Choosing the Right Sequencing Software
The biggest recent development in music software is the emergence of the Virtual Studio. Ever since the the musician's union at the BBC complained about the use of "synthetic orchestras" when the Mellotron first came into use in the mid-'60s, the use of virtual orchestration has been gaining in popularity and realism. When the Fairlight CMI brought digital sampling to the musical world in the early 80s, it brought unprecedented capabilities that are now commonplace. Today, personal computers are bringing a third revolution: the ability to add real-time effects such as reverb, EQ, chorus, echo, vocoding, automated mixing, noise reduction and more to the digital studio environment... and at amazingly affordable prices. In this article, we'll look at some of the key tools now available.
Whether you prefer the PC or Mac, one thing's for sure -- the MIDI software these days is fantastic. We asked every MIDI-using musician we could find what tools they used, and which ones they preferred. We also asked dealers which products they sold the most of. The titles that came to the top of our list were:
Top waveform editors named were:
Surprisingly, no one in our survey mentioned Syntrillium's CoolEdit, a very capable shareware program. Most dealers we spoke to said that waveform editors, in general, weren't big sellers.
Both Sound Forge and WaveLab have a large number of third-party plug-ins available. Either one is an excellent choice on the PC. On the Mac, BIAS Peak is a good midrange choice (2.0 was announced in Jan. 1999 at NAMM), with Pro Tools holding an esteemed spot at the high end, with its support for 24-bit audio. 24 bits of resolution, by the way, is enough resolution to describe the movement of an air molecule -- just the ticket for perfect audio processing. Versions of Cubase since the VST/24 release for the PC and VST 4.0 for the Mac also support 24-bit audio. Cubase VST version 5.0, announced in July, 2000, went further, providing up to 32 bits of recording resolution and the richest feature set of the series to date. However, with such richness came a level of complexity and "feature bloat" that caused complaints from some users. To its credit, the company dared to release a totally reworked version in 2002, dubbed Cubase SX, with a stripped down feature set, streamlined operation and an audio engine based on its acclaimed Nuendo engine. See our report elsewhere in this section for more information on this great program.
It's worth mentioning that the phenomenal growth of the PC market (and the multimedia prowess of Windows 2000 and Windows Me) has resulted in a collection of MIDI and music software offerings for Windows PCs that is, perhaps for the first time since the introduction of the Mac, better in most, if not all, regards than those available for Apple's computers.
Indeed, OMS (Opcode's replacement for Apple's mega-lame MIDI Manager) has pretty much gone down the tubes since being bought by Gibson. We can't think of a single Mac MIDI program (with the possible exception of Eric Wenger's Xx or David Zicarelli's "M" and "Max" efforts) that is better than anything available in the much larger collection of MIDI titles for the PC. And, while Peak is a decent program, its functionality pales compared to the capabilities of a PC program such as WaveLab 3 or Sound Forge, tricked out with a collection of DirectX or VST plugins.
Of course, Mac users still have a good selection of choices. A number of Mac editors and other music-related links are listed at http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Mac/
Xx MIDI Composer info is available at www.uisoftware.com.
Zicarelli's website is at www.cycling74.com
Recommended Music Software
MIDI (* denotes audio support):
Recommended MIDI Interfaces
Low end: Gravis MIDI Interface (sound card "game port" interface about $50)
High end: Opcode Studio 64X (serial port interface; about $250)
Note that Emagic and other sources have confirmed (and subsequently addressed) problems with USB MIDI interfaces on Apple's G4 Cube and "Gigabit Ethernet" G4 Macs. See our report on USB Audio Snags elsewhere on this site for details.
Product: Cubase
From: Steinberg
Pros: Audio and MIDI sequencing seamlessly integrated in an intuitive interface
Cons: Expensive. Hardware copy protection may interfere with some parallel port devices or other dongles.
Cubase has evolved considerably since its early days. Version 3.05 for Windows was a 16-bit application that ran well on Win3.x and Win95, although the latter platform offered no real advantages when running the app. In this Windows version of Cubase, file names were limited to 8-and-3. To address these issues, Steinberg announced Cubase VST for Windows, now at version 5.0x on the Mac and PC. On the PC, it runs under Windows 95 or better and increases the maximum number of audio channels to a maximum of 128 channels in the high-end VST/32 release, or 72 in other versions -- a far cry from Cubase 3.05's limit of eight on the PC. In fact, the Cubase VST CD includes several different versions of the program (Cubase, Score and Audio) on the disc, with the dongle being the controlling factor over which one you can use.
On the Mac, older Cubase releases ran on 68K or PowerPC machines, but the new versions are, predictably, PPC only. On the Mac, Both the latest VST and older 68k versions are available and you can even install and run both (VST and XT) on a Power Mac. As with the Windows release, the Mac version of Cubase uses a so-called "dongle" (copy protection key) to verify legal ownership.
It is unfortunate that the Steinberg dongle is so large. On one of our test PC systems, the Steinberg dongle wouldn't fit when a 25-pin serial cable was connected next to the printer port the dongle was connected to. We eventually resorted to a razor blade, shaving the serial cable's plastic down to size. Other than that, and the error messages that occur if the dongle comes unseated, it is a reasonable way of allowing the user to backup or upgrade his or her music program easily. We've received several updates to Steinberg software titles over the years via the company's website, or its CompuServe forum.
In use, the program behaves a lot like a multitrack recorder, with a straightforward timeline interface that is easy to master and well designed.
WaveLab
Like Logic Audio, Cubase (and VST) can perform audio trickery like changing the length of time an audio sample plays without affecting its pitch. This is, of course, very useful in commercial and jingle applications. Although Cubase VST includes a built-in waveform editor like the one found in Logic Audio, time-domain manipulations are performed by typing in numbers, as opposed to Logic's very cool graphical interface, which allows you to drag a 3-D sphere in three dimensions to alter pitch, speed and brightness. However, by adding the optional WaveLab waveform editing package, Steinberg is back in the running as "best of breed." Steinberg WaveLab is superb -- easy to use and very musical. The interfaces for features like harmonizers, echoes and chorus effects not only look like the hardware boxes they emulate, but they have presets that make it simple to produce great sounding tracks with a minimum of effort. Ask your dealer to see a WaveLab demo if you appreciate elegant, intuitive software. (WaveLab screenshot).
Cubase, as mentioned above, is available in several versions, with more expensive editions adding enhanced features for score-printing, 24- or 32-bit audio recording and so on. In our tests of the Score version, we were able to create and print excellent looking sheet music. Although older versions had some difficulty with PostScript output, the 3.0 and VST releases gave us no problems with PostScript or EPS output. (details at http://www.steinberg.net/)
Recommended, but Mac users (only) should also check out Emagic's Logic.
8K Cubase 3.05 XT Sheet Music sample in PDF format)
More on Cubase VST (Mac and Windows)
Cubase VST adds more sophisticated audio recording and processing capabilities to the base set of Cubase features mentioned above. A true 32-bit Windows app, the PC version supports long filenames, drag and drop insertion of audio files and the standard Windows multimedia extensions. Up to 72 channels of digital audio are possible (128 on the high-end version), although the program defaults to 16. Unlike XT, VST 3.5 (and newer) includes a built-in wave audio editor -- albeit a more limited one than provided by the optional WaveLab software.
VST version 3.02 supported only 16-bit audio import, although versions 3.5 and later support 8, 16 and 24-bit import and export. The Mac versions of VST we've tested could not directly import WAV files, making cross-platform work a bit of a hassle. However, Apple's QuickTime provides WAV support, which eases conversion hassles. AIFF audio is supported on both platforms. Pro 24 file conversion is, inexplicably, only supported by the Mac. (Steinberg Pro 24 was a popular sequencer on the Atari ST.)
Cubase VST for Mac has fairly strict hardware requirements. Notably, its compatibility list says the 4400 and 5400 and machines without L2 cache are NOT supported, and 603e-based Mac clones are also suspiciously absent. As mentioned earlier, multiple CPUs are supported in v3.5. Performance was excellent on a Umax C600x equipped with a 240MHz 603e. Note that the Mac version of VST requires virtual memory to be turned off.
Cubase VST for Windows was first released in Autumn of '97. It had only minor differences from the Mac version: there was no "Banish Silence" command. Fortunately, the Stereo wave functions were better implemented. Since its initial release, the myriad of bugs that plagued versions 3.0 through 3.75 have been more or less dealt with in versions 3.553 and later.
A number of plug-ins are available for the PC and/or Mac version of VST, to augment the reverb, echo, chorus and other basic effects included with the standard program. The PC version can also use ActiveMovie plugins, including the excellent noise reduction and declicking plugins from Sonic Foundry. Note that, prior to version 5.0, Cubase VST's greatest limitation was the fact that signal processing effects could suffer a delay of up to 750 milliseconds due to latency in the ASIO drivers. Even a hardware-optimized driver sometimes incurred a 200ms delay or so. This made a VST "virtual rack" unsuitable as, say, a guitar or keyboard effects unit. Fortunately, version 5 addresses this problem by providing a DirectX driver (compatible with virtually any sound card with up-to-date Windows 9x/2000 drivers) that reduces latency as low as 27 milliseconds and, with a hard with an ASIO2 optimized driver, these latencies can drop below 2 milliseconds! (To achieve reliable recording and playback, you may have to adjust the buffer size to a value of 1024 or higher, increasing latency slightly.) The ASIO section at kvr-vst.com lists latency values for a number of popular sound cards.
Here's a bonus for users of older versions of Cubase: The DirectX ASIO driver supplied with the free VST 5 demo and can be copied from the ASIO folder and used with 3.x versions of the program!
Steinberg has a PlugIns Roundup page with reviews of VST FX. Dave Brown has two free plugins for VST PC - Tempo Delay and Sweep Delay -- on his website. Download them here.
In July, 2000, Steinberg announced a new virtual synthesizer dubbed the Native Instruments Pro-52-Virtual Synthesizer for Cubase VST. This instrument can import Prophet-5 SysEx sound data, which means it can read and accurately reproduce all the existing sound libraries made for the original.
See www.steinberg.net for more info.
Product: Logic Audio (screenshot)
From: Emagic (www.emagic.de); now owned by Apple. (The company plans to discontinue its Windows-based products on Sept. 30.)
Price: about C$800. Some stores sell older versions with free upgrades for less. Logic Audio LE was bundled for free with the June 2000 issue of Computer Music magazine, a U.K.-based publication.
Versions Tested: Platinum and Discovery 1.0
Logic Audio and Discovery are favorites with many computer using musicians. Discovery is a low-end program "for ambitious beginners;" Logic Audio is its full-featured sibling. Logic beat out Cubase VST and StudioVision Pro to win the MacUser Eddy award for music software. Our favorite Logic Audio features -- which you absolutely must check out for yourself -- are the Time Machine and Audio Energizer functions. Too cool are the only words to describe the Time Machine. This baby leaves most other MIDI-plus-audio sequencers in the dust when it comes to audio processing. Details at http://www.emagic.de/english/products/products_win.html. Logic Audio retails for about C$800, although we've seen copies of version 1 with a free upgrade on sale for as little as C$500.
Logic Audio supports plugins compatible with (Adobe) Premiere and the AudioSuite architecture from DigiDesign. Be aware, however that some users find Logic to have a very tough learning curve. We don't really care for the interface, but the sheer power is alluring. A poor choice for PC users.
Product: Sound Studio Gold
From: Evolution (distributed in Canada by Thinkware)
Summary: This low-cost (£149) package from the UK looks like it was patterned after Steinberg's Cubase. Audio and MIDI capabilities are augmented by AVI (video) support, scoring, Karaoke, external sync (SMPTE, MTC, etc.), lyric editing on the score page and much more -- the program even provides software-based digital effects. Built-in echo, panning, chorus and reverb effects make even a mediocre sound card sound better. Even with all this, SSGold is very fast and slick-looking. Thumbs up, although you might have to mail-order it. In Canada, contact Thinkware at 888-284-4659 (toll free) to find out more, or see the Evolution website for Sound Studio Gold Specifications and Features.
A freely downloadable demo version of this program is available. Download Gold Demo
Virtual Synths
Talk about a virtual machine! There is an emerging category of software simulations of musical instrument that are quite amazing. We foresee a day when instrument manufacturers will provide soft versions of their products, and users will string the MIDI inputs and outputs together on their screens. A number of these soft synths are here today.
Roland Virtual Sound Canvas VSC-88
Roland's VSC-88 is a driver for a PC sound card that simulates the company's Super Sound Canvas on any PC system with enough CPU horsepower to run it. The program, currently available from the company's Japanese division, effectively requires a P166 or better and the company says it takes advantage of MMX processors. It provides complex waveforms, reverb and stereo effects on systems with plain-Jane sound cards. If not for its occasional misbehavior, this title would have been our favorite overall -- its sound quality was spectacular -- when it wasn't out of tune or slowing down mysteriously. We recommend that you wait for an updated version before purchasing - version 1.0 isn't quite there. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the English page at Roland's web site lists only the VSC-55, not the newer VSC-88). It runs best on systems with a P166 or faster -- this title misbehaved badly on slower systems, even at its minimum settings.
Yamaha Soft Synthesizer S-YG20
Similar to the Roland synth mentioned above, the Yamaha driver slows the computer down a little, but simulates a sophisticated sound card -- a neat trick. Recommended for playback on a P133 or faster (but don't install it if you already use the Roland driver!). We found this title usable on a P90 at its lowest quality settings, and the best sounding driver overall. However, it caused some problems with our Cubase sequencer that the VSC-55 did not. Note that all of these drivers worked, to some extent, inside our sequencers and in their respective MIDI players even when the driver wasn't selected as the default in the Windows Multimedia control panel. The VSC-55 (below), however, was the least troublesome of the drivers tested.
Roland VSC-55
Emulating a Sound Canvas SC-55, this is a simpler and less demanding version of the VSC-88 mentioned above. This version lacks a little of the sonic sophistication of the above two titles, but it runs well on any PC with a P60 or better. A demo version is at www.rolandcorp.com. We use it on our portable to improve the quality of its feeble ESS sound. The processing overhead of software sound drivers like the VSC-55, VSC-88 and S-YG20, causes a noticeable delay if you are following a click track, or watching music notation scroll by. Thus, it is inappropriate to use one of these drivers while recording. Recommended for playback on a P90 or better.
WinGroove is an alternative the above commercial titles. WinGroove is US$20 shareware. Details at http://www.cc.rim.or.jp/~hiroki/english/index.html
Reality
One of he most impressive software synths is called Reality. It is quite an accomplishment -- a full-blown synthesis engine that runs on a P133 or better. It sells for US$495. It's detailed at Seer Systems (www.seersystems.com). In Nov. '97, Sonic Foundry, the makers of Sound Forge, struck a deal with Seer Systems to distribute Reality.
Our Favorite "Virtual Synth" Software
Steinberg ReBirth RB-338 (details at http://www.steinberg.de/)
ReBirth is one of our favorite music programs. It emulates the classic Roland TR-808 drum box and a pair of TB-303 "Bassline" modules (which this writer proudly owned in years gone by), with several enhancements, including distortion and delay effects -- not to mention the ability to sync to MIDI. It retails for C$249 and sounds, well, perfect, especially if you read the manual on ways to optimize the sound quality (which, incidentally, the company achieved not by sampling the waveforms, but rather by analyzing the inner workings of the analog design and then creating a mathematical model of it). A demo version for Windows or Mac is available from www.propellerheads.se.
A free update to version 1.5 is available for 1.0 owners. ReBirth 2.0 was released at CeBit in Mar. '98. Highly recommended for techno music fans.
Virtual Synths for Mac:
The hottest synthesis software we've seen for Macintosh is Eric Wenger's Metasynth, distributed by U&I Software.
Download a demo here. Wenger is perhaps best known as the original developer of MetaCreations' Bryce 3D.
Several other soft synths for Mac are listed at http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Mac/
As noted above, Steinberg in July 2000 announced a Mac version of a virtual synthesizer dubbed the Native Instruments Pro-52-Virtual Synthesizer for Cubase VST. This instrument can import Prophet-5 SysEx sound data, which means it can read and accurately reproduce all the existing sound libraries made for the original. kvr-vst.com rates this above many other soft synths (and second only to Native Instruments' killer Hammond simulator, the B4), on its VSTi Ratings page.
Other Useful MIDI and Sound Utilities
Hubi's LoopBack device is a virtual MIDI driver for Windows3x/9x. It is useful to connect multiple MIDI-programs. For example, you can use it to synchronize ReBirth RB-338 to Cubase or another MIDI sequencer. The program is freeware, and is available from a number of locations on the internet, including www.propellerheads.se.
Virtual Effects: Software-based Digital Signal Processors
Cylonix Vocoder, by Canadian developer James Clark, is an 18-channel vocoder. A vocoder, for those of you who missed the Battlestar Galactica reference in the name "Cylonix," is a method of using one "carrier" waveform to modulate another. The song "in the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins has some nice vocoder sounds, for example.
It requires a Pentium CPU, Windows95, and a full-duplex sound card with up to date full duplex drivers. Designed for use with SoundBlaster cards, but may work with other brands. Details at http://www.futurenet.com/musiciansnet/smm/smm/edit/10000600.html
Download a trial (save-disabled) demo from:
ftp://chart.cim.mcgill.ca/pub/people/clark/CYLONIX.ZIP
Other Plug-ins
Native Power Pack is a Parametric EQ, compressor, limiter, reverb, etc. See the Native Power Pack e-brochure for details.
Arboretum Systems' $99 Ray Gun for Power Macs handles noise reduction, pop/click removal and hum/rumble filtering. It also works as a Premiere-compatible plug-in. (The company also sells several other audio processing tools, and documentation is available on-line.)
More on Sound card(s)
The AWE64 sound card, reviewed elsewhere on this site, features simultaneous hardware and software playback of wavetables. What, you may wonder is the purpose and why would you want to use a relatively expensive soundcard with waveform ROMs on board to generate software wavetables?
Simply put, because it sounds great. For example, let's say you have a low-end soundcard without wavetable audio such as a SoundBlaster 16. Yamaha has a software wavetable synth (at www.ysba.com) that allows you to add 3D stereo spatialization, reverb and very cool "TX" wavetable sounds to a low-end soundcard all in software. The AWE64 could play some voices via Creative Labs' own implementation of this sort of advanced software synthesis (which sounds richer than most ROM-based samples do to my ears), and simultaneously play other voices back from on-board ROMs, RAM or whatever. Also, the AWE64 has a true hardware implementation of full-duplex audio (allowing you to record and playback simulaneously). Neither the SB 16 nor the AWE32 have the hardware to support this feature -- they simulate full-duplex audio with problematic software drivers that are not fully DirectX compatible in full-duplex mode. While gamers might not care, hobbyists, Internet telephony product users and musicians will definitely benefit from this card. We have several Creative Labs cards here at TCP and the compatibility with games and other audio apps is unsurpassed. And that is something gamers probably do care about.
Note that we have heard reports that the AWE64's install program does not work properly on systems running a Cyrix 166+ CPU. Creative Labs has a fix on its web site (www.creaf.com), but this, too, has been reported to be problematic for some Cyrix owners.
Audio Recording
With a suitably equipped computer, you can record, playback, and edit digital audio files. This section describes some of the Windows-based tools available for this purpose.
Sound Forge 4.5 - a highly regarded waveform editor, Sound Forge 4.5 is the best choice for those creating audio for websites. Its built-in support for RealAudio (including support for "PerfectPlay") makes it a natural for those working with this popular format. As well, Sound Forge directly supports SampleCell, Sound Designer and other popular waveform formats such as MP3, AIFF and WAV. It also has the ability to insert copyright notices, extended titles and even bitmapped images into audio files -- a boon for those who want to distribute copy-protected audio over the web. Moreover, its support for third-party plug-ins gives it nearly unlimited expandability. However, Sound Forge is not the best choice as a wave editor for Cubase audio. WaveLab, with enhanced support for Steinberg's section markers, is a better choice. Sound forge, meanwhile, adds extended support for Sonic Foundry's own Acid family of loop-based music production tools.
As with all audio software, much of the decision of "what is best" rests firmly upon aesthetics. What sounds better to your ears will almost certainly be different than to ours. Hence, a Sound Forge distortion option like "Hard clip for maximum speaker thrashing" may be just the ticket for you. To us, the program's output sounded less mellifluous overall than that of Steinberg's WaveLab.
Sound Forge retails for C$650. Sound Forge XP is C$195. Plug-ins are priced as follows: Batch converter, C$195; Noise Reduction, C$325; Spectrum Analysis, C$195; Waves L-1, $850.
For more info on Sonic Foundry products, see your local music retailer or contact Roland Music Canada in Toronto at 416-213-9707 x109 or in Vancouver at 604-270-6626 x135.
Some dealers we spoke to say they used to recommend SAW, but no longer do. As a result, SAW was aggressively discounted in several stores we visited.
However, many pro users love SAW. Here's what Henrik Palm, head technician at Radio AF, had to say about SAW 32:
"I love it! I think it's the best program for editing audio there is. I've tested them all. Cubase, Sound Forge, CoolEdit, etc. SAW is still the no 1. Why then? It's very easy to use, and very easy to overview. The user interface is free from all 'junk'. It's FAST. All processing are done in real time, a SAW policy, and you can use it on any machine, without buying expensive Digigram [sic] cards or other specialties. On my computer, a 225Mhz AMD K6, 48Mb RAM I can play about 15 stereo tracks simultaneously. With processing. You never ever have to wait for the program to finish loading or processing. 'What you hear is what you get'. The nondestructive editing is ingenious. From one file one can make several versions of a work, and not have to waste space on other than the original sound file. The other programs reviewed are all destructive, and that's really bad when editing a 45 min sound file. To SAW it doesn't matter how long the files are. You always hear the result at once. I educate people in using computer for sound editing. An hour is often enough to teach people the basics about SAW. That is not the case with Cubase or Sound Forge.
Of course, SAW has some limits, admits Henrik. Indeed, the version we tested couldn't do heavy processing like pitch-shifting or time compressing -- both features available in Sound Forge and WaveLab. However, for editing jingles, broadcast events, etc., he says, "it's splendid. You are also right that SAW+ lacks some options like building mixes to other formats, and can't read ADPCM. However this also makes the program more intuitive to use. I have installed SAW+ and now SAW+32 on all computers of Radio AF, Sweden, as main digital tool, and everyone loves it." He adds. "I'm not in anyway connected to IQ software, even if this mail probably looks like an advert -- I just think SAW deserves a better review."
Indeed, Henrik, you're not the only radio station we know using SAW. CFAX Radio in Victoria, BC, selected SAW as its main digital audio tool, and they say it works well for them. A package of SAW Utilities are also available.
Steinberg WaveLab (info)
WaveLab, as mentioned earlier, is a waveform editor with a generally intuitive interface -- most commands, such as deleting a section of audio can be accomplished with a keystroke (backspace) or with an option from a pop-up menu invoked via the right mouse button. It was much easier to convert Stereo WAVs to mono or vice versa with WaveLab than with CoolEdit (below). WaveLab is also an excellent choice for recording audio CDs. The program includes direct support for burning CD-R discs. A variety of plug-ins for noise reduction, declicking, etc. are also available. See the link above for details.
As mentioned earlier, WaveLab makes full use of Windows NT, although it runs well under Win95/98 as well. However, you get about 20% more real-time power when running WaveLab under NT. Better yet, the program can take advantage of dual CPUs under that OS. Interestingly, tests show that WaveLab is fully twice as fast on a Pentium Pro 200 as it is on a Pentium at the same clock speed.
WaveLab was the musical of the sound editors we tested, with functions that add a variety of pleasing harmonies, phase shift and flange effects, fade in/out controls and much more. Definitely worth a look and listen. WaveLab proved to be one of our favorite editors overall.
More on MIDI and the Macintosh
With a suitably equipped Macintosh computer, you can record, playback, and edit MIDI and/or digital audio files. This section describes some of the Mac-based tools available for these purposes.
For the Macintosh, a tool called OMS from Opcode picks up where Apple's defunct Apple Midi Manager left off. (Apple Computer's plan to capitalize on the music market had the wind taken out of its sail when the Beatles' record company threatened to sue). OMS allows you to synchronize multiple MIDI programs and route MIDI data on a Mac (a long-promised Windows version, mentioned at Microsoft's Feb. 95 press briefings for Windows 95, still has not materialized). Unfortunately, we had a lot of trouble with OMS. It failed to work properly in our tests under Mac OS 8, and it caused Cubase to crash when a MIDI interface was not connected. Other users report better success.
One interesting possibility is using QuickTime 2.5 and OMS to bypass the cheap sounding QT Instruments built into Apple's QT system software and route MIDI to MIDI gear via a MIDI interface connected to the printer or modem port. Very cool. OMS is available in "lite" or full versions. (The lite version lacks support for some of the more advanced multi-channel MIDI interfaces.) Get it at ftp://ftp.opcode.com/pub/oms
Recommended tools for Mac MIDI and Audio:
Other Tested Audio Tools:
Band in a Box 7.0
Pros: wide variety of musical styles. Particularly strong in the jazz and "standards" idioms.
Cons: cluttered interface, songs tend to sound like "fake book" pastiches.
Sound Edit 16 2.07
Pros: Good compatibility with Macromedia's Director and ShockWave tools.
Deck 2
Pros: Convincingly emulates a 4-track tape deck.
KPT Metasynth (Mac)
Pros: Unique interface. Creates complex sounds easily.
Q&A
Q: What is a SCSI "AV" drive ? Is it something that avoids the need to autocalibrate (like EIDE drives do?) and must this be avoided when saving real-time video to hard-disk, or doing recordable CD-ROM ?
A: Yes, standard drives perform thermal recalibration from time to time. AV drives also recalibrate, but they have the capability of postponing thermal recalibration -- they don't shut down data transfer to recalibrate the disk heads like other drives do, yielding smoother captures. Non AV drives -- especially older models -- tend to perform thermal recalibration from time to time, which will cause glitching. For example, a 5400-rpm Maxtor DiamondMax drive (which is among the faster 5400-rpm EIDE drives) and a P180 only manage 8 tracks of audio at most, and usually fewer than that.
For CD-R, a defragmented drive or a big RAM cache is usually enough (2x recording only requires 300 K/sec; most hard drives easily deliver 1100K or more). The SCSI drives, known as Ultra Wide SCSI3 LVD (low voltage differential) are currently a popular choice for serious audio use. These drives can handle transfer rates of up to 80MB per second, and the more expensive 160MB/sec SCSI variation is even faster. But for most users, a system with a couple of UDMA/66 drives (and a suitable ATA66 controller) is a reasonable choice, delivering up to 66 MB/sec at a very reasonable cost. Some users obtain satisfactory results from FireWire drives; however, it is not all that fast, with a top transfer speed of only 50 MB/sec.
Note that, with today's faster 7200-RPM ATA66 and ATA100 drives, performance is high enough -- particularly on units with a 2MB buffer -- that we no longer recommend paying extra for SCSI or FireWire drives, unless you are also doing video editing or similarly demanding work.
Q: My system exceeds the minimum requirements for Cubase VST. Can I really get 72 tracks of digital audio?
A: Probably not. VST is a serious CPU hog. You should get as fast a computer as you can afford, plenty of RAM and a high-performance drive array (preferably based on the fastest SCSI spec) if you want to do 32 or more tracks of audio. Audio is very demanding -- although not as demanding as high-quality digital video.
Q: Are there any music training resources available on the Net?
A: Yes. An extensive collection of chord charts and other tutorial materials can be found at http://www.jimi-hendrix.com/guitar/.
Other Technologies
Reviews:
For further reading:
Post new comment