May 2021

Electronic Musician

Record * Produce * Perform

Electronic Musician1 min readTechnology & Engineering
Are We Lacking Innovation?
We had quite the debate in our (virtual) office recently about whether electronic music makers' collective love of nostalgia is killing innovation in the synth and instrument market. There's certainly a case to be made for this – just look at how man
Electronic Musician1 min read
Electronic Musician
Vol. 37 No. 5 MAY 2021 www.musicradar.com/electronicmusician FOLLOW US twitter.com/EM_Magazine facebook.com/ElectronicMusicianMagazine instagram.com/electronicmusicianmag CONTENT Editor-in-Chief Si Truss [email protected] Content Director, Mu
Electronic Musician7 min readComputers
New Gear
We’d maintain that, even five years after its release, Novation’s Circuit groovebox is still one of the best value standalone musicmaking devices on the market. A second Circuit, the Mono Station, was released in 2017, but it’s Circuit Tracks, which
Electronic Musician10 min read
Fm Synthesis Unleashed
Frequency Modulation (FM) Synthesis is a method of generating sound that allows for a huge amount of control, leading to a diverse array of sounds, lifelike or abstract. At its heart, the concept of frequency modulation is very simple. Just as you ma
Electronic Musician3 min readTechnology & Engineering
Steven Slate Audio VSX
Monitors and headphones both have their place in the studio, naturally, but seasoned recording artists will tell you that each audio output provides its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Monitors are generally far superior when set up correc
Electronic Musician1 min read
All The Right Ratios
We’re used to synths having pitch controls to determine the note they’re playing. On standard synths, these are divided into Semitone and Cent controls (sometimes called Coarse tuning and Fine tuning), meaning you can tune different oscillators to di
Electronic Musician13 min read
A Winged Victory For The Sullen
When Adam Wiltzie put the skids on ambient band Stars of the Lid back in 2007, fresh inspiration arrived almost immediately, following a chance backstage meeting with prolific Emmy Award-winning composer Dustin O’Halloran. Combining Wiltzie’s ambient
Electronic Musician4 min readTechnology & Engineering
Dirtying Up Your Sound
When it comes to programming and playing distorted lead synth sounds there are several approaches you can take. Some of the most revered prog/metal players went all-out shred guitar player in their sounds (I’m talking about Jens Johansson, Derek Sher
Electronic Musician5 min read
Ostinatos
Like most musical terms, the word ‘ostinato’ is Italian, its literal translation being ‘obstinate’. An ostinato is an insistent, repeated musical phrase that digs its heels in and keeps on going, so you can see how the term came about. It’s most comm
Electronic Musician3 min readTechnology & Engineering
Yamaha VL1
Year of manufacture 1994 Original sale value $5,556 Number made unknown Looking back at the mid-1990s, it’s obvious that musicians were ready for a change. The vast majority of synthesizers of the day made use of subtractive sample-playback synthesis
Electronic Musician6 min read
Super 6
$3,052 udo-audio.com + Stellar build quality, direct and intuitive interface + Sounds unique, from classic poly-fodder to future soundscapes + Future-proofed with wave import and (as yet unlocked) MPE capability - Quality like this does cost more - S
Electronic Musician3 min readComputers
Melodyne 5.1
from $120 celemony.com + Improved ‘Melodic’ algorithm adds the ability to edit pitch and noise separately + Integration with ARA is excellent, and now makes Melodyne feel like part of your DAW + New tools – Sibilant Tool is especially useful, allowin
Electronic Musician4 min readTechnology & Engineering
Shade
$129 uvi.net + Very extensive set of filter types + Good choice of modulators + Dynamic trigger options + Decent set of presets + External side chain + Intuitive graphic interface - Not much UVI is best known for the Workstation and Falcon hybrid syn
Electronic Musician2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Equator 2
$275 roli.com + Powerful, well-rounded sound engine + Well-curated library of stock samples and presets + Modulation and expression tools are second to none - Some elements aren’t the most intuitive - Can’t easily move sample library to an external h
Electronic Musician2 min readTechnology & Engineering
Frontier
$1,765 output.com + Precise imaging with broad sweet spot + Reasonably compact + Offers good lowfrequency extension + Revealing mid range + Beautiful design and construction - No onboard EQ Output’s eclectic product line includes plugin effects, plug
Electronic Musician3 min readMusic
Deep House Manoeuvres
$49 One of the baddest DJ/producers on the scene makes his welcome debut to the LM Artist Series, and he sure comes out swinging! Fans of the revered house head will be well up on his signature sound – classy as hell and deep as funk. And he brings h
Electronic Musician4 min readTechnology & Engineering
Cobalt 8
$750 modalelectronics.com + Sounds on the money. Can be polychained with other Cobalts for up to 16 voices. Plenty of voice modes + Very solid build quality throughout. Largely intuitive + Audio input for running external audio into the effects - The
Electronic Musician8 min readTechnology & Engineering
Steinberg Cubase 11
Cubase has been around longer than most DAWs, and like its competitors it’s grown in scope and power with each new version. As with other powerful software tools there will be functions that you may never use, and some you don’t even know about. Alon
Electronic Musician1 min readComputers
Three Quick Tips
1 By default Cubase assigns the main mixer window to the F3 key, but you can access two additional MixConsole windows from the main Studio menu, and they can have their own shortcuts. You can also configure each to show different sets of tracks. 2 Th
Electronic Musician3 min readTechnology & Engineering
Free Filters
Not your standard filter, Filterjam is actually a multiband filter setup under the hood. These four bands are then combined by a mixture of summing and multiplying (you select how exactly from a selection of four). There’s a frequency control to sele
Electronic Musician1 min readTechnology & Engineering
What Are VCA Faders?
Most rack systems are far While many people may be familiar with Group Channels (where audio from other channels can be routed for further processing or level control), VCA Fader Channels can appear odd. VCA Faders are control elements – the audio do
Electronic Musician1 min read
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
To order go to https://bit.ly/B1EMAGEM Or call 1-800-289-9919 and mention code B1EMAG *Pricing valid in the US only. First issue mails within 6-8 weeks. ■
Electronic Musician4 min read
Roosevelt
As Roosevelt, German producer Marius Lauber makes music that sits across the divide between funk, pop and classic house music, packed with danceable rhythms, hooky basslines and gorgeous synths. Last month he returned with new album Polydans, so we c
Electronic Musician3 min readComputers
App-ropriate Looping
Live looping has taken off in recent years. Whether you chalk it up to economics (what singer-songwriter can afford a band anymore?) or musicians seeking new sounds, there are currently well over a dozen dedicated loopers for sale to service this mar
Electronic Musician11 min read
V Collection 8
$599 arturia.com + Considerable cost saving over buying individual instruments + Vocoder V is one of the best vocoders we’ve used + Excellent new and updated Roland synths + Very useful and informative In-App tutorials + Extensive software-only enhan

Electronic Musician

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