Computer Music magazine reviews Pro Tools M-Powered, the new hardware/software combo DAW from Digidesign. Pro Tools is already legendary in the digital audio workstation world, and this version comes with an M-Audio interface instead of their proprietary audio interface. The version of Pro Tools included is a cut-down version of the full product. In fact, it’s almost identical to Pro Tools LE, the standard “lite” version of Pro Tools.) Still, the limitations aren’t too severe — the review points out that this version handles 32 audio tracks instead of 96, and does not include the TDM system for eliminating latency when processing sounds in real time.

The automation system in this version of Pro Tools is full-strength: “everything from volume to plug-in parameters can be programmed dynamically, either by recording fader/pot movements or drawing in a contour.”

They also point out tat the MIDI sequencing features are undiminished — you can even still use 256 tracks if you really want to– but that the MIDI capabilities aren’t as good as a dedicated MIDI sequencer. Still, this version of Pro Tools is ReWire-friendly, so you can use another sequencer without too much trouble.

In the end, they rate it as 8 out of ten and give it a special nod for its excellent performance. In a nutshell, they call Pro Tools M-Powered “superb audio multitracking software.”

VideoSystems review Cakewalk Sonar 4. They rate it as a solid performer in the digital audio workstation stakes: “The new additions to this program, coupled with its rock-solid performance and generous feature set, make Sonar 4 a must-consider contender if you’re looking for a native processor-based DAW.”

They had good results with connectivity, and also rate the included effects very highly. The loop manipulation features enabled by the new Groove Clip features are not as good as in Ableton Live (what is?) but are still said to be quite acceptable. They also like the video sync features, though they’re not as flexible as Nuendo — but again, that’s probably not a fair comparison.

As mentioned, syncing video to audio tracks was not always as easy as it could have been; the reviewer also had a mysterious problem recording soft synths, where the first note would fail to play. Aside from these hiccups, there were no real downsides to SONAR 4. In the end, they give it a solid if not outstanding rating and conclude that “Sonar 4 has many highly usable features and is easy to learn, which makes it a worthy contender for your dollar.”

Computer Music magazine review Ableton Live 5 in their September issue. Everyone has been excited about this latest update, and with good reason — they give it an Editor’s Choice award, and also awards for Innovation and Performance. They have always championed Live — “In terms of technology, ergonomics, workflow and on-stage usability, Live stands alone, doing things that no other software can do in ways that are genuinely inspirational.” As for this new version, they simply say that “Live 5 is the most exciting and forward-thinking audio application on the market.”

The review runs through a few of the new features. “Live 5 introduces the brand-new Auto-Warp algorithm, designed to automatically and perfectly Warp absolutely anything you throw at it.” Warping is Live’s process for detecting tempo and beats in audio files, and the new Auto-Warp automates a process that had to be done manually in previous versions. Related to this, there’s also the Complex Warp Mode — “an amazing sounding frequency-domain algorithm for timestretching full pieces of music.” They say that Auto-Warp is an amazing piece of technology, and while it isn’t perfect, its ability to work an many styles of music is “a total triumph.”

They are also impressed with improvements in navigation interface. The Clip View transport system makes it easier to work with Clip Loops, which can now be defined more flexibly. The Arrangement View has similar improvements, and the Session View now has Nudge buttons for easy fine adjustments to track timing. All these new adjustments work in sync with the global quantise setting, so they’re good for live performance or quick and easy studio work. In general, they say, “shuttling and navigation in Live is far easier than it was in version 4.”

Live 5 also has a Track Freeze feature, which conserves CPU by pre-rendering a track (complete with instruments and effects) to an audio file. There’s also a new feature called Live Clips — dragging a clip from the Session View into any folder in the browser saves it as a Live Clip, which can be previewed and loaded into another Live Set. Live Device chains can also be saved and reloaded as presets, which they say “empowers” Live users to create their own libraries of effects.

Apart from these major features, they are also excited about a long-overdue feature — there are now contextual menus available throughout Live. We’re so used to using these in other applications that their absence in previous versions of Live was always a bit odd.

The only gripes in the review are the lack of fine control over global tempo (particularly important to live DJs) and editing in the Arrangement View. These aren’t new problems, and they are minor, but the reviewers feel that improvements here would make for an even better product. They would also like to see more improvements in overall DAW workflow, though this must depend on how you plan to use Live.

Their final rating is nine out of ten — I doubt they would ever give ten for such a large program. “Live 5 is an extremely well-realised update … it’s the sheer weight and ingenuity of the new features that impresses this time round.” If you’re thinking about upgrading, they say, “version 5 really is a must-have,” and for everyone else, “you simply have to check it out.”

Computer Music magazine reviews LiveSet, an interesting MIDI environment manager from PeterTools. It scores a perfect ten — they gave a top rating and an “Innovation” award. LiveSet is a ReWire host that provides low-level control of MIDI devices. It displays software instruments and sequences and lets you control them in real time, and reroute MIDI to any physical MIDI output or ReWire device. Devices are wired to various LiveSet modules, which are presented in a great big virtual rack like Reason — oh well, nothing’s perfect.

The LiveSet modules do various fairly simple things, like transpose MIDI notes to a different pitch, or generate chords from single notes. There’s an LFO, which simply generates an oscillating MIDI control signal, and a module that smooths out velocity information from MIDI notes (excellent if your keyboard skills are as rudimentary as mine). These simple modules turn out to be very useful — the reviewer thinks that LiveSet “serves to highlight the MIDI limitations of most ‘pro’ software!”

Reason users get extra modules — one allows you to trigger sets of mutes and solos by simply hitting a MIDI key. Another lets you manipulate loop positions and directions and so remix your tracks in real time. They say these open up huge possibilities, especially when performing live — “Incredible!”

The modules are simple, but according to this review, LiveSet is more than the sum of its parts. When they are brought together, “the effect they have on live performance is staggering.” Overall they give it a perfect ten out of ten and say: “This is a perfectly executed, insanely useful program that any aspiring live musician would be mad to overlook; once you’ve tried it, you’ll genuinely wonder how you ever got by without it.”

iZotope have announced a new deal on their three plug-ins — for academic users. Students and teachers can get the Ozone 3 mastering system, the Trash distortion effect, and the Spectron effects processor in a bundle for half price. Interesting — I seem to remember that Propellerhead Software have some sort of academic deal for Reason as well. More power to these people for investing in the future of music. From the website, here are details of iZonic’s plugins:

Ozone 3 — Integrated Mastering System with Analog Modeling
iZotope’s Ozone 3 combines analog modeling with 64-bit digital precision to deliver a complete integrated suite of world-class mastering processors. Ozone 3 isn’t a collection of plug-ins — it’s a single powerful interface that combines all the required mastering tools in one system, making it easier to understand and use the mix.

Trash — Complete Distortion Processor
iZotope Trash sets a new standard in distortion and amp modeling. With its wide range of 64-bit box, cabinet, and speaker models, multiband distortion algorithms, fully sweepable and triggerable filters, and unique delay module, Trash is able to provide a superior sound with tremendous flexibility.

Spectron — Spectral Domain Effects Processing
Spectron is a complete effects processing software package. Users will find standard effects including delay, chorus, filter, flange, panning and morphing as recognizable starting points to a completely unique set of effects. Spectron uses spectral domain processing to provide control over selective frequency bands for a unique and nearly limitless sonic palette. Spectron’s elegant, easy-to-navigate interface allows users to quickly access the power of the software’s unique sound-shaping transformation possibilities.

Propellerhead Software have transmogrified all the sounds from their legendary ReBirth soft synth into a ReFill pack. This is essentially a sound library for use by Reason. They have done this as part of their ReBirth Museum project. The ReBirth ReFill is free to registered Reason users.

There’s a brief blurb on the ReBirth Museum website: “To fill the gap left by the now discontinued ReBirth application, Propellerhead Software presents the ReBirth ReFill! A 100 mb monster ReFill that not only recreates the sounds of the original application, but also of all of the Mods that were available on the Propellerhead website.”

The ReBirth RB-338 ReFill can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Propellerhead website. Go the ReFill section and look for the Free ReFills.

Cubase SX 3.1 and Cubase SL 3.1 upgrades are now available from Steinberg. I said earlier that Steinberg had said the Cubase 3.1 upgrade would be released in late August. They did make it, but only just — the press release came out on the 31st.

Despite having dozens of new features, the new upgrade is free to registered Cubase users. I mentioned before that the main feature in Cubase 3.1 is improved hardware integration. The website also discusses some of the other previously-noted features:

“The 3.1 versions of Cubase SL and Cubase SX also offer a range of other new features. These include the new “Equal-Power” panner which maintains equal power across the entire panning range, while the new Mixer key commands offer full control of the entire VST mixer using customized key commands. Users of Cubase SX/SL 3.1 can also render playback parameters into MIDI data, “freezing” MIDI track play parameters quickly and permanently for project transfer to another application. Cubase SX/SL 3.1 include advanced multiprocessor support, including the latest dual-core processors from AMD and Intel, giving professional users full access to the latest high-end workstation computers with dramatic performance gain. Cubase SX3.1 now supports Steinberg’s DTS and Dolby Digital Encoder plug-ins, allowing Cubase SX users to encode to these popular industry-standard surround formats.”

The ReBirth Museum is an online homage to one of the great music software products. Propellerhead Software have discontinued ReBirth, created this website shrine to its brilliance, and — here’s the nice bit — made the software freely available from the site.

ReBirth was a landmark product in the history of software instruments. It was a perfect emulation of three classic Roland synth modules: the TB303 Bass Line and the TR808 and (on later versions) TR909 Rhythm Composers, as heard on thousands of records over the last 20 years. ReBirth was a huge success and made Propellerhead Software famous, and Reason followed in ReBirth’s wake. Now you can learn more than you ever really needed to know about ReBirth, and also get a copy for yourself.

The ReBirth Museum now has the software itself, modifications for it, forums, and thousands of downloadable songs for you to play with. At the time, the buzz was immense — as it says on the website, the whole “hardware-in-software” concept was quite futuristic a little while ago: “Propellerhead Software’s ReBirth RB-338 pioneered a new era of music instrumentation that merged the principles of “virtual reality” with historic synthesizers and drum machines. This concept seemed impossible at the time, but has since become a common trend in music software. Since its introduction in 1997, ReBirth has influenced numerous companies to take advantage of contemporary technology by incorporating computer simulation into the latest generation of products.”

Voxengo have released a new version of CurveEQ, their “WYSIWYG linear phase spline equalizer.” It lets you draw the EQ curve instead of having to use sliders, and it shows you the frequency spectrum of the input and output signal so you can fine-tune your sound. Version 2.3 has a redesigned interface and some stability and performance tweaks, but is otherwise pretty much the same as previous versions. It’s nor necessarily the only EQ you’ll need: “CurveEQ perfectly suits the needs of mastering, and in some cases CurveEQ is suitable for use as an in-track FX insert.”

It has a few other features that set it apart from a basic EQ. You can essentially copy and paste a frequency spectrum betweeen recordings — quite a nifty idea that would help you copy one track’s “sound” to another. They also emphasize the vintage processing possibilities of CurveEQ, and there’s a slightly mysterious feature called “GearMatch”, which you can read more about below.

The website contains details and specifications. They say: Voxengo CurveEQ implements SpectruMatch spectrum matching technology that allows you to perfectly transfer a spectrum’s slope from one recording to another. This allows you to `copy’ a frequency balance of existing mixes so that other mixes that are still in the works will sound better. This technology also greatly helps in music disc mastering, since using it allows you to easily lessen any dramatic differences in the area of frequency balance between various tracks.

GearMatch technology allows you to transfer impulse responses of high-end analog audio gear to your digital audio, while allowing you to adjust frequency response freely. This results in a great improvement of sonic qualities. With this technology, all your tracks will sound unbelievably professional and vintage.

CurveEQ has a Vintage Processor which allows you to polish your sounds. Just turn it on and you will get a great deal of presence effect. Also, CurveEQ includes a compressing saturator. When it is enabled, the processed sound gets an additional vintage feel. You can use the saturator to create professional sounding vocal, guitar and bass tracks. In addition, it can be used on almost any audio material, especially during the mastering process as a vintage loudness maximizer.

Groove Analogizer is an “audio controlled drum synthesizer” from NUSofting. I like this idea. Instead of a VST instrument triggered by MIDI notes, it’s loaded as a VST effect — audio goes in, and drums come out with timing based on the input. One of the many fun things you could do with this is use a human beatbox as the trigger — nod your head and say “boom chikka chikka ah boom” into the mic, run it through Groove Analogizer, and out comes a synth drum pattern.

Their website explains that “audio controlled drum synthesizer”, means that “like a vintage electronic drum tone generator (e.g. Simmons) the percussion sound is triggered by an audio input, not by a MIDI message. This also means that you must not load, in the host, Groove Analogizer as a VST instrument, it loads as a VST effect, usually in an insert slot.”

And full details on the actual sound generators in this plugin are on the website too. The rest of the explanation goes like this: It’s really a synth: the sound of three oscillators is triggered and shaped by the audio input in many ways.

How triggering works in Groove Analogizer: a trigger can be any kind of percussive sound, both mono or stereo, it can be a wav file ot another VST instrument. (percussive means: with fast attack time and fast or moderate decay/release time)

For each of the three generators you can choose left, right or left+right input, input can be both mono or stereo, then a band pass filter allows you to select (coarse and fine) which frequency range of the audio source will be used for triggering, this way you can separate hi, mid and low tones in the audio input, allowing you to isolate different trigger patterns from the same complex audio source (e.g. you can input a full drums loop and select snare for trigger 1, bass drum for trigger 2 and hihat for trigger 3). Groove Analogizer also features Pre-Listening (PL button), so that you can monitor which part of the source is selected as trigger.

Another control at the input named Sensivity allows to fine select the loudest triggers filtered by the band pass. So that you may include ghost notes or avoid them.