Recording - December 2010 - 18

Pianoteq—in all versions—installs as a standalone with a built-in MIDI recorder for piano performances, and as a plug-in (Windows or Mac, VST, AU, or RTAS). It has a surprisingly small CPU hit for such powerful modeling, and sounds and plays exquisitely. If you’ve been using a sample-based piano instrument and are looking for something that gives you a different sense of nuance and control, download and try the demo, and prepare to be amazed.—MM with Richard Shore Alesis MultiMix 8 USB FX $199; www.alesis.com

Alesis has been in the business of providing useful USBenabled mixers for years now, from the tiny MultiMix 4 USB I reviewed for last year’s Gift Guide to 16-channel systems with all the perks of a big mixer plus multitrack interfacing via USB 2.0. The MultiMix 8 USB FX falls near the entry-level end of that spectrum. It’s a well-featured 8-channel mixer with basic 2-in/2-out USB connectivity for the small studio that wants to add mixdown and monitor capabilities with a DAW. It comes bundled with Steinberg Cubase LE 5. Alesis has introduced a new chassis design with the MultiMix 8 USB FX; it’s larger than its cousins, with widely spaced controls for easy use and userremovable endcaps for tight spaces. If you value access over space savings, this will be a good choice for you. The mixer offers four mono channels and two stereo channels, two aux sends (one prefader to an external jack and one postfader to the built-in effects), two stereo returns, 2-track I/O on RCA for a recorder or playback device, and 1/4" TRS balanced outputs for the Main and Monitor signals, plus a front-panel headphone jack with its own level control.
18
RECORDING DECEMBER 2010

All four mono channels have XLR or 1/4" TRS balanced inputs, 80 Hz lowcut filter switches, and gain knobs. The first two channels add TRS insert jacks and a 3-band eq with sweepable mid; the other two have a 3-band eq with fixed mid (1 kHz vs. the Low at 80 Hz and the High at 12 kHz). The two stereo channels have balanced TRS inputs and a 2band eq with High and Low. Switches allow you to route the 2-track RCA input and the USB return from your computer to the Main Mix or the Monitor Outs, with a switch to route the Main to the Monitor if desired. This lets you get a good solid signal out to your PA or external recorder while adjusting the control room level or headphones to your taste. The effects processor can be bypassed with a footswitch, and has 15 programs to choose from: 3 rooms, 3 plates, 2 halls, 2 delays, chorus, flanger, rotary speaker simulator, and 2 chorus/room combinations. They’re all quiet, clean, and sound good, tending more to the subtle than the outrageous. Interestingly, the effects select knob has a Bypass setting that’s way noisier than any of the actual effects! It’s easy enough to avoid using this setting, though—just turn down the FX return level. The mixer is clean and well-built, and does its tasks well. The main thing you’ll need to ask yourself before buying it is if its feature set matches your workflow. For example, if you need a monitor mix for a band, the prefader Aux Send is very useful, but if you want to use an external effects processor, you don’t have a postfader send that goes anywhere besides the internal effects. And, of course, you’ll need to decide if recording a mix of your channels rather than multiple tracks to your DAW is sufficient for your needs. If you’re in the business of recording a few more sources than the usual one-man bedroom studio operation—say, a vocal mic, a guitar, and maybe a couple of other instruments, or a simple 4-channel drum mix with kick, snare, and overheads, plus stereo sources like a keyboard or drum machine—then you’ll find the MultiMix 8 USB FX a good fit for your studio, with the added benefit of stereo USB recording and playback with your computer.—MM Beta Monkey Drum Werks Volumes XV–XVIII $29.99 each; www.betamonkeymusic.com Drum Werks drum loop libraries represent the essence of Beta Monkey’s special approach to this material—no frills, just great content, all at very affordable prices. These four volumes, the latest in the series, are referred to as the L.A. Rock Essentials Sessions, and represent a variety of loops and grooves all recorded in a single session with a single kit, so you can mix and match grooves and samples without having to worry about mismatched sounds due to miking shifts or other variables. Each library is sold as 16-bit WAV, 24bit WAV, or 16-bit AIFF; the WAV files are Acidized with tempo information for quick import to Sony ACID and other DAWs that read such metadata, and the AIFF loops are in Apple Loop format for easy integration with GarageBand and Logic. Loops are generally four to eight bars long; I like having these longer chunks to work with,


http://www.alesis.com http://www.betamonkeymusic.com

Recording - December 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2010

Recording - December 2010
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Recording’s 2010 Holiday Gift Guide
Theme Music for TV—A Production Report
Royer Labs R-101 Ribbon Microphone
Recording SFX—A Career Option?
Primacoustic IsoTools
Avenson Audio IsoDI
Getting Your Music Heard In Today’sCommercial Culture
Preview: Yamaha AvantGrand
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights.Chapter 9: Trademark Basics
Sonoma Wire Works GuitarJack Model 1and FourTrack 4.0.1
Readers' Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - December 2010 - Recording - December 2010
Recording - December 2010 - Cover2
Recording - December 2010 - 1
Recording - December 2010 - Fade In
Recording - December 2010 - 3
Recording - December 2010 - Contents
Recording - December 2010 - 5
Recording - December 2010 - Talkback
Recording - December 2010 - 7
Recording - December 2010 - Recording’s 2010 Holiday Gift Guide
Recording - December 2010 - 9
Recording - December 2010 - 10
Recording - December 2010 - 11
Recording - December 2010 - 12
Recording - December 2010 - 13
Recording - December 2010 - 14
Recording - December 2010 - 15
Recording - December 2010 - 16
Recording - December 2010 - 17
Recording - December 2010 - 18
Recording - December 2010 - 19
Recording - December 2010 - 20
Recording - December 2010 - 21
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Recording - December 2010 - 25
Recording - December 2010 - 26
Recording - December 2010 - 27
Recording - December 2010 - 28
Recording - December 2010 - 29
Recording - December 2010 - 30
Recording - December 2010 - 31
Recording - December 2010 - 32
Recording - December 2010 - 33
Recording - December 2010 - Theme Music for TV—A Production Report
Recording - December 2010 - 35
Recording - December 2010 - 36
Recording - December 2010 - 37
Recording - December 2010 - 38
Recording - December 2010 - 39
Recording - December 2010 - Royer Labs R-101 Ribbon Microphone
Recording - December 2010 - 41
Recording - December 2010 - Recording SFX—A Career Option?
Recording - December 2010 - 43
Recording - December 2010 - Primacoustic IsoTools
Recording - December 2010 - 45
Recording - December 2010 - Avenson Audio IsoDI
Recording - December 2010 - 47
Recording - December 2010 - Getting Your Music Heard In Today’sCommercial Culture
Recording - December 2010 - 49
Recording - December 2010 - 50
Recording - December 2010 - 51
Recording - December 2010 - 52
Recording - December 2010 - 53
Recording - December 2010 - 54
Recording - December 2010 - 55
Recording - December 2010 - Preview: Yamaha AvantGrand
Recording - December 2010 - 57
Recording - December 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights.Chapter 9: Trademark Basics
Recording - December 2010 - 59
Recording - December 2010 - 60
Recording - December 2010 - 61
Recording - December 2010 - Sonoma Wire Works GuitarJack Model 1and FourTrack 4.0.1
Recording - December 2010 - 63
Recording - December 2010 - Readers' Tapes
Recording - December 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - December 2010 - 66
Recording - December 2010 - 67
Recording - December 2010 - 68
Recording - December 2010 - 69
Recording - December 2010 - 70
Recording - December 2010 - 71
Recording - December 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - December 2010 - Cover3
Recording - December 2010 - Cover4
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