Wsm - September 2007 - Issue 017 by Wusik Dot Com

WUSIK MAGAZINE

September 2007

#017

WUSIK.COM

Who Is Really Being Punished

Magazine Layout: MoniKe Editors: R(t)O, WilliamK and MoniKe

Editorial

Articles by: DamBros Especial thanks to Claudia Picchi David Keenum Kevin Burke www.kevinburke.ca Michael Knubben Mike Felker - aka Karmacomposer www.mfelkerco.com R(t)O Squibs www.musician.ie Triple-P www.triplep.wusik.com Wouter Dullaert - aka Kyran www.kyran.wayouthere.co.uk Zachariah Weckter www.strict-9.net

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

Pictures: www.dreamstime.com Photo Credits: Interview: Novakill - Virginia Young Wusikstation V4 Advertising Background: Michael Knubben Cover: Alexander Stoica www.beatslaughter.de

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Back Cover: Johan Vaxelaire

WilliamK and MoniKe

by R(t)O

I will be the first to admit that software piracy is a growing threat to the music software market. Many of the smaller development houses bear a greater burden than the more established houses when their products are pirated. I cannot imagine the sickening feeling that developers feel when waking up one morning and finding, on some warez site, the product into which they poured all of their effort. This is, after all, the developer’s art and livelihood, and, with one criminal act, some insignificant nobody steals the food from the developer’s table. However, the steps a few development houses are taking to combat piracy are, in my opinion, counterproductive and could very well backfire by causing loyal customers to walk away. Arcane copy protection methods such as challenge/response can be cumbersome for any size studio. If it’s Saturday night and the server is down, you may not be able to use the software until Monday morning when someone reads your support mail. If you need that software for a piece of work on Sunday, you are out of luck. Each tool in your studio represents an investment, and when that investment isn’t working for you, it becomes a liability. Some developers try to justify it by saying it only happens to a small percentage of users. If it happens to one user, then that is one user too many. If you couple this Draconian style of copy protection with a customer service policy that is riddled with paranoia (as is often the case), you have the perfect recipe for customer alienation. I have seen entirely too many legitimate customers being treated like thieves when they have registration issues. I am not referring to the customers who shoot themselves in the foot by losing their serial number and every other document that can be used to verify their status. The customer has the responsibility to be able to validate themselves to the vendor. I am referring to the customer who has provided the proper credentials and is forced to endure the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition before the product is activated. Another plague we are forced to endure is lethargic customer support. I have sent in requests to have my product activations reset and waited weeks for the work to be done. And, when it was finally reset, the support tech had the nerve to get tart with me for sending in multiple requests. I recognize that the developer needs to protect their intellectual property. The dedication and innovation shown by the developer needs to generate a nice reward. But, forcing your paying customers to jump through hoops like circus animals while not even making an effort to catch the real criminal(s) is just simply unacceptable. If the RIAA can catch people pirating songs, surely the developers can band together and form an organization to lobby on their behalf. It makes me sick to know that some musicians are sinking to the level of using illegal software. These are the same musicians who whine the loudest when one of their tunes appear without their consent on a file sharing network, but, in the same breath, justify using cracked software. The hypocrisy of this just too obvious to ignore. I have always felt that the products from the smaller development houses represented the true cutting edge of softsynth technology. In order to step out from the shadows cast by the big players, they have to offer something truly innovative. However, regardless of how innovative the product is, I cannot support it if it doesn’t support me. I have walked away from companies who insist on punishing me for someone else’s crime.

Amazon by DamBros Getting Started: An Inexpensive Pack of Tools by Triple-P

Diversions: Proud to be MĂŠtis by Kevin Burke

Creating Sounds: Dubsteb Bass by Wouter Dullaert

Gear Review: Audio Damage by Triple-P

CamelPhat and CamelSpace by Michael Knubben Ohmicide Now by Triple-P

56 62 68 76

Reason 4 by Zachariah Weckter

82 Interview: Benedict Roff-Marsh by Triple-P NOVAkILL by R(t)O

34 40

Be on the Lookout by Triple-P

Print Review: How to make a noise by R(t)O

Flashback: The Smiths - The Queen is Dead by R(t)O

Table Contents

The Sequencer Chronicles - Part 3 by R(t)O

Mastering Tips: Mixing Tips by David Keenum

90 Cormac O'Caoimh by Squibs

52 54

Sample Review: OB Resurrection by Wouter Dullaert

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

CD Review: Cesium 137 by R(t)O

Amazon by DamBros

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made video documentaries for years, especially about agriculture and cattle raising. In one of these opportunities, I was contracted to produce a film in the north of the state of Goias (this state was latter divided into what is now the state of Tocantins in the north of Brazil). The documentary was about an agricultural cooperative named Cooperformoso, along with two others, Cooperjava and Coopergrao, which combined formed a beautiful plain: the largest irrigated agricultural area in the world. All of this was located in a place called Portal of Amazon.

The first shots were taken from a small single engine airplane with the back door removed - which allowed me to operate the camera without problems. Sitting on the floor of the aircraft, in a Yoga lotus position, I had total freedom of movement and was very comfortable. I had no safety straps on; theoretically the air pressure should hold me in even when the plane banked. Obviously, this could only happen in faraway places where there is little control from the authorities. Fortunately I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t suffer from aerophobia, and I had already done several other jobs like this before. The best part was the impact of the magnificent images I was able to capture. After a while, the loud noise produced by the air scraping the craftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opening gave way to the grandiosity of images that composed a solemn melody >

Amazon

in my mind - monumental, and at the same time of great sorrow. I knew about the bad situation the main co-op faced, due to technical disagreements between some of the associates. This documentary would be taken to Japan with the intent of attracting interested families who would be willing to migrate to Brazil from a country with very few agricultural areas of its own. I finished the shots with ground images, equally rich and powerful, trying to show all the local fauna and flora. During the final editing, I selected, as expected, sound tracks appropriate to the riches of emotion I had captured on videotape.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

A Japanese governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representative received the copies and took them to Japan as soon as he got them. A few weeks later he returned with a report from the meeting. Forty families were selected and invited to an auditorium where the documentary was presented. They were given a detailed presentation about the co-opâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project, the future prospects, and the possibility of those families to take charge of the coordination, administration and operation of the complex. The meeting was filmed and shown to us. Even though we were conscious of the power of the documentary, and the excellence of the images and powerful quality of the sounds that framed the work, we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect >

Amazon

such a dramatic outcome from the video of the meeting in Japan. As much as we were touched by strong emotions during the filming, all the families assured us that they were touched even more deeply. They were watching the aerial shots of immense lands cut by perfectly symmetrical channels of water, ground shots of the dirt roads, flocks of birds flying over immense crops, and they saw the incredible proliferation of fish through all the irrigated channels. Adults and children used to tiny pieces of land to farm - where the soil is not very fertile, cried copiously, screamed with delight and laughed with happiness. In this moment, the soundtrack suited to the farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reaction became an anthem to happiness and the joy of living. Although they were warned that the process would take a few days, maybe even months, the following day all forty families with their baggage showed up at the hotel where the Japanese representative was in. Unfortunately the story didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a happy ending. The intransigence of some few co-op associates didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow those families to take over those desired lands. All that was left were the marvellous melodies that filled our minds and our hearts

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Add some Brass Power to your Wusikstation with the Marching Band Horn from Les Productions Zvon.

356 MB of samples and over 300 presets by ToTc and Zvon!

The three volumes bundle is only

$12.99 US

until September 30th. Regular price is $24.99 US.

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Don't forget to also check outour other soundsets for the Wusikstation: - Prepared Rhodes - IYTTIW modified trumpet - Electronic Drums and Percussion kits

- Julie Resynth

Getting Started Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

An Inexpensive Pack of Tools by Triple-P

For some, getting started with synthesizers can be a truly miserable experience. Modulation can be tricky and, well, maybe the whole idea of synthesis can be foreign. I have searched the Internet long and hard to find the "ideal" synth. The thing is - there is no ideal synth. No synth will be ideal upon the first try.

So to help you, I have found Synth Studio Pack One by Benedict Roff Marsh. It comes with 11 plug-ins, four of which are traditional synths. Benedict designed these for people to be able to make music without a lot of hassle. These synths all sound very good and are easy to learn. Getting the basics down are what these are for.

An Inexpensive Pack of Tools

First are my favourites in the pack, Castor and Pollux - named after the Greek twins for a very good reason. First though we will talk about Castor. Castor is a simple yet very effective 2 OSC. synth. It has 2 LFO's that are set in beats. The LFO's are made for simple modulation. It has an envelope control and a destination to pick. Castor comes with 3 envelopes. These envelopes are used throughout Castorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s different sections. The filter section is a 12/24/36 db low-pass. Sounds simple enough, but this is

where Castorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beef originates. You can set 2 different envelope amounts. Drive, trim, velocity, and key-scaling round out the rest of the filter controls, as well as the mandatory cut-off and resonance. Filters are key to how good a synth can sound. For a 2 OSC. Synth, it makes or breaks it. Castor does the job nicely. Lastly, it features a temposynced delay. It is a basic delay, nothing complicated. Castor is compact and pretty versatile. To the beginner this is a very good synth to start on. The layout is sensible and everything is very straight forward.

Getting Started

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Getting Started

An Inexpensive Pack of Tools

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Now we shall talk about the deceivingly deceptive Pollux. As a synth Pollux is a single OSC. pulse and saw synth. It has a sub OSC., good for some extra juice. There is a simple parametric EQ. You will also notice a routing section. This is because Pollux can double as an effect. It is also a multi-resonant filter. It is Castorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s twin because combining the two gives you a

vicious 5 OSC. synth with 2 mean filters and an EQ. Using Pollux as an effect is quite rewarding. I often use it with Castor, and it makes it sound much thicker. Pollux can be useful as a synth to. Plucked sounds are very easy to make, and bass sounds are very easy to come by as well. Both are good in their own right. When combined, the sound is raw and inspiring.

An Inexpensive Pack of Tools

crude FM. The fact that the oscillators can be detuned from one another also helps in creating different sounds. There is also a nice analog filter on Cosmo. Cosmo is a great synth for beginners all the essential basics are on it - even a bit of FM. I had never used a CZ, but I have heard several people say Cosmo is on the money.

Getting Started

Next in the pack is Cosmo 201. This is Benedictâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempt at emulating a Casio CZ-1000. Also a simple 2 OSC. Synth, Cosmo is a bit different from Castor. Each OSC. has 8 waveforms. Each can load 2 at once to combine waveforms and bring a broader range to your sound creation. The LFO is called vibrato, as it is on the CZ. With Cosmo though, you can use the LFO for

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Getting Started

An Inexpensive Pack of Tools

The last synth we will talk about is Janus 3.5. Janus is a step up from the others. She is a 3 OSC. virtual analog synth. Designed for your bread and butter synth needs, it also has a little depth. You can get very good effects and even some evolving sounds. Janus, like the rest, is straightforward and easy to navigate. None of Benedict’s instruments will lose you. Janus is the bad bitch of the four we talked about. Janus has 2 filters, 2 LFO's, sample and hold, a stereo delay, and Benedict’s crude fm. That still doesn't seem like much, but less is more with these. Remember, this is for you to start so features are not as important as being able to get the sound you want. With Janus, getting sounds is easy. The 2 LFO’s are fed to the sample and hold; this is what

will give you morphing and changing sounds. The stereo delay gives you ping-pong delays and adds extra dimension. Janus is well put together and is capable of doing most anything without confusing you. There are still 7 pieces more to this pack. These were just the basic synths. It also has a 4 OSC. samplebased synth with some really great effects, and there are a couple more sample-players. They are four straight forward synths designed with ease of use in mind. They won't leave you bogged down with features. Most importantly, you will be able to make sounds without being confused. This pack is only $7.50 and can be found at: http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com/sy nthstudio%20pack.html

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

Last time, we explored Plug-in Layouts and learned how

Getting Started

to customize them to our taste

The Sequencer Chronicles

and enhance our workflow. But the Plug-in Layouts were just a stepping stone on the path to making some music with Sonar. In

this

installment

The

Sequencer Chronicles, we are going to explore some of the tools Sonar provides for working with soft synths.

- Part 3 -

I am going to be working with 2 of the Killer Synths from NOVAkILL; NEOkILLER X2 and FEARkILLER X2. Both of these synths may be obtained free from:

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Soft Synth Mechanics in Sonar 6 PE

www.novakill.com/killerz.htm. While you are there, check out the band and their music, which showcases these synthesizers.

Sonar makes working with soft synths simple, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let the

simplicity

Underneath

the

fool

you.

user-friendly

interface is a versatile engine that is souped-up and hitting on all cylinders. While I intend to focus on VSTi, Sonar can handle both DXi and VSTi synths, with most

by R(t)O

procedures

being

identical for both platforms.

The Sequencer Chronicles

The Synth Rack is the method I prefer for working with soft synths in Sonar. It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter if you are working with VSTi, DXi, or ReWire devices, you can load them all from here. The Synth Rack also provides controls for enable/disable, freeze/thaw, and solo/mute for each synth in the rack. Couple this with a powerful Insert Soft Synth Options dialog (which we will be discussing momentarily), and you will see that Sonar makes setup a snap and allows you to get to the music-making without a lot of setup time.

The Synth Rack has the same window options as the PRV editor, and, like the PRV editor, I prefer to keep it tabbed on a dual or single monitor setups. In a setup that has more than 2 monitors, I will float the panel and drag it to an unused monitor. If you have forgotten how to change between the window states, you can refer to the installment of this column that ran in WSM 014. >

Getting Started

Rack â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;em Up

If the rack is not visible, you need to bring it out of hiding by: 1. Clicking the Synth Rack icon on the main toolbar 2. Clicking the Views Menu and selecting the Synth Rack option

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

3. By pressing and holding the ALT key and then pressing the 8 key on your PC keyboard.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

Building the Perfect Rack Before starting, I built a Plug-in Layout that only contains the NOVAkILL synths. Since I did this more to keep the images for this column a bit more manageable, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessary that you follow suit. However, if you like using concise layouts, please feel free to do it. We are now going to step through inserting two soft synths into the rack. You will see that Sonar will create as many or as few of the tools as we want. While working with the Synth Rack, refer to the following two graphics to help you get around the window.

1. On the Synth Rack, click the Insert Soft Synth Button.

2. From the Context Menu, select Soft Synths - NEOkILLER-X2. If you chose not to create and apply a special Plug-in Layout, your context menu may look a bit different.

The Sequencer Chronicles

Let’s talk about this dialog a bit before we move on. This is a very powerful tool that will allow you to cater how Sonar adds the synth to your needs. The section labeled Create These Tracks gives you control over how Sonar will create the tracks for this synth. You can deselect all of them and do it manually, but we are going to use Sonar’s help for this tutorial. ·

Synth Track Folder - While totally optional, Synth Track Folder is an easy way to organize all of the tracks for a given synth. I highly recommend using them, even for non-soft synth tracks. First Synth Audio Output Creates a Synth Track that receives the first output of the synth.

All Synth Audio Outputs: Stereo – Creates a stereo synth track for each stereo pair output of a soft synth. If the synth does not have multiple outputs, the effect is the same as the First Synth Audio Output option.

All Synth Audio Outputs: Mono – Creates a mono track for each output of the synth. This offers some interesting possibilities. On a single stereo-out synth (like the ones we are using), you have two independent tracks for the output, allowing you to apply different insert or send effects to each channel.

To the right is a section labeled Open These Windows. This is where you control what additional, synth-specific windows Sonar will open when the synth is added. ·

Synth Property Page – This opens the GUI for the synth.

Synth Rack View – This shows The Synth Rack. If it is already visible, leaving this ticked will not cause a problem.

The Enable MIDI Output will allow you to record or redirect the MIDI output of a soft synth. Of course, the synth must be capable of producing the MIDI output in order for this check box to have any effect. However, leaving it ticked even though the synth is not capable of MIDI Out will not have an adverse affect. Display Automation On is a very important field. This is where you select the track that you will use to record any synth automation. While Sonar gives you a choice of which track to use, you cannot distribute >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

MIDI Source - This creates a single MIDI Source track to house the MIDI data to play your synth with.

Getting Started

3. The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog will appear.

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

the automation for the same instance of a synth across multiple tracks. I prefer the First Synth Audio Track Option, but the results are the same regardless of which track is chosen. Recall Assignable Controls allows you to automatically recall a pre-defined set of Automated Control knobs for a given synth. This is useful if you have a core set of synths you use on every project. It doesn’t hurt to leave it ticked if you haven’t defined any assignable controls for the synth you are inserting. Obviously, if you want to start with a clean Assignable Controls palette every time, removing the tick is the way to go. Ask This Every Time, when checked, will insure that this dialog box automatically pops up each time you insert a synth. My advice is to leave it ticked.

4. Make sure the following are selected: · Create These Tracks Ø MIDI Source Ø Synth Track Folder Ø First Synth Audio Output · Open These Windows Ø Synth Property Page Ø Synth Rack View · Enable MIDI Output · Display Automation On: First Synth Audio Track · Recall Assignable Controls · Ask This Every Time 5. Click the OK Button. The soft synth GUI will appear and an entry for the synth will be created in The Synth Rack. On the NOVAkILL synths, a credits screen will appear initially, simply click where it says to click and the synths GUI will be shown.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

The Sequencer Chronicles

7. On the synth rack, click on the Insert Soft Synth Button. 8. From the context menu, select Soft Synths - FEARkILLER-X2. If you chose not to create and apply a special Plug-in Layout, your context menu may look a bit different. 9. The Insert Soft Synth Options will appear. 10. Make sure the following are selected: · Create These Tracks Ø MIDI Source Ø Synth Track Folder Ø All Synth Audio Outputs: Mono · Open These Windows Ø Synth Property Page Ø Synth Rack View · Enable MIDI Output · Display Automation On: First Synth Audio Track · Recall Assignable Controls · Ask This Every Time

11. Click the OK Button. The soft synth GUI will appear and an entry for the synth will be created in The Synth Rack. On the NOVAkILL synths, a credits screen will appear initially, simply click where it says to click and the synths GUI will be shown. 12. Check the Automation Track Menu location on each synth. If it is blank, click the drop down arrow and select: · NEOkILLER-X2 – NEOkILLER-X2 1 Primary Out Stereo · FEARkILLER-X2 – FEARkILLER-X2 1 Primary Out Left (mono) This is an anomaly in Sonar that doesn’t stop the automation from functioning correctly, but I like to have everything visible.

Getting Started

6. Move the NEOkILLER-X2 GUI out of your way.

13. Click the Show / Hide Controls Button. A space should appear beneath each synth for us to insert automation controls.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

We have inserted two synths into our project, but behind the scenes, thanks to the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog, much more happened: all of the tracks we need have been neatly inserted into track folders. Before we move on to the next section, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take a quick look at the tracks Sonar created for us.

outputs as mono channels. Sonar created one Synth Track for the left channel and one for the right channel. The Synth Track for the left channel will contain the automation for this synth. As you might imagine, the MIDI track serves the same purpose as the one in the NEOkiLLER-X2 folder. On the left side of the track folder is a control to expand or collapse the track folder. When you collapse a track folder, all of the content tracks are hidden, leaving only the track folder visible. Expanding a track folder will show all of the tracks inside of it. This is useful for getting things out of your way in a multi-track arrangement. Track Folders are a very powerful tool for keeping your arrangement ordered. However, there are certain rules that they adhere to. An understanding of these rules is essential to get the most out of this tool.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

In the NEOkILLER-X2 track Folder, you will see one MIDI track and one Synth Track. A Synth Track is a specialized audio track whose input must come from a soft synth. You cannot insert a synth track directly, but if you need another Synth Track (e.g. you determine that you need to use an additional output of a multi-out synth after you have inserted it), you can clone an existing one and modify it for your needs. As you may recall, The Synth Track will also contain the automation data for this synth. The MIDI track, as you may have deduced, is where our recorded or programmed MIDI data will reside.

The folder for FEARkiLLER-X2 is very similar to the NEOkILLER-X2 folder; with the major difference being that there are two synth tracks instead of one. When we inserted this track, we created all synth

1. The track numbering order must be maintained even when using Track Folders. For example, if you have 2 track folders. Folder one contains tracks 1 and 2, and folder 2 contains tracks 3 and 4. If you drag track 4 from folder 2 to folder 1, track 4 and every track below it will be renumbered to preserve the 1, 2, 3, 4 order. 2. If you rearrange tracks on the console view, the track may be removed from the folder and deposited elsewhere. 3. A track folder cannot contain another track folder. In other words, if you have a track folder called Kontakt 2, you cannot create Track Folders inside the Kontakt 2 Track Folder to separate your Synth and MIDI tracks.

The Sequencer Chronicles

Now we are going to get into the Assignable Controls feature of The Synth Rack. The Assignable Controls system allows you to map a parameter of a synth to a knob that is created on the synth rack. The control can then be mapped to a MIDI CC message from your MIDI controller or assigned to a control group. The group can then be assigned to a single CC message from your controller. Before we start, we need to make a sure a global option is set like we need it to be for this tutorial. We are also going to set up the MIDI input we will be using later

3. If it is not already selected, select the General tab 4. Make sure that the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option is not ticked. 5. Resize the MIDI track height so you can see the controls. 6. In the MIDI input field for both MIDI tracks, choose the Omni input for the MIDI controller you intend to use. You need to use the same input for both tracks. You need to have one available control that will send a MIDI CC message to Sonar.

Getting Started

Confessions of a Control Freak

1. Click on the Options Menu 2. Select Global Options from the menu

7. Arm both folder tracks by clicking the arm button.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

This will give us a more finite control over our MIDI tracks. Once you have completed this tutorial, you can put things back the way they were. At this time, we need to go ahead and create our assignable controls. We will also be creating a custom control group for our controls. The control group we create will be used in next monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s installment, so you may not want to delete it. 1. Show the GUI for the NEOkILLERX2 and the FEARkILLER-X2.

2. Select patches for each synth. I am leaving the choice of patches up to you. 3. Move the synth GUIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so they do not cover up The Synth Rack. 4. Right-click on the left-most Automated Knob position for the NEOkILLER-X2 synth. You will see a list of all parameters that can be automated for that synth.

The Sequencer Chronicles

6. You should now have Automated knob for NEOkILLER-X2 Synth.

an the

13. Right-click on the Automated Knob area for the NEOkILLER-X2 synth. 14. From the context menu, select Group Manager

7. Right-click on the left-most Automated Knob position for the FEARkILLER-X2 synth. You will see a list of all parameters that can be automated for that synth.

Getting Started

5. Select Cutoff from the list of available parameters.

8. Select Cutoff from the list of available parameters. 9. You should now have Automated knob for FEARkILLER-X2 Synth.

an the

10. Bring the GUI for the NEOkILLERX2 Synth to a visible state. 11. Move the Automated Knob and watch the Cutoff slider on the synthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GUI. You should see the slider for cutoff move accordingly.

15. When the Group Manager appears, click the New Group button. >

12. Repeat the above step for the FEARkILLER-X2 Synth. Again, you should see the cutoff slider move.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Now we are going to create a custom group and assign our Automated Knobs to it. Control Groups are a very powerful tool, and, if used carelessly, can wreak havoc on your project. In this lesson, I am only going to show you how Control Groups with the Automated Knobs we created. However, in a future installment, we will get under the hood of Control Groups and expose the power of this feature.

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

16. When the Group Attributes dialog appears, name the group WSM 017 and pick a color that suits you.

19. Click OK to close the Group Manager dialog. 20. Right-click on the automated knob for the NEOkILLER-X2 synth. 21. From the context menu, select Group. 22. From the Group context menu, select WSM 017.

17. Click the OK button on the Group Attributes box. 18. Configure the group as follows: 路 Select Custom 路 Make sure Preserve Mix between Gain Members is ticked. 路 Set the Start Value to 0 路 Set the End Value to 127.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

23. Repeat the above 3 steps for the FEARkILLER-X2 synth.

24. Right click on either of the Automated Knobs and select Group Manager once again. 25. You should now see both synths listed as Group Members.

The Sequencer Chronicles

28. Right click on either of the Automated Knobs and select Remote Control.

27. Click OK to close the Group Manager window.

30. On your MIDI controller move the control that sends the CC message you want to use to control the Automated Knob. >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

29. After the Remote Control dialog appears, click the Controller option.

Getting Started

26. Select one of the Group Members and click the Swap button. This will reverse Start and End value for the selected group member. When translated to the real world events, we will close one filter as we open the other.

Getting Started

The Sequencer Chronicles

31. Click the Learn button on the Remote Control dialog. You should see the CC Message number transmitted by your controller appear in the value field.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

32. Click OK on the Remote Control dialog.

33. Once again, on your MIDI controller move the control that sends the CC message assigned to control the Automated Knob. You should see both knobs move, but in opposite directions. 34. Now play a note on your MIDI controller while moving the control. You should be able to hear one synth fade in while the other fades out and vice-versa.

Hopefully, you’ve come to realize that The Synth Rack is massive tool designed to help you unleash the power of your soft synths. As with many of the Sonar tools, you have the ability to do as much or as little customization as you want to do. Its

approach is organized and modular with an emphasis on interoperability. When coupled with Sonar’s extensive automation implementation, you have an arsenal of tools that will help you craft your tunes. Our synths have been racked, controls have been assigned, and we are primed to begin programming the MIDI data to play our synths. In the next run, we will discuss Sonar’s MIDI implementation. Before starting that column, clear your head of any unfounded rumors you may have heard or any misconceptions you may have about Sonar’s MIDI implementation being substandard. I will show you that it is much more capable than some may want to give credit.

IK Multimedia Moogfest contest for Samplemoog WIN 2 Tickets for Moogfest and a Copy of IK's New SampleMoog! Contest ends September 18, 2007 ENTER TO WIN! Visit any of the stores listed below before the contest ends on Sept 18th 2007 and fill out your name, phone, e-mail and address on the IK contact card and drop in the box provided. Promotion by IK Multimedia and Moogfest. Contest ends Sept 18, 2007. Moogfest: Saturday, September 22 at B.B. King's Bar & Grill in Times Square (237 w. 42nd Street between 7th & 8th Avenues). Moogfest is an annual festival honoring Bob Moog and his groundbreaking achievements. Celebrate the Moog速 legacy with feature acts Thomas Dolby, Jordan Rudess, Adam Holzman, Spiraling, Don Preston, Gershon Kingsley, Herb Deutsch, Erik Norlander, Nail, and T Lavitz. SampleMoog - the latest virtual instrument from IK Multimedia and Sonic Reality - offers the unique and authentic sound of 18 Moog速 synthesizers, spanning the entire Moog速 history, all together in one powerful software instrument. Done in cooperation Moog Music, this sample-based plug-in instrument offers a wide range of basses, leads, pads, and effects from the very first Moog Modular systems to rare Minimoogs, Taurus Bass Pedals, Polymoogs, Memorymoogs, and more! Powered by SampleTank. ENTER TO WIN by visiting any of these participating stores and filling out a contact card in the Pro Audio section on or before Sept. 18th 2007.

Guitar Center Manhattan 25 W. 14th Street Manhattan, New York 10011 Guitar Center Carle Place 229 Glen Cove Road Carle Place, New York 11514 Guitar Center Queens 34-17 48th Street Long Island City, New York 11101 Guitar Center Brooklyn 139 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn, New York 11217 Sam Ash 07 (Technology Store) 160 West 48th Street New York, NY 10036-1536 B&H Photo Video 420 9th Avenue New York, N.Y. 10001 Teskserve 119 W. 23rd St. New York, N.Y. 10011 Dale Pro Audio 22 West 19th St, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10011

Diversions

Kishchee Tey Mo'yawn Aen Li Michif Wi'ya (Proud to be MĂŠtis) by Kevin Burke

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

www.kevinburke.ca

Proud to be Métis

The Métis are a nation of “halfbreeds”, emerging out of the relations of North American Indian (Woodland Cree, Ojibwa, Saulteaux, and Menominee) women and French Canadian, Scottish and English men. There are almost 400,000 of us in Canada, but here’s the twist: I don’t look Indian. My snow white Caucasian skin burns easily and quickly in the sun. My hazel eyes have never viewed a pow-wow, and I can’t speak Michif (the language used in the title of this column). At first glance, you may not even know whom with which you are dealing. The person you see may pre-disposition you to pigeon-hole me into a common and familiar slot – a pre-defined category – so that you will have a basis from which to move forward in your interaction with me. But what you see may not be exactly what you get, and isn’t this folly into categorization potentially responsible for miscommunication and misconstrued notion?

What caught my eye next was even more disturbing. Fumbling as he was, I noticed that he was at personal war with the shrink-wrap which had enshrouded his energy-boosting treat – a snack which revealed itself as a brightly coloured, if not entirely juvenile, Gingerbread Man cookie. Now, I’m not one to refuse any adult the right to eat whatever their hearts desire. I don’t have to subscribe to the same taste, mind you, but the relish with which he attacked this hardened lump of flour and water astonished me. Finally being honoured with a breakthrough, the man gingerly peeled back the plastic wrap from around the Gingerbread Man’s head; and then it happened: one fluorescent pink eyeball rolled, as if in slow motion, down the cookie “forehead”, landing with a silent thud (and no doubt several minute bounces) on the floor below. The hungry beast paused only slightly, just enough, in fact, to peer into the remaining pink orb before snapping the head off with his coffee stained and awkwardly spaced front teeth. The cookie was now a torso.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Quite a few numbers of weeks ago, and on my daily commute home on a commuter train, I glanced upon a somewhat disheveled man who was eagerly anticipating the consumption of a particularly well packaged sugar treat. Upon closer inspection, I

noticed that his shirt was buttoned straight up to the top-most hole, almost as if to constrict his windpipe and limit the amount of oxygen he would allow his body to absorb. A train ride at the end of the day, in my mind, should be a relaxing affair where one is less bound by the trappings of modern dress and more akin to a comforting planting on one’s own couch.

Diversions

The one true guarantee in life is that you will have been provided with roots. You are born (or, in some cases, saddled) with a history – none of it your own doing, but all of it contributing to your genetic makeup and how you present to people. In my case, I am Métis, and I am proud.

Diversions

Proud to be Métis I watched as the man continued to peel back plastic, as if releasing a cob of corn from its husk, and snap at the remaining cookie bits – crumbs floating down to his pants and the floor like so much rain. All the while, this choked and hungry man was balancing a gaming magazine on his knee; one which would not remain open, preferring instead to roll, tubelike, as a spring, and careen off his leg. Well, it tried, but he had great recovery with a short reaction time, so as much as the magazine wished to part ways with the purchaser, by gosh he was not going to let it go.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

So I looked with interest, and wondered what his life was like. He

wasn’t wearing a wedding band (not much of an indicator these days), but then in his unkempt state perhaps he simply forgot it at home. Or, maybe he is recently separated or divorced. Or never married. He could be seeing someone, but not committed. Or he could, in fact, be in a relationship but pre-marriage. Or in a long-term relationship where marriage is not an option. Maybe, yet, he’s just single and loving it, or frustrated because he can’t find anyone to share his life and his penchant for brightly coloured cookies. I’m already on my way to figuring this guy out as if it is my sole responsibility to do so.

Proud to be Métis

And what of the mess he left under the seat? It was a small pyre of crumpled heat-shrunk plastic, crumbs, and the bag in which he carried that magazine, but it spoke to a much larger issue of general cleanliness. I wondered, no – I knew, he wasn’t the “Felix” (of the Odd Couple) type. This, in all its raw glory, was Oscar. And if this was the Burning Man Festival, I would be the one to ignite the pyre on fire.

Ian Akiwenzie, a singer with native band Morning Star River and originating from Neeyaashiingaaming First Nation, recently spoke at a local Métis arts festival. He and associate Eddy Robinson spoke at length about native Indian culture in Canada; their rich history. Much of that history is parlayed through stories told by the elders – stories told only during the winter months so as to pay respect to the abundant life mother earth provides during the remaining three seasons. Ian spoke about the dances we observed, such as the hoop dance – a complicated dance performed with up to a dozen hoops which would be configured and held up to represent a butterfly, clouds, and the earth itself. We were told that the dance would evolve over a performer’s life to include other details from that life. He spoke of the native connection to mother earth, and of respecting what is provided for us. He elaborated on hidden meanings behind the dances, the colourful clothing, and how native Indians are cast unfairly in a negative light, sometimes, through ignorance and the sad state of being ill-informed of the ways of North America’s original caretakers. And then he said something truly heart-stopping. >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

It’s probably fitting that I’ll likely never learn any of the real truths about the life I observed, however briefly. In the short time our paths almost crossed, and amid some educated guesses and wild predictions, I created a virtual life for this very real avatar. As odd a picture I paint with words, he surely is as proud of himself as any of us, and comfortable enough in his own skin not to care about the thoughts of those who surround him.

Being proud is to be at peace.

Diversions

Then there’s the gaming magazine. Did I let on that he is likely in the latter half of his forties? What interest could a gamers’ ‘zine hold for a man in the middle of his life? Perhaps he has kids and he’s trying to be a “hip” Dad by being aware of new and upcoming releases. Maybe he’s interested in the technologies being implemented in today’s games, or new methods for virtual mayhem just peering over the technological horizon. He could be a game developer himself, or an investor, or this could be just a benign hobby – a means to a comfy and soul-satisfying end to the day.

Diversions

Proud to be Métis

“We’re not just beads and feathers.” I looked at the colourful and highly-detailed shell of the man who had just spoken a truth which had escaped me for my entire life. Inside was someone who was more than I could have predicted, more than had been reflected in my age dulled eyes – and with more to offer than I could have ever asked. I had not anticipated his pride.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Métis Arts Festival song and dance videos: www.kevinburke.ca/video/metis/index.php

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Interview

Benedict Roff-Marsh by Triple-P

Benedict Roff-Marsh Interview

Q. I think what you are doing with these synth packs is really cool. What gave you the idea to put out such an inexpensive set of tools? Thank you. Several things I think. I started out with hardware in the late 80's and while hardware is great you never have enough of it, ever. I was at my music shop (buying Vision 2) and there was a Mac with 2 monitors! It blew my mind. For years I dreamed of having 1 big computer with 2 monitors and being able to wrap up everything at night and start again any time later in exactly the same spot. I like instruments that I can really fall in love with and in software I was struggling. I had AXS which was DOS only and Probe 1.5 but neither had any future as VST. I then discovered I could make my own synths and the so the first versions of Janus and Pollux started to evolve.

Q. Who is Benedict Roff-Marsh? Is this some kind of a Zen thing? A bunch of psychosis attached to big hair. Oh, um... I grew up in the good old 1980s and started to get into music about 1979 at 10 years old (do the math girls). I remember loving Major Matchbox's Rockabilly Rebel and thinking that Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton were nice. I wanted to grow up to be Adam Ant. Then when the synth driven New Wave hit I was a total goner. The combination of the simplicity of the hooks (like Bach) and the sweet, sweet Moog, Arp and Sequential Circuits sounds had me entranced. The other thing that I loved about the era was the flamboyance; Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, Mike Score from Flock Of Seagulls and the tough Joan Jett were a reason to watch our Aussie Top 40 show Countdown every week. From some unknown fear I never learned to play an instrument but when leaving school I wanted to become a record producer just like Alan Parsons. But there was no school and studios seemed like a closed shop. My parents wanted me to go to university to I

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

I gave away a pack and some odd synths via an old web site really to try to promote my music but while I got a few pieces of nice feedback I got nothing for the effort. Also I didn't have a reason to finish the synths etc. properly. The decision to go payware fixed that. I set the price at only $7.50 Australian (less after conversion to many currencies) because I believe that while my synths etc are worth so much more, the internet really is great for what an economist called "microtransactions". The small entry fee raises me out of the freeware thing. It means that to some customers

SynthStudio Pack (SSP) will be no more than an easily forgotten impulse purchase but, to many of my customers I will be seen as someone who offers incredible value for money. I hope that customers appreciate this and spread the word.

Interview

Benedict Roff-Marsh

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

settled for a psychology degree which I dropped out of in less than 6 months because it didn't feel as real as the nightclub I ran a kitchen in. Eventually I met a man who had a small backyard studio with a 36 channel Studiocraft into an 8 track Tascam who made commercials for regional AM stations. He took me in - sadly in both senses of the word - and I got some of the basics. I tried to hook up with local bands to come in as a producer but no one would let me in. So I saved a bit and bought a Casio CZ-1000 and the matching SZ-1 sequencer in 1988 thinking, "well this'll be useful knowledge in time to come." I couldn't play a note but I could make cool sounds. I had to start stringing these sounds together to give myself something to work on. Hey, presto! I became a composer and rotten singer/songwriter for a while. Fast forward to now and I still make sounds and string them together. Making music has never taken off for me. I get some praise from other musicians but zip from the powers that be. No matter, now I keep busy making instruments and handling the mechanics of it all. That has worked really well for me. Musically I have settled back to my roots and mostly listen to Country in the car and dance to Rockabilly bands come the weekend. On the wall next to my desk at my day job I have a couple of Elvis number plates (gifts) so customers can make sense of my hair.

Q. What do you have planned for the future? Will there be an SSP III? Oh geez. I'm not a good planner. Typical Leo - I like to lie in the sun and do things that amuse me. SSP III was starting to gel in my head but for some bizarre reason it didn't feel right to make a pack 3 so at present I am putting everything into SSP I & II so everyone benefits. This may in time lead to a price increase as very soon $7.50 will be totally absurd for a pack. I live by intuition a lot so I do things as and when they feel right. An idea can come and be completed quickly but go on the back burner till it feels right to let it out. Go figure. In the short term there is a sample based synth for SSP II and a large synth that shares some technology with SampleoTron that may appear in SSP I and I'm dreaming about a chorus type thing based on something yet unreleased that sounds so lovely, like a record from 1982. Someone is bugging me about a comb filter too - I reckon it will have to be orange to match the one I do my hair with, I might even call it 2-Thi. I can't rule out a SSP II but I feel it will have to be an evolution, not just more of the same. The far future, I don't know. I would like to start hard coding C++ but it frightens me. I used to be competent in BASIC as a teenager but it's a big learning curve and the possible bugs scare me off. Maybe a big company will snavel me up and I can make others do the dirty work for me.

Benedict Roff-Marsh Interview

Q. Have the packs been as successful as you had hoped? And do people give you any criticism for using Synth Edit? No not at all. SSP I & II have vastly exceeded what I initially expected. I read some reports from the few developers who give any kind of indication of numbers etc. and I feel that I have done very well. Really, the numbers are very consistent. There are peaks when I add something new which is normal but otherwise the numbers vary very little from month to month.

Aah, I was waiting for that question. Seems like a dilemma doesn't it? Well it really comes down to that I love classic music. I'm not opposed to trying new things but most of the time those "fusions" drive me up the wall. What I loved about music from the start was its ability to pass a universal human message of pain, of despair, of hope, of joy - the simple yet fundamental and powerful things that make up our lives. I get that form George Strait but find I don't relate to Pink. I think that a lot of people close their minds to the core values of song writing and seek only the "latest thing". I regularly witness conversations where people are putting the boot into artists whose songs stand as strong today as when they were first written because they speak straight to our psyches and not purely a passing fad. I'd like to see what is thought of many "hip" artists in 10 years time. I think they will be forgotten or at best novelties. If you look back to my first loves in music you'll see Rock & Roll and Country are a strong core. It took me a long time to realise that, but after being a function DJ for some years and playing Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Patsy Cline and Spice Girls up against each other I became a lot more understanding of the progression of styles from Swing and Country to Punk

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

There are some people out there who are very one eyed about development platforms, which is sad. I had one person - when I first released SSP I who was "oh this is all rubbish because it is SE based." I don't think he'd even tried a demo. He went away real quick and I've had no more since. I think anyone who can't judge a thing on its merits is in for a limited life. Overall my customers seem really happy with their purchase. I guess this was really pointed out to me when I released SSP II and the uptake from SSP I owners was phenomenal and so fast that I think they bought purely on the strength of SSP I and not from trying demos etc.

Q. How does a guy who makes and loves synthesizers love rockabilly and country music?

Interview

Benedict Roff-Marsh

and New Wave. I realised how much Billy Idol is a rocker, The Clash were rockers, Springsteen is so much deeper than "Born In The USA" (which most people don't understand at all) and Elvis was much more than a sad fat bloke. I got perspective and allowed myself to like what I liked.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Also, I was tired so much of the time so I switched to an AM station that played oldies and I got to know all the songs I missed out on because my father shunned pop in favour of Bach (who I still admire greatly for his stunning simplicity). Country allows me to slot into a tradition that values the reasons we sing as much as I do. And it is just great driving music. I dance Rockabilly because I reached the age that I no longer fit into Techno night clubs. They were a big part of my life from the late 80's (Hi NRG and Eurobeat) but you have to move on when the new little rubber children on the block look at you and go "who the hell are you." Sad because I miss the release of dancing. I first went to an R&R class (with a girl from work because she didn't want to go alone to her first class) expecting to last one lesson. Even though it was hard, I knew I was hooked (she never went again). Oh and being a Rocker allows me to keep having big hair!

Q. I like that you have basically taught yourself how to make music. What do you think the hardest thing is to learn by yourself? Playing an instrument - if the Ramones can do it why can't I? For me I guess its theory because I know virtually nothing. I don't know much more than a C Major Triad and its First Inversion, Diminished and Augmented forms (and then possibly wrong). Then I don't know what to do with them. I compose by sound alone. At times I do wish that I had stuck with it and learned an instrument properly (then I could be in a Country band). Once, when I was briefly in a Punk band, the guy who could play guitar/bass/trumpet was stunned because he saw me making a sequence: I threw notes at the screen with my mouse, played them and then started to shuffle them around till I was happy. He couldn't believe that what seemed so random could achieve music of any kind. It takes a certain amount of discipline to learn anything but if you have a passion for it then you will stick and something will come of it. Most people struggle with production but that is where I came in. Melody is hard for me so my pieces are very Benedict because I know no better. I'm very D.I.Y. like any good punk, so learning the rules I guess was never an option for me. In instrument making I so many people debating what makes a good Filter from the maths. I don't care how much it gets it wrong if it sounds >

Benedict Roff-Marsh Interview

good. Incidentally I find most of the Filters they say are so good - lifeless. If everyone played guitar technically correct then we wouldn't have had Jimi Hendrix, Robert Fripp or Sid Vicious. My advice is learning to be you; there is no future in being anything else. Q. What kind of hardware and software do you use now to make music?

Software-wise, it's been a bit more complex but I'm slimmed right down. I used Reason for several years and while it is a great environment and I'm so tempted by V4, but the no VST thing

Q. Do you have any parting words for the people at home and your millions upon millions of adoring fans? Thank you for adoring me? Um, talk about putting a guy on the spot. Be good to your mother and your wife, don't take your guns to town, don't meet the Lord with whiskey on your breath, don't over-compress, make your kind of music and beware of quoting Country singers as they invariably get drunk and shoot themselves in the foot.

Web_site: www.benedictroffmarsh.com

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

My hardware all went out 5 1/2 years ago. I went 100% virtual. I still struggle with that a bit but I would find it hard to go back unless I could have some really special stuff and many of those things like hardware Emulators don't exist anymore. Alesis will likely stop making Andromedaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soon, if they haven't already. My rig is a Windows XP SPII PC (currently P4 3.2 single core with 1024MB RAM and a 17" CRT Monitor) and a 4 Octave plastic keyboard. I have a little mixer that I bought under sufferance so I could use a microphone from time to time. I run through a small NAD amp and Wharfedale speakers. No fancy studio monitoring rig here. I'd love a pair of DynAudio thingies but really its overkill if you have something reasonable and you know your gear. My monitoring is better quality than many records have been made on.

frustrates me. Some years ago I swapped to Energy XT (after Cakewalk flaking out had me suicidal) and used a ton of freeware and early versions of SSP. Now that I have SSP I + II made then I don't use much else. Really I struggle to explore my own instruments because the whole developing business takes so much time. I don't resent it though because I feel that I have achieved more in the last year than I have in the (almost) 20 years I've been playing this crazy game. I do have an album "in the can" which I think I'm pleased with which is half Reason 2.5 and half E-XT + SSP I + II. Maybe some time soon it will feel right to wrap it all up.

Interview Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Tales from the Western Zone

An Interview with

NOVAkILL by R(t)O

NOVAkILL move towards more of a pop song and garnered an immediate following. The band followed up in 2005 with the aptly titled ‘Kill Everyone’. Continuing their tradition of defying musical stereotypes, this CD did not suffer from the sophomore jinx that plagues many acts. It offered 12 tracks of

[R(t)O]. For those just being introduced to the band, would you please provide a bit of history about the formations of NOVAkILL - including the artists and bands that influenced you? [Bones] I bought my first synth in 1981 and taught myself to play over the next few years. I performed solo as DEATHLY QUIET! between 1985 and 1996, releasing a 7" single and two albums in that time [all independently]. I met Sik around 1991 when we were involved with a collective of electronic artists. At that time Sik was playing bass in a duo with his brother, called Legion. We discovered we had very similar tastes in music and, after running a club night in Sydney for a couple of years, we decided to pool our resources. Sik had already used the name NOVAkILL, which I really liked, so that's how it all came to be.

Now in the studio working on their third release, Bones and Sik took time out of their busy schedule to give WSM readers the inside scoop on the band and the new CD.

performing solo, my ambition was to be a full-on, one-man rock band and I took much of my direction from the punk movement, going for energy and enthusiasm more than anything else. I worked really hard to fill out my guitarless arrangements to get all the energy of a guitar band, with varying degrees of success. I discovered Skinny Puppy and Scraping Foetus off the Wheel in 1986 and that was the first time I'd heard electronic music that I really liked. It wasn't until the early 90's that I realized there was a movement around the kind of music I had been making, called EBM. Discovering bands like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 was something of a revelation for me. Since then we have been motivated by the likes of Leaether Strip, Dance or Die, Numb, Armageddon Dildos, Frontline Assembly and similar artists, but I'm happy we have our own sound which continues to evolve as we get better at what we do. [Sik] When I was growing up there was always classical music playing in our house, and I had a real interest in film scores, then I heard some early New Order and there was a real connection. They were the band that really inspired me to start making my own music. From there I got into music from Severed >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Finding direct influences is something I find difficult but it is certainly fair to say that there are many artists who have inspired us to do better and possibly influenced the direction our sound has taken. We both like a lot of 80's gothic rock, particularly The Sisters of Mercy [I have covered half-a-dozen of their songs over the years] and The Cure, but obviously there is not much of that evident in our music. When I first started

down and dirty EBM bliss. It also featured an excellent cover of The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Alice’.

Interview

It was 2003 when I first caught wind of the EBM act from down under known as NOVAkILL and their debut CD ‘Hard Tech for a Hard World’. Paying homage to the EBM of old, they launched a full-on audio assault of distorted vocals, harsh beats, and nasty synth textures. The band offered music that bucked the trend to

Interview

NOVAkILL

Heads, SPK and Cabaret Voltaire and I knew that was the type of music I wanted to make. [R(t)O] Both of your CD's, Hard Tech for a Hard World and Kill Everyone, feature the gritty, harsh style of EBM that pays homage to the genre's roots. When so many other bands are migrating to a softer sound, what keeps NOVAkILL faithful to the original sound?

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

[Sik] I started playing with synths at Art School to make soundtracks for films and exhibitions, though I’d call it structured noise rather than music. I was using reel to reel 4 tracks, an ARP 2000 that was all busted up from years of abuse, and an old Juno. This was only a couple of years after midi had started being built into the gear, but I still remember the absolute fucking thrill I got when I first connected two synths together, then a drum machine. I guess it’s kinda hard for me to get away from that, but I’ve always preferred listening to the darker noisier stuff that thumps along and that’s what we enjoy creating.

[Bones] It's true that since the mid-90's a lot of the intensity has gone out of popular EBM, as it moves more towards being just another sub-genre of electronic dance music. Maybe we see it as our burden to continue in the tradition of EBM's heyday, although really that harder, more aggressive sound is what we really like and we feel that there is still plenty of scope to develop within that style. OTOH, we find newer EBM to be far more banal, insipid and uninspiring. Sometimes people see what we do as being unoriginal, derivative even, but we are happy with that because we are confident we have something worthwhile to offer. I think that anything worth doing has been done already and if someone thinks they are doing something truly original, they are

either having themselves on or their experience is fairly limited. [R(t)O] Can you tell us a bit about the forthcoming CD, ‘Flesh & Machines’? [Bones] The first thing I can tell you is that it won't be called Flesh & Machines. During the process of putting it all together there has been a definite focus on a more religious theme, in our lyrics and in the voice samples that form an integral part of what we do. So we are now using the working title of I Hate God, although we may refine it slightly before we settle on a name. We want the title to be confronting but, if possible, we'd like to fall short of becoming the subject of a fatwa, so we are yet to settle on anything. [Sik] As Bones didn’t discuss the music I’ll add some things here. So far we are really, really, happy with the way it is sounding. We’ve worked in a similar fashion as before, having both working on tracks separately and then collecting the ones we like and starting to shape the overall sound. We’ve played some of the new thumpy tracks live, to great audience response, so we know they work and of course there are some slower tracks on the CD as well, as we both enjoy doing those. I won’t say it’s in any way a departure for us, more of a development. It’s still very much the NOVAkILL we all love…… ! [R(t)O] What is the Industrial EBM scene like in Australia? [Bones] Today it is all but non-existent. In the mid-90's there were two or three weekly Goth/Industrial clubs in Sydney [where we live] and the scene was similarly healthy in Melbourne and Brisbane. There has never really been a strong live scene and audiences at gigs have always been very small compared to >

NOVAkILL

step-up, but in all the ways that matter it was just as bad. To me it felt like stuffing musical expression into a spreadsheet application.

It's not all bad though, in the last couple of years we have seen a lot of international acts from the scene tour here and, because we know some of the promoters, we have been lucky enough to support Covenant, KMFDM, VNV Nation, Psyche and Combichrist. This has given us the opportunity to play in front of decent crowds and also allowed us to travel to Melbourne and Brisbane to perform.

I tried Fruityloops and found it creatively inspiring but its convoluted workflow made it impossible to finish anything. OTOH, the first time I started ORION everything just clicked into place for me and it's been getting better ever since. The other aspect that stops me from even looking at other options any more is the incredible quality of the included instruments and effects. WaspXT has the best sounding resonant filter I have ever heard and some of the bundled effects, like the real-time Impulse-Response Processor and Transient Shaper easily compete with top-of-the-line effects costing hundreds of dollars.

[Sik] Yeah, it’s currently a pretty sad state of affairs, and much of it has to do with the venues. There just aren’t enough places that suit our sort of music for live or even for clubs. [R(t)O] On your website you promote the Orion DAW platform. You are also very active in their support forum. What is it about Orion that makes it work for you? [Sik] After years of playing around with my old sequencer I started using Fruityloops, and it was so easy to get something happening. It was a great way to come up with some nice sequences, and throw in samples and f*ck around. I would create stuff in Fruity and give it Bones, who had started using Orion. I made the switch to Orion after I upgraded my PC and I love it. It’s powerful and flexible and so easy to use perfect for what we do.

[R(t)O] NOVAkILL is one of the few bands who make their own instruments. What made you decide not to pursue the commercial instrument offerings and make your own? [Bones] When I started toying with SynthEdit, I really didn't have the intention of building instruments to use in our music. It's just that it allowed me to make things that I couldn't get anywhere else - decent sound and useful controls in a simple synth. It seems that the market offers one or the other but not both. You can have good sound and handy things like multi-point envelopes but only if you are willing to put up with a lot of other, often superfluous, garbage as well. The other side is that there are plenty of simple to use instruments out there but, in general, they don't have a lot to offer in terms of sonic possibilities. I try to build instruments that offer both with a focus on usable features so that I can get a particular sound quickly and easily. Interestingly, I think that our instruments >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

[Bones] In a word - workflow. After almost 20 years of working with hardware and in studios, ORION offered us a very similar workflow. When I first decided to explore the possibilities of using my PC for music, I bought Cubase VST but I found it to be the death of creativity. I had also used a bundled version of Cakewalk Studio, and I expected Cubase to be a big

Interview

the attendance at clubs. Over the last few years the clubs have been in decline and right now there is only one club night running regularly, once a month.

Interview

NOVAkILL

share a lot of those strengths with ORION's native instruments, so that is probably another indication of the synergy between the way I like to work and ORION. [R(t)O] Shifting gears here a bit; what are the socio-political issues that you guys are concerned about? [Sik] Hmmn, well I have a deep rooted dislike for people, for the majority of people. Most are stupid. As I grew up I developed a distrust of authority, and I have an utter disdain for religion and governments, as they are created, run, or voted for, by (stupid) people. I do have faith though in science and technology. I am often inspired by books, almost as much as by music, and authors like Phillip K. Dick, Camus, Bukowski, Burroughs, Ballard, Celine, Palahlniuk provide plenty of ideas. I believe in subversion, insurrection, beer, pulsing baselines, thumping kicks and lots of distortion. Cheers

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

[Bones] Where to start!?! I suppose I am a big picture kind of guy so I generally write about big issues that I think affect most people, rather than more personal things. As I hinted at earlier, there will be a big focus on religion and the evil it empowers on our next album. It has cropped up before in songs like Prey to Your God, so it's not a new thing for us, but it is a lot more prominent in some of our new songs.

I also have this general frustration from living in our society that I try to express but it is such a big, pervasive thing that it's sometimes hard to nail down in a few lines of verse. I see society as a huge, self-perpetuating machine that requires us all to play our parts in order for it to continue to function. Over the years it has developed into a robust system by fixing us all into its structure. The parts are kept

well oiled with illusions of freedom and security but I have this nagging feeling that all our lives could be so much better and I try to express that by holding the machine up to scrutiny in the forlorn hope of revealing its flaws. It's an ongoing process that I hope one day to complete successfully. [R(t)O] On Kill Everyone, you did a smokin' cover of The Sisters of Mercy's ‘Alice’. Did you receive any feedback from Eldritch about your rendition? [Bones] Not so far. I’d be surprised if he has even heard it but we would certainly be keen to get his feedback. TBH, it’s pretty much a straight rip-off of the original in terms of arrangement, we just use different instruments to do it. We tend not to screw around too much with covers, we like playing them and we feel that it’s appropriate to show proper respect to the original by keeping our version reasonably close. I don’t think we would get as much out of it if we deviated too far from the version that we like [the original].

After finishing up, it’s little wonder that I am into their music as much as I am. Just like their personalities, their music is up front, in your face, and brutally honest. If you have an affinity for the old school EBM with a 21st century twist, then you need to give NOVAkILL some heavy rotation on your playlist. Then you will be able to flail about the place in absolute style. Links: NOVAkILL: www.novakill.com Synapse Audio (Orion) www.synapse-audio.com Metropolis Records: www.metropolis-records.com Metropolis Mail Order www.industrial-music.com

www.benedictroffmarsh.com

Be On The Lookout

Interview

BE ON THE

KOUT by Triple-P

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Be on the lookout for Stillwell Audioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all new line of VST effects. Stillwell Audio unleashed their line of effects in the last week of August, 2007. Some users of Reaper may be familiar with these already. They have been in Reapers native format for some time. The effects offer no limitations at all. So, if you like these, do the right thing and get your license from Stillwell Audio. These plug-ins all have fabulous GUI's. In the bit of time I have had with a few of them, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve found that they offer a refreshing sound that is gritty and unique. I will be reviewing a few of them: Major Tom is a side-chaining compressor that can pump like a porn star.

Verbiage is a nice reverb for adding space (it seems very good on drums). And Transient Monster is for use on material with fast transients such as drums. I will give you the scoop on these and let you know if they are up to par. A couple of the plug-ins had a buggy start, although Scott Stillwell (the developer) has worked relentlessly to fix anything reported. A couple builds later, they all seem prime for the mix. These are definitely something to be on the lookout for. Customer service is crazy good. Check them out www.stillwellaudio.com.

at: >

BE ON THE

First Scott could you tell the readers a little about yourself? Well, I'm 46 and live just outside of Kansas City, Missouri in the US. I've worked in Information Technology as a programmer and consultant for pretty much my entire working career, but have also been a working musician nights and weekends since I was just out of my teens. I'm an avid reader (you'll rarely find me sitting anywhere without a book in my hand or sitting open nearby). Add in the odd live sound mixing and/or recording gig, and there's not much time for anything else.

What made you decide to start Stillwell Audio? It just sort of came together, actually. I was working on remixing some old projects that I'd done and was getting frustrated with the host software I'd been using (I've used several over the years), when I found Cockos, Inc., and REAPER. I appreciated the speed and quality of development that I was seeing there and started virtually "hanging out" with the development crew in IRC (Internet Relay Chat). REAPER has a plug-in scripting language called JS that was intriguing, so I wrote a little clipper plug-in just to prove to myself that I could do it. Then came another...and another...and yet another...pretty soon, I had a

Interview

I had the chance to ask Scott Stillwell a few questions to better acquaint him.

KOUT

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

BE ON THE

KOUT

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Interview

good stable of plug-ins and the folks at Cockos asked if they could include them in REAPER. That was what started setting off the light bulb in my head. I could DO this! The final element was meeting up with a British designer named "White Tie". We had been discussing the use of my existing JS plug-ins and he had drawn up an illustration of what a better UI could do for their usability. That was the final straw - not only could I do this, but I was going to do it. Add in a lot of hard work and sleepless nights and here we are! I shouldn't forget to mention the invaluable assistance I received via IRC from Justin Frankel of Cockos, his programming partner-in-crime Christophe

Thibault, and last but very certainly not least, the other gentleman whose plug-ins are featured on my site, John Schwartz. Anytime I ran into a particularly nasty bug that was eluding capture, I could always bounce ideas off of them. Aaron Carey's assistance was invaluable as a working, credited engineer on what features are truly needed and when that particular feature "sounded right". What do you want people to get from using your plug-ins? I want people to be able to get quality tools at reasonable prices. I want people to be trusted to do the right thing >

BE ON THE

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty awesome that things fell into place developing plug-ins the way they did. Aside from what you have out can you tell us about some stuff youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working on?

Interview

(thus no technical limitations on the unregistered software and honour-system purchasing). I want people to be able to dial in the sound that's in their head quickly, without having to spend inordinate amounts of time tweaking parameters. Most of all, I want people to have fun using them. This is a serious full-time job for many people and a delightful, if obsessive, hobby for many others, but all of them should find joy in what they're doing. Easy-to-use, good sounding, inexpensive plug-ins sure should help ...shouldn't they?

KOUT

Well, I can't comment on specific plug-ins in development, but I will say that I've already got a good number of new plug-ins in various stages of completion. I'll release them when they're ready to go and meet quality standards that I can live with.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

BE ON THE

Interview

KOUT White Tie does an amazing job on the GUIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. How much does that help with the development? Because of his graphics, you have to want the plugs to be as good as they look.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Well, White Tie's design and graphics work do inspire me to bring my programming game to the same level, that's for sure. It's a very collaborative work relationship, and I find that very refreshing. It makes my job easier when communication is open and frank. The development that we've been doing over the past months has definitely been honing my C++ skill, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fact.

You are a musician; is there any wisdom you can impart on us in regards to making music? Well, just basic things that you've undoubtedly heard before. Practice. Play from the heart. Tune that thing, would you?! Also be on the lookout for Blue Cat Audio's new dynamic pack. It is an FX processor that is more than meets the eye. More on this coming issues as well.

BE ON THE

We are right now working on a multi-track version of our Blue Cat's FreqAnalyst Pro product in order to be able to compare the spectrum of several tracks in real time on the same screen. Please find attached some screenshots of the first prototype. It's not been made

public yet, but we hope to unleash it very soon in September. It is based on the same data sharing technology that has been used in the Blue Cat's Gain Suite 2.0 plug-ins for grouping."

Interview

I also talked to Guillaume Jeulin and he had this to say:

KOUT

Be on the lookout for that to. Blue Cat has some great deals. They also have some really nice freeware packs.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

CD Review

Cesium 137 Proof of Life by R(t)O

Cesium 137 CD Review

Since their debut release, Advanced / Decay, Cesium:137 have been carving a niche for themselves in the world of Electronic Music. In a genre that is often associated with negative and dark terms, Cesium:137 has a very welcome, positive presence that is indeed refreshing. Each previous release from the band has offered a fresh take on their sound, and Proof of Life continues this tradition. Cesium:137 have always had an infectious synth sound. I would characterize it as one part warm analog, one part atmospheric, one part semi-organic, and two parts genius. The sound arises from the speakers and envelopes the listener in a spatial arrangement that is a sheer audio delight. The remarkable thing about the band’s sound is that it can be customtailored to match the mood of the song. Proof of Life is also the first Cesium:137 release to feature a taste of live guitar. From the energetic stabs and pulsing rhythms of the dance tracks to the sweeping and melodic sounds that breathe life into the slower songs, Isaac and Vince have demonstrated their mastery of synthesis.

If you can appreciate the true beauty of music, then this CD is a keeper for your collection. It’s blend of elements from several genres and terrific songwriting makes this disc well worth the coin. It is available from several online retailers such as Amazon.com and Metropolis mail order.

Links: Metropolis Records: www.metropolis-records.com Metropolis Mail Order: www.industrial-music.com Cesium:137 Web Site: www.cesium137.com

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

The lyrical content of Proof of Life is substantive and uplifting. Cesium:137 have always had a spiritual element in their lyrics that is present without being preachy. Their songs have a beauty to them that comes from the currents of hope that flow throughout their songs. In many songs, there is a sense of completeness that is the direct result of lyrically positioning humanity and divinity in a yin-yang relationship. I think this is what makes the band easy with which to identify.

This release features thirteen wellcrafted tunes. Flight, the first single, and Distance are tracks that will chew up any dance floor. Both of these songs have tantalizing leads and four on the floor beats that keep the party hopping. Stranded, With Fire, Endure, and Inhuman are all tunes that showcase the band’s uncanny knack for blending cutting edge electronics with pop sensibilities. My favorite tune on the disc is Atmosphere. It features a chilled out beat, a lush arrangement, and everything I love about Cesium:137’s songwriting style.

CD Review Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Cormac O'Caoimh Start A Spark by Squibs www.musician.ie

Cormac O'Caoimh

As usual, Cormac writes and performs all songs on acoustic guitar. This time out, he's got a new backing band. Jason O'Driscoll is on drums, on bass is Jason O'Driscoll, and on electric guitar we have, well, Jason O'Driscoll. And last but not least, we have the lovely Aoife Regan on backing vocals. "Start a Spark" and "Lazy Gazing" open the album. Both are up-tempo numbers with solid memorable progressions and both are potential singles. In fact, "Lazy Gazing" has â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Summer radio hitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; written all over it. "Deep Sea Diving" is worthy of special mention for its eclectic lyrics about somebody who's too busy feeling sorry for themselves to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. Cormac relies on marine imagery to carry the message: "No-one's going to notice your tears if they fall in the sea's salty waters/Your sky is falling/But you don't notice 'cos you're diving too deep".

The album closes with "If you Feel" - a melodic little pop-jazz duet featuring Cormac and Aoife, with a very catchy progression. Lyrically it's a charming little sentimental love song in the mode of Bill Withers "Lean on Me". There are telltale hints that this is a small-budget production. On some tracks, the electric guitar has a hint of nasty "fizz" to it, and there are some acoustic fret squeaks which should probably have been tamed a little. There is the occasional delay or phaser effect that's been slightly overcooked and Cormac's pitching and diction are occasionally flawed, but these blemishes add to the charm and the production is generally excellent. The album is a logical progression for Cormac. It's more mature, more introspective, more self-assured. The lyrics are enigmatic. On the face of it, they are simpler than previous offerings, but after repeated listens you begin to plumb the hidden depths. This album grows on you like a virulent rash. Like its predecessors, this album is going from the review stack to my personal collection.

www.thecitadels.net/cormac www.myspace.com/thecitadels

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

"Ghosts" makes me smile every time I listen. I spent several days racking my brain to remember what song it reminded me of, before having a "D'Oh!" epiphany. I had been thinking of "December in Monaco" from Cormac's old band, The Citadels. "Ghosts" is an evocative, fragile lullaby and Aoife's dulcet backing vocals massage the eardrums: "I'll count the stars and wish to find out where you are". It's a lazy Sunday-afternoon-duvet-on-thesofa song.

"Things Will Get" is not a song I would have selected as one of my favourites, but it's undeniably catchy and the tune is continually popping, unbidden, into my head. "This Heart" sees Aoife and Jason holding Cormac by the ankles as he struggles to reach down and grasp the low, low notes. In fairness, he hits them, but it sounds like hard work. "View of the World" brings to mind Elvis Costello when he was still young and angry, and "Miles of Sky" sounds a lot like Tom Robinson.

CD Review

It's no secret that I generally sleep by the letterbox when I know there's a new Cormac O'Caoimh release coming in the mail. Start a Spark landed on my head the other morning, the bubble wrap saving me from injury. The packaging is sleek and tasteful, with moody distorted photographs of Cormac, somewhat reminiscent of a Cure album circa 1982. The inside sleeve contains lyrics - great tracts of lyrics in a stream-ofconsciousness printout punctuated only by song titles.

Creating Sound

Dubstep Bass by Wouter Dullaert

In this episode I'm going to help you guys create a mighty dubstep bass. Dubstep is a new music style that originated about two years ago in the Grime clubs in London. It's currently taking over the world by storm (as does anything hyped on the Internet these days). It's a style that combines the daunting bass lines and percussion of drum n bass with a very reverb-heavy dub production style. If you want to get an idea of what it's all about, I can strongly recommend artists such as Code9 and Burial.

Since the bass line takes such a prominent role in this kind of music, a lot of care is taken to keep it as interesting as possible. The bass sound we're going to make has a rather simple origin, but uses some modulation tricks that help make dubstep bass lines so hypnotic. I'm using Wusikstation here, but any other VA with a nice bass end will do. If you're going to use a fairly simple synth, you'll have to use the automation (clips) of your host to do some of the modulation. The completed preset can be found on the "cover disc".

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Let's begin by loading up Wusikstation and select the init patch. >

Dubstep Bass

standard with Wusikstation. Because of the nature of this patch, we want it to be mono. So put the poly of each layer to 1. Don't forget to activate OSC 2 by right clicking on the button above the selector. >

Creating Sound

We are going to create an edgy bass sound, so we're going to use some saw-waves, because they give us a lot of frequency content to work with. Select SawBiPW.wav on OSC 1 and Saw.wav on OSC 2. Both wav files can be found in the waveforms folder that ships

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Creating Sound

Dubstep Bass

When we play this patch we notice that OSC 2 is tuned a lot higher than OSC 1. Let's fix this by turning the tune buttons of OSC 2 to -12

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

It's now time to filter our patch into shape. Activate filter one, and put it on a 4 pole Low Pass filter. Do this for OSC 1 and OSC 2. Because the filters are completely closed, the sound is very quiet. Put the freq button of OSC 1 to +13 and of OSC 2 to +46. >

Dubstep Bass Creating Sound

This is already a very nice bass sound, but if you're going to write your entire tune with it, it'll get boring very quick. To keep the patch interesting we're going to modulate the cut-off of the filter of OSC 1.

Configure LFO 1 by selecting the triangle waveform and put the speed to 1/8. In the mod matrix select Mod LFO 1 as source and O1 Filter Freq as destination. Pull the amt value up to +85. >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Creating Sound

Dubstep Bass

If we play this patch we notice that the attack of the note lacks a bit of definition because the LFO kicks in right from the start. We're going to solve this by putting some delay on the start of the LFO. Put the attack

of Modulation ENV 1 at +57 and pull the VEL button all the way down. In the modulation matrix select mod ENV 1 as source and Mod LFO 1 depth as destination. Pull the amt value up to 127.

A trick often applied in dubstep tracks is to give the LFO a different speed for each note. In Wusikstation we can do this by using some mod matrix tricks. In the modmatrix, select Key RND Mono (out the MIDI menu as source and Mod LFO1 Speed as destination). Put the min value to 35, the max value to 45 and the amt value to +50. Play a few notes and you'll notice that each note sounds different. If you're making a track, I suggest you use your hostâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s automation so it always sounds the same. >

Dubstep Bass Creating Sound

Our patch already sounds very nice, but it can use a bit more bite. So open up FX1 and select the overdrive effect from the distortion

effect list. I just kept it at its default setting. Now pull up the send amount of OSC 1 and 2 to taste to add more bite.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

There you have it; you have created a bass patch that practically plays itself. Don't forget to save it.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Gear Review

Audio Damage Damage Control by Triple-P

Audio Damage

AT Wusik magazine we want developers that make quality products for less to get the attention they deserve. The guys at Audio Damage fit this mold perfectly. Over the period of this last month I had the opportunity to test Audio Damageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two newest plug-ins: Dr.Device and Replicant. Both are delay-based but much different from each other. In using these plugins, I notice that not only is the price friendly but so is the functionality. These aren't filled with controls and pages - each has a magnificent interface. Dr.Deviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is a thing of beauty. I will start with my personal favourite first - Dr.Device. I make hip-hop music and I use a lot of delay mostly to "fatten" things up or for interesting effect. Dr.Device is not just a delay though. It has an analog modeled filter section and also two flavours of distortion. You

would think with all these features would be a gang of knobs; not at all. The interface is clean and uncluttered. The filters can be made to self oscillate and sustain. You can use this tone in the delay to add more life to it. By using the distortion controls with the xyz and the sustained tone and delay, you can make it an instrument all by itself. This can lead to interesting results. The audio goes through the filter first, so before any delay is applied you can shape you signal just as you want. The distortion controls work very well. One is for analog-like distortion and the other resamples the signal at a lower rate. In the delay section you have a left knob and a right knob to control each side of the signal. The right knob however is multiplied from the left channel. Two knobs and you can make awesome delay patterns. It also has a knob called regen. The more you turn the knob the more it keeps feeding. There are no multi-taps here - just 3 knobs.

Gear Review

Dr.Device

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Gear Review

Audio Damage That may not be that impressive alone but we are going to talk about the xyz pad. This is what makes the Dr. a step ahead. There are six destination buttons and sliders - 3 under the delay section and 3 under the filter section. The sliders control the range in which the knobs can move. You can record the movements you do and play them or you can use kinetics to let the 2 nubbies inside the pad roam free. The nubbies will bounce off the walls and never stop. You get instant satisfaction out of this feature. It is extremely fun and using it you can morph your signal between different tones. It makes automating knobs as simple as a couple of clicks. Every knob is able to be used in conjunction with the pad, including on/off switches of the filter and delay section. One user with a Kaoss pad compared it to playing hockey; you can catch and flick the nubbies and bounce them off the wall. That sounds cool right? This

feature though also allows Dr.Device to do really amazing things: you get to control six knobs. Remember, you can record your movements on the pad. You can make ridiculous filter sweeping delays jump in and out of your song very easily.

Replicant

In the center of the plug-in is the "big dial" (as they call it in the manual). In the dial are 3 different controls. First is the trigger ring - it is broken up into sixteenths. You can select one of the sixteenths and depending on your settings an indicator synced to your host goes around the circle and when passing a selected section it will cause it to repeat. The other two are probability controls: one is for how often it will repeat on a selected beat, and the other is for random repeats.

This is another Audio Damage gem for fifty dollars. Also delay based, but in a much different direction than Dr.Device. Like the Dr., though, it is dead easy to use with a marvellous GUI. It is for freaking loops - drumloops mainly. However you can apply it to anything you would like to mangle. You will get very cool results the more you experiment.

This plug-in really excels due to the fun factor and it looks great. The filter section is better than any other delay I have used. Honestly if you cut it in half and just had the filters and distortion with the xyz it would be worth every bit of fifty dollars. The delay is so simple, but still powerful. If the price suggests it is a poor manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect then the power shows it is a contender with much more expensive products. The xyz makes for very interesting effects. You can totally change the sound into really crazy distorted delays. You can turn single notes into lush evolving textures. Check out the genius of this plug for yourself.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Audio Damage Gear Review I have used a few loop manglers and none handle quite like this one. Replicant makes it very easy to make organized madness in an easily controlled environment. Replicant also makes it fun. The gang at Audio Damage have found a niche in the market with these generously priced plugs. No rocket science is involved with using them. I don't think there is another company with a better price on kick-ass plug-ins. I know it seems like I can't stress this enough but I really like these plug-ins. If you’re on a low budget or are just tired of spending big money on ineffective effects, then you have to check out Audio Damage.

Website: www.audiodamage.com/effects/

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

In the month I have had this little beast I have had loads of fun with it. It is really good for glitched out beats or DJ-like skips and effects. It’s perfect for a breakdown, or having it chop up your beat or repeat vocals. It has a bit-crush knob whereby the lower it is set the more broken the repeats will sound. You can take drumloops and make them sound totally insane. There are 3 ways to use this beauty: insert, send, or duck. Send is the most fun. It allows no unaffected audio to pass. This means in the dial it will only play when it passes a selected section. This is so cool because it allows perfect control over beat mangling. There are 3 different random knobs and you can also make it reverse. It even has an automatic panning section. The automatic panning makes the audio jump all over your speakers while the beat spazzes out. I know there are plugs like glitch that do much the same. What makes Replicant a winner for me is the ease of use. There aren’t a lot of knobs, but enough that you can get exactly what you want without hassle. It comes with lowpass and highpass filters that you can set as you choose, or so they are modulated by the audio as it loops. This plug-in is a fast and fun way to mangle your sound. I have heard a lot of people looking for a plug like this to create chaos with loops or other audio. I have to tell you if you are one of these people this is worth a try. It is a little plug with a whole lot of bite.

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

Gear Review Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

CamelPhat and

CamelSpace by Michael Knubben

As I initially set out to review these separately, I soon found that they're a great duo, and it shouldn't surprise anyone to see these also being sold as a bundle. With that in mind, I'm reviewing them as such.

CamelPhat and

The first thing I like to do with new software of any kind is to use it and see how much sense it makes without the aid of a manual, needlessly complex as those can be. In the case of audio plug-ins, that means having a quick run through the presets. After all, these should give you a good idea of the range of sounds one can expect, what expert programming can coax out of it, and at what the plug-in excels. Clicking through CamelSpace's presets, I was quickly surprised to hear the versatility in sounds, as well as being glad to hear the lack of glitching or dropouts while switching. While a comment like that can draw comments like "but I like glitches!â&#x20AC;? it's obviously not what this plug-in was made for, despite the extreme sounds one can get at times. Another point of interest is the labeling of presets - done in a way that I'd normally associate with synths, with sets labeled RYM, DRM, INS, PAD, SFX and SYN. These make sense, although they're certainly not limited to use in how they're tagged. Camel Audio offers you four varied preset-banks with the product, as well as having more on their customer service page. This is where having a big name preset designer pays off, I imagine, as the presets are sure sellers. I'm still taking some of them apart to see what makes them tick. The preset system plays nicely with the hosts', and offers a unified system for hosts which may be lacking in the area.

Both plug-ins have a fair selection of filters from which to choose, running the range from lowpass, bandpass, highpass (including FAT versions of each of these) through peaking and notch, right down to a comb filter and a ring modulator. I found myself drawn to the more exotic ones, but obviously there's enough there to please any but the most demanding of customers. CamelPhat even has a lovely standalone section for another bandpass-filter, with visual controls of which range you're allowing through, and controls to let the remaining signal through unaffected by the rest of the plug-in.

Gear Review

CamelSpace

An integrated x/y-pad right underneath the preset-browser allows for real-time tweaking of two user-defined controls, which is always a nice feature for us lowly MIDI-controller-less musicians, as well as just for a quick tweak here and there while playing. Right next to that you'll find a meter for the output level, which you can toggle when you need it. These little things really make these plug-ins shine, and show how much thought was put into them. Finally, above the preset-browser, there's a randomizer. Found in both plugins, and again something that should please fans of instant gratification, you'll be hardpressed to find any entirely unusable autogenerated presets. Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

CamelPhat Gear Review

and

CamelSpace

That concludes the shared elements; let's get to their differences. CamelPhatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Magic EQ and compression are perfect for beginners and guitarist alike, as they're largely a onebutton affair. Any accomplished engineer would frown at the mention of these, but they truly did surprise me in being more useful than I'd anticipated. Having long been a user of CamelCrusher, I was surprised to find a flanger in its big brother, rather than a chorus. It shows its use in the craziest of CamelPhatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presets though, of which there are plenty, partially thanks to the integrated dual LFO.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

What really attracted me to CamelPhat were the distortions, having had access to two of them through their free plug-in. These two are, as I discovered, really the only dedicated distortions onboard; the other two knobs are labeled 'Xcita' and 'Bitcrusher'. I was naturally curious to hear how the other two could shape (err, mangle) my sounds. While the xcita is more of a subtle companion to the distortions, the bitcrusher is perfectly capable of distorting your sound quite severely. The real appeal here is to mix them all and see what works best.

Moving onto CamelSpace, it quickly becomes apparent that even crazier routing is possible. The multi-patterned Stepsequencer can be set to control any combination of Volume, Filter, Pan or Trance-gate, and every pattern can be set to control these independently of the other patterns. This means you can have one control the volume and pan, while another one controls the filter, and yet another one controls the gate. There are Attack, Sustain and Decay settings for the sequencer, length and shuffle knobs, and buttons to easily copy and paste patterns from one to another. In addition to these patterns, there is an LFO dedicated purely to the filter, called the Filtermod, for additional modulation options, as well as an autopan. Finally, there's a flanger, stereo delay, reverb and enhancer to further shape the sound. I'm not sure I've wrapped my head around the possibilities fully, as some of the presets manage to squeeze out an impressive amount of modulation, but right out of the box I'm getting some very interesting results, ranging from subtle movements to extreme modulation. This is ideal for adding texture to about anything. All in all, these plug-ins feel like performance tools, things you need to play with to get the full benefit of their strength. They're full of character, simple to use, easy on the CPU and eyes, and they're certainly up to any task I threw at them.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Print Review

How to Make a Noise

by R(t)O

I was introduced to Simon Cann’s work through his book Cakewalk Synthesizers - from Presets to Power Users. I was very impressed with the quality of the information in this book. So, when his latest release, How to Make a Noise, came across my desk, I jumped at the chance to devour its delectable contents. My excitement was well rewarded, as this book has provided me the means to further my knowledge of synthesizer programming to an entirely new level.

Do not mistake this book as just another synthesizer programming book. I feel quite confident in saying

Six synthesizers are showcased throughout the book. Simon uses Vanguard from reFX, Wusikstation from Wusik.com, Rhino from Big Tick, Cameleon 5000 from Camel Audio, Z3TA+ from Cakewalk, and, as previously mentioned, Surge from Vember Audio. These synthesizers offer a broad spectrum of sonic possibilities, making it possible for this book to compare and contrast different component types as a teaching tool. The book starts by covering basic synthesizer components such as oscillators, filters, and envelopes. While covering these components, the principles of subtractive synthesis are also discussed. When cracking the cover for the first time, I thought it was interesting that the first topic addressed was envelopes. As I began to digest the information, I began to >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

In 2005, Simon released the original How to Make a Noise as a free e-book that was (and still is) available from his website, An www.noisesculpture.com. accompanying patch collection was also made available for purchase at that time. The latest printed version is not simply a reprint with a couple of enhancements; it is a thorough rework that includes revamped graphics, the introduction of material for a new synthesizer (Vember Audio’s Surge), and the addition of a hefty amount of new tutorial material which brings the page count to nearly 300. The patch collection has also been increased by almost 50%. Users who purchased the original patch collection may receive the updated patch collection as a free download, and it is available to new customers for $10.00 U.S. The website has the details for both cases. I highly recommend springing for the patch collection, as it gives you the solutions for the patch design exercises.

that this book is the synthesizer programming book. Simon shows a strong attention to detail throughout the book. He explains several complex concepts in terms that do not require the reader to have an Engineering degree. Although synth programming is explained in layman’s terms, in no case will you find critical information being left out or glossed over. Also, this book is not a re-hash of or replacement for the user’s manual. Whereas the user’s manual teaches you how to use a specific synthesizer and explains the various components of that synth, this book provides a solid theory base and demonstrates programming techniques that can be used for almost all synthesizers.

Print Review

How To Make A Noise

Print Review

How To Make A Noise realize that it was essential to start with envelopes. Each subsequent reread further supported this assertion. Filters, oscillators, and modulation followed in their respective chapters with each chapter building on and reinforcing the preceding chapters.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

After discussing the basic components, the book moves forward into a very good discussion of different synthesis types. FM Synthesis, WaveSequencing, and Additive Synthesis are discussed. I have read entirely too many books that muddle down these concepts with tech-speak and calculations. However, in this book, the focus is making these methods work for you. While there are a few simple calculations in the chapter about additive synthesis, it doesn’t interfere with deriving the material from the chapter.

The chapters at the tail end of the book are the culmination of the material presented in the earlier chapters. After a great discussion about effects, Simon launches into a non-stop barrage of patch creation exercises. Starting with a chapter on design philosophy and following with a collection of refills that addresses more specific aspects of sound design, How to Make a Noise comes to an end by completing a comprehensive, hands-on, course in patch design. How to Make a Noise is, in my opinion, the de-facto authority on synthesizer programming. It is not geared toward teaching you the technology that is under the hood of the synthesizer; rather, it teaches you how to use the interface provided by

the synthesizer to create the sounds you want for your music. At a very palatable street price of $15.00 U.S. / £10 + $10.00 U.S. for the patch collection, anyone interested in synthesizer programming should add this work to their library. It does not matter if you are a beginner, a seasoned veteran, or somewhere in between those two levels, this book will offer something to help you improve your skills. The book is available from Amazon.com and the patches are available from Simon’s website. Links: Simon Cann’s website www.noisesculpture.com Amazon.com www.amazon.com

R(t)O is a musician / writer who lives in the Kansas City Metro Area. He plays and programs synths for the IndustrioEBM outfit operating under the moniker The Razorwire Ballet. He has worked with synthesizers since 1989 and always loves an opportunity to augment his skills. Simon Cann is an author and musician based in London, England. He has worked with several developers and wrote the original Wusikstation manual. He is also the author of Cakewalk Synthesizers, Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career, and Sample This! (with Klaus P Rausch). He is currently working on Synthesizer Bootcamp and Project 5 Power.

Gear Review Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

OhmicideNow by Triple-P

Have you ever wanted to destroy your audio signal? With Ohm Forces Ohmicide: Melohman your signal is murdered then resurrected. Ohmicide breaks the signal into four stereo bands which you can control individually. Per band processing is divided

into six steps: mid/size, gate, dynamics, gain, stereo field, and feedback. Each band also has 28 algorithms with three variations each for a monstrous 84 distortion types. The signal is processed in two stages dynamic and distortion.

Enough tech talk, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hear how it works you say? Well it can totally mangle the signal into something beautifully distorted or you can use it for track dynamics and make it fit right in a mix. If applied right, I have found you can get a very dusty vintage feel on a track. Remember, it can break the signal into 4 separately controlled bands if you choose. A simple example: when used on a drumloop, you can rip everything to shreds and keep your kick unscathed. The plug-in is really a pleasure to use. The GUI is a stunning bone white, black, and blood red. A lovely bloodstain completes the visual.

midi notes. Yes that is right, you can morph between presets. That is the reason for 12 presets per meta-patch. On the GUI, the presets are black dots in the form of a keyboard. Amazing, so not only is it a vicious effect, but also a 12 key instrument as well! How could I forget - each band also has a noise gate to do away with unwanted feedback. A low pass filter does away with bad highs. The CPU use is good. If set to its high quality setting it is a little hungrier, but is still manageable. The manual is very informative in all aspects of ohmicide. They do a very good job of explaining everything. The only downside is it is only on-line. This is probably not a problem for most, but I don't have Internet in my studio. Really, the plug-in is very simple to use. Just grab a nice 3-D knob and tweak until youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re content. It has come to destroy. It is Ohmicide now.

. Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Advertisements say it will make your tracks bleed: they deliver. As you can tell there is nothing bad for me to say - at eighty dollars it is a steal. I think this distortion plug-in runs laps around the competition. If you use it on guitars, you get truly awesome tones, and as well, it offers just the right spice for drums - or distort them to sound totally different. It comes with 87 meta-patches. Each patch contains 12 presets. Here is where it gets even better: Ohmicide is equipped with Melohman technology, meaning you can morph between presets by way of

Gear Review

OhmicideNow

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Flashback

The Smiths by R(t)O

Let’s land the time machine in 1986, shall we? Notable events of that time period include Sir Alex Ferguson taking the helm of Manchester United, Britain and France announcing plans to construct the Channel Tunnel, The U.S. celebrated the first Federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and the world mourned the lives lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. And, in the midst of all these colossal events, The Smiths release ‘The Queen is Dead’, an album which would become one of the best of their career. In 1986, I found myself going to high school in a rather desolate burg in East Central Illinois. Being an outsider and not meshing well with the ‘corn crowd’, I found The Smiths to be a very good band to pipe through my headphones and drown out their hatred. I really felt that I identified with many of the things they said in their music. Over 20 years have come and gone since then, the people from that era have faded away into nothing, but The Smiths are still a mainstay in my CD collection.

While finished in 1985, The Queen Is Dead did not see the light of day until almost 7 months after its completion due to a disagreement between the band and the label. When it was finally released, The Smiths cult-like following made it as close to a success as possible. The sound was so incredible that it drew in many new fans. I can’t count the number of people who have told me that they were not a fan of The Smiths until they heard this release.

The Synth Romance

The Smiths

The Smiths were the exact opposite of what was expected out of music from this era; a theme that would be a noticeable undercurrent throughout their entire career. Instead of appearing in silk suits and makeup, they mostly wore jeans and T-shirts. Regardless of what they chose to adorn themselves with, this foursome produced a tight, guitar-driven sound that cut through the bland pop music of that time like a hot knife through butter.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

es h > c r a es g m n g i h s s arc slin l th e l r e n a fu e e h twe in der c s be ad on d e il an oar r he a w v l a ma e ike r s b h i c l th a r ily l? e ot ike with ds v a ei ts e c n v a u eD l ll in l ess ou f o e y th ida l er ew ed own it s t a r n r ic ov a mm L ut o t of b r d o F he ery -b t isc n er's , s i o s y v rr h o d nt le e fr oth r r o d t de e ? a th M e h ys r h d e e n e t am ce er ng ? C on ur l s e i r u o g sh des oth ha ged a ar y tr e e r in D pe to le or I c han ugs e Im n h i t d pa n ve c dr ap sse d l al cke 8th quee r ha ve I les to re d o

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Flashback

The Smiths

The Queen is Dead featured 10 songs that were powered by a combination of Morrissey’s melancholy and sometimes satirical lyrics propelled by Johnny Marr’s infectious guitar sound. Sometimes upbeat and other times a bit slower, the CD was a non-stop trip through the world as the band saw it. Each song had a unique impact on the listener, and that impact changed each time the songs were listened to.

We can g o fo a raw nd w Some of my favorite songs inalk w e can clude the title track, Frankly Mr. Shankly here (I’d rather be famous than righteous or talk but t it's q holy – such an awesome line), and The abou he ra u Boy with The Thorn in His Side. Each of t i n t p h r t e these songs has a quick wit and an eciou hat f se s a animated sound that would come to s l re th atten define the band. Bigmouth strikes again e s my thing is my absolute favorite track on the disc. P ha s tha a sse Every time I play the song, people in the d the t kill room just can’t sit still. Vicar in a Tutu a n d Pub showcased all of the elements of me the c t Morrissey’s song writing that made him h hurch a t sa one of a kind. ps yo who'l t h e l sn a ur bo Quee Although they never received the t dy ch yo an d n is acclaim they deserved while the band d it's s was together, you can still find their o lon ead, bo ur money CD’s on the shelves of many stores ys today. Many of their contemporaries P ely o a ss t cannot claim that same kind of staying n a lim he P power. Morrissey and Johnny Marr have b u b tha moved on to other projects, and it a n d the doesn’t appear that a reunion is in the t wre foreseeable future (props to VH-1 for cks y churc trying though). If you are an 80’s fan, our b h-all you might find yourself enjoying anothi s the Q your m they wa ody er part of the decade by popping in one or two of The Smiths CDs from time to nt oney u e e n time. . i life you can s dead, b is ve ry lo trust me, oys` ng, w boys hen

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

www.traxmusic.org

Gear Review Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Reason 4 A Reason to get excited about by Zachariah Weckter

Reason 4

Mapping out the future The Propellerheads have added a brilliant new attribute to the NN-XT sampler synth by creating an automap feature that allows you to chromatically import samples and edit them in groups simultaneously. While this may not sound exactly groundbreaking, it does provide a greater usability and makes creating your own presets a cinch. Even if you prefer not to dabble in sound design the new features added to both the NN-XT and Combinator modules may get you tweaking those knobs and sliders a little more often.

inspiration hits. Every device is loaded into the rack with presets ready and waiting. It truly becomes abundantly clear that The Propellerheads have not been dozing off at their desks. To make the package even sweeter, new presets are included in the revamped factory sound banks, and the new functionality and devices will no doubt have ReFills popping out from third parties by the dozens in no time. Reason 4 carries on the tradition of not facilitating audio recording, much to the dismay of many reason fans who would like to use Reason as an all in one studio. But with features like these, who needs it? >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

The modules all seem to be spring loaded with presets, making it easier to get ideas down when

competitors. Enabling us to create new sounds and write music more fluently seems to be the larger focus of the update, and judging by the restlessness of the electronic music making community, they have us all excited by the new features. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s look more in depth under the hood of Reason 4â&#x20AC;Ś

Gear Review

Reason has been very well known for years and possesses a wide user base of musicians that write completely different styles and genres of music. A soft synth studio to be reckoned with, anyone interested in music production has at least heard of it. The new version packs a serious punch that is aimed directly at their

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Gear Review

Reason 4 Thor

Reason 4

Reason 4 brings Thor to the front of the stage, and then lets it blow your mind. This is a monster synth extremely capable of making any sound you can fathom. On offer are up to six independent oscillators (only three can be implemented per usage), 4 different filter modules (again, three per instance), 2 LFOs and mod, filter, amp and global envelopes. Thor is modular by design; you are free to interchange modules on a whim, thereby providing heart stopping results. On top of that, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built in delay and effects units for more sonic bang for your buck, enabling more character to be added to the output. Thor comes equipped with its own modulation matrix, which provides a means of modulating any given parameter with any other parameter, thus providing even more flexibility and a greater means of control.

On top, there are assignable rotary controls for added manual manipulation of the instruments parameters, which can be automated from MIDI or other instruments from the rack using the CV routing.

Gear Review

God of thunder

The Propellerheads did not stop there; they also gave Thor its own built in step sequencer with 5 different run modes and 16 steps to provide a greater sequenced control. The sequencer can sync to the master tempo or can run in free mode, allowing BPM based sync or really crazy arpeggios and patterns that roll out at your liking. The sequencer controls instantly remind me of the KORG MS2000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sequencer, automatically making me feel at home with this beast. The sounds you can squeeze from Thor are quite remarkable, bringing me to make the conclusion that Thor alone is worth the upgrade price.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Gear Review

Reason 4 RPG-8

Reason 4

The RPG-8 is an arpeggiator out to steal your heart. Whether you’re looking for very simple patterns or extremely complicated arpeggios you will need to look no further. The front control has several options which, of course, are fully automated. The back of the RPG-8 sports numerous outputs enabling this unit to control other devices in the rack with breath and expression control. This device is extremely useful for creating gated trance anthems or winding guitar melodies. The array of controls on the front panel allow you to twist the signal in any which way you like, and the quality is rock solid. When all is said and done, the RPG-8 is an excellent addition to the studio and it’s quite obvious programmers to players will find it to be an extremely useful tool. Back into the groove Reason 4 introduces us to a new concept in beat quantization and grooving, The ReGroove Mixer. This device was designed to give alternate swing to separate instruments or to the whole project alike, adding a more human feel to more rigid electronic music, as well as keeping the entire track together with the swing.

Mixing it up The Propellerheads have revamped their mixer and added a greater functionality as a whole. The newly built mixer has a reminiscent feel of the original, but once you start actually using the mixer it becomes apparent that a lot of thought was put into the adjustments. The overall functionality of the sequencer has grown leaps and bounds, largely due to the more straightforward approach to automation lanes, and has been aesthetically overhauled as well. If you’re used to using your traditional sequencer with ReWire, you will probably still do so, however, for the sheer portability of Reason the sequencer’s advancement will no doubt please many fans on the go, and if you favor the original Reason mixer, this will enable you to work faster and open doors to precision. Also worth adding here is that Reason 4 has implemented the use of vector animation, providing smooth transitions when using MIDI controller data, and allowing for faster editing of the devices in the rack. It’s quite clear that the sequencer has been streamlined to help improve workflow and get sequences out quickly.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Using the ReGroove Mixer you can control the timing, velocity and note length impact, and apply a random timing as well, if it suits your taste. I dare say it is the most important feature added to the Prop’s

latest offering, but if used wisely can be very handy for adding that human touch to percussions and beats, which can sometimes be a real chore to do by hand.

Gear Review

RPG-8

Gear Review

Reason 4

Reason 4’s “Swiss army knife” The new Tools Pane is rather useful when you need to build a song up quickly to get the ideas down. It allows you to drag and drop instruments and effects directly into the rack for rapid building of complex instruments, and also gives you access to multiple parameters such as the ReGroove Mixer settings and grooves, as well as quantization, pitch, velocity, tempo, automation cleanup, and more. The Tools Pane allows for on the fly adjustments and ultra fast production that’s sure to speed up your workflow and enable your inspiration to rule over everything else.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

A Stir of Echoes

For owners of previous versions, the upgrade offers astounding features that simply cannot be overlooked for the price. As stated above, with the inclusion of the Thor synthesizer module it’s surprising that they aren’t charging more, as a soft synth with such a broad range of uses would easily have a price tag of $300.00 or more.

When you stack everything up, Reason 4 offers a new array of features at a staggering low price, and as always, Reason is cross platform and rock solid. This is the same quality we have come to expect from the Propellerheads, and Reason 4 is one of the more feature packed upgrades to date in the products history. The Propellerheads have announced the official release date of September 26th, 2007, at which point Reason 4 will be available through the Prop Shop and at music retailers around the world. The official price for the 4th incarnation is EUR: 449 ($499.00 USD) for the full version and an upgrade offering of EUR: 99 ($129.00 USD), however, users who purchase Reason 3 after June 1st, 2007 will be entitled to an upgrade to version 4 for free, provided they hold on to their receipts.

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 Magazine #017 September 2007

Mixing Tips

by David Keenum

Mastering Tips

Mixing Tips

Have you ever had to apologize for your mixes? Have you ever wondered why your mixes don’t sound as good as those you hear on the radio or from a CD? Have you taken a mix to a party only to find that the music doesn’t sound as good on the party host’s sound system? I’ve been there, and I know how it feels. But I’ve also had some help along the way, and I can tell you that a home studio can produce “professional” sounding mixes. So let me share some of the tips I’ve learned… and while I’m at it, I’d also like to thank all of those people that taught me these tips. 1. Read, Read, Read!

2. Acoustical treatment for your room. A good sounding room may be more important than good monitors. This has to be one of the biggest sources of bad mixes! If you can’t hear how your mix really sounds, you’ve lost even before you’ve begun. The solution is not as simple as putting up some foam, or buying expensive near field monitors. So make it a point to learn about acoustically treating your room. There is isolation, diffusion, and absorption. Isolation may not be possible in a bedroom studio, but diffusion and absorption are important. You don’t necessarily have to start carrying a slide rule in your shirt pocket, but a general knowledge of acoustics will save you, and your mixes. One of the best sources of acoustic treatment information is the Ethan Winer: Acoustics Forum (http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbt hreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/24/pag e/1?PHPSESSID=2adc7ce3dab700a43 a63e9cff5484066). Ethan also has some excellent articles on acoustic treatment and design (http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustic s.html) and setting up a listening room (http://www.realtraps.com/art_roomsetup.htm). In addition, the Gearsluts forum (http://www.gearslutz.com/board/) has regular discussions on acoustics. Several acoustics manufacturers/retailers regularly drop by their forums. >

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

Read everything you can find about mixing. Make learning how to mix a priority. Of course, read those “How to Mix” articles, but don’t skip those interviews of the uber-mixers. Yeah, I know we don’t have their equipment, but you can get an idea or two. Just this week I saw an article insert that suggested not adding bass until the rest of the mix is jelling.

I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s an idea worth trying.

Mastering Tips

In WSM issue 14, Richard Dolmat wrote a great article on building a mix. This month we’re going to look at mixing from a different perspective and, hopefully, open your mind to some new ideas.

Mastering Tips

Mixing Tips

Here is a list of some of the manufacturers and/or suppliers I have found represented on the internet. This is not an exhaustive list, and I am not recommending any specific company. a. ATS Acoustics (http://www.atsacoustics.com/) supply both finished products and materials to build your own. b. GK Acoustics (http://www.gikacoustics.com/index.h tml) builds a variety of absorbers. c. Real Traps (http://www.realtraps.com/) offers a variety of products as well as a lot of information. d. Ready Acoustics (http://www.readyacoustics.com/) offers both finished products as well as DIY materials.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

As an example of DIY information you can find on the internet, here is a step-by-step guide to mounting acoustic panels on the wall (http://mysite.verizon.net/resqg90a/i d31.html).

3. I know it may seem that audio monitors can be as confusing as acoustics, but let's look at a few basics. Remember that all of this is “generally speaking”. I know it may seem that audio monitors can be as confusing as acoustics, but let’s look at a few basics,

but remember that all of this is “generally speaking.” a. All monitors have strengths and weaknesses. b. As long as you stay with a major manufacturer, any monitor is better than a consumer speaker or headphones. c. Bi-amped, powered monitors are usually better balanced – at least at its price point. d. Don’t use any one forum when you are seeking advice on “What is the best monitor?” For example, V. I. Control or Nothersounds forums will give you a completely different perspective than kvaudio. e. Usually, a more expensive monitor will sound better. That’s why I said, “Buy the best monitors you can afford.”

4. Listen to those monitors – a lot. Listen critically to CDs on your monitors, and do it a lot! You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your monitors. Pick the best-engineered and mixed CDs in the style of music you record. Compressed formats are good (mp3, acc, wma), but it is best to hear recordings with the best fidelity possible. In fact, if you’re working in 24 bit, then listen >

Mixing Tips

5. Listen on a variety of speakers Now I know I just told you to buy those fancy monitors and listen to them ad infinitum, but once you finish your mix, or even as a reality check during the mix, it’s a good idea to listen to another set of speakers. In the big studios of “yesteryear” there was a small set of cubes, called Auratones, which would sit on the bridge. You can buy the updated version of these cubes (called Avanatones), or you can use what you have. I have, at different times, used a boom box with audio inputs as well as a pair of old stereo speakers. Computer speakers are also a good choice. Just don’t use these speakers for your primary listening.

6. Develop a group of “Listening Friends.”

And, finally, the third group is that friend with good ears and an ability to give you appropriate feedback. That is the person to find! A side benefit to this is that it seems to give you fresh ears. You will also hear small corrections you can make.

7. The “Car Mix CD” Everybody listens to their mixes in their car. Well, maybe not everybody, but it is common. But there is something to consider before you make that CD. Make several mixes: +1 vocals, -1 vocals, +1/-1 bass, +1/-1 guitar solo, etc. You get the picture. Make a variety of mixes so you don’t waste CDs. You may be surprised at what you hear when you play your mix in your car. Don’t forget to save the variations of your mix and document the order of your CD. You’ll want to know which mix you are hearing.

Conclusion When you first start learning to mix, it may take some time to get to “that” mix. It may seem to be one long eternity of adjusting tracks by the smallest increments before you get your mix to match a reference CD. But keep at it - it does get faster. And you’ll be happy you spent the time learning your craft.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

After you think you have completed your mix, it’s good to have some people that you trust to give you advice. I’ve divided these people into 3 groups: the first group is the Spouse/Loveinterest/Parent group. They will boost your ego! Anything you do will sound marvelous! OK, it doesn’t help you make better mixes, but who cares! The second group is that hypercritical friend

that can always find something to improve. He will tell you what you should have done. Well, now that I think about it, I guess we can avoid this friend.

Mastering Tips

to 24 bit recordings. Even when you’re mixing, keep reference CDs handy, and regularly compare your mix to the released, mastered recording. This one thing will go a long way in teaching you the “sound” and balance of a great mix.

Sample Review

OB Resurrection

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

by Wouter Dullaert

This month I have the recently released OB Resurrection by Nucleus Soundlab on the torturing, I mean reviewing, table. It is a 450 MB library of Oberheim samples for Wusikstation/EVE2, Reason 3 and SFz. The samples are taken from various Xpander and Matrix synths. While they do not have the fame of Moog synthesizers, these synths are known by insiders as some of the fattest, pleasantly analog sounding synths around! Now if that doesn't sound promising, I don't know what does.

OB Resurrection

But enough on what's included - how does all this sound? Well, in short, extremely good. The waveforms have 'analog' written all over them. These are some of the fattest saws, filter sweeps and bleeps I have heard. I loaded these into ManyOne and came up with interesting, great sounding patches in no time. The Wusikstation presets also reflect the quality of the waveforms of course: most of the patches have a very analog feel to them. There are also some which really push Wusikstation to the edge and produce sounds which you'd hardly believe possible with the provided samples.

Under test is the Wusikstation/EVE2 version of OB Resurrection. This version contains 85 soundsets, 453 presets for Wusikstation (in v3 format) and 128 EVE2 presets. The installation was very straightforward and as such didn't pose any problems at all. Once you start using the sounds you immediately notice the great attention to detail NSL has put into this.

Even though the basses and leads are really good, they are nothing really new. Where this sampleset really shines, is with the pads and soundFX. The combination of the analog samples, the wavesequencer of Wusikstation, and the skill of the preset designers, gives rise to pads which move all over the place, but are still bathed in analog warmth. This is really a case where the total is greater than the sum of the parts. If you are looking for analog sounds, your search is over. While there might be more flexible options out there for simple basses and leads (because of the sample-based nature), the pads and effects more than make up for this. OB Resurrection has managed to sneak into every track I've made since I've been testing it. The best part is that at 39.95 euro for the Wusikstation/EVE2 version or 49.95 for the multi-format version, it will hardly break the bank.

Wusik Magazine #017 September 2007

The OB Resurrection preset folder has been divided into two subfolders: one by type, and one by author. Both contain the same presets, but they are organised in a different way. A quick look at the 'by author' folder shows that all the usual suspects are there: Tim Conrardy, Pro-Sounds, Ugo, tasmodia, rsmus7, etc. These people have all proven that they are capable of making astounding presets and shows that NSL did more than just quickly throw in some presets.

Sample Review

The well informed reader might have frowned a bit at the phrase 'recently released'. This product is indeed not entirely new. It has been previously released by Nucleus Soundlab, or NSL, under the name 'Oberheim Resurrection'. Apart from the gigantic change in name, to avoid any potential legal issues, they have also reorganised the presets, balanced their volume and kicked out the ones they didn't feel were good enough for inclusion. For the people who can never have enough presets, no matter the quality, the old ones can still be downloaded as an unsupported bonus pack.