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Issue 183 June 2018

FUTURE EFFECTS Learn how the next generation of advanced music-making plug-ins, tools and resources can improve your music

ON TEST

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Workshops

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9 771479 418016

Issue 183 June 2018 £5.99

r Phat FX in Logic r Get the best from Live Lite r External hardware in Cubase r Reverb in Pro Tools

W ELC O M E

THIS MONTH’S EXPERTS

ANDY JONES Editor At Large Andy has an MA in Music Technology and has been writing about it for 25 years.

He has launched and edited several magazines on the subject and was Editor of MusicTech for four years. Naturally, he has far too many synthesisers.

MARTIN DELANEY Martin was one of the first UK Ableton-Certified Trainers.

He’s taught a wide range of people and has written three books about Live. Martin designed the Kenton Killamix Mini USB MIDI controller and is the Editor of the popular Instagram account Abletonlive.london.

DAVE GALE Dave is an award-winning orchestrator, media composer and producer, with a passion for synths and modulars in all their forms, whether software, hardware, vintage or modern. Dave is MusicTech’s resident Eurorack expert, as well as a soundtrack composer.

ADAM CRUTE Adam is a freelance engineer, media producer and musician. Having cut his teeth in tape-based analogue studios, his involvement with music technology has spanned the move from analogue to digital recording.

Adam is currently our go-to Cubase expert.

ALEX HOLMES Alex has been an electronic musician for many years and has a passion for beats, bass and all forms of electronic music.

He’s currently involved with three different dance-music projects. Alex creates our sample-filled DVD each month.

MIKE HILLIER Mike spent five years at Metropolis Studios, working alongside some of the best-known mix and mastering engineers in the world. He now works out of his own studio in London.

He’s also been writing words for magazines for longer than anyone can remember.

ANTHEM PUBLISHING LTD Suite 6 Piccadilly House London Road Bath BA1 6PL Tel +44 (0)1225 489984 EDITOR Andy Price andy.price@anthem-publishing.com EDITOR AT LARGE Andy Jones andy.jones@anthem-publishing.com ART EDITOR John Thackray john.thackray@anthem-publishing.com

The future of music production is already here...

Not so long ago, we contemplated what the future had in store for the world of music production, highlighting several upcoming innovations unveiled at the NAMM show, while also turning our attention to some groundbreaking ways that artists present their music.

What we didn’t highlight was how – in actuality – the future is now! By which we mean that the resources on offer in 2018 far exceed what we had ten, or even five, years ago. Tools such as Eventide’s Physion, Mastering the Mix’s Reference and, of course, iZotope’s versatile Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 enable us to get both closer to our sound and to extert more control over its nuances than ever before. So, in our cover feature this month, Alex Holmes takes you on a tour through this modern arsenal of plug-in effects, tools and software that you might not even realise existed! They could, potentially, provide a massive boon to your music. Elsewhere we speak to the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff. Jeff ranks among one of the most interesting people we’ve ever spoken to, going deep on the science of music-making, as well as being an inspiring tutor for the next generation of DJs and musicians. Also this issue we have our usual slew of reviews, tutorials and tips, plus a guide to recording. I hope you enjoy the issue.

Andy Price Editor andy.price@anthem-publishing.com

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MusicTech June 2018 3

C O N T EN T S

In the issue…

FUTURE EFFECTS MusicTech looks at the wild production possibilities ofered by the current generation of sotware

12

FEATURES News

Image © Lee Kirby/Spitfire Audio

Your DVD Turn the page for a full list of the contents of the MusicTech issue 183 DVD

8 The latest goings-on in MusicTech land Future Effects 12 We explore the possibilities of the new generation of music production software Show Off Your Studio 42 Your amazing studio spaces in print

INTERVIEWS Jazzy Jeff

26 The hip-hop hero talks to us about his philosophy of production and DJing, plus his new collaboration with Pioneer Celldweller 36 The electro-rock veteran takes us for a tour of his incredible studio and explains his love of hardware

TUTORIALS Live In Depth

48 How to make the most out of that old Live Lite disc you have lying around...

4 June 2018 MusicTech

Logic In Depth 54 Add some lo-fi textures to your sounds with Phat FX Cubase In Depth 60 How to integrate hardware into your Cubase 9.5 setup Pro Tools In Depth 64 How to master reverb in your mix 10 Tips For A Successfull Studio Career 68 Here’s a hint: you’ll start by making lots of cups of tea...

Six Of The Best 99 Add some strings to your latest tracks Essential Guide: Recording Pt. 10 102 Understanding audio interfaces and how to master the basics of getting your music recorded Starter Studio: A Studio For A Band With A Grand 110 Want to kit your studio out with enough gear to record your band for less than £1000? Here’s how...

Six Ways To Get A Vintage Vibe 112 Here’s how to give your music that classic touch

REVIEWS Hans Zimmer Strings Vanguard V13 Chandler Limited 500 Series Sonokinetic Noir TE PO-33 & PO-35 E-Instruments Session Keys Upright Lauten Audio LA-120 Roli BLOCKS Updates Gothic Instruments Dronar modules Big Bear Audio MP1 & MP1+ Faderfox PC12 & MX12 Mini reviews

72 76 78 80 82 84 87 88 90 92 94 97

REGULARS Welcome

3 Disc Pages 6 Your DVD packed with samples, loops, video and more awaits Subscriptions 34 Take up our great offer and never miss an issue of MusicTech Rewind: AKG C414 114 Revisiting the much-loved microphone

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C O NTENTS

68

26

10 TIPS

For a successful studio career

INTERVIEW

Jazzy Jef

Reviews

TUTORIALS

MAKE THE MOST OF LITE

72

84

IN ABLETON LIVE

48

USING PHAT FX IN LOGIC PRO X

54

90 INTEGRATING HARDWARE IN CUBASE 9.5

60

MASTERING REVERB IN PRO TOOLS 64

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MusicTech June 2018 5

DV D

MT DVD183 4GB PC&MAC

Inside this months dvd Lo-Fi House

VIDEO FEATURE/54MINS

Calvin Harris Deconstruction

We’ve got a tasty batch of new electronic samples for you to use in your tracks, taken from Sample Magic’s latest releases. There’s blissed out drums and riffs from Chillhop, heavyweight basses, synths and found sound percussion loops from Half Step Bass, and playful arps and dusty samples taken from Future Beat 2. House heads should also get their fill, with chunky basses and jacking drums taken from Lo-Fi Tech House, Deep Tech-House 2, and UK Tech-House. All packs feature both loops and drum hits, so there should be plenty of great content for you to play with.

We’ve got two videos from Point Blank Music School for you that take a look at the making of two hit records. The first sees lead course developer Ski Oakenfull deconstructing Calvin Harris’ summer anthem ‘Slide’ featuring Frank Ocean and Migos, using Ableton Live and a range of Arturia soft synths. There’s also London-based producer TIEKS at his home studio, breaking down his hit track ‘Sunshine’ in Logic Pro.

Size 255 MB Format MP4 www.pointblanklondon.com

Size 268 MB Format 24bit/44.1kHz WAV, MIDI www.samplemagic.com

Synth Bass

Soulful Trap Construction Kits

This month’s lead pack contains 25 new and exclusive, playable synth basses crafted by sound designer Richard James. Utilising a combination of an Arturia MiniBrute and Moog Minitaur, you’ll find a range of sounds from simple analogue saws an squares, to resonant squelches and hollow twangs. All sounds cover three octaves and come with 25 patches for EXS24 and Kontakt, although you can also load the raw samples into your sampler of choice.

This pack from Equinox Sounds features four full beats broken down into loops that will take you to the deeper side of trap and RnB soul music, with tempos ranging from 92 to 152 BPM. You’ll find full mixes, plus all the separate elements such as drums, basslines, mellow synths, vintage keys and pianos, smooth pads, FX and more. The drum tracks are also supplied separately for perfect drum loop mixing, alongside MIDI files for the musical elements.

Size 446 MB Format 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV, EXS24, Kontakt

Size 590 MB Format 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV, MIDI www.equinoxsounds.com

SOFTWARE

VIDEO TUTORIALS VIDEO FEATURE/28MINS

Harry Romero House veteran Harry Romero has teamed up with Faderpro and Armada University for a new course that shows the producer making an acid-tinged house track from scratch.

The twist here is that if you purchase the full course, you can download the parts, finish the track and enter into a contest to get a release. Full details on the website. We’ve got several excerpts from the course with Romero giving writing tips, plus an interview and studio walkthrough.

Size 606 MB Format MP4 www.faderpro.com

DEMO Blue Cat

DEMO TAL TAL-MOD

Audio Late Replies

Windows, Windows, Mac OSX

VIDEO FEATURE/20MIN

Windows, Mac OSX

Aparillo, Goliath & basslines in Live

A powerful delay and multi-effects plug-in with an 8 taps pattern module, two nested feedback loops and 25 built-in effects. It can also be infinitely expanded as it can host third-party plug-ins in the signal path. www.bluecataudio.com

An easy to use virtual analogue synthesiser with an exceptional sound and almost unlimited modulation possibilities.

Create mono basses, rich stereo leads, effects and pads easily, by using virtual patch cables. www.tal-software.com

DEMO Ambi Verb HD

FULL Noisebud Smile

Windows, Mac OSX

Windows

An ambisonic convolution reverb plug-in for creating realistic surround and VR spaces. Features include 30 ambisonic room IRs, Dry/ Wet and Decay controls, custom IR loading, and MIDI program change for dynamic room switching. www.noisemakers.fr

A unique, Fletcher-Munson based de-harsher plug-in that adapts the frequency response of your audio to human hearing for smoother sounding results. Also includes a transient recovery engine and a filter to reign in extreme highs and lows. www.noisebud.se

Loop+ has provided another collection of software and studio know-how videos.

You’ll find sound design tips for using Sugar Bytes’ Aparillo synth in Ableton Live, a look at Goliath by Tone Empire, which is a vintage-style, tone shaping channel strip, and an overview of the Nebula delay plug-in. Finally Tim Cant shows how to create your own basslines from existing melodic sample loops inside Ableton Live.

Size 1.15 GB Format MP4 www.loopmasters.com/ loopplus/

FULL Analog Obsession Fetish Win, Windows, Mac OSX

A free compressor plug-in based on a legendary FET-style design. Harness ultra-fast attack times on bass, guitars, vocals and more and add colour, character and vibe to your signals without using compression. www.analogobsession.com

DIGITA L SUBSCRIBER ? You can download your DVD content from MusicTech.net using the code E928FQP

6 June 2018 MusicTech

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create something new.

Arrow lets you shape your ideas into records — with genuine UA audio conversion, Unison preamp modeling, bus power, and a studio full of classic vocal, guitar, and mixing tools onboard.

Learn more at uaudio.com /arrow h 7PKXGTUCN #WFKQ +PE #NN TKIJVU TGUGTXGF 2TQFWEV HGCVWTGU URGEKŸECVKQPU RTKEKPI and availability are subject to change without notice. The “Universal Audioâ€? name, UA “diamondâ€? logo, “UAD,â€? “Powered Plug-Ins,â€? and “UAD-2 Powered Plug-Insâ€? are trademarks of Universal Audio Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

NEWS

© Getty Images

AVICII 1989 – 2018

I

t’s with great sorrow that we report the death of world-famous DJ and musician Avicii, who passed away unexpectedly on April 20th at the startlingly young age of 28. Avicii’s incredible career began with creating melodic house remixes and building his own unique material, during this time he cultivated a large online following. Worldwide success loomed following the release of his smash hit Seek Bromance in 2010, a track that reached the top 20 throughout the world. It wasn’t long before he was signed by a range of major labels and had the backing of such luminaries as Tiesto and Pete Tong.

Thrust into the limelight, Avicii’s hit singles such as Levels, Sunshine and I Could Be The One prefigured his first album proper, True, and

8 June 2018 MusicTech

shortly after, his more eclectic second studio album Stories. Fusing EDM, house, reggae and disco, Avicii’s music inspired many to get into music-making themselves and he was a beloved figure in the music technology world, regularly explaining his process and highlighting the tech he used to craft his worldwide smashes.

Throughout his career he worked with some of the industry’s biggest names, including Madonna, Nile Rodgers, Bon Jovi, Wyclef Jean and Chris Martin, After suffering from various health problems, Avicii retired from touring in 2016. Avicii will be remembered for his incredibly infectious music and the stunningly prolific amount of work that he managed to accomplish in such a short space of time.

musictech.net

NEWS

IN THE Loop

L

oopmasters have released Loopcloud 2.0, and declare that it will ‘transform the sampling experience’ by building on the strong foundations of the original, as well as adding a whole host of new features, including the ability to audition every single one of the millions of Loopmasters samples in your project before committing to buy. Once you’ve found the perfect sound, you can purchase just the specific sample you need or buy the whole pack, straight from your DAW with no unzipping required. Another hot new feature is Auto Keymatch, though samples and loops are organised by genre and BPM, you can automatically modulate their pitch and key too with this cool new feature, making incorporating samples into your project a doddle – no matter how weird your mixes!

Loopcloud 2.0 also works quicker (up to four times faster) than the first iteration, GUI improvements and speed optimisations enable it to work quicker and more efficiently than before, all updates install automatically and DAW connection is a breeze.

Loopcloud 2.0 is available now and no subscription is required for this credits-based cloud. As a special introductory offer, if you download it now (for free) you get 500 free credits and – until August – all users get double credits on their first purchase. Head to www.loopcloud.net to get started.

YOUR NEW Go2 Synth?

R

ob Papen’s latest offering to the world of synthesis is Go2, a new affordable, entry-level synth that is aimed squarely at the entry-level music-maker. While it is pitched at the less experienced end of the market, that doesn’t mean that it won’t pack a punch sonically and in terms of what you can do with it.

Boasting a morphing oscillator section that allows morphing between two waveforms, a fully featured arpeggiator section with some unique features such as sequencer mode and unison/chord control per step and a range of in-built effects: Go2 isn’t under-powered by any means.

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Other features include the XY Pad, which combines a live, interactive control and programmable modulation source. The Play Mode which arranges how Go2 plays its synth engine, plus traditional features and settings. The LFO section which generates modulation signals and the 8-way Modulation Matrix section which allows the user to dynamically alter parameters using both internal modules such as envelopes and LFOs and external MIDI controllers.

Go2 is available now at the amazingly cheap £41.95, get it from www.timespace.com/products/ rob-papen-go2.

MusicTech June 2018 9

LOOPMASTERS.COM GREAT SOUNDS. SERIOUS INSPIRATION.

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A breath-taking sound palette of Chilltrap loaded with the freshest sound tools. Featuring basses, synths, drums and vocals, all 100% royalty free – the perfect foundation for any producers working in Trap, Ambient, Film Score, Downtempo and more.

Pulsar Experimental Soundscapes comes packed with loops, one shots and sampler patches, all just itching to be dropped into your DAW for maximum ambient inspiration.

Over 120 loops are included ranging from drums, basses, warped live instruments, to electronic synths and pads.

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FU T U R E EFFEC T S

12 June 2018 MusicTech

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FU T U R E EFFEC T S

MT C OV ER FE AT U RE

FUTURE EFFECTS Clever developers are finding new techniques to process audio in innovative ways. Alex Holmes explores some cutting-edge software and looks at the pros and cons of using these tools…

O

K. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for new technology and plug-ins that can make my life easier. When you’re dealing with the last 1% of a mix, sometimes even a well balanced track with decent dynamics can still be squeezed to sound a little better. Be it through notching out stray resonant peaks or phase issues that you may have missed, or simply by having creative tools that make your mix more interesting to listen to. Around four-and-a-half years ago, I wrote a

musictech.net

similar feature for MusicTech that included a whole load of these cutting-edge plug-ins that did useful and innovative things to audio. Whilst I still use a lot of them, and they’re still pretty flashy, technology moves pretty fast in this game. In 2018 the tech on offer is significantly more advanced than what was around in 2013. Therefore, we thought it was high time we revisited the topic and round up a new batch of interesting, next level software that does things to audio we could previously only dream of.

MusicTech June 2018 13

FU T U R E EFFEC T S

Gullfoss is an intelligent, automatic EQ plug-in that uses auditory perception to identify and resolve problems and frequency imbalances in your mix.

Right iZotope's Neutron 2 is a versatile poster child for futuristic plug-ins Opposite POWAIR’s Adaptive Compression keeps the compression amount the same in both quiet and loud passages.

14 June 2018 MusicTech

NOT ALL EQS ARE EQUAL Let’s start with EQ, as it’s one of the most fundamental parts of any mixing process and learning to EQ effectively can take years of experimentation and training up your ears. Most of the mix decisions you make are often largely based on the instrument in question, genre, and intended playback medium. That said, there are scientific curves and settings that can be followed, which will give you a distribution that sounds pleasing to the average human ear.

Arguably the poster child for futuristic plug-ins, is iZotope’s Neutron 2 ($199 standard version) with a host of useful tools such as the Masking Meter, which can show frequency collisions between two instruments. The most impressive feature, however (and one which is now present in Ozone 8 for mastering duties), is the Track Assistant that listens to the audio for around 10 seconds, detects the instrument type based on machine learning, and then sets up a preset to work from. This means you get custom-made boosts and cuts in the EQ module to help your track sit better in the mix. Something inside me wanted it not to work, if only to validate that I was better than the machines, but after using it on a number of mixes, I have to say it works surprisingly well, albeit with a few further tweaks to its suggestions.

However, one of the issues here is that the EQ suggestion is only based on the portion of the track that it analyses, and most tracks are fairly dynamic.

For this you could turn to plug-ins like Sonible’s smart:EQ Live (€229), and Soundtheory’s Gullfoss (£139), which listen to the incoming signal and make real-time adjustments to turn down peaks, and turn up troughs, giving you smoother sounding audio across the entire length of the track.

There’s also oeksound’s Soothe, which is described as a “resonance suppressor” that can notch out incredibly fine peaks in a signal in real time. My personal favourite use for this is on vibes and electric pianos as it saves having to do painstaking frequency hunting and automation for each chord and its overtones.

Another innovative EQ worth mentioning, is Brainworx’s bx_panEQ ($299) that gives you 3 bands to add boosts or cuts, but lets you target these across the panorama using a unique GUI display. In this way, you could use it to pinpoint a panned tom hit in a mixed drum loop, or add complex stereo movements by automating the bands positions at different frequencies. Some of these plug-ins are great time

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savers, and others offer new ways of doing things.

Ultimately though, when it comes to EQ you need to trust your ears, as a plug-in might try and tame the most characterful parts of a sound.

COMPRESS TO IMPRESS Moving on, let’s talk dynamics. Aside from EQ, this is arguably the other most important part of mixing, and one that’s often harder to hear and understand. Most compressors work on a fixed threshold above (or below) which the processing takes place, but there’s a new wave of intelligent dynamics processors that offer additional controls.

Sound Radix’s POWAIR (£129) takes full advantage of the digital realm to offer attack and release times with minimal distortion whilst maintaining the timbre of the source material, and features an Adaptive Compression control that keeps the compression amount the same in both quiet and loud passages.

Other neat features include the ability to control transient levels independent of the attack time, tempo-synced recovery time and an intelligent make-up gain that automatically matches the perceived input and output signal volumes so you can make better assessments of your compression settings. If you’re after a compressor that also doubles as a great sound design tool, there’s Unfiltered Audio’s Zip ($149), which includes an Auto mode for the threshold to create more smooth and natural sounding compression across quite and loud signals, much like POWAIR. There are also six analysis modes that control source dependent behaviour, a multi-mode colour control with seven settings, four envelope types and a ridiculously flexible modulation system that can be used to create all kinds of crazy glitches and warped sounds.

Although we’ll always turn to the trusty 1176 for a certain crunchy compression sound, there’s no denying the potential for modern processors to help us control our dynamics in new, creative or more transparent ways. Having an intelligent threshold level is a nice easy way of avoiding over or under compressed passages, and I think it’s safe to say that no one wants to spend an afternoon drawing in lots of threshold automation if they can help it.

musictech.net

FU T U R E EFFEC T S

Load up your favourite song and completely change the harmony in real-time via a MIDI keyboard using Pitchmap.

16 June 2018 MusicTech

SEPARATION IS NEVER EASY I love transient designers. I’d say I probably turn to them more than compressors these days for dealing with percussive elements as they offer more immediate control. There are some very interesting plug-ins available based on transient detection that allow you to de-mix your audio in ways that would have been impossible not so long ago. The first of these I’d like to talk about, is Physion (previously called Fission, £179) by Eventide. Based on Eventide’s new ‘Structural Effects’ technology, Physion can split a sound into its transient and tonal parts, then allows you to radically re-shape each with an array of different effects such as delay, dynamics and phaser on the transient portion, and pitch, chorus and reverb on the sustain.

This opens up a whole load of options, from functional techniques such as re-tuning a drum sustain whilst leaving the transient untouched, or controlling vocal sibilance, to more extreme sound design such as the creation of bowed pad sounds made by removing the transients entirely from pianos or guitars. Although there’s not any news yet on where Eventide will take their Structural Effects next, we look forward to finding out. On the subject of separating sounds, Regroover from Accusonus ($219 Pro, $99 Essential) uses artificial intelligence to extract individual layers from pre-mixed beats and samples. The layers can then be manipulated further with transient controls and saturation, and you can rejig their arrangement or export portions and hits as audio.

Regroover can work wonders on beats and transient material, but results on more complex and melodic tracks are varied. For that task, you might want to take a look at Audionamix’s XTRAX Stems ($99), which can de-mix any full track into vocal, drums and music stems at the click of a button. It sounds pretty good too. The software has four, cloud-based, separation algorithms and is mostly aimed at DJs, producers and remix artists looking for new material to work with.

Or if you want to delve right in and manipulate the harmony in a pre-mixed track, there’s Zynaptiq’s Pitchmap (€429). This piece of magic lets you change the key or even play new harmonies on the keyboard as it re-pitches a track in real-time. Don’t fire up your bootlegs quite just yet though, as

NEW MIDI PLUG-INS Software innovation isn’t merely tied to the audio realm, as there are plenty of creative MIDI plug-ins to help you come up with new ideas. You might have the best synths and most incredible plug-ins known to man, but if your sounds are boring and you’re musical ideas aren’t up to scratch then it means nowt!

Midimood’s Kameleono ($49) is a Swiss army knife of MIDI tools offering an arpeggiator, sequencer, chorder, note hold and real time quantizer, but it’s unique feature is a sidechain MIDI input that allows you to feed in a MIDI pattern as a data source to be used to generate further patterns. If you’re finding your instrument sounds are lacking life, then Dialog Audio have two plug-ins ($49 each); SQ4, an advanced multi channel step sequencer, and MP3244, a rack of flexible LFOs and Envelope generators. These can be routed to any instrument in your DAW or can be sent out through your soundcard as MIDI or CV signals to control analog kit. You’ll never run out of modulators again.

musictech.net

FU T U R E EFFEC T S

SpecOps is 36 diverse and flexible spectral effects in one, which can be used for subtle shaping or total sonic destruction.

although the technology is pretty mind-blowing, the results with more complex or muddy material still have quite a few audio artefacts. I’m hopeful that someday it’ll be possible to have this kind of seperation technology that yields super clean, stripped audio stems, but maybe that’s just not scientifically possible at this stage, We will see as the wheels of time grind on...

NEW INSTRUMENTS The topic of cutting-edge new instruments is arguably a feature in itself, but it’s worth a mention as we’ve seen a handful of really interesting products in recent years. One such instrument is BT Phobos (£249) by Spitfire Audio, which was co-created by composer and electronic music pioneer BT. Deemed a ‘Polyconvolution Synthesizer’, it works by allowing you to combine 3 convolvers to create complex, evolving sounds via 20GB of rhythms, pulses, textures and atmospheres. Other instruments, such as Krotos Reformer (free, but you have to purchase sound packs), focus on the interaction between the user and the instrument, with a unique system that lets you control sample content such as a lion roaring via a microphone performance. There’s also Tim Exile and Native Instruments’ Flesh (£89), which allows you to completely transform any audio into rhythmic and melodic patterns via a few simple controls affecting a complex set of parameters. There are many more out there, and if you’re into sound design then it’s well worth exploring.

18 June 2018 MusicTech

NEXT LEVEL FX An area that sees more innovation that most, is reverbs, delays and special FX processors. As you’re often not trying to solve a problem as such, these effects can throw caution to the wind and get creative with complex processes, routing or modulation techniques. First up, there’s FabFilter’s Pro-R (£149) which looks simple on the surface, but features some neat features such as a step-less Space control that lets you fade between different room models, and a Decay Rate EQ that lets you adjust the decay time of different frequencies as you would a parametric EQ. For an interesting delay effect, there’s AAS’s Objeq ($139), which uses acoustic object models to filter the signal, with skin, plastic, wood and metal resonators giving sounds a more organic edge.

These are arguably a little safe though! If you want to twist your audio and blend the sound of a baby crying with a saxophone solo, you might want to look into MeldaProduction’s MMorph (€149). It requires a bit of tweaking to get decent results, and the best sounding effects come from combining sounds with similar properties, but this is a great way to give your tracks an edge that no one has heard before. Taking things further, Zynaptiq’s Wormhole (€179) is a multi-effects processor with two lush reverbs, ultra-clean pitch and frequency shifting, spectral warping, and a unique dry/wet morphing feature that can instantly create wild alien soundscapes from the simplest of audio.

Finally, on the subject of spectral processing, SpecOps ($129) from Unfiltered Audio splits the audio into thousands of tiny frequency slices, then allows you to apply pitch and frequency shifting, and add up to three unique spectral effects from a drop down menu. Add in a comprehensive modulation system and you’ve got the means to brutally mangle your audio in varied and interesting ways. The extreme variety that you can create with some of the more complex processors is truly astounding, but it sometimes comes at the cost of not really knowing what’s going on! Of course you can fire up some presets and get praised for your amazing sound design skills, but personally, I like to understand what I’m doing to my audio. Tools like these are amazing,

musictech.net

FO C A L

I

S H A P E

T WI N

Shape Twin is the latest addition to Focal’s Shape series.

Featuring dual passive radiators, twin flax woofers and Focal’s latest ‘M’ shape aluminium/magnesium inverted dome tweeter, Shape Twin is designed to perform in a wide range of monitoring environments.

Beyond the curve!

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FU T U R E EFFEC T S

TUTO R I A L C R E AT I V E B E AT S

Let’s get creative with some beats and plug-ins. First up, we’ll load in a live drum performance stem, then chop out a 2-bar portion and convert it to a new audio file. We can import this loop into an instance of Accusonus’ Regroover to extract some separate drum sounds.

Regroover will automatically analyse and split the loop into four layers.

This seems to do a decent job of dividing the hats, cymbals, kicks and snares, although you can experiment with the four, five or six layers in the Analysis section to see what works best with the material.

We’ll now mute the cymbal and hats so we’ve just working with the kick and snare. We’ve applied the built-in Gate to the snare track and have brightened it up a little with EQ, then exported the kick and snare layers as a new WAV file

Having the tight kick and snare separated means we can re-import the loop and use Logic’s Flex function to tighten up the timing. The Rhythmic algorithm is often the best choice for beats, although Slicing can also work well if the hits are quite separated.

Next we’ll add Eventide’s Physion to warp our beat in to something more interesting. We can separate out the hits and add a Phaser with high feedback to the transients, whilst pitching the sustained, tonal parts down an octave for a crunchy lo-fi effect.

Let’s create some more weirdness by copying the clean drum loop to a new track and adding an instance of Zynaptiq’s Wormhole effect. Using a combination of the Warp, Shift and Reverb processes, we can add a rasping, filtered and gated reverb style effect.

Now comes the fun bit. We can add MeldaProduction’s MMorph plug-in to the second beat and send the first beat to it’s sidechain. It takes trial and error with the settings, but we can get some amazing sounds by spectrally morphing between the tighter Physion track and heavier Wormhole beat.

As a final touch, we can add some automation to the Morph dial to get a combination of sounds that change abruptly on the snare hits, then slide up and down to create movement. If needs be, you could also tweak the Wet/ Dry dials to blend in some of the original drums.

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but to get the most out of the power on offer requires a bit more patience if you want to program them effectively from scratch.

OTHER TOOLS Of course, not all innovations have to be part of the writing and mixing process. Sometimes a tool comes along that fulfils a different task altogether, but becomes an indispensable part of your workflow.

One such piece of software that was a bit of a game changer (damn, I’d hoped I would make it through this feature without using that phrase!), is Sonarworks Reference 4 (€249). This can be used to calibrate your room and headphones to give a flat response, ultimately helping you to hear more accurately what’s going on and to create better mixes.

Although there have been similar software and hardware options to do this in the past, Reference 4 simplifies the whole process of capturing your room, and presents the results in an easy to understand way. You can use a DAW plug-in that you place at the end of your chain, with various settings to tweak the shape of the correction curve, or you can use the Systemwide app that conveniently runs in the background and processes all of your system audio.

My studio is fairly well treated, but had a large bump around 120Hz, which was easily remedied using the software. But what if your room is beyond all help?

Another interesting way to help you create mixes that translate well, is Waves Nx Virtual Mix Room and the Nx Head Tracker ($178), which recreates the spatial acoustics of a pro mixing room in your headphones. The head tracker clips on to your headphones and tracks your head movements so it sounds like you’re in a real recording space. Nothing will beat actually being in a well treated room, but both of these could help those on a smaller budget, or could be useful when trying to work on a mix whilst away from your studio. That said, we wouldn’t recommend trying to do a final mix down on a train!

MODELLED PLUG-INS Although modelled plug-ins aren’t technically the focus for this feature, there’s some pretty cutting-edge DSP being used to re-create the analogue circuitry of the originals. However, is the industry’s love of history holding back more innovative software development?

Modelled plug-ins are definitely useful for people who have used the gear in the past and want to get the sound in the box without the hassle of outboard, and there’s also something to be said for having tools with limited options and controls that allow you to get the best results quickly. True, the classic designs have stuck around for a reason, but sometimes they have frustrating limitations. With that in mind, it’s nice to see companies like iZotope adding M/S options to it’s Pultec clone in Ozone, and Apple making the new Vintage EQs have sliding frequency scales rather than just notches. Maybe we’ll see more tweaked, hybrid plug-ins in years to come.

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If your computer is struggling with a large mix, you might consider using more plug-ins via systems like these CPU CONSIDERATIONS Unfortunately, all this high-tech processing comes at a price beyond just your wallet. Although modern CPUs are capable of amazing things, those of us with older computers may find them struggling under the pressure of these fancy new tools. Aside from bouncing and freezing tracks, one other option to help with this, is to offload some processing elsewhere in the mix to give your CPU a bit of breathing room.

There was a time, when there were a number of DSP accelerator options available, including Avid’s TDM system for Pro Tools, Focusrite’s Liquid Mix, SSL’s Duende, and TC’s Powercore, but these have all fallen by the wayside. The main contender that has stood the test of time, is Universal Audio’s UAD system, that continues to go from strength to strength with an expanding list of excellent plug-ins and a roster of DSP accelerated audio interfaces and external DSP boxes.

An external Quad Core UAD-2 Satellite box will set you back around £579, or if you’re a Waves user, then you could look into a SoundGrid server such as the Impact, that costs approx €888 when bundled with Waves Diamond.

If your computer is struggling with a large mix, then you might consider using more plug-ins via systems like these to free up more resources for the software running natively. Of course, with a bit of work, there are other ways to distribute the load; Reaper has an option to run plug-ins on another machine, and there are numerous ways you can send and sync MIDI so that you can use a second machine as an instrument.

In fact, there’s an article up on MusicTech.net where Marc Cousins explores the possibilities of using two Macs with Logic for film scoring. Speaking of Logic, it’s a shame that Apple dropped support for linking two Macs using Logic Node when it moved to Logic X, as it could have been quite a useful way

The head tracking technology in Waves NX allows you to experience the 3D sound of a virtual studio and even mix in surround on headphones

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FU T U R E EFFEC T S

TUTO R I A L M I X IN G TO T H E FI N I S H L I N E

Here we have a track that’s been mixed to a near finished state and bounced down to stems. Let’s see if we can use some new plug-ins to help tidy up a few final errors and try and gain that elusive last couple of percent.

The vocal is a little sibilant in places so we can use and tweak the Female Voc DeEsser preset on oeksound’s Soothe. This will target and reduce just the specific resonant frequencies that poke out so it can give incredibly transparent results.

Let’s use the Upfront and Medium strength settings on Neutron 2’s Track Assistant to give a bit more life to the drum stem. We like what it’s done to the EQ, but the Exciter and Compressor are a little too pushed, so we can dial them back for a more open sound.

Sticking with Neutron 2, we can use the Masking Meter to identify clashes between the kick and bass. With the EQ set to Inverse Link, we can take a notch out of the bass, whilst simultaneously boosting the kick, but be sure to fine tune using your ears.

Turning our attentions to the master, we’ll add an instance of Sound Radix’s POWAIR. We can use the Auto gain function to help quickly set a tasteful amount of compression, and set the release to 8th notes to get it perfectly synced to the pumping kick drum.

Next, we can help even out the frequencies using Soundtheory’s Gullfoss. We’ve set both Tame and Recover to 40%, which reins in the low end and gives more air to the top, then we’ve increased the Boost control by 4dB to add a little sub back in.

Now we have a nice solid mix, we can give Ozone 8’s Mastering Assistant a spin to create a rough master to test on different systems.

With minimal clicks, we’ve created a bespoke preset based on a Reference track, and made a few EQ tweaks.

Finally, we load up Mastering The Mix’s REFERENCE, which allows us to compare our mix to other tracks. The meters tell us that the overall volume is similar, but that our mix has less top end, less stereo width and more dynamic range. Now we can make final tweaks in Ozone to compensate.

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to get some extra DSP grunt from an old, spare machine. One possible area for future development, is in audio software calling on the GPUs of powerful graphics cards (historically used for resource intensive gameing) to help with processing.

Acustica Audio’s Nebula is one such piece of software, which has been heavily optimised to take advantage of NVidia based graphics cards.

how you could use the software that you already have. I was looking into Sonible’s smart:EQ (the plug-in that balances out the spectrum of a signal based on a “perfect” curve) and got to thinking; could I construct my own balancing preset using a multiband dynamics processor and some pink noise?

I set up one instance of Fab Filter’s Pro-MB with multiple bands and thresholds

I set up one instance of Fab Filter’s Pro-MB with multiple bands and thresholds set to pull down any signal above the pink noise level Whatever the future holds, you can be sure that the cutting-edge audio DAWs and plug-ins of tomorrow will continue to require more power and hardware optimisation to run smoothly. However, like we said, you can always commit and bounce down to free up some CPU.

DIY TECHNIQUES An interesting off-shoot of exploring and reading up on some of these tools, is that they may make you think differently about

set to pull down any signal above the pink noise level, and a second instance set to upwards compression and with slightly different thresholds to pull up the quieter signals. The theory being that the combination of the two will massage the overall signal closer to the pink noise line.

The jury is still out on the results, but there were a couple of mixes that resulted in a noticeable improvement, and it was a technique I’d never considered before. This led me to wonder, what other bits of

innovative software are there who’s techniques I could dissect and rebuild using the other tools I already have? In an effort to get an effect (vaguely) similar to Eventide’s Physion, I duplicated a drum loop and used a combination of Logic’s Enveloper and Noise Gate plug-ins to make one version for the transient parts, and one focussed more on the sustain portion. I then added several effects to add character to the tail portion whilst retaining the punch of the hits. Truth be told, it was quite hard to cleanly isolate the transient peaks using just these tools, but with a bit of patience you can get some really interesting results.

Again, not a technique I would ever have considered before. In everyday use, it’s much quicker and easier to use specially made tools for a particular task, and if they’re well made then you’ll probably get better sounding results. However, if the wallet is running low, then it’s worth considering whether you really need that shiny new plug-in or not. Why not give it a go? Have a think about how you might be able to use some of these techniques by combining the tools you already have.

THE FUTURE Seeing as this is a feature about futuristic things, I feel I should probably talk a little on the idea of what’s to come. I made predictions last time about audio processors that analyse your material and make adjustments to help in the mixing

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FU T U R E EFFEC T S

process… so I’ll silently be taking credit for the idea of iZotope’s Track Assistant then! But seriously, this is definitely an area we haven’t seen the last of.

The use of AI and machine learning to speed up processes and help create a scientifically balanced mix will no doubt be explored in more depth, but hopefully the focus will still be on using it as a starting point and a learning tool that you can then use to make your own mix decisions. Where things like Neutron could really develop, is in having instances talking to each other so that you don’t end up with a bunch of tracks fighting for attention with too much added brightness or saturation. You could have a percentage dial that suggests how prominent a certain element is to the mix, then the software mixes it with a little more or less presence to place it accordingly.

It would also be interesting to see if the software could suggest panning positions for similar sounding instruments based on the frequency distribution and energy. Ultimately, as we’ve said before, these main mix decisions are best made by ear using an in-built sense of what feels right, but it will be interesting to see if and when a computer can get anywhere near a natural sounding mix all by itself. Aside from that, the other trend we’ve seen is in exploring the possibilities and added control that comes from pulling audio apart in increasingly clever ways. I’d like to see a plug-in that could dissect the intricate dynamics profile of a piece of audio from the inside out, then apply it to your tracks as you would when matching EQ or applying a groove quantise. It might

You’ll get the best results being a master of fewer tools, rather than having lots that you don’t know how to use

QUICK FIX A lot of these plug-ins can potentially make mixing a little easier, but does this negate the need to learn the fundamentals? There are arguably two camps when it comes to using intelligent plug-ins with fire-and-forget settings. The first are more beginners in mixing that want quick and easy ways to get good results, and the second are experts that, for the most part, know how to achieve good, professional results, but want more control over their audio to get to the final result quicker and more easily, thus hopefully saving them time and money. If you’re starting out, we suggest you don’t turn to these tools too soon as they may cloud the water and slow down your learning of the fundamentals of sound manipulation. Unfortunately, there are no short cuts to achieving a really good mix, and you really do need to put the hours in, to focus on refining your ears and experimenting until it becomes natural. not be the best way to mix, but it could be used creatively in all sorts of ways. Who knows, maybe I’ll be writing another version of this feature in five years time discussing these very things!

TOOLS FOR THE JOB So there you have it. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the latest and greatest high-tech plug-ins, and we’ve left off some of the more obvious ones like Melodyne and RX as they’ve been covered in the past. Things move very quickly in the world of software and there are new announcements made every week, so we encourage you to explore sites like kvraudio.com (and of course our own musictech.net!) to find new developers big and small doing innovative things.

The only two caveats we would add, are that you’ll always get the best results being a master of fewer tools, rather than having lots that you don’t know how to use. Many of the tools we’ve highlighted here have a depth and range that requires time and investment to really get the best out of. So like we say, get to know these tools on a deeper level and they’ll benefit your music-making no end.

Also, think about your day-to-day working practice and try to only pick software that’s relevant and fits your working style. You want these tools and effects to help your own process. It’s all too easy, and often frustrating, how easy it is to be distracted by new, shiny things and well-made YouTube videos showing how much better your life and mixes would be if you had plug-in X! In conclusion, it’s important to stress that although it can be useful to sometimes lean on the science and functionality of some of these plug-ins to make your tracks sound as professional as they possibly can be, just remember to base your final decisions on the overall feel of the music you’re making. Music is an art after all and these tools are here to help you create your work.

Running out of power?

Consider boosting your setup with an external box like a UAD Satellite.

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I N T ER V I E W JA Z Z Y J E FF

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JA Z Z Y J E FF I N T ER V I E W

MT INTERV IE W

JAZZY’S GROOVE One of the pioneers of hip-hop, Jazzy Jeff introduced many record-buyers to an underground world and helped to make it accessible. As he once again begins working with Will Smith, MusicTech are honoured to speak to a bona-fide legend...

F

rom making colossal smash hit records such as Summertime and Boom! Shake the Room to being one of the inventors of the ubiquitous ‘Transformer Scratch’ to being repeatedly lobbed out of Uncle Phil’s Bel-Air mansion in one of the most treasured television shows of the 1990’s, Jazzy Jeff has been a high-profile figure in the world of music and popular culture for over 30 years.

Perhaps due to his comically naive, dumb persona on that legendary show, we were surprised to discover during our conversation with him that, in actuality, Jazzy Jeff is one of the more intelligent, deep-thinking interviewees we’ve ever had in these pages. His consideration for the science behind how music works and, indeed, his music-focused approach to everything he does was fascinating, refreshing and totally in-line with our philosophy too.

IN WEST PHILADELPHIA… For Jeff, the road to stardom started at a young age.

“I grew up in a really musical family,” he tells us. “My Dad was an MC for Count Basie, my older brother played bass with The Intruders and so music was always in the house. As the youngest, you’re the one that gets to soak it all up because you’re too young to really have an opinion. So I got a chance to listen to loads of different things. My Dad’s 78 jazz records and guys like Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith and then I got a chance to listen to my older brother’s records too, stuff like Earth, Wind and Fire and The Headhunters, so really I just absorbed all this musical knowledge without really knowing that I was doing that.”

It wasn’t just listening to music that Jeff absorbed at this stage – via his brother he started to understand the practicalities of record handling. “I was blessed with my brother giving me the ability to use his records and his stereo and, at eight years old, he taught me how to take records out of the sleeve, how to handle vinyl and put it on a turntable. This was all

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pre-hip-hop too, so when the hip-hop explosion happened it felt like ‘my’ music, and I already had all of this other knowledge of other music that I enjoy. I remember going to a block party and this guy had these huge speakers, and he was set up in a way that you couldn’t see him and all you could do was hear his voice and the music. All I did was sit there and stare at these big speakers and then just gaze out at these hundreds of people just dancing. I was like, ‘He’s controlling all of these people with the music he’s playing – I want to do that!’ I thought that was amazing.”

Once Jeff realised what his calling was, he seized any opportunity to get hands on with some DJing equipment. “We had some older DJs on our block that I grew up with. Later on, one summertime, one of the guys across the road got this big 15-inch woofer speaker out on his porch and he’d just play music. All of the neighbours would let him. DJs like that would let me hang around them and I would help carry their records. It was funny because every once in a while they would give me the headphones and say ‘Alright, I need to go to the bathroom, when this record goes off, play this record’. I loved it, all of this was important learning and a vital stomping ground.”

ENTER THE PRINCE As the years progressed, Jeff became one of Philadelphia’s top DJs, working with rappers and establishing a large fanbase. A chance series of events would flip-turn his life upside down. “Well I started DJing and started making a name for myself in Philadelphia and basically I got a last-minute call to do some DJing. It was funny – we didn’t have cell phones back then, pagers or anything modern. The only way to get in touch with somebody was if they were in the house. So – luckily! – I was in the house one day and one of my friends called quite late and was like ‘Oh hey, a friend of mine is having a birthday

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I N T ER V I E W JA Z Z Y J E FF

“We deinitely had a hand in popularising hip-hop, but you never realise you’re making history or anything like that”

Jeff is keen to encourage the next generation of DJs

party and they need a DJ, can you do it?’ So I called my DJing partner at the time – they were home too!

– and they were like, ‘Yeah we can do it’.”

Jeff continues the story: “The irony was that I had a guy that used to travel with me who was a rapper and he wasn’t home, so we ended up going to do the party without a rapper. It just so happened to be on Will Smith’s block. So Will comes into the party and, you know, I had seen him before but we’d never really met. I remember him coming up and asking, ‘Where’s Ice?’ [Jeff’s rapper]. I was like, ‘I couldn’t find him’. So he asked if he could rock on the mic. I said, ‘Go ahead’. Oh man, it was legendary. It was almost like we had been together forever. After that night it became one of those things where I sat down and thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ I thought this guy was incredible and so I ended up letting Ice go and Will and I started.

That was the beginning. Just playing parties at first turned into, ‘Hey let’s make a demo’. That turned

PIONEER DDJ-SB3 Jeff’s involvement with Pioneer, and his commitment to inspiring the next generation of DJ’s has been longstanding. The DDJ-SB3 marks Pioneer and Serato’s third variant of their entry-level controller series. It’s specifically tailored for Serato DJ. For the SB3 Jeff has contributed eight scratch recordings for its ‘Pad Scratch’ feature, this enables users to reproduce Jeff’s style in to their own performances.

“I jumped at the chance to work on the SB3” he tells us.

THE NEW VERSION FEATURES t Standard DDJ-S series elements Jog Wheels, Performance Pads, Play and Cue buttons, Auto Loop Buttons and easy-to-reach faders and knobs

28 June 2018 MusicTech

t Pad Scratch This function uses eight of Jeff’s scratch recordings and syncs them with whatever track you’re playing, to very cool effect. t FX Fade This reduces the volume and applies FX at the same time to smoothly blend tracks together. Includes a high-pass filter, low-pass filter, loop playback and back spin. t High-quality design Built from premium materials and internal circuitry, complete with aluminium jog wheel. The SB3 is a pro-built, entry-level product designed to appeal to the next generation of budding DJs.

into, ‘Hey somebody wants to put a record out’.

Then that turned into ‘What are we doing in London!?’ That’s how the ball started rolling for us.”

BREAK FROM THE NORM For Jeff and Will (re-styled as The Fresh Prince) an internationally successful music career beckoned, with their singles, albums and tours presenting a less tough, more relaxed, inclusive version of hip-hop that made the genre more commercially viable and opened doors for many.

A particular example of this was their timeless Summertime. Their loveable personas and mainstream success yielded an opening on television, with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air being an instant hit with viewers “We definitely had a hand in popularising hip-hop. But you know, you never realise that you’re ‘making history’ or anything like that.” Jeff admits, “We were just having fun and were pretty astonished by the success.”

“If you make music, you hope and dream that you’ll have something that stands the test of time.

Something that just never goes away,” Jeff says. “A real ‘classic’ that you can really be proud of. So to have something like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well as something like Summertime... Having more than one ‘thing’ like that is mind-blowing.”

We ask Jeff if his approach to music-making has changed over the years as technology has evolved so much and what the differences are for him, in terms of mindset, between making a track and DJing?

“I’ve always been a tech-fanatic. Summertime and songs like that would not have sounded like they did if I wasn’t. As tech changed, I changed. The funny thing with me was that I never got rid of any of my old stuff. I’m standing in my old studio now, which is an eclectic mix of technology. I have the Neve mixing board which they recorded Sesame Street on – I love it. But it’s a wide range. I’ve always tried to stay ‘up’ on technology, but I also pay attention to sound.”

“I was having a conversation with someone yesterday and they were saying, ‘What you want to do is make music that sounds good. When all the technology has evolved and is all different and popular culture is wildly different, they’re still going to be playing Thriller’. That’s because it sounds great.”

“What you want to do is be inspired to write a piece of music not just because it feels great but because it sounds great and will stand that test of time. You can’t stick on Thriller and not agree that it’s an amazingly recorded album. So that’s one of the reasons why, for me, technology will always have a place, but I do not allow technology to block the music. Regardless of what tech you use, if the song sucks, it doesn’t matter! You have to make sure that you put the music at the forefront.”

Jeff says, “I learned a long time ago about a guy who had the biggest record in Philly at the time and he made it on a four-track. I realised that I have never in my life heard a music lover say, ‘I don’t like the mix’. They don’t care about that!."

TRAPPED ON THE DANCE FLOOR So with this music-oriented approach in mind, how does Jazzy Jeff class himself? DJ, producer or songwriter?

“Man I am all of the above. DJing gave me my love for music to the point that I wanted to be able to make every record that I heard. Every sound that I heard on a record I was like, ‘What is that sound?

How can I make it?’ I wanted to know that anything

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STAFF PICKS

PUNISH DYNAMIC PROCESSOR STAFF PICK “PUNISH is the epitome of onomatopoeia and truly exceeds its given title! The ŸĜĵŞĬå ƼåƋ åýåÏƋĜƴå ÚĜ±ĬŸ Ïųå±Ƌå instant results, and sonically strengthen my productions when applied to a single track or mix bus. Within the realms of dynamic processing units, PUNISH is an absolute powerhouse!”

Tom Plugin Boutique

From subtle warmth to extreme drive and compression, PUNISH injects character and edge into any mix or instrument track.

FƋűŸ ƋĘå Ÿ±ĵå { cF B åýåÏƋ ƋʱƋ ƼŅƚ ĩĹŅƵ ±ĹÚ ĬŅƴåØ ±Ÿ featured in Heavyocity’s award-winning line of virtual instruments, now in VST/AU/AAX plugin format. Modeled after Heavyocity’s custom analog signal chains, PUNISH gives you control over Compression, Saturation, Transients, EQ, and Limiting. Chain the modules together to get that signature PUNISH sound, or isolate ƋĘåĵ ƋŅ åƻŞåųĜåĹÏå å±ÏĘ ÚƼűĵĜÏ åýåÏƋ ŅĹ ĜƋŸ ŅƵĹţ eĹÚ ±Ƌ the heart of it all is the global PUNISH Knob. Simply set your ranges, and dial in the devastation.

THE PLACE FOR MUSIC PLUGINS

I N T ER V I E W JA Z Z Y J E FF

that I heard I would have the ability to make – that’s what pulled me into production. The production side also helped the DJ side because, at the end of the night, I try to produce a DJ set like I would produce a record. I want it to be a journey – I want it to be a start, a middle and an end. You need to understand how psychology and body chemistry react to music.

That involves learning which BPMs work together.

Those are the ‘producer-brain’ things that I apply to everything I do in music.”

“You know that these are things the general public knows, but don’t actually know that they know.” Jeff continues “It’s all in the ears and the head – If things don’t sound ‘right’ or feel ‘right’, they might not be able to articulate what just happened, but they feel it and know it. I’ve seen it happen. It’s not just the rhythm, but the music too. I’ve done tests in the studio with people and someone will start playing dark chords and the whole mood in the room changes. People get melancholy and they start reflecting on their life. Then you can play happy chords and everyone gets joyful, or angry chords that put a frown on your face! People don’t fully understand the extent of the power of music. It really affects people. To me it’s a beautiful thing. It’s great to have that power – to make people reflect by design without them realising it.”

HE’S THE DJ

“People don’t fully understand the extent of the power of music. It really afects people. To me it’s a beautiful thing” 30 June 2018 MusicTech

One of the things for which Jazzy Jeff is particularly held in high regard for, in DJ circles at least, is being an inventor of the now-ubiquitous ‘Transformer scratch’ We ask Jeff how he created this technique.

“I don’t really classify myself as inventing anything,” Jeff says. “I’m one of those people that believes that everything was here, and all we ever do is take something and remix it and flip it and give it a new approach. When I started scratching I had a turntable setup in our dining room and it’s to my mum that I give the ultimate credit. My mom was very supportive. She could have said, ‘Oh that sounds like trash’ and it would have hurt my feelings and I probably would have stopped right then and there. But my mom was very supportive. I would throw jazz records on and I would scratch to the jazz records with a rhythm like I was part of the percussion. I wanted it to be pleasing to her ears. I didn’t want to just make noise. It was always an approach of, ‘I’m a percussion player and I’m just adding extra percussion on this.’ So, with that mindset I thought, ‘there’s a part that I’ll solo and a part that I’ll just play like I’m a member of the band’.”

Jeff tells us that this approach made it, “more tolerable to people who would say, ‘that’s a little weird, because I don’t generally like that scratching stuff, but that doesn’t sound too bad!’ People don’t actually need to know you’re scratching as you’re really adding to the track. Like I say, it was really born out of not doing something that my mom would call ‘noise’ and that made me approach things more rhythmically and pleasingly for the ear. All transforming is is cutting the signal on and off at a rhythmic pace that is really just on/off on a beat.”

Where did the name come from? “One of the first times I did it at an event, a friend of mine said, ‘Wow, that sounds like The Transformers cartoon when they open up’. That’s where the name came from!”

Jeff is highly engaged with providing the next generation of DJs with all the tools they need to experiment and get creative. “I came in to Pioneer to help with some of the functions of their new DDJ-SB3 controller: to make it as accessible as possible. It's an entry level controller and it’s designed to let newcomrs to DJing hone their skills. I got

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Jeff’s passion for music and DJing has never diminished

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© Getty Images

I N T ER V I E W JA Z Z Y J E FF

Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince reunited at LA radio station KIIS-FM’s Wango Tango festival in 2005

involved because I’m a firm believer in paying it forward and pushing the culture forward and I don’t ever want DJ culture to end with me. I also understand that my turntables alone are $700 a piece. If there’s a kid out there who wants to try out DJing – just to see if they like it – then there’s a massive financial barrier in the way. All in all for a decent DJing setup, it’s around $3000. Who has that to spend on something they might not be that into!"

“When Pioneer came and said, ‘We want to offer an affordable piece of equipment that will give the user an understanding of the skills required to DJ’, I jumped at the chance to help. I care about the 10-year-old that could be the next Jazzy Jeff. It’s no different from, say, a basketball or soccer player. You get them a ball, you give them some shoes and you let ’em play! You can tell when someone’s like: ‘You know what? I really like this!’” The 2-channel Pioneer DDJ-SB3 is certainly revolutionary in its simplicity: combining the features of Pioneer's SB2 with their top of the line Serato controllers, the SB3 features an intuitive layout that includes everything you’d expect: jog-wheels, performance pads, play and cue buttons and easy-to-reach knobs and faders with Jeff's innovative scratch recordings easy to apply via the Pad Scratch option. “The SB3 really gives you a template on how to do it – and hopefully encourages the user to DJ how they want to DJ,” Jeff adds.

JAZZY’S GROOVE

JEFF TECH Though Jazzy Jeff is most famous for his DJing, he’s also a versatile, skilled producer, operating out of his awesome studio which contains a plethora of tech.

“I have four UA Apollos and I have two 710’s. I have a great balance of analogue and digital stuff. I put my Neve back in the room because I really wanted a summing mixer and a friend of mine was joking because I had the Neve broken down in the back and he was just like ‘Man, you’re looking for a summing mixer and you have the best summing mixer in the world’. So I ended up taking it back out and putting it in the room and you know I really enjoy that balance,

32 June 2018 MusicTech

going out of my computer and into the desk and then back out of the desk, back into my computer and listening to the saturation.”

Jeff tells us that “I’ve got a ton of analogue gear from Massenburg EQs to Pulteqs and I also have a load of plug-ins. In my ‘nerding-out’ times I’ll check which one sounds better or which one sounds different. You just get to a point I find where there’s no real better or worse, there’s just ‘different’. You have to decide on what you want for the track. What do you think will make this feel good? So you just kind of pick-and-choose.”

So, with a vast pop cultural legacy that spans music, DJing and TV, how does Jeff reflect on his career, and indeed, what has been his personal highlight?

His answer surprises us…

“Oh for me, there’s not just one thing that I’m most proud of. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve done the thing that I’ll be most proud of yet. I know that sounds weird, but I really believe that what I’m supposed to do, I haven’t done yet. I still don’t know what that is and I’m comfortable not knowing what it is. I’m just allowing it to manifest itself. I built my studio not for myself but for other people – a collection of people – to come in here and make music. I wanted to create that space. I remember when I used to record on a four-track so now that I’ve got all this gear, I don’t want anyone to not be able to make the music they want to make. The studio is always full and I often get calls from friends asking, ‘Is anyone in the studio today? Can I come cut some drums?’”

We’re instantly enraptured by Jeff’s utopian, musician-network building end goal and press him more on the subject. “Well, starting this collective of musicians also allows me the ability to call upon musicians when I need them,” he admits. “If I need

musictech.net

“I don’t want anyone to not be able to make the music they want to make” drums cut then I know I’ve got around 20 drummers that I can call! We all put stuff in the pot and we all help each other with our records. We can all just share our skills with each other. That is, I think going towards what I’m really here to do.”

Jeff informs us that, every year, “I do a creative retreat at my house, this year coming up will be the fourth year. It’s mainly for independents and people who are trying to put music out themselves. We’re trying to help give them the tools that will enable them to get their music out, but like I said it’s also really to create this giant network.”

“Someone asked me the other day, ‘What is your motive?’ I said, ‘My motive is to create a network of producers, musicians, singers, songwriters and MCs, rappers and performers so that I can make music until the day I die. All I really want is to start this network of people to make music with. Making music by yourself isn’t as fun, I don’t think.”

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EVERYTHING THAT GLITTERS… Jeff has recently reunited with Will Smith, and the pair are currently working on new material together, as well as taking to the stage for some rare live appearances. “Yeah, me and Will have been doing a few shows, we did some last year and are talking about doing some new stuff. The biggest thing with Will and I is always scheduling,” Jeff explains. “I’ve told people that the desire to make music together has never left, but with Will you’re talking about arguably the biggest movie star in the world. What we fight more than anything is time.”

We move on to discuss what Jeff would advise anyone hoping to embark on a similar career to the one he’s enjoyed, Jeff takes his time and considers his answer. “That’s hard because when the times change, situations change. As much as I would want to tell someone that, ‘You know what, you have to be original’ or ‘stand out’ or that sort of thing – that's the kind of advice I’d have given 25 years ago – right now it’s almost like you have to be like everybody else to get heard! I hate that. I don’t want to give anyone bad information, that’s why the advice that I’d have given when I was younger isn’t really the best advice for them to succeed.”

But the one thing that modern music makers do have, that Jeff, Will and more longed to have back in the day is audience access. “The thing I do love about the industry now is social media: If Will and I had it back when we started out, we’d have sold 100 million records... Will and I never had direct access to our fans – it went through our record company. We couldn’t connect with our fans. That’s what social media is for me. Everybody who just loves who you are, you can very easily just say, ‘Hi!’”

musictech.net

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I N T ER V I E W C E L L DW E L L E R

MT INTERV IE W

GOING UNDERGROUND The mastermind behind cyberpunk act Celldweller, Detroit-based Klayton has helped drag electronic rock kicking and screaming into the future. MusicTech enters the Celldweller spaceship...

A

s a teenager, Celldweller’s Klayton could barely afford to purchase the hardware that would allow him to indulge his love of European new wave music. Instead, he adopted the guitar in a bid to emulate his favourite metal bands and as the ’80s evolved, embraced the rudimentary technology that would allow him to amalgamate rock and electronic elements.

Since then Klayton has risen left of centre to become a highly skilled and accomplished producer, responsible for a raft of pseudonyms that also include FreqGen, Circle of Dust and Scandroid.

Through these distinct identities, the Detroit-based innovator has combined elements of metal, electronic rock, EDM, drum and bass, trance and new wave with staggering assurance.

Beside his own output, Klayton has produced music for multimedia, film, TV and video games.

Meanwhile, his production skills, predicated on an enduring passion for technology and detailed sound design, are brought to life in his stunning multi-room studio, featuring a litany of hardware pedals, synths and the latest modular gear.

MusicTech You grew up listening to ’80s new wave.

Which artists most stood out for you?

Klayton I listened more to metal than new wave. I was into new wave in the ’80s, but I grew up on Metallica and Slayer. But even before that, I remember hearing

the vocoder on things like Mr Roboto. from Styx and being fascinated by how a human voice could sound like that. My first real project, Circle of Dust, was an industrial metal thing. I started fusing electronics and metal because I knew both of those worlds and it made sense in my head to amalgamate them.

MT You picked up a guitar rather than a synthesiser due to affordability?

K My mother got one of my brothers a $100 guitar. It was a piece of crap, but that didn’t matter because it was the only one in the house. I would jam in bands and when I finally discovered power chords, I'd sit for hours trying to learn how to play them. At that point in life, it was out of the question that I could afford a synthesiser.

MT You recently did a cover of MJ’s Thriller. Was that a long-held ambition?

K Absolutely, it was a great excuse for me to scratch those itches that I had from the ’80s. The first album I covered was Shout by Tears for Fears. These guys were role models to me, along with bands like Depeche Mode, The Cure and Howard Jones – the list is a mile long. My Scandroid project is really just about me wanting to make new wave music. When I create for that project, I imagine myself making music that sits next to the artists I liked from that era.

© Kyle Danley

MT You have four identities, Celldweller, Scandroid, Circle of Dust and FreqGen. Do you have a clear idea in your head of what these projects represent or do the lines get blurred?

K I have boundaries. It’s just my way of delineating these sounds between four different projects.

Currently, I’m working on a new Celldweller album, so I get into Celldweller mode. The boundaries don’t restrict me; it’s more about the set of tools I’m going to use. For Celldweller, I’m not cracking out my Juno-60 or 106, and although I can use those synths, I wouldn’t use them in the same way I would with the Scandroid project. I’m relying more heavily on guitar, my vocal style is different and that whole world is more influenced by drum and bass and psytrance.

MT When did your electronic gear journey start? Can you remember your first purchase?

Klayton at work in his enviable subterranean studio

36 June 2018 MusicTech

K Yeah, I remember it vividly. My first project was Circle of Dust, but before that I managed to borrow

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C E L L DW E L L E R I N T ER V I E W

my parent’s credit card. I knew a kid who had a Roland D-20 and he introduced me to programming.

I was like, wait a minute, I can play beats into this thing, hit the play button and it will play them back?

So I hustled and did a newspaper round to buy a D-20 and make music. Eventually, I got signed to a small label, which didn’t end well unfortunately, but I told them I was doing an industrial project that was highly reliant on sampling and didn’t have a sampler.

They got me an Ensoniq EPS-16+, and to this day I still love that sampler.

MT How did that change things for you?

K That sampler opened my world to so many possibilities. So much so, that I went back into debt in order to get a Mac Classic, which had a 40MB hard drive and 1MB of memory. I ran some software on it called Vision, which later became Studio Vision Pro, and used that to do the MIDI functioning, programmed from the Ensoniq. Then I wrote riffs and created vocals over that. In those days, I’d go into the studio and do 10 songs in 10 days, tracking guitar, bass, vocals and any extra synth parts in a very short amount of time, because I was the only one making the music.

MT There was no YouTube in those days. Do you think the plethora of information available now is genuinely helpful?

K I look back now and think if I had the YouTube tutorials then that are available now my production chops would have grown immensely in a very short space of time. But I also think that would have affected my creativity, because what you see now is a cookie cutter mentality. For example, everyone is watching FL Studio tutorials and going out and making clones of the exact same music. It’s a by-product of the accessibility of these things, but back in the day I had to read manuals, which I didn’t enjoy, but I was so hungry for the information. When I got my Ensoniq, I read the 500-page manual two or three times, learned that sampler inside out and could make it do anything I wanted. I squeezed every bit of functionality out of very little gear. I literally made three albums using just the Ensoniq, a D-20 and the Mac Classic, and spent a lot of time programming and creating the soundscapes.

MT Will it make you a better producer if you intrinsically understand how the gear works?

K If you take a guy like Tricky, he’s a great producer

“You don’t have to know what reverb or compression is to make good music” musictech.net

but he’s also said that how he doesn’t understand music and that he does everything by ear. So you don’t have to know what reverb or compression is to make good music. A lot of kids get caught up in the ‘how to’ and forget to just do. To be honest, I didn’t understand what a soundwave looked like because my sampler didn’t have a graphical display. It was just an LED with 20 characters of text, so if I wanted to change the sample start time, I was looking at a string of numbers that represented the sample length rather than a waveform. Everything I did back then was by ear.

MT You have an amazing studio. How has it developed into what it’s become today?

K I’ve always had gear, but for a long time I worked in basements and cellars. That’s how I came up with the name Celldweller, because my mother would tell me off for not coming out of the cellar. I finally got a place in 2007 and built out a 2,400 sq. ft. space with multiple rooms. It took me two years to build, so in the meantime I made music in my spare bedroom at home. I even had my AWS900+ SSL console in there

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© Kyle Danley

“If you spend too much time thinking that you can’t make music, then you’re not going to create anything” [laughs]. My current studio has only looked really impressive over the last couple of years when I started gathering a lot of modular stuff. I’m really into the sound design and routing capabilities of the modular environment and I also have a lot of synths and samplers because I love what they do.

that I don’t have frequencies bouncing around that are messing up my perception of the bass. But if you want to learn about your environment, all you have to do is pull up music by other bands you’re familiar with and start to learn that way. If you spend too much time thinking that you can’t make music then you’re not going to create anything.

MT You’re using ADAM audio monitors. Why use those MT You mentioned the AWS900+ SSL desk. Will you

monitors specifically?

K I got my ADAMs at Vintage King, which sells

typically feed your hardware straight into the desk?

high-end gear. I went there and did a monitor shootout, throwing the ADAMs up against some Barefoots and a couple of others. But I kept coming back to the PS33As because they sounded the most full, but flat, so it didn’t feel like they were colouring my sound. They didn’t have a sub, but had enough bass to create a good all-in-one speaker setup. Later, I added an ADAM sub in my main room along with two or three other ADAM setups – the A5, A7 and AX range, because I also have a synth room and a couple of editing suites.

K I have a pretty substantial patch bay, so right now

MT You have a ton of pedals and effects modules?

K They’re tools that make you think in a different way,

MT How much importance did you attach to soundproofing?

K Actually, I don’t, primarily because I’ve worked in

Klayton started out with guitars rather than synths – now he uses both

things are wired directly into the desk, but I do have the ability to break that routing at any point and run stuff through my Neve 1073 preamp or Universal Audio 1176 limiter. I also have a bunch of Avalon channel strips and some API stuff, so depending on what I want to pull out of my gear, whether it’s modular or a guitar, I can intercept it at source and run it through outboard and into the desk. From there, I bounce it into Cubase.

completely untreated rooms for most of my career.

They were rectangular rooms, and you can’t get any more reflective than that. If you can make a mix sound good in an environment that doesn’t sound good, it’s going to sound good almost anywhere.

Since I had the ability to soundproof my studio, I treated it to break up the reflections in the room so

Jealous yet?

because they allow me to do things that I can’t always pull out of a plug-in. I created a guitar tower that’s become my sound design haven. Sometimes I plug synths through them and get great results. I’m usually looking for the more extreme stuff that will allow me to tweak things in different ways. Strymon make awesome-sounding reverbs, delays and modulation sources and I really dig EarthQuaker’s devices. They make great pedals, from distortions to compressors, delays and reverbs. I’m working on a new track right now and ran my guitar through an EarthQuaker Arpanoid pedal to create an arpeggio that’s running through a whole section of a track. If you heard it, you’d think it was a synth.

MT Is it the fun of using them that’s appealing or about balancing your use of software and hardware?

K With those things, I can’t really synchronise them to an external clock, so I’m doing it all by ear. That’s how music was made in the ’70s and ’80s, when you didn’t have a DAW sending out master clock to the analogue delays. There’s a magic in that, because now everything is so perfect and sterile that you don’t have to work very hard to get a cool-sounding delay. You have to work much harder to get an analogue delay to sound like it’s in time than a digital delay, but there’s a beauty to that, especially when those things drift out of time.

MT You mentioned Cubase. Has that always been your choice of DAW?

K When Vision became Studio Vision Pro, the guitar © Kyle Danley

38 June 2018 MusicTech

company Gibson bought the company that made it,

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I N T ER V I E W C E L L DW E L L E R

“You can do something that other producers can’t.

With modular you never get the same sound twice” Opcode, and basically killed it. So I became a Pro Tools user. I used it for a long time, but I’ve been using Cubase for six years now and couldn’t be happier.

For me, it’s a better environment for creativity and it feels like home. There were a few outstanding things about Pro Tools that I used to love, like automation, but now Cubase have added that.

MT You’ve separated your modular from your synth racks. Is that because modular is your primary creative tool now?

K No, I just think that the modular stuff integrates more directly in my main room. I can run guitars through them, or synths. I’ve got another Cubase rig in there and like having the ability to go in and get into a different mindset. I can open up my session over the network and start tracking the synthesisers within the same sessions. Then I’ll jump back into the main room, open up the session and it’s all there ready for processing.

Just some of Klayton’s astonishing modular setup

Expert knob twiddler! A few of the hardware effects at Klayton’s disposal

still use that a lot. I also have a Roland Juno-106 and Juno-60, which have a very specific sound to them, two Dave Smith Sequential Circuits Prophet 600s and the newer Dave Smith and Tom Oberheim OB-6, which I use on a lot of stuff because it has the convenience of USB integration. But for the most part, my synth room has a lot of old synthesisers like the Korg Mono/Poly and the PolySix.

© Kyle Danley

© Kyle Danley

MT Which synths are still key for you?

K It’s really excited to own an Oberheim OB-Xa and

MT The Swarmatron looks like a particularly nice piece of vintage kit?

K It’s a great sound design tool that does something very unique. It has eight oscillators, but only a few of the models, as far as I know, have FM capabilities.

So I have the ability to frequency modulate any oscillator to the other remaining oscillators. Basically, there’s a big knob that allows you to detune these oscillators, which makes it sound like a swarm of bees, but I’ve used it to create bass lines because it’s an oscillator beast with some really good resonant filters.

MT The Moog Vocoder looks interesting too...

K That was a very expensive purchase. Originally, the only vocoders I could afford were software. I had a Boss SE-70 multi-super effects processor, which had a vocoder in it, and I used that on my early Circle of Dust albums. Now I’ve got a Roland SVC-350m, which is a rackmount version of the VP-330 and the Moog Vocoder.

MT Modular has increasingly become a feature of your studio. Is that in reaction to software?

K I do think it’s a reaction to software. Back in the ’80s and ’90s, when that stuff was the only option producers had, the second that the Yamaha DX7 came out and you could store presets and recall hundreds of sounds, analogue gear started going out the door. People were leaning towards the precision of digital and the advent of the DAW and VSTs blew open the door for digital as you could produce an entire track on a laptop. There was a mass exodus from analogue, but I think a lot of producers are thinking, ‘OK, I’m using Massive, as are thousands of other producers, but everybody’s starting to sound the same’.

MT It’s strange because software can produce an almost infinite amount of sounds. Are people not using it to its maximum capacity?

K I wouldn’t want to call out any other producer, but there are guys that just want to grab sounds and produce tracks they can play out quickly.

Whatever a person’s motivation is up to them and it goes without saying that hardware is more expensive than plug-ins.

MT So why go back to hardware?

K Because you can do something other producers can’t. The thing about modular hardware is that you never get the same sound twice. It’s not as precise as synthesisers in the box, but you can get everything from dirty and gritty atonal rhythms right down to beautiful arpeggiations and ostinatos out of a modular sequencer. I don’t use modular just for

40 June 2018 MusicTech

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C E L L DW E L L E R I N T ER V I E W

synthesis either, most of the sound design on my last Celldweller album, End of an Empire, came through my modular setup. I was running bass, vocals and guitars through them and a lot of the synth parts originated from the modular system.

I got into modular about five or six years ago and I’ve definitely learned things about synthesis and sound that I took for granted. I learned the basics of synthesis and how signals flow and did some things wrong, which sometimes produces pretty cool results.

MT What about the timbre of the sound? Is that a clear differentiator?

K In the box sounds have come a long way. Arturia makes the V Collection, which are emulations of classic synthesisers and I use it all the time. But there is definitely something about analogue’s low end that you don’t get in the box.

MT Is it difficult to know what you want without having a deep knowledge of it?

K When I started, I had to dig around YouTube and it was terrible. There were no explanations, or the tutorials assumed that because they knew how it worked, the viewer would. I would basically have to watch them and reverse engineer everything. Now you can follow guys like DivKid on YouTube who will break down the basics all the way up to advanced techniques, and if you want to know what piece of gear to buy, you can create an account at muffwiggler.com and read the forums. YouTube is your friend and most of these modular companies are making demo videos of their products. When you watch a video and can see and hear what something does, it enables you to determine whether it’s worth getting.

MT You have a Buchla 200e System. How does that differentiate from your Eurorack modules?

K In a number of ways, because the Buchla setup is very different to the Moog setup. In the ’70s and ’80s, Moog was much more musical, so musicians tended to gravitate towards it, whereas Buchla was always more experimental. It’s just a different way to think about how oscillators work, as there are no real filters in a Buchla environment per se, and the sequencers work in different ways. Compared to Eurorack or an analogue synth, I end up with totally different results when working within the Buchla environment.

MT I read that you were developing your own Solaris software?

K It was renamed ’Transport’ and it’s now out as a Native Instruments Kontakt instrument. It’s got over 2,000 loops that were primarily made using my modular gear. There’s also a bunch of modular sample packs and a lot of stuff is set up for film scores with step sequencers built into it. If you go to refractoraudio.com, you can get all the information you need.

musictech.net

Celldweller’s music combines both heavy rock and electronica

© Kyle Danley

MT For sound origination, what role does software play in your production process?

K I probably use software more for the effects side of things. Occasionally, it’s simpler to use a preset sound but for effects I’m a huge fan of the FabFilter suite and their Pro-Q EQ plugin is pretty much on every track or session I make. Soundtoys make some great plug-ins and there are many companies, like D16 Group, which makes a bunch of really unique synths. Their 303 and 909 drum machine emulations sound great because they’re very warm and thick.

MusicTech June 2018 41

S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O

SH W OFF YOUR SUDIO

If you have a studio in your mum and dad’s cellar, or anywhere else for that matter, drop us a photo via the MusicTech Facebook page and it could well feature in these pages…

Ermes Records Interviewee Franco Pietropaoli Contact info@ermesrecords.com, www.ermesrecords.com

Franco owns the studio at Ermes Records which started out as a facility to record his own music but has developed into one of the best looking spaces we’ve seen. Take it away Franco…

MusicTech Tell us about your studio, Franco Franco The studio is located in the basement of my parents’ house in a southern suburb of Rome, Italy.

MT What about all of that gear?

Main system: Apple Logic on a Mac Pro; RME Fireface 802 interface; and Waves, Native Instruments, and Synthogy plug-ins.

42 June 2018 MusicTech

Speakers: Focal CMS 65 and Auratone 5C Super Sound Cubes. Outboard: Universal Audio Solo/610, AML EZ1073, Telefunken V672, Focusrite ISA 428, McAudioLab TP1h, RME QuadMic and Golden Age Project PRE-73 MKII and PRE-73 DLX mic pres plus a Summit Audio MPC-100A mic pre/ compressor. Mics: Pearlman TM-1 con capsula Thiersch M7; Neumann U87i, U87Ai (x2) and KM184 (x2); Apex 460; Sennheiser MD421 (x2) and MD441; AKG D112; Revox M3500; Audio Technica 4041; NoHype Audio LRM-1; Soundelux R102; Shure Beta58, SM58 SM57 (x2); Handmade Subkick. Plus various acoustic

instruments, drums, headphones, Yamaha Clavinova CLP860 and a large selection of guitars (electric, folk, classical) and basses.

MT Which DAW and why?

I’ve used Logic Pro ever since I started to produce music. It seems both intuitive and professional to me.

MT What’s your favourite piece of studio gear and why?

I just bought an AML EZ1073, one of the most faithful reproductions of the vintage Neve 1073 (with EQ). It’ll become my

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S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O

K E Y K IT O Apple Mac Pro and Logic O Waves, NI and Synthogy plug-ins O A huge range of outboard O Monitors and more monitors

It’s hard to believe this studio is in the basement of a building, but it is…

We do love a bit of monitor symmetry

favourite piece for saturated and aggressive stuff, complimentary to my UA 610, which is gentle and sweet.

MT What is your dream gear?

I once listened to a Maselec MLA-2 compressor and I was really impressed, and I’d also like an old Neumann U67 mic.

MT How do you use your studio?

I started out producing my band, then I became more and more enthusiastic about recording and now it’s a big part of my job.

MT Next on your gear shopping list?

I’m considering the Softube Console 1 as I’m curious about its sound and I’d like to work with all the pots instead of the mouse/trackball.

musictech.net

MT Finally, do you have any studio or recording advice?

The process of recording includes the artist as the most important part. The creation of a pleasing and functional recording is of primary importance, so consider lights, colours, temperature and communication with the artist from a technical, artistic and human point of view. You are a medium to let the artist express him or herself.

MusicTech June 2018 43

S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O

K E Y K IT O Ableton Live and Push 2 O A Korg microKORG O RA interface O Acoustic and electric guitars O 2Box drum kit O "Less is more!"

Eric c Interviewee Enrico Castiello Contact

enricocastle@hotmail.it , https://soundcloud.com/eric-c

We’re staying in Italy for quite a different set-up, a smaller but perfectly formed studio belonging to Enrico Castiello who produces his own music and teaches music production…

MusicTech Tell us about your studio, Enrico Enrico My studio is situated in Lucca, Tuscany in Italy and has been active since 2001.

MT What gear do you have?

Apple iMac running Ableton Live; Yamaha MSP5A monitors; Resident Audio Thunderbolt T4 audio interface; Apogee One interface; Ableton Push 2 controller; Arturia Keylab Essential 61 keyboard; Korg microKORG Synth; 2Box Drumit Drum kit; Sonor SQ2 drum kit; Fender Telecaster guitar; Larrivée acoustic guitars; AKG SC1000 studio mic.

MT Which DAW and why?

Ableton Live 9 Suite and I am just switching over to v10. I’ve been using Ableton since the first version came out. It’s just the most intuitive DAW from my point of view. Once you’ve learned all about its capabilities you just can’t live without it and the sky is the limit.

It is just simply the most enjoyable DAW for me and it is a very clear and easy way to

44 June 2018 MusicTech

record, compose and produce music. And all of Ableton’s instruments and effects are really good quality too.

MT Favourite gear?

Like I say I use a lot of Ableton instruments and effects but there is also a lot of other gear that I love to use. First, there’s my old microKORG synth which has all of these beautiful sounds from the ’70s and controlling them directly from the synth is just fantastic. The VSTs I mainly use include Rob Papen’s Blue 2. The patches are just great – it is really what Rob Papen himself calls a cross-fusion synth with lots of choirs and strings and nice pads. I also like the Arturia Mini V – if you love funky lead lines from the ’70s like I do then this is a perfect choice. Then there’s NI’s Scarbee Mark 1 – I just love the classic electric piano sound. I also like Waves’ Abbey Road Studio Compressor – well if you love music then you have to own something with Abbey Road Studios written on it! It’s a perfect compressor and easy to use. Finally there NI’s Guitar Rig 5. It is so easy to create your own sound and very fast.

MT How is the studio used?

I mainly use my studio to record my own

Check out the careful ergonomic angling of Enrico’s gear

work including my latest single as Eric c called If You, available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. I also record live stuff with my band, the Red Wine Blues Band.

MT Anything annoy you about your setup?

Not really and that’s mainly because I’m pretty sure about what I want and the sound that I want before I buy anything and I always try it out too.

MT What’s your dream gear?

A real Minimoog Model D. I would spend at least an hour a day looking at it – it’s just so beautiful!

MT Any production advice?

I know Ableton Live inside out and have been teaching people how to use it for many years. I always tell my students that they should have an idea of want they want to achieve and also know the sound they want. But mostly I tell them to learn to use the gear that they have inside out.

There are so many people around that have so much stuff but they just don’t know how to use it. It’s better to own less but know it more. “Less is more” as the great Miles Davis used to say.

musictech.net

S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O

K E Y K IT O PreSonus mixer and interface O Akai APC40 O M-Audio and Novation controllers O Focusrite Liquid 56 interface O KRK monitors

Digital Three Interviewee Darrell Lee Contact

Bookings.digitalthree@outlook.com, www.digitalthreemusic.co.uk

Darrell Lee is part of the Digital Three production team. As you can see his advice is ‘get good acoustics – another essential piece of equipment a lot of people forget to include’. And the foundation of a good set-up? The card and monitors…

MusicTech Tell us more about your studio Darrell It’s a small, intimate studio located in Kent. It took a year to build and has been fully operational for two years now and is almost square all around.

MT Tell us about the gear in the studio?

I have an Apple MacBook Pro running Logic; Yamaha HS7 studio monitors; Native Instruments Maschine MK2; Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 interface; dbx 286a Pro mic pre amp/ compressor; sE Electronics 2200a condenser microphone; Evolution 42 key MIDI keyboard.

MT Which DAW do you use and why?

Logic Pro X. Due to the fact I have a MacBook Pro, it seemed the most logical DAW to choose (no pun intended). Logic has some great features, such as the EQ and compressors and the Space Designer.

musictech.net

MT What is your favourite piece of gear?

I would have to say the Maschine MK2. It is versatile, great sounding and you can do so much with it plus it can be used with my DAW which makes it a all round winner.

MT How much time do you spend in the studio?

I’m in my studio almost on a daily basis. If I’m not doing a radio show or DJ-ing at an event I’m usually in the studio working on a new track. I can spend up to eight hours a day there. I do have moments when I just can’t get any inspiration for a new track so I need to take time out the studio and chill with the family and not make music for a couple of days. I’m sure many producers get this.

MT How do you mainly use the studio?

I work professionally in my studio. We just recently had a great vocalist working with us, laying down vocals for one of our singles, but mostly it’s just production.

MT What is on your shopping list?

Thats a tough one. It’s a case of ‘where do I start?’, really. I was thinking probably the new NI Maschine MK3 or Komplete Kontrol S49. I guess if I had to choose just one of those I’d

But the best advice is to learn from magazines, right?

have to say the Komplete Kontrol. I would love that piece of equipment.

MT Anything annoy you about your setup?

At the moment I’d say my MacBook Pro as it’s getting old now and I do actually need to upgrade it. The rest of my studio equipment is great though.

MT What is your dream piece of gear?

I would love some Adam A7x monitors – they sound amazing. I’d also love an original Yamaha DX7 as I love that old skool sound. .

MT What is your top production advice?

Always listen to your ears. If it sounds good, go with it. Focus more on what sounds right to you and not what looks right.

MT What advice do you have for people building a studio?

Establish what computer platform you would like to work on and then get a decent sound card. Never get cheep monitors – the interface and monitors are the foundation of your set up. Make sure the room you work in is treated well with acoustics. Stay focused and learn from those you look up to and be the best you can.

MusicTech June 2018 45

MUSIC IS OUR PASSION

TEC H N I Q UE G E T T H E B ES T O U T O F L I V E L I T E

ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL

GET THE BEST OUT OF LIVE LITE IN ABLETON LIVE LITE When talking about Ableton, we tend to focus on Live Suite, with all its bells and whistles. This time around Martin Delaney gives some love to its underappreciated ‘limited’ versions – Live Intro and Lite...

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hen we’re discussing Ableton Live, it’s easy to fixate on Live 10 Suite, it’s the best option – if you can afford it. Below that is Live 10 Standard, still well-featured but without some of the extras. Then there’s the very affordable Live 10 Intro, which although limited is still totally worthwhile.

Still, there’s another one, Live Lite, which is licensed to manufacturers so they can add value to product bundles.

Over the years, Lite’s been packaged with all kinds of controllers and interfaces; currently, you’ll find it bundled with products from names such as Arturia, Novation, Focusrite and Korg. Hopefully this will clear up some confusion about the different versions and encourage any non-users reading this to wonder if maybe they’ve got a version of Lite already, or remember that they registered it long ago but haven’t got round to using it!

UNDERSTANDING YOUR OPTIONS Live Intro and Lite are both limited versions, but they’re not the same. Lite is slightly more restricted and only available with authorisation from a third party product purchase, while Intro is available as a full separate purchase, or included with Push.

They both latch into the Ableton ecosystem; either one puts you on the upgrade path to fuller editions of Live.

Signing in to your account should tell you what you need to know about upgrades, but if not, send an email to Ableton’s support folks. You can add more content in the form of Live Packs, and all of Live’s instruments are available as individual purchases. Lite and Intro aren’t fully loaded with instruments and effects, but they’re compatible with AU and VST plug-ins, so you can take full advantage of the many

48 June 2018 MusicTech

plug-ins from other providers. Intro is now 64-bit only, and Lite will probably follow soon, so a lot of older unsupported free plug-ins won’t work anymore.

FEATURE Buying Push gets you a licence for Intro as well. Intro features racks and effects of course, but the most critical component as far as Push goes, is Simpler. During the life span of Live 9, Simpler has turned into quite a little monster, with slicing modes, new

instrument racks, 16 tracks total, 8 scenes, 2 return tracks, 4 mono audio channels in (and 4 out), and the Chop And Swing and Loopmasters Mixtape Live Packs. There are key features it doesn’t include, such as Max For Live, video import, grooves, and the external instrument device. Currently, Live 9 Lite features 2 instruments, 11 audio effects, 8 MIDI effects, drum, effect and instrument racks, 8 tracks total, 8 scenes, 2 return tracks, 4 mono audio channels in (and 4 out). Lite might currently be out of step with

Ultimately, Lite and Intro are functional enough to to use in the home or studio, even on stage filters, and the ability to retain warp markers on any clips that are loaded. Push can access every control on Simpler, so you can record, browse, load, and chop samples directly from the hardware, and it looks great on the colourful Push 2 display. Even without further expansion, Push and Simpler combine to make a powerful production and performance instrument. If you’re not a Push user, Lite and Intro also have Live’s usual control surface support, so it’s easy to use any control surface that’s supported with Live’s Instant Mapping, or to use MIDI Map Mode to create custom assignments.

Exactly how stripped-down are these versions, and how do they differ from each other? Well, currently they’re more different than usual, because Live Intro is up-to-date with version 10, while Lite is still at 9, as stated earlier. As it goes right now, Live 10 Intro features 2 instruments, 21 audio effects, 8 MIDI effects, drum, effect, and

Intro, but it is up to date as far as 9 goes, including recent features such as Ableton Link. Again it lacks the things that Intro 10 lacks – video, grooves, and so on. If you don’t want to upgrade to Standard or Suite, but there’s a particular Ableton instrument you want, you can buy it individually, and the one I recommend to everybody is Operator; it’s such a powerful synth and there’s a library of presets to get you going. Time will tell if Live 10’s Wavetable achieves similar status, another synth that can bring great results immediately, while rewarding deeper exploration. If you want video in your Live sets, you could use a third party plug-in like RemixVideo, it installs just like any AU or VST. Ultimately, Lite and Intro are functional enough to use in the home or studio and even on stage. Get jamming and playing live sets, then expand and upgrade as your ambitions and experience grow.

musictech.net

G E T T H E B ES T O U T O F L I V E L I T E TEC H N I Q UE

LIVE ON A BUDGET Live 10 Suite plus a Push is an expensive proposition.

You can get a great Live experience for less by purchasing a controller like Novation’s Launchpad or Akai’s APC Mini; both include Live Lite. Throw in an affordable soundcard, some headphones and monitors, and you’re all set.

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Get The Best Out of Live Lite

Hey, do you remember that MIDI controller or interface you got, way back?

Have you still got the box? Check inside for a card that gives you a free licence for Ableton Live Lite.

Go online to www.ableton.com and download your copy of Lite – you’ll be provided with the most recent possible version. While you’re there look for any information about upgrade pricing.

Look out for any extra free content beyond the application itself – like more Live Packs, for example. Grab it all – you can uninstall later if you find you’re not using the extras.

Once that’s all done, launch Live for the first time and authorise it. If you’re on a Mac, go into Live’s Preferences and under File/Folder, select ‘Use Audio Units’, then close Preferences.

Open the browser at the left of the screen, and choose ‘Plug-Ins’ in the left column, then Audio Units in the right column, and you should see a list of installed Apple Audio Unit effects.

If you purchased Push, that includes Live Intro. Having installed the software, connect your Push. Keep an eye on the Push display, because it’ll prompt you to disconnect/reconnect if it’s running any firmware updates.

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TEC H N I Q UE G E T T H E B ES T O U T O F L I V E L I T E

MAKING USE For any musician or producer Live is always worth having, even as an add-on to your current DAW, and if you’ve got a free or cheap copy, you might as well make sure it’s as up to date as possible, and that you’re getting the most out of it.

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Get The Best Out of Live Lite continued

Use Push to load a drum kit from the Chop and Swing Live Pack. Sure, you could use your computer’s trackpad or mouse, but it’s more fun to get started with Push immediately – why wait?!

Push will go straight into drum sequencer mode, and you can set a loop length and start tapping in your beat. Change the note values while using the Repeat button – it’s very, very, rewarding!

Press the Record button to capture the repeats, extra drum hits, and any drum rack parameter tweaks, made via the encoders. Don’t forget you can load further samples, instruments, and effects, directly from Push.

After that, use Push to load Simpler, and load one of the one-shot samples included with Chop and Swing, and play your notes from the grid based keyboard and experiment with scale modes.

If the MIDI track’s armed, you don’t have to hit record – play a phrase, then click the Capture button (or type shift-cmd-c) to create a new clip containing the last thing you played.

Live Intro contains a full set of MIDI editing tools, as well as the entire line-up of Live MIDI effect devices. If you’ve never used an arpeggiator before, you’re gonna have some fun.

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TEC H N I Q UE G E T T H E B ES T O U T O F L I V E L I T E

ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL

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Get The Best Out of Live Lite continued

Try recording some audio as well, it’s not all about programming. Intro and Lite can only record into two stereo channels at once, but other than that they are fully functional audio recorders.

Any version of Live makes a great performance tool. The Looper audio effect will let you capture and layer and play loops in real-time, operated from a MIDI footswitch or other controller.

Even these base versions of Live have what it takes to perform DJ sets – clips, warping, audio effects, and controller capability, and enough audio channels to cue properly. Get out there and play!

The same tools that work for DJing, work for remixing. Drop your selected track in, and slice it into separate, warped, clips, then add other samples, MIDI elements, whatever you need.

Both Lite and Intro (from 9.6 onwards) have Ableton Link support, so you can wirelessly sync with other compatible apps and hardware, for very fast setup of ad hoc jams.

Check the lessons! Open Live’s Help View and you’ll find built-in lessons that you can go through to help you get started on learning more about your new software.

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TEC H N I Q UE PH AT F X IN LO G I C PRO X

LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL

PHAT FX IN LOGIC PRO X

Logic Pro X’s Phat FX brings together a range of lo-fi, body-enhancing treatments in one plug-in. Mark Cousins explores the grungier side of signal processing...

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hen it comes to lo-fi treatments, there’s a collection of effects that sit well together: filtering, distortion and compression. Getting that perfect ‘gritty’ drum loop, for example, often includes a dynamic combination of these effects, so that a drum loop is overdriven, then compressed before finally being filtered. Logic Pro X’s new Phat FX plug-in is arguably the perfect choice for this application, combining numerous lo-fi treatments in the one plug-in. With a flexible signal path and additional modulation options, it could become a one-stop-shop for interesting and unusual signal processing treatment.

additional distortion. You’ll also notice that the distortion block appears at three separate points, making it closer to three separate effects blocks.

SPECIAL FX The key concept of Phat FX’s use is the ordering and interaction of the effects blocks it offers. Consider the difference between band-pass placed before or after a heavy-handed distortion. With band-pass as the first effect, the distortion adds harmonics to material that already has a restricted frequency range, effectively becoming a more ‘characterful’ version of the band-pass effect. With the band-pass after the distortion, the rich additional harmonics added by the distortion (across

can be used to add movement to your effects. First of these is an envelope follower, which dynamically tracks the amplitude of the input and outputs a control voltage to modulate a range of effect parameters. The obvious choice here is to use the envelope follower to modulate filter cutoff (especially good on drums), although you can also achieve interesting results modulating the amount of distortion. It’s worth noting that Phat FX’s side chain input can be used to drive the envelope follower, which opens the possibility of using other instruments and audio tracks as modulation sources.

The two LFOs are the next modulators, which can be used to provide gentle undulating movements, or precise tempolocked pulsation. A variety of different

FULL PHAT The list of signal processing options included in Phat FX should be familiar to anyone using Logic Pro X. Indeed, they arguably replicate the sound and performance of many existing singular plug-ins. At the top of the interface are two forms of timbral modification – a simple band-pass filter as well as additional multimode filter. The band-pass effect is, of course, a quick and easy way of trimming either end of the frequency spectrum, leaving a narrow frequency, mid-range effect like a telephone line. The multi-mode filter is a more complex beast with multiple different strengths and types of filter, as well as more esoteric options like ring mod, downsampling and comb filtering.

Below the filtering options you’ll find a chain of effects blocks covering distortion, mod FX (or chorus, in other words), a bass enhancer and a compressor. The key concept to grasp here – which is evident from the chain of effects block at the bottom of the interface – is that each component forms a distinct part in a long chain of effects. Rather than being a fixed entity, you have complete control over the precise order of the effects – so that a signal could be compressed before it’s distorted or a filtered signal could have

54 June 2018 MusicTech

It could become a one-stopshop for interesting and unusual signal processing treatment the full audio spectrum) are then narrowed by the band-pass, making it sound like a ‘muted’ distortion.

Rather than providing lots of detailed controls, each of the effects blocks provides just a simplified control set with just the key parameters on display.

Compression, for example, is boiled down to two main controls (amount and release), with an additional type control to move between different compressor designs. The three different distortions have a selectable type (covering everything from analogue-like saturation effects to digital grunge) combined with a simple percentage amount control. Ultimately, these effects aren’t meant to be subtle, so there’s little use in having detailed controls.

MODULATOR MADNESS Towards the bottom of Phat FX’s interface you’ll find a series of modulation options that

waveshapes are provided, including Ramp Up and Down, as well as two forms of random movement that work well for sequencer-like movement. With two LFOs to play with, as well as some esoteric filter modes, there’s an argument that Phat FX trumps AutoFilter’s feature set, so is worth exploring simply as a form of filtering plug-in.

The final stage of Phat FX is its Master section, which includes a limiter alongside conventional input and output levels. Given the unpredictable signal levels that can be delivered by elements like distortion and compression, it makes sense to include a limiter, although you can always choose to push it harder as a creative effect.

Despite Phat FX ‘ borrowing’ from Logic’s other plug-ins, there’s a lot to be said for the immediacy of this all-in-one solution. Given the extra functionality of the modulators, Phat FX can go above and beyond what the individual plug-ins can offer.

musictech.net

PH AT F X IN LO G I C PRO X TEC H N I Q UE

PHAT FX’S X/Y Pad provides another level of gestural control. Each axis

Powered by

can be mapped to two parameters (by default this is set to the two extremes of the band-pass filter), each with its own depth parameter. Use Logic Pro’s automation to record and replay dynamic X/Y pad movements.

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Phat FX

On the Bass, open the Phat FX plug-in and enable the Distortion block.

Select Diode and Soft Saturation as the first two types. Use a small amount of Diode (10%), and a more extreme Soft Saturation, around 50%.

The Bass Enhancer is a good way of increasing the low-frequency energy.

Use the Tune control to position the effect (around 72Hz, in this case) and increase the Amount to create the desired level of low-frequency enhancement.

Now add some bass compression. The Compressor has a relatively simple control set. We’ve selected Classic VCA for the type, set the Amount to -4dB and Release to 150ms, increasing the body and sustain of the bass.

Try experimenting with the order of processing. For example, listen to the differing qualities of distortion with the compression placed at the begin or end of the signal path. Moved to the front, the bass has a more aggressive tone.

Now let’s turn our attention to the drums. Use the band-pass block to reduce both the top and low-end of the drum track (to around 230Hz and 3811Hz respectively), resulting in a narrow mid-range tone.

Try experimenting with the two resonance settings (Low Res and High Res).

Settings around 25% or so tend to add character to the band-pass effect, creating a small resonant peak around the two cutoff points.

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TEC H N I Q UE PH AT F X IN LO G I C PRO X

THE TWO PRINCIPLE FORMS OF DIGITAL DISTORTION

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Downsampling and Bit Crush come to life when relative amounts are modulated using LFOs. Tempo-lock the LFO. Use either of the sample-and-hold waveforms for glitches or un-sync the LFOs and push their speed into audio-rate modulation.

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Phat FX continued

Now add some Distortion to the drums. Because the drums now exist over a narrow frequency range, we’ve picked a heavy Scream setting at 100%.

Try auditioning the effect with the band-pass before and after the Distortion block.

Distortion adds harmonic material, so it’s often beneficial to tame some of that energy with a low-pass filter. 1000Hz (on a LP 12dB Rich setting) sounds suitably ‘dark’, but with all the added body of the Scream setting.

Lo-fi drums wouldn’t be complete without a heavy dose of compression.

As you can see, the Amount is pushed harder than the bass so that the drums start to pump and have an increased sense of body.

The Envelope Follower is a natural fit with drums. We’ve set Filter Cutoff as the target, with the fastest attack setting and a release that is graduated enough to match the drum track (around 0.51s).

The finesse of the effect is balancing the Depth of the effect (in the Envelope follower section) with the Filter Cutoff position. Note how the blue line indicates the modulation being applied additively to your initial setting.

One arguable omission from Phat FX is a delay module. To complete the lo-fi drum treatment, therefore, we’ll add some Tape Delay using the Ultra Dub setting. This is placed as insert effect after Phat FX.

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TEC H N I Q UE PH AT F X IN LO G I C PRO X

LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL

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Phat FX continued

Now let’s look at the synth pad in Phat FX. To start, we’ve added a small amount of Soft Saturation and the Mod FX block. The Mod FX in its Soft setting produces Juno-like chorus that works with pad sounds.

Now let’s add some side chain-styled amplitude modulation. On LFO 2, select the Ramp Up option from the drop-down menu, set the Rate to 1/4 notes (in sync mode) and the depth to around 50%.

The pad should now pump up and down in the same way as if it were being side chained from a kick. The Depth of the LFO sets the amount of amplitude modulation, making it increasingly ‘pumpy’.

With two LFOs to hand, there’s plenty of modulation possibilities with Phat FX. This next option uses a Sample-and-Hold waveshape, set to 1/16th and routed through to Filter Cutoff.

In this application we’ve used a small amount of Depth on the LFO and positioned the Cutoff near the top-end of its range. The result is a subtle shimmer, rather than a pronounced stepping effect.

This final option swaps out the Sample-and-Hold waveshape and instead uses a slow-moving sine wave on the LFO to slowly undulate the filter cutoff. As before, the finesse is in relative position of Depth and Cutoff.

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CUBASE TUTORIAL

INTEGRATING HARDWARE IN CUBASE 9.5 While software plug-ins fully integrate with the DAW, Adam Crute demonstrates how to create a similar degree of integration with external hardware...

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ast time we explored how to hook-up your external synths and effects processors to Cubase and have them show-up as external plug-ins that can be dropped onto tracks or included in virtual racks in much the same way as software plug-ins. Handy though this is, a more complete integration between hardware and DAW can be achieved by harnessing Cubase MIDI devices.

RPN and NRPN messages are formed by combining CC messages and so are easy to work with, but SysEx messages are more convoluted. We don’t have space to explain how these work, but you’ll find tutorials online. In any event, whichever approach your hardware takes, you should find full details in the MIDI Implementation/ Specification tables in user manual.

MIDI VALUES THE MIDI DEVICE MANAGER The MIDI Device Manager (let’s call it the MDM for short) is the starting point from where we can install, customise and manage device definitions for external MIDI hardware. These definitions let Cubase know how to work with a piece of hardware – each external device that you wish to control from Cubase should have its own definition in the MDM. Cubase comes with a selection of definitions for common hardware and you can find definitions online that you can download and import. However, for the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll be starting from scratch and creating our own custom device definition.

CCS AND SYSEX Practically all MIDI-equipped hardware will provide a means to adjust program parameters via MIDI messages, but there is no definitive standard specifying which message should control which parameter; rather, all devices tend to have their own unique mappings linking parameters to MIDI messages.

It’s common for some parameters to be controlled via simple MIDI CC (Continuous Controller, AKA Control Change) messages, but there are only 128 CC ‘channels’, some of which are reserved for standardised uses, so complex devices with many parameters tend to also use RPN (Registered Parameter Number), NRPN (Non-Registered Parameter Number) and/or SysEx (System Exclusive) messages for controlling parameters.

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MIDI messages are made up of a series of ‘bytes’. Some of these bytes specify the type and target of the message, and typically each message will also contain a value, for example, a note number, a controller value, etc.

channel strips, or as general floating windows of any size and can include controllers such as knobs, faders and switches. We assign parameters to controllers so that Cubase knows what MIDI message to send in response to the controller being adjusted.

PRESET REFERENCES VS SNAPSHOTS When creating a new device definition in Cubase, one of the very first things that needs to be decided is whether Cubase will handle programs/patches as Preset References or as Snapshots. Once set, this setting cannot be changed, so it’s vital to select the correct option for your needs.

When using Preset References, Cubase maintains an editable list of program names

Integration between hardware and DAW can be achieved by harnessing Cubase MIDI devices A MIDI value byte is 7-bits long, so can represent values from 0 to 127. It’s adequate for many uses, but sometimes a higher resolution – ie. a greater range of values – is required. In such situations, two value bytes are combined as a 14-bit pair, giving a value range of 0 to 16,383.

A MIDI byte can only represent positive values, but a parameter may work with a value that can be positive or negative. In this scenario the device will apply an offset to the incoming MIDI value – for example, a MIDI value of 0 may map to a parameter value of -63. We need to keep this in mind when defining device parameters within Cubase.

CUSTOM CONTROL PANELS Once you’ve defined the parameters for a device, it is then a simple matter of using Cubase’s panel designer to create a custom control panel. Panels can be designed to appear in the track inspector, in mixer

with associated MIDI bank and program change messages. Programs can be selected directly from the track inspector, causing the corresponding bank-andprogram change message to be sent. Any changes to device parameters need to be stored on the device so that they can be recalled by the program change message.

The alternative sees Cubase store snapshots of all device parameter values; when recalling a snapshot, Cubase transmits the parameter values back to the device, returning it to the state it was in when the snapshot was taken. This is essentially identical to how software plug-ins store their programs, and is generally the best option to choose unless you have decided against creating a control panel for the device; it is the method we’ll use here too... Before you start, create an External Instrument or External FX plug-in for your device, and have your hardware manual on hand.

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PANEL LIMITATIONS Cubase’s control panels can include custom background graphics, so with a bit of work you can create fairly comprehensive device panels. There are limits to what can be achieved with Cubase’s panel editor, though: it lacks crucial controller types, such as dropdown menus.

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Integrating hardware

Open the MDM from “Studio>More Options”. Click “Install Device”, then in the window that opens select “Define New...” and click “OK”. Enter a name for the device at the top of the new window.

Under “Identical Channels” select every channel that responds identically to incoming messages; under “Individual Channels” select channels that respond differently.

Under ‘Channel Settings’ tick ‘Channel Parameters’ and leave the other boxes in the section unticked. Under ‘Preset Type’ tick ‘Snapshots’. Under ‘Global Settings’ tick ‘SysEx Parameters’ if your device uses SysEx messages, and tick ‘Snapshots’. Click ‘OK’.

In the window that opens, the left panel shows a ‘tree’ representation of your device, with a ‘subnode’ for each MIDI channel you enabled for it.

Device parameters are defined by adding items to the tree.

Select the first channel subnode in the tree and click Add ‘subnodes’; we’ll use this to group together related parameters and to help with panel design.

Give the subnode a suitable name, E.G. ‘Filter’, and click ‘OK’.

Expand the channel node so that the new subnode is visible; notice that, if an ‘identical’ channel, the new subnode has been created in all other ‘identical’ channels. Select the new subnode and click ‘Add Parameters’.

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Integrating hardware continued

Enter the parameter’s name, and the minimum, maximum and default values for the parameter (remember to account for any offset the device may use). Consult the device manual to work out the required MIDI message.

If the parameter is transmitted via a SysEx message then jump to Step 11, otherwise click the dropdown menu below the ‘Transmission’ section title, and notice that the menu has a couple of nested sub-menus.

If the parameter uses a basic CC message with a 7-bit value (0-127) then select the required CC from the ‘Control Change’ sub-menu; otherwise select the appropriate option from the ‘Multiple Command Message’ sub-menu.

Look at the table in the ‘Transmission’ section, which shows the message’s components. If using RPN or NRPN, click in the ‘Formula’ column of the ‘RPN/NRPN Nr’ row and enter the parameter’s RPN/NRPN number.

For SysEx parameters, click on the ‘Create SysEx’ button. Enter each byte of the message into the corresponding ‘slot’ in the SysEx editor, adding/ removing slots as required. Click ‘OK’ to close the editor when done.

Click OK to close the ‘Add Parameters’ dialog. Add a few more parameters to your parameter group. Then, back in the device tree, select your parameter group subnode (created in Step 5) and click ‘Add Panel’.

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CTRLR If you need custom control panels with more flexibility than Cubase can deliver then check out Ctrlr (ctrlr.org). This open-source plug-in and standalone app is designed for creating and running control panels, and is far more capable in this regard than Cubase, although at a cost of increased complexity.

In the next dialog, enter a name for the panel, choose the ‘General Size’ option and click ‘OK’; the ‘Edit Panel’ view opens. Click the drop-down at the top of the right-hand area and select ‘Knobs’.

Drag a knob from the right-hand panel into the blue rectangle in the centre of the window (representing the panel’s viewable area). A dialog will open showing a list of parameters – select one and click ‘OK’.

Double-click the label field to rename it, then repeat Step 14 for all parameters in the group. When done, select ‘Device’ from the drop-down at the top of the window, choosing to save when prompted.

Select the channel subnode in the device tree. Add a new general-sized panel. In the panel editor’s device tree select your parameter subnode and drag the parameter panel from the ‘Views’ section to the new panel.

Close the panel editor window, choosing ‘Save’ when prompted. Back in the MDM select the MIDI output that your hardware is connected to and then close the MDM window. Create a new project for testing your panel.

Create an instrument track that uses your external device (or audio track with insert if a processor), and in the track inspector click the ‘Open Device Panels’ button. Repeat the above steps to further develop your panel.

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MusicTech June 2018 63

TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G R E V ER B I N P R O TO O L S 2018

PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL

USING REVERB IN PRO TOOLS

With so many virtual instruments, DI’d guitars, or close mics in dry rooms a sense of space is being lost. Mike Hillier finds the reverb tools in Pro Tools to bring back the room.

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everb is one of the most creative tools available to you as a mix engineer. From simple room sounds, to long evolving modulated halls, short gated drums to exotic reversed effects, reverb is one of the areas that can define a mix. Used well, reverb can be almost invisible or it can be one of the primary elements of the mix.

With so many songs now being recorded in small project studios, where the natural room acoustics are far from ideal, and therefore reduced wherever possible, where guitars are often recorded with a DI and then re-amped with an amp simulator, and where dry virtual instruments and synthesizers form a large portion of the instrumentation, it is of enormous importance to be able to use reverb effectively, and to have a selection of different styles available to you.

Spring reverbs are popular in many guitar amps, and are usually placed in the FX loop of the amp – between the preamp and power amp stages. We’re emulating this effect by placing the effect before the speaker emulation. Placed after the speaker emulation the spring reverb responds to the already coloured signal, whereas before the reverb is working on a more full range signal, and the resulting signal is itself then coloured to produce subtly different textures.

In Pro Tools 2018 there are seven different reverb plug-in options, from the classic D-Verb, to the three AIR reverb effects, Avid Space and the Avid Black Spring and Studio Reverb plug-ins, it can be easy to feel spoilt for choice, especially as many plug-ins duplicate the sounds of others.

In this tutorial we will walk through some of the options available for adding reverb to a guitar signal, recorded straight in through the line out on our Audio Kitchen The Big Trees amp head. This is a 2.5W amp head that’s ideally suited for recording and re-amping, as well as capable of being used as a preamp pedal before a larger amp.

In the first example we explore the different tones that can be achieved using a typical spring reverb effect on guitars placed both before and after the speaker.

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PROCESSING THE RETURN In addition to processing the send you can also process the return by placing EQs, dynamics and other processors after the reverb. Again the differences between processing before and after the reverb can be huge. A compressor on the reverb send will smooth out the dry signal,

It’s important to be able to use reverb effectively and to have a selection of styles available SEND EFFECTS

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN

want in the reverb, as well as compressing and de-essing the signal before it hits the reverb.

In the next two examples we explore two different styles of reverb: algorithmic and convolution, using both as send effects on their own Aux. channel. Using send effects has the obvious benefit of enabling you to send multiple sources to the same reverb, placing multiple instruments into the same virtual space without having to use multiple instances of the same plug-in on each channel. But more importantly than this, using an Aux. channel enables us to process the signal feeding the reverb both before and after the reverb. This allows us to shape the signal going into the reverb with EQs and dynamics processing. On an electric guitar signal like this one, we’d most likely start with just a simple top-andtail EQ, using high- and low-pass filters. But for vocal reverbs, particularly lead vocals, we might spend more time focussing the EQ on exactly the part of the vocal we

resulting in a smooth consistent reverb, with no individual notes blooming above the rest of the signal, potentially drowning out the next few notes. But placed across the reverb return a compressor will smooth out the reverb tails, adding additional sustain to the reverb, and lengthening the tails. Your explorations shouldn’t end there though. Processing the reverb return with distortion can help to bring life to a reverb, and ensure that you don’t need as much of it in a mix. In fact many of our favourite hardware reverbs are dear to us simply because of their poor fidelity and the resulting charmingly grotty sound.

As much fun as it can be to explore different reverbs, unless you are trying to wash out your recordings, be careful when you’re finished finding the right sound to turn the return channel down in your mix.

Leaving in too much muddy reverb is a common mixing mistake.

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U S I N G R E V ER B I N P R O TO O L S 2018 TEC H N I Q UE

CONVOLUTION ALSO ALLOWS you to load almost any WAV file in as an impulse response, putting the impulse characteristics of nearly any sound onto your signal. This doesn’t always work effectively, but can result in some unusual textures. Try loading some of your own impulse responses into Space.

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Black Spring

We’ve recorded an overdriven electric guitar signal through our Audio Kitchen: The Big Trees head straight into Pro Tools. Before we add reverb we’ve added an instance of Eleven Mk II, using the cabinet emulation to shape the signal.

Guitar signals like this often benefit from a little spring reverb, and Pro Tools 2018 comes with Avid Black Spring, which is a fantastic emulation of a Fender spring reverb. We’ve added this to the signal chain to give the guitar more depth.

There aren’t many parameters on Black Spring, just a decay time control, a tone controller and a mix knob. We’ve dialled in a short, bright reverb, but longer, darker tails can work just as well.

Placed after the cabinet emulation, it models what a spring reverb would sound like used as an effect after recording. We can model this by switching the order of the plug-ins, placing Black Spring before Eleven Mk II in the signal chain.

In this position, the reverb is coloured by the cabinet simulation, and isn’t quite as bright. We’ve further tweaked the effect by dialling up the mix and tone controls.

Finally we’ve opted to shape the signal a little going into the chain by adding an instance of Avid EQ III. Cutting some of the thumb noise from the upper harmonics, and boosting the darker wooden tones around 400Hz.

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PRO TOOLS LOGIC PRO TUTORIAL X TUTORIAL

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Studio Reverb

We can place the amp in a more natural room environment using one of the other reverbs in Pro Tools. Bypass Black Spring and set up a stereo send from the E. Guitar channel to a new stereo Aux. Channel. Add Avid Studio Reverb.

As we’re using the Studio Reverb as a send effect, not an insert, we can dial Mix up to full, and control the balance of dry to wet signal. We’ve got the send set up as post-fader by default, so the ratio of dry to wet will remain constant.

Studio Reverb has a number of algorithms to choose from, modelling the different types of algorithms used in classic reverb units. We settled for the “Small Theater” mode, with a fairly short pre-delay, short decay and bright tone.

We added the Studio Reverb plug-in to the second Insert slot of the Aux. channel, leaving space for processing the signal before it reaches the reverb. Add an instance of Channel Strip to the first slot.

By altering the EQ of the signal we can adjust the tonal impact of the reverb.

We’ve used the high- and low-pass filters to remove some of the mud from the bottom end. We can alter the characteristics of the room with the mid bands.

Using compression before the reverb can smooth out the reverb response and prevent loud passages from extending on forever. You can be more judicious with your gain reduction here than you might be with your dry signal.

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THERE IS NO LIMIT to how much processing you can apply. Why end at EQ and compression before the reverb? Both work well when placed after the reverb, and you can add effects to bring interesting colours to the reverb chain.

A distorted spring reverb with a touch of tremolo is a classic shoe-gaze effect.

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Space

We can get more realistic spaces using convolution with Avid Space.

Mute the Studio Reverb channel and set up another stereo send from the E. Guitar channel to a new stereo Aux. Channel with an instance of Avid Space.

On the right of the Space plug-in interface is a list of the available impulse responses that are used to create the reverb. We want a live studio room vibe, so we’ve loaded one of the DC Live Room IRs.

To make the room seem bigger adjust the length and size in the “Early” panel of the Space interface and adjust the pre-delay setting in the “Delays” panel. You can increase the Low, Mid or High decays in “Decay”.

You can compare the sounds of different rooms by loading up different impulse responses, even comparing how changing from one room in a studio compares to another. We’re using the Signature Sound Studio A room.

You should now have three different reverb options on the one guitar, but there is no rule saying you should stick to just one. Try switching between each one and comparing how they each sound.

If you’ve wondered what a reverb on a send would sound like without the dry signal, put the send into Pre-Fader send mode, and mute the dry signal. This can be very useful for placing a signal really far back in a mix.

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10 T I P S

1O TIPS for a successful studio career (aka ‘smile and put the kettle on’) So you want a career as an studio engineer or record producer. You’ve chosen a path that could be littered with fun, laughter, music and even (some) money, but it’s also one of the toughest industries to crack. Follow these tips and you might just stand a better chance…

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2 Expect

Get an education

to work for £0

It used to be that you could start as a runner in a studio with no proper training and learn ‘on the job’, but nowadays there are so many courses available – from the likes of Point Blank, ACM and more – that you’d be foolish to not study music technology first. A good course will not just focus on studio work but provide you with enough skills to work in other areas of the industry – live or broadcast, for example – so choose carefully. And also look for a course with an industry placement option where you get up to a year of unpaid work in the industry.

The University of Surrey Tonmeister course is the most famous for this but also the most over subscribed. And talking of working for no cash…

Internships are (sadly) often the best way to get into a lot of industries these days. You are getting no money in return for your labour, but think of it as an extension to your education as you are getting (or should be getting) hands-on training. Expect to do this for three months at least and if you get on with the job and make yourself invaluable, you will suddenly become valuable. And talking of getting on with people…

Get on with people A big part being a successful record producer or studio engineer is quite simply being able to get on with a huge variety of people, from highly-strung singers to socially awkward boffins. If you don’t have the skills to smile in the face of adversity, keep calm and carry on (pressing record) while working long hours and under pressure, then consider a career where you don’t have to be so friendly. Like boxing or something. And talking of long hours...

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Expect to work silly hours

We interviewed former Paul Epworth engineer Mark Rankin a few issues back and he revealed that during his mentor’s stupidly successful period in the studio, they barely left its confines as they had so much work on. The thing is, if you get offered a project, a wise studio worker says ‘yes’. To everything. And this will inevitably lead to long hours, no social life and a studio tan. You’ll squint when you see daylight. Still want to work in a studio? And talking of mentors… (OK, we’ll stop that now.)

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10 T I P S

5

Get a mentor

Mark Rankin also revealed that Paul was something of a mentor and the ‘get a mentor’ advice comes up time and again when we interview successful producers and engineers. Each and every one of them has learned from the best. They have sat quietly during sessions, watching a producer at work, learned when to speak, when to ask. ‘Get a mentor’ could be a good piece of advice for life in general come to think of it…

Get out of your studio You might have a home studio with which you make music for fun and want to turn that dream into a full-time career, but this advice is to leave that studio, go out and make contacts. Attend events at recording studios (a lot of studios like Abbey Road and Miloco run industry events now as they need the revenue), mingle, talk to engineers, get contacts… One thing pretty much every engineer and producer we’ve interviewed has in common in their back story is a chance meeting or encounter with someone that led to their success. You ain’t going to have that meeting if you don’t network.

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7 Listen more than

you talk

This is one of the best lines of advice, ever, (and stolen from MPG winner Jolyon Thomas) and one particularly suited for and relevant to anyone wanting to work in a studio. You need to listen to music – huge varieties of it from wildly varying genres, whether you like them or not.

You need to listen to your mentor and their advice. You need to listen to the band, what they are playing and what they want to achieve. You need to listen to the engineer. Don’t think that because you have an HND in music production from the University of ‘used to be a polytechnic’ that you can wade in and run Abbey Road. Listen to everything, and only talk when you have question. And then listen to the bloody answer…

8

Learn to make a decent cuppa

Mark Rankin’s advice to us for anyone wanting to work in a studio was to make a decent cuppa. And by this he (and we) mean that you should expect to start at the bottom. You’ll be a runner, a tea maker, the person who runs out at lunch to get sandwiches for everyone… Don’t expect to go in and offer Mark Ronson or Catherine Marks advice. Do expect to make their tea, and make it damn well.

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Learn your gear

We recently interviewed MPG Producer Of The Year Catherine Marks who revealed that learning about a specific piece of gear – a classic Roland modular synth – gave her an advantage in the studio because no-one else knew how to use it. If you show a particular skill with any piece of equipment – hard or soft – it could help you become invaluable. Take it further and learn about the innards of hardware and how to fix gear and you’ll be in demand everywhere.

1O

Do you still really want it?

So far we’ve told you about the long hours, the zero pay, the stroppy bands… We’re trying to be realistic because getting a successful studio career can be tough, so this final tip is really all about making sure that you have the passion to give it a go and not give up. There will be hurdles and you will fall over but if you have that passion, the determination, a smile and a decent cup of tea, you might just make it. Good luck!

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MusicTech June 2018 69

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Heavyweight 55kg/m3 density reduces reverb to a new low. 50mm/75mm/100mm thicknesses available.

Ideal personal Stage Monitoring solution packed with features. Incredibly versatile with multi application. Two XLR/Jack Mic/Line inputs.

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Our flagship studio microphone, with a truly flattering sound and three switchable polar patterns to tackle any studio requirement. A dual capsule design with back to back 35mm Gold capsules.

The standard by which others are judged, Studiospares' best-selling product of all time. Metal base, boom arm locked with a Tommy Bar. All parts replaceable.

Passive and active models with 10", 12" and 15" driver options. Also used as Stage Monitors.

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MusicTech June 2018 71

R E V I E W S P I T F I R E A U D I O H A N S Z I M M ER S T R I N G S

SPITFIRE AUDIO

Hans Zimmer Strings

£699

The latest library from Spitfire Audio brings us a string section of epic proportions with help from one of the biggest names in film. Dave Gale gets cinematic...

Contact Spitfire Audio | www.spitfireaudio.com

K

nown for his innovative approach to contemporary scoring, much of Hans Zimmer’s work embraces technology, combining the use of synthesisers and sampling alongside live players, in order to achieve his signature soundscapes. It’s with this in mind that sampling supremos Spitfire Audio have teamed up with Hans to offer a new package that’s on a truly grand scale.

NEW TO GUI Before we can get stuck in, we have to go through the download process – and that may take a while... With 183Gb to download, it took us a whole day for installation, although there is an option to purchase the library on a drive from Spitfire, so if you’re not blessed with the best download speed, this will certainly appeal.

Once installed, the first thing that you will notice is that this is not the usual Kontakt-based library - the format which Spitfire normally adopt - but a new bespoke plug-in which has been designed with the help of design and user experience agency, UsTwo.

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Key features O 344 String players O Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass sections O Myriad of Mic Positions O Huge range of dynamics O 183Gb of Disk space required (200Gb during install) O New Spitfire Virtual Instrument/Interface (VST2, VST3, AU & AAX) O Sessions recorded at Air Studios

The user interface opens as a single large window, but can be resized and minimised to expose the elements which are required by the user. In a change from the more usual Kontakt experience, the upper portion of the window offers two faders, which are default assigned to expression and dynamics, with an assignable rotary pot. Clicking on this pot will allow selection of another controllable parameter, such as vibrato or reverb, with options dictated by the chosen sample. All of these elements will remain in play if you seek control via an external MIDI CC based device, whether the parameters are visible or not.

While this looks very elegant and clean, there is a sense that it wastes a lot of screen space, particularly when you factor in that there is a degree of repetition of parameter in the lower part of the window, which is dependent on your chosen viewing preferences. It’s almost as though the UI was designed in hardware and translated to software; there is a lovely elegance and simplicity, but while uncluttered, it does leave some dead space in the window.

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S P I T F I R E A U D I O H A N S Z I M M ER S T R I N G S R E V I E W

Unlike other Kontakt-based libraries, HZ Strings is not multi-timbral, meaning that you will need to load a new instance of the plug-in for each instrument that you require. Being curious about the loading and system consequences that this might have, I performed a few tests against Spitfire’s Symphonic Strings, which firmly operates within the Kontakt construct. RAM allocation is largely the same, with loading times performing well in HZ Strings, however this could rapidly change according to the number of microphone elements that are bought into play.

Exploring the ‘60 Cellos: All In One’ patch, while adding the close and ambient mics, the RAM allocation quickly jumped to just over 1GB, and without the ability to offload articulations, as you can do in Kontakt, the user would be forced to work with single articulation patches, which would in turn require the loading of more instances of the plug-in.

I found HZ Strings to be roughly twice as CPU hungry as its Kontakt counterpart, which could have consequences for the loading of multiple instances. In itself, the lack of multi-timbral operation might simply require a change in your usual work flow, but clearly the addition of further active plug-ins might reduce the number of tracks available on a given system.

Spitfire themselves, however, do stress that the intensive resource demands of Hans Zimmer Strings are being addressed and further updates will smooth out some, if not all, of these technical issues.

EPIC BY NATURE It’s impossible to miss the biggest selling point of Hans Zimmer Strings, which is built

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? Where HZ Strings scores really high is in the sheer scale and breadth of some of the sampling, but the forte of this seems to be far more in the area of subtlety, making it excellent for interesting string colours at the quieter end of the texture spectrum. It will swallow up the stereo image with ease. Short marcato articulations are

available, which go someway to providing an epic palette, but when it comes to full-on long notes and ensemble patches, there will be more work for the user to do, probably alongside other sounds which may well be synthetic.

As a stand-alone package, this is less appealing, but as part of a palette of cinematic timbre, it’s inspiring.

on a string section which is not just sizeable, but enormous. Checking in at 344 string players – equivalent to five symphony

The Violin and Cello sections offer the greatest mass, with 140 players in each section. It’s interesting to note that there is

It’s built on a string section which is not just sizeable, but enormous, checking in at 344 string players orchestra string sections – sampling sessions were conducted on a section by section basis, using many of London’s finest players, in the prestigious main hall at Air Lyndhurst, which can accommodate large numbers, while offering unique placement of players, such as high up in the gallery.

no distinction between Violin 1 and 2, as you might normally expect, purely because there is such a wide palette of player placements including Full section, Left, Centre, Right and Galleries. By choosing the appropriate sub-section, it would be possible to be more traditional with the stereoscopic placement.

The Violas are more streamlined, offering a mere 40 players located in central and wide placements, while the basses offer 24 players, located centrally.

Within each section, the user will find a multitude of microphone positions, which extend from the usual Decca Tree and close mic placement, up to the large array of microphones which were scattered around the hall during the session. One of the more obscure is the ‘Bottle’ placement, where a microphone was placed inside a large water cooler bottle and sampled.

GRAND HUSHED TONES Time to explore the timbral options by firstly choosing the instrument you require. This isn’t as simple as it might sound; starting with the Violin section, you’ll find a choice extending from the main section, consisting of 60 players, through to various sections which are set out in the stereo image, finished off by the Violins recorded high up in the Gallery.

Once your choice is made, articulation selection is made through the usual means of clicking in the lower part of the Plug-in window, or key-switching. The Cello section offers a similarly large number of options, being mirrored in size to the Violins. The Violas and Double Basses offer less options, as the number of players is also less – but

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MusicTech June 2018 73

R E V I E W S P I T F I R E A U D I O H A N S Z I M M ER S T R I N G S

don’t go thinking it’s lacking, because there is still an awful lot of choice.

While any orchestral library user will know that you have to really work with a library to truly understand its capabilities, I was momentarily confused by a degree of inconsistency in the offered articulations.

A case in point, with the choice of either the Violin or Cello main 60 player sections, there are no regular Pizzicato articulations, but there is an aggressive Bartok Pizzicato.

Looking through the various options, I did locate Pizzicato articulations elsewhere, but I am curious as to the rationale here.

Apart from arguably not having a common articulation where you want it, it’s confusing to find that a basic articulation such as this is not available with what many might see as the first/main patch, especially when there are many other articulations to choose from in the same patch, which could be regarded as less obvious. Given time we daresay that these unique nuances will be easier to understand.

SPACE AND AIR There is a large quota of elements at the quieter end of the dynamic spectrum.

Spitfire have always had a passion for the Scandinavian school of orchestral sound exploration, as seen in some of their other libraries such as Albion V, but I was surprised to find so much of it here. The Con Sord long notes are truly sublime, as are the Flautando and Sul Pont. Unlike previous incarnations of similar articulation, the

74 June 2018 MusicTech

library really comes into its own here, as you start to play with the mic settings. The sense of space around the instruments is really something!

Working with the Violin patch, I added the Gallery mic’s into the timbre and sat back in wonder as the stereo image filled up beautifully, and I think that’s the real point of this library. There’s a space and air around the sound, which I haven’t heard elsewhere, achieved through the vast numbers of players, rather than just

can truly be exploited. Working with two cello sections, close mic’d but on opposite sides of the spectrum, I was able to create a superbly interesting image, while the application of a little Ambient mic to the palette offered a beautiful, naturalsounding effect, and one that would just not be the same with the use of a straight panning control and reverberation.

So while there is an abundance of hushed tones, there doesn’t appear to be quite so much choice when it comes to the

Where this will come into its own, is the ability to break outside of the western orchestration mould expansive ambience and reverberation.

It’s also rather wonderful the way that the players blend together, forming a truly organic pad-like layer.

One area where this library will come into its own, is in the ability to break outside of the traditional Western orchestration mould. Because instruments have been recorded in so may stereo positions, it’s possible to do some fantastically creative orchestration by placing instruments in different locations, at least to the perceived ‘normal’ concert location.

This is a practice Zimmer uses himself, which works especially well in the cinematic auditorium, where the space

more epic timbre that you might immediately associate with Hans Zimmer.

DYNAMIC CONTROL The straight long notes can sound pretty awesome under dynamic control, as I discovered with the doubling of octaves between the cellos and the basses, with the shorter articulations offering an immediacy of bite which I found exceptionally pleasing when adding room ambience and close mic’ing. You can really hear the heel of the bow digging in, and with the slightly brighter orchestral colour thanks to a tad more High Frequency presence than might be the

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S P I T F I R E A U D I O H A N S Z I M M ER S T R I N G S R E V I E W

British norm, it does sound perfect for scoring work. But despite all of this greatness of timbre, I do get a sense that the library slightly lacks the epic substance that you might expect with Hans Zimmer’s name attached to it. I was expecting to hear hugely bombastic patches, where all 344 players are going for it, hammer and tongs, and even at full-tilt with the more open timbre and articulation, this does not seem to be catered for.

LACKLUSTRE LEGATO Certainly it can sound like a big string section, which you would like to hope would be the case, but it might also have something to do with the way that Zimmer works on his own projects, layering different live and synthetic timbres to achieve the overall result. It should be a consideration that this package should possibly be approached as just one element of a bigger, artistic picture.

An area that disappointed was the legato articulation, which I felt was still in need of development upon review.

However we have it on good authority that optimising this further is a high-priority at Spitfire Towers.

At the time of our review we found legato to be quite glitchy, often freezing and then unravelling itself quickly. It is feasible that you can work with this on the programming level and by pre-delaying tracks you would find that the legato element would fall more into time, but this would only work with performances at slower tempo, as it couldn’t (at time of review) cope very well with speed. This is a real shame, as the sonority of legato tone is absolutely stunning, so it’s a relief to hear that this will be (and hopefully, by time of publication, has been) fixed.

THE FINAL TUTTI This library has presented us with quite a few surprises; there is a plentiful supply of timbre which represent the quieter end of the sonic spectrum, and while we have seen these elsewhere, there is an extraordinary magic when you hear all 344 players playing together. This really works, as the collective melts together into a mass of bowed colour.

For pad-like orchestration, this library will sound amazing and prove exceptionally useful, as the breadth of imagery can soak up every aspect of the stereoscopic image, along with the frequency spectrum, but where I feel it is less assured is in the

epic arena which, I think it is fair to say, most of us were expecting more bombast.

The longer tones do sound outstanding, and the assurance of gravitas that the thundering bottom end can offer is going to be a real boon for many users, but issues with the legato were disappointing.

It’s also important to understand that this library will need to be a single component in creating a Zimmer-esque score, rather than the be-all and end-all.

With that understanding, and layering alongside other sounds, it will deliver. I really love the creative possibilities that this package delivers, with the diversity of microphone placement, especially on the larger sections, but there is an inevitable swallowing of both RAM and CPU load, which could take a serious toll on a system the further down the microphone exploration rabbit hole you go. Though this is a by-product of Spitfire really pushing the boat out with their innovative new ground-up development, and - we're assured - will be rectified soon.

The inescapable point to make is that HZ Strings does sound very fine indeed – just

perhaps not in all the ways that you might have been expecting. It’s a library that will need some investment from the user to get the best out of it and in many respects, this makes it a far more creative tool.

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

+ + +

The sheer size of the concept!

+

Highly creative package for the soundtrack composer

– –

Fine collection of interesting timbres Huge possibilities, thanks to the vast array of mic positions

No multi-timbral option Lack of Ensemble patch

There’s a lot more to the concept of this library than just sheer volume, with plenty of scope within the realms of creative soundtrack composition.

Alternatives ORCHESTRAL TOOLS

Metrpolis Ark 1 €549

No other library sums up bombastic to the same degree. Ark 1 features the most useable of all

musictech.net

instrumental sections, complete with a choir singing Latin and a percussion section which is equipped to bring the house down.

Don’t expect quiet!

AUDIO IMPERIA

Jaeger Essential Modern Orchestra $599 This offers orchestral instrumentation for epic scoring, with highlights

from the string section and solo vocal samples, performed by Merethe Soltvedt. There’s also a wealth of percussive content, alongside processed samples.

MusicTech June 2018 75

R E V I E W VA N G UA R D V13 VA LV E C O N D EN S ER M I C R O P H O N E

VANGUARD

V13 valve condenser microphone £899

Vanguard are a new audio company with an old heritage. Mike Hillier steps into the breach with their elegant new mic...

Contact Vanguard | www.vanguardaudiolabs.com

S

hortly before Christmas, MusicTech was invited to an event at Miloco’s The Pool Studio complex. As part of the event several mic manufacturers had set up in a vocal booth and we were given the opportunity to listen to each of the mics in turn. There were some wonderful mics at the event, but one in particular stood out: a dark red mic from a manufacturer we hadn’t come across previously: Vanguard Audio Labs.

The American made V13 is the first mic from the new Vanguard stable, it is a large-diaphragm, multi-pattern, valve condenser mic. It comes in a large flightcase, with space for the power supply, shockmount, cables and the mic itself.

The V13 comes equipped with a Vanguardbadged European valve. Vanguard won’t give anything away about where exactly it comes from, or even what type of valve it is. All the company would reveal was that this “particular tube has never been used commercially in a microphone before”, but point out that it can be replaced with any 12AX7, 12AY7 or 12AT7 style valve – making it great for any engineers who enjoy digging in and experimenting to get their preferred tone.

FLYING V The mic itself is stunning. The “Pinot Noir” red looks great, and the winged Vanguard logo evokes a certain British car company. While easy to ignore

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? Character mics are something of a luxury, so it’s not so much that you need this, as that it may very well make your recording life easier if you have it.

A good range of more neutral mics is

76 June 2018 MusicTech

certainly more important first off when building up your microphone collection, but sooner or later you’ll likely want to add something with a little more flavour.

Key features O Valve microphone O Nine polar patterns O 125Hz switchable high-pass filter O -10dB switchable pad O Comes with locking flightcase and shockmount

as superfluous, the aesthetics of a mic are important for encouraging great performances in the studio – something the Vanguard V13 should have no trouble doing. At the rear of the body is a mirrored V air vent, intended to cool the valve, which also provides an opportunity to show off the heart of the mic. The rear of the body also houses the roll-off and -10dB pad.

The mic capsule is a custom, hand-tuned, 34mm edge-terminated, gold sputtered 3μm Mylar dual-capsule assembly.

The power supply – which supports both 110 and 240V – provides a switch for selecting from one of nine polar patterns, from omni, through cardioid, to figure-of-eight. The power supply connects via a 7-pin XLR cable – supplied.

13 – LUCKY FOR SOME For our initial experiments with the V13 we used it as the vocal mic, as part of a live vocal and acoustic guitar recording. Initially we ran the V13 into the preamp section of an LA-610, with the EQ and optical compressor disengaged. With the V13 in cardioid mode we got a stunning, thick, mid-forward vocal tone. The mic has a fairly pronounced low-end, and smooth silky top, but it’s around the mid-range that the character of the mic really pushes the vocal forward, really helping it to sit above the acoustic guitar in the mix. However, we were getting a fair amount of acoustic guitar bleed, which when we engaged the compressor section of the LA-610 resulted in the guitar lifting in the mix whenever the vocal dropped out. Sometimes this kind of bleed can be perfect, helping the guitar to fill the spaces left behind when the vocal drops out, but it wasn’t working for us on this track, so we switched the mic to figure-of-eight mode and positioned the capsule such that the null-point at the side was pointing towards the guitar. With the mic in this position we got far less direct signal from the acoustic guitar, resulting in less bleed, and what bleed there was, had more of a room tone to it, while the vocal we were recording also now had a slightly different character. The direct voice was a little more present in the low-end,

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VA N G U A R D V13 VA LV E C O N D EN S ER M I C R O P H O N E R E V I E W

adding a gruffness at the bottom of the vocal that helped to add weight and body to the performance. Dealing in the compressor resulted in a smooth performance, with more than a hint of classic Neumann character.

overtones, producing an earthy guitar tone, that sits really nicely in solo guitar and voice arrangements, and has sufficient clarity through the top-end to be worked into a busier mix. On an electric guitar cabinet, we preferred the tone with the

The Vanguard V13 is a fantastic mic with plenty of character and a big bold sound all of its own Although we didn’t use the V13 for the acoustic guitar parts of this track – owing to only having one – we did end the session by making a few passes of the guitar with the V13, and some electric guitar overdubs.

The mid-forward voicing of the V13 is absolutely perfect for guitars. On acoustic guitar the woody body of the guitar was emphasised over the brighter string

mic in cardioid mode positioned about a foot from the cabinet. This gives a natural representation of the guitar, without too much fizzy top-end. For bluesy, clean-toslightly-overdriven, styles of play this is perfect, while for more distorted, heavier styles we got great results with the figure-of-eight mode and positioning the mic a little closer.

V FOR VICTORY The Vanguard V13 is a fantastic mic with plenty of character and a big bold sound.

What you’re not getting here is a flat, neutral response. The V13 has a sound all of its own, and that means it can’t be all things to all people. It will take some of the work out of the EQ for you, but when it’s not working it may be easier to reach for another mic than try and shape the signal back into shape. We tend to prefer this type of mic to overly flat options, as they force you into making a decision, but you’re going to need a few different options. A mic of this quality, that sounds this good usually comes with a hefty price tag, but the Vanguard V13 is much more reasonably priced than one might expect.

We expect that a lot of project studio owners will be eyeing this up for their next mic purchase.

MT V ER D I CT

Alternatives PELUSO

P-67 £1699 The Vangard V13 reminded us a lot of the classic Neumann U67, especially it’s slightly aggressive midrange.

We hear that mic is coming back into production, but if you can’t yet get a Neumann, or afford one, then Peluso makes an excellent clone.

AVANTONE

BV12 £1093 Ken Avant’s former company Avantone are still making microphones.

The BV12 is a

large-diaphragm, multi-pattern condenser microphone like the V13, but this one has more of a classic AKG C12 design and sound.

9/10

+ + +

Valve mic

–

Suits some voices more than others

Nine polar patterns Switchable high-pass filter and pad

The Vanguard V13 sounds as good as it looks – and it looks stunning.

R E V I E W C H A N D L ER L I M I T ED 5 0 0 S ER I ES

CHANDLER LIMITED

500 SERIES

FROM £999

A trio of characterful units bring a dash of Abbey Road magic to home studios. John Pickford takes them for a test drive...

Contact Nova Distribution | www.chandlerlimited.com 020 3903 4292

H

ere at MusicTech we’ve tested many Chandler Limited products. Under scrutiny now are three units from the company’s TG 500 series, which together form a comprehensive recording channel comprising a microphone/line preamplifier, compressor and equaliser. All three units are based on EMI’s solid-state TG consoles, which first arrived at Abbey Road Studios in 1968.

Key features TG2-500 O Discrete, transformer balanced I/O O 60dB maximum gain O Mic/line switchable

EXPLOSIVE SOUNDS

O 1200/300 ohms switchable

Moving on to the dynamics control section of this set-up, we have the TG Opto compressor, a fully discrete mono unit, which occupies two rack spaces. Its origins can be traced back to the TG12413 limiters found on the aforementioned TG12345 consoles, while it shares its DNA with Chandler Limited’s TG1 and Zener Limiters. The TG Opto is a more conventional dynamics controller than the TG1 present on the TG Microphone Cassette I reviewed a couple of years ago. Back then I concluded, “It’s a powerful dynamics controller that’s versatile once mastered, but I’d prefer something a bit more intuitive”. Well, here it is. There are controls for Input and Output level, Attack and Release, a Sharp/Rounded Knee switch, true bypass and a period-correct VU meter. No figures are quoted for compression ratios or response times, so the TG Opto really is an intuitive tool.

The Input control determines the amount of compression applied and, in the context of this recording chain, works in conjunction with the output level of the TG2-500 preamp. Selecting the Sharp knee setting puts the unit into limit mode at full ratio, which is probably higher than 20:1 at full pelt. Historically, this setting was designed to mimic the legendary Fairchild 660 limiters in use at Abbey Road in the 1960s.

Transient peaks are controlled while overall level is increased. Used with fast response times, the limiter can create explosive sounds – think Ringo Starr’s drum sound on Tomorrow Never Knows from The Beatles’ Revolver. Dramatic compression effects like this can be startling on first listen, however it doesn’t take too long to master with judicious use of the Input, Attack and Release settings. Using ultra-smashed signals mixed New York-style with the unprocessed audio produces great parallel compression effects.

TG Opto Compressor

SONIC CHARACTER

O Discrete transistor design

I reviewed the TG2-500 Preamp fully upon its initial release, however I’ll briefly recap before examining the compressor and equaliser in depth. The TG2-500 is a discrete, transformerbalanced design providing a maximum of 60dB gain. The Course Gain control offers 50dB in 5dB steps, while a further 10dB is on offer via the Fine Gain control. The preamp’s sonic character is bright yet smooth with a nicely extended glossy top-end and a tight, punchy and deep bottomend. The tone can be subtly altered by switching the impedance from 300 to 1200 ohms, with

O Sharp/rounded knee response

78 June 2018 MusicTech

the former accentuating the unit’s forward and punchy nature, while the latter presents a more expansive sound. Phantom power and phase invert switches are provided, however there isn’t a pad switch, high-pass filter or metering.

O Attack and Release controls O True bypass TG 12345 mkIV EQ O Discrete transistor design O 8-band Presence EQ O 10kHz shelving EQ O 150Hz/90Hz switchable bass shelving

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C H A N D L ER L I M I T ED 5 0 0 S ER I ES R E V I E W

Selecting the lower ratio Rounded compression knee produces a less extreme gain-reduction style, though even at moderate levels the TG Opto will not rival, for example, LA-2A type compressors in the smoothness stakes. The unit’s grippy control of dynamics is always evident, so it wouldn’t be my first choice for compressing bassheavy program material or mix-buss compression. It’s worth noting at this point the compressor is a non-linkable mono unit, so using a pair of TG Optos on stereo sources will not be ideal. Chandler Limited can provide matched pairs as a special order.

COME TOGETHER Like the Opto Compressor, the TG12345 mkIV EQ is a handmade, fully discrete, solid-state mono unit. On the original console, after which this module is named, the equaliser was found on the Mic, Sub Group and Main Cassette modules. In modern times, an expanded version of this EQ is featured in Chandler’s flagship Curve Bender equaliser. As a two-band EQ, the frequency control available isn’t as comprehensive as the fully parametric equalisation found on later mixing consoles, however it does offer a useful range of frequency points. While it may not be the

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? This is the sound of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album as well as classic, polished 1970s studio productions from Pink Floyd, Kate Bush and others. Along with Neve, the TG series of consoles represented the pinnacle of solid-state design until SSL arrived on the scene. Having a first-class analogue recording chain is highly desirable in this digital ‘in the

box’ age, adding some full-fat goodness to what can be a rather sterile environment.

Previously recorded audio can be passed through any or all of the units to add some vintage analogue warmth, while the set up is flexible so that, for example, the equaliser can be inserted before the compressor to create frequency-conscious compression – ideal for de-essing vocals.

push-button switches at the bottom of the unit allow for the selection of bass frequencies and true bypass.

With the three units linked – preamp, compressor and equaliser in that order – and patched into our system, I plugged in an AKG C414 to record some acoustic guitar. A side-by-side test confirmed the TG

All three units are based on EMI’s solid state TF consoles, which first arrived at Abbey Road in 1968 first choice for surgically corrective EQ, it is a lovely, musical device when used to sweeten audio.

The presence band is switchable with eight frequency points. It’s probably best to think of this section as a combined mid and top EQ, with bell-type peaking EQ for the first seven bands – 500Hz, 800Hz, 1.2kHz, 1.8kHz, 2.8kHz, 4.2kHz and 6.5kHz – and a high frequency shelving EQ centered on 10kHz. The selected frequencies can be boosted or cut by a maximum of 10dB. When the frequency selector is in the Out position, the presence band is independently bypassed from the bass section. Speaking of which, the bottom end is served by a simple shelving type EQ, allowing 10dB of boost or cut at either 90 or 150Hz. These points are unconventionally high; it’s more common to find 60 and 100Hz on switchable bass shelving equalisers. Two

has a slightly mid-forward tone with a more robust low-end than the Thermionic Culture unit. It gives everything a larger than life sound, making the most of mic character in a flattering way. It’s a sonic character that lends itself to modern pop recording, even though the vibe is vintage solid-state.

I was keen to use the Opto Compressor as I’d previously found the compressor in the full-size TG Microphone Cassette tricky to set up. With the preamp’s output level at maximum, even a moderate input level on the compressor had the unit squeezing the audio. Easing back on the preamp’s output and using middling response times produced a smooth level of dynamics control, while decreasing the attack and release times introduced pumping effects.

Experimenting with these controls, it’s possible to tune the compressor to make the audio surge in time with the track – a great

way to give your tracks a dynamically rhythmic swing.

With the acoustic guitar gently breathing in time with itself, I introduced the equaliser to the proceedings. The various upper presence bands each highlighted aspects of the guitar’s tone, while the 10kHz shelving boost added a shimmering sparkle. I would have liked a high-pass-filter somewhere in the chain, however I was able to use the 150Hz roll-off on the C414 mic to filter out low-end rumble.

All three units perform well, with the Opto Compressor impressing the most. Anyone looking to assemble a coherent, highquality channel strip should take a serious listen to this trio of units.

MT V ER D I CT

+ + + + + – –

9/10

Smooth, expansive preamp Characterful, powerful compressor Flexible, musical equaliser Authentic vintage design Impeccable heritage No high-pass-filters Lack of preamp metering

A superb recreation of the classic late 1960s/1970s Abbey Road Studios desk channel that sounds as authentic as it looks. This is solid-state analogue at its best.

Alternatives CHANDLER LIMITED

TG Microphone Cassette £2,999 Chandler Limited also produce the rack-mount TG Microphone Cassette,

musictech.net

again based on the classic Abbey Road TG consoles but with expanded dynamics control and EQ sections. The

compressor/limiter can be tricky to get to grips with, however the separate treble and mid/presence EQ controls are a bonus.

LINDELL AUDIO

500-series From £399

On a budget, Lindell Audio offer a preamp, compressor and equaliser in 500-series

format. The vintage vibe is evident with the compressor based on the Urei 1176, while the equaliser behaves much like the Pultec EQP-1A.

MusicTech June 2018 79

REVIEW SONOKINETIC NOIR

SONOKINETIC

Noir

€299.90

Sonokinetic’s latest library draws inspiration from the Golden Age of cinematic jazz scoring. Dave Gale heads to a smoke-filled bar for inspiration...

Contact Sonokinetic | www.sonokinetic.net

S

peaking personally, I’ve always been hugely inspired by the work of the great jazz and cinematic crossover composers of the ’50s and ’60s. Bernard Herrmann and Michel Legrand scored a vast number of films during this period, while another luminary, Gil Evans, became known as one of the great bandleaders and arrangers, working with Miles Davis on a number of seminal classics. Even now, this tradition is alive and kicking thanks to groups such as the Metropole Orkest, so the arrival of Noir is timely, drawing inspiration from this very field and catering for an area of sample-based scoring which is largely untapped.

BIG BAND, BIG MIC’S Noir is split into two main sections, consisting of Ensemble and Solo phrases, so let’s start by considering the instrumental makeup of this

Key features O Cinematic Jazz inspired library O Loop/phrase based content O Requires NI Kontakt Player O Komplete Kontrol and NKS Compatible O 44.1kHz/24bit quality samples O 74.4Gb disk space required for samples

library. Within the ensemble patch, three sections are available, consisting of Strings, Woodwinds and Brass. This resonates with the original scoring concept, where the group could largely be considered a Big Band, consisting of Sax, Trumpet and Trombone sections, with a small chamber orchestra bolted on the side.

The one area which is noticeably absent is drums and percussion, which seems a little odd, given that much of this style of music would have been driven by a jazz drummer, so if this is what you are after, you’ll need to seek drum-based phrases elsewhere. The Solo section offers the user phrases played on a number of associated instruments, notably harmon muted trumpet (à la Miles Davis), saxophone, clarinet and piano.

Exploring the Ensemble section, this is very firmly a Loop-based or phrase library, and as such, complete constructed musical passages are triggered by the press of a key on the keyboard. Noir is designed so that all of the phrases will work together, so you could easily opt for a number of phrases playing simultaneously or build your work by adding phrases as your track develops. Coming back to the instrumental groupings, each section has the capacity to choose from a bewildering number of loops, all sectioned across nine descriptive menus. ‘Les Femmes Fatales’ and ‘Investigations’ being examples, with names giving a fair flavour of what will follow. In line with other Sonokinetic libraries, a visual interpretation of the performed phrase gives a basic idea of what will follow, while it is also possible to open up a score or export MIDI, should you want greater detail or the ability to employ other instruments.

The phrases and loops themselves sound very rich sonically, with four mic positions available, including a Decca Tree, which sounds stunningly effective. It’s possible to blend two of these mic positions together, so if you wish to add more closeness, it’s easy to achieve.

TRIGGER FINGER One common issue with triggering phrases in libraries such as this, is the crossover that occurs

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SONOKINETIC NOIR REVIEW

at the end of one sample and beginning of the next. Sonokinetic have looked after this pretty well, with the addition of a X-Fade pot, which will take the heat out of excessively fast release points for a more natural sound. There are occasions when this works less well, as it can sound unnatural when moving from one chord to another, but with covering fire elsewhere in a track, should not be a huge issue. However, I did find a couple of other small niggles worthy of mention.

Noir operates by dictating the required chord in the lower left-hand register of your MIDI keyboard, which selects the required chord or harmonic progression, leaving the right-hand to trigger phrases.

While this is pretty comprehensive and takes more complex chords into account, sometimes the voicing doesn’t always reflect what you might expect. Minor triads can become the upper four notes of a Major 7th chord, meaning that you will need to employ other instrumentation in order to soak up certain voicings, especially in the bass.

To be fair, you have to expect this sort of thing with a phrase library, as the permutations are just too great, and on the whole, I must point out that Noir reacts

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? development. Being loop/phrase based, it’s not as flexible as a library you can score with yourself, and it will arguably come with a limited shelf life, as you exhaust all the phrases in your work, but those phrases sound great and will stand up well on their own, or even better, in context with other instruments.

Noir is a very stylised package, harking back to the jazz influenced scoring of past masters, and as such will not be at home if you want something more traditionally classical in construct, but it could be very useful if you are writing cinematically biased music, in which case it could be a source of inspiration for

well. There are some lovely moments of phrasing, arrangement and orchestration, some of which are so close to the likes of Gil Evans, you’d think he might have been part of the process.

It’s also possible to offset the start of the sample by 8th notes, while snapping within the bar, which is a useful feature, as is the ability to control volume levels from the modulation wheel, though this is only

You’ll find an extensive range of soloistic phrases and colours to complement the ensemble section pretty well. I was also aware of artefacts creeping into the playback of some loops, presumably caused by the dictation of tempo being too far away from the original recording. Again, this should be considered more a limitation of the technology, rather than of Noir itself.

I also became aware of occasional moments of playing which sounded a little out of tune, at least to my ears, notably in the flutes and trombones. While you should expect a degree of lateral tonal movement, as this is what makes up a human performance, it could become more of a hindrance if the phrase is repeated a number of times, as the same out-of-tune phrase will be reproduced each time, with no round-robin element available. Despite these minor setbacks, it has to be said that the ensemble part of the library does what it sets out to do very

channel volume and not any form of dynamic, timbral control.

Moving to the solo section, you’ll find a similarly extensive range of soloistic phrases and colours to complement the ensemble section. Some of these feel very obligato in nature, and could be used in a stand-alone setting. The Muted trumpet is a welcome addition, while the pianistic phrases can add a beautiful tail-off to a section, in a single use capacity.

THE FINAL CHAPTER The overwhelming sense that I get from Noir is that it is very comprehensive. It offers a fantastic palette of colours which are pretty unique and allows the user considerable control thanks to the organisation of sections. I was disappointed not to see the inclusion of a drum element in this library, but while this is lacking, the recording

quality of the three included sections is very gratifying indeed. The strings offer that beautiful lush quality that you would expect, thanks to the complexity of voicing within the genre that you associate with this era, while the brass and winds punctuate incredibly effectively.

Some of the brass swells and stabs could be very useful away from the Noir stylistic construct, while the wind section runs up and down the register with complete ease, adding beautiful cinematically stylised twists and turns. There is something here for all; instantly gratifying results will appeal to the less experienced, while many of the colour based samples could prove indispensable to the established user. The future looks quite Noir...

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

+ + +

Ensemble and solo phrases available

+

Beautifully colourful palette

– –

Great collection of sampled phrases Excellent timbre with various mic options

Lack of Drum/Percussion elements No timbral dynamic performance control

This is a beautiful and quite unique loop-based library, and one that could be useful to all, on many levels, especially if you're operating in the soundtrack world.

Alternatives SPITFIRE AUDIO

Bernard Herrmann Composer Toolkit £449

This library of sampled instruments was

musictech.net

recorded and produced with an ear to Herrmann’s style and includes orchestral instrumentation and oddities, such as an Ondes Martenot.

PROJECT SAM

Swing More! €399 Although lacking in the String and orchestral Woodwind sections, this package offers a Big Band in virtual form,

along with extensive rhythm section elements and additional instruments, such as

jazz clarinet. Use this in conjunction with other string and wind samples to great effect.

MusicTech June 2018 81

R E V I E W T EEN AG E EN G I N EER I N G P O - 3 3 & P O - 3 5

TEENAGE ENGINEERING

PO-33 & PO-35

£85 EACH

It’s been a while since the first Pocket Operators wowed us, but now the third ‘metal’ series is complete with these two additions. Andy Jones is your operator Contact Teenage Engineering or Sound Technology | www.soundtech.co.uk

I

f you are new to the Pocket Operator concept then you’ve missed a fair bit. They are, essentially, mini hardware music makers that specialise in different areas of music production. They feature a sequencer and most are very capable of creating and evolving interesting beats, basslines or even complete tunes. They look like unfinished calculators, which is all part of their rather odd appeal.

The original PO series was announced over three years ago at NAMM and quickly became a MusicTech favourite. The PO-12 rhythm specialises in beats, the PO-14 sub focusses on bass and the PO-16 factory does synth sounds. I loved them. They were – and still are – bundles of musical innovation. “Great fun, smashing sound from such a small unit and incredible value. You’ll want all three and there are probably more on the way. Can’t wait…” I gushed. I was right about there being more...

A year later the PO-20 series arrived: the PO-20 arcade, PO-24 office and PO-28 robot, all based around those titles’ respective bleeps

Key features O Hand-held sequencer and samplers O Microphone for sampling O Built-in speaker, 3.5mm I/O O Animated LCD, clock, alarm O Folding stand O Battery powered (2xAAA), 1 month life, 2 year standby PO-33 features O 8 melodic sample slots, 8 drum slots,16 effects, 40 seconds sample memory PO-35 features O 120 seconds sample memory, step multiplier, 8 voice characters, 8 effects, transpose & change scale, replace drum sounds with microtonic (sold separately)

and beeps. Again, they were a joy if a little more specialist in their sounds. “I doubt there are any other products anywhere on the planet with which you can have so much musical fun and creativity, and that cost so little cash,” I beeped.

Taking us a little by surprise the PO-30 Series was initially just a single unit – the PO-32, probably my favourite of the lot so far. This one paired up with the excellent Microtonic drum software, with hardware and software able to swap presets. In use it becomes almost a hardware version of that software – the first of a kind for any hardware, and a device that reverses the recent trend in music technology circles where a lot of classic hardware has been recreated in software.

A year on and the final (I assume) two in the PO-30 series are here, the PO-33 K.O! and the PO-35 speak. No, the numbering doesn’t make sense but the 30 Series does share a metallic finish on its boxes and Teenage Engineering is calling it the ‘metal’ series. So are these worthy additions to it?

THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT Design wise, you’ll be at home if you’ve used any of the PO models before. You essentially get a 16 part pattern which you fill in with a variety of sounds and can chain up to 128 of these together to make a song. Build-wise they’re still what some might call flimsy (optional cases are available at a quite pricey £35), but in operation, they are as easy as ever to get your head around, although a number of dual button (shift-like) functions will need to be mastered.

These two do also have all new features, which I’ll detail by model.

On the 33 you get eight melody slots and eight percussion slots and a total of 16 sounds which seems a little tight. However, you get a total of 40 seconds sampling time so you'll soon realise this is more about creating your own noise. You can also make real-time adjustments and edits to sounds using the two rotaries which gives surprisingly varied results as there are six parameters to tweak (Start, End, Frequency,

82 June 2018 MusicTech

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T EEN AG E EN G I N EER I N G P O - 3 3 & P O - 3 5 R E V I E W

Resonance, Pitch and Volume). Add 16 effects into the mix and you have a lot to play with.

Recording is as easy as you like. Just hold the Record button and any of the number keys 1–16 and what you record becomes the sound in that slot to be used in a pattern. For example, I used all of my creative resources to make my first recording, the word ‘one’ which I stored in location ‘1’. Adding that sound with different pitches, from Barry White to a squealing pig, is as simple as placing it in a pattern location while twisting the left dial to adjust pitch. Start messing with the real time performance effects and you’ll have a jittery, slippery tune in no time. Never has so much fun been had within 30 seconds.

I’d say that the 33 is more about beats and stretching them in ways you never imagined. You can create entire tunes, but with less raw melodic ingredients you’ll probably find yourself creating rhythmic patterns rather than overtly melodic ones.

However, use that 40 seconds creatively (and far more creatively than recording the word ‘one’) and there’s no telling what you’ll get out of it – pretty much what you put in and then twisted beyond belief. That’s the beauty – it’s up to you.

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? You absolutely don't need a Pocket Operator, especially if you are locked to your DAW and make music totally within that environment. But what these will do is offer you a way out of that environment – a break, if you will. And

these especially might even get you out and about recording, get some fresh air, some sun on your skin, make some music without a computer. Maybe even perform it. So in that sense, maybe we all need one…

you’re as old as me, a lot of the sounds might take you back to watching Kraftwerk on stage using real calculators to make music. The whole PO-Series must owe something to those performances but PO-35 in particular seems to be the biggest tribute.

CONCLUSION As Teenage Engineering’s Pocket Operator series has increased with number, each group of three has perhaps become a little more specialist. So you’d have thought that would make them progressively less usable in terms of sonic

You can take them anywhere, record anything and mess with it to your heart’s content If you want vocals, then that is where the PO-35 speak comes in. This one is, as you’d expect, exactly the same in terms of architecture and it also has sampling. This time, however, you get a whopping 120 seconds in total with a maximum of eight seconds per sample. It also comes with 16 vocal type sounds to get you going, eight effects and four adjustable parameters to tweak (Start, End, Pitch and Time) so again there’s enough to twist, turn and edit. You also get 16 percussion sounds courtesy of Microtonic, accessed through sound number 16, so beats are catered for too.

You might think there’s a lack of sound variation but all of the original samples are very varied and dialling through the excellent patterns reveals PO-35 to be a very cool sounding beast. Obviously there’s a vocal emphasis but the genres go from bass distortion to disco chic and if

flexibility. But actually the 30 series overcomes this by letting you become the master of what you record. You put garbage in, you’ll get it out and that’s your own damn fault. With both units, though, Teenage Engineering has added enough tools around what you record in to enable you to create some very easy beats and patterns, and do that very quickly indeed. If you want to create a tune before your computer has even booted up, then you’ve come to the right place. And the editable parameters allow you to shave any silence from your recordings and the on-board effects make performing patterns super easy and the results are super-cool sounding.

This does mean you might have to be a tad more creative with both units to get the results that were perhaps a lot more easy to attain with the PO-10 and 20 series,

but I found myself returning right back to the sampling days of the late ’80s when I had 16 seconds to play with and made do with it. You get more creative within those kinds of limitations and, while these aren’t anywhere near as limited as the Cheetah sampler I had, they do spark that creative thinking which has to be a good thing.

They’ll not be for everyone, but both the PO-33 and 35 have effortless pattern creation and a flexible architecture in which to load in your own ideas and then explore and explode them. And, most importantly, you can take them anywhere, record anything and mess with it to your heart’s content. In that sense, then, they are the most sonically creative Pocket Operators so far.

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

+

Very easy to get sampling and playing

+ + + +

Good sounds to start with

+

Take them anywhere, record anything

–

Still bloody hard to get the batteries out (ooh my nails)

–

What you get out depends on what you put in

Loads of features to mess with them Love the real-time effects Still relatively inexpensive (although they’re creeping up)

As ever there’s a lot more going on beneath the hood sonically than you will expect within these Pocket Operators, and this time you are at the wheel and can drive them anywhere you like.

Alternatives KORG

Volca range £90 to £145

Pricier but also more substantial (and in some cases analogue), the Volca range has

musictech.net

been expanding as much as the PO series and now does sampling, FM, acid and more, and it really

does all of that well, especially the FM one. www.korg.com

TEENAGE ENGINEERING

OP-1 £799 I reviewed the update to this last year and it's a fantastic all-in-one synth, sequencer,

radio(!) and a lot more.

It's like all the best bits of TE's philosophy in

one unit with a very playable keyboard. www.soundtech.co.uk

MusicTech June 2018 83

R E V I E W E - I N S T R U M EN T S S ES S I O N K E Y S U P R I G H T

E-INSTRUMENTS

Session Keys Upright

£86

Session Keys Upright is the latest addition to e-instruments’ suite of multisampled instrument libraries; Adam Crute tinkles its virtual ivories...

Contact e-instruments | www.e-instruments.com

U

pright pianos have never had the same glamour as their grand cousins, but they nevertheless have an important role to play in music making. Sure, if you’re creating something dramatic or cinematic then a grand piano is likely to work very well, but when it comes to pop, rock, R’n’B, and other contemporary styles, an upright tends to sit better with other instruments and is more able to cut through a mix without becoming overpowering.

With this in mind, e-instruments have created Session Keys Upright, a library of two upright pianos compiled into an instrument for Kontakt and Kontakt Player.

Key features

TWO PIANOS, ONE INSTRUMENT

O Smart Chord feature for triggering chords and Animator patterns

Once installed and activated, Session Keys Upright shows up in Kontakt’s Libraries tab.

Two pianos have been sampled for Upright: The first, “Open”, has had its strings detuned slightly, all of its front covers removed, and was recorded in a room that contained soundreflecting surfaces to give a live, open sound.

O Pristine sampling and instrument construction

The second piano, “Closed”, was recorded with accurately tuned strings, closed panels, and in a fairly dry-sounding room akin to a typical living room. A simple pair of buttons in the interface allows the selection of one sample set or the other, with the background image of the interface changing to reflect the current selection (see images).

O Well suited to pop, rock and other contemporary genres

SAMPLE LAYERS

O Detailed sample library of two different upright pianos O Includes natural mechanical noise and resonance layers for increased realism

O Tonal flexibility and in-built effects O Animator acts as a “smart” arpeggiatorcum-pattern-player

Each note produced by Upright is made up of a number of different layers. First and foremost is the direct sound made by the strings and soundboard when a note plays. Accompanying this are samples of the various mechanical noises made by the piano: hammer noise, key noise, pedal noise and so-on. There’s also a resonance layer, which emulates the effect of unplayed and/or undamped strings ringing in sympathy to a played note.

Additionally, Upright features a ‘Reverse’ layer in which the tonal samples are reversed. While reversed piano sounds aren’t particularly useful on a day-to-day basis, their inclusion does allow Upright to produce some interesting effects, especially when blending the Reverse layer with the normal forward-playing layers.

CHANGING THE TONE Despite having so many elements to its sound, modifying the tonal characteristics of Upright couldn’t be easier. The main interface screen has a pair of controls for altering the dynamic response and timbre of the instrument.

Alongside these lies a curious pentagonal graphic, referred to in e-instruments-speak as a “Pentamorph fader”. At each corner of this pentagon is a label that relates to an aspect of Upright’s sound – mechanics, acoustic, reverse, and so-on. Clicking a label moves a marker to the corresponding corner of the pentagon, thereby applying a preset balance of sample elements. Alternatively, clicking-and-dragging on the pentagon allows the marker to be positioned, changing the relative balance of the different sample layers accordingly.

84 June 2018 MusicTech

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E - I N S T R U M EN T S S ES S I O N K E Y S U P R I G H T R E V I E W

The tone can be further modified by popping open the instrument’s “Tonality” panel. Here individual controls allow adjustments to the resonance and mechanical noise layers and to the relative volume of the Reverse layer.

The attack and decay envelope can also be modified.

To add a final sparkle, Upright sports an Effects section featuring reverb, delay, EQ, compression, stereo width control, and filtering.

VIRTUAL PIANOLA In common with other instruments in their “Session” range, Upright includes e-instruments’ “Animator” technology.

When enabled, this feature acts in a similar way to an arpeggiator, playing a pattern of notes based upon the keys being held down on the controlling keyboard. Unlike an arpeggiator, Animator attempts to recognise the chord that’s being played, and then adapts the pattern’s notes to match in an intelligent and musical way.

Each individual pattern contains three levels of complexity and related patterns are grouped into “Songs” – one pattern may be an intro section, the next a verse section, and so on. Patterns within the

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? Recording a piano – whether upright or grand – is one of the toughest challenges a sound engineer can face; you can’t just stick an SM58 or C414 in front of one, and the size and acoustic properties of a piano are such that the impact of room acoustics become very significant. So, for those of us who don’t have access to top-notch studios

with well-stocked mic cupboards, and/or who don’t have the time to spend miking and tuning a ‘real’ piano (that will be most of us, then!), the solution has always been to rely on S&S synthesis or on sample libraries.

This being so, Upright is worthy of serious consideration by anyone who needs a flexible and authentic piano sound in their productions.

keys, or pads on a pad controller. Useful in their own right, when linked to the Animator the Smart Chord feature allows even non-players to create intricate piano parts.

UPSTANDING OR FALLING FLAT? The time and effort that has gone into recording and constructing Upright’s

The quality of the samples is pristine and they are perfectly balanced across the keyboard currently active song can be selected via the keyboard or by clicking on-screen.

Upright ships with around 50 pre-loaded Songs, each containing six patterns, and it’s possible to build your own Songs from these patterns. Furthermore, given the patterns are simply MIDI files, it’s theoretically possible to create your own patterns, although how to do this is not documented and likely to involve some quite specific rules in order that the pattern will work with the Animator algorithms.

Whilst always creating musical results, it is quite easy to confuse Animator’s chord recognition algorithm, especially when playing particularly colourful chords or using extended or broken-up voicings. One way around this is to use Upright’s Smart Chord feature: this allows you to define a set of chords – as well as variations of those chords – and assign these to keyboard

sample set is plain to hear, and it’s clear that no corners have been cut. The quality of the samples is pristine, and they are perfectly balanced across the entire keyboard. Each note has sufficient samples and velocity switches to never sound repetitive, even when playing very fast repeats of a single note. The inclusion of mechanical noise and string resonance adds hugely to the realism of the sound produced, whilst the simple controls have enough scope to make significant tonal variations with minimal effort.

Non-players and those with only basic keyboard skills will find the Smart Chord and Animator features to be invaluable when it comes to creating piano parts for their music, although more advanced players may get frustrated by the ease with which the Animator can be confused by extended chords and voicings.

The many layers and velocity switches of samples do result in Upright being quite a large library, weighing in at 20GB on disk, and around 1.5GB in RAM when loaded.

What’s more, the multiple layers of samples triggered by each note means that the voice count can leap-up in no time, easily exceeding 60 voices during normal playing.

You’ll need a reasonably powerful machine to make the most of the instrument.

This bulkiness is justified though, as it results in an authentic emulation of two distinctly different upright pianos that are worth every penny of the asking price.

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

+

Utterly convincing and authentic upright piano sound

+

Contains two distinct upright piano sample sets

+ +

Tonally flexible via easy controls

–

Animator’s chord recognition easily confused

–

No documentation on creating custom Animator patterns

Animator and Smart Chord features of particular help to non-players

An exquisitely detailed and lovingly crafted sample library that emulates accurately and convincingly the sound and sonic characteristics of two different upright pianos.

Alternatives NATIVE INSTRUMENTS

The Gentleman £89

The Gentleman is included with some of Native Instruments’

musictech.net

Komplete bundles or can be purchased from NI’s website. The instrument has a warm, character, but lacks much of the intricate detail (mechanical

IMPERFECT SAMPLES noise, string resonance, etc) that makes Upright sound so authentic. www.nativeinstruments.com

Braunschweig Upright Piano Pro £89.99

The Pro version of Imperfect Samples’ Braunschweig Piano

features a similar level of multisampled detail as Upright. It has a warm sound, but is less tonally flexible than Upright. Available in VST, AU, EXS24 and

Kontakt formats. www.imperfect samples.com

MusicTech June 2018 85

R E V I E W L A U T EN A U D I O L A -120

LAUTEN AUDIO

LA-120

£319 PAIR £74 10DB ATTENUATORS

Lauten Audio has filled out the Series Black range with a pair of smalldiaphragm condensers. Mike Hillier is impressed...

Contact Synthax Audio | www.synthax.co.uk 01727 821870

L

auten Audio’s Series Black range is meant to provide an affordable and versatile microphone collection. Last summer we looked at the vacuum powered LA-320 microphone, and we were impressed with the forward mid-range presence of the mic, especially on electric guitar. The LA-120s we have on review now are from the same Series Black range as the LA-320, providing a stereo pair of small-diaphragm mics to go with the large-diaphragm LA-320 and LA-220 options. The LA-120 arrives in a cute wooden box. Inside are the two mics, a pair of cardioid capsules, a pair of omni-directional capsules, two mic clips and two foam windshields.

To accompany the LA-120 mics Lauten Audio also provided us with a pair of LA-120 10dB attenuators, which are in-line pads available separately and designed to increase the max SPL of the LA-120 from 130 to 140dB SPL. The attenuators screw on to the mic body between the body and the capsule, increasing the length of the mic from 15.9cm to 18.4cm.

Key features O Small diaphragm condenser microphone O Swappable cardioid and omni capsules O JFET balanced output O Frequency Range: 20Hz-20kHz O Selectable 50Hz and 150Hz high-pass filter O Selectable 10kHz and 15kHz low-pass filter

produced a fairly flat, neutral picture of the instrument. The low-end response produces plenty of bold body in the guitar, and we were impressed with the smooth response through the mid-range and high-end, which gave the guitar a professional sheen. There is little obvious presence boost, but if you need to lift in this area the response is clean and clear and we got fantastic results pairing the LA-120s recorded through our CAPI VP-28s, with a touch of compression and high-end boost from the Tegeler Crème.

TIME TO LEAVE THE CAPSULE Switching the capsules out for the omni capsules produces a much brighter recording, with a brashness to the strings that wasn’t present with the cardioid capsule. For busier, pop arrangements this brighter sound might work, helping the acoustic guitar to cut through a dense mix. But even for this, we would probably opt for the drier cardioid capsule with a little extra boost in the top-end, in order to allow for greater dynamic control with compression. However we could see this brighter, roomier sound working on dark-sounding stringed instruments.

Small diaphragm condensers are a common choice of mic for drum overheads, but we’ve often avoided them in preference for large diaphragm condensers, or even ribbons which tend to push the cymbals and hats a little further back, which can be useful with heavy-handed drummers. However, by including a low-pass filter

SMALL, MEDIUM OR LARGE? The LA-120 features both a high- and low-pass filter, enabling you to produce different sounds from a single mic and focussing the frequency range on the region you want to capture. The high-pass filter has flat, 50Hz and 150Hz positions, while the low-pass has flat, 15kHz and 10kHz positions.

In spaced pair arrangement on an acoustic guitar, using the cardioid capsule the LA-120

Alternatives SE ELECTRONICS

sE5 £399 pair The sE5 mics have a more open, enhanced top end, which will flatten some sources, while needing to be

86 June 2018 MusicTech

controlled more on others. However, the sE5 doesn’t have exchangeable

capsules, so you’re stuck with only a cardioid pickup pattern.

ASTON

Starlight £699 pair The Aston Starlights are without doubt some of the best sounding smalldiaphragm mics that

we’ve heard. The ability to choose between modern, vintage or hybrid voicing goes some way to replicating the versatility of the

filters on the LA-120.

The laser targeting system is a nice touch too, enabling you to line it up with your preferred spot on an instrument every time.

musictech.net

alongside the more common high-pass filter, the LA-120 makes for a tempting prospect on overheads. We slung ours up against a pair of our Ear Trumpet Labs Edwinas and a pair of AKG C1000S (technically a medium-diaphragm condenser, but often used in place of a smalldiaphragm condenser). With all the filters set to flat and using the cardioid capsule, the LA-120 were a huge improvement on the AKG C1000S, the mid-range is smoother, and doesn’t have the honky upper-mid that is found on the AKG. The top-end, had a forward, modern sound, which we’re used to from small-diaphragm condensers, but compared to the (dark sounding) Edwinas still pushes the cymbals too much to the front for our tastes. Engaging the LPF at 15kHz starts to control this. The Edwinas still sound a little darker, but the air around the top is a healthy balance between the dark tone of the Edwinas and the modern sound of the flat LA-120s.

Switching the LA-120 LPF to the 10kHz position we start to lose some of the detail. The crash cymbal became choked, and the loss of shine to the cymbals means this no longer has a benefit over the Edwinas while still lacking the depth towards the bottom. The 15kHz setting was our preferred option here, and with a little EQ cut around 8kHz and a slight boost in the 250Hz range and the 2.5kHz range and we had a sound that was every bit as big and bold as the Edwinas.

PADDING OUT With the 10dB pad engaged on the LA-120 the mics have enough headroom to be used as close mics on louder sources, such as the snare. Fitting the pad only takes around 20 seconds, but you have to ensure that the mic is not receiving Phantom Power before starting. If you do find yourself using the LA-120 on snare – more likely in a studio environment, expect a very fast, transient rich response with plenty of crack, and more depth than many mics designed specifically for snares. The tried and tested SM57 filters off a little of the sub-harmonics of the snare body, while emphasising the upper-mid harmonics, and it’s slightly slower response helps to slightly compress the attack. The LA-120 by comparison is a flatter and broader response, with more attack, and a more detailed decay. In solo, there is no comparison over which is the better mic, but in the mix this story changes and the SM57 edges the LA-120 out, sitting more quickly into place without as much additional processing.

The Lauten Audio Series Black range delivers pro results at affordable prices and, while they may be aimed at smaller setups, the LA-120s could easily find themselves being used in much larger studios because of their incredible versatility.

MT V ER D I CT

+ + +

Cardioid and Omni capsules

–

10dB Pad is an optional extra

8/10

Very smooth response High and Low-pass switchable filters

A versatile, and smooth sounding microphone, with cardioid and omni capsules, and high- and low-pass filters.

musictech.net

R E V I E W R O L I U P DAT ES

ROLI

BLOCKS updates

£189

ROLI has updated its Lightpad BLOCK and a dramatic update to its Dashboard software has got Andy Jones even more excited…

Contact ROLI or Sound Technology | www.roli.com or www.soundtech.co.uk 01462 480000

R

OLI has been on, what you might call, a roll of late, updating both BLOCKS and the NOISE app, as well as the Dashboard software that connects the two. In fact there are now so many different parts to the ROLI ecosphere that it’s getting a little hard to keep track of them all! With this review I’m going to focus on one or two parts of the ROLI and BLOCKS world to give it the focus it richly deserves. First, though, let’s see if I can provide a quick overview of everything in the multidimensional world of ROLI. The company first wowed us with its multitouch MPE Seaboard range of (sort of) keyboards, which use five dimensions of touch for a unique playing and performing experience.

They offer everything from ultra-realistic ‘proper’ instrument sounds to out there space age atmospheres via a great synth called Equator.

ROLI then transferred some of this 5D technology into a portable Bluetooth set of music makers called BLOCKS that trigger the free NOISE app to make music. Most recently I reviewed the Seaboard Block which is (unsurprisingly) a

Key features Lightpad Block M O Latest central device in the wireless BLOCKS system (which includes Live, Loop and Touch Blocks) O Deeper, softer surface topped with 225 microkeywaves O 50% brighter surface illumination from HD LEDs O Comes with Suite of music making software for desktop and mobile plus 100s of sounds included BLOCKS Dashboard software O Interfacing software for BLOCKS system O Comes with 11 modules including Ableton Live; Control Grid; Drum, Fader, Mixer Blocks; NoteGrid; XYZ Pads; MusicGen plus games

Block-sized Seaboard and really a product that gives you the best of both ROLI worlds – that unique playing experience but all set within the uniquely mobile BLOCKS world.

I must admit, I’ve always looked a little down my nose at NOISE. It is clearly aimed at another world of music making: people starting out or experimenting on the fly, not really for us pro music makers – or so I’d tell myself.

For the sake of some ROLI clarity, I’m not focussing on NOISE this time around, but instead on the Blocks Dashboard software. This was fairly underwhelming, but it had some promise that has finally arrived. BLOCKS Dashboard is the modular software that picks up each Block in your network and now allows you to easily configure each to perform a specific task, be it Ableton Live controller, channel fader controller, even Space Invader! The ease and implementation of the software has made me sit up and take notice and re-evaluate the BLOCKS system. And with a brand new Lightpad Block to help along, it’s time to do just that.

MORE LIGHT, MORE MICROKEYWAVES The new Lightpad Block is called ‘M’ and, on the face of it, looks just like the old one. It’s the central component of the BLOCKS system and the device that allows you to play notes, hit beats and move fingers for glide effects and more.

Look closer and you’ll notice nodules on its smoother surface which are called ‘micro keywaves’ and there are 225 of them for a tighter playback. The surface offers extra depth too, which gives you an overall impression that this is far more expressive than its predecessor (which ROLI was going to continue, but which looks to be sold out at the time of writing). It’s brighter too – by 50% according to ROLI. When put next to my old Blocks it certainly shines.

Otherwise, though, it performs a similar function and on powering up you’ll probably need to update everything in your ROLI system to make sure that it works, which might include everything from the NOISE app to the firmware of the unit itself.

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R O L I U P DAT ES R E V I E W

It’s when you put it side-by-side with an original Lightpad that you realize just what else that ROLI has built in. It feels substantially thicker and squishier, which helps it give you a lot more depth when playing. Again ROLI has given me a solution to a problem I didn’t realise I had with the original Lightpad and the M does feel like a more luxurious new way to fully enjoy my five dimensions.

AND SO TO THE MAIN EVENT As good as the new Lightpad is, though, it’s Dashboard that’s causing me the most excitement. This was very much the utility software that allows you to update the firmware in your Blocks and keep them all in order. Now it’s an all-singing, all dancing modular middle. Boot it up and connect one of your Blocks by USB and it will show any that you have connected and consequently added (I had three Lightpads: one new, two old, plus a Seaboard Block in mine). Move them around and the on-screen set-up moves with you.

You get a list of modular options beneath which include Ableton Live, Control, Drum Block mode, and Mixer Block mode. Simply select which Block you’d like

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? As good as Blocks is – and the potential is great – I wouldn’t say that Blocks and Blocks Dashboard is something that you absolutely need in your studio. Indeed, you can do much of it with a decent MIDI

controller that you may already have.

However, it does offer you a glimpse into the future of control and the journey that ROLI is attempting is sure to take us all along to some extent or other.

a couple of plans for the BLOCKS system which look like they will be taking it further down this pro route, which is certainly exciting. For now though, give us some other DAW templates to keep us going please, ROLI! Oh, and some easier games.

I just couldn’t get into the swing of the Breakout style game at all…

CONCLUSION ROLI could be in danger of becoming a victim of its own advancements with its many and varied technologies. There’s no doubting the wonder of the five dimensions of touch and MPE controllers

The extra depth helps give you impression that this is more expressive than its predecessor to update and then click the option and your ROLI Block instantly changes into that controller. The Fader and Mixer Blocks can be assigned to channels within your DAW and there’s an XYZ Pad that introduces performance options to MIDI control.

The Drum Block mode and Note Grid are great options to play percussive and melodic instruments while the Ableton Live Control options is a stand-out. It has you instantly leaping around Live triggering Clips in your song and moving around the arrangement using simple left or right navigators. It’s no Ableton Push, but I’ve tested a lot of controllers for Live and while this doesn’t have the functionality of the major and more expensive ones, it is about as instantaneous and fun as it gets with DAW control.

The Ableton Live Control option also points to where BLOCKS is going. I’ve seen

as a piece of technology, but the system as whole can get a little lost in terms of its focus and is weighed down by names for the different parts and processes. When you break it down to these different parts, it can often feel like a bit too much: Equator, BLOCKS Dashboard, Dashboard for Rise, NOISE itself.

However, it would be a shame if all of those components scared anyone off, because really the ROLIverse is designed for all of us to take part in, no matter what our musical bent – it’s just a matter of picking and choosing which parts suit.

Dashboard and the new Lightpad Block M are where it’s at for us DAW users and ‘pros’ and once you get up and running with Dashboard you’ll soon get it.

The potential is enormous to make BLOCKS work for whatever environment you choose and I can see us picking and

choosing Blocks to control aspects of any DAW, not just Live. Grab some faders for Logic here, or some controls for your favourite soft synth there…

If ROLI adds templates for all DAWs and makes it as instantaneous and easy as it currently is with Live, then suddenly we will have a control system that works for everyone, and a very cool and fun to use one at that.

So, if you thought BLOCKS was just a bit of a mobile music novelty, think again.

It’s developed into a fun to use and very flexible control system that has the potential to become, well, whatever you want it to be...

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9/10

+

The new Lightpad M is an excellent addition to the BLOCKS range

+

Feels great and adds a lot more expression, dimension and brightness

+

Dashboard software updates are exciting and easy to implement with your existing BLOCKS

+

Very easy to use and huge potential for the future

+

Ableton Live app is great fun and works well

+

Games!

–

You’ll need to update every aspect of the BLOCKS universe to get it working

–

Some might still be put off by the vast range of names for everything

BLOCKS Dashboard has come of age so we can all now see the potential of BLOCKS and Lightpad M is the Block to take us to that promised land.

Alternatives ROGER LINN

LinnStrument $999 There is an increasing number of MPE controllers although none are as cheap and easy as BLOCKS. Roger

musictech.net

Linn’s expressive MIDI controller tracks the subtle movements of your fingers, allowing for some great

expression. www.rogerlinn design.com

KEITH MCMILLEN

K-Board 4 £599 This is a 4-octave touch sensitive MIDI controller with ‘Smart Fabric Sensor Technology’ for an expanded range of

expression and MPE options. One of the few keyboards to give you those extra dimensions. www.keith mcmillen.com

MusicTech June 2018 89

R E V I E W G OT H I C I N S T R U M EN T S D R O N A R M O D U L ES

GOTHIC INSTRUMENTS

Dronar modules

£59.95 EACH

The Dronar concept is like a huge software modular synth library, with added menace. Andy Jones loads up two more modules from the dark side...

Contact Time & Space | www.timespace.com

D

ronar’s concept is simple and quite unique. It uses a modular approach with individual software titles that concentrate on specific sonic areas, and all of these are pretty competitively priced (usually around £60 each). You simply choose modules – as and when they are released – to create your modular Dronar collection. I looked at the first instalment, Hybrid, a couple of years back and now have the most recent two chapters in to review.

I didn’t initially think I was the right person to test the first of these, as it’s got the word ‘brass’ in the title and I’ve had a long battle with technology trying to recreate brass sounds since my first synth’s pathetic attempts back in the 1980s. However, the Dronar concept is not about recreation – it’s about manipulation and atmosphere. Hybrid, for example, was full of menace and it was dead easy to create loads more with dramatic on-screen controls.

There have been several other modules released like Live Strings and Dark Synthesis and now we have the aforementioned Brass Module

Main features O Metal and Glass 4.65GB collection, 2544 samples, 235 presets O Brass 5.91GB collection, 248 presets O Designed for thriller, sci-fi and horror type soundtracks O Metal and Glass includes sounds like broken Cymbals, Tibetan bowls, wind chimes and bottles all processed with granular synthesis and other effects. Brass uses a processed brass group O Main page has Movement, Intensity, Hi and Lo options O Further pages for LFO, Distortions, FX, Arpeggiator and Master FX O Requires full version of Kontakt

and Metal and Glass, rumoured to be the last two for a while, so let’s see how they stack up...

BIG SOUND, SMALL COLLECTIONS Both Brass and Metal and Glass weigh in at around 5GB a pop, which is by no means large in this day and age, but remember they are modules and part of a bigger picture. You use Time+Space’s excellent Connect software to download them in smaller packs of data which automatically unpack in your chosen location – just remember to trash the original .RAR files.

Both collections require the full, up-to-date version of Kontakt (I had to dip into Native Access to update mine). They also don’t just load into Kontakt as many NI libraries do – you’ll need to access the instrument .nki files via the Files tab to load them in. As Time+Space admit, this can be a faff if you want to go back and forth between libraries and files, so Kontakt’s Quick Load feature, which lets you get easy and fast access to your favourite folders and sounds, is recommended. There’s a good YouTube video that shows you how to do this, but it is pretty easy.

These are also big sounds and big presets and my computer struggled initially, but tweaking of the buffer size in Logic helped. I’d probably recommend having a machine with 16GB RAM just to be on the safe side (mine is just about to be upgraded from 8GB) and you might want to render to audio once tracks are laid down. But these are big sounds for a reason: they’re very good sounds, the kind where just one note might give you an entire soundtrack because, as we’ll see, there is a lot going on within each one.

IN USE We’re in familiar territory loading up both modules. Brass is (kind of) brass coloured and features the Intensity and Movement dials, which made such an impact with Hybrid Module, plus FX, Hi, Mid and Lo dials. Metal and Glass features a much cooler futuristic landscape but includes the same controls.

Dialling up Intensity (also assigned to your mod wheel) racks up the power of different velocity

90 June 2018 MusicTech

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G OT H I C I N S T R U M EN T S D R O N A R M O D U L ES R E V I E W

layers and is quite OTT in practice – like different sounds seeping up from their intended layers. Movement brings in more arpeggiation action as its name suggests.

Each Drone has four layers, each with two different samples. The Hi, Mid and Low dials are not, as you might think, EQ. They control the level of the instruments within those Drone layers but as the samples here tend to be low, mid and high frequency in nature, the effect is often like a glorified EQ. The FX dial controls the fourth layer which has sound effect loops within it.

So you see, even on the top level, each module has a lot to edit the samples that make up a Drone, and that’s why they are so huge! But there’s more because in both modules there are further options to let you get further beneath your sonic bonnet. The Expert page allows you to change the two raw samples within each of the four layers and also has filter, tone and shaping options. There’s an LFO and FX page which lets you add more movement and also includes Distortion, Chorus, Reverb and Delay dials. The Arpeggiator page has some very creative Pitch, Intensity and Filter options to really knock your sound around the park, adding yet more evolving movement. Finally the master FX page

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? Do you compose music for film or TV? Do you make weird atmospheric or terrifying music?

Do you need atmospheric backdrops or produce ambient compositions?

Maybe you want to

add some subtle atmosphere to pumping techno to make it different from the norm? If any of these applies then you do need one or two Dronar modules in your life. 60 quid for this much sonic power is peanuts.

Onto Metal and Glass and it’s more of the same, but different. There’s atmosphere in spades, again, but here the emphasis is truly off-world. Instrument categories again cover bass, arps and pads but there are also additional folders like Inspirational, Danger, Chaos and Horror. The results here are, to borrow one of those titles, truly inspiring. There are pads to die for, some simple, some more complex (and actually the simpler ones often work the best). My favourite set is Modulated Cities, which contains vocal-like pads, huge ghostly walls of sound, swirling industrial slabs and a preset

The results are inspiring. There are pads to die for, some simple, some more complex allows overall EQ, compression, delay or reverb to be added - like you didn’t have enough effects already!

So what do these modules sound like?

Brass is, thankfully, nothing like Brass.

Instruments are split into multi-Drone setups or you can load in individual Drones.

They're broken down into pads, leads, arpeggiations, basses and rhythmic presets. There are also folders called Dark and Complex Future. The first contains detuned and terrifying stuff, groans and alien monster sounds. Complex Future?

Well that’s full of industrial sounds that can and should be used in the next Blade Runner film.

Elsewhere in Brass there are tense strings, stabs of twisted and scrunched up (presumably) brass recordings, lots of eerie pads and, not unexpectedly, loads of presets with raw, evolving movement.

called Noise Wall which is the most thunderous ‘Quick, make a tune!’ wedge of beauty I’ve heard in a long time.

There’s a lot more and this is probably the best of the three or four Dronar modules that I’ve looked at. But I do love my atmosphere and movement. If you’re like me in that respect, £59.95 will take you to any planet you want.

A quick note on some of the extras I mentioned earlier. There’s every chance you’ll be too blown away with the sounds to delve too deeply, but the Arpeggiator and Filter options really are great fun so do give those a go.

CONCLUSION If there is any criticism to be levelled at the Dronar series it’s that it is specifically designed for creating weird, out-there

sounds. But there is a lot of variation within that word ‘weird’ and, as I say, these can be used for a variety of sonic purposes.

For me, it’s what you can do with the sounds that is key as you can take them anywhere you like, even making them less weird should you choose! And those extra synthesis options not only add huge flexibility, they are very easy to implement and get your head around – Dronar’s modules produce hugely complex sounds but they are not complex to use and abuse. And I don’t want to drone on and on about the price, but to get them for less than 60 quid a pop beggars belief for the power you get. Turns out that Brass can sound great after all!

MT V ER D I CT

+ +

9/10

Incredible atmosphere Lots of options to change the presets to completely new areas

+ + +

Great presets to start with

+

Silly money for each module

–

You’ll be best off setting up Quick Load options within Kontakt

–

… of which you will require the full version

Very easy to install Within each module it’s easy to edit Drone layers

These Dronar modules sound even richer, more menacing and atmospheric than the original one did two years ago. They really do represent excellent value too, especially for the sonic manipulation options that you get.

Alternatives HEAVYOCITY

Gravity $449 It seems like silly money in comparison – and it is steep – but Gravity offers a very similar set of sonic tools (if not,

musictech.net

more of them) to really get some evolving atmosphere. Think of it as a bunch of modules - in one to make the price easier to handle. www.heavyocity.com

WIDE BLUE SOUND

Orbit $150 I also recommended Orbit as an alternative to the Hybrid Module as it does the atmosphere thing very well and only

costs $150. It’s a great synth that offers ‘texture by the bucket-load with everything geared to movement.’ www. wideblue sound.com

MusicTech June 2018 91

R E V I E W B I G B E A R A U D I O M P1 & M P1+

BIG BEAR AUDIO

MP1 & MP1+

£369 AND £499

The Big Bear Audio MP1 brings a funky new look to the studio. Mike Hillier sees which porridge tastes best.

Contact Big Bear Audio | www.bigbearaudio.com

T

he embrace of DIY|RE’s Colour format has been a joy to watch. We have followed the development from Peterson Goodwyn’s first blog post, through to reviewing a pair of the first Colour Palette hardware units back in 2014 – units that remain in our 500-series rack today and in regular use. Since then we’ve watched as the idea for simple, inexpensive hardware “plug-ins” has thrived and been taken on by numerous other companies, offering a huge selection of different “Colours” for the Palette, in addition to a selection of alternatives to the Colour Palette itself, both for 500-series and Eurorack. Big Bear Audio, headed up by Charlie Slee, Chair of the Audio Engineering Society British Section, is the latest

92 June 2018 MusicTech

Key features O 500-series compatible O Front-panel DI O 66dB of gain (60dB MP1+) O Colour module slot

audio hardware company enamoured by the open-source concept, fitting a Colour module slot onto both of the company’s debut products, the MP1 and MP1+ preamps.

COLOUR BETWEEN THE LINES At first glance the MP1 and MP1+ are remarkably similar. The front panels are identical, both have a distinctive blue back-lit design, featuring input and output controls, 1/4-inch instrument input and switches for input select (front or rear), Colour bypass, 48V Phantom Power and Polarity invert. The front panel sticks out a little from the rest of the modules in our rack and the lighting and Big Bear logo is sure to get some interest from artists passing through the control room.

musictech.net

B I G B E A R A U D I O M P1 & M P1+ R E V I E W

Behind the front plate both units feature a remarkably clean, discrete Class A mic/ line amplifier. The primary difference lies in the output. The MP1 uses Burr Brown ICs for an electronically balanced output, where the MP1+ houses a Lundahl LL1517 output transformer, for handling the output balancing. In addition to this the MP1+ also features an ELMA stepped attenuator for the input gain, providing additional control and recall.

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? If you already have a huge selection of outboard preamps, offering you all the available flavours that you could possibly want, then the MP1

probably isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for one or two preamps that you can use regularly for a variety of different sounds then this is an ideal, flexible choice.

CLEAN AUDIO With the Colour module disengaged both units are very, very clean. The principle being that any flavour should be brought in by the use of Colour modules, rather than being baked into the preamp itself.

Despite this, the MP1+ did have slightly more heft to it, the Lundahl transformer providing just a touch of colouration to the signal, resulting in a more pleasant recording when coupled with the Aston Origin on our voice and acoustic guitar. If you are looking for a clean, linear, nothing-but-gain preamp, the MP1 has to make your shortlist. However, using it like this seems to be missing the point. The pleasure with a preamp of this kind comes entirely once you engage the Colour switch and

shape the tone, but the Lundahl transformer is more open than the Cinemag, giving the signal weight without compromising the top-end in the way the CTX module does. Even just comparing the two transformers it’s easy to see why the Colour modules offer so much exploration.

On vocals, the plain MP1+ was still our preference, but the MP1 with the CTX won out on electric guitars and DI’d bass, where the slightly more closed-off top-end was advantageous, rather than a problem.

With the clean MP1+ our preference so far for our vocal, we tried pairing this with several of our other modules, hoping to find

The beauty of the MP1 and MP1+ is the ability to make the preamps sound exactly how you need how much fun you have with this will depend entirely on what modules you have available.

We have built up a small collection of modules for our Colour Palette now, and began testing by fitting the MP1 with the DIY|RE CTX module in each. This is a transformer module making use of a Cinemag transformer. With this module in place the MP1 should be a little closer to the MP1+ with no modules engaged. The two transformers are not alike, however, and their placement in the circuit is slightly different too, so we weren’t expecting this $60 module to fully replicate the MP1+. The results stood this out. The CTX is a subtle module, but it helped to sit our vocal a little further forward, with a little more definition in the bottom end than the clean signal.

Comparing it to the MP1+ is tough. Both add more weight to the signal, and help to

a flavour which best compliments the MP1+. The DIY|RE 15IPS worked well, giving the impression that you are recording straight to tape, with a little head bump, high-end roll-off and some dynamic limiting and saturation from the diode clipping, our favourite pairing came from the Eisen Audio TB79 module. Like the 15IPS, the TM79 is meant to emulate a tape machine, and makes use of multiple saturation stages, including two transformers apparently voiced to emulate a 3M M79 tape machine – as used in The Rolling Stones’ Mobile Studio. This voicing has a similar low-end head bump to the 15IPS, but a smoother saturation with a soft mid-range, which works well to bring clarity to our vocal performance without any use of EQ. While the MP1 paired with the CTX offered a great DI tone for both bass and guitar, our favourite pairing on DI’d bass

came from the MP1+ with the CMOS Steezer module from TB Audio. The CMOS Steezer is essentially a fuzz pedal (in the vein of the Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes) in a module with the fuzz settings toned down to a more considerate 4% THD (at +4dBu), and adds a strong mid-range push to the signal, which responds dynamically to the incoming bass guitar signal. We also had great results using the DIY|RE JFT module on both guitars and bass.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN The real beauty of a system such as the MP1 and MP1+ is the ability for the preamps to sound exactly how you need them to sound. Instead of having to own several different preamps for each flavour, you can simply get a module with the flavour you require and pop it into the MP1. Need a Neve flavour for your next vocal? Try the Louder Than Liftoff Royal Blue module. Or an API flavour for your kick? Try Louder Than Liftoff’s Mass Drivr or DIY|RE’s DOA module.

Want to smash some room mics? Try the Avenson Audio MN-50 or Tonecraft Toneloc.

There are so many options to choose from now, the Colour format really does offer something for every occasion.

MT V ER D I CT

+ + + – –

9/10

Funky looking Colour module allows for any flavour Front panel DI input Requires further expenditure Only one Colour slot

We had a lot of fun playing with these preamps. With the right module, they can be anything to anyone.

Alternatives DIY|RE

CP5 £199 From the designer that started it all, the CP5 is a single slot 500-series preamp with a single Colour slot, much like

musictech.net

the MP1. However, it doesn’t have a front-panel DI, and it uses ICs for amplification rather than an discrete preamp design in the MP1.

HRK

MP568C $369 HRK managed to squeeze a second Colour slot onto the single 500-series frame for the MP568C

preamp, as well as a front-panel DI input and individual colour switches.

However, there is no pad for loud sources.

MusicTech June 2018 93

R E V I E W FA D ER F OX P C12 A N D M X12

FADERFOX

PC12 and MX12

€475 EACH

Martin Delaney gets to grips with two new MIDI controllers from Faderfox that could make your software feel like hardware...

Contact Faderfox | www.faderfox.de

G

lancing at their website, it’s obvious that while Faderfox like to make compact MIDI controllers, they’re not shy about taking on big custom jobs with built-in light shows. Their new PC12 and MX12 are somewhere in the middle, however, with the same footprint as the ‘classic’ Elektron hardware products such as the Machinedrum or Analog Rytm. That’s always been a good platform for a control surface – big enough to fit a fair number of knobs and buttons, but not so big that it’ll hog your desk space. Obviously, Elektron users are going to be very interested in these, because they’ll rig up so nicely with their instruments, but nobody is left behind – these controllers are just as useful connected to other hardware via MIDI cables, or computers via USB.

Key features O System requirements PC or Mac with a free USB port, or any USB hub.

O MIDI device with standard MIDI in/out ports.

O USB power adapter (5V min 200mA) for standalone/ hardware operation.

O Dimensions 340x176x75 mm O Weight 1.3 kg

two outputs, as well as a USB connection and an ethernet style port (cable not included) which can be used to daisy-chain two of these devices for USB power and control messages. All connections are on the right end of the box, so it’s possible to neatly align two of them on a table or in a rack. A simple 4-digit LCD display shows the current status as controls are moved. With solid rubber feet, it isn’t going to slide around. The PC12 and MX12 both show typical high-quality Faderfox construction – they’re not cheap, but they don’t feel cheap, either. The proportions are indeed the same as the classic Elektrons – I put them next to my Machinedrum and checked!

Elektron also sell a stand to hold both of these together, or one with an Elektron. Other than the control layouts, these two are very similar, so we’re discussing them as a pair.

QUALITY CONSTRUCTIONS The PC12 has 72 knobs and 12 multifunction buttons; the MX12 has 24 knobs, 12 faders (60mm) and 24 buttons – there’s also a larger push button encoder for setup functions. The cases are aluminium and each has two MIDI DIN inputs and

94 June 2018 MusicTech

SETTING UP The package includes the relevant controller, a generic CD (containing settings, including projects and control surface scripts for Ableton Live, and manuals in PDF form), as well as a printed manual, USB cable, and 98 white sticky labels. For standalone use you’ll have to provide your own USB power supply – I ran them off an iPhone charger during the review and it worked perfectly.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the full-size MIDI connections that are used instead of those pesky minijack-to-DIN adaptors. Setup is straightforward; you can begin to use it as a standard generic MIDI controller immediately, or use the included content for Ableton Live or the presets for Elektron’s Analog Rytm.

There’s no software editor, so you’ll need to do manual MIDI mapping for your software. To control hardware, you’ll need to check your hardware manual, then assign the Faderfox on a global and per-control level, sending control change, note on/off, pitchbend, aftertouch and program change, or configure it by putting the unit into MIDI learn, and save that as a preset – there are 30 slots available (backups and firmware updates are handled via sysex). This kind

musictech.net

FA D ER F OX P C12 A N D M X12 R E V I E W

of activity is time-intensive on a gadget that has so many controls, but once you commit the necessary functions to memory (for example, to enter/exit edit mode, hold the shift key and press the blue key), editing gets faster. There are some time-saving shortcuts available, like you can assign properties to every knob or button in a row at once, and there are copy, paste, and duplicate commands.

The green and grey buttons can send MIDI notes etc, but also act as function buttons when in edit mode.

DO I REALLY NEED THIS? The Faderfox PC12 and MX12 are ideal if you’re tired of budget devices that compromise on build quality; they’re totally solid and will hold their own in any performance or studio situation – or anywhere else you can think of where they’re likely to see a lot of use. Also, if you’ve been searching for something with more than the average number of knobs and buttons, you can stop

YOUR FLEXIBLE FRIEND You might be wondering what you’d do with all of these controls, but I can’t see your setup from here, so I can’t help. The truth is, you’ll already know if you’re somebody who needs this level of control or not. Software synths in particular will benefit from this, where there’s no existing real-world hardware equivalent to Ableton’s Operator, for example. You might also have a set of controls spread across different plug-ins, and the host DAW itself, that you want to access from one panel at all times. Because each control on the Faderfoxes can output on a different MIDI channel, a single preset can

looking now, especially when you consider that these have 30 presets each, so you’ve got multiple layers of controls, if you need to go to that extreme.

Elektron users in particular are going to love the way these fit so perfectly alongside, and expand on, their favourite hardware – no other current controllers are going to buddy up so well with an Analog Rytm, for example.

it next to expensive gear, but you probably will need to use the included labels to help you remember what everything’s doing in a big rig! Of course, either the PC12 or MX12 are no-brainers for Elektron users – because they’re built to the same size as the classic Elektron box, they’ll even fit into

They show typically high-quality construction – they’re not cheap, but they don’t feel cheap either reach into many instruments or effects at the same time, across different tracks in your project. To achieve this previously you might have used more than one controller connected at the same time, or one controller with a number of presets, but now you can do it all on one device and on one layer – and still with more layers available if necessary. Beyond music software, these will also be killer for VJs using software such as Resolume.

I then added the PC12 to a hardware rig containing a sequencer, synths, and effects, and set to work building a preset that’d let me control chosen parameters on each of those units. The PC12 is a great hub for table top setups, especially if your rig includes modules that don’t have the most ergonomic control layouts. Because it’s so well-made, you don’t feel like the PC12 is letting the side down when you put

the same dedicated bags and protective covers. Various MIDI routing options are available, again configured from the hardware itself, bringing great flexibility to the MIDI and USB ports. In/Out/Thru are all available, so there’s no reason you couldn’t use these to run hybrid rigs with hardware and a computer.

EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE There aren’t many off-the-shelf controllers around with this many controls on them, and that combined with the quality of construction makes these more or less unique. With one of these, it’d be quite possible to get through an entire live set without having to change presets, which I appreciate – I prefer to be able to overview all of my control settings at the same time. Sure, these are expensive, but they’re good investments; they aren’t likely

to fall apart any time soon, and the reliance on plain old MIDI over DIN and/or USB makes them relatively future proof. The biggest issue with these is choosing one; I was drawn to the PC12 because that all-knob layout is so versatile.

There are some cheaper alternatives out there, but they’re nowhere near on the same level. Even if you’re using something more 21st century, like Ableton’s Push or ROLI’s BLOCKS, the humble knob and fader are still valuable ways to interact, and there’s nothing to stop you using one of these Faderfoxes alongside your more futuristic options.

MT V ER D I CT

+ + + + – – –

9/10

Outstanding build quality No software editor or drivers needed Works over USB or ‘classic’ MIDI Lovely physical tactile quality Expensive Labour-intensive MIDI assignments You might need a bigger table

If you like to combine hardware and software in your rig, and you’re already covered for pads and keys, these are some of the best controllers out there. They’re not cheap, but they’re worth it.

Alternatives APPLE

iPad Pro 12.9” £769 The largest of all iPads makes the most flexible control surface around, while also hosting synths, audio recorders,

musictech.net

or anything else you need. You might take issue with the price, the vulnerable expanse of glass, and the lack of tactile ‘real’ controls. www.apple.com

AKAI

MPD232 £215 This is just one example from Akai’s extensive line-up of controllers.

The MPD232 features an onboard step

sequencer, 16 MPC pads, 8 faders, 8 knobs, and also includes a copy of Ableton Live Lite so you

can get started producing instantly. www.akaipro.com

MusicTech June 2018 95

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MINIS REVIEW

FADERPRO

SAMPLE MAGIC

Finish My Record with Harry Romero

Berlin Techno Sessions Key features O House music in Logic Pro O 9 chapters

Price $49.99 Contact Faderpro www.faderpro.com

This unique course from Faderpro sees veteran producer Harry Romero build an acid-tinged house track from scratch across nine chapters.

However, rather than take it to completion, he creates the main building blocks with the idea that they’re made available as stems for a collaborative remix competition.

Romero starts with the drums, then adds additional parts before moving onto the arrangement and further processing. It’s not as concise as some other tutorials and certain sections meander on a little, but you’re getting a deep insight into the methods of a premier artist in the field as he builds a track from the ground up. Although it’s a little light on processing tips, there are plenty of useful insights into the writing process that may help or inspire.

O 140+ minutes O Includes Logic project, stems and competition O Presented by Harry Romero

MT V ER D I CT

8/10

A little meandering in places, but ultimately an interesting insight into the working methods of a house master as he builds a track from scratch.

UNDRGRND SOUNDS

Key features O Driving, underground techno samples O 600+MB of 24-bit audio O 662 WAV files, 79 MIDI files O 5 Kits for Maschine 2, Battery 4, Kong, EXS24, Ableton, Kontakt and NN-XT O 2 Ableton instrument and processing racks

MT V ER D I CT

10/10

A superb value collection of characterful, raw and highly-usable loops that could easily form the foundations of a powerful techno track.

Catching Flies – Ambient Electronic

Price £39.95 Contact info@undrgrndsounds.com www.undrgrndsounds.com

musictech.net

Berlin Techno Sessions is a new pack from Sample Magic that aims to capture the dark analogue sequences, driving drums and pulsating subs of after hours Berghain. There’s over 600 MB worth of 24-bit audio in a choice of formats, plus 79 MIDI files and a handful of drum kits with patches for Maschine 2, Battery 4, Kong, EXS24, Kontakt and Ableton Drum Racks.

Most of the loops are repeating patterns that could be used as building blocks for a track and are fairly simple. However, what it lacks in rhythmic and melodic complexity, it makes up for in the character and driving power of the production. The loops and hits are detailed enough in the sound design to be interesting, but short and simple enough to inspire creative use and further manipulation. As an aded bonus you also get an Ableton bass/ FX Rack, plus a custom built processing rack.

LOOPMASTERS

Retro Racks

Retro Racks is a library of ’80s-inspired loops and hits from UNDRGRND Sounds that’s packed with vintage basses, deep FM pads, retro string sounds, upfront leads and more. A large number of classic hardware synths and drum machines were used to capture the authentic ’80s sound, and are presented in the form of 125 Ableton Rack instruments and 12 custom drum kits, all with carefully mapped macros and added FX. You also get 80+ presets for Operator and Analog for added flexibility, and a large selection of audio and MIDI loops that come in your choice of WAV, Apple Loops or REX2 formats. These excellent riffs and synth hooks are well programmed and feel like they could have been lifted straight off of hit ’80s records. As a nice touch, you also get Live Projects of three classic ’80s tracks recreated using the sounds from the pack.

Price £14.99 Contact Sample Magic www.samplemagic.com

Price £34.95 Contact info@loopmasters.com www.loopmasters.com

Key features O Retro ’80s synths and drums O 125 Ableton Rack Instruments O 12 custom drum kits O 501 audio Loops, 286 MIDI files O 315 WAV one-shots

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

A massive and flexible collection of authentic and well-written ’80s hooks, hits and Ableton instruments.

London-based producer Catching Flies provides an impressive array of emotive musical loops, encompassing both organic and electronic elements. The pack provides a high level of musical feel as well as attention to sonic texture, with multi-layered drum grooves, modulating basslines, atmospheric pads, warm synth melodies and sampled, organic instrumentation.

The length of the loops works nicely, allowing time for ideas to evolve and modulate, which provides a human feel, even when synthesized or sampled components are used.

Although the inclusion of horn, piano and vocal recordings are a welcome addition, the Sax Loops folder feels a little thrown together. Finally, the sampler instruments make a great addition. The pack sounds refined, whilst maintaining the crackly, lo-fi aesthetic you would expect.

Key features O 2.23GB of 24-bit/ 44.1 content O Music loops, tops, drums, pads, chords, bass, Saxophone and Atmosphere Loops O 238 WAV loops, 311 Rex2 loops O 70-140 BPM O 118 Patches for NNXT, Halion, EXS24, SFZ and Kontakt.

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

An inspiring, emotive and musically intelligent pack with tons of character.

MusicTech June 2018 97

REVIEW MINIS

GROOVE 3

MODEAUDIO

Ableton Live 10 Tips & Tricks

Grid Racer

Price $30 download $15 One month access to whole site Contact Groove 3 www.groove3.com

Adam Pollard, AKA Multiplier joins forces with Groove 3 for a new tutorial that’s packed with 50 videos of tips and tricks using Live 10. With a 1 hour and 56 minutes run time, the videos cover a wide range of topics, from workflow tricks and favourite short cuts, to editing, production and mixing tips, including a bunch of creative ways to use side-chaining, warping, envelope followers, racks and more. Pollard’s slightly unusual and broken vocal delivery may not be to everyone’s tastes, but the content is top notch and every tip is concise and to the point. Most of the videos cover techniques relevant to Live 9, but some use Max For Live devices, and others show new functions in Live 10. Whether you’re new to Live or a seasoned veteran, there are masses of inspiring and interesting ideas here to help you become an Ableton master.

Price £18 Contact ModeAudio www.modeaudio.com

Key features O Live 10 tutorial (also Live 9 and Max For Life) O 50 Streamed/downloaded videos O 1 hour, 56 minutes O Workflow, editing, production, mixing and creative tips O Presented by Multiplier

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

A jam-packed tutorial with plenty of quick, inspiring tips for Live 9, Max For Live and Live 10.

Grid Racer from ModeAudio taps into the continuing rise of ’80s retro-inspired synth music with this cool collection of video-gamey, neon-tinged loops, tail samples, drum hits and MIDI files based on 15 construction kits. Aside from the main WAV download, there’s a ReFill version that adds REX loops and Dr.Octo Rex patches, or you can opt for the Ableton version that adds 15 Live 9 projects. From the cascading arps and sweeping synth leads to the resonant bass riffs, the characterful synth sounds are absolutely spot on, with plenty of analogue unison and subtle movement to make them sound big and appropriately sci-fi. These are backed up by drum machine loops and hits with a solid sound and some especially powerful toms, but not a great deal of variety. We found the loops to be a little on the messy side when played side-by-side in the kits, but when treated as individual audio files they can be both beautiful and highly inspiring for evocative new musical ideas.

LOOPMASTERS

LOOPMASTERS

Latin Underground

Martyn Nytram Dread Recordings Vol.8

Price £29.95 Contact info@loopmasters.com www.loopmasters.com

Latin Underground is a new pack from Loopmasters that sees purveyors of columbian dance music DJ Wady and Dvit Bousa crafting a lively collection of Latin-infused tech house grooves.

There’s 834 MB worth of 24-bit audio in your choice of formats covering bass lines with simple but infectious grooves, plenty of tight percussion loops, chunky house drums, and some reverb-drenched synth leads and stabs. There are also a whole load of well-played Latin piano patterns, including a folder of matching piano and live bass loops.

On top of this you’ll also find drum, bass, synth, FX, music and horn stab hits, with 84 sampler patches. Most of the sounds are decent, although we found the overuse of reverb a little much in places. The winner here though is the vibe of the grooves themselves, with some simple but incredibly usable house drums, top loops and percussion.

98 June 2018 MusicTech

Price £24.95 Contact info@loopmasters.com www.loopmasters.com

Key features O Latin-infused house samples O 834 MB worth of 24-bit audio O WAV + REX, Apple Loops + REX, Live or ReFill formats O 84 Patches for EXS24, HALion, Kong, Kontakt, NN-XT and SFZ O Produced by DJ Wady and Dvit Bousa

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

Even if you’re not after the Latin pianos and reverb heavy synths, the vibe and groove of the drums, percussion and top loops are an instant party starter.

DnB master producer Martyn Nytram has put together a pack of DnB and jungle beats and sounds aimed at slaying the dancefloor. The download contains 186 loops in your choice of format, with well-programmed, rolling breaks, percussion and top loops, dark pads and synths and deep growling bass riffs. Everything has a beefed up, polished and loud finish that would sound great on a club sound system.

There are also 256 one-shots with 101 accompanying sampler patches that cover some massive sounding bass hits and crunchy drums, plus FX, instrument hits and 12 synth and bass multis. Overall, this pack sits somewhere between the familiar and original, with expert production and finish throughout providing a very satisfying and usable set of sounds and loops.

Key features O Retro inspired synth music O 470 MB of 24-bit audio O 15 kits, 80 to 136 BPM O 150 loops, 69 tails, 72 drum hits, 121 MIDI files O Wax, ReFill or Ableton Live versions

MT V ER D I CT

8/10

Packed with well-crafted, song-starting synth riffs to add a retro edge to your tracks.

Key features O DnB and jungle beats, synths, bass and FX O 604 MB worth of 24-bit audio O WAV + REX, Apple Loops + REX, Live or ReFill formats O 101 Patches for EXS24, HALion, Kong, Kontakt, NN-XT and SFZ O Produced by Martyn Nytram

MT V ER D I CT

9/10

With analogue warmth and punchy aggression in equal measure, this pack provides both familiar and original, club-ready DnB and jungle sounds.

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DISCOVER MORE Discover new ways to improve your production skills at Loop+ with our great selection of free music production tutorials.

+ DAW Tutorials + Plugin News & Techniques + Studio Tips & Workflow Hacks + Synthesis & More

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R E V I E W S I X O F T H E B ES T

SIX OF THE BEST

PA R T

String instruments

2 BEST DEEP EPIC

Last month we looked at some dedicated string instruments. This time around, software string sounds from more unusual, individual instruments, full orchestras, the best soft synth and even a freeware plug-in!

CINESAMPLES

CineHarps

ORCHESTRAL TOOLS

$249

Contact Cinesamples | https://cinesamples.com

BEST HARPS

The harp might not get as much of the glory as an army of violins and cellos, but the string sound of the harp is more prevalent in today’s film and TV scores than ever before.

But have you ever seen a harpist struggling with this beast of an instrument on the tube?

Yep, this really is one instrument that benefits truly from a software version, and this is truly a great software version…

The first Metropolis Ark was bombastic and ideal for impact. While Arc 2 is more reserved, it can still be epic, just with more depth and subtlety. You get a whole orchestra – not just strings – but you do get a whole lot of strings too…

WE SAID “There is no doubt that this library will appeal predominantly to media composers, or those interested in creating soundtrack-based music. There’s a great choice of sounds available and while they do very much lend themselves to the cinematic, this is not exclusive. If you compose music that might benefit from a good collection of more subtle orchestral colours, this is definitely worth considering; you’ll get a whole batch of other sounds that might interest you, too.”

U-HE

Contact u-He | www.u-he.com

€599

Contact Orchestral Tools | www.orchestraltools.com

WE SAID “The additional instrumental patches which place the harp in context are immensely useful, while the sheer breadth of timbral choice available with the glissandi and FX-based patches make this package a little bit of a bargain for the price, at least if you need harps on a regular basis. Anyway, it’s time to stop harping on about it – it’s comprehensive and covers all bases while going way beyond and sounds truly delicious.”

Triple Cheese

Metropolis Ark 2

£FREE BEST FREE STRINGS!

Triple Cheese is one of the best free synths out there, with three comb filters and eight different modes per comb filter module. But it’s also one of the few string-sounding synths that’s available for both Mac and PC. The winner of the 2006 KVR Developer Challenge, it’s a great way to get a variety of string- and cheese-based sounds for your computer.

And let’s just repeat: it’s free!

WE SAID “Triple Cheese has been a firm freeware favourite, perhaps down to the fact that it is not doing the analogue ’thing’.

Instead, it uses comb filtering and three ‘cheese modules’ to get a variety of sounds, including pads and plucked sounds. Banks include different cheese types (we’re partial to a bit of Gouda), which all go towards making this one of the most distinctive freeware synths on the planet, and one of the pieces of freeware you will keep.”

100 June 2018 MusicTech

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S I X O F T H E B ES T R E V I E W

ORCHESTRAL TOOLS

BEST BUDGET ORCHESTRA

Berlin Orchestra Inspire €399

Contact Orchestral Tools on +49 (0) 7665 939 8678 | www.orchestraltools.com

It’s another complete orchestra of sounds – not just strings – but we’re on a cheaper budget here. Consequently you get less action across the board but certainly enough to create any soundtrack for any genre. One of Orchestral Tools’ best value collections.

WE SAID “The Strings, in particular, offer a good range of articulation types, from the expected sustain and staccato, to pizzicato and tremolo across both major and minor 2nds. Sonically, these are excellent, with

the pizzicatos coming in for particular praise. Each pluck offers a sense of depth, with a small degree of inaccuracy in the ensemble, which makes it sound very believable. Despite costing less than you’d expect, this is a very comprehensive option indeed. As the name suggests, there’s a vast amount to inspire you in this fantastic library, and that’s what we all want: a great all-round library for a very fair price. Bravo!”

BEST ULTIMATE ORCHESTRA

SPITFIRE AUDIO

Symphonic Orhestra

£1499

Contact Spitfire Audio | www.spitfireaudio.com

You get three collections in one here with full String, Wind and Brass section orchestral libraries but the String section is very much ensemble-based and symphony orchestrasized, offering lots of flexibility.

WE SAID “As the String section is largely a repackaging of Mural Symphonic Strings, from a previous product incarnation, we’ve all come to expect how good this will be sonically. Sure enough, there is no disappointment – in fact, the ability to easily access just what you want, either manually or by key-switching, is elegant.

It’s an expensive option but if you’re a composer working in a more classical or filmic/media- based genre, this is an absolute gem of a package to consider. Its strength in so many areas makes it hard to beat, and you might find it replaces whole swathes of libraries that one might employ to add up to a sum of parts.”

“If you’re a working in a more classical or filmic/mediabased genre, this is an absolute gem”

SPECTRASONICS

Omnisphere 2 Contact Spectrasonics | www.spectrasonics.net

£339 BEST SOFT SYNTH

Of course synths can do strings almost as well as dedicated orchestral packages but rather than list all the good ones, why not just list arguably the best one? Omnisphere 2 is widely regarded as one of the greatest soft synths out there and is packed with strings and pads, making it ideal for use on any soundtrack too.

WE SAID “While some developers have got close to Spectrasonics’ greatness, there’s little doubt that the revitalised Omnisphere will set a new gold standard for the next five years. Thanks to some innovative features, not to mention a wealth of extra sonic material, it’s hard to imagine any software instrument delivering the same breadth and sheer sonic excellence.”

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ES S E N T I A L G U I D E R E C O R D I N G

MT ESSENTI AL GUIDE

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO

RECORDING

PA R T

If you capture the perfect sound at source you will have a much better ingredient with which to produce perfect music. Here's MusicTech’s Essential Guide to recording so you can get great results every time…

S

o far in these MusicTech Essential Guides we’ve focussed very much on products – synths, microphones, interfaces and so on – and where (and how) they fit into your studio. We’ve started at the beginning detailing DAWs and finished with a couple of chapters on plug-in effects. Now it’s time to tie everything together by looking at one of the main processes behind music production – recording. This part of music making is key and often one that you need to get right, as it's potentially difficult ot undo mistakes you make during the process at a later stage.

START AT THE BEGINNING The recording signal chain – that is getting an audio signal into your computer in the first place, producing a song with it and other files and instruments and listening to the results on your monitors – very much starts with a microphone, so we’ll cover microphones and mic’ing techniques in this guide and include a variety of microphones over different price points.

However, the recording practice ends when that signal picked up by the mic – guitar, vocal, drums or whatever – is safely and perfectly sitting inside your DAW so you can start mixing with it. To get to this perfect scenario you will also need an

interface to physically get the signal in, which possibly includes a preamp or two to bolster your signal or colour it in a satisfying way (to improve or ‘warm up’ its tone, for example). With that in mind we’ll also give a brief explanation of interfaces and include a selection of those with and without preamps included in our buyers guide. So that’s two product types for the

Condenser microphones are a more sensitive option, often require external power and can be expensive but they are capable of picking up all the nuances of a performance, so tend to be used on more sensitive recordings – acoustic guitar for example.

Ribbon mics can be thought of as offering the detail of a condenser with

We have arguably the most important part of music production explained in just a few pages. Let’s go! price of one and arguably the most important part of music production explained in just a few pages.

MIC TYPES Let’s jump straight into the essential facts you need to know about microphones and mic’ing up a variety of different acoustic instruments. There is a huge array of microphone types and styles to choose from and you have to match the type of recording you are attempting to make – instrument, vocal, drum, etc – with the right microphone in order to get the perfect recording at the start of your signal chain.

We’ll try and sum up these types in as concise a way as possible and then do some instrument matching for you.

Firstly, microphone types. We start with the dynamic microphone. Think of it as a reverse speaker in operation. You sing into it, a diaphragm moves according to the vibration of your voice and converts your singing into an electrical audio signal.

Dynamics are the big, simple and often the cheap option in the microphone world and used to record big sounds – electric guitar cabinets, live vocals, and some drums.

less noise. They operate rather like dynamics but are less robust. They can consequently be expensive but almost offer the best of both worlds of the previous two options alongside some very characterful recordings.

Other types of mics include tube which offers character and warmth, while USB and iOS mics plug straight into your computer or iPad. For music recording, though, the three types that we started with are by far the most common.

MIC POSITIONING In order to put your microphone in the right place to capture the best recording, you’ll need to understand a little about polar patterns. This pattern is the invisible field around a microphone that picks up the best signal – the part, then, that you’ll want to aim at your subject.

Mics with an omni-directional polar pattern record equally well all around the microphone, with a polar pattern like an invisible ball.

Cardioid microphones focus on one side, usually the top of the mic so are often used for vocals. In a live situation, for example, they will pick up the vocalist at the peak part of the cardioid pattern, but because they are focussed on the vocal,

musictech.net

R E C O R D I N G ES S EN T I A L G U I D E

B A S I C VO C A L A N D I N S T R U M ENT R EC O R D I N G T EC H N I Q UES

ACOUSTIC GUITAR A good stereo method is the X-Y setup with two mics placed at 90 degrees aimed between the sound hole and 12th fret.

A

ELECTRIC Choose a dynamic and close mic it to the centre of the amp for a brighter sound or further to the edge for a more mellow sound.

B

PIANO This is a piano from the side with a single mic placed in the middle over the top or in front (which results in more of a hammer sound).

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B

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they won’t pick up the crowd noise behind that part which represents the weakest part of the pattern. Other patterns include supercardioid – where the main focus of the patterns is enlarged and becomes even more intense – and figure of 8,with two focusses in front and behind the mic which is used for stereo recording or maybe two backing vocalists singing into the opposite patterns. Most of the microphones we talk about here are omni or cardioid although some include multiple patterns so you can tailor your microphone for different situations.

So, to setting up microphones for recording: there are as many different ways of doing this as there are microphones (and recording engineers!).

The only rule is that ‘if it sounds good, it’s right’. OK that’s not the only one, but the main thing you need to consider is to make the time for a little experimentation and trial and error to find your favoured sweet spots, and a great sound to record.

When it comes to vocalists, a key factor

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is to make them feel at ease to capture what should be a very personal performance. On a more practical level, have a few microphones ready to try some options out. Have at least one as a large condenser mic. The best position is placing the mic a few inches away and slightly above the mouth. At mouth level you might get more plosives but always consider a pop shield to reduce these.

ALL IN THE BALANCE Different instruments all require different mic’ing up techniques but a single mic rule that can be used for a variety of instruments is to place the mic between the bass and treble part of the instrument to get a balanced sound. If you have two then place one each at each end.

When recording acoustic guitar, try a small or large diaphragm condenser with cardioid pattern aimed at the 12th fret eight to 12 inches away. If you have a matched pair of mics try two small condensers at least 90 degrees to one

VOCALS Always use a pop shield to reduce plosives and place the mic slightly above the mouth and below the nose.

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another pointing at anywhere along the guitar between the soundhole and 12th fret. For electric guitar a classic method is the a dynamic close to the amp and a condenser further out to capture the room.

For piano we’ll try and keep it really simple. With one condenser mic, place it central and in front of the piano. If this results in too much hammer noise raise it, still centrally, over the top of the piano.

With two mics, use the same distance and technique, but place each a third of the way alongthe high and low notes to capture bass and treble.

With drums you can get away with one condenser or dynamic placed over the drummer’s shoulder angled towards the kit but you should really aim for a two mic set up at least. Producer Bob Clearmountain has a famous set-up – a Shure dynamic, in front of the kick or inside to avoid air rumble and a condenser pointing down and placed overhead to the kit and fairly centrally over the snare and toms.

Legendary producer Ken Scott has

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ES S E N T I A L G U I D E R E C O R D I N G

A N ATO M Y O F A S I M PL E I N T ER FAC E FR O N T A N D B AC K

INPUTS Many interfaces have inputs at the front and back for ease of use.

These ones can take all three inputs: microphone, instrument and line.

BUILT-IN MIC PRES Microphone inputs need mic preamps to amplify the signal and in some cases colour it in a pleasing, often warming way.

IN AND OUT LEDS It’s useful to have visual indicators to see if your signals are clipping into the red so you don’t get a distorted DAW recording.

CONTROLLING LEVELS Control levels with dials for inputs one and two, main speaker outs and the headphone out which we usually like to see at the front.

INTERFACE TYPE The connector is a clue – this is a USB interface of which there are USB 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 – the higher the better although 2.0 is good enough for a lot of audio.

MIDI CONNECTORS Many audio interfaces also deal with MIDI data too which is the digital info routed through that records note presses (and a lot more) from MIDI keyboards.

OUTPUTS This particular interface might be basic, but it still allows your DAW to send to a main set of monitors or another set, useful for speakers perhaps placed in a different room.

HEADPHONE OUT Monitoring on phones is always good if you have angry neighbours and many interfaces have two so you can monitor different mixes or with your singer.

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a very specific set-up that has worked as an engineer and producer for everyone from The Beatles and David Bowie downwards: “An Electro-Voice RE20 on the bass drum, a Neumann U67s or U87s on toms, two Coles 4038s overhead and a Sony C38A on the snare.”

Well, we did say that it was specific…

INTERFACES

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engineers. You can get separate preamps just to do this, but we’ll concentrate on those that specialise in interfacing as well.

Back to the mic input and you’ll usually find at least two of these. You could argue that this is enough for any situation, as you

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A quick word on interface types: they come in several flavours that really denote speed more than anything else. The faster your interface, the less latency; that is the delay between you hitting a note and hearing it, as the signal has to travel in and out of your DAW. USB is the most common, but slower than FireWire which also handles multiple ins and outs better, while Thunderbolt is faster still. Ethernet and others take you to the pro level; it’s really the three above that we’ll list alongside our favourite interfaces later, after our top microphones starting opposite.

Choosing a decent mic and interface can take time but once you've settled on some, then you've got the core elements you need to begin building up your perfect recording signal chain.

Choose a decent microphone and interface and you complete the start of your perfect recording signal chain

The second piece of the recording puzzle is an interface, designed to take your microphone signal – or a ‘line’ level signal from a keyboard or amplifier, or ‘instrument’ signal from a guitar – and route it to your computer.

Microphone inputs have preamps on them to boost the signal from the mic to the necessary line level. Some preamps add a certain sound to an input signal, like a vintage warmth beloved by certain

104 June 2018 MusicTech

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can record any instrument in stereo with this and build your recorded song up track by track. However, some interfaces have multiple inputs so that complete bands can be recorded live with the same interface for more convenience.

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R E C O R D I N G ES S EN T I A L G U I D E

BUYER’S GUIDE Last time we tried to list every microphone we’ve reviewed it took four pages so here are some of the ones that scored best in those reviews over a variety of budgets…

BUD GET MICROPHONES

ASTON ORIGIN Price £249 Type Cardioid condenser

AUDIO TECHNICA AT2020

www.astonmics.com

Price £89 Type Cardioid condenser

WE SAY “A stunning clear quality, with plenty of depth and a smooth, natural high-end on vocals. On electric guitar it sounded instantly usable. The top-end seemed entirely contained, with no harshness, just a full-bodied tone, even in drop-D tuning.”

www.audio-technica.com

ASTON SPIRIT

SE ELECTRONICS V3

Price £349 Type Multi-pattern condenser

www.astonmics.com

WE SAY “The sound quality is impressive, with a negligible noise floor. The high frequencies have a crisp and sweet sparkle that adds a degree of presence. The midrange is well defined with no obvious colouration and the bass is solid.”

Price £56 Type Cardioid dynamic

WE SAY “It performed well at just about everything we threw it on, matching and even outperforming some much more expensive microphones in the process. If you are looking to expand your mic selection, the Spirit is virtually a must-have.”

www.seelectronics.com

AUDIO TECHNICA AE2300

SHURE SM57

Price £260 Type Cardioid dynamic

www.shuredistribution.co.uk

www.audio-technica.com WE SAY “Designed for recording electric guitar, the mic comes equipped with a low-pass roll off built in. Engaging this switch and recording the guitars produced a much more focused sound, with less fizz, but still a brighter, more airy sound.”

WE SAY “The mic has a much more pronounced presence, which was absolutely perfect for our female soul singer. The extra presence helped to hype the vocal in a musical manner.”

Price £92 Type Cardioid dynamic

WE SAY “Whereas the SM58 is the classic vocal mic, the 57 is geared towards instruments and is the choice of many a top producer and is an industry-standard, highly versatile microphone tuned for the clean reproduction of amplified and acoustic instruments.”

MIDR A NGE MICROPHONES

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AKG C314

AVANTONE CV28

Price £436 Type Multi-pattern condenser

Price £469 Type Multi-pattern valve

www.soundtech.co.uk

www.scvdistribution.co.uk

WE SAY “Flexible pro mic with four pickup patterns (omnidirectional, cardioid, hypercardioid and figure-8). On vocals, the C314’s low-noise/high-detail attributes came to the fore. It’s a smooth yet up-front tone that helps to push vocals to the front of a mix.”

WE SAY “We started testing with the CV28 in cardioid mode and it blew us away. The tone was very full but also incredibly detailed and natural.

There is a trace of a lift in the treble, but this just provides a bit of ‘air’ and there’s no trace of harshness or metallic ringing.”

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BUYER’S GUIDE Midrange continued…

NEUMANN TLM102 Price £499 Type Cardioid condenser

www.neumann.com

RODE NTR Price £510 (was £899 so a bargain!)

Type Figure of 8 ribbon

www.sourcedistribution.co.uk

WE SAY “If there's one name that come up again and again when talking about recording microphones it's Neumann. The fact that you can get one for less than £500 is astonishing especially as it records acoustic guitar so well.”

WE SAY “An old-school ribbon microphone more suited for great vocal recording, with a very solid build, great design and low noise floor. Recording acoustic instruments and quiet singers presents no difficulties. Vocal tests revealed extremely smooth and natural results.

A very high-quality, old-school ribbon microphone.”

PELUSO P-28

SENNHEISER MK8

Price £899 Type Cardioid valve condenser

Price £606 Type Multi-pattern condenser

www.kmraudio.com

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com

WE SAY “The P-28 was designed with elements of the Neumann KM54 and the AKG C28 in mind and regardless of where you place it, it sounds good and it’s as impressive for clear and breathy vocals as general instrument recording. The P-28 more than fits the bill.”

WE SAY “The MK 8 is jam-packed with features and equally suited to vocals, acoustic guitars, guitar amplifiers, grand piano, strings, wind instruments, drums and percussion.

A fine-sounding studio workhorse with a clear modern tone, that offers plenty of user control.”

H I G H END MICROPHONES

CHANDLER REDD Price £4399 Type Cardioid or omni condenser

www.chandlerlimited.com

Price £1065 Type Cardioid condenser

WE SAY “A formidable and expensive package but the Chandler REDD Microphone is one of the most glorious-sounding microphones we’ve had the pleasure of testing.

But such quality comes at a price.”

www.sontronics.com

NEUMANN TLM107

TELEFUNKEN DD4

Price £1089 Type Multi-pattern condenser

www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com

www.neumann.com WE SAY “A large-capsule condenser with five patterns and degrees of filtering and attenuation. Neumann has come up with an affordable ‘Swiss Army microphone’. It’s unmistakably a Neumann tone, but tweaked in the top and bottom for more contemporary music-production requirements.”

106 June 2018 MusicTech

SONTRONICS ARIA

WE SAY “As well as being great for vocals, it’s a very capable all rounder too, with the silky and shimmering highs providing impressive detail resolution for delicate acoustic guitar picking, percussion and even clean electric guitar.”

Price £1099 Type Set of dynamic drum mics

WE SAY “These microphones could also be used very capably for all manner of other recordings: from vocals, to guitar or bass cabinets, and are sure to add some new options.

And should you not have the budget for the whole thing, each mic is also available individually.”

musictech.net

R E C O R D I N G ES S EN T I A L G U I D E

BUYER’S GUIDE We’ve included a variety of interfaces over three budgets. Again these are the ones that have scored best in our reviews. For more check out www.musictech.net BUD GET INTERFACES

APOGEE JAM 96K

ICONNECTIVITY ICONNECT AUDIO 4+

Price £99 Type USB and iOS

www.soundtech.co.uk

Price £261 Type USB and iOS

WE SAY “A simple, problem-solving interface to plug your guitar into your Windows or Mac computer, or iOS device. Using the JAM 96k is incredibly simple and this is a fantastic device. It doesn’t do all that much, but what it does, it does in style.”

www.iconnectivity.com WE SAY “A great interface for marrying the worlds of iOS and your desktop studio. It allows audio and MIDI to be sent directly between your iOS device and the Mac or PC, over USB. Superb first interface to link all your studio gear.”

AUDIENT ID14

IK MULTIMEDIA IRIG PRO DUO

Price £199 Type USB

www.audient.com

Price £149 Type USB and iOS

WE SAY “The iD14 isn’t lacking anything essential. Audient has concentrated on audio quality rather than gimmicks and the result is attractive, sonically impressive and fiendishly useful. This is a classy interface, featuring all the quality you’d expect from Audient at a very affordable price.”

www.ikmultimedia.com WE SAY “A USB powered two-in, two-out interface and the 2HD, which is an updated interface specifically for guitarists – and a simple and elegant solution. A much bigger set of features and connectivity than you might expect to find, given both the price and size.”

FOCUSRITE ITRACK RANGE Price £119 to £169 Type USB and iOS

uk.focusrite.com WE SAY “A ‘go to’ range if you’re into iOS recording that features the iPad dock, and One Pre which is a great mobile interface that can work with high quality microphones. For iOS needs, look no further.”

STEINBERG UR44 Price £259 Type USB/Mobile

www.steinberg.net

WE SAY “A 6 x 4 interface with good preamps and specs that works just as well on the road as it does studio. The preamps are crystal clear and the build quality excellent.

If your I/O needs are modest, but you still want pro-level features like direct monitoring and DSP-powered effects, the UR44 is an excellent choice.”

MIDR A NGE INTERFACES

ARTURIA AUDIOFUSE

AUDIENT ID22

Price £498 Type USB and mobile

www.audient.com

www.sourcedistribution.co.uk WE SAY “2 in 2 out plus ADAT and digital i/o interface. This is a really great sounding, very well-spec’d box of tricks and I’d be very happy having one of these in my armoury of toys to work with. A commercial and punchy sound and will perform well for many users.”

musictech.net

Price £329 Type USB

WE SAY “An interface and monitor controller. As with other Audient interfaces, you get pristine converters and excellent-sounding preamps. The iD22 features two mic/line preamps, which are identical to the ones found in Audient’s consoles and standalone preamps. Very high quality and at a great price.”

MusicTech June 2018 107

ES S E N T I A L G U I D E R E C O R D I N G

BUYER’S GUIDE Midrange continued…

RME BABYFACE PRO Price £629 Type USB and mobile

www.synthax.co.uk

FOCUSRITE CLARETT 8PRE Price £999 Type Thunderbolt (and now USB)

uk.focusrite.com

WE SAY “Out-and-out aimed at the mobile community and it can be used with or without a computer and iPad connectivity extends its practical use even further. It is a fine unit. It’s not the cheapest interface around, but it screams quality and you just feel you can trust it to go pretty much anywhere with you.”

WE SAY “18 audio inputs and 20 outs, with eight analogue ins and 10 outs, plus eight ADAT I/Os and stereo S/PDIF I/O. It's part of a range of three and now available in USB. Highly recommended and our Interface Of The Year two years ago.

We just tested the USB version and it is great too."

UNIVERSAL AUDIO APOLLO TWIN MK II Price £720 (may find it cheaper – 2 stores selling for £600) Type Thunderbolt

PRESONUS STUDIO 192 Price £499 for mobile version Type USB

www.sourcedistribution.co.uk

www.uaudio.com

WE SAY “The Studio range from Presonus impressed us with it's flexible connectivity and great bundle of software. Studio 192 delivers a good audio performance and bags of extras. It is quite rightly called a Studio Command Centre, as what you get for your buck is lots of connectivity and a great spec.”

WE SAY “A 2 x6 desktop interface with added power to run excellent UA plug-ins. For anyone serious about audio fidelity, it definitely punches above its weight. Excellent recording and monitoring capabilities, as well as access to UAD’s plug-in universe.”

H I G H END INTERFACES

DIGIGRID IOS Price €2555 Type Ethernet

www.digigrid.com

FOCUSRITE RED 8PRE Price £2999 Type Thunderbolt, Dante DigiLink

uk.focusrite.com

108 June 2018 MusicTech

WE SAY “It can connect to multiple DAWs, features high-quality Waves software and a host of pro features, eight outputs, plus two headphone outputs. A very exciting interface, offering a powerful DSP engine alongside an impressive I/O selection.”

WE SAY “One of Focusrite's best interfaces with a host of i/o. It has everything you need to centre your studio around. With integration all built-in, it’s perfectly positioned for any studio upgrade. An absolutely incredible interface, which ensures connection possibilities for almost all conceivable studio needs.”

PRISM TITAN Price £2998 Type USB plus 2 S/PDIF and MDIO

www.prismsound.com

RME FIREFACE UFX+ Price £2418 Type USB and Firewire

www.synthax.co.uk

WE SAY “It might be big money, but Prism is all about the highquality converters and all about the components, so you get really top-notch audio here and a rocksolid interface. The hike in quality has to be heard. If so, you might be amazed at where you suddenly find the extra cash.”

WE SAY “This has a total number of 188 inputs and outputs. In terms of specs and capabilities, it’s one of the fullest-featured interfaces in this roundup and will probably do everything you will ever need.

Perfect hub for a pro, futureproof studio, and delivers a sublime workflow and crystal audio quality.”

musictech.net

ES S E N T I A L G U I D E R E C O R D I N G

MT ESSENTI AL GUIDE

STARTER STUDIO This month we’re in recording mode so let’s see if we can kit out an entire band with a studio for less than £1000. That’s a studio, for a band, with a grand...

IN NTE ERFACE

MIC CROPHONE

We’ve chosen some interfaces with mixers included so you get more hands on flexibility when recording…

There are some obvious mic choices to make if you are a band strapped for cash (to be Shure, there are!) but there are others...

Allen & Heath ZED 10

Presonus Studio 1824

Price £189 (for ZED 10FX) www.allen-heath.com

Price £446 www.sourcedistribution.co.uk

WE SAY ”Straightforward, cheap, rugged, easy to use, what more does a band need?”

WE SAY “The price is warranted as you get a DAW thrown in, plus plenty of I/O for your band’s needs.”

Soundcrat Signature 12

Focusrite Saffire Pro

Aston Origin

Shure SM58

Price £299 www.uk.focusrite.com

Price £249 www.astonmics.com

Price £92 www.shuredistribution.co.uk

Price £291 www.soundtech.co.uk

WE SAY “A great mixer and interface that brings all your studio worlds together with ease.”

WE SAY “Oldie but a goodie with lots of ins and outs and Firewire interfacing – solid band interface.”

Audio Technica AT2020

Shure SM57

Price £85 www.audio-technica.com

WE SAY Incredible sound quality for the price and a very flexible microphone overall.”

WE SAY ”Stunning clear quality, with plenty of depth and a smooth, natural high-end on vocals. And instantly useable on guitar.”

Price £92 www.shuredistribution.co.uk

WE SAY ”Shure SM57s for your instruments, a Shure SM58 to keep your vocalist happy. Sorted.”

WE SAY ”Shure SM57s for your instruments, a Shure SM58 to keep your vocalist happy. Sorted.”

MONITTORS

DAW

We've reviewed less of the cheaper studio monitors of late so our low cost recommendations are quite old but still good…

Some great DAWs for your desktop plus one great DAW for the band on the run...

Fender Focal Passport Studio Price £357.20 www.scvdistribution.co.uk

WE SAY “A great set of monitors you can transport around to different band member’s houses.”

M-Audio M3-8

Apple Logic

Price £279 each www.m-audio.com

Price £199 iTunes or www.apple.com

WE SAY ”They are very well spec'd for the price, which has dropped considerably since we reviewed them.”

Wave Machinelabs Auria Pro

WE SAY ”Whenever we do an ‘on a budget’ piece, it’s hard not to mention Logic as you get so much for your money, so here it is again…”

Price £23.99 or £49.99 with all IAPs

WE SAY ”The most ‘pro’ app here – and is the ideal choice if you want to record your band on the move.”

IKM iLoud Micro

Focal Alpha range

Tracktion Waveform

Acoustica Mixcrat

Price £235 www.ikmultimedia.com

Price from £225 www.scvdistribution.co.uk

Price $259 www.tracktion.com

Price $179 www.acoustica.com

WE SAY ”One of the newer kids on the DAW block is now packed with power versus its price and a great option.”

WE SAY ”Another great DAW for the money, this is packed with features for all producers.”

WE SAY “These are probably the smallest monitors out there that you can call proper studio monitors, great for traveling musicians too.”

110 June 2018 MusicTech

WE SAY ”The clarity, accuracy and audio quality this provides is rare indeed at this price point.”

musictech.net

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1

the WAYS TO GET A VINTAGE VIBE As music styles and tastes cycle around, there will always be the need to produce a vintage sound. Thankfully there are many and varied ways to do just this, from using the original gear right down to some simple recording techniques…

D

efining ‘a vintage sound’ is getting more and more difficult.

Modern pop music effectively kicked off with the rock of the 1950s so we have seven decades to plunder for that vintage ideal. Really though, we’re probably talking up to the 1980s – a classic period of four decades when studios were incredible sonic laboratories, music production was, through necessity, more experimental and music technology was in its infancy.

Thankfully, today’s much-improved technology allows us to capture anything from a psychedelic ’60s vibe to ’80s synth pop and if you add a couple of simple production tricks then you can recreate a vintage vibe and set up in your home studio with relative ease and at a fairly low cost too. We’ll start, though, with the opposite extreme…

112 June 2018 MusicTech

1BUILD A VINTAGE STUDIO

If you are a collector, or Abbey Road Studios, you’ll know that the best way to capture a vintage sound is with vintage gear (and a lovely sounding environment).

OK, this is going to be out of reach for most, but stick with us, because if you identify some of the more important vintage studio components, you can move on to points 2 and 3 with some confidence. If you have the cash, consider some classic pieces of outboard gear like an EMT 140 Plate reverb, Roland Space Echo, Fairchild 660 Limiter, UREI 1176 limiter, EMI REDD47 mic pre, Pultec EQP-1A EQ, Neve 1073 preamp, and Teletronix LA-2A compressor. As far as synths go, for a ’70s or ’80s sound consider anything by Moog, ARP, Sequential, Buchla, Minimoog, ARP, Roland, Korg or Yamaha.

And as far as recording mics go, anything

by Neumann, Coles, AKG et al from that

period will do (and do cost). There are a lot more classic pieces of outboard, mics and instrumentation that you can buy, but by now you’ll be homeless and spent…

2 GET NEW HARDWARE

Thankfully, though, there is a whole industry built on new gear that emulates all of the above without any of the problems associated with buying old gear (cost, reliability, damage and so on). It’s either been recreated or re-imagined by new companies or, in the cases of the likes of Neumann, Moog, Sequential, Neve and more, recreated for the modern era. The good news is that most of the new hardware is cheaper and in the case of the emulations, a LOT cheaper. Just a few examples of new companies emulating classic outboard include Golden Age Project, Chandler (who have the license to

musictech.net

2

5

3

6

4 recreate Abbey Road/EMI hardware), Lindell and Thermionic Culture. In the synth world Korg have made a great job of re-doing the ARP, Roland continues to plunder its classics while DSI, Moog and more release new classics all the time.

3 THEN THERE’S SOFTWARE

Vintage synths have been available in software form for nigh on 20 years, with companies like Arturia, GForce, Korg, Moog, Roland and more releasing some excellent examples, plus a freeware community that has recreated just about everything ever made – with variable results. Many vintage effects have also been emulated in software. Let’s look at some of those effects…

4 RECREATE VINTAGE EFFECTS

Our vintage expert John Pickford has recommended a couple of ways to

musictech.net

recreate some vintage effects in your DAW (at www.musictech.net). The Elvis slapback echo uses a single repeat with a delay time between 60 and 120ms. For vintage reverb, roll off below 600Hz before sending the signal to the reverb to avoid rumble and cut the top above 10kHz to emphasise the mid range. Motown sound? Grab yourself a Pultec emulator and use the ‘low end trick’, simultaneously boosting and cutting at one of the unit’s selectable bass frequencies.

5 USE LESS RECORDING GEAR

You could easily argue that less is more when it comes to vintage recording as the gear used to be so expensive.

When it comes to creating a ’60s drum sound, for example, it was two mics max: one above the kit, one in or around the kick. Reverb chambers were also used to get a varied sound. Try a DIY way by placing a speaker at one end of a room

and recording the output with a single mic at the other. Less is more, until you get to the Phil Spector ‘Wall of Sound’ days, which can be recreated by layering instruments playing the same notes. Try five guitars, four pianos, a couple of bass lines along with drums, percussion, strings and horns to make a mighty mix.

6 DON’T GO TAPE

The ultimate vintage set-up would end in an analogue reel to reel tape recorder, as once upon a time it would give you a richer analogue sound over the digital. Now, though, digital recording has improved, especially using effects like tape emulators and saturators. So don’t get so wrapped up in nostalgia and expensive tape to think that all modern recording life is rubbish.

NEXT TIME 6 Ways to better bass…

MusicTech June 2018 113

R E W I N D A KG C 414 M I C R O P H O N E

V INTAG E K IT

REWIND

An underrated workhorse, the AKG C414 MICROPHONE has grown in popularity thanks to its flexibility and clear sound…

Words John Pickford

What’s your favourite microphone? It’s a question I’ve been asked several times and one that I struggle to answer definitively.

I love the dark yet detailed midrange of the Neumann U67 on guitar amps and piano, the fast and phat sound of the Coles 4038 over a drum kit and the Beyer MD201 on anything you might otherwise use a Shure SM57. When, however, I was asked which mic I would choose if I had to use one model to record everything, the answer was a no-brainer: the AKG C414.

HERITAGE

primarily for recording acoustic guitar – I recall hearing it alongside a Neumann U87 and being very impressed by the AKG’s incisive, sparkling top end. At a later session, a vocalist singing into the U87 sounded a little woolly, so I suggested that he try the C414 instead. I’ll never forget the look of abject horror on my boss’s face as I’d dared to suggest that anything but the U87 be used to record a lead vocal! I felt like a bit of a fool at the time – but I know better now.

For around two decades now I’ve been using a pair of C414 B ULS mics to record just about everything, from vocals and acoustic guitar to drum overheads and bass.

It’s a superb sounding microphone and this model remains the most commercially successful of all C414 variants. The midrange does have a slightly woody character but that’s all, the mic is essentially flat with excellent extension at both frequency extremes.

Some time ago I was talking about microphones with my friend and colleague Geoff Barrow, of Portishead and Beak>. We both agreed that the C414 was our favourite all-purpose mic.

He told me that Portishead’s classic Mercury Music Prize winning debut album Dummy was recorded almost exclusively with C414s. Now you can’t argue with that, can you?

The C414 as we know it launched in 1971, but its origins can be traced to the ’50s

The C414 as we know it was launched in 1971, however its origins can be traced back to 1953. That year AKG introduced the CK12 capsule found in its C12 condenser microphone. The C12 became an extremely popular studio mic with the BBC among the first to acquire several models. Engineers at Abbey Road Recording Studios also rated the mic, with The Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick using one exclusively to record Paul McCartney’s bass guitar.

As solid-state technology advanced throughout the 1960s, AKG developed a new FET (Field Effect Transistor) mic to augment and replace the valve C12. The C412 was a short-lived model though as the BBC – one of AKG’s biggest customers – requested a hypercardioid polar pattern in addition to the omni, cardioid and figure-8 patterns present.

114 June 2018 MusicTech

The four-patterned C414 became available just as 16-track recording became the industry standard. Early C414s sounded similar to the C12 – both used the CK12 capsule – with an accurate, transparent midrange along with a clean and extended high-frequency response.

They sounded brighter than the rival Neumanns, making them particularly good for modern pop recording.

Some engineers found the C414 a little leaner in the low-end compared to the

C12, prompting a revision in 1976 that produced the C414 EB (Extended Bass).

This model incorporated a three-position bass roll off switch (75Hz, 150Hz and flat), as well as two levels of padding (10dB and 20dB), the same as current models.

A few years later, the discontinuation of the brass-ringed CK12 capsule prompted a new nylon-based design that gave the C414 a warmer sound. Several more revisions appeared over the next couple of decades, including the C414 B TL-II.

SPARKLING SONICS I first encountered the original 1971 C414 as a rookie engineer in the mid-1980s. The chief engineer/studio owner used it

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