Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från Computer Music

> As creative music producers we’re always looking for ways to catch the listener’s interest and attention. We agonise over creating just the right feeling and emotion through melody, harmony and rhythm, and ruminate for hours – days, even – over tiny production decisions that (in all honesty) nobody but yourself will notice. It is therefore astonishing that, when it comes to reverb, many producers will simply fire up an instance of ‘Whatever-Verb’, load a preset that sounds nice in isolation, and then pretty-much leave it at that. But, as with most aspects of music production, reverb should always be tailored to the specific situation. A music producer has to consider the style of music, the mood of the song, the instrumentation, the performers… all of it. Presets can be…

creative reverb So far we’ve been looking at using reverb as reverb – that is, using it to create acoustic spaces and interesting ambiences – and we’ve also seen that there are all sorts of creative things we can do within this context. But there are also various ways in which we can harness reverb as a sound source or instrument in-and-of itself, and use it to create special effects that have a distinctive character all of their own. A good example is a strange resonance trick that many (but not all) algorithmic reverbs can pull off. If we combine a small reverb/room size with longer decay times, and get the wet/dry balance set just right, what we can end up with is a resonant, reverberant, somewhat pitched, somewhat comb-filtered…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm333downloads > BazilleCM is a powerful beast. We’ve already established that the oscillator section hosts some amazing features, thanks to its association with phase distortion synthesis. This means that we can create some pretty complicated waveforms at the very beginning of our signal path. In true subtractive synthesis style, we have the option to feed both of the oscillators through the filter section, which offers us a wealth of sonic colour. As many of us already know, the primary focus of the filter section is to filter out elements of the harmonic series that we don’t want to hear. For example, we may choose to remove some of the upper harmonic brightness, contained within an oscillator’s sound, leaving the lower frequencies…

> Arpeggiators have been a common feature of synths for decades, but many modern examples can blur the lines between arpeggiator and pattern sequencer. Features that increase randomness are fine for generative music and the like, but programming these advanced arpeggiators is typically a longwinded process that lacks the spontaneous playability of a classic – yet basic – synth arpeggiator. Getting triggered The new BLEASS Arpeggiator, developed in collaboration with French producer Canblaster (see our interview in issue 332), flips this state of affairs on its head, delivering complex arpeggio patterns via an intuitive, synth-like interface. To do this, the plugin breaks the arpeggiation process into a series of discrete stages. The first of these, Trigger, creates the underlying clock that drives the arpeggiator. This can run freely or be…

Audiotent Vapor £37 Super progressive studio-quality sounds for your consideration. They’ve all been plucked from a stack of iconic analog gear, and wrung through a processing chain so state-of-the-art, its patent for awesomeness is still pending. Choose from 700+ loops and hits, painstakingly crafted to excite your track. There are basslines and synths to die for and drums that simply won’t quit, plus folders of timeless textures, powerful pads, FX, chords and majestic music loops. It’s the perfect pairing for all current, and as yet uncategorised, genres and sub-genres of dance music. Catch the vapours! audiotent.com 9/100 Zenhiser Peaktime £48 High-end techno samples, taking in a legion of loops, hits, MIDI files, and some staggeringly good full-track stems. This set weighs in at a beefy 5GB, and showcases nothing but…

Vocoders, prismizers, robots and rock! Next issue we embrace our inner Daft Punk and take a deep dive into the use of vocoding, talkboxes and hard-harmonised processing to transform vocals. We’ll highlight the best tools for the task and guide you through a range of voice-shaping tutorials! PLUS! Catching Flies Gives us an insight into his software-based workflow Free samples Lay back and relax with the help of our chilled keys collection On test Steinberg Nuendo 13, GForce AXXESS and more……

news NEW RELEASES > COMMENT > INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS Last month, IK Multimedia released ARC Studio, a standalone hardware processor for its newly-updated ARC 4 acoustic room correction software that promises to “instantly upgrade” your studio monitors. To give you a primer on the concept, room correction software compensates for the acoustics of the room your monitors are placed in by analysing the acoustic profile, identifying problematic frequencies and adjusting the output of your monitors accordingly. Everything from a room’s size and shape to the furniture in it can dramatically affect its acoustics; room correction accounts for this to achieve a neutral frequency response. IK Multimedia have been in the room correction business for a while; previous iterations of its ARC software were designed to run on your machine, whereas ARC…

There are four different ways in which reverb is created in the studio. The first to be invented, the echo chamber, isn’t a simulation but rather a room in its own right. The concept is simple: place a speaker in a lively acoustic space, play a signal through it, and collect the resulting reverberations with a microphone. Despite creating actual reverb, echo chambers are impractical – fun if you get the opportunity, but artificial solutions make life easier… Electro-mechanical reverbs – plates and springs – were the first such solutions to come along, but, whilst characterful, their usefulness is limited by the scanty control one has over the reverb sound. The same cannot be said of digital ‘algorithmic’ reverb, which creates big stacks of delay lines to simulate what happens…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm333downloads > A popular sound in techno today is a hybrid of modern production techniques and the rave sound of the ’90s. In this merging, faster tempos, detuned synths, melodies and acid basslines are fused with modern techno sounds. A multitude of music production techniques were born in the rave scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the emphasis for producers from this era was firmly on inventiveness and experimentation. Plugins and software synths can allow us to creatively recreate sounds that bear resemblance to sounds from the rave era. In this month’s tutorial, we’ll look at how to create rave-style techno, including building an atmospheric synth and trance synth using Ableton’s Operator. To lay the foundations for your track,…

As a musician of any experience and ability level, it surely won’t have escaped your notice that the concept of time is intrinsic to all forms of music, as language is to literature and colour is to painting. However, ask yourself how much you really think about it, in a truly contemplative sense, as opposed to just figuring out where the taps of that eighth-note delayed lead synth are going to land in relation to your drum track. With the vast majority of modern Western music being composed in 4/4 and adhering to a fairly standard set of unwritten rhythmic ‘rules’ in order to maximise its mass appeal, anything that breaks from the norm and finds its own groove can surely only be a good thing, and when it comes…

> There was a time when the DAW du jour was a home organ, nestling in the corner of your lounge, waiting for Uncle Larry to spin a tune. But what would add a synthetic dimension to all those Bossanovas and Cha-Chas? A lead-line synth from Alan Robert Pearlman. The ARP Pro Soloist came two years after its original sibling, the Soloist. Originally designed as a synthetic string, wind and brass solo section, to nestle on top of your home organ, the ‘Pro’ model refashioned the preset original to include editable control. It’s therefore fitting that Cherry Audio has not only adopted the Pro Soloist for its latest software reincarnation project, but in true Cherry style, increased its potency exponentially. The software Pro Soloist journey begins with a hearty collection…

Free software > Our last Modalics deal was a runaway success, so when the opportunity arose to feature another of their fantastic plugins, naturally we jumped at the chance. Said plugin is Modalics BitFuzzer, and this month this $29 plugin is yours absolutely free. BitFuzzer (AU, AAX, VST, VST3) is a plugin with attitude. It combines bitcrusher, fuzz and distortion in what Modalics call an ‘unholy alliance’, and with presets such as Death Star and Disintigrate, who are we to argue. The plugin features an easy to use interface with plenty of visual feedback, so you can see as well as hear the distortion curve applied to the signal. Sounds can be further finessed using the filter and EQ stages, while additional parameters help you tailor the outcome. Of course…

Interface As a founder of such industry tent poles as Sample Magic, Attack Magazine, Audiaire and Principle Pleasure studios, Sharooz Raoofi has already left a sizable footprint on the music production landscape. Whether wearing his entrepreneurial hat or as an artist in his own right (you might be familiar with his hailed alter-ego Principleasure) Raoofi is keen to shake up the mould. This is strikingly true of his latest venture, Wavetick. Alongside a small band of cohorts, Sharooz aims to bring a fairer, more flexible and entirely unrestrictive service for producers, songwriters and beatmakers, creating a platform where they can sell their creations frictionlessly whilst retaining 90% of all royalties. It all sounds fantastic, but we had more than a few questions… cm: So firstly, can you give us an…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm333downloads Most commonly associated with the kick-driven, audible pumping effect that’s become popular in club music, sidechain compression can be a very useful tool that adds energy and space to individual sounds, submixes and mixes while keeping things punchy. It can be used in many different ways and so we’ll be splitting the topic across more than one tutorial. From a technical perspective, sidechain compression typically means the use of an external input to control the compressor, and this can be a sound that’s part of the mix or a specially created key. Sidechaining has its roots in analogue processing and a small number of hardware compressors that incorporate an external sidechain input. This extra flexibility allows all manner of outcomes…

> You’ve got to love the way Ableton release big Live updates. It announces it and then spends months tweaking, opening up the beta for all sorts of feedback so when the final build is released, it should be damn near perfect. Which is great news for everyone, but it does feel like we’ve been talking about Ableton Live 12 for ages, and have certainly spent an inordinate amount of time with these various Beta builds. So, is the final (final) version worth your wonga? What’s all the fuss about? Like many DAW users, we tend to get a bit too excited about big instrument additions when faced with a major point update, and largely go ‘meh’ to the smaller stuff, but Live 12 kind of turns that on its…

> Back in the early-to-mid ’00s, sampling came of age. One of the companies at the forefront of the pursuit of multi-sampling perfection was Synthogy. Its original Ivory package was accompanied by rapturous applause from the professional and producer community, as it became an overnight industry standard. Shuffle on 19 years and Ivory reaches its Mk3 phase, centred around an extensively sampled, Hamburg-manufactured, Steinway Model D-274. Steinway is arguably the most highly regarded piano manufacturer in the world, with the Model D considered to be the finest concert grand. It’s certainly the largest, at 274cm in length, but with this size comes an authority in sound, which has established the brand as the primary choice for most concert halls. It’s therefore hardly a surprise that Synthogy has chosen to capture…

Download this month’s videos: bit.ly/cm333downloads MODALICS BITFUZZER See Modalics’ fantastic bitcrushing, fuzz and distortion solution – yours free this issue! – in action Read the full article from p88 cm/experts Our resident music production gurus walk you through their specialist field every month CM TOOLS MASTERCLASS BAZILLE CM FILTER KICK Read the full article on p38 DANCE MUSIC MASTERCLASS RAVE-STYLE TECHNO Read the full article on p42 MIX MASTERCLASS SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION Read the full article on p46…