Innehållsförteckning för January 2024 från Future Music

Editor-In-Chief Si Truss, simon.truss@futurenet.com Reviews Editor, Music Technology Simon Arblaster, simon.arblaster@futurenet.com Features Editor, Music Technology Matt Mullen, matt.mullen@futurenet.com Managing Editor Kate Puttick, kate.puttick@futurenet.com Production Editor Stan Bull, stanley.bull@futurenet.com Design Philip Cheesbrough, Meg Culliford, Mark White CONTRIBUTORS Bruce Aisher, Phil Barker, Oli Bell, Chris Corfield, Olly Curtis, Adam Lee, Jon Musgrave, Andy Price, James Russell, Roy Spencer, Robbie Stamp, Danny Turner ADVERTISING For Ad enquiries: Kyle Phillips, kyle.phillips@futurenet.com MARKETING Direct Marketing Executive: Will Hardy PRODUCTION &DISTRIBUTION Production Controller: Fran Twentyman Production Manager: Mark Constance​ Printed in the UK by: Buxton Press on behalf of Future Distributed in the UK by:​ Marketforce (UK), 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU Tel: +44 (0) 203 787 9001 CIRCULATION Head of Newstrade: Tim Mathers SUBSCRIPTIONS Order line and enquiries: +44 (0)330…

Imagine a hands-on effects processor that’s also a pad-based sampler and you’re getting close to the Kaoss Replay, Korg’s new standalone live performance and music creation tool. The Kaoss brand, of course, is one that many will be familiar with. Indeed, the original Kaoss Pad, which introduced us to Korg’s X/Y effect processing touchscreen, was released way back in 1999. It was followed up with various other models, including the Kaoss Pad 3, Kaoss Pad Quad and Kaossilator, which also became a mobile app. It goes without saying, though, that the Kaoss Replay is significantly more sophisticated. Yes, that touchscreen is still here – a 5-inch, full-colour OLED one, in fact – but below it are 16 velocity-sensitive pads that can accommodate a total of 128 sample slots per project,…

It's no secret that Elektron’s Analog Rytm is one of the best analogue drum machines on the market; in our five-star review, we praised the Rytm’s sound-shaping capabilities, flexible synth architecture and sleek hardware. In that review, we also noted that some new machines (Elektron’s term for the Rytm’s individual synth engines, each designed to generate a specific type of sound) would have been a welcome addition to the Rytm’s MKII version. Well, our prayers have been answered, as Elektron has announced a comprehensive software update that brings five new machines to the Rytm along with a host of new features and workflow tweaks. Owners of the Rytm MKI needn’t miss out, either, as the new OS can be installed on both versions of the drum machine. OS 1.70’s new…

Balanced, accurate sound with rich bass and extended clarity Machined aluminium housing with minimalist design Silver-plated copper cable providing highresolution audio Twisted cable design with anti-tangle properties Durable aluminium angled jack plug and y-split section Comfortable and secure fit with isolating design *Terms and conditions: Offer closes 25 January 2024. Direct Debit offer open to new subscribers only. Offer is available to UK subscribers only. *£34.99 (print only), £29.49 (digital magazine only) by 6-monthly payments via UK Direct Debit. This price is guaranteed for the first 12 months and we will notify you of any price changes. All gift subscriptions start with the first available issue on-sale after December 2023. If you would like your gift subscription to start with an earlier issue, you can choose an earlier issue when…

Audio technology is capable of astonishing feats. From the most faithful capturing of analogue oscillation to the most advanced modulation and processing you can imagine, today’s top synths use these technological heights to their advantage. But so do the synths that aren’t hitting the big leagues, and others that have been treading their own path. INCLUDES AUDIO Today’s top synths need no introduction, but there are plenty more options laying slightly lower in the background. For every Arturia Pigments and u-he Hive, there are at least a couple of alternative options that haven’t been quite as successful. Some aimed to make it big but didn’t catch the right wind – others bravely trod their own path, offering a completely different experience that was never expected to be a mainstream phenomenon.…

Not many producers can get away with putting out tracks that stretch to 45 minutes long. But Ricardo Villalobos isn’t just any old producer. One of dance music’s most storied figures, the ChileanGerman producer and DJ’s slender, hypnotic grooves have earned him a reputation as a master of minimal techno and a near-universally renowned artist within electronic music’s underground. Born in Chile, Villalobos’ parents fled the country in 1973 after Augusto Pinochet ousted liberal president Salvador Allende in a military coup, bringing the three-year-old to his mother’s native Germany, a place she had been forced to leave after WWII. As a child in Germany, Villalobos’s curiosity was sparked by the South American rhythms in the records he would hear at home; he began his own collection at the age of…

Pangaea Changing Channels Hessle Audio This latest album from Hessle boss Pangaea is a celebration of dance music at its most fun. That’s not to say there are no original ideas, but each oddball rhythm or creative sample is put to service to build energetic, infectious tunes. Overmono Good Lies XL With their debut album, sibling duo Tom and Ed Russell have created a record that feels like a fitting homage to the history of UK rave music, whilst also perfectly encapsulating the sound of dance music in 2023. Avalon Emerson, & The Charm Another Dove/One House The US producer’s left turn from creating synth-driven techno to jangly dream pop would be baffling, were it not delivered so flawlessly. Caroline Polachek, Desire, I Want To Turn Into You Perpetual Polachek…

As we head into the final weeks of 2023, it’s that time of year again when we revisit our gear highlights of the past 12 months. 2023 has had its ups and downs in the music technology world, including a few brands sadly downsizing or going out of business, but there’s also been a whole heap of exciting new electronic instruments, plugins and production gear. As ever, we’ve put our heads together with our team of writers and experts to crown the best-of-the-best in a variety of categories. So if you’re on the hunt for a new workhorse synth, a great value interface, some top-quality monitors or the latest plugins to add to your hard drive, our Gear of the Year round-up is here to do the hard work for…

Universal Audio has announced the Sound City Studios plugin, a software emulation of one of the Los Angeles studio that has played host to some of the biggest names in rock music, including Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac and Rage Against the Machine. This is the studio where Nirvana recorded Nevermind: after the studio shut down in 2011, Dave Grohl purchased its vintage 8028 console and made a feature-length documentary about the place. UA says its new plugin recreates “every aspect” of Sound City Studios, from the sound of the room to its classic microphones, analogue outboard gear and its legendary mixing console. Sound City was famed for the unique acoustics of its Studio A room, which UA have recreated using Dynamic…

>This year’s Oram Awards – celebrating the work of women, trans, non-binary and gender diverse artists – showed why it’s become a must for anyone interested in the developing arts of sound design, music technology development, organisers have said. The annual presentation, held at The King’s Place centre in central London in late November, saw an array of talented artists gather to showcase music-making that pushes the boundaries of creativity and experimentation. The awards were established to keep alive the pioneering spirit of Daphne Oram, a co-founder of the Radiophonic Workshop whose singular approach to experimental music helped UK electronic music – and the technology that enables it – form into what we currently see today. This year’s list of eight winners includes work that incorporates technologically interesting tools and…

ML Buch, Suntub ALBUM OF THE MONTH 15 Love There’s certainly an experimental aspect to Marie Louise Buch’s work; this is an artist that swallowed a pill containing a tiny video camera to film her insides for the music video accompanying her debut album Skinned as a means of exploring themes of intimacy in the digital age and a “very literal way of internalising technology”. High-concept hijinks aside, Buch is a gifted songwriter and producer that uses unconventional methods to arrive at something instantly accessible. Where Skinned leaned more into electronic textures and overt effects processing, her latest album, Suntub, digs further into Buch’s fascination with the guitar, filtering the familiar sounds of ’80s and ’90s alt-rock through a surreal lens. Not only a bedroom producer, Buch prefers recording in…

>I often start reviews of UVI soundware by alluding to the brand’s desire to cover as many synths as possible in an ever-expanding lineup. Well, Synth Anthology 4 certainly lives up to this claim, with its guest list of over 200 electronic instruments from which to choose. This update on the previous collection not only brings with it an expanded repertoire, but also a range of functional improvements. Notable additions are the dual layering, modulation and effects capabilities, but the new GUI also adds a very handy ‘smart suggestion’ feature for finding similar sounds as well as native MPE support and improved arpeggiation/sequencing. With 4,000 presets it also has plenty of scope for use across a wide range of styles. As with the bulk of UVI’s instruments, the underlying technology…

Seeing as Teenage Engineering has spent much of the past few years focused on high-priced gadgets – such as the slick, pocket-sized and punishingly expensive ‘Field’ range – it’s easy to forget that the Swedish brand is also responsible for some of the best-value instruments on the market with its battery-powered Pocket Operators. First launched back in 2015, the PO range comprised a variety of compact, calculator-like instruments each focused around a quirky digital engine and a selection of fun ‘punchin’ effects. Now Teenage Engineering is launching what it calls an “evolution” to one of the range, with the release of EP-133 KO II, a redesigned and enhanced successor to the popular PO-33 KO! sampler. Teenage Engineering claims the PO-33 is “the world’s most sold sampler”, and while we’ve no…

If you miss the immediacy of recording on a 4-track cassette recorder but don’t want to sacrifice the creative options that digital technology has to offer, you might need to take a look at the new Torso Electronics S-4 Sculpting Sampler. Visually, this looks like what you might sketch on a piece of paper if you were asked to design a 4-track for the 21st Century, and that’s probably no coincidence. There are indeed four parallel stereo tracks, each of which offers a chain of five audio devices. First up, the Material device, which includes stereo ‘tape’ and sample players with live audio and looping capabilities. The Granular device delivers live granular processing with time-warping and pitchshifting algorithms, and Filter is a morphing resonator with a 48-band tuned filter bank.…

© FotinosBakrisioris Talking Shop | Who?? Alex Tsiridis has been cooking up future-facing dance music for well over a decade, both under the moniker Rhyw and as one half of production duo Cassegrain, but he was firmly planted on our collective radar by last year’s superb Honey Badger EP, a quartet of mutated club constructions fronted by a dizzying title track that was equal parts brain-frying belter and percussive experimentation exercise. Mister Melt, the Welsh-Greek producer and DJ’s latest EP, affirms his place as one of dance music’s most imaginative artists. Engine Track is a 200mph speedrun through feverish, squelchy techno, fittingly laced with vroom-vroom F1 samples; Wolf Town feels like a successor to Honey Badger with its rapid-fire percussion; while Spritz and Mister Melt find Rhyw breaking out some…

CONTACT WHO: Steinberg WEB: steinberg.net KEY FEATURES MixConsole, Editor Range Tool, Multi-part MIDI editing, updated Chord Pads, Channel Tab, Vocoder, VocalChain, VoxComp and vintage-style EQ and compression plugins, Replace Audio in Video and other video track tweaks, channel type switching, updated key command features, MIDI 2.0 support, more audio input options, Iconica Sketch orchestral VSTi, Sampler Track Spectral Warp There was a period when Steinberg fell into a biennial pattern for major updates (usually in November), with smaller half-step versions arriving midway between. However, Cubase 12 bucked this trend (arriving in March 2022) and there’s been no Cubase 12.5, meaning Steinberg have gone straight to the newlyreleased Cubase 13. Cubase itself has a wide range of users, with each vying for attention when it comes to a wish-list of features…

Even the smallest space will create some kind of reverberation that will be perceived by the listener. This reverb is produced by any sound in a space being reflected from available surfaces back to the listener. Even the interior of a car will produce internal reflections. Of course, larger spaces and more reflective materials will result in much larger reverbs. There are only subtle differences between the aural phenomena known in music production terms as reverb and delay, which can lead to confusion. Delay essentially mimics an echo, the effect caused when a sound bounces back off the listener’s physical surroundings, giving the impression of a repetition of the original sound. When multiple echoes arrive at the listener in such close succession that they become indistinguishable from each other, we…