Line 6 FBV Express mk.ii
Format PC/Mac, USB 1.1
Contact Line 6 UK, 01327 302700
Web www.line6.com
The original FBV Express was a loor unit for
controlling Line 6 hardware such as PODs and
modelling amps. The Mk.II also performs these
duties (with all but the earliest Line 6 units) but
is of greater interest to
readers due to its
USB port and ability to control not only Line 6
software products such as Pod Farm, but also
third-party DAWs and plug-ins via standard
MIDI control. This is facilitated with the freely
downloadable FBV control software, making it
pretty versatile, at least on paper.
The unit is a compact 25.4 x 33 x 11.4cm. It has
a metal chassis, four chunky footswitches and
a wah-style rocker pedal. All are assignable. No
external power supply is required as the FBV
gets power from the USB bus when connected
to a computer, or a standard RJ45 cable for Line
6 hardware.
Once installed, we had no problems setting
up the FBV control software with Ableton Live
to control Pod Farm 2 as a
plug-in, as per the manual.
It proved easy to do basic
stuf like change patches
and volume levels. The
pedal can control wah or
volume (or indeed, the
CCs of your choice), and
you step on the pedal to
switch between the two.
The simple GUI of
the software makes it
easy to assign pedals
to DAW functions. With
Reason/Record, it was
straightforward to get
the pedals controlling
transport, mixer faders
and efect levels – potentially useful for
hands-free recording. Using the FBV with Logic
Pro 8 proved less straightforward, although this
was simply down to the way Logic works.
Some users reported glitches after a few
months with the original FBV Express Mk.I,
Format iPad app
Contact via website
Web www.korg.co.uk
When Korg announced iElectribe on April Fools’
Day, it was easy to mistake it for a cruel joke.
Surely a £5.99 app couldn’t transform the iPad
into a fully featured groovebox? However,
true to Korg’s promises, iElectribe takes the
original hardware Electribe ER1’s classic step
sequencer format as its inspiration, allowing
patterns to be constructed from four real-time
synthesis parts and separate sample-based
open and closed hi-hats, cymbals and clap/snare
parts. Together, they provide plenty of options
for creating loops and song arrangements.
Although iElectribe has 64 presets and 32
templates to get you started, it’s easy to begin
creating a new track from scratch, either by
entering hits in step time or by recording parts
in real time and allowing the app to quantise
them for you. Most of the parameters can
be automated using the Motion Sequencing
feature, from pitch, pan and level all the way
through to modulation, decay and low-end
boost. It’s a very intuitive system that makes it
easy to get great results.
The central section
of the neat interface
allows a master
efect to be chosen
from eight options,
including two
delays, a reverb, a
chorus/langer, a
low-pass ilter, a grain
shifter, a “talking
modulator” and a
bit-crusher with
sample rate reduction.
The efects all sound
good enough to be
useful, though only
one can be applied at
a time. Next to the master volume control, you’ll
also ind a knob for a (slightly digital-sounding)
tube gain efect, which is always available.
Unlike the master efect parameters, this
distortion can’t be automated.
In its present form, iElectribe’s main
weakness is its inability to sync to an external
clock signal. A hardware Electribe would quite
happily do this, but the iPad platform means that
iElectribe can’t really play with other equipment.
Korg
Line 6
even though many others found it rugged
enough for prolonged stage use. Line 6 seem
to have ironed out these bugs with the Mk.II,
though, and if it proves to be as durable as it is
versatile, it should see you right for many a gig.
Forthcoming iPad accessories will hopefully
ofer a solution to this problem, but for now,
you’ll have to bounce your patterns to WAV iles
if you want to be able to use them in your DAW.
Despite this minor inconvenience, iElectribe
is an intuitive, great-sounding groovebox
app that ably demonstrates the iPad’s latent
music-making potential. Most of all, it’s simply
gratifying and fun.
August 2010 / / 115
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CMU154.rev_mini 115 11/6/10 12:07:22 pm