Computer Music May 2018

Any realistic or electronic instrument can now be called up in virtual form, and performed using any computer and MIDI keyboard. Why not conduct a software orchestra, or play a grand piano from your laptop? Yet all of this technology is wasted if your basic keyboard-playing skills aren’t up to scratch. Piano lessons are the usual way to learn, but the majority of teachers focus on classical music. “Hone your skills on the black ’n’ whites” That’s why, starting on p22, we bring you the definitive start-to-finish course, to help you hone your skills on the black ’n’ whites – from hand positioning and fingering techniques through to scales, chord playing, synth programming and much more. And every tutorial comes with a live-action video (that’s 15 in total!) so you can follow…

Plugins Download Scale Player CM and the rest of our CM Plugins collection Tutorial Videos See and hear exactly how it’s done with our expert video guides Samples Shake up your rhythms with this issue’s exclusive free samples Tutorial Files Follow along in your DAW with WAVs, project files, MIDI clips and more Log in at www.filesilo.co.uk/computermusic Register this issue for instant access to our plugins, samples, videos and files on your desktop computer Free for digital readers, too! Read on your tablet, download on your computer…

Secure and safe online access, from anywhere Free access for every reader – print and digital Download only the files you want, when you want All the downloads from all your issues, in one place Get started 01 Register your FileSilo account and log in. Even if you have a subscriber ID, you’ll still have to unlock each mag separately or migrate your old Vault account (see step 3). 02 Head back to the Computer Music page (filesilo.co.uk/computermusic) and choose an issue to unlock. You’ll need to answer one question to prove you’ve purchased the issue. 03 You can migrate your old Vault account over to FileSilo to retain the issues you’ve added – head to filesilo.co.uk/vault and enter your Vault email address. Reset your password via the email you receive, and log in!…

PLAY KEYBOARD LIKE A PRO Get better at playing and improve your theory know-how Read the full article on p22 1 Basic hand positioning 2 How to recognise the keys 3 Playing a C major scale 4 Tackling major and minor triads 5 A tricky finger independence exercise 6 Major - minor scale arpeggio exercise 7 Using a sustain pedal 8 The minor blues scale 9 Playing a monophonic synth 10 Setting up and using the pitchbend wheel 11 Setting up the mod wheel to control vibrato 12 Organ technique 13 Clavinet technique 14 Making a synth patch respond to aftertouch 15 Assigning MIDI knobs to software parameters cm Producer Masterclass TOM HADES Take a trip to the Belgian techno guru’s studio and watch as he creates a track in Ableton Live before our very eyes Note: this video is only available using the link on page 43 Read the full…

Following Gibson Brands’ announcement last year that they would be ceasing development of all Cakewalk products, including their flagship DAW, Sonar, and the popular Z3TA+ 2, Dimension Pro and Rapture Pro softsynths, BandLab – the investment group behind a rapidly expanding range of music hardware and software – have relieved them of “the complete IP of Cakewalk Inc”. Gibson Brands’ recent debt issues have been well publicised, and in a statement, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz clarified the reasoning behind the sale. “We have been monetising assets like stock holdings, real property and business segments.” The news will come as a huge relief to users of Sonar in particular, although what the future holds in terms of any potential plans to merge the Windows-only DAW with BandLab’s own online music production system remains to…

Grand Finale Originally released for desktop platforms at the end of 2017, Klevgrand’s Grand Finale has now arrived on iOS. Designed to put “the icing on the cake” of your productions, it comprises a set of pre-routed modules (including compression, stereo width, EQ and distortion) with adjustable parameters, and offering selectable algorithms. When combined, they can be used to finalise a single track, a bus or a complete mix. For a quick, easy ‘polisher’, this is just the thing. Grand Finale operates standalone, currently available for £7.99/$7.99 (half price). www.klevgrand.se Ableton Link It’s not easy to achieve widespread adoption of a new music technology standard, but Ableton have done it with Link. This syncing system – which enables you to hook up a multitude of iOS and desktop apps – has been a roaring…