Innehållsförteckning för November 2024 från Computer Music

Native Instruments Session Guitarist Acoustic Sunburst Deluxe £129 From a vast range of NI guitar instruments, this is one of the most flexible. With 250 picked and strummed acoustic patterns, and a host of ways to affect the sound including choosing the mic position (from three), adding effects, changing articulation, and adjusting fret noise, this is one of the lushest-sounding acoustic guitars around. native-instruments.com MusicLab Real Guitar 6 $199 Combining two instruments in one – MusicLab’s Classic and Steel String – RealGuitar 6 actually delivers a lot of acoustic guitars for the cash, including steel, nylon, baritone and 12-string models. There are 1,250 patterns included, effects, articulations and five playing modes including Solo, Harmony, and Bass & Chord. A bargain acoustic set. musiclab.com Vir2 Acou6tics $399.95 Perhaps the ultimate acoustic…

Native Instruments Guitar Rig Pro 7 £179 Guitar Rig 7 Pro gives you 115 effects and utilities and, really, it’s hard to think what else you’d possibly require processor wise. The best bit is that it is so easy to drag and drop these devices into whatever chain you want to create or, better (but way more lazy), just use the many presets that are laid out by genre and type. Utterly brilliant. native-instruments.com IK Multimedia AmpliTube 5 €299 One of the earliest software emulators reaches version 5 a couple of decades after release, and it’s still a mighty draw. With 400 devices, this outdoes even Guitar Rig in scope – although costs more – and even comes with its own mixer and 8-track recorder. With so many real world…

There’s a new hard dance sound emerging in dance music that’s tough to put a label on. Some call it 'modern trance', some call it 'Gen Z' trance and some label it as euro dance or simply hard house. This movement re-envisions an older rave sound, and takes influences from multiple genres. The modern trance sound is championed by producers like Marlon Hoffstadt, (also known as DJ Daddy Trance), Pegassi, DJ Heartstring, Narciss, TDJ and many more. This hard dance movement captures the feeling of raving in the ’90s/early ’00s and puts its own spin on contemporary electronic music. In this month’s masterclass, we’ll take a closer look at how to create the modern trance sound inspired by the sound of Marlon Hoffstadt. The first tutorial will focus on creating…

Mastering your music used to be a dark art. You’d send it off to experts in white coats who would scratch their chins, and send it through large pieces of black outboard gear. They would EQ this, wibble that, and transmute the other. Your music would then sound about 10% better, and you’d pay them a few hundred quid for whatever they did, no questions asked. Luckily things have changed. The art of mastering is now either so transparent that anyone can do it, or, more likely, we just get AI (as in iZotope), or an increasing number of decreasingly expensive plugins to do it for us. No questions asked. Softube has another solution, though, and it could be the one for those of us who want to master our music…

With AI making it easy to produce music, one area that remains a mystery to many is that of the film score. Wouldn’t it be good to have an application that makes it as easy to produce a score as saying ‘I want it in this style, with these instruments’? Well, Sonuscore’s The Score aims to do just that, but claims that you are always at the steering wheel, even though the software appears to be doing the driving. What’s The Score? It’s a shame there’s no AI involved in installing The Score, as if you are new to either the Best Service or Native Instruments worlds, it can be a faff. Register at Best Service to insert the key to download the content, and then do the same at…

Universal Audio’s LA-6176 is a channel strip comprising three emulations of classic gear in one. You get the 610 mic preamp, designed to give the warm, smooth tube sound of an original UA 610 console, as used by artists ranging from Van Halen to Frank Sinatra. The second device is an emulation of the classic 1176 FET compressor, known for its fast attack and release times, and great for adding punch to any sound. The final piece of the LA-6176 is the LA-2A, a very different kind of compressor next to the 1176, an optical unit with a more gentle release, and ideal for adding a smoother, less aggressive feel. So that’s three classics, all in one box, and potentially a heavenly combination of vintage gear you might have previously…

Download all assets for this issue at bit.ly/cm340downloads Uplifting Melodies This month, optimism is our watchword, and we commissioned some samples to match our mood… “A collection of melodic phrases to add or enhance an uplifting element in your tracks. A variety of instruments (piano, guitar, mandolin, keys, etc) have been employed across a full range of tempos and keys to create this pack, using the timbre of each to guide the eventual lines, even if they’re in a minor key or avoid the resolution that is most often associated with ‘uplift’. Of course the effect of a melody is subjective and their context can radically alter the nature of that effect, so experiment with how these are deployed, or mangle them into something sinister or creepy. Remember, Mike Oldfield’s…

Our CM Plugin Suite is a collection of complete instruments, effects and tools designed to aid you in your music production endeavours. It’s an incredible resource, now boasting 71 pro-quality Mac and PC plugins that, in many cases, you won’t find anywhere else, in both VST and AU formats. We’ve also got a solid selection of full products, which require licence code registration. These are marked on our matrix beginning opposite. Some items were created exclusively for us by developers like GForce Software, Lunacy Audio, IK Multimedia, u-he and many more. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Where do I get the plugins? Once you access this issue’s downloads page, scroll down to the CM Plugin Suite logo and link, and take note of the current access code (that rotates on a bi-weekly…

news NEW RELEASES > COMMENT > INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS One of our favourite software hubs, IK Multimedia’s T-RackS, has now been updated to version 6, and boasts an expanded collection of 60 modules covering mixing, mastering and effects processing. Modules can be used individually as standalone plugins or incorporated into modular mixing chains via the T-RackS host plugin and Mastering Console. Included in the list of eight new processors is an upgraded version of Master Match, IK’s referencing and analysis plugin. Master Match X will apply intelligent auto-mastering based on both internal and external reference tracks, matching parameters such as EQ, compression and limiting to any master you’d like to emulate. T-RackS’ Channel Strip plugin has also been updated, with Channel Strip X packing EQ, de-essing, transient-shaping and dynamics processing into a single…

perfect virtual guitar In our guitar technology history, we’re just about at the turn of this century, this magazine is in its infancy, and software is just about to come of age. Which is just as well, as we’ve been envying guitarists who can wield their axes with aplomb for decades now, waiting for technology to catch up. And catch up it does. After the amp-modelling antics of the likes of IK Multimedia, proper guitar instruments started to appear in the 2000s. Processors started rocketing so physical modelling became possible in the box, and hard drives suddenly started expanding so much that sample content became GBs rather than MB, so no longer would a single note be sampled, but multiple versions at multiple velocities, and all the fret noise, pedal…

When it comes to bundles, Arturia is the company to beat. Its multi award-winning V Collection X gathers 39 classic keyboards and synths under one roof, and presents you with an almost overwhelming number of classic and vintage key options. The company’s FX Collection – now at v5 – might be its younger bundle sibling, but with a whopping 34 tools, it’s almost as fulsome as V Collection, costs €100 less and, arguably, could deliver equally creative results. The regular update is in, and v5 has some great additions which are a lot better than they first appear. A bunch of fives Before we look at these, let’s give you a quick FX Collection overview. Of the 34 effects, you get four each of reverbs, compressors, filters, distortion/tape, and preamps/EQs.…

Drum machine sounds are a most bizarre thing. The fat Linn Drum snare was recorded in Roger Linn’s wardrobe. The iconic 909 hi-hat was a physical hi-hat, owned by one of the machine’s designers, and recorded at Roland HQ, while the clap from Oberheim’s classic DMX was recorded by four Oberheim employees, in their office. No wardrobe required! Digital capture Where earlier analogue machines were a bit of a commercial flop, it was the emergence of digital machines, such as the Linn Drum and Oberheim DMX, that changed the drum machine landscape forever. Both released in 1980, it was their digital makeup and capacity to capture and store drum sounds that actually sounded like the sounds that they were intended to be, that made the difference, albeit with only 8-bit…

There are a handful of audio editors that can stray into spectral (that is, frequency-specific) territory – Steinberg WaveLab and Adobe Audition spring to mind. But if you wish to unlock the true potential – and, let’s face it, near magic – of this novel technology, there are only two shows in town: iZotope RX and Steinberg SpectraLayers. We looked at the 11th edition of the former in an earlier issue, so now that Steinberg has turned its offering up to 11 too, we thought we’d best take a gander… New modules and tools SpectraLayers’ all-new Module Toolbar, which lists all processing modules, provides a much improved workflow over the previous approach. It is somewhat RX-like (as is the new Home Screen), but the list can be filtered using preset…

Sample Tools by Cr2 Future Funk & Disco Vol. 2 £15.99 (or 300 Credits) Like a holographic mirrorball beamed directly into a VR headset, this is some futuristic disco shizzle. Amongst the strutting samples you’ll find rock-solid drum loops, big and ballsy basslines, and a fine array of guitar loops, keys and slick synth noodling. It’s all you’ll need for fixing up tracks with the kind of purple disco mechanics modern dancefloors have come to expect. It’s all as dirty as Rick James’ shoes, and twice as smooth as the legs on Chromeo’s keyboards. sampletoolsbycr2.com 7/10 Sound Ghost Analog Horizons £20 Warm-as-toast textures for your blissed-out beats to cosy up to. Each and every last sample in this 200-strong set is sure to inspire the most cutting-edge of your audio…

INSTRUMENTS SYNTHS We’ve got some of the best software synths ever in our collection, from world-class legends to state-of-the-art sonic playgrounds. They’ll be effective in any music production scenario GForce Axxess • A superb virtual version of the Axxe from 1975• Over 350 presets, a new sub-oscillator, an arpeggiator as well as a 16-step sequencer• Full version! gforcesoftware.com Lunacy Audio CUBE Mini • 3D sample-morphing engine, sampler and vector synth• Load multiple sounds and blend them together• Deep FX suite and advanced modulation lunacy.audio u-he Zebra CM • Blendable oscillator waveforms• Super-programmable step LFOs• Slick delay, reverb and chorus• Original synth designed just for CM u-he.com u-he Bazille CM • Patchable modular synthesiser• Sequencer and Mapping Generator• Audio-rate modulation, Fractalizer u-he.com Dmitry Sches Thorn CM • Dual spectral oscillators/analogue/harmonic filters/spectral/real-time…

A universally appealing sound palette choice, the electric piano is a timeless addition to any producer’s arsenal. Wursy (VST, AU, standalone) from Sampleson normally retails for $20, but with this issue it is yours absolutely free. Sampleson is a developer on a mission. Focused primarily on instrument plugins, their stable has grown to incorporate a broad range of instruments based on many types of sound generation techniques. These include a spectral modelled grand piano (MetaPiano), analogue and wavetable oscillators in their SkyWaves soundscape instrument, physical modelled percussion (Haptic Perc) and their description-based entry-level synth, Things. They also include a rather excellent ambience generator, Scaper, that analyses imported audio to create unique soundscapes. However, one thing they really like are electric pianos, and you’ll find they have a multitude of options…

perfect virtual guitar For the better part of five decades we have been wrestling with technology to try and get it to imitate the sound of the guitar – and all for the very good reasons we just mentioned: it’s a damned hard instrument to master! Early synthesisers were often played to try and imitate real instruments – way before people realised that they could be used to provided their own excellent sounds. The sound of brass was a particular early sonic synth target, as was the more successful string emulation, but the pluck of a guitar didn’t really work on early analogue synths (although you could arguably do a decent bass guitar sound on one). It wasn’t until the FM-based machines like the Yamaha DX7 in the ’80s where…

Impact Soundworks Shreddage 3 Legacy $119 Shreddage was one of the first metal guitar instruments and has now become a brand in itself, spawning several titles including fretless, 8-string and blues versions. This is the original, now at v3, and features 45 tones, over a dozen articulations, and an overall thick, heavy and brutal metal tone. The original is best. native-instruments.com Vir2 Electri6ity $399 Vir2’s instruments aren’t cheap, but as with the Acou6tics, Electrici6ity covers a lot. You get eight guitars (including a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, Rickenbacker, Gibson ES-335, and Music Man L4) and 24,000 samples of them covering three pickup positions and many articulations. The best part is the performance mode that puts a lot of this within very easy reach. Superb, if pricey. vir2.com AmpleSound Guitar VC…

One of the notorious legacies of ARP synthesisers, is their ability to create beefy bass sounds. There have been many examples of ARP’s being employed for bass duties; Japanese synth-pop masters, the Yellow Magic Orchestra, often used an ARP Odyssey for basses, as did German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. It was recently revealed that the extraordinary bass sound from Thriller, by Michael Jackson, was actually provided by an ARP 2600, and not a Minimoog, as had been thought to be the case for many, many years! Who made this claim? The very person who programmed the bassline in the recording session, alongside the person who played it live on the session. With so much provenance for ARP synthesisers and their amazing bass credentials, it’s time for us to create an earthy…

Synthesisers come in many shapes and sizes; from hardware to software, East to West coast, there are many different takes on the familiar form factors. But if there’s one country that has a tendency to innovate in the realm of music technology, it’s France. From IRCAM to Jean-Michel Jarre, France has an enviable reputation for sonic experimentation and innovation, including a slew of notable developer brands. Getting Expressive! French company Expressive E is the latest collective to participate in this tradition. In historic terms, it’s a relatively young company, but that hasn’t prevented it from creating sonic ripples via its innovative hardware designs and software instruments. Their relentless pursuit of musical expression through the use of MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) runs through its product listings like lettering through a stick…

When you discover the vast range of features within Horizen, and that it’s at version 2.5, you might well ask, as we did, ‘how did I not know about this before?’. Maybe it’s because it’s one of those ‘is it a synth? Is it a sampler? Is it a ROMpler?’ applications so it falls between the definition cracks (clue: it’s all three). Or maybe it just hasn’t been marketed that well. If it is the latter, this is now sorted because its developer, The Synth Factory, is now under the Tracktion umbrella, one that covers the mighty Dawesome, makers of some of our top-rated synths including Myth and Kult. It is essentially a 10-voice sampler/synth, with four sampler voices, four synth voices and two loop players. Each synth features both…

The world of robotic tuned effects is still big business, whether you agree with the fact that the music industry still seems overly fixated with the effect – over a quarter of a century after Cher made it famous with Believe – or not. Baby Audio is now one of the biggest music software developers, having released some stunning plugins, including the multi-award-winning and at least 9/10 scoring Transit, TAIP, Parallel Aggressor, Comeback Kid, Crystalline, and Spaced Out. It was only a matter of time, then, until BA would meet the vocal effect, and here we have the result: Humanoid! The usual… but not In typical BA fashion, there are few controls that you’ll find on other automatic vocal tuning plugins; instead, it has opted for more descriptive controls, so…

DopeSONIX are responsible for some of our most popular plugin giveaways ever, namely Beat Machine CM 1, 2 & 3, and Bass Engine CM 1 & 2. This month, we are very excited to bring you another stunning giveaway from them – the mighty Bass Engine 808 CM. DopeSONIX instruments may look simple, but their sample-based engine is loaded with quality pre-processed sounds that work straight out of the box, and Bass Engine 808 CM (VST, VST 3, AU) is no exception. As the name suggests, it’s an 808-inspired bass instrument designed to take the hassle out of creating killer 808 basslines, and includes all you need to get those bass bins buzzing. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to get started then dig in deeper. The interface is…

Download this month’s videos: bit.ly/cm340downloads SAMPLESON WURSY Watch as we explore the cool electric piano tones of our first free plugin… Read the full article from p8 DOPESONIX BASS ENGINE 808 CM …before we move on to demo the second, an 808 bass bonanza! Read the full article from p82 cm / experts Our resident music production gurus walk you through their specialist field every month SYNTH MASTERCLASS CREATE A PULSING BASS Read the full article on p48 DANCE MUSIC MASTERCLASS MAKING MODERN TRANCE Read the full article on p52…

Make your tracks move! Next issue, we’re digging deep into the world of modulation and movement. It’s the ultimate guide to getting your tracks to be more kinetic, crafting sounds that have an organic, living quality. We’ll detail all you need to bring your work to life! PLUS! John Tejada The DJ and creative musician on a genre-defining career Free samples The ‘phattest’ bass imaginable plus arpeggio mania! On test Arturia MiniBrute V, Sonora Panorama Guitars and more……