AudioMulch 2.1: Time signature support from AudioMulch on Vimeo.
Does music production need more software with more features? Probably not. Could it use a little spice in its rhythms and time signatures? Absolutely! So, while I already have great respect for the idiosyncratic, underground-favorite AudioMulch, the addition of custom time signatures in the video above is especially good news.
And that brings us to the latest updates in AudioMulch, the cult-hit Windows-only app that’s grown up and now runs on both Mac and Windows. 2.1 adds dynamics processing devices, support for Mac Audio Unit plug-ins, an optional light grey color scheme (for those who missed the earlier skin), and updated help. Why use AudioMulch? This modular patching environment is packed with a carefully-selected array of useful objects, called “contraptions,” which make it relatively easy to patch together custom performance and production creations without the usual mucking around with low-level objects.
What’s New In AudioMulch 2.1?
Release Notes
Whether you’re likely to be sold on trying AudioMulch or not, interviews with users make for great reads:
Shadow My Dovetail – excerpt by erdemh
Turkish electroacoustic musician and composer Erdem Helvacioglu talks bout combining the software with his acoustic guitar live, complete with sound snippets on SoundCloud.
Octo Test (excerpt) by Jet Jaguar by AudioMulch
Jet Jaguar, aka Michael Upton, is behind some of AudioMulch’s example patches, and jams with loop players in the tool live and on the radio. (Part of what I like about this is that it’s sometimes the simple approaches that make people most satisfied.)
When you are ready to get started, or hone your chops in AudioMulch, there’s an excellent set of tutorials. I’ve chosen the introduction to AudioMulch’s MetaSurface below, because I think it best represents what’s unique about the tool, but you’ll also find other sound basics, MIDI control, plug-in use, in-depth details on a filter and waveshaping “contraptions,” and even tutorials and lesson plans.
http://www.audiomulch.com/content/tutorials
AudioMulch introductory tutorial 4: Using the Metasurface from AudioMulch on Vimeo.
Download a trial version (or update) of AudioMulch for Windows (XP/Vista/7) or Mac (10.4, 10.5, 10.6):
AudioMulch Downloads
And if you’re using the tool, we’d love to hear from you.