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A New Approach To Shedding by Chap Ostrander KEY NOTES Lots of flexibility in set-up Different pad surfaces accommodate numerous practice styles and needs Comprehensive Kit needs memory locks to speed set-up It's fair to say that Remo's familiar tunable pads have traditionally been viewed mostly as beginner instruments. Understanding this, Remo director of product development Herbie May recently set out to develop a set of professional pads that could be used in a variety of ways. Along the way, stellar drummer Thomas Lang got involved, offering input from the viewpoint of a touring professional with the need to practice in different settings. So the new system was dubbed the Remo Thomas Lang Practice Kit. What It Is Rather than offer separate pads for different styles of practice, the Lang kit features an assortment of surfaces that can be interchanged on the same pad. Each surface has a magnetic coating underneath and is applied to the metal top of a baseplate. Baseplates are sold in 8" and 131/4" sizes. The plates mount to stands using a standard 8-mm threaded receiver. You can also remove the receiver and attach three feet to the baseplate, allowing the pad to work on a tabletop. The 8" baseplate includes a strap so that you can use it as a leg pad. As a bonus, you can place the 131/4" coated pad onto the 8" leg pad base for brushwork. Four color-coded surface pads are available. The Ambassador coated surface feels very much like a drum, and it lets you work on brush technique. The soft sponge rubber surface gives you less bounce, so you can work on speed and strength. The gum rubber surface gives the expected rebound, and the hard rubber surface can be used as a cymbal pad, or to work on drum corps playing. The beauty of this system is that you can practice a technique on one of the surfaces, then quickly alter your approach by changing to another surface. RP-1200 Comprehensive Kit The RP-1200 setup—called the Comprehensive Kit by Remo—contains one 131/4" pad for the snare position and four 8" pads to simulate three toms and a cymbal. The snare pad is mounted on an omni-directional tilting stand. The "cymbal" pad gets a taller stand of the same design, and the floor tom pad goes on a shorter stand with teeth in the tilter. The stand for the two toms facing the snare has adjustable L-arms with threaded ends and locking wing screws. The manual suggests that you use the Ambassador pad for the snare, two gum-rubber surfaces for the rack toms, the sponge rubber pad for the floor tom, and the hard rubber surface for cymbal playing. The benefit of this configuration is that you can hear different tones while you play making it easier to learn drumset patterns. Since this setup is supposed to feel like a drumset, you need to mount your bass drum pedals so that they can be used quietly as well. The base for the RP-1200 consists of three pieces of aluminum that fasten to each other through the use of hook & loop strips. Small clips also serve to hold the parts together. Nylon straps go around the legs of your throne to keep the base from crawling away. The bottom of each aluminum base section is filled with 1" polyurethane foam for sound isolation. The center section contains two large clamps that hold specially made stands, each of which has one fixed foot and two adjustable legs. The foot is clamped to the base, you adjust the other legs, and voila! The snare and toms are held solidly in place. The stands are single-braced to save weight, but they all provide solid support. A stick holder is also included. The brushed aluminum surface is attractive and nicely finished. When not in use, the base of the practice unit can slide under a bed or other piece of furniture for storage. The outer sections of the base are sized to hold a single or double pedal setup. Remo supplies the hook & loop strips that allow you to position your pedals wherever they're comfortable for you, and then secure them in those positions. This system allows the pedals to be installed or removed quickly. Remo supplies beaters (with weights) that are placed on the pedals in an inverted position. The position of the beaters can be moved along the shaft to fit different-sized pedals. The last part of the bass drum system is a clever V-shaped wedge that allows the pads to be placed in the downward path of the beaters. There's a central mounting hole for single pedals, and one fixed and one adjustable pad for double pedals. The beater target is a silicone pad set into a cup. I first saw this pad kit on Thomas Lang's Creative Control DVD. As I watched Thomas play, I couldn't help thinking, "How can a pad set respond so well?" Now, having played it myself, I have to say that it does. If you can do any sort of bouncing with your feet, the silicone pads, combined with your pedals, will help you hone that skill (or anything else on the kit) in relative quiet. Add to that the differences in sound between the pad surfaces, and it makes for quite a system. You can complete the portability of the kit with an optional rolling case. The manual has instructions on packing everything into it. RP-1100 Basic Kit The RP-1100 Basic Kit uses the same base and snare pad as the RP-1200, but provides a single 131/4" pad and fittings for your single or double pedals. Where the 1200 has two 8" tom pads, this kit gives you a platform that transforms into several teaching/studying tools. For instance, it has a removable ledge that makes it a music stand. Or you can tilt it and attach an included mirror to the face to let you check your sticking. The platform can also be set flat to accommodate a laptop computer for practice with a DVD or music. There are also two smaller accessory plates that attach to the back of the platform with clamps. One becomes a drink holder, the other has a smaller version of the music stand ledge so that you can place a metronome or MP3 player on it. Conclusions The Comprehensive Thomas Lang Practice Kit is designed more for touring professionals than for everyday players. It lends itself well to situations where the hour is late and you need to be quiet, or as a practice set for backstage, or on a tour bus. I took the opportunity to use the two 8" pads on the double holder as a teaching tool. This allowed me to have one pad facing me with the other one for the student. If I mirrored the sticking pattern I was teaching, this let the student follow my movements. The two pads are also great for working on accents. I used one surface for the accented strokes and the other for straight playing. I've struggled with my feelings regarding the cost of the Comprehensive system. You could purchase a low-cost drumkit for half as much, and put mesh heads on it for practice. However, a kit like that would not fit under a bed for storage. Neither could it be set up in the aisle of a tour bus. You also couldn't quickly change the playing response of the heads on a kit the way the pad surfaces can be changed on the Lang Practice Kit. The bottom line is, a pad designed for one thing can't be changed into another. You can either buy more pads, or work with a system that includes all of them. The Remo pad setups contain them all in one package. Remo and Thomas Lang are changing the face of practice pads as we know them, and change is good. THE NUMBERS RP-1200 Thomas Lang Comprehensive Pad Kit $999 RP-1100 Thomas Lang Basic Pad Kit $829 (661) 294-5600, www.remo.com © 2006 MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Self-Tuning Guitar With Alternate Tuning Presets www.gibson.com by Craig Anderton Even before it came out, the web was already buzzing with controversy: “I want one.” “It’s for lazy guitarists.” “I already know how to tune a guitar, thank you.” “This will be a life-saver for live performance.” “It’s overpriced.” “I’d buy one at any price.” “It’s a dumb idea.” “It’s a great idea.” So of course, it’s up to Harmony Central to check it out, and separate fact from fiction. And frankly, we were very surprised…but maybe not for the reasons you’d expect. FIRST CONTACT Fig. 1: Lurking within that familiar-looking guitar body is something truly different. I pulled the guitar, with its blue/silver finish and white pickup rings, out of its plush, hardshell case. The body shape is (no surprise here) a single cutaway Les Paul. The 60-page owner’s manual (yes, I read manuals before messing with gear—especially pricey gear I don’t own!) does a good job, with info on the history of Gibson, and general care and maintenance for guitars. And I found out something important: Don’t try to tune the guitar manually, unless you disengage the tuning pegs from the peg head. So I read enough to know that you start the standard tuning process by pulling up on one of the volume knobs; this is a special knob called the MCK (Master Control Knob). Then you strum. So I did. Next, the servo motors inside the tuning heads start whirring: It’s the sound you’ve heard in a zillion sci-fi movies. The tuning pegs start turning, as if grabbed by unseen hands. And then…the guitar’s in tune. Really. The first time you see a guitar tune itself is something you’ll likely not forget any time soon, and you have to get over the novelty of the thing before you can arrive at any objective conclusions—it really is a mindbender. A LITTLE BACKGROUND The Robot Guitar is based on the Tronical system that’s been kicking around trade shows for a while. My friend Thomas Wendt, who’s a marketing consultant for several companies, said that I had to see this guitar that tuned itself. I did, and immediately had three thoughts: 1: What a time-saver. 2: Given the price, I think I’ll stick with my tuner. 3: These guys should partner with a big company that can make this happen. Well, it seems like (3) came to pass. Gibson got my attention big-time about a year ago with their Digital Les Paul, so I wasn’t all that surprised they were the company that jumped on the technology. Still, it’s quite a leap to convince guitarists that the wave of the future lies is guitars with things like Ethernet cables (in the case of the Digital Les Paul) or servo motors attached to tuning heads (the Robot Guitar). The polarized reactions on the web are to be expected, but when dealing with something of this nature, you really have to keep an open mind before jumping to conclusions—either pro or con. HOW IT WORKS AND WHAT IT DOES To the casual observer, the only giveaway that this is not an ordinary guitar are the larger-than-normal tuning heads, and the MCK volume knob, as it’s silver instead of black. Fig 2: The tuning pegs are considerably larger than normal, but not obnoxiously so. The MCK has little LED letters representing each string, which glow to let you know what’s happening: Red for string not tuned, flashing red to indicate that the frequency is being measured, flashing yellow to show the servos are doing their thing, and green when the string is in tune. When all strings are in tune, all LEDs flash blue three times, then the robot aspect gets out of the way. (There are two more indications: Purple means the string is way out of range, and solid blue means the signal is clipping—don’t hit the strings so hard.) In addition to regular tuning, there are six “alternate” preset tunings: E major tuning (EBEG#BE), DADGAD, dropped D (DADGBE), G major tuning (GBDGBD), “Hendrix” tuning (EbAbDbGbBbEb), and double-dropped D tuning (DADGBD). But you can also establish an arbitrary pitch reference—fantastic if, for example, you’re playing with a piano that’s not quite in tune—as well as create your own custom tunings, which you can then store as presets. As there are only six preset positions, you’ll need to overwrite one or more factory presets to store your own (but you can always return to the factory defaults if you want). Furthermore, you can calibrate the system to any frequency, in 1Hz increments, between 435Hz and 446Hz. Fig. 3: The MCK keeps you informed about what’s happening with the tuning process. Note that strings E-B are green and therefore in tune; the E string is red and not in tune. And if you’re changing strings, there are two special modes: String Down, which basically unwinds all the strings, and String Up, which winds up new strings to near-normal pitch, at which point you can activate the normal tuning mode. String Up can also be activated for a single string (i.e., if you break a string on stage), but not String Down. I don’t like to take off all strings from a guitar at the same time, as I feel it’s important to maintain tension on the neck while you’re changing strings…but fortunately, you can disengage the automated heads for individual strings, allowing you to do String Down on any string you want. We’re still not done: You can use the system to adjust intonation, and there are some system-level tweaks, like being able to trade off tuning time for accuracy (from 0.02\% to 2.5\% accuracy, in six steps). You do need to calibrate the system if you change string gauges (the Robot Guitar comes set up for .010” high E), but this isn’t a difficult process at all. SO WHAT ABOUT POWER? The system runs off two rechargeable AA batteries, and there’s an included charger. You don’t need to open up anything to charge the batteries, as you can use the included cable to go from the charger to the guitar’s output jack. Gibson says you can get about 200 tunings before you need to charge the battery; of course, if the battery runs out while you’re on stage, you’re not hosed—you just have to tune your guitar manually. HOPE OR HYPE? Robot tuning technology isn't exactly cheap, but if your professional life depends on being in tune quickly—either on stage, or in the studio—it’s not prohibitively expensive. Furthermore, this is new technology. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more guitars, at lower price points, incorporating this technology in the future. Seeing a guitar tune itself is pretty wild, but the option to have a guitar that’s always in tune in a matter of seconds is what really matters. For live use, I feel that it takes less time to give your guitar a quick tune-up using this technology than doing it manually—even if you have a good tuner and a great ear—because the Robot Guitar isn't limited to tuning one string at a time. When I think of all the big-time guitarists I’ve seen playing live who hand off an out-of-tune guitar to a tech who swaps it for one that is in tune, I can’t help but think that turning the volume down and doing the Robot Tune Shuffle would take less time and be less obtrusive. Some have said this will make people lazy, and tuning will become a lost art if this technology catches on. As someone who has no intention of trading in my word processor for a typewriter, or my calculator for a slide rule, I don’t have a problem with anything that makes my life easier. This guitar would have paid for itself when I was recording my AdrenaLinn Guitars sample CD. Being a sample CD, every sample had to be perfectly in tune, and I had to check the tuning between every take. This burned up hours of my time, and tended to be a real inspiration-killer. Given how much I play guitar, and how much time I spend doing tuning, I definitely appreciate this technology. Hopefully, Gibson will make it available as a retrofit to existing guitars (like the Digital Les Paul). All this is very cool and useful, but I think that the system’s “secret weapon” is the alternate tuning options. Alternate tunings simply aren’t very practical for onstage use, but the Robot Guitar ends that problem once and for all. For slide guitar, the guitar was ready to go within seconds. History may look back on the Robot Guitar as interesting for being able to tune itself, but of greater significance for making alternate tunings so much easier to do. When I first started testing the Robot Guitar, I thought “cool novelty.” Then I started thinking “major timesaver.” Now I’m thinking that this is indeed significant, and something that, if the price could be brought down enough, will become as standard as, say, vibrato tailpieces. Sure, some people will think “it’s just not right.” And that’s fine. But for those who reflect back on all the time they’ve spent tuning guitars, this changes everything. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Multitrack Drum/Percussion Sample CDs By Craig Anderton Because I do a lot of audio-for-video, soundtracks, and songwriting, sample CDs have become an important part of fleshing out arrangements. I've noticed over the years that some of these are like "A-list" studio musicians, because they get the call over and over again in different applications. Of all the drum libraries I use for "commerical" music, I've gotten more mileage from the Discrete Drums Pro Set libraries than any other. Discrete Drums went away for a while, but the line was recently purchased by Sonoma Wire Works, so they're back "in the mix" - literally and figuratively! So why do I keep coming back to the Discrete Drums libraries again and again? Here's why. IT'S A MULTITRACK WORLD The concept behind the Discrete Drums Pro Set series of sample CDs is simple: Drums were born to be multitracked, not premixed down in a way that might not work with your music. Each "construction kit" song on a Discrete Drums Pro Set CD was played by a real drummer on real drums, and contains folders with all of the sections used in a song. When you open a section's folder, you'll find separate tracks for the various drums (e.g., kick, snare, stereo toms, stereo overhead mics, etc.). On those sets with percussion, the percussion is also available as separate loops. With this kind of flexibility, you have the opportunity to shape the sound exactly as desired. Over the years, the Pro Sets have mutated into product variations on a theme: Pre-mixed "Acidized" loops, Apple Loops, sets designed specifically for Pro Tools, and the like. Rather than simply parrot that information here, you can find out much more about what's offered at www.sonomawireworks.com. For example, the Series One Pro Set has 9 CD-ROMs with 8 tracks of drums, 2 audio CDs for auditioning the various "construction kits" (or for sampling mixed parts), and a CD-ROM with AIFF samples of individual hits. On the other hand, Series Two has 11 CD-ROMs of multitracked drums, 4 CD-ROMs of acidized stereo loops based on the multitracked parts, 2 audio CDs for auditioning, and 1 CD-ROM of hits. Again, the web site provides extensive details on all their products. USING MULTITRACK DRUM LIBRARIES Many sequencers let you "drag and drop" the samples into tracks, but if not, you can expect to find an "import audio" option that lets you place specific sounds on specific tracks. Once the sounds are loaded, add whatever processing you like—distort the kick, compress the room mics, add reverb to the ambience, whatever it takes to get the sound you want. In fact, one of the more interesting offshoots of using these sample CDs was processing them really heavily for a an intense, industrial feel—basically, a "remix" of their samples. I played the results for the guys at Discrete Drums, and instead of threatening to sue me, they said "cool!" I ended up creating a sample CD from these called Turbulent Filth Monsters, which was available as part of M-Audio's ProSessions series and is now available from Sonoma Wire Works. To say this was not at all what they had in mind is an understatement... But premixing works, too. After setting up the mix and doing the processing exactly as desired, you may want to bounce the results down to a stereo track so they can be dragged/copied as needed. Discrete Drums' multitrack libraries offer some other cool features. With Series One, sections typically end with an extra downbeat and a cymbal crash, making an ideal lead-in to the next section—just line up the next section with the final downbeat of the previous section, and you'll hear a smooth transition. Or, if you want to create a loop out of a track, set the loop's end point just before the extra downbeat, and you'll have the perfect place to form a seamless loop. There are also fills, intros, and endings. Songs are available in a variety of styles and tempos (depending of course on the "theme" of each set), but with Series One and Two, separate dry and ambient hits (in both 16 and 24-bit formats) let you do anything from modify existing songs to create your own parts from scratch. (Hits for the Heavy Mental Pro Set are optional at extra cost). Need a "four on the floor" kick pattern to give more of a dance feel? It's easy. Just mute or erase the existing kick track, and paste in the individual kick samples where appropriate. If you've felt constrained by existing drum sample CDs, or find that they just don't sound realistic enough, Discrete Drums offers a fine solution. Not only do the superbly-recorded drum parts provide a firm foundation for your tune, they allow for the customization needed to turn sampled parts into something fresh and original. Once you try multitracked drums, you'll have a very hard time going back to stereo—unless it's stereo you mixed yourself out of the multitracked parts. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Software virtual instrument drum module www.bestservice.de By Craig Anderton Drums Overkill ($159) is a software-based, cross-platform (Mac OS X, Windows XP) “virtual instrument” designed to work with host programs like Cubase, Sonar, Digital Performer, and the like, or as a stand-alone instrument. It consists of two parts: The Kontakt Player 2 soft instrument into which you load sounds, and the sounds themselves. So you want drum sounds? Let's just believe the specs, because I don't have the patience to verify that there are indeed “10,000 samples assigned to 1,200 drum kits, 5,400 original drum machine samples, 3,800 bass drums, 4,100 snare drums and rim shots, 750 claps and snaps, 480 toms, 1,600 hi-hats, 300 cymbals, 670 analogue synth drums and electronic percussion, 340 mixed special effects, and 1,500 percussion instruments from around the world.” But even though I didn't count every one, I can indeed assure you there are a lot of drum sounds. The package includes two DVDs. One consists of WAV files and instruments for the EXS24, HALion 3, Kontakt 2, and Reason software samplers. The other DVD contains the same material, but arranged as a set of data that loads into the Kontakt Player 2 (KP2 for short). As the player and the content are both important, we'll cover each aspect. KONTAKT PLAYER 2 Fig. 1: Enable the Output section, and you can see the individual outputs and aux return channels, as well as apply effects into any of four insert slots. If you click on an effect and then click on Edit Effect, you'll see the effect's GUI above the mixer, ready for tweaking; in this case, the Compressor is selected for editing. You can show or hide the virtual keyboard toward the bottom, as well as the inserts or the entire output section, for that matter. It may seem strange to focus on the instrument first as the sounds are the Big Deal, but KP2 is also crucial because it lets you put the sounds in a sonic context of your choice. KP2 is based on Native Instruments' Kontakt 2 sampler, and it's quite well-endowed in terms of features. (Note that if you need even more editing than what the KP2 can provide, the data set of sounds is also compatible with Kontakt 2.) For starters, you can have up to 32 mono outputs in stand-alone or plug-in modes, including surround channels (i.e., a channel that can drive several outputs but whose gain is controlled by a single fader). Referring to Fig. 1, each output channel can have up to four insert effects, including Compressor, Limiter, Inverter, Saturation, Lo-Fi, Stereo Modeller, Distortion, Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Reverb, Delay, 19 different filters, and a Convolution Reverb. (Although regarding the latter, the manual has no explanation of its operation, and there are no impulses included with KP2. It will accept impulses from Kontakt 2 and other sources, but only in stand-alone mode; you can’t bring impulses in when Drums Overkill is inserted as a plug-in.) And those effects are for just one drum kit, which you can think of as an individual instrument (Fig. 2). You can load up to 64 such instruments (drum kits) into KP2, each driven by its own MIDI channel; you would need four ports of 16 channels each to drive all of these. Each kit has a possible four aux send controls, and the four aux returns (which feed the mixer output along with the various individual outputs) can have up to four insert effects, from the same roster of effects as the individual outputs. Fig 2: This picture of the main screen shows two drum instruments that have been loaded. The effects (the Reverb is open for editing in the Real Drumkits 01 instrument) can affect all drum notes, or just selected notes. Note the aux sends below the instrument, and the browser toward the left. But we're not done with effects yet, as each drum kit “instrument” has its own collection of effects (Envelope/Pan/Tune, Lo-Fi, Low Pass and High Pass Filter, Chorus/Flanger, Delay, Compressor, Saturation/Distortion, Two-Band Parametric EQ, Reverb, and Phaser). There's more, though, as KP2 includes Kontakt 2's MIDI scripting feature, but for playback only. (If this is starting to get confusing, hang in there. Scripting simply means it's possible to write mini-programs about how MIDI data is handled. For example, a script can take incoming data and arpeggiate it, delay it, direct it in a particular way, and the like.) In Drums Overkill, the script makes it possible to send individual notes or combinations of notes (up to 10 separate selections of notes) to individual processors. Thus you can have, say, reverb on the snare and toms, but not on the kick or cymbals, or add distortion to only the kick drum. (It's easy to create a selection; you just click a Learn button and play the notes associated with the drums you want to use.) So do you need all these effects? No, you can do fine just by calling up presets. But the level of flexibility means that if you can think of some off-the-wall effects combination, you can probably make it happen. The only real drawback to the effects is that in host mode, you can't automate effects parameters – only volume, tune, and pan. A more global problem is that KP2 is underdocumented. It mentions that tempo sync is possible, but doesn't tell you how (for the record, for delay Time parameters, right-click on “ms” and choose the rhythmic value; this works on the Insert delay effect only, not the Delay in the instrument itself). Nor does it tell you how to create a mute group for sounds like hi-hats, where hitting a closed hat sound turns off the sound of an open hat if it's still ringing; but it's possible by having one instrument do hi-hats only, and setting polyphony to one voice. While you can use KP2 without knowing about a lot of its features, it would be helpful if the documentation told you how to make the most out of its many capabilities. THE DRUM SOUNDS First things first: If you're expecting one of those hyper-realistic electronic drum sets with tons of velocity-switched samples for each drum hit, you won't find it here. In fact, although I didn't test out every single kit, I loaded dozens of them into Kontakt 2, checked out the mapping editor, and all the hits in all kits were a single sample. I assume this is in part because many of the instruments that were sampled weren't themselves multisampled, so the point is moot. Of course the drums respond to velocity, so you can get dynamics; just don't expect big timbre changes between high and low velocities. The presets are convenient, but if you really want to mix and match samples, having the individual WAV files available is very considerate as you can load them into soft synths like Battery, Session Drummer, Reason, and similar drum modules. Given the huge variety of kits, whether you'll feel the need to do this or not is debatable, but it's nice to know you have the option if needed. Fig. 3: Check out that collection of analog drum machines being selected from the browser – and there are just as many digital drum machines, not to mention some other vintage categories. One aspect that particularly appeals to me is the inclusion of 155 vintage drum machines, both analog and digital (Fig. 3). These include boxes from Casio, Korg, Roland, E-Mu, Acetone, Elka, Alesis, Farfisa, Vermona, Boss, Yamaha, Wersi, Akai, Kawai, Simmons, and many more (even Mattel). I also like how units with multiple sounds are handled. For example, you might check out the Alesis D4 preset, and be disappointed that there are only two kick drums in the kit, whereas the D4 offered many more. But hold on: There are also samples of the Alesis HR-16, HR-16B, and SR-16, and the snares and kicks from these. As several of the drums in the D4 came from these older machines, although I couldn't do a one-to-one comparison it seems highly likely that, for example, all the kick drum sounds used in the D4 are actually available (although they might be under a different classification). So do the samples of older kits really sound like the older kits? Well, I wrote the manual for the original E-Mu Drumulator and its sound is burned into my brain; Drums Overkill nails it. Ditto sounds like those from the notoriously famous Roland TR-808 and TR-909 machines, which have powered many a dance and rap track. Granted, you can't take this virtual TR-808 apart and tweak the trimpots to make the drums sustain longer…but you don't really have to, because there are (for example) kick drum samples with different amounts of sustain. Some thought definitely went into Drums Overkill, but even better, so did some respect and reverence. CONCLUSIONS In terms of value, Drums Overkill is hard to beat: For many, it will be worth the price just for the vintage drum boxes. Throw in all the other kits, the WAV files, the instrument presets for various samplers, and you really do have serious value. If you're working in genres like dance, hip hop, rap, house, electronic, pop, trance, drum and bass, hardcore, and other modern musical styles, these sounds may very well be all you need. If you really want to cover all your bases, then add some hot acoustic drum sounds that use the aforementioned multisampling techniques (like Toontrack dfh, Reason Drum Kits, Fxpansion BFD, or similar products). I also find that Drums Overkill has a high fun factor. Overdubbing some percussion on a track from some ancient Electro-Harmonix or Wersi drum machine is a blast. Sure, you can get as serious as you want with Drums Overkill, but you can get zany and experimental if the mood strikes you…throw on some of KP2's processing, and it's almost like circuit bending drums without having to warm up your soldering iron. But the proof is in the sounds, and Drums Overkill delivers. Check out these audio examples (suitable for looping) of an Acetone Rhythm Ace, the crackling hard rock sounds of one of the Real Drum Kits, or if you're in a club-oriented mood, a Techno Kit loop. And there are plenty more sounds where these came from… In any event, there's nothing on the market quite like Drums Overkill. Many times, when reviewing a product that requires a large amount of hard disk space (2.56GB in this case for just the KP2 files, but I plan to install the WAV files too), I'll leave it on the hard drive long enough to write the review, then shuttle it off to make room for the next review candidate. Not this time: Drums Overkill is staying on my hard drive. It's just too useful, and versatile, to let go. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Yes, They're Flexible…But Only If You Know How to Get the Most Out of Them By Craig Anderton Although multitrack drum libraries are usually sold on the basis of being useable out of the box for drum parts (with the additional advantage of being mixable), I see them more as a gold mine of raw materials for creating custom drum loops. Being able to process individual tracks separately is certainly a major advantage when deriving loops from multitracked parts, and of course, proper looping allows using these parts at different tempos. For example, I just did a "remix" of the Discrete Drums sample library for the company, who had received numerous requests for "dirtier," lower-resolution versions aimed for more hardcore hip-hop and dance musicians. Hard disk recording programs are ideal for doing this type of remixing; this article will concentrate on using Sonar, but most techniques apply to other programs, and specific examples are given for Acid as well. DEALING WITH HUMAN ERROR Drum libraries played by real drummers are great, because of the additional "human feel" compared to using machines. But due to timing inaccuracies, it sometimes takes a little tempo tweaking to line up measure markers with downbeats. This illustration shows a loop whose stated tempo was 79 BPM, but in the upper view, note how the downbeat at the beginning of measure 9 (the loop end point in this particular case) hits a little early compared to the measure marker. In the bottom view, changing the tempo to 79.03 BPM places the measure marker at the downbeat's exact beginning. If you need to change the tempo compared to the original file, then time-stretching becomes necessary. Sonar has a built-in time stretch function that's very similar to the one in Acid; Cubase SX has a nifty ReCycle type feature that works particularly well with drum loops. For programs that don't stretch, you have three options if you want to change tempo: Import the file into ReCycle, change the tempo as desired, then export back to WAV or AIF. Import the file into Acid, Sonar, or a recent version of Sound Forge, "acidize" the file, then export. If the tempo change is small, change the pitch withoutcompensating for duration. Tranposing pitch upward will speed up the tempo, transposing down will slow it. For small changes, the pitch difference may not be noticeable (and in some cases, may be desirable). After tweaking the track mix and setting the tempo, render the file to a stereo loop. Import this into your hard disk recorder or a digital audio editor and set looped playback mode. If there's a click when the loop jumps back to the beginning, add a 4 ms fade-out to eliminate clicks, and if absolutely necessary, a 2-4 ms fade-in. In drastic cases, I use Sonic Foundry's Click Removal DirectX plug-in to remove clicks at transition points. THE PERFECT SLICE ReCycle, Acid, Sonar, and Cubase SX all uses the principle of cutting an audio loop into "slices," each of which represents a discrete sound, sound group (e.g., kick drum and snare hitting at the same time), or specific rhythmic interval, such as a 16th note. When you change a loop's tempo, each slice's start point shifts to accommodate the change. For example, if the original loop is at 130 BPM and there are slices every 16th note, if you change tempo to 140 BPM, the slice start points will move closer together to retain a 16th note relationship. The ReCycle/Cubase approach is subtly different from the Acid/Sonar approach, although the differences are mostly "under the hood" in the technology used to do the slicing. With Acid or Sonar, speeding up generally truncates or time-compresses the decay, because the ear is most interested in where the attacks fall. When slowing down, the decays are extended to lengthen the slice accordingly. The key to successful time-stretching with rhythmic loops is making sure the slices fall exactly at attack transients. With loops generated by drum machines, this is easy. With parts played by humans, there will be slight timing changes that require custom placing of the slice markers. Also note there must also be enough slices to define the beat, but not so many that the loop gets cut up excessively, thus creating sonic artifacts or other glitches during the stretching process. These two clips in the Loop Construction window have slices every 16th note. The top one has no swing, and all the drum sounds line up with the 16th note grid. The lower clip has significant swing, and while the kick (the big blob of audio located at B1, B2, B3, and B4) and the open hi-hat (halfway between each kick) line up perfectly, the swung, closed hi-hat sounds do not. Sonar can read "acidized" files (i.e., ones that have pitch and tempo information embedded in them according to Acid's file format). These should be optimally sliced, and follow tempo (and pitch) changes without requiring any type of preparation. However, a non-acidized file will not have these time-stretching properties until you convert it into what Sonar calls a Groove Clip. This automatically adds slicing markers, which you can edit later to optimize the stretching process. Acid automatically "acidizes" any file you import, and treats it as a loop (rather than one-shot or hard disk file). When you play back a Groove Clip, if it's standard, percussive-oriented material without swing, odds are Sonar will make a decent guess about where the slices need to go, and you'll be able to change its tempo without having to tweak. But not all clips are accommodating, especially when slowing down tempo. For example, suppose the clip has a lot of swing applied to a 16th note hi-hat pattern. Sonar can place slices every 16th note, but the "swung" notes don't fall on that particular rhythmic grid. Slowing down a loop where slices don't line up with attacks produces "flamming" due to the difference between when the program thinks the hi-hat should hit, as opposed to when it actually does hit. Speeding up the loop may not sound as bad, because the flamming gets closer together -- but tweaking will almost always make it sound better. The place to edit slices is Sonar's Loop Construction view, which you reach by double-clicking on a Groove Clip. It has two main slice editing sliders: A Basic Slices slider that determines the rhythmic interval between slices, and a Transient Detect slider. The higher the Transient Detect percentage, the smaller the transient Sonar will consider a percussive attack. In general, use the longest rhythmic values and lowest transient detection possible, consistent with the loop stretching properly. For most dance-oriented drum loops, 8th- or 16th-note slices with a transient setting of 0\% - 20\% works well. Loops that don't stretch properly require editing the slice markers. Each marker has a small, triangular-shaped handle. Editing involves lining up markers with attacks to teach Sonar the loop's precise rhythm. Optimally, you want the marker to line up at the precise beginning of the transient; it's advisable to zoom in to get this as close as possible. Once you move a marker, its triangle turns blue to show that it has been edited. You can also insert markers anywhere by double-clicking where you want the marker, on the same horizontal line as the other triangles. Because inserted markers are not generated automatically, they too will have blue handles. A marker has just been dragged from its old position (indicated by the triangle's "hollow" look) to the attack of the swung hi-hat just before beat 7. Upon releasing the mouse to complete the drag operation, the old marker's outline goes away. Note the blue handle in the modified marker. High Basic Slice and Transient Detection values may add unneeded slices where no attacks exist. These degrade the sound by splitting sustained sounds, and should be removed. Click on the eraser tool, then click on a marker's handle to delete the slice. This tweaked Groove Clip has moved several of the original markers from their original position to match up with the swung hi-hat notes. All this editing may sound like a lot of work, but it's more complex to explain than it is to actually jump in and move markers around to match up with attacks. Your reward for doing so will be clips without flamming or artifacts, assuming the amount of stretching isn't too huge. PROGRAM-SPECIFIC TRICKS Each program has its own little groovy goodies that help in creating cool drum loops. Of course, you can use generic VST or DirectX plug-ins, but Cubase has some proprietary tempo-synced plug-ins that are very effective with drums. Sonar's Cyclone virtual instrument is also killer for drum grooves, as you can mix or match slices from acidized files to create new loops. But while we're here, let's cover two other Sonar tricks that work well with drum loops. Retrograde loops. This reverses the order of the slices within a groove clip, thus creating a new loop variation. This works best with loops that are staccato, and have sharp attacks. Otherwise, when continuous sounds are broken up, clicks can occur at the splice points. Start off with an Acidized WAV file, or clip that has been converted into a Groove clip using Sonar's Loop Construction window. Select the file, then goProcess > Audio > Reverse. Disable Groove Clip looping for the file (click on the file and type Ctrl-L, or right-click and select "Groove-Clip Looping"). Once the file has been converted into a standard audio clip, again go Process > Audio > Reverse. Re-enable Groove Clip Looping. Press "Play," and enjoy the retrograde fruits of your labor. Truly deranged loops. Sonar's Groove Clip function is not just a way to loop, but can also process rhythmic tracks in totally bizarre ways. This works with Acid as well. In Sonar, double-click on a loop to bring up the Loop Construction window. In Acid, call up the loop Properties window (right-click on the track name and select Properties). Set the pitch parameter to +24 (in Acid, this is under the General tab and called Pitch Shift). With Sonar, set Transient Detection to 100\%. In Sonar, use the Loop Construction window Play button to start the loop playing. In Acid, use the Track Properties window Play button. Experiment with the Slicing slider (or in Acid, edit the Stretch Spacing parameter under the Stretch tab). Start with 64th notes for the most robotic/metallic effect, then try 32nd, 16th, 8th, etc. Each slice setting produces a different type of freakazoid effect. Forcing the Loop Construction window to "incorrect" parameter values can produce some great robotic/synthetic timbres. The key is to set pitch to 12 or 24, and a high slices value (in this case, 32nd notes; both parameters are circled in yellow for clarity). These bizarro loops seem most effective when layered with the original loop, which should be set to normal loop settings. They also make great breakbeats when you drop out the original loop. Although +24 is a somewhat "magic" pitch parameter, +12 also produces useful effects. --12 and --24 give weirdly pitched, slowed-down effects that also sound fabulous layered with the original loop. Often, you can simplify the loop beats by setting the Trans Detect slider to a low value, like 10\%. Bottom line: want some really weird, but musically useable, loops? Messing with the loop itself presents a gold mine of possibilities -- just learn how to tweak the "wrong" settings. Before closing out, let's check out various additional tips. GROOVE CLIP TIPS All programs that use slicing to do time-stretching work most efficiently when speeding up rather than slowing down. Therefore, if you want to create a loop that works well from, for example, 100 BPM to 120 BPM, you're better off creating it at 100 BPM and speeding it up than starting at 120 BPM and slowing it down. Editing markers is usually mandatory for drum loops played by human drummers instead of machines, as editing can compensate for any timing variations that interfere with the stretching process. Before getting too much into editing, try adjusting the Basic Slices and Transient Detection sliders first. Often choosing different values will solve flamming and other problems, without the need for editing. Use the lowest Slice Rhythmic Value possible (e.g., 8th note instead of 16th note), consistent with good sound. Extraneous slices can cut off drum decays. This is particularly annoying with kicks, as you lose some of the fullness and "ring." Sonar will endeavor to keep any markers that you've moved manually in their assigned positions, so you can experiment at any time with the Slicing and Transient Detect controls without losing the positions of your carefully-placed markers. When you save a Sonar song or bundle, it retains all the Groove Clip parameters. To save a Groove Clip in acidized format for use other programs, simply drag the file to the desktop; it will be copied and saved with its groove parameters intact. However, you will likely want to rename it, as Sonar generates the name automatically. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

A Few Tweaks Can Make Your Drum Parts Really "Breathe" by Craig Anderton In today's rhythm-based music, there's nothing worse than a dull drum pattern that doesn't do what it's supposed to do: Get people moving! Even if you come up with a good part, though, what about your sounds? Real drums have complex timbre changes that add excitement; if you want electronic drums to have the same kind of excitement, you need to create those timbral variations yourself. Fortunately, today's soft synths, samplers, and groove boxes have rich editing options. By tweaking a few parameters, you can create more expressive, powerful, and personalized sounds. Here are some of my favorite drum tweaks. PITCH SHIFTING Pitch control parameters are very useful. You can: Accommodate different musical styles. Some house music pitches drums lower, whereas drum 'n' bass often pitches them up. You may not need a new set of samples – try retuning the ones you have. Create multiple drum sounds from one. Want to play a two-hand shaker part, but you have only one shaker sample? Copy it, then detune the copy by a semitone or so to provide a slight sonic variation. Detuning can also create a family of toms out of one tom sample. Tune drums to the song's key, particularly with toms and resonant kick drums (such as the famously overused TR-808 "hum drum"). If the kick is out of tune with the bass, the sound can be muddy, and weaken the entire rhythm section. If fine tuning is not available as a control (sometimes you can change tuning only in semitones), you may be able to feed in a constant amount of pitch bend instead. Use radical transpositions to create new sounds. Most drum boxes don't have a gong sound, but here's how to create one. First, take your longest cymbal sound and detune it by 12 to 20 semitones. Create another version of the cymbal and detune it by about 3 semitones. Layer the two together; the slightly detuned cymbal gives a convincing attack, while the highly detuned one provides the necessary sustain. If your drum sound source can assign velocity to pitch modulation, you can increase dynamics by programming high velocity levels to add a very slight upward pitch shift. This works best if you apply velocity to the pitch envelope amount, then modulate the drum's pitch from the envelope. This way, after attacking at a higher pitch, the drum will fall back to the normal pitch. A small increase emulates a drum's skin being stretched, hence pitched higher, when it's first hit. CHANGING THE SAMPLE START POINT Altering a sample's start point under velocity control can add convincing dynamics. The highlighted section of the virtual front panel for Native Instruments' Battery drum plug-in shows the controls for modulating, setting, and monitoring the sample start point. (Note: I've modified the front panel graphic to focus attention on the sample start point elements.) On the waveform display, the red line indicates the initial sample start point, as set by the Start control. In the Modulation section, velocity is modulating Sample Start by 92, so higher velocities cause more of the attack transient to be heard. Most drum machines won't do this, but many synths and samplers will. Generally, you set the initial sample start point severaltens, or even hundreds, of milliseconds "late" into the sample so it's past where the attack occurs. Now assignnegative velocity to modulate the sample start point. At low velocities, you don't hear the signal's initial attack; higher velocities kick the sample point further toward the beginning, until at maximum velocity you hear the entire attack. If you already have a good MIDI drum part but it lacks dynamics, you can add sample start modulation after recording. Overdub a controller track using a mod wheel or MIDI fader, and assign the controller to sample start time. FILTER MODULATION For additional dynamic control, assign velocity to filter cutoff so that hitting the drum harder produces a slightly brighter sound. This gives extra emphasis to the hardest hits, making the drums feel more "alive." Soft taps will sound a bit muted. HI-HAT AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE DECAY MODULATION One of the most annoying "features" of electronic drums is the hi-hat. A real drummer is constantly working the hi-hat, open and closing it with the pedal, but the electronic version is an unchanging snapshot. Sure, you can program a combination of open, half-closed, and closed hi-hat notes, and assign them to a mute group (see below) so each will cut off the others, but programming a rhythm with three hat sounds is boring, and doesn't always sound that realistic. A more expressive option is to use a MIDI controller, such as mod wheel, to vary an open hi-hat sound's envelope decay time. Close the decay for a closed hi-hat; as you increase the decay, the hi-hat opens gradually. I usually play the hi-hat note with my right hand and move the mod wheel with my left, but this is also an operation that lends itself well to "post-processing" – record the part, then overdub the controller changes necessary to create a more expressive track. OVERDRIVE Most drums have a quick initial attack, followed by an abrupt decay. Adding a little bit of overdrive distortion will "crunch" the attack's first few milliseconds, while leaving the decay untouched. You can do this with an overdrive or distortion plug-in, or modify the sample itself using a digital audio editor, then loading it into the drum module. Increasing gain in a digital audio editor can "crunch" the initial transient. This affects the sound in three important ways: You can raise the overall average level of the drum for a louder perceived sound, because the overdrive effect will limit the percussive attack. This is like using a dynamic range limiter. It creates a short period of time where the sound is at its maximum level, thus contributing a feeling of "punch." It increases the attack's harmonic content, producing a brighter attack. MUTE GROUPS When drums are assigned to a mute group, hitting a drum that's part of the group will cut off any other drum from the group that's still sounding. This is mostly intended for hi-hats, so that playing a closed hi-hat sound will shut off an open hi-hat. But there are other uses for mute groups: Assign toms with long decays to the same mute group. Too many simultaneous tom decays can muddy up a track. When you assign them to the same mute group, not only do tom rolls sound cleaner, but you conserve polyphony. If you have some rhythmic loops loaded into your sampler along with individual drum sounds, make the loops part of a mute group (assuming, of course, you don't plan to layer them). This is particularly important if you're playing live. Suppose you have a bunch of four-measure loops, but you're hitting a build and you want to switch quickly between the first measure, or first two measures, of various loops. Assigning loops to the same mute group means you can start them whenever you like, knowing that the other ones will shut up when you do. SINGLE-CYCLE LOOPING This sampling-oriented trick can turn a quick hit into one with a loooooooong decay, particularly with toms and kicks. Loop a single cycle in the drum's decay tail so it repeats indefinitely. Then, apply an amplitude envelope to give the decay the desired length. Try different individual cycles for looping; they may appear almost identical in the waveform display, but some will usually loop better than others, and the harmonic content may differ as well. Also try adding some pitch shift to the decay so it goes lower in pitch as it decays. CLICK LAYERING Sometimes modulating an existing sample just isn't enough to create serious dynamics. This is where a click sample or sound can come in handy. For samplers, create a click sample. I made mine by simply drawing some spikes in a digital audio editor for about 35ms, and saved that as a file. With synthesized drums, you can make a good click by applying maximum, extremely short pitch modulation to a white noise source or buzzy oscillator, then impose a very quick amplitude decay. The goal is to layer the click with another sound, such as kick. But choose a velocity curve where the click is very quiet at lower velocity levels, so that the click appears only in the upper dynamic range of the sound with which it is layered. As you play harder, the click will become more audible, adding punch to the drum sound. A little lowpass filtering on the click will help blend the two sounds to taste. Remember, machines don't kill music – people do. If you want your drum parts to really grab your listeners, use some of these tricks to help your sounds come alive. Resources: Electronic Drums Buying Guide Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Wanna Do Some Fancy Footwork? by Rick Van Horn & Photos by Jim Esposito KEY NOTES Offers potential for unique bass drum patterns Likely to require significant "shedding" Uneven volume balance in twin-action mode The original Duallist twin-action pedal features a single footboard that operates two beaters. You push on the footboard and the right beater strikes the bass drum. You release it and the left beater hits. That's it in a nutshell. Now, as if getting two strikes out of one pedal movement wasn't enough, Kevin Mackie (the inventor of the Duallist) has applied his engineering skills toward involving the drummer's other foot. The Duallist is now available in a "triple pedal" version that adds a left or right slave pedal to the original twin-action model. In a sense, the triple pedal is actually four pedals: a conventional single, a conventional double, a twin-action single, and a double that adds the capabilities of the twin-action main pedal. This offers the potential for traditional and very non-traditional bass drum patterns. Construction The Duallist pedal might appear big and clunky, but it's actually only slightly wider than a standard pedal. The frame is constructed of a nylon polymer, so the main Duallist pedal weighs only six pounds, while the slave pedal weighs only three. Yet they're tough enough to withstand the heaviest pounding. The black color is an integral element of the polymer material, so the parts will never scratch. On the main pedal, the drive connection for the right beater is a high-strength Kevlar strap. The connection for the left beater is a rubber strap that provides added flexibility. (The slave pedal uses the Kevlar strap.) The straps are secured under the footboard, and each can be adjusted individually. In fact, the Duallist has a few more adjustments than you'd find on a standard pedal. Fortunately, it comes with printed instructions and a demo video that make things pretty clear. The beaters supplied with the Duallist have felt and plastic playing surfaces. A hoop clamp that slides forward and back in the frame allows you to adjust the spacing between the pedal and the bass drum. Spikes mounted in the bases help to hold the pedals in place. How Does It Work? There have been several twin-action pedal designs on the market over the years. Most have required the drummer to alter his or her playing style dramatically in order to operate them. The Duallist has survived (while others have not) largely because it lets drummers play in a normal fashion, and does the double-action playing for them. Still, there's not much benefit to a twin-action pedal if it doesn't produce a decent single action. The Duallist main pedal, on the other hand, works well in single mode. You can individually adjust the stroke, the beater height, the spring tension, and the length of the drive straps for each beater to obtain the action that you want. The unit came with a pretty stiff spring setting and a firm feel. After a bit of tweaking, I was able to get the light, responsive action I prefer. Now, when it comes to the twin-action mode, there's a certain amount of physics (mass, energy, and weight) involved in moving two beaters simultaneously. So it simply isn't possible to get exactly the same feel here as in single mode. Drummers who prefer a certain amount of resistance from their pedals will likely have better luck with the Duallist initially than will those who favor a very light action. Shifting from single to double playing mode on the main pedal is accomplished by stepping on the Speedswitch levers located to the left and right of the footboard. The positioning of the switches lets you do the switching with your heel, thereby keeping your foot on the footboard. Press the left-side switch and the left beater is locked back, putting you in single mode. Slide your heel over and press the right side to release the left beater, and you're in double mode. Your playing pattern can go uninterrupted. The triple-pedal function is added by the attachment of a fairly traditional slave pedal, connected to the main pedal by a universal-linkage axle. The third beater is mounted on the main pedal, on a very fluid bearing. The holder positions the slave beater close to the two main beaters for a uniform sound on the bass drum. How Well Does It Work? I guarantee that you're not going to sit down, shift the main Duallist pedal into twin-action mode, and instantly play fluid double-bass patterns with one foot. Even if you're a single-pedal-playing son-of-a-gun, you're going to need a goodly amount of time to get used to some of the Duallist's idiosyncrasies. To begin with, precise control of pedal timing is necessary in order to get even strokes from the Duallist's "return beat" action. So you're likely to find it easier to operate the twin-action function if you play heel-down. If you play exclusively heel-up, you'll probably need to experiment with where you step on the footboard. Also, shifting between single- and twin-action mode is something that isn't a normal element of bass-drum playing, so you'll have to consciously think about the timing involved. As described earlier, the way the main pedal's twin-action function works is that when you step on the footboard, the right beater strikes the bass drum head and the left beater is drawn back. When you release the footboard, the left beater comes forward and strikes the head. That means that you power the downstroke, and the mechanics of the pedal provide the upstroke. This differentiation in stroke power created the one major limitation we discovered with the Duallist. The mechanically-produced return stroke could not duplicate the power and volume of a foot-powered pedal stomp. The only way to get matched volume between the two strokes was to back off on the downstroke. (Again, playing heel-down helped out in this endeavor.) When the pedal was played full-bore, the pedal-operated stroke sounded almost like a ghost note as compared to the downstroke. Now, if you're playing patterns at lightning speed—especially with the addition of beats played on the slave pedal—this sonic difference might not be a major issue. But it's something to be aware of. Licks And Tricks The Duallist triple pedal provides lots of interesting rhythmic-pattern possibilities. For example: If you play 8th notes on the main pedal in double mode, the pedal translates them into 16ths. Play a double stroke with the right beater, and with what the left beater adds you get a one-8th-and-two-16ths pattern. Play a bouncing shuffle and get triplets...and so forth. Now, factor in the contribution of the left pedal, and the possibilities boggle the mind. Once again, it's going to take some serious practice to work that left pedal into the timing of the twin-action right pedal. Otherwise you'll find yourself simply duplicating beater strikes. But once you've accomplished that, the sky's the limit in terms of polyrhythms and solo figures. Conclusion The Duallist triple pedal is an innovative product that offers tremendous potential to the right user. But it's not for everyone. In order to utilize it to its fullest capacity, you need to have excellent foot control and independence. You also need to be playing music that can accommodate the intricate patterns it can produce. And you should be aware of the volume-balance limitations inherent in the twin-action design. But given those conditions, the Duallist triple is a serious instrument that just might reshape your thinking about how you play. THE NUMBERS Duallist Triple Pedal $614.63 (Price shown is online price direct from the manufacturer. Retail prices may vary.) (323) 417 4964, www.theduallist.com

Composite Vocal Tracks, Compression, and Reverb Can Be the Deciding Factors in a Cool Vocal Track By Craig Anderton Hard disk recording techniques have affected every aspect of recording, including vocals. Although overdubbing vocals has been a common technique for years, today's programs let you do multiple tracks of vocals, and make a "composite" with all the best bits. We'll cover how to do that, then talk a bit about compression and reverb. COMPOSITE VOCAL TRACKS Cutting and pasting has benefited vocals, as you can do multiple takes, and splice the best parts together to make the perfect "composite" vocal. Some producers feel that stitching together vocals doesn't produce as natural a "feel" as a take that goes all the way through from beginning to end, while others believe that being able to choose from multiple takes allows creating a vocal with more range than might occur with a single take. If you want to try composite vocals, here are the basic steps. Record the Takes Record enough takes so there's plenty of material to piece together a good performance (loop recording is particularly handy for doing vocals). While you're in a recording mood, record a little bit of the track without any input signal. This can be handy to have around, for reasons described later. Audition the Takes Audition each take, and isolate the good parts (by cutting out unwanted sections). I recommend setting loop points around very short phrases. Solo each take, one after the other. If you're not going to use a take, cut the phrase. If a take is a candidate for the final mix, keep it. Pick the top 3 or 4 candidates, and remove the equivalent sections from the rest of the tracks. Now repeat this procedure, phrase by phrase, until you've gone over the entire performance and found the best bits. In Sonar, several takes of vocals have been recorded. A mute tool has muted portions of each track (the waveforms are shown as shaded), with the remaining parts making up the final vocal. Next, listen to combinations of the various different phrases. Balance technical and artistic considerations; choose parts that flow well together as well as sound technically correct. Sometimes you might deliberately choose a less expressive rendition of a line if it comes just before an emotional high point, thus heightening the contrast. Once you have the segments needed for a cohesive performance, erase the unused parts. If you want to archive everything "just in case," go for it. But if after putting the part together you think it could be better, you might be better off re-cutting it than putting more hours into editing. Several takes of vocals were recorded into Cubase SX, and edited to create one final vocal. The program shows the elements that make up the final vocal by highlighting them in green. Bounce the Takes This isn't absolutely necessary, but converting all the bits into a single track simplifies subsequent editing and processing. Before bouncing, play the tune through from start to finish and match the segment levels as closely as possible. Also check the meters for any send bus or master bus the tracks are feeding, and adjust levels (if needed) so there's no distortion. Generally, the bounced track will be derived from a bus or master; if there's distortion, the bounced track will have distortion too. This is also where the recorded noise might come in handy. Sometimes I've had to do a quick fade on the end of one segment, and a fade in on the beginning of another, leaving a dead silent gap between phrases. Layering in a bit of the noise signal gives better continuity, and keeps the part from sounding too "assembled." After everything's set, implement the program's bounce or mix to hard disk function. You can typically bounce to an empty track, or "render" the audio to disk and bring it back into the project. Edit the Composite Track At this point, I bring the composite track into a digital audio editor for clean-up. Here are some typical processes: Phrase-by-phrase gain adjustments. If a phrase has mismatched levels, use the program's level change DSP or mix automation to fix the problem. Fix breath noises and inhales. There might be "flammed" inhales from combining two different takes, so cut one. However, don't eliminate all inhales and breath noises -- they keep things "human." Add overall dynamics control, reverb, EQ, echo, etc. if needed. Do not add these while cutting individual takes; it will be much harder to match the effect, and in the case of reverb, tails might get cut off. Adding processing after optimizing the entire track will give the best results. Tidy Up Your Hard Disk After the vocals are done, check how your program deals with deleting unused segments, as this can reclaim significant space from your hard drive. USING COMPRESSION WITH VOCALS Dynamics control is an essential part of recording vocals. The best dynamics control is someone who knows good mic technique, and plays the mic like a slide trombone -- getting closer for more intimate sections, and moving further away when singing more forcefully. Unfortunately, few vocalists are accomplished at mic technique, so you may need to use electronic dynamics control (compression) instead. Compression has other uses, like giving a vocal a more intimate feel by bringing up lower-level sounds. No matter what your application, though, don't squeeze the dynamics so much that you also squeeze the life out of the vocals. Here are some tips on optimum compression settings. Watch the gain reduction meter, which shows how much the input signal's level is being reduced at any given moment. You generally don't want more than 6dB of reduction, and even that's stretching it. To reduce the amount of gain reduction, either raise the threshold parameter, or reduce the compression ratio. Adjust the gain control so that the output meter indicator comes as close to 0dB as possible, but never hits or exceeds it. The most important controls are threshold and ratio. To clamp down on peaks while leaving the rest of the vocal dynamics more or less intact, choose a high ratio (10:1 or greater) and a relatively high threshold (around -1 to -6 dB). Lower compression ratios (1.5:1 to 3:1) give a more natural sound than higher ones. Zero attack time clamps peaks instantly, producing the most drastic compression action. If it's crucial that the signal never hit 0 yet you want high average levels, use zero attack time. But I think it's probably better to use an attack time of 5 - 20 ms to let through some peaks, even if it means a somewhat lower average signal level. Decay is not as critical as attack. Start in the 100 - 250 ms range. The Knee parameter controls how rapidly any compression kicks in. With soft knee, when the input exceeds the threshold, the compression ratio is less at first, then increases up to the specified ratio as the input increases. With hard knee response, as soon as the input signal crosses the thresh¬old, it's subject to the full amount of compression. Use hard knee settings when controlling peaks is a priority, and soft knee curves for a less colored sound. Some compressors include a function that automatically adjusts attack and decay times according to the signal passing through the system. This is often the best choice if you're new to compression. REVERB TIPS FOR VOCALS Nothing "gift wraps" a vocal better than some tasty reverb. My favorite reverb for voice is a natural acoustic space, but as reverb rooms are an endangered species, you'll likely use a digital reverb. Reverb settings are a matter of taste, but two parameters are particularly important. A reverb's Predelay and Diffusion parameters are crucial to getting good vocal sounds. This reverb, the RVerb plug-in from WAVES, offers an exceptional amount of control. Diffusion: With vocals, I prefer low diffusion, where each reflection is more "separated." Low diffusion settings often sound terrible with percussion, as the individual echoes can have an effect like marbles bouncing on a steel plate. But with vocals, the sparser amount of reflections prevent the voice from being overwhelmed by too "lush" a reverb sound. Predelay: This works well in the 50-100 ms range. The delay allows the first part of the vocal to punch through without reverb, while the more sustained parts get the full benefit of the reverberated sound. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

From the Basic to the Esoteric, Here Are Proven Ways to Enhance Your Vocals By Craig Anderton It was late at night, at a live-in-concert recording session in Germany. As several thousand fans waited anxiously, the vocalist walked onstage, and picked up a set of headphones. I saw him plug them into the mixer, and figured he was going to make one final check of his vocal sound before the band kicked in. He then turned the preamp gain control up full...not too unusual, as mics don't have a lot of gain. But then he held the headphones up to his mouth and -- started singing. He had plugged the headphones into the mic in, not the headphone out...and he had done it on purpose. Is this what recording vocals in the 21st century is about? Well, the answer is yes...and no. No, in the sense that a well-recorded vocal through a high-end mic feeding a state-of-the-art preamp remains a supremely important part of the recording art. Yes, in the sense that it underscores a fundamental truth about recording today: anything goes. The tools of the vocal trade have undergone as dramatic a transformation as the recording process itself. Microphones are better and cheaper; today's "budget" mics sometimes outperform the champions of yesteryear. Preamps, whether tube or solid state, have noise levels that are measurable only with the most sensitive test equipment. Processing gear ranges from "vocal strips" dedicated solely to vocal, to technologies such as Antares'Auto-Tune (which can correct out-of-tune-vocals) and mic modeling, which mimics the characteristics of particular "signature" mics. Compressors, reverbs, even vocal booths have all enjoyed the results of technological progress. So what's the best way to record vocals these days? The answer, of course, is that anything goes. Following are some of the possibilities. Recording Vocals Few topics inspire more debate than the optimum vocal mic and preamp. But note that a mic and preamp combination that sounds great with one vocalist might not work with another. Case in point: once while recording, my voice was recorded with a sub-$100 dynamic mic and a $995 condenser mic. The unanimous agreement was that the dynamic sounded better. Was it because the mic was better? No. From any objective standpoint, it was inferior. But it had some response anomalies that flattered my voice. The condenser mic was accurate, but my voice didn't need accuracy: It needed a high-frequency lift, and warmth from the proximity effect (i.e., the tendency of a dynamic to produce more bass as you sing closer to it). I sometimes wish that all mics looked the same, and had no labels on them. That would force engineers to take a fresh approach with every session. It's very easy to rely on using old favorites -- the assumption is that the mic that worked great on the last session will be equally good on the current session, but that isn't always true. Furthermore, there's a matching issue between mics and preamps, so mic X might sound great with preamp A and not so great with preamp B. Bottom line: Try every mic with a vocalist, record the results, then choose which one sounds most appropriate. I suggest comparing two mics at a time to prevent "option overload." Choose the best of each pair, then have a runoff among the winners. Creating The Best Performance What's far more important than the gear you use is the performance. While it may seem gear has little to do with this, gear can help create an environment that brings out the best in the vocalist. We're not talking about dimming the lights, but working in a way that fits the vocalist's style. For example, loop recording (where a particular segment of music repeats over and over, and a new overdub gets laid down in a new track on each pass) is great for doing multiple takes. But some vocalists get nervous when the music never stops -- they need some breathing space in between takes -- while others just seem to build as the music keeps going around. Does the singer like having a long lead-in before the part to get psyched up, or prefer to jump right into it? Find the answers, and set up your gear accordingly. Mic Modeling: Sonic Scam Or Holy Grail? Different mics have different sonic "signatures." A lot of this involves the mic's distinctive frequency response, so mic modeling software or hardware analyzes a reference mic's response (along with other selected characteristics), and applies this signature to your mic. Antares' Mic Modeler, now discontinued, was a pioneer in the concept of mic modeling. This process works best when the modeling software either analyzes your mic also, so it knows exactly what type of compensation to apply, or you have a mic type that is recommended as a signal source for the modeling device. So can you really turn a Radio Shack mic into a vintage tube Neumann? No way. Granted, it may sound more like a Neumann than it did before, but no one's going to prefer it over the real thing. However, with a good source mic, and if you don't stretch the model too far (for example, having one dynamic mic sound like a different dynamic mic will probably work out better than trying to make it sound like a small diaphragm condenser type), mic modeling can be a very useful tool. The issues are the same as with modeled guitar amps. Clearly, plugging a guitar direct into a board through a modeling preamp is not going to feel the same as playing through a guitar amp and cabinet. That's not surprising; what is surprising is just how close you can come, and how by the time the track plays back, few people can hear the difference between the real thing and the simulation. Mic modeling isn't a replacement for a good collection of mics, but it can take a good collection of mics further. Even if simulating other mics isn't your main interest, the complex response curves created by applying mic modeling have uses in their own right. Richer Vocals One of the all-time proven techniques for creating thicker vocals is to have the vocalist double a line by singing along with the original take. The doubled take is usually mixed behind the main line at anywhere from 3 to 10 dB. However, sometimes it isn't always possible to cut a doubled line -- like when you're mixing, and the vocalist is on tour somewhere. For these circumstances, here's a quick workaround. Copy the vocal track you want to thicken so you now have two tracks of the same vocal. Apply a pitch shift plug-in or hardware processor to one of the tracks. Here's a good point of departure for the Pitch Shift parameter settings: Pitch Shift = -20 to -30 cents Dry Mix = 0 Wet Mix = 100 (you want only the pitch-shifted sound) If there's a feedback parameter, set it to 0. If delay time and modulation are available, try modulating pitch very slowly over a range of about 3 to 15 ms. This adds a bit of variety. Also, bring the doubled track down so it doesn't compete with, but instead complements, the lead vocal. Of course, these are just suggested settings that work well with my voice; adjust to taste. For the thickest sound, pan the two vocal tracks to center. If you pan one vocal full right and one full left, you'll hear two individual vocals instead of a composite effect (which may be what you want). Also try panning lead vocals slightly left and right (e.g., left channel at 10 o'clock, right channel at 2 o'clock). This gives a somewhat fuller sound and wider stereo spread, which can also be useful. Fixing A Doubled Vocal With doubled vocals, sometimes the two vocals work together perfectly except for an occasional word or two. Rather than recut or overdub the doubled vocal, a workaround is to copy the same section from the original (non-doubled) vocal. Paste it into the doubled track, but delay it by about 20-30 ms. As long as the segment is short enough, it will sound fine (longer segments will sound echoed, which may work, but destroys the sense of two individual parts being played). Synthesizing Vocal Harmonies Normally, I sing my own harmonies. But sometimes, pitch shifters -- because they're not perfect -- add timbral and timing imperfections that actually sound better for some applications. Here's an example of creating harmonies using Sonar's real-time pitch shifting plug-in (the principles are the same for other programs). Note that Sonar Producer Edition also includes a high-quality, but non-real-time, pitch stretch processor. I usually use the real-time plug-in to get the harmonies right, then go back and process the files destructively using the higher-quality, non-real-time algorithm. This shows harmonies being generated within Sonar using real-time plug-ins. Higher-quality, offline plug-ins can be used for the final processing. Note that there are four tracks of vocals: The teal one at the top is the original vocal. The violet one below that is a "cloned" version, which has been processed with the doubling technique mentioned previously. The next track (blue) is also a cloned track, but it's being processed through the pitch shifter set to a major 3rd. However, note that some elements have been cut from this track and moved to the next track down, which is processed through the pitch shifter set to a minor 3rd. As Sonar doesn't know which notes should receive minor 3rd or major 3rd harmonization, you have to cut up the track appropriately, and move the right phrases or notes to the right tracks. This may require zooming way in on the cloned track, so you can make cuts in the space between phrases. The standard pitch shifting caution applies -- the further you stretch pitch, the less realistic the sound. Sonar's real-time pitch shifter does not preserve formants during shifts; however, when pitching up a major third the formant change adds a bit of voice-on-helium effect, which when mixed behind the main vocal, can actually sound pretty cool. Starting with Sonar 5, the Producer Edition includes Roland's VariPhrase technology in their V-Vocal plug-in. With this plug-in, you can "draw in" harmonics and constrain a melody to particular notes. This makes the process of harmonization much easier, as does a similar feature in Samplitude and Digital Performer. There are also programs like Antares Harmony Engine, and zplane's Vielklang (among others) that are designed to generate harmonies. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

It's not Sexy, but Wire is One of the Most Important Pieces of "Gear" You'll Ever Use By Craig Anderton No matter how much caffeine you've consumed today, you're not as wired as your studio - or your stage rig. But how much do you really think about those little spaghetti-like critters that form the central nervous system of your musical world? Wire is an actual electronic component, and it can affect your sound - so let's investigate ways to make your wires work harder for you. SPEAKER CABLES With non-powered speakers that are fed from a power amp, the use of proper cables (never use instrument cords!) can make an audible sonic improvement. This is because amplifiers and speakers are very low-impedance devices, so even the slightest resistance between the two makes it more difficult to transfer power efficiently. Because reproducing bass frequencies at high volume require lots of power, cable problems generally manifest themselves as reduced or "thin" bass. Fig. 1: SpeakOn connectors lock into place for a firm connection, and minimize arcing if removed under load. There are plenty of companies that make speaker cables, but in addition to the wire itself, the connectors are important. A corroded connection, or one that doesn't make good contact, can affect the sound. Locking SpeakOn connectors (Fig. 1) are an industry standard, but banana connectors are inexpensive and reliable; screw terminals are also good if your cables have bare wire ends. 1/4" phone plugs are also common for speaker wires, but with standard plugs, there are fewer points of contact with the jack compared to SpeakOn or banana connectors. However, there are phone plugs that have additional compression springs to provide better contact (Fig. 2). As to the wire itself, the smaller the gauge number, the thicker the wire-and the thicker the wire, the lower the resistance. 16 gauge wire is used for a lot of systems, but for long cable runs or high power, 12 gauge is a better (albeit more expensive) option. If you're arguing with your budget and big-bucks speaker cables are out of the question, there's a somewhat messy but low-cost workaround: Run several wires designed for high current (e.g., AC "zip" cords) in parallel, with an equal number of cables for the hot and ground connections, to lower the overall resistance. For example, if you run two zip cords in parallel, you've cut the resistance in half and four zip cords in parallel cut the resistance by 75\\\%. With the decreased resistance, you may hear a difference (the infamous "tighter bass") if the cable runs are fairly long, or if you play at loud volume with a lot of bass. Zip cords are available at local hardware stores. Another option for those on a budget is to buy a coil of cable and the needed connectors, then assemble your own cables. You won't save huge amounts of money, but it will be enough to make your wallet happy. Fig. 2: This Planet Waves 1/4" phone plug has eight compression springs on the shank, providing increased contact with the jack and also holding it more firmly in place to prevent accidental removal. GOLD-PLATED CONNECTORS: HYPE OR NOT? Fig. 3: Cables and connectors are surrounded by hype and questionable claims, but gold-plating the ends of connectors does make a difference. You've probably seen cables advertised with gold connectors (Fig. 3) and wondered if it was just hype, or really made a difference. Well, gold is indeed one of the best metals for electrical interconnection, because it is relatively malleable. As a result it will "squish" into place and fill in gaps better than other metals. This provides better contact, which improves the sound quality. (Extreme cases of bad contact produce scratchy noises, but even slight corrosion can do anything from add distortion to reduce levels.) Unfortunately gold isn't cheap, so you pay a premium for gold-plated connectors. But there is a pretty decent workaround: Contact enhancement chemicals, such as Caig DeoxIT, can restore and improve contact connections with non-gold-plated connectors. I've known studio owners who swear their sound improves if they spray their patch bay connectors every 6-12 months with DeoxIT. CABLES AND RF (RADIO FREQUENCY) INTERFERENCE Cables are often correctly blamed for radio frequency interference, but not for the reason most people think: Corrosion at the connectors, not inadequate shielding, is usually the culprit. Corrosion can create a crystalline structure that acts like a diode, and if you're familiar with the concept of a crystal radio, a diode can turn radio frequency signals into audio frequencies. So if you're getting RF interference, before replacing the cable, try cleaning the contacts first. If the interference is cable-related, cleaning will almost always fix the problem. To clean, use either contact cleaner (like the Caig DeoxIT mentioned previously) or if you're desperate, use a pencil eraser or anything that can scrape the metal very lightly (you don't want to scratch off any plating). SPIRAL VS. BRAIDED SHIELDS Fig. 4: Different types of shielding are designed for different uses. There are two main types of shielding used with shielded cables: spiral and braided (Fig. 4). If you make your own cables, note that the two types are intended for different applications. Spiral braids are easier to unravel and solder, but can develop gaps in the shielding if coiled up or bent a lot. Therefore, they're best for permanent installations (e.g., shielded wires within a mixer console or processor). Braided insulation holds up well to repeated bending and kinking, and while it's harder to work with, I'd recommend it for cables that will be plugged and unplugged often. THOSE CRAZY GUITAR PLAYERS! Some guitarists will swear to you that their axe sounds better with some cords than others, which usually elicits a chorus of "yeah, right" from the "wire-is-wire" crowd. But cables can indeed make a difference. Cables are essentially capacitors (i.e., two conductors separated by an insulator), which are the same components used for tone controls within guitars (adding capacitance from the hot wire to ground reduces high frequencies proportionately to the amount of capacitance.) However, cable capacitance is relatively small, so it will have an effect only if the guitar has non-active pickups with a high output impedance, and is feeding an amp or direct box with an extremely high input impedance (e.g., 1 megohm or more; most tube gear falls under this category). If you're recording guitar, try several cables to see which sounds better. For more information on guitar cables, check out the article "The Truth About Guitar Cords." DOING DIGITAL: WHY AUDIO CABLES AREN'T GOOD ENOUGH Cable capacitance isn't only a concern of guitarists. If you hear clicks, pops, and blorps in your digital transfers, the problem could be due to cables rather than errant software or hardware. For example, because S/PDIF uses RCA connectors, a lot of people just assume they can use standard RCA-to-RCA audio cables and all will be well. If the distance is short, this can be true. However, assume a digital sampling rate of 44.1kHz: that's only the fundamental frequency, and the harmonics that determine the waveform's integrity extend several octaves above that, well into the RF range. Long, high-capacitance cables can roll off enough highs at these frequencies to slow down a square wave's attack, which can contribute to jitter problems. Fig. 5: Mogami is one of several companies that makes cable designed specifically for digital audio. This picture shows one of their AES/EBU digital cables. For best results with digital audio signals, use low-capacitance cables designed for video work or that are marked as specifically for digital signals (Fig. 5). Often these cables are available at your local electronics emporium with BNC connectors for use with video or test gear. If you need an audio cable in a pinch, clip off these connectors and solder on RCA phono plugs (preferably gold-plated). DON'T TREAD ON ME Some musicians don't think twice about stepping on cables or rolling gear across them, but they should. A cable's shield is separated from the inner conductor by insulation, which minimizes capacitance. Stepping on a cable can flatten the insulation, pushing the shield closer to the inner conductor and increasing capacitance. While this may not be enough to cause any audible difference, the more times the cable gets stepped on, the better the odds of problems ranging from increased capacitance to intermittent operation. If you must run cables across the floor, buy some long, raised rubber covers that run over a wire or group of wires. These are often available at office supply stores for covering up connections to printers, lamps, and so on (e.g., Curtis Cord Cover, available in 6 ft lengths at places like Office Depot). Routing your wires through these not only helps protect the wires somewhat, but also serves as a warning that might inspire people to step over them, not on them. MULTICONDUCTOR CABLES: CAUTION! Multiconductor cables can be quite delicate, as I first learned when working with SCSI cables. When you're trying to fit so many conductors inside a single jacket, each conductor has to be pretty thin, and therefore is fairly weak. Frequent plugging and unplugging of multiconductor cables shortens their lives much faster than an equivalent amount of stress with audio cables. Bending, twisting, or setting weighty objects on a multiconductor cable can also ruin it in short order, as can letting its weight pull on the part of the cable attached to the connector. For best results, once you wire up a multiconductor cable, make sure it's well-supported, then leave it there. Well, that's enough wire talk for now. The whole saying about a chain being only as good as its weakest link also refers to the wires that link your gear together; hopefully the above tips will strengthen some of the weaker links in your setup. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Here's How to Fix those Pesky Timing Problems By Craig Anderton Ever play the perfect solo or riff except that one note was just a little bit early, or a little bit late? If you never have, then stop reading this article immediately, move to Los Angeles, New York, or Nashville, and start doing session work. Otherwise, keep reading. DIGITAL AUDIO QUANTIZING TOOLS The first time I saw audio quantization was in Opcode's late, great StudioVision program. The process required signals with strong transients and fast attacks, like drums, guitar, bass, piano, etc. Quantization was a two-step process: First, you applied the equivalent of a noise gate to strip out all the silences in a digital audio track. Thus, all the notes with sharp transients started a new "block" of audio (Fig. 1). The beginning of each block could then snap to a grid, just like MIDI notes, to quantize the parts. Fig. 1: Separating audio into smaller blocks allows quantizing them to a grid. Beat Detective for Pro Tools takes a more sophisticated approach. In a nutshell, it too looks for transients, but works pretty much automatically. Once it finds the transients, it moves them so they fall on a grid, and extends or shortens the audio in front of the transient to make up for any timing inconsistencies. There are several variations on these basic themes, but let's look at a process that works with just about any DAW software. It's definitely not an automatic process; you need to slice audio manually, and move the pieces around yourself. While the downside is that this is less convenient, the advantage is that you can be selective in what you do or don't quantize. This is important, because it's okay if notes aren't quantized exactly to the beat, as long as they sound right. Those little tempo variations that lead or lag the beat are a crucial part of providing emotional impact. I've analyzed guitar solos where notes would come in 30 or 50 ms late compared to the beat, but that added a cool feel -- quantizing them to the beat took all the life out of the solo. So, always use quantization to fix mistakes based on what you hear with your ears, not what you see with your eyes. Another issue is that quantizing in isolation can lead to problems. For example, suppose the drummer played the snare a bit late compared to the beat, and all the players followed right along. If you quantize just one part, then its timing will sound "off," so you'll have to quantize the others too . . . and it all might be for nothing if you then decide that the tune sounded better with the snare lagging anyway. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. BUT THIS ONE'S BROKE! What got me into writing this article was working on a new library of looped guitar riffs called "Adrenalinn Guitars," using effects primarily based on Roger Linn's Adrenalinn processor. Because loops like these are generally used in conjunction with quantized drums and other loops, the notes need to be right on the beat so they fit in properly. If someone using the loops wants to add a timing variation, it's usually done by inserting a small tempo change to lead or lag, not moving bits and pieces of audio around. The upper part of the following illustration (Fig. 2) shows the original guitar riff (only one channel is shown to save space). The four lines (three white, one red) indicate eighth note divisions. Note that the first note is right on an eighth note division, the second one is just a tiny bit ahead, the third note lags by a bit, and so does the fourth. Fig. 2: A guitar riff before and after quantizing. The lower part shows the same riff after quantizing, using the technique we're about to describe. The timing has been perfected, but without any glitching, pops, or other indications that quantizing took place. THE PROCESS Let's first show how to quantize a note that lags behind the beat; as an example, we'll fix the last note in the above illustration (the one that lags the red line). Here's the step-by-step (Fig. 3): 1. Zoom in on the waveform. 2. Turn off any snap-to-grid function. 3. Split the clip at the precise beginning of the lagging note. A yellow line indicates the split in the top third of the following figure. Also split at the end of the note, or before the next major transient. Basically, we want to isolate the section that needs to move. Fig. 3: Three steps involved in quantizing a note that lags the beat. 4. Turn on the snap-to-grid function (in this case, it's set to eighth notes). 5. Slip-edit the section of audio just before the lagging note, and move it back to the point where the note should start. Because snap is on, the end of the clip should snap right into position on the eighth note. This opens up a space between where the note should start and its current location (as shown in the middle third of the illustration). 6. Move the lagging note left to the proper start point, in the direction indicated by the arrow in the middle third of the above screen shot. Note that this will also open up a space at the end of the clip, which is why we added a split there in step 3. Otherwise, when you moved the clip to the left, it would move the entire rest of the track to the left. However, you will likely need to go back and close up this space, probably by crossfading in a manner similar to what's described in the second step-by-step example. 7. Crossfade over the split point to eliminate any clicks or pops. Now the audio looks the lower third of the screen shot. Roll the crossfade out starting from the note's attack, and move left so that it crossfades with the existing decay. 8. Audition what you've done to make sure all is well. Adjust the crossfade for the minimum amount of crossfade needed for a natural sound. If the note is ahead of the beat instead of behind, the process is somewhat similar (Fig. 4). 1. Zoom in on the waveform. 2. Turn off any snap-to-grid function. Fig. 4: Three steps involved in quantizing a note that leads the beat. 3. Move the leading note to the right so that it snaps into position on the eighth note (middle third of the above screenshot). Do not slip-edit the section of audio prior to the note attack to cover up the space, as that will cause a double attack. (Note that because we added a split at the end of the leading note, moving the clip to the right will cause its end to overlap the start of the section after the split. You will need to revisit this later and fix it, probably by slip-editing the clip so it no longer overlaps the beginning of the next one, then crossfading to smooth over the splice.) 4. Crossfade over the space and into the previous decay to eliminate any clicks or pops (the ower third of the above screen shot). Roll the crossfade out starting from the note's attack, and move left so that it crossfades with the existing decay. Note: If the gap that needs to be covered is large, prior to crossfading you may need to add a hard fadeout to the end of the clip. Otherwise, even with crossfading, there may be an abrupt cutoff. 5. Audition what you've done to make sure all is well. As before, use the minimum amount of crossfading needed for a natural sound 6. Split the clip at the precise beginning of the leading note. A yellow line indicates the split in the following illustration. Also split at the end of the note, or the next note transient. This may seem time-consuming (and if you're trying to fix all the glitches for a player with a timing problem, it is!). But to fix the odd note here and there, this technique provides a simple, transparent-sounding solution. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Find Out How to Change Guitar Sounds after the Fact By Craig Anderton Recording your guitar part used to set its sound in stone. Although you could add processors like EQ, reverb, decay, and the like while mixing, they altered the basic sound, but couldn't provide an entirely different sound. However, re-amping is a way around this. Maybe you wish you'd recorded through a Vox AC30 instead of a Fender Twin – no problem. There are two main options for changing your sound after the fact: standard re-amping, and using software plug-ins to do re-amping. Standard re-amping is the more low-tech solution. While recording, you split your direct guitar signal and send one split to a multitrack recorder track (usually through a preamp or other buffer to prevent loading down your pickups), and the other to a guitar amp for monitoring. Monitoring through an amp is important, because the direct signal won't have any distortion, sustain, or other characteristics that you may need for the right "feel" when playing. To change the amp sound while mixing, you pad the direct (straight) track down to a lower level suitable for feeding a guitar amp, play back the track through the amp, and re-record the amp sound to a separate track. Another use for re-amping is to add ambience to a direct-recorded guitar part by re-recording through an amp in a particular acoustical space. Plug-ins (software programs that work with a computer-based host program) are inherently useful for re-amping if you send your straight guitar sound directly into the computer, then get your tone by using the plug-in. But note that recording through a plug-in requires a computer-based host and interface with low latency(delay through the system), otherwise you'll hear a delay as you listen to the program's output. Although some guitarists can tolerate a reasonable amount of delay, if it's much more than 10 ms it's very distracting. You also need an audio interface with an input designed specifically to accommodate a straight guitar signal, or a preamp if your interface offers only a line level input. Native Instruments' Guitar Rig is one of many guitar plug-ins on the market. Other popular guitar-oriented plug-ins include IK Multimedia's AmpliTube, Waves G|T|R, models from Studio Devil, Line 6's POD Farm, Peavey ReValver, and several others. When you record into the computer, the host program records the dry guitar signal,then applies the plug-in to alter the sound. As a result, you can change the plug-in sound at any time, or even use a different plug-in altogether. This means you can make your decisions about guitar tone at any time, even right up to the final mixdown. Re-amping or using plug-ins does have some limitations. If feedback is part of your sound, there's no way to create a feedback loop from an amp to a direct-recorded track. This is one reason for monitoring through a real amp, as it can create feedback that vibrates your strings, and the effect on your strings will get recorded in the direct track. Still, this isn't as interactive as feeding back with the amp that creates your final sound. Plug-ins also have their own limitations; although digital technology does a remarkable job of modeling different amp sounds, purists will always find some subtleties that may not translate well. Nonetheless, in situations where you anticipate having to make radical changes to your guitar sound while mixing, re-amping is a powerful technique – and now there are more ways to do this than ever before. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Are Amp Sims the Answer to Your Live Performance Dreams? by Craig Anderton Programs like Line 6 POD Farm, IK Multimedia's AmpliTube, Native Instruments Guitar Rig, and Waves G|T|R model a complete, computer-based guitar effects rack. As long as you're able to get audio in and out of your computer, you can create and edit your “rack” onscreen, with a degree of flexibility that's hard to do with conventional setups – but there are both pros and cons to taking the software path. WAVES' GTR processor models both the amp and several different effects. Pro: Owning the amount of gear that's virtualized in these programs, let alone creating a setup using that gear, would be insanely impractical. Con: There's always a slight delay between the time you play a note and the time you hear it, owing to the computer and audio interface's latency (delay caused by processing time). Mitigating factor: Today's fast machines can deliver latencies below 10 milliseconds. This is about the same delay as moving ten feet further away from a speaker, and is virtually unnoticeable. Pro: With a software-based system, there are no issues about getting individual effects devices to work together (impedance matching, levels, etc.). Con: When playing live, toting around a desktop computer can be a drag, and a laptop usually has to be “babied.” Mitigating factor: Products like the Muse Receptor, are road-worthy plug-in hosts that are more convenient than desktop computers and more rugged than laptops. Pro: The cost of a computer and suitable program is much less than buying the hardware needed to create an equivalent setup. Con: You don't have the same kind of hands-on control associated with most hardware, unless you buy and set up a control surface. Pro: For studio work, this type of program is a dream come true. No matter what sound the producer wants, you'll probably be able to provide it. Con: Your audio interface has to work with guitar. Mitigating factor: Some software FX packages include an hardware interface optimized to work with both guitars and computers, and more audio interfaces include special inputs specifically for electric guitar and bass. Pro: You can get a lot more sounds and flexibility than with traditional setups. Con: Nothing has exactly the same sound and feel as a tube amp. Mitigating factor: When sitting in a mix, few people (if any) can tell that a modeled amp sound isn't the real thing. Bottom line: For live use, you might still want to go with a hardware modeling box or conventional amplifier setup, although computer-based solutions are becoming increasingly attractive. But in the studio – assuming you like the sound and feel – the sky's the limit with this new breed of guitar-oriented programs. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Videos Are Becoming Essential – Are You Ready? By Craig Anderton We’ve officially entered the video era, with sites like YouTube offering major promotional options for your music or band, and videos serving as the ultimate business card. Making videos used to require a huge budget, a big-time producer, corporate backing, and expensive gear – then again, so did audio recordings! But times have changed. For less than the cost of putting together a four-track tape studio back in the 70s, you can create a very cool video editing suite for doing your own productions (and maybe some for other people when you start to get really good). So, what do you really need to do a video? Not much: Video camera. There are plenty of small, convenient video recorders made by Zoom, Olympus, TASCAM, and more upscale ones including models like the GoPro and video cameras from more traditional companies like Sony and Panasonic. Most of these record to SD cards and have USB interfaces so you can connect the video recorder to your computer for transferring the files to your computer for editing. Video capture and editing software. There are plenty of options for Mac (e.g., iMovie and the Final Cut family) and Windows (the free Widows Movie Maker from Microsoft, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, and Sony's budget Movie Studio software). Card reader (optional). Sometimes it's easier to just take the card from your camcorder and put it in a card reader rather than use USB, but most of the time USB handles your needs for data transfer. Audio gear. You need to edit audio too (hey, it’s called “audio-for-video” for a reason!), so you'll need an audio interface and mic. Most video software lets you edit audio and make music, but if you're doing full-blown audio for video work, you'll probably want audio editing software as well. Audacity's a good choice if you're on a budget. Acoustica's Mixcraft is really cost-effective audio editing software, but also allows for primitive video editing - sort of a "direct to YouTube" program. Talent! Yes, you have to learn a new skill…but it’s not too hard. Editing video on a computer is very much like editing audio. That’s really not a lot of gear, and it probably won’t take too long for it to pay for itself. Just to show how times have changed, for the Frankfurt Musik Messe 2007 highlight videos posted here on Harmony Central, I used the Panasonic PV-GS250 camcorder, a Rain Recording Windows XP laptop running Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio + DVD video editing software, and a USB mic for the audio (along with a flaky internet connection that made uploading videos to the HC server a nerve-wracking process…but that’s another story). For 2013, it was a collection of three flip cams (Alesis, Zoom, and Olympus) which took up less space than the PV-GS250, along with a PC Audio Labs laptop and Vegas Pro software. The mic was an Audio-Technica AT2020USB. So much for the gear; here are some tips to get you started on making your own videos. DO IT BACKWARDS Big-time movies shoot the picture, then add the audio. For your video, get the music right, then add the video. Trust me, it’s a lot easier. This also explains why you can’t use traditional host sequencers (Digital Performer, Cubase, Logic, Sonar, Acid, Live, etc.) that import video tracks: They’re designed to leave the video track pretty much intact, and let you cut audio to it. You definitely need to be able to edit the video track. You want the best audio, so if at all possible, record a direct feed from the mixing console. Record to stand-alone hard disk recorder, solid-state recorder (like those from Roland, M-Audio, Zoom, etc.). Don’t depend on your video camera’s audio, but leave the built-in mic turned on so it records audio. We’ll see why in a bit. And what if you can’t get good audio? Well, any audio is better than none. I’ve often “mastered” camcorder audio so that it is at least useable. Click here for a video example of my band EV2, captured with a fan’s camcorder dozens of feet from the stage. It gets the point across, despite the low audio fidelity and non-pro zooming. ONE OR MORE CAMERAS? Ideally, you’d have multiple cameras shooting from different angles – one dedicated to closeups, one doing wide shots of the band, one getting audience reactions, and so on. You’d then edit in different bits of video to your audio, thus creating a seamless, award-winning experience. You’d also have a big budget, and Steven Spielberg would direct. Dream on! But if you’re stuck with a one-camera shoot, don’t despair…there are ways to give the “look and feel” of a two-camera shoot. If it’s not a live concert, no problem: Run through the song several times. Shoot wide during one run-through, do closeups next, etc. Record the audio for each shoot and take the best version (or edit various bits to make the best version). The band should play to a click or rhythmic reference, but that’s not absolutely essential as long as the versions aren’t too different, and you need to splice in only short takes from different shots. A concert situation is more complex. Pick a few songs out of the set for the video. For these, do wide shots that take in most of the band. During the songs that won’t be used, take potential cutaway shots – face shots, audience reaction shots, shots of musicians where you don’t see their hands moving on the instruments too clearly, etc. After the show’s over, before the band breaks down, run through the songs you plan to use and take closeups of the lead singer singing the song (always useful shots to have). Not possible? Then shoot the singer singing against any non-descript background (preferably one that looks like the background while the band was playing), with or without the band – it doesn’t matter. Really, you’re just looking for close-ups you can cut to the audio later. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Once musicians get started working with video, they tend to understand the workflow because it’s like working with audio: You mix video tracks together, splice, crossfade, add effects, etc. (Fig. 1). The main difference is you’re using up a whole lot more space on your hard drive; an hour of video takes about 13GB, as opposed to the 600MB or so for an hour of stereo audio. It’s worth splurging around $100, getting a Terabyte hard drive, and dedicating it to your video projects. Then, back up the project data to DVD-Rs or Blu-Ray when you’re done. Fig. 1: A screenshot from Sony’s Vegas video/audio editing program. Clockwise from middle/upper left: Track list, timeline with track view, audio metering for master output, video preview screen, and thumbnails of the different available Convolution special effects. But first, master your audio recording. Clean up any noise, add fades, cut overindulgent solos, use compression if necessary, apply EQ – whatever it takes to make it an Auditory Experience of the Gods. This is for two reasons. Of course, you want your music to sound great. But also, if there are any rough spots in the video, good music will distract people from them. In a famous study, a test group saw two versions of the same video, but one had much better audio quality. When asked which version had better video quality, they chose the one that sounded better. Draw your own conclusions! Now import the mastered audio track into your video editing program, then the video with the wide shots (include the audio stream too). Next, monitor the camera’s audio and the mastered audio track, and slide the video track (with its audio, of course) until the two audio tracks line up. SMPTE sync? Who needs it? If you made any cuts in the audio track, then cut the same places in the video track and line them up with the audio before proceeding. Odds are the two will line up very closely as long as the tune isn’t too long. But let’s say there’s a little drift, and by the end of the video, the audio track is behind by 15ms or so. Slide the audio track so that it starts 7.5ms ahead of the video track. Now any timing error will decrease until the middle of the song, then start to increase. Don’t worry about it! You’re monitoring the camera audio only as a reference; you’ll mute or erase it later. And if the visuals are off by a few milliseconds compared to the audio, believe me – no one will know. THE MAGIC OF “CUTAWAYS” Video is all about editing, even more so than audio. Anything goes and usually does. So, let’s learn how to fake reality. Play the video, and consider where you’re going to add variety. Let’s say that after the keyboard player finished a great solo, you panned the camera back to the lead singer but shook the camera a bit while panning (next time, use a tripod). Is the video doomed? Of course not! Right after the keyboard solo, cut in a shot of the audience clapping and cheering. It could be from a different song, or even from a different concert. Also, you don’t have to go back to the wide shot of the singer. Cut away to some of the video footage you recorded of the singer singing away while the band was breaking down. Match up the video as best you can to the audio. Let’s suppose worst case – the singer sang without a reference, and rushed a bit. That’s when you apply a “velocity envelope” to the video clip, and slow the motion down. Not even the singer will notice. Then to add more interest, crossfade from the close-up back to the wide shot. And remember the face shots you took while the band was playing other songs? Let’s say the guitarist is about to take a solo and you’re zooming in from the wide shot to frame the guitar a bit better. Throw in a face shot to cover the transition. As with the audience reaction shot, it doesn’t need to be from the same song…a grimacing guitarist face is going to look pretty much the same anyway. As long as there isn’t a close-up of the fingering, you’re probably okay. Now it’s confession time. I’ve not only used close-ups of hand motions from players playing different songs, but even different players. If you’re zoomed in or out enough, and the part is short, no one can tell. ZAP! POW! SPECIAL EFFECTS! One other great way to cover up glitches is with special effects. For example, suppose you miss the first few bars of the keyboard player’s solo – you still had your camera on the drums, because the drummer was spewing fake blood and it looked kind of cool. No problem! Certain effects, like pixellation (where you can change the pixel size to make the video “blockier”), “glow,” and “light rays” remove detail from the shot (Fig. 2). Fig. 2: Adding some “glow” effect can cover a multitude of video sins. Use any clip of the keyboard player when the solo begins, and if you process it enough, no one will know you missed the solo’s real intro. Then return to the original footage when it’s past the point where there were any problems. Special effects can look cool, but they can also help gloss over inconsistencies. READY FOR THE BIG TIME? Just like politics and the music industry, videos are all about smoke and mirrors, deception, and trickery. Remember that you are not shooting a documentary. Your job is to provide a pleasing, and hopefully exciting, visual experience. If the audio is great, you’ve already won two-thirds of the battle – get the eye candy right, and you’ll have the audience in the palm of your hand. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

Make Sure You Get the One that's Right for You By Craig Anderton Computers can be pretty smart, but when it comes to sound, they need a translator that can convert sound waves into the digital language of ones and zeroes. Audio interfaces provide this translation, and you'll need one if you want to get into computer-based recording. But if you bought an interface several years ago, it might be time to upgrade. Like everything else, interfaces continue to evolve, and they can definitely affect overall sound quality. Most stock computers include sound capabilities, but these tend to be consumer-grade (Macs with digital ins and outs are the exception). Also, built-in I/O is typically limited to 16-bit operation at sample rates of 48 kHz or less. If you're serious about your audio, forget about any built-in sound capabilities, and go for a pro-level solution. However, the growing sophistication of audio interfaces has led to an option overload. Choices are nice, but it becomes hard to separate what manufacturers want to sell you as opposed to what you really need. So, we'll explain the concepts involved in audio interfaces so that you can become educated enough to make an informed choice. PCI CARD, USB, OR FIREWIRE? There are three main ways for audio interface to connect to your computer: PCI card. This plugs into a PCI slot on your computer's motherboard. It may place all its connectors on the backplate, a second backplate that installs next to the board but doesn't take up a slot, or have a cable that goes to a separate (usually rack-mountable) breakout box that's festooned with connectors. Advantages: Cards usually offer the tightest integration with the computer and the best MIDI timing. Also, if there's a breakout box, the connectors can be placed where it's most convenient for your studio setup. Disadvantages: You need to open up your computer, and although Windows machines have become quite good about "plug and play," there is still the possibility for conflicts with other cards -- particularly PCI video cards. (If you do use a PCI interface, if at all possible use an AGP rather than PCI graphics card.) Although any conflicts can almost always be resolved, those who aren't into computers may find the experience frustrating. USB. This type of interface is a separate box that plugs into a computer's USB port. Early USB interfaces got a bad rap because of problems in computer operating systems; however, starting with Windows 98SE and MacOS 9.1, USB functionality was decent and starting with Windows XP and Mac OS X, USB became fully integrated into the operating system. 535ec7b815259.bmp This is the type of USB connector you find on a USB host. Advantages: You don't have to open up your computer, and the experience is pretty much "plug and play." It's also easy to move among different computers, even if they're different platforms -- use a USB interface with your desktop, then if you go on the road, plug it into your laptop. Disadvantages: USB 1.1 is a relatively slow protocol, so there's a bandwidth limit -- you're not going to get 16 channels of 24 bit audio. In fact, it's more likely you'll get four simultaneous channels... but that will be enough for many applications. USB 2.0 delivers considerably faster performance, so if you need to handle multiple channels or high sample rates, a USB 2.0 interface is essential. Although USB 3.0 is in common use for hard drives, as of this writing no audio interfaces exist that are designed for USB 3.0. FireWire. This is similar conceptually to a USB interface as it plugs into a built-in computer port, but runs much faster than USB 1.1 interfaces. Compared to USB 2.0, FireWire runs at about the same speed, but puts far less overhead on your computer's CDPU because it offloads a lot of tasks to its own dedicated hardware. This picture shows 6-pin FireWire ports, which supply power to peripherals. Many laptops have 4-pin connectors, which are identical except that they don't provide power - any peripheral wil need its own AC adapter. Advantages: Similar to USB, although FireWire interfaces need their own drivers, whereas USB interfaces can often use existing system USB drivers. FireWire was adopted by Apple early on, so many Mac owners have gravitated toward FireWire. Disadvantages: As FireWire ports have been built in to the Mac for some time, using a FireWire interface is pretty much plug-and-play. Older Windows machines will need a FireWire card, but it does seem that FireWire is fading, and comes with fewer computers these days. HUMAN INTERFACE VS. JACKS ONLY A new type of interface, which pretty much started with the TASCAM US-428, adds more functionality (e.g., mic preamps, a mixer with faders, signal routing, etc.) to a basic interface. These connect via USB or FireWire, and are generally intended for smaller studios and portable applications. However, as these units have become more sophisticated, they've blurred the line between audio interface, digital mixer, and human interface. Digidesign's FireWire-compatible 002, which incorporates audio/MIDI I/O and is optimized for use with Pro Tools LE software, was an early example of this trend. The big issue here is dedicated vs. general-purpose interfaces. Dedicated types fit specific software like a glove. General-purpose systems need templates for the software you want to use, but should you switch programs or platforms, your investment may still be protected. The other issue is modularity vs. a self-contained solution. If a unit contains I/O and control, will it accommodate an upgrade to higher sample rates or bit resolution? Will the human interface section also control other programs, such as soft synths? A modular system made up of several different units (one for I/O, one for human interfacing, etc.) is more flexible, but requires more savvy to put together, and there is no guarantee that the various elements will work together seamlessly. Self-contained solutions are more foolproof, but usually less expandable and compatible with fewer products. WHAT I/O DO YOU NEED? Perhaps more than any other feature, this will drive your selection. The first question is whether you need analog, digital, or both types of I/O, and if digital, which flavors of digital. If your studio setup uses a digital mixer or has outboard A/D converters, then you don't need analog I/O: you can feed analog signals into these outboard units, whose digital outs go into a digital-only card. This has two advantages: A digital-only card is less expensive than one with analog I/O, everything else being equal. The setup is more modular -- you can change A/D converters to upgrade your sound, or add a digital mixer and interface it with the card. There are even special-purpose analog-based units (e.g., the Presonus DigiMax LT) that interface multiple mics with digital-only interfaces. Analog I/O choices. I used to avoid sound cards with onboard analog I/O, but reviewing the Lynx Studio series of cards changed my mind -- it is possible to get good audio performance from a card sitting inside a computer, although this requires rigorous board layout and shielding. Most pro-level cards with analog I/O use external breakout boxes that keep the audio circuitry well away from the computer's EMI (electro-magnetic interference). Analog I/O can be either balanced or unbalanced. Balanced inputs can minimize electrical interference induced into a cable, which is important with "noisy" digital studios that are prone to interference from monitors and computers. Balanced ins are popular in pro installations that use long cables, which are more prone to picking up interference than short cables. Unbalanced inputs are usually fine if cables connected to the card are under 6-12 feet or so. Balanced line systems use either XLR or TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) 1/4" stereo connectors. (Even though TRS types use stereo connectors, they still carry only a mono signal. The tip carries the signal's "hot" line, and the ring carries the out-of-phase version required for balanced line operation.) However, plugging into a TRS jack with a mono plug will convert it to unbalanced operation. Unbalanced lines use either standard 1/4" mono phone jacks or, less commonly, RCA phono jacks. Also check if the analog system includes mic preamps, and whether there's phantom power available (required by some microphones) should you need this. For convenience, having built-in mic preamps is useful, but for ultimate performance, you will likely want to hand-pick the mic pres you like best, and feed them into line-level analog ins (or if they have digital outs, into the digital inputs). Digital I/O. There are five popular types of digital I/O protocols: S/PDIF. This carries a stereo digital audio signal and uses either RCA (phono) or TOSLINK fiber-optic connectors for in and out connections (some cards include both optical and electrical I/O). Many CD and DAT players, as well as some signal processors and digital mixers, include S/PDIF outs you can send to a sound card's inputs. AES/EBU. This is another two-channel interface that is very similar to S/PDIF, but uses balanced, XLR-style connectors and is more pro-oriented. Some interfaces offer AES/EBU as an option. ADAT optical interface. This 8-channel interface uses TOSLINK connectors, and sends/receives signals over a fiber-optical cable. While originally used with the Alesis ADAT recorders, it has become a de facto multichannel standard -- mixers, synthesizers, hard disk recorders, and other devices often include an ADAT interface. The ADAT interface uses optical connectors that look the same as optical S/PDIF connectors. TDIF electrical interface. This protocol, originated by TASCAM, uses a DB-25 connector to send and receive 8 channels of audio over multiconductor cable. It never achieved the same level of acceptance as the ADAT interface, and is now pretty much obsolete. MADI electrical interface. This provides 56 channels of digital I/O. It is supported by few companies, although RME offers several MADI solutions. Of course, what you'll need depends on the other gear in your system. In general, I like ADAT I/O because so much gear is compatible with this standard, and putting 8 channels on a thin, fiber-optic cable is a plus. But you'll probably also need SPDIF and AES/EBU to handle the occasional piece of outboard gear. DRIVERS Your software determines which drivers are essential; for example, Steinberg Cubase is optimized for use with ASIO drivers on Windows and Core Audio on the Mac, while Cakewalk Sonar is compatible with ASIO and kernel-streaming WDM drivers (note that not all WDM-compatible programs offer true high-speed kerner streaming; some just use a WDM "wrapper" around an older standard for compatibility). Windows systems also usually include "old school" drivers which are compatible with just about anything, but offer lower performance than newer options. ASIO, developed by Steinberg but embraced by dozens of manufacturers, provided a pro audio driver solution before Apple and Microsoft realized that low-latency audio drivers might be a good idea. Although some feel that ASIO will be eventually eclipsed by Apple's and Microsoft's standard protocols, ASIO is well-entrenched and is also a true cross-platform solution. It's not going anywhere for quite a while. As drivers are often updated, check the sound card manufacturer's web site for details, as updates can offer significant improvements. Also note that some companies do clever variations on a theme, such as developing high-performance MME-compatible drivers that retain the compatibility of MME, but offer lower latency. Finally, not all drivers are created equal: a well-written driver with a well-designed sound card will outperform combinations that aren't as meticulously designed. Also, web sites for software manufacturers may include lists of recommended cards that are known to work with their software, so this is a good place to start your research. For example, it's no accident that people who use MOTU's Digital Performer often use MOTU interfaces; it's a no-brainer that they work perfectly together. RESOLUTION AND SAMPLE RATE The ability to handle high bit resolutions and sampling rates is a function of both hardware and software, but even if the software can handle it, that means nothing unless the hardware can too. Do you need 96kHz or 192kHz sampling? Higher sample rates will cost you more, but you may need them to remain commercially competitive, or if the rest of your signal chain is of sufficient quality that using lower sample rates will degrade the overall fidelity. As to bit resolution, the general consensus is that it's well worth running at 24-bit resolution, even if your final delivery medium is a standard 16-bit Red Book CD. As a result, most modern analog interfaces use 24-bit converters, and digital interfaces can pass audio with 24-bit resolution. ABOVE AND BEYOND There are other features to consider in professional contexts. SMPTE sync is built in to some interfaces, which is important if you need to sync with other SMPTE-compatible devices (not a given in audio-only studios, but pretty much a necessity for those involved in post-production). Another option that may be important is word clock input and output. Word clock is a sync signal, identical to the sample rate, that insures digital audio signals are all clocked at the same rate. When connecting two pieces of gear together, one device's input simply follows the clock signal generated by the other piece of gear. However, with multiple pieces of equipment, you want all digital audio to sync to a common clock signal. A word clock out can provide this common signal, while a word clock input allows synching to a word clock source. Systems that are based exclusively on the ADAT optical interface don't require word clock, as clocking is part of the ADAT interface. Still, it's good to be prepared. Also check out any "special sauce" features. For example, some manufacturers include onboard DSP that raises the price, but can pay for itself in convenience. For example, CreamWare's Pulsar boards pioneered using DSP to run virtual instruments and processors, independent of the host processor; MOTU's 2408 Mk III uses DSP to provide the functionality of a digital mixer, thus allowing for zero-latency monitoring (otherwise, monitoring through the sound card/computer chain results in some amount of delay). In any event, audio interfaces have made dramatic progress over the years, from purveyors of sounds for games to full-blown, high fidelity devices. The bottom line is this: An audio interface is as crucial a component as a microphone, as it links the outside world to your computer -- choose it with care. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

New Name, Old Sounds by Mike Haid KEY NOTES Exceptional quality in affordable price range Versatile flat rides for various jazz applications Brilliant, explosive crash cymbals Not all the cymbals in the series are sonically matched Once a drummer becomes aware of the seemingly limitless palette of cymbal choices on today's market, it becomes clear that making the right selection for one's distinctive style and sound may involve different brands, models, and price points. To any given drummer, certain inexpensive cymbals may sound similar to, or better than, expensive ones, and vice versa. In these cases, beauty is indeed in the ear of the beholder. This brings us to our review of the new Classic series from Stagg. These cymbals were created to fill a void in the company's crash and ride lines by offering models reminiscent of early Turkish-made cymbals used by many historic jazz players. Some cymbal snobs may turn up their noses at the thought of playing anything less than high-end, brand-name cymbals. If you fit this category, then you're missing out on the possibility of finding some impressive sounds at some equally impressive (read: affordable) prices. All Stagg cymbals are made from B20 cast bronze (80\% copper/20\% tin). They're initially stamped, then machine- and hand-hammered into shape. Then they're hand-lathed for weight dispersion and basic sonic characteristics. Senior craftsman do the hammering and lathing in the latter part of the manufacturing process to confirm the sound, timbre characteristic, and thickness of each particular plate. Quite impressive, in my opinion. But let's do a serious soundcheck and see what this new line of cymbals might have to offer your sonic palette. Our review set consisted of 15" medium-thin, 16" thin, 17" medium-thin, 18" medium-thin, 18" thin, and 19" medium-thin crashes, along with 18" and 20" flat rides. Sonic Performance I began my evaluation by considering all of the cymbals as a sonically matched set that would complement one another in overall tonality and timbre. But as I began to compare the combined tonalities and sonic similarities, this proved not to be the case. The 16" thin crash, 18" medium-thin crash, and 18" thin crash did, indeed, match up well with both flat rides to create a somewhat early-Turkish "jazzy" sound. The 18" flat ride had a nice dry resonance, with minimal sympathetic overtone build-up and exceptional stick definition. The 20" flat ride had similar dry characteristics, but also had a subtle trashy wash that allowed for dark, dirty accents when the cymbal was pushed a little harder with the shoulder of the stick. The unique underlying trashy quality of the 20" flat ride worked very well with both 18" crashes, which possessed a similar trashy wash. Both flat rides, along with both 18" crashes, would work well in low- to medium-volume jazz settings. The 18" flat ride would be best suited for lower-volume settings, such as light jazz. The 16" thin crash had a dominant Oriental trashy tone, with a quick response that opened up nicely when gently grazed, even with brushes. This cymbal actually had more of the overall bright, explosive characteristics of a splash than of a crash. The 18" thin and 18" medium-thin crashes were my favorite crashes due to their ability to respond with a sensitive, mid-to-bright tonality and a slight wash when struck gently. They opened up beautifully when struck with medium force, and they reached a crescendo of bright, full-bodied brilliance when struck forcefully. These would be great all-around crash cymbals for any musical style or volume situation. The 15", 17", and 19" medium-thin crashes were much heavier and thicker-sounding than the other models in our test group. At low volumes, they were a bit dull and unresponsive. They sounded best when struck with enough force to let them open up and deliver a shimmering, brilliant, full-bodied crash. So although the 17" and 19" crashes weren't sonically compatible with the rest of the Classic models, they might still be very useful and full-sounding for loud applications. The 15" medium-thin crash was the odd man out. It had a bright tone and an underlying trashiness that came across almost like a splash, but it was too thick and lifeless at low volume to be effective in that role. Yet neither was it large enough, volume-wise, to be an effective crash. Conclusions The majority of Stagg Classics are good-looking, great-sounding cymbals that would be useful for various applications. In comparing the flat rides to other manufacturers' high-end cymbals of similar size and design, I felt that the Staggs measured up in terms of character and versatility. Something I found interesting is that the list prices of the smaller Stagg cymbals are much lower than the prices of similar high-end name-brand models, while the prices for larger crashes and flat rides are very similar. Still, the pricing for those larger Stagg cymbals is certainly not out of line, and they're well worth the cost. I held off mentioning that Stagg cymbals are made in China until now so that cymbal snobs might pay more attention to their excellent acoustic qualities than to their place of origin. The geographic location where a cymbal is made should have little relevance to the selection process. As long as it sounds good to your ear, it's a winner. If you feel that you understand the sound characteristics that identify quality cymbals—no matter where they come from or what their brand name is—then you should give the Stagg Classics a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised. THE NUMBERS 15" thin crash $145 15" medium-thin crash $150 16" thin crash $160 16" medium-thin crash $200 17" thin crash $210 17" medium-thin crash $240 18" thin crash $250 18" medium-thin crash $290 19" thin crash $320 19" medium-thin crash $370 18" flat ride $340 20" flat ride $485 (615) 793-8787, www.emdmusic.com © 2006 MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Get the Most Out of Your Laptop When You're on the Road By Craig Anderton You're not only carrying a laptop — you may be carrying the next big hit tune, the soundtrack for your client's new commercial, your band's master, setup details and room tunings for tonight's venue, or some really great lyric ideas. Given the laptop's importance, it's vital that you use it efficiently and securely. Aside from the obvious — never drop a laptop! — there are other issues to consider. Let's look at several tips relating to travel, theft, and power. AIRPORTS AND FLYING Need to find an AC outlet at an airport? Ask the custodial staff, as the outlets are used mostly for plugging in vacuum cleaners. Other guidelines: Look on posts, under hinged covers in floors near walls, and near ledges located next to windows. Don't assume the outlet is live; check your computer to make sure it really is charging. When going through the airport security line, put the laptop itself on the x-ray belt last — after any other carry-on bags, shoes, etc., and especially, after the person in front of you has cleared security. This way, your other items will be examined while you're going through the x-ray machine. If the laptop comes off the belt first, it may be stolen while you're going through the metal detector, being "wanded," or getting a massage from a TSA agent. If you're not in a hurry and want maximum protection against theft, you can ask security for a manual search. It's more time-consuming, but you'll always know where your laptop is. If you're on American Airlines, look for a "lightning bolt" symbol on the overhead bin row — these are the ones with power port-equipped seats. Some older airline laptop outlets require an EmPower plug, which is not the same as a car lighter plug; when buying an adapter, check if it has a convertible plug that works with both airline and car chargers (I use the pricey — but pays-for-itself — iGo system). Also remember that power adapter cords have different tips for different models of laptops; check carefully for compatibility before you buy. See the end of this article for more information on airlines and on-board laptop power. Place your computer bag under the seat in front of you, rather than the overhead bin. Heavy objects in a bin can damage your computer if they slam into it. If you're sitting in a bulkhead row and don't have a choice, place the bag at the front of the overhead bin before takeoff, and at the rear of the bin prior to landing. Some airline passengers have found that they can plug a laptop computer AC adapter into 110V/400Hz airframe sockets, usually located under covers near the floor next to an exit door. Don't do this!!! Aside from the issue of running your adapter on 400Hz, these outlets are intended for medical devices during flight. If there's something wrong with your adapter and it trips the circuit breaker, someone could literally die before the problem is corrected — the breaker is difficult to access because it's located below the main passenger deck. If you see someone using any outlets on a plane other than the approved laptop charging outlets, alert a flight attendant. If you already have a power supply that works off a car's cigarette lighter connector, then all you need to be airplane-ready is a laptop airplane adapter, available from companies like Laptops for Less. Plug the cigarette lighter plug from your laptop power adapter into one end of the EmPower adapter, plug the other end into the plane's power port, and you won't have to worry about your battery dying on a long flight. DON'T BECOME STOLEN GOODS Write down your laptop's serial number and keep it in a safe place at home. Also upload it to your email address; if your laptop is stolen while you're on the road, find internet access, retrieve the number from the email, and alert the authorities. Not that they'll find it, but you never know... Some hotels have in-room safes, although not all of these are big enough to accommodate a laptop. However, angling the laptop (place the end on some socks, coffee cup, or whatever) may allow it to fit. If there's no safe, carry the laptop with you, or have the front desk put it in a secure location. If you must leave the laptop in your room, place it somewhere inconvenient and not readily visible (like on top of a closet, where you would need to step on a chair to see it). I know one road warrior who places his laptop on the bottom of his suitcase, with dirty underwear on top; he doubts anyone will dig through the underwear to look for something. Use an innocuous-looking case for your computer, not a designer computer case that screams "Hey! I own a cool laptop!" BATTERIES AND POWER Pack an AC extension cord (or better yet, a barrier strip with surge suppression) in your luggage. Hotel rooms never seem to have enough free outlets. To maximize battery life, minimize usage of CD and DVD drives, which suck juice. Buy a spare battery and keep it charged. Doing so has saved my productivity more than once. Your LCD's backlight consumes a lot of power, so when running off batteries, use the minimum brightness you can handle. If the screen is too hard to read when it's dimmed, try switching resolution from 1024 x 768 to 800 x 600. The screen will likely be fuzzier, but the larger size graphics and type will be easier to read. More RAM means more battery life, as the computer won't have to access the hard drive as much to grab data. Nickel-cadmium batteries need to go through an occasional deep discharge to prevent the "memory effect," where the battery fails to hold charges for very long. However, this is not the case for the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) and Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries used in much of today's electronic gear. Their life is shortened by deep discharges, so it's best to leave this type of battery's charge "topped up." However, don't leave it plugged into your AC adapter all the time; give it a rest overnight from time to time. Batteries like a little bit of activity. HARDWARE/SOFTWARE HELPERS A USB memory stick is an invaluable travel accessory. I load mine up with MP3s in case I want some songs, but one of the main applications for USB drives is when you need to transfer data to another computer. A USB stick is quicker than burning a DVD and typically has much greater capacity, withstands mechanical shocks better than a hard drive, works with all modern Macs and PCs, and doesn't require going online. USB memory sticks make it easy to transfer files from your laptop to most other USB-equipped computers. Know where the ventilation holes are on your laptop, and avoid blocking them at all costs. Heat is a major enemy of all electronic devices. You can spend a bunch of bucks for foreign AC plug adapters from a laptop accessories company, and they'll come in a nice little designer package. But if you don't care about the packaging, you can pick up the adapters for a lot less at Radio Shack. When doing battery-only remote recording or live performance, turn off any power-saving features like hard disk shutdown, monitoring blanking, and especially, automatic system shutdowns. The battery will discharge much faster, but you won't have to deal with a more sluggish response. When recording or playing live, you don't want your laptop to shut off. Just remember to change back to more conservative settings if you want maximum battery life. If you need to print out lead sheets, chord charts, etc. while on the road, you might be tempted to bring along one of those small, portable printers. But unless you really need high-quality printing or color, you can fax what needs to be printed to the hotel — to your attention, of course. There are several free fax services available via the internet, although for long faxes, you'll likely need to pay. And of course, many hotels have business centers with printers that might even work. AND FINALLY...POWER IN THE SKIES Although working on planes isn't good for anything involving critical listening, for sketching out drum patterns or tunes airplanes can be a pretty creative environment. I normally carry a spare battery, but it's even better to book a flight and seat that offers a laptop power outlet. But how do you know which flights do and don't have power? Following is a quick summary of the major US airlines with outlets. Note that different airlines have different rules about using chargers. Interestingly, some airlines will not check laptops, and accept them only as carry-on baggage. Also note that all this information is subject to change without notice. This chart from American Airlines shows where laptop power ports (colored in red for clarity) are located on their 767-200 aircraft. Like most airlines, the ports are more prevalent in first and business class than in coach. American. All Boeing 777, 767, 737, Airbus 300 and Fokker 100 aircraft and most Boeing 757 and Boeing Super 80 aircraft have power ports. They're not available on aircraft with flight numbers 2800-2999. To find specific locations, click here. Click on the plane, then on the seating chart to see where power ports are located. Delta. Available in BusinessElite, and all classes of service on Boeing 777, 737-800 and 767-400 aircraft. Continental. Each BusinessFirst seat in Boeing 767-200, 767-400 and 777-200 aircraft has a power port. In Economy class, on the Boeing 767-400 (H), laptop power is available in rows 10-15; on all other 767s, laptop power is available in rows 16-23, and on the Boeing 777, in rows 17 - 23. United. Power is available on the B767-300, B747-400, and B777 in United First and United Business class. Existing B757 and A320 aircraft are currently undergoing system installation. US Air. All seats on Airbus A319, A320, A321 and A330 aircraft have in-seat power ports. For more information on what power is available on various flights, Seatguru.com has a guide to in-seat laptop powerports. Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

A New Entry At The Entry Level by Norman Arnold KEY NOTES Better heads than are usually found on drums in this price range Surprisingly good overall sound performance Congas lack some skin-on-skin "woodiness" Schalloch percussion has been available in Europe for several years, but is just now making serious inroads into the US market. The company offers four hand drum series, beginning with the entry-level Linea 100. Congas Linea 100 congas are available in 10" quinto, 11" conga, and 12" tumba sizes. All the drums are well made, using Siam oak. Our review drums came in an attractive blue fade lacquer finish, which was offset by a matte black finish on the hardware. The rims, which feature a curved design, are set well below the level of the heads. This makes playing the congas easy on the hands. The bottoms of the drums are fitted with metal caps to protect them when playing on hard surfaces. The buffalo-hide heads are of fairly good quality. The drums came with fully adjustable basket stands. It was easy to assemble everything quickly and get all three drums positioned at a comfortable level. Once the drums were mounted in the stands, they produced a very warm sound. It was easy to get a variety of tunings and tones. As with many entry-level drums, the area in which sound quality was sacrificed was the skin-on-skin "woody" sound that naturally occurs with higher-end drums. Bongos The bongos are equally well made. They also feature black hardware, including curved rims similar to those on the congas. With their 61/2" and 71/2" sizes, the bongos felt very comfortable when played between the knees. There is also an available double-braced stand for use when standing. The drums responded well—especially when I cranked up the pitch. The thin buffalo-hide heads produced a crisp crack that was pretty impressive for entry-level drums. The bongos are sold individually and in a set with the quinto and conga, which makes for a very good combo deal. Djembe The djembe is made in the same style as the congas and bongos. It features a 12"-diameter head on a 21"-tall shell. A rubber bottom cap protects the bottom of the drum (and the floor). The sound of the djembe proved to be resonant and lively. The goatskin head was not too thick, so it responded well to a lighter touch. I kept the head tuned fairly loose, and it provided a very interesting range of sounds…almost bohdran-like. It also recorded very well. I used the drum on a session, and it had great low end. The djembe proved to be an outstanding performer—especially for its price. If you were to mount the djembe with the conga/bongo set, you'd have a full-range setup that looks and sounds really good. Conclusion Most entry-level hand-drum lines are critically lacking when it comes to the quality of their heads. Consequently, it's virtually impossible to get a decent sound from the drums. The Schalloch Linea 100 series is a pleasant exception. Musicians Friend is the sole US distributor for Schalloch percussion. They're an online and phone-order operation, and their regular prices are generally well below the list prices shown in the Numbers box below. They also list "sale" prices on most items, which can make the Schalloch drums reviewed here even better values. THE NUMBERS 10" quinto/11" conga set, with basket stands $471.45 12" tumba, with basket stand $257.25 10"/11"/12" set, with basket stands $709.00 61/2" and 71/2" bongos $103.95 Conga/bongo set, with stands $754.40 12" djembe $345.45 Drums are available in Natural, Brown, Wine Red, Vintage Sunburst, and Blue Fade lacquer finishes. (800) 391-8762, www.musiciansfriend.com © 2006 MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Why Don't We Do It On the Road? By Craig Anderton Musicians have been using laptops for portable music-making for years, but there was always the tacit understanding that they couldn't do what hot desktops could do. Often optimized for battery power, the processors were a bit slower, hard drives didn't spin as fast and had less capacity, and any onboard audio had little to do with high fidelity. But now you don't have to go through withdrawal when you're away from your studio: Laptop computers have evolved into serious music-making tools. Multi-core and hyperthreading machines are common, and if you're willing to spend a bit more, you can outfit your machine with a huge hard drive that spins at 7,200 RPM (most laptop hard drives spin at 5,400 RPM, which limits the number of tracks you can stream from it). For audio, USB and FireWire ports allow adding high-quality external audio interfaces, such as those made by PreSonus, Yamaha, Echo, MOTU, Line 6, M-Audio, Focusrite, and many others. Furthermore, some interfaces can insert in the computer's card slot, which ties in more closely with the "guts" of the system than an external interface; other card slot accessories include Universal Audio's UAD-2 Solo/Laptop card, which allows running their powered plug-ins without taxing your computer's CPU. E-Mu's 1616 interface system includes a CardBus card that provides an audio output; its ethernet-like connector allows hooking up to an external "dock" with extensive interfacing (MIDI, analog I/O, digital I/O, etc.). Note that the CardBus slot is rapidly becoming obsolete, and is being replaced by ExpressCard slots instead. However, there are few ExpressCard interfaces; the Echo IOx shown above is an exception. It's more common to use an ExpressCard FireWire interface with an external FireWire interface, or a USB interface. Not only can the latest generation of laptops operate as studios unto themselves, they make perfect "satellites" for your main studio—and offer enough power for most types of remote recording, editing, and composing projects. MAC OR WINDOWS? Although hardcore partisans would likely disagree, I think it really doesn't matter. Many applications are cross-platform, and for those that aren't, roughly equivalent programs exist on both platforms. Mac laptops are great for audio and video; Intel-based MacBooks not only run Mac programs but can boot up in Windows as well. While Apple laptops used to be much more expensive than Windows equivalents, the price differential continues to narrow. Windows laptops are now available in more media-savvy versions, and some companies (such as PC Audio Labs, ADK, Rain Recording, and others) make laptops designed specifically for audio. But even a standard laptop designed for business will usually do an oksy job with multimedia. Just remembe a few important tips: When using an external interface, disable the internal sound card; and also disable any functionality you don't need (e.g., internal wireless card, webcam,etc.). For Windows, the free program DPC Latency Checker can help you identify which devices are interfering with the ability to stream audio efficiently. THE SOFTWARE BLUES Copy-protected software can be a thorny issue when you're on the road. If you're miles from home and need to insert a CD periodically for authorization, you better hope you remembered to bring the CD with you. Some software license agreements prohibit running programs on multiple machines; applications that tie protection into running on a specific hardware configuration are especially problematic, because you can't easily uninstall/reinstall every time you want to move from desktop to laptop. There are a few workarounds. Most companies don't have a problem with installing a program on both a desktop and laptop, because if you're using only one machine at a time, it doesn't violate the spirit of an "only one machine" license. Sometimes you can call the software company, explain your situation, and get another install as long as you're a legit user. Companies generally don't want to upset paying customers; they just want to discourage the ones who aren't. Propellerhead Software came up with an interesting option for those using Reason: As long as you're registered, they keep a "virtual dongle" online for you. If you can access the internet, you can run Reason without using a physical dongle. And Ableton Live recognizes the day might come when you have a gig that night, and your laptop breaks. As long as you have your Live set data saved somewhere, you can buy a new laptop, then install the demo version of Live—it's fully functional except for saving projects. Load your set, then play your gig. Regarding dongles, they may or may not be a good solution. Those who use several programs with iLok or Syncrosoft copy protection can stick all their authorizations on one dongle, bring their distribution media with them, and install wherever they like—desktop, laptop, or even when guesting at another studio. Multiple dongles are harder to manage; adding a USB hub reduces portability. In any event, for USB dongles buy a USB extension cable so the dongle doesn't plug directly into your machine. It's way too easy for a dongle to break off when you're on the road. THE HARDWARE If you're into serious multitracking, make sure there are at least USB 2.0 or Firewire ports so you can add a fast external drive if necessary. Granted, it will take you a long time to fill up a 1TB drive. But if nothing else, an external drive allows for easy backing up of your main drive – laptop drives tend to fail more quickly than desktop ones (for starters, they're subject to more vibration), so backing up is crucial. To boost drive performance, create separate partitions for program files and audio, and defragment often. Also note that USB 2.0 memory stickscan look like disk drives to the computer, so with many programs, you can use them as a temporary drive for audio files. ACCESSORIES Bome's Mouse Keyboard is a very useful Windows accessory when you don't have a MIDI keyboard for note entry. Buy a really rugged case for your computer, USB memory sticks, and if you need to carry distribution discs and data CD or DVD-ROMs, invest in a quality CD wallet with heavy outside padding. Throw an extension cord and a 3-2 AC adapter in your luggage, as outlets may not always be where you want them. And don't forget cool software accessories like QWERTY-to-keyboard applets so you can use the typewriter keys to trigger notes, programs that assign joystick motion to controllers, and so on. I particularly like Florian Bömers' Mouse Keyboard (Windows only, unfortunately) because it lets you trigger chords as well as notes, and includes virtual mod and pitch bend wheels you can control with a mouse's scroll wheel. It also doesn't take up a lot of screen space. So go ahead and rock that laptop—they're not just for businesspeople who want to run PowerPoint presentations and spreadsheets! Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

RockenWraps are the brainchild of Scott Rockenfield, a founding member of prog band Queensrÿche. Scott wanted his kit to stand out, so he created laminated designs on a plastic material that could be applied to his kit to customize the look. Scott's designs became popular with other drummers who saw his kit, and those drummers expressed interest in getting some for themselves. Along with his own designs, Scott is branching out with designs by other artists, including David Bollt. Customer photos or artwork can also be turned into unique finishes for a small setup fee. And whether you order a stock finish or a custom one, the plastic material is cut to match the sizes of your drums when the order is received. The concept behind RockenWraps is very simple. You remove all the hardware from your drum, including the air vent grommet. (RockenWraps offers polished chrome replacement air vents with threads on both halves.) You then wrap the new material around the shell. A built-in adhesive strip keeps it in place at the overlap. Once the material is secure, you drill out the existing holes, put the hardware back on, and you're done. I applied a wrap to a snare drum that belongs to my son. RockenWrap's instructions are very clear, including recommending the use of sharp tools for cutting and drilling. The instructions also stress the need for a light touch when drilling, so that nothing is forced. The most important instruction, however, is the need to exercise patience. You don't want to rush a job like this. It's much better to take the time to do it right while you have the chance. In my case it definitely paid off: The drum looked great and my son was thrilled with the results. One of the best things about RockenWraps is that you get almost instant gratification. Their wraps go right over your existing finish, causing no damage to that finish should you want to return to it in the future. The company also offers RockenHedZ graphic bass drum heads. These heads can match your kit covering, or can be created from custom artwork that you supply. The visual aspect of a RockenWraps finish knocks you out when the hardware is replaced and the drums are put together. This is not your father's White Marine Pearl. If you want to walk on the wild side with designer-style finishes, RockenWraps certainly deserve a look. They are available in many large music stores, or you can order factory-direct. Pricing ranges from $25.99 for 6" and 8" drum sizes to $79.99 for a 20x26 bass drum. Stock-design RockenHedZ range from $59.99 (18") to $89.99 (24"). (425) 485-3527, www.rockenwraps.com © 2006 MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Are Those New Features Really Worth It? By Craig Anderton Updates are great, right? You get new features and fixes, often for free. But updating a product can include some pitfalls that are at best an annoyance but at worst, could leave you with a non-functioning device. As you probably don't want that, let's cover how to avoid the various issues that could cause problems during the update process. THE THREE TYPES OF UPDATES There are three main types of updates: Chip updates. This is a physical process, where you remove one or more chips and replace them with updated chips. Firmware update. You don't need to take off the cover for this one; you may need to run a program while the device is connected to a computer (e.g., via USB), or load firmware in from a CD if the device has a CD drive. In this case, you're generally rearranging the memory of a chip deep within your product's innards. Software revision update. With this type of update, you upgrade an existing version of a software application with new features or bug fixes by running an executable program. For each of these types, the first and most important rule is to read any documentation that came with the update (piece of paper, "read me" file, whatever). One wrong move during an update could lead to real problems! For example, if you're updating the software for a USB device, you may need to have the device connected before the update, or connect it only after the software has been installed. If there's something you don't understand in the instructions, contact the company's tech support and make sure you know what you're doing before you proceed. CHIP UPDATE ISSUES Chips are sensitive to static electricity. Wear a grounding strap (available at electronic supply stores) and connect it to a metal part of the device being updated. Make a special 3-conductor IEC line cord that has the hot and neutral prongs cut off, but the ground prong intact. With AC-powered gear, use this so that the unit is grounded to the wall socket ground but doesn't have power going to it. The chip will likely come in a protective package. Leave it in there until the very last moment. When you pull out the old chip, rest its pins on a metal surface (e.g., a piece of aluminum foil), then after removing the new chip from its packaging, put the old chip in it. You may need to reinstall the old chip at some point, so keep it protected. Line up the pins on the chip before inserting it into its associated socket. One of the biggest problems with chip updates occurs when a pin gets folded under the chip instead of getting into the socket. If the chip doesn't show update information, put a removable label either on the chip or in the unit itself. Write the update revision and date of installation on the label. When inserting a chip, apply even pressure all the way around as you work the chip into its socket. Make sure that the pins remain straight at all times. FIRMWARE UPDATE ISSUES Of the various update options, this one is by far the most dangerous. If the chip update fails, you can just put the old one back in, and if a software revision update fails, you can re-install the program (or use something like Windows' System Restore function or the Mac's Time Machine program). But if a firmware update fails, the device may be left in a state where it is not only non-functional, but can't even "boot" to attempt another update or reinstall the old firmware. Fig. 1: This installation routine from Echo Electronics for one of their interfaces advises you not to turn off or disconnect your hardware...and it's advice well worth heeding. Reading any instructions is, once again, crucial. But re-read them as well. Then, make sure that the device being updated and whatever is doing the updating (e.g., your computer running a program) are both running from an uninterruptible power supply (Fig. 1). The most common causes of a firmware update failing are not reading the instructions, or having a power failure occur in the middle of the updating process. Also make sure that if a cable is involved (like a USB cable that shuttles date to the unit), it's not intermittent and is plugged in firmly. If the firmware update involves loading data from a CD, do not use a rewritable one, and burn at a relatively slow speed "just in case." SOFTWARE REVISION ISSUES Do "due diligence." Check the company's forums for discussions about updates. Sometimes there will be incompatibility issues that mostly likely won't affect you...but they might. Also, use an internet search on the update, like " known issues update." That might also uncover some incompatibility issues. It's prudent to wait a month or so before installing an update just to make sure no important issues arise. You then need to judge whether the updated features are worth the potential pitfalls. However, bear in mind that some internet forums do not always have accurate information - the problem might be that someone didn't read the instructions. If you are updating a Windows program, use System Restore. Most updates set a system restore point. But not all do, so before making any changes, set a system restore point (Fig. 2). (Go Start > Control Panel > System, then click on System Protection.) Fig. 2: Setting a system restore point in Windows can help your computer "get back to where it once belonged" if a problem arises while updating. It may be necessary to uninstall the previous version of a program for the update to "stick." The documentation should tell you whether this is necessary. When updating a software program, always copy any custom patches, files, etc. to a separate location. Usually you'll be warned if an update will modify these, but it doesn't hurt to make sure. With downloadable updates, create a folder that contains all updates. If you later need to reinstall a program from scratch (e.g., hard drive crash), you may need to install the original program then follow the "update path" through the various revisions - you can't always update a version 1.0 to a version 1.2 without going through version 1.1 first. In that same folder, keep any serial number or activation info. Okay...now you'll have a successful update. Enjoy the new features! Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.

You think you're running a dual processor system... but does Windows? By Craig Anderton Dual processing systems can help split the CPU load over two CPUs, thus allowing for better performance. But just because you have two processors doesn't mean that your system is set up correctly to handle them, and programs may need to have a preference enabled in order to "see" both processors. To make sure Windows XP recognizes that you're using dual processors: 1. Open the Task Manager by hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del. 2. Click on the Performance tab. You should see two graphs under "CPU usage History." 3. If you do not see two graphs, there are three possible reasons: You are using Windows XP Home instead of Windows XP Professional. The former does not recognize dual processors, the latter does. There is a problem with the motherboard. View is not set correctly. On the Windows Task Manager screen, go View > CPU History > One Graph per CPU. If One Graph, All CPUs is selected, you will not see the two graphs. Windows can show you the activity happening with both processors in a dual CPU system. This monitor shows the amount of processor load at any given moment. You may find this monitor more useful than the CPU usage meters included with various software programs as it shows what's happening with your total system, not just a particular program. Enabling/Disabling Dual Processing in Cubase SX Although most software will work with dual processing systems, some won't, and it may be necessary to disable mulitprocessing. Here's how to do this with Cubase SX 3.1. Go Devices > Device Setup. Select VST Audiobay. Click on Expert. The Multiprocessing parameter check box is toward the left side (circled in red for clarity). Click to enable, click again to disable. In Cubase SX, you can decide whether to use multiprocessing or not. 5. Click on OK, click on OK again for the Device Setup window, and you're done. Enabling/Disabling Dual Processing in Sonar Sonar is another program where you can specify a multiprocessing engine. Here's how to do this with Sonar 5. Go Options > Audio. Click on the Advanced tab. Click on Use Multiprocessing Engine. Sonar's Multiprocessing option is found in the Audio Options section, under the Advanced tab. 4. Click on OK to exit the Audio Options window -- done.

Brazilian Bargain Beauty by Kevin D. Osborne KEY NOTES Brazilian maple blends the best of birch and maple sounds Carbon fiber lugs and suspension mounts Attractive lightweight hardware Welding on rims is a little rough RMV drums have been in the US market for a relatively short time. But the company has been making drums in Brazil for thirty years, so they know what they're doing. They make their own drumheads, shells, hoops, lugs, stands, and pedals, as well as create their own finishes. RMV calls this style of soup-to-nuts in-house manufacturing Sonic Optimization, a methodology with the goal of making drums with the best sound possible. Some of the unique aspects of RMV drums include the wood used for the shells, the material used to construct the lugs, and the textured, black, lightweight stands. We were sent RMV's new X5/Special Edition model. It comes with an 8-lug 51/2x14 snare, a 16-lug 18x22 bass drum, 8x10 and 9x12 suspended rack toms, and a 13x14 floor tom. Finishes available are Incandescent Fade WrapArt, Black-To-Silver Sparkle Fade WrapArt, Red Satin See-Thru, and Blue Satin See-Thru. The set we received for review featured a sunburst-style Incandescent Fade WrapArt finish. The contrast between the wrap and the black hardware created a stunning visual effect. Shells The wood used in the construction of RMV drums is Brazilian maple (also known as bapeva), which is harder and 18\% denser than North American maple. RMV feels that the sonic characteristics possessed in different degrees by maple and birch—depth, warmth, clarity, and projection—can all be achieved using this one wood. Up to now RMV has offered two main non-reinforced shell designs: thin (4 mm) and thick (6 mm) shells. The thin shells, called Stage-Style, have a low pitch and a dark tone. The thick shells (Stadium-Style) are higher pitched with brighter tones. In order to offer drums with a sound that blends the best of thin and thick drums—and offer them at a reduced price—the X5/Special Edition kit features 5-mm X5 Street-Style drumshells. These shells deliver a sound that falls between those produced by the thick shells and the thin shells: round, but with a bite. According to RMV, this allows the drums to project better in high-volume, contemporary playing situations. I took the snare apart to examine its shell construction more closely. The shell is made slightly undersized in relation to the head, so that only the plastic head itself makes contact on the bearing edge. The hoop is not in contact with the shell at all. This results in more head vibration being transferred to the shell. The bearing edges were sharp and uniform, with most of the cut to the inside of the drum at a 45° angle. Hardware The standard hardware package for the X5/Special Edition kit includes two boom cymbal stands, a snare drum stand, a hi-hat stand, the tom mounts, and a chain-drive bass drum pedal. Every stand has its own bag to store and carry it in, which is a very nice touch. Even the bass drum pedal has its own bag. I was impressed with all the stands. They're easy to adjust (even from a seated position) and light to carry. Yet as light as they are, they're still solid and sturdy. The ratchet cymbal tilters have fine teeth that offer plenty of precise adjustment. The top nuts on the cymbal stands are round rubberized units that spin off and on easily while still holding the cymbals on securely. The snare stand goes quite low, but can adjust up to meet the needs of longer-legged drummers. Its basket tilter utilizes the same ball & socket adjustment found on the tom arms, as well as a large grip to tighten up the basket. The large rubber feet hide hefty metal spurs that can slide down to keep the stand firmly anchored on a drum rug. The hi-hat uses a chain and lever combination that delivers smooth operation. Spring tension is adjustable to give you whatever amount of resistance you're comfortable with. The action has a solid feel, and the large rubber feet hold the stand in place. The clutch traps the cymbal between a lower round nut and a piece that locks in place with a drumkey-tightened bolt. This is easier than fidgeting with holding and twisting two adjustment nuts and a locking nut that will only come loose later. The thumbscrew holding the clutch to the hi-hat rod did loosen up under my constant stomping, but this is nothing new to hi-hats. The bass drum pedal footboard is black with a cool orange design at the top and bottom. (The hi-hat pedal sports the same look.) The pedal offers only basic adjustment options. But it's a very functional unit that was sturdy underfoot and had a smooth feel to it. The suspension tom mounts grip the toms around four tension rods, using rubber gaskets to dampen vibration. This provides solid but flexible support, allowing the drums to move and resonate freely as they're struck. The bracket that receives the L-rod is made of a fiber composite material, which saves weight without sacrificing strength. The tom-holder arms feature ball & socket adjustments, making the toms easy to position. There's about a 50/50 split of wing bolts and drumkey bolts used on this drumset, with wing bolts being mostly used on the stands and the drumkey bolts on the tom mounts and adjustments. The drums are fitted with lightweight 1.6-mm black rims. I noticed that the rims were a little rough at the point where they were welded together. I doubt this is a structural issue, and it doesn't really detract from the cosmetics of the set. But it wasn't something I expected. RMV's innovative black lugs are made from injection-molded carbon fiber, fitted with steel lug nuts, tension rods, and screws. The lugs are light yet strong enough to bear the tension of the head on the drum. Each lug is attached to the drum using a vibration-dampening rubber gasket, one screw, and a positioning pin. This reduced mass lightens each drum and allows it to vibrate more. Sonic Optimization Now let's talk about sound, starting with the snare drum. When I tuned it to a medium head tension, there was a lot of ring around the edge, with plenty of snare buzz. The sound was much tighter and more defined at the center. Tightening the snare-side head cut out some of the ring but added a boxiness to the sound. Cranking the batter head up brought out a crack and muffled the ring and buzz significantly. This drum had a nice snare snap to it. It has eight tuning points instead of ten, which, in my opinion, can impart some flexibility to the drum. Since there's more space between the tension rods, there's more room for the head to vibrate. The bass drum had lots of punch. It was very bright, without an excessive amount of low end. But it did possess plenty of presence and projection. This drum will be heard loud and clear, with no mistaking that it's a bass drum with an attitude. The toms were very quick to respond, with a solid attack that could be heard clearly along with the tone. Every stick impact was clear and well defined. You should have no complaints about the toms sounding muddy through the PA or on a recording. The 8x10 tom has a faster decay than the other toms, which isn't unusual considering its size. The 9x12 mounted tom is more full-throated, with a singing tone. There's time to hear the stroke come back at you off the bottom head. I've saved the best till last. For its small size (13x14), the sound produced by the floor tom was remarkable. When you get around the set to this drum, you know you've arrived! The legs are equipped with large isolation feet, which sustain the drum's vibration. As a result, the attack and the tone were powerful, whether I played the drum with a stick or a mallet. The small drum sounded deep and sonorous, with finality to its pitch and punch. Yet at the same time, it invited, begged, and teased me to keep playing it. It was hard to stop. Conclusion "Punchy" seems to characterize the X5/Special Edition drumset as a whole. The X5 Street-Style shells are designed to deliver pitch, tone, attack, and projection that falls between the low, dark, fat, long-sustain sound of thin shells and the high, bright, dry, short-sustain sound of thick shells. Between the crack of the snare, the attack of the toms, the presence of the bass drum, and the tone and power of the floor tom, this kit has an overall sound that will complement and cut though any musical group you care to play with. And it will do it at a price that won't put you in debt. THE NUMBERS X5/Special Edition drumset . . . .$1,495 Includes 51/2x14 snare, 18x22 bass drum, 8x10 and 9x12 mounted toms, and a 13x14 floor tom. Hardware pack includes two boom cymbal stands, a snare drum stand, a hi-hat stand, tom mounts, and a chain-drive bass drum pedal. (818) 753-7811, www.rmvdrums.com © 2006 MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.