JoMox: XBase09
reviewed by Geoff Farina
This box was one of the first TR-909-style drum machines that appeared in the '90s, precipitating a flood of Roland TR-X0X-style hardware and software that has yet to subside. Of these, it remains one...
Gear Reviews
Virtual Instruments
Ableton: Live 2 Real-Time Audio Sequencing Instrument
reviewed by Chachi Jones
Sometimes the best way to make a new song is to just mess around, dive-in headlong, and improvise until something you like starts to take shape. In other words, jam. Jamming is a fundamental...
Sonomic: On-line sample library
reviewed by David Huber
Whether you're an electronic musician who's searching for the right set of sounds to load into your software sampler or an analog bloke who's desperately in need of Amazonian crickets to lay into a...
Digidesign: Digi 002, Pro Tools LE 5.3.2
reviewed by John Baccigaluppi
See Issue #30 for my review of the Mbox as most of my comments there on small to mid-sized studios needing Pro Tools compatibility also apply here. You've probably seen the ads and know that the Digi...
Koblo: Vibra1000 Software Synthesizer for MacOS, Spongefork Software Instrument for MacOS, Real-Time Granular Synthesizer for MacOS, SoundForum Synthesizer for MacOS and Windows
reviewed by John Bosch
Four Freeware/ Shareware Software Synthesizers: Recently, for better or worse, my guitar has been gathering dust. I've been neglecting the faithful Fender for instruments which gather no dust:...
Ableton: Live Music Software
reviewed by Chachi Jones
For over 5 years I've struggled with a dilemma common among electronic music producers - how do you take compositions that took weeks to painstakingly compose and sequence and perform them to an...
Propellerhead: Reason Virtual Instrument/Sequencer
reviewed by AJ Wilhelm
This is an amazing piece of gear, I mean, uh, software. Welcome to Reason, the latest release by Propellerhead, the company that pioneered the virtual instrument/sampler scene with Rebirth and...
Native Instruments: B4 Tonewheel Sets software add-ons
reviewed by Rich Hardesty
As a very regular (and happy) user of Native Instruments simulated Hammond organ, the B4, it was nice to see them release a set of add-on sounds for this indispensable "virtual instrument". The new...
Native Instruments: Reaktor 3.0 software
reviewed by Donald Bell, Chachi Jones
A year ago Reaktor 2.3 came into my life a like a software messiah (read my review in issue #21). The program has so many mind-blowing features and functions that despite how long I've owned version...
Native Instruments: B4 Virtual Instrument
reviewed by Rich Hardesty
(VST 2.0, MOTU MAS and Digidesign DirectConnect) I recently had the pleasure of using Native Instrument's Hammond B3 plug-in appropriately dubbed the B4. For those of you like me, who have lusted...
Native Instruments: Reaktor Software
reviewed by Donald Bell, Chachi Jones
If any of you are bedroom producers whose tastes lean towards the experimental or electronic, then here is your holy grail. Reaktor is an industrial strength native synthesis program with an...