Review: M-Audio Black Box, v2
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Boom! Boom! Boom!

Black Box Web Resources

Black Box Angle

Although it's loaded with 100 drum patterns, the Black Box isn't a drum machine. There's no way to link patterns together to create songs, though you can assign a particular beat and tempo to a preset and step through the presets with the optional foot controller. There's also a rudimentary intro/ending function.

Given Roger Linn's expertise in drum machines, I wondered why the Black Box's drum section was so basic. Did he intend the drums mainly as a practice tool? For inspiration? Where did the patterns come from?

"The basic idea of the product is that it's a very powerful guitar processor with a simple drum machine," he explained. "The drum machine serves two purposes: it provides basic beats to play along to when you're not connected to the computer, and it provides a metronome for the beat-synced effects. For example, if you select one of the beat-synced effects when you aren't connected to the computer, how would you know when to start playing? If a user desires a drum arrangement, his recording software can provide either sequenced beats or loops in perfect sync. Regarding the patterns, they came from the AdrenaLinn II, as did the rest of the Black Box technology."

By and large, the patterns get the job done, with rock and electronic beats predominating. You can't edit the patterns or load your own. Ah, but you can send the drums through the filters or delay for more rhythmic variety:

Putting Your Foot Down

The optional foot controller (Figure 4) combines two momentary switches with an expression pedal. (You can also use your own pedals.) Everything's customizable, naturally. All well and good, but what if you want more control? Sadly, you cannot connect a MIDI foot controller such as the DigiTech Control 8.

And speaking of control, although you can store and recall your edits via the software Control Panel, there's no way to edit patches on your computer. Nor can you use the foot controller to automate effect parameters through your sequencer.

However, you can automate some effect parameters by sending MIDI messages over USB from your computer. MIDI notes can transpose arpeggios up and down or alter the filter frequency and flanger delay. You can control the filter and flanger with MIDI Velocity and Control Changes as well.

Fig. 4: Pedal Board

Figure 4. The optional pedal board's momentary switches let you tap the tempo, select presets and drum beats, start and stop drums, and turn the tuner, effects, amp, and delay on and off. The expression pedal controls amp drive, effects speed/frequency/depth/key, wet/dry mix, delay volume/repeats, drums-to-delay amount, and drums-to-filter amount.

Behind the Black Box

By Roger Linn

Roger Linn

Black Box mastermind Roger Linn built his first drum machine to accompany his songwriting and guitar playing. We asked what he especially liked about the Black Box, and he sent us these notes and custom audio examples.

One of my favorite parts of Black Box is the filter sequence effect. These two-measure looped sequences of filter tones can make your guitar sound absolutely magical, inspiring you to go down new and different musical paths. Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of this effect. (By the way, if you haven't yet downloaded the free version 2 firmware upgrade from the M-Audio website, do it now, because it dramatically increases the capabilities of the product.)

Arpeggios: Play simple, sustained notes and chords, letting the moving filter tones provide the rhythm for you. Arpeggiated chords produce excellent results. Here's an example of arpeggiated chords played with version 2's preset 93:

Overdrive: When combining sequences with overdriven amp models, simply hold sustained power chords at first, until you get the feel for what you can do rhythmically. Here's an example played with version 2's preset 87:

Random Flanging: If you'd prefer random filter tones to preprogrammed sequences, use the Random Filter effect instead. This will generate a randomly selected filter tone at each 16th note (or whatever interval you choose). Also, try Random Flanging for a different sound. Unlike Random Filtering, flanging changes the tone without cutting off high or low frequencies. Here's an example played with version 2's preset 56:

Clock it: All of these effects can play in perfect sync to your recording. Simply set your recording software to send MIDI Clock to the Black Box.

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