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WELCOME More from less Making simple, minimal music is one of those things that looks like it would be really easy, but totally isn’t. Whether we’re talking bleepy minimal techno, droning ambient music, stripped-back post rock or the seemingly simplistic 20th century classical of Phillip Glass or Steve Reich, music that sounds simple is often anything but that. Generally speaking, the fewer elements you have going on in your tracks, the fewer places you have to hide. It’s this side of music making we’re digging into in this issue’s cover feature – electronic composition at its most loopy, experimental and subtle. Join us on page 28 as we dive into the minutiae of minimal, and explore how some of the best producers in the game manage to make the most…

Filter Melodyne 5 promises to give you “musically perfect” vocals Plus, edit audio to fit your chord progressions with the new Chord Track mode Sometimes, you just know that a piece of music software is going to be a gamechanger as soon as you see it, and that was certainly the case when we first clapped eyes on Celemony Software’s Melodyne at the NAMM Show in 2001. Since then, its abilities to play with pitch and time have steadily improved, and now we have version 5 of the software to consider. “Better, faster, more musical” is the tagline here, with some key changes to Melodyne’s “core competence”. Specifically, the software can now detect unpitched sounds in vocal tracks – breaths and other noises, for example – and lets you process…

The T-1 realtime MIDI sequencer wants to enliven your sounds > If traditional step sequencers are leaving you creatively cold right now, Torso Electronics’ T-1 might be just what you need in order to help you to put some heat back into your music-making. This is based on the Euclidean algorithm and is said to enable an “expressive and fluent workflow” and open up “a world of endless exploration and musical structures”. More specifically, you can use it to create some new melodies and harmonies, as an advanced arpeggiator, or you can use it as a performance instrument. Unlike on other step sequencers, the workflow is non-linear – you have real-time control of every aspect of the composition. You can change rhythmic patterns, alter melodic movements and add random modulation…

Keep it minimal ALL ABOUT THE LOOP When it comes to making minimal electronic music, there are no hard and fast rules beyond the most obvious: less is more. The whole idea involves stripping the music back to just the most important elements and wringing as much as possible out of these core ideas. Throughout the history of minimal music, it’s usually appeared as a counterpoint to more ‘busy’ styles of dance music. Although it wasn’t necessarily the first minimal electronic record, Robert Hood’s 1994 masterpiece Minimal Nation is one of the most important foundations of minimal techno and is a great place to start when examining how minimal production styles work. Hood has described the sound of the record as a reaction to the increasing tempos and complexity of…

Keep it minimal CREATE A MINIMAL DRUM GROOVE Let’s use samples to build a classic minimal house-style drum pattern 01 Our minimal beat starts with a 4x4 groove at 122bpm. We use a selection of sampled drums – minimal staples of a 909 snare and closed hi-hat, with FM kick and clap sounds from the Elektron Digitone [grab these at FileSilo]. We program kicks on each beat, hi-hats on off-beats and a clap and snare hit on two and four. 02 We’ve compressed, EQed and added a little reverb to each sound before loading them into our Drum Rack, so they’re mostly good to go. We use Ableton Simpler’s ADSR amp envelope to tame each sound a little for that tight, punchy minimal sound we’re after. We filter the kick,…

PRODUCER’S GUIDE Ableton Operator Intimidated by this technical-looking but highly useful synthesis tool? Don’t be! Ableton Operator provides a unique hybrid approach to additive, subtractive, and FM synthesis – and it’s one of the most deceptively powerful softsynths available. Even so, many musicians shy away from using it fully because FM synthesis remains opaque despite its prevalence for more than 30 years. Fortunately, Operator’s clean interface and streamlined tools make it the perfect synth for getting started with both FM and additive synthesis, so you can start whipping up your own creations with it. The term ‘operator’ was first popularised with Yamaha’s groundbreaking DX series of synths, where it was generally defined as being an oscillator with its own dedicated amplitude envelope. In modern FM synthesis, configurations of multiple operators…

Two industrial approaches to production Processing Musicians working in all genres can take a cue from industrial in terms of sound design and production techniques. Processing is an obvious starting point, encompassing a huge range of approaches but fundamentally rooted in experimentation. Vocal processing in particular has been a mainstay of industrial since the very early days, with vocalists employing a range of techniques for live performance and studio recording. Perhaps take distortion as a starting point, but the main point is to think outside the box: could your synth go through a guitar pedal? What would a guitar sound like through a cheap speaker and microphone? Why not try introducing some of the classic ’70s industrial techniques to your music, like DIY tape loops? Lo-fi sampling Low-resolution samplers are…

MORE THAN BASS While it might clearly say Bassline along the top of the synth, there’s more to Erica’s latest instrument than just bass. Much like Moog’s Mother instruments, there are handy tools here for sequencing percussive parts as well as bass sounds. As well as the punchy envelope generators, the really handy tool here is the sequencer’s pitch envelope track. This allows users to program and fine-tune pitch sweeps on specific sequence steps, which is great for creating patterns that alternate between punchy kick drum sounds and more traditional bass notes. Throw in some white noise and modulation of the filter cutoff, and the DB-01 can do a decent line in electro-style snares and hi-hats too. The DB-01 is a lot of fun to use as a drone machine…

DRUM PROGRAMMING The KeyStep Pro features eight analogue drum trigger outputs along its rear, which can be controlled from track one when used in Drum mode. While there are only eight outputs, the drum track actually features a total of 24 parts, so it’s possible to sequence larger drum setups digitally. Workflow-wise, the drum setup is fairly similar to the standard sequencing modes, making use of the KeyStep’s sequencer buttons to program notes onto each step. The drum sequencer also features a cool Poly mode, allowing each of its 24 tracks to have a different length, which is great fun for creating polyrhythms.…

LA synthesis with Phase Plant Let’s use Kilohearts’ modular plugin instrument to layer samples and synthesis 01 It’s simple to create a sawtooth pad in Phase Plant. From the initialised preset, start with an analogue generator (which defaults to a sawtooth), add a touch of unison for thickening, and increase the attack and release of the output envelope for a pad character. Next, add an LPF with reduced cutoff. 02 Before you add the transient, take some time to familiarise yourself with the samples available in Phase Plant, as its library is extensive. The Transient, Decay, and Mallet folders include numerous options for layering. (Full disclosure: my company, Symplesound, designed and optimised many of the factory samples specifically for this type of layered synthesis.) 03 For the sampled layer, create…

Essential Tools For Music Making AFFORDABLE SYNTHS Erica Bassline DB-01 €460 Full Review: FM359 A powerful sequencer and plenty of unique features make this much more than just another Bassline-clone. Korg Wavestate £699 Full Review: FM353 The price might be pushing what we’d usually call ‘affordable’ but with 64 stereo voices and a multi-timbral sound engine you get a lot for your money here. And it sounds great too! Novation Circuit £250 Review: FM299 A broad range of sounds with a fluid and intuitive workflow all adds up to make Circuit a winner. Its sequencer is absolutely killer too. Arturia MicroFreak £279 Review: FM345 If you’re looking to go beyond regular analogue synths and expand your sonic palette with an affordable creative tool, MicroFreak should be top of your ‘must…

Filter Cherry Audio releases Voltage Modular 2 and offers “one of the finest Juno-106 synth emulations ever created” > Riding on the coattails of the Eurorack synth boom, Cherry Audio’s Voltage Modular plugin is a great option for anyone who wants to do their patching without having to keep spending on new hardware. And now developers are calling version 2 “the most feature-rich, sonically flexible software modular platform in the world”. This update removes all patching limitations, and promises new ways to build complex patches with fewer cables. Unlimited cables per patch means that modulation possibilities are near endless, while the Busses feature gives you a new way to build patches and gets rid of messy cables. Each patch can also have unlimited variations – these can be played individually,…

Filter Eventide’s Crystals effect is set to sparkle as a VST/AU and iOS plugin > Originally found in the H3000 Harmonizer, Eventide have now released the Crystals effect as a plugin in its own right. This combines twin reverse pitch shifters with reverse delays and reverb. These components enable you to create the likes of climbing and cascading pitched delays or “unique”- sounding reverbs. Eventide say that Crystals can add life to the likes of synths, guitars and vocals, giving them an extra layer of sonic majesty. Each of the two pitch shifters has a four-octave range (two up and two down), while the two delays can be adjusted independently with times of up to four seconds, each with its own individual feedback. The reverb, meanwhile, offers 100 seconds of…

Talking Shop Andres Campo © Pablo Bustos “I always needed time when touring; now we have it, I’m struggling” Andres Campo| Spanish techno producer Andres Campo has made a name for himself with releases for labels including Odd Recordings, Eats Everything’s Edible Records and Nicole Moudaber’s Mood, as well as a long-held residency at Spain’s Florida 135. We caught up with him to talk studio, synths and surviving lockdown. When did you start making music, and how did you first get started? “I started very young. I started DJing first when I was about 14, and then producing with Impulse tracker, and then developed into using FL Studio. At 16, after my first summer job I saved all my money and spent it on an Akai Z4 Sampler, a Virus…

Keep it minimal MINIMAL KICK/ BASS PATTERN COMBOS Interplay between percussive low-end elements is important in minimal genres. Here’s how… 01 Here’s a minimal synth bassline that plays between each beat. The bass plays between the kick of our 4/4 kick part but its tail is so long the sounds overlap. And the kick isn’t tuned to the same note as the bass, which makes the overlapping sound worse. 02 Setting the kick’s sampler patch to -2 semitones makes it sound much better, but it will be improved further if we prevent the sounds from overlapping. Using an envelope to control volume of the kick will help. 03 We turn the sampler patch’s Sustain and Decay down. Here we’ve opted for a Sustain level of -inf dB, and a Decay…

Keep it minimal TURNING TOMS INTO MINIMAL PERCUSSION Drum machine toms can make brilliant minimal perc sounds. Here’s how… 01 We start with a very straightforward 808 low tom sound sampled from a TR-8. This is a very recognisable sound, but by tweaking its amplitude envelope and pitch, we can turn it into something else. Turn the sampler’s Sustain down to -infdB. 02 Try playing the sound on the upper reaches of the keyboard - this gives us punchy, tonal percussion sound. Turn the Decay time down to between 20 and 50ms – this just lets the transient through before the volume diminishes completely. 03 Sequence a pattern to accompany our existing beat. Here we’re playing a simple rhythm on C#5 that gives us a bit of interplay between the…

In The Studio With Third Son UK producer Joseph Thomas Price tasked himself with writing, mixing and releasing his debut album in just 20 days. Si Truss finds out how he rose to the challenge... Given that recent world events have pretty much cancelled the entire global social and cultural calendar, many people have found themselves with an abundance of time on their hands. It’s not uncommon to find people taking on something new, from gardening to baking to misguided construction work – lots of people seem to have a project right now. For British producer Joseph Thomas Price, aka Third Son, lockdown hasn’t meant putting music on hold though. Instead, he took advantage of the rare window in his schedule you the Everest of any musician’s career – his…

Interview Lurka Lauded for his production skills by contemporaries like Hodge and Batu, Bristol’s Lurka is the archetypal ‘producer’s producer’. Si Truss sits down with him to talk mixing tips and sound design © Alex Digard Bristol-based producer Lurka has released a string of killer EPs on labels including Timedance, Black Acre and Wisdom Teeth, as well as lending his mixing skills to a number of his contemporaries. And it seems like everyone who’s worked with him wants to rave abut his production skills. Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted Hodge lauding his mixing techniques within these pages two issues ago, and Timedance-boss and regular collaborator Batu is another artist who swears by his production guidance. You don’t have to take their word for it though; listening to Lurka’s recent Rhythm…

Reviews Arturia KeyStep Pro £339 The French brand round out their ‘Step’ range with a multifaceted keyboard/sequencer. Si Truss gets keyed in… Between their ‘Step’ and ‘Lab’ devices, Arturia have come to have a pretty broad range of controllers these days, ranging from the simple, budget-friendly MicroLab MIDI keyboard to the multi-format sequencing tools of the BeatStep Pro. Now the KeyStep Pro arrives to fill one of the few remaining gaps in that line-up; combining the cross-format analogue and digital sequencing of the BeatStep with a 37-note keyboard making it that bit better suited to melodic work. As with the BeatStep Pro, the feature highlight here is the comprehensive range of ins-and-outs. On the MIDI front, the controller comes equipped with two outputs and one input, along with a USB…

TESTBENCH Baby Studio Comeback Kid > Delay plugins start simple, sure, but once you’ve got a repeating signal path, there’s a lot you can do to make things unique. Comeback Kid has a new spin on the delay plugin, and it’s all about the wet signal. Instead of loads of controls and modulation over delay timing and feedback, Comeback Kid works its magic in the feedback path itself. Controls you’ll know include Time, Feedback and Ping Pong, but knobs like Richer, Swirl, Sauce and Destiny give you the distinct impression that you’re supposed to use your ears. Those unfamiliar parameters mostly process the wet, delayed signal, making it wider, richer, more overdriven or anything else, compared to input signal. The basics However comprehensive you make a delay plugin, the basic…

SOUNDS & SAMPLES Spitfire – Albion Neo £399 The Spitfire empire keeps growing, and with it an evolving array of orchestral libraries, the complexity of which we might only have dreamed of in the days of standalone hardware samplers. The ever-growing capabilities of a modern computer to select, retrieve and playback multiple audio streams in realtime – while running a DAW hosting other instruments and processors – has led to ever-greater specialisation and experimentation in sample library creation. This of course reaches its nadir when a large ensemble, populated with top musicians, is placed into one of the world’s best studios equipped with a host of cutting-edge and classic kit – not to mention an acoustic space heard on numerous tracks and film scores. And so it is for the…

Layered synthesis with Operator Ableton’s built-in FM synth is a surprisingly great tool for LA-style pad synthesis 01 Despite its focus on FM and additive synthesis, Ableton Operator is actually a fantastic tool for creating LA-style layered pads. The key is to select the algorithm with two independent carriers (A and B) for the pad and a combined carrier/modulator (C and D) for creating the transient layer. 02 Since Operator has independent envelopes for every oscillator/operator, you can set up oscs A and B with identical pad-like envelopes, with a medium attack and longer release. Since we need to keep the filter off to retain transient frequencies, use the Saw 4 waveform, which only contains the first four harmonics. 03 Detuning a pair of oscillators within Operator is a little…

Essential Tools For Music Making HIGH-END SYNTHS Novation Summit £1,899 Full Review: FM350 Though the Peak is still great, Summit is even greater. A powerhouse polysynth, perfect for classic tone emulation as well as next-level, out-there sound design. Waldorf Quantum £3,500 Full Review: FM336 A stunning piece of hybrid synth design – setting a new benchmark for features, interface and sonics. It’s expensive, but a great investment that you’ll find inspiring for many years. Korg Prologue from £1,299 Review: FM332 Despite a few surprising omissions, this sounds inspiring. A unique character, plus the analogue voices layered with VPM sounds and effects sound magical! Sequential Prophet X £3,359 Review: FM336 The Prophet X is a fresh and inspiring hybrid synth that encourages you to explore sound making in new ways. The…

Endlesss expand collaboration quest to new DAWs > Tim Exile has confirmed that Endlesss, his online music collaboration platform, is coming to Mac and PC – launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund development. This iOS app lets you create ‘rifffs’ that can be used in jams with other users. It comes with built-in instruments and effects and also lets you record audio. Endlesss Studio, the desktop version, is based on exactly the same principle – and is fully compatible, in fact – and will run as a standalone application and VST/AU plugin. This means you’ll be able to generate rifffs using all of your main music production software’s features. What’s more, you’ll be able to work on jams with people who are using different DAWs. There are various pledge options…

Sinevibes Groove turns your Korg synth into a groovebox > Billed as “the most complex and sophisticated Multi Engine plugin ever developed”, Sinevibes Groove turn your compatible Korg synth into a multitimbral bass/drum machine. This will run on the Prologue, Minilogue XD and NTS-1 synths, and features an advanced network of 14 DSP blocks that reconfigure themselves in real time. This translates into bass, drum and percussion instruments mapped onto seven separate keyboard zones, giving you a self-contained groovebox-style sound module. Each zone comes with a wide selection of presets (more than 70 in total) and has a switch for variable trigger probability, adding life to bass riffs and drum patterns. There’s also a specially designed output stage with “unusually punchy” dynamics. Groove is one of the most ingenious uses…

In the studio with Scuba “It was all in-the-box. Extremely simple setup. I’ve always used Cubase, so had that running off a PC, and very little else. “Obviously VSTs. I used to chop up samples and stuff in WaveLab. The softsynth I used all over this album was the Arturia Minimoog, which still sounds great now, and it was extremely good then. I also used a lot of CamelPhat and CamelSpace. “I did also use some proper recordings on this as well. I’d hook a mic up and hit stuff or clap next to it. I’m fairly sure all the reverbs I used were Waves TrueVerb, which still sounds great now. “I would use the Waves C1 Compressor on the low end – on the subs. That was the one…

Romare Home Ninja Tune Almost four years on from last album, UK DIY producer Romare returns with his most dancefloor focused record yet. His third album for electronic stalwarts Ninja Tune, following on from his critically acclaimed 2015 debut, Projections and 2016’s much loved Love Songs: Part Two, the London-based DJ and producer hits a sleek, shimmering tone with Home. His signature melodic groove, lush textures and exotic rhythms are still there, but Home comes with more of a driving, underground club aesthetic than we’ve seen from Romare. The bass is more direct and the beats are more jacked, as he creates a typically intricate soundscape. Club music cut up with elements of funk, world music, rock and hip-hop, the record takes us on a wild ride through various styles,…

RIFF INSPIRATION WITH DELAY EFFECTS Echo effects can be a great tool to inspire creativity when working with simple loops. Let’s take a look... While delay wasn’t a big feature of early minimal house and techno – due to the expense of hardware delay units – it’s become a key tool for producers. Since minimal music often has fewer elements and larger gaps between beats, delay can help to fill out the frequency spectrum and add extra depth to the sound. Delay is often used as an overt part of the rhythm, rather than adding a subtle effect. Below, we’ll use several delay types to transform a simple riff rhythm. Modulating these effects over time can add progression to your track. 1 We start with a virtual analogue lead sound.…

Keep it minimal MINIMAL ARRANGEMENT TIPS AND TRICKS Making a simple arrangement compelling for four, five or even ten or more minutes isn’t easy. Here are some strategies to help it all come together… KEEP IT SIMPLE, TAKE IT SLOW Fairly obvious, but want to create minimal music? Don’t start adding big events and sounds as your track progresses. Instead, vary things up by subtly adding and removing elements of your beat. If you do want to add another synth line or significant rhythmic element, try fading it in slowly over the course of 32 or 64 bars using volume or filter automation. ENVELOPES ARE YOUR FRIENDS Any synth or sampler with one or more envelope generator is a great tool for creating minimal production. Try subtly automating the amp…

RETROSPECTIVE Industrial From roots in ’70s avant-garde experimentalism, industrial has had surprising commercial crossover success © Suzan Carson/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Purists would argue that industrial is as much an ideology as it is a musical style. From vaguely similar 1970s roots as synthpop and punk, a cohort of avant-garde artists explored a very different approach, rejecting the traditional guitar-bass-drums approach to which most punk adhered and taking on a much harsher, more abrasive sound than the warmer, more song-based synthpop scene. The 1976 foundation of the Industrial Records label by the Throbbing Gristle collective gave the genre its name, as much a surprisingly tongue-in-cheek nod to the idea of the music industry churning out records in industrial fashion as it was a reference to the industrial sounds involved. Broadly…

REVIEWS Erica Synths Bassline DB-01 €460 As Si Truss discovers, Erica’s new Bassline is more than just another 303-alike… Latvian brand Erica Synths have proved quite prolific in recent years, delivering modules, systems and standalone hardware at a pace that’s tough to keep up with at times. What’s impressive though, is that despite the volume, the quality has remained high. What Erica do especially well is analogue grit – from their Polivoks-inspired filters to their tube-equipped Fusion modules and last year’s impressive Ninja Tune collab Zen Delay, Erica are responsible for some of our favourite go-to tools for raw, edgy sounds. Naturally, the idea of a standalone Erica-branded bass synth has got us rather hot under the collar. At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Bassline DB-01 was…

Reviews Moog Subharmonicon $699 Moog bring polyrhythmic sequencing to the masses. Rob Redman discovers the joys of four-step sequencing Although this is a brand new synth from Moog, the name might be familiar. The Subharmonicon was available for a very short time at Moogfest 2018 and you had to build it yourself as part of the VIP engineering pass. The following two years have seen many call for a production run of this synth but no news arrived… until now. The Subharmonicon (or SubH as I shall now refer to it) is clearly designed as part of the Mother family of products, as it shares the same dimensions, aesthetics and even case design, so no surprises there, as a similar look was followed by the popular DFAM percussion synth. There…

ROUND-UP Spectrum analysers Interrogate your frequency spectrum with this range of visualisers that come in all shapes and sizes. Or just, y’know… get SPAN Voxengo SPAN FREE It’s likely already in your plugins folder, and it’s well and truly the one to beat, so how does the world’s favourite freeware plugin compare to the other analysers in this round-up? SPAN is legendary for many reasons, including spectrum smoothing, custom resizing, True Peak reading and LUFS metering, mid/side, multichannel analysis with channel grouping, A/B-ing and loads more besides. For most situations, though, you’ll just need to drop it onto a channel and start ogling it – after that, you’re hooked on the simple, to-the-point visuals. For those who want to dive further into SPAN – or at least customise the default…

Testbench Audiomodern Filterstep > There are a lot of free plugins out there, and so developers have to really push the boat out if they’re wanting to offer something unique and interesting. Audiomodern’s Filterstep is a great example of freeware done right – a plugin that most producers would consider paying for if it wasn’t being offered on the house already. Not only is Filterstep great, it’s also quite unique, too – it’s a sequenced filter plugin that lets you draw your steps for a low-pass, high-pass or band-pass filter, and takes you far deeper with the programming than simply the basics. Let’s take a look at exactly what it can do. Grab Filterstep for free from audiomodern.com. Sequenced filtering A great way to start off with Filterstep is through…

GEAR GUIDE SEMI-MODULAR SYNTHS Moog Matriarch £1,979 Full Review: FM355 The Matriarch is very inspiring. It’s well built, has the classic Moog Modular sound and is complex yet intuitive. A future classic! Moog $699 Subharmonicon Full Review: FM359 Mixes familiar Moog sounds with experimental sequencing and rhythms. An inspiring, well-built and well thought-out synth. Korg Volca Modular £190 Review: FM342 A West Coast synth in a compact package. It may be fiddly and a little complicated, but if you’re willing to give in to its experimental ethos, the Modular is endless fun. Pittsburgh Modular Microvolt 3900 $629 Review: FM341 A characterful semi-modular that wears its influences on its sleeve, but still has its own unique style and sound. Moog DFAM drum synth £549 Review: FM333 A unique and inspiring percussion…

Essential Tools For Music Making SOFTSYNTHS Kilohearts Phase Plant from €169 Full Review: FM350 Phase Plant’s modular architecture is an incredible resource for conjuring real and otherworldly sounds. A powerful, flexible synth in every way! Native Instruments Massive X £179 Full Review: FM348 A long time in the making, NI’s follow-up to the most successful softsynth of all time doesn’t disappoint. There are still some rough edges at launch, but it sounds exceptional. Audiaire Zone £99 Review: FM341 An impressive debut synth that’s handy for all kinds of sounds, but really shines when it comes to grooves, drones and rhythmic synth lines. Arturia Pigments $199 Review: FM342 With a multipart synth engine, sequencer and lots of creative tools, there’s a lot going on in this latest synth powerhouse. Xfer Records…