M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96
Its name makes it sound like an electric shaver, and it looks a bit like one too. But the MicroTrack 24/96 ($499.95) is a pocket-size stereo digital recorder from M-Audio (www.m-audio.com). It records 16- or 24-bit PCM audio at rates as high as 96 kHz, as well as 96 to 320 Kbps MP3s at rates as high as 48 kHz. Its storage medium is a CompactFlash card or a microdrive (a 64 MB card is included).
Although the MicroTrack 24/96 is smaller and lighter than an Apple iPod, it has loads of gozintas and gozoutas: balanced ¼-inch TRS inputs with a mic/line switch, mic preamps with phantom power, a ⅛-inch TRS input for the included stereo electret mic, coaxial S/PDIF, RCA line outputs, a ⅛-inch stereo headphone jack, and USB 2.0 for drag-and-drop audio transfer. Connecting it to your computer even recharges the lithium-ion battery, which lasts as long as eight hours.
Body Glove Instrument Cases
Applying years of experience manufacturing wetsuits, snorkeling gear, and sunglasses, Body Glove is now making hybrid soft/hard shell cases for guitar, keyboards, and cymbals. Distributed by eBlitz Audio Labs (www.eblitzaudiolabs.com), Body Glove's cases combine the light weight of soft cases with the durability and protection of hard cases. All feature high-density nylon exteriors, moisture-wicking interiors, ABS plastic reinforcement panels, and high-grade industrial zippers.
Guitar cases ($129) come is eight sizes, each with shoulder and back straps, multiple pockets and pouches, and a four-point backpack harness with lumbar and waist support. Keyboard cases (priced from $179 to $249) come in five sizes: for 61-note instruments and controllers, for 76-note instruments, and for 88-note instruments and controllers. Each is double-stitched with inline skate wheels, a unique keyboard-stand carrying harness, and storage pockets for footpedals and switches, cables, and accessories. Cymbal cases ($89 to $129) have storage for eight cymbals and sleeves for sticks, drum keys, and accessories. All Body Glove cases come with a limited lifetime warranty.
Yamaha S90 ES
Yamaha (www.yamahasynth.com) recently introduced the S90 ES ($2,599), an 88-note, weighted-action keyboard workstation. It combines new features with those of the original S90 and the Motif ES series, including the entire ES wave ROM. The 48-pound instrument has 640 presets, 256 user locations, 65 drum kits, and 128-note polyphony. With more than twice the wave memory of the S90, the S90 ES offers a 53 MB sampled grand piano and a full range of PCM synthesis capabilities. Adding the optional FC3 footpedal gives you half-dampening control of the piano sounds, and an insertion effect simulates soundboard resonance.
A pair of USB ports provides computer and external storage connectivity. Although the S90 ES has no internal MIDI recorder, it will play MIDI files stored on a USB drive. Three PLG slots let you add optional plug-in expansion cards, and an optional mLAN card turns the S90 ES into a 16-in/8-out audio interface for your computer. You can also download editing software that runs standalone or inside a Studio Connections-compatible host.
Waves GTR
The latest contender in the guitar-amp emulation wars comes from a nearly two-year collaboration between plug-in pioneer Waves (www.waves.com) and master guitar maker Paul Reed Smith (PRS). Waves GTR (Mac/Win, $600 native, $1,200 TDM), which stands for Guitar Tool Rack, is a software and hardware hybrid. GTR's software components consist of Amp, which models seven amps, six mics, and various speaker cabinets; Stomp, which simulates an arsenal of 23 stompboxes using a MIDI-controllable virtual pedalboard; and Tuner, which you can set to standard or alternate tunings.
Designed by PRS, the Waves/PRS Guitar Interface is a high-impedance direct box with level-matching circuitry. By addressing the impedance mismatch that most audio interfaces ignore, GTR can respond to your playing much as a real guitar amp does. The hardware interface has balanced and unbalanced mic and line outputs, but no A/D converter. A free video DVD about GTR is available from Waves.
FXpansion Guru
What do you get when you cross a polyrhythmic drum machine, a beat slicer, an analog-style sequencer, and a multitimbral sampler? Guru (Mac/Win, $249), from FXpansion (www.fxpansion.com), is a fresh new software beatbox workstation developed in cooperation with Devine Machine. Guru can simultaneously play as many as eight independent Engines, each with 16 pads to trigger audio events; a 128-event sequencer; 24 MIDI-triggered patterns; three aux effects; and a master effects processor. You can enter notes and other data using step-sequencing techniques or by recording in real time. Guru's SmartSlice feature automatically slices and maps sampled drum loops by detecting their beat transients and pitch ranges. You can even extract the groove from one audio or MIDI file and apply it to another.
Guru's Pad Editor gives you control over playback parameters for each sample, including tuning, panning, start and end points, 8-layer Velocity crossfades, choke groups, amplitude and effects envelopes, and resonant multimode filtering. In addition to hundreds of MIDI patterns, Guru comes with more than 350 drum kits, 1,300 audio loops, and 5,000 one-shot samples — more than 2 GB of third-party content in all. You can find audio demos and instructive video clips on FXpansion's Web site.
Korg D3200
The cost-per-track ratio of hard-disk recording keeps falling. The newest member of the D-Series family of portable digital studios from Korg (www.korg.com) is the D3200 ($1,799), which supports 32-track playback and 16- or 24-bit recording at 44.1 or 48 kHz. Twelve balanced ¼-inch inputs — eight paired with XLRs that supply 48V phantom power — let you record as many as 12 tracks simultaneously. Virtual tracks give the D3200 a maximum track count of 272 per song, all with full editing capabilities such as copy, normalize, reverse, and fade, as well as time stretching, noise reduction, and 16 levels of undo and redo.
ClickPoint, an exclusive 3-axis fingertip navigation tool, and a matrix of multipurpose control knobs provide quick and intuitive operation, according to Korg. In addition to 32 recorder channels, the D3200's mixer section gives you 12 submix channels for a total of 44 input channels. You can recall 32 songs and store fader, EQ, pan, and effects settings as one of 100 scenes per song. The D3200 has an internal 40 GB hard disk, a CD-RW drive, USB 2.0 connectivity, support for MTC and MMC, and 11 onboard effects. It also introduces Session Drums, a real-time method of creating rhythm tracks without programming.
Sony Hi-MD Recorders
At summer NAMM, (www.sony.com) Sony unveiled a new digital storage format called Hi-MD, which can record as much as 94 minutes of uncompressed 16-bit, 44.1 kHz PCM audio on a single 1 GB high-density MiniDisc. Using ATRAC3plus compression, its maximum storage capacity is about 34 hours, and so is the maximum battery life. The Hi-MD format also plays back conventional ATRAC and MP3 files.
Two models are available: the MZ-M10 ($329) has a 5-line LCD display, and the MZ-M100 ($439) has a larger 6-line electroluminescent display. Both models include earbuds, a long-life rechargeable battery, and an ECM-DS70P stereo electret condenser mic. A USB 1.1 connection lets you transfer recordings to and from your computer, where you can edit them and store them as WAV files. For exchanging audio files, SonicStage (Win) and Hi-MD.WAV Importer (Mac) are included. You can also use the recorders to store your computer's data files.
Yellow Tools Candy
After years of development, Yellow Tools (www.yellowtools.com) has released Candy (Mac/Win, $399), distributed by EastWest. Candy is a virtual sax performance instrument built around a well-organized 9 GB sample library. Harnessing the same MVI sound engine as Yellow Tools Culture and Majestic, Candy is designed for CPU efficiency and flexible operation.
Candy lets you play as many as 8 simultaneous layers routed to 16 audio outputs, with easy switching between different instruments and hands-on control of each keygroup's attack time. Choose from soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, or bass sax with an assortment of mouthpieces and reeds. You can connect playing styles and techniques to suit the music in your production. Candy runs standalone or as a plug-in for VST, RTAS, DirectX, or Audio Units hosts.
MOTU Symphonic Instrument
The newest virtual instrument plug-in from MOTU (www.motu.com) is the cleverly named Symphonic Instrument (Mac/Win, $295), which features an 8 GB orchestral sample library that's compatible with MachFive. Based on Ultimate Sound Bank's cross-platform UVI Engine, the plug-in supports MAS, VST, RTAS, HTDM, Audio Units, and DirectX formats. Symphonic Instrument has 500 instrument presets, 200 ensembles, and 26 sampled spaces for the onboard convolution reverb. To conserve computer resources, conventional reverb is also available.
You can load as many as 16 individual instruments and save them as a group to create your own multitimbral ensembles. An expert mode lets you load and layer sounds on the fly using key switches, note ranges, or Velocity ranges. For real-time control, you can map most parameters to external MIDI controllers, and scroll-wheel support lets you quickly adjust parameters or select timbres. If you'd like to know more, you can hear audio examples on MOTU's Web site.
Ueberschall Liquid Instruments Saxophone
One instrument that's always been tough to simulate is the saxophone. Finally, two new virtual instruments rise to the challenge of producing realistic sax performances with your computer. One of them is Yellow Tools Candy, and the other is Liquid Instruments Saxophone (Mac/Win $199.95), created by Ueberschall and distributed by EastWest (www.soundsonline.com). Using audio-manipulation technology developed for Celemony Melodyne, Liquid Instruments Saxophone (LIS) gives you new techniques for controlling sax phrasing and timbre. Now you can quickly edit pitches, formants, tempo, and other aspects of sampled sax parts.
Because it's based on Melodyne, LIS lets you control audio data as if it were MIDI. You can transpose notes within a phrase, edit tempo and key signature, and select from a range of musical scales, all in real time. The audio material in LIS was performed by David Milzow, playing a variety of saxophones with vintage mouthpieces and encompassing styles ranging from pop and funk to bebop and R&B.
REV UP
CAKEWALK SONAR HOME STUDIO 4
Cakewalk (www.cakewalk.com) has announced a major upgrade to both editions of its entry-level sequencer Home Studio and made them part of the Sonar family. Now dubbed Sonar Home Studio 4 (Win, $149) and Sonar Home Studio 4 XL ($229), the new versions offer improvements you might expect only in pro-level sequencers, such as 24-bit, 192 kHz support; as many as 64 audio tracks and unlimited MIDI tracks; and as many as 16 simultaneous mix buses.
New Track Presets let you set up and recall an assortment of templates that store mix, routing, and effects settings. Integrated music notation tools let you transcribe and print musical scores. The Master Control Toolbar gives you quick access to all the most-used views and functions. For burning CDs of your recordings, Pyro Express is bundled with Sonar Home Studio 4 and Sonar Home Studio 4 XL. You also get ReWire 2.0 support, hundreds of Acid and MIDI loops, and the same loop-editing functions found in Sonar 4.
In addition to all those features, the XL version has Reverb XL, two PowerFX content CDs, and three new virtual instruments: the analog-modeling Square I, the SoundFont player PowerFX Dyad, and the sophisticated REX player RXP. Both editions of Sonar Home Studio are available in English, French, German, or Spanish editions. Upgrades from previous versions are $59.
FINALE 2006
MakeMusic (www.finalemusic.com) is shipping Finale 2006 (Mac/Win, $600, upgrades $99 to 149), a major revision of its flagship music notation program. Among its many improvements, Finale 2006 features Native Instruments Kontakt Player paired with Garritan Personal Orchestra Finale Edition, which furnishes more than 100 instrumental sounds. A new feature called Studio View integrates sequencing tools into each musical staff, making it possible for users to control recording, panning, volume, and other parameters in real time, and for educators to teach composition and arranging using standard music notation.
TempoTap allows you to control and automatically record nuances such as accelerandi, ritardandi, and rubati while listening to a transcription. New tools such as Engraver Copy and Paste simplify editing, and copy-and-paste settings are saved automatically. Additional enhancements in Finale 2006 include mid-measure playback and repeats, chord analysis, Music XML import and export, and support for Native Instruments plug-ins.
Get Smart
Although it isn't a video DVD, most of Absynth 3 Tutorial DVD (Mac/Win, $59), from Native Instruments (www.native-instruments.com), consists of video clips that explore in depth the unique semimodular soft synth. By taking you on a step-by-step journey — beginning with an overview of patches and controllers, continuing through sampling and effects, and working up to more advanced topics such as multiple LFOs and MIDI note scaling — host Brian Smith reveals the inner workings of Absynth in enough detail to give you a solid working knowledge. Along the way, you'll have opportunities to interactively explore the concepts he presents. The lessons wrap up with lectures presented by Absynth's creator, Brian Clevinger. Also on the disc are banks of sounds by Clevinger and others, and a collection of tutorial presets.
It's reasonable to assume that studios built around Digidesign Pro Tools are the most likely to embrace surround production. A new book from Backbeat Books (www.backbeatbooks.com) is a practical resource for learning the tricks of that trade. Pro Tools Surround Sound Mixing ($34.95), by Rich Tozzoli, takes you on a guided tour that covers preproduction, setup, recording, monitoring, mixing, and delivery, with an emphasis on understanding concepts and solving problems specific to surround production. One chapter looks at software plug-ins and another explains various surround formats. An included DVD supplies 13 audio examples in Dolby Digital AC-3 format.
Sound Advice
Sonic Implants (www.sonicimplants.com) has brought together four massive sample libraries in Complete Symphonic Collection ($2,995). Encompassing Symphonic Strings Collection, Brass Collection, Woodwinds Collection, and Percussion Collection, this 80 GB compilation ships on 20 DVDs exclusively for Tascam GigaStudio 3.1 (GS3). The collection takes advantage of GS3's legato mode, Dynamic Expression filter, and Portamento Reshaping filter (which Sonic Implants helped develop) to enhance the realism of your performances. The culmination of years of work by hundreds of people, it features recordings of orchestral instruments played by members of the Boston Pops and Ballet orchestras, as well as an assortment of impulse responses for GigaPulse.
Using Native Instruments Intakt Instrument as a front end, Zero-G's Beats Working in Cuba (Mac/Win, $399, www.soundsonline.com) features performances by some of Cuba's finest percussionists in a variety of Latin musical styles. More than 8 GB of 24-bit samples supply 12 Afro/Hispanic rhythms that include not only the usual Mambo, Cha Cha, and Bolero, but also Danzon, Guajira Son, Conga Habanera, and other less familiar styles. Recorded entirely in Havana, hundreds of multitrack grooves and individual beats are yours to command, with variations that let you select modern or traditional arrangements. Beats Working in Cuba runs standalone or as a VST, RTAS, Audio Units, or DirectX plug-in.
World-class synthesist Ian Boddy, creator of the acclaimed virtual sound module Morphology, has done it again with Analogue Sequencer Loops (Mac/Win, $219), from Zero-G (www.soundsonline). Employing all three sampler modes in Intakt Instrument, ASL contains more than 1.5 GB of 24-bit samples recorded from an arsenal of vintage analog synthesizers and sequencers such as the Moog IIIC, Roland System 100M, and Doepfer A-100. Among the sound categories are pitched and sliced Melodic Sequences, Hi-hat & Noise Loops, and Sine & Pure Sequences, all at tempos from 90 to 150 bpm.
Forging ahead in the quest for authentic electric guitar samples, Bela D Media (www.beladmedia.com) is shipping Lyrical Distortion ($149) for Kontakt and GigaStudio 3. This 3.6 GB DVD features a 1994 Paul Reed Smith Custom 22 played through a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier amp. Picked, hammer-on, and palm-muted techniques were used to play single notes and power chords. For greater realism, you can layer samples of release triggers with sustained single notes. During playback, random cycling helps to avoid telltale repetition by alternating between four different samples for every note. All samples were recorded with no vibrato.
Two new sample libraries from Big Fish Audio (www.bigfishaudio) cover a lot of ground in the jazz idiom. Jazz Quartet ($99) concentrates on a traditional jazz ensemble, with dozens of loops and phrases played on acoustic piano, electric guitar, upright bass, and drums. Individual tracks are presented in construction-kit format, supplying audio material you can assemble into complete songs, at tempos ranging from 52 to 148 bpm.
Big Fish Audio's Nu Jazz City ($69) comprises 25 construction kits that feature modern styles such as acid jazz, Latin jazz, and '70s-style fusion. A remarkable variety of grooves are played on Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, electric guitar, alto sax, trumpet, and many other instruments in assorted keys and tempos. Featured musicians have recorded with such big names as Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, and the Gil Evans Orchestra. Both libraries are formatted as Apple Loops, REX, and WAV files.