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who have not yet learned the subtle nuances of crotchet and quaver tools. I have to say that this is the fastest and easiest notation editor I have yet experienced in a DAW. Automation Mixcraft 5 now includes automation of any parameter of any audio track, as well as any virtual effect or virtual instrument that may be associated with a track. Each audio or MIDI (virtual instrument) track has an accompanying automation lane that can be opened below the track (Figure 4). For audio tracks, any parameter of any effect can be automated with an envelope in its own lane. For virtual instrument tracks, every controllable parameter in the instrument can be automated in addition to all parameters of any effect on the resulting

track, or to apply the same effects to all or portions of any number of audio tracks—a powerful addition. New plug-ins What version upgrade of any DAW would be complete without new plugins? Mixcraft’s new offerings start with Lounge Lizard Session by AAS. Lounge Lizard has long been my favorite electric piano emulation; finding it in Mixcraft 5 was a surprise and a delight. Messiah, a Prophet-5 emulation by Gunnar Ekornas, in my opinion yields a more pleasing Prophet sound than some costly commercial plug-ins. The package rounds out with G-Sonique’s Alien 303 Bass Synthesizer, a digital emulation of the Roland TB-303 Bass Synthesizer, and Pultronic Tube EQ, an emulation of a vintage Pultec equalizer; both emulations are quite passable.

excellent chance that Mixcraft will be able to use it, even in 64-bit Windows 7. Recently, I upgraded one of my studio computers to Win7/64. At the time I forgot that the audio interface in it was a Frontier Design Wavecenter PCI, which was orphaned in driver support after Vista. I was never able to get it to work with the last Frontier Design Vista drivers, but once I installed Mixcraft 5, I had full access to it with better than 5 ms latency. As far as I am aware, Mixcraft 5 is the only PC DAW that implements the WaveRT model to this extent, and I wish that such a comprehensive implementation was available in all Windows DAWs! Summary Mixcraft 5 is a very substantial upgrade from version 4. After working with it for a few months I can say that, apart from surround sound, there isn’t anything that I haven’t been able to accomplish to my complete satisfaction using Mixcraft 5 as a DAW. How capable is Mixcraft 5? Well, when you run it for the first time, a project named “Blood Pressurize” opens, a complete studio mix of a track by Glenn Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket. You can hear the demo, along with many Mixcraft remixes, on

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audio track. All of this is enabled, and simplified, through the use of stacked pull-down menus, so that any parameter can be automated independently in its own lane. While this automation capability is very tedious to apply using only a mouse, it’s comprehensive and quite powerful. Track improvements Mixcraft now supports track and clip linking. Any part of any clip on any track can be linked to clips on other tracks, allowing them to be moved or manipulated together. Linking audio clips and video clips is also supported, greatly increasing the power of Mixcraft’s audio/video editing. A Master Track is now also available in Mixcraft. Basically, the Master Track is really a global parameter automation lane that allows you to assign and automate global effects, level, controls, etc. to the final mix via the stereo output bus. Mixcraft 5 also now incorporates Send Tracks, automation lanes that control auxiliary buses. Defining a SendTrack automatically sets up an auxiliary bus without further involvement of the user. Once defined, a Send Track allows the user a simpler way to apply effects to just a portion of a given

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WaveRT Mixcraft provides a complete WaveRT audio model for sound device I/O. While WaveRT was available in previous Mixcraft incarnations, Mixcraft 5 now provides for use of WaveRT Exclusive Mode, where the audio device becomes exclusive to Mixcraft, and through which very low latencies can be obtained. In short, WaveRT will allow Mixcraft to communicate with most audio hardware without needing to install any special drivers. What does this mean? Well, if you happen to have an audio interface that was orphaned with the release of Windows 7 (or Vista, even), there is an YouTube. I found its inclusion with Mixcraft very illuminating. It definitely showcases how much power there is under the hood that can be tapped by even the most novice user. Anybody who dismisses Mixcraft as a viable DAW because of its price or the simplicity of its presentation is missing out on a real treat. Price: $74.95 More from: Acoustica, www.acoustica.com. John Rossi III (john3@recordingmag.com) is a recording engineer and musician in Naples, FL.
RECORDING OCTOBER 2010

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Recording - October 2010

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