Sommaire pour 05/2023 de Beat English

www.avid.com With MBOX Studio, Avid expands options for production, sound design, podcasting, and live streaming in any room. MBOX Studio delivers the same mic preamps as Pro Tools | Carbon and offers variable impedance inputs and channel EQ for flexible sound shaping. Other features include standalone monitor control, Bluetooth audio, loopback routing, guitar reamping, an instrument tuner, flexible cue mixing, and low-latency monitoring and effects. Included is a one-year subscription to Pro Tools Studio and Sibelius Artist (but will work with any DAW of your choice), as well as the MBOX Ignition Pack, which includes offerings from Baby Audio, Plugin Alliance, Gauge, BPM Create, and Secrets of the Pros. Why do I need Bluetooth audio in an audio interface? On the input side, you can pair devices such as an…

Zoom AMS-44 Very compact, lightweight, and yet surprisingly flexible, the AMS-44 offers all the features needed for common recording scenarios in the smallest possible space. Four microphones or other audio signals can be transferred to the DAW separately or pre-mixed, while switchable phantom power, channel linking, direct monitoring and loopback save cumbersome routing. A separate monitor mix for the second headphone output is very helpful when recording, as is the belt attachment option. In Music mode, the four inputs appear as individual channels in the DAW, where they can be mixed and processed separately. In Streaming mode, on the other hand, the AMS-44 works as a small mixer. Overall, the AMS-44 makes a very well thought-out, practical impression and is worth a tip in the field of portable audio interfaces.…

www.ikmultimedia.com Giacomo Sacchetti, Hardware Product Manager, works at IK Multimedia in Modena, Italy. Born in 1987, he hails from Arezzo in Tuscany and previously worked as a sound engineer in several major recording studios in Italy. He has been an important part of the iRig product management team at IK Multimedia for several years, giving you first-hand advice on choosing the right audio interface. What type of connectivity do I need? The first thing to check is that your new audio interface has all the inputs and outputs that you need. Based on your specific needs, we must choose an interface with the right number and type of connections: Which instruments will I usually record? how many and which type of microphones? How many channels do I need to record…

www.audient.com „I like to make lo-fi electronic music, and the main tools in my arsenal right now are the Audient iD24 audio interface, my Kali LP8 speakers, and Arturia‘s V Collection. I have powerful converters, precise monitoring, and all the synthesizers I need without needing a large studio space. I‘ve also recently started adding hardware effects to my signal chains. The inserts and returns on the iD24‘s inputs have allowed me to both record and mix with outboard - this is a whole new world for me and Audient‘s iD24 hit the sweet spot perfectly.“ How do I use Smart Gain to Speed up my tracking sessions? Smart Gain can automatically set the gain for you on your EVO 16 or EVO SP8. Simply tap the green Smart Gain button,…

Beat / How do you see the relevance of classic surround systems for music today? Jan / Due to the new possibilities offered by immersive formats such as Dolby Atmos (keyword binaural downfold), one is no longer necessarily dependent on a perfectly aligned 5.1 system to be able to enjoy mixes in surround. The hurdle for the music consumer is thus lowered. Beat / Let‘s move on to a concrete setup: At the beginning of the chain is an audio interface with 6 to 12 outputs or more. Do you have any recommendations? Jan / When it comes to interfaces, opinions differ. Apart from the converter quality and the I/O size of the interface, you should pay attention to correct clocking, especially when using multiple sound cards, in order to avoid…

Next comes the question of how to mix for Dolby Atmos. Various DAWs, such as Logic Pro, Cubase or Nuendo, now offer the possibility of creating new song projects or converting existing ones (in 48 kHz, 24 bit and 24 fps). DAW users who are not yet compatible can download tools from the Dolby website www.dolby.com. Panners for surround and objects can be found in each channel, and the heart of the master bus is the Dolby Atmos Production Suite, which transforms the project into a Dolby Atmos mix. Important: Important: Here you should set the setup with which you are monitoring, e.g. with stereo headphones, 5.1, 7.1, 7.1.2 or 7.1.4. Then we can start distributing the objects in the room, not only left, right, front and back, but also…

As a result, clear trends have emerged in recent years that mean new marketing potential for artists, labels, managers and distributors - in addition, the dynamics of TikTok have a significant impact on music production. A good example of the perfect TikTok song: „Wildberry Lillet“ by Nina Chuba - melody, lyrics, chorus are immediately catchy and stick in your mind. TikTok promo channel – more important than ever, but not the only one to rely on TikTok-savvy artists no longer need a big technical setup to produce music and accompanying videos, and it‘s also getting easier and easier to release their own music. Artists and labels have precise ideas about what the promo phase via TikTok should look like. For example, a few weeks before the release of a new…

Project info Material: FL Studio 20/21 Time required: 20 minutes Content: Creation of a synth fill Difficulty: Advanced 1 Structure As a basis for our synth fill, we obviously need a synthesizer that plays a catchy melody over four bars. It is especially advisable that you choose a melody that leads back to the key note of the song. If there is a drum fill playing alongside the synth fill, the melody should also be rhythmically matched to the drum fill. 2 Effector For more character, we load the synthesizer into a mixer channel and there we load the Effector plugin. The mode is set to VOX and the mix is automated so that it starts at 0%, then rises to 100% after two bars and finally drops again with…

Project info: Material: Reason 9 forward Time required: 30 minutes Content: Add a lot of reverb to the vocals and let the kick and vocals sidechain away the reverb. Then, thin out the reverb using EQ. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Neverending reverb For our current chillwave track, we already have a fine beat; only the vocals are missing and they should be decorated - in accordance with the style - with as large and long a reverb as possible. But if we just turn up the send effect, the mix will become flabby. So, do we just load the reverb directly onto the track instead? 2 Effect routing Then you could work with sidechain, but then the vocals would be directly affected. Our solution is a combination: first, we route the…

Project info: Material: Fabfilter Pro-Q 3, Pro-C 2, Pro-L 2, Pro-DS, Pro-R, enclosed audio files „Rhythm Of The Rain“ by Pia Hamburger. Zeitaufwand: About 20 minutes Content: Gloss and Reverb for Pop Vocals through two send effect channels. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Import tracks For this workshop, Pia Hamburger provides us with the recordings from her song „Rhythm Of The Rain“. Import the enclosed tracks into a 65 BPM tempo project. Then, add two empty send effect channels to the vocal track. In the following, we will create a channel for the brilliance and a channel for the vocal reverb. 2 Isolate the highs First, add the Fabfilter Pro-Q 3 to the Brilliance Channel with a 12 dB lowcut at 5 kHz. Set the mode to Linear Phase so that the…

Ghost is a stereo multi-effect that provides delay, reverb, multimode filter and distortion to change the sound. The order of the individual effect blocks can be changed at the touch of a button. The whole thing is garnished with additional utility functions. In addition, the module offers a simple single-band compressor with sidechain function. By the way, the sidechain envelope can be accessed as an inverted version via patch point and can be used inside or outside the module - a small but nice feature. As further utilities Ghost offers a pre-VCA with tone control for influencing the input signal in the form of low or high-pass filter, as well as a gain control for the first, warm „crunching“ of the signal. On the output side, a post-VCA is available…

Project infos Material: Ableton Live 11, Ableton Push Time Required: 45 minutes Content: Easily create a custom sound library and integrate it into a Drum Rack for flexible finger drumming or loop programming. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Sound variations Load a kick from the Instruments → Drum Synth folder. Record a clip with the kick on the first beat of the measure. Duplicate the bar up to 127 bars. Load the MIDI effect expression control into the track, select Random for all sources and map it in Live to the Pitch, Decay and Envelope respectively with Max 1 and 2 at 60%. 2 Drum sounds Set Min for Decay to 10%. For more Drive, load a drum bus into the track. Duplicate the track and replace the kick with the DS snare. Set…

The common thread: Beat issue 05/2023 For many years, Beat has been inspiring its readers not only with practical and musical topics, but above all with the tight integration of editorial content. From the very beginning, Beat has been about creating, about the structured building of ideas and the common thread – in the magazine as well as in the tracks. This navigator shows you the highlights of this issue andallows you to see the big picture. Test: Polyend Play With eight audio and MIDI tracks each, play intends to become the new heart in your studio and on stage. The mixture of groovebox and sequencer offers play-in aids such as scales and MIDI chords, various master effects from reverb to limiter and even tricks such as an auto-fill function.…

www.presonus.com What are some things to consider when selecting an audio interface? More than just a set of converters, an audio interface is the central hub around which your studio is connected. Your audio interface may also include any or all of the following: a MIDI interface, microphone preamps, instrument preamps, onboard monitoring functions, and even onboard effects that make getting a professional result easier. When selecting your audio interface, I always recommend considering the following: Soundquality Inputtypes Onboardmonitoring Professionalmetering options SimultaneousI/O What is the difference between USB-C and Thunderbolt? USB-C™ is the latest industry-standard connector. Unlike other USB connections, USB-C is designed to transmit both data and power for multiple protocols, including USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt 3, among others. While this provides a great deal of flexibility,…

Universal Audio Volt 4 The Volt series from Universal Audio are standard audio interfaces without DSP, which also appeal to beginners in terms of price. The two jack/XLR combo jacks are suitable for microphone and instrument recording. Instruments like electric guitar and bass can also benefit from the analog tube saturation. Furthermore, two line inputs are available. In addition to outputs 1-4, there is a pair of monitor outputs to connect amplifiers or active monitor speakers directly. The MIDI In/Out for connecting external sound generators is a welcome addition in the desktop studio. Volt 4 is a solid entry-level interface. It delivers a decent sound, both the preamps and the line inputs and outputs offer a high standard for the desktop studio. The vintage tube emulation and the simple and…

www.audiowerk.eu External audio interfaces that we use every day in the home studio are often packed with features: Mic preamps, monitor controllers, headphone amplifiers, internal DSP calculations, and a variety of digital inputs and outputs. However, it‘s important to also keep an eye on the components that don‘t seem particularly sexy at first: What happens to the analog signal on its way to/from the converter chip? Is the signal flow fully balanced all the way to the converter stage? How good is the internal clock? How do the preamps sound in a musical context? These questions probably don‘t come to mind when buying your first own sound card, but it‘s worth taking a look at the „inner values“ when switching your old interface to a new one or upgrading. Why…

www.esi-audio.com „Besides my job at ESI, I make and compose music whenever I can. For me, recording a new musical idea has to be fast and intuitive. The technology doesn‘t interest me so much at that moment, it‘s the flow that counts. That‘s why I like to have a super-simple recording setup in my living room or study. As an audio interface I like to use the good old ESI U22 XT - just because it‘s so nice and simple and reliable, doesn‘t take up much space and it‘s great to work with the controls on the front panel. I have a monitor mix control, can still plug in my guitar or bass, and I almost never record at higher resolutions than the 96 kHz it supports anyway.“ What does…

Audio interfaces: Avid MTRX Studio High-quality audio interface with 18 line outputs and SPQ card, plus front-panel monitoring controls. Storable monitor profiles with built-in SPQ speaker calibration. Focusrite Red 16Line 16 line outputs provide flexibility. Can be configured as a monitor controller, but there is no speaker calibration option. Does well in conjunction with Focusrite‘s RedNet R1 desktop remote controller. Apogee Symphony Mk II Offers monitoring up to 7.1.4 when using the latest Symphony Control software. Unfortunately, no speaker calibration option, you‘d have to get a separate unit for that. Optionally, there is Apogee Control - a monitor controller that is tailored to the software mentioned. Antelope Audio Galaxy 32 Synergy Core This classy interface is also now Dolby Atmos compatible for configurations up to 9.1.6 and has built-in speaker…

powerded by James Brown and Quincy Jones were the greatest for the young Todd Terry. He was soon joined by Kraftwerk - a seemingly crude combination, but one that became a springboard and lifelong inspiration for a great career. In the intersection of these influences and significantly inspired by the burgeoning hip-hop movement, the Brooklyn-born musician created a sound that was dirty and raw, and had its finger right on the pulse of the times. Others were concerned with commercial success, but Terry simply wanted to make music and be „the king“ in creative terms. In his bedroom studio, he already had the few pieces of equipment that would soon spark a revolution: a drum machine, a few synths, a pair of simple speakers and a mixer. The songs were…

Project info Material: Ableton Live 11 Suite [1] Time required: 20 minutes Content: Programming a subbass using an Operator as an example, generating movement in the subbass, rhythmic manipulation using Shaper. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Create basic tone To create a very deep and rhythmic subbass, load the Operator‘s default preset into a MIDI track. Create a MIDI clip with a long note going over the whole bar on the root of your track, for instance, an A1. Put the MIDI effect Arpeggiator into the track and set the Rate to 1/16. Steps should be set to 0. 2 Set oscillator To hear the effect of the subbass pulse better, program a simple 4-on-the-floor drum beat in another MIDI track. Deactivate Oscillators B, C and D in the operator. Turn down…

Project info Material: Cubase Elements, Artist or Pro 12, enclosed audio files from Pia Hamburger. Time required: About 20 minutes Content: Add vocoders to existing vocal recordings and shape the sound. Difficulty: Advanced To the Workshop Video 1 A free vocoder For this workshop, we‘ll use the TAL Vocoder, a free plugin from Togu Audio Line. Download this Vocoder from tal-software.com and install it on your computer. Then start Cubase. Use the File - Import - MIDI File function to import the included MIDI file and create a new project. 2 Import tracks Import the two enclosed audio files to the beginning of your project. The piano and vocal tracks can benefit from Vocoder harmonies in this song. The tempo varies slightly, but is around 68 BPM. Duplicate the vocal…

Samplestate Solid Tech Grooves Fresh Tech House sound fodder of about 400 MB is available in the soundpack Solid Tech Grooves from Samplestate. Besides 155 single samples, there are a lot of loops with drums (75), basses (25), synthesizers (23), percussion (27), kicks (21),textures and sound effects (9 each). The loops are calibrated to a tempo of 128 BPM. The drums rely on the proven 4-on-the-floor principle. This is not particularly innovative, but it is functional and good sounding. The synth basslines are growling and heavily filtered, but always groovy. The music loops are somewhat chaotic and colorfully mixed with phrases of organs and synth bells. From the textures, the reviewer expected background atmos rather than whisked-through sound effects, but the real sound effects are very successful. Verdict For Tech…

Beborn Beton: Darkness Falls Again It took German synth poppers Beborn Beton about eight years to release the follow-up to their 2015 album „A Worthy Compensation.“ But it was worth the wait, because „Darkness Falls Again“ is an exquisite piece of electro-pop with well-rounded production by Olaf Wollschläger and eight catchy songs that also score with convincing arrangements. Fans of Depeche Mode, Camouflage or Mesh should be pleased with the slightly roughened but overall pleasing sound of the scene veterans. Only the German-language track „Trockenfallen lassen“ seems lyrically a bit forced, but that‘s complaining on a high level, because all in all „Darkness Falls Again“ is one of the best Synth-Pop albums of the still young year. Genre: Synth Pop | Label: Dependent Blush Response: Neuroscape Although Blush Response only…

ADAT In the days of tape recorders, video cassettes were still recorded via ADAT, but today the interface is almost exclusively used for the transmission of bundled audio streams. Thanks to light-weight cables, many tracks can be transported simultaneously and without loss, e.g. for cascading several audio interfaces to increase the number of inputs and outputs. Direct monitoring Audio signals usually enter the computer via the interface‘s input and are then sent to the sequencer or DAW. However, if this input is not assigned to a track that is ready for recording, the signal cannot be heard via the speakers. For such cases, there is Direct Monitoring, which allows incoming signals to be passed directly to the audio or headphone output. Headroom From a purely technical point of view, headroom…

Audient iD44 MkII The iD44 Mk II USB audio interface is much more extensively equipped than its name and interface would suggest. All in all, the compact and stable device inspires with 20 inputs and 24 outputs. On board are four analog input channels with Class-A console microphone amplifiers that can also record line signals. For quick and easy connection of instruments and headphones, there are two D.I. inputs and two headphone outputs. With the help of the four ADAT interfaces, it can be expanded by 16 inputs and outputs each. It‘s just a pity that there is no MIDI interface. In terms of sound, the Audient iD44 mkII belongs to the absolute top class of interfaces under 600 euros. Moreover, with its endless controller and extended monitor controller capabilities,…

www.steinberg.de „I‘ve been working as a product marketing manager at Steinberg since 2008 and have launched many controllers and audio interfaces since then. The Steinberg audio interfaces are of very high quality and also privately I like to use this hardware myself because of the sound, reliability and connectivity.“ Why is latency-free monitoring with effects helpful? Latency is the time it takes to process the recorded signal from the input source through the audio interface and DAW software and send it back to be heard through headphones or speakers. If you experience a delay between what you‘re playing or singing and what you‘re hearing while recording vocals, a guitar, or another instrument, it can disrupt the creative process and result in a poorer performance. With latency-free monitoring, you can hear…

Yes, we admit: Setting up a Dolby Atmos or surround-enabled studio is a science in itself. Especially if you want to get everything right in terms of hardware selection, fine tuning and calibration.. The higher the number of speakers, the higher the error rate. Lack of space and an unoptimized room are likely to play a role in many cases, as is a lack of budget. However, certain things need to be prioritized, while others can be disregarded. • If possible, choose all speakers from one brand. The three front speakers should be the highest quality in the set-up. You can make compromises with the side, rear and ceiling speakers. Don‘t skimp on the subwoofer (LFE) either! • In terms of speaker count, 7.1.4 for Dolby Atmos is the gold…

Beat / Especially when it comes to deeply private topics - are you in favour of brutal honesty in art? How comfortable were you addressing topics like intimacy and sexuality on Unfold? Synne Sanden / Releasing this album is more scary and vulnerable than any of my previous ones. There‘s so much shame around sexuality, and especially bad experiences. On Unfold I write about both the kind of damaging sexuality on the one hand, and healthy and healing sexuality on the other hand. So this is not just a dark album, but it also contains light, and this makes it less scary. To release it feels like letting go, to move on, both emotionally and musically. Beat / You consciously want to talk about things we may be ashamed about.…

powered by 1 Idea & Concept First of all, you need a goal: what do you want to achieve with the podcast? And who? The topics and, later, the visual design should be aligned accordingly. Be as specific as possible, because no one will feel addressed by vague or general concepts that are meant to appeal to as many people as possible. 2 Theme plan Once you‘ve found a concept, check it again by thinking about topics for the first ten episodes in advance. Also, a possible duration and how often the podcast should appear. Tip: most podcasts have a duration of 20 - 40 minutes, sometimes up to 60 minutes. The usual interval between episodes is between 3 and 14 days. 3 The setup The equipment you need must…

1 Deeper groove When producing our Deep House track, we start - as so often - with the groove. We choose a tempo of 122 BPM and build a beat foundation for the track from drum loops and sounds from the Hy2rogen Deep House Session sample pack [1]. Now we need a crunchy bass typical of the style, of which you can conveniently find some in Deep House Factory. 2 Typical off-beat bass Load Zampler//RX into your DAW as usual, click Load Bank and then select the file „Zampler Deephouse Factory.fxb“. We choose preset 005: BS Analog Star, where we deactivate the Delay effect. Our bass line, which already has the basic chord tones, emphasizes the second eighth-note time (off-beat), as is typical for House music. 3 Brass lead The…