Recording - August 2015 - 52

Soundware Showcase
Output SIGNAL
by Jon Hillman

SIGNAL is the latest effort from Output, who first took the virtual instrument/sound design world by storm with REV (reviewed May 2015).
Described as "the world's most powerful pulse engine," SIGNAL is a
one-stop shop for pulsing melodic and harmonic textures of any kind.
Built for Native Instruments Kontakt 5.3.1 (or the free Kontakt Player),
this virtual instrument is both eminently usable and deeply customizable
thanks to its well-crafted user interface. If you don't already own SIGNAL, rest assured there is nothing like it in your collection.

If I'm not having fun making music, the music suffers.
For me, a central aspect of the fun is "performability"-
how easily I can adjust the sound in a musical way. At the
center of SIGNAL's interface are four macro sliders, and
every single preset has these assigned to custom controls
under the hood. Each macro slider controls up to 6 parameters, with per-parameter adjustable range (-100% to
100%). A lot of depth and variance is achieved here,
with musically interesting results most of the time.
When you try SIGNAL, be sure to map some hardware
controls to these macros, or you're really missing out. I do
miss these macros being freely assignable to any parameters I want, but the sound designers behind SIGNAL
have certainly given us a lot to work with.
Pulse Engines and Effects
Taking a general survey of the interface, you'll find two
Pulse Engines (A and B) on the left and right side of center controls for each that contain mix, sample source, and
ADSR (Volume and Pitch). The sample source is selected
from 25 live instruments or 25 synthesizers, all expertly
sampled, amounting to a huge palette of sounds.
Within each engine are Main and 2nd Rhythm slots.
The Main Rhythm can be based on one of four pulse
types, including Wave, Step, Arp, and Loop, while the
second can be based on only Wave or Step. Each pulse
type has 45 different variants in increasing complexity. If
that sounds overwhelming, it isn't-the interface makes all
of this a breeze to play with.
You might guess that the Wave pulse type provides a
typical LFO modulation, and each waveform variant controls the phase of the LFO. Of course, the Step type provides step modulation with adjustable steps. The Arp type
provides a very capable note arpeggiator with adjustable
steps and patterns. Perhaps most interestingly, the Loop
type provides direct access to the underlying source sample-adjusting the pulse rate gives you slices of varying
tempo-related length that loop, with adjustable sample
start time.
For the Wave and Step pulse types, an Advanced panel
reveals modulation routing with separate sends to volume
and pan, filter cutoff and resonance, and two pre-assigned
effect amounts. Achieving interlocking, tempo-synchronized modulation of varying complexity is a piece of cake
using these controls. Whether you're just exploring, or
have a specific polyrhythmic idea in mind, this is sure to
bring sonic interest to any sound you're working on.

Pulsing, tagging, and macros
Output describes SIGNAL as a pulse engine-one key to understanding this is that almost every sound you make with SIGNAL is
locked to tempo. This ranges from subtle modulation to aggressive filtering and well beyond. As expected, the samples themselves sound
amazing, ranging from fat analog synths to beautifully organic live
instruments. However, the core character of SIGNAL is
found in how easy it is to arrive at truly sophisticated
tempo-related sounds.
Delivery: Download Only, 40GB Uncompressed
I often scan through presets looking for inspiration,
Format: Windows 7+ and Mac OS X 10.8+, loads in Native
and sometimes this is a laborious process. I usually
Instruments Kontakt 5 (latest version recommended) or
know what kind of sound I'm looking for, and could
in free Kontakt Player
easily use words like 'Dark', 'Organic', or 'Syncopated'
Copy Protection: Requires Kontakt, uses NI Service Center serial
to describe it. This is where SIGNAL's tagging system
number
shines. Click on the preset selector and you're presentLicensing: Sounds can be used royalty-free in original music
ed with an array of adjectives-click on a few of these
recordings; no resale or repackaging in products for
and SIGNAL's 500+ presets are whittled to a manageresale permitted
able set you can flip through in a few moments.
Documentation: inline contextual help, PDF Installation Guide
In other words, instant inspiration. This implemenPrice: $199
tation isn't totally unique in the virtual instrument
More from: Output, www.outputsounds.com
world, but it is very well executed... and the presets
are just the beginning.
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RECORDING August 2015

http://www.outputsounds.com

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