Computer Music June 2021
Computer Music's goal is to help its readers create great music with a PC or Mac. Each month find easy-to-follow tutorials for all sorts of music software, unbiased reviews of the latest products and answers to technical questions. Our Zinio edition does not include the DVD but it DOES INCLUDE the full software, samples and tutorial files to download. Full details inside. Download does not include Producer Masterclass in-studio video. This digital edition is not printable.
in this issue
welcome
“…selling booze for synths, crack for Eurorack” In what is fast becoming my magazine equivalent of a confessional booth (I’ve never used a real one, by the way; I grew up in the 70s and they were always full), it is time to admit that I have dabbled in modular or Eurorack synthesis before. OK, I was much younger and, it has to be said, easily led. All my friends were into it and they said it was cool. And it didn’t seem too much of a problem at first: buy one module, maybe two, or even three… link them together, play a sequence. What harm could it do? But no-one really explained to me what modular synthesis really was, and where it could take my life. Soon I was living…
software bundles of fun
Software bundle makers really do understand what needs to be highlighted about their particular piles of titles: value! You know, then, that when you buy a piece of hardware by certain manufacturers and it has a ‘software bundle thrown in’ that it will probably be worth a fortune. Similarly, with a ‘best of’ bundle a la Arturia’s V-Collection or NI’s Komplete, you simply understand that you’ll save thousands over buying the titles individually. Well, we’ve mentioned the major ones that are available, but this month we have news of two updated titles that might well have slipped under your radar. The first, Presonus’ Studio Magic 2021, is a Mac and PC bundle that goes straight for the cash jugular, delivering over a thousand bucks’ (Presonus are American, don’t you know) worth…
app watch
Elastic FX 1.3 First it was an update for Elastic Drums, and now Oliver Greschke has given Elastic FX – his deliciously playable multi-FX app – a tweak. This isn’t a major revision, but you do now have Ableton Link support in iOS 14 and MIDI sync for the likes of automations and delay times. Some bugs have been fixed, too, including a Bluetooth crash in iOS 14 and a buzzing sound on the iPad 8. Elastic FX 1.3 is a free update for existing users. The full app costs $9.99. mominstruments.com Spire Studio iZotope’s Spire Studio – the iOS-focused ‘smart’ recording device – was a hit in lockdown, selling out all over the place. We now have a relaunched gen 2 version, though, with improved preamps and more storage. Spire Studio also comes…
get with the programmers
How did you get into music software? VM “I was always a musician [see pic!]. My father had a good old Cubase and Atari ST, and when I was 10 I started programming, and pretty much knew it was going to be my livelihood. In university we had lots of projects, and I usually did something that I wanted myself. I was making music with keyboards, but had trouble with drums, so I created MDrummer, a silly version at least. It took literally years to get somewhere; it was a very rocky beginning, but eventually the first MDrummer sold, then a second and it eventually started working well. I thought I was going to start and end with MDrummer, but here we are!” What makes MeldaProduction software stand out? VM “When I develop…
10 years back
Our mission has always been to help you ‘make music now’. However, in June 2011 (CM165), we upped the ante by showing you how to ‘make better music now’, which sort of sounds like the same thing but is actually very different. Honest. “Albums: those things we listened to before attention spans fell off a cliff” We also offered a guide to releasing your own album – you know, those things we listened to before attention spans fell off a cliff and we started skipping through random Spotify playlists instead – and got all touchy-feely with a tutorial on the new iPad version of GarageBand. Meanwhile, a survey on our funky new Facebook page showed that 55% of our readers at the time used ReWire. Propellerhead Software’s standard is still just about going,…
uvi’s new quadra synth
UVI’s new Quadra: Muted & Harmonics has 150 multisampled sources, with enough control over them to create everything from deep arpeggiations to funky basslines, cinematic soundscapes to classical string lines. UVI have sampled classic guitars, pianos, electric keyboards, a range of synths, and classical and world stringed instruments. You get four “completely customizable” instrument layers and a whole load of parameters and options to tweak plus effects. The price is $149/€149 and it’s available now. Check the review soon. uvi.net…
