MOTU machFive 3

kit across a key-span using diferent Drum
oscillators. The Analogue Stacks can produce
very rich tones, and with all the subsequent
envelopes and modulators that can be brought
into play, MachFive 3 qualiies as a full-on synth.
Back to sampling! The new Loop Lab enables
slicing and rearranging of audio loops, as well
as similar editing of REX, ACID, Apple Loops
and UFS iles. MOTU have also teamed up with
French audio boins IRCAM to build high-quality
granular processing into MachFive, for superb-
sounding timestretching and pitchshifting.
Each of the ininite keygroups has its own
volume, pan, drive, iltering and envelopes, and
virtually all parameters can be automated and
modulated via a limitless number of envelopes
(AHD, DAHDSR and the freely drawable Multi),
LFOs and step-sequencers, as well as the usual
MIDI controller options. You’ll never feel limited
by MachFive 3 – the more you work with it, the
more awesome the sheer scale of it becomes.
The mixer environment looks like the mixer
page of a full-on DAW. Each part has its own
channel, into which you can insert any of 47
built-in efects, and there are auxiliary sends and
return channels for shared reverbs, delays, etc.
The list of efects is endless, going well
beyond the usual EQs, dynamics and delays.
Filter freaks will go nuts for the new Xpander
ilter, which is based on the Oberheim ilter of
the same name and packs 37 modes. On the
reverb front, there’s a convolution reverb (IR
Verb) onboard, which uses impulse responses
from various natural spaces and classic hardware
units. It sounds fantastic – as good as any other
convolution ’verb we’ve heard. There’s also an
algorithmic reverb called SparkVerb that
features a feedback delay network, separate
High and Bass decay settings (with adjustable
crossovers) and detune in cents.
The one and only?
MachFive 3 isn’t short on bundled sounds,
either. It comes with a whopping 45GB library
of samples and multisampled instruments on
seven DVDs. For some idea of the performance
detail you can expect, consider the fact that
there’s one full DVD for the Electric Piano alone
and another for the Telecaster! Thankfully,
inding and auditioning sounds from within
the huge library is made very easy by the
multicolumn browser.
MachFive 3 is advertised as the only software
instrument you’ll ever need, and there really is
no reason why it couldn’t be – apart from the
general beneits of diversity, of course. The scale
of the thing is truly spectacular: the library, the
sampling, the synthesis, the scripting, the mixing
and processing… And despite all that power, it’s
surprisingly easy to use if you’re at all familiar
with general software sampler architecture. The
scripting might take a while to get your head
around, and you could question the necessity of
using so much technology to replicate a guitar
player when there are so many of the real thing
out there, but the range of sonic possibilities
opened up by this one instrument is truly
wondrous to behold. To conclude, then,
MachFive 3 is on a par with Kontakt 5 – it’s even
a step ahead of it in several areas.
Web www.motu.com
Contact MusicTrack, 01767 313447
Info Upgrade, £138; Crossgrade, £219
Verdict
For Sounds amazing
Performance possibilities through
scripting are endless
Synth engines broaden sonic range
An excellent sampler!
Massive, easily accessible library
Detailed mixer with plenty of efects
Against Drum kit a bit limited
A lexible and complete sound design
environment that not only rivals Kontakt 5
as a sampler, but also is a splendid synth
10/10
Alternatively
Native Instruments Kontakt 5
170 » 9/10 » €379
The industry standard, but outdone
in many ways by MachFive 3
Steinberg HALion 4
168 » 9/10 » £295
Very capable sampler that now also
boasts synthesis and more
MachFive 3 goes to great lengths to
realistically reproduce the sound of
acoustic and electric instruments, and
this is helped by its new scripting
system. Scripting enables – among other
things – incoming MIDI data to be
transformed before it reaches its target
parts. Possibilities include everything
from arpeggiators and portamento to
chord recognition and vibrato.
Take the Telematic scripted
instrument, which is a multisampled
Fender Telecaster guitar. It comprises
over 2400 samples, and the scripting
enables incoming chord information to
be transformed into the natural voicing
of a guitar. Keyboard switching enables
up and down strums and single notes
for arpeggiation, while with round
robin playback, each hit sounds slightly
diferent. Plus there are hammer-ons,
slides, mutes and fret noise, as well as
controls that enable change of
strumming speed for stabs, glissandi
and everything in between.
The other included instruments are
a Fender Jazz bass, an upright bass, a
full drum kit, a grand piano, an electric
piano and a percussion section. The
drum kit is the least impressive, but the
others are spectacular. We really hope
that third-party developers get behind
MachFiveScript with the same
enthusiasm as they have with NI’s KSP.
Read the script
The mixer environment is stufed with functionality,
including an extraordinary array of efects
“The scale of the thing
is truly spectacular: the
library, the sampling,
the synthesis, the
scripting, the mixing…”
MachFive 3 includes seven outstanding scripted instruments for realistic performances full of nuances
September 2012 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 83
motu machive 3 / reviews <
CMU181.rev_machfive.indd 83 6/29/12 4:32 PM