BTDsys's peer
machines for Buzz
- Mark Ridlen
BTDsys is one of the best developers for Buzz. His machines are so intuitive, yet very powerful. I cover 5 1/2 machines in this review. Why 5 1/2? Lets move on to my first 1.5 reviews. To be quite honest, his machines are very stable, easy to use, and they will help you finish the job with time to spare. If you use Buzz, you simply must get these machines!
Peer Chord and Peer Chord Lite
These two machines are basically the same, except that the Lite version isn't as configurable. (For a comparison, refer to the graphic above.) Soon you will soon find out, all of BTDsys's peer machines follow a certain outline. From the right click menu, select which parameters you want it to control or read from. In this case, you need to tell it where the note parameter is. To make it play chords, the machine itself must be polyphonic (supporting multiple channels). Adding two channels (for a total of three) might do it for simple chords like major and minor, but for things like seventh (and more advanced chords), you're gonna need to add more channels. If you want only one type of chord, you can easily just lay down the notes in peer chord, and bam! you have chord-ified versions of all your notes. However, if you want multiple types of chords in one song, it's surprisingly very simple to accomplish. In the row next to the notes, just enter the chord type number. Usually I wouldn't use more than the major, minor, seventh (and varieties), sus, aug, and dim... which should make it easy enough to remember what number is for what type of chord.
My Take on This Machine
If you are into Jazz, this machine will make entering in all those fancy chords much simpler. This machine also is great for people who work with sheet music and chords and want an easy way to input values.
Problems you might face with this machine
You have a strong possibility of accidentally muting either peer chord or the seemingly unused host instrument in the song view. Make sure to use the host instrument's default blank pattern whenever you use the Peer Chord's pattern.
Score
| Sound | N/A (this doesn't generate sound) |
| Feel and Quality | 10 |
| Innovation | 10 |
| Value | 10 |
| Overall | 10 |
Peer LFO
This is just one of those machines that will make your day easier. When people say that writing electronic music is cheating, they are reffering to things like this. I use this in nearly every song I write, although mostly for controlling cutoff. Just select what parameter you want it to control and put it to work, then press play and adjust it to taste. Min/max controls keep it in a certain range, and you can select center if the parameter goes to negative values. It really is a great machine.
My Take on This Machine
It is a great machine for controlling cutoff sweeps. If you are going to be layering sounds, use this machine.
Problems you might face with this machine
Make sure you turn the machine on!
You will not be able to get the sweep to be the same every time you play the song. It is a fact. This is good for background sweeps, and probably should not be used for any lead parts.
Score
| Sound | N/A |
| Feel and Quality | 10 |
| Innovation | 10 |
| Value | 10 |
| Overall | 10 |
Peer ADSR
This machine is one of those professional level tools that I rarely use. Basically you select which parameter to control (usually the cutoff), and just trigger the envelope with a 1. It is a simple concept that sounds good, but really only useful for machines that don't already have envelopes.
My Take on This Machine
If it read the note value from one machine to trigger the envelope, I would use it more. The upshot is that you can use it for pads and other sounds to make them more percussive. The downside is that if you have an intricate rhythm, you're gonna have a hard time entering in all the triggers. It would have been nice to have the option to take input from the note parameter. Unofficial word from BTDsys: he's planning something like that for the future.
Score
| Sound | N/A |
| Feel and Quality | 10 |
| Innovation | 9 |
| Value | 9 |
| Overall | 9 1/3 |
Peer Envelope
If you want to enhance the sound of your tune quickly, this is the way to do it. I experimented with about 20 or so presets on the Infector (a synth) before using the envelope on it, and then listened to them with the envelope. The sounds were fuller, punchier, and overall better than before. This machine is dead easy to use, just as most of his others. First connect the input machine to the envelope. It will analyze the audio and add an envelope to where you specify.
My Take on This Machine
I've gotten some pretty loopy results selecting parameters such as reverb level, and lfo speed. If you want to play guitar and get a wah sound this is your machine, since it analyzes the audio, and not the note on/off.
Problems You Might Face With This Machine
Since it analyzes input, don't assign it to any parameters on any machine before where you connected into it. You will cause feedback and get an LFO effect.
Score
| Sound | N/A |
| Feel and Quality | 10 |
| Innovation | 10 |
| Value | 10 |
| Overall | 10 |
Ring Mod
This last effect isn't really a peer effect, but it uses some of the same technology. Each connection is tracked and processed separately. This may seem like a little thing until you realize that a ring mod requires at least two inputs. Just connect one machine to it, and it will sound like it does nothing. Add two machines, and it will most likely sound very strange. That's the nature of Ring Mod. Unlike a normal ringmod (which uses an internal oscillator to modulate the sound), this will not make your instruments sound out of tune.
My Take on This Machine
I was simply blown away by this machine. Nothing to control. Wet/dry outputs, thats it!
Score
| Sound | N/A |
| Feel and Quality | 10 |
| Innovation | 10 (ring mod is not a new concept, but the way it was implemented is) |
| Value | 10 |
| Overall | 10 |
Mark Ridlen is a 19 year-old electronic musician that is specializing in reviewing freeware and shareware music software, and is also our in-house Buzz expert. You can check out his older music at http://mp3.com/introspectivejourn or more recent tunes at http://zebox.com/ijourn