If you look on the regular Ember After blog, I note how with the Internet, trade shows are losing some of their steam.  This very post is an example.  I walked by these Vox guitars at the show, but nobody from Vox was around to sing about their unique features, so I wasn’t all that moved.  However, after seeing Rob Chappers interview the designer, I can appreciate the unique features of them.  Of course, none are left-handed, so these gitfiddles are useless to me…

Winter NAMM 2010 has come and gone.  The smoke has cleared.  The Interweb is starting to buzz with new toys.  And that means it’s time for me to point out what few things caught my eye.

And I do mean few—there weren’t a ton of really brand spanking new things.  I guess that makes sense, considering the global economy has been in the toilet, and people haven’t been spending like they used to.  So most new products were variations on old products, nice updates, evolutions, not revolutions.  In a few cases, they were products I saw last NAMM but weren’t shipping, and now either are currently shipping or are finished and right on the cusp.  Of course, in a couple cases, in the best NAMM tradition these were prototypes that might ship in half a year…

Mesa Boogie TransAtlantic 15

Lunchbox amps—small amps with handles that generally weigh in between 10lbs to 15lbs, and offer 5W to 25W—are all the rage.  And it makes perfect sense; more guitarists are “bedroom players” and don’t need a raging 100W amp in their closet, or are playing small local clubs and don’t want to haul around a 100lb beast.  Vox’s NightTrain has been a runaway hit, as has the Orange Tiny Terror and the Egnater Rebel 20.  Moreover, both sound excellent.  So it was only a matter of time until Mesa Boogie jumped in with their own offering, the TransAtlantic 15.

I’m not going to go over all it’s features—go check out the website, it’s pretty complete.  At $899, it’s on the pricier side for a lunchbox amp, but the TransAtlantic does have a lot more switches and tone controls and channels…and neon blue lights!  Look, what can I say?  I’m a sucker for amps with neon blue lights.  I’m also a sucker for that scooped metal Boogie tone, so it will be interesting to see if this can deliver something near Recto-punch in only 5W mode.

Dave Smith Instruments Mopho Keyboard

Hi…I’m Orren, and I’m a Dave Smith Instruments junkie…I’ve owned probably half of their line, and still use my Prophet ‘08 and Mopho on nearly every song since I’ve purchased them.  I love the Mopho, it’s a lean mean mono fully analog bass/sequenced squelch machine, but it’s UI is…well, let’s just say that it does the most it can with it’s 11 encoders, but that’s not nearly enough for a synth this deep.  This puppy has double the knobs (and they’re true potentiometers), but it also has switches, and of course, a 32-key keyboard with full velocity and aftertouch sensitivity.  And USB!  This is DSI’s second device with USB MIDI, no more USB MIDI interface needed for sequencing.  Praised be!

32-keys is a bit on the light side (most monokeyboards have 37-keys) but that does make this a really compact synth, which could make it an ideal second synth or controller if you don’t need a full keyboard.  Also, this has a poly out jack, so you can connect this to another Mopho for a two-voice Mopho, or two a Tetra for a compact five voice fully-analog synth.  This won’t be out for a few months, and should hit shelves at about $799.  I’ll be watching this one carefully…

Virus TI OS 4.0

Other than my DSI synths, the only other synth I’ve been using recently is my Virus TI Snow.  What a dream!  It has all the quality and power of a dedicated virtual analog hardware synth, while it can be integrated into Logic Pro (my DAW of choice) just like an AudioUnit plug-in.  Perfect for the way I work, and the Virus has a unique sound all it’s own.  Access was showing version 4.0 of the OS, brings new modeled distortion stompboxes, a vowel filter, a comb filter, and new arpeggiator modes which really take it’s arp to a whole new level.  The arpeggiator pattern can now modulate any parameter available in the modulation matrix, which really makes it’s arp a sort of step sequencer.  I can’t wait to load this onto my Snow!

Kieth McMillen Instruments StringPort

I actually saw the Kieth McMillen Instruments StringPort last NAMM, but it was basically a proof of concept.  Since then, they released the violin version, and the guitar version is finally just about finished with it’s beta stage and out the door.   This product is one of the few really new things to hit the market in a very, very long time.  This takes a 13-pin hex pickup output (in other words, a Roland GK, Axon, RMC, or Graph Tech magnetic or piezo hex pickup) and sends six strings of audio down a USB cable to your computer.  That’s right folks, audio, not MIDI.  This means that you can send six individual strings to individual outputs in your DAW of choice and process each string separately for crazy wild stuff, with no tracking delay, since there’s no conversion to MIDI (it can also do conversion to MIDI if you want).

And speaking of processing, the designer is a MAX/MSP wonderkind, and this puppy comes with some absolutely amazing processors—polyfuzz, dynamics processors, delays, and more, all with no latency, and you have the choice of applying each process to all six strings, or to only one string (in other words, each processor is basically seven in one, as you can have unique settings per string and global settings).  Moreover, it comes with synthesis as well!  And I mean real audio synthesizers, not MIDI synthesizers, so they process the audio signal with zero latency, as there is no MIDI conversion at all.  The sounds, by the way, are excellent, and I can’t wait to own one of these puppies! (and trust me, I will have one, oh yes…)  $499 out the door.  Not expensive for all that you get.

FXpansion DCAM: Synth Squad

Okay, FXpansion’s DCAM: Synth Squad came out before Winter NAMM 2010.  But Angus of FXpansion was good enough to show me this synth last NAMM when it was still a work in progress, and it was already something to behold.  Now that it’s all shiny and the bells and whistles are all in place, it’s really quite amazing.  Sure, there’s a lot of virtual analog instruments out there.  Sure, they all claim to be phatter than the rest, offer the best step sequencer/effects/filters/kitchen sink.  The difference is that this one really is.  And I’m a real analog guy, I honestly don’t use that many softsynths—but this is one of the few I’d use.  It’s that good.

Redmatica Compendium Pro Bundle 2.1

Again, Redmatica released the Compendium Pro Bundle 2 before Winter NAMM 2010, and 2.1 (with more enhancements, including 64-bit support) isn’t out yet.  But I’m still mentioning it here, since it’s still new.  Basically, anyone involved with sampling needs this.  It has applications to sample your hardware.  To build sample instruments.  To organize and manage sample instruments.  And each application in the compendium (Keymap Pro 2, AutoSampler 2, and ProManager 3) is absolutely the only application of its kind.

New features are too numerous to mention—amazing new algorithms to automatically record, build, and create sample instruments, network recording, all sorts of sound design processes, processors, and AudioUnits support, support for the major sample formats (EXS, Kontakt, Structure)…and the forthcoming 2.1 adds 64-bit capability.  Not only is this bundle a requirement for serious sample users, but this bundle is worth buying a Macintosh to use, if you not already Mac-based.  Seriously.  Read about it.  Try it out.  You’ll agree.

Egnater Armageddon

METAL BABY!!!  YEEEAAAAHHHHH!

That may not be the most literate description of an amp I’ve ever written, but if you hear it, you’ll get it.  This is not your daddy’s classic rock amp.  It’s very versatile, like all Egnater amps, and can get lots of “in between tones” for nice cleans, rock tones, and so on.  But that’s not this behemoth’s claim to fame.  This is an all-out gainiac, thermonuclear bone crushing amp.  It’s also a modern amp, with MIDI control, a built-in noise gate, digital reverb, etc.  As readers know, I love Egnater amps and use my MOD50 on every Ember After song, so I’m really looking forward to this one!  This amp should retail about $1500, which to put that in perspective, another classic metal amp, the Bogner Überschall, is nearly double that.  Unfortunately, this amp is about six months out.

Then again, maybe that’s enough time for me to lobby for neon blue lights…and thus, we end as we began, talking about my fetish for neon blue lights!

Fraunhofer, the company that made digital music catch on thanks to the ubiquitous mp3 format, has just released a high definition format, HD-AAC.  The idea is that this would encode music in both a lossless high res format, and the current lossy standard.  It would play on devices and in software that could decode the new HD-AAC format in HD mode, and it would play on the rest of the devices out there as a normal AAC file (for those keeping score, AAC is the format used by iTunes).

It’s a nice idea.  We music producers like to record music at the highest resolution possible.  We’d love it if there was an HD codec that really caught on.  But will this one catch on?  Fraunhofer hopes so, as they will make more money off encoder sales!  But there are a lot of free encoders for existing formats, and HD-AAC is not surround, which would seem to make it even more valuable for movies.

It would be nice if some form of high resolution compressed music would take off, but we’ll see.  Consumers seem to think that the current compression is good enough, so there’s not a lot of pressure to improve…

I’ve found that as I’ve become rather busy in the last half of 2009, I wasn’t able to post here nearly as much as I’d hoped.  There wasn’t a ton of really mind blowing gear news, much probably due to the economic condition of the world, but nevertheless I’d hoped to have more time to post.  I shall try to rectify that this year!

This little post is just to say that Winter NAMM 2010 is approaching, and as ever, I’ll be there.  Some things I am looking forward to checking out already: the Apogee GiO, the Avid Eleven Rack, Marshall’s new digital hybrid amp, and of course to see what new toys the companies on the right sidebar of this blog have to show.  But I’m hoping that I’ll be able to see a gem or two that I’m not expecting to find.

And I’ll be sure to write about it!

For algorithmic reverbs (meaning, reverbs not based on a recording of a physical space, but based on a digital process), Lexicon has always been the gold standard of reverbs.  If you’ve wanted a Lexicon reverb, you’ve either had to own a Lexicon processor (many thousands of dollars), Pro Tools TDM system, Sonar (which comes with one Lexicon designed reverb) or a Lexicon interface.  As a Logic user, none of that helps me too much.

Well, Lexicon has just announced a new PCM reverb native bundle!

This is incredibly exciting!  I can’t wait to demo it.  Assuming it uses the actual algos from the hardware, and is not an “also-ran” native offering, this may very well be exactly what the doctor ordered for completely professional in-the-box reverb processing.

My love of Dave Smith Instruments synthesizers is public record.  That’s why I own two of them (the Prophet ‘08 and the Mopho).  Well, he just released another in the “08 family” called the Tetra:

Go to the website to read all the details.  But basically, the Prophet ‘08 family breaks down like this:

• The Prophet ‘08 is an all-analog, eight-voice polysynth with VCAs, curtis filters, 4-track sequencer, crazy modulation options, etc. etc.

• The Mopho is one voice of the Prophet ‘08, but with some killer extras like two sub-oscillators, audio input, and feedback/distortion (making it a bass and industrial monster!)

• The Tetra is four voices of Mopho, with the additional features of a combo mode for crazy multi-patches, and through the poly-out it can be a four-voice extension module for a Prophet ‘08 or Mopho.

Needless to say, I’m very excited about this unit!  I love how the whole Prophet ‘08 family has the same basic tonal signature, but each unit offers some features that make it very complimentary to other units in the family.  Of course, the fact that these are extremely affordable compared to other such units is a good thing too. Finally, the USB MIDI capability of the Tetra is very welcome.

This may find it’s way into Ember Studios one day soon…

Okay, this entry is actually a little behind. But I’ve been busy with earning a living and recording for the next Ember After EP. Unfortunately, blogging has to wait.

For those who don’t know yet, Apple has just released Logic Studio, it’s suite of professional music applications that includes:

• Logic Pro 9
• MainStage 2
• Soundtrack Pro 3
• Compressor 3.5
• Waveburner Pro 1.6
• Apple’s complete collection of Jam Packs (20,000 Apple Loops)
• Other great utilities and stuff

Logic Pro 9 is really a fantastic upgrade from Logic Pro 8.  Logic Pro 8 added the new “Apple-ized” Logic Pro look and feel.  Other than the new workflow enhancements and the semi-complete Takes feature, it didn’t add too many new bells and whistles.  Logic Pro 9 starts where Logic Pro 8 leaves off and turns it up to 11.

Of course, with a Spinal Tap reference, you know that means there’s been some guitar-related updates.  And yes, Logic Pro 9 comes with two new plug-ins, Amp Designer and Pedalboard, that are really cutting edge, world class guitar simulation effects.  Amp Designer really got the dynamics right, and Pedalboard includes some amazing stompboxes.  Look for a complete review of these two plug-ins later.  The guitar updates don’t stop there, for those who want to compose for guitar or read sheet music or tab, there are chord tables for the Score Editor, etc.  This release doesn’t just add a nice amp effect and call it a day, but it’s really been thought through for guitarists of all skill levels and musical styles.  As a guitarist, I couldn’t be happier about this!

But the guitar-related stuff is really just the tip of what Logic Pro 9 adds to the table.  Please click the link to read Apple’s mini-site for more details on the 200 or so new features, but perhaps the most profound is the new “elastic time” features, collectively called “Flex Time.”

These features offer automatic tempo detection, varispeed adjustment of your project, and as the picture above shows, easily draggable “Flex markers” to intuitively adjust the timing of any audio segment you want.  I find Flex to be very intuitive to use, and the newly developed Flex algorithms sound very good.  Like everything in Logic, you can go extremely deep into transient editing if you like to get your hands dirty, so if you’re a tweaker there’s lots to get into, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

But as the mini-site points out, there’s so many good things here, bounce in place, session import, drum replacement/doubling, automatic audio-to-sampler tracks, new Notes feature, as well as extremely welcome enhancements to the Takes feature (complete editing in Takes!  Finally!), automation, Window focus, track naming, surround…on and on.  It’s also the most stable new version release of Logic from Apple that I can remember—and that’s worth a lot!

Honestly, Logic Pro 9 is easily worth the $499 (new) or $199 (upgrade) price alone.  But then when you add MainStage 2, it becomes a real no-brainer.

Again, read the Apple mini-site for the full rundown on MainStage 2.  MainStage is basically an application that lets you build a “live rig” for performance.  It is amazingly intuitive to set up the instruments and effects you want to use live, it can control both internal and external devices, it’s stable as an absolute rock, etc.  The new version ads ReWire Master capability, live audio playback and live loop record/playback, MIDI, more object types, you name it.  Nine Inch Nails used this in their stadium shows; you can be sure that Ember After will be utilizing MainStage as well.

Anyway, I’ve used Logic for all the Ember After music for a long time, and I’m absolutely thrilled with this upgrade.  If you’re already a Logic user, this upgrade is really a fantastic one, you won’t be disappointed.  If you’re a GarageBand user and you’re getting serious about making music, you’ll definitely want to advance to Logic Express or Logic Studio when you’re ready.  If you use another DAW or sequencer, this version of Logic Studio might very well be the one to convince you.  There’s always that one extra feature or whatever that you want that isn’t included, but what is here is absolutely fantastic and far beyond previous versions!

I have long been a fan of Waldorf synthesizers. One of the vary first virtual analog synths I ever bought was the Waldorf Q—in fact, you can hear it prominently on the Ember After songs “Paradise” and “Change” on the album Grasping At Straws. I was very interested when the Waldorf Blofeld came out, but ultimately I decided that the Access Virus TI Snow integrated better into Ember Studios.

Waldorf, however, has just released a software synthesizer called Largo that combines many of the great algorithms and features of their hardware synthesizers.

Largo offers much of what the Q and the Blofeld offer as far as oscillators, wavetables from the PPG and Wave, and LFOs, filters, modulation options go. The spec list is intense; go to the website to check it out.

Needless to say, I’m very interested in this instrument, and intend to check it out as soon as possible!

I have mentioned before that my main synthesizer is the Dave Smith Instruments Prophet ‘08.  I use it as my “goto” sound source, and also as my MIDI controller for my software instruments.  I think it sounds amazing, especially recorded through high quality preamps.  I love it so much, that I’ve even expanded my studio with a Mopho, which is just an amazing bass synth machine, the most easy to manipulate and creative I’ve ever owned.

Dave Smith just expanded the Prophet ‘08 line again, this time with the Prophet ‘08 PE edition.  The PE stands for Pot(entiometer) edition.

Visually, the PE edition seems identical to the standard, “RE” (rotary encoder) edition.  For those who aren’t clear about the difference between encoders and potentiometers (hereafter called “pots), here’s a very quick summary:

Endless rotary encoders spin endlessly (surprised, eh?).  This makes them great for “universal” applications.  For example, if you want to use your P08 as your MIDI controller for software instruments, for example, rotary encoders are great.  Since there is no “beginning” and “end” point, they can be used to send messages to control any value.  The knob can control the cutoff frequency of the P08 when playing a P08 sound, then to switch between waveform selections in a software synth, etc.

The disadvantage is that there is no “end” to let you know when you’ve reached a maximum value.  In the example above, controlling waveform type, there really is no end, so this isn’t a problem.  But with filter cutoff, there’s no physical feedback when you’ve reached the maximum cutoff value—you can keep spinning the knob, but you won’t be changing values anymore.

Pots have only about a 270-degree arc, so they have a “beginning” (full counter clockwise) and an “end” (full clockwise).  This is fantastic for, as above, filter cutoff.  When you reach the maximum value (full clockwise), the knob will physically stop turning.  This is a great physical feedback, and really lends itself to live performance.  As you already can see, however, the disadvantage of not being endless is that it makes the knob less suited to control other instrument parameters that aren’t endless.

Dave Smith generally does things very thoughtfully, and the P08 PE version comes with a mix of pots (38) and encoders (14) so it seems like the best of both worlds.  You’ll have pots for a more “traditional” control of parameters that will benefit from it, and encoders for control of parameters without min/max values.  From the listed prices, it seems like there’s about a $100 street price premium for the PE version, but for those who want pots, this isn’t much to ask at all.

My gut feeling is that this was a smart move.  DSI’s press release says that this was done due to popular demand, and I believe it.  A lot of synthesists prefer pots to encoders.  Does this make me want to sell my P08 and get a P08 PE?  Not sure if it’s worth replacing an existing P08 for the PE version, but if I were getting a new Prophet 08 right now, I might very well buy the PE version.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I believe that as the decades roll on, the Prophet ‘08 will earn it’s place as a “classic” analog synthesizer, and the P08 Pot Edition is just another step in that path.

Okay, lame title, but hey, even hard rocking rivetheads have heard of Wham, right?  (or “Wham UK” I think they were called for a while in the USA).

Anyway, my thanks to Peter Kirn, on whose amazing blog Create Digital Music I first read that Cycling ‘74 is discontinuing support for their plug-ins like Pluggo, and Max/MSP’s ability to make AU/VST runtime plug-ins.

I’ve been using pluggo since the initial “74 plug-ins for $74 dollars” version.  It was great for some really odd and unusually processors and processes, even though not every version was the most stable.

But it’s more than just that, it’s that people wrote AU plug-ins using Max/MSP, that could run using Pluggo runtime.  All of TriTone Digital’s stuff ran in Pluggo, for example.  I could be wrong, but Peter, didn’t Olivier or Peter write their own AU plug-ins using Max/MSP?  Well, it obviously still works for now, but at some point, it will stop working…and that will be the end of it.

I know that Cycling ‘74 has thrown it’s hat in with Ableton, but this is still too bad.  I think there’s a real opening out there for crazy wild stuff that runs in every DAW, and it’s too bad that Pluggo (and the subsequent homemade weirdness) won’t be there to fill it.