Few products have been hyped as much as Apple's new G5 range of 64-bit personal computers — but how good are they for making and recording music in the real world? We test the 2GHz Dual Processor model...
Version 2 of Celemony's revolutionary pitch- and tempo-shifting software includes new features, better sequencer integration and an improved interface.
The follow-up to Clavia's Nord Lead 3 is not the Nord Lead 4 (well, not yet), but a beefed-up version of the Nord Lead 2! We find out why, and how it improves on the original.
The budget MIDI controller market is pretty crowded these days, but Evolution are giving you the most for your money with the UC33, eschewing expensive rotary encoders and large displays for affordable non-moving faders and wipe-clean overlays.
Back in 1986, Sequential's Prophet 2000 represented a genuine breakthrough in sampling technology, and became a 'secret weapon' for up-and-coming programmers. We take you back to the dawning days of SOS, when 12-bit was king.
More and more musicians are turning to systems based around a laptop PC, and Intel's new Pentium-M processor — as found in this model from Maxdata and SME Solutions — seems to perform well with music applications.
Two and a half years after the launch of Yamaha's impressive Motif workstation synth, the range has been further enhanced and upgraded. How much better can it get? We find out...
Half a century in the business has seen recording engineer Al Schmitt reach the very top of his profession, but even a man of his experience can find himself faced with new challenges. So it was in 1991, when he was called upon to turn a classic Nat 'King' Cole recording into a duet with Cole's daughter Natalie...
Considering the best way to mix in a small modern studio leads Cutting Edge to speculate on a possible future for the interconnection of digital audio devices.
Until its recent update, Cubase SX did not have all the specific tools needed for easy tempo changes when, for example, working to picture — but a close look at the tools it does have reveals ways of getting the job done for those who haven't yet upgraded.
Music technology has opened up all sorts of exciting possibilities for mixing loops with live instruments on stage, if you know how to hook everything up.
As Apple's recent Panther operating system upgrade is adopted by the Mac community, the usual problems that accompany such a major change begin to surface. We take a closer look at the issues worth considering before making the jump to Panther, and report on Apple's new iBook G4.
We show you how to edit and save your synth's Patches, and help you maximise the effects potential of your multitimbral setups. Plus there's advice on troubleshooting thorny panning problems, and tips on automating levels without changing your individual sounds.
Do you have elderly Windows or MS-DOS software that refuses to run under Windows XP? If so, there may still be a way to get it working. Find out how...
A frequently recurring question from new sequencer/DAW users is what else they need to set up a complete studio. We show you how to create the most simple usable system, and how to expand and adapt it to more demanding applications.
During the October 2003 AES Convention in New York, the SOS team managed to make it to Amityville to help reader (and SOS Forum regular) Glenn Bucci with his recorded guitar and bass sounds.
So, you can synthesize a Hammond's tonewheel generator -- but what about its all-important effects? This month, we look at recreating the Hammond's percussion, vibrato, overdrive, and reverb -- and find that it's harder than you might think...
As Mac OS X's Panther incarnation brings some slinky new working methods to Digital Performer, we pass on some advanced ways of pasting data, as well as rounding up the usual tips and news for DP users.
I was told by a sound engineer that, when mixing, it is not a good practice to have all the channel volume faders way up and to have the master fader down, and that this applies both to analogue and digital consoles. Is this true?
I have a melody which I'm absolutely sure I made up when I was a kid and I want to use it in a composition I am working on. However, the things kids make up can be 'derivative', and I need to confirm that I hadn't heard it before. Do you know of any melody databases that could help me find out?
My guitar player's girlfriend has a four-year-old Gateway Pentium III laptop with 64MB RAM and Windows 98SE installed, and she has agreed to let me do whatever I need to so that we can use it for music. How do we wipe the thing clean and end up with Windows XP for an OS, 320MB of RAM and Emagic Logic Audio Platinum on there?
I did a recording session recently using a mixture of dynamic and condenser mics, and realised my desk does not have switchable phantom power for each channel — they're either all on or all off. Luckily, I had some external channel strips which I ran the condensers through, but is it safe to apply phantom power to dynamic mics?
Could you clarify the difference between floating- and fixed-point 32-bit operation in the digital domain. I know that floating-point systems allow for data to be handled at word lengths above 24-bit, which are then dithered back down. Does it also result in a greater dynamic range?
I've been told that, if possible, you should always cut rather than boost when EQ'ing. So, if you need more bass, you should cut the high- and mid-frequencies and raise the overall level, rather than simply boosting the low end. Is this true?
Teenager Dylan Mills (aka Dizzee Rascal) captured the headlines in 2003 by winning the UK's Mercury Music Prize with one of the most uncompromising albums of recent times. Dizzee and engineer/manager Cage describe how they made Boy In Da Corner.
Last year's Love & Life album saw R&B superstar Mary J Blige reunited with Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy, aka P Diddy) and his Bad Boy production stable. Mix specialist Tony Maserati spent two months at Miami's Circle House Studios working on the project, and recorded his experiences in this unique diary.
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