New Music Gear: Spring 2009

Mar 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Markkus Rovito

EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP SILK

FAR EAST AND SUBCONTINENT VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT

It’s easy to get lost in specs, concepts and jargon when it comes to virtual instruments, but fantastic sounds still rise above the rest. For Quantum Leap Silk—Masters of the Silk Road ($595), producer/composer Nick Phoenix recorded renowned musicians playing dozens of authentic instruments from China (strings, brass, accordion and wind instruments), India (string and wind instruments) and Persia (30-piece string section, duduk, kemenche, electric cello and others) to create a brilliant-sounding and ambitious 25GB collection of ethnic instruments. Recorded at major studios using vintage Neumann mics, Neve consoles and Meitner converters, Silk also takes advantage of EastWest’s new Play 64-bit sample engine, which includes scripting, microtuning and a convolution reverb.

SONIVOX PLAYA

HIP-HOP VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT

In a coup for cash-strapped cats who want to get into music now, Sonivox Playa ($149; www.sonivoxmi.com) supplies the basic tools for urban music production in one stand-alone app or plug-in for a modest price. And for a limited time, that price will stand at an introductory $99. That price includes 400 Sonivox instruments (for reference, Sonivox created the instrument sounds for Ableton Live 7), encompassing basses, drums, synths, ethnic sounds, guitars, strings, brass and more. Play also packs effects, EQ and 50 construction-kit-style layouts for the 16 programmable and assignable virtual pads. With MIDI learn, Playa is compatible with any MIDI controller.

OPEN LABS MIKO LXD

PC-POWERED MUSIC WORKSTATION

Open Labs has been going as crazy as its hip-hop endorsers during the past year. At the 2009 NAMM Show, it unveiled updated hardware specs and a much-improved software OS for its all-encompassing, computer-in-a-keyboard workstations. Among a full line of introductions, the Miko LXD ($4,599) stood out. The 37-key workstation comes with a full software bundle with 60-plus virtual instruments—including FXpansion Guru and the Livid Instruments Cell VJ software, all running on Windows XP Home. And you can load your own PC-compatible DAW, DJ and other software into the Miko. In addition, Open Labs has developed Riff, its new virtual instrument host that not only makes switching among instruments seamless but also lets you create real-time virtual controls that can be mapped to effects or other parameters.

Miko LXD includes a touch-sensitive computer display and three built-in control modules, two of which are new. The new Bump MP module gives you Akai MPC–style controls, such as note repeat, as well as transport controls, hold, pad tune and more. The company has also included an original innovation in the form of a 17th pad called Last Pad. This pad basically plays whatever the sound is of the last pad you hit, letting you perform fast rolls more comfortably on two pads instead of one. Also new, the Mix/Edit controller gives you control of as many as 128 channels of audio from within one set of eight encoders, eight lighted buttons and eight faders.

AKAI APC40

ABLETON LIVE/MIDI CONTROLLER

The APC40 ($399; www.akaipro.com) represents a collaboration between Akai and Ableton to create a dedicated controller for Live 7 and higher. Intended for real-time mixing, remixing and production, the APC40 gives you complete control of Live's Session view, effect devices and instruments, with little need for a mouse.

The first eight encoder knobs control global parameters and provide access to four control banks, such as the main sends, pans and other essentials. The second eight knobs dynamically remap to the track you select: As you switch channels, the Track knobs follow your focus. You also get special clip-status views and feedback that only the APC40's 40-button clip matrix can display, and scrolling provides access to an unlimited number of cells. Dedicated controls include tap tempo, tempo nudge, record-enables, solo/cues and two assignable footswitch inputs.

Multicolored backlit buttons let you know what's loaded, what's playing and what's being recorded. The APC40 comes with a specially designed version of Live Lite and automatically works over USB with no drivers or mapping required.

MOTU BPM

BEAT-PRODUCTION VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT

Although frequently unsung, MOTU's virtual instruments carry famously deep functionality to go along with impeccable sound. Its latest effort — BPM ($295; www.motu.com), a beat-production tool for urban and electronic music — continues that tradition. With the intent of letting you make beats quickly without relying on someone else's loops, BPM gives you 15 GB of 24-bit, 96 kHz percussive material. But you can also sample your own sounds or drag-and-drop sounds from your desktop to BPM's pads, which are compatible with any MIDI pad controller on the market.

Just a few of BPM's seemingly infinite features include drum layering, pattern sequencing, loop slicing, groove quantizing and unlimited effects processing with its included effects. You can create your entire rhythm track in BPM as a stand-alone app, but it's not meant to be a one-stop shop. With universal plug-in compatibility, it features multiple outputs and many export options to use your beats in a DAW session or transfer them elsewhere.

KORG MICROKORG XL

SYNTHESIZER

Falling into the gap between the original MicroKorg and the Korg R3 synth, the MicroKorg XL ($750; www.korg.com) features the acclaimed analog modeling from Korg's Radias synth engine; a built-in, 16-band vocoder (gooseneck mic included); and a simplified editing system using three large dials and a backlit LCD menu. With its 37-note, velocity-sensitive minikeyboard and optional battery power, the MicroKorg XL is compact and ready to fit into a cramped studio or live setup. Though small, this full-featured keyboard includes USB and MIDI controller capability, audio inputs for the vocoder, an editable arpeggiator and 17 effects from the Korg Kaoss Series; it also excels in a wide variety of sounds, from filthy basses to sharp lead synths to lush, evolving pads.

The eight-voice polyphonic synth engine delivers traditional analog waveforms and seven other algorithms, including formant waveforms, noise and PCM/DWGS waves for vintage keyboards and strings. Cross-modulation, unison stacking and variable phase modulation help make sounds that conventional PCM synthesizers can't. Sync and ring modulation contribute to the potential for complex, powerful sounds. Two multimode filters, a drive/waveshaping circuit for distorted sounds, an envelope generator and an LFO round out the synthesis tools.

ABLETON LIVE 8

DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION, PERFORMANCE SOFTWARE

You didn't think this German freight train was derailed, did you? Like clockwork, Ableton cranks out a major update to Live each year, and there's always reason to take notice. Live 8 ($449, download; www.ableton.com) features a new groove engine that includes extracting grooves from audio or MIDI and real-time groove-quantize. Other features include retooled warping abilities; live looping; track grouping; a revamped MIDI editor; crossfades in the Arrangement view; and five new effects: vocoder, multiband dynamics, overdrive, limiter and frequency shifter. Live 8 is set to hit shelves this spring.

Also available this spring is Ableton Suite 8 ($699, download), which bundles Live 8 with a massive sound collection and a slew of virtual instruments, including the new Latin Percussion acoustic drum collection and the Collision mallet instrument. Ableton's first software synthesizer, Operator, also features updates in the form of new filter types, additional modulation options and additive wavetable synthesis.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS MASCHINE

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE GROOVE PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT

We've all heard a lot about combining software functionality with hardware control. But until now, the combination has usually come from a fairly traditional piece of hardware having a software component to it or software being controlled by a piece of general-use hardware. Native Instruments wants to change that game with Maschine ($669; www.native-instruments.com), an instrument in the tradition of the tried-and-true groovebox but made from the ground up to combine the tactile control of hardware with the modern capabilities of software. And unlike many other music products before it, Maschine's hardware is made to work 100 percent with its software and vice versa.

If you're used to the traditional groovebox and drum-machine work flow, you should have no problem diving into Maschine. You get 16 pressure-sensitive drum pads that illuminate to reflect sequenced patterns, eight rotary encoders and plenty of buttons to keep your hand off the computer's keyboard and mouse. The package comes with several gigabytes of sampled material, and the hardware doubles as a MIDI controller for your DAW and other instruments.

ARTURIA MINIMOOG V 2.0

CLASSIC ANALOG-SYNTH EMULATION

Arturia did a great job modeling the Minimoog in its first version of Minimoog V — so what did the company have to improve upon? A fresh batch of presets in Minimoog V 2.0 ($249; free upgrade to registered users; www.arturia.com) is nice, and recording automation within each preset for as many as four parameters opens a ton of possibilities. But that, of course, is just the beginning. Arturia added a Vocal Filter, which works almost as if to make the Minimoog talk. The new Vocal Filter, as well as Pan, can be used as destinations for an expanded modulation matrix. Best of all, a new Sound Map lays out the hundreds of preset sounds in a sortable 2-D space as a new way for zeroing in on the sounds you want. That's helpful, but the Sound Map's morphing might blow your mind. By clicking on multiple sounds within the map, you can morph between them.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!

Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus