SOUND ON SOUND
Paul White goes into economy mode and tries to coax an extra degree of realism out of a budget studio reverb unit.
Conventional wisdom states that you can't 'fix it in the mix', but that doesn't mean you cant' try! Paul White discusses a few practical salvage techniques in the first part of this short series.
Faced with the unfinished album sessions on analogue tape and a studio full of PCs and digital gear, Brian Heywood gets a chance to find out how flexible modern equipment really is.
Martin Russ surveys his dying Mac IIsi and ponders the purchase of a new model. Will he go for leading-edge Power or a last-generation bargain?
The C-Lab Falcon MkX has flown through its CE tests and finally landed in the UK. Ofir Gal checks the spec and assesses the new machine's chances of taking off.
When using effects, it's all too easy to add noise to your mix — and it's not always the fault of your effects unit. Paul White offers a few practical tips for achieving quieter mixes.
Brian Eno is convinced that it's the start of a whole new ballgame... but is PC soundcard technology advanced enough for 'generative' music to work? Brian Heywood hears the new Enigma Variations.
Last month, we looked at which elements are most likely to go wrong in the mix. This month, Paul White takes a more positive line, and looks at how to record the right instrumental sound to tape in the first place.
The last years of the '90s will see a lot of changes, with the fin de siecle spirit extending to music and computers. Martin Russ sees Macs shedding their inhibitions...
Paul White explores a few ways of taking nature's most common audio phenomenon and manipulating it to create special effects.
What would modern popular music be like without effects? Can you imagine rock without distortion? Ambient techno without delays? New age without reverb? Effects are second only in importance to the instrument needed to produce the music in the first place. Over the next nine pages, Derek Johnson and Debbie Poyser present their guide to what's on the effects market today...
Whether you see it as sleeping with the enemy or simple self-preservation, Atari users are increasingly defecting to Mac and PC emulation packages. Ofir Gal considers some of the available options: MagiC mac vs TOS.
Paul White takes a closer look at SMPTE and MIDI Time Code, and their role in Tape-to-MIDI sync.
Hell hath no fury like a platform scorned, and Atari's neglect of the Falcon drives the mild-mannered Ofir Gal to rancorous recrimination....
All mechanical meters are VU meters, all bargraph meters read peak levels — and both types will give the same reading if you feed in a test tone. Reasonable enough assumptions, but wrong on all counts, as Paul White explains.
Internet audio is going places — and nowhere faster than for the net-surfing Mac user. Martin Russ looks at the latest developments.
CD-R may be the fastest growing mastering format, but its complicated zip codes and impenetrable protocols have made it anything but user friendly. As prices tumble and software evolves, however, it's an increasingly accessible medium. Mike Collins explains how he's mastered mastering on his Mac...
It might be an unorthodox style of musicianship, but anything that adds strings to the Amiga's bow is to be welcomed. Paul Overaa gets tangled up in Loom...
What do you do if a valuable master tape that you've had on the shelf for the past 15 years tries to weld itself to the playback head as soon as you try to play it? Swear loudly, then pop in in a low oven, advises master chef Jean-Paul White...
Craig Anderton offers a few tips to help you balance your mix without relying solely on changes to relative volume levels — and gets in touch with his Neanderthal past. Additional material by Paul White.