Recording - September 2012 - 56

Camel Audio Alchemy Mobile

The content-based sample/synthesis program for Mac and PC gets an iOS sibling
Review by Devon Brent

The Pro upgrade adds (deep breath) 75 additional presets and 25 additional drum loops, wireless remote control of Alchemy or Alchemy Player on your PC or Mac (including the polyphonic pitch bend control and polyphonic aftertouch that the Pro version adds), the ability to load Alchemy desktop presets, download any of the AM libraries you already own for the PC/Mac version for free, load and save projects on your iOS device, use Virtual MIDI so other compatible iOS apps can control AM, Export WAV and MIDI files of your recorded projects in AM, record Remix Pad movements, mark presets as Favorites, the ability to bounce down a recorded take to reuse within AM, and sync to external MIDI clock. In use AM is completely focused on being a player for Alchemy presets from the PC and Mac with a limited set of editable parameters. Fortunately, the available sounds out of the box have a wonderful amount of variety and are well programmed sounds. However, if you want even more sounds, you need to own Alchemy to transfer patches to AM. While they claim the Remix Pads give eight times more “sounds” per patch, these are just eight variations of the same patch parameters within the preset, which morph between then as you move your finger among them. Going mobile with the lack of storage space and processing power and coming up with something that largely just “works” is quite an impressive feat. But, as one would expect, corners had to be cut. The most notable difference is the quality of the samples themselves compared to the fullfledged VSTi version, and a lack of a few features from the Alchemy engine—the entire spectral audio engine is missing as well as some of the additive oscillators. Back-to-back comparisons of some patches showed that it hardly seemed to make a difference which platform I was on. The exceptions are patches with lots of high frequency content or features not available in AM, which point up AM’s limitations. While the difference in the sample resolution can be noticeable, AM to me is a scratch pad for coming back to your studio with Alchemy. If you don’t already have Alchemy, after playing with AM it won’t be hard to convince you to invest in the full computer version! If you do want to set up Alchemy Mobile for external MIDI control, the process is a snap: one Camera Connection Kit and an M-Audio Uno on my side got me up and going, no problem. However, I’d much rather use the high-quality engine of the VSTi version instead.

If you’ve been around the PC and Mac VSTi scene for any length of time, you may know about (or already own) Camel Audio’s flagship synthesizer Alchemy. We reviewed it in our February 2010 issue and took a look at some of the separately-purchasable sound libraries for Alchemy and the more editing-limited free Alchemy Player in our June 2012 issue. Camel Audio has just released Alchemy Mobile, a portable version, which begs the following question: How does one shrink one of the deepest synthesizers on the market, with its multi-Gigabyte library, into a 127 MB app for use on an iOS device? Let’s go find out. Features of a mobile Alchemist Alchemy Mobile (AM) is a re-creation of the powerful Alchemy engine with a much stripped-down version of the original interface reminiscent at first glance of Alchemy Player. AM is divided into 6 main sections on a single page; the preset and drum loop menus along the top, eight “freeform” sliders on the left (meaning their parameters change for each patch), the eight Remix Pads in the top middle, the two XY Morph Pads below them, an amplitude ADSR envelope and volume controls on the right, and the playable keyboard section along the bottom. The keyboard section offers single-key major and minor chord player option, latch mode (you have to touch the key again to release the note from playing), and BPM settings. AM in the app store is a free download with an in-app purchase for the Pro upgrade for $14.99. The free version comes with all the features above, 25 presets (plus 25 bonus presets just for registering with Camel Audio), external MIDI support, tilt and inertia performance options for the Remix pads, drum loop player with 25 loops, Sonoma Audio Copy and Paste between apps on your iOS device, and nine additional sound libraries to choose from with 50 presets each as in-app purchases for $4.99 apiece.
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RECORDING September 2012



Recording - September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2012

Recording - September 2012
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
State Of The DAW: 2012
WaveMachine Labs Auria
Cascade Microphones Fat Head II Active/Passive Ribbon Microphone
Jim Roach
Audio-Technica ATM25/LE Dynamic Microphone
Reviewed and Revisited: Yamaha 01V96i
Reviewed and Revisited: Adobe Audition for CS6
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 9: Signal Flow
iOS Music Tools: IK Multimedia SampleTank for iOS
iOS Music Tools: Retronyms Tabletop
When A Musician Needs A Music Video
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
iOS Music Tools: Camel Audio Alchemy Mobile
Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Readers’ Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - September 2012 - intro
Recording - September 2012 - Recording - September 2012
Recording - September 2012 - Cover2
Recording - September 2012 - 1
Recording - September 2012 - 2
Recording - September 2012 - 3
Recording - September 2012 - Fade In
Recording - September 2012 - 5
Recording - September 2012 - Contents
Recording - September 2012 - 7
Recording - September 2012 - Talkback
Recording - September 2012 - 9
Recording - September 2012 - Fast Forward
Recording - September 2012 - 11
Recording - September 2012 - State Of The DAW: 2012
Recording - September 2012 - 13
Recording - September 2012 - 14
Recording - September 2012 - 15
Recording - September 2012 - WaveMachine Labs Auria
Recording - September 2012 - 17
Recording - September 2012 - 18
Recording - September 2012 - 19
Recording - September 2012 - 20
Recording - September 2012 - 21
Recording - September 2012 - Cascade Microphones Fat Head II Active/Passive Ribbon Microphone
Recording - September 2012 - 23
Recording - September 2012 - Jim Roach
Recording - September 2012 - 25
Recording - September 2012 - 26
Recording - September 2012 - 27
Recording - September 2012 - Audio-Technica ATM25/LE Dynamic Microphone
Recording - September 2012 - 29
Recording - September 2012 - Reviewed and Revisited: Yamaha 01V96i
Recording - September 2012 - 31
Recording - September 2012 - Reviewed and Revisited: Adobe Audition for CS6
Recording - September 2012 - 33
Recording - September 2012 - 34
Recording - September 2012 - 35
Recording - September 2012 - 36
Recording - September 2012 - 37
Recording - September 2012 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 9: Signal Flow
Recording - September 2012 - 39
Recording - September 2012 - 40
Recording - September 2012 - 41
Recording - September 2012 - iOS Music Tools: IK Multimedia SampleTank for iOS
Recording - September 2012 - 43
Recording - September 2012 - iOS Music Tools: Retronyms Tabletop
Recording - September 2012 - 45
Recording - September 2012 - When A Musician Needs A Music Video
Recording - September 2012 - 47
Recording - September 2012 - 48
Recording - September 2012 - 49
Recording - September 2012 - Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Recording - September 2012 - 51
Recording - September 2012 - 52
Recording - September 2012 - 53
Recording - September 2012 - 54
Recording - September 2012 - 55
Recording - September 2012 - iOS Music Tools: Camel Audio Alchemy Mobile
Recording - September 2012 - 57
Recording - September 2012 - Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Recording - September 2012 - 59
Recording - September 2012 - 60
Recording - September 2012 - 61
Recording - September 2012 - 62
Recording - September 2012 - 63
Recording - September 2012 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - September 2012 - Advertiser Index
Recording - September 2012 - 66
Recording - September 2012 - 67
Recording - September 2012 - 68
Recording - September 2012 - 69
Recording - September 2012 - 70
Recording - September 2012 - 71
Recording - September 2012 - Fade Out
Recording - September 2012 - Cover3
Recording - September 2012 - Cover4
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