Making Music with OS X
Information, tips and tutorials for making music on Apple computers.
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- 8 Software Updates, Focus on GarageBand, Digidesign's Strike Virtual Drummer
This week's episode covers some of the recent changes, updates and upgrades to some of the OS X audio programs and plug-ins I covered in my book, starts a two-part series on GarageBand resources and tips and features a review of Digidesign's Strike virtual drum plug-in.
Wed, 23 May 2007 03:46:00 GMT - Software Updates, Focus on GarageBand, Digidesign's Strike Virtual Drummer
Hello and welcome to installment 8 of Making Music with OS X. This week I'll be covering some of the recent changes, updates and upgrades to some of the OS X audio programs and plug-ins I covered in my book, reviewing Digidesign's Strike virtual drum instrument and starting a two-part series on GarageBand resources and tips.
Software Updates
As you're probably aware things move pretty quickly in the music software world. I'm going to give you guys a quick update here on some of the recent developments concerning the software I covered in MDAP.
Sample Manager and Wave Editor
One of the best new programs I came across while researching the book is Sample Manager from Audiofile Engineering, which I covered in Chapter 7 "More Useful Software." If you've listened to the two part series I did on using and creating Apple Loops in episodes 5 and 6 you might have heard me mention that I've used Sample Manager as a quick way to batch convert loops and sample files, batch normalize and create cross-fades. There's been a few updates to the program since the book was released including a pretty major overhaul of the Sample Manager interface. Audiofile's Wave Editor program has also had some minor updates and bug fixes. You can find the updates and demo versions of both programs at www.audiofile-engineering.com
Wave Editor
Sample Manager
Audacity
The OS X version of the freeware audio editor Audacity has just been updated to version 1.3.3. The new version has some cool new features including the ability to import AAC and .m4a files. There's a link to the Audacity Web site on my blog page and a link to the MacMusic.org page, which details the new and fixed features for Audacity 1.3.3
Audacity
Audacity page at MacMusic.org
FabFilter
In the book and I think on the cool demos for OS X installment of the blog I mentioned The FabFilter instruments and effects. These include the Timeless delay and the Twin virtual synth, two excellent and reasonably priced programs. These and all FabFilter instruments and effects are now available in RTAS format.
FabFilter Web Site
Rax
One of the programs I covered in Chapter 7 "More Useful Software" was an Audio Unit host program called "Rax" from Plasq software, which I've just found out has been discontinued. Rax let you load and use Audio Unit instruments and effects outside of a DAW program. I found it to be a really useful and fun program and it was pretty cheap too. Judging from a recent message on the Plasq Web site there's a good chance that Rax will make a comeback as a product from another company soon. I'll be keeping my eyes on it.
www.plasq.com
Along those lines, if you're interested in a VST version of Rax you should check out the program VSTi Host, which lets you run VST instruments and effects outside of a host program. It's also got ReWire functionality, so it's possible to use it to route your VST instruments into Pro Tools. I've done this successfully myself, though it's a bit buggy. Using VSTi Host is also covered in Chapter 7 of MDAP.
VSTi Host
By the way - if you're thinking about getting MDAP now would be a good time to pick up a cheap copy. I've noticed that there are some used and new copies available on the right side of Amazon page for around $20-25.
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Focus on GarageBand Pt. 1
One of the things I've noticed as I've been promoting my book is a lot of interest from folks who are using or wanting to learn more about Apple's GarageBand. So it seemed like this would be a good time to talk about some resources and tips I've found that have helped me create music (and these podcasts) with GarageBand 3.
GarageBand Resources
The following Web sites and forums are excellent places to find out all you need to know about using, expanding and troubleshooting GarageBand:
Apple's GarageBand Forums
iCompositions.com
MacJams.com
MacIdol.com
The Garage Door
Hang Time's GarageBand FAQ - Link One
Hang Time's GarageBand FAQ - Link Two
Mac Audio Guy
MacBand.com
GarageBand Books
There are a number of books on GarageBand out there but as far as I can tell there are only a handful that focus specifically on GarageBand 3. Here are links to the books I've found on GarageBand 3. If you know of any others shoot me an email and I'll add them to the list.
Mastering Digital Audio Production (obviously)
Apple Training Series: GarageBand 3
Apple Training Series: iLife '06
GarageBand Tips and Tricks
Video
If you you prefer learning by video MacProVideo also has a couple of GarageBand video tutorials narrated by Paul Garay from the Inside Home Recording podcast. One is called GarageBand 101: Mastering GarageBand and the second is GarageBand 203: Podcasting in GarageBand. They're available separately or as a bundle. You can watch excerpts from the videos at www.MacProVideo.com
GarageBand Bundle
"Automating" Plug-in Effects
Unlike the more expensive DAW programs GarageBand doesn't have plug-in automation so basically this means that if you put an effect on a track that's what you get for the whole track. I've come up with a bit of a workaround for that by duplicating my tracks tracks and then putting the effect on the duplicate track. This can be really useful for bring effects in and out of a song.
1. Create a new GarageBand Music Project.
2. Use the Loop Browser to locate any Software or Real Instrument drum loop and drag it onto a track.
3. Create a 3 measure loop.
4. Select the Track Header and choose Track > Duplicate Track
5. Use GarageBand's Split Track (Edit > Split or Apple +T) functionality to split the middle section of the track.
6. Drag the split section to the duplicate track.
7. Double click the duplicate track's Track Header to open the Track Info window and use the effects drop down menus to add a plug-in effects.
Here's a screen shot of what your tracks will look like:
Split Track Screen Shot
You can use this same method to duplicate and split any Software or Real Instrument tracks and put an effect on a section (or sections) of any vocal or instrument performance.
ReMidi Arpeggiator
An arpeggio is a series of notes that make up a chord, played one after another instead of simultaneously. Some DAWs and many virtual synths have built-in arpeggiators but in GarageBand you'd need to either create your arpeggios by hand with MIDI notes or use the built-in functionality of one of your third-party synths.
Another option for GarageBand users who have a MIDI keyboard is to use the ReMIDI Arpeggiator. The ReMIDI is pretty cheap - it costs $15 to register. You can try it out by using the unregistered version, which throws in random bad notes.
Download ReMIDI
Here are two tutorials that you can use to get started with the ReMIDI, one is a very cool way I've found to use ReMIDI's Strumming functionality to create a pretty good sounding guitar performance.
ReMIDI Basics
1. Download and install ReMIDI
2. Start GarageBand then start ReMIDI
3. In GarageBand create a new Software Instrument track and in the Track Info window choose the instrument Synth Leads > Arena Run. Make sure the track is armed for recording.
3. In the ReMIDI window put a check mark in the "Active" box and select the correct MIDI source from the drop down menu. This will be whatever MIDI keyboard you are using to generate a MIDI signal.
4. At the bottom of the ReMIDI window, for "MIDI destination" select "ReMIDI virtual source."
5. In the Chord Assistant field select "One Finger"
6. From the Performance Assistant drop down menu select "arpeggiator."
7. Put a check mark in the "Latch" and "Loop" boxes. With these selected you can play any single note on your MIDI keyboard to create a looping arpeggio. You can click the Stop button at any time to stop ReMIDI.
You may want to change the ReMIDI's Performance Assistant parameters as follows:
Mode = Up-Down
Note Interval = 1/16
Note Duration = 1/2
8. Click GarageBand's Record button to record a performance.
9. Finally, you'll want to use GarageBand's editing features to fix, loop or edit the performance.
ReMIDI is a neat little program but it doesn't have a sync feature to lock it in with GarageBand. You can match the tempo to your session's tempo in the ReMIDI interface, but ultimately you'll probably find that you have to use the Track Editor to get your arpeggios to fit with your songs and sessions.
ReMIDI as Virtual Guitarist
ReMIDI's Strummer functionality can be used to create MIDI guitar tracks:
1. Start GarageBand and create a new Music Project
2. Click the Track Header of the default piano track and choose the Guitars > Electric Tremolo instrument. Make sure the track is armed for recording.
3. Start ReMIDI.
4. Put a check mark in the "Active" box.
5. In the ReMIDI window select the correct MIDI source from the drop down menu. This will be whatever MIDI keyboard you are using to generate a MIDI signal.
6. At the bottom of the ReMIDI window, for "MIDI destination" select "ReMIDI virtual source."
7. Select "Strummer" from the Performance Assistant drop down menu.
8. Use your MIDI keyboard to play the chords. Use the slider to adjust between quick or slow strumming.
9. Click GarageBand's Record button to record a performance.
Using Virtual Drums in GarageBand
One of limitations of GarageBand is in the way it handles using the MIDI drag feature that's found in many virtual drum programs. BFD, Addictive Drums EZ Player and other virtual drum instruments all contain the ability to drag a MIDI pattern directly from the plug-in's interface on to a MIDI or Instrument track. This can be really helpful for quickly creating drum sequences. You can build arrangements by finding a pattern you like or creating a new one in the plug-ins interface, then dragging the pattern directly on to the track that is triggering the drum instrument.
GarageBand doesn't give you this option. Dragging a MIDI file from the plug-in's interface will create a new Software Instrument track that for some reason defaults to the Pop Flute instrument. What you can do at this point is to drag the MIDI loop from the Pop Flute track onto the track that's triggering your drum instrument.
If none of this is making sense to you here's a quick tutorial using Izotope's iDrum virtual drum machine:
If you don't have iDrum already installed go to www.izotope.com and download and install the 10 day trial demo. The iDrum demo is also on the included DVD that comes with MDAP.
1. Create a new GarageBand Music Project session
2. Create a new Software Instrument Track
3. Click the Track Header to open the Track Info window
4. Choose iDrum from the Generator drop down menu
5. Click the Edit Preset button to view the iDrum interface.
6. Locate the MIDI Drag button on the bottom right of the iDrum interface.
7. Click the MIDI Drag button and drag the MIDI file on to the GarageBand timeline.
8. Move the MIDI pattern from the Pop Flute track to the iDrum track.
9. Delete the Pop Flute track.
10. Click the folder icon on the top left the iDrum Interface and choose "Clear Entire Pattern" from the pop-up menu. Otherwise you'll be hearing both the triggered pattern and the pattern in iDrum, which creates a "washy" sound.
11. Create a new pattern in iDrum and use the MIDI Drag to drag the new pattern on to the GarageBand Timeline. Once again, drag the pattern from the newly created Pop Flute track on to the iDrum track and delete the Pop Flute track.
13. Choose "Clear Entire Pattern" again in iDrum.
Using this method you can drag as many different MIDI patterns as you want in iDrum and use them to create simple or complex drum sequences. As I mentione previously programs such as BFD, EZ Player and Addictive Drums also contain the same kinds of MIDI Drag functionality.
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Digidesign Strike
A few episodes ago I mentioned that I'd be buying either Addictive Drums or BFD soon. Well, it turns out that I didn't. I was messing around at the studio after a session last weekend and noticed that someone had installed Digidesign's Strike virtual drum program. I hadn't really thought about this as an option, mostly because I'm not a big fan of plug-ins that can only be in one program and since Strike is made by Digidesign it's available only in RTAS format, for Pro Tools 7 and higher. I wasn't too impressed with the audio demos I'd heard either.
It's still a bit early in the game for me with this plug-in but I think it's really amazing. Setup was pretty smooth and the programs main interface is easy to understand. My big thing is adding lots of room sound to get a more realistic, dirty rock n' roll drum sound and Strike makes that very easy with well-placed knobs that let you bring in more overheads and room mics and lower the close mic'ing settings. They even have a Talkback mic knob that probably makes most engineers go "ugh" but is exactly what I've been looking for in this kind of plug-in. Within 3 or 4 hours I had an early version of the kit I plan to use and had created or altered the patterns I need for the demos I'll be working on this summer.
Once I get clear as to what the differences are in the various settings groups
My only complaints are that Strike doesn't have the range of sounds that Addictive Drums has and it doesn't seem to have the realism of BFD. Instead of going in to too much more detail, here a link to the review from www.groovesmag.com that tipped the scales for me. After buying and using Strike for a bit I can pretty much say that Casey Rea, who wrote this review, really hit the nail on the head:
Groovesmag.com Strike Review
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That's all for this week - thanks for stopping by!
-Cliff
email me
Wed, 23 May 2007 02:12:00 GMT - Blog Site Links
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Sun, 20 May 2007 20:03:00 GMT - 7 Intro Recap, Relentless Book Promotion, Virtual Amplification, Cheap Software Spotlight
This week's installment includes a recap of episode one's introduction, more relentless book promotion, my recent experiences with virtual amplification and introduces a new semi-regular feature called the Cheap Software Spotlight, this time focusing on the Lounge Lizard Session electric piano.
Tue, 15 May 2007 02:02:00 GMT - Intro Recap, Relentless Book Promotion, Virtual Amplification, Cheap Software Spotlight
Welcome to installment 7 of Making Music with OS X. This week I'm going to do a quick recap of episode one's introduction, continue to relentlessly promote my book, talk about a bit about virtual amplification and introduce a new semi-regular feature called the Cheap Software Spotlight.
Recap
I haven't mentioned this in a few episodes and I know there are some new readers and listeners out there. So if you are new to this blog and podcast and especially if you're new to digital audio in general, I suggest going back and reading/listening to episodes one and two, where I cover some of the basic information you'll need to get the most out of this podcast and blog. Most of the podcast episodes are in enhanced AAC format so if you listen in iTunes you'll see links to some of the programs and the different stuff I'll be talking about in the Show Artwork display on the lower left of your iTunes window. This blog is basically each week's episode in written format with all of the links and sometimes more in-depth tutorials. Also, in episode 1 and 2 I covered some basic information about plug-in formats and installing and using virtual instruments and plug-in effects. So if you're new here they're definitely worth checking out.
New Web Site/Free Sample Chapter
If you haven't seen the interim blog entry from last week, I've got a new web site up for my book Mastering Digital Audio Production (and for the podcast) at www.MasteringDigitalAudio.com. You can check out the book's table of contents, the index and even download all of Chapter 9 "Virtual Instruments". If you've been listening to or reading previous installments of MMwOSX then you might be be especially interested in this, since Chapter 9 covers a lot of the things I've been talking about here, but in more detail.
So, along those lines, today I'm going to talk about something else you learn more about in Chapter 9, virtual amplification...
Virtual Amplification
First off, I think I'm going to this opportunity amend a statement I made in the book. There's a sidebar on page 399 called "Problems With Virtual Amplification," and the last sentence reads "...if replicating analog guitar recordings is your goal, you are probably better off investing in the ability to record live guitars." I'm not so sure about this anymore. Part of why I wrote that was based on my personal experience up to that point of tracking guitars with virtual amps. I create a lot of different styles of music, often using virtual amps and sometimes with pretty good results. At the same time a lot my focus for much of the last few years has been playing in a punk/rock n roll band called the Black Furies. For the kind of music we play virtual anything is pretty much out of the question. So while I've used virtual amp plug-ins for band demos I've never tried using them in live recording sessions.
The band's been out of commission for a bit, but this weekend we got together in the studio started working on some new material. After reading some interviews with engineers who are getting really good, natural sounds with virtual amps I decided to give it a shot myself this weekend, using AmpliTube 2.
Judging by the sound of most virtual amp presets it seems like they're aimed at people who are looking for a more processed guitar tone. I've tried out just about every virtual amplifier out there and I've yet to find many presets that I'd even consider using, especially for straight ahead rock n roll. On the other hand, scrolling through presets can be a good way to get an idea of what a plug-in is capable of. - and inspiration.
I realize that what constitutes a "good" guitar tone is an incredibly subjective thing. For me, the sounds I'm trying to emulate have been very elusive with plug-ins. For the kind of music we play I'm looking to emulate guys like Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Johnny Ramone - essentially the sound of a guitar being played directly through an amp. I think it's kind of ironic that the simplest thing to accomplish with a "live" set up seems to be one of the hardest to get at with a virtual set-up.
The way that I've found that work best for me is to start with a preset that's close to what I'm looking for. Once I've found a sound that could work, the first thing I'll do is go in and find any effects and delete them or turn them off. AmpliTube 2 also has a very cool set of presets called "Pure Amps," which are just that - no effects. Using Amplitube 2's "Loud 30" and "British Lead 1" presets as starting points I'll then check out the various settings that are available for modification. Higher end virtual amps such as Amplitube and Native Instruments Guitar Rig let you choose all sorts of different configurations, including amplifier, cabinet, microphone and microphone placement. Finding the right combination can take some time, once I got one I like or might use I'll save it a preset. I've found that you can never have too many presets, even if many contain only really small differences. One of the best things about working with virtual amps is the ability to record something and then alter it slightly or significantly, depending on what works best for the song at hand.
It took a while but in the end I was able to get some pretty good raw guitar sounds. And with the presets saved it'll be a lot faster for future sessions. I have to say though, I really missed the part of the session, usually a few hours in, when a tube amp starts to get warmed up and you really start to notice the sound improving. Something I don't think they'll be able to build into a plug-in any time soon
Here's a demo we recorded this weekend of the punk classic 12XU by Wire using AmpliTube 2:
12XU
AmpliTube 2 is available in a 10 day limited use demo version. Since I wrote the tutorial in Chapter 9 it looks like they've eliminated the need for a USB key to use the demo. Here's some other great virtual amplifiers for OS X:
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2
Waves GTR
Nomad Factory Rock Amp Legends
Your DAW's Built-In Amps
Almost without exception I've found that the virtual amplification that comes with many of today's DAW program's is not that great. I generally try and avoid these altogether, but I will use them in a pinch or for a quick demo. I'll use the same strategy here. For example, I've done some stuff recently using GarageBand's built-in amp simulation, including that Survivalism remix I posted here a few weeks ago. Basically I just plugged directly into the G5's line-in and tried out the different presets, eventually settling on "Barroom Lead." I turned of the preset's reverb (why do so many virtual amp presets include reverb? It sounds terrible...) and saved it so I could use the same settings to double the guitars on a second track.
Guitar Combos
One nice alternative for folks like me who are looking for a simple, direct guitar tone are Native Instruments Guitar Combos. These are three very nice, simple plug-in's, each based on a different classic amp, Marshall Plexi, Fender Twin Reverb and Vox AC30. These have actually been discontinued by NI but they are still available from a lot of places. In fact, they may even be cheaper now that they're not officially available. I've seen them at zzounds.com about 60 bucks.
Guitar Combos on zzounds.com
Chapter 9 has more information on Amplitube 2, Guitar Rig and other virtual amps:
www.MasteringDigitalAudio.com
Cheap Software Spotlight
Here's something new that I'm going to try - spotlighting one piece of inexpensive but worthwhile software every week or two. I got thrown for a loop as I was sitting down to write this first one, because I was planning on inaugurating the Cheap Software Spotlight by talking about Native Instruments B4 Xpress, the light version of NI's amazing B4 virtual organ.
B4 Xpress was a part of the Xpress Keyboards package, which was about a $100 and included a light version of the Pro 53 and the FM7. Unfortunately (especially for me since I mentioned it in the book) the Xpress Keyboards package has been discontinued. I wasn't a big fan of the other two instruments but the B4 Xpress was great, especially if you were looking for a few excellent classic organ tones but didn't really need the full version of B4. And it was available as a download on it's own for $49. I did find a boxed version of the whole package on eBay for a little over $100.
Ahh, well. I guess I ended up talking about the B4 Xpress anyway.
Lounge Lizard Session
The Lounge Lizard Session ($99) is a virtual electric piano from Applied Acoustics and a light version of the Lounge Lizard EP-3 ($249). Like the B4 Xpress, the Lounge Lizard Session is a great alternative for someone whose looking to add some high quality sounds to their sonic pallette without breaking the bank. The LLS works as an AU, VST and RTAS (Pro Tools 7+ only) plug-in and can also be used as a standalone instrument. As with just about every electric piano plug-in, the Lounge Lizard Session has settings that replicate the familiar classic sounds of Rhodes and Wurlitzer instruments.
The main difference between the Session version and the EP-3 is programmability, so if that's something that's important for you you might want to check out the EP-3. The Lounge Lizard Session also has fewer options for using the plug-in's built-in effects but that's kind of a non-issue since your DAW probably has plenty of effects available.
If you decide later that you want to purchase the more full-featured LL EP-3, you can upgrade at any time for another $149.
Lounge Lizard Session at www.applied-acoustics.com
That's all for this week - thanks for stopping by!
-Cliff
Email me!
Tue, 15 May 2007 01:47:00 GMT - Free Sample Chapter/New Website
I've got a new website up for Mastering Digital Audio Production: The Professional Music Workflow with Mac OS X and the Making Music with OS X podcast and blog.
You can take a look at the book's table of contents and index and even download all of Chapter 9 "Virtual Instruments."
Also - any magazine writers, digital audio webmasters, podcasters and school instructors can use the resources links to request a free review or evaluation copy of the book!
Check it out:
www.MasteringDigitalAudio.com
Tue, 8 May 2007 19:21:00 GMT - 6 Apple Loops Pt. 2, Virtual Drum Options for OS X, Battery 3 and EZ Player Free, History of Digital Audio
This week's installment covers some methods and resources for creating original Apple Loops, the many different options available for virtual drum tracks in OS X, including virtual drum machines, virtual drum samplers and virtual drummers and some information and links related to the history of digital audio.
Mon, 7 May 2007 04:23:00 GMT - Apple Loops Pt. 2, Virtual Drum Options for OS X, Battery 3 and EZ Player Free, History of Digital Audio
Hello and welcome to installment 6 of Making Music with OS X. This week I'm going to cover some of my methods for creating Apple Loops, the many different options available for creating drum tracks in OS X DAWs and a bit about the history of digital audio.
If you've been reading or listening to any previous installments you've probably figured out by now that I have book for sale. After proofreading this week's installment I'm thinking about getting a sound effect for the podcast, so that instead of actually mentioning the book I'll just trigger a bell sample or some other sound in place of me saying "and by the way...I cover this in much more detail in my book..."
Apple Loops Pt.2 - Creating Apple Loops
In my book (ding!) I detail some of the processes you can use to create Apple (AIF) Loops and Acid (WAV) format loops using Reason, Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton Live and GarageBand. Generally this consists of creating a one or two measure section of music (which could be a drum loop, an instrument loop or a sound effect) and then using the export functionality of whatever program you're working in to export an AIF or WAV file.
Logic and GarageBand have built-in functionality that allows you to automatically add any loops you create within a session to their Loop Browsers. I prefer not to use this for a number of reasons, which I'll get to in a minute. Ableton Live 6 and Logic Pro both contain the ability to export sections of audio as loops while Reason, Logic Express and Pro Tools can also be used for loop creation by using selecting a section of audio, soloing it's track and using their export or "bounce" features to render the audio.
The main reason I don't like to add loops directly to the GarageBand and Logic Loop Browsers from within my sessions is that I prefer to have more control over my loops, especially loops I create myself. What I mean by this is that I like to make sure the volume levels are consistent and make sure they are edited properly. Also, since I use my loops in multiple programs I like to keep them organized in my own way and not be dependent on GarageBand and Logic's not always perfect Loop Browsers to find what I'm looking for.
As far as the mechanics of creating loops goes, I hvae three basic ways that I work and these can be used in any DAW.
Drum Loop Mode. This is pretty straightforward - I add a virtual drum kit to a track, possibly using Battery, iDrum or one of the built-in kits or samplers that you'll find in most DAWs these days. Then I create a drum pattern and use my DAWs loop functionality to play the pattern back. Much of your success in creating drum loops depends on the sounds or kits you use and your ability to program drums. Once I have a drum beat that i like, I'll export it as an AIF or WAV file. Drum loops rarely require much editing after the fact. Once you get the basics down you can create a lot of drum loops quickly. One trick I like to use is to create a drum loop using one kit, then switch to an entirely different kit but keeping the beat I've created in place. You could do something similar in GarageBand by loading a Software Instrument drum loop and then using the Track Info window to switch kits.
Single Instrument Mode. My second method of working is to have a have a specific instrument in mind that I want to create loops of. For example, I may sit down and say "today I am going to create dub-style guitar loops." I'll then create a new session in my DAW add a drum loop that complements the style or instrument and then play my virtual or real instrument over the drum loop. Once I have a 2, 4 or 8 bar section or sections of music that I like, I'll solo the instrument track, select a section and export a loop.
Song Mode. Probably my favorite way to work is to create an actual song or musical piece, adding elements as I go. Sometimes when I'm strapped for ideas I might start with someone else's loop or melody then build something around that by adding my own bass, drums, guitars, synths etc. At some point in the process I'll take out all of the un-original elements and then continue working on my own parts. Finally I'll solo each track, select sections and export them as individual, original loops.
Now What?
After my loops are exported there are a few more things that have to happen - normalization, cross-fading and adding the Apple Loop metadata. The first two are done in an audio editor, the third by using the Apple Loops Utility.
Normalization is the process of making the loop as loud as possible without clipping (distorting). This is an important step if you want to have a collection of volume consistent loops. Ableton Live has normalization built-in to the exporting process, but with other program's it's necessary to use an outside audio editing program. I use AudioFinder to normalize my loops but it's something that can be done in just about any audio editing program.
After normalization I then cross-fade all of my loops. Cross-fading helps create a seamless loop, without any of the pops or clicks you'll often hear at the end of a poorly created loop. Cross-fading is basically creating a extremely (and I do mean extremely) quick, inaudible fade-out at the beginning and end of a loop. Cross-fading is something I also do in AudioFinder but like normalization, can be accomplished in any audio editing program. Some audio editors will have built-in cross-fading functionality. The basic method I use for cross-fading is to zoom in at the end of track as much as possible and then create a very quick fade-out. If necessary, I then use the same method to create a fade-in at the beginning. It's very important that these fades be so quick as to be inaudible.
Here's a list of some free, mid-priced and expensive audio editors for OS X:
Audacity
AudioFinder
Wave Editor
Peak LE
Peak Pro
Sound Studio
I've also found the program Sample Manager to be extremely useful for normalizing, cross-fading and also batch converting loops.
The Apple Loops Utility
The last step in creating an Apple Loop is using the Apple Loops Utility. This tool is available for free from Apple as part of the Apple Loops Developers Kit:
Download the Apple Loops SDK here.
Or Click Here and scroll down the page to download the Apple Loops SDK.
The Apple Loops Utility is used to add the metadata that turns an AIF file into an Apple Loop. With the Apple Loops Utility you can change loop files into one-shots or one-shots to loop files, assign the keywords used to find the file in the GarageBand and Logic Loop Browsers, double the loop's default tempo or cut it in half. You can also use it to set the markers that decide how and where loop is sliced. The Apple Loops Utility can convert any AIF or WAV file into an Apple Loop and it can be used to batch convert and assign metadata to multiple files at once.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Apple Loops Utility, I cover using it in detail in Chapter 10 of my book. (ding!).
Virtual Drums for OS X
When it comes to creating music in the digital environment few aspects of the process are as cool and simultaneously frustrating and confusing as creating virtual drum tracks. There's a pretty amazing range of options at your disposal today, including creating your tracks with drum loops, using a virtual sampler or virtual drum machine. The fairly recent addition of the virtual drummer has been an incredible opportunity for those of us who may not have the greatest drumming or programming chops but would still like to have access to live, human sounding performances in our home studios. All of these options require a bit of a learning curve but I've found the rewards of taking the time to learn as much as possible are well worth the effort.
First off, many DAWs come with virtual drum kits or samplers that can load virtual drums as part of the program. Pretty much across the board I've found that they all seem to be lacking in some area, whether it's choice of sounds or ease of use. That said, GarageBand's built in kits, Live's Impulse drum machine and Logic's EXS24 sampler are all perfectly good options for creating decent drum tracks, especially if you are working in genres that don't necessarily require "live" sounding drums.
Another option is to use virtual samplers such as Kontakt and SampleTank as plug-in virtual instruments. These kinds of sampler will come with a number of drum kits and expansion packs are always available for any virtual sampler.
One of my most frequent "go to" tools for creating drum tracks is Reason. Using ReWire to route Reason into any DAW, you can access all of the included drum kits. There are also lots of ReFills available with drum samples and complete kits for the Redrum drum machine and the other built-in samplers. While there isn't much you can't do with Reason, my experience has been that for live sounding drums Reason isn't always the best choice, though with the time, effort and the right kits or samples Reason could certainly get the job done.
Drum Machines Vs. Samplers
I want to take a minute here to cover the difference between using a virtual drum machine and using a sampler. A virtual drum machine, like Reason's included Redrum and Izotope's iDrum (which I'll get to in a minute) can load individual samples to create drum kits. For example you could create a kit using a kick drum sample, a snare drum, a hi-hat and a ride cymbal. You can then use the the program's built-in functionality to play a pattern. Within the program, or using your DAW's MIDI editing features you can perform basic adjustments, such as how hard each sample is triggered. This can be good for creating a more realistic performance but it can only go so far. In reality, very different sounds are made when a drum is hit softly compared to when it's hit with more force. Multi-sample drum kits, such as those you'd load into Reason's NN-XT or NN19 samplers or Kontakt or SampleTank 2 will contain multiple drum hits that are assigned to the same MIDI note. A note with a harder velocity will trigger the sound of a drum being hit with force, a MIDI note with a softer velocity will trigger a very different, quieter sound. Using intricately multi-sampled drums is crucial to getting a realistic sounding virtual drum track. Battery 3 is an example of a sampler that is specifically built for working with drums.
iDrum
One program is one that I highly recommend if you're in the market for a cheap but effective virtual drum machine is iDrum. iDrum works as an Audio Unit and as an RTAS plug-in and the price is right - $69.99 from www.izotope.com. iDrum also works as a standalone, which makes it a great tool for messing around and creating and exporting drum loops.
I do have some minor complaints about iDrum. First of all, the drum kits and patterns that come with iDrum are not particularly appealing to me but that's really a matter of personal taste. I'd like to see a blank or empty kit included on the list of available kits, because on of the real strengths of iDrum (to me anyway) is the ability to load your own sounds and sample to create your own kits. In my book (ding!) I cover the process of creating a default blank kit, as well as some other simple but effective ways to use iDrum in your DAW. I've found iDrum to be useful working in just about any style. It also has a very cool MIDI drag feature that allows you to create a pattern and then drag the MIDI file directly from the iDrum interface onto a track in your DAW. This is something else I cover in my book (ding!) and it can really come in handy for creating easy or difficult drum arrangements.
BFD and Addictive Drums
My next purchase is going to be one or the other of these programs so I've been working with both demos pretty extensively. As I mentioned last week, one very cool thing about the BFD and Addictive Drums demos is that they contain all of the features of the full versions of these programs and they don't time out. The main limitation is that the demos come with a limited number of drum sounds and MIDI files. These, and the other programs I list at the bottom of this section are your best bet for creating real, human sounding drum tracks.
Because both BFD and Addictive Drums use up a huge amount of RAM they may not be the right solution for project studios that don't have a lot of RAM installed. I've used the BFD demo sucessfully on my iBook with only 512 MB or RAM by using Ableton Live's "freeze track" option. Freezing a track renders the track to your hard drive, freeing up your processor resources and RAM. Logic and GarageBand both have similar functionality. The full version of both programs come with huge drum libraries so you'll also need a lot of extra room or an external hard drive to store the samples and kits.
The main thing I love about BFD is how easy it is to control the different microphone sounds, especially the ability to bring the room mics up for a more natural sound. If there's a downside it's that the BFD interface is pretty confusing. This is not a program you can use without reading at least some of the manual (or at least the tutorial in my book that covers a quick way to get BFD up and running in your DAW). The upside of this is that BFD has a ton of features, so if you have the time and the inclination, then there's a lot to work with here.
Addictive Drums definitely has the advantage over BFD when it comes to ease of use. It took me a very short amount of time to figure out how to get it going. It's a much more intuitive interface. I also like the included example kits that show how the program's effects can be used to drastically alter the sound of a kit or single piece.
Comparing the sound of the two instruments based on the demo versions is a bit unfair, since the full version of each program comes with many, many more sounds. In reading about both programs and various users opinions I've come to the conclusion that it's really a matter of personal taste. In general. users of each program seem to swear by whichever one they own.
Addictive Drums costs about $250. The new version of BFD is coming soon and as result the current version is on sale right now for around $200.
Addictive Drums
BFD
Some other options for creating realistic sounding drum tracks included:
EZ-Drummer - VST, AU, RTAS
Strike - RTAS only
Groove Agent - VST, AU, RTAS
One last note - if you're music is more in the electronic, soundtrack or ambient styles you should definitely check out Guru or Stylus RMX.
Battery and EZ-Player Free
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I just bought Native Instruments Battery 3 drum sampler. Battery is not a virtual drum machine or drummer - it's a pretty complex virtual drum sampler, but it doesn't have any of it's own internal sequencing abilities. The big selling point for me was that it comes with 13 GB of drum samples along with extensive editing options. If you've got the skills and are comfortable enough to program your own beats Battery 3 is a great choice and a good deal. I found a brand new, unopened copy of Battery 3 on eBay for about $170 (not the Academic version, either).
Since my drum programming skills still need a lot of work, I've found that what's working best for me right now is using pre-created MIDI files to trigger Battery. Along those lines I've found an excellent new tool called EZ Player Free. EZ Player Free lets you take any MIDI file on your computer and easily route it to any Virtual instrument. For example, with EZ Player Free you can use the MIDI files that come with BFD to trigger Addictive Drums or you could use the MIDI files that come with Addictive Drums to trigger Reason or Battery.
Download EZ Player Free
I've been using EZ Player Free mostly with Pro Tools and Live and it took me about 3 minutes to get it working in each program. The manual is very easy to follow and also includes instructions for Cubase, Logic and Digital Performer.
To try out EZ Player Free free I suggest downloading the Battery 3 demo as well as Addictive Drums, and/or the BFD demo. The Battery 3 and BFD demos are also on my book's included DVD (ding!).
Once you've installed all three programs start your DAW, then following the instructions in the EZ Player Free manual, add Battery and EZ Player Free to your session. Use EZ Player Free's interface to locate and add the BFD's included MIDI files to the program's browser. You can click the play button on the lower right of the interface to play any selected MIDI file or you can drag MIDI files directly from the browser on to your DAW's MIDI tracks.
I've been having a blast using MIDI files from various programs to trigger some of Battery 3's stranger drum kits. You can also buy MIDI drum loop collections from the following sources and and them to the EZ Player Free browser:
Prosonic Loops
Smart Loops
Groove Monkee
History of Digital Audio
Last Monday night I attended an event at the Recombinant Media Labs here in San Francisco honoring Max Mathews, one of the pioneers of digital audio. Some of you probably know who Max Mathews is, but if you've never heard of him that's not too surprising either. I was only somewhat aware of who and just how important he is to the history of digital audio. I did know that he was the Max that the Max/MSP programming environment was named after and I had a vague idea why. If you are wondering what Max/MSP is, it's a programming environment that can be used to create digital audio and video applications, including many audio plug-ins - the Pluggo suite of plug-ins I mentioned in episode one are just one example.
Before I went to the event I decided to read up on Max (the person) and what I found out was that while working at Bell Labs in the 1950's he was one of the first people to write a program that made music with a computer. Most of todays virtual instruments and digital music programs can be traced directly back to the work and experimentation of Max Mathews and his contemporaries.
He was also the first person to ever make a computer "sing," and his experiments sound an awful lot like the results of the tutorial I wrote back in Episode 4 of this blog. Max's experiments and recordings of his computer singing "Daisy" were the inspiration for the HAL computer's voice and singing in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
What this event and the research I've been inspired by it to do made me realize is that I don't know nearly as much as I should about the history of the digital audio or about the evolution of the concepts and the technology behind the programs I'm using. My guess is that this is probably true for many people out there. Just the small amount of research and reading I've been doing over the last few days has given me a lot of great insight into how things work and how some musicians have been using this technology in interesting and creative ways. Just one example - I had no idea that two of my favorite bands, Radiohead and Wilco had used instruments they created themselves in the Max/MSP environment on their recordings.
I've put some links on my blog that are relevant to the past, present and future of digital audio. If you are interested, I'm sure there's a ton of other resources out there as well.
Computer Music
Max Mathews
MUSIC-N
Csound
Max/MSP
Bell Labs
John Chowning
Miller Puckette
The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music
Electronic Music Pioneers
Wendy Carlos
Robert Moog
Well, that's all for now. Next week...I have no idea what I'm going to talk about.
-Cliff
www.clifftruesdell.com
Email me
Sun, 6 May 2007 02:29:00 GMT - What's On The DVD?
Just a quick follow-up to my "What's in the Book?" post. Here's a complete list of the demos, applications, plug-ins, samples, and loops that are on the included DVD that comes with "Mastering Digital Audio Production: The Professional Music Workflow with Mac OS X."
Ableton Live 6
Native Instruments' Absynth 4
Arturia's Analog Factory
Audacity
AudioFinder
AVOX Plug-ins (Choir, Duo, Punch, Sybil, Throat)
Native Instruments' Battery 3
Fxpansion's BFD
Buzzer
CamelCrusher
Cameleon 5000
Camel Phat
Camel Space
DestroyFX (11 free plug-ins!)
Finale Notepad
Guitar Pro
Fxpansion's Guru
iDrum
Bias Peak LE
Bias Peak Pro
PlugAdmin
Pluggo Jr.
Native Instruments' Reaktor 5
Sibelius
Sonic Birth
SoundToys Plug-ins
Universal UVI player
WireTap Pro
and Zoyd
Plus free loops, samples and ReFills from AudioWarrior, GDrive, Drums on Demand, Flatpack, Loopmasters, Sonic Flavors and Sonivox.
Thu, 3 May 2007 03:12:00 GMT - 5 Reaktor 5, Apple Loops Pt.1, Great Demos for OS X
The week's episode covers Native Instruments Reaktor 5 program, suggestions for creating great sounding Apple Loop-based tracks and some great music software demos for OS X.
Tue, 1 May 2007 23:12:00 GMT - Reaktor 5, Apple Loops, Pt.1, Great Demos for OS X
Welcome to installment 5 of MMwOSX. First off, a quick update to last week's episode. Nine Inch Nails have just released 3 more tracks - this time in GarageBand 3 and Logic format. For Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Cubase and PC users they've also released "generic format" versions. All of the new songs are available at www.nin.com/current. My first NIN remix is here:
Survivalism
Also, I have a very close, old friend in Los Angeles named Michael W. Dean who's a writer, a filmmaker, a musician and along with his lovely wife Debra Jean, he's now a podcaster. Michael and Debra Jean have got a very interesting (and sometimes adult-themed) podcast called "Clone The Homeless" and episode 38 features Michael and Debra Jean interviewing me (actually it's more of a conversation, really). It was a lot of fun and we talked about a pretty wide range of stuff. You can find Michael and Debra Jean's podcast here:
Clone The Homeless
Reaktor 5
As I mentioned last week, I just bought Native Instruments' Reaktor 5 program. Buying new software is always a tough call for me, especially expensive software like Reaktor. Even though I make it a habit to work extensively with demos whenever I can, sometimes there's really no way to know for sure how well a program, plug-in or virtual instrument is going to work for you until you start using it for real sessions or projects.
What finally tipped the scales for me with Reaktor was that I noticed a pretty significant price drop on zzounds.com. From what I've seen in a few forums recently the general consensus is that Native Instruments is probably getting ready to release Reaktor 6 soon, which may explain why I was able to find version 5 for much less than the list price of $449. Even if Reaktor 6 is coming soon (and there's really no way to know for sure) it's still a good deal, since the upgrade for Native Instruments' Software is usually around $100-$125. If you've been thinking about getting Reaktor check out:
www.zzounds.com
What Reaktor Can Do
Reaktor is not like any other music program. Along with Propellerheads' Reason it's probably the most in-depth collection of virtual instruments and effects available in one package. Like Reason you can combine instruments and effects, but unlike Reason you can also load and use any single Reaktor instrument or effect, either by itself or within a session in your DAW host program.
Here are just some of the things you can do with Reaktor:
Use the included instruments and effects as standalone units or as plug-ins in your DAW host program. The instruments include synths, samplers, rhythm machines and more.
Download and use any of the thousands of user-created instruments and effects.
Configure your own "Ensembles" by combining and saving multiple instruments and effects.
Build your own instruments, effects and Ensembles from scratch or from Reaktor's included modules.
Reaktor's unique ability to "get under the hood" of the included instruments and effects and the ability to build your own from scratch, make it an amazing learning tool for understanding what goes into creating synthesizers and both real-world and virtual electronic instruments.
The Bad News
If you've done any research at all into Reaktor you probably know what I'm going to say here. This program can be a giant RAM hog. There are thousands of instruments to choose from and some of the more complicated ones can easily take up huge amounts your processors resources. At the same time, there are plenty of included and downloadable instruments and effects that will work without maxing out your system. The system requirements say you need at least 512MB of RAM. I would suggest having at least 1 GB, especially if you are planning on using Reaktor as part of any sessions that contain other virtual instruments and plug-ins.
The other common gripe is that the included manual leaves a lot to be desired. I've started working with the manual about a week ago now and it's pretty confusing and frustrating, especially when it come to learning to build your own instruments. For just using the included instruments and effects you can get up to speed pretty quickly, but for anything more complicated a better manual or tutorial movies would be a big improvement.
Working with the Demo Version
If you're considering buying Reaktor or you're just interested in seeing what the program can do you should check out the demo version. The demo's limitations are that it times out after 30 minutes, you can't save and you can't download or use any of the user created instruments and effects. It's also a pretty big download. The Reaktor 5 demo is also included (along with 4GB of other programs, loops and plug-ins) on the DVD that comes with my book.
Here's a quick tutorial on using Reaktor 5 as a plug-in VI in your host DAW program.
Using Reaktor's Included Synthesizers
Reaktor works as an RTAS, VST and Audio Unit plug-in any host program that utilizes these formats. This means you can access all of Reaktor's ensembles, instruments and effects in Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Logic and GarageBand and just about any other DAW host program. Once you've installed Reaktor or the Reaktor demo here's how to use Reaktor in Pro Tools, Logic, Live and GarageBand.
Using Reaktor in Pro Tools
Too add a Reaktor Instrument to a Pro Tools (7 or higher) session:
1. Create a new Pro Tools Session and add a stereo Instrument Track.
2. Make sure Instrument and Inserts view are visible (use View > Edit Window if they are not).
3. Add Reaktor as an insert by choosing multi-channel plug-in > Instrument > Reaktor5.
4. Click the Ens. (Ensemble) button on the top right of the Reaktor interface and select Factory Ensembles>Classics>Synthesizers in the Browser.
5. Double click any Ensemble to add it to your session.
6. Use your MIDI keyboard to play the synth or use Pro Tools Pencil tool to draw notes on the MIDI track.
To add Reaktor as a plug-in effect in a Pro Tools session:
1. Create a new Audio track or select an existing track with audio recorded.
2. Add Reaktor as an insert by choosing multi-channel plug-in > Instrument > Reaktor5.
3. Click the Open Ensemble button on the lower right side of the plug-in window.
4. Choose Factory Ensembles > Classics > Effects then choose an effect.
5. Choose from included presets or create your own by adjusting the parameters of the effect.
Saving any changes you make as a preset in Pro Tools will allow you to recall instruments, effects and complete ensembles instantly.
Using Reaktor in Logic
Reaktor works as an Audio Unit plug-in effect or virtual instrument in Logic. To use the Reaktor synthesizers in Logic:
1. Create a new Logic session.
2. Double click any Audio Instrument track to open the Track Mixer.
3. Select the first open Audio Instrument track and add Reaktor as an insert in the tracks I/O by selecting Stereo > AU Instruments > Native Instruments > Reaktor5.
4. Click the Ens. (Ensemble) button on the top right of the Reaktor interface and select Factory Ensembles > Classics > Synthesizers in the Browser.
5. Load one of the included Reaktor synthesizers by double-clicking in the Browser window.
6. Use your MIDI keyboard or the Caps Lock keyboard to trigger the Reaktor synth. Adjust the parameters of the synth or choose any of the included presets.
7. Record a performance as you would with any Logic virtual instrument or third party Audio Unit.
Using Reaktor in Live
Reaktor can be used as either an Audio Unit or VST plug-in in Ableton Live. To add a Reaktor synth as an Audio Unit to a Live session:
1. Use the plug-in device browser to locate the folder Plug-in Devices > Audio Units > Native Instruments
2. Drag the Audio Unit Reaktor 5 onto any open MIDI track or any blank space in the Clip/Device Drop Area.
3. Click the Ens. (Ensemble) button on the top right of the Reaktor interface and select Factory Ensembles>Classics>Synthesizers in the Browser.
4. Select and load an Ensemble from the Synthesizer folder.
5. Click the Arm For Recording button in the Mixer Section at the bottom of the track.
6. Use your MIDI controller or the Apple keyboard to play the Reaktor instrument.
7. Record a performance or use the MIDI note editor to create a new clip.
You can also use Reaktor's included effects by using Live's Browser to locate Plug-in Devices > Audio Units > Native Instruments>Reaktor 5 fx and drag that onto any Audio or MIDI track.
Using Reaktor in GarageBand
1. Create a new GarageBand Session
2. Select New Instrument Track and choose Software Instrument.
3. Double click the Track Header to open the Track Info window. Make sure the Details view is showing in the Track Info window.
4. Choose Reaktor 5 from the Generator drop down menu at the top of the Details view.
5. Click the Edit Preset button to open the Reaktor interface.
6. Click the Ens. (Ensemble) button on the top right of the Reaktor interface and select Factory Ensembles>Classics>Synthesizers in the Browser.
7. Double click any instrument to load it, then play the instrument using your MIDI keyboard or GarageBand's Musical Typing feature.
Apple Loops, Pt. 1
Apple Loops are Apple's loop format, originally created for use with the Soundtrack program (now only available with Final Cut) and then incorporated into both the GarageBand and Logic programs. Apple Loops are basically AIF files with a bit of extra information encoded in the file that can include the tempo, how the loop is stretched or compressed and orginizational information, such as genre or descriptive keywords. Any program that can use Apple Loops can also use their PC equivalent, Acid Loops. Acid Loops are WAV files that contain essentially the same type or extra information. Depending on what program you are using Appl e Loops and Acid Loops may behave a bit differently. I cover working with Apple, Acid and REX format loops is much more detail in Chapter 10 of my book, and I'll be going into more detail next week about creating Apple Loops.
Working with Apple Loops
I've been creating music with loops for a long time now. Just about all of the music that you hear between segments on this podcast is created with a combination of Apple Loops, Acid Loops and my own original loops, working GarageBand, Ableton Live and Logic. Over the years I've found some good methods to help me in creating good sounding loop-based music:
Buy some loops. First of all it's really important to start with good quality stuff, and this means you'll probably have to buy a few loop libraries. There are huge amounts of free and demo loops out there and when I was getting started I spent a lot of time working only with demo loops and loops I downloaded from free sites. Ultimately the result was that I made a lot of bad sounding music and then found out that there were many, many other people out there using exactly the same loops I was to create their own bad sounding music. I suggest doing lots of research and downloading of demos., then purchasing a few loop libraries that are high-quality and sound good to you. Here are couple places you can start:
My Loop Resources Page
DMOZ List of Sample and Loop Sites
Mix it up. Try not to use more that one or two loops from the same Library in a single session. Drawing on a number of sources for your projects is a good way to maintain originality. I'll use a drum loop from one library, a synth loop from another, maybe a guitar from a third. And then...
Add original content. Unless I'm just messing around for fun or checking out a new library I almost never create music entirely based on other people's loops. I'll often start with a drum beat (I use a lot of drum loops) then look for a melody, a hook or a chord progression to go on top of that. Once that's done I'll either add a virtual instrument to the session and create some original content, plug-in a guitar or bass and play along or browse through my collection of homemade loops.
On a side note - in particular, I almost always create my own bass lines using a virtual instrument or live bass. I've found that bass loops in particular don't stretch very well, and that as the foundation of a song it's very important to have a solid groove that's built specifically around the drum pattern and supports the melody.
Use loops at close to their original tempo. Stretching a loop too much can lead to unwanted sonic artifacts. Sometimes this can be used to your advantage, creating a more interesting or unusual sound and disguising the origin of the loop. But it can also make your sessions sound amateur and unpleasant. If you haven't already, check out last week's tutorial on using AudioFinder to preview and collect loops by hearing them at their original tempo.
Work in 2's, 4's and 8's. The human ear (or I should probably say the Western ear) is accustomed to hearing thing's in 2,4 and 8 bar increments. This far from a hard and fast rule (and like all rules in music I think it's one that should be learned and then broken as often as possible) but when you're working with loops it often makes sense to work in even increments. For example, a typical track might start with 2 measures of drums, followed by 2 measures of drums and bass together, then adding a new element every 2nd or 4th measure. A 2 or 4 measure drum or instrument solo is always a great way to break up a monotonous track.
Build a stockpile. As I mentioned, I have a collection of homemade loops that I use for many of my projects. Once you get the process down, creating your own high-quality loops can be pretty easy and a good way to create consistent and original sounding music. Next week I'll cover some of the basic concepts and the free and inexpensive tools I use to create loops.
Demo Software for OS X
As I did with Reaktor 5, I spend a lot of time working with demo software before I buy it. Unfortunately, because so many software companies lose so much money to cracked and pirated software different companies have have had to come up different ways to protect their demo versions. Sometimes this can make it hard to get a good idea of what a specific instrument or effect is really capable of or useful for. In the course of writing my book I tried out just about every demo version of every conceivable type of audio application, plug-in, DAW and virtual instrument. In the process I found some great software, and I have a list a mile long of programs and effects I want, that I'm slowly accumulating. Most of the software on my list are things I was able to use for a week or a month without restrictions, then once the demo expired I found myself missing the software and checking my bank balance.
Here are a few of my favorites:
OhmForce - Great synths and effects. The OhmForce plug-ins will give you about 4-6 hours of use before inserting a background noise that gets louder over time.
MX4 Synthesizer - Mark Of the Unicorn's MX4 is an amazing and very complex synth with a huge banks of cool presets. 14 days.
iDrum - A very simple, yet powerful drum machine. The interface looks a lot like GarageBand and it makes a great complement to GB. 10 days.
Fabfilter - These guys make great sounding affordable effects and synths. 30 days.
Virtual Drum Demos
With sampler and virtual drum programs some companies offer demo versions that are essentially full working versions of the program with access to limited sounds. I covered a couple of these in episode 2, Sampletank 2 Free and the Universal UVI Player. These virtual drum programs are available as demo versions that never time out:
Addictive Drums
BFD
Guru
If the downloads are too big for you to handle, BFD and Guru demos are on the included DVD that comes with my book Mastering Digital Audio Production: The Professional Music Workflow with Mac OS X.
--------
That's all for this week. Next week I'll be covering creating Apple Loops, more info on the virtual drum demos I mentioned this week and talking a bit about the history of computer music.
-Cliff
Email me
Tue, 1 May 2007 19:43:00 GMT - 4 Remixing Nine Inch Nails, WireTap Pro, AudioFinder 4.5, OS X Music Resources
This week's installment covers remixing the new Nine Inch Nails song "Survivalism" in GarageBand 3, Recording your Mac's Text to Speech functionality with WireTap Pro, IcedAudio's AudioFinder 4.5 update and OS X Audio Resources on the World Wide Web.
Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:39:00 GMT - Remixing Nine Inch Nails, Recording Your Mac's "Voice" With WireTap, AudioFinder 4.5, OS X Music Resources
Welcome to week 4 of Making Music with OS X. As always, this is the companion blog that goes along with the MMwOSX podcast. And of course, as always, much of what I cover here can be found in greater detail in my book "Mastering Digital Audio Production: The Professional Music Workflow with OS X."
There's going to be a slight lag this week in posting the podcast because I've been upgrading some of my gear. I just bought Native Instruments Reaktor 5 and Battery 3, so I figured that this would be a good time add more RAM and re-install OS X. Conveniently (but not surprisingly) my Internet connection decided to stop working. So I'll be posting this from the local coffee shop, then heading home to wait for the Comcast guy. Grrrr.
Allllrighty then...
New Nine Inch Nails GarageBand Track
Back in April 2005 Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails released the single "The Hand that Feeds" as a GarageBand 2 file, encouraging fans and GarageBand users to create their own remixes. After the success of that experiment he then released the next single "Only" in multiple formats including a Pro Tools version and versions for Windows based DAWs, such as Sony's Acid program. Last month in anticipation of the new album "Year Zero" Nine Inch Nails released the new single "Survivalism" as a GarageBand 3 session.
You can download the GarageBand 3 session file for "Survivalism" here:
www.nin.com/current
Even though the session's tracks have all been converted to Apple Loops to accommodate GarageBand's limitations and slower computers, it's still a great way to get a look inside a complete recording session and see the different elements that make up a song. It's also a lot of fun to mess around with the included tracks, taking out stuff and adding new elements. I've been having a great time with this track and I'll be uploading my remixes soon.
You can still access the "Only" and "The Hand That Feeds" files here:
www.nin.com/downloads
One interesting way I've found to work around some of the limitations of GarageBand is to access the included loops and process them in Ableton Live and Pro Tools, then bring the altered loops back in to the GarageBand session.
If you want access the session's loops individually, Control+Click on the Survivalism GarageBand file and choose "Show Package Contents." Inside the GarageBand file you'll see a folder named "Media." This folder contains all of the individual Apple Loops that make up the song. Drag the Media folder to your desktop and you can open up the individual Apple Loops in any DAW or audio editing program.
According to the NIN Web site they'll be releasing the entire CD as GarageBand sessions. It'll be very interesting to see what people come up with working with these tracks.
Recording Your Mac's "Voice" With WireTap Pro
Many of you are probably familiar with Radiohead's OK Computer album. Track 7 on OK computer is a piece called "Fitter, Happier" that features a computerized voice that "speaks" the lyrics. The sound of that voice is actually generated by a Mac, and you have the same voice and others installed as part of your operating system.
OS X has a built-in function called "Text to Speech" that you can use to get your Mac to say anything and even sing (though pretty badly). It's a potentially interesting element to add to your tracks or Podcasts.
So here's a quick tutorial on accessing and then recording your Mac's voice with Ambrosia Software's WireTap Pro. You can follow the instructions here using the demo version of WireTap Pro.
You can get WireTap Pro here:
Download WireTap Pro
Once you've downloaded and installed WireTap:
1. Open your Mac's System Preferences and click the Speech button.
2. Select the Text to Speech tab.
3. Choose a voice from the drop down menu and click the "Play" button to preview the voice. The "Fitter, Happier" voice is called "Fred." There are also a number of musical voices, such as "Cellos."
4. Put a check mark next to "Speak selected text when key is pressed" then click the "Set Key..." button.
5. Choose a key command to use to get your computer to "speak" any selected text. You'll want to choose a combination of keys, preferably not something your Web browser or text editor already uses (I Use Shift+Control+D).
6. Create and select some text in a Word document, Text Edit document or email, or select any text in your Web browser.
7. Start WireTap Pro and press the Record button on the top left of the interface.
8. Use the key command you chose to make your Mac "speak" the selected text.
9. Click the Stop button on the top center of the WireTap interface. Choose a location and name the file.
You can now edit the new file using your preferred audio editor or add it as is to a session in your DAW.
WireTap Pro has a lot of other uses as well, including recording Podcasts, capturing streaming audio and sampling audio from CDs and DVDs. Registering the program costs only $19 and will give access to much more functionality.
AudioFinder 4.5
One of the programs I covered in my book is the great AudioFinder application from IcedAudio. I originally got hooked on AudioFinder as a way to organize my giant collection of loop and sample libraries. It's turned out that AudioFinder has a number of other uses as well, and it's become essential part of the music making process for me. Along with sorting and locating loops and samples, AudioFinder especially helpful in creating loops, batch converting (converting large numbers of files at once), normalizing and cross-fading.
Another great thing about AudioFinder is that when you buy the program (a steal at $69.95) you're buying updates for life and the ability to install it on as many Macs as you own.
Some of AudioFinder's included features:
An Audio Editor - Great for creating quick cross-fades and fixing imperfect loops
A Plug-in Manager - Useful for organizing all of your plug-ins and de-activating problem plug-ins
File Conversion/Batch conversion - Convert your loops and samples to and from WAV or AIFF format. Also converts REX files to WAV and AIFF
Audio Unit Support - Process your files with any of your computer's Audio Unit effects
And lots more. You can find a complete list of features and download a demo of the latest version here:
Iced Audio
Browsing With AudioFinder
The latest version of AudioFinder contains a big update to it's interface. At first I wasn't really happy about this, but now that I've gotten used to it I can see that it's a definite improvement.
Previous versions had two choices for viewing files, a Browser window and a Scanner window.The Browser window let you either browse your hard drives or selected folders, much like OS X's column view. With the Scanner window you could scan your system, individual hard drives or a selected folder then search the results. AudioFinder 4.5 combines these two options in a single window, which ultimately does simplify the process of searching for and organizing your files.
One of the things I use AudioFinder for is to quickly browse through my loop libraries, selecting 20 or 30 loops to use as the basis for new songs, copying them to a folder on my desktop as I browse. Unlike GarageBand or Ableton Live, AudioFinder allows you to preview your loops at their original tempo, instead of stretching the loop to match your current Live or GarageBand session's tempo. Previewing loops at their intended tempo can sometimes give you a much better idea of the quality and usefulness of a loop.
Here's a quick rundown of how I use AF to preview and copy loops:
Locating Loops
1. Start AudioFinder and select "Browse" in the Library menu on the left side of the interface. Make sure the Folder Column Browser is visible (Library > Show Folder Column Browser).
2. Use the Key Command Apple+F to detach the Audio Viewer so you have more room for the Browser.
3. Use the Browser to navigate to any folder containing loops or sample that you might want to use. For example, to preview any of your GarageBand loops locate the folder
your hard drive/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/Apple loops For GarageBand
or:
your username/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/Apple loops For GarageBand
*Another way to locate your audio, loops or sample files is to use the Scanning functionality. Use the Browse feature to select your hard drive or a specific folder then choose "Scan (selected drive or folder)" from the Library menu.
Copying Loops
Once you've located any loops you want to use, you can copy them to a specific folder anywhere on your computer. I usually create a new folder on my desktop for easy access.
1. At the bottom of the AudioFinder interface you'll see three buttons marked "Copy" "Move" and "Alias," then an arrow. Click the field next to the arrow and choose "Other..." from the pop-up menu.
2. Use the dialog window to select your desktop, click the "New Folder" button and name your new folder "Project Loops."
3. Click the "Choose" button to make "Project Loops" the current output folder. Now, when you select any loop in the browser and click the "Copy" button a copy of your loop will be created in the Project Loops folder.
Considering the incredible range of stuff that it does, the consistent (free) updates and improvements and the overall price, I consider AudioFinder to be one of the most essential and helpful programs out there for creating music on a Mac.
OS X Audio Resources
This week I finally got around to updating my website and there are two new pages up. One is a list of sites that have free and demo Apple Loops, as well as Acid and REX format loops. I'll be writing more about that (and about Apple Loops in general) next week. The free loops page is here:
Free/Demo Loops
The other new page is a work in progress called OS X Audio Resources. This is a list of websites, magazines, forums, podcasts etc. that have useful information on...making music with OS X. There are some great sites out there and I'd really like to hear about the resources that you have found to be the most useful. Shoot me an email at cliff@clifftruesdell.com if you have suggestions. My OS X Audio Resources page is here:
OS X Audio Resources
And finally, for you podcasters out there, Apple has a great online seminar on podcasting that features Paul Garay from the excellent Inside Home Recording podcast. You can check that out here:
Podcast Recipe
Thanks for reading! See you next week...
-Cliff
Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:40:00 GMT - What's In The Book?
I've gotten some emails recently from people who are interested in "Mastering Digital Audio Production: The Professional Music Workflow with OS X" but want a bit more information about it. I figured it would be a good idea to give a quick rundown of what's inside the book and what's on the included DVD.
One of the main ideas behind the book is to teach the reader how to expand their digital recording arsenal, both by using virtual instruments and plug-in effects and by using multiple programs at once, through the ReWire protocol. It also covers the entire digital music making process - from setting up your computer through having your CDs pressed.
What I've tried to accomplish is to create a book that contains information that will be useful to just about everyone who's making music on a Mac, from absolute beginners to experienced professionals.
Here's a quick rundown of each chapter:
Chapter 1 is all about optimizing and maintaining your OS X Mac for creating music.
Chapters 2 - 6 cover some of the most popular music programs for OS X - Propellerhead Reason, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic and GarageBand. Each program is covered in detail, including basic operation, tips and tricks and details on how to use any included plug-in effects and instruments. Each chapter also covers using multiple programs in a single session (for example, Live, Reason and Pro Tools) via ReWire.
Demo versions of Ableton Live and Reason are on the included DVD and instructions for downloading and configuring a 30-day fully-functioning trial version of Logic Express is covered in Chapter 5.
Chapter 7 is all about some of the great free and commercially available programs you can use to make music and to enhance your music-making ability, including Audacity, AudioFinder, Sample Manager, ReCycle, Rax and Melodyne.
Chapter 8 contains everything you need to know about plug-in effects, including which ones will work in your host programs and how to find and use the right free and commercial plug-ins in every possible category. Many freeware and demo plug-ins are also found on the included DVD.
Chapter 9 contains everything you need to know about plug-in virtual instruments, including samplers, synths, virtual drum programs, virtual keyboards and virtual amplification. There are detailed tutorials and information about many free and commercial instruments.
Chapter 10 covers using and creating Apple Loops (and REX and ACID loops) as well as resources for expanding your Apple Loops collection (the included DVD also contains lots of Apple Loops).
Chapter 11 explains MIDI in simple straightforward terminology and details how to access your host program's MIDI functionality.
Chapter 12 covers laptop recording, including how to build a laptop studio and tips on mobile recording, traveling with your Mac and more.
Chapter 13 is all about what happens when your music is finished - how to master your own CDs or how to prepare your music for a professional mastering house, file formats, creating high-quality Red Book compatible CDs, getting your music on iTunes and more.
Finally, the included DVD contains over 4GB of loops and samples as well as fully working programs and demo programs, many of which are covered in the book.
-Cliff
Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:37:00 GMT - 3 Virtual Synthesizer Basics
Using two freeware virtual instruments, this weeks installment covers the basics of working with virtual synthesizers, including how to work with the most common parameters found on virtual synths - oscillators, filters, envelopes, LFOs and effects.
Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT
