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MODERN PRODUCTION NEW SERIES | PACKED DVD! | RECORD VOCALS PART 2 4GB+

www.musictech.net

Issue 135 June 2014

Review

NORD LEADA1

Nord's best analogue sounding synth?

DY

WIN!

ATHERMIONIC CULTUREHG15 WORTH£1900

A

BUILD YOUR OWN GEAR rom classic amps to synths: the budget way to the perfect studio PLUS KORG's MS20 kit on test

Hoursoftutorial videos&100sof royalty-freesamples

Review

Softube ConsoleOne THEBESTTUTORIALS MIXINGINABLETONLIVE ADVANCEDMIDIINLOGIC CUBASEANDHARDWARE

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Singer-Songwriter Ben Montague

New M-Series... ...same sonic signature The new M-Series headphones from Audio-Technica feature the same sonic signature of the original and critically acclaimed ATH-M50, across the whole range. Continuing to offer exceptionally accurate audio and outstanding comfort, now with detachable cables for the new ATH-M50x and ATH-M40x models. Recording, Mixing, DJing, Live or simply on the road, the new M-Series continues to deliver, everywhere.

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ATH-M30x

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Welcome MT

Expert Panel Studio Hardware John Pickford John is a studio engineer with over 25 years of expe ience. He is a keen sound recording h storian and has a passion for valve-driven ana og e equipment and classic record ng techn q es.

Mixing/Mastering/Logic Mark Cousins Mark specialises in sound design and cinematic pro uctions. He has recorded with orchestras across Europe and is heavily involved in soundtrack composit on.

Careers Editor Rob Boffard Rob Boffard is a sound designer with a background in TV and radio work. He is a Reason evangelist, and when not writing for Music Tech he releases hip-hop music under the name Rob One.

Digital/Composition Andy Price With a masters in songwriting and a vast interest in music history and recording techniques, Andy wor s daily on Musi ech.net as well as regula ly con ributing to the magazine.

Recording & Guitar Tech Huw Price A recording engi eer since 1987, Huw has worked with David Bowie, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Heidi Berry, Fad Gadget and countless others.

Sco ing/Orchestral Keith Gemmell Keith specialises in areas where traditional music-making meets music technology, ncluding orchestral and jazz sam le l b aries, acoustic virtual instruments and notation software.

Ableton Live & DJ’ing Liam O’Mullane Liam has worked as a D&B scratch DJ as well as releasing dubstep, D&B and hardcore tracks. His passio is to master the production styles of the latest genres using Live.

Reason & Mobile Hol in Jo es As well as teaching music technology, producing a d wri ing sou dtracks, ol i is an expert on everything A ple, mobile or com uter-re ated, as well as being an accomplished ey oard player.

Electronic Music Alex Holmes Alex has been a computer musician for 15 years, having a keen passion for beats, bass and a l forms of e ectronic music. e’s cu re tly nvolved in three d f erent dance music projects.

Cubase Tim Hallas Tim’s a music technology consultant and education expert. As Cubase Editor e will be bringing you a range of echnique features or he popular AW over the coming months.

Many, many years ago I had a go at building my own piece of studio gear. It was for an electronics course and the item in question was a MIDI interface for a Sinclair ZX Spectrum (see I told you it was many years ago). And it worked! Well, long enough to be judged a ‘pass’ by my course tutor, before it blew up, taking the computer with it. It cost me a ZX Spectrum, but I got a qualification out of it… Luckily, my job has allowed me to get to know people who know a lot more about putting DIY gear together than I do. And, even more luckily, there are plenty of ready-to-assemble electronic kits out there for us all to try. (Even more luckily still, there aren’t many ZX Spectrums left to try them out with.) Huw is our expert and this month, on p13, he has written an overview of what you can do DIY-wise in your studio: anything from assembling a simple lead to building a synth. Surprisingly it is all easy enough and you could save a fortune and end up with some great gear. We’ll be looking at several DIY projects over the coming months that’ll cover some very different, but essential, studio items. I reckon even I could some of them a go. So lock up your classic computers, I’m going in… Andy Jones Senior Editor Email [email protected] Send your tweets @AndyJonesMT (although don’t expect much tweeting from me) Read my blogs at www.musictech.net

Pro Tools Mike Hillie Mike spent five years at Metropolis Studios, wor ing alongside some of the best-known ix a d mastering engineers in the world. He is now buildi g his own studio in south London.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE! Head to our constantly updated website for the latest news, reviews and 10 yea s’ worth of quality content – musictech.net

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MTContents

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MTContents Issue 135

June 2014

13 DIYTECH!

Buil your own studio gear for a fraction of the cost! From cables to pre amps:do it yourself…

Feature

40

DIY Kit review

21

HOW TO RECORD PT 2 Korg MS20 kit

The gear and the skills you need to record lead vocals… 4 | June 2014

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The first of our DIY projects is a great one – Korg’s classic synth!

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Contents MT

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006 | ADVANCE What we’ve been doing this month, and it’s a trip to the greatest studio ever built: Abbey Road.

The Latest Reviews

NORD LEAD A1

MT Issue 135 Full listings…

p71

p87

EZ drummer 2 | Universal Audio Apollo Twin Arturia KeyLab | Softube Console 1 | Sontronics Aria

013 | COVER – DIY! Build your own studio gear: the guide and your first project PLUS: Korg’s MS20 built and reviewed LANDMARK RECORDINGS 029 | Björk Homogenic: the background story of one of the ice queen’s greatest releases

DAW Tutorials

BECOMEAPOWERUSERPART10 p48

p58

THE PROFESS ONALS 034 | Neil Davidge The inside track from the pros. This month: from Massive Attack to Halo 4… TECHNIQUE 040 | How to record: Part 2 The best way to record lead vocals 044 | NEW SERIES Contemporary Production Techniques part 1: Side-chain compression Become a power user – Part 10 048 | In Apple Logic Pro 054 | In Ableton Live 058 | In Steinberg Cubase 090| Subscribe and get free digital editions, plus save 35% REVIEWS 064 | Elektron Analog Keys Analogue performance synth

p54

068 | Nord Lead A1 is this Nord’s best analogue-sounding synth? 071 | UA Apollo Twin interface

Landmarks

New Series

29 CONTEMPORARY

MUSICPRODUCTION 44

075 | Sontronics Aria mic 077 | EZ drummer 2 drum library 081 | Nektar Impact 49 keyboard 083 | Softu e Console 1 channel strip and hardware controller 087 | A&H Qu-24 mixer 091 | Symphobia Orchestrator 093| Mini Reviews 098 | On your MT DVD DV 135 4GB+ PC&Mac SAMPLE HITS//ROYALTY FREE & EXCLUSIVE

//HARD BASS STABS

Hundreds of dark bass hits and synth stabs perfect for house, techno and EDM SAMPLES HITS//ROYALTY FREE & EXCLUSIVE

PLUS

300

TRANCE DRUM HITS & 215 MB OF LOOPMASTERS SAMPLES SAMPLES LOOPS//ROYALTY FREE

//300 TRANCE KIT //215MB DNB, SAMPLES DISCO AND MORE VIDEO TUTORIALS//1.5HRS+

//TODD TERJE DECONSTRUCTED

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VIDEO TUTORIALS//35 MINS

//BITWIG & FX IN ABLETON LIVE MAGAZINE June 2014

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MTAdvance

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MTAdvance Round-ups

Analysis

Industry insight

THE DAY WE WENT TO ABBEY

Thismonth,wewereinvitedalongtothefirstofanew seriesoftalksexploringalegendarystudio’s history andlegacy.Andy Price hasmore…

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hat first struck me when walking into Abbey Road’s Studio Two was the smell – a little reminiscent of an old school gymnasium, there was something very lived in and well worn about the decor. It remains (purposefully) pretty much unchanged from how it appears in the countless black and white photographs dating back the 60s. However things have changed somewhat from those days in terms of the music recording gear, as the impressive AMS Neve console that dominates the control room illustrates… I was there to attend the first of a six-day series of talks, called ‘The Sound Of Abbey Road’ featuring the former Abbey Road engineer Ken Scott (who we talked to at length last month). The talk was hosted by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, authors of the encyclopedic Recording The Beatles and explored the history of recording techniques and

FORMORE OFTHE LATESTNEWS CHECKOUT MUSICTECH.NET

But,ofcourse,wemust addressthemop-topped elephantintheroom… the evolution of the gear used at Abbey Road. It also gave us a great insight into the early history of the studio. Initially the converted Georgian townhouse building was opened as EMI Studios back in 1931 by the Gramophone Company where it played host to a wide variety of classical and big band set ups. They recorded mainly in Studio One, the largest of the three studios, purpose-built on the space where the original garden was located. Kevin and Brian used some of the authentic gear to demonstrate how sounds were recorded in these fledgling, pre-electronic days. Giant acoustic horns were used to capture sound which would then be pressed directly on to a wax cutter. Artists would have to gather around the horns to reach optimum sound levels which often required orchestras to squeeze together to be heard on the final record! The talks then discussed the advent of electronic technology, the prevalence of BTR tape machines at Abbey Road and the use of a vast range early equipment from the

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Abbey Road, Studio Two: Perhaps the most famous studio in the world played host to ‘The Sound Of Abbey Road’.

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40s, 50s and 60s, including the Altec RS124 compressor, the Fairchild 660 limiter and the RS-56S UTC EQ which were all out to view. Also out were several pianos used throughout the studio’s history and still widely used to this day because of their unique acoustic sound.

A rock and roll beginning

Studio Two first acquired its reputation for producing rock and roll when Cliff Richard and the Shadows recorded Move It in 1958, the UK’s very first home-grown rock and roll hit. Since then it has become known predominantly as the ‘rock studio’ and over the decades, artists such as Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Elton John, Oasis and Adele have recorded there. Studio One is the largest purpose-built recording studio in the world and is generally considered ‘the orchestral studio’. It is now used mainly to record some of the biggest film scores, which is now the primary source of income for the studio. Film franchises such as Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings all had their soundtracks recorded at Abbey Road, as did last year’s Oscar winning smash Gravity.

Abbey Road Studios from the outside, originally a Georgian townhouse and now a TARDIS-like maze of musical history.

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Advance MT

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ABBEY ROAD GEAR On display and occasionally demonstrated by Brian, Kevin and Ken were a variety of classic instruments and tech from Abbey Road’s long history...

Studio Three is the smallest studio and was historically used for smaller ensembles and bands, it is now primarily used for smaller projects, band tracking and was responsible for some of the very first 5.1 surround-sound mixes. But, of course, we must address the mop-topped elephant in the room. Abbey Road will eternally be associated with those four unsung heroes from the north of England. Back in 1963 a rather cocky, but undeniably talented, quartet named The Beatles (look them up!) recorded their very first LP in one afternoon with former Goon producer George Martin. They went on to record their entire decade-spanning output at EMI Studios, music that would shape the hearts and minds of a generation and re-define not just music but popular culture as a whole. Their myriad out-of-the-box approaches to production are covered in several lengthy tomes and Brian, Kevin and Ken brought some of these incredibly-important sessions to life with a creative use of archive sound clips and musical analysis.

Acoustic Horn & Microphones

BTR Tape Machine - Circa 1964

Hammond RT-3 Organ (as used by The Beatles)

Steinway Grand Piano (ditto)

REDD.17 desk

EMI Digital Mixer

The studio ‘instrument’ Put simply, The Beatles were the first band to think of the studio as an instrument and utilised a huge variety of approaches when creating songs. Although it’s a cliché to mention their 1967 opus, the production of Sgt Pepper reflects this approach. Using a variety of delicately spliced-up tape loops when creating Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite, for instance, was painstaking work, all motivated by a desire to

The day was a real joy for retro-gear heads. Well worn kit like this vintage EMI mixer was all on display.

create fusions of sound unheard of in pop. The great Beatle-engineer Ken Scott remembered some of these approaches when he chatted to us last issue. He recounted a particular anecdote during the production of The White Album which illustrates The Beatles’ unconventional approach.“I made a joke to John Lennon one day about doing some recording in this tiny little closet room by the side of the control room. When I mentioned it he just looked over, stared at it and didn’t say anything. Then the next day he came in and said:‘Right we’re going to record a new number, it’s called Yer Blues and we’re going to do it in there’, pointing to the small room. The track was recorded in there, all the band members squashed in, completely live with no separation between anything. You can imagine how much spill there was with them all just in this tiny room!” The success of The Beatles final LP Abbey Road resulted in the studio officially changing its name to Abbey Road Studios, to reflect the almost mythical status the studio now had in the hearts, minds and ears of a generation. This was a fantastic day out and the talk was engaging, educational and entertaining. It was truly spine-tingling to wander around the mythical studio where so much important music was created. MT

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Advance MT

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WIN! A THERMIONIC CULTURE THE PHOENIX HG15… WORTH £1,892!

Yourchancetowinnearlytwogrand’s worthofqualityhardwareaswehaveaThermionic CultureThePhoenixHG15high-gainvalvecompressorupforgrabsforoneluckyreader…

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t’s fair to say that we are huge fans of Thermionic Culture at MusicTech. All of the company’s products have scored well over the years with most reviewers loathe to send them back. Take The Phoenix HG15, for example… (You might just be able to after reading this!) This valve compressor/mic pre was reviewed last month in the magazine. It’s elegantly designed to amplify signals from most mics (with phantom power provided for condensers) and has both Presence and Air dials to add what MusicTech’s hardware reviewer described as ‘very powerful and musical tone enhancement’. There’s a bass-cut switch to reduce the proximity effect of closemic’ing and a side-chain bass cut prevents the compressor from over-responding to frequencies below 100Hz. Add EQ to the mix and The Phoenix HG15 is, as Thermionic’s Vic Keary says, ‘as close to a fully-featured channel strip as he is likely to produce.’ In our review John Pickford stated of the various features:“The compressor itself is a delight to set up and use, having five stages of Threshold control and six Time Constant settings, so offering a variety of compression settings that can be selected swiftly. This control is similar to that found on the classic Fairchild 660 (and its stereo counterpart, the 670), surely the most highly revered of all vintage compressors.” “The Phoenix HG15 was also pressed into service at the mixing stage, when we tried it on kick drum and bass guitar before strapping it across a frantically-strummed acoustic guitar track. Here, the compressor really made its mark, helping the part to sit nicely in the mix level-wise, but still cut through by making judicious use of the Air and Presence boosts.” “Thermionic Culture’s new Phoenix HG15 has a wonderful, vibey character that will never fail to inject its mojo into your productions. Once again, Vic and his team

have come up with a product that sounds absolutely gorgeous while being pleasantly user-friendly – you really can’t go wrong with this. It is one of those units that sounds good on just about anything, imparting its own sonic charms in a musical and thoroughly-satisfying way.” Pickford concluded:“It is a brilliant performer that is incredibly easy to use. Its ability to accept a microphone input makes it a natural choice for tracking vocals and all manner of instruments. When used gently, the sound is detailed and well-rounded, while driving the unit harder

TheHG15isabrilliant performeranditissureto becomeafutureclassic produces a great punchy sound with plenty of bite. This outstanding, versatile compressor is sure to become a future classic.” He then went on to award it MusicTech’s highest possible accolade of 10/10 and the MT Excellence Award. In order to win The Phoenix HG15, simply head on over to the review at www.musictech.net, read it, click the competition link which will take you to the Thermionic Culture website, answer the simple question there and that’s it! MT

RULES 1. No-one from Anthem Publishing or Thermionic Culture is allowed to enter. 2. Only one entrant per person. 3. No monetary equivalent is offered as an alternative. 4. The judge’s decision is final. 5. The closing date is 19th June 2014. 6. Entrants by way of the Thermionic.com website (via the musictech. et review)

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DIY Studio Feature MT

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MT Feature DIY Studio

DIYSTUDIO Kitting out your recording setup with some choice bits of hardware doesn’t necessarily cos as much as you might think.Huw Price does it h s way...

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aybe it was your experiences of using classic gear plug-ins that piqued your interest in the real thing and prompted you to think abo t integrating some of it into your own recording setup. A factor that often prevents his dream from becoming reality, however, is cost, but while many of the plug-in effects ou there may not be cheap, the costs pale into insignificance when you investigate the prices of vintage modules. The quality of affordable audio equipment has never been better, but as always, the really high-end stuff remains highly priced. So what can you do if your gear budget can’t keep pace with your increasingly discerning sonic tastes? One answer is to modi y and uild your own gear. Hardcore sound engineers have always been as handy with a soldering iron as they are with mixing desks, and it’s possible that more DIY audio gear is being made now than ever before. And it’s not confined to equalisers and compressors, either: DIY audio enthusiasts are just as likely to be building microphone preamps, modifying microphones and constructing their own monitor speakers. There’s even a thriving community of

It’s possiblethatmoreDIY audiogearisbeingmade nowthaneverbefore

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synthesizer builders out there. Even so, the DIY studio scene remains underground and receives little or no coverage in mainstream audio publications. Try visiting the sites in our ‘Useful Links’ box and you’ll find in-depth discussions on building, troubleshooting, fine-tuning and modifying all types of equipment. You’ll also find people selling components, parts, pre-painted and punched rackmount faceplates, printed circuit boards and even full-blown kits.

Making a passive DI box is another simple and cheap project. This one has an in ut link socket along with phase and ground-lift switching.

Getting started There’s no better way to hone your soldering skills than to make your own cables. If you need only one, you might consider buying a decent-quality pre-made microphone cable. However, the costs will quickly mount up f you need

sufficient cables to mic a drum kit or a whole band. Fortunately, you can buy long lengths of microphone cable along with male and female XLR connectors. Within a few hours you can make up a bunch of microphone cables and save yourself a lot of money in the process. While you’re at it, why not order up some TRS jack plugs and knock up a load of patch cables, too, or perhaps some of those

Re-amping electric guitars and bass is becoming increasingly popular. You’ll need a re-amping box to do it properly and commercially produced units can be expensive. Building your own is cheap and easy to do.

you feel that way, other owners have too, and you can often pick up some very useful tips and new ideas. You may discover that sound quality can be enhanced by upgrading plug-in components like op-amp chips or valves – both of which are barely more challenging than changing a light bulb. You may learn that the signal caps can be improved and individual component values changed. As long as you are aware of the safety issues, you can test your soldering skills by swapping them out. Before long the DIY bug will probably bite you. Progressing from modifications and upgrades to building your own equipment is the logical next step. Easy projects might include building your own headphone splitter, passive DI box or guitar/bass

Upgradingisanotherarea in which novice DIY-erscan enjoybigrewards XLR-to-jack cables that we all need from time to time? Before long you’ll have sizeable a collection of cables that can cope with any eventuality. Upgrading is another area in which novice DIY-ers can enjoy big rewards for little outlay. Most audio gear is built to a budget, so manufacturers aren’t always able to use the finest components. If you have a piece of equipment that you like but also feel could be improved, go online and do some research. The chances are that if

14 | June 2014

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Before you start building microphone preamps, try modding one. The Shure M67 is a discrete four-channel mic mixer with transformer-balanced inputs that can be converted to four individual outputs. These are inexpensive and easy to find, and they have an unmistakably chewy vintage tone.

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DIY Studio Feature MT

WorldMags.net re-amping interface. These are all low-cost items, but, more importantly, they’re low-risk because mains voltages are not involved. As you become more experienced you may decide you’re ready to tackle something more challenging. This is the point at which you may consider building your own microphone preamps, equalisers and compressors. There are various ways to go about this. The most straightforward route is to buy a full-blown kit that comes with all the circuit boards and components included and the metalwork already done for you. Most importantly, the kit should include detailed instructions and at the end of the process you should have a new piece of gear that looks as good as it sounds. Although a kit can save you time and effort, it’s not the most cost-effective solution. Partial kits generally include some pre-fabricated parts, such as the printed circuit board (PCB) and the components. However, you may have to source some yourself, such as the enclosure. You may also be required to punch holes in the enclosure for XLR sockets, controls and so forth. A partial kit may therefore work out slightly cheaper but it will require extra work and possibly a bit of problem-solving.

From the ground up Hardcore DIY-ers may consider building their own gear from scratch. This means starting with a circuit diagram then figuring out the best possible layout for the components and wiring. You can even find PCB art work online and making small PCBs is well within the scope of the amateur. It’s certainly challenging technically, but scratch builds can work out a lot cheaper than the complete kits and you’ll have the freedom to construct your device in the way you think best. Locating the various parts and components can often take as much time as the build itself, and if you need to source from more than one

Adrian Hare, from Threecircles Recording Studio (www. threecircles.co.uk), is turning this box into an 1176 compressor clone. You can follow the progress on his blog.

supplier, additional postage costs will be incurred. So let’s have a look at the options that are available for various types of project.

Microphone preamps If you have built up a decent collection of plug-ins, you may already have the tools to sculpt, process and control the sound once it’s ‘inside the box’. But what about ensuring that the quality of the sounds you are putting onto your hard disc are of a comparable quality? Many budding constructors start their DIY audio odyssey by building a high-quality microphone preamp. The criteria for deciding on the type of preamp you want to build are exactly the same as if you were buying one off the shelf. For example, do you need high

You’ll havethefreedom to construct your device in the wayyouthinkbest

Hamptone dual-channel mic preamp kits are available in valve and solid-state versions. If you’re planning to build a high-end mic amp from scratch, this could be a good way to start.

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gain with low noise, switchable bass roll-off, attenuation pads? If you do, choose a kit or a project that fits the bill. Although it may be tempting to dive in at the deep end by building a valve preamp, you should be aware of the dangers. Proper valve circuits run at high voltages and there is a risk of injury (or worse) if you do not fully understand how to work safely. Even experienced techs suffer shocks from time to time. Besides which, many of the classic preamps were discrete, solid-state designs that used transistors. The voltages (and risks) are lower, the components are cheaper and they can sound fantastic. You might decide that you can use your mic-amp budget more effectively by building eight discrete solid-state mic preamps rather than one or two valve ones.

Equalisers Traditional engineering wisdom states that you should always endeavor to get the sound right before you hit the record button. There’s only so much you can achieve by moving microphones, and most of us prefer to have a decent equaliser at our disposal. Pultec equalisers are legendary for their sound quality and they are very popular as DIY projects. They are quite simple to build, parts are readily available and there’s plenty of information online. Gyraf Audio has a very well laid-out project on its website, along with a link to a vendor that supplies the necessary PCBs.

The make-up gain boards for a two-channel Pultec equaliser clone. The PCBs came from Gustav at PCB Grinder (www. pcbgrinder.com), which also supplies kits of components to complete your projects.

Many of the classic desk equalisers are also readily available in kit form. We have found kit suppliers for Calrec PQ1549, Neve 1073, API, Helios and Harrison equaliser clones. So would-be equaliser-builders are spoiled for choice.

Itmightbetemptingtodiveinat thedeependbutyoushouldbe awareofthedangers

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DIY Studio Feature MT

WorldMags.net As with preamps, think about what you need. Pultec-type EQs have wonderful sonic qualities but aren’t ideally suited to precise notch filtering when you need control over problem frequencies. Equalisers with three or more parametric bands and ‘Q’ settings are more powerful, but they may not sound as sweet or natural.

Compressors A decent compressor can be a vital stage in any recording chain and can lift a very good sound into the realm of the sublime. Many of the compressor kits

Neumann stopped making the valve U47 decades ago, but it’s still the Neumann most engineers want.

Condenser mics can often be improved by correcting errors on the factory circuit board require builders to follow a setup and alignment procedure before they will work properly. If you buy a kit, full details will be provided in the instructions and you will need to be able to follow those instructions and work methodically. You may find that specialist equipment, such as an oscilloscope, will be required. If you’re serious about DIY audio, you’ll probably end up buying one anyway. Alternatively, you may be able to find a friendly local tech who can perform the alignment procedure for you.

Mic & Mod also sells a kit for DIY mic builders to make an AKG C12 clone with a dedicated PSU.

Fairchilds are the most highly regarded and highly priced of all the classic compressors. Even in kit form they are far from cheap and you would really need some skills to build one. This Fairchild clone was built from a PCB supplied by Drip Electronics.

Microphones Although some daring enthusiasts do build microphones from scratch – including the body and head basket – most are content to upgrade microphones they already own with superior components. The easiest mics to work on are arguably ribbons and many choose to install a more expensive output transformer. Condenser microphones can often be dramatically improved by correcting errors on the factory circuit board, installing better-sounding signal capacitors, and reconfiguring the preamp/impedanceconverting circuit. Serious modders may install new capsules and output transformers, too. If you’re working on a valve microphone, you may achieve improvements by upgrading the valve or changing it to a type that’s a better match for the preamp. We covered this in Issue 118 (January, 2013) in a feature on the Alctron HST-11A. It’s also very easy to get hold of component kits to make Neumann U87, U67, U47FET and M49 clone circuit boards. These can be retrofitted to a variety of readily available Chinese-made budget condensers. Mic & Mod sells upgrade kits for various mics, including a kit for turning an Alctron HST-11A into an AKG C12 clone. Also check out companies such as Microphone Parts and Classic Vintage Microphone PCB Kits. Kits are even available for those wishing to build exact replicas of classic large-capsule Neumann and AKG valve mics. Since these models are no longer available from the original manufacturers, it’s arguably fair game. Check out IOAudio, Equinox Systems, Beezneez, Flea Microphones, Mic & Mod, Wagner Microphones and Tab-Funkenwerk.

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MT Feature DIY St dio

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MT Pro Advice Before you build... REQUIRED SKILL SET

SAFETY WARNING

FURTHER READING

You will need to be able to identify components, orientate electrolytic capacitors and follow a circuit diagram. You will also need to know how to solder and how to diagnose faults. Most importantly of all, you must appreciate and understand the physical dangers involved in working with electronics. If you have never tackled something like this before, we’d suggest honing your skills with some cheaper and easier projects.

As always, we should caution you that working with valve electronics presents the possibility of receiving a potentially fatal electric shock. Always ensure that the power supply is switched off whenever you are working on the circuit board or touching components. If you are testing for voltage readings or faults, the power will need to be switched on, so ensure you keep one hand firmly placed in your pocket while probing.

http://gyraf.dk www.groupdiy.com www.diyrecordingequipment.com

www.diyaudio.com www.tangible-technology.com

Synthesizers

IPL Acoustics sells several transmission-line speaker kits. Here’s one under construction.

Monitor speakers The DIY speaker scene is more of an offshoot from the murky world of old-school hi-fi enthusiasts. Even so, there are some remarkably good-sounding speaker kits out there, providing you’re not after active monitors with onboard equalisation adjustment and DSP features. The choice is vast, stretching from small nearfields to large transmission-line designs. You can also choose between ported and infinite-baffle cabinets, and if you have any qualms about using hi-fi speakers for mixing, it’s worth remembering that most records were mixed on hi-fi speakers until fairly recently – and many still are. Of all the DIY projects detailed here, DIY speaker kits offer some of the best bang for your buck. Many feature drive units found in very expensive commercial speakers and crossover components tend to be high-quality too. The electronics are generally very straightforward and since the tricky woodwork is done for you, assembling a pair of monitors is likely to take hours rather than weeks. As for sorting out amplification, since active monitors became the industry standard it has become easier to find high-quality power amps at very affordable prices. This correspondent has assembled several IPL Acoustics kits, and you can also check out DIY Sound Group and Dayton Audio. Most speaker kits arrive with the cabinets in flat-pack form and you will need to glue them together. Others arrive with the cabinet pre-built, or you can buy the drive units and crossover components along with instructions for building the cabinets yourself.

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If DIY preamps and microphones seem a bit left-field, DIY synthesizer builders must be almost ‘steam punk’. Few of us will be able to afford an original Moog Modular, EMS, Oberheim or even an SH-101 these days, so it’s unsurprising that some intrepid musicians have extended their interest in electronic music to the actual electronics. The range of projects out there is pretty amazing, spanning everything from cheap little Theremin projects that you can buy on eBay to full-on clones of classic synths such as the ARP 2600. Some of the modular designs are worth considering because they are Lunchboxcompatible and you can build and add modules as funds allow. It’s worth visiting the Doepfer website – if only to check out the photo gallery of

Do it my way There are both pros and cons to DIY audio. For instance, you would be well advised to refrain from working on any piece of gear that is still covered by warranty. As soon as you take a screwdriver to the chassis your warranty will be null and void. Building stuff can be a messy and time-consuming undertaking and not everything will work straight away. It can be pretty soul-destroying when you have invested a lot of time and money in a project and the only sound you can get out of it is a prodigious hum. Even so, fault-finding is all part of it and we’ll be discussing trouble-shooting strategies as we go along. So here’s where the fun begins. We’ll be running DIY feature articles from time to time featuring kits, scratch build projects and typical upgrades. If you have any suggestions for the areas you’d like us to cover, just write in and tell us – we’ll see what we can cook up. In the meantime, turn to p20 for project number 1! MT

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together? Check out Doepfer’s range of synth modules.

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New baby The Genelec family expands with the new 8010 Producers and recording musicians everywhere rely on Genelec 8000 Series monitors for the unadulterated truth about their mixes. But what happens when you’re away from the studio? Now you can pop a pair of the new 8010s in your bag and you’ll always have access to consistently accurate, industry-standard Genelec 8000 Series monitoring, wherever you find yourself working. Visit the Genelec family of monitors and see the new baby at www.genelec.com

www.genelec.com UK distribution by Source • www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/genelec • T: 020 8962 5080 facebook.com/sourcedistribution WorldMags.net

twitter.com/sourcedist

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THE NEW GOLD STANDARD IN STRINGS JUST GOT DEEPER...

r MA ul

SYMPHONIC

VOLUME 2

www.spitfireaudio.com WorldMags.net

Korg MS-20 Kit Reviews MT

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MTDIY Studio: MS-20 In-depth review

Hands-on guide

KORG

Experience required: novice

Excellence

Innovation

£

MS-20 Kit WelcometothefirstofourDIYstudiotutorials eviews.Andwe have ebonafideKorgMS-20 eissuesomanysynthenthusiasts havebeenwait ng o .Huw Pr ce cons cts… Details Price £1295.99 Contact Korg UK Web www.korguk.com

KeyFeatures O A full-size MS20 that you can assemble O Both early and late filters are provided O Overseen by the engineers of the original O External signal processor (ESP) O Extremely flexible patching O MIDI IN and USB O AC adaptor O Every detail replicated

O

Value

riginally made between 1978 and 1983, the Korg MS-20 analogue synth has become a cult classic. Like many heritage companies Korg has been besieged with requests for a reissue and both the software version and the downsized MS-20 Mini have been warm y received. Now, at last, there’s a fully-blown MS-20 reissue. Korg as gone to great engths to replicate t e original circuitry and, where original components were no longer available, replacements were selected after ex ens ve test ng. Early filters were irtier and more aggressive t an the later l ers and the reissue c ntai s both types. There’s tradi iona IDI and USB c nnectivity too b t ere s a catch, because the MS-20 reissue comes as a kit hat you have to asse le yo rse f. H w hard ca it e? et’s find ou

Step 1 - Unpacking The MS20 is quite unlike the model car or aeroplane kits many of us will remember from our childhoods. The box it ships in is sizeable and weighs 20Kg. Once opened up we see that everything is carefully packaged up in neat containers and, like a box of c ocola es, there is more than one layer – we’re starting to get just a lit le bit excited already! Take your time whe you’re removing all the parts from t e ox because it’s easy to overlook smaller ite s. We’d a so a v se ga nst hrowing any of he packagi g away u til the it is c m letely assembled – st in case yo miss s me hi g! The top ayer conta ns he MS2 ’s keyboard, patchbay, k obs a d power

supply. Other packe s contain copious quantities of nuts, was ers, feet and rubber grommets. We also nd the pitch-wheel module alo g with boards for MIDI connections, patchbay and the filters. Two differences between t e original and the reissue are immediately apparent. First y the reissue’s su plied mains cable c nects to a 12v DC external power supp y. Secondly t e circuit boards ave sur ace- o ted co onen s. A grea deal of mo ern audio gear is made t is way, but this s one area tha may concern pur s s. he bottom laye con a ns all the arts for building the MS20’s e c osure and eigh patch ca les. The

Lay the parts out carefully before you begin assembling the kit and check everything is there.

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MTReviews Korg MS-20 Kit

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With the side panels on,the kit starts looking like a synth. The mod wheel attaches to the left side panel.

control panel looks particularly impressive but all the punched holes remind me that a fair amount of nut tightening will be required before this synth is ready to fire up. As well as containing assembly instructions, the kit also includes an owners manual and a booklet containing Sample Settings. According to the instructions the only tools required are a cross-head screwdriver and a box end wrench.

contact Korg immediately.

Step 3 – mod wheel attachment and shielding the sides of the keyboard Like the originals the reissue version of the MS20 has plastic side panels. To properly shield the electronics, metal shield plates are stuck to the side panels with double sided tape. The wheel assembly slots into place on the left side panel and two screws secure

We’d suggestreadingtheinstructions butthisisn’ttooonerousasthereareonly 14pages,soitonlytakes10minutes Step 2 – Getting organised

Here’s the rear jack board in position with the keyboard cables connected

We’d suggest reading the instructions in their entirety before getting started. Fortunately this isn’t too onerous because there are only 14 pages and they are dominated by large and clear diagrams. In all it took about ten minutes to read them. The first thing you should do is verify all the parts are present and correct. Page two of the instructions contains a parts list with pictures of the components and quantities where appropriate. If at this stage you discover that some parts are missing,

it in position. All the supplied screws are identical in size, which makes this aspect of the build simpler than your average Ikea chest of drawers.

Step 4 – attaching the feet and the keyboard The base panel is flipped upside down and the four rubber feet are attached. Although there are several holes in this panel, only four of them are wide enough to accommodate the foot shafts. To lock them in place, simply push down on the centre section with a screwdriver. Fitting the keyboard requires a bit more ingenuity. The sloping section of the base is the front and it has two

Make certain that the LEDs push through the holes in the front panel.

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tags that line up with cut outs in the keyboard frame. Line up the tags with the cut outs, then slide the keyboard assembly to the right and it will be held loosely in place. Lift up the bass end of the keyboard and turn it around to expose the base plate. Locate one of the eight screw holes that secure the keyboard, insert a screw and tighten it most of the way up. This should hold the keyboard assembly in position yet still provide a little wiggle room while you insert the remaining screws. Only once they are all started in their correct holes should you complete tightening them up.

Step 5 – rear jack board The ‘rear jack board’ contains the MIDI, USB and power sockets, with two screws securing it to the rear, right corner of the base plate. The keyboard has multiple cables terminating in two multi-pin connectors. Simply bend the cable retainers away from the keyboard, twist the cables together and connect them to the corresponding sockets on the rear jack board. All the multi-pin connectors are colour coded. The sockets on all the boards are labelled correspondingly to ensure that the correct connector is inserted and that it’s the right way around. The connectors are quite tight so they do need a firm push before they’ll seat fully. If possible, place a couple of fingers underneath the circuit board to provide some support as you push in the connectors. This board may be the deciding factor for choosing an MS20 reissue over a vintage example. The originals presented problems for sequencers because they didn’t have MIDI connectivity and they didn’t even run on conventional CV/Gate protocols.

Step 6 – side panels This bit is where things start to get

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MTReviews Korg MS-20 Kit

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The small VR board also attaches to the front panel.

Before fitting the patch board,place the clear plastic spacer over the jack sockets and use the nuts to hold it in place.

exciting because the kit suddenly begins to take on the appearance of a synthesiser. The side panels of the unit have locating pins that align with holes in the base, so they’re easy to position and two screws fix each one in place.

Step 7 – attaching the big VR board The front panel is a thing of beauty and we’d advise you to handle it carefully to avoid inflicting any

to hold the VR board in position then finger tighten all the other nuts. Korg thoughtfully fixed a soft layer of plastic onto the underside of the spanner that’s provided. This is intended to prevent the control panel from getting scratched. You may choose to tighten the nuts with a socket instead, but work carefully and don’t rush. Also remember that the nuts don’t need to be ultra tight.

Step 8 - attaching the small VR

Thesoundqualityisphenomenal.The calibreofthesynthyouaregettingfor justoveragrandisjustincredible… damage. Ensure that your work surface is free from debris before starting this procedure and begin by inserting all ten rubber grommets. Brackets are attached to the ends of the panel before the large ‘VR’ board is put in place. When positioning the VR board, you must ensure that the LED indicators line up with the holes in the front panel and push through. Once in position, finger tighten a nut on the control pots from each corner

EXPERTOPINION–HUWGETSAN EMMY-AWARDWINNERINTOJUDGEIT We didn’t want to appear biased because we had built the thing,so we handed over our completed MS-20 to Emmy award-winning media composer and analogue synth aficionado Dave Gale.Here’s what he had to say. “It has to be said that the architecture is a bit weird, especially things like having the Hold rather than Attack control at the top of the envelope filter section.Many features will only work if you physically plug them in on the patchbay,including the mod wheel and the momentary switch. “The patchbay is hard to fathom and it’s cluttered,but I love the section along the bottom of the patchbay that allows you to do things to external sounds and process clock signals then feed them elsewhere.It is fussy about clocks and if the signal is a bit hot it doesn’t chase it terribly well. “I love that it’s a proper recreation of the MS-20,but because of that it doesn’t work on a one volt per octave CV and gate.It works on a Hertz per volt principle so there’s little interfaceable gear for it.So the fact that it has MIDI in is just superb because you don’t have to mess about with some crazy gizmo to get it working. “Some people have criticised it for noisy output, especially the headphones.But that’s because it’s an

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board and the power switch The procedure for attaching the small VR board is the same as the big VR board (described above) but there are no LEDs to worry about this time. Care must be taken when installing the power switch/volume control because the locating tag must push through the slot in the front panel to prevent it from spinning around. Both these items are fixed with different sized nuts.

authentic MS-20 and they always were.In terms of the nuances of the MS-20’s sound,you have both a high-pass and low-pass filter that are completely independent of each other and they’re completely sweepable.They’re violent if you want them to be and when you dial in the resonance they can bite your head off. “Like many users I favour the early filter because it’s dirtier and grungier but the later one is a bit sweeter.When you cut out with the low pass filter and add some resonance, the bottom end doesn’t collapse like it does on other synths. The sound quality is phenomenal. “There’s something to be said for synths like this one where you can turn it on and never be quite sure what you’re going to get.For me synthesisers should have character,and although I love Roland synths,they do sound tame in comparison.The MS-20 doesn’t have the envelope speed of something like a Pro One so it’s not as good for drum sounds, but it’s still extraordinarily fat sounding.” “I also think the build quality of the kit is better than the MS-20 Mini.You really can rest your hand on the top and ride the cut off with your thumb as you’re playing without the control knob wobbling around.Korg seems to have nailed this analogue oscillator thing and I love the way you can offset the tuning of the oscillators.That’s a really popular trick with the Scando Techno boys.The calibre of synth you’re getting for just over a grand is just incredible.”

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Step 9 – attaching the panel jack board Before fitting this board a clear plastic spacer sheet must be placed over the jack sockets. The instructions are superb throughout the complete build, but this is the one area where things are a little vague because it’s easy to miss the bit that tells you to place nuts over each and every jack socket to hold the spacer in position. If you get this bit wrong, though, you’ll know it, as you’ll be wondering why you have 30 or so nuts left over! Once again, ensure that the LEDs push through their holes in the front panel and place a washer and nut at each corner to hold the board in position. Adding all the remaining washers and nuts takes a while, and it’s easy to miss one when they’re being tightened up. The cables from the power switch feed through a hole in the circuit board and four multi-pin connections are made from the switch unit and the VR boards.

Step 10 – finishing touches The fully-loaded control panel drops down onto the top of the unit, but you must take care that the thin shields on the side panels don’t get bent or damaged. Once it’s in position, four side screws secure the panel and all the remaining multi-pin connections are made. The MS-20 Kit instructions offer good detail on how to twist the cables together. The cable clips at the rear of the kit’s keyboard unit are re-used

Remaining connections are made,including the cables from the mod wheel.

Korg MS-20 Kit Reviews MT

WorldMags.net to hold the wheel assembly cables neatly in place. Eight screws secure the rear panel and, as always, ensure that the screws are started in their threads before t ghtening them all up. All that remains is to push the knobs onto their pot shafts and your MS20 should be up and running.

Conclusion In total assembly will take around two to three hours. The instruct ons are excellent and there’s even a tro bleshooting guide, but fortunately we di n’t need it. The basic start-up

guide is useful oo because it explains the auto power off fu ction and descr bes how to hold down eys to switch between early and late filter types. Technical know how, solder ng ab lity and a understanding of electronics are not required to co str ct t is MS20 Ki so it’s ideal or a eginner’s DI projec . Eve so, t sho ld e (and indee is ) a very sat s yi g undertak ng f r e perie ced c structors too. J s take your ti e, be met odical and do ’ let the exci ement get the be ter of you. MT

Alternatives As far as we’re aware,it’s unprecedented for a major musical equipment corporation to reissue an iconic product in self-assembly form.It would be l ke Fender selling a Stratocaster kit and still putting the decal on the headstock.If an MS-20 is what you want,there’s the opt on of buying a vintage example for similar money to the ki ,but you’ l only get one set o filters and MIDI connectivity won’t be included unless the unit has been modified.You’ll also be taking chances with re iab l ty.The Korg MS-20 ini (£499) is well regarded but it hasn’t got the feel or v be o the reissue.Alternatively you could c ec out t e virtual MS-20 rom Korg’s egacy Collection ($49.99).

MT Verdict + The resulting synth is superb + It sounds awesome + Beginners and experts alike will love putting it together + Great satisfaction after you have completed it + Easy-to-understand instructions + No experience needed + … just a screwdriver and wrench + It’s an MS-20! - Nowt This MS-20 reissue is the real deal. You can run it old school or hook it up to your MIDI setup, plus you get both sets of filters. And building it yourself makes it even more fun.

All the knobs have been pushed into position and the project is complete.

10/10

“ “

Bass Station II is an exceptional synth. For £399 you could buy a couple of high-end synth plug-ins. Don’t. Buy this instead. 10/10.

Andy Jones, MusicTech, October 2013 The Bass Station II is a synth with personality that produces ripping, gnashy solos as readily as solid analogue bass. I reckon Novation have a winner!

Paul Nagle, Sound On Sound, September 2013

” ”

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The Single Source Pro-Audio Supplier

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Björk, Homogenic Landmark Productions MT

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Landmark Productions No30

The tracks 1: Hunter 2:Joga 3: Unravel 4: Bachelorette 5: All Neon Like 6: 5 Years 7: Immature 8: Alarm Call 9: Pluto 10: All Is Full Of Love

BJÖRK-HOMOGENIC

ProducersBjörk,MarkBell,MarkusDravs,GuySigsworth,HowieBEngineerStevePrice Homogenic marked the moment when Icelandic experimentalist Björk evolved from a kooky dance-pixie into an electronic titan. Andy Price explores this landmark album…

B

jörk had more than made an impression on the mainstream by 1997. Her magnificent debut solo record had been superseded by the more adventurous follow-up Post which, although displaying significant musical chops, still kept one foot firmly in the commercial pop pond. Mainstream hits such as her oft-lampooned cover of Betty Hutton’s It’s Oh So Quiet bothered the British singles charts while high-profile relationships kept her hot property in the tabloids. However this was not a position that Björk had particularly longed for. Having to deal with the darker sides of

being a public figure – from a psychologically-damaged stalker posting a sulphuric acid bomb to her London home before committing suicide, to the headline– (and hair–) grabbing incident at Bangkok International Airport – were deeply unsettling for the young artist to deal with. For her, music had always been the sole priority. Björk approached the writing process of her third album with a very specific creative mind-set. She wanted the record to have what she defined as a ‘simple sound’ and reflect the landscape of her homeland, Iceland. Using a variety of electronic instruments

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Björk, Homogenic Landmark Productions MT

WorldMags.net and new, fresh approaches to composition, Björk worked closely with audio engineer Markus Dravs on the initial sessions for the album which took place at her home studio at Maida Vale. Together they planned and devised the bare bones of the record before the sudden surge in media attention brought on by the bomb incident. This, combined with her desire to retreat from the London electronic scene, convinced her to relocate to the Spanish studio of her drummer Trevor Morais. It was there, at El Cortijo Studios in Malaga where she would record and produce all of the ensuing album, Homogenic. Björk decided not to re-enrol producer Nellee Hooper who had produced her two previous albums, and instead enlisted a cabal of close musical friends and associates to co-produce the album with her. Aside from Markus Dravs the most significant creative collaborator on Homogenic was Mark Bell, formerly of Sheffield electronic dance duo LFO, an outfit that had a fundamental influence on the Euro techno genre. Mark would help Björk translate her sometimes more left-field compositional ideas as he recounted in an interview with Groove Magazine in 2001 “(Songwriting) is different every time with her. Sometimes it comes from a freeform session, a melody that she hums to me, some basic chord structure or the lyrics. It’s always fun and she hasn’t any preconceptions about genre so we take it wherever it wants to go.” Also part of the production team was Scottish trip-hop expert Howie B who previously worked with

Shewantedtherecordtohave asimplesoundandreflectthe landscapeofIceland Björk on Post and songwriter and producer Guy Sigsworth. Dravs would later say “When you work with Björk, you are one of her closest relatives, you’re almost like her brother.” For many of the tracks that make up Homogenic Björk would initially compose melodies individually either in her head, spontaneously or on paper, and would then use her small Casio keyboard to work out string parts and various forms of musical backing. She and her team would then work through each piece from a rhythmic standpoint which was occasionally fraught with difficulty, especially when Björk would add unusual timing signature changes into her naturallyborn compositions. Bell and Björk quickly developed a strong rapport and would work very closely on each track “Could you make the bass-line more furry?” was an oft-reported request of Björk’s to Bell during the making of Homogenic. The militaristic rhythms, darkly imperious bass line, reversed accordion and counterpointed ethereal vocals that make up opening track Hunter set the scene for what is to come. It’s a tense composition that finds Björk in a completely new landscape to any she had been in before. Joga sees Björk experimenting with a combination of Baroque and classical styles, with huge towering ‘volcanic’ beats and exquisite string

Getty

Former LFO co-frontman Mark Bell took a large role in the production of Homogenic

arrangements (provided late in the production process by the Icelandic String Octet) that paint a sonic picture of the geographical beauty of her homeland and is the real conceptual heart of the record. She likened Joga to a sort of National Anthem. This track like no other showcases Björk’s mastery of fusing the right elements to creative emotive and powerful music – the soaring vocals, cinematic and richly-orchestrated string sections are saturated with beats that some have described as being akin to proto-dubstep. Continuing the cycle The next track, Unravel, makes significant nods to her Icelandic heritage as well. Using a vocal technique which folklore specialist Njall Sigurason compares to that of traditional Icelandic choirmen, Björk half-sings and half-speaks her way through a track which Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke would later say “is one the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.” Bachelorette was originally written for an abandoned film project and contains lyrics from her good friend, the Icelandic poet Sjon. The song conceptually continues a song-cycle begun with the tracks Human Behaviour on her album Debut and Isobel from Post which lyrically concern the arc of a character called Isobel. Björk would elaborate on how Bachelorette fitted into the Isobel-cycle. “She is leaving the forest and she decides to go to the city to have a normal life. She tries her best and it doesn’t work out and she comes back to the forest and she is happier there.” Clearly one doesn’t have to look far to see the parallels with Björk herself. The song would include a range of live instruments in the mix and alongside the

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MTLandmark Productions Björk, Homogenic

WorldMags.net fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment,’ Björk expresses in this track, while multi-layered vocals weave in and out, merging together like an aural mind-scape. Eventually the track falls into a relatively straightforward groove. The climactic song Pluto is as aggressive as Björk has ever been, a completely explosive resolution to the tension that the instrumental juxtaposition found in the previous eight tracks had created in the listener. Industrial overdrive and manic, screaming vocals define this track. The hauntingly-beautiful All Is Full Of Love then quietly draws the albums to a close, inspired by the idea of mechanical people (as the song’s video would make clear) it also featured clavichord and a final bow for the Icelandic String Octet. The album was almost universally critically acclaimed upon release. The NME said Homogenic was “a stinging triumph for the spirit of adventure” which succinctly explains why the album still stands tall today as Björk’s most beloved work for both fans and critics alike. The album’s iconic cover art features Björk dressed in an Alexander McQueen-designed costume that is simultaneously futuristic yet traditionally oriental. Björk looked back on the overall themes of Homogenic in an interview with Pitchfork in 2007 where she said “Homogenic was different, it was quite an aggressive album. I’d gone through five years of doing five billion interviews and being stalked. A lot of really happy

Rex Features

Homogenic set the standard for Björk’s eclectic career.

beats and strings, they included alp horn, accordion, timpani and timbales. The gentle and contemplative All Neon Like follows with Bell’s trademark ambient drum and bass rhythms punctuating the increasingly visual and fascinating lyrics (including the delightfully incomprehensible ‘I’ll cut a slit open and a luminous beam feeds you, honey!’) 5 Years includes stand-out 8-bit MIDI keys and electronic, stompy drum programming. Later the emotive Icelandic String Octet return to engage in what sounds like the audio equivalent of a duel with the harsh, treated drums while Björk herself pushes her vocals to the limit of emotion and drama. Immature features a textured landscape constructed from various samples and highly-treated synthesiser loops floating on soft chordal pads. Once again Björk’s voice is the standout instrument here, winding its way through the mix’s peppered assault course of elements with varying degrees of power, emotion and dexterity. The most conventional song on the record has to be Alarm Call, certainly in terms of instrumentation and melody but not in terms of lyrical content ‘I’m no

The Players:

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Shewouldlaterexploredenser themesbutHomogeniccemented herasafearlessexplorer experiences, too, it wasn’t all bad. I was under a lot of pressure that I had never experienced before, so Homogenic was very much like the sleeve art. We were trying to make this person that was under a lot of restraint – like long manicure, neck piece, headpiece, contact lenses – still trying to keep the strength.” Although Björk would later explore denser and more deeply defined sonic landscapes with albums such as 2001’s lushly arranged Vespertine and 2004’s vocally dexterous Medulla, it was Homegenic which cemented Björk as a fearless explorer of new musical frontiers. By merging organic instrumentation with electronic to create an album so richly rewarding, Björk proved to the world that she was quite a unique artist to be reckoned with. MT

Björk

Mark Bell

Markus Dravs

Howie B

After the success of Debut and Post, Björk retreated from the limelight, recruiting a team of diverse collaborators and crafting the dense but personal masterpiece, Homogenic.

Former co-star of Sheffield electro pio eers LFO turned house producer, Bell worked closely with Björk to translate her ideas into the layered compositions they would become a d had quite possibly the largest hand in production duties.

Markus Dravs and Björk sketched out Homogenic’s concept at her London-based studio. Dravs would have free reign to compose and experiment alongside Björk’s own ideas.

Long-time creative collaborator Howie B returned to work with Björk on this record, the two became close and would eventually become a couple.

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The audio workstation that redefined the industry just got more powerful. • Plug into epic processing power with the all new Avid® audio engine. • Turbocharge sessions with 64-bit performance. • Deliver mixes 150x faster with offline bounce.

Welcome to the new standard.

See what’s new: www.avid.com/protools11 © 2014 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, and Pro Tools are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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MT Interview The Professionals

WorldMags.net MT Interview Neil Davidge

In the first of a new series o interviews wit people enjoying a successful career in the aud o industry, producer and film scorer Neil Davidge revea s how listening can he p n any studio situation, and that gear isn’t everything…

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The Professionals Interview MT

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N

eil Davidge teamed up with Massive Attack’s 3D for the best part of two decades, working on much of the band’s outp t in the roles of writer, arranger and producer. He has also worked as a remixer, composer and producer on tracks by Snoop Dog, Primal Scream, Elizabeth Frazer, David Bowie, Craig Armstrong and many other high profile art sts. His music has backed ad campaigns by everyone from Jaguar to Adidas and his move into movie and game soundtracks has seen him score some big screen action including Miami Vice and Halo 4. Davidge’s debut solo album, Slo Light, featuring Sandie Shaw, Cate Le Bon, Karima Francis and more, is out now.

THE PERSON Mu usicTech: How did you get into music making and production? Neil Davidge: I’m Bristolian and proud. I started messing with tape recorders and home-made instruments at school with friends until we eventually decided on a name for a band and figured we should really buy some ‘proper’ instruments. I took to the bass at first but, after a while, shifted to the guitar and eventually singing as well as writing and arranging most of the material. After signing a record deal I bought a 16-track recorder, a mixing desk, an A ari ST and a rather large hard drive (300MB cost me £3k back then!). Then I began to record, produce and write with and for various artists, b t principally the band DNA who had a hit with the Suzanne Vega song Tom’s Diner. So began my ‘pop’ period. I then worked with a bunch of mainstream artis s including the Minogue sisters and although, for the first time in my life, I was earning money from my passion I found myself disillusioned and losing that passion with each painful vocal take. I made the break eventually and then produced a stoner rock band from Bristol who I’d helped get signed to RCA.

I was earning money from my passion but losing that passion with every painful vocal take It was on these sessions that I met 3D (Robert Del Naja) from Massive Attack and got talking about gigs and favourite albums and found we had much n common. Soon after I joined them on a session for a track for the Batman Forever soundtrack and from there began working with the band full time on what was to become their third album, Mezzanine. I co-wrote an co-produced three studio albums and a number of side projects and film scores over the next 18 years with the band, working most closely with 3D. I was keen not to let things get stale and towards the end of the album Heliogoland I told Robert that I wanted to do my own thing and we amicably split our business interests and I set up a studio on the other side of town. My intention was to focus on scoring movies. I’d already scored the movie Push as well as co-scoring Clash Of The Titans, but my first project in the new studio was for the game Halo 4. Just prior to securing the game I’d begun working on a solo alb m and after the two years it took to complete the score, I then set about finishing my first solo album, Slo Light. Since then I’ve scored the movie Good People and I’m currently scoring Monsters: Dark Continent [sequel to the film Monsters]. MT: What is your overall philosophy or trademark when it comes to music production and composition? ND: Music communicates emotion more directly than any other artistic medium. Music is not just melody and rhythm, it’s also sounds and textures, associations, and experiences. I combine electronics, sound design and real instruments in order to create a unique and deep emotional connection with the listener. I’m also a nice guy and work really hard.

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MT Interview The Professionals

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MT: Talk us through one of your production processes that you tend to use most often and that perhaps defines your sound over others… ND: I have no tricks and no secret processes and instead take each project on its own unique merits. I trust in my gut instincts and those I work with and my wealth of life experiences and studio experiences to nudge me in the right direction. In turn, these help me to nudge the people I work with or for in the right direction. MT: Describe your ‘sound’? ND: I really don’t think I can or want to.

THE ROLE MT:The role of producer seems to be a many and varied one. How do you define it? ND: The underlining role of the producer is to assess what the project needs and make sure those needs are met, if not by himself then by others. This includes battling record companies to make sure the artist makes the record they want to make while at the same time making sure the artist themselves don’t sabotage their own career. MT: What would you say your input is in a typical project? ND: Writing, producing, arranging, inspiring and directing musicians; overseeing programmers; getting into the head of the artist or main creatives; organising sessions; and dealing with the money men. MT: Over the years what advice have you picked up from working in the music industry that you can pass on? ND: It’s important to listen to the ‘advice’ of others, hear what’s useful to you and at the same time to be

Trust your instincts and those you work with to move in the right direction…

confident in your own instincts enough to politely disregard it without having a crisis. No artist, producer, composer or engineer with any kind of sustained career has gotten there alone, each has had to work closely with others. I listen to everyone, from the musicians to the cleaner. MT: And from working in the studio? ND: That what you know comes second to what you feel. If you stop listening with your intellect and instead listen with your gut then magic happens and ideas flow. The other thing is, it’s not about the gear, it’s about ideas. I can do pretty much anything in my studio but some days I’ve got no ideas and no amount of gear is gonna save me.

THE GEAR MT T: So, talking of the gear, tell us a little about your studio: the main components, how it came together and so on… ND: I have a 5th floor converted apartment studio with three writing rooms in the heart of Bristol. I have a co-arranger (Drew) and programmer (Tom). We each run Pro Tools on Mac Pros with a wide selection of plug-ins including UAD, Waves, GRM, Ohm Force, Sonnox and SoundToys. Drew and I both run VSL Ensemble Pro on satellite Mac Pros for our Kontakt sample libraries (Spitfire Audio, Soniccouture, Heavyocity, Project Sam and many others). We have a selection of instruments, guitars, basses, drums and percussion, a cello, a kantele, an ARP 2600, Moog Prodigy, Arturia MiniBrute as well as various soft synths including the complete Arturia set and various from Native Instruments. Outboard these days is

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The Professionals Interview MT

WorldMags.net A typical project can involve anything from organising musicians to sorting the money men…

ND: I usually try to find a sound that inspires me first – it can be anything: melodic instrument, drum sound, sonic or voice. I start there, then improvise, find a core idea and build on it without passing judgement too much and allow the process of creativity to find space and its feet. MT:Tell us about your latest release, the thinking behind it and why people should get it. Plug away! ND: The album is called Slo Light. I wanted to make the most honest and authentic record I could. I’ve been making music for other people for a long time and I wanted to see what would happen if I was the sole decision maker and free myself from having to run things past someone else. You should get it because it’s very good.

mainly mic pres from Focusrite and Calrec – all other processing is done in the box. I’ve had many set-ups over the years, starting with a 4-track cassette tape recorder to a full SSL G series studio with a load of outboard, but these days I prefer the flexibility of working in the box.

MT: What have you got planned for the near future? ND: Finishing this score and then taking a break. I’ve barely had a day off in the last year, even worked over new year this year so a holiday of some sort would be most welcome! After that I need to start planning how to present the album live. MT

MT: What are your favourite sound generating studio tools – synths, guitars and so on – and why? ND: That changes from day to day and project to project but I always have fun with the ARP and the kantele played with four e-bows always seems to end up with me having a few hours worth of audio to trawl through. I like surprises and I like unpredictable stuff – it feeds my creativity.

More from: Neil at Abbey Road studios.

http://www.neildavidge.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Davidge

MT: And outboard – what plug-ins or outboard do you find most creative and most useful in the studio on a day to day basis? ND: The UAD stuff is generally great-sounding – their emulations of classic studio gear stacks up really well against the real thing with the added bonus of instant recall. I use the Sonnox EQ as an everyday EQ. More creative plugs are the GRM collection and I love the Waves stomp box plugs too. All of the above give me limitless power to mash up and sculpt but if you give me one EQ, a tone generator and [Pro Tools] D-Verb, then I’ll give you an orchestra. MT: What is on your wish list studio gear wise? ND: Pro Tools HDX, hopefully soon. MT: What would you like to see developed in terms of studio technology and why? ND: The one downside of using computers and software is latency, especially when playing over an already stacked-out session. There’s nothing that kills the vibe more than when you wanna play something new in and then your whole session spazzes out. I’d like to see software developers pay more attention to latency when you’re creating music rather than when you’re simply mixing it. Also, it does annoy me a bit that the knobs on gear emulations aren’t optimised more for using a mouse, it can really put me off using an otherwise great sounding plug-in.

THE LATEST PROJECT MT: When working on your own music, how does a track come together? What inspires and what comes first in the song?

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Music is Our Passion

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MT How to record

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MTHow to record... Lead vocals Part 2

Last month, in the first of a major new series on recording, Jo n Pickford looked at how planning and preparing will elp create the right atmosphere for reco ding a great ead vocal performance. ow he explores t e tools and methods required to capture the perfect ta e… 40 | Ju e 2014

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How to record MT

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several mics, it’s a good idea to set up two or three different models and have the singer sing a few lines into each in order to find out which one best suits the voice, remembering to make your choice quickly so as not to tire the singer and lose momentum. Once the selection has been made, fine tuning of the tone can be made by optimising the position of the mic in relation to the vocalist’s mouth. There are three factors to cons der here: firstly, the distance between the singer and the microphone wil have a huge influence on the final sound. Very close mic’ing, with a distance between 2 and 3 inches (5 to 8 centimetres) might work to capture a very soft and intimate performance, revealing every nuance including mouth noises. However, in many cases such close mic’ing can induce unwanted plosive ‘pops’ and increase sibilance. Also, especially when a card oid pick-up pattern is employed, low frequencies will be

So, you have prepared your recording space, free from extraneous noise and acoustically well-damped. Now you can think about choosing the best microphone for the job. The most popular type of mic for vocal recording is a large-diaphragm condenser, as these tend to have a more detailed sound and wider frequency response in comparison to dynamic types. That’s not to say that you can’t achieve excellent results with a dynamic mic; many hit records feature vocals recorded with an inexpensive Shure SM58. Having said that, hand-held microphone recording is best avoided unless that’s the only way the singer can perform, and if your stand-mounted vocal mic has a shock mount, do use it as this will further decrease noise from mechanical vibrations. Many condenser mics have selectable pick-up

Themostpopularmicforvocals recordingisalargediaphragm condenserforadetailedsound patterns, the three main types being cardioid, figure 8 and omni-directional (hyper-cardioid is an increasingly popular fourth option). However, most engineers select the cardioid option for recording vocals as this usually gives the best vocal to room-sound balance. Ribbon mics can sound lovely in the right circumstances but they are delicate beasts that can easily be damaged by wind pressure, so are not an ideal choice for loud vocal work. Also, ribbons are bi-directional (figure 8) so will pick up more of the room-sound than a cardioid condenser or dynamic mic. If you are lucky enough to have the choice of

CONTACTS AKG 01462 480000 www.soundtech.co.uk AUDIO TECHNICA 0113 277 1441 www.audio-technica.com SE ELECTRONICS 0845 500 2500 www.seelectronics.com

The Audio Technica ATM510 is a great vocal mic and very reasonably priced at around £90.

MT Step-by-Step Microphone Selection and Positioning

Choose the microphone that best suits the vocalist’s voice and the style of track being recorded. Large-diaphragm condensers are usually preferred although singers with a very bright sound often sound better with a dynamic mic. If possible, set-up two or three mics and have the vocalist sing briefly into each at a starting distance of around 6 inches to find the best voice/mic position. Unless you want a particularly roomy effect, use a cardioid pick-up pattern.

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Determine which side of the vocalist’s mouth produces the better tone by moving the microphone from side to side or, alternatively, ask the singer to step to the left and then right of the mic. Next, experiment with the height of the mic. Increasing the height will generally produce a fuller sound, adding body and richness to thin-so nding voices, while lowering the mic can restore definition and brighten-up wooly-edged voices.

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Fine-tune the optimum distance between the singer and the mic during the first vocal run-through. or an intimatesounding vocal try a close-mic’ed method; 3 or 4 inches (7 to 10 centimetres) will give a sound with lots of detail but also a full bottom-end, particularly when using a cardioid pick-up pattern. Louder vocals are better captured at between 6 and 10 inches. Always use a pop-shield between the singer and mic to prevent unwanted popping.

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MT How to record

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increased due to the proximity effec . A the other extreme, with distances greater than 12 inches (30 centimetres), more of the natural room sound will be captured. Occasionally, these room reflections can be used to create a desirable effect – David Bowie’s vocal on Heroes for example was recorde with three mics: a standard close mic along with two amb ent mics at a distance of 20 and 50 feet, with a gate employed to open t e ambient mics during t e oudest passages. Us ally hough, a dis nce somewhere between 4 and 0 inc es (10 to 25 centimetres is a good starting place or a

Asageneralprinciple, thelouderthevocal, hefurtherawayyo canplacethemic natural-so nding vocal that can e processed wi amb ent e ects s ch as reverb and dela d ring m x g. As a ge eral incipl , e oud r e v c l, the f rther you an p ace the mic. he secon factor to d ermi e is whic side of your vo a ist’s mout produces the bes soun . It’s tempti g to place t e microphone irec y in front of the singe , however, we a l sing ( r speak) w h emphas s on either the left or right side o our mouths o som egree and usually one side wil soun brighter than the other. Try moving the mic from side to side in order to get he best

sE make some great vocal mics (below) plus the Reflexion Filter (right) designed especially for vocalists.

possible tone. Thirdly, experiment with the height of the microphone in relation to the singer’s head, as this wi l also present tonal variations. It’s a common misconception that positioning the mic above the s nger’s mouth produces a brig ter sound while lowering the mic will bring out a more chesty quality, when actually the opposite is true; increa e the height or a fuller sound and lower it for treble em asis. Positioni g the m c of -centre has the added advantage of reducing ps and wind noises from the mouth, spe king of which... It’s always advisable to use some orm of pop/ w nd-shield e ween the singer and microphone. Some mics come with a foam wind- hield that its over the micro hone itse f, however, he e aren’t very ffective at reducing pops and will likely com r mise t e tre e-re ponse of the microp one. Far better is to use a

MT Step-by-Step Monitoring On Headphones

Feeding the vocalist a good headphone mix will make the difference between capturing a pitch-perfect performance and an uninspired, flat-sounding take. Create a dedicated headphone mix a d feed that to he singer’s cans rat er than just feeding hrough the control-room monitor mix. isten on headphones with t e same mix so t at you know w at the singer is heari g. Once you have achieved the desired sound cont nue monitoring on cans o know exactly w at the singer is heari g.

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The vocalist will not necessarily need to hear everything that’s been recorded, especially if it’s a busy track. Priorit se instruments such as bass guitar, kick and snare drums, which contain the fundamental elements of tune and rhythm.This should help with pitching and keep the singer locked-in to t e groove of t e trac . Add a little reverb to t e cans to crea e atmosp ere but don’t over do it – a s ort reverb-t me sually works best. And don’t record the reverb o to the vocal track as it ca ’ be re oved la er.

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Keep the headphone mix at a reasonable volume. If the mix is too loud, the singer may perceive some notes to be either sharp or flat when they are not, and in an attempt to correct this will end up s nging off-key. Sustained loud headphone mon toring can be quite tiring as well as poten ially damaging to the ears. Also, if he s ger prefers t mo itor w t one side on t e cans removed, the sound from the unused speake might leak into the vocal mic.

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How to record MT

WorldMags.net pop-shield placed in front of the mic. If you don’t own a commercially available pop-shield you can improvise by sing some s ocking material stretched over a metal coat-hanger. One of the most important aspec s of vocal recording is ensuring that the singer has a good headphone mix. It won’ do to just send your monitor mix to the cans, you need to set-up a de icate m x tha has the right amount of fundamental tune and r y hm o help the

Somepreferto monitor hroughone can.JohnLennon hadonepermanently disconnected vocalist pitch correctly and stay in the groove of the track; bass guitar and kick drums are good for this. A little reverb added to the vocal foldback is usually helpfu but make sure the reverb is not recorde along with the voca . If possible, wear headphones with an identi al mix o monitor what t e singer is hearing, making sure that the level is not to high, as o erly-loud

Another fine mic: the C414 from AKG.

headphone mixes can affect the singer’s ability to pitch properly. Some vocalists prefer to monitor through just one side of a set of cans – Jo n Lennon preferred this method and had his own set with one channel permanently disconnected. With this in mind, if the singer wants to use this me hod, mute the unused side to prevent unwanted spill leaking into the vocal mic. Many engineers like to compress the vocal track as it’s being recorded. Care must be taken here as once compression is applied can’t be ta en off. You may be better off riding the vocal fader if there are just a few loud peaks an leave compression for the final mixdown. If you do compress as you record, be quite gentle wi h a compression ratio of around 2:1 and aim for no more t at 5 or 6 dB of compression on the loudest parts. Remember, you can always experiment with heavier compression at the mixing stage. This also applies to other processes suc as gating, which can ruin an otherwise good ta e if it’s not correctly set-up. Capture the performance fir t then you can try-o t various effects and treatments in a non-destructive way. Nex month we will explore how to treat vocal once t ey have been recorded, including how to compile (comp), a great per ormance from several recorded akes; how to de-ess an over sibilant vocal and how best o u e effects suc as reverb, delay, com ression and equalization o help the vocal si n the final mix. MT

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MT

Contemporary Production Techn ques

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New Series Contemporary Production Techniques

Welcome to a new MusicTech series. Mike Hillier g ides you through today’s most cutting-e ge and effective product on techniques, and kicks things off with side-c aining… e’re often asked about specific production techniques here at MusicTech, and not necessarily those specific to particu ar DAWs. So, in response, we’re starting a new series about some of today’s most commonly-used (or indee secret!) production techniques – those that are both defining ge res an making music what it is today. We’re illustrating them wit Pro Tools bu even if you don’t ow hat DAW you should be able to use t e ech iques s own within yo r sof ware of choice… To kick things off M ke i lier is a king side-chaining a d duc ing and diving…

We’restartingaseriesont e productio techniquest at aredefininggenresa d making usicwhat it stoday…

t tech iq e t a has bee s d f r wh e n w b lso o e t at i l ver pul r. B se d g e kic dr t th i e-c a of c mpres r pl ce acros n inst m t, i stru e t ca be ma e u i respo se o e k k. T is ea es o gr y mcd a i , r g e o t st i a s ex ti g u d . o ea s m r r m f r th ick m i t e mix, h i it is o po u r t e da ce s e, ere a r ng i k m , as ve , se ial to t i . of t f o use s t i ec i u D f nk, s th i e- a n f e is – t us dirt di a ec s . e, ’ eed d a re get s mi r s lts ma a r s, i l g e mic I I g-i i r l , d i b ri r

Dynamics processors, both har ware an software, of en ave an addi ional “si e-c ain” nput w ich can of e go overloo ed, b t can be e to chieve a variety of dvance product on tec niques. In bro dcast, c mpressor si e-c a ns ve long bee use to ac ieve a c i g e ec , red c ng t e e el of the m sic wh le t e D is s eaking. This same trick as a so bee sed n usic p oduc io , for nstance d ck a g ita par h le the vocalis is s ngin . I e nce orld, especially, t tec ique is incre ibly popular, duc i t e nstr mental p r s i es on e to he kick r –

PRO TIP Many dynamics processors,including the Dyn III,have an internal side-chain instead of or in addition to the external side-cha n.This splits the incoming signa and enables you to process the signal go ng to the side-chain internally. he most common technique here is to filter out low- requencies,so the compressor isn’t triggered by an excess of low-frequency energy.When used on busses,especially the master buss, his can produce a much smoother,more natural compression as it isn’t not being triggered by every kick drum beat. Side-c ain filters can also be used to create de-essers,by focussing on o ly the s bilant region of the vocal and compressing the signa on y when this region crosses the t resho .

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Contemporary roduction Techniques

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MT

MT Step-by-Step Getting a pumping sound

Send the instruments you want to pump in time with the kick to a group buss. It’s best not to send everything, but to specify specific soun s that wi l benefit, such as bass and pads.

On the kick track add a mono send, but don’t bother bringing the return back on its own aux channel. We’re just going to use it to co trol the compressor side-chain.

Add an instance of a dynamics compressor/limiter (here it’s Dynamics III in Pro Tools) to the group buss. And in the side-chain key menu at the top left select the ick SC buss we created.

The side-chain is now routed to the compressor, but the compressor is still not listening to it. In the side-chain section at the top right, click the key icon to engage he side-chain.

The threshold control will now respond to the incoming side-chain. Set the ratio at 4:1 and lower t e threshold until you’re getting a fair amount of compression (6-12dB).

Finally set the attack and release to time the pumping effect to the rhythm of the track. A ast attack will bring the signal down, quickly making room for the kick, while the release should be timed to create a rhyt mic pumping effect.

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drum to get a big pumping synth sou d. Be carefu with what you send to the compressor to be pumped though. We often hear artists sending t eir entire instrument buss to be pumped through the co pressor, when a couple of simple choice eleme ts would make for a far more excit ng and i teresting sound. A other common tric for side-chain dynamics is to beef up the sound of kick dr ms with a gated sine wave. Th s time the kick dru is sent to the side-chain of gate rather than a compressor. A sub-har onic freq ency is the sent to the

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gate’s a dio i ut, which ca be tu ed to he key of the song, or to add dept to the f n amen al of t e kick. Now whe t e kick drum crosses the gate thres o he g te wi l open, letting he sub-har o ic s ne wave thr ug , n then close again once t e kick drops bel w t e thres ld, e sur ng he sub-h rmo ies a e only prese t at t e sa e t me as he kic drum. By c refully setti g the att ck, o /hys ere is a d release controls o e te it possible to s pe the a plitude vel e of t e sin wave to lose y res le

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Contemporary Production Techn ques

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that of a kick. Fast attack and slightly slower releases will produce the most natural sounds, altho gh if you set the attack too fast you will create a high-frequency ticking sound as it opens, which may or may not be useful in accenting the kick rum. This same rick can be use o toms and, by substitut ng a p nk noise waveform for the sine wave, it can be used on snares too. It can also be used to create n automated gating effect on other instrume ts. Try gati g a synth or v ca part to tr gger of the i-ha rhyt m. The extures tha

you can create wit t ese sounds can e qu te i teresting, and don’t always eed the orig nal sound to be prese t in t e x. Usi g e h - at to trigger a gate o a syn h, for example, can e sed to replace e h - at at ern en i ely, or as s bsti ute for i in di fere t secti of e song. T s ef ec is oft easi r to produ e, n o na u al so din tha si g patte n sequence , r oma ion cont l a ga e. e ave recorded tap i g on esk se s a trig er o a ga e o a ccas ons, owin t e des ta p ng cha el w l ever eac t e al m i se . MT

MT Step-by-Step Beefing it up with a sine

Add a new mono Aux channel next to your kick, and add an instance of (in Pro Tools) Signal Generator followed by Dynamics III Expander/Gate.

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Set the Signal Generator to a sub-harmonic sine wave.You can tune this to your track, but is best around the 30-50 z range.

Similar to the side-chain compression earlier, set your dynamics gate to key from the kick SC channel and enable the side-chain.

04

We want to completely gate the signal when the kick isn’t triggering it, so set the Range to f ll (-80dB) and the ra io to 100:1

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Set the threshold to trigger only on the peaks of the kick, so that the gate isn’t open for very long.This enables us to better shape he sub ick with the attack and release.

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Finally, when setting the attack and release we’re controlling the speed at which the gate opens and closes, allowing the sine wave through in response to the kick.Th s shapes the envelope of our new sub kick.

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TAKES DRUM PRODUCTION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

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WHAT’S NEW? EVERYTHING.

EXISTING EZDRUMMER USER? BUY THE UPGRADE TO EZDRUMMER 2 NOW! WorldMags.net WWW.TIMESPACE.COM/TOONTRACK

MT Technique Advanced MIDI editing in Logic

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Logic Pro X Become a Logic Power User

AdvancedMIDI editinginLogic Power Series Pt. 10

Logic’s heritage as a MIDI sequencer really shines when it comes to adopting a speedier and more creative approach to editing MIDI data. Mark Cousins takes note…

O

ne of the key skills of producing music in the virtual domain is MIDI editing: refining the all-important musical data used to drive the virtual instruments in your Logic project. All too often, though, it’s easy to overlook the ability to edit and refine MIDI data – to be distracted by an alltogether more alluring world of instrument plug-ins and effects – but in truth, the way that you handle and manipulate MIDI data can be as creative as any part of the production process. Handling MIDI data in a fluid way, and understanding the myriad of creative possibilities that can be applied to it, can transform your music in a profound way.

On the disc Accompanying project file included on the VD

It’s easytobedistractedby alluringplug-ins,butediting MIDIisacreativeprocess

menu-driven ways that Logic can transform your MIDI data, often applying a process that could take an eternity to carry out by hand. Ultimately, the combination of improved note selection, along with some handy menu-driven transformations gives you more freedom to be creative with your MIDI data, whether you’re editing a complex drum pattern, moving different musical lines around a virtual orchestra or using controller data to make your music more dynamic. Enjoy the tutorial! MT This tutorial is endorsed by Point Blank Music School which specialises in courses on production, sound engineering, the music business, singing, radio production, DJ skills and film production, all run by top British music producers and media professionals, with regular visits from legends in music and media. www.pointblanklondon.com

Rather than exploring Logic’s MIDI editing features in a laboured way, we’ve decided to take a look at a variety of techniques and possibilities with MIDI editing that might suggest new ways of working, or a more balanced use of all Logic’s features. At first, we explore the link between the Inspector and the Piano Roll editor, two of the primary means of editing MIDI data in Logic, as well as seeing the potential importance of ‘normalizing’ some of your edits along the way. One of the key overarching themes in this workshop is the idea of ‘intelligent’ selection – selecting multiple MIDI notes using a few simple keyboard shortcuts rather than highlighting them on a note-by-note basis. With many MIDI performances often containing tens, or even hundreds of notes, it’s often the speed and efficiency that you select notes that can make a real difference to how quickly your MIDI edits are applied. Beyond note selection, we also look some unique

FOCUS ON… SCALE QUANTIZING One of the more intriguing elements of the Piano Roll editor is Scale Quantize,which works as a form of pitch-correction tool on MIDI information.Selected notes can be set to a user-define scale – like Major or Natural Minor – as well as a chosen key.One immediately-interesting application is to use o e of the more unusual scale types – like South-East Asian or Dorian – to see how it transforms your music.Another possib lity worth exploring is the combinat on of MIDI Transform’s Ra dom Pitch combined wit Scale Correction,which transforms an otherwise atona collection of random notes into something that could be considered music.

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Advanced MIDI editing in Logic Technique MT

WorldMags.net MT Step-by-Step Improved Drum Editing

In this first example we’re going to explore some possibilities with editing drums, starting with the hi-hat pattern.The Inspector is often the first port of call with many MIDI edits – in this case, applying a straight 1/16th quantize and fixing the dynamics – using the extended region parameters as part of the floating region inspector, alt + R - so that the velocity is flat.

Editing between the Inspector and the Piano Roll editor can get a bit complicated when you’re moving between the two layers of editing, so it’s often useful to normalize the region parameters, making the region edits permanent. Ctrl click on the region and from the MIDI sub menu select Normalize Region Parameters.The quantize and dynamics changes are now hard-written.

One of the key ideas behind more efficient MIDI editing is the idea of intelligent selection. One of the best examples is arguably the menu option Select > Same Subposition, or Shift + P. In the case of the hi-hat we can select the accents for one bar, then initiate the Same Subposition command to have Logic select the remaining bars.

With the notes selected, we can now use the Velocity slider as part of the Piano Roll’s local inspector to increase or decrease their relative level. If we want to adjust the level of the other notes in the pattern we can use the Invert Selection function – Shift + I – to shift our current selection accordingly.

If you’re working between multiple regions, it’s worth remembering the Set Note Color function as part of the Piano Roll editor. In this example, try selecting all the drum-based regions and then open the Piano Roll editor. Now switch the colour setting using the menu option View > Set Note Color > By Region Color.

Another useful tool for MIDI drum editing is the Nudge feature, which enables you incrementally shift the position of one or more notes using the left and right arrow keys in conjunction with the Alt modifier.You’ll need to set the nudge value (Move > Set Nudge Value to > Division) to ensure it’s set to a division for 1/16th movements.

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MT Technique Advanced MIDI editing in Logic

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MT Step-by-Step Dealing with MIDI chords

The next few examples explore some interesting techniques in relatio to worki g w th chords. One really useful tool in this context is the Force Legato feature, found under Trim > Note End to Following Notes (Shift + \).Try t is on the Cinemati Stri gs regio and see how the note length is change to make a smoo h tra sition.

One useful skill with chord sequences is the ability to split-out the notes to different instruments – in this case, doubling the bottom two notes on clarinet and the top note on flute.To start, copy the strings to the c arinet, open the region and use the menu option Select > Highest Notes (Shift + Up Arrow).

With the top notes selected, press mute (Ctrl + M) to silence them. Copy the region over to the flute, selected the muted notes (Shift + M), un-mute, Invert the selection (Shift + I) and then mute. While this seems complicated, it actually ill strates how a few simple key presses can transform your MIDI Data.

An interesting alterative to the technique described here is the menu option Functions > Set MIDI Channel to Voice Number, whic divides a chord between a series of MIDI channels.This is we l worth do ng with the View > Set Note Co or > By MIDI Channe enabled, so that you can see the MIDI assignment by colour.

Try applying the Set MIDI Channel to Voice Number function on the Hammond track. In this case, the notes end up being divided among the t ree differe t organ manuals (Upper, Pedals and Lower). You can achieve some interesting effects chang ng t e drawbar set i g between the three man als, colouring each part of the chord in a differen way.

If you’re intending you use your separated note data with other virtual instruments, it might be worth using the contextual menu item MIDI > Separate by MIDI Channel. Once applied, your original sequence data will be split into three reg ons, one for each voice of the chord, each of wh ch can be mapped to a separate virtual nstrument.

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MT Technique Advanced MIDI editing in Logic

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MT Step-by-Step Getting creative – controller data and beyond…

The MIDI Draw area at the bottom of the Piano Roll editor is where you can access the MIDI controller data and, of course, MIDI velocity settings.This view is particularly useful if you use the note data by Region Colour view, although it’s also handy in that you get a detailed overview of the respective velocity level between notes.

Using the drop-down menu in the local inspector, you move between any one of the 127 assignable MIDI controllers. Working with the synth bass track, for example, we can use the modulation to controller the filter cutoff. Use either the pointer tool to add new nodes or the pencil tool to draw freehand.

One of the key points to note about the MIDI Draw area is that you can access the same information at arrange-level. From the Tracks Area, use the local menu item View > MIDI Draw > Modulation. You should now see controller data directly from the arrangement, although you’ll need to make sure the vertical scaling is suitably ‘large’.

When it comes to modifying MIDI data, there’s a host of possibilities to be found under the Functions menu in the Piano Roll editor, especially under the MIDI Transform sub-menu. Whenever you apply a transform, Logic will take you through to MIDI Transform dialogue. Click on Select and Operate to initiate the transform.

Working with the Synth Bass part, there’s a number of interesting transforms we can apply. Fixed Note Length adds a more machine-like feel to the sequence, especially if we then reduce the note length by half (effectively creating notes 1/32nd in duration). Also try Random Velocity as this is mapped through to the Filter.

Going back to the drums, one of my favourite MIDI transforms is the Humanize option, which adds small amounts time drift and velocity randomisation to mimic the style of a ‘human’ performance. The great thing here is that you can add Humanize progressively – making the performance looser each time.

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MT Technique Mixing tools and techniques

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Ableton Live Become a Live Power User

Mixingtools andtechniques Power Series Part 10

When it comes to mixing, Live offers both classic and contemporary mixing tools for a variety of sonic options. Liam O’Mullane walks you through his main choices of devices and editing tools to make your mixes shine…

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ixing is a process that can happen in one or two stages of the music production process. The first stage is creative and composition based, where people may mix as they go. Here they’ll solely concentrate on mixing as the track comes together with possibly a separate tweaking stage at the end. The second stage is after the composition is complete and sounds are in place, to then mix with a subjective outlook. Some people will ignore major mix decisions until this stage as it gives them the most mix options as possible while they only have their mix engineering hats on.

On the disc Accompanying project file included on the VD

Itisagoodideatotryand separateyourmixingstage fromyourcreativestage… Although mixing has creative sound design aspects, it also has many practical tasks and assessments that need to be carried out. With your creative hat on, you can find this difficult to do, so if you stop to take care of these matters, it can have a negative affect on your creative workflow. So

FOCUS ON… EXPANDING YOUR GO O TOOLS The library of audio effects in Live’s browser offers a good range of funct onal and creative mixing tools to choose from.EQ Eight and Compressor/Glue Compressor are the most obvious choices for frequency and dynamics control,but there are many other devices w ich are worth exploring for frequent mixing tasks. Alt ough you can use a low- and igh-cut EQ to bracket a sound’s frequency range using an EQ Eight,a Cabinet dev ce can ac ieve a similar effect with much more added character.This is partially due to its narrower frequency bandwidth that creates a telep one ike effect.But this ca be balanced wit t e orig nal s gnal using the dry/ we control to return a sense of fidelity.The ra ge of the bandwidt estric ion,or brac et, s selecte through the spea er setting.Transient smear ng is at its mos affect ve when you se ect a dyna ic mic from t e micropho e list and exp ore its posit o . Cabi et ad s a element o ynamic control as part of its processing as wel ,bu other options ike Saturator and Dyna ic Tube ev ces can do this w i e of eri g a di feren character. se a careful balance o drive and out ut – you can eit er go for a ully-processe an clipped soun , or balance t e dry/wet amount or a balance o t e origina signa to re a n some ynamics. Re ux’s Bit Reduct o ca be used to red ce a soun ’s ynamic range,but it wi l

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there is a good reason to separate these two mixing processes if you can. To help commit to this separation, it’s worth rendering out all of your tracks to new audio. This helps you decide when you’re truly ready to mix, while also removing the temptation to tamper with compositional aspects during the mixing stage. Rendering out your audio also frees up computer resources which means more processing power for plug-ins. Finally, if you intend to send your work out to be mixed by an engineer, this process will create files that they can use. To export your project’s tracks to new individual audio files, highlight the duration of the whole song and then select Export Audio/Video from the File menu. This opens up a large range of options and we recommend you remain at Live’s native bit-depth of 32-bits, and stay at the same sample rate you’re working at. The sample rate you’re currently using is signified by having a small speaker icon next to it. The only other option that needs configuring for this task is the Rendered Track menu (all other options should be disabled). Select Individual Tracks for rendering and then select a new, clean, mix project folder to put them in after clicking the Export button. You will now have a new file for every track which can be imported into a new project. Until next time, happy mixing… MT

create a dir ,lo-fi c aracteristic.T is ca be usef l or g v ng o e or wo sounds disti ct to e of the r own i the ix.Harmonics can also be intro uced usi g Downsample when set o se ts Sof mode.Use a very s all amount to ntroduce a gl ss so nding top-en for d l sou ds. Wh tever tool end up e ng your favo rites,save some time nd c eate a efa lt processing c a n by Rig PC] / Ctr Mac] + c i i g o a track’s name. ere you can save de u open ng state or future e IDI or a di tr c s.A ter loa i g in yo r pre erred m x-too s o track,se ec S v As De u IDI or A io ra respe t vely. o al new trac s wi l e reated wit t is chai of ev ce pre- oaded.

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Mixing tools and techniques Technique MT

WorldMags.net MT Step-by-Step Processing, side-chaining and automation

Although Live’s Compressor Device is perfectly functional, Glue Compressor can be used to add some character for dynamic processing. Glue is a great channel, group and mix buss compressor with its SSL-like smoothing effect. Enable the Soft Clip function and explore driving the signal using the Makeup gain for a hot sound.You can always then use the dry/wet dial to make this a parallel effect.

If you need to remove unwanted sounds, try editing the unwanted portions out rather than using a gate device.This offers a higher level of individual control to tidy up audio over a more ‘set and forget’ approach used with a gate. After highlighting the portions you don’t want, delete them, then select Show Fades from the Create menu.You can now drag these start and end fades to suit each audio event.

As compression is the process of level control, you can also control dynamics using Live’s editing functions.You can automate volume, but this limits you for making level adjustments down the line. Instead, add a Utility Device at the end of the Track’s processing chain, then automate its gain parameter. For more natural automation changes, hit Alt on automation lines to drag and create curves.

Use an EQ Eight before any processing to remove unwanted frequencies. Add another at the end of the chain for re-balancing the frequency curve of a sound. Check unnecessary bottom-end that needs removing using the analyser on the first EQ.The second EQ’s analyser monitors how your processing is affecting the frequency content – useful when trying to fill out holes in your mix.

Many devices have the ability to be side-chained, so respond to the amplitude levels of an external signal. Most people only use these on single or grouped sounds, overlooking the option to dynamically control ambience effects.Try adding a compressor to each Return Track and set them to take Audio From the drum group. This make your mix move with a pumping, rhythmic sound.

Those with Live Suite can get creative with side-chaining using its Max For Live based Envelope Follower. Place this on the track to be the source sound for side-chaining, then click map before clicking a parameter you wish to control.This moves in time with the audio events on the track with the device on. Use a multimap device to multiply and started mapping this source to various destinations.

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Mixing tools and techniques Technique MT

WorldMags.net MT Step-by-Step Advanced and unique processing

An Overdrive device is useful for thickening up the harmonic content of a sound. First, find the right frequency area and width of focus using the device’s bandpass filter.Then control the density of distortion using drive and its brightness using tone. Finally, compress the signal as required using the dynamic amount, then dry/wet can blend the processed signal to taste.

Another option for thickening up specific frequencies is the Vinyl Distortion Device.The tracing model graph can be used in much the same way as the bandpass filter on an overdrive device. It’s the pinch graph below where things get interesting as harmonics are distributed across the stereo plane, making it useful for also enhancing its stereo width.

We discussed setting up mid and side processing using Audio Racks in Part 5 of this series.This simple process lets you add different processing to the middle (mono) and sides (stereo difference) for a higher level of control.To get used to how these sound, after setting-up, solo each one and play with their respective balance to hear which part of the sound each chain represents.

If you have a stereo signal, a good way to enhance how stereo it sounds is to compress both the mid and sides of the signal separately.This way you can reduce the dynamic range of the sides so the stereo aspect of the signal is more consistent in volume. Raising the level of the sides will then make the sound more stereo than mono.

Another good place to consider processing mid and side signals on their own is for ambience effects.Try using a different reverb device, or Max For Live Convolution Reverb on each signal with unique settings.This creates a much deeper and engaging ambience soundfield. A shorter decay time on the middle and longer on the side works well for an enhanced sense of stereo spread.

Live’s Vocoder device can function as a noise based exciter. With the carrier set to noise, the reverb-like noise effect can have its decay time altered using the release value. After setting the device to 40 Bands for the best fidelity along with a maximum frequency range, explore the depth and formant controls to tune its noise to best suit the source sound and EQ it to taste drawing into the filter bank.

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MT Technique Routing hardware and software into Cubase

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Cubase Become a Cubase Powe User

Routinghardwar &softwareintoCubase Power Ser es Pt. 10

With more new hardware coming out and lots of classic hardware available Tim Hallas looks at how your DAW can become the perfect hardware/software environment…

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hen working with Cubase, one of the biggest problems that I come across, particularly when working on the older versions I find in schools, is that the variety of sounds was not always as comparable with other DAWs. Now we’re in version 7.5, the selection is much greater, but as musicians we are always looking for the most appropriate sounds available rather than just settling for what is available.

On the disc Accompanying project file included on the VD

Developersmaythinkyoucan doitallintheboxbutthere’s alot ofhardwaretotemptyouout I am a bit of a ‘gear-head’ and have in my studio a number of very nice external MIDI devices from the true analogue of my Moog Little Phatty to the most digital and modern sounds of my Roland V-Synth via a whole stack of drum machines and other gadgets I rarely use. They all have their appeal and I use the appropriate one at the appropriate time. So, although Cubase does now have a range of decent sounds within the MediaBay, this month we will be looking

at how to incorporate sounds from external devices into projects via MIDI and how to capture the audio back in. As well as using external devices, many users of Cubase may well be familiar with linking the software to other programs through the ReWire protocol. Both Reason and Live work with ReWire and can be controlled by a master DAW and in this article we look at how to set this up within Cubase. (Hollin or Liam will be able to write in more detail about the Reason or Live side of the protocol, but for now I will focus on the Cubase side.) The need to link the software to these external devices and pieces of software is less common now that all of the major DAWs are trying to make their programs all-in-one boxes. However, while they try and do that, there’s been a growing number of hardware releases over recent years to tempt us back ‘to the outside’ so it is still important that we understand how to use these features in the software. And you never know when you’ll want that old rack synth in the loft back in your set-up, so here’s how to best marry hardware and software and also to ReWire other software into Cubase. MT

DEVICESETUP I have noticed an unfortunate habit within certain devices that feature USB MIDI as part of their setup of also grabbing the audio output as well.My Little Phatty is gui ty of th s,and no matter what I do, can’t get it to allow audio from both computer and synth to play at once via in-buil USB.The only way I have got round this is by using traditional 5-pin DIN M DI connections. These ight seem antiquated, but actua ly using a MIDI hub such as my old M-Audio 8x8 MIDISport a lows me to connect multiple devices with very litt e prob em – and o ogging of audio parameters – at the same time as the ealing w th all that important IDI data.I hen capture the audio as described above with no problem.

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Routing hardware and software into Cubase Technique

WorldMags.net MT Step-by-Step Reaching outside of the box

To begin routing MIDI information to an external MIDI track, you need to have a ‘true’ MIDI track rather than a Software Instrument track. Load one of these by selecting Project> Add Track> MIDI.This will bring up a dialogue box to choose how many tracks you want.These are different to Instrument tracks as Instrument tracks are more of a hybrid MIDI/Audio track.

Once your track is loaded you need to route it to the external device that it will be controlling.They can be found in the drop- down box in the Channel Inspector panel on the left hand side. Once the output is selected, choose which MIDI channel you want to output on – from 1 to 16 – so that there is no muddled MIDI data between tracks.

At this stage your external device should be receiving MIDI data, and assuming it is connected to an amplifier of some variety, it should be making sound.You can now provide it with any MIDI data that a software instrument would receive, including note data and automation via Continuous Controller information.

If you are integrating the sounds generated into a project that is running audio and other devices, there needs to be some way of collating all of these sounds which traditionally would have been done via a mixer – and we can do the same in Cubase via the MixConsole and Arrange window in the software by taking an audio feed into the computer.

By adding an audio track into the Arrange window (Project> Add Track> Audio) and routing the input from your interface to that channel you can capture the audio. Connect the output of your external device to the audio input and simply hit record.The computer will send the output of the MIDI to the device and then capture the audio as it is recorded back in.

There is potential that this capture might be minutely behind the project, but I have never noticed it enough to be a problem. If you want to adjust it within the Arrange window, re-align the captured audio with the beat or the original MIDI data until it is back in time with the project.

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MT Technique Routing hardware and software into Cubase

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MT Step-by-Step Reaching other software via ReWire

The ReWire protocol is a temperamental beast and requires the software to be opened up in the correct order. Start by opening Cubase, but not opening a project.Then open Reason (or other software) and it should say ‘ReWire Slave Mode’ as the audio device. Open your Reason project and then the Cubase project to makes sure that all the conduits link correctly between the pieces of software.

When working with ReWire, although the whole process remains within the box rather than leaving the computer as it does with an external MIDI device, we still need to use a MIDI track rather than an Instrument track. So start by creating one in Cubase by following the instructions above but don’t yet route to the output or channel.

For this I shall be describing working with Reason, but it works similarly in other ReWire slaves. At this point there will be no sound, as although you have the software link, it is not yet turned on to allow sound through. By selecting Devices> *device* Rewire this opens up a dialogue box to select all the outputs available – I’ll come to this shortly. Start with L+R mix.

You now need to assign tracks to instruments between the pieces of software – start by selecting the sound source you want to use in the slave and setting up the instrument.Then in Cubase, the instrument you have just loaded will appear as a device in the external MIDI tracks available.You can now play and record the MIDI data between Cubase and the slave.

If you then want to import the information back into Cubase, it is easier than with external MIDI devices as it can be done inside the box. Decide how you want to capture the audio, either as mix or individual parts for further processing. If the former, export the audio from the ReWire program or by soloing the ReWire mix in Cubase and exporting that and then re-import it into Cubase onto an audio track.

If you want to capture individual sounds, route the outputs of each instrument in Reason into channels on the Hardware Interface.Then in Cubase go back in the Reason ReWire box and turn on those channels that have instruments connected to them.Then within the Arrange window, solo that individual track and export the audio and then repeat the process of export and import above.

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MTReviews Elektron Analog Keys

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MTReviews Hardware

Software

Mobile Technology

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ELEKTRON

Analog Keys With more performance features than a circus, Analog Keys is aimed at everyone from live players to analogue boffins. But does it spread itself to thinly? Andy Jones is on the keys… Details Price £1,449 Contact Elektron +46 317 437 440 Web www.elektron.se

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e love Elektron – let’s get that out of the way.The company does things its way and doesn’t really seem to care what anyone thinks. It produces great hardware beat and synth machines which are, as Stella Artois would say, reassuringly expensive.‘Too expensive?’ you might say, but I’m a firm believer that every industry needs something that you can aspire to buy. Not that Elektron is in the ‘supercar’ league where no-one can afford the gear, but it is set in a strata where you have to be serious about what you are doing in order to consider buying it, which means – in an admittedly snobby way – ‘no riff-raff here’, so consequently you won’t find Elektron sounds everywhere. Which is good. Having said that, the gear really does have to deliver the goods for the money being asked for it, and in the Machinedrum, the Monomachine, the Analog Four (on which this unit is based, and reviewed back in April 2013 – indeed for more on this synth’s architecture read that review) and the Octatrack, it’s a case of ‘so far, so great’. They do what you want and a whole lot more, but they do cost… MAGAZINE

Analog Keys is a four-part analogue synth with digital control, effects, a step sequencer, a 37-note semi-weighted keyboard, MIDI control capabilities plus some neat sound-morphing by way of a joystick. In fact, it is filled with features for the composer and performer but, more interestingly for the studio user, is its forthcoming Overbridge feature. This will enable the synth to be seen as a virtual synth within your DAW, thus offering the best in hardware combined with the ease of use of a software instrument. It will be one of the first analogue synths to be able to sit within a DAW environment like this, but note that I have said ‘will’ twice as, unfortunately, this promised feature will not be with us until Q4 this year. When it does come out, though, it will also bring full, bi-directional USB audio and total recall of the analogue parameters. Great stuff, but as I write this we’re only just in Q2, so we have a while to wait…

Front panel Because this analogue synth is digitally controllable and comes packed with features that you won’t find on a standard analogue synth, don’t expect a standard front panel.There are rotaries (10, far right) for controlling parameters,

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for sure, but they can control multiple parameters. The panel is set up with an emphasis on the on-board sequencer with its four selectable tracks on the far left (plus effect and CV/gate tracks) and 16 trigger buttons in a row along the bottom near the keyboard. The keys above are used to select patterns or sounds from potentially 4,000+ on offer.

Architecture The manual, then, goes straight into the data architecture of the synth so it’s worth a quick run down of how it works. You start with the basic sound, and four of these make a Kit (including effects and CV settings). A Pattern is a sequence of note data as you might expect and you can have 128 of these available across eight banks (16 in each). A Chain – stay with us – is a sequence of patterns; 64 of these are available which then go to build up Songs. Finally a Project is the whole thing including up to 128 Patterns and Kits; 16 songs, four Global settings and the 128 sounds in the sound pool. If this all sounds over the top, maybe it is, but when was Elektron ever going to do anything by the book? For now, just get your head around the fact that there are tons of building

Elektron Analog Keys Reviews MT

WorldMags.net Alternatives For an analogue synth ‘sound’ there are literally hundreds of options available,so I’ll just go through a couple that I’ve reviewed. These are the Novation BassStation II (£399) which is surprisingly flexible, great fun and veers very much towards a classic acid sound.The Moog Sub Phatty (£849) has an incredibly-rich tone but can also be very contemporary in its outlook – indeed many of its (only) 16 presets seem made for modern dance music.Both are only monotimbral and monophonic.The Nord Lead 4 (£1549) has lots of sy thesis types (including a virtual analogue).It isn’t true analogue but I mention it as it sits in a similar price point,and is four part multitimbral (like the Analog Keys).It comes with a rich choice of performance options which I think are better implemented too.It doesn’t sound as ‘analogue’ but you get more polyphony (20 notes).

blocks here for song creation and for getting ideas down. Sounds combine with Kits (effectively multi set-ups) to make Patterns to make Songs and Projects may contain multiple ideas and Songs (up to 16). It’s just a different way of thinking for the traditional DAW user – basically you can do everything you need to do within one box, it’s just that box is not a computer. And, by and large, as well as an ideas generator, this structure is aimed at the performer.

Sounds As the sounds are at the very core of the architecture, it’s time to spend some time stepping through them.This is best done by loading in a Kit of four sounds. You can select the Track number, one to four on the left, to play the sounds that make up the Kit, and then use the Sound Selection dial on each part to change the sound that makes up the Kit. It’s also worth having some Patterns ready to trigger as you audition the sounds as these are linked to the Kits so when you change the sounds within a Kit, the Pattern will simply play these new sounds in place of the old so you can audition the sounds in context. As you go through the sounds it feels a bit random, at first.There aren’t that many large groups by sound type (although you can search by sound type to get them clustered together) so it’s all a bit surprising, but I actually like that. Who wants to delve through 500 bass sounds in one

go? So you go from incredible Vangelis -type pads with one preset to attempts at English trumpets the next.The former is brilliant, the latter… please stop doing brass on synths – synths should be used to make new sounds! Having said that, there is a delicate English Horn preset that demonstrated enough subtlety to be very inspiring

and can say that the arse on this fella is easily as big. There’s plenty of lo-fi effect type presets to dig into too. Later in bank B there are all sorts of alien-like textures, plenty of bizarre movement and loads of depth. Indeed, with some of the sounds the combination of great preset with effects often meant I thought I was playing a multitimbral performance rather than a single preset sound. From the literature, I (mis) understood that there were supposed to be 4,000+ sounds in the Drive Sound Library. However that is not the case. There are 256 each in banks A and B and the rest, in banks C to P are empty slots for you to fill. A little disappointing but I’m not complaining too much. Less

Youcandoeverythingyou wantinthebox,it’s justthat boxisnotacomputer… indeed. This synth sounds best off road. Indeed, the sounds that really work well are the more fantastical ones: the pads, the dirty rhythmic ones and the sequenced ones. These not only show off the power of the analogue engine but how dramatic the effects can be. There’s some pure joy to be had dialling up the Vangelis-a-like pad, the dirty, quirky Hatcher2; and the other-worldly Kraksong. Basses too are full, large and beefy. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing a couple of big-bottomed synths over the last year in the form of the Novation Bass Station 2 and Moog Sub Phatty

KeyFeatures O 4 voice – 2 analogue oscillators per voice O 2 analogue filters per voice O 1 analogue overdrive circuit per voice O 37 key semi-weighted keyboard with aftertouch O Up to 4096 Sounds +drive storage O Dedicated MIDI controller mode O Step sequencer with parameter locks O Dedicated CV/Gate and FX sequencer tracks O Reverb, delay, chorus send FX O Connections: headphone, 2 x main outs, 4 x stereo outs, 2 x external ins, 2 x dual CV/Gate outs. USB 2.0

is more when you have this high a quality engine and set of presets. Which is where my – albeit small – problem lies. Analog Keys is often about performance, sure, and all about building blocks as a scratch pad composer. I’m not a live performer but can see that there are oodles of features for the player. I don’t think they are particularly well implemented in all

We love the Elektron design ethos.The company designed an analogue synth but made it look incredibly modern – not retro at a l – and it fits in well with the company’s other products.

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MT Reviews Elektron Analog Keys

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MT Navigation Analog Keys front panel SOUND MORPHING We didn’t have time to touch upon this much in the review but use this joystick to morph between sounds. It’s a feature we’ve loved since owning a Yamaha SY22 back in the day!

a

ROTARIES While these aren’t tied to any particular parameter, they do tend to edit the most common parameters, so when a sound is d alled up you will usually find they allow you access to the parts you want to edit.

c

c

b

b TRIGGER KEYS These are used for step sequencing and real-time sequencing so, as the patterns cycle around, you can program them. They are also used to select sounds and patterns.

d GLOBAL The layers within Analog Keys may be a little confusing at first, but here’s where you select them (includ ng Kit, Pattern, Song and Track).

d

a

Give me that update! In six months time this could well be the synth I’ve been waiting all of my life for…

inputs for routing external signals i to the Analog Keys MIDI In /Thru/Out; and a comprehe s ve CV/Gate section. Flexible!

cases. To play a Pattern, for example, you have to hit two keys simultaneously and then another to choose the pattern and then hit play. Why not use the big dial to do this instead? Turn dial, click, simple. And the Sound section has Sound Manager and Sound Browser options that essentially do the same thing. So some things are dead straightforward while others unnecessarily complicated. It’s almost like two people have come at this from completely different drawing boards and both met half way. Method Spot Creating patterns is relatively easy on the Analog Keys. You can use Grid Recording whereby you switch on or off one of the 16 Trig buttons as it cycles (like step recording) to input notes or parameters, or Live Recording where you play i real time as the pattern cycles aroun . The first is better for easier input and accuracy and it’s also easy to c ange soun as you program away. This is real y the guts of the Analog Keys a d you s ould give it a go to hear the potential.

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Do we want a great sounding 4-part analogue synth with digital control? Or do we want a great performance synth? They’ve opted for both, but I think one design occasionally gets in the way of the other. Which means that the bits that I absolutely love – and I really do – i.e. the synth engine and the noises it makes, are almost hidden behind the bluster of various performance modes and complexity. OK I’ve admitted I’m no performer so would rather use this within my DAW set-up, probably ignoring most of the machine’s potential. But as I said at the start of this review, there is more to come in six months time: a software update that will make this unique: an analogue synth which you can control like a VST, with USB audio. Now that’s a synth that I’ve been waiting for… So, live performers? This is a synth for you. Scratch-pad hardware sequencer people? Likewise. But expect

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a steep learning curve because Analog Keys is typical Elektron. They don’t make it easy or cheap, but if you have the cash and are prepared to invest time then you will reap more rewards with this than any other piece of hardware. They’re essentially testing your mind and your wallet. Can you pass the financial and mental test? Are you good enough to own an Elektron machine? If I’m honest, I’m not. Not in its current incarnation. Give me the engine and the sounds, that will do. And give me that update, because in six months time this could well be the synth I’ve been waiting for all my life… MT

MT Verdict + Amazing sound engine + Inspiring presets + Lovely design (as are all Elektron machines) + Simple track layout makes Kit editing easy + Lots of modulation features + In six months time there’s a big update + Fantastic effect and CV track features - Some ease of use issues - Over complex architecture - Big update… in six months time It’s almost a machine that does too much, but concentrate on one thing at a time and you’ll reap rewards, and in Q4 of this year, this could well be THE synth to own.

8/10

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MTReviews Nord Lead A1

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NORD

Choice

Edit Ed itor tor or’s s Ch Choiice ce

/1

Lead A1

TheLeadA1isanaccessibleanalogue-modellingsynth,butNord hasalsounleashedacreativemonster,asAndy Jones discovers… Details Price £1,249 (Lead A1R will cost £1,049 and ships end May) Contact Sound Technology 01462 480000 Web www. nordkeyboards.com

KeyFeatures O 4-part multitimbral O 26 voices of polyphony O Programs: 8x50, performances: 4x50 O 8 oscillator configurations O Analogue and digital waveforms O LFO with 5 waveforms O 12, 24 dB lowpass, high-pass and band-pass filters O Filter simulations of ini and TB-303 O Effects: ensemble, chorus, phaser, flanger, ring modulator, drive O USB MIDI O Four outputs; pan on front panel

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N

ot long after the release of the Nord Lead 4 (reviewed in MT128) the Nord Lead A1 was announced to some surprise at the Winter NAMM show. With the name and the simplified front panel it definitely seemed to be pushing the analogue-modelling side of things so let’s look at the concept… The A1 is designed as an analoguemodelling synth, yes, but there’s more to it than that.The interface is streamlined to allow for ‘ fast-track programming’ in that it moves away from the slightly more complex architecture of the Lead 4 and straight into the bare bones of analogue programming. (Not that I thought the 4 was particularly tough to master – indeed, I thought many of its hands-on performance features were out of this world. See my review at www. musictech.net). The A1’s design comes from the fact that people wanted something to program quickly and effectively. But don’t think ‘cut down’ as, if anything, the synthesis engine is supposedly more analogue-sounding than that on the 4, as it has an all-new core that ‘recreates a total analog signal path with uncanny realism’ and also features some new and clever tweaks to make things more

interesting and instantly hands on.

The new stuff The most important of these are what Nord call Oscillator Configuration Shortcuts. These are quick ways of setting up complex oscillator configurations – the heart of your analogue-modelled sounds. So you get eight preset variations – with many sub variations – all ready to go. As the building blocks, these are important so are: Pitch, which simply adjusts the pitch of oscillator 1; Shape adds extra wave shaping via the on-board waveforms (of which there are 47 to choose from); Sync adds a hard sync by way of the additional oscillator; Noise adds, you guessed it, noise; Detune adds the second oscillator; Sub Mix adds a second with waveform (with Sine,Tri Saw and Square shape options); FM adds the classic FM configuration where osc 1 is the carrier and 2 the modulator; and finally AM adds amp modulation by way of osc 2. Other new features include a ‘Like’ feature, that simply allows you to store a sound you are working on in a

temporary location. Sounds obvious, but how often have you liked something but have wanted to move it on to something else and lost that initial inspirational sound? Here you keep that first version (saved in one of 50 temporary slots) and simply come back to it later.There’s also a Multi Focus feature that controls all four sound slots that make up a performance so you can, for example, change all four sounds in real time. Getting back to the main sonic architecture, the filter section from the NL4 is, fortunately, largely retained with the 12 and 24dB low pass, high pass, and band pass options; plus the superb diode and ladder filters (on the NL4) that emulate those from the Minimoog and the TB-303 synthesizers; and finally you get the drive dial for even more dirt. The A1’s LFO has a choice of waveforms and a 3-stage ADR/ASR Modulation Envelope and LFO rate can be sync’d to the master clock.Two new effects – ensemble and chorus – model vintage synths like the ARP and Solina. These are in addition to the reverb, delay, ring modulation, phaser, flanger, and drive available independently on each slot on the A1. So, new features, a lot of retained features but a whole new engine and some new effects.That’s got to mean it’s time to try those sounds, right? Sort of…

OK, let’s not Like the NL4, there are no groups of sounds found in any particular slots –

Looks simple,and small,compared to the Nord Lead 4,but (not very far) beneath the A1’s front panel lies creative genius…

MAGAZINE

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Nord Lead A1 Reviews MT

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it’s all pretty random. But what comes across is a set of preset sounds that is more unified than those on the NL4; not as varied, obviously, but a collection that hangs together better, all around a similar core engine. Oddly, because they are more focussed they come across as a little more useable to me, but I am a fan of this kind of sound – the sound of the pure synthesizer rather than the type where you literally get all the bells and whistles added.That’s not to say it’s better than the Nord Lead 4, just more an expert in one field rather than spreading itself over many.

The Nord Lead A1R is,not surprisingly,the rack version of the A1 and out at the end of May.It costs a couple of hundred pounds less.

obvious things like dial the filter and resonance controls (yes, I am using the 303 filter at this point). But the real fun comes when I switch between the Oscillator Configurations that prove to be the A1’s secret weapon.You’re not just changing the sound, sometimes you are composing as you progress. Switch between some of the harmonic waveform variations, for example, and you find yourself creating note sequences which change note as the

I’mnotgoingtotalkaboutthe presets,somethingthat’s never happenedbefore… So, right about here, I should detail those many excellent leads, arpeggiations, plus the deepest virtual analogue basses you will ever hear and all of that amazing analogue movement.

But… STOP! … because I’m not going to talk about the presets, and that’s never happened before. What would have been an easy bit of writing – ‘deep basses here, searing leads there’ and so on and so forth – is simply not going to happen in this review.The A1 is virtual analogue, and it’s Nord, so you know they’re good presets, ok? And the truth is the A1 has them by the bucket load, but it’s what you do with them that counts, and counts more than ever before… As I stepped through each preset, preparing to describe them for you, I found myself doing something rather unusual: programming. And exploring. I began pressing the hold key, triggering an arpeggiation and simply dialing dials. And this is where the A1 turns from your average preset buster, into what it should be used for: creation! So I have a sound playing… pretty much any of the presets on offer. I play with the filter drive for extra dirt. I then change the filter type for bite. Everything is sounding great so far. I then do more

configuration changes. It’s hard to explain but what you end up with are melodic riffs which change in both note and timbre – all inspiring stuff! Hit the Osc Contrl dial and you can make the results scream or become more mellow. Hit the filter and resonance again and you have something altogether more expected, maybe, but in combination with what you’ve just done with the oscillators, you can get some very different stuff indeed. It’s analogue magic! I urge you just to play with the dials. It’s here that you also realize why they’ve put that Like feature in – you’ll fill the 50 spaces very quickly.

Conclusion Which brings me too quickly to the end with little time spent on the other A1 features. Mutator and Morph are touched upon in the box above and add more fun to the sound creation side of things, and in Performance mode, read the above and multiply by four! As to the A1 as a concept, I have to admit that I was initially a little confused as to where it fits in. But ultimately that doesn’t really matter as overall it is simply one of the most creative synths I have come across because you get so much instant, easy, hands-on, real-time and dramatic

The Nord Lead A1 features some great performance aspects that al ow you to change the sounds in real time by flicking the odd switch or mod wheel.The Morph function,so common on other Nord keyboards,is also present on the A1.It is great and allows you to control several parameters a the same time – usually by mod w eel or velocity – o gradually (or quic ly) morp a sound.Impu se orph,the more instant,button-pus variation of t is,available on the Nord Lead 4,is ot included on the A1. Mutator is on the A1 t ough! This is one of my favo rite features on the Nord Lead 4 and allows you to instantly progra ew so nds based on an original preset.So dial up a sound you like,choose a ‘Process strengt ’ of betwee 1 a d 5 (5 g v ng you the most dramat c sonic variation) it Execute and you wi l get a new version of the original soun . Yo ca continue o create variat ons o t e origina preset nsta tly (or variat o s of e so nds you crea e fro it r even generate a random version. ust keep going unti yo get somet ing you ike – great fu and a s perb way of sonica ly exploring without *wh sper* rea ly know ng what you re doi g.

access to any sound.The oscillator configurations are a genius way of changing the whole architecture at the twist of a dial and, used with the other controls and Morph feature, are simply inspiring. I will use the A1 with my DAW constantly in record mode so I can revisit whatever I capture to use as ideas for songs going forward. So I am genuinely surprised by the A1. It’s come from nowhere – a totally unexpected synth from Nord with one of the most ‘instant’ feature sets I’ve ever used. And while it’s smaller than the Nord Lead 4 (in physical and sonic terms) I can’t help thinking that its simplicity, its creativity and its quality will win it many friends. Nord might have trouble marketing it, but the A1 stands on its own, and is my kind of synth, as you can probably tell. If you have an analogue heart, hold a note, dial some dials and after five minutes, you’ll be won over too… MT

MT Verdict + A creative joy + Will turn you into a programmer + Loads of great presets… + …but you are not relying on them + … as it’s so easy to create your own sounds + A genuine surprise - Manual not great (tells you to turn to the page you are already on for more info!) - Not immediately obvious where it sits in the Nord range - Narrow in focus - You’ll run out of ‘Like’ spaces pretty quickly! A synth that came from nowhere and is creative, addictive, simple and a joy to use.The NL4 was excellent.This is like a ‘best of’ for people with valves as organs and wave-shapes as heartbeats.You can program a synth.This synth…

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9/10

Alternatives There are lots of virtual and ‘proper’ analogue synths to choose from.At the risk of repeating myself from the Elektron review,two pages ago,at t e cheap end you have the monophonic Novation Bass Station II (£399), which does screaming basses and leads very well indeed.The aforementioned Elektron Analog Keys shares some analogue sounds and performance aspects but is that bit pricier and more complex.You also have to mention the Nord Lead 4.You get bags more sound types as it veers away from the pure analogue,but it does offer more variation (for more cash at £1559). But none of t ese w ll put a creative smile on your face like the A1.

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Flanger & Chorus

Are You Sleek Enough?

Delay

Shifter

Grains

Reverb

We are Uhbik. We are all-powerful. Stereo & Surround.

Tremolo

Phaser

Filter

Equaliser

Uhbik is a bundle of 9 effect units:A silky-smooth reverb, a tremolo/gater with rhythm and swing, a flanger/chorus that does thru-zero, the deepest ever phaser - and a granular machine that will totally destroy your expectations...

All modulation effects can sync to host tempo, including the frequency shifter - imagine perfectly synced barber-pole phasing! Then there‘s a transparent EQ, a rich tape delay, a super crunchy filter.They all sound as great as they look. Uhbik is the ultimate choice for creative processing, from subtle to spectacular. Grab the demo for all common plug-in formats and platforms here*:

www.u-he.com Urs Heckmann - Audio Software *while you‘re at it, check out the award winning Zebra,ACE, Filterscape and More Feedback Machine too. Same developer, same website, same fun factor.

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UAD Apollo Twin Reviews MT

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MacBook Air have two Thunderbolt ports so this shouldn’t be a problem. On the rear panel you will find Thunderbolt, a power switch and a locking PSU input which is a nice touch, plus combo mic/line inputs, stereo monitor outs, two further line outs and an optical input. There’s no MIDI unfortunately though it’s hard to see where MIDI ports could have been placed without making the box larger. On the front edge is a jack input for plugging in an instrument and also a headphone port. The top surface of the Twin is an exercise in elegant simplicity, the same kind of approach that Apogee takes with its higher-end Mac audio interfaces. In the centre is a large, infinite level knob which is used to set the level of whatever parameter is currently selected. It can also be pressed to function as a switch to flip between input channels or to quickly mute when in monitor mode. On the left you’ll see channels 1 and 2 together with a simple LED level meter and a switch to toggle between mic and line inputs for each. A Link button lets you connect the two to act as a stereo pair.

UNIVERSAL AUDIO

Quick controls

Apollo Twin Producingmusicinasmallspaceoronthemovedoesn’tmean compromisingonquality,asHollinJonesdiscoversafterputting UAD’sApolloTwinthroughitspaces…

U

niversal Audio is well known for its high-end audio interfaces and range of DSP-powered audio effects that model some of the most legendary hardware processing units ever produced. Its latest release is the Apollo Twin, a 2x6 Thunderbolt audio interface for Mac with on-board processing and the same top-flight internal electronics as its bigger brother, the rack mountable Apollo.The focus here is more on portability, but without compromising on quality. It’s important to remember that you’re not just buying I/O here, you get an internal ‘brain’ as well in the form of one or two cores for running the company’s plug-ins.

Fit and finish The Apollo Twin is smaller than you might imagine but extremely solid and rather fetching to look at. Finished in

sleek metal, it is extensively ported underneath and gets warm (though not especially hot) during use because of the significant quantity of electronics contained within. It connects to your Mac (Windows is not currently supported) over a Thunderbolt cable but this doesn’t carry power due to the complexity of the device, so it must be powered from the mains via the bundled adaptor. You don’t get a Thunderbolt cable in the box which is a bit of a shame. It’s true that they are significantly more expensive than USB or FireWire cables – and correspondingly more advanced and powerful – but if you don’t already have one you’ll have to factor an extra £30 or so in to your purchase price. There’s only a single Thunderbolt port on the Twin itself so you won’t be able to daisy chain devices through it, though all new Macs except the 11-inch

Details Manufacturer Universal Audio Price Apollo Twin Han Solo: £699 inc VAT Apollo Twin Dynamic Duo: £899 inc VAT Distributor Source Distribution Contact 020 8962 5080 Webwww.uaudio.com System requirements Mac with Thunderbolt port OS X 10.8 or 10.9 2GB disk space Thunderbolt cable

On the right, a Monitor button lets you quickly jump between working with the monitor output and headphone levels and there’s a contextual level meter for each. Running along the base of the unit is a row of buttons and in addition to the Link button already mentioned you can quickly toggle input selection, a low cut filter, phantom power, a pad switch and a polarity switch.The simple and approachable design workflow makes the hardware a breeze to use, and even a beginner should be able to figure out how to connect things quickly and easily. Internally, the Twin operates at up to 24-bit, 192kHz and has premium quality mic / line preamps as well as Unison technology for modelling classic tube and transformer-based mic preamps in software. In order to get up and running, you’ll need to download the UAD installer appropriate to your version of OS X, which installs multiple plug-ins, though you’ll only be able to use the ones you

HANDSON By offloading the processing requirements of its own effects onto the DSP hardware in the int UAD effects without taxing yo r computer’s own processor.This is especially useful if you are on a lower or m d range machine, or want to reserve your native CPU power for ot er instruments and effects, the vast majority of w ich wil ru off your internal CPU.

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Power tools for your music Solidly built, creative, and hands-on. Whatever music you make, an Arturia product will be your creative powerhouse for synth, control, and beat production. Find out more at arturia.com

BEAT PRODUCTION

Lightning fast, user-friendly beat • production Fully-loaded with hundreds of • drum kits & percussion sounds works standalone or as • aSoftware plug-in

COMPACT CONTROL

Includes Analog Lab software – • 5000+ editable vintage synth sounds at your fingertips

•

16 encoders & velocity sensitive pads, plus pitch & mod strips

Ultra-affordable & iPad • compatible, works on Mac or PC ®

MASTER CONTROL

Includes Analog Lab software – • 5000+ editable vintage synth sounds at your fingertips 25, 49 and 61 key versions with • hands-on software editing control Rugged construction, built for life • on the road

ANALOG SYNTHESIS

All-analog heart with a • devastating, modern-classic tone Complex oscillator and a truly • outstanding sounding filter Pure, hands-on sound creation – • no menus or shared controls

Exclusively distributed in the UK & Ireland by Source • www.sourcedistribution.co.uk/arturia • T: 020 8962 5080 facebook.com/sourcedistribution

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UAD Apollo Twin Reviews MT

WorldMags.net effects since these will also run on the onboard DSP, so it’s a relatively affordable way of getting into that whole world.

Software control

Apollo Twin comes bundled with UA plug-ins, so it’s a cheap way of getting these quality effects,and they won’t add to your CP load.

authorize. The Twin comes with the Realtime Analog Classics bundle which includes guitar and bass emulations from Softube as well as UA’s 610 Tube Preamp and EQ. You also get Legacy versions of the 1176SE/LN classic limiting amplifiers, Pultec Pro EQs, Teletronix LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier, CS-1 Precision Channel and Realverb Pro reverb unit. Running on the Twin’s own SHARC-based DSP, these processors provide a great set of tools for everyday tracking and mixing applications and there’s no noticeable latency when using them either for recording or when mixing. Loaded in your DAW just like regular plug-ins, they don’t tax your computer’s CPU and the bandwidth of Thunderbolt is easily sufficient to fire data back and forth. There are limits, of course, and some plug-ins use more power than others, so a list of how many instances of each plug can be run on the solo or duo Twin models can be found on UAD’s website. Owning the Twin opens the door to purchasing any of UAD’s other

As is often the case with smaller hardware units, it’s possible to delve much deeper into routing and configuration by using a software console. For the Twin this is a comprehensive set of tools that work with the box connected and that provides a detailed view of exactly what’s going on. It essentially shows you all the routing and setup options available at the same time, in a friendly software window that lets you remote control the operation of the box. Inserts can be added, channels linked, levels set, monitoring controlled and there’s even the option to use aux and virtual channels. Virtual channels, of which there are four, let you route DAW tracks through the console for more processing and greater flexibility. There are also two independent stereo Aux busses. In the Console settings you can configure reference levels, delay compensation and the sample rate settings up to 192kHz. Helpfully, you can easily save setups so it’s simple to switch, for example, between a vocal session preset or a live performance one. The UAD Meter and Control Panel app lets you view CPU usage, check for updates and manage and buy any plug-ins you choose.

KeyFeatures O Solo or Duo SHARC processors O 2 mic / line inputs O 2 analogue line outs, 2 monitor outs O Thunderbolt port O 24-bit, 192kHz operation O Hi-z in, headphone out O Lockable power input O Realtime processing O AU, VST, RTAS and AAX64 plug-in formats O Realtime Analog Classics Bundle O Software console

understand the signal path from end to end. From the developer’s point of view, it’s also a useful security measure to tie authorisations to hardware. Add to this the fact that not everyone’s Mac is top-end and you need your native CPU to run your DAW, your OS and other third-party instruments and effects, and the appeal of offloading high quality audio processing to an external, latency-free box which also happens to be your interface becomes clearer. This is an exquisitely made audio interface that also happens to expand your computer’s processing abilities and opens the door to the world of UAD plugs. For anyone who is serious about audio fidelity, it definitely punches above its weight. MT Alternatives Apogee makes some similarly high-end audio interfaces for the Mac including the Quartet at £1,099 which, although lacking DSP-powered plug-ins, has more I/O with four ins and eight outs as well as MIDI, iOS compatibility and USB2, making it more widely compatible wit o er Macs. UAD also makes the original Apollo, a rack mountable unit with 18/24 I/O and FW800 with the option to add a Thunderbolt card. It comes in duo and quad processor vers ons though as you might expect, costs more than the Twin, starting at around £1,669.

Twin turbo? The Apollo Twin is a beautifullydesigned audio interface that works seamlessly and offers pristine audio recording quality over a single Thunderbolt cable. As a desktop unit it’s small and unobtrusive but cleverly put together so you can access the most important parameters with a couple of button presses. Much more than that, you get access to the world of UAD’s DSP-driven plug-ins, highly renowned for their character and fidelity. You might ask why, with modern CPUs like Intel’s i7 being hugely powerful already, you would need separate DSP processing when it costs more money. The dual processor Twin costs more than the single, though it’s arguably a better investment given the extra power. If you don’t want access to UAD’s plugs, you can probably stick with your native effects.They do sound great though, and designing them specifically for the SHARC processors lets UAD optimize them as fully as possible and

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MT Verdict + Solid, compact build + Beautifully designed, great workflow + Easy to understand + Excellent audio quality + Top-flight circuitry + Bundled plugs are great for tracking, mixing + Software console allows for detailed setup + Add plug-ins as required + Good integrated recording and monitoring solution - No MIDI - No Thunderbolt cable supplied A serious little box that punches above its weight and offers excellent recording and monitoring capabilities as well as access to UAD’s plug-in universe.

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Sontronics Aria Reviews MT

WorldMags.net lift.The Aria is fixed cardioid but the rear diaphragm means that pattern switching could have been an option.

Design philosophy Sontronics has adopted a distinct philosophy when it comes to microphone design. Trevor Coley from Sontronics says that they seek to create “application specific mics to help the end user”. This is an acknowledgement that many of the great sounds people associate with classic condenser microphones were only realised after a fair amount of processing. Many of today’s recordists haven’t had professional training, and may not have access to the signal processors required to ‘finesse’ raw microphone sounds. So Coley’s approach is to create mics that sound ‘right’ for specific

/1 SONTRONICS

Aria

Designedforvocals,Sontronics’Aria looksclassyandhasanimpressive rangeofaccessories,singsHuw Price Details

KeyFeatures O Response: 20Hz to 20KHz O Sensitivity: 18mV/ Pa -33dB ±1.5dB (0dB=1V/Pa 1000Hz) O Polar Pattern: Cardioid O Pad: -10dB O Filter: 75Hz O Impedance: