Review: Sounds of Revolution's Minimal Techno Revolution Vol. 3

Product: Minimal Techno Revolution Vol. 3
Developer: Sounds of Revolution
Format:  Logic EXS-24, Native Instruments Kontakt, REX
Price: €47.99 for everything (smaller packs available individually for less, pricing info on product page)
Demo: Audio demos on product page.

With their latest release, "Minimal Techno Revolution Vol. 3", Sounds of Revolution once again delves into the atmospheric, technical vibe of Minimal Techno.  Consisting of 1,400 24-bit WAV samples, MTR-3 is aimed at giving you everything you need to get started making your own minimal techno club hits.  You'll find basslines (synth and real), SFX, drums, lush stabs, dubby synth chords, spoken and sung vocal parts, slamming full and top-only loops... really everything you might want.

As always, the programming and sound design is extremely creative and interesting, making it stand out from other similarly-themed sample libraries.  Sounds of Revolution have always made products with good production quality, but it feels like they upped things a notch this time around.  The loops especially draw a better balance between loud/punchy and dynamic than before and sound professional and present without being smashed within an inch of their lives.

If you're familiar with Sounds of Revolution's prior work, you know what to expect: great, professionally produced sounds and loops and lots of creativity.  Happily, this library continues that trend, even dialing things up a notch when it comes to production quality.  If you're looking to make some Minimal Techno and need some inspiration, this would be a great place to start!  [10/10]

Review: Impact Soundworks "Juggernaut"

Product: "Juggernaut"Cinematic Electronic Scoring Tools Sample Library
Developer: Impact Soundworks
Format:  Native Instruments Kontakt 5 and Kontakt 5 Player
Price: $179
Demo:  Audio demos on product page.

WHAT IS IT?
"Juggernaut" is a Kontakt-based instrument aimed at providing fresh new bass, drum, and FX sounds for composers of electronic scores for games, trailers, commercials, television, and movies.  It is divided into two custom Kontakt instruments, "Bass Juggernaut" and "Drums and FX Juggernaut", the purpose of if each being fairly obvious from their names.

BASS JUGGERNAUT

Bass Juggernaut consists of about 50 bass patches divided into selectable categories for Solid, Mover, Disto, Fuzz, and One Shot.  Patches are selected by a custom preset window, which also includes octave controls to knock the sound up or down by octave in pitch.  A master volume dial sits to the right of this.  Below and to the right is a simple ADSR envelope to control the Amplitude, Coarse and Fine tuning controls, selectable pitch bend amount, Mono/Poly mode, a global limiter effect on/off switch, and a control to delegate whether the modwheel triggers a vibrato effect or opens the filter cutoff.

To the right of that are two panels.  The first of these is a very simple gate sequencer that allows you to create rhythmic patterns of varying velocities.  There is no way to re-assign the sequencer to modulate any other parameters, but it is still quite useful for creating dynamic rhythmic patterns.  A handful of knobs allow you to select the number of steps, the sync note value, and other timing-oriented parameters, and a drop down menu includes a handful of very good preset patterns and the ability to save you own brand new patterns.

Below that is a multi-effects section that consists of filter, reverb, delay, bitcrush, EQ, chorus, amplifier, and phaser effects, all with individual on and off options and a handful of adjustable parameters per effect.   As with the sequencer, you can save presets for your effects combinations.

Sonically, the source sounds tend to fall into the categories of sub basses, distorted or overdriven synth basses, FM basses, and Massive-like wavetable timbres.  Everything is well-recorded, looped, and mapped, but I have to be honest that most of the sounds left me a bit underwhelmed.  There is nothing especially heinous here, but I found most of them to have a rather static, digital feel to them.  For instance, there are some nice Massive-like wavetable basses, but after the initial attack, they settle into a smooth, but boring sustain.  Part of what makes Massive so appealing is how much you can make the sound evolve just through modulation alone.  Sadly, there just aren't many modulation options available here, so you're kind of stuck with what you've got.

There is potential here for sure.  Adding a second layer/oscillator and allowing the user to select waveforms and tunings for each would expand the potential number of sounds a lot.  Expanding what can be modulated with the sequencer beyond just gates would be great, too, although you can get some very cool-sounding stuff out of the gate sequencer alone.  More, and more-interesting source material would be great, too.  I'd just love to hear some more "alive" sounding sounds.  These definitely sound like sampled sounds to me.  There is just a certain sterility here that reminds me a bit of early ROMplers.

JUGGERNAUT DRUMS & FX

Fortunately, the Juggernaut Drums & FX instrument fares much better.  The center of the interface consists of four sections of 8 virtual mixers channels each.  A different drum or FX sound can be loaded into each slot with individual tuning, levels, and pan position, allowing you build complete kits. And, unlike with Juggernaut Bass, there is actually the option to save your patches.

To the right of the virtual mixer are some controls for auditioning sounds.  A switch allows you to switch between the drums and FX samples, while category buttons allow you to audition specific types of sounds all at once.

Below that is an effects section similar to that of Juggernaut Bass, but with a few additional options. In this case, your effects are saved with any patches you save versus being loaded and save on a separate menu.  Also found here is a simple ADSR amplitude envelope and a "1-Click Hype" button that instantly adds transient, saturation, and exciter effects to whatever the loaded kit is.

The quality of the sounds on offer here are tons more interesting than the bass section, in my opinion.  Although there is no round-robin or multi-velocity samples here, the sounds themselves are far more compelling and also far more deserving of the "cinematic" description.  Make no mistake, these are no subtle drum sounds, these are all aggressively processed and in your face.

The Effects section is just as excellent as the Drums section with a huge selection of drops, sweeps, uplifters, impacts, and more, all of which have a great sense of oomph.

THE VERDICT
Juggernaut is a bit of a mixed bag.  On one hand, the bass instrument kind of left me cold.  Your mileage may definitely vary here, but there is nothing here I would reach for before firing up a softsynth or a hardware synth.  This wouldn't be as much of an issue if there were more options to layer and sculpt your sounds, but, with the exception of tweaking the effects, Bass Juggernaut is more or less a preset machine.  I think there is great potential here for a hypothetical Juggernaut 2, if Impact Soundworks expands that flexibility a bit.

The Drums & FX section, on the other hand,  is fantastic.  Again, these are heavily-processed, loud, in your face sounds.  If you want something subtle, you'll probably want to look elsewhere, but if you want some aggressive drum, percussion, and FX sounds, this has those in abundance.

Pricewise, I think Juggernaut is a bit over-priced for what it offers.  There is some good stuff here, but probably not $179 worth.  I'd find it much easier to recommend at the $99 price point. (Or perhaps offer the Bass and Drums & FX instruments separately at a lower price?)

Impact Soundworks has made some fantastic sample libraries, and I feel like they will continue to improve if they stick with it.  "Juggernaut" feels like an instrument in transition to me as it presently stands.  A Juggernaut 2 with more dynamic samples and increased sound-tweaking capabilities could be a monster indeed.  As it stands, this is a great place to look if you need some hard and gritty drum samples.  [7/10]

Review: Sample Magic Chillwave Guitars

Product: Chillwave Guitars
Developer: Sample Magic
Format: Digital download in WAV, Apple Loops, or Rex2 format.
Price: £14.95
Demo:  Audio demo on the Product Page

Today I'll be having a listen to the "Chillwave Guitars" library from Sample Magic.  This is a collection of 284 guitar loops divided into both processed and unprocessed versions, should you care to apply your own effects chain.  A variety of vintage acoustic and electric guitars were used in the recording sessions, and in the case of the effected loops, processed heavily with reverbs, chorus, delay, and the like.

Musically, the riffs are fairly minimal and "open" sounding.  These are less the sort of riff that is going to be the main hook in your song and more the sort of thing that adds a special extra something to inspire and build the rest of your arrangement around - arpeggios, melody fragments, textures.  While simple, the parts are played extremely well and sound thoroughly professional.

Throughout, the guitar sounds themselves bring to mind the distinctive tones of the Cure, the Cocteau Twins, or even the types of guitar tones all over Junkie XL's "Today" album.  While the influence of a lot of the tones are reminiscent of the 80's, the recording and production quality is definitely current. "Warm", "Dreamy", and "Atmospheric" are all descriptors that come to mind.   Surprisingly, given the atmospheric nature of these riffs, most of them loop pretty seamlessly.

Given the almost comically-short shelf life for most electronic music genres, you may wonder if this library will be useful to those outside the chillwave genre and the answer is a resounding yes.  Producers of ambient, soundtrack and commercial music, dreampop, downtempo, and other genres where dreamy guitars are a must, will all find something to like here.   [9/10]

Review: Do Dough Music NDS-6 House Music Vol. 2

Product: NDS-6 House Music Vol. 2 sample library
Developer: No Dough Music
Format: 24-bit 44.1k WAV
Price:  $54.99
Demo: Audio demo on the product page.

"House Music Vol. 2" is the latest sample library from No Dough Music.  This time out, they've focused on a collection of sounds evocative of classic and deep house. A generous selection of loops and single-shot samples alike comprise the 2,000 samples in this library.  Furthermore, the single shot samples are offered in two flavors: unprocessed and "British", which are processed through a variety of high-end analog hardware.  So, let's have a listen, shall we?

THE LOOPS & BEATS
The main library is split into 2 sections - The Loops & Beats and The Drum Hits.  So let's start with the loops.  The loops folder is further subdivided into folders for Music Loops, Shaker & Rider Loops, Bassline Loops, and Beat Loops.

Music Loops - This folder contains tons of different musical elements, fully produced and effected and ready to be dropped into an arrangement.  Pads, organs, textures, synth riffs, lead lines, and more are all clearly marked with key and tempo info, making a good fit easy to find.  There are some sample-based sounds here, but overwhelmingly the sound here is vintage analog.  I think my ears hear a lot of old Roland gear for sure.

Shaker & Ride Loops - I bet you can figure out what this one contains - tons of shaker/tambourine/etc. loops ready to drop over your kick and snare to add some groove and energy to your track.  Some of the tracks sound "live" and "real", while others deliberately sound artificial, so there's a nice mix of organic and electronic.  The selection here is quite nice and roams outside the typical kind of shaker/tamb loops.  You'll also find stuff on every point of the swing continuum from straight 16ths to loose and funky.

Bassline Loops - Like the Music Loops folder, this folder contains musical loops, this time focusing on the bassline.  Again, the majority of sounds you'll find here are classic analog, full of warm and snap.  Some punchy digital and sample-based basslines are also present for a different kind of retro vibe.  Everything here is tastefully processed and produced.  There's a nice weight to these, as there should be to any good bassline.

Beat Loops - Finally, we have the Beat Loops folder, which is made up of drum loops.  The loops are presented in multiple variations often with just the kick, just the kick and the hats, the tops, and the whole thing together.  This gives you a lot of flexibility for building your tracks and avoiding that canned "looped" sound you get from using the same loop for the entire song.  Production here is really nice, with a nice, round bottom end and some tasty saturation.

THE DRUM HITS
The drum hit library is also subdivided into categories: Kick Drums, Percussion, Toms & Big Drums, Atmospheric, Background, & FX, Snare & Claps, and Hats & Cymbals.  Each of these folders is further subdivided into folders containing the unprocessed samples and the samples processed through analog gear.  I love the option of processing the sounds on my own if I want to, so kudos for offering that flexibility.

Kick Drums - This was probably my favorite section.  As you might expect, you get tons of 909 kicks processed and tuned in different ways, clicky Linndrum like kicks, sustaining 808 monsters, doofy synth kicks, and everything in between. The processed versions in particular really shine with just the right mix of warmth and punch.

Percussion - The Percussion folder is a grab bag of all manner of percussion.  Tribal toms, synthetic chirps, congas, cowbells, wood blocks, and more are on offer in many different versions.  Again, a mix of synthetic and organic sounding samples are presented.

Toms & Big Drums - This folder is filled with tom-tom like sounds including some absolutely spectacular-sounding 909 toms (seriously, these are punchy as hell!)  Many of these sounds have enough low frequency oomph that they would be good candidates for layering with kick drums.

Snares & Claps - This was probably my least favorite of the library.  While there are some nice, solid 909 snares, the majority are extremely dated sounding sampled drums.  I understand this might be appropriate for some styles of classic house, but honestly, you probably already have a lot of similar snare and clap samples already.  I would've liked to have seen more creativity here in melding the old and the new.  Obviously, you can layer and process these yourself to build your own hybrids, but I didn't hear anything here I was dying to load into my sampler.

Atmospheric, Background, & FX - Here you'll find another grab bag of all sorts of FX, textures, and odd sounds to add some sonic interest to your tracks.  There's some cool stuff here, but little of it struck me as being particularly 'housey'.  That said, who can't use some more FX samples?

Hats & Cymbals - Finally, we have a folder chock full of hihats and cymbal sounds.  This folder is subdivided into separate folders for closed hats, open hats, and crashes.  Among the hats you'll find the expected 909 cymbals and a heaping of sampled hats of all sorts.  The crashes, unfortunately, just consist of the 909 crash at several different tuning values.  Granted, that's a staple of classic house, but I definitely think some other options here would've been nice.

THE VERDICT
If you're looking to put together some house tracks, this is certainly a fine collection to get started with.  The sound quality is great, and the British versions of the single hit samples in particular have that perfect slamming club sound.  As previously mentioned, there are a few weak spots, but for the most part the library is really nice.  I don't even make house and I look forward to playing around with these samples! [8/10]

Review: Samplephonics 808

Product: Samplephonics 808
Developer: Samplephonics
Format:  24-bit WAVs available in 44.1k, 96k, and 192k with mappings for Ableton Live, Logic ESX-24, NI Kontakt 4, NI Konakt 5 (with a custom GUI and sequencer), Reason NN-XT, FL Studio.
Price: £49
Demo: Audio demo on product page.

Along with its older brother the TR-909, Roland's legendary TR-808 is probably the most famous drum machine ever invented.  It's been featured on tens of thousands of tracks from the early days of synth-pop and new-wave to the latest hip-hop club track.  Yet, for as much as it has been used over the decades since its release, it shows no sign of losing its popularity.  It's not difficult to see why.  For all its limitations, each sound was damn near perfect.  The kick boomed like nothing had before it, the snare had a punchy snap that had been missing from many previous drum machines, and the cymbals had a metallic sizzle that refined the nastier 606 cymbals into something more widely useable.

Unsurprisingly, there have also been countless sample collections attempting to capture the spirit of this classic instrument for those who couldn't afford the $2400-$3500 prices the real deal goes for.  So, what does Samplephonics offer that others haven't?

WHAT IS IT?
Samplephonics 808 is a sample library recorded as 24-bit WAVs in 44.1k, 96k, or 192k varieties.  The same samples are mapped into three kits (Clean, Dirty, and Tape) each consisting of 17 sounds.  Samples are velocity-mapped so, for example, your kick drum can get boomier the harder you hit it, the snare drum gets more snap, etc.

All but one of the formats maps the samples out in interface of whatever sampler you are using.  The exception here is the Kontakt 5 mapping, which consists of a custom GUI, extended functionality, and a built-in sequencer modeled after the one found on the real deal.

THE VERDICT
In the spirit of full disclosure, I tested this in both Logic EXS-24II and Kontakt 4, so I was not able to judge the custom interface and sequencer in the K5 version.  But more about that in a bit.

The sound quality of all three kits is extremely nice.  The Clean Kit gives you a good starting point for processing the sounds to your own taste and captures the beautiful punch of the 808 very well.  The Dirty Kit adds some really tasty overdrive that shines especially on the kick and the snare.  Meanwhile, the Tape Kit offers a nice middle ground between the two adding some warmth and harmonic richness while maintaining more of the dynamics.

The sounds are mapped in order by type.  I have to admit, a more "General MIDI" mapping of the drums here might have been more useful in terms of auditions the sounds into an existing arrangement.  Instead of several variations on each of the 808's sounds, you are presented with a single version of each, with an interesting difference.  These are velocity-layered (obviously not something possible on the original 808) so that on some sounds, such as the kick and snare, the sounds start as lighter and shorter, and get longer and punchier/boomier as you play harder.  This adds a nice level of expression not available through the crude "accent" dynamics on the hardware 808.

Here's the thing, though.  In my opinion, what's costing you £49 here is the Kontakt 5 mapping.  And, from what I can tell, it's well worth it for the ability to adjust panning, volume, and tone on some instruments, not to mention the extremely cool-looking sequencer.

But if you don't use Kontakt 5, you're paying £49 for 3 variations on the same 17 basic sounds.  Yes, there is the some nice velocity-mapping I mentioned, but you're not getting the full 808 experience given the amount you could vary the basic sounds on the hardware version.  Perhaps it would be more reasonable to offer the Kontakt 5 version as a "premium" version at £49, while the other versions without the fancy interface and sequencer could sell for half that?  At those price points, I would have no reservations recommending this library, but honestly, as good as the quality of sounds are, I can't recommend it as a very good value for those using the other formats.  Yes, they sound nice, but when you read the marketing that says, "This is quite simply the last collection of 808 samples you will ever own" and "4,599 samples", I think it is a fair assumption that the average person imagines there to be a lot more variations on the sounds than are presented here.  On the other hand, if you just want a simple, pre-mapped instrument without having to worry about auditioning different samples, perhaps the convenience is worth it to you.  So, I've got to give this one 2 different scores... If you have Kontakt 5, that version appears to offer enough extra cool features to justify the price [8/10 - still could use more varied samples)], but for the other formats, this seems a bit extravagantly-priced despite the nice sound quality [5/10]  As I mentioned before, offering the other formats at a reduced price would bring it up to an [8/10].

Review: Black Octopus Siren by Veela and Corey Friesenhan Vocal Sessions Vol. 01

Products: Black Octopus Siren by Veela and Cory Friesenhan Vocal Sessions Vol. 1

Developer: Black Octopus

Distributed by: Resonance Sound

Format: Downloadable 24-bit WAVs

Price: £31.05

Demo: Audio demos and free samples available on the product pages.  (Veela / Corey Friesenhan)

So you've been working on a brilliant, floor-smashing trance tune.  The beat is punchy, the bassline is throbbing, and there's enough ear-candy in your mix to cause diabetic shock - yet, something is missing.  What you really need is a killer vocal to tie everything together and make it hooky.  Unfortunately, maybe you don't happen to know any world-class vocalists with the required amount of polish.  That's where these 2 new libraries from Black Octopus come in to play.

WHAT IS IT?

Both of these libraries consist of vocals by two professional singers impeccably recorded through an impressive signal chain.  Each library contains a number of "construction kit" type full songs (15 for Veela and 12 for Cory Friesenhan).  All of the tempo and key information is included, as well as the intended chord progression for the vocal (although most will work with other progressions as well). You also get manipulated rhythmic vocal loops, ad libs, swells, tones, and more that can be great for adding variety and spice to your tracks even if the construction kits aren't to your tastes.

THE VERDICT

Describing a vocalist in words can be a bit difficult, but I will try my best.  Veela, the female vocalist has a lovely, breathy, but strong vocal tone with the slightest hint of an Irish accent.  To my ears, her voice is perfect mainly for mainstream trance or downtempo.  Sweet, beautiful and ethereal.  Corey Friesenhan has a very smooth tenor voice with a bit of soul that would be perfect for R&B, dance, and house.  Of course, your ears are your best judges of which is right for your production, so check out the audio demos for yourself.

The sound quality of both libraries is pretty much perfect.  Great-sounding recordings and professional performances all captured with top notch gear.  As you would expect, the vocals are mostly dry, allowing you to process them as you see fit.  I really appreciated all the extras included in these libraries.  The processed vocal loops are great for adding a bit of interest, and even seemingly innocuous things like breaths and sighs can be the basis for rhythmic loops or time-stretched into ambient textures.  

Lyrically, there's not much to write home about.  Fairly generic sentiments, nothing mind-blowing, but would  you really expect that from this type of music?  This is aimed at the mainstream and everything here is pretty representative of what you'd expect genre-wise.  In addition to actual lyrics, there are tons of oohs, ahhs, uhhs, and other non-verbal riffs.

I'll admit, I am not a user of construction kits, but I can certainly see their value, especially for up and coming musicians who might not have the resources or desire to write and record custom vocals.  For cases like this, I think these libraries will be much appreciated.  They put professional-sounding vocals from world-class vocalists within reach for even the noobiest of noobs.  Of course, this will appeal to many professionals as well, and the quality of the performance and recordings will fit right in.  [Both libraries: 9/10]

Review: Wave Alchemy Synth Drums

Product: Synth Drums
Developer: Wave Alchemy
Format: 24-bit WAV files with mappings for Halion, NN-XT, Kong, Kontakt, Battery 3, and SFZ formats.
Demo: Audio demos and 200 free demo samples on product page.
Price: £54.95

Wave Alchemy is a developer I've really enjoyed watching grow over the past few years.  They've always provided great sound quality and useful sounds, but what I like about them the most is that you can hear them continually getting better.  The cynic in me keeps waiting to be disappointed by something they put out, but it hasn't happened yet.  When I heard their new release was to be of nothing but synthesized drum sounds, I was a bit skeptical. Don't get me wrong... I love synthesized drum sounds and all manner of Teutonic bleeps and blorps, but often times these types of sounds are quite light sounding and less appropriate for modern styles of music.  If anyone could do a convincing library of this type, I was convinced it was Wave Alchemy, but proceeded with a healthy dose of skepticism.

WHAT IS IT?
Synth Drums is a drum sample library that consists of drum and percussion sounds synthesized on 10 different classic synths: Roland Jupiter-8, Roland System-100, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Sequential Circuits Pro One, Moog Minimoog, Korg MS-20, Arp Odyssey, Oberheim OB8, Roland Juno-106, and Roland SH-09.  The sounds are then processed with a variety of high end outboard gear.  5900 samples in total consist of identical sounds in unprocessed, processed, and tape/vinyl variations.  Mappings of the sounds are available in most major sample formats, although Logic EXS-24 is notably missing.

THE SOUNDS
Synth Drums is exceptionally well organized into folders for Cymbals, Conga & Bongo, Claps, Bass, Imaginary Drums, Exotic, Kicks, Snares, Percussion, Toms, Swells, Strikes, and Stabs.  Many of these folders are further broken down into folders describing the characteristics of the sound.  For example, the Kicks folder has subfolders for Snaps Clicks and Pulses, Knocks, Fat & Punchy Kicks, Deep Kicks, Classic Kicks, Almost Real, Unusual Kicks, Ultra Heavy Kicks, and Thumping Kicks.  This is tremendously helpful if you're in the middle of a session and need to find a specific type of sound quickly.  The fact that the sounds are provided in dry, compressed, and tape/vinyl versions is pretty awesome too and lets you choose from a variety of characters or add your own.

THE VERDICT
As I said before, I was a little skeptical of how useful these sounds would be for modern styles, but after playing with these sounds, I was completely blown away.  Truly, I think this may be the best library Wave Alchemy has released so far.  If you're familiar with Wave Alchemy, you know they have a reputation for excellent sound quality, and that is no different here.  In fact, I think they raised the bar for themselves in terms of punchiness and clarity.

What is most impressive, however, is the sound programming itself.  Yes, there is plenty of retro-sounding analog goodness, but there are just as many current and forward-sounding timbres. There is an incredible spread of sounds here and many were good enough to make me want to re-examine the percussive qualities of more than a few vintage synths I'd sort of written off for that purpose.

If you're like me, chances are you already have a million and one drum sounds.  Even if that's the case, however, I'd encourage you to check this library out.  The sound design is creative, the sound quality is beautiful, and once you start mixing, matching, and layering the samples, the possibilities become even more impressive.  [10/10]

Review: Atomic Shadow Panoramic Wave Generator Instrument for Kontakt

Product: Panoramic Wave Generator
Developer: Atomic Shadow
Format: Native Instruments Konakt 4 or later.
Price: $10
Demo: Audio demos on Product Page.

I love unusual sample instruments, so when Atomic Shadow's Rod Mitchell asked me if I'd like to check out his latest creation for Native Instruments Kontakt, I jumped on the opportunity.

Rod says that the inspiration for this instrument came from the early days of samplers like the Akai S612 that only allowed a single sample to be mapped across the entire keyboard.  Although this seems like a severe limitations in this age of multi-gigabyte instruments with multiple-velocity levels and round robin-ing, it could actually be used to great creative effect.  Played out of range, a snare drum becomes an explosion.  A car's engine becomes a cybernetic mosquito.  You get the idea.

So the 30 different instrument presets included in this sound set are all based around a single sample per instrument.  Where this departs from old samplers like the S612, is that we are no longer bound by the tiny sample memories of yesteryear.  So while each instrument here is based around a different, single sample, the samples are often upwards of 2 minutes in length.  In a sense, Panoramic Wave Generator can be thought of as bridging the gap between old school sampling and using long tape loops.

The samples themselves vary from field recordings to sounds of machinery to synthetic waveforms generated with a variety of esoteric audio test equipment.  These sounds were then processed through a modular synth and other effects to give the sounds a very "alive" and organic sound.

A modest control panel allows you to add vibrato with an LFO, adjust the high and low end content via Tone controls, shape the sound with an ADSR envelope, and further sculpt the sound with a Chorus/Flanger/Phaser effect, a Reverb, and an Echo.

So what does it sound like?  Wonderfully weird!  Dirty, gritty, otherworldly.  Think of the menacing industrial soundscapes in David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and you'll have a vague idea of some of the sounds here.  There are more "traditional" tonal sounds created with waveform generators and old lab equipment, but even these have that element of strangeness to them.  Even the more noisy sounds tend to have a tonal element to them, which could be used to great effect for adding some texture and interest to a song.

It's true that this is not going to be an instrument that is going to appeal to everyone.  But to those who it WILL appeal, I imagine it will hold a LOT of appeal.  If you make ambient, film scores, industrial, or any type of experimental music, you'd be dumb not to check it out at only $10.  My only real wish is for the addition of more synthesis options to further mess with the samples.  Filters... multiple LFOs... a modulation sequencer for rhythmic effects... all of these things would extend the usability of these already compelling sounds significantly.  Perhaps in version 2?  [9/10]

Review: KV331's Synthmaster 2.5

Product: SynthMaster

Developers: KV331 Audio

Format: Windows (VST, RTAS), Mac (VST, RTAS, AU).  32 or 64 bit.

Price: $129

Demo: Available on the website.  Demo disables saving patches and begins sounding random notes after ten minutes.  Audio demos also on the product page.

I want to start this review out with an apology to KV331 Audio.  They were kind enough to send me a review copy of SynthMaster late last fall when my band was out on tour.  However, the case is this is quite a complex synth, and I knew it would take me quite some time to put it through its paces, so rather than deliver a lazy, quick review, I wanted to take the extra time to make sure I got things covered. Once you read the review, I think you'll see why it took so long!

WHAT IS IT?

SynthMaster might best be described as a synthesizer jackknife in that it provides a semi-modular environment for multiple types of synthesis.  What types?  How about virtual analog, additive, wavetable, wave-scanning, FM, phase modulation, physical modeling, and SFZ sample playback?  Combine this with both analog and digital modeled filters of various types, 11 types of effects, and extensive modulation capabilities (over 650 modulatable parameters), and it’s clear SynthMaster is an ambitious synth.  So does SynthMaster live up to its potential, or is this a case of “Jack of all trades, master of none”?  Read on…

INSTALLATION

To install SynthMaster, download the version you need and run the installer.  When you’ve purchased it, you will receive a serial number which unlocks it.  That’s it.  You’re good to go.

DOCUMENTATION

Documentation comes in the form of an illustrated 41-page “QuickStart Guide”.  If you own a few softsynths and are generally familiar with subtractive synthesis, you'll likely only need to crack it for some of the more esoteric features (of which, to be fair, there are quite a few).

INTERFACE

 As I said before, Synthmaster is a seriously deep synth with a lot of features, so you'd expect the interface to be complex and overwhelming.  Happily, that is not the case and through good use of multiple pages and tabs, KV331 has managed to squeeze everything in in a manner that is nice to look at and easy to navigate.  Synthmaster is also skinnable, should the default look not be to your liking.

The top of the interface consists of a series of buttons on the left that control what is displayed in the bulk of the screen.  It's here that you can select one of SynthMaster's two layers, controls for the 4 global LFO's, the Global FX section, a patch browser similar in feel to the type Native Instruments tends to favor, and the "Preset" page, where you can categorize, add author information, and comments to patches.  

To the right of this is name of the current patch, buttons to scroll through patches one by one, a panic button in case you get stuck notes, and saving options.  A parameter display resides beneath this, as do settings for Quality (lower settings help save CPU), Buffer and Polyphony, as well as the velocity curve for the current patch.

The main part of the interface is split into four squares, each of which houses a different function.  Each of these windows is tabbed to allow you to quickly switch in between further pages.  One thing that is especially awesome is that each of these areas has a Save function allow you to save just the settings to that particular set of parameters.  That way, if you have a specific type of envelope setting you use a lot, for example, you can save it and then recall it whenever you need to use it programming a new sound.  Very handy!

The top left section houses tabs for the structure and settings for each layer.  Here, you can select whether a layer is in Mono or Poly mode, change the pitch bend range, turn unison on or off, turn the arp on or off, and choose a mode for the routing of the two filters with Split, Parallel, and and Series options.  A nice display shows the structure of the layer and allows you to quickly turn parts in the voice path on and off, as well as setting wet/dry levels for the Layer's effects.  At the very bottom, you can add two different kinds of Portamento and control the specifics of the Unison mode.

A click of the tab switches us over to the controls for the layer's Arpeggiator.  This was the one area where I wished the display was a bit larger.  It's workable, but the Glide and Hold buttons for each step are pretty damned tiny.  The Arpeggiator consists of multiple different modes, up to 32 steps, Glide and Hold settings per step, and your options for the note value of the arpeggiator.  The Volume knob allows you to set the Volume of all the steps at once if you need them to be uniform.  Duration controls the Gate time for each note, and Swing adds - wait for it - swing.  Just about everything you might want in an Arpeggiator.  And if that wasn't enough, it can alternately be used as an analog-style step sequencer, opening up the door to all manner of cool rhythmic modulations.  This switches the display to a display similar to the piano roll sequencer in your DAW, making it extremely easy to program melodies. Very nice!  MIDI sequences can also be imported if you prefer to build sequences that way.

The next three tabs feature controls for each layer's Layer Effects.  These consist of nicely featured Distortion, Lo-fi, Ensemble, EQ, and Phasers.

The bottom left consists of the Oscillator related controls.  Each layer offers two independent oscillators.  Each of those oscillators can use a variety of different synthesis types.  The display above is the Basic mode.  This is the mode for your tried-and-true virtual analog sounds.  The standard sawtooth, sine, triangle, pulse, and white noise options are available, but that's not all.  There's also an insanely generous selection of sampled single-cycle waveforms sourced from all manner of classic gear, and if that's not enough, you can load in full samples in SFZ format.

A "Pitch Drift" function allows you to simulate the imperfections that make analog synths so appealing.  Of course, you can also abuse it into Boards of Canada like warbling at higher settings. You can also control how the oscillator's pitch is tracked across the keyboard, set the oscillator's Volume, Tone, Phase, Pitch, Pan and more with a series of knobs along the bottom.

The Additive mode allows you to combine up to eight different waveforms, each with its own volume, pan, frequency, detune levels.  Although additive synthesis is typically performed with sine waves, you can use any of the previously-mentioned waveforms or samples.  Since 8 partials is not a lot by additive standards, the ability to use different waveforms is helpful in trying to create more complex timbres.  Of course, if you stick to traditional analog waveforms, you can simulate the voice structure of old Roland synths like the SH-101, where you can add different amounts of saw, pulse, sine, and noise to shape the tone.

Fancy a little Wavetable synthesis?  Just switch the Oscillator Type to "Wavetable" and you can build your own scannable wavetables by combining up to 16 different selectable single cycle waves (most of which are actually different than the previous types).  Couldn't be easier, and done well, it can sound fantastic.  Maybe it won't totally quell your gear lust for a Microwave or PPG, but it's a lot of fun to play with and rewards experimentation with some sounds you could never get out of those classics.

The final mode (there is an AUDIO IN, but this is the last synthesis type) is Vector Synthesis, the style famously championed by the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS.  You can select up to 4 waveforms or samples that can be smoothly crossfaded.  They can each have their own tuning as well.  X and Y indices can be independently modulated.

The Basic, Additive, and Wavetable oscillator modes all offer FM, PM, and AM for further sound-mangling capabilities with 4 dedicated modulators (read: LFOs) that can also be used to control things like pulse width for PWM type sounds.  Additionally, in Basic mode, Oscillator 1 can be hard-synced to Oscillator 2.

The right top square houses SynthMaster's twin filters per voice.  Lowpass, highpass, bandpass, bandstop, low and high shelves, peaking, multi (allows you to smooth transition from one filter type to the another), and dual (a filter with two sets of peaks) modes are all offered in both Digital and Analog flavors with selectable Slope controls.  One of the really nice features here is the display.  If you click and drag within it, you can quickly tweak the filter's cutoff and resonance at the same time.  A simple distortion can be applied before, inside, or after the filter, and a simple limiter is available to keep those crazy resonant peaks on your next acid jam from getting out of control.  The difference between the analog and digital modes is most noticeable in how they handle resonance.  The analog ones will go handily into self-resonation, while the digital ones will not.  A Comb filter  is also available only in Digital mode.

The fourth square holds the settings for SynthMaster's multiple Envelope types, the LFOs, and Keyboard Scaling.  The first four envelopes are your standard ADSR affairs with the interesting additions of a Bit Depth control (which sets the 'resolution' of changes in levels), and a Drift parameter, which introduces random fluctuations to the envelope level.

Two "2D" Envelopes are next.  These are multi-stage envelopes offering up to 32 stages, each with their own length.  However, unlike a standard multi-stage envelope, this envelope is in two dimensions and outputs an X and a Y for use in modulation.  They are also loopable.

Two "traditional" Multi-stage envelopes are available with settings identical to the 2D envelopes, but they only output a single value for modulation.

The two layer LFOs offer not only the expected analog waveforms, but also a Step mode with up to 32 steps, and a Glide mode with is similar, except that it smoothly glides in between values as opposed to the hard transitions of the Step mode.  LFOs are syncable to your host's tempo with controllable phase and speed.

The Key-scaling modulator offers 4 different key-scale maps for modulating parameters according the position of the key played on the keyboard.

At the far right of SynthMaster's interface you'll find the modulation matrix.  This is about what you would expect allowing you to assign a source, destination, and amount.  Alternately, you can assign modulation by right clicking on a parameter and choosing your source.  This will automatically add the modulation to the Matrix, which is a much more stream-lined way of setting up modulations in such a complex synth.  A tab allows you to open up some Global Settings for the synth, and knobs at the bottom let you set the master volume, as well as the volumes of each individual layer.  Bypass switches allow you to switch a layer on and off, and the Tune control allows you to tune the instrument as a whole.

Now, keep in mind what I've just long-windedly described is just ONE layer of the two available and you can start to understand the depth of programming Synth Master offers.

Switching away from the Layer 1 and 2 controls, if we select the LFO tab at the top of the interface, we gain access to four additional LFO's.  These are identical to the Layer LFOs except they operate at the Synth level and not just the Layer level.

Beneath the LFO tab, we find the FX tab which lets you set up global effects that operate on the entire sound as opposed to the layer-specific effects.  Available effects include a Vocoder, Chorus, Echo, Reverb, Compression, and Tremelo. The right column allows to control the FX routing for both layers and globally, and lets you control the wet/dry balance of the global effects.

Finally, we have the Browser tab.  This allows you to sort through your patch library according to Instrument Type, Attributes, Music Styles, Author, and Bank.  At the bottom are 8 "easy knobs"that can be assigned to modulate any parameter, with the idea being that if your are overwhelmed by the thousands of modulatable parameters on offer, 8 of the most useful controls can be assigned to these knobs and that's all you have to deal with.  What makes it most useful, however, is that you can assign multiple modulations to a single Easy Parameter knob, allowing you to make quite drastic changes in the sound with the turn of a single knob.  Two X/Y modulators are also available for assignment. 

CPU USE

As you can imagine, there are a lot of variables that come into play in regards to how much of a CPU hit SynthMaster delivers.  Simpler voices and low voice counts will definitely result in lower, barely detectable CPU drain.  But more complex patches can eat up enough to max out my Mac Pro Quadcore if I play two-handed chords.  Fortunately, SynthMaster offers multiple quality levels [Draft, Good, Better, Best], each upping the sound quality, while requiring more CPU power.  So even if your machine isn’t state of the art, you can build your arrangements  in Draft mode and bump the quality all the way up when you render your tracks down.  It would be nice if they offered the ability to set separate quality levels for just screwing around and for the actual rendering.  U-he’s DIVA offers this feature, and that kind of “set it and forget it” convenience is something I’ve come to appreciate.

THE VERDICT

I wonder how many people will skip the wall of text above and just get to this point.  I can't say I blame you, but I always strive to be in-depth with my reviews and the amount of firepower this synth offers is pretty obscene.  Before I even get to the sound, I want to emphasize how well thought-out and designed this synth is.  As I was learning to use it, I found myself uttering the phrase "Man, they've thought of EVERYTHING".  Just the sheer amount of THINGS you can alter about the sound will send hardcore synth programmers into a state of pure geek lust.  I get the sense that KV331 really studied what was available in the synth market, adapted some of the features they liked, and invented new ones where they felt there was an absence.  But what is most astounding about this synth is that it manages to cram all these features and parameters in a package that is easy on the eye and not nearly as overwhelming as it could've been.

Soundwise, SynthMaster is a beauty.  It has a very clear, hi-fi sound to it with a mostly digital sheen to it.  That's not to say it can't do analog sounds well.  It can.  But I found these took a bit more coaxing to sound convincing than other sounds.  Fortunately, SynthMaster provides an abundance of ways to coax, as should be clear now.  But buying SynthMaster to use as a virtual analog is missing the point a bit, I think.  With multiple types of synthesis combinable in a single patch and such depth of programming offered as a whole, this is a forward-looking synth with an eye on the future.

I see SynthMaster especially to two different types of users.  Obviously, the amount of features and synthesis types gives this a hard to beat bang to buck ratio, so people who want lots of different types of synthesis without having to buy a separate synth to do each one are going to want to check this one out.  But who I really see this appealing to are the hardcore synth geeks.  If you like to program your own sounds, there aren't many options on the market that offer the depth of programming SynthMaster can.  Little touches like being able to individually save parameters for each section of the synth to import into new sounds are fantastic time-savers and are the types of things I really appreciate as a sound-progammer.

If you already have a ton of different types of softsynths residing on your hard drive, you might not find you "need" SynthMaster, but I'd encourage you to check it out and spend some time with it anyway.  While it's true you probably already have tools that can individually do things that SynthMaster can do, but you'd be hard-pressed to find it all in one place and with such an elegant interface.  

I'll admit, I underestimated SynthMaster.  When I first heard of it, I listened to some demos and thought it sounded pretty decent, but it kind of faded into the background noise of all the other synths on the market.  Upon rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty with it, however, I am seriously impressed.  I like it when synth designers trust me.  Instead of playing it safe and eliminating features "you'll probably never need", I like when they give me the whole 64-Crayon pack to color with.  And that's what KV331 have done with SynthMaster.  [10/10]

Review: Tone2 Rayblaster

Product: Rayblaster Synthesizer

Developer: Tone2

Format:  PC (VST and Standalone, 32 & 64-bit) and Mac (VST, AU, 32 & 64-bit)

Price: $199

Demo: On the product page.

Whenever a developer or manufacturer comes forth boasting of a “revolutionary” or “radically new” form of synthesis, more times than not, it comes across more  like a small tweak to tried and true methods that have been around for decades.  So it was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I approached Tone2’s latest offering, Rayblaster.  Rayblaster uses a technique Tone2 calls IMS, or Impulse Modeling Synthesis.  So is this a brave new world of synthesis, or more of the same?  Let’s find out!

WHAT IS IT?

IMS is a bit difficult to explain, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure I understand it fully, but basically, IMS replaces the typical static waveform with tiny “bursts” of sound interspersed with silence.  The order of the bursts and various other aspects can be altered in a way not unlike granular synthesis.  Apparently, however, the small bursts of silence help replicate the way our hearing works, allowing Rayblaster to have more apparent loudness and cut through a mix.

In most ways, IMS sounds are programmed similar to subtractive, with one important difference – there are no filters.  That’s because the oscillators can utilize not only waveforms, but also impulse responses of real-world or imaginary filters (it can import drum loops too!).

In most other ways, however, Rayblaster programs like the softsynths you’re used to.

INSTALLATION

Installation takes place via an installer specifically for the full version (the demo version is a different installer, in other words).  Copy protection takes place via a keyfile, as with previous Tone2 products.  Easy!

MANUAL

As is standard these days, the manual comes in the form of a PDF.  Oddly, this appears only to be available from within the plug-in, although once it takes you to the PDF online, you can, of course download it to your device of choice.  For the most part, everything is well laid out and easy to understand.  There are some things (for instance, the “oscillator window” parameter) that aren’t really explained in depth at all, though.  So perhaps more thorough explanation in spots would be helpful. Also an editor with English as a first language might be in order, as there are quite a few grammar and spelling errors throughout.  There's nothing that gets in the way of understanding the plug-in, though.

INTERFACE

Rayblaster shares the easy-on-the-eyes look of previous synths with a grey background, and orange or blue displays.  All the controls are easy to read and nothing feels crowded.

The top left section of the interface is occupied by the two oscillator displays.  Up to two waveforms (or filter impulses) can be loaded into each oscillator and blended between using mix controls.  Various parameters controlling the sound of the oscillators are present here allowing you to brighten sounds by controlling the kinds of harmonics they produce, add three different types of noise, and alter other properties of the way the impulses are constructed and played back.  One beef with the interface here, the display always reads “LOAD WAVE 1” and “LOAD WAVE 2” whether you’ve selected a waveform or not.  It would be helpful to have the name of the waveform displayed here if a waveform has been selected.

Next to the oscillator displays are the oscillator parameters.  Here you can set key-tracking amounts for the pitch of each wave, pan settings for each oscillator, low cut and damping controls for each oscillator, oscillator sync and BPM synchronization (especially helpful when using drum loops), as well as phase, analog drift and ring modulation settings between the two oscillators.  If you have just waveforms loaded into your oscillators, the formant control will change the formant of the oscillator (a separate tune control is independent of formant).  If, however, you have a filter model loaded in, this acts as your filter cutoff. 

Next door to this section is another display from which you can set-up the Arp/Gate, apply effects to your sound, and an extensive modulation matrix with an abundance of sources and destinations to keep your twisting your sounds for days. The Arp/Gate can function either as a standard arpeggiator or as a modulation step-sequencer for some nice rhythmic possibilities.  The effects section allows you to apply up to two effects at once (out of 19 available effects types).  Just about every type of standard effect you’d want can be found here and while they aren’t going to rock the effects world, they sound very good and offer a decent balance of flexibility and simplicity.

Directly below the display, you’ll find Rayblaster’s two LFO’s.  6 different LFO shapes are available with selectable frequency and phase, as well as the option to sync the LFO to the host tempo.

The leftmost bottom row of controls houses the general controls for the synth such as glide amount, pan, unison spread, overall patch volume, and the dedicated amp envlope.  Next to this, is the main patch display.  The bulk of this consists of the current patch name and patch category.  The bottom displays whatever the currently selected parameter name and value is, for precise adjustments.  At the top of the display you’ll find the File menu.  This section allows you to load and save patches, separately load or save arpeggiator settings to transfer between patches (nice!), the ability to export any of the waves loaded into an oscillator as a WAV file.  This is also the area where you import drum loops or resynthesized sounds.  To me, those functions seem like they should be located in the oscillator display as part of the Load Wave function.  Additionally, this section includes an Edit menu that allows you to initialize and copy different parts of a patch, a Help menu that links to the manual and a tutorial video, and a Buy Sounds menu that links to additional patches you can purchase for the synth if you so choose.

Finally, there are an additional two freely assignable ADSR envelopes with adjustable slope.

WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?

Depends on how you use it, really.  It can do evolving digital sounds, convincing analog emulations, Waldorf-like wavetables, modern granular textures…  Rayblaster definitely sounds like a Tone2 synth.  It cuts through a mix nicely and has a beautiful, modern sheen to it.  I’m not sure I find that IMS offers anything truly radical or new from a sonic standpoint, but there is no denying that this is a great-sounding synthesizer.

IN USE

The only real problem I encountered (I am using Logic Pro 9.16) were occasional audio drop-outs on polyphonic patches that appeared to be unrelated to CPU load (at least Logic’s meter wasn’t showing any spikes).  This didn’t consistently happen, but it happened enough to be annoying.  CPU use varies from patch to patch, but is generally quite reasonable.  However, a “Low CPU” quality mode is selectable should you find the drain too much while working out arrangements.

THE VERDICT?

Whether Rayblaster appeals to you or not really depends on what you expect out of it.  If you own other Tone2 synths and want something radically different-sounding from their previous efforts, you might want to skip this one.  If you’re new to Tone2 synths, however, this isn’t a bad place to start as it offers a good balance between the simplicity of Saurus and the sound-warping depth of Gladiator 2 while offering sounds somewhere in between those two synths.  The unconventional method of programming may be off-putting to novices, but conversely may appeal to old pros bored with subtractive synths that shape sounds in more usual ways.  And, of course, the ability to capture impulse of any real or imagined filter and import it will be a big selling-point for filter freaks.  No doubt, Rayblaster continues Tone2’s track record for great-sounding synths and deserves a spin with the demo. [8/10]

Sonic State Reviews the Studiologic Sledge

[via Sonic State]

Review: Wave Alchemy Bass Pedals

Product: Bass Pedals Sample Library
Developer: Wave Alchemy
Format: Native Instruments Kontakt 4 (and above)
Price: £34.96
Demo: Audio Demo on Product Page

The Moog Taurus was an unusual piece of kit.  Made to be played with one's feet, the simple bass synth featured long wooden pedals instead of keys.  While the architecture of the synth itself was quite simple, the Taurus has a sound all to itself that has gained it many fans over the years including Rush and Genesis.  This release from Wave Alchemy brings the sounds of this rare (and often expensive) beast to your computer in the form of an extensively sampled and heavily scripted Kontakt 4 instrument, complete with a nicely rendered user interface allowing you to program your own sounds.

The interface of Bass Pedals is actually divided among 4 different pages.  The presets section consists of 28 multi-sampled presets sampled from the Moog Taurus Mk 1.  In addition to sampling full patches, Wave Alchemy has also included multi-samples of the raw waveforms allowing you to create your own patches from scratch, or to mix and match with the sampled presets.

The editing itself takes place on the "Raw Oscillator" page.  Here, users have access to the synth's two oscillators, the filter, dedicated amp and filter envelopes, oscillator drift function, sub oscillator, noise, and simple LFO.

The Effects page allows access to the built-in saturation, distortion, reverb, chorus, and EQ effects to further sclupt your sounds.

Finally, we have the Controls page which is where you set up the priority of note triggering, portamento time, and other various global settings.

As we've come to expect from Wave Alchemy, the sound quality here is superb.  Long samples and use of round robin sampling techniques helps to preserve the non-linerarities and tiny imperfections that make vintage analog so appealing.  It's very easy to forget you're playing a sampled instruments with these.  The presets (28 multi-sampled presets and 40 additional presets made using the raw oscillator samples) cover a fair amount of territory from resonant growls to warm, detuned plucks to synthy zaps. The thing is, the Taurus has always been a simple beast, so even with the synthesis parameters called into play, there is a similar basic sound to most of these presets.  But what a sound!  Although it has an unmistakably "Moog" sound to it, the Taurus really didn't sound like any of their other instruments.  So, as you might imagine, this library will appeal to you more if you're looking for that specific Taurus sound than if you're looking for a synth to cover all the bases.

The interface is similarly well-done and is easy to figure out for anyone with a basic understanding of synthesis.  I didn't experience any crashes or unusual behavior, and try as I might, I couldn't find any flaws in the sampling here.  After this and their previous Sequential Circuits Pro One library, I am quite excited to see what vintage goodies they decided to take on next.  In the meantime, if you want some wooly and warm vintage goodness to round out your bottom end, give this library a look.  [9/10]