Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Electronic Musician

At the time of writing, we're into the final few weeks of 2022. As often happens at this time of year, I've found myself spending a lot of time taking stock of what's happened over the past few months as well as wondering about what's to come. On the music technology front, that's involved revisiting some of my favorite gear releases of the year, which include the likes of Polyend's hugely creative Play sequencer, PWM's brilliantly unpredictable debut semi-modular, Malevolent, and a late entry, this issue's cover star, the Arturia MiniFreak. I've also been trying to make a few predictions about what we can expect to see on the music technology front in the coming year. There are a few fairly obvious guesses we can make. It seems highly likely…

When he died earlier this year, Sequential's Dave Smith was mourned both in the synth community and beyond. However, it turns out that he had one final design to share with us: the Trigon-6. “Dave Smith was very excited about the Trigon-6 and we believe it continues his legacy as a synth creator,” says Sequential CEO David Gibbons, confirming that this was the last synth that Smith contributed to. The six-voice Trigon-6 offers three newly-designed discrete voltage-controlled oscillators per voice, and simultaneously selectable waveshapes (triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, and variable-width pulse). Beyond this there's a two- and four-pole ladder filter design with feedback and drive, and analog voltage-controlled amplifiers. Sequential make no secret of the fact that the Trigon-6 takes inspiration from the Prophet-6 and OB-6, two of its previous…

Unlike FM or wavetable synthesis, additive synths haven't yet had much of a resurgence in the hardware realm (although we think it's about time Kawai's ’80s classics got a revival). There are still plenty of great additive plugins out-there though. In terms of dedicated additive instruments, Native Instruments’ Razor – designed by Berlin producer Errorsmith –is a longtime favorite. Arturia's Pigments has had a powerful additive engine since version 3 too. What's more, lots of common software synths have easily overlooked additive capabilities. Logic's Alchemy, Ableton Operator and Xfer Serum all have additive engines onboard, so you may well have an additive synthesizer in your arsenal without even realizing it!…

For much of the past two decades, the wavetable synth sphere has been dominated by two all-conquering plugins - first Native Instruments Massive, then Xfer Records Serum, Both are a little past their prime now. Massive has been superseded by a follow up. Massive X, while countless imitators and rivals have built on the ideas popularized in Serum in recent years, often offering a more modern look and workflow to boot. There's still something to be said for these modern classics, though. While the interfaces look a little dated, both Massive and Serum are still more than capable of creating a huge range of cutting edge sounds. Serum in particular still boasts a number of features that have added to its longevity, primarily its flexibility when it comes to uploading…

In any field, not just music theory, augmentation and diminution are just words for making things bigger or smaller – you could just use the terms ‘growth’ or ‘shrinkage’. The way we're using the terms has nothing to do with augmented or diminished chords –although you could easily be forgiven for thinking that, having read the title of this month's guide. What I'm talking about here is augmentation and diminution when applied to rhythm and melody. Rhythmic augmentation – the lengthening of the time values of notes in a melody – can be used to imply majesty or reaching a high point, useful for an imposing finale. Rhythmic diminution, on the other hand, is the shortening of the time values of notes, and conveys a sense of building urgency or…

The module list is comprehensive, with modules falling into one of five categories: Interface, Analysis, Audio, CV and Effects. Interface modules primarily deal with getting signals in and out of the Zoia, but also allow the buttons to act as controllers – even making it possible to turn the button matrix into a keyboard! Audio modules include the usual array of synth-based sound generators and processors such as a mixer, oscillator and filters, but also pitchshifter, bit-crusher, looper, diffuser and others. The small Analysis category adds to this with onset and pitch detectors and an envelope follower. The CV modules fall firmly in the modular universe, with classics such as an ADSR, LFO, Sample & Hold and Sequencer amongst its many other uses. Finally, the Effects – almost worth the…

For composers relying on Studio One to be the heart of their writing projects, the ability to apply a Global Lyrics Track to songs, scores and live sets will certainly be warmly welcomed. Requested for years, PreSonus have taken their time to create something a little more advanced than simply a pop-out text window. Instead, lyrics inputted into Studio One 6 can be assigned to specific notes, either by word or syllable. This makes the lyrics less an out-of-the-box afterthought, but an intrinsic part of your in-progress project. In practice, it's hard to think of comparable depth of lyric integration.…

DRUM TOOLS Can you hear that? It's the ever-pacing tick-tock of change. Or is it a kicksnare beat? In modern music, it's pretty obvious that the drums are an intrinsic part of any beat-led music's success. Sure, every single part of your music is vital, as is the treatment and processing that helps them stick together, as we regularly spend pages and pages explaining. The drums, though, set a piece of music on the road. Done right, drums can add energy, create pace, and generally define the energy level of a piece, whatever the mood. But that's not to say that perfectly-produced drums are the goal every time. Depending on the genre, drums might need to be stunted, vibey, repetitive or simply subtle. Staying within the confines of a genre's…

TOONTRACK Superior Drummer 3 $397 Perhaps the ultimate drum library, with mixing controls and processors onboard, but its huge footprint for even the basic one-kit setup can make it the wrong choice for some. Toontrack also do EZdrummer for the hard-drive-disadvantaged drummer. www.toontrack.com STEVEN SLATE Drums 5.5 $149 The product line that started Steven Slate on the road to mogul status, SSD is a comprehensive and well-trusted package. The latest incarnation brings in presets from landmark kits and artists to get you straight to ‘those’ sounds. Combine it with Slate's Trigger software and you've also got instant drum replacement power as well. www,stevenslatedrums.com NI Abbey Road Modern Drummer $99 This Kontakt instrument from Native Instruments comes alongside a few other great virtual drum kits within the Komplete package, including Abbey…

$128 Looking for bone-snapping noises to take your martial arts flicks to the next level? Or, simply sourcing some seriously scathing strike sounds for your next sick fight scene? Cinetools have got all that, and more, on their latest highquality, close combat, SFX library. Thousands of explosive punches and kicks are at the heart of this pulse-quickening collection of fight-miked audio. But, there's also a mind-boggling amount of heavy panting, shouting, shuffling, grabbing, throwing, and falling in the mix, too. All here to help soundtrack kick-ass kickoffs, and every other size or scrap and skirmish you can imagine. From a swift bop on the beak, to the most epic boss battle, you've got it all in this absolutely massive, and precisely presented, 3.50GB package. Punchy! Roy Spencer loopmasters.com Audiotent Duality…

FROM THE ISSUE: Oberhelm OB-X8 It's great to see the Oberheim making a proper return to the market. We've been excited about the arrival of the OBX8 polysynth for months – find out what we make of it now we've finally had a chance to explore it in-depth. Review: Page 36 FROM THE ARCHIVE: Minimoog masterclass The most iconic monosynth of all time is returning to production (see New Gear on page 10.) Rediscover what makes makes the Minimoog Model D so special with our masterclass tutorial. See more: bit.ly/EMminim AROUND THE WEB: Two Shrimps Frighteningly young jazz fusion duo DOMi and JD Beck are two of our favorite new players. See why in this excellent Tonight Show performance (featuring excellent use of a toilet as keyboard stool.) See more:…

Released in 2004, reFX's Vanguard used to be a pretty big deal in the soft synth world, but it eventually started to be outgunned by its rivals, and was discontinued in 2016. However, the plugin is fondly remembered and still has its fans, which explains why reFX have now – finally – released version 2. Vanguard remains a three-oscillator synth, but it now boasts a cleaner vector-based UI, 10 new wavetables, two new filter types, a new delay type, new reverb and distortion effects, synced LFOs and more. There are also 136 completely new factory presets, but happily, the synth is also compatible with projects that use Vanguard 1. Load up your old songs and the sounds you used before will immediately load up, too (that's the theory, anyway). Vanguard…

I This setup we've described above is essentially that of Yamaha's DX7 – probably the best known FM synth of all time, and the one that brought the concept to mass market attention. Its 6-operator, 32 algorithm design is essentially the blueprint used as the core of most FM synths today. Modern hardware and software often builds on these ideas though. Common enhancements include the ability to add more operators, change the operator waveshape or even – as in the case of things like Korg Opsix or Kilohearts Phase Plant – use alternative forms of modulation synthesis such as ring mod, phase distortion or wavefolding. The DX7 was notoriously difficult to program too. Thankfully, the new wave of FM synths that have emerged in recent years are far more user-friendly,…

INTERVIEW Fall silent, for you are in the company of greatness. Marc Cerrone – drummer, producer, artist and DJ – has spent the last 50 years carving his own niche and doing his own thing, all the while influencing tens of thousands of musicians and delighting millions upon millions of music lovers. Now, with Cerrone On Cerrone, his brand-new, career-defining album, Cerrone has personally created a seamless journey that reinterprets and merges his catalog of classics in a whole new way. And with remixes on board from the likes of Joey Negro and Dimitri From Paris, disco has never sounded fresher, more alive, more vital and more ready to – once again – kickstart the creativity of today's new music makers. With a view to talking ‘Love In C Minor’,…

In a rather unusual move, Arturia are offering MiniFreak alongside an official plugin version, which comes free with the hardware synth. MiniFreak V is essentially a straight port of the digital synth engine, albeit with emulated analog elements. Unsurprisingly the plugin version sounds remarkably similar. Some patches can be shared back and forth between the two, and the hardware can be used as a controller. Interestingly, some virtual features of the UI, such as oscilloscopes for the synth engines and animated visual representations of the envelopes, make the plugin version a better environment for sound design. It's nice to have both!…

EMPRESS Effects Zoia Pedal $600 If you don't need the modular integration then the slightly simpler pedal version might be a better choice. empresseffects.com EXPERT SLEEPERS Disting Mk4 $205 A slimline multipurpose utility module with over 80 algorithms that can be selected and used one at a time. expert-sleepers.co.uk TIPTOP Audio Z-DSP $436 A cartridge-based sound processor with CV control. There's a limited number of parameters and algorithms on each cartridge, but some of them are very impressive. tiptopaudio.com…

ABLETON Live From $84 While Studio One 6's live performance features are undoubtedly stage worthy, Ableton's gamut of views and uncomplicated controller integration makes it top of the tree in that regard. STEINBERG Cubase From $72 On the video front, Steinberg's Cubase has long been a favorite of some of the world's most successful composers, with a massive array of frame rates, formats and a smooth editing window for deep cutting and shaping around your visuals. Cubase is equally as adept as a DAW for everything else, too!…

On this page we study two plugins that have a focus on finding the right sample to play each part of your drum kit. While great for sequencing and mixing in their own rights, XO and Atlas are inescapably ‘about’ something a little more. On each, your available sounds are laid out in a visual space and grouped by instrument (as detected by the plugin). You can then browse your available samples visually, with closer options relating to more similar sounds, and more distant ones taking you down a different sonic path. Both plugins do this a little differently, and as part of bigger larger packages, but for those who have a ton of samples on their hard drive, or those who know the importance of finding the right sound…

Like all of history's great rivalries, the long-fought battle between analog and digital ebbs and flows. Early digital synths were seen as convenient, affordable and more powerful than analog rivals, but their ubiquity and supposed ‘cold’ sound drove many musicians back into the warm embrace of old-fashioned circuitry. Following the affordable analog boom back in the 2010s, recent years have seen a resurgence of digital synthesizers once again, with the likes of Korg, Modal, Waldorf and Arturia releasing sure-fire future classics that are proudly digital-by-design. What do we mean when we say ‘digital synthesizer’? On the whole, most modern synths include at least some elements of digital technology and the plugin market is digital from top to bottom. What we're talking about here, however, are instruments that use synthesis techniques…

Granular synthesis has found particular popularity with modular users, likely due to its usefulness for resampling existing sounds, plus how well it works with modulation sources and randomization. Mutable Instruments’ Beads – a successor to their popular Clouds module – is one of the best granular Eurorack devices. Make Noise Morphagene and Qu-Bit Nebulae are excellent too. On the plugin front, granular capabilities can be found in a host of popular plugins. Logic users can make use of the DAW's stock synth Alchemy, while Live Suite owners can use the Max-powered Granulator II, and Reason users get the excellent Grain device. Arturia Pigments and Kilohearts Phase Plant both pack granular capabilities. For a dedicated instrument, meanwhile, check out Audio Damage's Quanta.…

SDS Devices Crap Cassette FREE The name of this Max For Live doodad says it all. This little guy offers all of the lousy artefacts one might expect from a battered old cassette deck: wow, flutter, dropouts, misalignment, hum, noise and distortion – even the dreaded and disastrous ‘Spaghettify’ effect. Er, remind us again… why do we like cassettes? www.maxforlive.com Softube Saturation Knob FREE For a quick blast of lo-fi sound on the cheap, you can use and abuse Softube's gloriously simple Saturation Knob. It won't give you wow, flutter or tape noise, but it will offer some of the saturation for which cassette four-trackers are famous. Strap it across every track for serious lo-fi vibes. www.softube.com…

SONIC PROJECTS OP-X Pro-II $179 A highly-regarded virtual analog synth plugin that does a great job of nailing the Oberheim vibe – and with enough flexibility to allow it to cover some other analog svnths. sonicprojects.ch OBERHEIM OB-X (used) $12k+ An original OB-X will set you back somewhere in the region of $12k, but don't forget to set aside some cash for repairs… ebay.co.uk SEQUENTIAL Prophet-5 $3,888 The original OB competitor resurrected. Whilst there are some overlaps, and it is not as complex, some prefer the tone of the Prophet-5 – another classic. sequential.com…

ARTURIA MicroFreak $365 If you can live without the polyphony, effects and proper keyboard, the MicroFreak offers the same basic sounds – and at half the price! arturia.com KORG Opsix $600 Korg's modern take on an FM synth also uses a multitude of digital sound approaches. Its price has come down recently too, making it something of a steal overall. korg.com ASM Hydrasynth Explorer $600 The Hydrasynth is one of the best digital synths in recent years, and this smaller sibling brings its basic workflow into a more affordable instrument. ashunsoundmachines.com…

REVIEW from $788 empresseffects.com Strengths Hugepotentialin terms ofsounddesignand creativity CVinsand outs offer plentyofpotentialfor employingZoiaatthe heartofamodular setup Someindividualeffects modulesareasgood asstandaloneunits Limitations -Complexsetups canbetrickytoedit andadjust -Smallscreencan behardtoreadat timesunlessyouget veryclose To all the guitarists out there, Empress Effects probably need no introduction. Their range of guitar pedals – taking in both analog and digitally derived processors – are highly regarded. However, they largely stick to relatively common ground, in terms of guitar processing at least. When Empress’ button-laden Zoia pedal arrived a few years ago, it was therefore met with intrigue and interest. Zoia – a pedal employing DSP for the hard graft – was a processor and sound generator based on modular principles. It is still available in this format, but Empress have taken the natural step of repackaging its power in…

INTERVIEW Hard to believe that Let's Turn It Into Sound is Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's ninth album… Where does the time go? As ever, a new album from Kaitlyn is a fresh journey into her sonic world, and her latest is no exception with its rich palette of pulsing Buchla tones, intense, flickering beats and joyously manipulated vocals that see Smith pushing her own envelope further with each new collection of songs. We caught up with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith in her LA studio, taking a break from the process of preparing for her forthcoming live shows, to talk shop and get some insight into the machinations of her workflow and everinnovative studio experiments. Is it true that you were given your first ever modular by a neighbor who had it sitting…

No drum tools round-up would be complete without a good look at some of today's acoustic drum simulators. These plugins contain all the nuance and range you would hope for when aiming for realistic drum sounds in your DAW or driven by an electronic drum kit. So what to look for in an acoustic drum package? Firstly, size matters, but it goes both ways. A 120GB drum library will afford you many kits, all multisampled at a huge level of detail and nuance… but it'll also cost you 120GB of hard drive space! For some users, a lighter option will often prevail when the rubber hits the road. Secondly, onboard mixing controls are often very useful, although any seasoned DAW engineer might prefer to take the kit's raw sound to…

Don't overthink ‘making a hit' or ‘writing a song' 1 For us, making dance cuts, it's about getting a groove going with a bit of kick, hat, snare… then immediately starting experiments with a couple of pieces of gear until you get something that sounds and feels good. A quick riff on a monosynth, some lush pads on a multi-voice instrument, a triggered sequence lead to coast on top, a tight vocal sample to sprinkle in here or there, and boom, you're off to the races. Trigger internal sequencers on your synths externally 2 Mathew Jonson did some lectures on his setup with the Cirklon triggering the internal sequencer on the Roland SH-101, and it changed the game for how we tackle the MIDI implementation throughout our studios’ jam stations.…