Recording - October 2010 - 42
&
...where we bring you follow-up articles with application hints and upgrade news about gear already reviewed in Recording
Acoustica Mixcraft 5
This new version blurs the distinction between ‘entry-level’ and ‘fullfeatured’ DAWs
by John Rossi III
W
e took a Walking Tour of Acoustica’s Mixcraft 4 in our September 2009 issue, and I was blown away by its capabilities and ease of use. I got my hands on Mixcraft 5 several months ago, and I am delighted to report that this version retains all that was great from its predecessor and adds a whole lot more, all for only $10 more... $5 more on the street. The real beauty of Mixcraft, from its inception, lies in its elegant simplicity. Users who have even the remotest experience with multitrack editors can boot Mixcraft and accomplish the task they are contemplating, many times without even needing to consult a manual. It almost seems inevitable that when new features are added to a program, the program grows in complexity and the learning curve generally will get correspondingly steeper. Remarkably, Acoustica has transitioned Version 4 to Version 5 without increasing the operational complexity of the program. Indeed, if anything, small changes in the GUI (graphical user interface—the ‘front end’) and program operation have actually improved Mixcraft’s accessibility. Since Version 5 is a major upgrade with the addition of many more features, this is all the more remarkable. The features are many and my space is limited, so let’s jump in. Improved GUI The GUI of Mixcraft 5 has been given a modest facelift, as shown in Figure 1. Two features will be immediately obvious to users of previous versions. First, Mixcraft now allows for working with a video track. Currently, that track supports only AVI and WMV video, and the editing of the video is limited to rearranging clips, trimming/cropping, and crossfade transitions. Mixcraft isn’t a champion
1
Non-Linear Editor (NLE), but it does give the user more than enough tools to get audio tracks on a video intended for uploading to YouTube. It even allows synching video to the audio tracks with millisecond accuracy. Even as they stand, the video features of Mixcraft are very easy to use, very fast (e.g., in rendering), and the easiest way I have found to accomplish those simple video editing chores that seem to involve laborious processes using my pro NLEs. environment, including off the main video monitor. This allows the user to view the details without cluttering the lower portion of the video display. Since almost all of the non-track oriented information that can be manipulated in Mixcraft is presented here (e.g., project summary, track information, sound details, the mixer, Mixcraft’s sound library, and MIDI editors), being able to move it to a separate monitor greatly improves its utility. For example, full screen MIDI track editing would be possible. A Musical Typing Keyboard is also provided (Figure 2). This applet effectively turns your QWERTY keyboard into a 1.5-octave polyphonic MIDI keyboard controller for Mixcraft, complete with pitch bend, modulation, velocity, transposition, octave position, and sustain control. While it looks a bit strange, once you get used to it, it’s quite playable; it won’t replace dedicated hardware but could be handy at times when a MIDI controller is not available or practical, e.g. on an airplane. In addition to a fine piano roll editor for MIDI, Mixcraft now provides notation editing tools (Figure 3). What makes Mixcraft’s editor so unique and powerful is its use of piano roll-style bars that appear behind each note representing its length. The edges of the bar can be dragged in order to finely adjust start position or length of the note. This greatly simplifies the notation editing process, especially for novices
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The second obvious change to the GUI is the mixer. The mixer is rather spartan, even in comparison to the most basic DAWs that include one. Level adjustment, pan, muting and soloing controls are provided, as are meters, and complete control of any effect processing is provided by an FX switch—an analogous virtual instrument control switch is also provided on MIDI tracks. The eq is limited to three bands, however; while it does provide some frequency contour control, you’ll want a third-party VST channel strip plug-in for finer eq adjustment. There’s now undock detaching for the Details Tabs, allowing them to be freely moved around the monitor
42
RECORDING OCTOBER 2010
Recording - October 2010
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2010
Recording - October 2010
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Cakewalk V-Studio 20
Abbey Road Sessions—Good Reasons To Be Prepared
AKG Perception 820 Tube Microphone
A Basement Conversion—The Borla/Mouse Basement Studio
DAW Details
SM Pro Audio P-Control, DiDock, and CT-3
Green Glue
Alesis PalmTrack
It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 7: Income Earned By Songs—Part 2
Reviewed and Revisited
Plug-In Outlet
Do It Yourself: Rack Panels For Under Four Dollars
Cockos REAPER—A Walking Tour
Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Readers' Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - October 2010 - Recording - October 2010
Recording - October 2010 - Cover2
Recording - October 2010 - 1
Recording - October 2010 - Fade In
Recording - October 2010 - 3
Recording - October 2010 - Contents
Recording - October 2010 - 5
Recording - October 2010 - Talkback
Recording - October 2010 - 7
Recording - October 2010 - Fast Forward
Recording - October 2010 - 9
Recording - October 2010 - Cakewalk V-Studio 20
Recording - October 2010 - 11
Recording - October 2010 - 12
Recording - October 2010 - 13
Recording - October 2010 - Abbey Road Sessions—Good Reasons To Be Prepared
Recording - October 2010 - 15
Recording - October 2010 - 16
Recording - October 2010 - 17
Recording - October 2010 - 18
Recording - October 2010 - 19
Recording - October 2010 - 20
Recording - October 2010 - 21
Recording - October 2010 - AKG Perception 820 Tube Microphone
Recording - October 2010 - 23
Recording - October 2010 - A Basement Conversion—The Borla/Mouse Basement Studio
Recording - October 2010 - 25
Recording - October 2010 - 26
Recording - October 2010 - 27
Recording - October 2010 - DAW Details
Recording - October 2010 - 29
Recording - October 2010 - 30
Recording - October 2010 - 31
Recording - October 2010 - SM Pro Audio P-Control, DiDock, and CT-3
Recording - October 2010 - 33
Recording - October 2010 - Green Glue
Recording - October 2010 - 35
Recording - October 2010 - Alesis PalmTrack
Recording - October 2010 - 37
Recording - October 2010 - It’s Your Music—Know Your Rights. Chapter 7: Income Earned By Songs—Part 2
Recording - October 2010 - 39
Recording - October 2010 - 40
Recording - October 2010 - 41
Recording - October 2010 - Reviewed and Revisited
Recording - October 2010 - 43
Recording - October 2010 - Plug-In Outlet
Recording - October 2010 - 45
Recording - October 2010 - 46
Recording - October 2010 - 47
Recording - October 2010 - Do It Yourself: Rack Panels For Under Four Dollars
Recording - October 2010 - 49
Recording - October 2010 - 50
Recording - October 2010 - 51
Recording - October 2010 - 52
Recording - October 2010 - 53
Recording - October 2010 - 54
Recording - October 2010 - 55
Recording - October 2010 - Cockos REAPER—A Walking Tour
Recording - October 2010 - 57
Recording - October 2010 - 58
Recording - October 2010 - 59
Recording - October 2010 - 60
Recording - October 2010 - 61
Recording - October 2010 - Recording’s Showcase of Sounds
Recording - October 2010 - 63
Recording - October 2010 - Readers' Tapes
Recording - October 2010 - Advertiser Index
Recording - October 2010 - 66
Recording - October 2010 - 67
Recording - October 2010 - 68
Recording - October 2010 - 69
Recording - October 2010 - 70
Recording - October 2010 - 71
Recording - October 2010 - Fade Out
Recording - October 2010 - Cover3
Recording - October 2010 - Cover4
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