Electronic Musician

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A PENTON MEDIA
PUBLI CATI ON
EMUSICIAN.COM
Tips and Tricks for
Working With Loops
5 Crucial Techniques
in Pro Tools LE 8
Slice It, Sample It,
Make It Groove
OCTOBER 2010
>>REVIEWED >> IZOTOPE ALLOY > ABBEY ROAD RS124 > NEUMANN TLM 102 > KURZWEIL PC3LE > AND MORE
SOULIVE
FUNKS UP
THE BEATLES
Inside the recording of Serj Tankian’s
Imperfect Harmonies
SERJ
OF CREATIVITY
©2010 CASIO AMERICA, INC. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.PRIVIAPIANO.COM
BREAKING THE RULES... AGAIN!
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RULE #2 – IT MUST BE EXPENSIVE
The PX-3 offers four layer dynamic stereo piano samples, editable sounds, insert effects, a backlit
LCD and more. It only sounds like it costs thousands.
RULE #3 – A STAGE PIANO CAN’T CONTROL OTHER GEAR
The PX-3 allows for 4 simultaneous sounds. These can come from the PX-3’s great sound engine,
an external MIDI device or both at the same time. Use it on stage or in the studio with your computer,
the class-compliant USB MIDI interface works seamlessly on any Mac or PC.
RULES WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
The Privia PX-3 breaks all of the rules and more by delivering an extremely lightweight, high
performance, 88 note weighted action stage piano and controller at a price that is an absolute steal.
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6 | emusici an.com | 10.10
46 Kurzweil
PC3le SerieS
performance controllers
50 izotoPe Alloy
(MAC/win)
multi-effects plug-in
54 yAMAhA DtX-Multi 12
electronic percussion pad
58 QuiCK PiCKS
Abbey roAD rS124
(MAC/win)
classic compressor plug-in
neuMAnn tlM 102
condenser microphone
SoniC reAlity
SerAfine fX tron
(MAC/win)
sound library
Moog MuSiC
Mf-105M MiDi Murf
foot pedal signal processor
36 Under ConstrUCtion
Your hard drive is loaded with gigabytes of loops and con-
struction kits, and now it’s time to make some music. Here
are some ways to get things started, keep them rolling, and
speed up the most tedious parts.
24 Master Class:
Pro tools le 8 Power tiPs
For those people who just won’t RTFM but want to get things
done now, this article offers five techniques that every Pro
Tools LE user should know, but which are often overlooked.
october 2010 vol. 26, no. 10
featureS reviewS
serj of
Creativity
Serj Tankian has recorded two
solo studio albums since System of a Down
went on indefinite hiatus in 2006. The lastest,
Imperfect Harmonies, artfully mixes rock, elec-
tronic, and orchestral influences into an original-
sounding blend. Tankian recorded most of the
nonorchestral tracks in his well-appointed home
studio, and he talks here about the musical and
technical challenges of this ambitious project.
cover Story
30
24
46
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7 10.10 | emusici an.com |
columns
16 Gear Geek: eventide
H910 Harmonizer
Eventide’s first Harmonizer changed the sound of the ’70s
and beyond.
18 Pro/File: mysterious Forces
Midnight Juggernauts regard studios as musical laboratories.

20 d.i.y. musician:
Format and Function
To maximize exposure, choose the right format and ID3 tags
when releasing digital music.
22 inside talk:
FunkinG uP tHe Beatles
Soulive’s Alan Evans on the how and why of the band’s
recently released instrumental Beatles cover album,
Rubber Soulive.

42 sound desiGn WorksHoP:
in steP WitH mascHine
Make Native Instruments Maschine and
Propellerhead Reason play well together on the
step-sequencing dance floor.

44 Production central: Beat oF
a diFFerent drummer (Part 2)
More drum programming techniques, including beat
chopping, applying transient DNA, and making
programmed drums sound live.

66 in tHe mix:
everyone’s a critic
Home-grown music journalism is no substitute
for the real thing.
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.,
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8 | emusici an.com | 10.10
T
he interviews in this issue with Serj Tankian (p. 30) and Alan Evans (p. 22) both
serve to reinforce how much personal studios have become integrated into
today’s music industry. Although commercial facilities still play a major role in the
production of recorded music—especially in the pop and country realms—it’s now
almost a given that recording musicians will have home studios of some variety and
will use them to some extent in their productions.
These studios run the gamut from the high-end facilities such as those owned
by Tankian and other big-name artists—setups on par with commercial studios—to
the other extreme, which can be as modest as a DAW-equipped computer rig in a
bedroom with a couple of inexpensive mics. The common thread, though, is that
these studios are being used to produce recordings that end
up on albums, EPs, TV or movie cues, and videogames.
Yes, if you want that huge live-drum sound or you want a
vocal chain with a vintage AKG C 12, Universal Audio LA-2A,
and Neve mic pre—and you have a budget for studio time—
you’ll probably want to use a commercial studio. But the point
is that you don’t have to do that anymore. You have choices.
With a decent mic and pre, you can record good-sounding
vocals or acoustic instruments into your DAW. If you have some engineering chops,
you can get respectable drum sounds in your basement. (And there’s always the
option of using drum-replacer software later to beef up those sounds.)
If you’re doing electronic-based music, you may never need to go to a big studio.
It seems that most of today’s electronic artists work out of their own setups primar-
ily. But even in projects that do end up in major studios, often there are tracks from
the artists’ home studios that get brought in and used on the finals.
Obviously, this emphasis on home production has changed the way music is made.
There are fewer live sessions with multiple players; a much more decentralized stu-
dio scene; and more overdubbing, layering, and programming going on. And that has
caused not only changes in musical style, but the loss of livelihood for many session
players, which is one of the unfortunate side effects of the home studio revolution.
Ironically, while we now have more opportunities to get our music heard because of our
studios and the promotional power of the Internet, it’s become a lot harder to make a
living as a musician—and it was never easy. But I’m getting off subject here.
My overall point is that home recording has never been as ubiquitous as it is
now. And what was once an ironclad distinction between doing demos at home and
final tracks in a big studio has eroded greatly. Of course, I’m not quoting empirical
statistics, just anecdotal observations, but during the course of the numerous artist
interviews that I’ve done, it’s never seemed more clear that the home studio has
become an integral part of the workflow of today’s recorded music.
®
emusician.com
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PrinTeD in The usa. aLso PuBLishers of mix
®
firsT
The Personal Studio Comes of Age
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Get the whole story including videos on
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www.presonus.com • Baton Rouge USA

10 | emusici an.com | 10.10
I
n his latest plug-in, Spectral Conquest
(Mac/Win, $29, download), Andrew
Ostler of the U.K. software collec-
tive Expert Sleepers (expert-sleepers.
co.uk) uses FFT analysis and resynthe-
sis to create a flexible multiband plug-
in whose settings affect the signal in
the frequency domain that is between
analysis and resynthesis. The results
vary from precise multiband filter
sculpting to radical, band-independent
frequency shifting. The plug-in supports
MIDI, OSC, and spectral-processing
scripts, written in the LUA scripting
language (lua.org), for manipulating
the bands in real time. Whether or not
you choose to get that far under the
hood, you can dial in effects as diverse
as ultraprecise 512- band EQ and
reverse-band frequency shifting (see
Web Clip 1).
The maj or par t of Spectral
Conquest’s GUI is devoted to the band
analysis-and-resynthesis graphic. The
upper half graphs the input and output
signals, with solid bars indicating the
incoming band levels and brighter lines
indicate the output levels. The lower half
is where you draw in the resynthesized-
band levels, ranging from absolute zero
(no signal is resynthesized for the band)
to the original level. Five buttons across
the top let you quickly minimize (All Zero),
reset (All One), suppress odd or even
bands (Zero Odd or Even), and invert the
current band setup.
Scripting adds real-time control of
the bands, and several useful script pre-
sets are included. For example, the Shift
preset assigns the Param 1 knob to shift
all the bands up and down in frequency,
and because that’s taking place before
resynthesis, the effect is akin to fre-
quency shifting (as opposed to simply
shifting the bands of a graphic equal-
izer). Other scripts implement highpass,
lowpass, and bandpass filtering; band-
based threshold gating; and reversing
the bands. Download the fully functional
free version, which times out after 15
minutes, to hear for yourself. ✱
OPTION-CLICK
By Len Sasso
PLayINg fOr SPeCIaL effeCT
Play in a new way.
One popular way to add realism to elec-
tronic instruments is to mix in the real-
world squeaks, clicks, and buzzes their
acoustic counterparts produce. Some
producers even add crowd noise or room
tone for depth. (As Xbox Halo composer
Marty O’Donnell quips, “Sound makes it
real; music makes you feel.”)
But sound effects have huge emo-
tional power of their own. Renowned
FIG. 1: Serafine FX Tron (sonicreality.
com; $995) is the sound effects
library you play like an instrument.
dOwNLOad Of The mONTh

frONT
Hear an example of spectral conquest in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
ExpErt SLEEpErS
SpEctraL conquESt
Paul Manousos: C’mon C’mon
(shock and Fall)
Excellent songwriting and sparse,
evocative production highlight the
latest effort from singer/songwriter
Manousos. His distinctive voice
provides the glue.
BishoP Morocco: Bishop
moroCCo (hand drawn dracula)
This Toronto duo weaves dark and
reverberant songs that combine
influences from Brit pop to indie rock
to electronica to Roy Orbison. Very
unusual and very good.
all new// miX and EmBooKs
The all-new Mix- and EMBooks give
you in-depth tutorial tips and tech-
niques for any recording project. Now
available: Live Sound, Microphones,
Mixing: Basic, and Mixing: Advanced
at mixbooks.com.
Blog// The roBair rePorT
Our intrepid former
edi tor blogs about
all issues rel ati ng
to music technology
and of fers periodic
updates as he rebuilds
his studio from the ground up.
eM casT//
iMogen heaP
On her r ecent
El l i pse Wor l d
Tour , I mo gen
Heap improvised
and recorded a
pi ece of musi c
each night, based
on audi enc e -
provided criteria, and sold it online
to raise money for charity. She talks
here about how she did it.
Video// iZoToPe alloy
Watch examples of Alloy in action
from EM’s review (p. 50) of this ver-
satile processing plug-in.
11 10.10 | emusici an.com |
EMUSICIAN.COM
THIS MONTH ON
By Mike Levine THIS MONTH’S SOUNdTrACk


Hollywood sound designer Frank
Serafine played backward monkey
screams, pitch-bent and flanged, to add
menace to the killer Frisbees in Tron.
He also pioneered the technique of per-
forming sound effects rather than simply
pasting them in. “When I play it on a key-
board, it’s like music. It feels right,” he
told EM (bit.ly/fxtron).
Another favorite Serafine technique
is transposing sounds to harmonize
with the music. His new virtual instru-
ment, Serafine FX Tron (see Fig. 1,
and “Quick Pick” review on p. 60),
makes that easy. —DaviD Battino,
BatMosphere.coM
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The raga BoP Trio: raga Bop Trio
(aBsTracT logix)
Featuring the dynamic drumming of
Steve Smith, the stellar sax playing of
George Brooks, and the amazing and
original guitar stylings of Prasanna,
this album features a unique blend
of jazz with elements of Indian
classical music.
cloud culT: LighT ChasErs
(earThology)
The eighth album for the Minnesota-
based indie group contains 16 songs
that combine electronic, acoustic,
and rock elements. Strong material
throughout.
sPoek MaThaMBo: mshini Wam
(BBe records)
A mix of electronic and hip-hop with a
strong South African influence on this
album from Mathambo, who was born
in Soweto. Check out the unusual
synth work on many of the tracks.
Here are some of the more interesting albums that crossed my desk in the past 30 days. There aren’t a lot of common musical
threads, but all of them do share creativity, a willingness to mix styles, originality, and excellence.
DownloaD songs from many of these albums ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
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ACOUSTICS 101
FURTHER YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF STUDIO ACOUSTICS
WI TH PRO INSIDER TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
A MIXBOOKS PUBLICATION
COPYRIGHT PENTON MEDIA 2010
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NEW
By George Petersen
Audio dAmAge
Axon
Cool aNd Wild
PattErN GENEratioN
Axon ($59) from Audio damage
(audiodamage.com) is an Fm
plug-in instrument that can trig-
ger seven percussion-tuned
Fm voices from its Neuron
Sequencer. Loosely based on
the Artificial Neural Networks
concept, Axon creates outré
music rhythms and patterns
from its seven Neurons, which
can be interconnected in limit-
less ways to trigger each other,
the internal voices, and external
synth/samplers. it also offers
onboard effects/mixing and full
midi i/o capabilities (in the VSTi
version). Supported platforms
include Windows 32-/64- bit
VSTi, and 32-bit oS X VSTi and
Au instrument.
BoSS
BR-800
traCkiNG to Go-Go
The battery-powered BR-800 digital recorder ($449) from Boss (bossus.com) offers
simultaneous 4-track recording/8-track playback to and from Sd card media, with
an additional stereo track dedicated to the onboard rhythm generator. The unit has
four XLR mic inputs (one with phantom powering), two built-in condenser mics for
quick, on-the-go tracking, and a dR-880-quality rhythm generator for adding drum
and percussion tracks to songs. effects include vocal models from the Ve-20, CoSm
guitar/bass effects, and modeled acoustic-guitar body effects. Connected to a PC,
the unit will function as a uSB audio interface that lets you record to your computer
with the BR-800’s internal effects. The BR-800 can also act as a control surface
for dAW software. included are a copy of Cakewalk SoNAR 8.5 Le software, audio
loops, and backing tracks.
AVid
HD omni
NEW oPtioNs, NEW ChoiCEs
Avid (avid.com) has released a new series of recording interfaces for its
Pro Tools Hd studio production software. The most affordable of the line, the 4-in/
8-out Hd omni ($2,995) integrates several functions into a single unit. Features
include state-of-the-art conversion, two world-class mic preamps, headphone out-
puts, a full-featured surround monitor section, and a 14x26 channel mixer that func-
tions even when the computer is off—letting users listen to Cds, mP3 players,
keyboards, and drum machines without the need for an additional mixer. Requires
Pro Tools Hd version 8.1 software.
13 10.10 | emusici an.com |
iKey-Audio
M-v2 SerieS
PoWErEd PuNch
iKey- Audio’s (ikey- audio.com) new
M-v2 models feature front-firing bass
ports, soft-dome tweeters, and glass-
aramid composite woofers. Now avail-
able are the M-505v2 (5-inch woofer,
50W/25W bi-amped, $129 each);
M- 606v2 (6-inch, 65W/25W, $149
each); M-808v2 (8-inch, 100W/25W,
$199 each); and 175W M-10Sv2 (10-
inch subwoofer, $249). All have high-
frequency or crossover adjustment and
a rear-panel volume control.
ZildjiAN
Gen16
StatuS cymbalS
Zildjian (zildjian.com) digs into
its vast collection with the
Gen16 digital Vault ($179), a
two-dVd set with 24-bit samples of its rarest, most coveted
reference cymbal holdings, meticulously recorded by sam-
pling guru john emrich and presented in a custom version of
FXpansion’s BFd eco (Mac/PC) sample playback engine. Also
included in the digital Vault are libraries of drum and percus-
sion groove tracks (in audio and General Midi formats) from
in-demand drummers.
NAtiVe iNStruMeNtS
KoMplete 7
KomPlEtEly Kool
Native instruments’ (native-instruments.
com) Komplete 7 ($499) combines
24 instruments and effects and five
entirely new products with more than
10,000 sounds and 90GB of samples.
it includes Absynth 5, Battery 3.1, FM8,
Guitar rig 4.1, Kontakt 4.1, and Massive.
Also included is reaktor 5.5, which
adds modal and additive synthesis, the
lazerbass synth, and many enhance-
ments. Also new is the reflektor studio
convolution reverb; the reaktor Prism
modal synth; the traktor 12 performance
effects suite; and new Vintange organs.
Motu
MicroBooK
Pouch-SizEd PoWErhouSE
the MicroBook ($269) from Motu (motu.com) is a 4x2 audio
uSB bus-powered interface offering balanced i/o, a single
phantom-powered mic preamp, 10-bus digital mixer, and mod-
eled analog eQ and compression. it handles up to four simul-
taneous inputs and four pairs of outputs: balanced trS main
outs, stereo line outs, S/PdiF digital out, and headphone mini-
jack. the
1
⁄8-inch analog input can be used to connect an iPod
or other stereo line-level signal to be mixed with other inputs
and routed to any output pair. users can connect powered stu-
dio monitors to the main outs or stereo mini output jack.
royer lABS
r-101
bidirEctioNal bargaiN
royer labs (royerlabs.com) unveils its most
affordable ribbon microphone. like all royer
ribbon mics, the new r-101 ($895) has a
bi directional figure-8 pickup pattern. it features
a 2.5-micron aluminum ribbon motor based on
royer’s popular r-121 model, but in a 1.5-inch
diameter cylindrical body with no protruding pole
pieces. the price includes a shockmount and
carry case.
uNiVerSAl Audio
UAD2 AnAloG clASSicS
thE boNuS buNdlE
universal Audio (uaudio.com) sweetens the deal for buy-
ers of its uAd-2 Solo (from $399), Solo/laptop (from
$499), duo (from $899), and Quad (from $1,499) dSP
accelerator packages, now offered with the new Analog
Classics software bundle at no additional cost. the col-
lection includes emulations of uA’s lA-2A, 1176lN, and
1176Se compressors; the realVerb reverb; and Pultec’s
eQP-1A program equalizer. VSt, Au, and rtAS are sup-
ported on Mac and Windows.
14 | emusici an.com | 10.10
what’s new
sOUnD aDVICe By Len Sasso
Hear examples from tHese sound libraries ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Puremagnetik
ArtifAct
Puremagnetik’s (puremagnetik.com)
artifact micropak ($12 or by subscrip-
tion, download) delivers all manner of
computer anomalies and malfunctions
to your sonic palette. think aliasing; poor
quantization; clock noise; and digital
thwacks, boings, and clunks, and you’ll
have a pretty good sense of where this
300mB library starts. the sounds are
organized into six drum kits and format-
ted as ableton Live 8 instrument racks,
native instruments kontakt 3 or later
instruments, and apple Logic Pro 8 or
later channel strips. You’ll also find a vari-
ety of apple Loops (aiFF) and Live tracks
with miDi clips to demonstrate each kit.
in addition, the sampler instruments
are programmed with a complement of
effects including reverb, feedback delay,
and all sorts of sample munging. the
kits conform roughly to the gm standard
and are equally useful as replacement
kits or for layering (see Web clip 1).
HeavYocitY
EvolvE 1.5
if you’re a Heavyocity (heavyocity.com)
evolve user, the upgrade to version 1.5
($29.95, download) is a no-brainer.
if you don’t yet own evolve, it might
be the time to have a look, especially
with its reduced $299 price. evolve 1.5
is a paid upgrade for new and exist-
ing users, and half the proceeds go to
cancer research through the memorial
Sloan-kettering cancer center’s Fred’s
team program (mskcc.convio.net).
evolve 1.5 features an improved user
interface (similar to evolve mutations 2)
and adds three new master effects:
Skreamer, LoFi, and cabinet. Best of
all, its new trigger FX feature adds 12
more effects for most instrument types.
these effects are toggled on and off in
real time using miDi notes c6 through
B6. they take evolve’s extensive library
of rhythmic Suites, Percussive kits,
Stings and transitions, and tonality
and FX kits into whole new territory (see
Web clip 2).
new atLantiS auDio
Nightshift
the folks at new atlantis audio
(newatlantisaudio.com) strapped on
their night-vision goggles and set out for
nights of abandoned-cityscape recording
to create their latest release. nightshift
($49, download) has 251 24-bit/44.1kHz
aiFF recordings ranging in length from a
few seconds to nearly three minutes.
cavernous spaces figure prominently as
do all manner of industrial sounds, and
extensive processing takes it all to the
next level. nothing is easily identifiable,
which is the charm of this library, but
you’ll swear you hear voices, machines,
swamp noises, and distressed crea-
tures. Some of the sounds loop, others
fade in and out, and a number have a
wide stereo field that invites you to
pair channels from different loops. the
library includes a reason reFill with 13
sampler-based combinators loaded with
effects and configured for easy automa-
tion (see Web clip 3).
HoLLYwooD eDge
PoP rock groovEs
canadian producer robb Hutzal teamed
with Hollywood edge (hollywoodedge.
com) to produce Pop rock grooves
($99, DvD), a 1.15gB library of loops
aimed at pop-rock musicians, DJs, and
producers of all stripes. the collection of
333 loops and associated drum hits is
organized into 30 construction kits rang-
ing in tempo from 60bpm to 125bpm in
a variety of major and minor keys. kits
of similar tempo in the same key mix
and match well, and you’ll find plenty
of individual drum hits to add variety to
the drum loops (see Web clip 4). all the
loops are supplied in wav, apple Loops
(aiFF), and reX2 format. the drum hits
come in wav format, and they are also
organized into kontakt instruments.
You’ll find plenty of material here for song
starters, as well as for adding spice to
productions of all types. ✱
2010.5 for Windows
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Type in the chords to any song using standard chord
symbols like C, Fm7 or Gm7b5/Db; choose a style and
Band-in-a-Box does the rest… Generating a professional
sounding arrangement of bass, drums, piano, guitar,
strings and more. NOW using RealTracks—actual
recordings of professional studio musicians!
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from $129 USD
Can a music program create professional,
real-sounding arrangements and solos for your
songs from only a chord progression?
16 | emusici an.com | 10.10
gear geek By Geary Yelton
I
n 1974, two years after Lexicon
introduced the Varispeech—a pitch
shifter designed for processing speech,
not music—Eventide (eventide.com)
announced its first Harmonizer, the
Model H910. It began shipping the next
year with a street price of about $1,300,
and studios everywhere added it to their
racks almost immediately. According
to Eventide engineer Tony Agnello, who
invented the Harmonizer and is now
the company’s CTO, the H910’s name
pays homage to The Beatles’ song
“One After 909.”
The H910 was a rackmount device
that accepted an audio signal and gen-
erated a pitch-shifted version of that
signal in real time. The output could be
any interval within an octave higher or
lower than the original. By singing into
a microphone connected to the device,
you could harmonize with yourself. With
multiple Harmonizers, you could create
an entire chorus of voices. The H910
also had a pair of built-in digital delays,
each offering a maximum 112.5ms of
delay time, as well as a Feedback knob
for regenerating the delayed signal.
The Pitch Ratio Readout showed the
ratio between the original pitch and the
transposed pitch rather than actual pitch
names. To dial in the pitch you wanted,
you either referred to a chart or memo-
rized the ratios for musical relation-
ships. An optional, proprietary keyboard
allowed you to control pitch by playing it
in real time, and a polyphonic keyboard
could control multiple Harmonizers to
create chords from a single monophonic
sound source.
Shifting gearS
The ability to turn a note into a chord
is a real timesaver, but combined with
other digital processing, Harmonizers
exploit audio effects that would other-
wise be impossible. In addition to pro-
ducing semitone intervals, you could
apply small amounts of shift to cor-
rect a previously recorded, out-of-tune
instrument. You could use a pair of
H910s to thicken sounds by simulta-
neously detuning them sharp and flat.
By applying feedback to a pitch-shifted
signal, each repetition could be pitched
at an interval of the previous repeti-
tion, producing scales with the delay
setting determining the length of time
between tones.
Users included producer Tony
Visconti, who relied heavily on the
H910 for David Bowie’s albums Young
Americans, Low, and Lodger. The unit
contributed to hits by Steve Winwood,
Hall & Oates, and other ’80s chart-
toppers. Frank Zappa, Eddie Van Halen,
and Jimmy Page famously made the H910
part of their signature guitar sounds.
Eventide’s subsequent Harmonizers
offer longer delay times, more simultane-
ous harmonies, better fidelity, and other
improvements. Today you’ll find plenty
of plug-ins that do everything you could
with an H910 and then some, but with
greater fidelity and flexibility. Eventide’s
H910 plug-in, part of the Anthology II
TDM plug-in bundle, now comes closest
to capturing its character. ✱
Former EM senior editor Geary Yelton
lives in Asheville, N.C., surrounded by
beautiful mountains and wonderful toys.
Eventide H910 Harmonizer
The first pro-audio harmony processor and pitch shifter
Thicken sounds by simultaneously
detuning them sharp and flat.
Eventide H910 users quickly discovered new
ways of making its internal effects interact to
produce previously unheard soundscapes.
W
e went way past “intuitive”
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‘til w
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it “
d
u
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WWW.KORG.COM/PS60
It’s our most playable synthesizer ever. No complicated menus or manual diving required. We didn’t scale
back. We simplied. We didn’t remove features. We added knobs. In the end, we designed the PS60 with
only one thought in mind: your next gig. So head down to the club, take the stage and leave the menus
where they belong – on the table!
*Bonus FREE software runs your PS60 as six “hardware plug-ins” under any recording program!
Why settle for one synth when you can have two?
The PS60 can be split instantly at any key, playing different
sounds or layers on each half of the keyboard.
Find the right sound fast with 440 in-demand sounds,
divided into six popular categories. Turn on more than
one to build simple layers or massive stacks.
Dedicated knobs and buttons make it easy to add,
remove, switch, and control the built-in EQ and effects
as you play.
18 | emusici an.com | 10.10
pro/file By Lily Moayeri
T
he amorphous music of Australian
trio Midnight Juggernauts—Vincent
Vendetta, Andrew Szekeres, and Daniel
Stricker—compares with the synth-rock
of French electronic-music duo Justice,
as well as hip indie-rock. Reviews of the
band’s two albums, Dystopia (2007)
and this year’s The Crystal Axis (both
released on the group’s own Siberia
imprint), have labeled their music as
“space disco,” “stadium disco metal,”
“dirty organ rock,” and “prog rock”—all
of which they say are appropriate.
The music stems from Vendetta
and Szekeres’ individual rough sketch-
es. Both have home studios with Avid
Pro Tools, Ableton Live, a few guitars, and
a plethora of vintage synthesizers, such
as the Yamaha SS30; Roland VP-330
Vocoder Plus, JX-3P, RS-202, and SH-1;
and Wurlitzer 200A. Onstage, Vendetta
focuses on keyboards and Szekeres on
guitars, but when writing, both tend to
use synthesizers.
Because the Juggernauts spent a lot
of time on the road following the release
of Dystopia, they recorded The Crystal Axis
with a live perspective, which made for
a warmer, more organic sound. Where
Dystopia revolves around sidechain com-
pression and kicks that give it a driving
sound, The Crystal Axis is less about com-
pression and more about openness. And
yet, there are songs on The Crystal Axis
that are composed of up to 120 tracks.
“What sounds like one or two main
parts is [actually] 15 synthesizers; then
there are drums and different percussion
layers, then the guitar layers,” Szekeres
says. “The vocals are heavily multi tracked.
[In] a song with a five- or six-part harmony,
where each vocal is double-tracked and
there are [also] five backing ‘oohs’ and
‘aahs’ that are doubled each time, that’s
already 25 to 30 tracks of vocals.”
At one point, all of the band’s equip-
ment was set up at Sing Sing Recording
Studios (Melbourne, Australia). There, they
re-recorded some songs through Roland
RE-201 Space Echo delay units, creating
duplicate tracks with lots of effects for
a giant wall of sound. For “Vital Signs”
(see Web Clip 1), they re-recorded the
guitar through a Space Echo, which was
Sing Sing engineer Chris Moore’s idea. In
addition to multitracking the guitars and
creating backward guitar, they reversed
those elements when recording into a
Neve VR60 console and then lined them
up to create the melody on the song.
To obtain dead-sounding drum
tracks, Stricker was confined to a make-
shift room made of sound baffles. He
also hit anything in the studio that pro-
duced a hollow or dense metal sound—
such as seats and walls—on top of a
variety of shakers and tambourines.
“Wind of Fortune” (see Web Clip 2)
is stripped back in the verses for a ’70s
AM radio pop sound. For this effect,
the band created ambient layers with
drones—using an ARP 2600 and a
Moog modular—and placed them sub-
tly underneath the song, which gives
it an instant science-fiction tone. The
Juggernauts also credit the ARP Solina
String Synthesizer, which is a hybrid of
an ARP Solina String Ensemble and ARP
Explorer, for this sound. “It has this filter
and a built-in monophonic analog synth,”
Szekeres says. “You can get the strang-
est, spacey sound. It is the arpeggiated
sound on the chorus of ‘Dynasty’ and on
the intro to the album.” ✱
Mysterious Forces
The Midnight Juggernauts use unconventional techniques to create musical hybrids
✱ midnight juggernauts ✱
Home base: Melbourne
and Sydney, Australia
Go-to vintage synthesizers: ARP Solina
String Synthesizer, Roland VP-330
Website: midnightjuggernauts.com
Midnight Juggernauts, from left: Daniel Stricker (drums), Andrew Szekeres
(bass/guitar/keys), and Vincent Vendetta (lead vocals/keys/guitar/bass)
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Hear excerpts from tHe new album ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
AKAIPRO.COM
Dedicated tagging
software such as
MP3Tag (Win) let
you keep your ID3
tags consistent
across your
whole catalog in
many formats.
R
eleasing music used to be simple:
You’d make a CD and hand it to
someone. But today, thanks to the
Internet, music has been reduced to
digital files. Choosing the right formats,
settings, and fields can have some sur-
prising benefits if you do it right. It can
win you more fans, bring more people
out to shows, let you find out who is
playing your music, and even get you
more income from Performance Rights
Organizations (PROs).
When it comes to the format, most
musicians make just one version of each
song, but it’s better to make two. One
should be an MP3 because it’s still the
most popular format for music fans and it
plays on more devices than WMV, AAC, or
OGG. Make sure you encode your MP3s
at decent quality settings (192kbps or
better, with variable bit rate), but keep in
mind that even with such settings, the
data compression of the MP3 format will
compromise quality somewhat.
Because of this, it’s a good idea
to make a second file for each song in
a lossless format. Although most musi-
cians use uncompressed WAV or AIFF
files, consider using a lossless codec like
FLAC. Not only is FLAC a perfect reproduction of the music, it
produces a much smaller file than does WAV or AIFF. FLAC also
allows you to embed information into the file itself so it can be
displayed by a music player. For instance, you can add artist,
album, song, and international standard recording code (ISRC)
information, which is not possible in most WAV formats.
Before you distribute any music, make sure the ID3 tags
in your files are completely filled out because they are used by
more than just MP3 players. For example, once you sign up for
a free account on Eventful (eventful.com) and add your shows
to its calendar, fans that use the site’s Artist Tracker feature
and who have your songs in their iTunes or Last.FM collections
(assuming you’ve properly tagged them) will be automatically
notified when you’re playing in their area. Or perhaps you want
to know who your fans are and when they are listening to your
music. The popular music service Last.FM uses the ID3 tags to
record the song plays of each of its users, and it can show you
who your fans are and what songs of yours they’re listening to.
You can use players such as iTunes or WinAmp to fill out
ID3 information. When you do, make sure at a minimum to fill in
the artist, album, copyright, genre, and lyrics, and add a blurb to
visit your website in the comments section. Don’t forget to also
embed album art in the tag information, as most players now
make listening to music a visual experience. The more fields you
fill out, the better connection you provide to your listeners.
Possibly the least known, but most advantageous, ID3
field is the ISRC tag, which performance rights organizations
like ASCAP or BMI use to more easily find out where you are
being played. This could result in earning you performance
royalties. You can’t add the ISRC tag with regular
MP3 players; you often will need to use dedicated
tagging software such as Tag and Rename, MP3Tag,
or ID3Renamer—some of which are free. These pro-
grams also make it easier for you to keep the tags
consistent across all of the music you distribute. Most
of these programs will allow you to also tag other for-
mats such as FLAC.
If you do this right, your own music will act as a
promotional tool—keeping your name front and cen-
ter with your fans, and even earning you more perfor-
mance income. And when your fans want more music,
they’ll know where to find you. ✱
Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan are the authors of
The Indie Band Survival Guide (IndieGuide.com).
✱ D.I.Y. MusIcIan ✱
Format and Function
By Jason Feehan and Randy Chertkow
Feehan Chertkow
20 | emusici an.com | 10.10
22 | emusici an.com | 10.10
inside talk By Mike Levine
C
overing material as firmly entrenched
in the public consciousness as The
Beatles’ repertoire can be risky. Play it too
close to the original, and you’ll be thought
of as copycats; deviate too far, and you
might alienate the people you’re trying to
reach. The funky trio Soulive managed
to tread that line successfully on Rubber
Soulive (Royal Family Records), the band’s
13th studio effort. They were able to stay
true to the spirit of 11 Beatles classics
while imbuing them with a stamp all their
own. The song list includes “Drive My Car,
“Taxman,” “In My Life,” “Eleanor Rigby,”
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “Come
Together,” “Something,” “Revolution,”
“Help!,” “Day Tripper,” and “While My
Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Soulive’s instrumental renditions of
these songs are funky, often-jazzy (but
not smooth-jazzy), and have a slightly
rough-edged feel. Alan Evans’ drums are
solid and grooving throughout, and Eric
Krasno (guitar) and Neal Evans (organ)
split the melodies and soloing duties.
Rubber Soulive was recorded and
mixed by the band at Playonbrother
Studios, the Western Massachusetts
project studio that belong to Evans
(see a video tour of the studio at
emusician.com). I recently spoke to him
about the project.
How did you guys decide to do a Beatles
cover album?
Well, Eric recorded a Beatles tune on
his solo album—he did “Get Back”—
but we didn’t play on it; some other
cats that he plays with were on it. But
we’d always kicked around the idea
about doing some Beatles tunes live,
but we never did. So after Kraz did that
tune, it kind of got the conversation
going again. I guess we were just kind
of at a point where it was time to record
another album, and it seemed like
the timing was right. It kind of helped
because that was right when all of The
Beatles’ remastered albums came out.
It was just all around us at that point so
it seemed kind of obvious; the timing
was right.
Was it at all intimidating to be doing
material that’s so universally revered?
Not really. Honestly, the funny thing about
the whole process was that before we
started, we all had ideas of what tunes
we’d want to do. And then when we got
into the studio, between all of us, we had
all of the new remasters. So we basically
listened to every Beatles tune that any-
body could possibly hear in the public.
One thing I’ve found about The Beatles’
material is that the chord changes
sound simple, but they’re incredibly
brilliantly put together and subtle.
Oh, yeah. That’s really the genius of it.
Right there, that’s just the perfect exam-
ple of perfect songwriting. These cats
just wrote stuff that’s like, “Oh, yeah,
that’s cool; that’s good pop music and
it’s easy to digest right off the bat,” so
you pull a lot of people in quickly. If you
Funking Up the Beatles
How Soulive recorded instrumental versions of 11 Fab Four classics
Soulive, left to right: Neal Evans,
Eric Krasno, Alan Evans
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23 10.10 | emusici an.com | Hear excerpts from tHe album and take a video tour of tHe studio ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
really start to examine the tunes, it’s
really crazy. I mean, it’s really brilliant
stuff. Obviously, as everyone knows,
[Beatles producer] George Martin had a
big hand in a lot of that. You know what
really amazed me? We were in Santa
Cruz [Calif.] right when we started talk-
ing about this, and we walked into some
guitar shop, and they had The Beatles:
Complete Scores.
The one with all the parts written out?
Yeah, so we open up this book and we
start checking it out, and I think there
might be one picture in the book—I think
[laughs]. I mean this thing—there’s no
filler. They’re just all tunes. I mean,
tunes, tunes, tunes. We were just com-
pletely blown away.
So you picked out the songs and then
you had to arrange them. That’s got to be
the hardest part of this kind of process:
“How do we make it interesting and stay
somewhat faithful to the original, but
also put our own sound into it?”
We just approached that like we view
our own tunes when we’re in the studio.
It’s like, “Hey, what makes sense? Who
wants a solo? Which instrument makes
sense to carry the melody?” We just
kind of worked through it until we got
something we liked.
You definitely put your own stamp on
it. For instance, “Revolution” was a
shuffle in the original version, and
you changed it to a funky 16th-note
straight-four feel (see Web Clip 1).
But it worked great. And you took a
few liberties with the chord changes in
“Help.” Were you worried that people
were going to respond badly to those
kinds of things, or were you pretty sure
they would be cool with it?
To be honest, I don’t think we really
cared. Over all the years we’ve been
together, one of the things that we’ve
learned is that you can’t please every-
one. So the thing is, if we come out with
something that we really enjoy and that
we can listen to and that we’re really
feeling, then we would hope that the
people who listened to us over the
years are going to dig it because they
dug other things that we’ve done. And
hopefully some new people will appreci-
ate what we’re trying to do. The thing
is, on top of that, what’s the point
of recording a tune exactly the way
they did it?
Talk about recording it. I’ve seen your
studio. I’m guessing that you recorded
it live, but you and the guys were in the
main room and then the amps were in
those side rooms.
Yeah, exactly.
Did you do anything different in terms
of how you miked up your drum kit to
sound more Beatle-like? It doesn’t
sound like you did.
No. The only thing I did differently
for most of the album is I might have
changed the kick drum. Most of the
sessions I do in the studio here, most
things I do, I use a 22-inch kick drum.
And for whatever reason, I changed it to
a 20. I have no idea why; I was just like,
“Oh, well, whatever.” I didn’t do anything
different at all, really, in terms of my mik-
ing. The only thing Neal did, which was
different, is that he just used the organ.
Neal usually uses his key bass and clav
and all that kind of stuff, and this one
was straight organ.
And he was doing all the bass with his
left hand?
Yeah, exactly.
For your approach drumming, were you
thinking Ringo in any parts? It didn’t
sound like it, but I’m just wondering.
You guys play so differently.
No, no. The only tune that I was actu-
ally really thinking of another drummer
was “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
[see Web Clip 2]. It’s kind of funny;
all of us approached it as if we were
The Police. I was just doing straight
Stewart Copeland on that [laughs].
Did you mix the whole thing in your
studio?
Yeah. The funny thing about that is
that I guess we were listening to all the
remasters and everything, and I got my
ear kind of in tune on that stuff. So I did
a couple mixes and I sent them to Eric
and Neal, and they were definitely on
the hi-fi side of things. And they were
like, “Yeah, man, they sound cool.
Maybe could you approach it more like
old school? Make it sound more along
the lines of the Up Here [Soulive’s
2009] album; make it sound like it’s
not a new album.”
When you say “on the high side,” you’re
talking frequency-wise?
Well, yeah, kind of frequency-wise, and
just like the placement of things. There
was more of a stereo, wider—more
depth to it. We just put some dirt on it.
What were some of the things you
did to achieve the more “old-school”
sound?
It’s just things you do in mixing. Certain
pieces of gear or plug-ins. A lot of it just
has to do with combinations of filtering
and certain compressors. I’ve found a
way to get that sound, which has become
our thing as of late. ✱
Mike Levine is EM’s editor and senior
media producer.
Rubber Soulive is the band’s 13th
studio album since 1999.
24 | emusici an.com | 10.10
D
espite a Reference Guide that stretches
beyond 1,000 pages, as well as a handful
of additional guides and manuals, there is so
much you can do with Pro Tools LE that it can
be overwhelming to approach the documen-
tation directly. (Tough, to Avid’s credit, the
guides are easy to navigate.) For those who just
won’t RTFM but want to get things done now,
this article offers five techniques that every
Pro Tools LE user should know, but which are
ofen overlooked.
One of the things that sets Pro Tools
apart from the competition is its elegant rout-
ing system, yet it’s the simplest application
of the sends and buses that ofen intimidate
Pro Tools users. I’ll explain a couple of ways
the pros use them to get the most creative mile-
age, with a fun technique at the end for fans of
old-school, tape-speed effects.
Troughout the article, I’ll offer keyboard
shortcuts whenever possible. Command/
Control indicates that on the Mac you use
Command, while on the PC you use Control
as part of the key sequence.
Printing EffEcts
Unlike in an analog mixer, the insert section
in Pro Tools is post-fader. This means that
even though you may have effects plug-ins on
your track while you record, you’re not record-
ing—or printing, as we say—those effects to
disk. Tat’s a good thing when all you want
to do is give singers some reverb around their
voices. On the other hand, if you want to keep
that awesome sound you’re getting from your
amp-modeling plug-in, you’ll need to use an
aux track to host the plug-in and then route its
output, using a bus, to an audio track to cap-
ture the processed signal.
Begin by creating an aux track that will
serve as your main audio input (Track > New,
or Command/Control+Shift+N). If you’re
playing guitar, a mono track will do, but if your
input is stereo, create a stereo aux track. Te
aux track serves as the effects conduit that will
feed other tracks. So if you’re recording a lead
guitar part, this is the track in which you will
load your favorite amp-modeling plug-in.
Notice that the aux track doesn’t have a
Record Enable button like audio tracks do. You
need to create a destination, so hit Command/
Control+Shif+N to open the track dialog box
again and create the number of destinations
tracks you want. (Typically, I’ll create the aux
and audio tracks at the same time, but for the
sake of clarity, I’m doing them separately here.)
To feed audio to your destination track,
use a bus in the I/O section rather than one
in the Sends area because you don’t want to
hear the unprocessed track while you play. (If
you were to use a send in the aux track, and
kept its output tile set to Out 1-2, you’d hear
both parts—processed and unprocessed—at
the outputs, which gets annoying when you’re
playing.) Terefore, select an unused bus for
your aux track’s output—let’s say bus 7 for
feature
Pro Tools LE 8 Power Tips
Speed up your workflow with these five essential techniques
By Gino Robair
25 10.10 | emusici an.com |
FIG. 1: The aux
track (left) hosts my
plug-in and routes
it to the middle
track. The right
track records the
unprocessed signal,
which I’ve noted in
the comments fleld
at the bottom.
FIG. 2:
Select
Playlists in
the Track
View tile to
see all of
the alternate
playlist lanes
when you’re
done loop
recording.
now—and then select the same bus number as
your input for your destination track. Hit the
Record Enable button to see if you’re getting
signal when you play (see Fig. 1).
Remember that your input gain setting
should be set at the interface. In the case of an
electric guitar, plug into the DI input, push the
DI button to set the initial gain level, and then
set the input trim control on the interface itself
so that your signal is not overloading.
In the Mixer window, the amount of sig-
nal you send to your destination track will be
determined by the aux track’s fader level. To
get the best signal-to-noise ratio and use the
most bits possible, make sure your input signal
is hovering in the 75-percent range of the aux
input’s meter—mostly in the yellow zone and
rarely (if ever) hitting the red.
At this point, you should be able to hear
your processed guitar from your destination
track. You can set the fader level of the destina-
tion track to whatever is comfortable because it
doesn’t aect the signal while you record—it’s
for monitoring only. Set it to a listening level
that inspires your playing. (Unfortunately, it
doesn’t go to 11.)
While you’re tracking that killer guitar
tone from your modeling plug-in, it’s also a
good idea to record an unprocessed version of
your part just in case you want an alternative
tone later on. To get that, create a new audio
track with the same input that is going to your
aux track, hit Record Enable, lower the fader
to zero (so you don’t hear the dry guitar part),
and hit Record.
A good habit to get into is naming the
tracks (by double-clicking on the name tile) in
a way that will make it easy during mixdown
to see what’s there. And be sure to add notes in
the Comments section (View > Mix Window
View > Comments) below each track when you
record multiple tracks in this way. Comments
provide a good way to remember a patch set-
ting, show a collaborator what you did to get
that sound, or tell the mixer how to treat the
track. Fig. 1 shows my annotations for this
particular set of tracks.
Loop RecoRdInG, compInG
A common practice in the studio is to create
the perfect vocal or instrumental track from
several alternate takes by cutting and past-
ing the best sections together. ffis is called
comping (short for compositing). You can set up
Pro Tools so that it repeats the section and
automatically records and names take after
take. ffis process is called loop recording.
Pro Tools will automatically create a new
playlist on the same track for each alternate
take. ffink of each alternate take, or playlist,
as a virtual track below the main playlist (the
top track that plays back). Although you could
manually create a new playlist and then record
each take individually, using the loop-record
function lets you stay in the groove by not
interrupting your creative Tow. (It also works
best if you’ve chosen beginning and end points
for the loop that aren’t too distracting.)
A bit of setup is required to make this
process run smoothly. Begin by going to the
Record section of the Operation page under
Preferences (Setup > Preferences > Operation).
Check the box next to Automatically Create
New Playlists When Loop Recording, and
then click the OK button.
If you want to see all of the alternate-take
playlists automatically fan out below your
main playlist when you stop recording, change
the Track View tile from Waveform to Playlists
(see Fig. 2).
You can also set an amount of pre-roll time
before you begin loop recording, so select some-
thing that makes sense musically to get you into
the section. However, you will only hear the pre-
roll material once before you begin loop record-
ing. If you want to give yourself a bit of pre- and
post-roll on either side of the part you’re track-
ing, select loop points that give you the extra
beats or bars before and afer the section.
To set Pro Tools into Loop Record mode,
select Loop Record from the Options menu
(or simply right-click on the Record button
in the Transport window until the circular
arrow appears on it). Also be sure that you’ve
selected Link Timeline and Edit Selection in
the Options menu.
In the Edit window, use the Selector tool to
click and drag over the area in the audio track
where you want to record. If the beginning or
end of the area needs to be adjusted, hold down
Shif and drag near either side until the edges
of the selection are in the correct place.
Record Enable your track, and then hit
the Record button followed by Play to begin
recording (Command/Control+Spacebar). If
you’ve set a pre-roll amount, Pro Tools will
begin playing the session, but it won’t actu-
ally start recording until the cursor enters the
selected region (loop zone). But once recording
begins, it will loop the selection until you hit
the spacebar to stop the session.
Now it’s time to create your composite
track. To do this, you’ll want to see all of the
alternate takes you recorded. If you set the
Track View tile to Playlists before loop record-
26 | emusici an.com | 10.10
✱ Pro Tools lE 8 PowEr TiPs ✱ fEaTurE
ing, you’ll already see each take in its own
playlist lane once you stop loop recording.
If you only see one playlist, select the region
you just recorded and right-click to get the
popup menu. Ten select Matches > Expand
Alternates to New Playlists to view all of the
playlist lanes.
Let’s say you have eight takes of a solo,
each with its own playlist. Choose the best
parts of each alternate take and automatically
paste them to the top position (the main play-
list). To listen to an alternate playlist lane, use
its Solo button. Ten select the portion you
want to move to the top, right-click on the
region, and then select Copy Selection to Main
Playlist (Edit > Copy Selection To > Main
Playlist). Te shortcut is Option/Control+V to
paste the selected region into the main playlist
(see Fig. 3).
Te most efficient way to create a comp is
to begin with the take that includes the most
material that you’ll keep, and then paste the
corrective sections from the other takes into it.
If the better of the takes isn’t the main playlist,
select the current main playlist, right-click to
get the menu, and under Matches pick the take
you want to be on top (see Fig. 4).
Once you’ve created your perfect take, you
can hide the playlist lanes by right-clicking on
one of the name tiles for a playlist and selecting
Filter Lanes > Hide All Lanes. To create a sin-
gle audio file of the comped regions, select the
entire solo and choose Consolidate under the
Edit menu (or use Option/Control+Shif+3).
Beyond the Bounce
The Bounce to Disk feature is the primary
way that beginner and intermediate Pro Tools
users create and export a mix. However, when
you bounce a mix, you are locked out of mak-
ing changes to your session as it plays back
in real time. In addition, many experienced
Pro Tools users say that the audio results
aren’t as high as what you’d get when you do a
layback—in essence, re-record you entire mix
as a stereo track back into Pro Tools. Once
you’ve done that, you can drag the resulting
stereo file out of the Audio Files folder as a pair
of mono lef-and-right files, or export it as a
stereo interleaved file using the Export Regions
as Files command. Remember, the file you
layback will be at the same resolution as your
session: You cannot create a 16-bit, 44.1kHz file
from a 24-bit, 96kHz session using this meth-
od. If you need to do that, use Bounce to Disk.
You can also use a layback to create sub-
mixes and stems—any situation where you
want to create a mono or stereo file from a
number of tracks—either because you’ve got
more tracks or voices than you can play back
or because a client has asked for them. In this
example, I will focus on creating a final mix
from a simple multitrack session that includes
audio and instrument (virtual instruments
controlled by MIDI) tracks.
Although doing a layback is simple, a cou-
ple of conditions have to be met. First, you have
to make sure you haven’t exceeded the number
of voices you can work with in your Pro Tools
session. (Tis is not a problem in this example
session, with seven audio and three aux tracks.)
Second, under the Options pulldown menu,
select Link Timeline and Edit Selection and de-
select Loop Record and Loop Playback.
Next, create a stereo audio track that will
be the destination and name it something use-
ful. (I’ve called it Layback in this example.)
To easily locate it in the Mix and Edit win-
dows, I’ve also dragged it to the right of the
Master Fader in the Mix window. (It’ll also
appear below the Master Fader track in the
Edit window.)
Leave the layback track’s output set at Out
1-2, but change the input to an unused pair of
FIG. 3: The main playlist contains my
comped guitar solo, built from the
playlists below. I added a crossfade
between the first two regions to
smooth out the transition.
FIG. 4: Move an alternate playlist into the main position by
right-clicking and selecting it under Matches.
28 | emusici an.com | 10.10
✱ Pro Tools lE 8 PowEr TiPs ✱ fEaTurE
buses. (I’ve selected Bus 9-10.) Next, change
the output for every track you want to include
in the layback to match the bus tracks used as
the input for the layback track (see Fig. 5).
Click the Record Enable button on the
layback destination track, hit Return to start
at the beginning of the session (or select the
amount of the song you want to record in the
Edit window), and then hit Play. You should
see the meters moving in the destination track
and the Master Fader.
Before you begin recording, play the track
through once to make sure that none of the
sections in your mix cause the meters in the
layback track to go into the red. If they do,
figure out which tracks are the culprit and
adjust the fader levels to correct the prob-
lem. Ten hit Record and Play (Command/
Control+Spacebar) to ini-
tiate recording and create
your mix. When it’s done,
hit Save.
At this point, you
may be wondering how
to use insert effects on
the master bus—reverb,
compression, limiting—
and have them print
onto your layback files.
To do that, you’ll use a
similar technique that
you used in the previous
section of this article:
You add an aux track
with the effects before
the layback destination
track (see Fig. 6).
Create a stereo aux
track, assign the input
to an unused stereo
bus, and then assign the
outputs of the playback
tracks to the same bus.
Next, assign the aux
output tile to another
unused stereo bus and
match it to the input
of the layback track.
Finally, assign the insert effects you want to
use on the aux track, Record Enable the lay-
back track, and you’re ready to record with
effects. Again, play the track once through
before you record to make sure that the
effects are not causing any overs or changing
the music in a negative way.
How HigH tHe Moon
As a reward for getting this far, let’s finish with
something fun: half-speed record mode. Yes,
it works just like it does with a tape deck: As
you record, the session plays back at half-speed
while your instrument sounds at the correct
pitch. When you’re done recording, play the
session back at regular speed, and the part you
just recorded will sound twice as fast and an
octave higher, just like it did when Les Paul
and Frank Zappa used this technique to fill
out their orchestrations.
The technique in Pro Tools is simple.
Prepare your audio track to record as you
normally would, and then put it in Record
Enable mode. As you simultaneously hit the
Record and Play buttons in the Transport
window, hold down Shif (or use Command/
Control+Shif+Spacebar), and the session will
begin recording at half speed.
If you want to play your session back at
half-time for transcription or lick-learning,
Shif+Spacebar does the trick. Although you
can’t record the slowed-down session using the
layback technique discussed earlier, the RTAS/
AudioSuite plug-in Flashback ($199, or $19.90
for 31 days) from Synaptricity (synaptricity.
com) can do it. Because Flashback records in
the background as you work, it will capture
half-speed playback faithfully, as well as any-
thing you do with the Scrubber tool. Te plug-in
opens up a new world of sound-design possibili-
ties in Pro Tools, and I highly recommend it. ✱
Gino Robair is editorial director for Gearwire.com
and a former editor of EM. Special thanks to
Brian Smithers.
Fig. 6: You can print effects during a layback by
using an aux track before the destination track.
Fig. 5: I’ve routed all of the track outputs to Bus 9-10
and matched the input for the destination track.
Tere is a never-ending stream of how-to
books for this ubiquitous DAW. Here are five
recommendations for casual to intermedi-
ate recordists, beyond the Reference Guide
that comes free with Pro Tools.
Pro Tools 101 Official Courseware, Version 8
(Course Technology PTR, 2009)
Gina Fant-Saez: Pro Tools for Musicians and
Songwriters (Peachpit Press, 2006)
David Franz: Producing in the Home Studio
With Pro Tools (Berklee Press, 2008)
Andrew Lee Hegerman: Pro Tools LE 8
Ignite! (Course Technology PTR 2010)
Brian Smithers: Mixing in Pro Tools: Skill
Pack (Course Technology PTR, 2009)
suggEsTEd rEading

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keyboard provides an expressive experience for players at every level. Need an extra set of hands, a powerful
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30 | emusici an.com | 10.10
A
lthough Serj Tankian came to promi-
nence as System of a Down’s lead
singer, he makes it pretty clear that rock
music is only part of his musical reper-
toire. “I don’t just write rock,” he says. “I
have about 400 or 500 unreleased piec-
es and songs, some of which I utilized
for the musical I’m doing. I use some for
videogames, I use some for films. I do a
lot of different types of music, from elec-
tronic to jazz to classical to rock to metal
to punk to hip-hop to whatever.”
The multitalented Tankian has been
busy since System went on indefinite hia-
tus in 2006. His first solo album, Elect
the Dead (Warner Bros., 2007), was a
rock record, but he followed it up with a
live-recorded orchestral re interpretation
of that release with the Auckland
Philharmonia Orchestra, which he put out
in March of this year as a CD/DVD called
Elect the Dead Symphony (Warner Bros.).
His new album, Imperfect Harmonies
(Warner Bros.)—much of which was
recorded in his 1,000-square-foot L.A.-
area home studio—brings together his
musical influences by blending rock,
orchestral, and electronic music into a
cohesive collection of songs centered
around his unmistakable vocal stylings.
Paralleling the stylistic mélange,
Tankian used a wide assortment of soft-
ware during production, including Avid
Pro Tools, Apple Logic Pro, Propellerhead
Reason, and Sony ACID Pro.
Talk about the new album, musically.
There were two major influences that I
wanted to fuse. One was the electronic
side and the other one was the orches-
tral—one was synthetic, the other was
organic—and in a normal sense, they
don’t really belong together in the same
kind of sound palette. They just don’t jibe
well together. So there were a lot of chal-
lenges in trying to make everything really
flow as one thing.
How much of this album did you record
in your studio?
Most of it except for the live orchestra.
Everything I recorded in my studio—I
engineered it, I produced it. I wrote the
arrangements for the live strings, with
25-piece strings and seven-piece brass
that were recorded live. Besides that,
there’s a lot of sampled instrumentation
on strings, brass, woodwinds, and per-
cussion. Then you have the live drums,
bass, live guitars, acoustic guitars, pia-
nos, synths, samples, beats—like nine,
10 types of beats per song sometimes.
[There were] anywhere from 150 to 200
tracks per Pro Tools session going. It
was more like scoring a film than making
a rock album, as far as the process.
When did you start working with
orchestras?
About a year-and-a-half, two years ago,
I did this live show with The Auckland
Philharmonia Orchestra. And to make that
show happen, I had to rearrange all my
songs from my first solo record, Elect the
Dead, into full orchestral arrangements
for a 70-piece orchestra—without the
band, you know. No drums, no guitars, no
bass, et cetera. So from that, we ended
up with a live CD/DVD that we put out
about three months ago on Warner, and
we sent that out as kind of like a calling
card to different orchestras around the
world. I’m now in Atlanta finishing a tour
with different orchestras. We played with
the Czech National Symphony Orchestra
in Prague and Berlin; we played with the
Bruckner Orchestra in Linz in Austria;
we played with the Globalis Orchestra in
Moscow—a 70-piece orchestra in front
of a 6,000-person sold-out crowd. It’s
been fun.
What material were you doing with
those orchestras?
Mostly the stuff from the Elect the Dead
Symphony.
Which were originally rock songs?
Yes. All the songs from my first solo
record, which was a rock record.
Synthetic, orchestral, and rock elements are fused
in Serj Tankian’s Imperfect Harmonies By Mike Levine
P
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31 10.10 | emusici an.com |
32 | emusici an.com | 10.10
my first solo record, just
like I did with songs I’d
written for System. And
then I start adding lay-
ers. For Elect the Dead, I
would start with guitars or
drums. Mostly I’d do the
drums, and then I’d add electric gui-
tars—two, three different variations of
melodies—and then bass and whatnot.
And in this case, after piano or acous-
tic guitar with vocals, I would add the
orchestra—I would do all my orchestral
arrangements—and then I would do all
the electronic beats. And then I would
do all the rock instrumentation.
How much of the instruments did you
play on this album?
Other than live orchestra, about 85, 90
percent, I guess.
So you also played the drum parts?
No, I didn’t do the live drums. I pro-
grammed all the beats and then had a
live drummer, the guy that plays with me
on tour. I’ve done all the pianos, most
of the guitars—although my friend Dan
Monti, who plays with me on tour, did
a couple of the guitars on a few of the
songs. But I did most of the guitars. I
did all the sampled stuff, all the beats;
I wrote all the orchestral arrangements
and recorded the orchestra. I then had
my drummer and bassist play on top
on most of the songs. They didn’t all
have drums and bass—most of them
do. And I had a few vocalist friends—
an opera singer, female opera singer,
and another friend of mine, Shana
Halligan, who’s like this beautiful jazz
vocalist. She sang on some of the
songs with me.
Initially when you were arranging the
orchestral parts, did you use samples?
I used sampled strings, sampled brass,
and I used MIDI so I could write every-
thing and then quantize it, throw it into
Sibelius, print out scores, and fix them
so that live ensembles can play them.
What were you using for sounds when
you were writing the stuff? Do you have
an orchestral library that you like?
I have a number of them. I have a bunch
of stuff from the Vienna Symphonic
Library. I’ve got EastWest Play, Quantum
Leap Symphonic Orchestra Platinum
Complete; I love the brass from
Sonic Implants. There’s a bunch of
different ones.
Do you have classical training in terms
of being able to write out the parts?
I’ve never studied music; I’ve never stud-
ied singing; I’ve never studied anything.
That’s impressive. Classical arranging
isn’t something that’s easy to pick up.
Thanks. Everything I’ve done musically
and artistically has been groping in
the dark and eventually gets there and
somehow works for me.
Do you have an orchestrator or arrang-
er that you work with?
I did with the Elect the Dead Symphony;
I had an orchestrator. So with that one,
that was my first experience in writing for
orchestra. And with that one I just wrote,
you know like cello, viola, violin 1 and
2, and then a few brass melodies, and
then had an orchestrator retrofit it to a
70-piece orchestra. So he wrote all the
percussion parts and stuff like that, and
then added more layers and melodies to
compensate for lacking guitars and vocal
melodies and stuff. But for this record, I
kind of did a lot of the ensemble arrange-
ments myself and then had someone
basically double-check my work.
It must be pretty mind-blowing when
you hear your arrangements being
played by an orchestra.
It is absolutely mind-blowing, dude. To
me, it’s the biggest compliment in the
world when you have that many profes-
sional musicians playing your work suc-
cessfully. It just blows you away. The first
time it happened in New Zealand with the
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, when
With the exception of the live orchestral
sessions, Tankian played most of the
instruments and recorded most of
the tracks on Imperfect Harmonies.
I know sometimes when the classical
world and the pop world or rock world
meet, it isn’t always the smoothest
thing. How has it been working with
the classical musicians?
It’s been amazing. The kind of reverence
between rock and classical [musicians]
and some of the parallels are amazing,
actually. I rehearse the orchestras, but
I mostly deal with the conductor as far
as classical players, but the response
from the actual orchestras has been
amazing because they’ve never gotten
a response from an audience as much
as they’ve gotten from our audiences
that we’ve played for, so they’re blown
away. And they’re really into the music.
I think it’s well-retrofitted for orches-
tra from the rock songs. It’s done in a
way that it accomplishes everything. In
other words, the guitars and the differ-
ent vocal harmonies and everything are
replaced by horns and brass and wood-
winds. So everything is composed cor-
rectly, arranged correctly for orchestra;
that’s why it works. If you don’t do it that
way, if you don’t do it right for orchestra,
then it won’t work. Or if you just use the
orchestra as a backup and you’re still
playing with your band in front, it doesn’t
work as well in some ways.
Talk about the recording process for
Imperfect Harmonies. Did you start
with demos?
I started out all the songs on primar-
ily just piano or acoustic guitar and
vocals. So I start them out in a very
classic tradition. Just like I did with
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34 | emusici an.com | 10.10
I was rehearsing them a couple of years
ago, I walked into rehearsal, and I’m like,
“Hey, how’s it going everybody?” and
met everyone. And I said, “Okay, well,
you guys play first, you know. I won’t per-
form with you until we make sure every-
one’s playing everything correctly.” So I
sat down and they just started playing,
and I forgot about listening to the music
because I was just so blown away. The
vibe, I was just taken back. Now I’m kind
of used to it.
Let’s talk about your studio a bit. How
long have you had your own studio?
I’ve had my own studio in one form or
another since I’ve been playing music. So
for a long time. My current studio next to
my house, which is like a 1,000-square-
foot full pro studio, I’ve had since—it
was built late-February 2002.
You have both an Apple Logic and Avid
Pro Tools setup in there.
Yeah. I’m kind of learning Logic more as I
go along. I use Pro Tools more than any-
thing else, but I’ve used Logic for some
songs. I use a lot of different programs.
I use [Propellerhead] Reason for some
beats. I’ve got a dedicated PC just to run
[Sony Creative Software] ACID to do loop
stuff. I use a lot of different programs.
I’m missing a bunch, too.
Did you use the PC with ACID on it
when you were doing the beat stuff for
the new album?
I think I did for one song, “Beat Us.”
I’ve used it on my previous records for
a few songs. It’s an easy way to kind
of put stuff together. Until I figured out
how to do it in Pro Tools, I was just using
ACID to kind of put together beats, but
now I can easily do it in Pro Tools with
Elastic Time stretching and stuff.
Right. What about synth sounds? For
the electronic stuff, did you use mostly
software synths on this album?
A combination. I’ve got a lot of hardware
and I’ve got a lot of software, so I used a
combination of stuff.
What are some of your favorites?
As far as hardware synths, I’ve got a
little Moog [Little] Phatty. I used that. I’ve
got a Moog Voyager. I used a Rhodes,
a mid-’70s Rhodes—Mark II, I want to
say, without looking. Live piano on most
of the songs. For some of the piano
parts, I used [Synthogy] Ivory—it sounds
better—and some standup pianos. I’ve
got one standup piano in New Zealand
that actually sounds better than Ivory
because it’s got a dark vibe, but the one
in my studio in L.A. doesn’t. I used a lot
of soft synths as well, stuff from differ-
ent programs. Stuff from Reason and
Native Instruments, and IK Multimedia
and Arturia. I use it all, man. I typically go
through and see what sound I need and
look for it, and then dial it in and alter
it until it’s what I want, and play it and
record it, et cetera.
So you do a lot of altering of the sounds
rather than just using stock sounds?
A combination. I do some altering of
sounds and also just bring up patches
and use whatever works.
I think the idea that one can never use
a preset sound is overrated. If you're
layering it in among a bunch of other
sounds, how are they going to know?
Exactly. I’m not one of those guys that
spends three days getting the perfect
beat or finding the perfect f***ing enve-
lope or filter on a synth. I can’t do that;
I’ll lose the muse, you know? I’ve got to
record it while it’s hot in my head. So I’ll
go find something and do it, and then I’ll
change it if I need to.
Do you do all your own engineering or
do you have someone that helps you?
I did most of my own engineering this
time around. The only time I didn’t was
when we recorded the orchestra; I got
an orchestral engineer for the big room
at EastWest to record 25-piece string,
seven-piece brass.
So did you mix this yourself, too?
No, I had Rich Costey do the mixing.
Did you do it at your studio or at his
own place?
We did it at another studio, Record One.
Were the songs on the new album chal-
lenging to mix?
Tankian at the keyboard in his home studio.
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35 10.10 | emusici an.com |
This record was a really hard one to mix
because there were so many disparate
elements to it, so many diverse dynam-
ics. You’ve got the full live orchestra,
you’ve got rock instruments, you’ve got
f***ing jazz horn solos, and you’ve got full
electronic stuff happening with samples
and synths. There’s just so much going
on, so it was very important to find the
right balance of instruments, of sounds.
And sometimes the mixer will present it
the way they see it, like let’s say more
electronic than you want it, and you
want to balance the orchestral with the
electronic, and you’re like, “No, it needs
more orchestra,” or whatever. Because
I’m producing and ultimately I’m the art-
ist, it’s my call, and I wanted to make a
record—it was easy to go the direction of
rock and edgy and make the electronics
and the drum and bass louder, and make
the orchestra just there kind of interlac-
ing everything. I didn’t want that; I wanted
it to be a fair balance of orchestra and all
the other instruments. That’s what I was
shooting for; I think that’s what makes
this record different.
With the orchestral instruments, you
said you were combining the live play-
ers with the sampled ones. Were the
samples just in there to make it big-
ger, to make it sound like a larger
orchestra?
Yeah. It wasn’t just to make it bigger,
but the sampled orchestra is always at
a different frequency and a sound than a
live orchestra A live orchestra will always
sound better, of course. We also had
woodwinds and orchestral percussion,
and a lot of bass in our sampled orches-
tra that we didn’t have in our live record-
ings. So it was kind of [a matter of] bring-
ing those elements out, as well.
With so many tracks going, did you
find that when you got to the mixing
phase, all of a sudden, you were like,
“You know what? We don’t need this
many instruments; we can start cut-
ting stuff back”?
Sure. There’s so much at certain points
that as a producer, you’ve got to listen
to it, and go, “Woah, woah, okay, look.” I
threw a lot against the wall this time. I usu-
ally don’t do that; I usually build up based
on what I need. This time, I did the oppo-
site, where I threw all these colors at the
wall and then looked at the picture, and
then I was like, “Okay, the middle eight
section doesn’t need to have everything
in it. Let’s just break it down to orchestra
so mute all the other stuff.” This is before
mixing, for me to have an idea of what I
want the song to sound like.
Besides all your touring, what else do
you have new coming up?
I’ve got to jump in December, early
December, to work on my musical. I’ve got
a musical opening in March of next year.
Where is it going to open?
It opens at the American Repertory
Theater at Harvard. It’s with Steven
Sater, the guy who did Spring Awakening;
he’s the playwright. And it’s based on
Prometheus Bound, the first Greek play.
We’ve been working on it for like a year-
and-a-half doing workshops and stuff.
I take it you’re really pleased with the
way Imperfect Harmonies came out?
Yeah, I’m very happy with it. It’s a whole
different sound for me, and I enjoyed
making it. I like to experiment with what I
do. That’s why I do different things. After
System, my first record was different
than System, but it was still rock. It was,
in retrospect, the type of record that I’ve
always wanted to make with System, so
I ended up making Elect the Dead that
way. And then I did a whole thing with
an orchestra without a band, completely
symphonic. And now I’m doing some-
thing that mixes electronic, orchestral,
rock, and jazz all on one record. Doing a
musical, and writing my first symphony.
I’m doing a bunch of different things.
Mike Levine is EM’s editor and senior
media producer.
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36 | emusici an.com | 10.10
W
riting EM’s “Sound Advice” column for
the past several years has loaded my hard
drive with commercial sound libraries. My
collection contains hundreds of thousands of
audio files. Is that a blessing or a curse? I won’t
weigh in on that controversy, but in creating
Web Clips for the column, I have learned a few
things about what does and doesn’t work. Here
are some ways to get things started, keep them
rolling, and speed up the most tedious parts.
By sound library I mean a collection of
loops and phrases for use in creating or aug-
menting songs (not a sampled-instrument
library). Although sound libraries take many
forms, they are usually organized by tempo
and, for pitched material, by key. Ofen they
are also grouped as construction kits contain-
ing compatible elements that you can use as a
song starter. I’ll begin there.
ReconstRuct the Demo
Many construction kits include a short demo
song. One of the best ways to learn how the
author intends the library to be used is to
reconstruct one of the demos. Depending on
the complexity of the kit and the length of the
demo, the process should take less than an
hour, and it’s well worth doing at least once. I
do this every few months, and it always sharp-
ens my ear and my ability to analyze a mix. It’s
also a good way to convince yourself that the
demos actually can be made from the parts
provided in the kit (or not).
Te details of reconstructing the demo
depend on the features of your DAW, but here
are the essentials: You’ll need a way to easily
switch back and forth between auditioning
the demo and the reconstruction so assign the
track holding the demo to its own bus, route a
submix of all the construction-kit tracks to a
different bus, and set up a button or fader on
your MIDI controller to alternately mute one
or the other of the buses. Don’t configure the
fader to adjust the bus volumes in opposite
directions because you’ll want to adjust them
individually for a more accurate comparison.
Use a separate track for each loop and one-
shot in the construction kit or devote a track to
each instrument (bass, piano, vocal, drum kit-
piece, and so on) and then sequence all clips for
that instrument on the same track. With the
latter method, ensure you have separate tracks
for instruments that overlap—for example,
use separate tracks for rhythm and lead guitar,
acoustic and electric piano, and lead and back-
ground vocals. If your DAW supports comp-
ing from different takes, as do Apple Logic Pro
and Propellerhead Record, you might prefer to
use comp tracks for instruments with multiple
clips and then use different comps to fly in the
right clip. Ableton Live users will find it easiest
to insert the clips in Session view slots and then
launch clips to create the arrangement.
It’s a BRowse
You’ll speed things up considerably by setting
markers to delineate parts of the song and
to mark places within those parts where you
notice changes. Looping these smaller sec-
tions is the easiest way to build your tracks.
Point your DAW’s browser to the construc-
tion kit and audition its files for parts that
stand out in the demo. When you find a
match, drag it to the appropriate track (see
Fig. 1 and Web Clip 1). If your DAW’s brows-
er is not well-suited to that task, you might
consider a third-party file-browsing utility
such as Iced Audio AudioFinder (see sidebar
“Tools of the Trade”).
When you’ve reconstructed a section of
the song, loop the song up to that point and
feature
Under Construction
Getting creative with loop libraries and construction kits
By Len Sasso
Hear examples of some of tHe loop tecHniques mentioned ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
FIG. 1: In this
Apple Logic Pro 9
reconstruction
of kit 7 from Big
Fish Audio Hip
Hop Exotica 2,
comp tracks
are used for the
brass, bass,
and kick parts.
37 10.10 | emusici an.com |
spend several passes comparing your version
to the demo. You’ll undoubtedly hear some-
thing you missed or a part that doesn’t match
exactly, and by the time you finish the song,
you’ll have most of those errors and omissions
fixed. If you find parts in the kit that aren’t
used, that’s ofen a tip-off that you’ve missed
something. Listen to the part by itself and then
listen for it in the demo.
Often the parts in the construction kit
match the levels and panning in the demo mix
so you can keep them centered and at 0dB, and
adjust the two output buses to match levels. If a
part does jump out in contrast to the demo, fix
it, but don’t waste time obsessing over the mix.
One FrOm COlumn A
A fast and effective way to generate variations
on a song you’ve created or reconstructed from
a construction-kit demo is to generate stems
from your tracks and then slice them up and
reorder the slices. Try to make all the slices the
same length—typically, one or two bars as suits
the music—but make exceptions when a cut
interrupts a musical phrase. You may want to
work on individual choruses in longer pieces.
Most DAWs will export stems from a proj-
ect. In Live, either consolidate each track or
use the Render function to export stems for all
tracks in one go. In Logic, the File menu offers
Export All Tracks as Audio Files, which cre-
ates stems the full length of the Logic project
so you’ll want to set Logic’s end marker to the
true end of the song. Record’s implementation
is particularly robust. After choosing File >
Bounce Mixer Channels, you can select which
channels to include, bounce the channels pre-
or post-mixer, set the file type, and choose to
bounce the whole song or only the current loop.
Many DAWs, samplers, and sample edi-
tors have tools to cut audio files at regular
intervals or into a fixed number of slices of the
same length. I use AudioFinder’s Sample Tool
window to create equal-length slices based on
the number of bars and the note division I pro-
vide. I use the Sample Tool’s Set Sound Length
option, which pads or trims the stem to the right
length based on tempo and bar count. (Logic’s
renderings occasionally come up a few beats
short, and checking the stem lengths is not a
bad idea no matter how they’re generated.)
TOOls OF The TrAde
Each of these software tools could save you hours of hard labor. Also check
out “Essential Utilities” in the December 2008 issue of EM, available at
emusician.com.
Antares Auto-Tune evo
(mac/Win, $199, antarestech.com)
Thanks in part to the “Cher Effect”—and its more recent incarnation, the
“T-Pain Effect”—the name Auto-Tune has become synonymous with pitch
correction. The latest incarnation presents monophonic parts as note and
transition lines in a piano-roll-style display, lets you change pitches by drag-
ging, and includes many of the formant-munging and throat-modeling tools
from Antares AVOX Evo.
Celemony melodyne editor
(mac/Win, $299, celemony.com)
Melodyne offers pitch correction similar to that of Auto-Tune, but it lacks the
latter’s throat-modeling features. What Melodyne adds is the ability to peer
inside polyphonic material and shift individual notes. That process is time-
consuming and not quite perfect, but in many cases it will do, and it is
indeed revolutionary. Also, it’s a handy tool for analyzing chords even when
you don’t want to mess with them.
Iced Audio AudioFinder
(mac, $69.95, icedaudio.com)
If your computer is a Mac and you have a large audio library, AudioFinder is
a must for browsing. When you point it to a folder or a Scan Set of disparate
folders, its browser will display all audio files of all types nested within. You
can then include or exclude files matching search terms in their filename,
folder name, or metadata; step through the list sequentially or at random
flagging favorites; and copy, move, or alias any selection of files to any
location. In addition, AudioFinder is bristling with tools for audio processing
(including AU plug-ins), file slicing, and automatic format conversion.
Propellerhead reCycle
(mac/Win, $199, propellerheads.se)
If you want to convert audio files to REX2 format, ReCycle is the only game
in town. While many DAWs, samplers, and loop-oriented applications have
their own sliced-loop format, most also support REX2 files.
seventh string software Transcribe
(mac/Win, $50, seventhstring.com)
When you need to analyze polyphonic material to sort out the notes in a
chord, Transcribe can do the heavy lifting. It identifies the prominent harmon-
ics on a keyboard graphic and suggests possible chord names. When you
can’t quite decode some elusive inner voicing, Transcribe will provide the
necessary nudge. It also offers credible time-stretching for easier transcrip-
tion of blisteringly fast lines. ✱
Products on command, knowledge on cue.
bhproaudio.com
bhproaudio.com
A wealth of options at the tip of your finger. Find exactly
what you need through advanced search filters and
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©

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✱ under construction ✱ feature
If you want slices longer than one bar,
you’ll need to fool many applications—includ-
ing AudioFinder—by lying about the number
of bars and then making 1-bar slices: Divide the
number of bars by two for 2-bar slices, by three
for 3-bar slices, and so on. Once you’ve specified
the grid and the application has inserted slice
markers, eliminate any slice markers that inter-
rupt a musical phrase (see Fig. 2). Next, export
the slices as separate audio files.
In Your DAW
Live’s Session view is ideally suited for looping,
triggering, and rearranging slices. Create a track
for each stem and load the slices from the stem
into consecutive Clip Slots. Launching a Live
Scene loops a single slice from each stem, and
launching individual clips substitutes different
slices from the corresponding stem. When you
have a variation you like, use Capture and Insert
Scene from the Create menu to insert a new
Scene from that variation (see Fig. 3). Finally,
click the Global Record button to sequence an
arrangement from your captured Scenes.
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX in Groove
Menu mode is another excellent tool if you
have Propellerhead ReCycle to turn your stem
slices into REX2 files. For some stem slices,
ReCycle may ask to move the lef or right end
locator; answer No because you’ve already
trimmed the slices. Enter the stem length
in ReCycle’s Bars count, configure your
ReCycle slices, and save the file to a new
folder named afer the stem. When you’re
finished, you’ll have a folder of REX2 files
for each stem. Move them all to a new fold-
er and drag that folder to the Spectrasonics
SAGE Converter utility window.
The next time you open the RMX
browser, you’ll find a folder with your
project’s name in User Libraries, and in
that folder you’ll find folders holding the
slices for each of your stems (see Fig. 4).
Use a separate RMX part in Groove Menu
mode for each of these folders. Consecutive
MIDI notes starting at C3 (C2 or C1 if you
have a huge number of slices) on the part’s
MIDI channel will trigger the individual
REX2 files. Te REX2 slices within those
files are available for all of RMX’s creative
processing, including tempo matching,
Edit Groups, insert and send effects, and
Time and Chaos Designers.
In Your SAmpler
Many samplers will slice and key-map
the stems for you. In Native Instruments
Kontakt, import the stem into a Kontakt
instrument, select it in the Mapping edi-
tor, and click the Wave Editor tab. Turn on
the Wave Editor’s Grid section, choose Fix
mode (the default), select the maximum
FIG. 2: I’ve used AudioFinder’s Sample Tool to slice an 8-bar bass
stem into 2-bar slices. The red gridlines are at 2-bar intervals, and
the yellow-handled markers indicate the slice points. The slice
marker at 4.1 was deleted to preserve the 4-bar phrase.
FIG. 3: Slices from a
6-part arrangement in
Ableton Live occupy
Session view Clip
slots (top). Three
Scenes are captured
at the bottom, and
the Rev 4 clip is
playing along with the
third captured Scene.
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40 | emusici an.com | 10.10
feature ✱ under construction ✱
width (1/1—a whole note), and set the Grid BPM
to the real tempo divided by the desired number
of bars per slice. For example, for 2-bar slices,
divide the tempo in half. Next select the Sync/
Slice tab (but don’t turn it on), click the first slice
in the waveform display, and Shift-click the
last slice—this selects all of the slices. Finally,
click-and-drag the slices to the Mapping Editor
window to map them to the keys you want to
use as triggers. As long as you leave playback
(Mapping Editor Source) in DFD or Sampler
mode, the slices will play at their true tempo.
For a more hands-on approach, Native
Instruments Maschine is hard to beat. Use its
sample editor’s Slice tab to slice your stem. In
addition to grid and transient slicing, you’ll
find a convenient Split mode that lets you create
four, eight, 16, or 32 equally spaced slices. Once
you’ve set up slicing, clicking the Apply button
generates a Pattern that steps through the slices.
You can then generate your own Patterns for as
many as 16 sliced sound files within the Group.
The Maschine hardware’s pads trigger
slices for their full length, which makes it easy
to record and edit Patterns on the fly. Select
a sound, record trigger notes, select another
sound, record more trigger notes, and so on until
you’ve built up a Pattern you like. Load differ-
ent Groups with alternative sounds and install
Patterns in Maschine Scenes to create songs. You
can do everything from the hardware.
Make It Your own
You’ll get only so far with the loops and one-
shots provided in a construction kit. To gener-
ate something truly your own, mix and match
material from different sources, process and
modify loops, and layer in some of your own
material. Mixing and matching material from
different sources—other construction kits or
bonus samples in the same library, as well as
material from other libraries—is much easier
with a good browser. Some DAWs and sam-
plers make that process fast, easy, and nearly
transparent, but if yours is not among them, a
full-featured third-party browser will save you
lots of time and frustration.
Once you find material you want to use,
you’ll confront three issues: pitch, tempo,
and groove. Fortunately, full-featured DAWs
include tools to handle all three, but the results
will vary depending on the source material.
If you do a lot of pitch manipulation on
monophonic audio parts, consider investing
in a tool designed specifically for that such as
Celemony Melodyne or Antares Auto-Tune.
For tempo and groove manipulation of audio,
you’ll sometimes get better results by first slic-
ing (on beats or transients, depending on the
material) and then manipulating the slices
and the generated MIDI files that play them.
Having said that, recent advances like Logic’s
Flex Time Editing, Live’s upgraded Warping
Engine, and Propellerhead Record’s Tempo
Scaling and ReGroove mixer deliver excellent
results without the need for manual slicing.
The viability of playing or sequencing
your own parts depends on your chops and the
instruments at your disposal, but the more the
better. Processing and modifying the material
at hand is an intermediate option, and here are
some ways to start.
InsIde the Loop
If you’re using MIDI drum loops (and many
libraries include at least some MIDI parts), two
easy options are swapping kit pieces and mov-
ing some hits from one kit-piece to another.
You might try something as radical as replac-
ing an entire acoustic kit with an electronic
kit, or vice versa. Tat’s a great way to set off
one part of a song from another. On the less-is-
more side, add a second kick drum to your kit
and move some of the original kick hits to it, or
layer a crash cymbal with a sound effect.
For an audio drum loop, the first step is to
slice it up into individual hits, many of which
will include several kit pieces. You can use a
utility like ReCycle, but your DAW or sam-
pler most likely has tools for this. Whatever
tool you use, it’s important to audition the
resulting slices one by one to ensure that you
didn’t accidentally cut into the beginning of
the next sound, as indicated by a click at the
end. Fixing that is as simple as adjusting the
slice’s endpoint, but the beginning of the next
sound’s slice may also need adjusting if its
onset is severely clipped; the MIDI note that
triggers that slice will then need to be moved
accordingly. If there are many such problems,
it’s easier to manually adjust the slice markers
and re-slice.
Once you have a sliced audio loop, observe
which slices have similar sounds—kick alone,
kick and snare, closed or open hi-hat, and so
on. Moving some MIDI trigger notes vertically
to swap similar sounds is a subtle way to vary a
loop from one pass to the next. For more radical
surgery, swap dissimilar sounds. You might also
replace or layer some sounds with new samples.
An easy way to do that is to copy the MIDI trig-
ger clip, delete all but the wanted triggers, and
use the new clip (adjusting the note pitches
but not the note positions) to play a sampler or
drum synth (see Web Clips 2 and 3).
BassMent reModeL
Slice swapping is also an effective tool with bass
loops. Reason 5’s Dr.OctoRex makes fast work
of that while letting you simultaneously switch
loops as the song evolves. Load a Dr.OctoRex
with one or more bass loops. Select a loop slot,
click the Programmer’s Slice Edit mode button,
and click the word Alt in the loop display. Tat
reveals a bar-chart overlaying slices—click and
drag in the bar chart to assign any slice to one
FIG. 4: In Groove Menu mode,
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX
assigns separate notes on MIDI
channels 1 through 8 to trigger the
grooves in RMX’s eight parts.
FIG. 5: Use Reason 5’s Dr.OctoRex
loop player to switch between eight
REX2 loops. The Alt function is used
to shuffle like-sounding slices, as
seen in the third pass (bottom).
41 10.10 | emusici an.com |
of four Alt groups. When you play the loop or
send a pattern to a sequencer track, slices from
the same Alt group will be randomly swapped
(see Fig. 5 and Web Clip 4). Keep in mind that
you can load the same REX2 file into several
Dr.OctoRex slots to use different Alt configu-
rations (including no Alt assignments).
Random swapping of similar slices is a
quick way to create variations, but some will
work better than others so select the best and
trash the rest. Swapping slices manually by
dragging notes vertically in a piano-roll note
editor gives you complete control. In order of
decreasing subtlety, try swapping slices with
the same pitch and articulation, the same pitch
but different articulations, pitched an octave
apart, and pitched a perfect-fifh apart.
Topping off
Slice swapping is less useful for leads and poly-
phonic parts because you usually don’t want
to mess with the melody or chord changes.
(But don’t overlook it as a way to take things
a bit outside.) Slicing is useful for melodic and
polyphonic material for time manipulations—
tempo changes and groove matching—and for
part doubling.
One way to double or replace a mono-
phonic lead part (vocal, horn, lead guitar, and
so on) is to play and record a MIDI version
of the part as close to the original timing as
you can, then groove-quantize the new part
to the original. Slicing the original is the
easiest way to capture its groove (although
most DAWs will groove-quantize from an
audio part by analyzing its transients). Once
you’ve sliced the original part, you also have
the more tedious alternative of adapting the
resulting MIDI file (the one used to play the
slices) to play the doubling instrument by
moving the MIDI file’s notes to the desired
pitches. Of course, you’re not limited to dou-
bling; you can create harmony tracks and
different leads.
Several software tools automate that
process. Antares Auto-Tune and Celemony
Melodyne make quick work of monophon-
ic part doubling and pitch manipulation.
Harmonizers like Antares Harmony Engine
and Zplane Vielklang create multipart har-
mony on the fly. Melodyne Editor will (up to
a point) let you analyze and manipulate the
individual voices of polyphonic parts.
Beyond the topics covered here, consider
adding effects processors—especially the more
exotic ones—for creating new sounds from
old, using the arsenal of sound-design tools
in your DAW and sampler, and manipulating
the tempo. One thing I’ve learned is that the
song is never finished. When you think you’ve
hit the wall, put the project aside but not in the
trash. Some new idea or sound will come along
to take it in a different direction. ✱
Len Sasso is a freelance writer and frequent EM
contributor. Visit his website, swifkick.com.
42 | emusici an.com | 10.10
sound design workshop By Len Sasso
W
hen I first got my hands on Native
Instruments Maschine, I headed
straight for the step sequencer. I’ve
always been a fan of MPC-style drum
sequencing, and Maschine didn’t disap-
point. Once I learned my way around step-
sequencing the sounds in Maschine’s
extensive library, I wanted to get outside
the box and use Maschine with other vir-
tual instruments. That turned out to be
incredibly easy.
I’ll start with the setup for working
with Propellerhead Reason 5 and the
standalone version of Maschine. The
process is similar for standalone virtual
instruments, DAW plug-ins, and external
MIDI hardware.
The hookup
Launch both Reason and Maschine and
then open Reason’s Preferences. Go to
the Advanced Control tab and assign one
of the buses to Maschine Virtual Output.
Now use Reason’s Hardware Interface
module to route Maschine to devices in
Reason’s rack (see Fig. 1). That allows
you to step-sequence 16 Reason devic-
es—one device per MIDI channel.
You can sync Reason’s tempo
and clock (but not song position) to
Maschine using MIDI Clock, but that’s
not necessary for step-sequencing
Reason instruments. If you do want to
sync them, enable Send MIDI Clock from
Maschine’s File menu, point MIDI Clock
Sync in Reason’s Advanced Control pref-
erences to Maschine Virtual Output, and
set Sync to MIDI Clock from Reason’s
Options menu.
Any Reason instrument is eligible
for step sequencing, but the resem-
blance of the new Kong Drum Designer
to a classic drum machine makes it an
obvious first choice. The easiest setup
is to devote a Maschine Group to Kong.
Set each of the Group’s 16 sounds as
a MIDI Out source on the MIDI channel
selected for Kong in Reason’s Hardware
Interface module, and set the 16 pads’
Base Keys to C1 through D#2 to match
Kong’s default pad assignments. Press
Maschine’s Step button to enter step-
sequencer mode and start Maschine.
Select a sound using Maschine’s Pad
Mode button (audible) or Select button
(silent), and then use the pads to acti-
vate notes at different time positions.
Renaming the Group’s sounds to match
Kong’s makes selecting sounds easier.
In Step mode, each Maschine pad
represents a position on the time grid.
Use the Grid button to change the grid
size and when the pads don’t span
the whole pattern, use buttons B7 and
B8 above the LCDs to shift the grid.
Temporarily enlarge the grid when you
want to enter a longer note.
The Solo and Mute buttons let you
solo and mute individual sounds and
groups (using the Group buttons). When
adding a note, if you continue pressing
the pad and twist the Swing knob, the
note will be offset from the grid, which is
a great way to humanize the feel.
Other natural targets for step
sequencing are Redrum and Dr.OctoRex.
The same Base Keys work for both, and
they offer processing designed specifi-
cally for samples and REX files. For REX
files with more than 16 slices, use several
Groups or modify the sounds’ Base Keys
to focus on your preferred 16 slices.
When you’ve generated some pat-
terns you like, drag and drop to export
them as standard MIDI files. You can
drag them directly to MIDI tracks in most
DAWs, but with Reason you need to drag
them to your hard drive and then import
them using Reason’s File menu. ✱
Len Sasso is a freelance writer and fre-
quent EM contributor. For an earful, visit
his website, swiftkick.com.
In Step With Maschine
Using Maschine’s step sequencer with real and virtual instruments
FIG. 1: Maschine
Groups are
set up to step-
sequence Reason
Kong, Redrum,
and Dr.OctoRex
modules via
Advanced MIDI
routing in Reason’s
Hardware Interface.
sients kick, hi-hat (hh), snare, hh, and kick, then the start point
would be moved to each successive transient (see Fig. 1). Once
I’ve chopped it up this way, I’ll import the files into a sampler,
assign each sample to a different MIDI note, and then play in
my part using these pieces. The same can be achieved through
software such as Propellerhead ReCycle, which can give you
multiple sample start positions within a single sample.
There are two important reasons for chopping up drum
breaks (aka breakbeats) in this fashion: First, the chopped
audio can be played and sequenced in myriad interesting pat-
terns that would otherwise take a very long time to program if
you did them one note at a time. Second, the sample retains
its sonic footprint, which is what gives a break its characteris-
tic movement and tone, and is often what makes it a desirable
sample in the first place.
Being able to manipulate a break or sample allows me
much more freedom when using a loop. Instead of being stuck
with the same drum loop or sample playing over and over, I’m
able to manipulate the sample—with different parts of the loop
accentuated—to create new, interesting moving passages.
A common example of this beat-chopping technique is the
reprogramming of the Amen Break (referring to the break in the
song “Amen Brother”; see Web Clips 1 through 3) for drum ’n’
bass or the Apache break in hip-hop.
DNA TesTiNg
A sample or loop taken from a nonprogrammed source has
a feel that I refer to as its transient DNA (which is similar to
what’s contained in a groove template). This refers to the tim-
ing of the transients within the sample. The push and pull of
time between the transients is what creates movement within
a beat. Beats programmed to a grid often lack this push and
pull, resulting in a robotic sound. So to put some life back into
programmed music, I often take the feel of
a sample that wasn’t created on a grid and
apply it to the gridded material, or play a
live passage and use its transient DNA to
do the same.
For example, I like to play a live bass line
against programmed drums. I often find that I
like how the live-played notes work alongside
the programmed beat. If I want the drums to
more closely mirror the feel of the baseline,
I can either remove the programmed drums
from the grid and align key elements such
44 | emusici an.com | 10.10
I
n part 1 in the last issue, I covered
some of the basics of drum program-
ming: volume, quantization, and swing
and grace notes. Part 2 will cover some
more advanced beat-making techniques,
starting with drum-sample loops.
I started chopping loops and samples
on early samplers such as the Akai S950
and MPC-60, and the E-mu 4xt. These
devices were the predecessors to today’s
audio workstations, but they lacked
the modern beat-slicing software such
as Propellerhead ReCycle or the Beat
Detective feature in Avid Pro Tools that
we’ve come to depend on. However, these
samplers were powerful enough to help
create all types of sample-based music,
such as hip-hop and electronic dance.
The following beat-chopping technique,
though somewhat old school, is still a
very powerful method for editing samples
and programming beats, and you can also
apply it to any sampled material such as
melodic passages and vocals.
Chop iT Up
The basic concept behind beat chopping
is to have multiple copies of the sample,
each with a start point that is later in
time relative to the previous copy of that
sample. For drums, the time variation is
usually placed at the nearest transient.
If the drum pattern comprises the tran-
✱ Production central ✱
Beat of a Different Drummer (Part 2)
By Ming (aka Aaron Albano)
Sample Chop 1 (original full Sample) kiCk, hh, Snare, hh, kiCk
Sample Chop 2 hh, Snare, hh, kiCk
Sample Chop 3 Snare, hh, kiCk
Sample Chop 4 hh, kiCk
Sample Chop 5 kiCk
Fig. 1: Here’s an example of beat chopping. The top line shows the order
of events in the full sample, and the lines below show what the sample
would comprise if each successive transient was cut off.
Hear examples and watcH a video of tHe tecHniques mentioned ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material 45 10.10 | emusici an.com |
as kicks and snares with the corresponding notes of the bass
physically, or I can copy the transient DNA from the baseline
with tools such as ReCycle and apply that groove in Reason’s
ReGroove mixer, or by creating an audio-to-MIDI groove template
in Apple Logic. I can then apply that groove as quantization to
the drums or other elements of that sequence.
You can extract not only the timing, but also volume dif-
ferences from one transient to another within a sample. This
is particularly useful when pulling the transient DNA from a
live drum progression and applying it to a programmed beat.
For instance, if the one in the sampled break is heavier than
the three, then the programmed material to which you apply
that will follow suit. The accents give a beat bounce, and can
be applied to single elements such as the kick, snare, or the
whole programmed break.
Make It LIve
Programming realistic-sounding live drums is difficult and
requires care and time. The most important part of this tech-
nique is to listen to the nuances of live drums with and without
supporting music. Listen to the placement of the snare and
hi-hats relative to the vocals, and try to hear the room in which
the drums were recorded. Are the drums recorded to a click
or do they drift in time? What is the genre? Are the live drums
going to be supported with programmed beats or breaks? All of
these will affect how I quantize, mix, and EQ the drums, as well
as how I re-create the sound of a nice drum room.
My live drum-programming method is to physically play on
a keyboard, a scratch pass of the hi-hats, followed by a sec-
ond pass with the kick and snare. Once I get patterns for the
verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge, I’ll go back and play each
element in separately: kick first, then snare, then hi-hats and
ride, cymbals, fills (including toms), and finally ghosts notes on
the snare and toms if necessary. I’ll quantize the first note of
each measure to the downbeat and then soft-quantize the two,
three, and four of the beat, depending on
how locked to the grid the drums need to
feel. I try not to quantize the hi-hats, and
I spend a lot of time varying the volume
of each hit. To create excitement before a
chorus or during a long verse, I use mov-
ing levels of open and closed hats.
For sound sources, I use a num-
ber of different multisample layered
kits from FXpansion BFD, Apple Logic,
or Propellerhead Reason Drums. They
all have good volume-dependent multi-
samples, and some have room and
microphone emulation settings.
For mixing, I have a drum sub-mix
that often has a multiband EQ, an analog-
sounding compressor like the H Series
in Waves, and some kind of distortion
or overdrive to emulate tape saturation.
I use reverb on snares carefully and as
sparingly as possible so that I have more
freedom with the overhead microphone
mix. I create the room by busing a stereo
mix of the drums to a separate overhead
mix bus with EQ, overdrive, and compres-
sion and reverb.
Take your time when programming
“live” drums. They’re supposed to sound
real, so if they don’t, keep massaging
them until they’re golden. ✱
Ming (mingsmusic.com) is a New York
City-based artist, producer, and DJ. He
owns Hood Famous Music and co-owns
Habitat Music (habitatmusic.com).
The Amen Break,
chopped up in
Propellerhead
ReCycle
46 | emusici an.com | 10.10
Reviews
peRfoRmance contRolleRs
pRice: $2,195 PC3LE8; $1,795
PC3LE7; $1,495 PC3LE6
pRos: Solid construction. Same
sound engine as PC3 Series.
Huge number of excellent sounds.
Numerous control inputs.
cons: Limited choices of assignable
sound parameters in any given
sound. LCD can be densely
populated with UI elements. Some
learning curve required.
featuRes: 1 2 3 4 5
ease of use: 1 2 3 4 5
quality of sounds: 1 2 3 4 5
value: 1 2 3 4 5
kurzweilmusicsystems.com
pRoduct summaRy

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
Kurzweil PC3LE Series
Performance keyboards that are equally at home onstage or in the studio
By Nick Peck
K
urzweil’s new PC3LE line of perfor-
mance controller keyboards use
the same Dynamic Variable Architecture
Synthesis Technology (VAST) sound
engine as its PC3 line of controllers, but
with a slimmed-down feature set and a
markedly lower price point. The PC3LE
Series removes user programming from
the equation, but offers a whopping 800-
plus factory sounds from which to choose,
plus a bevy of controller knobs and switch-
es to alter your sound in real time. There
are even some goodies absent from the
PC3, such as eight touch-sensitive drum
pads. The series includes the PC3LE8
(88-key fully weighted keyboard); the
PC3LE7 (the 76 semi weighted key ver-
sion shown in Fig. 1); and the PC3LE6
with 61 semi weighted keys.
The Basics
As expected with Kurzweil products, the
PC3LE is constructed sturdily, with its
metal case and thick plastic end blocks
ready to absorb the abuse of a busy gig-
ging schedule. All corners are rounded
and the controls are low-slung, giving a
sleek, high-tech appearance that also
minimizes potential damage. The color
scheme is primarily dark blue-gray with
lighter gray and blue highlights, which
looks elegant and is great for keeping
the audience’s eyes on the performer.
Weighing in at 37.5 pounds, the PC3LE7
is not the lightest or most compact con-
troller out there, but it is manageable.
The I/O on all models includes a
¼-inch headphone jack, balanced TRS
analog audio outs, and an RCA S/PDIF
digital output. MIDI In/Out/Thru jacks
are standard, as are two USB ports (one
for transferring programs using a thumb
drive; the other for direct MIDI interfac-
ing to a computer). There are two ¼-inch
footswitch inputs and a ¼-inch expres-
sion pedal input. A removable IEC cable
supplies AC power (see Fig. 2).
Modes oF operaTion
The PC3LE is always in one of six
modes. Program mode is for selecting/
playing a single sound. Setup mode
turns the PC3LE into a 16-channel,
multi timbral performance instrument
FiG. 1: Kurzweil’s
PC3LE controllers
(such as the
PC3LE7) are
lower-cost, preset-
playback versions
of the PC3 Series.
47 10.10 | emusici an.com | Hear examples of tHe pc3le’s sounds ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
and MIDI controller. You can layer and
split the keyboard 16 ways, each with
individual channel and control assign-
ments. Arpeggiations and Riffs (mini-
sequences generated in the onboard
sequencer) can be assigned to Setups,
which is good for creating one-man-
band-style performances.
Song mode brings up the PC3LE’s
16-track sequencer. This perfectly capa-
ble device can be used to quickly record
ideas while in the moment, or to cre-
ate more finished instrumental produc-
tions. The PC3LE comes loaded with a
wide variety of mini-sequences in many
different styles, which are perfect for
grooving over and developing ideas (see
Web Clip 1).
A Quick Access mode groups up
to 10 programs or setups in a single
window. They can be selected by the
press of a single button or by using the
cursor controls. Quick Access banks
can be used to group many sounds of
a particular type together for fast audi-
tioning, or to assemble all sounds to be
used in a particular song or set in one
place. Finally, the Master and Storage
modes specify global settings and
handle data transfers to a computer or
USB drive, respectively.
Controls and UI
Most information is imparted by way of
a 240x64 LCD. Navigation is via six soft
buttons below the display, as well as a
jog wheel, cursor buttons, and “±” but-
tons. The PC3LE does have a number of
purpose-built buttons to streamline the
menu process that a keyboard of this
complexity requires. A bank of 24 cate-
gory buttons lets users filter hundreds of
available sounds down to the particular
type that is sought-after. These buttons
serve a double duty, allowing for alpha-
numeric input (see Fig. 3).
PC3LE keyboards have the requi-
site pitch and mod wheels, as well as a
series of assignable switches and knobs
designed for real-time manipulation of
sound and mappable to the parameters
provided for each particular sound. I’d
like to see far more parameters avail-
able for control, but perhaps this limiting
of the feature set distinguishes between
the PC3LE and PC3. In any case, the five
knobs work in concert with a Shift key to
quickly switch between 15 different pos-
sible controls. The five switches can act
as 10 controls the same way.
soUnd QUalIty
Sound is everything, of course, and in
this area the PC3LE does not disappoint.
The 800-plus factory patches offer some-
thing for everyone. The acoustic piano is
rich and full, the Rhodes has a juicy bit
of grit, and the synth pads are luscious
with great variety. All the expected cat-
egories of sound are here, including gui-
tars, electric and synth basses, drums
and percussion, orchestral, voices, and
mallets. I was delighted to hear quite ser-
viceable Mellotron strings and flutes.
The organ sounds make use of
Kurzweil’s proprietary KB3 organ-
modeling engine, and it is here that the
PC3LE’s control surface really shines.
The drawbars, percussion, chorus/
vibrato, key click, and, of course, Leslie
rotating speaker speed are all mapped
to the control knobs and switches, and
can be tweaked in real time.
The PC3LE also employs Kurzweil’s
virtual analog oscillator (KVA) modeling
technology. The modeling really makes
a difference, giving girth and authentic-
ity to these old-school-type sounds (see
Web Clip 2).
arpeggIator
The PC3LE has a deep arpeggiator, with
dozens of patterns and fine user control
(see Web Clip 3). You can assign note
velocity to various patterns or to a con-
troller, and specify duration, beat divisio,
FIg. 2: All models in the PC3LE
Series have a digital audio
output and two USB ports.
FIg. 3: PC3LE’s user controls include a 24-button bank of category
controls, eight drum pads, and five user-configurable control knobs.
play order, and various limits. Each zone
in a setup can have its own arpeggiation,
so theoretically, you could have 16 sepa-
rate arpeggiators mapped across the
keyboard and triggering at once.
EffEcts
The PC3LE has a powerful effects
engine, allowing as many as 10 effects
(or less, depending on the complexity of
the effects algorithms) at once. These
effects are studio quality, and can be
distributed between two global effects
and up to 10 program insert effects.
There are more than 500 different
effects, of every conceivable variety.
Certain effects presets are chains of
multiple effects, while others are single
effects. Like the programs, the effects
are not editable, but there are so many
from which to choose that you won’t run
out of options any time soon.
packing it up
Kurzweil has a long history of delivering
impressive keyboards, and the PC3LE
Series belongs right in that lineage. The
Dynamic VAST and KB3 organ engines
deliver excellent sound quality, and the
sheer number of sounds and features
would give any keyboard player plenty of
room to explore for some time to come.
I’m a big fan of all the real-time controls,
as well as the incredibly flexible Setup
mode and the built-in arpeggiator and
sequencer. Experienced synthesists
could quickly find themselves wishing
to tweak the sounds more than they
can with this keyboard, but that’s what
the PC3 Series is for. If you are more
interested in performance than pro-
gramming, really like Kurzweil’s sounds
and user interface, and want to spend
quite a bit less than what it costs to buy
a PC3, then have a serious look at the
PC3LE Series. ✱
Composer/audio engineer Nick Peck lives
in the San Francisco Bay Area and is the
audio director of a videogame company.
Visit him at underthebigtree.com.
48 | emusici an.com | 10.10
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ADVICE!
50 | emusici an.com | 10.10
reviews
A
lloy, the new channel strip plug-in
from iZotope, makes it surprisingly
easy to get from mixing problem to solu-
tion. It can do everything from simple
tasks to complex channel customiza-
tion, and it employs many of the technol-
ogies and interface breakthroughs from
iZotope’s extremely successful Ozone
mastering plug-in. Alloy delivers the
highest audio fidelity, multiple analog
models, tight latency control, a powerful
Macro Preset system, and a ridiculously
long list of usage and interface options
that anticipate the kinds of problems
you’ll face (see Fig. 1).
module For module
Alloy has six modules: Equalizer,
Dynamics, Exciter, De-Esser, Transient
Shaper, and Limiter. Each is packed with
extended options and intricately detailed
possibilities that go well beyond the
norm. Like Ozone, Alloy sports large and
brightly colored stereo I/O meters with
flexible sensitivity and zoomable range.
You’ll find a meter on either side of the
center window, and each has a Module
button to toggle its view between the I/O
levels for the currently selected module
and the plug-in as a whole. This is quite
helpful for detailed control of the internal
gain structure. The Graph window lets
you quickly customize the order of mod-
ules to create the perfect signal path
(see Fig. 2 and Web Clip 1).
Several of the modules offer a Multi-
band mode, greatly enhancing their
functionality. You set the bands by click-
ing and dragging the separator bars on
each module’s spectrum-enabled graph.
To save CPU power, right-click inside the
graph and choose Remove Band from
the dropdown menu for 2-band usage
(alternatively, choose Insert Band to
return to three bands). From this menu,
you can also copy and paste settings
between bands.
Flexible equalization
Equalization is perhaps the most crucial
part of a channel strip, and iZotope gave
its equalizer lots of attention. It offers
eight bands with seven curve types and
analog-modeled soft saturation. There is
an overlay of a spectrum analyzer, which
you can hide to save CPU. You can zoom
in and out on the EQ curve independent-
ly of the spectrum by clicking the 1x but-
FiG. 1: Alloy’s Macro page provides
live-editable access to all of
the main elements of a Macro
Preset from a single page, and
can be customized to create your
perfect mixing experience.
iZotope Alloy
A must-have tool for professional mixing
By Asher Fulero
Mac/
win
Multi-effects plug-in
price: $225
prOs: Wide variety of uses. Great
Presets. Deeply customizable.
High precision and fidelity.
cOns: No sweepable knee in
Dynamics module.
features: 1 2 3 4 5
ease Of use: 1 2 3 4 5
quality Of sOunds: 1 2 3 4 5
value: 1 2 3 4 5
izotope.com
prOduct suMMary

51 10.10 | emusici an.com |
ton. Clicking it toggles forward to 2x, 3x,
or 6x; right-clicking toggles backward.
The Show/Hide Info button brings up a
condensed numerical display for typing
in specific values.
There are plentiful keyboard and
mouse shortcuts to enhance your work-
flow. You adjust individual EQ bands
with the arrow keys, and you adjust Q
and bandwidth by dragging the small
handles that appear on either side or
by using the mouse wheel (or two-finger
swipe on a Mac trackpad). Click and
drag inside the graph to select multiple
bands for quick, proportional adjust-
ments. Hold Shift while dragging an EQ
band inside the graph to lock it either
vertically or horizontally. Right-click on
a band to bring up the EQ Curve menu,
and right-click anywhere else inside the
graph to bring up the spectrum options.
The useful Alt-Solo feature works like a
magnifying glass; hold Alt while clicking
around inside the spectrum to audition
only the frequencies beneath the cursor.
That’s an impressively elegant way to
locate troublesome frequencies.
TransienT exciTemenT
The Exciter module emulates even and
odd harmonics for uses as diverse as
warming, brightening, and analog distor-
tion. At its center is a unique XY Pad that
controls the balance of even and odd
(horizontal) and the amount and slope of
harmonics added (vertical). As you adjust
the XY Pad, a bar display shows the
amount of each harmonic being added.
Right- clicking this
box toggles between
five preset excitation
patterns (Transistor,
Tape, Tube, Warm,
and Bright). A Width slider controls a
Stereo Widening circuit, sweeping from
-1 (mono) to +1 (full widening). The
Exciter Spectrum at the top uses a
spectrum analysis with the area under
the curve shaded gray: When the gray
turns to red, it represents a frequency
affected by the excitation. This system
is easy to use, and it’s especially helpful
for seeing where the spectrum is being
altered when the effect is very subtle.
Alloy’s multiband-capable Transient
module analyzes incoming audio in real
time and splits each transient into attack
and sustain components, allowing each
to be massaged for detailed shaping
of percussive elements. In Multiband
mode, it’s a snap to fine-tune how the
kick, snare, and hi-hat sit against each
other in a stereo
drum-kit mix, but
it’s also useful
in many other
ways. The Attack
and Sustain slid-
ers control the
amount of each
effect, whereas
the Time setting
cont r ol s how
long the effect lasts. Each slider has an
Emphasis meter showing how much of
each effect is being added or removed
in real time (see Web clip 2).
Dynamic maneuvers
As with the equalizer, iZotope paid care-
ful attention to making the Dynamics
module extremely flexible. In fact, you
get two identical Dynamics modules.
They are placed in series by default,
but you can change that to parallel
in the Graph window. Each module is
capable of simultaneous compression
and gating/expansion, allowing dynam-
ic range to be controlled from the top
(compression) and the bottom (gating/
expansion).
The Dynamics modules feature
the same Emphasis meters as the
exciter and many of the same helpful
shortcuts as the other modules. Both
Dynamics modules are multiband-
capable (independently, except when
in parallel), and each can choose from
two distinct compression modes.
Digital mode is very precise, whereas
Vintage mode emulates the nonlinear
characteristics of analog compres-
sion. The potential for multilayered
dynamic control is staggering. Only a
few tiny things are missing (sweepable
FiG. 2: The Graph
window lets you
rearrange the
modules however
you like, including
setting up the two
compressors in
parallel or in series.
FiG. 3: Alloy’s
Preset Manager
offers a wealth
of great Macro
Presets and the
chance to fine-
tune them to your
heart’s content.
Hear alloy in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
knee settings instead of only hard and
soft, for example).
The De-Esser is simple but capable
of much more than simple vocal de-
essing, and it has some time-saving
interface features. You can drag, scroll
with the mouse wheel, or use a two-
finger swipe on a Mac trackpad to
increase or decrease the bandwidth.
Multiband mode operates as usual, but
Broadband mode attenuates the entire
track rather than just the selected fre-
quencies when de-essing is triggered.
You can solo the de-essing band to
quickly zero in on the correct location.
The Limiter module offers soft and
brickwall limiting, along with a helpful
loudness histogram, phase rotation and
inversion controls, and DC-offset filter-
ing. Though some of these features are
best left to mastering plug-ins like Ozone,
there are times when individual tracks
need this kind of special attention—it
can really save the day in certain situa-
tions. The limiter sounds nicely transpar-
ent unless you really push it, and being
able to manually find the right phase set-
ting for each track can help everything
fit together.
Macro control
for EvEryonE
The Macro page displays patch-relevant
information and a few MacroFaders for
controlling multiple destinations with-
in Alloy (see fig. 3 and Web clip 3).
There are 150 included presets cover-
ing individual instruments, mixes, post-
production, utility work, and more. Each
preset offers slider titles, visual layouts,
and text hints describing its intended
use. You can use the Macro page to keep
an eye on key information from several
modules, and it’s really easy to create
your own highly detailed patches, which
is great for the hardcore mixing maestro.
For more detailed work, you can sepa-
rate the Presets window from the plug-in
and expand it. Also, the Options window
provides access to many more features
such as spectrum and metering options,
and delay compensation.
Alloy impressed me with its diversity
of features, extremely high precision and
fidelity, and myriad time-saving short-
cuts. Alloy should be on the list of go-to
plug-ins for any professional mixer, pro-
ducer, or composer with a busy workflow.
Check out the 10-day free trial available
from the iZotope website. ✱
Asher Fulero is a pianist/keyboardist and
tech-savvy electronic music producer
with a long résumé, endorsements from
Moog and Nord, and three new releases
in 2010. Visit asherfulero.com for more.
✱ izotope alloy ✱ reviews
Y
amaha’s new DTX-Multi 12 is an
extremely versatile piece of hard-
ware. Though its primary function is
as a drum-and-percussion pad with
built-in sounds, it also acts as a MIDI
controller, a Cubase transport con-
trol, and a multitimbral sound module.
The unit has plenty of uses, includ-
ing as an expansion to an acoustic
drum kit for live playing and as a drum
programmer/controller pad in the stu-
dio. If you get the optional hi-hat and
kick- drum trigger pedals, you could
also use the DTX-Multi 12 as a stand-
alone electronic kit.
This review is centered mainly
around the DTX’s studio uses. I am not
a drummer, but I have long searched
for a good way to play drum and per-
cussion parts with more precision than
can be done from a keyboard. The
DTX-Multi 12 makes that possible.
Padding into drumville
Before getting too much into functional-
ity, I’ll start with the unit’s physical fea-
tures and ports (see Fig. 1). It measures
13.6x 12.6 x 3.8 inches (WxHxD), and
is visually dominated by the 12 rubber
pads on its top panel. Of these, six are
large and roughly square (4 x 4.25 inch-
es) and six are thin and long (1 x 4.25
inches). The former are meant for being
hit with the stick tip (or the hands or fin-
gers) and the latter, which have a lot less
give, with the shank of the stick.
The pads can be adjusted to respond
to sticks (with several dynamic range
presets) hands or fingers. Because I
don’t play drums, I asked a drummer I
know to try out the pads using sticks.
He liked the feel, especially with the
dynamic range set to narrow. On the
wider dynamic range settings, you really
have to whack the pads to get a signifi-
54 | emusici an.com | 10.10
reviews
electronic percussion pad
price: $699
pros: Pads make expressive
playing easy. Versatile functionality.
Adjustable pad sensitivity. Cubase
remote feature. Cubase AI 5
included. Finger settings allow for
stick-like subtlety.
cons: Complex user interface. Not
enough drum kit samples.
Features: 1 2 3 4 5
ease oF use: 1 2 3 4 5
quality oF sounds: 1 2 3 4 5
value: 1 2 3 4 5
yamahaproaudio.com
product summary

Yamaha DTX-Multi 12
A lot more than just a percussion pad
By Mike Levine
Hear examples of tHe Dtx-multi 12 in action ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
Fig. 1: The DTX-Multi 12
offers 12 percussion pads
and an array of sounds,
I/O, and functionality.
Drumagog5
Get the whole story at www.Drumagog.com
featuring the most accurate triggering known to man • multiple room and mic samples
automatic open and closed hi-hat detection • plug-in hosting • built-in convolution reverb and morph engine
volume independent triggering • and much, much more
THANK
GOG!
The most advanced drum replacement software
ever created has now arrived.
cant sound. The sensitivity settings can
be customized beyond the factory pre-
sets and saved.
As a non-drummer, I found the fin-
ger and hand settings, especially the
former, to be incredibly useful because
they allowed me to play with more real-
ism and subtlety than I ever could from a
keyboard or from the small trigger pads
you get on some keyboard controllers
or on dedicated pad units. The DTX’s
smaller pads are not too easy to play
with using hands or fingers. They’re fine
for triggering crashes or effects, but they
don’t feel as good for drum sounds like
toms or snares.
The DTX-Multi 12’s angled front
panel is where you do all of your adjust-
ments and editing. It has a volume knob,
a small 2-by-16-character LCD (about
2.5 x 0.5 inches), pad status lights, and
a configuration of 16 light-up buttons of
various shapes and sizes.
The rear panel I/O (see Fig. 2)
includes an array of ¼-inch jacks includ-
ing L&R audio outputs, a stereo head-
phone out (with its own volume control),
an Aux In jack, foot switch and hi-hat
control inputs, and inputs for connect-
ing up to five external triggers, includ-
ing one of Yamaha’s three-zone trigger
pads. There’s also a gain knob for the
Aux In, MIDI In and Out jacks, a 12V
power input, and an on/off switch.
On the left-hand side, if you’re fac-
ing the unit, you’ll find USB-to-Host and
USB-to-Device ports. The former is for
connecting to a computer for MIDI and
the latter for connecting USB memo-
ry devices like flash drives to import
audio into the unit for triggering and to
export data.
GettinG Around
Maybe it’s because I’ve been using
mostly software instruments lately, but I
found the DTX-Multi 12’s user interface
to be rather cumbersome. It is menu-
based, and due in part to the small size
of the LCD, it requires that you often
must scroll through numerous layers to
get to what you want. Accessing menus
is not just a matter of scrolling through a
list, either. For some functions, there are
two-key sequences that you must press
before you start scrolling.
To be fair, this is a very deep unit,
and there’s a lot of territory to cover in
terms of parameters and preferences,
and despite its multiple layers, the navi-
gation system is consistent once you get
the hang of it. Still, I expect it’s going
to take some time to become a power
user. The paper manual (which is also
available as a PDF) is decent, though not
comprehensive. Until you memorize the
function keys and the overall navigation
scheme, you’ll need to keep it handy.
SoundS oF dtX
Like the DTXtreme electronic drum kit
from which it’s derived, the DTX-Multi 12
has 50 preset sampled kits in it, many of
which are specialty and world-percussion
kits. The sounds range from decent to
quite good, and include Indian, Brazilian,
Cuban, and Japanese kits; a selection of
electronic kits (not as contemporary as
I would have liked); a marching band kit;
and an excellent tympani kit, to name
just a few. Overall, you get a nice percus-
sion toolbox and you can customize the
kits to mix and match sounds.
I would have liked Yamaha to have
included more acoustic drum kits. There
are only three, plus sampled kits of
Yamaha’s Cocktail and Hipgig portable
drum kits. (I’m not sure why these were
included as they’re both undersized
56 | emusici an.com | 10.10
✱ yamaha dtx-multi 12 ✱ reviews
FiG. 2: Rear panel I/O includes MIDI In/Out, five inputs for control pedals and
external pads, a ¼-inch aux input, a pair of ¼-inch outs and a headphone output.
I also found the DTX-Multi 12 really useful for
programming MIDI drums.
travel kits that compromise tone for
portability.) There are some additional
individual acoustic drum sounds that
can be accessed through the Voice sec-
tion, but there isn’t enough variety. That
being said, you can import samples from
a USB memory device so you can expand
the sound set. Each pad can house up to
four layers of velocity-switched samples.
In addition to the drum, percussion,
and pitched percussion sounds, there’s
also a complete multitimbral, GM sound
set in the unit. It’s not very clear from
the manual that it’s even included, and
it’s a little tricky to access it if you don’t
know how. You get to it through one of
the submenus controlled by the Voice
button. I discovered it when I was send-
ing MIDI to the unit and all of a sudden
I heard a piano sound.
Included are a collection of looping
patterns, some of which are set up to be
triggered from specific pads in the pre-
set kit collection. For getting ideas and
inspiration, these loops are quite useful.
You can also record your own patterns or
import standard MIDI files. The onboard
sequencer’s feature set includes a user-
adjustable countoff, a metronome,
the ability to set how many measures
to record and whether your recording
will be looped or not, and adjustable
quantization.
Software Component
Included with the DTX-Multi 12 is a copy
of Steinberg Cubase AI 5, which gives
you a lot of Cubase’s functionality minus
some of the high-ticket features like
Groove Agent, Loop Mash, Vari-Audio,
and pitch correction. Still, it’s a pretty
solid DAW, and the sound engine is the
same as on the flagship version.
One of the cooler features on the
DTX-Multi 12 is that you can use it to
control Cubase AI 5 or Cubase 5.1 or
later. This remote-control feature gives
you a host of control functions includ-
ing stop, start, rewind and fast-forward,
punch-in and -out, click-on and -off, and
more. I found that it worked flawlessly.
In the StudIo
I used the DTX-Multi 12 in a number
of different ways. First, I connected its
audio outputs directly into my audio
interface and recorded drum parts using
the unit’s internal sounds. This was
straightforward and easy. Because I like
to start my drum parts with kick and
snare, I panned each one to a separate
output and recorded them to their own
tracks in my DAW. I then went back and
recorded the cymbals to a stereo track
(see web Clip 1).
I also found the DTX-Multi 12 really
useful for programming MIDI drums.
Paired with FXpansion’s superb-sound-
ing BFD2, I was able to program some
great-sounding parts (see web Clip 2).
I also activated the Local Off switch
on the DTX-Multi 12 and played MIDI
parts into my DAW while triggering the
DTX’s sounds.
trIggerIng the reSultS
Despite a user interface that’s not
particularly intuitive, the DTX-Multi 12
offers a great deal of functionality.
Drummers looking for a portable elec-
tronic-percussion source will find it
extremely useful, and non-drummers
like myself who just want a way to pro-
duce more authentic-sounding drum
and percussion parts in their studio will
appreciate its features, especially the
pads. Overall, it’s a solid product with
a lot to offer. ✱
Mike Levine is EM’s editor and senior
media producer.
For getting ideas
and inspiration,
these loops are
quite useful.
58 | emusici an.com | 10.10
picks
A
bbey Road Studios’ RS124 com-
pressor plug-in is an emulation of
the tube compressor designed by EMI
engineers in 1960 and based on the
Altec 436B. The main compressor used
at Abbey Road for more than a decade,
the RS124 was used on many Beatles
sessions done at that studio.
Three of a Kind
The plug-in version of the RS124 ($560
TDM, $335 RTAS/VST/AU) is actu-
ally three different compressors, each
modeled after a specific hardware unit.
You access the one you want by click-
ing on the serial number and selecting
one of the models (60050A, 61010B,
or 60070B). This process was one of
a number of GUI features that I found
nonintuitive and discovered only after
reading the manual. Each model has
the same set of controls represented
by slightly different graphics, and each
has a distinct frequency response,
compression curve, and attack and
release times.
The RS124’s Input control is both
the input gain and the threshold level for
the compressor. The Output Attenuator
can only drop your signal in 5dB or 10dB
steps. The Recovery/Hold knob selects
one of six release times, but also has
red dots between each value, which
are the Hold settings. These positions
essentially disable the release of the
compressor. This was useful on the orig-
inal RS124s for both preventing the rise
in volume that happens at the decay of
a note under heavy compression, and
for priming the compressor so that
you wouldn’t hear the (relatively slow)
attack of the RS124 clamping down on
the first note of a song or phrase. Once
the release is
held, the Balance
cont rol eases
up on the gain-
reduction amount
for as long as
you hold it in.
The final control
is the software-
only SuperFuse,
which gives you
a much faster
release time. Enabling SuperFuse
disables the Recovery control (which
also isn’t clear without some man-
ual perusing), allowing for more
aggressive compression.
The GamuT
I tested both the RTAS and TDM formats
on a Mac Pro running an Avid Pro Tools
HD2 Accel system. My first tests of
the RS124 were with drums. In normal
mode, the release times were generally
too slow for my liking, although I found
a good snare sound with the faster
60070B model. In SuperFuse mode, I
could really hear the release of the com-
pressor working, and got some fantastic
ambience out of close and room mics
(see Web Clips 1 and 2). On the drum
bus, each model really brought out a dif-
ferent part of the kit.
The RS124 sounded dreamy on bass,
with SuperFuse out, and roughly 15dB
to 20dB of gain reduction—way more
than I usually want to see. Again, each
model had a sound, and I kept choosing
60050A because it had the warmth of
the others but a little more definition.
On electric guitar, for softer strumm-
ed parts or single lines, I really liked the
way the RS124 sounded, especially the
60050A model. For louder, more aggres-
sive chord-playing, none of the settings
on the RS124 gave me a fast enough
attack; I heard loud pops and thumps
at the beginning of each phrase before
the compressor kicked in. The solution
was to automate the input control on the
attacks. I really liked the way the 60050A
model (Input at 7, Recovery at 3) brought
out presence and immediacy to a quietly
sung female vocal (see Web Clips 3
and 4). That same model was also my
choice for a loud male lead vocal, but
with the Recovery at 1.
As a stereo bus compressor, the
RS124 really proved its mettle. If there
were strong dynamics in a song, I had
to automate the Input control from sec-
tion to section. Once achieved, though,
20dB of gain reduction sounded like a
warm, fuzzy halo around the mix, with-
out making it sound dull. The presence
of the vocal and snare increased, even
at such high compression amounts.
The 60050A had the overall smoothest
sound for me, although the other mod-
els did interesting things.
SumminG iT up
The problems I had with the RS124
mostly regard the user interface. Some
By Eli Crews
Abbey RoAd studios ✱ Rs124 (mac/win)
Hear examples from tHe rs124 ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
The RS124 plug-in offers several similar-looking faceplates,
each with its own sonic signature modeled on an actual unit.
59 10.10 | emusici an.com |
NeumaNN ✱ TLm 102 quick picks By Myles Boisen
N
eumann’s latest updates a micro-
phone line that spans the history
of professional recording. The TLM 102
($699) is the company’s most affordable
large-diaphragm studio mic to date.
The TLM 102 is built around a large-
diaphragm cardioid condenser element
and transformerless solid-state elec-
tronics. For studio recording, the smaller
housing offers ease of placement in tight
spots such as between a floor tom and
cymbal, or inside a piano. The mic is
available in a black finish and the tradi-
tional Neumann matte-nickel look.
Comparisons with Neumann’s pop-
ular TLM 103 are inevitable. The two
models share a common style in terms
of grille shape, overall construction, and
mounting around the threaded XLR stem
via the supplied all-metal mount. The
TLM 103 does have more impressive
noise and sensitivity ratings, while the
102 offers a slightly
higher SPL toler-
ance (144dB com-
pared to the 103’s
138dB). Contacts at
Neumann confirmed
that the electronics
and capsule design
of these two mics
are different, dispel-
ling any notion that
the 102 might be a
Mini-Me 103 mic.
A pair of TLM 102
mics got a thorough
workout on a variety of instruments on
composer Dan Plonsey’s Daniel Popsicle
big-band project. On baritone sax, the
Neumann’s character was a bit bass-
lean at times, but the mic delivered a
usable sound. Off-axis bleed was greater
than the other dynamic, ribbon, and con-
denser mics I had up on the session. On
the other hand, leakage from the back
of the microphone (primarily drums) was
uncolored, which is a plus in a multiple-
mic situation. In addition, this reed player
tended to move around a bit, so a more
open pattern had its advantages.
The TLM 102 seemed well suited
to higher reeds, and was also used on
soprano sax, clarinet, and piccolo during
the session. The mic’s hint of brightness
was ideal for piccolo and soprano sax,
and, again, the open cardioid pattern
was complementary to the complicated
tone production of the soprano.
On floor tom, the Neumann gave a
nice balance of low-end punch and tran-
sient attack. It also captured clear and
sharp transients when used on a variety
of percussion sources. On acoustic gui-
tar, the TLM 102 yielded a good balance
of lows and highs from about a foot away,
and it had enough high-end sparkle to
satisfy me.
Engineer Bart Thurber, who shares
my Guerilla Recording studio in Oakland,
Calif., took the TLM 102 for a spin on
some rock recording sessions. Here, the
Neumann excelled on close-miked elec-
tric guitar amp, yielding an exemplary
in-your-face sound. In addition, we liked
the 102’s low-end response when miking
electric bass amps. Thurber also tried
the 102 pair as drum overheads, but he
noted that it picked up too much room
sound and not enough cymbal definition
for his tastes.
On two vocalists—female singer/
songwriter Zoe Boekbinder and male rap-
per Frank Stickemz—the 102 was crisp
and detailed. Boekbinder said she felt
like she could have used a little more low-
end richness from the Neumann mic on
her voice, while rapper Stickemz required
some additional high-end EQ for his rapid-
fire delivery to cut through properly.
During testing, I found the TLM 102
pair to be sufficiently matched for critical
use as a stereo pair. However, when tap-
ping on the stands and the mic bodies, I
thought that the internal shock mounting
of the mic could have been better
implemented.
The TLM 102 delivers a neutral and
usable sound without too much fussing
over placement. In general, I would say
that this model has less lower-midrange
warmth than a lot of more expensive
large-diaphragm mics I use in the studio.
This may be due to its near-omnidirec-
tional pattern at low frequencies, which
yields less proximity effect than some
transducers. But on critical low-end
sources such as floor tom and electric
bass, the 102 performed admirably.
Although Neumann has found ways to
make its signature large-diaphragm
condenser sound available for less than
$1,000, there’s nothing cheap or small
about the sound of the TLM 102. ✱
Overall Rating (1 through 5): 4
neumannusa.com
of these stem from Abbey Road’s
attempt to create too perfect a repli-
ca of the original hardware, but some
interface issues were just oversights,
like not graying out the Recovery con-
trol when in SuperFuse mode or not
providing mouse scroll-wheel control.
However, there are many aspects of the
RS124 plug-in that I absolutely love. The
way the plug-in perfectly cements a ste-
reo mix, for example, will be worth the
price of admission for many engineers.
This is not the easiest compressor to
operate, but it really has a distinct char-
acter. You can decide if that character
fits your needs by downloading the free
10-day trial version. (iLok dongle and
account are necessary.) ✱
Overall Rating (1 through 5): 3
abbeyroadplugins.com
The TLM102 packs a big
microphone sound into
a compact body.
60 | emusici an.com | 10.10
S
erafine FX Tron ($995 DVD, $1,149
installed on a hard drive) is an
enormous collection of sound effects
from 30-year sound-design and scor-
ing veteran Frank Serafine. As you
would expect from someone whose
credits include numerous Hollywood
films and top videogame productions,
the spectrum of sounds in this 19.2GB
collection is broad and the quality is
top-notch. Furthermore, the library is
expandable with a variety of focused
add- ons ($795 each) such as The
Foley Collection, The Darwin Chamber
Drone Collection, and The Serafine
Ambience 5.1 Collection. The Platinum
HD edition ($3,995) includes 10 add-
ons (everything except the Ambience
5.1 Collection), which represents a siz-
able discount.
Sonic Reality (sonicreality.com) dis-
tributes FX Tron as part of its Infinite
Player Series of instruments for Native
Instruments Kontakt 4 or Kontakt 4
Player (included). It comes on six DVDs
(a download version is also available)
or an external hard drive. Once you’ve
installed FX Tron in your chosen ver-
sion of Kontakt, you authorize it online
with Native Instruments ServiceCenter
application—a process that is simple
and fast.
InfInIte flexIbIlIty
Each of FX Tron’s 10,775 24-bit, 48kHz
samples is housed in its own Kontakt
instrument. The Infinite Player template
is used for each of the instruments, a
system that offers great flexibility while
requiring you to learn only one set of con-
trols. Each instrument maps its sample
across the entire MIDI key range. In addi-
tion to the instruments, you’ll find more
than 200 Kontakt Multis. Each of those
includes a dozen or so sounds on a simi-
lar theme, and each sound is mapped
to a single key moving upward from C3
(Middle C).
The Infinite Player has four control
panels: Mode, Amp, LFO, and FX. By itself,
each is quite simple, but taken together
they let you craft a surprising variety of
sounds. On the Mode panel, you select
from four playback modes—Forward,
Reverse, Formant, and Time Stretch—
the latter two of which use Kontakt’s
Tone Machine and Time Machine play-
back engines. Formant mode typically
delivers a playable, synthesized sound,
and Time Stretch mode lets you adapt
the sound effect to different tempos and
apply granular processing.
In all modes, the mod wheel controls
sample start, and there’s a Lock button
that locks in the current start position
and disables the mod wheel connection.
You can detune the sample in semitones
and cents, and you can turn keyboard
tracking off so that all keys play the
same sound. As a nice touch, you can
set the sample to trigger on key release
and specify a hold time. That makes it
easy to set up event pairs, like cocking
and firing a gun, and control the time
between actions by when you release
the key (see Web Clip 1).
The Amp panel provides access to
volume, pan, and ADSR amplifier enve-
lope parameters. The LFO section offers
mixed-waveform LFOs for amplitude, pan,
pitch, and filter cutoff. The FX section
is where you manage 14 insert effects
such as filtering, compression, chorus,
flanging, delay, reverb, and so on.
SoundS Abound
FX Tron’s instruments are spread
across 16 categories holding any-
where from a couple hundred to a
couple thousand sounds. The catego-
ries are divided almost evenly among
natural sounds (Animals, Human FX,
Nature, Water, and Fire), mechanical
noises (Doors and Elevators, Vehicles,
Industrial Clash, Domestic), and special
effects (Science Fiction, Special FX),
although many categories hold sounds
of each type (Ambient FX, Weapons
and Explosions, Electronics). Each
of the categories is broken into sub-
categories containing the individual
Kontakt instruments (.nki files). The
Favorites folder, containing 189 instru-
ments, is a good place to start.
All but one of the categories also
has Multis. The Musical category is the
exception; it features a cross-section
of acoustic and electronic instruments
with emphasis on percussion. Most of
the instruments are multisampled, and
you can manipulate them quite a bit with
the aforementioned control panels.
For a library this size, finding what
you want from Kontakt’s Library browser
is fairly easy—nothing is nested more
than two layers deep. Beyond that, you
can use Kontakt’s Quick-Load feature to
create your own favorites and project-
specific collections without having to
move any data on your hard drive.
If you’ve been piecing together
sound effects for your projects from dis-
parate collections, you’ll really appreci-
ate Serafine FX Tron. You’ll find sounds
here for almost any project requirement,
and you have a lot of tools to customize
them to your needs. The quality is con-
sistently high, and owing to the common
Kontakt instrument interface, everything
fits together easily. It’s not a low-cost
solution, but if you do much scoring for
film, video, or games, the time you save
will quickly cover the cost. ✱
overall rating (1 through 5): 4
sonicreality.com
quick picks sonic Reality ✱ seRafine fX tRon (mac/win) By Len Sasso
Serafine FX Tron delivers more than
10,000 top-quality special effects with a
custom-tailored, flexible playback engine.
Hear serafine fX Tron in acTion ✱ emusician.com/bonus_maTerial
61 10.10 | emusici an.com |
M
oog is rightfully known for its ana-
log synthesizers, including the
Moog modular, the Minimoog, and the
Voyager. More recently, Moog brought
its modular design to the Moogerfooger
Series of effects, which integrate with
voltage-controlled synthesizer systems,
as well as deliver complex and animated
processing for guitar, bass, or practi-
cally anything that produces an analog
signal. Enter the new MF-105M MIDI
MuRF ($459). Like other Moogerfooger
devices, control-voltage (CV) inputs
let you regulate a processor with any
control-voltage source: for example, ped-
als, footswitches, another Moogerfooger,
and most modular synth gear.
Moog filters are arguably the compa-
ny’s shining stars, and the MIDI MuRF’s
Multiple Resonance Filter (MuRF) array
delivers eight resonant bandpass filters
with fixed frequencies. The unit excels
at creating rich, rhythmic gating effects.
You’ll find a review of the original MF-105
MuRF in the April 2005 EM, available
online at emusician.com.
Surf the Murf
MIDI MuRF’s hardware improvements
include the addition of left and right
¼-inch analog outputs. Analog input
remains monophonic, but odd and even
pattern steps alternate between the
left and right outputs. In a sense, MIDI
MuRF offers two processors in one: A
Freq switch reconfigures the filter array
to match the MF-105B with a lowpass
filter in its lowest band and bandpass fil-
ters for the remaining frequencies. Flick
that switch to the right, and the filters
cover midrange frequencies, as in the
standard MF-105.
Even a passing familiarity with ana-
log-style step sequencers makes it easy
to understand MIDI MuRF animation.
You get a separate pattern generator for
each filter, and even their step-counts
(64 max) can differ. A downloadable,
free software Pattern Editor lets you
set up rhythmic patterns. A built-in low-
frequency oscillator (LFO) sweeps the
bands, and the Rate knob speeds up
or slows down the rate of the patterns.
With the aid of envelope controls, transi-
tions between pattern steps ranged from
spiky, staccato articulations to smooth,
sweeping transitions of tone.
Adjusting the Drive knob increases
signal at the input stage. Signal strength
is indicated by LEDs color-coding from
green to yellow to red, as with many
level indicators. However, when the sig-
nal hits the red zone, it’s not necessarily
a warning to back off; I was able to add
nice overdriven warmth to the creamy-
sounding filters.
elaStic BandS
What really distinguishes the MIDI MuRF
from its forebears is in its MIDI imple-
mentation. A major change is the ability
to sync to tempo with MIDI Clock. With
the downloadable MIDI firmware update
to version 1.8, you can divide MIDI Clock
response into musically meaningful sub-
divisions, including triplets and dotted
notes, from MIDI CC messages.
You’ll find many other pleasant MIDI
surprises. Practically every knob, switch,
and pedal function is also available
through MIDI Control Change (CC) mes-
sages. For example, CC messages can
vary the wet/dry mix. I rigged my MIDI
guitar to send MIDI mod-wheel mes-
sages (CC1) to vary the envelope con-
trols (see Web clip 1). Most obvious,
and incredibly convenient, is the ability
to switch patterns with MIDI program
changes. You can also use note-on mes-
sages to advance a pattern by steps,
thereby wringing more rhythmic variety
from the patterns.
The MIDI MuRF hardware is not all
that conducive to visualizing patterns,
but the Pattern Editor software pres-
ents a panel with a simple GUI that lets
you see and hear what you’re doing. (It
transmits edits as you make them.) The
Pattern Editor bestows other features
not present on the unit’s hardware. For
instance, the hardware envelope control
changes only the attack and release
values for each step, but hit the letter
A on the ASCII keyboard, and a panel
appears on the editor, offering niceties
such as the ability to scale the envelope
strength, which provides lots more sonic
variety to the envelope contours.
Murfy’S laW
There are a few things I’d like to see in
the next MIDI MuRF. You must use the
menu rather than the industry-standard
Command+Q to quit the editor. It’s a
little difficult to set the LFO rate to the
right time division when synched to
MIDI clock; a incremental knob would
help. A MIDI Thru port would be invalu-
able for passing along MIDI Clock or
other messages.
In the short time I had the unit in
my possession, the MF-105M MIDI
MuRF provided me with hours of musi-
cal enjoyment. There’s plenty of sonic
flexibility, and it presents the best of
both analog and MIDI control options.
I highly recommend the MF-105M MIDI
MuRF to guitarists, bassists, and any-
one looking to add new and exciting
animation to their sound. ✱
Overall rating (1 through 5): 4
moogmusic.com
quick picks Moog Music ✱ MF-105M MiDi MuRF By Marty Cutler
Hear an example of tHe mf-105m miDi murf ✱ emusician.com/bonus_material
The MIDI MuRF sports level sliders for
its eight filter bands, animation controls
for its LFO and step sequencer, and
drive and output knobs, along with
level LEDs and an on/off footswitch.
62 | EMUSICI AN.COM | 10.10
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I
f you ask me which musical project I’m
involved with that people are most like-
ly to have heard of, it would be Porcupine
Tree. Of course, we’re still a long way
from being a household name, but we
have a loyal underground fan base.
However, enter the words “Porcupine
Tree review” into a popular web search
engine, and it will return more than half
a million results That’s a lot of reviews,
opinions, and critiques written about
one relatively off-the-radar rock band.
So I’m asking myself: Are these
really reviews or just an endless noise of
opinions—and is there a difference?
I’ve spoken before about how inex-
pensive technology and online tools have
given rise to a wealth of home-grown
music production; the flip side is that
those same tools have created a blos-
soming of home-grown music criticism.
But could one call this a renaissance?
Sadly, no. Much of what I read are varia-
tions on the heated arguments that used
to take place between friends at a bar.
Albums are praised one minute as an
artist’s best, then trashed a minute later
by someone else as the worst—both
opinions expressed as irrefutable truth.
The quality of writing rarely rises above
comparisons to other bands and liberally
applied superlatives. Only now, these so-
called reviews are broadcast the world
over, giving influence to their authors no
matter how narrow their frame of refer-
ence or biased their agenda.
As a musician, it’s hard to look away.
We artists are a sensitive bunch, so even
though we shouldn’t care what a 15-year-
old Metallica fan writing from his bedroom
in Utah thinks about our music, a lot of us do. It’s human nature
to care what even one dissenting voice has to say. Yet among
music fans, it’s often the most shrill and snide writing—not
the most thoughtful or insightful—that attracts eyeballs. That
doesn’t make it proper music journalism, and I worry that really
engaging music writing is being lost among all of this garbage.
Great music journalism is an art in its own right. It plac-
es music in a historical and cultural context while revealing
the passion and personality of the musicians that made it.
It reaches out beyond the music to the core of the human
condition, just like the music it is about. In the introduction to
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, a compilation of rock
critic Lester Bangs’ work, Greil Marcus wrote, “What this book
demands from a reader is the willingness to accept that the
best writer in America could write almost nothing but record
reviews.” In other words, he considers quality music writing to
be on a par with the very highest literary achievements.
There are certainly those that bear this grand claim out—
David Fricke, Paul Morley, Nick Kent, and Bangs—who not only
wrote (or still write) about music, but lived and toured with their
subjects, understanding implicitly the nature of the muse. At
its best, their work sent you on voyages of discovery to hunt
down the music they wrote about, or find new depths to music
you thought you already knew. If you were a music lover, these
guys were your teachers.
Recently, many of the old lions who defined music criti-
cism for a generation have left their posts—some by choice,
others by necessity. The good news is that there are a decent
number of serious and respectable online publications that
are more than happy to go on publishing thoughtful and literate
music writing (for example, check out Anil Prasad’s writing on
his Innerviews website, or Tobias Fischer on tokafi.com).
The bad news, though, is that those sites aren’t nearly as
numerous or popular as those that traffic in gossip, pointless
best-of lists, and the “this sucks” / “this rules” approach to
reviewing. The celebrated rock journalists acted as curators,
with enough expertise, depth of knowledge, and wit to intelli-
gently offer us some kind of insight to help us make up our own
minds. You didn’t have to take their opinions as gospel, but
they sure as hell made it entertaining while they argued their
point. And you might even learn something along the way. ✱
Steven Wilson is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of
the band Porcupine Tree. His most recent solo album, Insurgentes,
was released in 2008. Go to swhq.co.uk for more info.
✱ in the mix ✱
Everyone’s a Critic
By Steven Wilson
Great music journalism is an art
in its own right.
musiciansfriend.com 800.776.5173
Best Selection, Price & Service. Guaranteed.
Pick up Blue
Giant’s self-titled
new album,
available in stores
and online now.
We’re with the band.

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