SONICWARE Introduces the LIVEN Texture Lab | Granular Synthesizer/Effector

video upload by SONICWARE

"LIVEN Texture Lab | Granular Synthesizer/Effector
- Sample, slice, transform and reconstruct audio to synthesize completely new sounds
- Granular synthesizer with granular effects processor mode
- Shimmer reverb for fantastical and majestic sounding spaces
- 128-step sequencer with parameter locking
- World-famous sound designers have provided presets as results of their experiments

The presets are
01 FL.BK (Flashback) : Yasutake(elfin)
02 DRMR (Dreamer) : Limbic Bits
03 FEAR (Fear) : Chris Lody
04 US.HP (Use Headphones!) : Takashi Matsuura
05 CHOR (nostalgic space choir) : Dr. Endo"

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SONICWARE Introduces the LIVEN Lofi-12

video upload by SONICWARE

SONICWARE Liven Lofi-12 - How to Make Lofi Music

video upload by ChrisLody

"So here it is, the new SONICWARE Liven Lofi-12 sampler, and it's pretty damn good.

The Lofi-12 allows 12khz and 24khz sampling frequencies with 128 sample slots. The samples are either 2 or 4 seconds long depending on the chosen frequency. Audio can be recorded directly into the internal memory via the Line In socket, after which sampled sounds are immediately playable across the keys chromatically. Sample playback is not interpolated (not smoothed out) so they have a gritty quality rather than being dulled by the low sampling rate.

A lot of features have been brought over from the Liven XFM including it's sequencer, voice modes, parameter locks etc, but this time the maximum polyphony is 10 rather than 6. Plus each track has it's own effects section that can be modulated by the parameter locks and the reverbs found in the Liven 8Bits Warps are here in a dedicated master reverb section with the addition of Tape and Vinyl effects.

There is a deep editing overlay like the XFM which enables samples to be trimmed, looped and reversed. It's possible to record in instruments and waveform and then loop sections to make the sound loop cleanly, a slight cross-fade is used to accomplish this.

The same Sound Locking function found on the XFM is present too so it's possible to modulate the sample selection in each track, so having a track play a kick and then a snare is entirely possible.

All in all it's a very well rounded little affordable sampler that can record directly into it's memories and can be used like a groove box. Pretty awesome I think.

Sampled drum break source: Future Music Magazine issue 135 cover CD

Free (and very good) audio recording app used: https://www.dolby.com/en-gb/apps/dolb..."

Update:

Liven LOFI 12 by Sonicware — instant lofi vibes!

video upload by BoBeats

00:00 What is the LIVEN LOFI 12? + Sound Demo
04:46 Beat from scratch + Going over features
12:00 Sequencer Performance Functions
16:15 Sample Locking: Making a drum beat with ONE track
17:33 How to Quickly Sample
21:28 Should you buy it?



● Retro sampling engine with 12bit Sampler mode

● Easily play samples chromatically across the keyboard

● Powerful 4-track sequencer with parameter and sound locking

● Laid-back knob for creating drunk beats

● 11 types of Effects each track and 8 types of Master Effect

The LIVEN Lofi-12 has a 16bit - 12kHz/24kHz sampling engine with the 12bit Sampler mode that will turn any sound into a pleasing lo-fi sound.

Like the many legendary samplers that were released in the late 80s, this is a genuine low-bit and low sampling frequency sound that cannot be obtained authentically with bit crusher effects and other modern sound degrading tools.

Up to 4 seconds mono sampling per sample slot (2 seconds mono sampling at the 24kHz mode). Start and end point trimming, pitch adjustment, reverse playback, sustain loop, filtering and LFO modulation are all possible."

Additional details at https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven-lofi12

Liven MEGA SYNTHESIS - Tutorial Part 1 - Pattern Editing Deep Dive

video upload by ChrisLody

"Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and videos like this. Any other shorter videos on my channel containing Sonicware products are not paid content.

More about the Sonicware Liven MEGA Synthesis:
Sonicware's Website: https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven-mega...
Trailer & Yuzo Koshiro's Patterns: [posted here]
My quick overview video: [2nd video here]

So as promised here is my Sonicware Liven MEGA Synthesis deep dive video. This video will look at pattern editing including everything that's available to make your own music. The next video will focus on the FM sound editing overlay so will cover how to make your own sounds

Sonicware and I have both noted how many customers have bought the Liven MEGA Synthesis who have never bought an instrument before, so I've done my best to make this video as beginner friendly as possible which is why this video is quite long. If you're more experienced please use the chapter markers so skip through to relevant sections.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Introducing the LIVEN 8bit warps v3.0 Update and the All Black Limited Edition!

video upload by SONICWARE

"We have just released version 3.0 firmware of the LIVEN 8bit warps! 👉 https://sonicware.jp/pages/downloads?...
"And the special All Black Limited Edition has been released! 👉 https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven8bitw...

LIVEN 8bit warps v3.0
・8-bit waveform memory synth engine for creating a wide variety of sounds from Chiptune to Ambient
- Four distinct 8-bit waveform memory synth engines (Includes waveform editing with waveform capture function)
・Unique sound creation with aliasing noise on/off, detune and sweep functions
・128-step sequencer with parameter locking
・4-track looper for recording internal audio and external audio from the line input
・10 effects and 6 reverbs (switchable to the Cassette tape simulator)"

Sonicware Liven 8Bit Warps v3.0 Quick Start Guide

video upload by ChrisLody

"Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and video manuals like this. Any other shorter videos on my channel containing Sonicware products are not paid content.

A new version 3.0 firmware has been released for the Liven 8Bit Warps that adds some new feature, a pack of new drum sounds and generally tidy's things up a bit. You can download it from this page on the Sonicware website under the 8Bit Warps tab: https://sonicware.jp/pages/downloads

0:00 Teaser bit
0:16 Intro
1:00 How to update and add drum sounds
1:57 Demo of new drum sounds
2:26 6 New FX types
5:20 Copy duplicate
6:27 Sound locking
8:50 Using sound locking to make drum patterns
10:13 Pattern chain looping
11:06 Outro
11:16 Super secret mini jam!"

How To Make FM Formant Growl Bass Sounds on Sonicware Liven XFM - Accessible Tutorial

video upload by ChrisLody ChrisLody

"I was planning a different tutorial today but after being asked if this was possible I got a bit obsessed with working it out last night so thanks to Dino Goldie for prompting me to make this video. I find pretty much all aspects of sound design interesting and I've always wondered how these FM bass sounds were synthesized so I'm glad I looked into it, the XFM is pretty good at them!

As I say in the video this is designed to be an accessible tutorial as the Liven series has attracted a few visually impaired users. Let me know if this was clear and easy to understand or I totally messed it up :)"

ChrisLody Sonicware Liven posts

Limited Edition SONICWARE LIVEN Lofi-6

LIVEN Lofi-6 (Official PV)video upload by

See this previous post for additional details and demos of the standard edition Lofi-6.


LIVEN Lofi-6 Sound Demo video upload by SONICWARE

"LIVEN Lofi-6, a limited edition of 500 units in collaboration with Perfect Circuit.
https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven-lofi6
https://www.perfectcircuit.com/sonicw...

0:00 01 : DIXI (Dixieland by Takahiro Sato)
0:15 02 : AIME (Chabada by Christian Laffitte)
0:28 03 : JIVE (Jive by Chris Lody)
0:46 04 : FONO (Fonogram by Christian Laffitte)
0:58 05 : SEA (ASMR-ish 'By the sea' by Takahiro Sato)
1:10 06 : LATE (Late One Day by Chris Lody)
1:31 07 : NOVA (La Vie Est Belle by Christian Laffitte)
1:44 08 : HEY (Hey by Dr. Endo)
2:05 09 : BAYA (Baya playa by Christian Laffitte)
2:17 10 : LIFT (Lift Music by Chris Lody)
2:28 11 : LAGO (Lago by Christian Laffitte)
2:44 12 : EASY (Easy by Chris Lody)
3:05 13 : DRAW (Draw the Picture with Your Sound by Yasutake(elfin))
3:20 14 : D.NOC (Dobranoc by Yasutake(elfin))
3:46 15 : COSY (Cosy by Yasutake(elfin))
4:00 16 : BK.HL (Might Be Blackhole by Yasutake(elfin))"

Sonicware Liven Lofi-6 Quick Start Guide - How to Make Retro Lofi Music

video upload by ChrisLody

Texture Lab in the Effects Processor Mode with an Electric Guitar

video upload by SONICWARE

"Daniel Rose demonstrates an electric guitar connected to LIVEN Texture Lab.
The Texture Lab is a Granular synthesizer and effector with a majestic Shimmer Reverb. https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven-text...

Check out his instruction video:"

How to Use the Sonicware Texture Lab as a Live Granular Effects Processor

video upload by SONICWARE

"Timestamps / Table of Contents:

Section 1: basic principles

Part 1: the non-granular side of the blend
1:35 - intro
1:57 - first synth sound and default effects mode sound
2:32 - notes on blend, reverb, and filter
5:56 - tip #1

Part 2: the granular side of the blend
6:44 - intro
7:51 - notes on playback direction (❗important❗)

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Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Demo 7 - Realtime Polymeters

video by ChrisLody

"So this is the penultimate Liven XFM only demo before it launches. This demo is designed to show of the polymetric capabilities of the Liven XFM. Each of the 4 onboard tracks can have it's own number of steps and associated note value that will start in sync on step 1 and then run at there own speed and rhythm depending on those settings. Changing patterns will sync up with the longest number of steps as far as I can tell. My step lengths here are 64, 18, 16 and 18. The track the kick on is 64 steps long so the pattern change is synchronized to it looping. Just like the other XFM only demos I've made so far, this is all the XFM in real-time with a little compressor and limiter just to get the volume level right for YouTube.

Unlike on the Liven 8bit Warps where the audio looper has to be used to build up polymeters, this happens all in realtime on the XFM so some very complex patterns can be built up and tweaked as the sequencer plays. Great fun :)"

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Demos

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Demo 3 - Bass and Strings

video by ChrisLody

ChrisLody Sonicware Liven demos

How to Use the SONICWARE Liven XFM - FM Synthesizer Full Tutorial

video upload by ChrisLody

Demos in previous posts here.

"This video is a full tutorial for the Sonicware Liven XFM but I have only tried to cover each option on the device quickly while showing brief examples. It is intended to supplement the PDF manual that you can find on the Sonicware website here: https://sonicware.jp/pages/download

During the tutorial I'll try to explain each feature while building a short pattern.

00:00 Intro

00:49 Overview of the Liven XFM
A description of the physical construction and connectors

02:18 Getting Started
Powering up the device
Using Headphones or Line Out
Playing patterns
Shift and Func buttons, muting the speaker, changing headphone gain
Changing Tempo, Pattern Tempo and global tempo
Shift Lock function
Pattern, Bank and step buttons to load patterns, Pattern Chaining
Pattern page buttons, knob latch

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Sonicware LIVEN MEGA Synthesis User Demos

video upload by Limbic Bits

Two demos - audio only demo from Limbic Bits above, and an overview from ChrisLody below. See the announcement post here (directly below if you are coming off the main page)

Sonicware Liven TextureLab Sound Demo (no talking)

0:00 Stage 5-1
1:10 Club
1:47 Soil
3:00 Void
4:23 Cammy's Impro
5:08 Ambient
6:13 Sea
7:35 PADS
11:58 BASS / LEAD
14:37 Mallets / Bells
17:03 EFX / Drones / Percussion
18:58 Some Drum Samples

Liven MEGA SYNTHESIS - Retro Game Music Production Machine

video upload by ChrisLody

Sonicware Liven 8Bit Warps XFM Volca Modular Nord Lead - Downtempo New Age Jam

video upload by ChrisLody

"This jam started off as quite an experimental affair and ended up landing in ambient electronica/downtempo/chilled out/new age music territory. Perhaps because I'm feeling a little nostalgic today. As I've mentioned before on the channel I used to be a carpenter and joiner, I did that for a living for 20 years in fact. To cut a long story short I've decided to go back into the trade after a break of a few years and I'm quite excited but a bit apprehensive, though I've already been out to look at some work and it's only been 3 days since I set up my new Facebook page so that can't be bad 😁 Anyway, my point is this sounds a bit 90s to me which is the decade I was learning the trade. Probably not a coincidence, but it's not even a genre of music I listen to much 🤷‍♂️

So in this jam the Volca Modular has a radio\cassette player plugged into the CV input which is being routed through like it were an oscillator. This enables me to gate the incoming signal. There was some sort of radio play on which gave me plenty of vocal material to work with. I also had to get it done fast though as I wasn't sure when it would finish which is why the video is a bit wonky and blurry on this one, sorry about that.

The radio\cassette in question is a cheap Matsui model that no longer plays tapes but the radio output is impressively loud making it a good fit for playing radio and noise into the Volca Modular

The Sonicware Liven XFM is providing the drums here using a kit that spreads across all 4 track. It's fast becoming my go to drum machine on top of everything else it's good at, more on that in a future video

The Liven 8Bit warps is producing a pad sound using it's lovely lofi FM engine, most of what I'm playing here is improvised. Again I had to work fast so the first good take was the one to use

The Nord Lead is obviously playing the lead sound. Again largely improvised. I learned how to trill on piano recently, maybe a bit too much of that in this to be honest 😄

Effects are provided by the Danelectro Fab Echo on the Nord Lead and the Zoom Studio 1201 routed into my Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 audio interface"

Polymetric Techno - Sonicware Liven 8Bit Warps Demo

ChrisLody

"The Liven 8Bit Warps in this video was supplied by Sonicware

So here's something a bit more techno that I've jammed out on the Liven 8Bit Warps. I learned 3 things about it while I was making this. 1. It's damn good at polymeters, 2. It's good at synthesizing clap sound, 3. I discovered a method of making analog sounding kicks

The Liven 8Bit Warps is equip with a sequencer that can have up to 128 steps per pattern set out in 16 steps and 8 pages. That in it's self makes it a bit of a monster sequencer wise but it also has a looper that records audio fed into it from the sequencer which is then played back in sync, but brilliantly there is nothing to stop you having these loops being a different length to the main sequence. So basically it's supports polymeters :) It is also capable of poly rhythms because the note length of each sequence can also have dotted and triplet notes assigned to it. I tried to use both in this jam but it sounded a bit messy! So I'll save polyrhythms for another video

I made the clap sounds pretty much by accident. I was aiming for a sharp snare sound made with the FM engine which is easy enough to achieve, but then I dialed in some rapid flanger and this clap sound emerged. It was better than the sound I was aiming for so that stayed :)

For the kick sound I discovered that a fully DC offset custom waveform fed into the highpass filter with maximum resonance and a cutoff setting of around 1 makes some absolutely lovely analog kick sounds. A click is produced by the DC offset acting like an exciter and the peak of the filter acts like a resonator. You can still use velocity to control the volume of the DC click so I've programmed some ghost notes in this 4/4 drum pattern to give it movement. The way these are synthesized is in stark contrast to the crunchy 8 bit drums it can also make. Expect a tutorial on all that soon"

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - No Filter Funk

video by ChrisLody

"The Liven XFM Prototype in this video was supplied by Sonicware (obviously 😁)

It's time for another Liven XFM Prototype demo, but a slightly different prototype than in the last video. If you do a direct A/B comparison with that one you'll see there's a lot of moving around and renaming of functions that have been done since the last one, of course with accompanying firmware so it all works the way it should. A few new things have been added including LFO delay to pitch which I wholly of.

To clarify, I've been hired on a freelance basis by Sonicware to make preset sounds and loops, plus promotional videos like this.

This demo started out as an attempt to make something a bit more 'traditionally FM synth' sounding. It technically is because I haven't used the filter at all on this, but I got really carried away playing with all the probability based triggering and effects so this is not very traditional sounding FM at all, again! I'll make some nice gentle ambient on it at some point, maybe 😄

So the bass-line from the 4th pattern onward is using probability based triggering for some of it's notes which gives a great amount of variation. Some of the drums are using this too to give a bit more of a human feel. I'm using the X-Lab manual morph function to morph between the Flanged Bass preset (which I love!) and a Bright Trumpet to add some noise. I'm also using the tone control in places to soften the sound, this is a manual control that lowers the level of feedback on all the operators. Then we get into the effects. There's a single send effect that can be saved with each pattern but each track has it's own send amount. First is overdrive, then a super short delay, bit crusher (♥️), chorus, flanger then back to delay. There are other effects to chose from but I was having the most fun with these on this track.

I had an absolute blast making this is has to be said. As with the last track this was all made from the pattern editing mode of the XFM without resorting to making any new preset sounds as there is plenty that can be done by combining and tweaking sounds without having to do that. I could have spent a lot longer fiddling around and refining patterns, but I've got deadlines to meet 😁

Btw, the gloves. I'm not cold but I did slip over on some ice on the way to the shops and managed to punch the tarmac on the way down just before I was going to film this so my knuckles are a bit bloody, and I don't think that's a look to go for here!"

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Brass and Acid Jam

video by ChrisLody

"The Liven XFM Prototype in this video was supplied by Sonicware (obviously 😁)

Err.....surprise! I have a Sonicware XFM prototype in the studio. Why do I have an XFM prototype? Well, I feel very fortunate to have been hired by Sonicware to produce sounds and patterns for the XFM as well as beta testing this prototype. I've had it since January the 11th which is why my channel has been a little quiet recently, but I'm now allowed to share this first quick jam 😊

I've mainly spent that time doing sound design for the 'library' FM sounds on the unit. I'll have to be careful to not talk about too much what hasn't been announced but it has a fully editable 4 Op FM synth engine so I've been creating sounds for that, some of which is in this video. Everything you hear in this video is being produced by the XFM in real-time (apart from a limiter in Reaper to get the volume up for YouTube) with FM synthesis as the main sound source with the option to use filters, envelopes and lfos on through the pattern edit mode making it a very powerful hybrid of FM and virtual analog before we even consider what can be done with morphing. Don't pay too much attention to the text on the front panel as a few things have moved around since it was printed, a new version is on it's way to me as of this morning.

The opening brass sound is pure FM using the X-Form mode that can switch and/or fade from one FM sound to another. The acid line uses the filter and envelopes and I also manually tweak the morphing of the waveform between two different sound. You'll also hear drum sounds (my work 😎) which are pure FM apart from a little filtering used as EQ's. All in all this jam isn't very 'FM sounding'. It can do that in spades but the morphing, filters and effects etc means it capable of so much more. So much more!

There is a lot to discuss about the XFM which I'll talk about more as I upload more videos. But in short it's a really good synth with a lot of power, a lot of options and an incredibly unique tone that you'd struggle to create elsewhere. Yes obviously Sonicware are paying me, but I'd just bought this I'd be equally impressed with what it can do, honestly!"

Sonicware Liven 8 Bit Warps - Chiptune Jam

ChrisLody

"I'm very excited that the lovely people over at Sonicware were nice enough to send me a Liven 8 Bit Warps for free so I can make them some promotional material with it. I've spent a few days playing around with it and I've been really impressed with what I've seen so far.

At it's heart the Liven 8 Bit Warps is a wavetable synthesizer and sequencer designed to emulate the sound chips in old 8 bit computer and consoles like the Nintendo NES and Gameboy. All it's oscillators are built from tiny wavetables on just 32 samples long so they have a really gritty sound, they are even editable through the front panel by hand.

There are 4 different synth engines including an FM mode which is how I have made the drums for this track, with some harsh modulation and plenty of programming.

It has another trick up it's sleeve too which is a 4 track audio looper meaning I can load a pattern, record it into the looper and play it back along with other loops and/or the live pattern loaded into the sequencer. So plenty to build whole tracks, I have much more to explore too!"

FM Editing Tutorial 1 - The Basics - SONICWARE Liven XFM - Accessible Tutorial

video upload by ChrisLody

"So here is a new series of videos exploring the edit mode on the Sonicware Liven XFM. Using an overlay gives us access to a full 4 Op FM synth engine. I'm calling this tutorial 1, but I've actually already made another that covers making a growl bass. You can find that here: [posted here]

My main tutorial that covers all the features of the XFM is here: [posted here]

This tutorial is much more of a gentle start though and explains the way that FM synthesis works while showing how to build a quick patch from scratch.

I've tried to keep this tutorial accessible though I neglected to mention all the level adjustments I make to the parameters I select as I create the sound are made using the Value knob which is knob 10. Also I noticed after I'd made the tutorial that the knob latch setting seems to also affect edit mode when using the newest firmware, I'm sure this is new. Knob Latch can be turned on and off in Pattern Edit mode."

How to Use the Sonicware Liven 8bit Warps Synth Engines

video by ChrisLody

"I'm back with another Sonicware Liven 8bit Warps tutorial. This time it's all about how to use the 4 different synth engines. The first 3 are quite similar and have a lot in common, but the FM engine is a completely different animal. The chapters are as follows

0:00 Intro
0:37 Common Controls
3:02 Warp Engine
4:58 Attack Engine
6:13 Morph Engine
8:33 FM Engine"

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Demo 8 - Traditional FM

video by ChrisLody

"So here we are, the last of the XFM prototype only demo videos. I'm sure there will be plenty more XFM videos on the channel but I'll most likely explore the possibilities of combining it with other equipment from now on. There will also be non demo content for it here like tutorials etc.

I've spent a lot of time making these demos trying to make something that sounds like 'Traditional FM synthesis' and I think this is about as close as I've got so far. On all the other demos I have been distracted by a lot of the other features on the pattern edit level like the filters so I've been using it more like a hybrid synthesizer.

Even this demo has a tiny bit of high-pass filter on the bass to be honest but that was just for something to tweak. The main bass part uses the X-Lab morphing mode with quite a lot of automation programmed in to get that crunchy feel but the other parts are running in Library mode which just play back the FM presets without using morphing. The other 3 tracks are 'Traditional FM' in the sense that they are FM synthesis in it's capacity to sound like acoustic instruments, in this case a flute with delayed vibrato, a sort of slapped pipe sounds and a bell like sound.

Personally I can't name this as a genre! But it's quite like a 90s Sega Megadrive/Genesis soundtrack I think, probably because that also has a 4op FM 6 voice chip inside."

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype demos

PERfourMER mkii sequenced by Sonicware Liven XFM

video upload by ChrisLody

"Here's a quick and dirty jam on a borrowed Vermona PERfourMER MK2. I've been working at a studio/synth cave recently that I'm hoping to share more information on soon. Long story but there is an enormous amount of gear there and it's my job to learn the technical ins and outs of all of it. There is some huge modular racks that won't be going anywhere but some of the smaller pieces of gear I can learn at home, like this.

The PERfourMER mk2 is pretty unique (apart from when comparing it to the mk1 of course!) in that it' can be used as 4 separate monosynths on 4 separate midi channels, through duophonic modes, up to a 4 voice polyphonic synth though with individual settings per voice as they cycle through.

In this jam I have it set to monophonic per voice that I have synths 3 & 4 set to the same midi channel. The Sonicware Liven XFM is a 4 part multitimbral synth but it can also sequence external gear on 4 tracks and 4 different midi channels so the two are a good match. I've kept one channel back on the XFM to play drum sounds, then I'm using a track to trigger synths 3 & 4 to make brassy pad sounds, a track for an arpeggio and a track for a lead. If I get time before I take his back I'll record something in polyphonic mode as it can get pretty lush sounding!"