AudioTechnology App Issue 49

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THE STUDIO MADE SIMPLE Packed with premium technology, RØDE’s all-new AI-1 single channel audio interface offers studio quality at an accessible price. Available as a complete kit with the legendary RØDE NT1 large diaphragm condenser microphone, accessories and cables.

Creativity is simply a click away.

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The Complete Studio Kit RØDE NT1 Condenser Microphone, AI-1 Single Channel Interface, shock mount, popshield and cables.

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www.rode.com

Editor Mark Davie mark@audiotechnology.com.au Publisher Philip Spencer philip@alchemedia.com.au Editorial Director Christopher Holder chris@audiotechnology.com.au Assistant Editor Preshan John preshan@alchemedia.com.au

Regular Contributors Martin Walker Paul Tingen Brad Watts Greg Walker Andy Szikla Andrew Bencina Jason Hearn Greg Simmons Mark Woods Ewan McDonald Guy Harrison

Art Direction Dominic Carey dominic@alchemedia.com.au Graphic Designer Daniel Howard daniel@alchemedia.com.au Advertising Philip Spencer philip@alchemedia.com.au Accounts Jaedd Asthana jaedd@alchemedia.com.au Subscriptions subscriptions@alchemedia.com.au info@alchemedia.com.au www.audiotechnology.com.au

AudioTechnology magazine (ISSN 1440-2432) is published by Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd (ABN 34 074 431 628).

Contact T: +61 3 5331 4949 E: info@alchemedia.com.au W: www.audiotechnology.com.au PO Box 295, Ballarat VIC 3353, Australia.

All material in this magazine is copyright Š 2018 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process with out written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy. 01/07/2018.

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COVER STORY

22

Thunderous Grohl: Foo Fighters Live

ISSUE 49 CONTENTS

The DAW Parade: Pro Tools 2018, Ableton Live 10, Reason 10 and Bitwig

DZ Deathrays’ Break Up… Every Part

28

View from the Bench: De-Essers

Pinewood Studios: Hollywood in the UK 38 AT 6

Korg Kross Keyboard

34

58

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GENERAL NEWS

BEHRINGER CLONES 808 Probably the most coveted drum machine of all time is the Roland TR-808 — you’ll still pay into the thousands for an original unit. The rumours of Behringer releasing a clone of the classic have proven true with the introduction of the RD-808 Rhythm Designer. Importantly, the RD-808 doesn’t generate digital emulations of those classic drum sounds — it’s a completely analogue machine. Aesthetically Behringer’s clone sports the familiar gradation of red and orange keys alongside orange and white knobs. However, it’s not a straight clone in every respect. Behringer has thrown in a few useful features not

found in the original, including an analogue, resonant two-pole filter and a transient designer/bus compressor which you can feed with multiple assignments. The synth has 11 individual direct outputs, trigger outputs, MIDI I/O and USB connectivity.

The RD-808 is still in the R&D phase with no word on pricing just yet. Check on the AT website for updates.

Australis: (02) 9698 4444 or www.australismusic.com.au

IK’S ANALOGUE SYNTH IK Multimedia debuts its new mono analogue hardware synthesizer, Uno Synth. The portable, battery-powered instrument was developed as a collaboration between Italian boutique synth maker Soundmachines and IK’s synth guru Erik Norlander. It’s also made in IK’s own manufacturing facility in Italy. IK says Uno Synth will deliver classic to modern sounds to create music in any genre. First-time synth users get instant gratification from 100 presets along with an easy-to-play 27-key keyboard with selectable scales and an arpeggiator. The synth’s full analogue audio path includes two VCOs, noise generator,

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resonant multimode VCF and VCA, two independent VCOs with saw, triangle and pulse waveforms with continuously variable shape including PWM of the square wave for modularstyle timbres, plus a separate white noise generator. The LFO also has a generous seven available waveforms, including an upsaw and downsaw.

Sound & Music: (03) 9555 8081 or www.sound-music.com

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

Bring back your studio smile

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SOUND DEVICES FOR MUSICIANS Sound Devices has introduced the MixPre-10M, a lightweight and portable multitrack audio recorder designed specifically for musicians and songwriters. The MixPre-10M is a 10-input/12track recorder, mixer and USB audio interface that comes with a suite of musician-focused features including overdub, remix, reverb, and metronome. The MixPre-10M features an intuitive touch-screen interface, dedicated mixer knobs, and transport joystick that provide easy access to the tools you need to quickly record vocal melodies and instrumental hooks/rhythms. The MixPre-10M operates as a 12-in/4-out USB audio interface for

a Mac or Windows computer at sample rates up to 96k. The MixPre-10M works in two recording modes, music project or audio project. A music project offers the music recording essentials. An audio project is ideal for recording any type of stereo or multi-channel audio and its remix feature provides the ability to re-balance or fix a poorly recorded mix.

John Barry: 1800 717 719 or sales@johnbarry.com.au

TC ELECTRONIC TC2290-DT The new TC Electronic TC2290-DT hybrid plug-in and hardware controller aims to take up the sonic mantle of the original 2290 released in 1985, while radically reinventing the delay unit for a new generation of musicians, producers and engineers. “Because we still have the original blueprints, we’ve been able to rework the 2290 from the ground up,” said Thomas Valter, Director of Product Management at TC Electronic. “It retains the beautiful and dynamic modulated delays of the original, and fuses the plusses of plug-in technology with all the benefits of having a tactile control unit at your fingertips.”

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Over the course of more than a year, TC Electronic had its team of engineers take apart four original units, each with their own distinct character, and measured their components from top to bottom. By cross referencing the data step-by-step with the original schematics, their software engineers then recreated all the parameters until they achieved the unique 2290 sound.

Amber Technology: 1800 251 367 or sales@ambertech.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

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LIVE NEWS

S6L EXPANDED Avid announced a massive expansion to its Venue S6L family of live sound systems, with three new control surfaces, a new engine, and two new I/O racks, all on a unified platform. With scalability to meet basically any size production, space, or budget requirement, Venue S6L is a live sound platform with 100% software, hardware, and show file compatibility across all system components. A choice of five surfaces are now available — including the new S6L-48D, S6L-24C, and S6L-16C — that offer

from 16 to 48 faders. These control surfaces can be paired with a choice of three engines, including the new E6L-112, and can be connected to any combination of S6L’s four I/O rack options, including the new Stage 32 and Local 16.

Innovative Music: (03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

ALLEN & HEATH IN ITS PRIME Allen & Heath unveiled the new Prime Input and Output modules for its dLive mixing system that are designed to make the most of dLive’s 96kHz XCVI FPGA core. Two modules will be available; an Input Mic Pre module (with eight mic preamps) and a Line Output module. As the modules are designed to fit into the dLive DX32 expander rack, Prime can be used easily in conjunction with existing I/O, with the ability to tailor or scale the system to your unique requirements, from select channels up to multiple fully-loaded racks. Allen & Heath’s Managing Director, Rob Clark explains: “As our XCVI core is

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a defacto 96kHz platform, we realised we were able to exploit I/O converter technologies that are optimised for these higher sampling rates, providing audiophile levels of transparency without compromising latency or bandwidth. These higher resolution converters led us to also investigate different types of interface electronics in the analogue circuitry. After extensive development and endless listening tests, we’re there.”

Technical Audio Group: (02) 9519 0900 or info@tag.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

The Complete SERIES III Solution.

The StudioLive® Series III ecosystem is all about top-to-bottom, wall-to-wall mix solutions. And because Series III has AVB

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at its core, you can now expand your audio network with the new EarMix 16M Personal Monitor Mixers and NSB Stageboxes for a dramatic boost to your versatility.

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course. The Series III ecosystem is enhanced by award-winning, integrated software. Mix a live show wirelessly, multitrack record, and mix and master your recordings thanks to Studio One®, UC Surface, and Capture®.

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With Series III, you can track in your home studio on Friday and then mix front of house at a dive bar on Saturday night—you’ll still have what you need to run monitors on Sunday morning. Visit www.presonus.com to find out all that Series III can do for you.

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©2018 All Rights Reserved, PreSonus Audio Electronics. PreSonus and Capture are registered trademarks of PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. Studio One is a registered trademark of PreSonus Software Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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D&B LAUNCHES GSL d&b’s new flagship GSL System sits above the venerable J Series. d&b says the GSL8 and GSL12 loudspeakers, with 80˚ and 120˚ horizontal dispersion respectively, can provide consistent pattern control all the way down to 45Hz. The geometry of two front-facing 14-inch drivers and two-side firing 10-inch drivers couple and apply cardioid techniques, creating precise directivity behaviour with significantly extended low frequency headroom towards the audience. This low frequency extension and headroom is so effective that d&b claims, for many applications, the need for subwoofers flown behind or alongside the main

hangs is negated. Midrange is delivered by a high sensitivity horn loaded with a 10-inch driver, while highs are handles by three 3.4-inch diaphragm HF drivers. The SL-SUB and SL-GSUB complement the low end with two forward facing 21-inch drivers and a single, rear facing 21-inch driver delivering the cardioid dispersion.

National Audio Systems: (03) 8756 2600 or sales@nationalaudio.com.au

DIGICO AT PROLIGHT + SOUND At Prolight + Sound 2018, Digico showcased its new Quantum 7 processing, as well as the new 4REA4 digital audio networking system, L-ISA Source Control, and new features for Digico SD consoles. Developed with seventh-generation FPGA devices, Quantum 7 expands an SD7 to over 600 channels of processing power at 96k. The engine is also equipped with eight newly assignable MADI connections and two DMI slots. Quantum 7 also brings Nodal Processing and True Solo. In other Digico news, L-ISA Source Control integrates L-Acoustics L-ISA’s object-based mixing technology into SD-Series consoles, while

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a series of integrations have also been announced between d&b’s Soundscape DS100 Signal Engine and Digico consoles like the SD7 and SD12. Finally, Digico launched 4REA4 — a comprehensive audio routing, mixing and control system with its own processing engine that can accept audio through a network of local I/O boxes.

Group Technologies: (03) 9354 9133 or sales@grouptechnologies.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

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ART 7

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SOFTWARE NEWS

ANTARES AUTO-TUNE PRO Auto-Tune Pro is the most advanced version of Antares’ famous pitch-correction software and features a completely redesigned interface, new modes optimised for efficiency, ARA (Audio Random Access) support, and more. A new Automatic mode lets you select Basic View which provides a simplified work environment pared down to Auto-Tune’s four mostused functions; or Advanced view, for a more thorough set of controls. Automatic Key Detection not only detects the musical key and scale but also automatically sends those parameters

to one or more instances of Auto-Tune Pro. ARA technology allows closer integration and exchange of information between plug-ins and DAWs. You can now edit in Auto-Tune Pro’s Graph Mode without first tracking the audio into Auto-Tune.

An improved Graphical Mode incorporates a larger Main Graph, greater zoom resolution, programmable zoom presets, and reconfigured controls that optimise workflow efficiency.

With HiDPI, Auto-Tune Pro offers complete support for Retina and other high-resolution screen displays.

FLUX EVO CHANNEL The Evo Channel by Flux is a channel strip plug-in designed to be as fast and efficient as possible for mixing and mastering applications. An adaptable module-based layout lets you drop channel strip modules into any order you like. The list of modules include a Spectrum Analyser derived from Flux’s Pure Analyzer software with an accurate view over the entire frequency range. Add some analogue soft saturation with the Drive module. There’s a linear phase correction tool with zero latency. The proprietary State-Space technology parametric EQ

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and filters have been tuned to preserve optimal signal-to-noise ratio independently from parameter settings. A multi-mode compressor is taken from the Flux Pure Compressor engine and offers nine different compression types in the one module. Yet another module called Touch acts as a transient shaper of sorts, with seven different modes. Evo Channel supports Dolby Atmos and Ambisonic and the plug-in comes with 50 factory presets from sound engineer Yves Jaget.

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

ACID PRO 8 Remember Sony Acid Pro? Like Sound Forge, the software is now owned by Magix who sure doesn’t want the Acid name to disappear. Acid Pro 8 is newly revamped with a 64-bit architecture and Acid’s famous audio looping, multi-track recording and plenty of audio and MIDI features. Magix has completely redesigned the DAW’s GUI to make it an “immensely creative production environment”. 16 new instruments come as part of the DAW package, including a sampled concert grand piano, church organ, a number of acoustic and electronic drum kits, electric piano, choir, synths, a sampler and more. Effects,

compressors, guitar amp and stompbox simulation tools and other processing tools are included too. You get 9GB of all-new loops and samples and Magix promises VST3 support will be provided soon in a free update. Acid Pro 8 is available as a oneoff purchase or a subscription-style arrangement (Acid Pro 365) for $9.99/month.

Innovative Music: (03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

PRO TOOLS GETS ULTIMATE REBRAND With the release of Pro Tools 2018.4, Avid has announced a much more significant rebrand that sees the HD version of the DAW replaced with the tag Ultimate. Pro Tools Ultimate will also now include the Avid Complete Plug-In Bundle (around 75 plugs) and Pro Tools MachineControl. It’s important to note that the rebrand to Pro Tools ‘Ultimate’ refers only to the software component of Avid’s recording and mixing ecosystem.

Hardware products such as HDX, HD Native, and HD interfaces retain their names. All current Pro Tools HD owners

with a valid Pro Tools HD upgrade and support plan will be transitioned to Pro Tools Ultimate when 2018.4 is released. Avid will deposit licences for the Avid Complete Plug-In Bundle and Pro Tools Machine Control directly into your iLok account.

Innovative Music: (03) 9540 0658 or info@innovativemusic.com.au

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

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Founded in the early 1960s, KORG has a legacy of sounds that can be heard throughout modern history.

With successes like the recently reissued 1978 MS20 semi-modular synthesiser, the legendary M1 Workstation in the late ‘80s, the ultraportable MicroKorg breaking sales records through the ‘00s and modern groundbreaking instruments like the Kronos, KORG has helped shape music worldwide.

Prologue POLYPHONIC ANALOGUE SYNTHESISER Korg’s new flagship VCO powered analogue synthesiser!

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73 Key: $1599 KO-KROME73

88 Key: $2099 KO-KROME88

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REPORT

MEYER BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE Report: Mark Davie

Plaster dust was falling from the roof as Meyer’s baby line array — with the help of a little Rage Against The Machine and Infected Mushroom — rumbled the Concourse Theatre in Chatswood. LINA, the newest and most petite member of Meyer’s LEO line array family, was helped along by a collection of low frequency elements, including the BFG-invoking VLFC, which stands for Very Low Frequency Control Element. The VLFC was doing all the shaking at frequencies below the audible range; all the way down to 13Hz. What rumbles at that kind of frequency, you might ask? Well… a djembe, according to one of the demo tracks.

Of course, while you might not be able to hear it, you can definitely feel the effects and the almost unnerving emotional response. John Meyer was quick to point out that while the EPA might have a draconian dB restriction at your local venue, those low frequencies will never show up on any of their devices. Just remember, we’re not quite sure what negative effects loud, extreme low frequencies have on your hearing yet, so use with caution.

The demo was just one part of Meyer Sound’s customer day, which saw the Meyer Sound elite descend on Sydney; including the fabulous mind of John Meyer, the business nous of Helen Meyer, AT 20

and legends like system designer Bob McCarthy and immersive sound proponent Steve Ellison.

Bob gave a presentation on his system design for Metallica, including an extraordinary in-the-round setup that managed to stay clear of the moving ‘Lightzilla’ visual show, while still covering every inch of the stadium. Steve walked us through his involvement with immersive sound, which started way back on campus in Canberra of all places, and where Meyer Sound’s Constellation is headed.

The other big reason for the customer day was to debut Meyer Sound’s new distribution arrangement with Audio Brands Australia. The message was, ‘we’re excited about Australia, and Meyer Sound in Berkeley, California, is here to help.’

The whole relationship is off to a cracking start, with rental house, CMG Audio Visual, announcing they’ll be taking delivery of Australia’s first Meyer Sound LYON and 1100-LFC line array system in mid-2018. CMG already had a healthy collection of LEOPARD and 900-LFC elements, but has gone in with the bigger system as well as expanding its stockpile of LEOPARD and adding some MJF-210 stage monitors for good measure. The company now has 36 LYON, 50 LEOPARD, 24 1100-LFC and 12 900-LFC elements. As well as 16 MJF-210 stage monitors and 10 MINA (the predecessor to LINA).

MORE NEWS AT www.audiotechnology.com.au

Ever since John Meyer helped the Grateful Dead perfect their Wall of Sound, Meyer Sound gear has been used by top artists, including Metallica, Justin Bieber and Australia’s biggest-ever-ticket-seller Ed Sheeran (AT story coming soon).

“We’re very excited by the opportunity to support both local and international touring productions with a turnkey product that is highly regarded and in demand,” said Tobi Pinazzi, General Manager and Technical Director of CMG. “The establishment of our new rental house division is a significant step forward for us as a company, coinciding nicely with our growth locally. Meyer’s LYON and 1100 are absolutely incredible, and we can’t wait to offer them to the Australian market.”

CONTACT CMG Audio Visual: 1300 814 568 or www.cmgav.com.au Audio Brands Australia: (02) 9659 7711 or www.audiobrands.com.au Meyer Sound: www.meyersound.com

AT 21

FEATURE

250 speakers, an ‘analoguesounding’ Yamaha digital console, prototype Royer ribbons, and no snapshots.

How a massive Foo Fighters stadium show comes together.

Story: Mark Davie Show Photos: Brett Schewitz

AT 22

“Just so you know,” says Dave Grohl, taking in the crowd from the tip of the catwalk at Etihad Stadium, “This is a big Foo Fighters show.”

With over 45,000 rock fans in attendance, Grohl isn’t telling fibs, but at this stage pretty much all Foo Fighters shows are big. They’ve performed in stadiums during their last two Australian tours, including Etihad in 2015.

The shows aren’t just big either, they’re long; Springsteen-rivalling long. For almost three hours, Grohl and co. sung, screamed, smashed and plucked their way through an entire collection of hits, including a smattering of covers. There’s no way you could walk away from a Foo Fighters show and not be impressed. There’s the rock spectacle of it, the generation-spanning hits, the stadium-wide singalongs, but at its core, you’re just left wondering how the heck he does it? How does he scream through the breathless string of lines in Monkey Wrench’s bridge and still have a voice, let alone carry on for three hours!

FOH engineer Bryan Worthen knows the highs and lows of a Foo Fighters show rest almost entirely on Grohl’s shoulders. “Dave is the main focus. On the records, Dave’s vocal has lots of effects on it, but live, people just want to hear his voice,” explained Worthen. “The way they play every song is based off how Dave is playing — the timing, the feeling.”

Surprisingly — given there are three guitarists to choose from — Worthen says Dave’s guitar is also the loudest for 90% of the show.

YAMAHA BRAIN RETRAIN

Worthen has been with the Foo Fighters since the One By One tour, 16 years ago. Back then, it was clubs and theatres, with a few small arenas in Europe. Much of the crew has remained since then. The longest-standing member being monitor engineer, Ian Beveridge, who’s been with Grohl since Nirvana’s Nevermind tour. The crew has grown up with the band, making for a well-oiled show. However, Worthen steers clear of snapshots, preferring to use his digital console in a more analogue manner.

Early last year, he switched to a Yamaha Rivage PM10 console, after a succession of Digicos.

“It’s been a long time since I was on a Yamaha,” said Worthen. “Not since the PM4000.” His last analogue console was the Midas XL4, and when management made the decision around 2005 to downsize the footprint and weight of his rig, Worthen chose Digico consoles because their channel strips were the most “visually analogue”.

Over the next decade he went through the D5, SD7, and SD5. Visually analogue wasn’t enough though, and Worthen went looking for something that sounded more like an analogue console. When Beveridge decided he was going back to Yamaha from Midas at the monitor position, Worthen thought he should take a look at it too. “I went and played with it, out of curiosity,” he said. “It was cool and sounded great with a multi-track, but I had to hear it with my band. When I did, I knew it was the one.”

Although the PM10’s surface is quite direct, Worthen has also started weening himself off

the need to see every channel at all times. “I can drift off and look at a compressor, which is nice.

It’s retraining my brain to not freak out.” He still carries two Avalon VT737 channel strips for vocals, but doesn’t use them. “They’re a crutch. When I was using the Digico boards I couldn’t live without my 737s,” he said. “When I began using the PM10 I started with them in, but in rehearsals I realised I didn’t need them anymore. I left them there in case I freaked out, but they’re going away.”

KICKING OFF AT STUDIO 606

Worthen’s tour schedule usually kicks off just before the band starts doing promo — television or small club shows. This year, they all decamped to a room in the Foo Fighters’ own Studio 606. “I take the back room and Ian will go in the iso room with monitor world,” described Worthen. “It gives us a starting plan. I’ve done it so many times, and I know what I’m listening to through the L-Acoustics 108s (coaxial powered speakers) that I can generally go into any show with minor changes.”

The stadium rig is pretty spectacular, with 250 L-Acoustics boxes [see PA sidebar] but Worthen keeps his gear and mix approach fairly simple.

The whole show occupies 54 channels, including the runway portion. Despite the length of the show, and operating one of the newest digital consoles, Worthen doesn’t use any snapshots throughout the entire gig. He also stays very light on the effects.

He can count the number of effects he uses on one hand. There’s the SPX distortion patch he uses for Dave’s vocal on Run, with a long delay. The same distortion appears on La Dee Da with a verb on the distortion for a rockabilly sound. The only other occasion delay appears on Grohl’s vocals is in Arrows. He also has a short slap delay on drummer Taylor Hawkin’s lead vocal for Sunday Rain, and a H3000 patch for the backup vocalists. “The records aren’t dry like my mix, but why are you going to add a bunch of reverb to a massive reverb chamber like a stadium?” questioned Worthen. “It’s just added noise. Instead I EQ everything so I don’t have to add effects to make it sound big. I also run my gates open and light. That way when he hits it, it sounds like a natural drum that rings out — to a point… I don’t want it to warble.”

AXE BATTLE

Even with EQ, getting three guitars to fit isn’t an easy task, especially when they’re set to stun. “You have to create a lot of distinction between the three different guitars,” said Worthen. “It’s a battle of volume on stage, which makes it harder on me. It comes to me offstage as a wall of sound. Each guy has two cabinets, Pat [Smear] has two gold Soldano cabinets, Dave has one on each side of the drum riser, Shifty [Chris Schiflett] has two Friedmans, and two Voxes that get played on about four songs in the set.”

Over the years, Worthen says getting the guitars right has been a battle. Recently, he decided to change up the entire chain. Firstly, there was the shift to the Yamaha PM10. “I battle them less with this console than I have with others,” he said. “Right off the bat my guitar actually sounded like a guitar

and I didn’t have to work hard at it. Previously, I had to EQ the snot out of it, and I don’t like doing that to anything.”

The second big change was moving almost entirely to Royer ribbon mics. EACH GUITARIST HAS A SINGLE RIBBON ON HIS CAB, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A SENNHEISER 609 ON SCHIFLETT’S SECOND FRIEDMAN.

“I was using the black, active Royer 101 on Godsmack,” said Worthen. “In rehearsals, Ian and I were talking about the fix for these guitars being to find the right microphone. We’d both been struggling for years with guitars. I told him about using the Royers and f**cking loving them!

He said, ‘let’s try it.’ So we got a couple of loaners and put them in front of the cabinet. Ian was like, ‘These things are amazing!’ Then we went to Royer via our new guitar tech, who hit up his friend at Royer. They asked us if we wanted to try some new prototypes and do some R&D on them. They’ve been great.”

Worthen uses the natural frequency response of the microphones to create tonal separation, combined with a bit of high-end shelving. On the left, Schiflett’s guitar tone combines a prototype Royer R-10 [see our review of the final product this issue] with a bit of the top end shelved down, using the Sennheiser e609 dynamic for more presence. Grohl’s is another prototype R-10 with the top end boosted, while Smear has the more standard R-121 passive ribbon, set completely flat.

“The different microphone makes him a little bit darker, so I don’t have to have the battle of high end,” explained Worthen.

While he doesn’t run a whole lot in stereo, each of the guitars is duplicated on another channel.

Worthen then delays the second channel by about 8ms to spread them out. For Schifflet and Smear, both channels are panned hard left and hard right, with the delayed signal on the opposite side to their stage sound. “It makes it a little easier to separate Pat and Chris,” explained Worthen. With Grohl being in the centre, and the focus of the show, his guitar is panned a soft left/right, about 40% each way.

“The reason we use the drum mics we do is because our mics get a lot of abuse,” said Worthen.

“Especially during load out. People step on them, they get tossed on the floor and kicked around. The Royers don’t get abused as much, because whoever strikes the mics gets to those first. Still, as far as travelling goes, they’ve been rock solid. People said the Royer R-101s vibrate apart, but I never experienced that. These prototypes are Germanlevel engineering; built like little tanks. There’s nothing fragile about them at all.”

SOFTLY SCREAMING

Worthen spends a lot of the night manhandling guitars, especially when guests pop up unannounced. “Most of the time I know who’s coming,” said Worthen. “Other times it’s been, ‘Hey, on the next song, Zac Brown’s guys are going to get up there and play.’ All of a sudden I have six guitarists on stage.”

Vocals are a different story: “I hardly ever touch Dave’s vocal.” It’s counterintuitive, considering AT 23

STADIUM PA DESIGN JPJ Audio supplied the entirely L-Acoustics system for the Foo Fighters Australian tour. In total there were 250 boxes spread out across Etihad stadium to replicate the US/Europe touring system as closely as possible.

The main hang consisted of 14 K1 and four K2 per side with 12 K1SB subs flown behind. The side hangs had 10 of each of K1 and K2 per side, while the rear hangs had six K2s in each. 48 SB28 subs were spaced out in stacks across the front of the stage, with 18 Kara and 12 Arcs providing front fill. All of it was powered by L-Acoustics’ new LA12X amplifiers.

The system also had three delay hangs with a total of 48 V-DOSC, and 32 K2 ring delays spaced around the stadium, that were all running of LA8 amplifiers.

Of course, you can’t just throw 250 boxes into a stadium and hope it sounds exactly like it did on the last tour. Joel Pearson from JPJ Audio talked about what the three most critical factors were in the design, set up and implementation of a system: “For starters, you need to have a great starting point, that means accurate room geometry and data. To do that we map out each venue in L-Acoustics’ 3D software Soundvision.

Secondly, you have to ensure you’ve got enough PA inventory available. Thirdly, having the correct number and positioning of field tower delays and any additional ring or roof delay solutions is crucial. The tour system and the fundamental mechanics are designed in the pre-production phase with those venue maps, and the wealth of experience we have at JPJ. Pearson shed some more light on how JPJ finally set up the system: “The gain and delay alignment was simulated and finalised pre setup.

With the application of FIR filters and the air compensation factor within the LA12X amplified controller, we were able to provide a more consistent frequency response over the line source at distance.

“Minimal EQ is applied with the exception of a few specific IRR filters common to array configurations and different sources. The LANM array morphing tool is then used to shape the tonal balance of each array accordingly.

“The main hangs were flown upstage in Contour mode for greater LF control and resolution, while the side hangs and a third hang upstage gave us additional coverage into upper bowl seats.

“The three field delay towers each dealt with the far field floor and lower seating sections. The demands on those are fairly extreme, given the sheer scale and capacity of an oval pitch/stadium plan. To reinforce those, a further four ring/ roof delays of six K2 completed coverage of the upper tiers of the stadium.”

Overall, said Pearson, “coverage, clarity and consistency are always of high importance, regardless of the act.”

AT 24

It’s been a long time since I was on a Yamaha.

Not since the PM4000…

I had to hear it with my band. When I did, I knew it was the one

On drums, it’s entirely Sennheiser mics. Worthen rattles off a series of model numbers including 901 and 902 on kick, a 905 on snare top and a 614 condenser on snare bottom. The rest are 904s on all the toms including the roto toms, and 614s on the ride, overheads and hats.

Grohl is a hugely dynamic performer, and can transition from ballad-crooning to full-pelt screaming in half a beat.

The way Worthen keeps a lid on the vocal chain is by setting up his compressors to see less input, but deliver plenty of output: “Dave has a really powerful voice. The way I run his vocal — screaming to singing lightly — it doesn’t ever really go away. You hear every word he says. Dave uses a Sennheiser MD431 II dynamic hand held.

It has a large diaphragm, similar to an MD421, in a handheld body. I run it into a Neve 276 channel compressor, followed by the standard surface compressor on the group. The lower input gives me less bleed, because he’s right in front of the drums, which are right up high at mic level. It’s a lot cleaner that way.”

Keeping with his philosophy for simplicity, Worthen doesn’t use any de-essers. “The way I EQ his channel, there’s no room for error,” he said.

“Dave’s esses could tear the roof apart, but I don’t like de-essers. I don’t see any point in them. It’s all in the way I run my compressors. When he really belts it out, it doesn’t blow your face off. You’ve got an extraordinary voice, that’s very powerful, with a simple microphone, mixed simple. A de-esser would just complicate things. I’d probably be chasing him all the time.”

Drummer Taylor Hawkins sings a lot of backups during the set, and the occasional lead vocal, including playing Freddie Mercury to Grohl’s Bowie during their cover of Under Pressure. “Taylor is a little more difficult because he’s a singing drummer,” said Worthen. “I have an EQ on him completely notching out 500Hz and 3.15kHz — AT 25

(Clockwise from top left) Worthen's been touring Yamaha's flagship PM10 console because it's the most 'analogue-sounding' digital console he's heard; FOH engineer Bryan Worthen; the Royer R-121 ribbon on Pat Smear's cab is his only mic, the other amps all featured prototype Royer R-10 ribbons; it's all straight up mixing for Worthen, a few FX and no snapshots.

basically the snare and hi-hat. His channel EQ is a bit crazy, too. I alter the high end on that more than anything else. When he’s singing by himself, his high end is flat; during backup, his high end is shelved down because his vocal mic is so close to the hi-hat. I don’t need another hi-hat mic. His vocal mic is a Sennheiser e904, which is usually a tom mic. He likes it because it’s small. He can grab onto it, put it right in front of his face, rather than a big old vocal mic. It’s also the best solution to bleed than any other mic we’ve used on him.”

Worthen mixes on groups rather than DCAs, and sends his vocal groups directly to the master matrix, skipping the stereo master. “That’s so I can get separation, not just in level, but with EQ as well.

I can EQ the band, but not touch the vocal.”

PITCH ISSUES

In Melbourne, the show had a shorter runway than normal, and the FOH tent was 10 feet closer to the stage than it usually is, because of the fresh cricket pitch underfoot. Worthen says it’s a noticeable difference, it puts him closer to the stage volume, which includes “wedges and side fills on stun, plus I’ve got Pat’s guitar right down my throat. The 10 AT 26

feet also makes a big difference in terms of hearing the stereo image. Further back I’m hearing both sides, versus more of one side than the other.

Worthen is used to doing his best with loud bands. He tries to keep the level around 102dB at FOH, with a gradual increase in level throughout the show. “There are certain songs where I throttle it and bring it back. Depending on how Dave writes out the setlist. It’s not the same every night and not one song sounds the same either.” Outside of stadiums, the stage volume, combined with strict noise limits can be a problem. “In Athens, at the Acropolis, the dB limit is so ridiculously low. My stage volume was 6dB over the limit, and I hadn’t even turned the PA on!”

During the set, Grohl does a couple of numbers out at the tip of the runway, including the beginning of crowd favourite, My Hero. However, probably the biggest change is the part in the show where the video diamond comes down to create a ceiling over the band. “It’s supposed to emulate being back in a shitty little punk rock club,” said Worthen. “Because the roof gets so low over the drums, it changes their dynamic and the bleed down Dave’s vocals, because the drum riser comes

forward. The whole thing gets smaller. I move things around, and bring the guitars up so it kind of sounds like it’s back in a club again. It’s different every night and he doesn’t necessarily play the same songs. I just feel it out when that ceiling comes down.

“Some people say I’m an emotional mixer. I mix based off the vibe coming from the band, which is true. If they’re on fire, then I mix them like they’re on fire. If they’re being sloppy, I try to fix it as best I can… but you can’t fix sloppy. I’m constantly thinking about the space. I DON’T MIX FOR MYSELF. I MIX WITH PEOPLE WHO BUY TICKETS IN MIND. HOW WOULD I WANT TO HEAR IT IF I CAME TO THIS SHOW? I’m constantly looking up in the high seats

to see if those people are having fun or not. The environment’s not necessarily under my control, but if they’re sitting down pouting or on their phones, then something’s wrong up there.”

All reports so far have been glowing, I don’t think Worthen or the Foo Fighters lost any fans that night. I’m sure they’ll be back to fill more stadiums soon.

Evolving with you.

With a sleek new user interface, a generously expanded switching bandwidth and higher RF output power for the 500 Series, and new multi-channel functionality for the 100 Series, G4 delivers high-quality, reliable audio for musical performances, houses of worship, and theaters. www.sennheiser.com/g4

AT 27

FEATURE

DZ Deathrays will do anything to make their two-piece sound huge.

Even if that means breaking every part down to the Nth degree.

Story: Mark Davie

Artist: DZ Deathrays Album: Bloody Lovely

AT 28

DZ Deathrays kept things much the same when making their latest record, Bloody Lovely. They went back to the same studio, Grove Studios, with the same producer, Burke Reid.

However, if they could avoid repeating just one mistake, it would be subjecting themselves to Reid’s “Nazi march music”.

They hadn’t quite nailed down tempos for their last album, Black Rat, before entering preproduction. Having partied all night, they rocked up to the studio in a haze to Reid’s metronome contraption. A drum machine app thumping out a kick and snare in tandem through an Orange Speaker and amp. “It was super military-sounding,” recalled vocalist/guitarist, Shane Parsons. “He just faced it at us, turned everything up to 10 and fell asleep on the couch.”

The importance of a couple of bpm isn’t lost on the pair though. “It was so painful,” said drummer Simon Ridley. “But sometimes slowing down or speeding up a song by two bpm can make the vocals sit so much better.”

It wasn’t just tempi, the process of weeding out mistakes and refining their recording process became contagious. Instead of corralling all the vocal takes into a couple of days like they have done, they staggered the sessions. “Doing all the guitars then doing all the vocals is a mistake,” said Parsons. “You just wear your voice out singing for five or six days straight. This time we’d do two songs in one day, guitars then vocals, which worked a lot better.”

Even though he separates the cymbals from the shells, Reid does keep the hi-hats in the original take. He sets up the mics like he would when recording a standard drum kit setup: overheads, room mics and all [see Drum Mics sidebar]. Then when he’s done recording the main kit, he’ll put the cymbals on, leave the drum mics where they are and reposition the overheads, “so they EQ themselves a bit,” explained Reid. “I’ll angle them in a friendlier way, and maybe pull them up a little so you don’t get that gong effect. I leave the surrounding mics in the same position, so when layering it in with the drum mics, I’m pushing up the same mics so they blend.”

On the cymbal takes, Reid keeps the room and smash mics in the same position, being able to decide how much to compress those is a big part of the appeal. “You might send the cymbals to the parallel compression to help with the blend, but monitor how much of the signal actually goes to the effect. That way, when kicks and snares hit, they’re pulling at the cymbals so it feels like they’re in the same blend, but it’s just not overdone.

Where I really want to smash the kit mic to get the beefiness of the sound, I would be sending the drum room mics to the compressor at 80%, and send the cymbals at 20 or 30%.”

SPLIT DECISION ON GUITAR

Reid doesn’t fetishise drummers’ pain. He doesn’t strip them of their shiny metal discs for his own satisfaction. He does it for the greater good. In the case of DZ Deathrays, it’s to turn the sound of a SHELL OF A DRUMMER two-piece rock band into something far bigger.

Exemplified by nailing down the tempo to the exact Parsons knows this applies to his guitar sounds bpm, that attention to detail extended to every as well, and purposefully only uses Garageband’s other recording process, too. When they tracked built-in presets so he doesn’t get too attached to the the drums, Reid asked Ridley to record the cymbals way the demos sound. When the band performs, in a different take to the rest of the drums. “In a they have another guitarist onstage, but Parsons recording environment, mics placed further away splits his signal with an octave pedal to give the from a drum kit produce fuller sounds,” explained impression of a bass player. “I split it into a bass Reid. “Especially when you start smashing them up. amp, via a couple of DIs. They’re EQ’d, with some But when you have cymbals in there, they take up a distortion,” explained Parsons. Typically they’d lot of real estate and can record that sound as a kill the vibe fast.” building block for their On the drummer’s records, but this time it TIP: DRUM MONITORING TIP When Reid isn’t able to track cymbals part, it takes absolute wasn’t working, so they separately, he often sends the entire kit to a dedication. “Playing the changed tacks. compressed auxiliary and feeds the return of cymbals separately is a “It just didn’t sound that to the drummer. “I send them a version nightmare,” said Ridley. great, so we ended of where the mix might go if they want to “It’s really tough. You up using a shitty pump things up,” Reid explained. “When they learn the songs, then $200 bass an assistant go crazy on a ride, they’ll get a really overyou have to relearn how brought in from compressed sound. That helps them control to play them without home,” said Parsons. the drum levels for me.” half the instrument, but “I did all the parts in it sounds good.” They about three or four took the same approach hours, because it’s the on the last album, but this time, rather than hitting same thing as the guitar, so I wasn’t re-writing fresh air, Ridley brought in some electronic drum parts. It was weird using a bass, but it was cymbal pads so he could use them to trigger actual one of those things where it just sounded bad samples during takes. He also pared down the pitching the guitar down.” number of kits to just one, compared to the variety “Some of it was the way octave pedals work,” on Black Rat, for which they recorded “different said Reid. “When they try to grab the note, it kick drums within a song. The verse drums could doesn’t always keep it as tight. Due to the faster be one thing, then the chorus drums an entirely tempo of some songs, they were getting a little different kit.” messy and not as defined. We had to go a more

traditional road and use a bass guitar, which created more depth anyway. The thing with those guys, they’re just happy with whatever is going to make the song better.”

It seemed that every pain point on the record was worth it. For instance, one of Parson’s favourite pedals is a Boss Slicer, which is a modulated, MIDI-syncable tremolo that can get incredibly glitchy. Sometimes that glitchiness would be too sharp for the record, and while Reid struggled to mix it into Afterglow, once he nailed it, it became one of the most dynamic mixes on the record. “I think we just softened up with delay, which made everything stretched a bit, rather than a really hard cut,” said Parsons.

Reid said that sometimes with mixing it’s just a matter of “doing things in the opposite way to what I was. Reimagining what something should be until it fits.”

RIFFING ON VOCALS

They’ve never struggled writing hits in the past, but this time DZ really wanted to home in on some festival bangers. “I wasn’t just trying to write a riff, I was trying to write a song,” said Parsons. “We can write riffs for days, but now more of my goal is to find that awesome vocal hook I can write a riff around, which is the hardest part.”

Parsons also finds his vocals difficult to deliver.

Reid helps him out by recording guide tracks [see Vocal Tuning Guide tip], but a big part of nailing a performance is getting in the zone. Reid will usually give Parsons a dynamic mic. “He works really well on either a Shure SM7 or SM57,” said Reid. “I’ll rig it up, sometimes taping mics together so I could fix on the pop shield and give him something more to hold. It looks ridiculous, but it means he can move around as much as he wants.

Sometimes a Neumann U87 condenser works to smooth out where Shane’s vocal register is. I was using one as a drum room mic, and I’d get him to use it for talkback. It sounded cool so I got him to use it for vocals. We’ve tried the big boys like the U47, but they don’t really work in that context.

We also tried an RE20, which sounded cool, but it couldn’t handle being banged around. Then I’d push up whatever drum room mics I had laying around and record that at the same time.”

TIP: VOCAL TUNING GUIDE When the music makes it hard to pitch a melody, Reid has a helpful solution. “Vocal melodies don’t always follow what’s coming through in the music,” said Reid. “We’ll figure out the melody and the right pitch to aim for, then record it on piano so they can sing to it. When someone’s singing to a wall of guitars, it’s like giving them a flashlight to get through the song. If the piano sound doesn’t work, I can take a vocal take, then tune it. That way they can sing to themselves.”

It helped Parsons: “The melodies can jump between some fairly big intervals. I need guidance, especially if I’m going down, which I find hard.”

AT 29

REID’S DRUM MICS Reid: With overheads I measure them from the kick and snare. Any kit mics I have clustered around the kit, I get those equidistant from the main showmen of the song — kick and snare.

With rooms I just walk around the room until I find a spot that sounds really good or the bottom end is resonating. I have funny luck.

If I’m in a different room or studio, where I would have put room mics for the last project won’t work at all for the next. Sometimes I’ll stand in front of the kit and there’ll be a weird spot where it doesn’t sound very good. Take a couple of steps back and the waves have had a chance to develop and the bottom end kicks in. I just walk around and put my head behind couches, if I find a good spot, I’ll start there.”

Here were his go-tos for Bloody Lovely: Snare: “A Shure SM57 with another mic taped to it so the diaphragms are in phase. It’s usually a condenser; sometimes an AKG C451, other times a Rode Classic II, Oktava 012s pencil condensers are good because they can take some heat. I rarely use snare bottom mics. If I do, it’ll be closer to the floor so I can capture some of the kick as well. I don’t really like the sound of the wires that much, but from a distance they can sound cool.”

Kicks: I use an EV RE20, or AKG D12, or 421 inside. Then a condenser on the outside to get the body. Sometimes one on the beater.

Toms: “57s or Sennheiser MD421s on rack toms. We have a Josephson C22, which is good for the floor tom.”

Kit mic: “I like to to use a Shure SM7 or some kind of dynamic mic somewhere. I’ll squish it in above the kick drum or position it as a close mono overhead, and might base the phase around it. Then I throw random mics around; ribbons are always good. I usually have mics around the drummer, either above the head, or tucked away on the ground somewhere. I like those to be the mics of interest, which you can sometimes build a sound from.”

Room mics: “I don’t space my rooms that far apart. I’ll stand with my arms outstretched with my body facing the centre of the kick drum. I also like Mid/Side configurations in front of the kit. I find really spaced room mics hard to get into a mix, because the phasing is a bit weird. Everything sounds awesome when you have your overheads and room mics hard left and right. But when I start pushing other things into the mix, it doesn’t always work.

I typically only have drums spread halfway across the spectrum. That leaves all that extra space on the sides for other parts. It’s a bit more focused and the mix sounds wide because I’ve given other things room to take up the real extremes.

Also, if you have them wide, the bottom end can get weird with phasing.”

AT 30

DISTORTED REALITY

Laying down cymbal-less drums, splitting up guitar lines, and re-recording melodies takes its time. By the end of the two weeks allocated to tracking, the pair would usually be on the phone begging the label for more time. Surprisingly, they managed to finish Bloody Lovely with enough spare time to have a barbecue. “Usually we’re pulling our hair out,” said Parsons.

After tracking, they left Reid for a while to get on with mixing. While Reid says he’s trying to maintain a better work/life balance, when he’s recording and mixing “I definitely disappear from society. It seems to be my process of making albums, it’s all-encompassing.”

“He always looks frail at the end of a mix, because he puts so much of himself in there,” said Ridley.

After a few songs are mixed, he’ll send them off to the band to make sure he’s on the right track. “I work on multiple songs at once because I tend to lose my mind if I work on just one.”

“It’s hard to mix a band like us,” said Parsons.

“Burke wants it to sound big and ballsy. He loves a hip hop-sounding kick, not a big spikey rock kick. The problem with that is it takes up so much space. It’s a balancing act. We really like the end product. It’s not too compressed, which can wear your ears out.”

Speaking of compression, “there was some magical compressor Burke would turn on, and everything would sound amazing,” recalled Parsons. “Every time he put it on flowers would be blooming.”

The magical compressor was an old Australian made AWA mono tube compressor that Reid had been getting right into. “It’s like an Australian Fairchild,” said Reid. “The one we’ve got has been modded with an attack and release time.

It’s not super fast, but it’s really musical. When it compresses, it doesn’t have a motion to it, it’s more like a limit. I send a bunch of drum mics to it and record that. It hardlines them and puts in

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AT 31

GUITAR GEAR Parson’s main guitar is a Burns MR2 Marquee, “it’s like a middle-range guitar made a bit more for rock than their surf/garage guitars.” For amps he used: Orange OR50 head Orange AD30 combo Custom Brazilian amp; cross between a Hendrix-style Marshall JTM45 and a Fender Bassman.

Goldentones Fender Champ Roland Jazz Chorus Parsons: “The bass amp was an Ampeg SVTVR with a monster 8x10 fridge, but the bass that ended up on the record was all DI. We did use it as a super clean, dry and up front guitar amp. I put this ZVex Master Tron fuzz distortion pedal in front of it and it sounded really thick and creamy. It was really good if you wanted to kick into a chorus to have that as the padding guitar.

“I used a lot of Burke’s pedals; an OCD drive, a lot of Fulltone gear, an octave pedal, MicroPog, and a Pog II. I also used an Electro-Harmonix Mel9; all the string sounds on the record were the guitar through that. The start of Bad Influence is a ZVex Lo-Fi Junky, which is a compressor you can add a pitch bend warp too.

I used a JHS Muffuletta, which is supposed to have all the Big Muff circuitry from throughout the years, as well as their take on a Big Muff. It was quite versatile. On the record I use a lot of fuzzes, but live I just use amp gain. I have one pedal on my board just in case we’re playing in South America or somewhere where they might give me a Fender Twin.

“Usually I can figure out a substitute for any pedal I use in the studio with my live board.

There’s only one pedal I can’t seem to replicate with anything else. It’s a Pigtronix Mothership synth pedal. I’ve got the old version, which runs on 48V — ridiculous for a guitar pedal. It takes up so much space on my board and I only switch it on for one song we just cannot play without it."

AT 32

harmonics. It’s not for every mic, but works really well on some. I also use it on vocals, bass, anything that’s going to be a mono instance. The way it reacts to transients, I’ve not yet found many other compressors that behave like that.”

Outside of the AWA, Reid prefers to use analogue hardware to distort or saturate parts, rather than heavily compressing them. “When you drive the pres on the SSL console at the Grove, they sound really cool,” he said. “I’ll take a microphone and push it until it starts distorting, which brings out overtones and notes. When you’re

really distorting the drums, it turns them into 808 sounds, so you can hear if the kick or floor tom is out of tune. I’ll tune the drums listening to a really distorted mic.”

Distorting drums enough to make them sound like an 808 might sound extreme, but clean, orthodox recording methods don’t help a two-piece rock band sound larger than life. “With DZ, what helps is not necessarily what’s appropriate,” said Reid. “I always listen to what the band wants. I guess I try to strap the band on the mix bus.”

AT 33

TUTORIAL

VIEW FROM THE BENCH

How de-essers tame those frisky fricatives and slippery sibilants.

Tutorial: Andy Szikla

AT 34

I once had the pleasure of downing some beer and peanuts with a crusty old recording engineer — let’s call him ‘Fred’ — who in the 1980s was employed by one of the top studios in Melbourne. Fred used to work with advertising customers, creating soundtracks for television and radio commercials, and he told me the following story…

In jeans and a t-shirt, pony-tailed Fred was in the control room doing mix passes and balancing the main character’s voice in an advertisement. Sitting next to him — sporting a suit, tie and cuff-links — was a clipboard-wielding executive from the ad agency. The two weren’t exactly candidates for a bromance. The ad guy figured Fred for an insectharbouring, scruffy hippie, and Fred thought the ad guy was a craven weasel who would sell his own grandmother to turn a profit. So Fred gets the mix just about right and asks, “How’s that?” The ad guy responds, “Sounds a bit ‘essy’!”

Now, at that particular moment in history the physical number of de-essers in Australia was precisely zero. Fred’s thinking was that the ad guy had picked up an industry magazine and read about some American engineer using one, and was simply seizing the opportunity to be a smart arse. “Do you have a de-esser?” He queries. After a pause, Fred says, “Yes, we do, but it’s in use elsewhere. How about I bring it in tomorrow and we’ll finish off?” Ok...

That night Fred goes home, grabs a two-unit rack spacer panel from a box in his garage, and about an hour later it has been adorned as follows: On the left there were two jacks marked IN and OUT, simply hard-wired together. In the middle sat a VU meter, with a potentiometer to its right. Unseen on the rear, a battery was wired to the meter via the potentiometer so that rotating the pot would cause a convincing deflection of the needle. Everything was marked with rub-on lettering, which looks like proper printing if you don’t get too close. As a finishing touch, Fred put the words De-Esser and a made-up brand name in the corner, followed by the letters USA. He told me in those days if gear was from America, you’d think it must be good. The next day he took his new contraption to the studio and screwed it into the rack.

Enter the ad guy, who seems impressed. Fred gets the mix up, and inserts the ‘De-Esser USA’ which effectively functions as a cable joiner. He rolls tape. “Too essy”, says the ad guy. Fred winds the knob clockwise, and the needle moves a bit.

“How about that?” “No, still a bit essy.” The knob is rotated more. “How about that?” “Just a bit more...”

The needle moves further. “Perfect”, says the ad guy.

Result: One happy customer who goes forth to boast how the studio where he gets his commercials recorded has a De-Esser! Later, Fred starts to get phone calls from engineers at other studios who are somewhat suspicious…

What interests me most about Fred’s anecdote is the underlying insinuation that de-essers themselves engender a kind of technical fraud, because even if you use one your listeners won’t be able to tell the difference. Indeed, while he was telling me his story, I recalled how I reacted as a

youngster, hearing about them for the first time, and asking what they did. Nobody I knew had a proper idea. We were all very confused.

So what is a de-esser, and where did it come from? What does it do, and how does it work?

Is it an essential tool of the studio, or does it just remove pixie dust from your recording, and replace it with bullshit?

SIX SILVER SWANS SIBILANTLY SQUAWKED

I suspect most readers of this article already own a digital recording program with a de-esser plug-in included, and may have had a bit of a fiddle. Those readers will have seen that the plug-in enables them to apply instantaneous gain reduction to sibilance and fricatives, which are the whistly and spitty bits of human speech. They often appear in our recordings with un-natural prominence above the average power of supporting dialogue, and can be as annoying as a finger that emerges from the loudspeaker to PoKe you in the TemPle wiTH eFFry SSSSSyllable.

‘Fricative’ is a jazzy word, which would be better suited to describe a style of dancing or cooking.

Instead, it refers to sounds which emerge from our mouths that use friction as a substantive part of their mechanism, rather than just tonal resonance. The letter ‘T’ is a good example, as it involves blocking the airflow with your tongue, and then suddenly releasing it. Fricatives that don’t entirely block airflow, but which involve the friction of air through a narrow gap or across the teeth, tend to have a hissy nature, and are referred to as ‘sibilant’. The letter ‘S’ is the poster boy for sibilance, and it is from him we get the term ‘essy’ and the generic name for any device designed to reduce the amplitude of such fricatives when we don’t like them.

These noises all contain the bulk of their spectral energy in the 4-10kHz band of frequencies, while the main body of non-fricative speech resides four or five octaves lower, in the 100-500Hz band.

Fricatives are a natural part of speech, but they can present challenges — and management or intervention is sometimes required.

TESST ONE TSSOOO

Some fricatives contain plosive sounds which from the point of view of a microphone can look like a shock-wave. Earlier I described the letter ‘T’ as being produced by a sudden un-blocking of the airway by your tongue. This produces not only the high ‘t’ sound, but also a sudden pressure wave of somewhat greater energy, and it can hit the mic element with a tiny thump. It’s as forceful as a bullant knocking on your front door, but when added to the intelligible part of the sound, the resultant recorded ‘T’ may exhibit more emphasis than initially heard by the naked ear.

Once that sound enters the recording equipment, it faces additional challenges. It is not uncommon for a vocal track to receive an equalisation boost in the top end, to improve intelligibility and enhance natural harmonics which may be pleasing to the ear.

However, since fricatives reside in the same range, they will also be boosted, increasing their elevation above the average level of non-fricative content.

One of my worst nightmares was too much de-esser during the tracking of Midnight Oil’s Blue Sky Mining, making the word ‘save’ sound a bit like ‘shave

Furthermore, it’s quite common to compress a vocal track, to make it sound more powerful and consistent. Compressor attack times favoured for vocal performances are generally too slow to grab leading edges, with gain reduction applied only to the main body of the sound, making the fricative louder still.

Turning down the treble is an obvious way to reduce fricatives in a recording, but the audio track is also dulled as a consequence, which may be undesirable. We really want to be able to remove them while leaving the surrounding audio intact.

DE-OLDEN DAYS

As we saw in the article about compressors (Issue 123), Hollywood was taking control of audio dynamics from the very first days of the ‘talkies’ and de-essing appeared about 10 years later. In 1939, Warner Brothers Films developed a system for reducing excessive sibilant energy in speech as full modulation was approached on the opticallyrecorded film stock. This was probably the first time the idea had been put to industrial use, and control of sibilance in films has been ongoing ever since.

The same idea eventually crossed over into the record industry, in the area of disc cutting and mastering. If a high frequency signal has too much amplitude, it can be difficult for a playback needle to physically track the groove at speed, so it made sense to place an upper limit on such undulations.

One example from the early 1960s was a record cutting lathe manufactured by Danish company Ortofon, which included its STL631 Treble Limiter as part of the valve-amplified cutter control circuit.

With a patch, it was possible to use the 631 as a stand-alone unit, and some are still in use today — not just in vinyl mastering, but also recording.

The earliest reference I can find to a proprietary stand-alone unit is the Orban 516EC Dynamic Sibilance Controller made in San Francisco in the mid-1970s. It was a FET model designed, says Orban, for “the recording and motion picture industries.”

Prior to the wide availability of purpose-built units, sibilance reduction was usually achieved by employing a compressor with a high pass filter inserted in its side-chain. David Nicholas (INXS, Pulp) says that way back at the dawn of time AT 35

DBX 902 DE-ESSER BLOCK DIAGRAM 1. High frequency and full bandwidth signals are fed to the side chain and rectified into DC voltages proportional to their AC RMS levels.

BYPASS

FREQUENCY

MODE

2. Clockwise rotation of front panel RANGE control adds more DC level to the HF control voltage, making it more likely to force de-essing.

IN

LF

INPUT

HF FULL BW

VCA HF ONLY FULL BW

RANGE AC

DC

HF

FULL BW

RMS

RMS

DC

DC

+ –

SUM

GATE

DC

SIDE CHAIN

+

OUTPUT

MIX BYPASS IN

3. At the SUM amp, the FULL BW control voltage is then subtracted. If the result is negative, no gain change will occur. If the result is positive, it will be passed to the VCA control terminal, to force proportional reduction of the audio signal.

4. Audio through the VCA will either be full bandwidth, or high frequency only, depending on the position of the MODE switch. In high frequency only mode, the MIX amplifier adds the unaffected low frequencies back to the highs, to recreate the full bandwith signal minus any HF de-essing.

5. If the RANGE control is set too high, its voltage will dominate, and de-essing will be excessive.

6. The GATE allows control voltage to reach the VCA only when signal is present, preventing any weird behaviour caused by background noise.

he used, “something or other by Valley People, probably a Dynamite from the ’70s configured to work as a de-esser, and it was all a bit troublesome and complicated to set up. But when the classic dbx 902 came out in the ’80s, that was it, and every rack in the world had a pair of them.”

I asked him about the early reputation of deessers, as a box that didn’t really do much. His response was quick, and to the contrary. “One of my worst nightmares was too much de-esser during the tracking of Midnight Oil’s Blue Sky Mining, making the word ‘save’ sound a bit like ‘shave’. It was tape, so we couldn’t doctor it like you can with digital. The fans picked up on it and used to sing along at the gigs… “who’s gonna shave me!”

It became a hit, but I lost a great deal of sleep over it. Since then I have never used a de-esser during tracking; only on the back end. With a de-esser, if you can hear it working, then it’s too much.”

FACTORY FAB’D FRICATIVE FIXERS

Simplified, a de-esser is a compressor in which the control circuitry is triggered by excessive amplitude within the fricative range of frequencies. As in the example above, a normal compressor can be used if the audio path to the gain reduction element is interrupted by a high pass or band pass filter, causing the compressor to attenuate only when the signal amplitude crosses a threshold within that band. If the attack and release times are set to react quickly, short fricative transients can be reduced substantially without affecting the audio that precedes or follows. Typical attack times are usually a millisecond or less, with release times varying between two and 50ms. In a proprietary de-esser these times are fixed, depending on what the designer finds pleasing to the ear.

These days, a device like the makeshift one above is usually described as a ‘high frequency limiter’ and a reasonable quality de-esser is likely to include additional refinements. Principal among these is ‘dynamic threshold’ where fricative energy is compared with overall energy, so that gain reduction only happens when high frequencies AT 36

exceed some given ratio against the full bandwidth signal. If a singer crooning a verse suddenly belts out a much louder chorus, the increase in general volume would put more signal across the threshold of a high frequency limiter, and result in more de-essing. However, since louder singing causes negligible change in the ratio of high to low vocal frequencies, a dynamic threshold promises to keep the amount of de-essing more or less consistent.

In 1980, dynamic threshold was a big feature of the dbx 902, and worked so well that it was assumed to be a dbx invention. But other manufacturers had already employed versions of it, including the Orban 516 of the previous decade.

The real achievement of the 902 was to get the ratio comparison bits working over a 64dB range — wider than any likely musical performance — so the unit could almost be treated as ‘set and forget’ within the signal chain. In the 1980s such functionality was welcomed, since it was still common practice to record a whole band at once, and a sound engineer had plenty of other places to look during a take.

The dbx 902 uses a voltage controlled amplifier, or VCA, as its gain reduction element. A VCA is an amplifier in which gain is kept proportional to an external voltage applied to its control terminal.

Valley People boasted a proprietary VCA in its Dynamite compressors of the late ’70s, but again it seems dbx was the one to perfect this technology, which it also used in the legendary dbx 160 compressor. These days if you want to buy a VCA to solder into your gadget, you would look no further than those made by THAT Corporation, a company founded by guys who used to work at dbx.

The 902 uses a 12dB/octave active crossover circuit to divide the audio signal into high, low, and full bandwidth signals, which are dealt with separately (see diagram). Today the dbx 902 is superseded by the 520, made to the same recipe but with updated components.

The 902 set a benchmark, but other manufacturers remind us there are different ways to do it.

The BSS DPR-402 dynamics controller incorporates two separate side-chains — one for compression and one for de-essing — which simultaneously dictate gain reduction to a single VCA. Empirical Labs makes a number of VCA deessers. The Lil FrEQ includes de-essing as one function within a tone equaliser unit, and allows operators to switch between dynamic threshold deessing, or high frequency limiting, as desired. The DerrEsser includes a ‘listen’ button that allows you to preview the audio content being removed.

The Avalon VT-747SP is an optical compressor which allows independent threshold control for high and low frequencies, so it can be set up as a high frequency limiter.

My own Prodigal de-esser uses a FET as the control element, with dynamic threshold created by adding the averaged full bandwidth signal to a user threshold setting — the ‘ESS’ knob. Turning clockwise, the result is more essy, and anticlockwise, less essy.

DE-ESSING UP FOR FAMILY OCCASIONS

De-essing is not limited to the reproduction of the human voice, but is also useful for other sounds containing high frequency fricatives, such as a plectrum as it thrashes across acoustic guitar strings, or to remove hi-hat bleed from a snare drum mic.

I recently recorded Mrs Tech Bench, who is a great lover of Himalayan music. She plucked through a few hot takes on her dramyin using a traditional bone plectrum, which can sound a bit peaky, especially if you are using a condenser mic.

My solution was to slap a de-esser across it, which worked a treat. Playing it back, I was impressed at how the subtle reduction in pick noise gave way to the warm, full-bodied sound of the instrument.

“How’s that?” I asked. “It sounds the same as before,” she said.

Perhaps Fred was an ’essing genius after all.

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FEATURE

HO

UK

PI

: OS

OD STUD O W I E N

L

LY W

OOD IN

If you ask the average person where Star Wars, James Bond and Harry Potter are made, invariably they’ll answer ‘in Hollywood’ without thinking twice. Would you know it, all three mega-franchises actually call the UK home, specifically Pinewood Studios. Just 20 miles west of London, Pinewood has been one of the world’s most sought-after film studio facilities for over 80 years; not to mention the steady influx of TV productions, commercials and video games.

The facility features many large sound stages, post production facilities for both film and sound, an underwater stage, TV studios, a media hub/ park with over 150 businesses in residence and the famous Heatherden Hall; a Georgian-style mansion with beautiful gardens, fountain, picturesque lake, and an interior that contains a spectacular woodpanelled boardroom and ballroom you may have spied in the odd blockbuster.

When I arrived at Pinewood Studios, I was greeted by a strict security and privacy regimen; no cameras (unless cleared by a section head, which I had) and definitely no selfies! The only photos we were sanctioned to take were those inside the theatre where I interviewed two of the studio’s most famous re-recording mixers.

AT 38

Did you know that ‘Hollywood’ blockbusters like Star Wars, James Bond and Harry Potter are actually made in the UK? Welcome to Pinewood Studios.

Story: Allon Silove Photos: © 2018 Pinewood Studios Limited

E H T

Once inside, the Pinewood Studios lot is — to put it simply — huge. Massive aeroplane-size hangars wrapped in that season’s blockbuster imagery. Trucks endlessly motoring around the maze of internal streets and alleyways in a logistical masterpiece.

A familiar font, writ large on a billboard had me dreaming of stumbling onto the new Disney/ Star Wars set and glimpsing a piece of the Empire.

However, access to Pinewood lots is split up into secure fiefdoms. Entry by swipe-card is required at every door and gate, and attempting to enter a facility other than your designated destination is a strict ‘no-no’. In fact, as our chaperone — Paul Govey, the Group Audio Operations Manager — pointed out, even swipe card access is limited to the department you work for. No chance of eating your packed lunch while watching your favourite Hollywood leading man/woman go to work.

Dreams are dashed as quickly as they’re made here.

Film fan-boy dreams aside, our interview location, the Pressburger Theatre, was a treat. One of the larger post-production Dolby surround mixing stages on the lot; it’s an impressive place to call your daily ‘office’.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY MOVIES

I met with Ian Tapp and Adam Scrivener, both re-recording mix engineers at the Pinewood facility. The pair each have over 12 years experience working on major, big budget productions; many of which I had seen and ‘Marvelled’ over.

I was fascinated as to how one ends up mixing blockbusters behind a Euphonix System 5 at one of the biggest studios on earth.

Ian Tapp: I started in broadcast at the BBC, working as a sound assistant or ‘boom swinger’ on programs like Grange Hill and EastEnders.

From there I was a junior mixer, up through TV documentaries, TV dramas, and eventually into feature films. It was the way the industry worked; it was expected you had your BBC training. Then I worked at Television Centre, and a facility called TVI in Soho (London). After that I worked at Anvil Studios in Denham, working with Adam’s father, in a company set up by Adam’s grandfather. I moved to Pinewood in March of 2005.

AudioTechnology: So I take it broadcast sound production runs strongly in your family, Adam?

Adam Scrivener: Yes. I’m third generation.

My grandfather (and I think two or three other

people, all called Kenneth for some reason) started a company called Anvil, which became part of Vidfilm and Technicolor. They ran scoring stages and had dubbing facilities as well; foley, ADR and so on. I never got to work alongside my father, he retired before I started. I guess I just caught the bug. I also worked for Vidfilm and completed a degree in audio technology at Southampton University. Then lots of freelancing in the dubbing houses in Soho before the running job came up here. I worked my way up from there.

AT: What was the transition from analogue to digital like in the broadcast world?

IT: A big organisation like the BBC had a huge sound department. There were a lot of us, spanning all ages, and it was a very busy period for program making. We’d all worked with musicians in studios using multi-track recording techniques. However, there were people who had been with the BBC since the dawn of time and still hadn’t figured out how some of the new tech worked. All us 20-year olds were fresh out of college and knew everything about it. I REMEMBER SEEING THE VERY FIRST AMS AUDIO FILE. IT

TIME TO LOOP THINGS, PLAY THINGS 500 TIMES AND GET COMPLETELY HAPPY WITH IT. THROUGH THAT PROCESS WE

SPLIT THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT DOWN THE MIDDLE; HALF OF

KNOW THE INS AND OUTS OF EVERY TRACK, HOW THEY GOT

THE SOUND CREW THOUGHT IT WAS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

THERE, AND THAT THEY’RE AS GOOD AS THEY CAN BE, OR AS

AND SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED IN THE SOUND GALLERIES!

BAD AS THEY ARE. That way when we are in the final

We — the younger half — very quickly proved that it made the shows better. I remember a really simple audience dub on a comedy show, recorded in front of a live audience with real laughs. We were working with quarter-inch tape and knew that laughs 16, 40 and 35 worked best every time. With the AMS file, you could stack up all those laughs on buttons. It was old jukebox software; no time code, just button thumping. In less time than it would take to get to the next laugh on a piece of quarter inch, you’ve tried every one possible. Having more variation with quicker resource access proved to be the future.

That was it for tape.

ROUTINE MIX

AT: What’s the daily routine of a re-recording mix engineer at Pinewood?

IT: As a mixer, on a typical feature film, there are basically three main stages; pre-mix stage, final mix stage, and then the deliveries stage.

AT: What does the pre-mixing stage involve?

IT: You mix the dialogue tracks prepared by the dialogue editor; cleaning up any unwanted noises and matching the camera angles. TYPICALLY, A FILM (REEL) IS SHOT WITH A SINGLE CAMERA SO ANY REVERSE ANGLES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SHOT ON THE SAME DAY OR

BY THE SAME TECHNICAL CREW. THEY MAY NOT EVEN HAVE BEEN SHOT ON THE SAME CONTINENT! I’m trying to get everything to match as a continuous dramatic flow.

Then I work in any replacement dialogue, which can be for technical reasons like excessive noise on a track from wind machines, or it’s an action movie with insurmountable issues no matter how good your location recording is! Sometimes, it’s because the film has taken a different turn and the script has been significantly altered during the editorial process. If it’s got a big cast you may have lots of crowd material to put in, too. They may have even shot a couple of days worth of crowd sessions just to deepen the sound of the track.

I also work alongside the supervising dialogue editor, without directors or producers. THAT’S OUR

mix stage with the director and the producer, we’re not worrying about all of that, we can deal with the room. At that stage we’ve got all our location data, all our ADR, all our crowd finely-honed. During the process, we mix against guides of the sound effects; sometimes music, but it doesn’t often get pre-mixed. From about the tenth mix we’ve got a good idea of the shape of how the overall mix is going to be.

AT: How long does the pre-mix usually take?

AS: About a week or two. We used to say at least a day for each reel of a movie; 20 minutes of film.

Five reels is about average, but films have been getting longer.

IT: I’ve just come off an eight reeler!

AT: What happens in the final mix stage?

IT: There’s usually two mixers, sometimes three, at the board. We divide up dialogue, music and effects amongst us. It can change depending on what works for the particular picture. There’ll be a Supervising Sound Editor, a Sound Designer and maybe up to four departmental Sound Editors who look after effects, foley and dialogue, all in the session with us.

There’s usually a Music Editor as well, along with the Director and probably his Film Editor. The final mix is a fascinating stage, because it’s completely different every time you do it. Especially once you introduce the music, and you can really shape the dialogue and sound effects around that. From there, you’re in a pretty good place to show it to the director and producer, and it’s mostly responding to their reactions; trying to move the soundtrack so the director feels the right way about it.

DIRECTOR ONSET

AT: Do directors have a common approach to the mixing stage?

IT: Every director wants something completely different from you. Some want to completely ‘drive’ the mix at all times. They will be telling you what they want to hear and how they want to hear it. You have to engineer that for them. Other directors will

You must have your session sorted, know what’s in it and set out in a way that allows you to stay in control when new ideas are being thrown at you on a minute-byminute basis

just come in, sit down, put their feet up and say, ‘Okay guys, what have you got for us?’

AS: ‘Entertain me!’

IT: ‘What can you do for my movie?’ Those are the fun ones because they give you some creative rein. They also appreciate that this is what we do. To them, it may just be one part of their filmmaking process, but it’s our specialty! There’s also a good chance we can come up with some good ideas they haven’t thought of yet.

AS: Or because they get ‘temp love’.

AT: What’s ‘temp love’?

AS: A director and a film editor will often work for three months or so in a cutting room on an Avid (suite) and get really used to the rough soundtrack; a temporary mix we may have done.

It usually has good structure to it and because the director and film editor are concentrating on broader aspects of the film, they can fall in love with the temporary sound. The problem is that when they hear the final mix it’s a case of, ‘I liked the sound that was there, and now it’s gone!’ ‘Yeah, it was just a crew member bumping something so we took it out.’ That happens all the time, particularly with music.

IT: Particularly with directors who enjoy the process. OTHER DIRECTORS HAVE TO VIRTUALLY BE DRAGGED KICKING AND SCREAMING TO THE THEATRE. SOME AT 39

Pinewood Studios re-recording engineers, Ian Tapp (left) and Adam Scrivener describing a day in the life of a mixer for film from their usual haunt, the Pressburger Theatre (photo courtesy of Greg Sher).

OF THEM JUST DON’T DO IT. THE PROCESS OF US GOING BACK AND FORTH OVER THE SAME PASS AND MIXING ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINUTES OF MATERIAL IN A DAY IS PAINFUL FOR THEM.

They want to see something they can react to and comment on. It’s not uncommon for the sound crew to work in the morning and the directors to come in after lunch, which is the best way of doing it.

AT: How much control do you have over the music mix, the multi-tracks of the scoring sessions?

AS: Generally it’s delivered mixed from the studio. We get involved with the music only in the final mix and then we wrangle it in there.

IT: Music’s an interesting thing. It’s the last thing to arrive, in the last fortnight of the film’s life. The composer can still be in the scoring stage when we’re already in the pre mixing stage. That’s when things can get really tight.

AT: Is the final process of mastering done here as well?

IT: Yes. We’ll take it all the way through, so we’ll typically work two or three weeks on a final mix, followed by mastering. In today’s multi-format world, you could be producing four separate mixes, even for theatrical release; Dolby Atmos, 7.1, 5.1, and two-track mixes for archive. We’ll spend a couple of days mastering if it’s Atmos and we need to do down-renders, maybe only one if it’s just a 5.1 mix.

AT: Do you also do the post theatrical release for Blu-ray, or DVD releases?

IT: More often that not, but it’s on a title-by-title basis. We’ve got smaller mixing theatres for the nearfield mixes, though sometimes we also put up nearfield monitors in the big rooms.

INDISPENSABLE GEAR

AT: I noticed all the monitoring here is JBL. Do you prefer their sound to other brands?

AS: This particular theatre is a 7.1 monitoring AT 40

system: JBL three-way system on the screen, biamped using Crown amps. The JBLs do have their own style of sound but we’re all comfortable with that sound. We can move rooms without being upset or introducing another variable. The JBLs are more like what you hear at your local multiplex.

IT: Consistency from room to room is important because you can end up working in two or three rooms across one project.

AT: I would imagine workflow is very important.

What makes up your tool kit?

IT: I would be a bit panicked without Izotope, these days!

AS: YEAH, RX IS MY FAVOURITE TOOL RIGHT NOW! DENOISE AND ALSO THEIR AMBIENCE MATCH TOOL IS QUITE COOL. IT’S A FAST WAY TO SOLVE A PROBLEM. It’s not necessarily what you’d do if you had more time, but it is good. I wouldn’t want to go into a mix without it. That aside, most plug-ins achieve the same thing in different ways. So long as you’ve got something that’s going to compress, an EQ and a bit of reverb, you’re essentially covered. If we’re mixing on these AVID System 5 boards, I tend to use the channel strip from Pro Tools because it maps nicely to the surface and the ergonomics outweigh any sonic benefit of a different plug-in choice. Ultimately it’s about time; the speed of operation is important.

IT: It’s also a sweet-sounding EQ. AT: How does the System 5 help your workflow or process?

AS: I like the way it creates separation from the editor’s sessions, and it’s useful when you’ve got very complicated sessions, specifically dealing with the music. A dialogue session is quite easy to mix in the box because it’s a lump of sound on a track with a fader on it. The sessions are much narrower and more manageable than something like a music or effects session. When you’re mixing in the final stage, you just want to be able to get the music out

and on to faders. It’s probably just a psychological thing, but partly it’s practical. Having separation, between those of us mixing music versus those mixing dialogue or effects, means we can be mixing on the faders while the editor is doing their thing on Pro Tools completely independently. You’re not fighting over control of the system or worried by the wrong things. It’s still, to my mind, the fastest surface to use because the feedback’s brilliant; one button always takes you to where you make a change. We’ve been using this the System 5 for 1012 years now so its like muscle memory.

AT: What is an average final mix session track count?

AS: To give you a sense, on just the effects side of the board we’d probably have sixteen 5.1 tracks coming into the console from Pro Tools, then at least an additional 20 tracks of foley, and potentially another eight 5.1 faders of background as well. It’s about as big as you can go without losing things.

IT: You’ve got to be able to ‘wrangle it’ in the final mix. You can’t say to a director, ‘If you want to step out for 40 minutes, I’ll find that audio for you!’

YOU MUST HAVE YOUR SESSION SORTED, KNOW WHAT’S IN IT AND SET OUT IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS YOU TO STAY IN CONTROL WHEN NEW IDEAS ARE BEING THROWN AT YOU ON A MINUTE-BY-MINUTE BASIS.

AT: The BBC was a training ground for a large proportion of British engineers, does Pinewood offer internships for finding your next generation?

AS: We do have an apprentice scheme. However, more people are going into the sound editorial side than pre-mixing. It’s diversifying because the traditional approach of coming in at a certain level and working your way up to being a sound mixer is not the pathway anymore. Sound editorial and sound mixing are becoming much more of a whole.

IT: We might just be dinosaurs ourselves soon.

AT 41

REGULARS

PC Audio Does that new PC plug-in really sound any better than the ones you already have? It’s as easy as A/B, see?

=

Column: Martin Walker

Hands up all those who have ever spent hours comparing the effects of various EQ, compressor, exciter or other plug-ins? Yes, I thought so. Me too! Well, if you struggle to hear what (if any) change they’ve made to your audio, here’s a technique to help you decipher the difference.

When your audio has passed through a plug-in (or chain of plug-ins), removing the original signal and only listening to the changes made by the plug-in(s) can be a very educational experience.

Suddenly you’ll be able to hear exactly how that EQ has modified your frequency response, how that compressor has altered the audio envelope and changed its transients, and what exactly that enhancer is actually adding under the bonnet.

You can also listen to how your favourite bus compressor creates the glue that holds your mix together, or whether that boutique analogue preamp plug-in is adding anything beneficial, or whether a trick of the light and a fancy rendered front panel had you fooled.

VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE!

Some audio applications make such comparisons easy. For instance, Steinberg’s Wavelab offers two bypass modes for each plug-in you have open.

You can either bypass the effect, which in most cases will be identical to using any on/off control in the plug-in itself, although a few may (just like some hardware) offer residual euphonic effects even when internally bypassed. Or you can bypass the signal itself. This mode subtracts the input signal from the output signal, so you only hear the difference between the two.

Other audio editors and DAWs may offer similarly handy functions, but some plug-ins make things trickier by altering the output level as well as performing their task, which will skew the amount of difference signal we hear. How many times have we all convinced ourselves that a plug-in made our music sound better, when it actually just made the audio louder and therefore more impressive? This is the reason that some clever plug-in developers offer automatic level compensation, so when you switch their plug-ins in and out of circuit you hear only the change (Tokyo Dawn Records and PSP come to my mind first, although there must now be quite a few others). Now, to round out our difference AT 42

test setup, we must also level match the input and output signals so we only hear the difference between the plug-in chains.

MATCH MAKERS

Let’s leap into our favourite DAW and create a testbed that lets you hear those difference signals.

Simply create a duplicate of the track you want to investigate, with the audio and plug-in effect intact.

Now, on your duplicate track, flip its phase/ polarity switch so the two tracks cancel each other out. When all other settings on each track are equal, you should hear complete silence. Next, deactivate the plug-in you want to test on just one of the tracks, and you should hopefully hear the effect that one plug-in is having on the other track. If the plug-in has changed the volume, you might still hear a low-level version of the original audio. Try tweaking the fader on your duplicate track to minimise that sound. The goal is to completely cancel out the original audio, which will be when the difference signal is at its quietest.

Keep tweaking the levels until you can’t get it any quieter, then you should be hearing just what that one plug-in is doing to your audio. In this heightened scenario you should even be able to hear the subtle effects of plug-in controls such as switchable oversampling. Turn up your monitoring level to listen more closely. Just remember to turn it down again before changing any on-screen control, to avoid any damage to your loudspeakers, headphones, or ears.

I’ve learned a huge amount about what my selection of transient shapers are actually doing by listening to the altered attack or sustain portions in isolation. Similarly, you can now hear those euphonic preamp additions on their own (normally some low-level harmonic contributions), or a subtle overall EQ enhancement and added harmonics/ saturation from tape plug-ins. Even better, once your ears are tuned to those individual effects, you can thereafter hear them more clearly in the context of a full mix.

You can quickly unmask those plug-ins that claim an ‘analogue sound’; some may indeed model non-linear harmonic contributions, but others may simply offer ‘analogue-like’ EQ curves, so when their EQ is set to flat the difference signal disappears altogether. Some exciters may not

be generating non-linear stuff either, but simply offering a pleasing high shelf EQ that gives your tracks more bite — once you’ve listened to the difference signal you’ll know which does what.

EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES?

This technique is not only useful for hearing the effects of particular plug-ins — you can also use it to demo potential purchases. For example, I recently installed a demo version of an EQ claiming to faithfully mimic a very expensive retro hardware device. Like so many other musicians, I haven’t actually used this hardware to make a direct comparison. However, by placing the demo EQ in one channel, and one of my old faithful EQ plug-ins in the other of my test bed, after a few minutes of tweaking the latter’s controls I was able to achieve a difference signal on my output meters measuring 40dB lower than the input, which equates to 1%. In other words, I already had an existing plug-in that could achieve a 99% match to the sound of this new one, so I decided I didn’t need it. I also saved those final settings of my old faithful EQ for later use as a close match preset to this legendary hardware device.

You needn’t stop there. If you have a spare analogue input and output on your audio interface, you could use that as a send/return, to patch in real world hardware. This time round you’ll need to compensate for the D/A and A/D delays incurred to get your difference signal. Some DAWs provide specific support for this function, but if yours doesn’t, just patch in a freeware plug-in to the original channel that lets you dial in a delay in samples, such as FA Sample Delay (www.forwardaudio.de/sampledelay/), or Melda Production’s Mutility (www.meldaproduction.com/MUtility).

Start by bypassing the analogue hardware (or simply connecting an audio cable between your send and return), and adjust the delay plug-in on your original channel until the analogue loopback cable signal completely cancels it out. You can now patch the analogue hardware back in and try matching its effects using existing plug-ins, to once again achieve the lowest difference signal as measured on your output meters. Not only will this teach you a lot about what the hardware is doing; it may also save you a lot of money!

Less is More VHD2.0 Large Format Point Source System

Sound Engineer Angus Davidson has been involved in large scale sound reinforcement for the last thirty years mixing for famous acts like Supertramp and Crowded House. For him sound quality is the number one priority and this is what has drawn him to KV2 and VHD. “The capabilities of the VHD2.0 in sound quality and coverage have astounded me but the cost savings in transport, crew, rigging, power requirements and set up times make this system a real winner. VHD delivers real bang for the buck on all fronts.“ Angus Davidson Sound Engineer www.kv2audio.com

AT 43

REGULARS

Apple Notes Concerned about Apple’s T2 chip spelling death to Hackintoshes?

Then distract yourself with the new goodies in Logic 10.4.

Column: Brad Watts

December last year saw the release of Apple’s iMac Pro, a release that lent hope and anticipation for Apple’s 2017 news of a new Mac Pro during 2018. Of course it’s only early 2018, so we’re yet to see what Apple’s upgrade to the now five year old ‘trashcan’ Mac Pro will be. However, we can conclude with certainty the new Mac Pro will include one feature of the iMac Pro that’s not been present in a Mac before — the T2 chip.

The T2 is an ARM processor brewed to a custom specification by Apple, and is an evolution of the ARMv7 T1 chip found in the last run of MacBooks with Touch Bar and Touch ID functionality. It’s a very close relative of the processor powering a Raspberry Pi 2. On a Mac these system-on-a-chip devices are configured as co-processors, and work alongside the primary CPU, taking strain off the CPU to tackle additional chores.

In the iMac Pro the T2 co-processor looks after a bunch of new security features, with what Apple describes as a ‘secure enclave’. Encryption keys are encoded and decoded by the T2. Apple’s FileVault encryption uses XTS-AES-128 encryption with a 256-bit key, and if you’ve ever watched FileVault encrypt a hard drive, you’ll understand why a dedicated processor makes sense — this encryption stuff takes up a lot of processing power.

There’s also a lot of processing taken up when accessing, writing, and retrieving encrypted data on a hard drive, and to this end, the T2 co-processor also deals with SSD control. Previously, serial parallel ATA drives were controlled by the CPU, and before that, when CPU speeds were less than around 100MHz, drive controllers were part of the hard drive, such as with SCSI drives. T2 takes that duty away from SSDs, and as far as I understand deals with SSDs only. Spinning platter magnetic hard drives are out in the cold.

There’s other chores relegated to T2, such as management of the system boot, image processing for enhanced and faster face detection, and audio control, but the main aim of the T2 game here is security. We know how seriously Apple take security, enough to flip the bird at the FBI when plied for a back-door into an iPhone.

However, the T2 bothers me, because I’m one AT 44

of the many running macOS on unsanctioned (also known as less expensive) hardware. I know this won’t happen quickly, as it will take time for multiple Mac models to disappear into history, but I reckon the writing may be on the wall for systems like mine. Eventually a macOS will surface that requires a T2 or similar co-processor in order to boot, which — at the rate Apple release new systems — could be sooner than expected. At that point I, like many, will be left in the dust and forced to buy Apple hardware again. I’m more then happy to be proven wrong.

Speaking of upgrades leaving operating systems behind, Logic Pro X was recently bumped up to version 10.4, which has a minimum macOS requirement of 10.12, Sierra. (I’ll leave High Sierra alone for a while.) So I bid El Capitan farewell and upgraded my hack to 10.12 — an undertaking that turned out to be the easiest and cleanest Hackintosh install ever — no third party NVIDIA drivers, no obscure graphics issues. Just perfect. Then I could download the free 10.4 Logic Pro X upgrade. It was certainly worth the day of installation and file copying as 10.4 has some brilliant additions.

The most impressive additional feature has to be Smart Tempo. This allows you to add any piece of audio and it will automatically adapt to fit the project tempo, or have the project adapt to the imported audio. Fair enough you say? No big deal?

More impressive is how Logic Pro can now record audio at any tempo, then automatically adapt that recording to the project’s tempo. In essence, you don’t need to play to a click. Play whatever you like at a tempo you’re comfortable with and Logic will squeeze or stretch it into place, without altering pitch. Sure, there’ll be plenty of moans from the ‘keep it real’ camp, but for those needing to hammer ideas into a recording as quickly as possible, Smart Tempo is sheer magic.

There are also new plug-ins. ChromaVerb is an excellent and extremely quick to set up reverb plug-in, and its predecessor, Space Designer has been given a new interface design, to match ChromaVerb. There’s new instrument plug-ins for strings and brass (Studio Strings and Studio Horns)

that use sample-based waveforms, and a Vintage Mellotron with the usual selection of about 10 samples (it is what it is), along with an excellent plug-in called Step FX for step sequencer-style modulation of audio — modulate pan, reverb, distortion, delay and filtering — it’s super! More suited to the mix front are three Vintage EQs. These are modelled on ‘vintage analog EQs from the 1950s to the 1970s’. One Pultec-ish EQ, a Neveish EQ, and an API 560-ish EQ. These are great EQs, but I don’t like how the frequency adjustment is continual, rather than stepped like the modelled originals. This kinda defeats the purpose of modelling a vintage EQ. Surely this could be optional, Apple?

There are tonnes of updates, and I can’t cover them all here, but other highlights are Audio Random Access compatibility for closer integration with Celemony plug-ins, additional Drummers and Drum Kit Designer kits, a bunch of new Apple Loops if that’s your bag, along with 150 cinemastyle presets for Alchemy. Overall it’s a pretty massive upgrade, free. You’ll just have to make the jump to Sierra. I know most audio folk tend to be conservative with system upgrades. Hell, I’m still one behind after this update, but I’m pretty happy with Sierra. It’s smoother than El Capitan and ‘feels’ that bit more concise. I don’t believe you’ll have too many issues. Now I’ve got to re-download my Logic Pro sound library — I’ve never taken the time to learn how to make that survive a system upgrade.

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COLUMN

Carving Your Own Course Lachlan ‘Magoo’ Goold is the new Head of Audio at JMC’s Brisbane campus.

With a storied career including two ARIA wins, Magoo reflects on how he got into the industry and what he hopes to pass on to the next generation of producers and engineers.

Column: Lachlan ‘Magoo’ Goold Photo: Music Industry Inside Out

My passion for recording started with dubbing mix tapes for my high school friends. I appropriated my father’s hi-fi gear which had a cassette deck with adjustable recording volumes. This allowed me to master the compilation cassettes, and my mix tapes would circulate around the school. I learnt valuable lessons; how to record to tape, and that people like things loud.

In high school I had a passion for music, but didn’t know specifically where it lay yet. Guitar lessons revealed I wasn’t very good. Instead, I roadied for my friends’ bands. After high school, I followed the path my father wanted and studied Mechanical Engineering at QUT. I still hung out with my muso friends, a few of whom were in a band called The Lost Boys. When they went into a studio to record a single, I was fascinated with the process and the ability to manipulate sound. That’s when I knew what I wanted to do.

GETTING ON COURSE

During my third year of engineering I did a short course in audio engineering — 20 weeks for three hours a week. It gave me the confidence to start mixing Front of House for my friends’ live bands on the weekends even though we hadn’t covered live sound in the course. It became my part-time job during uni and I stopped pushing trollies at Woollies. I finished my engineering degree in 1990, right at the time of Keating’s ‘recession we needed to have’. I got a job attending to five rehearsal rooms at Red Zeds, which also happened to have a recording studio where I hung out endlessly with my good friend and in-house engineer, Jeff Lovejoy.

I used my job at Red Zeds to get more FOH mixing work, which is still a great way to get started in the industry. I toured nationally with a band called the Dream Killers for two and a half years, then mixed Powderfinger for 12 months — before they were huge. I got my first job in the AT 46

studio by offering my services as the first prize for a battle of the bands competition (in which I also mixed FOH and was one of the judges). I convinced Joe — the owner of Red Zeds — to give me a little studio time in exchange for advertising.

The session came off and was the start of a long career in the studio.

OWNER OPERATOR, PLEASE

I’ve managed to maintain a career in the audio industry for 25 years, which is no easy feat. In that time, I’ve owned and run multiple studios.

The first was a partnership with Jeff Lovejoy called The Blackbox. Initially, the studio was completely mobile, but we grew tired of lugging the gear around. We found a cottage in Newstead that was converted into offices we could use as isolation rooms. We barely touched it with acoustic treatment. We were mainly recording indie rock bands so isolation seemed like a waste of money. The odd passing truck outside would struggle to outshine a snare drum at 130dB. Plus, you can’t take the walls of a rented studio with you, whereas keeping overheads down enabled us to work longer on recordings. Time is a major asset in the studio.

I was part of the studio from 2000-2010, but in 2007 I opened Applewood Lane Recording Studios with my wife. It was my dream studio; in a church, the bands could stay in the house, and it had two kitchens — one for the family and another for the bands. We lived there for five years, but the studio wasn’t soundproofed and even though my wife is a musician, it was difficult to deal with. I worked there for another three years, until 2014, but work/life balance was difficult after we’d moved our family out.

In 1998, I won both the ARIA for Best Engineer for working with Midnight Oil, Regurgitator, and Skunkhour, and Best Producer for Regurgitator’s Unit. The whole experience was very surreal. You

Apply for JMC Academy’s Audio Engineering and Sound Production course, to get qualified with hands-on experience, study abroad options and internship opportunities. Intakes in February, June and September. www.jmcacademy.edu.au

don’t get into the audio industry to win awards, but being nominated for 10 ARIA awards over my career shows I’ve maintained some consistency.

It was nice to be recognised for all the work I had done, but at the time I felt uneasy. I was a little immature and didn’t recognise how rare and fortunate I was to receive both awards in the one year. Even 20 years later, I still have ‘ARIA awardwinning producer’ as the prefix to my name.

DEGREES OF SEPARATION

I’d been teaching music production as a sessional lecturer at QUT for the past six years and really enjoyed it. Being able to pass on the knowledge I’ve learned — along with the great staff — will really enable JMC students to fast-track their own careers. I see tertiary education as a way to condense knowledge acquisition into a two or three year practise, as opposed to being an assistant for five years or more, where the brief is to learn by osmosis.

The courses prepare you for all facets of the industry — there’s film and television, acoustic design, electronic music, electronic design and soldering. These days you have to have your toes dipped in a lot of different water to make an income.

The key bit of wisdom I’d like anyone to walk away with is just get out there with the gear you have and do it. Creativity is what will set you apart in this industry, not vintage Neumann microphones or Neve preamps (though that gear is nice). I got my first job at Red Zeds in the studio based on the four-track cassette demos I was recording. Regurgitator’s Unit was recorded on prosumer gear — ADATs and a Mackie console — and it’s still the highest selling album I’ve made.

It’s the people, the songs, and the message you’re trying to convey, rather than the equipment that’s the most important. Although getting to work on JMC’s three SSL Dualities is a plus.”

AT 47

REVIEW

PRO TOOLS 2018 DAW Software

With a new naming convention, we can expect a major update every year from Avid. 2018 is a big ’un.

Review: Preshan John

PRICE (all prices ex. GST) Pro Tools Annual Subscription: $412.62 Perpetual: $826.62 Annual Upgrade Plan Renewal: $136.62 Annual Upgrade Plan Reinstatement: $550.62

NEED TO KNOW

Pro Tools HD Annual Subscription: $1378.62 Perpetual: $3448.61 Annual Upgrade & Support Plan Renewal: $550.62 Annual Upgrade & Support Plan Reinstatement: $1378.62

Remember the days when a Pro Tools update meant dashed hopes and sentiments of betrayed loyalty? Me too. It felt like we waited an eternity for what seem like basic functions like faster-than-realtime bouncing and clip gain while friends would mock from the sidelines as Pro Tools ‘catches up’ with the rest of the world’s DAWs. Avid’s common reason was ‘proper’ implementation. That is, the new feature couldn’t risk professional workflows by being either unreliable or faulty. For instance, fasterthan-realtime bounce had to be preceded by a transition to the AAX plug-in format in order for it to escape the buffer size stepping common to other DAW implementations. Other times, in

other areas, the feature set has sometimes lagged for no apparent reason than Avid just playing catch up.

Thankfully, Avid has significantly raised the bar (and our expectations) when it comes to new renditions of Pro Tools and the days of lacklustre updates are behind us. The last several iterations of Pro Tools have plated up the likes of cloud collaboration, more intuitive file management systems, improved film audio production workflows, and HD features like in-track gain reduction meters have become standard on the pleb version.

The newest has been dubbed Pro Tools 2018.

Titling the DAW by year really locks Avid into an update cycle, but the change in naming

CONTACT Avid: www.avid.com

CONS None

AT 48

PROS Fully seamless comping Big shot in the arm for MIDI GUI updates are fantastic Dongle-less iLok Cloud support

convention just fits better with its subscription pricing model. Maybe its a subtle nod from Avid that it’s now back on its toes.

INVISIBLE PLAYLIST COMPING

Track playlists was one of the best things that happened to Pro Tools. It allowed you to record multiple takes of a singer or musician’s performance while keeping your session tidy and track counts down. The resultant comping workflow with Playlists view was pretty neat, where all takes were visible and you bumped up the bits you want to the main playlist. Now Avid has introduced a way of turbocharging the way you comp takes, and you never have to leave Waveform view — which saves endless Edit

SUMMARY Pro Tools 2018 is a significant upgrade that represents lots of value regardless of whether you’re audio or MIDI focused. For the audio-specific, ultra smooth ‘invisible’ comping will keep you in the flow, and additive EQ graphs do for the EQ GUI what the dynamic metering did for compression. On the MIDI front, it’s a big leap into retrospective recording and loads of shortcuts.

view scrolling when you’re dealing with multiple grouped tracks like a drum kit, or mass background vocal takes.

The enhancement is based around the idea of having a ‘Target’ Playlist — a destination for your clip selections — and the Target doesn’t have to be visible for clip selections to be copied or moved there. You can be happily sitting in the cleanness of Waveform view while selecting the best chunks of a guitar solo and copying those bits straight to the Target Playlist with a simple keyboard shortcut (Shift + Option + Up Arrow).

Lots of other new shortcuts let you shuffle audio chunks between playlists with lightning speed and soon you’ll feel comfortable putting takes together without leaving Waveform view. It’s well worth memorising the key combinations, even just for the magic trick-like reveal.

EQ ADDS UP

Of the GUI updates, the coolest is the in-track EQ graph. Enable it by checking View > Mix Window Views > EQ Curve and a little graph appears above the I/O section on each vertical track strip affording you an at-a-glance look at the summed equalisation curve currently on the track. Because it’s still early days, this nifty new feature is supported only by a limited number of third-party developers (including McDSP, FabFilter and Sonnox), besides Avid’s own EQs like the one on Channel Strip, plus the EQ3 1- and 7-band varieties. I can’t wait until all my third-party plugs support this because it’s nice to easily spot over- or under-compensated adjustments on individual tracks, especially during the early stages of a mix.

MIDI SPEAK

Pro Tools 2018 boasts arguably the largest revamp in the MIDI department. Retrospective MIDI recording is a glorious addition; it’s as simple as record-enabling an Instrument or MIDI track, jamming away during playback, then hitting Shift + Option(Alt) + Z if you want to preserve an inspired part of your jam performance. Ta-da! Like magic, a take appears where there was none.

But does it work in loop mode? I know I usually come up with musical ideas while jamming over a looped section of a song, and retrospective record won’t be so useful if it only remembers what you played over the most recent loop. Avid’s got your back. Say you roll over a looped section of your song multiple times, noodling on a record-armed MIDI instrument, then you hit stop and Shift + C. You will see only your most recent performance

show up on the timeline. But don’t panic — you’ll find all your previous improvisations sitting in the Clips bin neatly numbered according to the number of loops that were played back. Hooray!

Unfortunately these MIDI clips don’t seem to be time stamped so if the performance didn’t start right at the front of the loop, there’s no easy way of restoring them to their perfect spot on the timeline without a little nudging and shuffling. To better navigate this, it would be cool if Pro Tools created playlists from performances in loop record mode.

Also bear in mind retrospective MIDI record’s memory is only one ‘play’ deep. If you start and stop playback, then press play again, whatever you may have performed over the previous stretch is gone.

Another enhancement is the ability to manipulate MIDI notes using key commands.

Seriously, this is invaluable if you use ’Tools to program drums or write synth lines. Select a note in the MIDI Editor window, hit the Up/Down arrow keys to bump it up or down in semitone increments, or transpose it by an octave by pressing Shift + Up/Down. Or — wait for it — press Control + Up/Down to transpose a MIDI note in the key of the song. How cool is that? Set the song’s key in the ruler at the top of the MIDI editing space. Like other items in the ruler (tempo, markers, etc) you can easily modulate during a song by clicking the ‘+’ icon and plotting a new key at a later Bar/Beat.

Creating chords with shortcuts is yet another way Pro Tools makes use of the song’s key — when a MIDI note is selected, press Control + Option + Up/Down to add extra notes a third or a fifth above the selected note. There are even shortcuts to trim MIDI notes according to grid values and adjust a note’s MIDI velocity in 5- or 15-step increments.

While other DAWs like Cubase, Live and Logic have had or been adding these features lately, let’s not be hasty to bash Avid. Pro Tools has never been the gold standard for MIDI composition and Avid has made a commendable effort to improve the DAW in its less-frequented areas, while still constantly updating its superior mix and edit system. Retrospective MIDI record, better keyboard shortcuts, and the many other microimprovements are a big step in the right direction for the likes of composers, arrangers and producers.

TRACK PRESETS

Gone are the days of painstakingly setting up sessions by inserting the same plug-ins one at a time on all your tracks. Now with Track Presets, you can save your commonly-used track configurations, plug-in chains, sends, and I/O

configurations for easy recall.

The level of Track Preset configuration and sorting is surprisingly deep. Perhaps the easiest way to begin building your own track presets is to simply save tracks with plug-in chains and I/O configurations that you’d use often. Avid supplies a number of presets ready to use for basic mixing stuff but you can make your own categories for specific projects or applications. Finding a track preset is simplified with the tags that auto-assign to each new preset. It’s another long-awaited feature that’s implemented beautifully, and it makes Pro Tools 2018 all the more attractive.

CLOUD LICENSING

Avid’s migration to iLok’s cloud-based licensing for Pro Tools 2018 feels like the unlocking of virtual handcuffs. Being a laptop user, my iLok gets pulled and pushed out of USB sockets a whole lot, and it’s taken its toll on the little piece of plastic. The cap is cracked all over, and the iLok itself — despite being transported in a cloth bag most of the time — has seen better days. Pace’s new metal iLok looks like it’ll handle more of a beating, but that still doesn’t solve the problem of a stonewalled recording session when you accidentally leave it in your jeans pocket at home. We’ve all been there.

What a genius idea to elevate software licensing to the cloud! It makes so much sense to supply the rights to your treasured software using a system that’s accessible anywhere there’s Wi-Fi — a far better alternative to a breakable, losable plastic USB stick.

The process is simple. Make sure your Pro Tools licence is deactivated in iLok License Manager, then fire it up with your iLok unplugged. Pro Tools will prompt you to either plug in an iLok or Activate the software — select the latter to kick off an iLok Cloud session to which your PT licence will be automatically transferred, along with all other Avid licences you may have. Remember that you may still need your physical iLok for your third-party plugs that don’t yet support PACE’s cloud licensing. Otherwise, it works a treat, especially those times when Wi-Fi is easier to find than your dongle.

When you put together all the enhancements Pro Tools 2018 brings, it makes for one very appealing upgrade. Thanks to iLok Cloud support you can have peace of mind that your DAW will start up when you need it to. The MIDI and playlist comping keyboard shortcut additions will save hours. Track Presets are another huge time saver.

And the EQ graphs are a functional value-add to the Mix window. Well done, Avid.

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REVIEW

ABLETON LIVE 10 Ableton has dropped the big 10.

What’s inside?

Review: Mark Davie

NEED TO KNOW

10 is a big number. Any version 10 product deserves a decent splash. Apple even rushed out the iPhone 8 then skipped a digit just so the iPhone X launch lined up perfectly with the iPhone’s 10th anniversary.

Ableton Live recently rolled out its 10th edition. The last round number update was back in 2013, and that rolled into town with Ableton’s first hardware product sharing the saddle! Push’s debut was the kind of big splash you’d expect from a 10. So, has Ableton cannonballed or flopped into the pool with Live 10?

Firstly, there’s no new hardware. Ableton is still rocking the Push 2, which is not a complaint. It’s a rock solid, sexy piece of hardware, and it’s nice to not be tempted by next-gen hardware while

PRICE Expect to pay Live 10 Suite: $1099 Live 10 Standard: $679 Live 10 Intro: $159

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Upgrade from Live 9 Live 10 Suite: $419 Live 10 Standard: $319

deciding whether to upgrade your DAW. Overall, 10 feels like a maturation. While the transition from Live 8 to 9 was all about hardware, Live 10 is Ableton cementing what it does best, sometimes at the expense of what it’s long forsaken.

It seems minor, but Ableton’s new font — Ableton Sans — is a big deal. Compared to the previous off-the-shelf typeface, everything is less bold, more refined, and the browser section is better for it. While some users might prefer the development team to spend its time implementing music-related features, something as ‘simple’ as a new typeface reaches every nook and cranny of Live. It subtly improves every interaction with the software, rather than just one.

PROS Classy new synths & effects Edit audio in the arrangement pane!

New font gives GUI more clarity

CONS Still no MPE or comp lanes

SUMMARY Ableton Live 10 tries a bit of everything on: their best synth yet, three very usable effects, audio editing in the arrangement view, groups within groups, an automation overhaul and retrospective MIDI recording with Capture.

Oh, and the new Ableton font is swell.

ARRANGED & AUTOMATION

It hasn’t all been subtle changes, but let’s stay in that mode for now before covering the new gear.

Workflow has taken a big leap forward in the arrangement view. There are four enhancements allowing you to work directly with audio within the arrangement window, rather than resorting to the sample window or menus.

Firstly, you can now slide audio around within a clip region by holding Shift+ Option to drag the audio by grid divisions, or Shift+Option+Command to slip it. Previously, you had to adjust the audio clip loop points.

Secondly, you can hold Shift to stretch or shrink the audio in a region, again, using Command to let it slip. Thirdly, fades are now automatically displayed on the bounding box of each clip in the arrangement view. Lastly, you can reverse a clip by selecting it and pressing ‘R’. Previously, you could only drag ’n’ drop your arrangement into place like Duplo blocks; now it has more of a Technics Lego versatility to it.

Automation workflow has been improved too, with the ability to double click anywhere in a region to create a breakpoint in that particular spot. No more clicking on a line then dragging it into position; simply double click where you want it to go. While there’s more detail to the arrangement view, some will notice the automation lanes aren’t automatically visible. You now have to press ‘A’ to display it. Also, rather than showing or hiding automation lanes for specific tracks, there’s now a global button (next to the Lock Envelopes button) to show or hide all automation lanes for the arrangement. I’d expect some users to dislike the idea of globally displaying automation lanes.

Others will appreciate the ability to immediately declutter the entire arrangement view.

MIDI EDITING & GROUPS

The arrangement view isn’t the only one getting some love, the next two enhancements apply to the session view as well. The quick one is that you can nest groups within groups, so you can really

tidy up a performance structure, and create broader mix groups without re-routing.

A big doozy is the ability to edit multiple MIDI clips in one window. No more going back and forth to figure out whether the bass line is in the same key as your chords, or why that rhythm just isn’t lining up with your groove properly.

Just highlight one or more MIDI tracks and start tweaking. The track you’re currently editing is displayed in its track colour, with the remaining tracks’ notes greyed out. Simply rollover any note outside of your current track and it will light up the entire track in its own colour, helping you to figure out which part you want to mess with next.

If you’re finding it hard to click on a track because the notes overlap, there are coloured bars at the top of the page which allow you to change the working track.

Ableton has always hedged when it comes to delivering full polyphonic aftertouch support, let alone MPE, presumably because it wasn’t seen as a big enough market to warrant developmental attention. However, with a proliferation of affordable and playable MPE devices, like ROLI’s Lightpad Blocks and Seaboards on the market, it does seem like it’s time Ableton fully supported it. Once again, there’s no MPE support in Live 10, you have to resort to setting up individual voice tracks and sending it to a host. It’s laborious, and almost impossible to edit the notes as they’re randomly spread across your (often up to 16) voice tracks.

Multiple MIDI clip editing does make it slightly less painful, as you can now select up to eight MIDI tracks to simultaneously edit, but we’re still in the realm of kidneys bursting versus heart attack.

CAPTURE… EVERYTHING

If any other piece of software was monitoring your activity 24/7, you’d get in a privacy fit.

Likewise, letting someone hear you in mid-writing flow — as you mumble and stumble through the ideas in your head — can be excruciatingly embarrassing. For some reason, letting Live in on those intimate moments seems okay. Whether you

like it or not, from version 10, Live’s new Capture system is now listening in to every press of your keyboard or drumpad. Ableton just got super intimate with your creative process.

Capture now constantly records MIDI inputs in the background so long as a track is armed.

The idea is, if you’re jamming out a part searching for ideas and land upon a good one, you simply hit the Capture button (looks like a square made up of just the corners), and it will place your last recorded segment into a clip.

It works in both views, but there are a few quirks to be aware of. If you’re starting off in the session view without any other active tracks, then it will create a new clip every time you hit Capture. It will also detect the bpm of your passage and adjust the global tempo. It will keep adjusting the tempo until you add clips to another track. Once you’ve added something else to your arrangement, Capture’s behaviour changes slightly. It will now record everything you play, but automatically loop the last eight bars during playback if it’s a long passage, less if your passage of play was shorter. If you don’t stop clips on a track, it will overdub over the active clip. If you do stop clips, capture will place your last recorded segment in the new clip slot. However, it does sometimes inject random information from previous takes into the start of your clip, but outside the loop points. It’s a little quirky, as sometimes it’s difficult to find where it was getting that information from. Either way, it rarely impacts your flow, as Live puts them outside your playback loop.

In arrangement view, if a section of your arrangement is looping, it will keep overdubbing over your last played section, splitting the clips if you record for only part of the loop and hit Capture. If you’re not looping, it will simply record a long string of MIDI. It’s a good implementation of an idea that’s been available in some other DAWs for a while now. It will also record while you’re stopped, so that weird squawk or killer riff you just banged out is waiting right there in Live’s buffer. Also, because it’s MIDI only, there’s no real hit to your CPU. AT 51

NOW TO THE NEW STUFF

We’re probably on soft synth overload by now, but hey, no one’s going to turn their nose up at a new synth. ‘Wavetable’ is a… well, wavetable synth.

It’s a dual-oscillator, eight-voice wavetable synth, with 11 built-in wavetable categories from basic to harmonic, formant, noise, and more, with loads of preset waveforms in each. While Serum and others will let you import your own wavetables, there’s currently no way to use your own in Wavetable.

Still, there’s plenty to choose from, they’re all antialiased, and they all sound good.

Ableton has really nailed the GUI, putting some of its legacy synths to shame. Wavetable synths typically require a more elaborate graphic interface than synths based on simpler waveforms, so while Wavetable fits neatly into the Device View, you can also expand it into the main window to see all the controls at once. It also has a level of graphic detail previously unseen on an Ableton device.

The wavetables appear in scope-like layouts, with a yellow line showing the current waveform.

LIVE 10 TIPS & BITS Double clicking in the arrangement view will create a MIDI clip that’s the length of your current grid settings.

In arrangement view you can make a selection, hit ‘Z’ to zoom right into it, and Shift+‘Z’ to zoom back out.

You can press ‘0’ to activate and deactivate portions of a clip.

Note chasing! Live now plays back MIDI notes, even if you didn’t start the loop before the beginning of the note! Seems to only work with built-in synths.

‘S’ will show all tracks in arrangement view.

‘M’ toggles on the MIDI keyboard.

More easily move automation lanes vertically, and move points horizontally while they snap to grid without adjusting their vertical position. Automation values are displayed when hovering anywhere along the automation line.

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Other than sliding up and down the preset wavetable to find your sound, transposing and detuning it, you can also alter the waveform with FM modulation, pulse width modulation and sync, or warp and fold it.

As well as the two wavetables, there’s a sub oscillator that can be played in unison, or transposed one or two octaves down. Its level and tone can also be adjusted to go from a basic sine sub tone to taking on the character of the patch.

Any new synth in Live automatically benefits from Ableton’s standard set of features like the six 8-voice unison modes, and classic filter designs from Korg MS-20 to OSCar-styles. Wavetable has dual stage filters with all of the usual Live filter suspects. You can control frequency, resonance, shape and slope, as well as combine them in serial, parallel or split modes.

There are also two assignable LFOs, with five basic shapes and the ability to adjust the rate, amplitude, shape and phase. Two assignable envelope filters accompany the amplitude envelope, all of which can be assigned in the modulation matrix.

Wavetable is a hugely useful addition to Live.

Those who’ve already invested a lot of time into VIs like Massive or Serum might not immediately need Wavetable, or appreciate its simplicity. For others who’ve been avoiding wavetable synthesis, the curated waveforms, modelled filters, simple LFOs and visual feedback of Ableton’s version makes it one of the easiest to get your head around and to get sounding good.

EFFECTS

Ableton debuted three new effects along with Wavetable. Echo is a fully-fledged modulated stereo delay with editable character and a ‘ripple’ GUI for adjusting repeats. You can also drive the input, and the lo- and hi-pass filter section allows you to really sculpt the flavour of the unit from clean to dark and saturated. It’s a very flexible delay that also lets you choose between hearing the pitch effects of changing the delay time or not.

Drum Buss puts all your drum tweaking into one plug-in. It’s a distortion/harmonics device,

paired with compression, transient shaping and sub boom, with a dry/wet mix control for parallel processing. The sub section lets you tune by frequency or snap it to the nearest note, it also has a cue option to hear just the sub sound.

Pedal is less fancy, but adds three more, usable distortion flavours to your Live rig. The three flavours of overdrive, distortion and fuzz are more versatile than the current Overdrive plug-in, and it sounds great on direct guitar as well as other sources. It also has a three-band EQ with switchable mid frequency for easy tonal sculpting.

All three effects are standouts. However, out of all these new bits of gear, you only get Drum Buss when you buy the Standard version. Wavetable, Echo and Pedal are exclusive to Suite, which makes the extra $100 upgrade cost worthwhile. Also, while Capture applies to all versions, including Intro, only Suite comes with Max for Live, which is now built-in.

WHAT’S MISSING

I haven’t gone over all the new Push integrations, but I will follow that up in a separate review.

Likewise, Max for Live is now integrated directly into Live, without the need to boot it up midsession. It also supports multi-channel audio, SysEx data, and the drum synths have been tweaked. For now I’ve concentrated on elements that are native to the Live software, and what you can expect when you upgrade.

I still have a gripe with the lack of MPE support, but I can let that go. With all the enhancements to audio manipulation in the arrangement view, I’d like to see some implementation of a comp lane system. I know you can loop and spread it across multiple tracks, but like the MPE workaround, it’s just not fun. And that’s what I love about making music in Ableton, it’s fun. The new gear and workflow has only made it moreso.

After playing with the beta for a couple of months, Ableton Live 10 seems worth the upgrade, especially for Suite users. Wavetable is gorgeous, the workflow enhancements are welcome, and Drum Buss and Echo will surely duke it out with Glue for the title of most used plug-in.

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REVIEW

PROPELLERHEAD REASON 10 Music Production Software ‘Contemporary relevance’ tops an impressive list of new upgrades.

Review: Rob Holder

Reason 10 is the greatest expansion of the all-in-one DAW yet, with an injection of fresh drum samples and loops, two huge new synths, three sampled instruments and two of the most essential rack extensions. The list of new stuff is formidable; here are my Top 5.

EUROPA: SHAPESHIFTER

NEED TO KNOW

Compared to Reason’s previous titan of synthesis, Thor, Europa looks deceptively simple — lacking Thor’s modularity, sheer complexity and wealth of parameters. Instead, Europa offers direct transformative control over algorithmic wavetables, allowing fine tweaking over all facets of the sound: from its specific overtones through Europa’s spectral filter, to multiplying, syncing, mirroring and quantising the waveform (all modulatable!).

Waveforms can come from the list of included

PRICE US$299 (US$129 upgrade)

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CONTACT Innovative Music (03) 9540 0658 www.innovativemusic.com.au info@innovativemusic.com.au

PROS Europa Grain Radical Piano Humana New drum loops

digital and analogue-like waveforms, or may even be drawn into the envelope section. This newlydesigned component, which also features in Grain, lets the user select and edit any of the envelopes, or draw their own to be used for modulation, as a filter spectrum or as an oscillator. Once created and fattened with the onboard effects and Monopolyrivalling Unison mode, Europa produces polished, production-ready sounds: huge leads, tight basses and smooth, dynamic pads; all ready for your next club banger, or to sit in the background of the classiest keyboard split. Whether you’re a patch browser or sound designer, Europa is my No.1 addition to the Reason 10 rack.

CONS Still no performance mode

SUMMARY The biggest update in years.

Reason reinvigorated!

GRAIN: SAMPLE-SIFTER

Another first for Reason, Grain is Propellerhead’s first foray into granular synthesis. This machine is best suited to the more experimental side of Reason; aimed more at those who want to scrub through Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells with their Theremin, than those who want a quick fix of ‘Analogue Pad 1’. Any length sample can be navigated through with four different engines: Tape, Long Grains, Grain Oscillator or Spectral Grains. ‘Tape’ scrubs for an analogue aesthetic, allowing little more than sample playback, while the other three engines provide more complex means of navigating source samples. Long Grains can get glitchy with long cycles, while Grain Oscillator treats the loci in question as a traditional oscillator, and Spectral Grains dissects the sample, allowing accurate spectral control over frequencies and the smallest grain size of the three. Playback of the sample can be a simple one shot, or may be controlled by a custom envelope a la Europa.

All of this can of course be filtered and ADSR’d, before being sent through a now familiar barrage of built-in effects for a final sound. Quirky, cool and creative, I look forward to experimenting with Grain more in future; possibly revitalising an old tune through resampling, or starting afresh with a found sound.

RADICAL PIANO: KEY-HITTER

I’ve always hankered after a realistic Reason piano.

Radical Piano delivers four, with physicallymodelled variations on each! As if this wasn’t enough, mechanical noise can be mixed in and out, attack and decay tweaked and velocity response finely tuned (very helpful on a less-than-ideal synth keybed). The wealth of control is suitably daunting and the browser has a ream of radically different patches. They range from the standard choices to

inspiration sparking, and just plain weird — long decay, absurd amounts of reverb and almost no intonation — ideal for… I’ll know it when the time comes. The onboard effects are easily manipulated with one-knob compression and reverb. The stereo width knob is probably my favourite feature, allowing the piano to morph throughout a track from reserved and mono, to epic and wide.

Originally a Rack Extension (undoubtedly leaving some previous purchasers a little miffed), Radical Piano makes a worthy addition to the rack as a sound designer’s tool in Combinators; as a mixcompliant instrument; and, with a hammer-action keyboard and continuous sustain pedal, a viable stage piano for those using Reason live.

HUMANA: TEXTURE-THICKENER

A choir patch is often a sound I hear when visualising a track, but I was often disappointed by the sounds available to me in Reason, offering not much more than your typical ’90s digital synth. One of three sample-based sound engines (can’t really call them synths, as such) developed with Soundforge, Humana features three properly sampled choirs along with male and female solo sections, catering to the specific sonic needs of the producer. The powerful Mars choir lends itself to epic, filmscore-like tunes. It’s an all-male choir with plenty of bass end and punch. The female and children’s choirs also have their place, but like the other two sample devices (Klang and Pangea), Humana doesn’t set my imagination on fire. Instead, it fills the very specific role as a thickening texture, while Klang and Pangea will probably best serve to reinforce melody or harmony. Though not destined to stand on their own, these three modules bring an organic touch to the Reason rack, for some (often) much needed contrast to the predominantly electronic sounds surrounding them.

DRUM LOOPS: IDEAS QUICKER

Finally! Reason loops that were created within the last five years! Ask the nearest millennial producer and he or she will tell you: there is a stark difference between a 2010 dubstep loop and a 2016 one, for example. Last updated in 2010, Reason’s drum samples and loops were in desperate need of an overhaul, and that day has come. Including all the latest (and not so latest) sounds of hip hop, drum ’n’ bass and trap (which was on the fringes in 2010, and remains the sound of rap today since booming in 2012), drums in Reason have finally been updated. Personally, I’m still using NI Battery for all my drum samples, but a collection of contemporary loops allows for quick beats and an instant groove when a track isn’t vibe-y enough, or when a programmed drum beat isn’t quite providing the pocket required for the perfect bass take. I appreciate this inclusion, Propellerhead, and I hope many others in my demographic may start to make this their DAW of choice after its modernisation in this revision.

JUST GIVE ME A REASON

Reason 10: still the only place you can put an Audiomatic on everything; the home of patching and re-routing; and still my go-to DAW, despite the obvious allure of Ableton Live. Producing contemporary and relevant music is now eminently possible in Version 10, and, while taking said music to the live stage is still not an option (Mattias, please, give us a Performance Mode!), Reason has gone some way to closing the gap on the seemingly unassailable Ableton. Now more than ever, producers of the new millenium have a reason to contemplate this surprisingly affordable, highly creative alternative to Live, offering gigabytes of content and a wealth of sound now comparable to its rival.

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REVIEW

BITWIG STUDIO 2.3 Music Production DAW Bitwig continues to make big strides at the forefront of music production.

Review: Preshan John

It might not be as ubiquitous as Ableton Live but Bitwig Studio continues to establish itself as a heavyweight DAW for electronic music production and DJing. The developers have been hard at work improving studio and live workflows on the latest version, Bitwig Studio 2.3. Here’s some of the goodies:

a floating window by clicking the detach button at the top right hand corner. It really eases the tweaking process. For example, Phase-4’s expanded view gives you a brilliant visual readout of the interplay between the four oscillators by showing each of the synth’s waveforms in real-time, plus the resultant output waveform.

PHASE-4

TIME STRETCHING

The banner highlight is a brand new synth called Phase-4; it has four oscillators and it generates complex sounds with phase manipulation. The four main sections appear in a grid, each with identical controls but colour-coded according to their quadrant: red, blue, yellow and purple. Within each oscillator box you can change the wave shape, choose from a few different formants, fine-adjust pitch, bring the wave in and out of phase with the other three, feed any oscillator into another, and do some other deep and heavy-handed phase mangling. It didn’t take long to lose myself in the craziness of it all. Basses, leads, DX7-type patches… it’s all possible with Phase-4.

Stretch and Stretch HD — Bitwig’s original time stretching algorithms — are now two of several other options to pull and squeeze chunks of audio.

Bitwig borrows technology from zplane’s Elastique algorithm to offer more granular and spectral stretching options. There are heaps of flavours here, and you’re sure to find something to whip your audio into shape. Both corrective and creative time stretching are made easy and Bitwig manages to present all the options in a logical layout.

The Elastique variants are excellent — it’s really quite amazing how much you can get away with.

Choose between Solo, Pro or Eco depending on the harmonic and transient content of your source audio. Formant gives you control over grain length for granular stretching, turning it into a creative minefield when paired with automation.

EXPANDED DEVICE VIEW

When an instrument has this many knobs and switches, sometimes you just need more screen real estate. Bitwig 2.3 brings expanded device view for seven of its own devices, including Phase-4.

The little Device Interface button in the bottom left hand corner extrapolates the GUI in the main window. Alternatively, you can turn it into AT 56

INSTRUMENT & EFFECT SELECTOR

A new device called Instrument Selector joins the ranks, and it lets you load multiple instruments onto a single track (or multiple effects on an effects track) as layers. Only one layer can

be played at a time. Layer selection can be automated and the Remote Controls follow your choice and map accordingly. Switching between instruments in the selector is instantaneous and seamless — especially handy if you’re playing live where you can jump between patches without asking too much of your CPU. Bitwig says there’ll be no hard breaks or clicks when switching, and your sustained notes and reverb will fade away naturally.

VOICE STACKING

The new Voice Stacking feature works with a selection of Bitwig’s internal instruments. It’s basically a way of running multiple instances of an instrument within a track to create super rich and lush patches — like unison. Up to five voices can be stacked together and you can limit the number of voices each note should play while assigning parameters to spread for each voice. The new Voice Stack modulator works in tandem to give you detailed mapping control of each voice in the stack. Stacking lots of voices can chew up processing power pretty quickly so be judicious in how you use it.

Other cool stuff includes the ability to change time signature on the timeline and within clips, and an updated Sound Content library with lots of new presets.

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REVIEW

KORG KROSS 2

Workstation Synthesizer How do you make an affordable workstation synthesizer?

Korg answers the question with the second generation of Kross.

Review: Preshan John

Trying to do a hundred things well isn’t easy, especially on the cheap, but that hasn’t kept Korg from turning Kross 2 into basically everything but a hairdryer. It’s an extremely capable instrument with a surprisingly affordable asking price.

Lightweight and portable, Kross 2 can run on six AA batteries for up to seven hours. The backlit Korg logo makes a scene when it flashes all colours of the rainbow and thankfully you can switch this off. The keyboard is available in both 61- and 88-key versions, with the latter having a fully-weighted keybed. You can get it in grey, black or a luxurious red marble look.

MULTI-TASKER

What exactly can this thing do? Over 1000 presets fill Kross 2’s menus — from synth basses to acoustic pianos to distorted guitars — that range from inspiring to tolerable. You zone into the preset ballpark using the Category dial. You can recall your Favourites via the 16 pads, and the Bank Select button multiplies this by eight — plenty of space to save your go-to patches.

The two knobs in the dedicated Realtime Controls section let you tweak sounds. Switches

NEED TO KNOW

PRICE 61-key: $1399 88-key: $1999 CONTACT CMI Music & Audio: (03) 9315 2244 or info@cmi.com.au

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PROS Extreme versatility Lightweight & portable Onboard sampler

cycle through the knob functions in pairs; like cutoff and resonance, attack and release, etc.

These knobs give you some expressive control, though you’re locked into the pairings dictated by the switches; there’s no way to have knob 1 control cutoff and knob 2 control release time.

In the left corner are pitch and mod wheels with two user-assignable buttons above.

128MB of PCM memory lets you expand the internal sound libraries. The EDS-i (Enhanced Definition Synthesis – integrated) engine comes with seven effects units — five insert and two master — for spicing up those presets. The arpeggiator is great fun with synth tones and very simple to use. There’s a sampler with 16 pads and you can even record your own samples straight into the Kross 2. Additionally, the keyboard can act as an interface to both send and receive audio over USB. This thing does a lot.

KROSS-EYED

Kross 2’s breadth of capabilities means it’s not always user-friendly. Menus can be cryptic, several functions are accessed through ‘Shift +’ button combinations, and the screen readouts aren’t always self-explanatory. Paying attention

CONS Doesn’t excel at one thing

to the manual is a must if you want to access the synth’s considerable power. Things like programming drum sequences, splitting the keyboard, and mapping samples to pads. Yes, Kross 2 can do it all, but you’ll never figure out ‘how’ on your own.

The built-in sampler is executed quite well.

You can record samples via the Line In jack, edit the waveform start/end/loop points, and assign it to one of the 16 pads. You can also bring in audio from an SD card via the slot on the back.

Samples can be assigned to the 16 pads which, for the most part feel pretty good, though I did find they can miss a beat when triggering rapid double or triple hits.

Obviously the Kross 2 is a far cry from the Kronos — Korg’s ‘proper’ workstation that’ll set you back four times as much. Nevertheless, Kross 2 provides a solid entry point into the keyboard workstation world. When you count up all the things you get for the price tag — a synth, sequencer, sampler, arpeggiator, USB interface, and piles of sounds — it’s a pretty desirable tool for an aspiring arranger.

SUMMARY The Korg Kross 2 is an entry-level workstation that wears hats a mile high. It’s for keyboardists and arrangers who want the versatility of a workstation full of Korg sounds, but are willing to work for it.

AT 59

REVIEW

SONY WH-1000XM2 Bluetooth Headphones To avoid the wireless blues, Sony has mixed every hi-res Bluetooth flavour into its new headphones.

Price: $499.95 sony.com.au

Review: Mark Davie

Bluetooth headphones aren’t the stock-intrade for AT reviews; notwithstanding, we all have smartphones and like listening to music on the go. We thought we’d look at what’s out there for the discerning travelling engineer/producer who wants to go wireless.

Sony’s noise cancelling is right up there with the best. Without any content streaming through, the silence is almost draining, close to the disorientation of hanging out in an anechoic chamber. You’ll be thanking Sony when you step off a long haul for its efforts though, having curtailed the tiring effects of a consistent rumbling plane engine in your ears.

BLUETOOTH FLAVOURING

While these puppies will work with the supplied cable just fine. Admirably, Sony has also ‘wired in’ every current means of delivering ‘hi-res’ audio over Bluetooth. First, Sony’s own LDAC technology, which ups the transfer rate from Bluetooth’s own limited 328kbps, to 990kbps.

Still not enough to transfer an uncompressed 16-bit/44.1k WAV, but Sony says it uses the extra bandwidth to let it encode higher resolution formats with less loss. Unfortunately, you need Sony products at both ends, which I don’t have.

For those already existing outside the Sony paradigm, Qualcomm’s AptX HD codec is also built-in. This supposedly allows you to transmit 24-bit/48k LPCM data over Bluetooth, which sounds like the bees knees when compared to MP3, but it’s still not a lossless format. Essentially, it uses a bit rate of 576kbps, and uses a split band adaptive differential pulse-code modulation (ADPCM).

Unlike PCM, which transcodes each sample at a specific amplitude, it simply transcodes the difference between adjacent samples. The split-band part is where Qualcomm divvies up the encoding bit-level by frequency band, so you’ll have four-bit AT 60

encoding in the low frequencies, and 10-bit encoding in the highs, where you need more detail. Then it’s all summed together in the listening device. It’s pretty impressive stuff, but once again, it’s device specific. At the moment, it’s onboard phones from LG, OnePlus and HuaWei. Samsung, and other Android devices carry the standard 16-bit/48k LPCM AptX variant. iPhones have neither, leaving you with bog standard Bluetooth SBC encoding. Sony has a fix for that, too, with its DSEE HX Technology. It’s supposedly undoing the damage done by compressed codecs. How, is anyone’s guess outside of Sony. It would mostly give a slight high frequency lift, which would push up the ride and percussion sounds on things like Radiohead’s Reckoner and drive the sound stage out to the edges. I never noticed the DSEE HX filter to be demonstrably artificial and it was satisfying enough to leave on.

HEAD SPINNING CONTROL

DSEE HX can be controlled via Sony’s Headphone Connect app, which also lets you do weird things like control where the sound is coming from. You can turn this phasing trick off or pick one of the five different points of a surround system to send it to different points around your head. Why, who knows? You can also add different reverb effects.

Again… pointless for music listening. There’s an EQ too, which I left well alone.

The app can also individually tailor the noise cancelling to your environment and your current hairstyle. It seems it was pre-set for short back ’n’ sides, because my custom profile didn’t seem to tinker too much with the existing formula.

Bluetooth pairing is a doddle, just hold down the power button until it starts flashing. Onboard NFC makes it even quicker for users that have a compatible device. You can also switch noise cancelling on and off from the headphones, or adjust the amount of ambience pushed back into the cans. There’s also the ability to take and make calls as well as navigate your playlist and adjust volume, all from the touch-sensitive side of the right ear cup.

Fact of the matter is, you can still wire these in, and they sound like a good $250 pair of headphones.

It’s when you put the noise cancelling on, even in mildly noisy environments that these cans really stand out. Everything clears up dramatically.

These are a great pair of everyday, go anywhere Bluetooth headphones. They may be slightly on the expensive side, but that’s because Sony has pulled out all the stops to deliver the best possible listening experience in any environment, for any device. These are a workhorse of personal listening, with 30 hours of battery life, that just happen to look and feel great too.

Ready to perform.

Anywhere. Any time. ©2018 Bose Corporation.

Introducing the Bose® S1 Pro Multi-Position PA System Sound great anywhere with the S1 Pro system. With big sound, unparalleled portability, and Bluetooth® connectivity, the S1 Pro is the ultimate PA, floor monitor, and practice amp that’s ready to be your go-anywhere and do-it-all music system.

Get full product details at BOSE.COM/S1 The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Bose Corporation is under license.

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