OVERVIEW
Ethno is built on Ultimate Soundbank’s latest UVI engine (also used in MOTU’s Symphonic Instrument, reviewed Aug. ’06, and USB’s own Plugsound Pro, reviewed May ’07), and can run standalone or as a plug-in within an AudioUnit, VST, RTAS, MAS, or DXi host. Up to 64 multitimbral parts are supported on four banks of 16 MIDI channels (note, however, that not all hosts can support this), and each part within a bank can be assigned to any MIDI channel, making it possible to layer up to 16 sounds on a single channel. For simple layering, this is all you’d need. However, an Expert Mode button brings up settings for keymap zones, velocity ranges, and keyswitches, letting you create more sophisticated presets. For example, you could combine sustained and staccato flute patches, and assign the staccato layer to a velocity range of, say, 50-127, so it only kicks in when you play harder.
Visually, the interface is attractive and smartly laid out, with part slots surrounded by sound parameters. The window doesn’t feel cluttered or confusing, despite the large number of parameters that can tailor the sound of each instrument. In addition to four-stage amp and filter envelopes, each part has its own resonant multimode filter and a sine wave-only LFO, with modulation destinations for vibrato (i.e., pitch), tremolo (volume; no control over stereo panning, though), and timbre (filter cutoff frequency). High and low shelf EQ can shape the sound even more. For added expression, aftertouch and mod wheel can both modulate LFO depth. The antique-style globe on the right side of the window displays the region or country of the selected instrument. Click on the globe, and it displays a picture of the instrument you’re playing.
As for effects, there’s just one: a global reverb with controls for pre-delay, decay, high and low frequency damping, and stereo spread. However, this is a convolution reverb with 33 presets organized into three banks: Temple and Church, Cave and Forest, and Deluxe. There’s also a “Fast Reverb” bank of CPU-friendly, non-convolution reverbs. Across the board, I’d typify the sound as “expensive” — the included impulse responses definitely add to the richness of Ethno’s sound. The importance of this onboard reverb can’t be stressed enough, as many of the multisampled instruments are recorded very closely, without any discernable room tone. In some cases, this borders on two-dimensional, but adding a tasteful plate or ethereal cavern takes the instruments to a new level. Unlike with dedicated convolution reverbs, however, you can’t add your own impulse responses.
Sounds can either load entirely into RAM, or stream from disk (on a per-part basis) to conserve RAM. This becomes critical when running Ethno as a stand-alone instrument and loading multiple banks of presets.
SOUNDS AND LOOPS
Ethno’s library is roughly divided in half, with 4GB dedicated to multisampled instruments and 4GB to loops and phrases. Patches are organized into three categories: Geographic region, Instrument type, and Loops (see Figure 1 below). Need to find a group of related sounds for a cue that needs to nail, say, an authentic Indian raga? No problem — simply browse by Geographic region and drill down into the sitar and santoor phrases. Other times, you might want to evoke a generic “world” sound without locking into a specific country or culture. In which case, you might start browsing through the Instrument sub-categories, such as Fretted String, Key, or Woodwind. Here you’ll also find a category of “World Synth” patches, which is further divided into Ambient Chords, Analog Mood, and World Voice Pads. The synths are a mixed bag, and to my ears many of the patches sound dated, but they’re not without merit. They’re just the kind of thing that you could use to add an otherworldly or moody edge to any of the “real” instruments.
There isn’t enough space to cover 8GB worth of content, so I’ll boil it down. The good news is that there really aren’t any “duds” in the bunch; however, some instruments (most notably winds from Africa, the Andes, and the Middle East) aren’t as expressive as I might like. This is due to the fact that these presets generally offer a single velocity layer, which doesn’t always provide enough dynamics. The workaround I discovered was to layer hard attack and sustain patches, as I mentioned earlier. This produced the kind of responsive, expressive sounds I was looking for.
Highlights are too many to count, but among them are a number of excellent plectrum instruments such as the Maruha “Gypsy jazz” guitar, the fingered Spanish guitar, and the balalaika, for which MOTU recorded a number of performance styles, including fingered and picked tremolo single notes and chords, major and minor strums, and more.
Percussion is another of Ethno’s strong suits, with everything from spoons and bones in the Celtic set to Indian jaw harp, Flamenco foot stomps, wind chimes, and even waterbells. Additionally, the Bell, Metal & Gong category is chock full of cymbals and bells from around the world. What you won’t find are any Japanese taiko drums. On a similar note, I was surprised by the omission in the Woodwinds of the ney and duduk. Though several competing products offer these instruments, Ethno has several that are hard to find elsewhere, such as cymbalum, electric sitar, and baglamas.
While there’s no shortage of fine instruments, Ethno’s biggest asset is arguably its loop and phrase content, or more precisely, what you can do with that content. Thanks to the new UVI engine, loops and phrases can automatically lock to host tempo when running in plug-in mode, or to the tempo you choose when in standalone mode. Automatically syncing loops isn’t exactly revolutionary, but there’s more to the story. You can drag and drop loops directly from Ethno into your host as audio data (rendered at the correct tempo, or the loop’s original tempo — your choice) or as MIDI data. Why MIDI? Because loops can also be automatically sliced à la ReCycle and mapped across the keyboard, with the resulting MIDI file available for export into your host. Naturally, this means you could rearrange slices to create new patterns, or use the MIDI timing information to create groove templates. What’s more, you can leave the loops loaded into their respective part slots and engage “AutoPlay.” When you do, Ethno follows the host transport — when you click play in your sequencer, loops that have AutoPlay enabled will play; when you click stop, they stop. It’s very much like working with Spectrasonics Stylus RMX.
Phrases that are more lyrical in nature (as opposed to rhythmic phrases such as guitar strumming patterns) can only be triggered via MIDI, and don’t support AutoPlay. These phrases can sync to host tempo, but if you drag them into your host software, they show up as audio files in their original key and tempo. If you want to sync or transpose them to fit a different tempo or key signature, you need to either keep the phrases inside of Ethno and trigger them using MIDI, or use third-party time-compression software to process them. I’d suggest the latter: Ethno can pitch-shift MIDI-trigger-only phrases internally, but the algorithm it uses produces audible artifacts if you go beyond a minor third in either direction. In any case, we’re talking about a lot of flexibility when it comes to working with samples. No other “ethnic” or “world” collection even comes close to what Ethno offers in this area.
IN USE
I’ve been using Ethno for a few months on my quad-processor PowerMac G5, and it’s been nothing but a solid, go-to creative partner in the studio. Sure, I have other multi-cultural libraries and soft synths, and sometimes I find a better or more musical representation of a given instrument in a competing product. But I always find something in Ethno’s roster that I just can’t get anywhere else. Whether it’s the perfect melodic fragment to kick-start a cue, a battery of high-frequency percussion, or a spot-on authentic performance to add more “liveness” to a sequenced track, Ethno delivers.
Complaints? None, really, but I will sound off about what I think could be improved. For starters, there’s no way to save single presets and recall them without erasing the current contents of an existing multi. So, say you’ve built a keyswitched, velocity-crossfaded preset combination, and you want to call it up inside of the multi you’ve been working in, without losing the presets you’ve already loaded. Sorry, no go. You’ll have to load another instance of Ethno. MOTU says that you’ll also be able to save and recall single presets of Ethno’s sounds with version 2 of their Mach Five soft sampler.
I’d also like to see the export options expanded. It would save a lot of back and forth you could “tag” a bunch of related loops, then batch export to a folder or to a track inside your host. This would also make piracy of Ethno’s sounds easier, which is why MOTU couldn’t implement it. I’m only being nitpicky because I’d like to see an already feature-rich instrument go even farther . . . can you blame me?
CONCLUSIONS
Ethno is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, there’s an impressive set of instruments and loops, and a deep well of musical resources to be explored. Let’s shift gears for a moment and talk about the experience of using Ethno, which is more significant than summing up the nuts and bolts. Because of the way it can manipulate loops and easily transfer them to my host software, I find working with Ethno to be fluid, inspiring, and musical. There’s a certain “instant gratification” factor that I just don’t get with many other virtual instruments. Put another way, I can “live inside” of Ethno to make music — I’m not forced to bounce back and forth between my sequencer and a bunch of soft synths and effects to get where I’m going. I can stay with Ethno to find percussion and melodic parts that complement each other. I can audition and export related melodies, and tie them together with my own phrases that I sequence using Ethno’s instrument sounds. Since it’s quick, I’m able to realize ideas before I lose them. For me, creative moments are fleeting, and I appreciate having such a wide palette and flexible feature set to call on when I’m in the heat of chasing down ideas.
To be objective, I don’t think Ethno has enough articulation choices for those who insist on composing every last note and articulation from scratch without using any prerecorded loops or phrases. While there are a number of multisamples with different articulations, Ethno’s loops are what really shines when it comes to producing a believable composition.
For anyone who’s composing world music for film or TV, though, or working in modern styles that call for multi-cultural instrumentation, MOTU Ethno is the obvious choice. Even if it cost twice as much, it would be worth it. At its actual price, its value easily earns it our Key Buy award.
VITAL STATS
Software Version Reviewed
1.0.1.
Synthesis Type
Sample playback plus subtractive.
Multitimbral Parts
64.
System Requirements
Mac: G4 dual 1GHz (minimum), G5, or Intel processor, Mac OS 10.4 or later. PC: Pentium 4 2GHz, Windows XP with Service Pack 2. Both: 1GB RAM, 8GB free hard disk space, iLok key, free USB port.
Supported Audio Hardware
CoreAudio, ASIO, DirectX.
Supported Plug-in Formats
AudioUnits, VST, RTAS, MAS, DXi, standalone.
JARGON JOCKEY
Convolution Reverb:
A reverb that uses samples of the behavior of sound in real acoustic spaces (concert halls, churches, caves, etc.), then lets you put sounds from your soft synth, keyboard, or other signal, inside these spaces. The acoustic samples used are called impulse responses.
LFO:
Low frequency oscillator. A standard part of any synth engine, LFOs are most often used to create vibrato, tremolo, or to vary a filter’s cutoff.
CLAIM CHECK
According to MOTU’s Jim Cooper, “Our goal for the Ethno Instrument was to provide one-stop shopping for all your world instrument and loop needs in an affordable, intuitive, universally compatible virtual instrument. One of Ethno’s strengths is that it combines expressive ethnic instrument sounds with authentic world music loops, all available from one simple-to-use window. Ethno includes 4GB of instrument samples from all over the world, recorded with pristine audio fidelity and careful attention to detail. Yet another 4GB of authentic loops and phrases can be instantly tempo-locked to your host software. You can slice loops with one click to trigger each beat from your keyboard, or drag and drop them into your tracks.
“Real acoustic spaces, from primordial caves to towering forests to remote canyons, are all reproduced with stunning realism by the built-in convolution reverb. Ethno can operate standalone to turn a computer into a world instrument powerhouse with disk streaming and multiple outputs. You can also load Ethno as a plug-in that saves all settings with your host’s project files for instant recall.”