Innehållsförteckning för September 2023 från Future Music

Summer’s here, and we can’t think of a more suitable soundtrack for poolside lounging and sun-dappled relaxation than Pearl & The Oysters’ new album, Coast 2 Coast. This whimsical collection of 13 tracks draws on a smorgasbord of vintage gear and a colourful palette of retro influences, from ’70s Brazilian pop to Haruomi Hosono’s Pacific to the space-age sound of Stereolab, whose very own Lætitia Sadier contributed vocals to the record’s eleventh track, Read the Room. Pearl & The Oysters is Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack, two music-makers that sparked a kinship in a Parisian high school that’s since guided them through decades, continents and albums towards their arrival in Los Angeles and a fifth full-length release, Coast 2 Coast. The pair’s debut for LA-based tastemakers Stones Throw, the…

TRACK Olof Dreijer, Rosa Rugosa Hessle Audio Best known as one half of The Knife alongside sibling Fever Ray, Olof Dreijer’s latest solo single sees the producer landing on leftfield club institution Hessle Audio. Dreijer has an impressively distinctive sound for a purely instrumental musician. The percussive synth lines make liberal use of pitch envelopes and portamento, achieving a nervous energy reminiscent of the Knife’s best work. Here though, they’re laid out across a minimal, shuffling club beat and sweeping, grime-adjacent bassline that feels tailor-made to land hard on a big sound system. Si Truss ALBUM Arthur Russell, Picture of Bunny Rabbit Audika Records It seems apt to discuss the legacy of the late Arthur Russell this month, given FM’s theme, this issue, of the unfinished track. The cellist, poet,…

I ntegrity lies at the heart of Sebastian Mullaert’s outlook on creativity and sound. Best known as one half of the production duo Minilogue, his solo projects have become increasingly emboldened in recent years. Prising himself from the comfort of his luxurious cabin studio, Mullaert has sought to test his creative ideals through collaboration with likeminded artists and students enrolled to his In Bloom mentorship programme. Mullaert’s latest partnership with Stockholmbased producer/DJ Alexander Berg (aka Dorisburg), typifies his newfound approach to creativity. Having found a common language with the fellow Swede, the duo returned to Mullaert’s studio in Röstånga to create a collection of audio jams. After a pandemic-induced pause, the duo then took the recordings to Malmö’s Inkost venue where, via a series of live improvisational sessions,…

Upon the release of his debut LP Augmented 7th in 2015, Londonbased musician Ash Walker gained recognition from DJs and critics alike for the album’s skilfully assembled melting pot of styles. Further albums Echo Chamber and Aquamarine have since cemented Walker’s reputation for eclecticism, underpinned by his deep love of jazz, reggae and dub. This has led to diverse collaborations with the likes of reggae icon Lee “Scratch” Perry and Nikolaj Torp Larsen from two-tone band The Specials. Strongly influenced by Jamaican mix engineer King Tubby, Walker has referred to his recording technique as “anti-sound engineer” – an approach that couldn’t be more evident than on his fourth album, Astronaut, where his murky, dub-inflected style has rarely sounded more authentic and immersive. In making the album, Walker developed…

THREE OF THE BEST SSL Bus Compressor 2 £263.99 1 With a £250+ price tag, SSL’s celebrated bus compressor may seem simplistic, but what you’re paying for isn’t an extensive feature list, it’s that authentic analogue sound heard across hit records since the ’70s; originally in SSL’s hardware desks, now in digital form. solidstatelogic.com Waves Abbey Road Saturator $199 2 Designed with the team at the world’s most legendary recording studio, Abbey Road Saturator from Waves provides authentic analogue saturation – perfect for sticking on a group or master channel for instant warmth and drive. Choose between the REDD console’s tube sound, or the TG12345’s rounder tone. waves.com UAD Precision K-Stereo Ambience Recovery £199 3 This stereo imaging weapon from UA will open the stereo image of any sub group…

Around The World 1997 With a filtered intro sounding like a song you hear outside a club just before entering, and the robot hard-tuned vocals, Daft Punk were stamping their sound early on with Around The World. Not only that, but with their looks, too. The video is almost as iconic as the song itself, with helmeted robot dancing, mummies and skeletons… Ideas that may well have been hatched on that ‘trip’ to Euro Disney. One More Time 2000 It’s everything Daft Punk: the filters, the vocoder, the hard Auto-Tuning, the breakdown, the sidechain compression… They might not have invented the techniques, but this track certainly popularised them, launching an army of imitators (not to mention the odd Future Music article). Yet even though it contains at least five iconic…

CONTACT WHO: Akai Professional WEB: www.akaipro.com KEY FEATURES I/O: 16 velocity/pressure-sensitive RGB backlit pads with eight banks, four 360º touch-sensitive Q-Link knobs, large data encoder, 31 function buttons, 7” diagonal multitouch display, multicore ARM processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, SD card storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ableton Link, class-compliant USB audio interface compatibility THE PROS & CONS + WiFi, Ableton Link support and Bluetooth for wireless MIDI controllers Works standalone, or combined with other hardware/software External classcompliant USB audio interfaces can be added to expand I/O connectivity - Despite the upgrade to 16GB, the onboard storage still feels limited We’d really like an onboard guitar/ microphone input, and a full size 1/4” headphone jack It’s the entry-level MPC, but quite capable of producing complete pieces of music Having used Akai’s MPC Live…

CONTACT WHO: Future Sound Systems WEB: futuresoundsystems.co.uk KEY FEATURES -18db multi mode filter, rectifier, two types of wave folder, VCA Future Sound Systems’ latest offering, the FIL4 Timbral Sculptor, provides a variety of timbre-shaping goodies in one handy package. On the one hand, it offers the additive qualities of West Coast wavefolding and, on the other, subtractive East Coast filtering to carve out unique sounds. Let’s start with the filter. It’s a -18dB slope multi-mode running on an SSI2164 filter core, but rather than offering separate outputs for LP, BP and HP, the Timbral Sculptor has level controls (with CV inputs) for the different modes, allowing much greater control. The filter on its own sounds smooth and clean. It features a slightly accentuated resonance at high cut-off frequencies which lends…

CONTACT WHO: Audio-Technica WEB: audio-technica.com KEY FEATURES DESIGN: Closed back, over-ear DRIVER: 45mm FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 15Hz to 28kHz SENSITIVITY: 99dB/mW BATTERY: Approx 50 hours FEATURES: Built-in Alexa, Bluetooth fast pairing, microphone, low latency BT ACCESSORIES: Pouch, USB cable, audio cable PRICING: Black, £170; Blue £200 WEIGHT: 311g Audio-Technica’s ATH-M50xBT is a Bluetooth model of its popular ATH-M50x wired headphones and is based on the same 45mm large aperture drivers that use rare earth magnets and copper-clad aluminium wire voice coils. The latest BT2 version of these headphones is now available in both black and blue editions. They are over the ear DJ style headphones with hinged and rotatable ear cups, and heavily padded ear cushions and headband. When you put them on they provide excellent isolation and in this respect…

RCA, 1981 It’s a fitting name for a band that actually changed the landscape of electronic music. Richard James Burgess and crew were pushing the boundaries of computer-based beats before it was a thing. Coining terms like EDM on the back of singles. And putting weird bleeps, avant-garde chants, and processed 4/4s in pop charts normally reserved for guitars and verse/chorus songs. “It was also the first album made by a computer, and no one’s ever refuted that,” adds Burgess. Landscape, very much a group collaboration including Chris Heaton, Andy Pask, Peter Thoms and John L. Walters, morphed out of the instrumental jazz/punk world to become a vocal electronic outfit. All gifted musicians, the turning point coming when they copped the MC-8 MicroComposer – Roland’s seminal but costly microprocessor-based sequencer.…

Countless electronic musicians suffer from getting stuck in a loop – endlessly starting ideas but never seeing them through. This issue, we’re here to help you break free of writer’s block and finish more projects than ever before. For all of their flexibility and power, our modern, computer-centred studio environments can often work to hinder productivity as much as drive it. The sheer scope and choice can be overwhelming. We have access to millions of potential sounds, software recreations of practically any piece of gear you can think of, an unlimited well of samples and sources of inspiration – all of which can be endlessly edited, saved in multiple reworked versions, recalled instantly. It’s easy to get overloaded with choices and information; and that’s before we even consider the distractive…

FINALISING THE LAST few bars of a project or adding those allimportant finishing touches to a mixdown can be an intimidating prospect for all of us, from those at the beginning of their journey into music production to artists with hundreds of releases under their belt. The question of when exactly to wrap it up when you’re building a track is one that’s puzzled artists of all stripes, from bedroom beatmakers to hit producers, and each one has different methods for knowing how to make this crucial decision effectively. We’ve spoken to more than a few experienced music-makers over the years, asking each artist how they conclude their creative process and decide when a track is well and truly finished. Here’s what they said… HERMITUDE: “When you listen back and…

British producer James Hype has become well known in recent years for his crossover track such as the top 10 singles Ferrari and En Vogue-inspired More Than Friends. He’s also an in-demand DJ, regularly touring across the UK, Europe and the US, playing high-profile shows in Ibiza and at festivals like Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival. A cornerstone of James Hype’s career lies in his use of edits, bootlegs and remixes. As a fledgling DJ, he made his name by posting countless hip-hop and R&B edits to SoundCloud and social media. Now as an established artist, his own home-made edits, acapellas and creative sampling of high-profile artists provide a unique and distinctive centrepiece to his sets. At this year’s Brighton Music Conference, James set down with Future Music editor-in-chief Si…

Electronic music can be a serious place. Between techno’s ominous thump and EDM’s sweaty braggadocio, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that, essentially, we’re all just here to have fun. Sure, electronic music is art, and it’s also how some of us make a living. But if we cast our minds back to remember the reason we opened up a DAW or picked up a synth in the first place, it’s the sheer joy that’s sparked by making and rearranging sounds, and the promise of where that could lead, that got most of us hooked. Nathan Micay’s music bottles that feeling and amplifies it to the nth degree. After debuting in 2012 under the alias Bwana, Micay began working under his own name in 2018, releasing a pair…

As if being 50% of the wondrous Simian Mobile Disco (along with Jas Shaw) wasn’t enough to have on your CV, James Ellis Ford has applied his considerable production and mixing talents to myriad artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode and Gorillaz to name but three. Perpetually in demand, Ford decided to carve out some ‘me’ time and the result is wonderful debut solo offering, The Hum. The Hum is an immersive, laid-back, radiophonic joy of an album. Pieced together in his home attic studio using what can only be described as some seriously cool outboard and equally cool studio know-how, The Hum sees Ford let his own imagination run free and what a glorious thing that turns out to be. Tape-loops, drones, drums and vintage synths are employed…

CONTACT WHO: Audio-Technica WEB: audio-technica.com KEY FEATURES POLAR PATTERN: Hypercardioid FREQ RESPONSE: 60Hz-16kHz IMPEDANCE: 600 Ohms OPEN CIRCUIT SENSITIVITY: -52dB (0 dB=1 V/Pa, 1kHz) OUTPUT CONNECTOR: 3-pin XLR DIMENSIONS: 181.5 x 50mm WEIGHT: 262g ACCESSORIES: stand clamp for 5/8” stands, 3/8” stand adapter, carry pouch The ATS99 is a new premium handheld dynamic mic from Audio-Technica. Incorporating a machined aluminium body with stylish headstock and grille, it feels solid and looks great. But there are plenty of features under the hood that look to lift the ATS99 above your average dynamic. First up, it aims for a good frequency response (60Hz-16kHz is quoted), and a high magnetic force magnet is used alongside a step up transformer to help improve the low mids at high volumes. Next up, the narrow hypercardioid…

CONTACT WHO: Arturia WEB: arturia.com KEY FEATURES Firmware update, free to existing users. Adds four new oscillator ‘engine’ modes, along with user sample upload, snappy envelope mode and keyboard modulation options. You have to admire Arturia’s commitment to the MicroFreak. It was already an impressive instrument when it landed in 2021, combining an analogue filter with a multitude of digital oscillator modes that brought a touch of Eurorack-inspired eccentricity to the budget synth realm. Its capabilities have continued to grow since launch though, with various firmware updates adding new presets, improved modulation and additional engine modes, including a vocoder. We covered much of this in a long term test review a year ago [FM384], in which we were impressed by the current state of the MicroFreak. Now it’s received yet…

European Man “On the back of the single we wrote, ‘Electronic Dance Music… EDM; computer programmed to perfection for your listening pleasure’. “At the time we started to write about things that were relevant to us and not about love. This was about computers, or microprocessors, as we referred to them back then. At that time they were going to basically remove the need for daily labour, which is particularly timely now, when we’re in the middle of this conversation about AI in a very serious way. We were talking about a new ‘European Man’ and the idea that these microprocessors would effectively make it so we increased productivity to the degree that humans wouldn’t need to work again. Of course, it didn’t work out that way.” Shake The West…

ONCE CREATIVE HURDLES have been overcome and you’ve conquered the arrangement, it’s time to turn those sketched out ideas into a finished track. But the process of mixing a track and fine-tuning sounds can often be as daunting as creating the track itself. Reduce the pain and effort required to mix your next track with these time-saving tips DON’T BE AFRAID TO OUTSOURCE IT Before we get into the practical mixing tips, let’s get one basic point out of the way first: if you’re really struggling to mix a track, there’s no shame in getting someone else to do it for you. There’s a longstanding and misguided stigma within electronic music that in order to be a ‘real’ producer you need to handle every part of your track creation from…

>Group and bus processing gives you free rein to process multiple things through one output, but what ‘things’ should you lump together? Remember, this is music, so there’s no one strict set of answers, but there are a few ways to think about things, depending on the outcomes you want to achieve. We’ve looked at drum bus processing already, but that’s not the only way to slice your percussion. How about splitting them into low and high percussive elements, or putting the crashes onto the FX bus for processing? What about leaving the kick out altogether? YOU CAN EASILY BUS ‘WIDE’ AND ‘NARROW’ OR ‘MID’ AND ‘SIDES’ ELEMENTS ON THEIR OWN Let’s consider vocals now. Whether your track is constituted by vocal effects and chops, or if you’ve got a…

CONTACT WHO: Arturia WEB: arturia.com KEY FEATURES 61-note velocity sensitive keyboard with hybrid synth-piano feel, 8 touch and pressure sensitive pads, 2.5” bright LCD display with backlit contextual buttons, 1 main encoder, 9 rotary encoders, 9 x30mm faders, 8 transport and 4 command buttons PRICING: 49 key – €199, 61 key – €249 Arturia’s affordable KeyLab Essential range has just been overhauled. Available in 49-note and 61-note versions in either black or white, we’ve got a white 61-note unit. The core controls look much like its predecessor, but on closer inspection it’s obvious the whole thing has had a considerable upgrade, with an excellent new display, improved backlit buttons and pads, and overall slicker casework. Round the back, things have also changed, with a regular MIDI output joined by a…

CONTACT WHO: ADDAC WEB: addacsystem.com KEY FEATURES I/O: Complete synth voice, Includes multi mode filter, External gain control Synth voices are easy to find and come in all shapes and sizes, but to find one that offers a complete palette, that is well built and comes in a suitable form factor can be much harder – even more so when looking for consistency and personality in one module. ADDAC aim to make this a simple choice with the release of the Acid Source. As with all ADDAC modules, the hardware is solid, well built and clearly labelled. While a cursory glance may make it appear a little utilitarian compared to some of the wild graphics and glyphs seen elsewhere, the clean and clear approach makes navigating in a darker environment…