With a versatile range of features and exceptional sound quality, AMS Neve's latest piece of outboard technology manages to be more than the sum of its parts.
Cakewalk's latest virtual instrument takes traditional subtractive synthesis as its starting point, but offers a degree of flexibility that is unimaginable in any hardware instrument.
Having served up convincing hardware emulations of the legendary Minimoog and Prophet V analogue synths, Creamware turn their attention to the mighty Hammond B3 organ.
Digidesign's D-Command and D-Control represent perhaps the most ambitious attempt yet to integrate recording and mixing systems. Do these Icons symbolise the future of digital audio workstations, or are they merely expensive control surfaces for Pro Tools?
Not content with adding a huge raft of improvements to their already comprehensive Emulator X soft sampler, Emu have also removed the need to use it with their own soundcards, so now everyone can get in on the fun.
Gary Garritan's powerfully expressive solo violin instrument features some impressive technical innovations. Will it create a new generation of virtual Paganinis?
The convolution revolution has left a gap in the market for a high-quality reverb based on more traditional room-modelling techniques. IK's suite of plug-ins looks to fill the void.
Four hot Sample Collections get the SOS Sample Shop review treatment: • Big Fish Audio Chill • Best Service Chris Hein Horns Volume 1 • M-Audio Premium Electric Pianos • Loopmasters Soulful House Sessions
Ableton Live isn't just a DJ tool, but a very capable DAW. This month we begin a look at how to approach Live if you want to use it as a fully fledged audio sequencer.
When sequencers first allowed you to record musical notes in real time, one of the features that became ubiquitous in all systems was quantisation. Here we take a look at how quantise has evolved and is currently used in Cubase SX.
It's been an interesting four years for Mac-based audio engineers and musicians since Apple acquired Emagic, so this month we take the opportunity to acknowledge the anniversary and consider what's changed over this time and what's still to come.
Last month, we passed briefly over the flashier additions to the latest version of DP, in favour of some less obvious but rather useful new features. Now it's time to return for a closer look at those shiny new bundled instruments...
Buss-powering USB and Firewire peripherals from a laptop seems like a good idea, cutting down on annoying power supplies and keeping everything portable — but it's not quite as straightforward as you might imagine.
Producer: Mike Chapman • Engineers: David Tickle, Pete Coleman
In 1979, at the end of a 13-way bidding war, The Knack went into the studio to record their debut single — a debut single that would go gold in seven days and sell six million copies worldwide. This is the story of how it came to be...
Morph The Cat, Donald Fagen's third solo album in 24 years, sees Fagen and engineer Elliott Scheiner continue their quest for the best possible sound quality — which, it seems, comes only from analogue recording.
The idea of bringing folk music up to date is not a new one, but few people have taken it quite as far as Jim Moray. His material may be traditional, but his approach to music technology is as modern as it gets.
Rather appropriately, we round off this series by looking at what you need to consider when composing music designed to play while the end credits roll...
Electrical noise — hiss, buzz and hum — is something that plagues every electric guitarist to some degree, but noise comes in a variety of forms and it is important to establish exactly which kind(s) you are experiencing in order to devise an appropriate solution.
Sonar offers several ways to mix, but is that a benefit or a source of confusion? Learn what the various mix modes do and you can choose the one that's right for your project.
Pure Data lets you process audio and MIDI within a powerful modular environment, and lets you combine it easily with video, custom hardware controllers, light shows, and even robotics. But, best of all, it's free!
The totally software studio, with sound quality at least as good as that offered by studio hardware, is now more feasible than ever before. But what are the factors to consider if you're going to go completely 'soft'?
The grey Spider devices look mild-mannered and unassuming — but they have super-powers that can unlock the hidden reserves of Reason's sound-making devices, as well as solving a host of more mundane problems.
Japan's YMO helped pioneer the use of electronic instruments and sampling. Now Uwe Schmidt, aka Señor Coconut, has used the same techniques to render their greatest hits as Latin dances, with contributions from all three original YMO members.
Electrical noise — hiss, buzz and hum — is something that plagues every electric guitarist to some degree, but noise comes in a variety of forms and it is important to establish exactly which kind(s) you are experiencing in order to devise an appropriate solution.
I need a new soundcard, as I'm upgrading to a 64-bit system, and I've been looking at M-Audio's Delta 1010 and Delta 1010LT. What's the difference between them and will they work with my new machine?
I'm planning to build a shed studio with concrete walls, no windows and a drop-down ceiling. Will it be necessary to build a 'room within a room' to achieve decent soundproofing?
Years ago I touched a guitar that was plugged into an amp against a radiator, and it blew the amp and melted the guitar string. Afterwards someone told me that this was caused by a ground loop. Can you explain?
Morph The Cat, Donald Fagen's third solo album in 24 years, sees Fagen and engineer Elliott Scheiner continue their quest for the best possible sound quality — which, it seems, comes only from analogue recording.
The idea of bringing folk music up to date is not a new one, but few people have taken it quite as far as Jim Moray. His material may be traditional, but his approach to music technology is as modern as it gets.
Japan's YMO helped pioneer the use of electronic instruments and sampling. Now Uwe Schmidt, aka Señor Coconut, has used the same techniques to render their greatest hits as Latin dances, with contributions from all three original YMO members.