The Software Instrument - A ReBirth Review
by David Turner Walter

Being slow to embrace the new “digital music revolution”, I hold tightly to my synths and drum machines, finding solitude and comfort within the quirky sounds of my old Moog.  I still record to a TEAC reel to reel; it's analog or nothin’.  Rebirth 2.0, however, has eased me into the times.  Rebirth is an addictive software version of analog synths and drum machines.

Rebirth 2.0 Features:  Mixing Panels, PCF, Delay, Distortion and Compression

The folks at Propellerhead know what people like.  They have recreated two Roland TB-303 bassline synths and the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. They have also included a digital delay, a quad-input distortion, a compressor and an analog filter emulation unit, the PCF (Pattern Control Filter).  This as close to the real thing any computer software can come to -- these machines are essential to every great techno musician out there.  Although the real thing can never truly be replaced, Rebirth provides the opportunity to create with these machines without actually ever owning one. 

Rebirth also provides mods that open a new realm of noises and sounds.  Mods like these on an actual Roland TB-303 are costly and hard to find or create.  The possibility of assembling the hardware version of Rebirth is not impossible, but costly to say the least. A Roland TB-303 with the Devilfish Mod is currently at $1200 on Ebay.  The standard TB-303 consistently fetches over $1000.  TR-808’s sell for an average of $850 and the amazing TR-909 goes for about $1200. Rebirth is $179 from the Propellerhead website.  If you would like to see a photo of the hardware version, check out Peff’s Place at http://move.to/the-beat.  Peff is a Rebirth pioneer and has created several mods and songs that are available for download from his own site or from http://www.propellerheads.se/x-home.htm.  In fact, the Internet is crowded with friendly fanatic fiends of Rebirth, all of whom are willing to share ideas and advice.

Rebirth is a simple program to get up and running.  Installation is a breeze and the handy "Getting Started" manual reads easily and provides just enough information to get you in trouble.  An electronic manual in PDF format is included; it’s two hundred plus pages, so I'd reconsider printing the entire thing.  There are some sections, however, that are worth printing.  I found it helpful to print the table of contents, as this made maneuvering around the electronic manual easier.  I also printed the keyboard chart, which helped until I was familiar enough to fly on my own.  As I stated earlier, the "Getting Started" manual is just enough to get you in trouble -- if you don’t go through the electronic manual you may become discouraged by the apparent complexity of the program and miss out on all the fun. 

Rebirth has sixteen demo songs and four mods already installed.  More mods are available for download from Propellerhead’s website.  These songs and mods show the capability of Rebirth and help you learn how to write your own songs.  To hear some songs created on Rebirth check out http://www.mp3.com.

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