February 2011 Magazine Contents

Fancy a set of electronic drums that lets you create your own kits? Swedish company 2Box's debut offering could be just the thing...

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.

Acoustic Energy look to strengthen their foothold in the studio monitoring market with this impressive nearfield system.

Now that Pro Tools fans can choose any interface they like, do Avid's latest Mboxes offer enough to keep their users in the fold?

There can be no doubt that, as a genre of music, hip-hop has overcome its street‑based roots to become a major...

With an infra-red transmitter and DSLR Bot, your iOS device can become a remote control for video recording with Canon EOS cameras.

Paul White checks out a solution to those studios limited on space (and finances) in need of a good set of monitors.

Line 6 were amongst the first to create realistic-sounding modelled guitar amps and effects. Does their latest offering keep them at the front of the pack?

If you like weird and wonderful effects, you need to enter the spectral domain — and SpectrumWorx 2 will take you there in some style.

The patchbay remains the cornerstone of most commercial studios, but using one to patch mics into different preamps can be risky — which is where the MicMAID comes in...

The Ultranova may be a return to Novation's roots, but it's still a very forward-looking synthesizer...

Now available at a greatly reduced price, Panasonic's video-capable still camera is well worth a look for low-cost HD video production.

High-quality ribbon microphones don't come cheap, but the new R101 brings Royer quality within reach of the project-studio recordist.

Sample Magic are now well established in the sample library world. While they are perhaps best known for their dance‑ and...

SE have aimed to combine the smoothness of ribbon mics with the high-end extension of a condenser. What witchcraft is this?

These audio files accompany the SE Electronics Voodoo VR1 & VR2 review that featured in SOS February 2011.

The British are back! Spitfire Audio's orchestral percussion library flies the flag for the UK.

Creating complex routing chains in a hybrid DAW/outboard setup presents its own set of problems — to which Solid State Logic offer this solution...

Fed up with the vagaries of pitch-to-MIDI guitar, but don't have time to learn to play a keyboard? The Ztar offers clean, keyboard-like MIDI from an instrument that guitar players can relate to instantly. It could be just what you need...

Synthogy's Ivory piano library was met with enormous acclaim on its release. Can its successor improve on that legacy?

Matt Houghton has a read of a manual which gives all kinds of tips to those looking to get into music production.

Now, here's a first. I was so taken with some of the sounds on an album I'd bought (the excellent Leylines, by AES...

Drum Tools has been produced and recorded by Wave Alchemy's Daniel Byers and Steven Heath. The two have all the gear...

Not all of us can afford to have our tracks mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. But Waves' latest plug-in bundle might just be the next best thing...

2010 was a big year for Apple — so what treats are in store for 2011?

Today's multitrack software packages give us endless flexibility to manipulate the audio we've recorded, but the possibilities can be confusing to begin with. We introduce the tools of the audio editor's trade...

Have you ever wondered how best to use the different automation modes in Cubase? Then read on...

'Do you have the time to listen to me whine?' asked Green Day in the opening lines of their song 'Basket Case'. For 16 million people, the answer was apparently 'yes'...

Whether it's getting rid of the audio you don't want or improving the audio you do want, skilled editing can be the key to making your multitrack project sound polished.

Discover how to tackle Reason's over-sized gorilla of a drum instrument.

Elastic Audio in Pro Tools can do more than time-stretching: it can also be your route to some killer pitch-based mixing techniques.

Ever thought of asking 'real' musicians to play your arrangements? Then get to grips with Logic's Score editor.

Taking on a new genre is a great way to test your mixing skills, as we found out when we took on this goth track by The Hiram Key...

These audio files accompany the Mix Rescue article that featured in SOS February 2011.

Get your audio applications talking to each other with Reaper's ReaRoute.

Our Mix Rescue expert dips his toe in the Studio SOS waters this month, as he visit's a reader's studio, sorts out his monitoring, and takes him through strategies to improve his mixing.

Taylor Swift has become country music's biggest mainstream star, thanks in part to a stellar production team. Producer Nathan Chapman and mixer Justin Niebank lift the lid on Swift's latest hit album, Speak Now.

It's thermal underwear time as we look at the vagaries of track freezing in Live.

You may be surprised at the data-transfer capabilities of your USB ports. Here's how to find out what you're dealing with...

Don't save your sends and returns just for global effects — DP's aux track system has other tricks up its sleeve...

Sonar X1 offers a very different user interface experience to previous versions — so here's a guide to the new GUI.

I've got a recording of an acoustic guitar that I'm loath to re‑record, but there are several sections in which string buzz is...

My interface allows me to switch line‑input sensitivity between +4dBu and ‑10dBV. My calculations suggest that should be a ...

As I understand it, loudspeakers create sound and momentum, which needs to be absorbed in order for the sound quality to be...

I've read a lot of articles about the benefits of mixing in mono. So is pressing the mono button on your DAW's stereo output...

I was recently adjusting the BIOS settings on my PC, hoping to improve performance, and noticed the following option: '...

Adam Powell now directs videos for some of the UK's top talent — but it all started when he made a skate video with a borrowed VHS camera.

Neil Young has made his share of experimental albums, but his latest might be the most extreme, thanks to Daniel Lanois' revolutionary approach to live dub mixing.

Former SOS member and ex-editor of Guitar Buyer magazine David Greeves shares his thoughts on striving for record perfection.

A no-expense-spared makeover of a Hollywood house naturally requires a top-quality home recording studio — especially if putting it together can help raise $7.5 million for charities...

Zooropa * Fractal * James Parker * The Ridings * Mundane Sands * Give Chase * Anton Evans * Coral Caves * Lads O' The Fair * Floodplains

Paul White welcomes the development of tape emulation plug-ins.

Two grassroots organisations show how their focus on the local music scene is helping studios survive in the new economic climate.

What would happen if composers were paid to pitch their ideas? It might just be the end of Western civilisation...