Alchemy 2 Explained®
Chapter 1 : Working with Presets & Performance Controls
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5:10 The Magic Potion
Welcome to Alchemy. Learn about it's basic architecture and take a tour of the user interface. See where all the main sound generating components and controls are accessed.
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4:14 The Name Bar
See how this part of the interface is used for basic browsing and file management.
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4:06 Working with the Browser
Learn to navigate presets using the browse view category and attribute columns, the search field, and the ratings system.
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4:00 Working with Tags
See how to edit the attributes, comments, and tags associated with presets, as well as how to create, assign, remove, and delete custom user tags.
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3:38 Overview of the Performance Controls
Learn how these custom controls are used to modify values of key sound parameters. There are four main types of performance controls: Performance control knobs, X/Y pads, ADSR envelope controls, and eight transform pads which are used to store and morph between snapshots of the controller knob, X/Y pads, and envelope values.
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6:31 Customizing the Transform Pads
Explore methods and strategies of customizing and controlling the settings used in each of the eight transform pads.
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4:37 Knob, Pad & Envelope Controls
See how to customize the settings assigned to the eight performance control knobs, two X/Y pads, and the performance envelope controls.
Chapter 2 : Advanced view - Source Controls
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3:21 Source Master Controls
Explore the basic per source settings available from the Global tab in Advanced view, and learn how to bypass the main filters and route sources directly to the effects section.
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5:01 Importing Audio
Learn how to import and map either single samples, loops, or multi samples into Alchemy using the various synthesis elements, including formant analysis.
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4:03 Source Subpage Controls
Discover additional per source controls that include determining where in the waveform sources will be triggered from, how to set their loop modes, how to offset their start time by musical subdivisions, and more.
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3:22 Source Filters
Hear the results of routing multiple source specific filters in serial vs parallel configurations, and see how to manage the signal flow once the sound leaves the source subpage control section.
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5:38 The Additive Element
Hear how this element in Alchemy's synth engines is used to enhance the timbre of a source by adding sine waves, or more complex waveforms, to the original sound at harmonic intervals related to the fundamental frequencies.
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2:31 Spectral Resynthesis Element
Hear how this element is used to recreate the spectral characteristics of a sounds frequency spectrum using either sine waves or filtered noise.
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5:17 Formant Filters
See how these settings are used to either recreate the characteristic resonances of analyzed audio, or synthesize and impose new resonant characteristics.
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5:11 The Granular Element
Hear how this form of synthesis is used to break apart audio into tiny grains, and then re-trigger and reshape the pitch, pan, and amplitude envelopes of the grains.
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4:48 Virtual Analog Parameters
Explore basic waveform sound shaping parameters including altering a wave's shape, symmetry and sync, setting a phase offset to determine where in the waveform the sound is triggered from, creating and detuning up to sixteen unison voices, and blending in filtered noise.
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3:01 XFading Between Sources
See how the XFade functions on the Morph page are used to cross fade between the four separate sources used in a single preset.
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5:00 Elemental Morphing
Hear how the actual element parameter values are simultaneously morphed between different sources in a single preset.
Chapter 3 : Modulation
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5:26 Introduction to Modulation
Learn about the basic concepts of modulation, how the modulation rack and modulation control panel are used, and watch as a couple of simple modulation routings are set up.
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5:17 Working with LFOs
Explore how these repeating cyclical waveform shapes are used to create movement in sound shaping destination parameters.
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3:34 AHDSR Envelopes
Explore how the five stages of these envelopes are used to superimpose modulation shapes onto the movement of targeted parameters.
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4:52 Multi Stage Envelope Generators
Learn how to create and edit custom multi stage envelopes and use them as modulation sources.
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6:13 Sequencer
Learn how this programmable step based modulator is used to play patterns of up to 128 modulation steps.
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3:54 Note Properties
See how performance gestures, like velocity, aftertouch, pitchbend, etc, are used to control modulation values as you are playing.
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3:18 Performance Controls
Learn how to map parameters to be modulated by the sixteen available controls in the Performance section.
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4:37 Intro to ModMaps
See how these are used to process the output of a modulator, mapping the original values to new ones, before they are applied to a modulation target.
Chapter 4 : Source Edit Window
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1:54 Source Edit Window Overview
Get a brief tour of this source based editor, and learn where to access the Inspector, keymap, and zone waveform editor controls.
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6:33 Inspector Group Controls
See how additional groups of samples are imported and the various ways of triggering them.
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3:41 Inspector Zone Controls
Learn how to import additional samples into the current sound source, and how to control the tuning, range, volume, pan, and crossfade parameters.
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2:28 Keymap Editor
Explore this area of the source edit window, and see how it is used to edit, replace, and move sample zones to other groups.
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4:13 Zone Waveform Editor
Discover how this section of the Source Edit window is used to trim sample zone start and end points, as well as loop and crossfade areas.
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4:43 Additive Edit Window
Hear how this window is used to edit the volume, tuning, pan, and phase of partials that are generated using the additive re-synthesis engine, and see how to slide and stretch the positioning of the partials for interesting sound design effects.
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5:17 Spectral Edit Window
Discover how this editor is used to graphically interact with the spectral content of the source by drawing and painting in over the existing spectral image.
Chapter 5 : Arpeggiator & Effects
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5:55 Arpeggiator Basics
Arpeggiator Basics
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6:08 Arpeggiator Sequencer
See how this is used to customize velocity, tuning, panning, swing, and length of the arpeggiator’s automatically generated notes.
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6:49 The Effects Rack
Explore the effects section and see how to route to and use the five separate effects racks in combination with the four sound sources and two main filters.
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7:31 Master Voice Section
Explore this final output stage of Alchemy, and see how the volume, pan, tuning, pitch bend, glide, and polyphony for the sum of all the sources is controlled.
Chapter 6 : Update
Product Overview
Logic Pro X 10.2 integrated Alchemy 2, one of the most powerful virtual instruments ever made. In this three-hour video training tutorial series, Eli Krantzberg teaches you how to become a Alchemy wizard and unleash all of its power on your music!
Eli starts with Presets and Performance Controls, showing you around the new GUI before diving into the Name bar, Browser, Tags, and Pads, with their related settings,enabling you to get creative fast. Next, he digs into the Advanced View, where you'll see how to further manipulate your sounds.
Eli then covers the cool, deeper features like Importing Audio, various Controls, Filters, Synthesizer Elements including Additive, Granular, and Virtual Analog, as well as Crossfading And Morphing. From there, Eli dives into Alchemy's extensive Modulation Controls, Options, and Routings, including Note Properties, Performance Controls, and how to use ModMaps. Your synth sounds will never be the same.
The next series of videos feature the Source Edit Window, which includes the Inspector, Keymap, and Zone Waveform Editor controls giving you even more control over your patches and presets. Eli wraps up the series with four videos on Alchemy's amazing arpeggiator and effects which add movement and even more color to your sounds.
If you're just getting into Logic Pro X 10.2 and have yet to discover Alchemy, or if you're an experienced Alchemy user looking to learn some new magic tricks, watch "Alchemy 2 Explained" today!
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Reviews
Submitted 3 months ago
Very good endeed
A big help for finding your way around a complex synth. One thing I could use is the templates used in the videos getting a more hands on expierence.
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 5 months ago
Very helpful!
It's a nice, easy to follow, complete explanation of this very powerful instrument. I recommend it to all Logic users!
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 6 months ago
This is really in depth!
This tutorial is just awesome, I learned so much, and I'm not even finished yet. The only thing for me is that I'm not really home at the terms they use, but that's a learning thing for me.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Sound Designer, Logic Pro
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 1 year ago
Quite the workout!
The amount of information that is given in the scope of this course is enormous. I would have like better example sounds and context use to keep me more motivated htrough the many videos. But i have a completely new view on Alchemy now and the first thing i am going to todo is to try the image import and play around with that :) I would have liked a add on course for sound design for different styles. Such as course for EDM sounds. or cinematic etc...Why not how to use Alchemy for classic music with samples?
I am a: Hobbyist, Musician, Producer, Sound for Film/TV, Logic Pro
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Excellent walk-through
A well articulated and comprehensive walk though that also illuminates some of the finer functions - like multi pattern arpeggiator.
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
great one
not too technical tutorial but quite good at explanation
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
very cleared , easy to follow
step by step , can't ask more than this..!! good for non synth guy like me :)
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Submitted 2 years ago
Great Advice and help!
The tutorials are really helpful, thanks!
I am a: Professional, Musician, Producer, Beat Maker, Audio Engineer, Sound Designer, Game Designer, Mastering Facility, Sound for Film/TV, Logic Pro
Ease of Use Quality of Videos Value of Training Access to Videos
Reviews
Submitted 3 months ago
Very good endeed
A big help for finding your way around a complex synth. One thing I could use is the templates used in the videos getting a more hands on expierence.
Submitted 5 months ago
Very helpful!
It's a nice, easy to follow, complete explanation of this very powerful instrument. I recommend it to all Logic users!
Submitted 6 months ago
This is really in depth!
This tutorial is just awesome, I learned so much, and I'm not even finished yet. The only thing for me is that I'm not really home at the terms they use, but that's a learning thing for me.
I am a: Semi-Pro, Sound Designer, Logic Pro
Submitted 1 year ago
Quite the workout!
The amount of information that is given in the scope of this course is enormous. I would have like better example sounds and context use to keep me more motivated htrough the many videos. But i have a completely new view on Alchemy now and the first thing i am going to todo is to try the image import and play around with that :) I would have liked a add on course for sound design for different styles. Such as course for EDM sounds. or cinematic etc...Why not how to use Alchemy for classic music with samples?
I am a: Hobbyist, Musician, Producer, Sound for Film/TV, Logic Pro
Submitted 2 years ago
Excellent walk-through
A well articulated and comprehensive walk though that also illuminates some of the finer functions - like multi pattern arpeggiator.
Submitted 2 years ago
great one
not too technical tutorial but quite good at explanation
Submitted 2 years ago
very cleared , easy to follow
step by step , can't ask more than this..!! good for non synth guy like me :)
Submitted 2 years ago
Great Advice and help!
The tutorials are really helpful, thanks!
I am a: Professional, Musician, Producer, Beat Maker, Audio Engineer, Sound Designer, Game Designer, Mastering Facility, Sound for Film/TV, Logic Pro
1. When did you start dabbling in music?
I started playing drums in high school at age fourteen. Like most kids my age around then, I was into progressive rock. Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Yes. They rocked my world. A few short years later though, my musical life changed. While studying music in college I discovered Charlie Parker, Milt Jackson, Sonny Stitt, and John Coltrane. Milt Jackson spoke to me in such a profound way that it left me no choice but to take up vibraphone.
These great players, along with drummers like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Elvin Jones changed not only the way I thought about drumming, but also music - and by extension, life - as a whole. I realized life was meant to be a creative endeavor. The idea of improvising based on a loose set of guidelines and rules permeated into my psyche even when I wasn't holding a pair of drumsticks or mallets. But if I am going to be perfectly truthful, I have to hold Henry Miller and Woody Allen equally responsible for shaping the way I view and experience the world around me.
2. What training have you had?
I am currently an Apple certified Logic Pro. Young and cocky, and armed with only a partial University degree, I dropped out of school and began playing steady commercial hotel engagements and jazz gigs when I could. This went on for many years until I decided it was time to complete my degree - which I ultimately did with a major in Political Science and a minor in music.
It was at this point that I formed my current band Nightshift. We are going in to our twenty third year now - playing commercial one nighters like weddings, corporate events, etc. Don't turn your nose up at it though - it has allowed me a wonderful quality of life. It gave me the freedom to go back to school and complete a post graduate degree in Communications Studies - all the while supporting myself by playing weddings.
3. When did you get into recording?
It was in this graduate program - in the early nineties - that I found myself drawn to the fledgling emerging universe of hard disc recording and midi sequencing. Based on nothing more than the recommendation of one of my band mates who had an old Atari, I jumped in head first and bought a Mac LC ll, along with a version 1.1 of what was then Notator Logic. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But, in hindsight, it was a decision of epic importance in my life - shaping my future as much as the music of Milt Jackson and Charlie Parker did fifteen years prior.
I opened up my own commercial home studio in 1998 and began doing a variety of projects, working on radio jingles, artist CD projects, and whatever came my way. A couple of years later a colleague called me up - desperate. He was working at a post production house and one of the editors had just quit. They were doing audio post for a weekly TV series and needed a Pro Tools editor - and fast! And so, once again, I jumped in head first into what would ultimately open up my world even more - the world of Pro Tools.
4. People you have worked with/for?
Focusing on Logic, I built up a small but loyal client base and my phone kept ringing for Logic tech support and instruction. Film composers and studio owners all over the city were calling me. Even the music stores were giving out my phone number at this point! This kind of stuff becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The more of it you do, the more calls you get to keep doing it. At least that's the way it should be!
As my Logic chops kept growing, I was hired by an old buddy of mine, Len Sasso, who was then an associate editor at Electronic Musician magazine, and began writing some columns for them. I had a blast doing them - and really learned to focus and express my thoughts in a concise and clear manner. This lead to a collaboration with LA based composer Terry Michael Huud on the 2006 film called Civic Duty - which was certainly one of the highlights of my professional life as a composer.
5. Why are you so good at training people?
I wake up every day excited to boot up, and create. Whether it's instructional videos, creating music, working with a studio client, performing with my band, or teaching at the schools - my days are filled with what I love doing. Enriched by the stimulation and creative freedom this modern music making software brings to my life. I bring that excitement and passion to each and every training product I create. My years of experience both using and teaching these programs has taught me the best way to make the user comfortable with these complex programs.
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Logic Pro X 10.2 integrated Alchemy 2, one of the most powerful virtual instruments ever made. In this three-hour video training tutorial series, Eli Krantzberg teaches you how to become a Alchemy wizard and unleash all of its power on your music!
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Maestro 2 is Apogee's flexible and powerful OS X Mixer software solution that's included with all Apogee interfaces. Studio master Eli Krantzberg shows you everything you need to know about Maestro 2, as well as how to get the best performance out of your Apogee interface and improve your workflow.
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