Computer Musicの September 2018 の目次

“Uncover all those interesting synth features that you never explore…” Today’s virtual instruments can sound like realistic instruments, retro machines, futuristic oddities, or even the human voice. It’s hard to imagine how software will evolve from this point. But with endless power comes… well, confusion, frustration and a looming feeling that you’re not making the most of the sonic potential sitting inside your computer. And it’s no wonder, as every synth has a different interface, sound and modus operandi. So if you’re looking to finally conquer these powerful instruments once and for all, this issue is guaranteed to help inspire your sound design sessions, uncover all those interesting synth features you never explore, replicate the sought-after tones of classic hardware, and ultimately help you make better music. Aside from our…

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 Musicpage (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,…

SynthMaster One SynthMaster One always seemed a perfect fit for iPad, so great to see that KV331 have ported their plugin to it. Aside from a polyphony reduction and fewer presets, this is the full-fat desktop SynthMaster One, which means a semimodular wavetable architecture that provides stereo oscillators, a 16-step arpeggiator/ sequencer, zero-delay feedback filters and effects. £24.99/$24.99. www.kv331audio.com Patterning 2 Long one of the more elegant drum machines on iOS, Olympia Noise Co’s Patterning’s circular interface makes it stand out among step sequencers. Now it’s returning with a load of new features, including pattern recording from the built-in pads or an external MIDI controller, complex randomisation features, and the ability to create stuttering beats with up to eight divisions for each step. It’s set for launch in…

“Steinberg’s Sequel was the sequel to… well, nothing really” Mini MIDI controllers are everywhere now, but when Korg’s NanoSeries range graced our Summer 2008 issue ( 129), they were very much A New Thing. Comprising mixing, pad and keyboard controllers, all three proved extremely popular, though we still struggle with those low-profile keys... We also told you about Sequel 2, the sequel to Steinberg’s beginners’ DAW called Sequel, which was the sequel to… well, nothing really. Sequel 3 – aka the second Sequel sequel – arrived in 2011, in case you’re wondering. Trance legend Tiësto meanwhile, was a little evasive about details of his setup: “We really try to use all the software available, because every single plugin and program has its unique features and benefits.” That clears that up,…

One way to give your custom Instrument Rack synth more front-panel knobs is by nesting a Rack within another Rack, giving you eight more Macro controls. From here, you can drop extra processing devices within the Rack, and assign even more parameters to those same knobs. We used three instances of the same synth here, but you can go further and design your own dream tool using different synths for each layer. How about analogue-style bottom end for weight, backed up with a modulated digital midrange?…

First, try all the different import options, including the four FFT modes, and see which sounds best when you play across the keyboard. If you get crackling artefacts, use the Wavetable Editor’s Process » X-Fade Edges option to smoothen frame crossing points. Process » Normalize will even out levels across the frames. To fill out your wavetable with interpolated frames, use a Morph option. Morph » Crossfade will fill in gaps with volume crossfades, while Morph » Spectral will add additive-style resynthesised frames.…

After 20 years in the DnB scene, Tim Eliot has seen and heard it all. Whether he’s jamming out the hardest neuro bangers as Current Value, or going modular with Dean Rodell as Machinecode, Eliot’s an elite synth tweaker with the creative philosophies to match. Last time we caught up with him, Tim gave us a serious schooling in 225’s Producer Masterclass video, building a whole track from the ground up using only Ableton’s Operator synth. These days, Tim’s a massive fan of Xfer’s Serum, so he’s certainly played the field where synths are concerned. cm: Back in 2015, we covered how you made an entire track using Operator. FM synths are notoriously abstract to program – but how did you come to know it so comprehensively? Tim Eliot: “[Because]…

UAD Thermionic Culture Vulture “I’ve got the Super 15 hardware, but this software emulation is great. It’s a famous valve distortion box that brings magic and weight to lifeless signals, especially drums. Play with the bias to find a sweet spot, then bring the wet/dry mix back to regain transients.” www.universalaudio.com Black Box Analog Designs HG-2 “Another fantastic valve saturator from Plugin Alliance. There are a couple of great extra controls such as density… again, you can go to town with it, then pull the mix amount back. It just shows you how far DSP has come in the last five years.” www.plugin-alliance.com Fielding DSP Reviver “It’s dead simple – input, output and harmonics. You add second harmonics – which I don’t ever bother with – but adding third harmonics…

The menu above the Retrig button determines the way in which the two main oscillators are mixed/blended. Set to Mix, they’re independently level-adjusted in the mixer. In Ring mode, the oscillator outputs are multiplied for ring mod-style effects. In Sync mode, the pitch of Oscillator 2 is synced to that of Oscillator 1 – useful with LFO modulation of Oscillator 2. In X-Wave mode, the oscillator mix is modulated very fast, resulting in a hybrid waveform. The other three modes – And, Or and Xor – bring the oscillators together using simulated logic gates, for extreme and harsh tones. When one is selected, the Logic knob appears. This controls the ‘unpredictability’ introduced into the logical operations at work, and is there to be experimented with.…

When you’re stuck for ideas, Phonec CM provides instant inspiration with the Randomise buttons in the Oscillator, Filter, Modulation and Sequencer sections. Click one to have the controls in that section (or the currently selected modulator) set to random values. If you come across a setup for a particular section that you like but you want to keep randomising, use the Copy function to store it on the pasteboard, then retrieve it or transfer it to another preset with the Paste function.…

The first wave of modular synthesisers were all but a distant memory when digital samplers first hit the scene, and though digital FM synthesis was developed concurrently with analogue’s initial heyday, it wouldn’t reach maturity (or the masses) until 1982. By that time, analogue synthesis was considered played out and musicians were dumping their old ARPs and EMSs for gritty, grainy 8-bit synths, samplers, and drum machines. These early digital doodads may have sounded a bit lo-fi, but at least they sounded different. Eventually, of course, musicians grew bored with menu diving and preset patches, and rediscovered the hands-on allure of analogue modulars. However, they had not forgotten the crystalline highs and biting basses of digital oscillators. In fact, today’s synthesist knows full well that combining digital waveforms with analogue…

Snobbery doesn’t finish tracks, and although crafting all your synth sounds from scratch is entirely possible, your studio time is precious – so when you get the opportunity to cook up new material and the creative juices are bubbling, do you really want to spend hours building up sounds from an init patch? Dedicated professionals are paid to create awesome-sounding patches and banks for commercial synthesisers. You’ve paid money for a virtual instrument, so it’s your right to use and adapt those factory patches! First, when surfing through a synth’s preset browser, define exactly what kind of sound you’re looking for – or accept that you’re just hunting for some inspiration. This is where some knowledge of your synth comes in handy: it’s frustrating to come across a preset that’s…

A catchy dance track is defined by its core melody or lead. However, I usually like to keep things fairly minimal and steer away from obvious melodics – instead, subtle musical parts and distorted basslines combine to form my musical foundation. Nevertheless, a lead synth can be exactly what’s needed to hook in the listener, and a ‘percussive’ melody can help support that minimal feeling by creating both rhythmic and melodic interest. You can hear this a lot in early 90s rave/jungle and 00s drum ’n’ bass: beats and bass do most of the work, but a catchy musical percussive sequence rides over the top. As you may have guessed, this is exactly what I’ll be creating in this month’s Studio Strategies session. To design my basic sound, I’ll combine…

The mid-90s was a wonderful time to be messing around with a drum machine, synth and a sampler. Anyone who was looking for inspiration could mine a rich seam of beats from the likes of The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Leftfield, Portishead, Orbital, Fatboy Slim, Massive Attack, Goldie, Bjork… let’s just say that it was a very long list indeed. Electronic music was no longer a ‘club thing’; it was a permanent fixture in the mainstream musical landscape. These artists were having Number One records, and everyday water-cooler conversations were peppered with exotic-sounding expressions like electronica, big beat, dolphin jungle and trip hop. The latter – a mix of languid, funky loops and downbeat atmospherics – enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic, and provided the relaxed soundtrack to…

A DI (direct input or injection) box simply converts a guitar or bass output into a microphone-level signal, suitable for feeding into a mixer. Most DI boxes don’t really do much to the sound beyond that, but the REDDI isn’t ‘most DI boxes’… Launched in 2006, Californian manufacturer A-Designs’ REDDI “all tube direct box” fast became a permanent fixture in the stage and studio rigs of countless bass players the world over. A heavy, solid, bright red slab of expensive (£700) audio goodness, it uses a vacuum tube amplifier and Cinemag output transformer to saturate and compress the input signal, adding pleasing harmonics and thickening up the sound to bring out gloriously musical punch and body that wasn’t there in the first place. It’s one of those quasi-magical ‘plug in…

As amusing and usable as PortaFM’s preset operator setups are, designing your own custom sounds in the Patch page is where the real fun starts. Vertical sliders set the Modulator and Carrier oscillators, and their amplitude envelopes. Each oscillator can have its base frequency multiplied by between 0.5 and 15x, and be set to halve in volume every one, two or four octaves above G2, for reining in excessive high frequencies via modulation or levelling. The Modulator is volume-adjustable and can modulate itself to the point of very noisy self-oscillation. The buttons below activate various extra functions. Wave switches the waveform from a sine to a more harsh half-sine, while EnvPerc bypasses the envelope Sustain stage for percussive sounds, and KS Rate doubles the envelope speed with every octave increase.…

HYBRID SYNTHS Our synths have been created by the best software developers in the world to bring you a suite of sound-making tools for all music production scenarios u-he Zebra CM • Blendable oscillator waveforms • Super-programmable step LFOs • Slick delay, reverb and chorus • Original synth designed just for CM • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit www.u-he.com Enzyme CM • Scanned synthesis sound generator • Easy-to-use preset-based synth • Assign parameters to controls • Based on the full Enzyme synth • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit humanoidsoundsystems.com KV331AudioSynthMasterCM • Dual wavescanning oscillators • Multimode filter and built-in effects • FM/AM synthesis modes • Based on SynthMaster 2.5 • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit www.kv331audio.com Cableguys Curve 2.6 CM • Design-your-own-waveforms synth • New waveform capabilities for v2.6 • Phat 16-voice Unison mode • Based on Cableguys Curve…

DYNAMICS Check out this huge collection of processors – from classic compressors to modern digital creations, we’ve got everything you need to shape your signals eaReckon CM-COMP 87 • Slick, punchy compressor • Mix knob for parallel compression • Limiter to keep the output in check • Clear VU- and LED-style metering • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit www.eareckon.com LVC-Audio Transector CM • Transient tweaking and saturation • Define and process envelope stages • Useful metering/display functions • Mix control for parallel processing • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit www.lvcaudio.com Audiority TS-1 CM • Flavoursome transient shaper • Set attack and sustain gain • Blend control for parallel processing • Based on the full TS-1 plugin • AU/VST, 32-/64-bit www.audiority.com Unfiltered Audio G8 CM • Get tight dynamics or creative FX • Includes advanced gating controls…

We’ve got a new system for downloading files. Whenever you see this icon, you can grab the files on your PC or Mac by going to filesilo.co.uk/computermusic. Tutorials featuring this icon make use of our own Plugins – find out all about them on p107. This icon means there are extra files to help you follow a tutorial feature: project files, audio examples, etc. There’s extra video content wherever you see this icon. www.computermusic.co.uk computermusic@futurenet.com www.facebook.com/computer.music.mag www.twitter.com/computermusicuk www.youtube.com/computermusicmag…

“Today’s clean, punchy styles of music demand controllable low end” cm Enforcer is a sub-bass generator effect that can be triggered by incoming audio. How did you make a creative tool that responds to a dynamic audio input? AR “Boom Library is a sound design company: we produce sound effects for games, movies, commercials and post-production. Today’s clean, punchy styles of music demand controllable low end. It takes time to get more ‘kick’ into existing recordings manually. We use subharmonic generator plugins, but we tend to need more control and ‘solidity’. We used to layer low-frequency samples with those sound recordings, but with machine guns, footsteps and similar fast and repetitive content, this manual editing is so time-consuming – this can really slow down your creative flow. So we came…

SELF-OSCILLATION Your synth may feature a filter that outputs a tone of its own. If it does, silence all oscillators, then crank up filter resonance all the way. If your filter offers a keytrack amount, turn it up – you’ll now be able to play this filter tone chromatically. It’s an excellent technique for synthesising flutes, organs and keys. GURGLING FILTER Set up a sample-and-hold LFO to modulate filter frequency and/or other influential parameters, then direct a second S+H LFO to modulate the rate of the first. This is really great if you want endlessly evolving and complex sequenced filter movement. Try assigning the first LFO to oscillator pitch for some R2-D2-style sci-fi bubbling. ROUTE TO VICTORY Synths with multiple filters often feature optional routing topologies. In serial mode, you…

01 REACH FOR LOOPS Although it’s advised to import a one-shot sample with a consistent pitch, this doesn’t mean you can’t try out other types of audio files. For example, throw in a long synth loop featuring sparse notes, then scan through this wavetable’s WT Pos with a speed-shifting LFO to create animated rhythmic bursts. 02 RESAMPLE SERUM’S OSCILLATORS On Serum’s Edit page, select Menu >> Resample to Osc A/B. Serum will render one bar of the entire synth’s output, convert the signal into a wavetable, and load it up in the oscillator you selected. Use this to go further and further down the sound design rabbit hole! 03 TEXT TO SPEECH Type one or more words into the Formula Parser (inside quote marks), and Serum will convert the speech…

Phonec CM’s Arpeggiator and step Sequencer work hand in hand to generate modulated sequences from single notes and held chords of up to four notes, cycling in sync with the host DAW. Arpeggiator runs Up, Down, Up then Down or Random, with up to four octaves of Range. Playback speed is adjusted with the Rate menu, and clicking 1/2 switches to triplet timing. The Gate knob shortens the arpeggiated notes when turned anticlockwise, and the Velocity mode dictates whether incoming note velocity is applied to each arpeggiated note individually or all equally, set by the first note played. Activating Hold freezes any played notes (up to maximum polyphony of 4) until deactivated – this even works when Arpeggiator is turned off, holding notes at their Amp Envelope Sustain level. The…

SONUS MODULAR SONUS DEPT ADDICTION Though additive synthesis is nearly two centuries old, it only reached maturity with the advent of computer-assisted synthesis in the 70s. This is mainly because of the vast number of oscillators, envelopes and amplifiers needed to create anything but the most basic waveforms. Addiction is a powerful, free additive oscillator. bit.ly/Sonus_Dept VCV AUDIBLE INSTRUMENTS MODAL SYNTHESIZER AND RESONATOR5 These are powerful physical modelling-based modules. As it uses mathematical algorithms to recreate the physical behaviour of actual acoustical objects, physical modelling is by nature a purely digital technique. However, as owners of Mutable Instruments Elements and Rings know, physical modelling can be a great addition to a modular rig. bit.ly/AudibleInstruments BACON MUSIC CHIPYOURWAVES Bacon Music’s collection features – among many other things – a handful of…

Hear about a producer using a ready-rolled loop from a sample pack, and you’ll probably emit a disapproving groan. Admittedly, it isn’t that creative. So the question is this: how can you go beyond using the loop in its entirety? And – more importantly – why would you do this instead of making your own loops from scratch? Well, there are many ways to use and customise stock loops. Often, it can be especially time-consuming to create organic-sounding percussion loops from individual hits – after all, that’s precious time you could be using to push the overall track forward – so by using a loop from a pack, then customising it to suit a different context, you’ll create something you may not have thought of when using one-shots. With this…

‘Neo soul’ is a label that has come to define the smooth, slick sound of modern R&B, from the 90s noodlings of Maxwell and D’Angelo to current exponents like Cory Henry, Taylor McFerrin or Robert Glasper. This is a versatile genre, the edges of which are easily blurred, allowing it to be readily fused with the likes of hip-hop, jazz, electronica, funk, house, drum ’n’ bass – you name it! The main keyboard instrument of the neo soul sound is the electric piano, and there’s a very distinctive sound to the chords that make up the kind of part that typically represents the genre. The chords are fat-sounding, rich and complex, to the point where you might think you could never figure out how to play them yourself. Yet while…

UNIQUE VOCAL SAMPLING A great way to create an interesting hook is by using vocal samples as melodic notes or textures. Using the human voice as an instrument will naturally help your track connect with the listener. Generally, I’ll spend time searching for an interesting vocal sample or acapella, then cut it up to find the perfect pattern and form a catchy loop. Pitching and tuning is essential here – I’ll transpose the vocal up or down by octaves and/or cents to precisely adjust the part to fit my track’s key. Even if the lyrics aren’t entirely clear, the melodies and timings of the vocal will become an abstract riff alongside music, beats and bass. The obvious instrument to use when mangling vocals is a sampler, but I also like…

Selecting the Custom option in an oscillator or LFO wave selection menu opens DMS Ascension’s Wave Editor tab, where you can design your own single-cycle wave shapes from scratch, a preset starting point, or a (very short) imported WAV. The waveform appears in the main display, where it can be freely shaped using a palette of graphical tools. The Draw and Draw Line tools facilitate freehand drawing and the creation of straight lines, while the Blur Samples tool seemingly randomises the point values within the area to which it’s applied, making the waveform ‘softer’. The Vertical and Horizontal Drag tools work to an eight-section grid, shifting the waveform up/down or left/right in the selected section only. Right-clicking calls up a menu of subdivided waveforms, filling that grid section with 1-4…

Sinevibes Droplet $29 Web ww.sinevibes.com Format Mac, AU The latest Mac-only creative effect plugin from Artemiy Pavlov produces “a sound similar to drops of rain or small particles falling onto a surface”. Droplet routes the input signal through a series of 24 delay lines, the timing and panning of which are randomised when the plugin is instantiated. The amount of randomisation brought to bear is determined by the Deviation and Stereo knobs, the first offsetting the base delay time, which ranges from 20-100ms; the second keeping all delays (“drops”) dead centre at 0% and placing each one anywhere between hard left and hard right at 100%. Further to that, the Feedback control pushes the output back through the input for extension of the delay tail at lower values and infinite…

Following our studio session with James Wiltshire (F9 Audio) on p44, James has provided readers with a bunch of exclusive retro analogue synth and drum samples for royalty-free use in your productions. Head to FileSilo (see p5) and download the audio and patches in Live 9/10, Logic Pro X and Kontakt formats. There’s five Jupiter-8 synth multisampled instruments, plus round robin patches sampled from a real TR-808 and TR-606. 371 WAV SOUNDS  including… 31 F9 JP8 PWM S 31 F9 JP8 Saw M 31 F9 JP8 Saw S 31 F9 JP8 Saw & Noise M 31 F9 JP8 Tri M 160 F9 Zenith 808 (8 x RR) 56 F9 Zenith 606 (8 x RR)…

To help you get the most out of our immense plugin collection, we’ve assembled the Plugins Tutorial Bank, containing over 100 guides and tutorials for our Plugins, specially selected from past issues. You’ll find Getting Started PDFs and videos for most of the individual plugins, along with tutorial PDFs and videos on using Plugins for sound design, mixing, and even creating entire tracks. You’ll find all of this as a handy download from FileSilo – go grab it now and start getting more out of your plugins! www.filesilo.co.uk/computermusic…

So how does your DAW know where to look for your plugins? Actually, it might not. Mac users have it easy, as there are OS-specified folders into which plugins are installed. These folders can be found by going to your Library folder (if you can’t find it, go to the Finder’s Go menu, hold Alt, and a Library option should appear). Find the Audio directory, and then the Plug-Ins folder within. There you will find more folders still. One will be labelled Components – this is where your AU plugins reside. Other folders will be found alongside it for VST and VST3 plugins. If you’re a Pro Tools user, you’ll find your plugins in an Avid or Digidesign folder. If your installers don’t automatically install the plugins into the proper…

PLOGUE SFORZANDO One wouldn’t expect software emulations of a soundcard, but there have been a number of products designed to replicate the Sound Blaster’s Soundfont playback functions. Plogue’s cross-platform Sforzando is among the best, letting users load and play existing Soundfonts in a modern DAW. You also get access to a classic wavetable synthesiser. bit.ly/ploguesforzando CWITEC TX16WX Another cross-platform freebie capable of loading/playing back Soundfont sample sets, TX16Wx is loosely patterned after (and improves upon) the notorious 80s Yamaha sampler. A fully-featured sample powerhouse, TX16Wx is far simpler than the machine that inspired it, replacing the hardware’s cryptic menu-driven interface with drag-and-drop. bit.ly/CwitecTX16Wx VEMBER AUDIO SHORTCIRCUIT Initially developed as a commercial product, Shortcircuit is a free, comprehensive sampler from the legendary Surge softsynth. Shortcircuit is big on features, with just…

VIDEO MADE THE CHART STAR The UK Singles Chart is changing its rules again: video streams will now count towards chart positions. Given that a lot of people discover new music on YouTube and the like, this makes sense, though an official video still has to chalk up 600 views to register just one ‘sale’. MONOTRON MOD ROCKS If you thought the Korg Monotron was a limited synth, check out Harry Axten’s Monotron Keyboard, which contains two octaves’ worth of keys and sounds more than reasonable. More impressive is that he created the whole thing during his final year at university. ON A ROLI Sony has a pretty good track record in the music listening field – remember the Walkman? – but now they’re taking an interest in music tech…

’Table tracking One of the most unique features of a wavetable synth is the ability to modulate wavetable position or index, allowing you to cycle through different waveforms (frames) via a modulator. Assign key amount to modulate this value, and each MIDI note will trigger a different frame within the wavetable. Decay away When designing a key or chord sound, modulate the decay of your amplitude envelope with keytracking. Set it up so that higher MIDI notes will have a shorter, tighter envelope than lower notes. This emulates the response of an acoustic piano or Rhodes, resulting in a more realistic patch. Keyboard to pitch Try modulating your oscillators’ pitch via keytracking. These will track the notes on your keyboard by default, but interrupting this can produce inspiring results. Modulating…

Just as a guitarist covets his or her collection of guitars, today’s computer musician is typically a software hoarder – and it’s easy to understand why. Despite lacking the tactility of a physical instrument, each digital synthesiser has its own unique personality: some are ‘do-it-all’ chameleons that tackle multiple types of sound generation, while others are more esoteric and cater to one particular sonic niche. This enormous range of choice makes it somewhat tricky for the beginner to grasp basic synthesis principles. A guitar is essentially a guitar, no matter the model – but every paid-for or freeware synth features a completely different GUI, and a common control on one synth is probably named and positioned completely differently on another. However, once you get your head around one or two…

Click the Filter’s Mix label to switch it to Level mode. This control is no longer a wet/dry balance – instead, it now controls the filter’s final output level, so you can regain your signal after filtering and drive. The Noise oscillator section doesn’t feature a Fine tune control – instead, you’ll find this in the top-right Oscillator Settings section of the Global tab. When choosing LFO presets, Alt-click the little folder icon to scan through them. Shift-Alt-click to go back through the presets. Drag-and-drop is the easiest way to hook up modulation in Serum, but some ‘hidden’ mod sources (such as four NoteOn options and the Chaos oscillators) and destinations (like Master Tune) are only available via right-click or the Matrix. Need to trigger a MIDI note hands-free? Shift-Alt-click…

“Analogue versus digital is like artists arguing over their paintbrushes. It doesn’t matter…” Analogue heart, digital mind From the moment we entered James Wiltshire’s gear-laden studio in sunny Brighton, it was clear this wasn’t going to be your average Producer Masterclass session. “I’ve already sampled a load of multisamples from the Jupiter-8, and I’ve prepared plenty of tricks for the video,” James grins. “I’ve also screen-captured another video, showing you how to use modulation in Massive to make it sound analogue.” If it wasn’t already obvious that James is passionate about making the sound of hardware accessible to all, this exclusive video session – plus tons of multisamples – will set you straight. While setting up the gear for our technique-packed video shoot, we grabbed a…

It’s easy to assume that the current fascination for all things modular is merely an extension of the analogue synthesis revival. To be sure, when Dieter Döpfer kicked around the idea of his new modular format back in 1995, he began with a few familiar analogue modules. This was a reaction against the hardware ROMplers that filled the shelves of the day, and though his Doepfer A-100 series didn’t exactly set the world alight at the time, it did tap into the ennui of electronic musicians who found calling up yet another neatly multisampled nylon guitar patch antithetical to the romantic image of the knob-twiddling synthesist. It would take over a decade, but Döpfer’s chosen Eurorack format eventually took hold. Yet its popularity was not due to mere nostalgia –…

ABLETON LIVE Open the Groove Pool and drag and drop the clip you want to extract the groove from – where it says Drop Grooves or Clips Here. Live will take a second to extract the groove. Once done, the groove will now appear in the Clip Groove list. LOGIC PRO X Highlight your audio region. Up in the Region Inspector, click the Quantize menu. At the bottom of the list, you’ll see a Make Groove Template option – click it. When you revisit the Quantize menu, your extracted groove will appear in the list. CUBASE PRO Select your audio, then go to Edit » Advanced Quantize » Create Groove Quantize Preset. The name of your audio file will appear in the Quantize Panel. Click the Apply Quantize button to…

GENERAL CLUSTER A wide, open voicing as shown in step 8 can be tricky to play, as it seems like it contains more notes than most people have fingers! However, the great thing about clusters is they’re usually formed from adjacent notes on the keyboard, so you can play more than one note with a finger by hitting the gap between them. With our Dm11 voicing, you’d play the D and E with your left thumb and the F and G with your right thumb! FLICKS AND GRACE NOTES Get an even more pro sound by adding flicks and grace notes to chords. For neo soul, this works well if you flick onto the top note of the chord from the note below. With Bmaj7#11 from step 10, top note…

One of the most powerful instruments in the Plugins collection, Thorn CM is a two-oscillator-plus-noise spectral synthesis monster, featuring the incredible Glitch Sequencer for funky step-based modulation of filters, note repeats and more. Like any synth, Thorn CM spends most of its time generating basses, pads, leads and other melodic parts, but its rich array of waveforms and versatile noise oscillator make it a great candidate for percussion, too. Not only that, but with two multi-stage envelope generators, an arpeggiator and two LFOs onboard, that percussion can even be ‘sequenced’, with playback triggered by a single held note. In this tutorial, I’ll be showing you how you can put together a glitchy three-element percussion part using just one Thorn CM, comprising a hi-hat line, a bell-like sound and a faux…

The Plugins collection is a suite of complete, limitation-free instrument and effects plugins. It’s an incredible resource, boasting more than 80 pro-quality plugins that you won’t find anywhere else, all for PC and Mac, in VST and AU formats. All of the included software is created exclusively for us by respected commercial developers such as D16 Group, u-he, AudioRealism, Ohm Force, KV331 Audio, Cableguys, XILS-lab, AudioThing, Vengeance-Sound, Rob Papen, zplane and more. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Enough talking! Where do I get these plugins? You can grab them all on the cover DVD with our print edition, or as a download from FileSilo (see p5 for instructions on how to access). How do I install Plugins? It depends on the plugin. Some have dedicated installers, while others just drop into your…