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THE MUSICTECH EXPERTS
ANDY JONES
Editor At Large Andy
has an MA in Music
Technology and has been
writing about it for 25 years.
He has launched and edited
several magazines in the
subject and was Editor of
MusicTech for four years.
Naturally, he has
far too many synthesisers.
DAVE GALE
Dave is an award-winning
orchestrator, media
composer and producer,
with a passion for synths and
modulars in all their forms,
whether software, hardware,
vintage or modern. Dave
is MusicTech’s resident
Eurorack expert, as well as
a soundtrack composer.
ALEX HOLMES
Alex has been an electronic
musician for many years
and has a passion
for beats, bass and all
forms of electronic music.
He’s currently involved
with three different
dance-music projects. Alex
creates our sample-filled
DVD each month.
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MARTIN DELANEY
Martin was one of the first
UK Ableton-Certified Trainers.
He has taught a wide range
of people and has written
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Martin designed the Kenton
Killamix Mini USB MIDI
controller and is the Editor
of the popular Instagram
account Abletonlive.london.
ADAM CRUTE
Adam is a freelance
engineer, media producer
and musician. Having cut his
teeth in tape-based analogue
studios, his involvement
with music technology has
spanned the move from
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Adam is currently our go-to
Cubase expert.
MIKE HILLIER
Mike spent five years at
Metropolis Studios, working
alongside some of the
best-known mix and
mastering engineers in the
world. He now works out of
his own studio in London.
He’s also been writing words
for magazines for longer than
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W ELC O M E
Hits don’t come easy…
The art of writing songs is something that is all too
often ascribed to some mythical gift that manifests
itself within people at a certain age, with little thought
given to the long periods of trial and error, dedication
to the craft and persistence to forge a career in the
industry that mark out many successful songwriters.
My own study of the mechanics of songwriting
opened up to me the wider world of music
production and the creative solutions that we all now
have as artists. But fundamentally, the practice of building a new song from
scratch – and understanding why a successful one works – still eludes many.
In this issue, we have a thorough exploration of the topic, featuring a
dissection of the building blocks of every hit song, as well as industry insight
from a range of experts who illuminate the professional songwriting world
of 2019. We discuss maintaining a career balancing writing with being an
artist in your own right with Ed Harcourt and learn from Bernard Butler,
Paul Statham and others about their approaches to educating the next
generation of hit-makers.
Elsewhere in the issue, we continue our journey through the world of
synthesis. This time, we focus on wavetable and vector synthesis as well
as a foray into the birth of drum machines and their intrinsic relationship
with the synth world. We also put several of our go-to budget small-diaphragm
condensers to the test in our very first microphone shootout.
In our review section this month, we get rhythmic with IK Multimedia’s UNO
Drum and wallow in the sonic delights of the Dreadbox Nyx V2 among many
other new pieces of kit. Of course, we also have a range of tutorials and tips,
too. I hope you enjoy the issue.
Andy Price Editor andy.price@musictech.net
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EMAIL support@musictech.net we acknowledge the copyright.
MusicTech October 2019 3
 In the issue…

SONGWRITING
SPECIAL
Our series of in-depth songwriting features
covers pro advice, tips on song structure,
advice from star producers and more…

12

FEATURES TUTORIALS REVIEWS

The Core Principles Of Songwriting 12 Logic 48 IK Multimedia UNO Drum 82
Song structures,top lines, how to set up How to create hybrid digital bass TC Electronic TC2290-DT 86
a songwriting template and pro advice Live 54 RØDE TF-5 88
Songwriting Pro Advice 18 How to use guitars with Live in Dreadbox Nyx V2 90
Songwriting tips from experts including production and performance Zero-G Beat Master 92
Jez Ashurst and Bernard Butler Cubase 64 Propellerheads PolyStep Sequencer 95
Sound Synthesis Masterclass: Adding space to your mixes with reverb Neumann NDH 20 96
Part 4 – Wavetable Synthesis 36 Pro Tools 68 Erica Synths Black Stereo Delay 98
An in-depth look at wavetable synthesis Understanding multi-buss mixing Steinberg Nuendo 10 100
Your DVD Ask Abbey Road
Abbey Road Studios’ talented engineers
42 Reason
Using the Scales & Chords Player
74 Softube Monoment
Isotonik Studios CrossFire
102
104
Turn the page for a full list answer your production queries Device as an aid to your creativity AJH Synths Next Phase 104
of the contents of the 10 Tips For Looking Mini Reviews 105
MusicTech issue 199 DVD Six Of The Best:
INTERVIEWS After Your Studio
Keep everything up and running
78
Rotary Mixers Part 2 128
Ed Harcourt 24 and working well with our guide
The singer-songwriter, producer
and musical polymath on his craft
Paul Statham 32
The 6 Best Ways To
Turn Ideas Into Songs 128 REGULARS
Welcome 3
Handy tips for better composition
This multi-Platinum songsmith Disc page 6
offers his tips for better songwriting News 8
Caravan Palace 118 Show Off Your Studio 58
The band explains how social media Subscriptions 108
has underpinned their huge success Rewind: Yamaha CS1x 130
Jonas Blue 124
The producer/DJ talks about his studio
and his vintage-synth desires

4 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 C O NTENTS

INTERVIEW
Ed Harcourt 24 INTERVIEW
Jonas Blue 124
Reviews TUTORIALS
HYBRID
DIGITAL BASS
IN LOGIC PRO X 48
88
USING GUITARS

IN ABLETON LIVE 54

82 90
ADDING SPACE
WITH REVERB
IN CUBASE 64

MULTI-BASS
92 MIXING
IN PRO TOOLS 68

THE SCALES &

CHORDS PLAYER
96
104 IN REASON 74

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 5

DV D

MT DVD199
4GB PC&MAC

On your DVD…
Cinematic UNDRGRND
Guitars Sounds
Our exclusive lead pack this month was
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House Special
processed through a number of effects pedals UNDGRND Sounds specialises in supreme
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texture beds. All files are in 24-bit/44.1kHz basslines, and a whole load of jackin’
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Size 170MB Format 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV
michaeldennymusic.com Size 131MB Format 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV
undrgrndsounds.com

Pop And Urban Piano VIDEO FEATURE/32MINS

Songwriting Theory Explained

MIDI Melodies
This pack from Equinox Sounds has 30 royalty-free MIDI piano melodies
for pop, hip-hop and R&B producers looking for melodic inspiration.
There’s a mix of phrases in MIDI format to assign to your favourite synth
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Size 284MB Format 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV, MIDI equinoxsounds.com
To help get the best out of your songwriting skills and to accompany the mini review, we’ve got five
videos taken from Groove3’s Songwriting Theory Explained course for you to check out. These
include discussions on a standard chord library, how to combine strong and weak chords to
provide contrast and excitement and ways to develop a repertoire of go-to progressions
as a starting point. There’s also a look at the form and structure of common songs and finally,
some exercises to help stimulate your creativity and push you in new directions when writing.
Size 56MB Format MP4 groove3.com

VIDEO TUTORIALS SOFTWARE

VIDEO FEATURE/75MINS
Joe Goddard And
Jax Jones
Songwriting Tips
Here are some of Point
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collaboration and his
process. Next, we have Jax
Jones taking an in-depth
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Breathe came together,
with discussions on top-line
writing and working with
other producers. Finally,
there’s a talk by Nick Halkes
(XL Recordings, Positive and
Incentive), who discusses
progression in the industry.
Size 1.5GB
Format MP4
pointblanklondon.com
VIDEO FEATURE/36MINS
Loopcloud 5 And
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Loopcloud 5 is here and it
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own samples. There are
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loopmasters.com/loopplus
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A multi-channel polyphonic
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Modelled against a popular
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Ripchord is a simple but
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6 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

NEWS

FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT

WWW.MUSICTECH.NET

In case you missed it…

SPITFIRE AT THE BEEB

I
n the lavish setting of London’s Barbican arts
complex, Spitfire Audio announced what could
be regarded as its largest product to date, in
a collaboration with one of the world’s most
respected and hardest-working orchestras.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is easily one of the
best known and most recognisable British orchestras,
thanks to its involvement in many BBC broadcasts
for radio and TV, including the Proms concert season
which enlists them to perform throughout the
celebrations, including the most famous of events,
the Last Night Of The Proms.
Spitfire Audio will be bringing the BBC Symphony
Orchestra, captured in sample form, to a DAW near
you very soon. The package captures 99 players,
across 55 different orchestral instruments, exploiting
418 techniques, captured from 20 different audio
signals. This feat presented considerable challenges
for the Spitfire technical team; yet in another first,
the package will play from within the Spitfire Audio
plug-in rather than Kontakt, exploiting new lossless
compression technology called SFLAC, which
reduces the disk space footprint from a staggering
1.4TB of data down to a mere 600GB.
While downloading of the library will be possible,
Spitfire is also offering it to buy in SSD form, which
will be sent out to users ahead of the release date,
allowing them to plug in the drive at time of release,
authorise and immediately play. Engineer Jake
Jackson has prepared some of his legendary stereo
mixes to aid both speed of workflow and help with
CPU economy. Spitfire has also been talking to the
Logic team at Apple, with a view to creating a Logic
template tol utilise this library to its fullest potential.
According to Spitfire director Paul Thompson,
there is something unique about the capture of an
orchestra that spends its entire existence playing as
a full group, where one player listens to another on
a daily basis, knowing exactly how to react as an
ensemble. The resulting package promises a library
that represents all four sections of the orchestra in full,
including a section of tuned and not-tuned
percussion. In a change to the normal sampling
venues, capture was undertaken at the legendary
BBC studios in Maida Vale, which is fitting, given that
the BBC will shortly be leaving this premises for good.
In many respects, this pays homage to the historical
venue, where its famed acoustic can now live on
for years through this product. Attendees at the
announcement were treated to a fantastic new
composition from media composer Andy Blaney,
which showed off the full potential of the new library,
which sounds exceptionally impressive.
Spitfire BBC Symphony Orchestra is available
to preorder now, at a special introductory price of
£679/€749/$749, with the added option for shipment
on SSD for £199. Introductory pricing ends on 7
November, with the product released on 24 October.
spitfireaudio.com

8 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


STANDS TO REASON
P
ropellerhead has announced
Reason 11, a major update that
sees its flagship DAW accessible
as a plug-in version: the Reason
Rack Plugin. The Swedish music-software
company has also officially changed its
name to Reason Studios, to better align its
flagship product with brand identity. The
company’s chief product officer, Tim Self,
said: “We’re changing our name to Reason
Studios to clearly express our dedication in
delivering the best experience for all music
makers, regardless of where they are in
their creative journeys. Reason Studios
encapsulates our mission of building a
platform for all music creators. Reason 11,
with its seamless integration into other
music-production software, truly exemplifies
how we want to open up to the world.”
The standout feature of Reason 11
is certainly the fact that its widely used
production environment is now available
from within a different DAW as a VST or
Audio Unit plug-in. This is a huge milestone
for the company that invented ReWire, a
communication protocol for synchronising
Reason with other DAWs. The move to a
CLOUDBUSTING
I
t’s been a full quarter of a century
now since TC Electronic first
introduced the mastering hardware
unit known as Finalizer.
musictech.net
plug-in format will give users access to
Reason’s excellent range of effects and
instruments, regardless of host DAW – and
could be a game-changer for those who
regularly use Reason’s varied toolkit.
The Danish company has now opened
a new chapter in its history with the
Finalizer App, a next-gen mastering
suite for desktop.
The Finalizer App features an array of
the best multi-band compression, limiter
and EQ algorithms developed by TC
Electronic for its existing product line.
These algorithms were ported 1:1 from
the brand’s System 6000 mastering unit,
which is regarded as the most advanced
of hardware Finalizers.
The user will also be armed with new
presets – based on what TC describes
as “complex analytical findings” – and
real-time visual feedback designed to show
NEWS
Reason 11 also includes improvements
in sequencing and editing, as well as five
new devices:
• Quartet Chorus Ensemble: four flavours
of chorus and ensemble effects, from
classic vintage chorus to the unique
sound of granular ensemble
• Sweeper Modulation Effect:
a high-quality, multi-talented phaser,
flanger and filter unit with expansive
dynamic modulation options
• Master Bus Compressor: Reason’s
ready-for-radio buss compressor can
now be applied anywhere in the rack
• Channel Dynamics: subtle compressor,
expander and gate from Reason’s
studio-grade mixer that can be
applied anywhere in your signal chain
• Channel EQ: a rack version of the
legendary modelled EQ unit featured
in countless Platinum recordings
The VST 3 version of Reason 11 will arrive on
25 September, while the Audio Unit version
is due by the end of the year. It’s available
in three versions: Intro (€79/$99), Standard
(€349/$399) and Suite (€549/$599).
propellerheads.com
you how your mastering decisions can
affect a song.
In addition to its mastering options, the
Finalizer App also provides users with a free
online-analysis service. The service enables
you to upload your tracks to a cloud,
analyse them with visual tools and finally
compare them to TC Electronic’s reference
tracks. According to the brand, these
pre-analysed reference tracks span
different genres and time periods and
are also updated quarterly.
The Finalizer app is available on both
macOS and Windows. You’ll also need to
have an iLok account to use the software.
tcelectronic.com
MusicTech October 2019 9
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T H E P R I N C IP L ES O F S O N GW R I T I N G

MT C OV ER FE AT U RE

THE PRINCIPLES
OF SONGWRITING
In the pages of MusicTech, we tend to focus mainly on the
technology, gear and the intricacies of music production.
What we spend relatively less time talking about is the
fundamental core of everything we do, regardless of genre;
and that’s the compositional process itself. Over the next few
pages, we explore approaches to making songs and tracks
with practical guidance and experienced industry insight.
We also take a look at the modern world of professional
songwriting and the growing interest in songwriting training
WORDS ANDY PRICE

I
n the modern world of music, it’s almost seen
as a badge of honour to have an eclectic
taste in myriad genres; from dance to rock
to dubstep to ambient, the old days of aligning
oneself to a tribe in thrall to genre are, in the main,
long gone. Despite the technical differences
between each (often wildly different) style of music,
the central question persists: how does an artist
come up with creative, musical ideas, conceive
a structure and build songs that work to affect
the human mind?
This process has many names – and with certain
genres, the lines between composition and
production are blurred. So for simplicity’s sake, we’re
going to refer to this entire stage as songwriting.
In this feature, we’re going to explore how
understanding the musical structures of songs and
tracks can arm you as a composer, help you combat
creative dead ends and potentially open your mind
to the idea of developing a career as a go-to
songwriter of the kind who works with successful,
world-straddling pop stars and bands.

12 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 T H E P R I N C IP L ES O F S O N GW R I T I N G

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 13

T H E P R I N C IP L ES O F S O N GW R I T I N G
TUTO R I A L B U I L D I N G A M ELO DY
01 The simplest way to approach the creation of a top line melody is to
think about the stacked notes contained in your chords. These three
(or more) notes make up the triads. If you record a track of your basic chord
structure and then record the notes in ascending order in a separate MIDI track,
then you have a very simple, repetitive melody.
03 To make the top line melody an ear worm, it needs to sit in a central
part of the song – most usually, this is the chorus. The general rule of
thumb should be that the melody ascends to a higher pitch than the preceding
section of the song; this dynamic lift is a signal to the listener that this melody
is important.
THINKING STRUCTURALLY
Let’s start by thinking about just what songs are
and how they’re typically assembled. Most songs
in Western popular music in the traditional sense
adhere to a form that is built from different sections
(typically referred to as verse, chorus, bridge etc),
and different assortments of the sections are referred
to with letters that reflect the section types (so ‘A’
generally refers to a verse, while ‘B’ references the
chorus). This then results in the popular song forms
being referred to as ‘ABAB’ or ‘AAAA’, for example.
The ‘AAAA’ form (also known as the strophic
form) is one of the oldest song structures and harks
back to the days of yore when folk balladeers would
melodically craft lengthy, wordy tales of courtship,
heroic deeds in distant lands and other concerns of
the age. In effect, we have the same musical section
(more often than not, the verse) repeated with
different lyrics over the top-line melody (or indeed,
a different top-line melody).
Despite its medieval origins, the form endures
to this day and is mainly popular with acoustic
singer-songwriters, though if we’re considering these
forms to be broadly applicable to different genres,
then the general idea is demonstrated in a great
many electronic dance-music tracks, which largely
maintain the same fundamental chord sequence,
rhythm track and repeated lyrical or melodic ideas,
with the dynamic quality coming from the addition
or subtraction of instruments and tracks. Examples
of the AAAA song form include Viva La Vida by
14 October 2019 MusicTech
02 If you look at these notes in a MIDI editor, you can visually understand
why the melodic placement of certain notes has an effect on the ear.
Start removing notes from the track and adding more ‘bridging’ notes that
move up and down. This top-down view can yield more interesting ideas and
you can visually appreciate how melodic shapes are built.
04 Descending gradually from the highest note of your melody can sound
far more natural than swooping around octaves. Once you’ve got a
rough shape of your top line, it’s a good idea to take that melodic idea and
experiment with it on an instrument, or perform it vocally. This can help refine
the shape and note transitions to make it ultimately feel more natural.
Coldplay, All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan
and With Or Without You by U2.
More popular than this traditional approach is the
ABAB form, where – you guessed it – the verse gives
way to a second ’B’ section (usually a chorus).
Indeed, this form is more widely understood as the
‘verse/chorus/verse’ form, with most prominence
being lent to the chorus. The verse generally serves
less as a focal point of the listener’s attention and
builds toward the chorus, which commonly contains
the song’s central melodic, lyrical or thematic hook.
The chorus is often emphasised further by pre- and
post-chorus sections that serve as a sort of ladder
from the verse into the explosive chorus.
We’re speaking here mainly of musical structure,
but the lyrical content and the music should dovetail
neatly at this point to form the best distillation of the
theme or artistic intention of your song. This form
serves the immediacy of pop music very well, with
the central ear worm of the chorus being neatly
packaged and emphasised by the structure of verses
around it.
These two forms are among the most popular of
song-forms and their structure is broadly applicable
to every genre. Other forms include:
AABA Also referred to as the ‘American Popular Song
Form’, this approach was quite common in the
pre-pop age (the heyday of the crooner). The
structure is mainly verse based, while the B section
doesn’t refer to a chorus as such, but instead a
musictech.net
 T H E P R I N C IP L ES O F S O N GW R I T I N G

© Getty Images
bridge section that commonly shifts the composition
MAJOR KEYS ABOVE The Beatles began their
career by covering popular songs
into a minor chord.
of the day. This gave them
C enough structural understanding
AAB The 12-bar blues concept fits the bill here – this F G
1 Sharp
of typical song mechanics to
start writing their own – and the
‘AAB’ description doesn’t really refer to sections at 1 Flat
D A rest is history
all, but articulates the movement of chords around E
what is typically understood as a ‘verse’ section, B D LEFT One of the most useful
diagrams in the songwriter’s
which largely keeps the same rhythm and melody 2 Flats 2 Sharps
and serves as a blank canvas for improvisation by
G B arsenal, the circle of fifths is
a visual way of understanding
lead instruments. the relationships between the
C 12 tones of the chromatic scale,
ABCD An ever-changing, shifting series of musical
E MINOR KEYS F A as well as the major and minor
3 Flats 3 Sharps keys of each
and chordal ideas which dispenses with a central
hook or motif entirely. This is less popular with
songwriters and more aligned with avant-garde
F C E
composers and progressive music. A
4 Flats
B G 4 Sharps

In the world of professional songwriting, particularly D

for pop acts, the ABAB form is the most widely used
and songs are built in adherence to this format. It’s
not uncommon for large teams of songwriters to
convene in remote locations and work together to
build songs for artists. These forms merely explain the
skeletal structures of songs, the musical components
(ie, what chords are used, the time signature, the
insertion of a top-line melody) differ for each song
and are often dictated by genre conventions.
MELODY MAKER
The central musical motif or hook is usually in the form
of a top line melody and it’s usually among the first
D B
5 Flats 5 Sharps
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6 Sharps
ideas that songwriters come up with. After all, this is
the part of the song that has the most impact on the
listener (and if it’s ‘whistle-able’ then all the better!)
More instrumental-based songwriters may start with a
looped chord sequence, however, and take their
time trying out different top line melodies until they
hit on the right synthesis of sound, while some focus
exclusively on top-line creation.

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TUTO R I A L P R EPA R I N G A PER S O N A LI S ED W R I T I N G P R ES E T

01 If your focus is going to be devoted to writing, then you need to learn 02 Firstly, open a new project and begin adding audio tracks. You’re going
to avoid getting bogged down with option paralysis. The best way to to need the core instruments that you use, in our case, we tend to
combat this is to build a time-saving, personalised template in your DAW. compose basic ideas with two guitar tracks, a bass track, a vocal track,
Logic Pro X is particularly geared towards writing and our go-to option here. a MIDI piano track and Logic’s in-built Drummer for quick and effective rhythms.

03 Make sure that each track is preset with your most commonly used
effects. For example, a smattering of Logic’s Space Designer on the
vocals is a must, as well as appropriate compression on each instrument. We
also make sure the MIDI controller is set up for our go-to piano sound (NI’s The
Gentleman) and our guitars are running through our preferred rhythm and lead
chains in Guitar Rig.
04 Using this template, start to build a typical song, perhaps one you’ve
already written which consists of a basic ABAB form. Be sure to add
each section of the song to the arrangement view in Logic (Track>Global
Tracks>Show Arrangement View) and create a basic demo. You can modify
the arrangement as you go in future demos and don’t need to stick rigidly to
the template.

05 Once you’re confident that you have your key instruments and sounds in
place for writing, then it’s time to undo your recordings to eliminate the
audio and save your project as a template. Head to File>Save as Template and
call your new template ‘Writing Preset’.
06 Of course, this template is just a starting point and as you go, you can
add more elements and bolster your arrangement. It’s recommended
to develop the arrangement and explore mixing in a new project. However,
this way, you can speedily finish initial melodic and structural ideas using
the restricted instrumentation of this template to maintain your writing flow.

Conventionally, in a pop song, the top line takes
the form of the vocal melody, which is foregrounded
and emphasised in the mix. On a technical level,
what’s happening (or should be happening)
musically is that the intervals that make up the
key the song is in are being moved through in an
interesting way.
There isn’t really a preset route through intervals
(as long as you remain in the correct key of the
song), so you’re free to enjoy exploring the millions
of variations you can construct from alternating
the note sequences, emphasis and speed.
A good top line should have a significant degree
of movement, but also have a recognisable, fixed
shape that shouldn’t vary too much.
An important thing to remember also is that this
top line hook has to be effective enough to retain
itself in the listener’s brain, to make them want to
hear it again, so repetition is crucial. Most pop songs
have at least three instances of the top line in the
chorus, while other songs take a more ‘fast food’
approach and stack up multiple hooks throughout
the song that all serve as distinct top lines. The top
line doesn’t necessarily have to be the vocal

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melody; it can be performed on any instrument

(though it helps if it is the most prominent part of the
mix, so don’t have it compete with a vocal melody).
Many professional songwriters specialise exclusively
on the top line, as it’s so integral to the mechanics of
a successful song.

TENSION IN THE ROOM

To recap then, the top priorities of any songwriter
should be form and structure with serious thought
given to the central melodic hook, the third most
integral aspect when building a track is the dynamic
quality. How we guide the listener through the song
psychologically should be a major consideration
from the get-go.
A tried-and-tested route to maximise the
emotional journey of your song is by beginning
your arrangement slowly and with minimal
instrumentation. Here, you can establish the key,
structure and mood of your composition before
bringing in further elements (often a rhythm track –
depending on what genre you’re working in) and
build towards the towering ‘peak’ of your song.
This steady evolution keeps the listener hooked
and rations the endorphin-release of the chorus,
making boredom or overload less likely.
Understanding the power of tension is a critical
concept in songwriting; building up your structure
both musically and audibly to maximise the central
hook is what every successful song does and if
you want your song or track to resonate, then
you need to consider the sonic path that you’re
taking the listener on. Your music and lyrical content
should work together to sell the story or theme of
your song and giving the listener time and space
to breathe is important.
So there are the three, we would argue, central
technical considerations of songwriting. There are
some more in-depth guides to the building blocks
of song-craft on our website, which have practical
demonstrations and transferable techniques.
In the words of Warner Chappell’s longest-serving

© Jeff Kravitz /Getty Images

songwriter Paul Statham (who we speak to in depth
on page 32): “The best resource is your ears – just
listen to songs and try and work out what is affecting
you. What is it about a song that makes you feel
the way you do? Is it the dynamics, is it the lyric,
is it a weird chord inversion? Try and deconstruct
the things you like, even when you’re sat on a bus
or something. Try to understand what your favourite
songs are doing. Once you’ve figured that out, you
can apply a similar principle to your own writing, to
try and make others feel the same thing.”
THE GROUND FLOOR
So if you’ve adopted these principles, have a raft
of what you believe to be effective, potential
commercial smash hits, then how do you get the
songs into the hands of publishers, artists and labels?
Well, multi-Platinum songwriter Jez Ashurst has some
advice. “I think if you want to build a career as a
songwriter or a producer (or both), you need to be
out there trying to find artists who are beginning
their career that you can develop. That means
scouring YouTube and going to gigs. If you can
get in at the ground floor with them and help
them develop their sound, then that’s a good
way to get into the industry.
“You need to start with someone who’s pretty
fresh and develop them to where they need to be,
and make a whole bunch of songs with them,”
Jez continues. “It’s the hardest time ever to be a
songwriter who doesn’t write hit singles. In the old One of pop’s most accomplished
days, many songwriters would make a decent living, ear-worm cultivators, Katy
Perry’s top-line melodies in
usually by co-writing say track 4 or 5 on a record. songs such as Roar and Firework
Now, success is more based on individual tracks. provide great examples of
It’s more of a ‘feast or famine’ scenario. Streaming well-emphasised hooks
payments aren’t amazing, so having a radio hit
can make a big difference to your royalty stream.
The landscape has definitely changed.
“I think on the upside, though, the definition
of a ‘single’ is changing, too. If a song goes viral,
it gets streamed. It’s less easy to define these days,
what a guaranteed hit single will sound like. So it’s
a healthy time from that angle: you can bypass the
traditional gatekeepers.”
One thing that everybody can agree on is that
there’s still an unquenchable thirst for new music,
new hits and the right training to forge a career in
professional songwriting. Over the next few pages,
we speak to a range of individuals who are currently
working in this field to understand the realities of the
songwriting industry in 2019.

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MT C OV ER FE AT U RE
SONGWRITING
PRO ADVICE Though we can discuss the musical technicalities of
songwriting in great detail, we’d be hard pressed to deliver
the same level of insight that the following collection of
people can offer. From academics such as Linton Bennett
and Emma Hooper to acclaimed artist Catherine Davies
and pro songwriters such as Bernard Butler and Jez Ashurst,
we present fresh perspectives on the world of modern
songwriting from a range of experienced professionals
INTERVIEWS ANDY PRICE
BERNARD BUTLER
ARTIST, PRODUCER AND PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER
The acclaimed guitarist is also a prolific songwriter
and producer. Bernard is Songwriting Tutor at BIMM
London and has recently conducted a masterclass
at Abbey Road Studios…
I think creating was always my interest and when
I began to play the guitar (and before that, I had
dabbled in piano and violin) it was my instinct to
create my own music. I was very curious about the
process and as soon as I began to notice the
‘brackets’ under song titles which we used to see on
records and CDs, I realised that was where I needed
to be. I also realised there was a reason why these
names seemed to be more important than other
band members and producers.
There are of course typical approaches to begin
with, which usually lead you into an unknown path
and from there, a great deal of mental strength
comes into play – to know when you have a song, to
be disciplined and self critical and most of all, to feel
comfortable with what you have created. There are
too many approaches to list, but it ultimately tends
to depend on whether a collaboration is involved,
I think, whether you are writing for yourself or to a
theme – and technically how you are going about it,
from sitting at a piano with paper and pen to staring
at a laptop.
SECOND OPINIONS
Collaboration can be extremely healthy and also
very challenging. Rarely is it appropriate to sit and
write words from scratch with 10 people. Often,
having a personal starting point, a tune, half a lyric,
unstructured and unfinished, maybe missing a
chorus, can be a really useful starting point for a
group of writers. Songwriters tend, in my experience,
to be supportive and positive in that situation and
18 October 2019 MusicTech
are able to feed back on what works without
destroying what doesn’t.
Usually, a writer is sensitive enough to rip up their
own work without taking grave offence. Lyrics can
often be suggestive to another writer of different
meanings and follow-on words. Structure can be very
easy to see from a different perspective. Meter and
key can be easy to change.
All the easy mechanics of a song can be much
more difficult to grasp for the original writer and
much easier to workshop as a group.
And all of this is very easy with quite raw elements.
What takes months to notice when staring at a
screen can be rejigged in minutes in a small,
supportive group.
OFFERING SOLUTIONS
The cliched assumption many people have is that
“you can’t teach someone to write a song”. Which
entirely misses the point. There’s a perception that
a songwriting degree is somehow lightweight or
a pastime, yet no one ever asks the millions of
English Lit graduates how their career as a novelist
is coming along! What you can do in education is
offer a set of solutions, a set of approaches and an
environment where writers can see possibilities to
realise their ideas.
It’s pretty much the way we can look at great
records and understand how they came together.
No-one has the desire to write a song without a prior
idea and a healthy instinct to create in the first
place. Plus, the magic involves faith and belief.
A great deal of all art comes from just finding a
good mental space.
The best advice I can give you if you’re constantly
hitting a brick wall is to get up and go for a walk. Put
down the instrument you are using and try one you
are unfamiliar with. Speed-read a novel you have
never looked at and think about the last
conversation you had with a stranger. Think of
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what you have done that day, however menial.
Then structure your thoughts like this:
1 Write down exactly what happened
2 Say how it made you feel
3 Write about where that has left you.
In those three phrases, I just gave you the verse,
the pre-chorus and the chorus. Voila.
The production process is tied to the writing
process, particularly in modern pop of course, as
producers are now often credited as writers and vice
versa. Essentially, for me, the song is still fundamentally
words and music.
Those elements define the song and are best
established with raw elements before turning on the
DAW. Having said that, the DAW is priceless
for its simple editing tools – being able to snip
structures, add sections and rearrange is so useful,
right to the end.
My key advice to you is to write with as many
people as you can, whoever they are and whatever
that may lead to. You have the capacity to learn
something from every human and every human
situation you encounter and you can take all the
good experiences and all the bad and put them into
your next song.
JEZ ASHURST
PROFESSIONAL SONGWRITER
Jez Ashurst is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter who
has worked with Tom Walker, Little Mix, One Republic
and Westlife. He has lectured at Bath Spa University,
LCCM, BIMM and Leeds College of Music. As well as
being part of the music team behind the X Factor...
20 October 2019 MusicTech
There are two different types of songwriting that I do.
There’s writing with an artist, where my job becomes
to help them amplify and express what they do and
what they want to say. Then there’s writing songs
that you pitch to somebody, so with that approach,
I’m trying to build a memorable melody and a
relatable concept that resonates with other people.
I’d say generally, the starting point of professional
songwriting for me is having a long conversation with
the artist. Find out what’s going on in people’s lives
and what shared experiences you have.
I used to bring in quarter-written song ideas, a
chord sequence, perhaps. I know songwriters who
start with a beat. But I might have an interesting sound
on a synth that I just play in the background and see if
anyone picks up on it. What I’m trying to do is get the
lay of the land and figure out when the best time to
start making music is.
Sometimes, it’s like the third idea of the day that
everyone gets behind. Sometimes, it’s the fourth idea
and sometimes, it’s none of them. You can’t force
people to get involved, you’ve got to create
something that’s intriguing enough or someone has
a concept or a title or a lyric that people are getting
excited about. One thing I’ve found is that the really
special songs come quite quickly. They might need a
bit of fixing later on, but once the ball starts rolling, it
tends to come together. To write something that’s just
a little bit special is something we’re all trying to do.
It’s great to see an artist onstage performing it when
you’ve helped deliver it.
The less-successful songwriting days I think
you should still see as valuable, they’re almost
like ‘practice’ days. If you write 100 songs, I’d say
95 won’t be special. But you have to just keep writing.
Some days, I struggle to write even a mediocre song.
Don’t settle for ideas that don’t excite you, keep
digging and there’s probably something better
waiting to be written. People often say get the first
song out of the way and then write the second
song for fun, writing the second song is then a little
bit easier. It is nerve-wracking if you’ve never met an
artist before and you’ve got to create something,
that’s kind of a strange job. Everyone feels that
pressure to get on with it. But my favourite songs that
I’ve co-written are those that I haven’t rushed.
SHED THE INFLUENCES
If you’re hitting a creative dead end, then here’s
how to get through it. First of all – don’t worry if it
sounds too much like something else, that’s how
you learn. Finding your own sound is a slow process
of shedding those influences.
Secondly, try and switch the internal editor off
when you’re writing – that awful voice that says
‘this is rubbish’ as soon as you start strumming a chord.
Keep the fun aspect going and then go in later and
try to mend the stuff that doesn’t quite work, but you
must try and enjoy the initial writing process. Be hard
on yourself after the fact and accept the fact that
you need to rework certain sections.
I remember both Ed Sheeran and Carole King
saying variations of the following piece of advice,
it’s very important: you need to write about 500
songs before you get some good ones. Increase
the number of songs you’re writing. Try and motivate
yourself to write a song a day, three songs a week at
least – even if they’re not great. Go through that
exercise and you’ll work through to the good stuff a
lot quicker.
There really are no shortcuts. Songwriting is like a
muscle that you need to keep flexing. You need to
keep ploughing on through all those terrible songs
with the perseverance to write a good song.
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CATHERINE
ANNE DAVIES
(AKA THE
ANCHORESS)
ARTIST AND SONGWRITER
Songwriter, vocalist, producer and academic
Catherine Anne Davies performs under the name
of The Anchoress. Her first record Confessions Of
A Romance Novelist was one of The Guardian’s
Albums Of The Year and was nominated for the
Welsh Music Prize.
When writing, I usually start with a song title or a
strong lyrical concept, because I always think you
have to be clear about what you want to say in a
song. Musically speaking, I’m always collecting small
motifs on my iPhone and sometimes these will
provide a song foundation, or I’ll be led by a core
hook around a lyrical motif. I also do a lot of writing
while I’m walking and melodies often come into my
head against background rhythms.
GO LOW TECH
I’m always recording my ideas using voice memos
and the Abbey Road Topline App if I’m on the move
and want to sketch out an idea before I forget it.
I also on occasion write and record straight into Pro
Tools and will work up an instrumental track and work
the lyric over that. Sometimes, I still go ‘low tech’ and
have a notebook and pen by the piano, but I still
always keep my voice memos recording so I don’t
lose out on any magic, accidental moments. I also
really like the Moog DFAM for a quick, instinctual way
to write to a rhythm track. My Yamaha Refaces are
also invaluable for writing on the road or tour bus, as
they are incredibly portable and battery powered.
I don’t know where I’d be without them.
If you want to be a songwriter, then the trick is
to just write as much as you can. Make it a weekly
practice and don’t get stuck on something because
you think something isn’t good enough – songs are
there to be edited and reworked. I always focus on
finding unusual chords to go to next and not just
languishing on what the ear is comfortable with.
22 October 2019 MusicTech
LINTON BENNETT
POINT BLANK SONGWRITING TUTOR
Linton Bennett has worked as a composer, producer
and writer for artists including All Saints, Jamelia,
Boyz II Men, Gary Moore and Imogen Heap.
He currently teaches the Songwriting course
at Point Blank Music School.
I can’t stress enough the importance of exploration
and experimentation at the development and
advanced stages of songwriting. Refining your
process, your uniqueness, workflow and musical
strengths is achieved by immersing in all music and
is critical for self preservation and motivation. This,
I found at the early stages of my development,
helps shape musical ambidexterity.
An important core principle of songwriting is
simply to just ‘go primal’ and just make noise, enjoy
it and most importantly, embrace what noise you
make. Your early song attempts are in some ways
your primal scream. There’s gold in there, you just
have to learn to find where.
All songwriters – and I can speak from 28 years’
experience – will go through what renowned
composer Aaron Copland described as the “three
planes of listening” and analysing music as they
evolve. The learning curve as a songwriter can be
brutal and often leaves your best efforts ignored or
sneered at by your peers.
Through my own personal experience as a
songwriter, I found it pretty traumatic when fellow
musicians were pointing out flaws in my songs, I had
no idea that there were issues with songs which
sounded great to me at the time of writing. When
sharing with an audience, we have to be aware as
songwriters that our efforts will be translated by the
listener – who has heard countless versions of songs
similar to your creation and can form a relatively solid
criticism based on that knowledge, but seldom the
musical theory behind it. This is why learning music
theory sits highest on the core principle chart and
will most certainly come to the fore in your career
in songwriting.
As a songwriter, you should be well versed in how
to express emotively through an instrument using
theory and feel. And this includes your voice.
Unfortunately, for some musicians, theory lessons can
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feel unnatural, uncreative and obstructive to their
existing process, but this couldn’t be further away
from the truth.
Being able to constructively listen to, deconstruct
and analyse music is paramount in understanding
why hit records are just that. It gives you a much
more expanded overview of your audiences’
expectation and musically what’s in vogue.
A career in songwriting also means a shift every
now and then out of your comfort zone. Just look
at Madonna or Bowie, or if a young vocalist walks
through your door wanting to go folk or pop or a
genre you’ve never heard of.
Keeping an ear to the ground as to how your
audience are evolving and being able to morph
from one technique to another with accuracy is
key to staying ahead and implementing new energy
to the field. It’s also what every publisher is looking
for in a songwriter.
SMOKE AND MIRRORS
My first piece of advice: ‘Know your skill level.’
Bravado is commendable, but seldom creates
a great song or studio session. Set your goals high,
be patient and work to your skills while you gradually
learn along the way.
‘Nobody can predict a hit record’ was once
the saying among working musicians in the field.
This is fast becoming a myth, as platforms like
Shazam are already predicting chart placements
with alarming accuracy. The industry for the
songwriter has become increasingly stretched
as the ideas, tricks and writing strategies are in
such abundance and mirror each other so closely
that the audience are being made very aware
of the same smoke-and-mirrors tricks used by
modern-pop songwriters.
Whether you’re aiming for the commercial market
as a songwriter or not. My second key piece of
advice is to remember that radio is still your biggest
distributor. Regardless of whether you’re Adele,
Pharrell or Aphex Twin, the level playing field of the
three-minutes-and-30-seconds radio edit is the
golden rule. Learn to discipline your songwriting to
this format. Making templates of hit structure and
arrangement then applying your parts will help
you concentrate on the content.
Thirdly, don’t expect the work is going to come
to you. Once you start a career in songwriting, the
most important thing to remember is that you are
self-employed. It is a job and you’re suggesting
you’re the best candidate, so go find the business.
There are so many networking events for musicians,
Notting Hill Music network being one, that selling
your skills isn’t as daunting as you might think. In light
of this, choose your projects carefully. One of the
hardest words to say in the interim stages is ‘no’.
Before committing, find what it is you can bring to
the table.
Lastly, as a career move, I’d advise you to speak
to publishers. If you have a studio and can record,
offer your services for free and ask if you can
collaborate with their songwriting roster.
Regarding the educational route – and if, like me,
you’ve managed to fill your boots while in the
industry – my simplest advice is: ‘Know your subject.’
You’ll be asked the same question 100 different ways,
all needing the answer to be tailor-made for their
song. I must admit, this energises me in the classroom.
The crux of this being be approachable and well
versed in the subject. Also understanding and having
an appreciation for all genres with a solution or
compromise to everything is an absolute must.
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EMMA HOOPER
SENIOR LECTURER IN COMMERCIAL MUSIC
An academic and author who works as a senior
lecturer in Commercial Music at Bath Spa University,
Emma has written extensively about music-making
and the creative process and performs regularly
with her band Waitress For The Bees.
I’d always made up songs (I think most kids do), but
never thought of it in a ‘what I want to do when I
grow up’ sense. What I did want to do was a)
something creative and b) something that didn’t
require me to have to wear a uniform or business
clothes for. Music and academia ticked those boxes.
My career as a music academic followed on
pretty naturally from my BA-MA-PhD path, especially
since I paid for much of all those tuition fees by
playing gigs and teaching music lessons.
The standard question with songwriting is always:
‘What first? Words or music?’ But that’s a bit simplistic,
since it breaks down to so many more micro-
components than just those two. And there are just
as many approaches and techniques different
songwriters use. That said, for myself, I do tend to
come up with a general theme first (conceptual, not
musical), then a general musical hook, then polish
both down into specifics, both in terms of music and
lyrics. I write on viola, though. Writing on, say, a
synthesiser is another story…
I think the biggest challenge with educating
young songwriters is getting students to trust
themselves and not try to tame their wildest ideas.
Most of the time, the ideas that seem the craziest are
their best ones, the ones that stand out and that’s a
pretty important thing in this business. If your song
sounds like it could’ve been written by anyone, well,
then it could have and your role is kind of pointless.
If you’re facing a creative block, then here’s a
handy tip. Take a book off the shelf. Any book. Open
it to a random page. The first line is the first line of
your new song. My advice for anyone looking to
have a career in this industry is to trust your voice,
as in your personal style – and for getting into music
education: keep making music yourself. You’ll teach
the best and be most appealing to the job market if
you’re actively doing it yourself.
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MT S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L

ED HARCOURT With a multi-faceted career as

journeyman songwriter, composer,
producer, live performer and highly
regarded Mercury Music Prize-
nominated artist in his own right, the
prolific Ed Harcourt’s perspective on
the music-industry landscape of the
21st century is invaluable. We take
a trip to Wolf Cabin – Ed’s home studio
and writing space in Oxfordshire –
to glean insight from a man with
seemingly limitless creative energy
Words ANDY PRICE

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S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L ED H A R C O U R T
W
hen embarking on a career
as a musician and particularly
as a songwriter, there will
inevitably be difficult and
challenging periods; the real-world
pressures of maintaining an income, the
slog of dealing with an often unsupportive
industry and of course, simply keeping
creatively stimulated and feeling that
inspiration to write worthy work.
Ed Harcourt has faced all these
challenges – and more besides – head
on and has still emerged at the end of the
decade as a songwriter who commands
a huge amount of respect from his peers.
“My career has had a lot of peaks and
troughs,” Ed tells us. “I think that’s pretty
normal for a lot of people. A lot of people
get a degree of success and they just work
hard to maintain that. I think for my work,
I want people to either really love it, or
really hate it – that’s a good thing. It’s
better than people just being indifferent –
following your whim and not trying to
please everyone is something to strive
toward. That’s really the only way to
survive, creatively, I think.”
We’re speaking to Ed Harcourt in his
Wolf Cabin studio, based at his home
near Oxford. It’s a treasure trove of gear,
instruments, memorabilia, art and style.
Within minutes, we’re soaked in the
creatively stimulating vibe of this Aladdin’s
cave. We’re visiting Ed to talk mainly about
songwriting and the compositional process,
Ed is more well versed (no pun intended)
than most, having also written with a
plethora of high-profile, chart-topping
artists, including Paloma Faith, Sophie
Ellis-Bextor, James Bay, Marianne Faithfull
and many more. But, of course, we
can’t help but indulge in a short tour
of the space.
“This studio was built here in my garden
so I could literally turn things around
incredibly quickly,” Ed says. “It’s really for
26 October 2019 MusicTech
writing, but I have been recording in here,
too. The desk here at the centre is a
Chilton QM3, which I actually acquired
through eBay.”
TOO MUCH ENERGY
Ed Harcourt first appeared on the radar
with his debut record Here Be Monsters,
which was nominated for the Mercury
Music Prize in 2001. But his wasn’t an
overnight success story. Prior to this, Ed
had already experienced his fair share
of setbacks. Ed takes us back to the
beginning: “Well, it was my mum who was
the first to notice that I was quite musical.
I was always tapping out rhythms on
furniture etc, I obviously had a little bit too
much energy. So she thought it’d be good
for me to put my focus into something that
would channel that a little bit. So she got
me piano lessons at the age of nine –
weirdly, with Michael Crawford’s mother
– in Eastbourne down in Sussex. I was kind
of a regular kid but as soon as I started
playing, I realised I’d found my passion.
When I got to around 11 or 12, I learnt the
cello and then gave that up and started
learning saxophone.”
When Ed’s teens dawned, he naturally
felt drawn to contemporary rock such as
Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana, which inspired
him to take up the drums. “I’d spend days
trying to learn drum parts from their songs.
I did everything upside down, because
I’m naturally left-handed but I write with
my right. I learned the drums upside down
and learned the guitar and bass upside
down, too.”
Inevitably, a band was formed. “So
when I was 15, I started a band with a
bunch of friends and that’s when I first
started actually writing songs. The first song
that I wrote that got released had me
singing and playing piano. It was a B-side,
because the majority of the stuff the band
did was all very heavy. It was a song called
The central hub of Wolf Cabin
is this Chilton QM3 desk,
complete with mood-setting
inspiration such as skulls
and stuffed crows
Losing My Hair and was about a guy who
loses his hair due to stress and his wife hates
him. I don’t really know where that idea
came from. I obviously loved being able
to sing and to play, but once I learned
how to write a song, it changed everything
for me.”
Ed’s focus on being a songwriter and
an artist led to his first brush with the music
industry. “So when I was around 18, I got
signed to Warner with a band called Snug
for an album deal, but we got dropped
when we were making the album after
doing three singles. I was very angry, and
just thought, ‘Fuck this.’ So I went back to
Sussex with my dad and got a job as a
chef. I was very lucky, because I didn’t
really want to live with my parents and my
grandmother lived in this huge old
farmhouse. There were quite a few rooms
and a lot of space and there was a music
room with a baby grand piano.
“I put a drum kit in there, too. I had a
4-track Tascam cassette tape machine.
At that point, I did shifts at work so I’d
come back and wouldn’t sleep; I’d just
drink red wine and write around three
songs a night!
“Some of that stuff was absolutely
terrible, it has to be said,” Ed remembers.
“But it led to me composing my first album
Here Be Monsters. It was around that time
that I got into singer-songwriters in a big
way. And I thought about giving the
songwriter-at-piano thing a shot. I was
listening to lots of Tom Waits, Randy
Newman and Harry Nilsson. But I didn’t
think of it as like going into the industry
with a new approach or anything like
that, I was just writing for the love of it.”
Following the success of Here Be
Monsters, Ed released seven further records.
Rich with lyrical, thematic, compositional
and sonic ideas, his work is lauded by
critics. Of particular note is his family-
themed 2010 record Lustre, the
confessional, stripped-down Back Into The
Woods and his Flood-produced 2016 epic
Furnaces, which tackled climate change,
capitalism and toxic masculinity.
“I like albums that have thematic links
between songs,” Ed answers, when
asked if he approaches album writing
conceptually. “But having said that,
you don’t want the process to be too
contrived. You can write about whatever
you want. I find that as I’m making it, the
album reveals its concept. It can start out
as a collection of songs, but I think that
cohesive thread very often develops of its
own accord without you actually going in
saying, ‘Right, I’m going to make an album
about ‘X’.
“Looking back on my records now, I can
generally see the themes they largely deal
with, which I couldn’t really understand at
the time. Here Be Monsters is kind of about
coming out of the teen years and into
adulthood. It’s a coming-of-age record.
From Every Sphere is kind of about death.
There were a few deaths in the family at
that time and I had a bit of an obsession
musictech.net

“They gave me 24 hours to get
a song. So I just didn’t know
what to do. I ended up going
full Keith Richards in Jamaica”
with it. Then my third record Strangers was
sort of about new love, that was my love
album in a way. Then Lustre was all about
becoming a father and the responsibility of
being a parent – which is bound to make
most people vomit, I’m sure!”
THE WAY THAT I LIVE
Despite his rich canon of work, Harcourt
isn’t defined by his individual career as
a singer-songwriter. He’s fought against –
and adjusted to – an industry that has been
going through perhaps the biggest seismic
shift in its entire lifespan. Ed has furthered
his career by developing various other
roles for himself in the industry, including
putting himself out there as a gunslinging
songwriter for hire and as an innovative,
hands-on producer.
“I’m more worried about new
songwriters,” Ed admits. “I think it’s very
hard for new people coming in because of
the way the industry has shifted. It’s difficult
to make a living as a songwriter in the
streaming age. I can’t help but feel that
the artists and creatives are routinely
shafted in the industry. It is depressing, but
you have to find a way around that. It’s a
bit like austerity, the gap between the rich
and the poor has got wider and the gap
between multi-million-selling artists and
everyone else is huge. So you have to find
different ways of surviving.
“I do that by not spending all my time
as a songwriter. I’m playing on albums,
I’m co-writing with other people, I’m
producing and trying to do soundtrack
and advertising work for film and TV.
Whatever I can do to increase my income
from the music industry, I will do. I’d say you
really do have to be quite savvy and keep
things going.”
Though some artists may balk at the
concept of expending creative energy
on writing for advertising, Ed is more
comfortable with the practical reality of this
path. “I actually learned a lesson from an
advertising commission I did a few years
back. I did a song for Burberry called
The Way That I Live for their Christmas
campaign. It’s kind of waltzy. But initially,
I wrote two songs and Burberry were like,
‘No, these don’t really work.’ They gave
me 24 hours to get a song. So I just didn’t
know what to do. I ended up going full
Keith Richards in Jamaica and drank a
musictech.net
ED H A R C O U R T S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L
bottle of rum. I sat down at the piano until
around 4am and wrote this song that I was
really happy with.
“Because I’d drank the rum, I felt like
I was kind of on a ship and that’s why it
has a kind of rollicking, rolling ‘on the sea’
vibe to it. I remember sending it the next
day at 10am really hungover. I’m not
recommending this specific approach, by
the way! What I’m saying is that for some
reason getting a new mental attitude on
what I was doing helped me out of a rut.
“Everyone was really happy with the
song, though, which is the important thing.
So the point of the story is being put into
a new, panicky situation and having
that very, very tight deadline gave me
motivation. I had to go for it and it could
either be the worst thing in the world or it
could be the best. Because I was doing this
for an advert, it felt a bit weird.
“In this day and age, it’s pretty
standard, though. If you think of the
greats of music, even people like Mozart
were commissioned by the wealthy and
the aristocracy.”
Ed Harcourt’s songwriting approaches
vary depending on whether he’s working
with other artists or if he’s writing a solo
record. However, having a strong sense of
discipline and channelling both positive
and negative experiences into the creative
process are fundamental.
RISE ABOVE THIS
One of our personal favourites of Ed Harcourt’s
songs, the cinematic, romantic (and doom
laden) Until Tomorrow Then serves as a perfect
example of how the texture of the sound can
dictate the flavour of a song.
As Ed says: “I had a song which I’d written on
piano called Until Tomorrow Then. The original
arrangement was very ‘glam’ and a little bit of a
throwback. I knew the song was good, but the
sound of it wasn’t right and I didn’t want it to be
piano-oriented.
“We were making my fourth record The
Beautiful Lie and recording at Jeremy Stacey’s
studio. He had so much amazing gear. We went
in there and he showed me the Optigan – which
is this vintage electronic keyboard that you load
with 12-inch program discs containing vintage
recordings, it’s a precursor to modern sampling
in a way. I was tinkering with it and I found this
amazing sound on a disc called Romantic Strings
DARK SONIC HALLWAYS
During our exploration of Ed’s studio, the
inevitable question arises – about whether
modern studio technology is a good thing
and whether having unlimited track counts
and thousands of instruments at your
disposal is beneficial to the process.
Ed’s view is that in the songwriting
sphere, less can be more. “I think that if
you fundamentally want to be a songwriter,
then you need to avoid getting bogged
down in the digital world of modern
production. Logic I find to be much more
creative than Pro Tools, I find it’s really
geared for writing. I work in Logic and
I do find it very creative, but I did have a
period before I wrote Furnaces where I was
getting so bogged down in the production.
I’d had a bit of a plug-in obsession and
was trying to build up this big collection
of whatever I could get. I got lost into
the maelstrom of hoarding, I was running
through dark sonic hallways of digital
chaos. I managed to pull myself back out
of that. Flood (who produced Furnaces)
forced me to re-record every song so it was
just me and piano. So I recorded every
song stripped back, to see if it worked.”
Ed’s early recordings were captured
using a simple Tascam 4-track recorder,
a tool that informed the way he thought
about structure and sound. “The great
thing about using the Tascam was that in a
which I instantly realised was exactly the kind
of feel I wanted for Until Tomorrow Then.
“The inversion of the notes just sounded a lot
cooler than what I was playing on piano and
so the song was saved, in a way.
“I’ve had so many ideas that I’ve known were
good but I just couldn’t get to sound right. So
when I found that sound for Until Tomorrow Then,
I was very relieved.
“I’d written a few love songs about the end
of the world. I guess it’s the idea of the world
cracking, with lava flowing and everything’s
falling into the ocean and everything’s dying.
“But the lyrical protagonist is saying,
‘Oh well, at least I’m with the person that
I love. I wanted it to sort of sound a bit like
The Shining or something, it’s got a woozy
nostalgia to it. The problem is, once you’ve
used a unique sound like that, you can’t really
use it again!”
MusicTech October 2019 27
 ED H A R C O U R T S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L

“When I have a part on a song

– a motif, hook or a melody
or instrument – I’ll make sure
it’s heard clearly in the mix”
weird way, having that 4-track limitation
was really beneficial. Whatever you do
on it has to be really good. I think having
endless, perpetual options on digital-audio
workstations encourages laziness. The
phrase ‘fix it in the mix’ is one that I ban
in the studio, and I know Flood does, too.
“I’m very much against the words
‘demo’ or ‘rough’ or ‘guide’ as well. I took
it to another level when we were making
Furnaces. I was like, ‘You can’t say verse, or
chorus or guitars, or bass, or drums,’ and if
you did, you were required to put some
money in a little skull-shaped moneybox.
I was the biggest culprit, though and
ended up putting in around £50!”
Ed’s DIY approach to production played
a role with the arrangements of his early
songs. One particular example is the
rhythm track of his early single Apple Of My
Ed’s simple 4-track
Eye. “Because I was so limited in the early Tascam Portastudio
days, I had to basically make a rudimentary was the crux of his early
drum kit for that song by essentially recordings and he still
keeps a few around in
beat-boxing on mic into the 4-track. I had Wolf Cabin
a rubbish chorus pedal, too, which I put
recordings of myself clapping through.
Then did another clap and bounced those
three tracks to one. Then did the bass, then
bounced the piano and the bass together
onto one track. Then the guitar, which I
probably panned to one corner of the mix,
then the vocal and that was it. You were
basically committing to mix choices each
step of the way with the 4-track.
“Everything you play just has to count.
Everything you do has to be a part that will
be heard. There was no room for pads or
subtle foundations. That’s something that
I think I’ve kept with me as I’ve developed
in my career, even today. When I have
a part on a song – a motif or a hook or a
melody or instrument – I’ll make sure that
is heard clearly in the mix. I won’t bury stuff.
That’s the opposite I suppose of someone
like My Bloody Valentine (who I adore),
which is more a beautiful wash of sound.”

CREATIVE CATALYST
We ask Ed what his typical approach to
songwriting is and also how the process
differs when writing with other people.
“A lot of the time, I’ll see a word that I love.
© Getty Images

Ed with Paloma Faith, an artist

I sometimes just go through my notebook
and write titles. I come up with titles and
then suddenly, that’ll inspire an idea for
how I think that song should sound. That’s
he has worked with very
closely over the course of her
career: “She’s like a little
sister to me”

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 29

S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L ED H A R C O U R T

“With collaborative songwriting

you have to be brutally honest.
You can’t keep anything to
yourself, you can’t be selfish”
Though he likes to keep certainly one way of doing it. There’s also
things simple when those events or situations that spark ideas,
songwriting, Ed does
love his music technology
or something becoming a catalyst. Let’s
say I have an argument with someone or
I see something that absolutely fills me
with joy, I’ll walk away feeling completely
compelled to write a song.
“Then there’s the dreamy otherworldly
spark; so you’re not necessarily doing
anything or thinking anything related to
songwriting, then something pops into your
head for no reason. It could have been
something that’s been lodged in your
subconscious for like months. Other times,
I’ll just sit and spend hours noodling and
faffing around on the piano and I don’t get
anything usable song-wise, but other times,
I’ll sit down and immediately something
melodically interesting comes out.
“With the collaborative writing process,
you’re sitting down and building things
together. But when people come to me,
it’s generally my role to be kind of like
the miner in the cave. I have to get the
pickaxe and basically go into their soul
and find the sparkly diamonds!”
We can imagine that role being fraught
with potential challenges. “Yeah, a lot of
how well that works is dependent on how
well you get on with someone. I’ll try and
spend time talking to someone for an hour
before we get into trying to write a song.
I try and get a feeling of what they’re
about. It can go wrong, though, but most
of the time, it works.
“For example, with Paloma Faith, it’s
always a smooth process. I started right at
the very, very beginning with her. It was
2007 and she came in and we did some
writing in a tiny room in my ground-floor flat
I had at the time in London. We just clicked
and wrote loads of songs. The first song we
wrote was fantastic, but it’s never been
released, it was called I Won’t Pretend.
Shortly after that, we wrote Do You Want
The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, which
became a single and the title track of her
debut album. I carried on writing with her
after that through her career. She’s like a
little sister to me. I love her to bits.
“With songwriting collaboratively, you
have to be brutally honest. You can’t keep
anything to yourself, you can’t be selfish.
You can’t hoard ideas. I even pick out
lyrical and musical ideas from my own work
if it’s useful or helps make the song we’re

30 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


working on better. I think it’s really
important that songwriters understand that.
Be totally open in service of the song.”
PIANO MAN
So how does Ed take those preliminary
musical ideas and structure his own songs
into workable pieces? “Well, the piano is
where I go to to write and structure these
days, but when I was recording with simple
4-track technology, I’d actually write music
around the drums a lot. I’d arrange it as
I went by changing up the drum patterns
for different sections, then add the musical
ideas after I’d defined that structure. I know
that’s quite unusual, but you have your
arrangement immediately locked down
and you’re ready to go.”
But there’s surely got to be times when
nothing seems to be working, when ideas
don’t seem to gel and inspiration dries up?
“Well, I think for me having a deadline –
even a self-imposed one – is really, really
important,” Ed says. “Particularly now I’m
older. That’s why when I’m co-writing, I’m
very particular that the time frame is like
11am to 6pm. Then I have to make my
apologies and end the session as I’m also
a dad and want to spend time with my
kids. If I’m left to my own devices these
days, it can take a long time.”
There’s also the nature of transforming
the often negative events, disappointments
and worry into your work, which Ed is open
about sharing “I didn’t write anything for
myself after Furnaces was released for
around 12 months. Me and my family
moved out here and then Polydor stopped
funding my record just three months after
it came out. That time was very difficult for
me as an artist. I’d put four or five years of
my life into it. On and off working with
Flood. I really had a huge vision for it, so it
was very frustrating. I didn’t realise it until
after I made my instrumental record
Beyond The End, but I’d actually gone into
a weird space. I literally just felt very flat.
I’d poured it all out into this new project.
So writing instrumental music was a really
therapeutic, good thing for me to do.
Once I’d done it, I was back to normal.”
FROM EVERY SPHERE
So to those reading who are developing
their songwriting skills, considering
embarking on a career or are facing
creative problems at the moment, what
key advice does Ed give? “I’d say be fluid,
be open. I don’t actually think there are
any rules with songwriting per se, but there
are methods. I think you can’t force
yourself to use a certain method to write
songs. But the best thing about songwriting
is to utilise the environment and
circumstances you are in. Use where you
are and where you’ve come from and
what your situation is to your benefit is how
you create.”
Ed elaborates: “When I was living in that
old house making my first record, with
nobody else around me, I was isolated with
a 4-track tape machine and one mic. That
was how I started writing songs properly.
That’s what inspired me – that situation.
musictech.net
ED H A R C O U R T S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L
Ed’s love of new tech extends
to some choice modular gear
I didn’t deliberately put myself in that
situation, but being there informed the
songwriting process. It’s about where it
starts. Throughout your whole life as a
songwriter, you need to tame that
perspective. You need to always remember
being in that first little room, starting out.
You need to feel like you don’t know
anything and that’s the only way to create,
I think. And always be receptive to new
ideas, approaches and strategies.
“I’ve learned new things from writing
with other people, and some writers who
are 20 years younger than me. You need
to be a sponge. It’s the nature of being a
songwriter, you’re just logging everything in
your head. I’m always producing different
people and working with different people.
I’d like my spectrum to be even more
broad, to be honest. As long as I think
it’s good and has something to say and
moves you.”
THE WASP BOX
We turn to the topic of maintaining a
career as a songwriter not just in this fraught
industry, but also from a mental-health
perspective. Ed is very open about his
experiences: “Well, I feel proud and quite
protective of everything that I’ve done.
Every album and every song is a bit like
a child. I made the mistake the other day
of going on my social media, which is
something I rarely do. I read a post from
someone in Sweden who had put up a
thing of one of my albums. I read what
he’d put and he’d said something like,
“His first three albums were so amazing,
but he never wrote a good song again.”
In a way, I wished I’d never read that,
because that’s so upsetting.”
We ask Ed why the comment affected
him so much. “Reading negative
comments online makes you start
questioning yourself. I know that’s
insecurity, but I think if you’re a creative,
you’re prone to have doubt, anyway. Look
– the thing is, not everyone is going to like
what I do as a songwriter, But I’d advise
songwriters to not read reviews, trawl
through social-media reactions or get
involved with any critical conversation
about their work. Because it’s so painful
when you read this kind of stuff. It affects
you and is detrimental to the songwriting
process. Also though, on the positive side,
it’s great when people come to you and
say that your music has affected them,
or that they’ve played your songs at
weddings, etc. It’s an amazing feeling. It
makes you feel like you’re doing something
great. But I’ve also had people drunkenly
come up to me and tell me that I suck.
That’s weird.”
But how does that square with the
near-expectation that songwriters should
have generated their own social-media
audiences and fanbases? “That’s one of
the scariest things about putting yourself
out there and writing songs. If you go on
YouTube and have a song that’s about
love and peace and joy and it’s viewed
by two million people, halfway down the
comment section there’ll be an argument
about ISIS or something. That’s just the way
of the world now and it’s very, very hard.
Going on Twitter sometimes is like opening
a box of wasps in your face.”
Despite Ed’s views regarding social
media, he acknowledges that it’s pretty
central to the industry in 2019. “Look, one
thing I will say to people who write songs is
to just make sure you look after yourself.
You’re exposing and revealing yourself.
You’re serving up your heart on a plate for
people to rip into if they’re so inclined. I do
think that protection is not reading your
reviews, and not trying to please everyone.
The main thing is to create your own world.
Create your own little bunker where you
can just shut yourself off from the chatter.
And create.”
MusicTech October 2019 31
S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L PA U L S TAT H A M

MT S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L

PAUL STATHAM One of Warner Chappell’s longest-serving songwriters, Paul

Statham has penned global smash hits – including Dido’s
massive Here With Me – while also crafting darker fare with
Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy. Now developing new artists
and educating students around the UK, Paul shares his tips…
Words ANDY PRICE

I
n the last decade, songwriting courses have
flourished around the world, with droves of
passionate students keen to cultivate the skills
that will enable them to join the sizeable writing
teams behind the charts. Music-industry stalwart Paul
Statham is one of the architects behind the Writing
For Commission module at BIMM London, a visiting
professor of music at Leeds College of Music and
runs BA songwriting workshops at Solent University.
He transitioned into the academic world after
an illustrious career co-writing with a range of artists,
most notably of course, Dido on the ubiquitous
Here With Me and the title track of her 2001 debut
album No Angel, as well as tracks on Kylie Minogue’s
2001 No.1 hit album Fever. He’d previously had a US
Top 20 hit with his electro-pop group Peach and the
song On My Own (featured in the film Sliding Doors).
Here, we speak to Paul about his experiences
and glean some insight into the practical realities
of surviving as a professional songwriter.
MusicTech How did your interest in songwriting begin
and how did your own career then develop?
Paul Statham When I was younger, I was more
fascinated by sound, I loved drawing, too.
I’d make these charts of popular songs of the time,
deconstructing them. I’d put different instruments
in different colours. It was kind of a weird hobby,
but I loved trying to work out who did what in
certain bands. When I discovered Brian Eno,
I got more into textures and sonic landscapes.
I became pretty obsessed by that.
It was only when I put my first band, B-Movie,
together, that I really started songwriting. I found out

32 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


that Steve the singer who was writing all our stuff was
getting paid four times a year by the PRS; I realised
then that there was more money in songwriting.
Songwriting kind of became a necessity – we
had a punk ethos and so writing our own stuff was
fundamental to what we did. As we progressed into
the early 80s, we noticed that huge wave of bands
that took America by storm: bands like Soft Cell,
Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet… and we kind of got
lumped into the lesser end of that sound. But there
was a lot of encouragement in the industry for bands
to write new songs. It was quite unlike now, where
there’s an industry of songwriters writing for artists
behind the scenes. There were no songwriting
courses then, it was just part of being in a band.
MT Did you try and write commercially successful
songs at this point?
Not when we first started. We mainly cared about
writing interesting chord changes, lyrics about
dystopian futures, reading books and being
intellectual. We tried to find angular guitar riffs, too.
So it was more for our own creative satisfaction and
what we perceived our audience as wanting.
It was only when major labels became involved
that the pressure to write to a format reared its head.
They said: “If you don’t get a song on Radio 1, you
won’t stay signed to us.” We were told to look at
these other bands and try to write more formulaic
pop. But we didn’t really succeed.
UNDER THE GOTHFATHER’S WING
MT Were those pressures to be successful useful when
you were writing?
Not at that particular time. I was personally more
interested in touring and performing live on stage,
really. It’s only as I’ve got older that I’ve been able
to look under the hood of songwriting and the
mechanics of it. Songwriting is such a fantastic thing
to learn. It suddenly became really interesting. In
1986, I joined the ‘Godfather of Goth’ Peter Murphy
(former lead vocalist with Bauhaus) and I left
B-Movie. Peter had a sizeable audience, in America
as well as the UK and he asked me to become his
co-writer. So that’s when I started taking the role of
‘songwriter’ seriously.
Even though his audience was goth and very
dark, there was a definite structure to the songs that
I could understand. I was suddenly there with a
fixed role. I really broadened my instrumental skills –
I learned keyboard, developed my guitar-playing
ability and got into recording. So I could deliver
great-sounding demos to him. It was a successful
time and the song Cuts You Up topped Billboard’s
Modern Rock chart in 1990. That’s when I started
earning a significant income from songwriting.
I stayed with Peter for 10 years in his live setup
and still continue to write with him now.
MT How was the process of writing with Dido and did
you have any idea how big the record would be?
It was during my time in the 90s with Peach. Dido was
the sister of Faithless’s Rollo Armstrong and she wasn’t
signed or anything. But my publisher said there was
this great girl and that I should do some writing with
her, so I just started writing. We wrote some songs and
then Clive Davis heard them and signed her to Arista.
Luck would have it that a song we wrote called Here
With Me became an early single and a massive Top
Five single; her profile was raised of course by the
collaboration with Eminem, Stan.
It was then that I realised that I could call myself
a professional songwriter, so I signed to Warner
Chappell (who I’m still with 20 years later). Following
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PA U L S TAT H A M S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L
that, I got to work with Kylie Minogue on her Fever
album which did seven million sales. That was the
album that had Can’t Get You Out Of My Head on it.
It was her only big US album.
MT So following your career writing with a range of
artists, how did you get into academia?
Well, I’ll be completely honest, I don’t enjoy writing
for the current state of out-and-out pop music. I
really love working with and developing artists for
long periods of time, but I realised that getting a job
was really important financially as well as keeping my
love of songwriting going. I’m currently running the
songwriting units at Solent University. I used to run a
course at BIMM and still do one-to-ones with
students. I’m a member of the Songwriting Academy
as well as being a visiting professor at Leeds College
of Music. So between all of that, I have a really solid
income, coupled with royalties and income from
Warner Chappell, those things make life good. This
allows me to choose the creative projects I want to
be involved with as an artist myself.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE
MT What are some of the typical conversations you
have with young songwriters?
I feel really sorry for a lot of young songwriters,
because the landscape is so different. I do think
there’s more instantaneous pressure on them to
succeed. With the people I work with at Warner
Chappell, I’ve noticed that there’s a pattern of
young artists who want to achieve so much in
one day. They want to make their hit to play to their
manager. They aren’t giving themselves enough time
to find their voice or do something interesting. There’s
a lot of these disseminated structural things that
they’ve been told such as, “I need to get to the
chorus within 15 seconds so the song sticks in
people’s minds.” I just wonder if that’s really what
they want to get out of being an artist in music.
MT What are the biggest challenges with actually
teaching the topic of songwriting in academia?
If a student asked me, “Should I be here?” my
response would be, “If you’re curious and you want
to learn how to be better, then you should be.” If
you’re very good at what you do and you believe
in it – then get doing it! If you’re doing a degree,
three years is a long time. Having said that, I do see
amazing progressions take place working with young
songwriters. There is a clichéd idea that you can’t
teach songwriting. But of course you can.
There’s ways of approaching genres and song
types structurally. It’s usually a three-and-a-half-
minute construct that follows such a rigid order.
Of course, there have to be rules. If someone asks
me to help them write a pop song, or a song for
Nashville or a song in the style of Ride or dream pop
or something like that, or even a metal song, I think
it’s relatively straightforward. There’s techniques that
are applicable to every genre.
BIMM runs a three-year songwriting degree which
gives students time to explore different genres etc, in
depth… but while Solent Songwriting is an option on
performance/production, the facilities are brilliant
and we have four-hour workshops which really focus
the student. I have learned so much more myself by
researching these workshops over 24 weeks. My own
songwriting has improved a great deal as a result.
MT Do you think absorbing too much rule-based
strategy can be detrimental to a songwriter, though?
I think you only have to look at the current state of
the Top 20 to see that. I do this with my students quite
MusicTech October 2019 33
S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L PA U L S TAT H A M
Paul regularly teaches at a
variety of institutions, showing
students how to get ’under the
hood’ of popular songs
34 October 2019 MusicTech
a lot. We looked at Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and
a couple of bands. I brought up eight or nine lyrics
from that week’s Top 20. They were so appalling, they
were like sexualised nursery rhymes, or boastful ‘I’m
better than you’-type sentiments. The whole class of
contemporary songwriters said they didn’t want to
go there.
That was shocking – they want to learn how to be
better songwriters, but don’t want to touch what’s
actually selling and being streamed in the millions at
the moment. Everyone agreed that there was so
much formula to the way those songs were written
and that they didn’t want to do that.
I personally like artists who mix it up. There’s always
room for a fantastic new band or artist who’s going
to come along and mess it all up and change how
things sound. I think Grimes is a good example of that
kind of person, she’s both very commercial and also
very sonically interesting and in control of her own
direction. A lot of the more leftfield R&B is actually
where the interesting sonic things are happening at
the moment.
MT You’ve worked with lots of different artists,
how does that differ from writing alone?
I really enjoy being in the room writing with someone
else. Seeing someone else’s enthusiasm for someone
immediately comes back to you and validates ideas.
When writing alone, the road is pretty open, but
you’re kind of in thrall to that critical voice that says,
‘It’s not going to happen.’ I think I’m a collaborative
songwriter by nature. I actually very rarely write any
song of my own single-handedly from start to finish.
I normally always write with somebody else.
THE END OF THE STORY
MT Thinking about songwriting as a technical process,
do you think it’s wise to start a song in front of a
computer screen, using a DAW?
I think that depends on genre. I’m working with a girl
who’s very beat-driven, so having a rhythm track to
work with early is important. I’ve noticed there’s a lot
more emphasis on vocals at the moment, as well.
Loads of people who are developing as songwriters
have spent years honing their vocals (thanks to TV
talent shows such as The X Factor). They can sing
great, but they want to learn how to sing about
something that’s interesting!
There’s a guy I write with called Nick Wilson, who’s
got around 10 million streams a song on Spotify. He
has an amazing, ethereal voice, with reverb-laden
acoustic guitars and quite a nice lush production.
Even though the production sounds as grand as it
does, everything just starts with the computer turned
off and two guys and some acoustic guitars, facing
each other, saying: “So what are we going to write
about?” So that approach works with someone like
him, but wouldn’t work with the beat-oriented girl.
I worked with a great guy called Flynn last week
who has a big Spotify hit at the moment. Based on
the sound of his records, I thought he’d be more of a
computer-based producer, but he actually wrote
everything just at the piano. Once we’d written it on
the piano, we had a real structure and a really strong
melody, so we were then able to go to a DAW and
put beats behind that structure.
I think it’s so easy to kind of let Logic and Ableton
Live push you to make very mediocre songs, if you
rely on a lot of presets that guide you, but it’s not
necessarily going to be a memorable piece of music.
MT How important is the lyrical component for
songwriters in the modern world?
There’s a trend in songwriting right now where
narrative is being shortened. Any kind of story
component is secondary to the desire to make the
lyrical content hooky. There’s a study that points out
that a lot of sales of physical CDs takes place in Asia,
where the language barrier is a problem. The more
direct, to-the-point and hooky the song is, then the
sooner they’ll get a grasp of it.
There’s a danger that lyricists of the Tom Waits,
Laura Marling, Bob Dylan and Nick Cave school are
being lost. Interestingly, people who aren’t great
singers tend to be better narrative songwriters. Even
bands like Arctic Monkeys, whose lyrical content
is central to what they do, aren’t really making
a massive mark on the singles charts anymore,
they’re more of an albums band now. But there
is a great wave of female singer-songwriters at
the moment, like Marika Hackman, where narrative
emotional honesty and storylines are coming back
to the forefront. You might not necessarily hear it
on mainstream radio. Radio tends to like things
that are short, sharp and instantly memorable.
THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME
MT Turning back to the academic world,
how are courses typically structured?
So at Solent, it wasn’t a degree course as such,
it was a unit option of the performance and
production courses they do there. At BIMM, it’s a fully
fledged degree in songwriting. At Solent, I structure it
well, I think – I do workshops and do six hours with the
students. I will have sessions where we look at genres
and approaches such as Nashville songwriting. We’ll
break down a song and get reference videos of
artists in that genre. Then I’ll stick them in a room for
three hours and say: ‘Now write.’ They really take to
musictech.net

it. We’ll also look at the context in which songs were
written; we’ll look at the history of Motown and how
song styles differentiate and evolve over time. We’ll
analyse chord structures and arrangements, too.
Then we look at how to write in those styles. The
support from the course leaders is invaluable, as
they all realise the importance of songwriting to
both production and performance and at Solent
we are aiming to make it core to the degree syllabus.
The true test is how much the students take from
it and apply these techniques to their own writing. It
shouldn’t be something that you stop, like a maths
thing, the minute you leave the class. You need to
take it with you and absorb it. It becomes part of
your armoury of writing future songs.
I think it helps, if you want to be a songwriting
academic, to actually be working in the industry itself
in some capacity. I can share stories and play them
tracks I’m working on at Warner Chappell. The
numbers are going up and up for the songwriting
courses, so there’s definitely a hunger to learn.
MT Do you think there are common threads and
approaches that just work, in any genre?
Yeah, there’s a great book called Isle Of Noises,
which features several fascinating conversations with
songwriters. It just simply asks the question: ‘How do
you write songs?’ And basically, the fundamental
thing is that everyone builds the harmonic bed
of a chord progression, with a great top-line melody.
Words tend to be added later. Most people
approach songwriting the same way; however,
classical lyricists in the mould of say a Leonard
Cohen, will often write lyrics first, but there will be
a sense of metering in these written words that allow
a melody to fit like a hand in glove.
Even if you’re starting with a beat, you’re
establishing a shape, then dropping ghost melody
over it. It’s like architecture – regardless of whether
you’re building a cottage, a house, a skyscraper or a
cathedral, you need to start with foundations. You still
need the bricks and you still need the cement to
hold it all together. It’s the same with songs. They’re
not that different from each other, regardless of
genre. Provided the chord changes work and there’s
an effective melody. The song remains the same. The
main differences can be how intense melody, chords
or lyrics are.
MT Who are the great songwriters, in your opinion?
I like narrative songwriters like Tom Waits, Scott Walker
and Leonard Cohen. David Bowie obviously is pretty
massive. New music-wise, I think Marika Hackman is
a sharp lyricist, exploring sexuality but in an indie-rock
style. The experimental nature of R&B artist Grimes is
also great, like I said. I really like Foals, who are almost
going more proggy recently.
I’m constantly Shazam-ing new stuff that I hear
around me. I’m of a certain age and there’s so much
music from my past that I want to get into and read
more about the historical context of. I’m a big reader
of music books. I was reading about the Mamas And
The Papas recently and that affects how I hear their
music. It’s the same with great soul music. I think
being passionate about the history and context of
great songwriting makes you a better songwriter.
MT Would you agree that the modern industry
kind of expects you to have a sizeable social-media
audience? And that this is a new, important part of
being an artist?
Yeah, there’s not as much money in just songwriting
either, these days. So it’s tricky how people are
expected to do more with less income. I know that
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PA U L S TAT H A M S O N GW R I T I N G S PEC I A L
there are quite a few successful songwriters who Paul believes that all songs,
have to supplement their income with other work. regardless of genre, start with
simple foundations and that
People in fairly big bands often ask if I can get them learning what these elements
some work at BIMM. People aren’t getting the same are is integral
level of royalties in the streaming age. So you have
to be open to doing other things, too.
MT Are there any go-to resources or tools that you use
to help you write?
I’m a big advocate of the cut-up technique where
you take lyrical ideas and shuffle them to make new
ideas or trigger moods. There’s lots of websites now
(eg, languageisavirus.com) that allow you to quickly
and easily do this with your lyrics, or things like
passages from books. You can get different
meanings and flows that can stimulate.
Aside from that, what I tell everyone is to just learn
how to analyse a song that you like. If you can listen
to a song that you like and think, ‘Actually, he’s using
anaphora there,’ or ‘There’s two counter-melodies
running under the main hook.’ Once they learn these
things, they incorporate these deliberate songwriting
methods into their own creativity. It makes it an
interesting exercise.
The best resource is your ears – just listen to songs
and try and work out what is affecting you. What is it
about a song that makes you feel the way you do?
Is it the dynamics, is it the lyric, is a weird chord
inversion? Try and deconstruct the things you like,
even when you’re sat on a bus or something. Not
all the time, but at least spend an hour trying to
understand what your favourite songs are doing.
Once you’ve figured that out, you can apply a
similar principle to your own writing, to try and make
others feel the same thing.
MT If you can boil down one key piece of advice for
aspiring songwriters, what would that be?
When it’s finished, put it out. So many people have
hard drives full of half-finished songs. The good thing
about the streaming age is that you can self-publish
to Spotify and other platforms. Get your stuff out
there. The idea now in songwriting isn’t to just hoard
your song ideas for two years and slowly build an
album. It’s immediate, continual publishing. You can
keep releasing stuff. Don’t just leave it on your hard
drive. Put it out now!
Also, don’t spend too much time complaining
about social media and streaming, try to understand
how it can help you. Learn how those Spotify
algorithms work and embrace the modern world.
MusicTech October 2019 35
S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4

MT S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S

WAVE
MACHINES
Over the last 40 years, wavetable synthesis has become a
staple of the music-production world, with the ability to
seamlessly soar between waveforms an indispensable
ingredient of sound design and electronic music-making.
Here, we take a look back at its origins and mechanics…
WORDS ADAM CRUTE

T
he 70s were a golden age for analogue
subtractive synthesis. The technology had
matured and developed to a point where
there was a wide range of instruments, from
simple portable mono-synths all the way up to large,
complex modular monsters. But by the end of the
decade, advances in semiconductor and
microprocessor technology made it possible for
existing digital synthesis theories to be made into
commercial reality, which opened the door to
completely new ways of synthesising sound, too.
As the 80s picked up pace, the colossal price of
early digital synths, such as the NED Synclavier and
Fairlight CMI, began to tumble and the number of
different synthesis techniques on offer proliferated
as designers and synth experts explored the new
possibilities on offer. The big winners of this period
were FM and sample-based synthesis; yet for all
of their benefits, these were distinctly lacking when
it came to the sort of hands-on immediacy and
flexible sonic character that epitomised analogue
subtractive synthesisers. But two types of digital
synthesis – one contemporary with the rise of FM,
the other with the rise of S&S – tried to do things a
bit differently…
TALK TO THE PALM
German musician and keyboard player Wolfgang
Palm started his synth design company, Palm
Products GmbH, better known as PPG, in 1975.
The company’s initial releases failed to gain much
attention, but they did establish Palm as an inventive
and imaginative innovator: his Minimoog-inspired
1020 mono synth was the first to use digitally
controlled oscillators (in other words, it stayed
in tune!) and his 340/380 system was one of the
earliest attempts at computer-based synthesis and
sequencing. But despite all of this forward-looking
inventiveness, none of PPG’s products sold in
particularly large numbers.
By 1980, the ceaselessly inventive Palm had
another brainwave, this time for a new type of digital
oscillator capable of producing a far greater number
of waveforms than a conventional analogue
oscillator. Wavetable synthesis (as Palm christened it)
used data tables to store digital representations of
many different waveforms that the oscillator could
then read in order to generate that waveform. Each
wavetable contained numerous waveforms, and so
by modulating the table position, typically with an
envelope or LFO, the timbre of the oscillator’s output
could be modified in real time.
For example, a wavetable may contain a sine
wave in its first position and a saw wave in its last
position, with the intervening positions containing
waveforms that are progressively more saw-like
and less sine-like. Playing a waveform from a fixed
position in the wavetable will give a waveform that
has a fixed shape and timbre, but if the wavetable
position is varied, then the resulting waveform’s
shape and timbre will vary also. If modulating across
the entire wavetable, the output signal would morph
smoothly between sine wave and saw wave.
WAVE GOODBYE
Following a couple of early attempts at the
technology, in 1981, PPG released the Wave 2.
Originally priced at around $10,000/£5,500, the price
fell to around $6,500/£3,500 by the end of its six-year
production run, the Wave 2 was something of a
hybrid, with a fully analogue filter and envelope
generator fed by digital wavetable oscillators. Where
a conventional analogue synth may have offered six
or seven waveforms, the Wave 2’s oscillators had
access to 30 wavetables, each containing 64
waveforms, for a total of 1,920 different waveforms.
At last, PPG had a successful product on their
hands. But by 1982, Palm was up to his old tricks
again, designing an all-new computer-based music
system called Waveterm and, once done with that
project, turning his attention in 1985 to his next big
idea… The Realizer was intended to be an all-in-one
combination of recording, sequencing, mixing,
sampling and synthesis, with the ability to load

36 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4

© Getty Images

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 37

S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4
Léon Theremin constructed
the first drum machine,
the Rhythmicon, in 1931,
which foreshadowed
key-based control of rhythms
38 October 2019 MusicTech
© Getty Images
emulations of other synths and instruments. This
sounds very familiar and normal in this day and age,
but in the mid 80s, it was way ahead of its time – too
far ahead, as it turned out. Realizer R&D burned
through PPG’s funds, its immense $60,000/£34,000
projected retail price was considered utterly
unrealistic and the company could not secure
new funding. That signalled the end for PPG.
Palm himself moved to fellow German synth
manufacturer Waldorf, who also acquired the bulk
of PPG’s technology. This was made good use of
with the Microwave – essentially a PPG Wave 2.2
in a rackmount box – and subsequent products
that incorporated many of the wavetables and
technology that had been developed by PPG.
Wavetable synthesis is alive and well to this day,
lying at the heart of some of the best plug-in synths
– such as NI’s Massive and Massive X.
VECTOR SYNTHESIS
As well as seeing the demise of PPG, 1986 was also
the year that Dave Smith’s Sequential Circuits
released its first-ever digital synth and, sadly, the last
product of its original guise. With the Prophet VS,
Sequential was aiming to use its own vector-synthesis
technology to challenge the growing dominance of
the Japanese manufacturers.
The Prophet VS featured four oscillators per voice,
with a choice of 127 waveforms available to the
oscillators. The relative balance of these four
oscillators could be mixed and adjusted – or
vectored – using envelopes, LFOs and the like,
or by using the joystick controller situated on the
instrument’s top panel. This was not dissimilar to the
Roland D-50’s tone vectoring, but it was much more
intrinsic to the sound of the Prophet VS and gave the
synth the ability to morph and modify its sound in
unique and creative ways.
The idea was sound – the Prophet VS was well
received and remains a highly sought-after
instrument. But unfortunately, it came too late to
save Sequential Circuits, which went out of business
in 1987. Sequential’s technology was acquired
by Yamaha, who wrapped it up in 1990’s SY22
and TG33, while Dave Smith found a new home
at Korg, where he continued to develop his
vector-synthesis ideas.
This effort culminated in the Wavestation series of
synths, which added wave sequencing to the vector-
synthesis recipe. This allowed the waveforms and
samples contained in the Wavestation to be strung
together into rhythmic and ever-changing patterns.
Coupled with their waveform-vectoring ability, this
made the Wavestation fantastic at producing
ever-evolving pads and textures and esoteric noises
and effects. They’re not too shabby at standard
instrument emulations, either. Today, vector synthesis
lives on in the form of Korg’s plug-in version of the
Wavestation and in Arturia’s Prophet V plug-in and
iProphet app for iOS.
DRUM MACHINES
Branching out of the world of synthesis, the
incorporation of drum machines alongside
sequencers and synths has served as a fundamental
staple of many performers’ live setups, as well as a
studio fixture even in the digital age. It’s useful to
appreciate the history and evolution of the humble
drum machineto see how it became such a fixture.
Drum machines have always occupied their own
place in the history of sound synthesis and music-
making, with their feet in both the synthesis and
sequencing camps. They’re often seen as a threat
to ‘real’ musicians, or as a creative tool for musicians
to exploit. It may therefore come as a surprise to
learn that a working drum machine predates the
development of the modern drum kit by nearly 700
years! In his The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious
Mechanical Devices, written in 1206 in what is now
modern Turkey, engineer Ismail al-Jazari described a
device consisting of four automaton musicians, two
of which were drummers whose rhythms and
patterns could be programmed by moving pegs
within the mechanism. This was eventually built and
used for entertaining the Sultan’s guests at parties.
To find the first electronic drum machine, though,
we have to fast-forward to 1931 when electronic-
sound pioneer Léon Theremin, in collaboration with
musical theorist Henry Cowell, produced the
Rhythmicon, aka the Polyrhythmophone (great
names, huh?!). This bizarre conglomeration of valves
and radio-based technology used the principles of
the harmonic series to generate rhythms in response
to the user holding down one or more of the
contraption’s 17 keys. But unlike Theremin’s other,
eponymous, invention, the Rhythmicon never caught
on, and only three were ever made, two of which
remain operational, but locked away as priceless
museum pieces.
Various different approaches to creating rhythms
and beats were tried over the following decades
and these were invariably marketed as additions
to home organs rather than tools for professional
musicians and studios. These rhythm machines often
used the mechanical solution of spinning discs with
holes cut in them in order to create rhythm patterns:
light shone from one side of the disc would be
detected by photoreceptors on the other side as
the holes spun past, thereby creating repeatable
rhythmic patterns whose tempo could be adjusted
by adjusting the disc’s rotational speed. They fulfilled
a purpose for family singalongs and for providing a
musictech.net

rhythm backing for small-ticket solo performers,
but they weren’t what we’d think of today as a
drum machine.
THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM
In 1972, EKO released the ComputeRhythm, one of
the – if not ‘the’ – first fully programmable drum
machines. The device had a matrix of push buttons
arranged in a 16x6 grid with which patterns could be
programmed and this set the template for drum
machines and pattern sequencers for decades to
come. ComputeRhythm also used a conventional
analogue subtractive circuit for generating its drum
sounds – bursts of white, pink or brown noise for
snares and cymbals, sine and square waves for kick
drums and so on.
By the end of the decade, Roland had entered
the drum machine fray with the CompuRhythm
CR-78. While still relying on subtractive synthesis for
sound generation and not fully programmable, the
CR-78 was nevertheless an important milestone as
it was the first drum machine to be controlled via
a digital microprocessor. Not only did this hugely
increase the number of preset patterns that could
be included in the device, it also laid the foundations
for the rise of not one but two legends of modern
music-making…
SLOW BURNER
When it first hit the shelves in 1980, the Roland TR-808
wasn’t warmly received. Its ability to store user-
programmed patterns and sequence these into full
songs was great, but the sound was considered to
be okay at best – almost entirely, but not completely,
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S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4
unlike a real drum kit. The analogue 808 had landed
in a world that was rapidly turning digital and was
immediately pitted against the world’s first sample-
based drum machine, the Linn LM-1, which was itself
followed by a whole host of ever-improving
machines from Oberheim, E-Mu, Yamaha and more.
Against this backdrop, it was little surprise that the
808 was a commercial failure and Roland ceased
production in 1984 when the semiconductors used
within the 808 became unavailable. Similarly,
Roland’s TR-909, released in 1983 and the first Roland
Wavetable synthesis is alive
and well and is at the heart
of great plug-in synths such
as NI’s Massive and Massive X
drum machine to sport MIDI ports, also used an
analogue sound generator and was also something
of a flop, resulting in it being discontinued after only
two years of production.
The much maligned and overlooked 808s and
909s hung around on the second-hand market,
changing hands for very little money as people
traded up (or so they thought) to the latest sample-
based machines. This put the devices in the hands of
underground producers who were forging new
electronic-music styles and genres. The 808 and 909
became an intrinsic and definitive component of
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S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4

machines that used preloaded drum sounds were

ABOVE TOP Massive X is a
modern example of the continued
prominence of wavetable
synthesis and an incredible
sound-design tool
ABOVE The LinnDrum was
renowned for its high-quality
samples, flexibility and the fact
that it was affordable
WAVETABLE
SYNTHS
SIX OF THE BEST
those new sounds. When these genres began to
reach the mainstream, the market for old 808s and
909s exploded, with units changing hands for
thousands of pounds.
SAMPLE MACHINES
At the same time as the 808 and 909 were enjoying
their belated popularity, sample-based drum
growing in number and sophistication. As already
mentioned, this breed of drum machine was
spearheaded by the Linn LM-1, released in the
same year as the 808.
Designer Roger Linn soon followed this in 1982
with the LinnDrum, before embarking on the
development of the Linn 9000, a combined
sequencer and sampler built into a drum-machine-
like casing adorned with trigger pads and controllers.
Unfortunately, the 9000’s original operating system
was flawed and bug-ridden and despite Linn’s
attempts to rewrite and optimise the code, the
machine’s reputation for unreliability was sealed.
Its failure contributed to the demise of Linn
Electronics in 1986.
But Roger Linn wasn’t defeated and began a
collaboration with Akai that allowed him to focus
on engineering and design, while leaving Akai to
worry about manufacturing and marketing. The fruit
of that collaboration was the seminal MPC60, which
launched as 1988 came to a close.
In many ways a perfected Linn 9000, the MPC’s
bank of 16 touch-sensitive pads, portability, simple
control interface and immediate results made it an
instant hit.
One thing that made the MPC so popular was
that it was perfect for sampling and sequencing
loops and hits recorded from old drum machines like
the 808 and 909 and mixing these with vocals and
other samples.
This created something of a virtuous circle
between those old drum machines, the music that
was being made on them and the MPC itself; this
cemented the MPC’s place as the tool for producing
certain branches of contemporary music. That
interrelationship is so strong that the MPC series
survived the advent of the DAW age, which has
generally resulted in the drum machine and sampler
market becoming much smaller. Akai’s MPC X is,
among other things, the most advanced drum
machine ever made.
THE EVOLUTION OF SEQUENCERS
It may come as a surprise to learn that modern music
sequencing has its roots in the textile industry of the

WALDORF NATIVE ARTURIA KORG

PPG Wave 3.V
€156
waldorfmusic.com
Waldorf acquired all of PPG’s
wavetable technology when
the company folded and has
made good use of it ever
since. Its latest offering based
on that tech is the PPG Wave
3.V plug-in, which both
perfects and extends the
original synth’s capabilities.
Palm himself also had a hand
in the plug-in’s development.
INSTRUMENTS
Massive/
Massive X
£129/£179
native-instruments.com
While very analogue-
subtractive in look and feel,
NI’s flagship synth, Massive,
is one of the best wavetable
synths there is… or it was,
until Massive X came out. This
latest version has an all-new
oscillator design that can
deliver more sonic variation
than some entire synths.
Both are excellent.
Prophet V
€149
arturia.com
Arturia’s Prophet V is a
mouthwatering combination
of two of Sequential Circuits’
finest synths: the subtractive
Prophet-5 and the original
vector synthesiser, the Prophet
VS. The plug-in can run in
either mode, or in a hybrid
mode where the two
individual synths are stacked
and interconnected.
Wavestation/
Korg Collection
Wavestation
£250 to £500/$49 for Korg
Collection plug-in
korg.com
There were a number of
different Wavestations. The
best, the Wavestation A/D
rack, is hard to find and holds
a reasonable value, while the
compact SR can be yours for
around £250. Korg also offer
an authentic Wavestation
model as part of the Korg
Collection plug-in suite.

40 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 S O U N D SY N T H ES I S M A S T ER C L A S S: PA R T 4

Modern music
sequencing has
its roots in the
textile industry of
the 18th century
18th century and the invention of automated
weaving looms. These used patterns of slots and
holes punched into paper or card to control the
looms and by the mid 1800s, this ‘punch card’
technology had been adapted to play calliopes
(or steam organs). By the end of the century,
pianolas, or ‘player pianos’, which utilised the
technology were also starting to appear.
As the 20th century got into full swing, electrical
engineers searched for ways to do similar things using
analogue circuitry. Analogue synths used internal
signals, called control voltage and gate signals, to
determine what note to play and when to play it
– and so using a sequencer to drive such a synth
required a circuit capable of defining and outputting
a series of varying electrical signals.
The solution was to use a bank of potentiometers
linked to a clock generator. Each clock pulse would
step the circuit to the next potentiometer, which
could be adjusted so that it created the desired
control-voltage output. In this way a bank of, say,
16 potentiometers could be used to create a 16-step
monophonic sequence.

STANDARDS OF CONTROL
By the early 60s, analogue sequencers of this nature
started popping up as modules for synthesisers such These early sequencers also had a major problem: ABOVE TOP Atari’s ST had MIDI
ports and therefore became
as the Moog Modular and Roland System-100M, they were not intercompatible because each
the hub of some of the earliest
where they were used as much for controlling filters manufacturer had its own proprietary method of computer-based DAWs
and such as for triggering actual notes. And internal control signals.
ABOVE A modern DAW: Cubase
although these were a nice creative tool in their By 1981, Roland’s founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, had
10, the natural evolution of
own right, they were also primitive, inaccurate, come to believe that this lack of standardisation was sequencer technology
impractical and nothing like what we would think damaging the growth of the electronic-instrument
of as a sequencer today. industry and so he set about pulling together a
consortium of manufacturers in an effort to thrash
out a mutually agreeable solution. A year after that
consortium’s first meeting, in October 1982, the MIDI
1.0 specification was announced and the stage was
set for the computer-music revolution.
This is where so-called ‘workstation’ synths come
in to the picture. These were typically multi-timbral
S&S instruments, such as the Korg M1, that gave over
some of their processing and memory resources to
the task of recording and playing back sequences of
MIDI messages. In many respects the spiritual heirs of
SERUM Spectrasonics the Synclavier and CMI, these instruments did a fine
Xfer Wavetable Omnisphere job of introducing musicians to MIDI’s potential. But
Synth $499/€399
spectrasonics.net they were largely a stop-gap and their eventual
$189
xferrecords.com One of the most consistently obsolescence was assured when Atari decided to
useful and versatile software include MIDI ports on its new ST home computer.
Now regarded as a
modern-classic tool, instruments around, And so it was that by the end of the 80s, a mere
Xfer’s Serum’s Wavetable Omnisphere 2 contains 500 decade after the first pant-wettingly expensive
architecture enables users to morphing wavetables in the digital synths had appeared, you could put together
go deep with sound and carve context of a sound designer’s
a system that would wipe the floor with a CMI for just
incredible, unique sonics. It gigantic go-to toolkit. Loaded
with sounds and with more a couple of thousand pounds.
also has a Wavetable editor
options than you can count, From that point to today, there’s a steady, clear
built right into the software
and a high-quality visual Omnisphere isn’t defined by line of advancement as first audio recording and
interface. You can also import its wavetables, but it’s a processing – and then synthesis itself – became
audio, dissect waveforms and well-featured addition to this subsumed within the ever-increasing scope of
create custom wavetables. beast of a software package.
the digital audio workstation.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 41

A S K A B B E Y R OA D M AT T J O N ES
MT A S K A B B E Y R OA D
MATT JONES We talk to Abbey Road recordist Matt Jones about recording
techniques, mixing as though you’re making stems
and what the role of recordist actually is…
M
att Jones began working at Abbey
Road in 2012 straight out of university,
rising the ranks from runner to assistant
and now to recordist. However, his
journey to the iconic studio arguably started when
he first picked up the trombone, aged seven.
He learnt guitar through his teens and played in
brass ensembles and metal bands; his interest in
recording led him to the highly regarded Tonmeister
degree course at Surrey University.
In his time at Abbey Road, Matt has worked with
such composers as Danny Elfman, Stephen Price,
James Newton Howard and on projects including
Amazon’s The Aeronauts, How To Train Your Dragon:
The Hidden World and the David Attenborough
Netflix documentary Our Planet. We sit down with
Matt to talk about using reverb, keeping on top of
big sessions and what a recordist actually is.
Phoebe What is the recordist’s role? How does it differ
from an assistant or an engineer?
Matt Jones At Abbey Road, the recordist title is a
halfway house between assistant engineer and
engineer roles. It’s kind of an extension of the
assistant job here, in that you find some bits of
engineering here and there, but also, you’ll be the
guys that they get in to do the more high-profile film
scoring projects and run Pro Tools on them. A big part
of it is just being that trusted point of contact for an
engineer in those situations.
MT Does everyone have a clear idea of what their
position is and what they are responsible for, or is
there ever overlap?
Yes and no. I think everyone has a solid idea of what
their primary responsibilities are. At Abbey Road in
particular, if you come and do a session there, you’ll
find the runners are runners by name – and they’re
doing that job – but they’re more than capable of
doing the job of assistants. And you’ll find that all the
assistants are more than capable of doing the job of
a recordist. Everyone understands everyone else’s
role, but focuses in on what it is they are supposed
to be doing. And they have the knowledge and
experience to do everything else, which is good,
because it means they know how they can support
the people in those roles.
As a recordist, I know what the engineer probably
will need and I can provide it, as well as doing what
I have to do within my job description. The second
assistant on a session will be there to troubleshoot
with me and look after the musicians on the floor,
but they’ll also be making the take notes which will
support me. Everyone can kind of do everything –
to a point – which is really good.
42 October 2019 MusicTech
MT What would your role be on a recording session for
a film, for instance?
Depending on how involved the engineer is in the
setup, it involves being responsible for everything
going smoothly by setting up and, during the
recordings, overcoming any problems quickly. Then
at the end of a session, having sat in front of Pro Tools
for the duration of it, being able to hand over a box
of hard drives and say, without a doubt, that
everything has been recorded cleanly. It’s in the
right place and it’s named the right thing.
It sounds silly, but if you’re recording 100 tracks of
audio per pass in Pro Tools and you’ve got seven or
eight passes and you’re doing overdubs, you get up
to thousands of takes, including different versions of
cues. There’s quite a lot of data to keep hold of. You
can’t get to a position where you’re saying: “I’m not
sure that this audio has gone to the right place,” or,
“I’m not sure that we captured that take.”
MT How do you avoid finding yourself in that position?
Preparation is critical – I’ve always got my template
ahead of time that I know is solid. And keeping an
eye on everything when it’s being recorded, so that
there’s never a track with nothing on it. Then it’s
about making sure you play back the right thing
before overdubs.
If you record strings in the morning, then brass in
the afternoon, it’s making sure you’re playing back
the right takes if you’ve got different versions of the
cues. Or ensuring you’ve got a working comp of
everything as you go that you can play back, at any
given moment, from start to finish.
MT How do you keep track of all the different takes?
I always use playlists in Pro Tools. I tend to do new
playlists each time there’s a new take, so you know
that the only thing on that playlist is that take. So if
anyone asks to hear take seven, I’ve got it.
We also keep a document going the whole time
throughout our session. Documenting each take,
what was different about it, what the instruments
were that we recorded, which pass number it was
recorded on…
MT What do the actual take sheets look like?
Often this job falls to the second assistant on the
session, just because I’ve usually got my hands full
and it’s useful to get them involved in what’s going
on. So they’ll keep a note every time you do a new
take. They’ll note what pass number it was on, what
instruments were recorded. They’ll note which bar
numbers we covered and each cue. And then
they’ll keep a note of anything different, any new
directions from the composer, or orchestrator.
musictech.net
 M AT T J O N ES A S K A B B E Y R OA D

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 43

A S K A B B E Y R OA D M AT T J O N ES
An example take sheet from an
orchestral film scoring session in
Abbey Road Studio One. Notice
that there are both pre-take and
post-take notes kept
44 October 2019 MusicTech
Frances Do you keep a mental checklist of things to set
up for a session? And how does it run?
For a setup like that, for a big orchestral film session,
we have a big spreadsheet that everyone’s working
from right from the start of the setup. There’ll usually
be three or four guys out on the floor and one or
two in the control room setting up different bits and
pieces, so everyone needs to be on the same page.
So we’ll print out a bunch of copies of the setup
sheet and that ensures the desk and Pro Tools have
been set up to be consistent. Also, the headphones
and microphones that are plugged in out in the live
room correspond to that. So, that’s all planned
before the setup so we can just get in and know
what we’re doing.
The first step – as soon as we enter the room –
is to get all the chairs laid out. People are shocked
sometimes when we finish a session and pack it all
down and then set it all up again for the next day.
That’s because we don’t have a standard orchestral
setup. Different engineers and composers like it
orientated differently in the rooms. The line-up of
musicians will change, the engineer may want
something particular; so naturally, even though the
setup may end up being quite similar in the end,
often part of the recordist and assistants’ job is taking
it all apart and then setting it back up again.
Next, the headphones start to go down. Different
sections of the orchestra will require different things
in their headphones, even if it’s just different overall
levels, so different people will get plugged into
different places. Then the mics go out. We put all the
right mics on the right stands in the right place and
then we eventually plug in those mics. Then it’s
patching them through to the desk and then
checking everything – assuming the control room
has been set up and the Pro Tools has been set up
simultaneously by myself with the engineer.
We always go through and scratch every mic
individually. We’ll run a nail across the grille of the
microphone so we can identify everything is going
to the right place on the desk and on Pro Tools.
Then often, we’ll listen to music. We’ll pump out
some music into the studio floor via the SLS (the
studio loudspeaker) and just have a listen to all the
microphones and make sure they all sound as we’d
expect them to.
After that, it’s onto session prep for me. If we
checked through my template and everything is in
order, then often most people will go home and
we’ll work through the cues that make up the film.
For a big film soundtrack, you could have 70 or 80
individual Pro Tools sessions that will be pieces of
music that are between a few seconds long or a few
minutes long. Each cue will just have a click in it, it will
have any pre-records, any synth elements that
accompany the orchestral live tracks for that section
of music. And then it will have, either in the same
session or in an accompanying session on a different
rig, a picture that goes to it that we can watch while
we’re scoring.
The job is to keep on top of all that and to keep
everything flexible. The number of times that a
picture will get edited during the scoring process – it’s
always easier for a music editor to have all the music
separately and they can fly different cues to different
places as necessary if the picture changes. Or chop
bits within a cue to shorten them or lengthen them.
There’s quite a lot of that typically, on a big film.
MT What happens on the day of recording?
Then you just come in on the morning and have one
last check that everything is still looking and sounding
about right. Make sure no microphones have fallen
down overnight. Usually, by 10am, the musicians
will be sat there ready to go waiting for their first
instructions and first clicks. Once the session starts,
I’ll be operating Pro Tools and also working with
the engineers if anything does seem not right. Some
stuff is impossible to check ahead of the start of
recording. You’d be amazed at the number of times
that everything will be up and running and working
perfectly well, then 100 musicians walk into a room
and someone will kick their headphones out or knock
a microphone, so it’s pointing the wrong way. The first
10-15 minutes of a session will be looking out for
things like that. After that, you’re up and running.
MT What about with smaller setups?
Sometimes with the smaller setups, you think you can
get away with keeping a mental checklist or mental
idea of where things go. I remember, I learned very
quickly on a session – one of the first sessions that I
worked on at a different studio. We were working on
a band setup and the patch bay that I wasn’t overly
familiar with got progressively busier. We got to day
five, and the engineer asked me to swap a chain of
guitar EQs and compressors from one channel to
another. It was something relatively simple, but you
stare at this mass of patch cables trying to follow
things through and you realise your mental notes
weren’t entirely as watertight as you first thought.
Situations where you’ve got people waiting for
you and you don’t have a solid idea of what’s going
on – that’s what you want to avoid. These days,
I always try to scribble everything down in situations
like that. Even if it’s just for my own peace of mind,
just to know where everything’s going.
MT What form do these notes take?
It tends to be whatever bit of paper is handy. That will
go in my pocket or sit on the Pro Tools desk next to
me. Maybe other people are better at remembering,
but perhaps my memory is not what it was. I’m a
believer in scribbling everything down in situations
like that.
Ali How does a recordist find a job in the already
crowded music industry?
The main thing to remember here is that very, very
few recordists would have walked into the studio and
started their time there as a recordist. It’s tough, too,
because no matter how fast you might be at Pro
Tools or how well you know your way around a Neve
88 or whatever console, you still need to understand
how the rooms work and how everything is routed.
You need to know all the unique twists and turns of
that space, where things turn up on what patchbays,
how the video distribution works and everything.
musictech.net
 SONTRONICS
S
O
N
T
M AT T J O N ES A S K A B B E ),:;
R
O
4PJYVWOVUL
)YHUK
www.sontronics.com
N
I
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S ®

I started at Abbey Road the same way pretty

much everyone who works at Abbey Road started
out: as a runner. I came in and spent that time
making people teas and getting stuck in on setups to
learn from the guys here how they do things. As far
as getting that job, or getting any job in any studio,
I think I got very lucky. I did my degree at Surrey
University. They have a lot of useful links with studios
and industry professionals, including Abbey Road.
We take one or two students from there every
CORONA supercardioid dynamic microphone
year as a placement to be a runner, so things like
that can be a good foot in the door and I know
other universities and courses do similar. I was

NEW!
very fortunate, but when I finished my degree,
I immediately sent off loads of emails with a CV
attached to all the studios that I could find.
Timing-wise, I must have been very lucky,
because I was offered an interview at Abbey Road
pretty soon after. Basically, none of the other studios
even replied to say: “Sorry, there aren’t any jobs
going,” so I know I’m not the rule. But I think being
persistent is good, to a point. Just trying to get
experience and trying to get into the right circles
of people. Being a recordist is quite a specific skill set,
but it can also apply to being a producer or a
composer or a producer’s assistant or a music editor.
Just to start moving in the right circles and knowing
the right people, I suppose.

MT How do you get into those circles?

It’s hard. I’d say any experience, even remotely
related, is good experience. Work experience with
a record label, for example… If you contact enough
people, you’ll find something. Then, as soon as you
have a bit of experience on your CV, you just need
the right person to look at it and a bit of luck.

George If an orchestral scoring project has a limited

budget for recording, which instruments would you
record live over others?
This is a tricky one, because as soon as you start
adding real elements to a piece of music that’s
otherwise built around samples, you can really begin
to show the fakeness of the sampled instruments
versus the real ones. So, you have to be quite careful
if you’re just going to replace some parts.
I would say that something you can almost always
get away with using samples for would be any
percussion elements within a score. Having the real Meet CORONA,
thing is fantastic and we get to do it quite a lot at a beautifully crafted
Abbey Road. It does add a lot to the score if you can microphone that delivers
afford it, but there are so many great samples out outstanding results on sung
and spoken vocals and other
there that are fine if you can’t. Probably the next few instruments, on stage and
instruments that would fall into that category would in the studio. With amazing
be pianos, harps and any keyboards – they’re slightly presence and depth, superb
more percussive instruments, anyway. side rejection and incredible
detail across the frequency
I’d say, if I knew I only had a minimal budget, any spectrum, CORONA is a
solo instruments that feature in the score would be must-have modern classic
the place to start recording live. That’s just to get the that truly sounds as
character and uniqueness of a real person playing stunning as it looks!
the solo you’ve written. That will make it stand out
and give it some character.
¶¶
¶¶
James How do you find your background in brass and
metal helps you during recording sessions? Miles ahead in clarity,
I think having a background in playing any kind of
music helps you. I don’t think that necessarily my presence and character VOCALIST, Los Goutos
brass and metal helps me more or less than any other
instruments. Being able to read music and follow a
score is a necessity for the orchestral sessions we do.
Having been recorded in studios myself is
massively helpful, because it’s a way of being able SONTRONICS USERS INCLUDE: ED SHEERAN • ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
to see things from both sides of the glass. It’s great to BLUR • PAUL EPWORTH • DAVE GROHL • FLOOD • AEROSMITH • MUSE
have an appreciation of what you can do as an PAUL WELLER • UNDERWORLD • KEANE • KATIE MELUA • PJ HARVEY
GARY NUMAN • CENZO TOWNSHEND • AIR STUDIOS • UNDERWORLD
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE • GARY BARLOW • KT TUNSTALL
ED HARCOURT • ENTER SHIKARI • SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR • AND MORE…
A S K A B B E Y R OA D M AT T J O N ES
When your budget is limited, you
need to be selective about which
instruments you record live
46 October 2019 MusicTech
engineer to bring the best performance out of a
musician, whether that’s adjusting a headphone
mix or giving useful instructions over talkback.
More specifically, brass was my introduction to
music theory and music, generally. So it’s served me
well, even though I didn’t really play in orchestras,
I played in brass bands. That’s a great introduction to
knowing how sections of musicians operate together.
As for the metal side of things, I’m still waiting to do
a proper metal session at Abbey Road – one day!
There are a surprising number of parallels between
metal music and film music, I’ve always thought.
Especially the big, epic stuff. In terms of having a lot
of elements and having to tame them and fit them
into the mix – it’s inspiration, if nothing else. You listen
to some modern metal records, and the production
on that stuff is insane.
It’s definitely good to be familiar with a wide
range of styles and types of music. In this job, you
need to know what people mean when they say
they want to sound like a particular artist, or they
want their guitars to sound like the guitarist from
a specific genre of music. You need to be able
to make broad changes to a sound sometimes
to quickly get in the ballpark of what they’re going
for so they can feel comfortable and get the results
that they want.
MT Can you think of an example of a time when
you’ve had to change a sound from one thing to
another dramatically?
Sometimes, it can happen if you’re doing ensemble
recording with a string section or something and
you set up assuming you want quite a lush,
reasonably ambient film-esque sound – and it quickly
becomes apparent that actually, you need to get
in a lot closer to the musicians and you want to hear
the scratching of the strings. You want everything
to be a bit more close and poppy and a bit less
polished. That could just be a case of moving all
the microphones quickly, or making them a few
feet lower.
MT Do you have any other tips for getting the best
performance out of an artist?
It’s mainly making sure they are comfortable with
what they are hearing – making sure they’ve got
enough click if they need click, or the right bit of the
drum kit. Or just making sure they got a nice cup of
tea or glass of water, or whatever else they might
need. That’s if it’s a solo or band situation. Obviously,
I’m not going to make 100 people in an orchestra a
cup of tea, but if a singer wants a honey and lemon,
that’s no problem. I’ll always make someone a cup
of tea.
Jason What’s your philosophy for using reverb in a
mix? How do you configure reverbs in a session?
The way you use reverb will differ a reasonable
amount depending on the style of music that you’re
mixing. Also, in the method of delivery – how you’re
going to pass that on to the next person in the chain.
Saying that, even if you’re not delivering stems,
I often find it easier to work as though you are. So I’ll
typically have all my tracks laid out in chunks within
my session, so I have all my drum tracks at the top
and then I have the auxiliaries below that chunk of
tracks, where things like reverbs and delays that
apply to those tracks will live.
Below that, you have the bass and any auxes for
that and then the guitars, and then the strings, etc,
etc, then keys. It’s not for every instrument, but each
group of instruments that I would call a stem. For
example, all the guitars will probably share a reverb.
All the keys will probably share a reverb.
I’ll have a reverb or reverbs for each of those
stems. They might not differ that much in their settings
between each one. The keyboard might share the
same settings as the guitar reverbs, but they will have
their own instance of the plug-in and their own aux
to go through for it.
That way, once you send everything down to your
sub-mixes or your stems at the bottom of the session,
you know that everything’s clean. So, if you do get
asked for a drum stem, you’re not going to print it
and then suddenly get piano reverb all over your
drums or things like that.
I just find that a more flexible way to work.
As far as the reverbs themselves, I’ll often put
an EQ before the reverb. Typically just high and low
pass to shape the input to the reverb in ways that
can be helpful. I find it useful to tame excessive
presence or sibilance in a vocal-reverb send, for
example. That’s because it can trigger reverbs in
annoying ways, so if you can get rid of that before
it hits the reverb, it can help the reverb sit behind
the source material that’s feeding it a bit nicer,
making it a bit easier to blend it in.
This will be after any plug-ins on the vocal. You
might want the vocal sounds to be quite bright
and upfront, but you don’t necessarily want that
brightness to be setting off the reverb too much. So
sometimes it’s nice to just low-pass some of that and
also high-passing drum reverb to get rid of any of
that woofy build-up that can be annoying.
It’s often quite nice to have two reverbs going on,
especially for drums and vocals. I’m a fan of having
a fairly short plate reverb to give that initial illusion of
air around a vocal and then a longer room or plate
underneath that to provide that richness.
If the music allows, it can be fun to play around
and be a bit more creative with reverb. Like having
a sweeping, long reverb into a ping-pong-type delay
for some movement, or by distorting the sned to the
reverb, or trying to find an extreme reverb where the
decay works with the tempo of the song.
Of course, it’s all too easy to get carried away
once you start doing things like that and you’ll find
that a lot of music doesn’t really have the space for
that kind of fun. But, every now and then, you’ll get
a track that you can be a bit more creative with,
which I always enjoy.
There’ll be more answers from Matt next issue. In the
meantime, if you have a burning music-production
question, ask Abbey Road via our website:
musictech.net
All specifications are subject to change without notice. Copyright © 2019 Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All rights reserved.

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TEC H N I Q UE H Y B R I D D I G ITA L B A S S I N LO G I C P R O X
LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL
HYBRID
DIGITAL BASS
IN LOGIC PRO X
Hard-edged digital bass sounds have underpinned many modern
musical genres, but how do you best create these sounds in Logic Pro X?
WORDS MARK COUSINS
D
espite the revival of analogue
synthesis, there’s still a significant
amount of love and respect for
the thoroughly modern ‘digital’
synth – most notably, Native Instruments’
Massive and Xfer Records’ Serum. The
appeal of these instruments is easy to see
– while analogue synths are the kings of
warmth, digital synths really tend to come
to the fore when it comes to hard-edged
sounds, often using techniques such as
Wavetable and FM synthesis to produce a
unique palette of sounds.
In this workshop, we explore Massive or
Serum-like sounds using Logic Pro X’s own
collection of virtual instruments, as well as
some strategic use of the Phat FX plug-in.
While true aficionados of Massive and
Serum will shudder at the thought of
mimicking such well-respected software
synths, it’s as much an insight into a
different way of producing synth sounds,
particularly with respect to moving away
from the use of a filter (which is a key part
of analogue subtractive synthesis) and
instead focusing on ‘waveshaping’ to
provide the key interest and timbral
movement to a sound.
For the purposes of this workshop, we’re
going to use two of Logic Pro X’s virtual
instruments – Retro Synth, which contains
an easy-to-use Wavetable option; and
EFM1, which is an FM-powered synth that’s
easy to overlook. Looked at individually,
both of the synths are rudimentary when
compared to fully fledged instruments such
as Massive and Serum, but when layered in
an interesting and dynamic way, they can
produce sounds you’d expect to hear from
a more complicated synth. In this case, the
subsonic layer comes from the EFM1, while
a more Unison-heavy, distorted wavetable
layer is produced by Retro Synth.
48 October 2019 MusicTech
The emphasis here is using waveshaping
(rather than filters) to create timbral interest
in our patches. EFM1 uses Frequency
Modulation (or FM) so a modulator
oscillator modulates (in the audio
spectrum) the pitch of a carrier oscillator.
This might sound complicated, but the FM
process effectively distorts the waveshape,
adding harmonics and almost working in
the reverse of a filter – the more frequency
modulation, in other words, the brighter the
sound. From the standpoint of aggressive
Here, we explore Massive or
Serum-like sounds using Logic
Pro X’s own virtual instruments
synth sounds, the ‘growl’ of FM as it
changes the timbre is much more edgy
than a subtractive filter.
Another important characteristic of a
contemporary bass sound is a distinctive
‘wobble’ as the sound sustains. In the case
of Massive and Serum, this is often
produced by scanning through a
wavetable rather than using the filter. In the
case of the EFM1, we can patch the inbuilt
LFO through to the FM amount and
produce a cyclic waveshaping effect. The
EFM1 also has a great subsonic low end,
enhanced by the in-built Sub Oscillator that
sounds an octave lower than the Carrier.
Turning now to Retro Synth, we can
actually directly explore wavetable
synthesis as a means of creating the
wobble effect. Wavetable synthesis uses a
‘table’ of waveshapes (rather than a single
static waveshape) that can be swept
through using an envelope or LFO to
change the timbre of the sound. A big part
of the sound of a wavetable synth is
defined by the Wavetables themselves
– with Massive’s ‘Modern Talking’
wavetable gaining near-infamous stature
– so you’ll find Retro Synth carving its own
sonic palette, rather than sounding
identical to Massive or Serum.
As with the EFM1, the inbuilt LFO is used
to apply the cyclic waveshaping – this
time, mapping the LFO to the Wavetable
Position. Another key component of the
Massive sound is the Unison effect that
stacks multiple virtual oscillators. In Retro
Synth’s case, we can use the Settings
section to enable Voice Stacking, using four
or eight voices per key, combined with a
rich Detune and wide Stereo Spread.
An essential pairing with the Retro Synth
is Phat FX, which is useful both as a means
of adding distortion, but also an extra sense
of movement. Phat FX combines a number
of distortion options, usable simultaneously
for some complex distortion effects, adding
plenty of extra body to Retro Synth’s
occasionally weak output. What really lifts
Phat FX is the addition of various forms of
modulation – including envelope followers
and LFOs – that lend the plug-in a form of
synth-like movement. Here, adding an
envelope follower to one of the distortion
blocks, as well as some LFO to the Mod FX
section, brings Retro Synth into Massive-like
areas of aggression and movement.
musictech.net
 H Y B R I D D I G ITA L B A S S I N LO G I C P R O X TEC H N I Q UE

CUSTOM WAVETABLES Retro Synth can create its own wavetables, using Powered by
the menu function Create Wavetable from Audio File in the wavetable
drop-down menu. Although the results are interesting, they can be erratic,
even if you provide Retro Synth with a consistent evolving waveform.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Hybrid digital bass

01 We’ll start with the low end of our bass sound using the EFM1. In the EFM1’s 02 By default, the EFM1 produces more percussive bass sound, so increase
default setting, note how the FM control works almost like a filter Cutoff. In the Sustain on both the Volume Env and Modulation Env to full. The sound
this case, leave the FM control at its lowest setting. should now have more body and sustain for the note’s full duration.

03 Set the overarching timbre use the FM Depth control. A setting of about one 04 Set the LFO control around two o’clock so that it starts to modulate
o’clock provides a suitable starting point where the sound has some purity the FM amount. Set the Rate at around one o’clock, or a setting that’s
to it, but also contains a few extra harmonics. complementary to your song’s tempo (you’ll need to do this by ear, though).

05 The real icing on the cake is the cake is the Sub Osc Level, which adds an 06 Set the Voices option to mono. The sound is finished, but you might want
additional sine wave an octave below the fundamental. The Sub Oscillator to explore further possibilities using the Stereo Detune (for a wider sound)
really adds to the low-end power of the EFM1. or different tunings of the Modulator, especially using Harmonic 3.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 49

TEC H N I Q UE H Y B R I D D I G ITA L B A S S I N LO G I C P R O X

Powered by

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Hybrid digital bass continued

07 With the EFM1 providing a lower layer, now let’s turn to Retro Synth to 08 A large part of the sound is defined by the wavetable choice. From the
provide a more harmonically rich layer with lots of stereo width. Set drop-down menu, select Retro Sqr-Saw 03 and then use the Shape
Retro Synth’s mode to Table, so as to replicate a PPG-like wavetable synth. control to audition moving backwards and forwards through the wavetable.

09 Move the Shape Modulation over to the LFO (about nine o’clock) so that 10 Add a second oscillator into the equation. Pitch Osc 2 an octave higher,
the LFO sweeps continuously through the waveshape. Set the Rate of the set to a marginally different wavetable position and slightly sharper.
LFO to around 2.70 Hz and lower the Wheel amount to 0. Use the Mix control so that Oscillator 1 remains the predominant sound.

11 Open the Settings tab. Set the Voice Stacking to 4 Voices, Stereo Spread 12 Use Phat FX to add extra sonic interest and movement to Retro Synth’s
to 1.00 and Voice Detune to 0.60. The result is a rich Unison detune output. Create a three-tiered distortion effect, with Exciter, Grit and Dirt
effect, with eight detuned oscillators panned across the soundstage. set to 13%, 10% and 0% respectively. Later on, we’ll modulate the Dirt control.

50 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

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TEC H N I Q UE H Y B R I D D I G ITA L B A S S I N LO G I C P R O X

LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL Powered by

This tutorial is endorsed by Point Blank Music School, which
specialises in courses on production, sound engineering, the
music business, singing, radio production, DJ skills and film
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MT STEP- BY- STEP

Hybrid digital bass continued

13 You can set the order of processing using the blocks at the bottom of the 14 Activate the Env Follower and set its Target to Distortion Dirt. Set Attack
interface. Move the Dirt block back so that the distortions are in series, to 0, Release to around 0.85 s, and depth to 128%. The Distortion
ahead of the Filter and Mod FX blocks. should now track the envelope of the sound and change over time.

15 Activate the Mod FX section to add a Doubler effect on the bass. The 16 To add interest, insert an LFO modulating the Doubler’s Rate parameter.
Doubler is a form of chorus treatment – set the Mix to around 31% Set the Target parameter as Mod FX Rate, the Rate to 3.2Hz and
and Rate to 6Hz to create a soft doubling effect. the Depth to 18%. The Doubler effect should now have extra movement.

17 There’s plenty of additional modules in Phat FX that are worth exploring. 18 The final sound is a blend of the two synths – the EFM1 providing the low
For bass parts, one obvious addition is the Bass Enhancer. Set the Tune end, while the combination of Retro Synth and Phat FX provides a more
parameter to around 100Hz and the amount of enhancement to 36%. frequency-rich top line. A 50/50 mix works well here.

52 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

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TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G G U I TA R S I N A BL E TO N L I V E 10
ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL
USING
GUITARS
IN ABLETON LIVE
Ableton Live has matured as a production and performance platform – and
Live 10 in particular has so much to offer guitarists and bass players, whether
they’re technophobes or dedicated gear-heads. Strap it on and plug it in!
WORDS MARTIN DELANEY
F
or a long time, it seemed like
guitarists were resisting using
computers. However, a new
generation of guitarists are
far more comfortable with software,
computers and mobile devices, so there’s
no excuse for anyone to be a tech
hold-out. Ableton Live has always been
versatile and that’s just as true for guitarists
and bass players as for synth heads or
anybody else. You can put it to work for
practice, performance, looping, control,
and production, using it instead of, or
alongside, your beloved hardware.
It also makes for a fantastic portable
mini-rig if you need to travel light. Live 10
in particular has added features that make
it easier than ever to run a fully functional
computer guitar rig. Use it to reproduce
your current sound in a digital format, or
expand into entirely new sonic territory.
GUITAR, MEET DAW
You can use any audio interface that has
an instrument input, although not all are
created equal – you want a clean signal
with plenty of gain, otherwise you’ll have
to add external boosters, which is kind of
against the point. If you’re likely to have a
lot of music gear connected, then Live 10
allows you go into Preferences and name
each audio input and output, which can
make it faster to set up.
When working on guitar sounds,
perhaps more than any other, it’s important
to alternate monitoring with headphones
and monitors. It’s shocking how different
they can sound – it’s not like using a guitar
amp. This used to be the weak link with
amp-modelling software and hardware.
It’s a small thing, but it was such a relief
when Live got a tuner (incidentally,
valuable for tuning samples as well)!
54 October 2019 MusicTech
In the walkthrough, we build a guitar
rig from scratch, but there are plenty of
presets to explore, for Amp and Cabinet
individually, but also filed as racks under
Amp Simulation in the Audio Effect Racks
section of the Browser. We don’t use these
presets, but they’re good illustrations of
what’s doable; look at the preconfigured
macro controls and their labelling.
Live 10 took a giant step with the
addition of the Tuner, Pedal, and Echo
effects (the Tuner is technically an effect,
Guitar amp and effect modelling
is easily good enough these days,
and Live is the perfect host
too); we’ve used all of these in real-world
production situations. Once again,
experimentation is required and it’s
usually an idea to load the defaults for
Pedal and Echo and start from there.
Let’s also put in a word for the Limiter
audio effect, which is essential for
optimising volume levels and reducing
the likelihood of distortion (the unwanted
digital kind). The only additional guitar-
specific plug-in we use here is Line 6’s Helix
Native, which sounds good, has a huge
range of amps, cabs, and pedals, and
allows the use of two chains at once. It’s
also MIDI controllable and the presets are
compatible with the Helix hardware as well.
For deeper texture, we can use it in a chain
with the Live audio effects, as needed.
When you’re creating chains with amps,
cabs and effects, remember that they will
behave differently depending on the order,
so try dragging them around to hear what
changes. Reverb could go before or after
your amp/cab, depending on what kind
of result you want. In front, it’ll sound like
a reverb pedal on the floor in front of an
amp; after, it’ll sound more like you’re trying
to build a room sound.
It’s become a habit to always use some
kind of tape compressor plug-in on guitar
tracks; it just immediately makes them feel
more organic. One of the prime benefits
of working with software in this way is the
potential to re-amp – to replace the amps
and effects used at the time of recording
with different ones later. Live doesn’t ‘print’
the audio effects used unless you route to
another track or freeze the track. That
means you can strip it right back to the
original, dry, guitar sound and start again,
or create duplicates/alternatives with
parallel amp setups that would’ve been
expensive/impossible not long ago – and
it’s all saveable as presets that can be
recalled later, even if they include racks
and third-party plug-ins.
Everybody plays guitar differently, so the
examples we’ve provided here may not fit
your music. But hopefully, they’ll give you
an idea of what’s possible in Live 10. It’s not
unusual to use Live exclusively for guitar
sounds and recording and there’s nothing
we haven’t been able to achieve, even if it
means adding a plug-in or two. Guitar amp
and effect modelling is easily good enough
these days, and Live is the perfect host.
musictech.net
 U S I N G G U I TA R S I N A BL E TO N L I V E 10 TEC H N I Q UE

PLUG ’N’ PLAY One of the many benefits of using Live for your guitar work is
that you get an incredibly compact setup – laptop, audio interface, maybe a
controller – and that’s it. Not only is this a powerful system, it’s one that’s easy
and cheap to tour with!

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using guitars

01 Let’s look at some of the Live tools that work great with guitar and a few 02 Connect your audio interface to the computer (via USB or Thunderbolt), then
recommended add-ons. There’s no demo set, but you’ll need Live 10 connect a guitar or bass to one of the inputs – they might be multi-purpose
to access some of the effects here. Download the demo from ableton.com. mic/line/instrument inputs; you may need to set the correct level on the hardware.

03 Launch Live, open Preferences. Click on the audio tab and configure your 04 In Session View, add an audio track. Toggle the In/Out View on and select
interface, enabling the input you’ve connected your instrument to. Set up external audio as the Audio From source. Specify your guitar-input track.
your audio outputs as usual, so you can listen on ’phones or monitor speakers. Set the track monitoring to In to listen without arming the track for record.

05 If you play your instrument now, all you’ll hear is the totally clean sound. We 06 Drop the Audio Effects/Amp/Boost and Crunch preset into the audio track
can jazz it up a bit, but first add the Tuner from Live’s Audio Effects Browser after the Tuner. Something’s still missing, so after that got to Audio Effects
to the audio track, that’ll now be first in the signal chain. Now get tuned up! and add Cabinet/2 x12 Cab. Now this is behaving more like a real guitar setup.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 55

TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G G U I TA R S I N A BL E TO N L I V E 10

ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using guitars continued

07 Swap those with any amp/cabs you like, it’s just a starting point. Now add 08 For a classic effects feel, try adding the Echo/Nostalgia effect after
Audio Effects/Pedal (no preset) before the amp. Turn on Fuzz, then turn Pedal. Echo’s an excellent simulation of an analogue delay, capable
on Sub, it can sound delicious, though you might find it causes bass chaos. of creating a wide range of effects. Set the Dry/Wet to around 1%, though.

09 You’ll probably want reverb and Live has tonnes – there’s the Reverb 10 It’s easy to create a simple custom guitar rig, but if you want something
effect, the reverb inside Echo and the excellent Max For Live Convolution that better exploits the computer’s flexibility, audio effect racks are a
Reverb – try the Cab and Spring preset experiment with the Dry/Wet mix again. good way. Select all devices from Pedal to Cabinet and type Cmd-G.

11 Now you’ve created an audio-effect rack, if you add other effects, amps, 12 You can use up to 127 chains in a rack; that should be enough amps for
and cabinets to the area under the first chain, you’ll hear they all play anybody. Judicious use of the mixer at the front of the rack and some EQ
at once, so you can create complex multi-amp setups and save them. will bring out the best from your monster wall of sound.

56 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 U S I N G G U I TA R S I N A BL E TO N L I V E 10 TEC H N I Q UE

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD A computer is too risky? We’d argue that

guitarists have always dealt with tech issues – fuses blow, strings break,
batteries die, whatever. But on the embarrassment scale, we’d rather
restart a computer in front of an audience than fix an amp or restring a guitar.

13 It may seem a shame to apply EQ to thin out a fat sound, but it’s needed 14 MIDI is present in (some) amps and hardware effects, drum machines…
if it’s to share a mix with other instruments, or it can be overwhelming. it’s everywhere. Live can send messages from MIDI tracks to control
The EQ Eight spectrum is a good diagnostic tool, along with your ears! those devices – from loading different presets to controlling effect parameters.

15 You can also use MIDI footswitches, or full pedalboards such as the Keith 16 If you want more sonic variety than Live’s built-in Amp and Cabinet, there
McMillen SoftStep, to control pretty much everything in Live while you’re are many ways to expand while keeping everything in the box. I’m a big
playing your instrument. The SoftStep is both compact and physically tough. fan of Line 6’s Helix Native plug-in, which includes amps, cabinets, and effects.

17 When working with recorded guitar tracks, you can turn off warping (time 18 Warping can also correct timing in a recorded performance. Add warp
stretching) to get the most faithful possible sound, or warp sections or markers to the relevant area and drag the part into the right place – a
entire tracks so you can change tempo after the fact, which can be very useful. good way to save a take and you only need to apply it to specific sections.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 57

S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O

K E Y K IT

O UA Apollo x8 interface
O Serpent Audio
S4000 buss compressor
O Universal Audio
2192 master converter
O Event Opal monitors
O Benchmark Audio DAC1
master converter
O 15" 2019 MacBook Pro,
fully upgraded

This month, we head to Salt Lake City to make an

appointment at the Bass Lab II, visit Attila Hanak’s
Toronto-based The Sixteenth Bar and thrash out at
Juggernaut Audio

BASS LAB II
Interviewee Steven Comeau, aka Starbass Contact steven@starbass.com | facebook.com/basslabstudio

Check out this full-on self-built
studio situated in a shipping
container in Utah…
MusicTech Tell us more about your studio?
Steven The studio is built in an extra-wide
shipping container in Salt Lake City, Utah.
It’s completely moveable. Someday, it will
live on a beautiful farm I am a part of in the
Snake River Valley in Idaho. I’ve built a few
studios around here. I think each one has
taken years off my life. The idea was to build
one last studio for myself and cart it around
to wherever I end up. I just finished it in April.
It was an insane project.
MT Why did you decide on such a low
desk? What are the benefits?
Well, two reasons… The first is that it’s quite
comfortable and minimises the distance
I have to fall to the floor in the event of too
much whiskey. Second, acoustically, it
places my ears away from the halfway point
in the vertical axis of the room, reducing
some of the acoustic difficulties in building
a great room in a poorly constructed
metal box with less-than-ideal dimensions.
MT What’s the significance of the skull?
The stag in many mythologies is a symbol of
natural power, renewal and rebirth, often
portrayed as a guide into the metaphysical
world. It’s a charm or talisman of sorts. Plus,
I’m an old goth and nothing says ‘old cranky
goth’ like bits of dead animal lying about.
MT Can you tell us more about the
acoustic treatment in the room?
The whole room is designed as a giant bass
trap with Real Traps being used often as the
final wall exteriors. The guys at Real Traps
have been incredibly patient with my insane
designs over the years.
MT Which DAW do you use and why?
I use Logic, I have for years. I dislike Apple

58 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


intensely and assume they will just continue
to make it harder and harder to produce
music in their technological ecosystem. I
dislike other DAWs like Ableton and Pro Tools
even more, though…
MT What is your favourite piece of gear?
I tracked down an old Universal Audio 2192
mastering converter. It is one of the few
converters made that has a discrete Class-A
analogue signal path. It’s magic. It makes
everything run through it sound better.
MT How much time do you spend in your
studio per week?
Enough to cause my life partner and my
friends concern.
MT How do you use your studio?
I make electronic music, so low end for me is
musictech.net
all-important. The studio is designed to get
maximum bass response and clarity. Things
behave so very differently below 200Hz. I like
to joke when it comes to producing music,
everything above 100Hz is just decoration.
MT What is next on your shopping list?
I think all I really want hardware-wise now
is a Dangerous Music Bax EQ. I want to
be strategic with analogue, because it’s
expensive and has challenges associated
with it, like project recall and occasional
demonic possession.
MT Do you have any frustrations with your
current setup?
Sort of. The room sounds great. It’s truly
amazing, considering it’s in a shipping
container. It probably sounds as good as a
studio in a container ever could, but no room
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
is ever going to totally satisfy you. You always
want something more.
MT What is your dream piece of gear?
My inner teenage goth still dreams of owning
a Prophet VS Rack someday. It’s the product
of listening to much early Nine Inch Nails…
MT What advice would you give someone
starting out building a studio?
There is no real business model for running
a studio like this in a small market anymore.
If you’re going to get into this racket, look
at the big picture and ask what this is going
to bring to your life for the investment and
time and money. Personal satisfaction can
be a totally valid reason to have a studio if
the dollars don’t add up. I don’t think that
having a studio these days can be justified
in a purely financial way.
MusicTech October 2019 59
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
THE SIXTEENTH BAR
Interviewee Attila Hanak (aka The Sixteenth Bar) Contact thesixteenthbar.com
Check out this Toronto-based
studio that cleverly combines
hardware with the digital realm
MusicTech Tell us about the studio…
Attila The studio is located in Toronto. It is a
work in progress and has been for the past
three years. I’ve been refining the layout and
the setup to aid me in a rather specific
method of music production, based mostly
on merging the benefits of the hardware
world with the flexibility of the digital realm.
MT Which DAW do you use and why?
Ableton 10.1 Suite. I’ve never tried another
DAW, so I wouldn’t be able to give a good
judgement on a comparison, but Ableton
does what I need it to do, how I need it to do
it and by now, I’ve become familiar and
proficient enough with it to use most of its
functions with a second-nature ease. Also,
the new CV Tools have proven to be a
game-changer when it came to integrating
external gear into a production, so that’s a
massive plus.
MT What is your favourite piece of gear?
That’s a tough one; there are so many
amazing pieces of gear I could call my
favourites for a number of valid reasons. But if
60 October 2019 MusicTech
it has to be one instrument, then I’ll have to
go with the Moog DFAM. It’s just an amazing
machine. I’ve used it in a number of vastly
different applications. It’s about as analogue
as it can get, it sounds stunning and it’s
temperamental. Once I get playing with it,
I just can’t stop and you can never really
know what you’ll get out of it until it happens.
The Eurorack integration possibilities on it are
not all that bad to have, either.
MT How do you control all of that amazing
gear? Do you have a master keyboard for
it all?
I have a MIDI matrix set up which is
accessible from both computers in the
studio, as well as an 88 key MIDI keyboard.
The heart of all this is a 10-channel MIDI
interface. I can send MIDI information from
both instances of Ableton if needed. Most
standalone synths like the Sub 37 and the
MiniBrute, as well as the drum machines
have their own MIDI inputs and OSCAR (the
Eurorack wall that I decided to name Oscar
for whatever mysterious reason) has four
MIDI-to- CV modules to fulfill this function.
This way, I can send MIDI to nearly all of
the gear simultaneously via a large number
of MIDI tracks from Ableton. In addition to
that, I also use an Expert Sleepers ES-8
K E Y K IT
O Moog Sub 37
O Arturia MiniBrute
O Roland TR-8S
O Soundcraft Signature 22MTK
O Focal CMS 65
O Native Instruments
Komplete Kontrol S88 MK1
DC-coupled USB audio interface to use
Ableton’s CV Tools, which again just
opened a whole myriad of possibilities to
modulate external gear and to automate
functions throughout the arrangement of
an entire song, or perhaps even a longer
live performance.
MT What first attracted you to using
modular gear?
My first synth was a MiniBrute, then the Moog
Sub 37. Soon after I got the Sub 37, I found
myself patching the MiniBrute’s audio out into
the 37’s external input, then using the few CV
outs of the Brute to mess around with the Sub
37’s filter via ¼-inch to ⅛-inch patch cables
and its CV inputs. It quickly became obvious
that I had a thing for twisted cables and
fancy turn-knobs. Then I realised there was
a better way to do that; enter the black hole
of Eurorack.
My first purchase was a few Make Noise
modules and after staying up for two days
straight playing with them, I have never
looked back. Modular has those same
qualities that I mentioned I love about the
DFAM. It’s an instrument that you have to
learn to play and that takes time, so it’s
definitely not for everyone. It can look
intimidating, but if you treat it with respect,
have patience with it (and a lot of free time
to kill) it can give you the kind of payoff
that you’ll never get from a VST, or even a
pre-wired synth. I must emphasise patience;
it’s usually a few hours of frantic patching
musictech.net

and potentially a great deal of frustration
to finally arrive at a sound that pleases you.
MT How much time do you spend in your
studio per week?
I usually come up for air once or twice a
week [laughs]. But on a more serious note,
since I’m a one-man show, I’m there a good
10 hours per day on average. When I work
on a large project, such as the production of
the Push 2 MasterClass for Production Music
Live was, I’m there an easy 14 to 16 hours per
day, or until the work is done, or until fatigue
sets in. Whichever occurs first.
MT How do you use your studio?
Other than having fun, experimenting with
different things and coming up with new
ideas, I use it mainly for three things: to
produce songs, produce videos and create
sample packs for my website. Starting from
patching up the sounds on Oscar, arranging
the timeline, then recording the elements,
then mixing the tracks and finally mastering
the song, I do everything in the studio.
I also like to make educational videos
about music production. I’ve learned
a tonne from superb creators, selflessly
investing their valuable time, to put up
amazing free content on the web and
now it’s my time to return that favour. So
if my time allows, I make videos for my
YouTube channel to my share knowledge.
My sample packs are all designed on
Oscar and recorded in their purest possible
musictech.net
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
form, avoiding any unnecessary processing. an unlimited number of good tutorial videos
Keeping it clean! on nearly every piece of gear available, so
you can do your homework. Once you do
MT What is your dream piece of gear, buy something, learn it inside out and don’t
and why? allow yourself to get a new piece, until you’re
That would be a synth I’ve never actually fully familiar with this one. Even if you’re
really seen or touched, or even heard live. rolling in it… it’s just better this way! Same
I only saw it in a Junkie XL Studio Time goes for VSTs; chances are your DAW already
YouTube video. It’s the Korg Trident. Tom has a native plug-in that’ll do the job well –
was showcasing it and it took a whole of shiny doesn’t necessarily equal better.
three minutes of him playing a few notes on it It’s all about knowing how and when to
for me to fall in love with it. One day, perhaps! use which parts of your gear, and at the
end of the day, your money may be better
MT What do you wish you knew about spent on something else, rather than a
synths when you were starting out? 147th compressor plug-in in your arsenal.
Nothing really, in addition to what I already
knew. It has been an amazing journey with
no regrets. I didn’t really experience a huge
epiphany or defining moment halfway
through that would have wanted me to stop,
go back, and ask for my money back. On
the contrary, actually; the deeper I got into it,
the more enjoyable it became. I don’t think
there are any limits that can ever be set with
respect to knowing it all. There’s always more
to learn and more to discover. If you ever
meet someone who says they know
everything about synthesis, just laugh out
loud and walk the other direction real quick.
MT What is the one piece of advice you
would give to someone starting out
building a studio?
Take it slow. Study your options before pulling
the trigger on any purchase. There’s virtually
MusicTech October 2019 61
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
JUGGERNAUT AUDIO
Interviewee Ben Romsdahl Contact ben.romsdahl@gmail.com | juggernautaudio.net
Denver’s Juggernaut Audio is an
atmospheric studio designed
for up-and-coming acts…
MusicTech Tell us about the studio…
Ben I grew up playing in bands and have
always been good with technology, so
audio engineering was a good fit for me.
I’ve toured as a musician and an engineer
and wasn’t even thinking about studio work,
but Ghosts Of Glaciers hit me up to do their
record and my love for the studio was reborn.
I wanted to create a budget studio to give
up-and-comers a quality recording, to keep
62 October 2019 MusicTech
costs down, I sublet my room from a larger
studio (Todd Divel/Silo Sound) and we share
the live room. I tend to focus on heavy
bands, since that’s what I know and Denver
has an amazing scene.
MT What’s the story with the Midas desk?
I used to FOH for Havok, they put me in touch
with the Midas people because I wanted the
console to make my job easier. I will never
forget selling all my gear and waiting an
entire summer to buy it, but it was worth it. The
desk has been around the country and has
never given me a single issue, not one. It is a
fucking tank: it survived a trailer that lost a
wheel and caught on fire. When I was
transitioning to the studio I was thinking
about selling the Midas, but I compared the
conversion to a couple of popular converters
on the market and the Midas won out. The
pres are amazing and its flexibility is essential.
It’s my favourite piece of gear in the studio.
MT The live room is an impressive space.
What’s its history?
The space was built out in the 70s, changed
hands a bunch of times. I just added paint,
acoustic treatment and decor to my portion.
Todd Divel did a bunch of renovations when
he moved in, not sure exactly.
MT Which DAW do you use and why?
Pro Tools, because it makes sense to me and
I know the commands.
musictech.net

MT How much time do you spend in your
studio per week?
As much as possible, there is always
something to learn.
MT How do you use your studio?
The idea is to make a living at this, so
whatever pays. I guess recording bands,
mostly. I certainly give them my opinion,
but I don’t know if that makes me a producer.
MT What’s next on your shopping list
studio-wise and why?
My tune-bot (drum tuner) just came in the
mail. Takes some getting used to, but stoked
on the results thus far!
MT Do you have any frustrations with your
current setup? What are the next studio
improvements you want to make?
musictech.net
I’m looking to build my own monitors
because most of them are built and tuned at
lower altitudes and the drivers do not line up
at higher elevations (like Denver). Even 1ms
of difference can mean a 15dB dip at the
crossover (say 100Hz) between the mid and
low drivers. Companies like Barefoot won’t let
users into the processing. So despite the high
price tag, they are out of phase up here.
They think I’m crazy, but I know what I’m
talking about. I learned from the best and
altitude is a big deal, even between Denver
and the mountains. I told Barefoot to send
me a box and I would pay for it if I was
wrong… no reply.
MT Is it a conscious decision to keep
outboard gear to a minimum? If so, why?
I’ve just opened so I am working towards
that. I don’t want to out-kick my coverage.
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
K E Y K IT
O Midas Pro1 for pre-amps,
I/O, monitor processing
O Quested VS2205 monitors
and VS1112 subwoofer
O Heil Sound PR 30
O Heil Sound PR 40
O Warm Audio WA-47
O Revox M3500
MT What is your dream piece of gear?
That’s tough… a rack of Distressors for the
drums, Manley Massive Passive for the mojo,
and a Royer SF-24 because it might be the
best room mic ever made.
MT What’s your top production advice?
Bands want your opinion, give it to them.
My worst recordings have come from
keeping my mouth shut.
MT Any advice you’d like to give someone
who’s starting out a studio?
DIY as much as possible. Knowledge equals
respect and money. I learned how to build
acoustic treatment for this studio and saved
thousands of dollars. Foam is not acoustic
treatment! Also, don’t believe the hype.
There is a lot of money spent on advertising.
Do your research!
MusicTech October 2019 63
TEC H N I Q UE A D D I N G S PAC E TO YO U R M I X I N C U B A S E 10
CUBASE TUTORIAL
ADDING SPACE
TO YOUR MIX
IN CUBASE 10
Reverb is a vital weapon in a producer’s arsenal and can play a key role in
honing the sound and placement of parts within a mix. It’s good, then, that
Cubase Pro comes with so many different varieties…
WORDS ADAM CRUTE
R
everb pulls things together in a
mix, giving a sense of coherence
and space and even if you’re
creating a very dry, close-
sounding mix, a touch of reverb is still
almost unavoidable. Once upon a time,
if you wanted to add some reverb to a
recording, there was no option but to use
a naturally reverberant space. Either you
could perform the original recording within
that space, or you could set up speakers to
play a previously recorded sound into the
space and use mics to capture the results.
Thankfully, adding a bit of ‘verb to a
sound these days is a much less protracted
affair, but not all reverb plug-ins work in the
same way. Cubase offers three different
approaches to reverb generation spread
across different plug-ins that come
preloaded with the DAW.
ROOMWORKS
The first of these reverbs is RoomWorks,
which is included in Cubase Pro and
available to buy from Steinberg’s store.
This uses the conventional digital reverb
generation technique of creating a large
number of repetitions of the input signal
and sculpting these repetitions to create
a natural tone and decay. RoomWorks
doesn’t attempt to model any particular
original circuitry, but does allow for detailed
and intricate control over the generator for
a very clean sound that works well on a
wide range of material, but one that can
be a bit lacking in character.
Reverb can be very resource hungry
and has a particular appetite for RAM, but
RoomWorks’ comparatively straightforward
reverb model and adjustable efficiency
setting helps keep its hunger in check. As
the efficiency is increased, the complexity
and density of the reverb effect is reduced,
64 October 2019 MusicTech
thereby saving those resources. There’s
also an option that forces things back to
full quality during offline exporting. The
efficiency dial can also give interesting
low-fi reverb effects. RoomWorks has
various reverb-sculpting features, such as
an envelope that can control the reverb’s
attack and release and both high and low
filters on the input and reverb damping
stages. It also fully supports surround sound,
adding controls to set the reverb’s distance
when assigned to a surround track.
Cubase offers three different
approaches to reverb generation,
spread across three plug-ins
All versions of Cubase also come with
RoomWorks SE, a cut-down version of the
full RoomWorks plug-in. This uses the same
algorithms as RoomWorks, but exposes
fewer parameters and doesn’t support
surround configurations. It is very resource-
efficient, though.
REVELATION
REVelation, which comes bundled with
both Cubase Pro and Cubase Artist,
uses a similar technique as RoomWorks
to generate its reverb effect. However,
REVelation has been designed to offer
a sound more like that of a high-end
outboard reverb and tends to produce
a more nuanced and characterful sound
than RoomWorks.
Where REVelation does a particularly
good job is with longer reverb times, which
tend to be smoother and less fluttery than
those produced by RoomWorks, so it’s
particularly good for simulating large
acoustic spaces, or for use in sparse mixes
where the reverb will be particularly
noticeable. The processor also produces
early reflections (ER), which simulate the
initial direct echoes that can stand out
above the wash of the reverb, and this
too adds to the depth and subtlety of
the sound the plug-in produces.
All of this niceness comes at the cost of
system resources, as REVelation is generally
hungrier for those resources than
RoomWorks, but a modern computer with
a good stack of RAM isn’t going to struggle.
REVERENCE
Cubase Pro’s final bundled reverb plug-in,
REVerence, uses an entirely different
method to produce its sound: convolution.
This type of reverb is based on impulse
recordings, these being recordings of the
reverb created in a real-world acoustic
space, or by a classic plate, spring or digital
reverb. By analysing this impulse recording,
a convolution reverb can generate the
echoes and reverb that would result from
any sound played within that space or via
that hardware. As you would imagine, all
of this requires a healthy slice of processing
power, but the results are exceptionally
natural, detailed and realistic.
REVerence can also load up to 36
patches simultaneously and then switch
or morph between these patches.
musictech.net
 A D D I N G S PAC E TO YO U R M I X I N C U B A S E 10 TEC H N I Q UE

A SENSE OF SPACE Our ears play a key role in our perception of space –
close your eyes and you can still sense the size and nature of the space you are
in. It’s therefore vital when producing sound for video that any reverb you use
matches the visual scene in a convincing way.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Adding space to your mix

01 For the first couple of examples, you’ll need a project with multi-tracked 02 It’s common to use a short reverb to give a bit of extra life to a snare drum.
(or in some other way splittable) drum parts, so find a suitable project and We only want this on one track and it can be a simple reverb, too, so insert
open it. (Multi-tracked drum recordings can be found online if you don’t have any). an instance of RoomWorks SE on your snare track/group.

03 In the RoomWorks SE window, set a short reverb time of around 0.40s. We 04 Set the pre-delay to zero so that there’s no gap between the snare sound
want a bright ‘zing’ for the snare, so turn the High Level up all the way, and and the associated effect. Set the diffusion to 100% for a spacious sound;
the Low Level down to around 20%. with the track playing and snare solo’d, set a mix level that sounds good.

05 Similar short reverbs also sound good on toms and snappier percussion, 06 Using the same reverb across multiple parts lets them exist in the same
so set some up some more instances of RoomWorks SE. Use settings acoustic space, thereby improving cohesiveness. Create an Effect track
that match the source sound, in particular tuning the high and low levels. using REVelation. If your kit is submixed, route the effect track into the kit’s submix.

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TEC H N I Q UE A D D I N G S PAC E TO YO U R M I X I N C U B A S E 10

CUBASE TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Adding space to your mix continued

07 Add a post-fade send to the snare’s track or, if you have used multiple 08 Because we’re using this as a send effect, set REVelation’s mix
snare mics and have these routed to a subgroup, add the send to the parameter to 100% wet. Start playback and use the Cubase mixer
subgroup instead. Enable the send and open the REVelation control panel. to adjust the REVelation track’s level (it may help to solo the track/submix).

09 Use REVelation’s preset browser to load a patch that you like – we’ve 10 Go through the rest of the drum instrument tracks/subgroups, adding
gone for Ambience Natural. We don’t want the kit to be lost in this reverb, sends to the REVelation effect. Use the send levels to control how much
so dial in some pre-delay until you hear separation between source and reverb. reverb an instrument will get, eg, sending less from the kick than the snare.

11 Save and close your project. Create a new empty project: import a vocal, 12 Create a post-fade send from the audio track to the effect track and open
guitar or lead line recording to a new track, which we’ll use for our next the REVerence control panel. The currently loaded impulse is at the top
examples. Also create an effect track using the REVerence convolution reverb. of the panel – to audition it, click the green arrow below the Time Scaling dial.

66 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 A D D I N G S PAC E TO YO U R M I X I N C U B A S E 10 TEC H N I Q UE

CREATING DEPTH WITH PRE-DELAY Reverb pre-delay adds a delay

to the onset of the reverb sound and can be used to simulate distance
between listener and source: If source and ‘verb are heard at the same
time, the source seems distant; if there’s a delay, it seems closer.

13 Click Browse alongside the impulse name to load a new impulse. Listen 14 The numbered buttons at the top right of REVerence’s UI are slots where
to some impulses, before settling on one that complements your audio. patches or parameter adjustments are stored. Click the 2 button so its
Ensure REVerence’s mix is 100%, then set the effect track’s level to suit. border flashes, then use the impulse browser to select another impulse.

15 The 2 button will turn blue. Play your audio; click between 1 and 2 and 16 Let’s make a rhythmic, resonant echo sound. Select slot 3 in REVerence;
the reverb changes. Select the Smooth Parameter Changes button (small click the Import button. Browse to and load a short (1-2 bar) drum loop,
dot alongside the number buttons) and the reverb morphs between settings. then hit play. Experiment with importing other loops and sounds.

17 Disable the audio track’s send to the REVerence effect track. Add a new 18 Use RoomWorks’ patch browser for a medium-length reverb that
effect track with RoomWorks; create a post-fade send from your audio complements your audio. Turn up the Efficiency dial; the repetitions
track to the RoomWorks track. In the mixer, set this track’s mix level to -10dB. become increasingly sparse. This can work well, particularly on guitars.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 67

TEC H N I Q UE M U LT I - B U S S M I X I N G I N P R O TO O L S
PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL
MULTI-BUSS
MIXING
IN PRO TOOLS
It’s a principle that many mix engineers swear by, yet it can be a fiddly and
complicated process to understand. So let’s take a closer look at mixing
with multiple busses in Pro Tools…
WORDS MIKE HILLIER
S
tereo buss compression is one of
the essential techniques of any mix
engineer. You don’t have to use
it every time, but it’s incredibly
important to understand how to use it, so
you know when to bring it to the table and
when to leave it off. But while stereo buss
compression can work wonders at bringing
focus to a mix, glueing all of the disparate
elements together and adding a sense of
character, it can also be a source of
immense frustration – even for some of the
biggest engineering names in the business.
BUSS ROUTE
The problem is, as you approach the final
stages of the mix, any change to one
instrument is going to have ramifications on
all of the rest. You may want to lift the vocal
slightly, but this could result in the bass then
sounding weak, so you lift the bass and all
of a sudden the drums aren’t sitting right.
You end up chasing your own tail lifting
and then ducking everything in turn.
It was exactly this problem that led
engineer Michael Brauer (Coldplay, John
Mayer) to experiment with the buss-routing
options on the SSL 6000 and later, 8000 and
9000 consoles. With these consoles, audio
can be routed to one of several stereo
busses, which can be processed separately
and then further summed to the master
outputs. Originally, the technique used
different audio going to different busses:
so the A buss might have the vocals,
keyboards and strings routed to a Neve
33609 compressor going into a pair of
Pultec EQs, while the B buss would have
the drums and bass routed to a different
combination of compressor and EQ and C
would have the guitars, with again another
compressor option. By compressing in this
manner, Brauer was able to get exactly the
68 October 2019 MusicTech
sound out of each instrument group that he
wanted, without affecting the tone of any
other instrument group.
As the technology grew, so did the
technique, with a D buss later added for
stereo spreading or adding valve warmth
and finally routing audio directly to the
output as a fifth buss with no compression.
Then by combining audio routed to two
or more of these busses, Brauer was able to
get even greater control over the sound,
combining parallel compression techniques
Stereo buss compression can
focus a mix, glueing all the
disparate elements together
by routing vocals to, for example, the A, D
and clean stereo buss simultaneously.
VOCAL BUILDING
Brauer has continued to refine this
technique and as well as using multiple mix
busses, now additionally uses multiple sends
with fixed signal paths combined at the
stereo mix buss to process the lead vocal.
Instead of routing the vocal through the
A, B, C or D mix busses, Brauer would send
the vocal to four very different-sounding
compressor chains, using a Fairchild 666,
a Gates Sta-Level, an 1176 and a Distressor
all in parallel and blend the resulting four or
five compressors to create the final vocal
sound. The intention here is to combine the
best parts of each compressor sound into
a single compelling vocal, without at any
point sounding overly compressed.
Emulating this process in Pro Tools is fairly
simple and while emulating it exactly at
each stage would mean a large plug-in
investment, you can instead combine
compressors and EQs you already own.
Think carefully about what combinations
you want to use in each position. A fairly
clean compressor, with plenty of sustain
across the A buss for pads, paired with a
warm-sounding EQ, will work for recreating
the Neve 33609 and Pultec EQs. For the
B buss, you’ll want something faster, with
plenty of aggression. Brauer uses a pair of
Distressors and an Avalon EQ in this position.
For the guitar buss, Brauer has
experimented with Joe Meek and
Pendulum compressors, but you could
get equally good results out of an 1176
emulation, for example. For the warmth
buss, rather than a compressor, you could
use a tape emulator or saturation plug-in,
while for stereo spread, M/S processing with
a fast clean compressor should work – or a
compressor with built-in M/S manipulation.
To emulate Michael Brauer’s vocal
chain, simply route the main output of the
vocal channel nowhere and use four or
five sends to put it through four or five very
different compressors. Apply an EQ after
each one to give you more control over
the final sound, using one send for crushed
vocals with plenty of low-end roll off, to
exaggerate the midrange and another
with a deep, warm compressor tone,
enhancing the low end, with perhaps a
little midrange rolled out to complement it.
musictech.net
 M U LT I - B U S S M I X IN G I N P R O TO O L S TEC H N I Q UE

MAKE LIFE EASY Once you’ve created your own multi-buss setup,
be sure to save it as a template, ready to be used to start every mixing
session. You could also save it as a Channel Preset, ready to be imported
into any pre-existing projects.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Multi-buss mixing

01 Open the project which is included on the DVD. For this tutorial, we’re 02 Add five Aux channels – and for simplicity, we’re going to title these A, B, C,
starting with an empty project, containing no audio. D and E.

03 Now add a master-buss channel. This will be your final stereo output. All 04 On the first of these four Aux channels, add your favourite clean compressor
sub-mixes will be routed through here. If you want to use any metering for pad sounds and a warm EQ. Here, we’re using the Avid Pro Compressor
plug-ins, or a limiter for reference, place them here. and Ozone Vintage EQ.

05 This buss will be mostly pads and vocals, so we’ve set up the compressor 06 For the EQ, we’re looking to bring out a little additional warmth in the low
accordingly with a restrained ratio of 3:1, soft knee and moderately slow end and a little extra openness and presence at the top. Nothing clinical,
attack and release settings. as that will be dealt with on the individual channels.

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TEC H N I Q UE M U LT I - B U S S M I X IN G I N P R O TO O L S

PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Multi-buss mixing continued

07 For the B buss, add your favourite drums and bass processing options. We’ve 08 On the drums buss, we’ve gone for a fairly slow attack and fast release and a
opted for the FabFilter Pro-C 2, coupled with SlateDigital’s Revival plug-in. stronger ratio of 4:1 – again, with a soft knee. We’ve used the sidechain to
prevent low end from triggering the compressor – pushing the kick further forward.

09 The free Slate Revival plug-in is a favourite of ours for bringing out additional 10 For the C buss, we’re going to use our favourite guitar-processing options.
weight and sparkle to drums. Just dial in a little of each for a fairly modest We’re big fans of the Waves Renaissance Axx plug-in for this, alongside
smile curve. Soundtoys Sie-Q.

11 The Waves Renaissance Axx doesn’t have all that many parameters, but it 12 The Sie-Q is great for pulling out midrange on guitars. We’ve dialled the top
sounds fantastic on guitars. Just bring the Threshold down a touch until it and bottom down a touch and boosted at around 2.2kHz. We’ve also dialled
bites and use the Attack for tone. in a little drive, because you can never get too much overdrive on your guitars.

70 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 FOR THE
CREATIVES
The professional sound you deserve

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Audient Console Mic Pre’s | Class-leading Converters | Digital Expansion | Balanced Inserts
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TEC H N I Q UE M U LT I - B U S S M I X I N G I N P R O TO O L S

PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Multi-buss mixing continued

13 For the D buss, we’re going to add Soundtoys Decapitator and because 14 Decapitator is one of the most versatile distortion plug-ins we’ve
this will provide plenty of tone, we’ll pair it with a clean, yet powerful ever seen; everything from subtle saturation to extreme crunch.
digital EQ; FabFilter Pro-Q 2. Here, we’re just dialling in a little tube colouration, using the A distortion style.

15 The EQ here is being used to heavily shape the distortion colour, pulling 16 Finally, for the E buss, we’re going to use a stereo-spread setup. We’re
out lows and highs fairly sharply. going to use iZotope’s Ozone Imager, paired with the OmniPressor in
Eventide’s UltraChannel plug-in.

17 Ozone Imager is one of our favourite stereo-width tools right now. In this 18 To control things going through the Ozone Imager, we’ve added the
setting, we’ve left the low end alone and added just a little width through Eventide O-Pressor compressor, and left in the EQ, too. There are
the mids, but plenty to the highs. plenty of further stereo-widening tools in the Ultra-Channel, too.

72 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 Great sounds. Serious inspiration.

S I G N U P T O R E C E I V E 1 G B O F F R E E S O U N D S
TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G S C A LES & C H O R D S W I T H R E A S O N 10
REASON TUTORIAL
USING SCALES
& CHORDS
IN REASON 10
Reason might well be known for its Devices, instruments, effects and rack, but
beneath these flashy headlines lies a great tool for songwriting – and one that
needs no previous musical experience to enjoy. Welcome to Scales & Chords
WORDS ANDY JONES
T
here are so many bonuses to using
DAWs in music production that
sometimes it can get overwhelming
and you end up just focusing on
certain key elements. With Reason, it’s
the rack that we often get sidetracked by,
with the sheer number of instruments and
effects that we can have plumbed into
our mixer for the ultimate virtual studio. With
most DAWs, there is also the very basic fact
that it is so easy to copy and paste parts
to create songs that you can come up
with arrangements very quickly.
However, most sequencers also have
very specific components for songwriting,
many of which often get ignored as we
focus on the headline acts. And as it’s a
songwriting special this issue, we’re going
to focus on one key Reason feature that
will help you create great songs without
needing to know anything about, well,
creating great songs! This time, then,
we are talking about the mighty Scales &
Chords player.
AI SONGWRITING
The Scales & Chords player was introduced
as one of three Player Devices in Reason 9
(the others being Note Echo and Dual
Arpeggio). It sits in front of any noise maker,
taking the MIDI notes you play, acting on
them and sending the results into your
chosen instrument. Essentially, what Scales
& Chords allows you to do is experiment
with chord progressions and play and
record notes within certain keys, without
hitting bum notes. As we’ve hinted at,
though, the best thing about Scales &
Chords is that you don’t need to know
your scales from your chords! In fact,
that is (kind of) the point!
You can think of Scales & Chords in two
halves: the left-hand blue Scale area and
74 October 2019 MusicTech
right-hand green Chord area. With Scales,
you choose the key of the song that you
want to work in from a menu of 12 (the
root notes in an octave). You then get
to choose from a list of scales, some well
known (like major and minor) and others
not so well known (Mixolydian, anyone?).
If you are a complete beginner, think
of a musical scale as a sequence of
notes that you play, one after another.
The simplest is C Major, where the root note
is C and you simply play the white notes on
With Scales & Chords, whatever
scale you choose, what you play
next should always sound good
your keyboard, up towards the next C.
Easy. The scale type simply defines what
sequence of notes is played around that
root note. They might sound more natural
and familiar in the case of major and minor
scales, or less familiar if you choose some
of the scales used in musical styles from
around the world.
The best part is that that’s all you need
to know about them for the moment,
because the main point of Scales & Chords
is that whatever scale you choose, what
you play next should always sound good.
You can even set it up so that if you play a
wrong note, it will play the right one in the
context of the key and scale chosen!
IT WON’T GO WRONG!
The first thing we’ll demo in this tutorial is
the simple selection of a key and scale.
Scales & Chords will show you the notes
that exist in your chosen key and scale by
highlighting them over an octave. You can
then either play the correct notes and
learn that particular scale along the way…
however, if you play the wrong notes you
can choose to have it automatically play
the nearest correct note in place, or play
nothing at all – you simply can’t play a
wrong note!
Now, turning to the Chords section, you
can generate chords within your chosen
scale simply by pressing one note. You can
have these set up to five notes per chord
and have Reason set to record either that
single note or the chord results. Again, as
you have set the key and scale, all of the
chords you generate with a single note
press will sound fine, so this is a fantastic
way to generate and experiment with
chord progressions.
A SONGWRITER’S DREAM
There are further chordal options in Scales
& Chords where inversions play different
notes in a chord. However, in the following
workshop, we’ll show you how to create a
great chord progression and then generate
a melody from that, so showing off its
songwriting credentials.
The best part of Scales & Chords is that
the results you get in this way will very often
be melodies and progressions you’d never
previously have considered using, making
this one of Reason’s most creative tools.
Happy chordal songwriting!
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ADD AN OCTAVE There are a couple of other options in the Chords side of
Scales & Chords that we don’t cover in the main workshop, including Oct Up
and Oct Down. Clicking either of these simply adds a copy of the root note
that you are playing, either up and octave or down.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using Scales & Chords

01 Start a new project and select an instrument with which you want to start 02 Click on the Players menu in the Browser and select Scales & Chords.
your song. We’ve chosen Thor and a simple lead sound (Analogue Lead) Remember that it goes before whatever instrument you have chosen,
just for demonstration purposes. as it is triggering its sounds via what you play on the keyboard.

03 First, we’ll look at the Scales side, so disable the Chords feature by clicking 04 We’ve chosen D Major as our key and scale type. As you play the notes up
the button as shown. You can select your root from the Key drop-down the scale, if you hit a non-highlighted note (one not in the scale), it simply
menu and scale from the Scale drop-down, as shown. plays the note next to it, so you can’t hit a wrong note.

05 You can also choose to have incorrect notes not played at all. Hit the Filter 06 While we’re in the Scales section, try out some of the more unusual options
Notes button as shown and all incorrect notes (those non highlighted) will and you’ll hear how the different types impact the sequencer around the
now be silent when played. chosen root note.

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REASON TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using Scales & Chords continued

07 Now we’ll get some Chord action going, so select the Chord button and make 08 Be sure to choose a sound in your triggered instrument (in our case Thor)
sure the number of notes is set to at least 2. Now when you press a single that is polyphonic and easily heard as a chord. We’ve changed ours to the
note, a chord will play over whatever number of notes you have selected. Vintage Dance Lead sound.

09 Experiment with the Inversion and Open features. The former plays slight 10 All chords you play with a single note will be in the right key (in our case D
variations of the chord, while the latter stretches the chord out by adding an Major), so record a progression you are happy with. Select the Direct Record
octave to certain notes. You can also change octaves – see previous page for more. option to record chords rather than the original single notes.

11 As you can see, your single note presses now generate chords. We’ve 12 You might want to tidy up your all-new chord progression with Quantise
recorded a simple progression around four bars with Open Chords selected (Command K) or by stretching notes to fit each bar by selecting and
and it sounds great – all from just one note press per chord! dragging the right-hand points.

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 U S I N G S C A LES & C H O R D S W I T H R E A S O N 10 TEC H N I Q UE

OTHER PLAYERS Scales & Chords is not the only Player Device contained in
Reason. You also get Note Echo and Dual Arpeggio, which do pretty much as
they say, adding echo and arpeggiation features. They aren’t quite as useful
for songwriting, but can add interest and we’ll explore them further next time.

13 Now, you want to select another sound to write your main melody over 14 Now add a Scales & Chords to whatever instrument you have chosen
your chord progression. We’ve selected the Radical Piano for this, as a for your lead melody (making sure you place it before the instrument)
piano sound works well against the pad. and select the same Key and Scale as your chords (in our case, D Major).

15 Now, whatever you play on your lead instrument will be in the same key 16 Copy the chord-progression notes (Alt-click-drag) onto your lead-sound
as your recorded chord progression, so everything will sound in tune. track. Now you can generate a lead melody simply by selecting
You can generate your own melody now… or there is an even easier way. individual notes from the original chords (top, middle or bottom).

17 Make sure you have the Filter Notes option selected and now you have 18 The same goes for the edit window. You can change the melody by
a cycling lead melody of single notes, which is in key with your chords chopping and adding notes and they will always only trigger notes in
which you can now play along with. the right key. Lead melody written! We’ll continue the song next time round.

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10 T I P S

1O TIPS for looking

after your studio
Spent a fortune on gear? Got it all set up correctly? Now
you need to look after it. You can have the best equipment
in the world installed and working, but it won’t be for long if
you don’t maintain it. Here are 10 tips for keeping that gear
– and you, for that matter – working and working well…

1
Dust is your
enemy
Studio gear and dust are the best of friends. Or that’s what you’d
think if you saw their clingy relationship from the outside and
the way that they seem to be drawn to one another. In reality, of
course, they are the worst of enemies and you really should try
and keep the monster that is dust (aka your skin) away from your
precious studio gear. Vacuum, clean, wipe, blow, do what you can
to keep one from the other and your gear will not only look better
but work better. (As a side note, we know someone who got their
MacBook Pro properly vacuumed recently and it worked like a
charm after, thus demonstrating this point!)

2
You have
the power
Power used to be a big issue when it came to propping up
studio gear and it still can be if you use a vast amount of outboard.
However, these days with so much software taking up the older
hardware strain, you can pretty much get away with using minimal
socket extenders and multi-way plugs for your studio power.
However, if you have a mountain of outboard or guitar gear, or a
pile of modular, or are simply getting power-supply noise, consider
a power conditioner like the Citronic CPD8C (shown) or Samson
PS10 or PB10. Between £50 and £130 buys you a unit that
prevents noise from light sources and dimmers and other
electronic pollution that might be contaminating your AC power.

3
Reduce options,
increase speed
A great studio is all about turning ideas into music, fast. Whether
that means having everything within reach or a smaller number of
plug-ins to choose presets from, do consider your alternatives and
options… and cut them down. It’s wise to regularly try and purge
your plug-ins. Do this simply by going back through your song
library and seeing which plug-ins you are and aren’t using. We did
this and discovered a vast library of instruments – which took up a
vast amount of hard drive space – that we rarely touched. Delete,
reduce options, speed up and get your hard-drive space back!

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 10 T I P S

Speaker’s corner Rack it up

4 5 Specialist racks for studio gear went out of fashion
We always bang on about spending as much money on monitors as you can, when we all went software-only but now, with the
but actually a huge area of importance that we perhaps don’t touch on enough return of hardware, they are very much in vogue again and they
is how and where you position them. Placing speakers on a desktop invites all sorts of rumbling can be brilliant for looking after your gear. 19-inch rack gear
issues, but placing speaker-isolating rubber feet on a speaker can allow you to place it pretty can be placed within racks and wheeled around at whim and
much anywhere on a surface. Also, remember the old ‘equilateral’ rule when it comes to of course, modular synths are made for good racking, so assign
placements and your own placement. Finally, if you place speakers too close to walls, this can part of your budget to decent hardware housing. It keeps it safe,
cause issues, although many come with DIP switches around the back to adjust for this distance. secure and easy to access.

Look after Avoid

6 7
yourself
Keeping your studio setup matchfit for
producing music isn’t all about looking after
your gear; you also have to look after number
one. However, this can be as simple as
making sure you have a decent chair so you
are sitting upright and not slouching and also
making sure that everything is within reach
(or within rolling distance of said chair).
Maximum comfort means more time
concentrating on mixing and recording,
so being selfish in the studio and perhaps
stretching your furniture budget can actually
be a very selfless priority in the long run.
liquids
Everyone needs a cuppa now and again,
especially when in a long recording session,
but, believe us – we are talking from
experience here – a mug of something hot
in the studio can cause a nightmare. From
fizzing your logic board to dampening your
keys, a brew – or, even more dangerous, a
pint of beer – can devastate your recording
sessions. Drink out of reach of your gear, even
in another room if possible. This also gives
you an excuse to get up and go for a break,
another important item to consider on your
‘ideal recording session’ list.

Case the joint

8 As well as racks, consider investing in some proper
carry cases when travelling with gear. Yes, it’s true
that you can slip a selection of bits and pieces
into backpacks these days – your laptop and a controller,
maybe some mini synths or drum machines, perhaps – but
that vintage outboard really should be put in a specialist carry
case (available from the likes of Studio Spares). They don’t cost as
much as you might think and you might save that money in repair
costs in the long run.

Increase
9 1O
the surface
Face it: you’ll never have enough work surfaces in your studio.
Like your kitchen, whatever space you have for spare keyboards,
mice, instruction manuals and controllers will be all be taken up
and you will always require more. Consider draws on wheels that
can be used as work surfaces (and rolled in and out of tight
spaces as required), or even consider a proper studio desk from
the likes of Output Sounds – with retractable trays, nooks and
shelves and even more surface area for you to fill.
Increase
inspiration
Studio spaces are all about being creative and that also means
being inspiring. So, as well as everything being neat and tidy,
easy to reach and even easier to power up and get up and
running, place some inspiring items around and about.
We know some producers who have Japanese robots, others
stormtroopers and us, well, we have Star Wars LEGO models.
Whatever it takes, raise a smile and an inspiring thought with
something special.

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 REVIEW

REVIEWS
HARDWARE | SOFTWARE | ACCESSORIES | GUIDES
Q HARDWARE Q SOFTWARE

IK MULTIMEDIA UNO Drum 82 ZERO-G Beat Master 92

TC ELECTRONIC TC2290-DT 86 PROPELLERHEAD PolyStep Sequencer 95
RØDE TF-5 88 STEINBERG Nuendo 10 100
DREADBOX Nyx V2 90 SOFTUBE Monoment 102
NEUMANN NDH 20 96 ISOTONIK STUDIOS CrossFire 104
ERICA SYNTHS Black Stereo Delay 98 DENISE AUDIO The Sweeper 105
LOOPLORDS Oxygen Revolution 105
LOOPMASTERS
Mark Fletcher Funk & Soul Breaks 107
LOOPMASTERS Vibes 10 – Street Beats 107
GROOVE3 Songwriting Theory Explained 107
UNDRGRND SOUNDS Redlight 107

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IK MULTIMEDIA
UNO Drum £255 STREET

IK Multimedia made a big splash in the synth world with UNO Synth. Hot on its
heels comes UNO Drum, but will it be as big a hit in the world of beat-making?
WORDS ANDY JONES

Key features
A
 
t the risk of sounding like a grandparent sister product in terms of both its design and
staring wistfully at an urban O Analogue/PCM scope and could quite easily make as big an
development and bemoaning how drum machine impact in the world of beat-making as Synth
‘I remember when all of this was fields’, O 100 kits, 100 patterns, did in, well, synthesising.
I remember when IK Multimedia just did software. 11-voice polyphony
Ah, those heady days, when companies were O 12 drum Elements (kick x2, THE UNO DUO
trying to get a computer to do every music- snare, closed and open hat, UNO Drum very much takes on the look of its sister
making task and we threw all of our hardware clap, cymbal, ride, cowbell, synth, albeit in a whiter shade. It’s the same size,
out to pasture. Nowadays, of course, there’s rim, tom x2) weighs the same, even has the same four/three
been an almost total reversal in hardware’s O Up to six analogue sounds; rotary combination on the front panel, with the
fortunes, helped in no small part by former or 12 PCM sounds from 54 first four dials controlling a matrix of options at
software-only companies such as IK Multimedia, O Four dynamic Matrix controls the top left of the device. There are differences
Arturia, NI and many more deciding to get back plus one global, two fixed between the two siblings, of course, so the
into the hardware-manufacturing game. O Five performance effects keyboard on UNO Synth now becomes 12 drum
These companies have responded to – O 64-step real- and step-time touch-sensitive pads, beneath which sits 16 steps
and indeed helped to create – the insatiable sequencer with up to 8 for sequencing.
demand for inexpensive, great-quality hardware parameters/step and 100 UNO Synth kept its cost down by keeping all of
drum patterns
instruments that really do help us producers look these moving parts to a minimum and UNO Drum
like we’re actually making music, rather than O Connections: audio I/O does the same… to a point, because at a shade
(3.5mm), MIDI I/O, USB
writing emails – and that has to be a good thing. over £250 it can street at over £50 more than the
IK made huge waves last year with its first O Size (w x d x h): synth. It has an analogue core with up to six
256 x 150 x 49mm
hardware synth, called UNO Synth, that delivers sounds – kicks, snares, clap and hats, created by
CONTACT
a big sound from a small, lightweight body. The an analogue engine – and the rest of the dozen
all-new UNO Drum on test here is very much its ikmultimedia.com pads using digital PCM samples, from a library of

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 I K M U LT I M ED I A U N O D R U M LE A D R E V I E W

54 sounds. Finally on the comparison charts,

UNO Drum can also be powered by four
AA batteries or by USB and it shares the
same connections (MIDI and audio I/O,
plus micro USB) as the synth.
That’s the end of the comparisons. Yes,
they are sister products… but it’s time to
beat the drum.
DRUM THE ONE
Initially, I thought UNO Drum was a good
deal heavier than Synth, but removing it
from the box, which contained batteries,
leads and other gubbins, you soon realise
that, yes, it is identical – so light in weight
it might have you thinking it’s toy-like.
From experience though, with many
new devices in this low-cost plastic-
instrument league – and I’m talking about
the likes of Korg’s Volcas, and Modal’s
Skulpt – you should never judge a hardware
instrument on its weight.
Diving straight in (as you will, because
the best way to experience Drum is to
switch on and just play), you will probably
notice some noise from the unit. IK
acknowledges that ‘when connecting the
UNO Drum directly to your computer via
USB, you may hear more noise’, and that is
the case. However, I tried switching to
battery power and that didn’t really
diminish it, so it could be the nature of the
analogue engine, or something an update
may solve (as I believe it did with Synth).
Next up, of course, you will audition
each of the 12 drum sounds, or Elements,
via the 12 pads. These are non-moving-part
pads, touchpads with a set two-layer
velocity, so you don’t get that pleasing
thwack of a hit you would with rubber pads
on an MPC-style piece of hardware. The
analogue sound will hit you right between
the ears straight away though, the first kick
having a huge, rich and rounded tone, at
least from the kit I have loaded on power
up. Each of these 12 elements has five
different sounds to choose from, associated
with each sound type (tom, snare, kick and
so on). Up to six of them can be analogue;
the rest drawn from a further 54 digital
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
With any hardware, machines that gives
the first question you the tactile feel of
you could ask is: hardware for a low
can I do it cheaper cost. So the question
in software? The could be: should you
answer in most cases replace your
is probably ‘yes’, but software with
UNO Drum is part hardware? And in
of the new breed of this case, you really
low-cost hardware can do it.
sounds (making a total of 60 sounds).
Interestingly, these digital PCM sounds
are all recorded at 32kHz and 12-bit to
give UNO Drum ‘an old-school vibe’ which
I quite like – both the idea and the results.
As well as the impressively boomy
analogue kicks, the PCM sounds take you
on a varied journey. From top left to right,
the toms can be anything from the simple
and electronic Roland-a-likes to more
The analogue sound will hit
you straight between the ears,
the kick has a lovely, rich tone
rounded and lengthier hits. The Rim sounds,
too, go from clicks to shrill, almost bird-like
tweets. The Cowbell again covers that TR
electronic sound, right through to less bell
and more wooden sharp hits. The rides and
cymbals are quite lovely, again electronic
to more acoustic – although you do start
to wish that there was an onboard reverb
here to really extend those tails. That’s
something that would also benefit the
snare sounds, although there are enough
with longer sustains here should you wish
to veer too far back to the 80s. Indeed,
at least one of the PCM claps appears
to have been recorded with reverb on,
so you can at least get that effect within a
Pattern. Again, you get varying lengths
of clap here, from this longer one to an
almost cricket-like hit.
Overall, most of the sounds included are
therefore very electronic in nature, as this
drum machine is very much offering sounds
for dance, hip-hop and EDM production,
so don’t buy UNO Drum expecting faithful
recreations of acoustic kits. The number of
sounds might initially sound a little tight, but
each one is also tweaked by that main
Matrix, top left, which features different
controls for pretty much every preset type,
although this number varies depending on
the sonic Element that you have selected.
With most of the sounds, for example,
you get access to the Level, Tune and
Decay options which you select and then
adjust with the dials above. However, some
of the analogue sounds give you extra
parameters to adjust, accessed by holding
the Drum button for 1.5 seconds. Kick1,
for example, adds some FM-parameter-like
Tune and Sweep Time.
With the PCM-type sounds, you’re able
to control Level (velocity), Tune and Decay.

THREE UNO DRUM PERFORMANCE EXTRAS

STUTTER
1 Stutter allows you to choose from 10 different
types of repeat and you can adjust the level of each.
RANDOM
2 Quite a bonkers effect that allows you to
3 ROLL
Repeats whatever sound you have selected.
randomise how Elements are played within a pattern. The pattern and timing is changed with the Data dial.

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LE A D R E V I E W I K M U LT I M ED I A U N O D R U M
It should be stated that Velocity is a set
amount (either 100 or 127 and set using the
Alt button) when you play the pads, so
each of these pads is not velocity sensitive
when you perform with them.
However, using the matrix, you can
program the level of each velocity, so
there’s flexibility here and as we’ll see with
the sequencer later, you can introduce a
more human feel.
With all of these Matrix options in place,
you can see that, even though there might
be just 60 sounds to start with, using the
Most of the sounds are electronic,
as this drum machine is aimed
at dance, hip-hop and EDM
various parameters does introduce a lot of
variation. Even using UNO’s tuning feature
alone, for example, you are massively
expanding its sonic reach. Further to this
is a range of four effects in the next line
of the Matrix which offer a very obvious
compressor – with more crunch than most
– and a Drive effect that adds a large dose
of dirt. There are two further performance
effects which we’ll cover later.
Once you’re happy tweaking your 12
Element kit sounds here, you can then save
them as a kit simply by pressing and
IK MULTIMEDIA UNO DRUM OVERVIEW
MATRIX SECTION
1 This main grid allows access to
four parameters at a time for each sound,
including tuning, level (velocity) and decay.
12 ’ELEMENT’ PADS
4 Each sound in UNO Drum is called an Element,
accessed from a choice of five per pad. Up to six can
be analogue, up to to 12 PCM.
84 October 2019 MusicTech
holding the Kit button, choosing a
location and pressing it again.
PATTERNS AND PERFORMANCE
Next up, you should head on over to
the right-hand side and hit play. Now
your chosen kit will come to life as one
of 100 Patterns plays around the kit you
have selected, with the central dial here
controlling the tempo. This is a great place
to get a proper feel for what UNO Drum
is capable of, as the kits have been
produced to demonstrate the full sonic
range of the unit with tuning and other
effects programmed in. There is an
impressive variety, from the more robotic-
like number 80 to many an 808/909-alike,
to even the odd almost acoustic-like kit,
although the emphasis is, as stated and
perhaps expectedly, very much on the
electronic side of music production.
Here, you can also try out some of the
unit’s impressive performance effects;
MIDI-type processes that enhance the
playback of the patterns in various ways.
The Random button is perhaps the least
EFFECTS AND SEQUENCER PARAMETERS
2 The grid also allows you to edit effect
parameters for sounds and performances
and also to access sequencer data.
SEQUENCER
5 It’s easy to record your drum parts in real time,
as a pattern cycles around, or select a step and then
an Element (sound) to play on that step.
conventional in that it inserts a random
number of hits per selected sound within
a pattern. You hold the Random button
down, select an Element and it goes to
work, also randomising the velocity of the
steps. Hit the Select All button and all the
elements get randomised, so it can quickly
get out of control and you might wish for
an Undo button.
Stutter is better, introducing 10 different
real-time repeat effects. The Stutter type
determines the number of steps being
repeated and the Amount determines
the number of Elements affected by it.
So Type 1, for example, repeats the
first eight steps after the Stutter button is
pressed. When Amount level 1 is selected,
it only affects the kick drum; Amount level
12 affects all 12 Elements. The Stutter types
change loop length (to triplets, double
triplets etc) or introduce different pre-
programmed fill patterns as you go up.
There are also a couple of tuning options
(up and down) that change the Element
(again, the number of which is determined
by the Amount setting) and finally, two
Madness options that randomise velocity,
decay and tuning parameters over three
or four steps – and it really can get mad.
The final, and less complex,
performance option is Roll. This repeats
individual selected Element sounds over
four different Roll types (roll 8th note,
8th-note triplets, 16th note and 32nd note).
It’s easy to get some impressive-sounding
GLOBAL CONTROLS
3 You get dials for Tempo and Volume,
plus a Data dial allows you to select Sounds
(from 5), kits (from 100) and Patterns (from 100).
SEQUENCER CONTROLS AND EFFECTS
6 The main transport controls are here and
you also get two performance effects, including
10 Stutters and Rolls.
musictech.net

real-time movement here, especially when
tuning up and down as you do it. Overall,
these performance options certainly add
a good UNO Drum angle, again stretching
its sonics beyond what you might expect
from such a small device.
UNO SEQUENCING
The sequencing part of UNO Drum is pretty
straightforward. You work in Patterns, which
can be up to 64 steps in length (with the
default set at 16). You can either record
in real time as the Pattern cycles around
(after you press record), or use step
recording, where you simply select an
element and then highlight a step for it
to play (press the step again to remove it).
It’s very easy to get a Pattern together
and then you can chain up to 64 of these
together to produce an entire Song.
Each step within a Pattern can also
have up to eight parameters automated,
which helps add a lot of variation per
Pattern – you can, for example, record
entire rolls and tunings should you wish and
these types of effects can sound fantastic
in practice. However, I did have trouble
with the Clear button’s ability to actually
get rid of some of my bum notes and
I ended up having to simply switch them
off in the Step mode instead.
Finally, within the sequencer you can
return to the Matrix to access further Swing,
Division, Humanize and Velocity options
that all contribute to helping your grooves
sound less robotic, introducing both timing
and velocity variations into the mix. Overall,
the sequencer really is one of the most
powerful parts of UNO Drum, yet surprisingly
easy to get your head around.
I’ll finally quickly cover off some of the
other features of UNO Drum, starting with
the Copy/Paste button. With this, you can
quickly copy steps and patterns (both
individual Elements within a pattern or
the whole thing). The Alt button, as
previously referred to for changing the
set velocity, also gives you access to MIDI,
Sync (internal or external), tempo and
metronome options, all via the Ride,
Cymbal, Open Hat and Clap pads. Tap
Tempo and Mute options obviously do
what they say, and finally the arrow button
simply allows you to step through up to four
pages of your Pattern in steps of 16.
CONCLUSION
UNO Drum is a more sonically flexible piece
of hardware than you might initially think.
You can certainly manipulate each of its
Alternatives
ROLAND
TR-8S £579
This is obviously a
bigger and bolder
machine, but does have
a similar sonic outlook.
TR-8S also offers an
musictech.net
I K M U LT I M ED I A U N O D R U M LE A D R E V I E W
60 available kit sounds to an impressive
degree to produce a huge variety
of beats – and the sequencing and
programming options are both deep
and easy to employ.
With UNO Synth, I was very much a
fan of the non-moving-parts philosophy –
I really didn’t mind the touch keyboard
in that unit – but I’m not sure regular
percussionists will be so forgiving with UNO
Drum. There’s something about hitting
proper pads with proper velocity sensitivity
that makes using hardware that much
better than using software and you simply
don’t get that tactile response with these
touch pads. Yes, they do keep the price
down, but UNO Drum is still a good 20
per cent more expensive than the synth
version, which is a shame. That higher
price point also places it – albeit at
a street-price level – towards some
impressively spec’d competition
(see alternatives, below).
That said, there is an impressive
amount of beat action to be had from
this diminutive box and I can see it working
well linked and sync’d up to the synth.
The performance options are also very
hands-on and usable and give UNO Drum
some flexible live credentials.
But perhaps UNO Drum’s greatest
strengths are its analogue sounds and
what you can do with them; you can
simply bend, stretch, meld and sweep all
the onboard supplied analogue sounds to
whatever degree you wish for (and most of
the PCM ones) and could spend hours
impressive amount of
actual hands on control
with faders and dials
aplenty. However, it is
nearly twice the price
and not very portable.
roland.com
doing just this to come up with your own
extreme kits. We may even see additional
sounds added with a software update.
Either way, as it stands, UNO Drum is
another small and lightweight piece of
IK hardware that delivers beyond its
weight. Long may this trend for cheap,
powerful and feature-packed hardware
continue – it’s a great and affordable time
for music production.
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
+ Feature-packed drum machine
+ Lightweight and portable
+ Buss or battery powered
+ Good performance options
+ Sequencer is dead easy to use
+ Lovely analogue sounds
+ Impressive sonic flexibility
– The touch pads may not
be to everyone’s taste
– Not truly velocity sensitive
– Noisy in operation
– More expensive than the Synth
Another good addition to IK’s
hardware arsenal, with lots of sonic
grunt from a light, compact box.
ARTURIA lot of percussive action
DrumBrute £253 for that small outlay,
The fact that DrumBrute including 17 fully
is streeting for such a analogue percussion
low amount pitches it instruments and an
fair and square at UNO impressive 12 outputs.
Drum. You get a hell of a arturia.com
MusicTech October 2019 85
R E V I E W TC EL ECT R O N I C TC 229 0 - DT DY N A M I C D I G I TA L D EL AY
TC ELECTRONIC
TC2290-DT Dynamic
Digital Delay
TC continues to provide tactile plug-in control with another of its Icons range.
This time, we welcome back a classic digital delay from the pre-DAW era
WORDS ADAM CRUTE
T 
he digital revolution hit studios long before
DAWs got in on the act. From the mid 80s
until well into the 2000s, most studios were
adorned with rack cabinets packed with
digital boxes dedicated to performing specific
studio tasks: reverbs, delays, SMPTE sync, etc.
And, just as in the analogue age, the pre-DAW
digital age gave rise to some legendary bits of
studio kit, such as the PCM90 reverb and the
TC2290 Dynamic Digital Delay. The latter has now
been reimagined by the original manufacturer,
TC Electronic, as part of its TC Icons range.
As with the DVR250-DT reviewed recently,
the TC2290 is a combination of a DAW plug-in
for Windows and macOS and a dedicated
hardware controller for the plug-in. Although the
hardware component doesn’t act as a licence-
control device for the plug-in – the software can
be freely downloaded, installed and used on as
many computers as you like – it does provide the
86 October 2019 MusicTech
£189
Key features
O Plug-in modelled on classic
TC2290 Dynamic Digital
Delay processor
O Companion hardware
controller based on look
and operation of original
O Includes chorus, flange,
auto-pan and tremolo effects
O Envelope generator allows
greater sound sculpting
O Accurate emulation giving
great sonic results
O Solid, well-built controller
O Artist presets
O Processes audio in absence
of hardware controller
CONTACT
tcelectronic.com
only means of access to the bulk of the plug-in’s
effect parameters.
Furthermore, the parameters that are
accessed from the plug-in window itself –
the ‘secondary’ parameters – will be hidden
and locked if the hardware unit hasn’t been
connected to the computer for over 60 days;
the plug-in will continue to process audio, but
you won’t be able to call up presets, nor make
any adjustments to the settings.
SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
To create the TC2290 model, TC’s engineers
measured and analysed the responses of three
original TC2290 units taken from different periods
in its production lifespan and combined the
results into a single definitive model of the TC2290
hardware. Modelling a digital circuit may seem
a bit like overkill, given the algorithms that define
the actual effect processing could simply be
recreated in modern computer code. However,
there are still analogue stages involved in digital
outboard, principally the audio I/O and AD/DA
conversion. This has a significant impact on the
sound and character of a device and justifies
the effort involved in modelling such a circuit.
As mentioned, the plug-in’s window only
handles secondary parameters such as a global
wet/dry balance that can override the preset
balance setting set from the controller, DAW
tempo sync settings and so on.
Preset management is also handled in the
plug-in window and the software comes with
presets copied from the original hardware, as
well as ‘Artist’ presets created and used by
musictech.net
 TC EL ECT R O N I C TC 229 0 - DT DY N A M I C D I G I TA L D EL AY R E V I E W

famous TC2290 users. There aren’t actually

that many presets by modern standards
(not necessarily a bad thing!), but you can
of course build up your own library, too.
The TC2290 was always more than just
a delay unit, as like many similar units, it
included modulators so that it could also
turn out chorus, flanging, auto-pan and
tremolo effects. It also had a simple
envelope generator that could sculpt
the delay parameters and signal in
various ways. When added together,
these modifiers gave the TC2290 the
ability to create a wide range of effects
suitable for many different applications,
all with a tonal character that sat
comfortably within a mix.
All of this has been recreated beautifully
within the TC2290-DT – it creates both
simple and complex delay-based effects
that sound musical and ‘right’. The style of
effect is especially suitable for guitars and
vocals, especially if you’re going for that
big, grandiose – some would say over-the-
top – sound that characterised music in the
80s and 90s.
Moving on to the hardware controller,
we find a solid and weighty unit with a
grippy base so that it stays where you put it.
The USB socket through which it connects
The TC2290-DT creates simple and
complex delay-based effects
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
Delay plug-ins are combine various
ten-a-penny – your modulators and
DAW will have come filters with the basic
with a few and the delay in order to
internet is full of both create more complex
free and commercial effects, are rarer. The
examples. But TC2290-DT falls into
advanced delay the latter category
plug-ins akin to the and offers a faithful
digital hardware of and impressive
the 80s, 90s and recreation of the
2000s, which original hardware.
with the TC2290-DT. You see, back in the Also, as I found with the DVR250-DT
day, one of the major downsides to all of previously, I didn’t like having to split my
that digital hardware was its reliance on attention between computer screen and
awkward, non-standardised control panels the hardware controller just to configure
that could make editing a unit’s an effect and I’m not sure that I’d want
parameters a laborious slog. another small box kicking around my
While the TC2290’s interface was (and studio and using up another USB port
is) simpler than the complex stacks of on my computer, especially when it’s
menus, pages and special button-press a one-trick pony like this.
combinations found on much digital But my own views aside, make no
outboard, it’s still a compromise between mistake, the TC2290-DT is an excellent
the number of editable parameters on model and recreation of a modern classic
offer and the practicalities of exposing and you will not be disappointed with the
those parameters via an interface limited results it produces. Many will find the
controller to be a fun and useful addition,
too, as it does work very well. I just wish it
had an onscreen mode, or that TC would
offer a plug-in-only version of this great-
sounding delay processor.

that sound musical and ‘right’

to the host computer is safely recessed to
protect it from damage, yet is easy to get
at with even the fattest of fingers.
The controller exhibits a similar attention
to detail as seen in the software and almost
exactly recreates the original’s control
panel, albeit with a different layout and
scale. At the top are the input and output
level meters, below which are six groups of
controls and readouts arranged in two
rows. These groups correspond with the
control groupings of the original hardware:
delay settings, modulation settings,
feedback settings, etc, and this even
includes the numeric keypad.
RETRO COOL OR RETROGRADE?
The unit works almost identically to the
original hardware, too, so if you’re familiar
with that, then you will be in your element
here. But herein lies my biggest question
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
by size, cost and technology. When
computers and DAWs became sufficiently
powerful to take over from much of this + Accurate emulation of
digital outboard, the choice between a digital classic
maintaining racks of expensive yet limited + Controller closely matches
hardware, or migrating that functionality original’s front panel
into software, was a no-brainer. + Musical results that blend well
With digital kit, it had a minimal impact with a mix
on the quality and character of the sound + Flexible and versatile effects
produced, but a huge positive impact on
usability because a large high-resolution – Splits user’s attention between
GUI will always trump a small, fiddly control screen and controller
panel. Period. – Takes up studio space and USB port
So while I am totally on board with for debatable benefit
going retro when it comes to modelling
TC Electronic’s TC Icons TC2290-DR
the great sound of classic hardware like the
accurately recreates the sound of
TC2290, recreating one of those awkward
a digital classic and couples this
old user interfaces of yesteryear, without with a controller that apes the
giving any concession to the usability original hardware.
benefits afforded by a modern DAW, for
me feels a bit like a retrograde step too far.

Alternatives
BLUE CAT AUDIO host additional plug-ins BRAINWORX without the need for
Late Replies anywhere in its signal bx_delay 2500 extra plug-ins in the
€99/$99 path, so that you can $199 chain. The GUI presents
Late Replies shows how link any effect to its The bx_delay 2500 is a its many options in a independent tap-tempo
far a delay plug-in can eight taps and two delay processor that clear, intuitive manner, controls for each
embrace the abilities of feedback loops. allows you to mangle and it offers mid/side delay line.
a DAW. The plug-in can bluecataudio.com the delayed signal processing and brainworx.audio

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 87

REVIEW R ØDE TF-5
RØDE
TF-5 £1,299 MATCHED PAIR
High-quality microphones are getting smaller by the year and options for
true stereo recordings of instruments are myriad. But is RØDE’s TF-5 the best?
WORDS JOHN PICKFORD
A
ustralian-based manufacturer
RØDE produces a wide range of
microphones suited to a multitude
of applications. The TF-5 is a small-
diaphragm, externally biased condenser design
with a fixed-cardioid polar pattern, representing
“the ultimate expression of RØDE manufacturing
expertise, acoustic design and sonic purity”,
according to the company. It’s certainly true that
it’s no ‘me too’ wannabe, with an eye on classic
designs of yesteryear; this new microphone has
been created from scratch.
Designed in collaboration with Grammy-
award winning classical-music engineer
Tony Faulkner, the TF-5 is best suited to critical
recording where purity of tone and a natural,
clean character are paramount. Now, I realise
that few readers will be full-time classical-music
engineers, however, producing stellar recordings
of pianos, acoustic guitars and other acoustic
instruments – especially in stereo – is not easily
accomplished with inferior microphones.
88 October 2019 MusicTech
Key features MATCHMAKER
O Matched stereo pair Offered as a premium matched pair, the business
end of the TF-5 pencil condenser features a
O All-new capsule
brand-new gold-sputtered capsule engineered
O Cardioid polar pattern
to sub-micron tolerances, ensuring both optimum
O Frequency response performance and precise stereo-pair matching.
30Hz-20kHz (+/-3dB)
Electronically, the active ingredients are a JFET
O Low noise impedance converter with a bipolar output
O Stereo bar and buffer and, of course, like all condenser mics,
windshields included the TF-5 requires 48V phantom power. The matte
O Scratch-proof casing black, scratch-proof casing surrounding the
CONTACT capsule is perforated, which is visually attractive
rode.com as well as undoubtedly contributing to the
microphone’s performance.
And although mics of this nature are inherently
delicate, RØDE offers a generous 10-year
warranty. That said, there’s no mistaking the
quality or solidity of construction here; nothing
about the TF-5 suggests that corners have been
cut in order to build to a budget.
Contained in the TF-5 package is everything
you need to capture a natural, believable stereo
image. Besides the microphones themselves,
you get a pair of mic clips, windshields and an
adjustable stereo bar for precise positioning.
Of course, the TF-5 is not restricted to stereo
recording and, as we shall see later, single
channel sources, including vocals are superbly
served by it.
I won’t bore you with a full rundown of
tech specs. However, a couple of things are
worth pointing out. The frequency response is
impressively flat from 30Hz to 20kHz, with just a
slight dip in the upper-mid/treble region offset
with a rise in output above 10kHz. This voicing, as
aural evidence confirms, ensures an absence of
hardness and glare while emphasising upper
harmonics, adding air and space to recordings.
Sensitivity is reasonably high, unlike most ribbon
designs for example, so your mic preamp should
have no problem driving the TF-5.
SWEET SPOT
My first test for the mic is to record some acoustic
guitar. Using a single TF-5 pointing towards the
sweet spot around eight inches from the 12th fret,
musictech.net

amplified through our Earlybird valve mic
preamp, the premium quality of the mic
is immediately apparent. Midrange clarity
is superb, sounding tonally accurate and
even right down through the low-mids and
into the bass region.
Most notable, however, is the top end,
which is incredibly open, expressing
shimmering harmonics along with an
expansive tone rare with small-diaphragm
condenser mics. Most importantly though,
the high frequencies are not presented in
a way that might otherwise make the mic
sound overly bright.
As part of this initial test, I exchange the
first TF-5 for the second to establish the
accuracy of stereo matching. An A/B test
of the acoustic-guitar recordings confirms
the mics to be identical in every respect
from tone to sensitivity to amplification.
A comparison with our Neumann KM 84 i
reveals the RØDE mic to be slightly less
midrange-dominant than the 84, with
greater emphasis on the uppermost
frequencies. I also detect an extra degree
of warmth in the low mids of the TF-5,
which makes it more suitable for full-range
recordings where a large-diaphragm
microphone might be a more obvious
first choice.
This perfect pair will surely
become class leaders in the art
of natural, true stereo recording
With that in mind, I set up the pair of
TF-5s over the studio’s nicely tuned drum kit,
a beautiful 1960s Premier Olympic. This kit
is very live-sounding and responds well to
being simply and naturally recorded.
For this task, I would usually use a pair of
Coles 4038 ribbon mics or a pair of AKG
C414 condensers, along with a dedicated
kick-drum mic. It’s the latter combination
I opt for, just to keep the comparison to
condenser types. As I decide to use a fairly
widely spaced pair technique, I leave the
TF-5s’ stereo bar in the box, instead placing
them on regular mic stands adjacent to the
AKG C414s.
Making a simultaneous recording with
all five mics (including the AKG D112
kick-drum mic) going through our DDA
console, I audition each stereo pair
(plus kick mic) in turn. Switching between
the small-diaphragm RØDE and large-
Alternatives
WARM AUDIO
WA-84 £399 each
A faithful copy of the
Neumann KM 84 at a
fraction of the price.
With a vintage-repro
capsule and a CineMag
musictech.net
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
A pair of precisely produce stereo mixes
matched quality mics of our work. A
is an essential well-placed pair
addition to your of TF-5s will
collection if you capture a jazz combo
intend to make without the need for
serious, true stereo multi-tracking; used
recordings. Of individually, the TF-5
course, the vast will record most
majority of us instruments well.
diaphragm AKGs shows the former’s ability
to capture full-range sounds.
While the C414 pair has a rather woody
character that tends to flatter drum kits,
the TF-5s give a more spacious rendition of
the kit’s natural sound. The snap and body
of the snare drum is presented in good
proportion, while the resonance of
tom-toms is highlighted to great effect.
Also, with no added compression,
the TF-5s reproduce all the dynamic range
with apparent ease, going from quiet to
loud without constraint.
Capturing initial transients smartly is a
forte of small-diaphragm condenser mics
and the TF-5 is no exception. Compared
to the softer thwack of the snare drum
via the AKGs, the TF-5s present a snappier
character without sacrificing body. Indeed,
the generous low mids offered by the
TF-5s flesh-out the kit’s natural timbre in
a manner uncommon with pencil mics.
THE PERFECT PAIR?
Setting up the TF-5s on their stereo bar as
a coincident (X/Y) pair to record a piano,
I’m struck by the full-bodied midrange
allied to a detailed yet smooth top end. My
usual method to record stereo piano is to
combine a U 67 and AKG C414 in a mid/
side configuration. Both techniques are
perfect for creating a phase-free stereo
image, however the U 67 and C414 combo
produces a darker overall tone. I often add
16kHz ‘air’ from a valve EQ, yet the TF-5s
need no extreme top sweetening.
USA transformer, it’s
closer in design to the
KM 84 than Neumann’s
own descendant. Like
the TF-5, its polar
pattern is fixed cardioid.
warmaudio.com
RØDE TF-5 REVIEW
I rarely use small-diaphragm condenser
mics for vocal recording, but having been
impressed by the RØDEs’ performance,
I employ it for some female backing vocals
to accompany a male lead vocal
recorded with the U 67.
Although the tracks ultimately receive
some dynamic and tonal processing, the
two raw tracks remain distinct from each
other; the two mics possess a completely
different sonic signature.
The new RØDE TF-5 is a world-class
small-diaphragm condenser microphone.
Its broad tonal palette is perfect for
faithfully capturing all the filigree detail
of musical instruments and voices. It
does face stiff competition from some
superb lower-costing microphones
available today, yet few can match its
accuracy, both in terms of tone and
transient response.
In summary, this perfect pair will surely
become class leaders in the art of natural,
true stereo recording.
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
+ Precise stereo matching
+ Natural, transparent sound
+ Clean, extended top end
+ Warm and full-bodied
+ Excellent build quality
– No shock-mounts included
RØDE’s TF-5 is an all-new design
perfect for critical recording of
natural sounds. The matched pair
is a superb choice for making
convincing stereo recordings
of acoustic instruments.
LEWITT AUDIO the capsule. Another
LCT 040 Match fixed-cardioid design,
£175 pair the LCT 040 is great
An affordable entry into vale, though ultimately,
stereo-matched mics, it's not as refined or
featuring a pressure- transparent as the TF-5.
gradient transducer in lewitt-audio.com
MusicTech October 2019 89
R E V I E W D R E A D B OX N Y X 2
DREADBOX
Nyx 2 £469
Dreadbox makes bespoke hardware synths for those after something a little
different – and Nyx 2 very much continues the trend…
WORDS ANDY JONES
D
readbox is what you might call a
bespoke synth company. It is just one
of seemingly hundreds of relatively
small enterprises trying their hands
at – and largely succeeding at – making great
hardware synths with a unique flavour.
Many of these, of course, make smaller units
for the burgeoning modular market, but there’s
an increasing number of all-in-one synths and
semi-modular machines out there, too and
Dreadbox’s Nyx 2 fits well into the latter camp.
Dreadbox is a Greek company and makes
striking-looking gear. Its older machines include
the Hades, Erebus and original Nyx – all names of
Greek gods of the dead, darkness and the night
respectively (you might see a theme here). That
original Nyx was a stunning-sounding machine
that, with a massive reverb, was also an ambient-
producer’s delight. It also had complicated
routing that took a while (or a degree) to master,
but when you got the machine doing its thing,
then, boy, what a sound. I guess it proved that
you need to work hard for the best things in life…
90 October 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Analogue semi-modular
hardware synth
O 2 oscillators
O White-noise generator
O 12-24dB dual filter from
12dB/oct low pass to 24dB
variable-width band pass
O 2 function generators
O Extensive digital reverb
O 30 Eurorack patch points
O 3 loopable
envelope generators
O Drone mode
O Auto-tuning function
CONTACT
nova-distribution.co.uk
ON THE FACE OF IT
Nyx 2 looks similar in terms of functionality to the
original Nyx, but actually borrows more of the
features and looks from Dreadbox’s Erebus 3, so
really does now look like its sister synth. It comes
festooned with lots more connections, not least
that host of Eurorack patch points, some 30 ins
and outs in total. These allow Nyx 2 to modulate
and be modulated, to send audio out and
receive it from, well, just about anywhere and
anything you care to, so there’s clearly a desire
to see it as part of your larger modular collection.
The architecture starts out looking simple,
with few controls to go too crazy with. Although
like the original, the genius comes in the design,
where a quick flick here or nudge there can
dramatically alter what your signal is doing and
where it’s heading to or from. With that in mind,
I’m half dreading and half looking forward to
trying to explain it in as simple a way as possible.
IN USE
I’ll start with the easy stuff. A couple of sync’able
oscillators sit top left, selectable between saw
and pulse (1) and saw and triangle (2). You get
+/- 12 semitone tuning with the middle position
for transposing over three octaves.
The Dual Filter has the usual Filter and
Resonance dials, but the first of Nyx 2’s small
controls that can make a big difference comes in
the form of the Offset dial. This sets the difference
of the cutoff frequency between the dual filters
– the manual suggests a normal position of 50%
and in practice, this works, although a lot of
routing options can change the results here.
The Mod Route section is another interesting
one, again with one dial that really can make a
difference. Nyx 2 comes with two Modulators to
the right of this so it determines how they control
the filters. Set it to Off and they don’t. Otherwise,
set both Modulators to control both filters, each
one to control one filter each or just one Mod 1
to control filter 1. It sounds complicated but isn’t
(yet!). This was on the original Nyx – albeit named
slightly differently – and really added a lot of
character to the sound. Do also bear in mind that
musictech.net

you have all those patches to modulate
externally, so this is really only a glimpse
of the capabilities so far.
The two Modulators I’ve mentioned, plus
an Amp Modulator, function in a couple of
ways as you switch between Envelope and
LFO. The former means that whenever a
MIDI note is played (or gate triggered) they
start an envelope cycle determined by the
Attack, Decay and Sustain sliders on each
Modulator. Switch to LFO or Drone then
they cycle around. What this means is a
more constant sound – depending on
many other factors, of course. Overall,
though, you will be experimenting more
and more in this section as it really does
afford plenty of shaping ideas.
Although, having said that, the next part
is pretty crucial to Nyx 2 (and indeed the
original Nyx): the Routing section. You start
off in VCF and Norm mode where both
VCOs go to the first filter. Half means they
route to the second filter and Split, as you
might expect, means that each VCO gets
a filter each. VCA means the filters are
bypassed with both VCOs going to the
VCA. Easy so far, but there’s more…
The VCF options simply let you choose
how the filters are set and interact with one
another. Here, you can choose to have the
Experimentation is encouraged,
making this very much a
sound-designer’s dream device
filters set to low pass (LP mode) and
in series; or in HP mode where both
are in series and set as high pass; in BP
(bandpass) mode, one will be low and one
will be high. In PAR (parallel) they are set to
be independent of one another, but both
in low pass.
Reading back, those might seem
complicated, but really all it’s about is
that you have four options in routing the
oscillators through the filters and four
combining the filters. The result? Lots of
options! Really this, like many of Nyx 2’s
functions – and indeed any synth, if you
think about it – is all best explored in use
so that’s where I’m heading now… and
to that glorious reverb.
THE NYX 2 SOUND
I find that the best way to do this is to set
everything to what I would call ‘normal’
Alternatives
MOOG can rack three
Mother-32 £499 together! And,
Moog’s entry into this whatever,
area of the market £499 is still
doesn’t boast all the the cheapest
power of some of its way to get a fully
rivals but, if you like, you functioning Moog and
musictech.net
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
I don’t need another magnificent soft
synth, that’s for sure. synths, with their
But when you play fabulous presets
with something like and easy routing
this for some time are all pretty much
you realise that a) doing the same
hands-on hardware thing. I’m even –
beats software hands oh god, here we go
down for its sheer again – rediscovering
fun and b) those my modular urge.
– although anything can be normal with
synths, of course. So I start with VCOs
each going to a filter; those are set up in
parallel without too much modulation. It’s
recommended in the manual that you use
Nyx 2 with a MIDI controller, as this helps
with the Auto-tuning feature (you set the
Octave switch at the mid point here) and
this does help; I’m pretty quickly getting the
kinds of notes I think I should be.
Then it’s time to explore the options and
that Modulation section really can bring in
some dramatic changes. But, as suspected,
it’s that innocent-looking Routing section
that provides most the damage and fun.
Just switching between filter modes and
setups will give you all sorts of drama.
I return to the Mod section to effectively
set up loops; it’s great for getting ideas
going and hearing how one section affects
another. I set the Amp Mod to Drone – like
latching it – and then discover more. That
Offset dial really comes into its own with
the right setup in the Routing section,
for example and I quickly have a dark,
sweeping sequence that almost rotates on
itself with the Offset dial cranked one way
and then the other. What I’m also finding
is something of that paraphonic nature of
the sound coming through; almost like two
voices drifting into one another.
It gets even better when I run the loop
through the monster Reverb section. With
six sliders, it’s not like any reverb I’m used
to. The first three are Modulation controls
whereby the effect is modulated to create
KORG
MS-20 Mini
From £455
Here’s a semi-modular
we loved it, dishing out that I reviewed a while
the full 10. back and possibly the
moog.com daddy of the genre
D R E A D B OX N Y X 2 R E V I E W
real movement. Then dial the Feedback,
Mix and Size sliders and you’re suddenly
flying through the most bizarre spaces you
can imagine. Not only does the room size
sound incredible, but the Feedback slider
set at the top will have any loop rotating for
eternity; the kind of thing Eno would have
used back in the 70s for complete albums.
CONCLUSION
Nyx 2 is not going to be for everyone, that’s
for sure and with that mighty reverb, you
can still see its appeal being more to
experimental and ambient composers.
I just wish I’d had one years ago – the cash
I could have made! There’s no space to
cover all the patching options, but here
you can maintain this experimentation
but also bring in more control and calm it
down. You’ll have to work to discover all its
nuances, but as they’re revealed, you’ll
discover a beast of a synth. A god, even.
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
+ The kind of synth you could lose
yourself in…
+ … especially with a reverb that can
go on for ages
+ Some stunning small details deliver
big results
+ A lot of patching options
+ Could be the centre of a glorious
‘mad professor’ setup
– You’ll have to read the manual. I did!
– Narrow (but deep) appeal
It might still be bespoke, but Nyx 2
packs a lot of punch (and reverb).
(Moog’s can
be the
Mother!).
I built the one
I reviewed much only get the
from a kit, Mini version.
but now you can pretty korg.com
MusicTech October 2019 91
R E V I E W Z ER O - G B E AT M A S T ER
ZERO-G
Beat Master
Producers and composers love being the masters of their domain,
but if you need to tame your beats, Zero-G might have just the answer
WORDS DAVE GALE
Z 
ero-G has recently had huge success with
its ever-expanding Ethera series, alongside
its exceptionally clever Herz-OG fully
fledged synthesiser, all working within
the Kontakt format. Now the company turns
its attentions to beats, with a sample-trigger
package that lends itself beautifully to creative
drum deployment.
BEAT THIS
Beat Master is a Kontakt-based instrument which,
simply put, allows for the loading and triggering
of a vast library of drum samples that ships with
the product. The extensive 3GB content is
compiled from individual drum samples and
loops, which have been spliced, sliced and
diced to make access and use particularly easy.
This adds up to a sizeable collection of 4,000
drum loops, but all with a large amount of editing
options, allowing the user to place their own
stamp on the loops, with a minimum of fuss.
Once Beat Master is loaded, it’s then a matter
of selecting one of 14 musical styles, organised in
92 October 2019 MusicTech
£50
Key features
O Sample-based drum-loop
player and manipulator
for Kontakt
O Contains 4,000 loops,
3GB of sampled content
O User-friendly
and intuitive interface
O Syncs with host DAW
O Drag-and-drop MIDI
template capability
O 14 factory patches, covering
a huge range of musical
styles and timbre
O Independent control of
numerous parameters
O Requires full version of NI
Kontakt (5.8.1 or higher)
CONTACT
timespace.com
patches, where it’s possible to tweak and choose
settings to either further endorse the chosen style,
or migrate a considerable distance away from
the starting point.
Each loop is presented in a format which is
reminiscent of a sliced loop, as first pioneered by
packages such as ReCycle. Due to this slicing, all
loops will snap immediately to the chosen tempo
of your DAW, also allowing for simple doubling or
halving of the loop’s tempo, thanks to a global
drop-down menu.
Immediate results are obtainable by triggering
loops directly from the keyboard. Within each
chosen genre and style, there are a number of
drum loops available, all of which may be both
triggered and key-switch from the keyboard.
There is also an option to trigger the sample or
loop via an exportable MIDI file. It takes me a
while to work out exactly how to drag and drop
the MIDI file; while it is clearly possible, the
manual only alludes to this functionality and
I’m left to undertake a bit of trial and error to
eventually locate a very small icon to the top/
right of the wave window which yields the file.
Once exported, the MIDI file triggers the sliced
elements perfectly. However, I did immediately
think that while this option could be very useful for
more precise production results, it’s actually the
spontaneous nature of Beat Master that is its real
strength, particularly when you consider that
within each musical genre, there are plenty of
useful grooves and you might find yourself simply
gaining access to the selection through
programmed key-switching anyway.
EDITABLE MUTATION
While the preset content provides a wealth of
choice, things get really interesting when you
start to edit the templates, creating content
which will be a little more unique.
The central wave display is where this takes
place, in conjunction with the buttons located
above; the first element being described as Part.
This is possibly a shade misleading, as it’s far
more about selecting a different sound, which is
undertaken by directly clicking on the wave while
musictech.net
 Z ER O - G B E AT M A S T ER R E V I E W

in edit mode, with an upward/downward

mouse movement being required to
change the sliced timbre. DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
It’s easy and quick to get different The truth is, we all than controlled
sounds, although it’s even quicker to tend to need drums through a DAW in the
change all sounds through a click of on a fairly regular more conventional
the Random button, which will literally basis and while Beat MIDI-file setting.
Master offers plenty However, many
randomise the entire loop, depending
of preset-based will be pleased
on the selected parameter. content, it’s both this option is there.
In the case of the Part parameter, usable and very easy The addition of
this means that all of the sounds will to get quick results a powerful and
change immediately, which can yield which move away comprehensive
chaos and interest in equal amounts. This from the original effects section
preset construct. The adds a final layer
proves to be a point of endless fascination,
editing side of Beat of welcome sheen,
often starting a train of thought for an Master is quick, easy all ading up to a
entirely new loop, which could be saved and non-destructive, bargain for anyone
as a new user patch. but there is no doubt who needs a
Another favourite of mine within the that it will yield comprehensive set
editing domain is the Stretch parameter, results far quicker of drums, especially
if played as an if you’re working on
which allows for the stretching of a given instrument, rather a budget.
partial within the groove. Depending on
the timbre that is being stretched, the
results can again be interesting and
rewarding, while the more obvious Pan numerous resonant and warped effects. With such a huge investment in content,
parameter allows for the simplicity of These prove excellent in situ, providing you’ll need to equally invest a little time in
offsetting a given slice to a space within a whole other facet to the Beat Master finding what you like – and that might not
the stereo image. sonic compendium. necessarily be within the genre you think,
Contextually, this adds immense interest I’m surprised by how much can be when confronted with the initial patch-
to a loop, with the bonus of creating space achieved from within this effects area – loading scenario.
in the loop as well. and more importantly, it sounds hugely Away from the preset, it’s got plenty of
non-destructive editing capacity to allow
anyone to be creative, either with existing
For the very sensible price tag, ideas or when deploying the randomisation
feature. Worth pointing out that for the very
Beat Master offers an awful sensible price tag, it offers an awful lot of
drums for your buck!

lot of drums for your buck

The possibility of randomisation within
the stereo imaging makes for a quick and
easy route to unique interest, while the
Zig-Zag parameter places each pairing
of slices in a hard left/right configuration,
which in the case of stereo panning is
extreme, but very usable.
Zero-G has included a second layer
to Beat Master, which is centred around
effects – and what a comprehensive set
it is, too. With eight distinct areas, for
everything from reverb and modulation
effects through to amp and cab simulators,
it’s a very useful back-end addition.
The flanger and phaser are highly
usable, with the ability to dial in subtle
amounts, or ascend to a frenzy of
resonating feedback, while the reverb
element is packed full of models,
which extend from the more mainstream
room-style reverberations through to
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
interesting, which is in keeping with the rest
of the product.
+ Great-sounding collection of drum
BEAT RETREAT sounds and grooves
Beat Master is a curious beast at first sight, + Plenty of available styles and timbre,
as you read the description, load up the from acoustic to purely electronic
package and then find yourself wondering + Invites immediate triggering and
where the collated 4,000 loops really are. editing, offering uniqueness
I found that the best results were obtained + Back-end effects section
by digging a little deeper into the menus is very powerful
and editing. In a sense, Beat Master feels
far more about triggering beats on the – Getting at all of the content requires
patience and reloading of patches
fly, than about the more programmed
quotient that many producers might be – Not NI Library compliant
used to.
This is a great-sounding drum
Zero-G has helpfully colour-coded the
and beats package which offers
key-switch areas on the NI keyboard, which
a huge degree of immediacy,
drops down from within Kontakt, inline with
while also allowing for considerable
many libraries. I find this to be hugely useful editing possibilities.
in working out which elements were where
and to predict exactly what is doing what.

Alternatives
IZOTOPE content, ranging from MICROTONIC possibilities. Patterns
BreakTweaker vintage to modern Sonic Charge $99 can be exported and
Expanded £225 sound sets. It offers A powerful plug-in in a imported, with an
iZotope’s future beat plenty for producers, more conventional infinite supply via the
machine was developed DJs and soundtrack drum-machine format, Sonic Charge
with BT and offers a composers alike. with timbre-based Patternarium portal.
considerable variety of izotope.com editing for endless sonic soniccharge.com

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 93

 P R O P EL L ER H E A D P O LY S T EP S E Q U EN C ER R E V I E W

PROPELLERHEAD
PolyStep
Sequencer £62

PolyStep Sequencer is the latest Reason Player to help both composition

and live performance. Is it all you need for both inspiration and live action?
WORDS ANDY JONES

Key features
O Polyphonic step sequencer with real-time
recording, step recording or note drawing
O Experiment with harmony, chords,
arpeggios and more
O Eight Patterns, which can be automated
in using Pattern Automation
O Each Pattern can have up to four variations
with automatic switching/chaining
O Notes can be expanded into a ‘box’, for
chords, repeats, arpeggios and strums
O Velocity lane and two CV lanes for
controlling additional device parameters,
using the Velocity and CV signal outputs
O Includes patch collection to get you started
CONTACT
propellerheads.com
Rack Extension Players such as Drum
Sequencer and the more unpredictable
– but no less usable – Quad Note
Generator. The latest Player, PolyStep
Sequencer is on test here and borrows
many of the best bits from other devices
to become almost the best Player yet.
A PATTERN DEVELOPING
Like all Players, PolyStep needs to be
placed in front of your sound maker –
and with its sweet ways of generating
arpeggiations, variations and chord
progressions, we’re using Europa for our
tests here.
You can record single- or chord-note
Patterns of up to 16 steps, up to eight
Patterns, with four variations each –
more than enough pattern ranges, then.
Key drop-down menu, or scales using the
Scale option. You get over 20 different
scales, far more than with Scales & Chords.
Drawing notes in (single or chords) can
be made in either step recording (with
a double-click) or real-time fashion and
you can simply play along with your chosen
Pattern. There are also numerous options
to do things like group and move notes
and create chords from single notes
(depending on the scale and key chosen).
Perhaps the best features are the Alt
and RND buttons that introduce even more
real-time and instant variations for some
great performance options. There’s also
a well-featured arpeggiator, a very useful
strum creator and CV Editor.
STEP TO IT

R
 
eason’s three Players, as These are very easy to program as you PolyStep is a great composition and
introduced a couple of years ago can simply copy and paste a single live-performance tool. It is perhaps a
in version 9 of the software, have Pattern variation into each slot and little pricey, as you can create some
quickly gained fans through their subtly or dramatically alter the notes of its features with existing Reason tools –
useful ways of expanding both composition within it to create variations. including other players – but otherwise,
and performance. There is also a very good selection of it’s a welcome device in what is fast
The three Players that came with that preset Patterns for you to use as your becoming a great set of Reason Players.
upgrade – Dual Arpeggio, Note Echo and source ingredients for sequence creation.
Scales & Chords – pretty much do what Playback is either triggered with your
they say on the tin, although Scales & DAW or a note press and you can play
Chords in particular has a lot of benefits Patterns back in a standard way, or by MT V ER D I CT 8/10
when it comes to songwriting. (In fact, in key, where the whole Patterns will be
this very issue we’ve highlighted some of transposed up and down according to
those, on p74.) These free Players have which note you press. You can also shift + Very easy to use and create Patterns
since been joined by optional paid-for Patterns into completely new keys using the + And lots of variations of these
+ Good set of preset Patterns
+ Lots of real-time performance options
to create Patterns on the fly
+
Alternatives Easy to ‘print’ your results into
the main Reason sequencer
SUGAR BYTES even its own built-in KORG more, you could smash
Thesys £84 synth. Yes, it is a lot SQ-1 £99 your way out of your – Some of the scale and key options
For not a lot more cash, more powerful, but Not so much an software world into that are available in Scales & Chords
you could get this doesn’t really have that alternative – in some of hardware MIDI and
fully-featured 32-step easy appeal and Reason ways, anyway – CV gear with this very Reason’s Players really help when
sequencer with 18 ethos Polystep does. and a quite different easy to use device. inspiration is lacking and this one
sequencer lanes and sugar-bytes.de proposition. For just £30 korg.com in particular will also liven up a gig.

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 95

R E V I E W N EU M A N N N D H 20
NEUMANN
NDH 20 £419
The NDH 20s are Neumann’s first headphones, but can they deliver the kind of
quality results that the company’s microphone and monitor users expect?
WORDS ANDY JONES
Y
ou’ll know Neumann, of course, for its
classic and modern microphones. The
U 87, for example, is the microphone that
pretty much every artist, producer and
engineer we talk to cites as a personal favourite;
indeed, Neumann started remaking this
microphone last year, after its second-hand price
had soared so much due to demand for the
original version.
What you might not know the company for,
though, is its well-regarded range of monitors.
I was tempted buy a set from this KH range a
few years ago, so good was its reputation. Sadly,
that never happened, but what I have managed
to get is this new set of NDH 20 headphones
for review – a debut set of headphones from
Neumann and the first time that the company
has attempted to transfer some of that
monitoring expertise into a set of cans.
Neumann has designed these closed-back
headphones specifically for studio monitoring,
editing and mixing and claims that they offer
‘an astonishingly detailed, well-balanced sound
96 October 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Closed dynamic headphones
O 38mm Neodymium
magnetic transducer
O Nominal Impedance:
150 ohms
O Frequency response:
5Hz to 30kHz
O Sensitivity: 114dB SPL
(1kHz, 1 Vrms)
O Total Harmonic Distortion
at 1kHz and 100dB SPL:
<0.10%
O Connectivity: 3.5mm
TRS jack, 6.3mm adaptor,
spiralled 1.5-3m and straight
3m cables
O Weight: 390g
CONTACT
en-de.neumann.com
image’, similar to the company’s loudspeakers.
So let’s see if those claims are justified.
A CLOSED SYSTEM
Neumann isn’t the first company to embark on
this strategy. Most recently, I reviewed Adam
Audio’s first attempt at headphones, the Studio
Pro SP-5s and concluded that they really were a
genuine headphone alternative to a decent set
of studio monitors.
The NDH 20s are closed-back headphones
which do have some advantages over open-
back equivalents when it comes to mixing your
music. (Many people prefer the alternative
open-back design more for a music-listening
experience, as it’s a lot more natural.) A
closed-back design does pretty much what
you’d expect from the description; your mix is
enclosed, you’ll get less sonic interference from
the outside world and your music should
therefore be laid out before you in all of its
intricate detail, so you can easily make those
precise mixing decisions.
That’s the theory and it is largely justified,
although closed-back phones can tend to feel a
little tiring and clingy over long periods and some
claim a general midrange weariness, although
I’ve never really experienced that. The best sets
of closed-back headphones are able to add a
little vibe to your playback experience, so you
can largely ignore the enclosed feel – and I think
that’s what Neumann is attempting here, as they
do have a lovely sound.
IN USE
The design of the NDH 20s means that you don’t
feel too entrapped. At 390g, they are heavy
enough to sit well on your head, although some
extra padding might have been nice on the
metal headband (or that could be my bony
head shape).
Isolation is pretty good. With no music playing,
they don’t block out the sound of my typing as
I write this – as some more active-isolation
headphones can do – but when that music starts,
you certainly feel immersed in it, which is what
musictech.net
 N EU M A N N N D H 20 R E V I E W

good closed-back phones should do. They

will also allow you to monitor at sensible
levels with zero impact from the outside DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
world – indeed, I found myself actually Using headphones more you spend on
reducing volumes soon into my listening for mixing is a them, the better the
tests, which is always a good thing. In fact, necessity for some overall mixing
after a while, I did start to feel completely people, where space experience tends
or neighbours to be. Yet if you’re
isolated from the outside world – great in
impact. For the rest restrained by your
the studio, but perhaps less helpful when of us, they also offer studio space, or have
you’re crossing roads. (And as these are a great source for annoying neighbours
stylishly designed to be seen in, I almost feel A/Bing mixes made who don’t like your
obliged to add this as a warning: use open on a regular studio music, you may find
back when you’re out and about, closed setup, and you the headphone route
should always try is your only choice,
back for the studio, kids!)
your mixes on as so spending that bit
The immersion is helped by a beautiful many playback more is a necessity.
sound stage which extends as far left and systems as possible. In that case, these
right as it does top-down. It’s not as ‘live’ However, over are among the best
as some open-backed cans, of course – £400 for a set of in that price bracket
the best of those can put you in the centre headphones is a lot. so are a great choice.
Of course, you don’t If you are monitoring
of a studio or gig – but these offer as wide need to spend that with speakers, they
a ‘closed’ experience as I’ve heard. much on them but, are not a must, but
In terms of accuracy versus vibe, like monitors, the a good A/B source.
I’ve said before that the Holy Grail of
the monitoring world is a set of speakers
or headphones that delivers accuracy
without taking your head off with the harsh back to that closed-back design. Finally, more towards the pleasing listen with slight
realities of mix accuracy. This is rare as I put them next to my cheaper reference bass lift, but you could consider this a good
finding monitors that give you a decent phones and found them far less aggressive compromise. This is because they offer so
vibe for longer listening sessions means in the mids and much smoother. Twice the much in other departments that you will
that they have been coloured somewhere price, yes, but worth the upgrade. probably want to spend time with them to
learn their nuances and then go on to mix
well with them.
If you can pick a sound out with The soundstage is right up there with any
closed-back headphones I have tested,
this clarity and detail, you will the design is both cool and practical and
the isolation is sufficient that you will enter

make some great mix decisions an immersive and positive mixing world.

across the frequency spectrum. With Comfort-wise, there are a couple of

the NDH 20s, I feel that there is some
colouration. There’s a slight lift in the
bass, which definitely helps the overall
experience, but you’ll have to take this into
account for accurate mixing. I found myself
edging down some of the bassier sounds in
some well-known mixes, for example, which
might give too-light results in the long run.
Having said that, this was only slight and
it is more than made up for by what I hear
in terms of the separation of different bass
sounds and other mix elements; you really
can pick out your mix detail. And if you
can pick a sound out within a mix with this
clarity and detail, you will consequently
have the ability to make some great mixing
decisions with it.
Another bonus on my own mixes was
the overall level. I was able to identify all
mix elements at lower volumes, which goes
things to consider with good phones: the
physical feel and that long-term listening
vibe. For the former, the NDH 20s are
neither the best nor worst. I find the larger
and softer ear pads of Beyerdynamic’s DT
range to be the best for my ears and while
these aren’t too bad, they do get quite
hot, which you could argue is a good thing,
as it reminds you to take breaks in those
longer sessions! In terms of the sounds,
though, that vibe means you will definitely
listen to these all day – it’s simply a great
and pleasing experience.
CONCLUSION
No phones will ever offer true accuracy
with a vibey feel to keep you listening
– and only a few I have tested have ever
managed to pull off any kind of working
compromise. Neumann’s NDH 20s do lean
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
+ Lovely vibey sound for long sessions
+ A detailed overview of your mix
so you can make some great
mixing decisions
+ Great soundstage
+ Pleasing design
– Slight lift in the lows
– Ear pads can get a little hot
Neumann has top speaker expertise
and has transferred it into a very
well-spec’d set of cans for the studio.
Accurate mids and highs combine
with a good vibe for long sessions.

Alternatives
ADAM AUDIO rare feat. They are BEYERDYNAMIC when I reviewed them.
Studio Pro SP-5 not as pretty as the DT 1990 £399 They’re open-back
£499 Neumanns, but are Still my favourite phones though, so will
With a similar spec, great phones for for their combination of not give you the
these closed-back wearing inside the comfort, vibe and isolated experience.
headphones do offer studio (rather than out!). accuracy and now just europe.beyerdynamic.
accuracy and vibe, a adam-audio.com £399, a big drop from com

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 97

R E V I E W ER I C A S Y N T H S B L A C K S T ER E O D EL AY
ERICA SYNTHS
Black Stereo
Delay £329
The Black Stereo Delay distils the core features of a delay into a single Eurorack
device while providing three distinct flavours. We turn to the dark side
WORDS JESSE ABAYOMI
I 
f Doepfer is the gold standard of Eurorack
modules, then Erica Synths are on the cooler,
punkier end of the modular spectrum. This
year, at Superbooth 2019, Erica Synths
debuted several new modules, including this, the
Black Stereo Delay. The company already boasts
several different delay modules, so what makes
the Black Stereo Delay unique?
STEREO ELEGANCE
The Black Stereo Delay is part of the Erica Black
series, a group of modules focusing on high-end
quality, unique functionality and performance
usability. In the case of the Stereo Delay, there is
an elegant symmetry of four dials, two switches,
four Buttons, one red LED and 11 patch points,
all spaciously arranged in 16HP. Due to it being a
stereo device, there are stereo input and output
jacks. If you want to use a mono input, connect
it to the left input jack and the audio signal is
normalled to the right input, too.
The largest dial is used to adjust the delay
time. The delay time range is from 3ms to three
98 October 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Stereo delay with adjustable
delay time
O Tape, digital and ping-pong
delay modes
O Tap and clock
synchronisation of delay time
O Reverse-delay mode
O Hold mode (samples up to
20 seconds of audio)
O Add (overdub) feature
O Trigger control over Hold,
Add and Reverse
O CV control over delay time,
dry/wet mix and feedback
O Feedback path
soft-limiting compression
O Add to hold
soft-limiting compression
O Adjustable stereo-delay
spread
O 16HP width
CONTACT
ericasynths.lv
seconds. The scale goes from 3ms to about
200ms (at 12 o’clock) and the delay time scale
elongates to accommodate the remaining delay
time settings, from 200ms to 3000ms. This scaling
allows for acute precision when dialling in
flanging, chorus and other delay sweet-spots.
The three smaller dials are for input volume,
dry/wet control and delay feedback.
The two switches allow you to change
between the three modes of the Stereo Delay
easily. These modes are Tape, Digital and Ping
Pong. The four buttons activate various other
functions such as Hold (where the delayed sound
is retained in the buffer so long as Hold is active),
Add (an overdub function when Hold is active),
Reverse (which reverses the delay tail) and Tap
(used to synchronise the delay to a bpm). Directly
below the buttons, there are the respective CV
inputs. There are also three further CV inputs for
the delay time, the dry/wet mix and the delay
feedback. Finally, there’s a small red LED that lets
you know if the input or output signal is clipping,
for which there’s a soft-limiting compression
circuit implemented in the unit.
FROM LATVIA WITH LOVE
A simple interface and knob-per-function controls
for a module may not sound that out of the
ordinary, but the sound of this delay module is
otherworldly. The custom DSP engine has been
specially designed from the ground up by Erica
Synths in collaboration with Tim Pechersky of
Useful Circuits. It boasts a 24-bit/48kHz sample
rate and, to my ears, sounds gorgeous.
As a first patch, I route the faithful do-it-all
Mutable Instruments Plaits module into the Stereo
Delay. I set the module to tape mode with the
delay time control at its minimum, the dry/wet
control set to fully wet and the feedback at
12 o’clock. Slowly moving the delay-time dial
between 3ms and 15ms achieves some terrific
flanging effects along with the smooth, zippy
sound of the DSP tape-delay emulation.
Moving the delay-time dial beyond 15ms and
reducing the dry/wet mix to about 50 per cent
and the feedback to 10 o’clock, the Stereo
musictech.net

Delay behaves like a spacious stereo
chorus, adding depth and width to a
simple oscillator sequence. By moving the
delay-time dial further clockwise into delay
territory, the tape delays it creates are
clear and have a great stereo image.
The feedback dial takes some getting
used to, but in a good way. Between 7 and
11 o’clock, the feedback is manageable,
and there is no bloom. At 12 o’clock, the
feedback is somehow in an equilibrium
where the delayed audio never seems to
fade out but doesn’t become muddy,
either. Beyond 12 o’clock, the feedback
bloom grows steadily but never gets wildly
out of control, thanks to the soft-clipping
compression. This feature is extremely
handy, especially for live performance,
allowing you to play the delay with little
worry about overpowering an audience
with deafening feedback.
DUB MY GLITCH UP
The three modes make the Black Stereo
Delay a tremendously versatile unit – almost
like having three modules in one. The
difference between the tape and digital
modes is most noticeable when adjusting
the delay dial. The tape delay provides a
smooth tape-style transition between times,
A refined piece of engineering
that’s heralding the new stereo
era of the Eurorack evolution
whereas the digital mode creates more
audible, but musical, digital artefacts.
The delay has a stereo-spread mode, too.
By holding the Add button and turning
the delay dial, extra delay time can
be added to the right channel, taking
advantage of the available stereo image
and giving sounds a greater width. The
ping-pong delay mode provides lovely
delayed panning in the left and right
speakers, livening up a sequence with
gentle stereo movement.
The other additional functions are
achieved using the four buttons on the
interface. The Tap button provides an easy
way to sync the delay to a tempo and you
can feed the CV input below a CV/gate
signal for perfectly synced delays. This is
another excellent performance feature of
the delay module. You can play with delay
time to have some FX pandemonium and
Alternatives
4MS COMPANY
Dual Looping
delay £369
This digital delay also
has stereo capabilities
but has two
independent delay/loop
musictech.net
ER I C A S Y N T H S B L A C K S T ER E O D EL AY R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
Though more delay sound, doubles
Eurorack makers are as a 20-second
creating stereo looper and has an
devices, there aren’t easy-to-use
so many dedicated interface. The
stereo-delay simplicity of the
modules. The Erica module is part of the
Synth Stereo Delay is charm. It’s practical,
not only stereo but musical and capable
generates a pristine of sophistication.
as soon as you stop, the delay faithfully
follows the pulse of the Tap CV input.
The Hold and Add buttons, meanwhile,
turn the Stereo Delay into a sound-on-
sound-style delay looper. By pressing and
holding the Hold button, or triggering it
via the CV input, you can record up to 20
seconds of audio into the memory buffer.
The looping of the recorded buffer starts
as soon as the button is released. The Add
button allows you to record overdubs and
add more layers to the recording. This
feature is extremely powerful. I could spend
hours experimenting with recording loops
while adjusting the input level dial to set the
volume of overdubbed material. At first,
20 seconds may not sound like a lot of
recording time, but I was pleasantly
surprised at how creative one can get
with this limitation.
Having the ability to control all of the
buttons via CV input means that, with the
help of some modulation sources, you can
quickly create some very complicated
patches for unique sound design from a
seemingly minimal module.
The only disadvantage is that the
module doesn’t have any attenuators, so
CV signals need to be tamed first unless
you are going for the wilder side of musical
mayhem. However, if attenuators had
been added to the module, then the
well-spaced interface would have been
compromised. On the topic of controlled
mayhem, one successful pairing involved
using the Erica Synths Octasource as a
channels. It’s also a
little more complex
than the Black Stereo
Delay but it has
no tape-style
delay character.
4mscompany.com
modulation source, with all CV outputs
routed to all possible CV inputs of the
Stereo Delay. The result was a morphing
experimental collage of sounds that
prove that the delay is capable of some
outlandish sound design – and all without
complex patching.
CONCLUSION
The Stereo Delay does have a moderate
price tag, but I believe it is justified. After
a few days of intensive use, it was hard
not to use it when patching. I already own
several delays, but this one has won me
over with its cool, black minimal charm,
sleek interface and sophisticated sound.
The module sounds like a stereo delay, but
plays like an instrument. It’s a refined piece
of engineering that’s heralding the new
stereo era of the Eurorack evolution.
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
+ Fantastic-sounding stereo delay
in Eurorack format
+ Ping-pong, tape, digital and
adjustable stereo-spread options
add versatility
+ Broad range of delay times –
from 3ms to 3000ms
+ Hold and Add allow for sound-on-
sound-style looping delay effects
+ Flexible and very easy to use
– Attenuverters for adjusting
CV inputs would be nice
– It's slightly expensive,
but still worth it
A deceptively powerful delay module
that invites experimentation.
EVENTIDE variable low-pass filter,
Euro DDL but has no stereo
From £399 functionality. By
This digital delay also dropping the sample
offers soft-saturation rate, you can get 160
clipping, 24-bit/192kHz seconds of delay.
processing and a eventideaudio.com
MusicTech October 2019 99
R E V I E W S T EI N B ER G N U EN D O 10
STEINBERG
Nuendo 10
Regarded largely as a post-production tool, Nuendo has many applications
for music production – specifically for those arranging and writing to picture
WORDS ADAM CRUTE
I 
n the years leading up to the Millennium,
DSP-accelerated Pro Tools systems
dominated the DAW market for high-end
music studios and TV/film post-production
studios. There were good reasons for this:
rock-solid stability, high I/O channel counts, very
low-latency monitoring with effects on monitored
signals and a wide range of peripherals that
supported professional music, broadcast and
film production workflows. In 2000, though, a
challenger to Pro Tools’ dominance arrived in
the form of Nuendo, a new DAW and range of
accompanying pro-grade hardware from audio
software behemoth, Steinberg.
At the time, Steinberg’s flagship product,
Cubase, had become somewhat bloated and
cumbersome as a result of all the extra features
that had been added to it in response to the
rapid advances in computer-based recording
technology: it needed a major overhaul. So
Steinberg developed an entirely new product,
with a high-precision audio engine and an
interface that drew on all of the company’s
accumulated DAW-design wisdom. As well as
becoming the first version of Nuendo, this new
100 October 2019 MusicTech
£841
Key features
O Advanced digital
audio workstation
O Built on highly respected
Steinberg VST audio engine
O Improvements to visual
design and legibility
O Field Recorder Audio Import
makes light work of
tedious tasks
O Video Cut Detection
automatically creates
markers from a video track
O Improvements to ADR
workflows with Audio
Alignment tool
O dearVR Spatial Connect
provides innovative VR and
game-development tools
O Doppler and VoiceDesigner
plug-ins
O Import ADM files (Dolby
RMU/Dolby Atmos)
CONTACT
steinberg.net
codebase was also the basis for that much-
needed Cubase overhaul, which hit the shelves
as Cubase SX. Development of the two product
lines has tended to go hand-in-hand ever since.
VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS
Nuendo 10 has had a visual overhaul since its
previous version, with higher-resolution graphics
to support larger displays, redesigned icons
that are easier to read and identify, improved
contrast and definition on text and other
interface elements and visual improvements to
the Channel Strip effects and some bundled
plug-ins. As before, the main project window is
uncluttered, and maximises the main timeline-
and-tracks workspace while keeping the essential
control panels within easy reach.
As well as sharing a common look and feel
with Cubase, Nuendo 10 also now includes all
of Cubase’s music-creation functionality – MIDI
editors, sample tracks, scoring and such – and this
side of things has received all the updates seen in
the recent Cubase 10 release. One of the most
significant of these is the new VariAudio 3
interactive time-and-pitch editing tool, which
now has a more comprehensive editing interface
that improves workflow, plus formant shifting to
help to make the results sound more (or less)
natural. There’s also ARA (Audio Random Access)
plug-in support, an improved side-chaining
system, and much more – check out my review
of Cubase 10 for a full rundown of these changes,
because they’re all here in Nuendo, too.
Nuendo is graced with Steinberg’s latest highly
regarded audio engine and supports ultra-high
sample rates of up to 384kHz and high precision
32-bit, 32-bit float and 64-bit float bit depths. As
well as allowing for projects that demand the
most exacting levels of overall audio fidelity, this
also ensures compatibility with high-end film and
broadcast production equipment and workflows.
TIME SAVERS
A new Field Recorder Audio Import functionality
has been added to massively streamline the task
of importing and managing the multitude of
musictech.net
 S T EI N B ER G N U EN D O 10 R E V I E W

audio takes and recordings generated

during production. Using the metadata
contained in those files – scene and take DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
name, duration, etc, – the tool also assists Since Nuendo’s a subset of its bigger,
with finding and aligning takes that match inception, Steinberg more capable
audio events selected in the timeline. has been careful stablemate and
Better still, in situations where the files don’t to maintain a Nuendo is able to
separation of focus add music creation
have any metadata, Nuendo allows you
between their to its ever-growing
to auto-generate metadata based on two DAWs: music list of specialisms.
filename using rules that you define and creation for Cubase, Nuendo’s pricing
includes tools for managing the metadata audio production and does put it at the
of multiple files simultaneously. These post for Nuendo. But high end of the DAW
features can save hours of tedious sorting with recent releases, market, but it has
Nuendo has taken the capabilities,
and naming prep work.
on more and more flexibility, solidity and
Another massive time-saver is Video Cut of Cubase’s slick well-thought-out
Detection. This analyses the video file functionality, while workflows to fully
you’re working with, locating cuts between extending this justify the price. It
scenes and then creating position or cycle with its own more also has attractive
markers in the timeline to match. These advanced and upgrade and
sophisticated toolset crossgrade pricing
help when ‘editing to the cuts’, especially for post, game audio and a crossgrade
where there’s no EDL (Edit Decision List) and VR. As a result, promotion is being
to work from. Nuendo’s dialogue Cubase is in many offered through
replacement workflow has also been ways becoming just the autumn.
streamlined via the Audio Alignment tool.
This uses Steinberg’s Time Warp technology
to automatically align the dialogue in
multiple audio takes to match a reference of support for dearVR Spatial Connect. This RELIEVING THE PRESSURE
take. The tool doesn’t always get the provides access to a number of Nuendo’s Professional audio production, film and
adjustments quite right, so you may still editing and mixing features from within your broadcast post and game development
have to do a bit of fine-tuning, but it makes production’s 3D VR environment. The ability are high-pressure businesses. Through
constant development and responsiveness
to users needs, Steinberg has honed and
It’s hard to conceive of any upgraded Nuendo so that it can live up to
the meticulous demands of those industries
audio workflow for which and the results are very impressive. It’s
hard to conceive of any audio workflow

Nuendo isn’t perfectly suited for which Nuendo isn’t perfectly suited.

ADR sessions quicker and far less arduous.
There are various other advances aimed at
film and broadcast, such as import of ADM
(Audio Definition Model) files from Dolby
RMU and Atmos systems for further mixing
and editing, splitting multi-channel audio
into individual mono streams, loudness-
based normalisation and extensive
metadata import and export functions,
including a cue sheet export tool.
Recently, Nuendo has extended its
to work within a 3D scene in a completely
interactive manner, assigning sounds to MT V ER D I CT 10/10
objects in the scene and mixing and
editing those sounds, without ever needing
to change from VR environment to Nuendo + Flexible and powerful DAW
screen, is a godsend. Nuendo’s Ambisonics + Suitable for music, audio post,
support has also been honed, with game production and more
improvements to the AmbiDecoder plug-in + High-quality audio engine
used for monitoring Ambisonics audio via + Streamlined workflows
stereo speakers or headphones.
Nuendo 10 has also gained a couple of
+ dearVR Spatial Connect

reach into game development thanks to its
Game Audio Connect system, introduced
in Nuendo 7. This allowed Nuendo to
interconnect directly with Wwise game-
audio middleware, used widely in game
development environments. Nuendo was
also one of the first DAWs to feature in-built
support for VR and Ambisonics audio.
Both areas have seen improvements in
Nuendo 10, most notably with the addition
new plug-ins in the form of Doppler, which
creates realistic Doppler-shift effects for
simulating moving or passing objects, and
VoiceDesigner. This combines various
distortions, pitch-shifters and other sonic
wranglers into a single plug-in that can turn
even the most delicate voice into the sort
of noise a gore-drenched denizen of hell
might make as it chases you down for a
spot of lunch.
+ Crossgrade pricing
– We can’t find any!
Nuendo 10 is more evolution than
revolution, but adds great tools and
workflow improvements that could
shave days of work off large film,
TV or game audio projects.

Alternatives
AVID video editing means it BLACKMAGIC at heart, it also has
Pro Tools £25 integrates well in an DESIGN extensive audio post
Pro Tools remains a all-Avid setup. A full DaVinci Resolve capabilities. Resolve
popular choice for audio system with Pro Tools 16 $299 itself is part of a suite
post facilities, and the hardware remains a While DaVinci Resolve of integrated
fact its owner, Avid, has very expensive option. software is a Blackmagic products.
its roots in pro film and avid.com video-editing platform blackmagicdesign.com

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 101

R E V I E W S O F T U B E M O N O M EN T
SOFTUBE
Monoment
If you’ve ever struggled to put bass in its place, this new plug-in from Softube
might just aid your cause. It’s time to get expansive in the lower frequencies…
WORDS DAVE GALE
D
espite many producers using more
hardware instruments these days, the
demand for good-quality software
instruments has never been greater, so
companies like Softube are developing like crazy
to meet that demand. The company has a pretty
sizeable portfolio of plug-ins that embraces
vintage hardware alongside more modern
musings, covering everything from classic effects
through to virtual modular systems. Monoment,
the company’s latest plug-in, brings together the
classic and the new to create a bass synth with
the best of all worlds, with plenty of handy
embellishments along the way.
SUB BY NATURE
The first unavoidable element that you notice is
the familiarity of signal workflow, which is firmly
subtractive in nature. With two wave sources
(A and B) up front, there’s a large collection of
timbres, which range from the beautifully clean
to the downright dirty, with source B being open
to detuning up to 100 cents either side of source
102 October 2019 MusicTech
£69
Key features
O Contemporary virtual-bass
synthesiser
O Full stereo imaging,
sourced from top-end
boutique hardware
O Classic synth architecture,
making it versatile and
easy to use
O Pro-level presets,
programmed by artists
O Comprehensive FX section
adds weight to any sound
O Three low pass filter types,
with distortion
O Supported plug-in formats ;
VST, VST3, AU and
AAX Native
O Requires iLok account
for authorisation
CONTACT
softube.com
A. With the flick of a virtual switch, octave
placements may also be obtained, above
or below the fundamental.
Returning to the vast variance of source
material for a moment, categorisation is there to
assist, with a degree of progression as you move
through the source waves. Harmonic colours
build with navigation through the offered timbre,
although, strangely, there is the occasional jump
in octave, presumably more to do with where the
fundamental finds itself. Blending source A and B
together is elegantly easy, thanks to a see-saw
balance pot, while it is also possible to select
a frequency-crossover point to exploit certain
colours above or below. This is actually a useful
feature, as it allows for a degree of movement
across the registers, emphasising the
characteristics of each source as desired.
In line with Softube’s exhaustive detail for
recreating a vintage sound, a further Analog Dirt
element may be applied, which I found to
function rather like a white-noise channel on
a vintage classic. The point of this is to add
noise-based colour, which may be applied either
pre-filter or at the output stage and while there is
the option of a dozen or so analogue-style noises,
one of the most useful elements is to apply a little
colour described as Attack. This gives that little bit
of high-end colour that will help any bass sound
cut through a mix in the upper frequency band.
TAKING THE PULSE
The Monoment’s filter is simple, in the shape of a
low pass filter which is switchable between 6, 12
and 24dB slopes. Cutoff extends up to 20kHz in all
cases, while the associated resonance is highly
controllable and nicely scaled; it doesn’t switch
in to a frenzied state of squealing too quickly,
but is also connected to a simplistic envelope
element, which allows for switching between
an attack and decay phase, with an amount
heading to the cutoff which can be controlled
within the same vicinity. One area where the
Monoment is seemingly lacking is in envelopes,
where there is a great sense of amplitude control
being dictated via the filter or the initial
musictech.net
 S O F T U B E M O N O M EN T R E V I E W

waveforms. This might feel a tad offputting,

but I have to confess that it doesn’t seem
to be an issue at all; in fact, it took me a DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
little while to register the lack of ADSR We all need bass expertise when it
presence. What we do have, though, is a sounds and where comes to getting
punch amount control, along with a basic Monoment scores something with a
release control, the two of which make up very highly is with its more vintage styling.
simplicity of use and If you don’t feel
entirely for the lack of any ADSR controls.
ability to morph from comfortable with
While the filter garners the ability to contemporary to getting into the
control volume, by its very nature, it is also vintage sounds with programming side of
highly capable of ripping your head off! the minimum of things, there is still
The 6dB version sounds deep and weighty, effort. It’s equipped plenty on offer in the
with the opposite end of the spectrum with a diverse range shape of presets,
of timbres, which are with an interface with
proving to be tamed and beautiful, but it
simplistic to work is both easy and
is the ability to apply the LFO to the filter with while offering pleasurable to use.
with abundant ease that throws open the pretty immediate and Above all, it could
Monoment’s potential as a pulse maker. good results. The be a real go-to for
Once initiated, the LFO wave can be back-end effects are basses if you find
dragged on screen to mutate between particularly good at yourself struggling to
sculpting the sounds get sounds that really
softer triangles or harsher saws. Sync to for contemporary sit in your track,
the DAW’s tempo is a flick of a switch production, but it especially when
away, allowing for the creation of brooding draws on Softube’s working in a more
and pulsing tones that will easily pacify considerable electronic domain.
everything from EDM to cinematic scoring.
While this is certainly effective, the
inclusion of a more editable sequencer-
style framework would have been a very mention going to the Spatialization control, also offers the experienced user a worthy
welcome addition here, mainly because which will effortlessly widen the appeal of palette, which is at home in a vintage
the achieved effect could have been these bass entities, in both stereo spectrum capacity, too.
even more complicated than the more and contemporary nature. From my Monoment may feel like it lacks certain
facilities that one might expect on a soft
synth of this kind, but I did not really find
Monoment has an Ageing myself missing these elements. I did,
however, find myself drawn into its
control, adding “noise, drift, grit, pleasurable and reasonably identifiable
programming interface and exceptional

mojo, dungeons and dragons!” quality of sound, though. There’s a new

bass in town and it’s simply Monomental!

basic pulsing, although manual or
programmed movement of cutoff
certainly assists in a more musical outcome.
THE FX OF AGEING
Alongside the more basic tonal construct,
the crazy cats at Softube have included
an Ageing control, which according to its
own legend, “…adds noise, drift, grit, mojo,
dungeons and dragons!” Who would have
thought? But practically speaking, this
element allows for a degree of analogue-
style variation in tuning and sound. I’ve
often been a little dubious of such elements
in the past, but actually this one works
rather well, and adds a perfect entreé to
the all-important effects section, which
adds plenty to the commercial nature of
Monoment’s sound.
Drive, Ambience EQ and Compression
all make up the final equation, with special
initialised starting point, is was very clear
to hear the effect that each of these
elements has on the most basic of singular MT V ER D I CT 9/10
waveforms – and that’s just as much part
of the contemporary sound as the choice
of source wave. + Big bass in a punchy package
+ Excellently equipped for modern
ALL ABOUT THE BASIS and vintage sounds
Monoment is equipped with a rather + Elegant access to presets
elegant preset browser, which allows for and patch library
basic scrolling on a one-by-one basis, or + Back-end effects are highly
the opening of a bespoke window for beneficial and usable
greater searching enhancement. These
presets have been prepared by artists,
– Lack of conventional ADSR envelopes
with a variety which is pretty stunning and – No onboard sequencer
tantamount to the ability of Monoment
This is another triumph from the
to take on most bass duties. It can sound
house of Softube, bringing vintage
superbly commercial, with a depth of tone expertise to a very modern-sounding
and compression which makes it highly bass synth.
appealing for anyone who needs help
getting their basses to sit in the mix, but it

Alternatives
ROB PAPEN more synthetic, without SPECTRASONICS basses. It has
SubBoomBass 2 the vintage elements Trilian £209 everything to cover jazz
£79 found in Monoment, Trilian is the bass synth to EDM, with just about
SubBoomBass 2 is a while the interface that does it all, with its every genre in between,
similarly weighty bass might not be to very sizeable sample making it a heavyweight
synth which lends itself everyone’s taste. library of acoustic, for basses.
to commercial work. It’s robpapen.com electric and synthesiser spectrasonics.net

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 103

REVIEW MINIS

ISOTONIK
Studios CrossFire £21.59

WORDS MARTIN DELANEY

Key features
O Grid modes include
Note mode, Drum mode,
Step-sequencing mode
O APC/Push-style clip/scene
launching and RGB
colour display
O Control over drum-rack
parameters, mixer, transport,
tempo, global quantisation
O Max For Live integration with
included documentation,
Devices and objects
O Load and hot-swap drum
racks directly from the Fire
CONTACT
isotonikstudios.com
perfectly good controller.
CrossFire is easy to install
(Ableton Live 10.0.6 or higher
is required for macOS or
Windows) and adds an
impressive amount of hands-on
control. Given the low entry
price of the script and the
hardware, this should be a
very agreeable way to get
a decent Live setup.
CrossFire does a good job
of matching the labelled Fire
controls with its own Live-
related features – not much
of a leap really, given the
crossover in functions between
FL Studio and Live. Press the
you into Drum mode, where
each pad can play a drum
sound (with note repeat if
required), with a choice of 16
velocity levels (the Fire pads
aren’t velocity sensitive), and
browsing/loading drum kits those who like to use a lot of
from the Fire itself. Note mode tracks in live sets. Max For Live
can be used to play software integration will also be a draw
instruments (although there’s for this.
no instrument browsing yet), This is a fine example of how
with a selection of scale layouts customisation takes hardware
and a dual-keyboard layout. to new places without the
On top of that, there’s Max For need for a brain transplant.
Live integration courtesy of the Just add an interface and
supplied Devices and objects Live for a lovely little rig.
in the CrossFire M4L Toolkit, step
sequencing, transport and

I 
sotonik’s CrossFire is a script
that adapts the Akai Fire
hardware controller for
FL Studio to control
Ableton Live. This is an excellent
development if you use both,
or maybe if you want to
migrate from FL Studio to Live
– you don’t have to dump a
Perform button to go into
Session View-style clip and
scene launching, complete
with proper clip colours and
the ability to view up to 16
vertical tracks together –
that’s unique in the world of
hardware controllers, as far as
I know. The Drum button takes
mixer control, with encoders
taking over track volume, pan,
tempo and drum-rack
parameters as required.
The Fire represents a great
way to repurpose existing
hardware. Beyond that, I can
see the unique 16-track-wide
clip-launching layout attracting
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
Isotonik’s CrossFire script,
plus Akai’s Fire hardware,
makes a very functional,
mobile and budget-friendly
Ableton Live control setup.

AJH SYNTH
Next Phase £345

WORDS DAVE GALE

update refinements and the noise much of an issue,

Key features
O 12 stage Multi-Tap Phaser
O Based on classic
phaser design
O Available in both Dark
and Silver panel versions
O Eurorack Module format
O 18HP wide, 26mm deep
(skiff friendly)
O Current draw: 90mA positive,
85mA negative
CONTACT
ajhsynth.com
enhancements to the original
design. For those unaware of
the original, this is a design
which is firmly based on the
Electro Harmonix Small Stone
Phaser, which itself has seen
various incarnations. Most
agree the original version of
the Small Stone has a superior
depth of sound and it is this
version that AJH has sought
to recreate. It has a signature
sound that was made famous
by electro-pioneer Jean-Michel
treating it as part of the
phaser’s vintage charm,
but there is no doubt that
this pretty considerable
improvement will make
the phaser more appealing
for use in contemporary
production work.
Further still, there are now which should now appeal to
independent input level vintage connoisseurs and
controls, allowing the user to modern producers alike. It’s
mix and blend from the module based on a classic and should
itself, while a Colour control will almost be accredited classic
allow for a change in the status itself. It really does sound

O
ne of the latest of
the crop of new
modules from AJH
Synth includes a
rather substantial update to
the company’s previously
released phaser module,
which we looked at last year.
While most users were
delighted with this original
Mega Phase 12, AJH is never
a company to stand still, so this
Jarre after he used it to great
effect on albums such as
Oxygene. Once placed inline
with white noise, string
machines and other synths, it
becoming instantly identifiable.
One of the factors that was
inherited from this early design
was the background noise, so
AJH has significantly refined
the design to reduce the noise
floor. I personally never found
phaser’s sonic character, like it’s from the retro-future!
taking the sound from light to
dark. All previous features
remain, with one of the most
significant being the ability MT V ER D I CT 10/10
to create stunning stereo
effects, with the left output
drawn from the Stage switch, This is a very worthwhile
and the right output drawn
update to a module
which had already
from the Emphasis stage.
garnered something
This continues to be a
of a classic status.
deceptively creative module,

104 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


DENISE AUDIO
The Sweeper
WORDS ANDY JONES
Key features
O Dynamic resonant
and adaptive filter
O High- and low-pass filter
O Slope values from
12 to 48dB/Oct
O Filter attack and
release controls
O Resonance: from
subtle to extreme
O Interactive graph for
real-time response
O Define filter start
and end frequency
CONTACT
denise.io or pluginboutique.com
T 
he Sweeper is an
envelope filter plug-in
from Denise Audio,
and is described as a
‘creative tool that lets you
completely reshape your
sound.’ Watching it in action,
you could be forgiven for
thinking that this simple-looking
LOOPLORDS
Oxygen Revolution
WORDS ANDY JONES
Key features
O Sample-based instrument
inspired by JM Jarre
O VST, VST3, AU
O 95 multi-sampled sounds
O 3.34GB of content
O Built-in amp ADSR
O HP/LP filter
O Voice mode selector
O Minimum system
requirements: Windows,
macOS High Sierra, Dual
Core processor with
1GB RAM
CONTACT
looplords.net
L 
oopLords continues
to tap into our minds
and musical tastes
with its latest ROMpler-
type instrument. We’ve
had Modalities (inspired by
Depeche Mode), Kraft Sounds
(for a touch of Kraftwerk) and
Replikator (delivering some
musictech.net
€48
effect could revolutionise your
music-making and filtering.
The Sweeper is designed to
offer a more natural version of
sidechain compression – one
of the most used processes in
production – so this could be
welcome just on that score
alone. It is also useful as a
noise-reduction plug-in and,
most interestingly, can shape
sound in very creative ways.
The interface is not that
revolutionary, let’s be honest,
but Denise Audio does seem to
put functionality above looks,
and The Sweeper can offer
outstanding results with what’s
on offer. It features two filter
types (low and high pass),
adjustable start and end
frequencies, plus resonance
and envelope controls.
The filter adjusts its
frequency according to both
the loudness of source or
sidechain inputs. You can,
Blade Runner sounds to die
for). Now we have Oxygen
Revolution, another plug-in
that treads a path through
our synth-laden childhood
with a dose of sounds inspired
by none other than the
legendary French electronic
composer, Jean-Michel Jarre.
For less than 30 bucks, you
get to choose which format
to download and then after a
3.34GB download, it’s an easy
install – and a case of running
Oxygen Revolution just as you
would any standard plug-in.
As is often the case with
these LoopLords plug-ins, there
could be more on the front
panel for tweaking the sounds.
But then you have to look at
the price; it’s so low that you
could pay that for a bunch
of samples. With all of that
content and all the sounds
nicely organised for you within
an easy-to-use plug-in, it seems
for example, put the Sweeper
on a synth and have a kick
drum adjust that synth’s filter
according to the kick level,
so we’re not just talking
about traditional ducking,
but far more creative and
dynamic applications.
As a dynamic filter with
controls for both attack and
release times and start/end
frequency, you can really
control how the filter works
over time, which gives it a
very natural sound or, again,
can add a completely new
dynamic. With this type of
control you can do everything,
from precise gating to remove
noise to sweeping drum loops
that morph and twist as they
loop, to create a lot more
variation than you expect.
The traditional EDM
pumping effect is perhaps the
most overused effect next to
Auto-Tune, so we could really
$29
rather churlish to ask for more
control over them. Besides,
Oxygen Revolution does offer a
little more than other LoopLords
plug-ins (certainly more than
Modalities). There’s a useful,
basic LFO section with four
sources and destinations and
five waveforms. There’s also a
dose of reverb, which adds a
lovely warmth to the analogue
based sounds. A low- and
high-pass filter adds a huge
amount of flexibility, especially
useful if you want to recreate
more of those sweeping and
dynamic Jarre arpeggiations.
As to the included sounds,
well, there are plenty of pads,
leads, bass sounds… loads
of analogue-synth sounds,
basically – and the quality
is great. It’s laid out in track
and album formats so if, like
us, you’re a fan, you’ll find
yourself geeking out trying to
recognise leads and strings.
MINIS REVIEW
do with an alternative and The
Sweeper could be that. With
the ability to creatively control
frequency-specific frequency
elements – rather than entire
mixes – you can use this plug-in
both subtly and dramatically.
It’s not a one-trick pony,
either. You could describe it
as a filter revolution. 
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
The Sweeper can add
movement and interest to
any flagging mix or simply
as an incredibly biting filter,
you decide. Not pretty, but
could be a game changer.
We’re not really in the game
of trying to recreate artists’
music – or indeed encouraging
you to – so you might feel it’s
just a little too specific. But
there is enough quality content
here to cover much wider brief
than just Jarre, especially with
the additional sonic flexibility
from those UI controls.
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
Another electronic legend
ticked off the list for
LoopLords. Oxygen
Revolution goes where it
should – and a little further
– for JMJ and more.
MusicTech October 2019 105
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LOOPMASTERS
Mark
Fletcher
Funk & Soul
Breaks
Price £14.95 (Loopcloud ready)
Contact loopmasters.com
This new pack from Loopmasters
finds expert drummer Mark Fletcher
in full breakbeat mode with a
collection of 270 live funk and soul
drum loops, which are split into five
folders covering tempos from 61 to
138bpm. There’s a range of styles on
offer, from tighter grooves to fuller
shuffles, with playing that’s loose
enough to feel live and funky, but
tight enough to fit into modern
productions. Of course, there’s always
audio quantise for those who want
things bang on the grid. There are
several different drum sounds, plus
dry and wet versions for each loop,
providing a chunky and punchy
sound that’s full and rounded yet
open enough to take some dynamic
abuse, should that be your thing.
Some grooves have several
variations, which helps when
arranging a track, although we
would have liked to see more fills.
GROOVE3
Songwriting
Theory
Explained
Price $35 download or $15pm
access to whole site
Contact groove3.com
Songwriting Theory Explained sees
Eli Krantzberg dissect the art of
songwriting across nearly three
hours and 20 videos. There are four
sections that cover chord patterns,
melody and song structure, with a
final section featuring techniques to
help get the creative juices flowing.
It’s worth noting that this course
doesn’t cover pure music theory or
traditional composition techniques
such as counterpoint, as it’s more
aimed at exploring how to build and
develop interesting progressions and
hooks. As such, you’ll get a lot more
out of it if you already have some
musical knowledge, as Krantzberg
wastes no time getting stuck in and
everything is presented on a musical
score. Where this course excels is
relating theory to real-world
examples, dissecting pop and disco
tracks and even writing a complete
song – a great resource to take your
songwriting to the next level.
musictech.net
Key features
O 270 funk and soul breaks
O 383MB of 24-bit audio
O WAV+REX or Apple
Loops+REX formats
O 61 to 138bpm
O Performed by Mark Fletcher
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
A good-value collection
of classic-sounding funk
and soul breakbeats with
a live feel.
Key features
O Songwriting
techniques tutorial
O 2hrs 45mins,
streamed online
O 20 chapters
O Chord progressions, melody,
song structure and creativity
O Presented by Eli Krantzberg
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
A well-structured course
that’s packed with theory,
useful tools, real-world
examples and plenty of
creative inspiration.
MINIS REVIEW
LOOPMASTERS
Vibes 10
– Street
Beats
Price £29.95 (Loopcloud ready)
Contact loopmasters.com
In this latest addition to The Vibes
series, we step back in time to the
Key features
colourful world of electro breakdance O 730MB+ of 24-bit audio
that was in full flow during the 80s. O WAV+REX, Apple Loops+REX,
As you’d expect, there are plenty of Live or ReFill
FM-style digital-synth riffs and O 287 loops and 130 one-shots
lashings of reverb (where
appropriate), across the 287 O 70 MIDI files
loops and 130 one-shots. From O 116bpm
the tinkling arps and leads to the
well-programmed drums and
excellent bass patterns, everything is
well written to give the electric
boogaloo sound, with some obvious
but effective vocoder vocals thrown
in for good measure. You also get
42 sampler patches and 70 MIDI
files to play with. A lot of the synth
sounds have a thin and digital 80s
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
vibe, which is great for authenticity,
but may mean they’re less suitable
for other more modern styles. That A well-programmed and
said, elements of this sound are authentic collection of
currently quite hot in clubland, body-rocking beats that
making this throwback pack extra nails the 80s vibe.
appealing right now.
UNDRGRND
SOUNDS
Redlight
Price £79 (intro price £49)
Contact undrgrndsounds.com
Key features
O Dual-layer synth-based
Redlight is a synth-based Kontakt Kontakt instrument
instrument with over 60 analogue
and digital sound sources covering O For Kontakt v5.8.1 or
fat and warm bass sounds, resonant above, or the Free Player
and characterful leads and plenty of O 139 Snapshot presets
classic dance-music chords. You get O 60+ analogue and
one Kontakt instrument that unpacks digital sound sources
to 3.05GB and 139 excellent,
production-ready Snapshot presets. O Basses, leads, chords
The main page features two sample O FX, multi-lane sequencer
layers that can be independently and mod matrix
processed via a decent FX section
and basic mod matrix. Although this
includes a large collection of superb
and creative impulse responses, you
can only select categories and then
scroll through one by one, which
makes browsing a pain. There’s also
an arp and a sequencer with nine
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
lanes for the main parameters, plus
some useful programming functions
and a random button. The sound An easy-to-use instrument
editing is a little limited and the with a concise collection
oscillator wave options aren’t huge, of superb raw sounds
but the quality and variety means and decent presets.
you can achieve great results fast.
MusicTech October 2019 107
R E V I E W S I X O F T H E B ES T

SIX OF THE BEST

Rotary Mixers Part Two
A decent rotary mixer has historically been an
integral part of a DJ’s setup and having that
old-school, knob-based control of effects is BEST STYLING
something that is still prized by many. Here’s
six of the very best that money can buy…
WORDS GREG SCARTH

BEST OF THE BEST

BOZAK
AR-4 £1,695

ALPHA RECORDING SYSTEM Contact bozak.com

MODEL 6700 £5,849

Contact ars-tokyo.co.jp
If you’re looking for the ultimate, this might just be it.
As the flagship of the ARS range, the 6700 initially
looks similar to a classic Bozak mixer, but closer
inspection reveals that it’s a much more advanced
affair. Other than ARS’s self-proclaimed “handmade
Japanese precision engineering”, the real selling point
here is the presence of dedicated three-band isolators
on each channel, plus a five-band master EQ. The
Model 6700 is like a Bozak on steroids, built to an
insanely high standard and with unparalleled sound
quality. It’s big, bold and beautiful. The only downside?
That price tag. Ouch.
Little brother to the more retro AR-6, the AR-4 is a
four-channel desktop unit with a broadly similar layout
and feature set to other contemporary mixers. It’s
maybe a little surprising that it’s more expensive than
the more fully featured AR-6, but you’re paying a
premium for the nicer case, wooden side cheeks, VU
meters and slicker fit and finish, as compared to the
rough-and-ready utilitarian 19-inch rack enclosure of
the AR-6. Neither mixer is a bad choice by any means,
with similar electronics at their heart. The AR-4 is a
solid option, with a link back to a 70s icon.

BEST RETRO WARMTH

SUPERSTEREO
DN78-II £2,250

Contact superstereo.co.uk

Manufactured in the UK by Formula Sound, the DN78

is available in a few different specifications, but the
overall approach is common to all models: super retro
in design (you can even spec Bakelite knobs if you
fancy a bit of a steampunk vibe), but with modern
high-end sound quality. The unique selling point
here is the Phantom Valve output stage, designed
to add classic valve warmth to the signal. Unlike the
MasterSounds 4V, which uses valves as a very subtle
buffer, the DN78 pushes the saturation a bit harder,
but allows you to bypass the valve stage if you don’t
want to colour the signal.

110 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


ALPHA RECORDING SYSTEM
MODEL 1000
Contact ars-tokyo.co.jp
As well as crossovers, EQs, speakers and amps,
Tokyo brand Alpha Recording System produces
Bozak-inspired rotary mixers of various different sizes
and formats. The company’s Model 9000 desktop
mixer and 4100 rack unit are probably the most
conventional products in the line-up, but they also
offer some slightly more unusual options. The
BEST COMPATIBILITY
MASTERSOUNDS
RADIUS 4V £1,985
Contact mastersounds.co.uk
The flagship model in the MasterSounds range,
the 4V is the bigger brother of the Radius 2 in every
way, with a pair of extra channels, three-band EQ
per channel, an assignable crossfader and LED-based
level meters for each input. As a complete package,
it maybe doesn’t quite match the versatility of some of
the more conventional options from brands such as
musictech.net
S I X O F T H E B ES T R E V I E W
BEST COMPACT
£2,399
limited-edition Model 1000 is the baby of the range,
but don’t think for a minute that it’s a budget offering.
It’s a stripped-down two-channel affair, with
three-band isolators per channel plus a three-band
master isolator. Other than effects sends, that’s about
all you get; all the work has gone into the sound
quality, which is absolutely top notch.
RANE
MP2015 £2,315
Contact dj.rane.com
A lot of big names have made rotary mixers over the years – including the likes of
Pioneer, Allen & Heath and the now-defunct Vestax – but the balance of power has
shifted recently, leaving smaller upstarts in charge of the majority of the market. The
one exception is Rane, whose MP2015 remains the last real option from the bigger
commercial brands. Notably different in approach to the boutique models, the
four-channel MP2015 includes digital inputs for CDJs, plus USB ports for Traktor/
Serato compatibility. An interesting halfway house, but we suspect many rotary
devotees will prefer a more simple analogue approach.
“The balance of power
has shifted recently,
leaving smaller upstarts
in charge of the market”
BEST SOUNDING
Pioneer or Allen & Heath, but the sound quality of
the Raidus 4V is on another level, thanks in part to
a valve circuit which buffers the VCA stage and
provides ultra-subtle compression to smooth the
signal. You can also add the optional LinearPOWER
power supply (£249), which upgrades the sound
quality even further.
MusicTech October 2019 111
M I C R O P H O N E S H O OTO U T S M A L L- D I A P H R AG M C O N D EN S ER S

112 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 S M A L L- D I A P H R AG M C O N D EN S ER S M I C R O P H O N E S H O OTO U T

MT M I C R O PH O N E S H O OTO U T

SMALL
DIAPHRAGM
CONDENSERS In the first of a new series, we
take several of the most
widely used budget small-
diaphragm condensers to
task at Bristol’s Invada Studios
to find out which stands tall
as the best all-purpose
microphone for guitar and
vocal recording
Words JOHN PICKFORD

W
e’ve reviewed a great number of
microphones over the years, so the
thought of putting some of our faves
head-to-head to compare and
contrast them was one that we just had to make
happen. Over the course of the next few months, we
will work our way through all types of microphone at
various price points to give you the best possible
overview of what’s currently available, so you can
confidently make the right mic purchase for yourself.
Our first instalment features five small-diaphragm
condenser microphones at the low-budget end of
the spectrum (all of which are under $200), with UK
prices ranging from £135 to £152. As an ultimate point
of reference, we compared the five contenders with
our classic Neumann KM 84 i, arguably the greatest
small-diaphragm condenser mic of all time.
As we wanted to provide aural evidence of our
findings, we decided to record a short piece on
acoustic guitar (beautifully played by engineer
James Trevascus) at Invada Studios. We tested all the
mics in other ways, too: however, as acoustic guitar is
one of the most common instruments to be mic’d
with small-diaphragm condensers, it seemed like the

musictech.net MusicTech October 2019 113

M I C R O P H O N E S H O OTO U T S M A L L- D I A P H R AG M C O N D EN S ER S
natural choice. Besides which, you really
don’t need to hear any of us reciting
poetry or – heaven forbid – singing.
The first idea was to test each mic – set
up identically – in turn. We also adopted
this method for the human voice and
percussion tests. For the acoustic-guitar
recording (included on the DVD) however,
To ensure excellent continuity,
no EQ, filtering or compression
was applied to the recordings
I opted to set up the mics in close proximity
to each other and record a single
instrumental pass. That way, variations in
performance, which might distract the ear
from the character of the mics themselves,
were avoided.
THE
ARSENAL
RØDE
NT-5
£144
The RØDE NT-5 is an externally biased condenser type,
which employs an active JFET impedance converter
with bipolar output buffer; dynamic range is 128dB. A
low-noise design with a quoted signal-to-noise ratio of
78dB, the A-weighted equivalent noise level is 16dBA.
Its body features a durable, heavy-duty satin-nickel
plating, to help it withstand the rigours of studio and
live applications. The gold-sputtered capsule has a
cardioid polar response, though an interchangeable
omnidirectional capsule (NT45-O) is available as an
optional extra. Eschewing any switch gear, the NT-5
doesn’t offer attenuation pads or high-pass filters,
keeping the signal path pure and simple. The
maximum SPL is 143dB.
A mic clip is included in the box, however and a few
optional extras are available by way of a mic-stand/
boom-pole shock mount, a camera shoe shock mount
and a desktop mic stand. RØDE offers the NT-5 singly
or as an acoustically matched stereo pair.
114 October 2019 MusicTech
With the six mics (the five on test along
with our reference KM 84 i) tightly clustered,
pointing towards the 12th fret of the guitar
at a distance of around eight inches, we
patch each into a channel of our late-
1980s DDA AMR 24 analogue console.
Recording levels were precisely matched
to ensure excellent continuity and avoid
the ‘louder is better’ phenomenon. No EQ,
filtering or compression was applied to the
recordings. However, we did experiment
with EQ post-recording to establish how
each mic might respond to audio
sweetening in a mixing scenario. Now, it’s
AUDIO-TECHNICA
AT875R
£152
The Audio-Technica AT875R is a line-and-gradient
condenser microphone designed primarily for video
production and broadcast audio applications.
Nonetheless, it still qualifies for our small-diaphragm
condenser shootout. It’s a permanently polarised type
with a fixed-charge back plate. The narrow acceptance
angle of line-and-gradient design ensures a focused
on-axis response with excellent rejection of off-axis
sounds from the sides and rear of the mic. This makes
it ideal for long-distance sound pick-up. Signal-to-
noise ratio is 74dB and maximum input sound level is
127dB SPL. The AT875R's response has been tailored
to minimise handling noise, useful when capturing
audio in less-than-ideal situations. A standard mic
clip, windshield and soft protective pouch are provided
in the box.
SE MICROPHONES
sE8
£149
The sE8 is a low-noise design, offering extremely quiet
performance without the use of integrated circuits.
The signal-to-noise ratio is quoted as 81dB, while
equivalent noise is 13dB (A). Class A circuitry provides
a dynamic range 126dB (set flat) without distortion.
An ultra-thin three-micron gold-sputtered diaphragm
is employed to produce a superior transient response
and the backplate is optimised for a consistent off-axis
response. There are two levels of attenuation padding
on offer, -10dB and -20dB, enabling close mic’ing
of louder sources such as snare drums and brass
instruments. There are also two switchable low-cut
filters, operating at either 80Hz or 160Hz, which will
help eliminate low-frequency rumble as well as helping
to compensate for the proximity effect caused by close
mic’ing techniques. The all-metal chassis effectively
rejects electrical interference, while the XLR connector
is gold plated to ensure reliable, loss-free signal
connection. A mic clip and wind shield are included.
time to reveal our five contenders in order
of price, starting with the least expensive.
TESTING TIME
It should come as no surprise that none of
these low-budget microphones are in the
same league as our reference Neumann
KM 84 i, although a couple of our shootout
mics did punch well above their weight.
For context and perspective, the KM 84 i
has a beautifully smooth, evenhanded
response throughout the frequency
spectrum. There are no nasty peaks and
sounds are captured with fine detail and
superb articulation; its performance is
almost impossible to fault.
Now, for the results of the shootout. In
fifth place, we have the Audio-Technica
AT875R. As explained before, this is primarily
a video/broadcast mic, so its bottom-place
ranking in a pro-audio test brings it no
shame. The bottom end, from bass
LEWITT
LCT 140 Air
£135
The Lewitt LCT 140 Air is a permanently polarised
condenser microphone with a standard cardioid polar
pattern. Its main point of interest is the Air switch
which, when engaged, adds top-end sparkle. A
pre-attenuation pad operates at -12dB, assisting the
recording of louder instruments, while a low-cut filter
at 80Hz is provided to eliminate rumble and create
space in the low end. Equivalent noise level is 20dB
(A), however signal-to-noise ratio isn’t quoted. The
pressure-gradient transducer is 17mm and has been
designed to offer excellent transient response and
clarity. Lewitt recommend the mic for recording guitar,
drums, strings and other acoustic instruments.
Maximum SPL is 135dB. The LCT 140’s housing is
CNC’d aluminium, designed to be robust yet
lightweight and the XLR connectors are gold plated.
A transport bag, mic clip and windshield are included
in the package.
SENNHEISER
e 614
£151
The Sennheiser e 614 is a pre-polarised condenser
microphone with a super-cardioid polar pattern.
Equivalent noise level (A weighted) is 24dBA; however,
no figures are quoted for signal-to-noise ratio. Scant
information is available regarding the mic’s internal
components, but Sennheiser states that the e 614 has
been designed to handle high SPLs, making it suitable
for loud drums and other percussion mic’ing, though
the quoted maximum SPL of 139dB isn't the highest
in the group. Besides drum overheads and other
percussion, acoustic guitar, strings and woodwind
are suggested applications. Sennheiser’'s ‘e’ range is
extensive, comprising 17 different models to capture
every type of audio source. Included in the package is
a mic clip and storage pouch.
musictech.net
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M I C R O P H O N E S H O OTO U T S M A L L- D I A P H R AG M C O N D EN S ER S

116 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


frequencies throughout the low midrange,
is nicely judged and as good as any of the
mics on test (better than most, in fact).
As we move up the frequency spectrum,
however, the performance falls flat. The
mic has a prominent quacky midrange
noticeable in the 450-500Hz region. This,
coupled with a muted top-end response
makes for a small-sounding character.
The AT875R also has an unpleasant
bell-like resonance around 1.8kHz,
adding to the less-than-perfect sound
reproduction. Recording speech in a video
while minimising extraneous noise may be
its forte, but it’s not best suited to capturing
pristine audio in a studio environment.
Our fourth-placed microphone is the
Sennheiser e 614. Unlike the AT, the e 614’s
performance improves as the frequency
points rise. The top end is quite clean,
capturing transients crisply, which makes
it well suited for percussion such as
tambourine and shakers. It also performs
well on strummed acoustic guitar,
particularly in a busy mix where much of
the bottom end is filtered out to create
space. There is a hint of a midrange whistle;
however, it’s below this point where things
become a little cloudy.
A degree of muddiness in the lower
midrange accentuates frequencies that
many would choose to reduce, meaning
users will be frequently reaching for the EQ,
especially on fuller-bodied sources such as
piano, brass and some stringed instruments.
The bass frequencies are on the woolly
side, too, so be prepared to engage a
high-pass-filter and select a different mic
when a firm bottom end is desired.
Now for the podium places and our
bronze-medal winner is the RØDE NT-5. This
mic displays a bright character with an
expansive-sounding midrange. A slight
honk in the mids reveals the NT-5’s budget
musictech.net
S M A L L- D I A P H R AG M C O N D EN S ER S M I C R O P H O N E S H O OTO U T
SMALL-DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER
VERSUS LARGE-DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER
Small- and large-diaphragm condenser mics
differ in several ways. Small-diaphragm mics
are usually pencil shaped (often referred to
as pencil mics) and addressed from the front.
Conversely, large-diaphragm mics are
addressed from the side and often offer two
or more polar-pattern options. Technically,
large-diaphragm mics measure better in
relation to self-noise. However, in most
other respects, small diaphragms offer
superior performance.
The main advantages of small over large
diaphragms are their extended high-frequency
response and faster transient response, more
accurately following sound waves. They also
have a more consistent pick-up pattern across
the entire frequency range.
Large-diaphragm mics often have a more
characterful, ‘larger than life’ sound, which
status, however the upper frequencies are
extended, highlighting the air and space
surrounding audio sources.
If we are being really critical, it has a
slightly scratchy character and lacks a
touch of warmth, though this could work
for percussion and other top-heavy
sources. any will love the RØDE’s detail and
insight and its excellent transient response
makes for a precise presentation. Those
who might complain that it doesn’t fully
capture the low-end heft of a double bass
will be better off choosing a different mic.
The silver medal is awarded to the Lewitt
LCT 140 Air. Tested flat, without the added
‘Air’ top-end lift, this microphone is all
about the midrange. The broad midrange
response is beautifully smooth, with the right
amount of bite and body and no nasty
resonant artifacts. This smoothness is also
flatters vocalists, for example. They also tend
to perform better with bass-heavy sounds,
although the very best small-diaphragm mics
generally have a more even low-end response.
Top-quality small-diaphragm mics major on
accuracy rather than flattery, making them the
first choice of many classical-music engineers.
In pop-music recording, however, where
accuracy isn’t always a priority, a small-
diaphragm mic will often be the better choice
for acoustic guitar and piano, where the initial
transients will be captured more crisply.
This quality also makes a small-diaphragm
microphone ideal for percussive sounds.
A decent small-diaphragm condenser mic –
such as the best examples that we’ve put
through their paces throughout this test –
is an essential item to audition for any serious
microphone collection.
noticeable in the high frequencies, which
do not make themselves obvious unless the
Air switch is engaged. The low end is slightly
rolled off; however, the response is warm
and – here’s that word again – smooth.
There is a refinement to the LCT 140
that's lacking in the mics rated below it and
is quite remarkable for the price. Of all the
mics tested here, this one sounds the most
neutral and natural on the human voice;
a great choice for singer-songwriters who
might wish to overdub a vocal to a
previously recorded acoustic-guitar track,
for example. Although it’s not in the same
league as our reference KM 84 i, the LCT
140 will hold its own up against more costly
mics, some of which lack the classy
midrange on offer here.
It was a close-run race between this
and the winner of our shootout, however
we have to hand the gold medal over to…
The sE8. Winning by a whisker, the superior
low-end response ultimately tipped the
balance in favour of the sE8. It both sounds
and feels like a far more expensive
microphone and is closest of all the
contenders to the quality and character of
the KM 84 i. Beautifully balanced from top
to bottom with no unwanted resonances,
the sE8 has a slightly dark character that
lends itself to a subtle lift in the super
high-end with a quality equaliser. Rich and
musical throughout the broad midrange,
the sE8 isn’t quite as detailed as the KM 84i.
Yet that means it doesn’t suffer from an
over-exposed or detached treble response,
like some of the other mics in this contest.
The sE8’s low-end response is easily the
best on offer here, sounding firm without
any thump or wooliness, while the bass
integration with the low mids is seamless.
Transient response is also superb, which
adds to its natural presentation. Perfect for
acoustic guitar, piano, brass and strings, the
sE performs brilliantly to pro standards and
is a deserved winner of this contest.
In the next shootout, we’ll take a look at
some more expensive small-diaphragm
condenser mics.
MusicTech October 2019 117
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© Florent Drillon

MT INTERV IE W

CARAVAN
118 October 2019 MusicTech musictech.net
 C A R AVA N PA L AC E I N T E R V I E W

PALACE
Caravan Palace are a band
notching up record stats on
just about every high-profile
music platform out there.
But they’re not only using the
latest streaming technology,
but also surfing the edge
of studio technology, as
MusicTech discovers…

Words ANDY JONES

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I N T E R V I E W C A R AVA N PA L AC E
The band tend to work from their
own studios, but all use Ableton
Live 10 and similar technology
120 October 2019 MusicTech
B
ack in the day, a single or album chart
position could define a band. It would
indicate sales, success and serve as a good
predictor for how long said act would last.
Did your last single scrape into the Top 40 at number
39? Your days are numbered. Nowadays, while chart
success might still be the goal for some, we live in a
multi-platform, stat-driven world. Views, hits, likes and
streams define bands and while they might not equal
cash, they can certainly reap rewards… eventually.
French band Caravan Palace know all about
how using social media and the video format can
reap rewards. The band began playing rock and
more grungy guitar music, but have spent the last
decade honing a sound that blends jazz and dance,
all the while garnering a following that has helped
notch up those numbers in record fashion. Just check
out this stream of stats: the band has had 2.1 million
video uploads on TikTok (one of the world’s most-
used video apps); they enjoy 1.5 million monthly
listens on Spotify from a half-million audience which
has resulted in no less than half-a-billion Spotify
streams. Then there are the close-to 1.2 million
YouTube subscribers and the single Lone Digger,
that has notched up 230 million plays on the platform
alone (out of nearly half a billion for the band in total
across YouTube).
That’s quite a set of stats and back in the ’real’
world, they’ve not done too badly, either. Thanks to
high-profile TV appearances, they’ve shifted more
than a quarter-of-a-million copies of their third album,
2015’s <I°_°I> (aka Robot Face) and sold out just
about every tour since its release. On the eve of
Caravan Palace’s fourth album, Chronologic, we
catch up with the band’s Arnaud Vial to discuss
everything from success in the internet age to a mass
of gear spread across several of the band’s studios.
MusicTech Your route to success stretches right back
to the early days of MySpace, right?
CP Yes, it’s been 100 per cent via social media,
through Facebook and the late MySpace. We had
an independent manager/producer called Le Café
de la Danse early on and at that time, he really
struggled to find a record label. Our style was too
weird and no one knew how to sell it! But people
were pushing the project on social media and we
got a lot of plays and a lot of word-of-mouth.
Then a French label, Wagram, took a risk and
signed us. A bunch of TV shows and some radios
plays later and the first album [Caravan Palace in
2008] ended up going Platinum in France. People
around the world started to hear about us and that
was so exciting.
MT What were some of your early experiences with
music-production technology when you started?
I think we learned about [music production] mostly
from magazines and online music forums. We were
using Pro Tools and Cubase and all the hardware
was so buggy. PCs were cheaper and we were
skint, so it was a nightmare sometimes with all the
soundcard driver issues. Of course, it was easier
with the Mac and now we’re all on the MacBook,
but I think PCs are safer nowadays.
MT You certainly have a very distinctive and unique
sound that blends very different eras. Tell us about
how it came about?
The sound of Caravan Palace is a blend of vintage
and modern electronic music. In the beginning, we
were specifically into Gypsy jazz and house, then
what people called electro-swing and now I think
it’s a larger mix. We can be influenced by blues,
soul, rhythm ’n’ blues, bossa nova from the 60s,
even exotica for the vintage part of our sound.
And for the modern side, it’s hip-hop, future bass,
deep house and even disco. We just want to make
music with no boundaries. I think it’s the best way
to be honest with our audience and fans.
MT How does a typical Caravan Palace track come
together, from a songwriting perspective?
We don’t start songs together – we all have our own
studio. I might compose a one-minute track with a
beat and harmony, with some samples and synths.
Then I send it to the guys and wait for a response. If
it’s a fast one, they like the idea! If you receive an
answer the day after, they’re not sure, you should
definitely give up this idea and go for a new one!
I guess the music around us inspires us, or maybe
sometimes it’s an old sample, or a chord progression.
I think there’s no specific recipe – and that’s the
point. If you’re using the same recipe each time,
then you just go in circles. Something we really don’t
do is start a new track based on lyrics. We should try
that. It’s a more ‘poppy’ approach, but why not?
WHAT’S IN THE CARAVAN?
MT So each of you works in a separate studio, but
how does it work with sharing ideas? Do you have
similar setups?
Well, we’re all using Ableton Live 10 with RME UFX
and UCX soundcards. Like everybody, I guess, we use
the Serum soft synth and Massive, of course. We also
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 C A R AVA N PA L AC E I N T E R V I E W

the Arturia V Collection for the vintage sound,

but we do have a lot of vintage analogue synths
between us from Roland, Korg, ARP and more, plus
some modern ones from Dave Smith, Arturia and
Moog (see kit list below for detail). For monitoring,
we mostly use Adam A77X speakers, but also have
Focal, Yamaha, Dynaudio, Genelec and Avantone
ones to use; it depends which studio.

MT What is it about the Serum and Massive soft synths

that you like so much?
With Serum, it’s definitely because of the endless
potential. I think the new Native Instruments Massive
X is extremely exciting as well, but so far, the demo
version is crashing in Ableton Live. Let’s wait a little,
I guess, but it looks like being the synth of the year.
We’re also using a lot the new stock Wavetable
synth in Ableton Live. That has great potential, too.
MT Do you produce your own synth sounds or use
presets? If so, what is your process in sonic creation?
It depends. When you’re feeling empty, why not dig
around in the lists of presets? Most of the time they
are a little bit overproduced for us, with a lot of
effects and outrageous stereo, but they can trigger
ideas. Generally, though, we create sounds, as
they’re often designed to complete an acoustic
instrument or a sample; to enlarge it or to add a
special synthetic flavour.
MT What effects or outboard do you use?
The Ableton stock plug-ins. They are definitely not
the best ones around, but the combinations you can
FULL STREAM AHEAD
MT How did you generate those impressive streaming stats for your various singles and
videos? Was any of it through playlisting?
It’s hard to tell. Things tend to get viral for us, but it’s not something we ever planned.
As an example, the Lone Digger video was released the day before the terrorist attack
in Parisian venue Le Bataclan. We felt really bad, because it was the absolute worst time
for such a gory video. We stopped pushing it immediately, but then after a couple of quiet
weeks, it kind of took off on its own, so there really is no recipe.
Then the success of that video helped us increase our audience quite a lot and now,
it’s become some kind of virtuous cycle. The more plays you get, the more your tracks are
going to get suggested to new listeners/viewers. So I’d say it’s more to do with algorithmic
suggestions than editorial playlists.
MT What advice would you have for our readers to get increased stats in this regard?
Do your own thing and always try to create original content. Also, it’s worth spending some
time reading around the subject and watching the tutorials and following all the good
practices. It can really make a difference if you fine-tune your channel and video
parameters and play the game by the rules.
I N T E R V I E W C A R AVA N PA L AC E

achieve mean you get a great workflow inside the

DAW. I’m always trying new VSTs, but then I come
back to the Ableton ones afterward.

MT What do you find most frustrating about using

studio hardware or software?
Like everybody, it’s so hard to finish a song. You
don’t have studio time limits or other money
restrictions. You just buy a DAW and you can do
almost everything by yourself with a laptop and
some headphones, so you’re always thinking you
can do better and it’s a never-ending process.
However, on the up side, with good ears, you can
do anything! A computer, headphones and a DAW,
that’s all. It also means that everyone has the same
chance to be successful.

MT What’s on your wishlist, studio-gear wise?

Massive X! I’m just praying each day that it will finally
work on my 2015 MacBook.

MT What would you like to see developed in terms of

The Summit TPA-200B studio technology?
and Avalon VT-737SP
A phone/computer-speakers simulator, like a box
are two of the band’s
five studio preamps with a bunch of popular phone, computer, tablet
speaker presets on it. You can switch between them
and finally check that your mix is okay on each.
When you think about it, a lot of people are going to
A classic Korg MS-20 discover your tracks on these shitty systems. It’s a bit
and VC-10 Vocoder
sit in the studio sad, but when you receive a notification from your
favourite artist, you’re so excited, you just click and
listen on anything, right? I have found some plug-ins
that try and simulate some of these scenarios, but
they’re not quite the same.

FROM CARAVAN TO PALACE

MT You’ve been around for well over a decade now.
What have been the main changes you’ve seen
in terms of the music industry and gear?
The main change, of course, is streaming. There is
streaming everywhere and playlists, too. I’m pretty
happy with that, because we’ve been using Spotify
for a long time, so it’s totally okay for us. I think
people are now totally ready for streaming and,
as with Netflix, I hope streaming platforms will
become a music standard for everyone. The monthly
subscription is pretty cheap for everything that you
can have.
In terms of gear, I think it’s the laptop. We’re doing
everything on the laptops now and personally, only
with the trackpad, no mouse. No desktop computers,
either. I really like the fact you can feel the same
anywhere. With your two hands on the great Apple
trackpads, the workflow is fantastic.

MT What do you have planned for the immediate and

SELECTED KIT LIST long term future?
Computer Apple MacBook Pro 15 We’re touring this summer in Europe and playing
Preamps Avalon VT-737, Neve 1073, SPL Goldmike, Summit TPA-200, Warm Audio WA-12 some very cool festivals. Then we’re going to the
Microphones AKG C214 stereo set, Aston Origin, Neumann U 87, TLM 49 USA in the Fall for a 30-gig tour which we’re very
and KM 184 stereo set excited about. Then it’s back to Europe and we
Vintage synths ARP Odyssey and Axxe, Kawai 110F, Korg Polysix, Mono/Poly and MS-20,
will be in the UK in January 2020 for some gigs all
Memorymoog, Roland Juno-106, TB-303 and Jupiter-6, Teisco 110F
New synths Arturia MiniBrute, Dave Smith Prophet ’08, Korg Minilogue, MFB Synth, across the country.
Moog Little Phatty and Sub 37, Novation Peak
Software Ableton Live 10, Arturia V Collection, FabFilter Pro-L, Xfer Records Serum, MT Finally, what advice do you have for people who
Native Instruments Massive, Valhalla Reverbs, Waves Tune want to make a living making music?
Monitors Adam A77X, Adam A5X, Avantone MixCubes, Dynaudio BM5A, Focal SM9, Work, work, work. Musical knowledge is endless.
Focal Alpha 65, Genelec 6010, Yamaha MSP5
Never stop learning. Be a life student with all
Guitars Epiphone Sorrento 1962, Fender Jazz Bass, Fernandes Revival Telecaster,
Gibson ES-125, Godin Multiac Gypsy, Kay Jazz II, Maurice Dupont MD-50, the curiosity and the humility that goes with.
NS Design CR4M upright bass
Caravan Palace’s new album, Chronologic,
is out now.

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I N T E R V I E W J O N A S B LU E
MT INTERV IE W
JONAS BLUE Platinum-selling producer/DJ Jonas Blue talks about
finding mainstream success, his studio and tech rider
and his vintage-synth dreams and desires
Words CHRIS BARKER
B
reaking through with a tropical-house-
flavoured cover version of Tracy Chapman’s
Fast Car in 2015, Jonas Blue has become
a regular name in the UK Top 10 with huge
follow-up singles Perfect Strangers, Rise and Mama
being multi-Platinum sellers. A steady tour schedule,
remixes and production work for other acts also keeps
Jonas pretty busy, but we tracked him down to talk
about his career so far and of course, synths…
MusicTech To some people, it might seem like you were
an overnight success, but we know you’ve been doing
this for a long time, right?
Jonas Yes, that’s true. DJ’ing came first, I was 11 and I set
up a mobile disco and played at all my school friends’
parties, it was called Body Groove Discos and my dad
used to drive me and the DJ gear to the parties!
MT How was the transition to huge mainstream success
– that part, it seemed, was very fast… Did it feel like it at
the time?
I would say I was as young as 14 when I decided it
was going to be a lifelong career, I then pretty much
devoted all the available time I had on learning how
to make music. Honestly, I don’t remember considering
another career path, it was always going to be music.
MT When did you first start using Logic – and did you use
another DAW when you started?
I started with some basic software that came free with
a breakfast cereal. It was called eJay, but I quickly
moved into Apple’s Logic Pro when I realised I wanted
to take it seriously.
MT Now, the gear talk! After your success, you seemed
to invest even more into your studio. Tell us about some
of the rare finds and how you acquired them…
Okay, to talk about some of the rare finds I’ve got,
the first one would probably be the Yahama CS-80.
I think there’s only about seven or eight hundred,
if that, in existence now. So it was kind of one of the
rarest, paraphonic, aftertouch synthesisers that have
ever been made. It’s just one of the most incredible-
sounding instruments. It was famous for the Vangelis
stuff that he did and then you’re getting loads of
people these days using it, such as The Weeknd, for
these weird eerie sounds on their records.
Philippe Zdar from Cassius, who recently passed
away, he used it on a lot of their stuff and it’s just one
of the most incredible synthesisers.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get it for a bargain – it cost
me a fortune. It’s a staple in my studio now, it’s in
the control room with me and I try to use it as much
as possible.
124 October 2019 MusicTech
Another rare find I’ve got is an ARP 2600, the Tonus
logo version and that’s got the Moog filter in it as well.
That would be another rare find for me, it’s a great
synth. It’s hard to get to use them these days, but
they’re in there, they’re part of the setup and when
needed, I can go to them. So probably those two,
the CS-80 and the ARP 2600.
The CS-80 was purchased through a company
called RL Music who have an engineer restorer called
Kent Spong, who is actually the synth engineer who
does all my stuff. He did the MIDI modifications on it,
he did his own modification that he invented which
is a unison, so it can switch all 16 voices into one
unison mode in mono and it’s the most incredible,
fattest sound you can get.
On the ARP 2600, it was actually a barn find,
I found it in somebody’s garage barn. It was really
badly treated, and it had all these weird modifications
– jacked CV inputs on the front, so I had all that
removed and put it back to the factory and we had
a new faceplate done. I like to put things back to
the way they were, apart from maybe MIDI – but
I like to keep things original and in good condition.
MT Which synths have you had MIDI retrofitted and can
trigger via Logic?
Every single synth of mine has been MIDI retrofitted,
or I use the Kenton MIDI boxes if the synth or drum
machine has got CV/Gate. I’ll go to the Kenton box
rather than modify the actual unit. I hate cutting into
things and adding MIDI, even though Kent is amazing
at making things look like they’re all original, I still try to
avoid it as much as possible.
MT You have the CS-80, then, which is the dream synth
for many. Anything else you’re missing from your synth
collection that you really want to get hold of?
Yeah, I’m after a vintage Moog Modular. I definitely
don’t need it, but it’s something that would be a great
part of the setup. I want to start getting into movies
eventually and doing soundtracks for things like that.
Having those bits of kits around is very inspiring, so
yeah, probably a Moog Modular is what I’m after next,
if anything.
MT Your sound is very modern, but you have a lot of
vintage gear, tell us about your production process
– what records can we hear some of these classic
synths and sounds on?
I think although my productions are very modern
based, what those synthesisers did for me when I first
bought them is give me an understanding of synthesis,
which is hard to do just via plug-ins. It’s nice to be in
front of something, touch it and morph the sound into
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I N T E R V I E W J O N A S B LU E
something that you want to hear, rather
than sitting there with a mouse. I was very
fortunate to get the chance to do that.
I have a lot of things where I’ve created
a sound, turned it into maybe like a one
shot, put it into Logic and made sounds out
of it that way. It’s hard for me to use it these
days because of travelling so much, but
that’s why I’ve got the synth, it’s more of
an inspiration type thing.
The drop on Rise… it’s quite a basic
sound, actually, but I used the Minimoog
Model D and you can hear that in that
sound, it sounds like a Moog sound.
I use the ARP Solina string ensemble for
strings. I’ve got a Mellotron in the studio
now, the new Mellotron 4000D and that
was used in the intro of Rise for the flute
sound. Originally, The Beatles used that
126 October 2019 MusicTech
sound, that’s where it was made famous.
Because the sound is so modern and
doesn’t sound old, people are like, “How
do you use that synth in that?”, but there
are elements where I use it, for sure.
MT Tell us about your DJ sets and how you
prep – you must have to make bootlegs
and remixes of your own tracks and others,
what’s your process there?
I always still use Logic for any production
work I’m doing, even edits – and rarely,
I’ll do a mash-up: we’re usually on it quickly
with a club mix of a single so I can have
something to play in my sets.
MT What’s on your tech rider when you’re
doing DJ sets?
Nothing crazy or unusual. Four of Pioneer’s
CDJ2000 Nexus 2 model, a Pioneer
DJM-900 mixer and a wireless mic.
MT How do you keep yourself happy and
healthy on the road? How do you balance
between the creative producer side and
the touring DJ?
It is a challenge. It’s all about eating well,
trying to get as much sleep as possible
and having my team with me, who are
also good friends!
MT Do you have any tips for producers
looking to follow in your footsteps?
I think the best advice is to be committed
to the craft 100 per cent, for creative
reasons. Don’t focus on if it’s going to make
you money or not, make great music and
the success and everything else will come.
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 J O N A S B LU E I N T E R V I E W

To get your music heard, you have to find

that perfect balance between being
tenacious and pushing your music to the
right people without being annoying!

MT What’s coming up for you?

My remixes of Ed Sheeran and Justin
Bieber’s track I Don’t Care and R3HAB’s
single Don’t Give Up On Me Now are
already out and I’m going to be launching
my label for club music, Electronic Nature,
with a track late summer. I’m also super
excited to get back to Ibiza, do my first
headline show in China… and all the
other tour dates that are in the schedule.
As always, loads going on!

Find out more about Jonas Blue at

jonasblue.com

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THE 6

the
WAYS TO TURN
IDEAS INTO SONGS
You have a melody, a bassline, a synth lead or a guitar riff.
It’s either spinning around in your head or looping around
in your DAW. What to do with it? How to turn it into a song?
Follow these nuggets of song-creation wisdom to find out…
WORDS ANDY JONES

H 1
ave you ever had the best idea
for a bassline? Or created the
most melodic lead line ever?
Or even come up with the most
amazing drum loop of all time? How about
that guitar riff that was going to change
the world? Yes, we’ve all been there, had
an inspired idea for a song part, rushed it
into our DAW and then it’s not gone any
further than an eight-bar loop and is still
festering on your hard drive 10 years later,
goading you. It’s the idea that never
developed, the song that never was. ‘I will
be a hit single one day; don’t delete me,’
it says. Well, tech is here to help us with
all aspects of music production, including
fleshing out ideas, riffs, beats and bass
notes into fully fledged songs. Here are
six of the best routes to songwriting –
those ideas will never taunt you again…
NEVER LEAVE A LOOP
Admit it, how many songs have you
got on your hard drive that are just four,
eight or 16 bars looped? How does that
make you feel when you open them after
months away? Depressed, right? So, the
psychological hurdle here is the loop.
Break out of the loop – even if it’s simply
a case of pressing Cmd-R to repeat your
loop to play for three minutes – and the
next time you open that idea up, you
won’t see a loop, you will see a song taking
shape. Break out of the loop, add some
automation and other variations and you
are halfway there.
2 USE YOUR DAW PROPERLY
DAWs are fantastic for throwing ideas
onto a page and playing them alongside
other tracks. Putting basses with leads,
beats with vocals and so on. But did you
know your DAW (very probably) has
specific features for songwriting, where
it can section off your ideas into verses,
choruses, bridges and so on for you?
Many DAWs come with these song-creation
possibilities, but we either don’t know about
them or never utilise them, so make the
most of what you might not know you
already have!
3 GENERATE THOSE IDEAS
Get this: you are just one great chord
progression away from a song. What’s
that? You don’t know anything about
chords? Don’t worry; again, your DAW may
well have the answer. For example, Studio
One has Chord Track and Logic has Chord
Trigger. At the very least, these will allow
you to play the correct chord around a

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2 3
4 5
6
certain note; at the very most, they might
even suggest decent progressions for you.
Progress that idea along a chordal route
and you’ll be in hit-single territory in no
time. You should also investigate the
random options you may have for song or
melody generation as well. Some DAWs
have random MIDI plug-ins (Ableton Live’s
Random or Reaper’s MIDI Ex Machina for
example) which, okay, are less predictable
than a good chord generator – but
sometimes the best ideas can come
from the most random events…
4 USE DEDICATED SOFTWARE
If you don’t use a DAW that has
chordal, random or other songwriting
features, don’t worry as there are
alternatives (but do consider changing
your DAW as, frankly, your one sounds a
bit rubbish). There are plenty of dedicated
musictech.net
‘ideas’ apps out there that help generate
songs, or at least paths to them. Intuitive
Audio’s Chord Composer, Mixed In Key’s
Captain Chords and Audiomodern’s
Random Chords Generator PRO are
just three dedicated apps to help you
construct chords and generate more ideas,
the latter with a random element thrown in.
5 PLAY YOUR DAW
You’d be surprised at how actually
playing an instrument can inspire you;
sitting down at a proper piano, for
example, can certainly be more immersive
and creative than sitting in front of a
thousand plug-ins on your DAW screen,
controlling the whole thing with a mouse.
So get yourself a great controller and learn
to physically play your DAW. Enhance
the power with a keyboard such as NI’s
Komplete Kontrol (which will help you
THE 6
access features and parameters with the
twist of a dial) or Push (which will inspire
you while you ‘play’ Live). Jam with your
DAW and the ideas will flow, guaranteed.
6 PAIR UP
Actually working with another human
being might well be your ticket to a great
song. If you find yourself staring at your
cursor cycling around a melody between
bars one and eight, perhaps that friend,
relative or completely random stranger
might be able to suggest a route to song
heaven. Two heads are better than one,
and collaboration can be your key to
success. The only problem is you’ll have
to split all those songwriting royalties,
but always remember: 50 per cent of
something is better than 100 per cent of
nothing. Read our all-new collaboration
feature online at MusicTech.net, now!
MusicTech October 2019 129
R E W I N D YA M A H A C S1X
REWIND
It’s the early 90s and everyone is making dance music except
you! What do you do? Get some cool Roland analogue gear,
or a cheap blue Yamaha with a digital heart? You go blue!
If you, like me, were attempting
to make dance music in the
1990s, there was one obvious
route: get something made by Roland, with
an ‘0’ in its name.
The TB-303 bassline and TR-808 and 909
drum machines were de rigueur for dance;
in fact, so monstrously de rigueur were they
that they were already starting to fetch silly
money, silly money that I didn’t have as a
struggling music-technology journalist.
However, as a music-technology
journalist, I also knew that I could get a
pretty good approximation of the filtered
squeal of a 303 by merely twisting the
filter and resonance knobs on any good
analogue synth. Trouble is, this was 1994
and there were no good analogue synths.
Everything was digital, black, sombre and
knobless. Those of us attempting the
squeals of dance, the filtered action of
techno and the dark basses of jungle –
and who couldn’t afford the big ‘0’ –
were crying out for some kind of analogue
revival. And – eventually at least – we got
one. Albeit a digital one.
It was the (then) smaller companies who
realised that dance music had arrived and
that it might stay around for a while, so the
likes of Novation released the Bass Station
to answer the huge demand for squelch,
and Clavia released its virtual-analogue
synth, the ‘Nord almighty’ Nord Lead. But
130 October 2019 MusicTech
V I NTAG E K IT
WORDS ANDY JONES
the bigger companies weren’t too far
behind. Korg released its Prophecy
monophonic performance synth (’Korg
blimey’, I said in my review) and then
Yamaha took everyone by surprise,
releasing the CS1x, that looked like an
analogue synth – a blue one at that –
for silly money.
CS1x did everything us dance fans
wanted and it did it for a fraction of the
cost of those classic Rolands. With eight
performance dials assigned to big filter and
resonance parameters, plus an easy-to-
implement arpeggiator, it did dance and it
did it pretty well. And with a name like CS,
those hands-on controls and those swirling
sounds, it certainly ticked all the analogue
boxes, too.
But, really, CS1x was a bit of a fibber.
Underneath that blue surface lay a very
digital heart. While Nord, Novation and the
rest were reinventing the analogue wheel
digitally, Yamaha simply and rather cleverly
wrestled its ‘analogue’ out of existing
AWM2 technology, layering four
of those sounds together in Performance
mode. In fact, in Multi mode, the synth
turned into a fully fledged XG MIDI tone
module to deliver 480 very digital renditions
of real instruments and other sounds.
Good(ish), but not analogue. It even
did General MIDI – and if you’re not old
enough to know what that is, I’m afraid to
say it’s not a hilarious music-technology
cartoon character, but a quite tedious way
of making MIDI files of a certain format play
the right (awful) sounds. (I hated it, but
that’s another story.)
The CS1x, then, was very much a digital
wolf in sheep’s analogue wool clothing,
but you had to take your mid-90s reversed
baseball cap off to Yamaha, because it
pulled off the unthinkable: cheap and lush
analogue. And it stands up pretty well
today; just Google ‘CS1x demo’ and play
the first video for some quite stunning
sounds (albeit from newer ones than those
found on the original machine).
The fact that you can get a CS1x for
a few hundred dollars makes it quite a
second-hand bargain, on the face of it,
although the later AN1x was more like a
proper virtual-analogue synth; it was
powered by actual physical modelling and
will do better ’analogue’, if that is your
thing. However, the success of the CS1x
eventually led to a vastly more powerful
CS6x which would eventually lead into the
Motif and then the Montage ranges, so you
could probably argue that the CS1x really
was the start of something big.
A digital synth that did analogue, and
an analogue pretender that eventually
gave birth to Yamaha’s current digital
workstation fleet. Not bad for a blue plastic
synth with General MIDI.
musictech.net
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