Music Tech Magazine

Jono is a composer, producer, lecturer and journalist. His interest in everything to do with electronic music started at a tender age and has carried him through a career spanning song-writing, remixing, sound design and music for picture. Dave is an

This issue we’re heading to the pictures – or, rather, your music is. The film and television industries have never been as prominent a part of contemporary culture as they are today, and with each new Netflix must-watch and binge-worthy drama comes

There has been a renewed interest in modular synthesis recently, especially in the realms of physical modelling. Modules such as 2hp’s Pluck and Mutable Instruments’ Rings have made it clear that modular synthesis isn’t solely about retro analogue to

A bleton Live is a fantastic beat-maker, especially when paired with Ableton’s Push instrument and Simpler sampler. But once you’ve created your ideal rhythmic components and laid down that just-so percussion line, what comes next? Do you bring in so

I n electronic music circles, sidechain compression is a key aspect of sound design. But, curiously, the technique isn’t particularly well understood within the larger world of audio and production. In this worksop, we’re going to look at how to use

18 You should now be looking at a smart and readable sheet of music that you can share with other musicians, and have hopefully gained a better understanding of how to use Cubase for sketching and scoring ideas. Cubase’s Score Editor is a tool that a

Over the past few months, we’ve been looking at the built-in instruments in Studio One 4.6. This month, we’re exploring the final two instruments and how to make something specific with them. Since leads and basses are among the most sought-after sou

Vinyl sampling originated in the 1970s and, with the rise of hip-hop, became extremely popular throughout the following decade. Bedroom-based sample-builders and professional producers alike took to relentless crate-digging, forever in search of that

Back in the early-1990s, analogue was dead, sampling was big and everyone was searching for the next big thing in synthesisers and audio programming. Sensing a shift in the waters, Korg caught a huge wave and rode it all the way to the bank with the

The market is saturated with new soft-synth sounds that pay homage to their analogue forebears. Some are uninspired facsimiles that recreate but fail to iterate on well-remembered hardware synthesisers. Others, such as those locked away inside UVI’s

If there’s any Native Instruments product you could agreeably describe as a chameleon, it would have to be Kontakt. From humble beginnings as something more akin to a simple sample-playback device, the VST has given rise to a multitude of dexterous i

For those who work with recording equipment every day, it can be easy to forget just how overwhelming even the simplest studio rig can appear to the uninitiated. Even something as simple as recording a microphone signal while returning a monitoring s

Following the recent release of Novation’s Launchpad Mini MK3 and Launchpad X, the flagship Launchpad Pro MK3 is here to round out the range in fine style. The Pro MK3 sticks to the Launchpad template but features a slimmer body, larger pads, new out

Well-established Australian manufacturer Peach Audio is making headway in international markets with the M196sx Savannah stereo microphone preamplifier, a valve-driven unit that employs classic Class A vacuum-tube technology alongside modern design e

Founded in 2009 by music-technology pioneer Peter Gorges, hip-hop producer Pharrell Williams and film composer Hans Zimmer, Ujam’s range of instrument and effects products has seen the company go from strength to strength over the past decade. Its ou

• Dynamic Resonance Suppressor plug-in• New Mid/Side mode Optimised performance• External sidechain input• Soft and Hard modes• Eco mode and offline render settings• Operates down to 20Hz Contact oeksound.com Oeksound had a surprise hit with Soothe b

We see all sorts of eclectic sample libraries from our lofty perch here at MT Towers, including fashionable orchestral collections and a near-constant stream of drum and synth assortments. But it’s the explorative, off-the-wall products that really s

Spitfire Audio’s ever-increasing catalogue has been boosted recently thanks to some gargantuan libraries. The BBC Symphony Orchestra package, for example, demonstrates how a symphony might sound in a world-renowned space such as the BBC’s Maida Vale

• Drivers 28 x 35mm AMT tweeters, 13cm woofer• 65W output per channel• 50Hz-20kHz response• Bluetooth version 4.2• 27.6 x 18 x 21.5cm• 5kg (active)• 4.5kg (passive) Contact: kantoaudio.com Kanto has been going since 2007 but this Canadian company is

Contact steinberg.net This is a complex toolkit that can help you get into the guts of your audio to extract hidden elements and edit sounds in layers. It comes as a standalone app and as a plug-in with ARA 2 support, so you can enjoy spectral editin