SOUND ON SOUND
With the release in the UK of XP Media Center Edition, Microsoft aim to make Windows PCs a modern equivalent of the radiogram — the heart of a complete music and video home. entertainment system.
Sonar's version number has just been incremented by a Significant Digit, so it's time for some exploration of what this new release means to Sonar aficionados.
Ubiquitous though Roland's long-lived range of sound modules appear to be, not many users get the best out of the vast synthesis and processing potential they offer. So here's how to coax circus-pony tricks out of your studio workhorse.
Many laptop PCs that bear a specific brand name are not in fact manufactured by the company in question — and that includes some specialist music PCs. But does this really matter to the musician?
DP 4.1 is here at last, with significant increases in stability and efficiency, as well as support for Apple's Audio Unit plug-in standard. So is Digital Performer finally ready for the big time in OS X?
Musicality isn't everything when you're trying to make a decent-sounding recording at home, even if you're as talented as the multi-instrumentalist Harding family. So the SOS team travelled north to help them get their engineering techniques up to scratch.
This month, Sound On Sound begins a major new series, looking back in detail at the engineering and production behind some of the most historically significant recordings ever made, with the story of the first and greatest British rock & roll record.
Since Pro Tools 6, there's been some additions to the set of built-in plug-ins. This month we look at how to get the most out of the D-Verb reverb.
The Doc proffers diagnosis and suitable cures for another batch of reader-submitted meisterwerks.
Long before Bob Moog built his first synth, there was the Hammond tonewheel organ; effectively an additive synthesizer, albeit electro-mechanical rather than electronic. So emulating a Hammond with an analogue synth shouldn't be too hard, right? Well...
Legal action by The Beatles' Apple Records caused the iTunes Music Store to hit the headlines recently, but there's no denying it has been an instant success that could change the way music is distributed forever. We look at the background to the Music Store and consider its implications for independent musicians.
PC paper specifications can vary so much that it's hard to know how one PC compares to another in terms of its performance with real-word audio apps. Hence the need for tests designed just for music PCs...
We report on Steinberg using Nuendo to record a three-day music festival, and look at how a Cubase Drum Map can assist you in finding and working with all the one-shot drum and percussion sounds in your studio.
Is the sound of your kick drum letting the rest of your mix down? If so, find out how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with this bass-drum processing workshop.
If you play live regularly, sooner or later someone will suggest that you use a backing track on stage to enhance your performance. So here's how to go about creating them, based on experience learned the hard way!
Ultra low-cost PC setups are all very well, but can we be sure they'll run everything we need them to? Cutting Edge finds out from personal experience.
It's a fair bet that many Windows XP musicians don't even know they have a page file, let alone where it is or what effect it could have on their recording. We reveal all.
For the 2002 album Heathen, David Bowie and Tony Visconti revived one of the greatest artist/producer partnerships in pop history. Following the success of that project, the duo have again worked closely together on Bowie's new album, Reality.
There's more to plug-ins than audio, as we discover when digging deep into the world of MIDI plug-ins and effects.
The attractions of making and recording music on a laptop computer are obvious, but choosinga laptop can involve you in performance compromises and compatibility problems. Here's what you need to consider if you are thinking of going mobile.