Future Music

For many producers, Cableguys’ ‘Shaper’ effects have become secret creative weapons over the past few years, and the company has now packed new versions of five of them into a single plugin: ShaperBox 2. The effects in question -– TimeShaper 2, Volum

Steinberg have pimped-up their UR range of audio interfaces, introducing new USB 3.0 models for PC, Mac and iOS. There are currently three options for you to consider – the UR22C, UR44C and UR22C Recording Pack. A fourth, the UR816C rackmount interfa

Originally from Bristol, UK but now residing in part in Berlin, experimental duo Emptyset – aka James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas – have long spanned the realms of experimental electronic music and high-concept art. Their latest project, Blossoms, might

Picture a record label meeting room. The MSTRKRFT boys are playing ‘the suits’ their new stuff. They’re excited – why wouldn’t they be? They’ve been beavering away on a ‘new sound’ that mixes riffy techno with guest spots from some of the biggest nam

Four years on from his widely-acclaimed debut album, UK producer, DJ, label owner and much-loved resident, Sam Shepherd releases his brilliant follow-up Floating Points record. Unlike it’s predecessor, Elaenia, which was made over five years, the new

These days, with all the easy-to-use hardware and software music-making tools at our disposal, the creation of electronic music can become formulaic. Lay down beats, add a bassline, program some synths and samples over them, and you’ve got a basic cl

Dynamics processors such as compressors and limiters are generally used for subtle, transparent levelling and peak control in a mix. OK, so an analogue or analogue-modelled device may occasionally be recruited for its specific colour or tone, but aga

01 > Start with any basic four-to-the-floor drum loop from a sample pack. Ensure that the loop’s kick and percussive elements feature sufficient low frequencies, as this bass content can be boosted and shaped at a later stage. 02 > Transform the lo

Ask someone to name an audio processor synonymous with extreme sound manipulation, and distortion will likely come top of the list. Loved by long-haired axe-wielders and electronic experimentalists alike, it’s an effect capable of everything from sub

Reverb and delay effects are essential weapons in your arsenal. A reverb effect places a signal in a virtual environment, while a delay or echo repeats the input signal at a user-defined rate value. Used subtly as part of a broader chain of effects,

Raised in the Dutch city of Schiedam, west of Rotterdam, Joris Voorn was born into a musical family and learned to play violin and guitar before becoming obsessed by the art of DJing and the subversive sounds of techno. His first production, Muted Tr

Genre-hopping RAM Records protégé Peter Bennett aka Bensley’s second album Muskoka is a grab-bag of different styles, from wonky breakbeat workouts to soundtrack-like synth soundscapes. Future Music caught up with the cunning Canadian at London’s Dai

01 > “Halfway into the track, we break down into a swung jazz section, and while I maintained a lot of the original elements of the track there are some things I changed, the percussion section and the bassline being the key things,” begins Peter. He

US artist Grant Richard Kwiecinski – aka GRiZ – takes us behind the scenes at Point Blank’s studios in London to find out how he made this track Prospa, Intended Gosha Smith and Harvey Blumler take us into their production lair Ambassadeurs, Noct

Ableton’s recent update to their 10.1 software came with a free bonus for all of its Suite users – CV Tools, a new pack of ten Max for Live devices that lets the user control and interact with their modular gear, all with the ability to store, recall

Ableton’s inclusion of the Rotating Rhythm Generator might raise eyebrows, as technically this is a MIDI device. However, it does bring “modular-style beat and polyrhythmic generation” to the table, in a way that is not quite possible with other step

01 > First, drag the CV Instrument into the Clip area to create a new MIDI track. Make sure that the track’s MIDI From input is set to your controller. Make sure the track is record-enabled by selecting the record button at the bottom of the channel

01 > Let’s use a CV LFO tool on a simple house beat to modulate part of our bass’s effect signal. We use Ableton’s Wavetable with an instance of Echo applied, using a stereo dotted 1/8 note setting and feedback set modestly to 50%. 02 > Locate the

Entranced by the city’s nascent dance scene, trainee chef turned budding producer and DJ Rebekah watched in awe while club legends Derrick Carter and LTJ Bukem performed at Birmingham’s legendary Que Club. Influenced by the sound of house, trance and

Frequency Central’s new semi-modular device ‘Product’ is very much a ‘best of’ full synth voice in a semi-modular format, as it has an updated version of the System X oscillator (based on the Roland System 100m), the Raging Bull VCF/VCA (based on the

01 > Before trying to push beyond the norm it’s important to understand the basics. Set the VCA to drone and play with the oscillator and filter sections to explore the tone and internal routing on Product. Add modulation with the onboard LFO to anim

After 2010’s infectious, Ashanti-sampling (Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want, Jacques Greene – aka Montreal-born producer Philippe Aubin-Dionne – quickly established himself as a master when it came to combining emotive melodies with meticulously-prog

To say that the late ’80s and early ’90s were a fertile time for UK dance music is a big understatement. And it’s crucial to understand how tech, youth culture and musical ideas collided to create these bold new sounds. The catalyst behind much of th

The weapon of choice for sequencing jungle was almost certainly an Atari, probably running either Cubase or Logic. The Atari was the people’s choice during the era, coming in at a relatively affordable price and offering built-in MIDI capabilities, p

When mixing bass in a two-channel (ie, stereo) mix, the topic of stereo content and mono compatibility in the low frequencies is hotly debated. Most recommend you keep all low-frequency elements in a mix – generally the kick drum, sub bass and other

When working with stereo effects, your DAW’s auxiliary return channels are indispensable. By sending your solid, centred bass signal/s to a dedicated ‘stereoising’ aux return, you have complete control over the level, width and tone of the new stereo

01 > It might seem a little illogical, but when paired correctly, kick drums and reverb are, in fact, ideal bedmates. Set up your reverb plugin on an auxiliary return track in your DAW, then send the kick channel to this aux – this’ll allow you to pr

Back in July 2017, I reviewed Novation’s Peak, their flagship hybrid polysynth featuring eight voices and analogue filters. Fast forward to September 2019 and Novation have launched their newest flagship keyboard, based on two Peaks with various othe

David Fanshawe was an English composer and sound recordist who spent most of his life travelling the world, immersing himself in the sounds and musical cultures of distant communities and meticulously archiving his discoveries. Orbis is a proprietary

There’s little denying that Reason has been on the back foot for some time now. For at least ten years, the DAW has been caught in a bind between staying true to its roots as a self-contained ‘virtual studio’ and adding new features in order to keep

Kilohearts, the audio software brand from Sweden, has been around for a few years now, but the new Phase Plant is the company’s first software synth, and is billed as a “sound designer’s dream come true.” A lofty claim, but even a glance at the modul

Ten years on from the release of the first generation Launchpad, Novation’s Live-focused pad controller returns for a Mk3 update, now with an ‘X’ appended to its name. That letter, we assume, relates to the controller line’s decade anniversary, as it

Actually an emulation of Shure’s Level Loc when pushed to its extremes, Devil-Loc works great at bringing out the low-level sounds in recorded material – especially drums. Just inserting Devil-Loc onto a track is enough to bring out the nuances of a

The last Roland workstation I reviewed was the Fantom ‘light’, aka the FA series, back in 2014. Based largely on the well-respected SuperNatural tech found in the Integra-7 module, the FA packed a lot of power into a lighter enclosure but with plenty

Some sound library creators put all their effort into capturing the nuances of specific instruments down to almost microscopic level. Often this is focused on rare and expensive gear or in distilling a unique playing style. UVI’s new Toy Suite eschew

The Stage series are versatile boards with great synths built in; excellent all-round stage-boards. However, you can also integrate your favourite external synths/modules. The Stage 3 has two panels (A and B), essentially the whole front panel of con

Full Review: FM350 Though the Peak is still great, Summit is even greater. A powerhouse polysynth, perfect for classic tone emulation as well as next-level, out-there sound design. Review: FM332 Despite a few surprising omissions, this sounds inspi

It’s difficult to pinpoint one perfect orchestral library, because so much depends on both your skill level and how you’re going to use it. When it comes to both size and price, the sky’s the limit, with pros willing to spend thousands on multiple li

Full Review: FM350 Phase Plant’s modular architecture is an incredible resource for conjuring real and otherworldly sounds. A powerful, flexible synth in every way! Review: FM342 With a multipart synth engine, sequencer and lots of creative tools,

Full Review: FM342 A West Coast synth in a compact package. It may be slightly fiddly and a little complicated, but if you’re willing to give in to its experimental ethos, the Volca Modular is endless fun. The V2 update to this compact semi-modular

Full Review: FM350 Having the ability to use Reason’s Rack tools as a plugin is something of a revelation, and the new effects are great. Review FM340 Despite some niggles, this is a solid update to an excellent DAW; the new features could potentia