Reviews
Firewire Audio Interface [Mac / PC] Alesis know a thing or two about digital recording, but what can they bring to the busy world of audio interfaces? Quite a lot, as it happens...
Large-diaphragm Tube Microphones With good looks and a unique sonic character, there's plenty to commend these mics.
Multitrack Audio Recording & Editing Software For PC Can a $40 dollar shareware application take on the giants of the music software world and win? With its remarkable flexibility, advanced feature set and responsive development team, Cockos's Reaper has the potential to do just that. Check it out...
Synthetic Percussion Sequencer & Sampler In 2002 Elektron were considered by many to have had the last word in drum machines, but now they've taken the Machinedrum concept even further with the addition of sampling. Let's explore...
News & Reviews • Behringer iAxe393 USB Guitar • Digitech CF7 Chorus Factory
Ground Loop Isolation Unit Ground loops are the bane of many people's home studios. If you're suffering, this little black box from Hall Electronic Devices offers a neat solution.
PC Music Creation & Production Environment The latest version of Image Line's affordable FL Studio music software adds a powerful resampling editor and processor, plus some neat plug-ins.
Dual-channel Equaliser Combining the classic Neve sound with a software recall facility, this EQ offers the best of both worlds.
USB Control Surface [Mac/PC] Hands-on control of your DAW can speed up your workflow considerably, but what if you don't want or need a console-sized controller? Enter the Presonus Faderport...
Pro Tools Plug-ins If you want other people to hear your surround mixes, you'll need to encode them into a consumer format. Pro Tools users have a choice of software for this purpose. Which should you choose?
Acoustic Screen This convenient acoustic screen doesn't have to be used just for vocals, and is a versatile and effective tool for home-studio recording.
Vocal & Ensemble Keyboard Roland already have one of the best-loved vocoding keyboard instruments to their name, in the shape of the vintage VP330 Vocoder Plus. Is their 2007 take on the same concept destined for similar classic status?
Sample Sets • Toontrack EZ Drummer Expanders: Vintage Rock, Drumkit From Hell, Latin Percussion
• Pendle Poucher Dulcitone 1884
• Big Fish Audio Groove Planet
Studio Monitors We lend an ear to a pair of monitors from a US company just starting out in the British studio market.
Modular Analogue Synthesizer Synthetic Music Systems have a unique approach to designing modular synths that are both high in quality and, wait for it, low in price. Let's investigate...
Digital Audio Production Suite For Windows Sony's Sound Forge is one of the best-known stereo editing packages around, and version 9 brings with it a new world of multi-channel editing possibilities.
24-track Digital Portastudio Tascam's revamp of their groundbreaking 2488 digital multitracker still offers unique selling points, but have the competition pulled ahead in other areas? Read on to find out...
Software Workstation For Mac & PC Combining multitimbral sample playback, loop tempo matching, synthesis, multi-effects and an 8GB sound library, is Plug Sound Pro the only software sound source you need alongside your DAW?
Competition
Deadline: 2007-07-15 Over $4000 dollars worth of Sample CDs are up for grabs this time — in the form of 26 of Big Fish's hottest sample sets and merchandise. Prizes kindly donated by Big Fish Audio www.bigfishaudio.com
Deadline: 2007-06-30 This month, as part of our competition, we've got a UAD1e Extreme Pak to give away to one lucky reader. This includes, of course, the UAD1e DSP card, but also comes with all 32 powered plug-ins. The prize has been kindly donated by UK distributors Source Distribution and normally costs £1599.
Source Distribution +44 (0)208 962 5080.
www.sourcedistribution.co.uk
Sound Advice
| People + Opinion
Music To Picture Doctor Who's 2005 revival saw the TV programme and its incidental music triumphantly reinvented. Gone are the Radiophonic textures of old, replaced by a confident orchestral score that stands comparison with Hollywood's best. Composer Murray Gold talks technical at his home studio.
Readers' Music Reviewed The editorial team assess another clutch of recordings from more willing masochists.
The Synth Designer Who Wants To Live Forever Ray Kurzweil brought human feeling to digital synthesis, and his ultimate goal is to achieve immortality by fusing human and artificial intelligence. In the meantime, he's returned to Kurzweil Music Systems to oversee the next generation of music technology...
Sound Workshop 'Hips Don't Lie', by Shakira and Wyclef Jean, is indisputably the biggest single of the 21st Century so far. Engineer Serge Tsai was the man who brought together many diverse elements to create a colossal hit.
Derek Johnson Lacking creativity? A tune might be what you need...
Leader SOS Editor-In-Chief Paul White bemoans the fact that stereo is still king and wonders how long before 'earbud surround' comes of age...
Technique
News & Discussion Despite a slow start to the year with regard to Mac-related news from Apple, there's been no shortage of Mac hardware and software announcements recently.
Producers: Tricky • Mark Saunders Tricky's highly unorthodox approach to recording and making music led to the creation of one of the most unique and critically lauded records of the '90s.
Cubase Notes & Techniques Using a gate to create rhythmic performances from sustained sounds is a classic dance music trick, but the same approach can work in almost any contemporary music style. Find out more...
For newsstand readers For newsstand readers without subscriber access rights, here is an unlocked version of the MP3 audio files that accompany the JUNE 2007 Cubase Notes article.
Tricks To Make Your Drums Sparkle If you'd like to breathe some life into your acoustic drum recordings, here's what you need to know.
Logic Notes & Techniques The ES2 synthesizer within Logic is a powerful beast. We take a look at what it has to offer in this handy reference guide...
Ableton Live Notes & Techniques Live's built-in instruments are pretty sophisticated, yet retain the ease of use that is central to the Ableton philosophy. In this article we're going to look at how to make the most of the Impulse drum machine.
Monitoring Delays In The Digital Studio Anything you record into a computer takes time to reappear at your speakers. We show you ways to tackle these delays.
Sonar Notes & Techniques Sonar's Synth Rack is a great time-saving concept that has started to deliver on its full promise with version 6 of the software. However, not all aspects of it are completely obvious - so this month we'll be doing our best to put you on track with the Rack.
For newsstand (non-subscriber) readers To avoid newsstand buyers of the magazine from having to key in long URLs by hand, here are the links to the various MP3 files that accompany the JUNE 2007 instalment of Mix Rescue. NOTE: the online article itself is available for the first 8 months only to paid subscribers, but the audio files are accessible to everyone.
Sound Workshop This month, we invited guest mix-rescuer Luke Fletcher to create an authentic '60s feel.
PC Notes Cubase 4's new preset-management system falls under the PC Notes spotlight this month, as does an update to a recommended spyware-protection utility and an eye-catching yet cost-effective soft synth...
Chris Walker The SOS crew visit reader Chris Walker's home studio and help solve amplification problems for his tea-chest bass.
Digital Performer Notes & Techniques MIDI plug-ins are often overlooked, regarded perhaps as the poor relations of the more glamorous audio type, but they can give you real power-user status if you take the trouble to investigate their capabilities.
Part 1: Is It Time To Upgrade To The New Windows OS? Several months have elapsed since the release of Windows Vista — so is it safe for musicians to assume that most music software and hardware is now compatible with the new OS, and upgrade? PC Musician investigates.
Pro Tools Notes & Techniques Pro Tools doesn't support RAID arrays, but does have its own disk management features that allow you to 'stripe' audio files across multiple disks, or record additional safety copies of everything.
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Gear Reviews
