The tricky thing about introducing a new feature is that you almost immediately hear from users about other features that would go well with that feature. (There’s a children’s story that goes this way.) The folks at Cakewalk have done what I think is a pretty amazing job of working through a big feature list, and throwing in additional goodies users get without even asking. They’ve also listened to users and been thorough in fixing issues – some quite particular – in 8.5. The result is that SONAR 8.5.2 brings a mature version of some significantly-changed features, and an unusually significant amount of stuff for a “point” release. If 8.5 was beginning to feel like 9.0, 8.5.2 definitely does.

Flash back for a moment to SONAR 8.5 and updates, which made enough of an impact among die-hard Cakewalk lovers that we started to see bizarre fan videos about it. As previewed back in September, 8.5’s banner features were a step sequencer, an arpeggiator, a Matrix View grid for triggering MIDI and audio clips (yes, reminiscent of a program that rhymes with Sable Bun Drive), a new sampled drum instrument, AudioSnap for tuning the timing of audio, and nice new effects strips.

Matrix View, an ambitious new feature, was admittedly not entirely baked when it shipped, and saw a set of performance and functionality fixes with 8.5.1. But with 8.5.2, nearly all of those banner features get improved, with additional bonuses, to boot. Some of my favorites:

• 70+ new impulses for the lovely Perfect Space convolution reverb
• Swing individual arpeggiators
• Combine Matrix View cells with probabilistic Step Sequencer patterns for some generative music-making
• Drag cells from Matrix View into Track View – a bit like going from Ableton Live’s Session View to Arrange View, but in a more conventional DAW workflow

The full list of enhancements, tweaks, and fixes is utterly enormous. Now, of course, it would have been nice to see 8.5 ship with some of these issues, but I will say Cakewalk has shown some attention to detail and gotten quite a lot right. I’m finishing up a review of 8.5x based on the 8.5.2 version now. So, as I polish that off – any remaining questions you’d like answered?

Rather than just review the tool, as well, I’ve been working in my own material and with the folks at Cakewalk to share some tips, so stay tuned.

SONAR 8.5.2 Update Changelog
SONAR 8.5.1 Matrix View Update
8.5.2 Update on the Cakewalk Blog

The plug-in is free through Wednesday, and then costs US$79 after that.

What you get from the M30:

• VST, AU compatibility on Windows and Mac
• Hall algorithm (no Room or Plate, though – for that, you need the M40 which ships with TC’s audio interfaces)
• Editable parameters for pre-delay, decay, “hi color,” and the requisite wet/dry mix

It’s nothing revolutionary, but I’m always game for a nice Hall algorithm. Interestingly, TC has worked out a way to port their native DSP code from hardware to computer-native code using something they call AlgoFlex. (Out of context, that sounds like some modern-looking lamp at Design Within Reach, or maybe that’s just me.)

M30 Studio Reverb

Free Reverb Deal

There’s a disturbing amount of free sound-making stuff out there, enough to clutter up your VST folder and make you forget where you put that multi-tap delay you wanted. It’s a beautiful thing. So, as a regular, erm, public service, I’ll be semi-regularly rounding up some of the free instruments and effects appearing around the Interwebs.

This week: a brilliantly deep reverb, plus everything from a beat box (as in human beat box) to a motorcycle simulator.

MechaVerb is a free reverb effect. Yawn… until you see the fact that the maze of knobs above allows you to individually set delays for each component of the sound on each band. That allows for some interesting special effects and makes this a real gem for tweakers.

Mechaverb v1.00 VST (Windows only)

via the CDM Forums

The developers Atom have tons of other free stuff, including a pulse wave synth (nifty!), an (intentional) clipper they just updated, and other effects and sampleware. If it doesn’t have “Add to Cart” next to it, it’s free; check the sidebar. Their payware effects look great, too — dig that $10 host-synced gate effect. Might have to just buy that one.

In other freeness news:

Instasampler is a free Mac OS X-only sampler. (Via Synthtopia.)

No, really — it’s a sampler. As in, something that records live from input (it uses MIDI as the trigger). Yes, the word “sampler” has come to mean “things that play back samples but don’t actually record,” but this is an exception. It’s also so ugly I can’t bear to insert a screen grab.

Earth to sample makers: we expect to see this in every product you release that you call “sampler” from now on. In the meantime, this is free for Mac. (Anyone know a good Windows or Linux alternative?)

xoxos is a legend in free stuff (Windows only). I’ve done a couple of entire pieces with the physical modeling stuff. Tour the VSTs for endless free oddities, plus some affordable payware tools. The latest from xoxos is Virtual Machine, which you’ll find on the main page. It’s not quite free, but it’s close — subscribers who donate get it as a gift. Via FutureMusic Beta.

Super Drum Generator FX is a … super drum generator. (Windows only) Stick in some audio files and go; as you can see, you get mixing, EQ, and effects. There’s even a preset for Roland E-Drum MIDI settings and MIDI filtering. Via Rekkerd.org.

DSK DrumZ BeatVoiZe is a virtual, sampler beatbox plug-in. (Windows-only, sorry, again.) Yeah, I kinda thought the whole point of beatboxing was, like, using your voice, but if you really need a virtual rendition, here’s a plug-in substitution — complete with sample capabilities and MIDIhost automation. Via Rekkerd.org, who also host the plug-in.

Did we miss your creation? Be sure to email us next time!

Hands-on impressions of any of these? Let us know in comments.

There’s a horrible misconception that music technology is the domain of white guys who speak either English or German. (Erm, yes, I don’t do much to counter that — shout out, my nerdy, pale guy friends.)

But think again. One of the best music production sites on the Web in any language is the Spanish-language Hispasonic (and we have a strong readership in Spanish-speaking countries even here on CDM). Clearly, music technology and the Web itself are growing in popularity all over the planet, as diverse communities grow and start talking about this stuff in their native tongues. Hispasonic was already one of the most mature, and they’ve just gotten a terrific redesign (Hispasonic 2.0). In fact, it’s not the absence of these communities — it’s the fact that the rest of us don’t pay enough attention.

Hispasonic is happy to let you share in their success. To celebrate the 2.0 design, they’re giving away a special version of the lovely Nebula Reverb (VST – Windows), complete with eleven presets designed by Jorge Ruiz (a total of 450 MB of presets, downloadable separately).

Nebula HS (Hispasonic Edition) Reverb, Tutorials, Presets

Updated: Just to demonstrate how multinational this effort is, noou notes in comments:

Hey! You forgot to mention that Acusticaudio (the creators of the Nebula plugin) are from Italy! BTW once you learn Spanish the road to Italian is much easier…

Italy is another country that has produced many developers, designers, artists, and musicians who are expressive with technology. (Take that sentence, apply it to multiple centuries, and it’s an understatement for many nations of the world. Except the US; we haven’t been around very long.)

So go have a look. Brush up your Spanish, and check out the tutorial on the plug-in. (The download page is helpfully translated to English.) Subscribe to the RSS feed, and see if some of that high school Spanish starts flooding back. (It’s like riding a bicycle, really.) Just be sure to enjoy it fast, before Elton John demolishes the Internet.

DBT (Diffuse Bubble Tracing) is a highly efficient algorithm that analyses the entire room in a fraction of a second. It traces ‘bubbles’ of sound bouncing off the walls until they hit the listener. The angle they hit determines the pan and surround position they play from. With hundreds of these sound bubbles the listener is immersed in an incredibly rich environment.

That sounds a bit to me like a combination of physics simulation and basic granular synthesis (at least at the theoretical level). I want to work with the plug-in a little before I make any assumptions about how well it works; stay tuned for a review. Here are the advantages the creators claim this technique has:

1. Higher efficiency: “zero latency” (I’m assuming that means once signal enters the plug-in; that’s possible), near-instant updates to settings, CPU-efficient even on longer reverbs (more scalable than convolution and traditional digital reverbs, it sounds)
2. Ray scattering for adding “roughness” and “character” via random reflections
3. Draw in walls of any angle to create complex, custom rooms
4. Stereo spread parameter

The idea sounds fantastic — a ray-tracing algorithm for sound. I’ll be testing to see if it delivers. (Since this is version 2.4, has anyone else tried it?)

Pricing: US$90
Formats: AU
Compatibility: Universal, PowerPC Macs

RaySpace 2.4