Innehållsförteckning för 06/2023 från Beat English

1 Get inspired Often the best ideas come when you leave familiar paths: play an unfamiliar instrument, jam with the presets of a new synth plug-in, or build a beat from sounds you recorded with your smartphone. Or take inspiration from existing songs for a chord progression or melody, or from a book or movie for interesting lyric ideas. 2 Preliminary considerations Before you start developing a song from ideas, it makes sense to give some thought to what mood you want to convey: Do you prefer a fast, happy track or a slow, melancholic song? What tempo and rhythm, what chords, what melodies and what sounds best express that mood? 3 Chord stock Now create a chord stock that matches the desired mood of your song. Major triads are…

www.1pwm.com Features: • Analog synthesizer Monophonic • Two VCO with extras • Powerful multimode filter • Frequency modulation • Distorted and dirty • Arpeggiator / joystick • Independent concept • Compact with mini keys • USB-powered Verdict: The name says it all: Malevolent isn‘t a noble spirit, but rather designed for raw to brute sounds. The compact synthesizer is flexible thanks to FM, multimode filter, various distortion stages and semi-modular design. Sonically, the results are often reminiscent of unpolished synthesizer classics like Polivoks, WASP or MS-20, but Malevolent can definitely be attested an independent character. Jan Wilking, BEAT 06/22…

www.bjooks.com In the spotlight: INSPIRE THE MUSIC – 50 Years of Roland History Since its beginnings in 1972, Roland has become one of the most influential music brands in modern history. In 400 photo-packed pages, this book tells the story of how they got there, and how they brought the music world along for the ride. • 60 + feature articles covering 50 years of music tech history • 90 + interviews and stories with artists and engineers • Hundreds of instruments with detailed insights • Foreword by legendary hit makers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis • Hard cover format (9.8“ x 9.8“ / 25x25cm) • 400 colorful pages printed on high-quality certified-ecofriendly paper SYNTH GEMS 1 Exploring Vintage Synthesizers PEDAL CRUSH Stompbox Effects For Creative Music Making PUSH TURN MOVE…

AcidBox simplifies real-time sequence creation and live tweaking of classic 303 sounds. The internal sequencer recreates the original design and adds modern features like flexible randomizing options. Ever wanted to play Acid live? AcidBox can be played expressively via your MIDI keyboard or your computer keyboard. Five distortion modes and a delay effect greatly expand its versatility. www.audioblast.me AcidBox tricks 1 perform live Want to perform live with the AcidBox? In the advanced settings, you can define with which MIDI controllers the synthesis and effect parameters can be controlled. 2 sequence variations To create quick variations of your sequence, you can set sequencer parameters like accent, slide, note, on/off or pan to random values with the buttons in the Random column. 3 create complete tracks When using the sequencer of…

www.endorphin.es GHOST PEDAL Verdict: Hype or not, this thing is good! Ghost turns out to be a powerful sound shaping tool that you suddenly would not want to do without. It‘s not so much the extreme settings that appeal to me, but rather the subtle influence on the sound at various access points in the signal path. Whether it‘s a drum mix, ambient pad or bassline - Ghost spices it up with that certain something. Unique user interface Full MIDI control over every parameter Bipolar LFO and expression pedal assignments 3 reverb and 3 filter types GOLDEN MASTER PEDAL Multiband processor with EQ, compressor and stereo enchancer Works also as a DI-box on stage One knob compressor per band along Dedicated expression pedal for volume control Verdict: Golden Master will…

≫ I imagine people listening to our music with their eyes closed, immersed in their own world. « Beat / How come it took five years to release a new album? Guillaume / Because it takes time to do creative things like music. After the release of „Dancehall“ we toured for three years and we didn‘t have so much time to produce something new. We started producing again towards the end of the tour, and shortly after the Corona pandemic broke out. That bought us even more time, but resulted in a five-year wait. Beat / How does your debut feel now in retrospect? Guillaume / There‘s only one thing I‘d like to do differently, and that would be to have more time for it (laughs). Jonathan / You also…

Project info Material: Fruity Loops Studio 21 Time required: About 40 minutes Content: Mastering with FL Studio stock plug-ins Difficulty: Advanced 1 Get ready One of the most important steps in Mastering is the one that takes place before the actual process. Namely, the right preparation. On the one hand, you should be aware that even a good Master cannot compensate for a bad mix. On the other hand, sufficient headroom of about -10db is necessary so that the Master doesn‘t directly overdrive. 2 Low/High-cut EQ First, we load Fruity Parametric EQ 2 into our mastering chain to remove unnecessary frequencies from the mix as a whole. In the plug-in, we select the preset 20Hz + 18kHz cut and move the High-cut to 17 kHz and the Low-cut to 25…

powered by 1 What‘s it going to be? The most important question is: what do you want to stream? A podcast with music and moderation or interviews with interspersed jingles? Gaming sessions or online lessons? Or maybe even a live jam in your backyard? In the following steps, we‘ll show you some expandable sample setups for possible streaming variations. 2 Music & moderation A classic in terms of podcasts: Music is playing, which is moderated from time to time. If the set is already prepared on the computer, a microphone like a Sennheiser e815S or Shure SM58 would be enough to record the moderation in your DAW. Just connect the microphone to the audio interface and you can start streaming. 3 Live mixing If you want to mix live, you need a mixer…

HighLife Samples Future Rave & Mainstage Techno More and more Future Rave productions are pushing into the clubs and charts, so HighLife Samples aims to serve the hype with the Future Rave & Mainstage Techno sample pack. The main component is the five Construction Kits. These song templates have been broken down into individual samples and loops. Among the loops are synthesizers (33), basses (14), drums (39) and vocals (17). In addition to the 44 MIDI files, there are also 44 presets for the Serum synthesizer as an added extra. The melodies of the kits are nice and catchy, which are mainly made up of massive and rough leads with sawtooth elements. The reese and sub basses form a fat foundation for this. The percussive material with the drums also…

Features Eurorack module Multi-engine oscillator 20 synthesis algorithms OLED oscilloscope USB-B port for firmware updates 8 CV inputs 2 audio outputs Width: 16 HP Depth: 45 mm Facts Manufacturer: Behringer Web: behringer.com Price: 129 Euro Powerful, transparent sound Flexible models Classic or experimental sounds possible DX7 compatible Display/oscilloscope Lowpass gate Favorable price Somewhat cheap workmanship No proper manual Sound: Workmanship: Price/Perf: Total: Alternatives Korg NTS-1 99 Euro www.korg.com After Later Audio Pixie 258 Euro www.afterlateraudio.com Arturia Microfreak 319 Euro www.arturia.com First of all: Brains is designed as a Eurorack module, but it also contains a triggerable lowpass gate with an envelope and a VCA in addition to various oscillator models and can, therefore, also be used as a stand-alone module without any additional modules. Basically, all you need is a…

Features Kruel Stompbox / desktop audio Vintage fuzz NOS germanium transistors High quality components Tone and volume controls True bypass Made in France 119mm x 94mm x 32 mm Aluminum box and PCB faceplate Power: 9V 40mA (center negative) Facts Manufacturer: TouellSkouarn Web: touellskouarn.fr Distribution: Alex4 Price: 179 euros authentic vintage sound NOS components easy handling dynamic interaction price limited range of use volume reduction PCB cover Concept: Sound: Versatility: Rating: Alternatives Dunlop Germanium Fuzz Face Mini FFM2 179 euros jimdunlop.com Wren & Cuff Your Face 60´s Germanium Fuzz 249 euros wrenandcuff.com The first candidate is a fuzz that is based on a classic fuzz face in its design - one of the legendary guitar effects of the 60s and closely associated with the name Jimi Hendrix. The Kruel gets its…

The common thread: Beat issue 06/2023 For many years, Beat has been inspiring its readers not only with practical and musical topics, but above all with the tight integration of editorial content. From the very beginning, Beat has been about creating, about the structured building of ideas and the common thread – in the magazine as well as in the tracks. This navigator shows you the highlights of this issue andallows you to see the big picture. SUPERBOOTH23: The official guide A feast for synth freaks! Just in time for Superbooth 2023, we‘re back with the English-language trade show guide, in a wicked look and filled with (funny) guides to technology, cool tricks for gear and an awesome giveaway! Page 27 Test: Roland SH-4D With the SH-4D Roland finally presents…

Favourite tools for creative boost by Beat author Marco Scherer Sometimes it‘s as if it‘s bewitched: Despite thousands of presets and samples without end, you always get stuck and can‘t come up with an idea. In such cases I have to use my secret weapons: Synplant and Permut8, both from Sonic Charge [2], as well as Loom 2 from AIR Music [3]. Both synths offer generators for random sounds for desperate or experimental moments. Others can do that too, but usually with complete chaos as a result. With Synplant you simply select „New Random Seed“, with Loom 2 you press the RANDOM button in the upper right corner. Tip: Hold SHIFT to only vary the current sound. With Permut8, on the other hand, (almost) anything is possible anyway thanks to…

BEATS WITH BALLS Use the Balls dial to emphasize the low and high frequencies to create sounds that cut through every mix and modulate the filter cutoff with the envelope generator or LFO. AM AND FM With the LFO range switch set to HI, the LFO allows for gritty AM and FM sounds – perfect for drum loops, synth arpeggios, electric guitars or even vocals. Just use the LFO to modulate the VCA or the filter cutoff and play with the Speed dial. MIGHTY DRUM DISTORTION Fancy some industrial mayhem? All you have to do is to feed the Retroverb Lancet with an 808 or 909 beat and increase the Drive value. HYPNOTIC SYNTH SEQUENCES The LFO can also be triggered with a gate or audio signal. Select the Sample…

www.oeksound.com 1 Emphasize guitar picking Recorded acoustic guitars often sound rather muffled. With spiff you can emphasize the sound of the strings with a few simple steps. Set the peak filters to process the upper mids and highs more intensely. Activate the Boost mode and adjust Depth, Sensitivity and Decay as desired. For a brighter sound, increase the Decay LF/HF value. 2 Make the snare pop If the snare in a drum loop or drum recording doesn‘t pop enough, then spiff is the way to go! As shown, set the plug-in to work primarily on the frequency range around 800 Hz and then turn up the Depth control in Boost mode as desired. To ensure that only the transients of the snare are emphasized, a sensitivity value in the lower third and…

www.bitwig.com LOUD SPLIT What is Loud Split? What does it do? And how do you use it? Mastering this advanced Bitwig Studio Spectral Suite device is easy, thanks to its simple mixing controls and overall structure. Create a reverb without adding a single plug-in or device to the signal chain, just by tweaking the Rise, Fall and Knee parameters. Or quickly make a custom distortion that targets just the loudest parts of a sound. TRANSIENT SPLIT In a way, Transient Split is the simplest of the bunch, because it breaks sound into two channels: One for the percussive portion of the sound, and another for the tonal aspects. In our tutorial video (see QR code), you‘ll learn how Transient Split works and how to use it, whether you want to…

powerded by When Andreas Schneider opened his famous “Büro” (“office”), modular synthesizers were probably the most niche product in electronic music. Many considered them overly abstract and unnecessarily complicated: Toys for musicians who would rather wield a soldering iron than lay hands on a keyboard. This very quality, meanwhile, was exactly what drew Andreas in. Frustrated by his experience as a manager and marketing expert and turned off by the overt egotistical tendencies of the industry, he‘d finally found what he‘d been looking for all these years: A love for experimentation, for playing and making music just for the sake of it. His passion quickly materialised into a store. Here, in the heart of Berlin‘s Neukölln district, similarly minded enthusiasts could not just look at these supposedly outdated devices –…

Project Info Material: Ableton Live 11 Suite [1] Time required: 60 minutes Content: Various strategies for using tape machine effects to add character to digital sounds; examples of use with Ableton internal devices and plug-ins. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Virtual tape machines Tape effects are a popular way of adding color to a supposedly boring sound. This simulates the behavior of analog tape machines, such as slight variations in synchronization when playing a tape, in order to generate chorus or flanger-like effects, or tape saturation for a saturation effect. 2 Generate tape delay To imitate this, load an echo effect into a track whose sound is to be enhanced. Make the following settings: Dry/Wet: 100%, Feedback: 0%, Stereo: 130% and select Time as the Delay Mode with a delay time of…

Project info Material: Fabfilter Pro-MB, Pro-L 2 and Pro-R, enclosed audio files from the song „Stille“ by Tina Aura. Time required: About 20 minutes Content: Mixing vocals using upward and downward compression. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Import tracks Below, we use the recordings of the song Silence by Tina Aura. Import the enclosed tracks into your project at a tempo of 73 BPM. Except for the vocals, all tracks are already mixed. Load Fabfilter Pro-MB as an insert effect on the vocal track. Click on the frequency range to create a first band that ranges from 800 Hz to 5 kHz. 2 Downward compression Then, set the Threshold parameter to -31 dB and adjust Release to 30%, so that this band releases compression more slowly. Range is set to -6 dB by default.…

Zampler plug-in, soundset, audio demo and MIDI files: Download see page 9 66 MALLETS, PADS & E-PIANOS FOR AMBIENT, HOUSE & RNB That sound! Ever had the pleasure of playing an Ensoniq SQ-1? If not, now‘s your chance. This weighty workstation offers plenty of crystalline mallet sounds, crystal-clear pianos, synthesized orchestral sounds and buttery smooth pads - all perfectly suited for contemporary music, particularly Ambient, House, R&B and Hip Hop. Not least of all thanks to being recorded through our exquisite outboard gear from SPL and Universal Audio. www.zamplersounds.com Facts ENSONIQ SQ-1 for Zampler: 2.16 GB Soundbank 22 buttery pads, 14 crystal clear Keys 15 piercing leads & synths 8 punchy basses 2 guitars, 5 wind instruments Compatible with all samplers that are able to load SFZ files. ENSONIQ SQ-1…

Features Digital groovebox Up to 60 voices 25-key keyboard 5 parts: 4x synthesis and 1x rhythm 11 Oscillator models from SH-101 to Juno to Wavetable Multimode filter with drive Multi effect Step sequencer with up to 64 steps Sub steps, flam, probability Memory for 128 patterns D-Motion controller (Gyroscope) Power via USB-C or battery Facts Manufacturer: Roland Web: roland.com Price: 599 euros Easy to use Flexible sound Good digital filter Functional sequencer High quality effects Multi-channel audio interface No sample import Sound: Operation: Price/perf.: Total: Alternatives Korg Electribe 449 euros www.korg.com Polyend Play 749 euros www.polyend.com Novation Circuit Tracks 315 euros www.novationmusic.com The crises of recent years and the associated problems, e.g. in the production of computer chips or the transport of goods, have meant that many electronic musical instruments…

2nd Face: utOpium After five years of work Vincent Uhlig - son of Krautrock musician Wolf-Rüdiger Uhlig (Murphy Blend, Hanuman) unleashes a true monster of an album. Created in part with his father‘s synths, such as the modular systems EMS Synthi AKS and PPG-300, the Mainzer does not pay tribute to Krautrock, but to Industrial. Inspired by bands like Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly, „utOpium“ is a densely produced album with many layers, which does not get too hard and fast, but rather focuses on sinister atmospheres and a certain claim. Similar to the debut „Nemesis“, soundtrack-mature beats and percussions, classic dark electro synths and hoarse vocals reign here, which in connection with the apocalyptic music cause states of anxiety. The whole album is produced punchy and crystal clear…

1 Find vocal melody and rhythm Good pop melodies are often based on the speech melody and rhythm of the lyrics. If you yourself like to sing, you can, of course, experiment with different melodies while your song is playing. Alternatively, you can record a (spoken) line of text with your DAW. Then, load a vocoder as an insert effect and play it with your MIDI keyboard. In this way, you can sometimes come up with original vocal melodies that you wouldn‘t have thought of otherwise. You can also use Melodyne and similar software to try out which melody line and rhythm sound particularly interesting. 2 Use chord tones When creating your vocal melody, first use the notes that are found in the chords you are using. Then, between the…

Multi Burst Envelopes Repeating Modulation Monsterr The MiniMod Multi Burst Envelopes module generates variable length bursts of repeating envelopes that can change over time, with CV control of all functions. Entropic Doom Takes modular noise creation to places its never been before! The Entropic Doom is a very unique module, we like to think of it as an oscillator for noise - a noisillator! It has a unique and unusual topology, featuring a cmos logic gate that is biased for use in the analogue region between logic zero and one. Dual RVG Random Voltage Event Generator Dual RVG is a faithful replica of the vintage EMS Random Voltage Generator. It is an all analogue design which generates two separate random voltages that can be timed either from the internal LFO…

Field Amp is an ultra clean amp, introducing absolutely no noise above audible range – which would come into focus when pitched down by octaves. Just the clear, pristine audio you want to capture with your contact microphones. The tiny unit is fully portable and optimised for Hi-Z signals like contact mics, geophones etc. and acts as impedance converter with a powerful output signal. bit.ly/FieldAmp Features: • Pre-Amp for Contact Mics • 9V DC power or batteries • Up to ~30x adjustable gain • 1 mono input • 2 mono outputs (one -12 dB) • All connections 3.5 mono jack • Dimensions: 12 x 12 x 3.4 cm • 230 g (without battery) • 1/4“-UNC mount on top and bottom for camera tripods…

The (most significant) deluxe advantages: • More keys! • More knobs! • More audio outs! • More Voices (16 instead of 8) • Voice stacking • Ribbon with Theremin mode • Backlit wheels (oh yeah!) • More steel! www.ashunsoundmachines.com…

≫ I always strive to introduce more experimental sonics into a pop context. « Beat / How was contact with A. G. Cook, who runs PC Music, established in the first place? umru / A. G. emailed me because he‘d found me on Soundcloud. I’ll still never understand why he did. I was doing such different music than I am now, it had nothing to do with PC Music’s pioneering pop maximalism of that era. I was a fan but my music was much more in the experimental bass music and “future beats” world at the time. Beat / How did you go from that first contact to working with Charli XCX. umru / A little later, A. G. invited me to Charli’s Number 1 Angel tour show in New…

Project info Material: Steinberg HALion 7 trial version or full version. Time required: About 25 minutes Content: Understand Frequency Modulation with the new FM Zone. Difficulty: Advanced To the workshop video 1 FM Synth Open HALion 7 as a standalone plug-in or in your DAW and select „FM Synth“ under „Create“ in the start screen. This will open a prepared patch that contains the FM Zone. Switch to the „Finder“ tab to see numerous prepared „algorithms“. In these, we find different interconnections of the 8 available operators of their synthesizer. 2 The algorithm Load the algorithm „DX7 28“ and then switch to the „Algo“ tab. OP1, OP4 and OP6 are so-called „carriers“ here, since they are linked to the bottom line and we can hear them directly. OP2, OP3 and…

Features Synthesizer plug-in Jupiter-6 emulation 2 VCO with X-Modulation Multimode filter 16 voices Stereo layer Multi-effects VST/VST3/AU/AAX/Standalone From Win7 or macOS 10.13 Copy protection: online Facts Developer: Cherry Audio Web: cherryaudio.com Ref: Website Price: $49 US Dollars Sound character well matched Cross-modulation Multimode filter Stereo layer 16 voices Good price Sound: Operation: Price/Perf: Total: Alternatives NI Super-8 99 Euro native-instruments.com UAD Polymax 108 Euro uaudio.de U-He Diva 159 Euro u-he.com Although the Jupiter-6, along with the Sequential Prophet-600, was the first synthesizer to feature MIDI, the Mercury-6‘s analog archetype has always been somewhat overshadowed by the all-powerful Jupiter-8 battleship. In a way, this is understandable. The Jupiter-6 appeared in 1983, two years after the Jupiter-8, but still had two voices less, didn‘t sound as full and warm, and layer and…

Green Oak Software Tungsten & Cesium As we all know, the eye also listens, which is why we liked Green Oak Software‘s lovingly designed steampunk plug-ins right away. The name of the developer will ring a bell, at least with older generations, because Crystal was a popular and often used plug-in, especially in the early days of freeware synthesizers. Tungsten is a texture delay that goes far beyond classic delay and echo effects. Freeze and granular options let you create complete sound clouds for ambient and the like. Reverse plays the repetitions backwards and smear/wear simulates unclean LoFi tape delays. Another practical feature is the ducking function, which lowers the effect when the audio signal is incoming and, therefore, ensures less washed-out mixes. The only thing we missed was a…

Features Near-field studio monitors Passive radiator 4“ woofer 1“ tweeter Frequency response: 65 Hz – 40 kHz Amplifier 2x50 Watts Low EQ (250 Hz) High EQ (2.5kHz) Inputs: XLR and RCA Weight per Monitor: 2.95 kg Facts Manufacturer: reProducer Audio Labs Web: reproduceraudiolabs.com Distrib: Tomeso Price: 999 Euro (Pair price) Very compact Balanced sound Detailed Wide stereo image Dynamic imaging Accurate bass Sound: Workmanship: Price/Perf: Total: Alternatives Focal Shape 40 740 Euro focal.com Adam A4V 850 Euro adam-audio.de Genelec 8020 938 Euro genelec.com These compact speakers come in pairs with a padded bag, so you can easily turn your next hotel room into a studio. Thanks to the spikes at the bottom, these monitors sit at the right angle to the listener, even if they are placed directly on the…

Project info Material: Ableton Live 11 Suite, Ableton Push Time required: 30 minutes Content: Save instrument rack with randomly generated sound variations, exclude parameters from randomize function, create melodies and drum patterns variably with sequencer; variation options using Push. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Create Macro mapping Load the default preset of the Wavetable into a track. Group the MIDI instrument in Live by right-clicking on the instrument‘s Title Bar and selecting Group from the context menu. Activate the second oscillator and filter. Map any parameters to the Macros, such as Osc. Position, Filter Frequency, LFO Amount and Rate. 2 Custom presets Optionally, set the filter routing to Parallel. Use the Randomize function of the macro sliders to create various presets and save them in the Macro Variations. If you do not…