Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Future Music

Max Tundra Remixtape A cracking, brand new set of covers and reworks, featuring fresh takes on some of MBGATE’s highlights. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘Lights (A. G. Cook Remix)’, ' Lysine (Julia Holter Remix)’, ‘MBGATE (Kero Kero Bonito Remix)’ Charli XCX Crash The number one album, full of Tundra-style sounds and sonic experimentation. Listen for yourself. ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘Baby’, ‘New Shapes’, Beg For You’ Daphne & Celeste Daphne & Celeste Save The World The piss-dodging pop duo got a synth-tastic update when Mr. Tundra produced their 2018 comeback album. Check it! ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: ‘Save The World’, ‘Kandy Korn’, ‘Whatever Happened To Yazz?’ Max Tundra Best Friends A 2020 retelling of his debut album, with all the tracks remixed and renamed by some of…

Stay clean 1No matter the nature of the sound to be sampled, keeping the initial recording clean will be key in 99% of cases. It is important to be clear as to where the source ends and the capture begins. For example, that vinyl break you want to lift sounds good to you partly because the DJ mixer is slightly overloaded and the bass is pumped, therefore the mixer is part of the source and what follows is where ‘clean’ needs to be the priority. The single most important component of cleanliness is headroom, making sure that nothing post-source clips or incurs unnecessary distortions, so keep peak input levels below -12dBFS. The low noise floor of most 24-bit A/D converters means there’s still a huge dynamic range available to maximise…

The name Carl Cox needs little introduction to dance music aficionados. A veteran of acid house and techno, he’s become one of the most celebrated DJs on the planet, nurturing the club scene with relentless enthusiasm. A founding father of the emerging British rave scene, Cox’s F.A.C.T. mix CDs were hugely influential in the mid-’90s, followed by releases on his own Intec and Intec Digital labels, which seeded success for dozens more artists. However, his pioneering career has not been all plain sailing. Disillusioned by the process leading to the release of his 2011 album All Roads Lead To The Dancefloor, Cox swore it would be his last. That all changed when he acquired a Pioneer DJM-V10 6-channel mixer, which allowed Cox to record and remodel stems culled from his…

Avisionary contributor to industrial innovators Throbbing Gristle, one half of avant-garde electronic duo Chris & Cosey and a key member of the surrealistic performance collective COUM Transmissions, Cosey Fanni Tutti has remained fiercely loyal to her subversive, often confrontational, approach to music making, whether using vocals, electronics or traditional instruments. Tutti’s decades of experimentation therefore made her Caroline Catz’s number one choice to score the soon-to-bereleased soundtrack for the filmmaker’s intimate portrayal of sonic experimentalist Delia Derbyshire in Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes. With access to Derbyshire’s audio archive, Tutti integrated her own stylistic approach based on their shared ideologies and the late composer’s compositional notes. Any teenager will have marvelled at Delia Derbyshire’s original Dr Who Theme in the mid-’60s. Did it have a similar effect…

CONTACT WHO: Roland WEB: roland.com/cloud KEY FEATURES Formats: VST, AU, AAX, Plug-Out for Roland System-8. Pricing: Available in Roland Cloud subscription tiers Pro ($9.99p/m) and Ultimate ($19.99p/m). Lifetime key available for $199.99 Though the later Jupiter-8 and -6 are more sought-after on the second-hand market, Roland’s Jupiter-4 is the synth that started it all. It was not only the first in the Japanese brand’s Jupiter line – still ongoing over 30 years later – but Roland’s first ever polysynth full stop. As with other Roland classics, the Jupiter-4 was a fairly straightforward instrument in design terms, but still had a distinct personality. Labelled ‘Compuphonic’ the JP-4 combined ’70s-style analogue with some modern-for-thetime touches that would become synonymous with ’80s synth design, key amongst them being digital control and basic preset…

CONTACT WEB: www.izotope.com KEY FEATURES Assistant View provides easy-to-use, macro-led controls over AI-assigned paramters, Unmask module to help carve out space, overhauled Exciter with new algorithms and settings, Compressor Punch mode for modern dynamics control Since Neutron 3, which first hit the virtual shelves in 2019, iZotope seem to have taken some time to mull their next steps with the plugin. Neutron 4 takes what was already a sophisticated suite of mixing tools – compression, EQ, transient shaping, distortion and the like – and offers some enhancements, some additions and some new ways of working. The artificial intelligence bent is still evident throughout, but it doesn’t make itself a compulsory part of the experience. Chief among the new additions is the Assistant View, a new, simpler and more intuitive window…

Reviews | Reason Studios Chord Sequencer CONTACT WHO: Reason Studios WEB: reasonstudios.com KEY FEATURES Reason Rack Extension equipped with 50 chord ‘sets’. Also available as part of a Reason+ subscription for €19.99 per month T obe a successful electronic musician, you don’t necessarily need to be a talented ‘musician’ in the traditional sense. However, unless you’re operating in the furthest depths of noise, at some point you may need to get to grasp the basics of writing melodies and progressions. Hence why a whole genre of plugins, guides and premade MIDI packs has emerged in recent times, aiming to help producers bluff their way through the rudiments. Chord Sequencer, from the developers formerly known as Propellerhead, is the latest entrant into this market. Launched as a Rack Extension for Reason,…

>Slick beats and wicked rhythms form the first instalment of this new sample series, tailor-made to empower the next young wave of African artists. To kick off the collection, a spotlight is on the emerging talents of hit-crafting Afropop producer, Dëra. Amongst his handmade loops, one-shot sounds and versatile presets, are plenty of deep bass chords, weighty pads, finger-snapping grooves, and tweaked and twisted synth and FX work. And his gift here for Afrobeat drums, hats, shakers and percussion, only adds an insatiable swing on top, further lending to the infectiousness of each radio-ready hook. Summer-blessed stuff, and a strong opening for what promises to be a highly workable new collection. Roy Spencer splice.com VERDICT 8.0…

Many electronic artists are inspired by the glorious heyday of ’90s rave, but few artists have sought to explore the many threads that make up that decade’s sound in as deep a way as Paramida. The Berlin-based Panorama Bar resident began her career as a DJ and label head, curating her imprint’s vibe by giving each artist these specific instructions: “Imagine it’s 1992, you are at a rave in Goa on the beach. It’s 8am, what’s the track playing? Make that track.” After experimenting with producing edits to drop in DJ sets, Paramida decided to join in the fun herself, refocussing her energy into figuring out how to create the sounds she loves herself. Since then, as a producer she has nailed down a singular style that sees her reframing…

There are some corners of the music production realm where the phrase ‘sample pack’ has picked up negative connotations. For some, it conjures images of a producer downloading the latest genre-specific, ready-to-go construction kits and buying their way to a production career by simply piecing together someone else’s work. There’s a lot wrong with this image though. Obviously, sampling as a form of music making has a long and creative history, reaching back to the work of the early dance music pioneers, and relying on a specific sample pack is no more or less legitimate an approach than pulling samples from some dusty old vinyl record purchased from a charity shop. A good commercial sample pack should do a lot more than simply supply premade track elements – it should…

> DO: Explore different launch modes, Abletonstyle – trigger, gate, toggle, and repeat. If you’re using pads or keys to launch your samples, a variety of launch modes will impart an extra level of dynamics and interactivity. > DO: This isn’t something you need every time, it depends on the context, but following on from setting launch modes, you could set different launch quantisations for each sample, from 0 – so they play as soon as they’re launched – to 1 or more bars for a tidy synced effect. > DON’T: Don’t use time-stretching, aka warping, with one-shots, unless you really need to adjust the timing of a particular sample. > DON’T: Don’t bake in time-based effects such as delays or LFOs because, unless you’re using the one-shots in the…

As we’ve written in these pages many times before, setting restrictions for yourself can really help inspire your music making. This could involve forcing yourself to work with a limited set of tools, restricting yourself to just a handful of track elements or writing within a confined time period. For his latest project, Bristol-based drum & bass musician Dr Meaker has pushed this idea to the limit, aiming to create a full DnB track with just a single synthesiser. With two decades of experience in the game, Dr Meaker lynchpin Clive Meaker has carved out a reputation for himself amongst the UK scene, for both his infectious, bass-heavy productions and his live shows, which see Dr Meaker adapted into a full live band complete with drums, live bass, vocalists and…

Watching Brittney Parks – aka Sudan Archives – weaving magic onstage with her MIDI violin, tiny bass guitar, and a Roland SP-404X, you get a tantalising glimpse, but not the full picture of the depths of her musical journey. Her latest single Natural Brown Prom Queen (Topless) from the album of the same name, tells the tale of just one side of her trajectory from a childhood in Ohio, going to church, watching Sailor Moon, membership of an abortive pop group with her twin and heartaches therein. The longer version of her story, though, includes a long-term love affair with the fiddle, its global ethnomusicology, DIY electronic scenes in Ohio and LA, a fondness for all things pedal-related… and a bucketload of artistic experimentation and field work in multiple countries…

CONTACT WHO: PreSonus WEB: www.presonus.com KEY FEATURES I/O: Frequency Response: 53Hz to 22kHz LF Driver: 5.25” woven glass composite HF driver: 1” silk dome Amplification: Class-D, 50 Watts per speaker Low EQ: +/-6dB at 100Hz High EQ: +/-6dB at 10kHz Peak SPL @1m: 112dB Bluetooth 5.0 DIMENSIONS: 178(w) x 191(d) x 260(h) mm WEIGHT: 6.9kg per pair PreSonus manufacture a large range of studio monitors including both ribbon tweeter and coaxial designs. The last pair I had on trial were the impressive Eris E8 XT. This time it’s something a bit more compact. Eris E5 BT is a rear-ported powered design and it is the latest and largest addition to their media reference monitor range. With a 4.5” model already in the lineup, however, you might be wondering why PreSonus…

Reviews | sE Electronics DynaCaster CONTACT WHO: sE Electronics WEB: seelectronics.com KEY FEATURES Active Cardioid Dynamic Studio Microphone. CAPSULE: Dynamic. VOICE COIL: Aluminium. MAGNET: Neodymium. DIRECTIONAL PATTERN: Cardioid. FREQUENCY RANGE: 20 Hz - 19 kHz. SENSITIVITY: 2.0 / 60 mV/ Pa (-54 / -24 dBV). POWER: +48V Phantom power. CURRENT: 3.0 mA. IMPEDANCE: 300 / 135 Ohms It’s the pricey, large-diaphragm studio condenser mics that get many of us drooling with lust, but the fact is, most of us have to make do with a less expensive dynamic mic. However, in many recording scenarios, the lowly dynamic mic is the better choice. It may not have the broad frequency response or impart quite the same level of clarity as a condenser, but it’s more robust, way better at rejecting unwanted…

>Marvellous melodic house and techno selections from the studio of the celebrated Canadian production partners, DLN and Kazmo. This dancefloor-focused collection has loops running from 120–124bpm, taking in big bossy basslines, cheeky percussion, heavyweight drum hits and loops, and a sizeable stock of main top and musical grooves to help inspire your production work. The 239MB of built-from-scratch beats and pieces all have the duo’s trademark flair for mood and movement, and offer fresh twists and turns on that digital chart troubling Eminence-brand of proggy dance music majesty. So, if you want a big room cinematic sound, at a pocket-conscious price point, then try it out. Roy Spencer loopmasters.com VERDICT 8.0…

>Sweat-box soundtracking samples get cranked to 11, in this subtlety-free set of gloriously punishing techno. Tough-as-granite drums rain down like tornado debris, as swirling FX and pads circle wildly around window-shattering bass and drums. Not suitable for producers looking for loops to lift their next lazy pool party or BBQ groover: this is the strong stuff. And if you’re the sort who dances on tables rather than hiding underneath them, you’re gonna wanna crowbar the lid off this little lot and plunge your hands in as deep as they go. The 293 loops and 181 one-shots are made to menace with 909s and the like kicked and punched until they tell you exactly what you want to know. Roy Spencer splice.com VERDICT 8.0…

For the follow up to his category-defining instrumental debut, Some Best Friend You Turned Out To Be, Max Tundra wondered aloud what pop music should sound like. Duringa glorious summer, with little else to bother him, he concluded that it should be made from a million shards of disco samples, layered and time-stretched vocals, in jokes, literary references, classic rock pomp, proto-dubstep drums, mutant disco, and Game Boy bleeps. His freaky findings would make up the meat of Mastered By Guy At The Exchange. An album of joyous noises and catchy, candy-land glitches and gear changes. All holding happy hands with digital diversions and loose and live instrumentation. And as fun as it is to listen to, it must have been a waking nightmare to rack correctly on record shop…

1 Ableton Live is the perfect do-it-all application for capturing, editing, processing and, ultimately, playing samples. You can keep all of your samples organised by folder in Live’s Browser (these folders can be in any location, including removable storage, and linked from there). If you save them within a project, you can reload entire tracks with all playback and warping info, naming and colour coding in place; a very convenient way to manage large sets of categorised samples. 2 To capture samples with Live, all you need do is connect your audio interface, or even the computer’s built-in microphone, go to an audio track, arm it to record, and click in one of the Session View circular clip buttons – you’re now sampling! Session View clips have basic playback features,…

CONTACT WHO: Focusrite WEB: www.focusrite.com KEY FEATURES I/O: Mic Input: gain range 70dB, THD+N (@-1dBFS) ≤ -94d, Mic power: 48V phantom,Loopback: two stereo streams accessed via Vocaster Hub software, USBStreams: 10 in 4 out, Conversion: 24-bit / 48kHz DIMENSIONS: 195(w) x 113(d) x 50(h) mm WEIGHT: Weight: 0.34kg Upending the trend for multiparticipant devices, Vocaster One is a 1-mic input podcast specific interface (24-bit / 48kHz) for solo content creators. Built around a diminutive desktop case, the top panel has one continuous encoder to set input gain, one output level knob for headphones and main output, and three mic function buttons – auto gain, enhance and mute. A multi-coloured backlit halo on the encoder knob shows the knob position, input signal level and acts as a 10-second countdown indicator for…

CONTACT WHO: Donner WEB: idonner.eu KEY FEATURES SOUND LIBRARY: 1 standard piano tone. Polyphony: 128 notes. DIMENSIONS: 268 x 355 x 745mm WEIGHT: 21.3kg The Donner DDP-80 does not look like other home digital pianos. With its brown wooden (alright, MDF) casing and midcentury styling, it most closely resembles the classic Clavinet D6. You’ll also note the absence of visible controls. In fact, the only things you can press or turn are the power button and volume on the rear panel. These are joined by 1/4-inch audio and headphone outs, a sustain pedal input, a MIDI USB port, and a socket for the power supply. A further connector – used to plug in the supplied three-pedal unit – is below. The DDP-80 bucks digital piano convention again by only featuring…

CONTACT WEB: qubitelectronix.com KEY FEATURES Stereo Spectral Reverb, 24-bit phase vocoder engine, USB port, 12 hp When module shopping, we’re searching for a tool to do a specific job. Sometimes though, we can come across a module that offers more than expected. Aurora is one such module and is one that can turn minutes into hours, in the best way. Aurora is a small reverb module. At 12hp and a skiff-friendly 22mm deep, it is easy to justify in even the smallest rig. It has typical Qu-bit design, with clear layout and labelling, along with some coloured strips that illuminate and pulse depending on what is happening. The whole module is sturdy, with controls that feel good in hand, with nice levels of resistance, something to look for when dialling…

>Cool, catchy house samples, pulling inspiration lovingly from the outer reaches of tough and techy dance music. IDM and electro noises make up mix ’n’ match melodies. Coaxed carefully from a fat stack of iconic drum machines, legendary synths, vocoders, and other lusted over hunks of history-making hardware. Everything gets its circuitry warmed nicely, resulting in 329MB of covetable content locked to the classic club key of Am, and the party-provoking BPM of 124. All the perfectly polished and processed sounds are a doddle to drop next to one another. And every last bumping bassline and ear-worm hook has plenty of the pin-point drum hits and loops you’ll need to make any work-in-progress productions pop. Roy Spencer loopmasters.com VERDICT 7.0…

Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 £2,899 A favourite of many pro DJs including the likes of Carl Cox. This is a truly top-end, performance-centric device stuffed with features and flexibility. Allen & Heath Xone:96 £1,429 A worthy follow-on from A&H’s much-loved Xone:92, the 96 is a rugged and flexible performance mixer with plenty of flexibility for modern hybrid setups. Playdifferently Model 1.4 £1,950 Designed by Richie Hawtin, the Model 1 kicked off the boom in high-end performance mixers. This update strips it back to four channels for a more compact and affordable take. Rane MP2015 £2,339 Rotary mixers aren’t for everyone, but there’s a lot to like about Rane’s current crop, which blend retro cool with some useful modern features such as a USB interface. Pioneer DJ DJM-900NXS 2 £1,659 Pioneer’s Nexus…