poe Ss = PLUGIN BASICS ad oda i in eight major DAWs 4+ HOURS Ore) VIDEOS RACK BUILDER amazing DIY instruments and effects for Live, Reason & more - all to load or build yourself! FS LAYERING SAMPLES 2CAUDIO KALEIDOSCOPE + 26 ESSENTIALMonster rom the Deep Bazille rises. After lurking in the depths of u-he headquarters for many years, Bazille has finally been released into the world. A modular monster synthesizer combining digital oscillators (rm, phase distortion and fractal resonance) with analogue-type multimode filters that ooze quality. The Multiplex offers ring modulation, amplitude modulation and much more, and there are tons more modulation capabilities: Lros, ramp generators, modulation maps, lag processors, rectifiers, sample & hold, looping envelopes—plus a unique 8-snapshot morphing sequencer. Rounding off the features are four classic effects, including tube distortion and spring reverb. Download now, and start patching: www.u-he.com oo alS ‘While you're a it, check out the award winning Zebra?, Diva, Satin ACE and Ubik too. Same developer same website, same fun factor.COMPUTER ic Wherever youseethis icon, there's downloadable content such as videos, software. sampes and tutorial files See the Contents onthe next page ferhow to download Tutorials featuring ths con make use of ‘our onnem Plugins fd outalabout fremont This leon meansthere are extra tes to help youellew a tutor eature “Therebentra video contant wherever you seethisteon, ‘See andhear the sts oftarain action! ‘Get the vio on your emOVD, te Vault or Youtube.com/computermusicma Ed r vs a www.computermusicco.uk torent 6) anainenekcontconputermuse nog WO ‘computerm wmntnerconfeomputrmuscak Bad wwnwyoutube.com/computermusiemag es 40+ SPREE, t computer music < welcome What selfrespecting computer musician wouldnt want to create their own virtual instruments and effects? The great thing Is, you don't need to be a straggle-bearded, code addled boffin with a doctorate in DSP to do so, as many popular DAWs put all of this right within reach of the creatively-minded producer. All you really need is a bunch of ideas and the know-how to put itall together. Got no know-how? It's OK - weve got the show-how in our gigantic Rack Builder mega-feature, kicking off on p32! And if DIY isn't your bag, we've supplied our finished creations for you to use in your projects, plus 70 pro: quality Live Racks from Rack magnates Puremagnetik If you've only just begun making music on your PC or Mac. though. flip to p63 for our first ever guide to one of nes of computer Music: plugins! What's more. in the accompanying videos, we show you how plugins work in not just one DAW, but eight of the most popular around. Another em first! What else is new? Well, selected reviews now come with snappy new ‘2 minutes with.’ videos so you can see and hear the latest gear in action Phew - all that excitement's tired me out. Until next time. ENJOY THE ISSUE Lee du-Caine Editor Where to getcm PRINT includes Dual-Layer DVD wuvemfavourtemagazinescom NEWSSTAND. {for Pad, Phone & IPod touch _wcornputermusiccoue/ematal ZINIO for PC, Mac, Android, iPad & more www.in.com sOOGLE PLAY for Android & Chrome for PC/Mac RACK BUILDERISSUE 217 JUNE 2015 em/contents COVER FEATURE BUILDER ro ees gol aew ieee ei) Dictea ella \N aed tte ero eee eons caer (1 Vi-pdel1a ks) aa Remetscctse00 4) COMPUTER MUSIC Producer masterclass tL] (=) Comm ced ems ciel - my f « Peace See ren Interview 84 JASON GRAVESDopeVST Bass Engine CM Download and u ult, SS ez h this issue, p10 BCoV [SN NVA} Samples 92__ 2CAUDIO KALEIDOSCOPE ster ESSN eas nO a one in 96__EIOSIS AIREQ PREMIUM 98__LIVIDINSTRUMENTS DS1 101__ OWARE PSPLOTARY xml Tutorial videos iah-qualt pguide r our tutorials. Wherever you see the icon to ay rd elie Uae ULL) the left. there’s a video version to watchl s ; ea) = f Po See a rundown of allthis months videos over the page eestor ate Tutorial files CM Plugins ieee {utof ave examy 1 es p prerct plain pia COMPUTER MUSIC |Sour hours of video included with this is of Duter Music - here's wha have in store this month BUILDER Build all these custom instruments and effects boxes right in your DAW, with our step-by- tutorial videos © eC RCE Ch ery Ableton Live Pere saa) ten cos Peco staat -t-Ie) ] rerio Rete oC tac sorcemet ecE aa eread Pee es | Pete eee Bitwig Studio 5>KickMachinewith Live's == 3 > Constructing the basic PAC ua Instrument Racks & Sampler Neer Sort roy ces Seago) See eon ecu Ronco a ee eed ele et) Pee ore ee costar B >crorandarpcenertr — FL Studio Logic Pro X Pree eis ee et ae Teoma ea) Geenetraty Tested otenparmeer ba riay Pac ecat reer tity eee aa Pee nay hehe ti omen aaacas : eee Lenard eines 6 | COMPUTER MUSICoo Siem ca + a ror aM) Cj = r — Pn ca DOPEVST cata ENGINE CM Cece ty Basar Te) Peet Pee eerie Cea acca PRODUCER MASTERCLASS: Jay LOS sopaboeunat Spanish produ err COMPUTER MUSIC 7cm/video The playlist goes on and on as we continue with a wealth of on tutorials {——s eommauss |e — eet Perea Peers Carlin) eer ees Canis Greentree) TTT Te TTT : eon Eee ee ee ere! een ey eee easy Peeve enna Perce Baer) cem/experts Ua ian) al lola h ake ORGANIC SIX NOVICE CHORDS pT) DETAILS Sr dy Flip chords on their Inve! Ieee gen T AE ieee raiecledl : ee eens eet eng) c f eo noc) Cec rcslt Coos Read the full Cece PCr a} ECTS} Bae 1 article on p82 8 COMPUTER MUSICPioneer Dj ‘40mm HD divers / Crystal clear highs and clean bass / Fully enclosed design for greater sound 5 ese Me eee ee y> download / dopevst ba: >Exclusive full software DopeVST Bass Engine CM eee Inject low-end weight and power into your productions with this hip-hop- inspired bass ROMpler, made from scratch by the folks at DopeVST nC ee ee ccc Ce TLD Pere at a ere ea oe fener seen ce tit ee et Se ret ear ears Coane techn are Mere a et Cy eet eet eer er cet Meee tt eet een Cer en El a ee RS i ee a re eee eee en eee ‘nies theyre paired with sub- exude the cass ana power of Reet mtarnnay rey er eS ce ee) snapply corrected that problem, by and categorised into three Pe ea en En ey een ee am ee ee at ec Te Tea) preret eUeieay Pee me oe ee a ee ee a Tat el ee ee ee ere ere een ee Meee met) ea aa eas Cause notes fo shde a ore ear ee eared aa te pee een KEYBOARD Audition the eon, ee ae eNalelea Coe nea Ce Ta Ce eee ee a ear eee ree ne ae et TessPerret terres Pree eet Preece ey Breese rns tetera ee re ree eet eee aoe ety feet yA Pennetta Terres Perret ee reteen neat Perma cg poeta eee ery pomemer en ieetete Ty poor arcs Dass ENG! download < paar ral Perens Peer ementnts er eerie ad Per seseorrerat nee ren) eee ett Peebretenreeerernentey nce et eae barca meerer etl tease errr erent eres Decree eae ical Poe eee ees eesti eee gee a Peeters) porn etree et Poe ee eee eet te eerie Mono Parrett erent eens eaten ss ener Marie) oreo Ea ete attr eecenenned Rete Peseta Pere neni eel ee reenter ee eee fomaximum. then pute Release back ernest Te erat Preece ney erent rere etd Pee ear eres Beretta errors eee eee ees forint Pen ree ees Cee) cree ree) inte seerenptemnn ecard een ea Perr een ery erent eestor t oy Corer or re aay> download / sar Samples Layering Toolkit == Stack the sound-design odds in your favour by reaching into this huge bag of mix-and-match sonic building blocks ce er Le ee Pere inros oh ae hone rte sounds.Forinstance,insteadof using just out ofthis superb sonic resource, we tur toits Ce Re ere ht tL me ec eee See 156 kick/snare layers Sen Rene crack naa eee Por ar oer eens centre tallofathied,arrivingatsomethingthatsthe CyClick Seated Pee ea eerie. eee ey eee Cer ad ee eer aes Say Coie ter Tees ee ace ‘mean painstaking editing, potential clashes or fered, mashed up. dity,and occasionally lush ey ete eee ere me ea er ence) Peed Cree te a eee ere ea Pert Sa ee ee ee eee ene} Poetry Coreen eee cent Cog eee en ee) Peed Pere tea ea aL eee ees Ares Poe et eee re ee eee ey eR eu aR re ces anes eee rear een er er eee Se a a ee eer et oe EN erence) Dee on Sree eee Sten rata eetienr nsor ey eater rarer Dee eee) fore pre barra te etn ae re eT ‘amps recorded together and mixed through @ eee ees Uy Peete See ners Peer erent ary ne een earn rac area renee rear eaten Pa ea en a acne ne ed eee ire ag Peer ete Ua ee eee crs Pee cere een Seer er ae ere ae eater tad een an ea Pes Peer ee Bo eet eet Geran ay Te eer! Cee eee Toety TOLIVE Racks cena j LAYERING TOOLKIT Pam eSASH Ce ee Se ee eee EQ cut to carve out thespace where your Pere Oe pene De eae ake) then use elther the dirt or the main sound 2s the eee ou reece ae this way one wil push and pullthe other about ee rey een eres heavy-handed with it and relly jam them fo ee ect en chert) pester ele Legs ere ene cole tena eer ern? eee enter tieen eter Seat Mee ae a eee ren) Pee tern ean Siemans) edited from our vast drum hitarchive and were Se eer erty Cae eC er eae Lert cerry See neater) eee eed Strenerenerer ieeae rey Pre ein rest en ee en eres Cee pire aero) Re tee) Cte cn eet eee Tea eee Serio eee tee eee cesar Rete ttn tte ern CO eee ras Pe ee ee Perens atoe samples / download < Selected ia ci HAVING PROBLEMS? Seek tLe neyOur exclusive collection Colm [ai=itgU ancoaltceeinre) effects is included with CCMA RO m@on ev om Music - it's all you need to sr prety make great music now! seer Pgeptiterrsneen retort erties peer Peeters reree at hens Beer iret er eueeny Perera eee oa forusby respected cee es Pe ee ee ecto Papen eaReckon vengeance Beco FREQUENTLY yt) tos) QUESTIONS Pu justtreeware? ee eee opener etn Se ey reece eer Reet eet Wheredoi getemPiugins? roe eens err tone mananta Peni eeree eet eas Sree is Creed amon no See eeeMon ena Peg My cee ed Renee aoa ete Serre enone) Benn RO ee ccd ages ise anicoNer ed ree tuo} Po todos ‘As ol emz03, many em Pres ecm comers eee mi Ponerrreciernen onal rc cee’ povaete ners Cetera ed Pet eran Sone er es Ca eel) Cero Sane Perec Deen IkV331 Audio SynthMaster CM] oT Be ta rane mT Tent ne peta or emer iaaerrs Bre ee Renate Synapse Audio Dune CM] Peseta pr eee nr ae ronan) Soret poe reread Bree rae eros omar etc artim sere peareeere rteeet reer Peers *Suaigntforward preset baseasctup Benoa pr veec etn seater Penney Sch eeeem plugins / download < DOWNLOAD) 2 Pood Boe [a phe rms [Miele perma drome LinPlug Alpha CM] eee ence Sietchorusefiect-Polyprenc aice | SSESEUSETa) Peet areeeeeat eet br error er arenes purser perenne ated Berney bisa se teers Peer ei eed Bien) aie oreal mel Audio Alchemy Player CM] rey re ee Pray eae ren Sree preaches) acuta ine eer Peretti por Brae ererey Petree t ten neers pecereree ee ee em eer Perrier ete eer rte prareeen set pire noei sean ica peaaereeeretind eater error reer ety peer teeter es reer erry Ries ayer ncrey acetate Modulate tone with the LFO ena) Peed ier Seen ey Birr tiomnlpeperenene ty eee arian eecireentconeay ere Reena er) a seep mana Rob Papen RG-Muted CM Ee waen eer ed ceemepeteie parent eaieny ee revexe ley ial r-\e Wali) end Teeter ete reat! nat ae aie art Se Tay Seen aroreny etter ene ent Paes eres Sipser ee rirgeeeeerea ees eee ee tiSe Bread ert nn oes erm Bio eeeese Pec Pouce nl reer Poereeeretecerecnt tert ery Pearse Reino etenremty /AudioThing ValveFilter CM] oer rr Sia er erry renee rey Primers Subsonics Labs Wolfram CM ors Say a Brea Rerstiieen airmen near Display Eury Dutt overiderepest Prone ears Reehicieereneny Sos aes ree pear een eer Bream pert eet nn rer heer Reena Crete aioe prem eetert prea nord vdio Transector CM} rer rere Prrecitanrspere batted rete oeay arrests _ (eee yarn) Tnfiltered AvdIOGS CM rete eeepc tetera) epee meri Reeser arr Reenter ead ree ee Brora focaccia? ioRNet OrumShaper preenreerr o Berean te Perera preeebete rireerciris pioneerGanscxon © DOWNLOAD. PNET FAT-FET ma - (Cableguys Waveshaper CM] amr ive Cat Audio Freqanalyst CM Btravesb rece termnerr rece ry pecans sieperictencccad econ pete em Bree Poser cert aeons ier tetera era cea ‘Based onthe ful Reverberateplugin | wawcablepuysde Sa a cts cece eed ern ail chien a Sirona ory Beebe Bettas nea Taudiffex STA Enhancer CM a Soe rng pee ees Resse nets - = acer eee! fAcon Digital CM Verb] rnreciana Satori oe a ee ea eee rd x CM] Sa ee Ee eae eee eee inne Ca Brea Can} re ere rere Rone en pera res poner Rees ees Peeing Pererersemmcr eit = < Reve peecenerenreri Rop Papen RP-Distort CM] eer CE ey Beene ose ete a ar preter leet erneneemeterr ris Para rN ices aia Rhian erent iene! bit.ly/CMPlugsApri5 een ndLOOPMASTERS GREAT SOUNDS. SERIOUS INSPIRATION. ULTIMATE Loopmasters Ultimate Ableton Racks vol.1 ‘An essential collection of One Shot and Multi samples featuring custom Drum Racks}, Instrument Racks and Effect Racks for Ableton Live 9 Ultimate Loopmasters Ableton Racks features over 1,400 samples taker from some of our most successful Loopmasters collections todate Loaded with presets for Drums, Bass, SFX. Keys, Pads and Leads, the pack contains 101 Live 9 Instrument and Drum Racks suitable for House, Techno, Dubstep flip Hop, Dub and Roggae, EDM, OnB, Trapand more. oe) aN GSA Le FULLINTENTION | MIKEVALE DAY FORMS MUMS aeass au REPUBLIC aus EDGE a eae al PLUGIN Earn 10% virtual cash with every purchase = Tech articles and industry knowledge BOUTIQUE.COM 2Gb+ free sounds and samples Artist sample collections (OWE LOGIN FORALL YOUR PLUCIN NEEDS. Super-fast server and downloads ‘Search by label, genre or format* Producertech Vio tutorials — rom sotware = inoflgence to musc production = 53 Peony techniques and beyond, iss eMac c3 rr in Ableton Live Your ene-sto-shop foal your ‘mus procucton expertise SAAS ILAESSFEUS ier Loopmasters Presents f iWORX SYNTH PATCHES Quality dance patches for producers looking to iihraninecrnpipfvo clin Pepucntinend ‘Sounds and Loops inspired by the o re tg heyday of Ambient & Electronic, npiationa grate, In the early 90's genre-defining artists popular soft synths. suchas Aphex Twin, Global ‘Communication, Speedy J, Future ‘Sound of London, The Orb, Higher Intelligence Agency amongst others gaveusa film score for our life post party. Breaking ground using synths, bacon te tet samplersandeffectsin newand bie tlle exciting ways, this sound was to NS revolutionize electronic music forever. rem ea an TCT as mitt ial pea Maschine and Ableton Uve expansion packs in contemporary styies and genres, mixed and {nginpored wth precision. ‘TECHNO SYNT! i dag ‘Atthe heart of our CEE ‘company is a real love i for making music and ‘our main focus is to inspire and spark new ideas. ni ‘Check out products from (our top labels risk-free. Download our FREE LABEL SAMPLER packs and try them out! Voconnecuosseoeen Ds> News em/news New Apollos and Marshall plugin With the recent release of UAD version. > 8,26 wellasthe expected wave of new plugins, Universal Audio also announced ‘Apollo Expanded’ technology, allowing users of Apoliointerfacesto freely, combine upto four devices to boost thelr setup's DSP and input/output capability. ‘Thismonth, they'verevealed four new reaconstotake advantageot this flexibility afforded tothe Apollo range. Allfour ofthe new additions tothe line include ‘improved A/D and D/A conversion. the abilty torun UAD-2 plugins. natch, and URS Realtime Analog Classes Plus plugin, bundle. So what's new? FromtoptobatomThe Apel 8 Ap ‘An updated version ofthe exstng Apollo ‘Gswapstheunits brushed metalsheen for) connects via Thunderbolt 2, which is Inputs and eight tine inputs, and its $1999. sleek blacklook Itdoeststhing va 16_| backwards-compatible with Thunderbolt The Apollo Bis being released right now, channels of DB25 or AESJEBUinput.and | It set youback $2998, with the other three units folowing itup ina features a UAD2 Quad processing chip. The new Apollo Bgives you four mic and | few months time, four ine inputs, the mis being treated to ‘Aso seeing the light of day isa UAD-2 Unison preamps.ttsavallable witha Duo | plugin emulation of the 1959 Marshall Super ($1999) or Quad ($2499) processor nse. _| Lead guitar amp, the conic nead used by ‘The Apoliop, meanwiile swaps the four | many an Uber famous guitarist. Developed line inputs for adaitional XLRmmicinputs. | by Softube.its the ist ever Marshal: boosting the countot Unison-preampsto | endorsed amp software, anait's been eight I's a Quad DSP unit priced $2999, | captured witha similarly vintage cab, with The Apolo FieWireisthe ‘old, sver- | varlousmictypes and posktonsavallable, all fronted Apolo by adliferentname.witha | recordedin Kore Stuciosin London. tbe Quad processor butno Thunderboltport. | outin May and wil cost S199. This provides four Unisonenablea) mic | (S=EIE TIS fo Bp ond theater Apo PSP MasterQ2 Audioware have released this logic follow-up to their MasterQ plugin, designed as a creative EQ tool for both mixing and masterir Offering seven filters with adjustable tr and Q, MasterQ2 can operate at sample rates ranging from 441 to 192kHz. The display shows the curve and characteristics of each filter, and you a a selection of limiting and ‘soft-clipping’ algorithms. reer PSP describe it as both z on! EO for ee mastering and 3 ‘colour p os design. It's out now for $149 (VST/AL/RTA: Stew 20 / COMPUTER MUSICTrackers & Demoscene It's time to get excited - a hefty chunk of Renoise is coming to your DAW! ‘Thisissue wore allatwitor wth Renoise tantalising new preview video ofthe much-anticipated Redux. Having bretty mentioned Reduxin our Renosie 3 review t seems the team area step closer to ‘making this VSTAU plugin for Windows, OS X and Linux a reality andit’s looking no less than awesome. I'silled asa ‘Sampler and. US a lve una tte ofthe upcomingSyothh2yeth oh minty ' 7 ; (aS San ree XILS-lab miniSyn’X peumaonaranernnciomos ts I Unintuitively, this new instrument is not a ‘Synthex include a BBD chorus and a Glide. q a leimmed-down version of XILS'existing | section.xILShave added what they term“an ( Synthicinstrumet (hich spied by tne iteligent patch creaton systen,and'2 80s Elka Synthexharcwaresynth) outa. | fourpart polysequencer. Phrase Sequencer. but this description imi version ofthe forteoming Synthix2, | _miniSynX comesin VSTAUIAAXIRTAS, barely does itjustie. Containing Renose 3s The plugin combines DcOs with formats ands ut now for €58 Getta tll owerfulsample modulation, theohscool mulimoce naloguetitersand ges you | tealurelistatthelink below. Prose sequencer alo the pret Ds ls twoindependen synth engines to tock as STS whole load more we dorthave space to ‘mention, Redux may well be the pertect way togetthe best features ofthe worlds most powerful tracker straight inside your AudioThing FrostBite sounds, Frostiteis also said tobe sutable favourite DAW. With no fem release date or ‘Thisnew muiteects plugin fom the for extreme sonic experiments", The sal ‘any word yet on pricing watch this space for ‘makers of ValveFilter CM offers Ring chain stlexibie= you can choose from six ‘more info. Inthe meantime, whet your Modulator, Feedback and Freeze modules to possible combinations. appetite at wwwrenoise.com/redur. distort buffer and mess up your audio “The Ring Modulator multiplies your signal signals. Though is primary designedfor witha sine wave and comes with alow- pass DEMOOF THEMONTH ‘tose making ambient and cinematic ‘iter to tame the excessive high frequencies CCoronola by Sti thatthe process creates, while the Feedback ‘There wasno shortage of sterling demo ‘module has delay that can be modulates reases at therecent NVScene 2015, bbyan LFO (adjustable in Rate and Deptn). \demoparty in San Jose, California, butt was The Freeze effect can hold the input for upto Sls winning entry Coronoid. that had us 25 seconds, and can be shaped with Fade Involuntary blasting out Ear Grey atour ‘Outand Highass controls, inadaition to ‘monitors. Caronoidisnt just the usual window siz parameters. Collection of animated nebulous geometry 1s 32/64-bltcompatibieon PC and Mac, ‘one usually finds in demos. OK, so maybe ands offered VST, AU and AAX formats 's. butts achinaly cool, beautifully Implemented, and accompanied by a Cinematic soundtrack that rather than rolling along in the background. takes the Visuals to another level Stil have set the bar extremely high wit this one. Seeit Zynaptiq Morph 2 ‘object." Sounds like a good one for sound at bit.ly/CoronoidStil, This"realtimestructuralaudiomorphing designers and Dis alike! a plugin’ was originally developed by Morph 2s availabe for €199 or as an Prosoniq but s nowin the hands of upgrade for £8. Zynaptig,andits just been updatedto \version 2 (VSTIAUIAAXIRTAS). . Offering five structural audio morphing 1 algorthms (some of which are new for this version the plugin enables you to morph between two input channels or an input and sidechain, There are dual morphing Cireults with a crosstade option and anew formant shite. We're told to think ofits fect asthe sonicequivalent of one object siowy More than st acrossader Morph 2analyes wo changingitsshapetobecomea diferent _inputsignaraamanentranifian between hem Coronal tkesthedemorcenctodzving heights 015 | COMPUTER MUSIC / 21> News Get with the programmers We catch up with the futurist behind one of the most forward-thinking music software companies. (10 Tettus abit about your background in software development and in music. [[5)"thaveno formal education in music ik Composition performance, sound: design, computer science, advanced mathematics, \ DSP, or ether related ascipine. Lam, for the ‘most part, self-taughtin allof these areas. anc mabig believer in self-directed learning. “Musically, ,e done dance music releases ‘on Paul Oakenfold Perfecto label, Cyber Records in Amsterdam (now part of Armada), ‘someUS labels, and 've worked with Sasha ‘on invol2ver and several remixes” 2CAudio - ‘The digial world oters the possibilty Andrew Souter tocreatenew andunheardsoundsand instruments, but emulations remain as Popular astruty innovative plugin. this ‘downto customers, developers or both? 15) Many peopie have given up trying to innovate or develop truly ‘rigialideasin avour of copying the preat minds of yesterday. not 100% sures tends edby customer demand. develope: apathy the hope or quick buck, or something ele. Out ve madea very conscious tforttattemot lead our company ina erent direction” 50] Your new plugin, Kaleidoscope, has a visual method of control ‘Was that always thentention. or diditeomeupin development? [CEs"Thisis erica component of the design of the procuct-in fact the envadea Ive been very invalved inthe whole Visual eonvolof sour paradigm for atleast one arde-half decades now, and belleve theres much more that can be dane with it. Kaleidoscope represents many novel And independent developments inthis led and advances the art many Steps compared tosnything before I's just the ft step, however and ‘wehavernuch more planed fort tsmy gal to makeita historically Important product for sound design and electronic music” (Gill When we spoke to you back in emt42, you mentioned your dream fofhaving a Minority Report-style music-making setup "in the middle ‘fa domed, holographic computational visualisation surface". 50, er how's that coming along? [CS Actualiyits progressing quite impressive 4K cisplayshave become reasonably common; Apple ‘and Dll have released 5’ dsplays ‘we'veeven seen curved displays ‘already froma few companies Allo these things indicate these trends of visual computing will continue toevolve, andin another decade or tw, ‘ur realty wiliook very much ike the science fiction of today” (Cl what's next for2cAudio? (cS eI Co rt tladesapencey naval stag tscwn caret eer rerio sto ne milion nr pegs ee eer ele eee ieee desegm nen otic toma airs Rec ae ee eee ea a EET 22 | COMPUTER MUSIC Kush Audio Electra DSP ‘Anew plugin from the high-end ‘House ot bust; this one's modelled on their own Electr2 500 EQ unit, which costs §400. The Virtualsed version will set you back a fair bitlese at $149. Kush describe tas ‘arguably the punchiest tightest, most vibey EQ to ever Be found in aigtal form: What you get, specitcal, an EQ emulation with nigh and low shelves, a high-pass iter. and two ‘mig-range bands with proportional Q They fe obviously going fr the sound-quality rather than expansive feature sot, and well find out whether they vehi the target in our fertheaming review. If you wantitnow,Electra DSPs available in VSTIAU/AAX formats. Waves Butch Vig Vocals Butch Vigisknown not only for his ‘membership of Garbage and altround production nous, but also forhis {trademark distorted vocal sound It’ this sound that aves say you can recreate with their new Butch Vig Vocals plugin. Created in collaboration with Vig. this offersathree-band EQ, Locut, HiCutand MidDip ters, 2 ‘compressor, ade-esser, and tube and sold state saturation with Locut and HiCut controls and abiend option. It out now in VSTIAUIAAXIRTAS formats fonPCand Mac for $150. EEO Kuassa Cerberus Heres a three-channel bass amp plug from the Indonesian signal hounds, “designedtto providethe warmtn ofa tube amp, othe ‘punch ofa soliestate For theamp. you geta ‘compression module and two EQS (arametic and graphic), andithere’s ‘a choice of cab models and moveable studio mics - youcan set up two such cabjmic pars and mix between them. ‘Theres also agate onboard anda cry/ wet conto! forthe whole plugin, Cerberus is out now asa VSTIAUIAAX plugin and a Reason Rack Extension for $59, EO Sonarworks Reference 3 It you need help with your studio sound) Reference 3offersa step bystep calibration ;rocessto give you after frequency i reponse. Inessence, takes ‘measurements of sound It plays {through your speakers a various points inspace (using a supplied mic) ‘ News em/freeware news Sinevibes Zap \ Musicians and engineers havelong > sought to convert audio signals into lectronic music, employing everything {rom talkboxes and vocodersto elaborate piteh-tracking systems. And why not? Such experiments can provemost Inspirational. Sinevibes’ new Zap isanew ‘Mac AU plugin that uses an envelope follower asameansto control asimple ‘but versatile monophonic synthesiser, ofthe incoming signal and provides controls over the lag time for making the ‘envelope shorter and snappier orslower. The Sensitivity slider adjusts the gain of ‘theincoming audio. AResol function can be used to provid rougher, stepped control signal, wh the Curveslider affects theshape of the envelope. The synthesis sections based on simple sine waves and comes in three flavours: the Pure option produces singlesine. wrile Ringand Phase modulate dual sine waves to create more teresting wavetorms. You control the oscilator frequency and dryiwet balance between the synth and the original signal ‘The sounds range from simple bleeps and loops to ort ltching sounds It works with al sorts of signals buts especially good with percussion tracks wwwsinevib.es Klevgrand Produktion beatassist.eu Amplesound Svep LFOX ‘Ample Guitar M Lite Il Here we hve asupercoot HerebaWhdows-onty Wrist youcannever Imosuisionetectorgmaty | = Syheateet ti ageod pear over ‘ncelvatorostenaret ‘tig osccabitot (tenyeunsed ane? The “ance | aaa vero ein ranger Sinplesndtenatyeonron |) = woote®toyouriacks SSyonanasance rom almost as elas they do toa swipe of the {ingertp Svopisatree VST and AU effect for Mae ‘and Windows, previdingchorusing, phasing and ‘Allofthe most important parametersare ‘manipulated apalt of dials that change shape ‘ssontalyapairofLFO-controled ters Drovldingcontrolover cute andresanance. The {ers themselves are multimode, withhigh-and {uare saw and ramp wavelorme are provided ‘nd you can natch clock teLFOSto yout host's emptor as youll Neat. Imitation. Fortunately we ean get help rom lupins ike AGMLitell.atrea version of sd Windows, tprovider ver BOOMS of acoustic ‘ular samples completewithartcuatonstke ‘seyoutweak wrdevorand.so 5 oewbestasito DlciAmpteculen CLASSIC FREE SOFTWARE MAXIM DIGITAL AUDIO (MDA) VST BUNDLE \VsT:-compatible plugins were only just Pee ee) eer rer ey nearer nr nea eee reper fener renee tren \ST plugins could do, wth acollection that Sere eee pore rear 24 COMPUTER MUSIC | | ON GPL, the bundlehassomething for everyone, There are analogue-style and ee eee errr Perea ea) ee ees CreeWhat’s on your hard drive? Alan Fitzpatrick The innovative techno producer reveals what software he employs to stand out from the crowd PROPELLERHEAD REASONS Without Reason, there wauld be nolan Fitzpatrick musi. Allmy work fr the past ten or more years has been written'on Reason. Most importantly forme. itsounds Greatzbut also ke working wih the display fof the rack -itaddsan extra dimension to the process of writing music on software, SONOS APP. “Sonosis.in my opinion, the best wireless speaker system avaiable, butit'd beuseiess without the superb app that lets you select. ‘music roma ibrary or paired services play ferent tracks from afferent speakers within a network. and changethe volume of ‘each speaker. Very Nandy in the studio RPG-8 MONOPHONIC ARPEGGIATOR “Iwork with Dave Robertson Caka Reset Robob alot in the studio. Te RPG-BArpIS ‘exclusive to Reason and was a game ‘changer for us. used this when writing The Tetra anc Reflections. Like tousethison a 116 rate on random to generate my patterns and jump between the octaves. PROPELLERHEAD FIGURE “Figure isaminidrum machine ana synth rolled into one. Its capabie of programming ‘rhythms, range, pitch, tone, scale of steps, volume, and FX When Im playing around, | lke tomake oldschool aca house patterns, but given how fexble tne software's, may try to writes full track on the app one day” ‘SCREAM 4DISTORTIONUNIT “W's great for adding texture toa sound, and fount realy helpful with my remixot DDubspeeka thats coming auton Sasha's Last Night On Earth abel really wanted to Wve thebassa itleextra crt, and tis unit aida greatjob.itcealy ils the mix nicely. errr ery ra ee ene te kmusic.com| fier COMPUTER ic ISSUEZI7 JUNE 201 eS, anPa) concepts Original sin Don't be too precious about your music and its originality, says our Features Editor, as he wades into an ongoing debate Joe Rossitter emisFeatures Editor's seasoned expert inallaspectsot track creation, from workflow management and kekstarting creativity on throughto advanced sound design, mixingand ‘mastering When Joe'snot putting his considerable sis to goodusecratting tutorials for em he'shard at work with Dn trio Chromatie, producing, playing ‘outand polishing up tunesfor such key labels a Playaz and innerground wwwilacebook.com/chromaticuk “Music has always creatively borrowed from here and there” Sample racket ‘More and more sample collectionshit the digital shelves each month, and while ‘they're practicaly without exception royalty-free, thelrusecancome with a ‘on forums forcreatinga handfulof remixes using construction kits from Zero-G's Disco Gold pack, while seemingly denying that hhe's used samples tall infact his comments were inreferenceto his ater 26 | COMPUTER MUSIC >> Inlastmonti's creative Concept. discussed one of my tactics tor kickstarting arrangement ideas: when struggling tolay outatrack, ti draga ‘ommercialrelease into the project and shamelessly mimicits structure. After all,my ‘own parts will sound totally diferent to the “copied” record, and this method usualy leads tonew exploration that'd never think ofwhen faced with ablankscreen. Infact, the actof slavish imitation can actually bea €atalyst for your originality and creativity. Colncidentay,justas last months Computer ‘Music wentoff to press a certain legal verdict hitthe headlines: Marvin Gaye’ family have been awarded over $7 milion from Phare aligns, Robin Thicke and TL aftr claiming that the rio plaglarised (though didnt actualy sample) Gaye's 977 Got To Giveit Up to create ther recent hit Blurred Lines. Blurry lines hough there ae broad smarts between tho wo records ust Googierttohear for Yoursei the consensus seems tobe tat, nile Vins and Thicke obviously toks large sce tfinspration rom Got T Give Up the punishment doesn hecrime fit eanbe Geserived aa sical crime atl storia tsi ava creatively bored rn here andere or contained nodsandreferencesto brevious more, and musics development over the centres na rele fo some extent on hs lot Lennon famous ruse encept om the nursery myme Tree Bina ice nseveral Betletrachs Eis, The Bea Boys Queen, Beyonce Radiohead ndLady Gogo have sh borrowed fm famous Cassia pieces, Hell ten Garoque composer ike Bach were tamoustor reworking bath thir onmand other composers Wes backin theday a0 springboard tofurther her erat Creat cout releases); EDM Swede Steve Angello was taken totask for basing generic dancefloor hitknasaroundone Vengeance bass loop: ‘and the ionic sound of Pharrell: previous production outfit The Neptunes can be {attributed to presets from the Korg Triton. Inan ideal world, tWiove tocreate my ‘own bespoke sample collections from scratch instead of using ready-made ‘Soundsets. But with cmdeadlinesever- looming and plenty of music to finish, ‘exist without he copying and reworking of what hhas gone before - a premise explored inthe Insightful documentary Everything isa Remix GoitiyRemixFiim) - and think theresalotto tessa Tor exreatna mimicking oreven sampling other people's music. This could simply bean exereise in figuring out exactly ‘what makes a song tick For example. I've tried te recreate many tracks in tek entirety ~notto ‘steaf their ideas for my owncreations, butso| candissect exactly how many elements are ‘sed, how the chords interact withthe arums, now the mix works in both stereo and mono, and soon Try picking apart your favourite recordsand making'cover versions’ f standout ‘nes, and I guarantee you'l pick up some useful knowledge along the way. Use it or lose it ‘Nternatively, why not do the unthinkable and integrate musical ideas from othersinto your ‘nn tracks? s sampling aportionof another record and usingitin your musicso abhorrent? ‘Apopular sample or recognisable chord progression can reignite imerestin the original artis, and ths sort of creative repurposing i a Cornerstone of genres ike hip-hop and DnB. Of ours, If you wish to release your music, then. ‘you ought to seek clearance and permission for {any such samples, but dot let that stop you {rom experimenting inthe privacy of your own, studio -finda starting point an take things ‘down your own creative path, Plenty of genresalso reuse recognisable ©: mmusciansto takea peekat their to20Mb broadband ‘peas fre-optie set stor giving wandering ‘Wreaepactage ‘rosa desl sound engineers afast way to adjust their digital mixers at itmay also bearice title ‘control surfaceforasynthesiser ‘or Kaossiatortype app - is Dressure sensitive after al David Wain Ea Call roe and speak to’ UK based impartial expert simplify digital? Sera, erCOMPUTER MUSIC Subscribe and save CHOOSE YOUR PACKAGE ead DIGITAL fey 7 as Say ONLY £32.49 jj ONLY £12.99 eet ee Og ce ue ay Peano) Wate tate ene rie ee cur uni PTO Seu ecu aay Expert video for every tutorial eee age eae Tree eee ON CU SOUL Liao Premee tc T isVlosie ollelgcns PRINT + DIGITAL Eve RT Telefe Tey i ss iis reer eet) = Lae Ee kU ae og Pe eee) Pertinent a Pree Ee ad RACK CTD yey fades Sees Sry esd Reng Pre eR) Sree ket Cea Td Tea eunut (a) Cr eeromr an ag Clee cn rtig eg PR tie! UI aes 4.0-+ SRA Rua alg Ie Ae Ee Tateacia ==" ONLY £38.99 Instant digital eae en eee er enero ene eee te peer emnicnieerroneer er repartee ity EM ed tlya poet bree ain magazines myfavouritemagazi uk/CMUs. TEI 08.44 848 2852 oiease quoie PRINTS, DIGITALIS, BUNDLED Cor ae)MUSIC IS OUR PASSION>make music now / rz 32 COMPUTER MUSIC1 make music now < RACK BUILDER Its acinch to build your own - we'll show you how to snap the bits and creative tools DOWNLOAD pieces together, one at a time Too! like Ableton Live's Racks, Logi’ Smart > controls and Reason’s Combinatorsiet you Connect plugins and utities together into ‘maramoth singular instrument and effects devices, also known a5 racks At rst lance, that might seem like somathing we already da - using effects chains, routing tricks andutlties toGet creative, musical resuits but what takes the ack concept to the nextlevelisit unity. What's in a rack? Instead of merely stringing devices together, when you put several processors or instruments together as one'insidea container, they can become far more than the sum of thelr parts Taking advantage ofthe features ofeach DAW's racksystem, you can route, duplicate, combine land contol the devices inside the container at wil effectively creating your own pluginto carryout tasks unique to your music. ‘rack can be saved and recalled asa preset You could building up a custom library of your ‘most used processing techniques distiled into Feadyto-ock units. Or how about multilayered instruments that route your favourite syaths, samplers and whatever else through thelr own parallel effects chains? I.gets even better, as a pane! of macro controls can be linked to multiple parameters on the plugin arack contains, letting you affect ‘more than one parameter using ust one master contro. Map @ macro upto apysical controler and you get hands-on control over as many plugin contreisas youltke at once - perfect for live performance. "Macro controls have benefits for automation ‘ties too. Instead of programming separate ‘automation data fr several diferent controls, ‘you can write and read an automation lane for ‘one macro, and all your devices within the rack ‘ill folow witht Build them up ‘With allthis power at your disposal itbe fools nattorackikuplAnatnats where we Comeln, Over the next 20 tutorials and videos ‘were going to put you through areck-bulaing Bootcamp. showing you ow to createa satot ool and iriguing devices -stlke 3 Leg0 instruction booklet but for your DAW. DAW rack systems are not born equal however,andsome go rather deeper than others. The dber-popular Ableton Live Is arguably the rack-daddy,and we've devoted good-sized chunk of our tutorials tot, but we'd Strongly encourage you to check outa our tutorials and videos no matter what DAW you use, as many of our racks are easly adaptable to other software. Indeed, many are based around twled and-tue production techniques that work Just as well without racks. not as conveniently Nt into DIY? Ifyou don’ want to get your hands ditty building devices from serach, you can stiluse all the awesome instruments and effects we've crafted for his feature. Headto the ‘Tutorial Files» Rack Builder folder to find them, and reer to your DAW's manual fr tu installation instructions. Logic users take note Yyou'thave tocopy the Retrolserst ile to ‘{Home}/Library/Application Support/Logle/ ‘Channel Strip Settings/(Channel Strip Type). Then headtoachanne!stripin Logic Pro. open the Settings drop-down menu from ts top.and youll see it inthe menu, ‘Got allthat? Lets ack’ roll. f COMPUTER MUSIC | 33>make music now / rack builder Ableton Live Racks ‘The modular world of Ableton Live's Racks provides a framewarktforereating custom Instrument and effect combinations, using both Live's excellent native plugins and ‘your on favourite thie party processor, ‘within a single bracketed ‘shell: Think of ‘each toolin your plugin list as a separate bulldng block: once several ae untied ‘within a Rack, they forman entirely new device, is inner workings hidden under 3 ‘doceptivoly simple interface. ‘Were going to buld nine hugely useful machines outof Ableton plugins and even, ‘other racks, with each element providing ‘unctonalty Impossible with single devices ‘alone. You can download al the finished > facksby bulinga sino Dive fiteretfect Load cpa on anew 24d track, head to Audio eMects in Lives Browser anddtopanen Audio Ettect Rackon the channel The empty rack Invingy ask stoop Audie fects Here ~ofag Live's Auto iter over 2nd fropkinte section then change the Itertypeto high-pass. racks touse for your ewn projects and you. ‘can build them with usto seehnow they ‘work ana tweak each to your king Rack 'em up Exch sre of devceswitina Rackisknovmase Gia. AfacKcan house anuntimitea number ot chats accessed tromthe Racks Chain ist Each chain feces the sare inp signal and sends throughs devices roma tight ach Rackas fetures abana ght vserdetnable Wacrocontot each of wtlancanapanvaluesot Ota 7c orange stn that ny parametr of ny eeice within aflackcanbeassignedto one ot Hitine Racks show/hide macro > contotsbutton opie ocisoov ‘selon macre knobs. To asign bath our titers equency andeesonance tothe fistmacre krodrght-elek onthe Auto ‘ten right-click on tre Resonance Imacroxnodasthectf rise. the ‘eeonance creates too. these eight otares placing only the most ‘essential controls atthe forefront of your ‘custom Rack, Assign a complex plugins clght most important performance controls toaRack’smacros, then old everything down toabasiceightknob pane! =o lutte, just asimple, selfbultinterface. ‘You! can map unlimited plugin parameters spanning muliple devices to ‘one encoder, then exert octopus-tke control ‘ovor them with justone knob to turn By defining the minimum and maximum range of these mapping ranges, you can ceasily customise how thesimple twist of ‘amacro affects your multifarious assignment combinations 3 > Vie nett sulemoveston end ‘om our signal Wea eto deactivate the ster complete whentheknobisaetto {era Touse aur macraknabas an oni Switentortne device, rght-cacx on the [Auto iters Devie Activator button ana {urned ot when Macr swith te fi half itsrange-not gute whatwe want > eagle Macro Mode y iting te Racks Maputton vrecan non devices and parameters thatare currentiy signed, and we can aust each maped parameters minimum and maximum Fange Device One Min range eset ta G4. ‘meaning themininum pont at which the fiteris turned on rib tthe knoe 34 COMPUTER MUSIC | | weckange Device Ons Min amount froma tor.the Aut Fikes willnow and 27 Sweep Macro around and se fertata vale ot O)tne Aut ites turned off Asseonas the knobs 6 > ores oour eck Heat tothe sd put the Resorus preset device Immediatey ster tne Aut iter inthe hain kapingit within ne Racks ‘bracketed enclosure. Asin both its Dey! ‘Wet anc Delay Time toMacro1. then have nfitering the beat tthe Save‘ack builder / make music now < Setup seven ne-knob Racks on a!0008 ‘revs tutorial the others Crush bot PecnUp,Rever, Rll and Delay - returtheringle-parameter DJ mixer fects that weve cooked up Hf youwant {ose now theyre made simply open up {heir Rocks nd take ook 1 > Spent ttre ve 9 prot le >Glitch out! ‘Te sevenetfectsm ou GitenWidget Rackeanbemedinethet Indivduaty ora combination. Each them forcitforant ests Try sweeping igna.then catch shoe sections nthe Rotaticets stuttering tempo synces bute To sambackinte your rack "Simply push up the Ksnteh, Alo experiment wih theRol and Kienobs Intandem-asyou trnthe Rol etiect ‘ample anew section ofthe input ‘utters elle aed bu upa > Seta Racy king ones tle bar ten iting Cma/Ctet-A Nowe hivemarcts+6 to group tor nest ther nin one parent Audio Etet Rack “ogalethe parent Racks Show Chain List button he bute: point ist coe) Note hat fur sla flows rom eft oright-Lke any removed wits eragging a dropping, Hig the Chain List thenreveal tne > Macro Controls Ascach Rock Controle by one macra. we can assign these to even ofthe parent Racks eight ‘main encoders e'lleae the eighth Imacrotree torte) Yo do thie ight-c onthe fat Rack’ rt macro and selet ight-c ts tet macro nd select Map tomscro2 Conte the process Letsetup the eighth macro asa ‘ll > swichtonstarly switch off a ctfectsatonce Right-tek on the soven ache Device Activator itor assigning each tothe parent Racks Mero {8-Click teparents Map buttonto open the Mappings Menu. then assign eachis Device OnMinsotingto 127 are Max setting to Rename Macro to". Push theknab above to deactivate al cevios ‘Untogoethe Show/Hide Devices > burton bottomcondensing the Rackintoa simple, eight contol interface Rightcek on tne Racktebarto gveit Seustommame we ve dusbedt “Gitenwiaget = recolour the ight macro controls (thelr eght-ek ment-then ‘Save the ceviceln your Library Forhands ontur. assign the esght macros to fencodersona hardware conta Rack types Live users have four types of Rack tochoose from. Audio EtfectRacks canbeloaded onelther an audio channelor after aninstrumenton a MiDItrack,and canonly contain audio processing effects within. MIDI Effect Racks can only be Inserted on aMIDI track and house ‘only MIDI processing devices. Instrument Racks sit on MIDE tracks, accommodate instrument plugins.and respond oallincoming MIDI notes, but can also contain MiDtetfect devices (pre-instrument) and audio effects (post-instrumen). Drum Racks aresimilarto Instrument Racks, except geared towards drum programming:each ofa Drum Rack’ 128 padcellsis triggered by only asingle miDI note, ‘and thas hxsend and return slots. "The power and versatility of Live's Racks are infinitely multiptied through the process of nesting’.AS ‘mentioned earller,a Rack may contain dozens of plugins within, butcanitselfbeconsidereda singular device ofits own, meaning that justas ‘regular plugins canbe placed within a Rack,socan other Racks. By nesting Racks within, others its possible tocombine your bespoke creations like Russian dolls. imagine acluster of MIDI processing devices, llgrouped ‘within a custom MIDI EffectRack: this note-altering devicecanbe collapsed down and placed inside aninstrument Rack, beforethe ‘halts synth or instrument device. [An Audio Effect Rack can then be ‘dropped inside the instrument ~you'llseetwo or more sets of ‘prackete’f Racks are nested within. ‘The concept isan essential partof Live's device building world, which youllseein practiceinourtutoriais. Lee's got youcovered with Mets MID, “une 2015 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 35.>make music now / rack Ouilder Sree en een ekecnticeeels Lets explore a aces Chain nerarehy Dialin heavy compression settings Many compressors now nave 2 Wet! le buténg a useful paral oka ‘ada second chain inthe cnn List > ovymicorstant paratie processing. New Yorestye- compression device Dyriahtcteking ana seecting Create So why bother setting upthis para Load anew Audio Effect Rack aan insert Chain. This second devie cain contains ‘outing Rack? Wel, you can customise ‘onadrumloopschanrel.then drop an noctects. andestoutputs the ary signal Your sina path by aading more eects Instance of Compressor inside the Rack. hearasiongride tne heavy comprested {ter the compressor. or even acd extra (pen ts Chain ist (micclebutton onthe fone. The Chain ist acts a amines where poral chains = we doin aur vdeo lef. Note that Comoresso sts wing ‘wecanaccesseach chains devs plus Fina. eaten op the Rack by assigning single Chain, Blend Gots mute and swap chains ‘Useful parametersto sacra conto Parallel Chains CChainissimply one left-to-right series of devices withina Rack-a path thatthe input signal travels, through. A chainreceivesan Input signal then channels itto Its first device, onto the second, ‘andso.on,untilthe processed Signal reaches the Rack’s output. ‘By default. Rack contains ‘only single chain, but an ‘Unlimited number canbe created ‘and stacked up within the Chain {Ut apie the Cain Listas by sackng mts cas np Toueup cone verte Mand Lis maging he Catn stag 1 > ocean rear > Dynacy coor pot tack ‘uclamtary miner enh Cant emiectesche aura tes thea not signal but housing dfferenteffects.Each ‘chain can be levelled Draga bunk Aud ktfect Rack onto a9 ugiochannal open ts chatmtist, ther ned, ‘ad a Multiband Dynamics device which Cie/emd:D twice to crentetwo copes ‘muted, soloed and hot-wapped wnetuse purely fortstrequeney-spiting Rename the esultngtreechains "9h rectly from the Chain List itself. ‘apsbities wth compression inactive, Mian Low ‘Anempty chain willoutput the unprocessed input signalandso ‘canbe mixed with another ‘multiple chains); by combining ‘multiplesignals,each with dltferenteffects applied, you can ‘Many plugins don’ featurea ‘dry/wet mix parameter, snow ‘youcanblend thelr effect with ‘your dry signalasaneat Rack device without having to setup ‘complex send/returnroutings. > Seletthetop Hi enan go int the ur signalisnowspitinotvee Murtbane Dynami device. then bandseach chain receives the same toggletnaign dana Sot button to Inputsignal the processesit oefore isla thetooos high reauencies inthis summingallthee together atthe ene ‘han Head‘ theme chains Multiband ‘App insert effects to one band by Dyna an it Solo onthe Mid band, repping elects fer te libone tengo into theLew chain and- you Dynamics device, and adust crossover (guessed t= Soleitstow bana values win tetwo nanay macros. check ‘outthe video it youre stint dark! ‘These chains procesthesemestgnal 36 | COMPUTER MUSICpa { omne neces ON THE cM CHANNEL TT = SB eeebeLads FOR: FabFilter Pro-Q 2: Exclusive hands-on] bit.ly/ProQ2vid wwwyoutube.com/ComputerMusicMag> make music now / rack builder The Chain Selector ‘We've already established that aChain is simply one stream of devices within aRack, ‘ang that multiple Chains, each containing diferent device combinations, can be stacked within the Rack’sChaia List. The ‘output ofall the Rack’s Chains are combined {and summed together atthe Rack output by default butt’ also possible to switch or ‘ade between chains via the Chain Select Editor and the Chain Selector parameter. ‘The Chain Select Editor isa bit ike the zone mapping area found in mutsample- ‘capable samplers (where for instance, the constituent samples can be assigned to diferent keys onthe keyboard). Here, ‘though. a Chains zone range's assigned to Value between O and 127 Atthe top of the soto era bespoke kik drums by layering andtweaking sub tones and ttackitiex samples. We can make our ‘en hick bude instrument Rack Dy Using sme of tis montns Layering Tookitsampiesinacustom Instrument ‘hank MIDI tack 1 > Srimeragetnese aye showing ie 2 zone editor sits an unassuming orange tad called the Chain Selector. Rack's Chain wil nly outputits signal the Chain Selectors (0427 position coincides witha Chains user- efined zone range. These zone ranges can be positioned for basic ‘on/of functionality, or faded in and out by dragging the zones ‘upper handles, allowing smooth blending between chains. But the eal un begins when the Chain Selector parameter is assigned to aRack’s macro control, allowing the userto transition and blend betwoen chains via@rotary macro knob, Chain reaction So how exactly can thischaln-switching be put to.good use? One possibilty isto use Open naces Cain st nen crn Tresn Sampler into ito ceatea new Chainin tha Rack (were using Samper as Lives simpler can load mutsamotes butseecurtipson p56 for aSimpler. based workaround) Renamebath the (Chain ana Samper igh Kek This ayer ‘wltormtne miafeble element of our ks Createabarlong MiDicip witha C3 noteon every beat fora al kick pater, Racks and Nested Racks to create custom mmuitayered intcumentsfrom seratch. By ‘smoothly fading between citferent synth or instrument Chains withina Rack, the Chain Selector can effectively become a ix’ parameter for blending between DY sample-based ‘oscilators. Want another example? Welk its Haiculously easy to setup tre Chain Selector to switch between up ta 128 diferent chains remember the Chain Selector spans values of 01277), alowing ‘you to auction heaps of samples, synths or preset combos with ustone turn of a macro kb. Thiststhe bass forthe Kick Machine Rack instrument were going to build on this very page. ene + Hon monts Layering Toot Sample pack ana seek aut Top kit Samples suchas bss drum tansents, Drag come upto 128 can be loadecd int Samplers centrewindow to load them in ‘OpenSampler’s Zones section by ccking ‘theleftmost ta Let cuetomize now the ch ana veloc ofincoming tesatfect {the playback themutiple Chan. ‘> Stekonine saa topen ne can Select Editor (rag moresomats nto the Sample Layer List yout). The Cain elector ne smalcange ab above the Zones) defines which sample ‘ibe lggered,anatcan be postoned fromoto 127 eurenty our mile Chains ronges are clstibuted across ther ones dently soll sampies messy Play backat once when anote i red 38 | COMPUTER MUSIC 2x > Rance ne zonestes nase Distribute Ranges Equally osoresd the zones across the 26 stn scale Right tek onthe Chain Selector and Assign to Maere letting us change high ck samples with that macra Assign Samples ‘Tramspose and high pass Frequency smacros2 and’ For envelope austment. ‘minimise me Amp Envelopes Sustaln 2nd sign ts Deeaytomacro, 6 > Witenes ropone oie can List and aragin some weighty kektayers fd sub tone Distribute tne ranges ‘Sally as beore,map the ChalnSelector {oMMaero$, and he Transpose ana 2a ‘iter Frequoney 9 Maero® 6 and 7. Aga, set the Sustaln to minimum and aign, Decay ioMacroa Neaten up the Rack by calapsing parts andeclouring macros.> ‘notes MIDI channel youtlfind our *KiekMachine’ Instrument Rack rom the Inetutortainttument Racks respond to allincoming MIDI notes by default - whan ‘wepiaynotesup and down the keyooa, the two layered hekchaine ate transposed accordingly. This ideal for aptchea instrument or pitches 808 tye sub ck, butnotgestforone snot hts > Signe Ou Ras hain ‘nen toggles Show input/output Goysecton The Receve inpud MIDI note Ibsetto and the Play Couto isto coming Cinotes, then eend3 tothe chain's devices Create 3 MIDI cp on this “han! note that the MID Estos op Intole button active) Now ora n 414 patternontheieks note > section. The four instrument Racks Sana wnile we can agjusteacns eight ‘mactosby selecting the pad wewantto the Drum Rackseightmacrosto setup 2 master iver’ panel Lets setup send Feturmeffects forthe whol Drm Rack Sette the Seng anc Returnbuttoe, > Racks nthateaeh pac within ean nly be rlopered bya single MIDI nots ‘ighttiekon our devices tile bar and nt ‘Group Te Drum Rack. ur whole Kek ‘Brum Rack est CI pa, >> Tiececena ta wack eject layering instrument acs that weve ‘rated Share Machine, Hat Machine ‘ojacent pads (C101 anc DF ol thes MIDI channe!'sDrum Racktotoad them ‘uthin our custom drum instrmentthen rogram appropriate ntesintne MID fotrage these sounds. Drop return etectsinto ne Drum Racks fr convenience yout finger tend loaded onthe projects tia Channel ready for youtoarag Assign ‘arous parameters tothe Drum Racks ‘ght master macros Youcan now suitch ‘nd aust rum ayers andsoune. us ‘lanainpartel eects uildler / make music now < Drum Racks ‘Thanks to thelr power, flexibility and tight integration within Live, Drum Racks can negate the need for third-party drum samplers and sequencers. On the surface, rum Racksoffer the basicfunctionality you'd expecttromapad-based ‘drum instrument:128 pads, each triggered by asingle mIDInote, with the ability todragand drop samples ‘onto each pad from Live's Browser. (oryour 05's, which wil automaticaly load up one of Live's samplers (Simpler by default) onto therelevant coll), withthe sample loaded and ready to play. ‘What differentiates Drum Racks fromthe competition isthe ability toload each pad with notjusta sampler, but any instrument device or instrument Rack-or even ‘another Drum Rack meaning you ‘can combine several custom Racks together onaitferent pads, with ‘each incoming MIDI note triggering different cel Each active pad (and any composite nested devices it applicable) is represented 25a Chain within the Drum Rack’s Chain List, allowing youto level, pan and processeach drum element from Inside the device. Upto sixsend and return channelscan also be created within the Rack and each chain's outputcanberouted tothese returns, turning the device intoa sell-sutfcient drum environment. ‘One popular use of Drum Racks is. through the 128" concept, which We'vetouched upon inourtutorials. Dropupto128 kick samples intoa Sampler device, nested within an Instrument Rack, hen setup the Chain Selector to scan through these 128 diferentchainsby assigning Itto one of the Instrument Rack’smacros. Thisdevicecanthen bbe dropped onto thefirst cell ofa Drum Rack. Repeat the process for allof your érum sample categories - ‘Sampler of 128 snares, Sampler (of 28 hats, and so on. Your final ‘ber-Drum Rack ean therefore Contain up to 16.384 sounds, easly selectable viamacros. 4922095 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 39> make music now / rack plugin and process incaming MI data see the sidebar below eight for ‘counterparts, hese MiDt tects can be packaged up nto aMIDI Erect Rac. Den tis tutrafs ve 9 project = You'tind an instanceof Dune Mona 1 ‘> Mites before an nrument Dliginan a MiO\channel and belore t Sitsour Chord and Arp Generator MIDI Etfet Rack, This features a Chord Box IDIEFfect Rack containing seven Paral cnains) which takes astaglenput IibInote ana transforms inte one of {horas The choraten goes rough an rpegaiator turingitinte a meiody 1 > hist Bact wena esm > been nested within another MIDI Erect Rack aloing use place an Arpspgiatordevien ster the custom ‘hamsfeed no this arpeggiator We've tanassignea the Chora rack’ Chord Select macrotothe parent Rock’ fist macro ane varousarpeggiator arametersto the ote macros, 40 / COMPUTER MUSIC ¢ builder >> Ont channe weve prorammed a Fan fees etna pattern were thenateoneachtfoeathasalouder Interesting vartatons canbe applica to the pattern by altering the Velolty devices Drive kood and te Note Lengtn ‘vie’ Length parameter vith a MIDI ‘xo the seven chalne contain Chord > devices andtheother sempty Weve then rtibuted tn seven ensine sone ranges on chain values O- inthe Rock’ ‘Chain Select Eton the Cain Selector hasbeen asignedto Macro with mapping ange esretedto 0. {Changing Macro allows us to select Detweun the ix corapresete >Generative MIDI Racks ftact tnt automatiealyenanges theolch of incoming MDI nates anunpreiciaolerashion.witina Setotuser-datines parameters ewceseratcoutput wih ives Seale eect restricting the random Doki the twotogether toa custom MIDIEfect Rack then fxperimentwithotner MDI devices Suen as Arpogolator or even more Mibladvenors, > Sette wot tes anai Cteveme-G 10 group te na MID, Etet Rack Assign the Drive and Length ‘ajusting mapping ranges 'cesea. We annow ureasingle knob to shapeand (ateour MIDI patternin teresting ways: {eak hiemaer in realtime, or automate MIDI Effect Racks MiDLetects, whilenot drawing ‘as much attention as thelr audio: ‘equivalents, areimmensely powerful compositional tools. Placedbetoreaninstrument, they can beusedto channel simple MIDI performances into ‘complex chords and sequences, ‘correct note, timing and velocity inconsistencies, or even kickstart ‘generative compositions. ‘As with audio processors and their equivalent Audio Effect ‘Rack, MDI effects can be ‘combined and bundled inside a [MIDI Effect Rack- a process that ‘canprove especially useful with note-processing tools, as each willhavea knock-on effect for ‘themextin the chain. A Chora device, for example, willtake ‘single incoming MIDI noteand addextra user spectied notesto ‘reatea chord. Thesenotescan then be processed by an ‘Arpeggiator, which wilswallow the chord's multiple notes and spitthem back out in an ordered sequenceatthe other end. ‘Both individual MiDLeffects ‘and MIDI Effect Racks canbe Integratedat the front of an Instrument or Drum Rack, ‘greatly expanding the performance possibilities of your ‘custom devices. Attacha Note Length or Velocity devicein your Rackto shorten incoming notes ‘or compress note evels,or ‘employ a Random deviceto ‘reate more eccentric MIDI note ‘generation. Remember to Integrate these deviceseven further by assigning key parametersto the parent Rack’smacros.Lets devise 2 simple monophonic > syntntrom the ground up using smutsampleswithinan instrument Rack {oadtnetutonats Live® project anc youll find four Sampler instrumentson rtearpied sa waves, the second houses multisamplod square wave, the thiduses se waves an the fourth contain nl, rack builder / make music now < ed onthe Saw channel rght-ctlokhe > Samplers titebar and select Group (orusethe crl/Cma G shortcut tonest it ‘wthin annstrament Race Open ts Instrument Racks Chaln List then ¢'29 ‘theSquare Sie andNose Sampiersinto {tsbottom Chain ist area to load them on thelr own chain, [Le Jioos JLox ji os If “ies > containing aciterentoxcitator ype Hitne Noise Chai’ Aetivator the yelow ‘Speater icon in thechai button to mute the nleefornaw, As weremakings ‘monospntn nati amonophonieone ‘oie instrument head nto each ofthe twee Samplers Fiter/Glebal ab and ‘change ther Volees to > lett nt aarti Atnesine wave willbe permanently wes tothe output. Onen the Chala Sect Eton then cick and drag tested alt four Chainsright. so they tne ful 0127 rangeinthe Zone itor Now dag the Savae zone’ et Face Range edge rot {0.54 thendrog the Saw zones right Fado Rengeedgereft to 64 > Moveth orange chin eect throughout ts 0127 ange while playing anoteon your MIDI Keyboara-at fully othe Saw cain sat maximum Spd vice versa Righttiekon the Chan Selector and Map To Macro. then ename Maro to Saw-square Mi > Tosdtcontoner the th tats Samplers Transpose parameter tothe Racks Macro tnenmap the Squate’s macros ‘Saw Sem and Square Semi Togole Maco Map Mode then restict our lapttwo assignments ranges to amore ensb-24 and #24 somitones. Gtgeisa great way tozcaitetoa > monophonic synth. Gotntocach of intr change each's jortamento, then 3550" ach Gide Time parameter othe Racks Maximum Glide Time ranges" %8 ‘Overlapping MIDI notes cannow be bent Into eachother > Crit Unmite ts¢hay nen bck Intechaintist rightetien He Nose Chains Volume. sign histo Macros, {henrename this aero Nale Vor Open Macro Map Mage an setts Maximum ‘ange 9 Oa 9 hat eas ota monopon to yu! Take our tating pointand ‘ustomsethe hstument ther 2dcing texts funetlonsand features. ry adding noise togetr ters for skaping or ‘modulation effects for thekness. You can ‘even se mteractve Mi or Le devices ‘third party plugins. Rack ‘em up! COMPUTER MUSIC 41> make music now / re Wo puremagnetix As part of this special issue on DIY devices, we've brought you CM Live Racks, a huge selection of awesome Ableton Instrument and Effect Racks from Puremagnetik. Get them on the em DVD or at vault.computermusic.co.uk Micah Frank We spoke to the processing aficionado and Puremagnetik top man about what's in our special pack o' Racks, anc’ ‘how best to use It in your projects Computer Music: What's the backstory hind your work with Ableton? ME:"Imet Ableton when itwasa very small ‘company in 2003, I was engineering at an ad scoring house in Manhattan and Abletons only US employee cameinto doa session. Afew ‘months later, Iwas doing sound design forthe release of Operator. worked on allot the Live versions since then - I made Ableton’ Drum Machines, alltypes of factory sounds and Retro Synths. From 2013 unt 2015, | was Abletons Soune Packs Manager in Berl ‘em: How do you create the broad range of ‘sound sources used in your instruments? 'ME:"Many sound sources aresimply sampled synths: othersare ust multisampled acoustic instruments but | realy enjoy making the more ‘experimental stl. made an entire library just running impulses through vintage Eventide and Lexicon reverbs. Right now.'m working on something more algorithmic in Csound- letting the system farm thousands of random synth nes and then editing It downto the good stutt. ‘cm The Transwave folder you've supplied for ‘CMLive Racks contains severalinspiring Instrument Racks.Can you give us litle insight under the hood of these Racks? 42 COMPUTER MUSIC | IMF: “The Transwave folderisa selection of sounds from Puremagnetik’ Wavetrame library. {ts meant to emulate the Transwave Synthesis ofthe Ensoniq Fizmo. Opening up the rack reveals a complex structure. Each voke is comprised of two wavetable banks.On the lowest evel are mutisampled wavetables Wrapped up ina Simpler. | tried togetas closeto the original Fizmo as possible. The ful version of \Wavetrame has aver 1700 wavetorm samples come The Vintage Chips instruments are Incredibly characterful. How do you achieve the timbres heard in patches such as T18910 - Frenulurn’and’SID-Sucka Punch’? [MF."A lato tis character comes trom ‘programming the source instrument. The racks themselves dort have much modulation oF tone sculpting Anyone whos worked with vintage bit sound chips wile you that A they're hard to edit,and B:can bevery unstable. Naturally, you get some very add, abrasive and lo-fistut when programming them - much of it pretty unmusical For every patch ended up Using. there were about eight that got Boled” cee How can readersuse the devicesin the pack to learn the inner workings of Racks? [MF "Just ve in and open them up! One trick to tuniockthe’multisample mode’ Simpler racks s tojustright- Sampler You might check out Harpomatik trom Utrakord our Suzuki Omnichord emulaton. I'sa good example of how to program basi articulations with Live's MIDI devices. The Gitch Racks category in the included Audio Effects has many racks that ‘exemplity channel branching and manipulation. Cem Any tipstor using the Racksina project? 'ME:"The Modular Loops section alone proves great starting point to get some ideas in place YYau'can mix anc match the Kick and Baes loons ‘uni'somethings working welt From there, might explore the Audio Effect Racks, specifically the Allen Fier of Glitch Racks tomodify things leven more. For sound designers or flm/game sounds, the Film Score folder has great menus for background tensions or transition cues em Are there any limitations within Live's Racksystem? How do you overcomethem? IMF: "The biggest hurdle ste elght-macro imi. Inmy perfect sound-design world, tt beable to build a custom Ul without needing Max for Live. This would includea widget library of buttons, itches, knobs, LEDs and faders” PuremagnethcitiveRacks vi0aip 421%ee OZONE 6.1 Effortiessly produce professional-sounding masters in an elegant all-in-one package. An intuttive, modern workflow is centered around creativity, with real-time visual feedback in every module. NEW IN 6.1- Adaptive Release, Tube Limiting Mode, Module Presets CUBASE + LOGIC + PROTOOLS + SONAR + FRUITYLOOPS + ABLETONLIVE = GARAGEBAND RAW EZDrummer 2.1 UPDATE Omnisphere 2 ob Papen Tooatrack ‘Spocrasenies ‘ve your mini the eee wih nem A ost of ne. groundbreking festires Combines a wide variety of hybrid reine do suiting tools nd featefom entered on geting a perronalise drm synthesis rochnigues, an epe brary of the lagen of soun tench quicker thon over before. ‘nova na many terete Fontes ° © Fl FASTER DOWNLOADS + TOP ARTIST INTERVIEWS + WORLD'S LEADING BRANDS UX TECH SUPPORT: FREE DEMO PACKS » 20004 PRODUCT REVIEWS moc Re Fm (RD exsro eM comnge + opens> make music now / rack builder Reason Combinators Long betore other DAWs and developers Combinators: one's to simpity common Over the next four tutorials, we'llook at hadeottonedonto the vast marketfor tasks by saving various devicesand seltings how the Combinator's ability tosave mixers customised channel tris ana ettects Inone template’ - your own, bespoke effects, sequencers and instruments as one combos, Reasons entirely customisable on-demand processors then there'sthe _unitcan make applying some common rack design had already made that arealty. facility to createtheullimate"bass,'vocal, tricks and techniques as simple as reaching Then along came version 3(released over 2 ‘drum or similar specialised channelstrp; for a Combinator patch trom the Browser, decade ago) introducing theCombinator. plus ofcourse. thechancetobulld your and then we're going te bullda powerful Atist people werent sure what tomakeof own fun and reativemetadevices toget __MPC:inspred standalone instrument witha "Butt doesnt do anything we cant Yoursanictingerprintsalloveryourtunes, lve performance ent. already dol complained forum members ‘whol been hoping for aload of sexy new Instruments. How wrong they were ‘Combinators offer nat only racks of cotter devices that are saved, loaded and tasilyrecaled, but aeo fay advanced MIDI control over the devices within the Unit. There area few obvious benelits to 6_0_6 Sac tats 7) ee Bes ‘common use eet in electronic Forsimpictys sake. delete tne ‘Adda Ream hot win 2 ] ‘mosis thesidechain pumping eet ? > sevices inthe taeterineert secon, 3 > preset scan M-Class Compressor ‘nereby onesoundtiggers cing thenadd Combinetar whe naling (Gotnong Sn) tthe combineto. compression over another Were going 0 Shitto prevent autoatenna). ard patch Patch the outoit rom the kiexchannel on buldadevicetoristany‘pumig'eny Rint the Master inser FX sections nputs {the Redrum nto the Compressors sional roms pdt your entre mater anoutputsos above. YouThave todo Sidechnin input Now program ack ‘utp wth no nto moot wth teismanvaty Reason does alow a ‘roman sepsis, ane, and elk Sidecharroutingtn a rsh projet et Combinatorto be housed recite ‘Show Programmer on tie Combinatorto Inetempoto t23bpm one ace Pumplng Masters inset section Disable the Master ‘pen up asignmentcontoh or the Sema toopwav to anew susie Section aypass rm he trot pane Rotary snaButon opsons. tetsceateConbiator try Lane ntary2 eng and connect oar see o tac na > Connections ter our cust trace. 5 > itotne compressors Ratio. Thishas = > Ibetad Punch Along tacks good ones notary eso ae ‘estat ac nan ast utes ‘ertetingpercasion stam aug {Deptt eine mae puny Costa Button creo sch ferpadrantpars you can ty comet tetuysndtvewantoOsottine SEbocchaslpaincoston nae Stectan ny comectouton ate pumping gels genta when outunthe Sng dleentage spleen utp nto ange tes en Satu Rost Betton to Comprenor Waryatotheconoreors Rebar ond Stoened toes 0000 omer Enabled, within anc Max1COn an [Rbelt Groove’ = tweaking ths wl ater heavy pumping, Check out the ess Bypass respectively and abel On/OtT {he timing ofthe perceived pum the Tutorial Files andin he ideo! 46 | COMPUTER MUSIC« Deatporc. pro™ Change Starts Now DLP N AM ESN CeM IE) REST Ceme ICOM LOC MES COIN TUPAC MOTE MOMMIES em eA MLS changing times. Enjoy a first look at the beta of Beatport Pro and let us know where you think it should go next. MIME UOMO UTE Laas CLOUT)> make music now / rack puilder 2. Custom-built Beat Slice 'n’ Mix Combinator in Reason Lets reateacustomised Rex oop ‘Adda Combinator. Now noting ‘Tomate patching simpler. abel the Combinator offering eo unin, down Sh to ensare nothing 300: PEODumKe Sheet, Sice 7, ete Label ato, fitting nda pee wired po ice patched edd throsDr-Octe Rex units thetop Or Octo Rex Previa andtherext mixer complete wih sendetfecs Well be followed by eight PEO2EQs ana two Ses Ff and Ses 0° Now patch Constueting night sce versionfor ‘Meehanne| reIX sor Finally tists {themsin output atthe Proview Or Octo Simpy. but youran add as many slices hot hoding Shit ad one instance each Rex device int Channel onthe MI Station axa etlect 35 You, 101 The Echo 314 RV7OOOrever, Now then connect theres mn outots 0 fegin win ane Reason project ‘were gong toset up an nti prevew’ Dr {hecombustors Como input ‘cto ex so we ean ation loops before tmeyresent tothe main devces ET z ieee oars Iain Saal Paar See ee = 228 Fiptne rackandtind ne ce Output Letsmap vaous parameterstoour suintne Programmer gototne connection fhe Sicee 1 Rex Combinaors rotary knobs Ce Mitr contoesnaaesgn Channel 14 device Connect Output anc Output2t0 Show Programmer open the ‘Muteto Buttond (more on his ina the ie O's ett an Rigen an Combinator's Programmer, for 3b tine) and, ally, bela ol he route that Es outoutto the frst mixer tyoe Rox devices set Rotary 1to contol controls We new havea previewing ‘Shanel Continue to doth unl Outputs Filter Freq Rotary 2oFiterRes. Button System wth customised gating, Sto tne ret four EGe ana ret four {Ro Flter Moda Mtn and Max 3 t0 transponing sn titer controls for e967 Iker ehsnnels are connectea Next. do toggle hiahow pas Rotary 3t0 Ose ‘udkioning of loops thin any projet the some wth the ies 5 ceviee Transpose and Rotary 40 Amp EW Decay to conolthegatingsic angth Soar we ony near the Preview unt ‘nis next tis aways 3 manual at Now use te tools at your ceposalto ‘Teideats toe the Preview unto wweeafiad Click Sle Et Mode and realy warp the loop sce by sie. Try Select ops, and pernapsesecuence select Outin tne editor Now manually ‘pplyingeveroonsometits but not them, before ueing the same loop nthe Sesgnovtpte according tthe lest ‘thers paras ome parametric EO on Ssloning the sles to outs Clck Copy Sices 3.6.7 and So we seal for ‘what you cance, Now save ths Loop To Track onallthves devices and stereo pais trom Slices te #andthefist {Combinatorpatch, as weresure youl Create anew pattern wth he sices inthe Die from Sices5 to ane then click our ‘sore the posites offers cea at Preview Octo Rox copy that pattern to Combinator's Preview Mute Duton ‘Spd as fun 3 loop resequencing ges. the otnertwo chonnes 46 | COMPUTERMUSIC | |The Focusrite sound on USB 2.0 ee Oa cea aOR Sir George Martin commissioned no-holde-barred preampe for hie Air Studio facility in London, Oe ee oe ae eee gS eR Ces eee ee ee eee eo eee Perret Whatever your audio racording needs, there's a Focusrite Scarlett interface for you. EU Oe la 3 [Oo (OMe solo} Ome acd - i] end 2 In /2 Out Dual mic pre ® scarlett @® scarlett G6) Pere Casas ® Scarlett 1s) © scarlett i aaa ee enced Focusrite Dr Ee UL SOUND IS EVERYTHING cn> make music now / rack builder MPKong custom drum sequencer ‘One ofthe great features ofthe Combinator has always been theablity to construct ‘your own complex instruments After al ‘why bother sheling out for some new Rack Extensions when you can treat your devices lke box of Lego and snap together the ‘musical tools of your dreams? Now were ‘going toconstructastep-sequencea “complex” mode. But even it you never play lve, its worth working through the second half as we'e sure you wil find MPKang an inspirational and infinitely adaptable Beat ‘ana groove builder Keep an open mind. though, and ee! reeto substitute one device for another - were ust giving you some ideas, ‘Yersion of Reasons drum-sampling Were gingtomake an MPCesquerack based ‘And be sureto bring your regular owornouse Kong, heea Isto construct soundoag or beth Ive and ste a working practices to bear, t00. For example, {aninstrument that allows instant many producers use Redrums step ‘gratification alongwith a vastrange of setup or asan effective standalone ‘sequencer to bulld beats and then apply the ‘editing, processing andsonic possiblities, _nstrument,taking advantage of Reasons Copy Pattern To Track option to generate “The result isnot far removed rom Akal. legendary stability and low-CPU MIDI region for more complex arrangement famous MPCrange.Justas the MPC was requirement asaplatlorm forrock-solid, _and editing. This is completely possible with ‘equally athomein thestudooron stage, _stage-ready performance, MPKong too. Anything theinvidual MPKong-aswe'vedubbedit-canialsobe Our tutorallsspiltito two parts:the devices can do, MPKong can do..and much, lused as art of your Reasombaredstudio basic studio modeland the stage‘riendly much more! ————— Lets begin constructing ourbase Tokeep tis tutors straighforwar, Label the eight Comp Otcompressors step sequenced Kong unt Opana wee only buliding an eight drum (ave caledtnem'Pad Pad? 6) fresh projet ond ads Combinator Hold Sevie here but tis possibie to construct Aandtnen connect ench of Kong out Sifewhe dragging nthe oowing devi using two or more Konge to get insereopars- tone ofthe devicessone Keng one Redrum. one ‘more enon Wh this mind we Compressors ally comet there ‘Wecannel reMX mer eght Comp-OF Connect Redroms Gate Outs tothe Gate ‘ers main Steree Output the compressorsone M-laae Compressor Ins on Kong's pads 108. Kong wll now be [Mi Class Compressor and connect thatto Sia one M-Caas Maxine. trggeredby Rerum’ step sequencer Its theM-lags Maximizer These devices Connect he cutpt ofthe Maine to handy to save another Combinator patch Uwitalow ustophatten the sound witout the Combinstors From Devices input forthisKong and Reerumrouting alone! ‘overloading the output frees aoe a 48 / COMPUTER MUSIC / |5 > Conahator er We petrmance dit! Long yourpates rom he previous stathrouoh Corot rm he Tatar Files! Now ertneralfx mirage Patverizer UN-16Unizon and CHOI Chora these shoud ato connect {remssivestotne mir sary nds! ‘reso Ege Chorus Send Mode Sha gator ne Yo Batorton preset, > Shunagor sti yen come IM-caes Store imager ety bo the Cass Compressor and ceroute tha Sionl csi opprnsney 50th mager food the Compretne Pl nesters imagers x OverFreas 100M and set ‘etotand efit Mono. > Some ling ofcreatveidestvuctve processor reaay fo gon your anus Folaing Shit dan Avalomati Retro Reroute thecablesgoraint the Mauimizertotheinputs of Auclomaticand one the outputs of Auciomatictothe ximizer inputs Wenow nave an array ofrero distortion types avaiable. 4 6 ‘The Puversrlfectis very base > ennancing. sod a9 Mase Equalizer det after holding Sitio prevent autorouitng Rote the output of the Puvereertotheinptotthe easier, ‘ed output that to Auniiary Returns 2 ‘onthe mer Now rll the bars equencies below 228M2 ad the highs above 12H (wih therighest Q setting Using the mixers auilar sends we > eansad'comaination oF nor clement. The usage ently downto taste butts worth testing loud as these noraintingeecthave tne powerto make ears lees used inappropriate \, Fly tor some Rotary ana Button > contro: Route Rotary tothe tote UnoniChorisie quater devices ‘On/OMt ino: Wan Rtaries 23 anc {o Automatics Input Gan. reset ano DryiWet respective These last thee act {sine perormance controls Check out ‘Tutorial Files ole make music now < liveuse.insping our own Reason cretion MPKong lives! Hardware controlisusefulin the studio but by no means essential. When taking MPKong on stage, however, acertain degree of hardware controlisa practical necessity. Reason's MIDI mapping offersa vastrange of MIDI- ‘mappable controls,andwe'd suggest taking advantage of them. Dontoverdolt, though. Another pre-requisite olive performance is simplicity so think carefully about Which controis you'lineed and tick tothose. One obvious example ls hooking MIDI upto yourstep sequencer’ pattern selector, allowing greater livearrangement possibilities. Controlover the project tempo can also be very lmportant. The Global Groove (controlling the step sequencer's shutfe patternin our projec is. another usefulcontrol,asis MIDI ‘mapping of the Combinator’s performance rotaries. You needi'tstop there, however. Using some creative mapping, ou cantake advantage of Reason's Spider AudioMerger/Splitterto create reMIX sends that runto separate effects from the same auniliary output, adding a further Spider to recombine the signal, then use inverted on/byp: Controls mapped tone button to switch between two dtferentsets of activesend effects at the push of 2 single button. Finally,remember that you needn't stickto just one MPKong per live show -inmuch the same ways Akal's MPC allows numerous tracks/channels, you can lock rent control hardware to various Reason devices and so, for ‘example, have one MPKong for beats, another for musical samples and another for vocals, or anything. ‘else you caretothrow intothe mix! 5 | COMPUTER MUSIC | 49> make music now ——— Bitwig Studio Devices ‘The latest major DAW tot the scene, andefectsby allowing usersto create their BitwigStudiohasan approachto sound ownmadulation sources. Rather than ‘generation ana processing that ia far more Devicesbeing restricteatousing a limited ‘granular and customisable affairthanthose setof prescribed, bull in sources ~ one LFO of traditional software. sig even one ‘ups ona synth, for examples possible toada Itsinspration, Ableton Live, inthe exibilty modulation generators such as envelope stakes thanksto ts incredible array of ‘exible Devices. These cover familar ‘categories like instruments, Audio FX CContainersand Note FX. and introduce followers, step sequencers and LFOs without init orany kind Bitwig Studios Unified Modulation System makes itquick and easy toassian Modulator, Router and Generator types for modulation routings rom Devices’ builtin creative combinations Modulator Devicesin particular are ‘macros and modulation sources al the while preserving control over the original ‘exciting, because they unleash thecreative parametersin most cases. Thissystem gives Possibilites ofthe softwares instruments us thebestof both worlds the abit to Create complex modulation routings land convenient macro contrat, while Fetaining the power to adjust parameters attheie source. The trade-of i tha Bitwig Studs library of included instruments and eects ‘can seem more utilitarian than Live. In realty, BtwigS devices can stretenas fas, ‘you want them to you'ljusthave to set ‘them up yourself in these tutorials. we'l ‘how you how to bull up Bitwigs decidedly basic iter into Dynamic Wah, a responsive ‘effect more akin to Live's Auto Filter anda Wicked FM-based Reese Machine with extra-capable oscilators Stcloto beat Ableton Auto Fier track nthe Devices and Presets section othe Browsar open the Modulators folder and da UFO Mod ont the Device Panel Open the Audio FXolcer inthe Bromser and drag Fer onto the FX slot atthe topighthand corer othe Aud ‘This setsup our modulators so that > the AudloMod isthe parent andthe 4 ro Modisthe' en nths arrangement, bothtne Aus Mos and UFO Moa ean Ait attact the (70 Mod, For startesclck the Audie Mods mod arrow, and drag up nthe Fiter's Cutoff kno as ors Possble- about @acloce 80 COMPUTER MUSIC 2 ‘> Saeyoack youn nearnatine er fascias ne coun eunetantaly 26aHeby default Lets ure the ati leve temodulate the Cutt and push tue eachtimethe chord plays. Click the LFOt Ssrrow button nthe LFOMod nen aap ‘pom tne FitersCutot knob fo about lock When youre done cick the FOX Ssrrow again to conte outing Eatirc Sapa ig ou reer ra] NE dhs OM cto ck tne med arrow againto conten > therouting, Theetfecto! this fsnnanceieby boosting the Asa Mods Device Input nthe Aue Mod panel an setitto +848. We can usethe AucioNod focontrltve LFO Mod, 00, ‘This gvesusa simple rhytnmictier tof meson which we can try ‘eding an envelope folower Drag Ado ‘Mod tom tne AudioFX back onto the Device Pane. then dag the LFO Mod oto {the Aue Mode FX ot > againthis time dragging upon LFO Ts Tow ear qc ten slows dora 3° ‘Spree aaa rom the Containers {elder and rag the effect into. Now aro theChaininta the Browser You'lbe asked {oname tbetore saves Findout ‘ished device the Tutor File folder> instrument decicated purely ob, bad Reese bass nlss:say hall to Reese Mochi! Drag M+ onto an instrument trace andsequence a sme par awe have here 06 sting two bent, anda G2 tasting two beats Ina sitrfas, on the AEC Amplitude Envelope Generato) Svstin level upto 100% iving us lous, eB 100 |@) Ri - Bio 1S mo) ) ee oo |@)| ‘tio Eas | > Se ee > parameter hat mates sense tohave easy contotover Activate Faas Mone botton onthe right hand id fe the full range ofthe Glide parameter. Nox drop Filter and Distortion etiects Cinthat order onto Fl-#sFXslot Set the Fiters Resonance 930% and the Distortions Driveto 1240, Pring ‘sbeina modulates by bath itsel and Osclstor 2. Turnthe Oscitator2 ‘oduation level down from 35t0O.ane {rn the Osiitor elt mosulation evel Upiter 430100. Ths aves us 9 ‘Stato tone rom Oscar so,eventhough thenotes ot ou > sequonce are snoctave apart, the thesame ate By seting up amacroto contol theoffset parameter wehaves Convenient way of controling the Reese ‘haracterste wobble and trod Ciecon the Show/Hide Presets & Macros buton tthebottom thang come ofthe Interface to bring upthe Macro contol SettneFitersmadeto4pole high > pass as shown! Ifyou seep the {oullnear tt the titer moverentin Conjunction winthedstortion pars ‘ur Reese witha vocal quality Let modulate that nha LFO, Add an LFO ‘Mod trom te Modiatorsolser nthe Devies Panos tnen drag ane drop the EM ‘onto the LFO Mos FX st / make music now < On iy > ratio parameter om 2.00 to 400. sot the frequency offset bow ito O0OHE, then tnt Oscilator2» Oseliator2 ‘mosustonrocting nthe Matrix pte, 100. Turn uptie Osclatr 2 mix level [simply sbetee 2 totheright ofthe Navn to-157a8. > Now cliche med arrow above one ffet setting to sbout #3 We can now Usethe Macro to conto how exactiy fast the two oscilotors beat against one nother no matter whatnot bing payed. aivinga degree of contol ats Ihatnot posable wit ractonal Reese Dating metods. + | LTT TT TAN ESSTESTEVE ETT Assign FO to modulate te Finer > Cutolt by +26. Bring up te LFO Mods Macros and assign efit oneto LFOTS Rte wth aange of ba 40.20 For Up-tumthe Fh macrosallthe way ‘fen, and assign LFO Mord macros to ther furange. Our nshed Reese Mache = Inthe Tutoria Files os 9.bwreset le 015 | COMPUTER MUSIC | 51>make music now FL Studio Patcher FL Studio otters bespoke instrumentietfects chains in the shape of is Patcher device. This. letsyou connect together any of FLsonboard devices and your own pluginsincustom, modularstyle outings. and providesa Reaktor esque custom control surface where you can cll up knobs and buttons to operate your creations. Patchers colour coded inks, which you alter by clicking and dragging one dot tothe next (yellow for sending audio, reafor arameters ana green for events) letyou visualise even the most complex signal chains Let's ave in and package up a couple of our favourite signature production ticks into readily reusable Patcher devices, utomatable growing, webbing storted lass aac sound weve gone for ne FG BuzzSaw presctinSawer send ttoa Iixerchannel an lowe Pater 09 thatchsnne, ur sound needsmovement.and we'l St with some creative LF revting Right-click the Freqdals of bonds 2and 5 Sndeick aetivateto make them avaiable Tormodulation cok map to get back thechaln overview andadd we nsonces ot Peak Controller # plugin that can Sgenerstean 70 Rigrt-lek each! he Outputs » Controllers submenu , Te Base and Vol controls the LFO nd endpoints ofthe UFOs sweep use Cantar 25 FO secon to 50% sothe a pont swan the orginal postions Youcan tweak theBase and Votcontols oftherespectiveLFOS te aust tne sound otthesweepe 52 COMPUTER MUSIC rag om the red daton Peak Contoterto E02 trstreadot band 2.then fromthe secondPeak Control {eq 2sseconacot an). Tas inks {he LFOS to our €O peak 2) and wougn ‘We wantthem sweeping ncependenty nawnentne FO reacosnghet low end we dour wn Ren Papen IP-Dstor!CM.FUsSoundgoosieer and Filter fst dstortion Type toNone. and ‘Spto50%. Turn Soundgoodizers rab to about 1 ettock you can use anater Compressor you want ner cotta). Parametric a2. then click ne Eattorsbutton atthe top Patenerto ccalttneplugin. We can geta voeatstyie efacantcuteana hoorte Boortmode2 to Abou! 85% at 14H pullngnodes cown toabout Oat about 2kHe ond makings boost of BO% at kit with abanawidtn ot (isto ave ta vowertke timbre Right-ck a2 Knob then select fhe topengh Eto lockitinplace Hes back to the Map ab right-click each Peak Lrospeed You cannow drag ins rom {hered don Surface tobothcontolsso Set Pita CM’ Mighpass to with aStope or a8 toremave wooly low end ne want olayerina sub boss FromFL studio » E02 » RP Distort CM » Sundgeodizer» Pita may depiy ‘as'Wrapperlyouhaver' updotedto the ‘abt version)» TaFLStudl. Now twists Lets Patchortomake aac ] processing chain inspired by Boards cof Canad signature 70s edsetonal ‘and wow-anc-tusterptch modulation Femngcentofotdtope Load Pateher 5 fninstromentrightelkin the Map view {© sdasyiru.n Eton he nthe ‘hose the Basle sting preset Wo ancreates wandering warbling tapeesque pitch det using a vibrato Digin ke MeldaProdctons= MVIeato {ec rmmatigresucionzom ore Peak cont aebothnto te Nap Sent Rigntelek Pea Conoter natin Lro nthe Outouts»Contoiers ub make music now < Youllseeagroen ink to MVirate- rag the pont away todsconnectitso ‘hat MDI is onty sent to Sys Right Rate vie con now chin the LFO' red butputtounismewty created input as ‘hown.sothat Peak Controls FO pitch variaton tour king. 5 Werienange te vues ofthe LF0 to Ly. > suns apesyiepten wing “f+ caste thetttors view ancin Pook Speedia 2odock The Bose and ol Centolssethebettom andtoppaions sftne0.anateSpeed sets howiong ‘vratonDepentosox. / wetepetin manisoncasyoumouse {500Hs. Se the st and to Warm Tape nature Drive contol upto 4% For thehigher pane eons Syl Ol Tape fi trnits Drive 080%. This wil impart warmthto the body ofthe sound what saturation on the top end sing Felt Paometric £02, FobFiter compression plugins Chain them Stadio remembering sieconnaet etectptugins FLP projec file in our Tutoral Files olde: FL plugins tor these of you we wat to ‘periment tht dort om the ple IntneEators view, se the EQto ad pushingeach un about 65% Scoop out ‘making the sounaees mud. Pull node Fight down at 6H to remove unwanted spe nv comp setecthe Sings >Green shoots imough weve been caretutto Getach the green MID cables it foraversstosystom or tyering sounds that you cant dese, Drocess separately mith EQ or ‘ther etectebefoe reining ‘hem aterinPatehers ool low COMPUTER MUSIC | 53> make music now / 1 ck builder Logic Pro X Smart Controls Until Pro, the only way of getting custom bulitraektyle functionality in Logic wasto Create a custom device inside the programs MIDI Environment, sehich although an incredibly powerful system, can be ‘daunting for theless experienced user, ‘Apple's answer to this was Smart Controls, which arrived in Logic Prox ‘Smart Controls allow the user to assign one ‘ormore AU plugin parameterstoasingle knob or switch: They are not only very simple to set up but cn otfera great dea of flexibility and give the user the opportunity te be realy creative with how they use ‘automation In Loge, For example. its possible to assigna Smart Control tothe WetiDry parameter of number of plugins ‘Simultaneously allowing the ser to mixin several effects. once tothe taste, to give buta rudimentary example It's also simple to use an external MIDI controller to operate Smart Controls giving them hands-on element: and additionally Apples free Logic Remote app for iPad 000 Youcartteety design smart Contos itrtaces allows users not only to use Smart Controls remotely but also to record automation ‘sweeps trom the comfort oftheir touchscreen Althoughisnot possible to design Your own Smart Control interface Surface rom scratch, Apple have included a wide variety of choices with Logi Pro Xthat offer well tought-out combinations of knobs and buttons alfuly assignable to ‘any automation parameters available to the ‘channel. Withallths new power on handin thelatest version of Log, we're going to ‘demonstrate the possiblities by Constructing a coo! Retroiser device that lets you retrose'any sound, then making ‘our own Vocal Harmonize: Let's gettoit ‘ecordlngsinioa single handy Tevstble channel strip Open tog and frag togieRocksway trom the Tutorial Files onto the orange page before looping or pavoack Open the Aude FX ‘menu and acd Kuassa Promlx CM, Logics Tape Delay ond Channel EQ 99 \orengos Otaskootver reeirom vorengeccom) jn tal ores How about some retro saturation and > overcrive? inthe Parameter Mapping winsw. ada now mapto Prembs Cis Gain sothe Range Minto 0.5 andthe Maxto10 Wewanttocrivethesignal whe reducing the Output gainto Output win aRange of Ooo withthe lnvertcheckbox sevates Name the knob Drive 84 COMPUTER MUSIC 7 ‘Open the Smart Contos uth the > hay.clcktnetopiet button to view ‘he inspector ana choose World Intrumant rom tna Ftory Layout ‘menu: Bring up the Parameter Mapping ‘en 3nd hit Delete all Pateh Mappings {oclear Logics default mappings. Open Tape Delay sets Delay Om. Low Cut {0308 anc High Cutto kM turn {the Dry to Os rth Wet at 100% > tnotecng to cron ming the “ape Denys Fate Rate betwoen.9 ad 50.thenthe Futter Intensity Between fne40 pth btent0 Bypass SapeDainy checeng invert sothat nen thebutons othe plugs bypass Aopen forthe reveroon te buon Deon tren map the Bypaset 3 ing {othetottombuton mertsdonce again > aciasle Studer tape deck using Channel €Q-set peat ito oH andthe ign ehel taki beter setting the {Low Pass iter Leave the Gin controls a (Oidskoaver, oadtne ldskooSin preset before sting the Witt for Some clasic monorever Cite et hand knob on our Smart Control pane, 3 Forthesocond torighthnob. map the > £s Peak Gain between Oand ‘igh shetf Gain tween 0a ane igh Cut Frequency octwezn 10000 and 20000. vert! Name't Tape EO this ‘nob teu sje the overalsmount of tape sve EO tats added Insert Gain pligin onthe channel andmmap ts Gain ontrolte tena kno with 2 Max of foradiusting the overall outpat evelNS man'a] by oe Pesan Envrenment chonmes mine Mixsetto10O3 Environment the ality to target cevicesanyaerein Zemitones ante Aux Zone to #7 when furpoject, and he creation of cust layered withthe dy signal tis wil est ee een) interlace in tog, dragLogleVacalway imabasle minor tras tr thst up 3 never come across it during thelr nd LogieBeat wav from the Tutorial send from the LogiVoralchanneltoeach Paneer Files focer Create wo Au racks. an set ofthe aux channels oursasettosend at Environment offers the more rings to Bue] ane respects Sevel of Coe ier, Pere ay Pet acre Prec er er crats ee eerie peer rater ene Pere terry Peer Preece eennnny ote = Seer pore PAT Erne ero Paragon EEE pee ienerne fanaanontanorio Berner > nghtto ada with betore turning omy Whenever you create aSoftware Peete moma cttms ee (eae dere information the Auxiliary is outputting. output to Fader with the Channel at 2, the pera enaohpeanhatnkd [ee {Control tard theRange 31151016, Ccaermirererseln Pree ry Pore eans Pers Pte emacs tiatis Presets Ueto ead Environment that allow the user to Pesereeaty erence Peer rd Pea er Coeur Peart ty Portas er os tne Aunt volume face to sets Ermer ercen om, clicking j20n the Monitor =itshould Pep pesarret ener tte, cael oes tour device open the Fader mend necting to Autand 2. The CARS again. ding a Vertieal ade’ ana ger snow ready for ur! You inbalingt Volume ‘xpanathisconeeptby adcngextra \oleesand chard options required, Corn ee aay>make music now Tl rack tricks Logic Pro X TAKE CONTR ‘Tomake things simplerforlessadvanced ‘users Logie Pro Xi sat to hide certain advanced functions by default Hf you ind that youcan' edt your Smart Controls thisis ‘winy! To sort this, open Logie Pro Xs Preterences menuand go tothe Advanced ‘Toolspage before checking Show Advanced ‘Toots Tn wil unteash the fll power of the DAW. LAYER UF Layersarea great way tohelp with keeping {your MIDI Environment organised. You can putany devices you make onto their own layer by clicking the Layer menu and choosing CreateLayer.1tsalso possible to ‘tea previous MIDI Environment paten fom nother session by clicking Optionsand Import Environment. Reason CUSTOM COMBINATOR SKINS ‘Youcan upload ny JPEGImage to serveasa custom Combinator design. tfyouwanta professional, perfect fit,usefiles sized at 1754x138 pixels - otherwise, only the top left ‘corner ofthe picture willbe visible. COMBINATORS MERGED Reason Combinatorscan't be nested Ce, you ‘can'thave one Combinator contained within, ‘another but you can combine Combinators. Simply drag the second Combinator you want toaddinto the current rack,and then either ‘drag or copy/paste itinto the Devices section ‘of the first Combinator. The Combinator ‘aspectof the second Combinator will be ‘removed, and the contained devices wil be ‘added as part ofthe first Combinator, Ableton Live SET COMPENSS nour tutorials, we used Sampler forits ‘uttcorpling capabilities, but you can sort ‘of fudge with Simplers oo. Drag selection ‘of samples into an instrument Rack and they'tbe loaded onto individual simpers~ dlstribute therrongesin the Chainin the {sual way then mapthe Chain Selector toa ‘macroso youcanselect between your non 56 | COMPUTER MUSIC ‘samples. Use the Copy Value to Siblings ‘option inthe right-click menu to instantly copy a parameter tweakinone Simpler tall the other Simplers. But what about mapping ‘sibling’ Simpler parameters to Macros? Make plaintext file called options.txt containing this tine:-EnableMapTosiblings=1 --Andsave into User/Library/Preferences! ‘Ableton/Liveon Macor C:/Documentsand Settings/Username/Application Data! [Ableton/Live/Preterences on Windows. Restart Liveand youhave an extra right-click ‘option for parameters: Map toall siblings. THIRD-PARTY PLUGINS IN RACKS, For simplicity, we'veused Live'snative devices throughout our tutorials. However, Its}ustas easy to wrap up any third-party Instrument andeffectineide Rack. if plugin has fewer than 32 automatable parameters, tey'lallshow up in the plugin’ ‘panel within the Device View for you tomap; Itcontains more, the panel willbe empty, and you'llhave to populate yourselt-toggle the Configure button, then wiggle the plugin, Parameter you wantto automate or assign. FL Studio CREATIVE CONTR lt you're an FL user using Control Surface regulary. you mightwant the controls you bddto be alte more visually appealing. FLstudio includes asmalstandatone program or creating our own custom Slides an knobs for usein controlsurtace, and you can useit by heading to your FL Studio\System\Tools\ControlCrentor folder andrunning ControlCreatorexe. You can now Cistomise these as much as youlKeorjust hth Rendomize button forinstantresuitsD. MUTING CABLES When you're working witha complex atcher chain, itcan be difficult tohear what's golng fonat each stage ofthe process, soit'shelpful tobeableto right-click the triangle on each object? Customise your ownin the Control retor Yellow audio cable to deactivate that rou ‘without having to‘unplug'it. You can also adjustthe level ofthe signal sentalong the ‘chain by dragging up or down to turn the dial thatappears when hovering over the triangle {nthe middie of the cabi Bitwig Studio TRIGGERING THE LFO MOD. Using Bitwig's LFO Mod deviceisa great way toget another modulation source for your Instruments, and t's possible tomake It retrigger oninew notes by using the Note Mod device. Simply assign the Note Mod's Env to the LFO Mod's R(LFO Retrigger) button. EASY DRUM REPLACEMENT Bitwig’s Replacer device makes it easy to ‘replace drum parts. To get going withit, place thedevice onadrumtrack,then drop your {drum synth or sampler Instrument onto its Inst sot. Audio peaks will automatically ‘tigger the drum instrument, makingit possible oreplace drum partsina lash! Other DAWs NO RACKS? NO PROBLEM! ‘your favourite DAW doesn feature macros, ‘atks,andso on, dort despa there are plugins thatcanthemselveshost other plugins allowing you tomake complex {stom comborto se time andagain Some come inthe form of DAWsthat also Joadas plugins, logue’ Biule (plogue.com) tsone sich ost aris energy Conergy com FLStudiols without a doubt the most popular host that ca, in tur, be openedas 9 {VST pluginin another DAM! and Reasons {ormer alzon d'8trewas asa ReWire slave Fanning a te nputto a channel in other, Wire capable DAW. Forpluginhosting withina cross-platform plugin check out DDMF's Metaplugin (dm ‘wand Blue Cat Audios Patchwork and MB? Mixer (wvw.bluecataudio.com).emCOMPUTER: usic next month < Next issue cm/218 WEDNESDAY TUTORIAL HOW TO USE MONARK / 8-BIT TRACK BUILDER / TUBES 'N' TAPE / PRODUCER MASTERCLASS: SONNY WHARTON / PROG ROCK LEARNINGS / AND MUCH MORE. download ae LINDELL AUDIO 6X-500 CM Beautiful retro preamp drive with Pultec-style sweetening shelves] SAMPLE MAGIC @ FUTURE VS. RETRO so Hoa — Bes oe | TRACKTION 6 / UAD 8.0 / KUSH AUDIO ELECTRA DSP / ACON DIGITAL EQUALIZE / SOFTUBE TRANSIENT SHAPER / ACUSTICA AMBER EQ / LVC-AUDIO LIMITED MAX / SINEVIBES DRIFT 3 / AND MORE AUDIOTHING MINIBIT CM ecm ree ea mre mari) ith built-in sequencer and bitcrusher| COMPUTER MUSIC “57“So much morePrc UC er Ma LOS SURUBA > lbiza’s House hedonists show us some deep, dark studio secrets as they break down their latest remix in Ableton Live Cone aed>make music now With their trendy biza club night ANTS and acclaimed Suruba record label, Los Suruba have come along way ‘rom their beginning as bedroom DJs. We ‘caught up with Delmar Dos Santos and ‘Alvaro Mufiozin an Ibizan studio unfortunately bangin the middle of ‘winter -to learn more about thelr ascent toDJ/producer superstardom, and tofind uta few of thelr music-making secrets, started music ina hardcore band playing the bass, begins Delmar. "We played punk rock But nada friend who boughtan Akai MC that was the fist ‘contact had with production. started ‘ing, and t sold my bass to buy decks. “That was when met Alvara at school ~ ‘we were both studying design. We became friends,and we were playing clubsin Madrid, putting on our own partes. These ‘were the days when you could make living just Dding You didnt need to produce muse “But we had many bad experiences. We'd ‘99 to play in clubs and the owners wouldnt ay us! We decided we needed to learn how te produce: weneeded our own record Inbal, That's when we started taking lesson at [musle production school SAE. went to ‘the SAE in Madrid and spoke tothe director Decauseat that time they didnt havean iewanl=\eteV4ln\osnUnela) ‘electronic music production course. He sald, I you ind afew guys, wecan start ‘one: Sowe did, and we were thefstonesin Maced who di that course! ‘ter fnishing thelr course, Delmar and Alvaro worked oda jobs tobe able fo afford to set una simple computer-based studio in Madrid." was just Cubase on a PC at this stage-we dlonthave anything ese" Alvaro ‘continues "With he money from my fist ‘Work, bought a MOTU 828, which was VIDEO MASTERCLASS In this exclusive video, Los fonmeove | SUTUDa SHOW US: how they created their deep and minimal remix of Dear David's Ive Been Waiting in Ableton Live. 60 / COMPUTER MUSIC elected pr eed Poems reer Peaonererioney recommended by our teacher, butit wasa bigeeffort! To be honest. welearned more ‘when we had our stuco than we didn School, because we could really practice what we readin magazines and learned from our trends. We got morefrom the ‘magazines than our teachers because when you follow te tutorials, you get to do things Fightaway ands super-easy We wouldnt disagree with that The lads’ production break came when they slaneda visting DJs tack to thelr nascent label."We broughta really nice producer, Tigerskn, to our club when we Sarted the label, reminisces Delmar. “We asked how we could geta track rom him for ‘Suruba, He sai, OK guys give you this track. but you have to make a remix!" We were super-happy. but we hadntreleased anything at that point, especially nota remi.S0thiswas.a scary prospect. but we were excited Los Surubarese tothe occasion and have eon creating remixes and original material ever since. Ther choice of softwarehas changed since thelr Cubase days."We had trouble witn Cubase using alot of CPU, explains ANaro. "So westarted looking for other software. We got Macsand tried to Use Logic, because the plugins it comes with = lke the distortion, reverb, and Uitrabeat are better or the kind of music we make. We've been producing with Logic forthe ast two years, but three months ago, we decides to try Ableton. Live is superfast, and theSession window gives youa ditferent workflow thats more like mixing We used to take two months to do track, but with Live, we've made tracks In one day Infact, the Dear David remixis the first track we made in Live! In this isto Veo, Los Suruba show us how they made thelr remix of Dear Davids 've Been Watting.make music now < Perea Bass with Trilian T1O9 sites Steg outtneue gansinine, Instumentsperctsshe ig cleky2presel used ‘Ri egtigntonelptftntote mic then ran through Lives Compressor he siechan Input of ‘etic ana se punch hough ne Vocal processing with Toraverb and Molekular gin therm 4 eo Me eccoolsttl bith i More bass with Analog Lab Beats with Battery and Drumazon O7:20 sestswanniive intents ‘rum sampler Battery wich lows ther {uicuy auationalaigenumber af aterent kek rum sounds. The kick parts ployed in Batery equalised wth Eight to ost the low end ane tame the aggressive low mids smth The traces Seng comes courtesy of Ds Groups Drumazon, weno techies test ong navel your sounds organized because mates {your woriow gofaster fs ease to werk 'you fave yourktet kicks ad your Kit snares hat youkrow work Because youve sed hom nthe Recreating the melody with reFX Nexus O5s6 seats tetuloectertoninesotvcarnevan, | (oa 2 Eecsececenecceca ‘NSETMONTH We catch up with Sonny Wharton for another m-stualo masterclass: REXTWONTH Wecatehopwi 17 a ected rack Sie catis HEAR MORE aera nore gua COMPUTER MUSIC / 61BACK ISSUES Catch up on what you've missed - all of these issues include Vault downloads! ater Viele sant FREEWARE! Bia Fara ee £ jase t edd ISSUE 216 lenges Pst) 409 PAE} 1) 74 ISSUE 211 prio ne : : Re ec eC ae eee Brant ee ISSUE 210 PS iy Sel] oS iu ES Sil) ISSUE 205 Bee ere eae oc eee ce cer rod Smarr at re aires are Tass MORE BACK ISSUES AVAILABLEee The cm guide to PLUGINS Are you puzzled by plugins? Vexed by VST, AU, AAX? Adrift in a sea of acronyms? Never fear - we're here to help with our essential guide to plugins! > Theadventot the VST plugins arguably themost pivotal, mportant development Inshaping the way we make music on our computers today. When Steinberg made’ VST technology freely available to any an developersin1997, the doors of creativity ‘were thrown open, and beforetootong, virtually any studio tool could be had foritue fr evenno money. More importantly, VST plugins could beused any DAW that Supported them, meaning that you didn't need toowna Steinberg producttotake ‘advantage of allof the new toys that s00n flooded themarketplace. ‘What sa plugin? Put simply, n music ‘production, a plugins an add-on program for ‘ne’ system that can berun rom withina "host ‘0 DAW (which stands for Digital Audio Workstation’ = amusie-making program, in other words, such as Steinberg Cubase, Ableton Live. FL Studio, and many more). They generally come in one of two forms: virtual effects processors suchas reverberation, dynamics, ‘equaliser, etand instruments ike vitual synthesisers samplers, drura machines, ang Instrument ROMpIers Why use plugins? Variety! Why be stuck with your DAW's onboard EQ.or compressors? NO single effect or instrument i ideal or every ser. and plugins give you a way to customise Your virtua recording studio to your own tastes, Perhaps youre the sort who loves vintage tube ‘gear and tape machines ~ you can easily load up with plugins that recreate these in virtual form Not your scene? Then kt out your DAW with ultra‘ modern forward-thinking plugins instead, Strapped for cash? No problem! There are tons ff amazing treebies out there, and as you probably know this very magazine comes with fem Plugins. an exclusive collection of in excess ‘of 40 instrument and effects plugins seep), Experienced desktop producers take plugins for aranted. However. the newcomer faces bewildering array of options and potential problems. Over the next few pages, well lendeavourto help you sort them out wth Straightforward anewersto common questions, ‘along with tutorials to help You work through Yyournewfound knowiedge, and forte ist time ever nem accompanying videos that show you how its done in not ust one but eight ‘of themajor DaWs: Ableton Live Bwig Studio, Cubase, FL Studio, Logic Pro X. PreSonus Studio, (One, Reaper and Sonar COMPUTER MUSIC | 63.> make music now / the Plugin formats and compatibility ‘The VST format reigns supremetothisday. but Special delivery Iitle more deta VST (effect and VSTi itisn tthe only format available. Thereare AU, __Mostpluginsare available as downloads and __(nstrumenD plugins are the most common, AAX and RTAS tonamebutafew,though well this snow thedelivery system of choice. Some being used on Mac, Windows and even Linkix focus on VST and AU inthisarticlesince they're developersprovide programsthat facitate machines. These are good ifyou need by farthe most popular standards, and 2s you downloading, authorising and managing thelr compatibility wth amacninerunning afferent ‘may weitknow,allofour4Or emPluginsare plugins Lots of plugins are delivered using (0 (see Collaboration station on p66 for more avallablein both of these staple formats witha Installer packages with fle extensions like PKG on this). VST plugins are sometimes delivered in tevin AAX trrown infor oos measure). Or EXE (Macand Windows respectvely)-Mac_thelrraw DLL (Windows) or VST (Mac) format, ‘madaiton, some plugins ae written for Users willbe familar with the OMG flethatis tobe copied to your plugins folder manually 2bitsystems while othersare coded for 64-bit_mountedand opened lke a disk with the The VST format has recently been brought Ssystoms..Anc'some fr both Your own Installer or plugin contained within. ‘upto version 3, though many developers sti ‘operating system and host program (by which Many plugins wil require unlock codes.serial_ support the older VST 2.xx format. VST3 plugins ‘wemean your DAW) will determine which rhumbers. authorisation codesorlicensefiles, are always 64-bit compatible offer sidechalning format youll want to use-wellcomebackte andthe produet’sdocumentation shauld'be” options ane dynamically assignable outputs. the species alte later, bul ee the handy Teferced oor nstructions onhow touse these. However, they lspense with the popular table below fora guide to which DAWsrunon Bese to keep any codes and thellke backed preset/patch and bank storage format typ and PCand Mac, whether teysupport AU/VST2/ _upinasecurelocationsothat youcanaccess tub, respectively), which can make transferring \VST3.and whether they havea Dit bridge’ for them again case you need to relnstal. Patches between plugins and projects ticker. running 22-bit plugins in their 64-bit version, Lets takea look at those formats again in a . RAM ithome 64-bit systems they can access more RAM than azbitones and thereby allow more plugins, ‘amples and s0 on, tobe loaded up at any given time. However, many plugins are sil 32-bit only especially on Windows. Often this isnt an ae we 2 @ ea Issue, as most =f not all modern DAMS offer both 32-bit and 64-bit versions that can exist Steinberg Cubase Pro8, v v v v Y side-by-side on the samecomputer. You cant Fun a 64-bit plugin ina 32-1 host the reverses Image-Line FL Studio a v v ¥ ——_alsousualy true, but many 64-bit DAWs have a bultin bridge’ that can make 32-bit plugs 5 avaliable. f your DAW doesr't,you'l need a mreuds Smet o ws is Y third party bridge or wrapper ‘Beyond compatiilty,(sthere adliference Apple GarageBand v fe between formats? Alte, yah Fr nstonce ‘Audio Units canine send MIDI out, meaning CakewalkSonar v v v ¥- some plugins wort function without some ‘workaround In sucha case, youll be beter off Using a VST versionf your host supports both. Appia boaie Pre if i ‘Auld AAX format found in only one DAW: ‘Avid ProTools. and i's an improvement and Cockos Reaper v v v v replacement forthe older RTAS (native Pro ‘Toos) and TOM (nardware PT) ormats. Finally, PreSonus Studio One v v v v v Feason has ts own plugin format too, Rack Extensions which work a lot ike Reasons bult anew In plugin. so theyre dead easy to igure out Plugin folder locations ‘Sohow does your DAW know where to fook for Your plugins? Actually. might not. Mac users have easy, as there are OS specified folders {Into which plugins are installed. These folders ‘ane found by going to your Library folder Gt Yyourcanttnd it go tothe Finder's Gomenu, hold Alt. and aL brary option should appear). find the Audio directory. and then te Plug-ins {older within. There you wil find more folders Stil, One willbe labelled Components thisis ‘where your AU plugins reside. Other folders wil Uninstaling plugins from 05 X usually requires litle more than putting the Component (OF VST fileinthe Trash. Sometimes an Lninstaler willbe offered, though, ‘On Windows, you can choose the location of Your VST plugins folders. Some DAWs wl create ‘one when you install them, but both DAW and. plugin installers will often give you an option of pointing tothe plugin rectory you'dike to Use. usually looks something like C:\Program Fles\Stoinberg\VST Plugins. befoundalongsieltfor VST and VST3 plugins. youeusing Apples OSX al your VST. vST3ang I you're Pro Tools user, youllfind yourpligins AisieUnitsgeintopre-determinediocations ‘nan Avid of Digidesign folder. your instalers (Once you've installed your plugins, think twice {don't automaticaly install the pligin into the | Oneisfr allusers, the other is for administrator about moving them. Some plugins rely on proper folder, you should manually copy them use. your DAWhastrouble seeinga plugin, support les installed into the same directory. Into the relevant folders listed above. Yyoumigntneedto moveitirom one brary to Te duplicate plugins esewhere.on the crve, use COnecaveat there wilikely betwosetsof the other, though the system folder Isusuelly shortcuts on Windows right-click tocteate one) folders under two different Librarylocations. the one tous. orallases on Macs (Cme:Altdragging). Some pluginsare deliveredas only DLL les. ‘and need tobe copied to your chosen directory. 64 / COMPUTERMUSIC | |1. Loading plugins in your DAW. Though there area wide varlety of DAW, each with ts own unique interface, there are "imlatities when iteomes to loading up and tsing plugins, and most stick to one of two approaches. Thefiret-aeseen in Stenberg’: Cubase, Apple Logic, and Cakewalk’ Sonar ~ involves insert slots ona trackor mixer channel These are deed in the same way 22 an insert effect would be used on a naraare mise. In other words, the effects placed in ine’ on that Imiver or track channel, Plugins might be loaded Inby use ofa dropdown menu tree or right clicking in the effects slot Clicking inthe insert Dretfects slot in some DAW -Cockos' Reaper, for instance - will eveal a dedicated browser from which the desired plugin may be selected. It's common to stack multiple effects plugins together to form anefects chain, much Inthe way a gultarist ight connect various stompboxes together to form acustom sound. Insome DAW, these effects chains may be sived andrecslled at alter time Stlebar browsers are becoming something of a standard design choice for DAW developers. Here. youll find your plugins displayed and possialy arranged into categories, The plugins may be dragged into the project and placed diectty onto a track or channel. Abeton Live. Bitwig Studio, Cakewalk’ Sonar and PreSonus Studio One can allopen effects and even instrument plugins inthis manner (On the subject of instrument plugins, we should discuss the afferent methods you might encounter when loading up instruments, As ‘mentioned, sometimes they canbe dragged ane ‘cropped froma browser onto a specific track, However, many DAVIS distinguish between instrument and audio tracks 50 youlineed to ‘Keep this in mind, Those that allow you to drag instruments in fom a browser might offer the choice of using an existing instrument track or ‘teating anew one, Some DAMS (Cubase, onan) make music|now < allow you topen instruments ina “rack” and then connect to them from MIDI or instrament ‘tracks, Others (Logie) make a plugin meni available from the track sel. Itdoesn' take fong to amass alarge collection of plugins, making aficut to tind the one you need at any given time. This canbe areal workflow kl! Some DAW, such as Sonar, Cubase and ADieton LWve provide a search function that will help narrow down the selection to those that match any text your enter. Remember to clear the search ld when you'e done, though, to bring back the fulist We've prepared videos for eight major DAVE showing you the basis of loading up instrumentand effects pluginsin them. along with afew handy tips you wor't want to miss Some DAWs organise plugin by > ceveloper.or some other scheme. Creating your own custom eategoraed system andlor excluding pigin you doit have tis unetonaeybultn Others. ke Ableton Live ana Bt Stuct,raly on the strate in your plugin flder Here pasa oldred category in itwio Sus Austin aternatves proved in > Cakewali’sSonar and stenberas Cubaze.bothof wichotfer pin ‘manager that faites the cretion of listo folders into which vious plugins ‘may be dragged without disturbing ther ‘tows yout create elaborate, custom seca Vitagesyntns tower mat we've added using Cubases Pugin Manager PreSonus Stutlo One offers no such > features However thereiea clever workaround Simply goto Homein the bromser choose Flee» Studie One nd Eategory Drag the pigins you want to {stegorisetntetheproect and tentnto Yournew folder You cansee this process Video on he subject 3 COMPUTER MUSIC | 65.>make music now / th oes ] > phigine not showing upinyour OH, there are afew tings tty. Fish clore {he DAW waseunning Next reacan he fogs ger trom wit your DAW. Causing ne DAW topo taugmt yur plugins gsi ondd them ointena databace Above, te bang Conan ve, > users mayhaveluck opening a DAW in ‘dminstrator mode this done by right ‘hoosing Rumasaamimistrato) This wi Inilatearescan ofthe plugins folder that ‘an make some pligineavatabe Also be Sure that your hosts porting ane Correct VST folder or folders andthat lof Five essential plugin tips MIDI PLUGI While we've talked alot about plugin effects, andinstruments, there exists another type of plugin recognised by some hosts: the MIDI plugin. These work iketheir audio effects ‘counterparts except that they open in MIDI andinstrument tracks, processing MIDI data, ‘Youcan find all zorts of both freeware and pald-for MIDI plugins, such as arpeggiators, ‘MIDI delay lines and quantisers. Among the ‘most useful are those thatallow youto ‘convert one type of MIDI message into ‘another: you might convert aftertouch ‘messages into breath controller data to beread bya woodwindinstrument plugin, for example. WRAPPERS. ‘The plugin wrapper has been aroundalmost from the very first days of plugins. offering a ‘way to oad, say VST plugins intoan AU-only host. Xpansion willetilzellyou an adapter tofacitatetheuse of VST plugins inthe fading number of RTAS hosts. DDMF's ‘Metaplugin, meanwhile, isa VST/VST3/AU/ ‘AAXIRTAS plugin that self can load other \VST/VST3I/AU plugins, thus allowing one to Lise VSTS in Logic Pro X,for example. Se ELD T= (et iT) "MIDI puis ike this ne om Cakewae 66 COMPUTER MUSIC C More importantly, wrappers can beused toload32-bit plugins into 64-bit hosts. Many a Logic user was flummoxed by Logie Prox’ ‘exclusion of 32-bit plugins, but thanks to32 Lives ($99 from soundradix.com), it's not the ‘end ofthe world Similarly, Bridge (€15 trom bitsy/]Bridge) isa cross-platform option that anallow 64-bit plugins tobeused in 32-bit hhosts, assuming of course that your OS supports 64-bitapplications. CHAINING PLUGINS ‘Many effects plugins provide sidechain Inputs, traditionally by making these inputs available as destinations amonga DAW's routing options. I'sanincredibly useful tool, slightly fiddly to setup, so consult your ‘DAW's manual for thelowdownenhow todo Itin yourhost. You can often makellifecasier by using your DAW’s builtin plugins, which usually make routing the sidechain signal as simpleas selecting the desired source within 1 plugin, or by using VST3 plugins, which alsocoffersimpliied routing setup. COLLABORATION STATION {you're planning to collaborate with other desktop muses, it would be wiseto consider versionof given plugin and, cepending fre Windowe users ean often metal Dt) versions of a host sce bysice Mac users {anlghtclekon thet hosts app con, choot Get info and then choese to open Some DAW in 32 mode 3 the plugin formats available toallinvolved partes. [s there one particular plugin format avallabletoboti? lf youare using Ableton Liveona Mac, for example, you'd be best off avoiding AU plugins and instead using VSTS ‘when collaborating witha Liveuser that ‘makes musicona Windows machine, since they wouldr'tbeable toload AUs anyway. Evenif you can'tswap projects due to using different DAWs, you can still potentially transfer plugin settings by shar and again, this 's generally madesimpler by sticking to the same formats where possible. For someusers,a fully kitted-out DAW is ‘overkill Many live performers needonly a simple host to load up plugininstruments thatcan be played inrea time froma MIDI keyboard or effects through which they can route signals such as guitars, vocals and ‘more. For those users, there aresimple hosts such as Hermann Selb's VSTHost (free from bitty/VSTHost or Apple's Mainstage ($29.99 from the AppStore).cm Sometimes you jut want tooas “Mixcraft Pro Studio 7 is a surprisingly advanced DAW. RY at avery attractive price.” PN or ForMiresoft Windows’ £ | Download a free trial ot waw.acoustiewcomJust Listen. Eventide H3000 FACTORYas Stl = SS Se IRIS 2 1s} K=rs a (0) PM UATE AIS\ AVEO L0 ROI iZotope’s spectral synth/sampler with our tutorials and videos > Asumeaulvocally expressedinwordsand omer cement ery blew the top off ourscore-o-meter witha Peete ee ere ted Ca ort peee rene ene ety Poetre ree reer Corre ies ‘ound design system the sequel makesthings eee er Seem nea Se yet Ree erty Cec re eee Ce eter ay Ce eer ren Peer eee cry Cites Ley Pence as since youcan have both versions installed eon eet ee ee reas Rone Cea errent eer et See ett Parone nie tet See een ee eat ee) Pron eae rr ee instrument that tis, This comprises asetof Cee aor \which are used to mask out frequencies ina eee eT ean eed Sore ert eT Panera rencent se] See eat erat tert Se eed Preece! fete eecre nator ae) Set ete tinge Peer et DOWNLOAD. eo eae)> make music now trs2 snips witha nuge anaaiverse Browser button to switch to Full Bowser Samples usd intra patch anc tweak he ‘he four Sample Pooks rom the factory library or your own colton. cHeking the ‘ame eine Simple pan or Chek Update saves changes into the current fone. The Voice Mode buttons snitch between Monophonic. Polyphonic and [Legato with tne number ofvoees (pt SampleFool Selector button, 2,30r4, 3 {etop Fahd. or by resing Tab Each Solo buttons anda Gain knob, fr bas Ouitout Output the master ouput intensity dlassiniouanesstoestng Slgritnns rom Zotope Gzone:and Gilde Sebinepotaenotine-te tne portamento) to 2000", “TheSample paelis where yournae Samples toaded into thefour slots The Grin and Pan or balance or stereo Sarnpiea controls es wel as Coarse and Fine ting knobs, enabling upto tvee actaves (ana 30 cents)ottranaposton in punts yousethesamplesPlayback 2nd backwards forwardethen backwards; and ‘one-shot, set the Laop button, 70 COMPUTER MUSIC Loop Start nd Loop End se theloop playonckdvacton changes ana jumps from end to nd Offa site the ‘elton to the other Samle Pols Astor Pitch Modes. Resample acts 22 ‘2 conwentionalssmpierspeeaing ana Radlus RT changes he pitch without avectng sped nd Fised oes the Sampo at snatural pitch With Retrigger samples canbe changed using Root Note.eyeseig) Cc ddA, BED ‘mashing out precseydetinedsectons of is spectrogram using asetot simp represents frequency. and the amplitude brightness brighterbeing louder. Tie thi button te main Zoom Took wan tne OptionAitxey hel ot etnerin Stepsby cekngortoa rangety dragsing purpose a dravginain ine Overview, Tho Brush Selection tol aves yous rd enn cuir selection when cicked withinone. Selections can bemoved by crags, currant vsibiointhe Spectrogram leftand right to sit the window The ‘dar under tha sample contois blends ih, | “w ‘The otualfiteringis one using the ‘Sampee (bs) are aude while unselected ‘reas Carey) are not Unita selections bbeheardwhen playback reaches them thn A i a | ‘The Eraser Tootalzo nas areizabe ‘reas ino elected ones although Sttangely. not ino the default tly be mado firs). The Clear AllSetections button doesexoety hat says geting cof al fiers ane finaly te thre Inversion Toots nvertte selections on theX mel ¥drequeney)or oth axes. make music now < handle zooming The opmostonels actualy just brton-eleet oinstanty feta zoom level encompassing al y v Test ttvee Selection Tools enabee basic rectangular selections tb ‘xs lienth an both together Meaty seabie rectangle). Theree tnhen themouse butonisrelessedto >Utility functions Rightlickinganywheretn the Spectogram popeupa mens functions. The most usefutof these 2ecopy and paste of samples between Sample Pools withor paste of atner sting (modulation, Sendeffects, et) instant snapping attoop pons tothe outer ecges ot Fundamental requency changes mage by spectral tering COMPUTER MUSIC | 71> make music now Envelopes eight macros and four MID| Input eels. Drag upidown onthe cle >Mod options mmodulatore Vand 24 mergeta pred bined signalcanbe dusted by right-clicking {Comoine (Mod 12) andlor (Mod 2) mode, Ad etal simply ads he two together: Mutt mulples them Shy point inte. ° i the modulation actions visualised by an animator henge conor cot {Current Assignments menu oght felact Cant Mod Assignment The FO ate canbe stbstneen borstncluding triplet and cotted imecissonnteney ey ne Depth tock iooh wile Page oes he sar CBCRC Br jf. Rather than the usual roster ot playtead poston wlan which shuttled back anfortusing the Shape ser ‘The ve Envelopes row) areal of ‘envelope display. and éreqging aseqment 1s 75 eign Macros purpte et you Geslgna bank custom performance onlay soning mulipleparameters pop out the Macro Controls window by deat, asign hero contro 72) COMPUTER MUSIC standard MID! signalsare availabe as ‘medulaton sources (green special ‘ote piten key Tracking), Velo, ‘of couse). As ould expect nan moder vith tsown dedicated amount knob, ‘auditioning keyboard. Movelts octave range up and down withthe arrows, set isthe Key Maps fends ofthe fourbors.Korg.stve Tokyo i28ioc, Saturated, and the vowel shaping Formant anc Formant Brignt You get stendord-ssue tot Resonance and Key racking make music now < ccontrolsin the Send fects modules et ‘Me sampe panel wilafect te output, tanttonote that Send tects tether mage clekingthe upward ‘The Distortion module offers ik rushing algonthms taken from otepe Trash nth contol for edssting Tone {nd dtortion Amount Chorus is inepired bye chorus processors trom tne Raland range of tnexening widening anaptch 6. Iris 2 interface tweaks and options There'smore to lls2 than initially meetsthe eye, withits flexible interface enabling almost DAW:like levels of workspace customisation Thoserunning small displays will appreciate the ability to individually foldaway the Sample, “Master, Modulation and Keyboard panels, Increasing the space avallableto the Sample Pools and making spectral iter editing considerably less fay than the default setup. Hiding just the Master and Sample panels gives the keyboard more enath, and the Modulation panel enough room toshow theLFOsand envelopes together, rather than|ust one or the other. Ownersot larger screens,on the other hhand, can achievesimilar space optimisation without hiding anything by dragging the Dottom right-hand corner ofthe GUI to freely resize the whole t The Patch Browser and Modulation panel NEXT MONTH The down-low on Mona canbe broken out ofthe main window. the latter againallowing the LFO and Envelopesto sharethe limelight. Even better than that, 2 click ofthe Mix button inthe Sample Pool Selector calls up the Mix window, which ‘Native Instruments’ awesome Minimooa tribute The Stereo Delay module features an Low and High Cutfiters Reverb models pate everbertor special - justine presentsallfour Sample panels and the Master Master Filter and Master Etfects sections together inone big interface. ts allgreat news for those packing duat- monitor setups, the only downer being that none of the pop- ‘outs an be kept open onthelr own dismissing the main window dismisses the rest ‘ofthem witht. The remaining is 2 features that we should ‘quickly mention forthe sake of completion are undo/redo; thespectrum analyser in the Master section; the inclusion ofallsampies in ‘exported patches for easy fle sharing:and the ‘Options screen, where various under-and over the-hood aspects the synth canbe ‘tweaked, including activating Radius RT High ‘Quality modeand turningon the timeruler ‘Gamples or seconds) in the Spectrogram area, whichis disabled by default, puzzlingly. em COMPUTER MUSIC / 73PA el tated Paleo r alee] ee CMe en eas AMA Su) Lennon) el BU nes ene aes Coe aed enn led Kids, Bellowhead, We Are The Ocean, Reachback), er: A ey pa y[o0S 5} GU ae eee ae cone a oe ST Ul) ee a a CD SURFEREO "Quite simply, Surfer is the best bass equalizer I've ever Pee eg ed on Se een) Vanessa Williams, George Michael) GET YOUR FREE TRIAL AT WWW.SOUNDRADIX.COM SoundRadixtutorials < em/experts ry month witt nputer mu Easy Guide Muste theory with Dave Clews Designer Sounds ‘Sounddesign with au! “insieinfo" Bondy Geek Technique ‘Advanced production with Owen Palmer La DrBeat Beat and dum design with Ronan Macdonalo Tales Learn how to flip individual notes in your chords to get a new voicing while retaining the same character /8 BW shares Give up on samey snare samples and craft your own tweakable hit machine to use again and again BO setae’ Sterile, clinical electronic music begone - here's how to put some reality back into your choons G2 pais"? The good doctor probes six common maladies that rookie drum programmers are prone to COMPUTER MUSIC “75Prteen ey “Guide #26 Inverted chords Having trouble making your chord progressions flow smoothly without being boring? Try turning them on their heads We've touched briefly oninverted chords > once ortwicein previous Easy Guldes, particularly inemz08'sinstalment on Voice ‘Leading, a technique in which they play an Important part. Yetthis month, Ivedecided that they're wortha closer look, as aproper understanding of inverted chords and how they work can vastly increase the palette of available chords, and can havea very positive ‘effect on how your progressions sound. >Step by step >> letesurtoryeokingatasiple ‘mar radi whats known as toot, note oftne enor cinthisene, ft the Botiom othe stack ging usthenotes and The dictionary definition of inversion isto. turn sometning upside-down, ana tats pretty ‘much what inverted chords are. Each inversion Uses the same notes But witha diferent note at the bottom of thestack each time. Inversion are given numbered names -fist. second, third and s0.0n ~according tohow many notes have been transposed to create theinversion. When you invert a chord it profoundly ters the character of ts sound, even though its > Heresne same cor again. bain time, the rot note hasbeen shied up Cine but he note are nonin “erentorder The bassnote snow E uth the G aninterva of athe above and theralea Casbanabove, technicaly the same chord.so inverted chords area great way of making your progressions sound more interesting evening out transitions ‘rom one chord to another and -ifyourea player ike mysel- reducing the amount of ‘wandering around the keyboard your hands have to de, Notonl tat using inverted chords makes i easier to restrict te range of ‘requencies taken up by a particular part, which intuen makes it easier to place in mix. Uieaear near eae deena ao > Heescmaprananans tein tne secondinversion,Thelow Ehae azo thet aethe oassnote enon have the fn itervafa fourth above with the 2 Sithabove Horesasimole progression. made up flock, oot poston tads Am. 6.ciitsounds oK-butl’sabithumpy and Aisointes Lets ee now we can ose Inverted versions athe same exer to > 4 adress that sve. Tho im sto require as ite mand movement as posse when playing the progression onthe Keyboard 76 | COMPUTER MUSIC aces eaeecasataaian +> Ataented ras we ko om femz02'£2sy Guide arbult by Stacking notes at mao ted intrvas For thiseasen. when you nvertone yours simply moving upthe keyboard the nent augmented ti $0 technical, {theres no sueh thing as an verte ‘avamented tad itust becomes the next augmented choreasy guide / make music now < RECOMMENDEDLISTENING -PROTIPS aur, aroekanorente SME Rmen BT OE santana ime GA cactcwesmes” «| skeenctoaegeactant a BR) 20uns arma? and Gmay7. “around the keyboard. This not only makes tne Diseisianennte = ‘ox1oM, morour Dseivatecsanin ‘> rand the intervals betwoan the notes > viads,but what we wereto aod Go actualy shit when nvertea inthese fourth noteto the proceedings? Inverted ‘examples, the root poston Bim chore ‘Seventh chords behave lary 0. hasenlysixsemitones separating the Inverted lads but because they conta owest and highest notes Skip to the st ‘extra note, here's anextainwersion Inversion anditencs up between te ‘made possbla-the third inversion Lets ‘pe we notes. and between the lower {ook ta ro0t poston G7 chora GBD ‘wootes inthe second inversion intresting thing tonoteatthspont that uses inverted seventh andrinth nd saventns are notated inthis eae fe to ce movement Dect of ‘wehavea Gmalor chord with an Fin the {akingusthrough Gm7-89-Ama7 base soon a cart Rwouldbe ween a¢ maiz The Cm? asecond inversion the Gif ana referred 35°% over 59 and Nay? avebotn tha iwversions, and the Dma7isafst inversion. ‘EXTON Howto determine a songs rmuscal ey oy est ——| Dave Clews Inastudiocareer spanning almost 25 years, Davehas BB cranceres, ‘programmed and played keyboards on records fora string of artists including George Michael, Kyle days, inbetween writing articles foremand other magazines, he collaborates on occasional songe and videos with singer/songwriter Lucy Hist, aka Polkadothaze. wundaveclews.com time, we arrive at theft GF) and econd(D 6-8 inversions Bu thers ow koa tha possibly. Ung ne ame tecniqueot epng 9 > thetowestnoteup one octave ea Eten aa lure 20)5 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 77Pets tty sounds Pcie) Punchy DIY snares &% [DOWNLOAD] Knock out some quick hits with choice synth layers and plugin effects - Insidelnfo shows you how it's done > Wiiletherearemiionsofsnaresamples The area round200250Hesacommenly _Youcaneven set the punch reson to match floating around insamplepacks,making _usod punchy snare frequency indrum’n'bass your track's musical character. yOU know your and ather bass music -ithitsyou rightin the songskey try matching the punch to the root Chestwhen playedover a bigoundsystem, note or sith, withthe aid af an analyser witha ‘Youcanspendhoursand noursiayeringand glvinga weighty andsatistyingsound Youdon't _notereadout ‘tweaking sampled snares, butthistutrlal offers. have tofolow this rule, though for example, you These techniques can also be useful i you're ‘away of creating asuper punchy snare with just mightfind that that frequency range isalready having a particulary hard time choosing a snare fonesynth anda fewelfects. Welluse DI6Groups occupied bysome of your bassharmonics, and drum that fit with your track, as by making your ‘awesome LuSH-101 synth plugin or this, asit’ _thatptching tupfurther to300-400Hz wil ownsnare, oullbe able to customise it unt it foffersmultiple DAW outputs andnoisetypes. give you morespacein yourmixto play with. gals perfectly with your arrangement. >Step by step pram Stay opening us nats Turef stew ackingsotte eee 1 > astatpaten then loads frequency 2 > pitchattnecucslor a conicedby te 3 > tone and more oa superfast punchy aura eeeeeees Slennctimaainewcnermewa: > turticemlepslcoelbosrptcs peers pve iran eee ecu ore ee tour vias np dapat Snensbavstrures nowt urn for possi voles aang ns Aioteons oot ister eee eee eae Sete te one me the punehy bad of our snare sour 7@ | COMPUTER MUSIC | 119° 20)designer sounds / make music now < RECOMMENDED LISTENING PROTIPS EQRuSHA OPTICAL, BROKEN BREAKS. M acre Thsanarsutjsttebeused ontsown-ttcoutaa USE ANY KIT (PENDULUM REM) Dionvoce MERIUS, DISTANTIA Hatt lifeee ie se Insidelnfo ‘Asadrum' bass producer and 0, Paul Insidelnto’s back ‘cataloguefeatures feleasesonsuch lauded abelsas virus, Viper. Metro, Critical, Hospitatand Renegade Hardware. inbetween ‘igaing and twisting Up weird noises for his tracks and sample libraries, Paul also produces musicfor ‘commercial advertising, pedesnfocouk > tere tawsopes Atackup 0 9sme {35d Decay Bm to create alonger {ayer Alo Outpt to2 swe en a3 some external reverb tot ake sre {sts output inactivated In your DA, forthe wert work) Non. in your AW Imixer create group chen and send both of Lusk outst > Lunsowmouput2stontyomake the thump fom output more Sutout2enannt m gong es use Exee Atv ere nih the Davout Studio ‘Roreset.a shor rever time, ne acre ‘Mix of 65% You canretur tothe reverD later andchange presets and parameters forditerentsnare sounds > Neretsoasin Fite Satu and > create anew bancbetweent5OHz snd ASOHs,dringits velop to 484Bt0 Introsties some sunte warm ape civ ‘Tesoundatiltecsine Rs missing some ohm requencies tome solets ada Botner band at about 2002, again with the volume o 8a, but this time with Drive crane althe way up. > saturation types and soe what youlke best Fmalso goina to drive the top ban ‘with some clean tbe estration andes thetone contolsto bring nye more brightness We ean even ada transent Shaper suenasZotope loa realy tighten things upand make thack! ET MONTH Were brushing up on our Kontakt skis with some et rave stabs 9 G8uu 122. Lets setup some EQ andsaturaton on > theoveral group channel torealy ‘hanal load an FQsuch 35 DOM EO, ProCMand boost around 256H2t bing ttthepuncaitemore. Ade a cot around 16002 to removeharsh op end, Ffilisic ae Q ae =e Sec > Tenshi tad asset tne reverbto shorten te tall Load a nsitered Agios G8 CM onto Luss econ output aftr the ever ane bing the Thresholdjust below tne peas (aout 3808) Set the Attack anc Release toms, and ast ne Mold eonvolto preference thehigher the time. the Tonge ur seare wile em COMPUTER MUSIC “79Rene aoe Organic details Does everything you make sound too perfect and synthesised? Owen reveals how to give electronic sounds a convincing tint of reality > You probably know by now thatsounds travel through theair a vibrationsthat arethenconvertedinto electromagnetic impulses deep inside your earsto be sent to the brain for processing. Well,ityou didn't know already, youdonow. But thats onl the sensation of sound. What bout the perception of sound? Asa matter of fact, your brain rapidly processes an ‘overwhelming stream of information sent from >Step by step Porn > any realitenatruments ress ‘tele, Don worry. not about start preaching infavour of wood and stings ~ Frmin the dancemsie business ate However Irecxon we eanacaa zene of Ivins toon otherwise ab mx OY bringing ada of heres word into your ears sorting itand editing itbefore its ready to be perceived by your conscious ming, Inather words. what we perceiveas sound. comes va our brains - not directly from our ears and our brains tamper with that data fist, ‘As musicians striving for excellent sound, we have totrust what we subjectively feeland ty ot to make important artistic decisions based ‘on what we expect to logically sound right. From another perspective, sometimes, important > romero wack ‘ut tno tv neardakpot summing ool concert crowds, wdifespocesand Neral a sea toreat eect These amples re eaey to come by but youl Siootindsome reshsomplesincudedtn the tora Flos DOWNLOAD ‘enhancements toa sound come inthe form of miniscule details that ae hard to hear because we perceive them as changes in emotion rather than changes in timbre. |s;pose what m saying isthat as anartist, youre not ust creating sounds youre creating emotion. This Geek Technique ial about what lcall'erganic tails: those barely audible things that can have aisproportionate impacton the fel of the music Its OK to be sceptical -Iwastoo.. >> Sern ctamotwray jpegs your ond tsa fairy washynolse that whichis important fora background ‘mbleneebecauseit means we can EO tom the moro! the mix were bling, > tats oftiny deta: peopl speaking Fusting tees, bieds coin thelhing, fait bit often the dance ievalabtrandom ina way.but thats the pont! We have sound with an Inherent organi etal to tats tng to ded an extra imension tothe mix, oes faseitin gent 80 / COMPUTER MUSIC / | > insothatts just below your teshold ‘otconsciousness Thisway.the benefits of ‘he organic cet ofa wtoout being obvious. This etlecisnt al the ‘une done ight, you nie a dramatic Srepin veiness whenever you try toi make music now < an Owen Palmer CAPTURING YOUR OWN AMBIENCES. GoIncoursive ‘Asanin-demand Theamblencsopls nuded withthe st ort wneud he your rao but geting oat dance musicengineer, ‘akanough were captures apartatie ‘tyoir usin mung enone anda te ose Owen's workedwitha finiryouaortmine locking an oa on aon 2 ng sounds you opthetal Taregngioberecaann sersthesogc meticulously studying Fequency ange out tetanus youlocewhenventrng cutie wih whatmakesa great ‘amecen ntiscase having sacha yuan ropes te wrote “een newer omens Srodatanruac Owen nas eatermeropnone ana accent Yu nan atherwar nese smsence ee caer slew of outstanding underground artists behindthe seanes {rom his London studlo. After yearsof scopy reeves advanced and coveted techniques opr rust often Rinne seater ne seit SCR NGR ioe oat Intouch with Owen about this ‘month’ sublectat. emziaowerteDrumming pitfalls Six rookie programming mistakes - and how to avoid them Ronan Macdonald Having previously Served asEaltor of drummers bible Rhythm as well as Computer ‘MuzleRonanis clearly the ight man for thie particular gig. He's been playing drums for over 30 yearsand making music ‘with computers ince the 90s. >Step by step pam a > Hyoutrenotadrummer butyoudon't ‘want torely on sampled loops and prefab IMIDIfiles forall your acoustic drum kittracks, atsome point you're going tohave to learnto program your own human’ beats. The basic principles of programming drums are quite Straightforward compared to the knowledge requiredto program authentic guitar brass ‘oF woodwind parts, say, from scratch. But, as with everything in musi production, learning a new skill means getting your head around new set of pitfalls, and in this month's Beat, show you what consider tobe sixot the most frequent and glaring mistakes made by novice drum kt programmers ray TTTE EEE Ht [| 2 Before we get started, perhaps the most important tip of als this you want to stand ‘any chance of achieving realism in your drum ‘tacks, our sound source needsto be atleast a decent multisampled drum kitsampler patch, nota dedicated drum ROMpler lke BFD, Superior Drummer, Addictive Drums or -as tm using here -EZdrummer 2. You won't get anywhere just throwing single kick, snare and hishat samples into a Live Drum Rack and having also save yourself an unnecessary stage of the learning curve andlinvest in some quality vitualtubs betore you go any futher, Here. then, ae si deadly drum programming landmines and tactis for adestepping them. fiitil HEH HATH HLH 2edamaging tothe grove as na ‘quantitation Moving notesnearerto the Ge by hands gooatacteasisan Meratvequantise uncon. your DAW hasone. Checkout the vdeo orth auclo fiferent quantstionievals 1 > ferectuantsatoncan best >> sinter wen programming ts consisting of rapaly repeated Pits aiwavsuse separate ft and inh hana ample your ouree nse them, ot Sop velocities at evry other noteto femuiate crummersnaturalet-oF antnancemphas 82 | COMPUTER MUSIC p> Onsofthebiooestaveowarsotted programming =wnen every natetsat ‘maximum (or the same veloc, This Iinattines are crcl tovay. ee, m lowering ech ofoeat note alte using Rascanalsoneip with ts 2 > Having our att crammarntmore tanto tings wiht hands atthe Same nels. obviushcomplteny ‘wrong Tryand mime Your programmes parts with yourands ond feet lon to tnsire that theyre physcally feasbe The Stove overentusistc cum Mi getsup tore handson thego at somepoints! > Becibetsnarescan besa programmed at max velocity every {ime butleting them soundidenticlisa ‘opinsamples,makng each successiverit ‘ound diferent use them, Otherwise, O) ie LT nT 6 > cesncrmaamayescunds rubbish stuck nteoation 20 rea “Grummer ould never se them on thet ‘unto make an impact. Generally Speaking crashes should alvaysbe Stacked on topof kick snargor tom ‘ite Checkout the idea to get the fullpctre em ‘REET MONTH Make crum parts more Interesting with beat Gsplacement technrquesTHE PLUGINS YOU NEED in FEN ' 0 DOPE VST CRATE DIGGER INSTRUMENTS | VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT Crate Digger is an innovative VST / AU plug-in for PC or MAC. \We have designed this “instrument” to give beat makers and crate diggers an instant library of royalty tre, viny style Hip Hop samples. Contains 800 unique hand crafted samples distributed across 50 included patches, with a new ‘crate’ expansion pack released monthly. S\ NV 6 Us NS ca G) SNES Y BETES | SAMPLEPHONICS PHOTOSOUNDER METERPLUGS DIRTY MODULAR SPLINE EQ LCAST STEREO INSTRUMENTS | KONTAKTINSTRUMENT| | EFFECTS | EQ GIN. FER IQUE.COM fit THE PLACE FOR MUSIC PLUGINS PluginBoutique is where the best music software companies _* Read customer ratings, reviews, videos and our blog come to sell their VST Plugins, Virtual Instruments and Studio® One login for all your plugins, updates & downloads Tools to Producers, Musicians and DJs worldwide. ° Earn virtual cash with every purchase SUGAR BYTES LOOPERATOR STUDIOTOOLS | UTILITY EFFECTS | MULTHEFFECT q = ARTYRIA QSOUNDIRON Co } waveona | fabfilter cableguysThe multi award-winning game and movie composer gives Us a glimpse into the world of soundtrack production Le Ps jason graves / interview < Cee reece Levveeer pene se erent Pky eaten’ Wars and Star Trekto the re-booted Tomb ee era eee y eee nary one een ‘anda brace of BAFTAS, the games equivalent ‘of acouple of Oscars! How many albums shit ‘more than two million copies these days? Or win BAFTAS? SNe ene rere Ere ret enter at are rece at a Sete Le ere Nain ee et ee Sen Cueto n ey Serene rea ter ea reer eee heats parser emer tree Ta Rte eee ened Pour cus ere Meet et ee eee ete eu ee ear eeer er rer ee eras Sener Lue Pott aes Ce Ce ected perenne Cees unrated ead Peceteenrrenuncentee sony ea es ee ea A a err ee eet rate een er rents een eee Se eure ey ‘cello and chok. See eee a) pulling up u-he Zebra, adding abit of Moog Sub rc ener r ee eae es ee aoe Ce era ‘recording parts of The Order soundtrack Pring re No cans ere ents Sree rere ean ee eters See one! enone teers Steet eral through the old tube mics and the desk. andit etcetera Gee ene nd before got anywhere near the studio. You erty en eae sere er ety eure res Pear ge tent tad Coren Core erypaTAIIny = Peco) ‘em Even though The Order soundtracks holriorchestra-based, youdo spend alot of time adding your own instruments and _almospheresto give that‘traditional'sounda an extra cay inthe samples: detaled. deep ‘dynamics Rosier mistakes here and tere, The Tomb entirely made fom my ith meaddinglive percussion, 86 COMPUTER MUSIC “an, texte and change them. fnittotne strings toad stuft want toadda bit of Jing astortion, ind or pick yp aguitar mics ana preamps. Itgets ‘added to the finshed proch “vet 25 guitar pedal orignal sound throu run the new sound sound, FabFiter have a fant plugin called Saturn - gets 3 bringing out the ringing up th “That's where thisjob has changed so much Hatt of my time is spent recording periments inproblem:memory and hard disk space. Femember back inthe 90s when I got the thst Miroslav Vtous orchestralsample st - which was the holy grallof the soundtrack world ~ and there was a 126MB violin on there! Wowt! Sound ‘quality a never heara before The only probiem was tat only had about 128MB to play within my entire setup. Ifluset the 128M votn.that was it! Unless you were icky enough to have abank of S760, you were ‘working with MB violins andtrying to make them sound hat- decent: em That'sstilla problem for most producers. How do youmake string and orchestral samples sound real? Asif they were played by humanbeings... 4G:"Yeah, but when you sten to modern ‘Soundtracks, they don’ sound ike they {id ten or 20 years ago. Like I mentioned farler, we're ne longer looking or that natural classical orchestra. We're looking for the ‘roove. Alot music-Ingames, TV and nis being written by guys who used tobe arock bands. fm aot saying that's a qood or bad thing: it'ust the way itis. The ceo isthe palms muted, chugging gular You turn up the sound when you'e playing a game and you can really shake the room. What we'remaking is ‘modern rock music -my sampled orchestra is my band The point fm making thatitsno longer so important to get your sampled stings, ‘sounding tke the real thing, What matters is interview < technique that you find sounds and textures that noone else hast. ‘em Ifthe young Jason Graves waslooking to ‘getinto soundtrack work today, where would hebe looking for his sounds? 3G: "Out there, man. Found sounds. Accidental Sounds. | spent about three years building a studio that allows me to dojustthat-to record anything andto find my own sounds. ve got a drum kit permanently setup 12 guitars. a huge outboard rig, a whole bunch of tube and ribbon mics o bring out the character in an instrument. great preamps. Ican record what | want, when | want, now | want Whats this it of mmetai? What happens serape it across the ular strings? COMPUTER MUSIC | 87Pal alBY ol a Preererincetr |e errr TA rome erennnnnet st eee eM eee ere ran Tica eo ret ‘an additive quality to compression - working perros Cee og band. The drums get properly squashed, Pre eet etd and leaving abitof headroom. Ifineed to rrr econ Peery pro iea eaten inert eid rns Se eee ed Cen Gren) Se ee ee ere tt Se eee ad ee eee acy ‘end. keep all the knobs between 9 and 12. Geena seer eet tes ee Ter pea ett a y= ‘Sure, you need some orchestra samples, too. Luckly, things area bit more afferdable these days. Peter Siedlaczek is doing some amazing stuf, Cinemati Strings sounds prety lush. ana CinesampiesCineStrings are super-easy rouse, Personally, that’s what llook for: simplicity. Do need 25 itferent bow options and 25 attacks? No, need a good solid sampie and a simple, clean interface ‘em You're currently on Digital Performer. ‘Would that still your choice of DAW if you were starting outin 2015? 3G: "Fve got friends who sweer by Logic and ‘Cubase and, some years ago, dd try Logic backin the days when we were on that 32/6 bitchangeover. guess was too entrenched ia my own way of working. Most of today's DAWS do the same thing, but they co tin ciferent ‘ways, so tall comes down to personal choice Performer works for me: ‘em The Evolve soundtracks definitely more ‘synth/EDM. You already mentioned the Sub» Phatty and Zebra, butis there anything else ‘onthe Mac? 146: "Yeah, anda few bits othardware, to. ‘Alongside Zebra, use iva, The best (hing ‘about the use pluginsisthat they don't sound lke plugins - they sound ke tne real thing ve {got Native instruments Komplete and Maschine, ‘Omnisphere...Oh.and have to mention Heavyocty. We're talking sampled instrument sounds rather than plugins, but the quay is inereaitte use theme lat 88 COMPUTER MUSIC Hardware-wise. there's the Arturia Minigrute, Access Virus, Dave Smith Tetra and ‘more. The choice to goin or out ofthe box really depends on whether you think you might ‘eed to tweak the sound somewhere down tne line. Keep itn he box and you can mess around for as longas you want: print a synth and you reed to start from scratch. Mind you, that’s proved very usefulin the past. lahways seem to Finda better sound: fem Whether it's synth-based or here's alwaysa lot happening abitofabugger 3Ge Laughs! "Yousaidit!Im not mentioning any ‘names here, but know guys who will put something together and not even attempt a mix ve seen them sendit of to their mixing house saying, Hey.tsure as hell wouldnt want to try ‘and mix that one! Sadly. ve never had that luxury Wel, actualy, tm not sured want that luxury lenjoy trying to get something sounding as good asitpossibly can be: ‘em In that sense, has working in the box ‘made soundtrack work easier? Maybe a better word would be simpler’ JG: "For my orchestra work. havea template al setup and ready to go. lithe individual channels, the busses, the reverb sends, the EQ ‘always subtractive, never adative. All really ‘need todos pute stuff in there adjust tne level and it ready to go. Iveeven got the panning setup for my soundstage. ‘nthe-box s great for tht, Dut if need to 4d something that ve recorded inmy studi, ‘sallabout the outboar If can pairthe right ‘mic wth the ight instrument with theright ‘breamp withthe ight compressor. don't even ‘need to worry about EQ. OK.maybea touch of highpass to get id of the low-end rumble. Atter ‘that alll dois aad abt of reverb, and that sound Isready tog. ‘em Ah, the reverb! Surely, one of the ‘composer's most important tools. Today's soundtracks need to sound big and epic and ‘vastandiots of other large words. JG "t's funny, butin the eary days. stuck with ‘my outboard reverbs. had this wonderful box ‘rom Kurzvell called the KSPB, which was four reverbs in abo. twas useful to beable to adjust the diferent reverbs for afferent things, bbutoncel discovered Alive, itust got pushed tooneside, "These days its mostly the Lexicon PCM plugins. but Tm siting ona very tempting fenceacthe moment:should buya Bricastioutboars Selected teverb? Andi debuy one all wants dozen —™ tmore guess ttatsthebeautyotine exons! Kit liSt Can uiltupas any great everbseal wat “hnother very important one ValhafabSP. ae you ting man 30 backs forts tig? Wsamesomelthisisnowanygotosecond pgm macrroxe fear TheLaxicora getusadon rw crests, oyemea when think a the soundsondeflects we nave atour posal today and compar that vathnytrstsntup kind of makes se For years, as working with nothing more than 30 microphones: an E-MU Proteus MPS Plus Orchestral keyboard Resmant eaten, andan Alesis SRG drum machine! ‘eveca.onsuure emEvenintheearly days,wereyoumore _AP12500Stereo Imterestedinorchestra/soundtrackmusic? Sone" Did you ever do the band thing? Manav Passive JGe"Asakid, {started outasadrummer,butl usm auolo took the arumsridiculously seriously. studied Cariphenc snare technique, I branched out into ‘aris200 Percussion. Then, took plano lessons. tried Emplreattabe forming a band. but while the otherkids just SLB wanted to have abit of fun, fs spend.a month twin out the drum notation to some epicby Rush or Led Zeppelin The word mlooking fois Arta Minitrate ‘sessed was obsessed by music. Butrmaybe AccessviveTt thats what you gottadoif youwanttomakeit —DavesmizTeva vour career. Back nthe 0s, wentto a party hela by my future wite Someonehedavideocamera~ SOFTWARE which was. big deal back then - and everyone at the party was posing forthe camera Alltne {uys were drinking beers and having laugh. Maybe trying to impress the gis. Allthe guys... Waves except one. There was somebody you can oniy AComprestrs, See thebackor hishead~siting at alite Casio’ Seren nao keyboard fr the whole fm, trying to work out Genesis’ Turn t On Again. “Yeah That was me!” em ome DB snpongavezcom B sors comasonaraves GD iteromagm Bovyccvesrs 2 samplemagic.com ARTO LOW END THEORY ‘an ortful colage of west coast hip-hop, sample-heavy slectranica ‘ond chile trap pulling in elements of jazz, funk ond soul along the ‘way ~ Low End Theory Ie 1.38 exploration ofthe BERLIN TECHNO TRACKS Deep, dark and atmospheric techno exploring the singular sound of Berlin in Machine and Ableton format. £19.90 SYLENTH BACK TO THE 90S PATCHES 101 acid house and rave-tyle patches ‘for Sylenth stunningly recreating the feonie sounds ofthe rave generation. £14.90, DISCO & FUNK GUITARS 2 Stacks of rife, lads ond like recorded with a host of elasic guitare, emp, pedale and mic for an authentic dieco vibe. £14.90 Patches_MIDI_Plugins_ 'oks_Apps_Course:eae ccs | hs ae 4 s = Cs ULTRACHANNEL et san Seas: Pen care eal iced ced eae Crear a ras co Bch td a DOO 4 ee a ser iO) 6 ak e Lr Pere Ce eee as Coc! Instant Harmony Advanced Pitch Editing vielklang 2 generates harmonies with 2-4 voices, eC eee Teen a ete noenan er Pee ee eee vielklang2 IBAA i formote:vsTi | AU | RTAS [AAx Pee OL eee) EASES (<) 2015 by zplone.development GmbH #CoKG more into: www.zplane.de/products/viellreviews < /reviews Iter music ¢ and rated! Sa The latest cc We bring you honest,unbiased appraisals o the latest computer ‘muse products. Our expertsapply thesame stringent testing methods toall gear,no matter how much hype or expectation surrounds i __A seriously lawed product that should be avoided |__This products problems utweah its merits | A decent product thats onty held back bya few flaws _2CAUDIO KALEIDOSCOPE This plugin offers up striking visu and a fresh approach to sound. Is ita sound designer's dream device? Solid. Well worth considering Very good. A weltconceived ‘and executed product |__Excotont. Firstcate and ‘among the best you can buy |_Exceptional.Itust doesnt get ‘any better than this! resp Seo and near the test softwarein action in our 2nutes Whos! Wherever yousee the lcon, head stright to your em DVD, the Vault rm download ares, or ur YouTube 100 Channel or aropitir showcase eae Sort oftiat predicts sentetires EsTole sisI Ssndsonic capabilities Geet ibecomicomputermusicmag wee aii ud antes Muti COMPUTER MUSIC 91> reviews / 2. TUUING SCALES Sehet from wast ange of tung seas DRYWHITE/WET ‘Sleders far the Dry and. Wet signals and. the white noise generator TAGE Can be dragged. arcund the interface to aller modulation effects TIMING feidescope’s MAX ENABLED LINES. Sets the number of vertical lines cased. to modulate resonators and, conseguenthy, the CPU required 2CAudio oe Kaleidoscope s250 It's rare today to find a developer trying to create sounds nobody's ever heard before, but as this remarkable plugin shows, it does still happen > Thetistory ofc thehistory of he technology used to producelt, whether its hollowed out pieces of wood with anime skins stretched aver them, oF strings of zeros and Cones Inthe ast few years, though, most new instruments and signal processors tend tooter ‘ever more intricate variations on existing hardware devices. Have we reached a point where there are no more new sounds tobe had? Clearly, 2cAudlo think nt. The big picture Kleidoscopeis an AUNSTAAX plugin ettect tasedon a hugebank of paale physialy modelled resonators (a typeof fier) modeling the way ether stings or springs resonate, and ‘applied independent tote lf an ight hanes Both modeltypesect he iter Sccentuating certain requencis and Stteruating others, causing resonant Irequenciesto ring over a period of decay time 92 COMPUTER MUSIC 7 Kaleidoscope offers four resonator modes (One Sting, Two Stings, One Spring and Two Springs) plus FIR, which delivers granular delay, regular delay and everbike effects. 'Noneot ths is revolutionary, but the way in ‘hich sal controled an the number of resonators involved at any one time (up to 51) - certainly s.Kaledoscope uses images to control Sets the speed. at which the image infarmatin i scanned (lef to right) MOD TIPE The resonator models (String, Spring and FIR) are selected and. displayed via the Front panel INPUT, oureur Display the Image maps far input and. output modulation FuTeRS High and lau cut Aller controls far road sound shaping the various types of modulation. These images (dhe supplies ones are plelated abstract patterns, rather than‘pictures inthe Conventional sense tough any image can be used) can bernon-destrucively manipulated using various front pane controls including ‘canging their position and rotation -and by applying speciticrange values to thelr ‘operation, all of which affects their modulating effet onthe resonators. The resonator setup then works onthe input signal ina kempo- synced loop trom left to right To visualise tis, magine pressing akey on a piano. The hammer hits the string, and wile this force has no tuning, panning or complex ‘envelope oft own, tre physica properties of the strings, the eabinet and the surrounding room create musical tones with harmonics that fesonate and decay in ways that have no ‘obvious relationship tothe intial strike, Kaleidoscope operates tke all ofthecomponents of apiano or any musical instrument, but with theabilty to customise those components to aareat extent Designing sound So, what does tis allamountto sonically? Kaleidoscope oes two functional modes Sina procesing and scund generation abet based onan input signaD, The resonators canbe made oct keanadctve synth creating entirely new tones rom existingones by adding harmonies (part). There’ also a white nose generator thatcan be added tote nputto Gramatiealyater the ests or even sed as thesole input source The pluginten dynamically adusts propetiessuchas tuning, vel harmonics, frequency attenvation and stereoimage. 08 jgoverned by theinput signal, tuning map {controling the tuning of te harmonics and resonated requenclet and resonator setup, generating everyting trom musical parts {siting stereo pads gated basins et) through other woray atonal beeps and tytwmic races, to more conventional eflects he morphing delaysand chorsing vienoies Going even futher than that, by uslng two Image maps (one forint and ane for out separate control of these properties canbe taken al heinpuland output stages hetatler ving control ofthe decay time ofthe fesonances resulting fom the input mage map tas doesthe Fendback conta. there lo an etensive range of scales the aforementioned tuning map)avalabieto ep the resus n Key wenyour projector nt! Amillion shades of grey Theres certain no denying that Kaleidoscope isan innovative technological triumph itsmaln problem, however is that no matter what you the forthe overasonelavourremalnsthe same Though anetfect Kalelgoscope fin operation more ie a eyboara player and his Soe) 2) Kaleidoscope’ visual espa ets e / reviews < Picture perfect Whiteit's notimportantto understand hhow Kaleidoscope convertsimagesto resonator modulation inorder touseit, appreciating the technology involved Independently using over two milion points of automation, defined by the brightnessand colour of individual pixelsin the loaded image. 945 images are included, but you can add more ‘yourself (viaa long-winded fle import procedure) or buy expansion packs. Each pixel controls an envelope with up t01024 breakpoints per stereo channel, and the brightness ofthe pixel syath than say.a chorus or delay -a keyboard player with a very distinct style, who only ever ‘usesa couple of patches. n practice, this ‘means that much like the patterns generated by the toy that the plugin takes its name trom, the results may be infinite in their variation (and theoretically ifnitein ther outoud, but they re lst. well, kaleldoscopict It you're ivolvedin sound design of any scription, Kaleidoscope isa wet dream. 2CAudio's boast that t may come todefine the ‘sound ofthe 21st century isa itie over Ambitious, but it certainly unlocks endlessnew andshythmic iterations of existing sounds and ‘anonly help you stana apart trom the pack Musicalexperimentalistsand ambient artists, 100, wlllove what they hear, as its something ‘you simply wont find elsewhere For the majrity of electronic musicians, however, while producers of techno, minima {deep house and iquid DnB might fallin ove ‘with Kaleoscope at stig it could well, {umm out tobe a whirlwind romance that ‘quickly grows stale And for everyone else, alas, te (eminent justiiable) price tag and ‘overall homogeneity of the results place Kaleidoscope squarely in the Tuturstic Indulgence’ eategary.em. IEE) www.2caudio.com ‘anhandie up to 512of these envelopes atonce, ‘Meanwhile, colourfhue controls stereo panning. Imagesin Kaleidoscope are made up of two colours ed/green, blue/red or blue/green) or combinations of these two, with one colour representing the leftchannel and the other the ight. It ‘one or the other colour is showing alone,thenthat represents hard left or ‘ight panning, whileany combination of those represents stereo panning. (the hue determining how far lett or right depending on therelative balance ofthe leftand rightcolourmaking up thathue). Alternatively Photosoundor N/A» NIA» $79 Notas musically powerful but ors easier image importing anc much easier programming Zotopetris2 ‘em216 910/10 £175 Lets you control elements of the sound by drawing ont the interface Verdict [Bilinnovatve Exhaustive presets Stoning resus bee COMPUTER MUSIC “93> reviews, ble f SMART EQ CRUE NG | BAUS? ENTROPY A spooky mde that chins ta Each ofthe three EQ types Aciuet nase/tonal ‘be able ty caleulate the cemplays its aun set of fre iensbarenes perfect cance for any source bands anc two fiters fend beat PROXIMITY &Q Control the sense of distance trem the sound. source on & per-band basis omereg SENSIEUATY Adjust the overall heel of Smart EQ dete on a per- band basis SMART EQ RECORD Takes a few seconds to cakulate the smart cave Sonible Fre PROXIMITY EQ MASTER CONTROLS Settings far the strength and. ess ofthe overall proximity SIND FLUE Sisaps the interactive diplay fora bank of knebs €Q CURVE The. of the Smart EQ process: MASTER couTROLS Adjust the between naive and. tonal properties -FauM €399 oc A fresh development team have designed a sophisticated EQ that promises to easily affect properties of your audio that others can't reach > Sonilestest sotware lease attempts 2 ‘new approach to£Q, based on some unusual, powerful algorithms. Atthe heart of Fretraum is aseven-band linear phase equaliser that anchors an otherwise very forward-thinking processor ina sense of familaiy. What makes the plugin (VSTIAUIAAN) unique are ts trio of interactive" layers, each one designed fora specialised task that conventional EQ wouldnt Usually try to address, and the three ot which ‘canbe used in any combination, Smart enough First upis the Smart EQ, which is designed to ‘automaticaly adjust what Sonible callthe ‘spectra balance" ofthe input signal Essentially it makes the signals requency curve smoother, squashing any resonances poking ‘out rom the overall shape ofthe spectrum, and bolstering weak spots by raising them. While thismight sound bizarre at fst ~ afterall, how (94 / COMPUTER MUSIC cana plugin know how you want your audio to Ssound- inuse't actualy makes alot of sense, being essentially a faster route tothe sortot corrective EQ we might normally spend ages laling in with earetulcuts and boosts. Click the magic wand icon for any one of the three centre oandsto switenit nto Smart ‘mode, then hitthe recora button that appears onitto activate learning mode for that band, {and start playback of your source signal. After 'few seconds, the Smart EO presentsits idea of the optimal EQcurve in increciole deta) and ‘you can then use the familiar gain, frequency {and Q controisto choose where and by hove much to apply thatcurveto your signal Youcan boost or cut with mare than one ofthe tree ‘Smart bands nthe same frequency area, which isusetulfor crafting a nuanced curve - ‘especally since each band has sown tevel of deta set using the Sensitivity control (see Going globap, Should you want o treat the entire spectrum witha singleband, each band’s {Qsetting can go wide enough tocover the full ‘requency range: and if younappento ke the elements the Smart EQistrying to repress (or distke those it’s trying to bring out). you can use negative gain to apply the opposite curve. ’saninnovative and impcessive systern that seriously speeds up the process of, say. taming shais the result ENTROPY &Q overall balancethe sharp resonance ofa tambourine; bt we weren't alwaysableto arrive at asatistactory result due tothe preringing artifacts inherent in linear-phase processing. On the anehand, the results can be super clear and polshee, but on the other highly transient material such as drum hits can suffer from noticeable smearing, Proximity mein The second of te thee interaction ayers is the Proximity E, which is designed to increased decrease perceived cistance trom the source signal. Unike tne Smart EQ, ths one doesnt requicea learning phase, but just ike the Smart , you canuse thetnree centre bands toapply varying amounts of the proximity effect to whichever frequency areas you like, each one defining tne mix between the dry andambient components ofthe signal. I's another ambitious and forward thinking system, but again, it doesntaiways work qulteas expected. The algorithm attempts to detectaftusion rater than just relying on dynamies and stereo Imaging to spit the signal, soif the ambient component isnt heavily difuse the results can be very patchy/inconsstent. There is a smoothing da! forthe Proximity EQ layer (see Going globad, but itdoeseit always help much. Proximity EQ really works best on acoustic Instruments rather than electronic ones oF Aiitally generated sounds, presumably because ote citferentiation between rect and cifused signals We aso found ittobe very hitand miss on drums, although when it works Wel trellis quite amazing The fina interaction layer i the Entropy EO, which is much like the Proximity EQ but atfecting nebalance of tonal and atonal axtrutes rather than spatalsation. i's avery ‘exciting concept that should enable plenty in the way of addtional focus and clay, bul we couldn't help feelin disappointed by the luprelable resus, ‘Ae wall as the three interaction layers, Fretraum can alsa be used as a regula li phase EQ, although there’ no spectrum raum / reviews < @@ © © @©@ ‘relesumottersthretypesct £9 tweatanicontothpersend and glbalievels Going global [At the bottomof the interface area selection af global controlsto ease the [process of getting toa good sound ‘quickly. Notably, the Sensitivity knob determines the responsiveness ofthe ‘Smart EQ learning procedure. The etault values 70%, butat 100% the ‘optimal curve that Frekraum generates {sofeven finer detal, while at lower values, smoother, less specificeurve correction is applied. What's clever bout, thoughts that the Sensitivity control only affects the learning. process, 50 by setting the Sensitivity prior to hitting the record button ona tallor the'smartness' of analyser inthe display. and we werealitle frustrated with the evel of ificuty we hac procicing Specie curve shapes using the available bands ~ especially the high and low shatves, EQ expanded irmany ways Fetraum Is much more than an EQ sincelts specialised interactive ayers oer far more than youl expectrom even the most sxdvanceda convertion Es However witeit icokstike a promising plugin onpaper. it doesnt dite pull athe miractsitaimsto without Some serous sie cffecte st ast al tnt For the smart alone. Its aspecia product ‘worthy of consideration = assuming you can Wve ‘tn ne tansient smearing We nant tobe more excted about Fetraum as tofters a genuinely new way of treating fix. The problem though, that here ae Plenty of extraordinary plugins on the market these cays. and neve come expect tery Convincing resis rm any new one Darticulty atthissort of pice Inthat sense Freizaum misses the targotas often as it ht it ‘which ashame, but wa cart wal fo see How Sonible develop and reine thet fascinoting Tecnology in future “rot onvziem [IEE] wrowsonible.com Similarly, the Proximity and Entropy EQseach haveglobal controls tor adjusting thelr overall ettects without hhaving todeal with the individual bbands.Thisishandy when you feel you've gone toofar overallandjust ‘want to offset the whole effect without losing the curve you've carefully crafted, The other way you canuse these global controlsisto adjust the Proximity andEntropy effects ikea ‘fat, broadband evel control rather than targeted at specificfreauency ‘areas. There's also a Smoothing control for the Proximity EQ, which seems to reduce artefacts atthe expense of a less focused sound, Alternatively Fabfiiter Pro-2 ‘emztt »10/109£124, Less esoteri but an excelent alt rouna EQ with spectrum matching Zynaptiq Unfiter ‘emi96 »3/10» €399 Uses similar voodoo to Freiraumis ‘Smart EQin the shape of ‘Adaptive Tonal Contour Linearization” Verdict [ley uck [IIE] Prone to unin artes Less usefon nanacoustisignals Wed hemor bac with more ebity Canmurdor your CPU COMPUTER MUSIC> reviews, TOOLBAR Featuring Unds/ Rede, A/B snapshot shts, Sart Bands By Frequency and more gan settings ARTA A specially tured us shelf designed. to add weight and depth without aistartin Morph between three EQ band shapes designed to suit all possible situations Eiosis @@ | pren PRESET BROWSER Incledes 37 surprisingly aseld starting paints, most at O48 The main EQ section might hake conventional actually 15 anything but Flps the input polarity of the Lefs Right or bath channels FREQUENCY DISPLAY DISPLAY FREQUENCIES AS NOTES The current Frequency carve anda spectrom Make each band’ Freg knob dard. snap to musical nate pitches STRENGTH Increase or reduce the depth of the EQ curve = very handy! AirEQ Premium s149 These acclaimed French developers reckon they've finally perfected their ‘musical’ EQ, but is it truly the creme de la creme? >> Backin 2006. the oil Arby Eosound looked much ike any other EQplugin, but with the adaltion of specaly tuned hia frequency shel band labelled Ar Is strengths were sad tobe transparency, zeroatency ‘operation and analoque-matched curves. Fast forward to today and both developer and plugin have been through a ‘metamorphosis, the result being lrEQ Premium by Eioss.Athouah Eiosis are anew company, ‘youmay weil be familar with founder Fabrice Gabriels recent works, as bis DSP wizardry fs ‘behind much of the late Dita procuct ine specifically the celebrated FGX, VCC, VIM, VBC ‘and VMR plugins. ASfor AiEQ itself wel it ‘appears to have matured dramatically Air apparent Most plugin £0s al into one of two camps: those that aim tofathully replicate cassic ‘analogue EQs,and those that exploit the 96 COMPUTER MUSIC C technical and surgical potential of high spec lta EQ. AlrEQ Premium (VSTIAU/RTASIAAX) falls into third category. however. focusing on Lsabilty by generating curves designedto always Sound pleasing ina musical context Elosishope that Il become yournew 90100, particularly for mixing and mastering duties. In practical terms, this lofty concept manifests as the Airane Earth bands (see Ar {and Earth), expanding on the more conventional paarametrc controls, which themselves have been extended in functionality. Arguably the ‘most important innevation, though, isthe ‘Character sider, which alters the shape ofthe EQ bands (either individually or globally far more nuanced ways than the traitional resonance control alone ‘There are three basic characteristics: Neutral ‘offering the classic analogue matched curves; Water. which produces even smoother curves with fattened tops; and Fite, producing a sharper, more focused shape than ihe typical narrow resonance settings we all know and love, ‘You can continuously morph between the various Characters to ind the sweet spot, should the Water o Fire characters be too pronounced forthe task at hand. E’sis stress ‘thatthe Characters have been desianed based ‘on meticulous listening and tweaking, the ideaboeing that you can just pull up AirEQ Premium Ana quickly finda sounel that works, ne mater what the source material. Itcan alsa do spats of Surgical workat a pineh, since it's so transparent. Bands on the run You get tive fully parametric bands with AirEQ Premium, each of which can befrealy placed anywhere from 10H2 to 30kH2. With Character being adjustable globally oronaper-band basis, theres serious curve customisation on the cards, There are asolow-andhighvcut fiers that can be seta aither GB or 12c8 slopes. Having so much extbity with the main tve bands makes the oddly inflexible ighviow filters seemtikea poor design choice,but according to the manual, more lope options are on the way. every the bands can be renamed, so you can callthem things ike sizzle, "vody’or knock Thismay seer like a small thing but’ actually really helpful for remembering exactly what you ere thinking when you dialled in abana You can work wit eftand right channels Independently, or mid and side, and there's a1 version ofthe plugin included fo surround sound projects. The maln dispiay leary shows wiat’s happening with each band, and switches aceon hand for actvatingiseactvating the response curve graphicand analyser Ityou've gone overboard or underboard) with your processing, the Strength slider can be lowered or raised) to decrease (or increase) the depth ofthe effect, and you can exclude certain bands from this feature you wish. For mastering, BFS or KMetering canbe selected, ana there's an RMS Diferential mater indicating inputs output RMS. which you can then compensate for using the Input Gain knob Premium quality On frst use, we were alte underwhelmed with whats been championed since development Deganas"revolutonary” tft abrie! acquaintance period returning to normat EQ plignslet us feeling decked restricted and TheEQ graph looks reat but ody youconnotcck nderogonittosetbonditequencr gelnand@) Air and Earth ‘The Air bandwas afeature ofthe original AirEQ design-essentially.a super-gentlefixed-band high shelf for ‘unobtrusively increasing brightness. We oundit easy to overcook on signals extending right up above 20kHz, but fon most instruments (thattrall off way lower than thaD its excellent for adding presenceand sheen. Furthermore, Ifthe effectof the Air ‘bandis ever too harsh, it's easy torein Inusing the high cut fiterin 1248 mode. ‘The Earth band s brandnew to ‘AirEQPremium--the obviouslow- frequency counterpartto the Air band. ‘Again, we're essentially talking about a ‘unsatisfied. Water was the frst Character we ‘warmed to, with its capacity for broad, smooth ‘boosts that bring ut desirable aspects ofa sound's tonality with impressive transparency, And none ofthe ringing and booming that more resonant shapes usualy exhibit. Although ft top designs exist in other EQ plugins, losis say ‘that ArEQ’s Water character as been designed ith a spectic curve that minimises resonance to give especially unobirusive results. White you could approximate ts shapewith ther EQs, there beat of idling about. and you'd need touse several ands to emulate just ane of AEQS tedious at best With AIEQ, adjusting band shapes radically with the Character and Q pparametersis sick, easy and fun, “The Fire character proves indspensable when making narrow reductions of troublesome ‘frequencies - especially from tne upper mid ‘ange ana above ~ again doing so elegantiy and transparently in comparisonto your standard liga EO, and with much ess messing around ‘FEO Premium is fantastic EQ plugin that focuses on high-qualty sound and a workflow that koeps you in the creative zone. Ifthe idea ot an EQ that doesn't require much inthe way ot ‘ser input fo get just the right sound appeals, very much demands attention. em [UES wmweiosiecom im / reviews < fixed-trequency shelf that's easy to dial Inwithno specific tweaking required. any distortion. inuse It's greatfor adding asense of girth anddepth to thin-sounding instruments - assuming they already extend below about 1OOHizto someextent. ‘As you'd expect, both the Alr and Earthbands are able to cut a= wellas ‘boost, making them helpful for gently reducing extreme ends of the frequency spectrum on instruments that need more mid-range focus. Alternatively Plugin Alance Maag Audio EA N/A» N/A» $229 ‘Another musical €Q with an ‘air band’ design, but much less flexible DMG Audio EQuitibrium ‘emmi92» 10/10 »€175 One ofthe most adaptable. flexible and powertul EQsmoney canbuy Verdict [one wn anutracean sound ‘iran Earth bonds are anesome Custom £0 band names tin requencyanayser FEI cot raomtrequencycepay Canteat requencycurvein spay More bands would be good mn COMPUTER MUSIC “97> reviews / livid Livid Instruments DSI] £350 ee This versatile, diminutive MIDI control surface from the States aims to cater to all your in-DAW mixing needs + Designed in collaboration with US music production college Dubspot, DSI primarily ‘a mixing controle, arranged! as an eight ‘channel mixing bank wth a master section to {the right. Each channe! comprises ve backit knobs, two buttons anda fader. and the main section houses a 3x3 grid of smaller buttons, four knobs, four rotary encoders anda ‘master fader. The rotary encoders feature continuous notched travel and push button functionality, ‘while the knobs areun-notched and have es end points, {AIL25 buttons incorporate configurable RGB LEDs, capable of showing any of seven colours for being turned off andalthough theknob and encoder backlghts cantbe changed, theres retvot pack of coloured collars avaiable cect {rom Liv, “The D5Is aluminium case, blackrubberised ‘eaging and overall construction quality give ta solid feel and at ust ever 30cm square and'Scm ‘deep It's eminently portable. i's also USB bus powered with optional AC adapter input. and includes an expression pedal jack tthe back. Mapped out The DStisa blank canvas controle that requires MIDI mapping to your AW before it floonything Curenty Livi offer downloadable Scripts for Ableton Live 9. tg Stuco, Apple Logic Pre and Naive ntrumentsraltor with Absolutely Livid ‘The inner workings of allLivid controtiers, Including the DSI, can beaccessed using ‘the universal Livid Editor. Thisbrowser- ‘based application provides a graphic representation ofthe device's components with which toadjust their behaviours. Inthis, the Global window deals with ‘overall DS1 setup, while the Inspector is used to.eit per-component settings, Including ‘assignments and behavioural specitics such ‘as controller type (MIDI note or CC) and. 98 COMPUTER MUSIC 2015 FL Studio and Reasonin development. Wetried te Logic Pro Xand Live 9 crits and found the setup process tobe very straightforward, However, with such a small ‘number of controls avaiable, compromises hhave tobe made inthis respect, the Logic ProX scripts quite tracitional with three of each Channel strip's knobs led to Channel EO gains, ‘one to Aux and one to Pan. The channel buttons handle mute and record arm, andl the fader controls the track evel. The rotary encoders control further EQ settings and channel strip navigation, and the ther four knobs are ied to the Aux! charinal settings. The 3x3 grid serves up the full aray of transport Controls, and the master fader sets the main output evel Live 9 scripts rather more adventurous. ll five channel knobs and three ofthe four lencodersare mapped to the rst fve channel and fist three master channel device Macros respectively withthe fourth encoder used for trackselection Meanwhile, the 3x3 button grid handles transport. cip navigation and global cycling ofthe two channel muteand solo buttons through two further options ~recora anmitrack select, and clip launctistop (Of course the DSI can alsa be configured however you lke using the Lvid Editor See “Absolutely Live) and your DAW’ regular MIDI ‘controller mapping system. ‘action. The eaitor ha foreach ofthe uni'sfour component types (faders, knobs, buttons and rotaries). ‘Settings can be loaded and saved as tiles, for easy recall of multiple configurations.and there's an offline version ofthe Editor, too. Which lacks the manual, and fll preset save ‘and load although you can still write settings back to the DST flash memory. ‘The DS1 willbe of particular interest to those ‘who favoura truly open-ended design, where fevery knob fader and Button can be freely ‘assigned as desired. For studio mixing duties, ‘touchscreen tablets are proving themeaives tobe avald and lenble alternative to dedicated hardware, but the DSI confidently sates is case wit its rugged build qualty, satchel sized portability and- importantly ‘genuine tactity. em [IEE] watvisinstruments.com Alternatively Novation Launch Control XL ‘em210» 9/10 £160 ‘ivianer for Ableton Live users particular, but also ‘supported by other DAWS Nektar Panorama Pt ‘erm3» 7/10» £245 Flexible, compactand affordable with deep Cubase ‘and Reason Integration Verdict [Bilsotaconetcton 150 ponered Conigursbi LED buttons (ETE ow scretsarctimted Quite expensive