Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Future Music

LIKE IT? TRY THESE… Two Culture Clash Two Culture Clash Another album perfectly pitting musical styles against each other. This time, reggae stars get re-rubbed by the club kids, to great effect. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘How Do You Love?’, ‘… And Dance’, ‘Knock Knock’ Malcolm McLaren Duck Rock Trailblazing ’87 mash-up of hip-hop scratching, double dutch rhymes, and global grooves. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘Buffalo Gals’, ‘Double Dutch’, ‘Soweto’ Amon Tobin Foley Room From roaring tigers to neighbours singing in the bath, it all got captured on Amon’s mic and turned into a selection of samples. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘Bloodstone’, ‘Esther’s’, ‘Big Furry Head’ Herbert Around The House Truly “house music”, as the genius producer records anything that makes a sound in his childhood home,…

Pastor Champion I Just Want To Be a Good Man Luaka Bop David Byrne’s New York-based imprint Luaka Bop got much more than they bargained for when researching The Time for Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us. Whilst trawling through footage, they came across the wonderful and raw outsider gospel from touring preacher, carpenter and father of four, Pastor Champion. So enamoured were they, that Luaka Bop started out on an album project with the pastor, by now in his 70s and having never previously released anything. I Just Want To Be a Good Man was recorded on a two-track Nagra reel-to-reel, entirely analogue, in the style of traditional gospel recordings. That authenticity is matched by Pastor Champion’s distinctive vocals and stripped back guitar. Simple but effective rhythms bring…

IMAGELINE FL STUDIO The DAW previously known as FruityLoops has grown substantially over its 20+ year lifespan. In its early days, it was known for its ease of use. Compared to some of the dense and complex DAWs of the time, FruityLoops was incredibly approachable, falling into a space somewhere between music sequencer and video game. This early simplicity has had a lasting effect on how FruityLoops – or FL Studio, as it’s been known since 2003 – is seen by the wider world. Detractors have a tendency to label it as a plaything. If this was ever true, it’s certainly not been the case for a while. In 2022, FL Studio is packed with functionality and a flexible crop of native instruments and effects. What is true is that…

AVID PROTOOLS Pro Tools is a curious proposition these days. As its creators Avid rightly claim, it’s legitimately still an industry standard in a sense. It’s rare to find a large-scale studio or post production house not making use of Pro Tools. Elsewhere in the industry its dominance is considerably less apparent though, and Pro Tools has never really made an impact with the solo producer or electronic musician market. The road to this point in Pro Tools’ existence is a fairly winding one. It began life in the early ’80s as Sound Designer, a tool for editing samples for hardware from the likes of E-MU, Akai and Roland. Sound Designer evolved into Sound Tools, a two-track digital recording system complete with outboard converters for editing DAT tracks. The 1990s…

Subjective | In The Studio With SUBJECTIVE Danny Turner chats to Subjective duo Goldie and James Davidson about the making of their second album and its poignant nod to drum&bass Goldie’s 30-year career has seen him pioneer the ’90s UK jungle, drum & bass and breakbeat scenes and work with a litany of high-profile musicians including Bowie, Noel Gallagher, 4hero and Pete Tong. Despite numerous sojourns into acting and the art world, 2017 saw the iconic musician return to the musical fold with his album The Journey Man, working alongside ex-Ulterior Motive producer and revered sound engineer James Davidson. Seeking to realise their potential as a production duo, Goldie then invited Davidson to begin writing and recording at his home studio based in Phuket, Thailand. The result was a new…

Turno | Produce like… GET THAT SOUND… Turno breaks down the ambient intro to his track, Melia VIDEO ON FILESILO 01 “The track is kind of ambient. I wanted to capture the ‘concrete jungle’ vibe for it,” Turno tells us of how he built his track around inspiration from The Shard Climber, George King. “There are quite a few different elements layered up. I even have his breathing in there.” 02 “It starts with George’s breath. I had to double this up,” he explains. “In context it gives that meditative, trancey state.” The breath sample is layered up with a vinyl crackle too; a trick Franko uses regularly to add texture. 03 The next layer is an ambient cityscape recording. “It’s subtle, you can’t really hear it, but, again, it adds…

Reviews | Tascam Mixcast 4 Tascam Mixcast 4 £579 If you make podcasts and want to streamline the process, Jon Musgrave could have just the device you need CONTACT WEB: tascam.eu KEY FEATURES MIC INPUT: XLR/TRS combo sockets MIC GAIN: 66.5dB LINE INPUTS: pair 1/4” TRS jacks, 1/8” stereo minijack HEADPHONES: 1/4” stereo jacks, 1/8” TRRS front panel LINE OUTPUTS: 1/4” TRS jack, 1/8” stereo minijack USB: Type-C connector, USB 2.0 SD: SD, SDHC, SDXC Recording: WAV at 24-bit, 48kHz SIZE: 375 x 267 x 71mm WEIGHT: 2.55kg Podcasting clearly creates its own demands and a dedicated device certainly makes sense. With Røde’s Rodecaster and Zoom’s PodTrak already making waves, portastudio kings Tascam have now entered the fray. Mixcast 4 is an SD-based multiple input, multiple output multitrack recorder with USB…

Reviews | ALM Busy Circuits Beast’s Chalkboard ALM Busy Circuits Beast’s Chalkboard £104 Rob Redman explains how this two-channel octave controller emits much sweeter results than its name suggests CONTACT WHO: ALM Busy Circuits WEB: busycircuits.com KEY FEATURES I/O: Two channels of control, Dual output and thru per channel, -2 to +2 octave range ALM Busy Circuits’ Beast’s Chalkboard is a twochannel octave controller for Eurorack systems. It follows the same design philosophy as other modules in their range, which is clean and clear, with great eligibility of labelling and satisfying knobs. The build quality is typical ALM and I have no doubts it will handle life in the studio or on the road. It’s a small module at just 6hp and is a skiff-friendly 22mm deep including the header. So…

Sounds & Samples | Reviews Audiotent – Ether: Pigments Presets from £37 The gifted guys and gals in the lab coats at Audiotent HQ have clearly had a hoot twisting and turning the knobs on Arturia’s Pigments synth. Clearly enamoured with its sample and harmonic engines, they’ve lovingly crafted an exquisite set of presets for you all to swoon over. They’ve broadened its already expansive range, and somehow managed to find new and exciting sounds to take your music to the next dimension. All 107 presets come with mod wheel assignments, and four smartly mapped macros, which delight with each tinker and turn. Ether also comes in three editions – ranging from the Standard for producers who just want the presets, to the Ultimate set, loaded with MIDI files, all…

IN THE ARCHIVE – UPDATED! FM’s Sample Archive gives you over 18GB of carefully-curated, royalty-free sounds to use in your music. Here’s what’s inside… AMBIENT SOUNDS PT.1 > ’90s Ambient (562 samples) > Ambient Dawn (490 samples) AMBIENT SOUNDS PT.2 > Majestic Bells & Mallets (444 samples) > Spring Reverb & Tape Delay (533 samples) ATMOSPHERES & BACKGROUNDS > Atmospheric Beds (369 samples) > Noise, Crackle & Hiss (512 samples) > Sounds of the City (371 samples) CLASSIC SYNTHS PT.1 > Analogue Polys (625 samples) > SH Collection (500 samples) CLASSIC SYNTHS PT.2 > Analogue Poly Chord Hits (342 samples) > Classic Synths: ’80s, ’90s, ’00s (678 samples) > Hardware Arps (511 samples) CREATIVE DRUMS > Cyborg Beats (514 samples) > Lo-Fi Sampling (555 samples) > Obscure Drum Machines (517…

LIMITED TIME OFFER ENDS 1ST JUNE 2022 SUBSCRIBE TO Future Music TODAY AND GET 3 ISSUES FOR £5 AND GET THESE SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS… Pay just £1.67 an issue | Save money on the shop price| Delivery straight to your door or device + NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! CHOOSE YOUR PACKAGE… PRINT Get the print edition delivered to your door every month, PLUS access to Future Music’s FileSilo to download videos, samples, tutorial files, and more only £5 FOR THESE ISSUES PRINT + DIGITAL Get the print edition delivered direct to your door, instant access on your iPad, iPhone and Android device PLUS access to Future Music’s FileSilo only £5 FOR THESE ISSUES SUBSCRIBING IS EASY. JUST HEAD TO… www.magazinesdirect.com/fmu/A28B or call 0330 3331113 and quote ‘A28B’ Terms and Conditions. Offer open to new UK…

Glass Museum Reflet Sdban Ultra Two years on from their acclaimed Reykjavik album, Belgian electronic jazz duo Glass Museum’s shimmering new album, Reflet, finds keyboardist Antoine Flipo and drummer Martin Grégoire blur the lines of genres, time and locations, building a fascinating soundscape that relishes crosspollination and dialogue between separate worlds. Organic instruments blend seamlessly with electronic beats, Eastern keys interplay with more western strong structures and modern production techniques mingle with traditional, natural sounds. The swirling soundscape takes in elements of jazz, techno, breakbeat, eastern, pop and neo-classical with consummate ease and the tempo ranges from laidback to energetic. It’s these seemingly disparate styles that make Reflet so unpredictable, so absorbing and so immersive. Jangling piano keys jostle for position among shimmering synths, punching drums and club-like swathes of…

REASON STUDIOS REASON The history of Reason is not dissimilar to that of FL Studio. Reason’s roots lie in a software product that was as much about fun sequencing as deep music-making, in Reason’s case, ReBirth – a 1997 cult classic softsynth combining emulations of TB-303s, a TR-808 and a TR-909. Reason itself significantly expanded things while keeping the faux-hardware vibe, which remains key to Reason’s personality to this day. The somewhat iconic Reason Rack presents the usual crop of instruments, effects and utilities as rack-mounted hardware units, complete with patchable rear panels. Reason has expanded and developed considerably over the years. In 2009, then-developers Propellerhead (now Reason Studios) launched a companion product, Record, that added audio functionality. Record was eventually amalgamated into Reason itself. For a long time, Reason…

PRESONUS STUDIO ONE At a little over 12 years old and five version updates in, Studio One from US brand PreSonus, remains a relative newcomer in DAW terms. It’s matured significantly over that time though and has been picking up a dedicated user base at a steady rate. Where some other DAWs in this guide are easy to pinpoint as aimed at a specific type of user, Studio One is impressively well-rounded and difficult to pin down. Its closest competitors are probably Cubase and Logic. As of recent updates, it’s incorporated a fully developed score editor, making it an excellent tool for soundtrack or compositional work. However, version 5 also added the Show Page, which significantly expands the live performance capabilities of Studio One for both bands and solo performers.…

PRODUCE LIKE… Turno We find out how the UK DnB producer took inspiration from a freeclimbing legend for his atmospheric new single © Alasdair Brookes UK-based producer Turno – real name Franko Moliterno – has been steadily making a name for himself in the drum&bass world for the past decade. Marked out by his intricate yet impactful production, his career to date has seen him land releases on labels including Playaz and Charge. In more recent times, he’s also launched his own learning platform – named Ethos – aimed at creating a community based around production tuition and the sharing of ideas. His latest project is particularly fascinating though. Following a chance online link-up, Turno partnered with viral freeclimber George King, aka The Shard Climber. The concept behind their collaboration…

PRODUCER’S GUIDE Physical modelling synths Simulating the real world of sound and beyond, these top instruments make their mark with their in-depth control sets and jaw-dropping anything-is-possible sounds Imagine you had an instrument that could change its size, shape, and material while you play it: that’s the goal of physical modelling synthesis. Various kinds of synthesis can mimic acoustic instruments, but while subtractive synthesis might use resonant filters to create something akin to a piano or violin, the results are unlikely to fool even a casual listener. Physical modelling goes much further. This kind of synthesis pushes the mathematical side of things to the max, using complex algorithms to emulate not just the sound of an acoustic instrument, but the way they’re physically played as well. The results are uncannily…

Cloud Rap | Retrospective Three cloud rap classics Lil B – I’m God (2009) Always one of the weirder cloud rappers (in a good way), Lil B’s first collab with Clams Casino saw him assert his status in the game, via his own inimitable style: “My new name is Based God, ice cream paint job.” It’s all underpinned by a sultry, downtempo Clams beat built around a sample of Imogen Heap’s Just For Now. English singer-songwriter Heap was an unlikely muse for cloud rap producers, not least Squadda B of Main Attrakionz, who sampled her on tracks including Legion Of Doom, Fuck The World and Blood Money. A$AP Rocky – Demons (2011) Speaking of which, Clams found further inspiration from the same sample source for Numb, a track from his…

Reviews | SSL BiG SiX SSL BiG SiX £2,199 Is the latest SSL mixer worth the step up from its little brother, the SiX? Rob Redman takes a look CONTACT WHO: SSL WEB: solidstatelogic.com KEY FEATURES Four SuperAnalogueTM stereo line level inputs with dual mono switching, up to 18 inputs at mixdown, 100 mm console grade faders, classic SSL channel dynamics processing, essential version of G-Comp Bus Compressor with ‘Auto’ release, rack mountable, USB class compliant for those of you familiar with SSL’s SiX, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just a larger version of that device, and to an extent there is some truth in that. It clearly follows the same design language and I’m sure many of the components are the same and, well, the name suggests as…

Reviews | JZ Microphones Vintage V12 JZ Microphones Vintage V12 €1299 Jon Musgrave hooks up the latest vintage reissue from Latvia’s premium mic-maker CONTACT WHO: JZ Microphones WEB: jzmic.com KEY FEATURES CAPSULE: 25mm diaphragm with JZ’s golden drop technology PICKUP: Cardioid FREQ RESPONSE: 20Hz-20kHz SELFNOISE: 6 dB (A) S/N RATIO: 87 dB-A SENSITIVITY: 22mV/Pa at 1kHz MAX SPL: 134 dB (2.5kOhm, 0.5% THD) OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: 50 Ohm LOAD IMPEDANCE: 1000 Ohm POWER: +48V DC phantom The Vintage V12 is the latest reissue from JZ. Originally released a decade ago, this largecapsule, phantompowered cardioid condenser has had a visual refresh. With its flattened elliptic cylinder shape and huge headstock, the design manages to look both retro and modern at once. As I’ve come to expect from JZ, it’s also beautifully finished. JZ…

Reviews | Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X £219 Dave Clews weighs up whether this newest range from the headphone titans merits the upsell CONTACT WHO: Beyerdynamic WEB: europe.beyerdynamic.com KEY FEATURES Wired open back Circumaural headphones, FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5 - 40,000 Hz NOMINAL SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL: 100 dB NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 48 ohms WEIGHT: 345g ACCESSORIES: 3m or 1.8m straight cable, detachable, with 3-pin mini XLR and stereo jack and drawstring bag Having enjoyed great success with their existing Pro line, Beyer launched their new Pro X headphone range late in 2021 with two new models – the closed-back Beyerdynamic 700 Pro X and the open-back 900 Pro X, the subject of this review. The new Pro X models are not intended to be replacements for the existing…

AND THERE’S EVEN MORE! AMBIENCE EXTRAS > Ambient Orchestral (246 samples) > Ambient Piano (469 samples) > Sound From The Ether (492 samples) BASS BUNDLE > Amped-Up Bass (234 samples) > Sub-Frequency Grooves (256 samples) FOUND FAVOURITES > Mechanical Sounds (390 samples) > Out There FX (500 samples) > Studio Noise (234 samples) > The Edge Of Noise (512 samples) > The Sound Of Water (375 samples) FUTURE DRUMS > Beyond Breakbeats (186 samples) > Digital Percussion (502 samples) > Electro FX (321 samples) > Granular Drums (499 samples) MORE BEATS > ‘80s Pop Drums (197 samples) > Dub Percussion 2 (537 samples) > Jazz Drums (499 samples) > Total Snares (501 samples) SYNTHS & MORE > Chord Stabs (136 samples) > Clone Wars (523 samples) > Percussive Leads (289…

Track by track with Graham Daniels Orchestra Of Samples “As the first track on the album, we wanted to create something purely sampled from our field recordings that would introduce the project. So, no beats, no electronics – just samples from all we’d recorded at that point. We sifted through terrabytes of material, matching up samples from France, the UK, Tunisia, Senegal in West Africa. But, also from as far afield as the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan up in the Himalayas, where we’d recorded a group of local village women singing on top of a mountain, outside a monastery where we were staying! “The tama drum sample on the track we recorded in Senegal with Samba Diop, who’s been world music star Baaba Maal’s tama drummer for 20 years. We…

RECOMMENDED Raw Poetic Laminated Skies Def Pressé © Earl Davis Two years on from his last record, North Virginian rapper, singer and producer Jason Moore is back with his brilliant, sprawling and free-flowing sixth studio album as Raw Poetic. Teaming up with friend and long time collaborator, Earl Davis aka Damu the Fudgemunk on production and Pat “P” Fritz on guitar and Luke Stewart on bass, Laminated Skies is a bristling melting pot of styles that infects the head as much as the feet. Drawing on a multitude of genres, hip-hop occupies the centre of the Venn diagram of the record, without ever being the dominant style. Elements of jazz, soul, beat constructor and leftfield-funk merge, much like with hip-hop, to create something that feels altogether indefinable. Damu’s quality production…

Feature | Is it time to rethink your DAW? BITWIG BITWIG STUDIO Bitwig Studio was born in Ableton Live’s shadow – its original development team included numerous ex-Ableton employees, and aspects such as the clip launcher, Live-like EQs and stock FM synth bear a striking resemblance to the work of Bitwig’s Berlin citymates. The DAW has developed dramatically since it first arrived in 2014, leaning heavily into open and customisable features as well as pulling distinct influences from the modular synth scene. In 2022, although similarities to Live remain, Bitwig Studio is no longer that fledgling DAW existing in the shade of a more established rival. The latest update, version 4.1, adds a suite of new Note Effects – MIDI processors that make creative use of chance, randomisation and creative…

THE CRYSTAL METHOD Scott Kirkland has re-energised The Crystal Method following the departure of co-founder Ken Jordan. Danny Turner discusses his second solo outing, The Trip Out Formed in Las Vegas in the early ’90s by Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan, electronic band The Crystal Method pioneered the big beat genre and planted a signpost for electronica with their platinum-selling debut album Vegas (1997). Alt rock/electronic crossover albums such as Tweekend and Legion of Boom followed, alongside headline shows at EDC, Lollapalooza and Ultra Miami, while their music has appeared on over 100 film, TV and video game soundtracks. However, in 2017, Kirkland was surprised to learn that Jordan had decided to retire from making music, leaving him to continue the project alone. Somewhat inspired, Kirkland’s cinematic solo outing The…

Mike Paradinas | Interview MIKE PARADINAS Polymath Mike Paradinas returns his μ-Ziq alter-ego to the fray with the 25th anniversary reissue of Lunatic Harness. Hamish Mackintosh talked to the Planet Mu main man about his μ-Ziqal journey Many electronic artists start their own label but not many manage to sustain the sheer quality, innovation and eclectic roster that Mike Paradinas has achieved with his beloved Planet Mu imprint. As well as hosting his many projects, be it μ-Ziq, Jake Slazenger, Tusken Raiders et al, or providing a home for a wealth of exciting electronic talents from Venetian Snares, Tim Exile, Konx-om-Pax and countless other electronic luminaries. This year, Planet Mu celebrates its 25th year of serving the electronic music cause and μ-Ziq has a slew of exciting releases planned throughout…

Reviews | PreSonus AudioBox GO PreSonus AudioBox GO $80 Simon Fellows falls for this tiny, entrylevel, go-anywhere interface. It’s a bit of a goer… CONTACT WHO: PreSonus WEB: presonus.com KEY FEATURES 2-in/2-out USB 2.0 portable audio interface with USB-C connector. 24-bit/96kHz audio conversion, direct monitoring, 50dB variable gain WEIGHT: 0.24 kg Sometimes we forget to appreciate the small, simple things, which is why I find I have a lot of time for PreSonus’ new wedge-shaped AudioBox GO interface. It’s tiny, about the size of a chunky slice of tasty cheese laid on its side. Weighing next to nothing, it’s also about as complex to use as a corkscrew. What’s more, to continue the food and drink analogies, it’s as cheap as chips. The diminutive twin-channel AudioBox GO is now PreSonus’ entry-level…

Reviews | Positive Grid Riff Positive Grid Riff £133 Positive Grid bring recording to the guitar masses with this affordable interface. Daryl Robertson puts it to the test CONTACT WHO: Positive Grid WEB: positivegrid.com KEY FEATURES 1-in, 2-out audio interface compatible with MAC/PC and iOS. 24bit / 96kHz high-resolution audio with 113dB dynamic range and 20-20k frequency response. WEIGHT: 156g DIMENSIONS: 21.6 x 54.9 x 88.1mm It wouldn’t be totally wrong to call Positive Grid trailblazers, especially after they turned the practice amp market on its head in 2019 with the wildly popular Spark. They’ve now turned their sights to the crowded world of budget audio interfaces, with the goal of making them more guitarist friendly. The Positive Grid Riff is a slimline USB audio interface developed with electric guitar or…