Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Computer Music

How did you get into music software? DA “I’ve been interested in music and noise for as long as I can remember. This led to me studying music composition and technology at university. My first taste of programming came from Max MSP. It helped me understand about sound while forcing me to learn how different processes worked. I joined a master’s course and learnt a great deal more about technology, C++ and started to create my first plugins. I find music fascinating and the use of C++ allows me to alter and change sounds in ways that I never could have imagined. Now with Caelum Audio, I can bring those sounds to others!” How did you become successful? DA “We have just evolved organically from two friends from uni having…

We have to start at the very beginning, with the godfather of subtractive synthesis, Robert Moog. The son of an electrical engineer, Bob Moog’s interest in electronic musical instruments started very young. Aged just ten years old, he started building simple radio circuits and other electrical projects, one of which was a three-note electronic organ. A move to the Bronx High School of Science allowed the teenage Bob to take his interest more seriously, and it was at the tender age of 15 that he built his first Theremin as part of a science fair. Further projects followed, which included more electronic organs and even a Geiger counter, but Bob was utterly captivated by the Theremin, continuing to revise his self-builds as part of a business that he started with…

Step by step 2. Creating Moog patches – the one-key chord 1 In much the same way that we did for our Thriller patch, we’ll start by initiating a starting point. Go to the presets menu, and select the 1 Osc patch. This will give us a single sawtooth, with a wide open filter. 2 Next we’ll adjust the pitch range of Osc 1. As we are going to construct a three-note chord, we will start by using this first VCO as our bass note in the formation. Set the range selector to 16’. Think of this as our foundation or fundamental to the chord we create. 3 Now it’s time to set up Osc 2; this will be easier to do if we can hear it, so let’s start…

ARP were founded by Alan Robert Pearlman plus cofounders Lewis G. Pollock and David Friend in 1969. As the main force behind the company, Alan got to use his initials as the company name (so much better than LGP or DF would have panned out). He also set out a clear direction for the company: to produce affordable – well, for the time anyway – stable and practical synthesisers, realising that the modular systems of the 60s were a million miles away from all three of these considerations. The first thing to do was to invest in decent oscillator research, the fundamental core ingredient of synthesis, and the one variable that you could design to be not so variable and so stay in tune. The first fruits of this stability…

Step by step 2. Going low on the ARP 1 Again we’re using the Oddity which comes with its own stunning basses, but just to demo how to create them (on whatever ARP you use), we’ll show you how to create one from scratch. Load a Default (initialised) sound. 2 The sound is a bit buzzy as both oscillators are set to sawtooth, so let’s notch them both down to squarewave in the mixer section for a more rounded (squared!) sound. 3 All bass sounds have a fast Attack and quick release so set your main AR Envelope controls as such (Attack at zero, Release at 1/3 max) if they are not already. 4 Now to choose your filter type. On all three of our ARPs we’re blessed with the…

Just like any other hardware, getting a vintage SH-101 will require a degree of accompanying setup, such as an audio interface. It is also pre MIDI, but very reliably works under CV & Gate control; in fact it is a very good performer in this setting. Kenton Electronics will supply all the shapes and sizes of MIDI to CV/Gate boxes that you can possibly require, which include the USB Solo, which will plug directly into your computer and provide CV/Gate signals simply and reliably. The Roland SH-01A, offers all that is vintage and retro in a convenient and modern box, which will interface beautifully with your DAW via USB. Better still, the USB connection carries both MIDI and Audio, making it exceptionally easy to get your 101-style signal directly into…

GO OVERDRIVE! Once you have your sound in some form of shape, there are some excellent additional elements that you can employ, to maximise the sync effect. Within the Zebra CM filter section, adding some overdrive will enhance the sound further, providing even more grit to the signal’s back end. Sync sounds can often sound a little clinical, almost digital, whether they are being produced in software, or via some vintage analogue behemoth. Adding overdrive distortion will help discolour the signal, making it feel more organic. The default LP Xcite overdrive, which is located in the filter section, works well, but you may want to adjust the Filter Cutoff control, as the patch will become brighter. With so much complexity in the overall sonic makeup of this sound, adding compression…

Payment schemes for DAWs and plugins have become increasingly complex, and rightly or wrongly there is clearly a trend towards subscriptions and ongoing payment plans. Bitwig operates a reasonably straightforward scheme whereby any new purchase includes all updates for 12 months from registration, and if you happen to time this well, this could even be a full version update. When the plan runs out you can keep using the software and you will get any further minor support updates released for that version. At the end of the 12 months you can also purchase the Upgrade Plan. This will provide you with continued full updates for another 12 months at which point you can choose whether or not to renew it. The Upgrade Plan is completely optional and can be…

It’s easy to be envious of musicians who drift from one instrument to another, with seemingly little effort. For most of us DAWbound musicians, we find ourselves seated in front of two types of keyboards; one for computer control, and the other for playing notes and music, although some might gravitate to pads for samples and drums. Meanwhile, those lucky few who are adept with frets, might have a permanently connected guitar, ready to record those rare grooves as the production zeitgeist envelops them. New Continuum Cinesamples, as their name might imply, have an established reputation with an ever-increasing catalogue of cinematic libraries, from full orchestral suites, through to more esoteric packages that complement different styles and genres. Continuum Guitars straddles the cinematic and contemporary production genre perfectly, with a…

There’s no doubt that designing pitch and timing manipulation plugins that work successfully and seamlessly across multiple DAWs is no easy task. Audio Random Access (ARA), which was developed by Celemony and Presonus, makes two-way communication between plugin and DAW much slicker and considerably improves the user experience. That being said, practical implementation does vary across different DAWs so you should be sure to follow Synchro Arts’ DAW-specific instructions. In VocAlign Ultra ARA has a number of benefits, not least the fact that you don’t need to manually capture each section of audio in real time. With the ARA plugins loaded in line with your particular DAW, you simply use the Capture buttons to assign selected audio parts as either Guide or Dub. If you have multiple Dubs to align…

Emulations of Urei’s iconic 1176 compressor/ limiters are plentiful, but versions of the less common 1178 are harder to find. Pulsar Digital’s latest plugin is 1178 (VST, VST3, AU, AAX), an emulation-plus-extras version of this classic stereo FET compressor. Similar in style to the 1176, the 1178 has most in common with the later transformerless 1176, and operationally the design should be familiar to many people. The Input knob is used to raise the level to a fixed threshold, and gain make up (Output) is manual. There are four ratio options (4, 8, 12 and 20:1), and Attack and Release can be adjusted smoothly between slow and fast (0 is the slowest, 7 the fastest). Note the plugin has channel specific rather than shared Attack and Release controls and an…

Vintage Synths We’ve gone ‘vintage’ this issue, with two new synth packs and plenty of classic drum packs from the vault. First up, Robbie from Cyclick explains how to wrangle some magic from just one synth… “Only one synth was used for this sample collection, the Jen SX1000 Synthetone. The SX1000 was a budget monosynth manufactured by the Italian company Jen (most famous for their Cry-Baby Super Wah pedal) in the late 1970s. “It’s a very simple instrument with an analogue hybrid VCO/DCO (don’t ask!) that produces three waveforms: sawtooth, square and PWM. There is a single 12dB/oct low-pass filter with Resonance control, which will self-oscillate. There’s also a pink/white noise generator, Glide control, vibrato and two ADSRs, one for the VCF and the other for the VCA. “I’ve been…

All the advice you need for a DIY Studio We show you how to turn your humble abode into a recording studio, complete with control room. We have advice on everything: from acoustics to wiring, reducing noise to recording vocals. The complete home studio guide, next issue… PLUS! On test The latest Tracktion DAW plus 22 effects you’ll actually use! Back to basics How to make the most of compression and EQ – the complete guide Funk samples Get the funk with two new packs and some Vault classics…

They say that waiting for a news story about a guitar effect or amp plugin emulation is like waiting for a bus. Actually, no they don’t. We’re inundated with these kinds of stories all the time. In fact, here’s three of them… First up from United Plugins is Electrum, which the collective describe as ‘the mother of all guitar amps’. Well, why not? What we like about Electrum straight off the bat is that it is not just another attempt to simulate a Marshall amp – there are certainly enough of those out there, as this news story will very soon demonstrate. Instead, Electrum is a set of non Marshall- specific guitar effects and emulations – cabs, compressor, gate, distortion, pedals and much more – all accessible from a single…

Looking at Jorja Chalmers’ life thus far you could easily conclude: ‘you certainly make your own luck’. That’s because Jorja worked hard building the foundations of a successful music career early on. At just five she started learning piano; little more than a decade later she was teaching music, and not a lot longer after that she was studying at Sydney’s Conservatorium of Music. Yet ironically, only once she turned her back on studying and shipped over to the UK, did her break come, and she ended up touring with the likes of Take That, Ting Tings and Bryan Ferry as both keyboard player and saxophonist. Wiki describes her as (we’re not proud but we do like this quote) someone who “steals the show, blasting out the sax lines with…

One of the great wonders of DAW-based plugins is that they are easy to install and use, with no requirement for additional hardware. That said, the Arturia Mini V is NKS compliant, so you can take huge advantage of its interfacing options with hardware through the use of Native Instruments or Arturia MIDI controllers. While Moog’s own iPhone/iPad app can be used in a standalone format, the addition of further enhancements will hugely benefit the quality of the experience if you intend to get serious with the app. Adding a MIDI/USB MIDI interface will help with triggering, while the presence of some form of iOS compliant audio interface will immeasurably improve the quality of the sonic reproduction. The IK Multimedia iRig range has a wealth of products for all scenarios…

As with the paid-for software, there aren’t nearly as many freeware Odysseys around as you might think, and many of these have seen better days or are not now available from their original developer sites. Roberson Audio Synthesisers, for example, produced Oddy Free back in the day but it’s only now available on an archive site at http://web.archive.org/ web/20131227220621/http://robersonaudio.tk/oddy-free/. It’s PC only and based on the MkII rarer filter model as discussed in the main text. Similarly Elektrostudio’s ODsay is another great looker, but only 32-bit PC and available at plugins4free. com. There are a couple more but again only 32-bit, PC and old. In fact the only other ‘proper’ software Odyssey you can get is Korg’s own ARP Odyssey, a recreation of the hardware one we have been using…

01 THE FIRST SYNTH TO GREET ALIENS The scenario might be the stuff of fantasy: aliens make contact with humans atop the strange Devil’s Tower (actual place). But in what is probably the greatest idea anyone could have ever, the humans’ first reaction is to play them some synth music on an ARP 2500. We think the finest thing you could do to ease into a relationship would be to play some early Tangerine Dream or Jean-Michel Jarre – we do exactly this when we form relationships with other humans, so know what we’re talking about – and top marks for whoever thought of this. The ARP 2500 plays the famous ‘da da da, do, daa’ theme which [SPOILER ALERT] the aliens like so much, they decide to return some…

During the early 80s, microchip technology was touching every aspect of human life. We were not quite at the stage where our fridge-freezers could order our shopping for us, but the switch to chip circuitry was having a very positive effect on the price of music technology. Just a few years previous, you couldn’t buy a synthesiser for less than several hundred quid, but the Japanese giants of music technology world would have a thing or two to say about that in this decade. The original Roland Jupiter series once commanded four-figure price tags, but Roland then found a way of shrinking the tech into a form that would make it much cheaper, and used that knowledge in the more modestly-priced Juno series. Even so, it was still several hundred…

Step by step 1. Creating 101 patches – a classic acid riff 1 We need a point of initialisation for creating our patch, and while Roland have helpfully equipped their software SH-101 with plenty of great patches, there are also empty patch locations. Select any available slot, which will also make light work of saving the patch at the end of proceedings, if desired. 2 Now we have a simple single oscillator, reproducing a square wave. We want to decrease the volume of this completely in order to effectively replace the square with a sawtooth. Within the Source Mixer section, increase the saw to its maximum volume, by dragging the Volume fader fully north. 3 Within the Source Mixer, we now want to add some sub oscillator. Too much can…

On and On Jesse Saunders, 1984 Without Jesse, none of us would be doing this shit. There would be no house music and DJs would still be stuck in the DJ booth. Jack Trax EP Chip E, 1985 This was the first record that mentioned the word ‘Jack’. That might seem like a small thing but getting key words and key songs out into the big wide world was very important in those early days. No Way Back Adonis, 1986 No Way Back is all about the bassline, the bassline and the bassline. Even today, it still sounds strong… definitive. Which is why it’s been copied so many times. Jack Your Body Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, 1986 House music’s first big pop chart hit. It proved to record companies that you…

Once we have designed a synth patch that we like, there is a great amount of expression from the performance that can be utilised. This guide will help you think outside of the box, and also help you maximise some of the often overlooked keyboard functions: velocity, aftertouch and keyboard tracking. Velocity is the most frequently used and is often assigned to the main amplitude. It results in quieter sounds with softer key presses and louder overall volume for harder key presses. We will take this concept to the next level and assign velocity to control the rate of LFO which then controls the filter cutoff position. This creates a very dynamic and expressive performance-orientated patch. Aftertouch is another hidden treasure in your keyboard – providing, of course, that your…

Ade has some choice pieces of gear on order and some other ideas on how his studio could expand in the future. “As I said earlier, I have a MatrixBrute Noir on order from those lovely folks at Arturia, so that’ll keep me going for a while I think. I’m quite tempted by something from Moog too, maybe the Mother 32 and DFAM might be next. In terms of technology, I would also love some kind of universal template for all software MIDI instruments. As much as I enjoy using Komplete Kontrol, the user interface is a pain and I’d love all of the software companies to come together to create a platform that allows controllers to control, right out of the box. Oh, and Access Music/Kemper – pleeeeaasssse make…

Proudly affirming their exclusive access to their namesake studios – the legendary EastWest Studio One in Hollywood – EastWest excel at crafting immaculately recorded orchestral packages, with 2015’s Hollywood Orchestra series marking the pinnacle of their achievements. Now the company revisit and re-adapt this six-year-old monolith, further perfecting their ambition to build the ultimate all-in-one software orchestra. Magnum opus First, let’s look at what the original Hollywood Orchestra offered, and what this more substantial package adds. Recorded by Hollywood sound engineer and industry stalwart Shawn Murphy, Hollywood Orchestra was a remarkably detailed assortment of sampled orchestral instruments, sporting a plethora of textures across the string, woodwind, brass and percussion spheres, all operable within EastWest’s (then) state of the art Play engine. Deep control of these beautifully recorded instruments was wrangled…

Continuum Guitars is a pretty versatile affair. The moment that you load it into Kontakt, you’re drawn in by the wealth of familiar controls, but don’t go thinking that this is one of your run-of-the-mill guitar plugins; it undoubtedly offers strengths in the more cinematic, ethereal and outlandishly sequenced styles of music. In these instances, it might be better to think of it as less of a guitar plugin, and more a great plugin to employ for evolving washes and evocative backdrops, all of which may be controlled in real time. The source sample content does include material which is at the more traditional end of what you might expect from a guitar-groove plugin, but it’s by no way as extensive. In a way, it’s something of a fringe benefit,…

FAST (AU, AAX, VST, VST3) is a new plugin range from Focusrite, developed with smart plugin pioneers Sonible, and it marks the first release from Focusrite’s new online platform, The Collective (see below). On the face of it, two of the three plugins – FAST Equaliser and FAST Compressor – cover typical ground. Meanwhile the third plugin, FAST Reveal, provides frequency-specific ducking and is designed to help differentiate between two tracks that occupy the same frequency area. Nevertheless, the important thing here is that all three plugins use an analysis-infused platform designed for quick results, with informative feedback and further editing via a two-tier (FAST and Detailed) user interface. You’re not required to use the onboard analysis (Learn) feature; however if you do, all three plugins have a pretty similar…

To maintain our ‘vintage’ theme this issue, we’re bringing you not one classic collection from the mighty Computer Music Vault, but five! It’s mostly a beat-flavoured theme, with plenty of classic Roland sounds to lift – but there are also some more esoteric sounds to download too. So that’s five classic vintage sample collections. Or indeed five vintage classic sample collections, depending on your stance. OK, we’ll just get on with it… Our first two packs give you all the sounds you need from the two most famous classic drum machines. Of Essential 808 and 909 Overdrive, we said: “No matter what style of music you make, every producer needs a decent collection of beats sampled from Roland’s classic machines. Well, look no further, as we bring you this extra-special…

On the page that is fast becoming the regular slot for freeware (OK it’s happened twice), we’re pleased to announce a free spring reverb by the name of VREV-666 from Fuse Audio Labs. The plugin is based on a rare 60s spring reverb built for the BBC, and features the simple controls and ‘unpredictable vibes’ of the original unit. “When it comes to ambience, spring reverb is the ultimate playground for creative endeavours,” says Fuse’s CEO Reimund Dratwa. “We’re delighted to make the original vintage character of this juicy reverb available for everybody for free.” https://fuseaudiolabs.com…

If we can get historical for a moment, there have been many key moments in the development of music technology: guitar amplification, the introduction of magnetic tape, multi-track recording, computer-based recording… And then there is the sub-strata relating to synthesis, which could take up an entire issue in itself. Over the last few years, the reemergence of hardware synthesisers has raised plenty of eyebrows. The market is bustling with radical new analogue and digital designs and reissues of absolute classics. And it’s this latter category we’re focusing on here, and the question we repeatedly ask is: “why would you spend thousands on a reissued piece of hardware, from 40 or 50 years ago, when you can buy the software for a fraction of the price?”. There is much to debate…

Step by step 1. Creating Moog patches – the classic Thriller bass patch 1 The Arturia Mini V can work as a plugin or in a standalone mode, so load up your preferred version. As we will want to start from a point of initialisation, go to the patch/preset menu, locate the Template section at the bottom of the menu and select 1 Osc. This should present a single VCO playing a sawtooth, with a wide open filter. 2 Now we need to add Osc 2 into our sound, but to make it slightly different, we’ll set this to a square wave, which will nicely complement the saw of VCO 1. As we also want to play this patch in a bass register, set the range of both Osc 1…

Step by step 1. The Billy Currie lead 1 We’re going to create a couple of classic Odyssey sounds now. You can use any of the three Odyssey types you wish or even the freeware ones mentioned previously, as the programming tips should transfer to iOS, desktop or hardware. We’re using Oddity. 2 It’s surprisingly easy to get the core Currie sound but it’s what you do with it that counts. You’ll need to initialise your synth which in the hardware’s case could simply mean: do nothing or set all sliders to zero. In Oddity’s case, load up a Default sound. 3 We already have a nice blend of the oscillators and the fat sound you want. Now you can introduce a slight bit of detuning between one and the…

The SH-101 resides in a place which is a world away from the American synth models. While the Moog and ARP machines offered a colour which has become synonymous with America, the Roland machines seem to have become linked with Europe, obviously via Japan, from where the 101 originated. The 101 can sound deep, characterful and crisp, and in searching out hardware (there’s very little else out there in software) the Roland SH-01A, in boutique form, is a great place to begin. If you yearn for something bigger and more flexible, the Roland System series machines will be worth seeking out, offering a fully formed interface which reacts according to the Plug-out model that you wish to work with; the System 8 is something of an underestimated workhouse, in our…

Step by step 2. Creating 101 patches – the 101 PWM bass 1 Just like our previous patch we need to begin from a point of initialisation, and the simplest method for this is to select an unused patch location from Roland’s patch browser. Once selected, we will have a single square wave activated. 2 We are going to employ all the 101’s tonal sources. In the Source Mixer we blend the square wave and saw together. Notice that the square and sub are very dominant, increased to their max. Ensure that the sub osc mode is set to 1 octave down. The saw is set to around 70%. 3 We’re going to need some extra timbral colour for this patch, so staying within the Source Mixer, increase the noise…

Some patches have an immediate sonic identity, a little like that earworm that you hear in a song, but can’t quite place. That’s our synth patch this month, often referred to in synth circles as the Oscillator Sync. Strangely, this is not a sound which is possible on machines such as the Minimoog, but was certainly implemented on later Moog models, most likely due to the presence of the Sync mode on synths made by competitors, such as the ARP Odyssey. Hence, you’ll find that the ability to sync oscillators was implemented on many of the mono and polysynths that occupied the tail end of the 70s and early to mid 80s and beyond. The first prerequisite for creating this lead sound, is that your chosen synth must have two…

THE MODULATION WHEEL There is one section on your MIDI keyboard that you might not be using often enough. The modulation wheel can be a great source of creativity and for triggering the various parameters of your software synthesiser. Assign it to the filter’s cutoff, the release of the volume amp and more – the possibilities are endless. You can also record the automation and give your tracks an extra live feel. KEYBOARD TRACKING ASSIGNED TO PAN POSITION This trick works particularly well to keyboard patches that mimic the way we hear a piano as a player. The lower octave notes are tilted towards the left, whereas the higher octaves are positioned to the right.…

It’s seven years since Bitwig Studio first appeared, bringing with it a fresh approach to audio and clip arrangement that made many of the established DAWs feel sluggish and, quite frankly, a bit old-fashioned by comparison. In the intervening years a program of regular updates and full version upgrades have enhanced its features, expanded the bundled content and generally finessed its offering. Nevertheless, the underlying concept, which combines linear clip arrangement and performance style clip launching has remained the same. Same difference Where Bitwig Studio differs from many of its competitors is by providing its two key concepts (Launcher and Arrange Timeline) side by side in the same tracks. This is not only easy to understand but also aids with drag-and-drop functionality, better integrating the creative, performance and arrangement aspects…

There are a few routes to getting your hands on Opus. You can either buy it outright at $795 for the Diamond Edition and $695 for the Gold Edition (upgrade pricing is $495 to update from Hollywood Orchestra Diamond and $395 from Hollywood Orchestra Gold). Or go for a ComposerCloud subscription that will give you access to all EastWest instruments, including HO Opus. The basic sub ($20/month) gets the Gold level of HO Opus with 16-bit and just one mic position and sits at 130GB in size. A Gold X version is available for ComposerCloud X subscribers ($30/month), which adds another mic position and ups the size to 242GB. For premium Composer Cloud Plus subscribers ($50/month), the full Diamond version ups the standard to 24-bit, has all possible microphone positions…

Synchro Arts VocAlign is a long established market-leading tool that adjusts the timing of an audio file (Dub) so it matches that of a source (Guide). It works well with vocals, instruments, sound effects and dialogue and is therefore commonly used for a whole bunch of music and post production tasks. VocAlign Ultra (AU, VST3, AAX, ARA, Audio Suite) is their new fully featured version and it replaces VocAlign Pro. In terms of features it sits between the affordable but quite basic VocAlign Project and their flagship processor, Revoice Pro 4. Major Update It’s pretty obvious from the redesigned, resizable GUI that VocAlign Ultra is a substantial upgrade. The new window retains the colourful look of its predecessor rather than the more serious design of Revoice Pro, however, under the…

We’re always getting asked about software that splits a song into its component multitrack parts – bass, vocals, drums and so on. There’ve been a few attempts, the most recent that we’ve reviewed being Audionamix’s Xtrax Stems. It’s fair to say that, so far, artefacts are usually present in the results and you never really get the pristine original ‘black magic’ multitracks you’d possibly anticipated. The latest wizard to attempt that magic is Hit ‘n’ Mix’s RipX platform with two modules: DeepRemix (on test here) and the more expensive DeepAudio, which is a free update to the company’s Hit’n’Mix Infinity (and there’s more on this version in the box below). While the star of the show on this new RipX platform is audio separation, it’s also about what you can…

Caelum Audio are relatively new to the world of plugin creation, having produced great tools like Beef, Schlap, Tape Pro and Flux Mini over the last couple of years. Their design is very much focused on ease of use – indeed they tell us on p8 that “If we can make a plugin that simplifies a complex process so users have more time for creativity, then we’ve met our goals”. Flux Mini CM embodies that philosophy. It’s a bespoke version of their free plugin Flux Mini but, not only comes with an additional Pan modulation  control, but also a whole bunch of extra presets, demonstrating just how much better than the freebie this CM version really is! Flux Mini CM essentially lets you modulate volume, filter and pan parameters using…

Portico Quartet have enjoyed – and endured – quite a history. They have been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize, had at least three record deals (including Ninja Tune and Real World), a change in name, a change in line-up (actually more than one), a change in musical styles and indeed, really, a total change in band. Look, it’s complicated, right? The band initially hit world – or at least Mercury – wide success with their world/jazz/ ambient sound, often based around a hang (percussion instrument). When hang player Nick Mulvey left, the band changed style and dropped the ‘Quartet’ bit of their name, but later returned both name and sound (with an additional band member and sampling). Now the band comprises founders Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie, and they…