Good times for freeware lovers. Our July picks are three new sample libraries (mostly percussive stuff) and a not-new but definitely valuable tool, that can help managing all those transients. Enjoy!

Puremagnetik has just introduced their PakBytes. PakBytes are quick downloads that include hand picked instruments from Puremagnetik's Micropak catalog. They are available in Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic formats.
I'd say Pakbytes are a nice way to discover Puremagnetik's world of sounds.
Plenty of interesting stuff, from Casio Phase Distortion and VL-Tone synthesizers to modular analog stuff, from the Atari 2600 vintage beeps to more complex wavetable-based synths, and more.

Get PakBytes here.

The guys at Wave Alchemy, with their 606 Drums have captured (through an API pre-amp) the heart of Roland’s sought-after TR-606 drum machine. It looks like they didn't cut corners: multiple round robin variations, accent and velocity layers. Four pre-mapped drum kit patches for use with Kontakt 2, 3, & 4 and Battery 3.

Get 606 Drums here

One of my fav instruments, the Thumb Piano (or Kalimba, or Mbira) has just been made available through Boldersounds. It's a 2 octaves plus a major 3rd and "it was sampled with both plucks from the flesh of the thumb as well as the finger nail of the thumb for a brighter sound. Also each sample zone has 3 round robin samples assigned to it".
Kontakt and EXS24 versions are available in this case.

Get the Thumb Piano here

So now that you got lots of percussive sounds with lots of transients to manage, a tool like Flux' Bittersweet II could come in handy.
BitterSweet also features a control for processing the signal, using the MS technique.
It's definitely not new, but worth checking out. It's available as VST, AU, RTAS for both OS X and Windows.

Get Bittersweet II here

On first inspection, AudioFinder is not sexy. Nonetheless, it contains many single features that may be worth the price of admission alone. Anyone who manages tens of thousands of audio samples, tracks, or songs has invariably run into some of the limitations of OS X’s Finder.
AudioFinder (available only for Mac OS X) is a collection of valuable tools for efficient audio file searching, previewing, organizing, and basic editing. Not all tools will be important for everyone, but as you work with the program, you’ll discover which ones are relevant to your workflow.
A detailed discussion of all the functions would make for a rather tedious review (after all, there’s the manual for that) so I’ll provide a basic overview, along with some examples of the standout features for my needs.

Interface

AudioFinder’s main window is like a finder on steroids. The sidebar on the left displays customizable high-level groupings of sounds which can be further sorted and viewed in the sound list on the right.
One of the central features of AudioFinder is the AudioViewer at the bottom, which gives a visual overview of a selected sound along with transport and processing options. The sound can be transposed for pre-listening at different pitches via the small keyboard (or an externally connected physical controller).
Whether for recognizing the sound, picking out a selection for editing, or viewing the results of a process you’ve applied to a file, the AudioViewer is a big timesaver, as it allows all these actions to occur without opening the file in a DAW.

Finding

Before AudioFinder’s powerful search features can be used, it needs to index all the files on your system. This can take a while (just like OS X’s Spotlight does if you reindex your drives), so make sure to leave some time for the task. I just did it at night and the computer was ready to go the next morning. After the indexing is complete, the search functions are lightning-fast. You can refine search results with the Refine and Exclude buttons in the search bar. These simple buttons are very handy for drilling down into your 62357 files that contain the word “beat”. Those of you with strong Search-Fu can enable Regular Expressions for ultra-efficient searching. However, most of the time I can get quick results using just the main buttons.
Sometimes (especially on a small screen) I prefer to use Finder Selection Mode. This feature enables AudioFinder to follow the Finder or Spotlight selections and preview them in the AudioViewer, just as if they had been selected within AudioFinder itself. When using this mode I detach the AudioViewer (via the Free button) and place it alongside my Finder window.

Organizing

The Sidebar is where the bulk of the customized organization takes place. It took some experimentation for me to see how powerful this area can be, but now I realize how critical it is for file management. The Sidebar contains Devices and Bookmarks (both of which are similar to those in OSX’s Finder), as well as Libraries, Scan Sets, Recents, and Sidebar Groups.
A Library is a user selected group of files. The files are not real copies, but more like aliases, which enable multiple groupings of identical files without having to duplicate files (which takes up HD space and leads to a chaotic system).
I can’t emphasize how useful this feature is. For example, I have one library each for my TR-909, TR-808, and TR-606 samples. I have a separate library that contains all TR-XOX Kicks, another for TR-XOX Snares, etc. These different organizational schemes allow me to easily parse the same collection of files in different ways in order to suit the needs of any given project.

A Scan Set is a saved audio file search that can contain multiple locations and all subfolders. Scan Sets are useful for locations whose content changes frequently, since you can limit the scan to these locations, rather than re-scanning your entire system every time you acquire new audio material. Some of my most popular Scan Sets are DJ Tracks, Live Recordings, and Source Material Extracted from Film and Video. For example, every time I purchase a new bunch of tracks from Beatport, I can view them with my DJ Tracks Scan Set, then group them into custom libraries based on style or mood. Note that by default the Scan Sets only look for AIFF, SD2, WAV, MP3, and REX files. Because I use M4a files, I had to manually add M4a to the Scan Item Type Setup.

The Recents Bin contains (you guessed it) recently view items, as well as the very helpful Session Favorites. Session Favorites is like a multi-item clipboard. When preparing a group of sounds for a project, I use it as a temporary storage area for items of interest. After gathering the sounds of interest, I do another round of pruning, then create a Library of the refined selections.

A Sidebar Group can contain any combination of libraries, bookmarks, and scan sets. I like to use Sidebar Groups to organize my sounds by project or theme.
Learning to use the Sidebar effectively takes time and regular maintenance, but the effort you spend tending to it will be rewarded with dramatically increased efficiency.

Editing

AudioFinder’s editing abilities are reminiscent of those in my (now neglected) hardware samplers, along with Audio Unit processing and a better GUI. It’s amazingly convenient to be able to do basic processing/sample preparation without having to open a DAW. Furthermore, you can do batch processing, so repetitive tasks are minimized.
AudioFinder has its own set of tools for common sample processing, such as Normalize, Change Gain, Fade In/Out, Reverse, Transcode, etc. These tools make cleaning up a series of beats lifted from vinyl a breeze. More sophisticated processing can be done with any of your AU plugins, all of which are accessible from the AudioViewer.
Audiofinder can only process PCM files (WAV, AIFF, and SD2), so AU processing is disabled on compressed files (MP3, AAC, etc)(though the options won’t be grayed out, so it can be disorienting if you are new to the program). However, if you enable “Use Decoding Cache For All Compressed Formats” in the Audio preferences, the AU processing is applied to the decoded files in the cache, so the AUs can be used.
The main waveform preview window is useful enough for basic viewing, rough cuts, or processing applied to the entire file. If you want to do more detailed slicing, dicing, or extraction of parts of a file, I recommend opening it in the Sample Editor.
The Sample Editor is a separate window that gives you a zoomable view on which graphical edits can be made. Fades, Loop Points, Crop Points, and more can be precisely dialed in with this useful feature. Additionally, you can also slice a file based on transients in a manner similar to that of Propellerheads’ Recycle. In practice I found that sometimes this method provided unpredictable results. Increasing the threshold would provide more, then less slices. Nonetheless with a bit of fiddling with the Threshold and Release Times, followed by a few manually placed markers, I could usually get the desired result.

Utilities

AudioFinder also includes a litany of practical utilities such as Delay Time Calculator, Reference Tone Generator, Sysex Editor, and more. Many of these items can be found in most DAWs, but again, the ability to access them independently can really come in handy.

Conclusion

Whether you are a sample-heavy MPC ninja, an archivist, or simply a Mac DAW based producer, AudioFinder will streamline your daily file management tasks so you can focus on your creativity.

Price

$69.95
Available directly from Iced Audio. A trial version is available.
Current version requires OS X 10.5 or later. Earlier versions for 10.3 and 10.4 are still available.

...like a finder on steroids...

Product page

PROS

• Powerful meta-organization for audio professionals
• Batch Processing
• Timesaver
• Quick access to common editing tools without opening DAW
• Reasonable price

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• Enables obsessive sound cataloguing behavior

CONS

• Pitch Preview limited to Varispeed-style pitch change (i.e. no tempo or timbre correction)
• Requires practice and maintenance for personal optimization (though work is duly rewarded)
• AudioViewer/Sample Editor won’t work with long files, such as some live sets

by Jesse Gay
Jesse is a musician, engineer, and Apple Certified Logic Pro Trainer in Portland, OR, USA. You can contact him here.

UPDATE: the offer is over, stay tuned for the next one!
At ANR we love offering our readers the chance of getting great new gear at a fraction of the original price.
Our friends at XILS-lab are offering a 25% discount on their new PolyKB (inspired to the rare French synth of the early eighties, the PolyKobol).

We reviewed the PolyKB and found it "a fantastically versatile synth, backed up by some old-skool ways of programming and a great sound engine". Read our in-depth PolyKB review.

How to get the discount?

1. Go to the XILS shop and add a copy of PolyKB to the cart (you'll need to choose the authorization method, iLok or eLicenser - ex Synchrosoft)
2. Register a new account (if you're not already registered there)
3. IMPORTANT: during the checkout process paste this code in the "Redeem a Coupon" field:(the offer is now over)
4. You'll get a confirmation message, and the total price will change accordingly to 111.75 euro (instead of 149).
5. Proceed to payment and you're done!

Please note: it's a limited time offer, act now! ;-)
Feel free to share this article with your friends (also using the tools below).
Enjoy your PolyKB!

P.s: is there a product you'd like to see on offer here? Let us know, we'll do our best to make you happy!

Today, July 15th, 2010, SoundToys will donate 100% of its online profits to the Gulf Restoration Network. The Gulf Restoration Network is a non-profit organization working to provide assistance to the people, wildlife, and wetlands affected by the BP oil spill.

All of the money raised will be donated to the fishermen and their families who have been directly affected by the spill, as well as to the restoration of wildlife and wetlands.

You already know we love Soundtoys' stuff, so if you've had your eye on any of their products, today is the day to buy!

Beatstation is the latest software-instrument from the sampling pioneers at Toontrack. This new product expands the company's lineup of straightforward drum romplers, adding to the fold innovative user sampling functions as well as bass and lead instruments.
Beatstation is a cross-platform standalone application and RTAS plug-in for Mac and Windows, as well as an AU(OSX) or VST (Windows) instrument. The package includes a 1.3 GB library of sounds, grooves, and patches.

First Impressions

Immediately, it struck me that Beatstation is so easy to use that there is practically no learning curve for anyone already familiar with any other “one shot” sampler. The display features a contextual browser panel on the left and a series of pad-style sample slots on the right. The pad layout is customizable and can be shown as a grid of rows and columns. The GUI also features a simple transport and effects level control knobs.
Beatstation includes a library of sounds – from lo-fi bit-reduced samples to pristine acoustic hits.
Also included are bass and lead instruments – from sampled electric basses to synthesizer arpeggios. I started my experimenting by pulling up an instrument set called “Drive.” I then pressed the play button on the transport, and was greeted with a hybrid/electro groove featuring acoustic drums, bass guitar, and synth lead.
Reaching for the sample pads, I found it easy to browse and audition different sounds across the kit, simply by dragging samples from the browser right onto a pad. The default pad behavior layers all samples on a given pad. In any pad with multiple samples loaded, the effect and filtering parameters of each sample can be independently adjusted.
Right-clicking on a pad brings up the Pad Properties window for that particular sample. Here, I found it easy to tweak and stack sounds. In this view, the user is presented with familiar volume, mute, and solo controls. There are also two master effect sends that can be routed to a variety of dynamic, modulation, distortion, and filter effects. Each sample loaded into a pad has independently adjustable ADSR, trim, pan, and reverse controls. This feature allowed me to create some really interesting layered sounds - a Ludwig kick's attack rolling into the decay of a synthesized kick, for example. Pads can also load external wave, mp3, and REX files via drag and drop.

Core Content and Expandability

Beatstation is much more than a drum sampler. There are integrated bass and lead instruments covering a wide range of sounds and styles. The sounds are remarkably good and useful, with everything from nicely detailed electric bass to Nintendo chip lo-fi aural experiments. I was impressed that these sampled instruments have tweak-able parameters just like the drum pads. The instruments, together with MIDI grooves, are organized into the browser pane in an intuitive manner that lets you start from a preset ensemble of Drum, Bass, and Lead sounds or mix-and-match your own palette of sound.
Beatstation's Core Content is expandable with Toontrack's existing EZX and SDX libraries. This means that user's of Ezdrummer and Superior Drummer will now get the sought-after ability to mix kit pieces from different expansion libraries as they like. According to the Toontrack site, the company will soon roll out BDX expansion libraries specifically for Beatstation.

Built-in Sampler

Perhaps the most fresh idea in Beatstation is the built-in sample recorder. Designed to capture live sounds from your computer mic, this feature really sets Beatstation apart from the rest of the drum sampler pack. Around my studio, I have a nice, padded piano bench I've always thought had a nice “thud” when inadvertently struck, so I thought I would see how it would do in place of a hand clap. Miked with a condenser, it was easy for me to simply click “Show Sample Recorder” in Beatstation and start recording. The sample window allowed me to cut the sample down to the precise length of the hit. I then loaded that sample by simply dragging the waveform onto a Hand Clap pad. The process of tracking an external sound and integrating it into a kit could not be easier. These samples work just like those included from Toontrack, with the same FX routing and ADSR filtering options per sample.

Note: the built-in sampler is only available using Beatstation as standalone. Using it in your DAW as plug-in, you need to drag and drop audio files from other tracks into Beatstation's window.

Performance

Beatstation runs like a charm on my 2 GHz Lenovo laptop. The standalone plays nicely with my ASIO sound card while the VST plug-in runs well under Reaper. One notable inconvenience is the lack of multiple outputs from the VST. This means that creating stemmed tracks with individual kick, snares, overheads, toms, leads, and basses is not currently an option. I certainly hope to see this feature in a future update.
Also, it is worth mentioning that while I found Beatstation simple and intuitive to use, the user manual is virtually non-existent. Though I've been using computer drum samplers since their inception, I could easily see novices needing a bit more instruction than what is provided by the two page quick-start guide included with the program. There is, however, a selectable “Tool Tips” option which does help the user identify useful features. Still, all things considered, I cannot stress enough how simple Beatstation is to use.

Conclusion

Beatstation is a fresh, innovative piece of software that is both fun to use and powerful. Its sampling ability is robust yet easy to grasp. The included sounds are useful, plentiful and better yet, expandable. The clean user interface is intuitive and skin-able. The bass and lead instruments are high quality and tweak-able. While other similar applications seem to tackle one specific clientele, I can see Beatstation as being useful for styles ranging from hip hop to heavy metal, and everything in between.
At a value of $129 (USD), Beatstation succeeds at bringing to the table all the features of its' competitors and then some - for less money. I would love to see an update bring multi-out VST compatibility as well as a more detailed manual. Even as is, Beatstation is immediately useful for both novices and professionals alike, right out of the box. Toontrack also deserves credit for seamlessly integrating real-time sample capture and for answering user desire to mix-and-match kit pieces from existing libraries and external samples.

Price
Beatstation is $129 (USD) for either the download or boxed versions. The program can be purchased directly from Toontrack.

....immediately useful for both novices and professionals

Product page

Pros

• Powerful and easy to use
• Integrated (and fun) sample recording
• Useful sound content included
• Fairly priced

Love It or Hate It

• Beatstation is unquestionably good at what it does. As long as you can live (for now) without multiple outs, it's well worth the price.

Cons

• No multi-output
• Needs a proper manual
• Some of the fx sound a bit too "digitally" harsh
• Built-in sampler not available using the plug-in
• Some effects parameters hidden, not user editable

by Daniel T. Spear
Daniel T. Spear is a musician, writer, and engineer from Georgia. His website can be found here.

In this second part of the Alchemy sound library reviews, I spent some time exploring two more of the nine libraries of presets from Software company Camel Audio: the optional additions to the fantastic software synth, Alchemy (if you don't have the full synth, each soundpack comes with a player included free).
The two libraries I tried out were ALCHEMY ATMOSPHERIC, and LUFTRUM: AMBIENT. Over both Libraries, the sounds are superbly manufactured. They are heavily weighted on the Pad/Soundscape/effect side of things, and so there is plenty of swirling, evolving sonic goodness to plough through. And as with the last soundpacks reviewed, the addition of Alchemy's excellent performance section means that each sound is easily and dramatically manipulated for variation. Across the board it's fairly instant sonic gratification. For a composer who needs to work under time pressures, having that variation at your fingertips is extremely useful. But for those moments when you're just noodling and looking for that sound; hours of inspiration await.
Look to the first half of this review to see a deeper explanation of the Performance element to the Alchemy synth, and libraries.

ATMOSPHERIC
Atmospheric is a collection of presets from a veritable who's who of contemporary sound designers. The list includes luminaries such as Richard Devine, Ian Boddy, Junkie XL, and John Lehmkuhl to name but a few. In preset size, it's a tiny bit larger than the other packs out there, weighing in at 190 sounds instead of the usual 150. Of course there are deep variations for each sound using the performance element of the synth (or Player), making a grand total of 1520 variations at your fingertips.

The title is very aptly named - The collection is aimed squarely at the ambient sound designer. The library consists almost entirely of Pads, Soundscapes and Sound effects: the smattering of strings and vocals included are in a complimentary or similar vein.

Noting the all-star sound-designer cast, it's not surprising that the sounds are all rich, deep, inventive, and very useful for the music they're designed for. The pads are varied, ranging from blissed-out, hazy, warm waves, that reminded me a lot of early Chicane stuff, to bell-like tones, or some subtle rhythmic pulsing in the midst of the sound, and to some darker, more mysterious pads. It was interesting to see how the different designers used the performance section - some of them tended to use them to change the sound subtly, by slightly changing the cutoff, or lessening the reverb, whereas others preferred to shift the sound into a very new direction with each of the 8 sections.

The 39 sound effects make judicious use of the powerful synth engine under Alchemy's hood, turning samples such as duck splashes and squeaky garbage truck tires into a spacey bubbly wash of sound. The FX section contains plenty of arrhythmic looping evolving sounds that have esoteric titles such as 'cartoon time', 'kitchen sinks', and 'circuit bent banjo'. Really inventive sounds here; glitchy, metallic, blips and squeaks. I noticed one preset by Richard Devine that's entitled 'Whishart voices' (perhaps a reference to Trevor Wishart?). It contains samples of a lady's voice scratched up on a record player, maybe some trickling water, and a forest, and creates a bustling sound with a lot of bubbly personality.

Here's a track from the Atmospheric soundpack. All the sounds are from the library apart from the kickdrum, provided by Samplemagic.



There are 61 soundscapes straddling the fence between the pads and sound effects, by blending the tonal washes of sound with generally more subtle fx loops, gestures and sweeps overlaid. Sometimes the sound morphs from a simple pad into sound effect. There is generally enough control of the presets to determine the balance between the two, and how intense you want the FX sounds over the top of the pads to be.

LUFTRUM:Ambient

"Luftrum: Ambient is a journey between worlds, from summer afternoons to the icy depths of space. With dense washes of warm, shimmering pads and soundscapes, gentle guitar and piano arpeggios, music boxes, delicate, and ethereal sound effects that totter between beauty and despair, this is a particularly inspiring collection for the ambient musician, film, TV or game soundtrack composer. Its darker elements include chilling machine sounds, disturbing alien atmospheres, the voices of haunted children, water droplets, plus a sprinkling of the avant-garde."

This is a very apt description of this soundpack, that can be found on Camel Audio's website. I'm not sure I could put it better myself. Consisting of 150 sounds, with 1200 total variations, this sound library is a little more well rounded than the atmospheric library, at least in terms of diversity of instruments (i.e. there are some bass, keys, arpeggiated, and looped sounds included with the pads, soundscapes and sound effects). All are created by the respected sound designer Luftrum, who has designed for other manufacturers such as Propellerheads.

Of the four packs that I have reviewed over the last few weeks, I enjoyed using this one the most. The presets were inventive and creative, and as the flowery bumf on the website suggests, there is a lot of sonic diversity at your fingertips, to create very varied worlds. From ambient, downtempo, to dark and cinematic, pushing over into more electroacoustic experimental sound design. There's plenty of sampled material in use here, from water droplets and forests, to squeaking puppies, swishing horse tails, and the seashore. All of these samples blend in well in the presets, and are malleable enough within the synthesizer to enable the creation of either natural soundscapes, like an evening garden soundscape, or a shimmering tonal pad. One sound that particularly stood out was 'hug the old tree'. It was almost like a track in itself, the amount of variation that could be achieved just from that preset. A lot of shimmering noisy pad provides the foundation, upon which are a hint of female vocals, with a touch of glissando harp that appeared every now and again. This combination produces a beautiful thick sound. Moving the mouse around over the performance pad, the vocals would shift pitch over the pad, creating harmonies or dissonance depending on where you placed the mouse. Here's a video of that sound in action. One chord is played throughout.



Here's a track that utilizes the same sound. It also showcases some of the more natural soundscapes available in this library.



Conclusion

Camel Audio have provided rich libraries of sound that live up to their claims. Once again I would highly recommend them as useful additions to the genre they're aimed at. Also, I'd recommend checking out the full version of the Alchemy synthesizer - it has SO much more to offer than the free alchemy player included in the soundpacks, and has quickly become my go-to soft synth when I'm writing.

Price

49 Euro for each soundpack (includes the Alchemy Player). Serial number protected, no dongle required.
To buy the soundpacks click here
A trial version of the full Alchemy synthesizer is available here.

..plenty of swirling, evolving sonic goodness to plough through

PROS

• Beautiful sounding pads, soundscapes, sound effects
• Again, the performance element takes the use-ability and enjoyment factor over the top

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• These soundpacks are aimed at a definite genre - and fit very neatly there. If you're looking for something that could cover various styles, you might want to consider something else.

CONS

• These soundpacks are not quite as varied as some of the others available - not much bass, keys, string, vocal arp, drums for example

by Andy Dollerson