years ago with the intention
be in a ‘metal band’ per se, but we find of making a plate out of it. I’d decided on
ourselves in that space via means. If you King Of Cowards to use lots of room mics,
want to be in a metal band, then you need lots of corridor mics. It was natural reverbs.
to sound like a metal band.” This time around I didn’t want to just get
the same sound again. The nice thing
Make It Sow was, because I’d built it myself, picked
Central to Sam’s methodology is the piezo mics myself [phantom-powered
establishing a finite set of rules to govern PF5102 JFETs]... Everything about it is
the recording process. “It’s an album of its own specific thing. All those things
rules,” he says. “You set the creative rules add up to something that’s a distinctive
and they define your decisions thereafter. reverberance, one that wouldn’t be on
The rules going into an album are really another record. The plate is in the live
important, because in this day and age room, on the wall, so no matter what is
you can go so far in so many directions going on in there the piezo mics are always
that you can lose a sense of direction plugged in if you want them. You don’t
really quickly. And they’re arbitrary rules even need to be sending signal to it to get
— you just set them because they force it. It’s a really distinctive sonic signature.
a creative window.”
So what were the rules for Viscerals?
Drum Chops
Sam rattles them off breezily: “One: Exacting the right drum sound was
the AEA R84 ribbon mic was on every foundational to Viscerals, with Sam and
instrument in some form or other. It could engineer John Martindale pulling no
be part of a pair, but it has to be there. It punches when it came to ensuring the setup
acted tonally as a mirror to where I wanted did right by Christopher Morley’s playing.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 83
INTERVIEW
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS
Lead guitarist Adam Sykes (left) sets up a Neumann U47 FET, while drummer Christopher Morley
adjusts his kit. Sam Grant’s custom-made plate reverb is just visible, hanging on the wall to the left. captured. There was a mic on the bottom
of the snare too,” Sam remarks, “but no
“We took a day miking the kit, playing beater to pull in a bit of attack. With the one cares about that.”
around with different snares, re-heading snare it was more about fatness, so it was
the drums. We got a nice big Ludwig kit the Beyerdynamic M201 which is quite
Amping Up
and Chris had some nice Zildjian A-Custom a fat-sounding mic, and that was alongside With careful adherence to his own set of
cymbals. It was a felt beater on the kick an AKG C451 pencil mic. They balance album-specific recording principles, Sam
drum, not a plastic one. A lot of metal nicely; you get a lot of attack and crack knew from the off how he planned to
these days wants a lot of click and I wanted off the condenser, and from the M201 capture his own and fellow guitarist Adam
to try and move away from that clickiness, you get that more accustomed fat snare Sykes’ performances. “I had a very specific
that brightness. I wanted a darker kit. sound. The snare was tuned quite low so idea of the shape of the guitars before
“The principle was two R84 ribbon you get that woof and punch from it, and recording them, and that is that the rhythm
mics as overheads. That’s your starting it was about trying to make sure that was [guitar] is two takes, panned hard left
position. Pull up those and hard right so we’ve made that space
faders and build a kit for the drum kit. That also creates lots of
around those R84s. There’s space in the middle for the lead guitar
a Neumann U87 just and vocals. One thing about guitars is that
above the drummer’s right tonally they have to be as thick as possible
knee, set to omni, kind of — as harmonically dense as possible. So it
capturing the whole kit. was a lot about multiple amps.
It’s quite an attack-y mic, “I really like, for my guitar in particular,
but it’s a bit of a glue when the Orange OR80 and the Vox AC30,
you bring it in. And then totally blown out, and then combining
there’s a parallel of that those two amps. With the same take,
which is crushed through all you’re doing there is combining the
an 1176 compressor, so different harmonic deliveries they give
really distorted. Really to make a thicker tone. Adam uses
thick and fat. a Matamp. Really nice-sounding amp.
“On the kick drum we Adam’s sound is a bit more grabby, a bit
had a Neumann FET 47 tighter in the mids, and it sits nicely as
on the outside, that was a focused centre sound.”
the primary kick sound, As Sam reflects on such aspects of the
and then inside the kick recording process, small visual cues serve
drum was an AKG D112, as reminders of his integral role in Pigsx7
lying down. A Sennheiser as a touring musician, as well as in the
MD421 was up against the studio. His hand-wired OR80 amp head,
for instance, is adorned (not by him, I’m
One of Grant’s self-imposed
told) with a strip of tape labelled ‘Dad’ in
rules for the recording of
Viscerals was that the AEA commemoration of the birth of his son.
R84 ribbon microphone be Sam continues: “With the guitars it was
used on every source. again the R84 and U87 as a pair, and then
84 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
INTERVIEW
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS
86 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
arrangements, within the instrumentation
and sonics, which allows for huge amounts
of fun to be had in making each sonic
as interesting and as deep and rich as
possible. And, I guess that’s not normally
an attitude that’s taken in rock or metal.”
It was in the near-effortless mixing
phase that Grant’s attention to detail
in the album’s tracking phase paid its
dividends. “I’ve got an idea of where it
should go,” the producer explains. And
the rest of the band are really canny and
just hearing the final mix go, ‘Ace!’ Loads
of trust. It’s really nice. Because I’m also
in the band, playing with the others day
in day out, we all know kind of where it
is anyway — even just the mood and the
direction. I’m not going to miss the point. As well as live instruments, Viscerals features the sound of a Korg MS20 and a Moog Sub Phatty.
The mixes tend to happen quite quickly.
With my own music, I’ll never get hung 24 Neve channels,’ or ‘There’s 32 SSL a clinician he was with his technique and
up on decisions, I’ll just go on instinct. channels...’ That’s not to say that in big decision-making, Grant’s priority was that
Sometimes I’ll listen back and change my studios people don’t have that way of Pigsx7’s performance shone unwaveringly
mind, but it’s nice to have a project which thinking, but I think we might think that throughout the record, above all else.
is very quick and pure and direct.” way more than most. Because we have “A performance that’s full of passion and
to. One of the things for this album in nuance could be recorded on crap gear
Blank Canvas particular was the DACS MicAmp 2. It’s and sound amazing,” he says. “The primary
Blank Studios’ control room boasts a beautiful preamp for ribbon mics. I sing port of call for us is people. We’re people
a pair of flush-mounted ATC SCM50ASL the praises of the DACS pres. working with people. I’ve been to a number
monitors: “Super detailed in the mids,” This setting would come to nurture of studios as a musician and it’s just icy
Sam emphasises, “like, super detailed. And a particularly valuable philosophy for the cold! And you just walk away like, ‘Oh, my
when you want to create an album that’s engineers at Blank, what Sam defines as God. That was hard work.’ It shouldn’t be.
massively stacked in the mids and you want “working with musicians psychologically, It should be such a fun experience. You
to make it all work, that’s quite important!” as opposed to with technology.” Much should almost forget that there’s gear. You
At this point, you might be expecting the of the sound of Viscerals lies in the should almost forget that there are things
customary engineer’s ode to a talismanic, very fact that no matter how much of between you and the sound.”
32-channel studio centrepiece.
Well, at Blank, there isn’t one.
“We haven’t got a console at
the studio,” Sam tells me. So,
everything is about preamp
selection; picking preamps for
sources. Over the past 12 years,
as a group of engineers, we have
had to go from zero. Like, we got
five grand off the council in 2008
as part of a business development
grant. And that’s been it, really.
But what that’s done is forced
our hands to understand every
bit of equipment that we add to
the setup. You end up starting to
understand it as a modular tool,
the studio. Because we’d never
walked into a studio where it’s
just like, ‘There you go, there’s
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 87
ON TEST
Output Thermal
PAUL WHITE
O
utput are one of the
most adventurous and
free-thinking plug-in
designers around at the
moment. You certainly couldn’t Parallel Distortion Processor
accuse them of relying on
digital emulations of rusting tin From subtle warmth to full-on modulated mayhem, this
boxes full of valves and that plug-in covers a lot of ground.
smell of toasted Bakelite!
Their latest creation,
Thermal, follows a similar
paradigm to their Portal
granular processor, which
was one of my picks as Gear
Of The Year in 2019. But
this one’s central purpose
is distortion. Just like Portal,
there are sophisticated
modulation options, additional
effects and an X-Y controller,
for adjusting parameters
assigned to macros. Available
for Mac and Windows, it
supports the usual AU,
VST2/3 and AAX formats,
and can be installed on up
to four machines.
There are plenty of presets,
all arranged by the type of
sound they’re intended to
process, and you can just load
one and then fiddle with the
X-Y pad to get an idea of how
things work. But if you stick to
the presets, you’ll miss out! engines, each of which can again be clicking on the orange circle above the faders icon
loaded with any of the nine effect types. takes you back to the simplified plug-in view.
Parallel Lines The two master effects sections are Each section has an On/bypass switch and a solo
Thermal starts by splitting the arranged in series, and are followed by function, and most controls can be linked to a macro.
signal using a three-way filter high- and low-pass filtering, a master You set this up by dragging the ‘+’ assignment
section. Though it looks like compressor and a wet/dry mix slider. indicator adjacent to each macro knob onto the
one, this is not a crossover Fire up Thermal and you’re greeted control you want to include. Do this, and a coloured
filter, but rather three parallel by a large orange X-Y pad with animated circle matching the colour of the macro knob will
signal paths, each with its graphics, two macro control knobs, the appear next to the control. Dragging up and down on
own high- and low-pass filters wet/dry slider and the patch browser. The this little circle sets the control range, as indicated by
to restrict the frequency pad put me in mind of an alien eyeball, a coloured line segment around the knob in question.
range. The frequency ranges floating in a pool of orange lava, but the
can overlap as much as you graphic changes according to settings
Dirt & Movement
like, and can be dragged within the patch. Each Stage can be treated with its own distortion
up/down in level. Each of the Click on the little ‘controls’ icon, type, one effect type (bit reducer, chorus, compressor,
three parallel paths, called and the window changes to reveal stereo delay, filter, flanger, frequency shifter,
a Stage, starts with a choice the inner workings of the plug-in. This phaser and reverb), plus stereo width (based on
of 19 different analogue view is arranged in sections, with the M-S processing) and Tone controls, which work
and digital distortion types. three-channel filter at the top, and below independently of any other filtering in the Stage.
Post-distortion, each Stage this are sections for the Stage Processing There’s also a Refilter tickbox, which is used to filter
has a choice of nine more Controls (one tab for each Stage), the out unwanted harmonics.
conventional effects. Once the two modulation generators, the X-Y pad, The distortion section takes the name of the
three signals are recombined, effects and master section. The Macro distortion type currently assigned to it, and is where
there are two further effects controls are in the panel to the right, and you choose and adjust the distortion type for the
88 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
selected Stage. A dynamic display shows there’s a randomise option if you need some creative can turn a pad or drone into
the distortion shape along with the result inspiration. An adjustable Humanize function applies a useful rhythmic element,
of any modulations, and the effect can be some random variation to the modulation envelope. but a drum loop can be made
adjusted using the Drive, Output, Shape, Creative use of this section allows complex rhythmic to sound more electronic,
Frequency, Depth and Clip Controls. effects to be set up as the ‘+’ symbol can be dragged fatter, edgier or gritty
Controls that aren’t relevant to the current to other parameter controls to modulate them by any and aggressive.
distortion type are helpfully greyed out. desired amount. Virtually all of Thermal’s controls So, do you need Thermal?
Some of the options seem to behave as can be modulated in this way. Both Bipolar and For anyone with the slightest
phase distortions, adding harmonics by Unipolar modulation characteristics are supported affinity for experimentation,
changing the shape of the wave, rather and favourite envelope shapes can be saved it is a dream playground.
than the more conventional approach for future use. It’s possible to coax some
of clipping or applying soft saturation. beautiful effects out of
Others use digital fold-over, bit reduction,
Feel The Heat Thermal, with treatments
or analogue-style saturation. So, taken as Once you have a grasp of the signal flow, working ranging from the fairly subtle
a whole, the options cover a lot of ground with Thermal is surprisingly intuitive, despite its to the very assertive. Pads
but there’s further complexity if you want apparent complexity, and the Stage solo function can become rhythms, simple
it: the distortion panel has a feedback can make editing settings much easier. The two drums can become complex,
section, with adjustable delay time and modulators are the key to adding movement to the harsh sounds. Warm and
feedback amount. polite sounds can
The two global be made to pop out
modulation sections “It’s possible to coax some beautiful effects out of of the mix.
allow just about any
parameter to be
Thermal, with treatments ranging from the fairly At one
extreme, Thermal
modulated, and this subtle to the very assertive. ” can add a new
is where the rhythmic dimension to EDM
fun really starts. Here, you can draw in effects, and a faint visual grid makes it easy to create productions. But it can also
complex modulation shapes by clicking precise rhythms. Grab a point to move it or grab sound deliciously smooth
and dragging to add and move points. a line part way along to bend it. Adding a rhythmic in chillout, ambient or
It’s possible to create complex patterns modulation to the Drive control of one or more cinematic compositions. If
or smooth curves and ramps. Or you Stages picks out the beat with timbral changes, and you’re a singer-songwriter
can load preset patterns and basic this can be further emphasised by using the resonant with just a vocal and piano
waveforms. These modulators can be filter in one of the effects slots and modulating its or acoustic guitar, you’ll
tempo sync’ed or left free-running, and cutoff frequency. Simple strategies such as these get through life without it.
But, even then, some of
the gentler treatments are
great for warming vocals or
instruments unobtrusively.
Even in mainstream pop
Thermal can finesse drum
parts and loops, or create
interesting backdrops from
synth and guitar parts.
I’ve only really scratched
the surface here: the
possibilities are so numerous
that I’m still unearthing new
uses for Thermal. But already
I love it.
summary
A splendidly anarchic approach
to distortion-based processing
that could find applications in
many musical genres, though
it will be of particular appeal to
the more experimental musician.
I have already found numerous
uses for Thermal on my current
album project.
The signal path is split into three at the outset and each ‘Stage’ can be filtered, distorted, effected and modulated to your ££ £134 including VAT.
heart’s desire before being recombined and mangled again! WW https://output.com
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 89
TECHNIQUE
Managing
Sibilance
Prevent those pesky esses
from ruining your tracks!
M AT T H O U G H T O N may have relatively low high-frequency placed in the path of any sibilant air-blasts.
headroom, which can lead to distortion, Importantly, this won’t compromise
V
ocal sibilance can not only sound which compounds the problem. the vocal sound.
distracting, it can also interact Lots of processing and effects that you If none of the above work, the gear
unhelpfully with some of your mix use in your production can also magnify could be making an unhelpful contribution.
processing. And it can prove a frustratingly the sibilant frequencies, and the sibilance First, check the levels at all points in the
stubborn problem. So how best can you can affect the way some processors react. chain, and ensure there’s no distortion
stop over-prominent esses compromising Throw double-tracking and layered backing occurring on loud esses at the mic, preamp
the quality of your mix? I’ll take you vocals into the mix, and if the esses in those or anywhere else. Then consider swapping
through some solutions in a moment, parts aren’t neatly aligned things can start the mic: if you’re working with the sort
but first, let’s consider what makes sounding sloppy, particularly if layered parts of bright-sounding mic described earlier,
sibilance problematic. are spread across the panorama. a different capacitor mic with a relatively
The sound people make when flat frequency response might keep you
pronouncing the letter ‘s’ can range in
Prevention: Better Than Cure closest to that sound without emphasising
character from a full-on lisp, through fairly The best time to deal with sibilance is the sibilance. Note, however, that EQ
smooth ess sounds, all the way to a whistle before it’s actually a problem, ie. when boosts you apply later could put you back
or a ‘sh’, and some of those sounds you’re recording. An experienced performer at square one. A high-quality moving-coil
naturally draw attention more than others. should be aware if they naturally emphasise dynamic (such as a Shure SM7b, an
It can be different in pitch, too. Female esses more than most, and may or may not Electro‑voice RE20 or a Heil Sound PR-40)
voices tend to have higher-frequency esses have developed mic technique to address might be better, as their construction means
than male ones. All seem to have most that. If not, a cheap, effective trick is to they don’t react so dramatically to sibilance,
energy in the 3-6 kHz region (where our block any gap between their front teeth though this means they’ll deliver a slightly
hearing is relatively sensitive), though some with dental wax (great if self-recording, changed vocal sound too (which may or
have considerable energy higher up as well. though some singers will take more kindly may not be a good thing). Another good
Importantly, to make any ess or ‘sh’ to the suggestion than others!). option is a ribbon mic. These generally
sound, we force air through our front Alternatively, try the old trick of securing sound a little ‘darker’ than capacitors due
teeth, which usually means directing a pencil to the front of the mic with rubber to their HF roll off, but they can usually take
a blast of air directly at the mic. That can bands. Theory suggests it could cause substantial HF EQ boosts without losing
be compounded by the mic itself: lots turbulence near the mic diaphragm, but it that smoothness (probably because the
of vocal mics are voiced with a broad doesn’t seem to be a problem in practice ribbon’s resonance is very low, well outside
boost somewhere around 5kHz to make and this ‘hack’ can be surprisingly effective. the wanted audio range).
voices sound closer, breathier or more Perhaps a simpler tactic is to hang the mic Modern preamps, even those built
intimate, and that will boost any sibilance. upside down, from slightly above, with the into affordable interfaces, aren’t usually
Furthermore, cheap mics and preamps mic pointing towards the mouth but not a problem, but cheap analogue gear
90 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
you’re struggling to identify the offending
frequencies — the best results can
sometimes require two or three narrow
cuts — try looping playback on an ess
sound and use a frequency analyser plug-in
to guide you. Melda’s free MAnalyzer, for
example, allows you to zoom in and will
display the centre frequency of any peaks.
If you slow down its response, it’s easier still
to see where the energy is building up.
When EQ can’t reduce the sibilance
without unacceptable collateral damage,
it’s time to consider more sophisticated
de-essing tools. Most de-esser plug-ins
work in real time as the audio is fed
through them, though there are some
offline tools too which I’ll discuss later.
Most work in broadly the same way: they’re
essentially compressors with a side-chain
It may look a little DIY, but the pencil-on-a-mic
filter that you tune so they act only where trick can be very effective at taming sibilance.
there’s sibilance. They may be ‘full band’,
Here, I’ve used Steinberg’s SpectraLayers (rather and duck the whole signal like a regular de-essers in series, each contributing to
crudely!) to highlight some ess sounds recorded compressor, or ‘split-band’ and duck only the overall gain reduction, or perhaps
on a cheap mic. These sounds dominate the
the sound above a crossover frequency. try automating the threshold. Multiband
upper (blue) area, and the darker lines mean
there’s more energy at those frequencies. The They may or may not allow user control compressors can be configured as de-essers
main energy here is around 4-6 kHz, but you can over various other parameters but, usually, too, of course, and sometimes they’ll offer
see plenty of information above 10kHz too. I don’t find that they actually need to be you a little more useful control over things
hugely tweakable. Something that I think like the attack and release time.
that distorts easily can interact in a nasty is important is the ability to monitor the Dynamic EQs are similar tools, in that
way with essing. So do watch those side-chain/detector frequencies and, they’re also threshold-based dynamics
levels and listen out for problems, and if ideally, the delta signal (so you hear only processors, but you get finer control over
you’re deliberately driving a preamp into what’s being removed, which is helpful to which frequencies are pulled down and
saturation, keep an ear out for the impact of understand the side-effects). This makes by how much. Some can be configured
that on those esses. setup quick and easy, which is the whole to operate separately on the Left, Right,
point of this sort of de-esser. Mid or Sides channels, which can be useful
Conventional De-essing You might sometimes find it tricky to if you need to reduce sibilance on a part
Whatever you do when recording, there arrive at one setting that does it all, and with more than one singer, or where there
will inevitably be occasions when you need in that case you might try stacking two are vocals and instruments (or bleed from
to address sibilance later, whether because
a part was poorly recorded or because
sibilance is emphasised as a side-effect of
mix processing and effects. Usually, you’d
want to address problem sibilance at the
beginning of the signal chain, though as
I’ll explain there are other places de-essing
might be required.
In most cases, the first thing I try
is a simple, static EQ cut. This can
often tackle sibilance very well, but
can sometimes unhelpfully colour the
vocal sound more generally, potentially
compromising the intelligibility of some
lyrics too, so listen carefully for such
unwanted side-effects. This tactic can
be very effective where the essing has
become offensive only because you’ve
EQ’ed the part for another reason. For
example, when applying a high-shelf boost
to brighten a vocal, an accompanying dip
in the sibilance region won’t generally Don’t write off simple EQ moves as a remedy, particularly if the sibilance only becomes an audible
detract from the overall sense of ‘lift’. If problem after applying a high-shelf boost.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 91
TECHNIQUE
MANAGING SIBILANCE
instruments recorded using other mics) on a spectrogram view (eg. Reaper). So if you If you already prep your files in other ways, it’s
the same recording. It’s also worth bearing already go through and prep the various not a huge amount of extra effort to cut esses out
to another track where you can change their level,
in mind that all of these types of dynamics audio files before you start mixing, it’s not
apply low-pass filtering and other processing,
processors can be set to react to an external a great leap further to cut the esses out to give you much greater control over any
side-chain signal. and put them on another DAW track. This recorded sibilance.
Probably the most accurate de-essing allows you to ride/automate the sibilance
processors are offline ones, such as the channel fader or a low-pass filter to soften unwanted attention to esses, but in these
one in iZotope’s RX. Both Melodyne 5 and the esses. It prevents the esses changing in cases I find it’s better to use filtering or
Revoice Pro are also able to identify esses level as you add processing to your main a de-esser on the aux track, just before the
and other unpitched sounds, and these vocal part, and they won’t accidentally effects plug-in. That way, you don’t have to
allow you to drag these sounds down in trigger any threshold-dependent change the sound of your ‘dry’ vocal, but
level as you go through to do other edits. processors you use on the main vocal only the sound entering the effect. Finally,
This can be a great way to tackle recorded track either. (Just remember that if you also listen out for the effects of any bus
sibilance in a mix prep stage (when you want to include all the esses in any other processing. I tend to use the ‘top-down’
might do any denoising and tweak clip vocal processing, you’ll need to route approach to EQ, and often apply fairly
both these tracks to assertive HF boosts on the master bus.
a bus and apply that These naturally bring up any sibilance,
processing there.) but rather than EQ the sibilance away, it’s
You’ll also have often easier just to route the vocals around
a ready-made solution that master bus EQ.
to another problem
I sometimes encounter:
How Much Is Enough?
a stray ess that just sounds It’s important that the cure isn’t worse than
a bit weird; an ess that’s the disease. All the close attention you pay
perhaps more whistly or to sibilance while treating it can cause you
lispy than others and draws to lose perspective. Listening fatigue can
FabFilter’s Pro-DS gives you loads of control, attention. All you need to cause you to be too light-handed, because
but particularly handy is the headphone icon, do is mute/chop out the bad ess, and copy your ears grow accustomed to the sibilance.
which allows you to hear only what the de-esser is
and paste a good one in its place. But on the other hand, the intensity of your
removing — a great help when fine-tuning things
to minimise unwanted side-effects. focus on sibilance can cause you to be
Effects & Processing overzealous in treating it, resulting in a part
envelopes, fades and so on) but, even I mentioned earlier that sibilance can that sounds somewhat dark and lispy. So
if your DAW supports the ARA plug-in interact with your processors and how do you know if you’re striking the right
format, I find they can be a bit trickier effects. A typical mix includes all sorts balance? As always, regular breaks will help
to fit into your workflow once you’ve of processing, most of which will come you avoid listening fatigue, as will avoiding
already started mixing. downstream of de-essing, which is usually playing things back on loop for too long
done early in the signal chain. You’ll while you tweak. But it’s also a good idea
Chop & Change often find that you need to tweak your to have some reference material to hand.
Talking of ‘mix prep stages’, probably my de-essing settings in light of channel EQ Many years ago, Mike Senior recommended
favourite option is to use my DAW’s editing and compression, distortion, saturation or Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’ for this: he found
tools to manually chop out and attenuate harmonic enhancement processing. the essing is just that bit too much, so it
problem esses. I know it sounds laborious, That said, there are other places you served to tell him when he needed to pull it
but it has its advantages, and with can make useful adjustments. For example, down a bit. I’ve been happily using that tip
experience things like esses and breaths you can EQ the side-chain of a compressor ever since. Whatever you use as a reference
become really easy to spot in a waveform to change how it reacts to sibilance. Send for sibilance, it’s good to have one to help
— easier still if you have a DAW with effects such as reverb and delay can draw you retain perspective!
92 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
D I S C O V E R
AVAI L AB LE FOR £ 4 9 OR F R EE
ON TEST
Plugin Alliance
Brainworx Amek EQ200
EQ Plug-in
the common plug-in formats for Mac and and cuts, when I use an EQ with this sort
Windows. Installation on my MacBook of interface — where the sound and the
Pro (Mac OS 10.14.1) was hassle free, and position of the knobs are all I have to go on
This Brainworx EQ is I tested the AU and VST2 and 3 versions in
Reaper and Cubase.
— than I do when using something like, say,
FabFilter Pro-Q3.
inspired by esoteric Workflow
Despite the profusion of virtual knobs,
buttons and LEDs, the layout is clean and
mastering hardware. This is a dual-channel five‑band intuitive, particularly when you have the
parametric EQ, each band of which is lower panel hidden. The LP/HP filters are
M AT T H O U G H T O N individually bypassable, but it boasts at the outside of each channel, and on
many other features. There are additional each channel the bands run, reading left to
D
espite the Amek branding, 12dB/octave high- and low-pass filters right, from low to high. Gain is at the top,
Plugin Alliance’s new Brainworx plus a Mono-maker elliptical filter,
Amek EQ200 is actually inspired a Mid-Sides‑based stereo width control,
by owner Dirk Ulrich’s love of certain and a THD harmonic distortion control. Plugin Alliance
mastering hardware, notably EQs made There’s generous overlap between the five Brainworx Amek
by Sontec and GML. Before you rush out parametric bands. The two channels can be EQ200 $399
to compare it with those frighteningly linked/unlinked as you prefer, and can be
expensive mastering units (or plug-in configured to process the Left and Right or pros
emulations of them), I should point out Mid and Sides channels. So there’s plenty • Sounds great.
• Useful additional mastering facilities.
that this doesn’t directly emulate either. of flexibility here, though you can’t select
• Gain-scaling, invert and auto-listen
Rather, the Brainworx team set out to L-R/M-S per band, which would be nice. features are genuinely useful.
create a hybrid that builds on what Ulrich There’s no frequency analyser or visual
considers the most desirable control representation of the changes you make to cons
elements and tonal characteristics of those the frequency response, of the kind we’ve • Expensive to buy outright.
processors. They’ve taken the opportunity grown accustomed to seeing on so many summary
to extend the functionality in software too, digital EQs, but I actually like that. Much as The Amek EQ200 sounds good, is
with new features and some that were I like to think I’m not swayed by what I see, thoughtfully designed and encourages you
introduced on previous Plugin Alliance I find I make different decisions, and largely to use your ears.
software. The Amek EQ200 is available in better ones, with less assertive boosts
94 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
bandwidth in the middle and frequency Sides boost to 2dB. Of course, this being The top panel includes a number
at the bottom. Beneath each gain control software you could use two instances to of useful utilities, not least a 32-step
is a switch to change the scale from ±15 achieve the same thing. undo. An ABCD facility allows you to
to ±7 dB. The latter generally proved The remaining control in the middle of compare different settings and to copy
more useful to me in mastering and on the GUI engages an Auto Listen facility. and paste between them, without having
master-bus EQ — both roles in which this Switch this on, and when you click and to save/load presets. It’s the sort of
EQ serves well — as it makes fine control drag a Q or frequency control it will solo unremarkable, workmanlike feature that
much easier. Worth noting is that if you’ve that band. More helpful still is that you can I wish every developer included. A Reset
already moved the knob from its neutral achieve the same thing using a modifier button sensibly ‘zeros’ the controls on
position, and then click the ±7/±15 button, key. There are also modifier keys for fine the current ABCD instance, rather than
you’ll change the amount of boost/cut on control and to jump between the default for the whole preset (for the latter, you’d
that band. I’d have preferred it if the value and last settings — the actual keys for use a zero’d preset). Nearby, you’ll find
remained constant (when still in range) but these modifiers vary according to the useful Mid and Sides solo buttons, a GUI
the knob moved accordingly, and a global plug-in format and the OS, as detailed in scaling button, and another to show/hide
button for this might be helpful too. the PDF manual. the lower panel.
Nonetheless, it’s a useful facility. A feature in the Advanced panel is Finally, there’s V-Gain, which models
Between the two channels, are more Plug-in Alliance’s Tolerance Modelling the noise inherent in analogue electronics
controls. The Gain Scale knob and Invert Technology. The idea is to simulate the and gives you control over the level of
button are thoughtful features. Many is per-channel differences of analogue that noise floor. This defaults to being
the time that I found I’d boosted/cut the hardware that result from variations in the on, and can become quite obvious once
right frequencies, you’ve lifted the high
but had generally end and applied some
overcooked things, “The top panel includes a number of useful compression and
and backing
things off on
utilities, not least a 32-step undo.” limiting. I can’t complain
that it’s there (some folk
the Gain Scale like this sort of thing,
control delivered the desired result really tolerances of components. You can choose and Brainworx are not alone in modelling
quickly. On occasion, I also found it useful one of two stereo modes. The first has this stuff) but an early move for me was to
to exaggerate what I’d done — rather both channels identical, while the second switch it off and save that over the default
like a magnifying glass that led me to uses different profiles for each. In either settings preset!
refine some decisions before dialling mode, you can select which two of up to
the Gain Scale back again. Its real use, 20 modelled profiles are used. I can’t say
Sound Judgment
though, is for boosting to find undesirable I found it of much use in this particular Whether the Amek EQ200 sounds
resonant frequencies, then hitting Invert plug-in — it’s a feature that really comes precisely like the mastering hardware that
to take them out, and then scaling those into its own when using many instances on inspired it I can’t really say; I don‘t have
cuts to taste. Very handy. different channels, such as you might with easy access to those units and it isn’t
The EQ In button is a bypass, as you’d PA’s SSL channel-strip emulation. But it’s intended as an accurate model anyway. But
expect, except that it applies not only to a nice extra, and if you work with lots of I did compare it with some of Acustica ’s
the EQ bands but also the various other top-down EQ on the stereo mix bus and ‘sampled’ mastering EQs, including their
top and bottom panel controls. By default various subgroups it could be useful here. Green 3, which is based on the GML8200.
the two channels are linked for L-R stereo This lower panel also hosts the master I compared them both on a range of
operation, so clicking either bypass button input/output level controls, each with a 0 material for mastering and bus processing.
bypasses both channels. In the lower to -60 dB LED-style meter. A correlation The Amek EQ200 generally acquitted itself
panel, though, you can choose to unlink and stereo balance meter nestles fairly well in these comparisons, though
the channel controls, including the bypass. between the Mono Maker and Stereo sounded a touch ‘softer’ in the high
(Very occasionally, in v1.0, changing the Width controls. A Mid-Sides stereo-mode end in particular. The Amek EQ200 won
link/unlink setting triggered a bug in the selector and THD control complete the hands-down when it came to versatility,
master output level control, making it apply lower-panel selection. The former is though, given the additional band and the
only to one channel.) self-explanatory, the THD control less various lower-panel features.
What you can’t do is to first unlink the so. It threw me a little at first because The price of the Amek EQ200 isn’t
channels and apply a corrective offset to the ‘T‘ stands for ‘third’, not ‘total’ as I’d trivial but might make one of Plugin
one, and then apply a linked boost/cut to anticipated. Turn the knob clockwise and Alliance’s subscription plans very
the same band. If, say, I’d applied a 1dB you increase the prominence of the third appealing. If you already subscribe to their
boost to the Sides channel while unlinked, harmonic in the modelled distortion, and Mix & Master or Mega bundles, you just
and then I linked the channels and tweaked when you then boost an EQ band, its got a very fine plug-in for ‘free’ and I’d
the same band in the Mid, I’d lose that associated harmonics rise faster than the urge you to check it out.
1dB Sides boost; the Sides would jump to overall frequency response. It’s all pretty
and follow the Mid setting. I’d prefer it if subtle stuff in the grand scheme of things,
££ $399. Also included in subscription
there were an option for the second action but the character is generally easy on the
bundles from $14.99 per month.
to apply an offset to the first, so boosting ear, and this is one thing that sets this EQ WW www.plugin-alliance.com
the Mid by 1dB would increase my 1dB apart from a lot of others I’ve used.
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 95
TECHNIQUE
96 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
The audio interface is at the centre of every
modern studio, but how do you choose
the right one for you?
SAM INGLIS step towards answering
this question, count up the Preamp gain is most commonly adjusted
T
hirty years ago, control rooms number of sources you’re using an analogue potentiometer.
contained big mixers and racks going to want to connect
of audio processing equipment. simultaneously. If you only ever
Today, the computer is the cold robot record yourself, you might only
heart of the studio, and software has need one or two inputs, even
replaced the console and outboard. if you’re building complex
This change means that one piece of tracks by overdubbing. If you
equipment has become indispensable. record bands live, you may
You can’t run a computer-based studio require enough inputs to cover
without an audio interface — but how do a multi‑miked drum kit, several
you know which interface is right for your other instruments and vocals. Some interfaces allow preamp gain to be controlled digitally,
computer-based studio? In a studio where the audio which offers increased precision as well as recallability.
interface is the only item of
Analogue Inputs hardware, you’ll need it to have as many allows you to leave mics and line-level
Getting sound into a computer is mic preamps as you’re ever likely to want sources permanently connected and
a two-stage process. First, an analogue to connect mics. But if you plan to use switch them on the fly as needed,
signal is converted to a stream of your audio interface with a hardware rather than having to re-plug.
numbers. Then this stream of numbers is mixer, or you only ever record synths, or • On some interfaces, mic preamp
fed into the computer. This second stage you have other equipment already that gain is adjusted digitally. This is more
is the core function of an audio interface, can amplify the signals from your mics, precise than using an analogue control
but nearly all of them do both. you might well prefer to get an interface and means that settings can be fully
In other words, most interfaces can that has only line-level I/O. recalled and sometimes even stored
accept analogue signals directly. What’s with your DAW project.
more, they can often take two different
Breaking A Tie • If you use capacitor microphones,
types of analogue input. A ‘line’ input This only gets us so far, because there you’ll need your interface to offer
expects signals at a standard studio level are a lot of audio interfaces that seem to phantom power. Nearly all do so,
such as is generated by synthesizers, offer identical analogue input facilities. but sometimes this is only switchable
mixers or mic preamps. However, we also If you have to choose between several globally or in groups. This can be
want to plug microphones and electric models with the same features, you relevant if you want to connect things
guitars directly into our audio interfaces. should also consider the following: like ribbon mics, which shouldn’t
These put out feebler and less predictable encounter phantom.
signals, which have to be preamplified • The audio performance of interfaces
before they can be digitised. Most varies, and some of these differences
Analogue Outputs
project-studio interfaces thus feature can be important. Read the ‘Which Audio interfaces perform a comparable
analogue inputs with mic preamps and/or Specs Matter?’ box for more details. two-stage job at the ‘back end’ of the
sockets to plug a guitar into. Often, you’ll • Some interfaces have separate mic and system, spitting digital audio out of the
find dual-purpose sockets which combine line sockets for the same inputs. This computer and turning it into an analogue
an XLR for mic input
and a quarter-inch jack
for line input.
So one of the most
basic questions to
ask yourself is: how
many analogue inputs
do I need, and of
what type? As a first
w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m / September 2020 97
TECHNIQUE
HOW TO CHOOSE AN AUDIO INTERFACE
Which Protocol?
Four main connection protocols are in widespread use for connecting audio interfaces to Macs
and PCs, though Ethernet is less relevant to project studios at present. I’ve summed up the main
pros and cons of each in this table.
98 September 2020 / w w w . s o u n d o n s o u n d . c o m
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©2020 All Rights Reserved, PreSonus Audio Electronics. PreSonus is a registered trademark of PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. Studio One is a registered trademark of PreSonus Software Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
TECHNIQUE
HOW TO CHOOSE AN AUDIO INTERFACE
Mixing In
In general, low-latency
performance is better today than
10 years ago. But even with the
best drivers, a round-trip latency of
under 5ms can be hard to achieve,
especially on USB interfaces. For
this reason, many audio interfaces
build in a mixer which allows us to
hear input signals without waiting
for them to pass through the
computer and recording software.
On some small ‘desktop’
interfaces, this mixer is controlled vary between audio interfaces. If you’re • L evel meters provide indispensable
using a simple knob that adjusts still struggling to choose, perhaps information about the amplitude
a balance between input signal and these considerations will help to tip of signals going in and out of your
playback from your recording software. the balance: interface. This information is always
Where more than a couple of inputs available in software, but most
and outputs are concerned, though, • S
mall interfaces can often be interfaces also provide hardware
manufacturers build in a digital mixer ‘bus powered’ through the USB meters too. If the reassurance and
controlled from software. or Thunderbolt cable, and some immediacy of good hardware metering
Manufacturers take varied approaches offer no alternative. Bus powering is important to you, be aware that the
to the design of digital mixers and the
software that controls them. Some build
in very powerful and complex mixers
with endless routing options. Others
concentrate on simplicity and ease of use,
offering just enough functionality to cater
for typical use cases. Yet others build in
not only mixing features but also plug-in
equalisers, compressors, reverbs and Clear, comprehensive metering can be a big plus for some users.
other signal processors. Digital mixers in
interfaces can sometimes be controlled is convenient and makes the functionality on offer is very variable,
remotely from tablets and phones, interface more portable, but can ranging from a single LED on some
and even sometimes within recording limit performance. For example, interfaces to highly configurable,
software by the same manufacturer. bus-powered interfaces often colour touchscreen displays on others.
Which of these approaches suits you is cannot drive headphones as loud as • Some interfaces include MIDI In
a matter of personal taste, but be aware mains-powered rivals. and Out ports for digital control
that all of them can be implemented well • Some mains-powered interfaces of synthesizers.
or badly, and it pays to do some research. require an external power supply. This
Read SOS reviews and check user forums can be inconvenient, and a lost or Finally, always remember that an audio
online before parting with your cash. This damaged PSU will put your studio out interface requires committed support
is an aspect of interface design that’s of action until it can be replaced. from the manufacturer, for instance
easily overlooked, but it will affect your • Larger interfaces almost always adhere by providing driver updates. Some
day-to-day experience with the product to the 19-inch rackmount format, but manufacturers have a better track record
like nothing else. smaller ones come in many shapes and than others when it comes to providing
sizes, so ergonomic differences might this support, especially for discontinued
Other Factors affect your decision. If you are going models. Choose right, and your interface
Besides the core features I’ve already to use your interface in a rack, do you should last you through many OS and
described, there are other features that want all the sockets on the back? computer upgrades!
PreSonus StudioLive
CHRIS KORFF ‘analogue warmth’ gained traction around personal monitor mixing, huge amounts of
the turn of the century, they started to DSP, and direct-to-USB recording started
W
hen large-format digital become rather unfashionable. trickling down into the lower end of the
consoles from the likes of At about the same time, digital live-sound market, and it wasn’t long
Sony, Tascam, SSL and AMS technology began to take over the before studio shut-ins saw their potential
Neve first appeared, they were targeted live-sound market, as live productions for recording applications. In particular,
at recording studios as well as broadcast became ever more ambitious and the fact that so many of them can also
and post-production. They never came required ever higher channel counts. work as multichannel audio interfaces
to dominate the recording sector in the Advanced features like remote control, means that modern digital mixers can
same way, though, and as the notion of audio networking, scene saving and recall, fulfil a number of roles: preamplification,
PreSonus StudioLive
PreSonus’ original StudioLive
console was specifically designed
for both live and recording
applications, combining familiar
analogue-like ‘one channel per
fader’ operation while offering 32
channels of computer recording
over Firewire. The range has grown processing, you can even transfer mixer personal monitor mixers, and more. Like
steadily since the first one appeared in settings between them. the StudioLive range, the X32 series has
2003, adopting the USB protocol along expanded to cover a number of different
the way, and now spans everything from
Behringer X Series form factors, like the compact Producer
large-format 64-channel consoles to the The X32 had a profound effect on the edition and various rackmounting options.
dinky 1U‑rack StudioLive 16R. StudioLive live music scene, and arguably did more More recently, Behringer have also
mixers also offer an impressive amount than any other mixer to convert the lower launched the intriguing Wing mixer, which
of integration with PreSonus’ Studio echelons of live sound over to digital. For also looks to have recording applications.
One DAW. For example, you can use the price of a decent analogue board,
a StudioLive mixer as a Studio One DAW small venues and gigging bands could
Soundcraft UI24R
controller, and because both console and enjoy flying faders, virtual soundchecks, As live engineers started patrolling their
DAW use the same Fat Channel signal LCD scribble strips, remote stageboxes, venues with iPads, some bright spark
Soundcraft UI24R
started to wonder whether mixers needed including the Qu-Pac and Qu-SB. Both a touchscreen and encoder, allowing you
a control surface at all. And then someone are based on the tech from their larger to access all of the main functions directly.
(possibly the same person) went further, Qu-series consoles, and they offer Naturally, both can also function as
and asked if we couldn’t just hide all a similar amount of analogue I/O, but multichannel audio interfaces over USB.
the mixer stuff inside a stagebox, chuck differ chiefly in terms of the amount of
a WiFi router in there for good measure, physical control they offer. The Qu-SB can
Mackie DL Series
and banish stage snakes altogether... only be controlled remotely, via Ethernet Despite being nearly a decade old, the
The Soundcraft UI series was born. The or Wi-Fi, whereas the Qu-Pac sports Mackie DL1608 remains the mixer of
UI12 and UI16 offer excellent value
for live situations where faders aren’t
needed and space is at a premium,
but the flagship UI24R is the one to
look at if you’re looking for a recording
mixer-cum-interface. Like most of the
other mixers here, it can operate as
an audio interface and a direct-to-disk
recorder, but the UI24R is slightly unusual
in that it can do both at the same time,
offering a convenient redundant setup for
when failure is not an option.
Exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Source • T: 020 8962 5080 • W: sourcedistribution.co.uk/arturia
F E AT U R E
D I G I TA L M I X E R S I N T H E S T U D I O
T
he roads of MIDI between computer whereupon we can treat it as an oscillator In a system designed to record and play
and hardware synthesizers are generating an audio signal. Conversely, an back audio signals, the ability to reproduce
well-trodden, but once you become audio signal can be used as a modulation signals below 5Hz or so is a mixed blessing.
a devotee to control voltage (CV) you need source, and many audio oscillators can be The DAW software itself generally has no
different pathways to find your way from slowed down to a frequency below the problem with very low frequencies, but
DAW to Eurorack and back again. Let’s have threshold of hearing. many audio interfaces are deliberately
a look at what you’ll need to pack in your The outputs on computer audio designed to filter them out; they can’t be
backpack for the journey, along with your interfaces are, as you’d expect, designed to heard, and they can cause interference or
sandwiches and a nice flask of tea. output audio signals. But since audio and DC offsets that could distort our audio or
control voltage signals are so similar, surely damage our speakers. And so the biggest
The Theory we can also use our DAWs to generate obstacle to using our DAW to record,
Audio signals and CV signals are all CV signals and our audio interface to play back or generate CV is an audio
variations in electrical potential, and they pipe these into our modular synths? Well, interface that filters out DC and very low-
run along the same sorts of cable. Part of sometimes. The issue here is that although frequency signals.
the point of modular synthesis is that there audio and CV share the same method of
is some crossover between the content of delivery, their content can be completely
DC-coupling
audio and CV signals. An LFO, for example, different. Audio voltages are constantly There are two ways of dealing with this.
generates a cycling control voltage that changing, or otherwise we wouldn’t hear One is a bit of a fudge, while the other
we use to modulate parameters within the results as audio. Crucially, however, requires that you have the right sort of
a synthesizer. As you increase the rate or a CV can be a static, unvarying value audio interface. Most audio interfaces have
Class-leading
Pro Audio Solutions
RME’s professional audio interfaces combine
comprehensive features with intuitive, flexible mixing
and monitoring control courtesy of TotalMix FX.
Arturia
AudioFuse
Studio
W
hen it appeared in 2017, sounded very good, thanks in part to more unconventional features, simplifying
the Arturia AudioFuse Arturia’s class-leading DiscretePRO mic others and repackaging the whole thing
was probably the most preamp design. in a spacious and smart 1U format,
versatile desktop audio interface ever This cornucopia of features was, Arturia really allowed its good qualities
made. Not only did it combine mic and however, accompanied by a few quirks. to flourish, and the 8Pre seems to me an
line-level audio I/O with digital inputs in Some of these have been ironed out in extremely strong product.
S/PDIF and ADAT format, it also offered firmware updates, but I never grew to
a blizzard of additional features. These love the AudioFuse’s unusual hybrid direct
A Longer Fuse
included monitor control, talkback monitoring system, its rather crowded This year finally sees the AudioFuse
and a built-in USB hub, along with layout, or its dependence on generic relinquish its crown as the most versatile
re-amping capability, insert points on audio drivers. And, with my reviewer’s hat desktop interface ever made, but only
both analogue ins, phono inputs and an on, I could never quite figure out what because Arturia have made one that’s
earth terminal that could be used for sort of user this incredibly comprehensive even more versatile. The AudioFuse
connecting a turntable, mini-jack MIDI In feature set was aimed at. Studio replicates all of the AudioFuse’s
Arturia AudioFuse
Studio £799
pros
• Amazingly comprehensive feature set.
• Excellent sound quality.
• More flexible and ergonomically better
than the original AudioFuse.
cons
• With so many features on offer, it’s
probably inevitable that you’ll end up
paying for some you never use.
• Generic drivers offer adequate rather than
stellar low-latency performance.
summary
Creating an interface that’s even more
feature-rich than the original AudioFuse
was a challenge, but Arturia have done
it. More importantly, they’ve also ironed
out some of its quirks, and the Studio is
a pleasure to use. The AudioFuse Control Center utility provides access to three separate cue-mixing panels. Each can ‘see’
all of the AudioFuse Studio’s inputs, although it’s also possible to hide I/O you’re not using.
One Plugin.
Endless Effects.
The Soundtoys Effect Rack is now available
outside the bundle!
Crystallizer, Decapitator,
Devil-Loc Deluxe, EchoBoy,
EchoBoy Jr., FilterFreak 1 and
FilterFreak 2, MicroShift, PanMan,
PhaseMistress, PrimalTap,
Radiator, Sie-Q, and Tremolator
are built-in to Effect Rack.
Effect Rack is the most powerful plug-in in the Effect Rack’s global controls give you even more power.
Soundtoys arsenal. It’s a single, self-contained plug-in Use the Recycle knob to create instant feedback and the
built around 14 full-featured Soundtoys effects. The result Mix control for easy parallel processing. The extensive
is a multi-effects processor that combines the gorgeous library of presets makes it easy to find new creative
sound of our most-loved and creative effects with a fun, inspiration and to save your own multi-effect masterpieces.
easy-to-use interface.
Novation
ROBIN VINCENT
W
hen Novation revealed the
Launchkey Mini MkIII last
Launchkey MkIII
year you knew it wouldn’t
be long before the rest of the Launchkey
range followed suit. It’s taken longer than
expected, but everything that made the
Mini MkIII a very cool little controller has
been stretched out into the full-sized and
infinitely more playable Launchkey MkIII.
Controller Keyboard
The third generation Launchkeys offer versatile
What’s New?
The model under review is the largest
control over hardware and software alike.
in the range at 61 keys. Along with the It’s pleasingly compact for a 61-note by the replacement of the red three-digit
usual 25- and 49-key options there’s now controller at only 26cm deep, which is display with a cool blue-backed LCD with
a 37-key version for those people who a bonus for our crowded desktops and two rows of 16 characters. The pads are
find the 49 too big or the 25 too small. studio spaces. nicely set just that little bit lower and all
The features are the same across the Beyond the sharp lines the most the other buttons follow the style and
range except that only the 49 and 61 have obvious change is that the pads and height. The knobs are upright, cylindrical,
the fader bank. faders have swapped positions. Pads feel slightly rubberised to the touch,
This new version looks sedate and are now over on the left with faders in and are taller and much more solid than
serious. It’s all clean lines, angles and the middle, just off-centre, and only the the ones on the Launchkey Mini. They
elegance and it does that thing where transport controls on the right. I wonder give a good, smooth resistance. The
it instantly makes the very capable MkII how much customer feedback went into faders have a similar feel and are now
look garish and unfashionable. What agonising over that decision? accompanied by RGB buttons which will
were they thinking with the coloured The hardware has a poise to it that no doubt make themselves useful.
underbelly of the MkI and MkII? It was raises both a smile and your expectations. The keys themselves have a relatively
really easy to unpack, slid out of the It’s still made of plastic but doesn’t light, synthy feel. The white keys are
box with one hand and I was delighted seem as clunky as many 61-keyed MIDI shiny and grip your fingers whereas
to see foam packed under the keys. controllers can feel. The look is cemented the black keys have a less grippy matt
Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: step was to make them sound big! Some
of our choices were really us flying by the
Ariel Rechtshaid & Rostam Batmanglij seats of our pants, as we were trying to
retrace the steps of how old recordings
Haim’s latest album was made with a mix of were made, and then making that sound
old-school and modern techniques and equipment. like a sample. That was a huge goal.
“We didn’t actually sit down and
PAUL TINGEN Batmanglij. The latter was once both the say, ‘We are going to make something
producer for, and a member of, Vampire sound old and then make it sound new,’
H
aim’s third album, Women In Music Weekend (see the SOS May 2010, www. clarifies Rechtshaid. “We were not really
Pt. III, was not only a UK number soundonsound.com/people/secrets-mix-e consciously talking that way. But speaking
one, but also exceptionally well ngineers-justin-gerrish-rostam-batmanglij), for myself, I am very influenced by hip-hop
received in other ways. The album scored but since 2016 has ventured out on his own, production, and coming up as a kid in LA
a whopping 89 out of 100 on Metacritic, both as a solo artist and a producer for such in the ‘90s I got my hands on a sampler
with writers noting its experimental and artists as Frank Ocean, Lykke Li, Wet and and tried to find the same breakbeat
eclectic nature, and saw the band moving Maggie Rogers, among others. they used on, for example, an Ice Cube
away from the sunny Californian pop/rock of Talking via Skype, Rechtshaid and record. I have always been a student of
their first two records. Batmanglij explain that much of the sound recording history, and I also am a huge fan
Women In Music Pt. III was produced by of Women In Music Pt. III was the result of of music software. We tried to combine
the band’s singer, guitarist and drummer recording and treating real instruments to these two, but that’s obviously not going
Danielle Haim, together with her boyfriend make them sound old, and then sampling to sound retro. We were pushing plug-ins
and producer Ariel Rechtshaid, and Rostam them to make them sound modern again. and our laptops as far they could go,
and this lends itself to a modern sound, and then the record company asked what producer of the first two Vampire Weekend
because these are modern tools.” our thoughts were about doing an album. albums, and then Ariel and I co-produced
So the concept came in the middle, as the third one, Modern Vampires Of The City
Eclectic Avenue opposed to at the beginning. The sounds [2013]. I think I was about 14 when I realised
Rechtshaid has an eclectic background. As and styles on this record have surprised that it is what I specifically wanted to do as
a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, engineer people, and it is rewarding to get that a career: write songs and produce them.
and producer, he has worked in pop and reaction. But the album is eclectic because I love making music on my own, but also
alternative rock with the likes of Adele, Haim are eclectic. It was only a matter of working as a producer as part of a project
Diplo, Vampire Weekend, Madonna and time before all those styles would show with other people.”
many more (see www.soundonsound.com/ themselves on one record. The band are Women In Music Pt. III obviously fell into
people/ariel-rechtshaid), and he’s been also only three records into their career, the latter category. Not only did Danielle
involved with Haim since their 2013 debut they’re still getting warmed up and getting Haim, Batmanglij and Rechtshaid produce
album, Days Are Gone. better at what they do.” the entire album together, they also
Batmanglij brought his own eclectic co-wrote most songs with the other two
mix of influences to the table, not only
Team Effort members of Haim. The credits also feature
having similarly diverse studio roles as ‘Summer Girl’ was released on 31st July an extensive cast of additional musicians,
Rechtshaid, but also as a result of his 2019, and was followed by the singles engineers and well-known mixers — among
cultural background. Born in Washington, ‘Now I’m In It’ and ‘Hallelujah’ a few the latter are David Fridmann, Manny
DC to Iranian and Persian parents, he says months later. ‘Summer Girl’ was also Marroquin, Tom Elmhirst, Neal Pogue and
he “definitely grew up listening to music started by Danielle Haim in response to Shawn Everett. Batmanglij elaborates on
from all around the world. There was a lot Rechtshaid’s cancer diagnosis (he is since how it was all put together.
of Persian music playing in my household, in remission), and her first step was a demo “The timeline is that we started with
there was African music, there was folk she had made in GarageBand on her ‘Summer Girl,’ and then we finished the
music, there were the Rolling Stones. I think phone. About half the songs on Women In last song in January, which was ‘I’ve Been
on this Haim album everybody’s influences Music Pt. III were started with some kind Down’. There was a vinyl release soon
pushed the album to be the eclectic mix of demo and then developed in the studio, afterwards, on which Ariel and I mixed
that it became.” and the other half was written in the several of the songs, and for the digital
Work on Women In Music Pt. III began studio. The latter is actively encouraged release later [released 26th June], several
in the first half of 2019, without those by Batmanglij. more songs were sent to outside mixers.
involved actually planning to make an “I guess it is a common thread for Ariel and I mixed three songs on the digital
album, as Rechtshaid recalls. “About a year records on which I have been a producer album, including ‘I’ve Been Down’.
ago Danielle was kind of frustrated with the that there is a lot of writing songs from “The way a lot of the album progressed
pressure of putting out records in time for scratch in the studio. This may be because was with people splitting off into teams.
touring and so on, and said she just wanted my role as a producer is always to fill the Ariel and Danielle would work together, and
to put out one song. So we did a song space that needs to be filled. If somebody Danielle and I, and Ariel and I, and Estee
called ‘Summer Girl’, and this and its video comes into the studio and says: ‘I want to and Alana, and so on, and then we’d make
made by Paul Thomas Anderson came write a new song today,’ inevitably that’s final decisions about things when we were
together really effortlessly, which created something that I take pleasure in doing. all in the same room together. The most
a new, looser direction for us. “It’s part of my journey, which is that with effective work happened when we were in
“We did a few more songs, still thinking every recording I have been a part of, I have teams of two. The song ‘I’ve Been Down’
of singles and not of making an album, been in the role of producer. I was the sole was a case in point.
I
always get a slight frisson when Apple since the launch of Logic Pro X in 2013,
release a major new version of Logic it was once again free for existing users,
Pro X. Part of this can be attributed to and newcomers will be charged the very
nostalgia, but mostly it’s because Apple reasonable price of £199.99 for the entire
never pre-announce such a release: it just package. You just need a relatively good
shows up on the App Store, accompanied Mac running at least Mac OS Mojave
by a press release and an updated web 10.14.6, with 6GB of free storage for
page. This time, however, a major new a minimal installation; with Logic Pro 10.5
release wasn’t quite so unexpected, boasting 2500 new loops, 70 extra kits,
thanks to a screenshot that had briefly and over 1500 additional patches, the full
appeared on Apple’s web site at the end set of content requires an installation with
of March. The screenshot in question 72GB of storage space.
showed a version of Logic featuring what It’s worth noting that when Apple
looked like two GarageBand-inspired recently extended the free trial period
features — Live Loops and Remix FX of Final Cut Pro X (the company’s video
— portending what could be expected in editing application) from 30 to 90 days,
a forthcoming upgrade. they also introduced a free trial of Logic Pro
Despite the toothpaste being out of X for the first time. This can be downloaded
the tube, Apple remained silent until May from the company’s web site (as opposed
12th when I found myself downloading to the App Store) and currently expires
after the same generous period.
Apple recommend that existing users
Apple Logic 10.5 £199 should back up both their project files
as well as the currently installed version
pros
of Logic Pro X before updating, and
• Live Loops seamlessly integrates modern,
loop-based music creation into the this is exceptionally good advice. Whilst
existing Logic workflow. backing up work is always prudent, it
• Sampler and Quick Sampler reinvigorate won’t be possible to download previous
Logic’s sampling abilities. releases of the application from the Mac
• Step Sequencer offers abundant
App Store once you’ve updated to 10.5.
functionality and is just plain fun.
• Live Loops and Remix FX can be You can archive the existing version by
performed via multitouch gestures using right-clicking the application’s icon and Logic has used a linear method of
the Logic Remote app. selecting Compress from the contextual timeline-based sequencing, while the new,
menu, storing the resulting .ZIP file (which nonlinear approach invites an unavoidable
cons
• It’s churlish to complain about much at you might want to rename) in a safe place comparison to Ableton’s Live, enabling
this price. But... in case you need to revert to this earlier you to work from a collection of ideas in
• The Piano Roll editor remains version, or move it to another Mac. a more free-form manner without worrying
less sophisticated than some of the about a timeline.
competition. It’s Alive To make this possible, the Project
• Serious surround work doesn’t seem to be
a priority. As anticipated, the headline new feature window can now display two different
in Logic Pro 10.5 is indeed Live Loops, views, either together or individually.
summary first seen in GarageBand 2.1 on iOS There’s the traditional Tracks Area we all
Logic Pro 10.5 is a comprehensive upgrade, back in January 2016. However, as know and love, where regions of musical
with new functionality, workflows, samplers
you might expect, Logic Pro X proffers data are represented by rectangles based
and content. And, as Apple suggest, it
embodies some of the most significant a more sophisticated implementation, on their musical length, and the new Live
changes to the application since the aiming to combine a second, nonlinear Loops grid, where individual musical ideas
introduction of Logic Pro X. approach to music creation within a single, that generally work well as loops are stored
Logic-based workflow. Traditionally, as cells within that grid. A vertical line of
Queue On Cue
Starting and stopping cells during playback
as just described is known as queuing,
although ‘cueing’ might seem more
appropriate. If you want to queue a cell
for playback, simple right-click a cell and
choose Cue Cell Playback from the context
menu. You’ll notice how a cell that’s
queued for playback blinks to indicate it
will start playing when you engage Logic’s EXS24 metamorphoses into Sampler in Logic Pro 10.5, sporting a modern user interface that
normal playback, such as by pressing incorporates playback and editing parameters in a single, resizeable plug-in window.
Space. If you stop the playback by using
Logic’s transport (pressing Space again, for queue by choosing Dequeue Selected a cell, as well as neat reverse option that
example), playback stops immediately, as Cells from the context menu or by pressing plays a cell backwards.
opposed to waiting for the next Quantise Option-Return again, as well as using the Cells can be created manually by
Start position, but the queued cell remains Grid Stop button, or by using Logic’s Stop right-clicking an empty cell and selecting
queued. You can dequeue a cell by command multiple times by pressing Enter. the appropriate option from the contextual
right-clicking it and selecting Dequeue Cell As you might expect, you can queue menu. If you right-click an empty cell on an
from the context menu, or clicking the Grid and dequeue a scene rather than individual audio track/row, you can select Add Audio
Stop button. cells by right-clicking a scene’s trigger File and choose the file from the Open
Queuing a single cell for playback button and choosing Queue and Dequeue dialogue; alternatively, you can drag in an
probably isn’t that useful, so it’s possible Scene from the context menu. And, again, audio file, as such one from the Library.
to select multiple cells simultaneously you can dequeue a scene using the Grid Should the audio file in question already
and add all of them to the queue. To do Stop or standard Stop commands. contain metadata with loop information,
this, select a cell by clicking its name at Following typical Logic conventions, this will be used by the new audio clip.
the top part of a cell, and then, holding cell parameters for a selected cell can be Similarly, if you want to program your
down Shift, select other cells in the same adjusted in the Cell Inspector, and you’ll own cell using note data, right-click an
manner. Using the Cue Cell Playback find region-like settings you’ll already empty cell on a software instrument track
command from the context menu will be familiar with for muting, transposing and select Create MIDI cell. Like MIDI
queue the selected cells, or you can use and quantising. These take their place regions, MIDI cells can be edited in one
the handy Option-Return key command. alongside settings for configuring of the editors, and double-clicking one
Selected cells can be removed from the playback, the loop, length and speed of opens the Piano Roll editor by default.
on a curve, while the de-esser (the DS it’s actually quite versatile, and it sounds
Apogee Clearmountain’s Spaces button, also pre-reverb) is either on or off. great; I found it effective on vocals and
Convolution Reverb Plug-in De-essing a reverb feed is a common way instruments as well as on drum submixes.
For most of us, Bob Clearmountain to stop sibilants making the reverb sound Of course, you get the usual wet/dry
needs no introduction; he’s worked with splashy, so it’s a welcome inclusion. control to balance the composite space’s
everybody from David Bowie to the Rolling The first space, called Apogee Studio, is overall contribution too, so rather than
Stones. His first collaboration with audio a shortish and fairly warm-sounding room being ‘just another room reverb’ for
interface manufacturers Apogee resulted ambience recorded in Apogee’s in-house livening up individual parts or submixes,
in a set of plug-ins called Clearmountain’s recording studio. Next up is Mix This, these spaces can also be applied (in
Domain, which emulated his go-to signal a medium-length, brighter reverb recorded moderation) to a complete mix, to add
chain. Clearmountain’s Spaces was in the echo chambers of Clearmountain’s realism and complexity without obscuring
originally part of that chain but it’s now own Los Angeles studio. Input the source material; if you’re after that
available separately. Tamla Motown ‘all recorded
Based on impulse in the same room’ vibe,
responses, it incorporates this plug-in will be your
profiles of some of new best friend. I also tried
Clearmountain’s favourite adding it to one of my
rooms and echo chambers, more ambient mixes, and
along with some of the it both glued the elements
processing used on many together and added an
of his hit records. AU, AAX analogue-like smoothness.
and VST plug-in formats are Bob Clearmountain has
supported (Mac OS 10.12.6/ always appreciated the
Windows 10 and higher) unique nature of real spaces,
and protection is via an iLok and the great thing about
account, though no physical this plug-in is that it allows
iLok is required. you to combine the best
It is beautifully simple to aspects of three different and
use. There are three ‘spaces’, musically excellent spaces
each with its own slider and that are in three geographical
on/off button for balancing locations. The EQ section
its contribution to the overall can make a huge difference
reverb character — the idea is that the configuration buttons, for use when the to the reverberant sound, as the various
plug-in is used to create a Composite plug-in is used in a stereo insert slot, allow presets ably demonstrate, many using
Space that changes character as you adjust this space to be configured for true stereo, setups that Bob used on specific records.
the mix of the three elements. There’s stereo-to-mono and stereo crossfeed For example, one of the included preset
also a three-band EQ, as well as global routing, the last of those reversing the examples is the treatment for Keef’s guitar
pre-delay adjustment and a switchable left and right outputs. The longest space, on the Stones’ ‘Start Me Up’. In short,
de-esser. The centre of the GUI is Roscoe, is a rich-sounding reverb recorded if you’re looking for some fairy dust to
dominated by a goniometer-type display in a Los Angeles studio belonging to one simply make things sound better, this
that shows stereo activity. of Bob’s friends. might be just what you need. Paul White
The EQ, which affects the signal before Despite the apparent simplicity and ££ $49
the reverb, is adjusted by dragging points surprisingly affordable price of this plug-in, WW https://apogeedigital.com
The dynamic Range is quoted as better than it won’t be your go-to setting but may be As a solution to fine-tuning guitar and
114dBA for both outputs. useful in some situations. The Goldilocks bass sounds prior to DI’ing, both units do
I tested both units with guitar and bass, zone lies somewhere between the two an effective job, and both are very solidly
with interesting results in both cases. At the extremes, and when I found it the bass built too. In a live performance situation,
full 1MΩ end of the impedance control, the sound warmed up slightly and my DI’d the pedal version would be more practical,
sound was much the same as going into Strat sounded just that bit more solid, as it allows both for bypassing and adding
the high-impedance input of a typical audio with a less ‘glassy’ high end. The choice of boost. But either would do a fine job in the
interface, which is a sound that I often find Pure or JFET modes brings about a subtle studio. Paul White
slightly thin and lacking in weight. Go to difference in tone, but it’s useful one. ££ Z-Tone Buffer Boost €207.39. Z-Tone DI
the other extreme and you lose about half I generally preferred the more ‘organic’ €182.99. Prices include VAT.
your level, and the result sounds quite dull; sound of the JFET option. WW www.ikmultimedia.com
Neunaber Wet Reverberator Reverb Plug-in used in their Immerse Reverberator MkII pedal. The plug-in,
though, has an expanded feature set. Currently (v1) the plug-in
Just when I thought the last thing the world needed was yet is stereo-in, stereo-out only. So if you want to use it on a mono
another reverb plug-in, Neunaber came along with something source in Logic Pro X (the DAW I used to test it), it’s necessary
a little different. Neunaber are best known for their high-end to set the track to stereo and to insert a Direction Mixer plug-in
guitar reverb effects pedals, but they’ve now ported their reverb before Wet Reverberator, with the width set to zero to place the
algorithm into software, to create the Wet Reverberator plug-in dry sound in the centre; otherwise the dry sound only comes out
(VST2.4, VST3, AU and AAX formats) for Mac and Windows. of one channel. I’m told this will be resolved in a future update.
Authorisation is via a license key code, which removes the time The GUI is clearly laid out, with slider controls for the values and
restriction from the otherwise fully functional demo . a very useful Visualiser in the middle of the screen that shows both
Neunaber tell us that Wet Reverberator is based on an the current EQ settings and the reverb’s density as it decays. To the
algorithm that has been refined over the last 10 years and is left of the screen under the Size and Shape heading are four faders
B16 Motherboards: B4 MIC/LINE Daughter Card Features: B22 ORCA Control Room Monitor Features:
• BMB1 - Avid DigiLink • 4-channel MIC/LINE ADC • Audiophile attenuator
• BMB2 - MADI • NextGen Analog BOPA14 • 2 stereo speaker outputs and 1 headphone output
• BMB3 - Dante • NEW BX6 input transformers • 2 DAC channels with switchable BX5 transformers
• BMB4 - SoundGrid • ADC filter select • NextGen Analog BOPA14 or BOPA11
• BMB5 - USB 2.0
• BMB6 - AES/UBU
which control Mix, Delay (pre-delay), which affect the way it works on signals
Attack and Decay. Attack smooths out within the reverb algorithms and it’s most
the onset of reverb to soften transients evident at long decay times; you just pick
such as heard in picked guitar or drums. which works best.
Decay covers an enormous range Sonically, Wet Reverberator is a gift
from room ambience to near-infinite to anyone into ambient music, as it is
cavern-like drones. possible to create lush washes that don’t
EQ is provided via sliding first-order overpower the dry sound. But at shorter
low-cut and high-cut filters, and there’s decay settings it also fares well in most
also an EQ tilt control that pivots conventional applications. It’s difficult to
around 500Hz. Below the Visualiser quantify just what makes a reverb sound
display there are two further sliders good, but this one is a bit special. I don’t
for setting the damping frequency and often use bit reduction, but it can be
attenuation to emulate the way reverb useful here if you want to add a bit of dirt
decays in a real space. to short snare reverbs and the like. I hope
To the right is a modulator section that at some point Neunaber also decide
and a Fidelity section where you can to port their Shimmer Reverb algorithms
apply bit-reduction and control the stereo width from mono to to a plug-in format, but in the meantime you can get pretty close to
extra wide. The LFO-based modulation has controls for Rate that effect by using Wet Reverberator in an aux send, and putting
and Pitch, and while it isn’t possible to turn the modulation off, an octave-up pitch-shifter set to a 50-percent wet/dry mix in front of
the effect of modulation can be set to a minimum by setting it. I’m sure this will become one of my go-to reverbs. Paul White
the Modulation Controls to ‘LFO: 1’, with rate and pitch at their ££ £38.70 including VAT.
minimum settings. There’s a choice of two LFO configurations WW https://neunaber.net
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
www.youtube.com/soundonsoundvideo
ON TEST
Sample Logic
Cinematic Guitars Motion
Kontakt Instrument
HHHHH
SAMPLE LIBRARIES
Sample Logic’s Cinematic Guitars series is a
well‑established part of many a media composer’s
sonic arsenal. Built around sample sets derived There are lots of presets here that could lines and dramatic themes, I found
pretty much exclusively from guitar sources, the easily generate a complete short cue without it a touch overbearing for simple
front end combines ‘quad core’ sample playback the need for any other sound sources. folk melodies.
(four sample engines can be combined in a single Whether used for tension, action, drama or This solo cello’s liquid-sounding
preset), sophisticated effects for each core and more melancholic and calm moods, CGM is a legatos and soaring portamentos
a master effects chain, step-based control of powerful tool once you dig in. Perhaps the are a pleasure to play, and its
both effects and pattern/arpeggiation plus an only other thing to note is that, reflective, noble tone is a
XY pad to create additional sonic motion, and while there are plenty of organic great melodic resource.
that can also be animated. Shipping with massive types of sounds included, this is Cellist Vasily Bystroff also
collections of presets, and tools for randomising perhaps more of an electronic turns in some brilliant,
sound creations so something new can always sit or synthetic sound source. biting and visceral short
under your fingertips, they have supplied many a It could, however, easily be notes; when he digs
cue for films and TV shows. combined with more traditional into his louder spiccato
The latest iteration of the franchise is orchestral‑type sounds. deliveries, you can
Cinematic Guitars Motion and users of the earlier As with earlier Cinematic almost see the rosin
titles (such as Cinematic Guitars Infinity, reviewed Guitars titles, pricing suggests flying off the bow. In an
in the December 2015 issue of SOS) will find lots this is targeted at the working unusual twist, the cello’s
that’s familiar in terms of workflow. However, this media composer and, if that’s trills and tremolos start
time around, Sample Logic have brought the UI you, and deadlines are always short, then slowly and gather pace, adding
bang up to date, made some changes under the Cinematic Guitars Motion will most certainly a mobile expressive element to
hood, enhanced various aspects of the feature warrant serious consideration. Hefty in size and standard articulations.
set and, of course, built the latest title from a price but matched by some equally hefty sonic My ‘best in show’ award goes
brand‑new 33GB library of samples. possibilities. John Walden to the viola. Played by Alejandro
Requiring a full version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or $349.99 Regueira, this superb instrument’s
later, it has to be said that CGM is an impressive www.samplelogic.com short spiccatos range from light,
beast. With over 850 instruments and presets insistent brushes to a furiously
included, there is plenty to explore even before Orchestral Tools emphatic bowing, a great
you dig into the multitude of possibilities
Tableau Solo Strings articulation for driving ostinatos.
offered by the powerful front end. The ‘motion’ The viola’s dark, mellow tone also
Sine Player
part of the title is apt as many of these presets works a treat for stately heroic
make very good use of the step-based pattern HHHH themes and slow-moving ballads;
features, the effects and the XY controller that This tasteful library is the flagship of the its legatos are less adaptable to
can adjust the blend between the four sound Organic Samples range, created by young fast playing, but if you’re prepared
cores in real time. And, while I was perhaps a composer Maxime Luft in conjunction with the to massage your MIDI notes after
bit surprised that the new and improved preset Orchestral Tools samplemeisters. Tableau Solo the event, they can produce good
browser didn’t include a ‘rhythmic’ tag amongst Strings (60GB) consists of violin, viola and cello melodic results. On the downside,
its other useful descriptors, as so many of the solo instruments recorded at the Teldex Scoring the note attacks of the non-vibrato
preset sounds offer rhythmic elements — either Stage, Berlin, from five mic positions. The same articulations are generally slower
via note arpeggiation or step-based effects hall and miking scheme are used in Orchestral than those of the vibrato samples,
— CGM can easily set the pace of a cue as well Tools’ other collections, so these solo strings which can be a problem when
as create its harmonic/melodic properties. should fit nicely into the family. The instruments combining both in a melody.
may be bought separately, or together as a All instruments utilise a superior
discounted bundle. VSL‑style legato mode, and play
The violin samples were performed by Farida sustains, marcatos, pizzicatos,
Rustamova on a 1745 Guarneri instrument. tremolos, semitone trills and four
Despite its antiquity, the old fiddle sounds full of types of mordent grace note.
life. Its rich, vibrant, singing tone is ideally suited These solo strings are beautifully
to melodic playing, and its swooping portamento recorded and played with great
slides are a joy. Long notes are played in a commitment, and the samples
variety of attacks, with and without vibrato. successfully capture the personality
You can’t crossfade between the two, which of each player.
is a pity. While the player’s strong, expressive On a technical note, the library
vibrato style is great for stirring romantic lead runs on Orchestral Tools’ free Sine
Beats Of Burden
The latest version of DP includes some powerful timing
& tempo-manipulation tools.
MIKE LEVINE
D
igital Performer
has long had
excellent features
for manipulating beats and
tempo. With the arrival of
DP10, those capabilities have
been significantly upgraded.
This month we’ll look at
some tips for using DP’s
beat‑detection, time-stretching
and tempo-related features.
The new Stretch Edit
Layer, which is available in
both the Sequence Editor
and Waveform Editor, takes
advantage of the new Beat
Detection Engine introduced
When Stretch is enabled on audio tracks, you can
in DP10 to offer additional functionality for and conform them to the project tempo.
add tempo changes in the Conductor Track, such
editing beats and changing tempos. If you Stretch-enable all the audio tracks in as the ritardando at the end of this song.
You can turn on Stretch functionality for a project, you can freely change the project
an audio track by going to its Track Settings tempo; all the tracks will automatically and Default Options for Tracks in Current
Menu in the Sequence Editor and selecting adjust along with the changes. Stretch will Project categories. That way, every track
Stretch. Even if the audio you’re importing even follow multiple tempo changes in the you create will be Stretch Enabled from
doesn’t have embedded tempo information, conductor track. The quality of the ZTX Pro the start.
DP will automatically conform the audio time-stretching technology that DP employs
in the track to fit the project tempo. This is excellent and flexible, so it can be applied
Tempo Changes
feature will work whether you’re using the to all types of audio material. You can use the Stretch capabilities of audio
Tempo Slider or the Conductor Track. If you know in advance that you’re going tracks, in conjunction with the Conductor
The most obvious use for setting to be experimenting with song tempo, it’s Track, to program in tempo changes, such as
a track to Stretch is to bring in sounds easiest to go to Preferences / Pitch and a ritardando or accelerando, or to just add
from outside the project, such as loops, Stretch, and check Stretch Enable in the some slight tempo variations into a song
Default Options for Tracks in New Projects recorded to a click. This gives you a lot of
The Beats layer in DP10’s Waveform Editor.
arrangement flexibility in a mix or
remix situation. To do this, first check
that all your audio tracks are set to
Stretch in the Track Settings Menu.
Next, make sure your tempo is being
controlled by the Conductor Track.
If not, make a note of the song’s
bpm setting, and hold down the
disclosure arrow to the right of the
Tempo Slider and change it to the
Conductor Track.
DP’s tempo will change to the
default of 120. Open the Conductor
Track in the Event List and put in
a tempo change at bar 1:1:000.
If you don’t remember what the
original tempo was, you can quickly
switch back to the Tempo Slider to
A Stretch In Time
You can also manually stretch beats
to correct or change a part, either in
the Waveform Editor, which has been
reorganised and spruced up in DP10,
or in the Sequence Editor. The process
works best for small corrections. Once you
Using the Stretch Edit Layer, you can manually
start dragging beats too far, you’ll notice drag audio in time to make changes or
impact which beats are detected when you
degradation of their transients and impact corrections to the rhythm. increase the threshold. Drag the handles on
the timing of surrounding notes. One thing the beats down to reduce their velocity. You
that helps is to experiment with different From there, you could use the Quantize can also add beats with the Pencil Tool or
Snap-to-Grid settings when you’re making command set to Soundbites to correct or delete them with the Mute Tool.
the adjustments. The larger the note value change the part. Or you could drag the Remember that, unlike the Stretch
in the grid, the more any stretches you make newly separated Soundbites manually to layer in the Waveform Editor (or Sequence
will impact surrounding beats. where you want them. Another reason to Editor), editing beats doesn’t alter the audio
Beats are bordered on either side by make Soundbites from the beats is to create directly. What you’re editing is a map of the
a red line that represents their Anchor samples to load in a sampler instrument positions of the beats in a Soundbite, which
Points. You can move these around if you such as DP’s Model 12. DP will use as reference when performing
need more control over what gets stretched You can also switch the Waveform editor beat and tempo operations.
on either side of the beat. Hover over the to show beats, and edit them if needed,
line until you see a bi-directional arrow, and before separating a Soundbite by its beats
MIDI Beats
then drag in either direction. or using another beat operation. You can Another trick the Beat Detection Engine
Another option for time-correcting even raise and lower beat velocity, which will can perform is to covert beats into MIDI
beats is to use the Region / Quantize /
Beats Within Soundbites command, which
allows you to quantise both audio and MIDI
material together in one operation. Just like
with quantising MIDI, the key to successful
results is to set the parameters such as Grid
Value, Sensitivity and Strength, so that you
get just enough time correction without
removing the feel.
Bite Me
An alternative method for manipulating
beats is to use the Audio / Audio Beats /
New Soundbites option from the Beats
menu to create new Soundbites based
on the audio beats in the original. These
new Soundbites will start precisely on their
initial transients.
When you select New Soundbites, you’ll
get a dialogue box with a Beats Strength
Threshold slider, which will adjust the
sensitivity of the beat detection. If too many
beats are being detected, push the slider Using the New Soundbites from Beats command, a single Soundbite has been cut into many smaller
more to the right. ones, all starting right on the beat.
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TECHNIQUE / REASON
External Influences
Using MIDI controllers with Reason.
MIDI Patchbay
The direct MIDI routing system lets you
My KeyStep Pro sequencing Rack, with a drum
SIMON SHERBOURNE elect up to four MIDI ports to appear on
machine and three synths.
a virtual MIDI interface at the top of the
I
’m increasingly turning to hardware the Sequencer. Unless told otherwise, Reason Rack. These are chosen in the
sequencers to make music, but even Reason assumes that a connected device Sync tab of Reason’s Preferences, under
when I’m not using Reason as a DAW should act like a master, and will direct the External Control heading (screen
or plug-in it’s still my favourite sound all MIDI from it (regardless of channel) 2). Simply choose MIDI ports from the
module. Reason has two completely to whichever track or device is selected. pop-up lists next to each the four buses.
different systems for configuring MIDI You’ll find the device/port listed in Next, go to the Rack, scroll to the
sources. This month we unpick some of Reason’s Control Surfaces Preferences Hardware Interface at the very top, and
the confusion around this to find the best (screen 1) under ‘Easy MIDI Inputs’. show the Advanced MIDI panel (screen
ways to sequence and play Reason from Reason has an intelligent MIDI 3). The panel has four buttons for viewing
external devices. control and mapping system called the busses (MIDI Ports), with panes for
Remote. Controllers that you declare for the individual channels. The pop-ups
Incoming Remote use (also in the Control Surfaces list every device in the Rack, and set
Most Reason users connect a keyboard Preferences) can take advantage of fluid the routing target for each incoming
controller to play Reason’s instruments, mapping of controls to Reason’s devices. MIDI channel. Note that Mix Channels
tweak controls and record MIDI parts into Many MIDI controllers have predefined modules are shown as well as instruments
I
’ve always felt the Pro Series plug-ins
from Avid are unsung heroes of the
plug-in world. They’re provided
to subscribers as part of the Pro Tools
bundle, so they are almost ubiquitous,
and they provide a definite step up in
terms of features and quality compared
to the stock plug-ins. I’ve spoken about
some of these plug-ins in the past in this
column, but one of the most useful is the
Pro Multiband Splitter. It’s a simple plug-in
— basically the same as the Pro Multiband
Dynamics processor, but without the
dynamic processing. One thing that
many people don’t realise about the
Pro Multiband Splitter is that you can
output each band to a bus and, via
that bus, to anywhere else in the mixer. Avid’s Pro Multiband Splitter plug-in lets you The significance of the phase response
separate audio into different frequency bands and
These busses are automatically created of the filters is that the crossover in
send those bands separately to the mixer.
and are accessed via the input selector Pro Multiband Splitter isn’t completely
in the plug-in menu. The Multiband exhibit the phase response that they do, transparent, as can be demonstrated if
Splitter gives access to these splits and they necessarily incur significant latency. you try to null it against a polarity-inverted
nothing else. For the majority of applications the sonic parallel path. For most purposes this
differences between a minimum‑phase doesn’t matter, but for processing entire
The Small Phases and a linear‑phase filter is subtle, but the mixes it is something to be aware of. It’s not
An important point to make about both latency of a linear‑phase filter is large, necessarily a bad thing but, particularly if it
the Pro Multiband Dynamics and the Pro so in most cases, minimum-phase filters is being used in a parallel application, it will
Multiband Splitter is that the filters used in are a perfectly acceptable compromise. colour the sound just by being there, even
their crossovers are of the minimum‑phase That being said, the provision of a choice before any processing has taken place.
variety. Linear‑phase filters have been between minimum phase and linear phase
available for a long time — the first filters would be a nice option to have.
Getting Creative
example of a phase‑linear multiband The FabFilter Pro MB is one of several So the concept is clear, but why would
compressor I ever used was the Waves plug-ins that come to mind that offer you want access to these split bands, and
Linear Phase Multiband Compressor back such a choice, but unfortunately it doesn’t are there any caveats to be aware of while
in the early 2000s — but the issue with offer the option to split each band out using them? The idea of inserting a flanger
linear‑phase filters has always been that to separately in Pro Tools. on the low mids, a reverb on the top end
and Auto-Tune on the sub-bass might be
original but it’s unlikely to be useful. How
Loudness Analyser could this ability to route and process each
Another unsung ‘utility’ plug-in in the Pro Series is the AudioSuite Loudness Analyser, which band separately be used to solve issues we
complements the Pro Limiter very well. For anyone working to loudness standards this is a very actually experience when mixing?
straightforward problem solver. Since the popular music streaming platforms started using
I won’t refer to any compression
loudness normalisation, LUFS are no longer only relevant to those working in post production
and broadcast. If you distribute music online then understanding loudness is something you need
examples as these might be better served
to think about. The Loudness Analyser offers an offline, faster‑than‑real-time measurement using the Pro Multiband Dynamics plug‑in.
of integrated loudness, as well Though the possibilities presented by
as peak and loudness range using types of compression on different
measurements. While more bands — for example an LA‑2A on the bass
comprehensive third‑party tools frequencies and an 1176 on the top end
are available, as someone who
— might be interesting, they also sound like
works to loudness standards
every day I have to say this is all a potential nightmare and I’m happy to stick
I need. with a dedicated multiband compressor for
these applications. If you feel brave then
Export Duty
JOHN WALDEN
W
hile archiving your projects is
perhaps not the most exciting
aspect of working with Cubase,
you’ll one day thank your younger self for
having put in the effort, so in this month’s
column I’ll examine the archival options for
Future-proof your projects in Cubase.
users of Cubase Elements, Artist or Pro.
Archiving isn’t just about saving your project First, execute the Media/Prepare Archive this problem is to render all the project’s
to another hard drive; it should ensure that command. This will check whether all files audio and virtual instruments tracks as
you have a backup copy should the original referenced by your project reside in the audio files, with all channel-level processing
project be lost or become corrupted. It project folder, and will place copies of them included. If you like, you can do the same
should also ensure that you can access your in there if not. Second, from the menu, with all the channel processing bypassed,
project even without the current versions of select File/Back Up Project, and you’ll be so you have a version of your audio files
Cubase or the plug-ins you used. prompted to specify a new folder for the with any edits, for example, but free from
The first step is to decide on the backup copy. A few tickbox options dictate processing, which is handy if you want to
balance between your desired degree of exactly what gets placed in the new folder. revamp your project in the future.
future-proofing and the time and effort Minimise Audio Files (only copy those What follows will work in all versions
required to achieve it. I tend towards portions of any audio files actually used on of Cubase. It’s a little clunky, though,
pragmatism rather than perfectionism, and the timeline) and Remove Unused Files will and users of Pro have a better option in
will focus on the former here. But hopefully help keep your backup compact. Provided the Export Audio Mixdown dialogue, on
there will be enough ideas here that everything else (plug-ins, sample content which more later. First, save a copy of
you can develop a more comprehensive locations) remains the same on your host your project with a suitable ‘version for
strategy if you prefer. system, this backup project should open future-proofing’ name. If the Freeze button
fully intact and ready to go if your original isn’t already visible, right-click on any track
All Backed Up working copy is lost. in the Track List to open the Track Controls
A sensible first step is to create a Panel and make it visible for both Audio
self-contained backup copy of a project
The Future Is Now
that would restore the project on your own While useful in the short term, the above If you are not using Cubase Pro, a workaround
host system in the event of data loss. It’s process won’t protect you from plug-ins combining the track Freeze and Audio
a two-step process and can be done in an that might go missing in the longer term. Mixdown dialogue features can let you create
identical fashion in Pro, Artist and Elements. The most straightforward insurance against an audio-only render of all audio and virtual
instrument tracks within a project.
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Q
or 5 m lengths). I use Alva cables a lot
(including Yamaha converter cables)
and find them to be both reliable and
very good value. This one has the male
Yamaha connector, which you can plug
into the Reverb 6000, but a female
Tascam connector at the other end. You
need a male Tascam connector to plug
into the ADI-4DD’s D-sub. If the units are
close by, a simple D-sub male-to-male
gender changer would be the least
expensive way to do that, but it might be
a bit cumbersome hanging off the back of
the RME. Probably a better option then
is a regular D-sub-to-D-sub cable. You
can then run Toslink optical cables to the
Apollo interface.
In an extended digital system like this
clocking is important. Although you could
use the Toslink connectors to provide
clocks, I’d recommend using a BNC cable
from the Apollo’s word-clock output
to the RME’s clock in, configuring the
Q&A
My home studio is plagued by dust! It in your house is throwing out some old It’s worth noting that this isn’t just an
seems to get everywhere. Obviously, tights, that material will do nicely: attach aesthetic issue: a lot of mixers have jack
I vacuum and so on, but it’s really hard firmly with a rubber band and you can sockets on the top panel, and dust falling
to remove from my keyboards, my mixer de-dust to your heart’s content. Don’t into these can cause problems in the
and the various cables that hook it all forget to clean the dust from all the less signal path (interruptions, crackles and
up — I keep sucking up little things like obvious places it tends to collect, like so forth). The dust cover will also protect
screws and plectrums. Is there a ‘right’ the tops of any acoustic panels, shelves, against that too. If it’s already a problem,
way to clean this stuff? door frames, keyboard stands, chair try squirting in a bit of Deoxit D5 and
Dan Hill via email legs, underneath sofas and so on. I find pushing a lightly burred (ie. sandpapered)
that cables can be real dust magnets, jack plug in and out of the socket.
SOS Reviews Editor Matt Houghton especially if you have an old-school Another thing to consider is oil and
replies: I’m not sure about a ‘right’ way, analogue setup with a console, patchbay grease. Every time you put your mucky
but there are certainly ways and means. and multicore snakes everywhere. A damp fingers on your gear, you leave behind
The simplest way I find to tackle dust on cloth will get rid of most of it easily a thin layer of grease, not to mention the
fiddly surfaces with knobs, keys or faders enough, so it’s worth making sure you can residue of any sneaky studio snacks you
on them is to use a vacuum cleaner, but easily get behind any racks or console. may have been indulging in. You might
to use a paint brush or old-fashioned Once you’ve given the place a good not even see it, but the grease can be
shaving brush to loosen the dust from all deep clean, the surest way to keep the a bit of a dust/dirt magnet. I usually use
the nooks and crannies; as it comes off, dust at bay from something like a mixer isopropyl alcohol to remove it but you
it flies straight into the vacuum cleaner. or keyboard is to invest in dust covers. could also try glass cleaner. It’s better to
Most of the cheapo handheld things Dedicated ones come in various forms, put this directly on the cloth and rub the
don’t seem to have enough ‘suck’, and from branded accessories to match surface than spray the liquid on your gear.
while a good chunk of money can buy your keyboard, to universal stretchable Needless to say, don’t use a cloth that will
you a more powerful one, I prefer to use spandex ones. If you’re a cheapskate like leave fibres behind; microfibre ones such
a regular vacuum cleaner with the head me, unfitted cotton twill dust sheets from as those used to clean spectacles and
detached, and stop it from guzzling tiny the DIY store work well. Not only can you camera lenses seem to work pretty well.
gadgets by putting a filter over the end cut them up to cover several bits of gear That’s about it for the day-to-day
of the tube that allows air and dust to with one sheet, but you can chuck them in stuff — cleaning inside faders and pots is
pass through but nothing larger. If anyone the washing machine from time to time. a whole different story!
PMC Studio
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THE JBL
CONTROL ONE
HELEN SKIERA Why there was a wardrobe at all Ones. These being so light, “So why don’t you just look
in this theatre I could not explain I could rig them from the after your speakers?” I hear
W
hen asked “What then or now, but I did ask the overhead grid, and this gave you cry. Well, in theatre we
is your favourite appointed sound technical surprisingly good coverage in sometimes need sound to come
loudspeaker?” person if it would be possible to the audience area. out of the ground, or through
I feel, as a sound designer in have them at the same height. But how good is the a wall, or be in the same place
theatre and live performance, This particular technician was, sound from a Control One? that someone spills water every
the answer ought to reflect as so many were in those days, Well, compared to hearing night. Control Ones with dented
the stunning selection of d&B, male, bearded (in an ‘I haven’t audio through two different grilles, sticky with fake blood or
Meyer and E&M gloriousness seen soap or a razor since the wardrobe-mounted (or not) painted bright yellow for some
that I get to experience on ‘70s’ way, rather than hipster fluffy-floofy, clarity-free boxes of forgotten scenery reason are
a regular basis. Publicly it will be cool), deeply unfriendly, and doom, really very good indeed. the unsung heroes of theatre
but, secretly, my love is reserved with all the sartorial elegance of I remember listening to a Handel audio. Front of house, the main
for a tiny little box that has been Stig of the Dump. He fixed me extract that I had carefully system takes all the glory, but
my saviour in many situations. with a gaze and said, “No one’s carved out using Audacity for right in the action, on‑stage
For theatre designers, the ever complained before.” a particular cue, and at that speakers are often vital. If the
first shows of our career are With the rigging choices of moment, it was one of the best doorbell or a phone doesn’t ring
often low/no‑pay situations in ‘on top of a wardrobe’ or ‘not things I had ever heard. Context when it should, your show will
low/no‑tech function spaces. In on top of a wardrobe’, I opted counts for a lot, and is perhaps be severely affected, and the
one particular venue, a room for the latter. I lifted down the worth remembering in every audio needs to be situated in
above a pub, the ‘sound offending unit and discovered aspect of creating audio for a realistic space that might be
system’ (I use this term in its that the two boxes were entirely a live performance. subject to all sorts of abuse. So
loosest sense) did emit some different flavours of thing. Audio As the shows got bigger, when we’re told, “The designer
sort of audio, but any serious output sounded like it was the rigs got bigger and better, needs something to make the
resemblance to loudspeakers passing through particularly tired but there is still room in the sound of frying oil, then have
ended there. It was not the marshmallows — two different biggest of rigs for a Control a bag of gravel emptied over
unique qualities of the speakers types of marshmallow, of course. One. A great thing about them it, and in the next scene they
that were initially the most The very lovely Royal Court is that they are so inexpensive, pour petrol over it and set
notable, but their positioning: Theatre, where I had a real job meaning that if something fire to the whole thing,” the
one was on the floor, and the at the same time as designing, bad happens to them they can only answer can be, “Let’s use
other on top of a wardrobe. loaned me four JBL Control be replaced. a Control One.”
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Jarvis Cocker
We talk to living legend Jarvis Cocker about his latest JARV IS... album, and
the unique approaches of the many producers he’s worked with throughout
his extraordinary career.
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