WHAT'S NEW

May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

Blue Woodpecker

If you've never seen a Blue Woodpecker, you're in for a treat. The first thing you'll notice is its beautiful exotic-wood and brass finish. The Woodpecker ($1,299) is the first and only active ribbon condenser mic from Blue Microphones (www.bluemic.com). It contains an aluminum-ribbon pressure-gradient transducer and has a bidirectional figure-8 polar pattern. According to the manufacturer, the Woodpecker was designed to provide the smooth sound associated with vintage mics, with a focused midrange and outstanding bass response, and it excels at capturing room tone with intimate detail.

With Class A electronics and active circuitry, the Woodpecker can handle sound-pressure levels of up to 136 dB with 0.5 percent THD into 2.5 k. It has a dynamic range of 114 dB, and it requires a minimum 35V of phantom power. The Woodpecker comes with a solid-brass shockmount and a wood storage box.

Frontier Design AlphaTrack

Frontier Design Group (www.frontierdesign.com) is shipping its AlphaTrack ($249), a compact control surface that works with audio and video software for Windows and Mac OS X. The USB-powered desktop device has a single motorized fader and a handy assortment of buttons and knobs for controlling track and plug-in parameters and transport functions.

The AlphaTrack's touch-sensitive 100 mm fader has 10-bit resolution, yielding finer accuracy than you could achieve with MIDI. The unit has a jog and shuttle strip for quickly and accurately scrolling through a project's timeline and navigating through markers. A 32-character backlit display lets you see the active parameters and their values, which you can control using three touch-sensitive rotary encoders with push-button functionality. When you touch an encoder knob, the display shows context-sensitive details about the selected parameter (pan, send, EQ, plug-in, or automation). Below the knobs are buttons for loop control, editing, and user-programmable functions. The AlphaTrack also has five buttons for transport, a footswitch jack for punch-in recording, and backlit buttons for recording, muting, and solo.

Digidesign 003 Rack, Rack Factory, and Factory

Digidesign (www.digidesign.com) has introduced the 003 Rack ($1,295), 003 Rack Factory ($1,695), and 003 Factory ($2,495) — the next generation of Pro Tools LE-based recording systems for Windows and Mac OS X. Each 003 model offers an abundance of I/O connections and 24-bit recording at rates as high as 96 kHz. Each also comes with a bundle of software that is made up of Pro Tools LE 7.3 and Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 (Mac/Win), which contains more than 60 instrument and effects plug-ins, applications, and sound libraries.

The 003 Rack is an audio/MIDI interface with FireWire connectivity, housed in a 2U rackmount chassis with 18 channels of simultaneous audio I/O. It has 8-channel analog I/O, 8-channel Lightpipe I/O, 2-channel optical and coaxial S/PDIF I/O, and two headphone outputs. Four mic preamps have XLR inputs, DI inputs for guitar or bass, and 48V phantom power. The 003 Rack also has one MIDI In and two MIDI Out ports, word-clock I/O, and a footswitch jack. The 003 Rack Factory adds the Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 Pro bundle and a collection of premium Bomb Factory and Digidesign plug-ins.

The 003 Factory is a tabletop version that furnishes a hands-on control surface for Pro Tools, plug-ins, and other audio software. In addition to the same I/O and software bundle as the 003 Rack Factory, it has eight channel strips — each with a motion-sensitive motorized fader, a touch-sensitive rotary encoder, a 2 5 6-character LCD, LED meters, and dedicated buttons — as well as transport buttons, a jog/shuttle wheel, and dedicated automation controls.

D16 Group Audio Drumazon

Drumazon (Mac/Win, $182) is a VST plug-in from D16 Group Audio Software (www.d16.pl) that realistically emulates the legendary Roland TR-909 drum machine. It captures all the original's sounds and front-panel layout in complete detail and adds new functionality. You can trigger Drumazon by playing MIDI notes or using its internal sequencer. The sequencer stores 8 banks, each containing as many as 12 patterns, with up to 16 steps in each pattern. You can specify shuffle, flam, and accent parameters, and stretch patterns to fit selected measures. You can chain patterns to play in a circular fashion or trigger them individually by assigning a MIDI note to each pattern.

Drumazon's output configuration lets you route any instrument to an individual output, giving you the option of processing sounds with effects plug-ins. You can mute or solo any instrument, as well as store and load presets individually for each instrument. Most parameters can be automated in the host or controlled by external hardware using Drumazon's MIDI Learn function. A collection of presets for each of the 11 instruments is included.

Redmatica Keymap

Keymap (Mac, $273), from Italian software developer Redmatica (www.redmatica.com), may be the most advanced commercially available sampler utility ever. Keymap lets you quickly and intuitively edit, loop, arrange, resynthesize, and organize samples into sampled instruments and loop libraries for Apple EXS24. You don't have to be a Logic user, however, because Keymap is a standalone application that doesn't need EXS24 or EXS24P to run. You can open instruments that you create with Keymap in any software that supports or imports the EXS24 sampler format.

Keymap's audio engine works directly with AIFF, WAV, AAC, and MP3 file formats, and it automatically loads samples from disk as needed. Its harmonic-resynthesis capabilities allow you to reshape sounds by controlling pitch, formant, amplitude, and time parameters. You can turn a single sample into a polyphonic multisample or create time slices and then rearrange them without audible glitching. Using a variety of looping algorithms, you can quickly locate loop points that might otherwise be impossible to identify. Keymap detects pitch to automatically map samples too.

Keymap is available by itself or as part of Compendium (Mac, $413), a software suite that includes AutoSampler (which generates EXS24 programs from hardware and software instruments) and ExsManager (which inspects and optimizes your EXS24 and GarageBand instruments).

Ultimate Sound Bank Retro Keyboards

Retro Keyboards (Mac/Win, $199) is the fifth volume in the UVI SoundCard series from Ultimate Sound Bank (www.ultimatesoundbank.com). It bundles the Universal UVI Player with 6 GB of content focusing on Clavinet and six electric pianos. The manufacturer doesn't name names regarding which instruments were sampled, but if you enjoy the sounds of electromechanical keyboards from Fender Rhodes, Hohner, Wurlitzer, and Yamaha, Retro Keyboards is right up your alley. Instruments were sampled direct and through amps, with up to 12 Velocity layers.

Retro Keyboards organizes instruments by type and supplies presets whose names indicate traits such as hard, soft, bell, effects, and tremolo. Tine-based samples were recorded from a '72 Mark I, a '79 Mark II, and an '84 Mark V. You also get Electric Grand, Funky Clav, Planet H, and Super W. You can change the polyphony, adjust the tuning, and toggle disk streaming and effects off and on. In addition to the standalone version, Universal UVI Player supports AU, DXi, MAS, RTAS, and VST plug-in formats. If you want more parameter control, Retro Keyboards is also compatible with Plugsound Pro and MOTU MachFive 2.

Roland MV-8800 Production Studio

Roland (www.rolandus.com) has launched its MV-8800 Production Studio ($2,699), a portable DAW that weighs less than 20 pounds and contains its own synthesizer and a complete sound library installed on its internal 40 GB hard drive. Out of the box, the MV-8800 lets you connect an external VGA monitor and an optical mouse to supplement its color LCD and dozens of front-panel controls.

The MV-8800's top panel furnishes 16 Velocity- and Aftertouch-sensitive pads for triggering sounds. You can load as many as 128 simultaneous instruments (including drum kits, loops, and vocal phrases) and apply beat matching and transposition in real time using pitch- and time-stretching algorithms. Onboard effects have emulations of Roland legends such as the SRV reverb and the RE-201 Space Echo, and you can automate your changes to multi-effects parameters. The MV-8800 incorporates a 24-channel stereo mixer and linear and drum-machine-style pattern sequencing with 480 ppqn resolution. Standard I/O features include two TRS and two RCA audio inputs, two TRS outputs, one MIDI In and two MIDI Out ports, optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs, and a USB 1.1 port for data transfer. The MV8-OP1 multichannel expansion card ($445) is also available.

Sonoma Wire Works RiffWorks Standard

RiffWorks Standard 2.1 (Mac/Win, $169) is a multitrack audio recording program specifically for guitarists. Developed by Sonoma Wire Works and distributed by IK Multimedia (www.ikmultimedia.com), the software allows you to quickly capture musical ideas into an audio phrase sequencer and then assemble songs using a linear recorder. RiffWorks rolls digital recording, modeled effects, a virtual drum machine, and online collaboration into a cost-effective package for computer-savvy guitarists. It even provides you with a copy of IK Multimedia's AmpliTube 2 Live plug-in.

You begin by recording and layering your guitar parts, either with or without effects. RiffWorks has seven effects processors with factory presets ranging from compression and EQ to flanger, quad delay, and WahFuzzSubOctave. Then you add backing tracks using the built-in InstantDrummer, which comes with a collection of sessions to get you started. If you change tempo or swap backup patterns, your tracks stay in sync. When you've completed all your parts, the RiffCast function will mix down your song and upload it to the RiffCaster Web site. RiffWorks Standard supports ASIO, Core Audio, ReWire, REX file import, odd time signatures, tempo detection, and volume automation.

Sound Advice

New from Discovery Sound (www.discoverysound.com) is I Love Tibet ($91), a multiformat CD-ROM containing 16-bit, 44.1 kHz loops, one-shots, and multisamples. The 645 MB disc features percussion, stringed and wind instruments, and voices indigenous to Tibetan sacred and secular music. In addition to individual WAV files, it has a percussion kit for Battery, stringed instruments for Kontakt, and a variety of loops in REX2 format. Percussion instruments include eka (a bell), nga (a drum), and tingsha (hand cymbals), and stringed instruments include dranyen (a lute), yangzin (a dulcimer), and piwang (which has one string). There's also dhung (a conch horn) and Tibetan flute, and the sounds of men, women, and children singing and speaking. A folder called In the Temple contains chanting, instrument ensembles, and an enormous ritual horn called the dhunchecn. In addition, I Love Tibet features an 83 MB video clip of Tibetan monks, musicians, and dancers performing traditional music. Discovery recorded the samples while visiting a refugee settlement in northern India. The purchase price includes free shipping worldwide.

Vital Drums: The Vitale Collection ($99.95) is the latest drum-loop library from Sony Media Software (www.sonymediasoftware.com). It shines the spotlight on Joe Vitale, a drummer renowned for recording albums with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; the Eagles; and Joe Walsh. Vital Drums comprises two CD-ROMs containing over a gigabyte of Acidized 24-bit loops and one-shots. You get more than 600 royalty-free grooves that deliver tried-and-true rock rhythms played on vintage Gretsch and DW drum kits at various tempos. You also get single hits played on '42 Radio King, '65 Ludwig Supraphonic, and '69 Ludwig Black Beauty snares. The set includes an Acid project, a copy of Acid Express software, and video clips of Vitale discussing drum-miking techniques and performing in the studio and in concert.

If you want to spice up your tracks with some international flavor, check out Deep Dub Rising ($99.95), from Big Fish Audio (www.bigfishaudio.com). Produced by Sigmund Droid for Bunker 8 Digital Labs, the 4.35 GB DVD-ROM contains Acidized WAV files and Apple Loops of grooves played by musicians from around the world. For assembling your own arrangements, dozens of folders with titles such as Twinkie Mon and Cerebral Ecstasy supply construction kits with names like Trippy Saxes and High Imposter Rinkie Dingle Guitar. Deep Dub Rising puts Caribbean steel drums, Afro-Cuban guitars, Indian tabla patterns, African kpanlogo drums, Azerbaijani ghaval, and many other exotic instruments at your dumbek and call.