Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från Computer Music

Whatever level of keyboard playing you’re at, there’s always more to be learned if you want to. If you’re serious about taking your playing to the next level, working on your basic piano technique is an obvious move, since piano is the granddaddy of all other keyboard instruments. Every iconic Hammond organ, Rhodes or synth player in your personal top ten will undoubtedly have started their journey by learning piano to some level. We’ve given you a fair amount to get your teeth (or fingers!) into in this feature, but if you want to take things further and really raise your keyboard game, you’re in the extremely fortunate position of having a wide choice of excellent online resources and piano lesson services at your disposal. The phrase ‘piano lessons’ is…

In the earliest days of modular synthesis, noise was the go-to source for out-of-this-world special effects. From the whooshing winds of distant shores to the random bursts of imaginary alien artillery, noise was the obvious choice for aural experimentation. But what do we mean by “noise”? Can’t any sound be considered noise? Technically, the old folks were wrong in their assessment of rock ‘n’ roll, for example. When used in the strictest sense, noise is how we describe the sound of many frequencies being produced at equal levels or intensity. Specifically, this is white noise, the form you’ll likely encounter on a synth. White noise is not dissimilar to loud, bright static. As you’ll see below, it’s not that interesting – or musical – alone. However, it’s an integral part…

BASS IMAGING Keeping your bass in mono is vital if you want to achieve a solid mix. However, sometimes you might want a little extra width in your bass to fill out the panorama. Simply duplicate your bass and high pass around 250-350Hz. Next, choose your favourite imager, chorus or Haas effect plugin to increase the width of the bass. The result is a full-sounding low end while retaining the mono image in the subs. BASS EXCITER If your bass feels slightly muddy or undefined in the mix, why not try adding a subtle exciter in order to enhance the upper harmonics? This technique can often bring the bass to a more upfront position and give an extra bit of bite to help it cut through the track. Watch out…

Arturia’s FX Collection features 15 premium effects created using the same True Analog Emulation physical and circuit modelling employed in their V Collection synths. Processors include channel strips, delays, filters, compressors and reverbs but, until now, no modulation effects. Thankfully their three new plugins resolve that situation. Chorus Dimension D, Phaser Bi-Tron and Flanger BL-20 (VST, VST3, AU, AAX) are circuit-accurate emulations of three modulation classics, and are now available as the 3 Modulation FX You’ll Actually Use bundle (€199) or individually (€100). Parallel dimension “We particularly like the sample & hold LFO shape, which produces a tempo-synced, obvious modulation” Chorus Dimension D is a stereo chorus processor that’s great for adding subtle width and richness to synths, basses, vocals and beyond. However, it doesn’t have typical chorus controls as…

The A-88MKII Control (PC/Mac) app has plenty of options. First up, you get graphical editing of the Layer/Split settings so it’s much easier to visualise what’s going on. Next, you can modify the CC assignments for the pedals and the modwheel, and also the function of the two control change buttons (S1 and S2), which can act as either control change or program change buttons. Finally, you can edit the pads and control knobs including backlit colour settings. With three categories, 16 banks of eight pads and CC options for the knobs that’s quite a few potential parameters. Options include MIDI learn for note assignments and latch and monetary function for CCs. The app makes setting things up easy. Talking of MIDI, the A-88MkII is one of the first to…

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, and log in…

1 Basic hand positioning 2 How to recognise the keys 3 Playing a C major scale 4 Tackling major and minor triads 5 A tricky finger independence exercise 6 Major - minor scale arpeggio exercise 7 Using a sustain pedal 8 The minor blues scale 9 Playing a monophonic synth 10 Setting up and using the pitchbend wheel 11 Setting up the mod wheel to control vibrato 12 Organ technique 13 Clavinet technique 14 Making a synth patch respond to aftertouch 15 Assigning MIDI knobs to software parameters…

Beatskillz Gaurev Dayal cm Give us a brief history of Beatskillz. GD “Beatskillz started here in LA. I was struggling to get a foot inside the music industry – coming from India, with many hits under my belt and big Hollywood placements in movies such as Gravity, doesn’t guarantee further success in this business. “Working at the Capitol Records building as a composer/producer let me get a feel for the city and the work, but also the fact that pursuing music even at the highest level here has an uncertainty. Waiting around was boring, so I put my technical training as a computer engineer to use. I initially designed plugins keeping my own ‘quick’ workflow in mind. I could design algorithms, but hadn’t touched audio coding since engineering college, so…

Haider originally emerged out of the Sheffield bassline scene to DJ and eventually start producing his own music in 2008. Since then he’s traversed genres including grime and UK funky, eventually setting on creating a label, Breaker Breaker, to release quality music in any genre, from jazz to shoegaze. His own music has received support from Radio 1 and Radio 6 Music and with so many genres under his belt, has been described as ‘acid electro, future breakbeats and raw, jacking house’. And why not? 1 Tell us about your background? H: “I was born and grew up in Sheffield. As I got into my teens I got into the whole Niche thing which was big in the city. I got a pair of decks and would go and buy…

Synthesia  synthesiagame.com This video-game style app for PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices uses a different approach to learning keys – the notes roll down from the top of the screen towards a virtual piano keyboard and it’s your job to play them as they touch down. As well as its built-in song library, it’ll play any MIDi file you throw at it, and with a MIDI / USB keyboard connected, the app listens to your playing and helps you learn any song. If you’re more into learning how to sight read a traditional sheet music score, there’s the option to enable this too. It’s a simple idea, and great fun, and while it doesn’t include any form of dynamics, it’s good for basic keyboard familiarity and timing training. Melodics…

EXT. THE MOORS – NIGHT Wan figures both male and female rise slowly from the dense fog as a reverberant bass drum throbs a slow, funereal rhythm. INT. CRUMBLING GOTHIC CATHEDRAL A gloved hand grasping a candelabra comes into view as a dense synth drone rises up, joined by a throbbing, darkly melodic bass. EXT. THE MOORS- NIGHT We move in on the vampiric figures, now crawling up a hillside. Startled by a sudden burst of distorted guitars, they turn into view, revealing pasty white faces and empty sockets where once there were eyes. A sombre voice begins to sing in a deep baritone... Sound familiar? If you were around in the 1980s, it might seem positively passé. By that time, the seismic aftershocks of punk had settled. Post punk…

It almost goes without saying that a good chord progression is fundamental to a good song, but when you find yourself facing the dreaded blank screen, how do you string a suitable set of chords together? It’s worth noting that the chord progressions used in most pop songs are relatively simple, mostly made up of a cycle of between two and four chords that are diatonic to the song’s key. Diatonic means that the chords are made up from notes in the parent scale of the key – so if a song is in the key of E major, say, then the majority of the notes in the melody will be found in the E major scale, and the notes that make up the supporting chords – bar one or…

Yes it really is a full 20 years since Hot Chip first formed with founder members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard. After a few EPs the duo were joined by current regulars Felix Martin, Al Doyle, and Owen Clarke to launch themselves into something of a synth and quirky pop stratosphere. Their debut album came out in 2004, called Coming on Strong, but it was the band’s follow up, 2006’s The Warning that bothered the charts with the singles Boy from School and Over and Over, going on to be nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Since then they’ve released five further albums including the Grammy-nominated Made in the Dark (2008) and 2019’s critically-aclaimed A Bath Full of Ecstasy. They are celebrating a couple of decades of success with a…

The original hardware versions of all three processors have quite interesting design features. The Dimension D is valued for its subtle sound and stereo effect and its black box design has always created a real air of mystery. Under the hood are two BBD (Bucket Brigade Device)-based delay lines modulated by a triangle-shaped LFO. The LFO to one delay is inverted and careful cross mixing of the two signals coupled with pre and post filtering and the stereo in and stereo out signal all contribute to its sound. Mu-Tron’s Bi-Phase, with its accompanying optical expression pedal, has remained a popular design with guitarists and studio users since its introduction in 1974. Its complex watery sound is created not just by the two independent sweep generators but also by the use…

ValhallaDSP ValhallaDelay $50 10/10 cm271 When we reviewed this over a year back, it was one of our most anticipated releases of the year, such is the reputation of its developers. And it didn’t disappoint, with seven modes including everything from classic Rolands to adventurous special effects. “It is not only up there with the best-sounding delay plugins we’ve ever heard, but also stands as one of the most comprehensive and versatile. Utterly unmissable.” valhalladsp.com Baby Audio Comeback Kid £39 9/10 cm285 Comeback Kid comes with some very cool features including three BPM-synced modes and versatile Flavor options that add lots of character. It’s also a fantastic all-rounder. “Comeback Kid really can deliver a varied, quality sound that is right up there with that from much pricier options. It rewards…

Output Audio Thermal £134 Web output.com Format PC/Mac, VST/AU/AAX Output Audio’s granular multi-effects plugin, Portal, was one of our favourite software releases of last year (10/10, 273), and the follow-up, Thermal, is a three-stage creative distortion module that adapts and elaborates on the same architectural foundation. Thermal’s main page houses a visually sexy but functionally unremarkable XY controller mapped to a macro on each axis that can be freely assigned to any number of parameters throughout the plugin. Those parameters are accessed via the Advanced page, wherein three serial processing stages, two master effects, two multistage envelope generators, and a master compressor and HP/LP filter are manipulated. The three processing stages are identical in their components, each consisting of two effect slots – the first offering 19 overdrive, waveshaping,…

Beatskillz are relatively new software developers that specialise in instruments and plugins designed to be ‘great sounding, great looking and inspiring audio tools’. They also have a philosophy to make each one simple, effective and intuitive which is certainly the case with their amazing-sounding synth ROMpler that we are giving away with this issue of Computer Music. Synthwave Keys is designed for synthwave, vaporwave and nuwave, genres that take 80s synth music and add an up-to-date twist. It’s packed with sounds for these genres. Synthwave Keys is what we call a ROMpler; that is, it’s sample-based and packed with sounds (over 3GB of them across 100 presets). The definitions of what makes a ROMpler and what makes a synth have been challenged over the last decade or more as sample-based…

The Music Technology Show Virtual show for music production enthusiasts this October! There’s a possibility – and we hope this is not a correct prediction – that there won’t be any ‘live’ music equipment shows next year thanks to, you guessed it ‘that’ situation. NAMM has already gone, Frankfurt is surely hanging in the balance, so will the ever-more-popular Superbooth show in Berlin be our only saviour (again)? Not to worry for the foreseeable, though, because we have just the thing to at least partly fill these gaps. A new virtual Music Technology show… from us! Actually the show is being organised by Computer Music and sister magazines Electronic Musician and Future Music through our website Music Radar. The Music Technology Show will take place online at musicradar.com on 30th…

By far the most popular method of inputting note data into your DAW is – you guessed it – the MIDI keyboard. Although technology can overcome many of the hurdles faced by non-keyboard players when composing music on computers (think step sequencing, inputting notes by hand in the piano roll, using MIDI chord pads, etc.) things do speed up enormously if you can play a bit. Back in 255, our Play Keyboards Like A Pro cover feature approached the art of playing keyboards from a practical angle, combining a selection of exercises to strengthen your finger muscles and develop independence with practical advice on how to begin tackling typical parts in a variety of styles. This follow-up packs in even more exercises and practice tips, structured from absolute beginner-level upwards,…

While mainstream rock musicians have often shunned and derided drum machines, goth and darkwave artists embraced beatboxes from the start. Even before the scene emerged, prototypical examples were provided by Gary Numan (Remember I Was Vapour) and Factrix (Center of the Doll). Right from the start, goths were letting machines provide their rhythmic backing. Few acts did more to legitimise the drum machine than The Sisters of Mercy. Initially the drummer, Sisters founder Andrew Eldritch gave up the skins for the mic after their first single. From that point on they relied on – and elevated – the sound of the drum machine, exploiting and revelling in its unrealism. The machine (dubbed ‘Doktor Avalanche’) was expertly programmed and processed, setting the stage for the band’s gritty art rock. At various…

MAGIC CIRCLE If you’re not sure of how many sharps or flats each key has, you can use the circle of fifths to help you find the key of your song. Just count the number of sharp or flat notes your melody has and compare this with the inner ring of the circle – each key has a set number of sharps or flats in it, and this is displayed on the circle. Though not a 100% accurate way of finding the key, this method will definitely point you in the right direction in most cases. RELATIVELY MINOR This technique is also a great way to approach remixing a song. If you find the original key that the melody is in, you can switch the key to its relative major…

Mixing low end is one of the most requested topics to cover: a lot of producers struggle with it, mostly because the room acoustics and speaker setup isn’t ideal. But there are ways to address overlapping frequencies, and here we’ll use our favourite, tried and tested mixing techniques to get your low end thick and powerful. We’ll start with the obvious – but often overlooked – level balancing and tuning of the bass. As always, fixing the sound at the source brings the best results. Therefore we first try to use tricks like shortening the release of the bass within the synth, before going extensively into processing. Shortening the release can make a huge difference as it tightens the bass and stops the decay conflicting with the kick drum. If…

Roland’s full size piano action MIDI keyboard controller, the A-88, has many fans and rightly so as the action is excellent and the ivory touch key finish feels great. Nevertheless, time marches on and with almost 10 years on the clock a refresh was clearly on the cards. The result is the A-88MKII. First impressions 88 key controllers are by nature long and if you throw in a weighted piano action, they’re heavy too. However, much like its predecessor the A-88MKII is shallow front to back (274mm), has a reasonably low profile (119mm) and has a modest controls section to the left. So, the overall footprint is reasonably compact, which is good news if you’re trying to accommodate it in a studio environment or transport it to a gig. At…

T-RackS is IK Multimedia’s processing system and it provides a multitude of plugins that work either alone or as modules inside their mastering framework, T-RackS Suite. Over time T-RackS has accumulated an enviable array of almost 50 rather excellent processors, many of which, such as their Echoplex-inspired Tape Delay, are based on classic hardware processors. To get started you can buy one of the T-RackS bundles or download their free T-RackS CS version and purchase just the modules that you really want. On the test bench is their latest addition, Space Delay, which emulates the unique sound of Roland’s RE201 Space Echo. This tape-based delay actually combines a three-head delay and spring reverb, and you can use these independently or together to create anything from more subtle-sounding spaces perfect for…

CHILLED & STIRRED Chilled & Stirred As we head into autumn/winter we look back wistfully on those long hot summer nights with two all-new – and one classic – pack of Chilled samples. We start off with Cyclick Samples and Robbie Stamp… “We used a heap of gear to create this varied collection of chilled-out, thoroughly unstressed sounds. There are three recurring tempos throughout: 75, 85 and 95bpm, so nothing too taxing! The folders are all set out in the following way: Acoustic Guitar Reverb Hits – single strum acoustic guitar chords. Guitar Hog Ambient Loops – made from an EHX Hog paired with a Gretsch. Multi-Instrument Loop Kits – three tempo-based kits with drums, basses, guitar and keys. TremoVerb Mellotron Loops – chords generated via the Arturia Mellotron and…

We’re focussing on Carbinax’s latest album Gone To Ground, which he was just finishing up as we interviewed him over the lockdown, plus one of his more ambient tracks, so we have the track Unstoppable from the former and the more delicate Floating (both at FileSilo.co.uk to download as mp3s). Unstoppable is exactly as Chris promised above, a return to the warm security blanket that is Detroit techno. The high lead chord progression synth stabs and vocal samples could have been lifted from the late 80s/early 90s but we’d argue that the beats are heavier, more dramatic and effected than those more classic TR-style techno ones… and all the better for it. Yes they probably are Roland beats but the production drags them forward a few decades. Likewise the 303-alike…

More women please Dear Dear Andy, Kate [Puttick, managing editor] and (almost exclusively) chaps. What the actual? I think I’ve seen ONE Producer Masterclass by a woman in the last, ooh, three or four years? And the numbers are similar for most other features too — apart from the Experts series which has been 100% male as long as I can remember. (God forbid, a woman might be considered an expert at something!) Are all the editorial team terrified that every time a woman touches a DAW, a man’s beard falls off? It shouldn’t even be a conversation we need to have, especially in 2020. Go and look at factmag.com or cdm.link if you don’t believe me, where the numbers are — if not quite 50/50 — certainly close. I’m…