Innehållsförteckning för January 2021 från Computer Music

There are several types of DAW update. The first is the complete rewrite, where a DAW is completely rebuilt from the ground up – a rare but revolutionary update that takes the best bits of an older system and re-imagines them without any of the old code holding the new version back. Then, at the other end, the point update which adds nice features or workflow improvements to gently nudge a DAW forward. Somewhere in between is the major update that offers significant changes across the board but doesn’t reinvent the wheel. And that’s where this latest update to Ableton Live sits… Version 11 is a significant update, even though it is so because of the sheer number of additions rather than any main headline-stealing features. Live 11’s additions include…

Murphy’s camera-shy right-hand man for this album, DJ Parrot aka Crooked Man, reveals some of the pair’s studio secrets… cm: Can you briefly talk us through a song on the album? DJP: “Well, the track that started the project – and the LP – is Simulation. I took the bassline and the slightly ridiculous pea-soup hi-hat sound into the studio of my engineer and good friend, Fat Dave. Roisin refers to Dave as a Musical God, and it’s a good job he is because I’m tone deaf and can barely play a note. I can’t get my head around any kind of musical or rhythmic complexity, so rarely stray far from a straight 4/4 disco bum-crack beat. “I have no rules about quantisation. Whatever sounds good on the track is…

So you’ve downloaded a string sample library and now you’re ready to write some stirring string parts. But hang on, why do all the patches have Italian names and how do you pick the right one? There are a lot of different playing techniques to create different sounds, effects and textures from string instruments, and any sample library worth buying will include a generous selection of techniques and articulations. So to get the most out of your library, it’s worth spending some time to get a handle on what some of these techniques are called and when might be the best time to use them. In the long term, it’ll help you no end to know your flautando from your col legno battuto. Here’s a list of some of the…

At first glance, the voltage-controlled amplifier – or VCA – seems to hold little interest, residing in its usual spot somewhere near the end of the signal path. We take it for granted – in fact, though a crucial component in any analogue synth, it’s often hidden behind the curtain, dutifully performing only its most obvious task: governing volume. Many instruments don’t even bother to label it on the front panel – as a result even a seasoned synthesist might not even consider its existence, never mind its potential usage. Modular synthesists, on the other hand, are well aware of the significance of the humble VCA and hold it in high esteem. “You can never have enough” is an oft-repeated adage among the patch cord cognoscenti, and for good reason.…

ARPEGGIATED HI-HATS A great technique to come up with interesting hat rhythms is to use an arpeggiator. Use a MIDI arpeggiator (such as Xfer Cthulhu) as a source to trigger your hat samples. You can create interesting rhythm and velocity automations making your hats groovy and alive. This can also sit nicely on top of your synth arpeggio. USING AN ARPEGGIATOR AS A MODULATION SOURCE Most synth plugins have some form of arpeggiators built in. To come up with some interesting patterns, try to assign them to various different modulation sources such as pitch, filter cut-offs and effects returns. The possibilities are endless.…

Two new standout additions in Komplete 13 are aimed at guitar music producers, although Guitar Rig, NI’s multi-guitar effects rack and amp simulator, will always be, to our minds, one of the best suites of effects for all producers. (Dance producers should always take note of how many of history’s finest dance icons used guitar effects to such great, er, effect.) Guitar Rig Pro 6 is now included in K3 and includes a new and scalable interface and three new amp models (so 21 amps in total). Chicago delivers everything from cleaner picking to tube-driven saturation; Bass Invader is not surprisingly a bass amp with a 4-band EQ and distortion control; and Fire Breather focuses on modern metal. There are 16 new effects (for a total of 68). Highlights are…

AMEK EQ 200 (AU, AAX, VST, VST3) is the latest analogue-style EQ from Brainworx, and takes its inspiration from the classic GML 8200. The design is unapologetically analogue in layout (there’s no curve display, band nodes or frequency analysis to pore over) and this combined with its gorgeous photo-realistic interface delivers a truly old-skool user experience. That said, it’s still a Brainworx plugin, and is thus packed with some excellent features including their Tolerance Modelling Technology (TMT) system (see box out). EQ 200 includes five parametric bands with additional high and low-pass filters. There are low and high shelf options on bands 1 and 5 respectively and the filters are full range but fixed at 12dB/octave slope. Sticking with the analogue design, each band has its own focused frequency range;…

Sample Tools by CR2 SolardoVolume1 £25 As Solardo’s Mark Foster admitted to us last issue, some of the starter packs – that is the samples you need to produce large song parts – on this collection are so good, he very nearly didn’t include them. And he was right, but there’s more to go with them in the form of 100 drum loops, some great ravey synth loops (he also promised) and lots of groups of 10 individual elements. We’d like more – and it looks like we’re going to get them (this is but vol.1) – but the price is good and another tenner gets you “an exclusive music production stream” with the band (or just watch our Masterclass!). sampletoolsbycr2.com 9/100 Sample Market Originals: Djebali £40 The…

We’re casting out magic wand back to issue 197 of Computer Music in which we ran this vast collection of fantastical Epic Fantasy samples, all created in Middle Earth’s only recording studio (kind of)… Robbie from Cyclick Samples said: “The string loops come in four tempos and in three keys, allowing a little pitching to take them elsewhere. The sampled strings are made up of double bass, cello, viola and two violin sections, and are presented mixed together as well as split into Low (double bass and cello) and High (viola and violins) versions. The string chords are split in the same way and offer six sustained chords in all seven white-note keys. “The raw atmospheric loops are made with synth noise generators, and the processed forms use effects chains…

We’re finally nearing the end of this damnable year in which uncertainty is the only certainty. It seems we can no longer take anything for granted – except, apparently, for Cubase’s annual autumnal upgrade. Normally, we’d crack wise about Steinberg’s predictability (or is it punctuality?), but as 2020 begins to fade, we find ourselves feeling thankful for their dependability. Cubase is an old friend, coming around just in time for the holidays. What’s more, it’s shown up with an armful of goodies. It’s a nice touch of the familiar in these tumultuous times. Indeed, there’s something for everyone in Cubase 11, particularly in its Artist and Pro incarnations. Studio professionals will appreciate the ease with which Cubase Pro 11 can export stems, tweak the stereo sound field, and monitor the…

It’s difficult to know how to cover Ableton Live 11 as there are a lot of updates right across the board, so it’s tough to know where to start and what order to reveal them. What we’ll do, then, is just dive straight in with descriptions of the main features – starting with the new devices – and then run you through how they work with a series of workshops over the next ten or so pages. New devices Let’s start with the main audio effect additions and a new device called Hybrid Reverb. This is a convolution and algorithmic reverb plus EQ section that allows you to route either or both reverb processes in series or parallel. There are seven Convolution Impulse Response categories (including Early Reflections, Made For…

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a recording studio session with real string players, it’s something that needs to be grabbed firmly with both hands. It’s a truly magical experience to hear something that’s been written on a computer brought to life by a living, breathing, emoting group of talented musicians in a great-sounding room – it really does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, especially if the music is something you’ve penned. Sadly, though, it’s increasingly rare that even a major record label’s budget will allow for a real string section of up to 60 musicians, not to mention the services of an arranger, a copyist to score out the parts and a fixer who actually books the musicians who turn up…

Spitfire Audio LABS Strings  spitfireaudio.com Spitfire Audio’s amazing LABS set of freeware, sample-based instruments currently sports two string libraries – Strings and Strings 2 – among many others. The first of these features Ensemble, Long and Short presets. Spitfire Audio LABS Strings 2  spitfireaudio.com Spitfire’s Strings 2 adds pizzicato and swells to complement its predecessor. Eminently usable right out of the box, the LABS strings are a great free gateway into the Spitfire Audioverse. Versilian Studios/Bigcat Chamber Orchestra 2 Community Edition  vis.versilstudios.com or bigcatinstruments.blogspot.com A cut-down version of two full instruments offering a complete orchestral experience, Community Edition is available in VST, AU, .sfz and SampleTank formats courtesy of developer BigCat. A lot of orchestra for zero outlay. Orchestral Tools Layers  orchestraltools.com This free orchestral instrument allows you to download either…

When you go to begin the creative process of writing anything, not just a song, there’s nothing more intimidating than a blank screen. Getting something onto the page to kick off the process can often be the hardest part, so how do you start the ball rolling in the first place when it feels like your thought pond has been totally drained? This month I’ll be looking at a great trick to get your creative juices flowing when you find yourself with a rare window of time to write, but of course all that ends up happening is you stare helplessly at your DAW’s empty tracks area as the minutes tick by. The traditional route that many of us take when starting a new song is to loop up an…

We went to the Grand Canyon once, many years ago now. We basically stood gawping at it for 30 minutes, although were not really gazing at its wondrous awe, nor struggling with taking in the sheer majesty and beauty, not even falling to our knees in sheer desperation at how tiny we were (and indeed are) in the grand scheme of universal existence. No, we were more worried about how we would describe the damn place to our parents when we called them later that day. Which is a bit like how we feel about describing Komplete 13 to you… We could go on about the largest Collector’s Edition – the one, of course, that we opted to review – having 96 instruments (including 25 orchestral and cinematic titles, 17…

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…

“I don’t actually use VSTis – sorry Computer Music,” Sonny tells us later in this interview, although it transpires that this rising star house music producer’s computer still plays a vital role in his music (and his production-based plugins play an even more major part). With a debut album under his belt and out now, plus a second on the way, he is stirring up the music scenes wherever he travels, which is basically a lot – right across the world from his native Oz to the less sunny climes of Scandinavia… 1 Tell us how you got into music production in the first place? Sonny: “I started getting into music production around the age of 16, making bootlegs and edits on my computer. I actually began DJing around then…

Almost five years after the launch of AmpliTube 4, Italian music technology powerhouse IK Multimedia have kicked their popular guitar amplification and processing suite up another gear with the release of version 5. The most immediately apparent change to AmpliTube 5 is its redesigned GUI, which now sports the more modern look already adopted by stablemates T-RackS 5 and SampleTank 4, and is freely resizable. Of course, there’s also a ton of new amps, cabinets and effects to get to grips with, including two stompboxes (based on the Tech 21 SansAmp and MXR Distortion+), five boutique amps (inspired by the PRS Archon 50, Aguilar DB750 and DB410, Bogner XTC 3534, Diezel VH4 and Friedman Pink Taco PT-20), and 19 rack effects derived from T-RackS 5 (Black 76, White 2A, Shimmer…

Hybrid Reverb Convolution and algorithmic reverb Spectral Resonator Frequency shifting, stretching and blurring Spectral Time Frequency-based delay and Freezer Step by step 1. Take Recording and Comping 1 A significant addition to Live 11 is Take Recording where you can make multiple passes of the same recording – great for either getting a perfect recording from one of the passes or comping the best bits of multiple takes together. Here we have an audio track ready to record. 2 Set your loop points and simply record your take around the loop points and Live will now automatically record each loop onto new Take Lanes. You can insert more from the Create menu or use the key command Opt>Shift>T. 3 Watch as you record your different takes over several audio Take…

All of the instruments we’re describing here are usually played with a bow – a long, thin piece of wood (or these days, often carbon fibre). It’s strung along its length with horsehair that’s fixed at either end of the bow and coated in rosin – a sticky mixture of tree resin and wax – to produce the necessary amount of friction required to create sound when moved across the strings. Up to 200 hairs from a horse’s tail can be used in the production of a bow, and it’s this side that’s used for 90 percent of normal string playing. There is, however, a technique known as ‘Col legno’, which, when marked on a score, means that the part should be played by striking the strings percussively with the…

Spitfire Audio Symphonic / Chamber Strings £699 / £599  spitfireaudio.com UK company Spitfire Audio produce a wide range of excellent libraries that cover every conceivable requirement, but they’re a prime example of quality not coming cheap. Their Symphonic (= big) and Chamber (= small) libraries straddle both ends of the string section size spectrum, with respective section sizes of 16/14/12/10/8 and 4/3/3/3/3. East West Quantum Leap Hollywood Strings £75 - £230 (depending on version)  soundsonline.com An oldie but still a goodie, EWQLHS has been around for 10 years now. Ahead of its time when launched, its rivals may have since done a lot to catch up, but this best seller still sounds great, has a fab feature set and packs enough of a punch to feature in our…

An arpeggio is a chord or chords that is broken into a sequence of notes. The sequence can span from one to multiple octaves and most modern synths allow you to choose the order in which the notes are playing, so they might go up, down, play randomly and so on. Synth arpeggios can be very diverse – short and plucky, full of sharp transients, all the way to softer, mellow and atmospheric – which means deploying multiple mixing techniques. As with most leads there is always room for an EQ to help tidy the sound up, cutting unnecessary low end or reducing a resonant frequency. We can also emphasise a frequency band, like a high shelf boost, to help the sound be more up-front. Most arpeggios also have a…

There are now four bundles of Komplete: Select, Komplete (‘Standard’ if you like), Ultimate and Ultimate Collector’s Edition (surely ‘Kollektor’s’, would be better, right?). Some stats: in Select you get 16 plugin instruments and effects, five expansions, 11,000 sounds and over 50GB of content for £169; Komplete gets you 60 plugins, 24 expansions, 36,000 sounds and 32GB content for £499; Ultimate offers 118 plugs, 39 expansions, 67,000 sounds, 840+GB content for £999; and finally Collector’s delivers 122 plugins, 73 expansions, 115,000 sounds and 1.1TB of content for £1349. If you want a ‘helpful’ buyer’s guide to those stats, it could break down as something like the cost per £ ratio of each bundle, so we’ll go with that. Select comes in at: £10.50/plug, 1.5p/ sound, £3.38/GB; Komplete: £7.33/plug,1.4p/sound, £1.56/GB; Ultimate:…

Atom SQ is a new PreSonus controller designed both as a compact melody and beat player with keys/pads that double up for both tasks. As ever with PreSonus controllers, you can expect deep integration with the company’s Studio One DAW (the very good Artist version of which is supplied with it), and it is optimised for standard and step sequencing (within the Pattern editor) in that DAW. It also comes with Ableton Live support so you can get deep with that DAW too, but also boasts MCU, HUI and MIDI modes to get to grips with MIDI hardware and other DAWs (although not as deep as with Live and Studio One). Solid control Atom SQ is solid, compact and feels up to the job. It’s not angled, which would be…

Majorcan developer Wavesfactory produce a focused range of Kontakt libraries and plugins, and the latest addition to the latter category is Echo Cat (VST, VST3, AU, AAX). Based closely on the Watkins Copicat tape effect, Echo Cat aims to deliver this three-head tape echo in all its glory but updated for the contemporary DAW user. To that end, the main resizable interface window, which features the basic controls (Input, Sustain, Mix and Output) is supported by four additional pages of controls. These include one page (Heads) dedicated to level, panning and delay time (this can be tempo-synced or freely set from 25ms to 1199ms for each head). Here you’ll also find ‘per head’ high and low-pass filters. There’s also a Master page where you’ll find global tone and filtering controls,…

Roland A-88 MkII £879 9/10 cm288 If you need something properly playable, this is your best bet, simple as that. Not only does it feature proper keys but a full 88 of them, and with MIDI 2 specs present and correct, it’s future-proof too. “The A88MKII is a very capable and competitively-priced update. It has winning features and, with a best-in-class keyboard, it’s an absolute joy to play.” roland.com Arturia Microlab £64 8/10 cm289 One of the most portable keyboards in this roundup and surprisingly durable and sturdy, utilising a rubber protective surface (in three colours!). “Simply a great all-rounder if you need something compact and robust.” arturia.com Novation Launchkey Mk3 from £128 9/10 cm286 The third gen of Novation’s Launchkey wears its Ableton Live credentials on…

Noiiz is a relatively new subscription service that offers instruments, samples, and popular synth presets via several levels of subscription. Go from the cheapest $5/ month Light membership – getting you 100MB of sounds, an instrument and a preset pack a month – right up to the full $199 a year Unlimited service that, as the name suggests, gives you unlimited downloads from Noiiz’s extensive catalogue. However, we have a special three-month offer that gives you the first three months of Light free, plus a 900MB sample pack worth $45! Our Noiiz subscription allows you to download three free plugins as soon as you sign up: a filter, an instrument Noiiz Player and Connect – see below – that allows you to audition samples in pitch and time within your…