Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Future Music

WELCOME Get Rich Quick Longevity is a rare commodity in electronic music. It’s a world where styles and trends can shift quickly, leaving artists who previously seemed adventurous suddenly resigned to the waste bin of nostalgia. That’s why the multi-decade career of Richie Hawtin is so impressive – across his long list of aliases, he’s managed to adapt his productions and performances to remain at the cutting edge, while never deviating far from his signature brand of precise, on-point Techno. This issue, we link up with Richie in Berlin to find out precisely how he’s done it – head for page 40 now to read our extensive cover interview. Also in this issue of FM, we delve in deep into the sonic capabilities of our favourite synth of 2015 in…

BONUS SAMPLES See this month’s selection of free demos at vault.futuremusic.co.uk http://sounds.beatport.com 01 Audioteknik Artist Series Bundle 02 Raw Loops Vintage Drum Fills 03 Cycles & Spots Deep Chords 2 04 Nucleus Samples Energy Progressive House 05 Cognition Strings Guille Placencia 06 BPM Recordings Detroit Percussion 07 Super EDM EDM Kicks 08 Bingoshakerz Variavision Funkalicious Tech-House www.loopmasters.com 01 Organic Loops Presents Platinum Acoustic Guitars 02 Loopmasters Pres Dub & Reggae Sirens 03 Loopmasters Presents Future House & Tech 04 Push Button Bang Future Bass Beats & Breaks 05 Loopmasters Presents EDM Hooks And Drops 2 06 Loopmasters Hip Hop Shadows Volume 1 07 Singomakers House For Your Mind 08 Frontline Producer Funk Rock Guitars…

Plastikman Sheet One NovaMute, 1993 Words by Roy Spencer Richie Hawtin may have first developed a more soulful and trippy strain of Detroit Techno through tracks like Slac under the F.U.S.E. name, but it was as Plastikman that the sound became fully realised. His debut album, Sheet One, is a high point of that style. It feels like it’s made to be played at a Detroit warehouse party at seven in the morning. It’s loose. It’s liquid. It makes you melt into the dancefloor like plastic, man. If it feels live and late it’s because it is, and was. The entire album was made as you hear it in pretty much one single 48-hour studio session. It was the only way to make Techno. He’d learned that from the Godfathers…

LIKE IT? TRY THESE… Kraftwerk Radio-Activity Just the kind of album Richie Hawtin soaked up before melting into his Plastikman alter ego. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Radioaktivität, Die Stimme der Energie,| Geigerzähler| Tangerine Dream Sorcerer One of the German electronic outfit’s many, many soundtracks. It’s safe to say that Hawtin was well aware of this existential sonic thrill ride. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Main Title, Abyss, Grind| Various Techno! The New Dance Sound Of Detroit Landmark comp that gave Techno its name, featuring some of the legends that made Hawtin pick up a 303. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Rythim Is Rythim – It Is What It Is, Eddie| “Flashin'” Fowkes – Time To Express, Inner-| City Featuring Kevin Saunderson – Big Fun| Plastikman Ex Recorded live at…

Velocity mapping In our previous example, we’ve created a more realistic representation of our original instrument at different pitches, but this doesn’t fully emulate the dynamic nuances of human performance. When MIDI keys are struck at different velocities, the sampler will increase or decrease the level of the resulting sound, but we’re still only triggering the exact same sample over and over. In reality, an instrument such as a piano will exhibit pitch, timbral and dynamic inconsistency when keys are pressed at differing levels. Multisampling pro Robbie Stamp of Cyclick Samples explains further: “All acoustic instruments have an amplitude-related characteristic, ie the harmonic structure is relative to amplitude. Most often, the number of audible harmonics and their relative volume is a product of the force with which the note is…

Automatic Multisampling Tools Can’t face multisampling the manual way? Check out the handful of software tools that can streamline the process Several software plug-ins and utilities have been designed to accelerate the process of recording and collating multisamples. Soundlib’s Samplit 2 is a standalone eight-track mixer, recorder and plug-in host that completely automates the multisampling process. When working with MIDI-controlled instruments, it sends out MIDI notes to your instrument of choice (if your synth isn’t MIDI-equipped, the program tells you which note and velocity value to play), then it records and saves the resulting audio files. Some software samplers can also ‘auto-multisample’: discoDSP’s Bliss and Image-Line’s DirectWave are two examples that allow you to call up instrument plug-ins and automatically multisample a preset; the files are then automatically loaded back…

Creating A Round Robin Patch With Logic’s EXS24 Drums sound too regimented and robotic? Humanise your percussion by cycling through multiple samples We’re going to demonstrate the basics of round robin sampling by creating a sampler instrument comprised of five finger click samples. If we were working with only a single sample, we’d simply be repeating the same sound, creating a robotic and unnatural effect – but by telling the sampler to cycle through each sample as the same key is repeatedly pressed, we can create the illusion of a human clicking their fingers slightly differently each time. Although we’re using Logic’s EXS24 sampler, the principles apply to all multisamplers with a round robin feature. Also note that this technique isn’t just great for drums: you can just as easily…

What’s the secret to making a great Techno track? Is it the production? “It’s a very hard thing to speak about, but I would say don’t overcomplicate things and don’t worry so much about placement, frequencies or coming up with the most original sound. Create something that feels right to you that has a pure, honest energy and is infectious. An example of that is when I spent three or four days with the engineer explaining the patchbay to me. He showed me all these great effects, but I was like, no, fuck it, put all the effects in mono please – I want eight mono sends with everything coming back to the board so I can do feedback loops and EQ the hell out of them with minimal panning.…

Making Hybrid/Crossover Sounds The JD-XA comes into its own when combining the analogue and digital sections together. This walkthrough will show you a few examples… There are several ways you can combine the JD-XA’s engines and this often makes for some very unique results. Whereas on pure analogue synths you are stuck entirely in the analogue domain for your sound building blocks (waves), in the XA you have a self-contained analogue poly and a self-contained digital VA synth plus sample playback synth – all the onboard waves/samples can be routed through the analogue filters too. Normally, if you wanted to layer real analogue sounds with PCM samples and VA simultaneously (plus digital/analogue filters), you would require at least two separate synths/MIDI but the XA can do…

Back To My Pad Although they may not perhaps be on the radar of many users, the various chord prediction and playback features of Cubase have grown in sophistication over the last few versions. While there is a Chord Track feature that allows you to programme a track from the chords up, Chord Pads provide you with a bit more interaction, and can be a lot simpler to use. Cubase 8.5 ups the ante with a series of new trigger keys for triggering individual notes in a chord assigned to a given pad. This makes it possible to set up a series of chords and get a whole range of interesting and appropriate note sequences with only a few key presses. These features in Cubase can be quite an interesting…

Performing With The Touch The Touch is a great piece of kit for performing live or jamming out ideas in the studio. You can use it as a MIDI controller for controlling not just the MPC software but also other DAWs and plug-ins and external MIDI hardware – the Q-Links, buttons and pads can be assigned to just about any internal or external MIDI parameters. In addition to the Q-Links, the touchscreen is a great real-time performance surface considering all the pop-up sliders/dials in the software, the new hands-on step sequencer, the XYFX pad for real-time FX tweaks and the looper – these all come in handy for quickly spicing up performances! Chopping and editing samples live is also now much more practical as the screen allows direct editing of…

Neat King Bee | £229 A microphone dressed up like a bee? Trevor Curwen finds out what all the buzz is about WHAT IS IT? Large diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone CONTACT Who: Neat Microphones Web: www.neatmic.com HIGHLIGHTS 1 Sound quality 2 The functional suspension mount 3 Stunning looks SPECS Polar pattern: Cardioid Capsule: 34mm Frequency range: 16Hz-20kHz Maximum SPL: 140dB SPL (2.5k Ohms, 0.5% THD) Dynamic range: 134dB (@2.5k Ohms) Power: 48V phantom power Connector: Three-pin XLR Included accessories: Shockmount cradle, pop shield, soft carrying bag Dimensions: 216 x 76mm Weight: 0.8kg Some manufacturers have a house style for their microphones but none more so than Neat microphones who seem to have a thing for bees. All of the microphones in this new range – the Bumblebee, Beecaster, Worker…

MINI REVIEWS Neat Worker Bee | £149  http://neatmic.com The less expensive Worker Bee bears a massive resemblance to its King Bee sibling, including having the same ‘Beekeeper’ suspension mount and ‘Honeycomb’ popshield, but its body is about half the length. Technically it’s a different mic too – the capsule is smaller at 24mm, and the design could be classified as a back-electret condenser. With its cardioid polar pattern, the potential applications remain similar, however. On vocals the Worker Bee has a top-end that isn’t too different to the King Bee; a little less zingy perhaps, but the bottom-end isn’t quite so full, lacking some of the warmth of its sibling that could be exploited on a male vocal or voice-over. That carries over to acoustic guitar where the captured sound…

EXPERT CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH… Joe Rossitter musician, producer Creating your own multisampled sound packs and instruments might seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually easier than you may think. Head for page 28 , where Joe guides us through the benefits of building our own sample instruments. Bruce Aisher musician, producer Our resident Cubase expert has been getting to grips with the DAW’s latest update this month. Find out what he makes of the new version of Retrologue, plus all of the other new additions. Is it worth buying the upgrade? Find out on page 82 . Dan ‘JD73’ Goldman musician, producer This issue sees Dan going in deep with FM’s top synth of 2015 – the Roland JD-XA. Head for this issue’s…

Track by track with Richie Hawtin “What really fused my sound was when I found a combination of Detroit Techno and Chicago Techno, and made it my own. It’s funny, there is a freeway that connects those two cities. It’s a five-hour stretch of road. I like to think that somehow, artistically, I’m halfway down that highway.” Drp “I’d love to be able to recreate this one. I made it with this rackmount from E-mu called Vintage Keys, which emulated all these classic analogue keyboards in one box. I had a lot of different analogue pieces anyway, but I bought this specifically to try and find some strings and washes and sustained atmospheres. I only ever used it once – I turned it on and played this in 20 minutes.…

ALBUM REVIEWS ALBUM OF THE MONTH Junior Boys Big Black Coat City Slang Canadian Electro-Pop outfit Junior Boys return with the highly engaging and confident Big Black Coat, their first new album in five years. The Ontario/Berlin based pair of Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus enjoy a shift towards a more energised, Techno-influenced attitude on the new record, which will be released by City Slang. Modular synths feature heavily, combined with bass that has taken on a more muscly backbone than has been traditional for a Junior Boys album. There is still that shimmering Pop aesthetic running throughout the record, but we see a stronger influence of Detroit Minimal Techno when Big Black Coat explores rapturous, dancefloor material. The duo manage to amalgamate this tougher, more robust sound into their…

Preparing A Multisampling Template Preparation is key when creating your own multisampled patch. Here are some suggestions for speeding up the process Multisampling can be a laborious task, what with all the sampling/recording, error-checking, patch creation and mapping, but the benefits outweigh the time-consuming compilation process – and you can speed up the creation process even further with efficient working practices. Cyclick Samples’ Robbie Stamp: “Most of my streamlining has taken place in my approach: the preparation of the recording and decisions on number of notes, velocity layering, use of effects etc. This saves having to redo a multisample when it comes out sounding wrong. My only template is a Kontakt instrument with the filters, velocity sensitivity and enveloping. I have a very specific methodology with regards to assembling multisamples,…

QUICK TIPS > Multisampling short notes will mean you’ll have to spend more time setting up loop ranges for each sample. Hard drive space is plentiful these days, so save editing time and sample longer notes – 6-10 seconds should suffice. > Want to build super-stacked synth or instrument sounds? Create complex, multi-layered patches by layering multiple samples on identical keygroups within your sampler. > If your friends or local studio have an enviable collection of hardware synths, spend a few hours recording multisamples. You can then take the raw audio home and edit the separate notes into killer sampler patches for your own collection. > Most samplers can load different sampler formats, so dig out old sample CDs and convert the patches to your favourite format.…

128s In Ableton Live Live users can harness the power of ‘128s’ to compile multiple samples into custom devices, facilitating speedy and efficient sound browsing > First, create categorised folders containing your favourite one-shot drum hits – we’ll use a Kick folder as an example here. Make sure there are no more than 128 samples in this folder, as that’s the maximum number of files we’ll be able to scan through. > Load a fresh Sampler instance on an empty MIDI track. Sampler can hold multiple samples, so open its Zone tab before dragging and dropping all the kick samples from Live’s Browser into the empty area. > Head into the Sample Select Area (‘Sel’), where we’re able to define the currently-playing sample. All the samples are mapped across the…

THE TRACK Daddy’s Groove Where I Belong Ultra, 2015 © Joseph Branston INCLUDES VIDEO VAULT.FUTUREMUSIC.CO.UK Peppe: “There are sounds in this track, especially the pads, the pianos and the synths, that are very wide, to make space for the kick and the low-end sounds in the middle. I think this is very important – to play with the space that you have. Apart from the volume and the frequencies, it’s this that makes a mix sound good and sound emotional.” Peppe: “The first plug-in in our master buss chain is from Nugen, a company doing very interesting plug-ins. It passes the audio directly through from the start of the master chain to the end, so you can check at every point if you’re doing something good with the…

Roland JD-XA Getting the most from the JD-XA… INCLUDES VIDEO AND AUDIO VAULT.FUTUREMUSIC.CO.UK Roland’s JD-XA has only been out a few months but it’s already gaining a lot of attention due to its powerful and flexible hybrid ‘crossover’ architecture. We think it’s fair to say that it’s not immediately apparent what this board is capable of but rest assured, it packs a serious punch! Firstly, it’s a great-sounding four-voice analogue polysynth in its own right with a sound that harks back to the Juno-106 and Jupiter-6 – it’s refined yet lively and it fits in a mix nicely. This engine runs as a single four-part analogue or four independent two-osc-per-voice monosynths. Then there’s a very deep 64-voice digital SuperNatural Synth engine which can be layered with the analogue…

QUICK TIPS 1 For complete separation between the engines when mixing/processing/gigging, use the dedicated analogue output for a pure unaffected feed, while simultaneously using the main outs for the digital section with effects. 2 To quickly assign Wheel 2 to any front panel parameter(s), hold Shift and move the wheel. The panel lights flash – turn the parameter you want to assign (ie filter cutoff). 3 Jump parameter values in 10s by holding Shift and pressing the +/- keys. For super-fast scrolling hold - then press + or hold < then press > (or vice versa). 4 There are several handy Shift shortcuts for faster editing listed in the manual but a more comprehensive user-compiled list can be found in the JD-XA section on ‘Roland Clan’ forums.…

5 Great New Features There are a lot of smaller tweaks in this update. Here we’ve picked some of the most important – big and small VST Transit Having set up the required online profile and added a project, a dedicated button in the VST Transit window allows you to sync it to the cloud. You can then invite ‘Friends’ to collaborate who then appear in the Project Members list – and can then each sync the Project to their own computers. It’s important to realise that not all aspects of a project are sync’d, and that new tracks (Audio, Instrument and MIDI) are added into their own folder section. Besides new tracks and events, mixer fader, pan and Steinberg plug-in changes are included, alongside event volume, event mute and…

Moog Minifooger MF Flange | £159 Minifooger pedal number 07 brings flanging to the range. Robbie Stamp checks out Moog’s Bucket Brigade Harmonic Manipulator WHAT IS IT? Analogue BBD-based flanger pedal CONTACT Who: Moog Music (Source Distribution) Tel: +44 (0)20 8962 5080 Web: moogmusic.com, sourcedistribution.co.uk HIGHLIGHTS 1 Range of sonic possibilities far beyond flanging 2 Rich, clear tones, even at extreme settings 3 High-quality design and build SPECS Signal path: analogue Bypass type: true bypass Input impedance: >1M Output impedance: 1k max Max input level: +7.5dBu Max output level: +10dBu Delay Time: <0.540mS – 16mS (0.340-20mS with modulation) Expression input: controls delay frequency range LFO rate: <0.025Hz to >11Hz Power: +9VDC external or 9V battery, Current 16mA nominal, 20mA max Output: 1/4” TRS for mono and stereo Weight: 0.5kg…

samplemagic.com SYNTHWAVE 2 £34.90 Retro rhythms and analogue nostalgia abounds in Synthwave 2: 1.4GB of drum machine grooves, epic arpeggios, interstellar synths, lush pads and emotive chords fusing Tron-style synthetics and 80s pop sensibilities to define the sound of the decade. ULTRA TRAP £34.90 Heavy beats, modded 808 subs, hyper melodic synths, tear-out trumpet leads, epic FX and XXL drum hits bursting with insane trap energy. SUBLIMINAL TECH-HOUSE £34.90 From deep and hypnotic to techy and tribal: we fuse the finest in deep, minimal and tech influences across 1GB of loops, MIDI, hits and kits. SYLENTH CINEMATIC PATCHES £14.90 Ambient leads and pads, evolving textures, complex arps and ethereal sound design elements inspired by the finest in electronica and soundtrack production. Samples__Patches__MIDI__Plugins__Books__Apps__Courses…

Authentic Rhythm Guitar Parts I can’t play guitar – any tips for creating authentic sounding rhythm guitar parts? First off, check out rhythm guitar programmes including Scarbee Funk Guitarist, Rob Papen’s RG, Evolution Strawberry and Vir2 Electri6ity (to name a few). However, it’s always best to make your own sounds/grooves if possible for a more individual sound. Rhythm guitar chords don’t need to be complex – so stick to three-note triads whenever possible and keep the chords to a specific area of the keyboard for smooth transitions. Here are some examples… > Choose authentic guitar samples (although we’ve had okay results using Logic’s EXS24 Clean Electric Guitar 1 sample). Tweak the sound using envelopes for maximum attack and a tight release time. Add effects – compression and amp modelling/reverb are…

Multisampling a monosynth Ever wish your favourite monosynth could play chords? Increase its polyphony by multisampling your favourite patches – we’ll show you how… > Let’s multisample a characterful sawtooth synth patch from a DSI Mono Evolver Keyboard. After creating a MIDI file that features four notes per octave (C, D#, F# and A) across six octaves, we record in one long take onto an audio track. > Once the take has been recorded, we chop the take up into individual notes – although you can use your DAW’s ‘strip silence’ function if it has one. Each note is rendered to a separate audio file, and is named according to its key and octave. > Next, we drag the samples into Kontakt 5’s Mapping Editor. In the Edit > Auto…

Richie Hawtin When Detroit Techno hit our shores, few imagined that anybody could pick up the mantle and carry the torch so brightly. Nearly three decades on, Hawtin is still top of his game. Danny Turner chats to the legend... © Richard Ecclestone English-born DJ and electronic musician Richie Hawtin dropped out of university in Canada to embark on a career as a record label owner and producer in 1989. DJing just across the river from his heroes – key founders of the Techno movement, Atkins, Saunderson and May – Hawtin created the Plus 8 label with John Acquaviva, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary. Leading Detroit Techno’s second wave, Hawtin became a figurehead for Minimal Techno from the mid-’90s onwards. Best known for aliases such as Plastikman and…

Phases Ready To Stun Let’s look at phase distortion, adding and modulating the harmonics in basic waveforms INCLUDES VIDEO With the PDO we get nine waveforms crossing basic sines, triangles, various curved hump-like waves through to richer saws and square like tones. By modulating the phase of an oscillator at audio rates, we can start to introduce additional harmonics. To understand this powerful form of synthesis, it’s easiest to start with sine waves. They’re simple pure tones with no additional harmonics outside of the fundamental, so it’s perfect to assess the additional harmonics generated. We’ll be using the TBVCA to control the levels of the modulating oscillator, adding envelopes and LFOs alongside sample and hold to modulate the harmonics to create new morphing waveforms for basses, drums and leads. Add…

Harnessing The Onboard Power! The JD-XA can initially be a little overwhelming. The best approach is to learn each section in turn, and then start combining it all together. Once you have accustomed yourself with a general overview of the facilities and where everything is on the front panel, start off with the four-part analogue section, dialling in a single oscillator, listening to the waveforms and their characters. Next, add in the second oscillator using the mixer and add a little detuning to add harmonic interest. Add some drive and hear how it dirties things up, then try out the various filter options. The first filter (LPF1) is great for darker sounds, while LPF2 has a deep low-end with additional sizzle/ definition on the top-end which is great when you’re…

Making and sequencing three analogue drums There are no drum samples onboard, so create your own then sequence other parts alongside 01 To form the kick use Analogue Part 1. Turn both oscs off in the mixer. Select LPF2 and turn up the resonance. Now use the filter/amp envelopes to sculpt the shape of your kick drum and the cutoff dial to pitch your kick. 02 For your snare, turn off the oscs in the mixer, select white noise and turn up the level control. Once again, use LPF2 which has plenty of body but also good definition in the top-end. Use the envelopes to shape your snares’ transients. 03 For hats, use LPF1 or 2 with full resonance, turn down the oscs in the mixer and use filter cutoff…

MPC Software Version 1.9 Akai’s MPC software is now at version 1.9 and offers a lot of power and versatility – it’s been greatly updated with new features and stability enhancements since I reviewed the first incarnation in 2012. For a full overview of all current features, see the user guide (all 300 pages!) on www.akaipro.com . Key improvements include renaming from the hardware, independent track lengths, a looper, quick swapping/copying of pads/samples within a program, the XYFX feature which allows real-time filtering, beat stuttering/ fills and mod FX by dragging across the Touch’s screen, improved automation, a much more flexible (and resizeable) mixer and a more efficient audio engine with fewer glitches. The software certainly feels much more like a full production environment now. It runs…

Oxide Tape Plug-In Much has been made of the fact that the warmth of tape is often missing from digital recordings, and tape emulation software goes from strength to strength. Perhaps mindful of the cost of rival tape plug-ins, UAD now release Oxide, a simple to use, one-stop-shop for those interested in tape plug-ins but unwilling to shell out for one of UAD’s branded tape emulators. The result is a pared-down interface, which relies heavily on its Input level control and its twin modes to define its sound. Input mode runs audio through the unit’s modelled electronic circuit only, while Repro emulates the whole chain, producing a sound as if recorded to tape and replayed. You can also control tape speed, EQ emphasis and Noise Reduction. It’s not as flexible…

Plug It In Alongside its built-in capabilities, Auria is able to make use of third-party instruments and effects in several ways. There’s an impressive range of plug-ins available natively through the app. As standard it comes bundled with a pair of reverbs, plus delay, chorus and channel strips from PSP, along with One and Twin 2 synths from FabFilter, and WaveMachine Labs’ own Lyra sampler. There are further native plug-ins available via in-app purchase too, including FabFilter’s ‘Pro’ effects, plus tools from Sugar Bytes, Positive Grid, FXpansion and more, plus sound packs and IR files. However, Auria Pro can also work with other iOS instruments and effects via both Inter-App Audio and Audiobus.…

Arturia KeyLab 88 | £619 With 88 keys and a weighted action, this is the big boy of the KeyLab series. Stuart Bruce tickles the ivories… WHAT IS IT? A weighted keyboard master controller CONTACT Who: Arturia (Source Distribution) Web: www.arturia.com sourcedistribution.co.uk HIGHLIGHTS 1 A fabulous Fatar 88-key weighted keyboard 2 Solid metal and wood construction 3 Fully editable patches to control Arturia and other soft synths and more SPECS Software requirements PC: 2GB RAM; CPU 2GHz (Windows 7 or higher) Mac: 2GB RAM; CPU 2GHz (OS X 10.7 or higher) USB-powered but will also take 5V DC Connectors: MIDI in & out, USB, Sustain pedal, Expression pedal, Aux footswitch, and Breath controller Dimensions : 1295 x 350 x 110mm The KeyLab 88 in many ways harks back to…