Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Computer Music

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm336downloads > Step by step 1. Installation 1 > To get started, head over to this month’s download page: bit.ly/cm336downloads. With the current issue to hand answer the quiz questions. Once you’ve gained access, follow the instructions to grab your personal Bitwig Studio 8-Track serial number. Next, create or log into a Bitwig account at bitwig.com. 2 > Now go to your Account Info page and use the Register Serial Number option at the bottom to add your serial number. You should now see Bitwig Studio 8-Track listed on your Account Info page, with download links for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Download and run your required installer. > Step by step 2. Getting started 1 > Launch Bitwig Studio and log…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm336downloads LOLCOMP is a mixing chain processor that harnesses some classic processing and then bundles it into a fun and easy to use plugin. It’s the brainchild of the Mixing Night Audio crew (headed up by the renowned Ken Lewis), and it delivers up quick and impressively wide-ranging results. Our very own CM version, LOLCOMP Lite CM (VST3, AU, AAX), features the same engine and gamified interface, but just includes two of the main chains (LOL and Dragon) and two of the complementary effects (Levitate and Awaken), as well as 15 presets to get you started. The lively plugin interface features input and output level controls, a global mix blend and plenty of metering, so you can really finesse the effect.…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm336downloads Country-style EDM blends the traditional sounds and stories of country music with the beats and synths of EDM. This unique combination creates an energetic musical experience that resonates with fans of both genres. In country EDM you’ll often hear twangy guitars layered over catchy electronic hooks and driving basslines, creating a dynamic sound that’s as fun to listen to as it is to create. This original genre has seen a surge in popularity largely thanks to the influential contributions of artists like Avicii. The legendary Swedish producer played a pivotal role in popularising this genre with his groundbreaking hits Wake Me Up and Hey Brother. Avicii’s innovative approach to blending country elements with electronic music captivated audiences around the world…

For many, the appeal of VR headsets might be considered to be the exclusive domain of gamers, with little else to justify the (sometimes intimidating) pricetags. There’s also the embarrassment factor that keeps the more self-conscious among us from being seen wearing a chunky headset. But, with the release of Apple’s Vision Pro, a more holistic vision of the VR/AR headset was presented, positioning it not for techies, but as a workflow-assisting, reality-distorting, focus-honing productivity tool. For music-makers – where productivity and immersion are key – the renewed focus on the potential of VR is incredibly exciting. VR gives you complete control of your visual workspace, and it’s possible to save that setting, and recall it – no matter where you are. Then there’s the chance to use enormous virtual…

It’s unusual for a Kontakt instrument to create a stir, but that’s exactly what Void and Vista managed through the release of its first Kontakt instrument, Strands. But with a new instrument in its library, we want to know how that ‘difficult second plugin’ measures up… Void and Vista’s Folds focuses on the sound of the human voice. This translates as a considerable number of samples with the majority either presented as a form of raw acoustic vocal, or with some degree of relatively extreme treatment, captured at source. These samples form the basic building blocks and are categorised by menu. As we like to go down to the basic nuts and bolts, we began our sojourn through Folds by auditioning the raw content. These samples are very pure, captured…

A compelling software instrument is not just a high-quality sound module, but also an active aid in the production process. The team at Sampleson know this all too well, its latest release, Drumbada, offers a highly intuitive way of understanding and designing polyrhythms. Today’s drum production can often be focused too heavily on sound design at the expense of rhythm, with an emphasis on layering samples to create a satisfying sound, or selecting the perfect sample for the job. And while it can be tempting to reach for sample packs with 100 different snares, by the time you’ve assembled the body, tail, ‘thwack’ and ‘crunch’, you can lose sight of the overall beat – potentially creating something that sounds both laboured and rhythmically barren. Bombo-tastic Sampleson’s third venture into percussion…

news NEW RELEASES • COMMENT • INDUSTRY HAPPENINGS We’ve been waiting for v11 since 2013’s Logic Pro X refined and modernised Apple’s foundational DAW. Now, 10 and a bit years later, the update arrives (rather subtly, if you weren’t keeping abreast of the latest music production news) as a free update that brings with it a salvo of AI-powered enhancements. There’s also a v2 of the iPad incarnation that brings most of the same features as the desktop update. Leading the way in both editions are new AI-powered features: Bass and Keyboard ‘Session Players’, which do for these instruments what Drummer does for drums; Stem Splitter, which breaks apart stereo material so that you can create remixes; and ChromaGlow, a new effect that promises to add “instant warmth”. Both Bass…

Interface cm : Thank you everyone for joining us today. In 2024, Bitwig Studio marks its first decade. Can you take us back even further, to 2009, and the formation of the company. What motivated you to start it? Claes Johanson: “We were a group of musicians, and we had a lot of ideas about how you should be able to make music with software. There seemed quite a division between the tools available back then. Some DAWs were more open than others. I personally got very interested in the idea of intertwining the sequencer and the tone generator, making them talk more to each other. That came quite early for us. We had a lot of ideas at that time, we started working on ‘the product’ which, of course,…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm336downloads Panning is a key component of stereo and multichannel mixes, and allows us to control width and placement to deliver a more sonically engaging mix. In this masterclass we’ll cover some of the important principles to bear in mind. The widespread adoption of stereo in the 1960s created both opportunity and uncertainty among music producers and engineers. Initially this resulted in some very creative stereo mixes that wouldn’t be acceptable now. Still, this creativity paved the way for the more established practices that we have today. There are now a bunch of tried and tested panning techniques that we use. What’s more, although we’re typically trying to glue together the elements of our mix, panning can be a great way…

If there is one nut that has never been fully cracked, it’s hardware control of a DAW. As every platform is so different, trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution could be regarded as something of a Holy Grail-level task. But now software aficionados Softube has come up with an answer to this long-standing problem and it might just be the perfect solution. Putting the case The Console 1 Channel Mk III is the latest revision to the Softube hardware lineup and an upgrade to the previous Mk1/2 models. As implied by the name, the concept encourages the use of hardware to control the channel strip aspect of your DAW, but with a caveat. The hardware mirrors accompanying software, engaging with both Softube and Universal Audio plugins, in a methodology much like…

Once upon a time, Roland kick-started its business by producing drum machines, designed as add-ons to the music tech of the day: viewed as a ‘home organ’. While its early drum machines adopted the familiar TR moniker, 1978 saw a break with this tradition, through the development of the first drum machine to use a Microprocessor. This was the era of ‘CompuRhythm’, and so the CR-78 was born. Housed in a wooden box, the CR-78 was a revelation, albeit with very basic programmability. Equipped with rhythmic favourites such as Slow Rock and Bossanova, this didn’t stop it from becoming a hit with significant artists of the day, such as Blondie, Phil Collins and Ultravox. Domestic chores Fastforward to today, and the CR-78 still garners an enviable reputation, in no small…

RV Samplepacks Uncharted Trip Hop £29.95 Take a trip into the musical murk of early ’90s trailblazers like Portishead, Massive Attack and the other pungent pioneers of cinematic, smoked-out beats. This dense collection of nearly 500 files does a great job of capturing their vintage sample-loop groove and boom-bap drum aesthetic, with plenty of ill keys, lolloping basses, and some cool Trickyesque rap vocals to weave around them. The mood is deep and dusty, mixed with some sublime sub-sonics, to give everything a welcome touch of that famed, melancholic, Bristol sound. loopmasters.com 8/100 Audiotent Sub Mission £17 Essential sub bass tool bag, filled to the top with 107 astonishingly heavy low-end loops. The rumbling rhythms inside have been purpose built to completely own the bottom end of your tracks. With…

BITWIG STUDIO 5.2 8-TRACK Want an extra helping hand exploring your brand new free DAW? Watch along here! Read the full article from p8 experts Our resident music production gurus walk you through their specialist field every month CM TOOLS MASTERCLASS SEQUENCER POLY SYNTH PATCH Read the full article on p48 DANCE MUSIC MASTERCLASS COUNTRY-STYLE EDM Read the full article on p52 MIX MASTERCLASS PANNING TECHNIQUES Read the full article on p56…

With so many excellent DAWs it can be tough knowing where to start. Bitwig Studio 5.2 is the latest version of this superb creativity-focused DAW, and this month – to mark ten years since the DAW first launched - we bring you your own copy of 8-Track absolutely free. Bitwig Studio 8-Track is a fully-functioning version of Bitwig that usually comes bundled with hardware purchases and subscription packages. As a ‘lite’ version it has some intentional limitations including track count (8), type of modulators, number of effects sends and bundled soundware content. Check out the online comparison chart at: bitwig.com/feature-list-8-track/. Even so, it’s fundamentally the same software as the full versions, and this makes the transition to one of the ‘pay for’ versions pretty seamless. What’s more, if you do…

When we mix, it would be ideal if we could load up a simple one-knob-style plugin, choose a preset, set an amount and simply move onto the next sound. But although you might get lucky on a few occasions, mixing usually requires a more nuanced and delicate balance of level, panning and processing. That being said, the more you mix, the more you’ll find the same approaches seem to work for similar circumstances. So, when you find something that works, being able to recreate that approach quickly is both efficient and satisfying. That’s what we can achieve with a tried-and-tested mixing chain or two. Thankfully, the DAW domain provides the perfect environment for saving and recalling presets, and you’re probably already familiar with factory or self-created session templates, synth presets…

Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm336downloads The use of sequencers within synthesiser patches is nothing new, but it can be a contentious topic. As we’re scrolling through the myriad presets that accompany most commercial synth plugins, chances are that you’ll happen upon a collection of preordained sequences, wherein somebody else’s composition could be implanted on your own. Leaving the issue of copyright to one side, we can be far more creative by programming our plugins to play a rhythm that we decide, allowing us to imprint our own chord sequence on our tracks. This was commonplace even in the earlier days of the commercial use of synthesisers. The track Let Me Go by Heaven 17, relied on the hypnotic and thoroughly effective use of a CV…

First rising to prominence with the extraordinary Laserbeam in 2022 (that year’s most played dubstep track according to the 1001 Trackless database), Ray Volpe has continued to launch increasingly seismic dubstep-flavoured cruise missiles, most notably the extraordinary SEE YOU DROP earlier this year. Riding high on scooping the Best New Artist at last year’s Electronic Dance Music Awards and the phenomenal success of his ‘Volpetron Ascends’ tour (which included 13 sold-out shows), we grab Ray to have a chinwag about his process, his journey, and where his music might ultimately take him next… 1 Firstly, let’s talk about SEE YOU DROP, it’s got such a characteristically full-on sound. How did the track first develop in your mind? Ray Volpe: “I started writing the second drop first in London, late February…

Baby Audio has become one of the most exciting plugin developers, often because you can’t predict what it’s going to release next. After a raft of brilliant effects, it brought out BA-1, a VA synth based on a classic Yamaha, but are surprising us yet again with Atoms. It’s a totally new-form synth based on physical modelling, with a ‘living organism’ engine delivering ‘supernatural’ results. Of course it is. Atomic theory Physical Modelling synthesis is not by any means new – Yamaha was one of the main drivers of the technology with hardware synths such as the VL1 back in the 1990s. The idea behind it is that you can simulate how sound occurs in the real world: the pluck, vibration, and envelope of a string being a common example.…

One instrument that never seems to fall out of favour is the humble piano. So versatile, it sounds perfect in just about any setting, from the Beatles to BT. But with such an abundance of piano libraries on the market, any new contender better have some serious tricks to call upon. The Aurora In previous packages, UVI has extensively sampled just about every piano available, as demonstrated throughout its product range. From the Model D to Keysuite Acoustic, the variety is pretty completist. So what does its latest piano-based instrument bring to the plugin table that we haven’t already heard? Aurora is described as a textured piano library, providing 4.45GB of compressed samples, assigned across three layers, which combine to create an instrument patch. This begins with a new piano…

Download all assets for this issue at bit.ly/cm336downloads Chilled Bass Grooves A solid selection of slick bass grooves to form the bedrock of your next track – or trigger your creativity in new ways “This sample pack provides a set of chilled basslines across six laidback tempos using two basses, a bunch of pedals and a few virtual bass amps. The Epiphone Ripper bass has a Precision bass-style neck pickup and a Jazz bass-style bridge pickup, so there are three offerings from this limited edition remake of a ’70s classic (neck pickup, bridge pickup and both blended). The other bass is a 1977 Musicman Stingray, which should need no introduction. There is a clean sound set of samples from this bass icon as well as a set using the (also…

Logic Pro 11: the ultimate guide! In our next issue, we’re lifting the lid on the long-awaited 11th coming of Apple’s Logic Pro, with step-by-step explorations of the new features, and a summation of how Logic Pro has evolved over its lifespan to shape the modern world of production PLUS! Iglooghost The pulse-pounding artist speaks on his intense new album Free samples Cast a spell with our superb Fantasy and Magic collection On test Antares Auto-Tune Pro 11, Spitfire Audio SSO and more……