Sound On Sound UK December 2022

Many years ago, a manufacturer who shall remain nameless sent us two iterations of their new product. An initial prototype was followed, a few weeks later, by a production version. This in itself isn’t unusual, as we insist on reviewing exactly what our readers will be buying. What was less normal was that the production unit weighed twice as much as the prototype. A peek inside confirmed that the circuit board was exactly the same. They hadn’t added any new, massive components, or beefed up the case. They had simply bunged in some chunks of metal to make the production version heavier — reasoning, presumably, that buyers would associate a weightier unit with better quality. If this sort of cheap trick leaves a bad taste, it’s mostly because it actually works.…

The Gauge ECM-47 is a variable-pattern valve microphone built around a two-sided, 1.38-inch capsule fitted with six-micron, gold-sputtered, centre-terminated diaphragms. Finished in bright chrome with a satin chrome sleeve, the mic has no pad or roll-off controls on its chunky body or on the power supply, which is slightly unusual, but otherwise follows the conventional format for a multi-pattern valve mic. Supplied in an aluminium case with a lined wooden box to hold the mic itself, the ECM-47 comes with a pop screen, elastic cradle shockmount, power supply and a 7-pin XLR cable to connect the mic to the power supply. A voltage selector switch on the PSU offers a choice of 110 or 220 V 50/60 Hz. A rotary pickup pattern control switch located on the front of the power…

If the iconic tom fill halfway through Phil Collins’ 1981 hit ‘In The Air Tonight’ doesn’t give you chills every time you hear it, then please check your pulse. While Collins undoubtedly worked magic with the sticks, the sonics of that memorable drum recording — with its understated electronic elements, unforgettable tom sound and massive snare with gated reverb — was very much a Hugh Padgham design. Indeed, with production and engineering credits that include an all-star list of 1980s and 1990s musical greats, he created an approach to drum recording and mixing that influenced a whole generation of hit records and can be heard even to this day. Now, with Toontrack and Hugh Padgham collaborating on the latest SDX for Superior Drummer 3 — simply titled Hitmaker — you can…

Physion separates the incoming audio signal into Transient and Tonal signals such that they can be treated independently before being recombined. It can be used for corrective purposes, such as emphasising or de-emphasising the transient of a drum hit, or for creative effects such as adding dreamy delay or reverb effects to guitar parts. A favourite trick of mine has been to use only the Tonal sustain portion of a guitar signal to create an excellent slow-attack effect which works reliably, regardless of the input signal level. Physion Mk II takes the concept further, largely by adding a raft of new effects. Many of these effects have been ‘borrowed’ from other Eventide products; the filters, for example, are the same as those developed for Eventide’s Split EQ. The spectral pitch-shift is…

Sonuscore have carved an enviable reputation for their virtual instruments such as The Orchestra, Action Strings 2 (in collaboration with NI), Elysion and Dark Horizon. These products offer media and film composers a range of orchestral, processed orchestral and non-orchestral sounds within an innovative and very creative performance engine. Their latest release is Time Textures and, while the underlying sound sources are orchestral in nature, this time the engine is something new, aimed at transforming the sound of the orchestra into evolving, complex soundscapes. So, is it time to add some texture to your Sonuscore composing toolkit? Source Of All Sound Under the hood, Time Textures is built from a selection of orchestral string, brass, woodwind, piano and harp sound sources. Samples for each of the 12 main instrument types included feature…

Sound‑design elements such as risers, hits and whooshes (a riser that also includes a similar tail/fade portion to the sound) are now a common production element in all sorts of musical contexts. While building these sounds using old‑school manual sample layering from scratch is a lot of fun, it’s also time consuming. Thankfully for busy composers and producers, the last few years have seen the arrival of a selection of tools designed to take the heavy lifting out of this task. Vir2 are the latest developers to pitch their hat into this particular ring. So, if you need to rise, hit and whoosh with the very best, is Phoenix less mythical, but just as magical, as its namesake would suggest? It Is No Myth Conceptually, Phoenix is fairly straightforward in that it…