Before I tuck into the main topic of this issue, a quick detour, as I thought this new video production app sounded really good, may be useful for my content on Modulations and maybe some of you will find it of interest?
Descript - a new tool for video editing
I was listening to the brilliant Syntax podcast on Spotify this morning about one of my other passions, web development, as apart from music and photography I’ve a HND in Software Engineering and I’ve worked in the industry for many years. I’m a 1000% tech geek.
Anyway Scott and Wes, the presenters of Syntax (see link below) were talking about recording their tutorial videos. They like me use the incredible Screenflow, much like I do for recording screencasts. They mentioned Descript, so I downloaded it to give it a go.
In a nutshell you have a “canvas” onto which you assemble your video presentation, the content being a blend of various assets such as b-roll video, your own recordings, screencasts, audio and as far as I know, video animations and other forms of overlay.
Now this may sound fairly standard but what isn’t, is the scripting feature. Using this tool you can work out what you want to say and how each part of your script interacts with the video. So it helps you build your videos in a more creative and structured way.
I’m going to try it out for a video post here, when I next do one of those. I need time to get my head around it
Landed on my desk this week - Arturia’s Keystep Pro and Minifuse 4
I love buying new kit, I don’t do it often these days but every once in awhile, it’s nice to treat oneself! I have been using a large Yamaha keyboard from the late 90s for a long time and it’s too big for my desk. Since I am looking to build up a desktop synth system over time, I am keen to see how compact I can keep things, as my office is, you know, only so big. Not to mention, this publication is aimed at people who like to build synth based studios on a budget and don’t live in manor houses!
If you do, you are still welcome!
I have something of a shopping list for the studio, as I like to call it, a new keyboard controller to replace the ageing Yamaha and a new audio interface.
I create music and explore sound design on both the Mac and iPad, so these new devices needed to support both.
Keystep Pro
So with this in mind I started looking at Arturia’s range of products, as they have a great reputation for both quality and innovation.
Arturia offer a number of keyboards, that are divided up into key groups including the Lab and Step ranges to name but a few. Since I am not a performer, composing my music out of sequences mostly and drum pattern programming. So it just had to be one of the KeySteps and the Pro model fitted my needs best.
I’ve had time now to play with it a little bit and oh my word! It’s an incredibly powerful piece of kit but before I dive into an overview of it’s features, let’s talk about how I’ve set it up and which software I’m using in this instance.
The Minifuse, which I write about next, serves as the nerve centre of the whole system, into which the Keystep is connected via USB, it’s possible to power the keyboard via USB but for now, it’s plugged into the wall outlet. Then the Minifuse is connected via USB to the Mac, which is running Bitwig Studio. I’ve both headphones and monitor speakers connected to the Minifuse.
The killer feature is without doubt it’s sequencing capabilities. You can record sequences in real or step time. Having done that you can control every note at a macro level and this is where it gets very very interesting. I got into it very quickly and started crafting some interesting melodies with the tools. For example you can lay down a sequence, copy it and adjust it and keep on going to create so much variation. Notes can be randomised, as in whether they occur every time or just occasionally, you can reverse sequences, invert them, change the key, velocities and all sorts. All of which can be carried out in real time, so if you are working with some saved patterns, you can jam to your heart’s content and create new material out of one or two basic ideas.
I will explore these in future issues of Modulations, as I could easily get carried away talking about them here.
Minifuse 4
The Minifuse 4 features two audio inputs for microphone, guitar and two headphone jacks, each with their own gain knobs. On the back there are plenty of outputs for audio and MIDI.
What’s more it’s sound quality is extremely good, supporting 24bit 192khz.
As I was saying earlier it can be connected to both the iPad and Mac plus other devices. There are a number of USB ports on the back alongside the audio outputs.
Arturia Pigments 3
Starting off with a quick piano chord progression (audio clip below), Pigments is an impressive soft-synth that you can run standalone or as a VST in your DAW software. Sometimes it’s just nice to run it standalone and have a play with your headphones on, you can get utterly lost and time flies by!
What is Pigments?
It’s described as a Polychrome software synthesizer, a wavetable and virtual analogue instrument. It’s an established product, having now been in development for 20 years. I picked it up for half-price in their Black Friday deal this week and have started to explore it.
It comes with a great selection of presets to get to know the instrument a bit better but for me, I prefer to craft my own because for one, it helps you hone your sound design skills and secondly, leads to better compositions because your music becomes more unique to you.
You can download the Pigments free demo and try it for yourself.
Venus Theory aka Cameron creates some brilliant videos about music and sound design, this goes into some depth and is well worth a watch if this is your kind of thing.