March 2010 Magazine Contents

Are Akai's mini MIDI controllers the perfect partners for your laptop?

One of my favourite effects units is an mid‑to‑late '90s brown Fender '63 Valve Reverb reissue. Bought in the days when I ...

Hand on heart, I can testify that no sample collection has ever made me laugh as heartily as this new WAV spoken‑phrase...

With four voices of genuine analogue polyphony, Dave Smiths Tetra is a big synth in a small box.

Direct Resolutions Ultimate LE range is all about power — cold, hard (and very quiet) power.

With upgraded mic amps and A-D conversion in their MkII versions, do Focusrites latest eight-channel preamps still lead the way at this price point?

Image Lines popular sequencing package has evolved from a specialist tool into a DAW application with universal appeal.

With digital and analogue inputs, these small speakers from newcomers Infrasonic promise a lot for the money. Can they outperform their budget price tag?

Until now, the biggest name in reverb came attached only to rackmount hardware. Finally, however, Lexicon have made their celebrated rooms, halls and plates available in plug-in format.

The latest version of MOTUs Mac sequencer has guitarists firmly in its sights, but there are plenty of general improvements too.

There’s so much news from the recent Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, that it can be hard to see the wood for the trees...

This mic is certainly styled to look like the classic Neumann U47, but does it sound like it?

The latest Notion scoring package offers upgraded orchestral samples, VST compatibility and a host of new features. Will it score highly with the musical community?

Sherman have teamed up with Rodec to bring us more of their own special brand of filter mayhem.

Royer Labs have created the worlds only stereo ribbon microphone that has active, valve-powered electronics. So what does it have to offer that conventional ribbon mics dont?

Decent shockmounts can actually improve the sound you get from your mics, but they can be expensive and not always durable. Rycote aim to solve both problems with their new designs.

Sonika is Zero‑G's latest virtual vocalist for Yamaha's Vocaloid 2 singing synthesis engine. As SOS has covered the basic...

If youre in the market for a high-quality restoration package, there is no shortage of contenders. Sonnoxs trio of plug-ins offers some new and unusual features and a friendly interface.

The portable audio pioneers release their smallest and most affordable handheld 24-bit/96kHz recorder yet. We put it through its paces.

The CI2 combines an audio interface with hands-on Cubase control — and at a very attractive price.

USB and Firewire mixerfaces abound these days, but not all allow you to record multiple channels simultaneously to separate tracks in your DAW. Enter the M164UF...

The answer to every guitarist's prayers?

Hans Zimmer's bright idea of adding large ethnic drums to the orchestra in film scores has proved popular in recent years,...

Ueberschall's libraries tend to target specific markets, with titles like ''80s Punk...

Has your music lost its mojo? Maybe Vir2s new horn library can add some magic...

We look at a different use for Lives celebrated time-stretching engine.

Avid-Digidesign's Pro Tools 8 comes bundled with a new suite of AIR plug-ins, some of which are more powerful than they appear. We expose their hidden depths...

Seven top 10 singles isnt bad going for a career, let alone one album, yet thats precisely what Bruce Springsteen achieved with his smash hit 1984 LP, Born In The USA. This is the story of how it was made...

Reasons flexible sound-design environment opens up the possibility of unusual and exotic effects treatments.

Unlike other DAWs, Cubase has no dedicated support for phase-locked timing correction of multitrack drums. But with a little imagination, it is possible...

As Logic updates to 9.1 and an Apple launch hits the headlines, the new year could be the time to acquire some new skills.

Quickly and easily slice, rearrange and process breakbeats using some of the new facilities in Logic 9.

Just where do you look for that final 20 percent that puts your mix on a par with commercial tracks? Find out, as we apply a little polish to Zeno's track 'Signs'.

These audio files accompany the Mix Rescue article that featured in SOS March 2010.

Flying the flag for a distinctively British sound, and scoring some huge hits in the process, Cenzo Townshend is one of the UKs hottest mixers. He gives us the inside track on Florence and the Machines hit Youve Got The Love.

Last issue, we covered methods for recording a solo artist. This time Craig Anderton covers editing and comping.

Small rooms are always challenging, but there are some fundamental principles that can help you keep problems to a minimum.

This month, we're talking new technologies, including futuristic carbon-nanotube computing and — more immediately — the availability of SuperSpeed USB...

The sound of analogue tape is still revered, but acquiring and maintaining your own machine presents a unique set of challenges.

As the positioning of my workstation is a bit awkward, it would be great if I could place my KRK VXT8 monitors horizontally....

I have been working on an album and am in the final stage of exporting the tracks to WAV, which will then be burned to CD. All...

It was recommended to me that I tune kick‑drum samples to the key of my song, so I used a tuner and an analyser on my stereo...

What differences can you hear when comparing inexpensive and expensive equipment? As I do a lot of vocal recording, I'd like...

As an acoustic musician, I'd like to start learning more about recording and mixing my own material. So far I have no...

My studio gear is currently set up inside my garage, and lately it has been freezing cold inside. Though there is no surface...

Thanks to years of experimentation with budget equipment, brothers Peter and David Brewis have developed into one of the UK's best and most interesting studio bands, with a sound that is very much their own.

Following their unlikely breakthrough into the mainstream, Flaming Lips made a conscious return to the outer limits with their recent album Embryonic. Dave Fridmann manned the controls.

I'm writing this shortly after returning to work after the Christmas holidays and I'm currently cut off from the outside world...

In A Forest Without Trees

Goonies Never Say Die

If the defining characteristics of 'post‑...

In A Forest Without Trees

Goonies Never Say Die

If the defining characteristics...

Mixing can be simple, you just have to think one step ahead...

So you want to be a media composer? Paul Farrer reminds us that its not about the music you love, its about whats right for the show.