Music Tech Focus - Ableton Live - 2015-2016

Welcome MTF
Welcome to Ableton LIve 2015/16, another MusicTech Focus

geared specically for Ableton Live users. This edition is
packed with workshops and features especially for you,
whatever your experience with Live. If you are coming to
the software from another DAW as I did recently we
have just the feature on p6 where we look at some of the
key differences and the parts of Live that might confuse
you on rst
inspection.
But if you are
a more seasoned user, theres plenty in this special issue too,
We officially have
including the nal parts of Live expert Martin Delaneys
mammoth Ultimate Guide To Ableton Live where he looks at
more Live workshops
everything from adding effects right through to the mixing and
mastering processes.
than ever before in this
Adding to what is ofcially the most amount of workshops
weve had in one issue, there are also specic gear, software
special issue
and accessory reviews so you can add to your Live set-ups plus features to help take your music
making to the next level as we look at what it takes to run a pro studio and how to collaborate with
like-minded musicians across the globe. So 40-odd pages of Live workshops will have you powering to
music making, and theres plenty more to help you progress once your productions are done.
Long live Live, enjoy this special issue and keep that music coming!
Andy Jones Senior Editor, MusicTech & MusicTech.net
Email: andy.jones@anthem-publishing.com
(Also, contact me to Show Off Your Live Studios see pages 18 and 72 for more!)
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MTF Contents
Issue 40 Ableton Live 2015/16
BECOME AN
EXPERT IN
ABLETON LIVE
We have in-depth workshops for everything from starting out to
mastering your music in Live. There are step-by-step tutorials to learn
features within the software and our main articles will have you
collaborating with anyone in the world and mastering programming!
We also have reviews, buyers guides and your studios on show
MTF Workshops
Start here
Moving to Live from another DAW or
using it for the first time p6
The Ultimate create

Guide To producing and mixing in Live p36-57
Ableton Live
p6-p65
Ableton Live expert Martin
Delaney continues his series on
Live with six in-depth workshops,
plus we have the ultimate guide if finish off!
you are just starting out Get a pro result p58-65
4 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

Contents MTF
MTF40 Live 2015/16 Full listings

MTF Feature
WORKSHOPS:
006 | Coming to Live from another
Collaborate! DAW: The guide to speedy workow

036 | The Ultimate Guide To
Ableton Live: Audio effects
How to make music with anyone 040 | Part 8: Creating a song in

Arrangement View
anywhere p22 044 | Part 9: Editing compositions
054 | Part 10: Using video
058 | Part 11: Mixing and
compression
062 | Part 12: Finishing off!
088 | Guide to Push and step
automation An all new guide to the
Live hardware controller
MTF Feature FEATURES
022 | Make music with anyone,
Run a pro studio anywhere Our ultimate guide to

online collaboration
066 | Meet the Ableton team
How to work in a studio Olaf Bohn The Artist Relations
and make money from Manager at Ableton speaks

074 | Running a pro studio
your gear p74 Make cash! How to work in a
recording studio or rent yours out
084 | 20 DAW programming tips
TUTORIALS: BLUFFERS GUIDES
048 | to Acoustics
068 | to mixing and mastering
MTF BUYERS GUIDES
020 | 6 Of The Best: controllers
052 | 6 Of The Best: instruments
128 | 6 Of The Best: soft synths
094 | Subscribe!
MTF REVIEWS
Bluffers Guides 096 | Novation Launchpad Pro
Live controller
Mastering, 100 | Roland JD-XA synth

104 | Teenage Engineering PO
mixing Series mobile music makers

108 | Akai Advance keyboards
112 | Alesis V&Vi keyboards
MTF 6 Of The Best
& acoustics 114 | Focal Alpha range monitors
The best controllers, 117 | Audio Technica
soft synths & explained ATH-M70 headphones

115-126 | Mini Reviews
REGULARS
p48 & p68
instruments 18 | Show Off Your Live Studio 1
72 | Show Off Your Live Studio 2
p20, p52 & p128 130 | On your MTF DVD
FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 |5

MTF Technique Coming to Live from another DAW
Ableton Live Coming to Live from another DAW Level Beginner
Coming to Live from

another DAW
If you are using Ableton Live for the rst time and coming to it via another DAW, you may be
daunted by its unique approach. Andy Jones explains how to overcome this Live phobia and
to make the Live leap either from scratch or from other sequencers
C
oming to Live for the rst time for anyone is quite Ableton Live as a little different, a little grey perhaps? And
an experience, whatever your background. You you may be a little apprehensive about making that
might well be a seasoned DAW user, with many transition. If so, youve come to the right place!
years under your belt, or you might be completely
new to it, picking up this Ableton Live special Learn from my mistakes
having heard about how creative this software can be for I will admit that it took me longer than maybe it should have
todays music producer. Either way this tutorial is here to help to get to grips with Live. This is partly because Im such a
you get to grips with the software. stick in the mud when it comes to sequencers. (I even use
Those of you completely new to sequencing and the
world of music production will pick up some quick start tips
on Live so you can quickly embrace the logic of it: the You might see Ableton Live as a
looping philosophy, the instant fun and all of the fast
workow and performance aspects. But the following few little different. If this is you and
pages are also for people who were like the me from some
years ago. You are coming to Live from a more traditional you are apprehensive about
software environment think Logic or Cubase. You are used
to recording top, bottom, left, right, on big arrangements making the transition then you
with lots of nice notes and blocks of data to drag around.
You might think of DAWs, like me, as a have come to the right place
place where everything is put
together in a sequence, track by track,
and in time, just like an old school
multitrack tape recorder. If this is you,
or might be you, then you maybe see
FOCUS ON SESSION VIEW

IN LIVE
Session View is the hurdle to get your head
around when coming from another DAW to
Ableton Live, but dont think of it as too big a
mountain to climb. Its best to consider it
simply as a place to keep your ideas together,
your ingredients if you like, and a place where
you can mix them together and try different
recipes without risking anything (dont worry
well leave the cooking analogy there). So
heres where melody ideas, beats, loops,
samples and instruments sit and, as well see
opposite, they reside in clips that play
together and, importantly, sync together, so
you can easily try any ideas out. This is what
separates Live from other software, having an
ideas page that not only lets you get ideas
from your head to DAW but also trigger other
ideas and songs simply by allowing you to
throw things together you may not have
considered before. Its an excellent place for
trialling things and for happy accidents to
occur resulting in (usually) some great tunes.

Coming to Live from another DAW Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step 1. First steps with clips in Session View
Well assume you have your audio interfacing issues sorted but You should have an empty project but select Cmd>N anyway to
01 just in case you havent, load up Live and open up the Preferences
02 get a blank canvas. Hit the arrow top left (or Cmd>Alt>B) to close
and select your interface for your Output Device. the browser to give yourself a nice empty window with which to work.
Were now going to explain Lives layout with reference to Load in CTL.als. It too has four tracks left to right each with slots
03 traditional sequencers which have MIDI and Audio tracks and
04 that can contain audio and MIDI info from top to bottom called
so does Live, two of each to start with. This is Lives Session View. clips. Press the play icon to launch (play) each clip.
Launching a clip in a track stops another. In the drums track press Stop individual clips by hitting a square clip icon, or stop the lot
05 the 1st then 2nd clip. The 2nd stops the 1st you cant play more
06 by hitting the space bar. You can launch rows, or scenes, of clips
than one per track but you can play several clips in different tracks. by hitting the play icon on the right of each row. Now well look at the
content that each clip can hold, contrasting with older DAWs.
the word sequencers when everyone else uses DAW, so used to working with your current DAW. And, in general, its
maybe its no surprise it took me a while to get to grips with possibly that word simple that might be your rst
the software!). But after persevering I did it, so, as well as a stumbling block it certainly was in my case. Live actually
great intro for new users, Im hoping that this tutorial might simplies the process of music making so much that if you
well appeal to some of you more seasoned producers. come from it from another piece of music production
Ill show you how to get into the software and will explain software, you might start craning your neck looking for the
its simple philosophy, with references to how you may be hidden depths when, in reality, most of it is there for you,

right in front of you. Getting your head around the fact that it most other DAWs. And this has made it very much the DAW of
just does stuff is one of the big things you need to get over. choice for dance musicians, DJs and live players. You will very
Where some DAWs are packed with features (95% of which often start with a series of loops as your scratch pad, a place
you might only ever dream about using), the Ableton Live of ideas, and this is an aspect of the software that might not
philosophy has always been just to get on with it. Why use be something you are comfortable with as a traditional block
10 different ways to do something when one elegant way mover from the worlds of SONAR, Cubase, Logic and Pro
will do the job? Tools. But the blocks will appear they even go from left to
And then theres the looping. Live is called Live for a right as you will see as you can very much look at the
reason, as there is more of a performance edge to it than with looping side of Live as an audio note pad with which you twist
MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds
If you are coming from a traditional sequencer you will be used to One of the big differences in Live to other DAWs is that its
01 using software instruments. Some will be bundled with it and Live
02 bundled instruments are quite distinctive in terms of looks. So
is no different. Click Instruments in the Browser menu, top left. Operator, for example, the software synth as shown here
is similar in colour and graphically to Collision. They both use With Live instruments you can load a preset via Lives Browser
03 the same dials, colours etc to t in with Live rather than
04 rather than individual instrument browsers. Here, for example,
replicating real instruments. You will soon get used to the differences. we are choosing an Operator preset via its sound category (bass).
Then go into the bass folder and choose a sound to load in this However you can do that too! Of course within Live you also get
05 case Dynamic Bass rather than loading an instrument up and
06 access to your old library of VST and AU instruments as well.
then stepping through its presets as you might on your old DAW. Simply go down to the Plug-ins folder below Instruments.

and turn it to then make it more old school if you want. But being the sequencer that you used to use. Try and make it like
this is really negating the point of using Live in the rst place. Apples Logic or Steinbergs Cubase, for example as I did
While you can get Live to act like your old DAW, its not between versions 1 and 8 of Ableton Live and you will soon
necessarily the long game that you should be playing. get stuck.
However, what I can do is introduce aspects of Live to you
Change your mind and relate them to what you will know from your old
And this is quite possibly the crux of using Live for the rst sequencers. By doing this you can familiarise yourself with
time. Approach the software with an open mind and you will the software and become more comfortable within this new
get into it far quicker than if you simply try and wrestle it into environment. And once you become more comfortable using
MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds (contd)
Within these folders, all of the instruments that you used in your Simply double click to load an instrument as usual. The
07 old DAW reside so, in theory, you can get old projects up and
08 instrument loads into the Device area. Each plug-in instrument
running. Its not just instruments; effects are there too. and effect looks pretty much the same. Heres Blue 2 and Bloom.
But the instrument also loads up as it did in your old DAW so you Flicking between MIDI tracks will automatically switch the
09 can tweak its front panel controls. Press Shift>Opt>P to open and
10 instrument you have loaded on that track so you dont end up
close the instruments and load its presets as you normally would. with loads of instruments on screen like you might in your old DAW.
The same goes for any VST or AU effects you have on your system Talking of effects you can, of course, use Lives own, just like the
11 too. Here we can see a bunch of Apple effects loaded into Live.
12 instruments (Step 2 to 5). Again these are loaded by preset from
How cool is that? Lives Browser rather than plug-in. You can also stack them as here.

MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds (contd)
Now weve covered the bundled and third party instruments and Load in one of the sounds. These arent just audio samples but
13 effects lets look more at other sonic options in Live. Your DAW
14 playable instruments. Here we have loaded in Chimes and Warm
may have come bundled with a sound library, So does Live, as shown. Pad on a MIDI track. Click on the Arm Session Recording icon (in red).
You can now play this sound using an external MIDI keyboard or Play the sound as you would using a traditional keyboard and you
15 by playing it via your computer keyboard (make sure the track is
16 can now record it. Hit the Session overdub recording icon (top,
armed and sound loaded otherwise it wont play). circle icon in the transport controls) and record your playing.
Were getting towards the end of our tour of sound making And last but by no means least the drums section where you can
17 elements and theres more that you should be familiar with
18 load in complete kits and record them as you do the instruments
because here is the audio section: samples, loops and more! above on this page. Instruments, plug-ins and audio done? Check!
it, you can start to relax, open that mind, and embrace its clips which are pots of looping MIDI or audio data which exist
philosophy. So come with me, learn from my mistakes and on tracks going from left to right. At this point these are just
start using Live as well as, or even instead of, your traditional loops and ideas that trigger individual sounds across tracks
sequencer. (Or DAW if we really must call it that!) no need to worry about overall song structure or any linear
timings just yet.
The tutorial Part 1: rst steps with Session View Launching these clips across tracks creates bigger ideas
So well start by introducing the big area that makes Live so and more song-like structures. In order to create a complete
different. We Focus on the Session View on p7 and introduce tune you play one clip within a track and several tracks

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips
Time to return to our project le CTL.als. Well have a quick look The drums use a Roland 808 style kit; and the rest of the sounds
01 over it. Its four tracks: drums; bass, melodic bells and a pad
02 utilise either instruments or sounds from Live 9s library so you
sound, going from left to right. should be able to load it in, no problem.
Launch clips within each track and youll hear that each track That said, it is a very easy way to show how electronic tracks of
03 slowly builds as the clips launch from top to bottom. You dont
04 this nature can easily be built up (and taken back down).
have to treat Live this way; its just our example. Experiment by launching clips up and down.
Launch scenes by hitting the main Play icon at the right of the So now you can see (and hear) that you have both vertical and
05 screen that corresponds to each scenes row. Now all the tracks
06 horizontal control over your ideas. Its like sonic noughts and
play on that row. You can build a track or change it completely like this. crosses only better. Now well record those ideas.
together, or play a complete row of clips known as a scene. In familiar sounds and instruments i.e. the ones you use on your
this way you can mix and match clips and trial ideas. Trial old DAW! Here you will start to feel at home if youve used
different ideas by recording your clip and scene launches and plug-ins, instruments and audio before the links between
you end up with a song. Next up we will look at the content of your old way of working and Lives new environment will begin
these clips, both audio and MIDI to make sense.
Well rst run through how to load in familiar-looking Logic
Part 2: Instruments and sounds and Cubase AU and VST instruments using Lives browser, and
Now we show you how you can ll those clips with some very then move on to Lives own sound library.
FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 11

Here we look at how to record clips, arming tracks and Part 3: Creating a tune with a few clips
simply using your computer keyboard to trigger the sounds This part of the tutorial is designed to bring you to that stage
and record them you dont even need to connect an external in your traditional DAW where you have a few ideas running
MIDI keyboard (although that is the preferred option, to be left to right, up to down and you are maybe looping four, eight
honest). Finally, within this Instruments and sounds tutorial or 16 bars and ready to do an arrangement. (Although if you
you can either use sampled audio sounds or create your own are anything like me you might well get bored at this stage
drum tracks. Thats the sonic tour done. Now to return to our and shelve the idea for months before you actually do expand
example song it!). This is where Live comes into its own. You have a few
MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips (contd)
Now we simply hit record and start performing; everything we Were going to simply run up and down each track so you can see
07 play will be recorded to the Arrangement View but dont worry,
08 and hear the track build simply. Launch clips down the drum
we dont have to be expert players. Hit record and launch the rst clip. track to hear it build up Here its going from clip 3 to 4.
Now leave the last drum clip running and launch the bass clips, The bass line is now complete so well now turn our attention to
09 again starting at the top and working your way down. Dont forget
10 recording our bell melody coming in. Again go from top to bottom;
that all of these movements are being recorded to an arrangement. here the 1st bell clip has launched with both drums and bass playing.
Were breaking the rules here thats what Live lets you do! Here weve taken both pads and bells out to take it back to bass
11 Rather than recording the bells building as we did with the bass,
12 and drums. Its a breakdown of the track, if you like, just taking it
were going straight into the pads. Crazy! back to its basics.

ideas as clips across a few tracks. Now you can trigger them, drums in the rst track, a simple bass line, some bells as a
blend them, merge them and mix them, all the time melody and nally a pad. Each of these four tracks has up to
experimenting and recording the ideas. Before you know it, four clips which, in our case, simply build up as they move
you have an arrangement. Put simply, Live takes you from the down (they dont have to do this - its just what weve chosen
looping ideas stage that you might get to on a traditional to illustrate our example).
DAW to the nal arrangement stage very quickly. Indeed, Now we will show you how to quickly expand on these
this is one of its main strengths. simple ideas and turn them into an arrangement. We will
So here we have what are essentially a few simple ideas: nally switch to the Arrangement View which will be more
And now weve brought all of the elements back in together and Were nearing the end of the recording just time to demo some
13 each one at a maximum, i.e. at the clips full arrangement, at the
14 scene recording, shown here with the top scene being triggered.
bottom of each track. Thats all the tracks playing together, in our case minimally
To nish we leave the song playing out with all the tracks playing Hit the stop button and your Arrangement recording stops. Hit
15 their clips at maximum build, so each shown here at the bottom
16 the Tab key on your keyboard to switch to Arrangement View.
(again this is simply the way weve chosen to arrange them). Were nally there; this is what youve just recorded its a song!
And its a song or arrangement that you can very easily edit, just And here we can simply adjust the length of each part within a
17 like your traditional DAW. Here simply clicking on each part shows
18 track just by mousing the end and clicking to drag the length. All
the note info on a grid. Looks just like that old DAW doesnt it? the other traditional edits are available too.

An important part of your arrangement creation in LIve is So track volume levels can be recorded but so can instrument
19 automation, and that too can be recorded and edited. Various
20 control changes. Here weve selected the pad sound used in our
controls like volume changes can be recorded to the arrangement. example project there are lots of controls to turn and record.
The frequency and resonant parameters are the ones lots of Again hit the Arrangement Record button (top transport controls)
21 dance producers change to bring in drama, especially during
22 to record your movements and turn the dials. If you want to give it
breakdowns in a tune, so well record those. a go, try around the positions shown above for maximum drama.
Once you are happy with your recording, hit the Stop button in the Use the drop down menu on the right to Show Automations and
23 main transport controls (top) and switch back to Arrangement
24 your movements will be shown with a red line with drag-able
View (Tab key). You can see our new recording at the end. pointers to edit. A drop down will let you select the parameter, here
either lter or resonance. Automation is now recorded and edited!
familiar to you if you are coming from a Logic or Cubase armed with enough knowledge to produce an arrangement or
background. Complete tracks are shown from left to right, top complete song from your original clip/ideas session.
to bottom and the complete song arrangement will look very
much like your traditional sequencer. You can then also edit it Part 4: Bringing old ideas to Live
as you would normally including all of the automation data. So you now get the concept of clips, lling them and
You can then even add material to the arrangement as you producing arrangements from them within Live. But what
would your song and also bring a clip from the arrangement about any unnished ideas you started in your old DAW? Live,
view back to the Session view. Hopefully, then, you will be as we have just seen, is a great piece of software for taking

MTF Step-by-Step 4. Bringing old ideas to Live
Some modern DAWs and apps have very easy ways to transfer Some aspects of it are similar to Live so perhaps it wont surprise
01 sessions you are working on into Live. Heres Korgs Gadget, for
02 you that its easy getting Gadget ideas into Live. There are several
example, great for creating ideas on the move. export options including ones via DropBox and iTunes.
In other pro DAWS, however, the Live Export option might not There are several export options in Logic but well choose the one
03 exist so its often easier just to export the audio of the project you
04 that applies to most other traditional DAWs: to export the songs
are working on. Heres an 8-bar project were working on in Logic. as separate audio les, one for each track.
You choose the location of where you want the audio tracks to go It doesnt take too long to export and the locator moves from the
05 and, of course, their title and format (although Logic chooses the
06 left to the right of the project as it progresses. You might nd it
name too!). Well put them in its chosen Bounces location. moves beyond the area you think is relevant dont worry
loops and turning them into songs easily and quickly, and it With traditional sequencers like Cubase or Logic you can
can do that with your old ideas too probably just loops at link them using ReWire. Sometimes, though, its as simple
the moment. With some sequencers, transferring les into just to export the MIDI and audio tracks from your old DAW
Live is a breeze. Korgs Gadget, for example, can export ideas and re-import them into Live. If you export as audio you wont
directly into Live via DropBox. Depending on your internet need to worry about the same MIDI instruments being
speed this is a doddle, and with apps like Music I/O, present across DAWs. If you export as MIDI, you can easily
transferring between and working with mobile sequencers is edit the clips later, so each method has its advantages.
becoming very easy. We use Logic as our example but keep things simple so

MTF Step-by-Step 4. Bringing old ideas to Live (contd)
With your audio les bounced from Logic, open up Live, start a The audio is now listed in the browser under Bounces and is
07 new project and within the browser choose a new location (Add
08 ready to import as we described back on p10. Before we do that
Folder) and choose the location where you bounced the Logic audio. create more audio tracks (Cmd>T) to house your new clips.
Drag an audio bounce per track into Live. Our audio les were Live will try and determine the tempo of the imported tracks and
09 named the same as the Logic tracks so now those tracks are in
10 Warp them accordingly within your new clips. It might not get this
the same order as they were in Logic, this time left to right in Live! right here it has chosen 191.41bpm for the original 120bpm clip.
So simply switch the Warp off of any clips where this has Now the clips are loaded at correct tempos in effectively a Live
11 happened and manually mouse the tempo up or down or write
12 scene. From here you could create alternative versions in clips
the tempo directly in the box. Here it is now correctly 120bpm beneath them using different effects, or whatever you wish, then,
record a new arrangement as we did from p11. Logic song imported!
that you can apply the principles to whatever DAW you use, or as the container to hold our looping Logic ingredients, and
used to use then use its unique features to create something new from
Well bring a set of Logic loops again at that 8-bar stage your old DAW loops. Easy.
just before producing an arrangement into Live and show And if you use Live for nothing else you should use it for
you how quickly you can get things moving, using Live as an that. Its a fast and intuitive program to take old looping ideas
inspirational tool to move ideas to completion. Here you can and snippets of melodies, and breathe new life into them to
simply repeat what we did with the example song (from Step create complete songs, and with this tutorial we hope youll
1 on page 11). Essentially you could use Lives Session View be doing that at least. Happy Live music making! MTF

MTF Show off your studio Live Special Pt.1
Show off your (Live) studio
Welcome to the feature thats taking

the studio world by storm. We ask
you to show off your studio, and
here are the results

S
o popular has this feature become where we
ask you to send us pictures of your studio via
Facebook that we have been inundated by
your amazing photos. If you want your studio
to be featured in MusicTech simply message us
through Facebook (were now simply called MusicTech)
and well feature the most intereseting. Heres the rst
batch of two in this Ableton Live special issue The Freq Zone is one of the
best-looking studios weve seen
The Freq Zone

Interviewee: Nathan Hamiel
Contact: freqzone.com / nhamiel@gmail.com
Home or away? Everyone who sees it says, What the now I think its perfect for me and
Its custom built and attached to my hell is that? and wants to hear what what I want to do.
house. Travel consists of walking out it does immediately. They are both
the back door and into the studio. great pieces of gear. Next on your studio shopping list?
I love gear, so once again Im not sure
Kit list? How often do you use your studio? I can choose just one. Id like a
API The Box, Shadow Hills Quad I try to spend about three days a Thermionic Culture Phoenix
GAMA and compressor, Focal SM9s, week in there. Im a musician as well Mastering Plus, and Id also like to
Manley Massive Passive Stereo Tube so I have practice with my group and try a Tree Audio The Branch preamp.
EQ, Dangerous Music Master, BAX other occasional distractions.
and Liaison, Rupert Neve master What is your dream piece of gear?
buss processor, Empirical Labs What do you use your studio for? Id probably say a Fairchild 670 since
FATSO EL7x, API 5500, Apogee A little bit of everything. Its pretty its considered to be the holy grail of
Symphony I/O, Universal Audio DSP new and not many people know compression. It seems like it would
plugs and much more. about it. The goal is to work on be fun to just start running sources
nishing material so mixing and through it and see if it was worth all
Which DAW do you use and why? mastering for others plus time the money.
I use Ableton Live, Logic, Pro Tools dedicated to my projects and other
and Cubase 7.5. This gives me the weird things I come up with. Any advice?
exibility and power to do what I Choose whats important to you and
need to do when editing audio or Perfect or room for improvement? start from there. Everything in a
creating new material my A couch. I need a couch for the back studio is a personal choice, from your
workows much faster. of the room. My studio was designed DAW to your monitors. Where
and the acoustic treatments were possible, try before you buy, and
Favourite gear and why? recommended by an expert, so when it comes to more complex
Tough to choose just one! I like my acoustically I think Im there, which topics like acoustics or room design
API console and having that console was a big concern of mine. Im talk to an expert who will be able to
sound, but its hard to ignore the always tinkering with gear ideas so I guide you through the process and
Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor. may come up with something, but for make life much easier.

Show off your studio Live Special Pt.1 MTF
Fusion Mastering EMR Studio

Interviewee: Jasmin Barbir Interviewee: MS Music Corp
Contact: jasmin_barbir@yahoo.com Contact: msmusic1@me.com
Jasmin at the
controls at Fusion
The Toft is the centre-

piece at EMR Studio
Main components?
Mac Pro, Pro Tools HDX 16 i/o,Avid
C24, Toft ATB 16, two Vintech Audio
x73, 2ch Universal Audio 610 and
4-710; Focusrite ISA 428, Avalon 737
and U5; Audio Technica 4033 and
4060s; Shure SM57, Sennheiser 424,
Sub Kick, Electro Voice RE20,
What are the key components? mastering these days Ive also Beyerdynamic condenser mic,
Monitoring: Dynaudio 82, Adam A7 + downloaded a demo of SoundBlade. Sontronics ribbon mic, Mackie HR
sub 7 and Kurzweil speakers, The sound is perfect, so I nd it best monitors, Yamaha HS monitors, JBL
Apogee Duet 2 DAC, and RME for I/O loop. LSR monitors.
multiface. Analogue: SPL Mix Dream
and Vitalizer, Aphex 204, G-SSL based Favourite piece of gear and why? Which DAW?
compressor, custom made Vactrol Hard to say. Each one has its own Ableton because of its exibility and
tube bus compressor, TL Audio A2, soul, and in songs I work with, they how it invites playfulness. We have
class A stereo tube processor. can find their soul mates. If I could been happy Logic users in the past.
Digital outboard: TC Powercore, say which one is present in all my
Focusrite Liquid Mix. projects, that would be Liquid Mix. I Favourite gear?
also like this pimped up old ART Difcult one. Cant live without the
Which DAW do you use and why? compressor in which we changed x73 and ISA for versatility.
Ableton Live. Its great in every single almost everything. It does add a full,
aspect of music production and warm and rich flavour to the music What is your dream piece of gear?
sound creation. It has a fast but then again I can not skip the SSL SSL Console. It has a beautiful layout,
workow and its simple to learn and for punchy solid state sound. great EQ and Dynamics. It really adds
use. It has a lot of features that I still a nice character to the mix.
cant nd in other DAWs. For mixing Advice? It doesnt matter how it
I use Logic. The mixer is better and it looks, the sound is what counts. Any advice for setting up a studio?
just sounds a bit different its more So the advice would be: the more Your room is the best plug-in. Make
open and detailed on some frequency time you spend treating your room, sure the control room and live room
parts. As I do more and more the better music youll get out of it. sound great, and everything else can
wait. Good rooms will make it sound
great from scratch!
Closing in on the
mastering controls Cant beat a good Nord

MTF Buyers Guide Six of the best
Six of the best

Hardware Software Mobile Tech Accessories
Welcome to the MusicTech Focus Buyers Guide where we round
up some of the best products recently reviewed at MusicTech. In
the first of three parts, we look at the best standalone controllers Details
for many a studio task Price 79
Contact
Focusrite/Novation
011494 459920
Web
http://uk.novation
music.com
BEST Innovation
M-Audio Trigger
Finger Pro
T
F Pro is the latest incarnation of
M-Audios popular controller
BEST Budget
and one that the company has
Novation
Details designed to control a range of
Price 299 devices, hard and soft. You get
Contact templates for controlling popular VST
InMusic
Launch
instruments and can set the Trigger
Web
www.m-audio.com Finger Pro to control your DAW. Reviewer
Hollin Jones said: What M-Audio is
aiming at here is not dissimilar to what
Native Instruments does with its
Maschine 2 controller. M-Audio provides
a hardware step sequencer and some
Control
N
faders and it is also rather less ovations LaunchControl is a
expensive. Ultimately, this is a fun and ne controller, even though it
exible MIDI controller. He concluded: weighs in at just 79. Its
A powerful controller with some great sturdy, has 16 assignable
bundled content. At home on stage or rotaries, eight LED pads, is buss
in the studio. powered and comes with a bundle of
software including Ableton Live Lite.
When we reviewed LaunchControl,
BEST Beats reviewer Andy Price said: We tested the
unit and found it to be a very useful
Arturia Beatstep
addition to many a music making setup
it will be the primary parameter and
studio workow controlling mechanism
and it also works a treat with Ableton
G
enius. Thats a word that sequencer via its more old-school Live. He then concluded: Its a
could describe the 10/10 outputs. At this price, BeatStep is a well-made controller that adds an
Beatstep. Its hardware that great choice hardware at a price extra degree of creative dexterity to
controls and sequences thats hard to ignore. Novations iPad-based and Ableton
pretty much anything you throw at it: Live-using performers.
analogue or digital. Hollin Jones said:
BeatStep is an excellent little
MIDI controller. For
triggering in
software its Details
intuitive and fun Price 99
Contact Source
to use, and it also Distribution
works as a MIDI Web
hardware trigger and www.arturia.com

Six of the best Buyers Guide MTF
BEST Build
Icon QCon Pro

N
ow heres a controller that If youre used to the mouse theres
you feel should the need inevitably a little readjustment needed
arise you could drive a when switching to physical controls, but
tank over. The QCon Pro is it quickly becomes second nature. The
designed to control most popular ability to control a surprisingly wide
DAWs, does so with some aplomb and range of DAW functions remotely is
has a great action and feel. And it is, like really useful, the faders feel accurate
we say, built to last, representing and motorisation is a real bonus. As a
fantastic value if, in nothing else its MIDI controller this unit works very Details
weight alone! Reviewer Hollin Jones well. He concluded: A USB DAW MIDI Price 399
said in MT146: The layout is well- controller that works well and wont Contact Synthax
designed and communication between blind you with science. A good way to Web
www.synthax.co.uk
hardware and software instantaneous. get hands-on with your projects.
BEST Compact
Korg SQ-1
N
ot so much a controller in Like the QCon above, it has a great,
the broadest sense solid build, ideal for many rigorous
although it will control your situations. Andy Jones said: SQ-1 is
soft synths and hardware, not just a controller for the MS-20m
Details particularly Korgs MS-20m and Volca although it does make a great partner.
Price 106.80 range via MIDI but the SQ-1 is a Use it with your soft synths, or your
Contact surpassingly decent unit given its size. hard synths, but make sure you use it.
Korg
Web
www.korg.co.uk
SQ-1 is not just a controller for the MS-20m.
Use it with your soft synths or hard synths, but
make sure you use it
BEST For Live
Akai MPC40 MkII Details

Price 289.99
Contact InMusic
Web
www.akaipro.com
T
he original Akai APC40, which great colour matching to
both Akai and Ableton Ableton Live.
developed, was the rst of its He then
generation of purpose-built concluded:
Ableton Live controllers that included The APC40
clip launching grids for the software. MkII is a good
The MkII has a number of renements example of a
and additions which meant reviewer follow-up
Hollin Jones ultimately concluded that: release outdoing the
We recommend all Akai APC40 MkI original in many ways, as
users to check the MkII out. It has a it answers most of the Akai
slimmer prole, slick crossgrading, and MkI users gripes.

MTF Feature Online collaboration
Make music
anywhere,
with anyone
There are now more ways than ever to collaborate with other
musicians and produce great music without ever being in the
same room. Hollin Jones gives you the lowdown on how you can
make music with other DAW owners, whatever they use and
wherever they are

Online collaboration Feature MTF
T
echnology has changed almost every aspect of music production in ways
that not so long ago could only have been dreamed about. You can
emulate the outboard used at Abbey Road in a plug-in, track a live band
into your iPad, or chop and mash a drum loop into something alien and
futuristic. An even greater advance has been the rise of the internet, and
it has brought dramatic new possibilities and challenges for musicians. Most
people know that you can host, showcase and sell your music online, but perhaps
fewer realise that the holy grail of full online collaboration is now closer to being a
reality than at any point in the past.
Its been possible to communicate online for some time, of course, but the
requirements of music recording and production are far more rigorous than sending
email or even video calling. Were still not fully there, or at least we dont yet have a
solution thats as good as being in a room with other musicians, but there are now
many ways in which you can work on music with people in other cities or countries
and sacrifice little, if any,
e to work
Its possiible k with quality. Those who
remember the Rocket
anybo ody inn the worlld who has

sa Network from the 1990s,
one of the first serious
decen nt inttern
net coonnection online collaboration tools,
will also remember the
dialup internet speeds we
had back then and which
seem prehistoric by todays standards. And although we now all have far faster
connections, the demands of latency-free audio streaming over the net are still a
real limiting factor, albeit one that some developers have worked around in
ingenious ways.
The most basic way of collaborating online is also the oldest, and that is to
collect all your project data into a folder and upload it to a hosting service and send
your music partner the link. If its a MIDI-only file you can even email it. The vast
amount of storage space you get for free these days means swapping even big
projects is easy. But this isnt particularly realtime: for that youll need a dedicated
system such as Steinbergs VST Connect. A third category of tools is websites that
let you compose and even record and use effects, all within a web browser
something that has become possible thanks to advanced web technology.
With so many people having home studios of one kind or another, working
together on a musical project no longer means having to be in the same location. If
you choose the method that will work best for you and do some preparation and
groundwork, its quite possible to work effectively with anybody in the world who
has a decent internet connection. Although meeting up is always good, its not
always possible due to the distances and costs involved or the commitments of the
musicians. Were going to show you the many ways in which you can expand your
musical horizons by breaking down the walls of your studio metaphorically
speaking and opening up the whole world to collaboration.

Making music online: the basics

There are some important things to understand before you get started
The good news about working online is that, on the what DAW theyre using. If
MT tech term :
whole, digital formats these days are pretty advanced. its the same as yours, is it
The cloud
No serious DAW will make a fuss about the difference the same version? And do
O A cluster of servers
between an AIFF and a WAV, or refuse to recognise a they have the same set of
that store information
standard MIDI file. But theres still a lot that can end plug-ins? Probably not. If
somewhere in the
up being fiddly if you dont do the groundwork. Youre world. All big tech its a different DAW, does
going to need access to a computer or tablet and have companies, such as it have any special
a decent internet connection, which means anything Microsoft and Apple, requirements? Your first task is to set up the project
thats technically broadband. The faster your have their own. And using pre-determined settings. That might mean
downstream and upstream connections, the better. others, such as Dropbox starting a project at 48KHz, 24-bit WAV and 115bpm,
use similar setups.
And ideally you wont have any kind of data cap either for example. All these things can be set differently of
as this can scupper your work if it kicks in. A CD quality course, maybe 44.1KHz and 16-bit, but if you
WAV stream can have a data rate of anything up to standardise it before you start and tell your partner,
3Mbps and thats before you factor in all the they should be able to open your data without any
sources of latency and fluctuations in conversion. Its possible to convert sample and
network strength, as we will see. bit-rates and even tempo but its all extra work.
If youre planning on collaborating in the
most traditional way, youll be sending a Clean and tidy
folder of material over the web to another Many DAWs now encourage you to save everything into
user, probably via a file hosting site. Its a project folder but if you havent done, you may find an
important to get a few things clear at the option to consolidate or back up a project in your File
outset. The first is menu, which should create a copy of all the relevant
files. Software tends to use hard links to audio files so
it likes to know the precise file path to the sounds
youve recorded. If you have a main project folder and
everything related to the project is stored within it,
that makes everything much easier. There is, of course,
(Left) Youll make your life easier
the issue of plug-in instruments and effects and its
if you get your project settings
sorted before you start. likely that the other person isnt going to have exactly
the same sound set as you. One option is to let them
(Above right) OMF les are a
little more basic than AAF but re-link the MIDI track to a new instrument at the other
are supported by the widest end or substitute their own effect, but a better solution
range of audio and video
software at the moment.
is to render down virtual tracks before sending. By
bouncing down a Kontakt track for example, or a guitar
(Far right) The most basic way to
swap files is to export stems or to part with your plug-ins on it, you can make the virtual
zip and upload a project folder. processing real . Of course you can also include the
dry version or the MIDI-only track to give them extra
Project planning options for editing and processing.
Plan ahead to maximise your productivity If youre both working on very different kinds of
systems you may want to bounce all your tracks out as
If youre collaborating on music with pianos, or developing musical ideas you would when exporting stems for mixing, perhaps
someone who doesnt live nearby, the using a back and forth approach.
including dry and wet versions and being sure to set
techniques for doing it online that we Things which are much easier to do
discuss here all have their pros and over the web include tracking any kind left and right locators precisely to make life easier at
cons. Some are cheap, and some are of single-source sounds such as the other end. There are specialised file formats that
expensive. Some tie you to a particular vocals, guitars or horns (assuming you are designed to facilitate the exchange of raw project
platform while others dont. And some sort the latency out), voice over, data between different platforms for just this kind of
are simple, and others are listening to and discussing task. OMF (Open Media Framework) files were
complicated. There are parts of the arrangements or mixes, and playing
developed by Avid (owners of Pro Tools) as a way of
music process that are easier to do about with and selecting sounds.
online than others, so if you have any Since your time is far less precious moving between video and audio editing systems
scope for being in the same room at when youre sitting by a computer than without constantly rendering and re-importing media.
any point you should plan to do the when youve travelled to see someone, The format proved useful for DAWs as well, where the
hard stuff then, and the easier stuff try to separate out the things you have requirements are not dissimilar events on a timeline,
remotely. Things that are much easier to do into more and less urgent piles. If with some real-time effects.
to do when youre in the same place you do happen to have plumped for a
include tracking drums, recording pro solution like VST Connect Pro you
multiple players at once as well as have more scope to achieve some of Open formats
recording large instruments such as the harder things remotely. The OMF 1.0 format could cope with audio clip
position, project tempo and some other basic

SEEING RED
When we see red we are far from angry.
In fact we are over the moon with both
The Phoenix HG15 and The Culture Vulture super 15
receiving awards. We must be doing something right!
THE PHOENIX HG15

A super-sounding mic amp and compressor with
some eq thrown in, so effectively a channel strip with the
unique Phoenix sound. 48v supplied, Air, Presence and HPF eqs.
Side chain bass cut switch. Two can be coupled for stereo
concepts, and OMF 2.0 added volume settings and

fades for events as well as clip names. OMF doesnt
support MIDI files (though these can be exported
separately) or plug-ins, because DAWs work so
differently. As such, OMF is fine for exchanging THE CULTURE VULTURE super 15
audio-based projects but certainly has its limits. Most
All valve pro stereo distortion/enhancer.
full DAWs support OMF export and import, though
things such as advanced mixer settings, scores, Can just warm a sound or Destroy it.
surround and so forth are well beyond the scope of Loads more tonal variations on this model plus new eqs.
these kinds of file formats. OMF has been succeeded Can now be ordered with balanced inputs AND outputs (XLRs)
by the AAF format which is more advanced and can
include more information but this is currently not as and now for something with a little
widely supported, though Logic Pro X and Pro Tools
among others do support it.
Attitude . . .
Theres also the Mxf format for audio and video
interchange, though this hasnt made much headway
in the audio world yet. Different software supports
different formats, so its certainly worth investigating
this as it will save you a lot of messing about later.
Good housekeeping
The problem with exchanging raw project files
between different DAWs is that they all work in very
different ways and theres little incentive for
developers to make it easy to switch to a competing
product. But you just have to understand the makeup
of a DAW project to work around this. Keep your audio
files together, note down the project settings and
render down any MIDI and plug-in effect tracks to THE LITTLE RED BUSTARD
audio. If you have used external samples, ReFills or
16 input all valve summing mixer.
sample-based instruments youll also need to either
make sure these are bundled into the package you She may be smaller than her big Fat brother, but shes feisty and
send, or render them down as audio too. The will fully drive your DAW! Clean yet warm until the Attitude
difference is that with a rendered file the other person is boosted and musical 2nd harmonics are added.
will have less freedom to edit.
The eyes may glow red when the output is high.
Then all you have to do is make sure everything is
in place and transfer the project folder to a hosting The Air control adds a nice silky sheen to the mix.
website like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Channels are switched in pairs. 13-16 may be sent to centre.
WeTransfer or something similar. Its a very good idea
to zip the folder before you send it. Not only may this A terrific summing mixer bringing
reduce the file size a little but it will also greatly NATURALITY to a mix.
lessen the chance of any files getting corrupted during
the upload process.
Making music live on the web

The latest technology means you dont even need a DAW installed on your computer
Web browsers are hugely Make music with Soundation

complex. We are way past
the days when a browser
Making music online is easier than
was simply expected to you might think
show text and pictures.
Now web apps are
commonplace, and its
these that enable realtime,
online music-making and
collaboration. Think of a
web app as a simpler
version of an application
that would run on your
computer, only running in a
browser and hosted
virtually in the cloud. (Above) Ohm Studio uses a
combination of desktop and Head to www.soundation.com and either sign
01 up or simply click the Launch button to get
cloud software to let you
Not just browsing record locally and still started right away. Set a project tempo and then go to
Early web apps for music were built in Flash and were collaborate online. the Library tab at the top right and audition some of
fairly basic beatboxes or synths where notes triggered (Below) Audiotool is a fun the free loops. Drag one into an audio track to place it
samples. Now, things are much more advanced. There virtual modular programming into the project.
environment that runs in
are some real advantages to working on the web, the your browser.
first of which is that many of these services are free, at
least unless you want to host lots of material. Using a
centralised site to sequence, record and edit music
means there are no compatibility issues: you can be on
a new Mac in London collaborating with someone on
an old PC in South America and not encounter any
platform issues since the site works the same on both
machines. You have access to the same online
instruments, and changes are saved in realtime so its
not necessary to upload entire project folders.
Click the Add button at the bottom left to create

Working with others 02 a virtual synth and then choose a preset from the
Theres a community element to a lot of these kinds of window that appears. You can either drop in a MIDI
sites and people tend to share samples and presets. loop from the online library, use the virtual onscreen
Its also easier to find someone whose music you like keyboard to play, or use the Piano Roll editor to enter
and consider working with them regardless of where notes. A MIDI keyboard can be connected if you use an
they are. Some sites restrict you to using the tools they extension in the Chrome browser.
provide but others enable you to record audio directly
through the Flash Player. Alternatively, some get you to
track audio in your DAW and then upload the tracks to
the site, at which point theyre formatted in a way that
means others can work with
them. Yet another category
of collaboration sites use a
hybrid system where you
download an application
that you use to record, but
is linked to the main site
and will back up all your You can enable audio recording and various
work to that site in a 03 other features by logging in, and use the main
format that your project area to arrange your song in a way thats not
collaborators can access. so different from a desktop DAW. When youre done
All of this is geared you can publish the song online or export it to a WAV
le, which you can save locally to your computer.
towards reducing the
challenges that can come

with sending DAW Ohm Studio can see your VST plug-ins, so your
projects between users, favourite instruments can be a part of your projects.
but it does have some Your changes are synchronised to the server and
limitations. Online DAWs updated in your colleagues copies of the app. Theres
still arent as powerful or admin control over who can do what, as well as project
flexible as high-end versioning. Upgrading (from free to 99) unlocks 24-bit
desktop software, and recording, VST plug-ins and upgrading your hosting
using a browser means you can save up to 200 projects.
introduces performance Splice.com works in a similar way with a desktop/
restrictions that arent cloud combination. Audiotool is a virtual modular
there in a regular system that runs in the cloud and is beautifully
application in many Splice supports a number of designed, letting you program, sequence and
DAWs and lets you back up and
cases you cant use your collaborate online and also publish music to social
work online as well as locally.
favourite plug-ins because youre locked in to a sites media. Audiosauna is a simpler but still fun and free
particular way of working. There can be issues around online programming environment with synths,
latency and streaming speeds, so as usual youll want sequencing and mixing. Kompoz lets you record in
the fastest internet connection you can get: preferably your own desktop DAW like Logic, Reaper or Cubase
wired rather than wireless. and then upload the audio to their servers for others to
work on. Some developers are building collaborating
Your choices functionality right into their apps, such as
There are quite a few online DAWs to choose from. Propellerhead and Discover, a system that works
Soundation is free to use and looks like a desktop across some of its desktop and mobile applications
application even though its web-based. It comes with and enables global co-operation on music tracks.
over 400 loops, three synths, five instruments, 11 Theres now much more to the online DAW world
effects and programming, editing and mixing tools. than just painting in some preset loops. The addition of
You can record audio into the site but theres limited audio recording, hybrid desktop/cloud systems and
storage unless you upgrade to a paid account (6.50 a the ability to work your plug-ins into the mix mean that
month for 5GB) and this also unlocks sound sets and working with others remotely is easily achievable.
an app that lets you upload your own sounds. Theres never been a better time to give it a try.
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The Rocks are my monitor of I need a very accurate monitor Ive never been able to nd these
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Realtime collaboration in your

desktop DAW
You dont have to leave your beloved DAW to work online
So far weve looked at two of the three ways to (Below) Source makes a number the incoming stream to deal with any problems. A fast,
collaborate online: collecting and uploading projects of online audio streaming wired internet connection will work best and itll help if
products designed for music
for someone else to open, and working in a browser or production, ranging from free to your computer is relatively well specified. There are
via the cloud so that files are all kept standardised. pretty costly. fewer commercial tools than you might think that are
Theres a third technique, and thats to stream live developed for musicians to work this way and some
performances into your DAW over the web. Its are expensive. On the other hand if youre willing to put
technically more challenging than the other methods some time into setting it up, its also possible to use
but it also lets you stay working in an environment some free tools to stream and record online as well.
youre familiar with (your main DAW) with all its tools,
and means little if any importing and exporting. Getting connected
One of the main challenges for this kind of working One of the few specialised online music systems
practice is latency and some techniques will require around is Steinbergs VST Connect, which consists of
you to carefully tune the latency two parts: a host plug-in that runs in your Cubase, and
compensation of a free app that runs on the other persons machine and
doesnt require them to have a copy of Cubase, just an
audio interface. In fact it comes in two versions: VST
Connect SE comes with Cubase 7 or higher and
enables you to record a stereo stream and conduct a
video chat with someone running the Performer app,
with talkback and cue mixing as well. The VST Connect
Pro version is more advanced and adds encrypted file
transfer, MIDI send and receive, and up to 16 tracks of
recording. Since you cant reliably stream 16 tracks of
uncompressed audio online the software pulls a clever
trick: up to 16 uncompressed tracks are captured on
the remote system but not transferred immediately.
Instead you get a temporary stereo version recorded
to you and afterwards the uncompressed files are
transferred in the background. The Pro version also has
access to the Studio Pass app which can stream test
mixes and video chat with others to get feedback on
mixes. The MIDI features are nice too: you can record
MIDI and audio from a VST instrument anywhere in the
world via the Performer software. So if the other
person has a really great VST instrument and you dont,
you can play and record it to your system remotely.
Choose your weapons

Some of the other streaming solutions are less
platform-specific, such as Source Elements. This
Understanding web streaming

Get your head round uploading
Youll be used to having an internet connection at your home or upload speed when you pass a certain amount of upload in a given
office, and it will in all probability be a fast broadband connection. period, you might still find that only a high bitrate encoded stream
Most home broadband has a big discrepancy between download such as AAC or MP3 will work on a weaker connection. For those on
and upload speeds. And most people need download much more a better link, you should be able to do decent stereo streaming of
than upload, for watching online video, downloading updates and audio at higher quality. If you plan on doing a lot of this kind of work
so on. Upload speeds are generally pretty slow, and ISPs throttle or you run a studio its worth asking your ISP about paying extra to
upload speeds to deter piracy, since to Torrent something, someone unlock the upload speeds. This is technically easy to do, its just
first has to be seeding it. that they want you to pay more for it. As noted, some specialised
When you want to use your connection for something more software like VST Connect Pro works around this by keeping local
serious than sending email, you can run into upload streaming copies of multitracked HD audio recordings and uploading them in
issues. Assuming your ISP doesnt start to artificially strangle your the background after recording has finished a novel solution.

service has a range of tools for

realtime audio streaming at high
quality, ranging from the free
Source Connect for streaming
via the Chrome browser all the
way up to seriously expensive
Source Connect starting at
$650. This is designed to be a
professional solution and runs as
a plug-in inside a VST host or Pro
Tools, streaming high quality audio
directly into a DAW session. This is
pretty much the holy grail of online
collaboration, but comes at a price
and so might be best suited to
those doing this professionally.
At the other end of the pricing
spectrum there are some free source to any destination
ways to stream audio into your within your Mac. Youll
DAW and these vary in complexity. need to pay attention to
Cockos, the company behind Reaper, also makes the routing but its possible
Ninjam. This is a small, free app for Mac and PC that (Above) Steinbergs VST Connect to route Skype, for example, into your DAW, though
has two components, a server and a client. One person Pro is a very elegant solution for monitoring on the other end could be a little harder to
sets up a server and configures it and the others realtime online HD sort out. Theres also Audio Hijack Pro which is able to
multitracking, though it does tie
connect via clients. Its not been updated in a while at least one user to Cubase. read from apps and system inputs and record the
and is quite technical to set up so a proper read of the sound. Jack Audio Connection Kit (http://jackaudio.
(Below) OS X comes with a
manual and some technical know-how wont go amiss. built-in AU plug-in for sending org) is free for both Mac and PC and does something
Of course you can stream audio (and video) easily with and receiving audio over a local similar to Soundflower, though its more complex to
network called AUNetSend.
services such as Skype, FaceTime and similar set up and use.
communications apps, though the difficulty with using
them for music is two fold. Firstly they compress and MIDI sent round the world
downsample audio to make it stream more easily, and Routing MIDI over networks is another useful way of
secondly theres no easy way to control latency or collaborating online and requires far less overhead
talkback so synchronisation can be a real problem. than audio, since MIDI uses very small amounts of
With any kind of workaround such as Ninjam or data by comparison. OS X has its built-in Audio MIDI
FaceTime youre going to need a way to get sound into
your DAW, and for that youll need a special bit of
software. Mac users can download Soundflower, a free
and rather elegant kernel extension that enables the
Rouuting MID
DI requ
uires
s fa
ar less
routing of sound from any ove ead th
erhe han
n auudio sinc
ce MID DI
es very sm
use mall amoountts of datta
Setup application which lets you set up and configure
networked MIDI sessions and every copy of OS X also
has standard network audio AU plug-ins included in it.
If you look in Audio Units > Apple youll see AUNetSend,
which enables you to manage streaming audio in and
out of Logic, for example. There are also network MIDI
plug-ins for Windows (and third-party ones for OS X)
including ipMIDI and rtpMIDI which can deal with
streaming MIDI across a network. In days gone by this
kind of thing was used for running heavyweight
sampling software on a dedicated PC to free up
resources on your main machine, though modern
computers are powerful enough that this isnt usually
needed now. If youre setting up MIDI and audio
networks, dont underestimate the technical
challenges of getting it all working and defeating
latency. Theres a reason the commercial solutions
cost money, and thats because they take the hassle
out of this complex process!

A new free web service is tailored towards musicians who want to work together online
(Left) Splice creates a watch

folder on your hard drive which
automatically syncs its
contents, like Dropbox.
(Right) A menu bar item lets you

view uploads and add notes as
well as pulling versions down
straight from the cloud.
(Below) Splice works with four

DAWs at present, but expect
more to be added in future.
(Opposite page) Add and manage

collaborators, create previews
and add artwork.
Its not just the big hitters who are implementing cloud
features into their software these days. The relative
affordability of cloud services from the likes of
Amazon or Microsoft means that smaller developers
can get in on the act as well. Splice is a free web-
based service thats designed to enable users of
certain DAWs to upload and collaborate on projects
using a simple internet connection.
It currently works with Ableton Live 8 or higher, FL
Studio 11, Logic Pro X and GarageBand although it
looks pretty likely that adding more DAWs in future problematic, and indeed the developer suggests that
shouldnt be hugely more will come in time.
The reason that adding support for more DAWs
might be easier than you think is that Splice exists
more or less completely outside of your DAW software.
Its actually a lot like Dropbox in the way it works, but
much more tailored towards musicians and those
wanting to collaborate on projects. After downloading
the small client app for Mac or Windows, a shared
folder is created on your hard drive. If you save your
project to this folder it is uploaded to your Splice
account and since its a watch folder, any time you
re-save the file locally or add a new one, that gets
uploaded instantly as well. The upload includes audio
files and you can mark it and add annotations as well.
Ge
et splic
ced
Once a project is in the cloud you can invite other
Splice users to access it. They will be able to make
changes and add comments but not add other
collaborators or create a finished version. Since Splice
is geared towards musicians, the website knows
which DAW to associate with a project and gives you
the option to open it in that software. You can also do
useful stuff like add artwork, an audio preview and
notes to any project as well as managing which
projects others have added you to. Project previews
show you the size of audio files associated with a
project as well as how many plug-ins it requires, if any.
On your desktop computer, a menu bar item lets
you manage uploads and downloads and shows

Once a project is
in the cloud you can
in e other Splice
nvite
users to access it
notifications about recent activity, though these can
be muted if they get annoying. Splice is a good way not
only of collaborating with other musicians, but also
working in different locations yourself. Imagine you
have a studio computer and a laptop but also need to
work in other studios sometimes and dont want to
have to plumb your laptop into another system with all
the routing and set up that that can require. If you have
your own projects synced to Splice and then sign in on
another machine with the same DAW installed, you can
simply continue working on it and move between
machines easily. You dont even have to carry projects
round on a USB stick.
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Being on the move doesnt mean you cant work with other musicians
(Below) Many iOS apps have As more and more people take advantage of
USING Dropbox and Soundcloud upload
built-in, and some, like FL Studio
increasingly powerful mobile apps to sketch, record
PROPELLERHEADS Mobile HD, have a good deal

more options available.
and even produce whole tracks on the move, there has
come to be a demand for mobile apps that allow
DISCOVER (Opposite page, main image)
Where project les are
collaboration. At present however there are
surprisingly few around, and whats more common is
01 Youll need
Reason 8.1, MIDI-only as is the case here in
ReBirth for iPad, they are easy to
to find apps that can upload project data or mixdowns
Figure for iOS which send by email. to cloud services either for playback or for others to
costs under a pound, download the raw files. Many mobile apps will now
and Take for iOS
connect you straight to Dropbox or Soundcloud and
which is free. Start in
Figure and build a others support WIST, a Bluetooth-based wireless
sequence by tapping connection protocol for linking up multiple compatible
at the controls, devices and apps to collaborate on a project, though
adding modiers this means being in the same room at least. Cotracks
and mixing using the for iPad is billed as a collaborative music app, but it
onboard mixer.
runs on a single iPad.
Then in the System
section, tap the
Share button and Sharring pro
ojects and
d pre
ese
s ts
log in using the Another way that software both mobile and desktop
next screen. lets you collaborate is by uploading project files or
plug-in presets to centralised repositories and
libraries where others can download them. In the case
Go to the of MIDI-only apps such as ReBirth for iPad and similar
02 Discover programs this means its easy to share whole projects
section of the Props since what can be opened on one copy of the app will
website and log in
also work on any other copy. Other apps let you
using the same
details. You can do transfer raw project data back to your computer:
this on your GarageBand on iOS to GarageBand or Logic on a Mac,
computer or iPad and FL Studio HD on iPad to FL Studio on PC for
and youll see the example. Or indeed Cubasis on iPad to Cubase on the
songs you have desktop: there are a few examples where a developer
already uploaded.
makes both a mobile and desktop version of an app.
Click the link on this
page to open a
song either in Vo
oyage of diisc
s overy
Reason or one of the Propellerhead has gone even further and created the
other apps. If theyre Discover system, a means of linking together Reason 8
not installed youll and its mobile apps Take and Figure. This kind of thing
be prompted to is possible when you control all the apps in the
install them.
equation because you can standardise everything to
If you open the song on your computer youll be

03 able to add any number of extra audio tracks and
instruments and effects to it. Think of Figure as the
way to start a project, Take to add vocal ideas, but
Reason as the tool for doing the serious work and
completing the project.

make sure it works. The idea is that you can start an

idea in Figure, looping up bass, beats and synth
patterns in its sequencer, and then fire the file to its
cloud servers and open it in Take, the vocal recording
iOS app, or in Reason 8.1 for further work using
Reasons full suite of tools. And going even further,
Reason songs can be shared to Take as well for
collaboration with mobile vocalists.
Its a clever idea and doesnt try to replicate
Reasons functionality on mobile devices, which would
be nigh-on impossible anyway. And even if the mobile
apps are perhaps fairly basic at the moment, it seems
likely that the Props will flesh out their feature set as
time goes on, and the scope of what you will be able to
achieve will only grow.
As it stands you can actually collaborate with
others who have uploaded their material to the cloud
and open their mobile or desktop files in your own
software, if they have enabled this feature.
What are the best options for uploading your music and les?
Cloud storage is now everywhere, and this is great for 1TB of space. Although these systems are nicely
news for anyone wanting to collaborate online. As baked into their respective OSes, they are designed to
weve mentioned, one of the key aspects to exchanging be fully accessed by only the owner of the account so
project data with other people is to have somewhere to they are better suited to storing your own stuff.
store it so it can be accessed anywhere, though only by Moreover, iCloud Drive is pretty poor for sharing with
people you choose to allow access. There are lots of others directly in the way a musician would need.
ways to do this and they fall into two categories: virtual
drives that give you desktop-style drag and drop Th
hird
d parties
s
access, and sharing websites that let you upload and A better solution is to use one of the platform-
download items using links. independent services. These are better set up for
collaborating, maybe with passwords and other
Baked in
n? controls set by you. One of the most popular is Dropbox
You might find that your choice of operating system and theres also Box.com, Gobbler, Google Drive and
brings its own cloud storage setup with it. Users of Spideroak. These have differing free storage
Mac OS X Yosemite get iCloud Drive, which can be allowances and upgrade pricing but all have cross
mounted in the Finder just like any shared volume, and platform desktop and mobile apps as well as web
access, so uploading a 1GB folder of audio tracks isnt
really a big issue. Dropbox tends to be the one thats
Clouud sto ora
age is everrywhere, integrated into mobile apps so it can be a good choice
if you work on a tablet or phone a lot, and iOS apps
and
d th
his
s is grea
at new
ws for an
nyonne sometimes have an option to send mixes or project
data straight to iCloud.
ng to colllabora
wantin ate onlin
ne Although a lot of these services have sync folders
which continually upload changed files, its a bad idea
to save live projects into these because the constant
users of Windows Vista or higher can do the same with (Top) Dropbox is probably the file access can interfere with the performance of your
OneDrive. Both offer a standard free allocation and most widely supported, DAW. Its also inadvisable to try to load projects or files
platform-neutral cloud syncing
tiered upgrade pricing. iCloud Drive has 5GB for free and storage option. directly from the cloud as this will be too slow: always
and then monthly rates of $0.99 for 20GB, $3.99 for work locally then when youre done, upload the folder
(Above) Microsoft has OneDrive,
200GB and up to $19.99 for 1TB of space. OneDrive has which is designed with to the cloud. And when getting someone elses folder,
15GB free, $1.99 for 100GB of space and up to $6.99 collaboration in mind. always download it fully before starting anything. MTF

MTF Technique The Ultimate Guide To Ableton Live Part 7
Ableton Live The Ultimate Guide to Ableton Live Part 7 On the disc
Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD
Working with
audio effects
Things can sound a bit dry without audio effects. For
stage or studio, Martin Delaney shows you how to
add some ear candy to your Live projects
Y
ou are probably at the stage where you have like Cut-O-Move H or Elastic Band, youre loading a
recorded or use audio in Live. In this series we preset for the relevant device. Theres also the Hot Swap
specically use a voice sample to use in our button on each device the little circle next to the Save
project. Thats the last clip element well be File button. Click that to jump straight to the relevant
adding; in this tutorial well add some audio Browser section for your current device, and remember to
effects to our audio and MIDI tracks, return tracks, and the use the Arrow keys to navigate and load fast. Your saved
Master Track itself. Dont worry if you dont have the last presets go directly into the relevant category in your
tutorial as you can make sure youre using the latest Library, although you are free to move these and create
version of our example set included on the cover disc. new folders to contain them.
You might be wondering about which effects go where.
When browsing and loading, it Generally, if you want to process something that only
occurs in one track, you add the effect to that track (I
pays to be keyboard friendly. You should state explicitly that you can use audio effects on
MIDI and audio tracks, but only MIDI effects on MIDI
can mouse around but its much tracks). If you want the same effect to apply to a selection
of tracks, group them and put the effect on the group. If
faster to use your Arrow keys you have an effect that you want to blend by different
degrees over a number of tracks, thats a job for Return
tracks. Using a single effect on a Return track instead of
When it comes to browsing and loading devices, it pays duplicating it across many tracks can also save CPU if its
to be keyboard-friendly. Sure you can mouse around, but a particularly power-crazed plug-in. Finally, if you want to
its faster to use your computer Arrow keys. Inside the process the entire song everything, including the signal
Browser, Left and Right Arrows move between columns, from the returns you need to be adding that effect to the
while Up and Down will scroll, obviously, up and down Master Track. Youll nd that effects behave differently
through the listed items. If youre on a folder in the according to what order you place them within the chain
right-hand column, a Right-Arrow will open the folder so (you can drag freely to reposition them later). I dont
you can keep moving down through its contents, while a personally feel there are rules for this as such, its a
Left-Arrow will close the folder. When youre on a device or matter of what combinations work for the track.
a preset, tapping the Enter key will load it into the There are times when I
currently selected track. When you load an effect name,
like Auto Filter, youre loading the default settings for that
effect device (actually thats true of all Ableton devices),
and when you go below that effect name in the Browser,
inside what appears to be a folder, and load something
FOCUS ON RETURN EFFECTS

Within this tutorial I talk about the value of Return Tracks and their
Send controls as live performance tools. A good selection of return
effects, combined with a knob-rich hardware controller, makes a
great interface for dynamic live performance in addition to, or
instead of, any effects you might have added at the production stage.
Sometimes youll see somebody playing with a set that doesnt look
too busy, almost like theyre faking it, but check their controller and
their hands. Maybe theyre keeping the on-screen stuff simple while
they work with the controller and some carefully congured effects

The Ultimate Guide To Ableton Live Part 7 Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Working with audio effects
Lets nd some effects to add to our tracks, ideally a combination Open the Browser. Dont forget to use the keyboard shortcut:
01 of helper and more showy effects. Open the example set on the
02 Alt>Cmd>B. Click on Audio Effects in the left-hand column, but
disc, TUGTAL7. Thisll keep you up to date with our progress. from then on use your computer Arrow keys to navigate the presets.
We can load effects in different ways. If youre using the Arrow Alternately you can use your mouse to drag the effect across to
03 keys to navigate, hit Enter when youre on the device or preset
04 the target track. Were going to use a combination of some factory
that you want, to load it into the currently highlighted track. presets and our own tweaks to the vanilla default settings.
Lets compress the drums. Load the Compressor/Brick Wall Add Redux to the keyboard track, and set Downsample to 4. This
05 preset. Lower the Threshold to -12.0dB. Lower it further if you
06 gives the sound a slight edge without pushing it too far. Redux is
want to hear some drum smashing sounds, but put it back when great at extreme settings if you like chip tune sounds.
youve nished!

MTF Step-by-Step Working with audio effects contd
On the voice track, add EQ Three and click the L switch, killing the Effects can be toggled on and off with the Power buttons left of
07 low frequencies. Then add the Vinyl Distortion/Awfull preset
08 their names. You can remove an effect from a track using your
youll hear it does a funny pitch thing as well as adding grunge. Delete key, and they can be copied and pasted.
If youve created a sound you want to keep and reuse, save it as a We can also use effects on Return tracks. These let us share a
09 preset using the Save Preset button (disk icon). Live
10 common audio effect over many tracks, while the Send controls
automatically locates it in the correct place and lets you name it. let us mix the amount of the effect applied to each track.
Use Alt>Cmd>R to view Return tracks, and Alt>Cmd>T to create You can have up to 12 Returns in Live 9 Standard and Suite,
11 them. If you cant see any, its because you havent made any yet!
12 although Live Intro is limited to just two. A new Send control is
Use Alt>Cmd>S to show/hide the sends. added automatically when you create a new Return.
would put a delay after a compressor, and there are times use MIDI Map Mode (Cmd>M) to assign them to your
when Id ip that round; it does make a difference. hardware or, more regularly for me, use Key Map Mode
In the walkthrough steps, I mention turning effects on (Cmd>K) to assign them to letters or numbers on your
and off with their individual little Power switches. You can computer keyboard. The good ol keyboard makes a very
do this dynamically; you dont always want every effect useful source of buttons for jobs like this. Were not hitting
active all the time. Whats cool is that when Lives in Record it too much this time, but sooner or later youll encounter
mode, those on/off actions are recorded as automation, so screen space management issues; you can use keyboard
it easily becomes part of your performance and then part commands like Alt>Cmd>S and Alt>Cmd>R to show and
of your production. The switches are mappable, so you can hide Sends and Returns respectively, and also double click

MTF Step-by-Step Working with audio effects contd
Create two Return tracks, adding one effect to each Ping Pong Set the keyboard and vocal track sends A to around 3 oclock and
13 Delay on A, and Reverb/Large Hall on B. Set their Dry/Wet
14 12 oclock respectively. You can see the dB values displayed in the
controls to 100%. Well use the Sends to mix the levels instead. status bar at the bottom of the screen.
Send the tracks to the reverb effect on Send B. Try it like this: The nal location to add effects is the Master Track; again, we
15 drums -19 dB, percussion -9, bass -53, keys -9, voice -9. Set the
16 might be using practical effects like compressors and limiters or
percussion A Send to -10 dB while youre there. more obvious types of effect, like lters, and disruptive time effects.
Lets add Beat Repeat, set like this: Interval 1/4, Grid 1/16, As a practical thing: add the Multiband Dynamics preset
17 Variation 5, Pitch -12, Pitch Delay 100%, turn on Ins. Practice
18 Multiband Compression. This will make your track sound shinier,
turning it on and off; you wont want this on continuously. beeer, and louder. If your levels are going red, add the Limiter/Upper
Ceiling preset after it.
on the title bar of an instrument or effect to fold it up bring up at least one Send in the track.
very useful with long chains of instruments and effects. The tutorial ends with the addition of the Multiband
You can use up to 12 return tracks in the full version of Compression preset. Mastering is a whole other subject,
Live. If you need more than that, maybe you need to start and there just isnt room here, so were shamefully throwing
experimenting with group tracks, as I mentioned earlier, or in this preset, which is not ideal but at least it gets us
with routing to and from audio tracks. When you open started on the topic. Theres so much more to cover with
Lives In/Out View and look at the Audio To tab, youll see effects, including MIDI effects, and mastering well be
that each track can be routed to Sends Only, which means coming back to all of this in time. Next time we put our raw
you wont hear any dry output at all, and nothing until you material into some kind of structure. MTF

Accompanying
Build a musical
on the DVD
structure in real-time
and capture it to the
Arrangement View
Martin Delaney explains how to use scenes to working, creating our arrangements in a way thats more
like recording a live take Live is an instrument, after all!
organise clips and then capture them into Lives So were launching scenes and individual clips to build
Arrangement View, ready for editing our structure. You dont have to do it this way you dont
have to use scenes at all. You can just hit record and start
triggering those clips; a technique which works better with
L
ast time, we worked on applying audio effect Push and Launchpad-type devices, although they do
devices to our Live project. That was the nal step scene launching as well. The ideal is to create a hybrid
in the process of creating and compiling our method where youre using scenes for the big picture
content prior to organising it into some sort of changes, and clips for other, less global, activity.
structure for a more traditional production When youre using scenes to switch song sections, you
routine. Right up to the point of getting everything into a can create more organic transitions by employing the Clip
workable timeline, and setting everything in stone, Live Stop buttons. If you have a long clip that you want to
gives us options, we can always rethink structure, try new continue playing across two or more scenes, click in the
ideas, and introduce new instruments and effects. empty slot below the long clip, and use Cmd>E to remove
And thats where were up to. We have a small number the clip stop button. Now, when you trigger the following
of clips, a few audio effects, and now we need to knock scenes, the clip in the rst scene continues playing. This
them into shape. As I said, Live gives us options; if you sounds good because its no longer just the sound of eight
really want to or if for some technical reason, you have to clips going on or off simultaneously, theres a bit more
you can use Live in a totally linear fashion. You can bleed between parts when you want it. Use Cmd>E to
spend all your Live time working in the Arrangement View, restore these buttons, too. You can also help expand
laboriously dragging clips around on screen, and perhaps that organic vibe by playing
working with your eyes more than your ears. Used in this
way, Live behaves more like other DAWs, such as Cubase
and Logic. However, it lacks the renements and
focused user interfaces of those applications. Id go so
far as saying if you dont aim to use Lives Session View,
its not really worth using Live at all its all about the
Session View! So, for this tutorial, were looking at how
we can use Lives Session View and global recording
functions to totally short circuit that old-school way of
FOCUS ON HARDWARE LAUNCH

Live is very spontaneous to use, thats why were working with the
Session View here, to jam and capture everything we do. You can work
wonders using just your computer keyboard to control Live, with a
combination of keyboard shortcuts and the Key Map Mode, but for
advanced (and fun) clip launching, youll be better off using a hardware
MIDI controller. For the tasks in this issues tutorial, Id recommend
something like Push, Launchpad Pro, APC40, or TouchAble on iOS. All of
these let you trigger clips and scenes, and control effects, and they all
show correct clip colours too.

MTF Step-by-Step Clips and scenes
Lets begin as usual by loading the up-to-date example Ableton You already know about clips; now were using scenes as well. A
01 Live set from this months DVD. Ive included all the steps we went
02 scene is a horizontal row of clips, across any number of tracks.
through in the last tutorial. The set is called TUGTAL8. We trigger scenes with the Launch button in the Master Track.
Scenes are awesome because they give us an easy way to As far as launching and navigation are concerned, scenes are
03 create dynamic musical structures in Lives Session View,
04 quite like clips. We can launch them in any order, using those
without having to make the more permanent commitment of working Master Track buttons, or MIDI messages, or assignments from our
in a timeline. computer keyboard.
We can create scenes by dragging clips up and down. Copy and Should you need more empty scenes, use Cmd>I. However, this
05 paste them with Cmd>C and Cmd>V, and duplicate with Cmd>D,
06 way of building scenes is not very spontaneous theres a better
where theyll automatically be placed in the next row down. way. Click the Stop Clips button in the Master Track. Launch your beat.
around with the various clip launch modes, which we in the Master track, and you can also delete or copy them
talked about in part 1 (see MTF Ableton LIve 2015). from there. You can use the Context Menu to rename and
Scenes can be triggered with the triangular launch colour-code your scenes. Renaming is interesting as well
buttons in the Master Track, or mapped to MIDI control, or as helping you label your song sections, it gives you a way
the computer keyboard. They dont have overall launch or to make more dynamics changes. You can use scene
quantisation characteristics; thats still set at clip level. names to tell Live to change project tempo and time
Scenes can re-ordered by dragging them up and down signature throughout your set. This is good for small tempo

MTF Step-by-Step Clips and scenes contd
Now type Shift>Cmd>I the Capture and Insert Scene command. Drag the scenes up and down after creating them, or choose
07 Your beats copied to a new scene, without interrupting playback!
08 where you want the new one before capturing. Play the Beat and
The new scene is placed on whatever row was highlighted at the time. Bass clips; Shift>Cmd>I for a new scene containing both clips.
Get it? Keep going until you have made six scenes in total. Choose Rename a scene with a BPM value, like 121 bpm, and Lives
09 any combinations of clips that sound good to you. After that, use
10 tempo changes to that BPM when the scenes launched. Time
the Context Menu to rename and colour-code your scenes. signatures work too, or both together i.e. name a clip 5/4 121 bpm.
Now we have a basic structure that we can explore by launching Well start recording by clicking the Arrangement Record button
11 scenes, in any order. Along the way were still free to launch
12 at the top of the screen. When we do, everything we do inside Live
individual clips, and change settings on instruments, effects, and will be recorded scene and clip launching, effects control, mixer
the mixer. moves, everything.
changes, and equally awesome for mad speedups and the last stages of song arrangement and mixing. We use
slowdowns. It doesnt matter if you use bpm or BPM or if the Session View and Global Record to do this, so we can
you insert a space after the digits. The ability to embed create a song structure in a spontaneous way, that also
tempo changes within scenes is one of the greatest includes audio effect and mixer changes, which will be
features in Live and is a great asset for live shows. recorded as automation that we can edit afterwards.
We want to move our Session View clips into the Recording begins in different ways according to your
Arrangement View, so well have a linear timeline to enable settings in Lives Preferences. If count-in is enabled, youll

MTF Step-by-Step Clips and scenes contd
Make sure the Automation Arm button is yellow, to ensure control You can stop clips by launching others in the same track with the
13 moves are correctly captured as clip and track automation. Push
14 Stop buttons, or by putting them into Toggle Mode if youre using
users have a dedicated button for this on the hardware. hardware, so they go on and off when tapped a second time.
Shift>Click on the Arrangement Record button; itll go into actual Feel free to experiment while recording. You can even drop in new
15 record as soon as you launch your rst clip or scene. Make sure
16 devices during recording, and Live wont inch. Use the Overview
you use your controller to be creative with device settings. (Alt>Cmd>O) for a heads-up of what your tracks are doing.
You can also use your Tab key to switch between Views, again, Stop Live, and save your set immediately. In the Arrangement
17 while still recording. You can watch everything drawing into the
18 View, click the orange Back To Arrangement button, and use the
timeline, including automation. There are no rules about how long to transport controls to review your jam. Not perfect? Dont worry as next
play thats up to you. time were editing!
hear a count-in of your chosen length before the transport 1.1.1 and avoids you getting any bars of silence at the
begins rolling. If not, itll just go straight into action, unless beginning of your take.
you right-click on the record button, in which case it waits Now that we have our arrangement mapped out, next
until you launch a clip or scene before recording starts. You time well go on to look at our editing options. In the
can also enter record at any time, when Live is already meantime, I suggest you keep playing around with Scenes,
running. Its a good habit to get into double-clicking the explore Lives automation recording, and experiment with
stop button before recording, which sets the counter to your hardware controller. MTF

Accompanying
Editing your
on the DVD
composition in the
Arrangement View
Previously we captured our Live jam into the Arrangement View
timeline. Now Martin Delaney shows you to how polish that and
create a nished structure
L
ast time, we concluded with a recorded jam a disc, which includes all of the steps from the last tutorial.
spontaneously-created structure, laid out along (Theres a good chance weve started to diverge as weve
the timeline in Lives Arrangement View. The made different recordings, so these walkthrough steps
purpose of this was to show how Lives Session might not make sense unless you use our example set.)
View relieves you of the pressure of making When youre working with a lot of tracks, you will need
commitments and working out your songs intellectually. to manage your screen space. Folding and unfolding them
Instead you can start record, start playing and improvising, helps, and you can zoom in and out, but you can also
and just see where it takes you. expand individual tracks by mousing over the bottom of
After you tap the Tab key to view your recorded tracks, the track and dragging downwards. If you hold Alt at the
youll see theyre greyed out. This is because Live same time you can expand all your tracks simultaneously.
prioritises the Session View clips. To restore Arrangement Editing automation is easy in Live just click to add or
playback, click the orange Back To Arrangement button remove breakpoints. Mouse near an envelope so it turns
above the top right of track 1, to enable all tracks (this blue, then you can drag it around, or copy and paste it,
button disappears when not needed, which is confusing/ delete it, whatever you want to do. Hold down Alt while you
annoying until you get used to it). Youll also notice do this, and you can draw curves as well as straight lines.
separate Back To Arrangement buttons for every track, so
you can specify individual tracks you want to drop back in
to from Session View. This provides a very powerful and
dynamic way to work with the Views; useful if youre
running a complex live show that might need both planned
and spontaneous elements. Understanding the
relationship between the Views is an essential step to
mastering Live. Youre seeing the same tracks in both
Views, laid out vertically or horizontally; if you delete a
track from either View, its gone from the entire set! But if
you delete a clip from, say, track 1 in Session View, it
doesnt affect any clips in the same track in the
Arrangement view.
Our aim now is to edit the structure that we created
through jamming; everything is up for grabs, everything
can be tweaked. You can keep working with your set from
last time, or you can use the up-to-date version on the
FOCUS ON MONITORS
You can get quite a long way into the composition and production process without high quality
monitoring - Im sure many of us begin sketching out tunes on mobile devices or laptops, where were
either listening on tiny built-in speakers, or on cheap headphones. As you progress towards nishing
your track, though, you need to hear whats going on more clearly, and across a wide frequency range.
You will need some high-quality monitoring headphones, and some monitor speakers as well. You cant
be applying critical processes like equalisation and compression when you cant really hear what
effect theyre having.

MTF Step-by-Step Editing in Arrangement View
Im using my recording; naturally this will differ from yours. You Tap the Space bar or the Play button, to hear the recorded
01 can either apply similar steps to your own project, or load the
02 arrangement. If any of the tracks are greyed out, use the Back To
completed part 8 set from our disc. Arrangement button to restore them read more in the main text.
Also be aware that if you now pop back to the Session View and Zoom in and around the timeline by clicking and dragging above
03 launch any clips, they will affect the arrangement playback, so
04 it, where youll see a magnifying glass icon, or in the black
avoid that unless its really what you really want to do! rectangle in the overview. Double-click there to view the arrangement.
You can also zoom using the + or - keys. Manage vertical space If you move any on-screen controls during recording, these are
05 by folding tracks click the small triangle at the end of the track.
06 captured as automation, depicted by red lines that go from left to
Hold Option/Alt and every track unfold/folds simultaneously. right in the Arrangement View tracks these are called envelopes.
Caution! When youre deleting an envelope, make sure you Lives Slice To New MIDI Track command. Each note
have it selected properly, otherwise youll delete the represents a slice of the original sampled beat, so when
entire region that it applies to, clips and all. If you want to we drag the notes in the clip around, were choosing to play
view multiple lanes of automation in the same track, use different slices at that point in time. By choose Slice 5
the little + and - buttons that appear when you unfold each time, were substituting the slice that doesnt contain
the track. the noisy sample.
In the walkthrough, we edit the beat in the rst MIDI We shorten some of the sections to the typical bar
clip, to remove the noisy sample hits from the beginning of counts that you see in music everything happens in
the song. If you remember, we created this beat by using fours! Im just getting you to do that to practice editing, Im

MTF Step-by-Step Editing in Arrangement View contd
If you can see a red dot on a control, that means theres Lets tweak the example set as discussed. Unfold track 1 by
07 automation present. Use the pop-up boxes in the Mixer at the
08 clicking the triangle left of the name. Choose mixer from the top
right of the screen to view the envelope. chooser. It has a red dot by it, indicating theres automation present.
Sometimes you need to dig to nd the envelope. Click the lower At the beginning, I increased the beat volume. Right-click on the
09 chooser, and youll see Track Volume listed, with a red dot. Select
10 Track Volume box at the end of the track, and choose Delete
that, and youre looking at the track volume automation, in red. Automation, to straighten out the entire volume envelope.
Lets automate the bass tracks lter. Unfold the track so you see Unfold the Frequency lane and do the same there. What this does
11 the automation for Auto Filter/Resonance. Use single-clicks to
12 is create a unique longer lter sweep for that part of the song.
delete each breakpoint between bars 46 and 54. Fold the track afterwards if you want to be tidy.
not suggesting you always have to use such regular bar Session and Arrangement Views, the envelopes are
counts. Of course, youre free to do it how you like. preserved, converted to clip envelopes or vice versa to
Live is quite intelligent with its handling of automation, track automation.
when it comes to copy and paste, or to moving clips We briey touch on the topics of locators these are
around. When we copy and paste the bass clips in the very useful for identifying and labelling sections in longer
tutorial, youll see the lter envelopes for those clips are songs. The arrows at the top right of the screen let you skip
copied as well. Also, if you copy and paste a clip between through your locators, while the Set button can be used to

MTF Step-by-Step Editing in Arrangement View contd
Double-click the rst MIDI drum clip, revealing the notes. Drag The second section, starting at bar 37, is 5 bars long; lets remove
13 the notes for slices 1 and 9 vertically to align with Slice 5. Now
14 one, just to keep everything even; click and drag to highlight bar
theyll all play the same sound, without the noisy sample. 45, then use Shift>Cmd>Delete to delete the time.
Likewise, cut out bars 9, and 33-35. After that, click and drag to Cut the last long section to 24 bars. Make a 2-bar break at bar 65.
15 highlight bar 16, and tap the Delete key. Drag the ends of the
16 Drag the percussion and bass across, but also drag the beat back
percussion and bass tracks to ll the gap. two beats so it resumes earlier.
Unfold the bass track. Click and drag from the start of bar 55 for 2 Sometimes it helps to label song sections using locators.
17 beats. Copy with Cmd>C. Paste with Cmd>V at bar 53 and 54.
18 Right-Click above the timeline, choose Insert Locator, then
Check out the automation! rename it something helpful. Repeat as desired throughout the song.
Use the Arrows to navigate the locators.
insert them dynamically and all three of these controls are Be warned, creating a piece of music in Live doesnt
MIDI-assignable. If youre studying song structure, truly end until you render and master it. Even after
sometimes its good to load a song you like, and use recording into the Arrangement View, you can drag in, or
locators to map out all the parts. Then delete the song and record, more audio and MIDI parts, add new tracks, or add
build your own tune using the structure! Its not stealing new effect devices. As with a lot of music production you
youre not taking any samples, melody, or anything, its just have to be clear about reaching a cut-off point otherwise
a good learning and experimentation tool. youre working on the same tune forever! MTF

MTF Feature A bluffers guide to acoustics
Although a purchased full

package is the minimal fuss
solution (such as the London
12 Room Kit pictured here from
Primacoustic), your room may
benet from the more custom
treatment when building your
own solution. And, yes, we
know theres no door.
MTF Feature Music Technology
THE BLUFFERS GUIDE

TO ACOUSTICS Your room can make or break your sound. Its all about
its acoustic. Rob Boffard explains all
T
he most important piece of equipment in your studio is not your
computer. It isnt your DAW or your monitors or your MIDI controller.
The most important piece of equipment in your room has zero moving
parts, probably looks a little bit ugly, and is something you will almost
certainly never actually notice.
Were talking about your acoustic treatment. The acoustics of a room where
music is made, mixed or mastered is the single most important thing in the
entire production chain. It doesnt matter how good your ears are or how
expensive your equipment is: if your space isnt treated right, then what youll be
hearing wont be accurate, and you wont get a good sound.
In this guide, well go into exactly what acoustics are. Well talk about what
sound is, how it behaves, and how you can tame it. Well also detail a short
construction project that you can undertake to make your own acoustic panels.
Trust us: it will improve your sound like you wouldnt believe.
Ride the wave

Think about sound for a minute.
Very obviously, it has a source, like your speakers, and a destination that
would be your ears. But in-between the source and destination, that sound is
doing some very interesting things.
Sound, as we hope we dont have to explain, consists of pressure waves in the
air. When those pressure waves hit something, such as a wall or chair or desk or
coffee mug or bookshelf, they are either reflected or absorbed. Well admit, thats

A bluffers guide to acoustics Feature MTF
putting it a little simply, but the point is that the sound you hear is dramatically
Tech terms
affected by the environment its in. Youve almost certainly experienced this:
O SOUND WAVE:
think of the last time you were at church, or a massive concert hall. There is a The way sound appears
heavy reverb to the sound, which comes not only from the walls and floor and in the environment, as
ceiling, but also from the distances between them. Likewise, step into a cupboard a pressure and
very quickly (go on, well wait) and say a few words. Chances are, your voice will displacement wave
sound muffled and stripped of character. that travels through
These are not ideal conditions for music making. Its less important at the air, as well as solids
and liquids.
actual production stage, when sound quality and balance take a backseat to
musical creativity. But when youre starting to mix, you want as little O STANDING WAVE:
environmental interference as possible. You need an accurate picture of whats What happens when
two sound waves get
coming out of your speakers in order to make informed mix decisions. Plenty of
trapped between two
songs have been recorded in a cathedral, but very few have been mixed there. flat surfaces facing
Assuring that the environment you are in is as acoustically neutral as each other, common in
possible is absolutely key. Lets have a look at how to make that happen. untreated rooms.
Causes unpleasant
Foam pit artefacts in the sound.
Well operate on the principle that you have a room at home for your music O ACOUSTIC FOAM:
making. Furthermore, well operate on the principle that you can do things to A thick, dense,
that room. If you are a renter, or otherwise unable to change the room too much, open-celled foam
this may not apply. That being said, its still worth reading, as it will help you designed to attenuate
understand the principles of how noise treatment works. sound waves. Youll
want to invest in some
Chances are youve got a room with regular furniture. A table, chair, maybe a
of this stuff.
couch, perhaps a couple of bookshelves, too. Stand at the centre of the room, and
clap. Listen to what happens to the sound. Try to analyse where the echoes (or O BASS TRAP:
A piece of acoustic
reflections) come back at you from, and what they sound like. Dont worry if you
foam of above-average
find this difficult its just a crude test, meant to illustrate that most rooms thickness, thats
dont treat sound that well. designed to be placed
There are a couple of things we can do to this room to make that sound better. in corners to corral
The first has nothing to do with acoustic treatment at all. errant low-frequency
Its all about positioning. Every room will have a sweet spot, where the sound waves.
sound is at its most honest. This can be quite difficult to find, but fortunately,
there is a very good general principle you can use. Assuming you operate at a
desk, set that desk up so that when you sit at it, youre facing one of the short
sides of the rectangle. Make sure you are at least three feet from the wall.
Now: your monitor speakers. Imagine that you and the speakers form a
triangle. It should be an equilateral triangle that is, one where all three angles
are equal. Dont worry about getting it too exact for now; just make sure that you
are roughly the same distance from the speakers as they are from each other. In
addition, try to arrange things so that your speakers are each the same distance
from the wall on either side. Even if you cant get it exactly right, or if your room
is a weird shape, dont worry. What were going to do next is to treat your room.
Look at your walls and ceiling. Right now, they are almost certainly flat.
Thats not good for sound waves, which will be reflected back into the room,
MTF Step-by-Step Building an absorber
Back
3
Staple
4
Frame
1
Using 2 x 3in pine, make a frame thats Turn the frame over and insert a Cut enough Cara fabric to wrap around
01 1,199 x 650mm in size. Use screws to
02 60mm-deep mineral wool bre slab
03 the front and to be stapled to the rear of
connect the timber together. Staple in some snugly within the frame. A tight t will help the the absorber. You may want to place tape
Cara fabric or attach a hardboard back. This material to stay in position. over your staple heads to prevent marking on
will keep the Rockwool in place. your walls. Alternatively, make a wooden
frame to face the absorber. Use picture
mounts to hang it.

MTF Feature A bluffers guide to acoustics
messing with your mix. You might think the way to MTF Pro Technique Studio ergonomics
solve this problem would be to blanket all flat
The ergonomics of your studio is something to
surfaces in acoustic treatment, but if you did, youd
consider both for your comfort as well as its impact
end up with a room that sounded completely dead.
on your room acoustically. Naturally, it is important
We dont want that. What we want is something
to ensure that all the equipment you use is well
between the two, where some surfaces are covered.
within your reach and doesnt require stretching for,
That will ensure that you dont have too many
something that perhaps later results in injury.
reflections, while allowing your room to retain its
Ensure that your chair is up to the job and that
acoustic character (and remain pleasant to work in).
youre comfortable when youre working. Your desk
What were going to use to cover them is acoustic
needs to be at the right height and should be suitable
foam. This is very different to regular foam, in that
for the kind of work youre doing. Placing your most
its a lot more dense, with a ridged or textured
often used equipment within your arc of reach will
surface. It is specifically designed to absorb sound
therefore prevent you moving your arms in repetitive
waves, trapping them before they get to your ears.
movements that can cause injury.
Plenty of companies sell acoustic foam, and in its
Also its worth considering installing your
most common form, it comes in slabs that are a
equipment in racks built within your desk or having
couple of feet square. Egg boxes, by the way, dont
them in a desktop rack. However, spare a thought for
work, no matter what youve seen on TV.
reections that may be caused by such devices and
The goal is to put these slabs at key points on the
how you might tackle them if they cause unwanted
walls and ceiling. Again, this will depend on the
reections. For more details, see our Ten Minute
Master at www.musictech.net in which we explored
Even a little bit of acoustic ergonomic considerations for the studio.
proofing will immediately benefit

the sound of your room
dimensions of the room, but a good rule is to
position them adjacent to your speakers, covering
the walls with a roughly nine-foot square section of
foam. In addition, youll need to put it on the wall
directly in front of you when you are sitting at the
desk, and the wall directly behind you. You would be
very wise to attach it to the ceiling as well. Dont
worry if you cant hit all the spots. Even a little bit
of acoustic proofing will immediately benefit the
sound of your room.
While youre at it, isolate your speakers, either bounce too many reflections back at you. Youre not
with specially-designed stands or by placing them done yet. You need to deal with the bass frequencies.
on acoustic foam. Several companies actually sell Low-frequency sound waves have less power than
angled chunks of foam for this purpose. This will high-frequency ones, and traditional acoustic foam
ensure that the surface your speakers rest on doesnt slabs cant deal with them adequately. In addition,
MTF Step-by-Step Building a bass trap
Were going to look at a corner Connect the parts together, either with Complete the corner trap by facing with
01 broadband trap here. Take some timber
02 screws or xing blocks on the inside.
03 Cara fabric or a perforated wooden
12mm plywood is ideal and cut two Using a saw, cut Rockwool slabs into triangles panel of some description, ensuring it is
right-angle triangles (300 x 300 x 424mm). slightly smaller that can stack up snugly inside acoustically transparent.
These will form the top and bottom of your the frame. These will provide a very deep
trap. The backs will be 300mm by the height absorber essentially, but work well for trapping
you can accommodate in your room. bass and other frequencies.

A bluffers guide to acoustics Feature MTF
bass has a nasty habit of accumulating in the There are some products that
are difcult to DIY. Vicoustics
corners, and letting it do so can really muddy your
products are both elegant and
mix. To fix this, youll need to invest in bass traps, highly effective, such as this
which are thick, chunky pieces of foam designed to WaveWood Bass Trap.
fit right into the corners of a room.
Again, please note that these are general
principles. You dont treat a live room as you would a
vocal booth, and acoustics can be a detailed science
that experts will charge a lot of money to get right.
But as a general guide, this should get you going.
DIY style
Acoustic foam panels differ from other audio
equipment in one crucial way. You can actually make
your own without any specialist knowledge.
Were not going to go into the exact step-by-step
procedure here, as its relatively simple, especially if
youre a dab hand with DIY. What you need to do is
construct a solid wood frame. Cover one side of the
frame with fabric, making sure it fits tight around it
(you can staple-gun it into place).
What youll need to do then is fill the interior
with a substance known as Rockwool. This material,
readily available from hardware stores, is very
sound absorbent, and is easy to work with. Once of acoustic proofing to a pre-cut wooden panel
youve filled the frame, all you have to do is close the chipboard will do. You can try using the spray, but a
back we suggest using another piece of fabric, better option might be to use metal brackets to hold
perhaps with a wooden bar placed across the middle the foam in place. The panels can then be hung on
of the frame to keep the Rockwool in place. the wall like a picture. The real advantage of this is
Congratulations: youve made an acoustic panel. that if you move studio, you can simply take down
But how do you go about hanging these on the the panels and take them with you. Check out the
wall and ceiling? Many companies sell an adhesive tutorials on these pages for more and good luck! MTF
spray that you can use to attach the foam directly to
the wall. Were going to speak from personal This feature is endorsed by SSR which has been
experience here: avoid this stuff. Not only is one can providing professional education training in the
not sufficient to prove an entire room, but it doesnt audio engineering industry for over 30 years. With
last very long, so your panels are in danger of falling campuses in London, Manchester, Jakarta and
away. Despite that, the substance itself is absolute Singapore, SSR has gained a healthy reputation
murder to get off the wall. within the music industry for producing well
What you can do, however, is attach each section trained, professional graduates across the globe.
MTF Step-by-Step Building a diffusor
Building a diffusor is perhaps the most Cut the blocks of wood into the Leave the blocks to dry overnight (or
01 difcult task presented here, partly
02 appropriate lengths. Purchase some
03 longer, depending on the adhesive).
because theres a bit more maths involved, hardboard or 9mm MDF and cut to the required Next, turn the whole diffusor over. Using a
but also as it takes a little more skill in the frame length to support the blocks. The next drill, pilot four holes through the rear
workshop. The prettier of the two is perhaps step is the tricky bit: arranging the blocks as hardboard to the longer lengths of block.
the blockwork Quadratic (Skyline) Diffusor, per the grid provided by the calculator. As you Screw together to aid adhesion. Make two
but both varieties are pretty difcult. The arrange youll need to glue each block to the holes through the 0 sections (no blocks) in
best starting point is to download a diffusor back and to any adjacent blocks it comes into the sequence to connect the diffusor to the
calculator from the net and consider how it contact with. wall or ceiling.
should perform.

Six of the best

Hardware Software Mobile Tech Accessories
Welcome to another MusicTech Buyers Guide where we round
up some of the best products reviewed at MusicTech. On these
pages we have a range of software applications emulating real
instruments. Who needs to learn the real thing these days?
BEST Grand piano
Garritan CFX
Concert Grand Details
G
arritan Abbey Road Studios
Price 80
Details CFX Concert Grand to give it Contact
Price 199 its full name is a recreation Time & Space
Contact of Yamahas nine-foot, 01837 552100
Time + Space Web
hand-built grand piano. It requires
01837 55200 www.zero-g.co.uk
Web 122GB of free hard drive space, but
www.garritan.com theres also a compact version that only
requires 24.5GB. Reviewer Keith BEST Live flutes
Gemmell said: Tonally, the hand-built
Perpetuo
CFX piano is superb, rich and powerful,
but also capable of great elegance, all
of which has been beautifully captured
by the Abbey Road engineers. It is one
of the nest virtual pianos available
simply beautiful. He concluded: A ne
virtual grand piano with a beautifully
Live Flute
rich tone, a no-nonsense GUI and
essential controls. It is up there with
the best. Phrases
Z
ero-Gs ute instrument might
be an oldie but its a goody.
BEST Horns Perpetuo Live Flute Phrases is
an 8GB collection of thousands
NI Session Horns Pro

of live, recorded phrases compressed
down to 4.6GB using Kontakts lossless
compression technology. The library
T
his is an expanded version of features mainly arpeggios, runs and
Session Horns, this time with a Details rhythm types, which are available as
30GB sound library, plus the Price 249 slurred and staccato patterns. All were
Contact NI
inclusion of articulations and 0845 5272006 played live by a autist from the
solo instruments. Where the original Web Liverpool Philharmonic and built from
provides many of the features required www.native- three-bar loops for natural variation.
instruments.com
for fast but small-size horn section Reviewer Keith Gemmell said: All in all,
writing, especially for musicians with this is a very exible pre-recorded
limited arranging experience, Session phrase and pattern library that works
Horns PRO expands the principle great on its own and, importantly,
further. We said: If you produce music blends well with other orchestral
where funky horns, both vintage and libraries. An excellent tool for creating
modern, are an important ingredient, rhythmic patterns for upfront ute
Session Horns PRO is right up there ensembles and for subtle background
with the best work in cinematic-style productions.

BEST Modeled flutes
Samplemodeling The Flutes

W
here Perpetuo Live Flute pliable and very responsive straight out
Phrases (see previous of the box with an excellent centre
review) does virtual utes display that shows exactly which
by way of high quality real-time articulations and controllers
samples, Samplemodelings approach are being triggered. He concluded:
is by way of, and the clue is in the name, Samplemodelings The Flutes
modelling. The company employs provides a highly malleable playing
Synchronus Wavelength Acoustic experience and a great alternative to
Modeling (SWAM) which uses samples the traditional sample library utes, Details
and physical modeling for an ultra which can be difcult to play in real Price 228
realistic result. Keith Gemmell said: time. Only slightly let down by a Contact via website
The instruments load quickly and are less-than-vibrant tone for classical Web
www.samplemodeling.com
instantly playable. Theyre remarkably styles, but great for jazz!
BEST Emulator
EZkeys Mellotoon
O
kay, this is not an emulation version worthy of inclusion. Reviewer
of a real instrument, exactly, Keith Gemmell said: Top-notch 1960s
more of a recreation of a real Mellotron recreation the strings in
instrument emulator (if you particular. Add a MIDI library and the
see what we mean!). But as the songwriting and educational tools to
Mellotron has become a classic in its the equation and we have a superb
own right we thought this software value-for-money package.
Details
Price 103
Contact
A very flexible phrase
Time + Space
T: 01837 55200 and pattern library that works great on
its own and blends well with other libraries
Web
www.toontrack.com
Details
BEST Grand variety Price 99 each 159 for
the bundle
Contact E-Instrument
E-Instruments via website

Web
www.e-instruments.com
Session Keys Grand

S
ession Keys Grand S and Y are any kind of grand piano sound you like
two acoustic grands, recorded into your tracks, and theyre excellent
in great detail, that aim to put for solo performance as well. They open
concert-ready sounds at your up complex musical gures even to
ngertips. At just under 5GB apiece those without advanced keyboard
they run in the free or full version of the skills. He concluded: These are
Kontakt player. Reviewer Hollin Jones great-sounding and playable pianos
said: These are excellent performers with excellent sound-shaping controls
that will help you to incorporate almost and innovative generators.

Accompanying
on the DVD
Get some video in

your Live set
If youre creative musically, youre probably creative
visually. Martin Delaney reveals how to add movies,
either to make a music video, or pimp out a live show.
Y
oure making music on a computer, right? Well, You can stack multiple tracks, or place different clips on a
video is just as easy to do on the same machine. single track any section not covered by a movie clip will
If youre a video virgin, dont worry if you can make a black screen. You can split movie clips using
understand how to use audio clips in Live, you Cmd>E (you cant join or reverse them, though), loop them,
can handle this. Its a good skill to have you and choose which portion of the clip to play.
might be asked to soundtrack a movie, you might want to Lives greatest video tool, though, is the ability to warp
make your own music video, or you might want an video, which it does by warping the audio the attached
hour-long visual set for your own live show. movie simply follows along. Add warp markers and drag
Live can open any QuickTime-compatible movies (be them around to slow down or speed up your movie clip.
advised that you cant import video into Ableton Lite or Even if theres no visible audio waveform, you can still
Intro, though), so you have many solutions as far as insert warp markers above the at line where the audio
content goes. There are websites that provide copyright- should be.
free movies, and while they have restrictions on As well as being a fantastic visual effect, Ive used this
commercial use, if you squirt them on a wall during a live a couple of times when syncing audio to video as Ive
set, that may not be such a problem. There are also sneakily expanded or contracted the video to t the music.
browser plug-ins and applications that let you download For those more pro timing moments, Right-click in the
YouTube movies. A more rewarding way to add visuals is to time ruler below the Arrangement View timeline and
make your own. In my sets Ive used video from cheap choose to view different frame rates in FPS, instead of the
digital cameras, DSLRs, iPhones, HD movie cameras, and default minutes and seconds.
GoPros; if you mix and match you get a better texture, its You can also load jpegs, dragging their starts or ends to
like sampling audio from different sources. For most uses, change their duration within the timeline. Try to make sure
video from a phone is easily good enough. I like to use your jpegs have the same proportions as your movies, so
bright colours, and close-ups of small objects as they get you dont get black bars, or unwanted glimpses of movie,
really trippy when theyre blown up big on a large screen. appearing behind your top-most image. Jpegs would also
When it comes to digitally-created images, and keeping let you add text titles to your Live video projects; you never
it within Live (read about VJ software elsewhere on these know, theres probably a Max For Live device out
pages), Max For Live users have options in terms of there that creates
visually-oriented devices, such as Ganz Graf Mod X,
Vizzable, and V-Module. This tutorial is all about using
actual movies, but theres no reason why you couldnt
combine techniques throughout your set. And you know
what? Whatever images you use, somebody will usually
tell you that they suit your music perfectly!
Live works great as a brutally simple movie editor.
FOCUS ON VIDEO APPS

For more sophisticated visuals, youre probably better off running a
video application alongside Live. I like Arkaos Grand VJ its been
around for years but its still going strong. Its MIDI-controllable, so
Live can control it; all you need is a separate MIDI track, sending
notes to launch movie clips, and sending clip envelopes to change
effect parameters, so Arkaos will always load the right image for that
part of the set, even when youre improvising. For timeline use,
Arkaos also has a record mode so you can capture everything and
render it to pair with your mix afterwards.

MTF Step-by-Step Video in live
Start by opening your Live set from last time or, if you prefer, use Weve also supplied a folder which contains the movie clips
01 the up-to-date version supplied with this issue of MusicTech. Ill 02 needed for the tutorial Live movies. You can navigate to that
be referring to that version throughout the tutorial. and drag it into your Live Browser, to save it as a shortcut.
Drag sky.m4v to the area under the current Arrangement tracks, If you look closely, youll see the clip has little movie frames along
03 04 the edges to differentiate it. Live should have opened the Video
at the start of the song. Itll behave just like when you load audio
clips, creating an audio track to host the clip. Window automatically. If not, use Alt>Cmd>V to show it.
Double-click in the middle of the video window to enter or exit Remember I said its like an audio clip? Go to the end of the movie
05 full-screen mode. Start Live running, and the video will start too,
06 clip, and drag the end back so the clip is exactly 8 bars long we
its pretty simple. But the movie clip is very short can sync video cuts to our beats.
movie titles for Live. If there isnt, somebody probably but the other controls are valuable if youre working with
needs to make one. clients who need les in specic formats. If I just want a
Well discuss nal processing and rendering of audio take away render to watch on my phone or computer, I
les another time. For movies, if youre working on your use the iPhone preset. When Im delivering video to
own material, youll probably only use one or two settings, publishers, Im following their stated requirements for

MTF Step-by-Step Video in live contd
Now go into the Sample box and turn on Warp and Loop. Grab the This all makes more sense if you have a second display or video
07 end of the movie clip and drag it out so it loops to t the entire
08 projector connected. Drag the video window to the display/
length of the song. projector window, then double click it again for full screen video.
Drag in ower.m4v, once again creating a new track. Shorten it to Now play through that section. Youll see that the video in the
09 4 bars. Set it to warp and loop. Drag it to 8 bars length. Place it at
10 lower track takes priority. Thats how it always works with video
bar 9 on the timeline. tracks in Live. Hmm, this is getting to be like video editing!
Load synth.m4v, but put it in the previous track at bar 32 and Double click it to see the audio waveform its some speech. Try
11 again at bar 53. Dont warp or loop this yet. Yes you can put many
12 dropping Lives Ping Pong Delay on that track, set the dry/wet to
movie clips in the same track. whatever sounds good to you. We can process movie audio!
image size, frame rate, and so on. If youre impatient, cant handle video in Session View. But its not all bad itll
remember that video takes longer to render than audio, give you a chance to ditch the video content but retain the
and the more youre compressing it, the longer it takes. audio which is a fast way to extract audio samples from
Everything weve discussed has related to the movies! If you really need video coming out of the Session
Arrangement View; theres a simple reason for that. Drag a View, itll have to be via Max For Live devices like the ones I
movie onto Session View, and youll be advised that Live mentioned earlier.

MTF Step-by-Step Video in live contd
Warp and loop the second instance of the clip. Add a Warp Marker Now play that section. Not only have you made the audio play
13 to the end of the clip. Drag that left until it reaches the end of bar
14 faster, youve made the video loop and play faster with it isnt
1. Shorten the loop brace to one bar. that cool? This is an awesome Live feature! So much fun
With these techniques, you can use Live as a basic movie editor, Be aware that if you execute the Collect All And Save command,
15 and the video warping is a nice extra trick. You can even warp
16 the movie clips will be collected as well as the audio, so you will
silent movies by placing warp markers on the clips atline waveform. get larger than usual Live projects.
To render the movie with audio, open the Export Audio/Video, and See more in our main text about video formats. As far as more
17 make sure video is switched on. There are many available export
18 detailed audio rendering goes, well be talking about the more
formats; what options you see will depend on your computer and OS. nal stages of nishing and exporting your completed tunes next time.
Although Session View is a no-no, you can have a in the video tracks as they appear in Session View, so you
timeline full of movie clips in Arrangement View, and ip cant accidentally stop or launch anything in them.
back to Session View to launch clips in real-time like This is an easy route into movie editing if youre curious
always. Your video output isnt affected, as long as youre about that, and most importantly, its a lot of fun. You
not launching clips in the same tracks that contain video already have Ableton Live and a computer, and probably a
clips. Sometimes its safer to remove the clip stop buttons phone with a camera. So whats stopping you? MTF

Mixing and
Accompanying
on the DVD
compression tweaks
prior to mastering your
finished Live projects
Hold on! Before sharing your nished tune with your
friends and fans, Martin Delaney wants you to check
and tweak your mix one last time.
L
ast time, we added movies to the Arrangement if you dont have your track volumes under control digital
View timeline. Now we have to prepare our mix for recording isnt like recording to tape, or overloading a tube
rendering and delivery as a stereo le. One thing guitar amp, when you can get some enjoyable distortion; it
to remember about much of the mixing sounds ugly and itll cause problems down the line at the
information you read online is that its not mastering stage.
oriented to the home producer; theres a lot of talk about Stereo imaging is also very important. If youre trying to
room setup acoustic treatments and so on which is sonically differentiate your tracks, organising them across
less relevant if youre mixing your own music exclusively. the stereo eld from left to right will help each one nd a
Sure, if you have aspirations of becoming a professional space. This relates to your volume judgements as well,
mix engineer, you have to have those things, but if youre because positioning a part differently might make it
always doing your own music, the rules are different. appear louder or quieter. You should also be keeping mono
Theres a small amount of gear needed to mix at home imaging in mind, because people are going to hear your
(apart from the obvious computer); the bottom line is youll music on all kinds of setups, including systems that are
need a soundcard, monitors, and headphones. More people effectively mono. A rule of thumb is to keep your lower
are mixing on headphones these days, out of necessity, but frequencies, like kick drums and bass parts, in the centre
it should be the last resort, and listening on at least one of the mix.
pair of speakers as part of the process is really important. I Listen for any areas where your mix sounds too busy,
have my monitors, a good set of headphones, and an old like maybe there are too many parts ghting for the low
mono speaker that I use for checking in more lo- end, or too much in the middle or top. If you want your
conditions. I also sync mixes to my iPhone and listen to composition to come across, cutting
them on the tiny little iPhone speaker that is the world chosen
were in.
As it says in the walkthrough, I have a sequence that I
follow when Im nishing a song: volume; stereo imaging;
EQ, compression, and overall loudness. Everything fails
WHY DONT MY MIXES SOUND

PROFESSIONAL?
Even for the more experienced producer, there are times when you
wonder why your nished songs dont sound nished or loud
enough. There are several likely explanations but maybe you should
start by asking more questions. Where was the song recorded
house or studio? What hardware and software was used? Who mixed
it? Who mastered it? Getting a truly nished-sounding song is the
result of a long process, so dont be too hard on yourself if it doesnt
come together straight off. Compression and EQ are key parts of the
process, as is mastering, which well cover next time.

MTF Step-by-Step Mixing and compression
I have a checklist I use when nishing a song: track volume, You know the routine by now you can use your own Live set if
01 stereo image, equalisation, compression, and overall loudness.
02 youve been following along, but Id recommend you use the one
This is how I do it, Im sure there are others who will tell you differently. on this months disc for better compatibility with the walkthrough.
Check that none of your volume levels are showing red (exceeding If youre touchy about overload issues, you could put the Limiter/
03 04 Upper Ceiling preset on the tracks in question, although thats
0dB on the peak indicators). If one is over, select all the tracks
and lower them simultaneously to preserve the mix relationships. usually something I save for live sets, where it goes on every track!
For stereo interest, use the track pan controls, or even the This is where Id use EQ to thin out tracks that still need it. We did
05 Autopan audio effect try it on the Keys track, click the Sync
06 it with our keyboard and speech tracks. Toggle EQ Three off/on in
button and set the amount to 100%. That sounds good. those tracks, to check the difference.
frequencies with EQ can help. When you record traditional Following on from that, compression and limiting help
instruments or bands, the bulk of the equalisation is done to contain and manage the overall loudness for specic
in the instruments themselves. Indeed when you think of a tracks, and later, the entire mix. Compression levels out
classic rock band, each instrument is designed to cover a track volumes it reduces the chances of an instrument
certain frequency range. You have drum kits, basses, suddenly blurting out loudly from nowhere. Theres nothing
guitars, and vocals theyre kind of pre-mixed within the to stop you using more than one compressor per track, in
instrument roles and the types of part associated with fact it can make sense to combine two different
them. With electronic music, there isnt always a dened compressors, when each has a different sound and does a
role for each synth or sampler; you have to reinvent the different job. Then you can also add compressors at group
wheel each time and work it out for yourself, although I level, and of course in the master track.
suppose if youre sticking to a strict genre, there are rules I use Lives native equalisers and compressors as much
in place as possible; they are clean, efcient, and they share the

MTF Step-by-Step Mixing and compression (contd)
Lives Compressor reduces the range between the loudest and We already put Compressor on the kick in our drum rack, but lets
07 quietest parts, making a tracks volume more consistent. This can
08 add Compressor/Brute Compression to the entire track put it in
have a by-product of making these tracks seem louder. behind the rack. Wow! Loud. Set the Dry/Wet to 15%.
Theres already a Compressor on the Keys track as well, where its Compressor is in every version of Live. However, if you have Live 9
09 there to enable sidechaining, this is an example of how a more
10 Standard or Suite, you also have the Glue Compressor, which is
extreme compressor setting can be used as a more noticeable effect. designed to add a little more colour to the sound.
If you have Glue, swap it for the Brute Compressor on the drum Compression will affect your perceptions of track volume, so be
11 track, lower the Threshold to -40dB, raise the Makeup to 20dB,
12 aware you might need to go back and slightly re-tweak any tracks
Dry/Wet to 50%, and enable Soft clipping. that suddenly seem louder.
classic simple Ableton interface design. Each of Lives non-standard reverb. At the moment this would be
compressors has a Dry/Wet mix control, which makes something like Exponential Audios Phoenixverb, although I
parallel compression very simple to achieve; its useful to also like the Max for Live Convolution Reverb. I also use
set a more extreme-than-usual compressor, but then dial Waves Vocal Rider and Bass Rider when applicable, to
it back and blend it with the clean signal. level out the track volumes before applying compression.
As well as compressors, I like to use at least one This reduces the need for heavy compression settings and

MTF Step-by-Step Mixing and compression (contd)
If youre working on a project with many tracks, group common Then apply the compression to the group instead of individual
13 types of instrument, like drums and percussion. Select the tracks
14 tracks. To my ears, this helps bind the sounds together, and takes
(they dont need to be adjoining), and type Cmd>G. the heat off using too much processing on the master track.
If you want more characterful compression an opportunity to If you cant afford more plug-ins, you might nd some free Live
15 change the tone of your production you will benet from
16 presets online thatll step in for now; theres a good API 2500
third-party plug-ins from people like Waves, PSP, Softube and NI. simulation available. Otherwise, take the time to build your own racks.
Ill use tape simulators such as Waves Abbey Road J37, on Got hardware compressors? Wire them into Live with an External
17 specic instrument tracks. For guitar projects, or anything retro,
18 Audio Effect device, and save it as a preset for future recall. I have
Ill use them more, usually on every track or track group, in the project. presets for the UA LA610, Alesis 3632, and EL Fatso Jr.
gives you more freedom to use colourful compressors for and for stereo sometimes an Alesis 3632 or, for a more
their tonal qualities. This is also where Ill turn to hardware upmarket sound, an Empirical Labs Fatso Jr which also
compressors once in a while, because they each have a does nice tape simulation.
unique character, or because Im recording hardware We have Lives Multiband Dynamics on our master
synths and I like to pre-process them before they go to track, and for now well call that done. Well review it next
disk. For mono channels Ill use a Universal Audio LA-610, time, when we deal with mastering and rendering. MTF

Accompanying
on the DVD
Were done!
How to finish off your
Live project
Youve reached the nal part of our massive Live guide,
and its your last chance to tweak before sharing your
song with the world! Martin Delaney is your master
W
elcome to the last stage in this long- track will sound. If youre attracted to the character of
running Live project. Were nishing with extreme compression, you could also use dry/wet controls
some extra master-track processing, then set up a really extreme compression chain, then dial it
exporting and taking care of some le back until it sounds more normal! If youre working with
management. Optimising our master similar styles consistently, and you get a set of favourite
track isnt the same as mastering, which is the preparation devices, save them as an audio effect rack, and set up
of a nal stereo mix or group of them, for distribution. macros for your most-used controls.
Thats an involved process requiring good ears, objectivity, When its time to export, use Cmd>A to select the entire
and specialised gear, which unfortunately we dont have project. This step isnt crucial, but its a useful visual
room for today well talk about that another time. reference. Everything highlighted will be included in the
In the walkthrough we use the Multiband Dynamics export youll see if youve left any stray elements beyond
effect to modify the mids and lows in our track, but we the supposed end of the song. You can also click and drag
also use EQ Eight for further adjustment of frequencies. to highlight a section if you only need that part, or type bar
EQ Eight has a useful real-time frequency display, or you numbers in the Render Start and Render Length boxes
could add the Spectrum device for a more detailed view. which appear when you type Shift>Cmd>R to open the
The other issue we address is master volume; you dont Export Audio/Video window. Lives audio export options are
need to thrash your mix volume throughout the production mostly self-explanatory except for dither, which can be a
process, you can boost it here. We use the Limiter, inserted head-scratcher! This is useful when youre rendering to a
after the Multiband Dynamics device, to increase our lower sample rate than that of the
master volume while preventing any distortion of the nal original
output. You can enjoy watching the Limiters orange gain
reduction meter react as you adjust the gain level! This
is an important stage for changing the sound of the nal
mix; the more the compressor is working, and the more
limiting is going on, the more heavily compressed your
WHY DONT MY MIXES SOUND

PROFESSIONAL?
If you want more serious master track/mastering-type tools, sooner
or later youll use third party solutions alongside Lives devices.
Probably the classic examples of these are Waves L2 Ultramaximiser
and iZotopes Ozone. The L2 is fantastic for quick xes when all you
care about is making your song louder, it has a very straightforward
set of controls. Ozone, though, is much deeper and customisable,
being more oriented for mastering than mixing. Conveniently, it also
runs as a standalone application which is great if youre mastering a
batch of several tracks that belong together on an album.

MTF Step-by-Step Finishing off
Time to nish! As usual, see the updated example set on the disc Totally uncompressed music sounds weirdly quiet; we want to
01 (TUGTAL12). Having rened your mix last time, lets tweak the
02 optimise volume, without smashing the **** out of it! We need to
master track, mix down our nal les, and back up our content. retain dynamics but give it weight to play alongside other music.
Live has the tools for this in devices such as Compressor, EQ None of those presets are ready to use out of the box they all
03 04 need work to suit your material. Make sure you use those
Eight, Glue, Limiter, Multiband Dynamics and Utility. The Audio
Effect Rack/Mixing & Mastering section includes relevant presets too. pre-assigned macro controls at the front of the racks.
The Multiband Dynamics/Multiband Compression preset is Load the EQ Eight before that. Apply a low cut at 40Hz, a cut of
05 loaded on our master track. Reduce the mid output gain to
06 -2dB at 220Hz and a boost of 2dB, at 8.86kHz. These are quite
-3.60dB, and Low to -2dB; sounds better to me. typical EQ settings for a stereo mix.
project; because Live works at 32-bit internally, lower bit sending your mix onwards for more processing mix to
rates, like 16, require conversion downwards. This process 32-bit without dithering if youre doing that. Video export
can create audible distortion, caused by the blocky settings are dependent on your hardware and the
character of digital audio waveforms as opposed to the destination of your nished movie. For a quick x Ill use an
smooth contours of analogue, but dithering adds a tiny bit Apple device preset like iPhone or Apple TV they provide
of digital noise to the signal, effectively smoothing over the reasonable quality without being too big.
effect of the distortion. In most situations, this added When everything is done, the last thing you want to deal
noise should be unnoticeable. Dithering works differently with is le management, but be patient and take action to
with different material conduct some tests of your own protect your work so itll still be there when you revisit it
and see if you can spot the difference. Ableton states that for a live show or an alternative mix in six months. The rst
the Triangular mode is the safest for general use, while thing to do is use Lives Collect All and Save command in
pointing out that dithering shouldnt be used if youre the File menu. Youll see a pop-up pane with options

MTF Step-by-Step Finishing off (contd)
Add Limiter/Upper Ceiling after the Multiband, set the ceiling to You now have something thats louder and little more controlled
07 -1dB. Set the gain to 4dB, to push the limiter. Raise the master
08 frequency-wise, but not pumping too much. Just for fun, briey
track volume to 0dB; nothing will exceed -1dB. move that gain up to +12dB, and hear it overcooking the limiter.
Use Shift>Cmd>R to open the Export Audio/Video window. The Lets review a few items in that list, though. At the top, choose
09 short version is to say use the default settings until you have a
10 Master. We want a nal stereo mix, no need for separate tracks.
good reason not to! CD quality is usually good enough. Make sure youre rendering the entire length of the song.
Read our main text to learn more about those confusing dither You cant export to formats such as mp3 or AAC directly from Live
11 options. Leave Create Analysis File, Normalize (read about that in
12 youll have to use iTunes or another application for that. But you
the main text as well), and Convert to Mono all set to Off. can go to directly to your Soundcloud account.
relating to which project elements you can copy into the Live project, that will take up less space when you email it,
Project folder. I always leave all of these turned on, so or Dropbox it, or move it to another drive. To make a Live
everything Ive used in the project samples, presets, Pack follow this path: File/Manage Files/Manage Project/
movie clips is copied. Sure, this takes up more disk Create Pack. Get that project tucked away safely. Move it
space, but its worth it for the security. The next stage after to an external hard drive, and ideally clone that as well. If
that is to create a Live Pack a 50%-sized archive of your youre really nervous, keep the clone at another location, in

MTF Step-by-Step Finishing off (contd)
With movie clips in the set, there are some extra settings to look If Im rendering for my own purposes I use one of the Apple
13 at. Turn Create Video on. The video encoder list might vary
14 Device presets, but if the situation demands it Ill select
depending on your hardware, extra video cards, and so on. QuickTime Movie and edit the many available settings as necessary.
Click Export, and choose your rendering destination. When export If you wanted to do real mastering or to get it done for you, youd
15 is complete youll have a stereo audio le, and a QuickTime movie,
16 depart from this walkthrough a little. You might render the song
which contains both the video and audio from your project. without the multiband dynamics processing, to have options later.
If youre curious about visualising compression, a good exercise is You can master inside Live, or with a dedicated application like
17 to render with and without the master track compression and
18 Ozone. Usually its not done inside the original song project as you
then import those into a new live set to compare the waveforms. might want to handle a number of stereo mixes as a batch.
case your house is hit by a tornado or whatever. for studio time in the old days, that was a huge motivation
This projects been about techniques, rather than right there. Now most of us work at home, we dont have
creativity. In the real world, how do you know when your that pressure, so announce a date for a release or live
tunes nished? When do you cut if off? The problem is, show anything that forces you to nish!
theres no right answer, you cant just buy a plug-in or take That concludes this project for now. Thanks for playing!
a pill. It does helps to have a deadline. If you were paying Well be moving on to something new next time MTF

MTF Interview Olaf Bohn
MTF Interview
Meet The
Ableton Team
It's our regular feature where we meet some of the people behind your favourite software.
Meet Olaf Bohn who is the Ableton's PR and AR manager and works with some of the
biggest artists in the Live and Push communities
T
he company behind the software you use, Ableton, contract and is obliged to do something which might not
was founded in 1999. In 2001 it released v1 of Live, come natural to them, and then it all ends up looking quite
the software which has since become a standard in weird. This classic endorsement deal is obviously quite an
music production and live performance across the easy and cost effective way of doing things, but I'm not
world. Since its launch it has been updated regularly with the convinced by the results. We try to build relationships based
last major release, version 9, coming out in 2013 along with on a natural exchange, so that we can build ideas for projects
Push, the hardware controller and instrument. The company together with the artist which then convey an authentic
now boasts over 200 employees from 28 different countries, message and hopefully one that will inspire people. So now
divided between the main headquarters in Berlin and an we tell a lot of stories like this on ableton.com and also work
ofce in Los Angeles. One of those is Olaf Bohn, the very closely with artists on making our products better.
company's Global Public and Artist Relations Manager. He
reveals to MusicTech how the Ableton artist community has MTF: How's a typical artist relationship work?
grown and developed since the company started OB: The nice thing about Berlin is that almost everyone visits
the city at some point and it has become a creative capital
MusicTech Focus: Tell us about your history due to the fact that the cost of living is still comparatively
with Ableton
Olaf Bohn: I joined the company in 2007 and rst worked in
customer support which I often describe as 'the heart of the
company' as there has always been a strong focus on the
We don't do 'classic'
strength of this team and the importance of its relationship
with the customer. At the same time, and due to my endorsement deals as I
think the results often
background in the music industry, I was also asked to take a
look at our Artist Relations Department.
The year 2007 was a turning point in that sense. Ableton Live
was established within the artist community and we were
close to releasing products like Max for Live which obviously
requires a strong input from the professional community due
look a bit weird
to the fact that users are able to build their own patches and lower than in cities like London. So, yes, people come to us
change Live according to their individual needs. We and we try to meet as many as possible face to face so that a
established a huge network of personal contacts and feel real exchange can happen. Chasing always sucks but we do
blessed to be in direct touch with so many great musicians it if we feel its ok and important. Again, a good relationship is
who we work with on all kinds of different levels today. Over crucial here if the artist trusts you and knows that the
the last couple of years I have also been looking after the PR things you try to do are benecial for both sides then they
side of things for Ableton which includes sharing the great will tolerate 'a chase'. If he or she feels its only about a win
stories we hear from artists. for a corporation then the chances are high that the chase
will lead into a dead end street.
MTF: What was your original goal with Ableton's Obviously the things we talk to the artists about are
artist user base? condential but one relationship I can mention is with Henrik
OB: Its hard to summarize this as it was (and still is) a Schwarz. He has been very close to Ableton from the start
complex process closely connected to the way we see and he works and exchanges with many different
relationships. It might be best explained by the fact that we departments at Ableton due to his amazing talent both
do not do the endorsement deals where an artist signs a musically and technically. When I introduced Max for Live to

Olaf Bohn Interview MTF
musicians, the Artist Relations team now consists of ve

people. I have to admit that they are all younger and can cope
a lot better with the fact that the magic in clubs in Berlin
really only starts at three in the morning! That said, I am still
working with artists directly but there is just so much
innovation and new stuff happening that I cant be that
specialist anymore.
Then there's the fact that we learn so much from the artists
and this has lead to new projects which highly inuence my
job these days. The release of Dennis DeSantis' book Making
Music and our upcoming summit for music makers, Loop, are
both big projects especially for the artist relations and PR
side, and also for Ableton in general and anyone working
directly with our amazing community.
MTF: What has been the good and the bad sides
of how music technology has developed?
OB: In general the speed at which technology has developed
and still does is astonishing. Weve come to a point where
artists are overwhelmed with the amount of tools they have
available which can lead to creative blocks. So a good music
production these days is a lot about deciding what not to use,
to remain focussed and to work creatively within those
limitations. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I nd it
extremely interesting. If you look at things happening in
countries like Brazil or South Africa, where the artists are
forced to work with extreme limitations, you will see that they
still make amazing music due to the huge creative talent and
culture that exists there. Thats what I associate with a
retrospective question about the past decade. We are all
blessed to be part of such a great development but I think we
should try to give more people access to it.
MTF: Music production in the box. Has it

worked, is it as good as we thought it would be,
and do we all look like we're writing email
rather than making music? Discuss!
OB: On stage I sometimes think, yes, it's a bit like writing
him he wasnt able to code and the huge variety of freely Olaf Bohn has been email but thats where instruments like Push or controllers
working at Ableton
available Max for Live devices didnt exist. Henrik shared very like the APC40 or the Launchpad help. I think music
since 2007 and is now
personal ideas and motivations with us which ultimately lead the company's AR production in the box has denitely worked as it enables
to the development of The Schwarzonator. and PR Manager more people to make music than before. A lot of the music
We also receive a lot of technical questions and feedback we celebrate today does not only come from artists who have
and its crucial that these questions are answered quickly for studied music or are classically trained instrumentalists,
the artist and that this learning is made transparent so that and I strongly believe that this is a great thing.
others can benet from it.
MTF: Which production techniques are you
MTF: What kind of artists are you interested in most commonly asked about?
working with? OB: One amazing thing about Ableton Live is that it can be
OB: The situation has improved but I think one of the core used in so many different ways that there really isnt the one
problems of the music technology industry is a lack of 'classic use' case which we recommend or get shown. We
women who are respected and involved equally. In terms of constantly learn about how our users use Live and Push and
genres and music we would like to be in touch with anyone this learning is one core element but also a challenge for our
who does great music not even necessarily with our products future developments.
it ultimately comes down to inspiration and talent. The
technical developments of the last 20 years have brought so MTF: What advice would you give anyone
many new artists and genres, and I feel we are nally at a entering the world of music production with the
point where a lot more young people have access to view to making a living from it?
instruments like Live and Push and master them. We are OB: A lot of the creative blocks come from too much pressure.
literally amazed every day by the music, ideas and creative The one thing I notice when working with very successful
thoughts that are shared with us, and these are the artists artists is that theyve remained extremely passionate about
we want to be in touch with. the music making itself and dont really care too much about
the money side as it contradicts the creative ow that leads
MTF: How would you say your role has changed? to special creative moments and musical pieces. So: dont try
OB: Due to the fact that we have such a big community of to make a living from it! MTF

MTF Feature A bluffers guide to mixing and mastering
MTF Feature Music Technology
A BLUFFERS GUIDE
TO MIXING AND
MASTERING
Think mixing and mastering are one and the same? Gen up with
Rob
b Booffard
d who explains everything you need to know
Y
ou may already be familiar with what it means to mix a song, even if
youve never tried it yourself. And at some point, youre going to want
to stop noodling around with that synth line and actually turn your
track into something people might want to listen to.
But there is an additional step. Mixing might seem like a relatively
straightforward idea just balancing the tracks together so they sound good. But
not only is there a lot more to it than that, theres also the additional step of
mastering. When youre a rookie producer, it can often be quite confusing, and
the distinction between mixing and mastering isnt always easy to make out. In
this guide were going to show you the difference between them, and what each
step consists of.
Spot the difference

Lets break down the exact difference between mixing and mastering. Mixing is,
as weve already mentioned, the art of making your songs sound good. By the
time you reach this stage, youve finished composing the elements of your song,
and arranging them just how you like them. Now, you need to take those
elements, and make sure they sound good when theyre played together. You do
this by controlling their levels, their pan position, and the strength of the effects
on them. At this stage, youre working with a number of different tracks (bass,
lead guitar, kick drum, etc). Each of these tracks will have its own settings. At the
end of the process, you will (hopefully) have a song that sounds good, and one
which you can bounce down into a single file.

A bluffers guide to mixing and mastering Feature MTF
Mastering is where it
gets a little trickier. You
see, that audio file might
sound good on a basic
level, and its individual
elements might be
balanced perfectly to
your ears, but its not
quite ready to go out
into the wide world just
yet. If youve preserved
the dynamics of your
mix, then it wont be
loud enough to compete
Here, were using a compressor to sharpen up our acoustic guitar. EQ, compression, level balancing and
with other songs. It will
panning are all useful tools for mixing.
sound good, but not
great. What mastering
does is sharpen up the overall sound of the song, bringing out certain sonic Tech terms
elements of it to make it appear punchier, warmer and richer. And it keeps the O CLIPPING: The point
volume consistent throughout, meaning that it will be at home on any sound at which the sound on a
system on earth. Obviously, theres a lot more to it than this, but thats the track will distort. A tiny
general idea. bit of clipping is
not usually a huge
Simply put, look at it like this: mixing is like painting. You mix different
problem in the digital
colours together to paint your masterpiece, adjusting their hue and tone until realm, but should be
youve got an image that youre satisfied with. Mastering is about taking that avoided anyway.
canvas and hanging it in a frame. The right frame will complement the painting
O HEADROOM: The
within it, picking up the different colours and enhancing them, and showing off
amount of space
the painting as a professional product that can stand up in any gallery in the between where the
world. You can exhibit a painting without frame, but theres absolutely no reason track peaks, and the
to do so. And if youre a painter and you disagree, go away and stop messing with clipping point of 0dB.
our analogy. Its always good to have
headroom, no matter
what youre mixing.
In the mix
Mastering, as well see, is a little bit of a dark art, so lets talk about mixing first O DYNAMICS: The
before we get to the complicated bit. If nothing else, its something you can try relative loudness of
right now, in your DAW. different elements in
a song, or the relative
Take a look at the faders first. These control the overall level of each track in a
loudness of different
song. Push the faders too high on any given track, and it will clip, or distort, songs in an album. A
overloading the channel. This is a little bit of a hangover from the analogue days, range of dynamics is
when too much level could literally fry a channel, but even in the digital domain, good, but it does need to
its an excellent idea, essential even, to keep your tracks below this point. By the be controlled.
way, youll notice that all faders run backwards from 0dB. Wed explain why, but O MASTER FADER: The
the maths involved is just horrific. fader which handles all
So at its most basic, mixing is about balancing these levels so that all tracks the sounds in a song,
can be heard, and no sounds are being masked. If, for example, your bassline is and governs the overall
hiding your kick drum, then the first step is to lower the level of the bass slightly, song level.
and see if that helps.
Theres also a channel known as the master fader, or master out. This fader
tracks the overall level of the song. If you play a sound in your DAW, youll see it
reflected here. Its a good idea to keep this below 0dB as well. What youre
looking for is to have the levels in this fader peaking at just below its clipping
point a level of -3dB is usually a good place to aim for. This gives the track
whats known as headroom, and itll become important when we talk about
mastering. (By the way, heres a quick tip: before you start mixing, pull the
master fader down a few dB. Youll find it gives you a lot more room to breathe
when you are mixing, and afterwards, you can pull it up so that the overall level
is at around -3dB.)
Of course, there are plenty more tools available to make your individual
tracks sound good. You can pan them left and right, positioning them at different
places in the stereo field. You can equalise and compress them, sharpening their
individual characteristics. Mixing is something that takes years to master, but

MTF Feature A bluffers guide to mixing and mastering
as long as youve got the basic principles down,

youll be able to get a handle on it really quickly.
Whos the master?

Mastering is a little different. Chances are, youll mix
at least some of your songs yourself. Getting a well
mixed song is a perfectly achievable goal, as long as
you have some good monitor speakers and a good
room to mix in. But mastering? Thats a whole
different ballgame. Its possible to master your own
music at home, and there are companies like Izotope
and Waves that will happily sell you some excellent
software to do just that, and which make the process
of mastering relatively easy to grasp. But if youre
just starting out, we cannot emphasise this enough:
get someone else to master your music.
To recap: mastering is the process of taking a
song, or a set of songs, and subtly sharpening them
A limiter, or maximizer, is usually the nal tool in the mastering chain. It locks in the dynamics of a
up. Mastering will make them louder, evening out the
track, setting it at a uniform loudness.
dynamics across them. They will make sure that all
EQs, compressors and limiters to polish up each

We cannot em mphasiise thhis song. (Interestingly enough, the term mastering
comes from when engineers would put a song on to a
enouugh: at firs
st, get som
meon ne master disc, from which all subsequent copies would
be made.)
els
se to masterr your mu usic This is only part of the reason that you want to
use an external mastering engineer for your songs. In
short, a mastering engineer will bring a fresh set of
songs on an album have a consistent sound and level. ears to your project. He or she will know how to
Mastering will also address issues like fades, making make you sound really, really good. Good mastering
sure that theyre consistent, and add metadata to the engineers are highly sought-after, highly skilled
songs. By the time a piece of music comes out of a individuals, and for very good reasons. It takes an
mastering studio, it should be ready to compete with amazing set of ears and a dedication to find details
any track on the radio. to become one. They often have access to gear known
Most professional mastering engineers do this by for imparting pleasing audio qualities to anything
playing your song through some seriously high end put through it. All of these are very good reasons to
gear. Theyre looking for complete transparency: they trust your mastering engineer.
want to hear exactly whats going on in the mix, as it If you want to make them your friend, then we
helps them isolate areas they could improve, or strongly suggest doing the following: clearly label
elements they think should be more prominent. Once each of your songs. Make sure there are no effects
theyve done this, they use even more sophisticated at all on your master fader. Make sure youve left
enough headroom in your song (-3dB, remember?) for
the engineer to work with; those three decibels are
going to give them the space they need to make your
songs louder. And if the engineer tells you to go back
and remix certain things, do it. Theyll be able to
hear problems that you might not pick up.
And again: theres nothing to stop you doing this
yourself. In fact, wed recommend trying it out, as its
a good way to grasp exactly what is happening when
a song is mastered. Just remember that on a basic
home setup, the result is going to be nowhere near as
good as it would if you put the song through a
professional mastering studio. MTF
This feature was endorsed by SSR which has been

providing professional education training in the
audio engineering industry for over 30 years. With
campuses in London, Manchester, Jakarta and
Singapore, SSR has gained a healthy reputation
Izotope Ozone is a high-prole, reasonably pricey digital mastering plug-in, and is the kind of tool
engineers might use to master a track.
within the music industry for producing well
trained, professional graduates across the globe.

MTF Show off your studio Live Special Pt. 2
Show off
your (Live)
studio Pt.2
The second installment where we ask

MusicTech readers and Live owners
to show off their studios. Simple as
A real relationship between the
that! Here are our second three machine, the music and you
Paquito Garcia
Interviewee: Paquito Garcia
Contact: misteremagic@hotmail.com
What are the key components in less time in the studio now, but I try straightforward. No internet, no
your studio? to work faster and more efciently. plug-ins nothing could stop you. It
Powerful Apple iMac, Ableton Live Around 20 hours a week and was a real relationship between the
Logic Pro 9, UAD Apollo Quad sometimes more. Im also working on machine, the music and you.
interface including lots of plug-ins; my Anthology album but it may take
Moog Little Phatty; Korg MS-20; a while to nish the project which What is next on your shopping list?
Roland TR-8 drum machine; Arturia will be released on Vertige Records. For the past eight years Ive been
and Korgs Legacy collection; using the M-Audio Project Mix
M-Audio Project Mix control; Yamaha How do you use your studio? (discontinued support) as my main
monitors and more! For composing, recording and mixing. audio/MIDI control. Its probably
I enjoy inviting musicians and about the right time now to upgrade
Which DAW do you use and why? organising crazy recordings and jam for example, to Avids Artist
For live performances I work with sessions. You never know what can Control, which supports the latest
Abletons Live. Ive also been a Logic come out of a jam session. Sometimes OSX versions.
user since version 2 and my main you can be working on your own for
DAW is still v9. hours trying to break a good sound, Dream piece of gear?
and one person can come in and Ive always liked 80s movies, music
What is your favourite piece of the magic happens! and synths. One day Ill get a
gear in the studio? Roland Juno 106, Jupiter 8, Korg
My Moog Little Phatty beast. Its Perfect or room for improvement? PolySix, Korg MonoPoly and why
always such a warm sounding bass I think I spend far too much time not? also a LinnDrum.
and it simply add something special doing one thing. For instance,
to the tracks You can basically dry creating a sound, on a track section, One piece of advice?
your hair with a Moog bass thats mixing, searching in samples Maybe just to start with one
how powerful this machine is! libraries, etc. So its nothing really powerful hardware sampler. Make
annoying but perhaps I have too it work! Period.
How often are you in your studio? many options. I miss the time of the
Being a father changes your Amiga 2000: making music back in And finally, your philosophy?
priorities. Therefore I spend much those days was simply more No music, no life.

Show off your studio Live Special Pt. 2 MTF
The Room Wilson Flores

Interviewee: Brian McNatt Interviewee: Wilson Flores
Contact: fuqpunch@gmail.com E: blair1065@yahoo.com
Start simple,
be patient
A room with a brain

(and a Brian)
Key components in your studio? a daughter, well, yknow But there

The Brain (StudioCat rack PC, Quad is this sweet spot of the day right
Core 4.4Ghz, 16GB RAM, Win7); when my girlfriend goes to bed. Ill Main studio components?
Central Nervous System (Allen & usually get two to three hours then. Akai MiniAk and APC40; Korg
Heath Xone 92 with an NI Audio10 & EM-1; Arturia Spark LE, Mini Lab,
patchbay gets it all in and out How do you use your studio? Micro Brute; Moog Slim Phatty.
nicely); JoeMeek TwinQ Pre/Comp/ I like High End Amateur. I like many
EQ; Blue Spark Mic; Audix OM2 mic; styles of electronic music a love Which DAW and why?
FMR Audio RNLA (nice levelling affair I developed when a buddy Ableton Live 8: its awesome for
amp); Technics 1200; Moog Sub turned me on to Aphex Twin. I read creating remixes and live jamming.
Phatty; Moogerfoogers; Waldorf how the Chemical Brothers got into Logic X: great for electronic music,
Rocket; Roland TR-8; NI Maschine & making records as they didnt like hip-hop beats, etc.
Kore 2; Akai APC40; Novation 25SL; any of the music, and I said sign me
Korg KP3+ & Kaoss Pad; KRK Rockit up for that. Thats when I bought my Favourite piece of gear and why?
8s with 10s sub and so many cables! Yamaha RM1X. That was when I was My favourite has to be the Moog Slim
20-ish now Im 35 (yikes). Its been Phatty synthesizer, because its
Which DAW do you use and why? a helluva good time. analogue and I grew up listening to
Ive been with Live since version 2. analogue gear.
As to why, Im an old school cut and Perfect or room for improvement?
paster at heart. I rst started making I keep avoiding it, but I should buy How long do you spend in the studio?
tracks on an old version of Cool Edit some acoustic treatment. As far as About three to ve hours.
(RIP) when it was a single stereo le efciency goes Id like some hard
wave editor and only did ofine wood oors and a chair with wheels. How do you use the studio?
processing. Talk about time At the present time its just for fun.
consuming: using a calculator and What is your dream piece of gear?
guring out all the paste points in I dont really have a good answer. I Perfect or room for improvement?
milliseconds! Id learned MIDI from really do like what I have. Maybe Its in my living room I wish I had a
a Yamaha RM1X and been using some massive modular setup. separate room.
Reason 2, but once a buddy of mine
turned me on to Live I never looked One piece of advice? Make your Next on your studio shopping list?
back. That said, I use Maschine a lot studio interesting and fun. Ive got Id love a mixer with an audio
I have Komplete 9 Ultimate and the sci-fi toys dotting the landscape, interface, so that I can have more
pairing of the two is beautiful. posters, TV, videogames control over inputs.
Reason still gets game time, too. wonderful for writers block and
when you need to give your ears a Dream piece of gear?
Favourite part of the studio? rest. The gear doesnt matter. Some A violin or cello I just love the
Isnt that kinda like asking a parent of my favourite albums/songs are sound and would love to learn to play
to pick their favourite child? being made by kids 15 years them both.
younger than me with a laptop and
How often are you in your studio? one MIDI controller. Get yourself a Any advice to people starting out?
A typical week sees me in here about space, make it enjoyable, be creative Start simple, be patient, and never
10-15 hours. With a full-time job and and never stop having fun. get rid of old equipment. MTF

MTF Feature How to run a pro studio

How to run a pro studio Feature MTF
MTF Feature
How to run
a pro studio
Running a professional studio is a dream to all of us, so how do
you get in the door of a pro set up or even run your own facility as
a money-making operation? Rob b Booffard
d has the answers
I
f you make music, and you want to do it for the rest when we say pro studio, we mean a space that is open
of your life, then youll almost certainly be well on to external clients to record in, that pays recording
your way to making it a career. By now, youve got engineers and operates as a business.
your DAW and your favourite plug-ins, youve got Very few studios have their own in-house dedicated
some tracks under your belt, and youve probably producers as in, someone whose sole purpose it is to
unleashed your music on the world already. make music. These talents tend to be freelance,
Most producers tend to rely on their own set up, brought in as and when theyre needed for particular
and wed venture that most who start out dont have projects. If a studio is lucky enough to have someone
with musical talent, theyll almost always have a dual
g working in a pro studio

A gig o role, such as an engineer or an equipment technician.
Lets take a closer look at these roles, and how you
is a great wayy to
o lea
arn
n more actually get to take on some of them.
Starting at the bottom of the totem pole, theres the
abbout equipment and audio runner. This is by far the most common way to gain
access to a job in a pro studio, and its a job you wont
like. Youll be lucky if you even get to touch the
equipment at first. Your job is to make the tea, fetch
what could be termed professional studios its far and carry, send out for burgers for the band members,
more likely that theyll be operating out of a bedroom and keep the place clean. If youre trusted, you might
somewhere. But for some, this isnt quite enough, and get tasked with some of the more boring audio jobs
thats where the world of pro studios comes in. such as bouncing out long sessions, or editing breaths
For many producers and engineers, a gig working in out of takes. The job is poorly paid, if its paid at all.
a pro studio environment is not only a handy source of Why would you do this? Because theres no better
income, but a great way to learn more about way to learn the nuts and bolts of studio work. Being a
equipment and audio. But how do you get in the door? runner is an established start to this particular career
What kind of jobs are there? And how do you set up path, and although youll hate it, its worth doing.
your own studio one that can actually receive paying Next up the totem pole are the assistant engineers,
clients? MusicTech is here to answer those questions, sometimes called junior engineers, who work directly
and plenty more, in our guide to working in with the lead engineer to record the sessions. Theyre
professional studios. responsible for making sure the engineer has
everything they need, audio-wise. They set up the live
J bb
Jo bin
ing pr
producerr room, check cable connections, man the patch bay,
Lets tackle existing pro studios first. And by the way, write labels below faders, and keep the DAW sessions

Aaron Railey Starting out ordered. Not every studio has the luxury of assistants,
but there are still plenty of them around.
The engineer position is probably where you want
to be. The runner and the assistants are responsible
for the smooth operation of the clients recording and
mix sessions, but the engineer is the one who decides
how things sound. As an engineer, youre at the
controls of the desk. More importantly, youre in
control of a session, and responsible for keeping the
client happy with regards to their sound. You have to
manage your assistants, have an in-depth knowledge
of the studio equipment youre using, and in general
terms, have a rock solid pair of ears.
Even as an engineer, you may be operating under a
producer, who could be calling the shots. And of
course, therell be other people above you: studio
managers, HR directors, publicity people (if your studio
is big enough), accountants and more. Like anything
else, professional studios are a corporate environment,
so expect them to function as such from time to time.
Equipmen
nt check
If youre reading this magazine, then the chances are
you have a pretty good idea about how sound and
You have to be thrown right music-making equipment work. A base knowledge is
always good if youre angling for a job at a pro studio,
into the sound world, and learn but you may want to know more about which pieces of
equipment are particularly essential. (This comes with
how to do it as you go the caveat that if youre new, and going for a runner
position, then you wont be expected to know as much.
For the time being, lets assume youve applied for an
AARON RAILEY isnt a runner anymore helping them write out what they were
assistant producer role, and go from there.)
hes a little older now, and a little looking for, he says. During recording,
You need to have an idea of how a mixing desk (or
further removed from the lowest rung what Jonathan had me do was set up
console) works. Wed venture that there isnt a single
on the audio totem pole. But he still the microphones, pick the right ones,
pro studio out there that doesnt still have a good-size
looks back on his time as a runner with and get the studio prepared so we
console in it, and its absolutely essential to know
fondness, as it helped him get the could just start recording. Things like
what all the faders and knobs do. This doesnt mean
grounding that he needed for a solid patchwork, setting up new sessions,
you have to have an expert knowledge of the inner
audio career. and when the clients came in. Usually
workings of all consoles ever made theyre big and
Railey started out at 16 years old, they wouldnt need a run through, but
expensive, these things, and chances to play around
working with American engineer wed do a sound check.
on them are rare. But you will be expected to know the
Jonathan Kuehlin in North Carolina. Jonathan is an amazing teacher,
functions of the faders, the EQ section, how a
My family already knew Jonathan, he and a lot of what I retained was
patchbay works, and how sends work. You can figure
says. I was still in high school, and I because of how he explained it back
most of this out using the digital mixer in your chosen
showed an interest. He was running his then. By the time I could run a live rig by
DAW (the one in Reason 8 is an excellent emulation of
studio, but he was also playing music myself, Id been there for about two and
a desk), and when you land the job, the lead engineer
at a local church, and thats how we a half years.
will take you through the ins and outs of your studios
connected. He took me under his wing, The toughest thing, Railey found,
desk. If he or she has to explain to you how something
and showed me how things worked wasnt the endless busy work or the
like EQ works, you may be in the wrong profession.
around the studio, how sound worked, dirty jobs. It was relating to the clients,
While were talking DAWs, Pro Tools is still the most
the machines, the gear. and making sure they could realise
common in pro studios, so learn how it works. Logic
Kuehlins studio may have been in a their creative visions. Railey, who now
Pro X is another good one to have knowledge on.
house rather than a dedicated space, works in live sound in Seattle, says that
Its not essential to know how outboard gear works
but it was a professional set up, with a despite the difcult parts, he couldnt
as there are so many different kinds a general
full control room and plenty of gear. think of a better way of starting out in
understanding of effects and mixing would be useful
Railey spent four years working under the industry. I think its invaluable. Its
though. You should also familiarise yourself with mic
Kuehlin, and soon found himself like learning a language, and the best
technique i.e. how to mic a guitar, the different types of
familiar with all the nuts and bolts of way to learn a language is immersion,
mics, and how many to use on a drum kit. One of the
working in a studio. He quickly to go to the country and learn how to
most common tests for any new studio jockey starts
progressed past being a runner, and speak with the people. You have to be
with the dreaded five words, Go mic up the drums
began handling clients himself. thrown right into the sound world, and
Depending on the client, I worked learn how to do it as you go. There
So how do I ge
g t in?
quite closely on the creative side, wasnt a better way for me to learn.
Damn good question. Like any creative industry,

competition is tough to get into a studio. There are only annually. For engineers, that number rises slightly as
so many studios, and as the financial crunch bites well it should, since its a reasonably skilled position.
harder (and never seems to go away) fewer studios are Assistant engineers tend to earn within the 22-
taking on full-time engineers. There really are no solid 30,000 range, depending on what studio theyre at
rules here job markets fluctuate, and the audio and whether theyre a first or second assistant. A big
industry is no exception. We mentioned the runner studio in London, for example, will pay a little more
position earlier. This is probably one of the easiest than a tiny outfit in Norwich. Lead engineers can earn
ways to get a foot in the door either as a paid runner, considerably more, particularly if they develop that
or as an unpaid studio intern. Turnover among runners all-important reputation. Upwards of 35,000 is not
is high, and studios prize good ones, so theyre always uncommon, and it rises even higher if you become
on the lookout for new talent proficient in a particular field, such as mastering, or
Its quite rare to see jobs advertised at this level. mixing for video games. Progressing to this level can,
The best way to get in is to research the kind of studios obviously, take some time, but its very achievable.
youd like to work in, find out who runs them and If youre a full-time employee, tax will automatically
approach them directly. As long as youre polite, the be deducted from your payslip each month. Things are
worst they can tell you is no. And you will, by the way,
get told no quite a lot. Everyone does. Just roll with it.
Lets look at another scenario. What if youre a One of the best ways in to a
relatively experienced freelance engineer and youre
looking to find a more permanent home? Lets assume, sttudio is
s to pres
sen
nt yo
ourrselff
for arguments sake, that you dont have a prior
relationship with the studio youre looking to work at. ass a solu
utio
on to a problem
How do you get them to notice you?
Standard job-hunting principles apply here. Its not a little more complicated if youre self-employed
just about a spell-checked CV and a decent interview however and remember, even if youre working at a
suit. Youll need to do as much research as possible, single place for a full 40-hour-plus week, businesses
preferably by talking (discreetly) to past clients, as are allowed to keep you as a contractor for a year
well as engineers who have worked there previously. before they have to take you on payroll. So make sure
One of the best ways in is to present yourself as a your tax is straight. We talk about self-employed tax
solution to a problem theyre having. Perhaps theyre stuff below.
looking to expand their client list, and you have some Remember to negotiate, too after all, nobody
useful contacts from past work, or maybe theyre knows your skills better than you, and the big mistake
looking to branch out into a field you have experience people make, in any industry, is taking the first offer
in. If you can identify a problem and present yourself they get without question. If in doubt, go away and
as a solution, you instantly become more valuable. And think about it for a bit, and try talking to other
a killer demo helps, too (see p25). engineers to find out what theyre earning. Once again,
Most jobs come through existing contacts. Jobs the more research you do, the easier this will all get.
open up, engineers are required, and if youve taken
the time to get to know people at industry events and Going so
olo
l
online, then your name could be mentioned. There is, of course, an alternative to all this: doing it on
your own. Theres nothing to stop you from setting up
Union due
es your own studio and running things yourself. For many
Money is important obviously so lets look at what engineers and producers, this is, in fact, preferable to
youll be paid, should you be lucky enough to snag one being tied to a single studio, and you can potentially
of these positions. earn much more (if youre good enough) than you
First, though, we need to talk about unions. The would if you had a full-time gig.
main one youll need to know about is The Of course, its not quite as simple as just hanging
Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and out your shingle. Theres a lot that goes into being
Theatre Union (BECTU). Their website (www.bectu.org. freelance, and a lot you need to think about.
uk) has a wealth of information on the industry, and Lets talk about equipment first. Its very tempting
they also have a very handy ratecard for freelance to go out and blow your life savings on audio gear,
engineers. If youre not a member, its well worth assuming that it will be useful at some unspecified
becoming one. point in the future. The reality is that while gear is
The reality, though, is that salaries vary wildly important, in many cases its secondary to the space
both depending on the size of the studio, and the youre going to work in. You could have the best
location. Skill is also a factor, and an engineer with a monitor speakers in the world, but if your room is
reputation is likely to command a higher salary than terrible, your mixes will be too. One of the first things
one without. Well use UK salaries as a baseline here you should do before you strike out freelance is to
and these come with a caveat that they are very make sure you have the space that is either already
general. acoustically proofed or can be acoustically proofed.
Runners, unsurprisingly, earn very little. Plenty we Once youve done that, you can begin investing in some
know have worked at or slightly above minimum wage, audio equipment.
while the lucky ones can earn between 15-18,000 To be perfectly honest, you dont have to shell out

MTF Step-by-Step Multi-track session
In this example, were going to take a complex multi-track session Track names are rst. As you can see, things in this example are
01 02 messy. We have four different vocals, all labelled vox, which does
and get it organised so that a client (or another engineer) will be
able to see whats going on. This kind of thing can seem basic, but youd no-one any favours. If youre going to start mixing, you need to be able
be amazed at how much easier it will make a project when things are to see at a glance what and where everything is. So lets take a
properly arranged. Sessions can often end up riddled with moment to rename things in a logical fashion, making sure that
abbreviations, orphan audio takes, dead markers and much more anybody looking at a track can immediately see what it is. Many
besides, and untangling it all can be a nightmare not what you want projects can often involve the handover of a session to another
when clients are around. producer or engineer, so this is a crucial step.
Clip colour is important as well. With everything a uniform beige, Two words: mix busses. By grouping all your vocals, all your drums
03 04 and all your other instruments not just by colour but by
it can be hard to nd the take you need and in sessions where
time is a factor, this can be a right royal pain in the backside. Most placement, youll quickly be able to control the levels of elements in
DAWs provide the option for colouring audio and MIDI tracks, and you the mix. Note that placement and naming are important here too.
can develop your own system for colour-coding. For example, all vocal Weve named our vocals bus Vox Bus, and weve placed it right next to
tracks could be red, and all percussion tracks could be green. Again: it our vocal tracks (some engineers prefer their busses nestled up next
sounds simple, and it is, but it makes an enormous difference for to their master fader). Well also make sure its the same colour as our
anyone working on the session, including you. vocal tracks, which will make identifying it easier.
Should you print your stems? Possibly. If we were sending the File names are important both for the session and for any
05 06 stems you print. Go for consistency. In this case, our le name is
session to someone else to work on, it would denitely make
sense to do so, as your DAW might not be as common as, say, Pro Tools. MainArp_TheReason_Printed in other words, instrument, track
Some DAWs offer the ability to output all tracks as separate les, but if name, then what it actually is. Following this logic, the session name
not, get ready for some time-consuming, busy work. Make sure none of would be saved as TheReason_Session. Such a simple thing, but you
your tracks are clipping, that they are all the same length, and that have no idea how many sessions get hamstrung because of things like
they have a few seconds of silence at the very end. failing to label parts properly. Put all these simple tricks into practice,
and your clients will love you whether youre full-time or freelance.

for expensive pieces of outboard gear at first. While Mikko Gordon At the coalface
these things are certainly good to have, you can do so
much with just a laptop, an interface, a good pair of
headphones and two monitor speakers that you
shouldnt worry about breaking the bank. Obviously, if
you have the money to invest in equipment, then do so
by all means, but if youre on a budget, then that
money is best spent getting your space ready. Your
ears will thank you, we promise.
And while youre at it make sure you pick a space
that you feel comfortable working in. Think about every
task youre going to be doing there. Do you have a room
that will be used solely for mixing and making music?
Will you be doing admin tasks in there as well? Will you
be receiving clients in this room, or do you have a
separate space? Remember, this is a room youre going
to spend an awful lot of time in, so its definitely worth
making sure that you actually like being there in the
first place.
Nuts and bolts

Were going to assume that you have the mixing and
production skills to survive in this industry and if you
dont, there are plenty of other articles in this
magazine that will help you get there.
Were afraid that now we have to talk about
There are certain bits of gear
something boring: paying taxes and finding clients.
Well do our best to make it as pain-free as possible.
that I love, but its your ears and
Youll need to tell HMRC that youre self-employed.
This is as simple as heading to their website and
the room that are important
registering, although youll need to provide the P45 slip
MIKKO GORDONs career is enviable, to clients, working through songs or
your employer gave you when you left your last job
say the least. After graduating from producing new ones.
(dont worry if you dont have one!). Once thats done,
Goldsmiths, University of London, he Like any freelancer, Gordon has to
youll be expected to pay income tax and National
began freelancing as an engineer have certain equipment but he says
Insurance on an annual basis. You can either do this
almost immediately, running a small that his gear is less important than his
yourself, using HMRCs website, or you can get an
studio with a friend. His skills got him space, and his ability to listen: I think
accountant to do it for you (most will charge between
noticed soon after, and he ended up people get really xated on gear.
150 and 300).
working closely with Radiohead Theyre tools, just like a builder has. Its
There are a couple of tips and tricks help you get
producer Nigel Godrich. Hes produced kind of funny in the audio industry, we
the most out of tax although they come with the
for artists like Femme, and mixed for spend all this time talking about
warning that we are not tax professionals, and we take
Atoms For Peace and Pendulum. These equipment, but a builder never talks
absolutely zero responsibility for anything to do with
days, Gordon knows the studio about which hammer is better. Nice
your finances! Now that thats out of the way, check
business inside and out. gear is great, and there are certain bits
this out: you can write expenses off to tax, meaning
I was already quite aware that of gear that I love and which make life a
that when your final tax bill is calculated, you can
studios werent making a lot of money, lot easier, but its your ears and the
deduct them, and end up paying less tax overall. That
he says of his early days, so we set room that are important.
means if you invest in that kick-ass new Novation
[our studio] up as a space where we In many ways, Gordon says, he
synth youve been eyeing up, then youre quite entitled
could work and do projects. We hired it prefers his own set up to that of some
to deduct it from your tax as a business expense. You
out commercially, but it was mainly big studios which see a lot of heavy
need to be quite careful with what you do this with
word of mouth. It was just to have a use. One of the things Ive noticed
youre not going to be able to write off takeaway
base for us. The days of opening a more and more in studios is that
kebabs, for example but any expense that is
studio, putting out an ad and saying, maintenance standards are going
essential to running your business is fair game, and
come and use our space, are over, down, he says. Sometimes in big
that can include utility bills as well.
unless youve got serious funds. studios, youve got channels not
Also: remember that theres a tax threshold. In
Gordon now has his own set up an working, or crackling, and thats kind of
2015, the UK tax threshold is 10,000 whats known
outbuilding in his garden, which he has frustrating, and a sign of budgets being
as your personal allowance which means you will
customised to his liking. It doesnt stop tighter all round.
only pay tax once you cross that particular threshold.
him travelling to other studios to work Gordon has become a name in his
Now lets talk about clients. As in: how you get
with different artists. His day-to-day own right hes part of the growing
them, and how you retain them. The first one is the
schedule varies, but he says he likes to trend among engineers to take on
tricky one, especially if youre just starting off your
schedule his mixing in the mornings. In external management, which helps him
career. A lot of it will come down to networking and
the afternoon, hell spend time with focus on the creative side of his work.
word of mouth, and you can do yourself a huge favour

MTF Step-by-Step Prepping a studio
Lets talk about how to get a studio ready for a recording session, Time to sort your equipment. This is everything from mics and
01 02 amps, to guitars and other instruments. Youll need to clear the
from the perspective of an assistant engineer (or a particularly
trusted runner). The rst thing to do, before you even enter the studio, studio of any unwanted equipment (youre probably shocked to hear
is research. Whos going to be at the session? For how long? What do that studios get cluttered and dirty) and replace it with the gear you
they require? Do they have any special requests you need to be aware need. Usually, that means a trip to the studios storeroom in some
of? Whats happening afterwards? You need to know these things cases, several trips. But its better to have more equipment there than
without having to refer to email, and although not every session will be less, as you dont want to go back to the storeroom during recording if
a complicated one, theyll all run smoothly if youre prepared. you can afford it.
Nows the time to make sure that all the equipment is good to go, What if equipment is broken? If it is, you want to nd out now,
03 04 rather than in the middle of a session. XLR cables are often the
and that its set up to record. By this, we mean micing the drums,
tuning the drum heads and the guitars, and testing the mics. Its good rst to go, as they take a fair amount of abuse. Ditto for any sensitive
to have another assistant in the studio who can help with this, as it condenser microphones they pick up sound with amazing detail, but
then becomes easier to check that everythings ship-shape. This is theyre often quite fragile. Knowing about these problem areas
also the stage when you may need to coordinate a few people, as there beforehand can really speed things up, and if you can handle these
could be (for example) guitar techs on hand. Be sure to get the DAW up problems before they become a big deal, the producer (and the band)
and running as well. will thank you.
Details time. Are all the connections working properly? Have the Once thats all done, its time to think about receiving your clients.
05 input devices been tested? Are all your plug-in licences up to date
06 Make sure youve got food and water to hand and if you havent,
(nothing is more irritating than a random box popping up on screen send a runner to get some. You dont want clients wasting time, if they
during the session)? Are your backup drives in place? Has the desk can help it you want them relaxed, calm and ready to go. They get
been set up correctly? Are the channels a mess of tape, or have they there to that point by having everything they need, and if youre the
been clearly labelled? Above all: do you have enough pens? Some of assistant, that means its part of your job. By this point, the lead
the best engineers and producers in the business are also the most engineer or producer will be in the house, so chat to them to make sure
meticulous. Make sure you are, too. theyre okay too.

Bryan Gallant Running the show
Because hes done every job there

is, he can relate to everyone who
works in the studios
was nice. I was able to get some engineering career path, saying that because hes done
experience right away. But I decided at some every job there is, he can relate to everyone
point that I didnt like where my career was who works in the studios: I know what its
going. The life style wasnt necessarily for like to be in the control room at such and
Running The Warehouse Studio in downtown me, I guess. I wasnt really sure what I such an hour, and I know all of our clients,
Vancouver is a big job. Its a massive complex wanted to do, but ended up leaving and how they behave. Ive been on the other
owned by Bryan Adams, with four studios, a engineering and working in archiving, side of the door.
huge live room and more gear than you can transferring a lot of old tapes over to Pro But although Gallant has a healthy
possibly imagine. Controlling this rats nest Tools, and cataloguing, things like that. respect for engineers, he says that it wasnt a
of engineers, runners, assistants and clients It wasnt long before Gallant was offered path for him proof that one doesnt need to
who include AC/DC, Metallica, Nirvana, the job of managing the whole shebang. His be a console guru to make it to the top. Hes
R.E.M and Slayer takes a lot of work. To do day-to-day job includes scheduling, booking far more interested in managing people and
it, you need someone like BRYAN GALLANT. clients, working with artists the lot. Things in the intricate operations that are needed to
Gallant is a rake-thin, bearded chap like organising this microphone here, he keep the studio aoat.
whose ofce is on the ground oor of the says, pointing to a big box in the corner of the I care about the whole building, he says.
building. Hes been at the studios from the room, that we had sent out for Michael I care about what weve done, what were
very start of his career. I started as a Bubl to test out. Its not technical, because doing, and what were going to be doing. I
runner, he says, making coffee, doing we have a full tech staff, but its an all- think about people. I think about what were
dishes, getting lunch. I worked my way up encompassing kind of position. doing with our business, and how we can
quite quickly from runner to assistant, which Hes a big advocate of his particular make our business better.
by attending industry events, asking questions, and sensitive enough without a studios engineering staff
being open and friendly to absolutely everyone you not bothering to turn up. And by on time, we mean
meet, from receptionists to label managers. But you arriving a good deal of time before the musicians show.
also need to show a good body of work, and that can When they arrive, the studio should be as ready as it
sometimes be tricky, particularly if youre an engineer can be. This is a rule that applies absolutely
who doesnt produce. everywhere on the totem pole of studio jobs, because
The sad reality is that you may need to work for nothing will irritate a client more than an engineer or a
free, at first, simply to build up a reel. You should be runner with poor timekeeping.
absolutely clear with yourself at the start regarding This applies more to lead engineers than other jobs,
how long youre going to do this for. After all, youve got but you need to be able to keep control of a session.
skills, you know what youre doing, and you should be When youre behind a desk, you should never be
being paid for your work. But theres nothing wrong flustered, never at a loss. You should be calm,
with helping mix or produce a bands album for a credit confident and controlled. Recording sessions are
if youre just starting out. complicated, and screw-ups happen. You will not
Retaining clients is a lot easier. As long as you do make things easier by screaming at people,
exactly what you say you will, on time and on budget, particularly if people, rather than equipment, are the
then youll keep getting used. Clients are going to be source of the problem. Hip-hop producer and engineer
demanding and forgetful and sometimes stupid, and Dr Dre was notorious for simply leaving if the
you have to take that in your stride. This is the kind of musicians werent behaving. The message was clear:
thing, fortunately, that becomes second nature after a were here to work.
year or two in the business. By then, hopefully, youll Its become more and more common for engineers
have a long list of satisfied clients, and have a fully to have their own manager, or management team. If
booked week, every week. youre good, and highly in-demand, then simply
None of this is easy. Whether youre holding down a keeping up with the business of dealing with work
job in a professional studio, running your own one, or requests can become insurmountable. A manager will
simply being a freelance gun for hire, there are going to help bring in work, deal with clients and handle
be times when its incredibly tough. As long as youre payments. Just remember that they dont come for
having fun, and as long as youre getting to do what you free theyll take a cut of your fees. You should also be
love, then its all worth it. Trust us. sure to hire someone you trust, as the music industry
is full of stories of dodgy managers. If this is a route
Pro tips
Pr ps you choose to take, youd better be damn sure you can
Be on time. We cant stress this enough. Musicians are depend on whoever you pick.

Phil Sisson Hiring and firing There are plenty of other jobs in studios besides
engineering or producing. Many studios, particularly
big ones, have their own workshops where they can
repair and customise kit. If youre a dab hand with
electronics, theres nothing to stop you from trying to
find a role there. And as weve mentioned, all studios
need their human infrastructure PR, HR, payroll,
office manager. What were saying is: if youre trying to
get in on the action, make sure you use your existing
skills and qualifications, and consider every option.
Own your own studio? Keep it clean. This applies
even if you arent receiving clients. Unless youre a
dedicated creative who absolutely has to work in a
messy environment, then youll find that your mind
gets just as messy as the space. A single cleaning
session once a day where you clean out the old coffee
cups and takeaway boxes will make a real difference
to your work. We know this sounds obvious, and even a
bit maternal, but if you get into the habit of doing it,
you will thank us.
Theres nothing that says you have to strike out on
your own. If you can find another engineer or producer
willing to go in with you, youll find that youre able to
The most important thing is split the cost quite happily. You dont even have to have
the same business; you could just agree to share the
that engineers can deal with the same space, and both contribute to the costs. One
thing though: make sure you get the terms of your
clients that we work with relationship down in writing, including what will
happen if things go sour. Do this no matter how good a
friend this person is.
Like Bryan Gallant, PHIL SISSON is recommendations from people we Its worth investing in infrastructure. By this, we
right at the top. He manages the knew. It just so happened that a couple mean a solid internet connection, extra hard drives
seminal Strongroom in London, home of the freelancers we had been using (possibly a cloud drive) and a secure FTP server to
to records from Skrillex, Placebo, Emeli often had moved on to other things, so send and download large files. Often these things can
Sand and more but he says his she came along at just the right time. be achieved with a minimal amount of hassle, and at
favourite part of the job is dealing with She had already worked in another very low cost. Something like WeTransfer offers a solid
the people. studio that does very similar stuff to us, budget option for transferring files, and if youre a paid
This is despite the fact that and thats what were looking for with customer, you can customise it to your hearts content.
Strongroom doesnt have a huge freelancers: that they know how to deal And dont forget to pay attention to things like your
full-time staff list. I dont spend a huge with clients. Obviously its important website, branding and logo and getting professionals
amount of time dealing with HR that their technical skills are good, but to handle all of the above when necessary.
issues, Sisson says. Theres myself, the most important thing is that they Owning your own studio as a freelance engineer
Eva who does the bookings, Marcus the can deal with the clients that we work and producer is exactly the same as going freelance in
facilities manager who looks after the with. They know how to behave in the any other field. And the big piece of advice that gets
nuts and bolts, we have two technical studio and they know what to expect. given to anybody going freelance is this: emergency
staff, and we have an apprentice and That was a really easy appointment, funding. Make sure youve got enough to cover your
theyre the salaried staff. There arent because shed already done the job, expenses and thats all your expenses, from rent to
that many people to look after. Were albeit in a different studio, and she car to electricity to business expenses for at least
part of a bigger company [Air Studios]. came along at exactly the right time. three months before you start. Even for the most
We used to have a dedicated HR person Phil has never had to re anyone, or well-connected people, going solo can be hard, simply
we dont anymore, but it is almost a pull anyone out of a session, but it because it can take time to get paid. This is a fantastic
full time job. would certainly be his job to do so if the thing to do for a living, but its not worth starving for.
Many of the engineers who work at need arose. He says that hes well Your hours are going to be long. Whether youre a
Strongroom are freelancers. Sisson aware of how competitive the industry full-time employee or solo freelancer, youre going to
says that nding new people is all is, and says that anybody looking to have weekends, evenings, and even early mornings
about nurturing relationships and work in it should be ready for anything: where youre chained to the mixing desk. Thats the
relying on recommendations from It has to be one of the most difcult reality of the industry, which doesnt always operate
trusted sources. things to get into. You have to be under 9-to-5 rules. Knowing this, its quite easy to get
The last person we added to the prepared to put in long hours and sucked into an unhealthy lifestyle, and that can affect
freelance roster came to us from sacrice your social life, but it can be the quality of your work. Make sure you take care of
another studio that had just closed done. You just need to get off your yourself before anything else, and in some cases, its
down, and she came with some backside and start doing it. okay to say no to a piece of work that you know isnt
going to be worth it. Good luck! MTF

MTF Step-by-Step A killer demo
If youre a freelancer, or looking to land a full-time position, a Even then, a randomly-arranged mix of your work wont do you
01 02 any favours. You need to make the best out of it, and have it be
demo reel of your production, sound design and engineering skills
should be a top priority. Its too easy to fall into the trap of simply memorable. The rst step, obviously, is to pick your best work. Only
displaying a collection of Soundcloud clips online. While this is a good select the songs, sound effects and mixes that are your absolute best,
start, youll nd that you get much better results if you combine your where you were ring on all cylinders. Youre aiming to keep it short
skills into a single package, with one link, that you can give to anybody no longer than one and a half minutes (two at a push). You want to
who wants it. Create an Electronic Press Pack like the one shown. wow the listener straight away.
Choosing the order in which things are arranged is crucial. If you One of the most interesting ways to put this all together,
03 04 assuming youve got a microphone and are comfortable using
can, start small, with things like sound design elements and
vocals, then progress to track segments that youve mixed or your own voice, is to narrate the demo, creating a story for the listener
produced. Build to a climax, and keep each segment short and sweet. to get into. Be as creative as possible you can process your voice to
There should be none of what broadcasters refer to as dead air. And by show off your mixing skills, chop it up and create a track from it, or just
the way, if youre just starting out and dont have a portfolio yet, just tell the listener exactly what theyre hearing (in as few words as
make one yourself. You dont need clients to put together a package possible, of course!). Doing this puts your own personality on the
that shows off what you can do, although clients always help. demo, and makes it memorable.
When youre mixing all of this together, dont forget to actually do Now you need to think about how to deliver it. Sure, you could
05 some mixing. Even if youre using previously-mastered work, 06 simply give out a website link but even a single page on your site
youre going to end up with a lot of pieces of audio at different loudness can have multiple parts in its address. You should aim for the simplest
levels. Make sure everything is balanced before you bounce it down address possible: something that could t on a business card, in a
and you might want to consider adding some very light compression tweet, or in an email. Services such as bit.ly will shorten URLs, while
or limiting as well. You want this thing to be loud, punchy and powerful, tinyurl.com will let you create a custom address. Just do us a favour,
and you shouldnt be afraid of pushing things a little more than you and dont bother with QR codes. Theyre the worst thing ever invented.
normally might.

MTF 20 Pro Tips DAW programming
DAW programming
Tips
Stuck in a programming rut? Hollin Jones explains how, with a little know-how,
you can use MIDI to revolutionise your setup, whether you use Live or any other DAW
EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS

01 There are now more ways than ever to input MIDI into 02
your software. The conventional keyboard is still the most
common, but there are many pad controllers, MIDI drums and
advanced tools such as NIs Komplete Kontrol keyboards with
special MIDI modes to help you do more. Even if youre just
using a simple MIDI keyboard, MIDI insert effects inside your
DAW can help to process simple input into something much
more complex such as chorded or arpeggiated parts and also Ultrabeat (right) is a
post-process existing MIDI parts just like you would with great way of
audio tracks. While MIDI and audio are fundamentally producing
different you can still do things like compressing MIDI by self-contained
patterns.
articially controlling note velocities, creating automatic
harmonies and so on. MIDI plug-ins use virtually no power in MIDI insert effects
themselves and can be rendered down as real MIDI parts or help turn simple into
the results can be bounced to audio very easily. complex (below)
01
USE ALTERNATIVE SEQUENCERS

02 Some DAWs let you sequence not only regular MIDI
parts but also blocks of pattern data. These are used to tell a
specic module to change from playing one beat, sequence
or loop to another. Pattern sequencing can be quicker than
duplicating MIDI clips or notes to achieve this result, and
makes for more exible arrangements. Typically, pattern clips
can be converted to regular MIDI clips if required. Sometimes
the pattern sequencing will be part of an instrument as in the
case of Reasons ReDrum and other times it will be part of the
DAW itself as with FL Studios mini sequencers on MIDI
tracks, or SONARs step sequencer section. Others such as
Cubase have sequencers as MIDI insert effects and Logics
Ultrabeat has its own sequencer too. Its a nice, self-
contained way of building patterns independently of the main
project sequencer.

DAW programming 20 Pro Tips MTF
CREATE BIGGER SOUNDS EASILY

05
03 One of the quickest ways to create a more layered and
fuller sound is to double up selected MIDI parts. Since you
can have pretty much an unlimited number of MIDI tracks in
most DAWs this is easy to do. Lets say you have a beat
playing through a drum instrument. Create a second instance
of that beatbox on a different track, or load up a different
instrument. Then duplicate the MIDI part on to the new track
and voil: the same beat is playing using two sounds. Of
course this wont always sound great immediately you
might need to thin out the duplicated part, removing the kick
drum for example, so that it doesnt overload the sound. And
two snares sounding at once might not work if theyre too
similar, but you should tweak the sounds until they sit
together correctly.
One of the quickest ways to

create a more layered sound is
to double up MIDI parts
06
EXPLODE AND COMBINE PARTS
03 Theres sometimes an option in a DAW to select a clip
and then choose to either explode it out so that its
constituent notes are split off to new clips or lanes, or to
consolidate a number of existing notes or parts together into
one clip. The former is good for reassigning parts of clips to
play new instruments, and the latter for bringing together a
number of parts to be played by one instrument. Lets say
youve programmed a beat but decide you want the snare
played by a different virtual beatbox. Split off the snare notes
to a new lane or clip to achieve this. Or youve recorded in a
number of lanes and quantized each one slightly differently
but want them all in a single clip for export or for arrangement
purposes. Here you would consolidate multiple parts
together, sometimes also referred to as merging MIDI parts.
ITS NOT JUST ABOUT NOTES

04 Its sometimes a good idea to use MIDI clips that dont
contain note data but do contain controller data, especially in
DAWs such as Live. These might control parameters in other
tracks or modules, or be linked to external MIDI gear. In fact,
this is how MIDI sequencers started life: triggering external AUTOMATE YOUR MIDI
kit. As well as note data, you can send program changes, Exploding a part into 06 Virtual instruments and effects can be automated, and
lanes adds real sonic
parameter modulation and many other commands either exibility (top left). this is a very powerful tool to have in your arsenal. Use
internally or externally. Drag them around a project freely to automation to change settings, switch plug-ins on and off,
change parameters at different points. Its a bit like Automation (above change patches and presets, vary effect levels and all
automation and has a similar end result, its just that your right) can be a very manner of other things over time. Automation can often be
powerful tool.
MIDI clip might contain one of the 128 MIDI CCs (control unlinked from MIDI clips so that it can be moved around the
change messages) instead of notes. These can be used to Use controller data to sequencer, copied, pasted or deleted independently of the
switch polyphony modes, change banks and all sorts of other link to external gear clip with which it was originally associated. It can also
MIDI commands, all recorded inside a project. (as below). sometimes be saved as MIDI les where only CC data has
been used. Instruments that support sound morphing and
have X/Y controls are particularly good to use with
04 automation since you can precisely control the way sounds
change over time. The same goes for effects: modify MIDI
effects just like you would audio ones. Some DAWs have
advanced automation features that are suited to control by a
MIDI control surface.
USE VIRTUAL MIDI

07 An increasing number of iOS apps allow virtual MIDI,
which lets you send MIDI signals invisibly between apps on
the same iPad or iPhone. So you can trigger a standalone iOS
synth from your iOS DAW and record the results internally as
long as both apps support the protocol. Some even accept
MIDI input over USB from your computer for triggering
sounds from the desktop.

MTF 20 Pro Tips DAW programming
SAVE TIME WHEN EDITING

08 If you select one or more MIDI notes in a clip, its
possible to drag them left or right to alter all their lengths by
11
the same relative amount. So shorter and longer notes will
remain different, but proportionately their relationship will be
the same. You can apply other functions to them while theyre
selected, including making all selected notes a specic
length or deleting any overlaps in mono or polyphonic mode.
GET SCIENTIFIC WITH MIDI FUNCTIONS

09 Some higher end DAWs have MIDI function tools. These
are not the same as plug-ins that process MIDI in real time
instead they can be used to batch process MIDI data based
on set criteria. So, for example, you could use such a tool to
remove all the sharp or at notes within a MIDI part, delete or
replace all instances of a specic note, or extract all velocity
data to a new part. Cubase is one of the most accomplished
DAWs when it comes to this, and it has a dedicated Logical
Editor which is particularly powerful. This isnt like simply
sticking an arpeggiator on a MIDI track its more scientic
and analyses all the information within a part in order to
perform the function you assign. A practical example might
be to change a bunch of MIDI clips from a minor to major key,
or batch change the velocity of all the kick drum parts across
a drum track.
GROOVE QUANTIZE FOR A BETTER FEEL
11 Most DAWs have realtime MIDI quantization systems
that you can use. In Reasons case its called ReGroove and
09 its essentially the same as using a MIDI insert effect, except
that its more exible. Reveal the ReGroove mixer and you can
route any sequencer track or note lane through any of its 32
slots, each of which can use a separate setting. Or, route
several parts through a single slot to match settings. Its an
easy way to add humanisation to parts, and the groove
remains virtual until you commit it to a sequencer track.
In other DAWs you can use the regular quantize menu to
extract groove from existing MIDI or audio clips and apply it to
others, changing it as you go if you like. This is the trick to
getting MIDI parts to sound more like they have been played
by a real person.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

12 MIDI is insanely exible and can be sent literally
anywhere from your DAW, so its not always necessary to only
use virtual instruments. Modern software sequencers are
capable of some amazing programming tricks, but MIDI is a
standardised protocol and, as such, is based on rules that all
MIDI instruments, software or hardware, have to adhere to.
What this means in practice is that your vintage hardware
drum machine or old keyboard workstation can be hooked up
to a MIDI track from the latest version of Logic, Live or
whatever youre using. Connect the audio outputs of the
hardware to your mixer or your audio interface to route it back
in for recording and you can easily integrate hardware into
your setup. Most software now allows for delay
compensation to deal with the small lag in signal that can
sometimes occur if you do this.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ARPEGGIATORS

13
MIDI is insanely flexible and Arpeggiators are a brilliant way to program MIDI and
many virtual instruments have one built in. If not you can
can be sent literally anywhere often nd free or inexpensive arpeggiators as MIDI plug-ins,
and many DAWs have one available as part of the MIDI track
or as an insert effect. They will sync to a projects tempo by
from your DAW default and make it easy to create patterns, beats and
basslines with a few clicks of the mouse that sound great.
Arpeggiators are a much quicker way to generate complex
BOUNCE MIDI DOWN MIDI parts than playing by hand or drawing data in with the
10 Sometimes you want to use audio processing functions MIDI function tools mouse, and generally have multiple pattern banks so that you
like audio reverse or mashup on a sound that is currently can get into the can store several patterns and automate them to ip at
being generated using MIDI. Its easy to achieve this by specics of a MIDI different points in a song. You can convert the arp data to
part (above)
exporting the loop or part to your hard drive as an audio le, notes if you want to export it. Advanced hardware controllers
then re-importing it to an audio track and applying the or go for a bit of like NIs Komplete Kontrol have specialised arpeggiation tools
plug-in. If your DAW has the option, try bouncing the MIDI to ReGroove for even of their own that make it easy to play very complex parts with
audio internally. more exibility (top). just a couple of ngers.

DAW programming 20 Pro Tips MTF
SPEED UP, SLOW DOWN DONT PANIC!

14 MIDI is especially well suited to tempo changes
17 Software and hardware often have a Reset or Panic
mid-project, so if youre planning to use speed changes in a mode, which sends an all notes and all parameters off
song, try to use MIDI-triggered sounds rather than audio. command to any connected MIDI devices, be they hardware
Although audio is increasingly able to be manipulated in this or software. This is very handy to know about when youve
way you can get a much wider range of speed changes if you stopped playback but a note has stuck on. Rather than
stick to MIDI parts. quitting the software, try to nd the panic or reset command.
15
18
RANDOMISE PARTS
18 MIDI clips in a sequencer exist independently of each
other, so you can easily create variations in some but not
others by editing them. Alternatively, use randomisation or
MIDI processing functions to alter parts in ways you may not
have thought of. Label or colour the changed clips to make it
easy to keep track of what youve altered.
QUANTIZE WHILE RECORDING

19 Many DAWs have an option you can activate that
quantizes MIDI parts based on your specied settings as you
play. This can be good if youre not a condent player, or
simply want to save time quantizing afterwards. Even if you
over-quantize you should be able to bring back a more human
feel using groove quantizing post-recording.
EXTRACT PITCH TO MIDI

MIDI helps convert 20 Software such as Melodyne enables the extracting of
notes to proper
audio pitch and micropitch to MIDI and this is also available
scores (above).
Although audio is able Colour random parts
in some DAWs such as recent versions of Cubase. A practical
use of this is to quickly extract the timing and notes of a vocal
to be manipulated, you to keep track (top).
Extract to MIDI for

part to MIDI and apply it to an instrument so it ghosts the
vocal part precisely, resulting in a bigger sound. MTF
can get a much wider perfect timing

(below).
range of speed changes if 20
you stick to MIDI parts

KNOW THE SCORE
15 DAWs increasingly support scoring so you can convert
MIDI parts to score data with a couple of clicks. Even if you
dont read music, you can create parts for those who do to
read. This can then be printed, and you dont need a
specialised, separate program to do it. You dont even need to
be able to read manuscript yourself.
OVERDUB AND LOOP

16 You can set your system to record MIDI in a loop, and
then either blend the newest parts with the already recorded
ones or create a separate take for every pass thats made.
Maintaining different parts in lanes on a single MIDI track
gives you more exibility to experiment and edit, muting and
soloing different clips. You generally also have the option to
combine the lanes into a single part if you wish.

MTF Technique Intro to Push and step automation
Ableton Live Intro to Push and step automation Level Beginner
Intro to Push and

step automation
Push is Abletons hardware controller for Live and a lot more besides. Heres an introduction
to the hardware and a guide to step automation, one of the hardwares key features that
allows you to get into the detail of your productions
W
hether you are new to Live or coming to it is for you. You will quickly see what Push brings to the Live
with years of experience, you will probably party and how it will benet what you are producing and how
understand that it is a unique DAW with you are producing it.
many different features to help musicians, Well assume you are a Live 9 user, though, and
producers and DJs. Its approach makes
getting tunes together straightforward, and fairly complex
arrangements can be produced very quickly.
Push is designed not just as a
Abletons Push hardware is designed not only to control
the software in a very typical way triggering notes and
controller but as a creative tool to
beats, and in Lives case, both clips and scenes but also to
act more as a creative tool and get inside your music and
really get inside your music
music making. Youll nd that it will inspire composition and
speed up your workow, as well as providing an incredible
making and speed up workflow
hardware interface between you and Live, making many of
the softwares features far more intuitive.
On a basic level
The hardware is, at rst glance, an obvious replication for
what is happening within Live, but you will soon move
beyond that. There are the eight by eight rows and
columns that trigger corresponding clips and scenes, and
transport controls and dials for playing and editing as well
as recording and selecting sounds and other parameters.
So you can use Push on a very basic level to control
Live but well use this tutorial to quickly move further, to
make the process of music making more fun, faster and
more detailed, using some of Pushs features to really get
inside our notes and sequencer parts.
The tutorial is aimed at beginners to Push, although
seasoned users may pick up some tips, especially on step
automation later. So if you are new to the hardware or
thinking about making the jump to Push then this workshop
FOCUS ON NOTES & STEPS

In Ableton Live software, it is all about session view, clips and scenes
that is what sets the software apart from other DAWs. With Push, part
of the focus is more on the notes themselves and the steps in which
they reside (or not in some cases). Live will show the notes you have
recorded, of course, but Push makes selecting them (by type or by part)
that much easier, to really get to the root of the recording and get to the
detail. You can ne tune (literally!) notes, quantise individual hits, add
effects, nudge, add swing, do a whole host of operations at note level
whereas with Live you tend to work more with pots of data .

Intro to Push and step automation Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step 1. Using both real and step-time recording
Were using a combination of real-time and step recording to Just a quick overview of Push when recording a drum kit. The kit
01 create some beats to show how quick and powerful the hardware
02 sounds themselves are in the 16 locations bottom left. If you
is. Select Add Track and any kit. Weve chosen the 909. have more than one bank, access them by moving the Touch Strip.
Weve coloured the area where your sequence is in blue so you Here we determine the length of our cycling recording by
03 can easily see the 32-note grid. This is where your recorded notes
04 selecting a 1/16th resolution and then press the rst two buttons
will appear. The bottom right (white keys) is where you set loop length. within this area, thus cycling around the 32 steps of the loop..
Just a couple of housekeeping steps before we record. Set your You can audition the sounds of your kit before you record them
05 tempo, top left, simply by adjusting the dial. Then hit the
06 simply by playing each within the 16 yellow buttons of the kit.
metronome if you want to hear a beat on the bars you record along to, Select a sound and it turns blue as you play it. Practice your beats here
especially useful in the real-time recording were going to do rst. before you record them.
understand and use the software (if not, turn to p6 of this best features of Push: its ability to record, to simply get your
issue). If youre a new Push user, well assume you have it musical ideas down fast.
connected and are ready to go in a new, empty project. Many music sequencers, both hardware and software,
allow real and step-time recording whereby you either record
Tutorial Part 1: Using both real and step-time your tunes by playing the notes into your sequencer as best
recording to create beats you can live or you simply program them in one by one (in
This part of the tutorial is designed to show off one of the steps). Push has been created to allow both methods but

when you really get into it you nd youre swapping between one of the on-board kits and then esh it out by adding some
the two processes without realising. This is the crux of the step time beats. This is as simple as recording along with the
hardware: it simply makes operations like this fundamental metronome and then adding some beats step-by-step so you
to the art of music making much more intuitive! are effectively using both processes at the same time.
Were going to show this off by creating a drum beat, but We then use some of Pushs added extras to add detail to
before we start we just need to cover Pushs basic layout, our recording including quantisation to get the beats in time,
showing where your drum kit will load, where your sequencer adding effects, and using the Repeat feature which we will
area is and how to set your loop length. also return to later. Many of these can be done per note or
We then move on to create a simple beat in real time using part which is very useful and leads nicely to
MTF Step-by-Step 1. Using both real and step-time recording (contd)
Hit Play to start your sequence cycling. Play along and when Once you have beats recorded in real time like this, add more in
07 youre ready, hit Record. Your beats will appear in real time as you
08 step time simply by pressing a pad to turn it on and off as it
play. Switch recording in and out any time and select different sounds. cycles around. Its easy to build complex patterns like this.
In case you need to get some of the notes that you have recorded You can use the quantise function to record notes in time as you
09 in time you might need to use the quantise button and then set
10 record them. Hold Quantise down and hit the button top right.
the amountl. Use Swing to add a more real feel to notes. You can adjust the amount of quantisation here too.
There are easy and quick functions you can use to liven your You can also add effects to your beats very quickly. Press Add
11 beats or notes up, including the Repeat function that lets you
12 Effect (highlighted above) and adjust the levels of two effects on
record a series of notes in at repeats determined by the resolution. Send A and B, again much quicker than using the computer.

Tutorial Part 2: Note and step automation sound in our case weve chosen one of the Factory bass
As weve already hinted, recording notes is just part of what presets. You then press Note and choose the scale you want
Push can do. Weve already seen it can make this recording a to record in. Weve chosen C and also pressed the In Key
lot quicker, as well as adjusting some of the principal note option to show the black notes on a piano keyboard (switched
parameters including timing and adding effects. Now we can off) and the white notes (switched on) just to give us some
go one level deeper by looking at individual note automation. familiarity compared to a traditional keyboard.
Before we do that, and specically for new Push users, We then record a melody. Weve done this in step time
well show you how to record a quick melody to add to the simply by highlighting notes as the sequence cycles (in our
beats. You need to add a new track and then select your case) four times. You now have some notes to get deep with.
MTF Step-by-Step 2. Note and step automation
Were going to record a melody to go with our beats. Simply press Youve probably noticed by now that youve not been looking at
01 Add Track on Push and select whichever sound you want. Weve
02 Live as a lot of what youd previously used it for is done with Push,
chosen the factory Dual Osc 2 Rubber Bass preset. but Live is still working away and heres the new track.
Choose the scale you want to record in (Scales button right). Now record. We found it a bit easier in this instance to record in
03 Press the In Key button to get a representation of the old school
04 step time. Hit the Note button to show the sequence cycling
piano black and white keys you maybe used to. Unlit are black. around and then add steps (shown in blue).
You have a tune and now two tracks recorded into Live via Push As it highlights yellow press the Automation option on the Push
05 (beats and melody). Now were going to get deep within the notes.
06 screen (second left). Eight parameters associated with that
Press the Browse button and select a note you have recorded. sound can now be adjusted, but only for the note/step highlighted.

MTF Step-by-Step 2. Note and step automation (contd)
Here weve gone for very obvious parameters to change, lter and There are plenty of other synthy parameters to adjust. Note that
07 resonance, that work especially well with bass sounds, adding a
08 anything you do change will have a graphic block added on
squelch to the sound. Make sure you hold the note while editing. screen to indicate editing (so in our case the rst two).
If you go wrong at any point there are a couple of options to go for. Alternatively hit the Delete key and simply nudge the dial above
09 Press the Undo button which you can do at any point in this
10 the automation you have recorded and it will delete, resetting it.
tutorial and your last action will be deleted. You can also directly overwrite any automation by repeating Step 7.
It is not actually the note you are editing, but the step, so you can, Good old Live! While youve been adjusting parameters here,
11 for example, adjust the volume of parts with empty notes and the
12 there and everywhere, its been recording everything. Now you
track volume will adjust while nothing plays. can go back into the software and ne-tune any automation changes
you just recorded via Push.
Press a recorded note while in Browse Mode and you see introduce extra zing to a sound. But its not just the sound
that it turns yellow. Hit the button beneath Automat on that can be changed because you are not just editing the
screen and eight of its parameters are revealed across the notes that are there, but also the steps, whether they contain
top of Pushs screen. In the tutorial we detail how you can edit note information or not. All of these automations apply to
these parameters so individual note automations can be every step of a sequence so you could, for example, adjust the
made. Every single note you record can therefore have its volume of a step between notes in a sequence.
parameters adjusted either subtly or dramatically to produce The best news of all, of course, is that all of your
very interesting results. Open up a lter, for example, to recordings here in Push have been recorded in Live, so all of

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Step automation with beats
Time to return to the beats we created at the very start. If youve Weve also added some pads and another bass part to the project
01 been following along you may have your own beats, if not load in
02 so mute each of the other parts aside from the drums by either
the le Push Project on the DVD (or from www.musictech.net). soloing the drums or hitting the appropriate clip stop buttons.
The rst sound well automate is the 909 Rim and were simply As the sequence cycles through, the pitch will change for any
03 going to pitch up a couple of steps. Click on a recorded note and
04 note steps you do this to. Next we adjust the kick drums attack
the Automation icon and eight parameters will appear. Adjust Pitch up. and decay (on one step as shown) to result in a nice shufe effect.
And here weve pasted in a row of kicks using the Repeat function Again the automation well, all recording data actually has
05 (Tutorial 1, step 11), and automated the volume to increase as
06 been saved within Live so you can make further edits in the
they trigger, building dramatically towards the end of the loop. software (or, of course, hardware). Heres that bass drum decay
automation edit.
those automation changes can be nely tune back in Live at certainly get into your beats and make some great changes
any point. over a beat as it cycles, easily adding movement and interest
as you go.
Tutorial Part 3: Step automation with beats So we hope this tutorial has been useful if you are a new
Finally were going to show you how you can apply some of or potentially new Push owner. And if you have had the unit
these step automations to the beats you created earlier. You for a while, we hope youll be tempted to further explore the
dont get quite as many dramatic parameters but you can world of step automation which Push makes so easy. MTF

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MTF Reviews Novation Launchpad Pro
MTF Lead Review

Hardware Software Mobile tech Accessories
Details
Price 229
Contact
Novation (via web)
Web www.
novationmusic.com
Key features
O 64 RGB-backlit,
velocity- and
pressure-
sensitive
button grid
O Only a little
larger than
the original
Launchpad
at 260mm (w)
Choice x 260mm (d) x
29mm (h)
O MIDI in/out on
3.5mm jack
NOVATION sockets - use

supplied MIDI
din break-out
Launchpad Pro
cables
full-colour RGB pads, hardware MIDI,
O 32 RGB-backlit
mains power and an array of edit round mode
buttons; thats at least two items buttons
ticked off my personal wish list. O USB or mains
power (power
Connections include a USB port, supply and
The classic pad-based controller gets major new minijacks for MIDI in/out, and mains USB cable
included) Mains
features, including RGB LEDs, in a not-much-bigger power (with on/off switch). In the box,
power provides
youll nd a USB cable, power supply,
package. Martin Delaney enjoys the light show two minijack MIDI cables, a quick start
brighter LED
lights, and
also enables
guide, download info and serials for standalone
E
verybody needs at least one incarnation is the Launchpad Pro, Ableton Live 9 Lite, Loopmasters mode for
MIDI controller. Were at which caused a stir at the NAMM Show sample content, and Novations Bass hardware
control
a point where we can use earlier this year, and is now ready to Station and V Station AU/VST plug-ins.
O Momentary
almost anything to reach take its place at the top of the Launch I connected the Pro via USB, mode for fast
into our DAW and boss it tree, above the Launchpad S and plugged in the mains supply and controller
access
about, from a citrus fruit (true), to Launchpad Mini. launched Live 9 the unit quickly
O Setup button
a phone or a master keyboard with The Pro is a tad larger than the appeared as a control surface in MIDI provides
hammer-weighted keys. In recent regular Launchpad, but its not hefty. Preferences. I opened an existing set, instant access
to key function
years, though, the popularity of The pads are the same size as on containing a few hundred clips settings
Ableton Live, with its distinctive previous generations, and everything arranged over 480 scenes, and began O Easy to change
Session View grid, has driven the rise feels solid Ive never experienced to enjoy the benet of the update to MIDI channels
on the fly
of pad-based controllers, and build-quality issues with Novation full RGB colour LEDs; clip launching
O Kensington
Novations Launchpad has been there products. Theres plenty of newness to with the Pro is an improved experience Security Slot
from the beginning. The latest be explored, with velocity-sensitive when its showing clip colours.

Novation Launchpad Pro Reviews MTF
Navigation of large sets is achieved by drawing in beats sequencer-style, but Using the Launchpad Pro with other music software
pressing and holding the Session the Pros buttons give you everything The Launchpad Pro is primarily targeted at Ableton Live users, but there
button and scene launching is done via you need to create a clip, and record are plenty of people who use Live alongside other software, and also
the right-hand buttons. quantised beats, mouse-free. If I was unbelievably some people who dont use Live at all! There are times when
a dedicated controller is exactly what you need, and times when you want
Thats all good enough in itself, but working with drums all day and every a controller to keep up when you swap between your DAWs. Its early days,
theres more, as a press of the Note day, truthfully the Pro wouldnt be my but I wouldnt be surprised to see the Pro in a more integrated relationship
with Logic Pro or Bitwig Studio at some point all it needs is a little
button transforms the Pro into a go-to box, but for on-the-move beat
cooperation between Novation and the DAW developers (itll be interesting
grid-based keyboard, with velocity making it works great. to see how Bitwig Studio integration works out with its Open Controller
sensitivity and aftertouch, defaulting Its time to mention my absolute API). The uses for the original Launchpad far exceeded what was originally
conceived for it and the Pro, with its added functions and enhanced
to C major, starting with C1 at the favourite feature. Any time youre visual feedback, is inevitably going to top that. As youll see in this review,
bottom left. The root notes are lit pink, dealing with a fader function, you can I tested it with Logic Pro, and (spoiler alert) of course it does work in a very
and other notes in the scale are blue; tap a pad to change the value for that limited way, but it needs a boost to make it more functional and viable.
At this point, realistically, the Launchpad Pros all about Ableton Live
all other notes are unlit but still fader. This is not new. But what is new straight out of the box.
playable. Some extra scale choices is that you can tap a pad, and the
would be nice, but a simple chromatic parameter value will slide to that track selection, mute, solo, and so on.
keyboard layout is totally playable as it position, illuminating the pads Theres also a Stop Clip button, which
is. Im sure well see further between the two points its can be deployed to stop clips in
developments on the scale front, a smart way to overcome the low-res specic tracks or across the entire set.
maybe from Novation, or the active effect of changing controller values Tap the Sends button, then each fader
user community that will undoubtedly with only eight steps. Tap across on the Launchpad Pro is a send for
embrace the Pro; until then, if you want a number of faders at once, and watch each of the current eight tracks. The
to be locked into a scale, use Lives and listen as they all move to their new eight buttons on the right let you select
Scale MIDI effect device. The Pro is positions this creates very organic which send you want to use within the
small enough to put on your knee and changes to your sound. Not enough? tracks A, B, C, etc; only eight sends
are available, though, so if you have
between nine and 12 sends in your set
Tap across a number of faders its too bad. I like to use a lot of sends
during performance, and for me this
at once and watch as they all will be a perfect opportunity to use the
velocity-sensitive fading again!
move to their new positions Editing functions are located on the

left; theres the Shift button, which is
used with any control that has an
jam with; its very playable Id These fades are velocity-sensitive alternate mode, then Click, Undo and
suggest that these modestly- tap a pad gently and the fader value Redo, Delete, and Quantise which
proportioned pads are the ideal size slowly moves to the new position; tap toggles record quantisation, as well as
for nger-style grid performance. harder and it moves faster. So not only quantising recorded audio or MIDI
Load a typical Live Drum Rack, can you enjoy up to eight faders after the event. It quantises audio clips
enter Drum mode, and see the moving automatically in different as well very nice! The Duplicate
trademark 16 yellow pads at the directions at the same time, you can button duplicates clips or scenes, and
bottom-left. Continue adding drum have them all moving at different the Double button is the same as
sounds, and the entire grid will be speeds. Fantastic. This is a killer clicking Dupl. Loop in Lives Notes box.
populated, accessing up to 64 drum feature for live performance, and of The Launchpad Pro doesnt provide
pads simultaneously, and you can course Live can record these moves as ultra-deep programming tools, but its
scroll through another 64 if you have clip automation. I cant begin to intended as more of a performance
a monster drum kit. You wont be express how much I like this! Keep this tool (it says so on the box), and there
element in mind as we continue are more than enough controls for
Push v Pro most live situations.
Comparisons with Push are inevitable. To label
the Launchpad Pro as a cheap version of Push
Take control The Pro continues the Launchpad
is disrespecting both products. Sure, theres Device mode lets you navigate to tradition of providing a User Mode; if
common ground pads are an obvious route a specic device, and take instant youre mostly using Ableton Live and
to clip launching in Live. In reality, each device
has its own virtues; Push has an LCD display
control over the top eight parameters the standard devices, you might never
that enables browsing of Ableton Lives Library. (or macros in a rack). Now think about need it, but if youre more
It also demands a commitment in terms of lters or EQs with those velocity- experimentally-inclined, User mode is
desk space, and effort to transport it. The Pro is
more portable, and the absence of knobs and sensitive sweeps going on excellent! where you can congure the Pro to talk
a screen tells you the focus is elsewhere. Now Mixer functions are available across The Pro is a highly to other software, perhaps Max for Live
the inevitable has been addressed, lets forget portable device,
the lower edge of the Pro, with small enough to sit devices, or to concoct extravagant
it and move on!
dedicated buttons for record arming, on your knee visual feedback with those new
FOCUS | Ableton Live 2015/16 | 97

MTF Reviews Novation Launchpad Pro
Alternatives
Live users are often obsessed with hardware control, which of course
1 drives product design. Its a buyers market, spanning everything from
niche devices from builders such as Livid Instruments, to iOS apps such
as TouchAble and Lemur, and the big hitters such as Akai, with its APC
2 series, and Ableton itself, with Push (see more elsewhere on these pages).
Even sticking to just Novations range, there are some alternatives the
Launchkey keyboards now have RGB pads for Live use, there are the
Launch Controls, and the Launchpad Mini and S the latter has recently
been updated to include RGB colours for the LEDs.
and trigger a different sound in the

same Combo. Of course, as well as
triggering notes and using the Pros
fader functions, the velocity fader
5 3 behaviour which I just cant stop
coming back to can make for some
very impressive sound transformations
(youll have to re-assign the MIDI CCs
4
on your hardware, though, because the
Launchpad CCs are xed).
Leave the slow stuff, such as menu
browsing, to your mouse and keyboard,
because, frankly, theyre faster anyway.
6 The RGB LEDs make all the difference
for Live Session View clip and scene
launching, and the MIDI connectivity is
going to score with folks using
SETUP BUTTON VELOCITY SENSITIVITY hardware synths and drum machines,
1 Press this button to view the Setup page
4 The pads are also velocity sensitive,
while for me its the velocity-based
and congure settings, including layout which opens up a whole new world of
selection, MIDI routing and channels, velocity instrument-like interaction, whether youre fades that nudge it over the edge into
sensitivity, and aftertouch. Its especially playing and programming drums, or using the must have territory. In the studio, its
useful for non-Ableton Live applications, such Launchpad Pro as an expressive grid-based
as other DAWs and connected hardware. keyboard layout.
not as powerful as Abletons Push in
the beat and device control
MODE BUTTONS EDIT BUTTONS departments, but for other situations,
2 Quickly swap the Launchpad Pro
5 Amongst other things, the left-hand
between clip and scene launching modes, note buttons provide editing features, such as Undo the Pro is a exible, expressive,
input for instruments or drums, parameter (Shift-Undo for Redo), Delete (for notes or interface, for your clips, instruments,
control for audio and MIDI effects or clips), Quantise (including Record Quantise),
and just about everything else. This is
instruments, and into User mode, for a fully Duplicate and Double. Expect to reduce your
customisable environment. mouse time! a great update all-round, and takes the
Launchpad to a new level of Ableton
RGB PADS RECORD BUTTON
3 These are same size as the pads on the
6 Here at the bottom-left is the Record
Live control and performance. MTF
current Launchpad model, but with the button; use this in conjunction with the
benet of full RGB colours which means that Record Arm button to prepare and record
youre always getting a clear overview of your into your audio and MIDI tracks, with clip MTF Verdict
Session view clips. automation included.
+ The velocity-sensitive faders are
win-win-win. Brilliant
+ Hardware MIDI-out for synth
extra-juicy LEDs. Itll be exciting to see technology has come full circle, as our control - easy to set up and
what people come up with. The Setup USB controllers reacquire the MIDI works perfectly
button reveals settings for velocity and connections that we abandoned not so + Full-colour feedback from the
aftertouch response, MIDI routing and long ago. Now, the Pro will control your RGB-illuminated pads
+ Fast access to commonly-used
channels, and standalone behaviour. favourite hardware synths or samplers
editing controls
A nice touch is that velocity settings, alongside Live, or you can go further, + Greatly improved function
for example, are stored for the selected ditch the computer altogether, and without much added bulk
page, so you can store different work standalone. I powered up the Pro + This is a really fun device to pick
velocity curves for drums and notes. with the included power supply, and up and play
Although the Launchpad Pro is connected it to the Dave Smith - Not much visual feedback for
focused on Live control, outward Instruments Tetra, a nice little tabletop drum sequencing
expansion is allowed for. I quit Live and synth that really benets from added - Scale selection limited
launched Logic Pro X, and the Pro physical control. In Combo mode, it to chromatic
- Only top 8 device controls
worked perfectly well from the off, works as a four-channel sound
(or macros) accessible
using the Setup button to select note module, receiving separate MIDI inputs
and fader modes. Just throw one of for each, and sending the audio to up If you already have a Launchpad,
Logic Pros recently added Arpeggiator to four separate outputs. Its fast and youll be itching to update. If you
dont have one, the Pro is the
presets in front of the Retro Synth, easy to switch MIDI channels from the
perfect excuse to get on board.
MIDI Learn some lter and delay Pros Setup page, so it was as smooth
parameters to the Pros faders, and as could be to play the rst sound in 9/10
youve got instant disco. Music a Tetra combo, then change channels

FIRST WITH REVIEWS
FIRST WITH NEWS
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MTF Reviews Roland JD-XA
Innovation ROLAND
JD-XA
Choice
9/10
This is what all the
Details fuss was about at
Price 1,599 NAMM 2015, but was
Contact the JD-XA synth
+44 (0) 1792 702701 worth keeping
Web a secret?
www.roland.co.uk
Key features
O 49-key
Crossover synth
Its the Roland secret from the 2015 NAMM show. Yes, MusicTech strikes again
with analogue
and digital
with yet another world exclusive review. Andy Jones is the luckiest man in music
synth engines
O Velocity
technology, so does he really have to go on that Roland rant again? Yes. He does.
sensitive with
aftertouch
T
hose with a short attention span damn of creativity at the Japanese the new Aira effects modules and they
O 256 Programs,
8-part combos, might want to skip the next giant, and now were inundated with look and sound pretty awesome); and
sequences couple of paragraphs, to the bit product release after product release, a company that has even embraced
or arpeggios
that I will probably start with to the point where Roland actually won computer music making (I never thought
O USB MIDI/audio
with digital and now Roland could be brilliant the show-stopping headlines at the Id say that, but System-1 could be seen
and analogue again. Because I always nd that when recent major trade shows (whereas at as basically a controller for a bunch of
streaming to
computer
writing about this particular company, one time we werent sure if they were superb soft synths).
O Analogue engine, lots of explanations are needed. And even at these trade shows). Ive also just realised that Roland
4-part multi and lots of adjectives makes me use a lot of italics. But as if
monophonic
or up to 4-part
As a music technology big gun, And now Roland could be all the above (bar the italic bit) is not
polyphony at Roland has been one of the most brilliant again enough, Roland could be making
one instance brilliant and aggravating in music and heres where we welcome back fantastic synths again.
O 4-pole transistor
technology history. It released some of some readers. So, to Roland today, and I say could After that fanfare of an
ladder multi-
mode filter the nest synths to grace the planet, were talking about a company that has intro, it would be easy for me to say, yes,
O Digital engine: with the likes of the Jupiter 8 and Juno
SuperNatural 60 in the 80s. Then, at the end of that
sounds, up to 64
parts polyphony
over four parts
decade, it inadvertently kicked off
dance music with a bunch of old bass
Roland has finally come to
O Digital sounds
can be routed
through
and drum machines (rediscovered,
re-used and abused years after their
terms with its past and could be
analogue engine
O 5 system effects
original release by pioneering
producers on both sides of the Atlantic).
making fantastic synths again
over 100 types
For the next couple of decades, it
O 16-track
sequencer oundered into trying to ignore come to terms with its past (both Aira Rolands doing that, too, and lead into
(8 internal and computers while at the same time TR-8 and TB-3 do justice to the original another glorious review of its latest kit
8 external)
eventually realising what it had done in machines); a company embracing but, well, youve guessed it, this is
O Connections
inc. MIDI, USB, dance music and trying to cash in with analogue as never before (the Roland. The JDX-i was the big return to
Gate + mic i/p for instruments your dad might like. forthcoming System 500 is my most synths, and the last Roland gear that
vocoder effects
Thats might. But then, last year, Aira anticipated release of the year); I tested, but it was not without its faults.
O h x w x d (cm) =
11.1 x 90 x 39 ahhhh sweet Aira signied a return. a company embracing the burgeoning It sounded great, was analogue and
O Weight (kg): 6.5 Of sorts. It was a secret project to start modular synth community as if it is part digital, but built as if it was designed for
with, but seems to have broken a huge of that community (weve had a demo of EDM users (and probably loved by

Roland JD-XA Reviews MTF
them). Fortunately, while the JDX-A is not the same, boasting dual oscillators
related in the JD sense of the name, and a drive rather than the is sub
this ones built for their dads, and not in oscillator. Other elements, too, are
the embarrassing dad dance way of skewed slightly between the two; so it
Roland products from 1998 to 2012. would probably be unfair to consider,
for example, the JDX-A as being simply
What they share the JD-Xi times four.
The JD-XA does, of course, share Indeed, there are many marked
features with its smaller brother, the differences, and it also transpires that
JD-Xi, but when you get into the detail Roland doesnt particularly want you to
its more about an overall concept that think of them as brothers, so Im going
they share rather than too much of the to shelve the comparisons for now and
depth. Yes, both are analogue/digital just look at the A on its own. I was
Crossover synths and, yes, the digital getting sick of writing i and A anyway
side of the JD-XA is again represented to be honest
The main knobs and making the latter hard to read in certain
It would probably be unfair to sliders are backlit, in

a way we now expect
from our gear
light. Having all of that lettering lit as
well would have been great, but
consider the JD-XA as simply perhaps a little too Christmassy

On to the synths main architecture;
the JD-Xi times four think of a Program as an eight-part

combination made of four analogue
mono synths, which you can stack (but
by Rolands long-standing In detail with default MIDI channels of 1 to 4),
SuperNatural technology. They also Weve explored some of the front-panel and four digital slots that take their
share a glowing fascia, well-lit front functions below, but broadly speaking, sounds from the aforementioned
panels being de rigour for any item of think of the bulk of the fascia as being SuperNatural engine. These have up to
studio technology these days (which taken up by the analogue synth controls 64 voices of polyphony available
gets my vote). and the bottom by common controls for between them, and by default are set
But whereas the i was monophonic Program selection and the onboard on MIDI channels 5 to 8, so clearly these
on the analogue side, the A has four sequencer programming. eight parts can be played as a
parts, which can each be monophonic Interestingly, on the JD-XA you might performance (together) or a multi-
or combined for up to four notes of nd the contrast between these well-lit timbral set-up (separately). With that in
polyphony. And, going further, the features to be a little high compared to mind, we can look at how the Programs
analogue element on the larger synth is the printed lettering on the unit itself, sound, and their constituent parts but,
PART SELECTION SYNTH CONTROLS EFFECTS/MIC SECTIONS

1 You choose or can see which of the eight parts is
2 The biggest part of the front panel is the analogue
3 These include ve system effects (reverb,
active within a Program. The top four are the analogue (and digital) synth area, where the oscillators, mixer, lters TFX1, TFX2, delay and master EQ) for all parts, plus
components, the bottom are the digital. Below this, you and amp section are, along with four envelope sections. a Mic section. Here, you can modulate the synth
determine three partials that make up the digital sound. Each can also be accessed and changed via the screen. sounds with your voice and vocode.
2
1
3
4
5 6
COMMON SECTION + CONTROLLERS PRESET SELECTION PATTERN SEQUENCER AND TEMPO CONTROLS
4 Main controls include volume, octave +/-, arp. and
5 As well as the + and - detailed left, you can choose
6 The main controls for the on-board sequencer
the main screen (and a + and - for stepping through preset Programs via bank and number here, with 16 are to the right of the 16 buttons that program them
parameters/presets). Also, pitch/mod and two buttons that double up as the 16-track sequencer. and determine scale, length and so on. Theres also a
programmable wheels, plus MIDI setup for ext. control. Favourite Programs can also be selected here. master tempo dial for a third display showing its value.

MTF Reviews Roland JD-XA
unlike the JD-Xi, its not so easy to get to utilise all eight parts of a Program, with We would say it has sub basses and then brought in extra
the usual controls,
the constituent parts of these either a big-sounding analogue half movement by way of the effects. In fact,
and it does, but a lot
Programs. The analogue sounds cant with four notes of polyphony, or four more besides talking of the programmers, what a
be chosen from a list, for example, but different analogue sounds stacked pedals plus CV/Gate palette they had, with so many engines
connections, too.
the digital ones can be dened by their (or a mixture of these). Add four digital and modications at their disposal
partials. Again, the thinking is that the combinations with up to 64 notes and and by and large, they do seem to
XA is a grown-up version of the Xi, so youll understand why I say big. have made the most of them.
where that synth had it laid out for you, Theres lots of movement, too Who will benet? Soundtrack and
the XA is more for people who want to owing sweeps, dubsteppy basses, dance composers, for sure there are
create analogue sounds from scratch or one-button-press soundscapes and lots of instant tunes in both camps.
use some of the Programs on offer. simply loads of things right across the People used to the digital side of Roland
frequency spectrum. As you would synths those sound modules and
The Programs expect, the Roland programmers have keyboards stacked full of both real and
As far as these go, you can expect pretty played to the Crossover strengths, so imaginary sounds might be
much something of everything, but if where big booming bass is required disappointed because theres less
I were to try to sum it up, Id use the theyve layered punchy analogue acoustic stuff here. And thank the Lord
word big. The biggest sounds, of course, sounds with fast attacks over droning you can keep your fake trumpets and
saxophones for another module, this is
a synth that you get hands-on with, and
You can keep your fake dirty hands at that.

Which is the main point of it. The
trumpets. This is a synth to get more than two dozen rotaries demand
that you turn them, command you to
your hands dirty with change sounds and dream. You can
create virtually anything you want with
the ingredients Roland has given you,
and then you can take them anywhere
with the controls. If you mess with just
one in your rst half-hour, make it the
Drive control as this will dirty up
anything. The synth might have one of
the cleanest and most shiny (and
arguably a tad too plastic) front panels
in synth design history, but the JD-XAs
got the potential for the dirtiest of
sounds. Its like meeting a nice lady at
church, only to nd that she talks like
a navvy and burps for her country.
Which brings us to the crux of the
synth. The clue is in the word
Crossover. Yes, we have a great
analogue synth that you can layer up,
or add polyphony onto one sound. And,
yes, we have a great digital synth, with
Rolands Supernatural technology its
well-tested backbone. But the JD-XA is
all about the two crossing over, so as
well as that dirty drive, its about
channelling the digital through the
audio and adding warmth; its about
blending the best analogue sounds with
chiming digital cleanliness and creating
something new out of it. You can see
examples in the videos online and
witness how a straight-up, clean digital
synth can produce a Blade Runner-
esque sound that evokes the best in
Its a clean-looking synth, but dont let that fool you. Getting hands-on with the JD-XA is where the analogue; its these combinations and
synths real dirt lies. Use it in one of four ways. It has pure analogue (with a dedicated bus), it has
digital, but mixing the two in a single Program, or routing digital waves through the analogue signal the possibilities they bring that really
path is where you will add most interest. Crossover equals mixing the two for the best results make the JD-XA synth so exciting.

Roland JD-XA Reviews MTF
Other features soon see how creative it can be, and its Alternatives
But there is more. You can use the JD as another good sonic feature. As I suggest in the text below, the JD-XAs price puts it in the big league of
a fully-assignable MIDI controller for synths, with Moog, Dave Smith, Access, Nord and more hitting big in that
zone. Of those, Ive looked at the Nord Lead 4 (slightly cheaper at 1,350),
your DAW/plugs, or a high quality A for attainment? which obviously does the virtual analogue thing well. With some digital
vocoder by connecting a mic. And the So what do I think overall? The sound is wavetable synthesis, it also offers a bit of both worlds, although the clash
between them isnt as pronounced and its only over, essentially, four parts.
on-board sequencer is very useful and a plus. I liked the JD-Xis sound. I love
The Access Virus TI (1,500+) is a synth I looked at seemingly ages ago, and
doesnt add too much complexity. You the JD-XAs. It takes the concept of is still around. It sounds incredible and also acts like a virtual instrument
might brush over this as with each Crossover synthesis that you could within your DAW, although by now I suspect it might be sounding just
a little dated. Other than that, theres little in any price range that does
Program clearly created as an argue the JD-Xi introduced, and runs digital and analogue so well, so if this is what you want and especially if
eight-part MIDI multi-timbral set-up with it to a much higher level. There are you are pushed for funds you should check out the JD-Xi, even though
the synth certainly lends itself to more parts, with which to make bolder they are surprisingly different in many ways. Its light in weight but sounds
good not as good as the A, but it is a quarter of the cost.
being used with an external DAW. But sounds and the engines to get you
the sequencer also reveals the synths there are also bigger.
Patterns which demand attention. I also like many of the features,
Essentially behind many but not including the sequencer its simple
all of the Programs lie Patterns, which and surprisingly creative. Im not saying
you can trigger with the Play button. Id use it, but theres no reason for it not
These Patterns are essentially cycling to be there and not to use it as, at the
riffs (over the 16 parts) of notes, created very least, a notepad.
over up to eight parts of a Program. You I love the look of the synth, too.
can easily record your own by playing My studio is swimming in lights at the
notes in real time, or a couple of step moment its a personal thing, I know I moved away from, as it has some very
time modes where you key in the notes but Im very happy with that. big differences. And because of those
using the 16 pads. The negatives are fewer. I can live differences, Roland doesnt really want
Importantly, both the effects and the with the fact that you might have to you perceive them as related, but they
Programs sound parameters can be squint to read some of the front panel do share the Crossover architecture, so
recorded so, for example, you can open youll get used to what is where after do have some similar sounds. With the
up a lter on a sound while it cycles a while. The partial analogue thing Xi streeting at just 379 you could, then,
around and increase the amount of the threw me a bit at rst, but I can see why buy four for the price of one JD-XA
effect youre using. Roland has done it this way. Id maybe Food for thought
When you consider that you can do have liked a bigger screen to Would I, though? Well, with the extra
this on all eight sounds that make up incorporate colour and touch and muscle, bigger keys, the approach and
a Program within a Pattern Sequence, it lessen the need for three LEDs but the design, I think even though Im
suddenly becomes apparent that you there again I have been spoilt this greedy and usually choose quantity over
have a powerful feature and one that, month by the screen on the new Akai quality this time Id say less is more.
Its an A for me, and an A from me. MTF
Effects and parameters can MTF Verdict

+ Crossover architecture really
be recorded, a powerful feature does offer best of both worlds
+ Great preset Programs and all
you may have avoided very inspiring

+ Hands-on controls make it very
easy to manage all sounds in an
analogue way
+ Good general effects, plus mic
oops, like me, you might have up until Advance keyboard (see review on p108 effects for vocals
that point avoided for more details). Yes, the plastic nish + Great to be able to route digital
Im not a huge fan of programming is still a little smooth and does tend to sounds through analogue engine
+ Easy to understand and use many
sequences of Patterns together like this mark easily, but now Im picking hairs. of the features
when I have Logic to do that with, but That leaves the price. The full retail + Patterns Sequencer is solid
once you give it a go you realise that you of 1,599 (currently 1,549 street) puts and creative
might not need that computer after all. this synth close to synth super-league + Looks great
Its actually so easy that, as well as a territory price-wise. Its up there with
- Expensive
scratch pad when you are alone and models from the likes of Moog, Dave - Could be initially confusing on the
DAW-less, live players will love the Smith, Nord and Access, all of whom analogue sound side of things
ability to have programmed phrases have great reps and great machines. - Do you want three screens or one
and backing tracks at their disposal. You could argue, though, and I will, that good one?
The arpeggiator is another JD while these synths have individual While Aira and analogue might be
feature worth touching on, again strengths, they focus mostly on specic stealing the headlines, Rolands
because its pretty easy to get in to and sonic areas, whereas the JD-XA has two new JD synths are also helping the
to make the best of. Simply hit the distinct territories in its Crossover company get bang on course, and
this is the pick of them so far. Pricey,
Arpeggiator button with any sound, architecture: analogue and digital. but a damn ne synth.
then maybe the Key Hold and Bizarrely, then, if you take this
Shift>Arpeggiator, and you will be in its argument further, the one synth that 9/10
feature list to tweak Patterns. Youll does compete with it is the JD-Xi, which

MTF Reviews Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator series
Value
$
Innovation
TEENAGE ENGINEERING
Choice
Pocket Operator series
Three calculator-style synths, each less than 50
9/10 quid a go. Theyre as light as air but sound as dark as
hell. Whats not to like? asks Andy Jones
T
his years NAMM show in the table and some cardboard boxes but for, you guessed it, your bass. Each unit
States had the usual brass band it was the one stand that everyone was has a 16-step sequencer of which you
Details and bluster, the usual big name talking about and everyone with a can select 16 sounds to program up to
Price artists wandering the halls in trendy haircut was bustling around. The 16 patterns, of which 16 can be
49 each search of/blagging gear and the usual Pocket Operator range of what looked chained. There are two knobs on each
Contact
big names in music technology like calculator synths was the reason. one that serve a variety of functions
via website
Web delivering it in both hardware and They were set up on said table, ready to including tweaking individual sounds
www.teenage software form in spades. But it also beat, bleep and drone at any passing pitches, for example.
engineering.com had something else, something to take hipsters whim. And so much beeping Shared modes include Sound for
you back to the point of it all. It had and droning did they beep and drone selecting your sounds and tweaking
Key features companies exhibiting who were all that they instantly became the stars of them with the aforementioned knobs;
O PO-12 rhythm
about the ideas, all about the NAMM 2015 So a quick overview of all Pattern, for selecting and playing your
(beats); PO-14
sub (bass synth); experience and all about the music.
PO-16 factory This year, the suits who run the show
(lead synth)
had the great foresight to let a whole
O Several synth
engines inc.
physical
bunch of new companies exhibit and
helped a whole bunch of the smaller
So much did they beep and
modelling, FM
and wavetable
companies do so in better spaces. Or
that was the impression I had anyway
drone that they instantly became
O Auto compressor
and limiter
on each
So in halls where the likes of global
companies such as Korg and InMusic
the stars of NAMM 2015
O 16 effects
displayed their wares you also had the
O 16 sounds,
patterns, effects likes of Buchla showcasing its synth three units is due as they all operate in 16-part riffs; BPM for changing the
and styles cases. In Hall E, the crazy hall, there a very similar way even though each tempo between Hip Hop (80bpm), Disco
O Patterns can be were more bespoke modular synth sounds different. (120) and Techno (140bpm, aka slow,
chained
O Clock and alarm companies than ever before. And in the medium and fast although these can
O Tempo: 80, midst of Hall A, at the centre of the tech Three into one be ne-tuned); plus Play and Write
120 or 140 plus area, Teenage Engineering was literally So you get the PO-16 or Pocket modes for playing patterns, writing
fine-tuning
stopping the show. With what seemed Operator factory melody micro them and editing sounds.
O Arpeggio and
chord play like three calculators synthesiser to give it its full, rather There are also global functions
(factory unit) convoluted name well call it factory common to all three units such as
O 3.5mm audio No, Im not going to call this bit from now on. Then theres the PO-12 setting the time and alarm clock (yes
out/in sync
O Parameter locks
Teenage Kicks rhythm programmable rhythm you can use them as old school digital
on sequencer The Swedish companys stand might synthesizer for beats, and nally the clocks), and also setting the overall
have looked decidedly low tech a PO-14 sub bass line micro synthesiser master volume. Here you press the BPM

Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator series Reviews MTF
case is missing and youre simply

holding the circuit board.)
Batteries now in and theyre hard
to get out again the unit powers up to
reveal what looks like a sewing machine
on screen. Which is a nice touch if youre
going to take any notice of the screen
but actually I found myself largely
ignoring the fun stuff like this in favour
of the more practical symbols and
lights on the keys themselves, only
turning to the LCD screen occasionally.
The best thing to do is to press the
Each unit can stand at an angle and has both audio and sync outs so you
Shes on the Teenage Engineering website. Play button straight away to play a
can add it to a bigger set-up or chain the units together.
pattern which youll see cycle through
button and activate the grid lights; the 16 red LEDs. Select another pattern by hit the Write button again and all your
more you press the higher the volume using the Pattern key as a shift key and twiddlings say, changing the pitch of
and each unit gets surprisingly loud a Number key to select one of the 16 any sound will be recorded in
given their physical size. Other Modes patterns on offer. You can either play real-time over the cycle of the pattern.
not necessarily common to all include along with each pattern or easily add This also works with the Effects section
various effects which well come to and and subtract sounds from one by which well talk about later. Finally you
Function and Style modes. hitting the Write button, using the can chain the patterns together by
Get to grips with one of these and Sound button as a shift and then holding the Pattern button down again
youll get to grips with all three but selecting one of the 16 sounds. Now the and then hitting the pattern number
buttons in the order in which you want
them to play.
The unit powers up to reveal The differences

what looks like a sewing Rather than me repeating the above set
of paragraphs for each unit, you should
machine on screen now get the drift for all three of the
units. But there are differences in use,
and, of course, sound.
PO-12 rhythm is probably the most 16 lights of the sequence indicate Ive already commented on the
straightforward to use and understand which of the 16 is lled with that surprising volume that can come from
from the off. sound, so you just hit a number to lose each unit in the PO series. But as well
or add the sound on that part of the as the volume that emanates from
In use sequence, just like you would on a each, you might also be surprised at
Connect the batteries in what we can hardware or software step sequencer how good they sound. And thats simply
loosely call the battery compartment. very easy. Beat sounds come by way down to the source material which is
(Its a couple of wire clips very much of the rst 13 parts with three tonal punchy, contemporary, dirty and, when
representing the home-made style of parts from 14 to 16 (comprising blip, you get those rotaries moving,
each Pocket Operator. The units are tone and bass note). surprisingly tweakable.
fairly solid in build, yes, but very much A very neat touch worth noting here Its also helped enormously with the
open to the elements. And if you, like is that changes made using the two on board effects which add a massive
me, are over 35, youll probably think the rotaries can be recorded in real-time, so amount to the proceedings not just
extra sonic dimensions in heaps but
also a hell of a lot of movement. Dont
think of these as just delays or reverbs,
as they are very much in the crushed
bit-rate territory with lters at work and
shufing all over the place, plus delays,
crushing and distortion a plenty.
So on to the second unit, factory (so
called as harmonies are created from a
cargo of exotic birds in the factory
ooohh-kaaaayyy), and were talking
lead sounds although beats are also
present, this time just on a micro drum
machine on part 16 of the sequencer.
Even the cardboard
This is the crucial difference
boxes they come in between the lead (factory) and bass
look cool and fold (sub) units over the rhythm unit. On
out to be practical
instant guides. Great each melodic Pocket Operator theres
engineering indeed more emphasis over the key of the

MTF Reviews Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator series
Best not show one to

your dad. Hell think Alternatives
its not nished Not surprisingly theres little in the way of direct
alternatives in terms of things that look like
calculators and sound like synths so unless
Kraftwerk go into business with the calculator
they used for their 1981 Pocket Calculator
single you wont nd any direct alternatives.
However, Korgs Volca range is sort of similar in
terms of sounds, sequencing and even in terms
of one unit doing beats, the other bass and so
sound and length of the note played, one you could argue that this should be on. We also recently looked at the newer Volca
Sample which also scored well.
you effectively get one big melodic it, as it does every sound.
part and track 16 just dedicated to Finally we get sub, which is, as the
beats. You highlight which of the 16 name indicates, more about bass than
parts plays the melody and then you anything else. Although, again as with
adjust its pitch and length by holding factory, part 16 offers the micro drum
down the sequenced part in Write mode set of 16 sounds so, again, you get
and adjusting the left rotary for pitch beats and notes. Programming this one
and the right for note length. So you can is identical to factory, with note pitches
easily create changing riffs as the 16 and lengths determined by the rotaries
parts cycle. and the emphasis on the main melody, of the beasts means that they are
Its a slightly different way of only this time its more about sub exposed to the elements you cant be
creating than with the rhythm unit but sounds (hence the submarine on too rough with them
you soon get used to it. And as the screen!) than leads. Its proper squelchy, And had you met me a few days ago,
symbols come into their own (and its then, with effects lending themselves before starting this review, I would have
endlessly spouted all of those
arguments to you. But, with the benet
The arguments against them of hours playing with them, I admit now
that that stance would have made me
stand but each is countered by look slightly (okay, very) middle-aged
and bitter. Perhaps revealing a little too
not one but three positives much that Im not particularly happy
that todays music producer has it so
easy. (In my day it was half your
really worth learning to match colour to well to acid lines and plenty of variation student grant on a Roland D-20, and
code) so you start shifting and selecting in sound to get loads of bass line action. that was it! etc etc.)
at some pace. This will also keep your Again, with all three units, its worth But Im a convert. Those arguments
mind from wandering too much to the emphasising that you get both melody above still stand, yes, but each and
screen and wondering what it all and rhythm parts, its just the emphasis every one of them is countered by not
means (Yes, I know: building site, obviously leans depending on the unit one but three positives: these units
crane, obvious!) you choose. Which leads nicely to sound fantastic, they are incredibly fun
The sound of the factory unit is just and, more importantly than anything
as cool and contemporary as that from Teenage gits else, they are as cheap as silicon chips.
rhythm, and if youre going to buy just You could argue that the PO Series is a So as much as it pains me and it does
set of gadgets that is achingly trendy in a middle-aged kind of a way Im left
and, as such, exists in a particular time with no choice but to bestow just about
and place in music production that will every award that MusicTech can muster
quickly pass. You could also argue that at the damn things. Bloody kids. MTF
part of this cool actually comes by way
of them simply being unnished which, MTF Verdict
in turn, comes by way of keeping costs
+ Great sounds
down. So cheap = cool: shabby chic for + Louder than they should be
todays producer, in gadget form. You + Easy to use
could also argue and hey, stop being + Lots of different modes
quite so aggressive, why dont you that and features
+ Great real-time record
the pictures on the screen put fun
+ Fantastic to sync
before function, and if you really want to
push things, that the unnished nature - A little fragile (optional case costs
extra to protect them)
- Very much of their time
Once you get the - Screens a bit bonkers
hang of the symbols
and LEDs around the Great fun, smashing sound vs size,
keys, you might not and incredible value. Youll want all
need to use the main
three and there are probably more
screen. Which is
probably just as well on the way. Cant wait
as this one has a
picture of a crane on
it for some reason
9/10
Read
on any device,
anytime!
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MTF Reviews Akai Advance Series keyboards
Innovation
Choice
AKAI
9/10
Advance
Series
Details
Price
25: 299
49: 399
61: 469
Contact
+44 (0) 01252 896040 The Advance Series from Akai certainly looks like a bold, new set of keyboards,
Web
www.akaipro.com but its software attempts to blur the lines between hardware and software and
Key features revolutionise the way you control your instruments. Andy Jones feels VI
O 25, 49 or 61 keys
O 4.3in high-res
colour screen
I
with interface do hope that youre paying attention. MP3s but most producers need kHz/ So, the tens will hopefully be
buttons The world of gear for music making is MHz a plenty. A time where, well remembered as the decade where we
O Includes Virtual a ckle place and there are some anything goes. (nally) got it right. Where classic gear
Instrument
Player software pretty seismic things happening One thing that is certain, though, is blended seamlessly with software,
for VI preset right now. It has become so changeable, that hardware has made a comeback where virtual instruments acted real
management, though, that anything could happen, like no other and that todays studio and where we really did enjoy the ease
mapping and
patch creation and probably will. But as were at the sounds great, is colourful, looks of software with all the tactility of
O Semi-weighted centre of things music technology incredible and, thanks to an increasing hardware. Which leads me nicely (again)
velocity- related, we like to think that we have a number of companies like Native to the new Advance keyboard range
sensitive keybed
with aftertouch pretty clear picture of whats emerging Instruments and now Akai, is incredible from Akai. The company behind it thinks
O Eight endless and where our studio technology is to use. Computers are still at the heart this range is important, that it is
rotaries, plus going. And products such as Advance
eight pressure-
sensitive MPC 49 look like being a part of it a big one
pads with RGB at that. Before we explain why, a recap
illumination
O Transport, pad
of the last 40 years might be in order
(dont worry, its quick).
Us producers are a fickle
bank , octave and
performance
buttons
So, in the 70s everything was
analogue. It sounded great but was a
bunch. We want everything, but
O Connectors: USB
and 5-pin MIDI
pain in the arse to use. In the 80s
everything went digital. It was much
do seem to be getting it
input/output
VIP software easier to use but sounded shocking. In
O Part of a 16GB the 90s computers came along to save of everything, of course, but the front probably the most (ahem) advanced
10,000 sound everything and everyone. And during the end looks more traditional, feels more and ground-breaking thing that Akai
bundle
O Plays virtually
noughties everyone thought they were like hardware, and is consequently has done since a certain S-series
every VSTi- doing just that, so everyone became often more creative. sampler. It even hired out Real World
compatible saved. Mostly with laptops. So thats where we are. In an age studios to tell us about it (and the free
plug-in
But then the tens happened. Do we where weve used computers to give us food was exceptional).
O Standalone VI
player or plug-in even call it the tens? Whatever. The everything and now we are turning And the demo there made us believe
within any AU, ruddy tens. A time when analogue is away from them in favour of the old that this range is important too.
VST, or AAX DAW
back in fashion. Where everything ways but still expect them to be there Because, like Natives Komplete Kontrol
O Access, edit and
mix up to eight sounds incredible. But is getting easier for us should we need them. Like I say, S Series, the new Advance range takes
VIs at one time to use. Where some people like tape were a ckle bunch. We want the best software and (kind of) turns it into
O Unlimited and vinyl. Where others like Pro Tools of everything. But we do seem to be hardware. It offers a keyboard that you
instances
and digital. Where most people listen to getting it use in favour of your computer screen

Akai Advance Series keyboards Reviews MTF
and it offers control over a swathe of Apparently Akai has a team of

software titles. Only from the demo we programming elves dedicated to
had, it *whisper* seemed to do it making sure VIP talks to every or, as
slightly better than Komplete Kontrol they say, virtually every instrument
that has been released and every one
No screens that will be released
There are many reasons why using your
computer screen less to produce music Like every good demo
is a good thing, not least because you Like Ive said, the demo at Real World
might start to listen to it more rather really did impress so lets get straight
than look at blocks on the screen all the into it to see if I can be as slick.
time. The Advance series doesnt lose Firstly its a case of downloading the
your screen altogether, though; it VIP software, which was not as
essentially moves it from your straightforward as I thought it would be.
computer to the keyboard, replacing it After a few minutes I realised I had to
with a superb LCD screen which gives register the product before I could get
Apparently Akai has a team of We admit to being

suckers for ashing,
coloured lights, but
and loaded it in as a regular plug-in,
selecting it as an instrument within a
programming elves making sure the knobs are pretty

special as well
new MIDI track. Hey presto, it worked
straight out of the box with some of the
VIP talks to every instrument bundled plug-ins.

In order for it to control your
installed plug-ins, though, it then needs
to scan for them. Select Settings from
you an overview of what your software access to the software but then its a within VIP and then Plug-in Manager. It
instruments are and what theyre doing, download including that swathe of provides you with a couple of locations
all by way of a piece of software called extras I mentioned. in which to look for installed plug-ins
Virtual Instrument Player (VIP). You then simply enter a registration hit OK once youre happy and then itll
The software comes bundled with code before authorisation via your hard scan for them.
the keyboard as a 4GB download (part drive (iLok is an option I thankfully didnt The process to nd the instruments
of a 16GB/10,000 sound bundle which have to pursue, having had all sorts of is quick, and the process to manage the
well come to) and is designed to sit in or problems with it in the past). presets a little longer depending on the
out of your DAW acting as the interface VIP works as a standalone number youve installed. In my case,
between it and the keyboard. Its like a application or within a DAW. I installed it and as I was using the MusicTech test
bridge from the Akai to any and every (a slightly longer process than you machine, there were some 20,000
virtual instrument ever made. might expect) and then booted Logic up presets to manage, but even this took
THE SCREEN ROTARIES PADS

1 The 4.3in screen is a key feature of the Advance
2 These endless rotaries are among the most striking
3 These multi-coloured, pressure and velocity
series. Its full colour, clear and graphically capable of feature on the Advance range and stood out at our demo at sensitive pads are MPC-style controls that perform
showing pretty much everything on your computer screen Real World. Theyre big, cool and you wonder why all everything from muting multi-tracks to triggering
including the GUI (or part of) the instrument you select. rotaries cant be this way. whatever you want
1 6
4 3
STANDARD CONTROLS KEYBOARD MAIN ROTARY AND CURSORS

4 Pitch and mod wheels are rubberised the mod
5 The keyboard is semi-weighted and velocity
6 These multi-coloured, pressure and velocity
wheel feels particularly good. Under you also get octave sensitive. It feels like a cut above a standard MIDI sensitive pads are the main controls you need to
and arpeggiator controls (not as fully featured as those on controller keyboard, perhaps a little heavier. Its not a navigate around the screen. The single rotary might be
Komplete Kontrol) and main DAW transport buttons. proper weighted one but is certainly very playable. smaller than the main eight but you can also press it.

MTF Reviews Akai Advance Series keyboards
less than minute. And once youve In general use youll nd that Main The 49 on test has the more than the computer almost
same connections
scanned them were there! and Browser Modes are where youll be straight away especially for the main
around the back as
most of the time, and there are two all the keyboards in navigation, as it does become very
All in one extra Multi Modes that well come to the range including intuitive. You will, initially anyway, want
MIDI in/out, USB, plus
Now I do get a little over excited about after we look at how the Advance range expression and
to turn back to check everything is
stuff that works, because I usually deals with preset sounds. sustain connectors. working, and for certain tasks you might
expect it not to, but VIP really does work stick with the computer for a while.
from the off with your VI library so, Sound control For preset selection, for example,
initially, I was hyper excited. Your virtual With the hardware, you select presets you simply see more on the computer
instruments are there waiting for you. via your selected plug-in as you would screen so its slightly better to go this
Sure, you may need to re-select the odd normally by dialling and pressing the way for this task. And everything does
one (Blue 2 in my case) and scan them main rotary on the keyboard. Or, better take a little getting used to using only
but once theyre in, theyre in. Hit still, select them by type. Here you get the keyboard screen but, in time, I did
Browser and theyre listed. Select one multiple options to home in on sounds: nd myself using it more and the
via the keyboard or via your DAW, load a and you can do this by instrument, computers screen less.
preset and the plug-in appears. timbre, style or articulation. Anyone One point to note is that when using
There are several modes within the whos familiar with FM7/8s approach to Kontakt instruments youll have to load
hardware and software that you should zooming in on presets will be very much in a Plugin Map associated with
whatever instrument youre using but
all of these should have been mapped
Better still, you get to home in out for you by the Akai programmers. In
practice this means you load up
on presets by instrument, Kontakt within VIP and then go to the
File menu to Import Plugin Map For
timbre, style or articulation Kontakt, then simply select from the
Kontakt instruments there easy.
become familiar with. Main Mode at home here. Again, do it by keyboard Multi setups
displays all presets for all instruments; or computer. Another great feature of VIP is the
Setup Mode is used to set up the Once you load in a preset, the eight ability to run everything you do as a big
keyboard to control your DAW; Browser rotaries rather like Komplete Kontrols multi setup. That is, you can layer eight
Mode is where you select instruments eight rotaries are assigned to the sounds together (from the same or
and presets; Global Mode enables you most important or dramatic parameters different virtual instrument in your
to change global settings; Control Mode of that sound (think lter, resonance, library) or have them triggered by
enables you to change what hardware etc) so you can get hands on with the different MIDI channels. And,
controls operate which functions. And sound straight away. All great stuff and importantly, you can do this from just
nally the Control, MIDI and MIDI Edit some instant hardware control. one DAW track or VIP instance within
modes enable you to get deep down And, interestingly, overall I quickly your DAW. Suddenly VIP becomes a
and dirty with MIDI parameters. started using the hardware keyboard multi-sound module all within the safe
environs of your sequencer.
Where preset selection might have
been easier on the computer screen, I
found the task of setting Multis up
easier to complete using the keyboard.
(Left) The VIP software in full ow showing MusicTech favourite Fablter

Twin loaded up with the preset Bellarius DJM. (Right) The same preset on
the screen of the Advance 49 (note the graphical representation of the
Fablter synth is also shown).

Akai Advance Series keyboards Reviews MTF
Simply use the cursors to select the A quick run down of what you get for Alternatives
part you want, then select a sound. You free includes the Velvet piano and Where the heck do you start in terms of alternative controller keyboards?
can use the large colourful pads (each Transfuser drum instrument, plus tech Well, pretty much anywhere. If its a good, solid set of cheap controllers you
has a different colour per multi-part) to and deep house sound expansion want that control software in an old school way then Ive looked at both the
Alesis V&Vi and Korg Taktile ranges recently and both are great, the former
mute a part and the smaller buttons for packs. Some of the bundled especially for the cash. In terms of software integration that matches what
solo mode very easy and you can very instruments might be slightly old as we have here, theres one big contender that weve hinted at in the main
text and thats Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S-Series. So which is
quickly set up massive sounds or multis you often nd with any bundles but in
best? In terms of software integration the Akai probably steals it because
triggered by different MIDI channels, truth they sound surprisingly fresh and, of that screen, enabling so much more to be done without the computer.
just like an old hardware sound module. combined with the expansions detailed, But Komplete Kontrol integrates far better with NIs own software, has
those incredible LightGuide keys, which help with both playing and control,
While were here its also very easy to add up to a decent amount of sounds and now comes bundled with 10 NI instruments worth a thousand bucks.
set up Setlists, where you can order for your money when you look at the And the technology, like Akais, is now able to control (or Kontrol) third-
presets within a list for when you need overall asking price. party instruments.
them (a live performance, for example.)

Both Multis and Setlists can be Advance, advance
loaded and saved. Actually, when I say Overall, Im pretty impressed with
can be, I mean should be. I assumed Advance. Even though were talking
that all Multis would save automatically about a new generation of technology
but you need to manually do this as its here, it seems very well thought out and
quite easy to lose them if you dont. works surprisingly well given that it is in
its infancy.
So far so good Sure there are niggles as youd
So weve seen that the control side of expect with v1 of anything. Id have put
things is great, as is the interaction with the Browser Button on the keyboard at
your current VI library. Now, to cover the top to match its far left position in
that extra content I mentioned earlier. the VIP software (very minor). Id also Overall the bundle offers a very
Firstly, theres the content you get free; add a more obvious route back to the successful mix and integration of both
secondly, the content that isnt top plug-in menu in the software its software and hardware, and one that
You get half a dozen instruments by easier on the hardware. You dont will have you turning from your
Air Music Tech, plus Eighty Eight always get a visual indication of the computer to your hardware and, whats
Ensemble by SONiVOX. Well look at a plug-in on the keyboard screen, or at more, using your ears to mix rather than
your eyes. And if the tens are
remembered for one thing in music
The extras might be a little old production history, surely that would be
enough in itself? MTF
but they add up to a decent MTF Verdict

amount of sounds for the cash + Fantastic control over
your presets
+ Amazing screen really will make
you turn from your computer
few of these extras: Vacuum Pro is a least its not always instantaneous. The + Easy to use your VI collection and
surprisingly versatile analogue-style plug-in front panel doesnt adjust to the make it hard
synth that looks a bit Russian and size of the VIP software window so + Solid keyboard, attractive and
sounds lush and powerful. Loom is an sometimes it doesnt t (Blue 2, stand tactile controls
+ Great bundle of instruments and
additive synth suited to sound design, up again), and sometimes it looks too expansion packs
with some standard and unusual small (Crystal), but this is surely not + Elegant shop front
sounds, plus a neat graphical interface. Akais fault. Then I had the odd crash,
Hybrid is another analogue but with but this happened with Analog Lab and - Screen will take some getting
used to
some amazing and plentiful presets; if you read my review of that, it crashed
- Some features still accessed
Some of the other extras need to be in Logic and I never did get to the better with the computer
downloaded along with sample packs bottom of it, so suspect this is an - Software could do with a back to
that also come bundled with Advance. Analog Lab thing, not a VIP thing. main menu option
Youll see what you get in the Advanced
Akai hasnt made anything as
Content menu where the VIP store is Final thoughts ground-breaking as this for a while.
located. As well as the future of control, Those few niggles aside, though, and Im It really does make using and
we could be looking at the future of left with a great impression of both the controlling your software a breeze.
purchasing as theres a lot here to keyboard and the VIP software. Taken This is what software control
should be like: hardware!
choose to buy, with more titles from a on its own, Advance is a good controller.
large number of third-party companies
likely to join the party.
But combined with VIP its almost in a
league of its own.
9/10
MTF Reviews Alesis V & VI ranges
ALESIS
V & Vi ranges Choice
9/10 $
Value
Two Alesis ranges of USB controller

keyboards that boast a pro feel and includes Ableton Live Lite and quality making accurate pitch and other
spec and almost silly price tags. Expand!2, the former offering the parameter control easy.
Andy Jones gets the Vs recording environment and the latter The main keyboards punch well
the sounds with which to enable music above their price point. Theyre not
making from the off. weighted but are surprisingly
I
t might have taken a huge amount of Details The keyboards will, of course, fully responsive and with plenty of sharp
time to get here, but were nally Price V25, (65), integrate with your existing software action to get some dynamics going in
getting our hands on the massive V49 (on test, 79), too. To help set up your various MIDI your playing. They certainly have
V61 (119.99)
number of products announced by parameters, both ranges come with V something about them that youll rarely
VI25, (120), VI49
Akai, Alesis and Numark (all under the (159), VI61 (179) Editor software. We tried the VI61 if ever nd at this price point.
InMusic brand) back at Frankfurt. Distributor InMusic version for Mac and its dead simple to Looks-wise and this is important
Hence, the seeming glut of products by Contact use as you get the keyboard mapped as youll use a controller for many years
them in recent issues of the magazine. T: +44 01252 896040 out on screen with each section hopefully (not just for Christmas!)
Web www.alesis.com
Weve seen DJ gear, interfaces keyboard, pads, rotaries, switches etc theyre practical rather than overly
(aplenty), controllers and clip launchers all easily editable on screen, using the stylish. With more basic numbers of
so these on the face of it fairly Key Features cursors to step through groups of each. assignable controls, all three keyboards
standard sets of keyboards could have V range Wed have liked a simple preset to set require less surface area so lack depth
been lost in the rush. But the V and VI O 25, 49, 61 full- your DAW up but everything is easily but this could be a good thing in any
ranges of USB controllers have a lot sized, velocity accessible with features such as Roll compact situation. Certainly I nd Im
sensitive keys
going for them, so weve grabbed one O 8 backlit, velocity
Mode which brings more performance constantly moving my controller
from each range to put them through sensitive pads functionality to the pads. around, especially with a laptop as my
their paces O 4 assignable Now its time to have a look at each main core processor and these are light
rotaries and
range in more detail. enough to do just that. Their lack of
buttons
As usual O USB MIDI depth means they slot in pretty much
Controller keyboards tend to get O Sustain input The V range anywhere. Even placing them in front of
released in groups of three these days: O Ableton Live Lite This range offers similar specs, said laptop (rather than to the side)
9 and Xpand!2
starting with an entry level, compact throughout, the only real difference wasnt too disruptive.
25-note; then a mid range 49-key and VI range being the number of keys, all of which The smaller of the three is obviously
then a players 61-note. If the range O 25, 49, 61 are velocity sensitive, full-sized square well suited to the most compact of set
full-sized semi-
proves successful or if it is deemed to weighted keys front keys. You also get four rotaries; ups and being buss-powered theyll
be more for the proper player, an O 16 backlit velocity eight drum pads and four buttons, all of all work in mobile situations. But Id
88-note fully-weighted keyboard may sensitive pads which are assignable. recommend going for either of the
O 8/12/16 rotaries
follow in due course. Pads and controls are well lit on larger ones, because the keyboards are
O 24/36/48
We havent got that yet with both of buttons power up. The eight pads light up in so good at this price point, so you might
these new Alesis ranges, but everything O DAW control blue and are particularly responsive, as nd yourself playing that bit more. Even
else is present and correct. As well as O USB MIDI are the buttons. The dials are not too though we only had the 49-note to test,
all three models in keyboard hardware O Sustain input loose nor tight offering a smooth and we can see the 61-note really
O Ableton Live Lite
you get a good, if not excessive bundle non-continuous action. Both pitch and succeeding in this capacity as a players
9 and Xpand!2
of software with each model that mod wheels are small but have a good choice, for almost silly money.

Alesis V & VI ranges Reviews MTF
The VI range colours. Theres also a set of DAW V for victory?

The VI range of keyboards really takes transport controls for some added In terms of bang for your buck, we can
things up a notch with a big range of extra software control. Again, the thoroughly recommend both ranges.
additional controllers and rotaries. On keyboard is buss-powered so you have The V25 and 49 in particular are
each of the models you get 16 backlit that mobile option if need be, but you fully-featured, mobile keyboards that
drum pads (doubling those on the V also get an additional MIDI Outplus you could take on the road and properly
range) and 8/12/16 assignable rotaries external PSU socket (although no play and control, and are ideally suited
(as you go up the 25, 49 and 61-note power supply was supplied with our to the budget musician.
keyboards in the range). The number of test model). And on this point, Alesis has pretty
assignable buttons also increases as One other notable point on the much nailed the prices for both ranges
you increase keyboard size: from 24 on 61-note VI is that the pitch and mod although, for me, the VI represents the
the smallest to 48 on the largest 61VI wheels are bigger and more sturdy greatest value. Sure the good keyboard
(on test here). giving them a pro feel although the action of the V range for this kind of
The keyboards too go up a notch, mod wheel might seem stiff to some. money is very welcome, and if youre
from velocity sensitive to semi- In all the VI range is aimed more at short of cash then this range is an
weighted with aftertouch. In practice the intermediate to serious player, as attractive proposition.
Yet with the VI range you get a lot
more than double the features, and an
The keyboards light up as if to say look even better keyboard action. So in that
respect wed have to recommend this
at all of these controls, and there are a range overall, especially as the cash
outlay isnt that much extra. The VI61
serious amount of options available the best keyboard across both ranges
is a particularly good steal at 179.
So its a V for very good but a VI if
youve got the cash. In fact, opt for a
the keyboard on the tested 61-note is the keyboards within it truly open up smaller VI if youre faced with a cash vs
great for the money perhaps a little your softwares parameters to the size quandary. Youll thank us in the
springy if you are used to the real thing outside world allowing pretty much long run just for the extra features that
but certainly very expressive at this total control over as much of your youll grow in to down the line. MTF
price point. software as you want.
The keyboards light up in a pleasing The VI61 on test has a serious MTF Verdict: Alesis V range
way as if to say, look at all these amount of control options and even
+ Solid keyboard range
controls and there certainly are a though we didnt have the smaller ones + Nice backlit controls
serious amount of options available to on test we think this one represents the + Great keyboard feel at this price
keep anyone who uses plug-ins happy. greatest value as its not even twice the + Great value
The pads this time light up with multi price of its V-range cousin. + Good bundle of software
- Practical build isnt going to win

Alternatives how many?! design awards
In many ways, both of these new ranges cover pretty much what every computer musician out there needs: from the mobile
bedroom producer right up to the serious player and performer. But there are other options lots of them. Exactly how many Great entry-level range ideal for
controller keyboards are there out there in music production land? A serious amount, thats how many, so Ill stick to those beginners or those who want a
alternatives that Ive looked at or weve featured in MusicTech over the last few months. The rst is the Nektar Impakt LX range
secondary mobile studio.
(reviewed MT135) available in the standard three sizes from 90 to 140. They have slightly less controls than the VI range but
more than the V so sit somewhere between the two. In MT136 we looked at the Korg Taktile 49 (also available in 25 and 61-note
versions). At 279 its serious money but it integrates well with DAWS, plus it offers more visual feedback on the screen and has 8/10
more performance capabilities. Finally we looked at the Arturia Keylab range in MT137. Again you can get 25, 49 and 61-note
versions, and even an 88-key pro one, but they are more expensive, at (street) 149 for the 25, 400 for the 61 and going up to
580 for the 88. To be honest, we were pretty lukewarm with our initial review, but since then Arturia has teamed up with Bitwig
to offer bundles where you effectively get a copy of Bitwig Studio for free. This, combined with MTF Verdict: Alesis VI range
Arturias already excellent software bundle makes the Keylab range serious
contenders if your budget will stretch that far. + Lots of control options
+ Great semi-weighted action
+ Fantastic value
+ Good bundle of software
- Practical build isnt going to win

design awards
Superb keyboard range for the

money, offering a proper playing
experience and oodles of control.
9/10
MTF Reviews Focal Alpha 50 & Alpha 80
Choice
9/10
Details
Price 185- 259
Contact
SCV London:
0330 122 2500 g
Web
www.focal
professional.com
Key features
Alpha 50
O LF driver: 5in
polyglass cone
FOCAL low frequency shelving is provided too
with plus and minus 3dB adjustment at
Alpha 50 &
300Hz and 4.5KHz.
O HF driver: 1in
inverted dome
O HF driver type: Alpha testing
inverted dome Regular MusicTech readers may have
Alpha 80
aluminium
O LF driver power
noticed that review speakers are often
amp: 35W compared to our in-house Focal CMS
O HF driver power 40s. In this case it seems more
amp: 20W
appropriate than ever, and the family
O Frequency
range: 45Hz- Highly regarded in professional audio circles, resemblance between the Alpha 50 and
22kHz (+/- 3dB) CMS 40 is striking. Bearing in mind that
O Maximum peak
French company Focals affordable Alpha series is this was a set of brand new speakers
SPL: 103dB
O Enclosure type:
made in China and comprises three models. next to a well played in set, the upper
ported Huw Price checks out the Alpha 50 and Alpha 80 midrange and soft but transparent
O Input types: treble were almost identical.
XLR & RCA from the bottom and top of the range With the equalisation set at the
O Dimensions:
313x220x258mm Alpha 50 produced more thump and
S
O Weight: 7.3kg everal of Focals international Amplication is Class AB, but power width in the lows. In small rooms or
distributors have been asking levels differ. The 50 has 20W for the close to walls you may nd the port
Alpha 80 for an affordable monitor line tweeter and 35W for the woofer, but this assisted lift a bit too much, but
O LF driver: 8in for quite some time, but it was is upped to 40W and 100W for the Alpha notching the bass down by about 2dB
polyglass cone
O HF driver: 1in
never going to be a case of knocking 80. At 35Hz, the 80s low frequency tightened the 50s lows and brought the
inverted dome something up and shipping it out. In response reaches 10Hz below the overall sound characteristic closer to
O HF driver type: fact, Focals UK distributor had almost Alpha 50s. the CMS 40.
inverted dome
aluminum
given up hope when they were invited Almost invariably, monitor on/off Our favourite thing about the CMS
O LF driver power over to the Focal factory to assess the switches are located on the back panel 40 is the sense of acoustic depth and
amp: 100W Alpha series. near the mains input. The Alpha model realism in the soundstage and, once
O HF driver power switches may be around the back but again, the 50 comes extremely close. Its
amp: 40W
O Frequency
Saving energy there are two good reasons were not not quite as smooth or forward in the
range: 35Hz- Both the Alpha 50 and Alpha 80 have complaining. Firstly, the switches are vocal region of the midrange but the
22kHz (+/- 3dB) polyglass cone woofers and 1in (25mm) located near the top corner, so theyre lack of colouration and natural quality
O Maximum peak
inverted dome tweeters. These look very really easy to get at. Secondly, auto of the sound is completely in line with
SPL: 103dB
O Enclosure type: similar to the inverted dome tweeter standby switching features throughout our expectations of Focal monitors.
ported thats used in Focals CMS models and the range. So how does the big brother
O Input types: the Passport, and youd be forgiven for The controls are kept to a minimum compare? Well for starters its much
XLR & RCA
thinking they were the same, but these with a simple Sensitivity switch. The more powerful and will ll small to
O Dimensions: 397
x287x348mm are made from pure aluminium rather two settings are 0dB for normal use medium sized rooms with sound quite
O Weight: 12.8kg than the aluminium magnesium alloy and +6dB for occasions when sheer effortlessly. Given the enclosure size
used for the more expensive monitors. volume is the main priority. High and youd expect bigger bass too, but

Focal Alpha 50 & Alpha 80 Reviews MTF
instead you get a bass response thats of bass to vibe up a room and the Alpha
Alternatives
deeper and more even across the range 80 delivers that in spades. However, to In the 5in woofer category, contenders include
with no obvious tip up around the 50Hz also have the option to switch to the ADAM F5 (145), Yamaha MSP 5 (182)
-100Hz mark. another set of monitors for critical and the EVE Audio SC205 (283). The Alpha 80
competes against the Monkey Banana Turbo
For the most part this aspect of the listening would be preferable, and this 9 (269), KRK VXT8 (418) and the coaxial
Alpha 80s performance is enjoyable, is where the Alpha 50 really wins out. (Below) Okay, the Presonus Sceptre S8 (471).
however it does sound very slightly The clarity, accuracy and sheer audio on-off switches are
round the back of the
sluggish when challenged by fast bass quality this monitor provides is rare Alphas, but theyre
lines containing very low frequency indeed at this price point. MTF really easy to reach. MTF Verdict
content. The
+ Excellent sound quality (Alpha
midrange also has 50)
a different quality + Ample power (Alpha 80)
to the Alpha 50, + Simple but effective EQ
being slightly less + Auto standby
forward. So vocals
- Midrange colouration (Alpha 80)
and guitars sound - Slightly loose bass response
a bit recessed into (Alpha 80)
the mix almost - Bland styling
as if theres an
Both these models have much to
area in the upper recommend them but for high
mids that isnt quality studio monitoring the Alpha
quite lled out. 50 is the one wed choose.
There are those
occasions when
Alpha 50 9/10
you need loud
monitors with lots
Alpha 80
8/10
TC Voice Jam Studio

Manufacturer TC Electronic
Price 14.99
Contact Via website
Web www.voicejamstudio.com
T
C Electronic has a deserved re-do the take. Nonetheless
reputation for vocal signal it would be nice to be able to
processing in hardware and also record your part once and
software form. Like many developers then ip between effects
its branching into iOS applications, and afterwards. As long as youve
its latest is Voice Jam Studio, a vocal recorded to the click, the
effect and looping app for iPad. You get app keeps your loops in sync
four stereo tracks into which to record even if theyre of different
audio loops which can be up to eight lengths. Theres MIDI control, Key features
minutes long each though youll likely Audiobus and Inter-App O 50 vocal effects
from TC-Helicon
use much shorter loops than this, and Audio support, and a slightly
O Four stereo
unlimited overdubs. A metronome is superuous sele video loop tracks
available, and for each of the tracks you option so you can see O Audiobus and
can choose a vocal preset with 50 yourself. Basic mixer controls are Inter-App Audio
O Sync your loops
effects presets, ranging from simple provided and you can record and share
O Record and
reverbs through to hard tuning, gender your performances. export a
changing and so on. The app works well enough, though performance
The idea is that you perform vocal the concept loop four tracks of audio
parts in a loop and build up a track, as with effects is not enough to justify
seen in the demo video. This works ne the asking price, especially given the
MTF Verdict
but there are some drawbacks. The competition. The effects are powerful Fun enough but doesnt feel as pro
effects are printed on to the audio as but the developers need to offer more as it should for the money.
its recorded so they cant be changed
afterwards, although of course you can
functionality or drop the price
preferably the former. MTF
7/10
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Audio Technica ATH-M70x Reviews MTF
Closed vs open
The closed vs open headphone debate is quite
straightforward as far as Im concerned.
Closed headphones offer just that: a closed
environment, offering some cancellation of
noise from the outside world (although not as
much as specic noise-cancelling
headphones) and allow little sound to leak
outwards. Therefore youre sitting almost
within the music, perfect for a mix session to
capture all the detail with little external
aggravation. Open headphones, on the other
AUDIO TECHNICA hand, leak sound out so can be annoying for

anyone sitting near you and allow a more
immersive experience within your
ATH-M70x
environment. So, maybe these offer a more
live feel, as if the music or band youre
listening to is playing within the world in which
you exist. Some may like this, but for detailed
mixing its closed for me
What could possibly be and I queued up my usual tracks for

listening tests (from the likes of
better than MusicTechs Lefteld, Syntax, Talk Talk, The The et
headphones of 2014? Excellence al). Because of the extra frequency
Maybe their new big response on the M70s I expected more
bass but actually the opposite is true. If
brother? Andy Jones anything theres now a noticeable
gets AT it clarity of the bass on the 70s compared
with the 50s. Its more dened; perhaps
more accurate on dance music and
W
e presented the Details range of 5Hz to 40kHz (compared to the atter. You feel you get a little more
MusicTech award for Price 299 50s 15Hz to 28kHz). As humans were bass from the 50s but that might be as
Best Headphones of Contact only able to hear between 20Hz and they are ever so slightly coloured
Audio-Technica
2014 to Audio-Technica 0113 277 1441
20kHz (less as you age), so you might compared with their newborn older
for the companys incredible M50x. So it sales@audio- think this a moot point. But some argue brother. On acoustic music its less
was a bit of a surprise (and annoyance, technica.co.uk that the wider the range available on pronounced and the stereo eld width
for the person who paid for the award) Web playback, the more interplay is enabled on both models is exceptional. The 70s
eu.audio-technica.
when the company quickly announced com/en/
between the frequencies you cant hear really do immerse you in your music,
these, the new top-of-the-M-Series (above and below the usual thresholds) almost to the point where you lift your
M70x headphones. Can they be as good and those you can hear, offering a more arms up to pick parts out to the left and
as, or even surpass, the M50s? realistic listening experience. the right, so clear is the mix.
Before I answer that, a quick recap Other differences are less dramatic. So while I still wholeheartedly
is needed. The M-Series is Audio- The M70s are slightly lighter (by 4g!) recommend the 50s, especially for
Technicas range of phones designed and the headband construction is extended listening, I think the 70s are a
for studio use with long sessions in thinner. They have the same sized driver tad more accurate at the bottom end,
mind, and accuracy and comfort the (45mm) designed with copper clad perhaps down to that interplay with the
main goals. They are ideal for studio voice coils and rather mysterious- frequencies we cant hear theres
mixing, FOH, DJing, mastering, sounding rare earth magnets. something in that argument after all! So
post-production and listening, AT says. I have myself a new set of reference
The original 50s were a studio Reference time headphone monitors. I suppose we
standard, so the replacement last Since the M50 test Ive been using them could just use Tippex on last years
years (award-winning) M50x wasnt as my reference headphones, not just award for this year? MTF
redesigned; more tweaked and rened for mixing but for testing other
to make it one of the best choices for headphones. I have found just one set MTF Verdict
headphone mixing (especially at the of more accurate headphones, a set of + Very comfortable
Key Features
price of just 159). They take an AKGs that never made it to the test + Accurate sounding
O Type: closed-
industry standard up a notch, I said last back dynamic bench for various tedious reasons. And + Extended bass adds realism
May, before awarding them 10/10. O Driver diameter: since those are over 1000, youd expect and punch, not bass muddiness
45mm + Lovely spread and width to
These are among the best headphones a greater level of accuracy. So it makes the sound
O Frequency
you can get for your studio. (And yes it response: sense, for more than one reason, to use + Solid case and useful leads
does feel odd quoting myself.) 5Hz to 40kHz the M50s as a reference in this test. So + Good for extended mixing
O Max i/p power: how do the big brother M70s compare sessions
2,000mW at 1kHz
Going AT-AT it O Impedance:
with them?
The M70s are accurate and great
The 70 comes in both open- (R70x) and 35ohms Surprisingly theres a noticeable for long sessions not a common
closed-back (M70x) formats (see box, O Weight: 280g difference just putting the 70s on. They combination so perfect for
top right) and were looking at the latter. O Cables: 1.2m are a little more hugging and mixing. The best just got better.
So what have they got over the 50s?
First up theres an extended frequency
coiled and
1.2m/3m straight
encompassing, tting my (admittedly
rather big) head better. On to the sound,
10/10
MTF Mini Reviews
LK for overview of your Live set, this has full
iPad
transport controls as well as a MIDI
programmer and editor section, and
special graphical control over any
Manufacturer Imaginando
instruments and effects loaded. The
Price Free, with in-app purchases MIDI Pad section has preset chord
Contact via website commands and a congurable
Web www.livkontrol.com arpeggiator, and the MIDI Controller
section has four sets of eight slider and
L
K is the successor to LivKontrol, rotary controls for altering MIDI
an iPad app that was designed parameters. Finally the X/Y section lets
to give you hands-on control of you assign X,Y and Z axes either using
your Ableton Live projects. The MIDI learn in Live via a handy shortcut
name change is due to the fact that, in Choice system, or by entering CC numbers
addition to expanded Live capabilities,
it now also works as a generic MIDI
controller, with most of its sections
9/10 Note that it doesnt actually require
an internet connection, so if youre
when in generic MIDI mode.
LK is a great Live controller app and
now also a hassle-free generic MIDI
able to be switched to control one or performing live you can simply create controller for both software and
the other. an ad-hoc network from your laptop or hardware, both well-designed and easy
The software works both in wired Key features even your phone to get it running. It also to pick up. The ability to save MIDI
and wireless mode when wireless you O Ableton Live works over a wired connection which is templates you have created yourself
control
need to run the small bridge app great for the MIDI control aspect as it would add even more value. MTF
O Generic MIDI
provided by the developer to provide a controller lets you plug it into any MIDI hardware
MIDI link between the iPad and Live. The O Wired or wireless and use three of its four sections to play MTF Verdict
controller settings are dialled into Live operation notes and manipulate CCs. Tested with The app worked well in our tests
O Comprehensive
automatically, so setup is a breeze. Its an IK iRig MIDI 2 and a hardware synth, and the fact that it works as a
control of Live sets
available for Apple and Android tablets this worked awlessly and didnt general MIDI controller is a bonus
O Great
and unlocking each section costs 3.99, performance require any setting up. a great Live and general app.
with the exception of the Matrix which
costs 7.99.
features
plus editing
The app has four sections, the rst
of which is the Matrix. A comprehensive
9/10
The Complete Guide To... Future Sound

of Ambient
Manufacturer M-Audio/InMusic
Price $39.99
Key features
O Inspired
by early 90s
Manufacturer Loopmasters electronica
Contact via website
Price 29.95 O 1.18GB of
Web www.halleonardbooks.com 24-bit/44.1kHz
Contact info@loopmasters.com Audio
O 57 Sampler
T
he full title is completed with Web www.loopmasters.com patches for
Connecting Audio, Video Kontakt,
HALion, EXS24,
I
and MIDI Equipment, so now nspired by the post-party
Kong, NN-XT
you know exactly what you get Key features soundtrack sounds of artists
with this mammoth book. And you O313 pages such as Aphex Twin, The Orb and
& SFZ
O 123 loops &
Innovation
O Lots of 190 one-shots
really do get all of that the only Future Sound Of London, Future
diagrams, both
problem being one of how that Sound Of Ambient combines the O Written and
connected and
produced by
information comes across. Very unconnected early 90s electronica with more Glen Nicholls
often the diagrams are O Real world modern production tricks to bring
examples
uncaptioned and unconnected, detailed for it bang up to date. Produced by well for sound design duties, but
the chapters become lists rather plenty of studio Glen Nicholls (aka Future Funk may be a bit much for dance
scenarios
than good reads, and setups can Squad), the pack includes over music producers. Although the
be specic to those at the time of book half the thickness and size. 1GB of drones, glitchy electronic total number of loops and hits
writing a factor that pops up In other words, a proper reference drums and percussion, pulsating isnt massive, the overall quality
more than it should rather than book that we could all carry into basses, warm keys and pads, and variety is high. MTF
generic setups we can all relate to. our studios. MTF ethereal voices and cinematic FX.
And that, combined with appendix Everything here has been MTF Verdict
lists of current gear, mean that MTF Verdict meticulously crafted, with deep
A deep and moving collection
this book will quickly become and innovative production utilising of immaculately produced
Its not trying to be a pocket
dated, which is a shame as all the guide, we know, but with a a range of kit, including MS-20 electronica loops and FX that
info you need is in there. If it was restructure it could have been and SH-101 analogue synths fed straddles the worlds of sound
restructured with a smaller the ultimate one. A shame. through a Studiomaster desk. The design and electronic music.
type-face and far less white space
you could condense it down to a
5/10 pack includes some more unusual
drones and fx that would work
8/10
Mini Reviews MTF
Numark on a medium scale. The sound is clear,

too, with little distortion at high levels.
Lightwave We tried plugging in everything from

phones and laptops to keyboards and
were pretty impressed with the results.
Manufacturer Numark And the lights even more so!
Price 219.99 (per speaker, street) You get several patterns and can
Contact via website choose the colours and brightness of
each or have rotating ones. Out of all of
Web www.numark.com
them the Meter option is the best,
T
he lines between gear for exhibiting the meters of a mixer, but
producing, gear for performing that might be the inner music
and gear for DJing are becoming production geek in us trying to get out.
more blurred by the day. And Okay these arent mixing monitors
gear for all three seems to be getting really (although do play your mixes on
more colourful, more fun and has far them for comparison), and theyre not
more ashing lights than ever before. Key features to be taken too seriously, but theyre
Numarks Lightwave ticks all of the O 100 watt pool parties, recitals, reunions it goes solid, sound good and add a bit of
above boxes, as its fun, colourful and continuous on, before adding, complicated stacks colour to your (probably already
powered speaker
ashes, and can be used for performing of equipment and lighting are both colourful) setup. Its not often we
O Features dual
and playing your productions! LED light array inappropriate and unnecessary. venture out of the studio onto the road
Lightwave is essentially really just a O Five lighting Numarks Lightwave speaker is a but we could easily be tempted with a
modes
powered speaker with added bells and solution, then. Its a beefy package and couple of Lightwaves. MTF
O Connections:
whistles, aka ashing lights that come phono ins, even though it says lightweight the
by way of a dual LED array. There are mini-jack in, XLR 10.43kg speaker is hefty, especially to MTF Verdict
plenty of occasions where such a out to expand studio users, like us, not used to
system with extra
Great bit of kit to take your music
system is needed, according to Numark. speakers or sub carrying anything, let alone PA gear. But out with, party with or simply light
Countless small- to medium venues O Dimensions its also a serious piece of kit. It packs a your studio up with as a second pair
(WxDxH): of (fun) monitors.
need top-quality DJ/PA sound and good volume, easily good enough for a
celebratory lighting: weddings,
graduation parties, karaoke contests,
214x257x742mm
O Weight: 10.4kg
house party at half volume and more
than capable of holding its own outside
8/10
Home Studio Defected House

Mastering - Copyright Key features
O Grooving
percussive
Author JD Young Manufacturer Loopmasters house sounds
Price 11.99 Price 29.95 O 665MB of
24-bit/44.1kHz
Contact via website Contact info@loopmasters.com Audio
W: www.homestudiomastering.nl O 111 Sampler
Web www.loopmasters.com
Key features patches for
Kontakt,
T P
he subject of mastering can O81 pages roducers Copyright have HALion, EXS24,
O Focus on
split an audience. Whenever lent their percussive, groove Kong, NN-XT
computer music & SFZ
we publish features on it setups laden house sound to the
theres always a section of our O Clear and rst ofcial sample pack from Choice O 273 loops &
Choice 518 one-shots,
9/10
readership that claims it cant be concise world renowned label Defected 42 MIDI files
explanations
done at home. They should read
this because this is a guide that
explains pretty much everything
9/10 O Clear
diagrams where
necessary
records. The pack contains over
600MB of 24-bit audio in your
choice of WAV and Rex2, Apple
O Written and
produced by
Copyright
you need to know on the subject in Loops, ReFill and Live formats, separated drum parts and useful
as concise and easy way as you makes for a great read for and 111 sampler patches. Youll top loop tools, plus a decent
could ask for. By the end of it, even beginners, those after a concise nd beefy, analogue basslines, collection of playable raw drum
the most cynical person will solution, and maybe those that resonant synth chords, and hits, warm basses, chords and
believe that mastering is possible, need to wake up and smell the grooving drum and percussion FX sounds. MTF
pretty much anywhere. music mastering coffee MTF loops, plus a bonus folder of MIDI
The focus is a little too digital loops. Everything here has a nod MTF Verdict
with little made of the ever- MTF Verdict to classic and familiar house
A well thought out library of
increasing number of hardware A direct and concise look at a sounds, but the superb, lively grooving house loops and
manufactuers tempting us back subject that can be over- nish on each and every sample sounds thats packed with
into the hardware domain for egged when discussed by brings the whole package to life. analogue production, energy
analogue mastering but maybe some so-called experts. Copyright show a deep and life.
that might well come in a pro
mastering edition Otherwise this
9/10 understanding of the building
blocks of a track, with well
9/10
MTF Mini Reviews
Excellence
Key features
O Sound
design library
AfterShock: by Si Begg
O Over 2.1GB of
24-bit audio
DJ Sappo
Extreme Audio O 600 samples
in Acidized WAV
Presents Rolling Key features
O 668MB of rolling
Cinematics and Apple Loops

formats
O Instruments
Jungle and DnB DnB loops and hits
O Available in WAV,
Apple Loops, Live
for Kontakt Publisher Loopmasters and ReFill formats
Publisher Zero-G
5.4.2, EXS24, O 140 Sampler
Price 55.95 Price 29.95
Choice HALion and
NN-XT
patches for EXS24,
HALion, Kontakt,
Contact +44(0)1837 55200 Contact info@loopmasters.com
Web www.timespace.com 9/10 O Atmospheres,
hits, drones,
morphs, FX
and more
Kong, NN-XT
and SFZ
O 174 to 178bpm
O Produced by
S V
ound design wizard Si Begg eteran Jungle and DnB DJ Sappo
returns to Zero-G with sample so you can experiment producer DJ Sappo has
another hefty library of with the pitch and play the sounds joined forces with will feel immediately at home, and
meticulously crafted sounds and like an instrument. This would be Loopmasters for a massive although its familiar, the excellent
textures. Aftershock aims to stand an excellent resource for anyone collection of trademark sounds production makes everything
out from other cinematic wanting fresh sounds for a taken from some of his biggest relevant. Sappo manages to
collections by calling on cutting- soundtrack, or for dance music tunes on Flex, Intalex, V balance interesting production
edge dance music production producers looking for Recordings and more. Theres over with punchy hooks. To top things
techniques and contains over sophisticated sounds and fx. MTF 600MB of rolling breaks, tough off, theres also a huge collection
2.1GB of 24-bit audio in both Acid bass lines and moody music riffs, of excellent one-shot bass, synth,
WAV and Apple Loops formats. MTF Verdict all programmed and re-sampled FX, drum and percussion hits. MTF
Sounds are divided into folders of A large and meticulously on original Akai, Yamaha and
abstract events, atmospheres, engineered package of Roland hardware, then MTF Verdict
cutting-edge sound design
hits, sweeps, risers, bass effects, remastered using analogue valve A varied treasure trove of
samples thats perfect for
morphs and transforms, drones media work. Also, having compressors, EQs and pristine satisfying, well produced
and tones and more, and individual sampler patches for converters. Everything here oozes hooks and riffs with a well
everything here is detailed and each sample is a major bonus. a warm analogue grit that makes rounded analogue nish.
well polished. There are also
sampler instrument les for each
9/10 it stand out against more modern
packs. Any fan of classic 90s DnB
10/10
Choice
Full Intention Remixing Techniques
House Republic 9/10 in Ableton Live
Manufacturer Loopmasters
Price 29.95
Key features
O 671MB of
with Rob Jones
24-bit/ Manufacturer Producertech
Contact info@loopmasters.com 44.1kHz audio
O 125 sampler Price 22.95 certain
Web www.loopmasters.com Key features
patches for
Kontakt,
Contact via website elements, the OTwo hours
tutorial overall of video
D
ance pioneers Full Intention HALion, EXS24, Web www.live-courses.com
Kong, NN-XT O Nine modules
have teamed up with focusses more
& SFZ O 53MB of free
P
Loopmasters for a pack of O 205 loops and roducertechs Rob Jones is on the creative Loopmasters
over 600MB of big sounding 317 one-shots back with another step-by- aspects of samples plus
accompanying
drums, basslines and synth step tutorial for Live- building up the Live Project
melodies, which have been taken Courses.com, which can be parts and then O Follows a deep
from, and inspired by, 15 years of streamed online direct from the laying out the house remix of a
productions and remixes. All site. Although the resolution could arrangement. folk track
samples have been recorded some bonus MIDI les, Massive be a little higher, theres still more You also get a
through an analogue valve mixer presets, and a large and excellent than enough detail to follow bonus Live project of the nished
or SSL desk and everything here collection of drum, bass and whats going on and everything track and a handful of high
has a high quality sheen to it. You music hits with accompanying loads quickly. Jones works his way quality tech house loops and hits
wont necessarily nd anything sampler patches MTF through a remix project, which from Loopmasters. MTF
cutting edge in the drums, starts off with the individual track
percussion, top loops, bass and MTF Verdict stems and gradually builds up into MTF Verdict
synth loops, but everything is a full deep house track. Along the An easy to follow tutorial
A large library of classy house
solid, well produced and punchy, way there are many useful tips thats light on mixing
music samples, with some
but not over compressed. The real lush string and brass loops and techniques including making techniques, but packed full of
stars are the fantastic live brass alongside some decent, sampler instruments, extracting useful creative tips and
punchy hits and fx. arrangement ideas.
and string loops, which can be grooves, and writing bass lines
used to add a nice organic avour
9/10 with Push. Although Jones 8/10
to your tracks. There are also occasionally touches upon mixing

Mini Reviews MTF
Strum they work beautifully perfect for

kick-starting song ideas.
GS-2
There are several other new features
including a revised string module, ner
nger interaction and improved body
Manufacturer Applied Acoustics
response for a richer tone. The
Price $199 strumming engine has been overhauled
Contact via website for a more expressive action. Previously
Web www.applied-acoustics.com devoid of any dynamic effects, a
compressor, equaliser and output
B
ack in September 2008 we limiter have been added and the
gave Applied Acoustic multi-effects now sound much richer
Systems Strum Acoustic great chorus, delay and anger. The
GS-1 an Innovation Award for interface has also been updated to
its physical modelling aspects and There are three ways to play it. In accommodate the changes.
authentic sound. Now, ve years on, Choice Guitar mode, chords are detected and If you already own GS-1, then GS-2
Strum GS-2 has been released with
many revisions and new features,
including a collection of steel and nylon
9/10 voiced automatically by pressing one or
more keys with the right hand while the
left hand plays special strumming keys
is most certainly a worthy update. And
for anybody looking for an easy-to-use,
authentic sounding virtual guitar, we
guitars, automatic chord recognition (downstroke, upstroke, palm muting can heartily recommend it. Look out,
and voicing plus integrated strumming and so on) in real time. Its easy to too, for the forthcoming electric version
and picking. It runs in both plug-in and Key features perform and very effective. a free update. MTF
standalone modes. O Acoustic guitar In Keyboard mode a new feature
emulation
Unlike most virtual guitars, this is a O Physical
single notes or chords can be played MTF Verdict
synth based entirely on physical modelling directly from the keyboard, which is Look Mum, no sampling, just a
modelling technology and doesnt use O Keyboard mode good for lead work. Also new on this lightweight, authentic-sounding
for lead lines acoustic guitar emulation. Not just
sampling. Nevertheless, although it version is the Loop mode where
O Guitar & for strumming but lead work, too.
may not be able to replicate guitar Loop mode for strumming is played from MIDI les.
Electric model will be free update.
makes and models, to our ears, Strum strumming Theres an extensive loop library for use
GS-2 blends acoustic warmth with an
impressive array of tonal variations.
O Dynamic &
multi-effects
in this mode covering a range of styles
and techniques and, for the most part,
9/10
Power Tools Maison Records Key features

O 1GB of classic
for Synthesizer Presents Real house loops

and hits
Programming
O Available
Key features
House Music in WAV, Apple
Loops, Live and
(2nd Ed) O 2nd Ed.

Synthesis Manufacturer Loopmasters
ReFill formats
O 132 Sampler
patches for
Manufacturer Hal Leonard reference book
Price 29.95 EXS24, HALion,
O Written by Jim Kontakt, Kong,
Price $29.99 Aikin Contact info@loopmasters.com NN-XT and SFZ
Contact O 256 pages O 120 to 124bpm
info@halleonardbooks.com O Black & white O Produced by
synth pictures and
L
Web www.halleonardbooks.com illustrations oopmasters has teamed up Ian Bland and
Anthony Miles
O 31 tutorial videos with Maison Records for a
available online
P
ower Tools for Synthesizer pack of classic house loops
Programming has been and hits thats full of 90s vibe.
updated to its 2nd edition by images are all in black and white, Produced by label owner Ian
author Jim Aikin, and now but add a decent degree of detail. Bland who has been involved in youll probably want to look
includes two new chapters and This is a good reference book for the scene since 1987, and Anthony elsewhere. However, if you want
revisions to cover developments beginners, but apart from a few Miles, the pack contains 1GB of some simple, authentic and
such as additive synthesis, tips lacks any deep, practical 24-bit audio and is available in a crunchy sounding 90s house
granular synthesis and physical programming knowledge. MTF range of formats. Alongside the sounds, then this is a great pack to
modelling. The book is a resource deep and solid basslines and lo- add to your library. MTF
for those looking to learn about MTF Verdict sounding beats, there are also
synths, and has detailed chapters
Although a little light on
folders of evolving acid loops, MTF Verdict
explaining LFOs, envelopes, lters programming tips, this is organ riffs, pads, pianos and
Although a little predictable
and waveforms, plus controllers a broad, detailed and chopped up vocals. Theres also a and lo- sounding, this is
and effects. Where the rst edition well-written book for large collection of bass, chords, fx, a sizable pack of pleasingly
came with a CD of audio examples, beginners on the building vocal and drum hits, plus a small authentic, 90s house hits
blocks of synthesis. and loops.
this version has 31 excellent bonus folder of MIDI bass lines. If
training videos available online.
The diagrams, illustrations and
8/10 youre after cutting-edge sounds
and high-grade production, then
8/10
MTF Mini Reviews
Choice
Mastering Key features Geode 9/10 Key features
with UAD O Mastering

techniques
using UAD
Melodic O 332MB of
moody, subtle
loops and hits
Plug-ins plug-ins
O 9 videos, Dubstep & O Available in WAV,
Apple Loops, Live
Beyond
73 minutes and ReFill formats
Publisher Groove 3 O Presented by O 73 Sampler
Matt Whatley patches for EXS24,
Price $35 O Includes EQ, HALion, Kong,
Contact via website compression, Publisher Loopmasters Kontakt, NN-XT
limiting, stereo and SFZ
Web www.groove3.com control and Price 19.95 O 95 to 178bpm
more Contact info@loopmasters.com O Produced by
O Watch online, Geode
A
lthough youll never beat a Web www.loopmasters.com
download or
true hardware mastering stream
T
job carried out by a pro, you he Deep Heads label sounds, chords and pads, with the
can get some great results using reasonable depth, with well paced returns to Loopmasters only let down being a folder of
the analogue modelled UAD A/B examples so that you can with an exquisite pack that slightly odd FX. The production is
plug-ins. Engineer Matt Whatley clearly hear the affected and explores the more subtle and detailed and solid, although at
and Groove 3 take a look at using a bypassed versions. Theres also an melodic side of dubstep. Producer times a little in-the-box sounding.
range of UAD plug-ins including additional video at the end that Geode has crafted over 300MB of Overall this is a good value pack of
the Ampex ATR-102, Braniworx BX looks at how to tackle a mix with gritty sub and mid-range bass interesting, inspiring and original
EQ, Shadow Hills Mastering an overly prominent vocal. MTF loops, crispy beats, breaks and loops and hits. MTF
Compressor, API 550A, Tonelux Tilt percussion loops, and deep and
EQ, Precision K-Stereo, Precision MTF Verdict dreamy musical riffs. Theres a fair MTF Verdict
Limiter and more. There are nine A well presented, concise and bit of variety ranging from slower
An inventive and varied
chapters in total, with the bulk of relatively detailed look at 95bpm loops up to 178bpm, DnB collection of crisp loops and
the tutorial working its way using a range of UAD plug-ins style breaks, with a mixture of excellent hits. Its also nice to
through using different to subtly enhance a mix and dark and light material. Although hear a dubstep pack with a bit
create a pro-sounding master. more subtlety and detail.
processors on a single rock track. the loop count isnt massive, its
Whatley explains each decision as
he explores the plug-ins in
8/10 backed up by an excellent
collection of drum hits, bass
9/10
Synth Explorer Float Chillwave Key features

O 606MB of
SH-101 Key features

Guitars and Loops 24-bit audio
O 159 guitar,
drum, synth and
bass loops
Manufacturer Loopmasters O Loops & hits Manufacturer Mode Audio
created with a O 70 to 122bpm
Price 14.95 Roland SH-101 Price 18 O 42 key labelled
O 377MB of MIDI loops
Contact info@loopmasters.com Contact via website
24-bit/44.1kHz O 10 hazy chillwave
Web www.loopmasters.com Audio Web www.modeaudio.com construction kits
O 122 Sampler
patches for
V F
olume 2 of the Synth loat is a new pack from
Kontakt,
Explorer collection includes HALion, Kong, Mode Audio that contains
104 arp and sequencer EXS24, NN-XT 10 construction kits of
& SFZ
loops recorded direct from the downtempo chillwave tracks
O 104 Sequencer
SH-101 with varying degrees of divided into folders of bass,
Value & arp loops at
140 and 175bpm
processing and effects to spice drums, synths and instruments,
things up. Its quite refreshing to
have acid style loops at 174bpm $ O Varied sounds
the capture the
raw nature of the
and both affected and dry guitars.
The pack is available in your layered on top of each other. The
as you dont often hear them at original synth choice of Acid WAV, Apple Loops dreamy effected versions sound
this tempo, and youre also and REX2, with several additional excellent, and there are also
presented with plenty at 140bpm hits, although to be fair this isnt patches and projects if you opt for separate folders for the tails to aid
for a more techno friendly speed. the instruments forte. MTF the Reason or Ableton Live with exibility. MTF
All the loops have a squelchy versions. As a nice bonus, you also
rawness, although given that MTF Verdict get the bass, drum and synth MTF Verdict
one of the strengths of analogue is loops in MIDI format so you can try
A great library of enjoyable Very well thought out and
to have subtle variations over time squelches and bleeps for out your own sounds. The bass presented pack full of
it would have been nice if they dubstep, DnB, acid and electro and drum loops arent anything to gorgeous sounding, hazy
were a little longer than just two producers that captures the write home about, and the synth guitar riffs, and plenty of
bars. Finally, there are some raw energy and versatility of loops are decent enough. However, options to aid the
the instrument. arrangement of your tracks.
fantastic bass, synth and FX hits the real star here is the stunning
with accompanying instruments, 8/10 array of guitar loops, with each kit 8/10
plus some fairly average drum featuring several riffs that can be

Mini Reviews MTF
K-Board
Manufacturer Keith McMillen
Instruments
Price $99
Contact MSL Pro: 0207 118 0133
Web www.keithmcmillen.com
I expected some trouble, as my musicians using tablets and iPads or
N
ow this is very cool. How MacBook has been a bit shaky with even just phones as its certainly
many times have you some controllers Ive tested, but it mobile enough.
wanted the tiniest of showed up straight away and I was Once in a while a product comes
keyboards when youre playing along with one of my (many) along where you think, why hasnt
composing in the tiniest of areas, or looping ideas immediately. anyone else executed this in such a
with the messiest of desks? Something Choice Whats also very neat about this is successful way before? And K-Board is
to play some riffs in while your DAW
loops, to get some ideas down quickly
or simply doodle and have fun with?
9/10 that not only do the keys light up as you
play them but keys and octaves are
shown along with other info. You can
one of them.
At the recent NAMM show in the
States we also saw different coloured
And if it has loads of ashing coloured add sustain, toggle velocity, and use the versions, so if the black one tested here
lights, then all the better! Step forward Tilt or dedicated Bend buttons for pitch. isnt to your taste there are plenty of
K-Board, the latest offering from Keith Key features K-Board is compact and rugged. other fun options. Its a must-have for
O Mac , Windows,
McMillen, a designer and musician who Indeed the makers claim that its any mobile musician and anyone
iOS, Android
makes the gear he needs we looked at O Two-octave indestructible and that you can drive a wanting to get ideas down fast. MTF
the Qu-Nexus a few issued back, of mini keys car over it although we didnt make
which this is a simplied version and with lights this part of our tests. MTF Verdict
O Sustain,
one go on this, his new K-Board, and Velocity, Tilt,
It slots very nicely at the front of your Great idea, fairly cheap and mobile.
you might nd you need it too Bend and laptop and the lead is long enough to Flashing lights and playing keys
K-Board plugs into a USB socket for Pressure play it (slightly more) remotely. While we have never been so much fun.
your device (Mac, Windows, iOS and
Android) to hopefully see straight away.
modes
O USB lead
used it with a laptop, we can also see
this being a hugely popular choice for
9/10
UDG Creator The iPad In The Key features

O 220+ pages
Laptop stand Music Studio O Chapters

on apps,
connections,
recording,
Manufacturer UDG Manufacturer Hal Leonard distribution
Price 149.95 Price $19.99 O Lots of (black
and white) pics
Contact via website Web www.halleonardbooks.com
Web www.udggear.com
T
he latest in Hal Leonards
U
DG is making a name for Quick Pro Guides and at
itself in the studio 220+ pages you have to
Key features
community thanks to its O Adjustable
wonder how thick the Slow
hard cases and useful stands laptop stands version would be is dedicated to
we gave a great score to one O Can be the device that promised to
used for any
case a few issues back. revolutionise music making.
controller
This laptop stand seems like a O Easy to Whether thats happening is open
great idea especially if your assemble to debate, but if youve ever
studio desktop is as crowded as wanted to make more of your iPad
ours and ts together easily and choice for musicians. So, great in your studio then this is the
is sturdy, although we did feel a idea, but check the size of your denitive book. It has the
little uneasy about entrusting our laptop before purchasing (and interfaces, the apps and the
valuable studio centrepiece to a your arm muscles). MTF guides to connecting to pro setups
stand. There are a few issues, as and marketing and distribution
well. If you rest your hands on your MTF Verdict your tunes. However, getting a MTF Verdict
work surface when using your chunky book on such a fast-
Great idea but doesnt t our Yes, all the information within
touchpad, then using the laptop large 15 Mac and you may not moving subject might not be your
it is available online and it will
here involves lifting your arms, so feel comfortable raising your best option. Of course our Top 50 quickly date, but its the
itll force you to change the way arms to use it if you are used Apps feature online will be comprehensive guide to iPad
you work. Secondly, we couldnt to resting them on your desk. constantly updated and all the music making.
extend the top to t a large
MacBook Pro, a popular mobile
7/10 info is out there already, but its a
great resource nonetheless. MTF
7/10
MTF Mini Reviews
IK Multimedia creation on an Apple device and

likewise with SampleTank 3SE for your
iRig Pads
Mac or PC which offers 6.5GB (for an
additional 80) to take your creativity
beyond the beats. Obviously with
Manufacturer IK Multimedia
everything programmable youre not
Price 119.99 just limited to IK apps, so itll work with
Contact via website APCs, Live, Maschine, GarageBand and
Web www.ikmultimedia.com so on, and will save up to 16 scenes to
work with such software (of which it
T
he latest in the seemingly ships with six presets).
endless wave of pad-based As well as beat and riff creation it
groove controllers is the iRig will also soon work with DJ Rig to help
Pads, only this time it aims to be you mix and blend MP3s and take you
more compact and portable than most into more of a performance/DJ area.
and is specically aimed at the iPad, So iRig Pads is a very exible device
iPhone and iPod Touch markets (plus Innovation as well as being highly portable (its
laptop Mac and PC owners). It certainly multi-coloured, velocity responsive, depth is particularly and notably thin).
fulls the brief in this regard as its dominant and eminently playable You perhaps wont benet from its
rugged and solid in feel but small which is what they should be The controlability if your music is beatless
enough to put in an (albeit large) pocket. whole unit is light enough to easily carry as the emphasis is denitely on grooves
The unit features a USB connector and powers by way of the device you and dance, but if you want extra
Key features
(for your computer) and foot pedal connect it to very neat. i-Control and are perhaps tiring of
O 16 backlit pads
connector plus the expected Lightning In terms of what you can control, as touch, this is a worthy option. MTF
O Eight
30-pin Apple connector. Controls programmable you might expect, the emphasis in all
include two assignable MIDI rotaries sliders, buttons the marketing blurb is IK focussed with MTF Verdict
and rotaries
and one assignable slider, a couple of particular mention of Groovemaker 2, A compact, sturdy and portable
O iPad, iPhone,
assignable buttons, a rotary switch iPod compatible DJ Rig and SampleTank, the latter of unit which makes a useful, tactile
(also programmable) and nally two O USB connector which is bundled with it in touch form addition to your studio.
edit buttons. The biggest controls are, of
course, the 16 pads, all back-lit,
for Mac and PC
O 16 user scenes
free of charge. With it iRig Pads is
(perhaps obviously) brilliant for beat
8/10
M-Audio Korg Mini

M50 Kaoss Pad 2S
Manufacturer M-Audio/InMusic Manufacturer Korg
Price 49.99 Price 119
Contact via website Contact via website
Web www.m-audio.com Web www.korg.com
H T
eadphones for mixing at he number of Kaoss devices
this price point are few and Korg produces might be
far between. There are confusing kaottic, even
plenty of listening phones but, at but the latest KP2S renes the Key features
O100 effect programs
just shy of 50, few make bold concept (thats arguably been
Key features O 15 filter, 15 mod,
studio boasts, so are these new around for 16 years) further. 20 LFO, 10 delay, 5
ODriver size: 50mm
M50s claims justied? Kaoss Pad 2S retains the large reverb, 20 looper, 5
O Impedance: 32Ohms
vocoder, 10 synth
Were not keen on the O Freq response: number of effects of its
O Stereo mini jack line
wrap-around comfort compared 28Hz - 20kHz predecessor (100 in total) but in and headphone out
O Rated power: 30mW
to more expensive options but the adds sampling (explaining the S) O Power:
O Cable: 1.83m and 2x AA batteries
phones do feel rugged. The bass 3.5mm-to-6.35mm to the mix, so you can use the
O Data storage:
response is less rounded adapter device as anything from simple Micro SD and SDHC
compared to our reference AT O Noise-isolating recorder to mobile vocoder. O Dimensions (WxDxH):
over-ear design
phones but these cost ve times Using the device is 76x128x25mm
the price so this is to be expected. tremendous fun, of course, and it O Weight: 100g
MTF Verdict
At this price, though, the M50s is perhaps more a mobile gadget
will suit some pockets and we can Theyre one of the cheapest for the performer than producer. MTF Verdict
headphone options for proper
see them being snapped up by mixing but the detail at the But the recording option adds to Its an evolution of an aging
entry level mixers. Experienced bottom is a little lacking. There the studio experience, and the concept, but the KP2S is small
producers may opt for the more are other options see over! more you work with it (and the and perfect in many ways.
expensive HDH50s. If thats you,
check page 126 MTF
7/10 smaller your ngers) the more you
will sonically reap. MTF
8/10
Mini Reviews MTF
Rise Designer Ghetto Funk Presents

Publisher Zero-G Hype Vocals
Price 69.95 Key Features
Publisher Loopmasters
Contact Time+Space 0183755200 Key Features O 540 short vocal
O Riser instrument Price 24.95 phrases and hooks
Web www.timespace.com with sounds O 70, 86, 105 and
designed by
Contact info@loopmasters.com 110bpm
R
ise Designer from Zero-G is Alessandro Web www.loopmasters.com O 640MB of
a Kontakt instrument for Camnasio 24-bit/44.1kHz
O Large range audio
I
crafting complex rise f youre looking to add some
of synthetic and O 6 sampler
effects. Each sound is made up of organic textures to vocal energy to your tracks then patches for EXS24,
a rise and tail element, and each build your rises this pack from Loopmasters Kontakt, HALion,
O Requires Kontakt NN-XT and SFZ
element is a blend of two sounds and Ghetto Funk could be just for
5.3.1 or higher O Performed by
created by Hollywood sound O Custom interface
you. Hype Vocals is a collection of Dizzy Dustin and
designer Alessandro Camnasio. It with random MC-style vocal phrases and Stanstro
enables you to control the attack button, rise length shouts performed by Ugly
and unison
slope, pitch rise depth, and rise Ducklings Dizzy Dustin and mostly clichd MC shout outs, but
O Compression,
length, along with a button for distortion, filter, Savant aka Stanstro, and includes its authentically performed and
randomising the samples and reverb, delay and both tempo specic phrases and well presented with the odd
gate slicer effects
switching on unison. There are single word shouts and hooks. All variation to add exibility. MTF
also built-in distortion, the vocals are presented relatively
compressor and lter effects, plus clean, with an additional folder of MTF Verdict
MTF Verdict
reverb and delay send effects. The effected hooks, plus a folder of A solid collection of authentic
Although many of the presets MC shouts and hooks, if a little
presets are divided into a mix of scratched vocals performed by UK
sound fairly similar once you clichd. If youre willing to get
more electronic sounds, organic start layering sounds, this is a DMC Champion JFB. Youll also
creative then this could
orchestral sounds, and more well-designed instrument for nd the stems for the demo track become a useful tool in your
complex textures. Rise Designer getting quick cinematic rises that offer a good example of what arsenal for adding hype and
doesnt have the variety of NIs into your tracks. can be done by chaining hooks excitement to tracks.
similar offering, but it still provides
an ample library of epic FX. MTF
7/10 together. You wont nd anything
especially original here, as its
8/10
Dope Ammo & Marvellous Complete Guide to Kontakt

Cain D&B by Defazed
Fusion Vol2 Publisher Producertech
Price 39.95
Key Features
O Three hours
Publisher Loopmasters of video
Key Features Contact via website O 19 chapters in
Price 29.95 O Heavy weight seven modules
Web www.synth-courses.com
jungle and DnB O Presented by
Contact info@loopmasters.com samples Defazed
T
Web www.loopmasters.com O 787MB of his course from Producertech O 157MB of
24-bit/44.1kHz accompanying
on the newly created
Audio Kontakt Presets
D
ope Ammos second DnB O 53 Sampler Synth-Courses.com, takes a and Live Projects
pack for Loopmasters sees patches for Kontakt, look at the more practical and O Synth-heavy
the producer team up with HALion, EXS24, creative ways in which you can glitch-hop track
NN-XT & SFZ written using
Marvellous Cain. The pack O Over 400 samples
use NIs Kontakt to build sounds Kontakt & Live
features 787MB of audio and is and loops and create a track. Written and
available in WAV, Apple Loops, Live O 164 -180bpm presented by producer Defazed, also does extremely well is explore
Pack and Reason ReFill. There are the course is split into seven some interesting ways to get
folders of sub heavy jungle pack that harks back to the modules that start with a basic creative with building patches,
basslines, raw, chopped up sounds of the late 90s/early 00s overview, and move on to building looping and granular synthesis
breakbeats, and dancehall- jungle and DnB era. MTF and processing a drum kit, using different algorithms. MTF
inspired brass and music loops, creating bass, synth and
plus some shufing percussion MTF Verdict atmospheric instruments, and
MTF Verdict
top loops and lls. Youll also nd programming and arranging a
Strong and simple sounding Less a video manual for
saturated bass, synth and FX production and hooks offer a track in Ableton Live. Its a stretch
Kontakt, and more an
one-shots and multisampled raw and infectious take on the to say that this is a complete guide inspiring and creative look
instruments, some edgy drum DnB sound, with plenty of to Kontakt, as it doesnt go into at how to build interesting
hits, and a handful of ragga style space for further tweaking great depth on the ner details synth patches and then use
and processing. them in a track.
vocal shouts from Shaddy MC and of the sampler, but it is a great
Gigante. Its refreshing to hear a
simpler and more raw sounding
8/10 read for advice on sequencing
sounds in Ableton Live. What it
8/10
MTF Mini Reviews
Novation compact and very usable hub that
Audiohub 2x4
interfaces directly to your computer
as it turns out very easily (with Logic
in our setup).
Manufacturer Novation
The DJ is catered for too with
Price 159.99 enough connections for an NI Maschine
Contact via website (USB), DJ mixer (audio output) and
Web uk.novationmusic.com turntable (RCA ins) another prime
example. Then theres mobile use with
N
ovation, more than pretty iPads, EDM studio use and beat-
much any other company, has making all provided for, and a good
embraced the USB standard demonstration of how exible this unit
with all sorts of mobile can be.
Launch products among many others, As ever, once a company reveals
all ready and raring to go for the more what can be done (and should have
mobile musicians. And sister company clutter up, just add another device to it been done) we inevitably want more, so
Focusrite knows a thing or two about all to plug in to more inputs (TRS) Novation, please!
audio, so if you want a hub to manage a But were being a little picky because This will inevitably happen with the next
bunch of USB gear and that hub to this is a potentially very useful box, release were sure. For now though
Key features
provide a good quality audio interface despite its looks not promising too Audiohub seems like the way to go for
O Two TRS
too, what better than a device that does balanced jack much from the outset. Having two ins the desktop DJ and producer and we
it all, effectively from both companies? outputs and four outs might seem odd but the look forward to more in the range. MTF
The thinking with this is that O Four unbalanced three USB sockets provide the main
RCA outputs
peoples desktops are getting pretty use clue. There are a pair of RCA inputs MTF Verdict
O Two RCA
cluttered with USB gubbins, and that line inputs at the front, and balanced outs to your Not immediately obvious how
this device can act as the central hub, O Three USB type speakers. So plug a keyboard in (RCA useful this little box can be but a
uniting it all and more into a unied A sockets ins), for example, plus a USB device or little thought and a lot of USB make
setup. We can see how this works, even
O Dimensions
two, say a Launch Control (one of our it everyones friend
(WxDxH):
though some of the promotional
pictures dont appear to clear the
134 x150x41mm Six Of The Best controllers on p20) and
LaunchKey and you suddenly have a
8/10
M-Audio IK Multimedia Choice

HDH50 iRig 2 9/10
Manufacturer M-Audio/InMusic Manufacturer IK Multimedia
Price 119.99 Price 29.99
Contact via website Contact via website
Web www.m-audio.com Web www.ikmultimedia.com
W T
eve just seen (p124) how he original iRig is now touted
the entry-level phones in as the most popular guitar
M-Audios new range interface of all time and even
shape up in the studio and now its though that may be true, it had
Key features
time for the more expensive much room for improvement, or so
ODriver size: 50mm
option. With an encompassing O Impedance: 16Ohms the specs of v2 suggest
build these offer a more O Freq response: iRig is, on the face of it, a
immersive experience than the 12Hz-24kHz simple interface that enables you Key features
M50s and the frequency response O Max SPL: to plug your guitar (or bass) into an O 1/4in
114dB @ 1kHz instrument in
digs deeper and reaches higher so O Cable: 2.1m and
i-device, Mac and (now) Samsung
and amp out
the response is better. At more 3.5mm-to-6.35mm Android. iRig 2 now features an O Input gain dial
than twice the price of the adapter adjustable input dial for its 1/4in O 1/8in TRRS
O Communication out and
entry-level phones, youll have to cable with built-in
input, and a 1/4in output jack for
headphone outs
ask yourself if the extra 70 is microphone included amp connectivity. This is obviously
worth it for the extra Hz and especially useful when paired with
experience. Wed say denitely! MTF Verdict IKs own AmpliTube guitar MTF Verdict
Headphones and monitors are the At 120 the HDH50s are a processor, a free version of which
iRig 2s features arguably
most important end of your signal good buy and offer a better ships with iRig 2. Theres also now should have been on v1 but it
chain and, as with most monitors, mix experience and range a selector switch to switch in and really is the i-interface your
than their cheaper brother. guitar has been looking for.
these demonstrate that the more through effects, so v2 now comes
you spend, the more you get back
in terms of accuracy MTF
8/10 with a exible range of controls
the best really has got better. MTF
9/10
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Six of the best

Hardware Software Mobile Technology Samples
Welcome to the last of our MusicTech Buyers Guides where we Details
round up some of the best products recently reviewed in the Price
26.99
magazine. This time, a whole range of different software synths: Contact Korg UK,
01908 304600
from great all-rounders to iOS must-haves Web
www.korguk.com
BEST All-rounder
T
he original was released a mere
decade ago which seems a
lifetime in the history of
Rob Papen software synthesis, but last

years update to Blue (the appropriately
version-ed Blue II) was a massive hit
Blue II largely down to its interface, its

numerous synthesis options and
stacks of sounds. With effectively 12
engines under the bonnet, taking in FM,
subtractive, wave-shaping and phase
distortion synthesis, plus a good couple
of thousand sounds theres almost too
much to keep you occupied here
Reviewer Andy Jones said: Rob
Papen has put so much into Blue II that
he clearly wants it to be the only synth
BEST Mobile
Details youll ever need so it could be my go to
Price 109
(upgrade 35)
Contact T&S:
01837 55200
synth for years to come (I cant believe I
used the expression go to). He
concluded: Blue II is any synth you
Korg
Gadget
Web www.
want it to be. A worthy successor to
timespace.com the original and one that will have you
tweaking and playing for many a year.
T
ruly, the iOS generation of
BEST Hybrid synths deserves its own Six Of
The Best category, which well
Native Instruments
surely come to, but for now
Gadget represents not one but a whole
suite of synths on your iPad 2 or higher
so is one of the best synth packages
Rounds you can get for the platform.

You get a sequencer to pull them all
together (up to 20 tracks depending on
F
eaturing both an analogue how new your iPad is) and a whole
and digital synth engine with range of gadgets (instruments of an
up to eight sounds each, electronic nature) named after cities.
Rounds is an initially You can pick it up and make a banging
straightforward beast to tame but tune in minutes, said reviewer Hollin
has a lot of depth and, when you start Jones, but there is a depth of
to animate those sounds, some programming and editing features as
superb sonics. It will take work to well. For this many well-designed and
make your own patches but you will Details cool sounding synths, the price is
see that Rounds is capable of some Price certainly fair.
89 (or part of
stunning results, said Hollin Jones, Komplete 10)
He then concluded: Gadget is a
and concluded: A complex, Contact via website fresh take on iPad synthesis and
powerful synth that provides huge Web sequencing from Korg. It is simple
sounds and creates clever, www.native- enough to use but powerful enough
instruments.com
dynamic sequences. and fun, with some excellent sounds.

BEST Classic
Plug-in Boutique
VirtualCZ
T
here are, of course, many soft both an analogue and digital edge and
synths that attempt to recreate resulted in a surprisingly varied sound.
classic analogue hardware Virtual CZ has the lot reviewer Andy
Details from the 60s, 70s and 80s. You Jones said: If you are sick of a sea of
Price 59.95 can get classic Moogs, ARPs, Prophets, classic analogue emulations then this is
Contact Plug-in
Rolands and Korgs but one of the a must buy. Its accessible, exible and a
Boutique:
01273 692313 best is VirtualCZ as it brings back a hugely inspirational synth a must buy
Web more obscure range in the form of the to increase your sonic palette.
www.plugin
boutique.com
Casio CZ. The originals used phase And at just 59.95 it is quite simply
distortion synthesis that gave them the steal of the year. Get it now!
If you are sick of a sea of analogue BEST Depth!

emulations then this is simply a must
buy. Its also the steal of the year Melda
MPower
Details
Price 209
Synth
T
(89.95 upgrade)
his is not one for beginners to
Contact T&S on soft synthesis. Featuring
01837 55200 multiple oscillators, effects,
Web www.
modulation routing options,
timespace.com
and lots of building block utilities this is
pretty much any synth you want it to
be. Reviewer Hollin Jones said: Its a
serious synth that rewards some
investment of effort but, crucially, it
sounds great, before concluding: An
extraordinarily powerful synth with
literally endless programmability
options. Good presets, but design your
own sounds to get the most out of it.
BEST Audio mangler Details

Price 199
Web
IZotope Iris 2 www.melda

production.com
W
hen does an audio sampler over again. Alex Holmes said: The true
become a synth? When it value of this instrument is capturing
has the modulation your own sounds and transforming them
features and synthesis into playable music, a task made even
options that Iris offers, thats when. The more exible with the new modulation
latest version of IZotopes software system. This is a fantastic package and
features ve complex LFOs and 20 a unique instrument that is more
oscillator shapes to enable you to exible than ever the sound library is
extract and synthesise audio over and worth the asking price alone

MTF On Your DVD
ON YOUR FREE DVD

Ableton Live has grown into one of the most popular
DAWs in studios around the world, and its not hard to
see why. However, although easy to pick up, Live can
still be a complex beast as it is filled with features and
tools that can take years to master. Fear not, though,
as were here to help with the Live 2015/16 DVD!
Theres nearly two hours worth of high-quality, pro
tuition videos, the latest software demos, freeware
plug-ins, plus promotional videos showing off cutting-
edge synths, effects and controllers. Youll also find
plenty of royalty-free loops, samples and hits to use in
your own productions, plus all the files you need to
follow along with the workshops at home
MTF On the disc 116 Minutes of pro video tuition
GROOVE 3 LIVE-COURSES.COM POINTBLANK MUSIC SCHOOL

01 02 03
Groove 3 has provided seven videos Producertechs Rob Jones presents four Mastering engineer Alex Zinn presents
taken from its latest Live courses. There are videos from Live-Courses.com. There are two three videos on mastering dance music using
chapters on managing sets, the Groove Pool, modules on working with vocal loops and Live, with chapters on creating a mid/side
automation editing, recording drums with zones using Sampler, a video on creating matrix, how to use multiband compression
Push, using curved automation and rapid re stereo width in your tracks using reverb and a when mastering tracks for the club, and using
in-place auditioning. look at laying out a deep house arrangement. EQ, saturation and limiting to nish a track.
LOOP+ LOOPMASTERS SAMPLES WAVE ALCHEMY SAMPLES

04 05 06
Loop+ has supplied three Ableton Live A hand-picked library of royalty-free If you like drum machines, then weve
QuickTips videos. First up, theres a nifty trick samples in 24-bit WAV format, including got a special treat for you. Wave Alchemy has
on using transient warping to create Submotion Orchestra, Vintage Rhodes, Dub provided a massive collection of 874 specially
build-ups, followed by advice on how to add Reggae Sirens and Chillstep. Youll also nd Live processed kick, snare, clap, hat, cymbal and
useful track notes to your project via MIDI Packs featuring killer club loops from Niche percussion hits taken from various machines
clips, and nally a look at using the Transient Audio and a demo of Loopmasters Ultimate including an 808, airbase 99, mbase 11 and
control to shape drum loops. Ableton Racks. Vermona DRM drum machine.

On Your DVD MTF
MTF Your Disc

MTF DVD 40 Ableton Live 2015/16
PROMOTIONAL
VIDEOS
Weve got over 980MB of
videos showcasing the
latest plug-ins and
hardware including a
huge range of cutting-
edge hardware synths
and software
instruments from
Teenage Engineering, SOFTWARE DEMOS
Best Service, Embertone, Why not try out the latest
Heavyocity, Impact plug-ins and software to
Soundworks, Kurzweil, supplement Lives native
Plugin Boutique, Project effects. From innovative
SAM, Sample Logic, synths, to complex,
Zero-G, Roland, u-he and modern processors and
Spectrasonics. Youll also tools, weve rounded up a
nd high-quality range of demo and
monitors and hardware freeware software for you
controllers from Focal, to try out. Youll nd
Akai, Alesis, and plenty of creative effects,
Novation, plus top of the samplers, lters, synths,
range software effects delays, stereo tools,
and processors from D16, dynamics processors and
Elysia and UVI. more to help you
compose and ne tune
USING OUR your tracks.
WORKSHOPS
Whether youre a ROYALTY-FREE
seasoned pro or totally SAMPLES
new to Live, weve got a Weve rounded up a
host of Live workshops to top-notch collection of
help you improve your Royalty-free samples
programming and mixing from Loopmasters, Niche
skills. Topics include Audio and Wave Alchemy
effects, building for you to use in your
arrangements, tracks. Youll nd an
composition, working eclectic mix of vintage
with video, mixing and keys and pianos, live
compression, and Push. drums, twinkling synths,
Where appropriate youll dub FX, jackin bass lines,
nd hi-res images, and chunky beats, plus a
project les and audio on massive collection of
the disc so you can follow drum one shots. All les
along at home. Be sure to come in 24-bit WAV or
copy all the les to your Live Pack format and
computer before opening are ready to be
a project. imported, warped,
chopped and
manipulated to your
hearts content.
On the disc
YOUR DVD CONTENT FILES Download them to your hard drive and unzip them to endeavour to supply you with a replacement disc
ZIP FILES access the individual les (remembering to eject the DVD immediately. Please note that were unable to provide
To maximise the amount of content we can bring you on to prevent your computer from slowing down). technical support for the software on the MTF DVD
each DVD, the video, tutorial and samples les are please check our website at www.musictech.net for any
supplied compressed (zipped). Mac users should be WHAT IS ROYALTY-FREE? known problems.
able to decompress ZIP les simply by double-clicking on Any MTF DVD content marked royalty-free can be used
them; PC users may need to download a utility such as in your own original compositions (even commercial MISSING YOUR DISC?
WinZip (www.winzip.com). ones). You may not, however, resell these samples in any If your disc is missing, contact us at editorial@anthem-
other form. publishing.com with your full postal address and the
TUTORIAL FILES issue number.
The software tutorials that feature in each issue of MTF DEFECTIVE DISCS
are almost always accompanied by les and audio so you In the unlikely event that your disc is defective, please
can work through them on your system. These les are return it to: Disc Returns, Anthem Publishing, Suite 6,
zipped to reduce the space they occupy on the DVD. Piccadilly House, London, Bath BA1 6PL. We will

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Welcome MTF

Welcome to Ableton LIve 2015/16, another MusicTech Focus

Contributors All content copyright Anthem Publishing Ltd TEXTING

Issue 40 Ableton Live 2015/16

The Ultimate create

4 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF40 Live 2015/16 Full listings

Collaborate! DAW: The guide to speedy workow

How to make music with anyone 040 | Part 8: Creating a song in

Run a pro studio anywhere Our ultimate guide to

and make money from Manager at Ableton speaks

Mastering, 100 | Roland JD-XA synth

mixing Series mobile music makers

The best controllers, 117 | Audio Technica

soft synths & explained ATH-M70 headphones

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 |5

Ableton Live Coming to Live from another DAW Level Beginner

Coming to Live from

FOCUS ON SESSION VIEW

6 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 1. First steps with clips in Session View

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 |7

MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds

8 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds (contd)

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 |9

MTF Step-by-Step 2. Instruments and sounds (contd)

10 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 11

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips (contd)

12 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips (contd)

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 13

MTF Step-by-Step 3. Creating a tune from a few clips (contd)

14 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 4. Bringing old ideas to Live

16 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

MTF Step-by-Step 4. Bringing old ideas to Live (contd)

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 17

Show off your (Live) studio

Welcome to the feature thats taking

The Freq Zone

18 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

Fusion Mastering EMR Studio

The Toft is the centre-

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 19

Six of the best

20 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

Icon QCon Pro

Akai MPC40 MkII Details

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 21

MTF Feature Online collaboration

22 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

anybo ody inn the worlld who has

FOCUS Ableton Live 2015/16 | 23

Making music online: the basics

24 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS

THE PHOENIX HG15

concepts, and OMF 2.0 added volume settings and

Making music live on the web

Web browsers are hugely Make music with Soundation

Click the Add button at the bottom left to create

26 | Ableton Live 2015/16 FOCUS