UPDATE: we've a special offer on PolyKB going on right now and for a limited time.

From the makers of the XILS 3 synth (see our review here), comes a remake of a classic French synth, the RSF PolyKobol. Only 30 of these synths were produced around the same time as the DX7 in the mid 80's. The unique thing about the synth really was that one of its features, never heard on other analog synthesizers, was the continuously modulated waveform. This meant that you could literally sweep through different waveforms and have variations in fundamental tones rather than just choosing one type of oscillator like on a Roland SH101, or Moog. In fact there are very few synths if any that come to mind that could do this.

Check out the original PolyKobol in action here:


The PolyKB is a polyphonic subtractive synthesiser based on two waveform morphing, aliasing free oscillators and a self oscillating 4 poles low pass filter.Getting this software version of the Poly Kobol to produce the same effect as the original when sweeping through oscillators turned out to be no easy job (you can read more from the developers' page)!

How does it sound?

The big question of course is how does it sound, and unfortunately, I do not own an original PolyKobol to do an exact A/B testing, but first impressions are important and I have to say I was immediately impressed with the diversity and response of the synth in many different types of applications.
Thundering bass, luscious pads, screeching leads and the more stranger set of sounds were all possible. I was of course instantly interested in how the continuos waveform selection would sound, which is set by the 'waveform' dial, one for each oscillator. It can be a pure triangle when turn left to a narrow pulse when turn right, but in a continuous way, you can set it to a saw, double saw or square wave form with all the intermediary settings. You can modulate this of course with LFO's, Envelopes and more to get some extremely dynamic and textured sounds. Using the hard synchronisation between oscillator 1 and oscillator 2 means that each time the oscillator 1 begin its cycle, it forces the oscillator 2 to begin its cycle too, so when you modulate the waveform of each oscillator the whole thing goes crazy but stays nice and tight too.
Have a listen to both Oscillators being played together with the 2nd Oscillator being continuously swept from Triangle to Saw to Double Saw to Square to Pulse.

(PLEASE NOTE: some of these test files are quite "hot", turn down the volume if you care about your ears!)



The filter

On to the filter! Yes the filter - just like the original PolyKB, there is only one filter which is is an accurate dynamic 4 poles self-oscillating low pass filter with an optional drive stage which can be placed pre or post the filter. This is a nice little touch and is an added feature that was not on the original at all and depending where this stage is placed, pre or post filtering you can get a subtle low-end enhancement or a sort of saturation effect.
The filter itself is great with no artefacts or stepping in the sound, so I found it to be really useful and at times really scary when used in conjunction with some high resonance!
The filter has its own dedicated ADSR(2) (although this can be assigned to other parts of the synth) and includes a loop mode, which means that as long as the note is held, the EG cycles from attack to release without staying at the sustain level - great for rhythmical kick drum effects! The PolyKB features two envelope generators (EG) of course with the first one dedicated to the output level stage (VCA) and the second is dedicated to the filter. But thanks to the modulation section, they can be used for a wide range of other purposes.



The LFO

The PolyKB brings two Low Frequency Oscillators, used as a modulation sources, in the form of Triangle, Square, Sawtooth, Noise and Pulse or select them all at once for some crazy results.
Here is a Triangle LFO modulating the two Oscillators at various rates.



Again with the Noise source



And now with all of the waveforms chosen



Modulation

Away from the nuts and bolts of the synth, the PolyKB features a complete modulation section allowing a wide range of sounds. This section has five fixed modulation sources, the LFO1, the Noise, the ADSR2, the VCO2 and Velocity. Added to these fixed sources, two user selectable sources are available. Thanks to the menu, a very wide range of sources can be chosen (ADSR1, LFO2, pink noise, sequencer outputs and much more). Each source can modulate five fixed destinations, VCO1 and VCO2 levels, VCO1 and VCO2 wave and the filter frequency. Added to these fixed destinations, there are four user selectable destinations. Thanks to the menu, a wide range of destinations can be chosen (VCO 1 and 2 levels, Filter resonance, ADSR parameters, LFO1 and 2 rates, and much more).
Programming the modulation is very easy: a switch connects a source to a destination, while a knob sets the level of the source signal.
Modulating the wave parameter of the oscillators is very specific to the PolyKB. A large amount of modulation can act as a morphing between waveforms (from triangle to pulse). While a small amount, of modulation is quite close to the standard pulse width modulation, depending on the wave setting.
In my opinion it is modulation that really sets some synths apart from others. Yes the oscillators are important and usually dictate the sound of the synth but the modulation capabilities really makes the synth what it is and this is not far off from becoming one of my favourites. Multiple waveform LFO's, Looping Filter EG, and pretty much un-restrictive patching across all sources and destinations is exactly what the doctor ordered!

Arp anyone?

The PolyKB features a simple but very useful arpeggiator. When on, this module reads the note hold on the keyboard and, instead playing them at the same time, it will play each note after the other. There are three modes available: Up, the notes are played from the lower to the higher. Down, the note are played from the higher to the lower and Up/Down for which they are played backward and forward. If none of these there modes are selected, then the notes are played in a random order.
The cycle can also play through another octave before restarting when the Oct switch is selected.
Great huh? However, put this to one side for a minute and lets look at the other ability to sequence notes using the in-built sequencer! The PolyKB has a powerful polyphonic sequencer that can help you to create complex sequences and incredible special effects.

First thing to know, this sequencer is polyphonic. That means that you can record/play up to 8 voices with different sequences. The switch Voices Select allow you to choose which voices will be recorded or played. When both record and play are selected, then you will hear all the already recorded voices while record only the selected voice.

This 'old-skool' style of sequencing took some getting used to for sure as there is no undo and the notes cannot really be moved once they are played in unless you play them again! However I found myself having lots of fun working just inside the synth with this and the available modulation parameters. As the output values of the PolyKB’s sequencer are hidden, it can perhaps be a little confusing at first. But the power and versatility of this concept, in contrast to most other analogue sequencers of the time, is a good reason to get to know it!
Beneath the sequencer lies more fun in the shape of a 'Stereo Space Positioning Module' which allows you to position each available voice inside the stereo space. Click on a voice inside the 2-D positioning screen and move it. You can put it left, right, but also far or close to the two simulated microphones. These microphones have a cardioid pick-up pattern and can be oriented thanks to the Mic knob. They can also be moved to get a wider or narrower stereo effect. In order to have some fun with this, you must activate the 'Stereo' switch in order to allow you to hear the panning effects going on.
Another addition to the synth is the appearance of built-in effects which come in two flavours - Dealy and Chorus, both with parameters to effect feedback, rate and Dry/Wet.

Conclusion

Getting around the synth is simple and the actual interface looks great - nice and big and Xils-Lab have done a great job modelling both the look synth on the original. There is a dial for pretty much everything, (which I much prefer) although to increase the sound design possibilities, six menus have being added, two for the sources, four for the destination, which are pop-up lists, but these are quick and simple to use, straight off the interface of the synth. Adjusting any parameter is done obviously with a mouse or midi controller, in fact my mouse wheel is automatically assigned to control any dial it hovers above. Need to fine-adjust anything? Then just right click and move the selected dial in much finer increments.
This is ultimately a fantastically versatile synth, backed up by some old-skool ways of programming and a great sound engine. It has become a favourite of mine over night and I cant get enough of the on-board sequencer and the diversity of the modulation parameters. Everything is there in front of you with a large and easy to use interface which will leave you wanting to know more about the original.

Price: €149.00 (including tax). An iLok or eLicenser dongle is required.
PolyKB is available as a plug-in for Mac OSX, Windows in RTAS, VST and AU (no standalone application).
A demo version (dongled and dongle-free, with some limitations) is available here.

This is not far off from becoming one of my favourites

Product page

PROS

• Very flexible and easy to use
• In-built sequencer and effects
• Modulation parameters offer a huge array of possibilities

LOVE-IT OR HATE-IT

• I want the real thing now!

CONS

• LFO 2 could be present on the interface
• Dongle authorization (iLok or eLicenser)

by Matthew Hodson
Matt is a sound engineer and musician, you can find him here

Yes, a full song created and recorded (almost) only using the iPad. This is a basic but very good example of how to use latest tech gadgets to actually produce something.
So why "almost"? Because the iPad in this case has been used mainly to track the vocal parts, bounce, etc, while the music loops were sent from a producer (that's because, to use the author's words, "the programs that actually do allow you to export the music track on the iPad makes you go through a total PITA process of using your computer to visit a website address on the iPad then download what you created...").
Some DIY skills were needed for this project, and that adds some fun to the story. The main problems they had to face (besides the export/import issue we mentioned) were the input volume of the iPad (too hot and unfortunately fixed, at least until Apple does something about it) and the track number's limitations (but hey, the Beatles did one or two good things even with a few tracks, isn't it?).

The people:

• Bob Sandifer (engineer)
• BoneCrusher
• The Professor

The tools:

• 64gig iPAD
• Sonoma Wireworks Studio Track
• A bunch of foam, CD case, Gaffers tape, a little foam ball and a HUGE foam ball.

Here's an excerpt from the song:



On Bob Sandifer's website you can read more about the project and listen to the song.
Actually Bob mentions that he has imported and cleaned the single tracks in Logic before the final mix.

As even my mom knows by now, the iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday 28 May.
If you're going to buy an iPad in a store, maybe you'd like to know where they're going to be sold.
Here's an official list of the stores that will carry the iPad, in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris and Rome.

Please note: we guess each shop will have only a limited stock in the first days, so don't blame us if you won't be so lucky to get one.

Here we go...

• Where to buy an iPad in London?
• Where to buy an iPad in Berlin?
• Where to buy an iPad in Frankfurt?
• Where to buy an iPad in Paris?
• Where to buy an iPad in Madrid?
• Where to buy an iPad in Rome?

We'll try to find some time to review this quite unique library in the next days, but since there's a nice offer going on now, it's worth writing something about it anyway...

We're talking of the first samples library dedicated to the Metasonix S-1000 Wretch Machine.
This evil beast is "the only commercially available synthesizer to use gas-tube oscillators as the fundamental sound source. This technology predates most of the recognized synthesis advancements of the 20th century, and was abandoned in favor of integrated circuits. The waveforms generated by these gas-filled wonders of yesterday are a beauty unto themselves – wildly variable, inherently unique, and filled with atmosphere."

The Wretch Machine sample library, developed by Michael Weeks, a S-1000 guru, is available for download (Kontakt 4 format) at Totalmusik.com.

You can get the library at the special introductory price of $49.99.
Stay tuned for our Wretch Machine review...

We've joined the 2010 edition of NEXT, one of the most important networking and trend conferences within the European web and IT industry. As you could expect, the iPad has been a main topic, and one of the speeches (actually the final one) made a few points about the current and future state of software development for the new Apple device.

Marcel Hastenteufel and Rainer Sax (from SinnerSchrader) were quoting Phil Schiller (senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple) "the iPad is not about the features, it's about the experience!", to show that actually this experience is just not here yet.

One of the main issues of the existing iPad apps is the fact there are no rules, no standards regarding their interaction design and what should happen during the interaction. In a way, it's like the web was 15 years ago, before most of the browsing conventions we're now used to were born.
Using a few apps as reference, Hastenteufel and Sax proposed that a good iPad interface needs to

1. be "touchable", as much as possible. They show the music app Virtuoso Hd as a good design and programming example.
   
   
   
   
2. make use of all the interaction possibilities
3. not be over-realistic: sometimes it's ok to use the interface as a metaphor of the real world, but when it leads to things like the Korg Electribe app, it's clearly usability nonsense. Abstract inferfaces, like the one used in Looptastic, often work much better.
   
   
   
   
4. be standardized (hoping that we'll get some standard soon). They showed as example the Die Welt and NY Times apps, which, while similar, have a completely different approach to navigation. This fact makes the user unsure about where to click and what should be the result of the interaction.
   
5. have clear, predictable, self-explanatory interfaces. This should be the main target for developers when creating an interface on the iPad. And the only way to achieve this is the good old one: creating prototypes, making usability tests, etc.

Most of these points made by Marcel Hastenteufel and Rainer Sax are valid. As mentioned often here on ANR, I hope that (especially for audio/music apps) we'll start getting less and less real world-inspired interfaces. It really makes no sense to try to turn a knob on a touch screen! And I'm sure that in the next 6 months we'll start having some clearer interaction standards, which are definitely needed.
That said, it has to be considered that most developers have only just started working on this new device, so it's not surprising to see such poor interaction design results in these early iPad apps. The future looks bright for this new shiny gadget; so stay tuned...

Laurens Hammond, best known for his B3 tonewheel organ, was a prolific inventor. Amongst other things, he created what is widely considered the world's first polyphonic (72note) synthesizer, in 1939. It didn’t do well for a variety of reasons, mainly the onset of war, but also perhaps because it was more expensive than the average cost of a house. The Novachord was used extensively in the film industry. If you listen out, you might hear it in ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘Hawaii Five-0’, ‘The Ten Commandments’, ‘Rebecca’, and ‘The Twilight Zone’ tv series. It is a beast, and contains 163 vacuum tubes, over 1000 capacitors, and miles of wiring. It must have been an absolute nightmare to maintain, and is therefore one very good reason to check out the new sample set from Hollow Sun, before considering purchasing the real thing.

Hollow Sun’s K3 Novachord library consists of 120 instruments, and weighs in at just under 550 mbs of samples, all taken from Novachord #346, currently residing in a studio in Bath, England. There are three versions available - Kontakt, Reason refill, and EXS samples.

I tried out the Kontakt version, as that’s the sampler I use the most. Each patch contains a high, low and allpass filter on the front panel, in homage to the original Novachord, as well as attack and release knobs. The creators of the sample set said that aside from a few tuning issues on the notes, they wanted to keep the sound as authentic as possible. So all the effects on the front end of the Kontakt instrument are on the original synth. They even sampled every note, in order to retain the particular characteristics of each circuit.

Sounds

It’s immediately obvious from the first browse through the sample set, that the unique character of the original instrument is portrayed throughout, and to an excellent standard. I couldn’t hear any discernible glitches or weird loops on the samples, which is all the more impressive knowing the engineers recorded the Novachord with its own vibrato, to retain more facets of the original sound. Looping vibrato is not easy, but I couldn’t hear any skipping. Very nice.
The advertising for Novachord claimed (back in 1939) to be able to re-create all sounds of the orchestra. Now while this is completely untrue, there is a fairly wide range of timbres and other sonic qualities throughout the set, all retaining that distinctive Novachord sound. Plucked, percussive, bell, and pianoesque type sounds are all there. To me, the real strength of the set is in the lush pad and sustained string patches. The sampling of each note means that all the uniqueness of each analog circuit is captured, resulting in slightly varied harmonics and (small amounts of) noise depending on what particular note, or chord you play. This creates a very organic sounding sampleset, that immediately evokes nostalgic trips back to those classic 60’s Sci-fi B movies we’ve all loved to watch, and the slightly eerie drifting tritone pad sounds that preceded the entrance of the Man-eating Rhodedendron from Venus. As I was playing the instrument, that was immediately where I thought the synth would best fit – in soundtracks, to create those otherworldly (and perhaps nostalgic) atmospheres. However, that’s just my opinion, and I know you’re only limited by your creativity as to what you use it for!

Playing around with the synth, I got down a quick track to show some of the soundworld the Novachord is capable of creating. Everything bar the drums is from the Novachord soundset, with no effects added.



Conclusion

Hollow sun’s Steve Howell and Dan Wilson have done a stellar job re-creating the sounds of this vintage synth behemoth. The rich analog weirdness of the Novachord is expertly captured, and adds a great new element to every keyboardist/composer’s sonic arsenal.

Price: $120 for the Kontakt samples, $80 for Reason refill and EXS24 samples.

All the uniqueness of each analog circuit is captured...

Product page

PROS

• Very authentic
• Kontakt version offers some smart scripting

LOVE-IT OR HATE-IT

• Don't expect modern sounds from the Novachord, it's a pure retro beauty

CONS

• It is a bit expensive, but this is not an ordinary library

by Andy Dollerson

Elastique Pitch is a real time pitch shifting plugin (VST/AU/RTAS formats, for both OS X and Windows platforms), developed by zplane, a German company. It claims to be 'the optimal pitch shifting plug-in for film and video conversion applications, for sound design and for adjusting pitch ranges in recording and rehearsal sessions.'

Why using a plug-in instead of your DAW's pitch shifting?

Elastique Pitch, uses the zplane Elastique Pro pitch shifting engine which is used by millions of end users around the world (they licensed it to Ableton, Reaper, Peak, among others) to ensure the highest, program independent pitch shifting quality and has an interface has been designed to allow quick and intuitive interaction with all parameters for maximum control. The key features are:

• multi channel: support for synchronous pitching of up to 8 audio channels
• real time: no offline pre-analysis required
• program independence: high pitch shifting quality for all audio types (speech, monophonic instruments, complete mixes, etc.)
• phase coherence: absolute phase stability between all input channels
• MIDI input: for pitch control
• formant shifting: shift formants independently from pitch
• factory presets: for typical film pull-ups/pull-downs

This makes Elastique an instant hot potato in the time-stretching world in my opinion due to the fact that

1. it is real-time
2. no offline pre-analysis required
3. phase coherent across channel
4. MIDI control.

It has to be said that the attraction and main appeal is now clear as to why I would use this over the in-built plug-ins of my DAW. The other great thing I liked about this plug-in as soon as I opened it was the interface. Clean and simple with nothing really more than an XY pad. Surrounding the XY pad, we have a two slides which we use to depict the required pitch and timbre of the audio we are effecting.

Pitch Shift Slider
Move up or down to change the pitch of the signal and the current setting is displayed in either percentage (%) or semitones (st). The range is from 50% (or -12 Semitones) of its original pitch to 200% (or 12 Semitones), which is twice the original pitch. Values can be typed in for ease too and to change between % and semitones, just click on the value and hey presto!

Timbre Shift Slider
Move left or right to change the timbre – i.e. the formants – of the signal. Right is up (Mickey Mouse) and left is down (Darth Vader). Again this is within the same range as the Pitch Shift slider. The great thing about the Timbre is that you can select the proper fundamental frequency range of your audio with a button simply labelled 'input'. To ensure best timbre shifting quality for different types of input signals, adjust the dominant frequency region of the input signal with this control.
This setting has no impact on the pitch shifting quality, only the formant shifting quality. The decimal values in the popup menu indicate the internal value for each setting.This make a huge difference to the sound of the audio and with a little abuse by not setting it correctly, you can get some very strange and diverse outcomes.

Timbre and pitch can be adjusted independently from one another or linked so that a relationship is maintained between both. To adjust the pitch independently from the timbre, just simply click 'disable' on the link between pitch and timbre shift factors. Pitch and timbre factors are linked by default with this switch. That means that the formants are shifted in accordance with the pitch factor. If the link button is activated when pitch and timbre have the same values (for example when both pitch and timbre equal 100%), then the plugin output is shifted without preserving the formats. If the sliders have non-equal values when the button is activated,formants will always be shifted by a constant amount. When the link is disabled, pitch and timbre can be controlled independently. To preserve the original formants, set the timbre slider to the middle position (100.00% or ±0.00st).

Not a fan of sliders and correct values? That's fine, just grab the small dot on the XY pad and move it around to your hearts content, freely and smoothly to explore the more extreme possibilities of the Elastique. Remember to disable the link between pitch and timbre shift factors should you want them to move independently.
Note : When automating both Pitch and Timbre via the host, the link switch will automatically be disabled.

Control Pitch by MIDI Input
The pitch factor can also be controlled by MIDI note input or the MIDI pitch wheel controller. Route the MIDI input from a keyboard or controller to Elastique and play! The pitch factor 100.00% (±0.00st) corresponds to a MIDI pitch of 60 (C3). MIDI pitches in the octave below will shift down, higher MIDI pitches will shift up. The shift factor is calculated by the semi- tone distance from pitch C3.
Additionally, you can use the Pitch Wheel controller to smoothly change the pitch factor in a range of ±2 semi-tones.

How does it sound?
I guess this is the big one. Ultimately with all this great and simple to use functionality and the real time control, the plug-in is not likely to take over from those I already use if it sounds weak.
Truthfully I found this to work well on most things I threw at it. Drum loops which contained a large amount of information such as hi-hats, kicks and snares were no problem when tuning them to the track I was working on. I found using the Timbre slider alone without affecting the pitch was often enough to get it where I wanted it. Being able to change the dominant frequency then brought in any strange artifacts into line better. For example the cymbals felt slightly sharp of the overall loop and the transients sounded stretched and smeared until I chose the fundamental frequency for the plug-in to calculate on.

Bass synths, guitars, keys and one shot hits were the best. Perhaps because they have less information ultimately and they felt solid with no strange artifacts once the fundamental was chosen to suite! Vocals again were smooth and the ability to choose the fundamental frequency really showed its power here. Choosing the 'wrong' frequency really allowed me to create some strange, alien and doubled vocals.

Obviously taking the pitch and timbre to far extremism created some less usable solutions to pitch shifting but definitely had a place in the 'sound design' toolkit.

Conclusion
So yes, this one is going to stay in my arsenal of tools for now at least. As someone who works with mainstream and more abstract music this is going to fit right in whatever my needs. Creating harmonies, overall pitching of instruments or notes to running monophonic synths through it and altering the fundamental frequency to create diverse voices is exactly what this plug-in can do, and it does it very simply and without a cluttered user interface. The MIDI control is really a great part too should you want to 'perform' along with the audio you are effecting.

Price: $199 USD/149 Euro (+ VAT)
A demo version is available.

I found this to work well on most things I threw at it

Product page

PROS

• MIDI Realtime Control
• Fundamental frequency option for audio
• Simple GUI

LOVE-IT OR HATE-IT

• Abuse it, to produce extreme results - great for Sound design!

CONS

• Quite expensive (but for its main target, post-pro studios, etc. is money well spent)

by Matthew Hodson

We just got this email from Izotope, and it seems something worth reading if you own some of their products, and you're using OS X 10.6 (Windows users and Mac OS users running previous releases of the system are not affected).
"We've recently learned that under rare circumstances, installing an iZotope product or demo and then applying any Mac OS X 10.6 update can cause some computers to experience problems booting. We have identified the cause of this issue and have provided a simple fix below.

Please download and install this patch immediately, even if you have not experienced any issues at this time. Also, make sure you delete and re-download the latest iZotope installers for Mac OS X. Please note that as of today (May 7, 2010), all of the Mac OS X installers on the iZotope website have been updated so that they no longer cause this issue to occur.

iZotope Mac OS X 10.6 Patch

If you suspect your computer has already been affected by this issue and you are unable to boot your computer, please follow the steps to fix in the iZotope Knowledge Base.
We apologize for any difficulty this has caused. Unfortunately, this issue was unpredictable and related to a rare interaction between the install process and security measures that Apple recently introduced in Mac OS X 10.6. We appreciate your understanding, and please don't hesitate to contact us directly with any questions or concerns at support@izotope.com"