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Sounds - from the inside

The Fusion 6HD "guts" are almost computer-like. I do not get inside the hardware to prove that but this is so-o evident. there's a hard drive of 40 or 80 Gb inside. The startup process lasts for nearly 20 seconds - it recalls the last loaded samples picture. While switching the patches you often get a progress bar indicator - some sounds are huge and thus take time loading. Yep, the cyborgs are all over the Earth! But we don't have to worry. Despite the digital heart Fusion 6HD has a nice platform for creating the complex sound palette. It's the sampler section with a maximum of 192 Mb RAM, enough to load some large AKAIs (memory extension is a factory option from Alesis). The second is the virtual analog , FM, and physical modelling synth engines, all inside one keyboard. Thats a deep base for creating stunning sounds.

The only drawback is the factory soundset, for Alesis Fusion potential it looks kinda cheap – just to show some possibilities. Want more - tweak by yourself, editing is intuitive and easy enough. Or you can load a lot of useful sound from Internet for example by Hollow Sun sounds, Freepacks and go for some advices to unofficial support forum - there's a lot of good sounds, and loading them from PC is as easy, as copying files to the flash drive.

But apart from sad, let's face the standard Fusion 6HD sounset.

Grand piano and EPs

One of my main interests. No weak point for Fusion 6HD here. The main grand piano patch – Holy Grail Piano – sounds convincing, and the modulation wheel is assigned to the reverberation level, that's interesting. Sure, the 5-octave keyboard is not for huge solo piano parts, search other way, maybe 8HD.

Subjective thought about the grand sound – not so tight as Kurzweil triple strike, but feels more balanced between soloing and playing chords. Also have a suspicion, I'll have to tweak it more at the rehearsal than kurz - it just won't jump into mix that way. Well, we'll see in some time. In the demo file I recorded the first patch with (0:10) and without (0:19) reverberation, then goes Nightclub Piano (0:37), bright on expressive playing, smooth on the soft, and I pressed piano+choir a little (0:51)  – there's a plenty of similar patches in the Alesis Fusion.

Factory electric pianos – acceptable, not so natural in the upper register though. Well, let's go lower, Suitcase – Rhodes (1:14),  and Jam Wurly for Wurlitzer piano (1:20). Next I play interesting Bright Stage Piano – you can play rhythm in the lower octaves (1:35), the upper on this patch go for the ballad-like bells I try to demonstrate (1:55). Sure though there's no better than FM engine for that purpose – Yamaha DX7 e-piano like sound to prove that (2:18).

Organs

Yep, Fusion equipped with a nice drawbar emulation would be a killer. You know, for a person spoilt by software Hammond clones (like me) is really hard to get used here, in the Fusion 6HD and 8HD organ patches area. To be honest the number of patches is enough, it's all about the sound. Even most of them have adjustable overdrive (knob), the sound still is kinda scary-plastic. Have a guess, it's the effect processor that is OK on the other patches or something else - anyway playing experience is not so pleasant (little more convincing on the record though). The one and only impression is - if you want hammond close to real here, use samples and external leslie emulator. Listen – patch called Space Trucking (this one's not so bad, but still soapy), some background organs (0:20, 0:40), a cathedral one with the S1 switching stops (0:59 – 1:23), voxie, sorry Vox Continental (say little hello to sixties here :), 1:23), some accordion sounds also here (1:46).

Guitar, strings

Well, if you want to play guitar and have fingers, take a real guitar, not the keys. The standard Fusion sounds are of no device – no interesting slides, massive chords or something like that. Sure, the sound designers tried to compencate the quality - most of the sounds use arpeggiator to get an interesting rhythm effect (the beginning of the file). A couple of solo sounds with the distortion, vibrato on aftertouch (0:12) – you can't cheat the listener that way but it's worth to get some interesting leads using the synth engine abilities. The basses have a separate category (the sound example on 0:45). A lot of synth basses - the keyboard is somewhat targeted to electronic musicians.

The strings (0:52). We have a solo versions and ensembles. Solo patches need some warmth though (of course, if do not intend to switch on the arpeggiator and make the tunes for local TV news). By the way it will be interestiong to listen to the Fusion sounds with effects stripped off, or through the external hi-class processor. Not now for me :(. The strings sounset contains some harps also (1:13).

Brass

The brass section is opened with the two ensembles, Âig Stereo Brass (0:00) and Big Classical Brass (0:18). then go solo sounds – tricky horns, trombones and other stuff (0:32). Not to forget the Fusion 6HD has a physical modelling (0:52). I'm not the flute-like sounds fan, but some modelled patches are interesting - flute-based lead with portamento and a good pad sound. Man, that definitely needs a breath controller.

Synth

Wow, what a session I had! The resulting file is rather big, sorry :(. The synth sounds start to appear in the  brass section, Brassalog (0:00) for example and 2-Pole Saw2thBrass (0:17), where I have filter opened a little in the end. A lot of leads in this machine,  triangle, saw, sine, moogish, Rolandish, Prophetic. Have courage – make our own lead, the editing is very simple (leads on the1:16, 9:27), on (9:58) wonderful Finger on the Pulse – the 1 polyphony produces almost clear tone, while two or more notes start to growl – you shoul play Mark Knopfler's par in Money for Nothing with that patch, it gives some inspiration!

The number of pads is also convincing, most of them have with a nice filter response (treat it right, it's a digital synth! on 1:40). You can play with the arpeggiator (2:41), all the controls are right before you. Besides the modern electronic sounds there are also some old-school sounding patches (3:22), lead and two arpeggiations in the file. Here you have nice slowly moving pad called Behemoth (5:01), which I tweaked on the fly a little. Tweaking was unnesessary - I got synth's out overloaded (do you hear crackling?). Such cases are reported immediately – with the CLIP! icon in the upper part of the screen. One more nice sound, "jumping" Filter Poly (6:16). Oh! Is it FM? (6:43) no, the Mar Tranquilium patch is based on the VA engine. Here's one electro-like pad (7:14). And a Cognitive Sweeper pad, that shows us some nice sampling (8:07), anyway, the filter works on it too.

Ethnic

Yeah, we have a rest here! Let's sit, rock, sing mantras… all night long, pulling with the help of your keys some exotic kind of banjo (0:18, 1:28), sitar (0:27, 1:13, 1:13, 2:02), blues harp (1:01) or string harp (1:48, 2:32). And for the end we blow some bagpipes (3:13). That's amazing!

That's all I have to say about my new purchase. A looooot of undiscovered in Alesis Fusion 6 HD! Mixes, synthesis, sampling, multitracking.... oh give me some rest for a while .

I hope, my subjectivity gives you a way to your own opinion about this keyboard.

Vladislav Gavrilchik , 2007