Recording - September 2012 - 57

While some of the Pro features (like Alchemy preset import and poly pitch bend and poly aftertouch via multitouch) are essential, I found the remote touchpad control of Alchemy to be more gimmicky than useful. First of all, just to get the feature to work, you must load Apple’s Bonjour service to your PC from either iTunes or during the installation of Alchemy. For a DAW user, any extra background services have always been a no-no. Also required is wireless connectivity from your PC. Having any type of LAN active in the background on a Windows PC— especially wireless—can cause DPC latency spikes which in turn cause audio glitches. Without wireless, my DPC latency is usually below 100 microseconds consistently on my current setup, but the instant I turn on wireless LAN, I get a major DPC spike every two seconds. Sorry, but I don’t want to remote-control Alchemy that badly; I’m told that it’s a bit smoother on a Mac. Conclusion That reservation aside (one feature out of many!), I find Alchemy Mobile a great mobile sketchpad to bring back to the studio. AM has some great stuff, a nice variety of great quality patches—even with the freebie version—that let you play with your iOS device on the go to get a song started. If you’re already an Alchemy user and own an iOS device, AM should be a no brainer. And at its price point, it’s nice to be portable with one of your favorite virtual instruments. And if you’ve never tried Alchemy in the past, try the free version to see for yourself how good Alchemy really can be. Price: free, $14.99 in-app for Pro version More from: Camel Audio, www.camelaudio.com Devon Brent (devon@recordingmag.com) is a musician and engineer working in Jacksonville, FL.

Welcome to the Library
Alchemy Mobile Free, as of this writing, has nine additional libraries beyond the factory content to load into the app as an in-app purchase: Arp Dimensions, BigTone, Biolabs Dark Space, Cinematic, Dance & Trance, Dream Voices, Dubstep, Guitar Mutations, and Luftrum Ambient. If you’ve bought the Pro upgrade and own the PC version of any of these libraries, you can download the Mobile library to your iPad for free. Here’s a look at five of the Alchemy Mobile versions of the libraries (you can read more about two others in our June 2012 issue). Arp Dimension – As the name implies, Arp Dimension is a bank of diverse electronic arpeggiation patterns. Many presets sound great and are musically useful. The library is sonically diverse, actually much better than many arp banks. Its only downfall is AM’s interface that doesn’t give as much granular control over the arp patterns as I’m used to. Still, if you like arps, I’d certainly recommend this bank. BigTone – The quality of the BigTone package was no surprise to me. I’ve been a longtime fan of Nico Herz’s expert programming skills and this set does not disappoint. The wonderful variety of pads, soundscapes and arps are the true gems in this package. If you’re looking for a range of sounds, I certainly recommend this set. Cinematic – Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than playing a deeply intricate and layered pad sound. It’s even better when these can be used in a musical context and can be played outside of middle C on your keyboard. These expertly crafted patches are simply sublime and make a perfect backdrop for video or other multimedia projects. Guitar Mutations – A very eclectic selection of guitar oddities and manipulation of clean and distorted guitar sounds. While it didn’t float my boat as much as I had hoped (the sounds are a bit too sonically dense), its bizarre textures and soundscapes can be quite useful, again for video and multimedia. Luftrum Ambient – A pleasant surprise—the patches have a familiar feel to them, yet this bank has its own signature sound. A wonderful collection of arps, pads and soundscapes that can evoke a musically relevant emotion or vibe. Highly recommended.—DB

http://www.camelaudio.com http://www.stedmancorp.com http://www.realtraps.com

Recording - September 2012

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