Electronic Musician March - 2011

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How to do high-quality
rough mixes—fast
Advanced techniques
for step sequencing
Inside the world of
indie game music
EMUSICIAN.COM
MARCH 2011
HOW CAKE
RECORDED A HIT
ALBUM IN THEIR
NO-FRILLS STUDIO
CAKEWALK SONAR X1 PRODUCER, DRUMAGOG 5, IZOTOPE NECTAR, MORE
8 PLUG-INS THAT GIVE ANALOG
FLAVOR TO DIGITAL RECORDINGS
WARM UP
YOUR TRACKS
©2010 CASIO AMERICA, INC.
Featuring a sequencer, effects, mixer, performance
registration memory, USB MIDI and hundreds of
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© 2011 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, M-Audio, the M-Audio logo, Mbox,
Pro Tools M-Powered, and Venom are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the
property of their respective owners.
Hear Venom online at m-audio.com/venom
Get an aggressive, infectious new sound with Venom™.
Whet your appetite with the included presets, then sink your
teeth into creating original sounds—from subtle to downright
nasty. Perform bass lines and leads with a 49-note, full-size
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tweak parameters from the intuitive top-panel interface, or
explore endless possibilities with the included software editor.
You can also use Venom as an audio interface with software
such as Pro Tools
®
M-Powered™—and take your music in
dangerous new directions.
Meet the Venom
12-voice virtual analog synthesizer
Elevate
your heart rate.
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6 | EMUSICI AN.COM | 03.11
44 CAKEWALK
SONAR X1 PRODUCER
DAW software
48 IZOTOPE NECTAR
signal processor plug-in
52 DRUMAGOG 5
drum-replacement plug-in
57 QUICK PICKS
ROYER R-101
ribbon microphone
TANNOY REVEAL 501A
active reference monitors
VIR2 VIOLENCE
sampled virtual instrument
BLUE MICROPHONES
SPARK
condenser microphone
SOUND RADIX
AUTO-ALIGN
time-alignment plug-in
34 ROUGHING IT
Whether you need to show a client the progress
of a project or send a track to another musician,
it’s often necessary to do a rough mix. D. James
Goodwin—an engineer who’s worked with The
Bravery, Norah Jones, and Devo, among many
others—reveals his method for doing a rough
mix that sounds good and is quick.
MARCH 2011 VOL. 27, NO. 3
FEATURES REVIEWS
WARM IT UP
One of the knocks on today’s digital recording
technology is that it lacks the warmth of its
analog predecessors. To help breathe some old-school life into
it, numerous plug-ins have appeared that offer tape, tube, and
transformer-saturation emulations for your digital tracks. We
round up eight of them.
COVER STORY
24
57
30 NOTHIN’ FANCY
Cake recently recorded their hit album
Showroom of Compassion in a home
studio that features a modest Pro
Tools LE rig, a Shure SM58 for vocals,
and a grand total of three mics on the
drums. How did they do it? EM caught
up with Cake frontman John McCrea
to nd out.
57
30
52
34
7 03.11 | emusici an.com |
columns
16 Gear Geek: Yamaha DX7
This FM digital synthesizer dominated the sound of popular
music in the ’80s.
18 Pro/File: a GranD eXPeriment
Brandt Brauer Frick produce dance music from the unusual
sounds they create in the studio.
20 ComPoser sPotliGht:
CrashinG into the inDie
Game sCene
Filippo Beck Peccoz creates his own blips and bloops.
22 D.i.Y. musiCian:
the riGht imaGe
Having appropriate artwork for your album is key, and so is
making sure you have the rights to use it.
40 sounD DesiGn WorkshoP:
What’s Your number
Get more from your step sequencer than quantized note
streams.
42 remiX CliniC:
master bus musinGs
Adding compression, EQ, and limiting on your master bus can
help put the finishing touches on your project.
66 baCk talk: sanDY Vee
A chat with rising-star producer/songwriter Sandy Vee, whose
client list includes Katy Perry, Rihanna, and David Guetta.
departments
8 First take
10 Front Panel
12 What’s neW
62 MarketPlace
63 classiFieds
em (ISSN 0884-4720) is published monthly by Penton Media, Inc., 9800 Metcalf Ave.,
Overland Park, KS 66212 (www.penton.com). This is Volume 27, Issue 3, March
2011. One-year (12 issues) subscription is $24. Canada is $30. All other internation-
al is $50. Prices subject to change. Periodicals postage paid at Shawnee Mission,
KS, and additional mailing offices. Canadian GST #129597951. Canadian Post
International Publications Mail Product (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement
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London, ON N6C 6B2. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EM, P.O. Box 15605,
North Hollywood, CA 91615.
66
42
20
22
8 | emusici an.com | 03.11
T
his is my first chance to write this column since the NAMM show, so I
thought I’d share with you some impressions. My biggest takeaway was the
sense of optimism that was present at this year’s show, in marked contrast
from the gloomy outlook—due to the recession—of the past couple of NAMMs.
Attendance this year was record-setting. More than 90,000 people set foot in
the Anaheim Convention Center during the four-day event.
In the music production/recording segment of the show (most of which is
clustered in Hall A, especially in a section referred to by some as “software
alley”), there were new products galore. We’ve got a dozen of them profiled in
the What’s New section of this issue on page 12 and a lot more covered in
our NAMM section at emusician.com. As mentioned, there
was a general feeling among the manufacturers that 2011
is going to be a good year. I hope that’s the case, because a
healthy industry will mean that more innovation takes place
and more new products are developed and brought to mar-
ket. Not only is that good for the manufacturers and the
press that covers them, but also for the gear-buying public.
On the subject of new products, when you look at the
product review section in this issue, you might notice something a little dif-
ferent about the ratings. We are now allowing half points. Instead of being
restricted to whole numbers between 1 and 5, EM reviewers now have the free-
dom use the half point (for instance a 3.5 or a 4.5), if they feel it’s warranted.
In essence, this modification changes our ratings from a 5-point to a
10-point system, which allows reviewers more subtlety and nuance in how they
rate products. This change has been instituted not only for full reviews, which
have four different ratings categories, but for “Quick Picks,” which have a single
overall rating.
Those of you who’ve been reading EM for a while might remember that we
have tinkered with our rating system on occasion in the past. For many years,
we did use the half point. Then, in 2006, after what I recall was about a three-
hour meeting about it (at one period in its history, the EM editorial staff had
famously long meetings), we decided to go to whole numbers only, thinking it
would be more direct and would encourage reviewers to “commit” to a particu-
lar rating. But after several years of that, we’ve decided that a more flexible
system would work better. We want to be as fair and accurate as possible with
how we rate products.
®
emusician.com
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eDiTor/senior meDia ProDucer
Mike Levine, [email protected]
eDiToriaL DirecTor Tom Kenny, [email protected]
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senior associaTe eDiTor Andrew Ward, [email protected]
execuTive eDiTor George Petersen, [email protected]
TechnicaL eDiTor Kevin Becka, [email protected]
conTriBuTinG eDiTors Michael Cooper, Marty Cutler,
Len Sasso, Dennis Miller, Larry the O, Gino Robair,
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arT DirecTor Isabelle Pantazis, [email protected]
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PrinTeD in The usa. aLso PuBLishers of mix
®
firsT
A Good Forecast
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The uTTerly glorious fusion of Technology and arTisTry.
shure KsM MicroPhones exquisite craftsmanship and exceptional engineering that sets a new
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© 2011 Shure Incorporated
10 | emusici an.com | 03.11
W
hen you want to create MIDI pat-
terns other than by recording or
drawing them in, you typically have two
options: use the arpeggiators, randomiz-
ers, and step sequencers found in most
DAWs, or build your own pattern genera-
tors in applications such as Cycling ’74
Max/MSP. U&I Software Xx 5.2 (Mac,
$99; download from uisoftware.com)
offers a powerful alternative by providing
a host of graphical tools to build complex
note patterns. Some tools are complete-
ly rule-based and others include random
elements. Many of the tools can gener-
ate both monophonic (all notes on one
track) and polyphonic parts—you have
24 tracks to play with—and you can limit
the notes on any track to a selected key
and mode. You can play your creations
using the Mac’s generic GM synth,
Xx’s complement of very creative and
fully programmable synths from U&I’s
flagship software MetaSynth, or your
favorite AU plug- ins
(with some limitations).
Using Xx is not exactly a
no-brainer, but it bears
a strong resemblance
to a standard piano-
roll MIDI editor. Once
you’ve mastered a few
nonstandard techniques, you’ll find it
easy to use. Best of all, you can export
your creations as either audio or MIDI
files for use in your DAW.
You can enter and add notes to
an Xx project in three ways: play them
from a MIDI or computer keyboard,
draw them in using one of 11 tools,
or use Xx’s Multi Generator, a 3-track
step sequencer with a twist. The tools
let you enter single notes, chords, ran-
dom note clusters, two- and three-part
canons, predefined patterns (you can
add your own), and multimeasure/multi-
track patterns derived from statistical
parameters you set. That last tool, the
Random Generator, is context sensi-
tive—its action depends on where you
click and the notes already present. The
Multi Generator is especially useful for
creating drum parts (see Web Clip 1).
You get separate bar charts for pitch
and velocity for each of its three tracks.
You can generate bars randomly or draw
them in, and you can set each track’s
number of steps and scale its tempo.
Using different numbers of steps lets you
generate long, non-repeating patterns—
for example, it takes 42 measures for 3,
7, and 8-beat sequences to repeat. ✱
OPTION-CLICK
By Len Sasso
BOrK! BOrK! BOrK! YOur MusIC
Add Some Foreign Intrigue to Your Tracks
There’s a great audio moment in the
’80s comedy Top Secret when Val Kilmer
chats with the big-eyed Swedish book-
store owner (Fig. 1): You quickly realize
the filmmakers are simulating Swedish
speech by playing the scene backward.
I enjoy layering background voices in my
productions, so I thought I’d try that tech-
Fig. 1: Peter
Cushing’s career
moved backward
between Star
Wars and Top
Secret, but
reversing sound
is a creative
goldmine.
dOwNLOad Of The MONTh

frONT
Hear an example of xx in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
U&I Software XX
(Mac)
RobeRt Miles: TH1RT3EN (s:alt)
Producer Miles cooks up a blend of
prog rock and electronic music on this
instrumental album that offers synths;
cool, textural guitar playing; and much
more. Robert Fripp is one of several
guest artists.
YellowbiRds: The Color
(the RoYal Potato FaMilY)
The lone album in this month’s batch
that contains vocals, The Color is the
brainchild of Sam Cohen from the psy-
chedelic collective Apollo Sunshine.
Folk-rock song structures mix with spac-
ey instrumental textures to create what
Cohen calls the “4th Dimensional Future
West.”
11 03.11 | emusici an.com |
all New//
eMbooKs
The all-new
EMBooks
give you in-depth tutorial tips
and techniques for any recording
project. Now available: Synth
Programming and Laptop
Production at mixbooks.com.
blog// RobaiR RePoRt
Our intrepid former editor blogs
about all issues relating to music
technology and offers periodic
updates as he rebuilds his studio
from the ground up.
listeN//
waRM it
UP
Hear the
f e a t u r e d
s a t u r a t i o n
pl ug- i ns i n
use.
listeN//
iZotoPe
NectaR
Review
Listen to
reviewer
Steve
Skinner
put this plug-in through its paces.
thiNgs that occUR iN NatURe:
Snow Flower (thiNgs that occUR
iN NatURe)
This ambient post-rock project features
flowing, often arpeggiated keyboard
lines, with guitars, bass, and drums
woven in around them. Check out the
video that goes with the song “Sky (Fast
Moving Clouds)” at emusician.com.
EMUSICIAN.COM
THIS MONTH ON
By Mike Levine THIS MONTH’S SOUNdTrACk


nique. First, I pasted an English phrase
into Speak It!, a terrific text-to-speech
app for iOS ($1.99, future-apps.net).
Then I exported the result as an AIFF file
and reversed it in Ableton Live.
Even with music, the effect sounded
like reversed speech so I took it further.
I translated the text into Swedish at
translate.google.com, pasted that back
into Speak It!, and re-rendered it with a
Swedish voice. (You can preview the voic-
es at acapela-group.com.) The foreign
words added the perfect exotic spice.
—DaviD Battino, BatMosphere.coM
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a
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steve Roach/bRiaN PaRNhaM:
The Desert Inbetween (PRojeKt)
Roach teams up with Parnham to offer
an homage to the desert featuring eerie
soundscapes that mix electronic textures
with organic instruments like didgeridoo
and Waterphone.
KeN elKiNsoN: Music for
Commuting (aUgUst soN
PRodUctioNs)
Elkinson used eight different synths
when recording this three-double-CD box
set of ambient-electronic music. Each of
the CDs represents a different part of
the week, with the music changing from
drone-like to more upbeat to spacey as
the “week” progresses.
This group of albums takes us on a mainly instrumental journey through deserts, electronic soundscapes, the psychedelic West of
the future, and the days of the work week.
P
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b
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J
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s
12 | emusici an.com | 03.11
NEW
By George Petersen
DAVE SMITH InSTruMEnTS TEMPEST
ANALOG DRUM MACHINE
When master synth designer Dave Smith gets together with
legendary drum machine pioneer roger Linn, a firestorm is
likely to be brewing. The result from Dave Smith Instruments
(davesmithinstruments.com) is Tempest ($1,999), a hardware
analog drum machine with six analog voices, each with two
analog and two digital oscillators. retro and new school in one
monster box, Tempest also features 16 pressure- and velocity-
sensitive pads, two slide controllers, and onboard effects such
as compression, distortion, and beat-synched delay.
MISA DIGITAL InSTruMEnTS KITARA DIGITAL GUITAR
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
It’s shaped like a guitar, but there are no strings. The Kitara Digital Guitar
from Misa Digital (misadigital.com) is played via six switches on each fret
of its 24-fret neck, providing all the notes you’d get on a guitar, while the
player’s other hand “strums” a touchscreen using various articulations to
trigger the notes. An onboard synth has 128 preset sounds and a MIDI
output. Two models will be offered: a high-density, injection-molded ABS
polymer body ($849) and a solid-aluminum style ($2,899); both have
8-inch multitouch screens.
MOOG MuSIC MOOG LAP STEEL
SLIDING INTO THE GROOVE
The award-winning technology from Moog
Guitar (moogmusic.com) takes a new bend
in the form of the Moog Lap Steel, a 6-string
version featuring a shaped body style and
raised action that’s perfectly suited for the
steel player. Offered on a custom basis, the
Moog Lap Steel delivers infinite sustain, con-
trolled sustain, and mute modes—greatly
expanding the expressiveness of the origi-
nal instrument—and features an onboard
Moog ladder filter that’s controllable with a
foot pedal. Prices start at $2,895; various
wood/finishing options are available.
✱ HOT NEW PRODUCTS fROM NAMM ✱
13 03.11 | emusici an.com |
FOCUSRITE VRM BOX
STUDIO MONITORING GOES VIRTUAL
Designed for headphone listening, the
VRM (Virtual Reference Monitoring)
Box from Focusrite (focusrite.com; $99
street) lets users select from 10 pairs
of industry-standard near-field and main
monitors in an acoustically treated con-
trol room to provide various references
when listening to their mixes. It’s all
virtual—of course—and for more varia-
tion, convolution-modeled room environ-
ments include a living room, bedroom
studio, and a pro studio. The VRM Box
functions as a high-quality, 24-bit/48kHz
USB audio playback interface, and also
has a S/PDIF input supporting sample
rates up to 192kHz.
ROLAND GR-55
GUITAR SYNTHESIZER
Combining PCM synthesis with COSM instrument/amp modeling derived
from the VG-99 V-Guitar System, Roland’s (rolandus.com) GR-55 offers
improved playability, features, and sound quality, including onboard virtual
guitars, basses, amps, and synth voices. It can play up to four sound sourc-
es at a time: two PCM synth tones, COSM guitar modeling, and normal
guitar input. Also featured are more than 900 fully editable PCM sounds,
two multi-effects engines, global reverb/chorus/delay effects, an onboard
looper, and a built-in USB audio player with foot control. Price with a GK-3
hex pickup is $799 or $699 without the GK-3.
IZOTOPE STUTTER EDIT
C-C-C-OOL S-S-SOUNDS
iZotope’s (izotope.com) Stutter Edit ($249, Mac/Win, VST/AU/RTAS)
is a plug-in developed with BT (Brian Transeau) to emulate his signa-
ture stuttering audio effects. It requires a MIDI input from your host to
achieve its effects, so it only works with certain platforms, which include
Apple Logic, Ableton Live, Pro Tools (7.4+, RTAS only), Cakewalk SONAR,
Steinberg Cubase/Nuendo, Image Line FL Studio, Cockos REAPER, and
MOTU Digital Performer.
KORG KRONOS WORKSTATION
PRODUCTION POWERHOUSE
One of the most talked-about products at NAMM, Kronos
(korg.com/kronos) features nine synth engines of various
types and can switch sounds seamlessly (or instanta-
neously) while being played, even from huge 4GB acoustic
piano samples, thanks to its Virtual Memory Technology
and a fast solid-state disk. Onboard effects, a 16-track
sequencer, and 16-track recorder create an all-in-one system. From ethereal textures to complex layered tones, Kronos covers
a huge range of sonic territory, as well as classic keyboards, pianos, tonewheel organs, electric pianos, and orchestral, percus-
sion, and pop sounds. The 61-key Kronos-61 is $2,999; the Kronos-73 is $3,499; and the 88-key version is $3,799.
14 | emusici an.com | 03.11
what’s new
ALESIS STUDIODOCK
I/O FOR IPaD
Apple’s iPad has proven itself ideal in all sorts of pro audio/music appli-
cations, with a near endless supply of useful apps available. Its main
drawback had been a lack of pro connectivity, but the Alesis (alesis.
com) StudioDock ($199), an audio interface for your iPad, features two
XLR/¼-inch jacks (each with its own gain control and switchable phan-
tom power) and MIDI I/O ports. StudioDock can also connect to a Mac
or PC using the USB port to send MIDI back and forth for creative, new
applications of the iPad and computer used in tandem.
ARTURIA SPARK
DRUMs ’n COntROL
Arturia’s (arturia.com) latest creation is Spark, a hybrid software drum machine with a
hardware controller. Offering analog synthesis, as well as sampled and physical-modeled
sounds, the product is designed for creative beat production. Slated to ship in April at
$599, Spark also features eight velocity/pressure-sensitive pads, 480 instruments/30 kits
(including acoustic drums, modern electronica, and vintage drum machine re-creations),
a 16-key/64-step sequencer, looping mode, real-time automation of all parameters, a
16-track mixer, nine onboard effects, and more.
STEINBERG
CUBASE 6
CLeaRLY On Base
The latest version of
Steinberg’s (steinberg.
net) popular cross-
platform DAW software,
Cubase 6 ($499) and
Cubase Artist 6 ($249) offers a bevy of new features, including enhanced
workflow features within the Project window and the Track Edit Groups option
allowing related events on multiple tracks to be grouped and edited simultane-
ously. Other features include Lane Track for convenient multitake comping, a
redesigned transient and automatic tempo detection, phase-accurate audio
quantization, and drum-replacement functions to smooth out any glitches in
live recorded drum tracks.
UNIVERSAL
AUDIO UAD-2 SATELLITE
FIRewIRe DsP aCCeLeRatOR
The Universal Audio (uaudio.com) UAD-2 Duo
and Quad Satellite family (priced from $899)
of DSP accelerator packages (with two or
four SHARC processors) put the entire UAD
Powered Plug-Ins library within easy reach of
any FireWire 800- or 400-equipped comput-
ers, with no PCIe card installation required.
Compatible with a wide range of modern
Intel-based iMacs and MacBook Pros, these
let users run larger mixes in Pro Tools, Logic,
Cubase, Nuendo, Performer, and more—with-
out taxing the host computer’s CPU.
ZOOM R8
MULtItRaCK ReCORDeR
Zoom (zoom.co.jp) took the design of
the R24 and reduced the footprint for
a portable, powerful music production
solution. In addition to 8-track playback
and 2-track simultaneous recording
(44.1/48kHz at 16/24-bit) using SD
memory cards, the R8 ($499) is a digital
multitrack recorder, USB audio interface,
control surface, and a pad sampler. The
R8’s built-in drum sounds can be trig-
gered using eight pads and three bank
keys to assign sounds to each track and
create loops. You can also use the unit’s
drum machine to create original backing
beats, or simply output a metronome
for tempo control. The R8 includes a
2GB SD card and supports up to 32GB
SDHC cards for a maximum of 100 track
hours.
15 03.11 | emusici an.com |
what’s new
sOUnD aDVICe By Len Sasso
Hear examples from tHese sound libraries ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
SamplerbankS
ElEctrolyzium
electrolyzium ($46.82, download) from
sample-library distributor Samplerbanks
(samplerbanks.com) is a 1.1Gb collec-
tion of loops and one-shots from trance-
label anjunabeats producer márton
levente (aka,
Sunny lax).
The material is
culled from his
work in elec-
tro, progres-
si v e - house,
and t r ance
genres. You’ll
find bass (76),
drum (240),
and sy nt h
(59) loops in
both acid WaV
and reX2 for-
mats. Tempos range from 128 to 134
bpm, and the loops are labeled with key
information where appropriate. The one-
shots include hundreds of drum and per-
cussion hits with a smattering of sound
effects. beyond that, sampler instru-
ments and their associated multisam-
ples are provided in native Instruments
kontakt, apple eXS24, Steinberg
Halion, propellerhead nn-XT, and SFX
formats. These include basses, leads,
and multisampled percussion. many of
the drum loops are sparse and all are
no-kick style, leaving you with ample
room to fill them in with the individual
hits (see Web clip 1). electrolyzium is
also available in propellerhead reason
reFill, ableton live pack, and apple
loops versions.
TWISTed ToolS richard
dEvinE’s analoguE
microcosm
If descriptions like “non-
linear sequential tuned
vol tage map,” and
“uses the Cartesian
coordi nate system
to unlock the analog
step sequencer from
the shackles of lin-
earity” resonate with
you, that’s all you
need to know about
Twisted Tools analogue
mi cr ocosm ($39,
download). If they
leave you a little mys-
tified, check out the
video and audio clips
at twistedtools.com
for a closer look.
Sound desi gner
richard devine has
unleashed the full
force of his extensive
analog modular-syn-
thesis studio to cre-
ate this library of 570
WaV files; no software or dSp plug-ins
were used. The samples are spread
across five categories: percussion,
short effects, long effects, crackles
and noise, drones and textures, and
bass (bone-rattling sub-bass sounds).
The percussion section is perfect for
fashioning analog drum kits, whereas
the other sections emphasize effects
and atmospheres. Some of the longer
files (the longest is 43 seconds) have
rhythmic content, but most are pulses,
whooshes, bursts, or ambiences (see
Web clip 2).
Twisted Tools has fashioned 40 kits
from these files and formatted them for
native Instruments battery, maschine,
and reaktor (for the included mp16
custom drum machine); apple eXS24;
ableton live Simpler; and propellerhead
nn-XT. The WaV files are included so
you can easily build kits for other sam-
ple players. You may start out thinking
of this as a sound effects library, but
you’ll find it useful for much more.
loopmaSTerS thE
Funky undErground
producer darren payton, creator of
loopmasters’ (loopmasters.com) Fidget
House titles, branches out to deliver The
Funky Underground ($37, download). The
630mb, 24-bit, 44.1kHz
collection includes 500
WaV and reX2 loops at
124, 126, and 128 bpm,
along with 600 drum and
sound effects samples
provided as WaV files
and in kits formatted
for popular samplers
such as apple eXS24,
Steinberg Halion, native
Instruments kontakt,
and propellerhead
nn-XT. The material is
suitable for all variants
of house music but
has a decidedly funk
flavor. For added flex-
ibility, the 214 drum
loops include kick-and-
snare, percussion,
and tops variations.
The 111 bass loops
make up the next larg-
est collection. beyond
that, you’ll find a good
assortment of synth, vocal, and electric
piano loops, along with combi loops and
sound effects (see Web clip 3).
naTIVe InSTrUmenTS abbEy
road modErn drums
native Instruments (native-instruments.
com) expands its collection of drum
libraries of the decades with abbey
road modern drums ($119, dVd or
download). The first three releases in
the series feature classic sounds of the
’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. The new collec-
tion brings you up to the minute. It com-
prises a mid-’90s Collector Series kit
from drum Workshop and the mid-’00s
pearl reference Sparkle kit, recorded
in abbey road Studio Two and Studio
Three, respectively.
The collection was recorded through
the redd 51 and
emI TG12428
mi xing desks,
using SSl 95 mic
preamps, and
modern and vin-
tage mics from
abbey road’s
unmatched col-
l ect i on. The
analog record-
ings were then
converted to the
digital domain
with prism ada-8
converters. The
17.4Gb library (7.4Gb compressed)
has more than 40,000 samples, with
as many as 27 velocity layers for some
sounds. In addition to the full kits, you’ll
find a variety of specialty drums and
cymbals. abbey road modern drums
comes with the free kontakt 4 player
and also runs in the full kontakt 4. ✱
16 | emusici an.com | 03.11
gear geek By Geary Yelton
I
n the 1980s, the synthesizer with
the greatest impact was Yamaha’s
best-selling DX7. It radically altered
popular music, heralding an age when
electronic instruments saturated
the airwaves and digital polysynths
became the norm. Yamaha could
barely keep up with demand at first,
and analog synthesizers were soon
considered passé. Demand for older
synths dipped so low that you could
snap them up for a fraction of their
previous prices.
Launched the same year as the
MIDI specification, the DX7 was one
of the first synths that let you control
one instrument by playing another.
The DX7 relied on frequency modula-
tion (FM) synthesis, a technique that
Yamaha began licensing from Stanford
University professor John Chowning in
1974. FM applies simple waveforms
(modulators) to modulate the frequen-
cy of other waveforms (carriers), creat-
ing complex waveforms by generating
sidebands. Instead of oscillators, the
DX7 had six operators—sine-wave
generators, each paired with its own
envelope generator—arranged in 32
configurations called algorithms. The
resulting sounds varied from pure
tones to rich timbres that simulated
acoustic instruments more realisti-
cally than previous synths. Keyboard
velocity and aftertouch had enormous
effect on dynamic spectra, making
acoustic simulations more expressive
than had ever been possible.
Challenge and Response
Although you could program the DX7
entirely from its front panel, the pro-
cess was far from intuitive. The panel
furnished an unlit LCD, a pair of slid-
ers, and 42 membrane switches that
made 168 parameters available. None
of the familiar building blocks of sub-
tractive synthesis were evident, not
even a filter. Only a fraction of owners
understood exactly how FM synthesis
worked, and hardly any understood how
to program their instruments beyond
the basics. But the DX7’s challenging
user interface didn’t hurt its popularity,
and it became one of the first synths
you could program on your computer
using editor/librarian software.
With room for 32 internal patches
and data cartridges each contain-
ing 64 more, the DX7 supplied a
wealth of new and different sounds.
It so authentically replicated the
Fender Rhodes piano, and wi th
greater flexibility, that sales figures
for real Rhodes pianos plummet-
ed. Synthesized mallet percussion
instruments such as marimbas and
vibes were suddenly in ample sup-
ply, and electronic orchestral strings
gained a rosin-in-the-bow realism that
wasn’t possible with analog synthe-
sis. The DX7 was also one of the first
synths that worked with an optional
breath controller, making detailed
brass and woodwind sounds all the
more realistic.
The DX7 had limitations—it was
monotimbral and had a monaural
audio output—but future Yamaha
synths such as the DX7II and TX802
improved on the original. Today, FM
synthesizers have all but disappeared,
replaced by the much more capable
Native Instruments FM8 software and
by even more realistic forms of digital
synthesis. ✱
Former EM senior editor Geary Yelton
resides in Asheville, N.C.
Yamaha DX7
In 1983, one synth changed everything
Analog synths
were soon
considered passé.
From the mid-’80s until
at least the early ’90s,
Yamaha’s DX7 was the
synth that launched
a thousand hits.
School of Music for Visual Media
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Hear excerpts from tHe new album ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material 18 | emusici an.com | 03.11
pro/file By Bill Murphy
D
aniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, and
Paul Frick—collectively known as
Brandt Brauer Frick, or BBF—are always
searching for weird sounds that they can
edit, layer, sequence, and shape into a
new hybrid. The trio’s experimentation
results in minimalist dance music com-
prising spectral threads of jazz and clas-
sical influences that are spun indelibly
into the whole.
According to Brandt, the band tracks
its sessions in Garage Studios, a con-
verted garage next to his parents’ house
in Wiesbaden, Germany, and the group’s
approach to music comes naturally.
“We aren’t originally from the house or
techno music scene,” he explains. “We
always played in rock bands or jazz
bands or orchestras, so for us it’s much
easier just to jam in the studio with a pre-
pared piano, a few synthesizers, and two
drum kits, and then be able to finish it in
this sequenced way. We don’t program
something on the spot. We just want to
make the sounds we like to make, and
that’s what drives all of it.”
Sonic excursions are at the heart of
You Make Me Real (!K7 Records, 2010),
a movement-oriented outing that relies
on densely interlocking polyrhythms,
whether they originate with a muted
piano (“Paparazzi”; see Web Clip 1);
plucked strings and low-end synth stabs
(“Caffeine”; see Web Clip 2); sampled-
and-chopped bass clarinet (“Heart of
Stone”; Web Clip 3); or a piano pre-
pared according to Cage’s notations
(“R.W. John,” which is dedicated to the
maestro; see Web Clip 4). Using only an
AKG C 414 XLS microphone to record
(all electronic instruments go direct),
BBF funnel their sounds, melodies, and
beats into Ableton Live, and then begin
cutting up and sequencing the results
until a song emerges.
“It’s not that we write down the songs
and then play them like a band,” Brandt
says. “We just record a lot of tracks, and
sometimes we don’t even put them in
the song, but we end up with a written
version later for a large ensemble if we
want it. And we don’t do any signal pro-
cessing. We actually use almost no fea-
tures from the software except to loop,
record, and arrange. When we play live,
I use the Impulse function in Ableton to
trigger my drum sounds [from a Roland
V-Drum kit], but that’s it.”
To maximize the creative possibilities,
the band never has a set plan going
into the studio. And with a production
technique that is as stripped-down as
their music (Frick pre-mixed the entirety
of You Make Me Real in Ableton Live
before handing it off to Rashad Becker
for final mixing and mastering in Logic),
BBF still manage to infuse their sound
with a warmth, accessibility, and sense
of humor that contrasts sharply with
the starkness of such German techno
godfathers as Tangerine Dream and
Kraftwerk.
“None of that music is a big influ-
ence, but, of course, we know it,” Brandt
says. “I’m living in Cologne, which was
also a different scene—there was [the
band] Can, for example, and [Karlheinz]
Stockhausen—but for us, the feeling is
more modern, like Steve Reich, or Herbie
Hancock, or even 4hero. We don’t really
think too much about it, though. The
way we build a song is always different.
Sometimes it starts with a beat, some-
times with a melody. We just spend a
few days recording these raw tracks and
see what happens.” ✱
A Grand Experiment
Brandt Brauer Frick turn electro-acoustic music on its head
✱ Brandt Brauer frick ✱
Home base: Wiesbaden, Germany
Main software: Ableton Live 8
Key synths: Moog Little Phatty,
Nord Wave and Electro
Website: brandtbrauerfrick.de
Pictured at front-center, from left to right:
Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, and Paul Frick
P
h
o
t
o

b
y

P
a
r
k

B
e
n
n
e
t
t
We just want to make the sounds we like to
make, and that’s what drives all of it.
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20 | emusici an.com | 03.11
composer spotlight By Sarah Benzuly
I
t wasn’t an amazing film soundtrack
that got him interested in compos-
ing. Nor was it a hit TV theme song
or commercial ditty. But at the age of
6, Filippo Beck Peccoz made up varia-
tions on the Mega Man 2 Nintendo
game theme by humming them into a
tape recorder while he was playing the
game. His love for music for games
continued at Berklee College of Music
(Class of Summer 2009), where he
helped create the “Video Game Music
Club @ Berklee” where he promoted a
dedicated game audio curriculum that
was later adopted by the school. Today,
in his native Germany, he continues to
focus on game audio. “I just love the
unique challenges, both compositional
and technical, that this discipline is
known for,” he explains. “You have
to think about the unpredictability of
a player’s actions and how you, as a
composer, can construct the best pos-
sible system to make the music ‘flow’
despite of this. Game music has its
own voice, and we definitively should
let people hear it!”
You’ve also done composing for art
installations. What is your attack for
this type of media?
It depends on the artist. For now, I’ve
mainly done sound designy things—
like setting up speakers in weird places
and jostling waves of sound around the
room—to convert the artist’s vision into
a physical experience. Or, connecting
objects the visitor can interact with to
sound events.
One installation revolved around
the concept of dust: how these tiny ele-
ments settle everywhere and change
the objects around us in time. The artist
brought in an old (and, of course, dusty!)
detuned piano, and we layered her live
playing with old recordings of her child-
hood piano recitals, swirling around the
darkened room, creating an interesting
division between past and present. It
was definitively a very conceptual and
less-technical project. When live sound
interaction is asked for, I tend to use
[Cycling ’74] Max/MSP as it’s fantasti-
cally flexible and powerful.
Crashing Into the
Indie Game Scene
Filippo Beck Peccoz creates his own blips and bloops
Filippo Beck Peccoz got
a bit of sound effects
help from his dog, Link.
21 03.11 | emusici an.com |
Where are you working out of?
I just moved into a new space, sharing
a bigger room with a young developer
team from Munich, the Bit Barons. I
use Digital Performer mostly; I just
love its flexibility in terms of tempo
changes, rubato playing, creating
tempo maps and such. Also, Version
7 is very stable and reliable on my
computer, which is a blessing work-
ing on any project. I use a MOTU 828
mk3 interface and a couple of Genelec
8030s, a great investment.
I’m a bit of a Korg fetishist. I have
a Kaoss pad, a Kaossilator, and an
Electribe hooked up and ready to go at
all times and in reach. I love the idea
of having a bit of outboard gear but in
a compact setting: playing a note on
the MIDI keyboard with the right hand
and mangling the sound on the Kaoss
pad with the left, and then triggering a
guitar sample I made with the ribbon
controller on the Electribe—the pos-
sibilities are endless.
I have two Shure SM81s, which I love
for guitars and percussion recording/
sampling. Then the ever-present SM57
and SM58. Plug-ins I use are the Vienna
Special Edition, the amazing LA Scoring
Strings, a couple of Waves plug-ins I still
have from my Berklee time, EastWest
Silk, and Native Instruments Komplete.
IZotope’s Ozone has been a favorite of
mine for some time, too.
Some say that you’re part of the “indie
game scene”—those titles produced
without a videogame publisher. What
exactly does that mean to you?
I’ve been fortunate to find a pretty
large local indie game community in
Munich, which also wants to reach out
to the bigger groups of people in the
U.S. and the rest of Europe. There’s
lots of opportunities and drive to
create great games. The Game Jam
is a monthly jam that takes place in
Munich. There’s also interest in mov-
ing the art of game audio forward.
Recently, Bit Barons’ Alex Zacherl and
myself organized a Game Audio Forum,
an event geared toward bringing audio
people and game developers together,
which was a success attendance- and
feedback-wise. My personal goal is
to make Munich and Bavaria another
center for cool indie games.
You recently wrapped up sound for
the Astroslugs game. What was your
process?
First, it was important to determine the
general mood of the game. We wanted a
bit of an orchestral touch, coupled with
a lighthearted beat and catchy melody.
I also wanted to make the really pretty
artwork in the World selection scene of
the game stand out: You are presented
a picture of the entire game world, and
there are different regions (the clas-
sic ice, woods, desert stages) that the
player can zoom in by clicking on them.
I created variations of the main theme
for each zone so that by entering, the
player is hearing an appropriate music
for each zone.
We did this by starting six music
loops at exactly the same time in the
game engine, but turning up the volume
just on one of those loops. The engine
then crossfades between the tracks as
the player enters the different zones.
The result is a super-smooth, musically
coherent transition.
Because the core gameplay revolves
around pretty difficult puzzle mechan-
ics, we needed an in-game music that
doesn’t get annoying even after a long
time and doesn’t sacrifice the Astroslugs
vibe to be appropriate for this gameplay.
We came up with a little music system in
which groups of instruments play semi-
randomly over a fixed, kind of “rubato”
pad loop. This way, the music never
repeats exactly the same way, lending
itself to longer sessions inside the same
level.
I also created the sound effects for
the game and want to thank my dog,
Link, for the great chomping/barking
sounds that made it into the game
after some modifications! It was a lot of
fun coming up with what was needed,
and I really focused on not using library
sounds if possible. That’s another rea-
son why I almost always run around
with a little portable recorder.
As an added bonus, we decided to
release a soundtrack album of a dif-
ferent kind for Astroslugs. I gathered
a group of musician friends and col-
leagues, gave them the main melody
and bounced the single tracks out of
[Digital Performer], and off they went
to some arrangement/remix fun. What
came out of this project is a nice con-
coction of different genres and inter-
pretations of the original theme, from
progressive trance to solo piano, all
the way to metal.
So you do a lot of sampling.
I try to as much as I can. I’ve always
been fascinated by how one can cap-
ture sound, contain it onto a tape,
CD, or whatever medium. It’s been
extremely beneficial to me to learn
how to use Kontakt—making my own
scripts, my own loops (acoustic and
electronic), just messing around mak-
ing tons of little instruments out of
everything. When I noodle around on
a guitar, I keep a recording. Not just for
song-creation/idea-keeping purposes,
but also for placing certain sounds as
the basis of new Kontakt instruments.
Another favorite of mine is the gritty
Yamaha FM Soundchip found in the
Sega Genesis console. Call me a bit
nostalgic, but I think there’s nothing
like it around!
What’s next for you?
This year started out with a series of
really cool indie game projects that will
keep me busy up until around May. I’m
also looking into the sample libraries
market to see what has not been cov-
ered yet. Also, I’m preparing a game
music-related live show, but that’s still
in the brainstorming phase. Stay tuned
and keep gaming! ✱
22 | emusici an.com | 03.11
A
musician’s world is not just about
audio, it’s also visual. The Web is full
of images, all of which shape the way
you appear to potential fans. But images
are copyrighted and musicians need to
know the rules, especially when using
them on their albums. Services that
manufacture discs or provide digital dis-
tribution require you to sign a form that
states you have the rights for all of the
intellectual property you’re using—not
just the music, but also the art.
It’s at this stage that a lot of musi-
cians realize they didn’t secure all the
rights for their images. The time to sort
this out is before
you hire a photog-
rapher or some-
one to create your
graphics. It also
helps to know a few
legal alternatives to
acquiring images
royalty-free.
Just like music
i s copyr i ght ed
the moment you
record i t, pho-
tos are instantly
copyrighted the
second a photog-
rapher snaps the
shutter. The same
rule applies with
graphic artists and
the artwork they create. What may not
necessarily be clear is that even if you’re
paying the photographer or graphic art-
ist, he or she owns the copyright to the
images unless there’s an agreement
that states otherwise. This means you
have to get permission each time you
use a copyrighted image you don’t con-
trol, usually requiring a fee for each use.
If you end up printing 1,000 copies of
your album, that can get costly.
To avoid this, get it in writing that the engagement is a
“work-for-hire” when employing a photographer or graphic
artist. A work-for-hire means that you will own the copyright
to those images. Some photographers might balk at doing a
work-for-hire (and may charge a higher rate to give you this
option), but the time to work this out is beforehand, not when
you’re about to make an album and learn the perfect cover
shot is controlled by the photographer. Even though it’s a work-
for-hire, you should still give attribution to the photographer for
the images wherever you use them. This is a good bargaining
chip to offer when negotiating the agreement.
If you still need to search the Web for that perfect image,
there are options to explore. Creative Commons has a set of
licenses that many graphic artists and photographers use for
their work that allow other people the right to use it for free, as
long as you give attribution to the owner, which is easy to do
and something the owners deserve. To find images licensed
in this way, check out search.creativecommons.org and make
sure the license search allows for “commercial use” as it’s
likely you’ll be selling your album. Even if you find images that
are licensed only for noncommercial use, you can still contact
the owner and work out a deal. Some owners are happy to
have their work used on an album and may let you use it for
attribution or a nominal fee.
A second option is to use royalty-free images from ser-
vices such as ClipArt.com or iStockPhoto.com. Some of these
services require an annual membership fee for access to their
entire catalog, while others allow you to download any image
for a one-time fee. Either way, once paid, you can use the
royalty-free image again and again and keep whatever you
make from it.
Lastly, you can use images in the public domain (anything
created by the U.S. government, such as any of NASA’s pho-
tos). Check out Wikipedia’s public domain image resource
(wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resourc-
es) page for additional resources.
No matter what you do with your images, knowing these
factors ahead of time will help you better engage graphic art-
ists and photographers. If you work an arrangement ahead of
time, the rights—and the profits—for both your music and all
of your photos will be all yours. ✱
Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan are the authors of The Indie
Band Survival Guide (IndieGuide.com).
✱ D.I.Y. MusIcIan ✱
The Right Image
By Jason Feehan and Randy Chertkow
Feehan Chertkow
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24 | emusici an.com | 03.11
Eight saturation plug-ins that bring an analog
taste to your digital plate
By Eli Crews
W
hatever they call it—warmth, dirt, grit—
what people long to hear in digital record-
ings is nonlinear harmonic distortion, also called
saturation. In the analog world, the main sources
of saturation are the three “T”s—tape, tubes, and
transformers—and there are a growing number
of DAW plug-ins that offer quite convincing sim-
ulations of these. I extensively tested eight such
plug-ins for this story. Space and logistics limited
my full attention to those, but I’ve included cap-
sule descriptions of seven others in the sidebar,
“More Saturation Choices.”
Tree-T simulations fall into two catego-
ries: those that subtly alter the sonic character of
your mixing environment and those that cross
the line and deliver actual distortion. Although
there is certainly some overlap, of the eight
plug-ins covered here, HEAT, Phoenix, and the
Studer A800 fall into the former category, and
the rest alter your sounds more heavily.
Avid HEAT
Avid (avid.com) HEAT ($495) is available only
for Pro Tools HD and comes bundled with all-
new HD systems. It is more of an add-on than
a plug-in, and works quite differently from all
the other processing tools in this article. For
one thing, you don’t add it as a track insert.
When you activate HEAT for a given session,
it becomes immediately active on all audio
tracks. To view and alter HEAT’s bypass sta-
tus for a given track, the HEAT controls must
be visible in the Mix window. You can bypass
HEAT for each track individually, or you can
activate Pre to place the HEAT effect before
other plug-in processing on a track.
A meter for each track glows orange,
becoming brighter (based on the signal’s inten-
sity) as more HEAT processing is being applied.
You’ll find a master meter, global Drive and
Tone controls, and a master bypass button in
the master HEAT pane. Drive determines the
amount of HEAT processing applied to all non-
bypassed audio tracks; turning it clockwise adds
more tube-like even harmonics, whereas turn-
ing it counterclockwise adds those along with
more tape-like odd harmonics. Te Tone knob
is different from a normal EQ control because
it interacts dynamically with the Drive setting
and with signal energy. In general, counter-
clockwise is brighter and clockwise is darker.
If you create a new stereo audio track to print
your final mix (as opposed to using the Bounce
to Disk option), remember to bypass HEAT on
this track. Otherwise, you will be adding HEAT
to your mixdown and to each of your individual
tracks—in effect, doubling the HEAT! Te extra
effect won’t be printed to your actual mix, so
when you export the mix to a new stereo file, it
will sound different from the one in your ses-
sion. Tis is the only pitfall I’ve found; overall,
Warm It Up
HEAT is an extraordinarily user-friendly way
to dial in effective, subtle yet powerful shifs in a
mix’s harmonic content (see Web Clip 1).
Avid Reel TApe SATuRATion
Reel Tape Saturation ($295) is also available
only for Pro Tools, but it does come in TDM
and RTAS/AudioSuite versions so non-HD
Pro Tools users can take advantage of what it
and the other two plug-ins, Delay and Flanger,
in the Reel Tape Suite ($495) offer.
Te controls of Reel Tape Saturation are
labeled Drive, Tape Speed, Noise, Bias, Cal
Adjust, and Output (see Fig. 1). Tere are also
three machine types (U.S., Swiss, and Lo-Fi)
and two formulas (Classic and Modern).
Having all of these options gives you a wide
palette of tape saturation, from subtle har-
monic additions to downright distortion.
Tis plug-in is adept at adding midrange grit
to vocals and guitars, as well as giving a bass
guitar a little extra sizzle to poke through the
mix (see Web Clip 2). I found the noise control
handy for adding a slight amount of hiss to a
vocal track that had been recorded on tape.
Tat let me edit out in-between noises without
leaving a too-silent gap.
CRAne Song phoenix
Te Phoenix plug-in ($450, TDM only) was
developed by renowned gear designer and
Crane Song (cranesong.com) founder Dave
Hill, who has a strong background in analog
electronics and tape-machine design and ser-
vice. Phoenix is a suite of five plug-ins esoteri-
cally named Luminescent, Iridescent, Radiant,
Luster, and Dark Essence (see Fig. 2). Each has
the same simple set of controls: Input Trim
and Process Level knobs, along with three
color changes creatively titled Gold (neutral),
Sapphire (brighter), and Opal (warmer).
It seems odd to provide five separate com-
ponents rather than integrating them within
one interface, but the good news is that your
settings automatically carry over if you swap
in a different component. Each has its own har-
monic distortion profile. Te profiles vary from
transparent to somewhat aggressive, although
none of them deliver heavy distortion unless
your signal is really loud to begin with or you
put an additional gain stage before Phoenix.
25 03.11 | emusici an.com | listen to eli crews take these plugs for a spin ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Fig. 1: Avid Reel Tape Saturation offers most of the
control you’d find on a real tape machine.
Fig. 3: PSP MixSaturator2 is user-friendly
and euphonically rewarding.
Fig. 2: Crane Song Phoenix’s interface may need
a facelift, but the plug-in sounds like gold.
26 | emusici an.com | 03.11
✱ warm it up ✱ feature
Phoenix does a great job of giving your entire
mix a lif, especially if you put an instance on
every channel. It’s like removing a thin sheet of
gauze from your audio (see Web Clip 3).
McDSP AnAlog chAnnel
Version 5 of McDSP’s (mcdsp.com) Analog
Channel ($449, TDM; $249, AU/RTAS) has
two variations: AC101 and AC202. Te AC101
was designed to emulate the saturation effect of
analog consoles’ electronics. Although it is func-
tionally reminiscent of a standard compressor—
having attack, release, and curve controls, as
well as a gain-reduction meter—it differs from a
standard compressor in that it is not threshold-
based; it is always affecting the audio.
Te AC202 is a tape machine emulator.
It has controls for changing the frequency of
the LF roll-off, the amount of head bump, the
head type, bias, playback speed, IEC EQ set-
ting, and tape formulation. I found many use-
ful settings on the AC101 and
AC202, ofen landing on that
magic mojo that analog elec-
tronics and tape provide (see
Web Clip 4).
Using Analog Channel on
spiky instruments—such as a
somewhat unruly Wurlitzer
electric piano—could give me
a distortion I didn’t like. But
when set right, it delivers a creamy overdrive
that tames peaks while still allowing dynamic
performance. Te Analog Channel’s two vari-
ations were the only plug-ins on which I had
to carefully watch my output level. Tere is an
Auto function for the output level, but I gen-
erally prefer manual control. In short, Analog
Channel allows much versatility so extra care
must be taken to achieve proper gain-staging
when setting your parameters.
PSP AuDiowAre
PSP MixSAturAtor2
PSP Audioware (pspaudioware.com) is a Polish
company that is best known for its excellent
VintageWarmer2 compression/saturation
plug-in (see sidebar). PSP MixSaturator2 takes
harmonic manipulation to a different level. It is
available only as part of the shockingly afford-
able PSP MixPack2 bundle ($199, AU/RTAS/
VST), which includes other handy mixing tools.
PSP MixSaturator2 has three sections: one
for altering LF harmonic content (similar to a
tape machine’s head bump in the low end), one
for emulating the high-end compression that
occurs at high levels on analog tape, and one for
setting the amount and characteristics of non-
linear saturation (see Fig. 3). You get three tube
(or Valve) shapes, three tape shapes, and one
digital shape, which simulates hard clipping.
Changing the shape significantly alters the sig-
nal level, which can make comparing settings
a bit difficult but each shape has a distinctive
sound, especially at higher saturation levels.
If you’re driving PSP MixSaturator2 hard,
you can engage the OutSat button, which puts
a brickwall limiter at the end of the signal path
to prevent digital overs. You’ll find a Mix knob
to dial in as much of the effect as you want in
a phase-coherent parallel fashion. I have to say
that each of the plug-ins in MixPack2 some-
times acted a bit erratically in Pro Tools, but
when it was functioning properly, the
PSP MixSaturator2 sounded fantas-
tic, especially considering the price
(see Web Clip 5). PSP says it is aware
of the issues and is working to resolve
them in an update.
SounDtoyS
DecAPitAtor
SoundToys (soundtoys.com) has
built analog-type saturation into
the lion’s share of its effects, such as
PhaseMistress and EchoBoy (see my
review in the November 2007 issue of
EM, available at emusician.com), but
Decapitator ($349, TDM; $179, AU/
RTAS/VST, see Fig. 4) is the compa-
ny’s first plug-in with saturation as the
star. Te interface is straightforward
Fig. 4: Sound Toys Decapitator
captures the analog feel, even in
its interface, making it as fun to
operate as it is to listen to.
Fig. 5: The tape reels of
Universal Audio Studer
A800 actually spin.
Although it’s a real client-
pleaser, you can click the
IPS knob to turn it off to
keep from getting dizzy.
27 03.11 | emusici an.com |
and streamlined, with only six knobs: Drive,
Low Cut, Tone, High Cut, Mix, and Output. Of
its three switches, Tump adds a boost right at
the corner frequency of the low-cut filter; Steep
alters the shape of the high-cut filter; and Auto
automatically adjusts the output control when
you set the drive level.
You get five choices of saturation style,
modeled on hardware by Ampex, Chandler
Limited/EMI, Neve, and Termionic Culture.
Te Punish button adds a whopping 20dB of
gain to the plug-in’s input stage. It goes with-
out saying that you can produce sounds with
this effect that will give you a buzz cut—if you
duck in time. Decapitator excels at producing
extreme (but also extremely pleasant) distor-
tion. It’s also useful at lower drive levels to add
a touch of edge to the midrange. Tat brings
out elements that need to assert themselves
more in the mix, such as electric guitar, snare
drum, vocals, and piano (see Web Clip 6).
Universal aUdio
Fatso Jr., sr.
Emprical Labs EL7 Fatso Jr. was one of the first
hardware boxes devoted to emulating the effects
of analog tape. Universal Audio (uaudio.com)
offers two variations on the EL7: Fatso Jr. and
Fatso Sr. ($299, AU/RTAS/VST; requires UAD-2
hardware). Te Jr. and Sr. variations share the
same basic controls: input, Compression Mode
selector, warmth amount, Transformer (Tranny)
enable, and output (see Fig. 4). Fatso Sr. adds four
controls for the compression circuit (threshold,
attack, release, and a sidechain highpass filter)
and a level control for the Tranny.
Whether or not the compressor is engaged,
Fatso adds second- and third-order harmonics
that increase as your input level goes up. Tis
emulates how tape and tubes react to dynam-
ics. Te Warmth circuit simulates the sofen-
ing effect that tape has on high frequencies,
and the Tranny control adds extra harmonics
to low frequencies to make them apparently
louder without boosting the headroom-hun-
gry fundamentals. Te four Fatso components
are interrelated, so a change to the compressor
settings affects the sound of the transformer,
and so on. The Fatso is highly effective at
sculpting the harmonic content of just about
alternative
satUration PlUg-ins
Here are short descriptions of seven
saturation plug-ins not covered in
the main article but worthy of your
consideration.
antares Warm
Antares (antares.com) retooled its
popular Tube plug-in for its Evo suite,
which is designed for vocal process-
ing. Warm (part of AVOX Evo bundle;
$399, AU/RTAS/VST) has a very
simple control set, emulates two dif-
ferent tubes, and has a handy mode
that isn’t transient-dependent.
Massey tapeHead
Straightforward controls and an
extremely low price set TapeHead
($69, TDM/RTAS)—and Massey’s
(masseyplugins.com) other stellar
plug-ins—apart. With only a Drive
knob, a 3-position Tone switch, and
an Output control, it’s extremely
easy to dial in thick, rich tones.
Metric Halo Character
Because the effect runs on the DSP
of the interface itself, Metric Halo’s
(mhlabs.com) Character (included
with all current company interfaces)
can be applied during either tracking
or mixing, and it places zero strain
on your host CPU. There are nearly
20 different effects, including vari-
ous tubes, transformers, and mic
preamps, giving a tremendously
wide variety of color.
nomad Factory Magnetic
This plug-in appeared during the
writing of this article, and it is an
affordable way to get into the tape-
machine-emulation game. Magnetic
($129, AU/RTAS/VST) from Nomad
Factory (nomadfactory.com) has
many features and provides great
versatility. I found that it delivered
some of the most convincingly vin-
tage sounds of the entire lot.
PsP audioware
vintageWarmer2
The PSP VintageWarmer 2 ($149,
AU/RTAS/VST) compression-satu-
ration plug-in has been around for
almost a decade. VintageWarmer
was the first plug-in I ever heard that
made me think computers could be
good tools for mixing records, and it
still gets daily use in my studio.
slate digital virtual
Console Collection
This is a simple but extremely effec-
tive duo of plug-ins. Slate Digital’s
(slatedigital.com) Virtual Console
Collection ($250, AU/RTAS/VST;
iLok2 required) is in beta-testing as
of this writing, but should be avail-
able by the time you read this. One
plug-in models a channel strip and
the other models the master bus
section of four different legendary
consoles. These emulations sound
extremely good and can be grouped
across multiple channels.
virsyn vtaPe suite
I found the sound of the Virsyn (virsyn.
de) VTAPE Suite ($219, AU/RTAS/
VST; Syncrosoft dongle required)
plug-ins—Saturator, Delay, and
Flanger—very convincing. Although
they gave me a number of problems
on my Pro Tools system, they worked
well in Apple Logic and BIAS Peak.
The interface leaves something
to be desired, but their excellent
sound is more important. When you
push Saturator hard, the distortion
remains truly analog-sounding.
—Eli Crews
28
| emusici an.com | 03.11
✱ warm it up ✱ feature
anything you throw at it (see Web Clip 7).
Universal aUdio
stUder a800
Te newest addition to the UAD-2 DSP card
family, the Studer A800 ($349, AU/RTAS/VST;
requires UAD-2 hardware) painstakingly re-
creates the sound and workings of a single tape
machine: the Studer A800 (see Fig. 5). You get
a selection of four tape types and have con-
trol over many other virtual tape-deck func-
tions, including inches-per-second, reference
level, hum/hiss amount, emphasis EQ curve,
and input and output levels. Notably, you can
monitor either directly through the virtual
tape machine’s electronics or from either of
the heads (Sync or Repro), each of which has
its own bias and EQ settings.
Perhaps the most unusual feature of the
A800 is its ability to gang the controls. The
Gang button, when enabled on any instance of
the A800 in a given session, completely links the
controls for all instances of the plug-in in that
session. (Regrettably, the parameters become
unlinked when you scroll through presets, but
this will be addressed in a future release.) Tis
can be extremely handy for setting up the A800
to work the same way as HEAT, where global
changes affect all of your tracks. With the A800,
once your global settings are made, you can
switch Gang off to fine-tune the saturation type
and amount for each channel (see Web Clip 8).
Keep in mind that using an A800 on each chan-
nel comes at a processing cost. For example, 18
tracks of A800 processing used 60 percent of my
UAD Quad card running at 96kHz.
GettinG Warmer
I enjoyed using each of these plug-ins. My
mixes during the past few months have ben-
efited from the selective use of each, even
though a lot of the material was tracked to tape
in the first place. In terms of ease of use for the
mix’s overall sound, HEAT is clearly the stand-
out. Te A800, with its ability to gang controls,
comes in a close second and is more flexible.
Phoenix has the most stripped-down controls,
but with five variations and three tone settings,
you actually get 15 ways to liven your sounds.
Analog Channel and Fatso add some
standard compressor functions, giving you
more ways to tame the dynamics while add-
ing oodles of analog character. Reel Tape
Saturation excels when driven hard and is
straightforward for anyone familiar with tape
machines. Priced at less than $200, Decapitator
and PSP MixSaturator2 share honors for the
most bang for your buck. Tey are the only two
available in all three major formats and don’t
require special hardware.
Owing to their diversity, a simple com-
parison of these plug-ins is not easy. However,
I did run a section of a song through a few
presets on each of the eight plug-ins and you
can listen to the results online (see Web Clips
9 through 16). ✱
Eli Crews operates New, Improved Recording, a
studio in Oakland, Calif.
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PRE SE NTS
30 | emusici an.com | 03.11
C
ake has one of the more distinctive and original sounds in the rock
world. Typically categorized as “alternative” by the music press, the
band’s music is easily recognizable for its catchy melodies, solo trumpet
lines, sporadic but memorable synth parts, intelligent and entertaining
lyrics, melodic guitar riffs, and occasional vibroslap hits. Te recently
released Showroom of Compassion is Cake’s first new studio album since
Pressure Chief (2004). Tis is Cake’s sixth album of new material (the
band also released a B-sides album in 2007), most of which were record-
ed in commercial facilities. But starting with Pressure Chief, Cake has
eschewed the commercial studio for a Pro Tools LE-based home setup
in Sacramento, Calif.
In the years between the release of Pressure Chief and the new album,
a lot more has changed for the band. Tey lef their label, switched to
solar power for their studio, and stepped up their game as recordists.
Despite a very modest gear setup, Showroom of Compassion is sonically
more akin to their older albums than to the more electronic-sounding
Pressure Chief.
Cake has always had a very loyal following, but the new album
has gained traction surprisingly quickly. It debuted at Number 1 on
the Billboard 200 chart and has received critical acclaim. Te band
currently comprises lead singer/ guitarist John McCrea, lead guitarist
Xan McCurdy, trumpeter/keyboardist Vince DiFiore, bassist Gabriel
Nelson, and drummer Paulo Baldi. I spoke to McCrea recently about the
band and the production of the album.
feature
Nothin’ Fancy
How Cake recorded their new hit album in a solar-powered home studio
with some surprisingly modest gear
By Mike Levine
Cake is from left: Vincent Di Fiore,
Paulo Baldi, John McCrea, Xan
McCurdy, and Gabriel Nelson
Photo by: Robert McKnight
31 03.11 | emusici an.com |
We did a story on you guys back when Pressure Chief came
out in 2004. I can’t believe that was your last studio album,
that’s crazy.
We had to take a little time to re-evaluate what we do and how we
wanted to do it, and we rebuilt our studio and made it solar. We also
reconfigured our business model. We got off of a major-label deal, and
we just thought it was more realistic for today’s climate, where increas-
ingly the thing we’re selling, recorded music, is, for a lot of people, free.
So it’s weird to have so much overhead, so many expensive dinners, and
the fanciness of a record label. I’m not sure if it’s sustainable in today’s
scenario.
So you’re independently releasing your music now?
Trough a distributor, ILG. It’s our own label, and we’re pretty much
doing it ourselves, and it’s all on our schedule, which is great. One of
the things that frustrated us and a lot of other bands is having to work
so hard on recording your album and then handing it over to some-
body and being really at their mercy, being at the mercy of things that
we’re not related to at all, to their business model, or their hiring and
firing of employees—just random corporate hi-jinks. Te stupidity of
corporate culture sometimes affects something that you’ve worked on
your whole life. You put everything you have into an album, and then
as you’re releasing the album, everyone is getting fired because there’s a
corporate takeover going on.
That must be really frustrating. So now that you’re doing it your-
self, you guys get to keep everything.
Well, we get to keep most of it.
Minus overhead, I guess.
Yeah, absolutely. We have to pay for everything. We have to write a check
for everything that happens. I think people are more careful with their
own resources. I’ve certainly seen bigger record companies being not
very careful.
Right, and then they charge it to you. Having your own studio is
obviously a way to control costs.
It was definitely another step in the right direction. We had decided
that we needed to
have our own stu-
dio back then when
we were still on the
label deal. And then,
I think the next step
was for us to get off
the label. So who knows what’s next.
Talk about the changes in your studio since Pressure Chief.
We really haven’t done a lot. We’re still using Pro Tools. We brought in
an old acoustic piano. I decided that something that I had resisted for
years was piano because I thought it sounded too classy, and I didn’t
want us to sound classy. But I found this old junker up in Portland and
I brought it down. Actually, I feel pretty good about it— about the piano
on the album—and probably will have more of it in the future.
So on the album it is a miked acoustic piano?
Yeah. I just sort of stuck the mic in there and found the right place, and
kind of a little percussive sound.
What kind of a mic did you use on it?
It’s a 58.
Really?
I know, it’s crazy. I wanted kind of a crappy sound. I didn’t need all of the
richness of the piano. Tat’s really why I had avoided piano for so many
years—I didn’t want it to use up all that space, that sonic space. So much
of the time, I think I had discussed this with you in the past, so much time
is spent sometimes setting up mics for instruments, like drums especially,
you end up carving out all the work you’ve done and you never needed it.
And maybe you didn’t know in advance that you didn’t need it, or maybe
there’s just an assumption that you should always just get everything you
possibly can, every frequency that exists, put it in there in case you need it.
But so many times we didn’t need it and it was just a waste. With the piano,
we just realized we’re not going for a super-rich sound. With my guitar,
we’re definitely not going for a rich, generous kind of sound. We really
don’t have the room for it when you factor in all the other instruments.
Do you record with that little acoustic you use onstage?
Yeah, it’s a Goya [nylon string] with a Barcus-Berry inside it. It’s put
through the practice amp that Fender would give people—they’d give
it for free when you bought a Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster; I think
they still sell them for $70. Te reason for that is not because we’re trying
to be cheap or use toy instruments, it’s that all the other really nicer amps
would create a lot of feedback with an acoustic guitar. So I thought, how
about just using an amp that isn’t capable of reproducing those feedback
sounds. So that’s what worked. So we used that same amp-and-guitar
setup for most of the time when I play.
You guys have a pretty iconic sound. Sonically, this album
reminds me of your old albums. The guitars are big and fat. The
drums are mostly live, right?
Yes, almost 90 percent.
On Pressure Chief, there were more programmed drums mixed
in.
Yeah, which really upset a lot of people. I think in some ways, it was our
Showroom of
Compassion
is the band’s
second home-
recorded album.
32 | emusici an.com | 03.11
responding to the way we felt. It’s hard to explain it. It seemed like things
were increasingly mechanized in our culture and life experiences, and
it seemed appropriate to include those kinds of sounds. So much time is
spent on a cell phone. We wanted to sound like cell phones existed. We
weren’t trying to re-create what it sounded like to be in a garage band
in 1968.
Miking drums is definitely not an easy thing.
Oh, I know, and really, we’re not that great at it, but what we’re getting
is what we want. And it fits in geometrically with the other shapes and
sounds within the recording.
Do you recall what you did, roughly how many mics you used?
We miked the kick. We used basically a kick, a snare, and an overhead
[mic].
Just a single overhead?
Yeah, a single overhead. Crazy. If you listen to the mix, the drums are so
diminished in a lot of ways; they’re not out front. And texturally, they’re
pretty far back. Te overhead doubled as a hi-hat mic. It was on the right
and the snare was over on the other side, and then there was a kick. But
if you think about it, that’s more than what people did back in the 1940s.
People enjoyed music back then. A lot of the recordings back then I like
better than some of the recordings now. I think the assumption that you
automatically need more—that more is better—is a flawed assumption.
You’ve done two self-recorded albums and four before that in
commercial studios. When you compare the processes, aside
from the money thing, do you like working at home more? Does
it give you guys more of a relaxed feel?
It’s a two-edged sword. Tere’s something to be said for the adrenaline
of feeling like this is it, we’ve got to make this work. We have a week to
figure this whole thing out, and sometimes it can really work, especially
if you’re on crystal meth or something. You can really push yourself.
No, we don’t do crystal meth. What I’m saying is that you can rise to the
occasion of the conventional, traditional studio pressure. Knowing this
is costing thousands of dollars, I better be completely prepared.
Right.
And the other side of it is, and don’t get me wrong, it still costs us
money to record, we still have to pay everybody to be in the studio,
and we did have an engineer help us mix and master, so it’s not like
it’s free, but it’s certainly not as tense as it would be if we were pay-
ing $300 an hour. Te downside of that, of not having that pressure,
it’s easier to make mistakes. So that’s a good thing and a bad thing.
Sometimes it’s great to feel like you can afford to make a mistake, so a
lot of times that mistake won’t be a mistake, it’ll be great. At the same
time, sometimes it’s just going to be a mistake. Te other thing—it’s
not a technical thing, but it’s certainly about our process—this album
was a lot more of a democratic process, which, as we all know, is an
inefficient device.
Talk about your double-edged swords.
Exactly. Tat’s a lot of the reason why we had to throw songs out.
We couldn’t come to consensus on things. Eventually, maybe we’ll
figure those songs out for another album. I guess what I’m saying
is that we chose to do it more democratically because, number one,
people can get more sense of investment in the process and in the
end product when they feel like they are really part of it. I think we
got that with this album. What we didn’t get is a really fast, efficient
process.
✱ cake ✱ feature
I wanted kind of a crappy sound.
I didn’t need all of the richness
of the piano.
33 03.11 | emusici an.com |
So it took two-and-a-half years?
Yes, sort of. One of the other things is we don’t use an outside pro-
ducer. We produce ourselves. So that also, whether or not we had
democracy, would be making things take a long time because you
get really invested in everything you do in the studio. It’s very sub-
jective. You dig down deep into whatever it is you’re doing. You
spend five hours getting the guitar tone just right, or changing the
guitar part, until you’re able to stand back far enough from that gui-
tar part and realize that it sucks and the song sounds better without
it. Tat’s going to take you a good week away from that guitar part,
afer having put so much energy into it. Te great thing about hav-
ing an outside producer is an outside producer doesn’t have as much
sense of investment in every little detail and can be more honest and
objective about what works and what doesn’t. So doing it ourselves,
it’s a tall order and it takes a long time.
This studio is in one of your houses?
We’ve got this old junker house in south Sacramento, and we kind of
gutted it and made it into a studio back during Pressure Chief, when
we were getting ready to record Pressure Chief. We put carpet all over
the place and made things dead and made things live and made differ-
ent rooms for different things. With this album, we made it 100 percent
solar so we can say that this album was recorded with 100 percent solar
energy, which makes a lot of sense in California. I don’t know where
you’re calling from.
I’m on the East Coast.
Tere, I think it actually makes more sense than people realize. We
have toured in Germany a lot, and it’s a kind of gloomy place. It’s not
a sunny, solar-energy kind of place you’d think, but it’s actually the
number one producer of solar electricity. It’s because the government
provided a lot of incentives there. Tey basically forced the market to
purchase solar electricity, so everybody is motivated to put solar panels
on their businesses and their homes. Realizing that Germany is num-
ber one, and realizing that our studio is in California, it just seemed
wrong not to use solar electricity when there’s just such an abundance
of it. It ended up being a really easy conversion. We don’t think about it.
Te only thing we think about is, because we are lucky enough to have
a public utility and not a private utility in Sacramento, we actually get a
check in the mail for our extra electricity.
Back to the recording. There were strings in “Italian Guy,” were
those synth strings or were they sampled?
Tose are samples. We used the [Yamaha] Motif sampler keyboard for
that. Sorry, they weren’t real.
What did you use mic-wise for your vocals?
Tis is not an interesting interview for you.
Well, it would be if you used something not that great because
it sounded good.
Yeah, it’s [usually] just an SM58.
Wow, I think that is very interesting.
Well, again, I don’t know if you can hear, my voice isn’t this big, rich,
sonorous Robert Goulet kind of sound. It’s got a little bit of roughness to
it, but it’s not really big. It kind of works with the 58.
It seems like there aren’t as many synth parts on this album as
on past ones. Is that true?
Not quite as much. I think it sounds like there’s not as much because
there’s no synthesized drones. Overall, it’s weird how that’s the one
clinching thing that makes it feel more electric. Past that point, it’s in
another territory. Ultimately, fewer [synth parts], yes, but not that much
fewer. I do think this album is a little warmer. Tere was just something
about 2004 that just made me want to—I just thought there was just so
much crap in the air. I thought, “Okay, it’s not realistic unless we put some
of that in our music.” With this album, I’m just like, “Okay, enough crap.
I miss the sound of guitars.” ✱
Mike Levine is EM’s editor and senior media producer.
The band in their
studio; McCrea is at
right on the phone.
34 | EMUSICI AN.COM | 03.11
W
hen I was just starting out as an engi-
neer, I hated the idea of rough mixes. I
was never happy with them, and I always felt
like someone would hear them and have sec-
ond thoughts about my work. As my career
continued, I began learning how to put togeth-
er roughs that were attering, sometimes to
the point that they even were chosen for the
record. Rough mixes can be innocent, less-
thought-out, and as a result can have more
energy and honesty. e ip side is that they
can also be terrible. Time usually doesn’t allow
all the normal tweaking, and oen you end up
just throwing the tracks together to get it done
and o to email or CD.
If you’re just starting out, or maybe you’re
the tracking engineer but are trying to land the
job of mixing on a particular project, some-
times the rough mixes can help give your cli-
ent or artist a barometer of how well you mix.
FEATURE
Roughing It
How to quickly get a good-sounding rough mix together
By D. James Goodwin
I’ve gotten several very good mixing gigs by doing just that. I was hired
to do some overdubs, then I made sure my roughs sounded fantastic so
that the client would consider me for the mix. It has worked for me many
times over. In the next few pages, I’m going to share some of the things I
do to make my rough mixes sound as good as possible.
e examples I’ll be giving in this story revolve around Avid Pro
Tools, but most other DAWs will share similar qualities so the trans-
lation should be straightforward. For the purposes of this article, I’ll
abstain from the use of a console or outboard hardware. I’ll be working
strictly in the box.
GET ON THE BUS
e rst thing I do on a rough mix is to “Save Session As” and rename
it with the date and nomenclature that clearly states it’s a rough mix
(which helps if you need to revisit it down the line). Aer that, I start set-
ting up stereo subgroups so that I have the ability to make quick overall
volume rides on, say, a drum kit or a group of rhythm guitars. e most
important thing is to set up what I call a mix bus insert.
e mix bus insert is a stereo aux track that has its own dedi-
cated input path (for example, bus 1-2). Its output is set to the main
FIG. 1:
Assign the
drums, keys,
guitars, and
vocals to
subgroups,
and route
all the subs
through the
mix bus
insert track.
35 03.11 | emusici an.com |
monitoring path. I prefer this to a master fader because any plug-ins
I put on it will be pre-fader, and thus not affected by any fader moves
such as a long fade. Also, I can send the output of this mix bus insert to a
separate stereo track via sends to print the rough mix onto a new stereo
track in the session itself.
Assuming I’m using bus 1-2 as the input path to the mix bus insert,
I’ll then set up a handful of stereo aux tracks for the subgroups. Typically
for a rough mix session, I’ll create between six and eight stereo aux
tracks. Ten I’ll name them: Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys, Vocals, and
so forth. For each of these subgroup masters, I’ll assign a separate input
path. For example, Drums bus will use bus 3-4 as its input, Bass bus will
use bus 5-6, etc.
Sometimes it helps to go into the session setup preferences and
rename the bus paths to match the
inputs. So instead of bus 3-4, you could
rename it Drums Bus. Tis will help
keep things nice and organized. When
you go through your tracks, simply
route their output to their appropri-
ate subgroup bus. In other words,
your drum tracks should all have their
outputs set to bus 3-4, or Drums Bus,
depending on what name you use.
Finally, remember that each of these
subgroups should be routed to the mix
bus insert. Tink of it as your final des-
tination (see Fig. 1).
Setting up subgroups may seem like a lot of work, but you’ll only
have to do it once and it takes just a few minutes. You can import the set-
tings into your next session so you don’t have to go through this for every
song, and it’s the best way for you to do general volume moves without
making it an all-night affair.
First things First
Afer I’ve set up my subgroups and mix bus insert, I start adding plug-
ins. In the real world, I typically use hardware inserts for a lot of my
processing, but in this scenario, I want to be quick. Because I work on
mostly pop and rock music, my main concern with a rough mix is that
it has impact and clarity. I’m not overly worried about nuance. Tat’s
for the final mix. Tat said, I usually start by inserting three things on
my mix bus insert: a compressor, an equalizer, and a brickwall limiter
(see Fig. 2).
Te mix bus compressor I choose most ofen is the Waves API 2500
plug-in. I use the hardware version daily, and I know it well. For my taste,
I usually set up the plug-in in Old mode, with a 3:1 ratio, medium attack,
medium-to-fast release, and with a high threshold setting to catch only
the loudest peaks. I engage this compressor right away because I find
that mixing into the bus compressor is the best way to make sure your
mix holds up well. I like to hear its effect from the beginning.
Fig. 2: Start
the mix with a
compressor, a
brickwall limiter,
and an EQ plug-in
on the mix bus
insert track.
Hear before-and-after clips from tHis rougH mix metHod. ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Next, I insert a UAD Precision Equalizer.
Any mastering-style EQ with high/low shelv-
ing and fairly wide bells in the mids will be
fine. I’ll keep it set flat for the time being. I only
put this insert on in the event that I want to just
shape the overall mix slightly at the end. I usu-
ally find that most roughs suffer from being a
bit too dark as you typically don’t sculpt indi-
vidual tracks as much as in a final mix. A mix
bus EQ can help with clarity in the low mids
and up top where some “air” is needed, with-
out requiring that you apply surgical EQ to
individual tracks.
Finally, I insert a brickwall limiter, purely
for level. While I personally dislike the “vol-
ume wars” and what they’ve done to audio
quality in the past few years, it has become
necessary to add brickwall limiting to even
a rough mix. My favorite for a few years now
is the UAD Precision Maximizer. It sounds
great, gets plenty of level, and doesn’t destroy
a mix like some others can. If you don’t have
access to it, I recommend using the most trans-
parent brickwall limiter you have. As with the
EQ, I keep the brickwall in bypass until near
the end.
Before I start pulling up faders, I like to
set up a reverb send and a delay/echo send.
Back when we mixed on consoles, there was
usually a plate reverb and an echo normalled
to the console, so it was always available.
Tis is my way of keeping up that tradition.
I start by creating two new aux inputs, and
calling them Reverb and Delay. I set the
input accordingly, and the output to the mix
bus insert. Lastly, I disable the solos on the
36 | EMUSICI AN.COM | 03.11
aux tracks so that they’re in Pro Tools’ Solo
Safe mode. is makes it so that when I solo
something, the aux input is still active, mak-
ing it possible to adjust the reverb or delay
in isolation. e reverb and delay on the aux
inserts are set at 100-percent wet.
I almost always use the UAD Plate 140
plug-in for reverb. It’s uncanny how close it
sounds to a real EMT 140, and it’s every bit
as warm and lush. Any decent reverb will do
here, but I prefer to use “plate” presets simply
because of subtlety, habit, and familiarity.
For an echo, I’ll choose something quick
and easy, such as the Sound Toys EchoBoy
plug-in. It lets me change tempo, sync the
tempo to the track, or choose whether I want
eighth-notes, quarter-notes, or any other sub-
division—all on the y. If I sense that the track
will not need a long delay, I will sometimes set
up a slapback-type echo, mostly for vocals. If
this is the case, I will use it in mono because I
prefer mono slapback to stereo.
THE RHYTHM SECTION
It would be impossible for me to give you specif-
ics on treating balances, mostly because every
track is dierent and each track requires its own
set of xes or complements. However, I’m going
to give you some general tips on treating drums
and bass quickly so that you can put together a
✱ ROUGHING IT ✱ FEATURE
respectable rhythm section mix within minutes. First, I start by getting a
decent balance on the drums and bass, with no EQ or compression. en
I’ll just try to deal with things that stick out or sound bad.
I generally start by putting a compressor on my drum subgroup.
Oen, this will be something like the Waves API 2500. I’ll usually start
fairly aggressive with about a 4:1 ratio, with a medium attack to keep the
transients alive but a fast release to make sure the drums have impact
and a little bit of pumping. is breathes some excitement into the drum
group. I don’t want to squash them; I just want to get a little life and
sparkle out of the kit (see Web Clips 1a and 1b).
If your kick drum lacks denition, try pulling out a few dBs around
220 to 240Hz. is will get rid of some of that mud. I don’t do very much
in the top end on a kick drum. I prefer to increase denition and punch
by subtracting rather than adding. I also rarely compress a kick drum,
unless it absolutely needs it. But don’t be afraid to EQ the heck out of it if
necessary. If it sounds right, it is right.
Snare drums in rock music tend to lack depth and low end to my
ears, and they’re oen too “honky” or have too much midrange boxi-
ness. at being said, I usually will pull out a little around 700 to 800Hz
to pronounce the low end a bit. I may also just do a slight boost, some-
where around 5kHz. Also, check the phase with the overheads. I can’t tell
you how oen I’ve gotten tracks to work on and the snare is out of phase
with the overhead mics, making it lose impact. I’ll also usually insert a
compressor aer the EQ. I set it to be pretty light, mostly grabbing the
highest peaks, but I want to keep the transient alive, so my attack is set
medium/slow and my release is set fast/medium. Most times, I’ll also
do a similar treatment with the tom tracks. Usually, they have a bit too
much boxiness and not enough depth. So, again, I’ll pull out some 400
to 600Hz, and give a slight boost to the upper mids for the attack. To be
safe, I’ll check the phase, too.
FIG 3: Printing
to a track in the
session keeps
your mix inside
the session,
making later
retrieval easier.
quickly set a highpass filter for removing rum-
ble, EQ as necessary, and compress. Usually,
I end up with a slight upper midrange boost
and a lower midrange cut, unless the voice is
nasally and thin.
With vocals, I always prefer very wide bell
curves so that the voice doesn’t sound overly
processed. Ten I’ll set my compressor so that
it grabs peaks, with a medium attack and a
medium release. I may also insert another
subtle compressor on the vocal subgroup to
help it sit better in the mix (see Web Clips
2a and 2B). I’ll usually set this compressor to
have a slightly faster attack and faster release,
but I’ll set the threshold much higher so it’s just
slightly hitting the signal.
There may be times when the use of
Auto-Tune is necessary. In the case of a rough
mix, however, the artist may prefer the vocals
untreated to get an honest sense of the perfor-
mance, especially if you’re doing this for com-
ping purposes. Otherwise, it’s usually simple
to insert Antares Auto-Tune, or something
similar, and put it on the most conservative
setting, using the Chromatic C scale so that all
notes are active. If you set it right, you should
barely see it doing anything, only occasion-
ally grabbing the most egregious of notes. If it
takes you more than a couple minutes to get it
to sound transparent, then don’t bother. Tis
is a rough mix afer all, and you likely have 12
more to do!
Through all this, remember that you
have a reverb and a delay set up. I usually use
them for vocals and maybe a guitar lead or
synth lead. Either way, they’re there for your
37 03.11 | emusici an.com |
I’ll usually do very little to the rest of the kit at this point. If I’ve
tracked the project, I’m pretty confident that my sounds are there so I
don’t need to do much. It’s all subjective, and you may find that you need
to put a highpass filter on the overheads, or perhaps some compression
on the room mics. Tese are common things. Don’t be afraid to play
around, but in keeping with the principles of a rough mix, don’t labor
over it. Just get it to sound good quickly and move on.
Te whole time I’m balancing drums, I’m also keeping an ear on
the bass to make sure it’s working with the drums, specifically the kick
drum. Look for the usual suspects here: Too much pick noise? Shelf the
top end so it’s not too bright. Not enough impact? Try pulling out some
300 to 400Hz to make the bottom seem more powerful. And, of course,
try doing a slight boost around 90Hz for some thunder if you need it.
If you’re feeling good about the way the rhythm section sits and your
levels are at a good spot, with no clipping on your subgroups, it’s time
to move on.
The ResT of The Band
Next, I start pulling up faders on everything else except for vocals. Tis
means guitars, synths, and anything that may be in the track. Because
every song is different, my best tip is to maintain clarity by using your
panning effectively. In other words, keep similar textures in different
parts of the stereo field. For instance, if you have a synth and a guitar
in the same general octave range, try panning them apart to maximize
clarity and width. Te goal of a rough mix is to have everything sit in a
place where it can be heard. A lot of critical decisions will be made on
the basis of a rough mix, so unless you know otherwise, try to make
sure that you have clarity on the entire arrangement. Try to only spend
a few minutes getting this balance together. It should be instinctual and
not overworked. Te biggest mistake people make is overworking the
instruments.
You may want to apply an overall EQ to a guitar or keyboard sub-
group. I do this to save time so that I don’t have to go into individual
tracks and apply treatment. In some cases, I’ll insert an EQ on the
guitar subgroup and engage a highpass filter to get rid of any rumble
or mud in the guitars. You don’t want to lose any power; you only
want to clean it up so nothing unnecessary gets to the mix bus. I may
also add a little boost in the upper midrange because that’s where I
can get some extra bite out of the guitars if needed. Because distorted
guitars are inherently compressed, I typically opt not to use a com-
pressor on them. However, I will sometimes put a compressor on the
keyboard subgroup. Once again, my goal here is to simply catch any
stray peaks and perhaps breathe a little excitement into overall group,
if needed.
Finally, I’ll get the vocals into the mix and do my best to get them
sitting right without anything on them. Of course, that’s easier said
than done, and in pop and rock music, more ofen than not you’ll be
reaching for an EQ and a compressor. Here, I’ll typically reach for a
channel strip plug-in, most ofen the Waves SSL Channel. It lets me
The goal of a rough
mix is to have
everything sit in a
place where it can
be heard.
38
| emusici an.com | 03.11
disposal, and don’t forget to consider them
when you’re focusing on the vocals.
Print and Forget
At this point, I usually have a service-
able rough mix together. In many cases, it
shouldn’t take more than 15 to 20 minutes to
get to this stage. You’re now ready to check
your brickwall limiter and perhaps a little
mix bus EQ to make it shimmer and sparkle
a bit more.
The whole point of the brickwall is
to increase your level without clipping.
Depending on what plug-in you use, be sure
that the mix doesn’t go over 0dB and that
your input to the limiter doesn’t clip. If your
mix bus insert is clipping the limiter, just
bring all of your subgroups down equally
until you’re out of the red. Sometimes when
you engage the brickwall, it can seem as
though the drums get quieter or the guitars
get louder. If so, it’s handy to use your sub-
groups to readjust your overall balances to
compensate.
When I’m satisfied, I create a new stereo
audio track at the top of the session, and using
a send route the mix bus insert to the new
track, and set the send level to be at 0dB, or
unity gain. I mute the new track while it’s in
record (to avoid feedback) and name it accord-
ingly. Tis track will be for a print of the mix.
Te reason I print it in the session is so that I
have a copy at all times inside the session, thus
avoiding the need to hunt down a lost rough
mix later on. It also lets me export different for-
mats quickly without having to bounce in real
time. I then arm the track, put Pro Tools into
record, and print the mix (see Fig. 3).
When it’s finished, I recommend open-
ing up the session for the next song, saving it
under a new name, and importing all of the
subgroups, aux inputs, and the mix bus insert
from the last session. If you have the same
audio tracks for multiple sessions, you can
also match tracks and import your track set-
tings from the last session to save even more
time. In most cases, afer the importing you’ll
simply make sure your audio tracks are routed
properly and you’ll be in good shape. Adjust a
few balances, and you’re off to the races.
Rough mixing can be frustrating.
Hopefully these tips will help you get better
sounds more quickly, using broad strokes to
sweeten things, and not getting caught up on
details. As always, your mileage may vary, but
use your imagination, and if you have the time,
please experiment. Have fun with it! ✱
D. James Goodwin (djamesgoodwin.com) is a
producer and mixing engineer, operating out of
his own studio, Te Isokon, in Woodstock, N.Y.
His discography includes The Bravery, Norah
Jones, Devo, and Natasha Bedingfield.
✱ roughing it ✱ feature
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40 | emusici an.com | 03.11
sound design workshop By Len Sasso
M
y first encounter with a step
sequencer was the 960 module
in a Moog modular system. It provided
three rows of eight knobs to create three
control-voltage sequences that you could
cable to affect other Moog modules. It
also had individual trigger inputs (to select
steps), gate outputs, an internal clock,
and sundry special features. Creating
note sequences was not the 960’s prima-
ry purpose, and it presented some chal-
lenges, not least of which was tuning.
The note-based step sequencers
in modern synths, samplers, and drum
machines tend to obscure the consid-
erable sound-design potential of step
sequencing. The most robust environ-
ment for that on the Mac I’ve seen is
Numerology 3 from Five12 (five12.com).
It offers more than 50 modules for gen-
erating and processing notes and con-
trol signals. I’ve used Numerology in my
examples, but you can adapt most of
these techniques to any step sequencer
that has controller lanes and flexible sig-
nal routing.
Ah One, Ah TwO
Numerology’s Sample Synth is a good
place to start. It holds a single sample,
changes pitch by changing playback
speed, and lets you modulate the sample
start, as well as the loop start and end
points. In addition to loading samples,
you can create synthesized speech clips
using Apple’s OS X Speech Synthesizer;
just click Sample Synth’s Speak button,
type in some text, and choose a voice.
Figure 1 shows a setup I often use
to mangle speech clips (see web Clip
1). A sample-and-hold LFO controls the
sample start, a MonoNote sequencer
plays the notes, and a CV lane of the
same sequencer sets the loop end.
The Scale and Offset module converts
the loop- end position to an offset
from the sample-start position, and
the ParamMod module routes it to the
Sample Synth.
The ParamMod module gives you
instant access to almost any parameter
in an AU plug-in or other Numerology
module—no MIDI Learn or special setup
required. To route a modulation source
(LFO, envelope generator, sequencer CV
lane, etc.), select the target and param-
eter from drop-down menus. (Many of
Numerology’s CV-generator modules
have those menus built in.)
You can add ParamMod modules as
needed to target multiple parameters.
Use that to apply the same modulation to
different AU synths and effects, as well
as to multiple parameters of the same
device (see web Clip 2). Once you’ve
set up a modulation scheme, save the
Stack with or without the AUs. Then you
need to re-create only the modulation
routings to apply the same modulation
in different setups.
You can forgo step sequencing and
just use Numerology as a modulation
source for instruments played in real
time or from MIDI tracks in your DAW.
You can route incoming MIDI directly to
any AU plug-in. In addition, the MIDI-to-
CV module extracts note number, gate,
velocity, pitch-bend, aftertouch, and four
MIDI CC streams from incoming MIDI
data and provides them as separate out-
puts, which you can then route to con-
trol other plug-in or Numerology param-
eters. Use the gates to start and stop
or advance CV sequencers or trigger
envelope generators, and use the other
outputs for direct control or to scale the
effect of other Numerology modules. ✱
What’s Your Number?
The step sequencer as a sound-design tool
FIG. 1: This Numerology
Stack uses an LFO
(top) and a CV lane of
a MonoNote sequencer
(bottom) to modulate
the sample start and
loop boundaries of the
speech clip in the Sample
Synth module (middle).
The MonoNote also sets
the playback pitches
and step lengths.
The studios, stories and hit makers behind
three decades of groundbreaking songs
Revisit the in-studio experiences behind the songs
that have defined our generation, from Patsy Cline’s
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tower,” to Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and the
Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Culled from the pages of
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terested in the techniques and creative forces behind
the chart-toppers of the past 30 years.
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42 | emusici an.com | 03.11
M
aster bus processing is a key
aspect of a mix and, if done prop-
erly, can give your tracks a more finished
sound. Most people readily understand
the overall concept of mixing, but not so
many pay attention to what is happen-
ing on the master bus. This month, I’ll
discuss some of the important things to
keep in mind when dealing with the mas-
ter bus and share the processing chain
that I use.
The master bus is the main stereo
sum, or output of any mix. It is the last
and final signal-flow point before your
track gets printed to a final stereo mix.
Whether you are working in the box or
out, it is critical to know exactly what
is happening on the stereo bus. You
should be aware of such factors as the
overall dynamic range and the frequency
spectrum of your track when dialing in
your finished mix.
Peak vs. RMs
It’s key to understand some principles
regarding the overall dynamic range (i.e.,
the overall loudness) of your mix. In audio engineering, there
are two types of loudness: peak and RMS. Peak represents
the absolute loudest signals that are present. RMS is the aver-
age loudness of all the signals present. While it is important to
know exactly both the peak and RMS levels of a mix, the RMS
offers more insight as to how loud a mix will be perceived by the
listener. Humans perceive loudness based on RMS because
our ears and brains can’t respond to every single frequency
and sound in a complex waveform. It is also important to know
what the overall peak level is to avoid clipping and distortion on
your mix, especially when working completely in the box.
There is much debate about the dynamic range of today’s
popular music. Many believe a more natural sound with a wide
dynamic range is best, while others try to smash the dynamics
down so hard that the end result is an ultraloud, solid block
of a waveform. I believe both have a place in modern music.
However, most of the commercial projects and remixes that I
work on end up being pretty loud. The main reason is that in
the clubs, a track needs to hit as hard as possible. As a result,
most club mixes are compressed pretty heavily.
I don’t really consider master bus processing to be the
same as mastering. Mastering is a separate process that not
only deals with what is happening on a single track, but what is
happening on a group of tracks, like an album or EP, to ensure
that they all have consistency as a finished product. Still, not
all projects I work on will immediately get mastered by a sepa-
rate mastering engineer, so I always pay a lot of attention to
master bus processing to make sure the mix leaves my studio
sounding the way I want it to.
GettinG staRted
It’s never too early in a project to start paying attention to the
master bus. As you go along, it’s critical that you always leave
some headroom, level-wise, for your master bus processing.
Otherwise, you’ll start turning everything up as you add other
elements and you’ll start clipping the master. This is one rea-
son why I wait as long as possible to add the final automation
to my mixes. I want to be sure that I can turn things down and
adjust levels so as not to hit the
master bus too hard before the
final processing chain.
I typically start making initial
adjustments to the master bus
chain (see Fig. 1) as I’m putting
the track together, especially on
✱ remix clinic ✱
Master Bus Musings
By Vincent di Pasquale
FiG. 1: Di Pasquale’s master
bus processors typically
comprise Logic’s Channel
EQ and two Waves plug-
ins: the SSL G-Master
Buss Compressor and L3
Ultramaximizer (limiter).
43 03.11 | emusici an.com |
remixes or productions that are done entirely inside the box.
I’ll instantiate the plug-ins and get some rough settings going
early on. This prevents spending tons of time mixing things to
sound a certain way only to discover that the sound changes
significantly after the master bus inserts are added.
The Process
Once I have the final where I want it, I turn my attention to the
master bus. I loop the loudest section of the song and work
on that first. This may be a chorus coming out of the break or
whatever section has the most energy. After I get the EQ, com-
pression, and limiting set, I can listen to the whole song to make
sure the levels are where I want them. In some cases, I will
automate the master bus effects to keep a consistent sound
throughout the whole mix.
The first insert in my master chain is a multimeter, which
lets me check fre-
quency and level
(see Fig. 2). I either
use Apple Logic’s
built-in multimeter
or one from Waves
or iZotope. This
meter shows me
the overall dynamic
range of my mix as
it hits the master. I
study the frequen-
cy spectrum to see
what the high end
and low end of my
mix are doing, and
I make sure that
the levels are not
clipping. Set your
meter to show both
peak and RMS lev-
els. (I also put a
multimeter at the end
of my master chain,
which lets me check
the dynamic range post-processing.)
Next, I insert an EQ and typically focus on EQ’ing three areas:
First is the high end. I will always add a little high-end shelving
to accentuate the overall brightness to the mix. Ultimately, the
boost will start somewhere between 6 and 10 kHz, depending
on what I hear in the mix. The next area I listen to is the 300
to 400Hz range. This is where a lot of muddiness can creep in.
If it’s muddy, I’ll put in a sharp parametric cut to help reduce
it. Finally, I listen to the low end. I like to add some subtle low-
shelving EQ to help glue together the drums and bass.
The next insert is a stereo compres-
sor, with which I aim for about 4 to 6
dB of gain reduction. If I use the Logic
compressor, I will start with the “analog
tape” preset, which really sounds good
across the whole mix. Next up I might
add a multiband compressor. I don’t
always use one, but it is really great
when I want some extra punch in the low
end. The last insert is a limiter, which
applies the finishing touch to the mix. It’s
where the power of the mix comes out.
My go-to plug here is usually the Waves
Ultramaximizer, but sometimes I’ll use
Logic’s Adaptive Limiter. Either way, I’ll
typically set the output ceiling to -0.1 and
then adjust the threshold to get around 3
to 4 dB of attenuation.
over and ouT
In the end, the main goal of my master
bus processing is to make sure the fre-
quency spectrum sounds balanced and
looks that way on the post-processing
multimeter. As for the overall dynamic
range, I shoot for somewhere between
-10 and -5 dbfs during the loudest sec-
tions of the song.
Once everything is sounding the way
I want, I will bounce a pass and re-import
it to listen to it and look at the waveform.
If I know the project will be professionally
mastered, I’ll bypass the limiter and typi-
cally just use EQ and stereo compres-
sion. In these cases, I will just make
sure the mix sounds exactly the way I
want, with a little bit of headroom left
for the mastering engineer. Like with
everything in music production, the best
method is to do what sounds good to
you, and take time to experiment and get
the results you want. ✱
Vincent di Pasquale (vcdstudios.com) is
a producer/remixer who works out of his
project studio and has remixed songs for
artists including Madonna, Mariah Carey,
Nelly Furtado, and many others. To learn
more about remixing, check out his The
Art of the Remix, an interactive remixing
course available at www.faderpro.com.
FIG. 2: It’s useful to have two multimeter
plug-ins active: one at the beginning
of the chain and one at the end.
44 | emusici an.com | 03.11
Reviews
Guide to em meteRs
5 Amazing; as good as it gets with current technology
4 Clearly above average; very desirable
3 Good; meets expectations
2 Somewhat disappointing but usable
1 Unacceptably flawed
FIG. 1: Known as
“Skylight,” SONAR X1’s
interface redesign is highly
configurable and includes
an improved Inspector,
consolidated Browser,
streamlined Track view,
and powerful MultiDock.
Cakewalk SONAR
X1 Producer
Interface redesign done right
By Brian Smithers
S
ONAR X1 is the biggest redesign of
Cakewalk’s flagship DAW since its
evolution from Pro Audio 10 years ago.
The development team has succeeded
in bringing the program’s ample feature
set together under the control of a more
streamlined interface. The majority of
the improvements in this version are
interface-related, with the most signifi-
cant new features being the addition of
ProChannel, an excellent integrated
channel strip, and the ability to save and
recall effects chains.
I tested SONAR X1a (an update
released in December 2010) on a quad-
core 2.67GHz Intel i7 920 with 6GB of
RAM running 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate.
SONAR had no problems running in 64-bit
mode with 64-bit audio processing.
Sky kInG
SONAR’s new interface goes by the
evocative name Skylight, but it will still
look like home to established users (see
Fig. 1). Skylight brings together the tradi-
tional Track view, an improved Inspector,
and an all-encompassing Browser with
the powerful new MultiDock. These
PC-BAsed dAw soFtwARe
PRiCe: $399, street; $99, upgrade
from 8.5 (download)
PRos: New ProChannel multi-effect.
Effects chains. Major interface
improvement. Streamlined dialog
boxes and menus.
CoNs: Nothing significant.
FeAtuRes: 4
eAse oF use: 4
souNd quAlity: 4
vAlue: 4
RAtiNG PRoduCts FRom 1 to 5
CAkewAlk.Com
PRoduCt summARy

mAC
45 03.11 | emusici an.com |
four views can be collapsed or, in the case of the MultiDock,
maximized with convenient shortcut keys, so controlling the
Skylight interface is a snap.
I was not a fan of docking windows when it was first intro-
duced into SONAR, but the MultiDock has given the notion a
new appeal. I can now dock various windows—such as the
Piano Roll, the Event List, the console view, or the Matrix—
and then with a few keystrokes maximize the MultiDock and
switch to the view I need. You can also float the MultiDock
on a separate monitor if one is available. If I take the time to
create Screensets, I can speed the process further. Up to 10
Screensets can be saved per project and can be imported
from another open session. The upshot of all of this? SONAR
X1 is now easier to manage in a single- or multimonitor envi-
ronment than previously. Even window-management functions
I had previously sussed out with shortcuts and key bindings
now feel more like an intended function than a kludge.
The Inspector now displays the output channel for the
selected track. It lists more types of information than before,
such as clip properties (including clip effects, groove clip prop-
erties, and AudioSnap properties) and track properties. It can
also display the entire ProChannel for the selected track. For
an instrument track, you can switch between displaying the
audio output channel or the track’s MIDI properties, including
the arpeggiator, input quantize, and so forth.
Among other things, the Browser consolidates functions
previously found elsewhere, allowing the import of audio and
MIDI files, presets, step-sequencer patterns, track templates,
and more. The most interesting new feature provided by the
Browser is the ability to drag plug-ins—including virtual instru-
ments—directly to a track. Simply drag a soft synth to the
Track view to create an instrument track. Indeed, drag-and-
drop functionality has been implemented or improved in vari-
ous ways throughout SONAR X1.
SONAR has always had a context-sensitive “smart” tool,
but X1’s is a bit smarter and friendlier. If its primary functions
are not what you need, you can switch to alternate tools either
by pressing “T” to show the tool palette (called the Heads Up
Display, or HUD) or by pressing F5 through F10 to switch directly
to the desired tool. If you hold the relevant F key as you use its
tool, the cursor automatically switches back to the smart tool
when you release it. When multiple data types are displayed in
a track, a new data filter lets you focus all edit functions on just
what you need. You can also bring up the HUD by clicking the
middle mouse button; moving the scroll wheel then activates
the dropdown menu for selecting data types.
Channel Pro
ProChannel—which is available from the Inspector as well as
from each channel of the console view—combines EQ, com-
pression, and tube saturation in a user-configurable chain that
FIG. 2: The ProChannel’s
emulations of major pro
EQs and compressors
are designed to bring
big-studio sound
to SONAR X1.
can be placed before or after the track’s
FX bin (see Fig. 2). The EQ offers six
bands: two filters (high- and lowpass),
two fully parametric bands, and two
bands that can be switched between
fully parametric and low- and high-shelf
mode. The filters’ slopes are adjustable
between 6 and 48dB/octave in 6dB
increments. The four parametric bands
offer 18dB of gain or cut, and all four
range from 20 to 20k Hz. The EQ can be
set to Pure, Vintage, or Modern modes,
each of which emulates the Q and level
characteristics of a different famous EQ.
46 | emusici an.com | 03.11
The EQ curve can be edited graphically,
with Q adjustment via Alt-dragging. This
is one seriously flexible equalizer with
truly professional features. The EQ but-
ton also includes a Gloss button, which
adds “air” to all modes.
The compressor stage emulates two
well-known compressors—no bonus
points for guessing what the PC76 U-Type
and PC4K S-Type are modeled after. The
controls of each, including the metering,
are representative of those on the mod-
eled devices. The PC76 even offers an
extra Ratio button (labeled with the infin-
ity symbol) that emulates its source’s
famous “all buttons in” mode. The PC4K
offers a sidechain; the PC76 does not.
Both feature a wet/dry knob, making
parallel compression a no-brainer.
The tube saturation circuit in
ProChannel offers a wide range of col-
ors. Two types of saturation are avail-
able (with no documentation on what the
distinction is), and the input, drive, and
output controls are perfectly intuitive.
Although SONAR previously had
high-quality EQ and compression—the
Sonitus:fx EQ, Vintage Channel, and
LP64 Compressor and EQ are all wor-
thy contenders—the addition of the
ProChannel brings mixing in SONAR X1
to a new high. The inclusion of a clip-
ping indicator at the top of each mod-
ule is indicative of the professional
mindset behind this new channel strip.
Metering—especially between plug-
ins—is an area that has not received as
much attention in DAW interfaces as it
should, so hats off to Cakewalk.
✱ sonar x1 ✱ reviews
Unchain My heart
Effects chains can now be saved and recalled, dragged or
copied from track to track, collapsed within an FX bin, and
named for clear reference. It’s nice to see this feature finally
migrated from Project5 to the mothership. Although such
chains cannot include soft synths, you can accomplish that
with a track template. Simply drag a soft synth from the
browser to the Track view, insert any audio plug-ins you want
on the resulting instrument track, dial in your desired set-
tings, and save the track as a track template. You can then
drag the track template from the browser any time you need
that particular setup. Another related time-saver is the abil-
ity to store default plug-in presets; you can save multiple
versions of a plug-in in the Plug-In Manager, each with a
different default preset.
X1 continues to support grouping of mix parameters in
the same way SONAR has implemented it for some time.
However, “quick grouping” of parameters is now much
easier. Simply select the relevant tracks and Ctrl-drag the
desired parameters. Pan controls maintain their
relative positions, as do mute, solo, record arm,
and other status buttons.
The full list of improvements in X1 goes on
and on, from performance enhancements to
menu redesign. What used to be a nearly end-
less row of obscure icons in the Track view is
now an orderly dropdown menu. What used to
be separate global and project options are now
consolidated in a Preferences dialog box. With
respect to menus and preferences, my one lin-
gering wish is for a meter options dialog box so
that when I set up my metering preferences, I don’t have
to open and retrace the cascading menu multiple times to
set meter mode, peak hold, and range for each meter type.
Given the other improvements in this version, though, I can
wait a bit longer.
If I had to pick something to gripe about, it might be that
when SONAR gets cool new features, such as V-Vocal or
Beatscape, they don’t get updated and improved with each
version. Or, I might quibble about the fact that the Publisher
applet produces an audio player that I wouldn’t put on any
website with my name on it. Similarly, the CD-burning applet
is so rudimentary it doesn’t compare well to the app that was
included free with your DVD-R drive, and it’s a separate applet,
not “integrated CD burning” as advertised. Sincere gripes all,
but pretty trivial in light of SONAR X1’s powerful audio produc-
tion features now made more usable by an interface redesign
done right. ✱
Brian Smithers is department chair of workstations at Full Sail
University in Winter Park, Fla.
The most exciting new feature in X1,
ProChannel combines EQ, compres-
sion, and tube saturation in a user-
configurable chain that can be placed
before or after the track’s FX bin.
®
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reviews
signal processor plug-in
price: $249
pros: Excellent, quick vocal
processing. Usable presets. Easy
interface. Good price.
cons: Sound quality is not quite pro
level. High CPU load.
Features: 4
ease oF use: 4.5
sound quality: 3
value: 4
izotope.com
product summary

iZotope Nectar
A cost-effective vocal-mixing contender with excellent features
By Steve Skinner
M
ost good mixes apply at least
three plug-ins (or analog effects)
to a vocal track. I often use as many
as five, as well as one or two delays
and one or two reverbs. In Nectar,
iZotope has created one plug-in that
offers a complete vocal-processing
signal chain. Other plug-ins, such as
the Waves Signature Series, offer EQ,
compression, delay, doubling, and
reverb in a single plug-in, but Nectar
adds pitch correction, a de- esser,
breath control, a gate, and saturation.
And, it includes an exhaustive array of
presets organized by vocal style.
Take ConTrol
The Main view has a dropdown menu
of musical genres with submenus of
styles within each genre (see Fig. 1).
Simple adjustments for levels, space
mix, size, color, saturation, pitch-
correction scale, de- esser amount,
breath target, and gate threshold are
on the front panel. There is a somewhat
tweakable graphic EQ display, as well
as input and output meters and level
controls. One section of the front
panel changes its function depending
on the selected style. These functions
are sometimes given impressionistic
names such as Girth or Psychedelic,
and they usually control a unique ele-
ment of the selected style.
The styles are put together well,
and demos of many of the genres are
available at the iZotope website. The
style names are somewhat arbitrary;
there’s no reason why an R&B style,
for example, couldn’t work in a dance
track. It’s helpful for beginning mixers
to see the settings laid out so clear-
ly—both for ease of tweaking and to
learn how certain vocal sounds are
achieved (see Web Clips 1 and 2).
Nectar has two operation modes:
Mixing and Tracking. Mixing mode
employs a look-ahead function that
improves sound quality but introduces
latency and uses more CPU power. It’s
mac/win
FIG. 1: The Main view
of Nectar has easy,
intuitive controls for
each vocal preset.
for mixing situations where delay com-
pensation is available. Tracking mode
eliminates latency and reduces CPU
load. Use that in tracking and live situ-
ations. (The Breath Control module is
deactivated in Tracking mode.)
The HTML manual, which is stored
on your computer, is clearly written;
you access it by clicking the Help but-
ton. The advantage of HTML docu-
mentation is that it employs hypertext
linking.
AdvAnced TweAking
You click the Advanced View button to
access the individual components that
make up each genre style (see Fig. 2).
Components are displayed on the left,
and when a component
is highlighted, its param-
eters appear.
With the exception of
pitch correction and the
breath- control module,
which always come first,
you can reorder the com-
ponents in the signal
chain by dragging them
up or down. Each com-
ponent also has a Power
button and a Bypass
switch. In a nice touch,
clicking the Solo switch
leaves just the highlight-
ed component on.
Whereas the Main view uses
impressionistic labels for the func-
tions, the Advanced view uses conven-
tional audio engineering terms. This
works well, although you sometimes
have to experiment a bit to see exactly
how Advanced view parameters cor-
respond to Main view parameters.
The Main view parameter Smash, for
example, controls both settings on
the Limiter module; it has no direct
Advanced view equivalent.
You can automate every parameter
on the Advanced view, but due to mul-
tiple correlations between parameters
as just described, you can’t automate
the parameters on the Main view. In Pro
Tools, the keyboard shortcut for auto-
mation (Control > Option+Command
click) does not work so you need to
access the automation from the plug-
in page. Currently, no mono-to-stereo
option is available in Pro Tools, but
iZotope plans to address this in a sub-
sequent release.
geT The PiTch
Nectar’s Pitch Correction component
is full-featured and competitive with
other stand- alone pitch- correction
plug-ins (see web clip 3). The main
control is correction speed. At 0, you
get the Cher effect, which at higher
settings becomes less noticeable.
At 50 and above, pitch correction is
smooth and transparent. The scale
choices are chromatic, major, minor,
and custom. My one minor gripe here
is that the black-key scales are all
written as sharps—A# major instead
of Bb major, for example. (I’m told this
will be fixed).
On the Advanced view, an addi-
tional window (also called Advanced)
opens for pitch correction. That’s
where you set the reference pitch
(A=440Hz by default), formant shift,
and formant scaling. You can also
detach and enlarge a graphics display
that works like the graphics displays
on other pitch-correction plug-ins.
OuT OF BreATh
The Br eat h Cont r ol
function is well-designed
and, for some people,
may alone be wor th
the price of admission.
I ts Threshol d sl i der
controls the breath-
detection sensitivity,
and its Target/Gain slid-
er controls the amount of attenuation.
Target mode reduces the breath to the
target level regardless of how loud it
was, whereas Gain mode reduces it by
a set amount. A rolling graphic display
shows the waveform and where the
effect kicks in.
In a previous mix, I had to manu-
ally pull down every breath because
after the vocal was compressed and
EQ’d, the breaths sounded too harsh.
Nectar’s Breath Control achieved the
same result quickly and with no notice-
able artifacts (see web clips 4 and 5).
For some voice-over applications,
49 03.11 | emusici an.com |
Fig. 2: Nectar’s
Advanced view has
in-depth control of
each parameter.
hear nectar in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
In Nectar,
iZotope has
created one
plug-in offering a
complete vocal-
processing signal
chain.
such as telephony (“press 1 for cus-
tomer service”), breaths need to be
completely eliminated, which is quite
time-consuming. Breath Control did this
better than other de-breath plug-ins I’ve
tried, although it sometimes missed a
breath or cut off the tails of s’s and f’s
(see Web Clips 6 and 7).
Nectar’s breath control function
could be a huge time-saver for telepho-
ny engineers, but its latency—26,623
samples at 44.1kHz sampling rate—
is a big drawback. Delay compensa-
tion needs to be turned on in your DAW
to use Breath Control as an insert. In
Pro Tools, which has a maximum delay
compensation of 4,000 samples,
Breath Control must be used as an
Audiosuite plug-in (if latency is a prob-
lem). Also because of latency, Breath
Control is the only module that doesn’t
work in Tracking mode.
SPACE IS THE PLACE
The reverb module is a standard,
algorithmic digital reverb. You get four
plate and three hall presets. You’ll nd
controls for pre-delay, damping, color,
low-cutoff, high-cutoff, decay time, and
wet/dry mix. I found the plates to be
quite useful, with a lot of transparen-
cy. The hall presets, however, lacked
the depth and warmth that you can get
from a convolution reverb. For classi-
cal crossover or other styles where a
large warm reverb is desired, I would
recommend using one of Nectar’s
plates, then adding a separate large-
hall convolution reverb plug-in.
The Delay module has a useful
feature set: Digital, Analog, and Tape
modes with a Trash mode for the last
two, and it includes lter and modula-
tion. I would like to see a send-to-the-
reverb here.
The Doubler module is well -
designed and offers up to four voic-
es. You can set the pitch variation
between 0 and 100 cents (a semi-
tone), and you also get an octave-up/
down option; intervals in between are
not available. A Variation slider pro-
vides pitch and timing randomness.
The sound is clean and comparable to
other doubler plug-ins.
SATURATE, DE-ESS,
COMPRESS
The Saturation module adds various
types of harmonic distortion to the
vocal. It ranges from slight brightening
and thickening to moderate audible
distortion. An Overdrive switch would
be nice for those times when you want
the vocal-through-the-Marshall sound.
You have ve types of saturation, as
well as a mix slider that lets you add
distortion while keeping the clarity of
the original signal.
The De-Esser differs from a stan-
dard de-esser in that it does not have
a threshold control; it attenuates the
“s” down to the target level regardless
of the program level. This is a nice
touch.
The Compressor module offers
the standard Digital, Vintage, Optical,
and Solid-State modes. What makes it
special is the optional Parallel mode,
which brings in a separate compres-
sor running parallel to the rst. This
has all the features of the rst com-
REVIEWS
The well-designed Breath Control
function may alone be worth the
price of admission.
Royer Ribbons
818.847.0121
www.royerlabs.com
“Another
great mic
from Royer!”
JOE BARRESI
Producer/Engineer: 
Tool, Queens of the Stone Age,
 Bad Religion
The
R-101
51 03.11 | emusici an.com |
pressor with the addition of a shelf
EQ to increase or decrease the highs
and lows. If you brighten the parallel
compressor, you can get the Motown
sound. The ratio of the brighter com-
pressor is set lower so that louder
notes are somewhat brighter than
softer ones.
The EQ section sports a 5-band
graphic EQ. It can be edited in a lim-
ited way on the Main view and exten-
sively on the Advanced view.
Wish List
Nectar is a great concept, and I
applaud iZotope for tackling it. I’d love
to see a few more items in the future.
A multiband compressor, like Waves
C4, would be great for those vocal-
ists with too much midrange edge at
high volumes. An Overdrive switch in
the Saturation module would also be
nice. A harmony generator would be
a worthy addition. An auto-ride effect
would round out the unit. With those
things added, you could do a vocal mix
in about two minutes.
Nectar is more taxing on the CPU
than equivalent separate plug-ins. I’m
told that this will be addressed in the
first update.
For beginning and intermediate
vocal mixers, I highly recommend
Nectar. I would also recommend it
for someone who is on a tight budget
and doesn’t have many plug-ins. The
effects in Nectar are a step up from the
effects that come within most DAWs, if
only for their color and character.
For more advanced engineers, I
would recommend it as a time-sav-
er for rough mixes and for live use.
You could save a signal chain for a
particular singer and open it in sec-
onds. Some modules in Nectar could
become go-to effects for advanced
engineers. I will definitely be using the
Breath Control as an offline effect. The
Saturation, De-Esser, and Plate reverb
effects could also find their way into
a pro mix. In general, the sound was
not as crystal-clear as a high-end EQ
followed by a top-quality compressor
and reverb. ✱
Steve Skinner (steveskinnermusic.com)
is a Grammy-nominated writer/produc-
er/keyboard player/programmer living
in New Jersey. He has mixed lots of
vocals.
®
Boost Your Business
reach new customers
Get Listed For Free
http://directory.mixonline.com/mmd/
52 | emusici an.com | 03.11
reviews
WaveMachine Labs
Drumagog Platinum 5
A venerable drum-replacement plug-in adds even more features
By Michael Cooper
D
rumagog has long been regarded as
the industry-leading drum-replace-
ment plug-in. For those unfamiliar with
drum replacement, input a crummy-
sounding drum hit into Drumagog, and it
will trigger one or more better-sounding
drum samples from its built-in 5GB library
(or from your own library) to replace it at
the plug-in’s output. Alternatively, you
can layer replacement samples with
the original sound to beef it up without
totally replacing it.
Drumagog 5 adds promising new
features and sample content to this
popular plug-in. Three versions of the
software—Basic, Pro, and Platinum—
are available in AU, VST, and RTAS for-
mats. I reviewed Version 5.03b of the
flagship Drumagog Platinum AU ver-
sion in Digital Performer 7.21, using an
8-core Mac Pro running OS X 10.5.8.
I’ll mostly cover what’s new since
Drumagog 4, the review for which you
can read online at emusician.com.
A Version for Any Budget
Drumagog 5 supports iLok and disc-
authorization copy-protection schemes.
All three versions of Drumagog 5 sport
a new, enlarged GUI and an engine that
can simultaneously trigger—with each
drum hit—up to three samples derived
from room, overhead, or other ancillary
mics. In Pro and Platinum versions only,
proprietary functionality (dubbed Auto-
Align 2, not related to Sound Radix Auto-
Align, reviewed on page 61) maintains
perfect phase lock among all triggered
samples and the original audio to pre-
clude any phasiness or flamming.
Drumagog Pro adds other important
features not available in the Basic ver-
sion, including pitch control, a low-laten-
cy Live mode for use onstage, and a
Stealth mode that processes only louder
drum hits. Stealth mode prevents, for
example, hi-hat bleed on the snare track
from triggering samples. Drumagog Pro
also includes a synthesizer tone you can
Drum-replacement plug-in
prices: Platinum, $359; Pro, $269;
Basic, $149
Pros: Rich in features. Includes
many excellent samples and IRs.
Tight phase alignment. VSTi plug-in
hosting. Improved file browser.
Cons: Buggy reverbs. Few stereo
room and overhead mic samples
included. Auto-Hi-Hat Tracking can’t
reliably trigger 16th notes.
Features: 4
ease oF use: 4.5
sounD quality: 3
value: 4
drumagog.com
proDuct summary

mac/win
figure 1:
Drumagog’s new
GUI shows a wealth
of information
at once.
53 03.11 | emusici an.com |
tune and trigger to bolster, for example,
the low end of kick drum hits.
Drumagog Platinum includes all
of the Pro version’s capabilities and
much more. Automatic hi-hat tracking is
designed to sense, in real time, whether
the hi-hat you recorded is open (and
by how much) or completely closed; it
automatically substitutes a multisam-
ple’s articulation that matches the real
drummer’s footwork. VI plug-in hosting
lets you open any one VSTi (VST Virtual
Instrument) plug-in such as BFD2,
Kontakt, or Superior Drummer directly
in Drumagog; this immediately expands
the sample content available for trigger-
ing. Platinum’s built-in convolution reverb
includes a custom IR (impulse response)
library and can also read third-party 16-
or 24-bit IR files. If all this is still too
tame for you, the new Morph|Engine
feature continuously reshapes incoming
drum beats to create wild effects.
Grand View
Drumagog Platinum’s reorganized and
expanded GUI provides access at once
to the file browser, loaded samples,
selectable options (such as dynamic
tracking), graphic controls for fine-tuning
triggering, and a section that shows,
in turn, controls for the built-in synth,
effects, hosted plug-in, and “main” func-
tions (see Fig. 1). Main functions include
sliders for adjusting pitch, articulation
(called “position” in previous versions
of Drumagog), blend (the mix of origi-
nal sound and replacement samples),
and relative levels for any overhead and
room-mic samples—up to three stereo
samples—included in the currently load-
ed Gog (Drumagog-format) file. You can
use room samples from your own library.
Visual controls for triggering samples
(sensitivity, transient detail, and so on)
have been consolidated into one win-
dow pane and function the same as in
Drumagog 4. The synth section includes
a new, automatable resonance filter.
Store your drum samples wherever
you like—the new File Browser sees
all your hard drives and keeps track
of your favorite Gog files. Moving your
samples into Drumagog’s sample pool
is much easier than it was with past ver-
sions: Shift-click multiple samples in the
Finder, and then drag and drop the whole
lot into Drumagog.
Drumagog Platinum’s Auto-Hi-Hat
Tracking induces latency that is not
corrected by your DAW’s automatic
plug-in delay compensation. You must
slide your hi-hat track earlier in time to
compensate for the delay. Fortunately,
Drumagog Platinum displays the exact
amount of time you should slide your
track, removing any guesswork.
The convolution reverb includes
controls for selecting the desired IR and
adjusting wet/dry mix, size (reverb decay
time), pre-delay, and offset (IR start
time; see Fig. 2). As you increase the
offset, early reflections get progressively
removed from the onset of the reverb,
favoring the diffuse tail that follows.
The Morph|Engine section lets you
select a type of dynamic “morph” pro-
cessing and any of eight variations. You
can adjust the frequency spectrum and
wet/dry mix by moving a so-called Blob
around X/Y axes in a miniature GUI;
automate these controls to change your
drum sound on every beat.
Each instance of Drumagog Platinum
can load and trigger (in real time) one
VSTi plug-in (see Fig. 3). You set the
MIDI Channel and Note number that
Drumagog sends to the VSTi plug-in. A
Mix control blends the current Gog file
with the output of the hosted plug-in,
producing layered samples. Drumagog
provides a mixer that adjusts the indi-
vidual output levels and panning of VSTi
plug-ins that have multiple outputs.
TesTinG, 1, 2, 3
Drumagog’s triggering is incredibly easy
to set up and works reliably in almost
every situation. However, it’s not always
possible to trigger all the nuances of a
snare roll and weed out all mic bleed.
In contrast, Slate Digital Trigger offers a
leakage-suppression mode that directly
addresses bleed issues, allowing for
bombproof triggering, but using this
mode requires a considerably more com-
plex setup than Drumagog.
Used on a hi-hat track playing a sim-
ple quarter-note pattern, Drumagog’s
Auto-Hi-Hat Tracking reliably triggered
matching articulations (see web Clips
1a and 1b). But when the hi-hat played
spitfire 16th notes, Drumagog failed to
trigger on most of the hits unless I turned
Auto-Hi-Hat Tracking off (which defeated
automatic switching of articulations).
Drumagog’s room and overhead mic
samples were apparently recorded in a
relatively small space or fairly close to
Hear Drumagog in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Figure 2: The GUI’s Effects
section includes controls
for convolution reverb
and the Morph|Engine.
Figure 3: Drumagog’s plug-
ins section can load any
VSTi plug-in you own for
direct triggering. The output
mixer includes level and
pan controls for the hosted
plug-in’s multiple outputs (if
the VSTi includes these).
54
| emusici an.com | 03.11
the source. While they fatten up the traps
nicely, few of the included Gog files—I
counted eight—include these addi-
tional samples. That said, Drumagog’s
close-miked samples generally sound
outstanding, especially when lathered
with one of the plug-in’s better convolu-
tion reverbs. Many good electronic-drum
samples are also included.
Drumagog Platinum came loaded
with 30 IR files: various rooms, halls,
plates, chambers, and ambience. Many
of these reverbs sounded absolutely fan-
tastic, while others virtually didn’t sound
at all—the output level was that weak.
The convolution reverb needs an output
volume control—and not just a Mix slid-
er—to compensate for the wildly differ-
ing levels from program to program. The
reverbs in V. 5.03b were also buggy: On
roughly a third of the stock IRs, certain
parameter settings produced a stutter-
ing oscillation.
Selecting Toontrack Superior
Drummer 2.2.3 (SD) from a dropdown
menu in Drumagog’s plug-in-hosting
section made SD’s GUI open in a sepa-
rate window and automatically routed its
outputs through Drumagog. Easy! With
Auto Align 2 enabled, SD’s three snare
drum samples (top, bottom, and 1176)
were perfectly aligned with Drumagog’s
currently loaded Gog file and the original
snare track. I got similarly great results
using Drumagog to host Kontakt 3.5.
The Morph Engine produces a wide
variety of sounds, including whooshing
noise, stuttering repeats, and resonant
pitches. You likely won’t be using this
feature on your next country or rock mix,
but you might for electronica. If you use
the Morph|Engine, I advise you to follow
Drumagog with a compressor to tame
some of the excessively dynamic levels
this processor can generate.
Hit or Miss?
Drumagog Platinum V. 5.03b is a mixed
bag. It includes more features than any
other drum-replacement plug-in on the
market, including Slate Digital Trigger.
The plug-in hosting works brilliantly, and
the Morph Engine provides nice spice for
electronic music. But although its trig-
gering performance gets high marks, it’s
not perfect, and the number of included
room and overhead mic samples is pal-
try. WaveMachine Labs also needs to
greatly improve the reliability of Auto-Hi-
Hat Tracking and fix the buggy convolu-
tion reverbs. Judging by the company’s
excellent track record, I have no doubt
Drumagog will eventually live up to its
promise. ✱
EM contributing editor Michael Cooper
(myspace.com/michaelcooperrecord-
ing) landed a principal acting role in the
upcoming movie, The Wait.
reviews
SADiE 6 software gives you the
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57 03.11 | emusici an.com |
picks
R
oyer Labs has expanded its line
with the R-101 ribbon transducer. At
$895 list, the R-101 makes Royer quali-
ty available to those who aren’t yet ready
to shell out for the company’s R-121 and
SF-1-derived models.
The reduced pricing (about $500 less
than the company’s flagship R-121) is
accomplished by taking a ribbon assem-
bly similar to that used in the R-121 and
installing it in an outsourced microphone
body that’s heavier and larger than
Royer’s American-manufactured mod-
els. The R-101 body is definitely chunky,
weighing in at just more than a pound.
The shockmount uses all metal parts
and looks and feels very durable. The mic
screws into a threaded ring at the bot-
tom of an oversized protective basket
that looks like it was designed to hold a
condenser mic with a larger body. This
basket assembly is suspended by elastic
bands within an external ring. This ring is
attached to a swivel mount, with an easy-
to-grasp lever that loosens and locks the
mount. When attached to a boom stand,
the shockmounted mic is adjustable in
any direction.
The kit comes in a foam-lined black-
and-silver mic case. A black-fabric mic
sock is included, embroidered with the
Royer name. Unlike the more upscale
Royer mics, a wooden storage case is
not included. A downloadable manual
with recording tips is on the Royer web-
site, and includes an interesting tidbit:
Royer’s ribbon design makes it possible
to get a brighter tonality from the mic by
orienting the rear of its figure-8 ribbon
toward the source. In this placement, a
reversal of polarity is required to keep
the mic in correct phase response.
I used the R-101 at a number of
recording facilities. At San Francisco’s
Different Fur Studios while producing the
Estamos Ensemble, I set up the mic on
cellist Teresa Wong. Initially, we had used
a vintage condenser mic on her instru-
ment, but I found that the Royer conveyed
a superior woody tone, as well as offered
greater separation in a room with drums
and electric guitar. At Broken Radio, also
in S.F., Royer’s new ribbon was used to
capture the ambience of this Bill Putnam–
designed room. During the session for
local group Corpus Callosum, the R-101
sounded overly midrangy. But with some
subtractive EQ, it was usable in the mix,
adding beneficial ambience to a grand
piano that was about 6 feet away.
At my Guerrilla Recording studio
(Oakland, Calif.), I put the R-101 through
its paces. As a room mic routed through
a Sytek preamp, the Royer was again
weighted toward the midrange in its
response, but contributed a layer of clas-
sic jazz warmth to a recording of the Jayn
Pettingill Quartet. On the group’s trombon-
ist, Rob Ewing, I achieved amazing separa-
tion by carefully orienting the figure-8 pat-
tern with its null side toward a loud drum
kit 6 feet away. The trombone’s dynamics
are a challenge for any mic, and the R-101
passed with flying colors.
The mic also saw action on trom-
bone and bass trombone as part of a
brass quartet recording for composer
Aaron Novik. Paired with a Grace 101
preamp, the R-101 delivered bright trom-
bone tones and mellow tonalities that
blended perfectly but never lost their
presence. In addition, I tried the mic on
violinist Irene Sazer during a string quar-
tet recording for Novik’s project. The
R-101 held its own again on this string
session, which employed all ribbon mics,
including pricey Royer and AEA models.
I would characterize it as a bit bright in
this context and probably more fitted for
placement on viola than first violin.
I also did some comparison testing
of the R-101 to other Royer mics during
a rehearsal of the Club Foot Orchestra.
Despite minor differences in high-end
response, the two R-101s matched well
enough for use as a stereo pair. At a dis-
tance of about 15 feet from the ensem-
ble, timbre was smooth and natural, with
clear highs and a tight low end.
The frequency response of the R-121
timbre was closely comparable to that
By Myles Boisen
RoyeR ✱ R-101 Ribbon MicRophone
The R-101’s
ribbon
assembly is
similar to that
used in the
company’s
R-121.
58 | emusici an.com | 03.11
T
annoy has been a trusted name in
studio monitor technology over the
years, and the company recently rein-
troduced its Reveal line of near-field
monitors. The new models, which are
designed to offer quality and affordability,
include an active 5-inch monitor, as well
as active and passive 6-inch models. For
this review, Tannoy sent me a pair of the
5-inch 501a models ($179 each).
Disclosing the Reveal
These monitors have a modern look,
with black MDF (medium-density fiber-
board) cabinets trimmed with silver. The
front panel has an oval-shaped baffle at
the bottom and a blue LED power-status
light on the front. In addition to its 5-inch
woofer, the 501a has a 1-inch soft-dome
tweeter and an integrated 60W power
amp. The crossover frequency is set at
2.3kHz. According to Tannoy, the overall
frequency response for these monitors is
64 Hz to 30 kHz.
On the back is a rotary volume con-
trol. I wish that monitor makers would
detent these volume controls so that
when adjusted to less than 100 percent,
it would be easier to set the left and right
speakers exactly the same. The back is
also home to a three-position HF Trim
switch, which is designed to help you tai-
lor the 501a’s high-frequency response
to the acoustics of your space. The three-
position switch adjusts the volume of
the tweeter and gives you three choices:
+1.5dB, 0dB, and -1.5dB. The other con-
trol on the back is the monitor’s power
switch. I prefer front-mounted power
switches so that you don’t have to reach
around to turn them on or off, but it’s not
a major issue.
I began my testing by placing the
speakers on the raised back shelf of my
studio desk, about 8 inches above the
desk surface (essentially meter-bridge
height), on top of a pair of Primacoustic
Recall Stabilizer speaker pads. As per
the manual, I positioned them vertically,
which Tannoy says provides the best dis-
persion. They were about 3 feet from my
listening position.
The first thing I noticed when I fired
them up was that they were quite bright;
too much so for the acoustics in my stu-
dio. I turned the HF Trims to -1.5dB, which
helped. I played a variety of music through
them, and they sounded quite crisp, with
the solid, unspattered sound that you usu-
ally hear in more expensive monitors.
Considering that they have 5-inch
woofers, the bottom end on these moni-
tors was impressive. Whether reproduc-
ing the thump of a kick drum or the tonal-
ity of a bass (both electric and upright),
they did a very nice job. Most importantly,
I found them useful for judging the bass
level vis-à-vis the rest of the track, which
is always tricky when mixing. I left the
speakers in their desktop position for a
couple of weeks and used them heav-
ily in an acoustic-music mixing project.
As you would expect, the more I became
accustomed to their sound, the more
valuable they were for judging mixes.
I next tried them on speaker stands
(equipped with Auralex Mo Pads), posi-
tioned 90 degrees to the left of my mix-
ing position, about 5 feet back from me
when I turn to face them. I use this aux-
iliary listening position as a way to hear
mixes on alternate speakers in a dissimi-
lar part of the room acoustically. Again, I
was impressed with their clarity and solid
response. I liked their sound even more
at this slightly greater distance.
Overall, despite being a tad on the
bright side, the these speakers offer
good sound and value. If you’re look-
ing for a low-priced monitor with a high-
priced sound, they’re a solid choice. ✱
overall rating (1 through 5): 3.5
tannoy.com
quick picks
Tannoy ✱ Reveal 501a quick picks By Mike Levine
The Tannoy 501a, which features
a 5-inch woofer, is one of three
new models in the Reveal line.
of the R-101, with some differences on
the upper midrange and treble ranges.
Compared to a Royer SF-1, the R-101
sounded a bit thin and overly midrangy,
although I have to say it had incisive pres-
ence and a more contemporary sound
than the SF-1. The SF-1 embodies a flat-
ter, classic ribbon signature, with more
substantial and detailed response below
250Hz, and more airy highs.
Box it Up
Although priced significantly lower than
Royer’s R-121, the R-101 is a quality
ribbon mic characterized by a “ready
to mix” signature, with ample presence
and less low end than a vintage ribbon.
The accessory kit upholds high-quality
standards and adds value to this afford-
able transducer. Those who find classic
ribbon mics too dull or bass-heavy as
compared to condenser mics, or simply
too expensive, would be well-advised to
check out this newcomer. ✱
overall rating: (1 through 5): 4
royerlabs.com
59 03.11 | emusici an.com |
quick picks ViR2 instRuments ✱ Violence (mac/win)
V
IR2 Instruments’ marketing suggests
harsh, grating, mangled sounds, but
even a cursory audition of the Violence
sampler library reveals much of delicate
beauty. It harvests sounds from a single
violin that are simultaneously ethereal
and otherworldly, yet earthy and folk-
loric. Sound designer Brendan J. Hogan
plucks, taps, scrapes, fingers, and bows
different parts of the instrument and
often subjects the results to intense
processing. To be sure, some sounds
are ominous and cinematic, but just as
many are intimate and warm, and would
sit nicely in ethnic pieces and sparse
pop arrangements. Even the most pro-
cessed sounds retain traces of their
acoustic origin.
Violence is available as a down-
load from Big Fish Audio ($99.95, big-
fishaudio.com). It installs with Native
Instruments Kontakt 4 Player. It’s also
compatible with the full version of
Kontakt 4, which I used to audition the
sounds. Authorization uses the Native
Instruments Service Center, which takes
a few minutes at most.
Bow and Scrape
Violence instruments are divided into
four categories: Drum Kits, Melodic,
Pads and FX, and Tempo Synched. You’ll
also find 15 Kontakt Multis combining
several instruments.
The half-dozen patches in the Drum
Kits folder span several octaves. Some
conform loosely to Roland’s drum map,
whereas others bear no resemblance
to a traditional drum layout, and that’s
okay. Don’t expect anything approaching
a realistic drum kit; emulation is clearly
not the point of this collection. You’ll find
kits played with chopsticks, a bow, and
a filament. My favorite is the breathy,
sometimes wheezy sound of the Bow kit.
The instrument’s patch panel reflects
each kit piece’s basic parameters, allow-
ing you to edit as necessary. As always
in Kontakt, a click on the Wrench icon
opens the patch for lower-level edits.
You would be hard-pressed to iden-
tify all of the sources in the Melodic sec-
tion. You might hear a trace of rosin at
the onset of ’80s Glass Pad Synth, but
little else sounds like a violin. By con-
trast, Chopstick Zither sounds like chop-
sticks bouncing on violin strings. At first,
this patch sounds tempo-synched, but
it becomes obvious that the rhythmic
pattern was performed live and with a
loose, human feel. Claymation sounds
a bit like an electric grand piano, until a
breathy, flute-like tone begins to bloom.
Metamorph sounds like a refugee from
an early ’60s sci-fi movie: electronic and
acoustic at the same time. The patches
make tasteful use of effects without
slathering them with excess reverb or
delay, and that goes a long way toward
creating their overall warmth.
The Joy of SfX
You’ll find the most outré and impres-
sive sounds in the Pads and SFX folder.
Focean is a slowly evolving pad with
overtones suggesting muted brass,
with a lower-frequency component of
woodwinds and bow rosin—overtones
come and go in a musical way. Despite
the SFX label, these sounds are pre-
dominantly tonal, although there are a
few atonal, harmonic clouds such as
Industrial Labyrinth. Some sounds—
After the Rain and the beautiful Desert
Garden, for example—are pads with
fluttering, rhythmic, and tonal elements.
Lunar Gardens develops a chiming, inter-
nal melodic motif. Reservoir sounds like
a muted-attack organ with some looping
drawbar play.
The Tempo Synched folder has some
nice pitched rhythms, along with purely
percussive loops. There’s an excellent
mixture of natural and processed sounds
here, although I found a couple of anom-
alies: Bounce Loop appears to play out
of sync from G2 on down, although it
changes tempo with MIDI Clock. It does
allow for a few interesting polyrhythms
if your timing is good. Likewise, I had to
shift Tone and Overtone a few ticks early
to get it locked in. Harmonic Alloy has no
discernible looping rhythm, and is simply
a duplicate of a patch in the Pads folder.
One of the great benefits of sam-
pling is to provide acoustic sounds that
have no equivalent in the real world.
I’m greatly impressed by the wealth of
fresh, mostly organic sounds in Violence
(see web clip 1). The Multis run from
eminently useful (Mallets and Strings) to
awe-inspiring (Crop Circles and Hypnotic
Rhythm). It’s hard to believe that every-
thing I heard came from a single violin. If
you’re looking for imaginative and organ-
ic sounds to round out your instrumental
palette, you need to audition Violence.
overall eM rating [1 through 5]: 5
Vir2.com
By Marty Cutler
VIR2 Violence is a library of musical but
unusual sounds derived from a violin.
Listen to the weaLth of VioLence sounds ✱ emusician.com/bonus_materiaL
Don’t expect anything approaching a realistic
drum kit; emulation is clearly not the point of
this collection.
60 | emusici an.com | 03.11
quick picks Blue Microphones ✱ spark
T
here are plenty of inexpensive con-
denser mics on the market these
days, so what does the Blue Spark
($199) have to differentiate it from the
pack, besides its nifty red color and
lollipop-style capsule? Actually, quite a
bit. I’ve had one in my possession for
the past month or so, and I’ve been con-
stantly surprised by how well it does in
just about every situation I try it in.
Blue Turns red
Before getting into details on the
mic’s sound, lets talk about what you
get when you purchase Spark. The
mic comes in a fairly large (6 x 9.5
x 9.75-inch), red-stained wooden box
with a sliding top and foam compart-
ments for the mic and its accessories:
a shockmount and metal windscreen.
The shockmount is fairly large and
has a threaded cylindrical base that
you screw the microphone into. A large
thumbscrew with the Blue logo on it
adjusts the angle of the shockmount
to the stand. On my review model, the
thumbscrew didn’t always stay tight,
and occasionally it would loosen and
the mic would slip out of position.
According to Blue, the company has
updated the shockmount design,
which should solve that issue.
The pop filter comprises a metallic
mesh screen inside a circular frame,
and is just slightly larger than the cap-
sule’s surface area. Its lower section
is a metallic hoop that sits at a right
angle to the screen and slides over
the capsule. The hoop section has a
thumbscrew on the back that fits into
a threaded hole on the rear of the mic,
securing the filter in place.
The mic itself has a fixed car-
dioid pattern and its stated frequency
response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. There
is no pad or low- cut filter. The only
variable from a sound-pickup stand-
point is what Blue calls the Focus
Control, a small button on the back
of the mic that dials in an alternate
EQ curve. When it’s engaged, the mic
rolls off fairly steeply below 100Hz,
which is intended to produce a sound
that will sit in the mix better (more on
that below). The Focus Control button
resides in a recessed part of the mic,
just above the hardware that screws
into the shockmount, and you need
to make a conscious effort to fit your
finger into the slot to push the but-
ton. I’m guessing that Blue did this
intentionally to reduce the chances of
accidental switching.
Also included is a printed manual,
designed to look like a giant match-
book, in keeping with the mic’s fire-
related name and color. When you read
the manual, it becomes clear that Blue
is aiming this mic in part at the novice
recordist because there is useful tuto-
rial content on mic placement and tech-
nique for both vocals and a number of
other instruments. The manual is well-
written and is a good example of Blue’s
attention to detail.
spark sonics?
Overall, I was impressed with the sound
of the Spark. While it’s not going to make
you ditch your high-end mics, it’s very
usable and can certainly hold its own
with many mics costing twice its price.
If you look at the frequency response
graph, it has a boost in the 1kHz region,
as well as one from 8 to 12 kHz. It’s defi-
nitely a bright mic and puts forth a nice,
present sound for vocals. There’s a dip
in the lower midrange, which reduces
muddiness.
I tried the Spark on spoken and sung
vocals, and liked it for both. I used it for
voice-overs on a recent “EM Cast” pod-
cast, and by getting up close and using
the proximity effect, I was able to get a
big voice-over sound.
I miked a variety of acoustic instru-
ments with it, including acoustic guitar,
dobro, mandolin, and shaker, and it pro-
vided me with solid results in virtually all
cases. If I had to fault its sound, I would
say that it lacked a little bit in warmth, at
times feeling a tad metallic. For the most
part, I was quite happy with the results
on all sources on which I tried it.
I didn’t find the Focus Control to be
useful; activating it yielded thin-sound-
ing recordings. I preferred to keep it off,
which resulted in a much fuller sound.
Personally, I’d rather EQ a signal after
I’ve tracked it.
For just less than $200, the Spark is
a bargain. It can give you solid results in
a variety of applications. Blue has suc-
ceeded in producing a mic that performs
beyond its price range.
overall rating (1 through 5): 4
www.bluemic.com
By Mike Levine
The Spark offers good sound and
versatility at a low price point.
61 03.11 | emusici an.com |
quick picks sound Radix ✱ auto-align (Mac)
W
hen you record two or more tracks
on a single source, the sound
waves arrive at each mic (or DI box) at
slightly different times. This allows you
to obtain a sonic character that’s impos-
sible to get with a single mic. However, it
can sometimes cause problems, espe-
cially with stereo sounds, because some
frequencies will cancel out while others
build-up unnaturally.
A graphical spectrum analysis (fre-
quency vs. amplitude) of such a sound
shows a distinct pattern of steep and
regularly spaced peaks and troughs
over the entire frequency range. It looks
like the teeth of a comb and is called
the “comb-filter effect.” This phenom-
enon causes inconsistent and loca-
tion-dependent frequency response.
It occurs in theaters, studios, or living
rooms—any place where sound from
the loudspeakers reaches your ears at
different times.
Sound Radix’s Auto-Align ($149) is
an AU/RTAS plug-in for Mac (a Windows
version is coming) that gives you precise
control over time alignment when com-
bining two or more recorded tracks from
the same source. When inserted on a
track in your mix that you designate as
the timing reference, it sends sample-
accurate timing information over any
one of its own eight internal buses to
any other “satellite” tracks also running
the plug-in, and then uses the DAW’s
delay-compensation engine to make the
correction. It also detects and corrects
phase differences and polarity reversal
between the source and satellite tracks.
(Since this review was written, Sound
Radix has added a switch to the GUI that
makes it easier to compare the original
and corrected sounds.)
Let’s Auto-ALign
I tested Auto-Align in Pro Tools 9 HD on a
Mac Pro 8-core running in 64-bit mode.
The plug-in installed quickly and was
intuitive to set up and use. I tried it on a
bass guitar recording comprising sepa-
rate tracks for a DI and a miked Aguilar
amp. I listened to the two
tracks mixed equally without
Auto-Align, and they sounded
hollow and unusable (see
Web Clip 1). I inserted the
plug on the DI track (my ref-
erence) and sent out on bus
7. I also inserted it on the
Aguilar track, set it to receive
on bus 7, played the song,
and clicked the Detect button.
After a few seconds, it detected and cor-
rected both time and phase differences
with dramatic results: The mix of the two
tracks was bigger, deeper, and clearer
than just the DI or Aguilar track alone
(see Web Clips 2a and 2b).
Auto-Align also has a polarity-reverse
switch that lets you check how a track
sounds flipped, but with the time cor-
rection applied. Another useful feature
is the On/Off switch, which turns off all
correction but leaves the phase correla-
tion and spectral meters active. This is
necessary because when bypassing on
the plug’s GUI, you’ll hear its processing
latency.
CorreCt the PiAno
I also tested Auto-Align on a stereo
Synthogy Ivory piano on which I’d com-
promised the stereo width to build more
center-channel level (see Web Clip 3).
With Auto-Align correcting phase only, I
was able to maintain the original width
while getting more punch due to a
phase-accurate center image (see Web
Clip 4).
The plug-in’s GUI has a delay display
that shows the approximate distance
between the two mic sources (tracks),
expressed in your choice of samples,
milliseconds, or inches/centimeters.
The handy Prev and Next buttons allow
you to “slide” the timing of the satellite
tracks in real time, relative to the refer-
ence track—even negative values are
allowed. The Way Back Machine lives!
To use Auto-Align as an effect, I’d like
to see delay time also expressed in
musical subdivisions relative to session
tempo.
LoCk uP the room
Auto-Align will time-align a distant room
mic on a drum kit to match the close
mics. On a multichannel recording, I
used the close snare mic as my refer-
ence and sent it to a stereo Auto-Align
instance on the overheads and a mono
instance on the room track.
Correcting the overheads removed
a slight delay that smeared the overall
kit sound. The room track had a notice-
able delay in the kick drum’s attack—a
doubled attack that softened the overall
kick drum sound. The room mic didn’t
sound bad on the snare so I used the
kick drum track for reference and sent
its information on another bus to the
room track’s Auto-Align plug. I ended up
with a roomy kit sound with a sharper
attack and focus on the kick.
Auto-Align is a wonderful tool for
time- and phase-aligning multitrack
recordings. It works accurately and auto-
matically, and it takes the guesswork out
of the time-consuming process of manu-
ally sliding tracks around the time line.
overall rating (1 through 5): 4.5
soundradix.com
By Barry Rudolph
Hear How auto-align’s processing can improve a recording ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Auto-Align allows you to
correct time and phase
alignment between two
or more tracks recorded
from the same source.
62 | emusici an.com | 3.11
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66 | emusici an.com | 03.11
back talk By Mike Levine
I
f you charted the progress of French pro-
ducer/songwriter Sandy Vee’s career,
you’d see that during the past couple of
years, it’s been on a remarkable upward
trajectory. Last year alone, he had Top
10 Billboard hits with Katy Perry, David
Guetta, and Rihanna. He also recently
produced Pitbull featuring T-Pain, Nee-Yo,
and Taio Cruz. Vee is booked solid with
projects for months to come.
He gets involved in all parts of a pro-
duction, from songwriting through the
final mix. “I’m a musician first,” he says,
“and what I love to do is songs.”
He’s also a gear aficionado, a self-
proclaimed “plug-in geek,” with endorse-
ment deals from companies such as
Waves, GForce, and Softube.
Vee moved from Paris to New York
City in 2010, which has helped spur his
career growth. “It’s like a rebirth,” he
says about living and working in New
York. “It’s like a dream, really.”
Talk about your studio in New York.
I’m really lucky because I got a really
huge loft in Soho. I built a big, big booth;
it’s totally soundproof. So I’m very happy
for now; it’s great in the booth. Next year
I will buy my own apartment and build a
big, big studio.
What DAW do you use, Pro Tools?
I use Nuendo 5. I have Pro Tools 9 for the
compatibility. Here in the U.S., everybody
is on Pro Tools. What I like in Pro Tools
9 is that I can open it on my laptop, and
I can connect everything, all the audio.
Then I export AIFF, and in my Nuendo
arrangement I have all the parts. And
then I can start to arrange, tweak, add,
and mix. I feel like Nuendo is so powerful
and so stable—I really love it.
What kind of plug-ins are you using?
For mixing, I use two UAD Quad cards
with all the plug-ins. They’re really great.
Also, I’m endorsed by Waves and they
gave me the Mercury [bundle]. I love
those plug-ins. I’m also endorsed by a
company that I love, Softube. They’re
amazing; they do some great, great,
plug-ins. Rob Papen is a really cool guy.
I’m working really close [with his plug-ins].
I love SubBoomBass and Predator. And
the last one I’m testing for the last few
months for my friend Dave from GForce
is the ImpOSCar 2. I was just crazy with
the ImpOSCar 1. But with ImpOSCar 2,
it’s the big next step in plug-ins.
Typically, how long does it take you to
mix a song?
It depends on the song, but it can be
between three and five hours, generally
three to four hours.
Do you ever get to the point when
you’re mixing when you say, “I can’t
tell anymore, I’ve got to take a break
and come back to it?”
Generally, when I finish a mix. Let’s say
I mix a song in three hours. I stop and
then I want about three days off [from it].
I won’t listen to the song for three days.
And then I listen to the song and gener-
ally don’t spend more than 20 minutes
[doing final tweaks].
What’s the music scene like in Paris?
France is a small country. We have
some great talent, some very talented
people with good vibes, but the mar-
ket is really down. A friend told me
yesterday that in a week, a Top 10
single in France sells just 500 copies
a week. That’s just crazy. It’s very dif-
ferent working here.
Do you like being in New York?
The first time I arrived in the center of
Manhattan, I said, “This is the place I
want to live.” And today, I couldn’t go
back to France, I couldn’t go back. ✱
Q&A: Sandy Vee
A French producer hits the ground running in the U.S.
Sandy Vee considers
himself a “plug-
in geek.”
p
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