![]() The last option is handy if you want to route multiple inputs to POLAR simultaneously or send your signal via some of DP's effects. At the top, there are controls for Input and Output routing where you select your recording source input - for example, external hardware inputs, a buss or buss pair. The POLAR window is dominated by the central waveform display. Whatever it's used for, POLAR somehow seems to encourage experimentation, and you'll find yourself trying out things that might never normally have occurred to you.īoth visually and in operation, POLAR is almost like a separate application (see screenshot below), with only its loop length being set from DP's Tracks window. It's ideally suited, for example, to building up layered backing parts of all kinds - pitched and unpitched percussion, guitar riffs and chord patterns, backing vocals or even sound effects. ![]() ![]() Using POLAR can be a creative and strangely liberating experience, and it's surprising just how many applications can be found for it. Amongst other things, this means POLAR can play back a loop the very instant it's been recorded, and as such it allows overdubs and alternative takes to be laid down without ever needing to stop and rewind. That's because recordings made during a POLAR 'session' don't go on to disk via a RAM buffer as is usual on DP, but go straight into RAM. POLAR allows live audio to be recorded, looped and layered in a highly intuitive and interactive way. I thought we'd get this column underway by taking a look at a feature unique to DP, the ' Performance Oriented Loop Audio Recorder', otherwise known as POLAR. This is especially true now that a Mac OS X‑friendly Digital Performer v3 (or DP3 as MOTU seem to like calling it) is on the horizon, with configurable surround panning, Pro Tools file support, single‑window MIDI and audio editing, audio‑to‑MIDI conversion, Rocket Network compatibility, and a wealth of other exciting features. In these monthly Performer Notes columns I'm going to be passing on some of the experience I've gained over the last few years, exploring some of Digital Performer's most creative and productive features, and looking for ways to use this great sequencer to its full potential. It's also been absolutely rock‑solid, even on my extension‑stuffed Mac, which is used for everything from page layout to video editing. I've used it for songwriting, teaching, multi‑channel theatre sound, classical two‑track editing and multitrack mastering amongst other things, and have found it musically inspiring and frequently very rewarding. I switched to Digital Performer from Opcode's Vision a couple of years ago, and it's a decision I've never regretted. Running a VST plug‑in under DP with the aid of VST Wrapper. And by using VST Wrapper or Pluggo, Performer users have access to virtually all currently available VST plug‑ins and VST 2.0 instruments. ![]() However, far from being some sort of quirky 'third way', Digital Performer is now attracting third‑party support from the likes of Antares, Waves, Bomb Factory, Kind of Loud and Native Instruments, to name just a few, and has been offering reliable Rewire routing and sync for a while. A development of the MIDI‑only Performer, which is still available in its own right, Digital Performer has steadily evolved to the point where it now represents a serious alternative to Logic and Cubase for European users, hence the instigation of this regular column. MOTU's MIDI and audio interfaces are mainstays of the computer audio market, but their flagship Mac‑based sequencer Digital Performer is less well known in Europe, although it has always been popular in the USA. Long‑standing DP user Robin Bigwood presents the first of this regular column. Logic and Cubase owners have had their own dedicated SOS columns for several months - so we're now devoting space to another of the world's favourite sequencers, MOTU's Digital Performer.
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