Table of contents for November 2021 in Future Music

WELCOME This is your Live We can sometimes talk about DAWs as if they’re incredibly mundane things, as if they’re simply bread and butter tools, or just a blank canvas onto which more interesting creative applications are applied. In modern music making though, DAWs are everything. They’re the space in which the vast bulk of music is created, and even if you’re just using yours like a digital tape machine, its look, feel and capabilities still set the tone for how you’re working. It’s easy to overlook the impact, for example, that the development of Pro Tools has had on the way rock music is recorded, or how the growth of GarageBand has democratised home music making. This issue is dedicated to a DAW that has arguably shaped modern electronic…

The Future Of Music | Filter Akai unveil affordable new MPC Studio controller > Akai’s MPC focus has been on the standalone models recently – the excellent MPC X, Live and One – but with the new MPC Studio, it returns to the hybrid software/hardware model. This comprises both a controller and the MPC2 software, acting both as a plugin and DAW in its own right. The MPC Studio hardware is built around 16 full-size pressure- and velocity-sensitive pads. These have RGB backlights and support aftertouch. There’s also an assignable touch strip to add extra expression to performances, while visual feedback is offered by the full-colour LCD display. This is designed to help you spend more time looking at the controller and less at the software. When used with the…

Filter | The Future Of Music Dreadbox unveil tiny Nymphes polysynth > Dreadbox have unveiled Nymphes, a six-voice analogue polysynth with a digital reverb. Each voice has a VCO with wave forming, a sub-oscillator and a noise generator. There’s also an LFO, two envelope generators, a 24dB/octave low-pass resonant filter and a 6dB/octave high-pass non-resonant filter. On a global level you’ll find one common LFO and seven active chords that you can edit, modulate and store with each preset (there’s space for 96 of these – 49 factory and 49 user). The metal enclosure and simple layout give Nymphes a pleasingly retro look, with a shift button enabling dual functionality from each control. Nymphes – which is surprisingly tiny in the flesh – can be powered over USB or run…

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ABLETON LIVE at 20 | Feature The history of Live in 10 key updates 2001 ABLETON LIVE 1 LAUNCHES 1 Live version 1 launches on 30 October. In its original form, Live is purely focused on triggering audio loops and samples, with no MIDI capabilities. The familiar Session and Arrangement views are there though, as are a handful of now-classic effects, such as Grain Delay, Erosion and a multi-band EQ. 2004 LIVE 4 ADDS MIDI 2 Versions 2 and 3 of Live are mostly about fine-tuning the format, but version 4 is a massive step up. The update adds MIDI compatibility to Live, moving it away from purely performance use into full DAW territory. With it comes the debut of several Live staples including Simpler, Impulse and Follow Actions. 2005…

In The Studio With | Boys Noize Boys Noize Alex Ridha’s fifth Boys Noize album aggressively explores the schism between soaring melodies and hard, atonal beats. Danny Turner reveals his modular approach © Shane McCauley Almost 15 years after the release of Oi Oi Oi, the popularity of Alex Ridha’s Boys Noize alias shows no sign of receding. Anointed one of the world’s top DJs, his aggressive techno-punk sound is both uncompromising and distinctive, leading to remixes for the likes of Depeche Mode, Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails and surprisingly leftfield alliances with Snoop Dogg, Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga. Inspired by sound itself and approaching each album with a clean slate, Ridha’s fascination with technology has recently branched into the modular realm, specifically Eurorack. The familiar sound of…

YOUTUBE MORE UNMISSABLE VIDEO TRAINING FROM FUTURE MUSIC Discover our line-up of exclusive YouTube goodness. Head online for all this and more! THE TRACK Leading producers go in-depth on the sounds, ideas and techniques behind their latest releases Tutara Peak, Shapes over the Moorlands Harvey Carter talks ambient textures, dream-inspired sounds and more DON’T MISS: James Hurr, Love Together The producer known for his club cred gives an insight into his studio tricks Rhode & Brown, Wave 200 The Munich duo take a trip back to Italo disco days BEC, Trusting the Mystery Rebecca Godfrey unveils her winning techno formula Simon Doty, The Beacon The Canadian prog-house master talks sampling and house piano riffs steinberg studio sessions Top producers show you the world of Steinberg in our monthly video series…

Producer’s Guide To | Korg Opsix 9 tips to help you get more from the Opsix Aftertouch 1 One of the few notable features missing from Opsix is keyboard aftertouch. While it’s not built-in, the synth will respond to polyphonic aftertouch from an external source. Connect an aftertouch capable controller via MIDI or USB, then head to the Virtual Patch menu to route it to any modulation destination. Mute or bypass 2 Along with their five modulation modes, each operator can also be bypassed or muted entirely. This can be handy when trying to simplify things when creating patches from scratch. It’s also a useful tool for dissecting existing sounds – find an Opsix preset you like, then try removing operators from the setup in turn to get a better…

RETROSPECTIVE Electronica What’s in a name? That which we call electronica, by any other name would smell as sweet © Richard Ecclestone One of our biggest issues in this column is that the genres we discuss are so frequently disputed, even by the artists widely associated with the very same styles. Genres aren’t necessarily a bad thing, but you’d be forgiven for thinking so based on some of the arguments they inspire. Electronica is a bit different. It’s almost certainly not a genre that many of its purported originators would even recognise, let alone lay a claim to. Far from it, electronica is a catch-all term in two different ways, depending on where you come from. In the US, it was generally considered a broad term for all electronic music…

REVIEWS Korg Collection 3 Korg Collection 3 $399 This easily-overlooked plugin bundle boasts some of the most iconic instruments of all time. Si Truss takes a third look… CONTACT WHO: Korg WEB: korg.com KEY FEATURES INCLUDED PLUGINS: miniKORG-700S, Prophecy, Triton Extreme, Triton, ARP Odyssey, MS-20, Polysix, Mono/Poly, M1, Wavestation, MDE-X. Also available as individual plugins or in smaller bundles. See Korg website for details It can be easy to overlook Korg’s Collection software bundle. Where companies like Arturia, NI or Roland keep attention focused on their respective bundle offerings with regular updates and accompanying promotional campaigns, Korg’s plugin collection seems to always find itself at the back of the promotional queue behind the company’s – admittedly excellent – range of hardware synths. You’d be forgiven for not realising that Korg…

TESTBENCH Vital Audio Vital Released last year, Vital has already garnered a rep as a go-to synth for many producers. Despite a raft of features, perhaps the most impressive thing about Vital is that you can get it absolutely free. The synth offers three wavetable oscillators, two filters, three envelopes and four LFOs, all supremely editable. The filter types are creative and inspiring, and there are Random modulators to mess with. Those oscillators have peculiar morphing properties, and there’s an effects tab to sate almost all desires, not to mention a whole bunch of options to customise performance. The core, ‘basic’ version of Vital is free, and that’s what we’ll look at here. It’s also available in ‘Plus’ ($25) and ‘Pro’ ($80) versions, and you can subscribe for $5 per…

Roland TR-707 and TR-727 $149 or as part of Roland Cloud subscription The Roland TR range of drum machines need little intro. Originally so-named as a short-cut for ‘Transistor Rhythm’ – a signifier of modernity at the time – the TR line-up has run from early pre-programmed organ accompaniment machines, via the classic X0X boxes of the 1980s, to the current TR-8s. While boxes such as the 808 and 606 had entirely analogue sound circuitry, the 909 (introduced in 1983) included some sample-based (PCM) voices. The following year, the visually similar TR-707 employed PCM alongside analogue envelope and amp stages to deliver a punchy and far more realistic sound. Its partner, the TR-727 added percussion sounds to the mix. The only downside was that the 707/727 had nothing in the…

The ASM Hydrasynth gets a cute new little sibling > Ahsun Sound Machines (ASM) have revealed a new, portable version of their excellent Hydrasynth. Known as the Hydrasynth Explorer, this offers the same 8-voice sound engine as its big sibling, but in a more compact and battery-powered package. Also new from ASM is the Hydrasynth Deluxe, which goes the opposite direction by upping voice count to 16 and including a 73-note keyboard. The Explorer offers a 37-note mid-sized keyboard with polyphonic aftertouch. The synth architecture comprises WaveScan oscillators, Mutator waveshaping, a flexible dual filter section, a 32-slot modulation matrix, and dual insert and dual master effects. Connectivity options include CV/Gate, USB MIDI and full-size MIDI ports, and you’ll need eight AA batteries to keep the Explorer running on your travels.…

Moog’s latest Sound Studio is a monster semi-modular synth > Moog have followed up their first two Sound Studio synth bundles with an all-encompassing third. This contains all three of the company’s 60HP semi-modular analogue synths – the Mother-32, DFAM and Subharmonicon – and places them in a self-contained rack. Both of the previous (and still available) Sound Studios contain the DFAM percussion synth, but force you to choose between the Mother-32 and the Subharmonicon. By bringing them all together, Moog are taking away that difficult decision, and offering users even more patch design potential. As well as the synths, the new bundle contains a custom dust cover, dedicated audio mixer and power distribution hub, the rack kit, audio cables, patch cables, cable organiser, synth exploration card game, creative learning…

Sugar Bytes say the Nest DIY MIDI sequencer can make music “with a life of its own” > Sugar Bytes are making no bones about the fact that Nest, their new ‘DIY sequencer’, is a “challenging” beast, but if you can grasp its modular complexities, it could have the potential to help you to make music “with a life of its own”. Nest is a software environment that can be used to create MIDI, but the fact that there are 20 modules that you can patch together – said to be inspired by “classic integrated circuits and today’s computer features” – means it’s inevitable that things are going to get pretty deep, pretty fast. You can actually generate up to eight MIDI voices and assign them to four targets. There…

ABLETON LIVE at 20 | Feature Producers share their essential Live 11 tips… KSHMR “Really understand Audio Effect Racks. They allow you to essentially make your own plugin that incorporates effects in instruments you already use and simplifies them for the purposes you need.” MAYA SHENFELD “Know that there isn’t one way or a right way to do things. Some of my favourite music was produced in Ableton in a way that might be considered “wrong”, though this can often lead to the most exciting results. When I started making music with Ableton I didn’t know much about parallel compression, sidechains, gating… but I had a great time producing. I kept on making music, recording, sound designing, and then the technical details came later. So, I’d say, make it about…

THE TRACK Cypherpunx & Luke Brancaccio | The Track Cypherpunx & Luke Brancaccio Sore Lullaby Bedrock Recordings VIDEO ON FILESILO Having spent far too much time shut in our home offices over the past 18 months, FM jumped at the chance to get back out amongst ‘real’ people at last month’s Brighton Music Conference. While we were there we sat down with local producers Cypherpunx – aka Tim Belcher and Douglas Horner, also known as Flip Fantazia – and their regular production partner Luke Brancaccio. In a rare ‘live’ instalment of The Track, the three producers took us through the creation of their progressive vocal house cut, Sore Lullaby, and its Massive Attack-inspired downtempo version, which appeared on John Digweed’s 2020 compilation album Quattro. How did the three of you…

Producer’s Guide To | Korg Opsix Operator modes explained Opsix packs five ‘modes’ for its operators, but what do they actually do? Let’s take a look… 01 FM – This is classic DX7-style FM, where the input wave modulates the pitch of the operator. For classic FM tones, stick to sine waves but don’t be afraid to experiment with other shapes. In FM mode, Feedback does what it sounds like – routes an operator’s output back into its own modulation input. This can have a similar effect to wavefolding, making simple waves more complex. 02 FILTER – Filter mode is like a combined virtual analogue oscillator and filter. The operator’s selected waveshape is blended with any input using Osc Mix, then sent through one of multiple filter modes. Using several…

Electronica | Retrospective File under electronica? Three disputed classics The Prodigy – The Fat Of The Land (1997) 1Always a difficult band to categorise, The Prodigy’s mainstream crossover success in the late ’90s was driven by the excellent The Fat Of The Land and a string of hit singles (Firestarter, Breathe, Smack My Bitch Up). Released by the eclectic XL label, it’s retrospectively lumped in with big beat, but its fusion of rave and punk/metal influences makes it unique. Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (1998) 2Released in the US via the influential Astralwerks imprint which also released records by the likes of The Chemical Brothers and Air, Norman Cook’s sample-driven second solo album was a surprise hit in both the US and Europe, spawning huge crossover…

LONG TERM TEST Elektron Digitakt £599 Tefty discovers if four years later, the Digitakt has evolved into a classic… CONTACT WHO: Elektron WEB: elektron.se KEY FEATURES 8-voice sampler/groovebox with the Elektron sequencer. Plus robust software integration and support through Overbridge The Elektron Digitakt launched onto the scene in the middle of 2017. With the existence of the Octatrack, lots of people rightly drew comparisons. Both units offer eight audio engine tracks. Both have eight MIDI tracks. Both tend to be grooveboxes and hardware hubs. But that’s where the comparisons start to diverge. Over the past few years, Digitakt has proven itself an excellent groovebox/sampler and hardware hub. But with four years of updates, has the Digitakt changed much? Going from version 1.00 to 1.30 has indeed changed the box. Elektron has…

Get creative with | Ableton Live Generate new musical ideas in Ableton Live Drum break slicing using Live 11’s comping tools Chopped drum breaks are a large part of many genres of electronic music, but chopping up breaks can be a time consuming process to do well. The new comping feature in Ableton Live 11 is a useful tool for comping multi-take recordings, but we can also use it as a creative tool for slicing up audio and we find it works especially well for chopping drum breaks! We’ll set up a new Audio Track and create some empty Take Lanes. We’ll then fill those Take Lanes with some breaks and use the Comping features to quickly slice together something new. In this example we’ll be chopping up drum breaks,…

DIGITAL POLYSYNTHS Korg Modwave £699 Full Review: FM373 | Modwave is far from the only wavetable game in town, but it sets itself apart with unique tools and a few added gimmicks. ASM Hydrasynth £1,299 Review FM360 An impressive first release from a new brand. Hydrasynth looks and sounds great, invites exploration, is built to last and is hugely expressive. What’s not to like? Waldorf Quantum £3,500 Review: FM336 A stunning piece of hybrid synth design – setting a new benchmark for features, interface and sonics. It’s expensive, but a synth that you’ll find inspiring for many years. Korg Wavestate £699 Review FM353 Wavestate walks the line perfectly between paying tribute to a ’90s classic and offering cutting-edge tools. A fantastic update to a much-loved synth line. Korg Opsix £699…

FILTER Erica Synths’ Perkons is a hybrid drum machine that promises to bring the thunder > Hot on the heels of the excellent LXR-02 [reviewed in FM 375], Erica Synths have unveiled yet another promising-looking percussion synth. Perkons – named after an ancient Baltic god of thunder – is a four-voice drum machine combining digital sound generation with analogue filters and effects. Each of the instrument’s four voices features a digital oscillator switchable between three modes and shaped by a pair of parameter controls. Sounds then pass through an analogue filter, switchable between low-, high- and band-pass modes, and equipped with a drive control for added heft. Beyond this, Perkons features an analogue bucket brigade delay and optical compressor. There’s also a global LFO with morphable waveshapes, which can be…

UDO’s Super 6 gets a compact, keyboard-free counterpart > UDO have taken the wraps off the Super 6 desktop, a new compact and keyboard-free version of the company’s acclaimed keyboard synth. Billed as a “no-compromise” take on the Super 6, we’re guessing that functionality is pretty much the same, so expect a 12-voice polyphonic, binaural analogue-hybrid engine with FPGA digital oscillators and voltage-controlled analogue technology. You can also expect filter and amplifier sections, LFOs, envelopes and a modulation matrix, along with an arpeggiator and step sequencer and dual stereo 24-bit effects (delay and chorus). The Super 6 desktop has an interesting ‘wedge’ design – almost like a compact keyboard synth, but with buttons where the keyboard bit would be. Whether there’s any practical benefit to having this two-tier design is…

The Future Of Music | Filter PWM’s Malevolent is a semi-modular debut that means business > Malevolent is the debut product from new British company PWM, which promises the flexibility of modular in an affordable, playable 32-note keyboard synth. Described as a ‘pure analogue’ instrument, Malevolent is a semi-modular monosynth that’s fully repatchable and supports the Eurorack standard. Its normalised signal path is fairly straightforward in its design and logically laid out, making it immediately playable. The 19-input/19-output patchbay looks set to allow for vastly expanded capabilities, including compatibility with external gear and paraphonic operation. The synth itself includes two VCOs, two ADSR envelopes, a multimode 2-pole voltage controlled filter, a voltage controlled amplifier with overdrive control and a mixer section with AUX and noise controls. You’ll also find an…

CID RIM Talking Shop Austrian producer and multi-instrumentalist CID RIM injects the fluid energy of live performance into his jazz-inflected electronica, putting his skills as a pianist and drummer to work in genre-spanning productions for the Scottish label LuckyMe. We caught up with the producer in advance of his latest record, Songs for Vienna… When did you start making music? “I started playing piano when I was six. Playing mostly classical music until about 11, I then found out I can just play whatever I want, without the notes, very liberating. I started trying to find out the chords of the records I was listening to. Like the Rhodes loop of Janet Jackson and Q-tip’s Got’Til It’s Gone. Later I started playing drums, being in bands and at about 14,…

Feature | ABLETON LIVE at 20 ABLETON LIVE at 20 It wouldn’t be too hyperbolic to liken the influence Ableton Live has had on electronic music in the 21st century to that of Roland’s grooveboxes in the 1980s. Live is far from the only software tool around – for every track created in Ableton’s DAW, there are countless others made in the likes of Logic, Cubase or Reason – but just as the TR-808 and TR-909 laid down the blueprint for both the tone and sequencing style of modern electronic drums, so has Ableton Live defined a specific style of music software; one that bridges the gap between recording workspace and instrument in its own right. Live launched on 30 October 2001, at a time when processing power was just…

Feature | ABLETON LIVE at 20 10 innovations inspired by Ableton Live Ableton Live has spawned an ecosystem of supporting hardware and software, both for Live users, and for electronic musicians in general. Here’s our top ten… NOVATION LAUNCHPAD 1 Novation’s Launchpad was the first MIDI hardware controller to literally reflect what’s seen in Live’s Session View. An 8x8 grid of illuminated buttons, capable of launching clips and scenes or playing instrument parts, it says everything that the Launchpad is still going strong, now comprising a range with varied capabilities and at different price points. Traditionalists, meanwhile, can make use of Novation’s Launchkey range. Pads and keys alike are also compatible with other software, and in some cases, hardware. novationmusic.com BITWIG STUDIO 2 Maybe a controversial one, as Bitwig Studio…

PRODUCER’S GUIDE Korg Opsix This ‘altered FM’ instrument has a lot of complex processes going on under-the-hood. Discover its most useful features with our crash course Korg call Opsix an ‘altered FM’ instrument, which might sound like classic PR speak, but it’s actually a fairly apt description. At its heart, the sound engine is based around the classic 6-operator FM design popularised by Yamaha’s DX7. FM synths differ from their analogue counterparts in several key ways. Firstly, their oscillators are referred to as ‘operators’, which combine a wave generator – usually a sine in classic FM – with independent pitch controls and an amp envelope for each operator. These operators can then be routed to one another, in relationships referred to as carrier and modulator. Carriers are operators routed to…

Interview | Proc Fiskal Proc Fiskal Siren Spine Sysex, the brilliantly named and equally brilliant sounding second album from Proc Fiskal is a frenetic, joyous treat for the senses. Hamish Mackintosh spoke with hypereditor-in-chief, Joe Powers If, like us, you were won over by the originality and 8-bit charms of their 2018 debut LP Insula, then you’ll be delighted to know that Proc Fiskal’s new outing, Siren Spine Sysex, takes all the editing panache and club beats of its predecessor, throws in some more frenetic sampling, drill beats, grime and even folk nods and lets Joe Power’s imagination unleash itself even further. With tracks like opener Anti Chessst, or haunting Humancargoe Esst and the joyous 8 Mgapixel See Thru Phone, Joe Powers flexes his considerable editing and production talents with…

ROUNDUP TOP SYNTHS FOR 2021(PART 2) We continue last month’s survey of the world’s hottest new synths FM | STUDIO ESSENTIAL! Applied Acoustic Systems Chromaphone 3 $199 Chromaphone was already an excellent physical modelling synth for creating realistic sounds by simulating the properties of bars, membranes, tubes, plates et al, but version 3 makes things even more flexible. Instead of selecting a paltry two of these resonators to run alongside each other or coupled together, the physical phun is doubled here, as you select two pairs of them, with control over each one’s properties, and those of the mallet you’re virtually smacking them with. Modulation is assignable per layer, as are a choice of 14 effects, and the well-featured arpeggiator and sequencer. The consequence of all of this: you can run…

SOUNDS & SAMPLES Spitfire Audio – Hammers £249 Composer and producer Charlie Clouser is known for his work with Nine Inch Nails and hard-edged film and TV scores. His work often combines processed and electronic sources alongside impressive rhythm and percussion work. For those wanting to distill some of this essence into their own work, Clouser has teamed with Spitfire to create a sample-based collection focusing on the cinematic – and recorded in his large Brutalist recording space of hard-edged concrete, glass and steel. As well as recording a wide array of individual percussion sources in the space, the collection includes an excellent selection of 8-bar loops, including the ‘Warps’ category, where heavy processing adds darkness and power. Most of the individual hit sound categories are mapped in a similar…

GEAR GUIDE SOFTSYNTH BUNDLES Korg Collection 3 $399 Full Review: FM376 | A broad, varied package that combines some of the most iconic synths of all time with a few more esoteric, characterful oddities Arturia V Collection 8 €599 While Arturia’s synth emulation bundle doesn’t have the ‘official’ clout of Roland or Korg’s there’s arguably no better rounded softsynth package on the market. Native Instruments Komplete 11 £539 Komplete isn’t purely synth-focused, but the likes of Massive X, FM8, Monark and Reaktor are undoubted highlights. Roland Cloud From $99 per year If you’re happy to accept the subscription model, then Roland’s Cloud service offers access to official recreations of the most iconic instruments of all time. U-he All Synths Bundle €780 With just six instruments included, this isn’t the best…

Gear Guide | Essential Tools For Music Making MIDI KEYBOARDS Novation SL MkIII from £540 Full Review: FM338 Well-designed and versatile. For those who work with both hardware and software, this may be the best studio centrepiece on the market. Akai MPK mini mk3 £90 Review FM363 A very decent upgrade with genuinely pro features, that cements its position in the top handful of mini keyboard controllers available. Roli Seaboard Block £279 Review: FM322 A unique and high-quality MPE-capable, expandable, two-octave controller with a price that makes Seaboards more generally accessible. NI Komplete Kontrol A-Series | from £119 Review FM338 A quality controller combined with a well-rounded software bundle. NI Komplete Kontrol S-Series Mk2 £499 Review: FM324 Komplete Kontrol MkII brings a whole sonic universe under your fingertips like never…