Innehållsförteckning för May 2019 från Computer Music

We’ve got a new system for downloading files. Whenever you see this icon, you can grab the files on your PC or Mac by going to filesilo.co.uk/computermusic. Tutorials featuring this icon make use of our own Plugins – find out all about them on p107. This icon means there are extra files to help you follow a tutorial feature: project files, audio examples, etc. There’s extra video content wherever you see this icon. computermusic.co.uk computermusic@futurenet.com facebook.com/computer.music.mag twitter.com/computermusicuk youtube.com/computermusicmag…

Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access for every reader – print and digital Download only the files you want, when you want All the downloads from all your issues, in one place Get started 01 Register your FileSilo account and log in. Even if you have a subscriber ID, you’ll still have to unlock each mag separately or migrate your old Vault account (see step 3) 02 Head back to the Computer Musicpage (filesilo.co.uk/computermusic) and choose an issue to unlock. You’ll need to answer one question to prove you’ve purchased the issue 03 You can migrate your old Vault account over to FileSilo to retain the issues you’ve added – head to filesilo.co.uk/vault and enter your Vault email address. Reset your password via the email you receive,…

MIDIWrist Credible music-making apps for Apple Watch have been thin on the ground, but MIDIWrist, which turns your smart timepiece into a MIDI controller, looks genuinely useful. Combining the tactile feel of the digital crown with haptic feedback, this lets you control various software elements simply by tapping your wrist. Available for £4.99/$4.99. uwyn.com/midiwrist Elastic FX Already a hit with iOS producers, version 1.2 of Elastic FX has guitarists in its multi-effecting sights. This is thanks to a new preamp section that sports a tuner, extra compressor with built-in noise gate, and an overdrive/distortion. The four main FX on/off buttons, meanwhile, can now respond to both MIDI CC and MIDI note messages, so you can trigger them using a foot controller. A pretty pointy point release. Elastic FX…

cm138, dated May 2009, featured more DAWs than a joinery merchant (forgive us). We brought you the complete guide to Cubase 5 and ran the rule over Live 8 and the Akai APC40, the first official controller for Ableton’s software, and one that the two companies created as part of a partnership. “cm138 featured more DAWs than a joinery merchant” The scene was set [is that another pun? We don’t even know any more] for a long and happy union, though Ableton would go on to hook up with Novation as well later in 2009, helping to create the first Launchpad. We’re guessing that pretty much marked the end of the honeymoon period. Still on a pad tip, we also reviewed the very first version of NI’s Maschine, praising its…

The two Import WAV To Wavetable options differ in how they spread the WAV across the waveform slots. Selecting Import WAV (Fit To Wavetable) divides the WAV up into exactly the number of waveforms in the current wavetable, regardless of length. Opting instead for Import WAV (Adjust Wavetable) creates a new waveform every 2048 samples, resizing the wavetable. Pick this if the WAV you’re importing has been created for use as a wavetable and thus adheres to the standard table size of 2048 samples.…

Module Designer To some, modular synths are about ceding control to random forces. For others, it’s the opposite: they want full control over their music-making tools. Cherry Audio recognise this and have opted to allow users ultimate control over their systems with Module Designer, a standalone application that allows users to code their own custom modules using Java. Designers use existing DSP or roll their own. Custom interfaces may be created, too. It’s free for personal use and $99 if you want to sell your handiwork. Preset persuasion Quanta comes with many great presets in a range of styles, created by some of the world’s best sound designers, including the ubiquitous Richard Devine, Marcus Fischer, Joseph Fraioli and Chris Carter. Once you’ve had a play with them, consider slotting your…

When it comes to pads, the world is your oyster. If you’re looking for a sound that fills out a wide range of frequencies with a sustained, complex, evolving tone, almost anything goes in the pursuit of creating something new, fresh and exciting. But with no limits to the possibilities, making meaningful decisions can be tricky. While the topic of synth pads is an expansive one, there are a number of good rules of thumb that we can establish to help you make your pads better. These come in two different flavours: advice drawn from the world of music theory – ie, which notes to use for solid results; and advice drawn from the world of mixing and production – ie, how to blend, morph and sculpt your way to…

RESAMPLE YOURSELF After creating a mega multisampled instrument, I play layered octaves at various velocities, then resample the outcomes. This gives me a whole load of new source samples to process further while retaining the flavour of the hardware synth I originally sampled. This breathes life into your often overused analogue synths, and by writing tracks using sounds no-one else has, you’re guaranteed to spark creativity. SYNTH FOR HIRE We can’t all afford analogue hardware, but we can afford to rent synths from hire shops or kitted-out studios. Alternatively, ask to borrow a friend or colleague’s synth for the afternoon. I’ve done exactly that and created some great multisampled instruments from the LinnDrum and Moog Little Phatty (left). Once, I even took a field recorder into a synth shop and…

With their catalogue now comprising a wide range of plugins at an equally wide range of prices between $29 and $249 (with most under $100), Polish developers PSP Audioware have proven that first-class virtual analogue effects, from an unarguably top tier developer, don’t have to cost the earth. Their latest budget offering, Twin-L, is a dynamics processor designed to bring meticulously modelled hardware-style limiting to your DAW. No particular real-world units are being emulated, it’s not a brickwall limiter, and it certainly doesn’t do True Peak limiting or any of that stuff. What it does offer, though, is the ability to flip between opto and VCA behaviour, an interface that keeps everything contained in a single window, and zero-latency processing, the last making it viable for ‘live’ deployment. L’s bells…

HYBRID SYNTHS Our synths have been created by the best software developers in the world to bring you a suite of sound-making tools for all music production scenarios u-he Zebra CM • Blendable oscillator waveforms • Super-programmable step LFOs • Slick delay, reverb and chorus • Original synth designed just for CM • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit u-he.com KV331 Audio SynthMaster CM • Dual wavescanning oscillators • Multimode filter and built-in effects • FM/AM synthesis modes • Based on SynthMaster 2.5 • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit kv331audio.com Cableguys Curve 2.6 CM • Design-your-own-waveforms synth • New waveform capabilities for v2.6 • Phat 16-voice Unison mode • Based on Cableguys Curve 2.6 • AU/VST/RTAS, 32-/64-bit cableguys.com Synapse Audio Dune CM • VA and wavetable oscillators • Powerful per-voice modulation • 12-slot modulation matrix • Based…

In case you missed the enormous six-letter word on the cover, this issue of Computer Music is devoted to those knob- and slider-covered software contraptions that generate the sounds we love. “These supersynths will take your music in fresh and exciting new directions” If, like me, you enjoy nothing more than spending an evening noodling away with oscillators, filters and modulators, you’ll have noticed the exciting new breed of virtual instruments that have dropped in the past few months. These supersynths all offer something new, and will undoubtedly take your music in fresh and exciting new directions. Join us and explore them in depth, starting over on p20. Of course, many argue that the virtual instrument market is now oversaturated, and there’s definitely some truth to that. But there’s no…

cm What makes Bolt special? RS “Harmonics synthesis was developed by Udo Zölzer at Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, originally for vocal synthesis. He has a long history in audio and DSP development. The first Matlab-based proof-of-concept he showed us – featuring only the two Harmonics and Rolloff knobs – already had a unique, ‘organic’ sonic character. Unlike additive synthesis, where you use banks of oscillators to create the sound, or subtractive synthesis where you filter the generated waveform into shape, Harmonics Synthesis creates the desired shape directly in the oscillator, using just these two knobs. That makes it fast and easy to use. What I find special is that even if you just fiddle around, the results somehow always sound good.” cm What can you do with Bolt that…

cm: What inspired you to create Zone? “It came out of my experiments with the [Clavia] Nord Lead 3. I love how something really simple like holding down an arpeggio then tweaking the Osc Mod amount or shuffling through Osc Mod modes would completely mutate the sound. So that was where I started. I wanted to put in a lot of Osc Mod modes, like Exponential FM, which is well-known from the Jupiter-8, but you don’t generally see in a lot of softsynths. And also crazier mod modes like ring mod, amp mod, multifold distortion modulation, then putting that on a grid – so as a sound evolves, the osc mod can evolve with it.” cm: Speaking of a grid, sequencing is a big part of Zone. Where did that…

Computer Music’s famous cm Plugins collection is already packed with a wealth of synths, samplers and drum machines, bringing you everything you need to create incredible music on your PC or Mac for the price of a magazine. But the latest entry into the roster – Fathom CM, created by software boffins Seaweed Audio – could be the most sonically versatile and powerful Computer Music synthesiser giveaway ever ! Free for you to install and use with this issue, Fathom CM is a sound design Swiss army knife. It’s a modular synth, which means that you’re free to choose individual oscillators, filters, effects and modulators, then go on to patch them together in a configuration of your own personal preference. While most software synths focus…

You may already know about the harmonic series. When you play a pure sine wave on a synth and look at it on a frequency analyser, you should see a single spike at that sine’s frequency (assuming your synth isn’t replicating an analogue sine tone, which is often the case). Next, change the waveform to a saw wave, and you’ll see many more spikes appear above that spike. These harmonics are governed by natural science. The first harmonic, as seen in the sine wave, is your ‘fundamental frequency’ – 440Hz for note A3. The second harmonic appears at twice that frequency (880Hz), the third at three times that (1320Hz), and so on. Each harmonic is separated by the frequency value of the fundamental. So the first few harmonics of a…

DOMINANT SUSPENDED CHORDS A dominant suspended chord – for example C7sus4 – is made in exactly the same way as the other suspended chord types, by shifting the third to an adjacent tone and leaving all the other tones in their original positions. So to convert C7 into C7sus4, we just take the C G 7 , B chord › . Also ( , C resolving , E, G, B › ) to and a dominant move the E seventh up to F from to get a C, F, suspended chord is a popular technique in jazz. MINOR 7SUS4? If you try and apply the same rule to a minor 7th chord, you just end up with a dominant 7sus4 chord, as the minor third in a m7 chord is…

Our promise We bring you honest, unbiased appraisals of the latest computer music products. Our experts apply the same stringent testing methods to all gear, no matter how much hype or expectation surrounds it. What the ratings mean 1-4 A seriously flawed product that should be avoided 5 This product’s problems outweigh its merits 6 A decent product that’s only held back by a few flaws 7 Solid. Well worth considering 8 Very good. A well-conceived and executed product 9 Excellent. First-rate and among the best you can buy 10 Exceptional. It just doesn’t get any better than this! Awarded to products that challenge existing ideas and do something entirely new A product has to really impress us with its functionality and features to win this one If the product…

By serving up optical and VCA style compression, Twin-L is effectively two limiters in one. Both styles model real-world solid state circuitry, but how do they differ? Invented by Teletronix founder Jim Lawrence in the late 50s, the optical compressor centres on an electroluminescent panel, the brightness of which is controlled by the volume of the input signal. The light emitted shines on a photosensitive resistor, increasing the resistance the brighter it gets, and thus lowering the gain. Crucially, the attack of an optical compressor is frequency-dependent, the release is decidedly non-linear, and the whole thing is best described as smooth and laidback. VCA (voltage controlled amplifier) compression, on the other hand, is fast, precise and assertive, and more about enthusiastically clamping down on peaks. When your transients are really…

It’s time to get down with this issue’s exclusive sample pack! Created by our in-house funk purveyors, Cyclick and Groove Criminals, these toe-tappin’ loops, licks, hooks, drum beats and one-shot samples are primed and ready to supply your productions with a much-needed dose of funk, soul and groove. As ever, you can either go grab this royalty-free sample pack from the print issue’s cover DVD, or download it straight to your desktop from our FileSilo download site (see p5). Step by step  Exploring this issue’s Dusty Funk samples 1 If you’ve been looking for a funky rhythmic backbeat, head straight to the Cyclick >> Beats folder and browse through the wealth of drum beats. These are divided across four BPM-labelled categories, each folder containing two alternative kit types. 2 The…

To help you get the most out of our immense plugin collection, we’ve assembled the Plugins Tutorial Bank, containing over 100 guides and tutorials for our Plugins, specially selected from past issues. You’ll find Getting Started PDFs and videos for most of the individual plugins, along with tutorial PDFs and videos on using Plugins for sound design, mixing, and even creating entire tracks. You’ll find all of this as a handy download from FileSilo – go grab it now and start getting more out of your plugins! filesilo.co.uk/computermusic…

So how does your DAW know where to look for your plugins? Actually, it might not. Mac users have it easy, as there are OS-specified folders into which plugins are installed. These folders can be found by going to your Library folder (if you can’t find it, go to the Finder’s Go menu, hold Alt, and a Library option should appear). Find the Audio directory, and then the Plug-Ins folder within. There you will find more folders still. One will be labelled Components – this is where your AU plugins reside. Other folders will be found alongside it for VST and VST3 plugins. If you’re a Pro Tools user, you’ll find your plugins in an Avid or Digidesign folder. If your installers don’t automatically install the plugins into the proper…

PPG WAVEGENERATOR WaveGenerator is a software wavetable synth from the very man who originated the technology. Initially developed for iOS, it has made its way to the desktop, too. While it’s not technically a ‘workstation’ as such, this powerful synth offers some of the same sort of lush, evolving timbres found on Ensoniq’s initial VFX. wolfgangpalm.com/shop.html KORG LEGACY WAVESTATION Rising from the ashes of Sequential Circuits, Korg’s Wavestation was developed by ex-SCI boffins who drew on tech found in Sequential’s Prophet-VS. Rather than relying on static waveforms, the Wavestation let users build ‘wavesequences’ from any and all waveforms stored in ROM. Like the VFX, the Wavestation was a great source of atmospheres. korg.com/us/products/software SIEGFRIED KULLMANN SQ8L An old ’un, but still worth a spin, SQ8L is a bit-for-bit recreation of…

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC Research released by Music for All to mark Learn to Play Day 2019 has confirmed what we knew all along: there are numerous physical and mental health benefits to making music regularly. Well, apart from when you’re banging your head on a wall trying to finish a mix, that is. GRAND DESIGNS It feels like they’ve taken their time, but Roland have finally filed an application in Germany to trademark the designs of their TB-303 Bassline Synth and TR-808 drum machine. Is this a response to the coming launch of Behringer’s RD-808? Time will tell… ’CLOUD COVERAGE You might’ve thought SoundCloud would see the likes of Spotify and Apple Music as rivals, but subscribe to the company’s Premier tier, and you can now distribute your…

This Windows-only behemoth has been kicking around for 12 years now, but hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves. Triple oscillators crank out the usual sine, square, saw, triangle and noise shapes, but also allow for import of user .wav files. Each oscillator can morph between any two waveforms. A full quartet of multimode filters is offered, along with waveshaper, envelopes galore, LFOs, room modelling, and a multitap delay system. Flexible routing and comprehensive MIDI control makes Atlantis one of the deepest, most powerful synths out there, free or otherwise. Still well worth downloading. jeremyevers.com/atlantis…

With so many wavetable synths flooding the market in the wake of Xfer Serum, it’s easy to mistake Pigments for yet another clone of that insanely popular plugin. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Pigments is very much its own instrument, cribbing elements from iconic analogue synths, and boasting a massive array of modulation resources that strongly evokes the capabilities of contemporary modular rigs. Pigments’ sequencing, arpeggiation, and effects all tread familiar territory, so over the next few pages, we’ll take a deep look at its core synthesis engine, which pulls off tricks that no other softsynth in its class can. Consisting of two distinct tone generation engines, a pair of powerful filters with a few unique vintage features, and modulation tools that include multiple random generators and…

Paul’s Extreme Sound Stretch FREE “Everyone should try it just for fun. It has some clever algorithms that stretch any sound source to an impossible length. Once you hear the effect, you’ll notice it in a lot of films.” bit.ly/plstrch iZotope Trash cm187 > 9/10 > $99  “I’ve been using Trash forever. It answers a lot of problems for me a lot of the time, and I love the multiband capabilities. It has such a wide range of options.” izotope.com FabFilter plugins “There’s such a high standard across the range, from the interface and sound, to the ability to get in-depth or use them superficially… I don’t think anyone’s matched that usability. There are plugins with more personality, but in terms of surgical tools, this is where it’s at.” fabfilter.com…

Take a look at your plugins folder. How many Minimoog, TB-303 and DX7 emulations are in there? If you’re anything like us, you’ve amassed a collection of classic clones, and you can count yourself among those fortunate enough to have access to the sounds of such legendary instruments. Aping the big names is big business, and for good reason. Secondhand prices of famous instruments have skyrocketed thanks to their scarcity and collectibility. If you’re lucky enough to be able to own the real deal, you’ll no doubt have learned that maintenance costs are equally offputting. As most cm readers will be aware, software simulations represent sound alternatives, allowing us to relive the past without the hassles. And yet, how many of us actually owned an original Prophet-5 or Jupiter-8? Those…

Let’s return to production techniques – specifically, the envelope timings and levels that’ll help our pads either make an impression or blend back into the mix. A lot of synth presets are created with strong attack phases. Whether you use these as pads or not depends on what you want to achieve with your pad sound design. These sharp attacks can be a good thing: they’ll make the start of the note stand out with a spiky hit, and when the note moves into its main phase, we’ll still remember its impact based on the transient at the start of the note. This helps establish the sound – and each note that’s played using it – within a mixing context, giving it its own ‘space’ in the time domain. But…

Eventide Clockworks’ Instant Phaser PS 101 rackmount box aimed to emulate the fiddly and decidedly specialist process of tape-based flanging for anyone with $600 to spare. Flanging and phasing were popular effects with guitarists and producers at the time, so the Instant Phaser quickly became a fixture in studios around the world. Perhaps the most famous example of its usage is to be found in Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir , where it’s liberally applied to John Bonham’s drums. At the time, electronic delay circuits had yet to arrive in any practical form, so the Instant Phaser cleverly emulated the phase cancellation of tape-based flanging using eight all-pass filters. Each filter governed the phase of the input signal over a particular frequency range, and their movement was controlled by…

The Plugins collection is a suite of complete, limitation-free instrument and effects plugins. It’s an incredible resource, boasting more than 80 pro-quality plugins that you won’t find anywhere else, all for PC and Mac, in VST and AU formats. All of the included software is created exclusively for us by respected commercial developers such as D16 Group, u-he, AudioRealism, Ohm Force, KV331 Audio, Cableguys, XILS-lab, AudioThing, Vengeance-Sound, Rob Papen, zplane and more. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Enough talking! Where do I get these plugins? You can grab them all on the cover DVD with our print edition, or as a download from FileSilo (see p5 for instructions on how to access). How do I install Plugins? It depends on the plugin. Some have dedicated installers, while others just drop into your…

DYNAMICS Check out this huge collection of processors – from classic compressors to modern digital creations, we’ve got everything you need to shape your signals eaReckon CM-COMP 87 • Slick, punchy compressor • Mix knob for parallel compression • Limiter to keep the output in check • Clear VU- and LED-style metering • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit eareckon.com Acustica Audio Violet CM • Three-band multiband compressor • SHmod to shape attack response • Impart analogue-style valve tone • Ideal for mixing and mastering • VST/AU/AAX, 32-/64-bit acustica-audio.com Audiority TS-1 CM • Flavoursome transient shaper • Set attack and sustain gain • Blend control for parallel processing • Based on the full TS-1 plugin • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit audiority.com Unfiltered Audio G8 CM • Get tight dynamics or creative FX • Includes advanced gating…