December 2010 Magazine Contents

Audio-Technica have added multiple polar patterns to one of their already successful designs, bringing increased versatility in the studio.

Audio files to accompany the article.

This interesting monitor system uses the natural roll-off of the satellite speakers to provide the crossover with the subwoofer.

The duo behind Cinematique Instruments have been composing music for films and documentaries for 10 years and have more recently extended their talents to the sampling of rare and strange instruments. 

This set of 40 hip‑hop backing‑track construction kits is the work of producer Soul‑G and includes Apple Loops, Acidised WAV and REX formats.

Does a 'boutique' approach to building outboard have to mean inflated prices? Not according to this manufacturer...

Test plots to accompany the article.

Hugh Robjohns checks out another offering from Black Lion: the new passive summing mixer, PM8.

With its independently configurable outputs, this A/D converter is a little different from most of its competitors...

Paul White investigates a new effects pedal from Electro Harmonix... everybody Freeze!

The Flip Ultra HD promises high-definition video recording in the palm of your hand — but does it live up to the claim?

Offering hands-on DAW control and a 32-input analogue console with bus compressor, Audient's latest mixer is very impressive indeed — and it's not as expensive as you might expect...

New to the world of video production and unsure what gear to buy? Our guide to the five best options in three categories will get you started.

Mackie's Blackjack is the smallest interface yet to feature their acclaimed Onyx mic preamps.

The KRP1 Krautrock Phaser is a modern recreation of a German classic.

Thought you'd seen the death of the large-format console? Think again, as you read our exclusive preview of this modern take on classic Neve designs.

Dance Drum Samples is a bargain‑priced sample pack available to download from Original Music. It's a healthy 658MB in size and contains 116 WAV loops, of which 103 are presented in REX 2 format with accompanying MIDI files.

• Toontrack EZ Mix • 2C Audio Aether 1.5 • Universal Audio EP34 • Native Instruments Traktor 12 • Overloud SpringAge

Symphobia's sequel probes deeper into the psyche of the sampled orchestra.

Virtual bassists are not short of options for looking after their low end. How does this new one fare?

Roland are hardly new to the digital piano game, and with years of experience to draw on, their new stage piano should be something rather special. Let's find out...

Stacked humbucker pickups designed to replace standard single-coil pickups are nothing new, but most simply strive to deliver a single-coil tone while offering the noise-suppression ability of a humbucker.

The latest version of Vegas offers plenty of professional features at a competitive price. So can you expect compromises in performance, or is Vegas Pro a spectacular deal?

Steinberg's Wavelab has spread its wings to become the only truly cross-platform stereo editing package — and in the process, it's undergone a comprehensive makeover.

Electric guitar is one of the most difficult instruments to recreate in sample-based form. Sugar Bytes are the latest developers to brave the challenge.

Dave Lockwood delights in changing colours as he tests out this multi-port adaptable power supply from T-Rex.

Tascam's mid-range pocket-sized digital recorder, the DR2D, supersedes the earlier DR1 — but does it have enough tricks to compete in an ever-evolving market?

Sanctify your soundtracks with Tonehammer's new choral library.

Eddie Kramer is a producer and engineer who knows a thing or two about rock 'n' roll, so when he gives his name to plug-ins modelled after his favourite hardware, we expect great things...

I first saw Vocaloid demonstrated by Yamaha at the 2003 Frankfurt Musikmesse, and even though the chap presenting the demo spoke few words of English, the product's impressive capabilities were obvious.

We show you the most modest of feats: a wonderful way of repeating your beats.

Whether you're an experienced or a novice Logic user, going back to the beginning might show you a thing or two.

Make light work of song arranging with Reason's new Blocks feature.

Protests against Catholicism have taken many forms, Martin Luther nailing his objections to the cathedral door, but the Pet Shop Boys chose to make theirs in disco...• Producer: Julian Mendelsohn • Engineers: Julian Mendelsohn, Stephen Hague

DP's latest version brings the ability to change the look and feel of the program. We find out how, and explore other additions in DP 7.2.

Apple's iMovie may be designed for making slideshows of snapshots and holiday videos, but what's to stop you thinking outside the box?

If your laptop's giving you ground-loop problems, maybe it's time to go back to battery power... Martin Walker discusses this, and rounds up the latest PC news.

In the first of this two-part series, we look at the best ways to manage your day-to-day backups in Sonar.Read Part 2.

Discover the power of Reaper's EQ plug-in and become an EQ master in the process.

Even a handful of knobs and sliders on a MIDI master keyboard are enough to give you hands-on control of your Cubase mix.

We spend a lot of time rescuing sub-standard recordings and arrangements in Mix Rescue, but this month it really was all about mixing and mastering.

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

Thirty years after Led Zeppelin ended, Robert Plant has reached a second career high. His latest hit album was tracked and mixed by Mike Poole, using a mouth-watering selection of vintage equipment.

With over 50 Studio SOS visits under our belt, we thought it was time to discuss some of the most common studio problems we've tackled.

Pro Tools' rulers not only show the passage of time, they allow you to control it!

Exporting a project from one DAW to another can be frustrating — but there are ways and means...

Don't panic if your iDevice has recently gone to a watery grave; your music may still be salvageable.

I've heard that some companies routinely freeze valves and certain electrical components to improve their performance. Would...

I'm a drum & bass DJ and I work exclusively with vinyl, which is all mastered for a club sound system.

I'm going to be recording my band's new album and it's my first big project, so I'd like a bit of advice. It's a rhythm...

I have a PC running Windows XP, and currently back up my data regularly using copy and paste onto an external hard drive. The...

Why does applying a high‑pass filter to a sound sometimes result in the output being noticeably higher than it was before?...

Is music meaningless in isolation?

Paul White muses on the art of sound and recording.

Mike Vernon produced some of the greatest blues records of all time. A full decade after retiring, he's back in the studio with some of the British blues scene's brightest lights.

With country guitars, what you hear on the record is what was played in the studio. We asked Nashville's leading engineers how they capture those tones.

It's 10 years since the groundbreaking Melodyne audio-processing software was launched. To celebrate, its inventor Peter Neubäcker invited us into his research lab to talk about possible future developments.

Tolis Zavaliaris * Tie Your Shoes To Your Knees & Pretend You're Small Like Us * Tony Alderman * Dr Slaggleberry * Silent Strike Lucian Ban & Alex Harding * Clockwork * TnVVNuM * Burn The Negative * Beyond Reason

The only way to make money as a media composer is from publishing — but greedy production companies are targeting our back end with a vengeance.