May 2015 Magazine Contents

Anthony Demaria’s limiter is based on a classic Bill Putnam valve design — but does it live up to its illustrious heritage?

Audio files to accompany the article.

Akai’s MPX16 has more pads and functions than its MPX8 predecessor, but remains just as reasonably priced.

Few small-format desks cram as many features into a portable package as this new model from Alto.

Finnish company Amphion may be little-known, but they are certainly no strangers to the principles of good speaker design.

The Ensemble Thunderbolt isn’t just an update — Apogee have completely redesigned it, and the results are impressive.

Guitar Sessions features 25 construction kits containing all the guitar performances you need to construct a full-song arrangement.

Cakewalk are the first major DAW developer to move to a monthly payment model. And Sonar ‘membership’ provides plenty of goodies.

With the VST protocol now supported, more people than ever can use CEDAR’s industry-standard restoration tools.

If you read my review of the Electro–Harmonix B9 Organ Machine effects pedal, their C9 will look very familiar but this latest pedal offers different sounds.

With their latest compact subwoofer, Fohhn prove that good things really do come in small packages.

The latest monitors in Genelec’s 8 series come in new APM packs, with room analysis and correction tools. We put them to the test.

The Korg MS20 rides again... again! The latest version takes the form of an expanded desktop module with accompanying sequencer.

Though billed as a guitar–amp extension cabinet, this crafty speaker could come in handy in a huge range of situations.

Mic stands are an essential bit of gear that few people spend enough time thinking about. Really well–engineered stands are frustratingly rare, though.

In the post-console world, some of us lack facilities we used to take for granted. These ‘Latency Killers’ aim to plug one of the gaps.

The Theremini’s pitch-quantisation and price tag make it the most accessible Theremin instrument yet.

MusicLab have turned their guitar-modelling attentions to the legendary Rickenbacker.

Native Instruments’ Session Horns Pro combines high-quality samples with some useful arrangement tools.

Despite enormous popularity in the 1980s, Casio’s CZ range has never been made into a soft synth, until now.

This month we comment on albums by Nick Molyneux, Peter Appleyard and Paul Thomas Butterfield.

With development accelerating under new ownership, Notion continues to challenge the established names in the music notation market.

With over 400 pages and 12 chapters, author Mike Senior covers both the technical concepts and practical techniques necessary for capturing musical performances of all kinds.

No control room is acoustically perfect, but the right correction system can help to deliver more accurate monitoring.

Sample Magic have plundered their back catalogue and bounced everything they selected from it onto tape and vinyl!

These files accompany the Sample Shop articles in the May 2015 issue.

Can Sonarworks’ calibration plug-in help to make mixing on headphones less of a compromise?

Vocal choirs can be very powerful and emotive, but most of us do not have the resources to use a real one in our compositions so Olympus Elements is an affordable alternative.

A marriage of East and West, this stunning new mic from Russian makers Soyuz sounds just as classy as it looks.

I discovered this very handy software, created by the makers of AA Translator almost by accident after searching for a way of batch–interleaving pairs of mono WAV files.

More collections of drums, guitars and basses in the Indie genre.

No-one has come near to producing a convincing copy of a Pultec EQP-1A at a wallet-friendly price. Until now!

Study photos of recording sessions from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and you’ll often look in vain for a microphone shockmount.

We put the largest models in Yamaha’s new DBR range to the test at a real-world gig, where they proved more than equal to the task.

Bob Dylan’s album of Sinatra covers is an unlikely triumph. So good, in fact, that it didn’t need mixing!

How to join split stereo files together.

This page contains a directory of all media pages that hold the associated media for May 2015

When a mix project takes you out of your comfort zone, it’s vital to know that you can trust what you’re hearing.

Audio files to accompany the article.

We investigate a new modular Live instrument.

For the most effective time correction in Pro Tools, you need to choose your weapon carefully...

Get to grips with Logic 10.1’s new beat-making facilities and Drum Machine Designer instrument.

Stuck in a songwriting rut? Cubase’s Chord Pads and Chord Assistant can help you out.

We continue our catalogue of crafty Studio One techniques for better bass sounds.

This new four-part series explains all you need to know about creating brass arrangements for a range of genres.

For tracking a band in the same room, what are the pros and cons of using a Perspex drum screen?

Is it wise (or even safe!) to power up certain hardware — in this case a Nord Rack 2X — directly from the mains rather than its own on/off switch?

I have some of my condenser mics running into more than one preamp, via a passive mic splitter, with only one of the preamps applying phantom power. Is this the way it should be?

I’m using the MeldaProduction Mixing Bundle plug-ins and I noticed that certain instrument patches sound very appealing and wide, but when I check them on Melda’s MStereoScope they appear fairly heavily out of phase. Should I worry about this?

I’ve seen some advice on building quadratic diffusors based on an old BBC paper. What I’m not clear on is when it’s a better option to use such a diffusor than to use absorption.

When it comes to new audio gear, I tend to split products into ‘things they try to sell us’ and ‘things we really need'.

Working with super–producer Jacquire King was a dream come true for James Bay. In a unique interview, King explains how he oversaw the recording of Bay’s hit debut album.

Reggae fan Daniel Boyle painstakingly researched the equipment Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry used in his groundbreaking Black Ark studio — then made an album with the dub legend himself.

Award-winning engineer Jake Jackson deconstructs his mix of a brooding musical cue by Sheridan Tongue for the BBC’s long-running crime drama.

Matt Houghton recollects the good old days.

This month tracks from Jack White, Angelique Kidjo, Paramore and our Classic Mix: I Heard It Through The Grapevine.

One of the most remarkable new recording venues in Berlin opened its doors in 2013.

Music for the media isn’t rocket science. It’s far more important than that.

What does net neutrality mean for studios?