Recording - September 2011 - 40

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Spectrasonics
Omnisphere 1.5
New sounds, new features, and new interactivity... with an enticing iPad option as well
by Allen Goodman

...where we bring you follow-up articles with application hints and upgrade news about gear already reviewed in Recording

Harmonia allows you to add up to ten oscillators per patch, and independent modulation options for levels and fine-tuning on each oscillator. The ability to take a simple saw pattern and within seconds turn it into a lush warm synth is just, well... awesome. Waveshaper’s new Zoom Page offers new processing modules, including polyphonic Crusher Reducer sections with Force and Animation controls that can also be modulated. And Granular Synthesis has added the modes Speed and Position along with a new visualizer within its new Zoom Page, which gives you a graphic model on the parameter edits.

When we first visited Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere virtual synthesizer (May 2009), this reviewer was lost in a maze of sonic content and tweaking goodness. I declared it my “desert-island synth” and that still holds true. A couple of years later I’ve barely scratched the surface, and now Eric Persing and the Spectrasonics crew have released a massively exciting update to further stimulate and titillate users. Free to all registered users of Omnisphere, the 1.5 update brings a plethora of new features. As a quick reminder, Omnisphere runs as a plug-in on Mac (OS X 10.5+) or Windows (Vista/7) DAWs; it’s available in VST and RTAS for both operating systems plus Audio Units for the Mac, and runs natively in 32-bit or 64-bit on both OSes as well. Omnisphere 1.5 needs an Intel dual-core processor or better, running at 2.4 GHz or more, and requires a minimum 2 GB of RAM, but much more is recommended: 4 GB or more is optimal, with 6 GB if you want to use the Sample File Server to get around memory limitations on older 32-bit Mac OS X rigs (added in version 1.2). The program comes on dual-layer DVDs, so you’ll need a DL DVD-ROM reader to pull the data onto your hard disk. And speaking of which, the extensive multisample libraries used by Omnisphere require 50 GB of space. What’s new? Well, for starters, there are the 780 new patches which bring your total to over 5000 patches and 8000 total included sounds, which can be stacked in any of the 8 Parts available per instance of Omnisphere. Harmonia, Waveshaper, and the Granular Synthesis pages have all been updated with Zoom Page features giving you very intuitive and powerful methods for crafting your own personal sound.
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These new pages are fun to use and allow a greater understanding of Omnisphere’s complex synthesis features—very worthwhile all around. A reformatted and highly organized five-column Patch Browser lets you search by alphabet (A-Z/Z-A), by user ratings, or—a handy new option—by recent User patches from the User folder. Greater MIDI control options include support for devices with polyphonic aftertouch data output. Users with a multi-channel MIDI controller can now use a “Clone Part” function under MIDI Learn and Automation. Modulation Envelope points can now be key-command snapped to semitones when modulating pitch. And a user assignable Legato interval rule has been added. With this many factory and user patches and multis, new ways to drill into synthesis, and expanded MIDI, Omnisphere 1.5 is already an extremely useful update... but there are really cool additions are still to come in this review. The Orb Let’s see if I can stop myself from playing with this section for long enough to write about it! The Orb is both a performance interface and a controller. Using your mouse or finger (finger? more on that later) you can drag a small circular cursor on the “Orb”, which then randomly and automatically morphs between generated parameter scenes using the STEAM engine. By clicking on the “Dice” button, a completely new and random set of scenes is built instantly and new sonic possibilities arise. There’s one Orb page per Part, eight per instance of Omnisphere. With this new tool you can arpeggiate each patch, you can also customize or randomize each patch, and you can manually set the Orb as a modulation source. When you take all that, and you add the options for the inertia of the cursor, depth of the effect of the modulation, and the ability to record the cursor moves, you end up with an extremely powerful tool that not only makes Omnisphere much more playable and tactile but also personalizes it

Recording - September 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2011