In some ways I really miss the old tape recorder days. I’m not talking about the expensive ones either – or even those vintage reel-to-reel monstrosities. I’m talking about the $14.95 specials and buying “Hi-Fi” cassette tapes by the six-pack. It’s true that you had to forget about little things like fidelity and lack of multi-tracking ability, but these recorders were easy and fast. You could sketch out a song in five minutes and then whip the tape out and hand it to someone.

The tape recorder is in stark contrast to the unbelievable power available to home studio musicians these days. I’m certainly a fan of “big boy” tools like Pro Tools, Tracktion, Cakewalk, Live, Sonar, Acid, Reason, etc., and I don’t want to take anything away from their amazing music rendering power. But you have to admit that there is a big learning curve with these applications. Even the easiest versions require, in computer time, eons to load and then you have to navigate numerous screens to get the output you want.

More recently, we’ve seen some strong entrants into the space between the tape recorder and the DAW. There have also been a number of lightweight applications for the PC that just didn’t quite make the cut for one reason or another. Apple’s Garageband was really the first to take the stage in this area and open people’s eyes to the creative power unleashed through powerful tools, modular design, and a simple interface.

As such, I was excited to receive a copy of Riffworks version 2 by Sonoma Wireworks. I also had a couple valid questions. My first question was, “What was this ‘riff’ based approach?” My second question was, “Can you actually make songs with this?” As I worked with Riffworks, my skepticism turned to appreciation. Read on to hear the details!

Riffworks

RiffWorks was built from the ground up to be guitarist centric – although its design will appeal to nearly any instrumentalist. You will find that everything is controlled via a single window, with clever use of collapsing panels and familiar interface elements that promote an uncluttered design and efficient, intuitive workflow.

I found that I had to break some old habits with Riffworks. Almost all applications, including Garageband, use a “track” based approach –with all musical elements, including recordings and loops, loading onto a track in linear fashion. In order to build up a song you have to layer tracks with music elements engaging at particular time points.

Riffworks is different in that it operates using a self-titled “Riff-based workflow”. I like the marketing language because it is easy to sell; however, “riff-based” really doesn’t capture the fundamental change in thinking that Riffworks introduces.

In Riffworks, you work in song segments. For instance, you might work on the “Intro” as a segment, or the “Chorus”, the “Verse”, or the “Bridge”. Taking the chorus as a segment, you could build up this segment using loops, backup drums, recorded guitars and other instruments all recorded as “layers” within that musical segment. This segment, which Riffworks calls a riff – hence the misnomer, is completely modular. This allows you to duplicate it, modify it, and move it around.

For instance, let’s say you wake up in the middle of the night with a song idea. Within 30 minutes you sketch out the basic song idea based on a Verse, Chorus, Verse, Verse, Chorus, and head back to bed smiling at the thought of the hit song you just wrote. You wake up in the morning and listen to it back. It’s a great song. Your vocals and guitar sound good, but overall the song is a bit thin. You realize that it is missing pieces that could take it from good to great.

Without re-recording the whole thing, you build new segments (or “riffs”) representing an Intro, an Outro, and a Bridge. You also layer your original guitar parts using a second guitar with a different effects chain and add some bass guitar on yet another layer. You move the song around simply by dragging the riffs around so that it is now Intro, Chorus, Verse, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Verse, Chorus, Outro. Now consider that you’ve done all this without changing or redoing any of the original work. That’s powerful stuff.

Riffworks includes some amazing software in the box, including InstantDrummer, 7 “rack” effects plus a copy of AmpliTube 2 Live. Adding to the online fun is “RiffLink” and "RiffCasting" on RiffWorld.com, where you can instantly post podcasts or collaborate with other musicians. Lastly, you are not limited to Riffworks alone. It is capable of using REX loops and is ReWire capable.

One caveat is that this is real recording software, not a “plug your guitar into the mic input on your soundcard” mash up. In that vein you will need an appropriate USB or Firewire interface. For the PC, almost any ASIO interface will work; although in my research most users have had good success with IK Multimedia's Stealthplug and Line 6 GuitarPort interfaces.

Because this software is relatively lightweight you can get by with a modest computer system setup if you plan on using it mainly as a sketchpad. If you plan on doing heavier song buildups with lots of parts and layers, I’d suggest a beefier setup with lots of RAM.

Riffworks: Features at a Glance
• Easy Riff-based Workflow
• Automatic Track Creation & Loop Recording
• InstantDrummer
• REX Player
• ReWire Mixer
• Metronome
• 7 Studio-Quality Effects
• RiffCast Podcasting
• RiffLink & RiffWorld.com: online collaboration
• Guitar Amp and Effects Plug-in Support
• Junt: Set tempo and record by simply playing your guitar or singing.
• Apply Gain & Effects on the Riff as a whole in addition to each layer.
• Apply Effects to Backup Modules in addition to riffs
• Single Shot Record
• Fade Automation
• Riff Notes area to make remarks about recordings.
• Instant access to documentation without leaving the application.
• Mono or stereo input
• 16-24 bit recording
• 44.1 sample rate for simple setup and CD burning
• 32 bit floating point internal processing
• Up to 24 recorded layers per Riff plus backup drums
• Up to 48 simultaneous recorded layers with SongLayers playing over Riffs
• WAV and OGG mix export options
• Mac OS Universal Compatibility
• Mac OS Core Audio Device Compatibility
• Windows XP ASIO Device Compatibility

Riffworks: Screenshots







Studio Test

I tested Riffworks using my Dell dual-core laptop with 2MB of RAM. I used a Mackie Onyx 1220 mixing board with a Firewire interface to connect my guitar. The Mackie board is probably overkill for this piece of software; nevertheless, I found the performance to be speedy, with very little software lag and latency. This alone was impressive enough for me to use as a regular tool in my studio.

In my experimentation, I found that I didn’t even need to use the manual or reference to tackle the basic features – although I would suggest a good read if you plan on using any of the advanced features since they are trickier. Luckily the manual is easily accessed as part of the program and appears in a separate panel.

Even for a novice, creating a song in Riffworks is easy, and doesn’t take much more than hitting “record” (in fact you really don’t even need to do that with the “junt” feature). You simply load Riffworks, which thankfully pops up quickly. One blank “Riff” is already enabled so you can begin recording a layer right away or build your song structure using the “create” button and drag and drop pieces into place. Then select an amplifier option.

You can record from here just by beginning to play. The software senses the input and begins to record. You can also set a metronome speed or select a drum backing using InstantDrummer. InstantDrummer is an intelligent drummer that will quantize the input and match itself to your tempo, so this means you can add drums at the beginning or end of the process. I probably spent about an hour just messing around with the InstantDrummer feature! A nice selection of 9 drum sets were available for use, with more available online.

Once you’ve recorded your dry track, you can effects. After you have finished recording all your riffs and layers within, you can drag and drop all your parts into place using the easy interface.

The last step is mixing down to WAV or OGG. It is important to mention that MP3 mixdown is not natively incorporated into this software package. I don’t know if this influenced Sonoma’s decision, but I do know MP3 is a licensed, patented, technology owned by Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft and in order to keep down costs they probably opted for the open-source OGG format. This won’t keep you from mixing down as a WAV file and then using a standalone LAME or Blade encoder to create your MP3s.

Another thing I felt was missing was MIDI track support. I would like to see this incorporated, even at a basic level, in upcoming versions. Not only would this increase the versatility of the software, but would also improve its appeal to other instrumentalists like keyboardists. It is probably possible to use ReWire to integrate a MIDI capable program into Riffworks, but that, in my mind, begins to defeat the purpose.

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Gear Guy Tip: With Riffworks you need to learn to think in "layers" and "song parts". This is easy for newbies but probably hard for hard core electronic musicians. It's easy in Riffworks to layer multiple instruments within any part - e.g. intro, chorus, verse. For instance, if you want to thicken up your guitar sound, try re-recording yourself playing the same part on a different layer. Maybe even with different guitars and effects chains. On playback it'll sound like two (or more) guitarists and really thicken the mix.

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Something that may not get enough mention are the built-in effects. Riffworks ships with Amplitube 2 Live, which has already won a GGH award. But what may not get enough attention are the seven available effects that are represented as rack gear with familiar knobs and settings. The basic effects include: compression, delay, equalizer, filter, modulation, reverb, and shaper – each with various common presets. Of these my favorites were the filter (which gave me sounds reminiscent of a Moog processor), delay, and shaper, all of which had useable presets. What is probably best of the these effects is that they can be applied to almost everything – including recorded tracks, backups, and loops.


Grade- A
Pro's – Easy-of-Use, Workflow, Powerful Option Set, Instant Drummer
Con's- Font Small on Large Monitors, Lacks direct to MP3 and internal MIDI support
Street Price $129 ($169 with Stealthplug, a nice ASIO USB Interface if you don't have one)



Conclusion

Riffworks is a decidedly clever application. What I like best is that they changed the rules and created a lightweight application that mirrors the creative process of song writing. Around this concept, Sonoma Wireworks has constructed an easy-to-use, single screen interface to compliment this process. When you add in the many features such as InstantDrummer, built in effects, Amplitube 2 Live, looping, and ReWire support it creates a very compelling package. As such, I am proud to award Sonoma Wireworks the GuitarGearHeads “Studio Ready” award to for 2008.





Dan Halberg

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