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Ethereal Dialpad Touch App, Development Experience on Android and Beyond

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Google’s Android has been a relatively slow starter for mobile music software, but a gem like Adam Smith’s free Ethereal Dialpad proves it’s a viable option, and the app is an inspiring musical toy, to boot. Perhaps more important than that, behind the scenes, Adam is employing a really beautifully audio engine of his own design with an elegant approach to coding sound.

Ethereal Dialpad features a set of basic modules for using touch to produce synthesized sound with real-time effects. The concept isn’t new – Adam says he was inspired by the pitch mapping on KORG’s Kaossilator – but it’s nicely executed, and the software is fun and responsive. I’ve tested it with some non-musician Android owners, and they were simply delighted. And yes, you can plug it into external effects and go absolutely wild – see the video below for one example.

Of course, these sorts of applications are relative commonplace on the iPhone, but few and far between on Android. So it seemed the perfect time to ask Adam to share his thoughts on developing for the platform.

Along the way, Adam has some great thoughts on live coding and sharing in the development community that go well beyond any one platform.

Mobile applications in general have often been self-contained, limited-lifespan creations; the simpler ones are almost like bubblegum – suck out the sugar and move on. But by sharing code, these simpler applications can have a greater life, as they’re extended and incorporated into other projects. That could suggest greater longevity over time for unusual interactive musical software creations in general. And with this application fitting into just 35K – yes, amazingly, even with all the packaged Android assets and Java code – the emerging landscape could even begin to resemble the demoscene of old.

Adam writes with some of the behind-the-scenes details of coding audio on Android:

The whole Ethereal Dialpad project started as an experiment with the AudioTrack api in the Android framework and, without any real planning, it evolved into a reimplementation of one of the presets on Korg’s Kaossilator synth toy (which I’ve enjoyed playing in the past). At one point, I was thinking of adding more Kaossilator-like features (loop recording, more synths, etc.), but interest in starting new projects instead of improving old ones won out.

The synthesis core of the app is hand written in Java. You can see an example of working with my DSP library edited down from the real source here: http://gist.github.com/376028#file_usage.java The design of the library was strongly inspired by that in ChucK, a programming language for musical livecoding that I’ve used for a few other silly projects (http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/). Using the library, the app sets up a little modular synthesizer on startup and uses touch events to tweak parameters. It is possible for the synthesizer to be reconfigured a run-time (adding or rewiring components), but I didn’t end up using this functionality anywhere in Ethereal Dialpad. Perhaps someday I could expose the live synth construction process to users with some graphical interface — right now you have to edit the source to change the synth.

Devices like the G1 I was working with have terrible floating point performance (improved none by running code in a virtual machine!), but going ahead with the simplest solution turned out to work just fine. In another free Android app, Iteration, I used fixed-point arithmetic in C via the NDK to get the performance I wanted (http://github.com/rndmcnlly/iteration/blob/master/jni/iteration.c#L279). At one point I was having trouble with the audio stream in Ethereal Dialpad when some background processing (such as Twidroid waking up to refresh tweets) took too much processor time, but simply cutting the audio sample rate in half was an effective fix (with little effect on my output which didn’t have too much in the high frequencies at the time).

I suppose it would normally be overkill to build a synthesizer from scratch like this to get the output I did. If I knew I were really going for what Ethereal Dialpad is now from the start, I could have simply embedded a fixed set of pre-recorded tones and not mucked about with sines and cosines. One fun result of doing it the hard way is that the package you download is only 35KB (with a lot of that space dedicated to the silly icons for each dialpad). Doing as much as possible with code instead of bulk data is in line with the demoscene aesthetic which I’ve enjoyed for a long time. Generative art has long been a passion of mine, but playing with real electronic music hardware during the past few years has convinced me to try more tangible projects, exploiting the touchscreen in this case.

As an aside, there seems to be a really positive, sharing-oriented culture in the hobbyist Android programmers that I have run into. I got the idea to make Ethereal Dialpad (or at least play around with audio on Android) after seeing the Synthesizer 2 application. I could tell, just by using the application, that the developer must have been using some API for live streaming that I hadn’t noticed in the documentation yet. In response to a email to the developer I got a pointer to the exact API I was seeking, and we’ve sent Java snippets back and forth since. Another developer emailed me to figure out how my app worked and, several source-filled emails later, Ethereal Dialpad contains the “Moonblink’s Grid” dialpad, a volunteered submission.

I asked for some reflections on Android, in general, as a platform, as well, although that discussion quickly turns more generally to tools for quickly coding creative sound on computer platforms, too.

Regarding inspiring Android music apps, it was actually the (I suppose I’m qualified to say this) disappointing experience I had with Synthesizer 2 that really pushed me to think “Man, I could make something that sounds better (after I ask him how he pushed an array of floats through the speakers, that is).” After finding the right API, it was just one dusk-till-dawn hacksession before I produced CurveSlinger (http://adamsmith.as/typ0/k/CurveSlinger.apk), which is essentially the core of audio Ethereal Dialpad with no graphics. The idea of mapping both axes of the touchpad to two synths was lifted directly from the L.12 patch on the Kaossilator. I didn’t think to attempt to bolting on a pluggable GUI system for another month perhaps. Plug-ins are a whole story of their own — turns out there is a section of the Android userbase that universally ignores update notifications. [Ed.: If rumored "auto-update" features finally get baked into Market apps, I would expect that situation to improve, though it hasn't happened yet. -PK]

In the larger context, the drive to create a synth toy from scratch was inspired by participating in the culture around livecoding languages like ChucK, Impromptu [Mac audiovisual livecoding environment], and Pd (TOPLAP is the name I feel compelled to drop here). In livecoding I can bridge the gap between the otherwise sometimes cold, engineering practice of programming and the artistic, improvisational practice of live music performance. I’m overwhemled by how easy it was to make a mini trance sequencer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVOtH5Uiatc), a tangible controller for wave playback (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhDeYxhnKkY), and an infinite random claim generator (http://www.toplap.org/index.php/User:Adamsmith#.22endless_interesting_claim_generator.22 — http://adamsmith.as/typ0/k/voxbox/claims.html). How can I convince the general population that being a healthy consumer is not a healthy state of being and that programming is an amazingly underappreciated approach to being a creative producer? Well, I’ll hack something nifty stuff really quick and tag a note onto the app description: “Like what you feel? Consider learning to program. It’s some serious magic.”. I’ve gotten maybe 15 email responses to this last note, but it is hard to get people who have no experience into a position where they can do the same thing.

The drive to use the touchpad for something interesting draws directly from playing the Korg EMX-1 which uses a linear touch sensor to control the arpeggiator. Sure, I’ve fun with Kaossilator, but that two inch strip on the EMX-1 sucked me in for hours at a time. It was magical, and I wanted to make that kind of magic too.

I suppose I have to acknowledge the Internet at large as a major, implicit inspiration. It is impossible to remember which video here or there lead to this or that other idea. I’m sure, running your site (which I didn’t know of until you contacted me), you experience the same thing.

For your viewing pleasure, here are two of those quick audio creations. At top is a demo of livecoding in Pd (Pure Data). At bottom, in what must be a geek singularity powerful enough to actually create a depression in the fabric of space time, “a YTMND dramatic reading of some Half-Life fan fiction” with a Nintendo 64 controller and the rapid audio coding environment ChucK.

Android I think is overdue for a round-up of available audio software. (Honestly, I had put it off partly because the landscape was somewhat scarce.) Candidates so far include Sonorox, Beatpad, Uloops, Musical, and FingerPlay. Got nominees? Let us know in comments.

The “killer” apps for Android may turn out to be in-progress ports of Pd and SuperCollider. More on that topic soon; if you’re interested in contributing, or in learning more about Android music software development, you should check out the Android Music Developers Google Group.

And since so much geektastic material comes up in the interview, let Adam know if you have other questions for him.

Read the rest here:
Ethereal Dialpad Touch App, Development Experience on Android and Beyond

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Arturia Hip Hop Producer

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Arturia’s Hip Hop Producer is a bundle of software that contains a DAW, a synth specially designed for hip-hop, an electric piano and a bundle of samples too. We’ll take a look at the other components of the package later, but for now let’s concentrate on the centrepiece, the Analog Factory Hip Hop plug-in.

As the name suggests, this is a version of Arturia’s successful Analog Factory soft synth, originally released in 2006. The Hip Hop version follows the same preset-based formula, with the options restricted to 250 patches generated using the synthesis engines behind Arturia’s ARP 2600, Yamaha CS-80, Moog Modular and Minimoog clones.

Although the setup might seem slightly restrictive, Analog Factory isn’t just a preset machine. Every one of the patches allows you to take control of filter cutoff and tweak the ADSR controls of the amplitude envelope.

In addition to these basic settings, each patch also assigns four more variables to the central bank of Key Parameter knobs. These knobs are patch-dependent, allowing you to take control of more advanced parameters such as filter envelopes, oscillator tuning and portamento. The results are excellent, delivering a bite-sized chunk of Arturia’s analogue emulation power.

DAW and more

The Hip Hop bundle includes a basic DAW in the form of Ableton Live 8 Lite Arturia Edition. As you’d expect from a Lite edition, this strips away many of the features of the full version, but still includes more than enough for beginners.

For instance, you’re limited to a maximum of eight audio and MIDI tracks, which might become restrictive before too long but should be enough for a beginner, and Live Lite can be upgraded to a full version once cash allows.

“Once Live is installed, it’s easy to get started making beats, loops and tracks with Analog Factory and the other elements of the bundle.”

Once Live is installed, it’s easy to get started making beats, loops and tracks with Analog Factory and the other elements of the bundle. Live’s sample abilities are demonstrated by a sample pack drawn from Modern Beats’ extensive product range, featuring 1,200 samples and 30 MIDI patterns for use in your own productions. The quality is excellent, and these beats and loops should have you rocking in no time.

For us, the real jewel in the crown is Lounge Lizard Session, a slightly stripped down version of Applied Acoustics’ Lounge Lizard EP-3 electric piano plug-in. Although the Session version restricts you to four Rhodes and Wurlitzer presets rather than offering full control of the tone, you’re still able to adjust tremolo, drive and a handful of basic effects.

Summary

This product’s main selling point is that it offers a little of everything, from a DAW all the way through to samples and synths. Overall, it’s a quality package which includes everything a beginner needs and would even offer good value to producers looking to add to an existing software collection.

Of course, if you don’t need all the extras, you may find better options elsewhere. The full version of Analog Factory, for example, costs a little more than this bundle but offers a whopping 3,500 presets in comparison to the Hip Hop version’s 250.

Even so, if you’re a newcomer to hip-hop production, or are a finger-in-all-pies kind of producer, there’s no doubt that the Hip Hop Producer bundle contains everything you need to get started and offers great value for money.

Listen to some of the Hip-Hop Producer sounds:

Moog Modular lead

CS-80 pad

Minimoog bassline

Arp lead

Lounge Lizard Rhodes

XILS 3 review: a modern VCS3?

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

The French software company Xils lab has recently introduced a soft synth, inspired by one of the first truly portable modular analog synths – the EMS VCS3. The VCS3 has a rich history of users: Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, Aphex Twin and the Chemical Brothers are on the list. The original synth has a reputation for brilliant inconsistencies, and is famous as a quirky sound-mangler as well as a beautiful sounding instrument. Click here to see the original VCS3 in action.
The XILS-3 modular soft synth was created with a large nod in the direction of the VCS3, while taking advantage of modern and more reliable technology.

Architecture

The XILS-3 is available as a plug-in in all major formats. There is no standalone version, so it has to be used within a DAW. The installation process is a simple download and license transfer. (you need either Ilok or the syncrosoft license dongles to use the XILS-3) The plug-in comes in two forms – one as a virtual instrument, and the other as an effects processor plug-in, that can be used directly on audio tracks in the DAW.
The layout is in the form of two modules: the synthesizer and the sequencer.

The synth module’s GUI is a replica of the original VCS3. There, you will find three analog style oscillators, with level and shape control for sine, saw, triangle and square waves. Shaping the sound waves are 3 low/high pass filters, envelopes (ADSR and Trapezoid), spring reverb, ring modulation, and a noise generator. At the bottom of the module are a signal routing matrix (more details later), and an XY joystick.
The sequencer module has the same retro design style: it contains a 128-step sequencer, and all the associated control elements. On this side of the instrument are also sections for the audio inputs (pitch and transient tracking), a master section (Mono/Poly/Unison, Glide time, etc) and universal effects for the instrument, such as delay and chorus.
For more details on the features of the instrument click here

Sounds

Upon first play, the instrument sounds absolutely fantastic! The company boasts no aliasing on the oscillators, as they are using their own custom DSP algorithm, and I couldn’t hear any from sweeping up and down the frequency ranges. It certainly sounded warm and crisp. The XILS-3 contains several pre-installed preset banks, designed by some heavy hitters in the audio synthesis world. They are of excellent quality, and are a great jumping off point for deeper exploration into the architecture of the synth. The audio examples give an excellent demonstration of what’s possible.

So this synth sounds great, but there are a lot of software emulations of analog synths out there. How does this one make its presence felt? To me, this instrument really stands out with the modular Matrix. The simple grid layout enables over 450 different signal routing possibilities, without the virtual cable spaghetti you might expect (The vertical axis of the matrix being the source of the signal, and the horizontal axis being the destination, you can place a pin at the intersection between source and destination, and there’s a signal path created). I found it to be an intuitive way of quickly routing sound, and with 16 different sources and destinations, you can get very creative! It’s possible to route the same signal to different places at the same time, which has very unpredictable and sometimes beautiful sonic results. The only slight issue I had the matrix was the relative difficulty of placing the virtual pin exactly where I wanted to, due to its small size. But that’s a minor gripe.
The sequencer is also a great component of this synth. It too has a matrix, and you can route the sequences to destinations other than the oscillators, such as to the filter, envelopes or the reverb.
I also enjoyed using the pitch and transient trackers with various audio loops, to create synth and bass lines that locked in with the groove of the loops used. It took some time to figure out the signal path for using incoming audio, and there is some basic video tuition on the website, but perhaps it could be more comprehensive.

The processing requirements of the synth were quite varied. I was mainly running the plug-in with Ableton Live, on a 2.4ghz core2duo Macbookpro with 4GB Ram. The patches averaged around 10%, but sometimes used up to 40% (Of Ableton’s CPU percentage), especially when the keyboard was on the circular poly setting. So be aware of CPU-intensive patches.

Soul Design

As a part of this review, I imported some presets patches that are available from Soundsdivine, a company that creates sound presets for many of the quality softsynths available today (check out the interview we did with them).
There are two banks available, as part of the package, and they definitely compliment the preset banks that come with the synth. They cover various elements: bass, synth, pad, sequence, and FX patches, and are clearly labelled. The patches are of good quality, a lot of them reminiscent of the sounds used by Boards of Canada, Aphex twin, and Milosh. At $25 they’re definitely a worthwhile addition (especially if you’d like to get the most out of this synth without spending too many hours tweaking it). You can check them out here

CONCLUSIONS

For someone with little knowledge of synthesis, this instrument could be fairly intimidating. There is a manual, and a quick start section of the website that helps with understanding the layout of the instrument. If you’d like to understand more about synthesis – the web is a great resource. I’ll start you off here and here.

The XILS-3 is a great sounding virtual analog synthesizer, which looks to the past in emulating the warm and quirky nature of the VCS3, but also to the present by adding consistency and flexibility to the architecture. Regardless of your experience, if you are willing to invest the time and energy, you will be richly rewarded.

Price: €146.00 (including tax). An iLok or eLicenser dongle is required.
P.S: stay tuned, we should announce a special offer in the next days…

The instrument sounds absolutely fantastic!

Product page

PROS

Sounds rich and warm – a great analog emulation
Massive depth and flexibility – the routing possibilities seem endless!
Can be used as a quality effects processor as well as a synth

LOVE-IT OR HATE-IT

This is a synth for people who love synths. For the preset junkie, pass on by (and miss out). You need to invest time creating. It’s definitely worth it.

CONS

Matrix is a bit fiddly
Steep learning curve
Video tutorials could be a bit more comprehensive (look at Spectrasonics RMX tutorials)

Excerpt from:
XILS 3 review: a modern VCS3?

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Drum Tools 01: Techno samples heaven

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

As noted previously here on ANR (see our Driven Drum Machines and Tape Drum Machines reviews), smart developers are standing out from the crowd by using unique recording chains to create their sample libraries. Enter Wave Alchemy with their latest offering: Drum Tools 01––Minimal Techno & Tech House. Does this two-year-old sound design team based in the UK live up to their name and transform sounds we’ve heard before into something special?
Drum Tools 01 is available as a download containing over 1900 electronic drum samples. The list of sound sources and signal processors reads like a who’s who of classic and boutique studio gear, including top-shelf drum machines (Jomox, Elektron, Roland, etc.), analogue synthesizers (Korg, Moog, etc.), EQ’s, compressors, and filters. But Wave Alchemy didn’t stop there: the sample set also includes “field recordings and the recording of live drum and percussive instruments.”

Organized samples

For sample libraries of this size, a logical and consistent file structure is crucial. On this front, Drum Tools 01 delivers. Opening the library’s main folder reveals that the samples are well organized into six instrument categories. The usual suspects are here, such as ‘kick drums’, ‘snare drums’, and ‘hi hats’. Also included are more exotic samples, via the ‘glitch’, ‘sound effects’, ‘303 licks’, and ‘chords & stabs’ folders (the latter two offered as ‘xtra bonus sounds’).
Rounding out the library are the preset kits, samples for deeper sound design and creativity in the ‘drum tools’ folder, and, finally, this entire library dithered down to good old 16-bit for some lower fidelity goodness. Further, kick, snare, and percussion samples are arranged into subfolders by tone and type. Need a ‘punchy’ kick drum? You got it. How about a ‘layered’ snare? Check. Looking for some ‘blips & pops’? Who isn’t? Go get ‘em. Good file organization = less time searching and more time creating.

OK, time for the main event: the samples. What better way to audition Drum Tools 01 than to load up one of the 13 included drum kits? The developers really went the extra mile here by providing the kits in a variety of popular formats, which we can divide into three main categories. First off, the kit samples are copied from the main library and housed in their own folder, allowing for near universal compatibility with DAWs, samplers, and virtual instruments that load .wav files. Secondly, the same kits are presented in native sampler formats, allowing the user to load the kits quickly into Logic, Reason, Battery, etc. Finally, the drum kits are, uhm, packed into a Live pack, compatible with version 8 of the popular DAW.

The sounds

How do the kits sound? Overall, the audio quality is excellent. The kits easily meet the expectations raised by the library’s impressive specs. And the sonic scope of the kits is inspiring. Each one has a unique character, demonstrating the variety and depth that can be drawn from this library. Standouts include the ‘Berlin Minimal’ kit, with its cone-rattling kick and analogue flavored tones, as well as the ‘World Kit’, with its wide range of percussive sounds. These days, ‘fat’ and ‘warm’ are terms that get thrown around quite a bit, but the included kits prove that Drum Tools 01 earns these all-important adjectives.
The included kits are an excellent launching pad for exploring the rest of the library. I began swapping out kit pieces with immediately useful results. While developing my own kits, I was struck by the rich, full sound of this library. As good as the samples without additional processing, these sounds are just begging to be tweaked. I placed a filter plugin after some minimal stabs and chord hits, and, well, a goofy little smile crept across my face. I also placed a convolution reverb on one of my DAW’s sends, loaded up some processed 808 sounds, raised the send level, and was genuinely blown away. Wave Alchemy really hit the perfect balance with this library by creating samples that have plenty of character on their own, but without being so unique that the user is given little room to customize them.
Considering the reasonable price of this library, as well as the depth and variety of the samples offered, Drum Tools 01 easily falls into ‘must buy’ territory.

Perfection is not of this world

Well-deserved praise aside, though, there are some disappointments. For one, I found the hi hat samples to be slightly over processed. For me, many of these samples sound as if they were recorded with an EQ setting that creates an unpleasant harmonic ringing quality. On a positive note, this effect was less noticeable in the mix. And while I was impressed with the preset kits in general, there is a lack of continuity as to how they are organized. For example, the smallest kit includes 11 pieces, while the largest kit has 33, and the placement of the pieces varies among all of the kits. I think that a clear product concept would have been conveyed by the developer if the kits had been arranged consistently. The added advantage of this approach would have been that MIDI clips could have been included with this library, and even swapped between the kits, to really showcase the usefulness of these samples.
Finally, the Ableton Live pack falls short of its full potential. For example, the installation of the Live pack did not go as expected, since the drum kits were not immediately accessible. Similar drum sample libraries I have installed create drum rack presets, along with corresponding MIDI clips, right in Live’s library. However, I had to search for the drum racks and resave them in the proper folder. Additionally, the drum rack presets do not come with programmed macro knobs and effect chains. I think the developers missed an opportunity here to share their vision of how their already deep sample set can be tweaked to perfection, with a little help from Live 8’s built-in tools.

CONCLUSIONS
Drum Tools 01 offers inspiring, unique sounds that are full of character and ready to be sculpted. This package is a great choice for anyone who is not satisfied with all too often vanilla-sounding drum samples that are included in some libraries. Sound designers and beat makers should find plenty of quality material here too. In particular, the ‘drum tools’ folder contains samples for enhancing sub frequencies, as well as transient type sounds, to help add some complexity to your arrangement.
Finally, while this library has a few minor flaws, the developers appear to be actively involved in listening to user feedback, making improvements, and adding value to the package (see this thread over at kvraudio.com).

Drum Tools 01 easily falls into ‘must buy’ territory.

Product’s page

PROS

excellent file organization
high-quality 24-bit samples
wide range of highly usable sounds
Lite and Solo options great addition for less powerful computers
Bonus Convolution reverb patches
Great value for money

LOVE-IT OR HATE-IT

tweaking the original machines (if you’re lucky enough to have some of them) is much more fun than using static samples

CONS

the Live 8 pack could be improved
the hi hat samples sounded over processed
consistently arranged kits could have communicated clearer the developer’s vision for this product

by Joel Stover

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Drum Tools 01: Techno samples heaven

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New Goldbaby Product – The MPC60 vol 3

Friday, December 18th, 2009

There are several reasons for “envying” Hugo (the man behind Goldbaby’ sample libraries). He lives in New Zealand where now it’s SUMMER, he has a gorgeous collection of vintage and modern gear, and he knows how to make people happier with his products. Following his previous hits, he just released The MPC60 vol 3, a mix of Layered Drums, Vinyl Drums, Various Drum Machines, FX and even some synth sounds, sampled on the Akai MPC60. Several sound sources for this package: DMX, Vermona, Linn, Drumulator, some synths (like the Yamaha CS-10) and more…

As you would expect, it’s a library with tons of character, that it’s a pleasure to hear in the mix.
Formats: Battery 3, Refill, iDrum,Guru and Wav Pack. Price: 24$.

It’s worth mentioning that Goldbaby has released also a free ‘Christmas gift’ sample pack, The MPC60 Free.
It contains samples not in the MPC60 vol 3, and it’s downloadable here.

Now, what’s next for Goldbaby? Maybe an MPC-3000?…

Follow this link:
New Goldbaby Product – The MPC60 vol 3

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Topten Software Catabile 2.0 Performer

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Many gigging and touring pros have taken to using notebooks or even desktop computers on-stage, and why not? With all of the brilliant soft synths, samplers and effects, a laptop can replace racks full of gear and, in theory, reduce the stress that goes with managing a live rig.

However, a live software setup must also be manageable, to withstand life on the road. With the Windows-only Cantabile, Topten Software seeks to give you everything a performing musician might need in a plug-in host, with none of the studio-centric bloat that weighs down most DAWs.

More than that, the developer has provided tools aimed at maximising integration between your MIDI hardware and plug-ins.

Overview

Cantabile isn’t a traditional plug-in host, so don’t expect it to do any DAW-like editing or arranging. What’s more, there isn’t a single synth or effect in the package, as Topten is leaving the VST-stockpiling to you.

What Cantabile does is provide a thoroughly customisable workplace, with racks for your VST instruments and effects, and a means by which they can be routed to your hardware MIDI and audio interfaces, as well as each other. It gives you quick and easy access to the most important mixing parameters that you might need at a gig, such as each plug-in’s gain and pan settings, presets and wet/dry levels.

“What Cantabile does is provide a thoroughly customisable workplace, with racks for your VST instruments and effects.”

These functions are provided in ‘racks’ rather than in a familiar mixer setting, and you can stack up rack upon rack as you need to.

Instruments and effects are loaded into racks, and the racks themselves can be soloed, muted, bypassed and record armed – you can also use them to process incoming audio signals.

This method is flexible enough for just about any plug-in combo that you can imagine, though it’s not as freely patchable as a fully modular plug-in host, such as energyXT2.5 or Plogue Bidule.

In detail

As you’d expect from a product aimed at live performance, Cantabile’s MIDI implementation is very flexible. Just about any parameter on show can be assigned to virtually any MIDI controller.

For example, plug-ins can be bypassed with a single key tap via the Note to Controller Assignment, or multiple racks can be spread across the key range to create complex splits and transpositions. In fact, you can filter any incoming MIDI data or reroute it as needed.

‘Triggers’ can be defined, to control external devices whenever you perform certain actions, such as loading a new session. VST parameters can be controlled via MIDI, too, and you can switch sub-sessions via MIDI program changes.

“Though we’ve stressed that Cantabile is not a DAW, it can record and play back audio and MIDI, making it a good sketchpad for generating ideas.”

So what’s a sub-session? Well, Cantabile’s settings are stored as sessions, and a sub-session is a named variation within a session. For instance, a session might contain a selection of racks with their own instruments, effects and routings – a variation of that session using the same plug-ins but different mutes, program banks, MIDI triggers, routing entries and sync options could be saved as a sub-session for fast recall.

(2 pages; go to page: 2)

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Topten Software Catabile 2.0 Performer

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Learn To Make Hip Hop

...Learn to make hip hop music. become a true beatmaker today.

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...now browsing by tag

Ethereal Dialpad Touch App, Development Experience on Android and Beyond

Arturia Hip Hop Producer

DAW and more

Summary

Listen to some of the Hip-Hop Producer sounds:

XILS 3 review: a modern VCS3?

Drum Tools 01: Techno samples heaven

New Goldbaby Product – The MPC60 vol 3

Topten Software Catabile 2.0 Performer

Overview

In detail