Become An Xpand2 Power User In Pro Tools
Xpand2 is FREE with Pro Tools 8,9 and 10, yet so many users don’t realise how powerful it can be.
Russ creates one MIDI track of 4 notes and then makes a whole song from it using just those 4 notes and a single instance of Xpand2.
Learn more about Xpand:
Xpand!™, developed by the Avid Advanced Instrument Research group, provides fast, efficient ways to access and manipulate thousands of high-quality sounds directly from within your Pro Tools® system. Built for songwriters, film composers, DJs, electronic musicians, and music producers — and offered as a free RTAS® plug-in for Pro Tools systems, Xpand! is a sonic powerhouse that will become an indispensable component of your creative Pro Tools environment.
Extensive Patch Library
Xpand! makes it easy to start creating music right away. Equipped with more than 1,000 preset patches, Xpand! puts a wealth of sonic options right at your immediate disposal. Browse the patch database by category to find what you need quickly. Whether you’re looking for a warm pad to fill out your mix, building a new rhythm track for a remix, or composing a soundtrack for a feature film, Xpand! offers a huge assortment of possibilities. Choose from synth pads, leads, acoustic and electric pianos, organs, strings, vocals, brass and woodwinds, mallet percussion, ethnic instruments, loops, and more. Use the presets or make modifications to create distinctive sounds. Save your favorite patches for instant recall.
Robust Sound Engine
Xpand! uses Avid’s proprietary multi-synthesis engine to combine sampled instruments with synthesized tones, creating complex sounds extremely efficiently. Each Xpand! patch comprises a blend of up to four individual “parts,” created with oscillator multi-samples, 32- or 64-step wavetable synthesis, virtual analog synthesis, FM synthesis, or virtual tonewheel synthesis.
The preset patches are excellent starting points, but you can modify patches easily by mixing and matching up to four of the 500 included part presets for millions of possible combinations. Mix a warm pad with a wind chime for an ethereal texture, or combine a drum loop with a bass line and a gated pad for an instant techno track. Xpand! offers 64-note polyphony and is efficiently integrated with Pro Tools software as an RTAS plug-in, so you can run multiple instances on your session to build multi-timbral compositions.
Tweaking Made Easy
Fine-tune the parts further for truly unique sounds. Each part gives you access to six “SmartKnobs” to control the most useful parameters for that part. For an electric guitar part, select an amp, then adjust the distortion level and the amount of fret noise. For a vibraphone, modify the level of mallet attack noise. For a synth pad, tune the sweep rate, effect level, and resonance. Adjust the rotary settings for a tonewheel organ part or change the wah settings for a clavinet.
Each part also includes a built-in arpeggiator and two effects sends. Choose the type of arpeggiation or chord phrase and the note-based rate. Then route the effects sends into the two effect sections: Pick from a full range of reverbs and add delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, vocoder effects, or another effect. Adjust the size and shape of rooms, and the depth and rate of delays and choruses.
Once you’ve perfected the tone of each part, you can adjust how parts blend into the overall patch. Modify the volume, mix, pan, transposition, and effects levels for each part. Set high and low keys for each part to achieve keyboard splits, in which parts are assigned to specific note ranges.
In the Global Mode, use the SmartKnobs to adjust essential sound parameters for the entire patch, including attack, decay, release, cutoff, envelope depth, and fine-tuning.
Click on the mod tab to adjust a wide range of settings for aftertouch and the modwheel. To finalize your creation, save your new patch for instant recall.
Xpand Your Creative Palette
Whether you need fast access to a comprehensive preset sound set or want to create something unique without having to spend hours editing patches, Xpand! offers you an easy way to get started creating with a full range of sounds.
Features
- Comprehensive sound factory for all musical styles and applications
- More than 1,000 factory patches and 500 combinable part presets
- Four layer-able parts for millions of combinations
- Multi-synthesis engine
- 64-note polyphony
- Quick and easy sound tweaking
- Sample playback and virtual tonewheels
- Two built-in effect sections and four arpeggiators/phrase generaftors
- Highly efficient on system resources
- RTAS format
Elektron Machinedrum + Octatrack = OT FX
Quick demo showing how octatrack effects can greatly alter a simple drum beat.
The drum beat comes from the machinedrum and is unchanged the whole time. The machinedrum is fed into the octatrack and goes through a “thru” machine and “neighbor” machine to achieve 4 effects: Lo-Fi, Plate Reverb, Filter, Compressor.
No other effects applied.
Hardware:
Elektron Octatrack
Elektron Machinedrum MK 2 UW+
Grendel – “Timewave Zero” [exclusive sneak preview]
This is an exclusive sneak preview of the new Grendel album, “Timewave Zero”, out on Infacted Records (EU) on April 21/2012 & Metropolis Records (US) on April 24/2012.
CLOUT! : SPACE SESSION
Live electronics freestyle session
Time machine: ARP Odyssey “Early 70s”
ARP Odyssey mk3 Analog Synthesizer from the 70s
recording: multi-track
fx: a bit delay
background sound: Roland Juno-60
more info: http://www.retrosound.de
While the Minimoog proved to be a runaway success as the first compact studio synthesizer, ARP responded with a compact and user-friendly studio synthesizer of their own with the Odyssey in 1972. An almost equally legendary machine itself, the Odyssey was ARP’s highest selling synth back then, and still is to this day in the second-hand market.
The Odyssey essentially gives you a simplified hard-wired ARP 2600 in a much smaller and affordable package. The Odyssey is a 2-oscillator analog synth (with duo-phonic capability) and it sounds really nice; the Minimoog has three oscillators and is capable of thicker sounds. The Odyssey comes well equipped with all the tweakable features and analog goodness you’d expect: a resonant low pass filter, ADSR envelopes, sine or square wave LFO, and a sample-and-hold function.
The Odyssey also added a few new features such as a high pass filter that could be used in series with the low pass, oscillator-sync capability, and pulse-width modulation. It is a very professional and expressive machine that can create nice analog basses, interesting leads, great effects and sweeping sounds straight out of a Tangerine Dream album!
There were many versions of the Odyssey over the years, each a little different. They can be broken down into 8 models spanning 3 Mark “Mk” version
The Protoclidean sequencer for Ableton Live
AVAILABLE HERE : http://designthemedia.com/theprotoclidean
Features
– 8 independant channels
– step number + number of notes + offset + pitch + velocity for each channels
– accurate synchro to Live transport
– scaler helper to choose a scale across each channel
– GM Drum-map mode with the 8 first standard MIDI Drum map notes accross channels
– notes randomizer with min/max limits
– all parameters are auto mappable to any control surfaces compatible with Live
– built-in help
The Protoclidean Sequencer is based on Euclidan algorithm.
This is one of the oldest mathematical algorithm ever.
It offers a very simple way to distribute the most evenly possible a particular number of objects inside a particular number of slots.
The Protoclidean implements this algorithm to place a particular number of notes into a particular number of slots.
That way, you can easily create sequences using odd or even number of steps without the need of creating a lot of clips with different size in your liveset, you can also play live with it, using the banks storage/load feature.
Closer look at the KRAFTZWERG
This synth has for a long time been on my wish list 
KRAFTZWERG RUN WITH DARK TIME SEQUENCER
MFB-KRAFTZWERG is the semi-modular version of MFB’s Synth-II. It trades memory locations and MIDI-control off for 37 patch connectors that allow breaking and modifying the internal routing. Put single KRAFTZWERG components under analog sequencer control or let the whole unit interact with your existing modular-synthesizer-system.
MFB-KRAFTZWERG works as a stand-alone synthesizer without the need to patch any cable. The classic formation of VCO-VCF-VCA is pre-wired internally, complete with essential modulations. Therefore, you can play the KRAFTZWERG just like any other synthesizer using its MIDI-input. In addition, it may integrate into a full analog environment using control voltages – and benefit, unlike MIDI, from infinite continuous parameter resolution.
MFB-KRAFTZWERG offers a complete set for powerful and versatile synthesis: three VCOs with hard-sync, 24-dB-lowpass-filter with resonance, noise generator, ring-modulator, two envelope-generators, two LFOs and VCA. Technically and soundwise KRAFTZWERG is identical to MFB’s euro-rack-modules. However, the MFB-KRAFTZWERG comes in a compact format that is easy to take with you and faster in use. Your ideal analog partner on stage!
The One – new Windows audio effect designed for simplicity
Sound Magic has introduced The One– a new effect for Windows described as “the easiest and the most convenient way for musicians to process their recordings.”
The One features several options to choose from and only a single knob to implement them – that’s it. There’s no confusing technical terminology. You choose your goal and spin the single dial to get the desired result.
Here’s what Sound Magic has to say about The One:
At first glance, it might seem that this is some lightweight tone control or simply some cobbled together processors. But behind this simple knob are years of research from many pro engineers, taking some complex algorithms and effects chains and putting them at your fingertips.
Sound Magic has summed up thousands of individual mixing pathways, modeled them, developed several universal algorithms, then translated them into the language of musician. You won’t find any complicated technical terms when using The One. Instead, Sound Magic has used words like “wetter”, “brighter”, “stronger” and so on.
There’s nothing lightweight or cobbled together here either. This is cutting edge programming utilizing artificial intelligence to make controlling the cleanest digital processors available as simple and as intuitive as possible.
Here are some of the things that The One can do for your recordings:
- Wetter: Move your recording from a dry sound to a larger space, adding both depth and atmosphere to it. Change your recording from a single point sound to a full 3D space.
- Stronger: Here The One uses an artificial intelligence compressor which adds more power to your recording, strengthening it, and emphasizing its imaging and details.
- Brighter: This adds brightness to your treble – intelligently. It is perfect for brightening your tracks and allows them to cut through a mix.
- Thicker: The One includes a bass booster that easily and quickly adds bottom to your music. Enhance your bass instruments and thicken them in the mix.
- Crystallizer: Choose this option, spin the single dial and make your recordings sound sharper and crisper. It will also enhance the impact of the sound, giving your recordings a professionally recorded sound.
Features:
- One Knob to control ALL
- Internal 64Bit Floating Point Precision
- Different plug-in version to fit for usage on Mono and Surround
- Up to 32Bit/384KHz resolution
The one is priced at 69 EUR and is available now.
Noisolation Headphones CTRL
An invention for mechanically transforming the relationship between a person and the noise that immediately surrounds them. This project is part of the graduate thesis “Listening Instruments” by Alex Braidwood. Additional experiments, collaborations, research and writings are available at
listeninginstruments.com
Flame Chord Machine – modular test run
Background data below:
Flame CHORD MACHINE test run 6
‘CM’ pitch & chord input cv by Doepfer A149-1
4ms Peg blue ‘CM’ arp trigger Peg red to VCAMatrix to RS 110
‘CM’ chord out to Malekko 4x Uncle Oscillator
‘CM’ arp out to Quantimator to 4x Anti Oscillator
Analogue Systems RS 110
Make Noise Moddenix QMMG Wogglebug
Toppobrillo Quantimator Sportmodulator
A134 pan by Moog MP 201
Master Clock Logic via Kenton Pro 2000II and 2x 4ms RCD
DATAMASKIN
