Innehållsförteckning för June 2016 från Computer Music

“You’ll be in mixdown heaven in minutes” Every once in a while, our blend of software, samples and tutorials comes together to form a truly exceptional issue of Computer Music… And this is one of ’em! First off, how would you like the latest D16 Group plugin for free? You got it! Frontier is all yours this month, and it’s no cutdown or demo – this is the full thing. An instant contender for our best ever giveaway, if you like this superb mixing/mastering limiter even half as much as I do, you’ll be in mixdown heaven within minutes of installation. Speaking of free software, it can’t have escaped your attention that this issue is dedicated to the stuff. Our first Ultimate Freeware issue (cm214) was a huge success, so…

EASY GUIDE SECONDARY DOMINANTS Use these crafty chords to full effect with Dave Clews’ advice Read the full article on p76 DESIGNER SOUNDS TRIP-HOP GROOVE Break shows us how to design the genre’s beats, bass and lead sounds Read Read the the full full article article on on p78 GEEK TECHNIQUE MIXING FOR FREE Owen’s got the proof that a pro mix doesn’t require paid-for plugins Read the full article on p80 DR BEAT CUSTOM HOUSE LOOPS Create your own sampled loops to bulk up your sample folder Read Read the the full full article article on on p82 pxx…

“The last Sundown demoparty ever will take place this year from 15-17 July” The Last Ninja was a groundbreaking series of games for various platforms beginning with the C64 all the way back in 1987. The games themselves have endured, and their music – by game music legends such as Ben Daglish – is particularly well loved. An effort to bring those old SID tunes to life as guitar-rock covers is taking shape as a £25,000 Kickstarter from the band FastLoaders, with all the rapid fretwork precision of a Mike Oldfield prog rock album. Check out Ninja Musicology and bag a concert ticket at bit.ly/KSninjamusicology. In other news, the last Sundown demoparty ever will take place this year from 15-17 July. So if bivouacking down next to like-minded demo geeks…

From the creators of our own Eurydice CM comes this “creative delay toolbox”. Three delay chains (taps) can be pitchshifted before going on to impart delay. There are Feedback and Mix controls for both the shifting and delaying processes, then a global output filter (which can also be blended in parallel), a Randomizer module and four LFOs to tweak. Said tweaking goes down in Incipit’s monster modulation matrix, which lets you route LFOs and macro parameters to most of the plugin’s front-panel controls (and to other LFOs and macros too). Incipit (VST/AU) is available now for the bargain price of €47. URL ineardisplay.com…

“We computer musicians recognise the gritty effects of reduced bit depths” Creative effects So far in our tour of the past year’s best software freebies, we’ve shown you studio staples such as instruments, mixing and utility plugins, taking in nearly enough freeware to outfit a basic music production rig along the way. We say ‘nearly’, because there’s a vital element that we’ve yet to address: those effects that do more than simply document, correct, and enhance our musical journeys. These are the plugins that give us more – sometimes much more – than what we put into them. They take our basic recordings and programmed noodlings then either wrap them in an extra layer of sonic goodness, or transform them utterly, blessing them with that “how did they do that?”…

“I dropped out of school early to work in a really big pop recording studio” Selected kit list HARDWARE Apple MacBook Pro x2 Roland TR-8 Roland System-1 Moog Sub 37 Roland JU-06 SOFTWARE Apple Logic Pro X iZotope Ozone 7 Noveltech Character Arturia V Collection Waves Element Output Audio Signal ToneBoosters plugins Audio Damage plugins ToneBoosters plugins UAD plugins Industry veterans Pig&Dan have amassed quite the following since they made their debut as a pair in the early Noughties, but independently, they’ve been involved in music production for a lot longer. We caught up with the globetrotting DJs in mastering engineer Beau Thomas’ studio to find out why their analogue roots are so important to them, and how they get a rich, organic sound in software. “My first experience of…

SPAN has two Settings pages: one for its own SPAN-specific options, accessed via the Settings button at the top right of the GUI, and another containing a ton of options common to all Voxengo plugins, accessed via the Global Voxengo Software Settings button within the SPAN settings page. In SPAN’s own settings, the interface can be customised in terms of colour and size. The UI Colors menu contains Eight preset colours, and you can create your own schemes in detail in the Color Edit page, assigning every element of the plugin its own colour, contrast and opacity, and saving the final result as a preset. The UI Scale menu, meanwhile, lets you choose one of six preset window sizes, from 80-150% of default – the UI has to be closed…

Break Touted as ‘the DnB producer’s DnB producer’, Break – aka Charlie Bierman – has released tracks on a plethora of labels, including Metalheadz, RAM, Critical and Shogun, as well as his own imprint, Symmetry. His latest album, Simpler Times, was released last year to rave reviews. www.symmetryrecordings.co.uk Keeping up with the theme of this very special Ultimate Freeware 2016 edition of , this month, I’m going to design a dusty, rusty, trip-hop groove using – you guessed it – only free plugins. A serious sound designer will try anything and everything in the pursuit of the ‘right’ sound, and that, of course, includes the use of freeware tools. And it turns out that there’s a lot on offer out there – in fact, some of…

HARDWARE Apple iMac Apple MacBook Pro Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol Focusrite Clarett 8Pre Echo Audiofire 2 SE Munro Sonic Egg 150 Buchla Music Easel Buchla 200e Dave Smith Instruments Tetra Arturia BeatStep Pro Cyclone Analogic TT-303 Elektron Analog Four Elektron Octatrack Kilpatrick Audio Phenol MFB-522 Drumcomputer MFB-Dominion 1 Nord Drum 2 Roland System-1m Roland TR-8 Teenage Engineering OP-1 Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators Analogue Solutions Telemark 2 Analogue Solutions Vostok Waldorf Blofeld SOFTWARE Ableton Live 9 Max for Live 7 Logic Pro X Spectrasonics Omnisphere Arturia V Collection Native Instruments Abysnth, Battery, FM8, Guitar Rig, Reaktor, Kontakt, Massive Madrona Labs Aalto Madrona Labs Kaivo Soundtoys 5 GRM Tools GForce Software ImpOSCar, M-Tron Pro, Minimosta, Oddity AAS Tassman 4 AAS Ultra Analog VA-2 iZotope BreakTweaker, Iris 2, Nectar 2, Ozone 7, RX…

The new Sound Editor (Studio only) uses Melodyne 4’s analysis algorithm to apply “Polyphonic Spectrum Shaping” (direct manipulation of harmonics or ‘partials’) to each track, with three modes – EQ, Harmonics and Synth – accessed via a bottom panel. EQ is a chromatic graphic EQ with a complex curve that averages the frequency spectrum of the track and is edited directly or via four macro controls that modify the curve as a whole: Brilliance, Contour, Tonality and Comb. Brilliance applies global shaping to the high frequencies; Contour globally influences the peaks and troughs; Tonality affects only notes that are part of the detected scale; and Comb reduces the gain of notes based on how far away they are from the key root. At the bottom of the curve you can…

What separates Limitless from other limiters is mostly the invisible magic of the algorithms at work. It’s not just the fact that Limitless can operate with up to six variable-slope linear-phase crossover bands – there are other multiband limiters on the market that also do that. DMG claim it’s their unique iterative numerical solver that enables that optimally smooth gain reduction. This works by first splitting the load between two limiter stages: one specifically for quick transient events, and the other with a gentler release mechanism for the main, dynamic content. The numerical solver also works out how to recombine the bands invisibly, producing gentler, more transparent gain reduction. We’re floored by the fact that DMG have been able to produce such clear-sounding algorithms without compromising user control over detailed…

zplane’s patented real-time pitchshifting and timestretching technology, élastique, has been licensed to some of the biggest names in the business (Ableton, Steinberg, Native Instruments, Avid and more), but while we now take the ability to repitch audio on the fly for granted, transforming the key of mixed polyphonic audio and transposing notes within it is a considerably trickier proposition. At least, it was. Meet zplane’s latest effect plugin, reTune, in VST, AU and AAX formats… The layout is straightforward. The display is dominated by a 12x12 grid, with notes from C to B arranged horizontally along the top and vertically down the right-hand side. The horizontal axis represents incoming notes, while the vertical position sets the output notes. First, you set the key for incoming audio (if you don’t know…

The key to getting the most out of Nova GE is understanding its signal flow and dynamics processing permutations. All six bands act in parallel (apart from the high- and low-cut filters), and there’s also the W-Band (Wide-Band) signal, which consists of everything not being processed by the active bands. The W-Band features its own dynamics section and can have its gain altered. Each of the main bands can be processed according to the W-band compression action; its own compressor but using the Attack and Release settings of the W-Band; its own compressor with its own Attack and Release settings; or with no compression applied (Sticky mode). This setup means that you could compress an overall mix but isolate a specific band to be left uncompressed, or apply compression to…

If you’re unfamiliar with Acustica’s product line, their not-terribly-clear website may still leave you uncertain. Here’s the deal… If you choose to go the Nebula route, you’re opting for a generic interface, the ability to sample your own hardware, and an 8GB library of over 400 emulations captured using their proprietary effects sampling system, including EQs, dynamic processors, preamps, filters, reverbs, modulation effects and tape simulations. In contrast, the Acqua range of 16 plugins (the 17th, Amethyst, is imminent), offer a more user-friendly route into Acustica’s technology. So far, Acqua plugins cover only EQs, compressors and preamps, but the pricing is keen (from €30 upwards) and all of them look and sound stunning. To get a feel for each, Acustica offer a free version of Nebula 3 and four free…

UA LA-2A CLASSIC COLLECTION Universal Audio’s virtual version of their own LA-2A hardware was one of several classic emulations that helped cement UAD’s position as the premium DSP system. The original ‘legacy’ plugin was recently superseded by the Classic Collection, with its meticulously models of not one but three variants of the original hardware design. www.uaudio.com WAVES CLA-2A This cross-platform plugin is designed to bring the sound of the LA-2A to the native desktop environment. Precisely modelling the behaviour of the original compressor/ limiter, CLA-2A is enhanced by a preset selection designed by famed producer Chris Lord-Alge. Get it in a bundle with models of Urei’s other classics, the LA-3A and 1176LN. www.waves.com VARIETY OF SOUND THRILLSEEKER LA If your pennies are in a pinch, you could look into Variety…

Step 1 On your PC or Mac, go to vault.computermusic.co.uk, then either register for a new Vault account, or log in if you already have one. Step 2 Click ‘add a magazine’ in the top bar, select the issue you want to add to your Vault (eg, this issue is 230), and answer a few simple security questions. Step 3 Go to ‘my vault’ to see all your mags – click a cover and use the links to download! You can download as much or as little as you like.…

ULTIMATE FREEWARE 2016 See and hear the year’s best free software releases across these 15 video tutorials Read the full article on p36 Get on over to vault.computermusic.co.uk to get our expert tutorial videos downloaded onto your PC or Mac D16 GROUP FRONTIER This amazing limiter by the legendary audio wizards is yours for free with this issue – check out how it works, and hear it in action in these two videos Read the full article on p10 PIG&DAN The production duo lift the lid on how they created their track Holly in this in-studio video masterclass Read the full article on p57 Our expert techniques and freeware walkthroughs are waiting for you in video form at vault.computermusic.co.uk HOW TO USE SPAN Our in-depth analysis of…

Our fantastic software, samples, videos and tutorial files are now available to download! To get access to this content, go to vault.computermusic.co.uk on your PC or Mac’s web browser. You’ll be asked to register and answer a few simple questions to prove that you’ve got the mag. You’ll then be given access to our content! You can sign in any time to register new issues and download more content. For more info, see our Vault FAQ: bit.ly/cmvaultfaq * Please note that the Producer Masterclass video is not available as a download via our Vault. See page 58 for viewing instructions, or watch on Apple Newsstand via built-in internet streaming.…

This “perpetual motion machine” takes the principles behind the Shepard tone and applies them to filtering. What? The Shepard Tone is an auditory illusion. As partials (aka harmonics) of the tone drift one direction in frequency, new partials fade in from the other end without us noticing, and we perceive the sound to be ever-rising or ever-falling in frequency. Mangle your ears at bit.ly/ShepardTone. We’ve seen the effect exploited in so-called barber-pole phasers, but iZotope’s use of filters (controlled partially with an X/Y pad) offers an alternative take on the idea, and can surely be put to good use in tormenting a dancefloor with never-ending build-ups. Mobius Filter (VST/AU/AAX) is out now for $49. URL www.timespace.com…

“Our low-end measuring plugin Evouyn will tell you where your low-end levels are at” cm What’s your history in music and in programming? Who’s at Noisebud, and how did it all get started? JA “I work as a mastering engineer. I started to write code in the 80s on my Spectravideo and later Commodore before I found electronic music and dropped computing in favour of beatmaking. “Electro-acoustic composer Sol Andersson and I formed Noisebud as a producer duo in 2008. We teamed up to produce a remix for a Luke Slater/Mote Evolver competition, which we won, so we decided to continue. Plugin development started out of necessity. We needed software, mostly for our live setup, that either didn’t exist or was too expensive. I’m able to understand and tweak existing…

Get your percussive processing fix with this new plugin. Created by the late Bernie Torelli of Nomad Factory and distributed under the Plugivery brand, Drum Tools models tubes, transistors, tape and more to bring you several ready-to-rock drum processing setups. Choose from kick, snare, tom (two types each), hi-hat, overhead and bus setups, and dial in your vintage-flavoured tweaks with dynamics, saturation and clipping, convolution reverb, filtering and EQ. Drum Tools is out now, in VST/AU/AAX formats, for $149. URL www.plugivery.com…

MARBLE MADNESS Given that it made the national papers and appeared on Newsnight, you probably couldn’t fail to have seen Martin Molin’s amazing marble-powered music machine already, but if you didn’t catch it, find out more at bit.ly/MarbleMusic. CASSETTE COMEBACK? We’ve had the vinyl revival, but could it really be possible that cassette tapes are coming back as well? It sounds unlikely, but that’s the format that Eminem chose to reissue his 1999 Slim Shady LP on recently. Maybe it’s time to dig that Walkman out of the loft… CHARGED UP Apple announced a regular-sized version of the iPad Pro last month, but we were more chuffed with the launch of the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. It might not sound exciting, but this finally enables you to plug…

The year’s best free instruments The past year has seen phenomenal growth in the popularity of synthesisers, both hard and soft. Analogue synths have dominated the market, with the biggest names in the industry resurrecting legends of old (Korg with their ARP Odyssey and Yamaha with their Reface version of CS and DX synths). Also in fashion is modular synthesis – and we’re not just talking about hardware, with the likes of NI Reaktor’s newly-added Eurorack-style Blocks. Freeware developers have been working diligently to ensure that the shallow-pocketed among us needn’t feel excluded from the synthesis party, with plenty of new free options, some of them easily equal or even superior to the best commercial synths on the market. Matt Tytel’s Helm is one such instrument, with enough analogue-style firepower…

Free soundware Samples are an integral part of modern music-making, and yes, you can have them for free, too – here’s our top picks There may be those who view the use of samples as a form of cheating or fakery, but let us assure you that even the biggest producers in the business use samples, and they’re not the only ones. Samples are, in fact, big business. Some commercial sample providers spend buckets of cash booking talented performers in world-class studios in order to provide the most authentic musical experience to those who partake of their wares. There are sample collections that span terabytes of storage space and cost many hundreds of pounds. Others are made by people who simply love to make and share sounds – synthesiser aficionados…

Originating from the US city of Atlanta in the 1990s, trap is a distinctive, hip-hop-inspired electronic genre defined by its overt use of TR-808 samples, heavy sub bass, rhythm-shifting percussion, cinematic horns and bleak synths. Although trap beats were originally created as instrumental backdrops to carry the crime-fuelled lyrics of Southern US rappers, the genre has since permeated all walks of electronic music – from the post-dubstep sounds of EDM through to modern R&B and pop productions. Over the next few pages, we’ll break down the definitive production and arrangement techniques required to create authentic trap – from the giant TR-808 kick and intricate rhythm programming through to synth design, vocal production and arrangement. To accompany the feature, we’ve created a trap beat in Ableton Live 9.6 using only freeware,…

Although SPAN is one of the most fully featured free plugins you’re likely to come across, it does have a more powerful commercial sibling in the shape of SPAN Plus, which costs $40. There are quite a few reasons to upgrade, but without doubt the main one is the ability to feed every instance of SPAN Plus running in a project into every other, for simultaneous analysis of multiple tracks in a single window. Using the Import/Export Settings panel, each instance of SPAN in the project can have its spectrum ‘exported’. Every exported spectrum then appears in the Import list for every instance, enabling each one to show your choice of up to five ‘exported’ spectra at the same time. Every spectrum retains its settings as established in its source…

Owen Palmer As an in-demand dance music engineer, Owen’s worked with a slew of outstanding underground artists behind the scenes from his London studio. After years of meticulously studying what makes a great production tick, Owen has promised to share his most advanced and coveted techniques each month exclusively in . Get in touch with Owen about this month’s subject at… www.owenthegeek.com/cm Last time we did a special on free plugins ( 214), I got all kinds of giddy and threw together a quick production sketch using only freebies to generate and process the sounds. Since then, the free plugins scene has continued to erupt, so this month I’m even happier to restrict the tutorial to only freely available plugins. I’ve always said that techniques come before tools, but quite…

“Sound Canvas VA includes maps for the CM-64, SC-88, SC-8820 and SC-88 Pro” PART/INSTRUMENT Preset instruments are identified with a number and a name PREVIEW Plays a note on the current part for quick and easy auditioning BASIC PART PARAMETERS Set level, pan position, reverb/chorus/delay amounts, and key shift (transpose) FILTER Every part gets a basic resonant low-pass filter that you can edit here EQ A two-band global EQ, configured from the FX page ALL A convenient way to edit common parameters of all parts simultaneously PART METERS An overview of MIDI activity for all 16 parts OPTIONS PAGE Import MIDI data and adjust master settings such as tuning and drum map FX PAGE Choose from 64 insert effects, and configure chorus, reverb, delay and EQ settings The original sound…

BioTek’s interface is dominated by an interactive animated graphic that’s basically an X/Y pad. Behind the scenes, this can manipulate multiple parameters, macro-style, though it’s often employed to give vector synthesis-style crossfading between the instrument’s sound sources. The synth doesn’t offer much of a clue as to what the X/Y pad actually does for each patch, aside from a short, vague description in the info panel at the bottom of the patch list. So, it’s up to the user to play around and see what’s used in each preset, but typical patches blend synth oscillators, ‘found’ samples (birdsong, atmospheric noises, etc) and sampled beats, which are synced to host tempo. As the X/Y handle is moved around the panel, the graphic changes to represent the evolution of the sound. It’s…

reTune’s grid system allows for all manner of creative custom transpositions. For example, you can transpose the whole input signal to a single note, or invert the scale of a track (in C major, C becomes B, D becomes A, etc) so that ascending patterns turn into descending patterns – combine this with the Dry/Wet mix control and you have a fun live performance tool. DJs, meanwhile, will get plenty of mileage out of switching the output scale in order to transform well-known tracks. Major, Minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Harmonic, Gypsy I, Gypsy II and Chromatic are available, and running songs through the Gypsy modes, for example, throws in some unexpected transpositions, bringing a sinister vibe to proceedings. Speaking of sinister, adding a reTuned layer at a three-,…

We’re sure many of you are wondering why on earth you’d ever need MCharacter, what with traditional EQ being a perfectly good tool for manipulating harmonic content. Certainly, EQ can be very precise, but it’s a resolutely static processor – something you’ll appreciate if you’ve ever used multiple parametric bands to notch out undesirable harmonics across a musical part. With MCharacter focusing solely on the harmonic content, it’s possible to address this exact problem, choosing the harmonics that you want to reduce (or enhance) in the Levels graph and simply turning them down. We got the best results by boosting each slider to establish the presence or not of a harmonic before cutting it. In practice, the technique works best on sounds with predictable harmonic content, such as synth bass,…

Our fantastic software, samples, videos and tutorial files are now available to download! To get access to this content, go to vault.computermusic.co.uk on your PC or Mac’s web browser. You’ll be asked to register and answer a few simple questions to prove that you’ve got the mag. You’ll then be given access to our content! You can sign in any time to register new issues and download more content. For more info, see our Vault FAQ: bit.ly/cmvaultfaq * Please note that the Producer Masterclass video is not available as a download via our Vault. See page 58 for viewing instructions, or watch on Apple Newsstand via built-in internet streaming.…

CONTROL INPUT Sets which part of the stereo signal (Left, Right or Mid) Frontier uses to detect incoming level OPTIONS Access the menu and determine default processing quality & MIDI CC SOFT-CLIP Engages a soft-clip algorithm that begins to apply smooth, analogue-style clipping to the signal as it approaches 0dB RELEASE Set how quickly a limited signal returns to its original level once it drops below the threshold THRESHOLD Sets the point at which limiting takes place and determines the post-limiter make-up gain REDUCTION METER See the amount of gain reduction, particularly handy when youre after transparent loudness OUTPUT VOLUME Additional output gain, useful for applying creative distortion or for careful gain staging In the arena of music software developers, few can rival the heritage and success of Polish plugin…

This ‘monophonic’ and ‘unique’ (geddit?) analogue bass synth may look intimidating to tangle with at first, but let us unravel the mystery for you. Three oscillators at the left side of the interface each move through their own filter with associated envelope and LFO. There’s a global amplitude envelope to shape the sound’s level over time, an arpeggiator for step-sequencing, an effects section (reverb, chorus, EQ, distortion et al), an oscilloscope showing the three source signals separately at the bottom, plus an intriguing ‘Morph Mixer’. Monique (VST/AU) is out now for $99. URL www.monoplugs.com…

This physical modelling synth emulates the sounds of real-world objects; but you don’t need a degree in physics to work with it –Chromaphone 2 (VST/AU/AAX) does the hard behind-the-scenes work for you, letting you select and combine pre-coded ‘resonator’ models such as a membrane, string, tube, block, etc to create realistic instruments. The synth is somewhat percussion-focused, but it’s also capable of producing more musical timbres. Sound editing possibilities include an envelope and LFO, a noise source, plus built-in effects like EQ and compression. It’s out now for $199. URL www.applied-acoustics.com…

The free and much-loved PanCake plugin has spawned a huge spin-off. PanShaper (VST/AU) displays your audio waveform vertically, alongside an editable representation of its panning, letting you select from preset modulation shapes or create your own using the drawing tools. Better still, different panning patterns can take place over three separate bands – low, mid and high, with changeable crossover frequencies. The stereo width can be tweaked on the way in or out, for narrowing or widening. It’s out now for €34. URL www.cableguys.com…

“It’s possible to make banal EDM in any software” There was an air of celebration as 100 hit the newsstand, and we marked the occasion by bringing you 100 tips, one of which was to back up non-audio data by emailing it to yourself, enabling you to access MIDI parts and patches from other machines. Clearly, the concept of the cloud hadn’t really blown in back then. Looking at the News pages, we were also reminded of TerraTec’s Komplexer, a soft synth that could also be installed into a hardware controller keyboard – known as Area 61, strangely – as a module. It sounded like a good idea, but its lack of historical significance suggests that most people felt it was alien to them rather than out of this world……

MeldaProduction “It depends. In the end, all developers need to eat something, so we need to ensure the free software won’t match the commercial stuff. But several old and previously famous companies don’t keep pace with some of the new ones, like us, so some of the very expensive stuff people used some time ago on a daily basis can now be exchanged for free stuff from someone else. But the top-end stuff is always ahead of pretty much any free stuff out there.” – Vojtech Meluzín Voxengo “In my opinion, the quality gap between free and commercial music software is not getting smaller. New free audio plugins do appear on the scene, but they usually cannot compete with commercial offerings. “More importantly, to my knowledge, no new free music…

The top free mix tools Effects processors are critical when it comes to achieving professional mixes. Luckily, there are scads of plugins available for nothing! Mixing is where it all comes together. A great mix combines nearly every engineering discipline into a perfect blend of art and science, intuition and technique. This has never been truer than it is today, when so many choices are left until the final mix. In the past, it was not uncommon for instruments and vocals to be recorded with loads of processing – some corrective, some creative. Most modern engineers would never think of it, thanks to the high quality of even the cheapest recording interfaces, and the proliferation and convenience of plugins. Needless to say, just about any plugin can be called upon…

MATTHIEU BRUCHER ATKCOLOREDCOMPRESSOR & ATKCOLOREDEXPANDER Compressors and expanders are indispensable tools for the modern producer. Some of the most coveted and costly plugins are those that emulate classic analogue dynamics processors, and thanks to developers like Matthieu Brucher, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get your hands on some good ones. Sequels to his previous offerings, these dynamics devices bring you classic compression and expansion with all the function and facility you’d expect, such as Attack and Release controls, adjustable Threshold and Makeup gain knobs. Additionally, you’ll find Quality and, significantly, Color parameters that enable you to dial in some analogue-esque mojo. They’re cross-platform, and available in VST and AU formats. matt.eifelle.com MAXSYNTHS: LIBERATED While most of our winners’ circle is occupied by cross-platform creations, we couldn’t let…

Dave Clews In a studio career spanning almost 25 years, Dave has engineered, programmed and played keyboards on records for a string of artists including George Michael, Kylie Minogue, Tina Turner and Estelle. These days, in between writing articles for and other magazines, he collaborates on occasional songs and videos with singer/songwriter Lucy Hirst, aka Polkadothaze. www.daveclews.com In last month’s Easy Guide , we looked at possible ways to harmonise a chromatic melody – that is, a melody that uses notes outside the parent scale of the key our song is in – and one of the possible solutions I mentioned was using secondary dominant chords. However, there was only space to look briefly at what secondary dominant chords actually are, so this month I thought we’d…

Joe Rossitter With releases on many well-respected underground labels, and over a decade of beat-making experience under his belt, Joe is well versed in all aspects of computer-based rhythm programming, arrangement and mixing. As your regular Dr Beat, Ronan Macdonald, is out on call this month, I’m briefly stepping out of the Features Editor chair to don Ronan’s stethoscope and administer your monthly dose of drum knowledge. Regular Dr Beat readers should already have a fairly decent knowledge of how to replicate a human drummer or percussionist on the piano roll – but what about those moments that call for a ready-made drum loop? Your chosen genre may demand a level of percussive density and thickness that can be difficult to achieve using only one-shot hits; or perhaps you need…

“One of my teachers gave me his old reel-to-reel tape machine” Robin Rimbaud, aka Scanner, is nothing if not prolific. He’s just released Scanni , a collaborative album with British composer Anni Hogan – Rimbaud thinks it might be his 70th full-length album! – but is also busy on various soundtrack projects, another solo album, scoring for the Ballet Rambert, festival shows with acclaimed audio-visual experimentalists The Light Surgeons – and he’s even managed to squeeze in a gig at Google’s London headquarters. “I’ve always been like that,” explains Rimbaud from his East Midlands studio/home. “I’ve got a restless imagination; as soon as one project is finished, I have to move on to something else.” Labelling Rimbaud a DJ/producer just doesn’t seem right. He’s a collagist, artistic…

“We’re not being hyperbolic when we say that Melodyne 4 is one of the greatest audio applications ever made” MULTITRACK SETUP Every plugin instance lets you see/edit all other instances INFO PANE Feedback and editing for single or multiple notes, and project file handling PANE ICONS Access the Track Header, Info Pane and Sound Editor with these buttons REFERENCE/EDIT BUTTONS Toggle visibility and editing for each track PITCH MACRO For easy pitch and drift correction SOUND EDITOR MACROS Macros to influence the overall shape of the harmonic or EQ curves QUANTIZE TIME MACRO Set a quantise value and adjust the quantise intensity for the selected notes SPREAD UNISON TRACKS Vertically stack tracks that share a similar frequency curve SOUND EDITOR Multiple processors for influencing the overall harmonics, EQ and whole-track…

Superseding the old per-filter pre/post clipper switches, Devastor 2 offers nine preset routings – combinations of serial and parallel arrangements for the clipper and filter modules. For example, All Pre has all three filters operating in parallel before being recombined and run into the clipper, while 1 Pre/2 Post applies the first filter before the clipper, after which the signal is split and sent to the second two filters, which operate in parallel. Then there’s Side/Pre/Post, where one filter operates on a signal that bypasses the clipper altogether, while a parallel chain runs through one filter into the clipper and onto the third filter, before the whole lot is recombined. Devastor 2’s topologies open up a fascinating range of sounds, and while some might prefer a completely freeform routing system,…

Despite its seemingly limited control set, E27 makes for a powerful mastering EQ. First, it can operate in stereo (with linked or non-linked left/right controls) or mid/side mode (mid settings to the left and side to the right), with virtual tape strips underneath the knobs indicating which controls which channel. As well as the default stereo, there’s also the option to monitor individual channels within the signal – Left, Right, Mid and Side – allowing the kind of detailed isolation, analysis and correction required for precision problem solving. Perhaps the only way things could be improved is with the addition of a high-cut filter, along the lines of the low-cut in the PA11 section. While the high boost options are smooth as they are, a high-cut at around 15-18kHz, like…

The Advanced version of Finality includes two tone-shaping algorithms, independently activated with the Aggro and Color buttons. Color mode adds a pleasing tube saturation-style distortion, sounding particularly good on drum kit and guitars. It can also be used to increase the drive on vocals, giving them a more aggressive sound. The Aggro function adjusts the envelope attack of the limiter. When enabled, the effect of the limiter is closer to that of a clipper, with a fast attack allowing very little signal to travel above the Threshold. This option also sounds great on drum kits and more dynamic material, adding punch, particularly when applied in parallel. The lack of these particular features is perhaps the biggest drawback with Finality Lite, as their inclusion would have greatly increased the usefulness of…

Samples From Mars SP 1200 From Mars $69 To create this 1GB library of multisampled synths and drums, SFM sampled a variety of classic hardware (Juno 60, Polysix, DX100 and the full x0x-box range) into their E-MU SP-1200, and captured the SP-1200’s factory drum sounds to tape. Everything is provided in Live Drum Rack, EXS24, Kontakt and WAV formats, the depth of multisampling is impressive (each drum is provided at between ten and 16 pitches, and two volume levels) and the sounds are gorgeous. Ultimately though, it’s all about the drums – the synths feel a bit superfluous. www.samplesfrommars.com 8/10 Sample Magic UK Garage £35 Just in time for summer, Sample Magic bring us 1GB of noughties-style 2-step loops, hits, ‘Inspiration Kits’ and MIDI files. The tight, crisp drums bounce…

Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier TECH SPECS Year of manufacture 1962-1967, 2000-present Original sale value $395 Current price Original, £4000; New, $3499 Number made Unknown It’s not every day we can say this, but our story begins with the Titan Missile Program. Invented by electrical engineer Jim Lawrence, the LA-2A derives much of its character from its T4 ‘optical attenuator capsule’, the design for which was based on work Lawrence had done for the defence industry at Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the 1950s. The LA-2A was born out of a practical need. Whilst working at a radio station in LA, Lawrence grew weary of riding the gain knobs and began contemplating a means by which the task could be automated. Having designed optical sensors at JPL, it wasn’t beyond…