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Archive for July 16th, 2010

Apogee GiO

[ 0 ] 2010/07/16

Almost a year ago the team at MusicRadar's sister magazine, Future Music, were summoned to Apple HQ for a sneak peak in to all things Logic Studio. That day focused on Logic 9, yet our insiders also came back with reports that an intriguing shiny silver box lay on the floor in front of their demonstrator - through which he recorded his guitar and controlled Logic's then new PedalBoard plug-in.

10 months later and the same box is now in our studio. The device in question is the Apogee GiO interface and control surface, which has been built especially for Apple's countless guitar-based producers and composers and which offers audio I/O alongside a controller optimised for axe-wielders.

Getting started GiO's rear-panel provides its I/O options, with a USB port for connection to your computer, a quarter-inch 'Instrument In' for your guitar, an output to send to your speakers and an optional MIDI expression pedal.

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GiO features a high-impedance input for your instrument but doesn't feature a gain dial, with input levels set via the 'Sound' panel within Apple's System Preferences. A/D conversion is provided at 44.1 or 48 kHz and at 24-bit and, as you'd expect from Apogee's proud history, sound quality is great.

Installation of GiO is simple - a DVD gives you access to the installer, which requires your details for authorisation via entry of the serial number and your email address.

Pedal to the metal

GiO's control surface is simple, yet very effective. At the top of the unit five transport buttons provide Record, Return to Zero, Rewind, Fast Forward and Play/Stop stomp buttons so that you've got easy-to-access control over Logic while wearing your guitar.

Below this row, another of five wait, with on/off bypass switches which are principally designed for integration with Logic's PedalBoard plug-ins.

Above each of these 'foot-buttons' a bold LED gives you a colour indication of any PedalBoard effects you set up. Step on one of the Bypass buttons and the LED 'mutes' with the plug-in. If you pick up your mouse and re-order your effects, the lights instantly re-order too.

By now you're probably thinking 'well, that still means you're spending as much time with the mouse as you are with the interface' and you'd be right. Except, GiO's final two buttons allow you to step to the 'Next' or 'Previous' plug-in preset, so provided you're happy to either step through Logic's own vast library of plug-in possibilities or to spend some time configuring your own, it should pretty quickly be the case that you're free to record, stop, go back to the top and punch in and out the effects you want.

Automation and effects

Provided you've thrown Logic's Automation into one of the 'record' modes like Latch, any stomp pedal on/off action you produce during recording will be written along with your audio.

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Korg Sound on Sound

[ 0 ] 2010/07/16

While the Korg Sound on Sound Unlimited Track Recorder (SOS) can record stereo audio in any location like the rest of the handhelds on the market, it supports overdubs - as many overdubs as you like, in fact - the amount only limited by its memory capacity.

With a wedge shape that makes it convenient for placing on a tabletop, the SOS can record through its internal mics but can also take external mic or line signals or the output from a guitar.

Guitarists can, in fact, benefit from an onboard tuner and a range of amp sims (just some of a wide range of onboard effects) to transform their sound.

The SOS even comes equipped with 50 onboard rhythms and facilities to loop audio and slow it down without changing pitch, so can be put to use as a practice aid and phrase-trainer.

In fact, it's hard to think of a useful musical feature that they haven't squeezed inside!

Perhaps best of all each overdub is recorded as a separate WAV file and the whole lot can be transferred to a DAW as separate tracks - all automatically lined up with the correct start and end points, if the DAW supports the BWF format.

It's rather complex to use (and baffling if you were expecting a straight up 'recorder') and there's no USB (so you'll need to use a card reader to transfer audio) but these are small flaws in an amazing bit of kit.