Indholdsfortegnelse for 04/2023 i Beat English

Drum sampler to go Apsonic Labs Speedrum BE Yay, BEAT finally has a drum sampler again! Apisonic Labs has programmed an exclusive BEAT version of Speedrum for you, with 16 MPC-style pads, delay, reverb, bitcrusher and compressor - everything a turbo drummer needs. And we took care of the kits for it: There are 66 ready-to-play kits with powerful drum and percussion sounds waiting to be used in your tracks. Download: see page 9 | Info: www.apisoniclabs.comwin | mac All serial numbers securely accessible: The Beat Serial Center To ensure that none of your serial numbers are lost in the future (for instance, in the event of a new installation, Outlook crash or disk crash), you can now conveniently manage them online. The advantages are obvious: The editorial team can…

Beat / Hi Oleksandra, glad you could join us! As a media training institute, you offer various degree programs, especially in audio. Can you tell us more about it? Oleksandra / Greetings from Berlin! The WAVE AKADEMIE for Digital Media creates an educational offer that is in line with the labor market and relevant to the labor market, which on the one hand closes the gaps in the educational system of the media professions, and on the other hand decidedly aims at concretely applicable skills for the respective use in practice. Our main training courses are the 2-year state-recognized apprenticeships for Sound Design, Sound Engineer and 3D Artist, in addition to Film Editor and Film Director. But let‘s stay with audio – our core competence. Sound Design training focuses on…

1 Save power quickly No matter how powerful the studio computer is, there comes a point when a synthesizer burns up too much performance and you have to make compromises. Sure, freeze and bounce functions can easily turn such candidates into audio tracks, but if the sequences are not yet fixed, this can also block you. But there is still VSTi recorders … 2 The what? You read that right, there are indeed plug-in recorders and they are not unpopular at all, because they are integrated in software like Bliss [1], the FL Studio sampler DirectWave [2], Renoise [3] or the Extreme Sample Converter [4]. The job is simple: At the push of a button, a plugin preset is recorded, which can then be used sample-based, thus saving massive amounts of computer…

1 Aux sends It is one of the oldest and most common techniques, yet many producers do not use it. Yet send/return tracks are one of the most effective ways to save computer power. We‘ll show you how to use them easily and how you can get a lot more out of them than just saving power. 2 Zusammenfassen Let‘s start with reverbs, because they‘re usually the most power-hungry. You‘ll probably notice this quickly if you use multiple instances of reverb plug-ins in your project. That‘s when it makes sense to combine the reverbed tracks. Create an aux track or return track in the DAW, load a reverb there and turn the effect amount (dry/wet) to 100% wet. 3 Mix in This is important because duplication occurs when the original…

1 Punchy kick As a basis for our Big Room kick, we first need a powerful kick with an aggressive attack that extends over about half a beat of a quarter bar. If the kick is too long, it can be adjusted with the Out Control in the Channel settings. For a softer decay, we select Generic under Declicking Mode. 2 Sub-bass A Big Room kick is characterized by a long lasting bass part. To achieve this, we take a synthesizer of our choice and select a sub-bass that is as simple as possible. This now plays the same note for one beat as the punchy kick is tuned to. These two tracks are then simply superimposed. 3 Sidechain The bass part of the punchy kick collides with the sub-bass.…

1 Everything adds groove With a good groove, even average beat and melody material can become an irresistible ear-catcher. But where does such a groove come from? Here you have free choice: A synth melody in MIDI format is just as good as an audio drum loop, a guitar riff, vocals or a beat you‘ve tapped with your finger. 2 Choose a source Even the crackle of vinyl would be an option. For this workshop, we‘ll just record the rhythm with a mic. Then, to get to the groove of the recording, we need a MIDI track, so we load a Dr. OctoRex, which we‘ll need in a moment anyway. For now, we‘ll just drag the recording onto its track, and Reason will make a MIDI clip out of it.…

1 Import tracks For this workshop, Tina Aura provides us with the recordings of her song „Abtauchen“. Import the instrumental and the uncompressed vocal recording into your project at a tempo of 67 BPM. To be able to make a comparison later, we duplicate both events on their respective tracks. In the following, we will edit only the first copy. 2 Dynamics processing Automate the volume of the first vocal recording to reduce the dynamics. In Cubase, you can use the Pen tool directly in the event to do this. Reduce the level of loud syllables and passages to match the average volume of the recording. This editing takes some diligence, but pays off twice later. 3 Compression Load Fabfilter Pro-C 2 as an Insert effect on the vocal channel.…

Not only is developer, Mr. Bill, known for his collaborations with musicians like Deadmau5, Virtual Riot, and Infected Mushroom, but he‘s created Slap, a special drum processor that lets you perfect your drums. Click One of the core elements is the click section, which allows you to replace the transients of your drums if they don‘t have enough punch. This allows you to choose a suitable transient from various profiles (for example: textures) and masses of presets. Alternatively, your own samples can be used as transients using drag and drop. The flexibility of the transient editing is breathtaking. On the vertical level, two sliders can be used to increase or decrease the gain as well as the pitch. With the pitch control, the transient can be transposed up or down…

www.babyaud.io Ambient Paint For Piano Arpeggios Our preset „200 Ambient Piano Bliss“ transforms simple piano arpeggios into atmospheric ambient textures. For the Spaces engine, we chose the Outer Space program, which is designed for epic reverb tails. With the X/Y pad in this section, you control not only the length of the reverb tail (Length), but also the intensity of one of the four modulation effects. This patch uses the Phaser (Trippy). The Echoes engine, on the other hand, creates psychedelic reverse effects that make the sound pulsate rhythmically. Drum & Bass Pimp Beats In order to set sonic accents in Drum & Bass or Electronica, complete beats are often put through the effects wringer. This is where our preset „205 Flanger Things“ comes into play. This combines a small room…

This This ultra-compact, 1-way loudspeaker has more than six decades under its belt, and the concept has always remained the same. A single, high-quality 114 millimeter driver in an ultra-compact closed cabinet is supposed to ensure a perfectly phase-accurate representation of the important midrange and an incorruptible spatiality in the Cubes and is, therefore, for viable mix decisions. The „reference cubes“ were built unchanged for decades, but always as a passive speaker that required an external amplifier stage to operate. Thanks to new Class D technologies, however, high-quality power amp modules are now possible for the first time that are also compact enough to integrate directly into the Auratone Sound Cubes. We‘ve tested the new active models of this studio legend. As close as possible to the original In order…

1 Structure setup Set up your Live setup in such a way that you always have an overview, even without looking at the laptop. Preferably, work only with audio clips and keep a certain order in the allocation of the tracks, so that, for example, drum loops are always in the first track, bass loops in the second track, synth loops in the third, and so on. 2 Set focus Choose a different clip color for each song and leave an empty scene between two songs. Any „important“ sounds that you want to trigger with pads or modulate with track effects during performance should be placed in the first eight tracks, so you can access them with Push without scrolling through the Pad View. 3 Tangible performance Think about how…

A powerful audio computer is mandatory in a computer-based studio. Whether in a home studio or a professional recording studio, a computer must be able to handle a heavy workload without failures. In addition, it should be as quiet as possible even under load. The system should also be able to cope with demanding projects. And it goes without saying that virtual instruments should be able to be played with the lowest possible latency. But what do you need for an audio computer that is as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog at speed and always reliably gets to its destination? All essential components must not only be of high quality, but also coordinated with each other. And of course, an up-to-date operating system suitable for audio applications is a must.…

Level 1: Basics 1 Find memory hogs The activity meter is your friend if you want to find the apps that fill up your Mac‘s RAM. Press CMD + spacebar and type „akti“, then the tool should already be suggested. Then just start it with Enter. Sort the displayed processes by memory. On our computer, it quickly became clear that the main browser process only needs a small amount of RAM, but this multiplies with every open tab. Some office apps also „fill up“ over time, so that a restart sometimes frees up several gigabytes of memory. 2 Too many apps at startup Various apps offer so-called „helpers“ that start when you boot and not only take up memory, but also latch into processes on your Mac. Dropbox is such an…

1 What causes high latency? You‘re in the flow of producing a track and then your huge project suddenly starts to suffer from audio dropouts. To eliminate such creative killers, the freely available software LatencyMon [1] is very helpful. The program detects which processes and drivers of your Windows system generate high latencies and can thus affect real-time audio applications. In order to identify such performance brakes, it is recommended to run the program for a few minutes during the playback of a larger DAW project. 2 How fast is your hard disk? HDTune [2] is a very useful tool for Windows to measure the transfer rates and access times of hard disks. With it you can find out which of your hard disks is the fastest and therefore best suited for…

1 Save more… With the VSTi recorders, instruments can be sampled in no time at all, the workflow is only briefly interrupted. The compromise: Only the sound generator is recorded, any additionally used effect plug-ins remain unconsidered. But of course we have a solution for this as well: classic multisampling. There are several approaches, of which we will go through two … 2 Method 1: Without loops The somewhat faster method does without looped samples, because looping is a time-consuming affair. As in the previous workshop, we have to record various notes of the instrument in the first step. In the downloads you will find prepared MIDI clips, which you only have to drag into your DAW. For short samples C1-C5 (short).mid is sufficient, for pads C1-C5 (XL).mid is…

Beat / Your former record label rejected the original version of Der Assistent. What did that feel like at the time? Did the rejection come as a total surprise to you? Der Assistent / At the time, I was far too caught up in mourning to expect anything at all. Writing those songs was of existential importance to me. That said, of course, I took it personally. If you‘re a fragile artist with strong narcicistic tendencies, every form of rejection is going to hurt immensely. Part of me is aiming for greatness and I already consider it a success of therapy that I no longer consider small successes failures, but can enjoy them for what they are. But if I‘m entirely honest, deep inside of me, I wasn‘t entirely happy…

1 Sample instruments Arcade can be used as a plug-in or standalone. The special thing about it is that you don‘t just download a sample and then somehow have to fit it into your track, but that all sounds are already prepared ready to play in so-called instruments or samplers, including variation and modulation options. 2 Find sounds quickly Drag an instance of Arcade onto a MIDI track. To quickly find samples, select a category in the browser search or enter a search term yourself. The displayed sample packs are available either in a Sampler, in melodically playable instruments or as single samples. You can preview them via Preview. 3 Fix key Select the key of your track in the lower right corner and lock it with the lock next…

1 Vocal recordings We‘ll start with a mixed vocal recording from Tina Aura‘s song „Abtauchen“, which you can find in the downloads. Import this file into a Cubase project and add Padshop 2 on a new instrument track. Hold down the mouse button and drag the sample into the oscillator section, release it there and import it into Padshop 2. 2 Spectral oscillator Padshop 2 has two different synthesis modes. Use the button at the top left to switch from the red granular oscillator to the blue Spectral Oscillator. Set the Number parameter to 3.0 to create three instances of the sound, Detune them by 5%, and then Pan them at 100% in the stereo panorama. 3 Playback speed The Speed parameter specifies the playback speed of the sample. Drag…

Wave Alchemy Pulse With the PCM-60 Digital Reverberator, Lexicon released an affordable rack-sized reverb processor in 1984 that is still popular today for lush reverb effects with a characteristic 80s sound. The sample specialists at Wave Alchemy have faithfully recreated the iconic reverb device with their Pulse plug-in and added a few modern features. A combination of Algorithmic Reverb and Convolution Reverb is used. The user interface of Pulse presents itself in the functional look of the vintage model. Like the vintage model, the plate and room reverb programs are available. You can choose between four settings for the size and time parameters. The contour section has two settings for sound coloration instead of four. The smooth control is a great addition that allows you to suppress the transients of…

≫ Do you have a clear vision, in advance, of how a new album should sound? « Apparat / Initially, there are always big concepts. For my current album “LP5”, the concept was to create the greatest possible distance from our Moderat project. It always comes out different than you intend for it to be. You have to go with it. If you fight too much, you kill the essence. That‘s why the plans you had in the beginning always dilute after a while and the relationship between the songs is more likely to come from the sound design. In my song folder, there are a lot of basic ideas that you could easily turn into rock songs. It‘s only the electronici arrangements that give my songs that “Apparat feeling”. Haelos…

Kilohearts kHs ONE Kilohearts is not only known for its numerous effect modules, but also for the kHs ONE synthesizer. Since this synthesizer is no longer being developed, it is now offered for download free of charge. kHs ONE is a subtractive virtual analog synthesizer with relatively clear sound generation and without overly complex possibilities. The sound generation is based on two oscillators plus an additional sub-oscillator. The two filters offer a choice between Lowpass, Bandpass, Highpass and Vocals modes. In addition, this polyphonic synthesizer has a Waveshaper for each voice and three Envelope Generators. Two LFOs can also be linked by way of a matrix with different modulation destinations. And to refine the sound, there are built-in Chorus and Delay effects. This sounds relatively unspectacular on paper, but, in…

UNIQUE SOUNDS Hardware synths are cool. But so are hardware effects! So we thought: let‘s put both together and build a Zampler Pack pimped to the max. No sooner said than done! The fruits of our labor are 55 monstrous basses, toxic leads and experimental pads from the Arturia Minifreak, which we pushed in various setups through two SPL Gold Mike Tube Preamps, a Warm Audio WA-76 with crunchy compression, a Klark Teknik EQP KT, as well as an LA-610 from Universal Audio. Brutal deluxe! www.zamplersounds.com Facts MAXIFREAK for Zampler: ▴ 1.9 GB soundbank ▴ 55 Monstrous basses, toxic leads and experimental pads from the Arturia Minifreak ▴ 715 Samples ▴ Compatible with UVI Falcon, Native Instruments Kontakt, Steinberg HALion and all samplers, can load the SFZ files MAXIFREAK for…

New features of the synthesizer include SEM filter types, per-voice panning and keyboard tracking of the LFO. If you like, you can load two presets simultaneously and play them as a split or layer using the after-touch-enabled 61-key FATAR keyboard. Thus, the OB-X8 represents a comprehensive reissue of the Oberheim synthesizer that many synthesizer fans had to wait a long time for. A legend! Over 40 years ago, Tom Oberheim launched a series of legendary polyphonic analog synthesizers: OB-X, OB-Xa and OB-8 can be heard on numerous hits of the 80s, from Prince to Eurythmics and Van Halen to Andy Borg. With the help of Dave Smith, who has unfortunately passed away in the meantime, and his company Sequential, who had already gained experience with the reissue of old classics…

Processor The CPU is the eye of the needle, particularly in the case of computationally intensive real-time processing in professional audio applications. After all, all plug-ins are calculated the moment the audio tracks are played. For demanding requirements, laptops with multi-core processors are recommended, which are now standard in PCs and laptops and are supported by most current DAWs. RAM Modern professional DAWs require at least 8 GB of RAM. A generous amount of RAM has a very positive effect on the performance of sample-based instruments, since fewer samples have to be played back from the hard disk. Audio interface Another factor that is enormously important for a high-performance system is the audio interface. Complex DAW projects in particular show how good the drivers of the audio interface are. For…

Beat / Can you briefly explain to our readers what Vienna Ensemble Pro is? Martin / Vienna Ensemble Pro is a network-enabled mixing host that hosts AU and VST plug-ins, either on one machine for various workflow advantages, or on a network of main and slave machines to offload CPU and RAM requirements. To do this, you connect two or more computers with an Ethernet cable to send MIDI and audio data over it, without additional audio hardware, and this also works cross-platform, so if Windows computers and Macs are on the same network. To create a network of multiple PCs, all you need on the hardware side is an Ethernet cable and a Gigabit switch. Beat / What are the benefits of using Vienna Ensemble Pro in a setup…

1 Everything in sync Although outsourcing is actually a term from the business world, it couldn‘t be more appropriate: To conserve internal resources, you outsource to external ones. Using exactly the same principle, you can use mobile devices to take the load off the computer. Of course, this is of little use if apps and DAW don‘t run in sync. But that‘s an easy thing to do and it‘s also wireless. 2 Ableton Link The easiest option for Live, Reason and Maschine users is Ableton Link. Activate the function in your DAW and an iOS app such as BeatHawk, iMPC, Elastic Drums or around 140 others [1] and just start jamming. DAW and app run in sync at all times. To get the audio signal into the DAW, connect the…

1 Processor scheduling In Windows 10, you can define whether programs or background services, such as the audio interface driver, are prioritized. To avoid dropouts during audio playback, it is recommended to assign background services a higher priority. To do this, right-click on the computer icon on the desktop and switch to Properties. Show the Advanced System Settings. Then switch to the Advanced tab of the System Properties and click Settings here and then Advanced again. Finally, on the Performance Options page, under Processor Scheduling, select Background Services. 2 Virtual memory If you work a lot with large sample libraries, you will quickly reach the limits of the available RAM. In case of memory problems, it is recommended to upgrade RAM in the first place. If this is not an…

Beat / How did you get into music? Lasse / When I was a child, I was exposed to Callas and Beethoven. The first time I cried through music was when my big brother gave me „OK Computer“ by Radiohead for Christmas. I started to build beats myself with programs like HipHop Ejay or Magix Music Maker as a teenager. I tried my hand at writing lyrics back then, hanging out at the youth club with rhyme artists like the K.I.Z. guys, and I didn‘t want to keep rapping on the downloaded American beats. Producing beats and singing hooklines was what stuck with me. Beat / What is the background of the name ACUD? Is it an abbreviation? Lasse / No, I just thought it was graphically good. There is…

10% As a Beat reader, you get a 10% discount when you buy the full version of Speedrum. Just use the Discount Code: BEAT10 at apisoniclabs.com. REGISTRATION & INSTALLATION The registration of Apisonic Labs Speedrum BE is done - as usual with our software highlights - via our www.serialcenter.de. After registering the data from the current Beat issue, you will receive an e-mail containing the password for the archive with the installation files in various formats, as well as instructions for installation. 1 Play drums Of course, you can program beats by arranging drum and percussion samples in the Arrange window of your DAW. But often particularly cool grooves turn up when you load the sounds into a drum sampler and play them on your MIDI keyboard or a MIDI controller with…

1 Base material To get started, we need basic material: in the downloads you will find a small selection of vocals for free use. Alternatively, online tools like TTSReader [1] or Speechify [2] are options for spoken text, Alter Ego for sung or the Waldorf NW1 editor for robot vox. The last two are part of the workshop downloads. 2 Slice vocals We use Recordings 3, 4 and 16 from the „VocalSamples_StayOnBeat“ folder and cut them into smaller bites on the computer. In this case, we applied the cut at each change of pitch. For spoken vocals, it makes sense to separate by words or syllables. Feel free to mix them, too, then it will be even more exciting in the end. 3 Transfer samples Once the samples have been…

1 Layer 1: Kick Flashy Impacts are often made up of several layers. We start with a bass drum for which we use Mai Tai. Select the Sine waveform for each oscillator. Tune the oscillators to 16‘ and 8‘ and slightly detune them with the Fine controls. Then, make the settings shown on the Mod A page. 2 Brutal distortion The modulation assignments make Envelope 3 modulate the pitch of the oscillators. Also, adjust the filter and envelope settings as shown. Mai Tai‘s Chorus effect makes the sound more lively. With Ampire as an Insert effect, we give the bass drum a brutal sound using our „Bass Drum Distortion“ preset. 3 Epic reverb Now we need a long reverb tail, for which we create an FX Channel in the Console.…

We start with the Electribe-R, a replica of the Electribe ER-1. This small digital groovebox was launched together with the EA-1 in 1999 and was responsible for the beats together as a duo. But the plug-in is „vintage“ in both senses, because it is based on the iElectribe app for iOS, which also has a good 12 years under its belt. This small groovebox offers eight tracks. Four of them are virtual-analog and provide the sine, triangle, sawtooth and square waveforms, which you can modulate with a fast envelope or other waveforms. With this combination, you can create almost all classic analog drum sounds like kicks, toms, congas and more, but also weirder effects are possible. You should not expect the power and warmth of real analog drum machines, analog…

Apisonic Labs Speedrum The name Speedrum says it all: Behind the name is a drum sampler in the style of the AKAI MPC. While not quite as fancy as NI Battery, the plug-in boasts many of the features of the drum sampler heavyweight. There are even features that are missing from the competitor, like a scalable GUI. Speedrum comes with 32 pads that can hold up to eight layers. You can place samples in the most common audio formats on the pads via drag & drop. Each pad offers individual settings and can be routed to one of 16 stereo outputs. In addition to Volume and Pitch envelopes for each pad, features such as humanize, round robin and choke functions are not to be missed. With great sounding effects like…

The ToneX Capture connects between the guitar amp and the audio interface, and not only allows you to create detailed tone models that digitally clone your gear through machine modeling, but also to directly capture the guitar amp and re-amp existing tracks with real hardware. Optimized for Re-Amping Since ToneX Capture is specifically designed to be used between a guitar amp and an audio interface for Re-Amping and Tone Sampling (via IK Multimedia‘s brand new AI Machine Modeling), the interface has some special features. Due to the galvanic isolation between the inputs and outputs, you can connect guitar amps or stompboxes directly to the interface. The usual noise caused by ground loops is effectively suppressed. The input levels of line and amp input can be controlled separately to suit the…

Razzmatazz combines a drum sequencer with FM synthesis and sampling. The drum sounds can be played with 8 touchscreen pads or any MIDI controller. The integrated sequencer offers up to 16 rhythms per preset and is said to provide pulsating beats and sonorous rhythms. Each individual pad can generate sounds from two FM oscillators and a WAV file, which can be shaped in a variety of ways with two filters, two envelopes, resonator, snap generator, effects and distortion. We tested what the squeaky-pink groovebox is actually capable of. Razzmatazz is the third device from the Nanobox series and shares the format with the Lemonbox and Fireball, which are just as eye-catching in terms of color. Ultra-compact with touch display The nanoboxes are compact without question, with dimensions of just 95…

Last year, there was no update for the iPad Air, but there was for the classic iPad and the iPad mini. As a result, the iPad had Center Stage (more on that later) ahead of the iPad Air. The iPad mini, on the other hand, was suddenly more powerful, since it received Apple‘s A15 chip, while the iPad Air still had the A14 chip onboard. As you can see, the iPad Air was no longer a compelling recommendation in the last few months. Especially armed with the knowledge that Apple must have known about this shortcoming and would soon fix it. This has now happened. To restore the old hierarchy, Apple is giving the iPad Air its current flagship chip, the M1, which is already installed in this form in…

Whether you want to record melodies or vocals, play or sample beats, integrate a modular system or perform live, only with the right MIDI, audio or CV interface things will run smoothly. But which of them can do what and which ones suit best to your very own workflow? In our huge market check, we answer the most important questions and expose current devices with their specific features, compare various models and reveal hacks on how to optimise and expand your setup. Plus an extra feature on Dolby Atmos for home studios! Test: Polyend Play With eight audio and eight MIDI tracks, Play wants to be the new heart in your studio – and on stage, too, thanks to Performance Mode. The mixture of groovebox and sequencer offers helpers such…