Wsm - June 2007 - Issue 014 by Wusik Dot Com

Magazine Layout: MoniKe Editors: WilliamK and MoniKe

Editorial

Articles and Sounds by: WilliamK www.william-k.com Mike Felker - aka Karmacomposer www.mfelkerco.com

Articles by: DamBros Especial thanks to Claudia Picchi Darren McEntee @ traxmusic.org David Keenum Kevin Burke www.kevinburke.ca Legion Hush www.virb.com/rumblerah Richard Dolmat www.digitalsoundmagic.com R(t)O Simon Cann www.simoncann.com www.noisesculpture.com Steve James www.myspace.com/eldritchmaw

Sounds by: Kevin Breidenbach - aka synthgeek www.skincontact.com/synthgeek Zachariah Weckter www.strict-9.net

Proof-Reading by: Kevin Burke www.kevinburke.ca

Letter from the Editor “I'm very happy today, just got my new sampler at the local music store. It’s really impressive; I can record up to 2 seconds with it. It features a 12 bit DAC and saves on those floppy disks people seem to be talking about. Finally something I can really use. Oh, and it even has some analog filters. Everything can be edited on the alpha display, very handy.” Yes, that was over 10 years ago. Imagine that. How far we came. Today we no longer talk about how many seconds our samplers can handle, but how many Gigabytes it can cope with. This month, we present you with our Flashback column, a voyage into time, and maybe space too (remember how much space all that hardware used to take in your studio?). Now, instead of physical space, we all struggle with virtual space on our harddrives. Now I just need to order that external Terabyte drive. I won't lie; remembering my old stuff brings back some sweet memories. The Ensoniq TS-10, Wavestation, X5, X3, D50, TX81Z, DX7, DM5, D4, ... but as hard as I try not to think about it, the “bad” memories also come to mind – like how long it took to load 8Mb of samples. And of course there were all the midi and audio-cables, the mixer noise, corrupt floppies - oh the humanity! Now I can have everything in a single box: my beloved computer.

Cover and Back Cover by:

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Alan - aka Maniacal

Wusikstation V4 Advertising Background: Michael Knubben

Pictures: www.dreamstime.com

WilliamK and MoniKe

Getting Started: Indie Band Internet Essentials by Richard Dolmat

The Sequencer Chronicles - Part 1 by R(t)O

Firewire Follies by R(t)O

Diversions: Lessons from Prague by Kevin Burke

Creating Sounds: Using ASDR Envelopes with Synth’s by Darren McEntee

Tips & Tricks: The Categorized Library and the Ranking System by WilliamK

48 Interview: Featured Artist: My Imaginary Life by Legion Hush

What's On Your Amp by WilliamK

Table Contents

The Destiny of Man by DamBros

Sound Review: WilliamK’s “Dark Ages” Instrumental Suite by Mike Felker

Back to Bass-ics by Simon Cann

28 Mastering Tips: Establishing your Mix by Richard Dolmat

36 40

The stuff we used to use by WilliamK

62 Manytone Ultimate Bass Kit and Ovation Acoustic/ Electric Bass by David Keenum The Synth Romance: To Many Stuff by WilliamK

List of Sounds

66 72

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Flashback: A Visit To The Synth Museum by Steve James

Kjaerhus Audio Golden Audio Gate by R(t)O

the

Destiny of Man by DamBros

Many years ago, in the mountains of Chile, scientists discovered formations identical to the ones that are found in atomic explosions. The bible talks about the Tower of Babel and the Great Flood. In fact, all of us know or at least suspect that life on Earth as we know it, is a sequence of ups and downs almost totally predictable. From few creatures such as Adam and Eve, we expanded in numbers, in findings and discoveries. We advanced and evolved. Through the volatile parameters stitched up by fashion, through the customs that settle in, through the looks that the media requires, “burps” of riches not always honest, arrogances and futilities. The triangle of casts confessed or dissimulated.

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These ups and downs mark a low frequency, really really low, because some centuries are needed to enable us to understand and assimilate something. Our memory doesn’t reach this level. It is short and dies each day not allowing us to transmit the little that we perceive on to the next generations.

If we could condense the waves that materialize these frequencies, fuse portions of centuries on a music sheet, we would hear the tragic symphony of the human species destroying its own planet. Without accepting the wisdom of the animals, called by us - irrational, that uses the Law of the Jungle to maintain the quantity and quality of their group, causing deliberately or intuitively mechanisms of self destruction when the number of individuals becomes bigger than the capacity of food or space, humans on the contrary, are always finding new ways to protect their fragilities, increasing their lifespan and paradoxically braking frontiers, destroying forests, drying out water sources and food. We are eating up our own Earth, our own flesh. Today we are billions when the logic insists we should only be a few million.

the

Destiny of Man

It isn’t difficult to imagine the unhappy ending: Disputes for space, land, water, food. Terrible raging combats, more powerful each time, until its total and absolute self destruction.

Is it possible to revert such dreadful image? No. Humanity, has closed its eyes and is running uncontrollably to a new apocalypse

It is a shame that time won’t allow that the notebooks where the waves of this great and very last music score will be printed, remain intact. It will be the last sensitive manifestation of the human insensibility to echo through the totally polluted skies by mortal radiations.

But it will still be the most perfect, unique and absolute musical expression. It will tell one more grand episode of the creation, glory and fall of the human race over the terrestrial orb, ready to start and end again.

It has happened, we just don’t know how many times. It’s just a matter of logic.

The first and the last word will be of the music…..

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The first and last manifestation of this incommensurable drama will always be a sound track that will begin with the very soft sonority of the breeze that will light up the fiat lux and will end with the tutti of latest generation of atomic fireworks from the grand universal orchestra.

Getting Started

Indie Band Internet Essentials Things you didn't know you needed to know that you need to have.

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by Richard Dolmat

Now that you're intrigued and even somewhat confused by the title of this article, I shall explain what it means. Today we will discuss helpful Internet tools that indie artists and bands can use to promote themselves. And we're not just talking about having a website. I'll try to cover a range of lesser-known yet helpful tools to keep you in front of the competition. >

Indie Band Internet Essentials

Now it’s even easier to make money! If you don’t already have one, I would suggest you get a free Paypal account (www.paypal.com). Consider Paypal as one huge world-wide bank. You can pay for items online (posters, stickers, blank CDs, mastering and more) to anyone with an email address in more than 50 countries. What’s even better is that Paypal does all the currency conversions for you (whether you’re buying or selling). You can also upgrade to a Premier or Business account and accept all major credit cards with no setup fees or monthly merchant account payments. You can start selling your CDs, t-shirts and other merch directly through your website for a measly %2.9 commission. That’s all it costs for you to accept credit cards. Whereas if you were to get a real merchant account through the major banks, you would pay a setup fee, rent a processing machine for about $35/month (whether you use it or not), plus pay the commission on all purchases. If you don’t sell enough wares in any one month, you’ll have to pay another minimum fee. And then you’ll have to pay a web

designer to implement the online processing functions into your band’s website. Once your Paypal business account is up and running, you can start selling anything from your band’s website (t-shirts, CDs, bootlegs, stickers, cups, pens, blah blah).

RSS RSS is an online news distribution format. The advantage of setting up an RSS system on your website is that it makes it easier for your fans to get your latest news releases. RSS is more of a passive distribution of news, where the headlines go to your fans (instead of your fans having to go to your website). All a person needs is an RSS aware program called an aggregator. These are freely downloadable from the Internet and can sit on your fan’s desktop. The second you add or update a headline in your RSS newsfeed, it will show up immediately in your fan’s RSS aggregator.

Getting Started

Paypal

You can get more info from these sites: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS or www.news.yahoo.com/rss.

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Getting Started

Indie Band Internet Essentials

Blogs

Mambo

Blog is a short word for Weblog. Very simply put, it’s an online diary. These are great if you have Internet access during a tour and want to keep your fans updated with each date of the tour. You can post your thoughts on your shows, hotel room experiences, the bad food you’re being forced to eat and more.

Mambo is an amazingly FREE and easily installable website content manager. If you're used to making web pages in Frontpage or Dreamweaver, Mambo will be a godsend to you. The difference is between offline webpage designing and online management. If you were to create a webpage in Frontpage (or other offline webpage designer), you'd have to upload the page back to your server and hope that all the links are valid, make sure the pages point to each other, make sure your images and mp3 files are in the proper sub-directories etc.

Each entry is dated and your fans can even comment on the entries, giving you feedback and support along the way. It’s an excellent way to keep your fans closely involved with your daily happenings. You can go to www.blogger.com to start your own free blog site. Or if you can find a way to include a blog directly on your home page, all the better!

But with Mambo, you can just log in to your website, change any part of any page, and the system will automatically update all the relevant pages. That

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Indie Band Internet Essentials

The best thing about Mambo is that there are programmers all around the world constantly creating add-ons. Mambo directly supports all the above Internet utilities already we talked about, including; blogging, RSS, Podcasts, Forums, online group calendars, newsletter emails, internal messaging between users and much more. And the super administrator of your website can assign different password levels to anyone else, allowing them to add to or change individual webpages (ie: current

newsflashes etc). For a sample of a Mambo website, go to: www.digitalsoundmagic.com. To get a free download of the Mambo CMS, go to: www.mamboserver.com And remember, there are infinite resources online for band and artist promotion, link exchanges, myspace.com, mp3 hosting sites and more. Take advantage of them and watch your careers take off.

Getting Started

change will now be permanent. Unlike the offline editors, where you would have to ftp into your site, download the html page, open up your editor, change the words, save, close the editor, login to your server with ftp again, and then reupload the page. What a hassle!

About The Author: Richard Dolmat is owner, engineer and producer for the Vancouver based recording studio Digital Sound Magic Studios (“Vancouver’s Friendliest Studio”). Visit his site at: www.digitalsoundmagic.com

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Getting Started

Dual Monitor Mayhem

The Sequencer Chronicles - Part 1 -

Setting up the workspace in Sonar 6 PE

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by R(t)O

While the majority of newer machines are dual monitor capable, not everyone has one. If you are sitting there weighing the pros and cons of buying a new machine, have a look at this. MaxiVista is an excellent utility from Bartels Media that can take an unused PC or laptop and make it part of your dual monitor solution. It is simple to install and configure and works as advertised. Both PCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s should be installed on the same subnet on the network before beginning. Once your machines are networked and booted, install the main application on your DAW and the viewer application on the spare PC. Once installed, launch both applications and let them find each other. The utility performs some bandwidth calculations, then you are up and running. The monitor tied to your spare PC is now an extension of your DAW desktop. Even if you have dual monitors on your DAW, you can still use MaxiVista to add a third monitor. There are a couple different flavors of the application, and they range in price from $29.95 to $99.95. A limited functionality demo is available. You can get more information from: www.maxivista.com

The Sequencer Chronicles

Getting Started

Welcome to a series of articles I am excited about doing exclusively for Wusik Sound Magazine that is titled The Sequencer Chronicles. The general theme for this series is tweaking your host to allow you to get the most out of both it and Wusikstation. This is by no means a replacement for the manuals for your sequencer; rather, it is a crash course in sequencer surgery.

Wusikstation is a powerful application with superior sonic capabilities. It’s arsenal of included tools and boundless sound library make it an instrument with infinite possibilities. However, the key to unlocking this audio treasure chest lies within your knowledge of your host application. Since every host has, at the very least, subtle differences in how they handle VSTi, getting your hands dirty under the hood will make your investment work harder for you. Cakewalk’s flagship sequencer, Sonar 6 Producer Edition is the first application to which I am going to take the wrench. Version 6 offers some very cool features, and I want to exploit as many of them as possible. The version I am working with is the 32 bit 6.21 under Windows XP Professional SP2. In this installment, I am going to talk about how to set up your workspace.

The toolbars you choose to show or hide depend on what it is you work on and how you work on it. This is something that you should configure to get it optimized for your working style. I will step you through setting up the toolbars the way I use them to familiarize you with how to manipulate them. Then I am counting on you to apply your creative genius to make this work best for you. 1. Click the Views menu. 2. Select Toolbars. This will bring up a list of toolbars available to you. If there is a tick next to the name of the toolbar, it will be visible. If the tick is absent, the toolbar is hidden. 3. Place a tick next to: · A. Sync · D. Transport (Large) · F. Automation · I. User1 4. As you place the ticks next to the toolbars you should see them appear in real time, no applying necessary. This makes it easy to see what toolbars you want and which ones don’t work for you. 5. Click close when you are finished.

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Your workspace can make or break your project and your budget. If you are constantly digging and searching for your tools, it will take longer to get your project done. If you have at least 2 monitors, Sonar 6 makes it easy to place all your tools within reach. This allows you to focus on the creative process. If you need an alternative, see the sidebar to this article: Dual Monitor Mayhem.

Tidy Toolbars

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Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

Floating Consoles The Console View is where you work with Sonar like you would a mixer. I think Sonarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s console looks the best of all the major DAW offerings. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get me wrong, there is brawn to back the beauty, but a console that is pleasing to the eye makes working with it a pleasure. Reordering the tracks is simply dragging and dropping them in the spot that suits you. All of your MIDI tracks, audio tracks, synth tracks, bus tracks, and master output are laid out just like they would be on a mixing desk. You can hide different types of tracks or track components by simply clicking one of the buttons. However, switching between track view and console view can take time on less capable systems. Fortunately, you can have the console and track view at the same time:

1. Restore the console window to a windowed state. 2. Single-click with the left mouse button on the window icon in the upper-right hand corner of the title bar. 3. From the context menu, select Enable Floating. Now, the console window can be dragged onto your second monitor, leaving both the track and console view visible. This is especially useful when using mixer automation. You can see the mixer respond during playback - making it easier to locate parts that require tweaking.

The Sequencer Chronicles

The Piano Roll View (PRV) is the primary MIDI editor in Sonar, but like the console view, it overlays the track view by default. If you have a 3 monitor spread, you can float the PRV editor like we did the Console View and drag it over. Three monitor spreads, though, are not exactly common or inexpensive. Sonar has another solution that we can take advantage of: 1. Restore the PRV window to a windowed state. 2. Single-click with the left mouse button on the window icon in the upper-right hand corner of the title bar. 3. From the context menu, select Enable Tabbed. Now the PRV window is available as a tab beneath the tracks in the Track View. The one thing to remember when using the editor is that it does not dynamically switch to the new track when you select it in the Track View. You need to select the track then click the PRV button in the toolbar to switch the PRV editor to the new track.

The PRV (regardless of what mode you are using) editor has some workflow tools that allow you to customize the editor to your liking. 1. The Use Controller Pane button creates a lane below the piano roll where you can draw your MIDI message curves. 2. The Show / Track Panel button controls the visibility of a track panel pane. When using the PRV in tabbed mode, it is redundant because the track controls from the track view are accessible. However, Sonar will allow you to display it if you want to. 3. The Show / Hide grid controls the visibility of the grid. The little button to the right of it displays a context menu of various grid resolutions when clicked. 4. The Snap to Grid button turns quantization on or off. The little button to the right of it opens a Snap to Grid preference menu.

Getting Started

To Tab or not to Tab

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Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

By now, I hope that you have an understanding of how to manipulate the windows in Sonar to tailor the layout to your liking. In the next installment we are going to use the layout and the Synth Rack to load up Wusikstation and work with it.

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Getting Started

Firewire Follies by R(t)O

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The music market has recently exploded with a whole new breed of Firewire enabled analog mixers. These units give you a nice bridge between the digital and analog worlds at very palatable price. Unfortunately, many people are confusing these mixers with a control surface. While they may look similar, they are two completely different pieces of equipment. Since some companies offer both types of products, it can be very confusing for the consumer. This article will give you the information you need to know the difference and know which one is right for you.

Control Surfaces have been around for a little while now. These devices connect to your computer via USB (1.1 or 2.0) or Firewire and, at the very least, give you hands on control of your host applications mixer and transport controls. While some control surfaces have an integrated audio interface (e.g. Tascam FW-1884), the faders on the surface do not directly control the signal level; rather, they control the host applications mixer. In many cases, a trim potentiometer is included on the surface to manage the physical inputs.

Behind the scenes, the control surface uses a protocol to communicate with the host application. Both the host and the surface have to support a common protocol in order for it to work. When you adjust a fader or turn a knob, the surface sends messages to the host application. The host responds by performing an action that corresponds to the criteria defined in the protocol. For example, when you move fader 1 on your control surface, the criteria defined in the protocol informs the host that fader 1 on its mixer should be adjusted accordingly. At no time does the control surface directly control the audio channels. The host application has direct control of the audio. The control surface simply sends a request to the host to make the desired change. In this case, the devices that act on the audio are either components of the host application or of the sound card itself.

Firewire Follies

With these devices, when you adjust a fader, you are attenuating the audio signal that is passing through the channel that corresponds to that fader. When you adjust a knob, you are modifying that parameter on the mixer itself. For example, if you adjust the low equalization (EQ) knob, you are modifying the gain for the low end of the onboard EQ circuit.

It is possible to run both a Firewire enabled mixer and a control surface on the same setup. The mixer will treat the audio coming into the computer, and the control surface will manipulate the software giving you the best of both worlds. Both the control surface and Firewire enabled mixer are valuable assets to have in your setup. Each one serves its own purpose, and they are not interchangeable. By making sure that you purchase the unit that fits your needs, you can eliminate some frustration and get on the road to making music a lot quicker.

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At no time will the mixer in the host application reflect the adjustments made on the Firewire enabled mixer. The Firewire connection between the host computer and the mixer transports digitized audio. The mixer appears to the computer and the host application as a sound card, but the reality of it is that it is a full-fledged analog mixer whose final stage is a sound card. In this case, the mixer is acting on the audio before it gets to the host computer. You can also apply additional treatments to the audio while it is being recorded into your host application or during the mix process after it is recorded.

Now that you know the difference between the two, determining which one is right for you is dependent on how you work. If you have large amounts of MIDI and already have a quality audio interface, then adding just a control surface may be adequate. If you have a confined workspace, then a control surface with a built-in audio interface will give you an integrated solution with an acceptable footprint. If you are a hardware guru who uses the computer strictly as a recorder, then the Firewire enabled mixer may make sense to you.

Getting Started

Firewire enabled analog mixers are almost the complete opposite of the control surface. They offer absolutely no control over the mixer in your host application. Instead, they operate just like a traditional analog mixer with the difference being that they have an onboard analog-to-digital (A to D) converter and a Firewire interface.

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Diversions

Lessons

from

Prague by Kevin Burke

My partner and I have just returned to Canada from eight glorious days in the beautiful, historic, and formerly communist Czech Republic. I had done some research before we left and realized very quickly that we would be ensconced in the daily life of one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most beautiful cities.

Lessons from

Prague

As this was my first time off the North American continent, I knew that there would be adjustments to local culture and customs. There are gestures which, if

The thing that delineates an obnoxious tourist from one who respects local culture is the degree to which they are willing to concede their own cultural habits

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The clock was built circa 1410 – its mechanics held under such secrecy that the government of the time felt a need to have the inventors, Mikuláš of Kadaò and Jan Šindel, followed lest they gave up the details of its functionality. On every hour, several figures mounted around the clock face become animated, and two windows above the clock open to reveal representations of apostles as they revolve into view with simultaneous synchronicity and predictability. And, just as predictably, a huge crowd will have gathered at the foot of the tower to view the spectacle and record the events. Here was a marked example of successful six hundred year old commercialism; the view begets awe, the timing is repeatable and predictable, and the placement of the tower within the confines of Old Town Square facilitates the gathering of individuals to watch events unfold. In many respects, I thought, the mega tours of our day are modelled in precisely the same way for exactly the same purpose – to draw crowds.

not checked, will ultimately reveal your status as tourist. For example, in Canada we would typically hold up two fingers when ordering a couple of beers – the index finger and the middle finger. This also forms a “peace” sign. In Prague, truth be told – this will also work – however the correct Czech method is to use the thumb and the index finger. Always start with the thumb.

Diversions

Prague escaped most of the bombing during World War II and so the buildings are pristine with many barely revealing their hundreds of year’s old age. The world famous astrological clock, for instance, stuns with its remarkable complexity and function.

Lessons from

Diversions

Prague

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to the benefit of and familiarity of the locals. In short â&#x20AC;&#x201C; how hard do you try to fit in? Your effort to adjust will reap the rewards of better service, discounts on goods, and many more smiles. You will have also taken home with you a new found appreciation of life, while not completely outside your cultural box of familiarity, that is somewhat different and distinct, and which offers its own insights into and peculiarities of daily living.

The Internet is such a vast resource when researching expectations for a trip such as this, but not all the information is reliable or accurate. Some of what I had been reading led me to the belief that, due to its status as a former communist state, and that the Czech Republic had only been out from under that suffocating shadow for ~15 years, people involved in the service industry (waiters, hotel staff, taxi drivers) would be intolerant, unfriendly, and downright grumpy. They hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t figured out how to cater to a consumerist society. Reality painted a much different picture in a noticeably brighter hue; we found everyone we met to be very friendly, appreciative of our business, and helpful when we were in need. Expectations do not necessarily constitute certain reality and

should be buffered with a good dose of uncertainty. Be wary, be informed, but be ready to change. Prague is such a picturesque city; many (most?) of the buildings have sculptures integrated into their facades, and certainly attention to detail must have been invented here. Comparatively, Canada is such a young country and mostly devoid of centuries-old architecture. One feels that, in this day and age, it would be financially irresponsible to spend the money required for labour costs to construct such eye-pleasing buildings. Surely the return-on-investment (ROI) would relegate such consideration to the archives of what-could-have-been. One of the great things about this planet, though, is the variance of governments, peoples, abilities, knowledge, political support, dedication to culture and country, bankroll, and will. While we, in North America in particular, rarely can have such historically artistic buildings constructed, we still pump lots of money into grand neo-modern

Lessons from

Prague

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Any trip to a tourism mecca would be incomplete without a slice o real, local life. At one point, after taking a Funicular up a particularly steep hill, we found ourselves in the midst of a massive and flourishing rose garden on the grounds of an observatory. This was truly unexpected, but the Czech Republic growing season is about a month and a half ahead of where we live (just outside of Toronto). We were basking in the sun amidst roses in full bloom, and trees with a full dress of leaves. After making our way through the lush maze of concentric circles that was the design of the garden paths, we manoeuvred around some road workers at a slender exit and headed toward a very tall double-spired memorial of some sort. There was a certain amount of unease, however, as to our left was an ultra-modern gated condominium behind a high wire fence, and to the right a series of very dilapidated buildings. As we approached the concrete spires, and circled, we realized that there was no indication as the purpose of the marker - and no water in the pool which should have surrounded it. And, just across the street, a stadium in such a bad state of repair it looked as if it had not been tended to by human hand in over 25 years. In fact, we learned later that is was the world’s second largest stadium – Strahov Stadium – with a seating capability of over 360,000 people. The Rolling Stones played there in 1991. We walked around past the stadium to the other side of the dilapidated buildings

and began to feel quite uncomfortable. There were groups of college-aged kids hanging about, some approaching our direction in gangs, and others waiting for a bus. Clearly this place was not a destination – it was a starting point. In an effort to quickly get back to the familiar (the rose garden) we cut straight through the building grounds and held our breath until the feeling of safety returned.

Diversions

behemoths which hopefully, in generations to come, will be viewed with a similar appreciation. Perhaps the desire to please the audience is not dissimilar; the tools and the vision may take different forms, the injection of resources (money/effort) may vary, but the outcome is the same. We want to please, and we will.

Lessons from

Diversions

Prague

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The complex, as it turned out, was both dorms for the local Strahov University, and a hostel for visitors. There probably wasn’t anything perilous about it. In fact, I’ve read reviews online where people treasured the time that they spent with this very complex as their home base. So why the Goosebumps? Perhaps the answer lies in the expectations we had cobbled together from being in unfamiliar surroundings, in an unfamiliar country, with unfamiliar buildings in an observable state of disrepair. Whether through education, past history, subjection to similar movie plots and imagery, or prior experience with low-income quarters in major cities – to us, this amounted to danger. It didn’t help that I had, around my neck, a camera worth all of four months’ salary for the average Czech.

The true wonder, then, is in the blight behind the beauty. We (governments/citizens/businesses) hold up for high regard and recognition the people, places, and things which we deem appropriate for public viewing and consumption while downplaying the other greater percentage that is the true reality. It must be human nature, and if not, must surely be of benefit to both vendor (governments/citizens/businesses) and consumer (tourist/visiting dignitary/the

media). If you apply this pre-disposition to other aspects of your life and interests, and find yourself promoting just the jewels of your creation, might there not also be value in the props which support your effort? I can’t help but wonder how many stories the dilapidated buildings hold, how many memories the stadium provided for sport and music fans, and what relief the spires provided to onlookers at a service which must surely have been held at its feet – now long forgotten. The real story, you see, is the one that isn’t being told. It is the one yet to be found.

Creating Sounds

Using ASDR Envelopes With Synthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

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by Darren McEntee @ traxmusic.org

How the ASDR envelopes work when controlling the volume of a sound in a synthesizer.

Using ASDR Envelopes With Synth’s

Sustain control is directly related to how long a user holds down a note on the keyboard. Once the player releases the note the Release parameters take over.

The A in ASDR stands for Attack. This controls how fast a sound starts. In the real world a Piano has a fast attack because the sound peaks right away, where a Cello has a slower attack because it takes the sound longer to reach its peak. Most synths would have a knob that controls the ASDR parameters. If you wanted a fast attack you turn the knob all the way to the left, moving the knob clockwise would increase the time it would take for a sound to reach its peak. As soon as you hit a note on a keyboard the attack control would kick in.

The D stands for Decay. When a player hits a note on a keyboard the Attack happens first, then the Sustain. If the player holds down the note long enough the Decay parameter will kick in. This controls how long it takes for the sound to get quieter while the user is holding down the note. Decay and Release are almost the same, but the Release controls how long a sound plays after a user lets go of the note.

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The S stands for Sustain. This controls how long the peak volume of a sound is held. Our Piano example above would actually not have a sustain control because once a key is hit the sounds peaks almost immediately will start to get softer. The Sustain of a Cello would be controlled by how long the player moves its bow across the strings. Would a snare drum make use of a Sustain parameter? The answer to that question would be NO. The drum sound is much like a piano, once it is hit the attack starts right away followed by Decay. It is important to note that the use of the

A Piano sound does not use Decay either. Once a user hits a note it goes directly to Attack, the Sustain and the Decay would essentially be turned off. It doesn’t matter how long a player holds down the note on a Piano the sound still continues regardless of when the player releases the note. Most real world instruments do not have a natural Decay, but rather a natural Release. Consequently in the synth world, use of the Decay is not that common unless you wanted to create a long evolving sound that might be used in Yanni type New Age soundtrack. It is important to note that the Sustain and Decay controls are only in effect when a user is actually holding the note down.

Creating Sounds

The ASDR (Attack, Sustain, Decay, Release) envelope (we say envelope because the ASDR holds the sound in it’s boundaries like an envelope holds a letter) is a set of powerful controls that help mold a generated sound through time.

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Creating Sounds

Using ASDR Envelopes With Synth’s

Once a user releases the note can you guess what control takes over? Yes, you got it right! The Release control goes into effect after a player releases the note on a keyboard. The Release controls

plays after a user has released the note on the keyboard. As you can see Decay and Release are very similar, they both do the same thing except Release goes into effect as soon as the note is released.

how long a sound takes to get back to silence after a user releases the note. A Piano has a long release parameter set because it takes a long time for the sound to actually get silent. A snare drum has a relatively fast Release parameter set because it takes a very short time for the sound to go away. In a synth you can set the Release to 0 which would be turning the knob all the way to the left. This would make it so a sound does not have a Release at all and stops as soon as you let go of the note on your keyboard.

Let’s look at some real world examples again and try and figure out what ASDR parameters they would have. A piano would have a quick attack, and a slow release. It doesn’t use the Sustain and Decay parameters. A snare drum would have a quick attack and a very fast release and also doesn’t use the Sustain and Decay parameters. A Cello would have a slower attack than a piano or snare because it takes longer for the sound to reach its peak. It’s sustain would be controlled by how long the player moves the bow over the string. As soon as the player releases the bow from the string the sound drops to silence pretty quickly giving it a fast decay.

In short the description of the ASDR parameters in a synth is as follows. Attack controls the amount of time a sound takes to reach its peak. Sustain control how long that peak is held as a user holds down the note. Decay controls how long it takes for the sound to get quiet as a user holds down a note. Release controls how long the sound still

Now that you have read this it is my hope that you could not only mimic, but also understand how ASDR controls help shape a sound on a synthesizer.

Creating Sounds Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Back to Bass-ics by Simon Cann

Do you feel you can never find the right bass sound? Simon Cann goes back to bass-ics and offers some straightforward ways to create a bass sound that works in a track.

Back to Bass-ics

However, you often don’t want a bass part to dominate: you want it to work in the mix as a bass part and not as a lead. If your bass part dominates then you’re likely to find it becomes hard to mix a track since the elements will inherently be unbalanced. For this article, I want to go back to basics and look at how to program bass sounds. Also, rather unusually for a tutorial, I want you to think, rather than do—take some time to think about your bass parts: I’ll talk about programming sounds later in this article. I am also assuming that you’ve got at least some idea about how to program sounds in Wusikstation. In particular that you understand how to: n

select a waveform and then route it through a filter or two

control your filters and your levels with envelopes

pan your oscillators

copy oscillators

detune your oscillators, and

apply FX.

What Does the Bass Part Do? In any track, the bass part will often perform one of two functions:

First, it can act as a rhythm part. Usually you will find that the bass part works with the kick drum to provide the fundamental rhythm of a track. You know the fundamental rhythm: that’s the thing that people dance to—it’s the real groove of the track.

Second, a bass part can act as part of a chord, to provide the harmony. In this role, the bass will most often work to provide a root note for any chord.

It may perform other functions, but, these are the main two, and so I want to focus on them. Of course, it goes without saying that these two parts are not mutually exclusive: a bass part can provide rhythm and harmony. However, you will often make different decisions about how to program a bass sound depending on how the sound is going to be used. Let me explain further in the next two sections.

Bass Part Used for Rhythm When a bass part is used for rhythm, it is often necessary to ensure it is heard as well as felt. To do this, the attack portion of the note needs to be audible. This is usually achieved by modulating a low-pass filter with an envelope. This modulation also allows the timbre of a note to change over time, much like an acoustic instrument. It is important to get the attack right to ensure it fits with the track when the bass has a rhythmic role. One of the keys to getting the right sound is to control the decay time of the envelope that modulates the filter. This will control the apparent “length” of the bass note. If the decay time is too short, the note will be too staccato. If the decay time is too long, then the note will be flabby and lack definition. If you’re using your bass part as a rhythm part, then the groove is essential. Apart from the melody, you can pretty much

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If you don’t then I suggest that before you proceed, you check out the Wusikstation manual and my book “How To Make A Noise” (which is available for free download from my website – details are at the end of this article).

Creating Sounds

When you’re creating sounds, you’ll often want to make your sounds richer, deeper, thicker, brighter, sharper, or any other adjective you can pick to describe improving the sound. However, all of these descriptions have an effect for the sound: they make the sound more dominating. This can be good when you want your sound to stand out.

Creating Sounds

Back to Bass-ics

forget everything else apart from the groove. If the groove doesn’t work, then your track doesn’t work. You may have the greatest fills and some fabulous hooks, but if you don’t have the groove, your track won’t have a pulse. No pulse = no life. Now, before I talk about sound design, a plea on my part. Please remember why people dig music: it is because the music moves them somehow. People (except in a few cases) are not interested in how a sound is created – they just care about the groove and the melody.

You’ll also see that I’ve set the mod envelope 1 curve to exponential to give it a faster and smoother decay time. Figure 1 shows what the filter envelope (mod envelope 1) looks like. You will also see that in the modulation matrix, mod envelope 1 has been set to modulate filter 1 and that the amount of modulation has been set to the maximum (127).

So when you come to create a sound, remember, the actual sound is a lot less import than how well the part works in the context of your track. This is particularly so for a bass track where you can use a simple sound.

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So when you come to program a bass sound, I suggest you get the bare bones of your track up and running—a bass part and a kick drum should be sufficient—and load up a very simple bass sound. For an example of a simple bass sound, check out 001 Rhythmic Bass Start Point that comes with the downloads accompanying this article.

Figure 1 - A simple filter envelope to give a simple, but effective, sound. So what do you do with sound? does it help you?

How

You will see that this patch has a sawtooth wave going through a 24dB/octave (4 pole) low-pass filter. The filter’s cut-off has been set to zero and the resonance has been set to a low level (in this case 20). On its own, this gives a really tedious sound and so to add interest, the filter is modulated by mod envelope 1. It is mod envelope 1’s setting—in particular, the short decay time, and the zero sustain level—that give this sound its characteristic.

Well, as I said before I distracted myself explaining how the sound was created, you should load this up in a track and play just the bass and the kick drum part. Then tweak the bass sound to help it fit better in the track. For this exercise, you can tweak three settings:

If you play the sound, you’ll hear a very short note. Mod envelope 1 is the only envelope that has any effect on this sound. The amp (volume) envelope for this oscillator has its attack time set to zero and its sustain level set to maximum, it therefore has no effect on the volume of the sound.

Once you’ve tweaked, listen to your kick drum and bass sound. How does it sound? Is it good enough? Does it really hold down the groove?

the decay time in mod envelope 1

the sustain level in mod envelope 1, and

the amount (by which mod envelope 1 modulates filter 1) in the modulation matrix.

If it doesn’t, then don’t blame the sound. There’s nothing wrong with it: it’s the groove that’s at fault. Go back and work on

Back to Bass-ics

Once you’ve written a great part and tweaked the patch so that it fits, then your work is done: your bass sound is programmed. However, later in this article I’ll talk about a few things you can do to get a more interesting sound if that is needed.

start point for programming a harmony bass sound in a range of styles. When you are programming this type of sound, there are a few things to think about: n

First, before you program any sounds, consider whether the easiest solution is to use a lower note in an existing part as your bass note. For instance if you have a keyboard part already, could you just add a bass note here. The advantage of this approach is speed and simplicity. The disadvantage is that you create a homogenized sound.

Make your sounds as simple as possible. I will discuss some tweaks to make your sounds more interesting. However, remember to always program your sound while the track is playing (in other words, as your listener will hear it) in order to get the best sound. If you program your sound with no other instrument playing, you will be tempted to make the sound more “interesting”. If you need more “interest”, then rewrite the part, don’t rewrite the sound.

While you are rewriting your part, remember that simple, less busy bass parts often work best. The point of the bass part is to support the track, not to be a feature on its own.

Make sure the attack time and the release time are not too fast. If these are too sharp, the bass sound can have too much rhythmic effect.

Bass Part Used for Harmony Now instead of using your bass note for rhythmic effect, you may use it as part of a chord. In particular, you may use it as the root note of a chord. The role of determining a chord should not be overlooked. Play a simple triad of C, E, and G and you’ve got a C chord. Now add an A bass note and you’ve got an Am7 chord which has a very different characteristic. For this sort of bass sound, the pitch needs to be clear and the bass note should not dominate: it should be part of a chord. Take a listen to 002 Soft Bass Start Point and you will hear a bass sound that can be used for this purpose.

As you can hear, the result is quite a subdued brassy sound which could work as a

Variations on a Theme So now you understand what your bass part is doing and the groove of your track is positively smoking. You’ve got a bass sound that works within the track and you’ve created a bass sound without working too hard. However, once you’ve got your track up and running, you’re likely to want to add some variation. Perhaps you might want to change

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While it may not sound it, this patch is very similar to the previous one. All I did to create this was take the previous patch and tweak it. In particular, I tweaked mod envelope 1 to remove some of the attack from the sound and I also dropped the amount in the modulation matrix by which the envelope modulates the filter. One other more subtle tweak was to increase the resonance to give the sound a touch more twang.

Creating Sounds

your groove until it really does groove. Don’t move on until you’ve got that groove. Until the track works because you have chosen the right (bass) notes, played at the right time, then it’s not worth pursuing the sound. If a part only sounds right because you have picked the right preset (or programmed a great sound) then you have a fundamental problem with your track.

Creating Sounds

Back to Bass-ics

the bass sound in the second verse to give a bit of variety or maybe you feel that the bass part doesn’t fill up the track sufficiently in your club mix when everything else apart from the drums drops out for that “hands-in-the-air” moment. The temptation will be to use another bass sound and perhaps to create a second bass part with a new bass sound. However, can I suggest something you try different? Instead, look to your existing sound and automate it. In other words, change your existing sound. The most obvious things to change will be the filter’s cut-off frequency and resonance. These are not the only features of a sound you can change. As I mentioned earlier on, a key factor in determining the character of a sound is the decay time setting. Just for fun, take a track and add the sound 003 Tweak the Decay. This is the 001 Rhythmic Bass Start Point sound that we used earlier on but I’ve tweaked the mod envelope 1 decay time, sustain level, modulation matrix amount, and the filter resonance amount to give a sound that works for me. If you don’t like it, please feel free to tweak the sound some more until it works for you. Now take the sound, load it into a track, and automate the mod envelope 1 decay time as the track plays. So for instance you could make the decay time shorter in the verse to create more tension through a more staccato sound and then increase the decay time (just slightly—you don’t need dramatic changes here) in the chorus to give a fuller, fatter tone.

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Play with it and see what works for you.

Where Will the Sound Be Listened To? When you’re creating and tweaking your sound, take some time to think about how your track is going to be listened to. For instance, if the track is going to be heard through an iPod/mp3 player headphones, then there is

little point in worrying about the low end of your sound since the headphones will not be able to cope with the low frequencies. Alternatively, your track may be destined to be heard in a club. This brings a whole new bunch of challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge is how much is too much bass? Here I’m going to duck out of offering any advice and suggest this is an area that comes with experience. There are other challenges with creating sounds for a club. One issue is the stereo separation. Often in a club it’s difficult to get any real stereo separation due to the positioning of the speakers and so you will probably want to put your bass sounds towards the middle of the stereo spectrum so that people don’t lose the bass end if they can only hear one side of the stereo spectrum. Also, if your track is going to end up on vinyl, then you need to ensure the bass end is in the middle of the stereo spectrum. Vinyl is a physical medium (see Figure 2). If you have an unbalanced bass sound—for instance, if you have two slightly detuned oscillators pushed to the left and right channels respectively—then the phase difference through detuning may make the needle jump. To counter this, if you’re creating a sound that will be played on vinyl, you might want to keep your bass sounds panned to the centre. Figure 2 - When mixing for vinyl, unbalanced stereo bass sounds can easily make the needle jump. For anyone old enough to remember the days before CDs, this suggestion will not be news. It is only since digital music has become widespread that mixing engineers have

Back to Bass-ics

Creating Sounds

considered moving the bass part away from the centre of the stereo spectrum, and indeed, many people still consider that the bass and kick drum should stay in the centre of the spectrum to spread the weight over the speakers.

Fix It in the Mix If you’ve been following the suggestions in this article so far, you may have got an excellent bass sound that works really well with the kick drum, giving a great groove. But then you add in the rest of your track and your bass part gets lost. If this happens, it’s not necessarily the fault of your bass sound. The trouble is the bass elements in your other sounds. Now, one way to address this is to do something with your bass sound. However, this is just creating one wrong to cover up another wrong. Instead, it is better to look at your mix. The most obvious thing to do is to go back and individually tweak each sound in the mix. You can do this by applying some EQ to every track to thin out the bass end. Clearly this could be quite an arduous task and so you’ll be pleased to know that there is an easier alternative.

The effect of this routing is to strip out the low end from the main mix. This leaves the low end clear for the kick drum and the bass part and so gives a cleaner mix. You’ll also see in Figure 3 that I’ve suggested the kick and the bass have EQ applied separately before they are mixed. This ensures that the two sounds sit well together and won’t conflict. I’ve also suggested a compressor is added after the kick and bass are mixed to control any low end volume spikes. Take some time to play with this idea. Even if it doesn’t sort your bass sounds out, it will help to clean up your mixes.

Thickening Up the Low End So by now you will have sorted out your bass part and fixed your mix. What if the bass sound you have created still isn’t right? What happens if it still isn’t richer, deeper, thicker, brighter, or sharper? Well, then it’s time to get tweaking again. However, when you get tweaking, remember that the bass sound must still fit in your mix. It’s pointless creating a “feature” bass sound if the rest of your track sucks.

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In your host, set up two mix busses which are then both sent to your main stereo output. Send the whole mix to bus one and only the kick drum and the bass to bus two. So far, no difference. The real change come when you then filter the main mix bus. You can either send it through a high pass filter (with the cut-off set in the region of 100Hz to 120Hz) or through a low-shelf EQ (cutting frequencies below 100Hz/120Hz). Take a look at Figure 3 and you’ll see this illustrated.

Figure 3 By routing your kick and bass to a separate bus and then cutting the low end from your main bus, you can keep a really clean low end that mixes well.

Creating Sounds

Back to Bass-ics

Now we all know that the easiest way to thicken up a sound is to double it and to slightly detune the second oscillator, perhaps panning the two oscillators in opposite directions in the stereo field. However, as I have already noted, this may not always be the best course so here are some other ideas you can use to add weight to your sound. High-Pass Filter: It seems totally counter-intuitive to use a high-pass filter with a bass sound. However, this is a very effective technique for boosting a sound without changing its character. Take a moment to think about a filter— the resonance control allows you to boost the sound around the cut-off frequency. With a low-pass filter, sounds above the (boosted) cut-off frequency are then reduced. A highpass filter works in reverse by cutting the sound below the cut-off frequency.

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But wait a moment, what about the resonance control for a high-pass filter? This is where the magic comes in!! By boosting the resonance and setting the cut-off frequency to track the pitch of the note, the high-pass filter boosts the bass. With Wusikstation, the pitch tracking can be set up through the mod matrix with the source being pitch and the destination being the filter.

In a bass sound, we care about the fundamental frequency, and we don’t usually care too much about any frequencies below that, so a high-pass filter is ideal. You may be wondering why we didn’t just use EQ here to boost the low end. The key here is the key tracking—EQ doesn’t key track. The high-pass filter we have set up does and so it is only the root note of the sound that gets boosted. EQ could give a wooly low end and also won’t boost the fundamental of the note at higher pitches. If you load up 004 High Pass Thickening you can hear this effect in practice. This patch takes 003 Tweak the Decay and adds a high-pass filter to boost the bass. Switch between the two patches and you’ll hear quite a pronounced effect. As you can see this sound

uses two filters: the low-pass filter shapes the sound and the high-pass filter adds weight. Sine Wave: A sine wave on its own may be quite dull and may not seem to be an appropriate wave for a bass sound, but when you add it to an existing patch, it can add some floor-shaking sub-sonics. A sine wave used in this way has the added advantage of not changing the tone of a sound too much. Listen to 005 Plus Sine and you will hear an example of a sine wave working to emphasize the fundamental frequency and so thicken a sound. For this patch I have taken 003 Tweak the Decay and added a pure sine wave in oscillator 2. The filter in oscillator two is switched off and there is a small amount of volume shaping with the oscillator’s amp envelope. Sub-Oscillator: You aren’t limited to a sine wave if you want to add weight: you can also add a sub-oscillator. A sub-oscillator is a simple oscillator usually added one or two octaves below the main oscillator. Load up 006 Plus Square for an example of a sub-oscillator patch. Here I have taken 003 Tweak the Decay and added a square wave (with the pulse waveform) an octave below the main oscillator. This square wave then passes through a low-pass filter which has its cut-off frequency modulated by mod envelope 1 much in the way that oscillator 1’s filter is modulated. The effect of adding the square wave is to thicken up the sound. However, there is a side-effect in that the tonal characteristics of the sound are changed. This may or may not be a problem. If you like the sound and it still fits well in the mix, you don’t need to worry. If you don’t like the sound, or you are having trouble getting it to sit in a mix—perhaps the sound with the square wave might get too dominant—then you will have to look at one of the other options for thickening up your sound. While I have used a square wave here, you are not limited to that waveform as a

Back to Bass-ics

Adding More Presence So now we’ve looked at how to add weight to your sound. So what happens if your bass can be felt, but can’t be heard? Clearly you’ve got several choices, for instance: n

Open up the filter a bit to make your sound brighter. You can do this by tweaking the cut-off frequency, or adjusting the filter’s modulation by an envelope (or any other modulation source).

Double your oscillator, but instead of slightly detuning the second, raise its pitch by an octave.

Either of these choices might work. However, they will both change the tone of your sound which will mean the patch dominates the sound spectrum to a greater extent. As with the thickening options, this may be a good or a bad thing depending on the sound you are looking for. One other option is to add some distortion. This might sound quite radical, but it is actually a very controllable effect. Check out 007 Distortion to hear this effect in practice.

So there you are. You’ve read 4,000 words about how to create a bass sound only to hear that getting a good bass sound is nothing to do with programming a bass sound. OK, that’s a bit flippant. But seriously, if you take some time to focus on how you use your sounds, rather than on listening to sounds outside the mix, you will get much better programming results. And when you do start programming, remember that you can mix and match all of the techniques here to get the sound that you want, and the sound that works in your track.

About the Author Simon Cann is a musician and writer based in London. He is the author of: n

Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career

Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User

How To Make A Noise

Sample This!! (with Klaus P Rausch)

Check out www.noisesculpture.com about Simon’s books.

his find

website out more

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For this sound I have taken 003 Tweak the Decay and have added the digital distortion effect in FX1. The amount of distortion is controlled by the FX1 Send control. For this patch I have included quite a bit of distortion so that the effect is noticeable and the tonal characteristics of the sound are changed. If you play with the FX1 Send control you will be able to hear that at quite low levels there is a brightness added to the sound without too much distortion. Alternatively you might like the higher amounts of distortion which really help the bass sound to cut through!!

The End

Creating Sounds

sub-oscillator, for instance, sawtooth waves work well too. Take some time to listen to the other waves and you will find which works for you and which don’t.

Mastering Tips Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Establishing your Mix by Richard Dolmat

Getting your initial mix-down up!

Establishing your Mix Mastering Tips

Now that you’ve spent hours and days and weeks and months recording your musical masterpieces (and you’ve also read my article “Tips for a Great Recording Session”), you have arrived at my favorite time in the studio; The Mixdown. But don’t think your job is done yet! The mixdown is just as important as recording. As an artist, you have to approach the mixdown from an artist’s point of view and stay on the ‘creative’ side of the fence where it’s still possible to shape and mold your songs throughout the mixdown process. Remember the old “Yin-Yang” principle which states, “whenever you turn something up, something else disappears. Furthermore; whenever you turn something down, something else gets louder”. This applies to EQ, levels and almost anywhere you have two or more tracks.

STOP!! Don’t even think about starting your mixdown on the same day you finish tracking. Take a day off, have a break and then come back refreshed with a new perspective.

First of all, let’s “zero the board”. This is simply the action of bringing all the faders to the bottom (∞) and centering all the pan knobs and effects sends. I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking “but our mix sounded good when we were tracking!”. OK, but did the mix actually sound good or were you just accustomed to hearing it that way? That’s why zero-ing the board is important. It flushes your memory and allows you to start from scratch. It might even be better to mix a song that you finished recording a while back. 1. Get Kicked. This is where I prefer to start. Other people like to start with the vocals and build around them. But I’m more rhythm based and prefer to start with the kick drum. One tricky part of any mix is getting a good gain-stage structure where you don’t clip the master faders at the end of your mixing session when all your instrument faders are raised. We must be careful to keep watching the master bus clipping lights to make sure they never

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The Beginning Of The End

Now back to business...

> 37

Mastering Tips

Establishing your Mix get into the red. Here is why the kick is a good place to start. Play your songs and watch the master bus VU meters. This is probably the only time you will “mix with your eyes”. As you’re watching the master VU meter, slowly raise the kick fader until the master meter reads about -7dB. If you are a four piece band, then you can leave the kick there and move on. But if you have a really dense tune, then you may have to lower the kick to -8dB or so (to leave room for all the other instruments as they come up). Now you are set to mix. The kick should be the only channel that you set levels by watching. Every other channel mixed into the song will be with your ears relative to the kick. 2. Moving On

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From now on, it’s pretty much a free-for-all. Some people like to move on to the bass next, in order to find the balance for the low-end of the song. Other people like to keep working on the drum kit “as a whole” before moving to other instruments. I prefer to move onto the drum kit over-head mics.

They say that a great drum kit sound can be captured using only two over-head mics, and a kick mic. And it’s true. Some of my tunes only use three mics on the final mixed versions, even though we had used up to ten mics for the recording of the kit. If you placed your over-head mics properly (i.e.: so the snare sounds centered in the stereo image, and not skewed to the left or right speaker) then you will have a better stereo image of the drum kit when the mix is finished. Otherwise you might have to do some

fancy panning or EQ to get a balanced image with the drum kit. You can now bring in the rest of the kit underneath the over heads to fill out the sound. I prefer to leave EQ and effects to the very end of the mix, after all of the instruments are playing. Try to place your toms in the same panning position as the overhead mics recorded them. If your floor tom in the overheads is to the right at 3 o’clock then pan your individual floor tom fader to the same position. And don’t forget to check your phase between your mics pointing down and your mics pointing up. 3. Big Bottom Now I like to add in the bass. Nothing too important here if you have good source audio. I’m also a huge side-chaining fan. I LOVE to side-chain the bass with the kick so the low end frequencies wouldn’t fight for space in the mix. It just makes things sound “tighter”. Sometimes you may have to eq the

Establishing your Mix

4. Pads and More Here is where I add the “pad” type of sounds. These are sounds that usually have longer sustains and hold the chords of the song. Sounds like strings, sustained electric guitar chords, synth pads, and maybe even some rhythm acoustic guitars are great foundation instruments. I like to lay these instruments on top of the drums and bass tracks we have already mixed. You can get very creative with the panning of these sounds and create a wide stereo field. This will help make your mix interesting by allowing your lead instruments and vocals sit in the center of your stereo image, attracting attention to themselves. 5. The Vox

6. The Rest You can start adding effects and other fancy shmancy things to your tune. Get funky with automating some pan knobs, fade-in some pads etc.. Here is a good time to get creative. It’s also a very good time to actively listen and re-adjust your mix. Is the kick too loud? Should I put some higher frequencies on the bass? Should I compress the backing vocals more? Is the coffee finally ready? When you feel you have a good mix, burn it to CD and listen to it EVERYWHERE! In the car, in the bath, at home, on the TV set, at your friend’s place etc., and make a lot of notes. And at the end, if all your notes cancel out, then you are finished!

About The Author: Richard Dolmat is owner, engineer and producer for the Vancouver based recording studio Digital Sound Magic. Visit his site at: www.digitalsoundmagic.com.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Let’s finally add the vocals. I usually start off with the lead vocal, and then place all the harmony and background vocals underneath the lead. Sometimes, you can end up putting the vocal a little too high in the mix, and a great way to check this is to turn your monitors way down and listen to the mix at an almost inaudible level. This way of listening to your mix will surprise you, but you have to be confident and trust your ears. If something sounds

disproportionately loud at this quiet level, then it is too loud. If you must, then you can compress the vocals too, but that really depends on the song’s style. Maybe a few fader rides are a better choice then some static compression.

Mastering Tips

lowest of the lows out of the kick in order to make a little more room for the bass to sit in the mix.

Visit to to the the Synth Museum

Flashback

A A

by Steve James

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

I wrote this article in 2000 when I was living in the US. It was never published and I recently discovered it on one of my discs. It tells the story of my visit to the New England Synthesizer Museum, located in New Hampshire. A fine place indeed for anyone into gear! It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Visit to to the the Synth Museum A A

One morning as we were busy scoffing down brunch, I was handed a cell phone and told to call this Dave guy and arrange an appointment. Since his museum is in his home, appointments are a necessity. Now, I won't go into how impractical it was to get to this place and still have time to visit Salem, or how my obsession with old

keyboards made me drag everyone else into it for the entire afternoon (needless to say, I felt rather guilt stricken AFTER I'd seen the keyboards!). Just let it be known that if you plan on doing this, please try to go with like-minded Gearhounds! We crank-turned the old doorbell and Dave appeared at the entranceway into his eclectic abode. He was big, round and bespectacled and he was shrouded in the shyness of the avid collector. As we stepped over the threshold I could see masses of loose resistors like colorful candy spilling over the staircase steps. Circuit boards and crumpled grocery receipts filled the gaps in between.

Flashback

From the moment I first discovered the website of the New England Synth Museum, I was intrigued! The collector and curator of this gear sanctuary is Dave Wilson. On the website he is pictured alongside racks of synthesizers and looks pretty happy surrounded by all those circuits and random resistors. Since I just had to get a peek, I decided that on our fateful journey to Boston and New Hampshire over the holiday break I'd try to make my way over there. Convincing the people I was with proved to be quite another story, as they had very little interest in seeing dusty Moogs and the like.

We navigated the shaky stairs and entered a room where I saw the silicon brains of an Oberheim sticking out of its silvery gray shell. "Oh yes, I'm currently repairing this one", Dave said with quiet authority. He then explained to me what each bit of the circuit does and what sounds are generated. I failed to understand at least half of it, but it sounded great! There was a Casio CZ1000 propped up in one corner, flanked by a Poly Moog and straggly bundles of wire. It really was a grand feast for the senses.

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"What's that over there?",I asked, dizzy with excitement. "Ahhh, that's a synth I'm building. I do it on and off, when I have the time. Its unusual in that it's..." This is where I have to stop because my limited understanding won't do his explanation any justice. It was some kind of analog/digital hybrid from what I gathered, which is rather unusual in nature and operation. This guy definitely knew a whole lot about synthesizers!

Visit to to the the Synth Museum Flashback

A A

In full tour mode, Dave took us into a side room where he showed us a rack of keyboards. I could see that the second one down was a DX7 Mk2. Cool. He flexed his fingers, punched a few keys and began to play the top board. A fat and juicy Organ sound belched from a hidden speaker. Whew! It was a Roland Rogers W50. A modern version of old circuit controlled Rogers Organs, hence the gutsy Organ noise! Dave displayed nimble fingers and a passion for the music as he rocked back and forth punching those keys. Impressive. The DX7II was warm and ready to go. Dave chose to play us a few particular patches he had designed. One evil sounding patch in particular, Dave explained with eagerness, took him eleven years to create! "They all told me that you just couldn't get this sound out of a DX7. But listen to this!" It was a rough edged sounding tweakathon of Moog-like proportions and Detroit sensibilities, patterns of sharp squared up noise. Now was the time I'd been waiting

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for!

"What would you like to play?", he asked me casually. I couldn't hold back a wee smile. After deliberating unsuccessfully for some moments I stuttered, "Well...all I know is that I want to play something old and cool!" "Ahhh, well then, you'll want to play the MiniMoog!", Dave smiled a little smile. Ahh...the MiniMoog! Creator of fat noise and fat bass lines. I could see it sitting on top of a dusty Mellotron and encased in its warm wooden shell, it positively glowed. Kraftwerk always believed that machines have a life of their own. I could feel the

friendliness emanating from this old MiniMoog! At that moment I WAS Florian Schneider!! Well, just for a brief second anyway. Then, I was in sonic heaven! Switching between white and pink noise, turning the oscillators and fiddling with the envelope produced some great sounding grainy sweeps. They were rough and ready tones that could paint a dark dreamscape. Somewhere at the back of my mind, the desire to ask him if I could take it home with me...but reason prevailed. We thanked him and I signed the visitor book. I guess a lot of gearheads come this way because the book is packed with names! One last wistful look back at the austere Poly Moog leaning against the wall and we left his Museum. Yes, there is a synth Heaven my friends and it's in Nashua, New Hampshire.

If you want to visit the museum online, browse to www.synthmuseum.com

Enigma Engine Mallory's Preset Generator for WusikEngine With this amazing utility program you can create thousands of semi-randomly generated presets for your WusikEngine SoundSets. Presets are based on 8 carefully designed algorithms, each targeting a particular type of sound.

Features include: • Presets can be created for WusikEngine V1 and V2/V3 according to preference. • Many parameters affecting the algorithms can be tweaked according to taste. • Presets can utilize sounds from multiple Sound Sets simultaneously. Supports many popular WusikEngine SoundSets, including: • Famous Keys Wusikstation)

(default

soundset

for

• Famous Keys Plus 1, 2 & 3 • Digi One • TSW, TSW Pro and Vox'd, by BITR • Manystation and Ultimate Bass Kit, by Manytone Music • SoundCell 1-3, Oberheim Resurrection and Viral Outbreak Vol 1 by Nucleus Soundlab

Only $19.99

• Ignition, Fuel and SonicScapes vol 1, by Danger ous Bear • Prepared Rhodes etc, by Zvon • Drone Structures

Now includes a utility that allows users to add support for any other SoundSets not yet directly supported internally (perhaps commercial sets converted from another format). Sound Designers can also use this to provide support for new SoundSets without requiring my input.

System Requirements: CPU: Pentium 4 or better O/S: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP RAM: At least 512MB HD: At least 100MB free space Microsoft's .NET framework V1.1 The Enigma Engine software is built upon Microsoft's .NET Framework v1.1 In order to run the Enigma Engine software, you must have the .NET Framework v1.1 installed on your system. V1.1 can happily co-exist alongside the later V2.0 of the framework but you do not need to download that. Also there is no need to uninstall V2.0

For more screenshots, a freely downloadable demo or to purchase the program, visit:

www.wusik.com/w/enigma.html

Flashback

The stuff we used to use by WilliamK

Wusik(R) WS-DOS 9.1 (C)Copyright Wusik Copr 1988-2007 C:\>print article.txt Years ago, for those who don't recall or are too young to have used it, there was this software called AXS: a full Analog + Sampler Workstation - for DOS! It would only work with a few sound-cards. I even built a separate machine, at the time, to handle just this software. It was great; you could mix analog presets with sampled drums, voices, and synths. It also had its own sequencer in Tracker style. I did several live presentations using only it and a small 9”black-and-white display. I remember sending money via regular mail to the vendor, far away in another country, and receiving a floppy-disk almost a month later. I had to use special software to make a personal backup copy as it had very effective copyprotection on it. Today you can find a free (and legal) Windows version on the Internet, so you can check it out for yourself. This may have been the first real-time analog soft-synth ever released. > “Hit Enter to continue”

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Information about AXS:

AXS stood for Another Experimental Synth and

The stuff we used to use

Flashback

was an analog synthesizer emulator. Running under DOS, it had both advantages and disadvantages: without the overhead of Windows it was quite powerful - 8 part multitimbral and up to 32 note polyphony. On the other hand it couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be run alongside a sequencer (unless you had 2 computers). There were 2 oscillators, a filter (lowpass 12/24, highpass and bandpass), 2 LFOs and 3 envelopes per sound. The filter was switchable between high pass, low pass, band pass and notch. The oscillators featured triangle, saw, square, noise and tri/saw mixture waves and could be synchronized or ring modulated. There were also global distortion and stereo delay effects. It worked with MIDI in real-time, even allowing different sounds on different channels. Every parameter had a MIDI controller assigned to it allowing full control from a keyboard. Output could be saved as a WAV file, which could then be loaded into a sampler or sequencer. The 8th channel was for drums, for which samples were used. There was also a 16-track tracker-type step sequencer built in. C:\>print article-specs.txt

Used virtual analog subtractive synthesis

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Specifications:

Flashback

The stuff we used to use

64-note (first-note priority) polyphony 8-part (Synth: 7 + Sample: 1) multitimbral 128 user presets and 128 user samples Sample memory limited to your PCs memory Sample lengths up to 16 MB Effects including Distortion (loud/soft, per part), Reverb (15 presets, global) and Stereo Delay (synced/non synced, global) 16 track sequencer (24 ticks per quarter note resolution, 32 to 255 BPM tempo) > “Hit Enter to continue” DOS version requirements:

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

• MS-DOS • 486DX or better (Pentium 200 recommended) • 4MB RAM • VESA 2.0 video card with Linear Frame Buffer • Supported sound card: SoundBlaster 16, Gravis Ultrasound Classic/Max/PnP, Terratec Maestro/EWS64, any Windows Sound System (WSS) card, any card with AD1848/CS4248 CODEC • Supported MIDI-in device: SoundBlaster 16, Gravis Ultrasound, MPU-401, COM-port (selectable baud rate)

C:\>connect COM1 BAUD 9600 NO CARRIER

The stuff we used to use

Flashback

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Tips & Tricks For Wusikstation

the

Categorized Library

and the

Ranking System by WilliamK

The Categorized Library:

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Did you know that since V3 there is a new way to browse for presets? We call it the Categorized Library. To open it, right-click on the file-browser (preset name) and select â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Browse Categorized Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. >

the

Categorized Library

and the

If you want Wusikstation to open the Library instead of the Preset-Browser by default: click on Options and select ‘Open Library’. How this Library works: Each file referenced in the library refers to a very small file that points to where the actual WusikPRST is stored. You can therefore have a single preset linked several times in the library.

If you want to add your own files there, you need to do this under ‘-By Author\User’, or in any directory under the two paths above, otherwise, you will lose the files you added. During recompilation, ALL files outside those two main folders get deleted. To link a preset to the library, open up the preset browser and right-click on the preset-name on the right, and select ‘Link to Library’. You can also use the option ‘Link Directory’ to process all files from that preset directory. Remember to place all links under ‘-By Author’ somewhere so you don't lose your files after recompiling the library. Any directory structure you create there will be placed at the root level of the ‘\Library’ directory. You can use the same system we designed: Acoustic, Bass, Synth, Pads, or even create your own. E.g.: Big Pads, Techno Stabs, Short Bass, Dance Riffs, etc. >

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Each product places its list of files under ‘-By Product’ or ‘-By Author’. After adding a new set of sounds (supplied with library files), you will need to re-compile the library. Just right-click on the filelist at the right, and select the compile option at the bottom of the list. This will read all files from the two directories mentioned above and merge them into the external list: Acoustic, Bass, Synths, Pads, etc. If the same file exists already, it will be renamed in this format: Filename 1, Filename 2, etc.

While compiling, Wusikstation will also check if the linked preset still exists, or if it was moved someplace else. If the original preset can't be found, even after searching for it, no link will be copied to the root level. This is useful for when you have deleted partial content.

Tips & Tricks For Wusikstation

This will open up a list of categorized presets. Notice that not all products use this feature, so you need to check with the sounddesigners as to which of their products already come with presets for the Categorized Library. All sounds from our Two Gig Collection are already categorized, as are magazine issues after #010.

Ranking System

Tips & Tricks For Wusikstation

the

Categorized Library

and the

Ranking System

The Ranking System: If you want to set some Presets to show first, we have a new option named â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. This works on both Library and Preset-Browser.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Right click on a filename at the right, and you will see 3 options at the middle: Mark Rank, UnMark Rank and Search Rank. >

the

Categorized Library

and the

Ranking System

Note: we don't advise sound-designers to use this feature; its purpose is to aid the end-user.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

You can also search for all files marked with rank. This helps in finding the presets you use most.

Tips & Tricks For Wusikstation

Select â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mark Rankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to make this file show first. You can select any number of files you want; they will be moved to the top of the list. A separator line will divide the rank files from the regular files.

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Interview

Featured Artist:

My Imaginary Life by Legion Hush

Featured Artist:

My Imaginary Life

Interview

My Imaginary Life is the musical works of Jessica Emelia, a 28 year old artist from Chicago who has a musical upbringing thanks to her family’s love of music. “To me, music is basically ‘sonic emotion’, if that makes any sense. Whenever I listen to a great song, it makes me feel and experience something, and that is what I strive for - to create these kinds of ‘sound paintings’ so to speak. What I really want is for people to listen and just enjoy it, and hopefully, if I do it right, it makes them feel something too.”

Influences: “I love playing with all sorts of styles and influences like beats, indie pop/rock, electro, and folk. As a matter of fact, my grandparents met in Kansas City in the 1940’s when my grandmother went onstage to sing for my grandfather’s folk band. To this day, they continue to play folk music together.” Are we not awake? “Every Saturday morning my father would wake up my brother and I by playing Devo’s ‘Whip It’ as loud as it would go.” Why the name ‘My Imaginary Life’?

“My brother randomly sent me a link to the RPM challenge site which (www.rpmchallenge.com) challenges musicians to compose an entire album within the month of February. I had wanted to give songwriting a serious try for such a long time and events had lined up so that the RPM challenge was the perfect opportunity to finally see if I could do it. Even though it was a rather difficult thing to go from never having finished a song to creating 10 songs in 28 days, I had a strange dream one night where I sort of saw myself working on the album, and I woke up knowing I could do it. It’s a rough homemade album with little things I’d like to change but overall, I’m happy with it and love all the positive responses I have received.” Recording gear: · ·

Intel Mac running OS X Tiger with Reason 3.0, and Garage Band Roland VS-840GX digital workstation

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“I kind of existed in this ambivalent place for most of my early twenties, wanting to make music, but never really finishing anything. One night as I was lying in bed, I had been thinking about my life and all these things I could be doing if I had tons of money, no obligations, etc. It occurred to me I could sort of live out these daydreams - my imaginary life - through my music, and sort of experience everything I could think of that way. So, with that concept - ‘my imaginary life’ - I finally had some sort of direction for my music, and it was then that things began to change.”

The making of M.I.L.:

Featured Artist:

Interview

My Imaginary Life

College: Favorite recording tool: “Reason 3.0. When I write songs, I have all these ideas for different instruments, orchestration, drum breaks, etc. Reason is the way I 'storyboard' my songs and fill in with instruments and drums I either don't have or can't play, and it allows me to build the songs note by note, instrument by instrument, with the piano roll and multiple tracks. Eventually I'd really like to have a band, and it's definitely ideal to use all real instruments, but since I am just a onewoman band for now, Reason fills in all the gaps for me. It allows me to create multiple tracks, has loads of instruments and drums to use, a million ways to tweak the sounds, and is very easy to cut and paste and move pieces of song around. It's very flexible and it's a great program.”

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Number one feature request to make the recording process easier:

“I love Reason, but it would be nice if it had a recording interface. It would also be nice if I could figure out how to switch between different time signatures in the same song in Reason and Garage Band, but I don't think you can.”

“I became interested in learning electric guitar so one summer, in addition to my convenience store earnings, I donated plasma a couple times a week so I could afford an electric guitar and amp.” On downloading music: “My parents own a CD store so I’m lucky to have a musical library at my disposal.”

Pimp an artist: “I've got three artists to pimp, all from the RPM Challenge, great guys and talented musicians. The first is Ryan Sutter, whose band is called Trumpet Marine. He's got a very polished indie rock sound and is an excellent songwriter. His sound is reminiscent of Elliot Smith and Rogue Wave. And then there's Joshua Wentz, another Chicago artist who made a great ambient/chill/electronica post-pop album that I love; sort of like Air. Finally, I feel James Cooley is really talented. For some reason he reminds me of Pearl Jam with sort of a classic alternative rock sound. Check out My Imaginary Life www.virb.com/myimaginarylife

What's on

your Amp

Back In Time by WilliamK

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Almost 15 years ago, as a birthday present, my sister got me a collection of 3 LP albums. It was the start of my electronica experience with respect to cinematic scores. The whole set - named Cinema - was released by Capitol Records in 1987. Actually, the complete set had 4 records, but where I lived, only three could be purchased. I kept those in mint condition, even after listening to the set over a 100 times. No one could touch it. Sadly, I lost the albums after many moves, and after switching to CD, I got rid of most of my old records anyway.

But thanks to a friend, I got a taste of the whole thing again - with a Sample CD that had a few songs from each album. It’s fun to listen to those tracks again as they take me back in time. But not only that, they sound strange somehow; it seems I have out-grown those songs. Still, they are a great listening experience, even though I no longer have a lasting fondness for them.

List of Artists: Peter Bardens, Patrick Moraz, Michael Hoenig and Amin Bhatia. Sadly iTunes only has one album: Patrick Moraz “Human Interface”. The track that I like the most was “Bones On the Beach” by Michael Hoenig. If you have some time, visit iTunes and listen to some tracks. You may enjoy the voyage.

Sound Review A Review of

WilliamK’s “Dark Ages” Instrumental Suite

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by Mike Felker

WilliamK’s Dark Ages album comes with nine instrumentals and a bonus track for your listening pleasure. The following is a track-by-track review. I wrote this review in a style where I explain what I was feeling as the songs progressed. This style of writing is important with instrumentals as they tend to evoke images in the minds of the listeners. Whether or not this is intended by the composer is a matter of debate unless clearly stated. Instrumentals evoke imagery; creating images in the mind is half the fun. Without further ado, here is the review: >

WilliamK’s “Dark Ages” Sound Review

Instrumental Suite

Dark Ages I - The Start: Dark Ages II - Memento: Memento starts very slowly with a nice string wash with a lot of shimmering phaser or chorus. The use of congas is great and effective here. There is a percussive effect used that is AWESOME - like a flapping of a butterfly's wings - really great stuff! The use of instrument hits here and there is a great touch. The lead is a really good piano. The bass line is superb and the song seems to be mixed quite well. There seems to be a background of people talking - which is very interesting to hear in a particularly ethnic piece. Once again, Memento is mesmerizing in its simplicity of beat structure. Three minutes into the song, we have a GREAT transition and the use of an accordion-like instrument makes for a compelling change from the main parts of this song. A great sounding acoustic piano is also being used (love to know if that is a Wusik piano - if so, I want it) in this piece, especially after the first chorus. This is the kind of music you can listen to over-and-over again without ever tiring of it, even with consideration to its seven-and-a-half minute length. A fantastic ending finishes this enjoyable song.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

This song is replete with imagery. The listener is treated to Indian chanting, big vocal wash pads and a good beat. There is an annoying overly-loud bell or chime, but that is the only thing negative about this enjoyable piece. The bass line is good and there’s some great use of percussion - such as bongos, a techno-like snare, and a reliable bass drum beat. These elements carry the song to fruition. At 7 minutes and 14 seconds, Dark Ages I is pretty much on target as a new age/instrumental piece. This song is particularly good for background use for tasks or relaxation. Even though the tempo is quick, it is easy to zone out and enjoy the visualizations represented, including lots of chanting vocals, vocal washes and rare ethnic instruments. The overloud solo, however, will wake you up a bit. However, a very nice ethnic set of instruments is used throughout. I particularly enjoyed the use of a talking drum around five minutes into the piece. The theme is restated several times so that the listener is reminded of what the composer was trying to convey. The bass line is TRULY mesmerizing and could easily put you in a hypnotic state ("You WILL buy Wusik, you WILL like WilliamK" just kidding). All-in-all, I would have to say this album is off to a great start.

Sound Review

WilliamK’s “Dark Ages” Instrumental Suite

Dark Ages III - Nova Era: Once again, William has decided to use a very ethnic groove structure. He uses interesting vocalists in the beginning, reminiscent of a sorcerer or monk, along with female voices. This gives way to a very ethno-rock beat and use of a string-like lead instrument. Hand claps and other percussion instruments are used to good effect. This piece has a mid-east flair and could be easily used in a Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones movie. The use of a wonderful flute trill really excites. Nova Era has so much imagery my brain is awash with Moorish figures, Middle Eastern and Indian landmarks. The Taj Mahal comes to mind. I could imagine a Sultan basking in the hot desert sun with the Taj (I know it's a crypt, but it still comes to mind) in the background, beautiful Indian goddesses fanning him as he dines on fruit and wine - his disciples doing his every bidding as camels stroll by. This song evokes so much imagery that I am getting parched by the hot sun as I listen! A truly fantastic piece and a pleasure to listen to.

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Dark Ages IV - Jungle Rain:

Jungle Rain begins with a solitary piano solo and then a rain sound effect fades in. The piano in this piece is quite good and very soulful. The beginning has a true sadness to it. You can actually feel a longing for what is ahead. At 9 minutes and 20 seconds, this is the longest piece in the suite. The repetitive nature of the piano solo makes you feel something big is coming. The use of a grand percussive strike, synthetic string crescendos and people talking in the background confirms that something is about to happen. The percussive track fades in very slowly

over three minutes into the piece. That overly annoying metallic sound is back from Dark Ages I - The Start. Jungle Rain really has you guessing what is about to happen as even half-way into the song, the repetitive phrase if played over-and-over again. It creates an air of mystery. You are treated to instrumental "hits" that crescendo like a gong. Unfortunately, the song does not get going any further, but the mysterious voices and other background whales, cries, bells, and sound effects tell a bit of the story. I feel that this is the weakest of the songs so far even though it does evoke plenty of imagery. I do have to say that it is nice to see such a variation of instrumentals in this album. Jungle Rain is certainly different from all the rest.

Dark Ages V - Warfare: In a word - NICE! The song starts with some great timpani hits and a solid drum track. A bit electro, this piece has drama written all over it. Superb string and orchestra hits feel well-placed in telling the story. Gong and cymbal hits also do an effective job adding to the drama. A much shorter track than the rest, at just under five minutes, “Warfare” wastes no time in getting to the point. While the groove is most certainly electro, the instrumentation is ethnic and orchestral with bits of synth here and there - eclectic, yet interesting. The mixing is well done and nothing hurts the ears. Some very good organ soloing is a nice departure from the other orchestral instrumentation. The timpani rolls and fills are just awesome. The music has a constant transposition to it, evoking even more drama. In true WilliamK fashion, the percussion ends and the song finishes nicely.

WilliamK’s “Dark Ages”

Dark Ages VI - Holding Time: With a simply superb stereo panning effect, this slow rock piece is off to a perfect start. The solid bass line is very cool and electro percussion is used to good effect. Arpeggios are used to move the song along, string instruments play in and out, and a really good piano lead makes this song very enjoyable. The drum tracks are really great and different from the rest of the songs thus far. There are some slight timing issues with some of the fill instruments, but overall this song is well done. In fact, this song has quite a jazz feel to it: the piano seems to answer the questions made by the percussive elements that undulate in and out. I like the use of synth strings toward the end. “Holding Time” is a really good song, even though it ends rather abruptly.

Dark Ages VII - The Field:

Dark Ages VIII - A New Dimension: Hmmm. How do I describe this song? It is instrumental and electro in nature. It uses a short, abrupt sound for the lead and has an interesting percussive stutter effect as a fill. It has bell chimes and a synthetic string wash in the background. It’s not 100% useful for meditation or background music; this song demands the listener pay attention. Like "The Field," there is plenty going on. Unlike other songs on this album, "A New Dimension" does not have as clear a bass line and uses a more trance-like bass sound in an attempt to carry the piece. It is definitely different. Very unusual drums are being used - like a cross between a Dejembe and a Talking Drum. A Theremin-like whistle in the background fades in and out. A harpsichord or very outof-tune piano (an electric piano of sorts) is used as a lead. The song ends with the whistle.

Dark Ages IX - The City: City sounds accost you. Baleful percussion bends out of shape. An electro organ-like drum pattern begins. A treated piano makes discordant sounds. Cars and busses drive by as these chaotic instruments play. "The City" is a mix of industrial, instrumental and electro. There are no traditional fills to be heard in this song. The City sound effects are used as the transitions between parts of this piece. This is by far, the creepiest of the songs in the Dark Ages suite. A Doppler Effect is used quite well on the passing vehicles as the song ends.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Wow. This one is eerie. A family is talking amongst themselves while an almost scary instrument plays a baleful tune. You can hear wind blowing and other background sound effects as the song begins to take shape. A hybrid of ethno and electro, the percussive groove gets going as a very mid east sounding instrument plays. Lots of congas and bongos prevail. A string instrument plays in the background as more vocal effects and other weird oddities fade in and out. The bass line, once again, is solid and carries this tune. Like other elements, the bass line fades in and out. This would normally degrade or disrupt a song, but it works here. If one categorized "The Field," it would actually be placed in the "Experimental" genre - it really feels like an experiment in music and vocal effects. Towards the end, a good piano piece

begins and adds some normalcy to this otherwise eerie tune.

Sound Review

Instrumental Suite

Sound Review

WilliamK’s “Dark Ages” Instrumental Suite

Bonus Track - Rock the House: This track starts with a very cool ambient drum roll replete with massive reverb effects. The bass line comes in and then a pretty decent rock beat begins. The initial drum fill is particularly good. There is a very nice reverb wash over the entire song. A simplistic lead arpeggio leads up to a cool and very wet electric guitar lead. Following that, the song becomes very grungy as a crunch guitar can be heard in the background as sound effects and a very hard rock beat transform this song. We get treated to more hard rock lead guitar and then the drums come in and lead us home. Finally, the crescendo drum hit ends this very likeable song.

All-in-all, “Dark Ages” was a treat to listen to. Although one or two tracks may not be as of much interest to me as the other seven, this album has enough diversity to be enjoyed by almost anyone – especially fans of new age and electro music. The creative talents of WilliamK (of Wusik fame) are obvious. Not only is he a genius programmer, but a deeply talented musician and composer as well.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

I HIGHLY recommend “Dark Ages” to anyone, young or old, large or small. It is a treat for the senses and a great way to study the art of musical imagery.

I can only hope that WilliamK decides to make more, although it may be hard to top this one!

Sound Review

Kjaerhus Audio Golden Audio Gate by R(t)O

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Kjaerhus Audio has distinguished themselves in the plug in market by first offering the rock-solid Classic Series of free VST effects and then offering the reasonably priced Golden Series VST effects. Using their proprietary Advanced Component Level Modeling (ACLM) technology, each unit in the Golden Series delivers superior performance with an acceptable level of resource usage. Today we are going to take a closer look at the Golden Audio Gate (GAG-1). >

Kjaerhus Audio Golden Audio Gate

I tested the standard version of the plug-in in Sonar 6 Producer Edition version 6.21, and the side chain versions in Reaper 1.857. The GAG-1 version was 1.01. It is important to note that not all hosts support the routing necessary to do side chaining. If side chaining is important to you, make sure you refer to your host documentation to see if it is supported.

The plug-in has a neat and ordered layout and keeps with the aesthetic profile found with other Gold Series plug-ins. Just beneath the Kjaerhus Audio logo is a row of

Beneath the buttons is the plug-in controls section. The top half is dedicated to the main audio path and sports a rotary knob for the threshold, as well rotaries for the envelope parameters - attack, hold, and decay. The main section also has buttons for controlling the On, Duck, and Stereolink features, as well as a gain meter to show how much gain is applied to the input signal. The bottom left section houses the side chain controls. The source selector switch determines the source of the signal routed into the side chain. If you are using MIDI side chaining, you will select your MIDI notes to activate the left and right side chain. There are also two knobs to control corner frequency of the excellent low-cut and high-cut filters. Another useful feature is the listen button, which allows you to hear the signal being passed through the side chain. Finally, the bottom right section houses the dynamic parameters. Depending on the relationship of the input signal level to the threshold setting, these parameters work together to control the attenuation of the audio signal.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

If the term gate invokes a simple bi-state, on-off, device, then open your mind to other possibilities; because the GAG-1 operates as a controlled dynamic processing system. The gate just doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t slam open and closed, the gate smoothly transitions between states, providing a precise attenuation of the audio signal. It is possible to dial in a pseudo-bi-state operation, but you have a whole range of possibilities available to you as well.

Sound Review

The Golden Audio Gate (GAG-1) is a multifunction gate, expander, and ducking plug-in. When you buy the plug-in, you are licensed to run all 3 versions; the standard (2 in 2 out) version, the stereo side chain (4 in 2 out) version, and the mono side chain (2 in 1) out version.

buttons that access the utility portion if the plug-in. You can access an A|B comparison, load and save presets, open the manual or the about window, and place the plug-in in MIDI learn mode.

Sound Review

Kjaerhus Audio Golden Audio Gate

I tested this plug-in in a variety of scenarios using all three variations. In each case, I was very pleased with its performance. The filters are high quality, giving you precise control over the frequencies allowed to pass through the side chain. By properly applying the dynamic and envelope section, I could be as subtle or as direct with attenuation as I wanted to be.

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All parameters can be controlled by MIDI CC messages. You can assign messages by placing the plug-in in MIDI learn mode and dialing in the controls. This makes the plug-in especially useful for live performance applications.

The GAG-1 supports the standard VST preset and bank file (.fxp and .fxb) system. It also supports Kjaerhus Audioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proprietary (.kpa and .kpb) format. The standard presets can only be used in the variation in which they were created (e.g. if created in the standard variation, then they can only be used in the standard variations); however, the proprietary format can be used in all three variations regardless of the variation used to create them. This is a definite enhancement to the workflow. An electronic manual in Adobe Acrobat format is provided. It is well-written and easy to understand. Chapter 4 contains several application examples that you can step through. Throughout the manual, there

are several useful hints and tips designed to help you cater the plug-in parameters to your specific needs. There are a couple items that can be improved upon though. The manual is a little light at 20 pages. While the content that is provided is good, it could be expanded in certain areas - notably, sequencer specific tips and tricks. Also, the number of included presets is minimal. Kjaerhus Audio does have a patch sharing page on their website where you can download additional presets, but it would be nice if they included a few more presets in the installed package. The plug-in is Windows only and sells for $78.00 from the Kjaerhus Audio web store www.kjaerhusaudio.com/purchase.php). The GAG-1 is also included in the Gold Bundle, which is priced at $466.00. A 14day demo version is available. The plug-in uses a personalized key file for copy protection. This plug-in delivers in a big way on what it promises. Kjaerhus Audio has put together an excellent offering. If you need a gate effect that offers superior control at a modest price, then this is something worth looking at. I do not hesitate to recommend the GAG-1.

Visit www.viraloutbreak.net For tons of demo mp3s and to Purchase!

Viral Outbreak Volume One Is finally here for Wusikstation. Viral Outbreak Volume * Over 2gb (Wusik Format) Sick of searching for One is the first in a series of of multisamples comprised of sounds and plugins that sample libraries based on the 130+ soundsets. are supposed to sound sounds of the Virus TI * virtually all soundsets stereolike a Virus, but don't? hardware synthesizer. Using sampled for the greatest depth. Get the real thing - and the power of extensive 96khz * Sampled at 32-bit 96khz harnass its power in multisampling, manual looping quality! For resource efficiency, then Wusikstation! and professional preset design carefully downsampled to 24-bit Nucleus SoundLab brings the TI sound to your 48khz. sampler! * Nearly 750 Wusikstation v3 presets, many taking advantage of all the new v3 Viral Outbreak Volume One is available now features! (450 presets for Wusik v1) for Wusikstation v1/v2/v3, SFZ, and Kontakt 1/2. * The best preset designers out there: Viral Outbreak Volume One contains all ToTc, Teksonik, Tim Conrardy, Jeremy Janzen, manner of TI-based sounds. Classic wavetables, rsmus7 and more! raw saw and pulse waveforms (sampled at multiple * An amazing, TI-inspired, Wusikstation v1pulsewidths), unison dance leads, breathtaking v3 skin by Vera Kinter. pads and even punchy synth drumkits. Details:

Wusik Sound Magazine April 2007 #012

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Sound Review

Manytone Ultimate Bass Kit

and

Ovation Acoustic/Electric Bass by David Keenum

From the beginning of MIDI programming, the Electric Bass has been an elusive instrument. Synth basses came in a wide variety of flavors, from a DX sound to the mighty Minimoog. But that electric bass soundâ&#x20AC;Ś >

Manytone Basses Sound Review

electric bass? And, what if you want to emulate a real bass’s playing characteristics? What if you want to explore the sound of one bass? There are choices here too, but they are more limited. This is the niche where Manytone Music’s 3 Bass collectionsare intended to fit. The collections are the Ultimate Bass Kit ($29.99), Upright Bass ($19.99), and Ovation Acoustic/Electric Bass ($19.95). Each comes in Soundfont and wusikSND formats. The Upright and Ovation basses also come in Vsampler format. The Upright Bass was reviewed by Wouter (aka Kyran) in WSM #10, so we will take a look at the other two. In the mid-1990s I was working on a motorcycle-influenced country CD. Yes, there is a story there. One of the songs was, “You Make Your Soft Tail Hard!” You have to know some motorcycle lingo to get that, but let me get back to why I brought up this recording session. We were trying to use one of the electric bass sounds from the Proteus 1 module. It was hopeless. It sounded so… so… artificial. We ended up hiring a bass player, and even though he played directly through the microphone pre-amp, the sound was far superior to the Proteus bass. So I began my quest for a bass sampleset that will give me the ability to sound real.

This entire collection is based on samples of a Fender Squire Affinity Precision bass guitar recorded direct (no bass amp). The idea here is to give you an accurate, detailed instrument that you can customize with EQ, compression, and amp simulators. You could also re-amp the samples and run the sound through a real amp if you wanted to. This is central to the sound of this collection. You get detailed samples of a single instrument played in a variety of styles. We will discuss the playing styles below.

The Manual UBK comes with a helpful 9-page PDF manual. It includes information on downloading (163mb for the wusikSND download), installation (soundsets in the soundsets folder, presets in the presets folder), the various soundsets, and using those soundsets in your music. If you’re interested in this collection but

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Things are different now: bass samples are more detailed, with longer samples. But most bass sample collections are general in character. They give you a variety of basses and amps. Instruments like Hardcore Bass and Trilogy give you an awesome collection of expertly recorded and programmed bass sounds, including electric basses. You can scroll through the presets until you find a sound you like. But what if you are looking for a detailed

The Ultimate Bass Kit (UBK)

> 67

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Sound Review

Manytone Basses

want more information you can download the manual from the Manytone website (www.manytone.com). In my opinion, the website and the manual provide a lot of information on how to use this product. I found myself referring to it repeatedly.

The Soundsets The manual gives you a detailed description of each soundset. To generalize, each soundset is based on a playing or muting technique. Most of the soundsets include 3 octaves of notes in the specified style, mutes, and slides. Some also contain natural harmonics, fret noises, and other noises. There are 13 soundsets: three styles of fingered playing (one palm muted), two styles of picked playing (one muted), natural and artificial harmonics, Parallel and Perpendicular slapping, Tapping, Deep Bass, Reggae Bass and Funk Bass. Both the website and the manual will give you more information about each of these. Suffice it to say that most playing styles are covered.

The Presets Most of the presets are an extension of the soundsets. There are several presets that layer two presets, but mainly, they are variations of the soundsets. Because of my own preferences, my favorite presets were based on the Basics and Fingered soundsets. There are several "special effect" presets. They are extras, but they could be useful for spice or atmosphere. Here are some interesting presets: Winter Ghosts - sounds a little like a glass harmonium Sub Bass - will work as a “sine” (sinewave) bass Morning Harp - a haunting, reverb-laden preset made from the Tapping soundset; it sounds like a harp with the attack removedCrystalline - artificial harmonic soundset – The sound of a stick and a bell without an attack. You would buy this collection, however, for its ability to recreate bass sounds - and this is the focus of the bulk of the presets. So how does it sound? Well… like a bass. Actually like a

Manytone Basses

four string bass. You could almost describe the sound as “plain,” but that would miss the point. It sounds like a Direct-Input (DI) electric bass. I think it would help to describe the sound as containing a lot of fundamental, as opposed to a lot of mid-frequency information. For me, this is a good thing.

In short, the UBK was designed to give the player/programmer the ability to create an accurate electric bass part, and this it does. I’m not aware of another sample collection like this,

Also, knowledge of bass performance techniques will be helpful in putting together a realistic bass part. To a certain extent, you need to learn to think like a bass player (cue bass player jokes!). Well, at least you could to learn how bass players use techniques like muting and slides. I wonder if it would be helpful for Manytone to create a tutorial on UBK? Well, at least, listen to bass players, read the manual, and practice playing. It will pay off.

Ovation Acoustic/Electric Bass The Ovation Bass is both similar to the UBK, and different. The sampling and programming reminds me of UBK, but the sound is quite different. There are only two soundsets: miked and direct, each weighing in at about 137mb. The idea is to combine the two soundsets to create “your” sound. Here is the layout for both soundsets:

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Don’t get me wrong, there is “character” in the soundsets. For example, the top layer of the Fingered soundset is played hard enough to rattle the frets. It makes it sound real. When a bass player “digs in,” the strings can rattle against the frets a little. I will say that a part created with UBK will benefit from at least a little compression, and probably not much else. Well, although the UBK sounds fine as is, I would really like to hear UBK through bass amplifier emulation, like the IK Multimedia Ampeg SVX. I wonder what that would add to the sound?

Before I finish, I have two quick asides. First of all, the UBK, and to a smaller extent the Ovation, sounded a good bit different when using my Keystation 49 controller. Apparently, the Keystation triggers the higher velocity samples. In fact, it was rather difficult to trigger the low and moderate velocities. When I switched to my weighted keyboard, the UBK sounded a lot better. So with this in mind, I would recommend a “better” (not cheap) controller with as many keys as possible. The velocity programming is important to the sound.

Sound Review

at this price point. Scarbee has stated that they will soon release their Black Bass. But it needs Kontakt and is priced at $99.00. So, for its specific application… and for Wusikstation, UBK is it.

Sound Review

Manytone Basses C-1 - D#1 - Harmonics E1 - A#1 - String and note slides B1 - A#5 - 3 velocity layers of full length notes mapped 0-84 Soft layer, 85 - 125 Medium layer and 126 -127 Heavy layer. Includes drop tuned low D and C notes mapped down to low B1 B5 - G9 - Muted notes You would, ideally, use a combination of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;regularâ&#x20AC;? notes and the muted notes to create your part. The string and note slides would help you achieve the realism of a real player. I say this because, just like the UBK, this collection is designed for emulating a real player. This bass is like a 4 string bass version of an acoustic guitar, and it has a sound unlike any other bass. It is an acoustic bass that plays similar to an electric bass. If you saw any of the MTV Unplugged performances, you saw this type bass.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

This is the type of music the Ovation Acoustic/Electric Bass was designed to play: contemporary acoustic rock, folk, or country. In my opinion, it would fit well with acoustic

guitars and pianos, and really any acoustic sounding music. The sound of the bass has more mid-frequency than an electric bass. Also, it has more dynamic range than its electric counterpart. To my ears, its sound is between an upright bass and an electric bass, but also distinctive as well. The muted samples, on the other hand, have a lot of fundamental. And as a side note, the muted samples would give you a basic useful sound in a variety of musical styles. There are demos on the Manytone website, and they will give you a better idea of the sound I am trying to describe. The presets are all bass oriented and based on either the miked soundset, the direct soundset, or a combination of the two. After spending some time with the collection, my preference is to mainly hear the miked sound with just a little bit of the direct blended in. It would be easy to create my own preset from the 005 Mic and PU preset. There are a variety of presets, including some by ToTc. >

Manytone Basses Sound Review

I don’t know of any sample collection similar to this. Bela D. Media’s Studio B: The Rock Collection contains an acoustic bass guitar, but the collection is priced at $199.99. Not exactly the same price point.

ManyBass. ManyBass has 2.4 gig of new 24 bit, electric bass guitar multi-samples included in a player that contains amp sims, a compressor, a cabinet emulation and more.

The Wrap-up

So could I use these two collections to simulate a real bass player? Absolutely! But it will take some practice to master these collections. In my recording trials, I was pleased by the result, but I also saw that I needed to develop my technique. With simple bass patches, you just play your part. With these two collections, you can do that, but why not dig in and develop your ability to think like a bass player.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Manytone has created two useful collections for musicians who want to emulate a bass player. Both the web pages and the manual (UBK) contain a lot of information that can help you succeed with these collections. They also maintain a support forum on KVR (www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5 6) where you can ask performance questions as well as product information. My one desire would be to hear the UBK through a bass cabinet or emulation, and apparently, Paul Brown and the other “manytoners” have just created a new product to do just that:

The Synth Romance Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

Too many stuff? by WilliamK

"You show me yours, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll show you mine"

Too many stuff?

Let’s go back in time, around 8 years ago. There was this guy; he used to have all kinds of hardware synths in his garage. But he never got to make any good music with it (Ok, well, maybe one or two pieces). At the time, I was using a simple old GT64 sound-card with several sound-banks that I had created, and a copy of Cakewalk ProAudio that came with my old SoundBlaster. With those, I created over 10 songs, and later released a double-CD album. It was mainly old-school techno, but still - that showed that sometimes the simple stuff, when used at its fullest, can have a very large impact on what you do. Now let’s go forward 8 years in time, to 2007. Most people are moving to software, but that also brings with it the same problem: “How many VSTs are enough?” I understand there are people who collect almost every free VST that was ever released - imagine that!

I'm one that cares mostly of samples since they’re easier to handle, and you can use them all in one program. That's why I created Wusikstation - to work as a powerful Workstation in much the same way I used to have everything on my old systems: GT64 card, Ensoniq TS-10, etc. During the whole analog revolution, there were a few bands doing electronic music just with hardware samplers - partly due to the flexibility as compared to most limited analog devi-ces at the time. I remember getting a CD full of analog sounds from a series of vintage keyboards - all ready to load on my setup; everything in one box.

The Synth Romance

"Sometimes I wonder if I don't have too many synths..." I hear that a lot from users who collect stuff as opposed to actually creating music. "Sometimes the best tool is the one you know how to use." I heard that from an old friend; he was and is still right.

So, the next time you think about checking out a new synth, maybe think twice: “do I really need that?” Try organizing the stuff you already have. Maybe you have enough and don't realize it.

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The Synth Romance

Too many stuff?

Of course, when it comes to extra sounds, nothing is really enough. We get bored and tired of the same old stuff. We are always seeking that new fresh sound; nothing wrong with that. That's one reason why we created this magazine - so nobody grows weary of their own sound-collection. If we could really go with only one set of sounds, there wouldn't be so many options on the market. But again, if you have tons of stuff and don't even know what you actually have, what's the point? Organization is the key. Using fewer synths is also important, but most of all, remembering what each can do for you. “So what would you suggest?” I'm glad you asked that. First of all, test every VST you have, and see what you really use and what you could discard. Organize the stuff you really plan to keep. Put them into folders, divided by some categorization scheme that makes sense to you. For example: Bass Synths, Samplers, etc., or even divide by Analog and Digital. That's up to you to decide - whatever will help you out.

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

If you don't experiment that much with different sounds, discard those weird non-musical synths. You aren’t going to use those. But on the other side, if you like experimental music, keep those in a separate folder.

When it comes to your samples, you can really go crazy, as you can divide by any way you want. If the software you use supports duplicated presets without eating up your harddisk space, try dividing by more than one system. Try this: new sounds, old sounds, premium sounds, stuff I hardly use - that should be a good start. Now copy the same presets (not the samples) to another system: acoustic, bass, synths, pads - pretty much like the Wusikstation Categorized Library we created some time ago. That way you can easily find that piano sound or a bass for your new tracks. Maybe even create some templates with the sounds you like best. After thinking about this twice, I realized something: aren't geniuses the most unorganized of them all? But yet, they still create – some even profusely. How they do it? Maybe a pure chaos system works best? I don't really know … I’ll have to ask a mastermind.

Artvera presents her first commercial sound project for Wusikstation - MISTRAL. This sound library offers Wusikstation users the chance to own a collection of ethnic sounds - string instruments, drums/percussion, woodwinds, vocals and more. With more than 300 presets and 300 megabytes of sample data it's a great inspiration for musicians in any kind of music, especially composers of Film, Ethnic, NewAge or Ambient music. The presets contain not only individual instruments but also longer melodic sequences. Many presets take advantage of all the new features of Wusikstation version 3. In addition, there are very interesting pads with extra sounds which can be used in different music styles. These pads have been created by combining multiple ethnic instruments. The package also contains percussive/drum sequences and even some nature sounds, which have been used to create some special sound effects.

MISTRAL contains also a free bonus - two variants of a new skin for Wusikstation, in both normal and large sequencer formats (see the preview of main page below). The MISTRAL presets have been created by Vera Kinter (Artvera), Daniel Kemp (dnekm) and Stephan M端sch (rsmus7). The price is very friendly - only $30. Release is scheduled for March 2007. www.artvera-music.com/ Wusik Sound Magazine April 2007 #012

List of Sounds

HQ Synthetica Volume 8 by Kevin Breidenbach - aka synthgeek www.skincontact.com/synthgeek Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\HQ Synthetica\Volume 08 25 Presets - 5 SoundSets - 65 Meg This is the Eight volume of our special High Quality (HQ) Synth Sounds. (check issue #007 for detailed information)

Lite Guitar by WilliamK Multi Velocity Sampled Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\Issue 0014\Lite Guitar 16 Presets - 2 SoundSets - 29 Meg

Back to Bass-ics Presets Atmospheres

Wusik Sound Magazine June 2007 #014

by Karmacomposer www.mfelkerco.com

Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\Issue 0014\Atmospheres 31 Presets - 25 SoundSets - 344 Meg

Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\Issue 0014\Back to Bassics 7 Presets

List of Sounds

Old School Drums by Zachariah Weckter Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\Issue 0014\Old School Drums 41 Presets - 18 SoundSets - 20 Meg

Solina Set by WilliamK

A pro audio daily news and reviews resource dedicated to computer musicians, sound engineers and hobbyists everywhere since â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;99.

Location: \Presets\Wusik Sound Magazine\Issue 0014\Solina 29 Presets - 6 SoundSets - 31 Meg

Wusik Sound Magazine June3 2007 #014