ABLETON OPERATOR
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY JESSE TERRY
TWO-HANDED TWEAKING > The new Operator soft synth for Ableton Live 4 includes a wealth of adjustable parameters ranging from envelopes and LFOs to the ability to customize the oscillator routing and more.
At this point in the pro-audio industry, the quality of soft synthesizers is generally amazing; therefore, the question for developers is which company can come up with the most useful, novel or classic-sounding virtual instrument. With Operator, Ableton has come up with a creative take on synthesis that is designed with the same exacting standards as its revolutionary Live program. But don't expect a fancy-pants GUI: With Operator, you get easy access to creative rhythmic textures, FM and analog-style synthesis and much more.
Operator is a versatile monster that is able to create great-sounding drums, basses, leads, pads, percussion and rhythmic ambiences by virtue of its unique oscillator-routing section. This shell section is the place that the most interesting changes in sound occur. Eight groupings change the way in which the four oscillators (A, B, C and D) interact with each other. Each of the four oscillators can deliver an audio signal or modify the other oscillators. For example, oscillator D could control A, B and C, or D could control C, which controls B, which controls A and so forth. If this is starting to sound like the math class that you failed in high school, don't worry; there are loads of cool presets to tweak. For those inclined to algebra, it is clear that a stunning array of possibilities are at your fingertips with these control routings.
FM synthesis is the source of inspiration for many of Operator's sounds — a fact that some of the Ableton forum users have noted — and FM synthesis just happens to be one of the best ways to create an infinite variety of sounds with few controls. Add to that analog-style subtractive synthesis, multimode resonant filtering and a slew of other controls, and the possibilities multiply exponentially. Not surprisingly, you can automate (and save) all of these parameters in Live, so you're really facing infinite possibilities. In fact, there are so many parameters to manipulate, you'll probably need an extra hand to play the notes on your keyboard.
With each oscillator (not to mention the resonator and the LFO), you can also alter its envelope to control attack, sustain, decay and release, and you can loop these parameters to great effect. Each oscillator (and the LFO) can also use a selection of 20 different wave shapes, such as sine, saw, triangle, square and noise, as well as harmonic variations on each. Other features include glide; a stereo-spread feature to beef up your sound; Tone and Time functions, which allow you to control many envelopes at once; and Live's typical Info View, which explains what's going on when you mouse over a parameter. The envelope loop/sync feature allows you to create morphing pads, percussive loops and slowly developing filter sweeps, altering your sounds as time progresses.
A tour through the six included tutorials — including an overview and bass, drums, lead, pads and rhythmic-texture tutorials — shows you the breadth of Operator's capabilities. Helpful for getting your brain around this deep, creative piece of software (not to mention a great introduction to learning about synthesis), the tutorials are a real boon to those looking to get away from standard presets in Operator or any other synthesizer. Combining instructions from the different tutorials (such as Rhythmic Textures and Creating Drum Sounds) can give you a wild variety of textures and beats. It is easy to create a track from start to finish with Operator, provided you have the processing power.
Nevertheless, one aspect of Operator is a little disarming: Whereas many other virtual synths have effects built in, Ableton assumes that you will use the set of effects included with Live to alter the sounds of Operator. A little reverb and delay go a long way to making these presets sound unbelievable. It would be a nice addition if Live had some way to save strings of effects presets together with Operator, as in Apple Logic's channel strip. I had problems typing in some envelope parameter values, as Operator didn't know whether I meant milli-seconds or seconds. And it would also be nice to see a “next preset” button for less mousing around.
That said, this is an unusually versatile piece of software that could be useful in many different styles of music. If you do purchase Ableton Operator, make sure to download the excellent set of free third-party presets from Covert Operators (www.djadamjay.com/CovertOperatorsVol1.zip). If you own Live 4, you probably already know about Operator and lust for it. If you don't, it's another reason to buy Live and add a great weapon to your sonic arsenal.
ABLETON
OPERATOR > $149
Pros: Easy to use. Highly inspirational. Nearly limitless sound-design possibilities.
Cons: No built-in effects. Works only with Live.
Contact: www.ableton.com
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
MAC: G3; 256 MB RAM; Mac OS 9.2/OS 10.1.5
PC: Intel-compatible/600; 256 MB RAM; Windows 98/2000/XP; Windows-compatible soundcard
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
