{"id":24700,"date":"2016-04-05T10:41:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T14:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/?p=24700"},"modified":"2016-04-05T10:41:56","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T14:41:56","slug":"ultra-analog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/2016\/04\/05\/ultra-analog\/","title":{"rendered":"SONAR PLATINUM ADDS Ultra Analog SESSION 2 SYNTH IN 2016.03 UPDATE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-24739\" title=\"SONAR AAS\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SONAR-AAS.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" \/>As a fan of our bakers and all the great features coming out of the Rolling Updates, I absolutely love exploring all the new things SONAR brings every month.\u00a0 As a big fan of Lounge Lizard, I was really excited to learn that we would be incorporating the Ultra Analog Session 2 (UAS2) instrument into SONAR this month.\u00a0 So at this year\u2019s Namm convention I made a point of meeting up with my buddy Marc over at Applied Acoustic Systems to learn more about the synth before trying it out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA fun synth to play around with,\u201d Marc explained.\u00a0 And once I got my hands on it I understood what he was talking about.\u00a0 Being a bit underwater with time these days, I decided to put an hour (or so) cap on diving into the synth and writing a short piece of \u201cwhatever\u201d inspired me while first hearing and manipulating the sounds; and making use of the features.\u00a0 I challenged myself a bit by using ONLY instances of this synth combined with stock SONAR Producer ProChannel modules so I could get a good feel for its capabilities.\u00a0 I also thought it would be a fun test since there are no stock drum or percussion patches in the synth.\u00a0 Here is what I found:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Useful:\u00a0<\/strong> In my book, you can never have enough options when it comes to sounds.\u00a0 I have synths where I only LOVE a few patches but you know what? \u2013 Those patches are worth every penny having the synth in my arsenal.\u00a0 I found the UAS2 to have some really great sounding vintage patches.\u00a0 With 7 banks of sounds there are a lot of tones that would come in handy and will work well in certain styles of music.\u00a0 I found combining these sounds with ProChannel shaping to be a great combination for creating some unique sounds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Ultra-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-24741\" title=\"Ultra 1\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Ultra-1-300x173.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" \/><\/a>Diverse:\u00a0<\/strong> I like the fact that for a synth with a small footprint, it crosses a through a wide array of tones.\u00a0 The 5 main tonal character traits are Arpeggio, Bass, Lead, Pad, Polysynth, along with a bonus of two banks from Richard and Sean Devine that come in handy for more options.\u00a0 I like the fact that there\u2019s not a ton of overwhelming stuff here\u2014and what\u2019s in the box is all great and diverse for different applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cool features:\u00a0<\/strong> I personally love using arpeggiation effects.\u00a0 Admittedly, I love them because I am a horrible keyboard player and they make me sound like I know what I am doing\u2026 kind of;) I sometimes use arpeggiation in a way that might be different than some users\u2014I follow no rules of arpeggiation (is that even a word?)\u2014I throw on tons of effects\u2026 I let my ears rule both my hands and find notes and <em>things<\/em> that just sound good to me.\u00a0 I often use this effect on choruses while knocking out all low end to give a song an inconspicuous lift. \u00a0The \u201cArpeggio\u201d on this keyboard is cool.\u00a0 It\u2019s simple and straight forward and allows the user to combine a bit of old-school arpeggio tactics along with many syncing options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/sYNTH-eNGINE.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-24743\" title=\"sYNTH eNGINE\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/sYNTH-eNGINE.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"294\" height=\"258\" \/><\/a>A Strong Simple Synth Engine:\u00a0<\/strong> For someone like me who is not a synth expert, this instrument is great.\u00a0 The 3 sound generators (VCO, Filter and Amp) are simple enough to navigate for those who do not fully understand the complexities of creating synth patches.\u00a0 In my opinion, 10 minutes of turning knobs with this instrument is enough time for anyone to come up with some great sounds. \u00a0For example, after putting a limiter on my master bus I noticed one of my staccato parts was cutting through in a way that sounded too intense compared to the kick. \u00a0Very easily was I able to identify the &#8220;Amp Attack&#8221; as the culprit, and by simply dialing that knob back a bit the sound became what it needed to be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FX1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-24752\" title=\"FX\" src=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FX1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"86\" height=\"192\" \/><\/a>Onboard FX:\u00a0<\/strong> Similar to Z3TA+, this synth carries its own FX processing right inside the synth.\u00a0 Although multiple FX are not possible in one patch, the good news is that AAS didn\u2019t skimp on the quality of the engine.\u00a0 I tested all FX (Chorus, Delay, Distortion, EQ, Flanger, Phaser, Reverb) with different patches and found the available parameters to be intuitive while rendering high-quality sounds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><!--more-->Check out AAS&#8217;s promotional video of the Ultra Analog Session 2 featuring Sean Devine:<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><object width=\"600\" height=\"355\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/GbGLWqAS6f0?rel=0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed width=\"600\" height=\"355\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/GbGLWqAS6f0?rel=0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" \/><\/object><\/p>\n<p>The purpose of this exercise was to have some fun testing out the Ultra Analog synth in a short period of time, so undoubtedly the track itself is certainly nothing miraculous \ud83d\ude09 But more importantly, members of the Rolling Updates program who spend some time digging in will certainly find some good use sprinkling this instrument into their sessions.\u00a0 The fact that the engine sounds different than other stock synths in SONAR makes it a very useful instrument that works well in contrast AND together with other synths.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755054&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755031&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755013&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755045&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755009&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755036&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755034&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755018&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755025&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/255755048&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a fan of our bakers and all the great features coming out of the Rolling Updates, I absolutely love exploring all the new things SONAR brings every month.\u00a0 As a big fan of Lounge Lizard, I was really excited to learn that we would be incorporating the Ultra Analog Session 2 (UAS2) instrument into &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/2016\/04\/05\/ultra-analog\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;SONAR PLATINUM ADDS Ultra Analog SESSION 2 SYNTH IN 2016.03 UPDATE&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1549,1619,49,76,68,2095,1],"tags":[2063,2664,140,12,64,149,617,118,93,120,60,94,35,95,2665,2666],"class_list":["post-24700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-analysis","category-inside-the-bakery","category-prochannel","category-sonar","category-sonar-platinum","category-sonar-updates","category-synth-tips","category-uncategorized","tag-aas","tag-applied-acoustics-systems","tag-beats","tag-cakewalk","tag-daw","tag-instruments","tag-jimmy-landry","tag-midi","tag-music-production","tag-plug-in","tag-prochannel","tag-recording","tag-sonar","tag-sonar-platinum","tag-sonar-rolling-updates","tag-ultra-analog-session-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}