ELECTRO-HARMONIXElectro-Harmonix has released the Q-Tron+ Envelope Follower ($278), an upgraded version of the company's Q-Tron. Designed by Mike Biegel, inventor of the classic Mutron III envelope filter, the Q- Tron+uses an optical filter and has a knob that lets you choose between highpass, lowpass, or midrange- bandpass filters and Mix mode, which combines the bandpass-filtered and unprocessed sounds. A Drive switch selects the direction of the filter sweep.
You can use the unit's Range knob in its low position to emphasize vowel-like sounds, or in high position to bring out harmonic and other overtones. The Boost switch and gain knob work in tandem: the gain knob functions as both a volume control and a filter-sensitivity control in Boost mode, whereas in Normal mode it acts only as a filter control. The Peak Control knob determines the frequency peak of the selected filter.
New on the Q-Tron+ is an effects loop that lets you place a sound between the unit's envelope-detection circuitry and filter sections without changing the envelope drive. Using the effects loop, you can process a sound using the filter section without changing that sound's natural envelope. The Q-Tron+'s Attack Response control allows you to select between a slow attack and the faster attack of the original Q-Tron.
The rear panel features a single input and output, an effects send, and an effects return, each on an unbalanced 11/44-inch connector. The unit has an external power supply and is hand assembled in the United States. Electro-Harmonix; tel. (212) 529-0466; fax (212) 529-0486; e-mail info@ehx.com; Web www.ehx .com.
Circle #410 on Reader Service Card
DIGITECHDigiTech's new RP-21 ($849.95) is a combined tube preamp and multi-effects processor in a floor unit, suited for guitars or other instruments in live or studio applications. The unit has unbalanced 11/44-inch analog outputs; stereo, S/PDIF digital outputs on RCA connectors; and MIDI In, Out, and Thru ports. The instrument input is on a balanced 11/44-inch TRS jack.
The top of the box presents ten foot-controlled buttons for selecting effects; five of these are preset, and the other five are assignable. Two other buttons control Bank Up/Down, trigger the Bypass function, and access the built-in tuner. Above these are an LCD screen and controls for selecting and editing programs. On the right side is an expression pedal, which can control volume or other parameters.
The RP-21's 100 factory presets include tube-preamp tones and a multitude of digital effects; there are also 100 user locations for custom patches. Besides the basics-chorus, delay, flange, reverb, tremolo, wah, and so on-it comes with goodies such as reverse delay, mono and stereo samplers, and detuning. For example, a special reverse delay called Time Warp slows the delayed pattern to a complete stop and then starts it up again in reverse. The RP-21's distortion comes in solid-state and tube flavors, and these can be run in parallel and even split between the left/right channels.
DigiTech rates the RP-21's signal-to-noise ratio at >98 dB (A weighted) and total harmonic distortion at less than 0.03% (1 kHz). DigiTech; tel. (801) 566-8800; fax (801) 566-7005; e-mail customer@digitech.com; Web www.digitech.com.
Circle #411 on Reader Service Card
TECH 21Bass Compactor ($125), a new pedal for bass players, is out from Tech 21, makers of the SansAmp. This stompbox offers compression and active tone controls that can be used independently or in combination. According to the manufacturer, by applying the Bass Compactor's EQ section, you can make your passive bass sound active. You can also skip the EQ and just apply a little compression to rein in harsh peaks (handy for those of you who slap). Or, of course, you can use both.
The compression knob gives you a range of compression ratios from 1:1 to 15:1. The EQ section has high and low bands with (plus/minus)12 dB cut/boost. Equalization can be either pre- or post-compression. A fourth control knob is for output level, providing up to 6 dB of clean boost.
The Bass Compactor runs on a 9-volt battery or an external DC power supply, which is available separately. Tech 21; tel. (212) 315-1116; fax (212) 315-0825; e-mail info@tech21nyc.com; Web www.tech21nyc.com.
Circle #412 on Reader Service Card
NOTEHEADS IGORSwedish company Noteheads boasts that its Igor notation program (Mac/Win; $545) has a drag-and-drop user interface that's easy enough for the complete novice to use, yet sophisticated enough to suit professional publishers, arrangers, and composers. As you input scores from a MIDI keyboard, or import them as Standard MIDI Files, the program analyzes each part and assigns appropriate dynamic and articulation markings.
Igor reproduces all markings during playback, with articulation styles specific to each instrument. It can automatically switch MIDI patches depending on articulation and can even crossfade between them. As you input parts, Igor will default to the proper clefs for the 260 instruments in its database, and it knows the range of each instrument. With sensitivity to the type of instrument, it can find appropriate points for page turns. Igor supports beams and tuplets across bar lines.
Page layout in Igor can be completely customized, including stem width, notehead size, thickness of bar lines, symbol definition, and more. The program will automatically avoid collisions in placing elements, and it will push staves apart as needed to accommodate markings or ledger lines. Igor can sort instruments in the correct order and spell their names horizontally or vertically.
An unusual feature of Igor is its support for notational devices used in early music; its instrument library includes many early instruments, such as rebec, hurdy-gurdy, and lute. For modern music, it can handle microtones and keyless music and offers four methods of notating accidentals.
You can link separate files that are part of a single work. There is unlimited undo and redo, even after saving, with separate undo histories for each open score. Igor can read and write NIFF format files.
To run Igor on a Mac, you need a PowerPC 601 with Mac OS 8.0 and 20 MB of RAM. For PC, you need a Pentium processor with Windows 95/98/NT and 20 MB of RAM. Noteheads Musical Expert Systems; e- mail info@noteheads.com; Web www.noteheads.com.
Circle #416 on Reader Service Card
JOMOX AIRBASE 99Jomox has released the Airbase 99 ($995), a 1U drum module that uses some of the sounds and technology behind the company's XBase 09 drum machine, along with several new instruments and features. Ten instruments are on the module: bass, snare, high and low tom, open and closed hi-hat, handclap, rim shot, crash, and ride cymbal.
Bass and snare sounds and parameters on the Airbase 99 are identical to those of the Jomox XBase 09. These sounds, along with the tom-toms, are analog; all others are ROM samples that are routed through a VCA modulated by an envelope generator with controls for attack, peak time, and decay. The hi-hat can be routed to a 2-pole resonant filter. All the instruments can be tuned, and the ROM samples can be played either forward or in reverse. There are two assignable LFOs that can be synched to MIDI.
On the front panel are a volume knob, value increment/decrement knob, 2-line LCD, MIDI indicator lights, and trigger button. Jomox supplies Airbase 99 editing environments for several digital audio sequencers. The module has 500 factory preset sounds in ROM, and there are 1,024 user programs.
On the rear panel are a discrete output on an unbalanced 11/44-inch connector for each of the ten instruments; a pair of unbalanced 11/44-inch jacks for a master stereo mix output; MIDI In, Out, and Thru connectors; and a 11/44-inch TRS headphone jack. SoundBox (distributor); tel. (323) 769-5510; fax (626) 822-0110; e-mail soundboxla@aol.com; Web home.earthlink.net/~johnnyvn.
Circle #417 on Reader Service Card
DAL CARDDELUXEDigital Audio Labs is offering a new audio card for PCs that supplies analog and digital I/O. The CardDeluxe ($595) PCI card records and plays back at 8- to 24-bit resolution with sample rates from 8 to 96 kHz. DirectX drivers are available for Windows 95, 98, and NT; ASIO drivers should also be ready by the time you read this, and Mac support is planned.
The CardDeluxe provides two channels of analog I/O on balanced 11/44-inch TRS jacks and stereo S/PDIF digital I/O on RCA connectors. (An optional AES/EBU and S/PDIF optical interface is forthcoming.) You can run all four channels simultaneously, and you can link multiple CardDeluxes and slave them all to the same sample clock. DAL's WavSync feature ensures that all tracks will start recording or playback at the same time, even when you use multiple cards.
The CardDeluxe can operate at either +4 dBu or -10 dBV signal level. Frequency response is rated at 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Digital Audio Labs; tel. (612) 559-9098; fax (612) 559-0124; e-mail dalinfo@digitalaudio.com; Web www.digitalaudio.com.
Circle #418 on Reader Service Card