Musique sur une Pomme Américaine - Update

Apple Logic Studio

When Logic Studio was unveiled last month, I was a bit disappointed that this important upgrade of Apple's flagship music production suite, which had been expected by Logic aficionados for a very long time, simply appeared out of nowhere: the announcement did not happen at a tradeshow like NAMM or 'Messe, let alone during one of those dedicated Apple media events we have all come to enjoy. Just a press release and Web site overhaul.

Almost worrying was in what direction Apple seemed to be taking this application: no new softsynths, a single new effects plug-in (a fancy Delay Designer, no less), a simplified (dumbed-down?!) UI, Soundtrack Pro thrown into the package, and the price cut in half. Only the newly introduced Main Stage component looked really exciting to me. Until, that is, I had a first hands-on look at the software during Apple Expo. My verdict? A resounding WOW!

If you have gotten so used to the old way of using the "traditional" Logic UI with all its separate windows, fear not: they're all there. Nothing has been taken out. It's just been consolidated into an absolutely gorgeous and stunningly efficient new UI. While the modifications in Logic 7's user interface were more or less cosmetic, with Logic Pro 8, Apple has fundamentally rethought how an audio production software should work. I have to admit that I am still not really certain about the overall stance that Logic Studio has within Apple, but as far as the actual application development goes, Logic Pro 8 is a major step forward in the right direction.

In the same vein, Main Stage is the logical (no pun intended) next step for using music software. With so many excellent software instruments — including, of course, Logic's own Sculpture and ES2 synths — to choose from, having to set up a recording environment in a sequencer like Logic to be able to play AU or VST instruments in a performance environment on stage causes a lot of configuration overhead. Main Stage overcomes that by focusing solely on the performance aspect and seamlessly including hardware controllers for programming the plug-ins. On the screen, it looks rather unimpressive, but it packs a lot of power for anyone considering replacing their "keyboard fortress" with a master-keyboard-plus-Mac solution.

In fact, Herbie Hancock has sometimes placed an iMac running Logic prominently smack in the middle of the stage for concerts, and I would be surprised if he wasn't involved in the development of Main Stage in one way or another. (To see how much of a technophile Herbie is, check out this interview on Wired.com)

Head on over to Apple's extensive Logic Studio mini-site for more information on this software package.

Propellerhead Reason 4

Speaking of plug-ins, Propellerhead's virtual synth rack "Reason" is one of the prime examples of how far you can take the concept of software synthesizers, and the update to Reason 4 — announced during, but not at, Apple Expo — introduces a few new, impressive goodies.

The first thing to catch one's eye is an enhanced sequencer section and a window with a complete list of available rack components, including a thumb-nail preview for each device. More importantly, though, there are some new gems inside that list: the Thor synthesizer, a monophonic arpeggiator called RPG-8 (has anyone ever counted the total number of step sequencers and arpeggiators in Reason, by the way?), and a ReGroove Mixer.

As the Swedish coding wizards claim on their website, Thor has "thunderous sound." And, boy, does it ever! Thor has a very flexible sound generation architecture, offering six different oscillator types — analog, phase modulation, FM, wavetable, multi, and noise — and four filter types — low-pass ladder, comb, state variable, and formant —, and you can freely mix and match up to three osc's and three filters in a sound patch. Thanks to its extensive modulation matrix, Thor's sounds can be pretty lively, too! Oh, and, of course, it features — its own step sequencer!

For sound examples and more info on the other additions to Reason, have a look at the Propellerhead website, and click on "Reason" in the Products column on the left. (Yes, I hate websites with frames, too...).

Apogee Duet

With the third noteworthy music technology product from Apple Expo, we're back safely in hardware territory.

"Tactile control for everyone" was among the three items in the "Trendspotting" section of my report from this year's Musikmesse, and while, at Apple Expo, Mackie and Jazzmutant covered the high(er)-end area of that category with their Mackie Control and Dexter control surfaces, respectively, Apogee presented an audio-interface-plus-control-knob solution that will appeal to customers with home or smaller project studios.

The Apogee Duet offers a two-channel audio interface with 24bit resolution and 96kHz sample rate. It offers two unbalanced instrument plugs and two balanced XLR inputs, complete with 48V phantom power. For monitoring, there's a headphone plug and two unbalanced line-outs for hooking up powered monitor speakers. To run the digitized audio signals to and from the computer, the Duet relies on a single Firewire cable which is also used for powering the unit, so there is no need for an external power brick.

What's so special about the Duet, however, is its controller knob, which rotates (oh, does it really, now...?!) and functions as a push button. It's used to control the input/output levels, the monitor volume, and can be used as a custom MIDI controller for up to four channels.

Tap the controller knob, and a bezel pops up on the screen similar to the one you see when changing your Mac's speaker volume. Tap by tap, you step through all functions of the controller knob, seeing in the bezel which function is currently selected, and which level is set for it. Select the parameter of your choice, turn the knob to set it, done!

Something I have to mention here is the superb build quality: the housing and the knob have a very solid feel to them, and the tactile feel of the control knob operation is excellent, too.

Want to have a closer look? Here's the Duet's product page.

A Mystery Announcement

Sometimes, it's tough to be a tech writer, especially when you see an interesting product at a tradeshow, but you cannot talk about it just yet, as it hasn't been officially announced. Therefore, please bear with me as I try to work my way around that press embargo. OK, here goes.

At Apple Expo Paris, [censored] showed an exciting new product to their French distributors and a few interested journalists who happened to see this product at the booth. Based on their impressive library of [censored], the product, called [censored], will combine hardware and software components into a seamlessly integrated package. [censored] offers a vast choice selection of [censored] taken from [censored]'s [censored]. [censored] will announce [censored] at this weekend's New York AES convention.

Darn, I'm sorry I can't tell you more. I so wish I could!

Update: Now, I can tell you more:

The "mystery product" at the show was Arturia's Analog Factory Experience. It bundles the Analog Factory soft-synth, offering 3,500 excellent preset sounds from legendary keyboards — Yamaha CS-80, ARP 2600, Roland Jupiter-8, Moog Minimoog and Modular, Sequential Circuits Prophet V and Prophet VS — with a 2.5-octave hardware keyboard. The keyboard offers a number of controller buttons, knobs and faders, which correspond to those seen on Analog Factory's on-screen keyboard, for direct access to some of the sounds' key parameters like filter cutoff frequency and resonance and the VCA's envelope.

Got you interested? View the details on Arturia's website.

Let the Mac Music Play

Some of our esteemed colleagues claim that "Apple [may feel] the future of the European Apple Expos is in doubt." Considering the trend over recent years from a purely Macintosh-related trade show towards a very lifestyle-oriented joint presentation of iPod, iPhone, and a bit of Macintosh, that sentiment may very well be true.

Nevertheless, it is great to see music technology so prominently displayed at an Apple-themed trade show. Although it obviously won't replace dedicated music technology trade shows anytime soon, it is a fantastic opportunity to introduce beginners and ambitious amateurs to the wonders of computer-based music production. Here's hoping that future Mac shows will also host similar "music corners," providing this product category with the mindshare it deserves.