March 2017 Magazine Contents

The stagebox-cum-mixer format has proven popular over the last couple of years, and now Cornwall’s finest have joined the party!

GarageBand For iOS continues to impress as it becomes more sophisticated; and while you likely won’t finish a full production with this app, it’s becoming an increasingly good sketchpad — especially with the increased Logic interoperability.

This sample-based virtual instrument designed for Kontakt features the voices of the award winning Uganda-based Aba Taano choir, a group of four male and two female singers...

This affordable studio- and stage-friendly amp boasts extra-wide stereo effects, a looper, and direct-to-DAW USB recording.

For those wanting realistic acoustic drum parts, we don’t yet have a candidate for ‘EZ Drummer in an app’. Which is something that Blue Mangoo, the developers behind the excellent iFretless apps, are trying to achieve with Drum Session.

Overdrive pedals create distortion in different ways. EarthQuaker Devices, though, have really hedged their bets with their Gray Channel, as each of its two overdrive channels offers a choice of three clipping types.

EHX have put the Crying Tone wah circuitry into a much more conventional pot-driven pedal format...

Typically, reverb plug-ins are either simple or versatile. FabFilter claim that their Pro-R combines both virtues.

With a whopping 32 analogue inputs and outputs, there’s more to this stand-alone converter than meets the eye.

This collection of over 11GB of 24-bit WAV files was created by utilising the presets inside Gothic Instruments’ Sculptor Massive Whooshes Kontakt instrument and then saving the results as separate audio file sets.

HEDD may be a new venture, but the man behind it is no neophyte — as the company’s debut design proves!

This stylish module brings the ‘blue stripe’ revision of the UREI 1176 to the 500 series.

IK’s modelled bass instrument offers both realism and a fantastic degree of real-time control.

Designed to get the best from passive ribbon and moving-coil mics, this preamp offers 80dB of gain and switchable input impedance.

UK guitar-amp company Laney take battery-powered PA to new heights with this surprisingly potent system.

As competition hots up in the world of notation software, does the latest version of MakeMusic’s long-established Finale have what it takes to stay in the race?

This compact 2.23GB library gets its big, ultra-dynamic sound from jumbo-sized sections of 10 French horns and 10 trombones recorded in a large concert hall...

Have Nektar managed to bring something unique to the crowded MIDI controller keyboard marketplace?

Until fairly recently the Orgone Accumulator was only available as a kit — but now even those of us with laughable soldering skills can enjoy one.

This diminutive device boasts Bluetooth connectivity, an impressive battery life, and a surprisingly versatile onboard mic array.

Orchestral Tools complete their symphonic series with a major brass library.

Insanely tweakable, and promising the ability to mimic your own amp, could this be the last word in amp modelling?

RME have ploughed all of their considerable interface-making know-how into the Fireface UFX+, and the results are impressive.

This low-cost and slightly simplified sibling of the TM3-Primus has been optimised for music, voice and multimedia producers.

DrumCore users have been waiting a very long time for a new version, but version 4 is finally here — and available for both Mac and PC.

This latest mic from the respected Bock stable is as classy as it is versatile!

Whilst playing Theremin+ certainly isn’t the same experience as performing with the real thing, but for recording purposes its 106 24-bit PCM WAV samples should function as a convincing substitute.

The latest update to Cubase sees Steinberg’s DAW embrace single-window working and integrated sampling.

The Mimiq Doubler is essentially a real-time digital double-tracking emulator that’s able to add one, two, or three ‘cloned’ parts to the original dry signal...

I’ve been dabbling in creating my own sample-based instruments in Kontakt over the last few years — one day, I...

The qMI 2 combines four separately addressable CV/Gate channels with the polyphonic voice assignment of the Perfourmer Mk2 synth.

This fully-functional polyphonic MIDI controller offers an elegant and well-equipped case for your Eurorack modules.

I can’t deny being a long-time fan of the Waldorf sound and of wavetable synthesis in general, so I was pretty keen to try out the NW1...

Is it really possible to carry out studio-quality pitch-correction in real time? Waves think so...

Watch engineer/producer extraordinaire Eric Valentine as he crafts a shimmering surf guitar sound, in the vein of Smash Mouth or Third Eye Blind, that employs three amps and judicial use of modulation effects.

Recorded, mixed and co-produced by Greg Fidelman, Metallica’s Hardwired... To Self-Destruct has proved an unexpected career high point.

We sat down with songwriter/producer Jake Gosling ahead of his masterclass at ACM in Guildford, UK, to talk about creating better arrangements, getting the best out of performers, and the advantages of having a simple recording setup. 

Live is more than capable when it comes to bass. We give you an overview...

Having set out to capture a live-band feel when tracking, our engineer is tasked with steering the mix in a more polished pop direction.

With a gruelling schedule and strict technical requirements, including surround-sound elements, Steven Wilson’s recent Hand. Cannot. Erase. world tour was nothing if not ambitious.

These small tips could make a big difference to your Pro Tools experience!

We show you how to record guitar and bass in Reason.

Cult TV series Stranger Things has become essential viewing — and essential listening. We talk to the previously unknown composers behind its hit soundtrack.

Share and archive your projects with Sonar’s extensive exporting options. Here's how...

Console emulation is all the rage, and it’s now built into Studio One. We explore what it offers...

Programme wonky drum beats by using different grid divisions and quantisation settings.

I thought I had a handle on this, but seem to have a hard time understanding the difference between a compressor’s ‘Hold’ and its ‘Release’. Can you help explain?

Please help me to understand the terms ‘aux’ and ‘bus’ in the context of a mixer. Is there any difference between them? Do they perform the same function?

My own setup is an Audient ASP880 preamp connected via ADAT to an Avid HD Omni working with Pro Tools 12.4 HD Native. Is it better to set the Audient as master for recording (and the Omni as slave)?

Our Editor-in-Chief is worried that we are becoming ever more dependent on a computer industry that sees audio as a very small part of its business...

Not many dance acts start life as string quartets — but Clean Bandit’s fusion of classical and electronic music has powered them to worldwide success.

It should go without saying that the most important task recording and mix engineers need to focus on is listening, but we are being distracted from that task.

We examine the production of some recent hits to help you brush up on your listening skills: Neiked featuring Dyo • Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane • Michael Ball & Alfie Boe • The Rolling Stones • Robbie Williams • Classic Mix: George Michael ‘Careless Whisper’ (1984 Single Version).

Not many recording studios can boast a history more than a century long. And although Emil Berliner Studios are no longer located in their original site, their story is inseparably linked to some major milestones in the history of recording.

The secret of success is to deal with failure in the right way. Which is easier when your failures don’t cost thousands of innocent lives.

Large-format mixing consoles have been in decline for years — but could there be life in them yet?