WIN Sony Sound Forge Pro 10

Deadline: 2010-06-28

Your chance to get your mits on one of the best PC audio-editing suites around. Prize value: 380 GB Pounds. [3 full versions up for grabs] Prizes kindly donated by Sony Creative Software: Tel: +44 (0)8000 281475 www.sonycreativesoftware.com

Apogee Gio

Audio Interface & Controller [Mac]

Apogee enter the software guitar-amp controller fray promising tight integration with all things Apple...

Avantone Active MixCube

Secondary Reference Monitors

Avantone have added on-board amplification to their contemporary take on the classic ‘Horrortone’ secondary monitor, and the result is something quite special...

Big Fish Audio Cinematic Percussion

Sample Library

4*

Centrance DACport

D-A Converter & Headphone Amp

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a pro-quality D-A converter on the market that was truly portable? Centrance aim to give us exactly that...

Extreme Sample Converter

Sample Conversion Utility [Windows]

From sports to computer programming, it seems that there’s an extreme version of everything these days. So what is extreme sample conversion, and how is it better than the ordinary kind?

Garritan Personal Orchestra 4

Sample Library

This small but mighty orchestral package continues to square up to the big guys.

IK Multimedia Amplitube 3

Amp & Effects Modelling Software [Mac/PC]

If you actually owned every amplifier, stomp box and microphone that’s emulated in Amplitube 3, you’d need a bigger house. But does more always equal better?

JDK Comp R22

Dual-channel Compressor

This compressor offers automatic time constants to help to keep things sounding natural, even with plenty of gain reduction. Is it a weapon worth adding to your arsenal of mix tools?

Korg Kaossilator Pro

Synthesizer & Loop Recorder

We get hands-on with Korg’s touchy-feely new synth.

Loopmasters Alternative House

Sample Library

4*

Loopmasters Original Jungle Drum & Bass

Sample Library

4*

Muse Research Receptor 2 Pro Max

Plug-in Hosting System

The Receptor lets you use VST plug-ins without a computer. How does V2 improve on the original?

Music Lab Real LPC

Virtual Guitar Instrument

For the latest addition to the ‘Real’ range, Music Lab have turned their expert attention to the classic Les Paul Custom.

Nine Volt Audio Action Drums: Cinematic Edition

Sample Library

5*

Shiny Box 46MX

Ribbon Microphone

Can a ribbon mic really offer professional polish at such a bargain price?

Tonelux Equalux

Dual-channel Parametric Equaliser

Better known for their high-end modular outboard processors, Tonelux have scaled their EQ up to full rack size. Does more space mean a better feature set?

Two Notes Torpedo VB101

Dummy Load & Speaker/Microphone Simulator

When it comes to convincing simulation of guitar amps, cabinets, speakers and microphones, a few hardware manufacturers seem to be pushing the boundaries. Will the Torpedo blast the competition out of the water?

VocalBooth Amp Box

Guitar Cabinet Enclosure

Isolating your guitar cabinet allows you to crank up your amp on recording sessions — but without deafening the neighbours!

Yamaha CP1

Stage Piano

Yamaha’s new flagship stage piano is unashamedly specialist and expensive. How does it rank alongside the best sampled and modelled alternatives, or indeed the original instruments it strives to emulate?

From Start To Finish

Paul White's Leader

What is the point of investing hard-won money into quality mics, preamps and so-forth, if your recording room's acoustics are letting the side down and colouring your mixes?

Phil Thornalley: Torn

From Rock Producer To Pop Songwriter

Phil Thornalley learned his trade as a rock engineer and producer in the ’80s. Then he co-wrote a little-known song called ‘Torn’...

Playback

Readers’ Music Reviewed

Find out how to use our SoundCloud.com account to submit your review tracks to SOS.

Porcupine Tree

Steven Wilson: Recording & Marketing Porcupine Tree

Every new Porcupine Tree album sells over a quarter of a million copies. And with founder Steven Wilson in control of everything from songwriting to shrink-wrapping, there’s no middle man to take a cut. Read his valuable advice for SOS readers wishing to do likewise...

Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: David R Ferguson

Inside Track: Johnny Cash | American VI: Ain’t No Grave

Sometimes the simplest-sounding music takes the most work to get right, and so it was with Johnny Cash’s posthumous hit album American VI: Ain’t No Grave. Engineer and mixer David R Ferguson was on hand at every stage of Rick Rubin’s production.

Sounding Off: Nell McLeod

For Folk's Sake...

Fully-matured adults openly sniggering at the F-word has riled our Columns Editor, Nell. Read on to find out why...

Ableton: Live Clip Slicing

Ableton Live Notes & Techniques

The expanded audio clip slicing introduced in Live 8 is a powerful creative tool. We show you how it works.

Apple Logic: Pedal Power

Logic Notes & Techniques

You can get the amp and stomp-box collection you’ve always wanted now that Logic offers Pedalboard and Amp Designer.

Building A Multi-Band Compressor In Reason

Reason Notes & Techniques

Reason doesn’t have a dedicated multi-band compressor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build your own.

Cakewalk Sonar: Managing Plug-ins

Sonar Notes & Techniques

Plug-ins are likely to be integral to how you work, so it’s worth making sure they’re organised and well behaved.

Cubase: DIY Vocal Rider

Cubase Notes & Techniques

Waves’ ground-breaking Vocal Rider plug-in takes the pain out of vocal level-automation, but if your budget can’t stretch that far, you can get part of the way there using nothing more than Cubase 5’s built-in processors.

Cubase: DIY Vocal Rider | Audio & Project Files

Hear For Yourself

Audio files in our SoundCloud player, with downloadable high-res WAVs for your convenience.

Does Your Studio Need A Digital Master Clock?

Group Test: 7 Master Clocks

Can an external clock signal really improve the performance of your digital audio devices? We put seven of the best master clocks through their paces to sort out the facts from the myths.

Guerrilla Recording

How To Record Bands Outside The Studio

If your bedroom studio is more bedroom than studio, you might think that recording bands is beyond your powers. But where there’s a primary school, church hall or industrial unit, there’s a space you can use...

Guerrilla Recording | Audio

Hear For Yourself

Listen to streaming MP3 Audio files in our SoundCloud player, with downloadable hi-res WAVs for your convenience.

Headroom & Master Fader

Digidesign (Avid) Pro Tools Tips & Techniques

Know how to use the Pro Tools master fader properly and you need never suffer clipping in your mixes again.

iPad — A Great Tool For Musicians?

Apple Notes

Is Apple’s latest product simply a great lifestyle device, or is it also the next great tool for musicians?

Mix Rescue: Dave Gerard

Mixing & Recording Advice

This month, we breathe life into a track by restructuring it to avoid unnecessary repetition, adding subtle new parts, employing various mix tricks and finally applying a little DIY 'mastering' polish...

Mix Rescue: Dave Gerard | Media

Mixing & Recording Advice

For convenience, this page is unlocked and visible to non-subscribers and newsstand buyers of the magazine

Pro-gaming Techniques For Pro Tools

Starcraft Players of South Korea

The Starcraft players of South Korea are the ultimate computer power users, and their skills and strategies have the potential to transform your DAW sessions.

SoundCloud

SOS chooses partner for web audio delivery

SoundCloud is a web-based tool for digital musicians to streamline the process of hosting and distributing audio. It simplifies and optimises the previously laborious process of moving music on the web, allowing users to effortlessly upload tracks and share them anywhere on the web

Studio SOS: Ed VanderMark

Carpeting Rehearsal Room Walls

Upgrading a home studio in Clacton.

Tommy James & The Shondells ‘Crimson & Clover’ | Classic Tracks

Producer: Tommy James • Engineer: Bruce Staple

In 1968, Tommy James made a dramatic stylistic turnaround, swapping bubblegum pop for full-blown psychedelic rock. The result was the superlative single ‘Crimson & Clover’.

Why Upgrade To Windows 7?

PC Notes

Not everyone has yet made the leap to Windows 7, so if you’re a musician, what are the benefits of upgrading?

Notes From The Deadline

TV Music From The Inside

How to get ahead in the business? Honour thy deadlines, have no other gods before work, and don’t commit murder unless there’s a particularly juicy commission at stake.

5 Video Best Buys: The Gear To Get You Filming Fast

Motion graphics & video plug-ins | DSLR video accesories Motion Graphics | 3D animation software

New to the world of video production and unsure what to buy? Our guide to the five best options in three software and hardware categories will get you started.

A Recording Musician’s Guide To Making A Music Video

Video Production: Part 2 (of 2)

In the second part of this short introductory series, we cover the more technical aspects of film-making, demystifying some of the jargon that might trip up the video newbie.

Zoom Q3

Hand-held Audio & Video Recorder

Zoom’s H4N audio recorder has been very well received. Can the new Q3 repeat that success by throwing in video as well?

Q. How can I distribute my music online?

Q. How can I get ‘harsh’ vocals to sit properly in the mix?

Q. How do normal DAWs differ from mastering workstations?

Q. How should I mike-up a violin?

Q. Should I upgrade to a Mac Pro for more Firewire ports?

Q. Which MIDI velocity curve should I use with my controller keyboard?

SOS Podcast 025

20:49 mins

No studio? Sam Inglis summarizes the guerrilla recording tactics he adopted to make a band location recording in one day go as smooth as possible. Tech Talk asks if too much top-end is killing modern music and why classic tracks sound so good. The team bring you the latest News, while Sound Advice offers solutions to low-level buzz problems on recordings and vocal mix techniques.