Trigger, from Slate Digital, is a drum replacement plug-in (AU/VST/RTAS). You feed it multi-track drum parts into it and it will replace your recorded kit with whole new sounds or variations of. Nothing new here I hear you say! Well… it is the concept and design of this plugin which really makes it the only choice for all your drum re-triggering practices. Lets not forget that we live in a world where sometimes you maybe given something to mix and the drums are just not right and no matter how much processing you do to them is going to change that. The feel is right but the sound is just not acceptable…what do you do. Replace the drums. We all know it would cost a fortune to go back intuit he studio and re-record the drums and that is why we use programs such as Trigger.
In one instance of the plugin you can seamlessly trigger multiple samples simultaneously such as a close mic sample, stereo overhead sample, and a stereo room mic samples, or mix as many different drum samples to develop your own custom unique sounds. This multi-channel triggering functionality allows the user to easily recreate the sound of natural drums with real multi-tracked samples. Of course the fun does not stop there - each sample layer has a host of parameters allowing you to control velocity and dynamic control, attack, sustain, release and independent levels to suite your sound. This is really what mix engineers as myself have been waiting for. The other absolutely killer features include 2 detection modes, MIDI in/out, automation, up to 127 different articulations per instrument, velocity layers, and a unique "Leakage Suppression" function.

Control

The 'Leakage suppression' function is really the icing on the cake and really is the function I have been missing when working with multi-track drums. Obviously the problem with multi-track drums is the 'bleed' or 'leak' from one part of the drum kit into another parts microphone which can lead to some unwanted triggering. For example the kick drum may cause your snare drum to trigger a sample when ever it is hit and this can be tricky to get around. Listen to the following audio here of a snare track taken from a multi-tracked drum kit and notice how much kick drum, hi-hat and toms you can here on the track.




To get around this, Slate Digital have brought this unique 'Leakage suppression' functionality, whereby you can instruct the plug-in not to trigger certain leakages on any given drum track!
In the past I have had to do some complex filtering to notch out certain frequencies or use sidechain compression techniques to get a workable result. TRIGGER does it all for you. Setting this up is as easy as pie but does require another instance of TRIGGER to be activated on a stereo group or aux track which you must send it the drum track that you wish to replace routed to the LEFT channel of this new group track and send the track you wish to use as the suppressor to the RIGHT side of the Trigger group. Adjust the Suppression control in the upper left portion of the display and hey presto suppressing bleed from other drums without any filtering or crazy EQ!


Suppose we just want to replace just the snare and we don't wish to use the suppression method as above, then no problem, as I mentioned above we are able to control the 'Sensitivity' (sets the engine’s sensitivity level), 'Retrigger' (sets the minimal interval between hits), 'Detail' (sets the level threshold below which the plugin will not trigger the signal) and 'Input' of any instance. The waveform display is truly fantastic for setting these controls exactly as you want them as you are able to see where to set the threshold precisely as well as using your ears. I had no problem setting these controls to get the sod I was looking for and I was able to get on with mixing the rest of the track in no time at all. Remember being a mix engineer means you are often working to a strict timescale so anything that can be used to increase the speed of your workflow is essential these days.

Listen to the same audio again with a new snare sample being triggered to hear how some unwanted hits will naturally occur.



Now hear it is using the above controls and all your unwanted triggering is now gone.



Ok so how does this all work when we are working with say 8 multi-track microphone tracks? Well, here is the sound of a drumkit I was given to start mixing on just as I was reviewing this product and consists of :

TRACK 1 - Kick In
TRACK 2 - Kick Out
TRACK 3 - Snare
TRACK 4 - Hi-Hat
TRACK 5 - Low Tom
TRACK 6 - Hi Tom
TRACK 7 - OH Left
TRACK 8 - OH Right


And it sounded like this:



Now these were by no means the worst drums I had the pleasure to work with but I knew the track need a little more power behind them and so I decided to replace the Kick IN, Kick Out, Snare and both Toms using Trigger. On an Aux track i loaded an instance of Trigger and sent the Snare track to the left hand side of this and the Kick Drum to the right hand side so that I was able to supress any Kick drum spill on the Snare track. I left the Hi-Hat and Overheads as they were but I had to make sure they stayed in phase by using Protools Timeadjuster (no need to on HD). The result sounded like this.




I am instantly a lot closer to the sound I am looking for in this mix and I have only just started playing around with only a few of the provided samples.

Installation & Added Library

At a mere 2.35GB, the install was extremely easy to do with 2.25GB of that being the accompanied high-quality industry standard 24 bit Steven Slate Drum samples which boasts: 45 snares, over 30 kicks (including 2 Deluxe kick drums) and 8 sets of toms (including 2 high-detailed Deluxe snares with adjustable overheads and 12 alternation hits per each velocity). All the samples in the Steven Slate packs are recorded to 2 inch tape and processed with the finest vintage and modern analog gear. Steven Slate Drums include three sample layers including stereo room mic samples from the famous NRG Recording in North Hollywood, California - basically they're all fantastic quality and they are all labelled as below so you know which are close microphones or ambient.

TRIGGER EX is the slightly cut-down version of the TRIGGER Platinum and the library contains 10 snares, 9 kick drums and 3 sets of toms.

Make Your Own

With Trigger's instrument maker, you can also create your own multi-velocity sample sets using your own drum recording or dig through your sample libraries. The instrument making tool is very simple to use - just load up 4 different samples and set the different velocity amounts and hit go and hey presto you have just made a multi-velocity sample set. Now just import this into Trigger and use it.


Here you can see I have 4 different snares loaded into the instrument mare - each one has slightly less reverb than the other so depending on where I set my velocity more or less reverb will appear in the mix. I tried this out using random drum samples too and I can see that this would be useful for more experimental approaches to mixing or even full music creation.
Alternatively you can use Trigger's MIDI Out function to send MIDI to your favourite drum instrument such as BFD of BATTERY and use the samples from there! How great is that!?

Conclusion
When using Trigger, you will hear tight, phase accurate drum triggering without unwanted mis-triggers, flamming, or phasing. Kick samples line up tight with the original kick drums, snare drum transients align perfectly, and tom fills come out exactly like the original tracks. The level of control is just what we need these days as we work faster than ever. If you are a serious mix engineer who needs complete control over those tricky multitrack drums then this is the one for you and it is as simple as that. No fuss and no hassle, just great performance all round. Its also worth noting that Trigger comes with two detecting modes, LIVE and ACCURATE LIVE and I found the ACCURATE mode is the professional studio setting, which enables Trigger advanced engine to replicate the original drum track with the most precise detail and natural velocity response.

TRIGGER PLATINUM

System Requirements
Windows® XP (32/64 bit) / Vista® (32/64 bit), Windows 7® (32/64 bit), any Intel or AMD CPU with SSE2 support, 1GB RAM, 2.4 GB free disc space, iLok dongle.
Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, PowerPC G5 or any Intel CPU, 1 GB RAM, 2.4 GB free disc space, iLok dongle.

Price
Trigger Platinum $299.00 (€235.19)
Trigger EX $129.00 (€101.47)

...the only choice for all your drum re-triggering practices...

Product page

PROS

• Phase accurate drum replacement
• Complete control
• Comes with Steven Slate samples

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• You'll be tempted to use it even when it's not really needed!

CONS

• Would be nice to have had some cymbals thrown in too
• Maybe make the sample browser a little easier to use

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

Yeah, yeah... the gear, plug-ins, controllers, etc.
But what about the music we love, and the good old physical media?
We thought it would be nice to have a few shopping recommendations here, taken from Amazon's catalog or from other stores. Special/deluxe editions, vinyls, bargains, etc.
You know, there's still a life beyond your mp3 player...

In this case the links are coming from Amazon UK store, which has often some great prices, even considering the shipping costs (and some of these items are not on sale in the .com site).

Oh, if you find something interesting you'd like to share, well, please tell us!

Moderat: Moderat [Limited Edition CD+DVD]

R.Sakamoto: Playing The Piano (Deluxe Edition)

Massive Attack: Heligoland (Triple Gatefold Vinyl + CD)

John Foxx: Metamatic: Special Edition

I remember the excitement I felt the day I got Logic for the first time, back when it was owned by Emagic. I'd just got my first little bedroom studio sorted out, and Logic was the cornerstone. I also remember 5 days later, as I stood there; a complete studio novice tearing my hair out as I tried to figure out how to get sound out of the speakers, keyboards to register on the logic arrange page, and a multitude of other issues that my inexperienced brain couldn't figure out.

If only Groove3 had been around then. Founded in Jan 2004 by Asa Doyle and Antony Livoti, Groove3 provides quality video tutorial training for many DAWs, software plugins, and virtual instruments around today, as well as videos of recording tips and techniques, and even music theory. There are different options for watching the videos; Buy the hard copy and download, Download only, or a streaming option, where the tutorials are available in your online account for 30 days, for you to watch as much as you like until the end of the month. As far as I could tell, the streaming option works on iphone/ipod/ipad too.

I got the download version of 'Logic 9 Explained'; a package of 40 video tutorials totalling almost 5 hours, that walk you through setting up and using Logic 9. With the download option, you get a custom video player that works on both Mac and PC, that is easy to use, with all the basic player features, such as volume, easy access menu for all the chapters, full screen capability etc. The total download size of 'Logic 9 Explained' was 1gb.

Presented by Apple Logic Certified Pro Eli Krantzberg, each of the 40 Chapters are bite-sized chunks of between 5 and 10 minutes long. They are screen video captures of Logic 9 in action, with Eli's voiceover explaining what's happening on-screen. I was curious as to whether I'd get fed up with listening to Krantzberg's voice, as there's only so much time you can spend listening to one voice. But no, it was fine. The Chapters start right at the very beginning (assuming you're capable of installing the software off the discs…), walking the viewer through starting up the program, setting up your hardware so that you can get sound, and a basic description of the files, regions, and different windows that you see when you first get stuck in to Logic. The assumption with this package is that the viewer is opening Logic for the very first time, and doesn't have much of an idea what anything is. From there, Krantzberg takes you deeper into the software in a careful and concise way. All the main elements of Logic are covered: how to record audio, record midi, to edit, to mix, to use plugins, and to bounce audio. Once all these basics are covered (very comprehensively), the video tutorials step up to more of an intermediate level, with chapters covering some recording and editing tips, tricks and techniques. For example, one chapter is about setting up a headphone mix, another is tips on recording a vocalist live, quick-swipe comping, or how to stutter edit. Some of the new software elements that were introduced with Logic 9 have their own chapters; Specifically Flex time has two chapters devoted to it. Flex time is a powerful algorithm that enables the user to stretch or compress audio files right in the arrange window, with excellent sonic results. This tool can speed up the work process exponentially, as you don't have to process audio in a different window, or program. The tutorials provide a great explanation of how flex time works, and how to use it efficiently.

I enjoyed the tutorial training thoroughly. I really enjoyed the fact that each chapter is in bite-sized chunks - you can watch one or two 5-minute videos and learn some really useful stuff, but not feel like you've been sitting through a lecture. This enables you to learn easily at your own pace. The menu system on the video player (and I assume on the online stream too) is very clearly laid out, with a short synopsis of what's contained within each chapter. The hard copy and the download one come also with Logic session files (they can be found in the "Extras" folder), so that users can try to reproduce everything they're learning on their own computer.

Conclusion

If you are just starting out with Logic, this training package covers all the ground you need to become very proficient at using Logic as a production tool, and will save you hours and hours of frustrated time-wasting. I would highly recommend this to anyone I knew who had just bought logic. I have to say, that even though I've been using Logic for over a decade, the software is so deep and flexible, there's always more to learn, and I learned quite a few things from watching the tutorials, including some tips that will definitely speed up my music making process.

Here's a screenshot of a video tutorial. You can see the menu on the right hand side, with some of the different chapters listed.



Price

Buy the disc, and download, for $54.99
Download only $49.99
Stream online for 30 days for $17.99

This product covers all the bases if you're starting off with Logic 9

Product page

PROS

• Excellent reference and training for beginners
• Relatively short chapters keep the attention
• Session files
• Great quality audio/visual

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• This product covers all the bases if you're starting off with Logic 9. If you've had it a while, and consider yourself an intermediate, or power user, you'll probably already know most of the information in this package. There are more in depth and specific logic training tutorials available!
  

CONS

• None really at this price - does what it says on the box

by Andy Dollerson

Puremagnetik is a company that aims to harness the power of Ableton Live's elaborate system of audio and instrument routing. With their current lineup of products (mostly sample libraries, but they just entered the MaxforLive field too), the company serves up Live Packs that range from solid basics all the way through to elaborate sonic experiments.
In this first installment of two articles, I will cover recent subscriber download HackShop, the company's Drum and Percussion Bundle, and legacy MicroPak, Bender.

HackShop
HackShop is a selection of distorted, modulated, and beautifully grimy sampled instruments. The package includes 2 basses, 2 pads, and 4 percussion presets for Drum Rack. Each of the included Instrument Rack presets make good use of Live's internal plug-ins and routing options. Puremagnetik has also conveniently set up macros for controlling the “go to” parameters for each preset. Sonically, these patches are covered in distortion, modulation, and filtering. The result is a fuzzed-out, mechanized kind of sound suitable for glitch, industrial, and aggro tech music styles.
The samples involved are supplied by a circuit bender called The Violent Scar. Living up to his name, this collection serves up a selection of sinisterly modded Barbie karaoke machines, a defiled toy guitar, a home built optical theremin, and a modified Yamaha DD 50 drum machine. The collection of instruments leans toward the dark and foreboding for certain.
HackShop also includes over 100 percussive loops that are equally as mangled as the included instruments. The collection of Live Clips offers everything from mutated, evolving abstract percussion to alien sound excursions.
Perhaps the most impressive part of this Pack are the percussion patches for Drum Rack. Each of the kits is chock full of bleeps, squeals, and mechanical bangs. Best of all, most of the kits have enough samples to cover most of your keyboard, which gives the user plenty of options for creating their own twisted rhythms.
If distorted, circuit bent, machine sounds inspire you and you are an Ableton Live 8 user, then you can't go wrong with HackShop.

Drum and Percussion Bundle
Puremagnetik's Drum and Percussion Bundle is a collection of Drum Rack instruments for Live. The Micropaks include Trap Kit, Purple Kit, Digital Beatboxes, Analog Drums, and B System: Percussives. The sounds included cover the gamut of sampled drums with everything from multi-sampled acoustic kits, to classic digital drum machine patches, and modular synthesis mayhem straight from a powerful (and pricey) Buchla system.



In checking out the drum sounds, I kept finding myself inspired. A Digital Beatboxes kit called “Tighty” inspired the first demo, while a patch from Analog Drums called “Electrostatic Kit Basic” ignited the second demo (see below). Moving through the patches, I found the selection of electronic drum sounds impressive. The included electronic sounds are void of the typical 808, 909, SR78, and “pop kit” type drum sounds and instead provide effect laden, yet useful analog and digital drum patches.



Also, on the electronic side of this bundle, is B System: Percussives. This collection is sampled from a Buchla modular and is truly a remarkable collection of synth percussion sounds. The routing options of a Buchla are vast, and Puremagnetik has made great use of the Buchla's unique sound in these patches for Drum Rack.

The sampled acoustic kits included in the Drum and Percussion Bundle are Trap Kit (a vintage, style Ludwig Set) and Purple Kit (a highly customized modern set). Diving right into Trap Kit I found the samples to be cleanly recorded. At the heart of Trap Kit is the kick, and it has a nice distinct, vintage “thud” to it. The snare is warm and lacking in modern “snap,” which makes it a sure fit for “vintage” styles of music. The toms have the unmistakable retro vibe one would expect from a 60s Ludwig kit. On the downside the crash sounds a bit brittle; however, the included crash ride does offer a bit more in the way of complex, life-like overtones. The hi hats have a good character, with a nice, complex overall sound.
Moving on to Purple Kit, I found it to be a high quality kit, with numerous presets offering the choice of stick, rod, or brush hits. These multi-stick patches work in as a Drum Rack with samples loaded in Ableton's powerful Sampler instrument.
While these patches sound great, and offer the flexibility to change stick sounds on the fly, I found them to be pretty resource heavy – spiking up to 45% CPU usage on my 2Ghz Core 2 Duo – of course more modern processors should fair better.
Thankfully, Puremagnetik has also included a separate folder of Drum Racks linked to Simpler, which are much more resource friendly. The sound of Purple Kit is aimed at hip hop and R & B genres as it contains no toms whatsoever. There are individual dampened and open kicks, a 14” and 10” snare, Zildjian hats and ride, and a Paiste crash. Overall the sounds are punchy, with a slight hint of woody depth to the primary snare. The dampened kick has the quintessential R & B bump, while the open kick suits hip hop ideally. Aside from a slightly artifact resonant “zing,” the auxiliary 10” snare adds versatility to the kit. In addition to hip hop/R & B I could hear these sample making their way into other genres; however, it is worth noting that Purple Kit's lack of toms and cymbal options would not work for modern rock/metal productions at all.
Overall, Purple Kit is a well recorded, well organized, and genuinely good sounding kit aimed at urban music styles.

Bender
Another Puremagnetik offering that seems to have origins on the Island of Misfit Toys is Bender. Bender is an Ableton Live Pack made out modified toys. While most of the sounds are seriously gritty percussion, there are a couple of keyboard instruments. My favorite of these is a patch called “Alphabet,” that is apparently ripped from a toy known as the Coleco Talking Teacher. This particular patch can be heard in Sound Demo 1. The included percussion in bender is just what you would imagine: toy sounds which have been bit crushed, over driven, and filtered in sonically perverse ways. Although the applicability of the included sounds is somewhat limited, Bender is certainly a good compliment to your Ableton sound palette.

Conclusion
The sounds I sampled in writing this article are fresh, original, and affordable. Given the myriad of sound manipulation possibilities in Ableton Live, it is important to remember that these Live Packs are sonic fuel for Live's elaborate routing system – the real tweaking begins when you get them installed. The sounds are cleanly recorded, intelligently organized, and feature convenient macros for useful parameters. Puremagnetik's extensive catalog has something for everyone, including those who use Kontakt or Apple Logic, for which the company offers alternate versions of most of their products.
In Part Two, I will take a look at current subscriber downloads, Artifact and Phazeform Volume 2, so look for a follow up later in the month.

Price
Puremagnetik provides their products as both a-la-carte downloads and as a subscription service. Price points for individual downloads are $12 (USD). Puremagnetik offers monthly subscriptions which allow users to download current MicroPaks for $5.75 (USD) per month. There is also a Yearly subscription valued at $60 (USD), as well as the best value, $198 (USD) for the All Access Pass. The Puremagnetik site is updated monthly with a new MicroPak, and boasts an impressive lineup of back catalog MicroPaks and Bundles.

...from solid basics all the way through to elaborate sonic experiments...

Product page

Pros

• Wide selection of sounds, very original content
• Accessible pricing

Love It or Hate It

• Puremagnetik has so much to choose from, I could only imagine that there is something available that would inspire musicians and producers across many genres.

Cons

• Pricing structure, while reasonable, is a little confusing
• Some Ableton MicroPaks only run on Live 8 and higher

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

Terre Thaemlitz is a multi-media producer, writer, public speaker, educator, audio remixer, DJ and owner of the Comatonse Recordings record label.
He's also known for his work with the Mille Plateaux label.
A couple of days ago Terre published an open letter on his website. It's a detailed and heart-felt j'accuse, that deals with some of the "black-holes" of digital music distribution.

The facts: "...the original Mille Plateaux back-catalog has once again been illegally uploaded into major distribution systems, including Beatport, etc.".
All that has happened regardless if "none of the original Mille Plateaux catalog is authorized for digital distribution, all contracts have since expired, and all rights have returned to the original artists long ago."

How does it work?: "...companies such as iTunes, Juno Download, and others who have illegally sold my albums over the years typically receive their content from central distributors (such as IODA this time, or Iris Distribution last time), which serve as a legal buffer between the storefronts and illegal uploaders".

The consequences: "...we artists do not receive any money from their sale. The consumers' money is going to industry crooks who illegally and deliberately upload the materials solely for profit...Meanwhile, we artists face tremendous difficulty in having our unauthorized works removed from online distribution systems".

The context: "...ironically, major distribution thugs spend millions of dollars on legal actions aimed at eliminating not-for-profit file sharing, all under the pretense of their moral superiority in the fight to protect access to information worldwide. Let there be no mistake about the hypocrisy of the distribution system, which is only concerned with profit, and has no interest in liberating the flow of information from the shackles of commerce. To the contrary, their moral march to protect the rights of musicians is our demise, individually and culturally...".

The full document is available here.