Innehållsförteckning för May 2021 från Future Music

WELCOME Processing power In a cover feature we did last year on the 10 best softsynths (FM 363), it was noted that the last decade has seen an arms race of sorts in the plugin realm, with so-called ‘super synths’ competing to outdo one another to offer the most complex set of tools for sound generation, modulation and performance. While perhaps a little less prevalent, it’s fair to say something similar is happening in the effects realm too. Recent years have seen the rise of the ‘super effect’; tools that combine a multitude of processing types, and let you apply them to select frequency bands, different parts of the stereo field, or individual steps in a sequence. Do you really need all that processing power though? Short answer: yes! In…

The Future Of Music Native Instruments and iZotope join forces – what does it mean for your favourite gear? The two brands come together under a new private equity-backed technology group > In one of the biggest moves we’ve seen in music tech in some time, Berlin-based Maschine and Komplete creators Native Instruments have joined forces with US software innovators iZotope. The two will now form a new group, backed by investment firms Francisco Partners and EMH Partners. This investment isn’t new for NI – both firms have been involved with the Berlin company since January when Francisco Partners bought shares from both NI and EMH Partners to become the majority shareholder. Five months prior to that, NI’s Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Haver and Chief Innovation Officer and President Mate…

The Future Of Music Woov promises to recreate the live music experience in your browser > Ever since live music events were brought to an abrupt halt last year, the search has been on for a digital platform that will let both artists and crowds get the same kind of experience in their own homes. Enter Woov. Promising to “transform the live music experience,” Woov enables you not just to watch a gig, but to actually ‘attend’ it. Crowds are placed in a digital place and can chat to each other; you can move people around on screen and hear their positioning reflected in the audio. This ‘spatial positioning’ of the music and the crowd is one of Woov’s big selling points – the idea is that you can meet…

Beatport DJ lets you DJ in your web browser: Tiësto hails “breakthrough” as Pete Tong calls it a “game changer” > We’ve long wondered about the potential for a streaming service that has DJing functionality built into it, and now it’s arrived in the form of Beatport DJ. Released now to all LINK subscribers, and soon to be offered on a standalone, entry-level subscription tier, this is a browser-based, MIDI-compatible platform that’s designed for beginners who want to learn the basics of DJing and pros who want to be able to work on set creation wherever they go. Beatport DJ enables you to browse millions of tracks, assemble playlists and audition music, and all from within your browser. There’s no need to install or open any other software, so it…

Movement with sequenced effects Let’s look how we can use Cableguys ShaperBox 2’s suite of sequenced effects to add depth and detail to parts of a track 01 Using effects that boast a sequencer, or LFO generator lets you add complex texture and movement to synths, drums and any other static sounds. Add ShaperBox 2 to a mid-bass layer, with the Filter shaper loaded. Set cutoff to 1.4kHz, then choose the Sharp 2 waveform from the Sweeps menu; this modulates the cutoff on each beat in the bar. Increase resonance to 70%, so the modulation is more pronounced. 02 Use the resonant modulation we’ve created to drive distortion, adding ruggedness and grit to the mid bass. Add a Distortion shaper after the filter, then select the Hard Clip distortion style.…

Next-level effects Visual racks in Reason’s Combinator Let’s see how one DAW uses this concept in practice… 01 Here we have a setup of Reason devices including the Parsec synth, a delay, a distortion and a stereo width device. Each effect is placed to process in series, as you’d usually see. So far, so normal. 02 By selecting all the devices, right-clicking and hitting Combine, we call up a Combinator unit that surrounds all the devices. Now we can save this setup – and all the associated settings of its members – to be recalled later when working on other projects. 03 We could also create a Combinator for just the effects chain, grouping the delay, distortion and width processor into one group, leaving the synth itself out of things.…

Next-level effects Instruments and MIDI effects in Studio One Let’s see how Studio One lets us create multi instrument racks in order to apply MIDI effects 01 Studio One has a great way of combining multiple instruments into a rack system. By dragging a new instrument onto an existing one’s channel and choosing to Combine rather than Replace, you’ll end up with a flexible ‘multi-instrument’ setup. 02 Here you can add multiple instruments so that you can play together at the same time. You can also drag elements onto the editor board to get this done. Using the ranges across the keyboard at the bottom, you can have different instruments respond to different notes. 03 Here in a Multi Instrument setup, you can also load some of Studio One’s Note…

3 PLUGIN HOSTS WORTH CHECKING OUT New Sonic Arts Freestyle $170 1 This plugin from New Sonic Arts hosts other plugins within itself, letting you split and route signals between them. You can load instruments and effects, and set up macro control over parameters from multiple plugins. You can save your setup for later recall, and even host that in the cloud to beam it to other producers. DDMF Metaplugin $45 2 DDMF’s plugin host loads in your DAW as a VST, AU or AAX plugin, and can host your installed VST and AU plugins too. The interface is a little more clinical here, and MetaPlugin is aimed partially at testing plugins, although it does a pretty great job as a rack as well. The instrument version can load instruments…

Document One Creating Hands Up’s pumped up intro in Live Joe and Matt create a hype-inducing vibe right from the off with processed vocals and synths... 01 “This project came from Joe, he came up with the idea of the original sketch for the track, which was based around a vocal,” reveals Matt. The stuttered, repeating vocal is accompanied by a chugging eighth-note synth pluck from Arturia Analog Lab. 02 The Analog Lab layer is doubled with a more phasey, modulating synth patch from Serum that gives the resulting composite synth sound a constantly swirling motion. “It’s quite a horrible phasey old synth sound with a kind of beaten, time-stretched vocal... but it’s cool,” enthuses Joe. 03 “On the vocal we used a Delay with the…

Sequencing and chance Traditionally step sequencers have been the go-to for pattern generation but there are more and more opportunities to play with rhythm in different ways. Chance-based patterns can be really fun, so take a look at modules like Mutable Instruments Marbles. This has just three outputs for triggers (and three for pitch) but they can go a long way. There are controls for speed, from regular clock to variable speeds, Branches-like coin tosses which generate the triggers for the left and right output. Many other options are there to help you create really musical patterns. It’s a great way to work and suits many generative musicians very well. In recent years there has been an ever-increasing interest in euclidean pattern generation with a few modules being very well…

RETROSPECTIVE Synthwave A distinctly modern form of retro this month as we look at the uniquely charismatic charm of synthwave © Gonzales Photo – Tord Litleskare Music consumption in the 21st century is unrecognisable to previous generations, with huge shifts in the spaces we associate with musical styles and their organic creation. In the ’80s the places you’d find electronic music were clearly defined: clubs, radio, MTV or other music television shows, record shops and maybe the music press. In 2021, you’re just as likely to discover music via video games, movie soundtracks, streaming TV series or social media platforms. One perfect example of this shift in emphasis comes in the form of synthwave, the loosely defined genre that emerged in the first decade of this century, stylistically drawing on…

Reviews Novation Circuit Tracks £360 The original Circuit was fun, powerful and great value. Si Truss asks if this follow-up can top it CONTACT WHO: Novation WEB: novation.com KEY FEATURES Hardware groovebox featuring two digital polysynths, a four-track sampled drum machine, two standalone MIDI sequencers Back in 2015 when Novation released the original Circuit, we were immediately impressed. For a battery-powered instrument priced at just £250, this digital groovebox was remarkably well-equipped, boasting two independent polysynths, a four-track sampled drum machine, send effects and a nifty step-sequencing workflow. It’s a credit to Novation that, even given this strong starting point, Circuit has only improved since through a steady stream of firmware updates. What reservations we had at launch mostly focussed on areas where Circuit felt a little shallow; synth design was…

GEAR GUIDE DIGITAL POLYSYNTHS Korg opsix £699 Full Review: FM365 | opsix is packed with unique character, and – rarely for an FM instrument – it’s fun and accessible. Another top-class digital synth from Korg. ASM Hydrasynth £1,299 Review FM360 An impressive first release from a new brand. Hydrasynth looks and sounds great, invites exploration, is built to last and is hugely expressive. What’s not to like? Korg Wavestate £699 Review FM353 Wavestate walks the line perfectly between paying tribute to a ’90s classic and offering cutting-edge tools. A fantastic update to a much-loved synth line. Waldorf Quantum £3,500 Review: FM336 A stunning piece of hybrid synth design – setting a new benchmark for features, interface and sonics. It’s expensive, but a synth that you’ll find inspiring for many years.…

The Future Of Music Cherry Audio enter the Oberheim fray: a new take on the Eight Voice synth > You wait ages for one Oberheim 8-Voice synth plugin emulation to come along and then… Hard on the heels of GForce Software’s OB-E comes Cherry Audio’s Eight Voice, another software take on the monster hardware instrument. This combines eight dual-oscillator voice modules (SEMs), but rather than having to program them independently, as you did on the original, these can be linked, so you can tweak them together for massive polyphonic sounds. There are also Focus buttons that enable you to enlarge and zoom in on specific sections of the interface, easing the programming process further. You can set your keyboard up to play the Eight Voice in monophonic and polyphonic modes,…

Roland’s monster JD-800 synth is back as a ZEN-Core Model Expansion > Released in 1991, Roland’s JD-800 was ahead of its time. Like so many synths of that era, it was digital, but with its massive control panel, harked back to the analogue beasts of yesteryear. However, this was way before the analogue revival had us in its grip. We still reckon the JD-800 is one of the greatest synths of all time, and its time might just have come again thanks to a new Roland ZEN-Core Model Expansion. Available via the Roland Cloud, this is being released to mark the JD-800’s 30th. This software reboot combines the original JD-800 waveforms with “advanced modelling techniques,” and promises 100% authenticity. You also get all of the original’s sound-shaping potential thanks to…

Talking Shop Moullinex “To prevent creative block I commit to audio very early in the process” Moullinex Across the course of three albums and numerous singles and remixes, Lisbon-based producer Luis Clara Gomes, aka Moullinex, has developed his own distinctively deep, hardware-driven take on classic house flavours. He returns this month with his latest LP, Requiem For Empathy, released on his own Discotexas imprint. We caught up with him to talk synth favourites and workflows. When did you start making music? “My dad had a small studio setup at home with a few sound modules, arranger keyboard etc, but I wasn’t really allowed into the studio, so it was kind of a forbidden fruit. I managed to get my hands on a demo version of Fruity Loops (now FL Studio) and…

Mid/Side pad EQ magic Dialling in a little mid/side EQ is undoubtedly the best way to shape and embellish those lush stereo synth sounds With music being increasingly consumed via headphones, it’s never been more important to make your stereo synths sound as impressive as possible. While there’s a multitude of great sounding stereo enhancer processors available, using mid/side EQ allows us to add stereo depth, or sparkle to a synth to our taste, without the phasing issues commonly encountered when using stereo excitement plugins, which can often negatively impact on mono compatibility when listening on a Bluetooth speaker, or smartphone. We’ll be using Fabfilter’s incredible Pro-Q 3 for this walkthrough, but you can achieve an identical effect using your DAW’s stock mid/ side EQ (if you have one), or…

Next-Level Effects MACROS & MORE… Like a macro control on a synth, on a rack or chain macros can have multiple targets, controlling them all to different extents, in exactly the way you set it up. The power comes from the fact you’re using a single control to command multiple controls in multiple devices. Even better – when you return to your DAW (for automation) or your MIDI controller (for CC control), you’ll have a single control hooked to do lots at once. This is great for ‘qualitative’ sound design choices: you could have one macro controlling multiple properties relating to the sound’s envelope; another macro controlling parameters relating to modulation strength; another controlling parameters relating to filtering, and so on. Modern DAWs let the process get even more involved…

Next-Level Effects PLUGIN HOSTING You don’t just have to rely on your DAW’s rack system to get complex jollies out of combining third-party effects. There are a few plugins that have plugin-hosting abilities, and a few offer signal routing to combine those plugins in a rack-style way. Plogue’s Bidule and DDMF’s MetaPlugin, say, allow complex signal chains to be drawn between whole plugins and other, smaller modules which can act a little like electronic components, splitting signals, performing quick calculations, encoding or decoding the signals, and so forth. These platforms tend to be very in-depth. Other platforms, like New Sonic Arts’ Freestyle and Blue Cat Audio’s Patchwork, which we’ll cover here, are more creative, allowing combos of plugins based more on their sound than intricate signal flows. The advantage of…

In The Studio With SG Lewis An ode to disco, SG Lewis topped the dance chart earlier this year with his debut solo album Times featuring Nile Rodgers. Danny Turner discusses the secret to Lewis’ rapidly escalating success © Harvey Pearson Club culture didn’t take hold of Sam Lewis until he studied sound engineering at university in Liverpool. Already possessing a keen interest in production, his eyes were soon opened to a world of dance music styles that eventually led him to secure a DJ residency at the now-legendary Chibuku nightclub. With a plethora of singles under his belt and further traction via remixes for the likes of London Grammar, Flume and Dua Lipa, Lewis focused on recording his debut album last year. Encouraged to read Tim Lawrence’s Love Saves…

PRODUCER’S GUIDE THE PRODUCER’S GUIDE TO… Modular rhythms Rob Redman takes you on a bootcamp trip into the mysterious lands of modular percussion patterns, sequencing and drum voices Rhythm means different things to different people and not just from a perspective of musicianship. Clearly there are many types of beats that will affect people in a variety of ways, and this is all good and well but there are just as many tools and techniques for the creation of rhythm as there are rhythms to be created using them. Modular, by its very nature, is capable of becoming whatever you want it to be; that’s the essence of its popularity. Why buy something that somebody else has designed, when you can patch up an instrument of your own? Better yet,…

Outboard sequencing Sequencing, especially by step, can take a fair amount of space, so ask yourself if you need it to be module-based? Save yourself some valuable hp by moving this task to a different space. You could use a small MIDI-to-CV module like Yarns, or ALM’s expander for Pamela’s New Workout, then sequence from within your DAW but many modular artists like to work DAWless. Something like Arturia’s Keystep Pro, or Korg’s SQ-64 are good options. Both offer eight trigger outs and dedicated percussion channels. The main differences are that the Keystep has a keyboard, while the SQ-64 is smaller and lighter. The workflow for both is very similar.…

Synthwave Three approaches to synthwave production Arturia V Collection 8 1 Synthwave’s retro production aesthetic relies heavily, as the name suggests, on vintage synths. That’s an unavoidably expensive way to make music these days, as prices of classic instruments have skyrocketed in recent years. For most of us, software emulations of iconic models are the more affordable option. You can take your pick from hundreds of instruments in the plugin world, but if you want the most comprehensive choice of high-quality emulations, Arturia’s V Collection 8 is the obvious starting point, including a total of 28 instruments in a 599€ bundle. Vintage drum samples from Loopcloud or Splice.com 2 Drums are easily handled using samples, blending acoustic hits with vintage drums and harder-hitting modern sounds to give character…

ROUND-UP VINYL KONTAKT INSTRUMENTS Five nostalgic instruments from lootaudio.com: which will become relics? Which will stand the test of time? Alden Nulden Productions – Statix II £9 This is an extremely simple tool to emulate the sound of a vinyl record and turntable, which is an incredibly sought-after sound in the world of sampling. This Kontakt instrument (full version) includes a variety of knobs capable of changing the sound (electric, dust, and scratch) as well as the type of record you’re trying to emulate. Although Statix II does aim to be an essential part of any avid sampler’s toolkit, the sound comes across as a vinyl emulation, rather than the real deal, even with the included randomise function. For this reason, Statix II seems slightly overpriced when compared with other…

TESTBENCH Masterlab DynaQ 2 > Split-processing plugins usually involve multiband ideas, where the extent and type of processing changes per frequency. There’s also straight parallel processing, where two signals are processed differently and then blended or balanced together. Masterlab’s DynaQ, though, is something not seen much before: the separate parts of your audio that are processed differently are here split using a compressor. Any audio information that triggers gain reduction in DynaQ’s onboard compressor is processed by the ‘Above’ controls, and anything that doesn’t breach the threshold is processed by the ‘Below’. An interesting take on split processing, which can deliver great things… Setting up > We start investigating DynaQ by adjusting the settings of its compressor, on the right. We set up a relatively harsh response that’ll make it…

The Future Of Music M-Audio’s Hammer 88 Pro is a full-size MIDI keyboard that will appeal to pianists and producers > Hammer-action MIDI keyboards are usually designed for pianists, but with its wide-ranging set of control and performance features, M-Audio’s new Hammer 88 Pro has plenty for producers, too. Building on the success of the Hammer 88, the Pro version offers an upgraded keybed with graded hammer action keys. These are individually weighted, for a piano-like feel, and there’s assignable aftertouch. On the top panel you’ll find 16 RGB velocity-sensitive pads with Note Repeat, nine assignable faders and eight assignable knobs. There’s also an OLED screen that can be used to search for and select sounds, map controls and more. There's also the USB port, the back panel features 5-pin…

Next-level effects Multiband drum break processing A touch of multiband processing can tighten up the sound of a drum break nicely, adding that low-end punch alongside some high frequency smoothness… 01 Multiband processing opens possibilities for processing sounds surgically, letting us deal with issues that are hard to fix with typical wideband processing. We have a drum loop that suffers from an overly sharp hi-hat, knocky snare and less-than-tight kick drum, so let’s use multiband compression to fix this. Add iZotope’s Ozone 9 Dynamics to the drum channel, with a second band created at 6kHz. 02 Each band in Ozone’s dynamics module has default settings dialled in, and you can hear the compressor taking sharpness from our hi-hat. But we won’t compress the problem area, but clip it so that…

Next-Level Effects RACKS AND DIY MULTIEFFECTS Digital music production offers a lot of advantages over its analogue counterpart. We have easy automation, infinite recall of files and versions, and many other advantages besides. If one of the worst things about working solely on the computer is a lack of creativity and inspirational flow, one of the most crucial benefits is a system built to overcome that: the rack. Racks can be found in most DAWs as a solution to combining processors or instruments together into a more functional unit. They might not even be called ‘Racks’, but the concept is the same, and their purpose is to make multiple instruments or effects into more than the sum of their parts. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS At their most basic, racks group a…

Studio One’s Routing Editor 1 Here in Studio One, we can turn any channel’s insert slots into a comprehensive toybox using the Routing Editor. This view starts by showing just the plugins you’ve got in that channel’s insert slots so far – in this case, a compressor and a retro-ising plugin. 2 We could add another plugin, but let’s go further. By adding a Splitter in at the start of the chain, we create two parallel signal paths – one for the original plugins, another for something new. We can split by duplication, stereo or frequency bands. 3 By selecting the Frequency Split type, we can build up to five splits, creating multiband processing units, assigning a different task to each frequency region and determining the crossover frequencies between the…

Next-level effects Mapping multiple functions to macros Let’s see how this works in practice in Ableton Live 01 In an Ableton Live rack, we can call up the Macro panel using the top button on the far left. By right-clicking a control on an Ableton device within the rack, we can map its movement to one of the eight macros. Now Macro 1 will be in control of the Dry/Wet movement of the compressor. 02 To make it work with a plugin as well, load the plugin and expand its device using the triangular button, and you’ll see a few controls that you can assign in the same way as Ableton device controls, by right-clicking. You may need to tweak a control in the plugin UI to find it more…

Building plugin chains in Patchwork 1 Blue Cat Audio’s Patchwork is a plugin-hosting plugin that can create and store new combinations of effects using the third-party tools you have installed. Here we’re loading Polyverse Wider into Patchwork, which is loaded into Reason as a host. 2 Patchwork has slots for loading effects on the way in, on the way out, and two parallel chains in the middle. Here we’re loading two delays, one into each of the parallel chains in the centre. This lets us blend between the two plugins as we see fit. 3 We can extend the two parallel chains with a choice of more effects. Here, one of the chains has a compressor added after its delay, while the other sees EQ and saturation after its delay.…

In the mix Mixing drums in modular can be tricky, as you try to balance multiple sounds, some that you want to apply effects to, others not. Expert Sleepers’ ES-9 is a great option for the DAW-based among you, as it offers 16 channels of I/O, headphone and monitor out and MIDI, in a pretty compact footprint. We’d strongly suggest that you create a template for the ES-9 in your DAW, so that you have all of your channels ready to go, meaning that you can focus on your music, without the hassle of setting up an interface. Ideally, split these half and half into mono and stereo. You’ll need no aggregate devices to combine with another interface either – all it needs is a single USB-C cable. In typical…

Interview Steve O’Sullivan After hitting a creative wall in the early 2000s, new tech enticed Steve O’Sullivan back to his minimal techno roots. Danny Turner grills the producer about his path to re-assimilation Initially influenced by Underground Resistance founder Robert Hood, techno mainstay Steve O’Sullivan’s slowly evolving, minimal club tracks have been a prescient component of his sound for three decades, on releases under his own name and versatile aliases including The Wise Caucasian and Blue Spirit. O’Sullivan has released music on numerous labels, including his own Mosaic, Bluetrain and Green, the latter of which recently showcased his signature take on raw, minimal techno via the compilation Green Trax, charting releases from ’95-99. Meanwhile, lockdown has seen O’Sullivan rejuvenated with a new 20-track collaboration taking shape for early summer release.…

PACK ’EM IN Tracks adds a MicroSD card to the hardware, making the process of importing and storing samples more flexible, although some prep is still required. Rather than simply adding loose samples to the card and then importing them into the hardware – something that would be tricky, given Tracks’ lack of a screen – the card is used to hold and import complete Packs. A Pack is essentially a full memory state for Tracks, containing samples but also synth presets, sequences and projects. These are compiled and added to the SD card using the Components tool. The hardware itself holds one pack at a time, but the use of a card adds the option to store up to 31 additional full packs, significantly expanding the memory and making…

SOUNDS & SAMPLES UVI – Drone €149 > UVI add to their impressive instrument line-up with another library for hosting in their own Workstation software. This is free to download and usable in both standalone and DAW-hosted plugin versions – and as with previous offerings, users of UVI’s Falcon can also join the fun. In a manner similar to that employed in competitor Native Instruments’ Kontakt, multiple instruments can be hosted and loaded in the software, and their premium expansions largely make use of custom GUIs to control underlying DSP processing. Most UVI instruments we review are based on a straightforward sample-playback engine combined with some decent effects processing. Notwithstanding the differing visuals, it is this approach that is taken with their expansive Vintage Vault synth project. Drone, a so-called…