Music Software

For quite some time Propellerhead Reason was my "Preferred Weapon of Choice" (and before that Cubase), but many times I had looked at Ableton Live and especially when I came at their site at a time they had a 33% discount I was close to buying it. But it wasn't until the release of their Push 2 hardware controller I actually did decide to get a bundle of Push 2 along with Ableton Live Suite.

Ableton Live has its own take on how a DAW should function, and I guess that is what make people either LOVE or HATE it (there is nothing in between). As its name denote, Live was originally geared towards live usage, where you can layout your performance as a bunch of "Clips" that can be triggered by various hardware controllers (so I guess that is one reason why many DJ's prefer Live, over more traditional DAWs like Cubase, Protools and so on). In many cases I start my projects in Lives Session-view, where I quickly get my ideas recorded as a bunch of "Clips", and when I get a more clear view about how I want to combine these Clips as a song, I move into Arrangement-view. These days I only use Ableton Live as my DAW, and Reason I only use as a (VST) Rack within Live.

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In March 2003 I started out armed with a hardware mixer, a Yamaha MOTIF 6 Synthesizer and Steinberg Cubase SL 1. It wasn't until December the same year I got my first version of Reason (2.5), and over the years I have updated it as new versions comes along, and for each version I loved it more and more. However these days I mostly use the Reason rack as a VST plug-in within Ableton Live, however I do run it stand-alone from time to time.

Reason is very intuitive to work with since it is based around a big virtual Rack where you simply insert your virtual instruments and effects, and then you flip the Rack around (to reveal its back), and then you start cabling all the devices together as you would do using hardware devices. In many ways the Rack in Reason can be used as one big modular synth, so having Reason (along with Cherry Audio's Voltage Modular), I've been able to fight the urge to get a big (expensive) Euro Rack modular synth.

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Back in 2003 when I got interested in making music I started out using Cubase SL 1, and I kept updating it till I reached Cubase version 6.5. At this time I had more or less abandoned Cubase as I at that time more liked working with Propellerhead Reason. Anyway in 2007 Steinberg offered Wavelab 6 to all registered Cubase owners for a reduced price, so I went it. Asking me, WaveLab is the best Audio-Editor on the market, and I've kept updating it over the years I've been using it.

One of the things I like about WaveLab is its scripting feature, so you can easily have the program carry out some the mundane tasks, so you only have to concentrate on "the real work" yourself (it is a HUGE time-saver when processing many files - e.g. if you have sampled a hardware synthesizer in order to loop the samples within virtual samplers). WaveLab also accepts VST plugins, and owning the Waves Gold bundle along with a few extra effects, I can also use all these plugins directly within Wavelab.

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Having worked for years with Propellerhead Record/Reason I had gone used to working with their virtual implementation of the SSL (Solid State Logic) 9000 mixer, so once I moved to Ableton Live I kept missing my SSL channel-strips and the master-compressor. So when Waves had their Black-Friday sale in 2015 I had to get their Gold-bundle along with their SSL 4000 Collection. This collection includes a G-model Channel strip modeled on the SSL 4000 (along with a E-model) and it also includes the master channel-Compressor. Since then I have purchased many more Waves plug-ins. E.g. in my office/studio I cannot produce 100% noise-free microphone recordings, as there will always be the (low) noise of PSU-fans in the background, so I went for their X/Z-Noise (removal) plug-ins.

To be honest I have bought "too many" of their plug-ins (in the day to day life, I only use a handful of them). More is not better. If I started out today I would buy fewer plug-ins and they really learn how to use those few.

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The French company Arturia has specialized making virtual/software-editions of old analog synthesizers (using what they call "True Analog Emulation"). These products comes as VST-, RTAS-, AU-Instruments (they also comes as "stand-alone" programs, that can be run on their own - without a DAW). Each of Arturias virtual synthesizers can be purchased separately, however if you plan to get 2 or more you should instead look at their V-Collection bundle. This bundle contains virtual editions of some of the most loved, legendary  synthesizers of all times. I started using the V-Collection at version 2, and have since upgraded through the various version. At the time of writing this, the V-Collection contains:

• Moog Modular
• Minimoog
• ARP2600
• Prophet (and Prophet VS)
• Jupiter 8
• Yamaha CS-80
• Oberheim SEM
• Oberheim Matrix 12
• Jun-6 V
• Emulator II V
• Vocoder V
• OB-Xa V
• Wurlitzer
• Vox Continental
• Solina
• Spark 2 (drum machine)

The V-Collection also contains Analog Labortory which can be seen as a front-end/librarian for all of the synthesizers in the package, so you can load up a single "interface" that lets to browse through a huge collection of sound presets.

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Thanks to the Arturia V-Collection (mentioned above) I have access to some (GREAT SOUNDING) virtual implementation of some of the most sought-after analogue hardware synthesizers. I would not have the money to buy all these analogue hardware synthesizers 2nd hand (nor would I have room for them all in my studio/office). But thanks to companies like Arturia I don't need to bust the bank in order to get the sounds these analog beasts make. However Arturia is no the only contender in the field. Thanks to the Korg Legacy Collection (by Korg) you can get virtuel editions of some of their old hardware synthesizers. Like the V-Collection the synths that make up the Legacy Collection are also very great sounding. The Legacy Collection contains the following synths:

• MS-20
• Polysix
• Monopoly
• M1
• Wavestation

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I started out with a few select of NI's (Native-Instrument) products (FM7 and KONTAKT 1.x), but as I got more (and wanted even more of their products), I ended up purchasing their KOMPLETE3 bundle late 2005. This bundle contained 13 of their products (REAKTOR5, ABSYNTH3, GUITAR RIG2, KONTAKT2, BATTERY2, ELECTRIC PIANO, INTAKT, KOMPAKT, B4II, FM7, PRO-53, VOCATOR and SPEKTRAL DELAY).

Since I have upgraded through various version of the KOMPLETE bundle (skipping a few on the way), and currently I am running with KOMPLETE11. In every new KOMPLETE-bundle some of the old products (e.g. KORE, INTAKT, KOMPAKT, FM7, VOCATOR and SPEKTRAL DELAY) becomes obsolete and disappear from the bundle, but on the other hand, new versions of "old products" sees the light of day, along with totally new products. I like the very idea of the KOMPLETE-bundle. Once a year (or every 2-3 years) you simply purchase an update of the latest bundle and then you know you got the latest version of all products and you are set until the next time you want to upgrade.

Beside the plug-ins mentioned above (from Waves, Arturia and Native-instruments), I am using a bunch of different plug-ins. Here below I have mentioned a few of the plugins I use (grouped by Company):

Cherry Audio
For many years I have had a real hardware modular synth on my wish-list. However every time I look at the modules I would like to have I end up looking at a price tag of more than €4000, hence it have stayed a dream. Reason (by Reason Studio) can somewhat be regarded as a big software modular, however it didn't completely scratch my modular itch. Finally in 2021 I stumbled on the company Cherry Audio. They have some great software synth (of which I have a small hand-full) however it was their Voltage Modular that really caught my eye. Voltage Modular comes with a few modules, but a lot more can be purchased through their eco-system (I have even developed at couple myself, for my own usage). I both runs as a stand-alone product, and it can run as a VST plug-in within your DAW of choise.

Spectrasonics
For a long time I had my eyes on Omnisphere (before that "Atmosphere"), but its hefty price-tag ($499) kept me from buying it. In both Atmosphere and the first version of Omnisphere you could only use the samples that came with the factory library. However this changed with the release of Omnisphere II, which except its huge factory library (+50 GB) also allows you to use your own waveforms as basis for its sounds. So in the end I could not resist any more, and I ended up purchasing Omnisphere II. Omnisphere is perfect for long evolving pads and soundscapes that are perfect when making sound-tracks for movies, and this is also how many perceive Omnisphere. However it can also be used to make all other kinds of synth-sounds (why not use a Omnisphere-patch for your Bass and Lead-sounds?). The +50 GB factory library contains +10.000 presets, but they added a nice browser that quickly lets you search the sound you want, and watching the videos they have made, you quickly learn how to make your own patches, whether you want to use the samples from the factory library, or if you want to use sounds from your own sample library.

Spectrasonics have other products in their portfolio (RME Stylus, Trillian and latest KeyScape). If you own any of these other products, their samples are also available within Omnisphere II. As of now I don't own any of these, nor do I plan to in the relative near feature. Like Omnisphere these are also in the expensive-end of the price-scale, so you really NEED them before you actually go buy them (at least on my budget).

UVI
I had my eyes on the product Alchemy (from Camel audio) for a long time, however I never got to purchase it (since Camel Audio ended up selling Alchemy to Apple, who discontinued it as a stand-alone product, and today it is only available for Mac users as a plug-in in Logic). So in stead of Alchemy I went for UVI Falcon. In many ways you can compare it to Omnisphere (even though I many times prefer Omnisphere when making "long evolving pads and soundscapes"). Falcon is a lot more versatile than Omnisphere in the way it features a lot of different synth engines, both based around more traditional oscillators and samples (the Omnishpere II library do however contain a lot of waveform samples from diffent hardware synthesizer). The many differnt "synth engines" in Falcon more or less lets you accomplish what you could do in Alchemy. So I can only be happy I never got Alchemy (considering the way things went), and I in stead "waited for" Falcon. UVI also produces Sound Libraries or as they call them "soundware". These libraries can be purchased even if you don't own Falcon (in which case you need their free "player" called "Workstation"). However if you do own Falcon you can bring these "instruments" into Falcon, where you are able to do much more to the sounds as you can do in Workstation. Basically most of these soundwares are "sample libraries" (they are not all "virtual instruments" emulating real hardware synthesizers).

iZotope
Working with audio you cannot avoid hearing about the company iZotope. iZotope are perhaps best known for the mastering tool Ozone and their sound-restoration tool Rx, however unfortunately I don't own any of these (in stead I have invested into Waves plug-ins). However I have iZotope's spectral synth Iris2 along with the free plug-ins Vinyl and DDLY(DDLY costs $49.00, however was offered for free for a short while, when being released).

Iris2 is "a special kind" of synthesizer that accepts samples as input. It comes with its own +10 GB library, but you can bring in your own audio-files as well. I really like that Iris's library consist of "normal" wav-files, so you are able to use these audio-files in other synths/samplers as well (both the libraries for Omnisphere and UVI comes in their own special format, hence they cannot be used in other products). What makes Iris special is not the fact it can use audio in stead of oscillators (many synths can do this), however Iris has a special take on how these audio-files are used. Beside using traditional Filters (Envelopes, LFOs and effects) you are able to "draw-in" your own filtering. When "drawing" these filters the X-axis represent time, and the Y-axis represents frequency. A patch can consist of 4 different sounds (wav-files). So perhaps you only want to use the low-frequency sounds of Audio-1, the mid-frequency sounds of Audio-2, the high-frequency sounds of Audio-3 only in the beginning of the sound and Audio-4 will come in and out during the time it takes to play the sound, some time adding to the low-frequency sounds and sometimes added to the high-frequency sounds. This lets you merge 4 very different sounds (I would otherwise think you could not combine), and the "sum of these" will have the listener unaware how the patch was made.

When iZotope introduced Neutron they offered their "Music Production Bundle2" for at reduced prices, hence I was able to pick it up for $299 (or $373.75 including taxes), but considdering the normal price was $699 (excl. taxes) it was still a good price. This bundle includes: Neutron Advanced, Ozone 7 Advanced, Nectar 2 production suite, VocalSynth, Trash2 Expanded, RX Plug-in Pack,Insight.

McDSP
My first encounter with McDSP was in Reason where I got their (RE version) of FutzBox and their bundles of Equalizers and Compressors. I loved to use these products in Reason, so when I started using Ableton Live and Cubase again, I was missing out on these. In the summer of 2016 McDSP offered many of their products on a discount, so I ended going for their 6050 ultimate channel strip (contained all of the EQs and Compressors that I loved from Reason, beside many more additional Compressors, EQs and distortion devices) along with a VST edition of FutzBox. When SA-2 Dialog Processor was on sale september 2016, I got that as well.