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All Reviews by aaastronomer


By aaastronomer
On 5th April 2008
Version: 1.0.1

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MOTU Ethno Instrument

At its price, Ethno is an excellent buy. I installed Ethno Instrument version 1.0.0 a week ago. I could not direct Ethno to find its library on an external drive on the first install, but performing a second install allowed ethno to find its previously installed components (*.dat and *.ufs files) and update them in a fashion which I could later alter to direct Ethno to the proper external drive holding its library. The iLok install went smoothly for version 1.0.0. Once working, the sounds Ethno produced were simply superb. Unfortunately, version 1.0.0 had a playback problem on my machine (eMachine 6811 laptop 2400+ Athlon 64 with 1.25MB RAM) when running in FL Studio 7 and 8. A sound would start and, perhaps, play for a measure, then cut the instrument off. The instrument would have to be reinstalled in the host for the sounds to play again. I later discovered version 1.0.1, an unreleased beta, at MOTU’s site. Installing the iLok update for version 1.0.1 took some practice, however, after a few attempts I got it right. The install of version 1.0.1 was straight forward and I was able to edit the *.dat and *.ufs files to find the library on an external disk in my system. I’m glad to announce that version 1.0.1 fixes the ‘cutoff problem’ on my machine. However, it is a really CPU hog in FL Studio 7 and 8: eating up to 75% with one instance running two tracks of didge sounds, one track of flute, and one of percussion! (The same result obtains for four instances running one track each.)

In past compositions I have used ethic samples in wav form extensively. To get things right required lots of wav file editing, re-pitching, and stretching in Live and Acid. Ethno goes a long way to eliminate the necessity of doing this.

Most of the ethnic styles I’m familiar with are covered and there were one or two surprises for me in the Middle Eastern instruments. I have to say, though, that for someone with a large ethnic sample set; Ethno will seem somewhat limited in breath and depth for a 'universal world/ethnic instrument'. My particular (depth) complaint here is the lack of a more extensive didgeridoo sound set. While what Ethno has is good, it needs a lot more rhythms and drones to be 'universal'.

More urgently, perhaps, Ethno needs more voice styles. Notably missing are Chinese and Japanese voices, various throat singing styles like the Inuit and Tuvan, Tibetan monk and nun chanting, Maori chants, and Polynesian singing. Also, Polynesian and Hawaiian instruments need to be covered. I assume these omissions will be addressed in future releases. (I dread to think how large the library will grow with such inclusions!)

My overall impression of Ethno is that it is an excellent addition to any computer musician’s collection of software instruments, especially where they don’t have an extensive library of ethnic sounds. Ethno sounds like the instruments in the various areas represented. Ethno offers ambient synth sounds, which is more than I'd have expected in an ethnic oriented instrument. The documentation covers the feature set adequately. The presets are all pretty useful. I've had no need for customer support. For about $300US, its a good buy. (There's a specialty gamelan instrument in the market for $500US, which I'll be interested in comparing soon.) Version 1.0.1 seems quite stable, although it needs to be optimized for CPU utilization.
 
Last edited : 5th April 2008     

By aaastronomer
On 8th January 2007
Version: latest

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Native Instruments (NI) Massive

try the demo! take off the modulations and the effects, and the wave table sounds aren't much...but...add some modulation to the wave table position control and look out!! wow, this gets deep fast. without even fiddling around with the filter, amazing distortions and noises (not using the noise osc, mind you) can be obtained from a single osc. now modulate the pitch control so that it plays against the wt-position. you begin to see the possibilities. now add modulation to the modulation sidechain for each of the above. is it as good for you as it is for me? you could stop right here and have hours of fun...but, push on and modulate another osc and one of the filters...and now you have madness.

note the number of modulation sources you have. note also that the lfo sources are all dual wave with an interpolation feature to allow the creation of very complex mods. note that the stepper comes in two forms: one for simple bar-amplitude steps and one for complex wave forms at each step. try these, its not complicated at all (especially in comparison to some other synths...which will remain unnamed).

adding modulation to the various controls is also pretty slick in massive...just click on the arrow cross for a modulation source and it sticks to your cursor arrow tip...drag it to a modulation slot for a control...click again and it goes into the slot as a numeric value...now click and drag the value up or down in the slot and note how the modulation ring grows and shrinks around the control knob (or slider) showing the modulation range. the major controls have two modulation slots plus a modulation sidechain slot. this is very nice.

i'll stop now and let someone else cover the stepper capabilities and the effects. however, a quick trip through the presets will show you what these are capable of.

i get the sense that an experienced synth programmer could go well beyond the supplied presets, so look out, there's going to a hell of a lot of great presets comin to ya...!
 
    

By aaastronomer
On 8th January 2007
Version: latest

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Native Instruments (NI) Intakt

now wait! intakt is not as bad as some would have you believe. it may not have the highest fidelity around (like, say, stylus rmx), but it's not the worst either! now i lean more to the synthetic side of soundz and i certainly wouldn't apply intakt to symphonics, but for the glitchy takno type stuff i do, intakt does the job it seems to be built for: loop syncing multiple beat files in a number of different formats. in fact, i'd say it does this in a more seamless fashion than kontakt. the effects are ok too. if you're looking to cook up some deviant beats, they'll do the job. my problem with the effects is that they are, simply, too limited. but, what do you expect for the price of intakt? what i find intakt particularly useful for is mixing and matching loop files from different libraries that don't support multiple loop playback. i use intakt in fl studio, live 6, cubase sx 3, and others. i haven't had any stability issues with it. now, if i need a realtime sampler, i use acid or my k2500rs. however, most of the time i simply want to cobble together loops from different libraries and put a heavy dose of effects on em. intakt does this quite well, thank you. (box or not.)
 
Last edited : 8th January 2007     
By aaastronomer
On 29th September 2004
Version: 4.0

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Yes | No		 Ableton Live

Live 4.0 takes care of the previous problems noted with midi and VST hosting.

When I work I tend to switch back and forth between Acid and Live and thus generally compare one with respect to the other. I can say that the midi capability of Live 4.0 greatly exceeds that of Acid! 'Midi clips' sync perfectly with 'audio clips', sit in the same visual space (scene), and function in much the same way as do audio clips. Copying them and moving them cause no operational glitches in the application as is often the case in Acid.

I work better with Acid's linear track zoom and navigation than Live's. However, Acid's 'one sample to a track' policy posses problems with overlap and alignment of different samples in linear track space after more samples are being used than the number of tracks that can be displayed at once. Live's 'any sample on a track' policy solves this.

Live also seems to host a wider range of VST effects than Acid. Dropping apps like FL Studio VSTi and Kinetic into Acid is a non-starter, while it works seamlessly in Live.

I guess all this just points out the relative age of the two apps and the power of more recent programming and compilation techniques. I would also say that Live 4.0 compares quite favorably to other (more expensive) hosts in terms of features, workflow, and robustness; and can thus serve as an economical substitute.
 
    
Latest 4 reviews from a total of 4