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JoMoX AirBase99 Just like in the Club" printed in german KEYS magazine 3/99

Photo Caption: A lot of Steam for the Rack: JoMoX AirBase99, which can do more than its predecessor and paragon, the TR 909.

You might as well forget about dance music production if you don't have punchy drum sounds. Even though the production of Roland drum machines TR-909 and TR-808 has been dicontinued for some years now, their sound, known to cut through any mix, still enjoys unabated popularity. Two years ago, JoMoX put the club-compatible XBase09 on the market. With the AirBase99, JoMoX has released the XBase's Sound Engine in a 19" rack mountable version.

In Order to recapture their predecessor's sound as authentically as possible, the JoMoX AirBase99 and XBase09 feature pure analog as well as hybrid digital-analog sound generation: Kick, snare and toms are are fully analog while the other instruments are based on samples with analog processing. The advantage of the JoMoX devices: Their sounds cover a far wider scope of variations than the originals. In general, punchy sounds that are contollable in all parameters are more easily created on analog systems than with samples, apart from the fact that sound control of samples is mostly limited.

The difference The AirBase99 is essentially a 19" rackversion of the XBase 09 synthesis engine with added features. Among these is the analog tom section and additional samples. Polyphony has been increased from three to nine voices, which means that multiple samples can now be played simultaneously. The global 'Accent' parameter could be done away with completely, since all of the Air Base's instruments respond to note velocity individually. Air Base owners have to do without the the XBase 09's many knobs and its sequencer. Even though it has been anounced that the Air Base will be fitted with a sequencer in a future software update, this will not mean that it will also grow knobs like the Xbase09 or the Novation DrumStation on its front panel. However, a diskette with Cubase mixermaps and Logic environments is supplied to make for easy operation with a sequencer.

Fresh Food The Air Base features four complete analog sound generators: Kick, Snare, Low Tom and High Tom. The much wider scope in sound variation in comparison with the TR-909 is exemplified best with the kick drum. Not only envelope and tuning can be tweaked, but also sound-forming parameters Pitch, Pulse, Noise and EQ. The direct counterpatrs of the original TR-909 parameters feature an increased range of control. The sound forming of the snare is also more flexible and more detailed, offering five parameters opposed to the 909's three. The two tom sections (Low Tom and High Tom), that enable adjustment of the tom's tuning and decay furthermore distinguish the Air Base's sound engine from that of the XBase 09.

Canned Food While with the XBase 09 you could play only one sample (e.g. cymbal, clap, hihat) at a time, the AirBase offers five independent instrument-groups, namely hihat, clap, rimshot, crash and ride. Every group can play one of four samples: a 909 sample, an 808 sample, a CR 78 sample and a JoMoX factory sample. All samples can also be played backwards. The hihats are 6-bit quantized samples, all others are 8-bit quantized. This low resolution, unusual nowadays, makes for the authentic 909 sound. All samples pass through a three segment envelope that can be freely adjusted. Closed Hihat and Open Hihat belong to the same sample group and therefore cannot be played at the same time. The envelopes are individually adjustable, but sample volume level adjustment and sample selection is not possible. Complete independance would further increase flexibility, but to make up for that the hihat section features an exclusive resonant filter section with high and low pass characteristics and independantly adjustable cut-off frequencies. These filters increase the hihat section's sonic scope considerably. Furthermore, it is possible to use a noise signal instead of the hihat samples.

Joker For modulations ranging from subtle to violent, the AirBase99 provides two LFOs per drumkit, both of which can be synchronized to MIDI clock. Each LFO provides four waveforms, rate and intensity settings and a modulation target. If it is required, the 'sync' function forces the LFO to restart at every note event. LFO 1 affects the ptich of any instrument or the high hat filter's cutoff frequency. LFO 2 can modulate the pitch of Kick, snare or low tom.

INTERVIEW WITH JĐRGEN MICHAELIS KEYS talked to J¸rgen Michaelis about JoMoX's current projects. Mr. Michaelis is the company's director and chief of the develpment department.

KEYS: Mr. Michaelis, XBase and Air Base do not use digital sound generation. What is the reason for this? J¸rgen Michaelis:Analog sound generation sounds better. More earthy, it simply cuts through a mix better. I like this kind of direct sound. Apart from that, it's much more fun to develop analog devices, even if we spent about 75% of the time for the Air Base's development working on the software. KEYS: How closely are development and production linked? J¸rgen Michaelis: It is important to keep communication lines short. For this reason we do not produce in the Far East, as opposed to other manufacturers. Our factory is situated in the fourth floor of an industrial house built in Berlin at the beginning of this century. We don¥t only develop but also produce our instruments here. KEYS: Will the SunSyn also be produced here? J¸rgen Michaelis: Certainly. Recently we had to concentrate fully on the Air Base, but we will be able to show a functioning prototype of the SunSyn at the coming Frankfurt Musikmesse in March, maybe even more. We expect the first SunSyns of the series production to be available in the middle of the year.

Abundance The MIDI implementation is a model of flexibility. All sound parameters can be edited from outside by means of factory-assigned MIDI controllers. The Air Base's control knobs generate the controller data that the parameter being edited responds to. In this wise it is easy to control the Air Base from a sequencer. Custom Cubase Mixermaps and Logic environments, which are shipped with the unit further simplify this. Unfortunately the drum kit being edited cannot be stored in a memory slot other than its own. The workaround for this is to first copy it to another memory location and then to edit it. The 'snapshot send' function is very practical on the other hand: A program change can cause the Air Base to send nearly all of a drum kit's sound data as MIDI controllers, with the exception of sample selection. There is no need to fear a scarcity of memory space for customized sounds and drumkits. Each instrument group has 256 memory slots of its own, and there are 1024 memory slots for drumkits. The micro sequencer, which has been anounced to be part of a future software update, might reduce the number of possible drum kits, but in view of the large number already available, this shouldn't pose too great a problem. The Air Base's opulent back panel features ten individual outputs next to the main stereo output and the MIDI trio. These individual outputs are hard-wired to their respective instruments. If a jack plug is inserted into an individual output, that instrument will be taken out of the stereo mix of the main outputs. Regrettably, the AirBase99 does not have a volume control. Whoever might want to connect the Air Base directly to his HD recording system might have problems with its very high output level. This problem does not arise when the Air Base is connected to a mixer.

(PHOTO Caption): There is an individual output provided for every instrument group and both hihats. In this wise, sounds can be routed to mixer channels for individual processing.

Sound The Air Base sounds exactly like you want it to. It really kicks. The analog sound engine paired with the rough samples cuts through anything and is highly dance compatible. The showcase sound is of course th kick drum whose spectrum ranges far beyound that of the TR-909. But also the hihat filter and the two LFOs can breathe life into a rhythm track. All paramteres are within constant reach via MIDI controllers Wide tuning ranges provide for easy generation of extreme sounds that will also inspire friends of Elektro music. Also, the expanded sample selection enlarges the Air Base's sonic scope considerably.

Market Position Because it is based on a similar concept, the Air Base competes with JoMoX's own XBase 09 (DM 1.499) and with the Novation DrumStation (DM 1.190). For those who consider the sequencer necessary for timing reasons or for live performance, the XBase 09 is the obvious choice. Although it offers fewer sounds, it invites spontaneous sound manipulation by menas of its many knobs and also has the sequencer. In comparison, because of its MIDI potential, the Air Base is better suited for programming dance tracks in a studio situation and costs DM 300 less. The Novation DrumStation is limited to an authentic simulation of TR-808 and TR-909 sounds without enlarging the sound spectrum, with the exception of the distortion effect. It must however be borne in mind that it sports 21 knobs for sound programming, and these knobs also generate MIDI controller data. The Air Base, on the other hand, offers a far wider variety of sounds thanks to its extended parameter ranges and the LFO's. At the same time it sounds punchier than the completely digital english competitor's sound engine. In view of the fact that both instruments cost the same, one will have to decide wether one wants the luxury of many hardware knobs (DrumStation) or the wider vaiety of sounds (AirBase99).

Conclusion The Air Base offers the musician the sounds he needs for contemporary dance music in excellent quality and at a fair price. It sounds punchy and will cut through the mix much better than many a sample while remaining editable in all parameters via MIDI. At the same time, the sound engine provides enough scope for experimental sounds. Even the non-tweaking user, in search of the dance-scene's cult-status sounds will be able to put together what he is looking for from the large number of pre-programmed drum sets. The Air Base 09 offers good value for money at the suggested retail price, so much can be safely said. In comparison to the TR-909 the knobs are missing, but the Air Base provides MIDI control of all parameters, thereby opening a considerably larger scope of possibilities. The AirBase99 is a fully dance compatible drum module for those who need punchy drum sounds in a studio situation in which they can control the sound engine from a sequencer or a fader box. Ulf Kaiser

...CD: track 31 On the KEYS-CD you can hear several drum tracks made with an AirBase99. in which KEYS author Ulf Kaiser also used the modulation options.

Info JoMoX AirBase99 Distributor JoMoX, Berlin Price approx. DM 1.199, 613 Euro Concept Drum module with analog and sample based sound generation a la TR-909 Technical Data Polyphony: 9 voice Analog sounds: Kick, snare, lotom, hitom 8-bit-Samples with analog envelopes: Hihat (6 bit), rim shot, clap, crash, ride Memory Kits: 1.024 (256 in ROM) Instruments: 256 settings (100 in ROM) Connections Stereo out, 10 individual outs, headphones, MIDI in, out, through, external power supply. Further reading: Special: vintage drum computers, KEYS 8/96 Test: JoMoX XBase 09, KEYS 6/97 Test: Novation DrumStation, KEYS 8/96

The samples of the AirBase99 Hihat Clap Rimshot Crash Ride TR-909 hihat TR-909 clap TR-909 rimshot TR-909 crash TR-909 ride TR-808 hihat TR-808 clap TR-808 rimshot TR-808 crash TR-808 ride CR-78 hihat CR-78 cymbal CR-78 cowbell CR-78 tmbrn CR-78 guiro JoMoX hihat JoMoX clap JoMoX rimshot JoMoX crash JoMoX ride

products XBase09 | SUNSYN | AiRBase