Recording - December 2015 - 10

R e v i e w s b y M i k e M e t l a y, P a u l V n u k J r. , a n d A l e x H a w l e y

Every year, our offices receive a wide variety of
items that are worthy of a mention for our readers,
but not all of them can get the full review treatment.
That's given rise to our annual Buyer's Guide, which
collects a plethora of products for the recording
musician-affordable, useful, fun, or all of the
above-and presents them in one place.
Please note that these are real reviews based on
real trials, not just press releases. If a product is listed here, it's been tried, tested, and liked, and you
can buy with confidence. We're holding off on iOS
apps until our January issue, which subscribers will
still get long before the holidays, but in this issue
we're going to cover pretty much everything else.
First up: presents you can actually wrap! Here's
a look at 15 hardware products of all kinds.
Enjoy!-MM

Novation Circuit
$329.99; www.novationmusic.com

In a lucky bit of timing, just before this Buyer's
Guide issue went to press, I received Novation's
newest product, the Circuit. It's a perfect addition
to our holiday wish list, so here's a quick look at
this wonderful little instrument.
The Circuit is a completely portable instrument for
composing and creating music quickly and at high

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quality. It's light enough to easily hold and carry, small enough to fit in a laptop
bag, runs on batteries (although it does come with a power supply as well), has
a surprisingly good sounding built-in speaker as well as a headphone minijack
and 1/4" stereo outputs, talks to computers via USB and to other electronic gear
via 5-pin MIDI In and Out, and has onboard sound engines that leverage the best
of Novation's long and storied history with virtual analog synthesis.
The Circuit's top panel has an 8 x 4 grid of velocity-sensitive pads, backlit
with full-color LEDs that change shade depending on what the grid is doing at
any given moment. It's surrounded by backlit dedicated function keys, and has
eight endless encoders with full-color indicators that change intensity depending
on settings. Two dedicated pots complete the top panel; one is the Master
Volume control, and the other is a center-detented Filter control.
The Circuit contains six sound sources: Synths 1 and 2, and Drums 1, 2, 3,
and 4. Each source is controlled by a step sequencer; the Drums' sequencers
make patterns of 16 steps, but the length of the Synths' patterns is assignable
between 1 and 16 steps.
Each Synth can play one of 64 presets, each of which has parameters that
can be tweaked using the encoders-tuning, modulation, filter, effects, etc.
Nothing's documented other than a list of patch names; the fun is in playing the
sounds and learning what the controls do. The two Synths' polyphonic sound
engines are based on the MiniNova keyboard, and they sound great, really
gutsy and clear with lots of character.
Each Drum has access to one of 64 samples-a selection of acoustic drums,
electronic sounds, hand percussion, and so forth. Drums can be tuned and their
envelopes controlled in real time.
The grid operates in many different modes, and each one is quickly recognizable by the arrangement of colors and intensities on the pads. You can play
Synth notes on a grid keyboard that can be chromatic or show one of 31 other
scales, add Drum notes to the sequences by tapping steps on the grid, alter
velocity and gate time on the fly, nudge sequences (move the first step) forward
and backward during playback, change tempo and swing value (the grid displays enormous numbers in a very clever way), and more.
Patterns (eight per source) are recallable from a color-coded grid in real time,
so you can mix and match your parts; an onboard Mixer lets you tweak levels
of parts or mute them; and an FX page lets you add delay and/or reverb to every
source as desired. There's even a Sidechain function that allows you to control
the dynamics of the Synth parts with the sound from Drum 1.
To top it all off, virtually every parameter you touch is automatable. A Record
button lets you overdub and layer pad play, knob tweaks, and more, within a
recorded chain of patterns to create a full song.
How easy is it to learn to use? I admit I have some practice with grid-based composition, but even so, I was up and running in under an hour, with enough confidence to go live on my Internet radio show and play a half-hour improvisation for
a worldwide audience, building up a track from scratch with scarcely a hiccup.

http://www.novationmusic.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2015