W ELC O M E
THE MUSICTECH EXPERTS
ANDY JONES
Editor At Large Andy
has an MA in Music
Technology and has been
writing about it for 25 years.
He has launched and edited
several magazines on the
subject and was editor
of MusicTech for four
years. Naturally, he has
far too many synthesisers.
DAVE GALE
Dave is an award-winning
orchestrator, media
composer and producer,
with a passion for synths and
modulars in all their forms,
whether software, hardware,
vintage or modern. Dave
is MusicTech’s resident
Eurorack expert, as well as
a soundtrack composer.
ALEX HOLMES
Alex has been an electronic
musician for many years
and has a passion
for beats, bass and all
forms of electronic music.
He’s currently involved
with three different
dance-music projects. Alex
creates our sample-filled
DVD each month.
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EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Andy Price
EDITOR AT LARGE Andy Jones
ART EDITOR John Thackray
FEATURES EDITOR Will Betts
PRODUCTION EDITOR Owen Bailey
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Alex Holmes
Have a story?
Email us at editors@musictech.net
musictech.net
MARTIN DELANEY
Martin was one of the first
UK Ableton Certified Trainers.
He has taught a wide range
of people and has written
three books about Live.
Martin designed the Kenton
Killamix Mini USB MIDI
controller and is the editor
of the popular Instagram
account Abletonlive.london.
ADAM CRUTE
Adam is a freelance
engineer, media producer
and musician. Having cut his
teeth in tape-based analogue
studios, his involvement
with music technology has
spanned the move from
analogue to digital recording.
Adam is currently our go-to
Cubase expert.
MIKE HILLIER
Mike spent five years
at Metropolis Studios,
working alongside some
of the best-known mix and
mastering engineers in the
world. He now works out of
his own studio in London.
He’s also been writing words
for magazines for longer than
anyone can remember.
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Tom Callahan
Let’s turn back the clock…
Many, many years ago, when pop music was in
its infancy, artists would record at multi-purpose
recording facilities that were typically designed
simply to capture the live performances of the
bands and artists. During the 1960s, when pop
music had seized the mantle as the dominant
entertainment medium in popular culture,
bands such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys
grew frustrated by the limitations imposed on
them by the technology of the time. Their desire
to sonically innovate (not to mention the
genius-level work of the producers and engineers they worked with)
spearheaded the advancement of multi-track recording technology, as well
as several techniques and recording approaches that are still widely used
today. In our cover feature, John Pickford examines how much of this classic
technology was used – and how we can replicate those approaches today
in our own home studios, using very faithful recreations of key kit from decades
gone by.
Elsewhere this issue, we learn more about the art of stem mastering from
London’s Wired Masters; discover how an effective understanding of social
media can hep you grow your audience; talk to a range of producers and
engineers (including the Grammy-winning Darrell Thorp) and review all the
latest hardware and software. I hope you enjoy the issue.
Andy Price Managing Editor andy.price@musictech.net
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EMAIL support@musictech.net we acknowledge the copyright.
MusicTech May 2019 3
C O N T EN T S

In the issue…

CREATE CLASSIC
STUDIO SOUNDS
A hands-on guide to recreating vintage
studio sounds using a wealth of stunning
hardware and software emulations
of classic studio gear…

12
FEATURES
Recreate Vintage Studio Sounds 12
Link And Sync With Live
How to use Ableton Live and Link to
46 Warm Audio WA-251 and WA-84
Spitfire Audio
80

hook up and jam with other musicians Studio Brass Professional 82

Your DVD
Turn the page for a full list
of the contents of the
MusicTech issue 194 DVD
How to recreate the sounds of classic Deeper Automation In Cubase 56 Propellerhead Complex-1 84
vintage gear in your home studio Sophisticated, possibly track-saving IK Multimedia SampleTank 4 86
automation workarounds in Cubase Intuitive Audio Chord Composer 89
INTERVIEWS
Cassian Irvine Of Wired Masters 24
Mixing With Groups In Pro Tools 62
Speed up your workflow by sharing
Rob Papen Vecto
PROCESS.AUDIO Sugar
92
94
Cassian Irvine Of Wired Masters functions across channels using Pro UVI PX V8 98
explains stem mastering Tools’ inbuilt Groups functionality Korg Volca Modular 100
Tarek Musa 32 External Loop Production Mini Reviews 104
Ex-Spring King Tarek Musa shares his In Reason 10 66 Six Of The Best:
production and studio know-how How to use Reason to produce Ableton Live Controllers 106
Timo Baker 36 loops from external audio sources
10 Tips To Improve Acoustics 70
Celebrated composer and musician
Timo Baker offers his insights and tips 10 tips for creating better acoustics
in your studio for sonic consistency
REGULARS
for scoring for film, TV and trailers Welcome 3
Darrell Thorp 108 6 Ways To Get A Classic Sound 120 Disc page 6
Darrell Thorp on engineering Beck’s Create classic sounds without buying News 8
Colors and recording perfection expensive vintage hardware Show Off Your Studio 52
Subscriptions 96
Rewind: ADATs 122
TUTORIALS REVIEWS
Akai Professional Force 74
Buses And Aux Channels In Logic 42
Using bus sends and aux channels Native Instruments
to speed up mixing and recording Komplete Kontrol M32 78

4 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

NEWS
In case you missed it…
IN CASE YOU
MISSED IT…
THE JOY OF SIX
F
abled console brand Solid State
Logic has released SiX, a compact
desktop mixer with several
professional-grade features.
Despite its diminutive size, the SiX promises
a big console sound that aims to cover
your studio, post-production, stage and
podcasting needs.
Looking at the SiX in more detail, then,
the physical construction of the mixer is
based on a SuperAnalogue design which,
according to SSL, enables it to capture the
sonic flavour of its larger predecessors. The
SiX also boasts a balanced signal path –
excluding headphone out – and is capable
of clear, detailed audio. SSL claims that
the console’s audio has a “wide dynamic
range, ultra-low noise and distortion,
as well as superb imaging”.
8 May 2019 MusicTech
The SiX also features two mono
recording channels with SuperAnalogue
mic preamps. These channels feature a
gain range of 66dB (more than a typical
desktop mixer) and come with phantom
power, a 75Hz high-pass filter and an
independent line-level input.
Channel controls-wise, there’s a
new one-knob version of the classic SSL
channel-compressor circuit, a two-band
channel EQ, inserts and 100mm faders.
The SiX takes its cues from large-format
predecessors in the areas of compression
and routing/monitoring. It also features a
G-Series compressor that is used on the
main mix. SSL state that this compressor has
the same circuit design as the iconic SSL
Bus Compressor, but comes with simpler
controls; giving you control over threshold
FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT
WWW.MUSICTECH.NET
and make-up gain while keeping ratio,
attack and release settings fixed.
In terms of routing/monitoring, the
console comes with two Stereo Cue busses
– with level and pan controls. There’s also
a master monitoring section, as well as
mute buttons on all fader channels. The
SiX includes a mixdown mode, in which
the mixer becomes a 12-channel summing
system that adds “analogue detail, depth
and width” to mixes, according to SSL.
SSL has also incorporated a talkback
mic input and a crunchy Listen Mic
Compressor into the SiX, the latter of which
was responsible for the classic Phil Collins
slammed drum sound from the 80s.
The SiX retails at $1,499. For more info,
see solidstatelogic.com.
musictech.net

POLE POSITION
H
and-made microphone
company Austrian Audio
has unveiled a whopping
eight new products at this
year’s Musikmesse, across five different
categories. Among the most intriguing
of these is the new range of hand-crafted
large-diaphragm condenser microphones,
which introduce the company’s bespoke
Open Acoustics Technology.
The flagship products for the launch
are the silver OC818, multi-pattern fully
featured big brother to the smaller black
OC18 cardioid-only microphone. The
OC818 is particularly noteworthy, being the
APPY DAYS
O
ne of the most peculiar, but
groundbreaking news stories
we read recently concerned
Warner Music signing an
algorithm to release a reported 20 albums
a year. The algorithm was developed by
sound-startup Endel and uses artificial
musictech.net
first multi-patterned microphone to feature
wireless pattern and switching control via
an optional transmitter/receiver (called the
OCR8). This enables control via the free
PolarPilot app, which will be available via
iOS and Android. Despite the software
control, the company emphasises that
there will be no processing or conversion of
the mic’s signal to digital – it’s all analogue.
The OC818 also features a second
output that allows the user to record the
rear-facing capsule independently of the
forward-facing capsule.
The PolarDesigner plug-in allows for
tailoring of the polar patterns between
intelligence to develop personalised audio
tracks aimed at increasing the user’s mood
and/or productivity.
Warner Music recently developed an
Arts Music division, which was quick to spot
the benefit of what Endel’s app was doing.
Warner has released five of the albums so
NEWS
one-to-five bands with selectable crossover
points. The OC818 and OC18 will be
available in a variety of packs to fit
different needs. The pricing runs as follows:
OC818 Studio Pack LAUNCH LTD 818
EDITION €999/$999
OC818 Studio Pack €999/$999
OC818 Live Pack €1,899/$1899
OC18 Studio Pack €699/$699
OC18 Live Pack €1,399/$1399
OCR8 Bluetooth Remote €149/$149
For more info, head to austrian.audio
far and dubbed the music contained within
as ‘sleepy soundscapes’. Oleg Stavitsky,
founder and CEO of Endel, states that: “We
are focused on creating personalised and
adaptive real-time sound environments,
but we are happy to share those pre-
recorded albums to demonstrate the
power of sound and our technology to
streaming service listeners. These releases
are aimed to bring our stress-reducing
and productivity-boosting soundscapes,
generated by Endel iOS app, on a daily
basis to people everywhere.”
It’s an interesting development: perhaps
it could be another step on the road to a
more automated future when it comes to
music creation in general – worst-case-
scenario speculation leads us to imagine
a Black Mirror-style dystopia where apps
and algorithms dominate the airwaves.
On the flipside of the coin, it’s a real
testament to the innovative work that
Endel has achieved with its technology,
and shows how integral to the industry
artificial intelligence is becoming. In the
meantime, you can find out more about
the algorithm at endel.io.
MusicTech May 2019 9
R EC R E AT E V I N TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S

MT C OV ER FE AT U RE

CREATE CLASSIC
STUDIO SOUNDS
There has never been a better time for aficionados of vintage
audio. Much of today’s hardware is based on mid-20th-century
designs and increased processing power has resulted in
near-faultless software reproductions of classic gear. Here,
we explain what those classic sounds are, and pick out the
tools that will help you sound like the legends…
WORDS JOHN PICKFORD

I
n the world of music-making, looking
backwards rather than forwards is by no
means a bad thing. Guitarists have been
using classic-gear designs from Fender,
Marshall and Gibson – to name but three –
for decades.
Yet it’s only in the past few years that producers
and engineers of all levels have had access to the
pioneering studio-hardware designs that defined
music from the 1950s, 60s and 70s onwards.
Time was, if you wanted a classic Neve sound,
you would have to hunt down original units,
often costing astronomical amounts of money –
especially in mint condition. Now you can buy an
authentic reissue of the 1073 Mic Preamp & Equaliser
from Neve, or take your pick from affordable similar
products from Warm Audio, Golden Age Project and
Black Lion Audio, among others.

12 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

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musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 13

R EC R E AT E V I N TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S
Top The Neve 1073: it’s now
possible to have one of these
in your bedroom. Not the case
in the 1970s
Above Studer’s tape machines
are now easy to replicate in
software form – eliminating
the need to wheel them in and
out of your studio
14 May 2019 MusicTech
This trend for modern emulations of classic gear
hasn’t completely killed off the genuine vintage
market, though. Just as well-heeled guitar collectors
will pay a fortune for a mint vintage Fender
Stratocaster, there are people who will pay upwards
of £20,000 for a 1960s Fairchild compressor/limiter.
FUTUREPROOF
In essence, the main difference between vintage
and modern recording practice is the demise of
analogue multi-track tape recording through large
multi-channel mixing consoles. While the warm sound
of analogue tape cannot be replicated simply by
recording into your DAW, digital recording has
evolved so much that most professional studios
conduct the majority of their sessions in the digital
domain. Nowadays, bedroom producers have
access to the selfsame recording tools that are
used to make the tracks that dominate the charts.
So while digital recording is here to stay, the
sounds that were traditionally created using vintage
analogue kit are now at the fingertips of everyone.
Long-established companies such as Neve and
Universal Audio offer brand-new examples of their
classic designs, while newer manufacturers produce
superb-sounding recreations at affordable prices.
Digital modelling is now so good that not only can
you use plug-in version of almost any piece of classic
kit – from 1950s Pultec equalisers to 1970s Neve
mic preamps – you can link together the right
combination of equipment to emulate the signal
chains of some of the most revered recording studios
in history.
You want that 1960s Abbey Road sound as heard
on The Beatles’ records? No problem! Waves’ Abbey
Road Collection has all the period-correct mic pres,
compressors and equalisers along with simulations of
the Studer J37 four-track tape recorder and Abbey
Road’s echo chambers and reverb plates.
It’s worth pointing out at this stage that there’s a
difference between producing modern recordings
with classic gear and producing deliberately
retro-sounding recordings. That being said, using the
aforementioned 1960s Abbey Road recording-chain
simulations won’t automatically make you sound like
The Beatles any more than playing a classic Fender
Strat will make you sound like Jimi Hendrix. As the
legendary Joe Meek once pointed out: “It’s not what
you have, it’s the way that you use it.”
Of course, to get an authentic vintage tone, you
have to make sure the sound is correct at source,
which means not only using the right gear, but also
employing techniques used to capture those classic
sounds. Throughout this feature, we’ll be explaining
more about how to get the very best out of these
classic-gear emulations, be they direct analogue
hardware clones or digital approximations.
We’re also underlining the point that right now,
you really can reproduce pretty much everything
sonically from the history of popular music without
needing to invest a fortune.
TURN BACK TIME
For the purposes of this feature, we’ll be looking at
how to emulate the sounds heard on classic pop,
rock, soul and reggae from the 1950s to the 1970s –
the period when all that lovely vintage hardware
was originally in vogue. This music was created using
guitars, drums, traditional acoustic instruments and
various electronic keyboards. However, the world of
vintage synthesisers is beyond the scope of this
article. So let’s begin by rewinding to the 1950s and
the birth of rock ’n’ roll.
Sun Studios was founded by Sam Phillips in
Memphis, Tennessee and not only produced what
many believe to be the very first rock ’n’ roll single,
Rocket 88, recorded by Jackie Brenston And His
Delta Cats in 1951, but also the debut recordings by
the world’s first true rock icon – Elvis Presley.
Recorded on 5 July 1954, That’s All Right featured
Elvis singing live in the studio, along with Scotty
Moore on electric guitar and Bill Black on upright
musictech.net
 R EC R E AT E V IN TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S

© Getty Images
string bass. As there were no drums on the recording,
producer and engineer Sam Phillips added some
rhythmic excitement by feeding Presley’s vocal back
through his tape recorder to create an echo (delay)
effect that became known as slapback echo.
This effect employed a single repeat echo with
a delay time between 60 and 120 milliseconds.
During these pioneering early years, many studios
produced tape echo by using professional tape
recorders. However, as the effect began to grow in
popularity, manufacturers began offering dedicated
tape-delay effects units. Early units such as the
Watkins Copicat were popular with guitarists, yet the
Roland Space Echo, launched in 1974, evolved the
effect further by offering a multitude of tape echoes
along with an excellent spring reverb.
Original units are pricey these days, but the classic
effect is available in footpedal form with the Boss
RE-20 Space Echo, while the UAD Galaxy Tape Echo
plug-in is a fine simulation of the original machine.
Capable of single slapback echo effects and
multiple repeat delays of various lengths, it can also
be used to produce the wild dub-style delays
pioneered by the likes of King Tubby, Lee ‘Scratch’
Perry and Sly & Robbie.
Whichever format you have the effect in, try
experimenting with the Feedback control to drive
the unit into self-oscillation to produce those
explosive dub sounds.

TAKE 15
Before the advent of multi-track recording,
everything was recorded live at the same time.
So the sound of performances had to be captured
correctly and balanced before pressing the record
button; there was no opportunity to remix a song
once it had been recorded.
Vocalists sang live in the studio, performing
alongside all the musicians necessary for the song’s
arrangement. This meant that if a mistake was made,
everyone had to start again. Sometimes, however,
if a mistake happened towards the end of a take,
the musicians and vocalists would be able to
re-record the end section and the engineer could
edit together the two performances to create one
good take.
These days, of course, it’s possible to fix almost
any element of a track in isolation and it’s rare for
a lead vocalist to perform a definitive vocal at
the same time that the backing track is laid down.
It’s common practice in today’s studios to record
several vocal performances and ‘comp’ the
best lines from each of the takes to produce
a perfect performance.
While it’s great to have all this flexibility, it can be
tempting to record a substandard sound in the belief
that it will sound wonderful once it has been tonally
and dynamically altered during subsequent mixing.
This ‘fix it in the mix’ attitude rarely pays off and can
often lead to frustration. It is much better practice to
work on getting a great sound before hitting the
record button – in precisely the way that engineers
used to in the past.
When discussing vintage sounds and techniques,
the importance of The Beatles’ pioneering role in
advancing – and in many cases, defining – the
soundcape of popular music cannot be overstated.
From the earliest experiments with controlled
feedback on I Feel Fine in 1964, to the use of
backwards audio and tape loops on many tracks
on 1966’s sonically groundbreaking LP Revolver,
the band continually encouraged EMI’s engineering
As the legendary Joe Meek
once pointed out: “It’s not
what you have, it’s the
way that you use it”
team at Abbey Road to push the boundaries of The concept of
multi-track recording. slapback echo was
born during Elvis Presley’s
One such enduring invention was born of early recordings
John Lennon’s frustration with having to manually
double-track lead-vocal takes. Abbey Road’s chief
technical engineer Ken Townsend experimented
with two different tape machines – the 4-track
Studer J37 and mono BTR2 – realising that by
manipulating the machines’ replay speeds he
could create a delayed signal much shorter than
the previously covered slapback effect of previous
tape-echo devices.
Rather than giving a distinct echo sound, the short
delay time produced a convincing double-tracked
effect; the new effect was christened ‘Artificial
Double Tracking’, or ADT for short.
The magical ADT delay time is around 40
milliseconds and while a simple 40ms digital delay
will provide a passable emulation of the effect,
the precise bit-for-bit copy of the original signal lacks
the subtle colouration from analogue tape that gives
the effect much of its character.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 15

R EC R E AT E V IN TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S
Top Waves’ Reel ADT
provides a modern way
of recreating the
Artificial Double Tracking
pioneered at Abbey Road
Above With many reproductions
and emulations of the EQP-1A
out there, it’s possible
to recreate the low-end
trick at home
16 May 2019 MusicTech
Waves offers the ADT effect as part of
its Abbey Road Collection. However, the effect can
be achieved by sending the original signal to any
good tape-simulation plug-in before creating the
40ms delay. It’s possible to create excellent ADT
effects by sending the source signal to analogue
tape and then moving the taped recording within
your DAW in order to set the correct delay time.
I WANT TO MIC YOUR KIT
Recording engineers often attempt to emulate the
dynamic recorded sound of Ringo Starr’s Ludwig
drum kit. EMI engineer Norman Smith recorded all of
the group’s albums up to and including Rubber Soul.
His technique was to use no more than two
microphones on Ringo’s kit. An overhead mic –
either a Coles 4038 figure-8 ribbon or an AKG D19c
cardioid dynamic would be placed just above the
drummer’s head, pointing down towards the snare
and rack tom.
The second mic would be placed close to the
front head of the bass drum. Usually, Smith would use
an AKG D20, a direct predecessor of the AKG D112
commonly used for kick-drum mic’ing today. A mono
mix of the two mics would be sent to EMI’s RS124
compressor (now reissued by Chandler Limited) to
glue the sound together, adding drive and punch.
Geoff Emerick took over engineering duties later
in The Beatles’ career and added a Neumann KM 56
condenser mic underneath the snare drum to the
setup. For Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, he
employed three extra D19c dynamics to close-mic
the rack and floor toms and hi-hat. Ringo would
often damp his snare and toms with a thin tea towel
to reduce ring. The combined signals were sent to
a mono Fairchild 660 Compressor/Limiter (plug-ins
available from UAD and Waves) set to the fastest
Time Constant response. A 10kHz top boost was also
usually applied at this stage.
‘THAT’ SOUND
Abbey Road’s equipment up until 1968 was almost
exclusively valve-driven. EMI designed and built the
REDD.51 mixing consoles used to record The Beatles
and many other classic 1960s hits. The consoles
employed the superb-sounding REDD.47 mic
preamp, which is now available as single-channel
19-inch rackmount unit by Chandler Limited. At
over £2,000, it’s not cheap. However, when Beatles
engineer Geoff Emerick heard this recreation, his
response was: “It has ‘that’ sound!”
During this period, stereo production of pop
recordings was in its infancy. All 45rpm singles were
produced in mono – and pop albums released in
stereo were often quite crude. Several early Beatles
albums are a difficult listen in stereo, as they contain
some extreme and bizarre panning decisions. 1965’s
Rubber Soul, for instance, features all the instruments
panned hard left with all vocals panned hard right
and no centred audio at all.
While stereo classical recordings from this era
were recorded using stereo mic’ing techniques,
stereo pop productions consisted of a number of
mono signals panned to give a stereo effect.
This method is still largely employed today, with
single-channel recordings of guitars, keyboards and
other instruments panned to various points in the
stereo spectrum. This type of stereo mixing was not
possible on most consoles from the 1960s, as the
panning control was often a three-way switch
offering hard left, centre and hard right.
Drum kits are usually recorded in stereo these
days. Yet a simple two-mic recording in mono can
produce a great 1960s drum sound, especially
when the overhead mic and kick-drum mic are
mixed through a single, aggressive compressor/limiter
to create an explosive sound. For that off-kilter 60s
stereo sound, try panning the mono kit recording
to one side of the stereo picture with any additional
percussion panned to the other side.
Recording drums in mono might be too much
of a retrograde step for many, so adding a second
overhead mic will enable a stereo image to be
created, while preserving a vintage vibe.
Towards the end of the 1960s, engineers began
thinking in terms of stereo recording as the norm,
largely due to the introduction of 8-track recording in
the UK during 1968.
An early three-mic stereo drum-recording
technique was invented by Glyn Johns, who used it
to record classic albums by The Rolling Stones and
Led Zeppelin in the late 60s and early 70s.
“The principle behind it is that it allows the
drummer to express his own dynamics in what he’s
playing,” explained Johns. “At the same time, the
idea is to capture the sound that’s unique to him,
as all great drummers tune their kits in their own
particular way.”
Johns used two large-diaphragm condenser mics
set to cardioid, to capture the kit in stereo, along with
a dedicated bass-drum mic. The first condenser mic
would be placed approximately three feet above
the kit, pointing at the gap between the rack tom
and snare drum (not directly above the centre of
the snare drum, as is often erroneously stated), while
the second would be positioned on a small stand,
around three feet from the ground, to the side of
the floor tom. This mic would be angled so that it
was looking at both the floor tom and snare drum.
musictech.net

Each of these mics would be equidistant to the
snare drum, so that the snare remained in the centre
of the stereo image when panned. Johns rarely
panned these two mics more than 50 per cent;
however, a wider stereo image can be obtained
with more extreme panning. When employing this
technique, many engineers go to great lengths to
position these two mics exactly equidistant to the
snare, but Johns went for a more intuitive approach.
In his autobiography Sound Man, Johns revealed:
“Contrary to popular belief, I have never used a
tape measure. It’s not that precise, it is just a matter
of using common sense and believing it will work,
making small adjustments depending on the kit,
the balance the drummer is giving you and what
he is playing.”
LOW-END TRICKS
Moving away from rock-based recordings to more
soulful tones, there are few trademark 1960s sounds
more instantly recognisable than those heard on
Tamla Motown records. It graced so many hits by
artists such as Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, Smokey
Robinson and Stevie Wonder as well as groups such
as The Temptations, The Supremes and The Four Tops.
Hitsville USA, as Motown’s HQ was nicknamed,
produced dozens of pop/soul classics throughout the
1960s and inspired countless soundalike recordings
that are still popular on the Northern Soul scene.
Most classic Motown recordings feature the playing
of the legendary Funk Brothers, a team of ace session
musicians comprising the superb rhythm section of
musictech.net
R EC R E AT E V IN TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S
© Getty Images
When discussing vintage
sounds and techniques, the
importance of The Beatles
can’t be overstated
James Jamerson on bass and either Benny ‘Papa Ringo Starr during the
Zita’ Benjamin or Richard ‘Pistol’ Allen on drums. Allen recording of She Loves You
in Abbey Road’s Studio Two
recalls putting electrical tape on the snares on the in July 1963
bottom of his drum to keep them close to the
resonant head and produce a crisp sound. The mic
used to pick up the snare and hi-hats would also be
used to capture the ubiquitous Tamla tambourine.
Motown engineers often used Pultec equalisers to
brighten up recordings and create their trademark
treble-heavy sound, designed to cut through on AM
radio while sounding punchy and loud on jukeboxes.
The EQP-1A is capable of performing the Pultec
‘low-end trick’, a method of simultaneously boosting
and cutting bass frequencies. As the boost and cut
curves do not share the same characteristics, the
result is a boost in the useful bass frequencies –
combined with a midrange droop, which creates
space for lead vocals to sit nicely in the mix.
This method of EQ’ing whole backing tracks
has fallen out of favour in modern times as engineers
focus on tweaking individual sounds. This technique
is useful however, when trying to recreate vintage
sounds. Just as mix-buss compression can provide a
MusicTech May 2019 17
 R EC R E AT E V I N TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S
© Abbey Road

Abbey Road Studio Two, certain amount of ‘glue’, mix-buss EQ can help
where The Beatles achieve the tight, punchy and cohesive sound
recorded the majority
of their output reminiscent of many 60s pop hits.
Getting hold of an EQP-1A type equaliser is
no longer the expensive business it once was,
and the design has been reissued endlessly in
recent times, both as an authentic replica and
a feature of other equalisers and channel strips.
A good recommendation for a superb-sounding,
affordable hardware example would be Warm
Audio’s brilliant EQP-WA, while Waves’ PuigTec is a
superb plug-in version of the classic design.
While Tamla Motown had its own distinctive
pop-soul sound, the Stax Recording Studios in
Memphis produced a deeper, dirtier, dry-yet-raw
sound. Classic records by Otis Redding, Aretha
Franklin and Isaac Hayes among others were played
and sung live, with no overdubs, onto an Ampex
recorder. The engineers recorded ‘hot’, getting a
good signal-to-noise ratio by over-recording into
the red, saturating the tape. The musical harmonic
distortion of ‘burning to tape’ contributes hugely to
the uniqueness of the Stax sound.
An excellent tool for creating analogue
tape-emulation effects is u-he’s versatile Satin
plug-in. While many vintage tape plug-ins are
based on individual historic machines, such as the
aforementioned Studer J37 4-track or UAD’s Studer
A800 24-track, the Satin offers a multitude of tape
effects ranging from subtle tape warmth adding
weight to the low-end, through to more obvious
saturation effects that convincingly mimic that hot,
burnt-to-tape sound. There’s the option of switching
between vintage or modern settings, while the
choice of tape speeds allows further fine-tuning
between hi-fi and lo-fi sounds.
This plug-in offers everything from world-class
multi-track emulations to the lo-fi sound of recording
to domestic cassette tape. There are numerous
parameters to tweak including hiss, bias and crosstalk

WORK THE ROOM
As easy as it is these days to dial up a
vintage effect ‘in the box’, it can be a
lot more fun creating your own unique
sound by taking advantage of your own
surroundings. If you have a reverberant
bathroom or kitchen, try rigging up
a temporary echo chamber with a
loudspeaker at one end and a microphone
at the opposite end, pointing towards
the tiled wall.
For the longest available reverb time,
remove any bath mats, towels and other
absorbent materials. Filtering the signal
before sending it to the speaker will help
create your own unique small echo-
chamber sound. Explore your recording
environment to find interesting and useful
ambient spaces. Experimentation is key
to producing a trademark sound; even the
inside of an oven can be used to create a
short, metallic reverb. Try everything, no
matter how odd the concept might be.
This is what we all did before digital
outboard became available! See every
space as potential ambient enhancement
and discover what works for you.
to name but three, while all sorts of vintage tape-
delay and flanging effects can also be performed.
Digital recording doesn’t really produce these
often musically useful effects. Anyone who has
over-recorded into a DAW will know that digital
clipping isn’t very pleasant at all. To replicate purely
analogue harmonic distortion, many preamplifiers,
channel strips and summing mixers incorporate some
sort of saturation effect, to mimic the subtle distortion
that overloading magnetic tape creates.
Some of the best analogue distortion available
today comes from Thermionic Culture, a company
that manufactures a wonderful range of 100-per-

18 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

R EC R E AT E V I N TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S
© Getty Images

cent-valve equipment. Its Culture Vulture is a superb

tube-based distortion unit, offering everything from
subtle warming-up to filthy fuzz. In triode mode, it’s
possible to recreate the sound of overloaded tape,
which is especially good for producing a vintage
vocal sound. Switch to pentode and dial up the wick
for that classic wasp-in-a-blender guitar sound used
by The Rolling Stones and The Kinks on some of their
best-loved 60s hits.

FEELING HOT
These methods of generating ‘hot’ sounds are not
only useful for evoking the sonics of the 60s, but also
the dirty blues sound made famous in the 1950s by,
among others, Chess Studios in Chicago. Hugely
influential recordings by blues and R ’n’ B legends
Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Howlin’ Wolf and Chuck
Berry came out of Chess, inspiring The Rolling Stones
to record there on several occasions, producing two
chart-toppers in 1964 with It’s All Over Now and Little
Red Rooster. They even immortalised the studio with
2120 South Michigan Avenue, an instrumental
named after the studio’s location.
The raw, exciting sounds these American studios
produced in the early 1960s were highly coveted
by the younger engineers in established British studios
such as EMI, Decca and Pye. Required to wear
jackets and ties, the junior engineers were often
frustrated by the companies’ unwillingness to
experiment, having to adhere to strict rules regarding
recording techniques and avoiding distortion at
all costs.
Independent producer Phil Spector ignored all
conventional recording techniques to create his
visionary Wall Of Sound. He would have three or four
keyboards playing similar parts and blend them to
create a single unique sound that made the
individual instruments indistinguishable. The dense,
dramatic sound of classic tracks such as Be My Baby
by The Ronettes have influenced many producers of
symphonic pop music.

BORN AGAIN…
MODERN
REPRODUCTIONS REDD.47
Mic Pre
£2,149
This is a rackmount version of the
microphone preamplifiers found in
the EMI REDD.51 valve consoles used
in Abbey Road Studios up to the end
of 1968. This is the sound heard on all
The Beatles’ classic albums, up to and
including ‘The White Album’. An all-valve
design, the unit has a vintage EMI look,
though it’s not a replica of anything
that existed in the 1960s; the original
amps were built into the consoles.
Sound-wise, it’s incredibly accurate,
with the unmistakable punchy,
mid-forward sound of those
pioneering recordings.
GOLDEN AGE PROJECT
COMP-2A
Compressor
£560
Released in 1962, the Teletronix LA-2A
was a superb user-friendly opto
compressor. GAP’s take on the original
retains the valve signal path within
a smaller half-rack enclosure. User
controls are kept to a minimum, with
the unit responding sympathetically
to the audio it’s fed. There are no attack,
release or threshold controls and the
compression ratio is selected with
a toggle switch to select compress
or limit. Its smooth nature makes it
ideal for vocals and bass; however,
exaggerated pumping compression
effects are not its forte. The COMP-3A
(based on the LA-3A) is a solid-state
version that works in a similar way,
with just a touch more bite and a tad
less smoothness.

20 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 R EC R E AT E V IN TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S

One man in Britain who broke new ground in
the early 60s was Joe Meek, the maverick pioneer
whom is often named as one of the greatest record
producers of all time. Like Phil Spector, Meek was
a visionary who answered to no one and produced
recordings in his own individual, instantly
recognisable style.
His studio and control room were two converted
bedrooms in his North London flat; he was the original
bedroom producer. Unlike Spector, who relied
on recording engineers to realise his vision,
Meek controlled every aspect of his recordings,
disregarding the increasingly outdated practices of
the established British studios.
Meek embraced distortion, used compression –
or over-compression – as an effect, and created
ethereal, echo-saturated hits with home-built spring
reverbs and the sound of his bathroom as an echo
chamber. Introducing close-mic’ing techniques
to the UK, he was the first engineer to remove the
front head of a bass drum and deaden the sound
with blankets and also the first to direct-inject electric
bass guitar.
Joe Meek’s innovations in the world of sound
recording were far-reaching, showing that anyone
with a good ear, some technical knowledge and
plenty of imagination could create their own
bespoke sound. In the wake of Meek’s early 60s
success, the recording of pop music in Britain
became more experimental and inventive, paving
the way for The Beatles and all who followed.
At the time of Joe Meek’s death in February
1967, both the pop scene and the world of sound
recording were rapidly changing. The Beatles were
in the middle of sessions for their groundbreaking
album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, while
many of the top pop studios were replacing their
valve mixing consoles and outboard processors with
new, transistorised models. The thermionic versus
solid-state debate still rages strong today, although
many modern professional studios offer the best of
both worlds. As mentioned earlier, EMI’s Abbey Road
Studios maintained their valve REDD.51 console up
until 1968, by which time most of the other
professional studios in the UK had switched to
solid-state designs.
When the transistorised TG12345 was installed in
the famous studio, most of the engineers embraced
it enthusiastically. Technical engineer Brian Gibson
recalls that the recording personnel were impressed
with how clean it sounded, possessing a smoother
sound than the old valve console with added
top-end sparkle. To hear the difference between
the two desks, listen to the Beatles’ eponymous 1968
LP (known as ‘The White Album’), recorded on the
REDD.51 and compare it with the Abbey Road
In the wake of Joe Meek’s
early 60s success, the
recording of UK pop music
became more experimental
album – soon to be celebrating its 50th anniversary
– recorded on the TG12345.
Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick wasn’t a fan
of the new desk at first, as he missed the musical
harmonic distortion that played such a key role in
the band’s sound. Yet by the mid 1970s, the TG
had made its mark, contributing to the prog sound of
Pink Floyd on legendary albums such as The Dark
Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here.
This classic sound is available again today from
Chandler Limited, with a range of hardware units
and software based around the TG series of consoles.
The company’s Microphone Cassette perfectly
recreates the TG’s trademark smooth, glossy preamp Opposite Chuck Berry and the
sound of studios such as Chess
sound as well as providing sweet-sounding EQ and a made a big impression on both
fiercely powerful opto limiter/compressor. sides of the Atlantic

NEVE CHANDLER LIMITED WARM AUDIO GOLDEN AGE PREMIERE

1073SPX
£1,695
The 1073 module fitted into Neve’s
1970s consoles remains the most
revered solid-state mic pre of all,
and this is no copy; it’s the real deal.
Endlessly emulated, with excellent
versions from both Warm Audio and
Golden Age Project, there is something
about the genuine Neve article that’s
inherently accurate. The Neve 1073
sound is big, bold and larger than life,
making it perfect for rock and pop
recording. The exclusive Marinair
transformers found only in Neve units
add an expansive quality that flatters all
audio processed through it. The EQ
section is wonderfully sweet and
musical, too. This is a better buy than
original, used modules, many of which
will be hopelessly off-spec.
TG 500 SERIES
FROM £999
Based upon the channel strip found
in EMI’s first transistorised console,
the TG12345, these three lunchbox-
sized units comprise a mic pre,
compressor and an equaliser.
Compared to the Neve consoles,
the TG12345 sounded less big and
punchy and more hi-fi. The 500 series
performs as a supercharged version
of the original desk channel, adding
elements of Abbey Road outboard gear
such as the Curve Bender EQ and Zener
Limiter. Each unit is superb and used
together, it’s an awesome combination
– one you’ll have to traverse many
zebra crossings to better.
WA76 Compressor
£499
Bill Putnam’s original Urei 1176
compressor took the recording industry
by storm upon its release in 1967.
Faithful to the original design inside
and out, the WA76 has independent
attack and release controls along with
four ratio options – 4:1, 8:1, 12:1, 20:1
– selected via push-button switches; a
fifth option can be created by selecting
all four ratios simultaneously. This is
known as the ‘four button trick’, or
‘British’ mode and produces a limiting
effect that’s particularly good on drum
busses. When used in conjunction with
an LA-2A compressor (Warm offers one
of these as well), it provides classic
dynamic control over vocal tracks.
GA-251
£1,495
There have been many clones of classic
Neumann microphones, particularly
the U 67 and U 47. However, the
original Telefunken ELA M 251E is
much less well known. One of the most
sought-after and expensive vintage
valve mics, the sound of the 251 is the
stuff of legend. More open than classic
Neumanns, with a crisper top-end
response, the GAP version is brilliant
with most vocalists and brings out the
best in most instruments. With its own
bespoke power supply, cable and
shockmount, and housed in a beautiful
vintage-style carrying case, the GA-251
is a world-class microphone.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 21

R EC R E AT E V I N TAG E S T U D I O S O U N D S

Above Thermionic has a long
history and The Culture Vulture
promises “the best harmonic
distortion money can buy”
Below Joe Meek’s approach
to recording inspired many
to unlock the potential of
their productions
THE WAR TO BE HEARD
There has been much talk over the last decade
about the so-called ‘loudness war’, where tracks
are mastered so loud that nasty digital distortion
appears. However, the practice of mixing and
mastering for ultimate volume is not new. For
decades, producers have striven to make pop
records sound loud and punchy – everybody
wanted the loudest record in the jukebox.
Best practice is to reduce overall dynamic range
by means of compression and limiting. During the
1960s, when only 3- or 4-track recording was
available, several sounds would be recorded
simultaneously to a single tape track. Apart from
any compression applied to individual signals,
the combined signals were usually passed through
a single compressor/limiter to tape and further
dynamics control would be added in the final
mixdown. Group-buss and mix-buss compression
are key to achieving an authentic vintage sound.
SO SOLID
Vintage solid-state consoles can’t be discussed
without mentioning Rupert Neve, widely regarded
as the inventor of transistorised mixing desks as we
know them today. One of his earliest designs was
installed in Phillips’ studios in 1966, where it quickly
gained a reputation for excellent sound, reliability
and build quality.
Many top-flight studios boasted a Neve console
complete with two-band EQ for £329 – less than a
fifth of the price of the genuine article.
Although perhaps not quite as well known as
Rupert Neve, Dick Swettenham was another pioneer
of solid-state mixers. Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones,
Led Zeppelin and The Who used the consoles he
designed for Olympic Studios to record several of
their classic rock albums. Such was the demand for
Olympic-style desks that Swettenham formed his own
manufacturing company, Helios.
Back in 2011, we reviewed the Helios Stereo
Type 69 mic-pre/EQ unit based upon the much-loved
Olympic desk, and found it to be one of the best
solid-state designs heard to date. It has bags of
vintage character with that big, expansive sound
heard on those classic rock albums recorded
at Olympic.
Remember the wonderful EQP-1A ‘Low End Trick’
of simultaneously boosting and cutting the bass?
Well, the original Pultec manual specifically warned
against using the boost and cut controls together.
Someone obviously thought, well let’s just hear
what happens if I do…
Getting the best out of this equipment is largely
down to experimentation: it’s worth remembering
that it was producers pushing vintage technology
to the limit that was responsible for creating many
of those pioneering sounds from the past.
© Getty Images

and in the mid 1970s, Rupert Neve collaborated

with producer George Martin’s engineering team
to build the revered AIR Montserrat consoles,
considered to be among the most sophisticated
of all analogue consoles.
Neve equipment is still manufactured with a wide
range that includes reissues of classic modules such
as the iconic 1073 as well as up-to-date designs,
available in a variety of hardware and software
formats. Branded Neve products are not cheap,
however Golden Age Project offer a superb,
affordable take on the 1073 preamp module

RETRO REVERB
Many studios in the in the 1960s and 70s
employed purpose-built echo chambers;
those without such facilities relied on
plate- and spring-reverb units. The
smooth-sounding EMT 140 Plate Reverb
has been used on thousands of recordings
and excellent software emulations are
available today.
Spring reverbs tend to have a twittery
sound, perfect for creating lo-fi vintage
’verb. Software emulations offer a lot of
user adjustment and some classic guitar
amps, such as the Fender Twin Reverb,
contain a spring unit, which will add
authentic analogue ambience to any
sound, not just guitars.
To emulate the reverb sound created
at Abbey Road Studios, EQ the signal
before sending it to any reverb unit
with a chamber or plate setting. Roll off
frequencies below 600Hz and cut extreme
top above 10kHz to accentuate the
midrange frequencies.
A pre-delay can be achieved by simply
printing the reverb to its own track, then
moving it within your DAW so the wet
signal appears a few milliseconds after
the source sound.

22 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 W I R ED F O R S O U N D

MT FE AT U RE

WIRED
FOR SOUND
It’s common for a mastering engineer to EQ and limit a track
to ready it for public consumption. But what happens when
a mix has deeper problems? As Cassian Irvine of Wired
Masters explains, the solution might be stem mastering
WORDS DAN LLOYD EVANS
WORDS WILL BETTS
IMAGES JOE HARVEY

T
he role of a mastering engineer is to put
stereo mixes through expensive, esoteric
hardware, alter the EQ and make the track
louder, right? Wrong. At Wired Masters –
a London mastering house established in 2003 –
this is far from the case.
Co-founder Cass Irvine has a role that’s one part
producer, one part mixer and one part mastering
engineer. It’s this breadth of expertise that is part of
the secret to the company’s success – Wired boasts
high-profile clients such as Galantis, Afrojack,
Camelphat, Steve Aoki and Tiësto.
“When it comes to dance music, we want a loud,
clean master most of the time,” says Irvine. “If the
artist has a great-sounding track, my job is made
very easy, because I’ll pretty much just make it loud.”
When there are issues with the mix, things
become more difficult, though. This is when the
experience and judgement of the mastering
engineer are critical. “The vocals might be overly
compressed and too sibilant, and that's something
that’s very difficult to fix during mastering. It’s
something that needs to be fixed in the mixing
stage,” Irvine explains.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 25

W I R ED F O R S O U N D

Cass swears by stem Given the restrictions imposed by mastering a stereo a simple stem master might be a kick, percussion,
mastering as a better file and the limitations of most home-studio listening bass, synths, vocals and effects. With stereo
method of problem solving
than traditional mastering environments, it stands to reason that mastering mastering, if you want to bring up the vocals,
engineers such as Irvine are increasingly taking on there’s not much you can do. You could bring up
an intermediate role between the mixer and the midrange with the EQ but, of course, you’ll bring
mastering engineer. up other sounds like synthesisers. It’s an imperfect
solution, really. I think it’s much better to fix it in the
STEM THE FLOW mix or with a stem master, so that’s why we do a lot
“The difference between stereo mastering and stem of stem masters these days,” he says.
mastering is that with stem mastering, you’ve got a The principles of stem mastering can be applied
number of stems and the track is broken down into just as easily to mixing – because, essentially the
various components,” Irvine explains. “For example, process is a form of mixing. The critical difference is
CHAIN
THE
MASTERING

ABLETON WAVES FABFILTER FABFILTER

Utility Device
The chain begins with
Ableton’s Utility Device, which
Irvine uses to mono the bass
under 75Hz. There are various
other plug-ins available that
will do this, such as Nugen
Audio’s Monofilter, and most
DAWs will have their own
version of this effect.
“This is to keep the bass
and the kick mono. I don’t
want low frequencies in the
stereo image down at 50Hz,”
says Irvine.
SSL G-Master
Buss Compressor
Next is the Waves SSL
G-Master Buss Compressor,
with a long attack, a fast
release and a ratio of 4:1.
“It’s going to let those
transients through. You’ll
see hardly any gain reduction
– half, maybe one dB. It’s
subtle, but it’s giving a little
bit of harmonic distortion
and warms up the mix.”
Pro-Q
Next, Irvine adds a FabFilter
Pro-Q in M/S mode. His
starting position is to add
a +1dB shelf at 5kHz on the
sides only. “That’s going to
bring out the stereo image of
the track,” he says. The high
shelf is used in conjunction
with a low cut and low shelf,
again, just on the sides to
help clean up the low end.
Pro-L 2
Then we’re on to the heavy
lifting: limiting. Irvine explains:
“It’s very important to get
your limiting right on your
track. It really can make or
break your track if you use
incorrect settings. “The Pro-L
2 isn’t working too hard. We’re
getting a gain reduction of 2.5
to 3dB, so it’s just shaving
off those peaks a little bit
and cleaning it up. I’ve got
quite a long attack, a fairly
short release, so it’s not quite
clipping, but it is getting that
way. I find this is a really clean
limiter. It sounds really good.”

26 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

that with stems, you condense down a track that
samplemagic.com
might contain hundreds of sounds into a more
manageable project.
There are many benefits, but perhaps the biggest
one is the removal of option paralysis. “People
get quite fixated on small things and cannot see
the bigger picture. It’s an easy thing to do when
you have too many options available. When I’m
listening to stems, I will listen to whether the bass is
sounding right or the drums sound good, but I’m
probably not listening to the decay of the snare
drum,” says Irvine. “So stem mastering is getting a
second pair of ears, and that’s going to benefit the
mix engineer and the artist.
“Of course, the sounds that you choose are
important. If the kick and the bass are sounding right,
then everything else should hopefully fall into place.
I think of those as the skeleton of the track. If those
are sitting and sounding good with each other, you
can get those synths and vocals sounding good. This
is particularly relevant at the mixing stage as well.”
If those fundamentals aren’t working, then Irvine
will either ask the producer/mixer to revisit the kick
and bass, or roll up his sleeves and make the
changes himself.
If it’s the latter, Irvine has a particular technique
that helps him make a kick sit in any track. By
combining the attack of one sample with the decay
of another, it’s possible to design the perfect kick.
This technique gives you the option to alter the
tuning and level of the kick’s attack and decay
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the attack you want. This approach also lets you cut
rumbling basses, neon-tinged melodics, glitched grooves
or extend the decay so that your kick works with the
tempo of your track. and much more.

LOUDNESS WAR
It’s not just the mix of a track that has a knock-on CLASSIC CHICAGO HOUSE
effect on the mastering. The arrangement is also
Inspired by late 80s and 90s
a critical factor, and it’s something that is easy to
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AMBIENT & ATMOSPHERIC

SONNOX
Oxford Inflator
Although this plug-in doesn’t
always get used, it can
occasionally be useful, as
Irvine describes. “It’s
something that I sometimes
come to if I’ve got a problem
trying to get a track loud.
Quite often with hip-hop
or trap tracks, this is a great
thing to try. Give the track
a little bit of limiting, then
put an Oxford Inflator on
and put it up to 100 per cent.
When it works, it sounds
amazing. When it doesn’t,
you’ll know about it.”
musictech.net
TECHNO
Inspired in equal measure by the
warehouses of Berlin and ethereal
IZOTOPE sound design of ambient music,
Ozone 4 Ambient & Atmospheric Techno is the
Last in the plug-in chain is
definitive collection for the modern
Ozone 4, which Irvine uses day techno producer.
primarily for its limiter. But £29.99
why does the mastering
engineer use such an old
version of the plug-in?
“I do have some of the later FUTURE ELECTRONICA 3
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Samples_______Patches_______Plugins_______Instruments
W I R ED F O R S O U N D

Above Tidy desk, tidy mind – loud very easily, but certain tracks, you can’t get
and the venue for Cass’s that loudness for whatever reason. It might be a kick
deep focus and hours of
stem mastering drum, a vocal and a piano all hitting on one beat,
for instance,” Irvine says.
Opposite Ableton Live
provides one of Cass’s
“That can be a struggle at times, so I’ll have to
flexible workflows use various processors and just see what sounds
best,” he continues. The Wired Masters engineer
has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, but one is to use
the Sonnox Oxford Inflator, a plug-in that increases
perceived loudness without adding the pumping
artefacts of compression and limiting.
Getting tracks to sound loud is very much a part
of the gig for Irvine. And for him, that’s no bad thing.
“Certain genres need to be loud, and they sound
good for it,” he says. Although he does caution
against becoming too single-minded about getting
a master to be loud: “Don’t worry too much about
SECOND OPINIONS
As an artist, producer or mixer, if you’re not sure whether your track is ready for mastering,
then you have a few options.
“Most mastering engineers would be very happy to critique your track and give you
some feedback,” says Irvine. “That might be: ‘Your vocals are too low in the mix,’ it might
be: ‘The vocals are too sibilant,’ or it might be to suggest adding a lot of 200Hz on your
bass to thicken it up. So that’s a good thing to do, and the feedback you’ll get from your
mastering engineer should tell you quite a lot about whether that’s a good person to
work with. You can also ask a music-making or DJ friend for some constructive criticism.”
If you’re more of a lone wolf or want to hone your mixing skills, you can critique the track
yourself. The way to do this is with reference tracks.
“If you’re making future house and trying to make a track like Lucas & Steve, get a
Lucas & Steve track, drop the volume to the same level as yours and compare them,”
Irvine continues.
“Ask yourself if they’re in the same ballpark, or if they’re worlds apart. If they are worlds
apart, perhaps mastering is not an option yet and you’ve got to go back to the drawing
board and have a look at your mix again.”
level. When I get given a track, and the reference
track is incredibly loud, I drop the reference track
by 2, maybe even 3dB. I do my master, try to get it
sounding sonically the same as the reference track.
Just concentrating on the EQ-ing to make sure it
sounds good. When I’m happy with that, I look to
trying to get those extra 2 or 3dBs again.
“Hopefully, you can push the limiter a bit more,
and you’ll get that, but if it’s not working, you’ll know
when to leave it.”
SOFT TOUCH
Even when it comes to stereo mastering, Irvine’s
approach is still software-based, using familiar
tools that are within reach of the everyday
music-maker, such as Ableton Live. Live allows
him to split a stereo track into its different sections –
intro, outro, breakdown, drop – and process these
sections differently.
“With a drop, I might have a very resonant synth
I want to duck down with a multi-band compressor
or an EQ. I might want to push the bass a little bit,
but in a breakdown, I might want to do something
else. So, being able to process each element is a
big advantage over using analogue.”
For dance music in particular, maximising levels
is a significant part of the process. So having quick
alternatives that you can address on a section-by-
section basis proves to be a considerable
advantage when using this method.
“I’ll try using my standard mastering chain with
clipping, for example. If that’s not working, I might
copy the channel down, tweak a few parameters,
open up the release and see how that sounds. Is
that sounding better? If it’s not, I can try something
completely different.

28 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 W I R ED F O R S O U N D

“I end up with multiple channels with different

limiter settings and seeing which one sounds better.
That’s something you just can’t do with analogue.”
The quality of plug-ins is also a big factor, too:
“It’s very difficult to tell the difference between
them and their analogue counterparts,” says Irvine.
“I use a lot of plug-ins from Soundtoys, FabFilter,
Waves and UAD, but there are about 15 to 20 that I
go back to again and again. Among these are the
Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor, the FabFilter
Pro-Q, the FabFilter Pro-L 2 and iZotope’s Ozone 4.”
To understand the reasoning behind Irvine’s
plug-in choices and how he uses them on a
mastering project, watch our video tutorial at the
end of the online article: bit.ly/wired-masters-chain.

STUDIO ESSENTIALS
Naturally, Irvine’s room is replete with top-end
hardware: “I’ve got a Maselec mastering console,
so I’ll use that in conjunction with the plug-ins,” he
says. However, he’s firm in his belief that the most
important elements in a studio are the space itself
and the monitors: “You’ve got to have a flat-
sounding room and be able to hear what you’re
doing. There’s no point having a £5,000 compressor
if you can’t accurately hear what it’s doing!”
Irvine has a pair of PMC MB2 monitors that are his
main speaker reference. “You can play them loud,
you can play them quietly, and they still produce
that low end. You really can hear the smallest details
of every change you do – a half-dB reduction with
an EQ, you can hear it on those,” he says.
But Irvine still has time for Yamaha’s much-loved
monitoring stalwart: “Once a track is mixed and

The Wo r ld’s Fir st 50 0 -Se ri e s Ra ck

Fe a tu rin g Ba nt a m Patching

All products crafted by hand in Chicago IL, USA. Distributed in the UK by SCV Distribution
Explore the full range at scvdistribution.co.uk www.scvdistribution.co.uk
W I R ED F O R S O U N D

Cass has numerous tools at his

disposal in both the software
and hardware worlds

mastered, I will have a listen to see how it sounds on

the NS10s, because it’s a good indication of how it
would sound on the radio or on cheap earbuds and
speakers. They don’t have a great low-end
response, but they do well for the midrange.”
Referencing between the two systems is
important for getting a balance, too: “One thing
I do find is that vocals mixed on the PMCs will tend
to come out a bit loud on the NS10s. So I’ll have to
drop the levels while I’m on the NS10s,” he says. For
a final test, Irvine also uses a set of Audeze LCD-2
headphones that serve a very particular purpose.
“They’re great for picking up distortion that might
not be too apparent on the PMCs.”

LOSSLESS TRANSLATION
Another key aspect of mastering is ensuring that
the mastered track will translate between various
different systems. But this isn’t something that Irvine
gets too fixated on. “When I start mastering, I don’t
think about whether it will sound good on an iPhone.
I try to get it to sound good on the PMCs and NS10s.
If you can get a good mix with the reference tracks,
it will translate well into every system.”
However, sometimes you have to accept that no
matter how skilled you are, there will be playback

COMPANION VIDEO SERIES systems that can’t convey every nuance of a

master. “For some tracks, for example, a trap track,
To accompany this feature, we’ve produced a series of tutorial videos with Cass from where you have a chippy kick and a bass coming
Wired Masters, walking you through some of the techniques and tools he uses and how out at 50Hz, it will sound great on the PMCs – but
you can apply these to your tracks. Over the course of these videos, you’ll hear the subtle
will it sound good on an iPhone? Probably not,
– and not so subtle – effects that he uses in the studio, across both stereo masters and
stem-mastering workflows. because you’re not going to hear that bass.
There are limitations to every genre of music;
Visit musictech.net to watch the series that’s something you have to be aware of.”

30 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

I N T E R V I E W TA R EK M U S A
MT INTERV IE W
TAREK MUSA
From teenage years spent skateboarding with The 1975 to international
success with his band Spring King, Tarek Musa is blessed with a musical
Midas touch. Now a much in-demand producer, he gives us the inside
track on his favourite gear, why he loves the studio and how imposing
creative limitations can give your music the edge…
WORDS JIM OTTEWILL
P
roducer and songwriter Tarek Musa is
reflecting on the creative process of the
contemporary music-maker, and this
Liverpool-based sonic artist is well placed to
offer some serious insight. “Don’t let two microphones
and a simple sound card stop you creating what you
hear in your head. There are no rules to get where you
want to go. Be as new and as weird as you want.”
With early passions veering from skateboarding to
the wild drumming of Keith Moon, he channelled his
musical love into performing before studying music
production at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
After returning to his native Manchester, he formed the
razor-sharp garage rock of Spring King and has never
looked back, completely immersing himself in the
worlds of writing, mixing and production.
BREAKING THROUGH
Initially, Tarek and his music collided with the ears
of switched-on music lovers via the guitar-based
energy of NME favourites Spring King. Following the
band’s end last year, his diary has been full of studio
endeavours, helping push forward the sounds of new
stars including Circa Waves, Kagoule and Hannah Lou
Clark. It’s a role that suits him and has resulted in
plenty of industry acclaim. How did he get his foot in
the door? “My first big break came through an EP
I made under the name of Kankouran,” says Tarek.
“I saw it as coursework, but Channel 4 picked up
one of the tracks from it. Rivers became the lead
soundtrack for their TV, radio and cinema campaign
for the acclaimed show Skins. It was totally unexpected
and opened doors pretty early on.”
KING OF SPRINGS
Tarek’s musical career experienced an extreme, almost
nose-bleeding ascent when Spring King were picked
up by one of the indie scene’s key tastemakers. DJ
Zane Lowe chose the band’s track City as the first
to be played on Apple Music’s Beats 1 station and it
heralded a career gear-shift. Suddenly, the group were
propelled into the stratosphere with sold-out tours and
two critically acclaimed albums.
“It was crazy. I’d recorded City with a couple AKG
C1000s and all the guitars were DI’d, it was a very
basic setup,” Tarek says. “Off the back of it, labels
became a lot more interested in not only the band,
but also my production and mixing style.”
32 May 2019 MusicTech
Tarek’s winning formula helped send Spring King
around the world and then some. But success also
showed him what could be achieved with a can-do,
DIY attitude.
“I always prided myself on my mix of distortion,
dirt and energy with just enough vocal definition to
sing along. I think that moment solidified a belief in
me that it was possible to record, produce and mix
music from the limitations of a bedroom with the
potential to reach a great audience.”
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
Since the band came to an end, Tarek has busied
himself mixing, producing and arranging the sounds
of other artists. His infatuation with studios has always
gone beyond viewing these spaces as somewhere to
merely capture audio. For him, they play an integral
role in shaping the creative process.
“The studio has always been a place to start a
song, because there’s so much on offer to you. Ideas
can begin from something as simple as a piano loop
that has been cut up and manipulated,” says Tarek.
“That’s something I could never get out of a traditional
songwriting space, such as a rehearsal room,” he
continues. “Nearly all my songs have been written on
the fly within software. I couldn’t count the number of
times I’ve started a track by simply playing a drum
beat, then figuring out the rest as I went along. That
balance between being able to explore endless
possibilities while having the discipline to commit to
something and move on – that can only be found in
the studio. That’s what inspires me.”
Tarek takes his musical pointers from some of
the greatest sources of sonic inspiration: from the
legendary Brian Wilson and Phil Spector to Tame
Impala’s Kevin Parker and Arctic Monkeys engineer
Tchad Blake. Although separated by years, a passion
for classic melodies and the adoption of weird,
unconventional and out-there recording techniques
is a common aural thread binding them together.
“I’ve always been a fan of layering beyond the
realms of what can be played by one guitarist,” says
Tarek. “I take no shame in quadruple-tracking lead
vocals or stacking three pianos.”
Like many producers in the digital age, he’s
magpie-like in his musical tastes, bouncing through
a diverse list of innovative artists to add colour to his
palette. “I’ve picked up things from everyone, whether
musictech.net
I N T E R V I E W TA R EK M U S A
“As much as I produce and mix
in-the-box for portability, I also
believe magic happens using
hands-on analogue gear”
obsessing over Beach Boys, Lee ‘Scratch’
Perry, The Mars Volta or ABBA. It’s all fed
into my productions in many ways.”
IN THE FLOW
Tarek’s production technique is rooted
deeply within his songwriting DNA, a style
manifest via Spring King. In 2017, their Tell
Me If You Like To album of the previous
year was rewarded by the wider industry.
Tarek was announced as the winner of the
Self-Producing Artist Of The Year Award
prize at the Music Producers Guild (MPG)
Awards, an accolade he unsurprisingly
describes as a special moment.
“As an artist, you can end up falling
into cycles, with moments of creative
34 May 2019 MusicTech
uncertainty followed by complete musical
focus and passion. This can be challenging
for anyone,” he explains. “So to think the
panel, who are inspirations to me, heard
something that resonated with them, it
was really special. The world of music is
one in which I create with no end goal
apart from my own enjoyment and the
hope that eventually, I’ll get a response
back from someone saying they’ve gotten
a kick out of what they’ve heard. The MPG
panel feedback was one immense kick,
that’s for sure.”
The role of the producer is slightly
different to that of the artist-producer.
The former involves helping prepare a
perfect environment for the songwriter or
artist to create within. On the flip, working
as a solo artist and producer rolled into
one gives you complete control. Having
worked with indie rockers Kagoule and
Valeras as well as leading his own band,
what’s Tarek’s take?
“When I work with artists, I’m trying to
understand what they and their project
are about,” he says. “Sometimes, an artist
needs me to suggest ideas or ways to
approach a song and recording it,
spinning their usual approach on its head.
Sometimes, they simply need a producer
to pick out minor details.”
With his own projects, Tarek only has
himself to answer to. So do ideas flow
more rapidly? He agrees: “Yes, I know
what I’m trying to hear and that can cut
out the translation process that sometimes
occurs between a producer and an artist
when they are trying to find a common
understanding of the project. I’ve been
very fortunate to work with artists who are
willing to experiment and where we both
have a lot in common. It’s meant I can try
experimental approaches usually saved
for myself.”
MERSEY BEATS
“I work on music mainly from my new
recording studio in Liverpool,” Tarek tells us.
“I mix nearly all my clients from the studio
and do a lot of my own productions from it.
I’m based around an iMac, Focusrite Liquid
Saffire 56 with an added OctoPre and a
few preamps. I’ve got a couple of Warm
Audio bits including the WA273, WA-412,
and WA76, which have treated me really
well, they sound so good and add a lot of
musictech.net
 TA R EK M U S A I N T E R V I E W

colour to my signal. I rarely use transparent Does he think the plethora of software with a mix of local and national talent, as
preamps; everything tends to bite a bit and hardware now available has helped well as tinkering with his own solo material.
and has to pass the crunch test! Everything him become a better musician and artist? “There’s a lot going on up in Liverpool
is hardwired, so I don’t tend to switch “When I first owned a soundcard, it was creatively. The availability of space and
preamps for different things; it’s really PCI-based and you’d have to open up lower costs has given me the freedom to
about speed for me and keeping that the computer to physically install it. Now work with more bands who are trying to
energy there when working with others, I can plug in anywhere, at any time,” break through.”
or on my own. Tarek says. Rather than being simply better, Tarek is keen to dispense some key
“There are two pieces of kit that have the advent of tech means ideas can be advice for those looking to have a similar
been behind so much music I’ve made realised and recorded faster than ever career: “It seems thinking strategically with
over the last 10 years,” Tarek explains. before. “A lot of the time, I feel like I’m a well-thought-out plan from the get-go
“The RE-201 Space Echo and a Yamaha only scratching the surface with what’s are both essential. This could involve
Electone HC-4 organ my old neighbour achievable,” he says. “Technology has meeting other producers and making
donated to the family. As much as I mix made my creative process a lot more new connections in music, or analysing
and produce in-the-box for portability, fluid – and that is key.” your favourite records and what it is about
I also believe magic happens using them that grab your attention,” he says.
hands-on analogue gear. I like to have BUNGALOW SKILL “Knowing the basics always helps,
the ability to commit to the choices you The rest of 2019 and beyond looks bright especially with regards to engineering,
make there and then, with the equipment for Tarik. He’s been named as one of mixing and recording techniques.
in front of you. But I go through phases. the recipients of support from the PRS Ultimately, try and be open to trying
Sometimes, I love the fact every parameter Foundation’s Writer Producer Fund initiative new things, listening to new sounds and
within Pro Tools can be automated. and is busy enhancing his Bungalow Beach learning from your mistakes. Expand in
Sometimes, I prefer committing to a take Studio space in Liverpool. He’s working every direction possible.”
using an analogue synth or effect unit.”
Tarek isn’t entirely averse to working
in-the-box either, though. “Plug-ins are
mind-blowing these days, and I couldn’t
survive without the Soundtoys bundle,
especially the Decapitator, or some of
the Waves stuff, such as the Kramer PIE,
API EQs or C4 Multiband.”
Tarek’s musical process is one of
recycling and revision. He begins on
Pro Tools, then works on the organ, bass
guitar, piano or acoustic guitar, leaving
recording running while he develops
ideas to a click track. “My aim is to get
an interesting verse, chorus and bridge
pattern into the DAW. From there, I’ll start
arranging them roughly in an order that fits
my instincts.”
How does Tarek begin to refine these
initial ideas once they’re in place? “I’m
always listening to my gut,” he laughs.
“Where does it want to jump into a chorus?
Where does it want to back down a little
for dynamics? All the while, I’m creating
markers in Pro Tools, typing things such as
‘verse kick in here!’ or ‘big drum bit’. It
doesn’t really make sense at first, but I’ll
keep replaying the session and moving
things until it sits with the melodies I’ve got
in mind.”

SELF LIMITER
Tarek’s take on music tech is a pragmatic
one. With more powerful, affordable gear
available, Tarek can tap into the music
in his head far more easily. But some of
the limitations imposed on himself, either
deliberately or via budget or a lack of
space, have all helped him realise some
of his best ideas.
“I always track the drum shells separate
TAREK’S TOP TIPS
to the cymbal takes. Why? Because I Unsurprisingly, Tarek has a wealth of advice 2 “I rarely reference other artists when I’m
and insight for any artists looking to produce working, and only do things that make me feel
come from a bedroom mentality, where themselves. He believes that having a solid charged with energy.”
the ceiling was low and drums would knowledge of the basics surrounding audio 3 “The moment you lose that spark for a song
always sound thin, and the cymbals would recording will give you an advantage. It can or production, first try again – and if that fails,
spill into every single microphone,” he says. help prevent inspiration being halted by then come back to it later.”
“When you’re trying to figure a way to get reaching for an instruction manual. At the 4 “There’s no rush. If you feel like ideas are
same time, acts shouldn’t be put off by a slow, think of your method – and then do the
around those kinds of limitations, it takes
lack of technical knowledge. opposite for a week.”
you to strange places, but for sure on a lot 1 “See your limitations not as barriers 5 “Comparing yourself to others doesn’t
of my own projects, I record this way out of to something outside of your grasp, but always help: judge yourself only by your last
habit and comfort.” as a defining character to your style.” song, mix or production.”

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 35

I N T E R V I E W T I M O B A K ER
MT INTERV IE W
TIMO
BAKER
For over 30 years, Timo Baker has worked as a professional
musician and composer for TV and film. Operating from his
purpose-built studio in Bristol, Timo has also soundtracked a
wide variety of trailers. It’s a trickier job than you might think…
WORDS DAN LLOYD EVANS
IMAGES HARRY LLOYD EVANS
O
ver the course of Timo Baker’s 30-year
career, he has found himself playing
stadium-size gigs, writing scores for
hard-hitting documentaries and short films,
as well as composing power-packed trailers for
Hollywood blockbusters and Netflix hits, including
The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Paul (2011), Mud (2012)
and Making A Murderer (2018).
Timo is equally at home slowly building experimental
scores as he is when turning his hand to gritty rock
soundtracks. He’s written scores for programmes such
as Stan Lee’s Superhumans, Animal Planet’s River
Monsters, National Geographic’s Primal Survivor and
more recently, the BBC’s Cities: Nature’s New Wild.
Building on his love for rock and dance music,
Timo is widely known for bringing an energetic, punk
aesthetic to his compositions. He’s been acclaimed
by his peers for carving brooding soundscapes which
are undercut with urban beats, and enhanced with
emotionally charged orchestral highs.
Sitting down in his impressive studio in the heart
of Bristol, Timo begins by telling us about his early
experiences with music and how he developed
his musical instincts.
MusicTech How did your interest in music-making begin?
TB Well, I was quite a musical kid. I had piano lessons,
vocal lessons and sang quite a lot. And for my sins, I also
played the trombone. I liked music and was able to
develop quite a good ear, even though I didn’t know
it was happening at the time. When you’re playing with
other musicians, you get to hear what they’re playing,
absorbing stuff by osmosis. The classical route never
interested me, to be honest.
My gateway into this whole world was through rock,
dance music and sonic manipulation. I wasn’t inspired
by dots on staves. At the time, that music felt a little flat
and very old-fashioned. I loved the visceral energy of
rock and dance music – the immediacy, reactive,
collaborative nature of it all – incredibly invigorating,
with an infinite array of possibilities.
I picked up a guitar at 17 and went: ‘Shit, I get it
now!’ The other thing was you could get it to sound a
different way by sticking it through pedals. And I was
always really fascinated by that process of affecting
36 May 2019 MusicTech
the signal. That’s the journey that I was on, to make
these soundscapes or notes that make you go:
‘What the hell has done that?’
MT Following your stint in metal/funk outfit Crazy Gods,
you became an in-house composer at an interactive
TV company…
Luckily, within the first week of me starting there, I got
an email asking ‘does anybody know any composers?’
That’s when I taught myself to write to picture.
There was all this After Effects work for films and little
sequences. So I came to understand the dynamics of
what needed to happen for the music to go against
the picture and express the emotion that was required.
That was an amazing period of my life, and when I
taught myself how to get it done!
MT What are the first steps when you’re commissioned to
write a score for a project?
Generally, the first step would be to have a meeting
with the directors who will discuss what they’re going for
stylistically. Quite often, they will also send a temp score
or give you an idea of something out there that’s hitting
the right notes for them. That gives you a good
understanding of what they want. But, of course you
have to also put your personal spin on that.
But that somewhat differs in shows I work on
regularly. Take River Monsters for example, I’ve been
doing that a long time. I’ve sort of made it my own,
so I know very well what needs to happen.
For these kinds of shows, after an initial brief, I’ll
normally spend a couple of days allowing ideas to
percolate through my mind. Then comes a period
of experimentation with sounds, textures and themes.
During this process, I’m gradually building a sonic
landscape that fits the brief. I could be sat at a piano,
constructing a percussion kit from kitchen utensils or
mangling some old stems through the patch bay to
create a library of inspiring ‘seeds’. These form the
bedrock of the score; I then start painting melodic
themes over the top.
Simultaneously, I will be watching a cut of the film,
so I will be responding musically to the images. A big
part of the job is to interpret the visuals in interesting
and engaging ways to help support and enhance the
musictech.net
I N T E R V I E W T I M O B A K ER
“Trailers need a hook… it’s
got to be memorable. And
everything’s got to be dialled
up to 11! It can be exhausting”
Timo often breaks the
feeling of repetition in
the soundtracking process
by taking a different
approach to sound creation
I’M A BELIEVER
“I have had a belief all along that what I’m doing
is right. And I guess you just build on past
successes: ‘Okay. That was good. Everyone
seemed to love that,’ or, ‘They’ve rehired me,’ or,
‘I got hired to do another job,’ so I must be doing
something right. And it’s by reminding yourself of
those things that you get through it, really.”
“Listen to your inner creative voice and allow
that to drive you,” Timo continues. “Without self
belief, the life of a creative can be very difficult
38 May 2019 MusicTech
and painful. Artists are generally riddled with
self doubt, but it’s having the mental strength
to overcome the inner torment and push on
through. This is the greatest battle, really. Take
small steps towards your goal. Listen to artists
that inspire you and try and work out the
techniques or sound palettes they use alongside
developing your own unique voice. Essentially,
keep listening, keep learning, but most of all,
keep going!”
picture. Scenes in films often have an
intrinsic rhythm; whether it’s the pace of the
cut or speed of someone walking, which
helps inform a starting point for a cue.
ON YOUR MARKS
MT With tight deadlines in the TV and film
world, is there a templated route that’s
usually taken with each commision?
So I have a tool kit that my assistant helped
me develop – little soundscapes, textures
and ideas. I often just slap a texture on
when I’m looking at the picture. There
might be something in it that marries with
the imagery. I might have to drop it down
an octave or reverse it, or perhaps even
stick it through some processing. Then you
can build the meat of the track on top of
this: your orchestral stuff, beats, big hits
and so on.
Then you have the dynamic arc of
the scene. Often, this is totally dictated by
the picture. But there’s also an ongoing
dialogue with the director and editor.
If there is a certain mood or piece of
dramatic punctuation that’s needed
then being able to pick up the phone
to the director or pop in for a meeting gets
it sorted.
Occasionally, I start writing before
I see a single frame of the film. I allow my
imagination to run riot, building worlds and
scenarios in my mind, which I then score.
These themes and atmospherics then feed
into the overall identity of the film.
MT Have you ever encountered difficulties
at this stage of the process?
I’ve been doing this for a long time now
and it’s quite easy to fall into creative
pitfalls. One of these is feeling like I’m going
through the same process over and over
again. So every now and then, I’ll just
switch it up. I’ll maybe do something on the
guitar and stick it through a few pedals or
play some bits of percussion.
The other day, I got some chopsticks
and just started playing some rhythms on
the bass, just to create some interesting
sonic textures. I also like using a violin bow
on guitars and the bass. There’s also been
some cymbal bowing and Kalimba bowing,
that’s quite interesting!
I also think there’s something in just
seeing it through and not editing yourself
too early on. Sometimes, you’ve just got to
musictech.net
 T I M O B A K ER I N T E R V I E W

Timo’s approach to sound

creation for soundtracks
combines soft synths and
effects, hardware and
conventional instruments

stick it down and then see what happens.

Then that might spur something else, or you
might take that piece of audio and flip it in
some way.
Another thing with being a film and TV
composer is that it can sometimes be quite
lonely, especially having come from being
in a band where it’s all about the team.
When I’ve had assistants, that was great
because then there’s the camaraderie and
all the banter, which is brilliant.
Then you’ve also got a creative
sounding board to bounce off. I’ve
obviously been doing this a long time on
my own, so I’m comfortable with that.
But I think as I go forward, I’d like to get
a bit more collaboration involved.
COMING SOON…
MT What’s your approach to scoring trailers?
Film trailers work in a three-act kind of
sense. But crucially, you’ve got to have
this hook, whatever that might be. It’s not
THE TOOLKIT
Aside from using tactile sounds, pedals and synths, Timo’s plug-in and soft-effect arsenal is equally
impressive. Here are some selected highlights…
FabFilter Pro-R
TAL-Dub
Melda Production’s suite
Soundtoys 5
Many UAD plug-ins
iZotope Trash 2 and Mobius Filter
necessarily melodic. It could just be some
kind of noise. If you think of the Inception
trailer, it was that big foghorn; or for
Prometheus, there was that super-high
whiny thing. Whatever it is, it’s got to be
memorable. And everything’s got to be
dialled up to 11! So it can be very
exhausting, just because you have to
deliver on every level.
There’s a sort of minimalism to it,
as well. You can start off with a minimal
u-he Zebra and Braille synths
Numerous Spitfire libraries
Numerous Soundiron libraries
Omnisphere 2.5
Ohm Force Ohmicide
Native Instruments Komplete
soundscape, but then every element is
under scrutiny, whereas that’s less so with
television. Of course, I bring those same
values to everything I do,
but it feels a lot more pressured with trailers.
It’s a brilliant process but it is exhausting.
There were times when I was doing my
normal daytime gig of writing TV scores and
I would be getting into bed on a Friday
night, suddenly, I’d hear my phone go off.
It would be my agent in Los Angeles,

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I N T E R V I E W T I M O B A K ER

“You need to be a competent

creator of music. And then the
extra stuff, for me, has been
how you relate to people”
An arsenal of keyboards and saying: “Can you pitch for this trailer? We
synths dominate Timo’s studio need it for Monday.” I would literally put
my trousers back on and go back into
the studio. So the turnaround time can
be pretty mad if you want to get into this
world professionally.
I’m currently a gun for hire. I’m known
for the kinds of sounds I make and they
want they want me to write my thing. And
it’s the same for people like Trent Reznor
and Clint Mansell. They get brought into a
project because the directors of those films
love their sound.

IT’S A WRAP…
MT So where should those who’d like to
build a professional career in the
soundtracking industry start?
Get good… That’s the headline! You’ve got
to be a competent creator of music. That
is just a given. And then the extra stuff, for
me, has been how you relate to people.
From the band days, I became very aware
that you had to have all your ducks in a
row. So if your management and your
record company and your PR weren’t all
happening at the same time, if one of
those was slightly out of alignment, you
A Novation Bass Station II were in danger.
is a key component of So, I suppose when I became a lone
Timo’s sound
wolf, then I was able to control that bit
more. Not the PR per se, but how I came
across, that was all on me. Which is very
empowering. When you go and have
meetings with people, you’ve got to come
across like you have passion and you want
to do the work. I find the whole creation of
music very exciting. So consequently,
I can’t help but give off those vibes –
when I’m with people, they have a sense
that I actually am excited by it.
Another thing is, find a new way of
doing something that is peculiar or specific
to you and then just make it fit. But also,
take a look at the landscape. Don’t just
think, “I’m going to do 7/8 jazz,” and
Pedal control, expect that it’s going to get you into the
courtesy of TC Electronic film world.
You’ve got to look at the landscape
and what is happening commercially.
I’m aware of stuff that’s on-point at
the moment and you have to capture
the zeitgeist.

Timo caught the For more information on Timo Baker, head

Access Virus bug
to timobaker.co.uk.

40 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G B U S S EN D S A N D AUX C H A NN EL S I N LO G I C P R O X
LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL
USING BUS SENDS
AND AUX CHANNELS
IN LOGIC PRO X
Intelligent use of bus sends and aux channels can unlock the full power of
Logic Pro X’s mixer. In this tutorial, we explore their full functionality and
explore a range of uses that can speed up your workflow in Logic Pro
WORDS MARK COUSINS
B
us (also spelt buss) sends and aux
channels are an essential part
of working with Logic’s mixer,
covering everything from custom
headphone mixes through to reverb and
other forms of ‘parallel’ effects processing.
Yet it’s easy to overlook the full functionality
of what buses and aux channels have to
offer that can really aid your workflow. In
this workshop, therefore, we take a ‘back
to basics’ look at what bus sends and aux
channels can offer and why a more refined
application can benefit your production.
In simple terms, bus sends are most
commonly used as a means of applying
send effects like reverb and delay –
treatments that might want to be shared
over multiple tracks or instruments, as well
as setting a mix between ‘wet’ and ‘dry’
signals (or effected and un-effected,
in other words). This contrasts with the
application of an effect such as EQ that
is placed as an insert across a single
channel strip. Used an insert, only a single
channel can access the plug-in and, in
most cases, there isn’t any interest in setting
a wet/dry ratio.
Bus sends can be inserted into your
mixer using the send slots, found just above
the channel’s output assignment. If you
intend to have multiple channels sharing
the same reverb, it’s worth shift-clicking
the faders so that the bus send is inserted
into all the channels at once. When you
create a bus send, Logic will create an
accompanying aux channel, which
becomes the destination point for all the
respective bus sends. Effects (like reverb or
delay) then inserted on this aux channel will
be applied to all the instruments using the
bus sends, at an amount defined by the
bus send level – the greater the bus send
level, the greater the amount of effect.
42 May 2019 MusicTech
FADE TO GREY
One useful feature for setting the amount
of effect applied is the Sends on Faders
option. Rather than setting the effect level
using the small bus-send controls, Logic flips
the main faders so that they work as the
send levels. Obviously, the Sends on Faders
option makes it much easier to fine-tune
precise send levels (between -1dB and
-1.5dB, for example), but its biggest
advantage is the ability to visualise
the ratio between instruments.
Bus sends can perform a range
of tasks, including the lost art of
dedicated headphone mixes
In the case of reverb, for example, the
fader almost becomes a means of pushing
the instrument further back in the acoustic
space – the higher the fader, the further
from you the instrument becomes.
Moving beyond the application of
reverb, bus sends can perform a range of
additional production and mixing tasks. First
among these is the lost art of dedicated
headphone mixes, where musicians hear a
distinct and separate version of the track to
the monitor mix heard in the control room.
A singer, for example, might need to hear
their vocal loudly in the mix, or a piano-
heavy mix to help with their intonation,
whereas the control room will usually want
to hear a more musical balance. Adjust the
send levels accordingly.
The use of bus sends for headphone
mixes highlights the difference between
pre-fader and post-fader bus sends. In the
example of reverb, the bus sends default
to a post-fader application, so that the
reverb is applied after the fader level is
established. Turning down the instrument
in the mix, therefore, will result in
correspondingly less reverb being
applied. With a pre-fade headphone mix,
the bus send works ahead of the fader,
so, irrespective of the fader level in the
main mix, the musician will hear their mix
at a consistent volume level.
Another interesting use of buses is the
application of effects such as compression
as a send effect – or, in other words,
parallel compression. In this example,
one or more channels gain access to
a ‘heavy handed’ compressor, which
is then blended back into the main mix
to create varying amounts of body.
This is an example where both pre- and
post-fade setups have their merits. With a
post-fade send, the instrument’s level in the
mix has a direct impact on the behaviour
of the compressor. Turn the instrument up
and the compressor works harder.
If you need a more consistent form of
parallel compression, there’s a strong
argument for using it pre-fader, so that the
amount the compressor is driven remains
the same, irrespective of fader level.
In this example, though, you’ll need to
group the aux channel to the channel
fader, so that turning down the instrument
also attenuates the amount of parallel
compression being returned into the mix.
musictech.net
 U S I N G B U S S EN D S A N D AUX C H A NN EL S I N LO G I C P R O X TEC H N I Q UE

LATENCY If you’re creating your monitor mix in software, consider using a Powered by
lower buffer setting of around 32-64 samples (Logic Pro X > Preferences >
Audio) to keep latency to an absolute minimum. Once you’ve finished
tracking, raise the buffer setting so you can run plenty of plug-ins in the mix.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using Bus Sends and Aux Channels

01 Open Project 1 on the DVD. This contains an unmixed track. Select all the 02 Check the status of the bus send. For the application of reverb, you’ll want
channel faders and then insert a send to bus 1 from the first send slot. the send set to Post Pan, so that both the fader level and the pan position
Instantiate Space Designer across the newly created aux channel. dictate the position and amount of reverb.

03 You can set the reverb level with the small send controls, or alternatively, 04 With Sends on Faders active, raising the fader is the equivalent of pushing
use the new Sends on Faders feature (on the top of the mixer) to see all the sound further into the reverb. Try creating a varied soundstage with
the respective send levels on the main faders. some instruments having a greater amount of reverb than others.

05 To keep the mix visually clear, I usually keep the respective bus sends 06 One flexible addition to note is the ability to create more sends from the aux
correct to their horizontal alignment – bus 2, for example, appears on channels, thereby routing effects to other effects. Here, we’re adding reverb
slot 2, and so on. Try adding some delay to the harp. to the delay taps on the harp.

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TEC H N I Q UE U S I N G B U S S EN D S A N D AUX C H A NN EL S I N LO G I C P R O X

LOGIC PRO X TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Using Bus Sends and Aux Channels continued

07 Bus sends aren’t just for reverb and delay. In this example, we’ve applied 08 The compression needs to be pushed hard, using an 8:1 ratio and
compression – using a post-pan bus 4 send to the Daiko drums. We’ve yielding -5 to -10dB gain reduction. Use the fastest attack setting
picked the 1176-like Studio FET as our compression type. (the transients need to be squashed), and a medium release around 500ms.

09 Use the aux channel level to set the depth of the effect. As the 10 Changing the fader level will, of course, change the behaviour of the
compressor is applied in parallel, you can add additional instruments. compression. Try switching to a pre-fader send, therefore, so that the
Note how the additional instruments affect the compressor’s behaviour. compression is driven the same, irrespective of the channel fader level.

11 If you use a pre-fader send, you’ll want to lock both the compression 12 Listen to the results in the context of the mix. Notice how the loudness
and the source channel/s as part of the same group. Attenuating the and body of the drum track changes, even with relatively small amounts
instrument in the mix will then reduce the amount of parallel compression. of the parallel compression bled back into the mix.

44 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

 U S I N G B U S S EN D S A N D AUX C H A NN EL S I N LO G I C P R O X TEC H N I Q UE

Powered by
This tutorial is endorsed by Point Blank Music School, which
specialises in courses on production, sound engineering, the
music business, singing, radio production, DJ skills and film
production, all run by top British music producers and media
professionals, with regular visits from legends in music and media.
For more information, go to www.pointblankmusicschool.com

13 Open Project 2 so that we can explore cue mixing. The session has two 14 Create another set of pre-fade bus sends, which will be for our second
backing tracks, and it assumes we’re recording vocals and bass at the cue mix. The aux channels should be routed directly to the same outputs
same time. Create a pre-fade bus send for all tracks. that the musicians’ headphones are connected to.

15 Click on either bus send and from the drop-down menu, select 16 Using the Sends on Fader option is a quick way of checking and
Copy Fader to Send. This will duplicate the current monitor mix adjusting each of the cue mixes using the main faders. Adjust the
for either of the musicians (depending on the bus you select, of course). balance to extract the best musical performance from either musician.

17 The singer might want to have reverb to help with their intonation. Create 18 Remove the reverb channel’s output assignment so that you don’t hear it
another pre-fade send from the vocal channel, instantiate a reverb on in the monitor mix. The reverb level heard by the singer can be adjusted
the new aux channel, and then create a pre-fade bus send from the reverb. using the send level on the aux channel.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 45

TEC H N I Q UE L I N K A N D SY N C W IT H L I V E
ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL
LINK AND
SYNC WITH
IN ABLETON LIVE
LIVE
Live works brilliantly on its own for production and performance,
but it can also be incredibly sociable and open to working with
other software and hardware. Here are some ways to hook it up…
WORDS MARTIN DELANEY
F
or any musician or producer
running a lot of digital gear
side-by-side, synchronisation
has always been an issue – an
inconvenient necessity. We’ve used MIDI
cables and interfaces to connect the black
boxes that clutter our workspaces, and
we’ve used ReWire to connect the DAWs
that clutter our computer desktops, with
varying levels of complexity and reliability.
With Live 9.6, Ableton introduced Link,
a sync solution that works via wifi or
Ethernet. Link is reliable, and super-easy to
understand and to configure. Over time,
it’s appeared on ever more software, from
Bitwig Studio on macOS/Windows, to Korg
Gadget on iOS, while also encroaching into
the ‘real world’ through Akai’s new Force
hardware, reviewed on page 78. No extra
purchase or install is required, and that’s a
crucial aspect of what’s made it popular.
LINK TO THE PAST
The great thing about using Link is that you
probably won’t need to add any more
software or apps to try it, because it’s
included with so many. If you really get
stuck, find an iOS/Android app, or grab the
Live demo or VCV Rack (an open-source
virtual modular synthesiser) and put them
on another computer. You could even Link
VCV Rack to Live on the same computer.
As we show in the walkthrough, it’s often
better to rely on Ethernet for an important
gig, but that’s usually due to the up and
down nature of wifi rather than Link itself.
Since Live 10 added the ‘Start Stop Sync’
option in Preferences, Link’s been adopted
by even more musicians – that was one
feature many of us requested – the ability
to start and stop all our sync’d gear at
once. It’s good to have the option to turn it
on or off, though. One of Link’s strengths is
46 May 2019 MusicTech
that there’s no longer a sync master/slave
relationship – always something to deal
with if you’re using ReWire, where it’s
impossible for the software to exit the
setup without everything else falling over.
With Link, however, it’s very democratic.
Anybody can start, stop, join, leave,
change tempo… and it just keeps rolling. In
the walkthrough, we refer to a very specific
setup, consisting of Ableton Live 10, Akai
Force and Arturia DrumBrute, but that’s
purely because of what we had to hand.
Link jams are very easy. All you
need is a quiet-ish space, a bit
of table or floor, and you’re off
The Force was the first hardware piece
I’ve encountered with built-in wifi and Link
support; it also has MIDI and CV/Gate, so
it’s perfect for testing such setups.
Link jams are very easy amongst friends,
all you need is a quiet-ish space, a bit of
table or floor, and you’re off (by the way
Ableton hasn’t stated any limit on how
many devices can play at once). Even if
you have to beef up the audio a bit, you
can use a battery-powered mixer and
some battery/rechargeable speakers,
which will have the benefit of making the
jam easier to record as well. If all you’ve
got is phones and tablets, no problem.
Link doesn’t even need Live to work.
SYNC HOLE
While we’re talking about sync, let’s just
remember that one of the cool things
about Live is that sync within projects is
flexible. Everything in Live can be locked to
project tempo, to a robotic degree if
required, but if we take LFOs for example,
each one has the option to sync with note
values, or to manually set the LFO cycle
to Hertz, which will behave in a more
old-school way, and drift over time, if you
set it by ear. This is great for adding an
organic quality to your synth sounds.
Link is not for every occasion; it’s
focused on doing just one very important
job. Something like ReWire will give you
sync, as well as audio and MIDI routing
between two applications running on the
same computer. It’s a great way to treat a
pair of applications such as Logic Pro X and
Live, or Live and Reason, as if they’re one
enormous DAW, and lets you exploit the
best of each. Of course, there’s a huge
trade-off there in terms of complexity,
demands on computer resources, and
frankly, your brain, as you try to keep track
of what’s going across not one but two
complex pieces of software. ReWire can
also introduce issues in terms of assigning
hardware MIDI controllers to the desired
parameters. Though ReWire is powerful,
Link gets you started fast.
Link is a fantastically straightforward
sync tool, and it’s free, and it’s not
dependent on any particular product.
Ableton has brought a lot to the world
of music creation and performance,
but Link feels like it could potentially be
the most useful and important of all.
musictech.net
 L I N K A N D SY N C W I T H L I V E TEC H N I Q UE

GETTING WIRED Link’s commonly used over wifi, which is good for small
gigs, but not for big venues. However, it also works over wired Ethernet,
which should be a lot more stable. Any computer (and hardware such
as Akai’s Force sampler/sequencer), has Ethernet support built-in.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Link and sync with Live

01 Ableton Link is a simple, cable-free way to synchronise the timing of Live 02 Link is available for software running on macOS, Windows, iOS, and
and other music devices over a wifi network. Here, you’ll need a computer Android, as well as some hardware. Visit ableton.com/en/link/products
running Live, and at least one more Link-capable app or piece of hardware. to see a list of available apps across these platforms; some are free.

03 If in doubt, download the current Ableton Live demo from ableton.com 04 First, join a wifi network – all the devices need to be on the same one!
and install it on a second computer. If you like modular synths, try the free If a network isn’t available, or you encounter router/security issues,
VCV Rack modular synth system from vcvrack.com, there’s a Link module for that. create a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network and join everything to that one.

05 Launch Live (from 9.6 onwards) and open Preferences, and go to the Link 06 Click on the Link box to join the Link network. If any other computers or
MIDI tab. Turn on ‘Show Link Toggle’; you’ll probably want ‘Start Stop Sync’ devices are set up, a number will appear showing how people are on.
on as well. Close Preferences and you’ll see the Link box at top left of the screen. An endlessly scrolling left/right indicator will show the current tempo.

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TEC H N I Q UE L I N K A N D SY N C W I T H L I V E

ON TAP If you can’t get your hardware/software setup to sync any other
way, for whatever reason, there’s always tap tempo. Assign Live’s Tap button
to a MIDI pad, or computer key, and the software will assume four taps in a
row is you entering tempo.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Link and sync with Live continued

07 When joining an existing jam, your tempo changes automatically. What 08 If you didn’t choose Start Stop Sync, then Live’s transport remains under
happens next depends on whether you enabled ‘Start Stop Sync’. If you your control. All that’s different is that your tempo will be affected by the
did, Live will start/stop if anybody on the jam starts or stops their transport. other participants. In a Link jam, anybody can control the tempo.

09 Setup is similar for any other software, or another computer, or iOS. If we 10 Link’s Start Stop Sync is available for other apps, but it hasn’t been
use Korg Gadget on iOS, Link options are located inside the Settings added to many yet, so in other situations, Link just represents a clock
section, with the little gear wheel; you’ll still see that rolling sync display. – a time-stream that you can jump into and out of at any time.

11 At this point, you’ve got everything you need for a jam. You could simply 12 If you need to be better heard, or to get a better recording of your jam,
plonk your devices onto a table and start playing, using the various you’ll need a mixer, cables, and a couple of speakers. Bluetooth audio
onboard speakers to make a racket. It can be really spontaneous. exists, but there’s really no audio equivalent of Link.

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TEC H N I Q UE L I N K A N D SY N C W IT H L I V E

ABLETON LIVE TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Link and sync with Live continued

13 So far, we’re good for linking computers, phones, and tablets, across 14 Here’s an idea of how to go about it. Setup Live 10 with Link as described
different platforms and operating systems. But suppose we want to use above, including the ‘Start Stop Sync’ option. Connect a sequencer
Link in a larger setup, which includes hardware drum machines or sequencers? like Akai Force to the same wifi network and enable Link.

15 Connect a MIDI cable to Force’s MIDI output (MIDI-3.5mm adaptor), then 16 When you start Live, sync goes to the Force, and when you start Force,
open Force’s Preferences and configure it to send MIDI clock via that DrumBrute will start playing – in sync, even with tempo changes. Further
output. Connect the other end to MIDI in on the DrumBrute and set to MIDI sync. points if you use CV/Gate out from Force to sync the DrumBrute instead of MIDI!

17 Once you get that kind of rig in your mind, that Link can be part of a chain 18 Live needn’t be present to run a Link jam, and if needed, you can even
of sync’d software and machines, it really expands your sense of what’s Link different apps on the same computer or mobile device, with more
possible, and how much easier it is to do these days, thanks to Link. apps supporting it all the time. This makes sync-life so much easier.

50 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
SH W OFF
YOUR STUDIO
This month, we take a peek at Sound Solution
Recording near Chicago, visit a cosy
Iceland studio and a freshly designed
recording space in Northumberland
Bassi Ólafsson
Interviewee Bassi Ólafsson Contact bassidrop@gmail.com, instagram.com/bassitromm
Check out Bassi’s custom-designed
high-spec studio in Iceland…
MusicTech Tell us about the studio…
Bassi Studios have always been a big part
of my life. My father had one of the first
multi-channel analogue studios in Iceland
in the early 80s. When he and I decided to
move closer to Reykjavík four years ago,
we built a house in Hveragerði with two
apartments and a home studio right in the
middle of the apartments. It’s clearly the
heart of our house. In his apartment, we put
up a little ‘B studio’ so we can both work
full-time on separate projects.
52 May 2019 MusicTech
MT What gear do you have?
iMac i7, 4.2GHz/64GB/4TB SSD, Adam S3X-H,
Adam Sub10 MkII, Yamaha HS 7, Antelope
Audio Orion 32+ interface, PreSonus
Quantum interface, Grace Design m905
monitor controller, UAD Satellite Octo, UAD
Satellite Quad, vintage Trident 80B console,
4x Chandler Limited TG2, API 3124+, Universal
Audio 4-710d, A-Designs Hammer 2 stereo
EQ, Neve Master Buss processor, Retro
Doublewide compressor, Drawmer 1968
compressor, Universal Audio 1176
compressor, 2x SPL Transient Designer,
Tascam 16-channel tape machine, 4x
Yamaha SPX90, various outboard reverbs
and delays; Manley Reference Gold, Coles
4038 matched pair, Neumann U 87, AKG 414
B-ULS, Shure SM7B, Cascade X-155 and more.
MT Which DAW do you use and why?
I’ve been using Pro Tools HD since I started
recording 15 years ago. When digital DAWs
arrived in the 90s, my father sold the console
and tape machine and bought an early
version of Pro Tools. I learned how to use it
and it’s definitely become my safe zone.
MT What is your favourite piece of gear?
One of my favourites is my set of Adam S3X-H
speakers. If your work doesn’t translate well
musictech.net

through these speakers, it really doesn’t
matter how expensive your other gear is.
The monitors are just a pleasure to work on!
Especially when combined with the Grace
m905 monitor controller. Another of my
favourites is the Neve Master Buss processor.
MT How often are you in your studio?
Having an office just next door has its
benefits, but I try to find a balance between
the studio and home, since it only takes me
five seconds to get work!
MT How do you use your studio?
It’s a full-blown studio with a control room
and a live room, so I track a lot of bands and
artists here. Guests love the studio because of
its cosy vibe, and it’s just 30 minutes outside
Reykjavík. I’m also a session drummer, so
I do a lot of drum recordings.
musictech.net
MT What’s next on your shopping list?
I have two compressors arriving in the next
few weeks – the SSL bus compressor for
drum-buss duties and a clone of the Fairchild
670 for character and tube colour for the
master-buss duties (and for bass and vocal
tracking) chained with the Neve Master Buss.
I find plug-ins are getting real close to the
hardware stuff, but the compression is always
a little short on headroom and depth.
MT What’s your dream piece of gear?
I’ve been eyeing the Knif Soma EQ for some
time… It’s just a beautiful musical EQ, extra
smooth with a quality sound to it. Someday
Mr. Knif… someday!
MT What is your top production advice?
Always keep an open mind, even when a
client makes a crazy request: don’t say “no”
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
K E Y K IT
O Vintage Trident console
O Adam S3X-H monitors
O Pro Tools HD
O Neve Master Buss processor
or “it’s impossible”. Take that weird request,
give it a chance and try to put your spin on
it so both of you can walk away proud with
the end product. It’s also important that
you make the recording experience a
memorable one for the client.
MT Any advice for someone starting out
building a studio?
Take the amount of money you started out
with for room treatment… and double it!
It will save you a headache later on.
I know you can buy an extra microphone,
but that mic will never sound right in a poorly
treated room. And your speakers will lie
to you with unwanted flutter or build-up.
If your track was a house, your foundation
would be built on an uneven surface,
making it a nightmare to finish. So treat
your room.
MusicTech May 2019 53
S H OW O FF YO U R S T U D I O
Brent March
Interviewee Brent March Contact brentwgmarch@gmail.com, brentmarchmusic.com
Brent March uses his well-designed
studio for a variety of purposes…
MusicTech Tell us about the studio…
Brent My studio, located in Northumberland,
UK, is designed in a way that allows me to
create better content. This includes demos or
product reviews, composing and mixing
music for TV, film and advertising, as well as
an acoustically treated recording space.
MT What gear do you have?
Custom-built Mac (I7-770K, 16GB RAM, 1TB
SSD), JBL LSR305 studio monitors, UAD Apollo
Twin audio interface, Kontakt 5 and lots of
sample libraries, UAD, Soundtoys, Plugin
Alliance and Slate Digital plug-ins, Stoneham
and ZT amplifiers, Ableton Push 2, Fender
American Standard Strat, G&L and Gibson
guitars, Aston mics, Strymon pedals, EHX
pedals. Nektar Impact GX61 MIDI controller,
Pro Tools/Logic Pro X, Sonarworks Reference
4 Systemwide, Sennheiser e906 dynamic mic
and Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones.
MT Which DAW do you use and why?
I use Logic Pro X for composing and
sequencing, and Pro Tools for mixing and
mastering. I learned Pro Tools in uni and
I’ve become quicker with the workflow.
54 April 2019 MusicTech
MT What is your favourite piece of gear?
The UA Apollo Twin. I’ve owned it for around
six months now. It’s incredibly versatile, has
immense DSP and can help take some stress
off your CPU when mixing or tracking. For me,
the Unison-enabled recording is a game-
changer. Being able to record through a
preamp, which takes on the characteristics
of multiple classic preamps and amplifiers,
is the most sonically diverse way to work.
MT How often are you in your studio?
Every waking minute, seven days a week!
MT How do you use your studio?
Composing, producing and mixing are the
first priority. I also do a lot of private tuition
and I’m currently working on demos and
reviews for a range of products and tutorials.
MT What’s next on your shopping list?
Either the PreSonus FaderPort or Softube
Console 1. I was almost convinced to invest
in some outboard gear just recently, but
a good friend of mine persuaded me
otherwise. Unless the outboard is sonically
superior to the UAD plug-ins, it’ll not improve
the sound in the slightest. However, the
Console 1 and FaderPort allow you to finally
get hands-on with plug-ins, as well as
K E Y K IT
O UA Apollo Twin
O Logic Pro X
O Avid Pro Tools
O Custom-built Mac
focusing on mixing with your ears and not
your eyes.
MT What is your dream piece of gear?
Either a Chandler Curve Bender or Manley
Massive Passive. For me, these two are
the best when it comes to EQs. The UAD
emulations are incredible value, but one day
I’d love to own, or at least, try the real thing!
MT Your top piece of production advice?
Perseverance. For a long time, it felt like my
tracks weren’t up to standard; I still feel like
that from time to time. You need to remain
patient and not expect to be a world-class
producer or composer within months or
years. It’s a lifetime’s worth of learning and
it never stops. I’ve recently started a journal
to keep track of my daily goals and
achievements. It helps to write things down
on paper, as it allows me to acknowledge
where I stand on projects and goals.
MT What advice would you give someone
starting out building a studio?
Don’t overlook the importance of good
acoustic treatment. The best studio monitors
don’t exist in theory – they’re speakers you
know well, in a well-treated space.
Reflections in all home studios can also
cause all sorts of inherent problems, such
as early reflections, standing waves, room
modes. Make sure to invest time and
research into good acoustic treatment.
It can be done relatively cheaply, too.
musictech.net
TEC H N I Q UE D EEPER AU TO M AT I O N I N C U B A S E
CUBASE TUTORIAL
DEEPER
AUTOMATION
IN CUBASE 9.5
Following our primer in our last tutorial, this time, we take a deeper dive
into the nitty-gritty of automation in Cubase, with tips and methods
to work around common problems and pitfalls
WORDS ADAM CRUTE
L
ast time, we looked at the basics
of working with automation in
Cubase, discussing lanes, curves
and breakpoints. We also covered
the difference between track automation
and part-level MIDI CC messages, and
examined the three automation punch-out
modes, which have a big impact on how
Cubase behaves when overwriting existing
automation with new data.
Here, we’re going to look at some of the
practical aspects of automation, starting
with a problem that all DAWs suffer from,
but one Cubase handles particularly well…
NEEDING A TRIM
The problem occurs when you’ve spent
time honing and perfecting an automation
curve, only to decide later that the overall
level of the controlled parameter needs to
be adjusted without impacting on the
relative changes represented by the curve.
Cubase’s offline automation edit tools
can certainly come to the rescue, allowing
you to scale and modify whole groups of
breakpoints as one with just a few clicks of
the mouse. But this can be fiddly where you
want different amounts of trim at different
points in the mix.
Cubase has a couple of good solutions
that allow you to trim existing automation
data with ease. With channel volume
automation, often the best workaround is
to employ VCA Fader tracks. This track type
mimics the action of the VCA – or Voltage
Controlled Amplifier – tracks found on some
classic analogue mixing consoles, which
allowed the volume faders of multiple
channels to be controlled via a single VCA
fader. In Cubase, this is also their main use,
but because in effect, they scale the fader
position of the channels under their control,
any volume automation applied to those
56 May 2019 MusicTech
channels can be scaled by the VCA fader.
And because a VCA Fader can itself be
automated, they can be a powerful tool
even when used to trim just a single
channel’s volume. For all other automation
types (and for volume, too), enabling
Automation Trim mode is another very
effective solution to the problem.
AUTOMATION AND MIDI CCS
We touched on how MIDI CC and track
automation compare previously, but what
Cubase’s offline automation edit
tools let you scale and modify
groups of breakpoints as one
we didn’t say is that things can become
rather more complicated when dealing
with MIDI and Instrument tracks.
Firstly, MIDI CC automation can be
created on the MIDI/Instrument track itself,
or it can be created inside the MIDI parts
contained on the track, either live or offline.
This can lead to Cubase having to decide
whether to record incoming MIDI CC data
to the track or to a MIDI part and where
two different automation curves are trying
to control the same MIDI CC. Both can
be dealt with by the MIDI Controller
Automation Setup panel (see tip box).
Some instruments further complicate
matters by providing another way of
automating their parameters. For example,
Steinberg instruments integrate tightly with
Cubase, exposing all of their parameters to
standard track-level automation. But the
same instrument parameters can also be
assigned individually to specific MIDI CCs,
leaving us to choose between automating
a parameter via track-level, track-level MIDI
CC or part-level MIDI CC automation.
It’s almost always preferable to use
standard track automation, as it has far
greater resolution than MIDI CCs. In any
event, if you do end up with simultaneous
track and MIDI CC automation, the track
automation takes precedence and the
MIDI CC automation is ignored.
Be aware, though, that not all
instruments expose their parameters to
track automation, while others don’t
allow you to assign parameters to MIDI
CCs, so it’s up to you to choose the best
method from those that are available in
any given scenario. Incidentally, MIDI
and Instrument tracks can also automate
their MIDI Modifiers, as well as most of the
MIDI Inserts that can be applied to them –
this isn’t always useful, but it does offer
some intriguing possibilities for the
imaginative experimenter.
It can be fiddly and frustrating at times,
but automation is one of the most powerful
creative tools inside any DAW. When used
well, automation can build the intrinsic
element of a particular sound or part in a
mix, and can be as important as the actual
notes played or audio recorded.
So take the time to really get to grips
with automation in Cubase – it’s often the
difference between a passable mix and
a sonic masterpiece!
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 D EEPER AU TO M AT I O N I N C U B A S E TEC H N I Q UE

COPYING AND PASTING AUTOMATION It’s easy to copy and paste

automation data between lanes. You can use the Pointer cursor tool to select
the breakpoints to copy, or the Range tool to drag out a curve range. When
pasting, highlight the lane you want to paste the curve into.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Deeper automation

01 Let’s start by looking a VCA Faders. Create a new Cubase project and add 02 Switch to the MixConsole and click the name field on the new track’s
an audio track. We need something to work with, so drop a loop or similar channel strip in order to select it. Click the Link button at the top of the
onto the new track – duplicate it a few times so you’ve got plenty to work with. MixConsole window – the Link Group Settings window will open.

03 Call the link group “VolumeTrim”. Tick the Use VCA Fader box and ensure 04 Your audio track will now have a field above the panner that says
New VCA Fader is selected in the drop-down list underneath the tickbox. In ‘VolumeTrim’. A new VCA Fader has been created and assigned to control
the parameter list, ensure Volume is ticked, and untick everything else. Click OK. the VolumeTrim link group. Move the VCA Fader and the linked fader moves, too.

05 Reset the VCA Fader to 0dB and then switch over to the Project window. 06 Flip back to the MixConsole and hit play. Adjust the VCA Fader, noticing
Open the automation lane for your audio track and draw or record some how the linked volume fader is scaled by, rather than moving with, the VCA.
volume automation – something fairly random will work best for this example. You can now trim the audio track’s volume independently of its automation.

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CUBASE TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Deeper automation continued

07 In the Project window, delete the VCA Fader track, then click the ‘E’ 08 Use the panel to switch to Touch punch-out mode and enable Trim. The
symbol next to the automation punch-out selector. The Automation automation lane now displays a second curve. Switch to the panel’s
Panel will open – for now, we’re only interested in its Trim mode. Settings tab and select On Leaving Trim Mode for the Freeze Trim setting.

09 In the project window, select the audio track, ensure it’s in automation 10 You can modify the trim curve like any other automation curve. Once
write mode and open the Fader section of the Inspector. Hit play and happy, you can disable Trim mode. With this Freeze Trim setting, the trim
move the fader. The trim curve is written to, and a representation is shown. curve being applied to the original curve. Close the Automation Settings panel.

11 Let’s move on to MIDI CCs. Delete the audio track, open the right-hand 12 Load a simple sound that sustains for as long as a key is held down,
zone’s VSTi tab and add a Steinberg instrument to the Rack. I’m using such as Analog R8 Strings. Increase filter resonance so cutoff frequency
Retrologue. Choose to create an accompanying MIDI track when prompted. is clearly audible. On the MIDI track, record a nine-bar sustained MIDI note.

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CUBASE TUTORIAL MIDI CONTROLLER AUTOMATION The MIDI Controller Automation

Setup panel (MIDI > CC Automation Setup) defines global automation
settings for each MIDI CC number. You decide where incoming controller
data is stored and how doubled-up CC automation is handled.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Deeper automation continued

13 Open an automation lane on the MIDI track. Click on the lane’s 14 Create a long fade-up in the CC12 automation lane. Hit play, and in
assignment field and select More… to open the Add Parameter panel. the instrument’s panel, right-click on the filter cutoff frequency; select
Expand the All CC group and choose CC12. Click OK to close the panel. Learn CC. This will bind incoming CC12 messages to the cutoff parameter.

15 Open an automation lane on the instrument’s audio track, then open its 16 Mute the MIDI CC automation; hit play. Filter cutoff changes smoothly.
Add Parameter panel. Select the filter cutoff parameter. Click OK. Copy Mute the instrument automation, unmute the MIDI CC automation; hit
and paste the automation curve from the MIDI track to this automation lane. play again. The ‘steppiness’ is caused by the lower resolution of MIDI CCs.

17 Open the MIDI part in the Key editor and show MIDI CC 12 in the editor’s 18 On the MIDI track’s automation lane, the drop-down below the
controller lane. With the pencil cursor tool, draw random automation. parameter assignment field let you choose which CC curve takes
Close the editor – we now have two conflicting MIDI CC automation curves. preference – track or part. The Replace options give the part precedence.

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TEC H N I Q UE M I X I N G W IT H G R O U P S I N P R O TO O L S
PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL
MIXING
WITH GROUPS
IN PRO TOOLS
A problem shared is a problem halved… So in this tutorial, we take a deeper
look at ways that we can share functions across channels – and therefore
work over multiple channels at the same time – by using Groups in Pro Tools
WORDS MIKE HILLIER
W
e often discuss working
quickly when editing and
mixing. This is because
keeping a swift workflow
enables us to keep our creative ideas fresh
in our mind, preventing us from becoming
bogged down in the minutiae and not
forgetting or losing track of just what you
actually want to achieve.
Once you reach a professional level,
working quickly also means you are able
to work on more music. However, there’s
no benefit from simply speeding up if the
results end up being shoddy. In fact, if
the outcome isn’t every bit as good as
when you work slowly, then there is no
advantage at all to working quickly.
SMOOTH OPERATOR
The key is not just to work hastily, but to
work efficiently. This is the reason why you
rarely see professional Pro Tools operators
reaching for the mouse, as they make use
of as many key commands as possible.
Similarly, a good operator will know each
of Pro Tools’ features that are designed to
speed up your workflow. In this workshop,
we’re going to look at the Group features,
which enable you to work on multiple
channels at the same time in both the
Edit and the Mix window.
There are several types of Group in Pro
Tools. The first type we’re going to look at is
the Clip Group. This type of Group joins a
number of clips together to look as if they
are all one individual clip. When used on
a single channel, you can group multiple
edits into a single clip, simply for aesthetic
value. Or this can be used across multiple
channels, which then enables you to make
edits to all of the channels at the same
time, maintaining phase coherence
throughout the Group. This is a fairly clumsy
62 May 2019 MusicTech
way of editing Groups, but can be
aesthetically appealing and make
it easier to navigate large sessions.
GROUP SELECTION
A more elegant method for editing multiple
channels simultaneously is to use an Edit
Group. Edits made across channels in
an Edit Group are mirrored to all of the
other channels, just like with Clip Groups.
However, because Edit Groups can be
individually toggled on/off, or suspended
Group features let you work on
multiple channels at the same
time in the Edit and Mix window
globally, at any time, it’s much easier to
make an edit to a single channel within
a group than it is with Clip Groups.
We will often begin with Edit Groups,
before creating Clip Groups once we have
completed editing. This way, we get to
enjoy the aesthetic advantage of Clip
Groups and can deactivate any Edit
Groups, for the mix phase, knowing that
if we do need to make any further edits
that the Clip Group is likely to be sufficient.
Mix Groups provide a similar function to
Edit Groups, in that they allow mirroring of
any changes made to one channel onto
other channels. However, Mix Groups apply
to the Mix Window rather than the Edit
Window. By default, Mix Groups are all
configured to follow the same set of rules
– known as Follow Global Attributes,
however, it is possible to set separate rules
for each Mix Group. These attributes can
include fader positions, solos, mutes, record
arm and pan, as well as more detailed
parameters, such as inserts and sends.
TIME SAVER
The final group type is an Edit/Mix Group,
which combines the functions of both an
Edit Group and a Mix Group into a single
Group. Most of the Groups we make in Pro
Tools end up being Edit/Mix Groups, as it is
often quicker to set these up and use them
across both windows, toggling each on/off
as necessary, than to create only Edit or
Mix Groups as appropriate. However,
on larger sessions we will often use a
combination of every Group type to
ensure the quickest and most efficient
workflow within Pro Tools.
Navigating groups adds a very powerful
set of tools to your workflows, enabling you
to perform multiple actions at once. By
combining Groups with the ability to quickly
suspend and re-enable them, using
Shift+Ctrl+G (PC) or Shift+Cmd+G (Mac),
we can perform edit and mix changes
quickly and efficiently, to both groups of
channels and individual channels.
This is such an important part of our
editing and mixing process that we usually
create all the Edit and Mix Groups we
expect to use at the start of the session,
alongside other housekeeping tasks,
knowing this will speed up our process
considerably, even if some of the Groups
we create end up not being used.
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 M I X IN G W IT H G R O U P S I N P R O TO O L S TEC H N I Q UE

WINDOW DRESSING By default, Pro Tools shows all Groups in both the
Edit and Mix windows, but you can configure it to only show Mix (and Edit/Mix)
groups in the Mix window and only Edit (and Edit/Mix) Groups in the Edit
window. Simply select Display from the Groups pop-up menu.

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Mixing with Groups

01 Open the Pro Tools Workshop session file. We’ve prepared a session with 02 From the Edit Window, highlight all of the drum clips and press Ctrl+Alt+G
drums, guitars, synths and vocals. Each is colour-coordinated into groups, (PC) or Opt+Cmd+G (Mac). This creates a Clip Group you can colour and
but with no Edit or Mix Groups in Pro Tools. rename. You can’t create Clip Groups over clips with active fades or Elastic Audio.

03 Now any edits you perform to the Clip Group are performed to all channels 04 Ungroup the Clip Group by Pressing Ctrl+Alt+U (PC) or Opt+Cmd+U (Mac).
at once. This is useful for ensuring any edits to multi-tracked instruments – This will maintain all of your edits and revert the Clip Group back to
such as drums – maintain phase alignment between each of the mic channels. individual clips.

05 Highlight drum channels: press Ctrl+G (PC) or Cmd+G (Mac). Name this 06 As with Clip Groups, any edits that you perform on one channel in the Edit
Group ‘Drums’ and use ID = d (for drums) for navigation. Setting this as Group are mirrored across all clips in the Group. The clips no longer appear
an Edit Group will enable edits on the Group without the mix mirroring changes. as one clip; you can suspend the Edit Group to make changes to individual clips.

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PRO TOOLS TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Mixing with Groups continued

07 In the Edit window, actions on one channel are mirrored on the clips in the 08 Highlight the Guitars channels and press Ctrl+G (PC) or Cmd+G (Mac).
Group’s other channels. In the Mix window, the channels behave as though Again, this opens the Group menu. However, this time, we’re going to
unrelated. Fader rides to Edit Group channels have no effect on remaining channels. create a Mix Group, rather than an Edit or Edit/Mix group.

09 Whenever we make changes to the fader, solos, or mutes on one channel in 10 In the Edit Window, everything behaves as if there were no Guitars Group
the Mix window, it is mirrored across all channels in the Group. If the Mix at all. You can continue to make edits to individual clips, with no mirroring
Group includes any aux Channels used as busses, fades will also be mirrored. to the other channels.

11 Rather than use the six audio channels, we could have used the three 12 Highlight the vocal channels and press Ctrl+G (PC) or Cmd+G (Mac). This
sub-Group channels for our guitars Mix Group. This gives us greater control time, we’re going to create an Edit/Mix group. This type of Group combines
over the final mix, without changing the balance feeding into the aux buss channels. the functions of both Edit and Mix Groups into a single Group.

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THE POWER OF G You can activate and deactivate individual Groups from
the Mix window simply by pressing the ID letter assigned to the group. So, in
our example, you could toggle the Guitars Group by pressing G.

13 With an Edit/Mix Group, any changes in the Mix window will be mirrored 14 Similarly, any changes made in the Edit window will also be mirrored
across all the Group’s channels, as with Mix Groups. Don’t include across all the channels in the Group, just like with Edit Groups. The
aux busses in the same group as the signal sources feeding the Aux Group. Group behaviour is now the same across both Edit and Mix windows.

15 Only fader rides, solos and mutes are linked in Mix and Edit/Mix Groups 16 Deselect ‘Follow Globals’; click on the Attributes page.Here, you can
in the Mix window. Change this in the Group window’s Attribute page. select what to mirror between channels on the Guitars Mix Group. We’ve
Press Ctrl+M (PC) or Cmd+M (Mac) to modify Groups; select the Guitar Group. chosen volume, mute, pan/send levels, insert controls and bypass functions.

17 To change an individual channel within a Group once it’s been added 18 With Groups suspended, you can now make any fader rides or edits
to a Group – eg, balancing a fader ride on one guitar from the Group. you want without them being mirrored to other channels. To re-enable
Temporarily suspend Groups with Shift+Ctrl+G (PC) or Shift+Cmd+G (Mac). Groups, press Shift+Ctrl+G (PC) or Shift+Cmd+G (Mac).

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TEC H N I Q UE E X TER N A L LO O P PR O D U CT I O N
REASON TUTORIAL
EXTERNAL LOOP
PRODUCTION
IN REASON 10
Got some amazing audio loops from your hardware synths and modular gear
that you want to get creative with? Or some loops from your drum machines?
Here’s how to use Reason to turn them into something special…
WORDS ANDY JONES
A
ttention non-Reason users! This
tutorial is also for you, and after
reading it, you might decide
that it is the DAW – or at least
plug-in effect – that you need for your
loop productions. So read on, particularly
if you work with analogue gear and want
to bring your loops into your DAW world.
In this Reason sound-design series, we
have pretty much covered all bases, as
creative sound design really should. It’s
such a broad concept that we have
found ourselves exploring specific granular
aspects of the Grain synth, looking at
some of the more subtle aspects of both
compression and EQ when adding clout
to bass, getting creative with kick sounds,
and then using various synthesis methods
to liven up both leads and bass parts.
In this tutorial, we’re going to turn our
attention to the outside world, and to how
you can take any audio file – perhaps
created on your Eurorack modular synth
setup or hardware drum machines – and
get loopy and very creative with them. It’s
almost like we’re using Reason as a giant
effects rack, and then using the results to
create new sets of loops from which we
can create songs. So this Reason workshop
is technically open to everyone, and may
well tempt anyone producing audio loops
to make the jump to Reason, if only to use
it as loop creator.
LOOP THE LOOP
Many people are producing audio files
from external hardware these days:
perhaps sequences and loops from
hardware modular synths, or beats and
loops from hardware drum machines.
Analogue hardware is incredibly popular
again, but software should not be
discounted, as it can act as the next step;
66 May 2019 MusicTech
the processing engine for your external
hardware. With it, you take what you’ve
done on the outside world and create
some incredible loops and complete
songs, all perhaps with just one single
analogue source loop.
Reason has a lot going for it in this
regard; there’s more we may expand
upon in future tutorials. Propellerhead has
always offered much in the way of loop
goodness, from the early days of ReBirth
with its TR-alike classic drum sounds and TB
Propellerhead has always offered
lots of varied looping greatness –
from ReBirth to ReCycle
bass, to ReCycle with its beat- and
loop-slicing prowess, the company
has set the looping fashion trends. And
Reason itself has always been packed
to the rafters with samples, players and
looping facilities.
For this tutorial, we’re going to use
some classic Reason instruments and
functions to take your audio loops from
the outside world and completely
reinvigorate them. Just to re-emphasise,
you can use any audio loops you want to,
but the tutorial works best with beats and
sequenced loops, because we’re going to
initially focus on the older REX audio-file
standard, so we can start chopping and
changing individual beats and notes
within your chosen audio loops.
THE REASON WAY
In case you are new to Reason, or simply
new to using its REX standard, this is a way
of breaking audio down into its constituent
transients so you could adjust the tempo
of the audio file ‘elastically’ to match any
project tempo.
You can, for example, break a drum
loop down into kicks and snare parts and
then be able to move each part
separately to match a new tempo. It’s
a simplistic way of looking at the REX
standard, but what it also means is that
you can take each part of a drum loop,
for example, and rearrange the beats with
relative ease, perhaps replacing kicks with
snares or producing glitchy snare rolls.
AN OLDIE BUT GOLDIE
We’re going to use Dr Octo Rex, an older
REX mangler, to take your audio loops and
properly mess with them. The start of the
tutorial will demonstrate how to take
any audio loop and turn it into the REX
standard necessary for Octo Rex to work
on the file. Then we’ll explore some of this
plug-in’s old-skool beat chopping and
editing facilities only to discover that this
older plug-in has some great uses for the
hardware analogue world.
Octo Rex can be used for some
modern audio editing, and it’s just the first
way of turning Reason on its head for
creative looping. Reason has a reputation
as one of the best loop-laden DAWs out
there, so we’ll explore some of its newer
loop options next time.
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 E X TER N A L LO O P PR O D U CT I O N TEC H N I Q UE

TEMPO EXPLORATION Don’t necessarily stick to the right tempo. The best
way to tempo-match an audio file is to time-stretch it to the nearest bar and
then Reason can auto-match it. However, for more interesting looping results,
don’t always do this – you’ll often end up going on an intriguing tangent…

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Getting creative with external loops

01 Initially, we want to create a very simple project with just one audio track 02 Now open your browser and select your audio file. We’ve chosen a simple
so that you can import your external audio for some loop mangling, synth arpeggiation, like one that we could have imported from an expensive
so open an empty project and create one audio track. rack of hardware modular gear. You can use beats, loops, whatever you want.

03 We do want it to be a loop with some kind of rhythmic transient quality, 04 If you don’t know your loop’s bpm, simply Ctrl+drag the end to the nearest
so that beats or notes can be edited in the REX format. We have matched bar to time-stretch it. Now changing the bpm in Reason should adjust the
Reason’s project tempo with our audio’s bpm. bpm of your audio loop, too.

05 With your loop now looping perfectly, double-click on it. This will introduce 06 You can now hear each part of this sliced-up audio file by pressing Cmd
markers on every transient or peak in the loop, effectively marking out (Mac) or Alt (PC) and clicking on each slice to play the note or beat.
where the beats or notes start.

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REASON TUTORIAL

MT STEP- BY- STEP

Getting creative with external loops (cont’d)

07 Now we want to export this chopped-up audio file as a proper REX format, so 08 The file is saved in the Song Samples folder – although this can be changed
Cmd>right-click the audio file and select Bounce Clip to REX Loop as an – in our case, as a file called Cosmic Arp Cyclesseq. Make a note of this
option. Your file is now saved in the popular and malleable REX format! location, as we are now going to reimport it into a classic piece of Reason gear.

09 Load in an instance of Dr Octo Rex onto a new track in your Rack. You can 10 Expand Dr Octo Rex so that you see the complete edit window showing
now either delete the original audio file and track, or simply solo the whatever warped audio file it auto loads with. Click on the browser tab
Dr Octo Rex track, as that is all we’re interested in now. and locate and load your saved REX file (or simply drag it onto Octo Rex).

11 As long as your loop isn’t too long, you’ll be able to identify all the transient 12 You can also select each part and choose to reverse each one in an instant.
parts. You can now see all the edit options below it. First, select one audio Here, we’ve done just that on the fourth note from the end, so Rev is shown
part and adjust the pitch up or down in semitones to move the pitch up or down. as marked on. This is just the start of what you can do in Dr Octo Rex.

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AUDIO TO MIDI What we have effectively done below is simply convert our
individual transient events in our external audio loop into elastic events to fit
any tempo, and then into MIDI events that can be dragged around on
screen. Reason makes this audio-to-MIDI conversion almost invisible.

13 Now turn your attention to Octo Rex’s more global functions, including 14 Start with the filter settings shown like this. These will apply to all
Filter, Envelope and LFO sections, just like a plug-in synth. You can apply segments in your REX loop rather than per note as we did in steps
these to your loop as well. 11 and 12. You’ll get that classic squelch effect.

15 You can also apply an LFO, in this case to the filter, for really dramatic 16 Now, here’s possibly Octo Rex’s most useful feature for today’s audio
changes. The amount that it is applied it determined by the Depth looper. Hit the Copy Loop To Track button and a new MIDI track is created
rotary and the Rate controls the frequency. with a MIDI file of your audio loop on it – great!

17 The new MIDI file has your loop broken down as the REX segments, 18 Better still, you can rearrange your entire loop just by dragging around
but now as MIDI notes spread across your keyboard, so you can play the parts. This is just the start of external loop mangling using one of
individual notes from your audio loop. Reason’s older plug-ins. Next time, we’ll go a lot further.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 69

 10 T I P S

5
FIND ANY PROBLEMS
Cheaper software solutions require a standard omni-directional pencil mic
to capture the room’s measurements. Some of these include the free Mac
and PC Room EQ Wizard (roomeqwizard.com) or the currently Mac-only RØDE FuzzMeasure
4 ($99, from rodetest.com). They measure your frequency response and more. The flatter
the response the better, and any notches must be dealt with or compensated for. They
might also measure and reveal standing-wave modes, where certain wavelengths get
reinforced at certain points – and flutter echoes, the kind of resonance developed by
higher-frequency reflections.

ABSORB THE
6
IT’S NOT 7
REFLECTIONS
JUST ABOUT Dealing with the high- and mid-frequency reflections can

FREQUENCY be handled by absorbers. On a simple level, you might

You might think that getting a flat frequency response is
what you’re after when it comes to getting the right room
acoustic… and yes, that would be ideal. However, you’ll also
need to test for both reverb times and waterfall. The former
measures those interfering reflections, so use this graph to
identify, reduce or at least even them out. Waterfall graphs
make identifying very specific reflective and frequency
issues easier. Once you’ve identified any problems, it’s
time to act on them…
put absorption panels (from the likes of gikacoustics.co.
uk, auralex.com and vicoustic.com) on the side and back
walls. These are typically made of soft porous material
such as foam or rockwool, and they simply absorb the
sonic reflections and reduce that high-frequency ringing
we mentioned in tip 5.
For lower-frequency absorption, use bass traps which
are often, but not always, placed in the corners of a room.
These can be tuned to specific frequencies to home in on
the Hz that hurt. Vicoustic’s Vari Bass, for example, can
be adjusted to absorb anything between 50 and 100Hz
by simply rotating its top. One important note: you could
cover your walls and have bass traps everywhere, but,
ideally, you don’t want a completely dead room; just one
with a good sound balance.

DIFFUSE THE SITUATION

8 Diffusion is used to scatter problem frequencies away from your ears and
diffusors are placed at points that may have initially reflected them towards
you. The thinking is that you then only hear the directly monitored music as the signal
is diffused into more manageable, smaller reflections which don’t make the room sound
too dead. Also, the sweet spot, or listening position, can also be increased with well-placed
diffusers, allowing for a more flexible monitoring experience. Unlike absorbers, these
are made of harder material, designed to reflect the sound away from you, so are
typically made of wood or plastic. Again, try gikacoustic.co.uk, vicoustic.com or dealers,
including thomann.de.

SELF CALIBRATION
9 There are the systems that test your room and calibrate either your gear or
your playback frequency response for you to compensate for whatever errors
they find in the room, thus attempting to avoid adding any acoustic absorbers or diffusers.
These include top-end systems like Genelec’s Loudspeaker Manager software and its
User Kit, which are designed to self-adjust the company’s Smart Active monitors. Other
systems, such as IK Multimedia’s ARC System and Sonarworks’ Reference, include a
microphone which tests your room. The software then makes adjustments to your frequency
playback in response to the anomalies that they detect – no acoustic treatment required!
1O
LOSE THE ROOM!
You can simply take the sound of the room
completely out of the equation by using
headphones to reference your mixes with. It might seem a cop
out, but headphones can be a great way to monitor, particularly
if you have noise or neighbour issues. However, just like monitors,
not all headphones offer a flat response. Enter Sonarworks, again,
with its Headphone Edition calibration plug-in, which promises
to compensate and flatten out the response delivered by many
popular makes of headphones, of all price ranges. Job done –
acoustic treatment and hard work avoided.

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 71

 REVIEW

REVIEWS
HARDWARE | SOFTWARE | ACCESSORIES | GUIDES
Q HARDWARE Q SOFTWARE Q ACCESSORIES

AKAI PROFESSIONAL Force 74 SPITFIRE AUDIO Studio Brass Professional 82 DENISE Noize 104
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Komplete Kontrol M32 78 PROPELLERHEAD Complex-1 84 LOOPLORDS Electro Urban Drums 105
WARM AUDIO WA-251 and WA-84 80 IK MULTIMEDIA SampleTank 4 86 LOOPMASTERS
KORG Volca Modular 100 INTUITIVE AUDIO Chord Composer 89 Paul Sirrell Deep Garage House & Tech 105
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS Komplete Audio 2 104 ROB PAPEN Vecto 92 MODEAUDIO Brainwave 105
PROCESS.AUDIO Sugar 94 NUGEN AUDIO SigMod 105
Q BUYER’S GUIDE UVI PX V8 98

SIX OF THE BEST Ableton Live Controllers 120

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 73

LE A D R E V I E W A K A I P R O FES S I O N A L F O R C E
AKAI PROFESSIONAL
Force £1,299
Akai’s long-awaited box of delights has finally arrived. From song-sketching
and Ableton Live control to a versatile performance hub, is there nothing
the Force can’t do? Let’s find out…
WORDS MARTIN DELANEY
D
espite the differences between
hardware and software,
there’s still room for something
in-between the two worlds;
hardware that provides a lot of what
software offers, but doesn’t feel like a
computer. We’re not talking about your
dad’s groovebox, though: we want some
21st-century tech with our standalone
piece of kit and Force is the latest
manifestation of this.
It’s a standalone sampler, sequencer
and effects processor with a display,
lots of tactility and plenty of connections
to the outside world. It also connects to
a computer and acts as a controller for
Ableton Live, which gives it a unique
hybrid status – like a toaster that also
makes coffee.
The Force package includes
pre-installed content, a printed quick-start
manual, power supply (this thing is way
too chunky to run off a battery), three
MIDI DIN-to-3.5mm jack adaptors and,
more unusually, an ethernet cable. It’s
74 May 2019 MusicTech
physically imposing, weighing just over
3.87kg, and measuring 13.8 x 15.3 x 2.85
inches – definitely at the outer limit of
being backpack-friendly.
The Force is much better-looking in
reality than online – the standout features
are the 6.9-inch (diagonal) touch display,
64 backlit RGB pads, and eight knobs
aligned at an angle below the display.
This combination makes it possible to view
three sets of data at the same time.
Alongside these main elements, there’s
also a large data-entry dial, crossfader,
and a bunch of backlit buttons.
The front edge hosts an SD slot,
full-size headphone output, and knobs for
headphone and cue volume. The rear
panel features two ¼-inch/XLR inputs with
switches for line/mic levels, and phantom
power, two pairs of ¼-inch stereo outputs,
MIDI In/Out/Thru connections on 3.5mm
jacks, and four CV/Gate outputs.
This is rounded off by two USB A ports
for connecting a controller or storage,
a USB B port for computer connection
Key features
O 64 backlit velocity/pressure sensitive pads
O 8 touch-sensitive knobs with OLED displays
O 56 buttons
O Crossfader
O 150 x 93mm (width x height) touch display
O 2GB RAM
O 16GB storage, ships with 10GB content
O Expandable with HDD or SDD SATA
drives internally
O Reads audio files in AIF, WAV, FLAC, MP3,
OGG formats
O Dimensions (350 x 389 x 72.5mm)
O Weight: 3.87kg
O Front connections: ¼-inch headphone
output, SD card slot
O Rear connections: 2x XLR+¼-inch inputs,
4x ¼-inch outputs, MIDI In/Out/Thru
connections on 3.5mm jacks, 4x CV/Gate
outputs, Ethernet Link port, 2x USB A ports,
1x USB B port
CONTACT
akaipro.com
musictech.net

and an ethernet port for that cable. And
now, we need to talk about something
that isn’t in the box – Ableton Live.
Akai built Ableton’s Push controller,
and this relationship shows in many
aspects of the Force’s design. Over the
years, many Live users have speculated
on a hardware version of Live, but that’s
never really materialised, so maybe it
was inevitable that a company other
than Ableton would take a shot at it.
I could fill this review with questions and
comparisons about Force versus Push/Live,
but we should look beyond that and take
the Force as it is… and maybe we’ll find
time to mention Ableton again later.
USING THE FORCE
The Force enjoys the benefits of a fast
hardware setup. Add headphones, switch
it on, and the display offers a selection of
demo projects – tap one to load it, then
begin launching clips and scenes with the
pads. The crossfader is even pre-assigned
on a few of those demos as well.
After that first jam, I found it helpful
to consult the manual and check online
for updates, which require either a USB
connection to a computer, or transfer
via USB drive. Once it’s connected to
your wifi network you can sync with other
software and hardware via Ableton Link,
although if you’re touchy about relying
on wifi for big gigs, use the Link ethernet
connection instead.
Furthermore, if you have an account
with Splice, you can log in and sync your
samples from there as well; it shows up
in the Force browser just like any other
source. The Bluetooth connection doesn’t
support audio devices, but it works with
MIDI devices and wireless computer
keyboards (wired USB ones work, too).
LET THE FORCE FLOW
After being inspired by the demo projects,
I wanted to use my own material. The
Force has 16GB of built-in storage and
2GB of RAM. Underneath lurks a hatch
for installing an HDD or SSD hard drive,
vastly expanding storage and reinforcing
standalone status. Furthermore, the ability
to stream direct from an external hard
drive will be added shortly, which will be
a big plus for heavy samplists.
Still on the subject of capacity, the
Force provides just eight tracks of stereo
audio, but it will handle up to 128 tracks in
total, with up to eight plug-in instrument
tracks. The rest consists of sampler tracks
for drums, keygroups, and MIDI/CV tracks
musictech.net
A K A I P R O FES S I O N A L F O R C E LE A D R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If you’re already One box, one case,
rocking a laptop and one mains plug,
some DAW software, nice and easy.
and you have a Use it like that,
controller that you’re separated from
happy with, maybe other instruments,
you don’t ‘need’ this. or use the
But you still might comprehensive
be attracted by connectivity to
the self-contained integrate with the
nature of it. There outside world. It’s
is something to be limited in scope
said for a single-box and expensive, but
solution, and sometimes, it’s really
frankly, the Force good for your head to
is something that, work with hardware
if a DAW maker that is totally focused
had created it, its on music and doesn’t
user base would be distract you with
all over it. notifications.
for external sequencing, with no restriction based on Akai’s previous hardware, such
on the number of plug-ins used, other than as the MPC3000 and MPC60, available
the processing limitations of the CPU. either globally or on individual tracks.
Even though the Force functions as
a self-contained entity, the MIDI and PERCUSSIVE PRECISION
CV tracks are important because most There are four instruments available –
of us have other external noise-making the Bassline mono synth, the Electric
gear. For that reason, it’s a shame that piano instrument, the Hype synth
the Force doesn’t have two more inputs, (combining wavetable, FM, analogue,
so it can receive audio from multiple bits and sample-based synthesis) and
of outboard. TubeSynth for analogue-style polysynths
Quality and selection of onboard (based on the AIR Instruments Vacuum
instruments and effects are critical in Pro). Just four instruments might sound
a closed system. The Force provides a limiting, but there are a tonne of presets
collection of AIR instruments and AIR/Akai to use to spark your own ideas. Some of
effects. These including reverbs, delays, these also make use of the pads’ velocity
bitcrushers, compressors, sidechaining, responsiveness to add a more organic
Force is a sampler, sequencer
and FX processor with a display,
lots of tactility and connectivity
and more. The sheer number of effect quality, and Akai is going to be releasing
slots available helps counter any feeling more collections of presets in the future.
of being locked in, with up to four inserts Let’s not forget, sampling is a major
per track and four return tracks. If you’re element of this machine and its instruments
using a drum kit, there are four inserts plus could be seen as complementary to that.
built-in effects for each pad. Parameter changes can be recorded
There are also master-track effects and as automation, which is great, although
EQ, while the XYFX touch-effect interface it’s currently not possible to view the
makes it all more interactive. If you want automation afterwards. However, it can
mod/pitch wheels, you’ll have to connect be edited in the massively useful and
a MIDI keyboard, though. There’s also delightfully old-school List View.
Vintage Mode, which presents an option The pads are sensitive and perfectly up
to emulate output audio characteristics to the job, feeling in-between something
MusicTech May 2019 75
LE A D R E V I E W A K A I P R O FES S I O N A L F O R C E
like those on a Push 2, which feel optimised
for pure instrument input and Akai’s own
MPC Live, with those tasty black rubber
pads that are clearly more focused on
percussion. Pad layouts reflect the type
of track that’s currently active and within
that, there are different options, like
splitting the grid, so the top four rows
provide clip and scene launching, while
the lower four play notes.
The Force is so enjoyable to use –
for song sketching, sampling,
jamming and live sets
In Melodic Note mode, it’s possible to
choose a scale, stay in Chromatic mode,
or use the Harmonisation and Chord
modes, or a Progression mode, where
each pad plays a chord in a selected
progression, which is very cool.
We also like the simplicity of Piano
mode, which simply uses the pads to
AKAI PRO FORCE OVERVIEW
One of Force’s three main control areas, the
1 display can reflect what’s happening with the
pads, or show something entirely different, like the
mixer, MIDI note sequencer, sampled waveforms, or
instrument and effect plug-in parameters. Great for
multi-tasking.
The Matrix button is the one to tap if you
4 want to view the clips and scenes on
the touch display; you could do this while the
pads below are busy serving note input or
beat-making duties.
76 May 2019 MusicTech
represent the rows of black and white keys
on a piano, covering four octaves.
Whether recording, sequencing,
or finger-drawing MIDI parts, the display
handles note editing, quantisation,
humanisation and more. What’s quite
fun is combining the Generate Random
Events function with the Pitch Quantize
command, creating random beats and
sequences then forcing them into key. It’s
not as speedy as using a DAW, but that’s
part of the standalone
MULTI-TOOL
Of course, the Force is an Akai sampler,
with all that means – sample import,
recording, warping, key groups, looping,
slicing. It’s all here. Once I got the muscle
This 8x8 grid of pads is backlit, and it can
2 be used to record or step-sequence beats
and instrument parts. Their layout, colours, and
more importantly, names can also be viewed
from the display, with touch-screen launching
to boot.
Because the Force has 56 buttons, there’s a
5 pleasingly limited need for shift- or multi-
function buttons. It’s interesting that Akai gives over (for Link sync), Audio In/Out of course (two-in,
most of the right-hand side to the crossfader – that
says something about the intended audience, maybe. outputs), and headphones.
memory down, it was fast to work with;
the chop function in particular is a fast
way to distribute a sliced sample across
pads making it immediately ready to play.
Wherever sampling leads, file-
management issues follow. There’s a
search function, the option to audition
samples at their native tempo, or warped
and sync’d to the project. There’s
additionally a handy system-resources
view, which shows CPU, RAM, and storage
status. It’s also very easy to purge
unwanted samples if you need a clearout.
Loading in a few DAW-built music
projects into the Force, for real-world
experience (with stems from a song
featuring drum machine, guitars, and
vocals) I had no problems getting them
to start and play in sync, and it’s a doddle
to add extra beats programmed on the
Force. Next, I tried some different
microphones and there’s no issues getting
a loud and clean signal. It’s the same
when I plugged a guitar in direct.
There are no guitar-specific effects
onboard, but it’s possible to get a usable
sound with the effects that are there.
Force’s third main control section, this row
3 of eight knobs is assignable to pretty
much anything you like, from track volume to
effect sends or Device parameters. Each one
has an OLED display that gives you more detailed
visual feedback.
6 The Force is exceptionally well equipped with
connectivity, for MIDI (In/Out/Thru), Ethernet
four-out), USB A and B, SD card, CV/Gate (four
musictech.net

Next, I loaded an electronic, drone-
type project, and ended up rebuilding
virtually the whole thing using the onboard
instruments and imported drum samples.
I configured the knobs for this one as well,
and ended up with a very interactive
synth-plus-effect setup. The BPM is saved
with each project, but strangely, I couldn’t
see any way of changing from 4/4 time
– not something I do very often, I’ll admit,
but this will be a critical consideration for
some potential users.
I love randomisation, so probably
the biggest fun I’ve had with the Force
involves going into an empty project
and using the Generate Random Events
command to create beats and instrument
patterns, along with the ‘filter note values’
function to keep everything in key.
Very nice.
THIS IS JAM HOT
After creating MIDI parts and organising
my samples, it was time to jam with clips
and scenes. The Force provides extensive
control over clip behaviour, with trigger
and toggle launch modes, legato clip
launching (where one plays neatly into
the next according to your defined start
points), looping behaviours, clip splitting,
and muting sections of a clip. Launching
can be done from the pads themselves,
or press the Matrix button and do it by
tapping the display. This keeps the pads
free for more note entry.
It’s possible to constantly reorganise
your POV while playing, bringing up mixer,
MIDI editor, matrix, note mode, macros or
whatever is required on the knobs. It’s
very easy to work with, and fast. Issues
of computer versus hardware fade away
and the focus is squarely on the fun and
creativity of making and performing music.
Alternatives
ABLETON
Live Suite with
Push £1,138
This is an obvious one to
include, due to Akai’s
history with building
products for Ableton,
and the undeniable
influence on the Force
musictech.net
A K A I P R O FES S I O N A L F O R C E LE A D R E V I E W
LINKED IN
It’s easy to create a Link setup, with the
Force syncing over wifi to Ableton Live 10
on a Mac, and sending MIDI out via the
rear port to an Arturia DrumBrute. Although
it’s common practice with music gear
now to use small jacks with adaptors, it’s
a shame something as big as this still
can’t accommodate full-size MIDI ports;
nevertheless, they do work. Currently, the
Force doesn’t support Link Start/Stop, so
it’s purely a matter of jumping in and out
of the ‘stream’ while maintaining sync.
For any DJs reading this, the Force can
sync with Serato via Link as well, and even
with Pioneer’s own Pro DJ Link protocol,
via an application called Beat Link Trigger
running on a computer.
Frustratingly, there’s no way to create
a full arrangement inside the Force, so it
falters at that last part of the process.
However, an Arrangement mode is said to
be on the way. It has also been confirmed
that Ableton Live integration is coming
soon, which will be a big plus for many
users. Force projects will be exportable as
.als files, so they can be opened directly
into Live on a Mac or PC.
Additionally, Force will act as a
Push-style controller for Live on a
connected computer, going as far as
to show Live’s interface on the touch
display. This integration will add huge
value to Force and make it even more
adaptable to any studio or live situation.
FORCE OF NATURE
The Force is so enjoyable to use – I would
happily put it to work for song sketching,
sampling, jamming and live sets. It’s also
a great prospect for anybody interested
in creating or performing with music
hardware. Even if you’re a software
design. Live is an ELEKTRON
accessible but Octatrack
far-reaching creative £1,037 approx
and performance tool, The Octatrack, currently
although the price of on mark 2, is one of
admission is high if you Elektron’s flagship
want the fully featured boxes. This is a sampler
Suite version. and sequencer only;
ableton.com there are no onboard
diehard, this is another way to think
about presenting live music, especially
if you experience the occasional option
paralysis that comes bundled free with
every DAW.
It’s newbie-friendly as well as pleasingly
familiar to experienced users and can
lead an entirely self-contained existence
(more so when the arrangement mode
update is available), or integrate into a
setup with other gear.
The Force wears its design influences
on its sleeve, but that’s okay – no product
pops into existence fully formed. Ableton’s
Push had its own influences, too, that’s just
an inevitable part of the world of product
development. Force is already a serious
proposition and with the imminent Live
integration, this could be the perfect
hybrid machine.
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
+ The undeniable attraction
of a self-contained box
+ Fast and easy to grasp
the basic operations
+ Great connectivity, with audio,
MIDI, CV, USB, Bluetooth, wifi
+ Instruments and plug-ins included
– You’ll need to buy a bigger backpack
– It’s not cheap
The Force is a powerful sketchpad/
delivery system and Live controller.
The not-insignificant price demands
some commitment, but it reflects
the features at hand, and it’s an
absolute blast to use.
instruments, just a set of for the retro CF card,
very cool audio effects. and generous
It’s great for playing very connectivity.
long samples. Look out elektron.se
MusicTech May 2019 77
R E V I E W N AT I V E I N ST R U M EN T S KO M P L E T E KO N T R O L M32
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
Komplete
Kontrol M32
The A-Series took some beating, but now Native Instruments’ compact
keyboard does Komplete Kontrol and NKS even cheaper. We unbox the M32
WORDS ANDY JONES
I 
t only seems like a couple of months since
I reviewed the latest in Native Instruments’
Komplete Kontrol series of keyboards, that
being the A-range. Native is on fire at the
moment and seemingly intent on driving the
entry price point to music production down to
affordable levels. The A49 I tested is streeting at
just £149 and you get a full suite of NI software
bundled in with it, plus the reassuring feeling that
your keyboard will bring the best out of that
software using the NKS standard.
This Native Kontrol Standard is Native’s way of
integrating its ever-cheapening hardware with it
and third-party software, with hardware controls
automatically assigning themselves to much-used
software parameters, thus making the whole
software-hardware thing very seamless.
You’d think that £149 for a piece of hardware
that controls a bunch of great software is a great
price, and I certainly did, concluding that: “You
get a full-sized keyboard, a bunch of high-quality
plug-ins and a great conversation between the
two of them. I’d buy that for less than 200 quid.”
But just when you think it couldn’t get any
better, along comes the M32 – and it’s cheaper
still! Just £99 gets you the keyboard, and yes,
there’s even a bundle of instruments and
other software thrown in; not as good as with
the A-Series, nor a patch on the full suite of
KK software, but it’s still one heck of a lot
of hardware and software for just two figures
of cash…
78 May 2019 MusicTech
£99
Key features
O Micro-sized controller keyboard
with 32 keys
O Pre-mapped control of Komplete
instruments and effects plus
third-party Native Kontrol
Standard (NKS) software
O Includes Maschine Essentials,
Monark, Reaktor Prism, Scarbee
Mark I and Komplete Start plus
Ableton Live Lite
O USB 2.0 buss powered
O 1 TRS pedal input
O Functionality with Maschine,
Logic Pro X, GarageBand
and Live. Cubase and
Nuendo promised soon
O Requirements: Mac 10.12 or
Windows 10 or higher. Intel
Core i5, 4GB RAM, USB 2.0
O Size (mm): 475 x 167 x 50
O Weight (kg): 1.45
CONTACT
native-instruments.com
HOW? WHY? WHAT THE HECK!
When we first encountered the M32, I bemoaned
the fact that it used to cost newcomers a fortune
to get into music production, and now you can
do it for very little money. This is a fantastic sea
change. The big gain for NI has to be that
newcomers to music-making will forever worship
the company for making their entry point so
cheap, and then upgrade to NI’s vast suite of
other software by way of thanks. Whichever way
you look at it, some shortcuts must have been
made, right?
Unboxing M32, you start to believe that to be
the case, as initially you feel like you are unboxing
nothing, it’s so light. It’s only a 32-note keyboard
and combined with smaller keys, it covers a very
small footprint and is as light as a feather. Both
are great if you are carrying the keyboard
around and have only a small amount of desktop
space, of course, and lighter does not necessarily
mean flimsy. It actually feels okay in terms of build
– plastic, yes, but also very solid.
The most incredible thing is that it packs in
pretty much all the buttons and rotaries that you
get on the more expensive A-Series keyboard,
only lacking ‘proper’ pitch and mod wheels,
these being replaced with touch strips. This
means you get all the transport, select and
navigation areas, plus the eight rotaries.
There’s a Shift button to double up
functionality but, of course, you don’t get the
glorious Light Guides as found on the full-fat
musictech.net

S-Series, those lovely colour LEDs that lit up
the keyboard keys.
The actual keys on the M32 also lack the
size and playability of both S- and A-Series,
but they’re suitable for newcomers and
reasonably playable, especially in a world
full of synthesisers that seem to be adopting
touch keys over real keys to keep costs
down. You also get a single screen on
the M32, just like on the A-Series, so I’m
guessing, then, that operation is going to
be very similar between the two. The real
cuts must, therefore, must have been
made in the software bundle, then, right?
SOFT-LESS
I almost feel relieved when I discover that,
yes, there is less software bundled with M32.
Aha, so this is the chink in its armour. But
then it’s still a pretty decent bundle. You
get the Komplete Kontrol software that
lets you home in and manage particular
sounds and instruments, plus you also get
the all-new Komplete Start, a bundle of
sounds and instruments that now comes as
standard with any KK product. It includes
2,000 sounds and a bundle of 17
instruments and effects including the great
Carbon, Mikro Prism and four Reaktor
Player instruments. Add the Monark and
There’s no excuse for everyone
not to be making music with tech
– M32 is a milestone product
Reaktor Prism synths, the Scarbee Mark 1
piano and free time on sounds.com, plus
a £22 voucher to the NI shop, and you’ll
agree that it is quite a bundle for £99,
with a keyboard thrown in!
In the case of the A49, the keyboard
automatically assigned itself as a controller
in Logic, at least after updating the KK
software in Native Access. M32 didn’t quite
offer such a seamless experience – I did
need to update its firmware and wrestle
with Logic’s control surface setup, but
it was soon up and running. And I can
confirm that M32 quickly slipped into NKS
mode, where you home in on a sound type
and the KK software presents you with your
options among whatever NI instrument you
have installed. You then choose a preset
and its important guts are assigned to the
keyboard’s controllers. In no time, you are
tweaking parameters, and their names are
Alternatives
NATIVE as a direct
INSTRUMENTS alternative to the KK,
Komplete Kontrol but really the
A-Series A-Series by NI is
£149 for the A49 more a competitor,
Normally, I’d throw in as it’s only slightly more
the Akai Advance series expensive, and you do
musictech.net
N AT I V E I N ST R U M EN T S KO M P L E T E KO N T R O L M32 R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If ever I could easily ‘yes’, then get this
write an answer to keyboard (or any
the question above, of the A-Series
it is now. Simple: come to that) and
ask yourself if you’re you’ll be enjoying a
starting out in music fantastic hardware
production and if and software combo,
you have a minimal and then making
studio. If the answer music from the off
to both questions is with Live Lite, too.
displayed on the M32 screen as you alter
each knob. Hey presto, that familiar NKS
hardware software blurring is with you
– absolutely brilliant, and for less than 100
quid. I think back to those heady days
when I reviewed the original S-Series
and wonder how I would have reacted
knowing you’d eventually get the
experience for such a small outlay.
I should also add the DAW control
bonus. I say ‘bonus’, as I wasn’t expecting
the integration with Logic last time and
you get it again here. The transport buttons
control your DAW and you can adjust
channel volumes, mute and solo, and a lot
more, all from the keyboard. Do check
your own DAW compatibility on the Native
Instruments website if this is important to
you. If you wonder why I seem to be
mentioning it in passing, to my mind, it’s the
NKS experience that is the main draw here
– and getting it so cheaply, combined with
the ability to control your DAW is really the
icing on the cake.
CONCLUSION
Of course, as with the A-Series, M32 lacks
many of the features from the complete
Komplete Kontrol experience: for example,
the touch strips, the lights and all the
software titles in the free bundle. However,
this keyboard is so obviously aimed at
beginners to music production that this
probably won’t matter one iota. Personally,
I’d be tempted to spend a whole 50 quid
more and upgrade to the A49, for the extra
get worthy extras.
native-instruments.com
keyboard goodness and some extra
software. The additional cash is minimal
really, compared to what you get.
That said, the M32 is ridiculous in terms
of bang for buck. The keyboard is perfectly
usable – especially if you are not a player,
as such – the software is great and it
delivers the complete NKS experience.
And as the marketing pictures on the
NI website prove, it probably just about
wins it over the A-Series in the portability
stakes, too – it really is very backpack-able.
For three decades, I’ve documented
how the price point to entry for music
production has tumbled. It’s been much
to my own pretend annoyance (yes, I really
did pay over a grand in 1989 to get up and
running), but you now have to admit that
there isn’t any excuse for everyone not to
be making music with technology and in
that regard, Native Instruments’ M32 is a
milestone product.
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
+ I say again: all that for so little?
+ NKS hardware and software
integration for two figures,
say no more. Well, actually…
+ A good software bundle is almost
worth the asking price alone
+ And it will even control your DAW
– You don’t get all the KK experience
– nor bloody should you for £99!
– Keyboard feel won’t be for everyone
Quite simply, if you don’t already
make music with technology,
you really darn well should.
Here’s where you start.
ARTURIA sounds – and around
KeyLab Essential 5,000 of them – from
£175 Arturia’s library of
This is possibly the instruments, plus a very
closest thing you’ll get decent controller all for
to a great hardware/ silly money, really.
software bundle. Classic arturia.com
MusicTech May 2019 79
R E V I E W WA R M A U D I O WA -251 A N D WA - 8 4
WARM AUDIO
WA-251 & WA-84
Bringing the past back to life is a bit of a theme for us of late, and
Warm’s latest microphones hark back to two much-loved studio icons
WORDS JOHN PICKFORD
L 
ast year, my MusicTech colleague Mike
Hillier reviewed Warm Audio’s WA-47 and
WA-47jr microphones, both based upon
the legendary Neumann U 47. To say he
was impressed with them – especially the top
model – would be an understatement; he
awarded them a coveted 10/10 MusicTech
Excellence Award. Now I have the pleasure of
testing WA’s new WA-84, Warm Audio’s take on
the Neumann KM 84, alongside the WA-251,
which is based upon the Telefunken ELA M 251E.
Addressing the latter first, the original
ELA M 251E is one of the most revered valve
microphones of all, and prices for original
examples often outstrip those for Neumann U 47s.
Unlike the U 47, which has been imitated and
cloned numerous times, faithful reproductions
of the 251 have been thin on the ground.
Golden Age Premier recently launched its
GA-251, which now faces stiff competition from
the WA-251, which at £849, undercuts the GAP
model by several hundred pounds. Visually, these
two new 251s are quite similar, with both bodies
80 May 2019 MusicTech
£849 & £399
Key features
WA-251
O All-brass vintage
CK12-type capsule
O JJ Slovak 12AY7 valve
O Bespoke power supply
O Gotham GAC-7 cable
O Cardioid, omni and
figure-8 polar patterns
WA-84
O Vintage capsule reproduction
O CineMag USA transformer
O 48v phantom powered
O Frequency response 20Hz–20kHz
O Cardioid polar pattern
CONTACT
Nova Distribution
nova-distribution.co.uk
warmaudio.com
finished in a lovely cream/yellow colour that adds
to the vintage look. While GAP’s 251 offers
cardioid and omni-directional polar patterns, the
WA-251 on test here adds a third option – figure 8.
These polar patterns are selected via a chunky
retro-looking switch on the power-supply unit.
The bespoke WA-12-B-60V capsule is made
of brass and aims to emulate all the classic
characteristics of the CK12 capsule used in
vintage models. Indeed, the capsule uses a
variant CEK-12 backplate as a basis and the
diaphragm is a 24k gold-sputtered film made
from Myler, a material that can be likened to
an ultra-thin yet super-strong piece of cling film.
The WA-251’s transformer comes from
respected American transformer manufacturer
is a Slovak Republic JJ 12Y7. The 7-pin cable that
connects the microphone to its power supply is
a high-quality boutique item bought in from
Gotham Audio in Switzerland.
COMPARISONS
Turning my attention to the WA-84, this is, as
stated above, a version of the classic KM 84,
arguably the best-loved small-diaphragm
condenser-mic design of all time. These days,
many small-diaphragm condenser mics make
use of transformer-less technology, however
Warm has not cut corners with the WA-84,
incorporating a CineMag USA transformer.
An Australian manufacturer supplies the
capsule, while the circuit is fully discrete,
employing Class A technology and utilising
a Fairchild FET along with the transformer;
Wilma polystyrene and tantalum through-hole
capacitors are used throughout.
Our review sample arrived as a single unit;
however, Warm has stated that the WA-84 is also
offered as a matched pair with a saving of £49,
compared to buying two individually. Available
in nickel or black, the mic comes with its own
dedicated shockmount, pop shield and standard
mic clip, housed in a sturdy carrying case.
As I am lucky enough to have access to a
genuine Neumann KM 84 at our review studio,
it seemed logical to begin by making a side-by-
musictech.net
 WA R M A U D I O WA -251 A N D WA - 8 4 R E V I E W

side comparison of the new WA-84 and

our own original ’84. I should point out that
I have several small-diaphragm condensers DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
at my disposal, yet unless I’m in need of A good-quality expensive. The small-
a matched stereo pair, the KM 84 is my condenser diaphragm WA-84
go-to mic for single-channel recording; it microphone is an is arguably a less
repeatedly outclasses the competition. essential element of essential item.
any recording setup However, it’s such
Setting up the mics in close proximity,
unless, of course, a close copy of the
each amplified by one channel of you only ever original Neumann
our Thermionic Culture Earlybird mic produce electronica KM 84, in terms of
preamplifier, I sent each channel to its own within your DAW. its performance, the
track. Before I even hit the record button, it The WA-251 is a high asking price makes
was immediately obvious that the two mics quality, versatile mic, it a bargain; it offers
perfect for vocals excellent bang-for-
were extremely similar, as identical gain
and a wide range of buck. Warm Audio
settings on the preamp produced exactly instruments. It’s also continues to offer
the same level into our recorder. an affordable version superb, competitively
Upon replay, I found it impossible to of a highly coveted priced examples of
notice any sonic dissimilarity between classic valve mic vintage kit and the
them. Later that day, I played back the – the Telefunken two microphones on
ELA M 251E – original test here are a most
acoustic-guitar recordings to both the examples of which welcome addition to
studio manager and his young assistant. are now extremely the company’s range.
None of us could hear any meaningful
difference in either tone or dynamic
response. It wasn’t long before the studio
manager suggested selling the Neumann using each mic with a cardioid polar useful on occasion, so I’ll usually put up our
to finance buying a pair of WA-84s. pattern, is the WA-251 on test here has a KM84 as an optional extra in the final mix.
Taken on its own merits, the ’84 more tightly focused pick-up range with In this application, the two 251 mics
produces an extremely clear top end, greater rejection of off-axis sound; the GAP expressed more of their similarities than
capturing transients crisply without mic captures more ambient room sound. differences; I’ll wager that either mic would
sounding overly bright or brittle. This The Warm mic is ever so slightly brighter in likely please anyone looking for a lovely
large-diaphragm condenser mic, especially
one based upon the classic Telefunken.
Both mics have an expansive Both of these new Warm Audio
microphones perform exceptionally and
character with detail, clarity and offer superb value for money. They provide
genuine vintage character without the

body and both perform superbly vintage-market price tag.

smoothness is evident throughout the
midrange and into the lower registers,
though I wouldn’t be tempted to use it
on a bass amp. It’s a great choice for
a multitude of percussive instruments
though, ranging from tuned percussion
to snare and tom mic’ing. A stereo pair
as overheads on a multi-mic’d kit or
ambient room mics would be ideal.
HEAPS OF CHARACTER
Moving on to the WA-251, while I don’t
have an original Telefunken for direct
comparison, the previously reviewed
Golden Age Premier GA-251 was on
hand for a 251 shootout.
I particularly like the GA-251’s accurate
yet open nature and repeating the dual
acoustic-guitar mic’ing comparison reveals
the two mics to have a similar, though not
identical character. My initial observation,
the treble, while the GAP is a little warmer
in the lower midrange. Both mics exhibit MT V ER D I CT 9/10
an expansive character with plenty
of detail, clarity and body and both
perform superbly on vocals and all + Authentic vintage tone
manner of instruments. + Classic styling
+ Fine build quality
METHOD MAN + Astonishing bang-for-buck
Shortly after the two new Warm mics
arrived, I was able to use them along – Slightly awkward clip
with the GA-251 in my preferred version on WA-251 shockmount
of the Glyn Johns drum mic’ing method
(explored more thoroughly in our cover Two more winners from Warm Audio,
feature this issue, starting on p12).
representing finely crafted replicas
of classic designs. The WA-251 is
Using the 251s as the main stereo kit
more versatile if a little less gorgeous
pair and our Neumann U 47 FET on the
than the more expensive GA-251,
kick drum, I added the WA-84 underneath
while the WA-84 is closer in design
the snare drum. Although the classic to the KM 84 than Neumann’s own
Glyn Johns method utilises a stereo pair descendant, the KM 184.
and kick-drum mic only, I find the added
top-end snap from a bottom snare mic

Alternatives
GOLDEN AGE spec, GAP’s beautiful NEUMANN descendent of its Warm
PREMIER replica also comes with KM 184 £589 classic KM 84. As Audio's
GA-251 £1,495 the added luxury of a The Neumann KM 184 a transformer-less wonderful
A more expensive but vintage tweed-style is a popular small- design however, it is CineMag
even more authentic carrying case. diaphragm condenser less faithful to the transformer-
replica of the original goldenagepremiere. mic, which could be original KM 84 equipped WA-84.
Telefunken design and com seen as a low-cost specifications than en-de.neumann.com

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 81

R E V I E W S P I T FI R E AU D I O ST U D I O B R A S S P R O FES S I O N A L
SPITFIRE AUDIO
Studio Brass
Professional
If you’re in the market for something big and brassy, it doesn’t get much more
substantial than Spitfire’s latest collection – a library with pro brass credentials
WORDS DAVE GALE
T 
he brass section is often cited as one of
the trickier orchestral elements to capture
and reproduce, but thanks to huge
advances in technology over the last 10
years or so, things have become a great deal
more convincing. We’ve previously seen this
from Spitfire’s own Symphonic Brass package;
outstanding as this release was, its relatively large
acoustic is not for everyone. This is the issue that
Spitfire is addressing here, with the latest in its
Studio product line.
Studio Brass is recorded and produced at AIR
Studio One, and comes hot on the heels of the
company’s first string-based Studio One release.
Unlike some of the more American-styled brass
libraries, Studio Brass offers more excitement with
sonic colour – something which differs from the
entirely dry soundstage palette heard in previous
libraries. For the most part, this sounds great,
but as brass volume increases with dynamic
performance, there can be a slight sense of
82 May 2019 MusicTech
£349
Key features
O Educational discount available
O Studio-based brass library
O Recorded at Air Studio One, with
players in place
O Sample capture from 17 different
instruments or combinations
O Contains a myriad of articulation
and extended techniques
O NI Kontakt Library compliant
(Kontakt Player)
O NKS compatible, for use with
NI hardware
O Extensive selection of
microphones and placements
O 113GB of disk space required
(226GB during installation)
CONTACT
spitfireaudio.com
raspiness as the excessive volume bounces
around the room. This is far more exaggerated
in isolation, but within the confines of a mixed
track, it can help the brass to stand out.
Studio Brass is more comprehensive than
many other libraries. The usual mainstream brass
suspects are all here, and in most cases, in various
forms; solo versions of instruments nestle alongside
‘.2’ (two players in unison) versions, which even
extends to the bass trombone, where orchestral
convention normally only includes a single player.
The horn section is also represented in a ‘.4’
format (four players in unison) which sounds
beautifully epic and, despite the room, not at all
bright and overblown at the fullest dynamic. It’s
also pretty immediate, which can often be an
issue for horns in larger spaces, given that their
bells face in a reverse direction when they play.
It’s beyond this basic construct where this
library starts to show its teeth, with slightly more
unusual brass instruments for this context. The
musictech.net
 S P I T FI R E AU D I O ST U D I O B R A S S P R O FES S I O N A L R E V I E W

piccolo trumpet is a case in point, being

♭
pitched a full octave above the more
usual B trumpet, and offering both an DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
extended high register and a shrillness There a couple of more Hollywood.
which is very useful. major points that That’s not to say that
As I peruse the included articulations, make this package it won’t sit well in a
I become aware of a few inconsistencies; stand out; firstly, it filmic setting and
offers a very broad British brass players
the staccato sounds superb and allows me
spectrum of brass do have a great
to do a great facsimile of the piccolo part instruments, some of reputation. It’s also
from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, which are a bit off worth mentioning
but the tenuto articulation seems to vary the beaten track, with that the Professional
greatly in length from one register to some proving more version has a little
the next. This becomes an issue when useful than others. brother, simply called
The AIR Studio One Studio Brass, which
key-switching within a phrase, as notes start
acoustic is dry, but offers all the main
to run into each other, giving a sense of quite bright, and enticements at a
polyphony from a single trumpet. lends itself well to lower price. If I were
Other brass curios are offered in the more commercial to say that this
shape of contrabass trombone, cimbasso, usage, where the package is very
bass trumpet and euphonium. The three opulence of the typically Spitfire,
Lyndhurst Hall many existing users
former instruments here have become the acoustic is just too of its products will
darlings of the cinematic action sequence, much. As a result, it know exactly what
while the sonority of the euphonium is can sound a little I mean. It’s
something that can often be overlooked. bright and piercing, comprehensive,
Predominantly a brass-band instrument, but it still sounds very bright and highly
British, where other usable. It might be
euphs are often heard with plentiful
libraries might sound the brass for you!
amounts of vibrato, which make them
highly stylised. This is not the case here –
although thanks to the extensive real-time
control, the vibrato can be subtle at with the scope you’d normally find with by many of the same players. Spitfire
the upper end of the vibrato scale, as string packages. enlisted the help of Simon Rhodes again for
this package, who delivers a full six mic
signals for personal balancing.
There’s so much choice, with lots All in all, then, we found that Studio Brass
has a liveliness and sparkle which is unique
of articulation and instrumental and different, while maintaining a distinctly
British sonic identity.

colour available across the board

well as non-existent at the lower end of
the spectrum.
EXTENSIVE BRASS
One area that Spitfire could never be
accused of skimping on is the vastness of
choice which comes with this suite. There’s
a wealth of articulation and instrumental
colour available across the board, from
all the usual short to long articulations
and muted sample capture. There are
also plenty of rips, falls and flutters.
The most common articulations and
colours are offered from the initial patches.
Delving deeper into the Kontakt library
structure, you’ll find core techniques
and decorative palettes, alongside more
RAM limitation-friendly eco patches.
It’s comprehensive, and in many ways
demonstrates a coming-of-age for brass, as
I feel that the breadth of options is on a par
FINAL INTAKE OF AIR MT V ER D I CT 8/10
One area I need to point out as being a
little inconsistent here is the legato
patching, which I’d always consider the + Very comprehensive brass package
hardest of sounds to get right. It does vary
from instrument to instrument, and
+ All the usual brass instruments
and other less obvious flavour
undoubtedly some fare better than others.
There are often swells at the beginning of
+ Comprehensive patching,
including stereo mixes
each note trigger, a good example being
the Solo Tenor Trombone; yet move to a .2
+ Recorded in a relatively
dry environment
incarnation of legato and it’s improved.
This could be due to the nature of the – Some of the Legato patches
intimate sample capture and the dryness ‘swell’ on note triggering
of acoustic: it leaves the programming – Can be quite raspy
nowhere to hide, and as such, these things at higher dynamic levels
become far more obvious when isolated.
The second in the Studio Series from
It might also explain why the legato
Spitfire offers a very comprehensive
patches, in the larger scale of the more package, which is filled to the brim with
reverberant Symphonic Brass, are so great options for numerous applications.
successful, particularly given that I’m
assuming the source material is produced

Alternatives
CINEMATIC STUDIO composers and EASTWEST backdrop. Hollywood
SERIES producers alike. It offers Hollywood Brass Brass has a bright
Brass $399 a comprehensive set of combined with one of $399 timbre, and is reliant
This fine collection of samples, drawn from the most elegant UIs in A celebrated package on EastWest’s own
brass samples has the more basic and cinematic software. which offers the Play plug-in, which
become an enormous conventional palette of cinematicstudioseries. drier acoustic of a has improved hugely.
hit with media brass instruments, com soundstage as a soundsonline.com

musictech.net MusicTech May 2018 83

R E V I E W P R O P EL L ER H E A D C O M P L E X-1
PROPELLERHEAD
Complex-1
The success of Eurorack has seen a revival in hardware synthesis, so why would
you want to do it in software? It appears there are plenty of complex reasons
WORDS ANDY JONES
T 
he absolute earth-shaking, awe-inspiring,
leftfield and totally surprising phenomenon
of the last decade in music production has
been the re-emergence of the modular
synthesiser. You can often tell when something
becomes a bit of a ‘thing’, though, as it can
often be quite divisive.
Like many topics in 2019, Eurorack synthesis
has its proponents and its opponents. Collecting
synth modules can be the best and most
addictive thing since collecting Top Trumps (for
older readers) or Pokémon Go. Or it can be seen
as, well, basically a long-winded way to build a
snare sound. What is certain is that a big part of
its appeal lies in the fact that it is a way to make
music without having to use a computer.
Being hardware, you actually plug things in
and it takes up physical space in your studio,
creating a wall of flashing lights that will
undoubtedly be impressive (even though
you might really have no idea what it does!).
So having it in software? Well, that’s hardly
what you might call ‘pure modular’ is it?
84 May 2019 MusicTech
€99
Key features
O Modular synth Reason
Rack Extension with a
4x oversampled synth engine
O 200 presets
O Features both East and West
Coast module flavours
O Modules include: Complex
Oscillator, Oscillator 3, Filter,
2 x Lowpass Gates, Output
Mixer, Noise, Shaper, Comb
Delay, LFO, ADSR Envelope,
3 x Mix modules, 3x Scale
& Amp, Clock, Sequencer,
Reverb and Oscilloscope
O Monophonic/duophonic
(paraphonic)
O Connect modules using
cables or pop-up menus
O Connect CV or audio to
the rest of the Reason Rack
CONTACT
propellerheads.se
That said, there have been a few developers
– notably Native Instruments and Softube – who
have had pretty good stabs at replicating all the
joy (bar the hardware) of Eurorack behind a
computer screen. It may not be the movement’s
raison d’être, but modular synthesis in software
certainly has its fans. Propellerhead has noted
that in a big way with Complex-1.
COMPLEX, BUT NOT
I, for one, can instantly see why Eurorack in
software might be a good idea. Yes, it doesn’t
offer all that hands-on, plugging-in physical fun,
but you can (usually) afford it. And doing it in
software gives you a trial run of the concept, as
well as some space to experiment and make
mistakes – certainly, the Undo button is software is
a godsend for modular virgins. That really is how
Complex-1 is being pitched. Propellerhead states
that Complex-1 is the ideal entry point for
modular synthesis, and what you learn on it can
easily be transferred to a hardware system, yet it
also describes it as the most complex Rack
Extension it has devised.
Clearly then, there might be a potential clash
of direction going on here – can it be both
complex and good for beginners? Well, it’s time
to find out. I’ve been tempted by modular,
bought a system, sold the system, and am now
building a completely different system, so
Complex-1 could swing my interest either way.
THE MODULES
Complex-1 delivers the two worlds of modular
synthesis, offering the more complex, Buchla-
inspired oscillator/low-pass gates/shaper module
setup favoured by so-called West Coast Synthesis
fans, and the more traditional Moog-like
oscillator/filter East Coast setup from the East
Coast. (For more background on this synth war
that wasn’t, check out the Korg Volca Modular
review on p100.)
Breaking the available modules down, then,
let’s start with the oscillators. We get both
flavours: traditional analogue (which can be
used both as a source and LFO) and more
musictech.net

complex dual (with AM and FM options),
plus a noise generator. Similarly, with the
shaping modules, you get traditional filters
alongside the Buchla low-pass gate and
waveshapers. There’s also a comb filter
delay here that Propellerhead describes
as more of a ‘playable’ filter that’s great
for strings and effects.
Other, more standard modules include
an ADSR (for adjusting attack, decay,
sustain and release for volume and other
envelopes); a simple LFO (with both rate
and depth options); plus a couple of mix
and clock-sync modules. Finally, there are
sequencer and Quant modules for creating
melodies and controlling modulation, plus
an oscilloscope and Function module for
more in-depth algorithmic functions.
It really doesn’t take long to understand
how to put these together, and patch
cabling is as easy as you’d expect, given
that Propellerhead has made something of
a name for itself with the cabling around
the back end of Reason. You’ll quickly get
into patching everything together and
understanding the signal flow involved. You
can choose to have the wires shown, or
not, although obviously, if you want to get
into patching – very much the point – then
you’ll want these shown.
You enjoy the experimentation of
creating something new, and you
also get the joys of software
Perhaps the best way to get into
Complex-1 – whether you are a seasoned,
older Eurorack veteran of millions of HP or a
beginner plugger-inner – is to load up some
of the many and varied patches and
tweak away. Presets are in folders that
include Bass, Abstract, Sequenced and
Melodic, although relative newcomers
might want to dive into Templates and
Examples and load up something like the
basic LPG patch. Here, you can easily
recognise the signal flow – straight from the
Complex Oscillator to Output Mixer. I add in
a filter, then route it to the Comb Delay;
and suddenly, I have an inspirational
metallic monster on my hands. I’d like to
pretend that was completely intentional
but, truth be told, it was more by luck than
judgement. But isn’t that one of the joys of
this kind of synthesis?
Alternatives
SOFTUBE MODULAR
Modular from $89
More customisable in
its approach, Modular
allows you to create
really open ended
systems from a core set
musictech.net
P R O P EL L ER H E A D C O M P L E X-1 R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If you have a wall of first steps. It will help
modular then you will you decide whether
a) not need this and to either embark on
b) be too bloody busy that pasty-faced path
to be reading this to synth loneliness or
review or c) be opt for time spent
Junkie XL and with loved ones and
probably get it for a fuller bank account.
free. If you are new I’m joking, of course,
to modular then but Complex-1 is
Complex-1 is what great synth bridge
you need to take your for many synth paths.
As soon as you’ve mastered the basics, shame, as Complex-1 could act as a
you can start delving into more complex brilliant recreation of a hardware setup
sounds. Again, you might wish to go into for a more mobile version, and even as
the pre-created efforts here, as they quickly an important component within some
ramp up in complexity. It’s a good idea to kind of hybrid setup.
delve into the Sequencer folder, for For beginners, or people lacking
example, and discover its gated interaction space and cash, and for dabblers (yours
with note triggering. You’ll also learn more truly included) Complex-1 offers a lot.
about how important some of the more Education, for sure, but it’s also a
utility-based modules are, and overall, thoroughly impressive best-of-both-worlds
I think there is a great range of different approach. You get to enjoy all of the
modules included, at least giving a taste of experimentation of plugging away,
the most important flavours of the format. creating something new and taking the
credit for what you absolutely had planned
all along, and you also get the joys of
software: meddle with someone else’s
creations and save what you come up
with, with ease. So, overall, Complex-1
might well be the non-complex route into
modular you’ve been waiting for.
The presets also give a very good
picture of how big, wide and expansive MT V ER D I CT 9/10
Complex-1 can be, the addition of both
Buchla- and Moog-inspired modules really
pays off. As well as the more obvious ‘yep, + Who’d have thought – loads of
we’re at Superbooth’ sequences, there’s great presets from a modular system
definitely more of an aggressive sound + Useful range of modules
here. Certainly Complex-1 can teach you, + Suitable for both beginners
but it also rocks your cones. and experts alike
+ A great flavour of the real thing…
CONCLUSION with the advantages of software
Complex-1 can be very complex indeed, + Surprisingly varied sonic results
but thankfully, it treads a nice balance
between offering an introduction to – Not as customisable as some
modular and impressing with its sound. I do software modular systems
wonder if it will appeal more to relative
As complex as you like, this offers
beginners or people like me who are just
great sounds and a fab, risk-free
that bit further along, wishing to dabble
route for modular experimentation.
with the hardware. You can’t help thinking
that more seasoned users might sniff at a
software approach… which would be a
of seven modelled VCV modular in software, but
modules from hardware Rack £free this is an intriguing free
experts Doepfer. Add There are some other system where you can
more as you go, as with big guns – Native choose from a decent
the hardware, but less Instruments’s Blocks/ selection of open-
studio space required. Reaktor, Max for Live source modules.
softube.com – where you can create vcvrack.com
MusicTech May 2019 85
R E V I E W I K M U LT I M ED I A S A M P L E TA N K 4 M A X
IK MULTIMEDIA
SampleTank 4
MAX €599
SampleTank was the first ever ROMpler that tried to emulate every instrument going.
So we’re excited to get our hands on the latest, souped-up to the MAX, version 4
WORDS ANDY JONES
W
hen the original SampleTank was
released – and this is showing both
its and my age – the dream was to
do everything previously done in
music hardware, in software, on a computer. By
this time, around 2001, computers could do pretty
much everything, apart from mimic those huge
workstations that could produce every instrument
sound under the sun.
SampleTank came out and did it. It was the
first of a generation, a romping ROMpler capable
of emulating any instrument.
Fast-forward nearly two decades and our
views on using a computer solely for music
production might have changed to re-embrace
hardware, but SampleTank is still here and it’s
still making a very good case for your cash.
Despite everyone going modular-and-
analogue mad, it seems there is still a fabulous
case for an all-singing, all-dancing application
that covers just about every sound you will ever
need, in one. The all-new SampleTank 4 Max
does all of that, and some…
86 May 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Workstation ROMpler, standalone
or AAX, VST 3, AU
O 16-part multitimbral, 16 outs
O 250GB in size, 8,000 sounds,
70 effects
O Redesigned, zoomable interface
and new browser
O Compositional features include
Strummer, arpeggiator, Groove
Workstation, Loop Manager
(7,500 loops), Pattern Player
(4,000 MIDI patterns)
O Dedicated Layer interface
O New mod matrix and
sound-synth options
O New mix window
O SampleTank 4 SE (€179)
and regular (€359) versions
CONTACT
ikmultimedia.com
sampletank.com
TO THE MAX
Before we dive in too far, let’s explain the ‘Max’
factor. You won’t be surprised to learn that it is
related to the number of Gigabytes of material
you get. The last time we looked at SampleTank
it was in version 3. The ST universe has not only
moved on to version 4, but there are three
versions within that. You get SampleTank SE
(the ‘affordable sound and groove workstation’)
which offers 30GB of samples and 2,000 sounds
for €179. Next up is the regular SampleTank 4,
which delivers 100GB of samples and a whopping
6,000 sounds for €359. Finally, SampleTank 4 MAX,
on test here, is a tasty quarter-terabyte of
samples and 8,000 sounds for €599. This is
obviously right up there with the bundles from
Native Instruments and Steinberg in terms of
scope but, to my mind, is really more on the
wavelength of synth and workstations from the
likes of Yamaha and Korg in terms of delivery.
IN USE
Luckily, the whole package is delivered on a pen
drive – meaning the first thing you will possibly
do is be astonished by the fact that such an
amount of data can be delivered on a tiny pen
drive. Next up, you download and install the
SampleTank 4 software from the drive – you’ll
need just short of a GB of space. After installing,
and on boot up, you simply enter the serial
number from the software box, old-school style
and then choose where your content location is
(you can install and move this wherever you like)
to get going.
It is clear that SampleTank 4 is not so much a
grown-up version of that first version I saw back in
2001, but actually a completely different beast,
perhaps as you might expect. That one played
sounds; ST 4 MAX not only plays a hell of a lot
more, but it basically allows you to compose
with them and a lot more besides. Yes, it’s still
doing as many sounds as possible, but they are
now delivered behind a slick and fully resizable
fascia – redesigned for v4.0 – that is optimised to
run beautifully on retina displays, although it can
be a little dark on occasion.
musictech.net

For anyone older than 40, ST4 is akin to
using an old-school 16-part multi-timbral
synthesiser. For anyone under 40, all you
really need to know is that it is surprisingly
easy to get to grips with. The screen is quite
brilliantly simple, with icons for parts, layers
and the mixer at the top, plus some of the
more compositional elements (arpeggiator
etc) at the bottom, and more settings-
based icons, bottom right.
There are plenty of song-building
engines to help you, including four new
Groove Players. There’s the Pattern Player
with 4,000 MIDI patterns, a Loop Manager
(with 7,500 loops) plus an arpeggiator, and
a Strummer.
The latest redesign includes a new
preset browser which is a welcome
addition, designed as it is to cope with all
the extra content. Selecting sounds (by
way of timbre, genre, even mood) is now
very straightforward, all things considered,
and why ST 4 is a joy to use overall.
It’s not just the compositional side of the
software that has been improved. There
are plenty more options for getting inside a
sound, with hands-on synth controls and a
full-on modulation matrix, and plenty of
ways to layer them together. This means
that you can stack huge parts together to
There is more (much more!)
than enough of everything –
any instrument you can imagine
enter a more complex sound-design arena,
very much a popular option these days.
Again, this is very simple – choose layers,
split points, adjust levels with ease.
To go with all this layering, there are
much better mixing options and the mixer
here looks like a proper console, along with
channel strips and quality effects. Again,
it’s easy – and I don’t want to keep going
on about ease of use, but given the girth of
content, I am surprised at how slick it is.
Simply select one of six channel slots and
choose from another six effect types to
load them, as you would in Logic or your
DAW of choice.
Effects become visible when you hit the
Play icon and, if there is a criticism, it’s that
the screen can quickly get full of effects.
The GUI is adjustable, but this just makes
everything bigger. I couldn’t work out how
to keep the icon size the same, but get
more surface area to work with.
Alternatives
NATIVE because
INSTRUMENTS these
Komplete 12 instruments
£159 to £1,279 lean a
This might be seen as little more towards
an obvious alternative, the synthetic and out
but actually it isn’t, there, but it’s still a
musictech.net
I K M U LT I M ED I A S A M P L E TA N K 4 M A X R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If you have been like SampleTank 4
making DAW-based MAX does is tidy it all
music for any length up behind one GUI
of time, there’s a with a great search
chance that you will engine, mixing tools
have a good number and other sonic
of these sounds and options. You could
instruments in your even argue that it
DAW, or third-party might herald a
ones. The trouble is, much-needed clear
your plug-in list can out – in many ways,
run away with itself it’s one app to do
and what something them all.
A FULL TANK of your main sounds with some aplomb is
Where to start with the sounds? Needless the ideal centrepiece for today’s studio.
to say, I could spend hours writing about You’d then almost use the hardware and
them in the most tedious list exercise ever any other third-party favourites as extra-
published. There is more (much more!) special additions – those that provide
than enough of everything, especially you with your sound, while SampleTank
acoustic, orchestral, keyboard and, well, provides everything else you need.
any instrument you can imagine. I’d always It’s not cheap – and as I point out
want more electronic and out-there styles, below, you can get hardware workstations
although these are eminently creatable as that boast similar sonic power for little
there is so much available tweakage, so more. However, when it’s in free flow and
you can wrestle whatever the hell you want you are dialling up pretty much any sound
from ST 4. And that is the message, really: you can imagine, mid-composition,
layering, tweaking and using the many
composing features to create songs, then
there’s really very little else that will give
you this kind of ‘everything workflow’ in
your DAW environment. Just what will
SampleTank 8 deliver in 20 years’ time?
all the sounds you want are here – bread,
butter, jam, marmalade and more – but the MT V ER D I CT 9/10
real story with ST 4 is about everything you
can do with them in terms of composing
and affecting. + Delivers a tonne of sounds
like no other
CONCLUSION + Could replace a lot of your
existing plug-ins
It’s funny to talk about a piece of
software in such old terms but, my, hasn’t + Exceptional compositional features
SampleTank aged well! Its new features + Pro mixing and effects
are very welcome and somehow (probably + Great ease of use considering size
down to the redesign and general + Great-quality sounds
overhaul), it doesn’t seem to be too
bloated with content. You can get what – Big! Possibly too big for some
and an external drive will be
you need with relative ease and you are
essential, if only to back up
almost guaranteed that it will sound good
or, if not quite to your taste, there will be
– Screen can get cluttered
another sound that is, or you can tweak it
Nearly two decades on, ST 4 takes the
with a multitude of options until it does suit. software workstation concept to the
And far from being irrelevant in this age max. It’s more essential than ever.
of hardware, you could argue that perhaps
a single piece of software that handles all
KORG
Kross 2
£543 (street)
There are other soft has all you need vogue, so consider a
do-it-all wonder bundle. options from UVI instrument-wise for good old workstation
native-instruments. and Steinberg, but the same price! with zillions of sounds.
com a keyboard like this Hardware is back in korg.com
MusicTech May 2019 87
 I N T U I T I V E A U D I O C H O R D C O M P O S ER R E V I E W

INTUITIVE AUDIO
Chord
Composer £40

If you’re new to music-making and struggling to get a handle on the finer points of
composition and arrangement, Chord Composer could be a vital creative tool…
WORDS MARTIN DELANEY

W
hy do we need a plug-in such as
Chord Composer? Is there demand
for a tool that can create chords
and chord progressions, when most
DAWs already include tools that can give an
extra boost to your compositional activity?
Well, it’s a bit like how we view pad-based
MIDI controllers as alternative grid-style
keyboards, instead of using a regular piano
format. Ableton Live might include MIDI effects
such as Note Length and Random, and Logic Pro
X has a useful selection of compositional aids
including Arpeggiator, Chord Trigger, and
Transposer, but sometimes, we could use
something that provides more harmonic content
– instead of the more electronic-music-oriented
MIDI utility/performance functions.
The Chord Composer plug-in installs as an
AU, VST, or AAX plug-in, and requires iLok
activation; at least we can do that online now
without needing a small (and quite easy to lose!)
USB dongle. Being a MIDI plug-in, the download is
a manageable size (136MB), and all support and
documentation is handled via the web. On
macOS with Ableton Live 10, it appears as a VST
in the browser and drags over into the drop area
or an existing MIDI track.
Chord Composer doesn’t behave in exactly
the same way as a Live MIDI effect device:
Key features
O Minimum system:
Windows 10, MacOS X 10.7
O Plug-in formats:
AAX, VST, AU
O Create and store custom chords
and progressions
as recallable presets
O Drag-and-drop MIDI file
export within the host DAW
O Real-time playing and recording
of chords
O Customisable velocity and
strumming for human feel
CONTACT
intuitive-audio.com
it must have a track to itself, then whatever
instrument you want it to play is loaded into
another track. Live’s In/Out View is used to tell
the instrument to receive MIDI from the Chord
Composer track.
I then switch ‘Post FX’ in the lower chooser to
‘Chord Composer’ and I set the instrument track
to record or just to monitor incoming MIDI, and
all is good. As soon as I start to play a keyboard
or a MIDI clip into the Chord Composer track,
multi-note magic ensues.
THAT STRUCK A CHORD
The Chord Composer interface is mostly
occupied with little boxes. This is quite typical
for this type of plug-in, it’s a function of the tools
involved. There’s a sequencer grid with piano-roll
layout at the bottom of the plug-in window, while
the upper part of the display shows one of four
main workspaces – Chord Generator, Chord
Player, Pattern Generator, and Progression
Stacker. The plug-in window is scalable up to
150 per cent if necessary, which I find useful
when working on a 13-inch laptop.
For a quick fix with Chord Composer, go to
that first panel (Chord Generator) and click on
the Create Chords button. The sequencer will be
populated with a 4-bar chord progression, one
chord at the start of each bar. Upon starting the

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 89

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

host DAW, the chords play and are

nicely sync’d to project tempo. Each
of these generated chords can be DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
swapped for another. Chord Composer is arrangement, and
It’s a very simple way to get some versatile – being a in need of a quick
chords going, even if you don’t understand plug-in, it’s not tied leg-up, so you can
musical theory. I next turn to the presets, to any particular learn as you create?
platform, and for very Or maybe you’re
or worksets, as they’re called here. These
little coin, it will add an experienced
are accessed from the top right of the new realms to your musician or
plug-in window, and categorised into MIDI performances composer, looking
sections such as Arps, EDM, Emotional, and compositions. for habit-busting
Hip Hop, and Plucks. Loading one of these If you’re a fan of ways to come up
adds new content into each of the four MIDI effect plug-ins with different parts?
such as the ones in Either way, Chord
main tabs, so again, you have something
Logic Pro X and Composer is
accessible and ready to play. Ableton Live, you massively useful,
Let’s look at the software in more detail. can think of this as and should prove
The top bar contains simple controls for a more sophisticated well worth the time
saving and loading presets, as well as a take on one of those. it’ll take to download
large display showing the current key. A Maybe you’re new the demo and check
to composition and it out.
minimal settings pane contains support
links, switches for toggling chord preview
and the piano-roll marker, and scaling
options. Then, from left to right are the four working on stringed instrument sounds, welcome, although still a bit light). If you
main workspaces, organised so there’s a such as those in Ableton’s Collision Device. already know your way around chords,
logical progression across the plug-in The Chord Player and Chord Generator musical theory and progressions, I’d
window. You can work either from scratch, sections both display a central Chord recommend that you jump straight in and
or by adapting a preset. Matrix, which shows the notes in the chord use Chord Composer as a library-building
The Chord Generator is the place to you’re currently creating. resource for your next project, in which
define chord characteristics including the The Pattern Generator is where to you can store your favourite progressions.
key, octave, type of chord, inversions and work with the timing of chord progressions, For anybody who’s not already
to add any extra notes if wanted. On the defining pattern characteristics with musically literate, there could be some
right is a Quick Pattern Generator, where a useful visual block-based interface. confusion about exactly what’s happening
randomly organised chord progressions Not only can chords be edited and with the progressions and choice of chords,
can be loaded, in association with 20 re-organised, you can apply and so there’ll be more of a useful learning
timing-related presets, indicating exactly visualise strums, and increase or curve. In the meantime, there’s always the
randomisation options – use them to open
those doors you might never dream of
The randomisation options can opening otherwise.

be used to open those doors you

8/10
might never dream of opening MT V ER D I CT

when and how often the chords will play:
for example, Every Beat, 1/18th Surprise,
and Quarter Strum; working with these is
both fun and creative, which is just about
the ideal combination.
LET’S PLAY
Next in line is the Chord Player section,
more focused on real-time playing (I always
get a cheap thrill from one-finger chord
playing). Once again, chords can be
recorded, configured and fired from here,
but I recommend connecting a keyboard
or pad controller to make the most of it,
as you can make adjustments based on
velocity, humanisation (controlled
randomisation of velocity) and strumming
intensity and direction; great if you’re
decrease the progression length from the + A very immediate way to add
default 4 bars. harmonic textures to your tunes
In the Progression Stacker, it’s possible + Fantastic randomisation features
to chain together a series of progressions, + You’ll learn some music theory
and dynamically switch between them. along the way
Any time there’s any content visible in the + Works with live inputs from
sequencer, a small overview is visible at the keyboards or external MIDI sources
lower right. You can simply click on this to
drag the current chords into a MIDI track in
– Better documentation would be useful
your DAW, where they’ll appear as a new – Requires an iLok account
MIDI clip. This works fine in Ableton Live 10
Chord Composer is a very useful
and there’s no need for any clunky export,
tool for those just beginning their
conversion, or re-importing.
musical journey. It could also serve
It proved easy to get going with Chord
as an experimental idea-trigger,
Composer at a basic level (it helped that or a resource for storing your
during the review period, Intuitive Audio favourite chord progressions.
reinstated the PDF manual included with
the software download, which was

Alternatives
MIXED IN KEY you to create chords includes eight different AUDIOMODERN different from Chord graphic on the plug-in.
Captain and chord progressions presets; and Captain Random Chords Composer or Captain Results can be fully
Chords 2.0 $79 with a library of Play, an enhanced way Generator PRO Chords, because it’s randomised, or
Included with the rhythms. Check out the of using the computer €39 entirely about parameters edited
Captain Plugins bundle, Space Knob, which is a keyboard to play chords. This is a Max For Live randomisation – to tweak the results.
Captain Chords allows note length control that mixedinkey.com plug-in that’s a bit hence the cool dice audiomodern.com

90 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

R E V I E W R O B PA P EN V E C TO
ROB PAPEN
Vecto £79
Rob Papen’s expanding lineup of competitively priced synths now receives
the true vector treatment, with plenty more besides…
WORDS DAVE GALE
I 
t’s always great to find synths that perform
well across the board, and with a very
healthy list of specs, the new Vecto might
just be that next tempting synth plug-in.
What sets Vecto apart from any of Rob
Papen’s prior forays into the vector world is
the depth of sonic potential you can reach
with it, and also the ease with which you can
get at parameters.
So let’s start with the look and feel of Vecto,
which by usual Papen standards feels quite plain
in visual design. This is not a negative point, but
more that it just feels a little more strait-laced and
easy on the eye, unlike some other Papen synths
which have been either very dark or contrastingly
bright in colour balance, sometimes making them
92 May 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Also part of eXplorer 5 bundle
O Comprehensive vector synth
O Four oscillator construct, with
a wealth of initial waveforms
O Central Vector control for
easy access
O 28 filter types
O On-board 16-step sequencer,
arpeggiator and effects
O Over 1,000 categorised presets
O Supported plug-in formats:
32/64-bit AU, VST and AAX
O NI NKS compatibility coming soon
CONTACT
timespace.com
a little difficult to see operationally. Vecto is
outwardly calm and clear, almost magnolia –
but underneath that calm Clark Kent-like fascia
lies a sonic powerhouse.
VECTOR CHARLIE OVER!
The front end of Vecto is centred around four
oscillators, all with the exact same functionality.
This extends from a vast array of subtractive
analogue-styled favourites, through to additive
and spectral waves. These seem fairly logically
organised; access is via a drop-down, or it’s
possible to click through them, one by one,
which in the case of the additive waves results in
a sequence of extending harmonic overtones.
Previewing is immediate and before you know
it, you’re into the realm of samples and effects-
based tones, with some being more usable than
others. These can be fairly lightweight and digital
in construct, including numerous glass, bottle and
pan flute tones, which may sound a little dated
in isolation, but can actually end up being very
useful when placed contextually with other more
meaty partials.
The effects tones are quite abstract, and
similarly lightweight, but the offered percussive
tones are really great for adding an abrupt front
end, or for recreating the sinusoidal bass tones
that have been something of a Papen calling
card in the past.
It’s a testimony to Vecto that although my
first clicks are to locate the presets and have a
quick scout around, it takes about 30 seconds
for me to head to the oscillator section and
start digging deep. I find myself in here for a
considerable amount of time before I start to
realise that an hour has passed.
The presets are quick and immediate, with
helpful categorisation, either from the selection
window at the top of the screen, or the incredibly
sensible Manager section, where everything shifts
into categorical order.
Heading back to the oscillator section,
and you’ll find all the usual controls open to
manipulation, which include semitone and
fine-tuning, volume, panning and a spread
musictech.net
 R O B PA P EN V E C TO R E V I E W

function, which thickens up the chosen

wave and is surprisingly effective. There’s
also a sub-oscillator per oscillator, which DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
offers a simple sine or square wave, one Placing the vector backed up further
octave below the fundamental pitch. calling card to one by four envelopes,
Once you’ve added all of this up to the side for a moment, sequential options
power of the four oscillators, that’s a very we have to just and a considerable
consider exactly FX section, so when
hearty sonic stew which can sound deep
what Vecto offers you add it all up,
and weighty, or light and glassy. as a package, it’s not only a
The fun really starts when you begin to and it’s pretty powerhouse, but it
enlist the central vector control. In its most comprehensive. also offers great
simple guise, this can be used to act merely The large number value. It should be
as a method of balancing the four of timbral starting emphasised this is
points and huge often the case with
oscillators, but by hitting the record button
filtration options are Rob Papen software.
on the Vector panel, you’re invited to draw appealing, but factor My favourite aspect
in patterns, which can be replayed at in the X/Y vector of this plug-in,
various speeds, as a single pass, looped, or pad with real-time though, is the vector
even set to trigger at various points along motion, along with element, with the
the drawn curve. the modulation ability to easily
matrix, and it’s an program and recall
absolute Aladdin’s movement, to create
MOVING SCENE cave of timbral real sonic interest in
Apart from the obvious swell from one possibility. This is the sound you create.
partial to the next, the movement that can
be created here is quite beguiling, with an
almost Wavetable sense of creation and
growth in timbre. Placing a series of edited sounds simply come alive with The only moment where I raised an
harmonically rich partials in context, the movement and interest. eyebrow was with the speed and shape
movement from one to the next is beautiful, Also in the filter category is the Vowel of the envelope, which somehow doesn’t
even before moving to other areas of filter, which has always been something always feel natural, but this is something
Vecto to refine. of a Papen favourite for me. It sounds you’ll probably only notice with the FX
switched off.
You have to hand it to Rob Papen,
Vecto is calm and clear – but these synths really do deliver. This is
testimony to the company’s continued
beneath that calm Clark Kent-like development and enhancement of
its product range, which Vecto is a

fascia lies a sonic powerhouse worthy addition to.

Vecto offers two selected filters, which can
be used in series or parallel, from a vast
choice of 28 different types. While the
majority fall into the more usual subtractive
camp, there’s considerable choice.
Low- and high-pass versions predominate,
with a healthy smattering of band and
notch filters, too. All are open to varying
pole-type, from 6dB up to 36dB.
These sound wispy, classic and
contemporary and offer everything you
might expect. But for my money, the
interest really piques when you begin to
deploy the more unusual filters.
Vecto offers a positive and negative
comb filter, which embraces some extreme
sync-like tones begging to be controlled
via the associated five-stage filter envelope
found immediately below the main cut off
and resonance controls. Add this quotient
alongside the Vector movement, and your
beautifully throaty, and a quick visit
to the central vector control and the MT V ER D I CT 9/10
modulation matrix below immediately
had my timbre bristling with vocal
and harmonic goodness, while the + Very powerful plug-in synth
ring-modulated filter sounds superbly + Elegantly simple to use
harsh, stylish and contemporary. + Complicated sounds are
very easy to create
ELEMENTAL CONCLUSION + Complex, if you want it to be
The big problem we have here is that
Vecto has so much power onboard, – Envelope curves can feel
it’s almost impossible to cover everything a little sharp in decline
in a single review. Other important elements – Arp/sequencer deserves
that are deserving of mention are the a bigger working area
dual envelopes (which are in addition
This is a really exciting and very
to the filter and amplifier envelopes), the
powerful plug-in synth, which
arp/sequencer control, hugely versatile
offers a pretty bewildering amount
modulation matrix and the rather useful of sonic possibilities, while being
and very good onboard FX section. intuitive to use.
It’s absolutely full to the brim with great
functionality, which is very easy to access.

Alternatives
ARTURIA vector-based KORG 90s. Thanks to Korg’s
Prophet V €149 Prophet VS, Wavestation $49 attention to detail, this
This plug-in from Arturia alongside a Another classic from plug-in offers a superb
offers a software clone hybrid sum of the vaults, the original facsimile but without the
of the legendary the two! These Wavestation SR was noisy outputs that
Prophet-5, while also Arturia plug-ins have a and sound excellent. something of a vector plagued the original.
offering a clone of the very good reputation arturia.com star back in the early korg.com

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 93

R E V I E W P R O C ES S. AU D I O S U GA R
PROCESS.AUDIO
Sugar $149
Recordings can always be a little sweeter and new analogue-inspired plug-in
Sugar aims to help us with that. Time to indulge in some ear candy…
WORDS MIKE HILLIER
P
ROCESS.AUDIO is the new plug-in wing
of pureMix, the online education
company founded by Fab Dupont.
As a mix engineer, Fab’s credit list is
impressive and includes André 3000, David
Crosby and Shakira. Alongside this and
developing pureMix, he has also been influential
in developing the sound of the Lauten Atlantis
and Eden microphones.
So it should come as no surprise that he is
now developing a line of plug-ins, and with
that background, we can be sure that Fab
knows what is needed in the modern studio
environment, both by professionals with plenty of
experience and beginners just setting off on their
audio journeys.
Sugar is an analogue-inspired audio
sweetener, bringing a modern digital approach
to the kinds of sounds you’d expect to hear from
an Aphex Aural Exciter processor, or the old
‘Dolby A trick’ – a processing option which used
the Dolby A noise-reduction encoder to enhance
the top end of a recording, creating a sense of
more air and clarity.
94 May 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Minimum system: Intel Core 2
Duo, AMD Athlon 64 X2, 1GB
RAM, Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit
only), Mac OS X 10.9
O Formats: AAX native, AU, VST
O Four frequency bands
O Two distinct colours per band
O Three saturation types
O Linear phase filters
CONTACT
process.audio
Sugar starts with these sounds, and opens up
the creative options available to the mix
engineer, with control over four frequency bands,
each with two distinct tonal colour alternatives.
Furthermore, Sugar also has high- and low-pass
filtering built-in, as well as a saturation circuit
with drive, distort and crush settings which should
take care of everything from a little touch of tube
drive to rip-roaring mayhem.
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR
Opening up the plug-in for the first time
reveals a fairly simple design, with four sliders
corresponding to each of the four frequency
bands (low, medium, high and air) – although
there’s no real indication as to where exactly
the crossovers for each band are set.
Under this, each band has two colours,
with enigmatic names: Punch, Warm, Shine
and, bizarrely, Yin and Yang. In this respect,
Sugar is reminiscent of Kush Audio tools such
as the Clariphonic, urging users to use their ears
rather than their eyes to mix. While this can be
creatively useful, it is important not to take these
musictech.net
 P R O C ES S. AU D I O S U GA R R E V I E W

descriptive terms too literally. Because of

the trickiness in using terms like these to
describe music, it can also lead you in the DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
wrong direction. Even for mix
For instance, if you think you need a engineers, sonic
track to be more exciting and instinctively enhancers are not
reach for the ‘Excite’ band, perhaps what exactly a must-have
tool. They can be
was really needed was more aggression in
easily overused,
the low end rather than the high end. With resulting in overly
more experience using Sugar, this is sure to distorted final mixes.
become less of an issue. Users will no doubt But used subtly and
come to regard these words with the on the right sources,
vague guidance they were no doubt they can really help
to bring sounds to
intended to provide.
life. Sugar is very
Dialling up any of these four bands dials easy to use, and
in the processed signal. This works in parallel sounds great. If you
with the dry signal, which is always present don’t have anything
in the output, so your signal level is always in this category in
increased by using Sugar. your arsenal, it is
pretty much a
This can be compensated for, with the no-brainer.
output fader, or by using the handy LVL
MGMT button, which automatically brings
the fader down as you turn up each of the
frequency bands. We’ve already created while enhancing the top-end with almost always sounded larger than life
our own default preset for Sugar, which additional width. – Sugar really nails that vibe. We managed
has the LVL MGMT engaged from the to create some wonderfully large vocal
beginning, as it seems likely we’re always LOW-END ENERGY sounds, turning even weak male vocalists
going to process with this engaged. Because Sugar generates additional into powerful parts of the mix.
In the centre of the user interface is a energy, particularly in the low end, it can Across drums, Sugar can add a lot
single large Wet Inject dial, with four colour be useful to temper this with a little filtering. of excitement, bringing punch and sizzle
exactly where it’s needed, but one of
the surprising elements was how useful
Across drums, Sugar can add a we found Sugar when used subtly across
a mix buss. One of our favourite processing
lot of excitement, bringing punch methods using Sugar has been to route
all the instruments in a mix to one instance,

and sizzle exactly where needed
bands emanating out like streamers. These
bands are just another visualisation of the
four frequency bands at the top, but the
Wet Inject dial enables you to control all
four bands at once, dialling them all up or
down as if you were controlling them with
a VCA. Used with the LVL MGMT button,
this can be very useful for seeing quite how
much or how little is needed to really
sweeten your tracks.
On stereo channels, Sugar defaults to
apply equal amounts of processing to the
left and right channels, with no dual-mono
option short of using separate left and right
instances of the plug-in.
However, it is possible to switch into
Mid-Side mode, which splits the four
frequency bands in two, with separate
Mid and Side controls for each band. This
can be great when working on a full mix
for dialling in low end just to the centre,
and all the vocals to another, blending
the two enhance signals in the final mix
buss. Seemingly, whatever sound we threw
Sugar has built-in sweepable 12dB/octave at it ended up enjoying a liberal sprinkling
high- and low-pass filters, with an option to of the effect.
engage steeper 48dB/octave filters. In our
experimentation with the plug-in, we only
ever occasionally engaged these, and only
subtly dialling out a little sub frequency, MT V ER D I CT 9/10
never low-passing the highs. But there’s
no harm in having it; it could come in useful
for some specific sound-design purposes. + Useful on all manner
of signal sources
Finally, Sugar has a saturation knob,
which lets you dial in a little additional + Automatic gain compensation
harmonic distortion. This dial can get cruel + Generates much excitement
quickly, but set to the Drive position and
with only a little dialled in, can bring that
– Fixed band
little something special to a signal, in much – A little enigmatic at first
the same way as a good tube or tape
Sugar never tasted so good. This is a
simulator might.
highly usable, enjoyable plug-in and
a no-brainer if you don’t have a sonic
POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME sweetener in your plug-in folder.
The tools which inspired Sugar were used
on all sorts of signal sources, with results that

Alternatives
AUDIOTHING emulation of the Type A the Dolby A301. WAVES way to Sugar. Vitamin
Type A encoder first found in audiothing.net Vitamin Sonic has five bands, with
€59 Enhancer variable crossovers and
AudioThing’s Type A $249 control over the stereo
plug-in is a faithful Waves’ multi-band width on each, plus an
recreation of the Dolby sonic enhancer can be extra punch control.
A trick – a straight used in a very similar waves.com

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 95

R E V I E W U V I PX V8
UVI
PX V8 £67
UVI’s latest soft-synth resurrects a forgotten favourite from yesteryear. How does
this recreation of the Octave Plateau Voyetra 8 stack up against the original?
WORDS ANDY JONES
T 
here are now synths for everything: new
hardware analogues, digital workstations,
software plug-in emulations, software
that creates synths impossible in hardware,
and, of course, Eurorack modules to take you
on any sonic journey. Of all of these, you’d think
that soft-synth emulations would be the ones with
a finite life; there are only so many synths you can
emulate, after all. Yet, seemingly, new ones are
released all the time – the PX V8 being the latest
case in point.
Inevitably, though, the synths these emulations
are based on become less classic and less
necessary – the best ones have already been
done, right? But in some cases, a new emulation
is released that is a recreation of ‘the synth that
got away’, a slightly hidden gem that didn’t
become hugely popular at the time, nor has it
yet attained classic status. It might, though, have
exhibited a quirky side that gave it a narrow
fanbase when released and now deserves
reappraisal. PX V8 is based on the Octave
Plateau Voyetra 8, a synth that might well tick
98 May 2019 MusicTech
Key features
O Reimagining of a classic
American analogue synth
O 8.61GB download
O 404 presets, 25,696 samples
O 10 categories including bass,
brass, keyboards, leads, misc,
organs, pads, poly, strings
and waveforms
O Runs in UVI Workstation version
3.0.4+, and Falcon version
1.6.4+ (Audio Units, AAX,
VST, standalone)
O Requires macOS 10.8 to macOS
10.14 Mojave (64-bit); Windows
8 to Windows 10 (64-bit);
4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
O Free iLok account required
(3 activations per licence
on any combo of machines)
CONTACT
uvi.net
some of the above boxes – so has UVI made a
good decision to bring it back?
FANS OLD AND NEW
Okay, your Moogs, ARPs, Rolands, Korgs et al
might have stolen the thunder in terms of sales
and reputation, but the Voyetra 8 did (and
indeed still does) have some pretty big fans.
Perhaps the biggest of those were New Order,
who used it on Blue Monday and many other
big tracks. Ulrich Schnauss is also a fan – he
once gave MusicTech a fabulous video tour
of his studio and you can spot one towards the
end, hidden in a rack.
The 1982 original Voyetra was indeed a rack
synth, with a separate keyboard. It was analogue
and had lots of hands-on controls, 100 presets
and complex modulation options. It wasn’t,
apparently, the easiest synth to program, but the
joys of software could well iron this out. Its sound
was big and brash, characterful and, when it
wanted to be, pretty complex.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
The developers at UVI had trouble tracking down
an original unit – it took two years, and then they
had a big repair job on their hands – so this
instrument library has truly been a labour of love.
I say ‘library’ because you’ll need either UVI’s
Falcon or its (free) UVI Workstation to run it, but
then it functions as a complete plug-in synth.
You’ll also need to register a free iLok account,
two words that usually send a shiver down my
spine. Thankfully, though, after the 8GB-plus
download, activation was fairly conventional,
and you can run PX V8 on three different
machines, should you wish, especially useful
within my increasingly bloated setup.
Once activated in iLok, you load up UVI
Workstation and load it up either standalone
or as a plug-in. I found the latter worked best;
standalone, it was just a bit laggy on my setup.
In Logic, however, it’s a great app, a little like
Kontakt or Best Service’s Player, essentially a shell
to run libraries like PX V8. You have to nudge it to
show it where you have stored the download
musictech.net
 U V I PX V8 R E V I E W

and then you load it up as a single

instrument or as part of a multi-setup.
Presets are laid out in folders for sound
types, or as banks or more animated
arpeggiated sounds. There are five main
areas within PX V8 to do most of your sonic
damage once you have a sound loaded
in, these being Main, Edit, Mod, FX and Arp.
We’ll start with the Main page, where
the oscillator, amplitude and filter controls
reside. You get two oscillators at PX’s core,
just like the original Voyetra. However,
from the off, UVI admits that: ‘the PX V8
software does not replicate the complex
architecture of the Voyetra Eight hardware’
and is really intended to give you an easier
ride through that synth’s character and
nature, and not to get too bogged down
in the detail, a good thing in my book.
So with the oscillators, for example, you
can choose types based on waveforms
and instrument types. Want something a
bit pad-like? Load in a pad waveform on
an oscillator. It’s like a way of breaking
your presets down into more in-depth
layers; keep everything else the same, just
choose different waveforms per oscillator
to change the character. One neat
implementation is that the amp and filter
controls on this Main screen can be
What was already a big sound
on the original can now be really
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If I’m completely original synth (and
honest, you’ll UVI’s reimagining of
probably already it) that sets it apart.
have a lot of what Certainly, if you want
PX V8 does in one or to have just about
more of the VA-type every interesting
synths that come synth ever made,
bundled with your then this is about the
DAW. But there’s best way of getting a
something big, version of Voyetra 8
cumbersome and that is both workable
beautiful about the and full of attitude.
options) but there is a decent-enough together, and it’s partly down to the ability
amount to get filter action, LFO shaping to quickly change your source material.
and plenty of pitch movement going, What also helps you stretch the sonics
all of which contribute to more dynamic in terms of both breadth and depth is
sounds overall. the ease of use in every section. Those
The FX section is simply great – easy wanting a true Voyetra 8 – and the
controls, some big drama to be had and complexities that came with it – might
some very distinctive effects. Thorus is a have to look elsewhere, or even attempt
simple chorus effect and Drive offers nice to get the original hardware. This is more
saturation; Ensemble fattens the sound up like a ‘best of’ – you get plenty of
nicely, whereas both the delay and reverb waveforms and samples as source
add interest and a lovely broad sheen. It’s material, and some easy controls to
simple but very effective, and all controls change them, plus lots of fun along the
are MIDI mappable for extra control. way doing just that and adding dynamics
and great effects.
You also don’t have to worry about
any limitations of the original hardware,
so forget any polyphonic considerations.
What was already a big sound on the
original can now be absolutely huge.

huge. Plus, it’s great value, too Great value, too.

applied to each individually, or both
oscillators simultaneously.
Next up, the Edit screen takes you to
tuning and mod-wheel assignment options
among others. It’s a little bit like the second
half of the main synth fascia, although
not like the original hardware at all. That
doesn’t really matter though, as you get
some decent options here. As well as
quick mod-wheel assignments for vibrato,
tremolo and filter, you can detune and
broaden the stereo width on each or both
oscillators to really spread their sound.
The Modulation Page really can help
you get things moving. It features both
an LFO and Step Modulator. Again, the
distinction between oscillators really
comes to the fore, with the ability to apply
modulation to both or individually. There’s
probably not as much depth here as on
the original (which was famed for its mod
Finally, the Arp section offers some more
melodic movement. Again, what is cool
here is that you can apply the arpeggiator
to both or individual oscillators so you can
have, for example, nice lush string timbres
that include a lot of movement as you play.
And also like the effects and modulation
sections, there are just a few controls to get
your head around, but enough to create
lots of drama.
SOUND CONCLUSIONS
Overall, we’re obviously talking ‘analogue’
in terms of sound, but there’s some real
beef here. There is a broad range of
sounds, from real to very classic and 80s,
but there are also many with new twists. In
the main, though, there is an attitude and
punch; that’s partly down to the ability to
apply just about everything very easily
to individual oscillators or both mixed
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
+ Huge presets, thanks to lots of
samples, and oscillator flexibility
+ Also helped by some great effects
+ Very useful Arp and Mod sections
can really bring all the source
material to life in no time
+ Big overall character with lots
of atmosphere and attitude
+ Easy synthesis to create your own
sounds, too
– Not quite the original (which is
both a good and bad thing)
As big-sounding as the original,
easy to use and doesn’t weigh 60lbs!

Alternatives
SAMPLES girth, this 2.5GB sample SOUNDS DIVINE time with over 5GB of
FROM MARS download contains Raw Analogue raw material, and 35
Voyetra 45 multi-sampled Voyetra 8 £99 instruments covering
From Mars $39 instruments for About the only other drums, effects, bass,
One of the few attempts Ableton, Kontakt, attempt we could find is chorus pads, and
at capturing the Logic and Reason. another Kontakt-based unison sounds.
original’s sound and samplesfrommars.com sample collection, this soundsdivine.com

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 99

R E V I E W KO R G VO LC A M O D U L A R
KORG
Volca Modular
Want to get into modular synthesis and explore the more intricate ‘West
Coast’ sound without spending a fortune? We say ‘yes’ and ‘yes’ again…
WORDS ANDY JONES
K
org isn’t afraid to do something a little bit
different – that, we should all know by
now. From my first experiences testing its
original Wavedrum, some 25-odd years
ago, I know the company can and does like to
release curveball products.
On first inspection, its latest Volca Modular –
the latest in a line of devices that focuses on
particular aspects of sound making, like bass,
beats, kick drums and so on – appears to be
‘just’ a patchable semi-modular synth. And it’s
probably aimed at those starting out in modular
synthesis. I mean it’s less than £200, after all.
Korg confirms this by describing Volca Modular
as “a semi-modular analogue synthesiser that
makes modular synthesis more accessible and
understandable than ever before”. Yet Volca
Modular is very much focusing on what has been
labelled ‘West Coast synthesis’, perhaps the more
complex variant of modular synthesis, which
deserves some further explanation.
100 May 2019 MusicTech
£179
Key features
O Analogue monophonic
semi-modular synth with
multi-touch controller keypad
O Eight modules: Source, Functions,
Woggle, Split, Dual LPG, Utility,
Space Out and Sequences
O Sequencer: 16 parts, 16 patterns
O Connectors: headphones (3.5mm
stereo mini jack), sync In and Out
(3.5mm), CV In (TRS mini jack)
O Power: 6x AA battery (supplied)
or KA-350 AC adaptor (optional)
O Battery life: 10 hours
O Included: sync cable, pin cable
for patching (1 set), module
reference sheet
O Dimensions (W x D x H mm):
193 × 115 × 39
O Weight (g): 377
CONTACT
korg.com
GO WEST
History has probably already exaggerated the
‘versus’ aspect of this so-called synthesis battle
between the USA’s East and West Coast. Really,
it was just a few synth pioneers experimenting
with different ways of manipulating sound
electronically in the 1960s, who just happened to
be on opposite sides of the United States.
In New York, Bob Moog was working on the
synthesis we all know and love: subtractive. Think
oscillators generating square, sawtooth and pulse
waves, with filters sweeping across them. From
there, the signal passes through a Voltage
Controlled Amplifier (VCA) and envelopes to
shape pitch, filter and amp characteristics.
It’s subtractive synthesis in its purest form.
On the West Coast, Donald Buchla (think Doc
from Back To The Future, if you like) had clearly
got his kicks on Route 66 and was opting for a
wilder approach to synthesis. West Coast
synthesists like Buchla and Serge Tcherepnin
opted for a complex oscillator which could act
more like a pair, with one (modulator) varying the
frequency and amplitude of the other (carrier).
Another West Coast angle might employ a
wave folder that could be applied with a shaping
function to alter its character. Often, a Low Pass
Gate would refine frequency and amplitude,
tweaking a little like a filter and reacting like a
VCA with control voltage applied. Add a 2-stage
AD/AR Function Generator, rather than 4-stage
ADSR envelopes, and the resulting sounds
would generally be more percussive, random,
experimental and dramatic than the smoother,
more predictable results from subtractive
synthesis. So Buchla was, perhaps, more
experimental, while Moog was a more ‘one note,
one speaker rattle’ kind of guy.
Okay, this wasn’t exactly The Beatles v The
Rolling Stones and, of course, the current wave
of Eurorack euphoria means most users probably
don’t care much about dealing with either
approach, as they can mix and match whatever
modules from whatever synthesis type to make
something that either pioneer would have been
proud of. That is the whole point of modular, after
musictech.net

all, but the fact that Korg has opted for the
West Coast angle is interesting. As I say,
while the price and ease of patching might
be beginner, the results could be very
different indeed.
MODULES APLENTY
The guts of Volca Modular are analogue,
but there is a digital Space Out reverb that
can be applied to the output. This is one
of an incredible eight modules crammed
into the unit. There is more detail on these
later in the review, but you essentially get
Source which contains the VCO carrier and
modulation, which then goes through a
Wave Folder for additional character.
Functions contains 2- and 3-part envelopes;
Woggle is a sample & hold random
generator with a pink noise source; Split
does what it says and splits the input into
two outputs; Dual LPG acts as that Low
It’s a cheap, risk-free and exciting
introduction to the modular world,
but it’s not just for beginners
Pass Gate I mentioned earlier, it functions
as both filter and amp; Utility is both mixer
and controller; Space Out is that reverb;
and finally, Sequences is, you have
probably guessed, a sequencer.
Despite employing a West Coast
synthesis approach, actually using Volca
Modular will be a familiar experience, no
matter how much experience you have
had with modular synthesis. In fact, its
semi-modular approach means you could
ignore all the patching completely, as you
can easily wrestle sound out of it without
plugging anything in, as the modules have
an interconnection which is only modified if
you plug cables in.
This would be ignoring about 98 per
cent of the fun, though, and the modular-
MODULES UP CLOSE
The Sources module is the main sound-
1 oscillator area in modular. Sources are
both triangle VCO carrier and a modulator.
Overtones generated by FM are sent through the
Wave Folder to add more overtones and character.
musictech.net
KO R G VO LC A M O D U L A R R E V I E W
DO I REALLY NEED THIS?
If you have a bank of welcome, though.
modular gear, then It’s a lovely, cheap,
you might already risk-free and exciting
have everything you introduction to that
need, although Volca world, but not just
Modular will happily for beginners, as
connect up and sync you can take your
with what you have. modular experiments
Newcomers to to surprising heights
modular are very and depths.
cabling aspect you’ll either know and love, tweaking oscillators has; the Functions will
or be coming to fresh. act like traditional envelopes; and the
Either way, the manual is actually Dual LPGs are (a bit) like a filter. But when
excellent, describing each module in detail you get into the patching, the proper
and the types of signal each takes in and experimentation begins, and this is the
spits out. It’s thoroughly recommended heart of the beast.
PINS AND NEEDLES
If you are starting out from scratch with
modular synthesis, again, the manual is
your best friend. Try the very first example,
which details how you can hear and tweak
the main Source carrier output, the main
sonic ingredient, if you like. From here, you
then modulate it with the output of the LPG
reading to both new and experienced Rise Fall generator to hear that in action,
users alike. and then take the Sequences Gate out to
To sum up, you quickly get to know the other LPG ADR envelope to hear the
the routing rules and where to patch the sequencer in action, too.
supplied cable: plug an input pin into any Basically, in about 10 minutes, you’ll
input hole with a clear outline, take one out have covered a lot of what Volca Modular
of any output hole with a dark outline. The can do, and once you have your head
main signals are: audio (denoted by a around that, you can then dive in deeper
protruding circle on the black outlines), and experiment.
control (for modulation), gate (length) and There are some cracking patch ideas to
trigger (for resetting). Each module then try from the manual and Korg website if you
has a list of sub-signal types listed at its get stuck, and you have 20 patch cords
inputs and outputs. supplied with the unit for your tour around
Like I said, Volca Modular is not based its 50 patch points.
on subtractive synthesis, but actually Among much plugging and playing,
using it will be a familiar experience to some of the highlights are the Random
subtractive fans. From left to right, tweaking Release patch, which adds a random
Source controls will have the drama that element from Woggle to the note release
The Functions area contains two envelopes:
2 the ADH – which deals with attack, hold and
3 Low Pass Gates are typical of West Coast
synthesis. They control both the gain to the
release times – and the Rise/Fall. This latter one can, output and the frequencies allowed through. So
by patching its output to its input, effectively loop and high gain equals loud and high frequencies;
be used like an LFO. low equals quiet and low frequencies.
MusicTech May 2019 101
R E V I E W KO R G VO LC A M O D U L A R

time for varied sequences; and also the

Polyrhythmic Duo, which is excellent for
demoing an almost split-layer sound, with
FM modulator and carrier signals controlled
by both of the Function envelopes.
The Sequencer is an important part
to understand here, as this will spur your
enthusiasm ever onwards and you’ll want
some sequences cycling around as you
plug and unplug on your tour around this
modular world. You can record notes in a
sequence (by pressing Rec and Play) or
step by step (by pressing Func and Rec) or
a combination of both. These can then be
erased or stored to one of 16 locations and
chained together if you wish.
The Function button is also useful for
accessing other parts of Volca Modular
and is dead easy to use. Simply press it at
the same time as one of the main 16 notes
to access the parameter written beneath
each. These range from Scale Type to
Clear All Sequences, taking in Octave Up/
Down, Random Sequence Steps/Notes,
Gate Length and Microtuning.
An interesting one to point out is Motion
On/Off, which allows you to record knob
movement as part of a sequence – as
easy to implement as the function on the
Teenage Engineering PO Series, devices
with a similar feel and attitude.
One thing I realise as I near the end of
this review is that I’ve not covered the
‘sound’ of Volca Modular, more its built-in
experimental leanings, and that is the
nature of the beast. If I were to pick some

Volca Modular is a great little unit

for modular madness, all housed MT V ER D I CT 9/10

in a portable, experimental box + It’s portable and educational

rather sweeping adjectives to do so, I’d
be using words like ‘aggressive’, ‘atonal’,
‘metallic’ and, well, ‘interesting’. I love the
more random patching possibilities and
you’ll be impressed when you get that kind
of almost duophonic effect going with two
sounds split.
Once you get your head around the
routing and then start twisting it as far as
you can, you will find the results a lot more
varied than you might initially suspect. By
the end of my test time, I was moving more
away from the ‘aggressive’, to the ‘usable’
and enjoying both my educational and
sonic journeys.
CONCLUSION
Volca Modular is a great little unit for
modular madness, all housed in an easy
to use, portable and experimental box.
It’s the best way to get into what can be
a daunting subject and also to experience
some West Coast sonic sunshine.
You might not get a traditional ‘tan’,
as it were, but instead, you’ll have a
renewed appreciation for Buchla – and
hats off to Korg for shining a light on him
and his gang. Cheap, portable, easy and
plastic – who’d have thought you’d ever
hear that about a fantastic piece of
modular gear?
modular synthesis in one small box
+ Easy to use
+ Has a characteristic ‘West Coast’
attitude to its sound
+ Great sequencer and Function
features beneath the surface
– The sound can be a little too atonal
for some
– Pins are a bit bendy
Where can Korg go next with Volca?
So far, the series has been a triumph
and Modular keeps up the pace.
A superb bit of kit for the cash.

Alternatives
TEENAGE automation features. MODAL
ENGINEERING TE also has its new ELECTRONICS
PO-Series £73 modular-synth system Skulpt £279
Not the same type of which looks much This is a purely digital battery operated. get presets and
boxes (in modular synth more comparable. synth, but is very similar Sonically, it’s probably polyphony, but no
terms) – but similar teenageengineering. in terms of weight, size a bit more diverse than pure modular angle.
attitude, portability and com and scope, plus is also Volca Modular and you modalelectronics.com

102 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

REVIEW MINIS

DENISE
Noize
Price £20
Contact Plugin Boutique
pluginboutique.com
For producers old enough to
remember the obsession with
reducing noise in recordings over
the 80s and 90s, it might come
as something of a surprise that
generating additional noise has
become a favoured effect to use.
We’re not talking vast amounts, but
adding different flavours to basses,
beats, leads and the odd synth really
can help liven up a sterile mix. Noise
is good now, just like saturated fat
and red wine, right?
Noize adds five such flavours
and adapts itself according to your
signal level, so you can have it act
on specific beats or tones. Other
options include envelope tweaking
which can add a nice rhythmic
attack to basslines. The noise types
tend to offer more extreme EQs –
Violet and Blue being the highest
– while high- and low-pass filtering
helps home in on a specific noise
band, especially useful with beats
to target specific kit sounds.
It’s these beat and bass parts
where Noize excels, although we
had great fun adding it to synth
pads and swells, too. What you might
call a fantastic livening-up tool.
Key features
O Adaptive noise generator
O VST, VST3, AU, AAX plug-in
O Noise-generating switch
that adapts to the volume
of your track in real time
O Five noise types: White,
Brown, Violet, Pink and Blue
O Noise envelope
O Low CPU usage
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
Noise is good when used
correctly and Noize really
lets you add it with precision
and tailor it to liven up cold
tracks and specific sounds.
LOOPLORDS
Electro
Urban Drums
Price £29
Contact LoopLords
looplords.net
We know and love LoopLords for its
focused and practical plug-ins based
on specific subjects – fancy some
Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk or Blade
Runner-style playable sounds? Key features
Electro Urban Drums maintains O Drum plug-in
the developer’s no-frills philosophy,
concentrating on high-quality source O VST/AU/GM/VST3
samples for its audio material, O 44 drum kits
big playable pads – ideal for O 352 samples, unique sounds
touchscreens – and 44 drums kits
that will deliver all of your urban O Multi-LFO section
drum needs, plus a lot more besides. O Vinyl and tape layers
Here, the Echo and Feedback kits are
O Bonus hip-hop MIDI loops
just two that really deliver the goods
and demonstrate the plug-in’s range.
You also get a couple of great
hands-on effects to add vinyl crackle
and tape noise to your beats –
gradually shifting them from the MT V ER D I CT 8/10
ultra-clean to grunged-up filthy, and
the LFO section adds a lot of dynamic
sonic potential. Some hands-on
filtering and pitching would be nice
Delivers everything from
additions for a future update but, laid-back to urban beats,
overall, we love LoopLords’ ‘simple with hands-on controls to
looking/great sounding’ philosophy, take them from high quality
and the bonus MIDI files really help to filth in a couple of twists.
bring the best out of the plug-in.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
Komplete Audio 2 £109

Contact Native Instruments | native-instruments.com

Key features making music will probably

O USB 2.0 192kHz and
24-bit buss-powered
audio interface
O 2x combi XLR/jack inputs
with 48V phantom power
and individual gain control
O 2x stereo jack outputs
O VU meter
O Headphone out with power
output and volume control
O Live Lite, Monark, Replika,
Phasis, Solid Bus Comp,
Komplete Start and Maschine
Essentials software bundle
be tempted. Somehow, the
company has refined some
fabulous technology that
integrates sleek keyboard
technology with its own
software to provide a seamless
playing and recording solution
for newbies. But you’ll always
need an interface to connect
all the audio bits up too, right?
Don’t worry, Native has you
covered there, too…
Komplete Audio 2 is part
of a new range of two USB 2.0
powered interfaces that are
samples. Other titles free
with the interfaces include
three effects, the Monark
synth and Maschine
Essentials, all making up
a frankly ridiculous bundle,
given the asking price. As to
the interfaces, we have the
Audio 2 on test here, which
features two mic/line combo
ins and a simple pair of jack
outs, headphone out, plus level
and input selector controls. The
interface is tiny enough to fit
on any desktop and with
decent rubber feet and
podcasters. While we don’t
have Komplete Audio 1 in for
test, just looking at its specs,
we’d probably recommend
going for the 2, just for the extra
input flexibility that you might
grow in to – it’s only another
£30 (street price). Either way,
you’re looking at a lot of
hardware and software
(especially) for little outlay.

W
e know from our
reviews of Native’s
new ranges of
Komplete Kontrol
keyboards, that the company
is on a bit of a mission to bring
huge hardware and software
bundles to newcomers in music
production – the prices are so
low that even those people
with just a passing interest in
simple in design, elegant in use
and dirt cheap. Above all, they
come bundled with a massive
range of software. Komplete
Start is the new title that ships
with most new NI hardware
and is almost worth the asking
price alone. In this bundle
you get 15 synths and sampled
instruments, plus effects, and a
couple of thousand loops, and
enough weight, isn’t going
to move around too much…
unless you want it too, of
course. Being buss-powered
MT V ER D I CT 9/10
it’s a great ‘throw in your bag’
mobile option, too.
Beginners start here, yes,
Performance-wise, it stacks but the rest of us might be
up decently with low noise tempted to buy a Komplete
and quality ins to make it a Audio interface just to get
good choice for everyone the software bundle.
from singer-songwriters to

104 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


LOOPMASTERS
Paul Sirrell
Deep Garage
House & Tech
Price £34
Contact Loopmasters
loopmasters.com
Veteran of the UK bassline and
organ house scene Paul Sirrell
has put together this new pack from
Loopmasters, with over 1.8GB-worth
of 24-bit audio in a range of formats.
For the most part, you’ve heard it all
before, with jackin’ beats, M1 piano
stabs, organ bass riffs and a small
handful of slightly more interesting
synth and instrument loops.
Thankfully, MIDI loops are also
included, so you have the potential
to experiment with some more
unique sounds of your own,
alongside a bunch of presets for
Serum and Sylenth. There’s a massive
amount of material here, including
some useful one-shot bass and FX
sounds, although it’s all a bit same-y.
If you’re after a large toolkit to write a
chart, piano-house banger, then this
will be right up your street. You may
need to get creative if you want it to
sound original, though.
MODEAUDIO
Brainwave
Price £18
Contact ModeAudio
modeaudio.com
ModeAudio’s latest takes its
influences from the off-grid, hip-hop
grooves and sun-soaked synths of
the LA Beat scene. You have the
option of standard WAV or REX
versions, but if you opt for the ReFill
or Live Pack formats, then you get
some additional patches and project
files. There are 14 Construction
Kits, plus individual folders of rich,
analogue basslines, wonky drums,
deep keys and pads and warped FX.
Arguably the best folder, though,
is the collection of atmospheric
synth, guitar and organ riffs, which
drift somewhere between mysterious
and melancholic. There’s also a
decent handful of saturated and
unique-sounding drum hits, a folder
of Tail samples to bring the other
loops to a smooth conclusion and
a bunch of useful MIDI files, should
you feel the need to add some
quantise! It’s not a giant pack, but
the production is detailed and
thoughtful throughout, resulting
in plenty of evocative and
inspiring-sounding riffs.
musictech.net
Key features
O House and garage
loops and hits
O 112 to 132bpm
O 320 loops and 78 MIDI files
O 320 loops and 78 MIDI files
O 65 Serum and
one Sylenth preset
O Produced by Paul Sirrell
MT V ER D I CT 7/10
A collection of predictable
house and garage sounds,
made useful by the sheer
size of what’s included and
nice-sounding production.
Key features
O Inspired by the
LA Beat Scene
O 491MB of 24-bit audio
O 158 loops at 82 to 122bpm
O 102 hits and 97 MIDI files
O 14 Construction Kits
O WAV, REX, ReFill
or Live Pack formats
MT V ER D I CT 8/10
Off-kilter beats, analogue
funk basses and evocative
dusty synth and riffs combine
to form an inspiring and
thoughtful pack.
MINIS REVIEW
LOOPMASTERS
Complete
Dance
Guitars
Price £24.95
Contact Loopmasters
loopmasters.com
This new pack from Loopmasters
features 325 guitar riffs at
Key features
128bpm for use in a wide range O 325 funk, rock
of dance-music genres and beyond. and metal guitar riffs
There are folders of clean, heavy O 1.5GB+ of 24-bit audio
and extreme loops, with a mix of O WAV+REX or Apple
funk chops, wah solos, heavy-metal Loops+REX
chugs, and classic-rock-style riffs.
Everything’s been cleanly processed O 128bpm
(distortions notwithstanding), which O 6 multi instruments
combines with very tight playing to with sampler patches
give an upfront sound. As a nice
touch, you get both dry versions
and versions with tasteful amounts
of reverb to add a little depth.
Many of the riffs also come in
a single version and a layered MT V ER D I CT 9/10
two-guitar comp to give a thicker
sound. There are enough different
guitar sounds used to add some
variation, but there’s also enough
An excellent library of
overlap to allow several different well-played and recorded,
riffs to be chained together, should super-tight funk and rock
you so desire. As a final touch, you riffs that would be useful
also get multi-sampled powerchords for a range of genres.
and plain and vibrato notes.
NUGEN AUDIO
SigMod
Price $49
Contact Nugen Audio
nugenaudio.com
SigMod is a flexible, modular utility
Key features
plug-in, with 12 single process O 12 Utility modules
modules to enhance the functionality in one plug-in
of your plug-ins and DAW. The O Channel-strip functions,
no-frills GUI is clear and functional signal monitoring
with an excellent auto-sizing feature and routing options
that updates depending on which
O Add M/S and multi-band
modules are inserted. There are basic
to your effects
functions such as flipping phase,
making mono, switching LR, detecting O Send a Tap from mid-chain
to another channel
and removing a DC offset and a
useful Protect unit that instantly cuts O Host a stereo or dual mono
out if the signal passes a threshold. VST3 plug-in
Things get more interesting with the
Mid-Side and Crossover modules.
These allow you to add M/S or
split band functionality to vintage MT V ER D I CT 9/10
processors, delays or any effect you
can think of. There’s also a superb Tap
module, which can send a signal to
a separate Receive plug-in you can
It seems simple on the
place anywhere in your DAW and a surface, but SigMod has
new module that allows SigMod to the potential to add some
internally host a VST3 plug-in. Once game-changing flexibility
you get your head around it, the to your plug-ins and DAW.
possibilities are vast.
MusicTech May 2019 105
R E V I E W S I X O F T H E B ES T
SIX OF THE BEST
Ableton Live Controllers
Ableton Live becomes exponentially more
fun and feisty when you add a hardware
controller, becoming much more hands-on
and instrument-like. Here are our picks
of the best Live controllers around…
ABLETON
Push 2 £599
Contact Ableton | ableton.com
The de facto controller for Live – many pick up
the Live/Push combo on day one of their
musical mission. Push is available bundled
with any of the three versions of Live. The
truth is, you really need a clear reason not
to use Push, it does such a thorough job
out of the box. There’s zero setup time,
so you’re armed to play instruments
or launch clips with the pads and use
the knobs to tweak instrument and
effect parameters.
WE SAID “This is a whole new,
enjoyable experience – it’s what
Push should have originally been,
and something that I’m far more
BEST O F F I C I A L
AKAI
Force £1,249
Contact Akai | akaipro.com
New and juicy, the Akai Force is a
standalone sampling/synth/sequencer
that does double-duty as a Push-style
Live controller, putting the pads, knobs
and touchscreen to good use; it’ll
export projects as Live-friendly .als
files, and built-in wifi allows Ableton
Link support. It has independence
when needed, integration when
needed, and acts as your audio
interface, too. This is the choice
for anybody who ever wished for
a standalone Live machine.
106 May 2019 MusicTech
BEST C L I P L AU N C H E R
likely to use for composition. Push integrates
with the updated Simpler instrument to create
more of a hardware-sampling experience;
£269
from Push itself, you can browse and load
samples into Simpler and view and interact
AKAI
with the waveforms.”
APC40 mkII
Contact Akai | akaipro.com
One of the most popular Live boxes around, the
original APC40 was one of the first (if not the first)
Live controllers on sale, and it’s still going strong.
This update keeps it fresh and relevant, as long
as you don’t need to play pads – these are
clip-launchers only. The clip-launch buttons
do a good job of reflecting your onscreen clip
colours and it remains a relatively mobile package.
WE SAID “This is a good example of a follow-up
release outdoing the original, as it answers most
of the first incarnation’s gripes.”
BEST S TA N DA LO N E
WE SAID “The Force is so enjoyable
to use – I’d happily put it to work for
song sketching, sampling, jamming
and live sets. It’s a really great
prospect for anybody interested
in creating or performing using
music hardware. So even if you’re
a software diehard, this is another
way to think about presenting live
music, especially if you experience
the occasional sense of option
paralysis that comes bundled
free with every DAW.”
musictech.net
 S I X O F T H E B ES T R E V I E W

EDITORS KEYS
Wireless Keyboard £79

Contact Editors Keys | editorskeys.com

This offers computer-keyboard shortcuts where you don’t need to use modifier keys at
on steroids, with a Mac/PC keyboard featuring all to complete the instruction, so using Tab,
colour-coded keys (printed, not stickers), Spacebar, and the top row of red Function
with text and icons, to keep your workflow keys, which toggle track activation, all feel
fast and organised. This keyboard will give snappy to use.”
BEST I N S T U D I O
your studio that ‘serious pro’ vibe – they just
look very cool! Probably not something you’d
use live, but you never know. There’s also a
wired, backlit, version, for the night-time
studio vampires among us.
WE SAID “I’ve been using Live a long time,
so I’m pretty familiar with the keyboard
shortcuts, but scanning over these keys is
a good way to be reminded of ones that
perhaps you don’t use so much. The most
elegant commands and functions are the ones

“The SL has to be the best

Live keyboard controller
around at the moment”

NOVATION
SL MkIII £539

Contact Novation | novationmusic.com

This has to be the best Live keyboard controller
around at the moment, with onboard eight-track
BEST K E Y B OA R D sequencer, semi-weighted keys, aftertouch, and
extra visual feedback from on-key RGB LEDs.
Throw in faders, pads, CV and an arpeggiator,
and it has you covered for most of your Ableton
Live needs. However, it’ll also function as a very
capable hub for your hardware rig, too – a real
bonus. Available in 49 and 61 varieties.
WE SAID “Way back when I heard about SL
MkIII, I thought I’d focus on the software-
control side of it, as that is really where
previous models in the SL range were
focused, particularly with that AutoMap
technology. However, what really comes
out of this test is that SL MkIII is more about
the hardware; well, more about your studio.
Those Templates really do make controlling,
sequencing and automating your studio a
breeze, you might even – whisper – move
away from your DAW and completely into
the hard environment.”

ZERODEBUG
TouchAble PRO £28.99

Contact Zerodebug | zerodebug.com

We’ll allow just one app on this list, mainly
because it’s the most fully featured Live
controller out there. TouchAble PRO runs
on iOS and Android and connects to
your computer via wifi or cable, providing
immediate control over every aspect of Live,
and with a configurable interface, too!
WE SAID “TouchAble PRO is easy to
configure, fast to use, and engages with
the software like nothing else. Also, it
doesn’t exclude the use of hardware
controllers alongside it, such as Push
or APC40, or whatever else you have.
The Device control is outstanding, and
the ability to view two modules together
is the icing on the cake.”
BEST A P P

musictech.net MusicTech May 2019 107

I N T E R V I E W DA R R EL L T H O R P
MT INTERV IE W
DARRELL
THORP
Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Beck… Just a few of the names
who have worked with nine-time Grammy Award winner
Darrell Thorp. His never-ending quest for sonic perfection
has established him as one of the most sought-after
engineers and mixers in the USA
WORDS ANDY PRICE
M
any people starting their careers in the
recording industry anticipate many years
of toil, labouring behind the scenes
before they even get close to the
possibility of working with top-tier artists. However,
Darrell Thorp’s first decade in production – as an intern
and then an assistant engineer – tells a different story.
Following four years in the US Navy, Darrell began
his musical education at Arizona’s Conservatory of
Recording Arts and Sciences. His talent for picking the
right gear for the job quickly led him to an internship at
Track Record Studios, before full-time stints at Conway
Studios and the legendary Ocean Way.
It was during his time at Ocean Way that Darrell
met Nigel Godrich and quickly formed a working
relationship and friendship. This led to him to team up
with the producer on records with the likes of Paul
McCartney and Radiohead, as well as establishing
a long-term, highly successful association with the
genre-hopping Beck.
Thorp has been operating as a freelance engineer
and mixer in his own right. His work has resulted in nine
Grammy Award wins, including at the most recent
ceremony where he and the rest of the production
team took home the Best Engineered Album prize for
Beck’s latest LP, Colors.
MusicTech How did your interest in production begin?
Darrell Thorp It started when I was really young. I was
a teenager and I started playing guitar. I got very
intrigued by the mysterious process of how records
were made; it was like some kind of voodoo thing
to me. I made friends with the guy that ran the
sound department at the church that I used to
go to. He started showing me tricks and tips and how
microphones, cables, monitors and consoles worked.
That gave me the bug, big time.
MT How was your experience of working with
Nigel Godrich?
I’m so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work
with Nigel as long as I did. I learned so much from him,
particularly from an engineering standpoint. I really
108 May 2019 MusicTech
wouldn’t be the engineer that I am without his
influence. He’s an amazing producer, but he’s also a
darn good engineer. He takes a lot of risks. He commits
and makes a decision right then and there about how
something is supposed to sound and just goes for it.
Earlier in my career, when I was assisting a lot,
I noticed that a lot of engineers don’t really do that.
They tend to record in a very safe way, where I think
the mentality is that people can manipulate their quite
flat-sounding recordings later in the mixing stage. Nigel
was different. Nigel would just say: ‘I’m here, I’m ready,
I’m going to record it and make it sound great and the
mix is probably just going to be a rough mix because
it’s basically done.’ So he’d do all the heavy lifting in
that initial recording stage. All the decisions had been
made sonically. I love that approach and try and work
that way as much as I can.
CHAOS AND CREATION
MT With Nigel, you worked with some iconic artists.
What did you learn, and are there challenges
when working with bona-fide icons?
I wouldn’t say there’s a challenge to working with those
types of artists. Paul McCartney is just one of the most
gracious, sweetest human beings on the planet and
he’s so much fun to work with. When working with him
[on 2005’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard],
I’d just come into the studio and I’d know it was going
to be a really nice, relaxed day of just enjoying the
music-production process. Paul would just say: ‘Hey,
let’s do a guitar part,’ or: ‘Let’s do this,’ very casually.
Paul is such an insanely talented musician, so it was just
really fun to watch him play multiple instruments.
With Radiohead, it’s a similar story, they’re all great
guys and they are one of my favourite bands, anyway.
When we recorded Hail To The Thief, it was so cool
to just watch them play. They are such a damn good
band. They’re such a collective core. You don’t
really see that too often. They really, really gel well
together musically.
MT Let’s talk about your own studio setup, what gear do
you have in there and how do you typically use it?
musictech.net
I N T E R V I E W DA R R EL L T H O R P
“If the singer picks a favourite
mic, go with their choice: if
they like what they hear, it will
help them to perform better”
MIC CHECK
We ask Darrell if he has some advice for
recording a perfect vocal take and what does he
do to to ensure it sounds as clean as possible?
“It’s all fundamentally about the sound that
you’re getting from the artist themselves,”
Darrell says. “One practical tip that’s useful from
that point of view is to ask the artist who you’re
about to record to go into the room that they’re
about to sing in and say: ‘Hey, can you sing for
me for a minute?’ Listen to their tone and timbre
for a second. From there, you can probably make
a decision about which microphone you think
might fit them the best. That’s a big part of it,
especially if the singer is a little bit nasally or
harsh,” he reveals.
“You’re not going to want a Neumann U 87 in
that instance – that will just bring that harsh
110 May 2019 MusicTech
With the mixing process, I’m in this very fortunate, lucky situation
Darrell is generally always where my home studio is pretty much just
trying to achieve the same
goal, regardless of genre my mix room. In there, I have a bunch of
UA Apollos which run into a Pro Tools HDX
rig. I have a pair of monitors, a pair of
headphones and a mouse and a keyboard
and that’s it, really.
I pretty much mix in my space almost
completely in-the-box. It’s much better for
recalling projects and managing my time.
So many clients will hire me to do a mix,
I’ll do the mix and I’ll send it off. But then
often, I won’t hear back for like a month.
They’ll then call and say: ‘Hey, we finally
got the chance to put our notes together.’
So for me, having the ability to just load up
that Pro Tools session and make those
changes quickly allows my workflow to be
much smoother than having to plug in
loads of hardware.
My partner has a larger room with
an API mixing console, great mics and
preamps. I can go in there anytime I want
to and record overdubs if that’s what the
client needs. Mostly, my clients either have
really amazing studios already, or will hire
a commercial facility like EastWest or
© David Goggin for Universal Audio
United to track. I’m very spoiled in that
aspect, I still get to work in amazing
commercial facilities all the time.
MT Are there any specific plug-ins that
you find yourself using all the time during
the mixing process?
I’m a big user of Universal Audio plug-ins,
I’m pretty much always reaching for the UA
1176 Classic Limiter Collection Rev A. I call it
the ‘blue stripe’. I’m also always reaching
for the UA Neve 1073 EQ, the problem with
those two things is that they’re extremely
tonality even more to the forefront. It’s more power-hungry. So if a session is at 96k, then
likely that a Coles ribbon microphone would be
more effective in capturing their flavour of vocal. I can’t go too far with them before things
To refine this even further, if you have time, start to slow. The DSP goes quick with those,
you could just set up two or three mics and then but that’s why they sound so good.
have the singer just sing a verse and a chorus. I also love the UA SSL 4000 E Channel
So get a level and make sure their headphones Strip Collection. It’s so much fun to use for
are okay and just let them sing on, say, an SM7B,
two reasons: because you can just go
then try a Coles 4038 and then why not a Lauten
Audio Eden? line-in on it like normal I/O, or you can flip it
“From there, choose which one feels good into mic preamp mode and if you’re trying
in the track and which seems to best suit the to mix something that’s been recorded
singer’s style. The singer will likely chime in and really flat and sterile, you can turn the gain
pick a favourite, too. It’s often good to go with up and it really pops to life. From there, you
their choice, because if they like what they hear
can start EQing and compressing to your
it will help them to perform better, too. That’s half
the battle.” taste. It’s so cool. I just discovered that a
few weeks ago and realised how much of
a game-changer it was.
musictech.net

UP ALL NIGHT
MT Congratulations on your Grammy win
for Beck’s Colors. It’s a big, up-tempo pop
record – what techniques did you employ
in the studio to achieve that?
Okay, so with Colors, I believe that all but
two songs were produced and performed
by Beck and Greg Kurstin. Aside from being
a brilliant producer, Greg is also a really
good engineer and gets great tones. So
that’s the reason behind the record’s
success, because it was co-written and
co-performed by Greg and Beck together.
On that record, I did all the strings and
I also did a lot of vocals, as well as a drum
overdub and some arrangement editing
with Beck. That was kind of my role in that.
I wasn’t the principal recording engineer
on all the stuff, so it was a little bit of a
different situation for me. On Morning
Phase [Beck’s previous record], I recorded
everything. That was an acoustically driven
album, so the approach was very, very
different. Morning Phase had a sleepy,
Americana vibe, whereas Colors is an
in-your-face pop/dance record.
MT What tracks on Colors are you most
happy with?
Up All Night for sure – it’s a work of genius,
I think. It’s down to Beck’s melody and
his lyrics and all the programming and
performing that Greg did on the track.
I recorded the strings, which I think are
freaking rad! I remember that Beck’s dad
David Campbell did the arrangement for
that, so it was very good. I remember when
I recorded those strings thinking it sounded
utterly brilliant.
MT You’ve worked with Beck often over
the last 10 years. Does he tend to bring in
finished material, or does he use the studio
creatively to compose and build tracks?
Usually, Beck will walk into the studio with
some sort of idea. He’ll normally have a
verse chordal idea or a chorus chordal
idea, though he may or may not have a
melody. If it’s a tracking thing with his band,
then he’ll start feeding the chords to them
and see how it starts to feel and from there,
the tracks expand and start to build, then
he might change some of the chords
around and try new things out. That’s how
he usually likes to work, he likes getting
inspiration on the fly as it’s going down.
It’s cool to see the creative spark really
lighting up in him. That’s one of the reasons
that I try to work so hard as an engineer
to record stuff. I want to make it sound
as good as I can, because I feel like it
makes an artist more inspired, once
something has been recorded with clarity
and punch and they can hear that. It just
feeds more creativity.
PREPARATION IS ALL
MT Colors aside, how do you generally
prepare for a session – do you collaborate
with the producer on what gear and setup
you need to capture the best sound?
Yeah, I like to get on the phone with the
producer and pick their brain about what
we’re going for with the project. Things like
musictech.net
COMPRESS TO SUCCESS
Darrell is often in the position where he’s not
able to get hands-on in the studio, and is tasked
with mixing less-than-perfect audio. So how
does he tackle this challenge?
“I find that often, things are delivered to
me and they’re extremely harsh. This is probably
because the choice of microphone on the
singer or on the guitar amp. But that might
be because they didn’t have the choices that
we take for granted.
“I’m very sensitive to 3k bite, that can build up
from a poorly recorded singer or a guitar amp.
It can even sometimes be bad cymbals. That
being said, one of the biggest things I’ve learned
to do is multi-band compress the high-to-mid
frequencies. I’ll carve out the wispy frequencies
in the top end while keeping the vocal at the
forefront of the mix. You really do have to tame
down those louder 3k-plus frequencies so it
sounds smooth and natural. There’s some great
plug-ins that can assist with this. You can be so
whether we need big drums, roomy, dry
drums, or if we’ll need a higher-pitched
piccolo kind of snare-drum sound. All those
general, technical questions we’ll discuss
early in the process. Then I’ll ask similar
questions about the guitars, what amps are
we using and where in the mix will these sit.
Then the same questions for bass, too.
I’ll generally get a vibe from the
producer about what their vision is. From
there, I’ll try and do my setup days before
to establish what microphones to use, what
mic-pres, what channel inputs they’re
going in on. I’ll then write a plot up for the
studio for the musicians. I always set the
band up in a circle or a semi-circle, so that
everyone can see each other really well.
Usually, no matter how much I prepare for
it, I’ll come into the studio and the artist will
go: ‘Darrell, I’ve got an idea, let’s do this
instead.’ So I’ve got to be a bit flexible in
terms of controlling the environment.
MT With mixing, do you have like a typical
approach to the process, or is that very
much dependent on the number of stems
or the genre, etc?
DA R R EL L T H O R P I N T E R V I E W
broad with it or super tight and refined. It’s crazy
the amount of power and processing you have at
your fingertips.
“Plug-in wise, I’ll use the FabFilter Pro-MB
Multiband Compressor, which is used for the
more broader areas, it’s very subtle in how it
works. I’ll also use the McDSP AE400 Active EQ.
I usually just use the four-band version of that,
because I’m usually just looking for one
frequency to cut out. After I’ve tamed it down,
I’ll then start EQing and brightening up the
frequencies above the area that I’m removing.
“I feel like the way the human ear works is
important to understanding this. I can start
grabbing frequencies above those that are
bothering me and giving them a boost. Then
the midrange feels like its been pushed back,
but in reality, it’s not. It’s just the way our ear
perceives it. The vocals start to sound nice and
clear and way less harsh. I can then get it to sit
in the mix right.”
Darrell uses FabFilter’s
Pro-MB Multiband
Compressor across broader
areas of the mix
I think my approach does depend on the
genre. Though I do think you’re just trying to
achieve the same thing pretty much all the
time, which is getting the song to be as big
and punchy as possible. That’s what I’m
usually going for. I’m more comfortable
mixing pop, rock and indie/alternative
guitar bands. I have a hard time with rock
in a conventional sense. I have to work
really hard with that kind of stuff. I don’t
really do a lot of it. I have a few friends
who’ve asked me to do hip-hop and R&B,
which always leave me scratching my
head a little. I hear other engineers that do
a lot of that stuff and I’m so impressed, they
can get these really huge-sounding kicks.
MT What projects would you say you’re most
proud of in your career to date?
I’m obviously really proud of Colors and
I’m also really proud of the Foo Fighters
record we just did, Concrete And Gold. But
one of the biggest things I’m happy with is
the Dave Grohl Play record. That was just
such a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an
engineer to record something like that.
Dave is just such a damn good musician
MusicTech May 2019 111
I N T E R V I E W DA R R EL L T H O R P

“Dave Grohl recorded himself

playing seven instruments for
a 23-minute piece straight
through, without stopping”
Darrell with a selection of and he is so much fun to work with. With
some of his favourite plug-ins Play, Dave recorded himself playing
and performing seven instruments for a
23-minute piece of music straight through,
without stopping. To sit there and watch
someone try and capture this 23-minute
piece from top to bottom was astonishing.
STUDIO SHORTAGE
MT Is there anyone out there, either artist or
producer, that you’d love to work with?
One of my favourite bands of all time is
the punk-rock band Refused. Working
with them would be a big one for me.
But honestly, I generally just enjoy working
© David Goggin for Universal Audio
dependent, of course. I really enjoy
teaching and what’s great is when I get
the chance to do live Q&As. There are
some crazy questions sometimes, though,
that really make me think, but it’s fun.
When I get those leftfield questions, for a
brief moment, I tend to feel like a complete
idiot and my mind just goes blank. I often
walk away from a Q&A session with just
a few little tidbits of things to look into or
reconsider. So it’s a win-win for both parties.
MT What advice would you give to anyone
looking to have a career like yours?
I feel like one of the pitfalls of the music

DARRELL THORP SELECTED CV
Just a few of the records that Darrell has engineered and mixed during his
extensive career…
Jay-Z
The Black Album
Mixer, Mixing Engineer
with talented artists who write and perform industry right now is that there aren’t
great music. That’s the main thing for me. enough studios for people to cut their
I’m happy continuing to do that. I feel teeth in. I learned so much from being
pretty lucky. in that environment. When I was starting
up my career, though, I couldn’t sit in
MT You’ve recently done some mentoring my bedroom and open up a full Logic
work, is that something you want to session and play around with plug-ins that
continue doing? are exact emulations of the analogue gear
I’ve done two tutorials with pureMix so far. that I first learned to use about 20 years
I want to do more, but it’s always schedule- ago. So that’s really the flip side of the coin.
There’s not enough studios to get a
job at where you can lock yourself into a
career path and work your way up to an
assistant engineer like I did. This was
also great for watching seasoned studio
veterans at work and observe how they
place microphones and deal with artists.
That’s unfortunate.
But there’s so much tutorial and
educational content out there now that
it’s so easy to learn complex processes,
wherever you are. You can get Logic or
a Pro Tools rig and just start mixing away
without having to go into a studio at all.
Outkast Radiohead Paul McCartney Everything I’ve learned I’ve generally
Speakerboxx/ Hail To The Thief Chaos And Creation learned while I’ve been working, and
The Love Below Engineer, Backing In The Backyard I’m still learning now. It’s an ongoing
Mixer Vocals, Choir Assistant Audio Engineer
process for me.

MT So what’s next on the agenda?

More tracking than mixing this month,
which is fine. Both processes have their
pros and cons. I like mixing because
I can set my own schedule. I like tracking
because it gets me out of the mixing zone.
In terms of specifics, I don’t like to say what
Air Roger Waters Foo Fighters Beck I’m doing unless it’s about to be released.
Pocket Symphony Is This The Life Concrete And Gold Colors
The social-media thing is so rapid and word
Audio Engineer We Really Want? Engineer, Mixer, Engineer, Mixer
Engineer Mastering Engineer travels very fast, so I’m happy to work with
artists and keep it on the down-low until
they’re ready to spread the word.

112 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net

I N T E R V I E W B E ATC H A I N: B U I L D I N G YO U R FA N B A S E
“Our platform offers artists an
easy-to-digest overview of
all of their social data. They
can then track their progress”
he’d done generating a fanbase. He’d
managed to sell out Koko, which is a big
London venue, without any external
marketing help.
“Obviously, to do that he had to put
a lot of his time and effort into social-media
marketing. That got me thinking about
something scalable that everyone
can use to yield the same results.
It needed to utilise automation and
machine learning.”
Steve explains why he came to this
conclusion in more detail:
Ben Mendoza,
Beatchain co-founder
116 May 2019 MusicTech
“I was using so many different marketing
platforms and tools to manage our
audience. The opportunity we’ve all ended
up seeing is to bring all of those things into
one box. We can then provide all of these
marketing functions for somebody that
doesn’t really understand marketing.
Artists still have to work hard and still have
to make good music, but if they don’t have
to learn about some very (what they would
consider) mundane, boring data-analysis
stuff, then we’re going to open it all up for
anybody and everybody to be able to find
their audience.”
So far so noble, but what about artists
actually generating a sustainable income
from their music-making?
“When you look at the world of artists,
you have this very thin layer at the top
where you have people like Ed Sheeran
and Adele. Then you’ve got the rest –
and that’s an enormous strata of people,
many of whom are very talented artists
trying to earn a living. Many of the really
good session musicians that we know
aren’t earning enough money through
music alone.
“So in terms of cashflow, traditionally,
the management of the artist will take
their piece, the booking agent will take
their piece and the label will take their
piece. If you don’t have to give those
pieces away, it’d be more feasible
to earn a living as a moderately
successful musician.”
WELCOME TO THE MACHINE
So let’s find out more about the machine
learning behind Beatchain. We ask Luke
Mendoza, Beatchain’s head of the data
science team and Ed Godshaw, who is
software development director, for more on
just what’s going on behind the scenes.
“The very first iteration of Beatchain was
designed as a small label that worked as a
kind of incubator for bands,” Luke explains.
“The plan was they would come in and we
use all the stuff we’ve learned to expand
their following and then we’d sell them
on to a bigger label. So, manual audience
management. We signed a few ‘alpha’
artists and we very quickly realised that
what we needed to do was build a
solution that was automated, or we’d
end up having to look after so many
different things that we’d all be very
quickly overworked.”
Luke continues his explanation: “When
an artist signs up for Beatchain, they log in
with their Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
to start with. Our platform goes away and
scrapes all the data from the backend of
musictech.net

the API. It gives them an easy-to-digest
overview of all of their social data. They
can then track their progress from day-to-
day, week-to-week or month-to-month in
terms of new audience and the frequency
of likes.
“We tried this with a few test artists
initially, including Brother Strut. We also
have a beatbox trio called Duke who we
took from around 20k Facebook followers
to 66k and Instagram from 2k to 15k. We
took them from doing corporate shows
to performing their first ever sold-out
headline gigs. So the system definitely
works. All this data that we get back and
is fed into the reports the artists read is
all teaching Beatchain better, more
effective ways of working.”
But what is changing here? Isn’t this
just collating pre-existing data into one
place? “The key is connecting it all
together,” Ed tells us. “We know from
the insights what the average amount
of posts should be per week for an artist.
We can tell them that, but also get them
to post from within the inbuilt scheduler
in Beatchain itself. It’s linked to all their
social platforms.
“It’s a typical kind of Hootsuite-style
social-media-management interface.
We’re just making it as easy as possible
for them to get content out.”
So what exactly are the vital aspects
of the overall online and social-media
picture that Beatchain looks at when
it’s scraping data?
“We don’t just look at the artist in
isolation,” Luke says. “We look at that artist
and we plot them against their peer group.
Say you’re in an indie band and you sign
up, and you put all your details in. It’ll go
away and compare your audience to
similar bands. If there’s a band similar to
you that’s growing consistently, you can
then monitor how often they post, what
musictech.net
B E ATC H A I N: B U I L D I N G YO U R FA N B A S E I N T E R V I E W
types of content they’re putting up to
generate engagement and what
audience types and platforms do the
best for them.”
It’s all well and good comparing and
contrasting with other artists who might
have the spare budget to afford to
produce high-end content, but how
about matching their quality if you’re
on a lower budget? This is something
that Steve is keen to address.
“We want to level the playing field
so people who have come from a council
estate and haven’t got any budget
whatsoever can shoot content on their
phone or take pictures,” he says. “They
can use our free video and image-editing
tools and upload to their social accounts.
Plus, they’re more likely to understand
how audience building works if they use
our platform.”
Luke adds: “A lot of what we’re doing is
also trying to educate artists about when to
post different types of content and to what
audiences it should be shown, whether
you should do any paid advertising or not.
Because one of the big things we’ve found,
especially as we started testing with record
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK
Could Beatchain potentially help people
understand what they need to do to improve
with their actual music? “What we’re doing is
giving people music that they want,” Steve says.
“They don’t have to engage with it. We’re serving
the little musicians in their bedrooms trying to
build their own brands. You have to take it on
the chin a little bit sometimes and think that
perhaps it’s because your music isn’t actually
good enough yet.”
Steve adds: “We can’t provide guidance on
being good, but we certainly can say that your
content should be entertaining and that it’s
often good to make your social-media content
in places that are interesting to look at. We can
provide those broad marketing tricks and tips.
labels, is they’ll make a great music video
for a strong song. They’ll put it out to the
world and it’ll get very little engagement.
At the moment, people don’t really know
who the band are or what to expect.”
To rectify this, the team flew Steve out to
Atlanta. “We sent him to meet an artist and
just create a few bits of lo-fi content of
this guy and his band hanging out and
making some music. Immediately, and for
a fraction of the budget, they got much
more engagement and faster audience
acquisition. So to start with, you have to
understand what your audience is looking
for and not just dive straight in with ‘the hit’
that you think you’re going to have.
“You have to build your brand and your
aesthetics. There’s so much education that
needs to go out there, but Beatchain is
more than that.”
DATA REVOLUTION
To our ears, this all sounds like it has the
potential to be the perfect tool to help
artists understand and build their audiences
with minimal expenditure. But we have to
ask the team at Beatchain just whether
they’ll expect any kind of pushback from
It’s very important to note what you’re doing at
that stage is controlling that first point of contact.
That’s what you want new people coming to your
page see. If you’re doing an original song sat in
your kitchen, then unless you’re totally brilliant, it
won’t engage that much.
“I think there’s just music that you don’t like,”
he tells us. “But somewhere out there, there’s
probably an audience for it.” In closing, Steve
says: “As an artist in 2019 anyway, you should
be keeping your ear to the ground and be aware
of what’s trending. Look at your peers and the
content that they’re making. Listen to what’s
going on. Listen to the charts. Do you think ‘my
stuff can stand up there?’. If it can’t, then you’re
not good enough yet.”
MusicTech May 2019 117
I N T E R V I E W B E ATC H A I N: B U I L D I N G YO U R FA N B A S E
Steve’s savvy strategies
to generate audience for
Brother Strut inspired
Beatchain’s creation
BEATCHAIN
UNCHAINED
So, we ask, how much more efficient
could Beatchain be in the future, and
what technological applications could
enhance it?
Luke tells us: “We recently spoke to a
guy who’d built an amazing bit of tech that
can analyse loads of data from individuals’
mobile phones and its internal
accelerometer and extrapolate so much
data about the people using it. It can tell
if someone has started streaming music,
it can tell you where that person is,
what they’re doing and what vehicle they’re
in. It can tell you the time and predict very
accurately when people will do certain
things. They might normally buy music
when they’re on the bus, for example.
“There will be a time when this type
of specific information is widely used
to generate better, more targeted
advertising across the world. So we
could get a lot more accurate – that is
technically achievable.
“However, it depends on what society
accepts from this kind of tracking
information. At the moment, we’re using
tools that are as generic as possible,
so it’s efficient and easy to use for artists
to manage and understand.”
118 May 2019 MusicTech
people who might not want their personal
data to be analysed in this way, especially
in the current climate following the
Cambridge Analytica revelations?
Luke is quick to allay those fears.
“We are not a Crimson Hexagon or
Cambridge Analytica. We don’t care
about who the individuals are or how
they vote or anything like that. We don’t
even get that data. Even when we partner
with merchandisers or get involved with
the ticketing side of things, we don’t care
about the individuals. We just care about
where they’re based roughly, and then
we can look at that area and understand
what the social-media data tells us about
how many engaged people are there.
“Obviously, on the artist side, we are
going to know who they are,” Ben adds.
“In order for us to provide the service we
do, then they have to do that. We need to
have control over their fan pages in order
for us to be able to handle advertising
through our platform. I think we can make
it very clear, though, what the benefits of us
doing that are. Our policies and terms and
conditions have gone through a great deal
of checking. We have no intention of doing
anything untoward with this information.”
Steve concludes this point on
Beatchain’s ethical stance by saying:
“There’s always a slight fear in the world
of big data from people who don’t work
in it, this mystery about what’s going
behind the scenes. But how we work is
totally based on observing the trends.
“It doesn’t tell us who you are and what
you drink or where you live, but it can tell us
bulk information about where particular
things are happening. This is helpful for not
just the artist, but for the fan, too – the fans
will get information about the music they
absolutely love and the artists’ careers are
enhanced. That’s the way big data should
work, in my view.”
But what of those who might say that
as Beatchain grows, it might eventually silo
people even more into only hearing from
those artists in those genres that they’ve
expressed an affinity for? “I do think that
people are very silo-able,” Steve says.
“People don’t like to think of themselves
musictech.net

as being like that. But music has always
been partly tribal and people have an
affinity to specific genres.”
Luke explains further: “What we do in
the way we build these audiences out is
very, very broad. We’ll start with people
who generally like the genre of music,
then as time goes on, we can make
associations and get more specific. As
you start to build a fanbase, you can
look at the other interests that your fans
have in common – often, there are some
big correlations. One of our bands, Duke,
noticed that lots of the people who were
liking and engaging with them as a brand
all liked three of four things in common,
including car modding, Corona beer and
lots of things you wouldn’t immediately
correlate. This is really useful. We’re just
suggesting to potential fans that you might
like this if you like that.”
HEARTS AND MINDS
A major challenge that platforms such as
Beatchain face is that of the perception
that the music industry still works in broadly
musictech.net
B E ATC H A I N: B U I L D I N G YO U R FA N B A S E I N T E R V I E W
the same way that it always has. “I think the
biggest thing that artists need to learn now
is that if they’re not using radio and TV, then
social media is the delivery mechanism,”
Steve says. “Historically, social media was
always seen as an extra thing, but now it’s
integral. It’s not something you do as well.
It needs to be the main driver of how you
grow your business. It’s no longer just a
thought process of, ‘Oh, I’ll do a post
today’ – this is now your media channel
and it has to be constantly fed.
“We’re putting together some
educational videos to guide artists through
the beta programme. There are certain
universal rules that generally work for music
makers on social media, regardless of
genre. However, you can’t always be that
prescriptive. Quite often, most of the most
engaged content is simply created and
shot with an iPhone.”
Steve tells us that when he talks to artists
about Beatchain and the way data can
be used, they suddenly start to see
themselves as commodities. “They don’t
like to think in these terms,” he tells us. “The
best way to describe it to artists, I think, is
basically this: in the traditional music
business, you got a deal if you were lucky
enough to get that opportunity and then
they try and broaden out your music for the
mainstream. Often the music, or what is
perceived as their own art, is compromised.
“What want to do is very different. We’re
looking for people who are engaging with
your music and trying to find more people
who think that way and respond to your
work, without altering how you sound in
the hopes of attracting mass appeal.
“You’re basically then waking up every
day and creating the music that you want
to create. It might not be going to the
billions that the labels are interested in,
but you might have a following of say
100,000 that absolutely love the stuff that
you do and you enjoy. That way, you can
keep your credibility and you can keep
yourself sustained financially.”
A CONNECTED WORLD
Where do Ben and the team see Beatchain
heading as it rolls out of beta and becomes
more widespread? “I don’t want to sound
too delusional, but we do feel that if we
get this right, then Beatchain will become
a very important part of music industry 2.0,”
Ben says. “We want to see ourselves as the
heart of that universe, connecting artists
to their fans in the modern world.”
“We’ve also had interest from the world
of fashion and sports,” explains Steve.
“We could use these same approaches
to building audiences in those fields, so
we’re scalable to grow beyond the music
industry. We’re finding things people like,
essentially. But we have to conquer the
music industry first.”
Luke’s vision for Beatchain is to build
a connected world of artists. “Hopefully,
in time, they’d all be sharing best-practice
approaches with each other. That’s
something we’d like to develop further.
So you wouldn’t have to rely on us all
the time!”
MusicTech May 2019 119
THE 6

the
WAYS TO CREATE
A CLASSIC SOUND
Everyone is after a classic sound, but what exactly is it?
And do you need to invest a small fortune in recording
gear from the 60s, 70s and 80s? Big question, six answers…

W
hat exactly is a classic sound
and why does everyone
seem to want to recreate it?
The answer is that it’s pretty
much any vibrant and outstanding song,
tune, genre or period of recording from the
last 70 years – so it’s quite a broad term.
More simply, the classic sound is
perhaps a warmer, fuller and more
dynamic recording, which you can
attempt to get using vintage microphones,
recording techniques and analogue
technology. There are also ways of
breaking down classic sounds by instrument
types and effects, so we’ve done just that,
and now present you with six ways to
create classic sounds within a variety of
genres, from electronica to rock,
progressive to dance…
1 GO REAL OR GO SOFTWARE
When it comes to creating a classic
sound, you could, of course, insist on
actually using the original recording gear.
Real tape (as in ‘reel’ tape), anything
with a glowing valve, proper analogue
machines and some dusty old outboard
should do nicely.
Two problems, and one solution. Old
stuff breaks, and it’s very expensive. Now
you can largely do it all in software (or
cheaper new hardware – see next point).
So with the exception of going analogue,
which seems to be getting cheaper all the
time, you can safely consign your recording
history… to history (unless Abbey Road
offers you a great deal on a recording
session, then jump at the chance!).
Software is more than capable of

120 May 2019 MusicTech musictech.net


2 5
3
recreating classic conditions: from the
original instruments to the tape you record
them on. And it doesn’t get dusty.
2 MODERN CLASSIC GEAR
A lot of gear – such as Neumann mics
for some distinctive vocals, or Abbey Road,
Pultec and Neve outboard for classic
sounds – is now available to buy new.
Much of it is being reimagined by
companies such as Golden Age Project,
Chandler, Lindell and Thermionic Culture,
for a fraction of the original cost. Or else
manufacturing has been restarted by the
original designers (think Neve, Neumann,
Moog and others), so there’s no need to
go second-hand for classic gear, unless
you have cash to burn.
3 CLASSIC SYNTHS
Recreating classic genres and eras
of electronic music is easy, as so many
different models of classic synths almost
single-handedly defined genres or musical
decades. And pretty much all of the
models we mention below are available
in software, freeware, reimagined
hardware or Eurorack flavours.
It’s a very broad guide: for classic
70s progressive/Krautrock/experimental
musictech.net
4
electronica, go for original Buchla, Moog
and any Roland modulars, or Minimoogs
and ARPs; for 80s synth pop, try any cheap
classic Korg monos and polys, Yamahas
and Roland SHs, JPs, Junos and Jupiters
of the era; for 80s and 90s dance music,
simply get a Roland TB-303 bassline plus
TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines; and for
more recent dance music, try any flavour
of Roland drum, trance stacks from Jupiters
and JDs and pretty much anything you can
filter. There, we said it was easy. In terms
of software, try Arturia’s V Collection or IK
Multimedia’s Syntronik (or modules thereof)
for two cover-all collections.
4 CLASSIC ROCK
There are other guitars, but in classic
rock, you can pretend otherwise and just
include the Fender Stratocaster and Gibson
Les Paul. These two defined so much of
rock’s history and what we hear today
that they have been copied and emulated
by everyone and everything.
In software, your options are many,
but Vir 2’s Electri6ity makes a great job
of covering these two classics and a lot
more. Also check out titles from Native
Instruments, Orange Tree, Sugar Bytes,
Sample Logic, and Impact Soundworks.
THE 6
6
5 CLASSIC TECHNIQUES
There are as many different recording
and production techniques as there are
genres – Motown means simultaneously
boosting and cutting a Pultec EQ (or
emulation) selectable bass-frequency
control; the Phil Spector Wall Of Sound is
just that: a wall of instruments with guitars
and drums; and the further back you go,
the fewer tracks you use.
Head to musictech.net for a bigger
overview, but do always consider the
technology alongside the technique. They
didn’t have 32 tracks in the 60s, digital in
the 70s and analogue synths in the 90s
(well, they were hidden) and so on. Do
a bit of detective work… and never use
a virtual drummer with four arms.
6 DON’T FORGET THE PLAYING
Technology use is very much linked
to playing ability, too. Electronic music
production can use it as an alternative
to playing ability, whereas rock music is
often firmly based on the unique playing
style of the musicians involved. So consider
phrase-based libraries if your playing is
less able. But whether you roll with rock
or dance with electronica, the tech is
always on hand to help.
MusicTech May 2019 121
R E W I N D A DATs
REWIND
The ADAT revolutionised the home studio in the 90s. Our features editor
remembers arriving late to the party, but enjoying it all the same…
Few bemoan the demise of the
ADAT machine but I, for one,
do. Sort of. The ADAT – or Alesis
Digital Audio Tape format – first starting
appearing in 1992 and it did a lot to usher
in the era of high-quality project studios.
The ADAT used S-VHS tapes that looked like
the ones you’d get from your local video
library, but it could record eight channels
of 48kHz audio. In theory, you could
synchronise up to eight ADATs for a total of
128 tracks, but with a price tag of £3,500 on
launch, you were unlikely to find many
home studios with that kind of setup.
Just to put things in perspective,
hard-disk recording was still a way off –
it would be another five years before the
top-end recording studios started replacing
their tape machines with hardware-based
Pro Tools systems. And in the home-studio
market, everyone was using cassette-
based Portastudios. At least that’s what
I read… I was six at the time.
My short-lived bromance with ADATs
began some 11 years later in 2003 – the
very same year that Alesis actually killed
off the format. I had access to a pair of
XT-20 machines. They were clunky 2U
rack devices that were notable for not
being black; they were finished in a
striking champagne and grey scheme.
I spent many an hour rewinding, waiting
for the machines to sync up, dreading
error messages and asking for “just one
more take”.
I see why the format gets so much stick
now. It really did deserve a lot of it, but for
almost every one of the ADAT’s flaws, there
was a fairly serious upside. Take the cost of
the tapes: the ADAT tapes themselves were
expensive (for a student) and they were
chunky. But, for the same reason that vinyl
is so popular today, their physicality meant
122 May 2019 MusicTech
V INTAG E K IT
WORDS WILL BETTS
you ascribed value to them. You respected
the medium because it was tangible, much
more so than bits on a hard drive. You
would consider what you were going to
record before laying it down. That’s not
always the case when hard-drive space
is virtually unlimited.
How about all the time lost rewinding
the tape after every take? Or the time
spent and finding the start of your track in
the first place? Sure, the navigation could
Being forced to take a moment
away from your track after every
EQ-tweak was a good thing
be a pain point if you were dealing with
several songs on a single tape, but being
forced to take a moment away from your
track after every EQ-tweaking listen was a
good thing. It gave you more time to think
about what to do next. You might even
call it ‘enforced mindfulness’.
If I’m really putting on the rose-tinted
spectacles, I remember having a refreshed
perspective on every listen, much more so
than with the immediate replay afforded
by the DAW.
Editing wasn’t really something that
ADATs were capable of either. They did
have a pretty impressive gapless punch-in
system which meant you could define in
and out points, but there was always a
much greater focus on getting an entire
good performance from the beginning of
the track to the end.
Regardless of the punch-in facility,
recording with ADATs was a destructive
recording technique, so if you were going
to try for another take, you had to be sure
it was going to surpass the previous one. In
that kind of studio, you’d hear the words
“it’s good enough”. That’s a phrase you
rarely hear today.
Without the tools to comp, quantise and
tune every performance, you had to live
with the imperfections, and that was no
bad thing. You could almost guarantee
that some of the musicians’ character
would remain.
Admittedly, many of these arguments
are the same as those given for using
analogue tape over computer-based
recording systems. I’ve never recorded
to analogue tape, but the process of
recording even to digital tape certainly
had its benefits. There was a simplicity of
function, a lack of clutter and nothing to
be distracted by.
Though the ADAT may no longer be with
us, its legacy lives on through the ADAT
Lightpipe protocol with its fibre-optic
transmission of up to eight channels of
digital audio at once.
I’m never going to go back to using
an ADAT to record music, but the memories
I have of my nine months spent recording
with those machines were among my
fondest. Even though they occasionally
chewed the tapes if you pressed the
transport controls in the wrong order,
the ADAT helped get me hooked
on recording.
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