Dunna Digs into the IK Multimedia Total Studio

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Hey guys, Dunna here from Resonate Music School & Studio. I'll be digging into the IK Multimedia Total Studio. Here I'm checking out the Modo Bass virtual instrument. Have you tried using Modo Bass? Interested to hear what you think...

https://youtu.be/h51jI0Vnwew

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Long before I got to KVR I have heard about legendary plug-in collections like NI Komplete, Waves Gold, Arturia... Until this post I have not heard anybody „raving“ as the IK Multimedia suggests about Total Studio...
I did hear good things about Modo Bass though, but I have a real bass. (To be precise its two, but one of them already fits my needs...)

What is the expertise we would have to expect here?
Any useful imformation about modelling techniques or how to program a modelled bass? Or is this the attempt to hide advertising behind an obviously transparent fassade?

I did have some fun with the flaming introduction of the secret new synth of IK Multimedia though, but until now, the only product which gained my interest had been the iLouds... Unfortunately not part of the Total Studio...

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Thanks for your post Tj Shredder, and especially for your post on the Craig Anderton’s Linnstrument thread. This is exactly why we have started the Experts forum. As you probably know KVR is visited each month by 100s of thousands of musicians, producers, recording engineers, sound designers and product developers. Within the community there are many with expert knowledge on a variety of topics who are already helping each other (including people with expertise in different topics).

The idea is to create threads that could be posted and read by both developers and users of a given product. We hope that, after reading expert posts people would be better informed about a product without needing to know the exact forum to go to. For people that don’t own the product, they can make an informed decision about whether it meets their needs. For people that already own the product, perhaps learning about a different way to use it. If there was something people didn’t understand about a product, the developer would be available to help answer questions. The posts are intended to be about what a product CAN do, not CAN’T do. Hence, they are not product reviews.

To get this going our first task was to create examples. Craig Anderton posted the first, and will share more over time, but our hope is that most posts will be from community members like yourself. Not everyone is as well-known a product expert as Craig, but everybody starts somewhere. The overall goal is that KVR readers share their expertise and positive experiences outside of their normal forum posts.

We talked to the people at IK about the Total Studio project because we thought it was a good fit, and IK has always been very supportive of KVR. Dunna, who is not affiliated in any way with IK, chose to do the first one on MODO Bass because he found it useful. IK had no influence on his choices or the way he created the video, beyond factual usage questions. They will however monitor the forum.

It is interesting that you mentioned an interest in sound design topics. Although the expert threads are intended to be mostly about product usage there will shortly be a sound designers roundtable conducted by synth veteran Jerry Kovarsky. It will feature discussions with several experienced sound designers. We reached out to our friends at Sequential for help with that, a we hope that it will be useful for you.

Are there any particular products that you would be inclined to post about?

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I've been following Craig Anderton since the 80's so I know he's a trusted source of information. I do consider him an expert on several topics.

Some random kid from the internet with one post at KVR ? No.

But it's easy enough to ignore those who haven't really earned the title "expert" yet...... :tu:
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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chalaby wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:55 pm It is interesting that you mentioned an interest in sound design topics. Although the expert threads are intended to be mostly about product usage there will shortly be a sound designers roundtable conducted by synth veteran Jerry Kovarsky. It will feature discussions with several experienced sound designers. We reached out to our friends at Sequential for help with that, a we hope that it will be useful for you.

Are there any particular products that you would be inclined to post about?
Thanks for explaining the aim of this forum in greater detail. My own expertise is clearly Max/MSP...
My motivation to participate in this forum is not product specific! For me experts have a wide look at making music and dealing with gear/software, so I am more interested in the innovative long tail than in food for the main stream.
I am more interested in getting focused on what is essential in making music than be bombarded with too many choices.
To come back to the topic, the Modo Bass is most likely a high quality product, as it is modelled vs. sampled. But the focus is on replicating existing instruments. The motto: the higher the number of bass models the better...
For me as someone who actually does play a bass from time to time this would be more confusing than helping. I rather focus on my real bass and learn to be musical with what I got.
If Modo Bass would support MPE and had a fretless Model it might be more interesting as you could play it at least like a fretless...

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Here's the second part to my quick look at Modo Bass. On top of the variety of instruments themselves, I really liked how customizable the settings within each instrument could be. Anything that lets you dial in your tone a bit further has the potential to be helpful right?

https://youtu.be/GahEX7_vE_Q

Tj Shredder - Thanks for your posts and for your questions. Seems like chalaby already stepped in a let you know what this was all about, definitely more of a quick overview and conversation starter than a tutorial. I definitely understand the approach about being musical with what you have and the power of limitations as well. But I have noticed that theres something to be said for options as well. If I have Modo Bass (or however many countless virtual instruments on my computer) and also have their real-life instrument counterparts, then I can make the decision based on what the project needs (budget, time, skill) vs. being FORCED to live with what I have.

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dunnadidit wrote: Sat Feb 23, 2019 5:28 pm I definitely understand the approach about being musical with what you have and the power of limitations as well. But I have noticed that theres something to be said for options as well. If I have Modo Bass (or however many countless virtual instruments on my computer) and also have their real-life instrument counterparts, then I can make the decision based on what the project needs (budget, time, skill) vs. being FORCED to live with what I have.
Being forced to limitations realy helps to keep focus. It challanges your creativity. And of course I realy hate limitations... :hihi:
Within that area of tension magic can happen...
With all these fantastic virtual instruments I happily browse since maybe 2 years I need to develop the discipline of limiting myself - unfortunately I am not very disciplined... :?
First rule, do not aquire any instrument that does not support MPE! Sound and music needs to be played to come to life...
I would not reject constructed music categorically, but there is too much of it around. It is too often not interesting for its lack of expression (and its overuse of compression...; - )

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Hi TJ,

That's an excellent question for the folks at IK. Since it's physically modeled, MPE should be possible, although it takes a lot of time to create the presets...

Cheers

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Are you going to review the product or share some expert tips and tricks from your personal use of the product? I've watched the first two videos and at this pace, I think you'll need to make about a hundred videos before we get to the interesting stuff.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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Tj Shredder wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:23 am
Being forced to limitations realy helps to keep focus. It challanges your creativity.
yet uses max :lol:
absolutely no limitations except your imagination! (and programming skills of course) :hihi:

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Tj Shredder wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:23 am Being forced to limitations realy helps to keep focus. It challanges your creativity. And of course I realy hate limitations... :hihi:
Within that area of tension magic can happen...
With all these fantastic virtual instruments I happily browse since maybe 2 years I need to develop the discipline of limiting myself - unfortunately I am not very disciplined... :?
First rule, do not aquire any instrument that does not support MPE! Sound and music needs to be played to come to life...
I would not reject constructed music categorically, but there is too much of it around. It is too often not interesting for its lack of expression (and its overuse of compression...; - )
I totally agree with limiting yourself to inspire creativity! And I really appreciate your thoughts on the idea of constructed music too. I've always been a believer that if it turns out good, how you got there doesn't really matter when it comes to art.

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Aloysius wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:03 pm Are you going to review the product or share some expert tips and tricks from your personal use of the product? I've watched the first two videos and at this pace, I think you'll need to make about a hundred videos before we get to the interesting stuff.
Unfortunately its just the two little videos to get the conversation started for now! But I appreciate the suggestion to dig deeper into a review or tips on actually using the product. We're still playing around with the format so this kind of thing is helpful.

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OK. As an idea, maybe you could imitate some legendary bass sounds with MODO.

Thin Lizzy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unnh0T2Ftro

RUSH
JACO
LEMMY

All the usual suspects.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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Hi Aloysius,

Thanks for posting the video. Your suggestions of bass players' styles to model is precisely the kind of feedback we hoped the community could provide to product developers. Are there any particular products you feel strongly enough about to offer a "tip or trick" with?

Feel free to send me a PM.

Cheers
Chris

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I think a lot of times, folks want the same old things. There are certain sounds that really inspire people. When I hear a dubstep wobble it just annoys me. But play me Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man and I be like, ya man, I love that sound. Similarly a Moog bass, will appeal to the many.

Geddy lee's Bass sound(s). Philip Lynott's warm sound during the classic Thin Lizzy days. P-Bass, played at the bridge, with a pick and a phaser.

Many new synths have ''vintage'' presets because people love those sounds. Many guitar amp sims heavily feature the classics because the sound of certain genres is absolutely linked to certain foot stomps, amps, speakers, spring reverbs etc.

I'd say ''new'' sounding instruments have a lot less appeal than the classics. Maybe in time some of the newer sounds will themselves become classics but for now I think the money is in the tried and true.

I remember reading an article about Black Sabbath. The guitarist couldn't understand what one engineer was trying to achieve by using multiple microphones on his amp. He was like ... we invented the Black Sabbath sound ... all the engineer needs to do is stick one microphone in front of my stack. That's it. I've already done the work myself. He just needs to record it.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head. I'm not entirely sure what this thread is actually supposed to be about anymore.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

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