Jazz Sessions
Publisher - Loopmasters
Price - £80
Contact - Time + Space 01837 55200
Web - www.loopmasters.com

You can’t always judge a book by its cover. This maxim, it seems, also applies to sample collections. Cool looking covers evoking ‘fifties jazz’ sometimes turn out to contain frenetic electric jazz-fusion performances. Not so with Jazz Sessions, which captures perfectly the sounds and moods you might expect to experience at an intimate jazz venue.

It’s a mighty collection - 3GB of drums, percussion, bass (acoustic and fretless) trumpets, trombones, saxophones, flutes, guitars (acoustic and electric) and keys (Hammond, Rhodes and acoustic piano) – all played by seasoned jazz musicians.

The content is presented as Acid Wav and Rex2. But in the case of the double bass, old jazz piano, Rhodes and the three drum kits, you also get ready-to-play patches for NNXT, HALion, Kontakt, EXS24 and SFZ. Tempos are widely varied (60-270 bpm).

The horns have been recorded both individually – performing short solo licks – and as a section, playing chords and riffs. However, although most of the sampled sections include a fruity baritone sax, for some reason it’s been left out of the solo folders, which seems a shame.

Technically, everything here is well recorded but performance-wise; much of the horn section work is very loose. Presumably that’s intentional, for stylistic reasons. However, several saxophone squeaks and the odd brass fluff have escaped through the net, spoiling what is otherwise, a fine sample collection.

Overall, though, this is a unique collection, very cool, very authentic and perfect for injecting some jazz attitude into your music.

Verdict – An authentic, mainly acoustic jazz sample collection that’s ideal material for jazz influenced producers.

Every summer most of the major sample library producers treat their customers to a new House or Trance samples CD, which underlines the enduring strength of these particular musical styles. Electro House is a much sought after genre at present and Loopmasters teamed up with Andy Lee of Barcoda Recordings (www.myspace.com/barcodarecordings) to compile their latest collection, Electro House Producer.

As usual, you get a lot for your money on a Loopmasters CD and this one is packed with all of the contemporary sounds needed to produce your own Electro House tracks – drum loops, analogue bass lines and patches, synth loops, FX, and 150 single electro drum samples. In addition you get 100 vocal samples including a robotised set with spoken lines. In fact the only missing ingredient is a hit melody, which of course, is down to you.

Categorised according to tempo – 125, 127 and 130 bpm Electro House is a very well produced set, which has been in the making since late last year. It was time well spent and the end result is a wealth of up-to-the-minute useful material for House producers presented in Acidised Wav, Rex2, NNXT, Halion, Kontakt, and EXS-24 format. It’s also ready to use with Stylus RMX, Ableton Live and Cakewalk SFZ compatible samplers.

At the moment Electro House Producer is available as a download only but by the time you read this review the CD will probably be on sale, along with a second audio disc, for easy auditioning of sounds.

Verdict – Loopmasters sample CDs are always good value for money and Electro House Producer is up to their usual consistently high standard, crammed full of useful contemporary loops and samples.

Indonesia the Magic

Publisher - Discovery Sound
Contact - overseas@discoveryfirm.com
Web - www.discoverysound.com

Discovery Sound’s ethnic sample sets are always a treat and this CD-ROM of Indonesian stringed, wind and percussion instruments, with a few vocals thrown in, is no exception. Think of Bali or Java, in musical terms, and the distinctive sound of the gamelan orchestra inevitably springs to mind. Comprised of bronze metallophones, flutes and drums, these exotic ensembles have been skilfully captured by world music producer Makoto Kubota, in both solo instrument and ensemble forms.

But there is more to Indonesian music than gamelan. Jegog ensembles consist mainly of bamboo instruments and they, too, have been recorded in multi-sample format.

The tabla is called a gedang in Indonesia and a generous selection of short patterns and one-shot examples can be found in the percussion section.  However, the real rhythmic gems, a set of intriguing jungle-like chants, are located in the Indonesian voice percussion folder.

Only one stringed instrument, the rubab, is presented here, which is a shame because it produces a rather beautiful, if plaintive sound. The suling, a bamboo flute, fares better with dozens of short melodic passages, in five different keys.

As usual, on Discovery Sound’s ethnic sets there are male and female solo vocal performances plus a reading, this time spoken by a young woman.

It all adds up to a classy sample set, meticulously recorded (completely dry) and obviously well planned from the outset. Supported formats include Acid WAV (645 files), Battery (2 programs), Kontakt (8 programs), Mach Five (8 programs) and Rex 2 (276 files).

Verdict – If you need authentic Indonesian samples for either a music or multi-media production you’re bound to find something suitable among these top-quality Gamelan, vocal and instrumental sets.

I Love Tibet

Publisher – Discovery Sound
Contact – overseas@discoverysound.com
Web – www.discoverysound.com

We always enjoy reviewing ethnic sample libraries from Discovery Sound because, quite frankly, they never disappoint. Interesting content and immaculately produced recordings, usually made in authentic locations are the norm.

‘I Love Tibet’ focuses mainly on Buddhist music and chanting – sacred percussion, wind instruments and sutras – together with more traditional percussion, winds and strings associated with Tibetan opera.

Because of the occupation of Tibet, by China, the location recording took place in Dharamsala, India, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. As a consequence of the occupation, Tibetan culture is constantly under threat but the refugees living in India faithfully preserve the traditional music, both religious and secular.

As usual the entire album appears to have been well planned from the outset and adheres mainly to a simple Acid/Wav/Rex2 format for the three main instrument categories: wind, strings and percussion. That goes for the vocal samples, too, a rich variety of spoken words, phrases and songs from men, women and children plus solo mantras and group chanting by Buddhist monks. In addition, a couple of the stringed instruments are available in Kontakt format and the wonderful Tibetan percussion, bells and cymbals are also presented in Battery format.

All in all, this is a delightful collection and considering the cost of the location recording, good value for money. We recommend a visit to the Discovery Sound website, where you can preview the samples and movie demos (full-length movie on the CD) of the recorded instruments and performers.

Verdict – A superb collection of loops, one-shots and multisamples evocative of Tibetan traditional and religious music.

Future Chill: Mellow chilled electronica loop collection (ACID / REX2).
Publisher – Equinox Sounds
Contact – contact@equinoxsounds.com
Web – www.equinoxsounds.com

Anybody seeking audio loops these days doesn’t have to look far. A quick google around the Web will yield a plethora of companies offering expensive loop libraries in every conceivable genre of electronic music. Even corporate giants like Sony are grabbing a slice of the market. Search for longer, though, and you’ll eventually unearth smaller companies like Equinox Sounds, from Barcelona. With their own studio and a team of freelance producers, they’re out to prove that small can be not only beautiful but original as well.

Their latest offering, Future Chill, is a well-conceived assemblage of loops and phrases for use with chilled electronica tracks. The overall focus is on melody and, to that end, a selection of melody files are included. Although very uplifting and distinctly European in flavour a more apt description might have been arpeggios and chord sequences, rather than melodies. Nevertheless, we liked them a lot and would certainly recommend them as ideal kick-starters for this kind of music.

Three further elements include Ambient Sequences (a collection of short pulsating synth textures), Synth lines (111 widely varied lines and arpeggios, some of which can be used as bass lines) and Drum Loops (9 folders of artistically programmed drum loops at tempos ranging between 80 and 120 bpm).

Presented in ACID and Rex2 formats, this is a quality library, well programmed and imaginatively produced, without resorting to gimmicks. Buy with confidence because it’s all good stuff and good value for money. Let’s hear it for the little guys.

Verdict – A very professional loop library for chilled electronica music producers at an affordable price – recommended.

It’s been a long time arriving but MOTU have certainly upped the ante with their updated Universal Sampler, MachFive 

It was announced as long ago as 2005 and alleged sightings have been reported ever since but MachFive 2 has finally touched down. Surround sound capable and deemed light years ahead of its nearest competitors, MOTU’s Universal Sampler first appeared in the fall of 2003. But four years is a long time to wait for an update and some MachFive devotees on the Apple Mac platform switched to rival applications like Kontakt 2 when the Intel machines arrived. Their reasoning was simple. They could continue working (Windows users, of course, were not affected). Might they now be tempted back?

What’s new?

This is, without doubt, a very significant upgrade with a plethora of new features: 32GB of audio content, surround sound up to 7.1, unlimited parts per instance, disk streaming, a new graphics engine with full-screen editing, modular synthesis, layered keygroup mapping with rule-based switching, a new built-in mixer view, a slew of effects including convolution reverb, loop slicing and destructive/non-destructive sample editing including time-stretching. And that’s only the half of it.

Like version 1, MachFive 2 runs standalone or as a plug-in (MAS, VST, AU, RTAS, DXi) but now handles direct file importation, without the previous conversion utility. In fact, you can now use most popular third-party libraries as if they were native MachFive files. GigaSample, EXS24 and Kontakt 2 files, for example, are all translated complete with their original preset data.

Many legacy hardware CDs, too, from the likes of Roland, Akai and EMU remain supported. These oldies won’t be recognised directly by your PC or Mac but they can be accessed within MachFive. However, there are some formats that it doesn’t recognise (and its main rival Kontakt 3 does) such as Reason NN-XT, Halion and Battery - not a major drawback by any means but it might put some people off.

Many musicians, though, may never stray beyond the impressive 32GB of sounds supplied on four DVDs, which includes an 8GB concert grand piano, a comprehensive range of instruments and loops, surround sounds (string orchestra, drum kits/loops and church organ) and a selection of hi-res instruments (192K).

Of particular interest to film and media composers – and there are many that use MOTU’s Digital Performer - will be the specially licensed Vienna Symphonic Library collection, which makes full use of MachFive’s new layer rules feature for triggering natural vibrato. A full orchestra is represented and as expected, sounds great. However, conspicuous by their absence are the solo string instruments, violin, viola and cello.

Just browsing

Browsing files and sound management has been significantly improved. In fact, it’s the best around, in our opinion. So often these tasks interfere with and impede our workflow but MOTU have obviously spent considerable time and effort making the process as simple and as efficient as possible. The new translucent full-screen browser with multiple columns is a lot easier to use than the smaller side-bar-style browsers found in Kontakt 3 and other applications.

Unlimited parts per instance are now available and a new part-by-part disk-streaming feature enables more efficient loading and playback of very large presets. These are very welcome features but perhaps a more significant attraction, especially to those interested in sound design, will be the merging of sample editing, loop slicing (new feature), synthesis and FX into a “unified environment” with expandable editors. The Sample, Mapping and Loop Lab editors are superb, inviting even, making the creation of new instruments a truly enjoyable experience, not always the case in other samplers.

Loop Lab supports Rex, Acid, and Apple Loop files. But you can also drag and drop any audio file into a part and Loop Lab opens automatically, maps the slices and calculates the tempo. Once the editing process is complete you can drag the loop back into your sequencer. And if you drag the loop to a MIDI track it appears as MIDI data, allowing further manipulation.

The sample editing tools are, of course, still available - truncating, normalizing, fading and so on – along with a range DSP manipulations. All these functions are sample-accurate and can be performed in real time while listening to a full mix. With the addition of the DSP features, this is now quite a powerful waveform editor in its own right, adding real value to the product.

MachFive’s Loop Lab supports drag-and-drop audio and provides advanced time-stretching and pitch-shifting features, plus beat-slicing too. The GUI makes using the module a good all-round experience.

Effects in MachFive 2 can be controlled by tweaking their parameter readouts as well as by knobs and sliders

A third dimension

Perhaps the most interesting new feature – it’s certainly the most complicated – is the provision of three-dimensional layered keygroup mapping. Unlimited layers are available with rule-based layer switching. How does it work? Basically, two or more layers can be built to create complex layers within a part or preset. The rules allow you to program dynamic and expressive behaviours, for switching between them. Suffice to say, you may never actually devise your own rules but they are crucial to the playback of sophisticated libraries like the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra and other third-party Giga libraries.

So is MachFive 2, as MOTU claim, the complete solution for sample library playback and sound design? It’s certainly a winner, that’s for sure. And if you already own the previous version we don’t think you’ll regret shelling out for the upgrade. The new features are significant and the graphic enhancements are guaranteed to improve your workflow.

If you’re in the market for a new sampler, again, we can whole-heartedly recommend Mach Five 2. It’s easy on the eye, enjoyable to use, and as a playback device it’s superb, particularly if you take in to account the included sound library. It’s also a pretty formidable application when it comes to sound design, too. And with such an accessible and easy-to-figure-out GUI it’s actually quite hard to resist the temptation to experiment, which is, surely, a good thing.

Details
Product – MachFive 2
Manufacturer – MOTU
Contact – Musictrack Tel: 01767 313447
Web – www.motu.com

Minimum System Requirements
Mac OS X - 10.3.9 or higher
G4/1 GHz Power Mac. G5 or Intel Mac recommended.

Windows - XP or Vista, 32 or 64 bit
1 GHz Pentium 4-based PC

Multi-processor machines are also highly recommended.

Key Features
Unified design – loops, phrases, synthesis in single window
Sound quality up to 24-bit 192KHz
Three-dimensional layered keygroup mapping
Built-in graphic mixer
2 synth engines (organ drawbar and raw oscillator)
Disk streaming
Drag/drop audio import/export
Loop Lab beat slicing

Measuring Up
Kontakt 3 (£290) is probably MachFive 2’s closest competitor along with HALion (£299). In general Kontakt 3 places a greater emphasis on synthesis and provides a complex scripting feature, used for expressive performance in libraries such as Garritan’s Stradivari Solo Violin. MachFive 2, however, has a more conventional subtractive synthesis structure and a friendlier GUI. All three are great samplers, though, each with their own distinctive character.

Method Spot
Although they remain accessible in various areas of the MachFive 2 interface, most of the settings for each part are now gathered together in a convenient new mixer layout. Faders, effects slots, auxiliary sends, solo/mute and level meters are all available. We liked the extra loop play/stop button found at the bottom of each channel strip.

Pros
Terrific user-friendly GUI
Extensive instrument library
Intuitive sound design features
Flexible effects architecture

Cons
Lacks Kontakt 3-type scripting
HALion, NN-XT, Battery files unsupported
VSL solo strings omitted

Verdict – MachFive 2 represents a major upgrade to an existing top class sampler and ships with an extensive and useful instrument library. A revised and streamlined interface, many new features and comprehensive sound design tools are all major strong points.

Built to last

In common with all Presonus gear, the HP60 is very well manufactured (steel and aluminium chassis) and obviously built to last. All the inputs are at back of the unit and all the outputs and controls are housed on the front panel, except one; the on/off switch. That’s located on the back panel and could prove inconvenient in certain permanent rack mounted installations where access is restricted.

Dual stereo inputs are provided, each with a level control. Setups will vary but typically, these inputs will be accepting a feed from (A) the main outputs of your DAW or mixing console, and (B) their auxiliary outputs (monitor mix/click track). Because both inputs A and B can be separately blended together on each of the six headphone output channels, you can supply each artist with their own separate mix. This is achieved with the use of a single mix control knob, available on each channel; the ’12 o’clock’ position being equal distribution of mix A and B.

Additional features on all channels include mute and mono buttons and stereo outputs, for sending line level headphone mixes to additional headphone amplifiers or monitor systems. These features alone make for a very flexible studio monitoring solution but the HP60 goes a step further…

The third way

A third, external input is also available on each of the six headphone channels for satisfying the ‘more me’ factor. For example, if a guitar player on headphone channel 6 needs to hear more of himself, all you have to do is take the direct output of their guitar from your DAW or mixing console and connect it to external input channel 6.

Needless to say, with an input gain range of -96 to +10dB and a maximum output level of 150 watts per channel (six individual amps), in practice, the HP60 proved capable of providing loud, clear headphone mixes. It’s also suitable for in-ear stage monitoring use.

Unlike many cheaper systems, the HP60 has a talkback facility, for studio communication. Implementation is slightly cumbersome, though, involving the connection of a dynamic microphone to the back-panel XLR input. A front-panel button is used to mute the track as you speak. A built-in microphone next to the talkback button might have been more convenient for some users. However, if you don’t want to set up a microphone stand and sacrifice one of your studio mics, a cheap desktop mic is really all that’s necessary. For hands-free operation, away from the unit, there’s an external control jack for connecting a footswitch.

With so many connections and mixing possibilities, this must be one of the most flexible headphone distribution systems available. Certainly, six outputs will cover the needs of most small studios and with the extra stereo outs on all channels, expanding the system is easy.

Measuring Up

We’re spoilt for choice where headphone amplification is concerned. The HP60 is a very durable, flexible system but it comes at a price. Cheaper but not necessarily better systems to look at might be the Behringer HA8000 Powerplay Pro-8 (£96), or the Samson S Phone, which only has 4 channels but includes 2-band EQ (£125). Direct competition might be the MTR HPA-6 (£289), which provides basic EQ but lacks talkback.

Details

Product – HP60 – six-channel headphone mixing system
Manufacturer – Presonus
Contact – Source Distribution 0208-962 5080 / email sales@sourcedistribution.co.uk
Web – www.presonus.com

Key features

Six independent headphone amplifiers
Two sets of stereo inputs (A and B)
Stereo external input points (all channels)
Mix control between inputs A and B
Talkback facility with control
Direct stereo line output (all channels)

Why Buy

Flexible connections and mixing
Very well built
Talkback facilities
Loud and clear signals

Walk On By

Rear-panel on/off switch not ideal
Lacks EQ

Verdict

A thoroughly well made, well thought out headphone distribution system with flexible connections and mixing solutions – suitable for project and professional studios alike.

DrumCore is known chiefly for its content by world-class drummers but v2.5 now has a MIDI instrument and ReWire support…

With powerful computers plus an abundance of affordable recording equipment and software available these days, most musicians now have the means to write and record their own music. And, performance aside, if they read all the good advice in this magazine, they should be able to make an excellent job of it.

Recording drums, though, is another matter. Few home studio owners have the space, soundproofing, range of mics or breadth of engineering experience to record a drum set. Plus, of course, you also need a top-class drummer. For most of us, then, drum software is the way to go.

The same maxim applies to many high-flying songwriters and film composers, several of whom wax lyrical about DrumCore, which started life as a drum loop search engine/librarian. However, it’s grown steadily with each update and as well as a ton of drum loops played by famous drummers and facilities to export them to your DAW, version 2.5 now includes a MIDI drum module and Rewire support.

Groove search

As a librarian DrumCore excels and locating suitable grooves is based on drummer, style, feel, meter and tempo. You can also create your own search categories. A ‘Queue Play’ feature allows you to audition a couple of loops together but, frankly, I didn’t find it of much practical use. A provision to string loops together would be more helpful. Nevertheless, dragging the loops onto tracks and arranging them in your DAW is easy enough. Another way is to use ReWire and route the audio directly to your sequencer.

As expected, Alan White, Sly Dunbar and the other drum luminaries here turn in impressive performances in a wide range of styles. And if you’re hungry for more, expansion packs from each drummer are also available. What sets DrumCore apart from most other products, though, is the way each musician has recorded individual loops at different tempos (10 bpm increments). Drummers will inject a different feel into a performance depending upon the tempo and this approach captures the subtleties and nuances involved. Also, the end result is more natural sounding than slicing and stretching a single audio loop to fit various tempos.

Because each drummer’s kit was sampled along with his performance, a MIDI drum module is available for each individual kit. You can use these kits to play DrumCore’s MIDI grooves, write your own or play them using a MIDI controller of some kind.

Hybrid kits can also be created. For example, it’s possible to have Alan White playing his own kit along with items from Sly Dunbar’s kit. You can also have Alan White play the entire Sly Dunbar kit. It’s all very flexible, which is great. But it can become confusing when you switch from one drummer to another because the kits are not updated by default. For example, switching from, let’s say, a gentle bossa rhythm played on John Bishop’s kit to an out-and-out rock groove from Alan White will sound somewhat odd. Why? Because unless you remember to update the kit manually Alan White will be playing John Bishop’s kit. This is an obvious case in point and easy to spot but when similar sounding kits are involved it’s easy to make a mistake.

No frills, plenty of fills

With a simple no-frills interface loading content, editing kits – being able to edit sample layers is very useful – and exporting compatible loops is simplicity itself. The interface doesn’t hog screen space either (unless you enlarge it), which means your DAW is always visible, making drag ‘n’ drop that much simpler. No doubt, this ease of operation is a prime reason for its popularity with pro film music writers who work to deadlines.

We also liked the two-pronged approach – audio loops and MIDI loops. If you’re in a hurry using the audio loops is probably the way to go - well recorded, nicely tuned drums and great playing with lots of fills. But if you’ve got the time, you’ll get more sticks-on control with the MIDI loops and drum modules, using ReWire. That way you can fine-tune the performance data. And, of course, you’ll have full control of effects processing in your DAW. The process is slightly more convoluted but it’s worth the extra effort in my opinion.

You can also mix audio and MIDI material together but the results are not very satisfactory, the simple reason being that the audio loops are processed and the MIDI material isn’t. That said; it’s possible to add cymbal accents and the like over the audio loops without it being obvious to all but the most discerning listener.

Give me more?

Our copy of DrumCore came with several add-on Drummerpacks, which unlike the majority of drum sample libraries, contain some unusual styles. While we can’t review them all here we can vouch for the quality, which is high. Two of the most interesting, in our opinion, are LonniePack 1 - featuring top Nashville drummer Lonnie Wilson playing everything from two-beat country to train shuffles – and LuisPack 1, containing a wealth of Latin percussion from Luis Conte, renowned for his work with Santana and Sergio Mendes.

As a virtual instrument DrumCore can’t really compete with the likes of FXpansion’s BFD or XLN’s Addictive Drums, both of which function as plug-ins within your host sequencing software. To be fair, though, it doesn’t pretend to and should be judged on its own merits – it’s an excellent loop librarian (you can also use it to manage your own audio and MIDI drum libraries), it’s simple to use, it works well with ReWire and you get the added bonus of 8GBs of audio loops. And if that’s not enough, there are all those DrummerPacks, too.

Details
Product – DrumCore 2.5
Manufacturer – Submersible Music
Contact – Email: info@mi7.com Phone: +46-40-630 69 70
Web – www.submersiblemusic.com

Minimum System requirements
Mac OS X:
400 MHz or faster G4, G5 or Intel Core processor, 512M RAM (1GB recommended), 8G free space (content).

PC
PIII or Athlon 800MHz or above, 512M RAM (1GB recommended), 8G free space (content)

Key Features
Inspirational grooves
Loop librarian
Audio loops and MIDI beats
MIDI drum instrument
ReWire support

Measuring up
DrumCore started life as a loop librarian and in that respect it excels. But if you’re looking for a virtual instrument plug-in you might want to consider EZ Drummer, BFD and Addictive Drums, all of which provide far more controls such as drum mic placement and so on.

Method spot
If a selected groove isn’t quite what you want in DrumCore, try the Gabrielize function. Essentially a randomizer, we were initially sceptical of this oddly named feature but it turned out surprisingly decent results in an intelligent fashion. A slider is provided for applying specific or random rules each time a file is Gabrielized with settings ranging from mild to wild.

Why Buy
Loops by famous drummers
Loops recorded in 10-bpm increments
Fast results
MIDI drum module - ReWire support

Walk On Buy
Limited drum editing
Switching drummers slightly confusing

Verdict – I liked DrumCore for its innate simplicity and ability to produce fast results. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of plug-ins such as BFD, DrumCore is a viable, but slightly expensive, alternative.

Experiencing difficulties arranging sophisticated vocal arrangements? Harmony Engine could be your savior…

Vocal harmonies are a common ingredient in most styles of pop music but arranging and performing them presents a challenge to many musicians and songwriters. Duets can often be managed by ear but if you lack the technical and singing skills required, building three and four-part harmonies is largely a matter of trial and error.

One solution might be to enroll on a music theory course and maybe take a few singing lessons as well. Another is to invest in some DSP software that will configure and virtually perform the harmonies for you.

Developed by Antares, Harmony Engine is a plug-in that does just that. Using a variety of generating modes, humanization features, and a flexible range of presets for harmony and vocal types, it generates up to four harmony voices in real-time from a single vocal source.

Your generation

Obviously, no matter how smart the software, a degree of human input is necessary for determining exactly which notes are assigned to the harmony parts. Harmony Engine only detects the lead vocal or instrumental line, not the underlying harmony structure, commonly supplied by guitar, piano and bass.

Once the melody is detected – and Harmony Engine does this as well as any similar product we’ve tested – you have several choices of harmony generation, the easiest of which is to select a scale interval mode based on the key of the song. Although this method provides reliable results, and for many pop songs it’s probably the only type of harmony you may need, it’s ‘fixed’ and lacks creative control. Of course, at the other extreme, if you posses the expertise, you can enter the harmonies note-by-note using four separate MIDI channels, for absolute control over every single note in an arrangement.

However, between these two extremes, several other harmony-generating modes are available, including the option to define a harmony chord-by-chord, complete with inversions and variable vocal ranges. You can also do this in real time, using a MIDI controller or a pre-recorded MIDI track. Harmony Engine, then, interprets the chord data and generates the harmonies. If your keyboard skills are up to it, another option allows you to actually play the harmony voices, as you would the voices of a sampler.

Because most songs invariably need more than just a single harmony setting, having such a variety of options available (plus plug-in automation) is extremely useful when working on different sections within a song. So, too, is the inclusion of a preset matrix, for saving and recalling combinations of harmony settings. A second preset matrix is provided for storing different ‘vocal groups’.

Big freeze

Continuous controls in Harmony Engine are many, including humanize functions - for natural sounding voices, and a ‘freeze’ function – useful for backing vocal effects.

It’s worth mentioning here that, for the most part, the generated voices sound very realistic when properly mixed with the original input voice. And although the ‘freeze’ function provides a means to depart from the usual parallel harmonies – by holding single notes that change pitch according to the chord definitions - the voices took on a slightly unnatural organ-like quality once exposed in this fashion.

For further processing, there’s a five-channel output but it’s host dependent. So, too, are the MIDI routing functions. Before purchase, check that your host software supports the routing of MIDI to plug-ins otherwise Harmony Engine’s MIDI functions will not operate.

Harmony Engine’s interface is largely self-explanatory, conventionally laid out and easy to understand. Clearly, Antares has invested a great deal of time and effort ensuring the user-friendliness of this software. That said; if you buy it, be prepared to invest some of your own time reading the manual and experimenting with the tutorials and user presets provided. You’ll be glad you did because, once understood, this software is capable of providing stunningly realistic and sophisticated vocal harmony arrangements.

Measuring Up

The closest rival to Harmony Engine at the moment is Vielklang, which is very competitively priced. TC-Helicon’s Harmony4 plug-in also looks good. However, Harmony4 requires TC’s proprietary Powercore hardware, which adds considerably to the cost.

Details
Product – Harmony Engine
Manufacturer – Antares Audio Technologies
Price - £240 (download only)
Contact – Sonic8 08701 657 456 / contact@sonic8.com
Web - www.antarestech.com

Minimum system requirements
Mac
Minimum: 1.5GHz G4 processor
Recommended: 1.8GHz (or faster) G5 or Intel processor
OS 10.4 or later

RTAS (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE 7.x or later)/VST/AU

Windows
Minimum: 1.7 GHz single core processor.
Recommended: Any dual core processor

RTAS (Pro Tools HD or Pro Tools LE 7.x or later)/VST/AU

Key Features
Four independent formant-corrected harmony voices,
Vibrato, and pan settings
Antares Throat Modeling technology
Various Harmony modes – scale, interval, chords, MIDI
Spread and Register controls
Humanize functions
Freeze function for backup vocal effects
Five-channel output capability (host dependent)

Pros
Clear, functional GUI
Fast 4, 3 and 2-part harmony arrangements
Flexible harmony generating modes
Harmony and vocal group presets

Cons
MIDI routing host dependent (check demo first)
Exposed voices (freeze effect) sound unrealistic

Verdict
Not quite as easy to use as Antares would have you believe, but nevertheless, an excellent harmony generator that’s capable of fooling all but the most experienced listener that they’re hearing genuine vocal arrangements.

As highlighted in a recent reader’s letter (‘Write for reply’ MTM 50), many musicians find computer-based recording a confusing business. For them, recording with a computer hinders rather than helps the creative process. But as Neil Worley pointed out in his reply, there are several ‘Portastudio-type’ hardware devices still being manufactured today that provide most, if not all, of the recording features found in the average DAW. Take Japanese company Zoom, for example. Their latest offering, the Zoom HD16, is a complete stand-alone, hard disk recorder that also incorporates a drum and bass machine, mixing and mastering facilities and CD burning. It even hooks up to your computer via USB for file transfer and control surface operation of Cubase.

Track facts

You get 16 tracks - each with 10 virtual tracks – and you can record on eight of them simultaneously, albeit at a fixed 16-bit/44.1 kHz sampling rate. Actually, four of those tracks are stereo so you really only get 12 tracks – but who’s complaining? In addition there’s a dedicated rhythm track and a master track. The 80GB hard disk provides 240 hours of recording time but remember that’s for a mono track only. Even so, you can expect at least 15 hours of 16-track recording before you run out of space.

Basic editing functions such as copying, moving and trimming data are also evident along with more advanced options like fade-ins/outs, time stretch/compression, pitch compensation and harmonising. However, the destructive audio editing facilities are somewhat crude compared to those of the average DAW. Fades, for example, don’t simply adjust the volume of a track - once executed they can’t be reversed. Trimming tracks, too, erases data and the remaining audio moves up the time-line, to fill the vacant space, sometimes resulting in misaligned tracks.

As with a DAW, phrase looping is easily implemented using loops from a CD-ROM or other source. You can’t drag and drop them in directly, though. Instead, the HD16 has a phrase pool. Once your loops are in the pool you specify playback parameters, such as range and volume, from there.

The drum and bass track works well and with over 400 patterns, very handy for sketching out guide parts. You can also step input your own or use the HD16’s pads.

Scene snaps

Although Zoom purport automated mixing on the HD16, this is slightly inaccurate. Yes, taking snapshots and recalling mixer scenes is useful but shouldn’t be confused with the true fader and track parameter automation now standard in modern sequencing packages.

As you would expect on any modern recorder, both an insert and send effect module are provided. The former contains a number of effects such as compressor and limiter, which are connected in series – in other words; you can’t change their order. However, there are several combinations available, which are optimised for guitar/bass, mic, mastering and so on. Send effects are restricted to modulation (chorus/delay) and reverb, which is fine for most practical mixing purposes.

If you don’t yet own a DAW, a free copy of Cubase LE is provided as an incentive to purchase the HD16. This makes sense, particularly as the unit can be switched into a special control surface mode, which is optimised for controlling the transport and mixer functions of LE. We tried it briefly with Cubase 4 and it worked there, too. However, as far as we can establish, it doesn’t yet control any other sequencers. Hopefully that will change because being able to record on the HD16, transfer the data to your DAW and perform hands-on mixing in Cubase is a real strong point.

Compared to a DAW, operating the HD16 is a little ‘clunky’ (lots of button pressing and menu navigation) but everything is well thought through and easy enough to learn. It’s also very well made, looks great, sounds good and considering the range of features, excellent value for money.

Measuring Up
Alternatives to the Zoom HD16 with a very similar spec are the Yamaha AW1600 (£610) - which offers a choice of 16-bit or 24-bit recording – and the Korg D3200 (£769), which provides 16-track simultaneous recording and 32-track playback. If you can get by without an integral CD drive, then the Fostex MR 16HD (£359) is also a good buy.

Details
Product – Zoom Hard Disk Recording Studio HD16
Manufacturer – Zoom Corporation
Contact – Exclusive Distribution Ltd - 01462 481148
Web – www.zoom.co.jp

Key features
16-track playback / 8 track simultaneous recording
8 XLR/Hi-Z Inputs with Phantom Power
5-segment LED meters
134 Internal Effects
Integral Rhythm Machine
USB 2.0
Integral CD/RW Drive
Doubles as DAW Control Surface
Bundled with CuBase LE

Pros
High quality build, very solid
Tactile easy-to-use controls
MIDI timecode/MIDI clock output
Works as DAW control surface
USB 2.0

Cons
Cubase only DAW control (at present)
No S/PDIF connections
Destructive audio editing
Fixed 16-bit/44.1 kHz recording

Verdict
The Zoom HD16 is a versatile, solidly built 16-bit hard disk recorder with an intuitive easy-to-understand layout and tactile controls. We liked its practical, no-frills approach - after all, if you need more facilities you just hook it up to your computer, transfer your data to Cubase LE and use it as a control surface.