Music Tech Focus - Ableton Live - 2016-2017.pdf

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ABLETON LIVE POWER USER POWER UP in Live now! 30 pages of workshops – POWER start to finish finish – 40 essential tips Produce a track from start The Lazy Guide to Live! Short cuts to instant creativity copyright-free -free samples 2hrs of video Packed DVD! 1.4GB of copyright PLUS: Ultimate   Great gadgets    

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Ableton Live 2016/17 £8.99

Compiled by the Ableton Live experts from MusicTech

Welcome MTF

Welcome … to Ableton Live 2016/17! This is a special issue of MusicTech where we assemble features specifically tailored to Ableton Ableton’s ’s music production DAW. This time we’ve really pulled out the stops with some of the finest studio articles ever: from 6 Ways To Make Your Studio Look Cool to the Ultimate Guide To Remixing. In between it’s everything Ableton with five more in-depth Live tutorials from Live guru Martin Delaney,, plus a special ‘Lazy Guide’ to creativity in Live, Delaney including some fantastic tips on creating variation in a loopy environment. With our Produce A Track From Start To Finish features (starting on p16) there’s very much a Live focus and our special Show Off Your Studio articles (p70 and p88) all feature Live at their software hearts – and in one it’s running in sync with a mountain of hardware. It all goes to show the diversity of music-making environments that Live is now central to. Perhaps the software used to be seen as a laptop-only DAW but with Push 2 and Link it is spreading into more hardware and mobile studios. Wherever and however you use Live, we hope you’ll find tons here to help you. Happy music making! Andy Jones Senior Editor, MusicTech & MusicTech.net Email: [email protected]

However you use However Live there is plenty here to help you ge gett more from it…

(And contact me to Show Off Your Live Studios!)

Contributors Mark Cousins, Keith Gemmell, Alex Holmes, Huw Price MUSICTECH FOCUS MAGAZINE www.musictech.net Anthem Publishing Ltd Suite 6, Piccadilly House London Road, Bath BA1 6PL Tel +44 (0) 1225 489984 Fax +44 (0) 1225 489980 [email protected] Senior Editor Andy Jones [email protected] Art Editor Debra Barber [email protected] Digital Editor Andy Price [email protected] Multimedia Editor Alex Holmes [email protected] Business Dev. Manager Di Marsh [email protected]

Art Director Jenny Cook jenny.cook@anthem jenny.cook@ anthem-publishi publishing.co ng.com m Publisher Simon Lewis [email protected] Managing Director Jon Bickley jon.bickley@anthem-pub jon.bickley@an them-publishing lishing.com .com Licensing enquiries Jon Bickley +44 (0) 1225 489984 www.anthem-publishing.com Printed by Polestar UK Print Ltd Print Ltd Tel +44 (0) 1582 678900 Distributed by Marketforce (UK) Ltd The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 0SU Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3300 Subscriptions to MusicTech Magazine Tel +44 (0) 870 444 8468 Price (12 issues) £59.99 UK basic annual rate

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MTF Contents

Issue 44

Ableton Live 2016/17

EVERYTHING ABLETON LIVE! MAKE MUSIC NOW! Everything you need to produce a track in Ableton Live… from start to finish! We have six brand new series of in-depth Live workshops plus features on remixing, creating an incredible studio space, the best 12 soft synths, your Live studios on show and the best hardware and software for your Live studio on test… MTF Live Workshops

Add hardware to your Live rig By adding ins and outs… p34

6 incredible workshops From p6

What’s new in Live 9.7 Find out here… p58

All new Live workshops for every level of user

Follow Actions The expert guide… p38 4 | Ableton Live 2016/17

FOCUS

Contents MTF

MTF44 Live 2016/17

MTF Feature

Ultimate Guide To Remixing Everything you need to know !

p20 p22

Full listings

WORKSHOPS 006 | The lazy person’s guide to Live Get creative… fast! 034 | Adding hardware to your Live rig with increased ins and outs 038 | Follow Actions and how you can make them work for you 042 | Creativeclipmanagement using Push 2 058 | What’s new in Live 9.7 The latest features explained 062 | Create custom Drum Racks Flex those finger drumming fingers TUTORIALS 016 to 126 | Produce A Track From Start To Finish Starting a track; arranging, mixing, finishing and finally: mastering

MTF Feature

Produce a track from start to finish!

022 | The Ultimate Guide To Remixing Everything you need 032 | 6 Ways To Make Your Studio Look Cool! The best ways to make your environment more creative

Starts on p16 then features continue on p17, 19, 46, 68 & 126

082 | 20 tips to improve your computer’s performance Beef up your mac or PC… now! OTHER FEATURES 049 | Interview: OliverNelson 054 | 6 Of The Best: mega expensive studio items 070 & 086 | Show Off Your Ableton Live Studio 072 | Ultimate music gadget guide 092 | 12 Of The Best: soft synths 096 | SUBSCRIBE!

MTF The 12 Best!

The 12 best soft synths money can buy! p92

MTF REVIEWS

How to…

098 | Gothic Instruments Dronar

…make your studio look cool! p32

100 | Teenage Engineering PO-20 104 | NI Komplete KontrolS88 107 | Zivix Jamstik+ controller 108 | Fabfilter Pro C2 EQ 109 | Sonic Academy Kick 2inst. 110 | Zero-G Epica Bass inst. 112 | Sonimus EQ range effects 114 | Splice subscription samples 116 | NI Una Corda piano plug-in 117 | Blocs Wave app 118 | Spitfire Hans Zimmer 2&3 120-125 | Mini Reviews 130 | On your MTF DVD

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Ableton Live 2016/17 | 5

MTF Technique The lazy person’s guide to creativity

Ableton Live A lazy person’s guide!

Level Beginner

The lazy person’s guide to easy clip creativity Live is obviously excellent at looping clips – that’s what it’s built on, after all – but it’s all too easy to get bogged down in rigid looping hell. Fortunately it’s almost as easy not to! MusicTech Focus has an easy guide to creative clip use and how to get creative… fast!

W

e did argue over whether to call this ‘The Lazy Person’s Guide To Live’ as we thought it could be a little too demeaning. But, let’s face it, using a DAW is basically using technology as a short cut, so all of us who use DAWs are either lazy or – and we certainly prefer this option – using technology to realize our creative dreams more quickly. Yes, that’s good – we’ll stick to that! So the crux of this tutorial is that the main problem with technology and DAWs is that it’s very easy to fall in to some bad habits. You might, for example, just use the features available in a non-creative way and end up with something quite tedious. Live suffers especially from this largely down to its central selling point of being able to play loops in time, so that everything sounds pretty good, very quickly. This is both its main draw but also a feature which might make you think: ‘Sounds ok, let’s just run with that…’ We want more than ‘OK’! The beauty of Live is the not-so-hidden depths that you can explore to take these looped ideas onwards and upwards. A few tweaks here and there and you suddenly introduce a dynamic to your tune that gives it life. Add a bit of variation to your clips, either by changing the notes within them, the sounds they trigger, or their start and end points and you suddenly have a lot more variation and creativity going on. And you know what the best bit of all of this is? It’s pretty easy to accomplish! It’s why we’ve labelled this with a ‘Beginner’ tag although if we were betting people, we’d guess that there are people who consider

FOCUS ON SESSION VIEW For this tutorial we’re focussing completely on working with clips within Live’s Session View. You could say that is the ultimate in laziness – hey, you don’t even have to switch views – but the truth is that there is so much to expand upon and create within this part of the software that we don’t need to go into the Arrangement window. There are so many extras packed into Live and within these clips that we’ll keep the focus here this time and save all of the Arrangement View fun for another time…

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themselves intermediate and expert users who choose not to use some of these short cuts – as they might not be considered clever – or they don’t know about them. Either way we feel that all users should give this workshop a spin and we’re sure that everyone will discover, or rediscover, at least one choice short cut…

1.The template factor The first feature we’ll cover is less about creative looping and arranging but more about making sure you have a good base to start with and covers how to set up a Default Set or Template. We can’t recommend having one enough. When we started experimenting with loading in a standard Set when starting a new project, we were a little sceptical. Ten tracks later – ten times more than we’d have previously produced in the same time period – we were hooked. The idea is that you start with a favourite set of instruments, effects and even audio, each time you start to compose. You’ll end up moving between clips and scenes faster and putting tunes together faster. You might think that having the same set of sounds to start

The lazy person’s guide to creativity Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

1. The template factor

01 Whenever you start a new Set in Live you could, of course, hit

Cmnd>N and start from scratch. It’s a nice empty project that you have to start from scratch with, yet looks like a lot of effort to fill…

03 If you haven’t got one that you are happy with simply load in one

and build it up from scratch. Put your favourite instruments on different channels, line up effects, even load in some clip melodies if you like…

05 When you’re happy that you have all of your favourite

instruments, effects and audio clips loaded in, click Live’s Preferences/File Folder tab and the ‘Save Current Set As Default’. It will now load in whenever you start a new project.

with is limiting, but actually setting constraints sometimes enhances creativity. We can certainly tell you that our ten tracks don’t sound anywhere near as similar to each other as you might think. Another way to look at it is that your Default Set is your ‘scratch pad’ for melodies. You can return to the ingredients later once you have some basic ideas; change sounds, change percussion loops, change everything – just use the Default Set to capture the vibe!

2. The virtual keyboard Unless you own Push or Push 2 – in which case lucky you

02 Instead load up a project that you have been working on and are

happy with the range of sounds and effects already loaded in. With tweaking you could make this the new Default new file that loads.

04 You could even load in a selection of beats, maybe some 4/4

beats if you are a house musician, so you know you’ve always got something reliable to underpin your new project.

06 Make sure to Save Your Live Set As something new at this point

otherwise your Default File may be altered as you explore new tangents and ideas with this notepad way of working.

– you’ll probably be using Live with an external keyboard. Well, as good as they are, at a very early stage of your notepad composition process we reckon that Live’s Computer MIDI Keyboard option takes some beating – it does the job of auditioning and recording and again lets you jump from clip to clip quicker. It also takes Live use back to its early days of laptop-only composition. As good as Live is at breaking out of a software-only environment with Push (and our tutorials in this issue) – which seems to be something of a theme these days – what it was really good at offering in those early days was a ‘laptop only’ way FOCUS



MTF Step-by-Step

2. The virtual keyboard

01 Live’s Computer MIDI Keyboard makes both auditioning and

recording a lot more mobile and faster. Engage it with the icon shown top right or the drop down menu of Shft>Cmnd>K.

03 Load up any instrument and you’ll miraculously be playing its

keys, that is if you have the right track armed, of course. It makes auditioning sounds on clips a dream.

05 Make sure you Arm Record (top) before playing. Now you can

record ideas over your existing loops allowing for solos and non looping parts to be played making your overall song structure less loop heavy. of putting ideas together which gave it a huge amount of appeal. You engage the computer ‘keyboard’ either by clicking the keyboard icon top right or hitting Shft>Cmnd>K. Play notes using your computer’s A and Q rows and use Z and X to shift octaves up and down. In order to record these, make sure you have Record


FOCUS

02 It turns the Q and A rows of your computer’s keyboard into a

virtual piano keyboard with the A row taking the white notes; Q the black; Z and X octave down and up respectively.

04 And recording is also something that it can take care of, but you

may have to select a couple of quick edits. On the MIDI IN drop down menu select Computer Keyboard.

06 We found that playing in notes like this and just jamming ideas

gave us more of a freedom, to the point where we left bum notes in or at least those slightly played out of time for a more natural feel.

Enable clicked at the top of the track. You’ll also need to select the Computer Keyboard as a MIDI IN. When you record your notes you’ll find that it’s a fabulous and mobile way of breaking quickly out of rigid loops – the clips grow as you record – and you can easily jam ideas over existing clips. And talking of clips…


MTF Step-by-Step

3. Creative clips

01 Live is all about simple clip editing for variation. It is so easy to do

this on a very basic level. Select a clip, hold down Alt>drag and copy it either to another track or another clip within the same track.

03 Here we’re fattening up our original bass sound from one synth

(FM8) with bass sounds from another (Carbon Electra) just by copying – an obvious ploy but Live makes it so easy to do, why not?!

05 Want to create an instant drum groove that is a little but different

from the norm? Grab yourself an original bass line clip and copy it, but instead of copying it to a melody track… copy it to a beats track.

3. Creative clips On a very basic way you can get creative with clips very quickly and very easily. Firstly there’s the obvious: copying! Copying one clip to another track and listening to it trigger different sounds is one way to fatten up a bass sound or add extra padding in your upper mids. You are already in the same key as the original notes are the same and if you

02 Copying it to another track is particularly good if you have a

template arrangement set up (from two pages back) as you can then trigger more of your favourite sounds with the same MIDI clip.

04 Here we’ve done the same thing three times. We’ve copied the

same pad clip (FM8) to three string sounds from three instances of the same synth (Oddity) to create an instant string section!

06 Load in one of Live’s many drum kits and drop a melody clip onto

it. Some simple note transposition might be needed but it will result in beats that work. Try it the other way (from beats to bass) too!

have a templated set up as we suggested in the first tutorial, you will quickly be triggering other sounds from your favourite synths using your initial melody clip. Then, of course, it’s very easy to move a few notes around within a clip and either keep the clip on the same track to provide some melodic variation over the original track – do this as we will return to it later – or move it onto another track. FOCUS



MTF Step-by-Step

3. Creative clips (cont’d)

also very easy to change a few notes around within a clip and 07 It’s use this as a variation. First copy the original clip to the same track (Alt drag) as shown. Double click it to edit the notes…

a group of five such varied clips on a track which we’ll 09 Make return to for several steps in this tutorial (and the one opposite). Make sure they each have slightly different notes.

eachof our five clips we can set the start and end points 11 For differently to shake things up a bit which breaks out of the rigid dance music box. Here we’ve set the fourth clip to start and finish on the second beat.

Another lazy trick is to move a melody clip onto a rhythm track to quickly get some beats going. These probably won’t be very typical beats – as they will come from a melody MIDI clip – but will be something unusual to start with and perhaps not something you’d have come up with just programming straight beats. This also works the


FOCUS

a couple of different notes to change will be enough. A 08 Selecting couple of notes on each clip within a track will make a difference – again it’s very basic but worth doing for variation.

now look at clip lengths. Live makes it very easy to keep 10 We’ll everything rigid and perhaps set to 4- or 8-bar lengths. Everything locks in nicely but can sound dull if you’re not doing dance.

this on larger tracks too. Here we have two identical string 12 Try tracks placed on massively different clip lengths and with different start and end points. They both cycle very differently resulting in a more ambient feel even though the notes are lazily the same!

other way around too often with bass sounds. Try placing a programmed beat on a bass track. It might just work! So far so simple. Copying clips and throwing different ideas at clips is what Live is all about. But now we’ll try a couple of other simple clip ideas out to get things moving by using odd numbered clip lengths and different start and


MTF Step-by-Step

4. Follow Actions for easy beat creativity

01 We have a more in-depth tutorial on Follow Actions later in this

issue. For now we’re going to use them just on beats, specifically a loop to create easy variation within it. Load in any loop!

03 Now we’re going to adjust the start and end points of each of the

new audio clips we’ve just created to home in on specific areas of the drum loop. Here we’ll start with the first kick drum.

05 Keep going until you have dissected the audio clip into four

different sections to make up the five clips overall. You can do more clips, of course, but we’ll stick to this number.

end points. What Live is really good at doing is playing four- or eight-bar clips together in a standard dance way, but if you break out of the mould even a little and have clips cycling around on odd bar lengths, they start to drift away from each other creating a more random song. Obviously this might not be too good for the tightness of dance music but if you want something a bit more ambient or random,

02 We’ll now bring together everything we’ve done in this tutorial up

until now to bring some variation in on the beats. So first copy the clip five times onto the same track as shown using Alt>drag.

04 On the second repeated clip (third clip overall) we’ll home in on

the snare sound plus a little bit of the percussion action. As you’ll see this is a start point of 1.2 for a duration of 0.2.

06 You can also do shorter sections but we’ve kept ours fairly long,

each over half a bar in length (we’d even recommend going to one bar). Now go to the Follow Actions by hitting the L in the Clip area.

try experimenting with clips that stop and start at different timings or have very different lengths. They might even have the same note content but they are playing at different times and with different sounds…

4. Follow Action for easy beat creativity Next for clip variation it’s time for Follow Actions. These FOCUS



MTF MT F Step-by-Step

4. Follow Actions for easy beat creativity (cont’d)

The Follow Action section will now determine how the clips you have just set play and interact with each other. Click on each and you can determine how long each plays with bars, beats and ticks.

Click on the drop down menu and you will see a list of Follow Actions that determine what happens after the selected clip plays: from nothing to playing another selected clip at random.

Now you simply need to go through the five clips you have on the track and determine what you want to happen after they play by selecting one of these options from the drop down menu. Here we have the third clip selected and have selected to simply play the next clip.

And on the final clip we have selected ‘Any’ as the Follow Action so any of the selected audio clips will play at random afterwards. This is obviously great for adding a completely off-the-wall variation to proceedings, but doesn’t doesn’t have to be completely random!

A really good option within the Follow Actions section is the probability number. Set it to 1, as shown, and the probability of the next clip doing the selected Follow Action will be 100%. Set it higher and that probability drops proportionally.

Another cool thing is to use a second drop down menu to determine what happens the rest of the time so you could, for example, have a random other clip triggering for half the t he time and the first clip in the track triggering t riggering for the other half of the time. t ime.

07

09

11

might seem fairly complex at first but, believe us, they are a lazy person’s dream feature! They essentially allow you to trigger clips in a more random way to bring lots of variation to a tune. In our example we’re going to have variations of a clip all within the same track and we’ll use Follow Actions to determine how they are played.

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08

10

12

We go into more general detail on Follow Actions and clips in a tutorial later in this issue so for this tutorial we’ll use them on an audio clip to create a variation in beats. You’ll see that you never need to think of Live as a straight looping tool ever again as your loops are suddenly creatively transformed into very varied beats!



4. Follow Actions for easy beat creativity (cont’d)

to hear all of your Follow Actions in, well, action! Select all of 13 Now your clips as shown and press one of them to start playing. We have all of ours set to play another clip at random after each…

with the original clip length that you create (from 15 Experimenting step 3) is key here. You can either go back and adjust them from scratch or adjust the clip length in the Follow Action area for each.

did find on our particular loop, that increasing the clip length 17 We to a bar for all clips gave the best results and took it far away from the original loop, but this will vary depending on your loop.

First we need to follow some of the clip edits we have already covered i.e. repeating and copying clips into the same track and changing the start and end points so that we home in on certain parts of the percussion loop. We are essentially cutting out half-bar chunks of the loop to play individually and using Follow Actions will determine just how. So we get four additional but different clips all from

it’s a bit wild to start with, almost as if someone has taken 14 And control of your Live session and is triggering clips for you. The result is a bit too DJ Shadow-like on ours to start with…

the more stuttery beats you want, the shorter you 16 Essentially make the clips. You can go completely wild here by slicing into beats for some old skool mid 90s Aphex beats.

if that’s not enough, you can of course go into editing each of 18 As your new clips to make the variation on the original loop even greater.. Here we’re transposing the audio from one clip. greater

the same initial audio clip and all on the same track. Now select Follow Actions in the clip area. You then go through all five of your clips and select an Action for each i.e. what happens after it plays. You can play another at random, or the next or previous clip – you have a choice of nine. This creates a completely new playback version of your original loop but importantly doesn’t sound looped! FOCUS

Ableton Live 201 2016/1 6/17 7 | 13



5. Clip automation

01 One final element in clip management that enables more

creativity is clip automation. This means that you can c an record several parameters over a recorded clip to give it life and movement.

03 All sorts of automation parameters can be recorded here

including panning and volume. As you pan from left to right, for example, your movements will be recorded into the clip.

like volume, simply 05 If you want to switch to another parameter, like

move a fader and its automation will be recorded over the top. If you want to go back to the panning, simply click the pan control. Here’s Here’s our volume coming in and going out over a clip.

5. Clip automation So to our final way of easily getting variation from your clips, and it’s time for some automation. Again this is a subject that we could go into some depth with, but as this is ‘The lazy person’s guide’ let’s not go too deep. All you need to do to get things moving is to hit a couple of keys

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02 The yellow icon (with two arrows in the transport bar) shows that

automation is enabled (if not click on it) but you will also need to arm each track…

04 The automation will be shown by way of a red line along the clip

as you record. Here the panning goes from left to right and back again as the clip cycles around.

06 If ever the automated data is greyed out – by clicking off a clip, for

example – you might need to click on the orange back arrow which should be illuminated, to re-highlight the clip automation back to its red editable status.

and record some movement and everything you record will be kept within your clip in Session View. Edit it later to make it perfect! Simply arm the track and enable the automation. We start by showing you how simple panning and volume changes can be recorded per clip. Then we detail how you


MTF Step-by-Step

5. Clip automation (cont’d)

can edit any automation by selecting a point with the cursor 07 You and dragging it as shown (in blue) as you would in the Arrangement view.

because the automation draws to the snap value so use 09 That’s the dropdown menu to turn the snap off and you can draw your automation in as a finer resolution (shown on the left here).

that’s panning and volume, how’s about we dig deeper and 11 So record some synth parameters changing into a clip? No problem! Here’s the frequency opening being recorded on a synth.

can edit the results or draw in completely new versions of the automation. Finally you can even record the changes you make to MIDI instruments on the track in question – we show you how to record a synth frequency fader being opened and then how to select that recorded automation (from a drop down menu) to then edit it. Automation is a key feature in any DAW and Live’s clip automation takes it

still, select the Pencil tool (top right) and draw the 08 Better automation in yourself. Here we’ve adjust the panning position ourselves and completely redrawn it. Looks a bit chunky though…

might want to start from scratch – we certainly always get 10 You over excited by automation and end up doing too much – so simply select all and delete and start again. Easy.

now as it appears as one of the envelopes of automation 12 And being recorded. Simply select from the drop down menu and you can edit it. So clip automation really can take your clips to new levels…

well beyond what is possible in some other DAWS and makes it a completely creative and immersive experience. So we hope that this tutorial has enabled you to get more creative with your clips in Live and, importantly, to do that without spending too much time or effort getting there. Using technology to make music should make it easier after all! Happy creative clipping! MTF FOCUS


MTF MTF Feature Produce a track from start to finish

MTF Feature Produce a track from start to finish

PRODUCE A TRACK FROM START TO FINISH It’s time for the ultimate advice on music production: how to produce a track, from start to finish! In features spread through the issue – see the full contents below – we have top tips from the pros and advice to get you inspired, composing, mixing, arranging and mastering your music

T

he art of music production can, like most processes, be broken down into several stages – some creative, some perhaps more scientific than others. For this special feature on producing a complete track, we’ve explored the best advice ever assembled on the art of music production and broken it down into five main areas: starting a track, arranging it, mixing it, finishing it and mastering it. We’ll start with the best ways and practices to help you to get moving, to get creative and to make the most of inspirational thoughts when they strike; to capture the moment… fast! We’ll tell you how to avoid using other people’s ideas, and also (confusingly) when to use other people’s ideas! Then there’s the all-important stage of turning those ideas or simple loops into complete works. This is often the stage you get caught up in. Like us, your hard drive might be full of great ideas which will become incredible killer tunes… one day. But for now, they are one, two, five or six sounds and melodies that might work together, but nothing more. This part of our feature will help you turn them into complete tunes. Then we move onto the art of mixing: checking levels, checking pan positions, 16

| Ableton Live 2016/17

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adjusting EQ not only to enhance certain frequency ranges, but also to prevent elements clashing – the art of mix ‘breathing’, and adding space to enable your main song elements to shine. In our penultimate feature, we bring you essential advice on making the ultimate move in composition: finishing! Here, we also team up with Novation to bring you insight into the ways certain top-name producers complete their songwriting process. Finally, it’s time to tackle the mastering process, with top advice on how add a professional sheen. We’ll suggest ways to add that elusive sprinkling of sophistication and magic dust to your tunes, to make them sound as good as your reference material – the track that you initially admired, which inspired you to go full circle, back to the start of your music making in the first place. Without dwelling on the clichéd ‘journey’ analogy, it’s true that music production is a process that can be massively enjoyable, but also have the odd stumbling block or creative frustration along the way. With our feature, we’re hoping to make your process smoother and your songwriting experience more fulfilling. As ever, send us links to your resulting tunes at [email protected] .

MTF

Features

PRODUCE A TRACK FROM START TO FINISH

Top producers offer advice in all aspects of track building… 017 | 7 ways w ays to to start a start a track

Let’s start with a look at ways to capture ideas, sources of inspiration and how to prepare 019 | 8 ways to arrange a track

Going beyond the loop and turning your ideasinto songs is a stumbling block, but here’s how to overcome it 046 | 10 ways to mix a track

The mixing process is where your track comes to life. Here are our top tips for perfecting the art w ays to to finish a track 068 | 7 ways Here are some effective strategies to make sure you actually finish your tunes 126 | 8 ways to master a track

Mastering dos and don’ts to add a pro sheen to your productions

Produce a track from start to finish Feature MTF

7 WAYS TO START A TRACK Par t

1

It’s the first step: how to get those ideas you have in your head onto your virtual notepad – and also how to get more ideas into your head in the first place!

01

01

Clear your head

1. Turn the internet off? Really? Yes! Get rid of those distractions 2. In Live, you can create an inspirational template, then save it as your default project

the best starting points for your music – bass, lead, pad, guitar, vocals, or whatever – in whatever style of music you make. Remember that most successful artists will only use a small set of tools to create their work – it’s their signature set of sounds. They won’t surround themselves with endless options, or they might not get anything done. Instead, they’ll work within their own restrictions, so there’s a compelling argument to do the same with your instruments. And as well as choosing your favourite synths for your template project, you can even home in on your favourite sounds within each one. And now go one step further and clear out that sample folder. Go on, spend an hour clearing out samples and audio that you’ll never use and you’ll have saved that time tenfold when it comes to choosing samples later. Too many options slow your workflow to a crawl…

It’s important to get into the right mindset when starting music. Getting into the mood helps with anything creative – if it feels like hard work, it’ll end up being hard work. You have to have no distractions so switch off your internet, your doorbell, your phone – anything that could interrupt your flow. 02 Start from scratch

You’ve been there. You’ve opened up your DAW and it’s loaded up an old song or some looped ideas you’ve been working on. Perhaps if you just spend a few minutes with it… But it’s another distraction. If you’re starting from scratch, start from scratch. Produce an inspirational template that your DAW loads each time you boot it up (instead of those old ideas) and make it full of your favourite synths and virtual instruments, all ready to play.

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03 Favourites, favourites

And while we’re at it, keep on choosing your favourite sounds and presets. Home in on a set of FOCUS



they are great for identifying an artist who suddenly inspires you. Give them a go anyway – there are free versions of both.

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06 Borrow the earworm

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Get a style… and a plan One massive hurdle for composition is sitting with a blank sheet of paper and expecting to fill it. You can zero in on sounds and instruments as we’ve suggested, but you should also have an idea of your own style from the off. You might think that this is something you have already mapped out in your music life – the kind of music that you will be making – but it’s not quite as easy as that. You’ll very probably like more than one kind of genre yourself, so it’s all too simple to be easily led by that floozy of a breakbeat over there, or that dirty dubstep of a modulation over there. Musical temptation is everywhere and it is evil! The danger is you will end up with a hotchpotch of styles that can only lead to disaster (or, worse still, Bro Country!). So think very carefully about what you are setting out to do – have a tempo, a plan and a reference point in mind, because if you’re up against a deadline, you will need a tight target and to go for it. If not, give yourself a fake deadline and go for it anyway!

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3. Home in on your favourite synths and sounds 4. There are a lot of genres to be tempted by – try to settle on one! 5. Use Shazam or SoundHound to help you nail a specific style, or identify an intriguing tune you can’t place 6. Borrow from the earworm that’s currently in your head. Even Agadoo (if you feel you absolutely have to)

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05 Embrace inspiration

Always carry some kind of recorder with you (or download an app such as RecorderPro), as you never know when ideas will come to mind. Some people swear by keeping one by their beds, as ideas can come while waking or drifting off to sleep. Carry a recorder with you and speak (or sing!) those ideas into it wherever you are. You can also use one to capture unusual sounds and atmospheres for use later in your music – sometimes ‘found sounds’ can be the difference between your tunes and everyone else’s. Take note, however! Very often, any tune that comes to you might well be someone else’s. A quick way to identify a tune is to try apps like Shazam and SoundHound. These are primarily used to identify commercial music played around you in bars, but might just do the trick for new tunes. If nothing else, 18


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Having said avoid other people’s music, now we’re spinning that on its head by saying… Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas! Whether it be the odd sampled riff (with lots of post editing, naturally, and one that you would clear on release), or melodic progressions, you can and should use other people’s music as inspiration. But let’s clarify that and stress the word inspiration . The Blurred Lines/Robin Thicke case has, well, blurred things in music copyright and what you can and can’t do. But don’t be frightened to analyse that earworm to find out what makes it so ‘wormy’. Is there anything you can use or learn from it to make your own creations as memorable? Examine some of the key themes and trends from memorable songs (so long as it’s not Agadoo in your head in the first place). Many people have borrowed ideas; you could take that argument further and say that every musician has borrowed from every other one at some point. Some, though, are more obvious than others: the odd riff here, the odd chord progression there. Again, use ideas carefully and edit, edit and edit some more… MTF 07

The best start

And the best tip for starting a piece of music is… To listen. Absorb. Learn. Be inspired. All of the above! Yes, you could say that the best advice we have for starting your own music is, well, not to. Listen to as much other music as possible: all genres, all tastes. Learn from it and really want to do it. This is probably the top tip above everything else for every step of the music-making process, including mixing and mastering (which we will also cover later). You need to have the desire to produce and this will come from being inspired by someone else and led in the direction in which you want to produce. This will only come from listening, listening and more listening, and not only to music that you like, but also to new genres and styles, stuff that you might not necessarily appreciate. Classical music will help you arrange strings, for example; other styles might inspire you not to go down certain routes. It’s all about finding your way, and you’ll need to be as open as possible to follow your own choices.

Produce a track – Part 2Feature MTF


8 WAYS TO COMPOSE AND ARRANGE A TRACK Par t

2

You’ve got your ideas down into Live. They might be loops or simple scratchpad ideas. How do you flesh them out into full arrangements? Read on…

01 1. In Live, looping is what it’s all about and it’s done for you, but don’t let the loop rule you.

01 Use looping creatively

You will probably find that whatever DAW you use, you will be positively encouraged to use loops at some point in the production process – usually at the start. And this, by and large, is a good thing. It gets to the heart of why you are using technology in the first place, as looping enables you to try musical ideas together very easily and very quickly. You can build all the elements of your song together using loops – bass, drums, leads, guitars – and then the

main arrangement process starts. All good so far, but we’d also add the caveat that people are getting a little too reliant on loops – and looping does lead you down certain paths and towards certain genres. So, our current thinking is that looping is great at the start of your arrangement process, and we’d even encourage people who don’t do it to try it. Like we say, every DAW is a click away from a loop. Ableton dominates its part of the DAW world because of the loop, so use it, but be clever. Have them running at different lengths from each other (again, Live is great for this), have them jumping around, be less rigid with quantisation within them. Think free, be free. Don’t let the loop rule you, you rule the loop. And once you have them in line, then… 02 Don’t be afraid to stop looping

After decades of making music, we think we know the Big Secret, the doorway to a finished track, and this it. This is the point, the one tip that will make your purchase of this magazine, or your investment of time in reading this article on MusicTech.net, worth it. This is the Holy Grail, The Area 51, the Crystal Skull (okay, not the Crystal Skull) of music making: the ‘one thing’ that people need to know about DAW use and making music with technology. So… When you have a bunch of loops that work well together… here goes… Stop. Looping. Them. And Arrange. Them. Quick, while you have the motivation, while you have the time. Arrange them now! Okay, it’s obvious, right, and you might feel slightly disappointed after our big build up, but this really is important. Technology – an increasing number of grid controllers, hardware sequencers, FOCUS


MTF Feature Produce a track – Part 2

02

04

plus every software DAW – will encourage you to loop, and you will sound excellent by doing so. But the next step is the crucial one, the one that takes you away from every other bloody looper on the planet. You are the girl or the guy that stops looping and starts arranging. And you know what? It’s… 03 Easier than you think

In certain DAWs like Live, arranging can simply be a matter of recording whatever clips you launch and stop – all movements get recorded, and you can tweak them afterwards if you make any mistakes. Lo and behold, you have an arrangement! In other

2. The trick is to get to the point when you are happy with your loops, and then switch looping off. Look at all that space to fill 3. Duplicating parts in Live is also easy within an arrangement, but is arguably less used than in other DAWs 4. Starting off any dance arrangement with beats is one of the golden rules to help the DJ 5. Use the arranging features in your DAW to move big chunks around in one go, like the chorus and verse

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That’s not such a bad comment, actually, because dance music does demand a certain amount of formula in the arrangement. We’ll gloss over the arguments that say that it’s the blander and formulaic styles of dance music that are killing it – people have been saying that for three decades now – and point you in the direction of some of the more obvious rules instead… Open with your beats. Obvious, yes, but DJs will want to mix your beats, not your notes. Technology such as NI’s Stems is making this one a little more redundant, as DJs are getting more and more access to your song parts, but it’s still safe to open on a bunch of tuneless beats than it is your breakdown. There are other arrangement tips, which will be specific to your genre of music, so a really useful and more general tip to follow here is… 05 Reference, reference, reference

As with mixing and mastering, learn from the pros with arranging. And the best way here is obviously to listen to other artists’ arrangements. Consider even loading an entire song into your DAW by someone else, but one similar to the style you are producing, and noting its intro length, verse lengths, breakdowns, choruses, everything… Map out your production in the same way using your DAW’s arranging tools. Many have built-in arranging features that allow you to title parts of your production as intro, or verse etc, and then move DAWs, arranging is perhaps less obvious, but one sure-fire easy fix for any DAW is to copy the loops you are so happy with and repeat them for the duration of a song. Then it’s simply a case of deleting certain parts of your new arrangement as the song progresses. More experienced DAW users might see this as a cop-out or a ‘cheat’ way to arrange, but it’s what DAWs were built to do: easily repeat stuff so you don’t have to play it again. So make use of it, but, like everything in the world of music production (and indeed life), use it in moderation… 04 Follow the formula

Do dance music? Been told your music is formulaic? 20


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Produce a track – Part 2 Feature MTF

yet another DAW feature that saves you time and enables one person to do what, at one time in our music-making history, was a job for a few people. This can be as simple as fading tracks in and out, but go a few steps further and you can automate instrument parameters so that a synth, for example, will change in sound while it’s being played, or effects could be added during a chorus, or even the tempo could be slowed down or speeded up. Almost anything can be automated, so while DAWs encourage looping, they also encourage the variation of these loops with automation.

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them around in big chunks to various marker points. In this way, you’ll quickly produce an arrangement and wonder why you were ever stuck with just a few bars of loops in the first place! 06 Don’t follow the formula

Important one this – almost as important as the ‘break out of the loops’ one. You could argue that by us saying ‘use loops’ and ‘be formulaic’ with your arrangements, we are contributing to the death of music. And you’d be right! Kind of. Actually, we’re only advocating using these two methods up to a certain point in your productions, or during your music-making careers. Sooner or later, you will have to break the mould of whatever genre you are producing and try and make your own mark on it. There is so much music these days, in so many different areas, that in order to stand out, you have to do something a little different, and sometimes this may just be something a little different in your arrangement. So look at what everyone is doing and tweak it. An extra kick here? A few extra bars on a breakdown? More percussive elements to add swing? All these and more can be scattered across an arrangement to help take it up a level.

08 Consider the remix

6. When you want to stand out, don’t follow the formula. Sometimes a simple addition, such as an extra kick in an arrangement, can create a whole new genre… 7. Automation can help vary your loops, from simply increasing the volume (as shown), to changing sounds 8. Live is a great DAWs for remixing. Simply load up a bunch of different beats to trial styles and genres. If it sounds good, you might have just created a remix of your own tune!

The real beauty of the DAW – and we really are finding many things to thank our software friends for here – is that once you have a good-ish idea, you can tweak and refine it (pretty much forever if you’re not careful, so read our tips on finishing!), or you can just leave it or come back to it. Consider a third option, though, one that is perhaps an extension of the ‘Don’t follow the formula’ rule: the remix! It’s likely that up to this point, you’ve been working on a particular tune in a particular style. We previously told you to tweak it and break the mould, but at this point in your arrangement, it could also be time to twist it and smash the mould by remixing. You can try a couple of very quick tips here to change your tune very quickly, before we step into an entirely new tutorial on remixing (check MusicTech. net for plenty of guides and p20 of this very issue!). First, change your beats, or lose them altogether. Stick something else – other beat loops – beneath your song and see what happens. Blend generic elements – dark trap with hip-hop, techno with country, and so on. Sounds crazy, but a thousand sub-genres were born this way. Also consider radically changing your tempo, or simply shifting your MIDI tracks up and down to hear how notes played on one instrument play on another. Beautiful accidents can happen this way, and the charts are full of them… MTF

07 Use automation

To our minds, automation is one of the great music technology advances. It’s up there with MIDI, virtual instruments, audio recording and Bro Country. It’s

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MTF Feature The Ultimate Guide To Remixing

MTF Feature

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

REMIXING Fancy remixing other people’s music, or having your own tunes reworked? Here’s everything you need to know in the ultimate MusicTech guide…

S

itting down with a guitar or a computer and trying to create something from scratch can be one of the hardest things for a musician to do. Everyone has good days, of course, when the music flows easily. Other times though, the pressure we put on ourselves to write music can make things tougher. This isn’t as often the case with remixing, t hat long-established technique of re-interpreting and reworking music made by others to create something new and sometimes even radically different. When you remix, the building blocks are handed to you and it’s up to you to turn them into something. In a way, much of the legwork has already been done and all that’s left to you is to interpret it in your own style. This is why remixing is so popular and why some people even prefer it to writing original music – although some remixes depart from their source material so radically that they could arguably be described as new compositions. As well as being great fun, some remixes even end up being more commercially successful than the original song.

Starting the remix You might tentatively suggest that bands playing covers of other bands’ songs were the original remixers, but it wasn’t until the advent of electronic music that the concept of the remix properly entered popular consciousness. True, early hip hop sampled a lot of funk and disco records, and dub music in the 22 |


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1970s blended a lot of instrumentals with new vocals, but that wasn’t quite the same thing. Official remixes real ly started to appear in the 1980s along with the rise of MIDI-capable equipment, early sequencers and 4/4 dance beats. These factors made syncing elements of different tracks together much simpler, and so r emixing grew in popularity. As the 90s gave way to the 2000s, computers and DAWs were becoming more powerful than anyone could have imagined in the 1980s. As it turns out, these are the perfect tools for remixi ng. There’s no loss of quality when swapping digital files, everything can be synced precisely, and virtual i nstruments mean a much wider sonic palette than had ever been possible before. With the rise of the internet, remi xing was no longer even constrained by where you lived. It became big business, not just in the dance world but in pop too. Getting remixes of a track can be a great way not just to pad out a single release but also to broaden the appeal of your music, to take a great acoustic song and translate it to the dancefloor, for example. If you are a remi xer, re-imagining the tracks of other artists gives you great cr eative freedom and also the possibility of a payday if things go well. Remember, remixing doesn’t necessarily just mean sticking a 4/4 dance thud under something, even if that’s still common. With the tools available to you in almost any DAW, the sky is the limit when it comes to reworking tracks for a remix. We’ll show you how it all works over the following pages…

The Ultimate Guide To Remixing Feature MTF

PREPARING FOR A REMIX Whether you’re handing over your stems or receiving material for a remix, here’s what you’ll need to do.

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he ground rules for sending or receiving material for a remix are really two sides of the same coin, and rooted in basic good practice for producing music in general. They begin with the really core stuff like setting a project folder for your material, knowing what sample and bit rate your project is going to be at, recording to a click track, and setting markers correctly when exporting. Computer-based recording and DAWs make both ends of the rem ix process considerably easier than it would once have been, but you can help yourself by following the correct procedures.

Getting started Let’s begin with a look at how you ought to be working if you are planning on having a track remixed after you have finished it. Actually, you should always work to these rules because you never know if you might need something r eworking or changing down the li ne. While it’s possible to remix or overdub a track that’s not been recorded to a click, for example, it’s far easier if it has been in the first place. This is really the key: make sure you’re locked to a click. Having a solid time base is

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Below: A beat calculator can help you sync up stems when you don’t have tempo information Right: Setting the left and right markers with snapping active is essential when exporting stems and importing at the other end

h d w s t s y u n v rkno i u i ds n w l e

essential both to editing inside your DAW since they all work on a grid system, and to someone else adapting your project to their setup. Your tempo doesn’t even have to be sensible, it just has to be consistent. Most DAWs will allow a decimal point in the BPM, like 117.6BPM, for example. And while there’s no real reason not to go for whole number values most of the time, you can use any tempo as long as you stick to it, make a note of it and tell the remixer so they can set their DAW to the same tempo. The same goes for formats. Pick a setup like 32-bit, 48kHz WAV files for example, and convey this to the remi xer. Files can be converted on import but it’s better not to have to. In the event that your track contains tempo changes, you’ll want to be using a DAW that can export a tempo track or map if the change is gradual, or simply make a note of the tempo changes and where they occur so they can be recreated at the other end. This assumes that you are both using different DAWs, though you may not be. Indeed if you are both using the latest version of Logic, just as an example, you can send a project folder with a raw project file and audio files. You’ll still need to account for any difference in plug-in collections of course, as the likelihood of your having absolutely identical systems is small. In most cases you will be using different DAWs and have different plug-in collections, so it’s better to take the ‘all in’ approach of providing properly formatted material.

Rules for exporting As the person providing the material for the remix, you have certain responsibilities to make your remixer’s life easier. The major one is to export stems in the correc t format. Begin by setting the left and right locators precisely over bar markers, either starting at zero bars, 1 bar, 5 bars or wherever as long as it’s snapped. If your stems begin at 3.75 bars into a project it’s going to take the other guy ages to get everything l ined up, and it’s an easy mistake to avoid making. If they have project BPM and stems that start on a bar marker, your remixer should be able to import everything easily a nd have it immediately in sync. FOCUS



special file formats originally developed for moving between audio and video post production facilities, to cope with the different software in use. They hold certain in formation about a project like the positions of audio events and clip names, though they’re far from comprehensive. These can save you rendering everyth ing out, but are better suited to audio-only projects without tons of special timestretching or automation involved. A more recent solution is to use a cloud service like www.splice.com to upload and collaborate on raw project data, removing the need to render out. At present this supports FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live and GarageBand and it’s limited, but definitely one to consider when it comes to sharing your raw material with others for them to work on. There are other online services t hat let people remix your music with your consent, though they tend not to support really heavyweight project data at the moment, usually just stereo mixes or loops. As things stand you’re still as likely to get a DVD or a link to a cloud service to download a few gigabytes of WAV files, hopefully with some tempo information to help you set up correctly.

The easiest approach to exporting stems for remix is to just ex port every track as a separate, continuous stem. Yes, you might have a horn part that only comes in on the chorus, but trying to cut the stem up can just create confusion. The remixer will be quite capable of chopping that horn part out to move it around if they wish. Working with simple stems, one for each track, is the most straightforward approach. Of course you can export loops and individual MIDI files if you prefer, it’ll just take longer than batch exporting. Or, export a bunch of stems and also provide MIDI files, which gives them extra flexibility to rework your parts in M IDI. For the

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Above: Embrace the new! Use a service like Splice to upload, collaborate and remix tracks.

s ap ro

x o tin f r r mixis o p rt ht ti a maximum number of options, your DAW might let you export both dry and wet versions of stems, pre and post-fader. Removing your effects processing from one version gives the remixer the choice to use dry or wet stems.

Alternative formats If you choose to send project data instead of stems, be sure to include all the samples and source audio files. If plug-ins aren’t identical between systems, suggest an alternative to re-link to the M IDI tracks or mixer channels. Some DAWs also allow the use of OMF or AAF files for export and import. These are


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THE OMF STANDARD

The OMF 1.0 format could cope with audio clip position, project tempo and some other basic concepts, and OMF 2.0 added volume settings and fades for events as well as clip names. OMF doesn’t support MIDI files (though these can be exported separately) or plug-ins, because DAWs work so differently. As such, OMF is fine for exchanging audio-based projects but certainly has its limits. Most ‘full’ DAWs support OMF export and import though things like advanced mixer settings, scores, surround and so forth are well beyond the scope of these kinds of file formats. OMF has been succeeded by the AAF format which is more advanced and can include more information but this is currently not as widely supported, though Logic Pro X and Pro Tools among others do support it. There’s also the Mxf format for audio and video interchange, though this hasn’t made much headway in the audio world yet. Different software supports different formats so it’s worth investigating this before you start, as it will save you messing about later.


HOW TO APPROACH A REMIX Remixing is all about creative decisionmaking. But how should you go about it?

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hen you remix music you may be given a brief or you may be left entirely to your own devices. This depends on who you are remixing for and what the goal of the remix is supposed to be. A club remix of a pop song, for example, is likely to need to be heavy on the beats and bass. If you’ve been commissioned to do one of these, you will have parameters inside which you will be required to work. For a B-side however (more likely to be billed as a bonus track in today’s digital world) you may have much more freedom. A remix can be literally anyth ing, but it will usually need to retain at least a small amount of the material from the original track i n order to be recognizable as a remix and not a completely new track. This could be

r i e n h dt a tleast t h o a

An Arranger Track is invaluable for trying differentarrangements

as simple as keeping a vocal hook but you then discard every thing else. A lternatively, keep most of it but speed it up and add more drums. There are lots of examples of remixes that take wildly differing approaches and still succeed.

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a e l

Break it down A good starting point once you have established any requirements for a remix (like it needing to be a dancefloor filler for example) is to break a track down into its constituent parts. This is why it’s so important to provide the component parts of the

Along with the Fat Bustard, this is the

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CHOOSING YOUR BUSTARD ( “or maybe it is just cutting your coat according to your c loth”)

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                                     Stereo width controls / Bass to centre and mono.                 *** The superb album "Going Back Home" by Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey was Recorded at Yellow Fish and mixed through a FAT BUSTARD at Electric Davyland.

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“ Amazing Box-makes every sound BIGGER” Alan Emptage owner One Louder Studios. Arcade Fire, Joss Stone . . . “ Vic you’ve done it again you old Bustard!” Dave Eringa Producer, sound/mix engineer. Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey,*** The Who, Manic Street Preachers . . .


AN ELECTRONIC REMIX

How to turn guitar music into EDM When taking any kind of music and creating a dance version (using the term loosely to mean anything electronic that’s destined for a dancefloor) your first port of call is usually replacing or at the very least augmenting the beats with something heavy containing a 4/4 kick. That might sound clichéd but just tune into any commercial radio station and you’ll hear that stuff played all day long. Heavy beats are almost a prerequisite, and these can come from a virtual instrument, a loop collection or a hardware drum machine. The importance of having original recordings properly recorded to a click becomes apparent here as you add MIDI parts to real recordings, quantize and program them to fit. From there, you’ll probably dial down the guitars and maybe even replace the bassline with something electronic, or dirty up the existing bass parts. Whether or not you lose the guitars depends on you, but it’s usually nice to keep a few in there. EDM prioritises beats, vocals and melodic hooks so these are the things you will probably need to keep in the forefront. A load of mushy guitars in the mid range won’t be too helpful so strip it back to the hooks and then embellish with electronic elements. It doesn’t hurt to juice it up too, maybe adding delays and reverbs and master pretty hot, as is the style in much electronic music. track as stems or otherwise as separate tracks, because a remixer needs access to everyt hing, not just a stereo mixdown. Different people take different approaches to this. Some artists w ill concentrate on a vocal as the key element of a track and build a new track around the vocal performance. In the case of instrumental music it might be a bassline, a riff or hook or a drum loop that particularly stands out and forms the cornerstone of the re-imagining. It’s usually pretty obvious what the heart of any piece of music is, be it

a vocal hook, a guitar lick or something else. In some cases, a remixer wil l actually add a completely new hook of their own and it’s in situations like this t hat a remix can become more famous than the origi nal. Modern DAWs let you manipulate time and pitch in incredi ble ways and these are two important things to th ink about before you start a remix. Would the track sound better, or at least substantially different, if it were slowed down, sped


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up or its pitch changed a little? Remember that tempo changes don’t automatically also mean pitch changes any more, the two are exclusive. It’s often better to make these kinds of choices at the start because it cuts down on the amount of stretching of individual clips and parts that you have to do. So if you’ve whittled it back to the drums, bass, vocal and one guitar line, perform your stretching on these early on then build the new elements around them.

Creative decisions Just because you can chuck everything out doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Every project is about judgement. Keep what works and replace or remove what doesn’t in the context of your interpretation. It might be that a rock track has some synths added to it, perhaps some extra electronic beats and sounds great. Remixing can work the other way as well. Some artists prefer to take away, to strip productions back to their essence and uncover the beauty of a song or the raw power of a groove. It all depends on the ingredients you’re working with.

l r tt s h r o tr ck s, ei k u k, s i

Extracting audio to MIDI data is a great way of deconstructing material for a remix and recreating new parts

h l o

As well as instru mentation the other main consideration is arrangement. Again this ca n vary from subtle modification to wholesale change. If you’re treating a vocal performance as the heart of a track then it’s likely that the structure isn’t going to change too radically since the vocal has a set length. Of course you can mess with it a little, but it might not be dramatically different in structure. If you disregard the structure of a song or you’re making it instrument-led, the rule book goes out of the window. Here, you have carte blanche to start lifting, moving, duplicating and deleting any par t of a track. Many DAWs have tools to help you with this, such as Cubase’s Arranger track or Reason’s Blocks mode. Others have their own methods for creating multiple arrangements within a project. You don’t have to pay attention to traditional song structure, though bear in mind that most people prefer their music to have at least a passing acquaintance with structure so anythi ng too chaotic is going to have a limited audience. Still, you can get away with a lot. Many electronic remixes real ly push the envelope when it comes to frenetic, cut-up structures. Plug-ins like Stutter Edit or Turnado also mean that really quite complicated mashup effects are easy to achieve without hours of programming. You have a lot of choices when it comes to arrangement thanks to the flexibility of DAWs. You can reduce a sprawling track down to its core elements and create a tighter, more focused version by trimming the fat. Or, take a simple idea and explode it out into an epic piece of music, adding


AN EXPERIMENTAL REMIX

When the going gets weird… do a remix.

and embellishing to create something altogether more majestic. Truthfully, the proliferation of methods by which people consume music these days means that you have more freedom. A 12-minute noise epic isn’t likely to make it onto the FM radio, but it could find an audience on Soundcloud or one of the many online radio stations dedicated to niche genres. A club version of an indie song is more likely to find an audience now than when you had to fight for attention on national radio. The possibilities are not quite endless, but they’re many.

Fatboy Slim: artist, DJ, and prolific remixer

Putting a thudding 4/4 beat behind a track is the stereotypical way to remix, and it is indeed still popular. You can go the other way though, taking a song or a track in a completely new and unexpected direction. Some artists specialize in this and while these projects might not get the dancefloor moving, they are often held to have greater artistic merit. You’ll start as before by splitting a track into its constituent stems or parts, but this time instead of adding drums you might take them away, or add ominous electronic percussion where before there was a drum kit. Adding textures is a good way to create an atmosphere, and synths and guitars are really great for this. If there’s a vocal, consider changing it in some way. Perhaps tempo or pitch stretch it, add vocoding or layer multiple versions of it on itself or add extra harmonies or backing of your own. Ghost a vocal with a distorted guitar or piano part. While you’re being more experimental you can mess with structure more as well. Reverse things, take choruses out and add new sections that weren’t present in the original. If you’re remixing into a different but more conventional style, give it the full treatment. Add a dubstep underpinning to an acoustic track, or an orchestral backing to a piece of dark electronica. Some of the most interesting re-versions of tracks occur when an artist goes in a completely unexpected direction. There are limits of course, so make sure it works!


REMIXING IN PRACTICE Here’s how to remix in your DAW

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hen it comes to remixing, your DAW already offers most of the tools you will need. Naturally they all take a slightly different approach but the basics are the same. Set up the project based on the format of the material you have received – for example 120BPM, 48kHz, 24-bit files – and then set the left marker to a definite bar marker, ensuring that snap to bar is switched on. Then import the audio stems all at once, making sure they start at the left marker. If the person supplying the material has done their job you should find that the audio tracks are al l in time

s t e I h e ri l on th ir t n o sh ul fi d hat h u i s ll e e r n ’ ‘ and perfectly synchronized. That’s ‘if’ they have done their job… If this doesn’t happen you might be better off asking for properly exported files. If that’s not possible you can expect to have to spend some time looking at waveforms and trying to work out why the timing d rifts off as the stems play back. You can use your own click track to work out how badly off the timing is if th is happens. Most DAWs are pretty good with time stretching though it can still be a pain to align entire tracks to your musical grid. In the event that you haven’t been

MTF Step-by-Step

told what tempo the stems are at, a beat calculator will usually let you tap the tempo to work it out, though again you’ll have to spend time realig ning and stretching parts. I f things get really fiddly, one trick is to cut parts up and stretch sections individually then reassemble them in the correct tempo, but it’s a hassle. Like we say, don’t be afraid to ask for what you need… How you proceed depends on what your aims are for the remix. You may want to, for example, mute everything but the vocal and then bring in completely new beats underneath it to start with. If you’re planning to time- or pitch-stretch the vocal track, now is the time to do it to cut down on work later. If you pull a vocal up by 10BPM or a couple of semitones, it will be easier to start building the new track around it from this base rather than changing lots of tempos later. Some DAWs will make life a lot easier even if you do change your mind later. Some, for example, render all audio elastic, so tempo changes en masse aren’t too arduous. Much of the time you may want to keep hold of the basic character of the track by keeping certain elements in place such as a bassline, synth or guitar hook if they are particularly good. But you can mess with them for example by adding effects l ike delay or distortion to alter the feel of the track while maintaining its basic melody. A common technique when producing electronic remixes of rock or indie tracks is to identify the hook and then repeat it creatively. Drums might be replaced or supplemented to beef them up, and arrangements altered to change the structure of the track. Of course you could take the opposite approach and substitute new melodies, beats and basslines and simply keep a few key elements of the original – the choice is yours.

Remixing in Live

Ableton Live takes a slightly different approach and one that’s useful for remixers. Here, some stems have been imported and then a loop identified. Right clicking, we are able to slice it to a new MIDI track and then trigger it as a new instrument.

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Add a new bass instrument and either use the extracted MIDI information from the bass clip imported previously or program a new part. Use Clip view to work with audio and MIDI clips for a more DJ-style approach to remixing.

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Use Live’s great MIDI effects like arpeggiators and randomizers to help you compose new clips and parts underneath the bones of the project you have kept from the original, to make something new and unique.

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MASHUP TOOLS Modern tools can take a lot of the legwork out of the remix process…

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hen remixes first became a popular thing to do in music, the tools on offer were significantly less advanced than they are today. The process would involve editing tape, sampling into hardware samplers and manipulating the results, and recordi ng overdubs largely using real or hardware electronic instruments. Even when more outlandish stuff became popular in the electronic world, a lot of it was down to many hours spent programming and automating MIDI to get the desired effects. These days, a relatively small outlay will get you access to some mind blowing software tools for reinterpreting digital audio in ways which didn’t really used to be possible. Plug-ins can now take a real-time audio signal and mangle it in amazing ways without you ever having to worry about tedious stuff like staying in sync. Most of this even remains vir tual if you so choose, meaning you don’t even have to render effects down if you don’t want to.

Sugar Bytes’ Turnado is a powerful mashup multieffect

Mash it up Let’s look at a few of the best plug-ins for remixing, beyond the kinds of mix tools you would use as part

of any music project. Izotope’s Breaktweaker was designed in collaboration with electronic producer BT and is technically a virtual instr ument into which you can load any samples and completely re-sequence them based on its advanced onboard

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sequencer. Although billed as a beat making tool, in practice it can be used on anything you like. It has a MicroEdit Engine that lets you repeat or chop up any audio slice at an incredibly fine resolution so you can turn beats into melodic notes, texturize melodic sounds with rhythms or use beats as a synthesis tool by locking drum hits to individual pitches. Different internal sequencer tracks can use different tempo and step lengths so it’s almost like a mashup studio inside a single instrument. Manipulating samples becomes far more flexible than anythi ng you can achieve with regular audio edits. Also from Izotope is Stutter Edit, an audio effect that lets you play effects like an instrument. It continuously samples live audio input into a buffer and then you use MIDI notes to trigger multiple sets MTF Step-by-Step

of complex effects on that audio. The result is that you can create incred ible stutters, runs, sweeps, repeats and much more by assigning notes to effects and then tweaking the behaviour of those effects. There are a stack of available effects and even though you’ll want to invest a little time in setting it up to your liking, it’s like a remi x in a box. Not dissimilar is Sugar Bytes’ Tur nado, a multi effect that’s a little more approachable and has a ton of multi fx to route your sounds through. It can do everything from slicing to distortion and filtering at the same time. To add a new dimension to your remixes it never hurts to have a good pool of samples and loops to work with such as those from Loopmasters. As well as being used straight out of the box these can be mashed up in effects l ike the ones mentioned above for cool results.

Creating new beats with Izotope Breaktweaker

Load an instance of Breaktweaker and load a preset. Each of the lanes represents a different sound and these can be swapped for different samples or some of your own sounds. Press a MIDI note to trigger the sequence.

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Select any of the note events in the sequencer or add your own using the mouse, and change its position and duration. Click in the MicroEdit window and drag the mouse up or down to change the tension and behaviour of the step for cool sounding results.

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Use the Pattern section at the bottom right to build up a series of different patterns. These can be sequenced in the main DAW sequencer or exported or bounced down to audio in order to play with them in the context of the main remix project.

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RELEASING AND HOSTING YOUR REMIXES Now it’s time to get your remixes heard…

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he days of sending material to the CD pressing plant are more or less gone. Nowadays you’re much more likely to simply send someone a WAV of a mixed and mastered remix once it’s done, and they will deal with releasing it if that’s the arrangement you have made. If you are releasing or hosting stuff yourself you have several options, but there are some things to be aware of first. If yours is a n official remix, the person whose track you have remixed will own the copyright in at least part, if not all, of the recording. They will probably have written the track and will have the rights to the name, melody and any recorded material they supplied to you. So it’s vital to be clear (preferably before you even start any work) about what the deal will be for the finished track. Maybe you will receive a fixed fee to sign over the rights to t he remix entirely, or perhaps there will be a cut of sales that can be attributed to you via your membership of a collection agency like the PRS, MCPS, ASCAP or whatever your national


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association is. If the track contains a ny third party samples you need to know that the artist has cleared those too, since that adds another layer of complexity. What you shouldn’t do is just start selling something yourself, un less you have

r

e h se r i d l ro aby yi h e or i

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explicitly agreed this first.

Look to the cloud Hosting music nowadays is easier than ever, and Soundcloud is still the go-to destination for uploading your own music and embedding it on other sites. Mixcloud is great too, especially for remixes. Bandcamp is still one of the best ways to

The Ultimate Guide To Remixing  MTF

TECH TERMS

  Individually exported audio files that collectively contain all the material in a project. Batch export is the quickest way of creating all of these in one go.    A special file or MIDI data you can export to tell the remixer about any speed changes that happen through the course of a track.   Rendering MIDI or audio down to audio files, often with effects. This provides the remixer with all relevant material even if they are running a different system.     Many DAWs let you analyse audio clips and convert their note and pitch info to MIDI which is great for capturing melodies or beats and reprogramming them.

                      

lt a       t          

   Combinations of MIDI data and sliced audio files that can be re-sequenced and generally manipulated. Some DAWs have dedicated REX player modules.      Special files that contain some – but not all – content and info about a project. Useful for sending a remixer a project without having to export everything first.    Altering the speed of an audio part without changing its pitch. Pitch stretching is also commonly available.   Taking two or more tracks or parts of tracks and blending them together to make something new.    Online, server-based methods for either swapping large amounts of raw project data or in some cases for collaborating on projects using web-based tools.    Synchronizing tracks or equipment – or both – so that the original material and the new stuff you add all stays in the correct time.

sell your own music and set your own price, with all levels of quality options including lossless. Most of these sites have decent free plans that give most people what they want though there’s also usually an option to upgrade for extra features like sales stats. Beatport now only deals with labels but has an associated site called Baseware that still allows independent artists to sell music through online stores. Services like iTunes, A mazon and Spotify can also be used though you will have to go through an intermediar y service such as Mondotunes since they rarely deal with people on an individual basis. Radio and blogs are still a great avenue for promotion and all the usual rules of tenacity and casting your net wide apply here just as with promoting any music. Of course if you have remixed an established artist or even someone who is doing their own promotion it should be easier to get them to promote your remix under the banner of the work they are already doing. Ultimately, remixing can be a good way to promote both yourself and the artist whose material you have remixed, so it’s in everyone’s interests to see it succeed. MTF FOCUS


MTF Feature 6 Ways… to make your studio look cool

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MTF Feature

6 Ways…

6 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR STUDIO LOOK COOL Okay, you might not think that this is the most important aspect of studio life, but having a great creative environment will help your music production no end, especially when it is easy on the eye…

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o should you really be concerned about how cool your studio looks? We’re certainly not saying that it is as important as how it sounds – in fact, we always say that the sound is the most important aspect, right from getting the perfect recording through to listening to the end results on the most accurate monitors. BUT, let’s not forget that music production is a creative process, so once you have your preamps, your monitors, your mixer, your mics and your computer sorted – and even your chair, for that matter – why not consider the environment around you? No, not that environment [actually, yes, that environment, too – Ed], but the room in which you sit, the room in which you create? Make it look great and you will make it a welcoming and creative place to be. So in order to do that… 01 Tidy, tidy, tidy

Got kids? You will understand this. Stuff on the floor, stuff on the desk, stuff everywhere, more stuff. LEGO. Bloody LEGO, everywhere! The easy route to a creative environment is a clean environment. Yes, it’s obvious, too obvious, so obvious that you might not notice ‘untidy creep’, i.e. as you work within your creative space you will make it more untidy. In fact, as we’re writing this feature within our studio setup, we’ve just noticed: it’s untidy. Hang on… [noise of


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tidying…] There, that‘s better. Spend 10 minutes clearing your work space and your next session is guaranteed to be more productive. 02 Less is

more (and, okay, more is more)

For a magazine that shows you a ton of gear pictures every month, it pains us to say: if you are working towards specific musical goals, then very often the fewer distractions you have in terms of gear, the better. And as is shown by (some of) the pictures on these pages, having a very stripped back setup can

For a mag that shows you a ton of gear, it pains us to say that less is more. Sometimes, that is… mean a very cool one. Having said that, and this is where we justify having a ton of gear, having a huge bank of outboard lights come on when you flick that master switch, can be just as inspiring. It’s about a work/gear balance… 03 Surround sound

There’s no doubting that there is some kind of

6 Ways… to make your studio look cool Feature MTF

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primal urge that kicks in when you sit down at your mixing desk or at a bank of keyboards, and surround yourself with buttons, dials, sliders and keys. It is a very controlling feeling – or is that just us? – so give in to it and make sure you immerse yourself. Have everything within reach and angled towards you; invest in proper studio furniture (or simply cheaper Ikea-style desks that have compartments and shelves) and a floor that enables you to roll across from one bank of loveliness to the next. It looks great and works great… 04 Personalise

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It it your studio? Then, in the words of the best captain on the bridge: ‘make it so’. You can have a mountain of gear, the coolest of sofas, the best of lights, but if it’s not yours, then you might as well be anywhere. To make it personal, make sure you have a couple of reminders about whose space this is,

Is it your studio? Then, in the words of the best captain on the bridge: ‘make it so’ 04 maybe who inspired you, where you came from and where you are going, the important words in that sentence all being ‘you’. A stormtrooper on a monitor, a Kraftwerk traffic cone on a synth… Personalise it however you want, not just with gear but with you. 05

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Lights, action…

We know that this has become an important one to so many of you. Good studio lighting not only looks cool, but can also be very inspiring. There’s nothing worse than having the most incredible gear setup, a great-sounding acoustic room, only to turn on an artificial industrial office light to see what is going on. Invest in up lighting, strip lighting, even fairy lights if you must. Make it warm and welcoming, not cold and frightening. Green is good. As is blue. And lava lamps. Ooh, lava lamps… 06 Go wireless

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As the world goes wireless, we in studio land should be rejoicing. Unfortunately, latency and other issues mean that a completely wireless recording environment is probably a few years away yet, so while you have to plug one thing into another – and let’s face it, modular fans, that is still an attractive pastime in its own right – at least keep those wires out of sight as much as you can (unless you are the aforementioned modular fan, naturally). Invest in cable tidies, cable extensions and simply getting down on your hands and knees to push power leads, audio cables and computer connectors out of site but, importantly, still within reach. A good old fashioned patch-bay might be in order here. And while we’re on the subject of modular synths, yes we all know that they look cool, but the cables can look a mess. Try colour coding or even LED cables to blend points 1 and 5. Very cool… MTF FOCUS


MTF Technique Aggregate audio devices

Ableton Live Live In Depth – Aggregate audio devices Accompanying project file included on the DVD

Beef up your Ableton Live audio ins and outs Do you need more audio inputs and outputs for your Live rig? Before rushing out to buy another interface, make sure you’re fully exploiting what you already have…

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ooner or later, we all have a moment when something changes unexpectedly in our studio or live setup; maybe we borrow a drum machine or synth from a friend, or somebody comes over for a jam, and suddenly the well-organised rig doesn’t quite have enough audio inputs or outputs to go round. In the longer term, you can plan to buy another soundcard, or you can use external audio inputs on your hardware instruments, if they have any, and bodge something together that way. Either way, right there on the spot, you need something to make it work, and this is where aggregate audio devices come in, if you have an unused sound card lying around. Under Mac OSX, we can combine two or more audio interfaces, including the one built into the computer, so that our favourite music software sees all of the connected physical inputs and outputs as one virtual device. This device will be available system-wide for any software, including Ableton live and other DAWs. In some ways, you might think we’re not talking about an

Ableton Live-specific topic here, but it’s incredibly relevant, because Live is at the centre of so many stage and jam rigs. The understanding of aggregate audio devices fits very neatly into that world, just as you ought to know how to ReWire different DAWs, how to use MIDI Sync, and so on. Typically these days, we’d be using USB audio interfaces for this. It’s the most common form of connection for audio and MIDI peripherals, although FireWire is still around, and there are a few Thunderbolt

Combine multiple devices to create the monster aggregate device of your dreams

Workaround or long-term plan? Is it worth buying another soundcard just so you can do this? Truthfully, I’d say no! I view aggregate audio devices strictly as a workaround for those situations where you’re caught short on the input front, like when there’s a gear failure in the studio, or you’re having a jam with a group of players and there simply aren’t enough physical inputs to do it properly. If you’re looking to expand on your available inputs long-term, a better option would be to add something that connects to your existing interface via an optical cable, like Focusrite’s OctoPre or RME’s OctaMic.


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interfaces available, like the Apogee Ensemble, and FireWire interfaces are still around – and FireWire is compatible with Thunderbolt if you have an adaptor. Just to be clear, when I talk about an audio interface, or a sound card, I’m referring to the same thing. You can combine multiple devices to create the monster aggregate device of your dreams, although after a certain point, I’m not sure what’d happen regarding computer performance and latency – I don’t think I’ve ever gone further than two interfaces plus built-in audio. I always make a point of using the mains

Aggregate audio devices Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Aggregate audio devices

An aggregate audio device is a name for the connecting and configuring multiple hardware audio interfaces, so that they appear as one continuous set of inputs and outputs in software.

You’ll need a Mac running Live, and one or more audio interfaces, to follow our steps. Any relatively recent version of Mac OS X should do, and I’m afraid that, yes, this is Mac-only.

This can scale up from small to very big rigs. For starters, let’s say you want a simple DJ cueing setup, which requires two separate stereo outputs, but you only have a basic stereo soundcard.

You can combine your Mac’s headphone output with soundcard output to make a ‘virtual’ interface with two stereo outputs, and set them up so one outputs to PA/mixer, the other to your headphones.

Make sure your soundcard is connected as usual – probably via USB. You don’t want Live open yet. Go the OS X Utilities folder, which is inside the Applications folder, and open Audio MIDI Setup.

From the Audio Devices window, you’ll see a panel that lists all recognised interfaces and any existing aggregate audio devices. Click ‘+’ to add a new one, and rename it something sensible.

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power adaptors for any interfaces in these setups as well. The ability to create aggregate audio devices is built into Mac OS X, which is why this entire tutorial is Mac-only. OS X is very convenient for handling these audio tasks, as well as having deep MIDI routing capabilities also built in – like the ability to configure wireless MIDI networks. You can use little audio

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interfaces like the Alesis Core 1, right up to, for example, the RME Fireface UFX. Live won’t recognise a new aggregate audio device until it’s relaunched, so bear that in mind if you don’t see it listed in Audio Preferences. Talking of which, you’ll also have to visit Audio/Input Devices/Configure and Audio/Output Devices/Configure and enable every input and output FOCUS


MTF Technique Aggregate audio devices


Aggregate audio devices (cont’d)

In the panel at the right of that, you should see a list of all available audio inputs and outputs, including Built-in Microphone and Built-in Output – which are the t he Mac’s Mac’s own hardware connections.

Tick all of them – you might as well include the inputs as you’re not adding many, anyway. Quit Audio MIDI Setup. You can return here whenever you need to manage your aggregate audio devices.

Now when you open Live, go to the Audio tab in Preferences. Where you choose Audio Input Device and Audio Output Device, you can view and select your new Aggregate Audio Device.

Click the Input and Output Config buttons and you can enable all of the inputs and outputs in the device. From now on, Live Live will treat this as one device, just like any other. Close Preferences.

Open a Live set. Anything with some clips in Session or Arrangement View will do, though it’s easier to view routings in Session. Open the In/Out View to see all four outputs available.

Under the Master Track, you can define the Master Out and Cue Out destinations – the one that will go to your headphones. By default, all tracks will go to the Master Output.

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that you want to use – which is probably all of them! After that, of course, they’ll all be available in in Live’s In/Out View. How you use all those spare connections is up to you; one thing that comes to mind is routing out and back to external hardware synths and drum machines, especially if you’ve got something like a Machinedrum, which has six separate physical

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outputs…that’ll plunder your cable stash in doublequick time. Same with audio effects – you can wire up a hardware reverb, or compressor, and create a convenient recall by using Live’s External Audio Instrument and Effect devices, effectively letting you include your hardware in chains of presets. By the way, way, the OS X Audio MIDI Setup utility is the most important

Aggregate audio devices Technique MTF


Aggregate audio devices (cont’d)

Click the solo/cue switch in the Master track, and the solo button in every track becomes a headphone-cue icon. Now you can use these to direct a track’s audio to the cue output. output .

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You may need to experiment with the In/Out View settings to find the right stereo output, and don’t forget there’s there’s a cue volume control below the switch, which you could assign to a MIDI controller.

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Useful, right? Saved yourself from buying a new interface, maybe. As I said, this scales up, so let’s try with two audio interfaces. I’m using the Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 and Alesis Core 1.

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The procedure is similar, it’s just a matter of more connections. Connect the interfaces, and use Audio MIDI Setup to configure those inputs and outputs, out puts, adding NI to the existing aggregate device.

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View it in Live’s Preferences – whoo, that’s a lot of connections! Enable them all. In theory, having more enabled ins and outs here can increase CPU usage, but I’ve never had an issue with it.

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place to view and troubleshoot your audio and MIDI routings, especially as Live users are so fond of using the IAC Driver to create weird audio setups, like sending MIDI out of Live and back in again. A better long-term solution for this is to buy a soundcard with more inputs, and if that’s still not enough, combine it with a mic pre that connects via optical cables. Naturally, you’ll also have to make sure your main interface has optical connections, too. If you take a Focusrite 18i20 for example, and you want to add eight more inputs to it, get a Focusrite OctoPre and connect them via optical. The 18i20 will appear to Live as usual, without any special configuration; it’ll just have more inputs. You can buy long optical cables as

If you own an interface with ADAT connections, you you may not need an aggregate interface. I’ve I’ve got a Ferrofish A16 adding 16 inputs to an RME Fireface UFX – it simply appears as one unit.

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well, so the two units don’t have to be physically together. In my studio, I have a five-metre optical cable connecting a Ferrofish A16, positioned near the hardware synths, to the UFX which is positioned near the computer. compu ter. Aggregate devices aren’t always the most elegant long-term solutions. But if you have a spare interface lying around and suddenly you need more, it gets the job done. Under Mac OS X, creating and managing aggregate devices is about as easy as it gets, and Live has no problem identifying and using them. Whether you’re going to use this on a day-to-day basis or not, it’s something to get familiar with in advance of the day when you might need it to get you out of a hole! MTF FOCUS

Ableton Live 2016/17 2016/17 | 37

MTF Technique Live In Depth – Follow Actions

Ableton Live Live In Depth – Follow Actions Actions Accompanying project file included on the DVD

Follow actions and what they can do for you It’s so easy to let software lock everything down nice and tight and be predictable but, says Martin Delaney, it doesn’t have to be like that…

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ollow Actions are settings we can make in Ableton Live’s Session View clips, that determine how and when one playing clip will automatically move on to another, and what will happen when it gets there. We can use Follow Actions for creative purposes, such as in evolving sound art installations, or to create unpredictable sequences of instrument parts, but we can also use them as purely practical tools, for example creating timed intervals in a live performance – they’re very flexible. Follow Actions can be thought of as Ableton’s take on generative music – music which composes or arranges itself in a semi-automatic way. Brian Eno fans will know what I’m talking about. Go back to his Discreet Music album from 1975, which would’ve been made with hardware devices and tape in those days, to the Generative Music 1 album from 1996, which he made using Sseyo’s Koan software. If you want to get some of that old-school Eno action, Koan evolved into Noatikl 3, and it’s still available from www.intermorphic.com. Follow Actions only work in Session View, and only vertically with adjoining clips in the same track. If or when the follow action clips arrive at an empty clip slot, they stop, so that’s worth remembering when you’re trying to prevent Follow Actions from running on into the ‘wrong’ areas of your set. Follow Actions let your clips behave in a genuinely random way, or you can limit their freedom by applying two

GOING OUT OF THE BOX Follow Actions get even better when you integrate them into a larger setup. Why not send notes from those randomly-launching MIDI clips out to connected hardware synths and drum machines? You can randomise your hardware too – just use Live’s External Instrument device in each of your Follow Action tracks. Use Program Changes in the clips to load specific hardware presets on-demand, and of course Clip Envelopes to send automated parameter changes. This is all pretty easy to organise, though you might have to check your hardware manuals to get the correct information about MIDI channels, program changes, and control messages.

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different Chance values, and combining two different behaviours, selecting from Stop, Play Again, Previous, Next, First, Last, Any, and Other. I guess those names are mostly self-explanatory, although the difference between Any and Other is that with an Any Follow Action there’s a chance it will play the current one again immediately, whereas with Other it’ll never repeat the current one straigh straightt after playing it once. Personally I lean towards Other and the more random selections in general, as that’s what I like about them in the first place! Just like (nearly) everything in Live, Follow Actions can be recorded, in this case, into the Arrangement View timeline. One of my favourite Follow Action moments is to trigger and record a group of clips which have short Follow Actions of 1 or 2 beats, then go to the Arrangement View, select the captured clips, and consolidate them, creating one new clip which contains all of those little parts – this works equally well with MIDI or audio clips. If you prefer to do it all inside Session View, like maybe during a live performance, you could create a new audio track, and use the resampling option to capture either the entire mix back

Live In Depth – Follow Actions Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Follow Actions

01 We’ll be using Follow Actions in Session View to create random

and not-so-random behaviour between adjoining clips in the same track. You should use the example Live set provided!

03 If you’re not seeing the Clip View, click the Clip View Selector near

02 Let’s use the three adjoining white clips in track 1. Click to select

the top clip, then hold down Shift and click on the bottom one, this will highlight all of the clips in that block.

04 You can see a section of Follow Action controls in the Launch Box.

the bottom right. Also make sure you can see the Launch Box – you might need to click the small L button at bottom left.

The top three relate to timing – how long will the clip play before Follow Action occurs, in bars/beats/sixteenths. Leave that for now.

05 The middle boxes let you choose what the Follow Action will be.

06 Launch one of those clips and Follow Actions begin – they’ll play

For now choose ‘Other’ from the first box and leave the second one. Finally, choose a Chance value – set it to max out at 999! into the new track, or else just select the source track with Follow Actions, and record it as incoming ‘live’ audio. These are great techniques if you’re stuck on a project and you need a new sound, a new perspective, or just a bit of spontaneous reorganisation. Plus, of course (unless you choose not to let them), Follow Actions are always synced to the rest of your project. Follow Actions are really hypnotic and totally addictive

in a random order, and keep going forever unless you stop them! You could hit record and capture them into the Arrangement View.

– it’s as we can use an arpeggiator on Live clips. It can get even more hypnotic, though, if we use more than one track of them at the same time. Of course, two (or more) tracks of randomly launching clips have far more potential for non-repeating patterns. As stated in the tutorial, though, there is also more risk of sounds clashing then, so you can’t always just dump two lots of sounds into parallel tracks and expect them to play nicely together – you might have


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MTF Technique Live In Depth – Follow Actions

MTF Step-by-Step

Follow Actions

07 For bonus coolness, consolidate clips in the Arrangement View

with Cmd>J, creating a new clip you can paste back into Session View. Follow Actions and Consolidate work with MIDI and audio clips.

09 Choose the Next action, and set the Chance to 999. Select the

last clip alone, and choose the Stop action. Launch the top clip, and they’ll play in sequence, until they reach the last one and stop.

11 Stop all those clips. In fact, you can use the Stop All Clips button

under the master track. Now go to tracks 3, 4, and 5. Select all of those clips and go to the Launch Box.

to tinker with the timings, and adjust parameters and EQ to get a nice fit – basic mixing in other words. You can blur the lines between organisation and chaos by adjusting the chance settings for each action - an action assigned to a value of ‘0’ will never happen, while identical chance values will give an equal likelihood of occurrence. But going further, you can dictate specific steps and create


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08 More? Let’s use the clips in track 2. Make sure all clips in track 1

are off. Select all the clips again, as we did before, and this time choose a time value of 0/2/0.

10 To make things sound more interesting, send Sends A and B to

the 12 o’clock position – those are going to Delay and Reverb. I love adding Ping Pong Delay, especially, to these kinds of sounds.

12 Set the timing value to 0/2/0. You’ll see this affects clips across

all three tracks. Choose the Any action in the left hand box, and set Chance to 999 again.

regular, predictable, outcomes, so you can have a set of instrument parts that play and move on of their accord while you sing or play along, like a little interactive backing track. You want a clip to stop playing after 8 bars? Easy. You can always add empty MIDI clips, or silenced audio clips, to insert timed pauses or breaks into the flow as well. Taken to extremes, you could have just one track that plays

Live In Depth – Follow Actions Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Follow Actions

13 Instead of launching each track individually, use a scene from the

Master track to fire the top clip in each track. Clip playback diverges, building a more interesting and unpredictable sequence.

15 Having fixed that EQ issue, now you once again add delay and

reverb sends to give more depth and even more rhythmic variety to the parts. Experiment with different project tempos as well.

17 Follow Actions only apply to blocks of adjoining clips in the same

track. They stop when they arrive at an empty clip slot. If you need a silence section, add a silent audio or MIDI clip!

through an entire song structure following just one click to launch the first scene – especially if you combine with instruments racks, Simpler and the Chain Select Envelope so you can have different clips loading different instruments, audio loops (that’s why I mentioned Simpler), and audio effects! It’s as always with Live: the individual features are really cool, but once you get the combinations

14 Sounds good, but track 4 is clashing with the others in the low

end. So add an EQ Three to track 4 and roll off the low end a bit. That thins it out some more.

16 Go to the bottom clip in track 4 and set one Follow Action to Stop,

and the other to Any and their Chances to 50 each. Now, when the Follow Action reaches that one, the track 4 clips sometimes stop.

18 As we’ve already seen, Follow Actions are recorded just like

everything else that happens in Live, so it’s easy to use them as a way of semi-randomly generating new parts and even mixes.

going, it comes truly alive. You might have noticed that I’m quite partial to Follow Actions. It’s true, I’m Fanboy, and not ashamed to admit it. Follow Actions are built into every version of Live, and you don’t need any extra hardware or plug-ins, just some audio or MIDI clips to play with. No matter how you use Live, there’s room for Follow Actions in your work flow. MTF


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MTF Technique Creative clip management with Push 2

Ableton Live In depth Accompanying project file included on the DVD or at www.musictech.net

Creative clip management with Push 2 Ableton’s Push hardware controllers – especially Push 2 – interact with Live’s Session View clips in ways that no other controller can achieve. Martin Delaney explains how to get creative…

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t’s not often we run a tutorial that’s dedicated to one controller but, of course, Push isn’t just any piece of hardware – it’s built by Ableton itself to complement its Live software, which it does, with unmatched depth. This means that there are enough Push users and Pushcurious Live users out there to justify this kind of workshop coverage. Push is primarily focused on Session View which is, of course, all about clips and we’re focusing on those here. But let’s not claim that this is ‘everything you wanted to know about Push and clips’ – that would be kind of dangerous, especially given Ableton’s ongoing habit of adding new features. As Ableton itself stated in the past: once you create your clips with Push, and browse and load instrument and effect devices, then record a little jam or performance, maybe you’ll be better off putting Push to one side and working more directly with your computer. What Push does is provide a more dynamic, hands-on, ‘instrument’ vibe for that brainstorming creative process; that physical part of it is based around the controls – the encoders, buttons, and the control strip – and maybe most importantly, the dynamics and excitement that come from the way Push lets us get hands-on with audio and MIDI clips. It used to be that audio clips were kind of a poor relation on Push in some ways, but not any more, as with Push 2 we can view waveforms for samples contained within Simpler and also for regular audio clips. This is a major advance in terms of getting a full ‘DAW’ experience from the hardware.

GOING OUT OF THE BOX Push isn’t the only hardware solution for Live. You can use MIDI keyboards, apps, or other pad-based controllers from people like Akai and Novation. Push is the ideal all-rounder, though, and many Live newbies buy it on day one as it’s the obvious choice, and there’s nothing wrong with that. However you might prefer another controller because of price, portability, or some unique feature that it has. I reckon the biggest competition is Touchable on an iPad Pro – the iPad is the only Live controller where you can see the clip names and colours on the control surface.


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Our example Live set contains a selection of audio and MIDI clips for you to tinker with. You’ll need Live 9.6 or later to open this set as we need to be right up to date to make the most of Push. Any necessary Push firmware updates are included within Live software updates – the Push display will let you know what’s going on! In Session Mode, Push does a good job of reflecting the contents of your Live set’s Session View and you’ll get clip positions and colours clearly laid out, ready to launch with a single tap. The colours should be reasonably close to what you see on the computer screen. Get familiar with what’s in the example set by tapping any of the clips to start them playing. If Live isn’t already running, launching a clip will start the transport. If Live is already running, the pad will flash and wait until the start of the next bar before playback begins. (If you ever want to play loops in Live without starting the transport, you can do it from the Looper and Simpler devices.) In the walkthrough we see how launching clips from the Push pads will reflect launch mode settings you’ve made. Live’s default launch mode is Trigger mode, which is fine

Creative clip management with Push 2 Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Using Push for clip management

is one of our rare Push-only tutorials, so you’ll need a Push to 01 This make the most of it (ideally Push 2). Load our example Live set, which has some clips ready for you.

some of the clips in the set – it doesn’t matter which for 03 Launch now. They are exhibiting the default Live/Push launch behaviour. They’ll flash before playback starts and flash while they’re playing.

stop a clip, press a pad to activate an empty clip slot in the 05 To same track or use the Clip Stop button. You could also use Stop transport or (on Push) Stop All Clips with Shift then Stop. most of the time, but it does require you to tap elsewhere or use the Stop button when you want the clip to stop but Live’s transport to continue. If the clip is set to Toggle, it’ll simply stop when you tap it again, which is generally a much smoother behaviour when you’re using hardware with Live clips. You can even change a clip’s launch mode from Push, which is great for mid-gig changes of direction. In Session Mode,

the Session button, so the Push pads are ready to launch the 02 Tap clips contained within the focus box displayed on your computer screen. You’ll see the clip colours are the same as on-screen.

because they’re following Live’s global quantise settings, 04 That’s which you’ll have to change from the software as Push can’t do it – not yet anyway (you can change record quantisation from Push).

clips can be assigned different launch modes – behaviours 06 Live such as Toggle and Repeat – and Push recognises these. Toggle’s very useful because a second tap of the same pad will stop the clip. there’s no way for Push’s pads to send velocity, so you can’t use them to change how loud or quiet a clip plays upon launch. There are two ways to deal with this: one is to use another controller instead – anything with a MIDI keyboard or drum pads will work, although of course there are significant trade-offs in other areas. The other is to use Simpler, which has become arguably the most important device in Live. Not only is it a great tool for FOCUS


MTF Technique Creative clip management with Push 2

MTF Step-by-Step

Using Push for clip management (cont’d)

Although audio and MIDI clips are different to work with in some ways, when it comes to launching them from Push, they’re the same. But that’s just like with Live itself, so you knew that already!

Push doesn’t offer a relationship between pad velocity and clip volume, something that some hardware can do. The work around is to load samples into Simpler; then you can apply velocity to it.

You can select a clip without launching it by holding down Select as you tap on it. This also works with other things such as tracks and pads in drum racks, very useful, and no noise!

When you’re viewing the clip details, including waveform for audio clips, you can change the clip’s loop length, start position, gain, and Warp modes (that’ll be audio only, of course).

With Live 9.7 – in public beta as I’m writing this – you can change clip colours from Push. Hold Select and press the clip, then press and hold Shift and select a colour from the grid.

When you’re recording MIDI notes via Push, you can leave your clip lengths open ended, so they just keep on going as you play, or use the Fixed Length button to set a bar value.

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hosting one-shot samples or building sample-based instrument patches, it’s a fantastic loop host as well. Drop an audio clip in there and you can immediately trigger that loop from the pads on Push and dial in as much velocity response as you desire. Simpler works brilliantly well with Push 2, especially as you can view the waveforms, and it could well be that you build entire


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Live sets where all of the audio material is contained within Simpler – working like this opens up a lot of potential for building instrument racks containing audio loops, and building your tunes in a whole new way. Personally I find I’m doing this more often. And while I’m on it,don’t forget to click on Simpler’s little ‘expand’ button when you want to get a really large scale view of

Creative clip management with Push 2 Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Using Push for clip management (cont’d)

Once the recording reaches the limit of that bar value, the clip goes straight into playback, without interruption. This works with audio clips as well, which is great for live loopers and beatboxers.

It’s possible to copy and paste clips from Push. All you have to do is press and hold Duplicate and tap the pad you want to copy, then tap where you want it to go.

Likewise you can delete clips by pressing the Delete button, and then the clip you want to dump. Use Undo to bring it back if necessary! Delete also works with tracks, scenes, and devices.

We’re allowed to mention scenes, because they’re rows of clips! Launch them by tapping the Note Value buttons at the right of the pad grid. Press the New button to create a new scene.

As with individual clips, we can select and view some scene info without launching it. Press Select and then the Note Value button corresponding to the desired scene, you’ll see the scene name.

As I mentioned earlier: for velocity sensitive loop launching, put your sample into Simpler and trigger it from the Notes Mode. You could build a set using Simpler for content instead of audio clips!

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what’s going on. Simpler fans will love the Convert button on Push 2. This has different functions depending on what mode Simpler is in, but it is all about creating new MIDI tracks based on the currently selected clip. If you have an audio clip selected, it will build a new Simpler track containing that clip, which is a nice fast way to get

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that task done. There’s no such thing as the perfect Live controller as we all use Live in different ways, but what we’re enjoying here are the things that Push does better than other hardware controllers (if they do them at all) – the features that best make use of Ableton’s ability to develop hardware and software side-by-side. MTF FOCUS




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10 WAYS TO MIX A TRACK It’s our ‘produce a track special’ – and it’s time to mix your tune. Here are some pro ideas to take your mix up a level and let your musical ideas shine through…

01 Keep it simple

With technology comes options – many, many options. You can layer many audio tracks together, plus a whole bunch of soft synths and instruments. But do you really want to do that? Wouldn’t your tune work better with one great sound, rather than 10 mediocre ones? Do classic pieces of popular music all rely on massive mixes? Okay, some do, but more memorable songs rely on a great hook or a well-produced individual sound, rather than walls of many sounds. With dance music, especially, if you get a great kick or bass sound, you are 90-per-cent there, and the rest is all about the arrangement. Spend time on getting your core sounds right and the rest will follow… But not too much time, mind…

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1. Keep it simple, with just one or two great sounds which could make your track 2. Yes, we are recommending playing video games. Only maybe not Fallout 4, as you might be playing for a while…

02 Take a

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break

As cool as spending the whole night mixing sounds or how good a day’s eight-hour session at the monitors feels, the truth is that the longer you spend listening to one mix, the more negatives will come from the experience than positives. Firstly, your ears will get tired and then so will your brain. You’ll start edging volume levels up across the board until you are mixing at excessive levels and your ears will soon start ringing. Your brain will start to turn to glue and your decision making will suffer; you’ll soon go from making vital and essential tweaks to undoing all the good work you put in at the start of your sessions. So, stop! Hold on a minute! While distractions can be regarded as your enemy at the start of the production and compositional process, they might well be your friends here. A good video game or pool table might be just the accessory your studio needs. Just make sure you return to your mix at some point, though…


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05 Breathe 03 Loud. Loud. Loud

more easily

While we’re talking volume, you might find that you end up with the kind of ‘mix creep’ mentioned earlier, especially over longer sessions; but you should always try and reduce volume levels, no matter how long your sessions are. You can give your mix the odd big blast just to make sure it kicks at high levels, but always bring it back down for the main mixing session. Remember that a really well-engineered mix will sound good at any level.

Use your mixing skills to allow the most important parts of your mix to breathe. If you happen to have Adele in your studio, the last thing you want to do is mask her voice with a bunch of things that sit in the EQ range or pan position of her vocal part. Move everything away from the most important part of your mix and give it room. If necessary, don’t shy away from using EQ reduction to help take other mix elements away from the most outstanding part of your tune.

04 Fill it up, but not right to the top

One of our favourite mix analogies is to consider your mix not only as a stereo left-to-right picture, but also as one going up and down. By this, we mean that when panning, think about filling the space ‘left to right’, and if it’s a band you’re mixing, consider using the positions of the band members as they would play on a stage as references for your main positions within the mix. And when EQ-ing, you could do worse than thinking ‘top to bottom’. Your low-end frequencies are at ground level, and your highs are, well, at the top. In this way, you can use judicious panning and EQ to ‘fill up’ the entire picture. But having said that, don’t fill your picture up completely…

3. Don’t let those levels get too loud. Here they are in Live going into the red… 4. One simple way to mix is to consider your mix in the positions that a band traditionally takes on stage, and pan the instruments accordingly 5. If you have a vocalist like Adele in your song, then the last thing you want to do is crowd her out of the track 6. Use a compressor in your DAW mix for extra clout and power

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06 Compress and limit

Getting your levels right is not just about adjusting faders per channel. More subtle adjustments can be made with compression, while less subtle ones can be made with limiting. In general, the entire mix is compressed and limited at the mastering stage, so don’t use this method so much in mixing. However, do consider applying compression to individual parts, so that your bass can pump and your snares can have more bite. Limiting helps cut out stray levels across the board, too. 07 Use references

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As well as using several different reference monitors to check your mix – see the boxout – you should remember to use musical reference material to check your mix against, too. This could be as simple as loading in a similar type of music to the one you’re mixing as a reference point. You aren’t so much checking the volume here, as this will be done in the mastering process; it’s more the style and the mix. You can get a great idea on EQ types and levels here, too. How does their bass cut through the mix compared to yours? Does your kick have as much clout? It’s a great way to learn from the pros, by just hearing their efforts side-by-side with yours. Beware, this can be a little depressing at first, but do bear in mind much of the extra shine comes from mastering, so don’t get too down. 08 Effects

With effects, as with virtual instruments and synths, technology is spoiling us rotten. Back in the day (oh, FOCUS

Ableton Live 2016/17 |

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9. Grouping tracks together can save time, and allow changes to be made quicker. It’s also a quick, non-destructive way to apply experimental changes to whole portions of a mix

don’t you just hate it when old timers say that?), you might only have had a couple of effects to use, so you had to make do with just those and nothing more… and this was not necessarily ‘a bad thing’. Today, it’s tempting to smear effects across everything simply because you can, but the technology message is, once again, that it’s great to have it on tap, but use it sparingly. So don’t, for example, slather reverb on everything, or your mix will sound like it’s recorded in a cathedral, which could be a bad thing.*

10. You need to make your mixes sound good on any device, including mp3 players.

* Unless you want it to sound like it’s recorded in a cathedral, in which case this could be a good thing.

09 Groups

Grouping is a powerful feature. Your DAW should allow you to do this, so learn how to do it now! Grouping can save a lot of time and a lot of effort as, essentially, groups allow you to process several (usually similar) mix elements at the same time. Your vocal harmonies, for example, might all use similar effects, so group them – as might your percussive elements. Then you can automate, mix, and process multiple tracks to your heart’s content… MTF

7. (Above) Juxtapose some reference material with your mix so you can compare your efforts with the best music out there 8. Just because effects are available, it doesn’t mean you should automatically use them 10

Best mixing tip ever?

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And the most popular mixing tip award goes to… Listen to your mix on as many different systems as possible. And this top tip still holds true, today more than ever. People consume music on a vast array of different devices: from minute players and phones right up to high-quality recording studios, so you have to make sure your mixes sound as good as they can on as many of these as possible. This means that as well as sounding great within the confines of your own studio and on your expensive monitors, they should also sound good through the headphones of your phone, compressed down to mp3; they should also sound great on the CD player in your car; and they should also sound great on your mate’s hi-fi. In the olden days, people even made them sound great in mono for radio play – it’s not so vital now, but if you can, then why not?

Oliver Nelson Interview MTF

MTF Interview Oliver Nelson

Oliver Nelson With a studio setup just like yours and ours,Oliver Nelson can not only offer production advice on his successful nu disco productions,but also has a lesson for all of us on how to make it in music production in the 21st century. MusicTech sits down with the man who has mastered the media… he phrase ‘up and coming’ is often thrown lazily at any artist releasing their fir st recording on a major label. But while Oliver Nelson is most definitely doing the latter – his first release on Polydor, Found Your Love, should be out as you read this – he is not exactly new to music production, having amassed a huge social-media following with a stream of remixes and productions, way before the single came out. Indeed, the 25-year-old Swedish producer is giving us all a lesson in how to carve a career in music making today. Before the single came out, Nelson had notched up millions of plays across various platforms. Found Your Love had scored over 1.5 million plays on SoundCloud, while his reworkings of tracks by Janet Jackson, The Knife, Marina And The Diamonds and Whitney Houston among others have scored nearly 100 million plays

on SoundCloud and YouTube: his remix of Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie garnered 16 million alone. So how has this young producer already made a name for himself before his first release? Well, let’s start at the beginning… u icTec : How

did you get into music production?

Oliver N lso : My brother started playing drums

when I was a kid. He was both my role model and inspiration, so I jumped on the drums myself and found my love for creating beats and rhythms. My parents were heavily interested in music, so in turn you could say my whole family were, and are, a huge influence. My first major step I took myself was deciding to attended a music high-school and that led me to start making my own music. From there, then, how did you break through to become successful? MT:

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N: I met my manager and we formed a great personal and professional relationship. He helped me find remixes and I worked tirelessly to make them as perfect as I could, and then they kept coming and raised my profile. He worked for Sony for 12 years, so it’s a perfect combination of our very contrasting talents. He provided the advice I needed to help me make the transition from amateur to professional. Hard work, determination and passion are my personal key drivers. MT: Tell us about your first production setup… ON: My good friend Jakob introduced me to my first music-software program when I was 17. It was fresh and fun; we just played around and my interest grew from there. I was amazed by the fact that making music digitally has infi nite possibilities. I know electronic music production has been around for a while, but I’ve embraced modern techniques that come with improvements in technology and software. You have to move fast in this dynamic, competitive and rapidly paced environment.

desk and analogue recorders, even though that equipment has its own charm.

MT How does it feel to have this much power inside a computer? N: When you think about it, it feels quite strange, actually. I think it’s amazing what you can do on a computer nowadays. The fact that you can do what you love and make a living out of it is really cool, especially when you don’t need that much. A computer, a MIDI keyboard… and you can be set for life. That’s the modern age, but you need passion.

“I a m s vefa o A l to i an I t ink e o ld w l e pa f lo g me” The Oliver Nelson Studio

MT: So it was really the possibilities that technology offered that drew you into production? ON: Yes, absolutely! I couldn’t do what I do without today’s technology. I don’t see any problem with it, I’m just happy there’s an easier way today for a creative mind to do what he or she wants to do in terms of music. Computers have really revolutionised modern music making. I do everything i n front of my computer with some outboard analogue gear, but even so, I control those with plug-ins. I’ve always been interested in computers, so it suits me perfectly. It’s also much more effective and more advanced than working with, let’s say, a mixing 50


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MT: So which software did you use back then compared to now? ON: I used Reason in the beginni ng, but then went over to Ableton and became a massive fan. I think that as they are so dynam ic and always updating, we could be pals for a long time. T: What else do you have in your setup? N: I’m working on my PC desktop in my home studio. My main synth is my Prophet 12 that goes along my other ones like the Moog Sub 37, Roland D-50, Yamaha Reface CP, Korg MS2000, Roland JV-1080, Elektron Analog Rytm, Nord Lead 2X and more, all going through my RME Fireface 802.


OLIVER’S PLUG-INS

Oliver details his favourite software instruments and effects…

PLUG-IN SYNTHS

PLUG-IN EFFECTS

I have four favourite ‘go to’ plug-in synths:    The first software synth I used and I was totally blown away by how amazing it sounded. The fact is that I have never really found any other one that could match that sound quality; maybe DIVA, but for me, Sylenth1 takes the money. It also has a sentimental value for me, as it’s one of my first and I use it in almost every production.       fan of the Roland Juno 60 and TAL Uno does a great job simulating its sound – I don’t need to say any more than that.

My absolute favourites are the Soundtoys plug-ins. They are just all-around amazing-sounding effects. The Decapitator is the best saturation plug-in out there in my opinion, along with PrimalTap, which I use a lot on leads to make them more interesting.MicroShift is also a plug-in that I always use on vocals. I also use FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2, a really good EQ plug-in that has a really simple interface. For reverb, I always use Valhalla’s plug-ins, especially its VintageVerb, which sounds incredible. I use it on everything from synths to percussion. It has a very warm, round sound that makes every difference.

 AAS CHROMAPHONE: I love my marimba and this is an absolutely amazing plug-in to go to for those kind of sounds. Anything plucky, realistic sounding, it’s your best friend. Probably my number-one favourite.  U-HE DIVA: This is the best soft synth for an analogue sound. It has a very rich character and amazing presets and expansion packs. It always works in any kind of production, whatever genre it might be.

MT: That’s a great list of hardware – both old and new – but you also use a lot of software [see boxout]. What do you like about each method? ON: It’s the simplicity with software! To be able to start your DAW and start using your favourite synth in seconds is a dream – there’s always some hassle with using analogue synths, but it goes both ways, I guess. You also get the unreliability with software, not knowing when things are going to crash, and even if you save every five minutes, you never know if every little tweak is going to be t he same as where you left it last time after a restart. It’s happened a lot that one soft synth has a totally different preset after a restart, and hours of work is lost. That never happens when I use my external synths. MT: Is there anything on your studio shopping list? ON: On top of the wishlist right now is a new laptop.

S LECTED KIT LIS Ampsandsound SE-84 Audeze EL-8 Audeze LCD XC Audio Technica ATH-50x and M70x DSI Prophet 12 Elektron Analog Rytm Korg MS2000R Moog Sub 37 Nord Lead 2x RME Fireface 802 Roland D-550 Roland JV-1080 and 880 Yamaha Reface CP …plus girlfriend, to make me have breaks

Then there’s D16 Group’s Decimort. Best bitcrusher out there! I use it to make things sound more analogue, and there’s a ton of ways you can use it. It works very well with vocal leads and guitars.

I’m working on my bad-boy desktop, but now when I’m touring all the time and meeting other artists and vocalists for collaborations, my desktop is useless. I do have a good laptop, but I don’t find it as powerful as I need it to be. So I guess one of the things on my wishlist is the new MacBook Pro. Must work harder (laughs)!

T What would you like to see developed in production technology? O : My top wish right now is a good software I can use for my Analog Rytm to drag-and-drop drum samples to it and use directly within Ableton. At the moment, it’s just possible to transfer samples to it outside of the DAW, but the problem is that I have so many samples I want to use, and different samples in di fferent projects. FOCUS



What about playing live? Do you take any of this tech out on the road? O : I’ve always admired people using computers live, like Madeon, playing his live sets with a controller. I’ve not come to that point yet and I don’t know if I ever will, but I do respect people doing it. MT:

MT:

But you have dabbled in DJing…

OLIVER NELSON ADVICE MusicTech: What

advice do you have for people wanting to get into remixing/production? Oliver Nelson: Just find software you feel comfortable with. Most programs do the same things, just in different ways and with varied designs. A very important thing is to learn stuff by yourself, and be very patient. It takes many years to learn and perfect the craft. I’m still learning new things every time I work on a new track. That is also why I love to work with electronic music, there’s always something new to learn and the techniques are always improving and going forward. You need to move at the same pace and roll with it. MT: What about advice for making a

living in music production? ON: The music industry has changed massively the last 10 years. Artists have gone from making money from selling records to earni ng money from streaming and having big followings on social media, etc. I believe that music should be accessible to all people, despite what their income allows them to do, but the royalties need to be fair. A lot of people all over the world might not be able to afford to subscribe to Spotify or Apple Music. There’s loads of ways of making money as a musician; it might be harder making the big bucks today, as the main income will be selli ng out arenas. Although, as a smaller artist like me I can still make a living out of what I do, even though I’m mostly getting traction on SoundCloud, which doesn’t give me any direct income, but rumour has it, that’s about to change… So just keep doing it because you love it, work hard and it will come. I didn’t start producing music because I planned on making a living out of it, I just made it because it was a big passion for me. The rest is just a bonus. It takes time and you have to believe in your own talent and it will

52 |


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happen, sooner or later. That way of thinki ng can be applied to all kinds of creative work… MT: What about using social media

to help your profile – any tips? ON: I have been a user of SoundCloud for a long time and it got me where I am today. I think it’s in anyone’s right to upload and market their own music, if it’s not bootlegs. I’m fascinated by the way the industry has changed from consumers buying CDs and downloads to streaming music online. MT: Finally, with such success in

the area, what advice would you give to use social media to get a following and raise your profile? ON: The foundation of any success in this industry at its core is the music, so initially, I didn’t take social media into consideration as much as I do now. The plays I have gathered online have played a very big part in my career. Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie and Ella Henderson’s Ghost gave me a lot of exposure via social media and YouTube, and have opened many doors. As I’ve grown in popularity, it’s become really important to engage with my fans and to keep them up to date. Above all else, it has to be about the music! Focus hard on producing your best work with every track. If your music is good, then it makes creating and growing a social-media presence much easier. People will naturally want to share things with others that make them feel good, or that they genuinely enjoy. It’s also important to have a solid identity and to reflect this in your brand, think a bout what defines you as an artist and what makes you di fferent and promote that. Last but not least, it’s crucial that you try your best to stay connected to your fans, the people that support you. Keep them updated, share pictures and updates with them, reply to comments and be yourself, be relatable.

ON: I

started out with using Traktor, but to be honest, I had too many problems using it. It can be a pain with an external soundcard, all the cables etc. Especially if you are going up directly after another DJ and want to make a smooth transition between the sets. I now DJ with USB sticks; it seems to be the safest and handiest way of doing it. It is easy to travel with and using it with rekordbox is just really easy and fun. Oliver Nelson Productions MT: What would you say inspires a typical Oliver Nelson track? O : Everything I’m into at the moment, usually the tracks that stick with me scrolling through Spotify. Also, everyday things that happen and feelings affect the outcome of the music I’m making.

How does a track usually come together? usually start with chords, with a simple piano or synth around a vocal, and lay down some simple drums so you get the hang of the composition. It’s like a basic skeleton that you then add things to and build, from the foundation up. The most important basic thing with a track is the chords – but with dance music, the dru ms obviously play an essential part as well. T: What do you think makes your sound and what production tricks do you use to get it? ON: I think what has made my sound is the dru ms, in combination with a certain type of vibe in the chords. I tend to spend a lot of time on said drums M :

O :I


(being an old drummer myself), and can sometimes find myself sitting for hours working on small details like dr um fills etc, (laughs). I’m also a big fan of a nice rhythm ic groove in the chords, that’s just what I like and it’s always in the back of my head when I write something. I also am a perfectionist when it comes to every sound, my manager loves this about me, but also thinks I can keep going on some things just that little bit longer, when I don’t need to. MT: Tell us about the new single… O : Found Your Love features vocals from Heir aka Skogsrå. It wasn’t really meant to be my first si ngle initially, it was just some chords that I made amm ing on my piano, but everyone seemed to love the chords, so I just kept working on it. The track is a funky nu disco tune with a fat beat! My next project is a single with my good fr iend, and Perfect Havoc management colleague, Tobtok – which I’m working on as we speak. It’s a solid mix between our unique styles and has a gr eat pop/ dance sensibility. It’s a more uptempo track tha n my usual stuff, and It’s going to rock. This year, you guys are gonna see a new side of me, with more experimental a nd varied productions. T: Is there anyone else you’d like to work with? O : I’ve been a big fan of G allant’s Weight In Gold which, in my opinion, was one of 2015’s best tunes. I also love Honne and am a big fan of Dusk y & Rüfüs’ latest material.

It t s i e and o h t el e ein o ro t lent nd i ll p n, oo ro l r” MT: Finally, then, what musical plans do you have for the future? O : I’m really excited about touri ng regularly, but it’s basically a balance between that and recording. My plan is just to keep mak ing as much music as possible and do what I love. I’m focusing on orig inal music right now, more than rem ixes, and can’t wait to show you what I have been doing.

Oliver Nelson Ft. Heir’s Found Your Love is out now on Polydor Records. Visit Oliver’s SoundCloud page at: soundcloud.com/olivernelson MTF FOCUS


MTF Feature Blow a year’s salary on gear!

MTF Feature

Spend, spend, spend!

03

6 PIECES OF EQUIPMENT TO BLOW A YEAR’S SALARY ON What if money was no object and we could indulge our wildest gear-hoarding fantasies and buy whatever we wanted? Rob Boffard has the answer…

W

hen it comes to buying gear, money isn’t actually the primary consideration – or it shouldn’t be, anyway. Buying studio kit is all about your needs, what it can offer you and how it can affect your mixes. Not that that stops us from jumping on kit websites and filtering by price, seeing just what the top end really looks like. What would we do, if money was absolutely no object? Which pieces of gear would we splurge on? Fortunately, we’ve saved you the trouble. Here are six pieces of hardware to spend a year’s salary on – and by a year’s salary, we mean a truly staggering

The Slam! is terrific. It offers superb dynamics, lightning-fast FET and pin-point control amount of money (heads up: we’ve largely steered clear of vintage equipment here, as prices can often fluctuate – and we could spend a long, long time rounding up the best and most expensive vintage gear out there…). 01 Avalon AD2077 Stereo Mastering EQ

01

02

Amusingly, Avalon includes a testimonial for the AD2077 on its website from a person named “Emily L, NY”, who raves about the EQ’s “incredible depth and elegance”, “the integrity of the stereo image” and the fact that “the high-end air seems to go on forever!” We don’t know whether “Emily L” exists, but unless she’s got the dollar equivalent of £10,000 in the bank, we’re betting she doesn’t own one of these. The AD2077 is a truly marvellous bit of kit, with fantastically-made Class A amplifiers that deliver all the sound quality you’d expect. Emily L may or may not be real, but you can definitely believe her hype. 02 Manley Slam!

It’s worth gracing our list with this outstanding


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Blow a year’s salary on gear! Feature MTF

piece of outboard: a mic preamp/limiter combo. A very expensive one, built by a legendary manufacturer and guaranteed to give both your recordings and your studio a sheen that only lots and lots of money can buy. And, to be fair, the Slam! is terrific. It offers superb dynamics, lightning-fast FET, and pin-point control – and despite the fact that it can get bloody loud, bloody fast, the results are always butter-smooth (as you’d expect from something with a price tag of £5,000).

The AMS Neve Genesys G128 by definition is an amazing console – it is a Neve, after all 05

03 Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor

Compressor shopping is the dark underworld of studio kit. It’s a realm filled with rumours, strange characters and mythical creations. The Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor is – and we use this term very deliberately – the holy grail. Even finding it on the Shadow Hills website takes time and effort, and… well, just look at the thing. Big, foreboding and very, very black, with a set of components that deliver truly breathtaking compression. No wonder it’s sought-after. It’s separated into discrete and optical sections, includes full sidechain filtering and is generally considered to impart shine to mixes just by being in the same studio. It also costs around £7,000 – assuming you can find one to buy in the first place.

06

04 Adam S6X Active Studio Monitor

When it comes to monitors, you want monsters. So why not put down £10,000 for the Adam S6X? It’s a four-way monitor with front-mounted controls that is ridiculously, sublimely accurate, even at very high sound pressure levels. Each of the drivers has separate controls, allowing you to perform minute adjustments. These are the monitors you buy if neither space nor money are a problem, although you’re not going to get by with just one. Nope, that £10K will get you only a single speaker, so crack open the savings account and buy two. It’s the sensible thing to do. 05

Minimoog Voyager 10th Anniversary

Synths are another area where you could spend hundreds of thousands of pounds buying vintage equipment, but if we stick to new stuff, a few things become apparent. It has to be a Moog, and it has to be hand-made – also covered in gold, inlaid with awabi pearl from Japan and finished with transparent knobs. Because who wouldn’t want a

piece of studio equipment that not only screams the fact that your studio is probably installed above a Scrooge McDuck-like money pool, but also sounds absolutely astonishing? We’ll take three, please. At £10,000 a pop, of course. Hopefully, Moog will throw in a complementary pair of white gloves. 06

04

AMS Neve Genesys G128

Do you work in the City of London? Take home a six-figure bonus? Splendid! Here’s the mixing console you need. The AMS Neve Genesys G128 is an amazing console by definition – it is a Neve, after all – but this is one that really pushes the needle into the red. Never mind the 64 channels of mic/line and 64 channels of DAW/tape monitoring, the real draw here is that this desk is modular, allowing you to mix and match, and even expand, your desk if for some ungodly reason you need more than 128 channels. Oh, and it comes with fader and button recall. You need never use the tape and sharpie again. Although if you let sticky tape come anywhere near your £104,000 beauty, you need your head examined. MTF FOCUS


MTF Technique What’s new in Ableton Live 9.7?


What’s new in Ableton Live 9.7? Ableton isn’t rushing to release Live 10, but we can forgive the company as it’s been feeding us new features for Push and Live in various 9.x updates. Martin Delaney details the newness in 9.7…

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y the time you read this, Ableton Live 9.7 will either still be in public beta and about to get a full release, or it will already be fully released. I should mention that given this status, things may change before our publication date, so check the Ableton website for the very latest release notes. Live 9.7 will be (or is – sorry!) a free update for anybody using Live 9 – so download it as soon as you can. You’ll see that alongside the typical fixes and tweaks, there are some major new features in 9.7, especially relating to Live’s interaction with Push, as that increasingly becomes the de facto control surface for our favourite DAW. In ongoing efforts to keep as up-to-date as possible, I’m using Push 2 for all of these tutorials – it probably won’t make any difference in most cases, but it’s something to bear in mind. In recent times, Simpler’s been getting a lot of love from Ableton, as it should, and the new slicing modes are interesting: Beat, Region, and Manual. They’re really just simple variations on what’s already possible but they’ll speed up a lot of common slicing and sampling tasks and, like many features in Simpler, seem optimised to help make Push 2 more of a serious sampling platform/ interface. That integration is working, as full control over these new features is available from Push. You can choose Mode, Slice By and then the relevant value such as Transient/Sensitivity, Beat/Note division, or Region/No of

FOCUS ON VERSIONS You can safely install Ableton Live betas alongside your regular version. Make sure you’re always saving work on a full version though – there’s no guarantee a project created and saved in a beta version will open in the future. When you install the final full release of the new version and replace the old one, your Live library should remain intact – but here I’ll add the usual comments about the value of backups! And I leave Get Automatic Updates in Preferences/Licences Maintenance turned off; I don’t want updates occurring the week before an important project or event!


FOCUS

regions. For the Manual mode, you can tap a pad to specify the slices, and also tap the Delete button, then the pad to erase those slices. Genius! This is a great way to put those pads to work. The ability to access the In/Out View controls from Push is a major workflow bump as well – this goes with the existing mixer controls to make Push a more credible front end for your Live based mixing rig. The menus are divided into very logical columns and fast to navigate. This is definitely a Push function that will be quicker than using the mouse! For real-time drum pad players – I hate to say ‘finger drummers’, but there you go, I’ve said it – the additional drum rack layout is a real gift. Playing beats becomes a totally different experience and gets great results. You can create really dynamic fills and breaks – it’s one of those things I couldn’t see the point of until I tried it! Make sure you edit your drum rack’s Simpler instruments to be responsive to incoming velocity changes (if they’re not already) using the Vel>Vol setting in Simpler’s Controls tab; it makes a big difference when it

What’s new in Ableton Live 9.7? Technique MTF


What’s new in Live 9.7?

01 As usual we’ve provided an example Live set. This one was

created with Live 9.6.2, and you’ll be able to open it in any versions from that update. It’s unlikely to be backwards compatible.

03 Simpler has more features and its relationship with Drum Racks

and Push is more intimate. Expanding Expanding on Transient Transient Slicing the Slice By mode has three new options: Beat, Region and Manual.

05 With Slice By Region you can slice your sample into anything

between 2 and 64 segments.These are only slight variations on the Slice By command but in different situations could be very useful. comes to personalising your racks. There are a number of visual feedback improvements relating to Push 2, and if you’re new to Live or DAWs in general, you might not appreciate how important colour coding and visual information are. They quickly become habits you depend on in the studio especially when you’re working with more complex projects, where the more labelling and identification

02 Ableton have stated that because of the changes in 9.7’s Simpler

modes, projects created in 9.7 will not be backwards compatible with previous versions of Live. Consider yourself warned!

04 Slice By Beat lets you divide your sample with specific note

selections rather than following the transients in the waveform, using values from as little as 1/16ths up to 4 bars.

06 Finally, Slice By Manual gives you a clean slate, where no dividers

are inserted automatically and you’re free to add your own by double-clicking on the Simpler sample display.

you employ, the faster you’re likely to work. They are even more important in live performance situations where it’s so easy to be distracted and lose focus. In my live sets I’m using renaming, colour coding, display zoom, different skins, whatever it takes! Push now provides a visual count-in – a little segmented bar across the display – so you can refer to that in situations where you don’t want to hear, or can’t hear, FOCUS

Ableton Live 2016/17 2016/17 | 59

MTF Technique What’s new in Ableton Live 9.7?


What’s new in Live 9.7? (Cont’d)

can change track routings from Push. Select a track, press 07 We Mix, then the I/O button above the display. With audio tracks, the left column lets you select monitoring options: In/Auto/Off. In/Auto/Off.

an effort to keep the lists shorter and cut down on scrolling 09 In time – sensible – routings for Pre FX, Post FX, and Post Mixer appear in a separate list.

audio outputs, or MIDI destinations if there are no audio signals.

Racks now have a third layout available. The currently 10 Drum selected pad can be triggered with one of 16 pre-defined velocities; a first tap of the Layout button goes into this mode.

16 pads on the right, traditionally used for loop length, are 11 The now used to activate different velocities. They’re They’re shaded in intensity from more-or-less black to bright white.

the usual metronome count; very useful! Live 9.7 also includes a small but important Link tweak – Ableton Link, of course, being the means by which Live and various iOS music apps can sync over WiFi. The timing of connected iOS apps will line up correctly when Live’s transport is started with either tap tempo or the Looper audio effect device. (Looper has an

60 | Ableton Live 2016/17 2016/17

select whether to manage inputs or outputs, then choose 08 Next, Sources or Destinations. For MIDI tracks choose MIDI inputs and

FOCUS

a kit sound from the 4 x 4 grid on the lower left, then use 12 Select the lower right 4 x 4 grid to play it with different velocities. You can create great-sounding dynamic drum fills!

option to start Live playing when loops are triggered.) Although Push has functioned as usual with mixing and device controls, when Live’s been in Arrangement View it hasn’t had much else to offer for when we must work in a timeline. So not only is it good to see the changes to enable either Global or Session recording when working in either view with Push, it’s now also

What’s new in Ableton Live 9.7? Technique MTF


What’s new in Live 9.7? (Cont’d)

want pretty colours? We can change the colours of clips, 13 You tracks and drum rack pads from Push. Select the item first, then hold Shift and choose a colour from the coloured pads on the grid.

Similarly,, any time you have clips c lips running in your set, in any 15 Similarly display view that includes track names, the Push display will show a small playback progress bar for each track.

when you’re in Arrangement View, the Push Record button 17 So starts global recording (into the Arrangement View timeline), which pressing Shft>Record can still initiate Session recording.

possible to delete Arrangement View clips from Push – it’s a small step in the right direction! As I said, most of the Live 9.7 update is concerned with Push which I think is perfectly reasonable at the moment, especially given that it’s a free update – it’s not like, if you don’t use Push you’re being asked to pay for features that you won’t use. It seems like a good use of

are further visual feedback improvements, as you’ll see if 14 There you look at the Push display when you begin recording. If you’ve enabled count-in, you’ll see a broken bar ‘count’ from from left to right.

has always been about the Session View, and really not so 16 Push exciting when it comes to the Arrangement View. Ableton has addressed this as the Push Record button is now view-dependent.

Session View this works the other way round, so the Record 18 In button starts Session recording while pressing Shft>Record will stat global recording – very logical and you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

resources to concentrate on making Push integrate as tightly as possible, if it doesn’t affect Live’s usability for other people – and of course everybody gets to use the new features like Simpler’s enhanced slice modes. There’s no sign of Live ten/10/X, whatever it will be called, so let’s enjoy the little and not-so-little additions that Ableton is including along the way. MTF FOCUS

Ableton Live 2016/17 2016/17 | 61

MTF Technique Create custom Drum Racks


Create custom Drum Racks with Ableton Live Drum Racks are one of Live’s most powerful features, whether you’re using them for just for drums or far more. Martin Delaney flexes those finger drumming fingers…

D

rum Racks are the main building blocks for programming or re-sampling beats in Live. Whether you’re entering notes with a mouse or trackpad, or recording in real time from pads, Push or a MIDI keyboard, Drum Racks are Ableton’s most important beat making tools, as well as being useful hosts for other types of sounds and effects. A Drum Rack is a group of Live devices which contains up to 128 drum pads, and uses Live’s Simpler instrument to host the sample content for each of those pads. Alongside Simpler, you can also expect to see MIDI and audio effect devices, as well as third-party instrument or effect plug-ins. This is backed up with the potential for very sophisticated MIDI and audio routing, as well as macro controls for more accessible hardware controller assignments and, vitally, the ability to save the entire thing as a single preset. Did I mention that each pad can also contain another Rack? That means you get Racks within Racks within Racks. This is powerful stuff, but luckily it’s also easy to get started with. Our focus here’s on customising existing Drum Racks, but there’s an empty Drum Rack provided in the Live Library, so if you want to start from scratch, use that, and drag in your samples, letting Live put them into instances of Simpler automatically – you can also browse and load samples from Push. Drum Racks are visually complicated things at times, so it’s a good idea to use the small buttons

FOCUS ON IMPULSE Live did drums before it had Racks, you know. Originally Live used the Impulse instrument to contain sample-based drum kits. Impulse is a very basic-looking device, but it has its fair share of sound shaping tools, and of course you could always put it in a Drum Rack. Impulse is still included with Live mainly, I guess, for legacy purposes like opening old projects. I could imagine Ableton dumping it altogether and creating a Drum Rack ‘Impulse legacy mode’ where it automatically creates a Rack with eight chains when you open a project with Impulse in it.


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at the left to fold and unfold elements on demand, or else double click on the Rack name and fold it right up, in the usual Ableton style. As I’ve said, there are many ways to trigger the sounds in a Drum Rack, but I find that it usually comes down to the computer keyboard if I’m travelling, or Push if I’m at home – one extreme to the other. I love to add synth tones to Drum Racks, whether it’s to add simple synth-based drum sounds or squelches, or to incorporate some full-on instrument sounds and patterns within the Rack. Operator is my go-to synth for this – I like how it sounds and how the interface works, and I’ve been using for a while so I have a good idea of where I’m going when I start it up. You’ll have your favourites but if you haven’t tried Operator, I’d recommend giving it a go. Another angle on this would be to add the external instrument device so you can incorporate your pet hardware drum machines and synths into your Rack – of course that means you always need them connected and powered up when you use that Rack. When you start using software instruments inside Drum Racks, it’s a good moment to

Create custom Drum Racks Technique MTF

MTF Step-by-Step

Create custom Drum Racks

Drum Racks you’ll have available in your sets will vary 01 The depending on which Live Packs you’ve got installed, so we’ve

clicking on the black buttons at the left of the Rack until 02 Keep you’ve unfolded everything. Going from left to right, you’ll see

provided a Live set with a custom Rack with a mixture of samples.

Macros, pads, the chain list, an instrument and audio effects (if any).

03 The effect situation is complicated by the fact that Racks can

04 Trigger the sounds in the Drum Rack in several ways. Use Live’s

include effects that apply to individual chains or the entire Rack, and also it can include other Racks! It’s deep… get used to it!

virtual MIDI keyboard – aka computer keyboard – or any MIDI keyboard or a pad-device like Novation’s Launchpad or Ableton’s Push.

05 Drum Racks usually default to note C1 triggering the bottom left

very lowest black button is Auto Select – a very useful 06 The navigational aid. When enabled and a pad triggered, the relevant

pad, which is typically a kick drum. If you’re using the computer keyboard (Shft>Cmd>k), use z and x to transpose octaves. consider using MIDI effect devices as well; other than Velocity, the most obvious candidate is probably Arpeggiator, which means that when you play a pad, you’ll get a pattern playing, even without a clip in the track. By combining Arpeggiator with time-based audio effects like Beat Repeat, Simple Delay, and Ping Pong Delay, you can get a lot of activity out of one note. On the same topic – sounding busy without doing much – you

chain is highlighted. This saves a lot of scrolling in complicated Racks! could be launching loops from inside Simpler instruments in the Rack at the same time, and they’ll run and loop even if Live’s transport isn’t running, which I think is pretty damn cool. You can have a whole bunch of looping tracks as a single recallable preset. This instant recall of complex Racks goes on with audio effects as well. Not only can you add audio effects to the entire Rack or individual chains, you can use the FOCUS



MTF Step-by-Step

Create custom Drum Racks (cont’d)

Now, let’s suppose we want to begin customising the kit, by replacing the kick. Drag the clip ‘909 kick’ from the Drum Samples track onto the existing kick drum pad to replace it.

We have more sounds in Drum Samples; try dragging those into the Rack. Empty pads show their note number, occupied pads reveal their note number in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.

Our Drum Rack has 13 samples to begin, so there’s room to add three more samples to the 16-pad layout. If you keep adding beyond that, no problem as Drums Racks have 128 pad slots.

Once you exceed 16 pads, you can navigate around them in blocks of 16. Use your mouse to click/drag in the left grid, or the control strip or octave up/down buttons on Push.

Push users, take note – if you’re in Note mode and you’re seeing the contents of a Drum Rack, press Layout twice to enter 64-pad mode, so you can access and trigger more pads at once.

Velocity response is a huge part of Drum Rack design, so don’t forget you can go into the Simpler instruments that are hosting your samples, and edit the Vel>Vol value in the Controls tab.

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Rack’s built in send effects slots, then mix each chain to them just as you would with Live’s return tracks. The advantage of this is that once again it’s recallable – one Drum Rack preset with your sounds, MIDI effect patterns, Simpler loops, and effect sends and returns. I wish there was a way to expand the chain list upwards, so I could see more chains at once, but what you can do

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is unfold the tracks containing Drum Racks, and view each chain in a more typical Session View type layout. You can access this view from Push, as well. Those chains can be rearranged by dragging them around to reorder them and naturally you can also duplicate or delete them, as well as rename and colour code them. You can also drag chains out of the Rack to create new FOCUS



MTF Step-by-Step

Create custom Drum Racks (cont’d)

You could also add the Velocity MIDI effect device in front of the entire Rack if you needed to smooth out incoming velocities for some reason, or even go the other way, and randomise them!

Using instrument devices and plug-ins other than Simpler is a great way to expand the sonic range of Drum Racks. Ableton’s Operator synthesizer, for example, is perfect for this.

Audio effects can be placed at the end of a Rack so they affect the entire kit, or on individual chains; try some different compressor settings on the kick in our example Rack.

We also have the in-Rack effect sends – put a Ping Pong Delay in there and send some of the percussion sounds to it. Effects in here are also saved with your Rack presets.

MIDI effects other than velocity can also be used inside Racks. Drag the Arpeggiator to the kick chain in our Rack and set the rate to 1/4 – when you trigger the kick pad you get patterns!

You can reorganise the chain list at any time by dragging them up and down to reorder them. You can also duplicate or delete, as well as rename and colour code them.

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tracks, and drag the contents of pads to other pads. As of Live 9.7, Drum Rack pads can be coloured individually, directly from Push. It’s great if you need to highlight certain pads, or you dream of creating an 8 x 8 pixel image for your Rack. These colours are remembered by Push whenever you load the set or select the individual Rack, or reload the saved preset

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Rack into a new project. There’s more we could mention, like choke groups or MIDI note filtering, but that just gives us something to look forward to! The best way to get a handle on Drum Racks is to explore Live’s factory Racks and then start building your own – and a hardware controller with pads will make all the difference. MTF FOCUS




7 WAYS TO FINISH A TRACK Par t

4

We’re nearly at the end of our ‘produce a track’ special and now it’s time for some advice on that hardest of tasks: finishing a track…

01 Learn to delete

One of the things that gets in the way of finishing a track can be having too many ideas kicking around on your hard drive. Opening up a folder crammed full of half-finished songs can be depressing and fill you with dread – when will you ever get around to completing some of those tracks that you’ve had for so long? One of the key secrets to composition, then, is actually learning when to discard old ideas. What is good? What is worth keeping? More importantly: what can you delete? Getting rid of old ideas can be nerve-racking at first, but actually binning rubbish can be surprisingly rewarding. Have a clearout once in a while and you will be surprised at just how focused you become on finishing what you have left. 02 Bounce, bounce and bounce again

No matter how far you are into making a track, it’s

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1. Got a load of old song ideas? Maybe just get shot of them… 2. Bounce, bounce and bounce again!

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always a good idea to bounce your work down to a stereo file so you can listen to it away from the studio. Load it on to your phone, play it in the car… you’ll be inspired on where to take it and how to finish it. This is also a good exercise to do to keep focus. If you keep all the versions you have made of a song and then go back to an earlier one every so often, you might rediscover the original direction and point of the tune, which might have got lost along the way. Making music with technology can take you in all sorts of directions, very often far away from where you originally wanted to go, so using this technique can help you stay on your original path. 68


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03 05

03 Work to a deadline

If you have someone waiting in the wings demanding you finish something, there’s a much better chance that you’ll actually finish it! We’re not advocating employing someone to stand next to you looking at their watch and shaking their head every few minutes, but having a deadline is a good way to get focus and, as you might be realising by now, focus is the key! Set your own deadline, if you must, but try getting a track done within a certain time period and you are almost certain to get more done (whether you finish it or not). 04 Accept that it won’t be perfect

Don’t take this the wrong way, as it’s always good to aim for perfection – the higher you set your sights, the better your results. But – and it’s a big but – if your level of perfection is too high, there’s a very good chance you won’t hit it. If you accept your work will never be perfect, you will finish it. Why not deliberately add subtle mistakes, so you know perfection will never be achieved? Flaunt that imperfection – at least your music will be out there.

less focus. Did we mention the ‘focus’ word again? 3. Set your own deadline if you have to and try and stick to it 4. Accept that no track is going to be perfect and you might finish it. You could even consider deliberate imperfection! 5. Astronautica offers advice at www.novationmusic.com 6. Novation has created a video asking artists such as Floating Points how they finish their music, at uk.novationmusic.com /finish-something

06 Limit your options

This one could be applied to the whole process, not just finishing a track. If you limit your options, you can get things moving and get to an end point quicker. So you might want to consider keeping your track-count down – why not go old-school with eight tracks? – or keep the number of instruments and effects you use to a minimum. With far fewer options you’ll not only start your productions more quickly, but you’ll also finish them sooner, too. 07 Know when something is finished

05 Get more ears… but not too many

Getting bogged down? Been working on the same loop for hours? Losing focus? Perspective gone? Get someone else in! Having a fresh set of ears to comment on what you are doing or even help it along is always a good idea but – as with everything to do with music production – don’t overdo it. More ears can mean more ideas and even

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It’s the ultimate question: how do you know when a track is finished? When it’s ready to be shared? When you’ve played it to death and not criticised it? When you play it back after a week of not hearing it and it makes the hairs on your arm stand up? The answer is all of these and more, but don’t let it fester on your hard drive for too long. Finish something today! We nicked some of these from a rather good video that the folks at Novation have put together on finishing music. You can see more here uk.novationmusic.com/finish-something. MTF

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MTF Show Off Your Live Studio: Part 1

You can’t beat a bit of modular. Quite a bit of modular…

Show off your Live studio Welcome to part 1 of MusicTech’s Show Off Your Studio, where we highlight our readers’ studios. Send us a picture of your studio via the MusicTech Facebook page and we’ll get in touch…

Omniscient Records Interviewee: Josh Tonnissen (Praxis, Wave Mechanix, Konjecture) Contact: [email protected] MT: What are the key components of your studio? Large Eurorack modular system with 12 rows at 104hp each; Koma Elektronik Komplex Sequencer; DSI Prophet 12, DSI Tempest; Moog Voyager; Access Virus C; Roland TR-909, TR-808, TB-303, SH-101, SH-1; Sequential Circuits Pro-One; Korg Mono/Poly; Midas Venice F32. Which DAW do you use and why? Ableton Live. Coming from a hardware-only setup from the late nineties and into Y2K, most software applications were geared around recording guitar dude music. Because I used lots of different outboard units, my brain was wired for multiple sequencers running various blocks of sequences. When I discovered Ableton at, like, version 4 or so, I was totally blown away. Their DAW was designed almost completely around the way a hardware configuration runs. Session mode is totally brilliant, and allows for endless jamming without ever stopping the sequencer. Since


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I run a large hardware-based studio, Ableton offers a lot of different ways to interface all of my gear in an efficient and well-designed manner. From external MIDI sequencers, DinSync gear, voltage-controlled analogue synths and analogue clock for the modular, Ableton never skips a beat. What is your favourite piece of gear and why? That would have to be my modular system. Since the rebirth of modular (Eurorack), synth designers started building their gear around the way electronic musicians work. Most of the keyboard synth companies build great gear, but the Eurorack guys really focus on innovative designs and push the boundaries of synthesis. I use the modular for everything, not just synth voicing. I will run all my various other gear through the modular for filter and effect processing. Think of it as the ultimate time-synced FX unit ever made. There are also several complete voice drum modules in the

Show Off Your Live Studio: Part 1

system, making for a standalone techno tool. How often do you use the studio on average? Not nearly enough time of course! Right now about 10-16 hours per week, but I have been in there up to 35 hours a week when work doesn’t get in the way. How do you use your studio? My studio is set up as a dance music production lab, and while I occasionally collaborate with other artists, I generally work by myself. At the end of the day, I just make music for fun; however, I do release music professionally and do various remix projects for other artists and labels. Does anything annoy you about your studio set-up? I have a love and hate relationship with my hardware overload. Since I have all of my inputs and outputs (including CV/gate) ran into five 48pt patchbays, every time I have a cable failure it is a nightmare to chase it down. There can also be the occasional sync issue, which drives

MTF

me absolutely crazy, but thankfully it doesn’t happen too often. I must say, though, nothing is worse than when things go wrong with my custombuilt PC. That’s why it has never even been on the internet! Next on your shopping list? Probably more modular gear… but ideally a nice new set of studio monitors and acoustic treatment panels. Not sure what to get yet for monitors, but it would be ideal to have a higher-end setup to complement my production tools. Dream piece of gear? That’s a tough one. I am always lusting over various processing gear, but never pony up to buy it. I would love a Culture Vulture, and a few Distressors and valve preamps, but I will honestly probably spend the money on more modular gear… What advice do you have on studio creation? Build a powerful desktop PC with a killer soundcard first. Then research your favorite artists and see what sort of gear they are Get a good PC (as well as a fantastic Euroracksystem)

There’s a pretty good set of keyboards and classic Roland gear too…

using in their studios. Every synth had a different sweet spot, so see what your favourite artists are doing with their gear and take their results as recommendations. Buy one piece at a time and learn it front and back. Everyone says this, but it’s totally true. Ditch Facebook and start reading technical documentation for your gear; you’ll thank me later. Any other studio-based anecdotes? While anyone can learn the technical side of studio production, the real magic is in the moments of uninhibited inspiration, those moments in between the tech that all of your ideas hatch from. While you cannot always summon the essence of inspiration, you should always be ready for when it comes on. When I do break through the concealed barrier into full flow, I find my ideas coming at me like a kaleidoscope of butterflies, and I am poised with a net attempting to catch as many as I can. It’s important to do the mundane technical studio work (running cables, testing connections, etc) when you have no flow, so that when the butterflies are upon you, you are ready to bathe in their radiance. MTF FOCUS


MTF Feature Ultimate Music Gadgets

MTF Feature

Ultimate gadgets

Music Gadgets We all love a good gadget here at MusicTech, so how about treating yourself to some new hardware for your studio? We round up some of the best technology out there – within a variety of categories – to help you liven up both your production setup and your sound…

n o ti c u d ro p ic s u m s s e rl Compu te There’s a move away from relying on computers for music making and these self-contained gadgets will have you making tunes with a box (or two) – no glaring computer monitor required… ROLAND AIRA TB-3 AND TR-8 The AIRA range was announced a couple of years ago to silly levels of hype, as it promised to be the closest range of new Roland gear to emulating classic old stuff, in this case THE Roland classics: the TR-808 and 909 drum machines and TB-303 bassline. The AIRA TB-3 is based on the classic 303 and provides all of the acid house squelch you could wish for and the TR-8 has all of the beats. Both look amazing, with great, well-lit appeal and – more importantly – both also sound as close to the real thing as anything digital can. And with that sound as well used as ever, our thoughts are very relevant… “A mere £219 for the TB-3 and the TR-8 is just £365 (both street), seriously, if you just used them as Christmas lights that would be worth it”. Nothing could have matched the hype that surrounded


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Roland’s TR-8 (below) and TR-3 (bottom) come close to the classic sounds of the TR-808 and 909 drum machines and the TB-303 bassline

the launch, but the TB-3 and TR-8 are both innovative and important. They undeniably look extremely cool and they sound just, well, damn close to the original. But are they as good as the originals? “They do loads more and they cost far less”, we said, “so the answer is: you betcha. But their importance is that they are priced in exactly the right way to get the next generation of producers off their sorry sofas and actually performing again. So will they, as their forefathers did, kick-start another dance revolution? Well, we are due another Summer of Love…” Price TB-3 £245, TR-8 £399 Contact Roland on 01792 702701 Web www.roland.co.uk

KORG’S VOLCA RANGE They might be (mostly) a few years old now, but Korg’s Volca range is still a great set of sound makers, and available at silly prices. In many ways, they kickstarted the current shift to hardware music production and also set the form, with Beats, Bass and Keys models being responsible for all of those sounds (plus a newer sample-based one offering a little more flexibility and your own creative recording, and the even newer FM offering ‘DX’ type sounds). Sound-wise, they are all great with stacks of hands-on control, and when we reviewed the original three, Alex Holmes said: “If you are looking for deep sound design you probably need to look elsewhere. However, to get a true analogue synth with built-in sequencer for this price is a great deal. Korg has listened to its customers and struck the perfect balance of price and features.” Price £119 (£99 street) Contact Korg on 01908 304600 Web www.korg.com/uk

Ultimate Music Gadgets Feature MTF

Novation’s Circuit (left) wowed us when it was released last summer, while Teenage Engineering’s PO Series (below right) caused a stir at NAMM

NOVATION CIRCUIT Novation’s Circuit came out of nowhere just las t year and updates the Groovebox philosophy for the 21st century, making computerless music production – a trend set with the Volcas and Airas – an easy and fast reality. Indeed, it’s this speed that puts Circuit in a class of its own. You can simply do everything you want it to do very quickly. Circuit’s combination of great onboard sounds and pseudo keyboard playing can take what is in your head to a tune fast – something which, as we said earlier, you don’t always get with many grid-based controllers and push-button sequencers. “This is a truly self-contained musical marvel,” we said. “It excels so well at what it sets out to do – and the price of £250 is just ridiculous – that you can forget any

Circ it’ re on a so nd a dp eu o eyb ar ta e hat’ in ou he dt atun fa shortcomings. It’s the most musical fun you can have with one box and no computer, and we haven’t made music so quickly in 20 years of reviewing gear. Great real-time sound mangling and creation, great fun and you will be making music in less than three minutes. If you don’t, we’ll come round and do it for you…” Price £249.99 Contact Novation on +44 1494 462246 Web uk.novationmusic.com

YAMAHA REFACE Yamaha’s idea with the reface range of keyboards is to include one classic keyboard in each of four mini keyboards. You get the DX (based on the classic FM synth); the CS (based on the classic analogue); the CP (on the electric piano); and the YC (based on the 60s and 70s organ). The latter two are superb, while the DX is more fully-featured with presets and onboard saving

(all use an app to do this otherwise). The CS has no presets, but sounds glorious. Reviewer Andy Jones said: “I find the range charming – carry them, play them and hear them without connecting to the mains or dragging in your entire studio. They are sufficiently different to appeal to both specialist studio-heads – who are after some light relief and instant hands-on inspiration – and to a mass market. I’m pretty sure that at least one of the range will appeal, and I’d urge you to check them out.” Price Street £289 Contact Yamaha UK on 0844 811 1116 Web yamahaproaudio.com

TEENAGE ENGINEERING PO SERIES The new PO series from Teenage Engineering was the buzz of this year’s NAMM show, and they certainly didn’t disappoint when we reviewed them a few

months back. There are now six in the range and they are all incredible (especially given their stupidly small size) and are, without a shadow of a doubt, aimed at cooler music creators, which didn’t stop our editor from piling on the superlatives. The range comprises the PO-16 ‘factory melody micro synthesiser ’, the PO-12 rhythm synthesiser for beats; the PO-14 sub bassline micro synth; PO-20 Arcade; PO-24 Office and PO-28 Robot. Each has a 16-step sequencer, of which you can select 16 sounds to program up to 16 patterns, of which 16 can be chained. There’s plenty you can do sound-wise and effects-wise to each and if you chain all six together you have your entire tune covered. “These units sound fantastic, they’re incredibly fun and are as cheap as silicon chips,” we said. We then bestowed just about every award we can muster upon the range. Price £49 each Contact via website Web www.teenage engineering.com

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more d n a s rd a o b y e k – l o tr n Cool co There was a time when MIDI controllers comprised just a few rotaries to control a couple of key features. Now, controllers are used for everything from grid composition to production, mixing and performance. Here are some very different, cool models… BEST ADDED DIMENSIONS

KEITH MCMILLEN INSTRUMENTS QUNEO It’s been around a while, but if you want to stand out we reckon the QuNeo is the one to beat in terms of control. Pads, sliders, buttons and rotary encoders can all output note, velocity and pressure sensitivity, earning it its name as a 3D Multi-Touch Pad Controller. The best part is each control can manipulate so many parameters, which might take you a while to comprehend. But once you do – and the QuNeo editor makes customising the device very easy – you’ll discover a level of control that is unlike most other devices. As we said when we awarded it a mighty 10/10: “It’s nice to find something that’s so revolutionary, powerful and unique at an affordable price. We can heartily recommend it.” Price £200 Contact MSL Pro: 0207 118 0133 Web www.keithmcmillen.com

computer, it has quite a few potential users in its sights. Like all good controllers of this ilk, it makes beat making a breeze but also doubles, actually trebles, its control into other areas. It includes a step sequencer to put together both beats and melodies and it can control your DAW with sliders for mixing and rotaries to take care of plug-in duties. One of its best features is the software that is included with it – 5,000 samples, instruments including VST and Arsenal, which enables you to host VSTs with no DAW running. We said: “A powerful and playable controller with some great bundled content that is equally at home on stage or in the studio. Lightweight, but well built, very playable and great hands-on control.” Price £299.99 Contact InMusic via website Web www.m-audio.com BEST ANALOGUE AND DIGITAL

ARTURIA BEATSTEP PRO

BEST FOR LIVE

ABLETON PUSH 2 Ableton Live is the music production software phenomenon of the last 10 or so years and Ableton’s Push is its hardware master. If Live is Darth Vader, Push is Darth Sidious. But rather than just being a controller over the software – which it obviously can and does do, better than most – Push becomes an instrument in its own right by taking some of the hidden features of Live and bringing them to the (control) surface, so realising its creative potential on stage and in the studio. Push 2 was released last year. Price £499 Contact Ableton via website Web www.ableton.com BEST PAD CONTROL

M-AUDIO TRIGGER FINGER PRO The original Trigger Finger was one of the first controllers that dared to be a little different. Before it arrived, controllers were usually a bank of rotaries or simply keyboards. Trigger Finger Pro, a much-expanded and upgraded device that’s a bit of a quantum leap from its predecessor. Designed to be used both in the studio and on stage, or even without a


MIDI controllers such as the Keith McMillen Instruments QuNeo (left), M-Audio Trigger Finger (above right), Arturia Beatstep Pro (below) and Ableton Push 2 (bottom) now offer a wealth of functions

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One of the best compact controllers out there, it’s not immediately obvious what BeatStep Pro is for because, in fact, it’s for pretty much everything: a controller, performance sequencer and composing tool in a single box. You get control over your instruments, be they hardware or software, and it has a more expansive selection of outputs than you might expect, with all-important CV outs to let it get to the midst of that cool modular analogue synth set-up you either have or want. The original Beatstep was good, but BeatStep Pro is a great step up from the smaller model for people who want to control different types of kit simultaneously, especially those who have at least a couple of the aforementioned CV-capable modules. Even if you don’t and you’re more reliant on softwaretriggered or MIDI hardware-triggered sounds, there’s much to like. Workflow feels natural, and transport and remote control are possible. Arturia has struck the right balance of features, build and price, and proves controllers can be fun and modular synths needn’t be the preserve of hardcore synthesis nuts. A fun multi-talented controller and sequencer that will tie together the old and new parts of your studio nicely. Price £179 Contact Source Distribution on 020 8962 5080 Web www.arturia.com


Price £229 Contact Novation (via web) Web www.novationmusic.com BEST COOL AESTHETIC

MONOME Next to the other controllers in this round-up, Monome stands out rather like a geek on a catwalk. It’s been around for the better part of a decade and now comes in Grid or sequencer forms. The former is a 16x8 grid

BEST FOR GRIDS

NOVATION LAUNCHPAD PRO The Launchpad range takes grid-based control, made so popular with Ableton Live, into new dimensions. The Pro is a tad larger than the regular Launchpad, and as Martin Delaney said: “There’s plenty of newness to be explored, with velocity-sensitive full-colour RGB pads, hardware MIDI, mains power and an array of edit buttons; that’s at least two items ticked off my personal wish list.” He was also very positive about the

Novation’s Launchpad Pro expanded on the functionality of the regular Launchpad with velocity-sensitive full-colour RGP pads, hardware MIDI and a range of edit buttons

he a ch adr g tak s grid-base c ntrol, ad popul r w thL ve, to ewd sio s

and is the most recognisable, kind of like the Yamaha Tenori-on in terms of its lights, but minus the (not so great) FM sounds. It’s a USB box and you pretty much define its purpose – anything from step sequencer, to DAW controller and way beyond. We love the thinking and the open-ended nature. $700 doesn’t seem too much to be part of the coolest bunch of geeks on the music tech planet. ‘Isn’t is just a bunch of buttons with lights?’ asks a question on the website. ‘Yes, isn’t it wonderful?’ is the response. You’ve gotta love that. Price $700 Contact Monome via website Web http://monome.org BEST KEYBOARD

new full-colour feedback from the RGB-illuminated pads, not to mention the great ease of use including fast access to commonly used controls. The unit features brilliant velocity-sensitive faders, the hardware MIDI out for synth control is dead easy to set up, and it’s fun to use, what more could you ask for? “In the studio, it’s not as powerful as Ableton’s Push in the beat and device control departments, but for other situations, the Pro is a flexible, expressive, interface, for your clips, instruments, and just about everything else. This is a great update all-round, and takes the Launchpad to a new level of Ableton Live control and performance. If you already have a Launchpad, you’ll be itching to update. If you don’t have one, the Pro is the perfect excuse to get on board.”

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO…

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL Alongside the Akai Advance series, Komplete Kontrol is just about the best keyboard controller out there in terms of total software integration. The idea of a great hardware controller is you can turn away from your computer and do a lot of your noodling actions without it. Komplete Kontrol enables this more than other options by not only having classy displays, but multi-coloured, lit-up keys that replicate the coloured key zones when using NI software. The Komplete Kontrol software has also recently been updated to v1.5 and you get a bunch of free Komplete Select NI plug-ins, plus the fact there’s a brand new 88-note version. That’s 88 lit-up multi-coloured keys. Swoon. Price £369-£729 Contact Native Instruments on +44 207 9207500 Web www.native-instruments.com

Jazzmutant Lemur and Dexter

French company Jazzmutant released the first multi-touch controllers especially for music producers in the forms of the Lemur and Dexter. The Lemur could control pretty much anything you defined, while Dexter was aimed at specific DAWs (Logic, Cubase, SONAR and Nuendo). These sleek, black units still look as if they are from the future, and were always a wormhole ahead of their time, not to mention expensive. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the iPad offered a similar experience for far less cash and the Dexter continues within that format. The Jazzmutant website highlights v2 soft ware for the hardware, although we assume that hardware is no longer made. The app is well worth checking out and if you can track down the units second-hand they are still damn cool. www.jazzmutant.com

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Mobile music making

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

Yamaha Tenori-on

There are hundreds of apps to help you make music, but what about the gadgets you need to help you get the best from them? Here are the finest keyboards, controllers, interfaces, mics and speakers…

KEITH MCMILLEN INSTRUMENTS K-BOARD Keith McMillen Instruments makes some of the coolest gadgets for music making on the planet and the K-Board is consequently not the only piece of the company’s tech to appear in this feature. If you are prone to getting inspiration for music on the move, or simply don’t have a lot of space for music production then look no further than this. It has touch-sensitive keys and is a plug-and-play USB MIDI keyboard that is affordable, durable and even available in different colours. It slots very nicely at the front of your laptop and the lead is long enough to play it (slightly more) remotely. We tested it with a laptop running Logic and the iPad and it rose to the occasion each time. “Once in a while, a product comes along where you think, why hasn’t anyone else executed this in such a successful way before? And the K-Board is one of them. It’s a must-have for any mobile musician and anyone wanting to get ideas down fast. Flashing lights and playing keys have never been so much fun.” Price $99 Contact MSL Pro: 0207 118 0133 Web www.keithmcmillen.com

ALESIS I/O DOCK NOVATION ITRACK DOCK We love the iPad but, to be honest, Apple didn’t really design it completely with music production in mind, so producers need a clever way to expand their iPad into a more rounded audio and MIDI recording environment. Enter the Alesis I/O Dock and Novation iTrack Dock. Both allow you to plug iPads in to expand on their connectivity, and both therefore turn them into more usable interfaces. The Alesis is a good-allin-one solution with greatsounding recordings and the ability to charge your iPad as you work with it. It’s also the most competitively priced. The Novation is similar but fits around the


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The Keith McMillen Instruments K-Board (above), Alesis I/O dock (below) and Novation iTrack Dock (bottom)

The story of the Tenori-on follows a similar path to Jazzmutant’s. Both were released to critical acclaim, both tried to do something a bit different and both were adopted by cool musicians. Both have also ended up as iOS apps with the original hardware only available second-hand. But the original Tenori-on is worth tracking down for its light show sequencing and the fact that you could quite easily put together a multi-track tune – albeit a very FM sounding one – in no time at all. It’ll probably be worth a few quid too… http://uk. yamaha.com iPad a little more awkwardly, but can certainly integrate easily into your setup – however you wish to use it. Both are genuinely good solutions to taking your iPad noodlings into your studio environment and getting audio or instruments from the outside world into your iOS device.

ALESIS I/O DOCK Price £119 Contact InMusic or Alesis via website Web www.alesis.com

NOVATION ITRACK DOCK Price £169 Contact +44 1494 462246 Web uk.focusrite.com

FENDER FOCAL PASSPORT STUDIO MONITORS How many portable monitors can you get with the quality monitor name that is ‘Focal’ written on them, not to mention the quality, er, guitar name that is Fender. OK, these aren’t quite battery-mobile, nor as ‘take anywhere’ as the Bluetooth offerings we have here, but the Passports are portable in the sense that if you do a lot of mixing in a lot of places – if you are a flash Harry with lots of studio spaces or work on lots

Th K- o is u t-h ve or anymo ilemusiciana danyo e an in o tide sd wnfast of other people’s music, that is – then these offer the same listening experience wherever you are (bar, naturally, studio acoustics that is). Reviewer Huw Price noted: “Judged purely as studio monitors, the level of detail and solidity of the imaging is certainly commensurate with the price point. But the defining feature is that the Passport Studio system can be locked together and transported without the need to preserve the packaging or buy a flightcase. Then you simply split them, set them up and they’re good to go. This is a cleverly designed, carefully thought out and


Pro, to these iRig Pads, one of the most portable units out there. It is brilliant for beat creation on an Apple device, and likewise with the bundled SampleTank 3SE for your Mac or PC, which offers 6.5GB (for an additional €80) to take your creativity beyond the beats. With everything programmable, it’ll work with APCs, Live, Native Instruments’ Maschine, GarageBand and so on, and will save up to 16 scenes to work with such software (it ships with six presets). It is hugely flexible and highly portable (its depth is particularly thin). The emphasis is definitely on grooves and dance, but if you want extra ‘i-Control’ and are perhaps tiring of touch, this is a worthy option. A compact, sturdy and portable unit that makes a useful, tactile addition to your i-based studio. Price €119.99 Contact IK Multimedia via website Web www.ikmultimedia.com

affordable product that fills a niche in the market. An interesting concept that’s well executed and priced – and they sound pretty good too.” Price £490 (pair) Contact Fender GBI 01342 331700 Web www.fender.com

BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS While the Focal speakers give you the studio quality you need, they’re not quite as convenient as a good set of Bluetooth speakers, that are all the rage at the moment. We’re including two sets – both good in their own right. The iLoud is the Bluetooth speaker of choice for the MusicTech office and has been providing sterling service for listening and the odd small office test for a year now. It’s easy to set up, sounds great and is certainly good enough to mix on while you’re away from your studio with the view to returning to your proper setup to do the main mix/master. Creative Muvo Mini, on the other hand, is smaller, cooler and redder. When we reviewed it we said: “It’s portable, sounds louder than it should, and lasts for 10 hours in the rain. What more do you bloody want?”

ILOUD Price €199.99 Contact IK Multimedia via website Web www.ikmultimedia.com

CREATIVE MUVO MINI Price £49.99 Contact Creative on 020 8208 9930 Web www.uk.creative.com

IKM IRIG PADS With grid-based controllers more popular than ever, there’s a lot of choice for the musician: from large-scale control and instrumentation with Ableton’s Push 2 and Novation’s LaunchPad

APOGEE ONE FOR IPAD

The iLoud (below) has been keeping the MusicTech team happy in the office with its high-quality sound, decent volume and portability

Apogee describes One as ‘the first studio quality microphone and USB audio interface for iPad and Mac’. That’s a little bold, but this is certainly one of the first proper interfaces that you can get for your iOS device, tailored for the discerning studio recordist looking for pristine audio quality. Apogee One will charge your device, connects to Mac and iPad, and has instrument and mic inputs. The Maestro software works with Mac and iOS and as we noted in our review: “the sound quality of the mic is surprisingly high and the software makes the interface very versatile. Overall, One is a very useful high-quality mobile tool. It excels at being a great travelling companion, especially with its high-quality onboard condenser microphone.” Price £289.00 Contact Sound Technology on 01462 480000 Web www.soundtech. co.uk

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Ou t there Speakers that light up, guitars with touchscreens, and beat-making clip machines – it can only be the gear that defies categorisation. Here, we round up some of the coolest, best looking and sometimes strangest gadgets out there… NUMARK LIGHTWAVE Before you say we’ll include anything with decent lights, no we won’t. But when you attach them to a pair of ruddy great big speakers that sound good and rock along with whatever you are listening to and mixing, then what’s not to like? Numark’s Lightwave speakers have literally lit up our studio this year, packing a volume easily good enough for a house party at half level and more than capable of holding their own outside on a medium scale. The sound is clear, too, with little distortion at high levels. We tried plugging in everything from phones and laptops to keyboards, and were pretty impressed with the results. And the lights even more so, as you get several patterns and can choose the colours and brightness of each or have rotating ones. The Meter option is the best, exhibiting the meters of a mixer, bouncing along with your music – but that might be the inner music production geek in us trying to get out. OK, these aren’t mixing monitors really (although do play your mixes on them for comparison), and they’re not to be taken too seriously, but they’re solid, sound good and will add a bit of colour to your (probably already colourful) setup. Price £219.99 (per speaker, street) Contact Numark via website Web www.numark.com

Ma uf tur rsk o ha by a din lig ts osome hi git m ke it 0 erc nt ett r

EDITORS KEYS BACKLIT KEYBOARD Well it’s just a standard keyboard, right? OK, it has some labels on for your DAW shortcuts, but what’s the big deal? Back-lit? Ah, now you’re talking. Yes, when it comes to gadgets, manufacturers know that by adding lights to something it makes that something about 1,000 per cent better! So the Editors Keys Backlit Keyboard might not be the most essential gadget you’ll ever need, but it could be the most essential gadget you’ll ever need. Martin Delaney said in his review of the Live version: “There’s a lot of visual feedback – each key has an icon and a text label on a coloured background – the colours are grouped according to the type of function they represent, which is a good idea. During the review period, I discovered that this keyboard divides Live users into two camps: namely, ‘I don’t need this!’, and ‘Wow, this is awesome!’, so I understand there’s an audience for this. There’s a big cool factor that’ll sway a lot of people; having a backlit-dedicated Ableton Live keyboard will impress your Live-lovin’ friends. If you’re one of the many Live users excited by this idea, you won’t be disappointed!” There are now versions for Logic and Cubase too. Price £99.99 Contact via website Web www.editorskeys.com

KORG CLIPHIT It looks like a large egg, but you take the three clips that attach to this Korg percussion gadget – plus a footswitch – and attach them to any beatable surface (think table top, item of clothing and so on). Striking that surface then triggers one of the onboard sounds for instant beats and jamming mayhem. The speaker and resulting sound isn’t going to win too many pro-quality awards, but the Cliphit is easy to use, great to practise or busk with and tremendous fun. “The kits are good enough, ranging from standard, through rock and pop,” we said. “It’s another great curveball from Korg. We love the idea, and we love Korg for coming up with this leftfield gear. It’s the ideal device to unleash your finger and toe beats.” Price £99 Contact Korg on 01908 304600 Web www.korg.com/uk

KORG MINI KAOSS PAD 2S The number of Korg’s Kaoss gadgets is becoming a tad confusing to us, we must admit, but the KP2S represents a refinement in a technology that has been


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Ultimate Music Gadgets Feature MTf


Misa Digital Kitara

The shape was most definitely guitar-based, although the Kitara also had a touchscreen slap bang in the middle of it and used an open source software platform to make sound. This included onboard synth tones and could be played by way of 144 buttons along its neck. You’ll notice that we are using the past tense as, according to Misa Digital: “The Misa digital guitar was an experimental instrument, similar to an electric guitar in shape, but with an interface designed to easily and intuitively control digital audio. It is now discontinued.” However, the replacement Tri-Bass, which is more of a MIDI controller with touchscreen is still available, although it’s sold out at the time of writing. www.misidigital.com

JAMHUB GREENROOM

around for more than 15 years now. It is described as ‘a powered-up Mini Kaoss Pad 2, the Mini Kaoss Pad 2S is a powerful DJ effect unit that fits in the palm of your hand’. It includes a touchpad in the centre, and retains the large number of effects of its predecessor (100 in total), but adds sampling (explaining the ‘S’) to the mix, so you can use the device as anything from simple recorder to mobile vocoder. When we reviewed it we said: “Using the device is tremendous fun, of course, and it is perhaps more a mobile gadget for the performer than producer. But the recording option adds to the studio experience, and the more you work with it (and the smaller your fingers) the more you will sonically reap. It’s an evolution of an ageing concept, but the KP2S is small and perfect in many ways.” Price £119 Contact Korg on 01908 304600 Web www. korg.com/ uk

The JamHub GrenRoom may look a little like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, but it’s actually a highly useful rehearsal tool for bands

In a band? Make a racket when you rehearse? You could probably do with one of these. Essentially, it’s a box that each band member plugs their instrument into, plus a set of headphones out so they can hear their playing together with the band, but the neighbours can’t. A simple idea, and genius in execution. Obviously, it doesn’t work so well if your drummer insists on using an acoustic kit and your singer’s wailings will still get heard, but it’s one of a kind, and we said: “The GreenRoom excels at providing an attractive, compact and convenient way to rehearse

Sot au at ed re e th in ident, is st efir ttime hat w ’ve ee a eto ite bo tit silently at home or on the move. It combines all the essential bits of kit necessary to enable virtually silent ensemble rehearsals in one well-designed, compact and lightweight package.” Price £420 Contact SCV Distribution on 03301 222500 Web www.scvdistribution.co.uk

NUMARK ORBIT The Numark Orbit has been around for a couple of years, but came to our attention only when we were chased around the NAMM show by a Numark representative demoing it live on stage earlier this year. So traumatised were we by the incident that this is the first time we’ve been able to write about it… It’s a live performance DJ controller with several modes of operation, but think of it in terms of coloured buttons/ pads and banks of operation plus motion control, which allows you to assign parameters via the unit’s shoulder buttons. So, moving it here there and everywhere – rather like the scary Numark rep – will yield some interesting performance results. OK, it’s not for music production, but it looks cool and could add a flourish to your live show. See, we’re over the incident already… FOCUS



Ou t there (con t’d )


airpiano

Not unlike a theremin in its touch-free action, the airpiano is played by way of a user gesturing above it, with keys and faders represented according to position above a wooden plank-like instrument complete with red LEDs. “We strongly believe that the airpiano introduces a new user experience, a magical and cool performance tool and an experimental instrument to explore,” so says the website, but adds “airpiano was developed in Berlin, Germany by Omer Yosha. Unfortunately, the airpiano is now sold out and is no longer in production.” airpiano.de

he ig h pra e pr ba ly them sti tri ui go all he ear w ha ei thi roun -u Price £79 Contact InMusic via website Web www.numark.com/product/orbit

THE EIGENHARP The Eigenharp range of instruments is probably the most intriguing of all the gear we have in this round-up, arguably the most serious – in terms of its musical aims – and certainly the most expensive and expressive. Eigenlabs formed 15 years ago, an English company with enough investment to have produced three instruments since 2009, the top-end version being the Eigenharp Alpha at £4,950. The instrument uses 133 keys and two ribbon strips to play notes and samples and ‘can play and record loops, change scale and key, transpose, alter tempo, program beats, create arrangements, switch and layer multiple sounds, all while the musician is performing live on stage’. We’re talking about a completely new concept here, but several players have adopted the instrument, including Scanner (we saw one when we interviewed him). The less expensive Pico, at just £459, and the latest model Tau (£2,395) expand the concept. It’s the only ‘gadget’ (and we feel as if we’re demeaning it a little by calling


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The Eigenharp (above) has 133 keys and two ribbon strips and is a totally new concept that we can’t wait to test out

it that) here that we haven’t tested, so we’ll make amends and get one in ASAP. Price £459 to £4590 Contact Eigenlabs on +44(0)1392 823000 Web www.eigenlabs.com

MOOG THEREMINI It’s a theremin, and a cool-looking 1950s-a-like one that is affordable and, as these things go, pretty versatile too. The unit is a little plasticky, but is a dream to use. For example, when changing scales you learn more about the subject in two minutes using the Theremini – simply playing it up and down within the categories – than in a previous lifetime of listening to music theory. All manner of parameters – some obvious, such as pitch and note range – are adjustable, and there’s a good delay effect to add some variation. The 32 presets take it away, but not too far away, from that eerie whistle; in truth, most are of that ilk, and we could have done with some more varied tones to really experiment with. “For those after an easy intro to the world of the theremin and the other-worldly nature of its sound (it’s also worth delving deeper into the fascinating life of its inventor if you have time), there’s no easier way. An easy theremin to get into, both practically and financially. It’s a little lightweight, but bang for buck this thing whistles like no other.” Price £259 Contact Source Distribution on 020 8962 5080 Web www.moogmusic.com


D NO W N A R A E H S T E G D GA And so, finally, to the very latest gadgets. Here are just some of the ones we’ve looked at most recently in MusicTech…

Price £599 Contact ROLI on +44 (0)20 7254 2155 Web www.roli.com

ROLI SEABOARD RISE “We didn’t expect to be quite as impressed with Rise as we are. It’s a genuinely new piece of hardware that will expand your performance and recording creativity. It looks stunning and, with the Equator synth thrown in, can sound that way too.” We needn’t say any more about ROLI’s new ‘keyboard’ here – you can probably gather that we think that this is a gadget well worth trying…

AKAI MPC TOUCH Akai is on a bit of a roll at the moment. For years, this company was on the cutting edge of both sampling and, with the MPC range, beat creation and performance. Then it went through a rather fallow period as sampling disappeared into the computer, but InMusic’s acquisition of the brand has given it a new lease of life and we’re now forever banging on about its Advance range of keyboards. So this new MPC –

Price £499 Contact InMusic via website Web www.akaipro.com

complete with a 7” colour multi-touch display – is another blinding piece of kit. It features 16 velocitysensitive pads with RGB backlighting, a step sequencer with the touch interface, a phrase looper, XYFX real-time dynamic control, four other real-time controls and more than 20GB of content. It also acts as a 2-in/2-out interface, should you require it to. We are particularly excited about the Touch side of things, with the unit offering a new level of control over your waveforms. Akai says: “Literally grab and pinch waveforms, draw MIDI events, adjust envelopes, chop samples, add effects and precisely set your controls using your fingertips.” Even more exciting is the fact that Akai could then bring this type of screen to the Advance range. Take note NI and Ableton. Something for the next version of Maschine and Push? MTF

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MTF 20 Pro Tips Computer performance

Computer performance tips If your trusty computer-based recording setup is struggling to process your tracks, don’t despair, as there are lots of ways to help with frustrating glitches, latency, frozen screens or even crashes without breaking the bank… This is especially true if you use sample-based instruments, which generally have to be loaded into RAM to one extent or another. Buy a computer that’s got plenty of RAM, or upgrade and expand what you already have, if possible – 4GB is an absolute minimum and 8GB or even 16GB is preferable. There’s even an argument to be made for prioritising more RAM over spending money on a fractionally faster CPU, since this will offer you better performance in real world situations. Laptops, especially Apple models, have limited expansion capability and some are even non-user upgradeable so be aware of this if you’re buying one to make music with.

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Buy a computer that’s got plenty of RAM or upgrade and expand THE LIMITATIONS OF WI-FI 02 KNOW Although you can use wireless hard drives for storage,

they don’t offer quick enough performance to handle things like streaming Kontakt libraries efficiently. So as tempting as it is to offload your libraries onto a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive, it’s better to use a USB or other wired hard drive as it’ll mean far less waiting when you want to call up an instrument.

ABOUT RAM 01 UNDERSTAND Modern audio software can be very memory-hungry

and although the newer versions of Windows and Mac OSX have got much better at managing RAM, it’s still one of the main performance bottlenecks on many peoples’ setups.


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Plenty of RAM will aid your computer’s overall performance

SSD DRIVES WHERE POSSIBLE 03 USE Solid state hard drives (SSDs) have come down greatly

in price, to the point where they’re now feasible alternatives

Computer performance 20 Pro Tips MTF

you a list of what mode your apps are running in. The reason you should run in 64-bit mode is that it enables your apps and system to address large amounts of RAM which, in turn, improves performance and also lets apps execute certain processes more quickly. Most apps are 32-bit compatible so even where, for example, a plug-in is a little older, it should run fine but won’t be able to take advantage of as much memory.

03 AN EYE ON WHAT YOU INSTALL 07 KEEP A lot of system slowdowns result from rogue or

outdated drivers, and applications or plug-ins which are using resources, loading when they’re not needed or just generally taking up space. That plug-in demo you installed which has since expired but flashes an error every time you launch Logic? That’s costing you time. The control panel for a MIDI keyboard you’ve since sold which loads whenever you boot up your system? The same. Be ruthless, purge your system of stuff you don’t need. Use uninstallers where available. On Windows use the Add/Remove software panel. On the Mac, if no uninstaller is provided, utilise something like Appzapper (www.appzapper.com) to get rid of junk. You want to streamline the startup of your computer and DAW, so prioritize deleting unwanted plug-ins, drivers and controller software. Of course, be careful to not delete things if you don’t know what they are, as they might be important.

It’s hard to overstate how big a difference an SSD can make to your life… to the trad ‘spinning’ versions. It’s true that SSDs still offer a less spectacular price-to-gigabyte ratio than conventional hard drives, but their performance is miles better and that’s reason enough to use one as your boot drive. Store sizeable sample libraries on a conventional secondary drive, if possible – a terabyte-sized one will cost you very little. However, for your system drive, a 256 or 512GB SSD can be fairly affordable and you’ll be astonished by the extent to which it speeds up your computer. Such system operations as app launching and memory access get much quicker with an SSD, meaning less waiting and more working. It’s hard to overstate how big a difference an SSD can make to your life.

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RUN WHAT YOU NEED 04 ONLY Any running application uses system resources,

meaning anything that’s ‘open’ but not in use is taking power away from your DAW. Don’t have Photoshop or Excel open in the background if they aren’t being used – just run the bare minimum you need, which will help with system performance. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 05 PRACTICE Being sensible about where you store your stuff will

make the likelihood of confusion and data loss decrease. Don’t keep a million files on your desktop. Set up custom folders and subfolders for DAW projects and back up regularly. This should also mean that you spend less time trying to locate ‘missing’ audio files.

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YOURSELF WITH THE PLUG-IN MANAGER 08 FAMILIARISE Most DAWs have a system for the activation of plug-ins

RUN IN 64-BIT MODE

Windows and OS X have been 64-bit native for some time now, and all modern desktop processors are as well. By now, the majority of DAWs are capable of running in 64-bit mode and some do so by default. You can check this on a Mac by performing ‘Get Info’ on an app and looking at its ‘General’ tab, or in the Activity Monitor. On Windows you can open the Task Manager > Details tab and choose to display the Platforms column, which will show

Top: The performance of SSDs is miles better than that of ‘spinning’ drives Above: Good plug-in management will reduce your DAW’s startup time Left: Improve app performance by running in 64-bit mode

and it’s important to keep an eye on these if you experience any issues with your projects. In many cases it’s no longer necessary to actually uninstall a plug-in, should you decide that you don’t need it to be active, you can just tell your DAW not to load it on initial startup via the ‘manager’ window. However, if you have some plug-ins that you don’t want to delete but also won’t need to use for a while, consider deactivating them. This should speed up the startup of your DAW, simplify the plug-in ‘chooser’ menu and generally make life simpler. Some software now also allows you to create custom lists of plug-ins, which is another great timesaver since it stops you having to plough through endless lists of modules to find the one that you want. UP TO DATE 09 STAY This one is as old as the hills but it’s still relevant.

Generally speaking, updates to operating systems, DAWs, drivers and plug-ins make things better, faster and more stable. If someone never updates anything, or some things but not others, they don’t get the benefit of everything working optimally.However, there are caveats. You should always read the system requirements of an update or a new version of FOCUS


MTF 20 Pro Tips Computer performance

LIGHT VERSIONS OF PATCHES 11 USE Some sample-based instruments have ‘light’ versions

of patches that use less RAM to load. They may have fewer velocity layers, for example, but sound very similar to the ‘full fat’ versions. Similarly, some synths and effects have different quality settings, numbers of voices and so on, and these can be switched in order to save power. REALISTIC ABOUT WHEN TO UPGRADE 12 BE Every computer will eventually become obsolete. At

some point you’ll have to face the fact that your ten-year-old machine isn’t going to be able to run big DAW projects any more. If component upgrades aren’t a sensible option, bite the bullet and go for a new system, if you can afford it. DSP HARDWARE 13 CONSIDER Although modern computers are very powerful, our

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software. If your hardware is at the lower end of what it’ll run on, make a decision about whether you may actually lose performance by pushing it to do newer things. In the past, Microsoft has been guilty of releasing new versions of Windows which, for many users, made things worse – Windows Vista was the main culprit – but this seems to be less of an issue nowadays. Apple tends to be kinder to its older hardware and, periodically, will officially ‘retire’ certain models from support.

Some people have a lax approach to ‘housekeeping’ but it can be a real barrier to performance… SYSTEM RESOURCES 10 MONITOR To understand what’s going on inside your computer,

use a system monitoring tool to look at CPU and RAM use, hard drive capacities and network performance. OS X has Activity Monitor and there are free apps like MenuMeters (www.ragingmenace.com). Windows has the Task Manager and many free apps, such as Rainmeter (www.rainmeter.net ).

Above: System monitoring tools keep tabs on your computer’s performance Below: A drive that’s free of clutter means smoother running

expectations of what we should be able to achieve with them also rise constantly. Companies such as Universal Audio (www.uaudio.com) specialize in making specialized Digital Signal Processing (DSP) hardware add-ons for your computer which run high-end instruments and effect plug-ins independently of your CPU. These enable you to run very high numbers of these specific plug-ins without placing any strain on your host system, which remains free to deal with running your system and DAW. DSP solutions aren’t usually cheap, but if you’re serious about audio production they can improve the headroom on your setup massively. As a nice bonus, the plug-ins also tend to be extremely high quality and have found many high-profile fans around the world. There are fewer DSP companies around than there used to be but it’s still an interesting arena. THE CLUTTER 14 CLEAR Some people have a somewhat lax approach to

‘housekeeping’ but it can be a real barrier to performance. Understand that a hard drive which is rammed to bursting with movies or an iTunes library means, when you’re tracking audio or loading instruments, your computer’s having to search for free space much more intensively than it would if you had, say, 40% of the drive space free. This is much more of an issue with conventional spinning drives than with SSDs, which have a far faster seek time. A cluttered hard drive can also make simple tasks like browsing for files take much longer, and searches can be tedious, too, as lots of files appear which aren’t actually relevant. It isn’t that you necessarily have to throw stuff away, but do offload things like movie collections, which use tons of space, onto an external USB or even wireless hard drive. Space on your boot drive is precious and you should treat it as such. RATHER THAN SYNTHESIZE 15 TRACK This one only really works if you have access to hardware

but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. Recording sounds as

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Computer performance 20 Pro Tips MTF

Mac OS X and Windows have options to help prioritise performance over, say, battery life, and these can be useful when you need all the grunt you can get audio to your computer and playing them back uses far fewer system resources than generating them in realtime from a plug-in. For example, recording a line from a hardware synth as audio places much less strain on a CPU than generating it live. Similarly, passing audio through hardware effects uses virtually no power, but processing a track using the equivalent plug-in certainly does. A system that’s dealing with 24 tracks of audio is under much less stress than one that has 24 synth and delay plug-ins loaded. Realistically, you might end up mixing live tracks with processed ones, based on what you’ve got access to. Remember that freezing or bouncing down tracks also frees up system resources, by creating audio versions of virtual tracks.

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DISCONNECT PERIPHERALS Having 20 things connected to your computer actually uses power, since each one has to talk to the system using a driver. Some peripherals also draw power from your machine. Cut it back to the bare minimum – an audio interface, MIDI device and maybe a dongle. Disconnect printers, scanners, webcams and the like.

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15 Above:Optimising your PC frees up more processingheadroom

BACKUPS 16 SCHEDULE Backing up your system is essential but it shouldn’t be kicking in when you’re in the middle of tracking drums. Tweak your backup schedule to only start outside of working hours, or set it to manual rather than automatic. This should stop system slowdowns occurring when you least need them.

Left:Schedule backups so they take place outside ‘working’ hours Below:Use fewer synth voices to gain more CPU power

USE FEWER SYNTH VOICES Software synths often have configurable voicing options. More voices means a richer sound but also increased CPU usage. If your machine is struggling, consider using fewer voices as a way to save resources. Alternatively, you can always freeze or render down a virtual part . MTF

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OVERCLOCK YOUR PC Only do this if you’re confident you’re comfortable with it, but some PC systems can be ‘overclocked’ while remaining stable using freely available software hacks to increase the clock speed of the CPU. It can cause stability issues in some cases, though, so it may be one for the more techy user.

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OPTIMISE THE SYSTEM FOR PERFORMANCE Mac OS X and Windows actually have options to help you prioritise performance over, say, battery life or energy saving, and these can be useful when you need all the grunt you can get for running plug-ins or ensuring low latency during tracking. In OS X, look in System Preferences > Energy Saver and turn off the “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” option. Otherwise, OS X does most of its optimization automatically. Windows has more options and these are too numerous to list in detail here. Suffice to say, there are many online guides to optimizing Windows for performance, which include things like disabling animations and unwanted Windows Services, graphical flourishes and folder actions. There are several places to look and find options for freeing up more of your PC’s resources for audio processing.

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MTF Show Off Your Live Studio: Part 2

Show off your Live studio Pt 2 We’re now seriously impressed by your studios and your pictures of them. Show Off Your Studio via the MusicTech Facebook page and you could take the top slot here (pets in shot certainly help, too!)

Now that is what we call kompletekontrol

Driftmoon

Contact: [email protected]

MusicTech: Tell us about your studio… Technically, my company is called Driftmoon Audio Suite, but the studio is called Double Helix Mastering. I use the studio 50 per cent for my own music composition under the Driftmoon alias and 50 per cent for mixing, producing and 86 |


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mastering for my clients. I didn’t expect the studio to actually be so time-demanding, but it’s proving to be an amazing experience. Working with so many different clients and musical genres has opened up a world of new possibilities to me. MT: Where, when and how?!

I’ve totally refurbished and reconstructed my home to be a full-on studio. I know many people prefer to have a studio somewhere else, but I love the fact that when I have an idea for new track or melody, I can write it down immediately. Also, it’s good to be available if clients need something to be done as

Show Off Your Live Studio: Part 2 MTF

soon as humanly possible. The music scene is a rapid changing world, so it’s good to stay ahead of any potential problems. Also, considering that I live in the heart of Prague right next to the most visited tourist locations, finding some place just for a studio setup would be extremely difficult.

MT: Kit list?

Mac Pro with 12-Core Xeon, 1TB SSD and 128GB RAM; Universal Audio Apollo Quad and UAD-2 Satellite Quad; Waves MaxxBCL; API 5500; Kush Clariphonic; SSL G Compresor; SPL M/S Master and MasterBay; Focusrite ISA One; Mutec MC-3+ Smart Clock; RTW TM3-Primus;

2x Event Opal; 2x Avantone Mixcubes; Roland JU-06 and JP-08; Dave Smith Instruments Sequential Prophet-6; Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88; software from Waves, UA. MT: Which DAW?

For composing and production, I FOCUS


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Driftmoon (cont’d) use Ableton Live. I somehow love the workflow and even for orchestral composition, it’s absolutely amazing. Granted, it doesn’t have as many features as, for example, Cubase when it comes to composing, but you can work around them and find your own ‘way’ of doing thi ngs. For mixing, I use Pro Tools and for mastering, Sequoia.

UNESCO protection, I can’t have an AC unit here. MT: Any dream gear? Barefoot monitors, I really hope one day I will be able to get a proper space which will be treated so I could buy and use these. So far, they are huge for my current space but it never hurts to dream, right?

MT: Do you have any advice for MT readers about setting up a studio? To try and remember that we all started with something little. Whether or not you will make something great out of it depends only on you. Listen to as much music (in di fferent genres) as possible and also to be kind and respectful to other musicians.

MT: What is your favourite gear? I recently purchased a Dave Smith Prophet-6 and, oh my, it’s absolutely phenomenal! I’ve spent days playing with the sounds and writing them down in an Excel sheet to categorise them and then I immediately started reworking my album tracks, because the sound of the Prophet is amazing. It just stands out. MT: How often are you in your studio? I am here daily for 10 to 16 hours – it depends on how much work there is to be done. I stopped having weekends years ago, now every day is a work day, but every day is amazing and different. I somehow got used to non-linearity and it’s making every day interesting. MT: How do you use it? My studio space consists of ‘only’ one room, so there isn’t enough space to record a whole band: nevertheless I can record singers and instrumentalists with ease. I mostly use the studio for producing, composing, mixing and mastering.

Driftmoon’s outboard gear is impressive, particularlythe SPL gear

MT: Next on your shopping list? Right until now, I’ve had no need to go into the 500 Series world. But after loads of positive reviews about Meris’ Mercury7 Reverb, I think I’ll start collecting different 500 Series modules. I’ve also tested the Moog Ladder Filter module, it’s incredible. MT: Does anything annoy you about your studio setup? Loads of time and effort (not to mention money) went into this space. I’ve had room to work with and I made it work. The room itself is treated to industry standards. If I could change one thing, it would be the air conditioning. However, because the studio is located in a very old building which is under

A different perspective – we still love the dog

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Francesco Mulassano Email: [email protected] MT: Tell us the key components of your studio? I have collected instru ments for at least 25 years. I started with guitars and had a rock and metal influence. As a sy nth addict, I have more synthesisers than outboard. At this time, I have all t he Elektron gear (minus the Octatrack), a Moog SUB 37, Access Virus TI2, Korg MS-20 (the original), a monophonic JEN SX1000 from the golden Italian synth era, one Nord Modular G2, the first Novation Bass Station Key, a beloved Roland JP-8000, Teenage Engineering OP-1 (the first one in Italy), a pair of Axoloti, Waldorf Streichfett, some custom and DIY machines, a pair of controllers (Push 2 and BeatStep Pro), a lot of software plug-ins (all original, of course). I think that’s all! From the ‘metal’ period, only the hair and some guitars have remained. Which DAW do you use and why? When I switched from Windows to Mac, eight years ago, I chose Ableton Live and that’s now the only DAW I use. It took a long time

to go from Cubase (Win) to Ableton because the way of working is completely different, but I wouldn’t go back. You can do everything with the tools offered by Ableton – it’s very complete – and then with the arrival of Push and Push 2, it has become more useful and cooler.

Got enough keyboards there, son?

What is your favourite gear and why? For me, it is the Access Virus TI2. I owned a Polar TI and a Polar TI2 at the same time – a very crazy time. Then I changed my TI for the G2. Access is one of the few brands that remains an investment, year after year. What’s next on your gear wish list? A Waldorf Q is one of the first on the list, but I think the next one will be the new Korg Minilogue. How do you use your setup? My studio is located inside my house, here where I work on my solo project Urbanspaceman, and on the preproduction for other two projects: Space Aliens From Outer Space (a synth trio with alien costumes

inspired by 50/60s science fiction), and Giants (a trip-hop duo with an incredible female singer). What is your dream piece of gear? There is no dream synth, but if I have to choose, the Hartmann Neuron is one of the pieces of gear I’ve always looked at with some admiration. Do you have any advice for MusicTech readers about setting up a studio? If you’re starting from scratch, look at YouTube, talk with other musicians and focus on what you want to produce. Then read the manuals/reviews, and choose one machine only and spend all your available time on it.

That’s a lot of hardware (and a big chair)

Any studio anecdotes? I could tell you about when the tenant upstairs broke a water pipe and it flooded. Fortunately, though, the synths stayed dry… MTF FOCUS


MTF Buyer’s Guide The 12 Best Soft Synths Money Can Buy

The 12 Best Soft Synths Money Can Buy

Fancy some synth heavy action in your Live sets? Well here’s our very own rundown of the best 12 soft synths available to buy right now… Rules 1. Only one synth per company 2. Has to (still be) available to buy separately from any DAW or bundle 3. Not freeware (that’s a separate list)

Details

4. Available to run in 64-bit 5. Why 12? Why not? 6. Vote to change this chart at www.musictech.net

Price $129 to $379 Contact +90 312 265 0558 Web www.synthmaster. com

Lennar Digital Sylenth1

S Details Price €139 plus tax Developer Lennar Digital Contact via website Web www. lennardigital.com

U-He Diva

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t was a close call between Hive – another great U-He synth ideal for more cutting-edge electronic music productions – and Diva, a more analogue-based synth. But this synth gets it, especially as it has a vintage synth and modular philosophy – of course, so much in vogue at the moment. You can mix and match analogue modules for some great combinations and choose from well over 1,200 presets. When we reviewed the software, we said: “Diva represents the current pinnacle of analoguemodelled sound. An essential synth.”

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ylenth1 has been around for longer than pretty much every other synth in our Top 12 and has become a legendary synth in the world of plug-ins. Its developer is fairly quiet and updates are rare, with the 64-bit version only arriving last September, but it was well worth the wait. Sylenth1 might be old, but this four-oscillator, two-filter analoguestyle synth has launched more dance tracks than most and has a sound that can be the backbone to any track in many styles. Thanks to easy-to-use effects, massive polyphony and an easy ability to tweak and refine the onboard sounds – of which there are over 1,300 – this synth was, as they say, designed to perform. And it certainly still does just that…

Details Price £109 (upgrade from Blue £35) Contact Time+Space 01837 55200 Web www. timespace.com

KV331 Synth Master

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ynthMaster – just updated to v2.8 – makes our dozen simply as it claims to be something for everyone and is one of the few synths around (next to Blue II) that actually delivers. At its heart is a synth engine (or engines) capable of a huge variety of synthesis types including additive, wavetable and vector and a huge number of modulation options. But its real beauty lies in the fact that these are all very easy to utilise. Routing is graphical and straightforward; there are more than enough presets (we recommend going for the ‘Everything Bundle’ for around 3,000 sounds) and you can really use the synth on whatever level you feel comfortable with. “It really does an incredible amount in a no-nonsense, almost calm way. So sit back, don’t panic and enjoy the ride. It does what it says. It truly is a master of synths.

The 12 Best Soft Synths Money Can Buy Buyer’s Guide MTF

Rob Papen Blue II Details Price £109 (upgrade from Blue £35) Contact Time+Space 01837 55200 Web www.timespace.com

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f there was an award for throwing synthesis engines, power and presets into one plug-in, Rob Papen could well walk away with it. Blue II is an update to Blue, released back in 2005 – but what an update. It’s still a ‘Cross Fusion’ synth, but boasts subtractive, FM, phase distortion and wave-shaping synthesis; six oscillators; a couple of filters with 27 different filter

types; a huge set of effects processors (each offering 35 FX types); and over 2,000 presets. So, quite a bit then… We said: “the synth moves from the late-80s through the 90s, noughties and very much more up-to-date, with some absolutely huge presets that would easily carry a tune from any era. Blue II is any synth you want it to be and a lot more.”

“Featuring 20GB of extra content plus 400DSP waveforms and no less than 12,000 sounds, this could well be the only synth you’ll ever need…”

Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2 S pectrasonics certainly didn’t rush version 2 of this multi-award winning synth, and while the update very much keeps the best of what was good about the original, it also most definitely updates the concept. Featuring an extra 20GB download plus 400DSP waveforms and no less that 12,000 sounds to choose from, this

could be the only synth you’ll ever need – you’ll certainly spend a large chunk of your life exploring just the sounds, let alone what you can do with them. We said: “While some have got close to Spectrasonics’ greatness, there’s little doubt that Omnisphere 2 will set a new gold standard for the next few years. It oozes class and sophistication and is an essential purchase for all.”

Details Price £285 Contact Spectrasonics Web www. spectrasonics.net

Details

NI FM8

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t’s fair to say that we could have included many NI synths in this top 12, but our own rules state that it’s one synth per company, so FM8 just about snatches it from Massive. The reason? Well it’s another synth that, like Oddity 2, was originally based on a classic hardware synth (Yamaha’s DX7 in this case) but through the magic (aka no limits) of software, has taken on a life of its own. FM8 moves on from the original FM7 (but still includes its

Price £169 Contact NI, via website Web www.nativeinstruments.com

sounds) and well beyond the percussive, metallic and shimmering pad sounds that FM synthesis was famous for, to result in a synth that simply shines. Programming FM is now relatively easy (well, compared to the original synth, what isn’t?) and sound selection is very simple. The resulting synth is big, evolving, and hugely atmospheric. FM8 is not Massive and is quite old, but it’s still a stunning synth and one we use more than most. FOCUS


MTF Buyer’s Guide The 12 Best Soft Synths Money Can Buy

Linplug Spectral

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arts of Linplug’s Spectral will make you think it’s an out-and-out dance synth; some of the presets without a doubt do lend themselves to many dance genres. But there’s both a simplicity and depth to it that allows you to take this synth pretty much anywhere you want to. We particularly love the movement you can get with sounds and how easy it is to program this via the onboard arpeggiator, but there are other highlights, too. The waveform Spectral editor is obviously intended to be one of these, as it lends its name to the synth, and here you can get to the heart of the sound to shape the harmonics. So it’s as simple as you like on one level and as complex as you like on another. Dance synth? Maybe, but also far more than that. We concluded: “Spectral offers inspiration, loops aplenty, core wave editing and a great atmosphere…”

Details Price $149/€119 Developer Linplug Contact via website Web www.linplug.com

Details Price £209, £89.95 (upgrade) Contact Time+Space 01837 55200 Web www. timespace.com

“The true joy of Iris lies in transforming your own sounds into playable music, melodies and textures…”

Details Price €99 Contact Fabfilter, via website Web www. fabfilter.com

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Why didn’t you include… 1. Reaktor? Yes, it could have been in the Top 12, but it’s more of a development platform than standalone synth (as good as it is) 2. Crystal – it’s free! Because it’s free and we’ll do a freeware list separately 3. Pow3r 3Z by Anonymous Software Ltd, or some such other title? Because this is a list of titles we have reviewed. By all means vote for your favourites at www.musictech.net or via our Facebook page…

iZotope Iris

Fabfilter Twin 2 C

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abfilter makes some very special outboard and effect plug-ins – indeed, we’ve scored pretty much all of them a 9 or 10/10 over recent years – but before the company made any of these, it made this spectacular synth plug-in which still stands up very well today. Featuring some amazing (and very electronic and dance-based) presets, this is a virtual analogue that still cuts through any mix and still slots into many genres. Easy tweaking, routing and editing on the front panel and a sound that really works on many levels: one that will probably never go out of fashion. An amazing synth…

ertainly one of the more unusual synths in this roundup, as it is more of a sampling resynthesiser, using audio samples as waveforms. It works by selecting parts of a sound from either a wave or spectrum, utilising iZotope’s groundbreaking technology in this area – essentially the same type of code used in the high-end RX software – so you can home in on a particular part of a sound. The bottom line is not complicated at all, though: you can get some breathtaking sounds, complex as you like – and also sounds you won’t get anywhere else. When we reviewed version 2 recently, we said: “The true joy is in capturing your own sounds and transforming them into playable music, melodies and textures; a task now made even more flexible with the new modulation system. Still a fun and incredibly creative tool to use.”

The 12 Best Soft Synths Money Can Buy Buyer’s Guide MTF

GForce Oddity 2

We want more emulations!

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Details Price £139.99 (currently £58.33 in a sale) Developer GForce Contact via website Web www. gforcesoftware. com

it was originally one of the best emulations of an ARP Odyssey you could buy in software, but Oddity 2 is now so extra-featured and powerful that it has taken on ‘life after emulation’ status and become an incredible-sounding synth in its own right. This is not least thanks to its ability to play in a Polyphonic Mode, meaning you have the exceptional sound of the original Odyssey multiplied into huge walls of spikey, aggressive and lush tones. There’s unpredictability and a vast range of timbres across 1,000-plus presets and it’s easy to understand why the original was so beloved by so many synth icons. We said in our original review: “Oddity 2 is a triumph. We love the extra mod options and using it as an effect, but best of all is Polyphonic Mode, a feature that takes Oddity to new heights. If ARP had carried on as a company, this is the synth it would have made now.”

“Oddity 2 has the exceptional sound of the Odyssey multiplied into huge walls of spikey, aggressive and lush tones”

Zero-G Epica

Details Price €199 Contact MeldaProduction, via website Web www. meldaproduction. com

Melda MPower Synth

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kay, strictly speaking, it’s a library of sounds and not technically a soft synth like the others in our dirty dozen, but it makes synth noises and has synth controls so we’re including it, dammit! And, boy, what synth noises it makes. Epica runs as a Kontakt instrument with all of the library management that that entails. Once loaded in, though, you won’t regret the hard drive space outlay because this thing sounds, well, epic. Huge sounds and enough control over them for it not to get unwieldy (and to label it a synth!). We said: “If you love synths, this could be the best £113 you will spend. As epic as epic can be…”

We’ve deliberately stayed away from soft synths that specifically model hardware synths. We (mostly) favour software being used to stretch what can be done with sound rather than emulating existing hardware. The ones we have included – namely Oddity and FM8 – have, for example, extended what was done by the original hardware so much that they have become synths in their own right, but don’t worry, classic-synth fans – we’ll be doing a proper emulation chart full of Arturia, Roland et al very soon!

Details Price £113 Contact Time+Space 01837 55200 Web www. timespace.com

eldaProduction might be known to you by its range of plug-ins, for which it has a great reputation among producers. MPower is its first synth and the company seems to have concentrated on the ‘power’ part of the name. MPower has spades of creative options and you can create sounds or take the existing presets on all sorts of journeys with them. There are 1,500 presets but, as we said in our review, it might be best to create your own to really get the best from them, as there’s so much power under the hood, it would be a shame not to use it. We said: “Spend some time digging around and you will find that there is much to like. It’s a serious synth that rewards some investment of effort, but, crucially, it sounds great. An extraordinarily powerful synth, with literally endless programmability.” FOCUS


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MTF Reviews Gothic Instruments Dronar Hybrid Module

MTF Lead Review Hardware

Software

Mobile tech

Accessories

9/10

GOTHIC INSTRUMENTS

Dronar Hybrid Module With Gothic Instruments’ new title, we may well have a build-your-own software – not hardware – instrument. Andy Jones drones on. And on… Details Product Dronar Hybrid Module Price £59.95 Contact via website Web www.timespace.com

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very aspect of music production is being made more accessible with technology: from creating the perfect dancefloor beats to easy pro mastering. However, in more recent times, the target audience for software developers seems to have shifted to the

While all very different, these collections do have one thing in common: atmosphere. They will help transport your music making to another place or time, so are ideal tools for the soundtrack composer. With the blockbuster soundtrack being so high-profile, and pop careers being so

Features  Atmospheric

Kontakt instrument  Multi-timbral synth/sampler with multiple arpeggiators  6 main controls  300 presets  16GB of data compressed to 8GB  Produced by Hollywoodtrailer sounddesigner Alessandro Camnasio  Live strings by players from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

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Everyone wants to be the next Hans Zimmer rather than the next Eurovision entry… soundtrack composer – or wannabe soundtrack composer – so we’ve had many libraries and instruments aimed specifically at them. I’ve looked at a stack of these over the last couple of years, including fantasy favourites from Eduardo Tarilonte (Shevannai and Era) and sci-fi blockbusters from Heavyocity (Gravity) and Wide Blue Sound (Orbit).


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low-cash, everybody wants to be the next Hans Zimmer rather than the next Eurovision entry, so collections like these are becoming almost as ubiquitous as analogue synths. Dronar Hybrid Module is the first release from the superbly named Gothic Instruments. It’s an instrument aimed at the soundtrack artist but also one designed to stand out from the rest.

Modular software The first reason for this is its modular approach. The instrument is being released in blocks of downloads, hence the low price, which is an interesting approach (we love modular synths, so maybe we’re seeing the start of DIY software – see the box below for info). Secondly, Dronar is setting its sights on The first of many? The reason we’re going to town on Dronar is terms of a lengthier review is that it purports to be the first of several modules under the Dronar moniker. This collection/instrument is called ‘The Hybrid Module’ and if you buy into it for the not unreasonable sum of £59.95, you’ll get further downloads and additions cheaper. The idea is that these are released every couple of months, as Gothic Instruments head honcho Dan Graham explains: “We realised that it would take two years to create all the audio content we wanted, so we thought – why not release the project in modules? This means getting a new module out every two months until finally we can bundle it all together into a giant Master Dronar in a year or so. Until then, this approach means users don’t have to wait until 2017, and also each module is quite attractively priced, making it a good chance to try it without breaking the bank.”

Gothic Instruments Dronar Hybrid ModuleReviews MTF

The Expert tab On a basic level, Dronar is very, well, basic, with six controls for big dramatic changes. Hit the Expert tab, though, and you get access to around 30 extra parameters as drop-down menus for the main controls, plus other controls like attack and decay.

The Arp tab Like the Expert tab, the Arp tab allows you access to more parameters from the top-level controls. And like the Expert tab, you don’t really need to be an expert! Here, you can adjust the Intensity, filter and arpeggiator steps and rate.

Master FX Here, edit your effects on a deeper level with distortion and chorus (shown in this picture). With reverb, you get a drop-down menu, too.

Interstellar than Going For Gold [clever Zimmer reference there for UK readers of a certain age – Ed].

specific soundtracks, not more general scores. Clearly all about dark, twisted atmosphere (the company’s called Gothic Instruments, after all) and it’s pretty obvious what you’re getting. If you’re doing the soundtrack to Dumb And Dumber 3 or Meet The Fockers 17, you might want to turn the page now. The library installs pretty much like any other Kontakt library, although it’s

these controls will easily take your sound away from what you start with, and very quickly, too. So if you do think they’re a bit, well, ‘droney’, then get hands-on – it’s easy. You can dig deeper, of course, but you’ll get a good idea of the scope of Dronar with just the top level. Step down into the ‘Expert’ page and you can define which of 30-plus parameters

If you’re doing the soundtrack to Dumb & Dumber 3, you might want to turn the page now… the type where you don’t get the fancy NI graphics – you load instruments and presets via the more standard Kontakt finder interface. The 20 categories have self-explanatory names like Alien, Low End, Pads and Chaos, plus 300 preset sounds spread between them. Auditioning is as easy as you’d expect with it being Kontakt-based, although load times are occasionally a little long. The first few categories of Alien, Atmospheres and Dark are exactly that. You may feel slightly underwhelmed by ‘otherworldliness’ – it’s a tad samey. But the strength is the simplicity and how a few controls on Dronar can do so much. The producers of Dronar deliberately held back on the number of controls just to see how much control they could get from a simple set-up, and I think it’s one of Dronar’s main strengths. You get a couple of effects (which can be varied) plus controls for Hi, Mid and Low, which vary actual sounds within those EQ ranges rather than just the frequencies. Then there’s an Intensity dial linked to your mod wheel and a Movement dial, and that is pretty much it. One or two of

can be affected by the main controls (you don’t really need to be an ‘expert’ to be here to be fair), and you can also delve deeper into the arpgeggiation and LFO features with their own dedicated pages, too. The later sound categories are much more musical than earlier ones, which perhaps emphasise the ‘drone’ part of Dronar. The strings are superb, the organs suitably dramatic and the pads as creepy and menacing as you’d expect. In fact, I’ll leave it to three more category names to sum up the rest: Fear, Tension and Dark. So, if you want to give it some kind of Hans Zimmer ‘rating’, Dronar is definitely more

Alternatives I’ve already hinted at the collections and instruments I’ve used which are similar to Dronar, including Wide Blue Sound’s Orbit ($150 www.widebluesound.com) and Heavyocity’s Gravity ($449, www.heavyocity. com), both big, evolving sound makers and manglers, perhaps without the total darkness that this has. Elsewhere in MusicTech, we’ve also looked at Output’s Signal (£150, www. outputsounds.com) which is an incredible instrument for drones and other atmospheres.

Conclusion The Hybrid Module – the first Dronar release – didn’t surprise me in what it could do in terms of atmosphere and tension, and it very much delivers its menace in spades. As an opening module of possibly many, it is very good indeed. Initially, you might think it’s a bit of a one-trick pony, but there are enough strings and melodic folders to take it on more musical journeys, and it also features so many parameters just under the skin that you can easily move onto newer things. The Movement and Intensity dials alone will have you off exploring new sonic paths and there is more than enough content to experiment with… And that may well prove to be the downfall for Gothic Instruments’ modular plans – there might just be enough in this pack to suffice! Either way, with just £60 needed to start your dark and atmospheric journey, I think it’s one well worth taking. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Huge amount of atmosphere for the money + Modular upgrade path could be interesting + Lovely big and easy controls make dramatic changes easy + Lots to explore and very easy to do it (and you will!) - It’s perhaps a little samey in places, but what did you expect? - Some hanging issues in Logic The Hybrid Module is a great opening chapter in the Dronar series. Beautifully put together and flexes within its own constraints well, with very easy controls and more available if you want them.

9/10

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MTF Reviews Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator 20 Series

€£$

Choice

9/10

Details Price €75 each (inc postage) Contact via website Web www. teenageengineering. com

Key features Shared  16-part step

sequencer with 16 patterns  Parameter locks on sequencer  Built-in speaker  3.5mm audio out/in sync  Jam sync  Folding stand  Step Multiplier

PO-20 Arcade  Beat making and

chiptune improv  16 synthesised

arcade sounds  128-chord and

pattern chaining  16 punch-in

effects

PO-24 Office  Noise percussion

drum machine and sequencer  Sampled vintage h/ware and real synth engines  16 sounds  Solo control  128-pattern chaining  16 punch-in effects

PO-28 Robot  Live synth and

TEENAGE ENGINEERING

Pocket Operator 20 Series Three new Pocket Operators from Teenage Engineering. Can they possibly be as good as last year’s hat-trick? Andy Jones goes 8-bit…

L

ast year’s NAMM show – that is to say NAMM 2015 – was stolen by Teenage Engineering, with its Pocket Operator Series. Three calculator-style sound modules for beats, sub bass and leads had everyone crowding around the TE stand and while the big companies made big announcements, three sub-€70 Euro gadgets walked away with the honours. A couple of months later, they walked off with just about every MusicTech award I could bestow on them, too… Yes, the original Pocket Operators – PO-12 Rhythm, PO-14 Sub and PO-16 Factory – were (and indeed still are) incredibly fun and big-sounding melody and beat makers. Sync them together for complete tunes, admire the fancy and fantastical LCD screens, marvel at how such a small device can deliver such a big sound… They were great. So for Teenage Engineering, this year’s NAMM was always going to be a case of, ‘Well, how do we follow that?’

engine  15 sounds and micro drum  128-pattern chaining  Live play and sequencer

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So how do they follow that? The answer, of course, is with something as cool, something as geeky and something as futuristic as the first three POs – a new trio of POs known as the PO-20 Series, comprising the PO-20 Arcade, PO-24 Office and PO-28 Robot.


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around the back – actually a couple of hard wires, and I had to push the connectors to make sure they connected with the batteries on the first unit I tested – is hit the ’Play’ button to hear the onboard patterns. Press the Pattern key and you will be able to choose your pattern from the 16 number keys. Hit the Sound button and, similarly, you can play one of the

For TE, this year’s NAMM was always going to be a case of ‘how do we follow that?’ Robot on synth and sequencer. Three new strands of PO, then, and each promising a tantalising tangent away from the original three, already innovative, devices.

Shared features

sequencer,  8-bit synth

The names give a little away about where each of the new series is heading sonically, but it’s all perhaps a little less obvious than the PO-10 Series, each of which effectively offered beats, bass, and lead sounds (actually, it was a little more complex than that, but that will do for now). So here, the Arcade focuses on beats and chip tunes; the Office on percussion and sequencing and the

Time for a quick overview of the main ways of using the POs before I get specific. With all three, it’s a similar scenario and less than a year after reviewing the 10s, I am on familiar ground. So the first thing you’ll do after slotting in the batteries in the ‘case’

onboard sounds, again by hitting a number key. The two dials here typically alter volume and an effect, like filter, per sound. So you can adjust the pitch of the sound you want to record at this stage and then you can record it, either by step sequencer or by playing live over a pattern as it plays. The former recording method is done by holding the Write button down (along with Chord) and then inputting notes of the sound you chose above on the 16-part grid. You can also play them in live by holding the Write button and

Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator 20 Series Reviews MTF

A teenager…

playing them (again, you choose the pitch before hand). Initially, this is a bit hit and miss, but better if you make use of the screen to make sure the Record icon is highlighted, and then you choose either method. Just make sure your pitch is defined before you record… so a little reverse thinking is in order.

rotaries can be recorded). Then there’s a Chord button that lets you choose chord changes over following patterns by selecting them in number order – again, a nice way of bringing in some variation. Other features common to the range include tempo selection – either home in by holding the BPM button and use the dials to choose a value, or select from Hip Hop (80BPM), Disco (120) and Techno (140) at the touch of the button. The volume of each PO is set here, too: hold the BPM button and set a level, highlighted by the number of the number keys lit. And just like last time, I’m pleasantly surprised by just how loud these things go, and also by the quality of the sounds on each. Additionally, you can chain the patterns together by holding the Pattern button down again and then hitting the pattern-number buttons in the order in which you want them to play to create complete songs. All the

The publicity shot from the TE website implies the Arcade model might bring you games, b ut sadly, it doesn’t

school calculator. I’d have also wanted games – especially on the Arcade one – but that’s probably just me. (Maybe we’ll see some chip tuners hack these to play games as some kind of weird reverse-parallel universe stuff.)

There’s something of a sonic curry fest here: a few core ingredients but lots of results If you’ve used any of the 10 s, though, you’ll be at home here, as you will with other functions like adding effects live – hold the FX button and choose your effect, as you would a pattern or sound. There are lots of filtery, trigger and glitch-type of effects to choose from, which really do bring an extra edge to all pattern performances. These can also be recorded in real time as the pattern cycles (any changes using the two

Specifics

units can also be sync’d together, so you might use the beats from one and play live with another – and as we’ll see, some do excel in certain areas for this. The manual (aka piece of paper) that comes with each unit lists some scenarios here, including syncing a PO with a phone and Volca, something that has ‘achingly cool’ written all over it. Finally, there’s a clock on each unit, very much reminding me of my old

If you read our review of the first three POs from Teenage Engineering, you might think we have put exactly the same pictures, albeit with different colours, in exactly the same positions. Would we really be that lazy?

So that is the overview. I’ll now deal with each unit in number order, so it’s PO-20 Arcade first. Arcade sound effects have been used in music since Space Invaders, from the Yellow Magic Orchestra onwards via novelty hits through the 80s, where the scene flourished via Tracker software. Of course, now there’s a whole community of chip tuners who have taken the guts of old gear and made new sounds from it. Arcade (and in some respects the other two new POs) is a reverential nod to that scene. Ironically, though, having a machine with the 8-bit sounds laid out so accessibly might not actually appeal to many within that scene, but for the rest of us, Arcade brings a taste of it to our fingertips. You’ll recognise the sounds in PO-20 from a hundred trips to those exciting and slightly sinister amusement arcades that still litter the coastal resorts in this country (that is if you had my kind of childhood and haven’t completely had the 70s tragically erased from your mind by now). The key sounds are there: drones, lasers, beeps and basses. And while the sounds might be based in the 70s and early 80s, like the chip-tune scene, the patterns that they produce are vibrant and fresh and surprisingly varied. This has much to do with the PO ethos, which is to shove as many features in FOCUS


MTF Reviews Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator 20 Series

There’s no getting away from it, they are flimsy and open to the elements. Here’s what you get around the back of each PO

Office. You see?

there to vary, let’s face it, not that many core ingredients and patterns. So the pitch dial will radically alter your core sounds and the effects and tempos will radically alter your patterns. Throw in some chord changes and real-time effects and you will be altering these

I didn’t expect to be blown away by Arcade – Margate was always a lot more exciting to drive to on the school bus trip than actually getting there – but I found myself charmed by it. Whether the unit has the longevity is another matter, though.

If you made beats from what you hear in our office, it would be the stuff of nightmares ingredients a lot more than you think. Teenage Engineering has pulled off something of a sonic curry-fest here: a few core ingredients, yes, but a huge variety of results.

On to Office; and while I was excited by Arcade but not expecting big things, I did struggle with the idea of this one: office noises to make beats, right? It’s hardly the stuff of dream rhythms, is it? And if you worked in our office and made beats out of the noises you hear here, it would result in the stuff of nightmares, let me tell you. Fortunately, the Teenage Engineering office seems to be a little more musical and alongside what could be photocopy, typing and general shelf/ door/filing cabinet hit sounds, there are half-a-dozen decent beats and basses to bolster things up – almost like Richie Hawtin is sat your office, maybe just like your new intern, and making beats out of your hole punch and stapler. “Alright Richie, yeah two sugars in my coffee please, mate.” The resulting Office beats and patterns are surprisingly punchy and aggressive and very edgy. It’s here

Robot is the best for synthesis (of sorts) and melody playing – perhaps not beats 102 |


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that the PO effects really do come into full force and you’ll find yourself performing full live sets without realising it, with a few button pushes and casual glances over to your imaginary crowd (of co-workers). So, yeah, Office is surprisingly cool, and out of the three units, I’d probably pick this one to use in my studio and to extract beats and ideas from and into my main DAW set-up. I just love the overall level of control that enables you to stamp your own authority onto the existing sounds and patterns, and again, you are amazed what PO has done with so few initial sounds. Finally, it’s time for the robots. Being a certain age, I must make the link between robots, operators, and calculators and mention Kraftwerk (yes, I didn’t just hang about in amusement arcades in the 70s), and perhaps here we have the whole Teenage Engineering philosophy wrapped up in one unit. Robot is solidly electro, comes packed with a bunch of synth sounds (not so much in the way of robot voices, though) and the ability to actually play and synthesise notes (to some extent

In use tips When using the new PO series (as with the current PO-10s) it’s all about what you can do with them in real time/live. The Robot might be more about playing along with patterns and Office might be more about the beats, but each one allows chaining of patterns to make songs; the addition of live effects (which can be recorded); chord changes (again which can be chained) and a Step Multiplier that allows retriggering of steps. You can even fade your performances out with a couple of key presses (FX and Play) and on the Arcade, add a Drone version of the current chord. These real-time additions are the PO’s core strength.

Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator 20 Series Reviews MTF

Alternatives Korg’s Volca range is still the closest thing out there to the original PO-10 series, but there’s little out there that touches the new PO-20 series, not in standard hardware, anyway. I say ‘standard’ because, of course, there is a world of chip-tuning, DIY electronic customisation out there where people are taking everyday gadgets and making them make notes. Expect a feature on that soon. Until then, grab a Speak & Spell and a screwdriver… and experiment. (Actually, thinking about it… don’t.)

If you don’t want all six, then you’re stronger willed than us…

MTF Verdict PO-20 Arcade

anyway). In this way, it seems more open than the other units, as you can make more in the way of melodies and have some control over the filter and envelope of the sound (via the rotaries). The sequencer is a little more limited in the sense that the sounds you play live are not necessarily recorded when you hit Write – they’re more designed to be played live – but the overall feel is more ‘play me’ than ‘program me’, which is a nice variation. Back to the sounds and you get good leads, whistles, the odd arcade bleep and some fantastic delayed synth notes (very Kraftwerk), although I’d have wanted some vocoder action – maybe that’s an idea for the PO-30 range… Patterns are chugging electro, some interesting more glitchy, off-beat breaks and again, some arcade-type movement. Because the source sounds are more synth than beat, the underlying rhythm sounds (from a micro drum kit selected as sound number 16) are a bit less varied here, so I wasn’t perhaps as blown away by the patterns, I have to say. This is probably down to the fact that each sequencer makes use of one of the lead sounds and beats. The other units have more varied sounds across their key ranges (rather than just different pitches), so

their patterns sound a little more varied. But fun-wise and ideas-wise, and particularly just for playing tunes with beats – and there are additional options for vibrato and expression for playing – Robot is where it’s at for me.

Conclusion

If you want to finish the job off, silicone cases are available at €39 a go

I’ll leave aside any debates over chip-tune purity – whereby the ethos is to mod old gear to make sound rather than have it done for you – and attempt to sum these up as music-making devices. And it’s a little harder this time around, compared to the 10s. Inevitably, this set of Operators is a little more niche – the bass, leads and beats have been done, after all. This means that some will love them even more than the first set, but they will probably appeal to fewer people overall. I have to say, though, that Office was the biggest revelation to me, while Robot was the most amount of fun. Like the reface keyboards from Yamaha – four devices for very specific and different tasks – these are very personal, so my opinions are, as always, just a guide. But I doubt there are any other products anywhere on the planet with which you can have so much musical fun and creativity, and that cost so little cash. MTF

+ Surprisingly varied Patterns + Good sound + Easy to use + Great hands-on tweaking + Few core sounds = many results - Might not last creatively over the long term and have narrow appeal - We wanted games!

Surprisingly flexible beats and melodies take this away from just chip tune. Longevity may suffer.

8/10

MTF Verdict PO-24 Office

+ Best for beats + A good range of Pattern styles + Extra sounds on top of beats add weight to the vibe + Effects really do help the variation on this one - Much less melodic possibility than the other two on test - As with all, the unit is flimsy

A lot better than we thought it would be, Office is the one we’ll be using with our DAW productions. Inspiring beats, and it begs you to perform it live (which you will do!)

9/10

MTF Verdict PO-28 Robot

+ Great for hands-on melodies + Nice and simple synth action + Great for recording melodic ideas + Good and varied synth sounds + Impressive delayed sounds - One lead and beats make the Patterns less varied - Could have done with robot voices

The best for getting ideas down quickly and playing live. 35 years on, Kraftwerk could use it live!

9/10

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MTF Reviews NI Komplete Kontrol S88 keyboard & v1.5 software

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

Komplete Kontrol S88 & v1.5 software Komplete Kontrol, the software, has been updated and the hardware gets an addition, too, in the form of an 88-note keyboard. The ultimate integration? Andy Jones finds out… Details Kit Komplete Kontrol S88 keyboard and v1.5 software Manufacturer Native Instruments Price £729 (S88). Other keyboards in the range are now at a lower price: S25 is £299; S49 £369; S61 £429 Contact T:+44 207 9207500 W:www.nativeinstruments.com Tech Req PC: Windows 7 later; Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Mac: OS X 10.9 later Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended)

Key Features  88-note

keyboard  Features

Komplete Select bundle of 10 plug-in titles worth £850  NKS standard opens KK up to other developers  Features Light Guides, Native Map, Smart Play  Size (mm): 349x126x1389  Weight: 14.4kg

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T

here are some products that follow trends and some that create them. Komplete Kontrol definitely sits in the latter camp, and since its release in both software form and the S-Series keyboard range, it has set the bar, not just for controller keyboards but for the very way that music production software integrates with hardware. And it’s also helped the computer to be relegated to less than the main player in the recording studio. OK, you might think that’s overstating the impact of this range, so a quick recap might be in order… Until a few years ago, the computer was the dominant force in music making. Native Instruments itself was one of many companies producing music software that could do everything, and I mean everything . However, a combination of software piracy, amazing new and colourful gear, a shift back to analogue, and the sorry fact that people were starting to mix with their eyes rather than their ears has meant that hardware has made a glorious return. Ableton’s Push and NI’s Maschine have married the old software to this new world and simultaneously helped pull people’s faces away from their computer screens. And just over a year


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ago Komplete Kontrol promised the same for the keyboard player – and thus the broader playing world at large. Komplete Kontrol marries a great piece of hardware to possibly the finest music production bundle out there: NI’s Komplete collection (now at v10). The Komplete Kontrol software offers a shell-like interface, while the Fatar-

become Kontakt’s trademarks, is now replicated on the actual hardware keys of the keyboards by way of the S-Series’ Light Guides. It’s hardware that does software, it’s multi-coloured and striking, and it keeps your head focused on what you are playing rather than what your mouse is clicking. It’s so 2016!

Push and Maschine pulled people away from computers. Komplete Kontrol does the same for keyboard players… made keyboards replicate the software in hardware form. I say again: replicate the software in hardware form. 15 years ago, I’d have been happily telling you the opposite was true in the studio world. Crazy! So anyway, with KK software you can dial up anything in Komplete and Kontakt, all from your S-Series keyboard via preset type or list. You can step through the presets and control the most important parameters via the rather great Clear View screens. The best bit is that everything, right down to the mult-coloured key ranges that have

It’s also brilliant and Komplete Kontrol began, or at least helped chivvy along, a revolution in hardware and software integration that Akai has followed with its Advance range, Push 2 looks like maintaining for Live and Arturia, Novation and many others also have a hand in.

Which brings us nicely to… With everyone jumping on the bandwagon, though, NI has not rested on its laurels and has made several important updates to the Komplete Kontrol philosophy over the last year.

NI Komplete Kontrol S88 keyboard & v1.5 softwareReviews MTF

MAIN BROWSE SCREEN Press Browse in the hardware and you’ll be presented with all of the plug-ins you have (and annoyingly some that you don’t). Select here…

1

This includes third-party support, with the all-new Native Kontrol Standard (NKS) essentially meaning that the KK software and keyboards can be opened up to the VST community, so we’re not talking about hardware integrated with just Komplete but potentially a lot more developers. So far, Heavyocity, ProjectSAM, Arturia, Spitfire Audio and Sonokinetic are just some of the big

KOMPLETE INSTRUMENT Load in your Komplete Select instrument – in this case Massive – and show the Plug-in panel to reveal the control assigned to the Clear View rotaries

2

OTHER PEOPLE’S PLUG-INS Load in other plug-ins via the drop-down menu, but don’t expect them all to be NKS-ready just yet. They will play, but you won’t be able to control all of them via KK.

3

bit (actually quite a lot) of everything to show off what the Komplete Kontrol 1.5 software can do.

Kontrol S-Series, you will be at home here. If not, here’s a quick recap of my previous review to explain that all important integration.

The hardware Perfect integration

So that’s the software, but we’re not finished. Testing the new 1.5 update required a Komplete Kontrol S-Series keyboard, so we took delivery of the brand new S88 keyboard and are

To use the S88 with Komplete Ultimate 10 is one of the best experiences in music production guns who have signed up. We’ll be looking at how Komplete Kontrol works on third-party software as we review it (look out for the Arturia V collection update soon). For now, we’ll cover what else you get with the software and the more immediate bonus: £850 of instruments within the all-new Komplete Select bundle. Needless to say, this takes advantage of all of the S-Series’ hardware’s integration features while also offering a great selection of Native Instruments’ own software line-up. It includes personal favourites Retro Machines, Monark and Massive, but there are some other choice titles here, including The Gentleman (piano), Drumlab and Vintage Organs – a little

including that in this test, too – to be rated separately. Hardware-wise, the all-new keyboard is ‘the biggie’: 88 notes of fully-weighted, hammer action keys and touted as the ultimate keyboard for the ultimate controller range. The keyboard is identical in format to the others in the S- range in that all the action takes place in the centre bar – the two multipurpose touch strips on the left. There are Browse and Cursor buttons on the right to navigate through the KK software and eight Clear View screens and rotaries in the centre. There are performance keys, arpeggiator controls and the transpose keys to the left of these, and that is it. If you have any of the existing Komplete

Look closely and you can see which companies have already signed up to use the new NI Native Komplete Standard

Within Komplete Kontrol you get access to all of your Komplete instruments (and now other plug-ins) and you can select sounds via the instrument title and then focus on preset type and select that way. The beauty is that all of this can be done via the hardware controls, so you can be away from the computer screen and more focused on your playing and recording. You can load up the Komplete Kontrol software standalone or as a plug-in. The integration then dramatically swings into action as the most/important parameters of whatever sound you have dialled up are mapped (via Native Map) to the Clear View screens. I can’t stress how cool this is. They are designed in such a way that the hardware/software combo almost mimics a hardware experience, so suddenly that FM7 preset you have always loved becomes an FM7 preset, which is easily and dramatically tweaked. The software instruments, therefore, come alive as not only preset selection is made easier but also editing, mapping, tuning and performance, all done via hardware, so negating a lot of – but not all of – your mouse clicks. On that score, don’t think that this by any means frees you of your computer completely – you will still need to load up the instruments in whatever DAW you use and, of course, work in that software, but the hardware is more than capable of handling your Komplete duties and can also load in other plug-ins. We had G-Force’s excellent Oddity 2 loaded up, and while not all of the KK controls are mapped to certain plug-ins, more will doubtless sign up to FOCUS


MTF Reviews NI Komplete Kontrol S88 keyboard & v1.5 software

the NKS standard. Back to the hardware, and the new S88 certainly feels its cost. It is pricey – a full £300 more than the 61 – but the keys will be attractive to proper players. They are fully-weighted, slightly heavy compared to the action on the Nord Stage 2 I also have in the studio for testing, but far more respondent than the 61-note S-Series I also have. Whether it’s £300 extra worth paying is, I’m afraid, a decision you will have to make, as this depends completely on your playing ability and needs.

Konclusion We’ve reviewed the new Komplete Kontrol software and S88 keyboard together, as they are obviously designed to go together, but you can, of course, choose any of the four keyboards now in the range, and anyone who has already invested in Komplete Kontrol can download Komplete Select for free, so get to it! The new software is really all about NKS integration and the instruments you get from the off with Komplete Select. With both additions, you will be enjoying a much more integrated package and one of the best hardware and software set-ups out there. I say ‘one of’ because, of course, NI’s own Komplete 10 software bundle is even better, and should you want the absolute ultimate in that arena – the appropriately named ‘Ultimate’ – it will cost you £579 over and above whichever S-Series keyboard you opt for. I have to say, though, that it is worth

it, as you get hundreds of GB of the best instruments and content around – literally everything you should ever need for music production. Komplete Ultimate is also what the S-Series is designed to work with, so as good as Komplete Select is, this is what NI’s designers had in mind with the S-Series keyboards – and to use the S88, Komplete Kontrol and Komplete Ultimate 10 is undeniably one of the best experiences in music production (I upgraded to v10 for this review and have to say it is staggering and very easy to install – Ultimate has never been so appropriate a name). However, we’re also going to mark the all-new S88 in its own right, as it comes with one or two caveats which we’ve already touched upon. It now costs a whopping £300 more than the 61-note, which puts the 88-note out on a limb a little price-wise. So, while I love it – and I absolutely do – you may find those 61 notes enough, especially for £300 less. Personally, I think it’s a bit steep a gap, or that perhaps the 61-note now looks even more attractive. Having said that, these 88 notes are weighted and seeing Light Guide across them in action in your studio is something else to behold. So if you are a player, and have a few quid, this is the one to get. Either way, one of the range should be an even more attractive option, especially with the world and his wife now invited to the Komplete Kontrol party and £850 of software to tuck into when you arrive. MTF

Alternatives Where do you start? In terms of controller keyboards, there are stacks to go for. I’ve had some great experience with the Alesis V and VR ranges and Korg’s Taktile models, but for more integration the Arturia KeyLab range has been updated and includes a whole range of that company’s classic synth heritage. The closest to the KK experience, though, is the Akai Advance range, which includes VIP software that really gives you the hardware and software integrative experience.

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We used the S88 as the centre-piece of the MusicTech Christmas party decorations…

MTF Verdict

KK S25-61

+ Great new prices + Komplete Select is amazing and a real bonus and advert for the rest of the Native range + NKS could become the new standard in integration + The Komplete Kontrol software opens up your instruments in a hardware-like way + The scale and arpeggiator sections are both excellent + Light Guide keys. Come on, what’s not to like?! + Used with Komplete Ultimate, this really is the ultimate hardware software bundle - … but it will cost you £579 - You can’t do everything in hardware (just yet) The new prices, addition of NKS and Komplete Select make the S Series even better buys.

9/10

MTF Verdict KK S88

+ Proper player keyboard makes this the ultimate Komplete Kontrol keyboard of the range + Just how cool are 88 Light Guide keys? Very! + Wider keyboard range opens up Kontakt instruments further + Again, used with Komplete 10 Ultimate and you have, well, the ultimate combo - Keyboard may be a little heavy for lighter acoustic players - Price is £300 more than an S61, so quite a bit more for the extra playing action It’s the ultimate keyboard in the Komplete Kontrol S-Series range, yes, but it will cost you.Get it with the optional Komplete Ultimate 10 and you really do have the best.

8/10

Zivix Jamstik+ Reviews MTF

Alternatives Game controllers! The good old Wii Remote still works great with MIDI, thanks to ‘translator’ applications like OSCulator. Livid Instruments Guitar Wing adds a MIDI controller with buttons and motion detection to your ‘real’ guitar. MIDI guitar pickups are the more high-end, expensive way. See Roland and Fishman as examples…

ZIVIX

Jamstik+ Zivix’s Jamstik is billed as a guitar learning aid, but Martin Delaney has other ideas – it could just be a great MIDI controller too… Details Price $299 Contact www.jamstik.com

Features  Guitar tuition

tool/MIDI controller  5-fret neck, 16” long  Works with Mac, Android, OSX  Mute button and d-padcontrol  Charges via computerUSB  8 hours per charge  Particularly good with Ableton Live

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s music tech types have an insatiable curiosity about alternative MIDI controllers, whether it’s to replace or complement our existing setup. There’s always room for one more, right? Enter the Jamstik+, a guitar tuition tool which might seem kind of toy-like, with its little plastic body (just over 16” long) and stubby five-fret neck, but has huge potential for MIDI control, putting it squarely in the sights of any freethinking controller geek. (Yes, the ‘+’ in the name is important – it is an update to the original Jamstik, which relied on WiFi to connect to a computer, while the Jamstik+ uses Bluetooth or USB.) Infrared sensors in the fingerboard combine with a hexaphonic pickup to send note and string information to your Mac, Android, or iOS device, with further control messages being sent via an accelerometer. There’s also an inordinately large mute button located where the bridge is on a normal guitar, and a d-pad type arrangement of buttons on the top edge of the body. The package contains the Jamstik+, a micro USB cable, guitar strap, picks, and printed setup information. The Jamstik+ charges from the computer or any standard USB charger, and should provide around 8 hours of use per charge (courtesy of a replaceable phone-style battery). It’s straightforward to set up - there’s a dedicated free app available on all platforms which handles the Bluetooth connection, string behaviours, velocity response, trigger sensitivity, general MIDI functions, button assignments,

and MIDI channels (each string can be assigned to a different channel, which opens things up for software control). Ableton Live is a natural partner for the device – it’s rewarding to trigger soft synths like Operator from this petite stringed instrument, which feels more like a MIDI ukulele than a guitar once it’s strapped on. Of course you can use any type of sound, so if you like the idea of programming beats from a guitar interface, you’ll be in heaven. There were no issues using Logic instruments and third party plug-ins – at the most basic level it’s just like configuring a MIDI keyboard. It doesn’t feel remotely like playing a guitar with a MIDI pickup; although the Jamstik+ uses ‘real’ strings, they’re very short, and there’s no ‘acoustic’ resonance at all, like you’d get when you play an unplugged electric guitar. No physical tuning is needed, either – it’s handled by the app, where you can specify any custom tuning you like, per string. By default the d-pad buttons provide octave +/- and capo functions. You can use a pick, or play finger-style, and there’s a tap mode optimised for one/two handed tapping. The accelerometer reinforces the game controller angle, and this can send any MIDI control message, so you could be playing notes on the Jamstik+ and then give it a wiggle to change your filter frequency, for example. Setting changes are stored dynamically in the Jamstik+, but I’d like to be able to save a library of presets for different situations. I built an Ableton set to make use of the 6 strings and 5 frets and separate MIDI channels to launch a 6x5 block of

audio clips, and the d-pad buttons to activate effects, and it was as fun as it could be – which is a lot. I then routed notes and CCs from the Jamstik+, via Live, out to a Bass Station 2, using the semi-guitar vibe to play bass and lead tones; and remember, this is wireless with Bluetooth, so you can walk and play. On iOS, the Jamstik+ experience is more or less the same, using the app for configuration and then playing various soft synth apps – the guitar tutorial content is also available across all platforms if you want it. Lefties can enjoy the Jamstik too – change the orientation in the app, and flip the Jamstik+ over. I wouldn’t use the Jamstik+in any kind of guitar role – I have guitars for that. It is, however, an awesome MIDI input device and is a surprisingly expressive little instrument. If you like custom control setups and game controllers, this is one you should try.MTF MTF Verdict

+ Excellent MIDI ‘guitar’ controller + Easy Bluetooth or USB connection + Accelerometer is great for effect controls + Portable little package + Works with iOS or OS X + Great for Ableton Live users - Neck dives a bit - Price will deter the merely curious - Not necessarily a first-choice guitar learning tool The Jamstik is quirky, it’s not cheap, and I’m not convinced of its value as a guitar learning tool. But on the major ‘however’ front, it’s a fascinating and fun MIDI device for anybody who loves new ways of communicating with their software, and particularly recommended if you like game controllers.

9/10

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MTF Reviews Fabfilter Pro-C 2

The best is yet to come

Excellence

FABFILTER

Pro-C 2 FabFilter has updated its Pro-Series compressor. Mike Hillier finds out if it really is fabulous Details Price £114 Contact info@ fabfilter.com Web www.fabfilter.com Minimum System Requirements PC Windows XP or later, AAX, RTAS or VST host Mac Intel Processor, Mac OS X 10.5 or later, AU, AAX, RTAS or VST host

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abFilter Pro-C is now the second plug-in in the company’s Pro range to get a major update, following on from the incredible update to Pro-Q last year. The new version of the FabFilter’s compressor adds a considerable number of features to the already popular plug-in, including five new compression styles, a vastly improved side-chain EQ, and a new Retinadisplay optimised interface, which can be scaled from small to full-screen.

Eight in one

Key Features  Eight

compression styles  Sidechain EQ  Smooth lookahead mode  Intelligent auto-gain  Up to 500ms Hold  Custom knee

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Probably the biggest single improvement in Pro-C 2 is the new user interface; even in its default setting it is larger and easier to navigate. FabFilter has embraced user interface design like no other developer, making the most use of what is possible with plug-ins instead of sticking to emulating old designs. There are no skeuomorphisms here, no rack screws, paint scratches or needle-based VU meters. Instead, the meter shows a moving waveform as it passes through the compressor up against a graph of the gain reduction, letting you see at a glance what your attack and release settings are doing to the gain reduction. Against this, another graph shows the compressor ratio and knee, again enabling you to quickly set these visually against the waveform. There will be those who say visual mixing is disabling, and that you should use your ears, which is of course true, but


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knowing you can get 99% of the way there visually is a great help in getting to the settings you want quickly. Pro-C 2 has eight different compressor models, of which five are completely new in Pro-C 2. The Mastering compressor works very quickly, while producing very little harmonic, making it very useful as a clean, clear vocal compressor when artefacts have to be avoided, as well as on percussion. On the opposing front, the Pumping model has been designed with subtlety thrown out of the window. This model is great when fed a side-chain kick for those over-the-top pumping sounds most commonly associated with EDM. Perhaps two of the most useful new models, though, are the Bus and Punch models. Punch has a rich tonality, which lends weight to anything fed through it, while Bus applies that final gloss to a mix. The Vocal compressor has been designed with automatic knee and ratio, but is the only one of the new models we haven’t taken to immediately, perhaps because we got great results out of the Punch, Mastering and the three old models on vocals. Alternatively Compressors are a dime a dozen, but something with this kind of flexibility, capable of anything from transparent detailed control, through to characterful glue, is rare. Sonnox Oxford Dynamics is probably the closest competition, with three different compression types and some powerful additional features.

While the five new compressor models are the easiest new features to get your head around, the real strength of Pro-C 2 comes from the subtle touches that FabFilter has added. It might not seem like much at first, but the Hold feature added to the Attack and Release characteristics – something more commonly seen on gates than compressors – has made its way onto more tracks. In fact, we’ve been using it on all our recent video tutorials as a means of consistently ducking the audio track under the voiceover. We also recently used it on the hi-hat channel in a mix to both tighten the hat choke in response to the kick and to control bleed, with the end result being more controlled and groove-based than anything we could have got with a gate. Another of the improved features is the sidechain, which previously had high- and low-pass filters. It now has a mid-band with selectable shapes, based on Pro-Q. You can, like before, add high- and low-pass filters, but you can also shape the filters as you see fit , and use the mid-band to add a bell curve, notch, shelf, or even a tilt EQ. We described the advantages of using fully-featured EQs in the sidechain in a previous workshop, “Digging Deep Into The Sidechain”, but it’s great to see one so prominent in a compressor like this. The actual response of the compressor once you’ve changed the sidechain EQ is sometimes hard to work out, but as a rule of thumb any frequency you boost in the sidechain will be reduced more by the compressor. As always, FabFilter has managed to wrap an incredibly powerful tool into an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface, which makes getting great sounds simple. The original Pro-C got a lot of day-to-day use on our sessions, but it was always the compressor to reach for when you just needed a job doing. Pro-C 2 can handle anything you throw at it, and is already pushing far more expensive compressors aside. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Flexible compressor + Easy to use + Great user interface

Pro-C 2 is set to become a staple of many professionals’ toolkits. Everyone needs a good compressor, and there are few as good as this. A future classic.

10/10

Sonic Academy Kick 2 Reviews MTF

SONIC ACADEMY

Kick 2

Sonic Academy’s kick-drum instrument gets a 2016 makeover, but is it a stairway to drum heaven, or a one-way ticket to drum hell? Alex Holmes finds out Details Price £49.95 (£24.95 upgrade from Kick 1) Contact via website Web www. sonicacademy.com Minimum system requirements VST, AU, AAX 32-/64bit host Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista (32 Bit), Intel Core Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2, 512 MB Ram Mac OS X 10.7 or later (32/64 Bit), Intel Core Duo, 512 MB RAM (no PPC)

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t’s fair to say that the kick drum is king in most modern dance music. As genres come and go, it tussles with the bassline for superiority, but in most club music, getting the right kick sound is so fundamental, it can make or break a track. We’ve been big fans of Sonic Academy’s Kick plug-in over the last couple of years, and its punchy sounds have been used on a multitude of tracks as both kick drums and basslines. We knew Kick 2 was in development, but we’re excited to finally get our hands on this new and improved drum synth/sampler instrument.

Click track

Features  Kick-drum

instrument with Sub oscillator and three Click sample layers  230-plus genre presets  180 click samples  Modelled Tube, Clip and Wave distortion  EQ, Compressor, Limiter and Harmonics controls

Kick 2 adds a whole slew of new features and changes, the first of which is the dropping of the Nicky Romero tag that came with the original plug-in. The interface is now larger and more polished, with splashes of colour and a waveform view that updates as you edit the various parameters. Most fundamentally, the Click area has been expanded from one to three sample layers, meaning you can create more complex textures and do more effective drum layering, choosing from either the extensive list of drum clicks, hats and noises, or loading your own with a new drag-and-drop functionality. Each Click section still has pitch and volume controls, but now adds dials for sample length, start point, pan, and phase alongside a LP/HP filter. This makes it much more flexible, as you can now load in something like a live kick sample and easily scoop out all the low end to allow space for the Sub part of the instrument. Our only gripe here is that the Pan control is so tiny that we almost missed it! All the Clicks, along with the Sub section, can be muted or solo’d, and have a button to toggle whether they

respond to the keyboard, so you could have a pitched bass kick, with static transient click.

Sub focus The main part of the plug-in is still the Sub oscillator, with a large window for drawing break points and bezier curves for the pitch and amplitude. This has been enhanced with an excellent harmonics section, that lets you add character to the waveform by dragging up eight sliders to bring out different parts of the spectrum. Other improvements include the addition of analogue-modelled Tube and Wave distortions, which are a big improvement on the (also included) Clip distortion from Kick 1. There’s also a Compressor, a final output Limiter, and a Drive dial that controls how hard the signal hits the output. It’s in the combination of these elements, the distortion, and the Harmonics section where the power of Kick 2 as a tone shaping tool really starts to shine. Different combinations of each now give different types of saturation and overtones, meaning you have a broader palette to play with. Other notable features include a drag-and-drop export function, and a new EQ section with a low shelf, high shelf and two notch filters for extra shaping of your overall tone. This is a nice addition, although a spectrum analyser would have been the icing on the cake to help

Alternatives The most obvious alternative is Big Kick from Plugin Boutique (£39.95), which doesn’t quite have the depth of control of Kick 2, but has some excellent artist preset packs. If you want even more control, built-in FX and a mod matrix, then there’s Vengeance Sounds’ Metrum (£89), although it might be overkill for some.

with your tweaking. Last but not least, (as it was high on our wish list for Kick 1), the instrument is now monophonic with a new dial for Portamento. This makes it easier to have long tails without the worry of them overlapping and muddying up your low end. That said, without wanting to sound fussy, it would have been nice to be able to switch between voice modes.

New and improved Kick 2 is a serious upgrade on the original plug-in, and is now more flexible than ever. This can be seen in the 230-plus genre presets that also include layered snares, claps and toms; a suggestion perhaps that this is much more than just a kick-drum instrument. There are also a few bass presets, although we would have liked to have seen more of them, given how surprisingly good Kick 2 is as a bass synth. Whatever the weather, this will no doubt be getting some serious use in our future tracks. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Highly flexible tool for sculpting kicks and hits + Solid collection of presets + Excellent distortion and harmonics section + Crisp, clear GUI - Kick 1 user presets not compatible with Kick 2 - Pan controls incredibly small! - No spectrum analyser for EQ Kick 2 is a more nuanced instrument with a more refined palette of tools for fine-tuning your kicks and sounds, and it’s an essential purchase for anyone writing music destined for the club.

9/10

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MTF Reviews Sam Spacey Epica Bass

Excellence

SAM SPACEY

Epica Bass A sample library full of synth basses isn’t something that usually comes to mind when buying your next library. Matthew Mann finds out if Epica Bass is bold enough to take up permanent residence on his hard drive… Details Price £89 / $138 Distributor Time+Space Contact via website Web www.timespace.com System requirements Kontakt 5 or Kontakt Player (included)

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like sample libraries, but typically don’t use bass-sample libraries. Why? Because I find it easier these days to create my own bass sounds with hardware or software synthesisers. But what if you don’t really have any virtual or hardware synths that do bass well, or you’re not a synth programmer?

brain-throbbing, gut-twisting arsenal of all-round killer bass instruments. The samples were all taken from an impressive list of analogue synths, including an original ARP Odyssey Mk III, a Sequential Pro-One, Yamaha CS-15 and CS30 synths, an Oakley Sound Systems Modular, an Analogue

Did I say this is all bass? Hardly: many of these presets can be equally useful as leads

Features  100-per-cent

analogue synth sound sources  437 instruments  Samples from ARP Odyssey, Sequential Pro-One, Oberheim SEM and more  Recorded with boutique hardware  FX rack, arp, modulation and more

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Well, mega-producer Sam Spacey, the creator of the excellent (and critically acclaimed) Epica virtual synth from Zero-G, has gone to great lengths to create the ultimate bass-synth library for you.

Enter the bass Epica Bass is a Kontakt library of nothing but bass. Actually, it’s nothing but synth bass. It works with both Kontakt and the free Kontakt Player (which is even included). It consists of a whopping 26,657 24-bit mono samples and comes in at around 7GB. All of the samples have been meticulously edited, hand-looped, optimised and organised into a 437-preset library of searing, wobbling, dance-floor pumping,


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Solutions Telemark-K, Oberheim SEM and Matrix 6R synths. Sam processed all synths through a variety of outboard gear (including a Neve Pre and a UBK Fatso) to get the best sounds before final sampling. It was apparent from listening through the presets that he was very serious indeed, because the sounds are fantastic. The sounds are laid out in five folders:           The Monophonic folder is by far the largest and contains the bulk of the presets. The amount of programming involved is truly mind-numbing. The

Above: Epica Bass’s main window and presets list

Arpeggio folder has patches that are well thought-out and useful. I found presets in this folder lent themselves not only to bass arps, but also to higher register arpeggios that fill out a track nicely. The Multi folder is full of presets that combine multiple instruments into some excellent layered presets. This is a nice change from the mono folders previously mentioned. You can even play polyphonic patches in the Polyphonic folder. Finally, the Raw folder is chock-full of unadulterated samples of the original instruments. This a great place to jump in and develop your own twisted sounds. And did I say this is all bass? Hardly: many of these presets can be equally useful as leads and more.

Sampled filters? Sam even went so far as to sample the filters of each synth at different stages. This means some patches will move the sample start time so that you are, in essence, moving through the filters of the original instrument. I can tell you that this technique was used to great effect on these instruments. Also, the instruments were multi-sampled through every single note rather than just a few. So, there’s no aliasing of stretched notes. And there are at least six ‘Round Robins’ for each note, so the instruments sound as they should… slightly different each time you hit a key.

Sam Spacey Epica Bass Reviews MTF

include a lo-fi bitcrusher, flanger, chorus, 1176-style compressor, SSL-style EQ section, a convolution reverb, and a basic delay. All the effects onboard are very good and do wonders for some of the less-animated patches. Oh, and all effects parameters are easy to tweak, with no hidden menus. The dials for each parameter are clearly labelled as to what they do… and a visual indicator at the top of the FX window indicates the exact parameter you’re tweaking, and by how much. Epica Bass’s FX section is ample and well-featured, having been borrowed from Native Instruments’ own line of effects. They sound good, too. The delay is very simple, but does its job well. This adds to the character of analogue synths – especially all those lovely vintage ones. Sam also went into meticulous detail when programming modulation. The mod wheel itself is routed to a number of places – from FX adjustments to sample-start times.

Less is more There are only three main pages in Epica Bass. Each page is dedicated to one or more tasks and, while options abound, the overall interface remains clean. The main pages are Main, Arp and FX. The Main page has four sub-controls: Amp, Mod, Filter and LFO. Each allows you to tailor the sound to your liking.

One more thing… I have to mention a feature that really impressed me about Epica Bass. The Start Point Modulation mentioned earlier is brilliant. Changing the sample start time allows the user to hone in on the filter sound of the instrument. This does wonders on things like Depeche Mode-esque filtered basses and resonant leads. It really reminded me of the way Ensoniq managed the wave samples in the SQ series years ago. I really feel that this method of programming (which can be assigned to the mod wheel or other sources, such as velocity) gives a much better quality to the sounds, rather than relying on emulated filters (although some of those are included, too). The

Above left: Epica Bass’ sub-pages on the main page (AMP, MOD, FILTER, LFO) Above: Epica Bass’s many-faceted FX section is simple to use and adds an extra dimension to your sounds

I’ve already found use from so many presets, I can imagine using this on every track The Arp page is dedicated to an onboard (and well-featured) Arpeggiator as well as an Auto-scale function, which makes it easier to compose in different scales if you’re not a music-theory devotee. The FX page is packed with Native Instruments’ own effects, including: bit crusher, flanger, and chorus to name a few. These effects work well to polish the final sounds to perfection.

Give my creation life! The FX page is one of the simplest to work with. All effects are shown on the FX page, and you only have to turn on the power switch for the effect you want to use and it’s ready to go. The effects

thick, warm sound of the analogue filters is genuine.

Conclusion Epica Bass never left me wanting. I’m very impressed with the layout, the quality of the samples, and the well thought-out programming of the

Alternatives Other bass-specific instruments include Spectrasonic’s insane Trilian Bass, which comes in at a hefty 40GB. It covers electric basses as well as a host of synth basses, but also costs about twice the price. Vir2’s Basis is a Kontakt library that features lots of electric and synth basses. It comes in at about 7GB, but doesn’t have the level of programming that Epica Bass does… although it’s also only $99.95. And, of course, Native Instruments has several bass libraries, but they are all purchased separately unless you have the dough to drop for Komplete. If you can swing the £89/$138 for Sam Spacey’s Epica Bass, I’d suggest that you do, now, before he realises what he’s done and doubles the price.

presets. I have found use from so many of the presets already that I can imagine using it somewhere on every track. Honestly, I’m finding it hard to find fault in this library at all. If anything, I maybe wish the size of the library was a little smaller, but anyone with a sizable samples drive will never even bat an eyelid. Of course, while this library may not appeal to everyone, I’m pretty much convinced that most electronic-music producers will get quite a bit of use out of this excellent selection.The tweakability and programming options onboard allow you to create anything you want and the presets are so good, you’ll find it difficult not to use them just the way they are. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Fantastic-sounding bass-sample library in Kontakt format + Includes the free Kontakt player + All the samples are meticulously recorded and sound beautiful + Ideal for use in most styles of electronic music + Tons of options for creating your own presets + Start Point Modulation makes the filters sound brilliant - Could be a slightly smaller - Doesn’t write hit singles for you, but will certainly inspire you to write your own This is a fantastic library of bass synths. If you can’t use it in most of your tracks, you’re probably not writing electronic music.

10/10

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MTF Reviews Sonimus Burnley 73, SonEQ Pro and Sweetone

9/10

SONIMUS

Burnley 73, SonEQ Pro and Sweetone There is no such thing as a Holy Grail of EQs, with each one being able to bring something new. Mike Hillier tries out three very different vintage-EQ emulations… Details Manufacturer Sonimus Price Burnley 73 $59, SonEQ $59, Sweetone$32 Web www.sonimus.com Minimum system requirements PC Windows XP, AAX, RTAS or VST host Mac OSX 10.6, AAX, AU, RTAS or VST host

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aving a wide selection of EQs to turn to when it comes to mixing is arguably as important as having a selection of microphones, preamps or compressors. While it may seem like a 3dB shelving boost at 12kHz should sound pretty much the same on any given EQ, in reality, there are dozens of

The first of this trio of EQs is the Burnley 73, a not-so-subtly named emulation of probably the most famous British EQ: the Neve 1073. The emulation models not only the sound of the 1073’s famous EQ section, but also the two input stages, adding an output stage with +16/-24dB of gain available to make up

From the shape of the curve to the harmonic saturation, each EQ has a unique colour small factors which play into the ‘sound’ of an EQ. From the shape of the curve to the subtle harmonic saturation it may add to the signal, each EQ has its own unique colour. When it comes to mixing, having a selection of different colours available can help you to shape the mix as you see fit. In this review, we take a look at three new EQs from Sonimus. Each of these EQs has a unique vintage vibe, capable of bringing its own signature colour to your mix.

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Made in Burnley


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for any level changes brought about by the EQ itself. As has become traditional when modelling classic EQs, the Burnley 73 has attempted to model not only the sonic signature of the Neve, but also its visual aesthetic (although those with a keen eye for vintage accuracy will notice that the Marconi-style knobs have been replace with chicken-head style knobs, which while not quite authentic, are much easier to read at a glance). The dual-concentric knobs for the mid and

low bands have been kept which, while in keeping with the original, are somewhat unwieldy – at least for those of us who like to work fast, without having to spend too long with our hand on the mouse. Sonically, the Burnley 73 is a great tool. The input stages provide options for instant gratification, adding depth and drive to the sound even before we start shaping the tone with the EQ itself. Like a real Neve, the Burnley 73 is incredibly musical, capable of fairly large boosts while maintaining a natural quality to the signal. On vocals in particular, this EQ is a real dream to work with. The high-pass filter and low-end shelf enable you to bring warmth and body to a performance without any muddiness. The high shelf adds a shine to proceedings, but it’s the single parametric mid band which can really bring things together, whether that is cutting out a little nasal quality in the upper mids, or bringing out the chest cavity in the lower mids. This band is so useful, in fact, that we think it’s a shame that the 1073 gets all the attention compared to the more versatile Neve 1084. And in the world of digital, why not have the best of both?

Sonimus Burnley 73, SonEQ Pro and Sweetone Reviews MTF

The passive tone The SonEQ Pro is the advanced version of a free plug-in, SonEQ, available from the Sonimus website. It is based on classic passive EQs like the Pultec EQP-1A but, unlike the Burnley 73, doesn’t attempt to exactly clone the Pultec, instead taking inspiration from it and other passive EQs to create an all-new and very powerful tone-shaping tool. SonEQ Pro has four bands, with additional sweepable high- and low-pass filters and a variable drive output stage. The low band copies the Pultec trick, with independent boost and cut knobs, enabling you to boost and cut the same frequency simultaneously. The exact

Behind this veneer of apparent simplicity, however, lies a surprisingly useful tone-shaping tool. The high-pass filter is sweepable from 10Hz to 2kHz, while the low-pass filter enables filtering from 22kHz down to 2kHz. Both filters have selectable 6dB/octave or 12dB/octave shapes, but the high-pass filter has an optional Blow mode which adds resonance to the filter. This resonance adds a boost in the low end at the cut-off point, which can be perfect for adding weight to low-end sources while simultaneously cutting any mud from below the cut-off point. This is the same trick we see employed by tools such as the Little Labs Voice Of God.

The Sweetone’s high-pass filter has an optional Blow mode which adds resonance result using this technique will depend if the band is set to ‘shelf’ or ‘bell’, but the principle is that, as the cut and boost have different Q settings, the end result will see either an emphasis or de-emphasis around the cut-off frequency, but the expected result at either side of the cut off. This technique can work wonders on low-frequency signals such as kick drums, toms or bass guitar, adding weight without any ringing or muddiness. The low- and high-mid bands offer only a single gain knob with +/-10dB of control, variable frequency and a switch for narrowing or widening the Q. Finally, the high band is fixed as a shelf with +/-10dB gain at six, eight, 12 or 15kHz. This shelf is one of the standout features of the EQ, producing a silky smooth boost in the top end, which can be great on vocals or guitars for bringing out the air around the signal. It could also be just as at home across an entire mix. The SonEQ Pro is a fantastic EQ, which offers a very different scope of tools to the Burnley 73, and therefore complementing it well.

Leaning this way or that The final EQ available from Sonimus is the Sweetone. This is the cheapest of the three and at first glance seems the simplest, too. It has variable high- and low-pass filters, plus an additional mid-band ‘Tone’ knob, with two modes.

Apart from top-and-tailing the frequency range with the filters, the main focus on the Sweetone is the Tone control. This simple dial has a number of functions, depending on how the two switches around it are set. In Tilux mode, the Tone control acts as a tilt EQ: pushing the high end up and low end down when you dial it clockwise, and the low end up and high end down when you dial it anti-clockwise. The pivot point of this tilt is controlled by the Normal/Sweet switch which, when in Normal position, is centred around 650Hz, while in Sweet, is centred around 2kHz. The Loud mode switches the tone control from a tilt to a pair of shelves. This time, dialling the control up will add both high and low end, creating a quick ‘smile curve’, while Alternatively The Neve 1073 is one of the most sought after, and therefore most frequently emulated EQs in the audio world. UAD owners have the legacy 1073 as well as a new version with Unison technology for Apollo owners. Waves, too, has a couple of EQs based on the Neve, the most obvious being the Scheps 73, based on Andrew Scheps’ own hardware unit. Similarly passive EQ emulations are quite common, with UAD again having one of the better Pultec emulations available. Softube have an emulation of Tube-Tech EQs, which are hardware EQs themselves based on the Pultec designs. Tilt EQs are not as common. One of our favourites until now has been Softube’s emulation of the Tonelux Tilt, which has similar features to the Sweetone, but without the option of switching the pivot frequency of the tilt, or the resonant high-pass filter.

Features BURNLEY 73  Neve 1073 emulation  High-pass filter  High- and low-end shelves  Parametric mid-band  Models both Mic and Line inputs SONEQ PRO  Classic passive EQ emulation  High- and low-pass filters  Low-band has independent boost and cut  Two parametric mid bands  High-end shelf SWEETONE  Simple tone control  High- and low-pass filters  Tilt or ‘Loud’ tone control  Resonant high-pass ‘Blow’ switch

dialling it down will cut the top and bottom ends, creating a mid-focused sound. Again, the Normal/Sweet switch changes the behaviour, with Sweet moving the two shelf cut-off points further towards the low and high end. In mixing, this kind of tool can be very useful for quickly altering and placing sounds in the mix. It feels less controlled than a standard parametric, but the ability to quickly get your sounds in the right ballpark cannot be underestimated. We could easily see this being placed early in the mix chain for various instruments, with any specific frequency issues cleaned up by a standard digital EQ, or one of the two other Sonimus EQs. In addition to shaping the tone of the signal, Sweetone has a preamp stage after the EQ, which can be used to further boost or cut the signal by up to +/-10dB. The preamp can be used for simple makeup gain, with no additional colouration, or switched to a more analogue-coloured stage, which can be used to add further colour with some even harmonics. Any one of these three EQs could make a great addition to your studio plug-in collection, but they complement each other well, and provide different functionality which can be brought to bear on different instruments within your mix to produce the right result in the right context. Each is very easy to use, and has its own character. MTF MTF Verdict

BURNLEY 73 + Model of the Neve 1073 SONEQ PRO + Pultec bottom end + Sweet high-end shelf SWEETONE + Quick tone shaping + Switchable resonant high-pass filter BURNLEY 73 - Fiddly skeuomorphic dual-concentric knobs SONEQ PRO - Limited mid-band frequency range SWEETONE - No resonance on the low-pass filter Three great EQs, which between them cover almost all the ground you could need in a mix scenario.

7/10 SONEQ PRO 8/10 SWEETONE 9/10

BURNLEY 73

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MTF ReviewsSplice Sounds

SPLICE

Splice Sounds The days of paying for samples you never use could well be at an end. Hollin Jones explains how Splice Sounds could change your world…

S Details Price $7.99 a month Contact Via website Web www.splice.com

Key Features  Access from

desktop or mobile  Audition any samples for free  700k samples and growing  100 or 300 downloadsper month  Build and share your own Repacks  Downloads appear on your computer  Drag and drop straight to your DAW  Extensive searching capability  Artist-curated collections encode

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plice started life not all that long ago as a web service that allowed users of certain DAWs to upload their raw project data to the cloud and then collaborate with others. Or, store their own work in the cloud so they could open it on any computer to keep working on it. That free service is called Splice Studio, but the company has now created a different kind of service: Splice Sounds. Claiming to be a new approach to buying samples, it’s the kind of thing that has become possible only in the last couple of years with advances in web and mobile technology.

people to pirate sample collections, which is not hugely difficult if you’re determined to do it. This is similar to the challenge faced by the recorded music industry, and Splice’s answer is not unlike the way that Spotify or Apple have responded to people’s changing music-buying habits – not to mention a way to try to discourage piracy.

So what is it?

The idea, in short, is to let people search, audition and buy only what they want. The problem of having to buy a 3GB sample pack to get the 300MB of samples you actually want is a real one, though it’s not really the developers’ fault. The only alternative to selling whole collections is to make a searchable, micro-payment driven online system. That requires a lot of work, but it’s what Splice has done. You pay $7.99 a month, and for that you get 100 download credits, with samples costing one credit each.

Splice Sounds is an online catalogue of royalty-free samples – 700,000 and counting – from some industry-leading figures, companies and artists. Where it differs from conventional sample packs is that it is entirely database-driven yet friendly to use. The developers say that they found people complaining that they would buy a sample pack and end up using only a fairly small percentage of the sounds inside it. The others were effectively useless to them. Worse, frustration with this can lead some


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This limit is to stop people joining for a month and downloading the entire database before cancelling, which wouldn’t be very fair. It will also probably have the effect of making you consider more carefully which sounds you really do want rather than just downloading thousands without thinking. If you do cancel, you keep the samples you have

The idea, in short, is to let people search, audition and buy only what they want already downloaded but lose access to download any new ones. You can also choose to pay $13.99 a month and get 300 samples, though it’s not currently possible to pay extra if you want to go beyond this in any given month.

The details In order to download sounds, you have to install a small application, and this is the same one that is used for syncing DAW project data, though the two tasks are separate things. A folder is created on your computer where downloaded

Splice Sounds Reviews MTF

The web interface is slick and userfriendly, making the search process within Splice a pleasure

files are stored, and you can audition and search them here, as well as revealing them in the file system. Files can be dragged from the Splice app straight into your DAW. You are encouraged to manage sounds in your online account via a browser and it’s possible to create ‘Repacks’, which are essentially collections of sounds that you can manage manually: electro kicks, piano loops and so on. This works well, though collections don’t seem to sync to your computer, so they’re easier to manage online. The samples are downloaded when clicked, but any Repacks that you create online aren’t

can be explored, each one curated and themed, and with a full demo track playable by clicking on it. From here, or from within a pack, you can filter down still further by selecting or deselecting tags at the top of the section. As well as the obvious tags, you get stuff such as one shots and loops, and the ability to filter by BPM or key. This all works extremely quickly and makes a lot of sense, which is vital if you’re going to base your system on searching for specific sounds. The tagging seems thorough and the loading fast. This all works from mobile devices, too, and since you’re signed into your account,

The samples are excellent, as you’d expect with partners like Loopmasters and Prime Loops mirrored as named folders on your computer, which would be a nice addition. Repacks can be shared online with other users, a bit like curating a playlist for Spotify, and Splice has some artists already doing this. The process of searching for samples is really slick and benefits from a web interface that’s very responsive, laid out clearly and easy to use. At the top level, you have multiple search options and you can search everything using keywords, or filter down by categories such as drums, percussion, pads and so on. Then there are genre-based categories: dubstep, house, techno and the like. Click into any of these and a selection of packs Alternatives The alternative is what’s always been there, which is to buy conventional sample packs. There’s nothing wrong with that, and some people may prefer it. You often get multiformat samples for example, with ReFill, REX and ACID versions of the same sounds, which you don’t yet get with Splice. You also get immediate access to everything you have bought, with no download limit. The two have fundamental differences of approach, however, so they’re not directly comparable.

stuff that you buy or organise on the move will be reflected on your studio machine as well. For any individual sound, you get a preview button to play it, and triggering a sound will cause any other playing sample to stop, which is really helpful in saving time and confusion. You can flag samples, download them directly and add them to a Repack by using a shortcut or dragging and dropping. Selecting more than one sample illuminates a ‘download all selected’ type of button, and there’s also a randomizer sort button that will show you a random selection of sounds if you like. The computer arrow keys can be used to move up and down sample lists and preview them automatically, which again will save you a huge amount of mouse clicking.

Sounds good The samples are excellent, as you’d expect with partners like Loopmasters and Prime Loops providing a good chunk of the very varied and large library. The difference here is that you’re much more likely to be able to find the

stuff you want, and find it quickly, than if you were having to plough through hundreds of sub-folders on your computer. In the same way that you might not bother buying an album if it needed shipping from overseas, you would be much more likely to listen to it on Spotify. In the digital era, convenience is king and this applies just as much to music producers as to regular consumers. Splice Sounds is a great idea and genuinely solves what has become a significant problem with the sheer number of sample collections on the market. Namely, how can you be sure you will use even half the sounds you’re paying for? Piracy is an issue, too, and just like with online music streaming services and things such as Netflix, content providers are increasingly moving towards a subscription-foraccess model. It’s happening in the music tech world, too – look at EastWest’s Composer Cloud, SONAR’s subscription model and other developers such as Adobe’s Creative Cloud. And people seem to be open to this approach, as long as the subscription price is reasonable and there are no penalties for cancellation. In the case of Splice Sounds, the pricing tiers seem very sensible when you consider the range of sounds on offer and the quality of the user experience. Expect to see more music technology go down this path. For now, Splice is leading the way for sample users. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Excellent way to pay for just the samples you need + No wastage + Very well designed + Extremely slick and responsive + Enables work across devices + Easy to search + Tagging is great + Keep the samples you download + Library expanding constantly + Can curate collections online + Great variety and quality of samples and loops from some big names + Priced sensibly - WAV format-only at present - 300 downloads per month is the current limit - Repacks don’t sync to your computer

This could be the future of buying and using samples. Smooth and easy to use, with an ever-expanding selection of sounds.

9/10

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MTF Reviews Native Instruments Una Corda

Excellence

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

Una Corda Alex Holmes checks out a veratile sampled-piano instrument from Native Instruments that will add the ethereal to your material… Details Price £129 Contact via website Web www.nativeinstruments.com System Requirements Mac OS X 10.9 to 10.11, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB RAM Windows 7, 8, or 10 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit), Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2, 4 GB RAM Free Kontakt 5 Player or Kontakt 5 (version 5.5.1 or higher)

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iano instruments are like drum samples for the modern producer; you’ll likely have more than you need of various styles, sizes and quality that you’ve collected over the years. Una Corda from Native Instruments is a little different, though, and offers up a deeply sampled version of a unique piano, hand-built by David Klavins in collaboration with composer Nils Frahm. It only has one string per note, which gives a much purer sound than the usual three strings found on your average piano, and allows the user to easily slot in different prepared materials to dampen and affect the way the hammers hit the strings.

Be prepared

Features  Prepared piano

instrument for Kontakt 5 and Kontakt 5 Player  10GB of audio  Three Kontakt Instruments, with 100 snapshot presets  Clean, plus felt and cotton preparations  Deeply sampled from a one-of-a-kind handcrafted instrument

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The technical side of this massive 10GB Kontakt Instrument has been put together by Uli Baronowsky and Galaxy Instruments, who are also responsible for The Giant, and Definitive Piano Collection for Kontakt. The one-of-akind original instrument was recorded using an array of mics and kit in Saal 3 at the Funkhaus in Berlin, a famous old broadcast studio in East Germany. You get three different Kontakt patches with the pure piano sound, a prepared piano with felt between the hammer and string, and one with cotton, plus 100 incredibly varied snapshot presets saved across all three versions. Essentially, the pure sound is closest to a normal piano, with a more resonant and clean tone; the felt has a more gentle, electric piano-esque sound with softer attack; and the cotton is more percussive, with hints of harpsichord.


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Where things get really interesting is in the huge tweakability afforded by the Kontakt GUI. There’s a basic front page with tone, dynamics and space, and three more for deeper sound design.

More than meets the eye The first page is the Workbench, which allows you to sculpt the primary characteristics of the instrument. Here you can add harmonics, reverse samples, control the tonal depth, and add a second fabric to the prepared piano sound. You can also choose from a long list of ambient background noise, dial in mechanical and pedal noise, and even add in the sounds of the pianist moving and breathing. These interesting textures can even be brought to the forefront by removing the main piano sound. Next, you have the Response section where you can control how the instrument responds with controls for dynamics and overtones, and finally, you have the Finish section. It’s here that the sound-design opportunities really open up, as you can choose from a large number of vintage-effects-chain and convolution reverbs. You can give the instrument a shimmering electric piano or toy-speaker effect, then feed it through simple reverbs or complex, swirling space convolutions to create some incredibly deep, pad-like tones. You’ll also find controls for EQ, compression and saturation, transients and stereo image. It’s the more ethereal textures where Una Corda really shines. There’s a richness and depth to the instrument that sounds infinitely beautiful and cinematic. The flexibility of the GUI and excellent convolution

Alternatives If prepared pianos are your thing, then you could check out the IRCAM Prepared Piano from UVI ($399), which is more expensive, but has 45 different preparations. Alternatively, there’s VSL Prepared Piano (€65) at a much cheaper price, but neither has the deep, ethereal quality of Una Corda.

options make this a great sound-design tool for soundtracking.

Strike a chord Una Corda is more expensive than NI’s other piano instruments, but it’s also more versatile. It’s been created with love and attention, and the results are often breathtaking. This is an inspiring instrument that oozes class and with very few tweaks can be morphed from a gentle, upfront piano, to a swirling, dissonant and clunking beast. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Incredibly rich and beautiful sound + Surprisingly versatile sound sculpting + Well-thought-out GUI with deep-but-easy editing - More expensive than NI’s other piano instruments - Not always completely obvious what certain parameters are doing to the sound Effortlessly atmospheric and beautiful prepared piano instrument. It’s not cheap, but there’s a surprising amount of sound sculpting possibilities buried under the lid.

10/10

Novation/Blocs Wave iOS Reviews MTF

NOVATION/BLOCS

Innovation

Wave iOS

Wave hello to a new kid on the iOS music-making Bloc. Andy Jones ponders whether Novation’s new Blocs brand could usher in a fresh era of composition for Apple-based music producers… Details Kit Blocs Wave iOS Manufacturer Novation Price £3.99/$4.99 Distributor Novation/Blocs Contact via website Web www.blocs.cc/ blocswave

Key Features  iPhone and iPad

ideas/composer  8 sound combinations  includes 6 sound packs (300 sounds)  12 additional sound packs available (more to come)  uses 3D Touch on iPhone 6s  Real-time tempo and pitch change  Low-latency recording  Import and export audio via Mail, AudioCopy, AudioShare

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ovation seems to be doing its utmost to surprise us these days. When we expect one thing to come along, we get another. Circuit was a Groovebox for the 21st century. I said a Groovebox for the 21st century , for pity’s sake. Who thought we needed one of those 12 months ago? Turns out we did, and it’s bloody amazing. Now we have Blocs, a completely new brand and its first product: Blocs Wave for iOS. It’s an arranger/composer app, of sorts. It’s not quite what I thought it could be at first. Nor is it quite what I wanted it to be five minutes after that. But an hour into playing with it, it turns out to be something I didn’t know I wanted it to be, but now do want it to be! Just like Circuit then. Typical Novation. Or Blocs. Whatever!

On your starting Blocs We would dearly love something like Ableton Live for the iPad and initially, I thought that Blocs Wave might well be just that. But while it’s not, it does have elements of Ableton’s finest DAW that make it quite beautiful and usable in its own right. So Live is what Blocs Wave isn’t (yet) but what it is is an arrangement tool, and an ideas cruncher. You start with someone else’s ideas, 300 of them across six sound packs, for hip hop,

house, indie, dark trap and more, and you arrange whichever ones you fancy into eight ‘blocks’ to come up with your own tunes. So far, so sample arranger, but fortunately, there’s a bit more to it than that. And potentially a lot more… So each one of Wave’s sounds will play in time and in pitch with another one, so everything will sound great when combined – indie with trap, house with hip hop and so on (okay, it won’t always sound absolutely great, but you know what I mean). So, if nothing else, we have a great way of mixing musical ideas up in a very easy and intuitive way. That’s because arranging sounds is very easy. You use a hexagon-shaped grid (the Discover tab) with your six song elements – bass, drums, melodic, percussion, vocal and FX – and you use it to fill the eight slots in your main song/project. You can then audition each sound from the six sound packs in the next two tabs, either by sound-pack type (genre) or sound type. Press Auto, and ideas are randomly placed together. You can easily ditch a sound by replacing it with another (or undoing in case you make a mistake), plus easily mute and unmute tracks by swiping up and down. The programmers have thought this through; the swiping and touch are so well implemented, you don’t realise you’re doing it after a while, as it becomes so second-nature.

However, as easy as it all is to arrange, of course we all know that the real beauty and joy of composition is crossing the line from messing with someone else’s ideas to creating something that you can truly call your own. Fortunately, the wave editor makes this part a reality, as does some pretty impressive pitch-and-time adjusting, where you simply select your key, or plus and minus your tempo value to adjust. Both approaches work very well, particularly the tempo. But wave editing is Blocs Wave’s real strength, and utilises all that iOS touch power for ease. Open a sample, shorten it, increase and decrease volume – it’s all possible, and everything you do just fits with what you already have. And while editing audio is the best feature, the most important one is the ability to import your own audio and export what you come up with. Now this is key, because I like Blocs Wave and I want to work with it, but with more of my stuff . I want it to connect up with my Dropbox (Drop Blocs?) and to batch-add a load of my loops. (Since this review Blocs has improved the file management system in this regard). Maybe I’ll also want Blocs Wave to chain to the outputs of Logic and Live and for all of my ideas to flow into Blocs, so I can experiment with them on the move? So, clearly, I want some things that it doesn’t do… yet. But this early days and I think the important part is done – the editing, the ease-of-use, the real-time pitch and tempo stuff – and the fact that I’m even thinking ahead to future versions means Novation/Blocs has done this well. Indeed the company seems to be heaping loads into Blocs as we speak with real-time recording now an option and improved importing and exporting making it an even more vital app. MTF MTF Verdict

+ Easy. You don’t need instructions + Good range of sound packs + Like the newsfeed that offers more of them (for free!) + Can import and export audio + Great touch design and workflow + Mix trap with hip hop - Mix trap with hip hop! - A bit dark Blocs Wave could be what we’ve been waiting for and, at present, is a great ideas-mangling app. Loads of potential, get your loops in!

8/10

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MTF Reviews Spitfire HZ2 Los Angeles, HZ3 London Soloists

Excellence

SPITFIRE AUDIO

HZ2 Los Angeles HZ3 London Soloists Details Product HZ2 Los Angeles, HZ3 London Soloists Price £239 each Contact via website Web www. spitfireaudio.com

Features HZ2  Jason Bonham

on unique Vistalite kit  3 LA recording locations  Grammy Award-winning engineers  Numerous mic positions  Kickstart engine

HZ3  Frank Ricotti on

percussion  Recorded at AIR Sudios, London  Grammy/ Oscar-winning engineers  Several mic positions  Numerous articulations

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In conjunction with Spitfire Audio, Hans Zimmer and his engineering team have produced two more cinematic percussion libraries to complete the HZ trilogy. Keith Gemmell gets under their skin…

A

while back we reviewed HZ1, a truly epic percussion library collaboration from Hans Zimmer and Spitfire Audio. It featured four percussionists and was recorded at London’s AIR Studios. We now have two follow-up libraries – HZ2 and HZ3 – produced by Hans himself

the form of some modular-synth drum programming. HZ3 is an expansion of the first library; a collection of Hybrid Cinematic Widescreen percussion recorded, like the first library, in London’s AIR Studios, and performed by renowned percussionist Frank Ricotti.

HZ2 features John Bonham, and HZ3 is performed by percussionist Frank Ricotti and the same team of engineers that worked on the original. HZ2 features Jason Bonham, recorded at three different Los Angeles locations – 20th Century’s Newman Stage, the Sony Stage and The Cathedral, a large concrete space on Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions lot. Hans has also contributed extra material himself, in


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Battery power Looking at HZ2 first, at the top tier we have two main folders, a Stereo Mix and an Artist Elements section, each containing three folders for each engineer’s specific take on Jason’s unique Vistalite kit. The engineers are Alan Meyerson, Geoff Foster and Steve Lipson. Inside those, there are three more folders for each of the locations

previously mentioned. And within each of those is a full performance kit with basic GM mapping and four folders containing patches for cymbals, kicks, snares and toms – quite an arsenal. As expected, it’s a superb-sounding kit and you can adjust its sound using close, overhead and room mics, plus a special gated room mic. There’s also a Beatmapping Spitfire now features a new type of interface for percussive instruments and libraries. In HZ2, there are three ‘takes’ on Jason Bonham’s kit, one by Alan Meyerson, one by Geoff Foster and a third stereo mix. All the kit pieces are displayed in the centre and, using a panel to the right, you can configure them individually and map them to a MIDI controller.

Spitfire HZ2 Los Angeles, HZ3 London Soloists Reviews MTF

Soundarticulation After rummaging around in HZ2, we found a bonus folder with bass drum, toms and surdos, seen here. Note the detailed articulation (highlighted within the red triangle).

stereo mix. There are plenty of controls, filters and so on, many of which are similar to HZ1, so if you own that library you will feel pretty much at home here. Our only grumble is with the GUI – tiny black text on a grey background is tricky to read in places. The performance kits are superb and instantly useable as everyday ‘go to’

Familiar look and feel The HZ3 (solo instruments) GUI is very similar to that of HZ1 (ensembles). An overview panel provides a quick and easy way to load articulations, mic mixes and a set of ‘easy tweak’ controls.

them, as soon as you see the pictures that are displayed in the GUI, everything makes sense and it soon becomes obvious how and when to use them. Mics are mostly close, front and surround perspectives, each with a very distinctive sound. If you need more, there’s that Additional Mics folder. Articulations are many. For example, the

If you want the real thing, both of these beautifully recorded libraries will serve you well rock drum kits. However, you can go much deeper than this by loading the individual kit pieces to further tailor the sounds to your own requirements. A snare patch, for example, provides a selection of sticks, bamboo sticks and mallets, all with snare on or off. Zimmer’s synth-drum patches are a real treat: powerful and dangerous sounding and bearing no resemblance to the tacky ‘syn drums’ of the 80s. There’s plenty of variety here: anything from dry up-close hits to big roomy cinematic thunderclaps, all very exciting and immaculately recorded.

Percussive Paradise Recorded on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean to HZ2, London Solos (HZ3) is an expanded selection of the solo content found in HZ1, which was mainly an ensembles library. It’s structurally similar to HZ2, with two top-tier folders – Artists Elements and Additional Mics. Apart from the Bucket and Snare, the instruments might be unfamiliar, with names like, Djun, Tombek and Dohl. If you don’t know

Dohl has Both Sticks, Top and Bottom Sticks, Both Hands and Top and Bottom Hands, all laid out in an intuitive fashion on the keyboard, making it enjoyable to play. Again, like the Jason Bonham library, there’s a wealth of controls. As expected, there’s plenty of leap-out-of-your-cinema-seat material on offer here, but it’s not all blood and thunder. There’s a good deal of quieter, more delicate, detailed percussion to be found if you root around a bit.

Teamwork Both of these libraries have been beautifully recorded and immaculately produced and offer a huge array of

Alternatives There are so many percussion and drum libraries out there that choosing a good alternative can become quite confusing. For creating epic cinematic percussion, Native Instrument’s Damage is a good choice. Drums Of War from Cinesamples has been used in many a blockbuster, as has True Strike from ProjectSAM. If you want some of the work done for you, NI’s Action Strikes has many designed rhythm sets, making it easy to drum up a thunderous cinematic atmosphere.

Deeper editing A deeper HZ3 general controls panel allows tweaking of the general settings, round robins, pitch options, velocity workings and so on.

drum hits and sound-shaping possibilities. Hans Zimmer, as we all know, is primarily an Oscar-winning composer of countless films but he also has lots of engineering experience behind him. Over the years, he has developed a truly unique approach to cinematic sound production that has been widely imitated. What you get here, though, isn’t a copy. It’s a recreation. He has used the same team of engineers and performers that were responsible for many of his film soundtracks, and even used many of the same recording locations. So, if you want the real thing, these two libraries will serve you well. MTF

Do you really need this? One good reason for buying HZ3 is that it complements HZ1 perfectly. It features solo instruments as opposed to the ensembles found in HZ1. They have the same GUI and scripting and even share the same manual. HZ2, being kit-based is a different prospect and most musicians and producers reading this will have at least one sampled kit at their disposal. That said, Jason Bonham’s kit has been so well recorded and immaculately produced that we’re fairly confident that if you buy HZ2, it may well become your favourite virtual drum kit.

MTF Verdict

+ Great engineering + Great sound + Outstanding drum kit (HZ2) - GUI has tiny text - Online manuals only These two libraries are both outstanding, each in its own way. Jason Bonham’s kit has been recorded as a cinematic product, but it also makes for an excellent standalone virtual drum kit. Veteran percussionist Frank Ricotti’s skilful performances have been beautifully captured by an award-winning team of engineers, including Hans himself. First-class material all round.

10/10

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MTF Mini Reviews

L.A. Beats Price £18

Drum Tools 02

Contact [email protected]

Publisher Wave Alchemy

Webwww.modeaudio.com

Price

Publisher Mode Audio

Key Features  4,025 24-bit

£49.95


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.A. Beats is a crunchy new collection from Mode Audio that features resonant analogue-synth riffs and skewed, chunky beats from 70 to 86BPM. The bulk of the pack includes 156 loops covering drums, hats, percussion and fills, synth bass, glistening arps and leads, jazzy organ and keys chords, guitar licks, and vinyl noise beds. It’s an eclectic mix of hip-hop and trap sounds, with an energetic and loose feel. In addition, there’s a folder of tail samples that can be used with their corresponding loops, or as samples in their own right. There are also 139 MIDI files that offer a great way to use some of that live feel with your own instrument sounds, and a decent folder of 88 beefy, saturated drum, percussion and FX hits. MTF

Web www.loopmasters.com

Key Features  613MB of

24-bit audio  Hip-hop and trap inspired samples  156 drum, bass, synth, keys, guitar and FX loops  139 MIDI loop files  88 chunky drum, percussion and FX loops

MTF Verdict

Despite some occasionally heavy-handed production finish, this is a versatile and characterful collection of loose-sounding loops and hits.

8/10

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rum Tools 02 from Wave Alchemy has been two years in the making, and contains 4,025 individually processed drum hits. A range of drum machines, analogue synths, Foley recordings and acoustic sources were used for the sounds, which were then processed through boutique outboard gear. Many of the hits were recorded through an Ampex 1/2-inch tape machine, and 12-inch vinyl for added warmth. Luckily, this large collection has been sensibly organised into 36 kits, plus 43 instruments for different kicks, claps, hats, percussions and other hit types. Everything here has a vibrancy, punch and loudness that will cut through a mix like a

Lost In Time Dub House

Undercover Funk Vol 2

Publisher Loopmasters


Price £29.95

Price



Web

www.loopmasters.com

Web

Key Features

L

ost In Time Dub House sees producers Ralph Lawson and Carl Finlow delve into their collection of vintage gear for an effects-heavy journey through atmospheric house. The pack contains around 777MB-worth of 24-bit audio in a range of formats, including tubby analogue bass sounds, echoing synth stabs, and some retro-sounding, if slightly lacklustre, drum loops. Although the quality of the synth sounds is excellent, it feels like a missed opportunity not to have the loops a little longer, with more evolving modulations and effects. Where this pack really shines is in the 81 sampler patches, with plenty of well-crafted analogue-sounding synth and bass instruments, plus a handful of drum and FX hits. If you explore, there are some 120 | Ableton Live 2016/17

 Atmospheric

housedrums, bass, synths & FX  777MB-worth of 24-bit audio  81 sampler patches for EXS24, HALion,Kontakt, NN-XT, Kong, SFZ  98 to 130bpm Recorded and processedusing vintage gear

fantastic sounds tucked away here, it’s just a shame the drums don’t quite rise to the same standard. MTF MTF Verdict

Plenty of superb-sounding, dubbed-out analogue synth riffs and hits, plus some slightly average authentic vintage drum loops.

8/10

FOCUS

Excellence

analogue and Foley drum hits  79 instruments for EXS24, Kontakt, NN-XT, HALion, SFZ  Ableton Live 9 Pack  Processed, Tape & Vinyl versions  Perfect for techno, EDM, d’n’b, dubstep, deep house, trap, electronica

knife. There’s also a sensible mixture of solid, dependable sounds, and more experimental hits for added variety. MTF MTF Verdict

A phenomenal collection of vibrant and powerful drum hits that should be an essential purchase for anyone looking for cutting-edge, mix-ready drum sounds for electronic music.

10/10

£29.95 Key Features  25 funk/soul

www.loopmasters.com

construction kits  361 loops, over 1GB-worth of 24-bit audio  80 to 140 bpm  WAV and Rex2 or Apple Loops and Rex2  Live drums, guitar, bass, keys and more

U

ndercover Funk Volume 2 is a collection of royalty-free funk construction kits, in your choice or WAV and Rex2 or Apple Loops and Rex2 formats. There are 25 kits in total, in a range of tempos and keys, with an overall sound akin to a Steven Soderbergh heist-film soundtrack. From laid-back 80bpm soul grooves, to faster 140bpm bank-job funk, each folder is packed with individual instrument loops, plus files with all the musical elements combined, but no drums. There are often several variations on the beats, and main instrument parts, making it easy to build up more comprehensive arrangements. You can expect to find thumping drums, live funk bass, and reverb-drenched wah guitars, plus

plenty of Rhodes, pianos, organs, percussion and more – plus an extra folder of processed beats. MTF MTF Verdict

Expertly written, played, recorded and mixed construction kits, which would be a superb resource for producers and media composers looking to funk things up.

9/10

Mini Reviews MTF

iRig Keys Mini

Record Label Marketing

Manufacturer IK Multimedia Price €97.59 Contact Web

Manufacturer Focal Press

via website

Price £34.99

www.ikmultimedia.com

Contact via website

I

Rig Keys Mini boasts being one of the most portable keyboards on the market. It certainly feels that way – lightweight, cheap even – but it is incredibly simple to use and plug ’n’ play (almost). We had to set its MIDI channel to get it up and running (quite easy via the website instructions) and then we had it triggering Gadget and Arturia’s iMini in no time. And it’s surprising how much we actually used it – as good as the iPad is at playing music, sometimes you do want the feedback from a proper keyboard, while playing it. While this is obviously not full sized and a little too plastic-y, it does a reasonable job and also ships with a bundle of freebies that includes iOS, Mac and PC piano and SampleTank software. MTF

Web

www.routledge.com

I

Key Features  25-key

velocity-sensitive mini-keyboard  iOS, Android, Mac & PC (cables inc)  Size (mm): 301 x 120 x 40  Weight(g): 420  Volume/data knob and octave keys included

MTF Verdict

Feels a little cheap, but does the job and comes with a good bundle of software – a nice mobile add-on.

8/10

t’s the third edition of a book that probably needs to be updated yearly (monthly if possible), as this is a subject area that moves so fast that it must be hard for labels to pin down and follow. It has to be said, though, this book does its best… but the fact that it weighs in at 470-odd pages shows there is no clear way to make money from your music today. Subjects such as running a label, branding, radio and social media are covered in great depth, but syncing for film and TV is not – which is a shame, as it’s surely one potential growing source of income for any label. It also has a US-centricity which may not help our European audience. MTF

Blue Mo-Fi Manufacturer Blue Price £274 Contact

via website

Web http://blue-headphones.com

W

e picked the Mo-Fi headphones as one of our ‘six products of NAMM that you may have missed’. If we’re honest, we based that on their looks and ground-up design. For the former, you can’t blame us as they look great, but for the latter, Blue has taken the headphone concept and turned it on its head – rather like it attempted to do with the microphone. The Mo-Fi headphones have been designed with maximum comfort in mind, and an audiophile experience helped by an onboard amp, which Blue says is doing to headphones what active monitors did to studio speakers. Quite a claim… The headphones themselves are relatively heavy compared to some we’ve looked at of late, but they fit incredibly well around your head. You might not think so at first, as they’re

Key Features  Built-in

‘audiophile’ amp  12-hour battery life (4-hour charge)  Three analogue amp modes  50mm, fibrereinforced dynamic driver  Over-ear design for isolation  Multi-jointed headband design  Imp: 42 ohms  Multi-jointed headband design  Frequency response: 15Hz-20kHz  Weight: 466g

quite compact when you remove them from their box. However, the headband extends from a compact, sprung storage position outwards, and if this wasn’t enough, both phones extend downwards, too. This is the clever bit; rather than notching them down as you possibly would with some headphones (always hit and miss, at best), you gently pull the ’phones away from you and they drop. Very cool, but hard to get across without seeing it in action!

Key Features  Chapters on label

operations, record label finances, social media, radio  471 pages  Written by Amy Macy, Clyde Rolston, Paul Allen and Tom Hutchison

MTF Verdict

A fast-moving subject that will inevitably quickly fall foul of time and some detail is missing on potential revenue streams, but otherwise great depth, and a glimmer of hope for musicians and labels in search of cash.

7/10

Sound-wise, these are right up there with our reference ATs and they translated a mix we were working on very well indeed – all of the detail we expected was there. They can be loud with the amp on and this tends to crank the bass, but they are always comfortable – the extra weight not being an issue – and noise isolation is very good. Small niggles: the amp switch crackles a little, the short cable is very short (you get a longer one, too) and you will need to charge for four hours (for active mode). But none of these are massive no-nos, especially given the great all round sound vs. comfort vs. noise isolation. Pricey? Yes, but do we have to say again about spending money on what you’re listening to your music with? Thought not. So we may have picked Mo-Fi out as one of our ‘NAMM Six’ based on their looks, but their performance is right up there with the design. Great cans. MTF MTF Verdict

Look and sound great, but the onboard amp and unique design set Mo-Fi apart from most of the rest.

9/10

FOCUS


MTF Mini Reviews

Ultimate Logic Pro Super Pack Publisher Niche Audio

Key Features

Price £79.95

 8 packs of

(requires Logic X 10.2.1+)

production-ready cross-genre kits  Formatted for Logic X  76 Projects, 29 channel strips, 347 EXS patches  1,936 24bit/44.1kHz samples  Includes oneshots, plus riffs and MIDI files

Contact [email protected] Web www.loopmasters.com/

labels/71-Niche-Audio

E

ight of Niche Audio’s production-ready dance-music kits are now available in a bumper collection, formatted for Logic X with 76 projects, 29 channel strips, and 347 EXS patches. This includes sounds, native Logic processing, and MIDI riffs from Bass House and Garage, Dub & Reggae, Future House, Naked Techno & Sublime Techno, plus crunchy processed drums from Planet 808 and Planet 909, and effected vocal one-shots from Vital Vocals. They form a useful tool for electronic-music producers, and offer decent MIDI patterns to edit and make your own, while the analogue techno

Lynx Kinetic Drum & Bass

stabs and hits are particularly tasty. The content is spread across multiple packs, so you may wish to re-organise it to make browsing the EXS instruments easier. MTF MTF Verdict

£200 worth of superb dance-music drum hits, basses, stabs and FX for £80. You can’t argue with that!

9/10


Key Features

Price £24.95

 624MB-worth of

24-bit audio  207 loops, 228 one-shots in Wav, Apple Loops, Live Pack or ReFill formats  56 patches for Kontakt, EXS24, NN-XT, HALion, SFZ  Bass, drums, percussion, FX and music loops  Written and produced by Lynx

Contact [email protected] Web www.loopmasters.com

H

ospital Records’ artist Lynx returns to Loopmasters for another high-octane d’n’b pack full of speaker-destroying basses, breaks and old-school inspired music loops, with a total of 207 loops, 228 one-shots, and 56 sampler patches. It’s clear from the off that basslines and drums are Lynx’s forte as the heavy, throbbing bass riffs are some of the best we’ve heard for some time. The drums, too, are expertly programmed with a good balance between originality and simplicity to make sure they work on the dancefloor. There are also some good, atmospheric music, FX and percussion loops, although these can’t quite match the quality of the drums and bass. Finally, you’ll

find a collection of raw drum hits, bass and sub instruments, FX and music hits to round things off. MTF MT Verdict

Some phenomenal, energeticsounding bass and drum loops, backed up with a reasonable collection of music and FX riffs and one-shots.

8/10

u-he Diva Explained

StereoSavage

Publisher Groove 3

Price £59.95

Price $15 for one-month

Contact via website

Publisher Plugin Boutique

streaming access to whole site ($25 download)

Key Features u-he Diva  16 chapters, two hours, nine minutes run time  Stream online  Covers all areas of the synth, plus sound-design tips  Presented by Sami Rabia

Web www.groove3.com

T


Web www.pluginboutique.com

 Tutorial on

Contact via website

his new tutorial from Groove 3 and synth specialist Sami Rabia aims to uncover all areas of u-he’s analogue-modelled instrument across 16 videos totalling just over two hours. Rabia begins with two in-depth chapters covering all the different oscillator and filter models, before moving on to the envelopes and LFOs. We then have a further six chapters on elements such as Trimmers, play modes, the Effects section, Modulation Sources and the Modifications Tab. Rabia then rounds things up with several videos looking at building pads, basses, leads, FX and arpeggiated sounds. Although earlier sections are more aimed at explaining the various parameters

Key Features  AU, VST, AAX

and functions, everything is still tied into how it sounds with good audio examples. The final chapters showcase some excellent sound design, using fairly advanced modulation techniques. MTF MTF Verdict

A deep but easy-to-follow tutorial, with good audio examples, which left us feeling inspired to explore Diva further.

9/10

FOCUS

S

tereoSavage is a new effect from Plugin Boutique that combines multiple techniques and tools in a single plug-in. You can place sounds in the stereo field using the Width, Pan and Rotation controls, retain a solid, mono low end with the Bass Bypass dials, and control the phase and L/R of the signal via the Input Routing section. There’s also an Effect section that includes an excellent Vox pitched chorus-style effect, a Haas Delay effect, and an Expander that uses early reflections to add depth. To top things off, there’s a crisp goniometer and input/output meters, plus an LFO with six shapes, sync, speed and phase controls, which can be used to control an array of different parameters for subtle movement and more wild effects. The only

Excellence

Stereo control plug-in  Control stereo width and pan  Three effects for generating width from mono sources  Syncable LFO with multiple destinations  Bass Bypass feature to aid mono compatibility

thing missing is a mono output button to test the mono compatibility of your settings. MTF MTF Verdict

An incredibly useful tool that combines multiple stereo effects into one concise toolbox. A quick-and-easy plug-in for adding beautifully subtle or more extreme depth to your tracks.

10/10

Mini Reviews MTF

TrainYourEars EQ Edition 2.0

Sinister Strings

Publisher TrainYourEars

Publisher Big Fish Audio

Price €89

Price £46.95

Contact via website

Contact Time+Space 01837 55200

Webwww.trainyourears.com

Key Features  Ear-training

software for PC and Mac  Select from audio files, audio input or white/pink noise  Loads WAV, AIFF, MP3, OGG and M4A files  Easy to use layout with 13 EQ exercises  Program your own advanced listening lessons or import new ones

T

rainYourEars aims to speed up your learning process by presenting you with hundreds of EQ choices in a quiz format. You can choose to load in audio files in a variety of formats, use a live input for connecting to iTunes, internet radio or other players, or simply use white or pink noise as the source. You then choose from 13 different exercises, including things like picking out specific frequencies and Q factors, and distinguishing between shelfs and cuts. You can also design your own complex exercises, with an additional set available for free. It’s not cheap, but it’s slick and easy to use, and we found our scores improving after just 15 minutes. MTF

MTF Verdict

A simple but highly effective way to improve your EQ skills, with well-thought-out exercises that mirror production decisions encountered in the real world.

9/10

Web www.timespace.com

VIBES Vol. 1 Soul Trax

Chilled Trap


Price £34.95

Price £34.95




 Sinister-sounding

live strings library  Over 650MB of 24-bit audio  318 files WAV files  Eight patches for Kontakt (four articulation patches, four slide patches)  Violin, Viola, Cello and Ensemble performances

MTF Verdict

Clunky Kontakt interface aside, this is a well-recorded collection, which would form a useful tool for film and media composers looking to add some tense sounds.

8/10


Key Features


S

oul Trax is the first in a new series from Loopmasters and features 20 construction kits inspired by labels like Motown, Tamla Records and Gordy Records, and by artists such as Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and the Commodores. Each of the kits contains a number of eight-bar drum, bass, guitar and instrument loops, including welcome variations to aid in arrangement. The piano, keys, organ and horn parts work well to fill out the tracks, but it’s the drums, bass, shakers and guitars that are the real highlight, with some great, energetic riffs perfect for pop productions. Production is cleaner sounding than a classic Motown record, but the kits are authentically written and carry a solid, feel-good vibe. MTF

Key Features

S

inister Strings from Big Fish Audio is a collection of creepy-sounding string effects with violin, viola, cello, and ensemble samples. There’s around 650MB of audio, including raspy sustained notes, sustained notes with subtle bends and various slides, all with and without tremolo. On top of the WAV version, there’s also a package with eight patches for Kontakt to aid with previewing and editing the sounds; we found the Kontakt interface to be a little clunky, as it involves a lot of different pages just to edit the effects sends and the individual effects. Not massive or especially broad, but a useful asset for adding an unnerving element to your productions. MTF

Key Features  1.5GB worth of

24-bit audio  WAV and Rex2, or Apple Loops and Rex2 format  346 loops of live drum, bass, guitar piano, keys and more  90 to 165BPM  Inspired by classic Motown and artists such as Diana Ross and the Commodores

MTF Verdict

A well produced,recorded and laid-out selection of soul and funk construction kits, which is packed with feel-good riffs and some excellent acoustic drum loops.

8/10

C

hilled Trap is a new pack from Loopmasters that takes aim at the more ambient and downtempo side of trap music as opposed to the heavier, in-your-face variety. It’s essentially 10 construction kits containing 274 24-bit loops, but is divided into folders for instruments rather than kits, which arguably encourages more experimentation. You’ll find fragile pianos, chirping vocal glitches, deep pads and sweeping synths alongside booming 808 subs and tight-sounding drums with plenty of rolling hi-hat patterns. Everything is well programmed, with some intricate little riffs and fills, and the production finish is simple and clean. Although the drum, percussion and bass loops don’t really push any boundaries, the music loops folder is packed

 Chilled-out trap

drum, bass and synth loops  274 WAV or Apple Loops  302 Rex2 Loops  Over 800MB of 24-bit audio  130 to 140BPM

with plenty of inspiring riffs, with several musically useful variations on each idea played out on different sounds and synths. MTF MTF Verdict

Most of the pack is relatively simple, but some detailed production flourishes and excellent synth riffs make it well worth a look for anyone producing chilled-out trap or downtempo electronica.

7/10

FOCUS


MTF Mini Reviews

Icicle

Key Features  Drum ’n’ bass

synthesis, mixing and arrangement tips  Three hours of streamingvideo  Uses Ableton Live, Fab Filter plug-ins, and NI FM8 and Massive  Includes 9 Live projects and 100MB of d’n’b samples  Written and presented by Icicle

Publisher Producertech Price £29.95 Contact viawebsite Web www.producertech.com

D

rum ’n’ bass production wizard Icicle has teamed up with Producertech for a tip-filled three-hour course on modern d’n’b production techniques. The tutorial is available to stream from the Producertech website and is divided into 16 chapters covering synthesising and processing drums, creating and resampling complex bass sounds, bussing and mixing techniques, and adding effects and automation. Icicle mostly uses Ableton Live, but also explores the Fab Filter plug-ins and NI’s FM8 and Massive, with some great tips on FM synthesis. You also get nine Live projects, plus a varied and decent 100MB folder of samples taken from Icicle’s Loopmasters pack. The quality of the video and

spoken audio could be a bit better, but this is an excellent tutorial for anyone looking to learn d’n’b techniques from a pro. MTF MTF Verdict

Some great synthesis and production techniques from a d’n’b master who’s not afraid to explain how to break the rules to get a big, modern sound.

8/10

Deep Analog Tech

Terry Grant Dark Dub Odyssey

Key Features  2.31GB of

24-bit audio  Over 500 loops in WAV, Apple Loops and REX2 format  80, 100 and 120BPM  Live bass guitar, drums, pianos,synth bass and pads  Produced by Terry Grant

Publisher Loopmasters Price £34.95 Contact [email protected] Web www.loopmasters.com

L

ong-time Loopmasters collaborator Terry Grant is back with a massive collection of cinematic soundscapes and dubbed-out beats. Dark Dub Odyssey has over 2GB worth of loops divided into 80, 100 and 120BPM, with your choice of WAV and REX, and Apple Loops and REX formats. You’ll find a mixture of live dub bass guitar, reverby pianos, and acoustic drums and percussion, alongside fat analogue bass riffs, electronic beats, and 206 atmospheric, ethereal pad loops. The sound design is excellent and there are some decent loops spread across this giant library. However, the

drawn-out pads are a little samey and we found some drums and sounds to be a little dated. That said, some of these textures could work really well in media projects and ambient productions. MTF MTF Verdict

Despite some of the loops sounding a little dated, this is a large collection with some deep and atmospheric sound design.

8/10

PanShaper Developer Cableguys Price €34


Contact Via website

Price £29.95

Web www.cableguys.com

Contact [email protected] Key Features


 847MB of 24-bit

S

ometimes a pack will tell you it’s been made on analogue hardware, but you struggle to hear it in the loops. However, Deep Analog Tech from Loopmasters wears its analogue heart on its sleeve, with a rich and varied collection of gritty loops and hits dripping with raw energy. Inspired by the Kompakt label and artists such as Gui Boratto and Agoria, sounds were created using a Roland Juno-60, MS-20 Mini, Roland RE-201 Space Echo, Elektron Analog Rytm and Korg Volca Keys. You’ll find folders of twisted arps, throbbing basses, haunting chord progressions and beats and percussion, crunchy drum hits, weird FX, and fat bass and synth hits. Although this pack is aimed squarely at tech


Excellence

loops and hits  Arps, bass, chords, drums and percussion  Recorded with a range of analogue hardware  123 sampler patches for NN-XT, Kontakt, EXS24 and SFZ  Inspired by the Kompakt label

house, there’s plenty of sonic variety and the quality is exceptional throughout. MTF MTF Verdict

A stunning pack of rich and characterful analogue loops and sounds with interesting quirks and details in every folder.

10/10

FOCUS

P

anShaper is a new plug-in from Cableguys that combines elements of its free PanCake plug-in with features from the useful VolumeShaper 4. PanShaper is a three-band stereo modulation effect that allows you to draw or load in complex pan position curves for each band, along with width and volume controls, and LFO control of the overall speed. The LFO can run freely, or sync to tempo or input MIDI for some crazy audio-range FX. An excellent GUI means it’s easy to see the waveform position and edit nodes to build complex sweeping patterns, and there are also plenty of presets to try out. We found it excellent for pinpointing and panning specific drum hits in a loop, adding subtle movement to arps and pads, and for pseudowidening without phase issues. MTF

Key Features  Multiband

stereo modulation plug-in  VST and AU  Independent curves for all three bands  LFO with tempo sync and Hz-viaMIDI mode  Comprehensive preset library and curves

MTF Verdict

A great value plug-in that’s easy to use, with a clear GUI and some decent presets. PanShaper is a useful tool for controlling your stereo width in new, creative ways.

9/10

Mini Reviews MTF

Aiaiai Modeselektor Edition

Teeel Presents Retro Wave

Manufacturer Aiaiai Price


€250

Contact

Price

Aiaiai via website

W

Price

R

Key Features  High isolation  Modeselektor

carry pouch  Impedance: 32ohms  Weight: 238g  1.2m cable and adaptor

recommend buying anything just for a cool aesthetic, we are tempted by these anyway. MTF MTF Verdict

Not for accurate mixing (nor do they claim to be), but these have a great low n loud sound.

8/10

Web

T

8/10

Price

Key Features  Instrumental hip

hop loops and hits  12 construction kits from 78 to 123bpm  816MB worth of 24-bit audio, Wav, Apples Loops, Live Pack, ReFill, Rex2  12 sampler instrumentsfor EXS24, Kontakt, NN-XT, HALion, Kong and SFZ  Produced by Chemo

£29.95

Contact Web

via website

rust the Americans to make such a great job of writing a book about the golden age of UK studios. We’re somewhat annoyed that no one asked us, as we seem to have visited just about every one (of those left). There’s a lot of detail – technical, floorplans, etc – on each, with more space dedicated to those you might expect (Abbey Road, Olympic, Trident, AIR, etc). We love the depth, with personnel lists, stories, gear lists (yes!), diagrams and even acoustic treatment details. There are photos, of course, and details of the famous recordings. We’d have loved local favourite Real World to have had a

€£$


Hal Leonard Books

www.halleonardbooks.com

Value

[email protected]

www.loopmasters.com

I

Key Features  Details on at

least 30 studios  In-depth on 12  Includes tech glossary  Layouts, gear lists,quotes,loads of additional info!

chapter, and it’s depressing that so many are now not with us, but the effort and research that went into this is extraordinary. An excellent geek and gear-fest of a read. MTF MTF Verdict

It’s a book that will become one of the most used in the MusicTech library. An excellent and thorough read.

10/10

loops and hits  1.3GB+ of 24-bit audio  137 sampler patches for EXS24, Kontakt, NN-XT, Kong, HALion and SFZ  80-160bpm  Produced by Jim Smith, aka Teeel

etro Wave sees producer Jim Smith (aka Teeel) delve into his large collection of analogue drum machines, including instruments from Roland, Simmons and LinnDrum, sounding bass, synth, drum and fx plus Yamaha DX7, Yamaha CSX1, hits and there are also 18 synth Roland HS-60, Moog Sub Phatty and pad MIDI loops.MTF and Little Phatty synths to create a large library of dreamwave and MTF Verdict synthwave samples. There’s more A massive pack of simple but than 1.1GB of unison bass loops, authentic-sounding analogue analogue drums and bright synth and digital loops and hits that lines inspired by artists such as would be a great resource for Kavinsky, Mitch Murder and anyone writing in electro, synthwave, synth pop and Chromatics. Although the patterns other genres. are fairly simple, the sounds are thick with analogue goodness. You get a huge collection of vintage-

Hip Hop Shadows Vol1

$29.99

Contact

[email protected]

Web: w ww.loopmasters.com

The Great Excellence British Recording Studios Publisher

£24.95

Contact

Web: http://aiaiai.dk

e love Aiaia headphones, particularly the straight TMA-2 Studio model. The modular nature of these allows other phones of different configurations to be produced, and there are now artist editions available. As fans of uber producers Modeselektor, we like the look of this limited edition model, complete with MS logo on the earpiece as shown. They are out-and-out bass headphones, so loud and proud to be bottomheavy – don’t expect great and accurate mixing, but for listening back to your work or indeed the ’Selektor, these are choice headphones. While we don’t

Key Features  Synthwave

nstrumental hip hop master Chemo has teamed up with Loopmasters for a fresh collection of organic-sounding loops and hits, inspired by pioneering artists such as J Dilla and Flying Lotus. The pack features 12 construction kits of unquantised, live sampled drums; wonky bells; pianos and synths; warm, rounded live basses and more. The tracks themselves are atmospheric, beautiful and steeped in nostalgia, and everything has a loose feel with plenty of glorious little mistakes and human touches. Most of the loops are 8 or so bars long with little variations at the end, and are gently layered with sounds to add detail. You’ll also find 12 sampler

patches with instrument and drum hits taken from the pack so you can build your own beats or experiment with adding in little quirky hits to your tracks. MTF MTF Verdict

A compact but beautifully crafted pack that’s stuffed with character and a human, organic feel that would be great for adding life to hip hop or any other genre.

9/10

FOCUS




8 WAYS TO MASTER A TRACK

Par t

5

It’s the final part of our ‘produce a track from start to finish’ feature and it’s the big one: how to give your final mix the pro sheen it deserves…

reference material you are trying to put it against and to perhaps sound like (in terms of its sonic character, anyway). If, during this process, you notice some glaring things wrong with the mix, then you’ll need to go back into the mix and process it again (or return it to whoever did it). Hopefully, this is something that can easily be done, either by you or the original mix engineer – so that you can consider the whole rather than having problems with the parts get in your way…

01

02 Don’t be afraid not to do it

01 Zoom out

In the mixing process, you will be considering the detail: the levels, the effects, the EQ, plus perhaps some automation, including fades and other parameters. With mixing, then, you are very much looking ‘inside’ at every aspect you can. With mastering, you need to forget that and step back, zoom out, rise above it, look down and consider everything as a large picture with everything you were working on in the mix all joined up as one whole. You need to consider the track – a stereo mix (usually!) – as a single entity and now start to think about it in the context of other tracks on an album or 126 | Ableton Live 2016/17

FOCUS

1. Trouble with your output file? You’ll need to go back into the mix, so sort all of these problems out before mastering and consider the bigger picture 2. Research expert mastering services like Abbey Road and Metropolis, where a named engineer can master your music… for a fee. But do learn the process yourself, as well 3. Mastering software like IZotope’s Ozone 7 can make the process easier, but don’t use presets just to do the job quickly. Explore and expand…

And this leads nicely on to our next point, especially, if you have mixed your own music. You might be just like us and want to handle every single aspect of music production yourself (yes, making music does turn you into a control freak, we know!), but don’t be frightened to let someone else master your mixes. There are many online companies that offer very reasonably priced mastering services for as little as £50 a track. Obviously, these do vary in terms of quality – although we’ve been impressed with a couple of very cheap ones that we’ve tested (see www.musictech.net for more), but you could consider a ‘named’ service like Metropolis or even Abbey Road where you can pretty much guarantee a good job if you have more budget (£110 per track for a named engineer). So why pay someone else to do it? Two main reasons: the first is that you are paying for experience. We know for a fact – because we’ve interviewed them all – that the mastering engineers at Metropolis, as just one example, have had their ears around just about every single piece of music you can imagine (and several you can’t). So no matter


02

04

what you throw at them, they will have someone on their team who can handle it. Secondly, simply having another set of fresh ears listen to your music and can offer a new perspective. This should always be encouraged (at any step of the production process, actually). By the way, don’t consider this point as us telling you not to give mastering a go. We would encourage you to learn the craft and to work with others doing it. Get to a point where you can master another person’s mix and they master yours. Fresh perspectives all round!

you’re new to mastering, by all means use a mix of both methods; check what the presets are offering, listen to what they do and how they do it, and experiment. Can you make the presets sound better? Of course you can – just like preset sounds on a synth! 04 The actual processes are…

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4. The processes you need include compression, EQ and limiting. The smile EQ is a commonly used EQ shape 5. Limiting will help you boost your levels, but don’t make mastering all about loud. That’s a war you don’t want to be in… 03 Don’t follow a preset path

Now we can’t prove this, but there’s every chance that a less reputable mastering engineer could just charge you to whack your mix through a set of preset EQ, limiting and other process presets, depending on your music’s style (or even not!). And you know what, this might just work! Indeed, many of the specialist mastering plug-ins we’ve reviewed have similar presets, where they’ll ‘suggest’ a signal path with certain parameter values for certain styles of music. And they often do result in a better-sounding master. But while this can be a good way to go as a first stab at mastering, we think that the best way to master is to treat each track on its own merits – or lack of them – and not just according to a genre it is supposed to be from. On a broader level, you could probably get away with applying a very slight ‘smile’ EQ curve to any track to give it a bit of welly at the top and bottom and then add some width – this could also be a good start. Or you could listen well, decide what you think it needs and then do it. If

Here are some typical mastering processes to consider, all detailed more at www.musictech.net. Compression does what it says – you’ll create a more even mix with louder quiet bits and fewer deafening louder parts. Think about that song which brings loads of instrumentation in after a quiet interval without you having to reach for the volume control – it’s compression in action. It smooths out a mix, and multiband compressors allow you to smooth out certain parts of a mix. With EQ, it’s more about a general look at the overall picture, where high end will add fizz and low end cuts will reduce some sub rumble. And the final general process is limiting, which brings us to… 05 Don’t make it all

about the volume Volume! Or rather, limiting your volume. Don’t let volume take over in any sense. By this, we mean

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you reference other tracks that you’ve mastered that will be appearing on the same EP or album. You need all the tracks within a body of work to gel together, rather than having them sound as though they were recorded, mixed and mastered by different artists and engineers. It’s bad enough playing tunes on Shuffle from your iPod and hearing the volume levels jump from decade to decade – you really don’t want that happening on an album! 07 Go easy

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don’t master to make your tunes louder, and while you’re at it, don’t listen to extreme points of view in the loudness wars, either. On a (perhaps too) simplistic level, mastering is about making your music carry more of an impact. This doesn’t mean making it louder, although we do advocate brick-wall limiting at the end of the process to add a small amount of level and to control the peaks of a mix.

6. You should reference your music against your own tracks, and those of other musicians 7. Additional mastering processes include M/S or Mid/Side processing and stereo widening. As ever, go easy on these… 8. And reference again. Did we mentionreferencing?

08 And finally… reference again

You’ve referenced the track you are mastering against other people’s music; you’ve also referenced it against your own music that will be appearing on the same album, so now it’s time to reference it against itself. Yes, at every stage, do reference what you are doing against the unmastered version you started with, to make sure that you’re going in the right direction. If you want to get really anal about it, make and label versions at every step (with different compressors, etc), so that you’re able to reference each step of the process and hear the influence it had on your original mix. Just don’t get too bogged down in it… MTF

06 Reference, reference, reference

Have we said this in other steps of the production process? Yes, we have! But it’s sooooooo important to reference your material with a track that you admire – one that has been mastered to a high standard. Load it into the software you are using to master, or your DAW, and play it side by side with your own material. As with mixing, this may be a little disappointing at first, but as you progress and progress, you will gradually step up level by level towards your reference goal. Similarly, make sure

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Whereas compression, EQ and limiting are the mainstays of mastering, it’s not all about these processes all of the time. There are plenty of other ones to get yourself involved in. Mid/Side processing is where the mix can be broken down into its mid and side areas, which typically allows you to process only those areas with, say, compression, EQ or reverb; stereo widening is just as it says, but is also one that should be considered as a process that is sorted in mixing – you can widen in mastering, and many people do, but be careful. Indeed, that is the message with all mastering processes: go easy. Each is such a subtle process that you might end up being unsubtle with certain aspects just so you can easily hear the results. But some would argue that if you can hear the results too obviously, you’ve overdone things (or have a very bad mix to start with!).

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MTF On Your DVD

ON YOUR FREE DVD

The team behind Ableton is constantly tweaking and improving Live 9, with recent updates adding Link and new slicing, routing and playability features with Push. There’s plenty to get stuck in to, so we’ve put together a wide selection of content to help guide you around Live and give you some inspiration to kick-start your music making. There’s over two hours’ worth of high quality videos, the latest software demos, freeware plug-ins and promotional videos showing off cuttingedge synths, effects and controllers. You’ll also �nd plenty of royalty-free loops, samples and hits to use in your own productions… MTF On the disc

Over 2 Hours of pro video tuition

01 GROOVE 3

Groove 3 has provided six videos including getting started with Drum Racks, separating Rack sounds to different channels, working with multiple samples in Sampler, tuning samples and how to use warping techniques for sound design. www.groove3.com

04 SAMPLES FROM MARS

Here you’ll find a whole bunch of crunchy drum hit samples and multisampled synth instruments from Samples From Mars presented in Ableton Live format, with added saturation from analogue tape and a range of outboard hardware. www.samplesfrommars.com


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02 SUBBASS ACADEMY

SubBass Academy has provided three Live tutorials which look at using sidechain to create smoother transitions in a DJ mix, how to prep tracks and use warp markers for a mix compilation, plus an in-depth look at some of the latest features in Live. www.subbassdj.com

05 LOOPMASTERS SAMPLES

A hand-picked library of royalty-free samples, including Cinematic Indie Rock V2, Drum & Bass Neuro Science, Future Bass, Melodic Tech, Underground Old School House, and Pete & Tim Cullen Grin Recordings. Use the code MUSICTECH10 for an exclusive discount. www.loopmasters.com

03 POINT BLANK MUSIC SCHOOL

A QuickTip on creating automatic track remixes using Follow Actions, an advanced guide to Sampler, a look at new filter types, envelopes and LFOs in Simpler, and Point Blank instructor Freddy Frogs showing how to multi-sample a keyboard. www.pointbanklondon.com

06 MODEAUDIO

A pack of audio/MIDI loops and Massive presets taken from nine of ModeAudio’s latest releases. There’s neon-tinged synths, live percussion, future RnB, hazy hip hop grooves, soundscapes, synth pop and more. Use MUSTECH20 for an exclusive discount. www.modeaudio.com

On Your DVD MTF

MTF Your Disc MTF DVD 44 Ableton Live 2016/17 PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS We’ve got over 750MB of videos showcasing the latest plug-ins and hardware including a huge range of cuttingedge synths and software instruments from Korg, Native Instruments, Novation, Studio Electronics,Teenage Engineering,Toontrack, Zero-G and Wave DNA. You’ll also find high quality controllers, desks, headphones and interfaces from ROLI, Allen & Heath, Focusrite, and AKG, plus top of the range software effects and processors from FabFilter, iZotope, MeldaProduction, Plugin Boutique and Sonnox.

SOFTWARE DEMOS Why not try out the latest plug-ins and software to supplement Live’s native effects. From innovative synths, to complex, modern processors and tools, we’ve rounded up a range of demo and freeware software for you to try out. You’ll find plenty of creative effects, filters, instruments, EQs, distortion and saturation effects, stereo tools, dynamics processors and more to help you compose and fine tune your tracks.

USING OUR WORKSHOPS Whether you’re a seasoned pro or totally new to Live, we’ve got a host of Live workshops to help you improve your programming and mixing skills. Topics include, using aggregate audio devices, creating custom Drum Racks, using Follow Actions, and clip management using Push. Where appropriate you’ll find hi-res images, project files and audio for each of the workshops.

ROYALTY-FREE SAMPLES

Please visit www.musictech.net to download the full list of accompanying workshop files and images.

On the disc

YOUR DVD CONTENT FILES ZIP FILES To maximise the amount of content we can bring you on each DVD, the video, tutorial and samples files are supplied compressed (‘zipped’). Mac users should be able to decompress ZIP files simply by double-clicking on them; PC users may need to download a utility such as WinZip (www.winzip.com). TUTORIAL FILES The software tutorials that feature in each issue of MTF are almost always accompanied by files and audio so you can work through them on your system. These files are zipped to reduce the space they occupy on the DVD.

Download them to your hard drive and unzip them to access the individual files (remembering to eject the DVD to prevent your computer from slowing down).

WHAT IS ROYALTY-FREE? Any MTF DVD content marked ‘royalty-free’ can be used in your own original compositions (even commercial ones). You may not, however, resell these samples in any other form.

We’ve rounded up a top-notch collection of royalty-free samples from Loopmasters, ModeAudio and Samples From Mars for you to use in your tracks. You’ll find a varied array of blistering dnb beats, live percussion grooves, atmospheric ambient drones, chunky hip hop loops, twinkling arps, saturated house drums, and multisampled synth and drum instruments. All files come in 24-bit WAV, MIDI or Live formats and are ready to be imported, chopped and manipulated to your heart’s content.

endeavour to supply you with a replacement disc immediately. Please note that we’re unable to provide technical support for the software on the MTF DVD – please check our website at www.musictech.net for any known problems.

MISSING YOUR DISC? If your disc is missing, contact us at [email protected] with your full postal address and the issue number.

DEFECTIVE DISCS In the unlikely event that your disc is defective, please return it to: Disc Returns, Anthem Publishing, Suite 6, Piccadilly House, London, Bath BA1 6PL. We will

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Music Tech Focus - Ableton Live - 2016-2017.pdf

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