Want to make a splash among the aficionados of digital sound? Releasing a software instrument emulating a broad collection of vintage digital synthesis chips from game and computer systems seems to do the trick. See my look at that software, and just as importantly, the chips that inspired it.

Within days of the release of Plogue’s Chipsounds, we have a couple of fair reviews of the new tool. Already got Chipsounds? Plogue’s David Viens has released screencasts showing you how to use it. Curious about other ways to explore vintage 8-bit sound? We’ve got that, too, in samples, hardware, and even SuperCollider code.

Reviews are in

Torley has an extensive video review – amazing stuff for something just days old – shown above. Gisle Martens Meyers has a review, too, on the blog Ugress. One complaint is that the plug-in is multi-timbral, rather than requiring different instances. In turn, automation is in the form of MIDI Control Changes, not parameters, since parameter automation really doesn’t deal with multi-timbral plug-ins. But all in all, you can get a lot from both reviews, plus a look at how the software works. There’s also a sense of where the software could go in future updates.

Plogue Chipsounds makes chiptune & video game sounds easy [Torley Lives]
Chipsounds Plugin Chip Sounds [Ugress]

The discussion of Chipsounds has also brought other efforts to resurrect vintage, 8-bit sounds.

Get Your Chip Fix

This is by no means comprehensive, but here are a few of the best goodies readers have pointed out in the last few days:

Free Samples: Little Scale, aka Sebastian Tomczak, has been busy. He’s added sample packs of his own, including a Friday release of the Commodore 64 SID. Add that to Sega Master System, Mega Drive, speech chip, and Atari POKEY and TIA. These are just samples, so rather than being a turn-key solution as Chipsounds is, they’re more of a construction set – though that could make them useful in other scenarios.

C64 SID Sample Pack [little-scale]

Go Hardware! And, in turn, if hardware fires you up more than software or samples, Sebastian has done some lovely work connecting the actual chips to MIDI interfaces.

And here’s the documentation on how to do it with the free and open hardware Arduino platform

Other hardware solutions:
A DIY TI SN76477N-based Voice Module, comprehensively documented (a heck of a lot fancier than the Arduino stuff I wanted to play around with)

SuperCollider Code: For SuperCollider fans, Fredrik Olofsson (aka RedFrik) has built emulations of vintage chips in the object-oriented sound coding language. That’s a doubly delicious thing: aside from allowing you to make 8-bit sounds in the free tool, looking at his emulations is a great way to discover more of what you can do with SuperCollider. You can continue in code the kind of elegant, minimal synthesis design work the early creators of the original chips did in hardware. (Thanks, Howard S and Morgan Packard for the tip!)

SC Code [and a lot of other great SC code there, too... bookmarked, downloaded.]

Video walkthroughs

I know quite a few readers did pick up Chipsounds, so you’ll be pleased to know – in case you missed this – that there are some video demos that walk you through how the tool works. This also gives a better idea of how the software itself functions, since I got distracted waxing rhapsodic about the chips!

As my piano teacher used to say to me, “that should keep you off the streets.”

Enjoy.

Logic has been a big box of sound toys for some time, but I think what decides whether you really build a working relationship with software like Logic is whether you like editing in it. And that makes Logic Studio 9 worth a new look – and a must-upgrade for fans of the tool. Its combination of subtle tweaks to the editing interface, the ability to edit inside takes, the incredible Flex Time for squishing around audio like Play-Doh, and easy conversion to sampler tracks makes it really fun to edit audio in Logic. You can read the full, detailed review I wrote for Macworld:

Logic Studio: Music workstation suite adds flexible audio, improved editing and live performance, simulated amps and effects [Macworld.com]

The amps and such are fun, but to me the other banner feature in Logic 9 is the vastly improved MainStage, which adds backing tracks, ReWire hosting, and other features that could make it more powerful for live performance. Apparently MainStage has crept into some big-name live shows; I’m going to work on getting more reports from the field. (Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how I can rework my own live set so it requires less software, but that’s me.)

Oh, and one little improvement I didn’t fit in the review: there are some amazing special effect convolution impulses Apple threw in with Space Designer, which should give you more fodder for sound design experimentation.

The record industry may be dying, the planetary economy failing, and music technology elusively complex to most average musicians, yet competition in the DAW space just continues to heat up. I find it amusing that some claim Apple’s aggressive pricing is only possible because they sell hardware. I’d buy that, except for some of Apple’s own competitors. Digidesign will add a pretty powerful version of Pro Tools to a hardware bundle. Cakewalk’s SONAR, once a little more bare-bones in the extras department than Logic, now offers a lot of the same sorts of goodies to Windows users in its own (underrated, I think) DAW. And Reaper is a powerful, cross-platform option that costs just US$60, even for most commercial work (now that they’ve made the individual license more open). In fact, various tools are so good that I think it’s really hard to give people advice. Personal taste is more likely to dictate which you prefer, because the ineffable feeling of using these tools – as similar as they may look on paper – is very different. If I ever work out a good way to describe that in words – which does happen to be my job, whether I’m up to it or not – I’ll let you know.

Any tool you’re using is a tool that matters. And I know we have a number of readers using Logic. Later this week, I’m planning a Logic Q&A to fit some of the technical revelations that didn’t fit in the review, so feel free to ask more questions or comment however you like on the Macworld review.

It’s hard out there for a hardware synth. There are all these new-fangled soft synths, capable of producing radical sounds via easy-to-navigate on-screen interfaces. I have a very very short mental list of hardware synths that still matter to me for one reason or another – and the Roland V-Synth GT is one that keeps coming back. I had access to one temporarily for a review. It was like temporarily adopting a puppy. You try not to get too close to the thing, as you know you can’t keep it. The V-Synth is likely out of the budget of a lot of readers of this site, but it’s worth just knowing it’s there, and why it has become so beloved by sound design aficionados.

The V-Synth GT, itself a big upgrade from the original V-Synth, had a major software upgrade this summer that flew under a lot of people’s radar. But now as the days are getting shorter again and people are starting to think sound design, I hope we can give the V-Synth GT some attention as an instrument. It has inspired me even in my software work, just to see the perspective of the engineers at Roland and how the device is programmed.

First, a few notes about what the V-Synth GT is about – something I’m sure you’d like explained, given its US$3000 street price.

The experience of using the V-Synth is really different from a lot of the synths out there. You don’t get this sense of the excess of some of the workstations, the stuff you don’t need. You just get a whole bunch of toys for sound design, which combine in unusual ways that feel really playable but can also be warped to produce far-out results:

• Its AP “Articulative Phrase” synthesis method is really unusual, mimicing the organic qualities of how instruments respond in attack, note transition, and tuning. That’s fascinating enough, but the ability to get at some of these AP principles and create hybrid instruments is what makes the GT worth using.
• The COSM models of favorite vintage Roland gear are decent enough on their own, but the ability to combine them in semi-modular routings helps the GT shine.
• You can manipulate audio on the device in some unique ways, with real-time pitch and tempo stretching of loops and phrases, which can then be resampled. Okay, sure, your copy of Ableton Live can do this, but the experience of doing it on hardware – alongside the other V-Synth synthesis features – is unique.
• It samples external sources, which you can edit on the touchscreen, and routes external audio through onboard effects, including the Vocal Designer vocoder / voice modeler.
• It has lots of control, from the easy-to-navigate color screen to D-Beam controller and the signature X/Y pad.

In other words, it’s really a Roland synth studio in a box. My 2007 review for Keyboard Magazine explains what all of this is like in practice.

From the software perspective, the V-Synth embodies a lot of what I admire about Roland. “Articulative Phrase” synthesis really isn’t a synthesis method in the conventional sense – it’s fair to say it’s a collection of tricks they’ve developed for making their instruments sound good. But coming from the hardware background, working in extreme memory constraints we no longer consider on computers, they’ve had to use tremendous economy with their sound designs. And rather than focusing on a “press a button” approach to sound, they’ve really built responsiveness and change into all of the onboard controllers, something that software sound programmers could, frankly, use.

So, that’s the V-Synth GT as released. But the V-Synth has gotten some significant updates, including 64-bit drivers for Windows and, most importantly, a massive 2.0 OS update.

2.0: More Sounds, More Sampling, More Sound Design

• Import WAV and AIFF directly from USB key, making this more useful as a sample manipulator
• More sounds: Two new sound sets, new patches combining the V-Synth’s various sound shaping abilities, and a third sound set that’s a collection of vintage analog synths from various makers – including the entire Roland back catalog
• More sound design options: new arpeggiation styles, new step modulator templates, and effects ported from the Fantom G

Demo video from Roland, via Synthtopia:

Who’s Using It

I recently spoke to Roland’s Dan Krisher about the V-Synth. His thoughts:

There are many uses for the V-Synth GT, but the V-Synth GT has been exceptionally embraced by the sound design community.  For example, Richard Devine creates sample libraries, from drum loops to intricate soundscapes, and the V-Synth GT is one of his main tools.  The way the menus are built, it is very easy to get started making unique sounds right away.  Players aren’t limited to the sounds inside the V-Synth GT either—any instrument can be plugged directly into the V-Synth GT.  The instrument’s signal can be run through the GT’s synth AND effects engines.

Another popular use for the V-Synth GT is for people who are just looking for a huge-sounding synth to play live.  There are a wealth of real-time controllers such as the D-Beam and front-panel knobs, that allow you to tweak sound in real time.  The Vocal designer allows players to add to a vocal performance with harmonies on a whole different level than was possible before.

Now, of course, this is the usual spiel you get from hardware makers, but this is one of the cases in which my anecdotal experience with users backs up what he’s saying.

Dan also said that the 2.0 update really grew out of user feedback, which makes sense. The V-Synth GT doesn’t get as much attention as a lot of other synths out there – even Roland themselves tend to focus more on their Fantom and JUNO – but the V-Synth’s user base, both users of the original and the GT, is really fiercely loyal.

V-Synth GT Videos

There are some really quite amusing videos of the V-Synth GT out there. Now, don’t necessarily judge the sound of the synth from all of these videos – I was able to push it in ways that didn’t sound like conventional Roland synth sounds, too. (And no, I don’t know why some marketing videos – not the ones I’m listing here, but you know who you are – have to be so cheezy.)

Updated: To really get a sense of the extraordinary sounds that can come out of the V-Synth series, you need to watch the 2003 debut video of the original V-Synth at NAMM. Six years later, nothing in hardware has touched this. And keep in mind, the GT has added a lot of sonic tools that the original didn’t have, so imagine this going even further. (Thanks to James Y for finding this, and Roland, please let’s see more videos like this!)

Is there a word for ear-dropping? (And this is YouTube audio quality…)

Tatsuya Nishiwaki, hilariously, confesses he can’t resist turning the V-Synth into an electric guitar as he does other synths, and then parties like it’s 1989. That name will be familiar to fans of Japanese music – he’s a major keyboard player in Japan, along with working with some big names here Stateside, after starting as a founding member of the band PAZZ. (More videos, direct from Roland.)

The best place to get a sense of the V-Synth GT in action is to watch Jordan Rudess playing it:

Jordan Rudess V-Synth GT Demos, Roland Video Library

Rudess is a tremendously skilled player, but there is a certain conventional sound to Roland keyboards here and, perhaps even more so, in the other demos. You’ll just have to take my word for it that if you abuse some combinations of sounds, you can take the V-Synth in another direction. Here’s what the interface looks like, again via Synthtopia. Now just imagine turning knobs past the places you’re supposed to, and routing things wrong!

And, because we can laugh at what we love, one comic strip, drawn for the awesome blog Wire to the Ear by the site’s creator, Oliver Chesler:

Funny and true – but only if you’re just trying to sound like a Jupiter-8. The nice thing about the V-Synth is that it really can sound unlike anything else, once properly pushed out of its comfortable preset zone to its extremes.

V-Synth GT Users?

One V-Synth user talks about the synth’s ability to produce “wild sounds” and demonstrates some of his own creations on YouTube. He concludes – news to me – that “I do not understan why owners are selling them for $800.”

Umm… Actually, yeah. The V-Synth is really, really awful. You don’t want it. You want to sell it to me for $800, or even less. (Maybe these are users of the original upgrading to the GT, so desperate to get the new model they’re unloading the original dirt cheap?)

I really can imagine the V-Synth GT as a desert island hardware synth. I’m curious to hear from users of either the V-Synth or V-Synth GT. Got sound design techniques you’ve discovered? Raves – or rants – you’d like to pass along to Roland?

Let us know.

And yeah, I know – now that I’ve done this, we need someone to write a love ode to Kyma.

V-Synth GT [warning – Roland annoyingly makes their websites make lots of noise without asking]

2.0 Update Download

“Studio” for many of us means packing musical production tools into a corner of our desk, then being able to fit the whole thing into a backpack and take it with us. It’s bringing along your entire production to a cramped rehearsal room and adjusting tracks in a hotel room. It’s putting together an assortment of unusual pieces of DIY hardware, mobile game systems and an iPod touch, and composing and performing a live PA set. So packing in functionality means a lot.

That makes it worth considering a hardware solution like Cakewalk’s V-Studio 100 in obsessive detail. Combining an interface with mixing, control, recording, and software functions makes the VS especially relevant to the computer musician.

I was one of the first people outside Cakewalk to lay eyes on the V-Studio 100. Part of the initial appeal to me was that it seemed to combine a lot of the tools I wanted into a single package.

Sure, its big brother, the V-Studio 700, is an impressive unit with loads of onboard options. But the V-Studio 100 was more my speed: it has that apartment studio, backpack-friendly attitude. And don’t let the “SONAR” in “SONAR V-Studio 100” fool you, either. While it’s great having a free copy of a special edition of SONAR on Windows you can use the VS hardware and even the plug-in bundle that comes with it on any host on either Windows or Mac. And — oh, yeah – you can also make use of all that audio I/O and mixing to do some crazy stuff with your plugged-in portable game  consoles and iPhones and homebrewed electronics.

The real test is whether this one unit can perform the tasks you need. The V-Studio 100 tries to be a number of different things:

• An audio interface (up to 24-bit/96 kHz)
• A mixer
• A control surface
• A wave recorder
• A software bundle

Correction: The street price of the whole package is US$699. (I had incorrectly put the street at $800 instead of $700!)

Anything that does that much will naturally have to make some compromises. Some of those compromises I think are rather well-conceived on the VS, while others I hope will evolve over time.

This will be partially a review, but partially a description of what it’s like using the VS, so if you do have one of these, I can hopefully give you a sense of how to begin using it.

What’s in the Package

The VS-100 itself is a tidy rectangular box with the main two audio ins on the front, USB, MIDI, and remaining audio I/O on the back, and mixer controls, menu, transport controls, control surface shortcuts, and flying motorized fader on the top. The unit feels terrifically solid, both in overall feel and the details of all of the controls. I wish it came with a carry case, but it’s the right size to fit a lot of generic gear cases out there. Documentation includes a Getting Started Guide, Hardware Manual, and two discs. One disc contains the SONAR V-Studio for Windows, a special edition of the SONAR DAW, plus a big bundle of plug-ins that will work with either Windows VST or Mac Audio Unit hosts. The other disc ships with drivers that work on both Mac and Windows. (In other words, Mac users miss out only on the free SONAR VS – not a deal-killer since you probably have a copy of GarageBand or another DAW, anyway.)

The whole unit weighs just over four pounds and can easily fit into a compartment in your laptop backpack or larger briefcase. You do need its power source – because of the pres, motorized fader, and mixer functions, this is just too power thirsty to draw all its electricity from USB – but the 9V power adapter is relatively compact.

Audio Interface

The VS-100 is a 10-in, 6-out interface. Of course, that’s actually relatively modest for interfaces of this price range. At the same time, those interfaces are just interfaces, the quality here I think is really good, and this could be a pretty practical set relative to what many people actually need.

Here’s the basic configuration:

Inputs 1-2: XLR mic jacks and balanced TRS 1/4” jacks. Input 1 has a Hi-Z (high impedance”) switch that switches to a 500 k ohm impedence for guitars. There are also mic preamps on both 1 and 2. There are also physical knobs on the front of the unit for adjusting input sensitivity of 1-2.

A phantom power switch is located on the back of the unit for mics that need power.

Inputs 3-4: Dedicated mono TRS jacks (balanced).

Inputs 5-6: Stereo phono pair (unbalanced).

Input 7-8: Digital S/PDIF input on the back. (Input only; there are no digital outs.)

Input 9-10: The mixer output can be selected as a separate two ins.

Outputs 1-4: Four channels of balanced TRS 1/4” output. Can you say quad sound, anyone? (Hey, it’s actually the most practical option for live performance.)

Outputs 5-6: Unbalanced stereo output.

You do get 1-in, 1-out MIDI, accompanied by Cakewalk/Roland MIDI drivers, which traditionally have given me good results on both Mac and Windows.

The mic pres on inputs one and two sound really transparent, much higher-quality than I would have expected, and the one indication that Cakewalk and Roland aren’t thinking of this as just an entry-level unit.

For the one-man/one-man performer, it’s a pretty ideal configuration, it’s great having unbalanced I/O, it sounds good, and you have dedicated level knobs where you need them. I’ve played out with the VS, and it’s an ideal solo computer audio interface.

Even given that, you probably wouldn’t buy this box for its audio alone. You could get a MOTU Traveler, for instance, with FireWire audio, lots of additional analog and digital I/O, more pres, and internal mixing capability. But it’s the other features that make it a contender.

Mixer Operation, Interface Operation

The VS adds to its interface mixing functions and a built-in set of effects. And note that on the mixer side, this isn’t a “software” mixer as you provided by some of the VS’ competition. You get a compact but very functional set of hardware controls that allow the VS to handle mixing functions, even when you’re also using it as an audio interface, and even when you’re in cramped spaces.

On the effects side, the VS includes a dedicated compressor and 3-band EQ for tracks 1-6 (as inserts on 1, 2, 3/4, and 5/6). Via some cleverly economic menus, you can edit parameters for these settings using the toggle buttons above the mixer knobs, in conjunction with three dedicated encoders and the value knob. It’s not hard to get the hang of toggling around, and while you don’t have dedicated controls as you might on a full-blown mixer, functions are rarely more than a button press or two away.

While it’s a bit harder to get to, there’s also a decent-sounding internal reverb included, as well. It has specific sends for each channel (1, 2, 3/4, 5/6) and adjustable send level, though you’re hard-wired to some basic modes (ECHO, ROOM, SMALL HALL, and LARGE HALL).

Quick tip: Hidden in the settings is the ability to route audio to your USB port pre-EQ. (Look for Menu > Utility > To USB > PreEQ.) Generally, recording with in-line EQ is a very bad idea, because there’s no way to go back to the raw audio. With this setting adjusted, you can use EQ for live performance but without impacting your raw tracks if you want to master, say, a live session later on.

The VS-100 can operate both as a standalone mixer – something you’d take to your gig while leaving the laptop at home – and a combination between a mixer and an audio interface. Because of that, its operation is a little different, so let’s actually walk through the signal flow itself.

Navigating Signal Flow

Scenario 1: You’ve got the VS plugged into your computer.

You might plug a guitar into input 1, depressing the Hi-Z switch, and a mic into input 2.. You can then adjust input level on the “SENS” knobs on the front. There’s no dedicated LED level meter, but you do get a level meter on the LED screen on the top of the unit.

Monitoring is a little different than on most audio interfaces. You have two places at which you control the level you hear. The “MAIN MIX” knob controls the level for the mixer – which is also your zero-latency, direct monitor level, the level from your input before it reaches the computer. For the output from your computer, you would adjust the “PLAYBACK” knob.

The advantages of working this way: you can use this as either a traditional interface, or as a mixer – handy with multiple ins plugged in. And you get dedicated knobs for 1, 2, 3/4, 5/6, and (the digital ins) 7/8 for use in mixer mode. You can also feed the main mix out to a PA, so for live performance you can keep a mix going to your audience without carrying along a separate mixer.

Embarassing side note: In my haste, I initially assumed the “PLAYBACK” knob controlled only the flash Wave Recorder. It actually controls playback of your audio interface through the main outs when you’re in USB mode. You’ll, um, want to turn that knob down before you plug in the unit, as the outs are pretty hot. You can imagine what happened to me. Happily, my monitors survived. Oh, PS – Cakewalk actually should have put that in their manual, as there is a prominent warning about the “MAIN MIX” knob, but not “PLAYBACK” – and this is called SONAR V-Studio, so they should expect people will be connecting it to the computer straight away!

Scenario 2: You’ve got the VS operating standalone.

The mixer functions are pretty self-explanatory. In this mode, the Wave Recorder can record from your main mix, it can play back tracks, and it has loop playback. The ins and outs work otherwise as they would in DAW mode, and you still get the built-in effects. The one downside in this mode is that the DAW controls – the shortcut keys, track select buttons, and flying fader – are all basically meaningless. It’s too bad that they couldn’t do some sort of double duty. But it’s still nice to have this box as a mixer and effects unit on the go. There’s even a metronome feature, so it could be a decent box to carry around to rehearsal with you, especially with the built-in Wave Recorder, if you don’t already own such a unit and just want to budget for the VS alone.

Scenario 3: Disaster strikes.

Here’s the best thing about having two modes: try yanking out the USB port while the VS is plugged in. Normally, that’s a very, very bad idea (and it’d be an especially bad idea when using FireWire, as you could theoretically fry your computer or interface). But with the VS, the hardware will automatically switch its routing to the wave recorder, and the mixer will continue operating normally.

In other words, you can have a cable come unplugged or a computer crash and save a gig by keeping sound going on the VS. With WAV playback on the WAV Recorder, you could even switch over to a flash card for backing tracks.

The Control Surface

At its simplest, the control surface gives you just the basics: transport controls, mute/solo, and arm, plus the main feature – a motorized flying fader. Of course, in a lot of situations, that’s exactly what you need for basic recording. In fact, thanks to the fact that the fader is motorized, you may not need other faders, given that most mixing scenarios involve adjusting just one track at a time. (Riding more than one fader can tend to cause you to overcompensate when fine-tuning levels, a bit like oversteering.)

The track select keys toggle tracks. (It doesn’t matter which track is selected in software, even in SONAR.) Using the shift key navigates buses (SONAR only). The value knob can also be used for additional manipulation.

Transport keys can move not only the transport but, using the shift key, from marker to marker.

For those of you who have managed to escape the experience in real production, using motorized faders is a joy. The fader will near-silently shift to whatever setting you choose. I remember using Digidesign’s motorized faders when they first came out and finding the effect almost magical, though in those days the technology was priced as high as a compact car and the faders moved with a little “thump” sound. Happily, technology marches forward.

In ACT (Active Controller Technology) mode, Cakewalk maps its own SONAR software more intelligently. By default, this includes the Value encoder and the three encoders below the LCD, so that if you, say, bring up an instance of one of the included Studio Instruments, software parameters automatically map to those hardware controls. It does make quickly accessing basic settings a little quicker, though if you’re a heavy synth user, this functionality is unlikely to compete with similar and more advanced  “automatic map” controllers and software like Native Instruments’ Kore, Novation’s ReMOTE line with Automap, and M-Audio’s Axiom Pro with HyperControl, or Cakewalk’s own ACT in combination with a range of hardware. There just aren’t enough controls on the VS, by contrast. In a pinch, though, ACT is still useful on the VS, especially if you enable the “DAW Full Asgn” setting in the menu. It automatically maps the mixer knobs for use with ACT, too.

Unlike technologies like HyperControl and Automap, ACT is limited to SONAR, but SONAR users, I think you will find yourself using it at least a little, just because it’s there. My one criticism would be that it’d be great if there were a keyboard shortcut for switching to “Full Assignment” mode without digging through menus. That way, you could easily toggle between using mixer controls for mixing and using them for ACT.

Confused by all these options? Given that all these technologies rely on MIDI, anyway, I think we badly need an open spec that allows you to easily support any host with any hardware, without the fuss. Someone out there adept at Reaper scripting, for instance, I’d love to hack into this.

What if you don’t use SONAR? Mackie Control Support

You can still get basic control with V-Studio using Mackie Control. It’s just as easy to set up: choose Mackie Control as your control surface, then select the V-STUDIO CONTROL port as your input and output. In software like Ableton Live, Apple Logic, Reaper, and others, the VS will automatically map to basic mixing functions. Transport controls work perfectly, the motorized fader jumps to the right level, and mute/solo/arm buttons work. I tried it in a number of apps and had no problem.

There is one catch: because of some of the limitations of Mackie Control, you don’t get to use those extra knobs. While Full Assignment mode remaps all the controls to MIDI and should allow you to manually create your own MIDI maps for your favorite software, it also enables ACT mode. That means that you lose all the functionality of Mackie Control if you turn it on. You can have one or the other, but not both.

It’d be nice to see Cakewalk modify the functionality of Full Assignment mode so that it can coexist with Mackie Control. That way, you could use the rest of the control surface as a MIDI control surface rather than losing the functionality of those controls. It’s a subtle point; as I said, I think people will use the transport and mixer controls far more than synth controls because of their relative convenience. But it would make a nice firmware upgrade.

Speaking of firmware upgrades, make sure you’ve upgraded to at least 1.19 firmware before attempting to use Mackie Control. This release fixed a number of bugs, including one that prevented me from switching to the “OTHER” DAW mode (from SONAR.) Once I updated, though, this performance was seamless.

The Wave Recorder

One of the reasons you might want to drop the VS in your gig bag is that it combines a mixer with a wave recorder in one box, and can replace a computer or a mixer+recorder combination. Pop in an SD card or SDHC card – capacities up to 32GB via SDHC – and you can record the stereo mix of whatever is plugged into the mixer. The Wave Recorder also supports easily-accessible playback, which could make the VS ideal for backing tracks. You could, for instance, use it in its computer interface mode in the studio for production, then load all your tracks onto SD and play them back onstage with the VS running as a mixer. Alternatively, you could record a mixed-down rehearsal or performance and take it home with you.

Like Roland’s mobile recorders, you also get basic marker and looping functionality, which could help you practice or transcribe a tricky portion of a song or create more sophisticated backing arrangements if you were feeling especially ambitious.

True, you could bring along a mobile wave recorder, but the convenience of combining the recorder with mixing functions makes it ideal in cases when a portable stereo recorder is not.

There’s one major caveat, however. Playback from the wave recorder and recording of the stereo mix are both possible when the VS is operating in standalone mode. But when it’s connected via USB, each of those functions is defeated – no playback, and no recording. The transport controls are reassigned to become software control surface functions, and the SD card slot becomes useless. That’s too bad, as one of the first things I wanted to do with the VS was to be able to record live sessions without relying on my computer hard disk, recording the same live mix I’d feed to the PA.

I was able to confirm with Cakewalk that Roland is aware of this limitation and investigating possible solutions; it may be technically possible to resolve the issue with a future firmware update. They were not able to confirm at this time when a fix was coming or what form it might take, but I’ll provide updated information if it becomes available.

In the meantime, it can still be useful to have the VS wave recording function, as it does mean you can leave the laptop at home for various recording and practice scenarios.

Driver Support

As with previous Roland/Cakewalk outings like the SONAR Power Studio, the VS-100 comes with extensive documentation on how to tweak driver settings under Windows, and you can expect extremely up-to-date and reliable support for Windows technologies, including the WASAPI adjustments made in Windows Vista. (WASAPI is Windows’ general audio interface for software; it’s supported on the software side by applications like SONAR, but it’s essential that hardware driver implementation be robust in order to acheive proper support under Windows. Translation: Cakewalk gets their drivers right, so Windows works properly and you don’t have to worry about it.)

Installation on Windows winds up being pretty easy. Install the driver disc to get up and running. Install a second disc, and you install a huge suite of plug-ins as well as the special edition SONAR VS software. The bundle installed over my existing Cakewalk SONAR Producer Installation just fine, and then the newly-installed effects became available not only to SONAR VS, but my existing SONAR install, too, as well as all my other VST-compatible DAWs (like Live and Reaper).

The Mac installation winds up being easy, too, however. The Mac version fully supports Core Audio, and I got excellent performance in Logic Studio 9. Logic also mapped easily to Mackie Control.

Bundled Software Gems

The VS Production Pack includes a set of effects and instruments for both Mac and Windows:

• VX-64 Vocal Strip – a combination deesser + “compander” (compressor/expander) + tube-emulating EQ + Doubler + synced Delay. That could have been a bunch of gimmicks. But it winds up being all awesome.
• Native Instruments Guitar Rig LE
• Boost 11 Peak Limiter – actually a pretty decent and relatively transparent limiter
• Channel Tools – a set of channel utilities for enable/disable/swap L/R channels, adjusting stereo and mid-side mode, and adding delay.
• LE versions of Dimension (sampler), Rapture (synth)
• Studio Instruments Bass, Drums, Electric Piano, Strings: all some very lovely-sounding, lovely-looking instruments

Bundling light-edition software with hardware is a popular choice, but the VX-64 is the real stand-out. The set of tools integrate beautifully, there’s a fantastic live spectrograph tool for a view of what you’re doing on each of the modules, there’s a lovely drag-and-drop routing interface, the UI is clear and well laid out, and the whole think sounds utterly wonderful. I don’t think it’d be hyperbolic to say the VX-64 is the best software plug-in Cakewalk has made yet; it just packs in all the goodness you might like for vocals in a single window.

There are enough unique capabilities here that, even if you have a collection of plugs or a DAW with lots in it from a rival maker like Ableton’s Live Suite or Apple’s Logic Studio, you’ll find something useful. The danger to all of this is that there’s a sort of kitchen sink feel to the suite, and it could well overwhelm beginners, but the VS generally feels better suited to intermediate-to-advanced users, anyway.

SONAR VS

The sleeper hit of the whole package is the VS edition of SONAR. Usually I like light editions of DAWs about as much as I like diet soda – it’s just not as sweet as the real thing. But the VS is a pleasant surprise. It feels a bit like GarageBand for grown-ups. One of the complaints about SONAR from non-converts is that its do-everything user interface can feel cluttered, particularly by providing lots of different routes to the same thing. I think that’s a fair criticism, even as I respect what SONAR does.

What’s remarkable about SONAR VS is that it feels like it sacrifices none of the functionality of its big brother, but wraps it into a much cleaner interface. Channel strip pop-ups on the left allow easy access to every parameter. A reduced toolbar icon provides essentials without being overwhelming. There are still some hard-to-read icons, and the software is likely to, again, be a bit complex for beginners. But for users with some experience, there’s a real sense that tools and options have been thoughtfully chosen.

All of this may be overkill for those of you loyal to an existing DAW, but it’s still worth noting the job Cakewalk has done. Of course, the message to Cakewalk should be clear: SONAR itself needs a window layout that’s this clear, either as the default or something you can switch on easily.

Note that you actually don’t need SONAR VS to get any special integration with the V-STUDIO 100 hardware and drivers. Driver setup is the same for SONAR VS as SONAR; it takes a few steps but in either tool, you get excellent driver support, and I don’t think there’s any question that Cakewalk’s support on Windows is exceptional – enough so that Windows really isn’t a hassle.

Conclusions

The VS hardware brings together something I’ve been waiting for in hardware for a long time. It’s beautifully compact, too – but, naturally, that means it also has to make some trade-offs to put together so many elements in one package. It’s simply worth considering if it’s the right set of trade-offs for you.

The good:

• The unit is physically lovely to work with, in terms of its layout and feel.
• The pre’s sound great, and while the audio I/O isn’t as extensive as on some interfaces, it’s practical for a lot of real-world, one-person, mobile producer situations.
• Using the motorized fader is addictive, and works in any Windows/Mac software.
• The control layout winds up being very usable, and it’s nice having compressor/EQ instances within easy reach.
• You get rock-solid Roland audio and MIDI drivers (particularly important on Windows).
• SONAR VS is actually a great little audio package.
• The VX-64 is a real gem for anyone working with vocals, and overall the software bundle is a terrific value.

The mixed:

• The WAV recorder gets defeated when you plug in a USB cable.
• The VS would be more useful as a control surface if you could more easily map the rest of the surface to MIDI – without having to use SONAR and without having to defeat Mackie Control.
• The ACT controls can be a little confusing on such a compact control surface.
• Even with those two great pre’s, the VS probably won’t be your first choice if what you really want is just an audio interface.

Despite some weaknesses, though, to me the VS’ strong points are what can make it a terrific choice. A remarkably compact mixer combined with the flying fader and transport control and the audio I/O you’re most likely to need? That could be enough to sell you, before you add in additional value from some of the software gems that come with it.

At US$699 street, there are cheaper options around, but by the time you add a control surface, a mobile recorder, a mixer, and an audio interface together, it’s a different picture. There are also other control surface-mixer-interfaces out there, but some skimp on audio quality while others lack the VS’ elegant compactness.

The VS still counts as the most control, mixing, and audio functionality I’ve seen in any backpack-friendly box. And as such, for the laptop music production warrior wanting to maximize space and power, it’s part of a handful of essential gear to consider.

Cakewalk V-Studio 100 Minisite

For another review of this unit, check out this post from Boing Boing Gadget’s excellent Rob Beschizza. And Rob takes some really gorgeous photos of the VS, too.
A Weekend with Cakewalk’s SONAR V-Studio 100 [boing boing gadgets]

Still evaluating Live 8 – or want to learn more about how to use it? You can now read my review of Ableton Live 8 free on Keyboard Magazine’s site:

Ableton Live 8 Review [Keyboard Magazine]
See also (via comments) Nick Rothwell’s review for Sound on Sound June [subscription or US$1.49 fee required]

Keyboard doesn’t yet have comments, so feel free to discuss – or disagree – here.

I wanted to back up a little bit and consider Live as if for the first time. Now, I had also personally heard at least Robert Henke complain at one point that reviews of Live were uncritical. That to me would be a flaw as a reviewer, because all software designs involve compromises, so no software can ever be perfect. Here, I still feel there’s legitimate room for improvement in terms of the way Live handles interactive clip triggering and how it assigns control. Of course, we’re not just passively complaining about it – there’s also a community of Live users working to hack in functionality they need using the Live API, both via Python and forthcoming Max for Live.

Also for the review, I shot some quick video demos of features that were easier to show than describe, namely the new instrument Collision and the Vocoder effect. These are basically mini-tutorials on these creations. See Collision at top, Vocoder after the break at bottom. Fixed! Now the top video is actually the Collision video. (Oops.)

I’m a huge fan of physical modeling and Applied Acoustics, and Collision is one of the best percussion models I’ve seen. It starts to approach some of what’s possible in Apple’s Sculpture in Logic, but in a much more focused context, and with some unparalleled resonators (which you can also use on their own in the form of Corpus). See the top video for a walkthrough of the interface.

We may need to revisit the vocoder issue as there’s a new vocoder in FL Studio (Vocodex in the current beta), plus the existing vocoder in Reason. Sounds like there’s an article here waiting to happen. I like Ableton’s vocoder, though; it’s a different implementation and coupled with their unique Frequency Shifter, you can get some really unusual sounds.

For more Live 8 learning (and a more in-depth discussion of different ways of approaching the Frequency Shifter):

Live 8 Videos: New Warping Explained, APC + ReMOTE SL Integration

Ableton Live 8 Misuse: Ping Pong Psuedo Scratching Effect Video Tutorial

Ableton Live 8 Creative Tutorial Videos: Using and Misusing Groove Extraction

Ableton Live 8 Creative Tutorial Videos: Misusing Frequency Shifter

Many in the CDM community miss the days when big-name gear inspired real love. Peer into the studios of even the most dedicated DIY software and hardware maker, and you’ll still see products from big manufacturers. And, much as some may unfairly deride newcomers, the lifeblood of electronic music is the person who opens a box and falls in love with a synth for the first time.

Much of the Korg product line can’t inspire the kind of raw passion that its older products, and boxes from the likes of Roland and Yamaha, once commanded. But then, at its supposedly entry-level end of the pool, something magical happens. It’s hard to put into words, but people really do love some of this stuff.

It’s hard to put into words in English, anyway. For a real demonstration of why Korg is cool and beloved, look no further than Jet Daisuke, who, peering at the Internet onlookers through crazy-colored shades and hoodies and knit caps, speaks to the music tech geek in a way that transcends language (especially as the viewers often don’t speak a word of Japanese). He reviews Korg in a way that silences haters, and he does it alongside reviews of yogurt. (Not a Yogurt soft synth — just, you know, yogurt.)

First up: the microKORG XL. It’s got a silly name that’s a contradiction in terms. It’s pricier than the original microKORG, and, being a typical American, I wondered if the heavier, larger, more feature-packed R3 wasn’t better.

Well, now in translation, Jet explains why the XL is an example of superior Japanese engineering. It’s absurdly light, and ridiculously simple to operate – so who cares if the R3 does a little more? The keys feel fantastic. And when you open a box, joy comes out – certainly in his capable hands.

(For the translation of what he’s saying, you may need to click through to YouTube.)

Jet also has a lovely little jam he’s put together with the microKORG XL and GarageBand. It’s an exercise in minimalism: use what you need, and don’t bother with extra features. Have fun. (Oh, yeah … fun.) Lastly, add bright, neon colors. Awesome.

And then, he takes the nanoKEY ultra-compact controller out on a Shinkansen, the train that makes us rail lovers ready to learn Kanji and causes the Acela to cry itself to sleep every night. Personally, just as with the XL, I love that the nanoKEY is so divisive. Some people hate its action, which feels like the keyboard on a laptop. Some people have managed to break theirs. (Yeah, it’s time for a road-worthy little case, maybe made out of pressed bamboo, a material I’ve been exploring lately.) But there’s one thing you can’t argue with: it’s small. It’s too bad Korg doesn’t just offer these in six packs, so you can grab one whenever you need.

This one isn’t translated, but I think he’s speaking the universal language of music geeks. (If he says anything especially worth noting, to our readers in Japan, feel free to let us know.)

So, Jet loves Korg. And, quite frankly, we absolutely love you, Jet Daisuke. You’re an icon for everything we believe in. Keep the mobile music jams coming:

Jetdaisuke conducts the gadget orchestra [Boing Boing Offworld]

Elsewhere:
Jet Daisuke Wins the Internets

By the way, Korg, if you think this means we’re letting you off the hook and drawing your name in little hearts, we’d like to see more of the Good Korg out. For starters, you did notice that Jet picks up on the fact that the microKORG XL lacks a shoulder strap. Given that we’ve heard Roland’s upcoming keytar — erm, make that a “shoulder-mounted keyboard” — may be on the pricey side, maybe you could offer one strap as an accessory, huh?

Thanks to LA FORCE in comments for pointing this out to us. And you know what, man? You’re right.

Chris Breen at Macworld does exceptional, tough reviews of consumer sound software. He’s tackled GarageBand ‘09 in depth in a review published this week at Macworld.com. If you’re a beginning user, this review is for you – and if not, Chris will help you understand what that perspective is like for countless typical Mac users:

Unless you have an active interest in producing podcasts or creating a musical score, it’s likely you’ve opened GarageBand once and then never bothered with it again. Of all the programs that make up the iLife suite, none is more overlooked than this application. And, given its original focus, that’s not too surprising. Making music requires a skill not common in the general population of computer users.

Review: GarageBand ’09 | Macworld

I’ve gotten to spend some time with this review as the tech editor for the story, and testing GarageBand along with it, I definitely agree. The new lessons are really terrific – they won’t teach you to play, necessarily, but they’re polished, and they can whet musicians’ appetite for additional training options and real music lessons. The guitar effects sound terrific. The UI has been improved in subtle but significant ways that make things easier to find.

The one real disadvantage of the new version is that these terrific-sounding guitar effects don’t support MIDI control. They do support automation, but you can’t control them with anything other than the mouse.

To me, that means you may actually struggle to find a reason to get this upgrade on its own – which would be a problem, except that you’re either getting the new release with a new Mac or are also getting major upgrades to iPhoto and iMovie. So, okay — there’s your reason. And for people with an older version wanting to get into something simple, I’d still easily recommend GarageBand.

If it’s video lessons that interest you, though, Chris has done a complete overview of video instructions options on the Mac. If you do get GarageBand 09, I think you’re likely to hunger for more than Apple currently offers, making this a useful resource. And if GarageBand 09 doesn’t interest you, this gives you some other choices for computer-assisted music learning.

Learn to play an instrument | Macworld

Incidentally, it’s too bad Apple doesn’t offer a way for musicians to build their own lessons in GarageBand; I think that’d be a big hit.

All of that said, I do think Apple is doing a whole lot to make music software more accessible to the first-time user. The fact that GarageBand is just there on a new Mac, and that steps in 09 make sure that if you click the icon you get something friendly and musical, really is significant.

Using the new GarageBand? Do let us know what you think of it.

Speaking of audio editors for the Mac, Adobe has its own wave-editing tool for Mac and Windows. Soundbooth is different from other entries in the field, in that its aim is really to woo a wide audience and not just those of us who work with sound regularly. Got a Flash project and need to make some quick sound effect adjustments? Making a swooshing noise for After Effects? Transcribing notes from a workshop session? Soundbooth CS4 is aimed at you.

Now, you can buy Soundbooth on its own for US$199 list, though I expect almost no one would. (For one thing, if you’re spending your hard-earned dollars on an audio editor, you’re likely to choose one of its rivals, like Adobe’s own superior Audition for Windows.) More likely, you’ll get Soundbooth as part of Adobe’s creative suite.

I actually quite like Soundbooth; because it was built from the ground up, it has a clean, elegant interface, and some unique features. Unfortunately, CS4 was not the step forward I hoped it would be for this fledgling tool. You can read a review by Mac guru Christopher Breen in Macworld; I know that review up and down as I was its tech editor.

Review: Adobe Soundbooth CS4 [Macworld]

Basic sound editor adopts more-advanced features

The problem I have with CS4 is that while adding multitrack capabilities make sense, the implementation just doesn’t seem finished. Many of the options in the wave editing view don’t work in multitrack view, including some you’d expect to work with multiple tracks visible, like adjusting effects, markers, and slicing up chunks of a waveform. (In every other program I’ve ever seen, those are mixing functions.) Apple Soundtrack Pro, Sony SoundForge, and Adobe’s own Audition all seamlessly allow multitrack edit working methods. I have a feeling we’ll just see this addressed in CS5, but Adobe, if you can manage a point-5 release of Soundbooth that fixes this, I’ll be the first to applaud.

Note that you can simply choose to stick to the Editor view and not bother with multitrack, which is what I’ve taken to doing. But needless to say, if Adobe wants audio newcomers to be comfortable with Soundbooth, these kind of idiosyncrasies won’t help.

It’s also a bit odd that Adobe allows non-destructive saves exclusively, rather than letting you “flatten” changes when you want to make them permanent.

Now, in my own Peak review, I complained about the lack of multitrack functions and non-destructive editing. Soundbooth CS4 demonstrates that it’s better to add these features late than add them half-baked, so BIAS, I’m willing to wait. But part of the reason I’m being a stickler on those issues is that I know it’s possible to add these to an audio tool successfully.

That said, I’m actually really happy to have Soundbooth around on my hard drive as an additional audio utility, alongside these other tools. I’ve got a stack of interviews to transcribe, so I’m eager to try that feature. Expect a report back (plus, hopefully, some published interviews with musicians) once I’m done.

The simple truth is, while Soundbooth doesn’t stand so well on its own, as an integrated part of Creative Suite, it’s fantastic. Let’s assume this is just an off release and the third version restores some of the fresh promise of the first.

For one last Macworld review, see my take for Macworld.com on Apple’s Soundtrack Pro – now, sadly, only available in Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio, not on its own (though the latter can be a nice option).

Soundtrack Pro 2.0.1: Improved editing and new features help you sync audio with video

“Peak” is a long-standing name in audio editing on the Mac. I recently got to review its latest iteration, Peak Pro 6, for Macworld and Macworld.com.

Macworld Review: Peak Pro 6
Sample editor and audio suite tweaked for pros, sound designers, and podcasters

I still believe audio editors are valuable tools, especially for anyone who spends a significant amount of their time on sound design – whether that’s sound effects or building the perfect drum kit. Peak is an unusual tool, in a way, in that it remains a stereo waveform editor only, whereas most of its competitors have added multitrack compatibility. On the other hand, Peak also bundles an unusually rich set of tools in the box, which explains the higher price of the full-blown Pro versions.

Here’s my breakdown for Macworld:

Pros
Attractive bundle; seamless podcast export; powerful playlist assembly and export; envelopes; deep plug-in routing; fantastic cross-synthesis sonic powers.

Cons
Multi-window UI can be clunky to use; still no real multi-channel or surround support; lacks more full-featured, non-destructive editing; no spectrum view.

I do want to call particular attention to a couple of points:

You can get Peak cheaply if you want a deal. Unbundled, more basic versions run under a hundred bucks, and as noted in comments, you may even snag a deal on an upgrade.

Peak Pro is fundamentally a bundle. The full-blown version may indeed cause some sticker shock, but it’s really about the bundled software – if you want that software, it could be well worth it.

Vbox and cross-synthesis really rock. This is the feature that makes me really, really glad I got to stick Peak Pro on my MacBook. As pictured at top, the combination allows you to route plug-ins in interesting ways and then create routings that are impossible in most other hosts. (Add batch processing, and this gets very interesting, indeed. I’m going to try it on a stack of audio files – I’ll post samples soon.)

All products involve tradeoffs, so as always I try to do my best to characterize the tradeoffs I see. (“This is the perfect tool for everything” is the job of the marketing department.) I’m still particularly fond of the Windows-only Sound Forge (now made by Sony), but Peak remains a strong entry on the Mac. It’s also worth checking out Peak’s nearest rival, Audiofile Engineering’s Wave Editor, which has been developing by leaps and bounds. The Peak / Wave Editor competition could be an interesting one; they take very different approaches to the problem.

As always, I’m happy to hear what readers and users think.

Bias Inc.

That’s the question I ask at the beginning of the Create Digital Music Winter 08 guide. We’ve filled it with good stuff we love, plus good stuff we hear that you love (via our survey of hundreds of readers for the holiday guide). Via Creative Commons-licensed images, you’ve shared your world of music, and so we share the whole guide as fully free work (it’s got a CC Attribution / ShareAlike license).

Here’s some of what’s inside – we wanted stories that you’d want to live with the whole winter season:

• Circuit bending 101 with Michael Una
• Imagining synths: reflections on the design of electronic instruments with Dan McPharlin, creator of wonderful miniature synths handmade from cardboard
• Tutorial on slicing audio to MIDI in Ableton Live 7, with tips from Live guru Francis Preve plus a free accompanying CDM pack designed by Covert Operators at http://covops.org/cdm
• Holiday Guide, with your favorite gear and software of the year, listening and reading suggestions, and ideas on open hardware from monome creator Brian Crabtree
• Creative tips for surviving winter in Berlin, courtesy monolake (Robert Henke)
• Images from the CDM community and beyond

With the help of graphic editor Nathanael Jeanneret, the results are designed to be an object on paper or read on high-resolution displays. The PDF is available free, with an on-demand print version from Lulu available worldwide (US$19.99 before shipping). I just ordered my print copy rush, so I’ll let you know what it looks like as this is the first time we’ve tried this.

Print Edition + Free PDF Download @ Lulu.com

A big thanks to our sponsors for making this possible:

Ableton Live, our premiere sponsor; now with an unlimited 14-day trial

Audiofile Engineering, makers of Wave Editor for Mac

Highly Liquid DIY MIDI electronics maker

Covert Operators, creators of Live Packs and video tutorials for Ableton Live

I’m really eager to hear what you think.