Native Instruments released a slew of soft synth updates today – thanks to everyone who sent this in. The big news is that Absynth, the alien-sounding synth that has become a darling of sound designers, gets a big update. But with so much to cover, here’s the in-a-nutshell version so you can grok it all in one place.

The other big news – Komplete’s price is down to EUR499/US$559, with cheaper upgrade pricing to match. That makes the suite much more aggressive, and certainly as far as software instruments, as much as you can get in any one box, anywhere, for that amount of change. It’s not all good news, though – there were some cuts of instruments from the lineup. Correction: These products are in fact discontinued. Pro-53, Akoustik Piano, and B4 II are being terminated, though unlike the previous vocoder and spectral delay, it sounds as though the replacement is effectively sample libraries in Kontakt.

Disclaimer: I’m reading this from a press release and peppering it with what either might be considered my expansive experience and finely-honed instincts or, in technical terms, “randomly made-up speculation.” Less review, more fauxview. Expect more once we’ve used these in the flesh.

Absynth 5

The synth Jim Aikin once described to me as a “rabbit hole” has just gotten deeper. New in this release:

• Supercomb filter for “physical-modeling-type” sounds – think exquisite new resonance.
• Cloud filter for granular-based modulation.
• Filter feedback paths for “gritty” “unpredictable” …well, you know, filter feedback.
• “Aetherizer” for breaking up and rearranging sound particles, apparently derived from granular models but implemented in an unusual way.
• More presets, in case you want a guide exploring the stuff above.
• Mutator for morphing presets based on musical keywords – an alternative way of navigating presets.

Those new filters and processors sound really extraordinary to me. I have a small selection of “desert island” synths. Absynth might qualify for when you move to a different planet.

Kontakt 4

Here’s a surprise. You see, Native Instruments only updated its flagship sampler to 3.5 as recently as July. That was no minor update, either, featuring 64-bit memory support (on Windows) and greater 32-bit memory (up to 32 GB on Mac), plus improved from-disk streaming, multi-core support, MIDI learn, and other enhanced features and compatibility. In less than a month and a half, they’re back to announce version 4.

And it does sophisticated live convolution of samples. Somewhere, someone is thinking of realistic purposes for that. I’m thinking Absynth may have company on that alien planet.

• Authentic Expression Technology (AET)  What? A process that mimics authentic instruments – with an obscure acronym to match? Is NI channeling Roland? AET isn’t quite like anything I’ve heard before, with a “phase-corrected convolution” based on an analysis of the original acoustic instrument sample. (In other words, it squishes your sample together with the analyzed behavior of a real-world instrument.) It’s a unique-sounding process, and one I’d love to hear warped to unusual sound design purposes – not just faking real instruments, but inventing new ones.
• Vowel morphing for choirs. (Yeah, see what I just said? You’re going to want to route synths through AET, too, aren’t you?)
• A sampled Mellotron.
• Sample compression to save on resources – without losing audio fidelity or taxing the CPU, says NI.
• Multi Scripts for Kontakt scripting users.
• A new sound browser with “more musical” terms.
• A stack of belgian waffles, dripping in syrup. (Okay, I made that one up. Mmmmm… waffles.)

Guitar Rig 4 (Pro and otherwise)

Where do you go in a crowded guitar emulation market, with a package that’s already crammed with sound tools? NI has chosen to focus on the speakers/cabinet/mic. There’s more talk of convolution – here, “latency-free” convolution – but I know NI’s tools often use different techniques for the different products, which means this may not be exactly what’s showing up in Kontakt; more on that once I find out exactly what they’ve done. New in “Pro”:

• Advanced cabinet, mic modeling: NI says they’ve applied latency-free convolution in order to get more precise models from their software. (Well, okay, digital processes inherently add latency, so let’s assume extreme-low-latency).
• Control Room mic + cabinet matching: Other guitar amp emulations do effectively this – there are some simple combinations in Apple’s new Logic 9, most recently. But NI says that, again, their technology is special, with phase-aligned studio mics for each cabinet and work by German guitar and recording guru Peter Weihe.
• New tube amps: “Hot Plex,” “Jump.”
• Two new delays, two new reverbs.
• Dedicated master effects section.
• True-stereo processing throughout the signal chain.
• Better sound quality for pitch-based effects.
• More host automation, controller assignment.
• Use the Rig Kontrol 3 pedal board as a MIDI controller with anything you like.

That’s just the flagship; some updates apply across the range to other packaged versions of the Guitar Rig line, with different sets of features and hardware that are a bit too complex to compare now.

Komplete 6

For those keeping score at home, here’s what you get if you prefer the whole box.

New versions:

• Absynth 5
• Kontakt 4
• Guitar Rig 4

And the existing lineup:

• Battery 3
• FM8
• Massive
• Reaktor 5
• Elektrik Piano (now simply as Kontakt samples, but that’s fine)

And those upgrading who felt burned in the past by the process, NI seems to be giving something back this time. All the way back to Komplete 2, you can upgrade for US$169, and Kontakt and Reaktor owners – any version – can Komplete themselves for US$339/EUR299 through the end of 2009.

The full Komplete package is now just US$559/EUR499.

So, what got cut:

• Akoustic Piano
• B4 II
• PRO-53

These three products are in fact discontinued. Pro-53 was a bit out of place in the suite, it’s true, and looking (and sounding) long in the tooth; NI is generally more about creating new synths than emulating old ones. The B4 and Akoustik Piano, though, I think are going to be missed. Akoustik Piano has some great piano samples and controls that aren’t really replaced by the piano samples in Kontakt. And while the C-3 samples in Kontakt sound terrific, you miss out on the variations and sound design options in B4 II. I’m guessing someone may be passionate about that, seeing as how they’re handcrafting full-sized controllers for it with custom stops and DIY electronics just to play it. It sounds like the direction is toward sampling, though, so perhaps we’ll see some additions in the Kontakt sample library to compensate for these omissions. Meanwhile, if you’ve already got these products, you can hang onto them.

I still think this gives Komplete an extra edge. And let’s not lose the real story here – real time convolution and crazy filtering in Absynth. I’ll sleep on that.

Oh yeah, and iPhone apps? Cool, but when you want to put more supercomputer-style processing on your tracks, your desktop computer is still your friend.

Native Instruments

Updated: See http://createdigitalmusic.com/snowleopard for a running report.

Apple’s “Snow Leopard” 10.6 ships Friday, which means it’s time to start compiling information about the new OS flavor. Just don’t upgrade too fast, as always.

Want to push an operating system to the breaking point? Ask a musician. Between the demands of real-time performance and the complex ecosystem of mix-and-match hardware, software, and plug-ins, odds are your local audio geek will break an OS faster than anyone else. Not every operating system upgrade is going to have a big impact on music software, but keep in mind that even subtle changes can cause issues that may interfere with your work.

Of course, all of this means music users should treat any OS update with caution. :

• If you’ve got a critical, primary production machine, your best bet is often simply to wait. Confirm that software works before you upgrade rather than after.
• If you’ve got some time to invest in an upgrade or have more than one machine, be sure to do a full backup and system image so you can revert to the previous, known working OS.
• Best solution: Boot off an external hard drive. Don’t commit to installing internally until you’re sure everything is working. Once you are, go enjoy. (as noted in comments, and yes, I should have said this initially… still, the latest 10.5 build is still the preferred OS for now.)

So, sit back. Enjoy life. Go for a walk on a beach. Recline in your favorite chair with your MacBook running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Isn’t it great? Need to waste time? Plants vs. Zombies is out for Mac.

What? Still want to upgrade?

Fair enough. We’ll be tracking changes to Snow Leopard and which of them may impact audio.

The short version: Snow Leopard introduces only small changes, but if a developer hasn’t been on top of those changes, you could see issues. And as for the 64-bit mode that’s attracting most of the attention, the short answer is, you can’t use it for music yet.

Native Instruments and Plogue have each responded to CDM with information on their software.

Executive Summary

• NI and Plogue have tested their software as functioning on 10.6
• Neither NI nor Plogue recommends you upgrade your OS yet – Plogue uses stronger language to discourage you
• 64-bit support, expanded in Mac OS 10.6, is not yet relevant to music use because nothing (not even from Apple) supports it yet, but don’t worry – you can get more RAM through other methods
• Audio MIDI Setup gets a tune-up, and built-in audio support appears to be improved

Native Instruments

If you’re a Mac user who uses NI products on any version of the operating system, you should stay tuned to this URL:

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/compatibility/mac-os-x-compatibility/

NI tells CDM they’ve just updated it today with Snow Leopard information:

Native Instruments has conducted initial compatibility tests with Mac OS X 10.6, which have shown all current NI products to work without any specific issues under standard installations of this operating system.

However, users involved in professional audio production or live performance should be cautious about upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6 until compatibility with third-party audio software and hardware has been widely confirmed by the relevant manufacturers.

Native Instruments is currently conducting further systematic compatibility and performance tests with Snow Leopard, and will provide additional information on this page as it becomes available.

The second paragraph sounds like what I just wrote, huh?

Plogue

Plogue, an independent developer of a variety of software ranging from the awesome modular environment Bidule to sampling engines for Garritan’s orchestra and piano products and an upcoming library of vintage chip sounds have been doing their own work. Privately, I talked with them about some of the work they had to do after Apple rewrote underlying operating system plumbing with Objective-C (from C and Carbon). Here’s their official statement to CDM on Snow Leopard and, in the parallel Windows dimension, Windows 7:

10.6 and W7 each caused only minor modifications to our code base, however these mods are necessary for proper functioning of our products on those platforms. Most of our transition efforts as a company will be of a user support nature.

Any musician foolish enough to jump on new OSes without a hint of caution, inevitably makes me wish for a new kind of Darwin Award prize.

(Emphasis mine. Consider yourself warned.)

Ableton (Unofficial) and a Plug-in Warning

From the Ableton forums, via comments:

It’s currently being tested internally over here, so the current version is not officially compatible yet – on the other hand this does not mean that it doesn’t run.

We will release an update after the tests during the next weeks that will be officially compatible, but we don’t recommend upgrading yet if stability is your main concern.

It’s likely that a few new third party plugin problems will show up due to the changes under the hood in 10.6 and experiences show that the latest 10.5 versions now are the way to go after the gfx performance problems with earlier 10.5 and 10.4 versions.

So, in other words, now is a great time to upgrade to 10.5!

More in the thread here:

Ableton Forums

Now, note, mostly what this extensive discussion reveals is that Snow Leopard is poorly understood, partly thanks to a very successful hype campaign on Apple’s part. (Ahem.)

There are not magical performance and speed improvements found by installing Snow Leopard – or, most likely, any OS. (Would that such things were true.) The presence of a set of multithreading tools, for instance, is specific only to developers for whom that set of tools is useful. Audio software already has finely-tuned multithreading implementations specific to real-time applications, and in the case of something like Ableton Live, it really needs to work across platforms.

If you install a new OS with the expectation that it’ll be “faster,” you’ll almost certainly be disappointed. If you install a new OS hoping you’ll “break things,” then you probably won’t be disappointed. I don’t mean to suggest don’t ever upgrade or live in fear of all software, just that you should imagine that, like redoing the plumbing in your basement, long-term advantages will come, but with significant effort and time.

PreSonus Hardware

See a separate post: at Snow Leopard launch, PreSonus audio interfaces are likely to be entirely incompatible.

About 64-bit (Nothing to see here…)

NI notes that the 10.6 offers significant changes to 64-bit support, including a new 64-bit kernel mode – this being the rough equivalent of the “x64” 64-bit versions of Windows (and Linux) that have been available for some time.

Here’s the bottom line: 64-bit support on Mac OS isn’t yet relevant to audio users, period. It’s not supported by Apple’s own Logic Studio, or any other major host at this time. This is a situation we’ll be watching, as it is something developers appear to be investigating.

But before we get too far into that issue, you should consider why you’re asking about 64-bit in the first place. 64-bit computing offers two potential advantage. First, running processor computation natively at 64 bits offers a marginal improvement. Second – the issue most people care about for music – 64-bit memory addressing offers access to massive amounts of memory, beyond the approximate 4 GB barrier that applies to 32-bit applications.

More memory is a very good thing. But you probably don’t want to sacrifice compatibility just to get it. Fortunately, you don’t need the 64-bit OS to get beyond that 4 GB barrier. On the Mac, some workarounds have extended the practical life of 32-bit memory addressing for music applications – thus avoiding the need to get a 64-bit native version of every driver and every piece of software you want to use.

On Windows and Linux, you can indeed get a number of audio applications (like SONAR on Windows, for instance) that have excellent 64-bit support, and a number of the drivers have followed suit. Even, then, though, many users choose to stick with 32-bit versions in order to have superior compatibility.

Note that processing “64-bit audio” – that is, digital audio represented using 64-bit data – is a completely different issues. A 32-bit processor and 32-bit operating system and 32-bit software can all do 64-bit audio processing. Whether you really need 64 bits for audio production is a whole other can of worms I won’t open here.

Getting More Memory – Without Any 64-bit Snow Leopards

When I spoke to Apple earlier this month, they downplayed the 64-bit issue and pointed out that their own EXS24 sampler in Logic Studio can access additional installed memory just fine with 32-bit – that means if you have Logic 8 or later, Pro or Express, Tiger or Leopard or Snow Leopard, you can use additional RAM. Each EXS24 sampler instance has its own memory space, so you can use as much memory as you want.

Apple even has a support doc on the subject:

Logic Pro/Express 8: How the EXS24 sampler addresses RAM in Logic 8

Last month, we looked at the situation for Native Instruments’ Kontakt. Again, using some of the flexibility of the memory architecture unique to the Mac, they’ve managed to access bigger amounts of RAM even on 32-bit OS.

Kontakt, Battery: Enhanced, More Compatible, 64-bit Memory

Kontakt is able to get up to a whopping 32 GB thanks to something called the Kontakt Memory Server. Again, you can get still more than 32 GB using 64-bit Windows, but for most users, that’s overkill.

All of this is to say, 64-bit is not a reason to upgrade to Snow Leopard for audio work – at least, not yet. Some of the built-in applications (like the Finder and Safari) get performance boosts from 64-bit optimization on 10.6, but none of that is critical to audio and music – and it’s certainly not worth upgrading too soon only to find some compatibility wrinkle we haven’t yet found.

Updates to Audio MIDI Setup

A reader tips us off to some small changes to Apple’s centralized Core Audio settings panel, Audio MIDI Setup. Audio and MIDI are now separated into separate windows, and Audio gets some nice improvements.

Note the per-app settings and adjustments for sample rate, bit depth, and Format. As in previous recent versions of Mac OS, you can also aggregate multiple physical audio interfaces into one – one of a number of reasons we really love Core Audio as a sound system.

The reader also notes that the update seems to improve support for his built-in hardware:

It’s now possible to choose a higher sample rate and resolution for all inputs/outputs on the built-in sound card of my MacBook Pro early ‘08, which is pretty cool. Before there was clearly hearable, annoying digital fragments when playing back any sounds, especially on low volume – all magically gone, i don’t hear anymore noise.

Got More Information?

Help us continue our “More Than You Wanted to Know,” obsessive series of coverage on CDM and tip us off!

Corrections and clarifications are welcome, too – that’s why I enjoy the maleable nature of the Web.

The Roland JUNO-G has attracted some interest from CDM readers since I mentioned Roland’s YouTube contest and talked a bit about the JUNO line’s history. (See previous story.)

One of you by the name of “made” even asked comments addressed “Dear Roland.” I had to admit I was curious about those answers, so Roland responded.

The JUNO-G feature a lot of readers wondered about was the onboard sampling functionality. That feature was beefed up in the OS 2.0. Personally, I’m still looking to keep my samples on the software side, but I can see this having some appeal for live performance. With 2.0, you can sample onboard, which could make the JUNO-G an interesting “live-PA”-style synth, a hardware unit with some sample savvy, and/or a way to supplement your laptop in gigs.

New 2.0 features as described by Roland:

• Sample audio from external sources or import audio phrases from the removable flash memory.
• Samples can be assigned to trigger from the JUNO-G’s function buttons or the JUNO-G’s keyboard.
• Velocity and note number can be assigned individually for each sample.
• Adjust Start, End and Loop points using the JUNO-G’s front panel control knobs.
• Advanced sampling editing such as Truncate, Normalize, Emphases, Sample Chop and Combine are included.
• Samples can automatically match BPM in real-time to changes made to the tempo of your song.

To download JUNO-G Version 2.0 software upgrade, please visit:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?dsection=d_downloads&ObjectId=756

Now, onto the tips, which come from Roland’s Eric Klein.

Maintaining Sustain:

The Juno-G can maintain its sustain when changing patches, as long as Patch Remain is turned on (it’s off by default).
1. Press MENU, select System, and press ENTER.
2. Press F1 (GENERL).
3. Press F1 (Common).
4. Turn Patch Remain on and press F6 (WRITE).

Note that only the raw patch itself will transition smoothly; the effects engine will change to best compliment the new patch, and there will be a short glitch when this happens. The Fantom-G is the only keyboard on the planet with perfectly seamless patch–and–effects changes (and then only in Live mode). If you want perfectly seamless patch changes in the Juno-G, you must turn the effects off.

If the sustain is working backwards; that is, it sustains when not depressed but stops when pressed, this means its polarity is opposite that of the Juno-G. No worries–you can change that:

1. Press MENU, select System, and press ENTER.
2. Press F2 (KBD/CTRL).
3. Press F2 (PEDAL).
4. Turn Hold Pedal Polarity to Reverse and press F6 (WRITE). If the sustain isn’t working *at all*, it’s most likely an incompatible sustain pedal. We use the Roland DP-2, DP-8, and DP-10 here.

Ed.: I have both Roland and Yamaha pedals at home, and tried the Yamaha damper without any incident, just FYI. –PK

JUNO-G as Sampler:

The Juno’s G’s audio tracks have always utilized a powerful RAM-based sampling engine, and clever users noted that any audio file recorded into the keyboard could be manually assigned to a patch or rhythm set’s key(s) from the Pro Edit screen. Basically, it was hidden. With the new Juno-G OS 2.0, the sampling engine is right at your fingertips and any samples can easily be assigned to keys or to the buttons below the Juno-G’s screen. A fully-loaded Juno-G can store and play back up to 51 stereo or 102 mono minutes of samples and audio tracks. Samples can be manipulated with the Juno-G’s myriad synth parameters–filters, effects, envelopes, LFOs… There’s even realtime timestretch, so any sampled loops will automatically follow the song’s tempo, without changing pitch. It’s certainly a proper studio sampler.

"Can you trigger sequenced patterns from one part of a keyboard split while playing synth sounds on another?”

The Juno-G’s rhythm patterns can be triggered from the six buttons below the screen, and they can be either heavily modified or created from scratch via step sequencing. Layered/split performances can be played from the keyboard simultaneously.

If one really wants to trigger sequenced patterns from the keys, an entire song can be resampled as an audio file and be assigned to a key within a rhythm set. That rhythm set can be confined to, say, the bottom octave of the keyboard. The flexibility of the Juno-G is really remarkable.

Thanks for the answers, Eric.

If you think today’s “talk to the manufacturers” is in any way inspired by the fact that I’m busy at the OFFF conference in Portugal, you’re right. But it’s wound up leading to some interesting discussions, so I’m open to doing it again, with any makes or models you wish. (And we’ll be doing some open source/DIY Q&A soon, too, so this isn’t just limited to vendors. These are all tools we rely on, so I know they’re important.)

If you hate modern samplers with all their supposed fidelity, longing instead for the glitchy digital distortion of samplers past, a DIY project has brought you the sounds you love. “Where’s the Party At?” has been inspiring tingly sensations in digital lovers since I first wrote about it in September.

Now, the kit version is shipping. It’s a unique-looking combination of reliability and sonic unreliability, good open source design engineering and, as the creator puts it, a certain “crustiness.”

Apocryphal Feature List and General Horn-Tooting:

• 8-bit max sample depth, 1-bit minimum.
• 20kHz (or so, user adjustable) max sample rate, no minimum.
• 512k SRAM, about 26 seconds (minimum) or sample time.
• Big, versatile 6 button, 7 knob, 8 LED user interface. For Cavemen.
• Even more big and versatile full MIDI control in and out capability. Fully sequenceable. For people who use Live and general bespectacled electronic music nerds.
• Sample banking — multi-timbral recording, playback and audio processing across all banks.
• Sample multiplication, XOR, ABS, and all sorts of other weird sample processing and cross-modulation.
• Real time overdubbing.
• Preferences saved in permanent memory.
• Hackable analog clock source which can be syncronized to other synths.
• Non-Hackable crystal clock source which will always do Exactly What You Tell it.
• Programmable clock jitter, bit rate reduction, aliasing, and sample clock errors all adjustable in real time.
• All the normal backwards masking and half time and typical sampling features common to many commercial samplers.
• On-The-Fly Granular reconstruction of samples.
• Full pitch control of samples.
• Self test mode for debugging.
• 2.8Hz-357kHz frequency response (measured).
• Sub-audible noise floor.
• Looks nerdy and attracts people with stringy hair. Possibly bad skin.

Details on this kit, plus a video sampler version made for a specific party here in NYC, at creator Todd Bailey’s site:

http://narrat1ve.com/

Updated: Complete information on the kit itself, at US$75 – Some Assembly Required (read: you’d better have a soldering iron handy and know how to use it!)

Where’s the Party At, Hardware Version 1.01

I also love the bag of shiny hardware for aiding in making yours nice!

You know the stereotype. “Synths” are expressive. “Samplers” are those things relegated to playing fake instruments.

But what makes synths fun to play as an instrument is the power they have over your sound, and the interactivity they provide. Peter Dines did a series for our Kore+CDM minisite at the end of last year that I think really illustrated how Native Instruments’ sampler Kontakt can be made a powerful performance tool – something that’s really fun to play. In doing so, he gets into the “s word” – scripting. When you hear “scripting,” I expect a lot of you run and hide, or wonder why the heck you’d want to write scripts when working on your music. The answer is, thanks to content that’s out there, you can make use of scripts for Kontakt without ever having to muck with code yourself. And if you do want to create your own scripts, a lot of the things you might like to do turn out to be quite simple.

What might a musical workflow look like with Kontakt? Peter answers that question with a beautiful, delicate-sounding music box patch. In this example, working directly in Kontakt allows him to start with a recorded sound and get into the manipulation phase very quickly. I know many folks use Ableton Live for the purpose, and Live is itself essentially a sampler turned into a host. But if you’re comfortable with that method, you may find the addition of something like Kontakt is all the more useful.

In the music box example, Peter looks at:

• Turning a recording into a sample
• Slicing and dicing with the Wave Editor
• Making use of presets in the Script Editor to get powerful features, then making quick modifications – no need to script from scratch

Slicing, Dicing, and Scripting a Music Box with Kontakt; Free Download

That’s a specific example. With Performance View, you can turn your sampled sounds into something that could work really well live – again, using scripts without scripting:

Learning Kontakt: Performance View and Scripting Power, Hidden in Presets

Finally, when you are ready for the power of scripts, Peter can get you started with that. With a couple of lines, you can retune, resequence, constrain to scale, pan, and randomize. That makes Kontakt a powerful compositional and performance tool.
Dive into Kontakt Scripting: A Gentle Introduction, plus Script Downloads

I hope we see scripting show up in more tools. (I’d lose my mind – in a good way – to see it in a future version of Maschine.) In the meantime, this gets you rolling.

And really, you don’t have to be an advanced sampler / sound designer / Kontakt user. I think you’ll find these tutorials to be exceedingly beginner-friendly. In fact, samplers have often gotten underused by us mere mortals. Sure, you probably don’t have time to do a massive, multisampled grand piano patch – and someone else has already done it for you. But to take a quick field recording and mangle it, samplers can be fantastic.

If you come up with anything based on these tutorials, we’d love to hear it.

Previously: Kontakt Creative Abuse and Scripting, Modular Reaktor Goodness, More On Kore@CDM

(Side note: yes, the Kore+CDM site has sprung back to life, on a new server. Enjoy!)

If you could have an ideal drum machine and sample-slicing workstation, taking the physical control of hardware but the flexibility of software, what would it look like? We talk a lot about hardware control of software, but hardware usually comes second – software gets designed first, and then either you have to figure out how to map hardware to it, or someone else comes along and designs gear. That means there’s usually a disconnect in the design and workflow of the two, and most of the time, you have to reach for the mouse to make up the difference.

Maschine (pronounced as the German, mah-SCHEE-neh) was developed at Native Instruments with the goal to design the hardware and software simultaneously, not separately. That’s not an easy goal, and I don’t expect Maschine to be perfect or please everyone. But I got to visit the prototype at NI while I was in Berlin in October and see it in action, and I can say at the very least, the folks who created feel the way many of us do – they love software, they love hardware drum machines like the Elektron, and this is an attempt to be a real hybrid.

So, while contrary to rumors, NI does not have a box that does any audio generation in the hardware, this is a real attempt to fuse the controller and software in terms of design and workflow. The idea is to use the screen for visual feedback (you do have this big, pretty monitor on your desk or notebook), but to be able to work without a mouse.

Maschine can also work as a plug-in as well as a standalone app, depending on how you like to work (or how you want to play live). That means if you’re already in love with something like Ableton Live, you ought to theoretically be able to put the two together. Unfortunately, you can’t yet use it as a sequencer to drive other software, which would be an ideal next step; sequencing is as big a part of what Maschine does as sampling and sample manipulation. (No official statement on MIDI output has been made yet.)

Maschine’s hardware also works as a controller. So, for those keeping score, you could put Maschine next to the just-announced Akai APC40 and use them both to control Live – or Maschine could compete with the APC for your Live-controlling dollar – even before you touch the Maschine drum machine software.

Here’s NI’s intro video, which gives you a sense of how this stuff ties together (and we are officially the first to post it).

We’ll naturally be looking more closely at Maschine soon (I’m going to buy a new espresso maker and not sleep for the next few months). Here’s a quick overview:

• 16 pressure-sensitive pads, which light up for visual feedback
• Step sequencing
• Polyphonic recording (so it is a real sequencer, too)
• All software features are available quickly “on the surface,” so not only do you not need the mouse, but unlike a lot of hardware and even controllers, you don’t have a bunch of submenus and buttons to press to do stuff. That includes tasks like automation editing and even sound editing
• Automatic sample mapping, beat slicing, note repeat
• Real-time audio recording and resampling – so you can not only record, but resample what you’re working on, MPC style
• Effects sends “from conventional to experimental” (basically, you can enjoy the kind of sound mangling goodness we’ve had on Kore and Reaktor lately)
• Kore-style sound browsing, with a multi-gig library to get you started

Availability: April 1

Pricing: US$669 list (EUR 599)

The hardware has a top-notch feel and metal casing; at least from what I could judge from the prototype, this should look and feel absolutely fantastic. My only real disappointment was that there’s no synth engine, but that’s just because I love drum synths. Then again, I love the simplicity of Maschine, so perhaps the best fix would be to add the ability to either host plug-ins, as Kore does, or to provide MIDI output capability to other software, so that you could drive synths and other creations. (Heck, you could even sequence visuals in that case.)

What’s unique to me about Maschine is that it isn’t simply an emulation of an MPC; it still takes a software approach to sequencing, it still supports plug-ins and the things you like about software, and it still has NI-style effects. By virtue of being software, in fact, you can really change how you use it relative to hardware. You can drop it in Live or even in a tracker like Renoise. You can use it not as a drum machine but a pattern-based effects unit and insert it after your voice or an instrument. Then you can switch to a VJ set, ignore the Maschine software, and use it as an intelligent plug-in for running live visuals for your friend’s band. None of this is nearly as practical with a conventional hardware drum machine – and this is a whole lot cheaper.

Also, unlike some attempts to unify hardware and software in the past, the visual relationship isn’t slavish. You see something that looks like it makes sense on a screen when you’re editing; it looks like software, but you can easily control it with hardware and not the mouse. (Nothing against the mouse – it’s fantastic for many jobs; sample slicing and music editing just happens not to be one of them.) When you’re ready to perform, the displays on the device mean you don’t have to look at the screen at all.

It’s also worth noting that this is very different from today’s Akai APC announcement. The Akai is clearly better suited to mixing and clip triggering, but the Maschine has velocity-sensitive pads the Akai lacks, and is better suited to hardware control of beat slicing and editing operations. (That said, someone may decide to use Max for Live to turn Maschine into a hybrid machine that also controls and edits Live itself, so everything is suddenly wide open.) And the APC is all about a host (Live), whereas Maschine is all about adding a drum machine / workstation to a host (which could be Live, or Renoise, or Pro Tools, or something else altogether).

In fact, to me, the real competition is Ableton Live’s Drum Racks, groove extract, and slice to rack features. It’s mouse-based, but it also integrates with a host and can host plug-ins itself. I’m personally excited about using both, so it’ll be interested to see which I wind up preferring for which tasks. And you can meanwhile bend your brain around the idea of Maschine instances running inside Ableton Live Drum Racks and other odd combinations.

If there’s any criticism of Maschine, my guess it that it’s likely to be criticized for over-simplicity: as opposed to the first release of Kore, the approach here is really minimalism; NI did less in the hopes that you’d get more out of hardware integration, and the rest you can make up by working with your favorite existing tools and plug-ins. That’s not to say it’s dumbed-down, from what I can see, though I just have to use it.

Whether NI has nailed this one is another question, of course, and one I’ll want to test vigorously. But I love the idea. Mainly, I just want to get my hands on one so we can try this out. You’ll definitely want to stay tuned.

http://www.native-instruments.com/maschine.info

Corrections: In the first draft of this story, I suggested that Maschine could output MIDI to other software instruments or host plug-ins; at least as of version 1.0, the software can’t. You can use it as a controller, though, and output MIDI to other hardware (so you could sequence hardware synths or even other drum machines). The thing I’d like to see there is MIDI output to other software; we certainly have enough hosts (NI’s Kore being one of those hosts). I also overstated the connection to Kore (which is why I was confused about plug-ins). Like Kore, Maschine is integrated hardware and software, it shares the Kore browser, and it shares some of the other design features of the current generation of NI software. But Maschine is its own creature – and honestly, that’s a good thing. Stay tuned for more details.

MOTU’s new drum machine is a new software sampler/synth workstation for drums, clearly influenced by beat production workstations like the legendary Akai MPC and EMU SP1200. With all today’s hardware/software talk, I initially thought this was hardware, too, but it’s not – meaning it’s got an uphill battle against integrated features in hosts like Live and new tools that integrate more closely with hardware, not to mention existing entries like FXpansion’s GURU. But don’t write it off just yet: an internal synth, a unique sampling plug-in, import workflows, and retro groove emulations could keep this in the game.

Oh, yeah – and, typical of MOTU, there’s always one feature that can make you forget every other complaint. For me, that’s the “Line templates” in the step sequencer that let you add your own Euclidian polyrhythms. Nice.

MOTU’s ad copy waxes poetic about the deeper meaning of all of this, as though pondering aloud:

“Sound libraries these days are awash with loops. And what is a loop, exactly? Someone else’s beat. Isn’t it time to take back creative ownership over your grooves?”

Yes, indeed, what is a loop? If you’re curious, you could check out the, um, loop content that ships with BPM in its 15 GB sound library.

The slightly self-contradictory philosophizing ad copy aside, though, I’m all about the creative possibilities of drum workstations, and there’s no question BPM has some potential. Look for a smackdown with NI’s own entry, which we get to talk about later today. Here’s a basic look at the BPM, which I’ll update once I can talk about Maschine oh, any software drum machine that might theoretically come out in the next two hours:

• A sampler – a real sampler, with import, slicing, and even live recording. There’s a convenient plug-in that you can use as an insert in any host to tap into recording sources – very nice – and you can sample directly into a pad
• A drum synthesizer (now this part I find especially cool) – looks basic but very accessible and friendly to the task at hand
• 15 GB sound library, including (fair enough) not just loops but patterns, slices, and instrument sounds
• Sample import capability with compatibility with MOTU’s libraries and UVI engine as well as REX, Apple Loops, etc., with drag-and-drop import (inherited from MOTU’s MachFive sampler)
• Record your own samples
• Step sequencer, graph editor, piano roll sequencer
• Grooves, including classic MPC, LinnDrum grooves, and edit and save your own. There’s even an SP1200 emulation.
• Live scene performance and playback, which you can also export to software for later use

Killer feature for geeks: A Euclidian line template. They didn’t have to, but they did. You get the rhythmic benefits. Awesome.

Today there’s new hardware from NI and Akai, but this is software-only: good, old-fashioned MIDI learn is how you get to control any of this live. It’s a mouse-based workflow, which to me undercuts some of the “program beats as fast as your mind can "hear" them” talk in the marketingspeak. The appeal of MPCs and the like is that hardware control, which is all about speed. In fact, when I first saw the image, I thought they actually were unveiling hardware, and wondered why there was a disc drive on the thing, but they’re not.

And there’s another problem: you’d need an extremely short memory not to recognize this has been done before. fxpansion’s GURU does this, and in a much cleaner interface that clearly integrates sampling and sequencing (which is what I suspect a lot of people would want). It doesn’t have synth capability, but it has the same basic pattern sequencing, direct sampling and real-time recording, slicing, and graphical automation options. (Heck, some of the views even look the same, although there are some established ways of doing some of these things.)

That said, MOTU has a very powerful sampling engine underneath, the import workflows are pretty powerful, I love the synth capabilities in particular (and MOTU has made some great soft synths), and I think the plug-in that you just use to sample is very clever. And if the groove options are better than other offerings out there, of course, it’ll win some converts. Vintage groove emulation + line templates on the step sequencer = happy rhythm geeks.

So BPM remains a contender for a software workflow. Now, can it stand up to integrated features in a host (Live), conventional hardware (MPC, etc.), or software-integrated hardware (Maschine)? This is going to be an interesting season for fans of this kind of tech.

Updated: As you’ll read in comments, it seems that bpm can’t slice audio itself – audio has to be sliced elsewhere. That’s an important part of the workflow for at least some of the potential users of this tool, and something some rival software (and even similar hardware) does. It’s odd, because MOTU’s own MachFive sampler has an extensive beat sampling tool; apparently the choice was to leave it out here, at least in this version.

slicedbread, on behalf of The Covert Operators, has released a free Windows utility that generates “endless harmonic oscillators” for Ableton Live’s Simpler and Sampler instruments. (Since this was a released, a Mac build has been made available, as well; see link below.) Even if you don’t intend to use the utility directly, pay attention – The Covert Ops already have a sample pack up full of oscillators, and you can bet the presence of this utility means more will come. (Even Robert Henke was impressed on the forums.)

Live 6 introduced the file format for “Ableton Meta Sounds.” Bjorn Vayner is currently breaking down how the format works, but the short upshot is that you can make oscillator sources that won’t alias for sound design in Simpler and Sampler. The AMS File Utility does more, too – export tunings (even microtuned stuff), and make oscillator variations. It’s sampling for people who like synthesis. In fact, not only is it fun to make additive synthesis-style oscillators dragging individual harmonics, but it’s a total breeze to change the offset and make equal-tempered stuff, negative scales, and other tunings.

Description on the forums:

AMS File Utility for Microtonal/Traditional Tunings

And from the very awesome Covert Operators site, some of the behind-the-scenes action, plus the Mac build (updated with additional links!):

Meta Files: Uncovering the .ams format, Part 1

Meta Files: Uncovering the .ams format, Part 2

Meta Files: Uncovering the .ams format, Part 3

Mac OS X Meta Application

Thanks for reminding us of this, Tony. I’m a bit behind on all this, but better late than never. Since I am lagging, has anyone made some AMS packs since this came out in September?

What do you say when it’s all been said? We felt it was time for a fresh perspective on the MPC phenomenon — one a normal review couldn’t provide. So we got the opinion of our friend, samplist/producer and Segue member Dave Dri. And the verdict: there’s still something about an MPC — even if it suggests why there’s also something about software, too. But it involves dust. Here’s his op-ed:

Recently I had the task of reviewing an MPC5000 for a local street press magazine. The MPC part of it was fine — the word limit was trickier. Over the last decade I have reviewed the MPC2000XL and the MPC1000, with a lot of time and gigs passing between them. From early days in a live breaks act to my current progressive house act, an MPC has been right under hand. In the week that I reluctantly handed the 5000 back to Musiclab, the drummer that guested in my band at the Big Day Out festival asked me to play keys and samples in his band at a local festival. [Ed.: Our own Jaymis filmed the Big Day Out gig if you want to check it out.] I found myself in a chance conversation with a friend from the live breaks act Bitrok and the very next day, somehow, I’m on stage with his MPC2500 — a unit which I have since bought. So why did reviewing an MPC5000 lead to me buying an MPC2500 after years of happy service from an invincible MPC2000XL?

If you’re reading this, you probably know what an MPC is, and you can readily review any number of link-bait Google results for the product mentioned in the title of this post. [Ed. Hmmmm, link-baiting MPC's, huh? "10 Ways an MPC is Like a Cupcake"? "15 of the Best MPC YouTube Videos Featuring Hot Women MPCers?" perhaps? -PK]

What you probably want to know is what it’s really like. So I will tell you.

Changes, Rants, and Internet Haters

It’s big. Really big. In fact, it’s so large that it couldn’t fit on the Jerker desk that forms the core of my studio rig, and spent its review loan period on a keyboard stand. In a particularly amusing moment I happened to glance at a nearby MacBook with an Akai MPD-16 controller plugged in to it and formed an unfounded suspicion that the sheer size was simply a ploy by Akai to appeal to some demographic that might use the MPC5000 as the core, if not entirety, of their studio. Would Akai deliberately oversize their hardware to appeal to bling-savvy producers?

It’s got a new screen. Getting past the size, the next comment is usually on the screen. Long-time MPC users with older models are delighted with the display being adjustable in both position and contrast. As one might imagine, navigation and editing benefits immediately, and the old Shift+Number menu system is replaced with context-sensitive Mode and Window buttons. By this point things are getting off to a great start. All the basics work as they should, and getting around the unit is old hat to anyone who has touched an MPC.

It’s a synth – but will it replace other synths? Then we find ourselves exploring the onboard synthesizer emulation that Akai claim “eliminates need for external analog synth modules or buggy software based synthesizers.” We will touch on the concept of buggy software in a minute, but I think we can safely ground the private fantasy jet that Akai seem to be flying around in with the notion that their VA emulation is somehow a replacement for external analog synth modules. As you would expect, the preset patches have a liberal use of the word “Moog” and sound nothing like one. Even worse, it soon becomes clear that you need to load a patch into memory to even preview it. As Just Blaze says on his MPC5000 rant, this is 2008. Having to spend studio time loading a synth patch just to preview to it is ridiculous, and was something that Yamaha seemed to avoid with their RM1X back in the mid to late 1990’s.

As to the marketing claims of “avoiding buggy software”, this is, of course, a point of instant ridicule for anyone who has owned first-generation Akai hardware. If there is any company deserving of an award for consistently disappointing software programming it would be Akai. Optimists like to say that 1.0 OS implementations are likely to have a few issues that soon get fixed, but that kind of logic in the automotive industry would cost lives. In the same sense, broken functionality or crashing operating systems can limit creative output. For a device that costs as staggering an amount as the MPC5000 (MSRP US$3500), it is inexcusable to release such a flagship product without appropriate testing and debugging. It’s not like the world was clamouring for a massive, heavy, expensive hardware sequencer with onboard virtual analog synth emulation. Again I will point to hip-hop producer Just Blaze and his rant at Akai for the state they released the MPC5000. [Ed.: This is not an official CDM comment or my comment on Akai's reliability, because, frankly, I haven't used one. So if anyone wants to add to the rants here or question them -- and perhaps comment on how firmware updates have settled -- I'm all ears; please do so in comments! -PK]

In Australia right now, for the same price as the MPC5000, one is able to purchase a rig such as an Asus laptop, Motu Ultralite audio interface (site | on CDM), Ableton 7 and an MPD drum pad MIDI controller interface. Then again, you couldn’t simply turn it on and start making music out of the box. Despite the need for hardware that simply works, Akai simply cannot afford to rely on Roger Linn’s (on CDM) clever idea from the 1980’s any longer without actually following through on their product promises. Akai commentary aside, this isn’t an outright attack on the MPC5000. Not by any means. The parent company may attract comments on internet forums like “they be smoking crack mangz”, but their products do have a place in the market. This is where anyone left reading can take a deep breath and bask in some hints of genius.

MPC5000’s Brilliant Bits

The MPC5000 does indeed have enough promise to warrant its place on the shelves of your favourite music store or in the database of your choice of online retailer. For a start, the filters and Q-link faders are stunning. Noticing the in-built pre-amp (that Akai have finally copied from their competitors) included in the MPC, I hooked my trusty Vestax turntable and randomly grabbed a record – in this case, one of those James Last records you can’t but trip over in Australian record stores. With it spinning, I pushed record, grabbed a good 20 seconds, mapped the sample to a pad and the pad to a program. Going into sample edit mode, I enjoyed the large screen and multiple faders for adjusting start and end points without the 2000XL style scrolling or shift fader. On a whim, I bumped the resonance on the filter. It took about 5 seconds for me to fall in love with the potential of these filters. Sweeping low, I turned Tijuana trumpets into a resonant sub bass that swept up with my fader movements into the kind of pitched build-up that is still all over progressive house. Sample transformed.

Grabbing other samples from sources less dubious, I began to simply enjoy the hands-on creativity that sampling so effectively enables. Whether you’re a fan of the Sonalksis TBK filter or run your samples through an old Korg MS-20, there is something to be said for the creative aesthetic that comes with a simple sampler, some records and some decent filters. Do I see some heads nodding in agreement over in the French House corner?

Conclusion: Dusty Fingers

So, after a lengthy rant, I managed to say some nice things about the filters and the aesthetic of the MPC. Unfortunately, all specifications and feature sheets aside, the legacy of the MPC series is and always will be the elusive concept of feel, aesthetic, and groove. Once upon a time, this might have been currency to spend on lengthy, impassioned essays to enraptured audiences. These days, the proponents of the tradition of MPC groove tend to get short thrift amongst their contemporaries, who program the same boom bap beats in Fruity Loops, on Roland Grooveboxes and — lest we forget — Madlib’s infamous Roland SP303. There’s a certain element of buying an MPC that’s just down to being down with the MPC format. Plenty of internet forum arguments are waged over hardware versus software, Akai versus Roland, this versus that, purple versus magenta.

Ignoring the actual conflict, it’s obvious that there is something passionate about the range. For me, the MPC5000 reignited a passion that had fallen behind with the 2000XL’s user experience, compared to my workflow in Ableton and Battery. Despite relying on the old grey box for live shows, I had forgotten the unique outcomes of dusty fingers, hands on vinyl, samples on sampler. And it managed to do that in spite of its size, cost, weight and bugs. Once Akai iron out the last of the issues, there is no doubt that this will be a success amongst those producers who are set on hardware sequencing in the box with all the trimmings. For me, the MPC range has been an extension of DAW workflow more than an alternative. In that light, I am content in the MPC2500 bringing crate digging and sampling enjoyment back into my studio and replacing my trusty 2000XL in the flight case at gigs. If the idea of the MPC5000 appeals to you, then I would urge you to test it out for yourself. If you already have then let us know how you found it in the comments below!

Dave Dri is an MPC-wielding Samplist and Producer from Brisbane, Australia. He has been involved with a variety electronic acts running the gamut from Breaks to Jungle. His current project is Segue.

Todd Bailey’s “Where’s the Party At?” wants to return to a simpler, glitchier era of sampling. When CDM spoke to Hank Shocklee, Public Enemy’s legendary producer, he talked about how those artists really preferred earlier samplers because of, not in spite of, their flaws. And because lo-fi is a little easier to pull off, this makes a great project.

WTPA is an open source 8-bit digital sampler kit, designed to be hacker and bender friendly. Inspired by the preponderance of wack samplers proliferating in music today, WTPA brings back the fun, the danger, and the aliasing errors.

Todd tells CDM more:

There’s a video of me fiddling with a Bach piece with WTPA on the website:
www.narrat1ve.com (direct link)

It’s an older version of the firmware that doesn’t support MIDI yet — lately I tend to control it a lot from my MPK49 rather than messing with the tact switches and small pots on the kit’s PCB.

My plans are to go into production on the kit pretty soon. Short story:

I built a prototype run for Bent 2008 [circuit bending festival] and a few people built them and gave me feedback. I also played out with it a lot and found some things I’d like to change. Right now I’ve finished designing the next hardware revision and am laying out the PCB. Once I get it back I’ll have firmware to rewrite, and I’ll probably send it to some people to build and use and get feedback, and then the real thing will come out.

So far the only practical release is in kit form, but I’d sort of like to sell a finished version, too, because I really think this sampler will kick the ass of many other SRAM (loop) based samplers out there (I’m talking to you, Line 6) and I think a lot of people who are musically savvy but not technically savvy would be interested in using it. And not just guitar players.

Todd also says he’s into others hacking away / modifying his design, so enjoy! I hope to catch up with Todd soon in either Chicago or New York and get a closer look.

This project was also part of Make Magazine’s recent American Maker event in Chicago, which featured various other excellent musical (and non-musical) projects. Hmmm… New York, anyone?