Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från Future Music

It’s been a tough couple of years for DJs. The pandemic that derailed all of our plans throughout 2020 and 2021 hit the nightlife industry particularly hard. Clubs were some of the first places to close and one of the last things to reopen, and although we’re almost back to normality now, the effects on the industry are still being felt. It also changed the face of DJing somewhat. With clubs shut, many pro DJs went online – finding outlets to stream, mix and connect with an audience without being in the same room as them. While streamed DJ sets are nothing new, many artists who might previously have never heard of platforms like Twitch found themselves dealing with a fresh reality. This issue, we’re here to help you update…

> Now firmly established as an emulator of classic hardware synths, Cherry Audio have announced their first original virtual instrument: Dreamsynth. Despite being a new design, this is heavily inspired by the hybrid digital/analogue synths of the mid to late-’80s – the likes of the Sequential Circuits Prophet VS and Ensoniq ESQ-1. Cherry Audio say that they’ve taken the “distinctive qualities” of these instruments and combined them with the best features of modern software to create a unique 21st century hybrid. There are three dual-waveform oscillators, equating to six simultaneous virtual analogue or PCM sample-based oscillators with up to 16 voices of polyphony. As an added bonus, you also get an additional 16-voice string synth that can be layered and split across the keyboard, independent of the primary synth. The 12dB/octave…

“I’VE GOT A GOOD COLLECTION OF HARDWARE SYNTHS NOW SO I DON’T REALLY USE VST SYNTHS” Producer, composer, sound designer and studio engineer Nic Nell records under the alias Casually Here and runs an independent label, Algebra Records. In producing his expansive, atmospheric opus Possible Worlds, he built new sonic worlds while questioning how we treat our own, exploring the existential risk that faces our environment through sweeping, transcendent electronica. We spoke with Nic to find out more about the studio equipment and creative processes that lay behind the making of new album Possible Worlds. When did you start making music? “I was classically trained as a kid, singing in choirs, playing the clarinet and a bit of piano. As a teenager I learned to drum and started singing in…

> There is, on paper at least, no reason that a great DJ needs to be a great producer, or vice versa. There have been countless impressive DJs over the years who have never released a track of their own, or at least none that were particularly noteworthy. Similarly, many wonderfully electronic musicians make pretty average DJs, or don’t bother at all. That said though, the electronic music industry is geared up in a way that encourages artists to do both. If you’re releasing your own tracks, or trying to persuade a label to do so, a regular schedule of DJ gigs is an invaluable tool to help promote them. Conversely, having a big track or two to your name could be the key to picking up higher-profile, better-paid DJ…

Bi-timbral settings 1 Both new Boutique models are bi-timbral, so you can play two different sounds at once, though you access this functionality differently on each model. On the JX-08, it’s a simpler affair – press the first two buttons in the step sequencer, labeled Part A or B to recall either Part. On the JD-08, hold the Note button and press Tone A or B to access the respective Parts. Get sculpting 2 Both new Boutiques have a wider range of effects than any previous models, which were mostly limited to chorus and a not-very-tweakable delay. On the JX-08, there are 17 effects to choose from, including such novelties like a Lo-Fi Compressor and a Pitch-Shifter. To get under the hood and tweak these effects, you need to enter…

Genres often fade away through lack of interest, but few can match the dramatic tension of bassline, a genre which nearly died out completely thanks to outside pressures. Despite establishing itself as a distinctly English take on garage and house, bassline was threatened with extinction at the hands of the police after developing a reputation for violence at club nights. As UK garage declined in commercial popularity around the early 2000s, the scene splintered and went in different directions. Some producers and DJs embraced the darker sounds and evolved into the early roots of grime and dubstep. In the north, others leaned into four-to-the-floor garage sounds, which had lurked quietly in the background while the syncopated sound of two-step garage hogged the limelight. To a hardcore of fans in the…

CONTACT WHO: Steinberg WEB: steinberg.net KEY FEATURES MIDI Remote integration, Improved AudioWarp, Scale Assistant in VariAudio, Improved editing workflow, Audio to chords, Enhanced Logical Editors, Raiser, FX Modulator, Verve, Native Apple silicon, New License Management Major DAW updates always come with a certain amount of trepidation, as it’s inevitable that every user will have their own personal preferences when it comes to functionality, and therefore what makes it onto their ‘top feature request’ list. One has to only look at the official Steinberg forums to see this at play, and as is the case with any software, the most opinionated here don’t necessarily represent a majority view. One also has to remember that software such as Cubase has an incredible number of features that cater for a very wide range…

CONTACT WHO: Maestro/Gibson WEB: maestroelectronics.com KEY FEATURES IMPEDANCE I/O: 32kΩ/5kΩ (Fuzz Tone FZ-M), 1MΩ/1kΩ (Ranger), 100kΩ/100Ω (Invader), 470kΩ/1kΩ (Comet), 470kΩ/1kΩ (Discoverer) BYPASS: True Bypass CURRENT DRAW: 21mA (FZ-M), 30.4mA (Ranger), 56.7mA (Invader), 55.4mA (Comet), 61.3mA (Discoverer), POWER: 9VDC centre negative and 9V battery operation DIMENSIONS: 128 x 88 x 64mm WEIGHT: 556g to 576g (model dependent) PRICING: Ranger, FZ-M, Invader, Comet – £139, Discoverer – £149 The Maestro name is synonymous with some true classics, like the FZ-1 Fuzz Tone and PS-1 Phase Shifter, as well as a whole roster of guitarists, especially modular synthesists, the new Maestro line is pointedly guitar-centric, considering 60% of the pedals are variations on distortion. That said, if a pedal works well on guitar, it’ll likely bring some joy to synths, and even…

>Reverse reverb is one of those classic studio effects that can sound great, done properly. Take a track, add reverb, bounce it to audio, then reverse that audio in your DAW, and drag to place the reversed reverb signal before the original sound that it stemmed from. We’re pleased to announce, though, that United Plugins’ new plugin, Mirror, helps remove all those pesky workflow steps from the bargain, instead letting you instantly whip up the celebrated effect. Even better, thanks to a couple of parameters in the plugin, you can make a few big tweaks to the character of the reverse reverb and how it sits against the original sound – without having to do any of the micro-operations yourself. Flip reverse it > Add Mirror onto a track, give…

Korg Minilogue £399 Full Review: FM302 Five years on and despite the existence of the XD follow-up, for our money there is still no better bang-for-your-buck analogue deal than Korg’s modern classic 4-voice poly. IK UNO Synth Pro from £399 Full Review: FM371 The UNO Synth Pro shames some much more expensive instruments, with a whole raft of functions and features you’d expect to pay twice as much for. Behringer TD-3 £95 Say what you want about Behringer and their run of unofficial ‘tributes’, but this little acid box does a convincing 303 impression for less than £100, which is hard to argue with. Moog DFAM £510 The compact semi-modulars of Moog’s Mother series are all winners, but this oddball two-oscillator percussion instrument remains a favourite of the range. Erica…

> Roland have released the Fantom-0 series, which contains lighter, streamlined and more affordable versions of their flagship Fantom synth workstations. There are three models – Fantom-06, -07 and -08 – each of which is designed for use in the studio and on stage. Fantom-0 is designed to bring Roland’s top-tier tech to a new audience, with each model in the range featuring thousands of the best sounds that the company has to offer. You also get a colour touchscreen, hands-on controls and deep computer integration. Sounds are powered by three Roland engines – ZEN-Core, SuperNATURAL and Virtual ToneWheel Organ – and further expansions are available via the Roland Cloud. These include emulations of Roland synth classics such as the JX-8P, SH-101, Juno-106 and Jupiter-8, plus n/ zyme, the new…

> Released in the ‘70s, Buchla’s 200 series retains iconic status in the world of modular. Collectively known as ‘The Electric Music Box’, these modules showcased West Coast synthesis legend Don Buchla’s deep explorations into more complex uses of voltage control. Now they’re back in the form of the Buchla 200 Classic Reissue series. The reissues retain the classic colour-coded patching system of the originals and have been created with the help of Roman Filippov of Black Corporation and Joshua Holley of Malekko/Dark Place. They’re said to be “the most authentic and accurate recreations of the original Buchla 200 series ever made”. They have been created using modern build techniques while promising to remain faithful to Don Buchla’s vision. The new modules will be assembled in the USA, with the…

Use your cue points 1 Pretty much any modern DJ player or mixing software will let you add multiple cue points to your tracks. The primary use for these is pretty obvious: to mark the first beat of the track, the point that you’re most likely to start playing that track in order to drop it into a mix. What to do with those leftover cue markers then? There’s a multitude of possibilities. You might want to add ‘jump’ points to a track, to, say, skip over a long breakdown or a vocal section you’d rather avoid. Alternatively, you could use one to skip ahead to a distinctive hook that you might want to tease before mixing the track in properly. Aside from letting you jump to different track sections,…

01 > There are several ways to integrate these new Boutique synths into your DAW workflow. The simplest is the old fashioned way with a normal 5-pin MIDI cable connected from your controller keyboard into the MIDI input of either synth. However both Boutiques also have MIDI over USB functionality, so one USB-C cable eliminates the need for other MIDI connections. 02 > As with the previous versions of the Roland Boutique series, it’s possible to use audio over USB with both the JX-08 and JD-08. In order to do so, you’ll have to download and install the appropriate drivers from Roland, as neither synth is class compliant. 03 > After doing so, you’ll be able to digitally stream each Part from either synth individually into your DAW, as well…

THE NINETIES Todd Terry -Something Goin’ On (Loop Da Loop Uptown Mix) (1997) 1 You can trace the evolution of bassline way back to the early ’90s, but the roots are most clearly audible from the late ’90s on. Featuring vocals from the legendary Jocelyn Brown and Martha Wash, Terry’s original version is a true house classic. This remix by London producer Nicolas Dresti – now better known under his Space Cowboy alias – was adopted by Niche resident DJs as the club was establishing itself in the early days of bassline. Adding Jamaican influences, wild sound effects and warping basslines, the Uptown mix helped lay the foundations for bassline. THE NOUGHTIES T2 featuring Jodie Aysha – Heartbroken (2007) 2 Probably bassline’s first proper crossover hit, and still one of…

CONTACT WHO: Analogue Solutions WEB: analoguesolutions.com KEY FEATURES 3 VCOs can run polyphonically, SEM based filter, Sequencer, Patternator THE PROS & CONS + Authentic vintagestyle sounds Lots of versatility from patching Patternator is great for creating interest Built-in tuner - Some switches feel a bit weak The patternator and interval generator will be the biggest causes of musical joy If you think you may have seen the Fusebox X before you’d be forgiven: it does look familiar to the previous incarnation. Look a little closer, however, and you start to spot the differences. Newly black switches; silver-ringed patch points; a sequencer in place of the old arpeggiator and a new tuner, (something I wish more synths had). The big change is behind the scenes: the switch from monophonic to paraphonic,…

CONTACT WHO: Behringer WEB: behringer.com KEY FEATURES Analogue synth with Dual VCOs, Pure analogue signal path based on authentic VCO, VCF and VCA designs, Classic 4-pole filter design with self-resonance capability, 64-note dual sequencer, 16-voice Poly Chain allows combining multiple synthesisers for up to 16 voice polyphony Following the release of their own take on the Model D, Behringer’s Pro-1 is an all-analogue tabletop synth that takes inspiration from a certain classic by Sequential Circuits, the Pro-One. Originally released in 1980, the Pro-One was said to be inspired by a single voice from the iconic Prophet-5 synth, but it had a few tricks of its own. Behringer didn’t mess with the successful formula too much, as their Pro-1 is an all-analogue monosynth that features two oscillators, a beefy filter with…

>Monster bottom-end bizz that’ll melt cones, break hearts, and curdle milk at ten paces. The downright dirty decibels in this mammoth 3.8GB pack are ripe and ready to take your glitched out future-hop wobblers and nasty neuro-steppers to the next dimension. There are future bass loops everywhere you look, as well as electronic noisescapes, full and stripped-back drum lines, EDM synths, and some very tricked out construction kits to go goo-goo over. If you f**k with 150-160bpm or 170-190bpm, then you’ll be left gagging and gooped. And, in the spirit of giving, they bless you right up with a raft of bonkers Ableton racks for generating mad sounds and saturating harmonics with the merest flick of a dial. Phat AF! Roy Spencer loopmasters.com VERDICT 9.0 Air – Splice Originals From…

> Brighton Music Conference is set to return to the city’s British Airways i360 venue on the 25-27 May, and the event has just announced its first run of speakers. Top of the bill are notable DJs and producers including Leftwing:Kody, Bushwacka, Max Chapman, Greg Wilson, Just Her and DMC World Champion JFB. FM will be returning to host a panel this year too – stay tuned for details! With a focus this year on getting ‘back to the music’, BMC will feature three days of panels and talks, plus networking events, parties and a specialised exhibition/tech and services zone. Tickets start at £50 for BMC Academy passes. Full details at: brightonmusicconference.co.uk…

> Apple regularly make tweaks to their Mac line-up, but now they've launched a brand-new model: Mac Studio. A desktop computer, this is powered by either the existing M1 Max chip or the new M1 Ultra, and promises “an unprecedented level of performance, an extensive array of connectivity, and completely new capabilities in an unbelievably compact design”. First impressions are that Mac Studio is sort of like a super-powered Mac mini. It’s built from aluminium and features an intriguing thermal design that incorporates double-sided blowers, airflow channels and more than 4,000 perforations on the back and bottom of the enclosure. Apple are bullish about the Mac Studio’s numbers; in the case of the M1 Max model, they’re touting up to 2.5x faster CPU performance than the fastest 27-inch iMac with 10-core…

> The general principle behind streaming from a cloud music library for DJing is the same as using any streaming service such as Spotify or Apple Music. Instead of playing music from physical media or pre-loaded onto a drive, you can access a library of tracks stored remotely. There are some key differences for DJ-specific streaming tools though, primarily that they allow tracks to be loaded into a mixing app. This allows users to adjust the playback BPM, save metadata and potentially do things like apply cue points, and slice or sample the track. WHICH MIXING SOFTWARE IS BEST FOR STREAMING? In the past few years most major DJing applications have added some form, but some are better served than others. Rekordbox – which has its own cloud-based library –…

> During lockdown the DJ community took to live streaming like fish to water, as real world gigs took a necessary hiatus. Pivoting to online platforms like Mixcloud Live and Twitch, and broadcasting largely from their homes, this first wave of disc jocks quickly found their feet. And, after the initial gold rush, webcam sessions became more and more professional as everyone got to grips with broadcasting from their homes. Fast forward to now. Pandemic restrictions may have eased as clubs reopen their doors, but huge numbers of music fans continue to support DJ channels online. The community gets bigger everyday as more and more DJs make regular live streaming part of their routine. Relative unknowns have amassed sizeable followings, and even make a fair chunk of change for their…

Roland‘s Boutique range has been around for a few years now and has picked up scores of fans from around the world. These small desktop designs put classic sounds into portable packages with smaller controls and digital streaming of audio built in, all while allowing users to take them from studio to stage in petite, battery-powered form. Roland has clearly been listening to its user base, as it recently announced two more models in the Boutique range that did away completely with the pitch and modulation strips of previous models, creating much more surface area for hands-on controls. These two new synths are the JD-08 and JX-08, which, as you’ve probably guessed, are emulations of two of Roland’s lesser-known synths from the late ’80s and early ’90s. The JD-08 is…

>DJ Pierre will need little introduction to most. As part of the group Phuture, he introduced the world to acid house, and its sound palette dominated by the incessant driven squelch of the TB-303 Bass Line. Decades have elapsed since Acid Trax hit the streets of Chicago, but its influence can still be heard in house, techno and related micro-genres even in today’s offerings. It’s also interesting to note that while the TR-909 so often gets labelled as the House music drum machine, the all-digital TR-707 (and its Latin percussion cousin) were also widely employed. Given that Roland have distilled the essence of all these units into DSP and hosted in both hardware and plugin form, it’s no surprise to find that DJ Pierre has created a set of partner…

Bitwig Studio 4.2 $399 Full Review: FM373 (Bitwig 4) Bitwig’s ‘point’ updates continue to bring some of the DAW’s most exciting features. This latest drop gives the effects a welcome refresh and adds a full modular sequencer. Steinberg Cubase 12 £497 Full Review: FM382 NEW ENTRY Version 12 is a solid and dependable update to Cubase, and offers some excellent new features and small, but important, update to others. Ableton Live 11 Suite £539 Review: FM368 Not an essential upgrade for everyone, but new additions, including comping, MPE and linked tracks, have been smartly done. Live retains its place at the cutting edge. Tracktion Waveform Pro from $119 Review: FM345 Waveform is now friendlier, contains more creative tools and brings workflow ideas you’ll have missed from other DAWs. Apple Logic…