The TimewARP 2600 is a digital software emulation of the classic ARP 2600 analog synthesizer. It’s sufficiently impressive that it is apparently the only ARP 2600 emulation product endorsed by the creator of the original ARP 2600, Alan R. Pearlman. The great thing about it is that the emulation runs very deep; you can “mistakenly” patch the wrong things to each other and the weird noises you’ll get are the same weird noises you’d get with the original hardware. There are some improvements over the original too — of course you can save your patches, and it has 8 voice polyphony compared to the original mono synth.

The interface is very nice. It uses the virtual patch cable interface made famous by Reason, but it is actually appropriate here in a vintage synth emulator. There are a zillion control knobs and sliders, and you can assign an unlimited number of them to a single MIDI control on your MIDI keyboard or control surface.

The TimewARP 2600 has been around for a while as a standalone soft synth, but just now Way Out Ware have released plugin versions in VST, RTAS and AU formats so they’ll fit into almost any studio. They say a TDM version is on the way, so all you Pro Tools users will be able to join the ARP frenzy soon too. Here’s the full list of features from the website.

TimewARP 2600 Synth Features

• 3 VCOs – all capable of generating audio band and Low Frequency (LF) signals.
• 1 Lo-Pass Resonant Filter – supports variable-depth self-oscillation and audio band and LF control modulation.
• 1 Sample & Hold – driven by either an internal, external, or MIDI Beat Clock. Can also be used as LFO source.
• 1 Ring Modulator.
• 1 Noise Generator – adjustable from white to red noise.
• 2 Envelope Generators – 1 ADSR, 1 AR.
• 1 Envelope Follower.
• 1 VCA – 2 audio inputs, 1 linear control input, 1 exponential control input. Also has initial gain control.
• 4 plug multiple module.
• Stereo Reverb.
• Output Pan.
• Electronic Switch.
• Lag Processor – LF filtering from 1.2 to 1200Hz.
• 2 Inverter Modules – both with attenuable inputs.
• Preamp In – mono or stereo.

TimewARP 2600 Keyboard Features

• Virtual ARP 3620 Keyboard.
• Variable-rate portamento, octave switch, pitch bend, LFO controls including delayed sine wave vibrato depth and speed.
• LFO Outputs – include square, triangle, and sine waves.
• External LFO-In – allows keyboard voltages to be modulated by any signal present on the TimewARP 2600.
• Interval Latch Switch – will latch a two note interval for use as single key play.
• 2 Upper Voice Outputs.
• Multiple or Single Trigger Mode – provides for single or multiple gates for slurred notes.
• Keyboard Repeat Mode – provides auto repeat or repeat on key-press synchronized to keyboard LFO and MIDI Beat Clock.
• Square wave is syncable to MIDI Beat Clock.

Apple Soundtrack Pro gets a good review in Mix magazine. Soundtrack Pro is Apple’s full-featured audio editor, a much more powerful version of their old Soundtrack software. Soundtrack Pro is available on its own, or as a part of the Final Cut Studio video editing software suite. This includes Final Cut Pro 5, DVD Studio Pro 4 and Motion 2, and these three programs work together with Soundtrack Pro. The review talks about his integration, calling it “seamless”, and also has some very good things to say about Final Cut Pro towards the end. However, most of the piece describes Soundtrack Pro’s features and how well they work in normal conditions.

They say that Soundtrack Pro’s user interface is straightforward and easy to understand, and powerful: “Editing is sample-accurate and non-destructive, with near-unlimited undo. And Soundtrack Pro’s script and batch processing can apply plug-ins, sample rate conversions, amplitude adjustments and more to dozens (or hundreds) of files at once simply by saving the Action as an AppleScript.”

The reviewers are impressed with the included extras: Soundtrack Pro comes with more than 50 AudioUnits and Logic plug-ins, including dynamics, EQ/filters, distortions, modulations, reverb/delays, de-noise, pitch shifter, stereo spread, sub-bass, meters, test oscillator, tuner and more, including restoration tools. They note that “several of the DSP effects are particularly impressive.”

Overall, Soundtrack Pro gets the thumbs-up, not only for music and sound editing but particularly for use in a video editing context. “Soundtrack Pro takes the concept of its predecessor light years ahead in terms of power, versatility and feature set. On my want list for the next version would be multitrack recording and track locking, but especially in view of how Soundtrack Pro integrates with and strengthens Final Cut Pro 5 and the entire Final Cut Studio Suite, this is one audio editor that, like a fine wine, will only mature and improve with age.”

The Australian newspaper’s IT section doesn’t often review music software, but they’ve just published a look at Sony’s Acid Pro 5. It’s a pretty bright and breezy review — hey start by comparing Acid to the obvious competition, Apple’s Garageband. Among Acid Pro 5’s many features, they mention the Groove Mapper quantisation tool as being ripe with possibilities. And even though the review is short, there is one simple nugget of wisdom that we should all keep in mind: “While no actual instrumental or vocal ability is required, you need your wits about you and a modicum of taste to aid in the development of the music.”

I feel they didn’t really exercise the program to its fullest extent — the only bad point they found is that the included loops soon grow stale. Apart from that they think Acid Pro 5 is good fun, describing it as “a great way to create an original score for your latest home video or presentation, and it’s perfectly possible to use the music created here as a bed for something a bit more original. … With less musical effort than ever before (why bother learning an instrument?) you could soon be able to create music that will be at least on par with half of what’s out there today.”

Remix magazine reviews Pro Tools M-Powered by Digidesign and M-Audio. They note that this version makes Pro Tools quite affordable, and even the cut-down version included in Pro Tools M-Powered is still a powerful music production system. “In light of the new level of accessibility that Pro Tools M-Powered offers, those who may have overlooked Pro Tools in the past should consider giving it another look, especially if you already own an approved M-Audio interface. Even if you don’t make Pro Tools your primary sequencer, learning the software and having the application available make working on other people’s projects and remixes that much easier.”

They also discuss other recent improvements such as the Time Trimmer for on-the-fly timestretching, and the Beat Detective LE audio quantisation tool — “perhaps the coolest addition” to Pro Tools M-Powered. On the downside, Pro Tools M-Powered is limited to 32 simultaneous audio tracks — in the old days this was ample, but these days some musicians may find 32 tracks inadequate.

Overall they are excited by the features and stability of this package. Digidesign also point out that there is another benefit — the experience you gain working with an inexpensive Pro Tools M-Powered system will be very useful when looking for work in the music industry, where Pro Tools has long been an industry standard. The review concludes positively: “There’s no question that Pro Tools M-Powered lives up to Digidesign’s reputation. I’ve always said that choosing a DAW is a matter of preference and comfort. Now, with Pro Tools M-Powered on the scene, excluding Pro Tools because of budget concerns is a thing of the past. I am a bit disappointed that M-Powered doesn’t come bundled with as many extras as LE, but the good news is, the company didn’t skimp on the application itself, as it is just as powerful as LE.”

AVOX is a new “vocal toolkit” from Antares that enables you to radically transform vocal tracks. Apart from the expected choir effect, de-esser and so on, this package lets you actually remodel a singer’s vocal path, from lungs to lips. The amount of control you have is almost grotesque: “THROAT’s graphical Throat Shaping display allows you to individually adjust the position and width of five points in the vocal tract model, from the vocal cords, through the throat, mouth and out to the lips.” You can be Dr Frankenstein in the privacy of your own laptop studio.

As they say, “now you can sound like all the voices in your head.” The website has details on the full package. They write: AVOX is a suite of five new state-of-the-art vocal processors that give you the power to create stunning vocal tracks in any musical style as well as design unique vocal effects for audio post-production applications. AVOX includes:

THROAT Physical Modeling Vocal Designer — a radical new vocal tool that, for the first time, lets you process a vocal through a meticulously crafted physical model of the human vocal tract.

DUO Vocal Modeling Auto-Doubler — using a simplified version of THROAT’s vocal modeling, along with variations in pitch, timing and vibrato depth, DUO automatically generates a doubled vocal part from an existing vocal with unmatched ease and realism.

CHOIR Vocal Multiplier — actually turns a single voice into up to 32 distinct individual unison voices, each with its own pitch, timing and vibrato variations.

PUNCH Vocal Impact Enhancer — as its name so ably implies, PUNCH gives your vocal more dynamic impact, allowing it to cut through a dense mix with clarity and power.

SYBIL Variable Frequency De-Esser — tames vocal sibilance with a flexible compressor and a variable highpass frequency to match any vocal performance.

Music Tech magazine reviews Candy, Yellow Tools’ saxophone ROMpler. Yellow Tools have built their own sample playback engine, and in this case they use it to deliver 9GB of saxophone samples covering the spectrum of sax and reed types.

As they point out, the saxophone is a very difficult instrument to sample properly because it has such a wide palette of sounds. “Candy certainly has plenty of inspiring sounds, but it still appears that sampling alone struggles to capture the range of timbres and effects saxophones can produce.” So if you really want to explore the saxophone in your computer-based music, maybe Candy isn’t for you. However, it sounds as if it could be useful for more experimental use, since there are a number of effects included: “The effects, although not chromatic, cover an assortment of squeaks, pops and squeals, and could be a great source of material for abstract sound designers.”

Despite its limitations, they give it a good 8 out of 10, citing its transparent editing of complex multi-samples, good-quality sound, and range of instruments and styles included. They call Candy “a significant leap in comparison to many existing sax samples” but suggest that there is room for improvement. I like the name, anyway.

NINJAM (Novel Intervallic Network Jamming Architecture for Music) is another way of making music collaboratively (a fancy word for “in a group”) over the Internet. This looks to run as a separate application — route audio through it, and it collects the other participants’ audio and allows you to mix it in real time. I like the way it handles network latency — instead of trying to minimise it, NINJAM automatically increases the delay to the nearest whole measure. So, as the website says, “when you play through an interval, you’re playing along with the previous interval of everybody else, and they’re playing along with your previous interval. If this sounds pretty bizarre, it sort of is, until you get used to it, then it becomes pretty natural. In many ways, it can be more forgiving than a normal jam, because mistakes propagate differently.”

This is a very different approach to something like VSTunnel. It’s weirder (which is good), and probably slightly less flexible. On the other hand, it’s available for Linux as well as MacWindows, and… it’s free.

NINJAM is probably better for live improvisation rather than highly polished pop songs. And it sounds like a lot of fun “Part tool, part toy, NINJAM is designed with an emphasis on musical experimentation and expression.” And isn’t that what it’s all about?

Remix magazine has reviewed Ableton Live 5 and say it’s the best version yet. The Track Freeze feature is an “absolute miracle,” and Clip handling also receives top marks for simplicity and usefulness. Even the included effects get a glowing description: “For all of you tweakers out there, Live 5 ships chock-full of fresh new audio effects: Beat Repeat, Auto Pan, Phaser, Flanger, Saturator, Arpeggiator (a MIDI effect) and an updated Simpler. To describe Beat Repeat, Ableton’s product information used the word addictive, and I couldn’t agree more.”

The review is quite detailed in its descriptions of Live 5’s new features. Two of the effects in particular get a mention: “Live’s new Flanger makes the cut and then some. I found it to be as addictive, if not more so, than Beat Repeat. … Almost equally impressive in my book to the Flanger is the new Phaser. … I simply love these two new effects.” They also describe the upgraded Simpler sampler , saying that it’s now more powerful yet still as easy to use as the name suggests.

Overall, they say that Ableton Live 5 is both stable and efficient, with excellent-quality new effects and top-notch time-stretching tools. Importantly, it’s still simple to use. “It’s a great program that, like a good bottle of vino, just keeps getting better with age. Best of all, despite all the new features packed in, Live retains its simple-to-learn and super-user-friendly UI. Version 5 is stable, efficient and a ton of fun to work with.”

The Didj’tizer from Virtuasonic is a VST plugin that emulates the sound of a didgeridoo. Very neat, and sounds pretty good too. It takes me back a few years to the Aphex Twin’s fantastic track Didgeridoo, which consisted of a drum machine and a didg sound generated by a homemade sound box. Now you can do it yourself in software, though it won’t be as good because you’re not the Aphex Twin.

Details from the website: Didj’tizer is a VST effect plug-in that can emulate the sound of a didjeridoo (or didgeridu), the traditional wind instrument of the Australian Aborigines of northern Australia, that is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or “drone pipe”. Didj’tizer can process your voice (or every audio source you will choose as its input) and make it sound like it is passing through a didjeridoo. It is particularly suitable for creating rhythmic parts and pulsating drones. Features:

• Tuning (from C0 to B3)
• Tube resonance
• Brightness
• Hardness
• Harmonic Balance
• Input and output level control

E-MU have updated the software bundle that comes with their audio production hardware. Their Production Tools Software Bundle is an impressive collection of software, including versions of Ableton Live, Cubase, and Wavelab amongst others. It’s also available separately to existing owners of E-MU audio production systems. They say: “The new Production Tools Software Bundle is now shipping with all of E-MU’s Digital Audio Systems, as well as Proteus X and Emulator X Studio. This powerful software bundle includes a comprehensive collection of software — everything you need to create, record, edit, master and burn your music.”

Everything you need to create, record, edit, master and burn is in the box, including:
Cakewalk SONAR LE – Audio/MIDI Production
Steinberg Cubase LE – Audio/MIDI Production
Ableton Live Lite 4 for E-MU Systems – Audio/MIDI Production
Steinberg WaveLab Lite – Audio Editor
IK Multimedia Amplitube LE – Guitar Amp & FX Modeling Plug-In
IK Multimedia T-RackS EQ – Mastering EQ Plug-in (some bundles substitute Minnetonka Audio Software discWelder BRONZE – DVD Audio Authoring)
SFX Machine LT – Audio Multi-effects Plug-in
E-MU Proteus X LE – Desktop Sound Module