Table of contents for October 2018 in Future Music

Filter Classic Album Track by track with Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier Night Falls Walter: “Our first album [Memento] was very introverted, small and intimate – when we played it out on stage it wasn’t energetic enough. So now we wanted to do music that was more riff-orientated and anthemic, where the chords were big, but not the sound. On this album we played big chords, but with very small elements. You can hear it in the middle part of Night Falls. It’s a classic Wagnerian approach. You could play it with brass! “We’d take a small synthesiser plugin and play it with a kind of organ sound. We always tried not to ‘blow up’ the music, as it was in the trance world. We tried to get rid of all…

ALBUM REVIEWS ALBUM OF THE MONTH ScottXylo FindUsWhen YouGetThere Black Acre L eicester might not be the first place you think of when it comes to exciting future funk, but in the East Midlands city’s 23-year-old producer, Scott Xylo, there is a new rising star. Following a string of releases that won critical acclaim last year, the wildly talented Brit has been snapped up by taste-making imprint Black Acre for his debut album. Find Us When You Get There is a wonderfully diverse, genre-defying record that delights with every twist and turn. The highly ambitious and creative debut takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey that encapsulates a heady mix of escapism, surrealism and Afrofuturism. Xylo has created an unpredictable soundscape, fusing elements of jazz, hip-hop, soul, afrobeat, psychedelic rock, pop and…

RECOMMENDED Jori Hulkkonen Simple Music For Complicated People My Favourite Robot Records It’s been 25 years since revered Finnish synth obsessive, Jori Hulkkonen started making music. More than two decades on from the release of his debut offering, he’s unleashed his 21st studio album, Simple Music For Complicated People – another wildly diverse and absorbing exploration of synth-heavy concoctions. His idiosyncratic sound bleeds house, techno, dub, ambient, pop, synth and classical all into one another effortlessly. Hulkkonen sews drama, tension and emotion into each track, taking a winding, meandering journey through the subconscious. Manipulated sounds, murky reverb, warm melodies, stretched out synth lines, deep bass and beautifully constructed rhythms all fuse together to create a soundscape that is as fascinating as it is unpredictable. At times eerie and otherworldly, whilst…

Strategies that will help you optimise a club track’s bass frequencies Ultimately, you need to make sure your club mixdown contains enough sub juice for big PAs and subwoofers without creating a mushy mess of overlapping low frequencies. Define either the kick drum or bass as the dominant sub-driving element, then gear your production around making them fit. Low-mid and midrange mud will cloud the mix, and obstruct bass power. If your bassline’s weight feels compromised, try dipping muddy 300-500Hz harmonics with EQ – but don’t eat into the harmonic ‘meat’ too much. The same thing applies to kicks that sound a bit on the ‘bloated’ side. Once you’ve volume-levelled the kick and bass, it’s time to evaluate frequency balance in context. If, for example, you’ve been finding that the…

TIPS > Modern club and pop productions are often dynamically ‘dense’ throughout the frequency spectrum, notably in midrange and high-mid areas. Strike that balance between punch, life and solidity – parallel compression is a good option > Limiters have a bad rep – but used carefully, they can transparently shave off unnecessary transient peaks from beats and spiky synths without damaging the audio. Try 1-2dB of gain reduction, then slowly progress from there > If a section of a signal is harsh in the mix, and dynamic EQ isn’t precise enough, think about chopping that bit out and EQing it on another channel. Or, automate an EQ to dip harsher jumps > Embrace the old-school aesthetic and use harshness to your advantage by leaving in occasional resonances within vocal samples…

Feature Mixing for the club Six bold mixing moves to help your club mixes stand out from the crowd In today’s world of high-fidelity production standards, a bit of roughness or grit can invoke a much-needed nostalgic feel. Lo-fi your track’s kick, snare, percussion or melodics with overt sample-rate reduction or bitcrushing to help the part poke out in a club. Distortion and synthetic sounds are best friends. Go beyond subtlety and over-distort one or two sounds in your mix for the ultimate in harmonic personality, roughness and ‘bloat’. Drums are obvious candidates, particularly TR-909 drums and 808 kicks. We’ve mentioned the importance of contrast, and it’s a concept that’s worth revisiting. Juxtapose bright, hi-fi sounds with dark, rough signals; or pair some shockingly ‘cheap’ sounds with more obviously processed, polished…

THE TRACK Third Son Counterculture Polymath, 2018 © Joby Sessions Joseph Thomas Price AKA Third Son is a purveyor of dark, pounding house and techno. With releases on Cajual and Selador he’s clearly impressed some big names, so FM’s roving reporters took a trip to exotic Lower Clapton, London, to find out more about the production techniques behind his recent techno freakout Counterculture. What was the inspiration behind Counterculture? “There are two ways these sort of tracks come about: it’s either by jamming or by trying to replicate something that’s in your head. Counterculture was probably a case of just jamming. Jamming usually leads to some sort of catalyst at least, and for me that’s the best way to make music because it tends to be more fresh. Just rolling…

PRODUCER’S GUIDE Max For Live Devices The programming environment Max was first integrated into Ableton Live in 2009, and opened up a world of possibilities. In essence, it let users create tools to broaden the capabilities of the DAW. Last year, Ableton bought Max creators Cycling ’74, and as a result, Live 10 now brings tighter integration than ever. While Max itself can be daunting for the uninitiated, you don’t need to understand the platform to use its tools. Many of the best instruments and effects included in Live Suite are now Max-based devices – especially since Ableton released their excellent Creative Extensions pack, which adds a host of great sequencers, instruments and effects. To get to grips with what Live’s bundled Max Devices offer, to accompany this mag, Ableton’s…

Getting experimental with Convolution Reverb Pro Live’s Max-powered convolution tool lets us experiment with impulse responses. Let’s get creative… Convolution reverb uses Impulse Response (IR) files as a basis for simulating the qualities of a real space. IRs take the form of audio recordings, usually a simple sound like a sine wave captured in a reverberant space. Live’s Convolution Reverb Pro lets users import their own audio files to act as IRs. This makes it possible to capture and import the reverb sound of your favourite studio, club, cave, street, etc. We can also get experimental by loading in non-traditional IR audio files, which can create more out-there reverb tails and interesting effects. In our demo Project, we’re using resampled audio to create an interesting reverb effect. Let’s look at…

FM CHOICE Six powerful granular instruments to help you get creative Audio Damage Quanta | $99 With a focus on creative music software, the indie dev’s new virtual instrument gives granular principles a new lease of life with familiar modulation and visual feedback. Monolake Granulator II | The Max for Live granular sampler is included with Live Suite, and comes with a separate Input device for capturing and loading in other DAW signals in real time. New Sonic Arts Granite | €99 This innovative granular instrument serves up unique features such as sweeptastic Motion Recording, Cycle Modulators for LFO scanning, real-time Loop Modulation and more. Steinberg Padshop Pro | £68 Throw samples on multiple layers, granulise them out of recognition, then shape with the onboard reverb and three-band EQ. Zero-G’s…

In The Studio With Cinthie Cinthie Longtime Watergate resident Cinthie is a cornerstone of Berlin’s vibrant house scene. As she completes work on her new studio complex Danny Turner catches up with her to talk house, hardware and the struggles of studio design © Marie Stagat Beste Modus chief and resident Watergate DJ Cinthie is a highly respected figure within Berlin’s house music scene. A trailblazer in the city’s underground house world, Cinthie has been spinning records in the truest sense of the word since the early ’90s. Now resident DJ at Watergate – one of the driving forces behind the rise in minimal techno, her intuitive vinyl-only sets have only enhanced her reputation as one of the city’s finest beatmatchers. Her first production, All We Need, arrived in 2002,…

THE ALTERNATIVES Korg Monologue £215 The Monologue is similarly spec’d but the build feels more high-end. It lacks UNO’s portability, and its character is slightly tamer www.korg.com Arturia MicroBrute £230 The MicroBrute has nicer hands-on synth control, plus a micro patchbay, but there’s no arp and its sequencer is a little bit basic www.arturia.com Roland TB-03 £324 UNO does a good job of 303-like acid basses, but if you’re after an official take – albeit a digital one – the TB-03 is the place to look www.roland.com…

Reviews MOD Duo MOD Duo €674 A simple exterior hides the powerful DSP core of this multi-purpose, open source signal processor. Robbie Stamp finds out what’s possible inside the MOD Box The MOD Duo’s stylishly minimal stage-proof casing houses two backlit LCD screens, two footswitches, two selector knobs, two analogue inputs/outputs, MIDI In/Out, USB and an ethernet socket for the proprietary Control Chain system. In essence this is a DSP engine (ARM A7) running a stripped-down version of Linux for a range of audio generating/processing tasks. The sound editing is carried out via an internet browser using a local IP address over USB, either wired or wireless. Performance control is via the two footswitches and rotary selector knobs as well as MIDI. MOD Duo is simple to operate and program. Editing…

THE LITTLE SISTER – CONVERTOR+ Very much a cut-down version of the P1+, the Convertor+ gives you an input preamp with up to +40dB of gain, helpful metering and similar gate/trigger. The independent sidechain input, with its ability to override the main input’s envelope follower, also remains. Things get sparser in the oscillator section, and the envelope follower now only controls the VCA, and is switchable from (fully) positive to negative, and off. There is no post-osc VCF here, but decent patch points. The Convertor+ gives you access to the Sonicsmith pitchtracking tech at half the price of the P1+.…

Reviews Nektar Pacer Nektar Pacer £200 Nektar’s Pacer Controller puts command of your DAW and MIDI devices firmly at your feet. Jono Buchanan gets stompy Music technologists tend to be pretty tactile people. Most of us favour MIDI keyboards for note input which frequently offer rafts of dials, switches, knobs and sliders to allow our fingers to perform parameter changes too. The closest you probably come to using your feet as part of the creative process might be if you have a sustain or expression pedal connected to your controller keyboard. Foot controllers, as a result, have largely remained the preserve of guitar players, with effects pedals – often connected to multi-effects hardware or software – a popular approach. That said, more advanced options for studio-based guitarists who’d like to keep…

Reviews Arturia Keylab Essential 49 Arturia Keylab Essential 49 £189 The right controller keyboard can really take you places. Jon Musgrave hooks up the latest affordable option from Arturia Arturia’s Keylab Essential range includes 49 and 61-key USB bus powered controller keyboards. At roughly half the price of their flagship Keylab MkII range and with a bundle of starter software (Ableton Live Lite, UVI Grand Piano Model D and Arturia’s own Analog Lab 3) the target market is clear. Still, out of the box, the unit feels very well made and has a decent set of features including MIDI out, chord mode, transpose and independent pitchbend and modulation wheels. So, unless you’re looking for a premium weighted or semi-weighted keyboard and more advanced performance features such as aftertouch, and key zoning…

Tiptop unveil Z4000 NS envelope generator Tiptop Audio have announced a new voltage-controlled analogue envelope generator module, called the Z4000 NS. Based on your classic ADSR envelope, the Z4000 features a built-in CV processor and is capable of scaling, inverting, and deviation of the envelope shape. It can generate quite snappy envelope shapes, which are perfect for crafting percussive tones and – as shown off in the recent preview video – it can achieve some real punchy bass and percussive sounds. The Z4000 is also capable of sidechaining signals. A full breakdown of the Z4000 NS module can be found at tiptopaudio.com. There’s currently no word on price.…

MAKE DRUM PROJECTS “A lot of times I find myself with projects made of melody arrangements that I could not fully bring into a structured song, but I started tracking the drums from a lot of previous projects to help give reference for these melodies. Often I’ll end up taking the drums from an unfinished beat and reapplying them to a melody that works much better with them.” Tests things! “Beats, unfinished or unmixed, will typically sound pretty good no matter what on decent monitors, so it’s good to test on all available forms. I love a car test, but also have developed a superstition for listening to bounces through my phone. After giving it a studio test, and testing the general sound of it being played via laptop through…

In The Studio With… Walter Merziger “The studio was at the Milastraße in Berlin. We were using Digidesign’s Pro Tools on a G4, and we had the next generation of Pro Tools on a G5. At the time you had to use the ESB Bridge to get the TDM sounds together with VSTs. “It was a different time. The plugin world was quite new. We would use a lot of freeware or cheap ones. The In White Rooms bassline riff was actually from Computer Music magazine’s freeware plugin, CM101. “Then we used the Alpha plugin from LinPlug, and Albino 2 from Rob Papen, and a lot of the daHornet. “As you can see, they are simple, with no effects unit or anything.…

Shida Shahabi Homes 130701 Homes is the beautiful and intimate first album from Swedish-Iranian pianist and composer, Shida Shahabi. A peaceful and alluring record, made almost entirely with her piano alone, it feels like a personal invitation into Shahabi’s own digs – where the album was recorded. Warm, cosy, intimate and delicate, the debut offering, encapsulates that feeling of total comfort you only get from being in your own home. Its stripped back nature, with very sparse instrumentation, evokes a relaxed and natural atmosphere, allowing listeners to sink into Shahabi’s floaty, dreamy compositions. Homes includes recording imperfections such as crackling and hissing to add even more authenticity and affection. Assured harmonies, deep melodies and an impeccable sense of timing drives the album as Shahabi delivers a masterclass in simplicity. It…

Feature Mixing for the club MIXING FOR THE CLUB A few essential tools and techniques can help your tracks stand out on any system. Here’s how In today’s world of uber-polished productions, mixing is one of the most difficult skills to perfect. Of course, we all want our dancefloor bangers to elicit a visceral response from a crowd, and sonically stand up when played side-by-side against the loudest, brightest, punchiest tunes out there. Yet it’s extremely common for a ‘bedroom’ mixdown to fall a little flat when magnified through a club’s mega soundsystem – the perceived clarity, depth and weight that you carefully honed in the studio often just doesn’t translate as perfectly as you’d like when it’s on such a massive scale. Mixing homemade tracks for the club doesn’t…

Mixing for mono compatibility Follow these tips to get a mix that sounds good in stereo and mono… The majority of club and festival soundsystems output stereo signals in mono. And if you’re stood in one of the rare clubs that does have a stereo speaker setup, you’ll probably be so close to one speaker that it may as well be in mono anyway! One of the most important factors when mixing dance music, therefore, is to ensure that your track sounds amazing in mono before you even test it in the club. However, today’s club mixes must also sound fantastic when played on the radio or heard through two-channel headphones, which is why mixing in stereo is still the norm. But dazzling stereo mix techniques often involve processes that…

Orbital In The Studio With Orbital For more than 25 years, Orbital have been one of dance music’s most original, influential and pioneering forces. Danny Turner chats to Paul and Phil Hartnoll about the recording of the new album Monsters Exist © Joseph Branston Figureheads for England’s burgeoning ’90s rave scene, Orbital garnered notoriety and critical acclaim for their twin self-titled (Green and Brown) debut albums. The band’s landmark show at Glastonbury in 1994 propelled dance music into the mainstream, creating a point of no return. Further albums such as Snivilisation and In Sides delivered rapid commercial success. However, by the turn of the century the brothers’ popularity had waned and their personal relationship had fractured. So much so, they refused to speak to each for five years. As Paul…

QUICK TIPS 1 In this tutorial, we’ve limited ourselves to dealing with Devices included in Suite or available for free download, but there are lots of great ‘pro’- level Max For Live Devices available for purchase too. Check out Max For Cats’ Bengal or Pallas synths, the Iota granular looper and Sonic Factions’ Hypermorph 2 Some Max For Live Devices can be CPU hungry. Keep an eye on Live’s monitor and be prepared to bounce sounds down if your computer is struggling 3 Several of the most popular bundled Max For Live devices have been updated over the years, but earlier versions can still be downloaded if you prefer their workflow or design. Buffer Shuffler, Bass, Poli and the Drum Synth Devices all have more than one incarnation out there…

Producer’s Guide To Max For Live Glitching up hats with Max audio effects We’ve created a Rack that can turn ultra-basic hi-hats into a complex rhythm. Here’s how it works… 01 > To start, we’ve loaded up an Instrument Rack and added the HH Neat preset from DrumSynth. We’ve programmed a very rudimentary 16th-note MIDI pattern. With no velocity variation, this gives us a really simple, fairly lifeless rhythm. Time to make it a little more interesting… 02 > First we turn to the Gated Delay effect. This lets us rhythmically step sequence delay repeats. There are two sequencer lanes – one to engage the delay, and one to reverse it. Here we’ve programmed a delay line which reverses on the ‘on’ beats. To make things a little polyrhythmic, we’ve changed…

In The Studio With Iron Curtis Iron Curtis Under the pseudonym Iron Curtis, Johannes Paluka’s minimalist approach masterfully unravels the mysteries lurking deep within the house sound. Danny Turner ventures into the Berlin-based producer’s gear-packed studio © Marie Staggat Bazile A child of the ’80s, German producer and DJ Johannes Paluka always drew inspiration from the era’s extravagant blend of pop, funk and electronic sounds. When rave and techno hit the airwaves, he was truly hooked, while teenage curiosity drew him into the leftfield dance world inhabited by Warp Records and bass-heavy techno bands like LFO. A desire to experiment led Paluka to play computers and soft synths, inspiring his debut release on Hamburg’s Mirau label, Solgerhood EP (2009). While his DJ talents indicate a strong focus on bass-heavy grooves, his…

TOOLKIT Granular synths Break apart the fabric of sound and go against the grain with our guide Today’s virtual synths can open up doors into brand new sonic territories, and while common subtractive synths are great for bread-and-butter tones, true creativity lies within the more esoteric virtual instruments enjoyed by only the most adventurous of sound designers. Continuing our exploration of various synthesis types and the tools that create them, this month’s Toolkit is all about the mystical universe of granular synthesis. Although there’s a lot of complex theory, the concept is simple: an audio signal is broken down into tiny ‘grains’, then these sound fragments are played back and recombined in various ways. On a functional level, this technology powers the timestretching and pitchshifting algorithms found in DAWs, samplers…

Motion-fuelled granular soundscapes with Quanta Audio Damage’s new granular synth packages complex technology behind familiar subtractive-style controls. Let’s get those grains moving Many modern softsynths disguise complex synthesis behind familiar controls, and for good reason – we’re musicians, not scientists, after all. Audio Damage’s Quanta is a perfect example of such an instrument, boiling down granular synthesis into something any electronic musician can pick up and use straight away. Load a WAV, AIFF, MP3, OGG or FLAC file into Quanta, and the synth normalises the audio ready for playback. The vertical playhead line (representing playback position) is laid over the waveform display, and its placement can be adjusted via the Grains >> Position knob. We’ve loaded a siren sample into Quanta. Sweeping the sample Position around a particular section creates…

Reviews Sonicsmith Squaver P1+ Sonicsmith Squaver P1+ €626 & Convertor+ €360 Bruce Aisher plugs in two novel pitchtracking semimodular analogue synths from Sonicsmith We took a look at the Sonicsmith Modulor A1 synth in FM a few issues back. This diminutive synth module was restricted to a simple combination of VCO, VCA and LFO. So, although it provided some patching, it was quite limited in functional terms. More importantly, it didn’t include the centrepiece technology of the Sonicsmith range – ACO. The so-called Audio Controlled Oscillator (ACO) chip is designed to track the pitch of incoming audio with very little processing lag, and use the resulting signal to control an analogue oscillator. The Squaver P1+ and Convertor+ on review here combine the abilities of the ACO chip with an oscillator section…

ROUND-UP Software Pultec Emulations We gather together a mere six versions of this frequently-emulated EQ to compare and contrast, while bringing you some Pultec history along the way Universal Audio Pultec Passive EQ Collection £229 First created in 1951 by Ollie Summerland and Gene Shenk, the original Pulse Techniques Program Equalizer EQP-1A, or more simply, ‘Pultec’, used overbuilt transformers and tube amplifiers to bring its boosts and cuts together, resulting in an EQ with one of the most sought-after sounds, even in the digital age. Running as a UAD 2.0 plugin for owners of the requisite hardware, Universal Audio’s emulation models the ‘definitive’ Pultec, which added a 20Hz setting to the 30, 60 and 100 options for its two low shelves, plus a separate frequency selector and on/off switch for…

Reviews Native Instruments TRK-01 Native Instruments TRK-01 £89 A powerful new tool that pairs sequencing and sound design for both kick and bass The TRK-01 is a new Reaktor module that pairs precise sound design and highly flexible sequencing for two of the most important tools in your sonic toolbox: kick drum and bass. By pairing these elements in a single window, NI present a novel approach to making sure your low end is as tidy (or gnarly) as you’d like. Starting with the kick reveals a two-layer approach to sound design, with quite a few details under the hood. Each layer has the option to hold one of four sound sources, each with their own specific parameters for tweaking. A choice of using a sample source, a synthesiser engine, Rumble,…

Making quick HQ synth demos How do I make quick, high-quality demos without using a computer but with direct audio? Video content is king these days but who wants to get bogged down in hours of endless connecting, editing and setting up shots? We want to be able to quickly capture videos when the inspiration strikes. After a lot of searching, the Roland GO:Mixer turned out to be the best/cheapest solution for quickly capturing video with HQ direct audio. The mixer is powered by your Android phone or iPhone and audio is recorded direct from the mixer’s inputs (any audio source you like) and rendered to your video as it’s recorded in real time. Plug in your sound sources. Sources can be a mic (for adding acoustic instruments or a…

CLASSIC ALBUM BookaShade Movements Get Physical Music, 2006 Words by Roy Spencer T here’s something to be said for making music in a bubble – just you and your friends, writing the kind of stuff you want to hear. Forget what’s going on outside – it’s boring. Everybody always copies each other anyways, right? Where’s the fun in that? That’s pretty much the lightbulb-lit convo the Booka Shade boys had with each other before they set to work on their second album. Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier were completely uninspired by the club music of the time. ‘Schranz’ – a standardised form of monotonous techno – ruled the dancefloors. It was time for a change. It was time for a new movement. “We got together to do something new,” says…

LIKE IT? TRY THESE… M.A.N.D.Y. Body Language Vol. 1 Impeccably mixed batch of electro, felt hard by the Get Physical stable circa 2005. Highlights include James Holden’s remix of Safari – a huge Booka influence. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: André Kraml – Safari (James Holden Remix), Booka Shade – Panoramic, M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade – Body Language Villalobos Alcachofa Outstanding set of nuanced, pulsating post-club music that Walter and Arno hold dear. The perfect companion piece to Movements . ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: Easy Lee, Dexter, Fusion The Enemies Sven Väth Live At The Omen Club Autumn 94 …or any live DJ mix of the German party machine in his natural habitat from that era. Listen carefully and you might hear…

Emil Abramyan Movement Kingdoms Emil Abramyan is the Brooklyn-based composer, musician and producer, whose diverse and distinctive debut album, Movement, unveils a spellbinding cross-pollination of styles, tempos and disciplines. The record fuses together Abramyan’s training as a cellist with his love of electronic music and sound design. The combination of classical motifs with electronics and modular synth flurries creates a tension that is both beautiful and expressive. Fragments of choral tones, warm pads, clicking percussion, heartfelt piano chords and emotive cello flood the record with emotion. His clever use of shuffling rhythms, deep bass and tougher synth lines add a club-influenced edge that gives the album a subtle drive and sense of energy. The way these two worlds meet with such cohesion is testament to Abramyan’s deft arrangement. His more…

Feature Mixing for the club SIX PLUGINS FOR BOOSTING PERCEIVED LOUDNESS Some genres must be dynamic, but many club-destined styles of dance music have to be loud. Here are a few modern tools that can help your tracks compete without destroying punch Xfer Records OTT 1 Ableton Live users can fire up the Multiband Compressor’s OTT preset, but all DAW owners can use this freeware downwards/upwards compressor – a modern way to flatten and raise midrange and high end. Use it on drum buses, vocals and full-range synth bass. Sonnox Oxford Inflator 2 Somewhat of a secret weapon, Inflator can increase the harmonic perception of loudness. Use it to give signals density while retaining headroom. The Curve control defines the harmonic character of added weight. Black Box Designs HG-2 3…

Smoothening your mix and removing harshness Three pro-level tips for dealing with ear-offending spikes Every mix is different. That’s why experience is the producer’s most powerful weapon: after solving different problems in different scenarios, you’ll build up a knowledge base of tools and tricks that will only expand as time goes on. Removing mix harshness is one such problem that demands a degree of experience. Once identified, it can be tricky to pinpoint a solution. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that many of us work entirely in the digital realm, without access to naturally ‘smooth’ analogue outboard gear – or at least the ear-pleasing tone. A big cause of mix harshness is spiky high-mid and treble transients – think piercing hi-hats and percussion. In this tutorial, let’s look…

ESSENTIAL GEAR Sequential Circuits Prophet-6 “A great new analogue synth; it’s a good all-rounder, but with loads of character. It’s all over the new album and a firm favourite in the current live set.” Roland System-100 Korg Wavestation Roland Jupiter-8 “I’ve always had a Jupiter-6, but when I finally got to play on the 8 I loved it straightaway. It’s smoother and clearer than the 6 and one of the pinnacles of old-school Roland analogues.” Putney EMS VCS 3 “I love this old thing. It’s wild and deep and a real hands-on piece of kit with a beautiful effects unit.” MacBeth Studio Systems M5N Arturia MatrixBrute “We just got this and it came in useful for the album. Nearly all the sounds on Tiny Foldable Cities are from this. It’s…

Producer’s Guide To Max For Live Getting creative in Ableton Live Although, with version 10, Max is now fully integrated into Live Suite, it’s still easy to overlook the bundled Max-powered Devices, seeing as they don’t sit in Live’s main instrument and effect list. If you’re not already turning to these tools regularly though, you’re missing out. Instrument-wise, we get Poli and Bass, two handy sources of analogue-style subtractive synth sounds, which look and sound a little more up-to-date than Live’s other subtractive workhorse, Analog. The main difference between these two is their polyphony – Poli is six-voice polyphonic, while Bass is monophonic. Both have features that add to their unique character too though. Poli has three modes of chorus, along with a flexible mod-matrix, while Bass has a nicely aggressive…

MODULAR MONTHLY Get lost in reverb! From coffin-size spaces to wide-open chambers, the Make Noise Erbe-Verb offers a vast palette of reverb options When we saw that Make Noise had collaborated with Tom Erbe (of Soundhack fame) we were excited, and their new Erbe-Verb takes reverb to a new level. Instead of working with presets or algorithms for common spaces like room, hall, cathedral or plate it breaks out every parameter, letting you enter interesting in-between spaces and modulate between them freely. The site states, “it is a unique, modeless, continuously variable reverb algorithm with complete voltage control.” You can travel through spaces by turning knobs or adding modulation sources and you’ll find minute coffin-like spaces, shimmers, rooms, plates and halls up to endless drones and metallic oscillations. It’s great…

QUICK TIPS 1 When dialling in multiple grains and settings, your synth’s output level can quickly shoot through the roof. Whack a limiter plugin on the synth’s output to keep overshoots in check, and be ready to reach for that volume knob! 2 When stocking up your granular synth, we strongly advise experimenting with vocal samples, which can take on a new life after only a few moves – and the inherent timbre of the human voice still shines through. Think choir-like drones and horror screams fit for the big screen. 3 If you’re not looking to create fluffy ‘clouds’ using multiple grains, try simply using a granular synth as a nifty stutter effect. Keep grain size to one, scan through the sample playback position and mess around with grain…

THE ALTERNATIVES Analogue Systems RS-35 £208 The RS-35 Eurorack module has three circuits for extracting control voltages from an audio signal – a frequency-to-voltage, level-to-voltage and trigger generator www.analoguesystems.co.uk Korg MS-20 mini £421 The resurrection of MS-20 brought its unique patching options – like the External Signal Processor (ESP) – to a new generation www.korg.com MiGiC - Guitar to MIDI software $49.95 If you are more at home working in the box, this software converts live guitar playing to MIDI information, and works in both standalone or plugin modes (OS X and Windows) www.migic.com…

Reviews Adam Audio T5V Adam Audio T5V Monitors £298 Want a pair of high quality yet affordable monitors? Jon Musgrave hooks up the new Adam T5Vs The last Adam monitor I tried was the S2V – seriously customisable, awesome-sounding and, for many, prohibitively expensive. So to achieve some balance it’s only proper that the T5V sat in front of me is one of the most affordable Adam monitors to date. Built around a 5” woofer and Adam’s U-ART (Unique Accelerated Ribbon Tweeter) tweeter, the Class-D powered two-way design with rear-firing bass reflex is the smaller of the new T Series designs. Despite the keen pricing, the T5V inherits much of Adam’s recognisable design elements, albeit in slightly modified form. The U-ART tweeter, for example, is specific to this series but closely…

Reviews Audient iD44 Audient iD44 £499 Featuring four high-quality microphone preamps and extended digital options, Audient’s iD44 looks like great value – but is it? Jono Buchanan investigates… The iD44’s full capability is not immediately apparent at first glance. Designed to sit on your desktop, its upper surface is dominated by four preamp channels, which use the same technology as Audient’s acclaimed ASP8024-HE. Each channel offers its own phantom power toggle switch, -10dB pad and a high-pass filter, while a prominent Gain dial at the top adjusts channel sensitivity with up to 60dB of gain, with green and red LEDs displaying signal present and peak warnings: a nicely arranged surface. On the right, there are two more rotaries to control independent headphone feeds and a larger one for output monitor levels.…