Modulate This! - News, Tips and Links for Electronic Musicians and Producers

FAW Circle Synthesizer Sound Design Tip: Hidden Tab Parameters + Modulating Filter with Keyboard Tracking

I’ve been doing some sound design work with Future Audio Workshop Circle Virtual Synthesizer.

While most of the parameters are visible on the main page of the user interface, some are only accessible via tabs along the bottom of the interface. So to search for sounds, access keyboard and arpeggiator controls, global settings, effects, and midi modulation routines use the tabs at the bottom.

For example, if you ant to modulate the filter so that it tracks the keyboard (the higher the note the brighter the sound):

1. Click the “Keyboard Tab”
2. Drag the grey modulation output dot on the bottom pane marked “keyb1 and…
3. Drop it on the modulation input hole for “Filter Frequency”

That’s all there is to it. Note this same modulator is mapped by default to oscillator “Course” tuning. If you remove this modulator from “Course” tuning the pitch for the oscillator will be static and not track with the keyboard.

In my previous post, I talked about the using the Wacom Tablet with Ableton Live. This same posts mentions how to configure Ableton Live to "-_EnsureKeyMessagesForPlugins". You'll need to follow the instructions in this post if you want to enter keyboard data into Circle - such as patch info. It's worth mentioning that the Wacom also works really well with Circle interface and is extremely well suited to the drag-and-drop modulation interface.

Links:

• Official web page for Circle
• Modulate This Review of Circle

Mark Mosher
http://www.modulatethis.com
http://www.markmoshermusic.com
http://www.twitter.com/markmosher

Sound Design with Gladiator 2: HCM Synthesis Explained

Update: checkout the discount link on the right side of the blog.

I started using Tone 2 Gladiator 1 a year ago and recently upgraded to Gladiator 2. Gladiator 1 & 2 are based on a new type of synthesis called Harmonic Content Morphing (HCM). HCM offers a clever way to generate wavetables with a massive variety of harmonic content that can be modified over time. Tone2’s approach with HCM is quite unique so I put together this video which offers a step-by-step explanation of what HCM synthesis is and how to use it. These techniques apply to both Gladiator 1 & 2.

Watch Video on YouTube:

If you like the sound of Gladiator 2 but find it too expensive, you should check out Firebird+. Firebird+ only has a fraction of the the editing capabilities but is still quite a capable instrument for the price.

Links:

• Other posts on Gladiator
• Hear Gladiator 2 on my single “Stealth". I created multiple custom presets for the lead arpeggiator sound and for many other tracks within this song.
• Modulate This Posts on Gladiator:
• My review of Gladiator 1
• How to open the editor interface
• Tone2 Page - Learn more about Gladiator 2
• Tone2 Page - What’s new in Gladiator 2

Mark Mosher
http://www.modulatethis.com
http://www.twitter.com/markmosher

Camel Audio Alchemy Tips: Link to Manual, Keyswitching, and Manager Presets for Controls

 

The more I use Camel Audio’s Alchemy, the more I like it. I’m using it right now to create some original content for some of my music, and for some upcoming libraries for Modulate This!

As I use it, I’ll be sure to pass along tips. Here a few.

Manual
The manual is quite good. In case you somehow missed it, it’s available in two forms:

• Online Searchable Alchemy Manual
• PDF Alchemy Manual

Keyswitching

You can use keys on a MIDI controller to switch between performance snapshots (Keyswitching). Click the Octave pop-up menu next to the Remix Pad select the bottom MIDI note you want to user for control. Eight notes starting from the one you selected (including white and black keys) now map to the Remix Pad and will no longer trigger notes.

File Pop-Up’s

 

Alchemy has  “FILE” buttons in various locations on the interface. These button open a context-sensitive menu and can be used manage presets for a particular control. Menus typically include load, save, copy, paste, clear, and randomize. In the above image, I clicked the file button in the MSEG section to load Pulse 16 Multi-Segment Envelope Generator. You can also build your own presets. The same idea applies for managing presets for LFOs, Envelopes, Effects and more. This is simply a fantastic feature you use over and over.

See other Modulate This! articles on Alchemy.

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com
www.twitter.com/markmosher

Video Tutorial: How To Use Ableton Live Racks To Create Multi-Sampled Instruments

Watch Video: How To Use Ableton Live Racks to Create Multi-Sampled Instruments

I’ve seen questions recently in Modulate This comments, and on the Ableton Live forum regarding the creation of multi-sampled instruments in Ableton Live. This video tutorial is  step-by-step how-to video that walks you through the creation of a velocity switched multi-sampled instrument using Ableton Live, Ableton Simpler, Instrument Racks, and Drum Racks.

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com
www.twitter.com/markmosher

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Modulate This! - Best Products of 2008 for Electronic Musicians

Hope you all are having a restful holiday season. I continuously strive for the leanest rig that will give me the best results. In this post I’ll offer a list products that make up the core of my rig. Consider this my “If I was stranded on a desert island” list for 2008.  Note that some products in my list were not new in 2008, but I’m still using them tons so they’ve made the list. If you want to see all the elements of my rig, check out this photo album on MySpace.

Best DAW – Ableton Live 7, $499
For me, Live has been become more than a DAW. It’s at the core of everything I do and after years of use feels more like a musical instrument to me than some piece of software. See all my posts on Live here. Official Live site is here.

Best Hybrid Synthesizer - Camel Audio Alchemy , $249
Camel Audio just released a new synth called Alchemy. They've been working on it for 4 years. It's an additive, spectral, granular, virtual analog synth. The interface is really well done with a clever scheme for routing modulation. I think it’s one of the finest virtual instruments I’ve ever used. I’ll be writing more posts about this synth in the future. For now you can learn more about it here.

Runner up for me in this category is Native Instruments Absynth 4. It’s not new this year but is also a great synth. I also want to mention Spectosonics Omnisphere. I don’t own it and I haven’t tried it (no demo available), but from what I’ve read and seen in demo videos it’s a monster synth. I went with Alchemy because it has a much smaller footprint and has more features for those like me who want to manipulate our own samples.

Best Virtual Analog Synthesizer - Rob Papen’s Predator, $179
Predator is a virtual analog synthesizer for Windows or Mac that runs as a plug-in (VST, Audio Unit, RTAS).  It ships with a huge library of presets, and built-in tools for patch browsing and search.  It also has some innovative features such as preset morphing, intelligent preset variation, and chord memory. Even though Predator didn’t release this year, Rob Papen keeps the synth fresh with free updates. More posts here …

Best Controller Keyboard - Novation Remote SL, Starting at $299

I still love the way this controller and Automap 2 software helps make using software more like using a physical instrument. Check out official site here. I still get a lot of traffic on my posts on the M-Audio Axiom series controllers so it’s clearly a popular choice if you can’t afford the Remote SL.

Best Controllers for Those on the Go -Korg Nano Series, $49-59

This year Korg released USB powered slim-line controllers nanoKey, nanoKontrol, and nanoPad. I have Key and Kontrol and can say they are fantastic if you want more control while making music from your laptop. More here http://korgnano.com/.

Best Bang for the Buck USB Audio Interface - Novation Nio, $249
Microphone/instrument or line-level sources, low latency effects (Direct Mix Monitoring, 'Overloud' Guitar amp and distortion pedal effects, effects from the Supernova II and signal processing from Focusrite), two headphone outputs, four RCA outputs. All this for $249! See official site.

Best iPhone Music App – iDrum, Ocarina
Hmmm. This is a tough one as there is so much innovation going on in this space. My two favorites are iDrum and Ocarina.

iDrum has a great interface for making beats on the go and synchronizes with iDurm for the PC and Mac. Read more about it here.

Ocarina turns your iPhone into a true musical instrument. It uses every feature of the iPhone and has some fantastic social connection features. Checkout the official site here.

Best Field Recorder – Zoom H2, $179
I just got one of these back in November. It’s really fantastic. It weighs 4 ounces and has 4 mic capsules onboard for 360° recording in a W-X/Y configuration. You can also use it as a USB mic. I blogged about it here.

Buy Online
Most of these items can be purchased online. Support Modulate This! buy using these links: Musicians Friend, Guitar Center, Zzounds.

Share Your List
I’m sure many of you out there have a your own list so feel free to share your list using the comments link at the bottom of this post.

See You in 2009!
Have a safe new years eve and I’ll see you in 2009.

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com

Hans Zimmer Uses the Zebra 2 Software Synth on "The Dark Knight"

Hans Zimmer, composer the latest Batman film The Dark Knight, used Uhe's Zebra 2 software synthesizer extensively on the soundtrack.

In Uhe's latest newsletter, Zimmer says he uses  "...mainly Zebra and no other plugin synth... I don’t believe that there is another software synth out there at the moment that has such a core sonic integrity as Zebra."

Read more on Page 3 of U-he's newsletter.

Links:

• http://www.u-he.com/
• >http://www.u-he.com/zebra/

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com

A Video of Ben Burtt Discussing His Sound Design Work on Pixar's WALL∙E

Checkout this great video interview with Ben Burtt, the sound designer for Pixar's latest film WALL-E. If you are not familiar with Ben Burtt, he's the sound designer who worked on huge films such as Star Wars, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and Indiana Jones to name a few. I thought it was interesting he was using an Edirol Midi Controller and a light pen to trigger and modulate sounds. Also, his use of "found" sound to create unique cues is really creative.

I also dug up these links on the film:

• Disney Insider Article featuring Ben Burtt
• WALL-E YouTube Channel
• Official WALL-E Web Site

Mark Mosher
www.modulatethis.com
www.markmoshermusic.com

Filmsound.org - Site Dedicated to the Art and Analyses of Film Sound Design

If you are interested in the ins-and-outs of sound design for film I have the site for you ,
http://www.filmsound.org/ . Lots of great articles, a beginners guide, historical information, industry terms, and much much more.