Home//Future Music/November 2016/In This Issue
Future Music|November 2016Generation gapThe life of a synth fan is driven by two competing instincts. On the one hand, there’s a love of all things vintage; an affection for the warm and imperfect sound of classic analogue circuitry and a lustful desire for anything with a bit of wood panelling. On the other, there’s an excitement at trying new things, be it new cutting-edge technology or a brand new instrument. Well in this issue’s reviews section, we’ve got both sides of the coin covered, in the shape of Moog’s faithful recreation of one of the most iconic synths of all time – the Model D – and Yamaha’s new flagship instrument, the Montage 8. Head for the reviews section on page 78 where we put both through their paces.Also this issue, we’ve been…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Feel the HeatTo date, Elektron’s Analog range has focused entirely on instruments, in the form of the Analog Four and Keys synths and Analog Rytm drum machine. Now, with Analog Heat, the Gothenburg-based brand are adding an effects processor to the line-up too.Designed, according to Elektron, to both enhance and destroy audio signals, Analog Heat combines eight different distortion circuits with a resonant multi-mode filter and two-band EQ, all of which feature stereo, analogue circuitry. The range of distortion circuits have, purportedly, been designed to complement one another, offering an assortment of treatments from gentle saturation, clean boosting and enhancement through to fuzz and high-gain. Drive amount, Wet Level and Wet/Dry controls allow each to be dialled in to taste, while an assignable LFO and envelope facilitate modulation of the Heat’s various…2 min
Future Music|November 2016SSE Iucleus returnsSolid State Logic have announced a new version of their highly acclaimed Nucleus DAW controller and audio interface, the Nucleus². Alongside its new finish, the Nucleus² also features a brand new 2+2 Dante audio card, completely replacing the audio interface from the previous version.Nucleus² is a compact, portable desktop unit that SSL hopes can create a “comfortable, efficient, hands-on operating environment for DAW-based music and film/TV post production”. The controller offers up switching between three DAWs with the press of a single button, plus two banks of eight channel controls and centre section controls.Nucleus² will be shipping from November and will be priced at £3,399 plus VAT.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Smart thinking from iZotopeSmart thinking from iZotope Following the release of their free Neutrino plug-in iZotope have revealed a far more comprehensive mixing tool, Neutron, based on the same spectral technology. Neutron features what the company is calling “industry-first” smart features that are designed to make the mixing process easier. The most eye-catching of these is Track Assistant, which analyses your track and automatically detects the instruments within it. It then recommends where EQ nodes should be placed and suggests optimal settings for other modules. iZotope stress that, ultimately, you still have to make the mixing decisions yourself, but Track Assistant may give you some good starting points and save you time. There’s also the Masking Meter, which is designed to let you visually identify frequency clashes between instruments so you can make…1 min
Future Music|November 2016LTO’s essential production adviceArt before science“I find producing music involves a delicate balance of right brain creative processes and left brain technical ones. From collaborating with and watching other producers at work I feel that they often let the technical brain take over too early on in the production process. This immediately stunts the creative flow. For example, you’re f*cking around with some unconventional FX plug-in getting some mad sounds with no idea how you got there. Instead of loading up an audio track to record that stuff into ASAP before you lose it forever, you put your logical head on and say to yourself, ‘Oh I better check these parameters are within suitable ranges before I commit to recording,’ and then lose the magic.”Read the full interview: http://bit.ly/2dPBXk4Talking Shop continues regularly at…1 min
Future Music|November 2016TALKING SDOP LTOTALKING SDOP LTO We get the lowdown from Bristol-based LTO LTO is a Bristol-based producer and member of excellent Ambient electronic outfit Old Apparatus. Having made a name for himself over the past few years with a string of intricate, atmospheric bass-driven productions, both solo and as part of the collective, 2016 has seen the release of his first solo full-length, The Number From Which All Things Come. FM caught up with LTO to find out more about the gear, influences and techniques behind his sound. FM: Tell us about your studio… LTO: “I’m still just using the corner of my bedroom for producing and pretty tight for space in my current place which puts me off buying hardware so mostly using plug-ins at the moment. I’m hoping to buy…1 min
Future Music|November 2016LTO’s essential production adviceLTO’s essential production advice Art before science “I find producing music involves a delicate balance of right brain creative processes and left brain technical ones. From collaborating with and watching other producers at work I feel that they often let the technical brain take over too early on in the production process. This immediately stunts the creative flow. For example, you’re f*cking around with some unconventional FX plug-in getting some mad sounds with no idea how you got there. Instead of loading up an audio track to record that stuff into ASAP before you lose it forever, you put your logical head on and say to yourself, ‘Oh I better check these parameters are within suitable ranges before I commit to recording,’ and then lose the magic.” Read the full…1 min
Future Music|November 2016ALBUM REVIEWSRomare Love Songs: Part TwoNinja TuneUnder his Romare pseudonym, Archie Fairhurst has built a reputation as a wildly creative and highly innovative producer over just a small number of releases. His second LP, Love Songs: Part Two, charts his artistic development in an even more expansive and varied declaration than we have seen from him before. His sound has developed on from the sample-heavy, sound collage approach of his debut LP Projects and moved into a more organic direction that involves much more of his own instrumentation. That spirit of sampling still influences this record, but the ideas are more stretched out and expanded upon with the use of Fairhurst’s own bass, piano, guitar and synth parts. He expertly weaves together elements of Jazz, Disco, Rock, Hip-Hop, Folk, House, Blues,…4 min
Future Music|November 2016Anatomy of a delayWhereas reverb effects use multiple short delay lines to replicate acoustic reflections in a physical space, a delay device stores the input signal in a buffer, then repeats it after an amount of time determined by the Delay Time parameter. The time can be set in milliseconds, or in the case of software plug-ins, set in rhythmic divisions (1/4-note, 1/8-note etc) clocked to your DAW’s tempo. Increase the delay’s feedback amount and the delay’s output is fed back into the input, causing the repeats to increase and intensify to create the classic repeating echo effect. Delay traditionally operates in mono by default, but there’s usually an offset dial for delaying the timing of the repeats between the left and right channels by a few milliseconds – ideal for giving mono…3 min
Future Music|November 2016ALBUM REVIEWSALBUM OF THE MONTH ALBUM REVIEWS Romare Love Songs: Part Two Ninja Tune Under his Romare pseudonym, Archie Fairhurst has built a reputation as a wildly creative and highly innovative producer over just a small number of releases. His second LP, Love Songs: Part Two, charts his artistic development in an even more expansive and varied declaration than we have seen from him before. His sound has developed on from the sample-heavy, sound collage approach of his debut LP Projects and moved into a more organic direction that involves much more of his own instrumentation. That spirit of sampling still influences this record, but the ideas are more stretched out and expanded upon with the use of Fairhurst’s own bass, piano, guitar and synth parts. He expertly weaves together elements…4 min
Future Music|November 2016DELAY TACTICSDELAY TACTICS Uncover the secrets behind this essential effect – from simple echoes and clocked repeats through to feedback loops, sound design and more Of all the various studio processors, delay is one of the most widely used. From a thickening vocal slapback to an echoey synth line, you’d be hard-pressed to find a modern record that doesn’t feature delay or repeating treatments. The humble echo’s ubiquity can be attributed to its versatility. At the mixdown stage, adding delays to a signal can provide everything from subtle widening and mix thickening through to virtual ambience and even ‘glue’ to bind together multiple sounds in a mix. And if you’re more into sound design or composition, delay can provide your creations with overt rhythmic purpose, squealing feedback loops, custom chorus/flanging/phasing, and…3 min
Future Music|November 2016Eight great affordable delaysKorg Monotron Delay £40The Monotron Delay combines a basic single oscillator synth complete with filter and LFO with a simple two-knob delay effect. A quarter-inch audio input means the Delay is capable of processing external audio, making it a great budget-friendly device for FX.Waves H-Delay $179First released in 2009, H-Delay is a bit of an old hand now, but like most Waves plug-ins it’s got surprising longevity. Taking its cues from classic Lexicon hardware, the H-Delay boasts flexible modulation, filters and Lo-Fi and Analog modes for classic-sounding delay.Valhalla ÜberMod $50Like all Valhalla DSP plug-ins, ÜberMod combines a sleek, modern interface with a deceptively deep set of features. Here we get a very flexible delay combined with chorus, capable of creating gorgeous, heavily modulated effects. Check out their free Freq Echo…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Let’s patch up and explore the Tonestar01 > All we’ll need to get going is a pitch and gate source. We’re using the Audio Damage Sequencer 1 to create a bass riff and we’ll patch the pitch and gate into the Tonestar firing the envelopes into the VCA to get our patch going.02 > The Tonestar’s oscillator covers the classic waves with saw, square, triangle and a sub square wave. We can take things further with the onboard low-pass filter, resonance and overdrive. With the filter tracking the oscillator’s pitch too, our new waveshapes will stay constant.03 > If you’re left looking for even further onboard tones a little bit of internal patching can go a long way. Patching one of the oscillator waveforms into the filter’s CV input gives us audio rate cutoff modulation. This…1 min
Future Music|November 2016RomareFor some artists sampling is just a means to an end – a quick way to capture certain sounds and textures. For other musicians though, the process of sourcing, capturing and blending samples is an art form unto itself. Much like label-bosses Coldcut before him, Ninja Tune’s latest crate digger Romare is an artist who falls firmly into the latter category.Following a debut EP that explored the sonic and thematic links between West African rhythms, Jazz, Blues and Afro-American culture, Romare’s musical output to date has seen him joining the dots between Psychedelic Rock, British Folk, Detroit House and beyond. Named after American visual artist Romare Bearden and influenced by time living in South East Asia, Paris and London, Romare’s music plays like a multicultural musical history lesson, fashioned around…19 min
Future Music|November 2016Delay Vs ReverbDelay Vs Reverb While artificial reverberation is undoubtedly useful, you might want to try a short stereo delay first. Let’s look closer… To continue with our exploration of delay as a useful ambience generator, we’re going to apply both a short reverb and a basic stereo delay effect to a dry vocal part. Both place the vocal in a small virtual room, but it’s clear upon listening that both effects create different characteristics. While reverbs are more tailored towards ambience customisation, the delay’s simplicity adds an upfront sense of space that’s proven to work well on vocals, guitars and synths. This is only one example, of course – you’ll need to experiment with both your favourite reverb and delay effects to find out which you prefer for a given situation…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Eight great affordable delaysEight great affordable delays Delay comes in a multitude of formats and flavours, from analogue hardware to modern multi-mode plug-ins. Here are eight impressive options to bolster your studio toolkit without breaking the bank Korg Monotron Delay £40 The Monotron Delay combines a basic single oscillator synth complete with filter and LFO with a simple two-knob delay effect. A quarter-inch audio input means the Delay is capable of processing external audio, making it a great budget-friendly device for FX. Waves H-Delay $179 First released in 2009, H-Delay is a bit of an old hand now, but like most Waves plug-ins it’s got surprising longevity. Taking its cues from classic Lexicon hardware, the H-Delay boasts flexible modulation, filters and Lo-Fi and Analog modes for classic-sounding delay. Valhalla ÜberMod $50 Like all…2 min
Future Music|November 2016QUICK TIPS1 Foam wedges such as Mopads might seem like an easy way to isolate your monitors from the surface they are sat on, but can make matters worse by allowing your monitors more leeway to move around – while the foam will reduce transmission of bass resonances, the instability can negatively affect your stereo imaging.2 Using too many egg-box style acoustic tiles can do more harm than good – not only do they not deal with the low frequencies, but they also dull the high frequencies, potentially leading to a mix with ear-bashing treble!3 If your monitors kick out a lot of bass, place some heavy weights on top of them. This will reduce any subtle movement or cabinet vibration caused by low bass, giving a sharper stereo image and…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Speaker Management: Use Your EQMost active monitors feature controls on the back to adjust the sound of the monitors depending on what space they’re located in. As well as the usual gain control, you can usually adjust the bass and treble levels – now we’d not recommend using these just to shape the sound of your speakers as you’re effectively switching an EQ circuit into the signal path, thereby decreasing quality and messing around with the frequency response. However, if your mixes are consistently unbalanced in the highs or lows, then compensating with these controls can help deliver more repeatable results. For example, if your mixes are too bass light, try turning down the bass by 1dB – this’ll make the bass sound lighter when mixing, meaning you’ll most likely have more bass in…3 min
Future Music|November 2016pattenFollowing the release of two limited CDRs, patten first came to attention in 2011 with GLAQJO XACSSCO – a fittingly obscure title for an album forged from a combination of chaotic, industrial-sounding rhythms. Warp Records seemed a natural fit. Known simply as ‘D’ and ‘A’, the duo’s desire for anonymity is intended to encourage their audience to ignore them and focus on every part of each project’s umbrella arc, if not actually become it.Based on the Greek letter Ψ (Psi), patten’s third album continues their malleable approach to live and studio-based work, which seemingly has no fixed point. Instead, patten exist in a constant state of flux, where relentless experimentation allows them to constantly reinvent their sound.FM: So patten have now expanded from one member to two, right?A: “It’s always…16 min
Future Music|November 2016NO BRAINEROver the past few years, Moog have put a lot of effort into reviving their legacy with the release of a number of modulars, including a faithful reproduction of Keith Emerson’s legendary synth. This made the resurrection of the Minimoog Model D far smoother.“There was some very deep searching (that went on) to get all the right parts that were in the original modulars,” says Moog engineer Gene Stopp. “Some of those parts carried over to the Model D as it turned out. So that helped us say ‘There are really no roadblocks’.” That’s not to say that there weren’t challenges along the way. The texture of the front panel overlay turned out to be quite a task, but luckily the collective brain trust surrounding the Model D, both in…1 min
Future Music|November 2016ARPEGGIATOR, MOTION SEQUENCER, FX AND SCENESThe Montage has a powerful arpeggiator with 10,000+ presets and 256 user slots. It can be used as a backing tool or to add strumming or fret noises/articulation on acoustic guitar patches, produce accent arps with variation available via the real-time knobs, or to create beats, phrases and riffs. The motion sequencer creates multiple/simultaneous stepped or smooth transition-based mod sequences that you can use to vary and develop sounds over time. There are also several motion lanes (tracks) that can be applied and sent to a myriad of destinations and these can transform a simple sound into something truly otherworldly! It’s a complex system and you’ll need the manual to fully understand it but once you work it out it becomes pretty addictive! Then there’s a myriad of fantastic effects…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nord Beat 2 AppNord’s iPad-only sequencer is free and opens up the 3P to be more than just a performance tool. Nord Beat 2 features a six-channel, 16-step sequencer and while it’s designed for the Nord Drum it also can be used to control any external MIDI source, or other apps using the virtual MIDI connection. Three different and scalable velocities are available per step and are intuitive: swipe up for a lower velocity and swipe down for a greater velocity. Each of the three velocity options can be tweaked via the slider controls. The ‘song mode’ allows you to chain up to eight sequences and each one can be repeated up to a maximum of eight times.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Monitor Placement: An Expert’s ViewMonitor Placement: An Expert’s View With so many things to consider when setting your monitoring up correctly, we decided to ask speaker design guru Derek Alexander Wilson of Custom Install Audio for his thoughts on the subject. So, over to you, Derek… FM: What would you say are the main benefits of setting your monitoring up correctly? Derek Alexander Wilson: “The chief benefit is consistency of sound – if you follow the correct method each time, you minimise the variables, allowing greater focus on the mixing/ mastering changes you’re making rather than room interaction or listening distance variables. Also, if you always work with the monitors correctly set up in the same position, your ears will become tuned to the sound produced, making it easier to detect spatial and frequency…2 min
Future Music|November 2016CHORD MODEThe KeyStep’s Chord Mode feature allows users to define a chord and then trigger that shape transposed across the keyboard. This is done by hitting Shift and holding down the Hold/Chord button. Up to 16 notes can then be inputted consecutively, which will form the saved chord shape. The lowest note entered acts as the chord’s root note, by which the chord is transposed across the keyboard. These chords can be sequenced, although doing so reduces the maximum chord size from 16 notes to the sequencer’s per-step capacity of eight notes. Used alongside the arp, Chord mode makes it very easy to create single-finger arpeggiations.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nearfield monitor positioning in a project studioNearfield monitor positioning in a project studio Positioning your nearfield monitors correctly is a great way to improve the sound from your speakers 01 > When setting up nearfield monitoring, it always pays to spend some time making sure that your speakers are positioned correctly. In this project studio, the monitors are sat on the desk either side of the computer – hardly ideal. 02 > In their current position, the monitors are too close together – this’ll give issues with stereo width when mixing as the sound will naturally be too narrow, as well as there being lots of unwanted reflections and vibrations from the table top. Let’s move them onto some speaker stands. 03 > First up, we’ll use our speaker stands to isolate the speakers from the…1 min
Future Music|November 2016NATIVE ACCESSKomplete 11 is the first iteration of Native Instruments’ Komplete bundles to make history of the NI Service Centre which, until now, has been the portal through which authorisations and updates to NI products and libraries have been managed. This has now been replaced by Native Access, a new cloud-based application to which serial numbers are added before their corresponding libraries are made available for download. Already installed libraries (which offer a newer version or new content) are shown here too and your existing Service Centre registration details will log you in to Native Access. It’s a cleaner looking and easier to browse interface which makes upgrading or updating only the content you want much simpler.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Mid-Priced Headphones1 The LP2s are the smallest headphones of the bunch and they’re light too. They grip the head a little too well: great for jogging, less so for listening. There are plenty of accessories, but no one appears to have included sound quality. With a 32Ω impedance they drive easily, but what it produces we don’t want to hear, regardless of volume. The bass is overbearing, pushing the mids right back. The HF region is far from flat, rolling off to the point where it’s a strain to hear the tops. Overall they sound like an HDTS pirate film soundtrack. www.v-moda.comVERDICT 5.82 Compared to the HRM-6s these headphones are more ‘open’ in the high frequencies, which is also helped by a less beefed up low-end; we’d still like to hear…3 min
Future Music|November 2016samplemagic.comSM100Sample Magic celebrates a decade of inspirational sounds and music making tools with our biggest pack to date. Since launching over 10 years ago, Sample Magic has become the world’s leader in copyright free sounds and samples. We are proud to announce our commemorative 100 release featuring all new samples.£34.90FUTURE SOULA fusion of maximalist beats, epic evolving melodics and hook-laden vocal chops. This 1.4GB+ collection takes its cues from hardcore-digital production as well as vintage funk and soul vibes to devastating effect.£34.90FESTIVAL TRAPEuphoric, in-your-face and hard hitting – 100% guaranteed to get your production blazing dancefloors. Jammed with sub blasting grooves, hyper leads, glo-fi melodic synths and cone-rupturing 808 boom.£34.90TROPICAL SESSIONSCelebrate the end of summer with a selection of sun-drenched beach house grooves. 1.2GB+ of feel-good, euphoric and calypso vibes…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Playing more funkily!Sometimes rhythmically straight chords are called for in a track so as not to distract too much but they can also become boring quickly. More syncopated bouncy/funky rhythms can inject excitement and groove into your music. One of the best ways to practise is using a click or audio/visual metronome as a grid reference and get a rhythm going alternately between your hands on MIDI/drum pads or a keyboard. Then you can pick some chord shapes and start experimenting with rhythms you’ve practised. Here are some tips…> First, concentrate on your right hand. Pick an open-sounding funky chord shape such as this guitar-style one for C7 (Bflat, D, G) and lock your hand in that position. Practise playing the chord tightly on each beat in 4/4 until you feel comfortable…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Yamaha Montage 8 £3,308Yamaha Montage 8 £3,308 The long-established Motif has been replaced by the Montage. Dan ‘JD73’ Goldman finds out if it’s a worthy successor It feels like there are no bounds to the control and sound design possibilities which is great (yet scary!) Today DAWs are taking over where workstations such as the Motif once ruled supreme. Now, the Motif’s successor is here – the Montage. There are three models in the range including 61 and 76-note synthaction models and this 88-note weighted model (all with aftertouch). The Montage 8 is a heavy beast at 63lbs. It will be a great centrepiece in a large studio but for more compact spaces, the 61 or 76-key models are better suited. Ideally, I’d like a 73-note weighted version, or a more stiffly sprung…8 min
Future Music|November 2016HYBRID CONTROLLERSNI Maschine Jam £319Full Review: FM310 Jam is a great, creative controller in its own right, but it’s best used as a counterpoint to the existing Maschine hardware.NI Komplete Kontrol S61 | £599Review FM285 A beautiful hardware and software package that just works. Now works with third-party plug-ins too.Arturia MiniLab | €99Review FM269 Proof that small can be beautiful and the hybrid hardware/software alliance is still going strong.Akai Advance 49 | £389Review FM293 Combined with Akai’s VIP software, the Advance controllers remove the disconnect between controller and DAW.ROLI Rise 49 | £949Review: FM304 Coupled with the excellent Equator software and the new Noise app, ROLI’s unique, multi-dimensional controller is an appealing package.Ableton Push 2 €699Full Review: FM302 Push and Live were already a great combo, but version 9.5 and Push…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nord Beat 2 AppNord Beat 2 App Nord’s iPad-only sequencer is free and opens up the 3P to be more than just a performance tool. Nord Beat 2 features a six-channel, 16-step sequencer and while it’s designed for the Nord Drum it also can be used to control any external MIDI source, or other apps using the virtual MIDI connection. Three different and scalable velocities are available per step and are intuitive: swipe up for a lower velocity and swipe down for a greater velocity. Each of the three velocity options can be tweaked via the slider controls. The ‘song mode’ allows you to chain up to eight sequences and each one can be repeated up to a maximum of eight times.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016On the FM Vaultvault.futuremusic.co.ukFuture Music has outgrown its covermount DVD! We wanted to bring you more samples, sounds and high-quality video than ever before, so we’re putting it up online for you to download. Simply head to the FM ‘Vault’ at the link above, login/ register, then hit ‘add a magazine’ to register this issue and get all the video, audio and samples.SAMPLE PACKSExclusive new sounds with every issueGROOVE CRIMINALS PRESENT…FM Synth Special502 instrument loops, basslines, percussive hits and FX rich with the classic metallic sound of FM synthesis.CYCLICK SAMPLES PRESENT…Overloaded Beats860 crunchy, fuzzy and overdriven beat loops at a host of tempos to add bite and grit to your tracks.PLUSACCESS THE FM SAMPLE ARCHIVE!Download the ‘Sample Archive’ packs and get over 8GB of loops, hits and instruments from our back catalogue of…1 min
Future Music|November 2016On the FM VaultONLINE VAULT On the FM Vault vault.futuremusic.co.uk Future Music has outgrown its covermount DVD! We wanted to bring you more samples, sounds and high-quality video than ever before, so we’re putting it up online for you to download. Simply head to the FM ‘Vault’ at the link above, login/ register, then hit ‘add a magazine’ to register this issue and get all the video, audio and samples. SAMPLE PACKS Exclusive new sounds with every issue GROOVE CRIMINALS PRESENT… FM Synth Special 502 instrument loops, basslines, percussive hits and FX rich with the classic metallic sound of FM synthesis. CYCLICK SAMPLES PRESENT… Overloaded Beats 860 crunchy, fuzzy and overdriven beat loops at a host of tempos to add bite and grit to your tracks. PLUS ACCESS THE FM SAMPLE ARCHIVE! Download…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Feel the HeatFeel the Heat Elektron’s new Analog signal processor promises to both enhance and destroy your sounds To date, Elektron’s Analog range has focused entirely on instruments, in the form of the Analog Four and Keys synths and Analog Rytm drum machine. Now, with Analog Heat, the Gothenburg-based brand are adding an effects processor to the line-up too. Designed, according to Elektron, to both enhance and destroy audio signals, Analog Heat combines eight different distortion circuits with a resonant multi-mode filter and two-band EQ, all of which feature stereo, analogue circuitry. The range of distortion circuits have, purportedly, been designed to complement one another, offering an assortment of treatments from gentle saturation, clean boosting and enhancement through to fuzz and high-gain. Drive amount, Wet Level and Wet/Dry controls allow each to…2 min
Future Music|November 2016SSE Iucleus returnsSSE Iucleus returns Solid State Logic have announced a new version of their highly acclaimed Nucleus DAW controller and audio interface, the Nucleus². Alongside its new finish, the Nucleus² also features a brand new 2+2 Dante audio card, completely replacing the audio interface from the previous version. Nucleus² is a compact, portable desktop unit that SSL hopes can create a “comfortable, efficient, hands-on operating environment for DAW-based music and film/TV post production”. The controller offers up switching between three DAWs with the press of a single button, plus two banks of eight channel controls and centre section controls. Nucleus² will be shipping from November and will be priced at £3,399 plus VAT.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Apogee are in their ElementApogee are in their Element Apogee have released a new range of audio interfaces – the Element 24, 46 and 88. These Thunderbolt audio I/O boxes are Mac only and take the best bits from other Apogee gear such as the Symphony I/O Mk II, Ensemble Thunderbolt and Groove. The Element range is designed to offer advanced software control and ultimate recording quality and performance at affordable prices. The I/O boxes themselves offer little in the way of control, as this is largely handled by the new Element Control software and Control Mobile app. The software provides control of all hardware parameters including input gain, output level and low latency monitoring. The Element Control Mobile app will provide you with wireless remote control of hardware via your iPhone, iPad or…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Track by track with The All Seeing I“I laughed out loud when a reviewer accused us of ripping off George Michael’s Faith”DJP: “We didn’t fit into the accepted idea of Dance music in the ’90s. You wouldn’t find us gurning at American DJs in super clubs. We liked sweaty cellar parties with small groups of friends. We literally made bedroom music: the studio was in Dean’s bedroom! He was a collector of analogue gear and into ’70s/early ’80s electronics. Jason is younger than us and didn’t have the same baggage. He liked a lot of Indie stuff/experimental Dance music, and would always be scrounging round charity shops for cheap keyboards and stuff.”Walk like a Panther (featuring Tony Christie)DJ Parrot: “The Beat Goes On was an unexpected hit, so we wanted a follow-up, but didn’t want to do…8 min
Future Music|November 2016Track by track with The All Seeing IClassic Album Track by track with The All Seeing I “I laughed out loud when a reviewer accused us of ripping off George Michael’s Faith” DJP: “We didn’t fit into the accepted idea of Dance music in the ’90s. You wouldn’t find us gurning at American DJs in super clubs. We liked sweaty cellar parties with small groups of friends. We literally made bedroom music: the studio was in Dean’s bedroom! He was a collector of analogue gear and into ’70s/early ’80s electronics. Jason is younger than us and didn’t have the same baggage. He liked a lot of Indie stuff/experimental Dance music, and would always be scrounging round charity shops for cheap keyboards and stuff.” Walk like a Panther (featuring Tony Christie) DJ Parrot: “The Beat Goes On was…8 min
Future Music|November 2016Creating width with delayOne of the most common uses for delay applications is the generation of artificial stereo width in a mix. The Haas effect is a psychoacoustic phenomenon that dictates how we perceive the location of a source sound within an acoustic space. If two identical, hard-panned copies of a source sound play at the same time, we only hear a single source sound coming from the exact centre of the two speakers – the ‘phantom centre’. If one of these hard-panned signals is delayed by 1-20ms, we still only perceive one source sound, but this time it appears to emerge from the non-delayed side of the stereo image. Once the copied signal is delayed by more than 20ms, our brain and ears perceive the effect as two distinct, separate signals.Not only…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Using delay as reverbIt’s time to place your dry, digital sound sources within some kind of realistic virtual ‘room’. That’s what reverberation is for, right? Well, yes – virtual reverb does authentically replicate the plentiful reflections created within a physical environment via a multitude of delay and feedback lines – but, truth be told, both algorithmic and convolution reverbs can get a little cloudy and dense amongst a busy mix. And once you’ve piled up a bunch of different reverbs across several different track elements, you’re likely to end up with a washed-out, clouded sound that’s a million miles away from the tight depth you envisaged.Well, this is where delay can shine. Although nothing beats reverb for pushing an element right back in a mix, delay can often be a better call for…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Sync’d Vs Unsync’d DelaySync’d Vs Unsync’d Delay Clocking delay repeats to your host tempo is a quick and easy route to rhythmic conformity… but don’t we all want analogue-style imperfection? When working in the box, it’s all too easy to sync everything to your DAW’s master clock. Yet by doing this, you’re missing out on the subtle imperfections that make analogue music so captivating. Digital conformity is so ’80s, man! But instead of buying a wallet-crippling hardware delay unit that’s probably a bit knackered, you can always choose whether robotic, computerised delay times enhance your music – or simply reference and emulate the now-primitive methods of non-tempo-sync’d delay settings to inject old-school imperfection into even the most simplest of mix situations. Here, we’ll touch upon both the benefits and downfalls of mathematically-perfect delay…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Anatomy of a delayAnatomy of a delay Whereas reverb effects use multiple short delay lines to replicate acoustic reflections in a physical space, a delay device stores the input signal in a buffer, then repeats it after an amount of time determined by the Delay Time parameter. The time can be set in milliseconds, or in the case of software plug-ins, set in rhythmic divisions (1/4-note, 1/8-note etc) clocked to your DAW’s tempo. Increase the delay’s feedback amount and the delay’s output is fed back into the input, causing the repeats to increase and intensify to create the classic repeating echo effect. Delay traditionally operates in mono by default, but there’s usually an offset dial for delaying the timing of the repeats between the left and right channels by a few milliseconds –…3 min
Future Music|November 2016Creating width with delayCreating width with delay One of the most common uses for delay applications is the generation of artificial stereo width in a mix. The Haas effect is a psychoacoustic phenomenon that dictates how we perceive the location of a source sound within an acoustic space. If two identical, hard-panned copies of a source sound play at the same time, we only hear a single source sound coming from the exact centre of the two speakers – the ‘phantom centre’. If one of these hard-panned signals is delayed by 1-20ms, we still only perceive one source sound, but this time it appears to emerge from the non-delayed side of the stereo image. Once the copied signal is delayed by more than 20ms, our brain and ears perceive the effect as two…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Using delay as reverbUsing delay as reverb It’s time to place your dry, digital sound sources within some kind of realistic virtual ‘room’. That’s what reverberation is for, right? Well, yes – virtual reverb does authentically replicate the plentiful reflections created within a physical environment via a multitude of delay and feedback lines – but, truth be told, both algorithmic and convolution reverbs can get a little cloudy and dense amongst a busy mix. And once you’ve piled up a bunch of different reverbs across several different track elements, you’re likely to end up with a washed-out, clouded sound that’s a million miles away from the tight depth you envisaged. Well, this is where delay can shine. Although nothing beats reverb for pushing an element right back in a mix, delay can often…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Making the Tropical House marimba lead01 > Guy began Perfect Strangers’ composition with its marimba hook. “I’ll use something in Logic to get the idea down straightaway. It’s really important for me because as a [keyboard] player, I play everything in live – I don’t do anything by the piano roll.” The base sound of the marimba part is EXS24’s factory Marimba patch.02 > The marimba on its own isn’t bright enough for Guy’s taste: “It’s quite muted, even with the velocity up quite high,” he notes. To remedy this he layers it up with the EXS24’s factory Xylophone patch, which is transposed up an octave, increasing the amount of high frequency information in the composite sound.03 > Although the layered part is much more present, Guy is still unsatisfied with the tinkly Tropical sound:…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Improve Your Sound With Everyday ObjectsEliminating rattling or shaking in your room caused by bass frequencies will make your monitoring instantly sound clearer, aiding in getting a more precise and well-balanced mix. A good tip is to use a basic sine wave oscillator in any synth and play some low notes to get a better idea of what’s shaking in your room without any mid or high frequencies masking the rattles. Once you’ve found the cause of the shaking, getting creative with everyday objects can help to improve matters. Let’s run through some solutions for eliminating rattles and shakes using either unwanted stuff you’d probably throw away or some general purpose items that can be purchased cheaply from your local DIY store…> First up, we’ll use packing foam to isolate our computer and MIDI keyboards…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Let’s patch up and explore the TonestarTutorial Let’s patch up and explore the Tonestar Starting as a standalone voice we’ll delve into the Tonestar then bring in other SE modules for more tones 01 > All we’ll need to get going is a pitch and gate source. We’re using the Audio Damage Sequencer 1 to create a bass riff and we’ll patch the pitch and gate into the Tonestar firing the envelopes into the VCA to get our patch going. 02 > The Tonestar’s oscillator covers the classic waves with saw, square, triangle and a sub square wave. We can take things further with the onboard low-pass filter, resonance and overdrive. With the filter tracking the oscillator’s pitch too, our new waveshapes will stay constant. 03 > If you’re left looking for even further onboard tones…1 min
Future Music|November 2016RomareRomare His new LP, Love Songs: Part Two, connects the dots between Detroit House, British Folk, Hip-Hop and Blues. Si Truss goes on a sonic adventure with Romare… © Joseph Branston For some artists sampling is just a means to an end – a quick way to capture certain sounds and textures. For other musicians though, the process of sourcing, capturing and blending samples is an art form unto itself. Much like label-bosses Coldcut before him, Ninja Tune’s latest crate digger Romare is an artist who falls firmly into the latter category. Following a debut EP that explored the sonic and thematic links between West African rhythms, Jazz, Blues and Afro-American culture, Romare’s musical output to date has seen him joining the dots between Psychedelic Rock, British Folk, Detroit House…19 min
Future Music|November 2016Moog Minimoog Model D £3,249The keyboard action is responsive and refined, unlike the stiff and inorganic response of the originalReleased in 1971, the Minimoog was the essential Prog keyboard, the world-beating bass sound behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Disco revolution that preceded it, and later, the synthesizer of choice during the rise of ’90s French House and Post-Rock. Lost in the shuffle from digital synths to software, there was a period in the late-’80s/early ’90s when a vintage Model D could be yours for a few hundred dollars. Now an original unit can set you back well over £5,000.The Model D’s original brief was to give keyboard players of the early ’70s a way to combat the dominance of your Marshall-stacked guitarist on the other side of the stage. But after a while…8 min
Future Music|November 2016Yamaha Montage 8 £3,308It feels like there are no bounds to the control and sound design possibilities which is great (yet scary!)Today DAWs are taking over where workstations such as the Motif once ruled supreme. Now, the Motif’s successor is here – the Montage. There are three models in the range including 61 and 76-note synthaction models and this 88-note weighted model (all with aftertouch).The Montage 8 is a heavy beast at 63lbs. It will be a great centrepiece in a large studio but for more compact spaces, the 61 or 76-key models are better suited. Ideally, I’d like a 73-note weighted version, or a more stiffly sprung waterfall keybed version which traverses synth sounds and pianos nicely without the extra weight. As weighted keybeds go, the balanced hammer action keybed on the…8 min
Future Music|November 2016TrentemøllerInterview Trentemøller Denmark’s premier purveyor of brooding electronica, Anders Trentemøller, hones his songwriting craft to perfection on excellent new album, Fixion. Hamish Mackintosh finds out the facts © Tina Korhonen Some people never change whereas others have an inner drive to constantly change, reinvent and explore new avenues. Anders Trentemøller definitely falls into the latter category. Having cut his musical teeth in the world of Indie Rock, Trentemøller had something of an electronic epiphany that resulted (thankfully) in his influential 2006 debut album, The Last Resort, which saw his star rise. His follow up albums, Into The Great Wide Yonder and 2013’s Lost, have since seen Anders cement his reputation for his distinctive production sound, inventive remixes, immersive live shows and, perhaps most importantly, as a damn fine songwriter. Fixion,…16 min
Future Music|November 2016Arturia KeyStep Controller £99It’s far from cumbersome and easy enough to squeeze onto even a small desk alongside a laptopComing in the wake of last year’s excellent, multifaceted BeatStep Pro, Arturia’s latest controller – a simple-looking, 32-note mini keyboard – might look a little underwhelming at first glance. However, for a sub-£100 controller, the KeyStep packs in a surprising amount of functionality and an impressive number of well-designed features.As with the two ‘Steps’ that preceded it, the KeyStep features a range of different I/O formats. There’s a USB connection, for hooking the controller up to a computer, MIDI In and Out ports and CV Pitch, Gate and Mod outputs. There are also mini-jack Sync In/Out ports, which will work with pulse clock devices, such as Korg’s Volca range, or can send and receive…5 min
Future Music|November 2016Akai MPC Expansion PacksDark Parallax $59.99Grammy-nominated sound designer and producer Snipe Young delivers the largest of the new expansion packs, as part of the new Producer Series. The quality is high throughout and you can tell this is a producer who knows how to pick and treat sounds; they sound good individually and together too. Everything sounds crisp, warm and punchy and the sounds are tapey yet high-quality with some driven slightly for pleasant saturation and then polished with warm reverb. There’s an emphasis on processed acoustic drum sounds (with some killer kicks and funky snares) mixed with soft and low-filtered melodic loops on strings, pianos, choirs/vox and some great pads/synths/stabs and tasty percussion too. There’s a coherent sound to the pack in general and if you like warm and old-school with a…4 min
Future Music|November 2016NI Komplete 11 Ultimate £959 (upgrade: £319)Native Instruments occupy a unique position within our industry. They provide not only a wide range of their own instruments and effects libraries but they’re also the central linchpin for the content of many a third-party developer, as numerous manufacturers are reliant on Kontakt for sample playback and manipulation. Every year new titles are added to NI’s roster of products and, periodically, these are bundled up to become a new iteration of Komplete. The latest generation of Komplete bundles is now available – as Komplete 11 – in three separate packages. For more modest needs, Komplete 11 Select offers an introductory collection of instruments and sounds. The intermediate step is Komplete 11, which offers 45 products across 155GB of content. However, the subject of this review is Komplete 11 Ultimate,…6 min
Future Music|November 2016Room Analysis And Correction Using Reference 3Room Analysis And Correction Using Reference 3 DSP-based room treatment tech has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years... 01 > We’ll use Sonarworks Reference 3 alongside a test microphone to analyse our project studio’s acoustic properties before correcting for them using the included DSP plug-in. We set our test microphone up in the listening position facing the monitors at around ear height. 02 > Connect the mic to the interface with phantom power enabled. Next, we’ll load the software and click Begin Analysis before selecting the Reference Grade mic calibration profile. After this, you’ll need to select and verify the input channel for the test mic – we’re on channel 1. 03 > We’ll select the output device we’re using before playing the test track provided and…1 min
Future Music|November 2016pattenInterview patten Experimental duo patten create their own frontiers, disintegrating genres through the use of abstract, sample-based soundscapes. As Danny Turner discovers, linear questioning on gear and technique often hits a dead end © Joseph Branston Following the release of two limited CDRs, patten first came to attention in 2011 with GLAQJO XACSSCO – a fittingly obscure title for an album forged from a combination of chaotic, industrial-sounding rhythms. Warp Records seemed a natural fit. Known simply as ‘D’ and ‘A’, the duo’s desire for anonymity is intended to encourage their audience to ignore them and focus on every part of each project’s umbrella arc, if not actually become it. Based on the Greek letter Ψ (Psi), patten’s third album continues their malleable approach to live and studio-based work, which…15 min
Future Music|November 2016ADVICEShould I give an isomorphic keyboard layout a go?If you’re struggling to play a standard MIDI keyboard, an isomorphic layout could certainly be worth a try. This usually consists of a hexagonal grid and the idea is that, rather than having to learn how to play lots of different scales and chords, as you do on a standard keyboard, the intervals are the same wherever you are on the keyboard. So, once you know how to play a major triad in one key, for example, the position will be exactly the same from each note, making it (theoretically, at least) easier to play.The best-known isomorphic controllers used to be C-Thru Music’s Axis 49 and 64, but sadly, these are no longer in production. However, you can utilise isomorphic layouts on…4 min
Future Music|November 2016NO BRAINERNO BRAINER Over the past few years, Moog have put a lot of effort into reviving their legacy with the release of a number of modulars, including a faithful reproduction of Keith Emerson’s legendary synth. This made the resurrection of the Minimoog Model D far smoother. “There was some very deep searching (that went on) to get all the right parts that were in the original modulars,” says Moog engineer Gene Stopp. “Some of those parts carried over to the Model D as it turned out. So that helped us say ‘There are really no roadblocks’.” That’s not to say that there weren’t challenges along the way. The texture of the front panel overlay turned out to be quite a task, but luckily the collective brain trust surrounding the Model…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nord Drum 3P £579Nord Drum 3P £579 The third iteration of Nord Drum has spawned a new member. Simon Arblaster dusts off the sticks… The 3P offers the perfect tonic to the norm. That’s not to say you couldn’t whip up an 808 kick on it It can often be said that if you lust after something for a long time, when you finally get the chance to meet the object of your affection you’ll be sorely let down. This was my worry when the Nord Drum 3P came into the office for review. I hadn’t had much time with its previous incarnations, but the brief time I did have, I instantly loved their sound. So when the third iteration of Clavia’s beatbox made its debut at Musikmesse 2016, I knew I had…5 min
Future Music|November 2016Generation gapWELCOME Generation gap The life of a synth fan is driven by two competing instincts. On the one hand, there’s a love of all things vintage; an affection for the warm and imperfect sound of classic analogue circuitry and a lustful desire for anything with a bit of wood panelling. On the other, there’s an excitement at trying new things, be it new cutting-edge technology or a brand new instrument. Well in this issue’s reviews section, we’ve got both sides of the coin covered, in the shape of Moog’s faithful recreation of one of the most iconic synths of all time – the Model D – and Yamaha’s new flagship instrument, the Montage 8. Head for the reviews section on page 78 where we put both through their paces. Also…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Smart thinking from iZotopeFollowing the release of their free Neutrino plug-in iZotope have revealed a far more comprehensive mixing tool, Neutron, based on the same spectral technology. Neutron features what the company is calling “industry-first” smart features that are designed to make the mixing process easier. The most eye-catching of these is Track Assistant, which analyses your track and automatically detects the instruments within it. It then recommends where EQ nodes should be placed and suggests optimal settings for other modules. iZotope stress that, ultimately, you still have to make the mixing decisions yourself, but Track Assistant may give you some good starting points and save you time. There’s also the Masking Meter, which is designed to let you visually identify frequency clashes between instruments so you can make any adjustments.Neutron will be…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Apogee are in their ElementApogee have released a new range of audio interfaces – the Element 24, 46 and 88. These Thunderbolt audio I/O boxes are Mac only and take the best bits from other Apogee gear such as the Symphony I/O Mk II, Ensemble Thunderbolt and Groove.The Element range is designed to offer advanced software control and ultimate recording quality and performance at affordable prices. The I/O boxes themselves offer little in the way of control, as this is largely handled by the new Element Control software and Control Mobile app. The software provides control of all hardware parameters including input gain, output level and low latency monitoring. The Element Control Mobile app will provide you with wireless remote control of hardware via your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. However, if you’d like…1 min
Future Music|November 2016TALKING SDOP LTOLTO is a Bristol-based producer and member of excellent Ambient electronic outfit Old Apparatus. Having made a name for himself over the past few years with a string of intricate, atmospheric bass-driven productions, both solo and as part of the collective, 2016 has seen the release of his first solo full-length, The Number From Which All Things Come. FM caught up with LTO to find out more about the gear, influences and techniques behind his sound.FM: Tell us about your studio… LTO: “I’m still just using the corner of my bedroom for producing and pretty tight for space in my current place which puts me off buying hardware so mostly using plug-ins at the moment. I’m hoping to buy a place at some point with a dedicated studio and one…1 min
Future Music|November 2016DELAY TACTICSOf all the various studio processors, delay is one of the most widely used. From a thickening vocal slapback to an echoey synth line, you’d be hard-pressed to find a modern record that doesn’t feature delay or repeating treatments. The humble echo’s ubiquity can be attributed to its versatility. At the mixdown stage, adding delays to a signal can provide everything from subtle widening and mix thickening through to virtual ambience and even ‘glue’ to bind together multiple sounds in a mix. And if you’re more into sound design or composition, delay can provide your creations with overt rhythmic purpose, squealing feedback loops, custom chorus/flanging/phasing, and myriad other creative purposes.However, while you might think it’s just a case of cranking up the feedback and setting the delay time, you require…3 min
Future Music|November 2016Sync’d Vs Unsync’d DelayWhen working in the box, it’s all too easy to sync everything to your DAW’s master clock. Yet by doing this, you’re missing out on the subtle imperfections that make analogue music so captivating. Digital conformity is so ’80s, man! But instead of buying a wallet-crippling hardware delay unit that’s probably a bit knackered, you can always choose whether robotic, computerised delay times enhance your music – or simply reference and emulate the now-primitive methods of non-tempo-sync’d delay settings to inject old-school imperfection into even the most simplest of mix situations. Here, we’ll touch upon both the benefits and downfalls of mathematically-perfect delay sync. Choose to use it when you need clock-tight loops and rigid productions, but reject it when you need subtle vintage drift and vibe.Here’s a bog-standard dub…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Delay Sound DesignThis is a rather unorthodox sound design technique, but stick with us and you’ll see where we’re headed. First up, pile up a bunch of various sounds in your DAW – we’ve got a vocal chunk, a synth hit, a dirty bass ‘buzz’, a gritty lead, an old-school chord stab and another pitched vocal segment. Tune them all to the same musical key, and make sure they all play at once.Group this multitude of channels to a single buss channel or group, then pipe this group’s signal in parallel to a return track containing a well-equipped delay plug-in – we’re using Soundtoys’ EchoBoy. Fiddle around with the delay’s settings as you fire the multiple layers into the delay return. Crank up the feedback to extend the repeats and switch between…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Delay Vs ReverbTo continue with our exploration of delay as a useful ambience generator, we’re going to apply both a short reverb and a basic stereo delay effect to a dry vocal part. Both place the vocal in a small virtual room, but it’s clear upon listening that both effects create different characteristics. While reverbs are more tailored towards ambience customisation, the delay’s simplicity adds an upfront sense of space that’s proven to work well on vocals, guitars and synths. This is only one example, of course – you’ll need to experiment with both your favourite reverb and delay effects to find out which you prefer for a given situation – but it clearly illustrates that a short slapback delay can often provide more controlled ambience than a stock reverb effect.Here’s an…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Tonestar to the rescue!SE (Studio Electronics) have been making high-quality synths since 1981, but in more recent years their Boomstar synths may have caught your eye, plus their modular range has expanded massively with a range of Boomstar-focused modules, new digital modules and the Tonestar.The Tonestar is a full semi-modular synth voice for Eurorack and it simply sounds stunning! It features an oscillator based on the Boomstar Oscillation module, their 2600 ARP filter clone (there’s some serious mojo here), two envelopes, a VCA, LFO, feedback circuit and mixer. With just a pitch CV and a gate you can get a wide range of tones from the internal ‘normalling’ (the internal pre-patched signal path), but you get 21 jack sockets to go to town on a fully patchable modular experience.Before we get into using…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Delay Sound DesignDelay Sound Design It’s not all about simple repeats – try stacking up creative delay washes… This is a rather unorthodox sound design technique, but stick with us and you’ll see where we’re headed. First up, pile up a bunch of various sounds in your DAW – we’ve got a vocal chunk, a synth hit, a dirty bass ‘buzz’, a gritty lead, an old-school chord stab and another pitched vocal segment. Tune them all to the same musical key, and make sure they all play at once. Group this multitude of channels to a single buss channel or group, then pipe this group’s signal in parallel to a return track containing a well-equipped delay plug-in – we’re using Soundtoys’ EchoBoy. Fiddle around with the delay’s settings as you fire the…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Jonas Blue Perfect Strangers ft.JP Cooper“I finished Fast Car, it blew up, and the record label and my management said ‘What’s next?’. I was like, ‘Let’s just make some music’. I didn’t really think, ‘f*ck, Fast Car has done this and I’m never going to be able to match it’. It was just a case of carry on, and make something that feels good.”Jonas Blue burst into the public consciousness in 2015 with a Tropical House cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car with singer Dakota, which swiftly became an enormous mainstream success and established Jonas – real name Guy Robin – as one of the biggest new names in commercial Dance music. We caught up with Guy in his Ilford studio to find out how he created the follow-up, Perfect Strangers featuring vocalist JP Cooper.There…4 min
Future Music|November 2016TrentemøllerSome people never change whereas others have an inner drive to constantly change, reinvent and explore new avenues. Anders Trentemøller definitely falls into the latter category. Having cut his musical teeth in the world of Indie Rock, Trentemøller had something of an electronic epiphany that resulted (thankfully) in his influential 2006 debut album, The Last Resort, which saw his star rise. His follow up albums, Into The Great Wide Yonder and 2013’s Lost, have since seen Anders cement his reputation for his distinctive production sound, inventive remixes, immersive live shows and, perhaps most importantly, as a damn fine songwriter.Fixion, his fourth artist album, sees Trentemøller refine those songwriting skills yet further on songs such as the sublime River of Me, and the icy electronic pulse of Redefine showcases his continued…16 min
Future Music|November 2016Monitor Placement: An Expert’s ViewWith so many things to consider when setting your monitoring up correctly, we decided to ask speaker design guru Derek Alexander Wilson of Custom Install Audio for his thoughts on the subject. So, over to you, Derek…FM: What would you say are the main benefits of setting your monitoring up correctly?Derek Alexander Wilson: “The chief benefit is consistency of sound – if you follow the correct method each time, you minimise the variables, allowing greater focus on the mixing/ mastering changes you’re making rather than room interaction or listening distance variables. Also, if you always work with the monitors correctly set up in the same position, your ears will become tuned to the sound produced, making it easier to detect spatial and frequency issues more easily – the less variables…2 min
Future Music|November 2016Tonestar to the rescue!Tonestar to the rescue! Whether a first synth, first module or extra voice, we’re loving the Tonestar SE (Studio Electronics) have been making high-quality synths since 1981, but in more recent years their Boomstar synths may have caught your eye, plus their modular range has expanded massively with a range of Boomstar-focused modules, new digital modules and the Tonestar. The Tonestar is a full semi-modular synth voice for Eurorack and it simply sounds stunning! It features an oscillator based on the Boomstar Oscillation module, their 2600 ARP filter clone (there’s some serious mojo here), two envelopes, a VCA, LFO, feedback circuit and mixer. With just a pitch CV and a gate you can get a wide range of tones from the internal ‘normalling’ (the internal pre-patched signal path), but you…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nearfield monitor positioning in a project studio01 > When setting up nearfield monitoring, it always pays to spend some time making sure that your speakers are positioned correctly. In this project studio, the monitors are sat on the desk either side of the computer – hardly ideal.02 > In their current position, the monitors are too close together – this’ll give issues with stereo width when mixing as the sound will naturally be too narrow, as well as there being lots of unwanted reflections and vibrations from the table top. Let’s move them onto some speaker stands.03 > First up, we’ll use our speaker stands to isolate the speakers from the desk. We’ve got the stands we filled with sand earlier on and put them on some leftover concrete slabs – this is so the tweeters…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Room Analysis And Correction Using Reference 301 > We’ll use Sonarworks Reference 3 alongside a test microphone to analyse our project studio’s acoustic properties before correcting for them using the included DSP plug-in. We set our test microphone up in the listening position facing the monitors at around ear height.02 > Connect the mic to the interface with phantom power enabled. Next, we’ll load the software and click Begin Analysis before selecting the Reference Grade mic calibration profile. After this, you’ll need to select and verify the input channel for the test mic – we’re on channel 1.03 > We’ll select the output device we’re using before playing the test track provided and adjusting the volume until the dialogue is at conversation level. Now, we’ll adjust the microphone’s sensitivity – if your levels are out, the…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Jonas Blue Perfect Strangers ft.JP CooperTHE TRACK Jonas Blue Perfect Strangers ft.JP Cooper Virgin EMI Records, 2016 © Joe Branston “I finished Fast Car, it blew up, and the record label and my management said ‘What’s next?’. I was like, ‘Let’s just make some music’. I didn’t really think, ‘f*ck, Fast Car has done this and I’m never going to be able to match it’. It was just a case of carry on, and make something that feels good.” Jonas Blue burst into the public consciousness in 2015 with a Tropical House cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car with singer Dakota, which swiftly became an enormous mainstream success and established Jonas – real name Guy Robin – as one of the biggest new names in commercial Dance music. We caught up with Guy in his…4 min
Future Music|November 2016Making the Tropical House marimba leadMaking the Tropical House marimba lead Every Tropical House anthem needs a catchy percussive lead line – here’s how Guy made his… 01 > Guy began Perfect Strangers’ composition with its marimba hook. “I’ll use something in Logic to get the idea down straightaway. It’s really important for me because as a [keyboard] player, I play everything in live – I don’t do anything by the piano roll.” The base sound of the marimba part is EXS24’s factory Marimba patch. 02 > The marimba on its own isn’t bright enough for Guy’s taste: “It’s quite muted, even with the velocity up quite high,” he notes. To remedy this he layers it up with the EXS24’s factory Xylophone patch, which is transposed up an octave, increasing the amount of high frequency…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Nord Drum 3P £579The 3P offers the perfect tonic to the norm. That’s not to say you couldn’t whip up an 808 kick on itIt can often be said that if you lust after something for a long time, when you finally get the chance to meet the object of your affection you’ll be sorely let down. This was my worry when the Nord Drum 3P came into the office for review. I hadn’t had much time with its previous incarnations, but the brief time I did have, I instantly loved their sound. So when the third iteration of Clavia’s beatbox made its debut at Musikmesse 2016, I knew I had to get my hands on one for a closer look. The big surprise at the launch was the introduction of the 3P.…6 min
Future Music|November 2016Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 £294.99Recording quality is very good, with a clear, open sound offered via the onboard preampsThe portable Scarlett 18i8 is the latest of Focusrite’s range of audio interfaces to benefit from an overhaul. So what, you might reasonably ask, is new in this second incarnation of the 18i8? Well, a whole range of things. Firstly, support for recordings of sample rates up to 192kHz is now provided, while the preamp design has been modified too for higher-quality recordings featuring lower noise and increased gain. This is also true of the instrument inputs which, Focusrite ensure, can now cope with even the loudest guitar recordings. Perhaps most significantly, there is now compatibility between the 18i8 and the Focusrite Control software, which acts as a bridge between the hardware itself and your computer,…3 min
Future Music|November 2016Improve Your Sound With Everyday ObjectsImprove Your Sound With Everyday Objects It’s easy to use inexpensive high street items/household objects to reduce unwanted rattling or shaking caused by bass frequencies Eliminating rattling or shaking in your room caused by bass frequencies will make your monitoring instantly sound clearer, aiding in getting a more precise and well-balanced mix. A good tip is to use a basic sine wave oscillator in any synth and play some low notes to get a better idea of what’s shaking in your room without any mid or high frequencies masking the rattles. Once you’ve found the cause of the shaking, getting creative with everyday objects can help to improve matters. Let’s run through some solutions for eliminating rattles and shakes using either unwanted stuff you’d probably throw away or some general…1 min
Future Music|November 2016QUICK TIPSQUICK TIPS 1 Foam wedges such as Mopads might seem like an easy way to isolate your monitors from the surface they are sat on, but can make matters worse by allowing your monitors more leeway to move around – while the foam will reduce transmission of bass resonances, the instability can negatively affect your stereo imaging. 2 Using too many egg-box style acoustic tiles can do more harm than good – not only do they not deal with the low frequencies, but they also dull the high frequencies, potentially leading to a mix with ear-bashing treble! 3 If your monitors kick out a lot of bass, place some heavy weights on top of them. This will reduce any subtle movement or cabinet vibration caused by low bass, giving a…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Speaker Management: Use Your EQSpeaker Management: Use Your EQ Most active monitors feature controls on the back to adjust the sound of the monitors depending on what space they’re located in. As well as the usual gain control, you can usually adjust the bass and treble levels – now we’d not recommend using these just to shape the sound of your speakers as you’re effectively switching an EQ circuit into the signal path, thereby decreasing quality and messing around with the frequency response. However, if your mixes are consistently unbalanced in the highs or lows, then compensating with these controls can help deliver more repeatable results. For example, if your mixes are too bass light, try turning down the bass by 1dB – this’ll make the bass sound lighter when mixing, meaning you’ll most…3 min
Future Music|November 2016SYMPHONY ESSENTIALSNI have made a concerted effort to reach out to music for picture and media composers in recent years and the fruits of their efforts are clear here; indeed, composers will be among the groups most enticed by Komplete Ultimate 11. This is in part due to the Symphony Essentials collections, which are stripped-down versions of the Symphony Series libraries NI have developed with Soundiron in the past couple of years. The Essentials collections offer fewer articulations and less flexibility when it comes to microphone placement but they offer a good sound and will prove a real bonus for composers.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016Moog Minimoog Model D £3,249Moog Minimoog Model D £3,249 A legendary analogue synth resurrected circuit by circuit. JoE Silva pinches himself to make sure he’s not dreaming… The keyboard action is responsive and refined, unlike the stiff and inorganic response of the original Released in 1971, the Minimoog was the essential Prog keyboard, the world-beating bass sound behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Disco revolution that preceded it, and later, the synthesizer of choice during the rise of ’90s French House and Post-Rock. Lost in the shuffle from digital synths to software, there was a period in the late-’80s/early ’90s when a vintage Model D could be yours for a few hundred dollars. Now an original unit can set you back well over £5,000. The Model D’s original brief was to give keyboard players…7 min
Future Music|November 2016HARDWARE SYNTHSMoog Model D £3,249Full Review: FM311 While bringing back all the characteristic sound of the original Minimoog, Moog have added some elegant modifications to deliver a modern synth that’s fully worthy of their storied legacy.Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 | $1,999Review FM284 A ridiculously versatile mono/ paraphonic synth that anyone can happily get lost in. Without doubt a great investment.Moog Sub 37 | $1,579Review FM286 With a richer set of features and fewer operational hurdles than its predecessor, the Sub 37 is a superb and highly desirable upgrade to the Phatty family of Moog synths.Sequential Prophet-6 | £2,199Review FM297 The Sequential name returns, and the Prophet-6 more than lives up to its heritage. Another future classic from Dave Smith.Roland JD-XA | £1,549Review FM295 Greater than the sum of its parts.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016ARPEGGIATOR, MOTION SEQUENCER, FX AND SCENESARPEGGIATOR, MOTION SEQUENCER, FX AND SCENES The Montage has a powerful arpeggiator with 10,000+ presets and 256 user slots. It can be used as a backing tool or to add strumming or fret noises/articulation on acoustic guitar patches, produce accent arps with variation available via the real-time knobs, or to create beats, phrases and riffs. The motion sequencer creates multiple/simultaneous stepped or smooth transition-based mod sequences that you can use to vary and develop sounds over time. There are also several motion lanes (tracks) that can be applied and sent to a myriad of destinations and these can transform a simple sound into something truly otherworldly! It’s a complex system and you’ll need the manual to fully understand it but once you work it out it becomes pretty addictive! Then…1 min
Future Music|November 2016CV SEQUENCERSArturia KeyStep £99Full Review: FM311 With lots of functionality and flexibility packed into a convenient and affordable package, the KeyStep gets a big thumbs-up.Arturia BeatStep Pro | £185Review FM296 Arturia’s sequencer bridges the gap between MIDI and CV, and is easily the most versatile device you’ll find at this price.Koma Elektronik Komplex | £1,299Review: FM304 Komplex by name, complex by nature. Koma’s sequencing beast is a real quality bit of kit that offers a ton of flexibility.Korg SQ-1 | £106Review FM290 Korg’s compact sequencer is one of the most budget-friendly CV tools out there, but it’s still got a decent amount of flexibility.Analogue Solutions Oberkorn 3 | £600A classic-style rack-mounted analogue sequencer. Straightforward but quality.…1 min
Future Music|November 2016DRUM MACHINESElektron Analog Rytm | £1,199Full Review: FM282 The Rytm sounds massive and is very flexible. It’s inspiring and addictive, and the sequencer is hugely versatile.Roland TR-8 | £379Review FM277 Captures the essential tone of the original TR-808/909 but takes it firmly into the future. A must-have.DSI/Roger Linn Tempest | £1,608Review FM248 Doubtlessly lives up to the heritage of the two names behind it – certainly destined to be a future classic.Elektron Machinedrum | £1,116Feature-packed and inspiring to use, Elektron’s beast of a drum machine is a definite modern classic, and still up there with the best.MFB Tanzmaus | £330Review FM307 Workflow-wise the Tanzmaus and Tanzbär Lite are pretty flawed but, when they sound this good, we can just about overlook that.…1 min
