Win SSR Pro Tools 101 Training Worth 1500 GBP

Deadline: 2011-05-11

This month, SSR are giving away 5 places on their Pro Tools 101 course, worth £300 a place. Throughout the two-day course, the lucky winners will be taught by Jonathan Espinosa, who has worked with such artists as the Pogues, Enya and Joy Williams, and is currently a producer for Ministry Of Sound, Sony Records, and house label Defected. The course will take place at SSR’s brand-new Camden premises in London over 2 days. Enter for your chance to win!

Best Service | Studio Box Mark II Volumes 1-4

Sample Library

4*

Big Fish Audio Earth Tone: World Percussion

Sample Library

3*

Blue Spark

Capacitor Microphone

Is there more than an eye-catching new livery to spark interest in Blue's latest mic?

Cakewalk Sonar X1

Digital Audio Workstation Software

Can Cakewalk's radical rethink of the DAW user interface tempt users of competing products into the Sonar fold — without alienating existing fans?

EBS MultiComp

Dual-band Bass Compressor Pedal

Swedish bass‑equipment manufacturers EBS’s updated MultiComp pedal is intended to make transparent‑sounding bass compression easy to achieve. Matt Houghton investigates...

Fabfilter Mastering Bundle

Mastering Plug-ins

With so many mastering processors already on the market, is there room for another compressor, EQ and limiter? Fabfilter certainly think so...

Focusrite VRM Box

Speaker-modelling Headphone Amp & USB Audio Interface

For those of us who find our headphone mixes don't translate well, Focusrite have created a virtual listening environment that replicates the experience of monitoring on speakers.

Golden Age Project Comp 54

Solid-state Mono Compressor

Can you really achieve 24-carat Neve-style compression on a shoestring, or is this a case of fool's gold?

Imperfect Samples | Fazioli Concert Grand

Sample Library

4.5*

Livid Instruments Code

MIDI Control Surface

Livid Instruments' new control surface boasts not only an unusual flexibility — courtesy of its custom editing software — but also some fine handmade wooden end-cheeks...

M-Audio Venom

Synthesizer

M-Audio's debut synth may have a pristine white exterior, but it hides a sample-based synthesis engine capable of getting down and dirty...

Native Instruments Reflektor

Convolution Reverb Plug-in

NI's Reflektor is a reverb that combines simplicity of operation with a very musical sound.

Phill Brown Are We Still Rolling?

Book

Matt Houghton checks out Phill Brown's autobiography.

Quested V2108

Active Two-way Studio Monitors

The original VS2108 design was a real success for Quested — so when they said they'd improved it, we thought we'd better test that claim...

RME Babyface

USB Audio Interface

RME's interfaces get ever smaller — but this baby packs a powerful punch despite its miniature dimensions.

Steinberg Cubase 6

Digital Audio Workstation

Cubase 6 pushes the boundaries of expressive sequencing, while adding polish and new editing functionality to keep existing users happy. Is it all too good to be true?

Ueberschall | Pop Charts

Sample Library

4*

VSL Vienna Dimension Brass

Orchestral Brass Instrument

The Austrian sample maestros go multitrack with four new brass ensembles.

Waldorf PPG Wave 3.V

Software Synthesizer

PPG's Wave series were sadly beyond the budget of most of us, but, through the miracle of software, the powers of these innovative synths may now be within our grasp...

Adam Anderson & Jonas Quant (Hurts): Recording Happiness

Interview | Band

How do you create a hit album that stands with the synthpop greats, yet at the same time sounds thoroughly modern? In Hurts' case, with a great deal of time and effort...

Andrew Rose: Restoring Old Recordings

Interview | Remastering

Andrew Rose has built a successful business by restoring and releasing great lost recordings of the 20th Century. He explains how he brings back the original magic...

Assault On Batteries

Leader

It's April, so what has Paul been dreaming up this year?

Playback

Readers' Music Reviewed

Big Big Train * We Happy Few * Gorman * Trace

Richard Lightman: Using Professional Recording Studios

Sounding Off

Why would you use one? There are plenty of perfectly good recordings made in garden sheds, bedrooms and basements!

Sandy Vee: Recording Katy Perry's 'Firework'

Inside Track | Secrets Of The Mix Engineers

Through his work with David Guetta, Rihanna and now Katy Perry, Sandy Vee has taken the French house sound to the top of the US charts. He tells us how it's done.

Comping

Cockos Reaper Tips & Techniques

Take a razor blade to your vocal tracks and learn the art of comping in Reaper.

How We Hear Pitch

Exploration

When two sounds happen very close together, we hear them as one. This surprising phenomenon is the basis of musical pitch — and there are lots of ways to exploit it in sound design.

How We Hear Pitch | Media

Exploration

These audio files accompany the How We Hear Pitch article that featured in SOS April 2011.

Listen & Learn: Analysing Commercial Mixes

Tips & Techniques

You might be surprised at just how much you can discover about the mix of a hit record if you use a structured approach to listening, learn to interpret your meters, and try a few technical tricks...

Making Your Own Drum Triggers

Tips & Techniques

Making your own drum triggers for recording is easy and inexpensive.

Max For Live

Ableton Live Tips & Techniques

Discover how to control your hardware synths using Max For Live.

MIDI Matters

MOTU Digital Performer Tips & Techniques

Knowing the ins and outs of various DP MIDI features can help you work quicker and smarter.

Mix Rescue: Tom Marcovitch

Mixing & Recording Advice

We discover that if you need to cure problems with bass instruments in your mix, you might well have to aim a bit higher...

Mix Rescue: Tom Marcovitch | Media

Mixing & Recording Advice

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

Route Manoeuvres

Apple Logic Tips & Techniques

Expand your monitoring options with clever routing in Logic Pro.

Sampling

Propellerhead Reason Tips & Techniques

Reason's flexible routing makes scintillating sampling simple...

Sandy Bridge Processors

PC Notes

The launch of Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors hasn't gone as smoothly as it might have done — and the saga continues...

Structure Instruments

Avid Pro Tools Tips & Techniques

Once you've created a basic Structure instrument, there are lots of things you can do to improve the way it sounds and plays.

The Mix Review | April 2011

Analysing Commercial Productions

• Matt Cardle 'When We Collide'
• Bruno Mars 'Grenade'
• Ellie Goulding 'Your Song'

The Undertones: 'Teenage Kicks'

Classic Tracks

'Teenage Kicks' was the punk-pop gem that, with a little help from John Peel, kick-started the Undertones' career.

VFX Host; App Store

Apple Notes

This month we take a trip down memory lane with VFX Host, and visit App land to round up a few of our favourite tools.

Notes From The Deadline

TV Music From The Inside

Title? Composer for the media. Job description? Squaring the circle...

Off The Record (US Edition Only)

Music & Recording Industry News

** This article was originally printed in the US Edition of Sound On Sound only, but is available online to all subscribers. ** This month, our US correspondent speaks to producers and engineers who have had to broaden their horizons in order to keep up with the ever-changing music industry.

5 Best Buys

The Gear To Get You Filming Fast

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.

Chemical Wedding Artemis 4.2

iOS Viewfinder App

A viewfinder is great for framing shots without setting up your camera — so having one as an App is even more convenient.

RodeVideomic Pro

Shotgun Microphone

Building on the success of its predecessor, the Videomic Pro is a convenient, lightweight shotgun mic.

Sound & Sync

An Introduction To Location Sound

Your camera's on-board mic might be OK for home movies, but using a separate mic and audio recorder will yield much better results.

Q. Can I use an SM58 as a kick-drum mic?

Q. Have I broken my monitors?

Q. How can I remove background noise from a voice recording?

Q. My self-build PC isn't working. What tests can I run?

Q. Which digital piano fits my budget?