** 2 page review / 1202 words ** Expand ** EXPAND1.GIF ** ** caption ** Access all of your sounds from pop-up menus... ** /caption ** Danny McAleer looks at this innovative software MIDI sound expander... Owning more than one Atari isn't quite the luxury it once was, which is no bad thing, considering all the great music software that integrates well into a multi-computer environment. One such example is Expand from Softjee, that can be used on a Falcon while you're MIDI sequencing using an ST. In essence Expand is a software emulation of a MIDI sound expander (a concept all computer-based musicians will be familiar with), able to play up to sixteen different parts polyphonically, but with the added bonus of being able to replace the sounds at any time with samples of your own. The actual number of notes Expand can play simultaneously is largely dependent on how many channels the DSP effects are active on, and the quality of the samples used (a respectable 24-note capacity is cited as the maximum for standard Falcons). As a guide, using effects on two channels with 16-bit samples, at least ten-note polyphony is definitely achievable, before note-stealing, or audio glitches begin to emerge. Expand can be used straight out-of-the-box and there's a complementary disk full of multi-sampled instruments to play with, although it's much more fun to use your own samples. Both mono and stereo samples, in AVR, AIFF, or Windows WAV format are supported, with no apparent limit on size. When a sample is too big to fit into memory (or it exceeds the maximum allowable length, set in the Options menu), Expand will play them direct-from-disk, albeit only in a monophonic capacity, but still multi-timbrally, and with no apparent playback delay. Pick your own... Like professional MIDI sample playback devices, Expand allows you to create multi-sampled instruments; sounds that combine many source samples, mapped to either certain user-definable key, or velocity ranges. Expand actually offers a third method of portioning samples into instruments, MIDI volume, which is a tad unorthodox, but useful nevertheless. By assigning different sounds to key ranges, it is possible to sample the source instrument at many different pitches, and avoid transposing too far away from the base-note (which can sound awful). Of course, you needn't set-up a multi-sampled sound at all, as instruments can quite happily consist of just one sample. These "instruments" can actually comprise a maximum of 128 individual samples (that's one for each available MIDI note!), which leaves Expand ideally placed to recreate multi-sampled instruments and setting-up drum kits, or "performance instruments" conducive to live playing. Key ranges and base-notes (the sample's original pitch) can be manually inputted, or more quickly set by pressing the appropriate key on a MIDI keyboard. Some general settings for instruments can be set using the Instrument Map window, including relative volume and pan positioning (though these are also controllable via MIDI), and velocity/main volume zones. Here, as well as on the main panel, samples can be added to the instrument, by clicking on an empty location in the sound list. After allocating zones to each sample, various performance attributes can be non-destructively tweaked; sound properties such as its amplitude shape over time, velocity curves (this works by starting the sample playback at different points depending on the incoming note's velocity, and is very effective for certain sounds), and auto-panning, all using a graphic envelope display. Editing the various envelopes is done by simply picking up "points" on the shape, and moving them around the x and y axes. Unfortunately, looping samples in Expand is considerably more difficult, since it relies solely upon the user setting two points numerically. No automatic looping, no visual aids, just a system that stands as much chance of getting a good loop (unless of course, you just want to use the start and end points, but that's cheating) as winning the lottery. Instruments can be saved to disk, optionally storing either all of the sample data pertaining to the multi-sampled instrument, or just a list of file paths. While the latter certainly saves lots of disk space, you must be careful not to move or alter the samples (in terms of its file size) in an instrument, otherwise Expand won't be able to re-load them at a later date. As well as saving individual instruments, Expand allows you to store complete configurations in separate files, so a whole bank of instruments, all the MIDI parameters, and customised DSP effects, can be quickly recalled for different songs and such like. Extra bits Expand even has two built-in, real-time DSP effects, applicable to any number of the instrument channels. Additionally, both the reverb and delay algorithms are editable in such detail that it's quite possible to create other effects such as flanging, early reflections, double-tracking, chorus, and so on. The reverb effect has settings for pre-delays, effect depth, and low-pass filtering, while parameters such as feedback, modulation, and decay times, can be set for the delay effect. Both algorithms also have a "phase" button which, unsurprisingly, phase inverts one of the two audio channels to give the effect greater stereo separation, and sixteen user-locations for storing settings. Astonishingly, Expand can be run as a desktop accessory (a built-in memory manager in the Options menu limits the amount of RAM it allocates), and in this mode, intercepts MIDI messages from Cubase and plays them as if Expand was an integral part of the sequencer. Other functions in the Options pop-up menu include sampling rate (with a choice of preset Falcon and external clock frequencies), support for FDI/external 44.1/48KHz clock, and a built-in MIDI volume mixer panel. Using a Falcon running Expand with a separate dedicated sequencer (hardware or software) really is as easy as if it was a rack-mount sound expander, with impeccable MIDI timing, and extensive MIDI controller compatibility (program changes, pan, volume, pitch bend and other controller messages are all recognised by Expand). Summing up It's a measure of just how good Expand is that my only criticism is the rather plain interface - some of the buttons and sliders look like they've been covered in cola. Expand has more fine points than a box of shiny, newly-sharpened pencils, it's technically astounding, infinitely useful and easier to get sound out of than the vicar's wife at coffee and biscuits' morning. ** Boxout ** Expand v1.04 Publisher: Softjee 47200 Longueville, France Email: softjee@softjee.com http://www.softjee.com UK Distributor: Titan Designs 6 Witherford Way, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6AX Tel: 0121 693 6669 Email: info@titan-bss.co.uk http://www.titan-bss.co.uk Price: œ44.95 Requirements: Falcon030, 4Mb RAM, VGA/RGB, and aMIDI keyboard or sequencer to trigger sounds Pros: Fully-editable DSP effects, complements Cubase wonderfully, simple-to-use, excellent results. Cons: Functional, rather than sexy interface, with a few fiddly bits, difficult to loop samples. 85% ** /boxout ** ** Images and captions ** ** EXPAND2.GIF ** You'll encounter less pitfalls creating an instrument list than you would preparing a seating plan for antagonistic friends and annoying relatives ** EXPAND3.GIF ** "Shape goes up, shape goes down, shape goes up..." No matter how much you fiddle with it, the envelope window won't break ** EXPAND4.GIF ** Expand's set of stiff, sticky sliders to control your MIDI mix with ** EXPAND6.GIF ** If you think this looks complicated, you should see the reverb window!