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MusicTech Focus: Ableton Live 2014
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Welcome MTF
Welcome to Ableton Live 2014, the latest Focus from MusicTech. Im assuming that, as
you are reading this, you use Live or indeed Ableton as many users are now
calling it for music production, so you already realise what a powerful tool you
have at your disposal. The idea of this focus guide is to help you access that power
and use the software to its full potential. Weve therefore included everything from
compositional
workshops
where we cover
genres including techno and dubstep
We will help you access the
to technique workshops, where we
explore many major features of the
power of Live and use the
software. With more than 50 pages of
walkthroughs Im hoping that your
software to its full potential
music production skills will improve as a result. And if they do, weve even included features on how to
promote your resulting tunes on-line, so you are hopefully holding everything you need to improve your Live
life. Enjoy the issue and, as ever, let me know what you think at the address below.
Andy Jones Senior Editor

andy.jones@anthem-publishing.com
Multimedia Editor Alex Holmes London SE1 0SU Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3300
alex.holmes@anthem-publishing.com Subscriptions to MusicTech Magazine
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FOCUS Ableton Live 8 Volume 2 | 03
MTF36.welcome.FOR PRINT.indd 3 20/08/2014 07:51

MTF Contents
Issue 36 Ableton Live 2014
BECOME AN
ABLETON LIVE
EXPERT NOW!
Ableton Live is a special piece of music production software so weve
put together this special issue of MusicTech just for it. We have Live
workshops, genre tutorials, reviews of the latest kit and features
detailing what to do with the tunes youll make as a result of reading it!
Feature MTF Workshops
Start here
Compose and experiment in
Ableton Live p18
press record
Audio recording and editing
Get Your in Live p22
Music Online and mix

The best sites, self promotion and
the DIY route to publicity p34 Mixing tips in Ableton Live p52
4 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS
MTF36.contents.3aj.indd 4 20/08/2014 07:55

Contents MTF
MTF Issue 36 Full listings

MTF Feature
Master your
FEATURES
006 | 50 Ways To Supercharge
Your Sound
music
034 | Get Your Music Online
061 | Mastering In Software
072 | 20 Ways To Supercharge
Your Computer For Audio
A complete guide to giving your LIVE PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS
music the pro edge p61 018 | Compose and experiment

022 | Audio recording and editing
026 | Using audio and Instrument
Racks in Live
030 | Converting audio to MIDI
046 | Clip experimentation in
MTF Feature Session view
049 | Collaboration in Live
Supercharge your 052 | Mixing tools and techniques

056 | Composition and sound
computer
design with Push
068 | Mastering in Live
SUBSCRIBE
for audio production p72 108 | to MusicTech here
WORKSHOPS: GENRES
082 | How to produce dubstep
088 | Produce drum n bass part 1
091 | Produce drum n bass part 2
Supercharge your 094 | Produce techno part 1

098 | Produce techno part 2
sound
REVIEWS
with these 50 tips p6 110 | Rob Papen Blue synth
110 | Novation Launchpad Mini
115 | Best Service Cantus vocals
116 | Heavyocity DM-307 drums
118 | Toontrak EZDrummer 2
110 | Softube Console 1
122 | Korg Taktile 49 keyboard
123 | Mini Reviews
MEET THE ABLETON TEAM!
128 | Jesse Terry talks Ableton
Live and Push
YOUR DVD
130 | Whats on your MTF DVD
MTF Interview
For PC & Mac
Jessie Terry MTF DVD 36

Ableton Live 2014
Meet the Ableton team p128 COPYRIGHT ANTHEM PUBLISHING 2014

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FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 |5
MTF36.contents.FOR PRINT.indd 5 21/08/2014 07:31

MTF Feature 50 Ways To Supercharge Your Sound
50 YOUR SO U WAYS TO
MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 6 18/08/2014 15:26

50 Ways To Supercharge Your Sound Feature MTF
SUPERCHARGE
O UND BEEF UP YOUR TUNES
AND STAND OUT NOW
Turning a good sound into a great one isnt as hard as you might think. By following a few
simple rules and employing some choice techniques, you too can get a unique and
memorable sound for your tracks. Hollin Jones explains how...
FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 | 7

SOUND SELECTION AND TWEAKING

BE CHOOSY
01 Tracks can fail to reach their full potential when you
simply settle for the first preset you come across. Many
producers rarely do this and can spend a whole day agonising
over getting a single sound just right. You dont necessarily
need to go that far, but if you have doubts about a sound,
consider getting rid of it and finding something better. If
nothing in your plug-in is doing the trick, try a different
instrument. Some people use only a couple of sounds out of
the hundreds provided with a synth.
MAKE YOUR OWN SOUNDS

02 That synth bass patch that comes with Logic might
sound good, but its likely that hundreds or even thousands of
other people will have used it already in their productions.
Making a patch your own can be as simple as changing a filter
or oscillator and resaving the preset. If youre feeling
adventurous, virtually all synths let you design a sound from
scratch. This can be much easier than you might imagine and
will help you get a much more unique sound overall.
LAYER SOUNDS TOGETHER

03 You can do this when sequencing, but many
instruments, such as software synths and keyboard
workstations, allow you to use several layers of sound
mapped across a MIDI keyboard. By taking a patch and
adding more layers, perhaps blending in some attacking or
pad-like sounds, you can make your instruments sound fuller, Most soft synths make it easy to tweak patches or design sounds
bigger and more interesting. If your plug-in doesnt allow it from scratch this is a good and fun way to find a more unique
sound for your productions.
natively, get the same result by duplicating the MIDI part and
assigning the copied part to a new instrument in your DAW.
would be the use of LFOs to modulate the cutoff filter in a

SUPERCHARGE TIP dubstep patch. Envelopes and even control-voltage signal
DONT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT can be used for the same effect, and many software synths
04 Some of the most interesting music comes about when producers and make this easy to achieve.
composers blend sounds that wouldnt at first seem like they would work well
together. Obviously, this can be a fine line to walk, and its as easy to get it wrong AUTOMATE INSTRUMENT PARAMETERS
as get it right. However, some really interesting results can be achieved by mixing,
06 This applies to both hardware and software instruments
say, orchestral and synth sounds, or electronic beats with acoustic guitars and and is an alternative method of dynamism to a sound. All
that sort of thing. The flexibility of DAWs means its easy to quickly load up a cello DAWs support automation and if youre controlling external
or an 808, then swap it out for something else if its not having the desired effect. kit this can be done by using MIDI CC channels routed out of
your computer. Try automating filters, oscillators, octave
settings, FX parameters and more to liven up your sounds. A
ADD MOVEMENT related trick is to use MIDI effects like arpeggiators and
05 Many patches are stationary, meaning the sound has no randomizers to add variation to programmed
movement. But adding movement can make patches much synthesized sounds.
more interesting and bring a greater sense of rhythm to a
track. The most common way to do this is to use modulation Automating
inside a synth via a mod matrix of some kind. A good example instrument and effect
parameters is a good
way to create more
interesting parts.
07 AIM HIGH
Reasons Thor synth is
If you record a cheap instrument thats in poor
a good example of an condition its going to sound bad and no amount of
instrument that lets processing trickery will truly hide that fact. While we cant all
you easily route enjoy playing guitars, keyboards and drums costing
modulation sources. thousands of pounds, you should try to beg, steal or borrow
the best kit you can for a recording session. The usual
suspects here are cheap drums and poor-sounding
Real hardware keyboards or synths, especially piano patches. If youre
instruments can recording in a studio, try to use any kit they may have if it
lend a more
offers a better sound than yours.
authentic sound.
TRY TO USE REAL KIT

08 Software is excellent and has all kinds of
benefits, but its great to use real kit if you
have the opportunity. As well as imparting
a more real or human sound to a track, it
also means you are likely to get a more

You dont have to be an expert

to build your own sampled
instruments from scratch
distinctive and unique overall feel. This doesnt mean Multisample your own
instruments and find
everything has to be hardware a lot of musicians and a sound that is
producers will mix together both real and virtual sounds. Try uniquely yours.
recording some real percussion, for example, or using a
vintage synth to provide a bit of atmosphere. It can make a
big difference.
ADD SUB AND NOISE

09 Synthesised sounds are by their nature quite clean as
they remain inside the electronic world. Most synths enable
you to add some extra signal to make a patch more complex Many synths let you
and this can be a good idea to try. As well as adding more add sub and noise to
oscillators using different waveforms, you often get the patches which can
add depth.
option to add sub and noise. Sub will insert a frequency
several octaves below the note you play, while
noise lets you blend in some white
noise to fill out the sound.
SAMPLE YOUR OWN

10 INSTRUMENTS
This isnt as complex as it might
sound, and tools such as Kontakt, ISOLATE YOUR AMPS
Reasons NN-XT, MOTUs MachFive
12 Guitar amps, when cranked up, generate a fair amount
and others are geared towards of vibration and this can muddy the signal that is picked up
helping you to create your own by the mic. The same is true of bass amps, which can really
instruments. Sample individual notes at different velocities shake the floor. By placing an amp on a crate or a sturdy box
to build up full instruments or record drum hits to make your you can isolate it from pumping lots of sound into the floor
own kits. Tools like ReDrum, Maschine and others mean that and hopefully get a more accurate tone. You might also want
you dont have to be a programing expert to build your own to take a direct out from the amp when recording and capture
sampled instruments from scratch. it to a separate channel. This will give you more options when
it comes to shaping your guitar tone later.
RECORDING AND PERFORMANCE TIPS
11 LEARN ABOUT MIC PLACEMENT SUPERCHARGE TIP
The location and angle of microphones when recording GIVE THE VOCALIST SOME REVERB
can make a real difference to the end result. At one extreme, 13 This might sound obvious but its overlooked
adding room mics to a drum recording setup will give you surprisingly often. When a singer is performing, by default
more air to blend in with the tighter, drier signal you get from they hear a dry version of their own vocal in the
the close-mics. At a simpler level, adding a second, off-centre headphones. This is actually quite unnatural and can affect
mic when recording a guitar amp will enable you to capture a the quality and nature of the performance. Its much better
thinner tone to complement the louder, thicker one your to provide them with some reverb on the signal, which you
direct mic will be picking up. would usually not record but supply as an insert on their
monitor feed. In bigger studios this is easy enough to
achieve, but in smaller setups you might need to use an
interface with dedicated DSP-powered effects to do it, such
as Yamahas N-Series.
Incorporating older
technology into your
recording workflow
BE EXPERIMENTAL
can bring 14 Theres a lot to be said for trying out new things when
unexpectedly
interesting results. you record. Indeed, history is awash with examples of bands
making odd choices, such as setting up the bass in a
stairwell or the drums outside and getting great results
despite the apparently adverse environment. Bear in mind
that it wont always work sometimes it will sound plain
awful. However, you should learn some interesting tricks and
in the process get a more unique sound. Too much isolation
can suck the energy out of a performance, so consider
putting the band members in the same room when
recording, even if this means potentially more bleed between
the microphones.

BE A MUSICAL MAGPIE
15 Modern kit is extremely clean to record through, so to
get a more unique sound you can use older gear, which tends
to have a way of colouring whatever you put through it. This
could be as simple as recording through an old broadcast
mic, routing sounds through crusty old outboard, or using an
analogue desk or even a tape machine or old sampler to
process sounds before routing them back into your DAW.
EMBRACE THE CHAOS

16 Although a significant part of music is accuracy, it can
be liberating to go in the opposite direction and introduce
some randomisation into your projects. This could be as
simple as using an arpeggiator to generate some MIDI
sequences or re-sampling loops or beats into a tool such as
Native Instruments Maschine or an MPC unit and re-
sequencing them on-the-fly. Its the digital equivalent of a
guitarist layering up tons of delay and feedback and just
going with whatever transpires.
CAPTURE EVERYTHING
17 Its a strange fact, but people sometimes give their best
performances when they think theyre not being recorded. Using tape emulation USE A CLICK TRACK
Without the perceived pressure of this being the take, on groups or across 19 This is a slightly contentious issue
the master buss of a
performers can do something unexpected, more since some drummers seem to think of a metronome as
project is a clever way
spontaneous or interesting than they would ever do when the to add human feel to some sort of admission of failure on their part. If your
pressure was on. So its worth recording everything, even otherwise sterile drummer can keep perfect time by themselves, thats great.
warm-ups, although you probably shouldnt tell the digital recordings. To achieve similarly great consistency, however, it can be wise
performer youre doing it as this negates the exercise. Ideas to use a metronome or click track routed from your DAW to
captured in this way might be used or serve as reference for a feed to your drummers headphones. As well as ensuring no
better way to sing or play a part.
SUPERCHARGE TIP Some people give their best

performance when they think
SIMULATE PHYSICAL SPACES USING TECHNOLOGY
18 If youre not able to find unusual physical spaces such
as cupboards or bathrooms to record in to get specific
sounds, just record as cleanly as possible and re-create
those environments afterwards using effects. By using theyre not being recorded
effects such as Speakerphone, EQ, reverb and physically
modelled reverbs and other plug-ins, you can place sounds Knock together some speed-ups or slow-downs, this will mean that programming
inside virtual spaces in order to simulate a sound being beats or sequences in and quantizing MIDI parts over the top of the drum takes
close up, far away or in very precise locations. Some a mini sequencer and should be trouble-free.
higher-end physically modelled effects even contain you may be surprised
impulse responses from specific locations, such as at how good the
SORT OUT YOUR STUDIO FOLDBACK
Carnegie Hall or the Sydney Opera House. results can sound. 20 This can be a tricky one, since it might be in the hands
Dont overthink it!
of the studio rather than your own. When performing in a
studio, many people use headphones to hear a monitor mix
of everything else thats going on. If this mix is a bit on the
quiet side, as it often can be, it makes it difficult for a
performer to really get into their stride and let rip. Try to get
the monitor mix as loud and as punchy as possible (this may
involve beefing-up your headphone amps). A good foldback
system will always make life a lot easier for the people
playing and singing.
CLEVER USE OF EFFECTS

KNOW WHEN TO USE REVERB
21 Reverb can be great, but its very easy to use too much
and end up with a washy, far-off sound. Unless thats your
ultimate goal, go for much shorter reverbs that dont muddy
your mix. Some modules let you control the EQ of the reverb
and this can be really handy, especially for reining in an unruly
top end and preventing the shimmering effect that can make
a sound a bit too 1980s. Its rare that you would leave a sound
completely dry, although this can be an interesting approach
if youre looking to get a very specific kind of sound.
BE CREATIVE WITH EQ
22 EQ isnt just for taming unruly sounds it can also be a
creative tool. One of the more interesting uses for it is to

create a phoneline-style effect for vocals, well. Using compression pedals on guitars and
drums or guitars by dropping out all but the basses prior to recording is an interesting way to
upper-midrange frequencies. The resulting tinny tame the sound before it is captured.
effect can be heard on many records and is a
good trick for adding a little extra something to GO OUTSIDE THE BOX
the feel of a track. Its also easier than trying to
25 Plug-ins can do a lot of the work for you, but
record from a phone, although this is also it can be handy to incorporate hardware effects
possible of course. into your projects as well, as these often have a
more unique sound. You can record through them
DO DELAY in which case they are permanently imprinted
23 Echo and delay are excellent for thickening onto the take or, perhaps more usefully, plumb
a sound or creating the illusion that a sound is them into your system and apply them as inserts
bigger than it actually is. Use short, double-tap post-recording. Many DAWs now support the
delays to thicken-up percussive sounds, or incorporating of external effects directly into a
longer, multi-stage delays to create more project so you just need to work out the wiring
atmospheric, swirling effects. A short delay on a and ports to get your classic guitar pedal working
vocal can sometimes be more effective than on your vocals.
reverb, since it adds body without adding space.
As such its a popular trick in hip hop production. A bit of A phoneline EQ GET A LITTLE CRAZY
delay, carefully applied, can make tracks sound deeper and
preset is a good way of 26 There is an increasing number of mash-up-style effects
quickly making a
move involving. sound tinny. on the market and these greatly simplify the process of
cutting-up and generally mangling your sounds with a few
LEARN ABOUT COMPRESSION clicks while keeping everything in-time. Plug-ins like Turnado,
24 Everyone knows you need to use some compression in iZotope Stutter Edit, Effectrix and the like are astonishingly
projects, but its important to know when to use it. Bass and powerful and allow you to do in seconds what would once
drums usually benefit from a little more compression than have taken hours. Best of all, theyre nondestructive, so if you
average, as can vocals. A little compression applied across decide to change the way your drum part is being sliced,
many tracks can result in a smoother and more coherent reversed, delayed and scratched, you can at any point.
overall sound. Trying to simply compress the master channel Tools like NIs
is unlikely to sound great, although applying compression to AMP IT UP
groups or busses can work
Maschine can help 27 Simply boosting the volume of sounds rarely makes
you mash-up and
revitalise existing them sound better, but running them through an amp
samples. simulator often does. By introducing digitally created
overdrive and distortion you can push a sound and make it
warmer, more gritty and earthy, but without risking pushing it
too hard in the mix. This applies to any sound in fact,
guitars are probably the least interesting source to try amp
sims on. Stick them on vocals, drums, horns, samples and
anything else. Use subtle distortion or push it hard depending
on what you want to achieve.
AUTOMATE EFFECTS
28 Plug-in effects support automation just as well as
instruments do and it can be a great way to liven things up.
Instead of having a reverb stay the same across the duration
of a vocal, why not try having it more intense at certain
points? Alternatively, have a delay suddenly cut into a guitar
or keyboard part. If youre working with hardware effects you
can still achieve a similar result, although you will have to
manually turn controls up and down as a track plays and
record the results.
SUPERCHARGE TIP
EXPERIMENT WITH SURROUND SOUND
29 This is a bit of an unusual one since it requires you to
have at least as many physical outputs with connected
speakers as channels you want to work with. But working
with surround sound perhaps for games, movies or TV
can be a really interesting way to go beyond basic left/
right stereo and get really creative with sound placement as
it relates to the listener. Many classic albums have been
remixed for 5.1 surround, and most flagship DAWs
enable you to work with it
pretty easily,
so its a good
one to look into
if youre
thinking about
Surround can be
getting more
tricky to work with but experimental
ultimately really with your
Mash-up plug-ins like Turnado give you a whole rewarding in how productions.
suite of crazy effects in a single window. creative it lets you be.

USE TAPE SIMULATORS

30 Not to make things sound wobbly, necessarily, but to
impart a sort of warm glue to your sound. Many producers
find that while getting hold of a real tape machine is fairly
impractical, a decent tape-simulation plug-in can do the job
just as well and with far less hassle. Adding small amounts
of wow and flutter can make a sound appear less digital and
processed. You could apply it to just the drums, or apply it to
the entire mix at the mixdown or mastering stages depending
on how you like to work.
SEQUENCING AND EDITING

SUPERCHARGE YOUR SAMPLES
31 Many people have a sample collection of some sort,
even if its only the ones that came bundled with a DAW. Over
time these can get a little tired and you may stop using them.
A good trick to revitalise them is to slice them up and
re-sequence them so that they sound completely different.
Tools such as Maschine and AKAIs MPCs can do this, and
instruments like FXpansions Geist and Propellerheads
ReCycle or the new slicing tools in Reason 7 are adept at it
too. With fairly minimal effort you can make your old samples
sound new again. Some people prefer
old-style sequencing SUPERCHARGE TIP
32 USE AUDIO PROCESSING approaches, so why
TRY A NEW WAY OF WORKING
Not as in effects, but as in the Tools menu. Digital audio not give them a go and 35 You might be comfortable with sequencing in a certain
see what shakes out?
is infinitely malleable and edits are generally nondestructive. way, perhaps using blocks of data in your favourite DAW. But
Its easy to pitch- and time-stretch audio loops or recordings, this can also lead to complacency and doing things in the
reverse them or cut them up to change them and make them same way. For a new approach, consider using a different
sound more interesting. Tools like Melodyne or VariAudio in tool to compose with and see where it takes you. For
Cubase or Flex Pitch and Time in Logic make it simple to edit example, if you always work in Logic, try sequencing a song
notes within polyphonic audio clips. In Reason 7, recorded or with Maschine instead. Old-style sequencers encourage
imported audio is automatically time-stretched to fit a different working methods from timeline-based software.
project (and sliced up, too). Audio is now almost as flexible as
MIDI, so take advantage of that fact.
the part louder overall, so you need to go a little further. You
could pan each copy of the track differently to create more
Many DAWs incorporate tools interesting stereo effects, or process one copy differently
from the other. EQ and effect it so it has a different feel, then
that let you manipulate notes blend it with the original version. This is a good way to
quickly get a bigger sound.
within recorded audio parts 34 EXPERIMENT WITH ARRANGEMENTS

This is a lot easier than it used to be thanks to the
flexibility of DAWs. Tools such as Cubases Arranger track and
DOUBLE-TRACK Blocks mode in Reason enable you to create multiple
33 Double-tracking used to be a trick employed by on-the-fly arrangements without having to copy and paste
producers to beef-up a sound, which involved recording a sequencer data. Find one or more that you like and youre
second copy onto the master tape (typically vocals or often able to render them out to new project files, saving a
guitars). In a DAW its incredibly easy: simply select a track Arranger tools like huge amount of effort. You can easily, for example, make a
and choose Duplicate. Of course, initially this will just make Blocks in Reason let radio edit and then a full-length version and even extended
you try out multiple mixes, all without having to laboriously copy and paste.
arrangements with
the minimum of fuss.
USE ADVANCED AUDIO-MANIPULATION TOOLS
36 Many DAWs now incorporate tools that are able to
identify and let you manipulate individual
notes within recorded audio parts, and
third-party tools such as Melodyne let you
do this too. As well as letting you do clever
stuff like turning songs in a major key into
a minor key, the technology has other
benefits, such as the ability to extract
pitch and micro pitch to MIDI. This allows
you to do things like double-up a
recorded vocal part with a keyboard part,
or match a drum part to a guitar riff. All of
these can be handy for getting a bigger
sound overall.
EMBRACE THE FLEXIBILITY OF DIGITAL AUDIO

37 Once upon a time, making edits involved splicing tape
together. Now its a very different world. Even a modest

computer can handle running loads of tracks, so you have

complete freedom to duplicate and layer parts. Try pitch-
shifting duplicated vocal parts to create harmonies, using
parallel compression techniques to get a New York sound, or
creating atmospheres and layers via extreme time-stretching.
GET REMIXED
38 Thanks to modern technology, remixing is easier than
ever and it can be an excellent way to explore musical ideas
that you might not have thought of yourself. There are many
examples of remixes that are better or more successful than
the original track, and a remixer will often go in a musical
direction that gives a track a completely new feel. You can
supply them with a project file or, more likely, a folder of
printed audio stems complete with tempo information.
Tools such as
KNOW WHERE TO PUSH
Melodyne, seen here 42
39 THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
Many hardware instruments, especially older ones, have
integrated into Sonar
X3, are a good way to
During mixing you may find yourself gradually nudging
various faders up in an attempt to make certain sounds
an onboard sequencer. Were talking about drum machines, reach inside existing louder. This fader creep can become problematic if taken too
workstations and samplers such as AKAIs MPC series. Their audio parts and far and result in clipping of the signal. Keep an eye on the
manipulate them.
sequencers often have a unique sound and feel that you dont master fader for any peaks and be careful to avoid red lights
get using the MIDI and quantizing tools inside computer on faders in any track (and especially the master fader).
software. Some developers, like AKAI, have even re-created Remember that you can squeeze the track at the mastering
their hardware in software form for the iPad. By basing a stage, so as long as the levels are healthy during mixdown, it
track on a hardware-sequenced beat or composing entirely in doesnt need to be super-loud.
hardware you can often get a more unique sound. A good
example is DJ Shadows Endtroducing, which was created
entirely on a sampling drum machine and has a unique feel.
Fader creep can become
40 USE ADVANCED MIDI TOOLS
Were all used to arpeggiators and quantization, but problematic if taken too far and
result in clipping of the signal
some DAWs have more advanced MIDI tools that let you filter
and work with MIDI tracks in more unusual ways. Cubase, for
example, has a Logical Editor that is able to perform an action
on specific notes, perhaps changing the velocity of every fifth
note, or remove all accidentals. Theres also MIDI USE GROUPING
compression, which equalizes the velocity of selected notes.
43 In those situations where you have multi-source
There are quite a few such commands and although slightly instruments such as a multitracked drum kit, its often a
esoteric, they can be useful in batch-processing MIDI parts good idea to create a group channel and route all of the
for interesting results. constituent drum channels (for example) to it. In this way you
can submix the drums correctly and then, in the main mix,
simply bring the entire kit up or down as required in the mix
with a single fader while maintaining the correct balance
MIXING AND MASTERING between all of the different drum mics. Whats more, as an
USE THE FREEZE FUNCTION added bonus you can process the entire kit through an effect
41 Your DAW almost certainly has a Freeze function and using just a single instance of that effect instead of creating
this is great for squeezing the maximum level of performance multiple copies of it. Of course, each individual channel can
out of your system. If your computer is struggling to run all of still be effected if necessary before it is routed to the group
the tracks in your project, freeze instrument and effected Use your DAWs as well.
tracks to simple audio parts and you will be able to load up Freeze function to
more plug-ins. Its not that more necessarily means better in reduce the load on
your computer.
this situation, but sometimes you might need ten instances
of that great synth, and this is the best way to keep things
running smoothly.
Classic tools like AKAIs MPC represent not just

another kind of vibe, but a different approach to
programming music.

Metering the output of

your projects gives a headphones to see if any problems leap out at you. They
better idea of whats almost certainly will too much bass, not enough vocal and
really going on and lets so on. But this is part of the process and lets you go back and
you push the track or
fix it before everything is nailed down.
rein it in, depending on
whats required.
USE PARALLEL COMPRESSION
47 Some DAWs, notably Reason 7, support the creation of
parallel channels directly in the mixer. In others its possible
to achieve the same effect by doing some creative
duplication and routing of tracks. The idea is to take the clean
signal from one track and route it to another channel, which
you then process differently. Typically, this involves applying
hard compression to it to provide a pumping or squashed
An audio analysis plug-in will

provide an accurate display of
whats really going on
effect. This track can then be blended with the original to
create a fuller sound. You can keep going from there, too,
creating more than one parallel channel from the same
USE AN ANALYSER source to get a really big effect.
44 They might not sound as exciting as delays or
distortions, but audio analysis plug-ins can be crucial in KEEP VOCALS AUDIBLE
helping you squeeze more volume out of a track, whether at
48 This might seem like a rather obvious point, but for any
the mixing or mastering stages. You tend to base your music that involves vocals they need to be as audible and
perception of volume on looking at fader levels and using your clear as possible but without sticking out of the mix too
ears, but there are many potential points of confusion, such much. Achieving this is almost entirely down to proper EQ
as volume knobs on speakers and interfaces being set and compression settings, but you can also help by
incorrectly. An analysis plug-in strapped across your master identifying the frequency range of the vocals and then
buss wont affect the sound but will provide an accurate looking for any other elements that might be fighting for
display of whats really going on, helping you to understand if space with them. These might include midrange sounds
youre pushing too hard or not enough. such as guitars or keyboards, and you might want to EQ
those sounds accordingly to make a space for the vocals to
DONT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP shine through.
45 Even if youre an experienced producer, a second pair of
trusted ears never hurts when youre mixing. If you work on a
project for days, weeks or months you can really lose
perspective and your judgement can be impaired. By getting
the opinion of a second person, perhaps the studio engineer, Reason 7 features
parallel channels,
you might be able to identify
which are useful for
deficiencies in the mix that getting a big sound.
werent initially apparent to
you. They may know a trick
for sidechain-compressing
the bass or for adding air to
the vocal track that adds
that little extra something
to the sound.
TEST YOUR MIXES

46 Your tracks might
sound amazing over the
studios 5,000 ATC
monitors, but most people
will be listening to them on
something considerably
less high-end. Of course,
you cant account for
everyone who might have
some dreadful bass boost
turned on, but you can at
least play test mixes over a
range of speakers and
Use grouping to gain better

control of larger projects with
multitracked sources.

SIDECHAIN-COMPRESS WHERE APPROPRIATE

49 If youre working with electronic music you may be Limiting is essential,
but understand how
familiar with the concept of bass sidechain compression. youre shaping the
This is how the classic pumping effect of many club tunes is sound if you want to
achieved. Use a sidechain-capable compressor on the bass get optimum results.
track and feed it from the kick drum track, setting the
threshold and ratio controls appropriately to achieve the level
of pumping that you want.
Use sidechain
compression to
achieve that classic
pumping effect.
SUPERCHARGE TIP
KNOW YOUR LIMITERS
50 Limiting is the last stage of the mastering process (and indeed the last stage
of the whole production process) so its vital to get it right. Its tempting to slam a
track really hard and get maximum clout from it, but this isnt usually the most
sensible approach. Think carefully about whether youre squeezing all the life out
of the signal and, if necessary, back it off a little. Supercharging a sound doesnt
necessarily have to mean pushing it as hard as possible it can mean getting the
correct amount of life or power from it. Indeed, this should be your goal. MTF

MusicTech.indd 1 Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 16
MTF36.Thomann 28.07.2014 10:21:16
18/08/2014 16:50 Music
21:16 MusicTech.indd
MTF36.Thomann2 Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 17 28.07.2014 10:21:42
18/08/2014 16:50
MTF Technique Composition & Experimentation in Live
Ableton Live Become a Live Power User
Compose &
experiment
What do you do when you run out of ideas and hit that brick wall in composition? Experiment!
Liam OMullane guides you through Lives tools for experimental work
T
here are many moments in music composition main different is that youre collaborating with your
when you might feel the need for experimenting, On the disc computer, but like working with other people, you still get to
or using tools you might not normally turn to. You approve, dismiss or amend any ideas put on the table.
could be suffering from writers block and not There are many times Ive completely re-worked an idea
know where to take your work next, or perhaps Accompanying to see where it could go and Ive rarely found the efforts to
project file included
youre stuck on the first idea and need something to kick on the DVD be worthless. These changes might transform a lifeless idea
start it all off. Or maybe you are nearing the end of your song into something much more upbeat, or create various other
writing and feel the track still needs something better instances of an idea I can use for variations or fills at the
within it. Theres always the option to step away from your end of a phrase. So try not to be too precious when going
work and think about new ideas, but the only problem with through the techniques covered in this workshop. You
should instead see this as a challenge: how far can you take
an idea to create a completely new one? The process can be
You should see this as a quite inspirational and potentially give you a new key part to
your latest work. MTF
challenge: how far can you take

an idea to create a new one
this is that it might not take you into any
new territories it is still you and
probably the same thought processes
you always use, after all! Experimenting
is a much better way and opens up
many new possibilities and could result
in some of your most unique work yet.
This doesnt mean that your musical
integrity is compromised in any way.
Youre simply leaving an interpretation
of your work in the hands of somewhere
else, just as you would if you
collaborated with another person. The
FOCUS ON MAKING THE

MOST OF YOUR EFFORTS
Live has one of the simplest ways of dealing with
the individual contents of a project. At any given
time you can search the contents of another
project in the Live browser and drag any tracks or
individual clips out and into your currently loaded
session. This also works in reverse, so if you have
a good idea but it may not suit the current project
youre working on, grab the top of the track or a
clip respectively, then drag it to a sensible place
for easy access in the future. I have a folder called
song ideas which I drag every unused idea into.
Live also lets you preview these ideas in tempo
with your project, meaning you can audition your
own ideas in the same context as you would with
audio loops.
MTF36.tutorial live Comp&Exp.FOR PRINT.indd 18 18/08/2014 16:29

Composition & Experimentation in Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Experimental MIDI
01
Well start with some of the most musical forms of manipulation,
for when you dont want to move too far away from a musical
structure you may have already created. Under the MIDI effects tab
02
Weve gone from an incredibly simple melody with a single note
per beat to a flourish of notes using two arpeggiators. This
arpeggiator began its life from the C Major Walk 16th Grooved preset
you will find many tools to play with. Were starting with the which we then modified through changing the rate for faster runs and
Arpeggiator which is useful for quickly transforming simple ideas into transpose was changed from major to minor to suit the existing
something more animated. melody more.
03
We then placed a second arpeggiator device and tweaked this to
produce more movement to the melody. For further changes to
this set-up you can feed the arpeggiator more notes using a chord
04 Another way to explore new possibilities is to use a Random
device which, as youd expect, creates random events from your
existing MIDI material. Tweak its settings so the Chance amount is high
device. You then just move the Pitch dials for each note you add and for less repetition, then experiment with other parameters.
tweak until you like the results.
05
To record the results of any experimentation with MIDI effects,
add a new MIDI Track, select the output of the track you want to
record from the top MIDI From menu, then select Post FX so all your
06 Dont think that this type of experimentation is only reserved for
melodic work. Try dragging these effects to your drum ideas.
Because drum kit layouts rarely use all of the MIDI notes available,
processing is captured. New MIDI clips will be created when you record youll need to bare this in mind when you tweak parameters otherwise
with all the new content as notes, meaning you can manually edit the majority of the notes being created could be triggering nothing.
these parts to perfection.
focus Ableton Live 2014 | 19

MTF Technique Composition & Experimentation in Live
MTF Step-by-Step Creative audio processing
01
Certain aspects of audio processing are considered mixing aids,
like compression, EQ and so on. But other effects can become
part of your creative process. For instance an immediate and drastic
02 You can take this a step further by automating its sync value so
rhythmic changes become an integral part of your idea. For quick
automation either hit the Arrangement Record Button in arrangement
way to change your ideas into something rhythmic is to add an Auto view or the Session Record Button for session view. Then tweak away
Pan device. to record your movement.
03
Auto Pan works best on sounds with a constant output whereas
delays can be useful for the opposite situation when you have
more sporadic notes. Try adding a Simple Delay device and exploring
04 The time aspect of your ideas can also be manipulated through
the use of Lives Beat Repeat device. This can add a mash-up/edit
like aspect to your work so it saves the need for you to get heavily into
the Delay Time values, press Link if you dont want a stereo effect and, editing for a quick re-work. Explore the library presets, especially
of course, explore automation too. Deconstruct which will heavily change your current sound.
05
For musical pitch changes to an audio file over time you need
to automate the clips Transpose control. But for sound-design
styles of pitch change, try Frequency Shifter as this doesnt keep
06 Thankfully turning any audio processed into a new, rendered clip
is much simpler than working with MIDI effects. Just Right [PC] /
Ctrl [Mac] + Click the top of a track in session view or its header to the
the harmonic relationships intact which adds a nastier tone to right in arrangement view. Select Freeze Track from the menu, then
your sounds. right click again and select Flatten.
20 | Ableton Live 2014 focus

Composition & Experimentation in Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Max For Live devices
01
For those who own Live Suite, you can use many of the Max for
Live devices for experimental work as well. A good starting point
is Mono Sequencer if you dont have anything created already. Its a
02 The Random button randomises whichever of the five tabs are
selected at anytime - Pitch, Velocity, Octave, Duration and
Repeat. If youre close to getting something you like, keep Random set
monophonic step sequencer but its Random button is the real winner to a lower percentage, but if you want complete change with each
for unexpected results. click, set this to 100%.
03
Drunk Again is an interesting device as it adds Randoms rapid
repeats of notes within the playback of your MIDI clip. Its best
recorded for a while to capture the magic moments. We like this on
04
Instant Haus is another interesting device as its designed to
drive kick, snare/clap, hi-hat and percussion parts for immediate
house music. Run this into an instrument and you might get results
percussion parts to help them get the glitch treatment. similar to Mono Sequencer, but the random section includes groove if
you want to explore timing.
05
When it comes to adjusting parameters over time there are a few
tools with Max that allow you to do this, with an added twist of
being able to use another sound as the trigger for the sound youre
06
Under Audio Effects in the Max for Live folder, grab an Envelope
Follower and drag this to the drum track. This will follow the
rhythmic amplitude changes of the drum sound. You can then click
focussing on. Alongside your melody idea, set up a drum source. Here Map followed by clicking the parameter you wish to control to connect
were using a simple drum loop. them together.

MTF Technique Audio recording & editing in Live
Audio recording
and editing in Live
Whether you intend to record a multi-miced performance or just the odd found sound, youll
need to understand how recording and editing works in Live. Liam OMullane explains...
L
ike many aspects of using Ableton Live, theres stretch-based artefacts. But this isnt artefact-free, either,
more than one way to skin a cat, and when it On the disc as the sound will suffer from timing distortions as you alter
comes to recording audio, the main options are pitch. So after hearing the differences between the two,
whether to record in Arrangement or Session youll have a better idea of which approach is the most
View. The first two walkthroughs opposite and Accompanying appropriate for the task at hand.
over the page will guide you through both approaches, but on the DVD Before hitting record, also make sure that youre set up
like the different approaches to editing described in the for the desired bit-depth and sample rate. Bit-depth
third step-by-step, one size does not fit all. dictates the available dynamic range in your recordings,
So take the techniques discussed onboard, but its only with 24-bit being a typical choice. Sample rates represent
through repeated use that youll gain a personal context for the highest frequency limit (once halved) of your
their use. This time is needed to decide which approach recordings, and there are all sorts of arguments as to
which setting is best. In general, the higher the fidelity you
Its not until now that weve want, the higher the sample rate needs to be. Orchestral
recordings tend to be recorded at 88.2kHz or above. Most
focused specifically on the electronic music can be set to anywhere from 44.1kHz and
above. Sample rate can be altered after opening
recording process itself Preferences from the Options/Live (PC/Mac) menu and
selecting Audio from the left-hand tab. For bit-depth, click
the Record Launch Warp tab. MTF
best suits your own preferences for workflow and the tasks
you will typically undertake. For instance, pitch-correction
(covered in the third walkthrough) can be applied by using
many of the excellent Warp modes available. While these
will allow you to preserve the timing of your recordings, a
side effect can be that the sound quality is compromised
as it stretches or condenses your audio to keep it in-time
after re-pitching.
You can minimise this by using different Warp modes on
either a global or edit-by-edit basis as required, but the
good, old-fashioned vari-speed approach can also come in
handy when you want to completely avoid any time-
FOCUS ON CUE MIXING

When recording, you may need to create a custom headphone mix for a
performer that differs from the mix you want to listen to as you record. This
headphone mix could include lots of reverb for a vocalist, helping them to feel
comfortable while performing, and perhaps a loud melodic instrument to help
them stay in-tune. A drummer may want everything but themselves in their
headphones as their drums are already loud enough. Whatever your
requirements, you will most likely need to route the Cue output of Live to the
relevant output on your interface to feed the headphones. This needs to be a
different output from that used for the Master output of Live, otherwise it will
merely copy the main mix. The Cue output will play back any pre-count and the
metronome, if required, but it can also send other audio from your project to the
performers headphones. A Cue option appears above the Cue level control after
selecting its separate audio output settings. When enabled, this will turn all
solo buttons into a headphone icon. For quick set-up you can simply enable the
relevant icon to send those channels to the headphones. For an independent
mix of tracks, send only a single return track to the Cue out and instead use the
other tracks send controls to blend the desired balance of instruments to the
headphones via this return track.
MTF36.tutorial live Audio rec.FOR PRINT.indd 22 18/08/2014 16:25

Audio recording & editing in Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Recording in Arrangement View
01
You can choose to record in both Session and Arrangement
Views. This can be when Live is already in the middle of playback
or you can use a pre-count to count in the start of both recording and
02
To capture a natural performance, its best not to focus on
smaller sections and loop around them. Instead, use Live in a
purely linear mode by making sure that Loop Switch is disabled, then
playback at the same time. The metronome button has a menu for record the performance from start to finish. This will result in a much
tailoring the duration of pre-count for the performers needs. more natural-sounding recording than working in small sections.
03
If you want to record multiple takes with this non-looping
approach, its best to record each new take to a different track.
You can then accurately split each part by disabling Snap To Grid from
04
If a performer cant quite nail a full take or did a good job but
small sections might benefit from a re-take, you can use Lives
punch-in/-out function. Click and highlight the area to focus on and
the Options menu and using Split from the Edit menu. The [0] key can select Loop Selection to move the Loop Brace. Press the Punch-In/-
be used to disable takes when determining the best ones. Out Switch (in yellow) to map to the Loop Braces start and end points.
Recording will now take place only between these two points.
05
Another approach is to track multiple recordings by cycling over a
small section repeatedly. This is useful if you want to ad-lib and
try out multiple different ideas. Start by looping around the area of
06 The audio clip that youve recorded will have an internal Loop
Brace thats the length of your clip. To audition the other takes,
simply move the Loop Brace around to change the content of the clip.
focus, then record various times until you think there are sufficient This avoids the alternative, lengthy approach of moving and extending
decent parts to work with. the clip to gain access to the other takes.

MTF Technique Audio recording & editing in Live
MTF Step-by-Step Recording in Session View
01
Session View can be useful for Arrangement View-like cycle
recording, except that clips are recorded to separate slots, which
keeps things easier to deal with visually. If you intend to work in a
02 Multiple takes can be recorded separately by creating multiple
tracks with their Arm buttons enabled. Then, as long as Start
Recording on Scene Launch is enabled from the Preferences menu,
linear way you can simply hit record in an empty clip slot and record you just trigger a scene to start playback and recording of your
continuously, then drag the file into Arrangement View for editing. multiple takes. Alter each clips Loop Brace position as in Step 6 of the
previous walkthrough so that they represent each take.
03
Now that you have your recordings, you can either drag them into
Arrangement View for editing, or use an exclusive method within
Session View. This technique is much more hands-on and less
04 Highlighting your recordings, open the Launch Box, enable Legato
mode and set Quantization to none. Legato allows you to move
from playing one clip to another without losing the playback position.
graphically-based. Once youve set up your Loop Braces to represent This lets you jump between one take and the other like a manual edit.
each take, drag the recordings to one track so you can play back only The lack of Quantization means launching of clips will be immediate.
one take at a time.
05
Next, assign computer keys or MIDI notes to each clip using
either Key Map mode or MIDI Map mode from the top right of the
screen. Now you can launch the takes with your fingers and jam out
06
When youre ready to commit your compiling to Live, hit the
Arrangement Record Button to capture your performance in
Arrangement View. From here you can fine-tune and edit between
potential edits of the recordings. We find that this helps you listen to parts. Drag the takes back to Session View if necessary after
how the edits alter the performance, and you can practice until you consolidating it to a new audio file via the Edit menu.
think it sounds right.

Audio recording & editing in Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Editing techniques
01
There are several key tools youll need to work with when editing
a performance. If youve already comped from various takes youll
have multiple clips sequenced one after another. Live will
02
When trying to improve the timing of smaller edits, rather than
trying to move the clips, move their content instead just grab
the Start Marker in the Sample Editor window to move the content and
automatically smooth-out the edits youve made with a crossfade. To disable Snap To Grid for more accuracy. Re-size the clip to avoid
view and edit these, select Show Fades from the Create menu. abruptly chopping off the sounds start or end points.
Fade-ins/-outs can also be controlled in this way.
03
Disabling Warp mode from the Sample View allows you to
re-pitch your audio clips for correction purposes using vari-
speed. This means that the audios duration will expand or contract as
04
Lives Warp mode can be used when you want to edit the timing
within an audio clip but leave the pitch information intact.
Pseudo Warp Markers will appear above the waveform in the Sample
you go down or up in pitch respectively. Use the Transpose and Detune Editor. These can be double-clicked and dragged to condense or
amounts to correct your audios pitch. expand the clips content.
05
Like tuning a non-warped clip, Transpose and Detune can be
used with Warp mode enabled as long as its set to anything but
Re-Pitch mode. Finer tuning through Detune is best for minor
06 If you plan on warping a multi-audio recording like drum mics or
various instruments from a live performance, first ensure that all
audio to be edited is the same length (Consolidate all pieces to a new
corrections, but this can have only a static setting per clip, so Split length from the Edit menu if needed). Highlight the parts, edit one
each area to be corrected and set the Detune on a part-by-part basis. clips Warp Markers and the others will follow. The striped pattern
across the top of the clip confirms you are in a grouped Warp mode.

MTF Technique Audio & Instrument Racks
Using Audio &

Instrument Racks
Many people will recognise a Rack as they are used extensively in Lives library content, but
learning to build your own is essential for fluid workflow. Liam OMullane shows you how.
A
bleton Live has quite a few features not found huge range of options. In fact, the only real restriction you
in other DAWs, and Racks is one of them. At the On the disc may encounter will be maxing-out either your CPU or RAM,
most basic level, Racks are containers that but this isnt anything that any computer user hasnt had
enable you to rack together MIDI, instrument to factor into their workflow before.
and audio devices. A Rack containing internal/ Accompanying In this tutorial well be using Live-only devices that are
external instruments is called an Instrument Rack; a Rack on the DVD quite economical in terms of CPU requirements. Its only
of standalone audio processing devices is an Audio Rack. when you start stacking large numbers of third-party,
However, Racks are more than an easy way to bundle resource-hungry instruments and effects that youll
multiple elements into one easily saveable and therefore perhaps need to be a bit more conscious about what you
recallable package. Racks give you the option to run their use and why. If processing power does become an issue,
internal signal paths in parallel or in series, which offers a make use of Lives Freeze feature to render the live
processing as temporary audio. When youre ready to
commit to ideas, we encourage you to then Flatten them
Racks are more than an easy into newly rendered audio files. You can then perform any
additional editing in these audio files while freeing up
way to bundle multiple elements computer resources (both of these functions are accessed
from the Edit menu).
into a saveable package Racks can be used at any point throughout the
production process, and typical uses include stacking
layers of synths for huge, epic sounds, applying go-to
FOCUS ON USING EXTERNAL HARDWARE parallel processing such as compression and distortion,
Lives External Audio and Instrument devices enable you to create mid-and-side processing, and building interesting musical
default presets for your outboard processors and sound sources tools for new ideas or exploring intricate audio-processing
respectively. A sound being triggered by MIDI or passing in and out of
your computer as audio will always incur a little delay time. However, chains for sound-design tasks.
you can offset this for instruments by setting them to play something As you can see, there are multiple uses for these tools
percussive on the beat, then enable Lives metronome and change the and well now go on to explain some of the most important
Hardware Latency value to get both playing in time. This is set to
milliseconds by default but you can click the ms box to switch it to aspects of Rack design. If at any point you get lost or are
sample increments for a higher resolution of detail. stuck for inspiration, we recommend that you have a look
The same technique can be applied to External Audio Effects by
playing a percussive audio clip that matches up with the metronome,
through the Live library for Audio, Instrument and MIDI
and the majority of external sources will need some housework Racks. From here its easy to explore and modify
processing to get the best out of them, such as EQ and compression. By an existing Rack. MTF
Grouping them into a Rack along with an external device you can create
a more mix-ready preset to work from. If this is set up correctly you can
enjoy seamless integration of your hardware within Live at a
moments notice as you work.
MTF36.tutorial live.FOR PRINT.indd 26 18/08/2014 16:33

Audio & Instrument Racks Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Audio Racks: advanced control
01
Create a Rack by either dragging a preset from the Live Browser
or using Group from the Edit menu when an existing instrument
or effect(s) is highlighted. Each internal audio channel called Chains
02 There are two reasons for parallel processing, the first being to
audition various approaches for processing audio. This approach
lets you try out different techniques/processors and generally explore
will now be visible. There will be only one by default, but more Chains the possibilities for each element in your mix. Use Solo to move
can be created by clicking in the empty space below and choosing between each Chain; when youve decided which treatment to go for,
Create Chain or Duplicate a Chain from the Edit menu. delete the other Chains to avoid unnecessary processing.
03
Reason two is for parallel processing, with typical uses being for
compression/saturation. This is set up by keeping the first Chain
as-is and adding a second Chain to process in parallel. Chains can also
04
Chains can also be used to create different sonic states to move
between, such as a lighter verse and heavier chorus treatments.
Create the two treatments, using Solo to focus on each one like before,
be used to split a signal into its components: by frequencies using then open the Chain Selector Editor by clicking on the box labelled
multiple Multiband Dynamics devices; by mid-and-side components Chain. Looking like a samplers key-range editor, this allows you to
using the Utility devices Width control at 0% and 200% respectively. move the assignment of each Chain to a different area horizontally.
05
If you move the Zone Blocks for each Chain so they arent
overlapping, the Chain Select Ruler above them (in orange) can
be moved from one sound to the next. When using Zones in this way,
06
All Racks have Macro controls that you can assign most
parameters within a Rack to. If you right/[Ctrl]-click (PC/Mac) on
the Chain Selector Ruler it can be assigned to a Macro and then
effects with tails like reverb or delays will die out naturally. To blend assigned to a MIDI controller. Multiple assignments can be made to
between the two, drag the Zone Blocks across the full range, then drag one Macro, so explore different combinations of assignments, ranges
the Fade Range shapes so they oppose each other to create the fade. and the directions in which they move.

MTF Technique Audio & Instrument Racks
MTF Step-by-Step Instrument and Drum Racks
01
Instrument Racks work in a similar way to Audio Racks and are
useful for stacking sounds for density and depth, or setting up
different sounds to move between dynamically. To create something
02 Instrument Racks have more options than Audio Racks when it
comes to using Zone Blocks and fades. Use Velocity to create
layers with expressive control from a MIDI keyboard, or Key to create
big, take the same approach of using multiple Chains and layering tonal changes up and down the keyboard. Here weve added a bass
contrasting sounds. The MIDI Pitch device is useful here for quickly layer to the lower keys of a melody line; the fade enables it to blend in
finding the best octave or harmony for each new Chain. at the bottom of a descending passage.
03
Macros can be very useful for creating consistency in an
instrument performance. For instance, if you want to use drastic
effects such as a high-pass filter that removes the bulk of the body
04 Drum Racks have the added bonus of an internal Sends and
Returns setup. This is great for achieving polished production
sounds within your Rack. First enable the Show buttons for Sends and
from a sound, you can offset any loss in presence by increasing the Returns (at the very left of the Rack). Drag the required effect to the
volume of a Utility device as the filter cutoff is increased. area labelled Drop Audio Effects Here a Send amount will appear on
the Chain List that can be used to feed the effect.
05
As these effects are internal, you can sub-process all your drums
as one, helping you to achieve a cohesive sound by processing
both the drums and reverb with tools like compression. If you want to
06
A hybrid approach can be used to combine steps 4 and 5 by
initially using Return Chains within the Drum Rack. When youve
decided on your choices, drag-and-drop the internal Return Chains to
drive an effect thats already set up in Lives main Return Tracks, right/ the main Return Track area in Live. This wont carry across the Send
[Ctrl]-click in an empty Chain area and select Create Return Chain. This amounts, which youll have to reapply from the main Sends section of
can then be routed to the relevant Return Track. the Drum Racks channel in Lives mixer.

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MTF36.p029.indd 29 21/08/2014 10:12

MTF Technique Audio to MIDI
Converting
audio to MIDI
Live has some of the best tools for turning an audio file into MIDI to reflect its musical
content. Liam OMullane shares his preferred techniques for getting the best results.
T
he ability to slice-up audio and retrigger it MIDI parts for lead lines, drum grooves and so on
creatively from MIDI is nothing new Live has On the disc (depending on the clarity of the source material) to use
had this functionality for a while now in the form with your own choice of sounds. Other peoples music can
of its Slice To New MIDI Track function and its a also be used as a starting point to generate your own ideas
feature that should never be overlooked. More Accompanying very useful when you want to create something
recently, Live 9 added Convert To MIDI to its toolkit, which on the DVD spontaneous and different from your usual work.
translates the musical content of an audio file into MIDI. As a person whos always made noises with my mouth
Convert Drums to New MIDI Track lets you detect an since I could speak, this feature now allows me to record
audio files rhythmic content and then loads in a basic as I beatbox, hum, whistle or sing ideas and then convert
drum kit to play it back. This does a pretty good job of them into usable MIDI data. I can finally use my primary
picking the right drum sounds and is handy for starting a instrument to interact with the computer as well as pick
up my trusty guitar from time to time to try out different
Beatbox, hum, whistle or sing ideas. Were in an exciting time for music technology and
Convert to MIDI is one of the reasons for this, so lets look
ideas and then convert them at how to get the most from it. MTF
into usable MIDI data

song with the right drum style for a given genre. Convert
Harmony will detect chords; Melody detects monophonic
melody content. The cleaner the pitch and transient
information in the source audio, the better the
transcription results will be. But, as always, there are ways
of helping the computer to do a better job if youre faced
with a less-than-ideal situation. Well show you how to
achieve the best results while suggesting some
experimental uses for the process as well.
It can be easy to dismiss this feature as a simple
transcription tool, but its eye-opening when you realise
how it can enhance your music production. If you want to
remix someone elses music, you can quickly create the
FOCUS ON EXPERIMENTATION
There are many ways to use and misuse the Convert To MIDI tools that Live offers
beyond practical transcription. Try converting one instrument type to another, such
as drums to a melodic bass part. This is the quickest way to get an in the pocket
bass line that immediately works with your drums in a tight and percussive fashion.
You may need to edit the notes to suit your taste, but thats all for creating a good
drum-and-bass combo. You can also develop this with more information between
the fused rhythmic elements, making the bass more of a lead feature a perfect
building block for the rest of a song!
Melodic passages can become drum parts as well if theres sufficient rhythmic
information for Live to interpret. The drums sounds that are triggered may be a bit
unpredictable, but if theres an interesting rhythm in the part, you can loop it and then
move the notes to explore what drums sounds work best. If the drums are too sparse,
this is a great time to take the idea further through the use of editing or perhaps
some of Lives MIDI devices. If the notes are long enough, an Arpeggiator device could
be triggered to add yet more rhythmic information. Theres a huge amount of
possibilities here, and were sure that youll find this process a new way of
jump-starting your creativity.
MTF36.tutorial live con Midi.FOR PRINT.indd 30 18/08/2014 16:31

Audio to MIDI Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Fine-tuning the Audio to MIDI process
01
Audio-to-MIDI conversion begins by right/[Ctrl]-clicking (PC/Mac)
an audio file within Live, its browser, or by dragging and dropping
an audio clip over a MIDI track. After selecting the approach you prefer,
02 Live uses transient information to determine where each note or
beat begins, and this audio example is very distorted and lacks
clear transients. If you hover above the waveform in the Sample Editor
you can check the accuracy by soloing both the original and converted youll see Lives Transient Markers. These can be clicked and moved
tracks by [Ctrl]/[Cmd]-clicking both tracks solo button. while holding [Shift], deleted, or new markers can be added by holding
down [Alt] as you double-click anywhere within the display.
03
If the speed of a musical passage causes issues with the
transcription process, slow it down by pressing the Halve Original
Tempo button (labelled :2) to make each note and transient more
04 Now that the pitch is easier for Live to detect, you help further by
using a Gate device to create clearer transients before
conversion. Set the Gates threshold low enough so that each note
drawn-out. Make sure that the clip is set to the Re-Pitch Warp mode as opens the Gate, then Freeze and flatten the file (from the Edit menu) to
other modes usually distort the content of your audio (although create a new piece of audio for Live to analyse before trying to convert
experimentation is always encouraged). the file again.
05
When youre focusing on a specific area from a larger piece of
audio, click and drag to highlight the portion of audio in focus
before converting to MIDI. This is great for working with sketched audio
06 The timing of a MIDI clip can be expanded or condensed using
MIDI Stretch Markers, which appear when you highlight multiple
notes to edit. Select All from the Edit menu to correct the whole piece
ideas that dont follow Lives tempo, such as a sketched idea sung into while moving the markers at the start/end of your pattern. If the timing
your phones recorder. You can then sort out the timing as part of the is out, highlight those notes and condense/expand them as necessary.
editing process after converting to MIDI. Select Quantize from the Edit menu to further tidy up the part.

MTF Technique Audio to MIDI
MTF Step-by-Step Remixing with Audio to MIDI
01
The results you get from using Audio to MIDI with commercially
released material can vary. This is because the sound source will
most often be less clearly defined than recordings made with a single
02
The cleanest part of this song we can find for its chord
progression is in the breakdown before a vocal sings on top of it.
The problem is that it has a loud white-noise impact effect at the start,
instrument. This can be due to many layers of sounds playing at once, which as you can see almost completely prevents Live from detecting
or heavy mix processing like resonant filtering. Try to find the content for the first two bars. First well try some EQ work to help Live
cleanest-sounding part in a song to start working from. focus on just the melodic content for this section.
03
Weve tried a general EQ treatment which we then flattened to
the audio before conversion. This helps Live to detect more chord
information for the third bar than before. The first two bars, however,
04
The missing chords are repeated at the start of the second half of
the piece as well, so weve copied it from there for the beginning. If
you cant find another usable piece in the song, search for the sound
are still pretty garbled, so a different approach is required. Weve you dont want on its own (if available). This can then be layered over the
instead listened through the whole piece to search for the missing problem layer with its phase reversed for cancellation on playback
chords elsewhere, with less background information. using a Utility device. Youll need to export these tracks as new audio.
05
Unless youve got a very clear and simple piece to transcribe
youll need to do some tidy-up work to the MIDI thats created.
First there may be some unwanted notes to remove. If theyre within a
06 For further tidying you may need to edit the start/end points of
notes as well. This can be a manual edit (by moving and dragging
the end points of individual or grouped notes) or an automated task via
cluster of notes, enable the MIDI Editor Preview headphone icon in the Quantize Settings from the Edit menu. If you want a continuous, fluid
top-left of the editing window. This allows you to hear notes as you monophonic melody line for a portamento effect, use the Legato button
select them. They can then be deleted if they sound out-of-tune. in the Notes box of Clip View so the notes slightly overlap each other.

MTF36.Plug in Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 33 21/08/2014 09:20
MTF Feature Get Online
GET ONLIN
MTF Masterclass DIY Promotion
The internet can be the ultimate advert for your music. Rob Boffard explains how to get the
best from it and create the ultimate web presence for your sound
MTF36.feat get online.FOR PRINT.indd 34 18/08/2014 15:50

Get Online Feature MTF
H
ard as it is to believe, there are still some musicians with very little
online presence. The chances are you are not one of them, but there
might be areas you have missed and this feature is designed to help you
fill in the gaps.
First you need to upload your music to a streaming service - anybody
who tries to find your music needs to be able to do so instantly, listen to it instantly,
find more of your stuff in moments and be pointed to where to buy it. Soundcloud is
by far and away the best service for this: it lets you upload your tracks immediately,
each with its own dedicated player. Youre also able to embed the player in other
websites you have access to, which is the perfect way transport your tunes online.
As a bonus, Soundcloud looks really good.
Outside of places like iTunes and Spotify (which well get to in a moment) youll
also want to investigate online storefronts. Bandcamp is easily the best place to
create one of these, and you can see how to set up a profile on the site in one of the
step-by-step guides in
Upload your music to a

this tutorial. The key here
is to have a good mix of
streaming service so people

stuff available for free,
and stuff available for sale
can listen to it instantly

itll hopefully keep
people coming back.
There are other
services worth looking at,
too, especially if youre a DJ. Mixcloud is an online radio service geared to providing
user-generated content. You can upload your own mixes, collections and radio
shows for people to stream. This can be a fantastic promotional tool for you to use;
combine it with things like Twitter to spread the word, and you have a very powerful
way of getting your music out there.
Social networking is (very obviously) worth looking into as well. Arial Hyatt, who
we speak to elsewhere in this tutorial, knows a lot more about it than we do. Shes
got plenty of tips for how to master Facebook, Twitter and the like.
Its also worth setting up Google Alerts. These are dead easy to set up, and every
time someone mentions you online, Google will email you telling you where. Follow
these up a simple tweeted thank you or an email can help build relationships.
INE FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 | 35

Home front
So thats how other sites can represent your music.
Now its time to make sure that the online presence
you control is taken care of.
It is absolutely staggering how bad many
musicians websites are. Many rely simply on a Tumblr
account, or a Facebook page, both of which are terrible
ways to showcase your music.
You need a good website we cant stress this
enough. It needs your own domain name attached to it,
and it needs to showcase what you do. It does not
need to be complicated to do the job, nor does it need
to be expensive. There are several great free website
builders available, like Moonfruit or Weebly. In another
step-by-step, we show you how to create one.
But a word of warning. Your own domain name will Dont just rely on Tumblr;
build your own website
cost a little, even if the website itself is free. They have using a free website builder
to be registered, which is a pain but does mean that like Moonfruit
you own the name. And if you do have a little bit of
money to spare, hiring a web designer is a very good
MTF Step-by-Step Setting up a Bandcamp page
Bandcamp is arguably the best place to Next step for our made-up folk-metal act A key to a good Bandcamp page, or any
01 set up an online store for your music.
02 Viking Cleavage is to add a track, or an
03 online store, is the details. Add a
Signing up and creating a page is pretty album. Well just add a track for now to keep description of the track, any lyrics, and a good
straightforward, so what were going to focus things simple. On this screen, youll see the set of credits to it. Put your contact details
on is creating a page that really stands out. options for how you want your track to be here, too. Regarding album art: make sure
Clicking Artist Signup takes us through to the formatted. Were going to make this one every track and album has one. If you dont
standard form page. Punch in your artist available for free although weve decided to have a designer handy, use Creative
name and contact details, pick a genre and a make fans part with their email address in Commons to find a suitable image. The
domain name, and youre set. exchange. By the way, you need a Paypal search site will throw up plenty of options
account. Dont argue. Itll make your life so you can use free of charge some are better
much easier. than others!
Well now be at our main page. This is Keep an eye on your stats. Theres Bandcamp also gives you 200 free
04 what your fans will see when they visit.
05 nothing here yet, since weve just
06 download codes for every track or
Again, everything is in the details: make sure uploaded our track, but if you have a album you upload perfect for online
you upload a striking banner image across Bandcamp page then these are something you promotion. If youre planning on emailing
the top, and put your contact details in the should check on a daily basis. Pay particular journalists or DJs, be sure to include one of
main body of text at the bottom of your track attention to the Map tab this will show you the codes theyll be able to pick up the
description. That includes Twitter handle where your plays are coming from, which is music in any format. Youll find the download
and email, as well as links to any other sites very handy when deciding who to target in your codes option in the Tools menu, and there are
like Facebook. promotional efforts. plenty of other useful bits there too. Think
discount codes and private streaming.

idea. They will do things you cant do yourself. Sites

like PeoplePerHour often have great designers
available for reasonable rates.
What do you need on your website? Again: nothing
fancy: a short bio, plus some videos and audio
examples, including links to buy. A regularly-updated
blog can be a good idea too, even if its just some
examples of things that inspire you. And contact
details you would be amazed at how hard some
musicians make it to be contacted. But if a journalist
happens on your music and cant contact you, theyll
pass by very quickly. So make sure your contact details
are on there, and check your email regularly!
Its also worth putting together an EPK - an
Electronic Press Kit (we showed you how last month).
This is simply a zip file containing your bio, some
high-resolution photos, those crucial contact details
and perhaps some reviews your music has received.
Make this downloadable from the site, and attach it to
any emails you send out.
Youd be amazed at
MTF Pro Tip An easy gig?
No gigs booked? No problem. Nothing stops you from hosting your own shows how hard some
online, getting fans to log onto Skype or Google Hangouts to watch you perform.
If you feel like making a little cash doing this, services like StageIt let you set up musicians make it to
be contacted
a video stream, and act as a box office for your fans. Dont try and attempt this
unless you have a fair few fans, however an empty venue still hurts whether its
real or digital.
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We mentioned photos. Get them done good ones,

too. A good set of press shots are something you will
use again and again. We almost guarantee you know
someone who can take great shots everyone thinks
they are a pro photographer these days so ask them.
They might even do it for free for their portfolio
Then of course, theres SEO Search Engine
Optimisation. It refers to the process of making sure
your site pops up at the top of search engine results.
Its a real dark art, and we could take an entire tutorial
explaining it, so well leave it to you to decide how
much of it you want to do. In this case, wed suggest
getting a professional in, but be careful: SEO pros are
expensive, mostly because they do things no-one else
seems to know how to do.
The bottom line: you need to make sure your music
and your artist details are as accessible and
attractive as possible. Anybody who goes looking for
you needs to find you in seconds.
Make your details MTF Pro Tip reward your fans
accessible. Anyone Explore slightly unusual social networking ideas: for example, check out
FanDistro. It rewards your fans for sharing your music with their friends, and if
looking for you needs to any sales come from those shares, your fans get free merch and a sum donated
to their chosen charity. Anything that rewards your fans for being fans is always
find you in seconds

good, so thinking a little differently can really pay off in the long run. Check out the
tools sites like Facebook offer too.
Arctic Monkeys know

how to get a good press
shot done. And black
and white still works.

MTF Pro Tip Go mobile

Got a website? Smashing. Does it work on mobile,
too? It should. Your mobile site doesnt have to be
as feature-packed or full-on as your real site, but it
should work, and it should include basic items like
contact details and audio of your music. There are
plenty of site creators that let you build one; make
sure you test it on as many different devices as
possible. Theres nothing more irritating than losing
a fan because they cant access your music, even if
youre not likely to know this has happened.
MTF Spotlight Interview
The social
media expert
Ariel Hyatt is a one-stop-shop for online expertise. Heres how
she does it...
A
riel Hyatt has no illusions about the difficulty of what
she does. Shes a digital PR: the company she founded,
New York-based Cyber PR, specialises in online publicity
across social networks. For a price, she and her staff
will step up to handle your digital output, working on everything
from Twitter and Facebook feeds to websites.
Shes become something of an online guru for social media,
writing articles, filming videos and hosting discussions on how Whether or not you decide to
best to go about it. Shes not afraid of controversy, either: a few pass over your online output to another company and
years ago, she started a service, ReviewYou, which connected many musicians dont there are certain things to bear in
musicians with writers. The scribes would pen them reviews they mind when considering a strategy. Numbers, Hyatt says, matter
could use in their press kits. It met predictably, it must be said less than youd think: On Facebook, your number of fans
with some derision from the New York press. means nothing. What matters is the number to the right of it:
Social networking is a little like Tetris its easy to pick-up, but people talking about this. Thats the number that needs to be
nearly impossible to master - and turning those Twitter followers focussed on.
and Facebook fans into actual purchasers of your music can often
be extremely tough. Its for these reasons that people
come to Hyatt. Numbers of fans mean
nothing; its what theyre
talking about that does
Its the content, she says, that determines how many people
will engage with your music. This applies whether you have fifty
followers or fifty thousand those Likes will only turn into Buys if
you have a compelling story to go with it.
When Hyatt and her team took on rock act Chaser Eight, they
soon discovered that a member of the band had been in drug
rehab. Cyber PR asked him to share his stories on various blogs,
creating a successful campaign around their music. Finding this
story, she says, can often be quite tricky, but its a key part of any
strategy. We get a lot of resistance from our clients, saying, I
dont understand why my lifestyle or religion or gluten-free
lifestyle or children or yoga practice has to do with my music, she
says. And on the subject of PR she adds:
This is not a God-given talent. Its a learnable skill. Its a
process. Go easy on yourself if it doesnt come naturally.

Online moves that can be stored in your account. Create your

There are plenty of places to upload your music online account today and you are ready to go!
whether to showcase it, sell it or get it reviewed. In We say: An alternative service to Soundcloud. Worth
fact, there are so many of these sites available that it investigating if youre looking for something different,
can often be a nightmare trying to work out which ones but while it has similar functionality, Soundcloud just
to use. feels more professional.
Here are some of the better ones and what theyre
best for. Weve referenced a few elsewhere in this SOUNDOUT
Soundcloud is the best site to
guide, but there are plenty of new faces too. start with, and it looks great too. Soundout.com
@Soundout
They say: SoundOut is the market leading research
and audience insight tool for new music that
guarantees accurate and objective insight into your
music, 100% powered by real music fans. SoundOut
will help you select your strongest singles, decide
where to focus your marketing effort and identify
which demographics you should be targeting.
We say: Judging by their reports, they give you some
pretty thorough data. Be warned: the service does
cost. But if youre looking to control every aspect of
your promotion, its well worth checking out.
MUSIC XRAY
Musicxray.com
@Musicxray
They say: Music Xray is a platform where artists can
SOUNDCLOUD
There are plenty of sites to

Soundcloud.com
@Soundcloud
showcase your music. Here are

They say: SoundCloud is the worlds leading social
sound platform where anyone can create sounds and
some of the better ones

share them everywhere. Recording and uploading
sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them
privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites
and social networks.
We say: Youre looking at the gold standard for
uploading music in a shareable format. Simple,
brilliant and works just about everywhere.
MIXCLOUD
Mixcloud.com
@Mixcloud
They say: Mixclouds mission is to deliver great radio,
for everyone. We are re-thinking radio, joining the dots
between traditional shows, Podcasts and DJ mixes.
We say: Mixcloud is best for when youve got a mix or a
podcast youd like to upload. Its not so good for
individual tunes, but when used in conjunction with
Soundcloud its brilliant.
BANDCAMP
Bandcamp.com
@Bandcamp
They say: Discover amazing new music and directly
support the artists who make it.
We say: Its templates are limited, but youre not going
to find an easier way to sell your music online, or track MTF Pro Tip Reveal all?
where the sales come from. If your studio sessions are entertaining, why not think about streaming them
live? Services like Ustream or Google Hangouts are perfect for setting this up. Its
YOURLISTEN good if there are plenty of people in the group the back-and-forth on songwriting
Yourlisten.com alone can be brilliant but even if youre working alone, you could still keep up
@Yourlisten a running commentary on what youre doing. This is not something you need to
do 24/7, but trying it out once a week can draw in people curious to see how your
They say: Upload music and audio for free with no
music works. Give it a try.
size and time limits or limits on the amount of uploads

submit their music directly to Industry Professionals. musicians to be who they are while maintaining Kickstarter: use if you are
confident and dont mind
When you submit to an opportunity, your track goes creative control over their music and financial control
working hard
directly to the decision makers: no middle-men, no of their sales.
pre-screeners, just a direct link between artist and We say: Erwhat? Get past the jargon, and youll find a
Industry Professional. site that acts in a similar way to OurStage, although
We say: Hmmm. Indie acts or those from niche genres the presentation leaves a little to be desired.
are unlikely to get much here, but its an active site and
has some big names attached to it. PLEDGEMUSIC
Pledgemusic.com
KICKSTARTER @Pledgemusic
Kickstarter.com They say: PledgeMusic is the most creative and
@Kickstarter interactive way for you to be part of your favourite
They say: Were a home for everything from films, artists journey in releasing new music. Through
games, and music to art, design, and technology. PledgeMusic, artists create new music projects, and
Kickstarter is full of projects, big and small, that are when you Pledge on a campaign, you gain access to
brought to life through the direct support of people new music as well as exclusive content and often
like you. experience the creation process alongside the artist,
We say: Crowdfunding, tried and tested. If youre all before the album officially hits the masses.
confident that a wider audience will support your We say: Kickstarter for music. The advantage? Narrows
work, and youre prepared to graft bloody hard to make the audience, connecting you with dedicated fans of
it happen, dive in. your genre.
OURSTAGE LASTPASS
Ourstage.com Lastpass.com
@Ourstage @Lastpass
They say: OurStage is a site that brings artists and They say: Designed by web enthusiasts and skilled
music fans together in a truly democratic environment. application developers, LastPass was created to make
For artists, OurStage is a place to make your music the online experience easier and safer for everyone.
available to your fans, to find new fans, and to have We say: Why are we recommending a password
your songs independently judged in competitions for management site, you ask? Because being hacked
some pretty great prizes. sucks. Lastpass is, hands down, the most secure way
We say: The site rewards fans for reviewing your music, of managing passwords known to man, and essential if
so its an attractive proposition. The design is fresh youre signed up to lots of sites.
A password site. Youll need it
and funky, and weve heard good things from those
who have sent their music in.
MADELOUD
Madeloud.com
@Madeloud
They say: MadeLoud.com is a music website that
incorporates the content of an indie music publication
with the services of an online music retailer. Our intent
is to create a site that empowers independent

Audio visual - Then there are videos

Its possible to survive in the music business without
YouTube videos. If you have music so good that it
makes grown men weep tears of joy, then you can do it.
If youre not quite there yet, wed suggest making sure
youve got some footage handy.
It can often be incredibly daunting to create a video,
especially if youve never done one before. The good
news is that videos dont have to be complex or
difficult to get the point across. You know your music
best, so you may already have an idea of what youd
like to see when it plays. If you have a little bit of a
budget, then things get a lot easier to manage, as you
can hire people who actually do this.
There are, however, some great low-budget or
no-budget ways to make a video. For his single To Be
Continued, rapper Evidence grabbed his video camera
and went to a theme park. He got on a roller coaster,
then rapped the song to the camera as he went
through the twists and loop-de-loops. At the time of
MTF Step-by-Step Creating a website
01
Its very tempting to sign up for a Tumblr
account and leave it at that. But having
your own domain name and website can
02 If you can make a track in a DAW, youll be
able to figure out how to arrange the
elements in a site builders. Most of the time,
03 A mistake that budding web-designers
make is not keeping things simple. You
dont need a complicated website. Really,
really give you an edge, and with so many its a case of relabelling things, moving them what will someone come to your page to do?
ways to create slick websites available now, around, adding and shuffling pages and Listen to music, find out who you are, maybe
theres really no excuse. Were using putting things where you want them. Moonfruit watch a few videos, reach out over email.
Moonfruit here, which allows us to create a is no exception, and if you get stuck youll find Thats it. So before you get carried away with
basic template for a website. Its nothing too that most site builders have a comprehensive adding things in, remember that youll be
fancy, but then, it doesnt need to be. help section. more effective and save yourself a lot of
work if you keep it simple.
04 One of the best reasons to have a

website is that you can blog. Doing so
regularly will increase your Google visibility,
05 Watch out for storage limitations, and try
to avoid uploading enormous images and
other files. If youre using a site builder for free,
06 Finally: the domain name. Ours is
currently www.vikingcleavage.
moonfruit.com. Thats fine, but it lacks a
and give your fans a reason to keep coming expect there to be a limit on how much you can certain something. The bad news is if we
back. But be warned: sometimes, the upload a gigabyte might seem like enough, want our own domain name, well need to buy
blogging tools on site builders arent great, or but trust us: its not. However, if you keep your it. Sites like 123-reg.co.uk will let you
can be a pain to update. One strategy might music and videos hosted off-site on YouTube purchase a name for a relatively small fee,
be to open a Tumblr or a Wordpress page, or Soundcloud, for instance then you and even if youve used an external site
and simply direct the blog link on your site shouldnt have too much trouble displaying builder, you can set up a redirect so that
there. These services are dead easy to them on your site, even if youre uploading a lot whenever anybody punches in the name itll
upload to, even on the move. of them. take them right to your site.

writing, the clip has clocked nearly a million views on

YouTube. Or how about Karmin a single camera,
filming a shot of the husband-and-wife duo singing
and rapping, became a total online sensation.
Videos can give your music an exposure that simply
cant be beaten, especially if they go viral. You can
never quite work out how people are going to respond
to something and never, ever read the YouTube
comments on anything. Seriously. Youll want to burn
your eyeballs out.
Dont read YouTube

comments on your
video. Youll want to burn
your eyeballs out
Follow these tips, and stay focussed on getting your MTF Pro Tip Use the data
music heard, and youll come right. Perhaps the most Your budget shouldnt be the only number youre concerned about. You should
important thing is one we havent mentioned yet: be looking at website analytics too: how many people who arrive at your site come
adapting. Circumstances change, new opportunities from your home country, how long they stay, what they look at. Google Analytics
come up, and there will be times you need to move is the obvious jump-off point, and its very easy to install. You might also want to
quickly not to miss them. Not everything weve written look at something like Next Big Sound, a service dedicated to producing numbers
for musicians across all forms of social media. Youd be amazed at what your data
down here will cover that, but were pretty sure you
can tell you, so dont neglect this.
can handle it on your own from here. MTF

MTF36.Loopmaster Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 44 20/08/2014 18:31
MTF36.Loopmaster Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 45 20/08/2014 18:31
MTF Technique Clip experimentation in Session View
Clip experimentation
in Session View
Session View has numerous uses in Live 9 , both practical and creative.
Liam OMullane explains how you can use and abuse the properties
of audio and MIDI Clips to make music in a different way...
S
o far in this issue weve looked at the various this way is set up using either
different tools for creating music in Ableton On the disc Key Map or MIDI Map modes
Live, most of which can be used in either Lives respectively. When enabled from
Arrangement or Session Views. This instalment, the Options menu, you can then assign Scene Launch or
Accompanying
however, focuses on tools that are available project file included Clip Launch buttons to a fixed mapping. This is a good
only when using Clips in Session View. Arrangement View is on the DVD approach for quickly trying out new ideas or for triggering
a linear overview showing tracks running vertically in rows, specific assignments within a prepared performance,
while time goes from left to right. Session View, on the though youll usually delete the assignments when they
are no longer needed.
When either Map Mode is enabled, four new assignable
For higher levels of interactive buttons appear below the Scene Launch area on the
right-hand side of Lives display. When mapped, these
control its worth investing in a allow you to select Scenes using either assigned up and
down controls or a rotary encoder to scroll up and down.
dedicated controller You can then use a special Launch button that simply
triggers the scene currently highlighted.
This approach is open to anyone with a standard
other hand, takes a different approach, displaying tracks computer keyboard or a MIDI controller, but for a higher
vertically like channels on an audio mixer. Slots are placed level of interactive control its worth investing in a
vertically down each track, which can be used to dedicated controller. Abletons own Push is the Rolls-Royce
launch MIDI or audio Clips. You can choose to of options as it controls Session View and plenty
trigger an entire row of Clips at once referred to more, making composition, sound design and
as Scenes or launch them individually. Well first mixing all feasible with minimal computer
look at how you can interact with one or more Clips interaction. Other candidates include the Novation
for experimentation, then explore how to develop Launchpad or an AKAI APC-type product, which
ideas so that Scenes can be expanded into offer different levels of control but still let you
potential new song sections. navigate Session View for Clip/Scene launching.
Scenes or individual Clips can be launched But irrespective of how you want to interact with
using the mouse, mapped keys on your computer Clips and Scenes, the techniques here will
keyboard, MIDI keys or buttons. Mapping manually enhance your ability to jam in Session View. MTF
FOCUS ON EXPERIMENTATION The first parameter to understand is the Follow Action

Time, which, like loop length, determines the length of a Clips
The majority of this tutorial focuses on modifying individual playback until the Follow Action is implemented. This
Clips to create variation. Although some of the techniques will measures in bars, beats and 16ths and will then move to the
yield a degree of randomness, they are mostly concerned with Follow Action chosen from the A or B dropdown menu below.
making precise changes through editing. If you want to take a Underneath the two Follow Action menus is a Probability
different approach to achieve new results or, indeed, youre setting that by default is 1 to 0 meaning that for every use of
looking for a different way to sequence Clips Follow Actions As Follow Action, there will be zero uses of Follow Action B; 1
are worth exploring. and 1 will make them alternate between each other.
Follow Actions are essentially a rule system that you can The next setting to explore is the Follow Action itself.
apply to any Clip in Session View to dictate how the playback There are too many options to go into here, but there are two
of one Clip will lead into the playback of another. They can be simple ways to achieve unique results. The first is to set all but
applied only to Clips residing on the same track, therefore only the last Clip to play the next Clip using the Next Action, then
one Clip can play at any one time. The positioning of the Clips set the last Clip to play the first. This will create a playback
will determine how they are grouped if theyre placed on the loop from top to bottom of all Clips in the group. Experiment
same track and in consecutive Slots ie, if there are 20 clips with the duration of the Follow Action Time for changes to
running down a track, an empty Slot between the first ten and rhythm and time signature. The second approach involves the
the second ten will result in them being grouped into two lots Any Follow Action, which sets up your Clips for random
of ten, and the Follow actions will only ever communicate with interaction. We like to use this on sound layers that sit further
the other Clips in the local group of ten. in the background of a mix for ever-changing layers of detail.
MTF36.tutorial live clip.FOR PRINT.indd 46 18/08/2014 16:27

Clip experimentation in Session View Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Experimenting with Clips
01
One way to interact with Clips is by changing their Launch mode
behaviour. Unsync the Clips Launch quantization from Lives
Global quantization this gives you more expressive settings, such as
02
There are four Launch modes to choose from. Trigger is the
default mode, simply launching a Clip. Gate gives momentary
launching while you hold the Clips Launch button; Toggle flips between
16ths, without affecting Lives global setting. Open the Launch box in playback being on/off with each launch. Repeat creates a stutter
Clip View by clicking on the small L symbol, then select from the effect during playback while the Launch button is pressed, which then
Quantization menu. reverts to normal playback (like Trigger) when released.
03
Experiment with Launch modes to determine which one works
best. If more than one sounds good, duplicate the Clip and give
them custom modes to move between. The next way to manipulate
04 You can immediately rework ideas when three or four duplicated
Clips are set up with different Start Marker positions. The next
level of manipulation comes from experimenting with loops on certain
multiple instances of a Clip is to explore Start Marker positions. These Clips. With the Loop Switch enabled, resize the Loop Brace above the
are the small markers above the waveform/MIDI grid in Clip View and waveform by dragging its edges or using the numerical values below
they too can be customised for multiple instances of the same Clip. the Loop Switch button.
05
Start Markers take on a new life here as they can be placed
before a Loop Braces position or at any point within it, so explore
letting normal playback run into a short loop later on in the Clip. In this
06 If you want to keep the relative Clip playback position as you
move from one Clip to the next, Legato mode can be used in much
the same way that a synthesizer will use legato to move from one note
way, short plays of this Clip will sound normal; longer runs into the loop to the most recent one hit, no matter how many are being held. For
create a sound effect. instance, launching a new Clip on the second beat of the bar will
resume playback in the next Clip from the same position.

MTF Technique Clip experimentation in Session View
MTF Step-by-Step Developing Scenes into full ideas
01
You can extend the duration of MIDI or audio Clips for developing
ideas, but they need to be approached in different ways. A MIDI
part can be duplicated using the Dupl. Loop button, then you can
02 To vary audio over a longer duration than the audio itself you need
to create automation loops for variation that can act
independently. By opening the Envelope Box (press the small E symbol
manually edit your new MIDI data to create more interest. Because in the bottom left of Clip View), you can choose a parameter to edit
audio Clips are single audio events that are played back, a different from the Device and Controller dropdown menus. Each envelope can
approach needs to be taken to create variation within Session View. be given its own loop length by changing the Linked button to Unlinked.
03
Regardless of an envelopes duration, rounded loop lengths will
allow you to create predictable changes to your Clips. This means
that the envelopes loop will stay in sync with the musical phrase of the
04 A modulation envelope uses the current minimum/maximum
range available from a parameters current position. Because our
Clip volume is at 0dB, our envelope can control infinity up to full volume,
Clips audio. Start by creating a gated sequence select Clip from the but if the Clip volume is lower, wed be limited to its maximum setting.
first menu, then Volume Modulation. Use Draw mode (Options menu) For other effects automation, Absolute makes more sense as each
to edit the envelope and turn the sound on and off rhythmically. edited envelope will control the parameter.
05
Warp Markers are a useful tool for adjusting the timing within an
audio loop. These are created after double-clicking above the
waveform display in the Clip View window and can then be dragged
06 For less-synced changes to your ideas over time, think of
envelopes as looping LFO. Create an envelope with a less
musically related duration so that it overlaps in different ways every
around. Automation that is linked to the original audios duration will time the audio loops. For instance, automate the movement of a notch
follow Warp Marker manipulation. Explore this for interesting ways to filter for five beats to create a sense of constant movement in a sound
edit audio and effects processing at the same time. as it plays.

Collaboration in Ableton Live Technique MTF
Collaboration in
Ableton Live
So much can be done with one computer these days that you can forget
that other humans are around to collaborate with. Liam OMullane shares
various ways to get social with Live
O
ne of the strengths and weaknesses of todays have the interfaces available, or
all in-the-box, computer-based studios is that On the disc you can use an ethernet or
you can do it all by yourself. Composing, Wi-Fi based network. Well
producing, DJing, remixing and even jamming show you the basics of making
Accompanying
with yourself are all possible, but in this project file included a network function as a MIDI
workshop, were looking at working with others and how on the DVD interface for OSX as well, but
Live can be set-up to do just that. Even when collaborating youll need additional software
in the studio, its easy to overlook the various ways you can to perform this task on Windows
both work at the same time, rather than taking it in turns to and this is beyond the scope of this workshop. Help can be
hop on and off the computer. In its most basic form, you found however at the following link http://www.tobias-
can assign two different MIDI controllers to control an erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi/rtpmidi-tutorial.html. Just
instrument each. This gets better when theres more than download the rtpMIDI software which pretty much mirrors
the OSX interface and follow the instructions.
It gets better when two of you The final option is to use a manually-controlled form of
tempo sync which will really test your rhythm skills. Some
can jam out ideas with one of you people will use these manual syncing techniques to beat
match machines, but in most cases its reserved for
taking an engineering role working with human performers whose timing can be
much more freeform. On the topic of sync again, the
quality of automatic tempo matching can vary depending
two of you as you can collaboratively jam out ideas on the gear being used and the way they are hooked up.
together while one person takes the engineering role and Although Wi-Fi is the simplest method, its also
tweaks the sounds. You are then also geared up to unpredictable and has a less than ideal performance
immediately record any ideas as they arise. wed only use this when caught short of other options in
The next level of collaboration is to work with someone rehearsals or the studio. Working with 5-pin MIDI has
else running Live. This can work great in both the studio worked fine for us so far and the best results come from
and live environments, and its a situation when youll running both computers from an external MIDI clock. But
usually opt for syncing two or more bits or gear together this is an additional investment, so wed only recommend
so they lock together by tempo and, when required, going down this route if you are not satisfied with the
playback positions. Our Sync Between Two Machines results using the techniques discussed. If youre new to
walkthrough shows you how to sync two computers the world of sync, try out Wi-Fi first as it comes at no cost
running Live. This can be done via 5-pin MIDI cables if you you can then explore the finer syncs in life! MTF
FOCUS ON MANUAL SYNC first option to try is the Tap Temp (TAP) button to roughly set Live to the correct BPM.
This alone will be enough to use tempo-based effects if youre using Live as a creative
As automatic sync can be less than ideal in certain situations, there may be times mixing device. If you want to run Live to launch clips in time with the other performers
when youd just prefer to manually beat match with another Live user just like a DJ then youll need to either then take over in terms of tempo by introducing something
would beat-match one record to mix at the same tempo with another. If youre jamming with a beat for them to follow, or you could capture part of their performance to
with other musicians who are playing without a metronome, you may also need to loop via recording a clip in Session View or using
manually sync to their current tempo to take advantage of Lives tempo syncd effects, Lives Looper device.
or to capture a recorded loop on the fly. The main way manual beat-matching of Live to
another electronic source differs to working with more freeform tempos is
that youll have to micro manage your tempo for the latter, whereas
electronic source work will be more of a set and forget situation.
When matching to another Live user, the simplest option is to
run at the same BPM and after launching the second computer to
sync with the first, use the forwards and backwards nudge
buttons to perfectly align both computers. These are located to
the right of Lives tempo readout and can be mapped to MIDI for
easy control in a live situation.
When you want to try and sync with someone elses tempo which isnt known, the
MTF36.134.tutorial live.FOR PRINT.indd 49 18/08/2014 15:31

MTF Technique Collaboration in Ableton Live
MTF Step-by-Step Sync between two machines
01
Regardless of how youre connecting up your MIDI data from one
computer to another, the basic set-up of routing MIDI clock from
the master computer to the slave is the same for running between two
02 The slave is set up in the opposite way so, under its MIDI Sync
preferences, Enable Sync for the MIDI input to receive the MIDI
clock data from the master. The Clock Sync Delay allows you to offset
instances of Live. Open Preferences on the master computer and the timing of the slave so it can be aligned with the master. Playing the
select the MIDI Sync tab. The data will control the slave so enable Sync metronomes on both makes it easy to judge when youve got the timing
from the Output of the MIDI port connected to the slave. right, using a loop like a breakbeat to make it easier to hear.
03
Two different types of MIDI clock can be chosen for the output:
Song will give out the tempo along with a current position in the
Arrangement View. Pattern gives out tempo and beats which means
04 The master computer should have an on-the-beat light flash in
the Sync Out indicator. Then after enabling the EXT button on the
slave, its Sync In indicator should flash when pressing play on the
changing your playback position on the master wont affect the slave. master. Now your two computers should sync. It takes a few seconds
Use Song mode so you can move around an arrangement on both to truly lock together, so sync playback first with no clips playing, then
computers. Use locators from the Create menu for easier launching. launch your first clips in unison for a clean sounding start.
05
MIDI information will appear in Live when using a 5-pin cable, but
youll need to set up MIDI when using Wi-Fi or ethernet. Go to
Applications/Utilities Audio MIDI Set Up. Select Show MIDI Window.
06
When the slave is ready, you can connect to it from the Directory
window of the master. Youll know when they are connected as
the computer will appear in the Participants window to the right. The
Double-click the Network box for the MIDI Network Set-up window latency can be adjusted from here as well but its slightly limited as
and click the plus icon under My Sessions. Enable this session in the you have to enter numeric values rather than having the option to click
top right, then repeat the process on the slave computer. and drag for easier control like in Live.

Collaboration in Ableton Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Live jamming and processing
01
If youre in sync with other people either through a manual or
automated sync set-up, you will be able to take advantage of
Lives tempo syncd Session View and Devices. The first level above
02 Set up this audio channel to record the correct input from the In/
Out settings which you can reveal from the View menu. If you
dont want to hear this input signal until youve recorded it into a clip,
simply cueing clips in Session View is to capture someones elses set Monitor to off. But if youre using Live as a mixer youll need to set
audio as one or more clips to play with. To do this, first create a new the Monitor to Auto so the live input is always heard until a clip is
Audio Track and name it to be relevant to the source it will record. recorded and then played which then overrides that input.
03
When recording external sounds, capture a sequence and then
modify it. The other option is to record the sound across a few
clip slots so you can then immediately re-work it to creatively trigger
04 Another way to re-work a freshly captured piece of audio is to use
time manipulation device effects like Beat Repeat. In the Audio
Effects library folder, under Performance and DJ, the Knob 1 Super
them. To trigger the slots quickly youll need to set the Global Looper is a great device for controlling loop length with a single dial. The
Quantization setting to a higher resolution like 1/4 and then hit record default Live library doesnt have a great range of performance tools like
on each clip slot one after the other running downwards. this so its worth searching online for devices other people have made.
05
If you need to rehearse before everyone hears it, you can use
Lives Cue function. Set an output on your interface for the cue
output. Then click the Solo mode button to turn it into Cue mode. Now
06 If you are using Live as a mixer you can be part of a jam by
processing effects in real time. EQs, compressors etc can be left
to their static settings, but Auto Filters, Auto Panner, Redux and delays
press the headphone icon for the track you want to preview and are all great tools to manipulate on someone elses sound. If you want
disable the tracks Activator button so its muted from the main master to capture these for use later, set the Monitor to In so the live input is
output until youre ready to play your work to the world. always heard while you record in the background.

MTF Technique Mixing tools and techniques
Mixing tools
and techniques
When it comes to mixing, Live offers both classic and contemporary mixing
tools for a variety of sonic options. Liam OMullane walks you through his
main choices of devices and editing tools to make your mixes shine
M
ixing is a process that can happen in one or there is a good reason to separate these two mixing
two stages of the music production process. On the disc processes if you can.
The first stage is creative and composition To help commit to this separation, its worth rendering
based, where people may mix as they go. out all of your tracks to new audio. This helps you decide
Accompanying
Here theyll solely concentrate on mixing as project file included when youre truly ready to mix, while also removing the
the track comes together with possibly a separate on the DVD temptation to tamper with compositional aspects during
tweaking stage at the end. the mixing stage. Rendering out your audio also frees up
The second stage is after the composition is complete computer resources which means more processing power
and sounds are in place, to then mix with a subjective for plug-ins. Finally, if you intend to send your work out to
outlook. Some people will ignore major mix decisions until be mixed by an engineer, this process will create files that
this stage as it gives them the most mix options as they can use.
possible while they only have their mix engineering hats on. To export your projects tracks to new individual audio
files, highlight the duration of the whole song and then
It is a good idea to try and select Export Audio/Video from the File menu. This opens
up a large range of options and we recommend you remain
separate your mixing stage at Lives native bit-depth of 32-bits, and stay at the same
sample rate youre working at. The sample rate youre
from your creative stage currently using is signified by having a small speaker icon
next to it. The only other option that needs configuring for
this task is the Rendered Track menu (all other options
Although mixing has creative sound design aspects, it also should be disabled). Select Individual Tracks for rendering
has many practical tasks and assessments that need to be and then select a new, clean, mix project folder to put
carried out. With your creative hat on, you can find this them in after clicking the Export button. You will now have
difficult to do, so if you stop to take care of these matters, a new file for every track which can be imported into a new
it can have a negative affect on your creative workflow. So project. Until next time, happy mixing MTF
FOCUS ON EXPANDING YOUR GO TO TOOLS create a dirty, lo-fi characteristic. This can be useful for giving one or two sounds a
distinct tone of their own in the mix. Harmonics can also be introduced using
The library of audio effects in Lives browser offers a good range of functional and Downsample when set to use its Soft mode. Use a very small amount to introduce a
creative mixing tools to choose from. EQ Eight and Compressor/Glue Compressor are glassy sounding top-end for dull sounds.
the most obvious choices for frequency and dynamics control, but there are many Whatever tools end up being your favourites, save some time and create a
other devices which are worth exploring for frequent mixing tasks. default processing chain by Right [PC] / Ctrl [Mac] + clicking on a tracks name. Here
Although you can use a low- and high-cut EQ to bracket a sounds frequency range you can save a default opening state for future new MIDI or audio tracks. After loading
using an EQ Eight, a Cabinet device can achieve a similar effect with much more added in your preferred mix-tools to a track, select Save As Default MIDI or Audio Track
character. This is partially due to its narrower frequency bandwidth that creates a respectively. Now all new tracks will be created with this chain of
telephone like effect. But this can be balanced with the original signal using the dry/ devices pre-loaded.
wet control to return a sense of fidelity. The range of the bandwidth restriction, or
bracket, is selected through the speaker setting. Transient smearing is at its most
affective when you select a dynamic mic from the microphone
list and explore its position.
Cabinet adds an element of
dynamic control as part of its
processing as well, but other
options like Saturator and Dynamic
Tube devices can do this while
offering a different character. Use a
careful balance of drive and output
you can either go for a
fully-processed and clipped sound,
or balance the dry/wet amount for a
balance of the original signal to retain
some dynamics.
Reduxs Bit Reduction can be used
to reduce a sounds dynamic range, but it will

Mixing tools and techniques Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Processing, side-chaining and automation
01
Although Lives Compressor Device is perfectly functional, Glue
Compressor can be used to add some character for dynamic
processing. Glue is a great channel, group and mix buss compressor
02 If you need to remove unwanted sounds, try editing the unwanted
portions out rather than using a gate device. This offers a higher
level of individual control to tidy up audio over a more set and forget
with its SSL-like smoothing effect. Enable the Soft Clip function and approach used with a gate. After highlighting the portions you dont
explore driving the signal using the Makeup gain for a hot sound. You want, delete them, then select Show Fades from the Create menu. You
can always then use the dry/wet dial to make this a parallel effect. can now drag these start and end fades to suit each audio event.
03
As compression is the process of level control, you can also
control dynamics using Lives editing functions. You can automate
volume, but this limits you for making level adjustments down the line.
04 Use an EQ Eight before any processing to remove unwanted
frequencies. Add another at the end of the chain for re-balancing
the frequency curve of a sound. Check unnecessary bottom-end that
Instead, add a Utility Device at the end of the Tracks processing chain, needs removing using the analyser on the first EQ. The second EQs
then automate its gain parameter. For more natural automation analyser monitors how your processing is affecting the frequency
changes, hit Alt on automation lines to drag and create curves. content useful when trying to fill out holes in your mix.
05
Many devices have the ability to be side-chained, so respond to
the amplitude levels of an external signal. Most people only use
these on single or grouped sounds, overlooking the option to
06 Those with Live Suite can get creative with side-chaining using
its Max For Live based Envelope Follower. Place this on the track
to be the source sound for side-chaining, then click map before
dynamically control ambience effects. Try adding a compressor to clicking a parameter you wish to control. This moves in time with the
each Return Track and set them to take Audio From the drum group. audio events on the track with the device on. Use a multimap device to
This make your mix move with a pumping, rhythmic sound. multiply and started mapping this source to various destinations.

MTF Technique Mixing tools and techniques
MTF Step-by-Step Advanced and unique processing
01
An Overdrive device is useful for thickening up the harmonic
content of a sound. First, find the right frequency area and width
of focus using the devices bandpass filter. Then control the density of
02 Another option for thickening up specific frequencies is the Vinyl
Distortion Device. The tracing model graph can be used in much
the same way as the bandpass filter on an overdrive device. Its the
distortion using drive and its brightness using tone. Finally, compress pinch graph below where things get interesting as harmonics are
the signal as required using the dynamic amount, then dry/wet can distributed across the stereo plane, making it useful for also
blend the processed signal to taste. enhancing its stereo width.
03
We discussed setting up mid and side processing using Audio
Racks in Part 5 of this series. This simple process lets you add
different processing to the middle (mono) and sides (stereo difference)
04 If you have a stereo signal, a good way to enhance how stereo it
sounds is to compress both the mid and sides of the signal
separately. This way you can reduce the dynamic range of the sides so
for a higher level of control. To get used to how these sound, after the stereo aspect of the signal is more consistent in volume. Raising the
setting-up, solo each one and play with their respective balance to level of the sides will then make the sound more stereo than mono.
hear which part of the sound each chain represents.
05
Another good place to consider processing mid and side signals
on their own is for ambience effects. Try using a different reverb
device, or Max For Live Convolution Reverb on each signal with unique
06
Lives Vocoder device can function as a noise based exciter. With
the carrier set to noise, the reverb-like noise effect can have its
decay time altered using the release value. After setting the device to
settings. This creates a much deeper and engaging ambience 40 Bands for the best fidelity along with a maximum frequency range,
soundfield. A shorter decay time on the middle and longer on the side explore the depth and formant controls to tune its noise to best suit the
works well for an enhanced sense of stereo spread. source sound and EQ it to taste drawing into the filter bank.

MTF36.Ableton Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 55 20/08/2014 18:40
MTF Technique Composition and sound design
Ableton Push Workshop
Composition &
sound design
Learning to use Push entails more than simply understanding its functionality.
Liam OMullane shares his essential techniques for kicking out some jams.
S
ince its release, Push has slowly become an us as we share our experience of using Push for composing,
On the disc
integral part of our studio set-up. Although it arranging and designing sounds.
does have a few weaknesses in terms of
complete software control for more in-depth
Accompanying
Drumming up some ideas
mixing features, its strengths win us over when example audio files You can begin a song with any instrument, and in this
included on the DVD
it comes to song composition. We write electronic music of particular workshop were beginning with the drums. Your
varying genres and Pushs hardware-led approach takes us genre of choice will dictate how in-depth you get with the
back to a workflow we miss from older times. Working sound design aspect, but well usually focus on patterns
without a computer screen is liberating, and the added and groove before getting too deep into the sonic aspects of
focus you have on judging ideas and sounds by ear, as it all. Plus you dont always know what sound to go for until
opposed to visual cues, cannot be underestimated. other instruments are in place because its at that point
More recently our challenge has been to use Push youll get an idea of the mix space each sound dictates and
exclusively from start to finish with zero direct interaction you can make the appropriate decisions.
with our computer. As youll find out, although this does Some drum patterns can begin from playing with pads,
include a certain amount of library, template, plug-in especially if youre keeping your options open for genre;
preparation and workflow alteration in some cases, the other times you might immediately dial in the tempo and
freedom of writing and arranging with such an instrument then step sequence the core drum hits to get a beat started.
connects you to the music at a deeper level than you may With the latter theres no need to enable the metronome as
have experienced before as an electronic musician. So join your first beats will provide the backbone rhythm for you to
place everything else around. If youre playing with ideas
from the pads, however, explore this for a while so you know
FOCUS ON...THIRD-PARTY PLUG-INS what pattern you want to record while also feeling the
Although there are a few preconfigured Instrument and Audio Rack libraries to use with some of
the more popular AUs, VSTis and VSTs (such as Push VST Bridge from www.craftedsound.com, tempo you want to work at. Then press the Tap Tempo
and www.freelancesoundlabs.coms products, for instance), the majority of third-party plug-ins button for a few bars so Live can sync the tempo, then
need a bit of prep before you can go screenless with Push. To make your instruments as
enable the Metronome and record your ideas.
Push-friendly as possible, drag them into a Live Set, Group each one from the Edit menu,
Rename this newly created Audio or Instrument Rack with the same name as your plug-in, then From here you have various other ways to work with your
click the Racks disk icon to save it to your Presets folder in the User Library. Push can now drum ideas as you add and edit them. Our preferred method
access these plug-ins from the Live Library, which means you can load them at will when required
through Pushs Display Browser.
is to add new sounds and explore their position to get a
This technique works fine if the parameters of the plug-in are already showing in the groove going. Although you can, of course, apply swing
Parameter list (which is accessed by clicking the small triangle in the top-left of the device). If quantization to ideas you play in, we get much more
they are not you will need to manually add parameters by clicking the Configure Mode button in
the top-right of the device, then move any parameter from the plug-in itself to add it to the list. surprising results when using the swing amount as a
Push can access up to 128 of these parameters, spread over 16 pages, and as long as your performance control while playing-in new parts using
plug-in enables each of its controls to be mapped this can often be enough to fully
Pushs Repeat mode.
program the device from Push alone. Sadly, Push is still at its
most featured when using Lives own This doesnt have to be a continuous running rhythm, just
devices, and preset access the odd two or three hits here and there with a varying swing
is not yet supported for
external plug-ins. But, if
an instrument plug-in
supports preset access
via MIDI you can use a Max
for Live device such as
DialToProgramChange
from the www.maxforlive.
com library to change
presets from Push and
integrate that device into If youve got any external gear set up in the studio, make full use of it via
your Instrument Racks Lives External Audio Effect and Instrument Devices. Instruments can be
before saving them. If you set up easily but controlling their parameters via MIDI CCs can be tricky.
have a preferred starting The simplest approach weve found is to use a Max for Live device that
point with certain plug-ins, offers parameters that output custom CC numbers based on your
this is a great chance to save a configured preferences. You can then save these into an instrument rack when one or
state before saving your Racks. more are set up for your favourite parameters to access from Push.
MTF36.137.tut push.FOR PRINT.indd 56 18/08/2014 15:42

Composition and sound design Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Capturing external sounds
Its important to have your library in good order when using Push as you
cant organise it in any way from Push itself. Plus its always counter
productive to deal with production admin when in creative mode, so
library prep is essential! Try to use logical folders based on grouped
instruments by type or their sonic nature. As the Places section of Lives
Library is right at the bottom of Pushs Display, we advise you give certain
folders of priority a numeric start to the title. This means that when you
wind down to your Places Folder at the bottom of your Push display you
can access your own custom folders almost immediately.
amount can really get feet tapping. This works great for any
incidental or sporadic percussion work.
Nudge is another favourite option for us but dont be
tricked into thinking its just for moving one sound at a time
holding down multiple steps in the sequencer will group
01
Push isnt reserved for working as a standalone, in fact with the right
starting template you can record external performers to integrate into your
jams from a variety of soundcard inputs. Whether you want to record instrument
hits to enable changing their position as a whole by turning
ideas, sing a vocal line or grab some percussion to add some human dynamics
the Nudge encoder. When there are a few good drum ideas on the fly, start with an Audio Track with the appropriate audio interface input
going on in one or more clips we like to use Mute to audition selected in the Audio From menu.
more stripped-down versions of the patterns. You can then
Duplicate your clips and replicate these new combinations
by using Delete and touching the unwanted drum pad. This
approach should get you some very dynamic-sounding
patterns and a good collection of clips to create variation
throughout your song.
The sound of individual hits isnt a priority at this stage,
as we can hot-swap pads and replace them with other
samples or drum synths later down the line. Max for Lives
Drum Synth devices are a handy tool for sculpting and they
easily integrate with Push.
A tune a day
Like drums, the process of composing melodies and chords
can be an explorative one, and this is when Pushs Scale and
Key functions really shine. We like to develop ideas on the
pads and then explore pitch changes by switching key while
still playing the same patterns or shapes with our
02 In order to record audio with minimal background bleed youll need to set
up your interface to monitor the backing track via headphones while you
mute your main speaker playback. There are a few ways to set this up but the
simplest and quickest way is by setting up a Return Track in Live that is always
muted. This can be used to feed a headphone-specific balance of sounds via
Focus On creating Templates and
the individual Sends.
Starting Projects
There are two ways of starting with the optimum Live Set for your own
Push preferences. The first approach is to save a default template from
Preferences followed by hitting Save Current Set As Default under the
File Folder tab. This is effective as a global starting point, but if youd
like multiple set-ups to choose from save multiple Live Sets and be
sure to lock them as read-only in your OS so youre forced to save them
under a new name upon each use. This avoids the risk of overwriting
them by accident.
What you decide to add to your starting templates is quite open, but
we have a few suggestions. If your library is well organised you
shouldnt need anything in the way of initial instruments as they can be
added from Push when needed; however, if you want any type of
creative routing in your work this needs to be set up beforehand as
Push cant access track or side-chaining routing by default. This is
something we imagine will be addressed in the near future.
If you have a certain number of instruments you tend to work with
then this can be another reason for pre-loading them into your
template for the best workflow.
If you wish to record sounds from external sources, as with our
Capture External Sounds walkthrough, set up a unique track per input
on your audio device. This means all of this is to-hand without touching

your computer and works around Pushs routing limitations. When it comes to recording, you simply Solo the Return Track, Arm Session
03 Recording on the track you want to record to, and set up your headphone
balance with the sends so as not to disturb your current mix. You can of course
run this Return Track directly to another headphone output on your interface if
available, or even multiple Return tracks for independent headphones mixes for
different musicians.

MTF Technique Composition and sound design
MTF Step-by-Step Re-sampling techniques
Step automation is a very powerful feature for Push and automating

different start points of samples, different transpose settings, ADSR
stages and so on can create amazing drum and melody sounds that
live and breath throughout your tracks. Dont forget to add audio
effects as creative processors to automate as well they can be very
powerful tools for sound design and hold multiple steps at the same
time for longer fixed automation steps.
fingers. If you just want to jam, set a new clip to record

and capture your session, edit it using Clip mode and
01 With a capture track loaded into your Live set and its Audio From set to
Re-sample, you can re-sample your master output at any given time which can
be a great way to commit certain layered sounds to new clips. Just solo out the
Loop Position to vet your efforts and focus in on your relevant tracks and then hit record on the Capture Track.
best ideas.
If you are open to a more interactive experience,
explore some MIDI devices and craft their output by
automating parameters. We also like to use a classic
drum sync technique for bass parts by duplicating the
drum track to make a copy of its clips on a new track.
This clip can then be used as a basis for your basslines
rhythm. Hold Delete on the drum pad of any sound that
plays any overly busy material, as we want just core
aspects of our drums to trigger the bass.
Now Browse for an instrument to replace this new
tracks Drum Rack and you have a rhythmic but not yet
musical bass part. You cant edit the pitch of a MIDI note
in situ using Pushs step sequencer, so replacing one
note for another will lose any groove you crafted from
your drums. As a work-around we added a Pitch MIDI
Device and then step-automated its Pitch parameter to
create a musical bassline fitting the existing groove.
This requires a good ear as theres little visual feedback
02
We love creating synth samples using this method: start with a single synth
sound, add some Amp Simulation from Audio Effects Racks, then do a few
automation passes and static parameter tweaks to create something interesting.
for musical information.
When recorded, these re-sampled clips will appear in your Current Project folder
Melody is either a hands-on process of
in Pushs Browser.
experimentation with the notes themselves or a
marrying of note and sound-design choices. You may
find you leave this stage of the process with a very
strong musical idea, or you need to develop some
sketches with potential as you interact with timbres
and additional rhythmic aspects through the next stage
of sound-design and automation.
Automatic for the people

In todays electronic music, sound design is a balancing
act to strike alongside good, solid musical ideas. You
may start by building sounds and then crafting them
into a catchy melody, or vice versa, but they can both
have a strong influence on each other throughout most
genres. Even with a few basic ideas laid out as clips
across a few scenes, the following techniques can help
push things forward to some musically and texturally
interesting results.
Many automation workflows are available through
Push, and a handy feature to help capture potential
03 Now you can load these onto individual Drum Pads within a new Drum Rack.
You can then go and re-sample a new sound, or load the same clips onto
different pads and alter their pitch, sample start position and so on. This is just one
automation sweet spots is to Double a clips length of many ways to create new ideas and re-edits of the same patch.
multiple times before recording automation passes.

Composition and sound design Technique MTF
PXT opens up many more

options for Push users,
which are great for
FOCUS ON UPGRADING YOUR PUSH ENVIRONMENT reworking ideas on the fly.
If, like ourselves, you cant help but yearn for more functionality from Push to emulate
the more in-depth functions normally accessed from your computer then there are a
few options available to upgrade your Push environment. Max for Live devices are the
easiest way to start, as many are free and you should be familiar with using them
already. Our essential recommendation is the Push-Global Quant 1.2 device. Place
this on your Master Track and then hold Select to access the Global Quantization
menu using the Tempo encoder. Now you can launch clips in Session mode with a
higher resolution, which is great fun for a spontaneous jam.
Although Aftertouch is featured on Push its a greatly unharnessed power. It can
be assigned to any parameter using the Max for Live Expression Control device
included with Live Suite, but this can be tricky to control as it reacts the moment a
pad is struck. To avoid this problem, Push Pack for Aftertouch from
www.subaqueousmusic.com gives you the option to control aftertouch after either a
slight delay time or after a threshold of how hard you push down on the pad after the
initial strike. This gives practical control of this great feature and is a highly
recommended download.
There are many written and hacked scripts for the older generation of Live
controllers such as the Launchpad and APC40, but two we recommend that are The big difference is that you can select input routing options, side-chain routing for
directly designed for Push are the PXT-Live ($19.50) and PXT-Live Plus ($16.50) third-party plug-ins, track labelling, and there are also various methods for creatively
scripts from nativeKONTROL. These enable the user to have access to a much higher working with clips and chords. This only really touches the surface of what PXT truly
level of control to Live. They are accessed via Pushs User mode and a combination of offers and its something we now use on a regular basis, and best of all normal Push
Shift, Session, Note and Select enable you to access different aspects of the scripts. behaviour is always available by just flicking out of User mode when required.
Now youll have freedom over multiple passes of the

original clip, each time moving different parameters to
find what might make or break a sound. Then you can
hone in on the best bits, Duplicate them to a new clip,
loop them and hit Double to extend these best bits to
edit further.
Per-step Automation is a valuable resource for more
immediate and short-lived changes to any step on the
grid. Select a Device to automate, hold down a step in If youre going to be busy with both hands when recording then make
use of Fixed Length mode so you can pre-trigger clips a bar or two
the step sequencer and alter the parameter value for it
before performing (dependent on your Global Quantization settings)
from Pushs display. This is where sound design gets and have recorded clips automatically stop recording. Another
option is to record a long pass and then use Clip editing from Push
Designing sounds and jamming

and set the Loop length to the duration of your idea, then move the
Loop Position parameter to listen through and select the best take
within the clip. You can then hit Double to extend on this best take.
with Push should result in you instrument like a slow attack filter sweep, results in
creating a unique instrument Note Repeat suddenly becomes very expressive. This is
just retriggered modulation, but you can then vary the
shape of the envelope to get all sorts of groove- and
very interesting and greatly integrated into the rhythmic timbre-shift changes.
aspect of any part. Imagine whats possible here: you The aftertouch aspect of Note Repeat outputs
can drag various Audio Effects into the track and just velocity changes, which works very well when mapped
punch in effects processing at different stages within a to something other than volume. Expression Control is a
clip, then you can Double this clip and look to further great Max for Live device for this, and can be easily
edit the automation, or keep it in place and then edit the mapped and saved into an Instrument Rack for this
notes of the instrument to see how they create new purpose. Though this can be done by sequencing a
sounds through these effects. pattern first then playing with envelope aspects, having
Note that Repeat and Pad Pressure (aftertouch) can one hand rhythmically trigger and manage Pad Pressure
be used for a creative combination of modulation and and your other hand control encoders makes this a very
automation at the same time. Using Note Repeat to performance-led creative technique.
trigger both notes and an envelope stage of an Of course automation isnt the entirety of sound
design but it will play an integral part in keeping
movement and interest. Throughout the process its not
uncommon to also redesign the source material as you
go via synthesis or sample tweaking. Its a feedback
loop of creativity and a common method for creating
longer sections for your music.
Pushing onwards
There are countless ways to create music with Push
We often push the idea on our readers to work alongside a track that
inspires you. This is easy with Live as it is so tempo-sync driven, many more techniques than we can cover here. Due to
which enables you to use your own work against a reference track for Lives extensive library integration and unique Max for
a stark comparison. If all tracks (including Returns) are mapped to
Live devices, sound design and jamming with Push
one side of Lives Crossfader, assign the reference track to the other
and MIDI Map the User button on Push to the Crossfader. Now you should result in you creating your very own unique
can flip to your reference material at will by holding down the User instrument, and therefore your own signature sound.
button, then release it and youll be back listening to your own work.
Exploration isnt just recommended, its required. MTF

MASTER ABLETON & PUSH
WITH PRO MUSIC PRODUCERS
ENROLLING FOR SEPTEMBER TERM 2014. RESERVE YOUR PLACE NOW
W W W. P O I N T B L A N K LO N D O N . C O M
For course enquiries call +44(0)20 7729 4884 or email advice@pointblanklondon.com
MTF36.Point Blank ad.FOR PRINT.indd 29 18/08/2014 16:53

Mastering in software Feature MTF
MTF Feature Master your music
MASTERING IN
SOFTWARE: THE
COMPLETE GUIDE
Mastering is the vital last step in the production process, and with so many software
solutions around, its easier than ever to get involved. Hollin Jones explains all
T
he evolution of music technology in recent years has seen mastering,
once seemingly the most mysterious of processes for the uninitiated,
become something that almost any producer can do for themselves.
Thanks to powerful computers, advanced applications and plug-ins,
the tools needed are now far more accessible than they used to be.
Plus theres a greater
understanding of what
mastering is and how to go With just a little guidance
about it. It does, of course,
remain as much of an art most people can create
form as it ever was, and
simply having the tools is great-sounding masters
meaningless if you dont
know how to use them or you lack the musical judgement to make the right
creative decisions.
In truth, with a little guidance most people can create great-sounding masters,
and the good news is that your DAW provides almost all the tools you need to do
so. There are some specialised suites and plug-ins that will make your life easier
if you have the option of using them, and a decent set of monitors and a
sympathetic listening environment are also crucial to any mastering session,
FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 61
MTF36.137.feat mastering.FOR PRINT.indd 61 18/08/2014 15:39

MTF Feature Mastering in software
regardless of whats going on inside the computer.

But the great part for producers of any level is that
mastering in software is now accessible to all.
What were going to do is take you through the
process, from mixdown to selling your music online,
and show you the key stages youll need to go
through. As with any creative process theres the
caveat that every piece of music is different and
needs to be mastered according to its own unique
characteristics, but underlying this is a common set
Every piece of
music is different and
needs to be mastered
according to its own Blue Cat Audio makes some
characteristics
excellent analysis and metering
plug-ins that provide an
amazingly detailed view of adding reverb so that everything blends together,
whats really going on inside your and so on. What youre not doing at any of these
audio signal.
of techniques that will help you get a great, radio- stages is worrying very much about the gain and
ready sound. power of the track as a whole. Of course you want it
to be loud enough, but during mixing your only real
What is mastering? concern as far as the master fader goes is that
Before talking about how to master audio its nothing is clipping or peaking and nor is the master
important to understand what the term actually level too quiet.
means. When you work on a track you are The goal of mixing is to get the perfect blend of
concentrating on recording, editing, programming sounds, and the final step of the production process
and arranging it, and when you come to mix it is mastering. Here you take your mixed-down stereo
whats important is the relative balance of all the file (or possibly some stems, though this is a little
different elements. So youre EQing the guitars a more complex) and process it as a whole using
little here, automating the vocal a little there and specific kinds of effects to try and achieve a solid,
MTF Technology Who needs record labels?

Its never been easier to sell your own music online, with more anything thats ridiculously quiet, or that has digital clipping
services than ever enabling you to have a presence on major digital anywhere in it.
music stores such as iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and others. As well as There are a fair few of these services around and most charge a
getting your music into these one-time fee for uploading your
stores they also usually provide a music. Some charge an ongoing
centralised hub for managing admin fee, so look for one that
earnings from your music and doesnt unless youre sure you will be
downloading sales reports, so, earning a decent amount from sales.
for example, you can see which Mondotunes.com is pretty good
stores are performing the best and only charges once, and you
and in which regions of the world should also look at CD Baby, Ditto
youre selling the most. Music, and ReverbNation. Of course
Although services like these you can sell music yourself using the
will rarely screen music based on excellent Bandcamp.com, which has
genre (unless its a very genre- become the go-to self-publishing
specific service, of course), there platform for musicians, and also
are audio quality barriers to showcase your stuff on SoundCloud.
entry. These arent hugely strict Theres never been a better time to
(any halfway decent production sell your own music online, so its
ought to be sufficient), but vital to get the best-sounding results
producing a good master will in order to maximise sales potential.
help a lot with the saleability of
your music. Digital distribution MondoTunes is one of the better digital
services are likely to reject distribution services as it only has a one-off
initial charge.

MTF Step-by-Step Mastering a track using Ozone
01
Load up your stereo mix in a DAW and
create an instance of Ozone. Start with
a preset that sounds close enough to what
02 Go through each processing stage and
activate the ones you want to use, setting
parameters as you go. Here we have dialled in
03
The Maximizer section is where the
limiting takes place, and here you
should set your output level to 0dB or -0.1dB.
you want, and then make the necessary some EQ to pull specific sounds up in the mix a Then use the Threshold and Margin sliders to
tweaks. You can cycle through presets while little. Using a wide Q value for an EQ point drive the input level up against the limit to
auditioning the track, and dont be afraid to creates a broader EQ curve and a narrow Q squeeze more gain out of the track. Use your
try one or two whose names might not value means that only a very precise frequency judgment and leave some dynamic range so
automatically match your style of music. is affected. the track isnt being squeezed too hard.
powerful gain level and an EQ curve that perfectly the amount of physical equipment you need to do
Tech Terms
sweetens the signal. The aim of mastering is to make your job. For those of us working in home or project
A/Bing
the track sound as good as it possibly can on all the The process of temporarily studios its very useful to be able to do everything on
playback devices on which it will be listened to. muting processing to hear one setup.
the original version of the
As you can imagine this is something of a tall All major DAWs, such as Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools
signal and judge how you are
order since there are many possible ways to listen to changing it. Also applies to and Reason, now make mixing in-the-box a powerful
music: from a car radio and phone earbuds, to comparing your work-in- experience. Although its possible to layer up lots of
progress with commercially
high-end hi-fi systems and everything in-between. mastered material to help plug-ins on modern systems, its strongly advisable
Nevertheless, if you get your master right you will decide if youre heading in to separate the mixing and mastering processes
achieve this seemingly impossible task. Mastering is the right direction. because they have two distinct and different aims.
the very last step before your music is released to the Stems Mixing is about balancing the elements of a track,
Groups of tracks that bear
world, which is why its so vital to get it right. some relation to each other, and mastering is about affecting the overall sound
eg, drums, guitars or vocals. once the mix is done. You will probably spend a fair
Stem mastering enables you
Start with the mix to alter the balance of these
amount of time on your mix, and possibly go slightly
A lot of producers, even some at the top of the elements during mastering, mad from listening to the same track hundreds of
industry, now work almost entirely in-the-box, which which isnt otherwise times, so its a very good idea to leave a little space
possible if you have a stereo
means that music is started, worked on and finished file to work with. between the two processes. Have at least a night off,
without ever leaving the computer. This has a preferably a couple of days, before you come back
number of benefits, not least that it greatly reduces and start mastering. Its also a good idea to master
tracks in the same sessions if they are destined to
end up on the same album so theres an overall
coherence to the sound.
What you should end up with after a mix session
is a track or a bunch of tracks that sound well
balanced and hang together nicely. You might have
also already used a little master buss compression
during mixdown, which is a good trick to give a kind
of audio glue to your mixes and magically bind
everything together.
When you export a mixdown you will have a few
options. The most common technique is to export a
stereo audio file at the same quality as the sessions,
which might typically be 24- or 32-bit, and any
sample rate from 44.1, 48 or even 96kHz. Dont start
reducing quality during mixdown, as its much better
to keep everything at maximum and compress web
versions and so on much further down the line.
Some producers will mix down a collection of
stems for mastering and this is technically fairly easy
IK Multimedias T-RackS is a self-contained mastering suite whose

modules also work as plug-ins. It has a nifty loudness suggestion
feature so you can master appropriately for a specific genre.
focus Ableton Live 2014 63

MTF Technology On the move? You can still master!

Mastering hasnt just made the leap from professional to home stereo imaging, reverb and dither, and is perfectly optimised for the
studios, its now even possible on iOS too. There have been advanced touch interface. Far more advanced than you might expect, it has
DAW apps on iOS for a couple of years and its possible to use insert detailed controls for every aspect of the mastering process as well
effects in those, just as on your own desktop, to perform mastering as great metering and comprehensive import and export options for
tasks. Cubasis, Auria, putting music directly online.
GarageBand, NanoStudio and FL Alternatively, an app called Audio
Studio Mobile HD are just some of Mastering, also for iPad and priced at
the apps that will enable you to 8.99, has a more scientific interface
do this. With advanced but is nonetheless very powerful. It
technologies being developed for has a parametric EQ, stereo imaging,
iOS all the time, things such as multiband compressor, reverb, stereo
Audiobus and Inter-App Audio imaging, maximizer, spectral analyser
now enable you to stream audio and more, and has basic and
between apps without having to advanced control modes.
export it from one to the other. Just as with your computer you
Perhaps the most interesting will want to use a proper audio
development has been the interface and serious monitoring in
release of a couple of dedicated order to get the best possible results,
iOS mastering apps. Positive Grid but its interesting to know that you
produces Final Touch (10.49), an can now master on iPad using very
excellent iPad-based mastering similar tools to those that you would
solution with a slick interface use in your studio.
that has a maximiser, pre- and
post-EQs, four-band dynamics, Final Touch is a dedicated and powerful
mastering app for iOS.
Mastering is also possible in and running it through some effects. As you might
imagine, though, some apps are better than others. A
your DAW by creating an audio simple wave editor that can load plug-ins will do in
a pinch, but a pro audio wave editor is preferable
track and using insert effects because it will usually have a more efficient way of
handling plug-ins, looping, metering and the like.
Steinbergs WaveLab for Mac and PC is designed
to do by using mixer grouping and batch exporting specifically for mastering, and Sonys Sound Forge is
from a DAW. another excellent choice both have some great
Stems are groups of tracks that all have a common built-in processing and editing tools. Sound Forge is
theme as defined by the producer, so for example you now available for Mac too, though it is rather
might export drum stems, guitar stems and vocal different to its PC sibling.
stems for mastering. The idea is that this affords you Mastering is also possible using your DAW by
more flexibility during mastering because you are simply creating a single audio track and then using
able to vary the levels of the different stems (which insert effects on that channel or the master buss to
you cant do using a stereo file of the whole track), process the mixdown that you import. Any major
effectively tweaking the mix even after mixdown.
Its an interesting approach, although it does add
an extra layer of complexity to the mastering stage. If
youre fiddling around by altering stem levels you
might get bogged down in changing the mix instead
of focusing on the mastering processing. Technically
its not so different from stereo mastering, its just
that you load up four or five synchronised audio
tracks and route them all through master effects
instead of just the one. Potential problems can arise
from giving yourself too many options, so consider
whether you trust yourself enough to get the mix
right and use a stereo file, which is usually simpler.
Of course if you are mastering material that has been
mixed by someone else, getting stems will give you
more flexibility in the event of a poor mix.
Using master buss compression,
such as here in Reason 7, can
Starting the process help to glue a mix together and
You can master in various different kinds of software mean that less compression is
required at the mastering stage.
since its really just a case of loading up an audio file

FabFilters Pro-L is a great

DAW will enable this, and as youre not going to be limiting plug-in that can be used
using any MIDI or arrangement tools the only really to squeeze the maximum
amount of power out of your
important thing to do before you start is make sure
tracks without crushing them.
the project settings match those of the audio you are
importing so that no unexpected format conversion
takes place. Although the vast majority of mastering
effects come in plug-in format there are some
dedicated mastering apps as well, probably the most
complete of which is IK Multimedias T-RackS CS,
which has some excellent tools and is a staple of
many peoples mastering setups.
Its quite possible to master using the bundled
plug-ins that come with your DAW, though these will Tech Terms
of course vary in quality depending on how high-end Dithering
the software is. The core effects you will need are Changing the bit depth of begin with compression. If you have applied master
audio, say when mixing down
compression, EQ, limiting and ideally some stereo- from 32-bit to 16-bit, can buss compression during mixdown you may want to
widening and metering tools as well. The major DAWs introduce distortion into the go a little easier during mastering so as not to
signal. Dithering adds noise
such as Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools and the like come over-compress or pump the sound and risk sucking
thats more or less inaudible
with most of these. Others can be added for free, but to our ears in an attempt to the musicality out of it. Used carefully, compression
if you are doing serious mastering its worth looking minimise this. is an excellent way of pulling together the louder
at some more heavyweight plug-ins. Suites such as Glass master and quieter parts of the signal to create a more even
An increasingly outdated
iZotopes Ozone or some of Waves plug-ins are great, concept, the glass master is
feel, ensuring that quiet bits arent inaudible and the
and not just for mastering but for general tracking the master copy of a digital loud bits dont deafen you. Listen to any track where
and mixing tasks as well. album that is used to press a a singer practically whispers one line then screams
large number of CDs from.
Your pristine, full-quality the next and yet both seem weirdly about the same
Squeeze the sound digital files that result from volume: thats compression doing its thing.
mastering fulfil much the
Theres no strictly defined order in which to start With mastering you want the compression to glue
same role.
processing your master but many producers like to the whole signal together and smooth out the peaks
Parallel compression can

beef-up your tracks and greatly
increase perceived loudness
focus Ableton Live 2014 65

and troughs but without sounding artificial. As

such its usually better to apply a relatively gentle
amount with a low-ish ratio and an attack time thats
not too quick. When you apply a compressor across
the whole signal it has to deal with everything from
the bass to the crash cymbals, so using a decent
quality model is preferable.
Singleband compression is common but you can
also use multiband compression if you feel confident
enough. Multiband compressors enable you to set the
crossover points and compression levels for several
frequency bands independently, so you can effectively
pull different bands up or down selectively. Though
different from EQ this can be a very useful trick
because it helps you to deal more effectively with
rogue groups of sounds. For example, if the bass is
too loud in the mix, using EQ to take it down might
lessen the power and impact of the track, but using
multiband compression to control it serves to level it
DAWs on the iPad such as Auria have advanced insert effects sections
Tech Terms that you can use for mastering on the move.
With your audio Multiband

Any processing that works
glued together by
across several frequency more usually, enhance them by pulling their
bands, usually with frequency up a little. The Q settings of a parametric
adjustable crossover points.
compression, Compression and EQ are the equalizer are particularly useful here because they
most common multiband control the width of the area around the EQ point
types and are both used
sweeten and balance extensively in mastering.

and thus the amount of frequency to either side that
Master buss
is affected.
the sound with EQ

The stereo output of your So to perform a broad boost to the lower mids,
DAW through which the whole for example, you might use a wide Q value and a
signal passes. During the
mastering process this is gentle rise in the gain. To isolate a single sound such
off rather than knocking it out and should also help it where you would normally as a guitar, use a narrow Q value and pull the sound
to blend with any nearby frequencies. place the effects, although up or down, leaving similar sounds to either side
they can also be used as
inserts on your single audio relatively untouched.
Become the equalizer track if you are only working As good as your mixdown is you will always find
with one track at a time
With your audio glued together by compression its instead of stem mastering.
small improvements that can be made at this stage,
time to use EQ to sweeten and balance the sound. especially when the other mastering effects have
You will invariably find that a little EQ during changed the character of the sound in their own
mastering can really help, even for a track that has ways. Because you are applying an EQ curve across
been mixed well. A parametric EQ is a good choice as the whole track you can control the feel of the
it provides a nice visual representation of the EQ A good parametric EQ will serve soundstage much more easily. There are some
you well for mastering. If your
curve and will have multiple points and Q controls. commonly used techniques here in addition to
budget stretches far enough
The aim of mastering EQ is to pick out certain then Steinbergs Portico 5033 EQ sweetening the sound, such as performing a very low
elements of a track and then either back them off or, is an excellent choice. bass roll-off to deal with any sub sounds, and either
adding or cutting very high frequencies to add
sparkle or remove hiss.
Take it to the limit

The third core process in mastering is limiting,
which means driving the input level of the signal
while ensuring it doesnt exceed a predetermined
level. The goal here is to squeeze as much gain and
power out of the signal as is appropriate but without
causing it to clip and without crushing it so it
becomes dull and lifeless. Limiting comes at the end
of the processing chain because anything placed
after it could interfere with its operation by
negatively affecting the signal.
At their simplest, limiters just have input and
output gain controls. You need to set the output level
to 0dB or just below, say -0.1dB, in order to ensure
that the signal will not exceed this level and thus not
clip. Use the input gain level control to drive the

MTF Technology To really understand your masters, you need to check the meter
When mixing and mastering you spend a lot of time looking at the
master level meters in your DAW or on your mixing desk. This is
indeed where you can see if your signal is too loud or quiet, but it
offers only one kind of visual feedback.
To fully understand whats going on you will need to use some
more advanced metering tools. These can be applied as inserts
across your master buss and dont process or change the sound,
they simply analyse it. Your DAW may come with an analysis
plug-in or two but there are excellent third-party models
available too from the likes of Blue Cat Audios Analysis Pack and
Waves Dorrough Meter Collection and PAZ Analyzer.
What you gain by using proper audio analysis tools is a better
insight into the way the frequencies in your master are really
behaving. When you listen to sound through loudspeakers it is
being affected by all kinds of factors including the character of
those speakers, their placement and proximity to walls, and your
position relative to them. For example, bass can sound very
different depending on how you stand in relation to the speakers.
By analysing the sound before it leaves the computer, plug-ins
can show you whats truly happening across the frequency
spectrum with phase issues and so on, and enable you to correct
these during mastering.
The modules in T-RackS CS also work individually as well as in a suite,

and can be loaded into any DAW.
signal until you get a solid and consistent level, strong level against retaining the right amount of
Tech Terms
which means your level meters are spending a lot of dynamic range.
IN THE BOX
time up near 0dB. Any production that takes
The aim is to bolster and boost the sounds gain, place entirely inside the Best of the rest
computer. Increasingly
and careful limiting is the reason so many popular as a standard
As well as the processors mentioned above you may
commercial tracks sound much louder than those working method, some also want to use stereo widening, and some more
produced in home studios. Its also the culprit behind producers start, work on advanced metering can also help. Stereo widening
and finish off whole tracks
the loudness wars where commercial studios have without ever leaving their should be used sparingly because it can quickly start
tended to limit harder and harder, a phenomenon that digital environment. to really mess with the soundstage if you push it too
MASTERING SUITE far, seriously altering the mix. Its good to use a
Use judgement in
A collection of plug-ins or
stereo widener with low and high controls and a
processing modules that
collectively make up a configurable crossover point so you can keep the low
balancing a strong mastering chain. Typically

comprising EQ, compression
and limiting they may also
end tight and centred while adding a little width to
the top end.
level against retaining have stereo widening and

mastering reverb too.
Regularly A/Bing your master both with its dry,
unprocessed signal and with commercially mastered
the right amount of songs in a similar style can be invaluable in helping

keep you on the right track and getting the best end
dynamic range results. Youll also need a decent set of monitors

because you need as accurate a picture as possible of
how your master is shaping up. And preferably get
reached its nadir with Metallicas Death Magnetic, an yourself kitted out with a really good set of
album so tiring on the ears that some listeners headphones, since many of your listeners will
actually sent it back. experience your music this way.
Its quite possible to over-limit and crush your When your master is done you can export it out to
signal, either by running the output level over 0dB or a stereo file and then top and tail it in a wave editor
more likely by driving the input gain too hard. If your to deal with any errant reverb tails or clicks. Before
level meters are consistently hammering up against signing off on a master its vital to listen back to it on
the zero mark, step back and listen to whether your as many systems as you can in case you find that for
track is in fact being squeezed too hard. You dont some reason the bass disappears on an iPhone, or the
want to suck all the dynamic range out of it because cymbals are way too loud on a car stereo. Stuff like
this kills its musicality the levels should have a this does happen and its well worth going back and
little movement left in them. refining the master to account for it.
Its generally accepted now that the loudness wars With a little practice and the right set of tools you
went too far; its not necessary to crush your tracks can use mastering to really enhance the finished
to death, just use some judgement in balancing a sound of your tracks. MTF
FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 67

MTF Technique Mastering tracks in Live
Mastering
tracks in Live
To give your tunes the ultimate professional edge Liam OMullane
shares some Live-specific techniques that can be essential when
it comes to mastering your own music
W
ell, this series has been quite a journey. mastering houses is usually out of most peoples reach due
Weve covered a large range of best- On the disc to the high cost.
practice for using many of Lives unique This last option is food for thought if you work 100%
features, and we hope you now have a in-the-box, as it may be the only time your work has the
Accompanying
handful of songs youd like to polish-up project file included chance to pass through an analogue signal path. This type
and stick in that folder named Finished Tracks. But on the DVD of processing can help you get a more rounded tone and a
although the mastering process can be applied reasonably greater sense of depth, which, as weve already mentioned,
well through your own studio set-up with software we will be applied by someone with very experienced ears.
encourage you to consider outsourcing this process if you But paying out for mastering isnt always an option, and
plan to release this material commercially. There are many although a full guide to mastering in Live is beyond the
reasons for doing this, with the core points being: scope of this single sitting here, we will cover various
1. An experienced mastering engineer can offer a level of techniques that make great use of Lives unique devices.
Although Live doesnt offer much in terms of vintage
There are a few ways to emulation, aside from its SSL-modelled Glue Compressor,
there are a few ways to enhance your masters with some
enhance your masters with analogue-style harmonic enrichment.

As you explore the dynamic, frequency, stereo-width
analogue-style enrichment and perceived depth aspects of your material when DIY
mastering you will always start to hear what may have
needed more attention at the mixing stage. You can then
subjectivity you will never experience when youve also always re-visit these Live projects for correction, which
created and produced the music yourself. provides an element of ear training required to improve
2. A professional engineer will have a well-tuned room that your overall production skills. So even if you plan on
makes it easy for them to spot problem areas in your mixes. outsourcing your mastering needs, a bit of DIY can be a
3. The quality level of the gear available at many traditional great learning experience. MTF
FOCUS ON COPING WITH MULTIPLE TRACKS

The main focus of mastering is placed on the task of processing one
track on its own, but this isnt the only thing to take into consideration.
If you are planning on releasing an EP or an entire album youll need to
master your multiple tracks in sympathy with each other so they have
an overall cohesion.
With multiple tracks comes an issue of navigation, as youll need to
regularly compare one track against the others to check for consistency.
This is best dealt with by setting different Locator points and assigning
them to key commands to move around Lives Arrangement View with
ease. Right [PC] / Ctrl [Mac] + Click on the Scrub Area below the
Arrangement View timeline and select Add Locator. These can then be
renamed from the same + Click menu and assigned to computer keys
using the Edit Key Map option from the Options menu.
If you start to label up the start, breakdown, main section, outros
and so on of four or more tracks, assigning these to individual keys
becomes a bit cumbersome to manage. In this case the Next and
Previous Locator buttons are the best options to move around many
different Locators. These two arrow symbols sit either side of the Set
button, which appears in the top right-hand side of the screen when
Edit Key Map is enabled. Just assign these to two keys to move back
and forth with ease as you work.
The launching time for Locators is controlled by the Global
Quantization chooser menu next to Lives Metronome in the top
left-hand corner of the screen. Change this to None if you want to
immediately switch from one locator to another, rather than wait for a
tempo-based launching time.
MTF36.tut live.FOR PRINT.indd 68 18/08/2014 16:20

Mastering tracks in Live Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step EQ, dynamics and saturation
01
Youll often want to restrict the extremes of the top and bottom
ends. If theres bass energy lower than the lowest note this can
be limited using a x4 Low Cut filter. Removing this also helps achieve a
02 Narrow-band subtractive EQ can be useful if you have a build up
of unpleasant resonances. Use a parametric (Bell) EQ with
additive Gain and sweep the Frequency to hunt out the problem area,
slightly higher output level. Use a x4 or regular High Cut to restrict the then use the Q control to choose a width that doesnt boost more than
top end and tame the very high frequencies, through to a more obvious the area needed. Reset the Gain back to 0dB and use negative Gain
roll-off around 15-16kHz for a cut-to-vinyl tone. until the resonance is reduced enough so its no longer an issue.
03
Although rhythmic, peak-based compression can be good to help
bring out drum-track transients in your songs, to increase the
body and energy of your song you might need a mild, non-rhythmic
04 A simple way to firm up and thicken your bottom end is to use
Lives Overdrive device to add subtle distortion. Be very careful to
use low Drive, Tone and Dynamics settings, as the signal can break up
type of dynamic control. Lives Glue Compressor is a good choice here very easily at the cost of your audio quality. But with its Bandpass EQ
with a ratio of 2:1, and little to no Threshold applied, a few dBs of gain set to focus purely on the low end, this device can add a really solid
reduction can help your songs sound more glued together. weight to your songs.
05
For harmonic enrichment in the top end, Saturator tends to do
this job better than the often brittle-sounding Overdrive. The
presets within Lives library are a good place to start, with Hot Tubes
06
Corrective rebalancing of the tops, lows and mids can be made
using High Shelve, Low Shelve and Bell EQs, respectively. Be
careful to adjust the Gain level of the EQ when making either additive
and Warm Up Highs being our personal favourites. Remember to keep or subtractive adjustments so your levels stay at their optimum. Any
exploring the right balance of Dry/Wet while you work, as its very easy mid-range adjustments are best made with a wide Q, so the overall
to add too much. balance isnt distorted too much.

MTF Technique Mastering tracks in Live
MTF Step-by-Step Width and depth
01
Fine-tune the stereo width by switching an EQ Eight into M/S
from the Mode menu. This enables you to EQ the Mid and Side
parts of the signal individually. Increase stereo width by slightly
02
Another way to enhance your stereo width is by adding
harmonics to the side signal. A Mid and Side Device is included
on the DVD which splits the signal into a Mid and Side Chain within an
boosting the tops in the sides with a High Shelve EQ, then use a Low Audio Rack. You can then add processors to either Chain. Drag a
Cut EQ so the low end only passes down the Mid signal. Use Audition Saturator with a high Drive amount to the Side Chain, and set the Dry/
Mode to hear where the Low Cut frequency should be set. Wet balance so the stereo is enhanced without sounding too distorted.
03
A subtle reverb can be used to place a dry-sounding mix into an
audible space and add depth. This needs to be done subtly, so be
careful with your Dry/Wet balance. Weve gone for a medium room and
04 The previous technique can be taken a step further by only adding
the reverb to the sides, maintaining a dryer sound down the centre
of the mix. When applying reverb to the sides be careful to experiment
used the Reverb devices Lo Cut on the input to avoid muddying up the with applying it before or after the Utility device, which removes the mid
low end. Live Suite owners should explore the Convolution Reverb in part of the signal. In most cases its best to add the reverb to be
the Max for Live browser for a more natural sound. pre-Utility, and then balance the Dry/Wet to taste.
05
You dont always need to increase the width of a mix, though,
especially when matching multiple tracks for an EP or album. To
control the balance between mid and sides, a single Utility device can
06 A final way to achieve a sense of depth is to push back the pokey,
boxy-sounding part of the lower mids. This will generally live
below 500Hz and will sound unpleasant when boosted using additive
be very helpful. Use values on the Width parameter of lower than 100% gain. When this area has been identified and the Q amount is wide
to narrow your stereo spread towards mono at 100%. enough to only boost the offending range you can use subtractive Gain
settings to achieve a more scooped and deeper sound.

MTF36.FabFill ad.FOR PRINT.indd 55 18/08/2014 16:55
A4_print.indd 2 3/12/12 2:15 PM
MTF Feature 20 Ways To Supercharge Your Computer For Audio
MTF Feature 20 ways to
SUPERCHARGE YOUR
COMPUTER
FOR AUDIO
Get the best computer you can for music production! they say.
But Hollin Jones disagrees. You can easily spruce up your existing
system for audio work, and it wont cost you a fortune
I
ts a fairly safe bet to assume that most of the people They might be giants
reading this make music using a computer as the Although almost infinitely more powerful and stable
heart of their studio. And while there may be lots of than they were just two decades ago, computers are
outboard and instruments thrown into the still complex machines that need to be treated
equation, the computer is the nerve centre the properly. Pro audio work is one of the most demanding
brain that ultimately runs the session. As computers things you can ask of a computer, short perhaps only
have become ubiquitous in the pro audio world, it has of 3D video processing. And although computers have
become increasingly important to understand how become much faster, our expectations of what we
they operate and how they do their job. Where once an should be able to achieve with them have gone up as
Atari just ran your MIDI, now a Mac or PC handles well. So where once youd be grateful to run a couple of
every aspect of the production process. virtual synths, now were prone to loading up lots of
MTF36.136.feat Optimise your system.FOR PRINT.indd 72 18/08/2014 15:36

20 Ways To Supercharge Your Computer For Audio Feature MTF
You can easily do the following

techniques to get a much better
performance out of your music system
multi-GB sample-based instruments without giving it Make the most of what you have
a second thought. You dont have to be a tech wizard to optimize your
All of this is fine as long as your machine can cut it. computer for audio performance, and a lot of the tips
There are very important considerations that come well show you are actually free and involve no
into play when buying a new machine: Mac or PC, how expense. One thing that is important to stress before
big should the hard drive be and what format, how you start, however, is that you should always maintain
many cores to go for and how fast should they be. For current backups of your system, especially before
many people, however, getting the best performance starting to delete files or make changes to hardware.
out of the hardware you already own is a more Also if you are not confident in swapping RAM or hard
pressing issue. drives its well worth the small cost of getting a
Luckily, its not as daunting a task as you may have professional to do it, as this should avoid any slip ups.
imagined. Many people that take a computer to a On the whole though, most of the following tips and
specialist believing it to be on its last legs are amazed techniques are things that you can easily do yourself
to discover that after a spring clean or the fitting of and they will help you get the very best performance
some more RAM its as good as new, if not better. out of your music system.

The old debate

Slightly controversially, although Macs are comparatively
more expensive, an off-the shelf Mac will provide a better
all-round solution for many users, thanks to the excellent
build quality and the stability of Mac OS X. If on the other
hand you prefer much wider customization options or
perhaps use a Windows-only DAW, a PC can offer more
bang for your buck.
The CPU is the brain of your computer and any half
decent machine will now have a dual core processor at
the very least and probably a quad core one if youre going
for a more serious setup. Opting for the fastest clock
speeds usually adds greatly to the price, but software is
increasingly well optimized for multicore processing, so
you might be better saving that money for other
PRO TIP SOLID components that will make more of a real world
STATE DRIVES performance difference. Intels i5 processors are good but
SSD drives use no moving the i7s admittedly more expensive are great. In a
parts and as such are much full-fat system you might even get Xeon processors.
faster than conventional hard
drives and use less power.
Though more costly, their Dont forget
price has come down a lot and Memory, also known as RAM, is also crucial as the more
they are easy to fit to any
computer that allows user you have, the greater the headroom in the system. Data
access to the drive bay. Once stored in RAM is accessed very quickly and DAWs and
UNDERSTANDING youve gone SSD, everything
else feels incredibly slow by
virtual instruments love it. 8GB should be considered a
sensible amount, preferably 16GB or more for a
YOUR HARDWARE comparison.
heavyweight music setup. Hard drives are also common
The bits that make up your computer will
determine how well it performs
The faster the clock speed the
Lets get one thing straight at the outset: your five-year-
old PC or a cheap, off-the-shelf laptop is probably not higher the price, but you might be
going to be all that much cop when it comes to running
big music projects in the latest DAW. Budgets are always better off saving that money
an issue, but just as you wouldnt expect an old banger to
win a Formula 1 race, a basic computer isnt going to deal performance bottlenecks. A standard 5400RPM drive
with the rigours of pro audio production. If you are will feel horribly slow, so go for a 7200RPM drive or
buying a new machine, youll have the chance to specify it preferably a solid state (SSD) drive. Upgrade your existing
properly for audio work and if youre upgrading an drive if its old, slow or otherwise creaking. Theres other
existing machine you should know which components to peripheral stuff like optical drives, screens and
pay particular attention to. connectivity, but these are the most important things to
look at when considering how well your music system
is performing.
PRO TIP
RAM IT HOME
RAM used to be really
expensive but now its much
more affordable. Most
computers allow you to
manually upgrade the RAM,
and www.crucial.com is a good PRO TIP CONNECTIVITY MATTERS
place to look. A few thin
Though USB2 is everywhere, consider what ports your computer
laptops, especially those from
has. All Apple models now have Thunderbolt, and ports like
Apple, dont allow user
FireWire, USB3 or eSATA can be added to desktop PCs via expansion
upgrades so you should
cards. USB2 is the baseline standard, though adaptors do exist to
specify as much as you can
connect some older equipment to newer machines. Some are
afford while ordering the
completely incompatible though, so always check before buying.
machine.

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MTF36.Producer Tech Ad.FOR PRINT.indd 75 20/08/2014 18:38

PRO TIP USE WHATSIZE

WhatSize for Mac ($12.99, free demo available) is a kind of
advanced file browser thats focused on displaying the size
of every item on your hard drive. As well as letting you sort
CLEAR OUT THE CLUTTER any list by size it helpfully colour codes so the biggest items
are clearly visible. You can delete items from inside the app
Streamlining your system can really help with and perform useful tasks like finding duplicate items.
performance
As hard drives have got bigger in recent years there is a

tendency to store more and more stuff on our computers,
particularly as much of our content like photos, music PRO TIP
and films is now digital rather than existing as physical MEASURE YOUR
media. As with all technology, however, there are limits WINDOWS DISK
as to how much a drive can store before it starts to affect WinDirStat (free from https://
the overall running of your system. One of the most windirstat.info) is a file size and
type viewer for Windows that
common causes of slowdowns and errors is when a boot analyzes your disk hierarchy and
drive has become stuffed with content to the extent that displays a list of its contents in one
of three views: Directory, Treemap
Windows or Mac OS X can no longer effectively use it to
or Extensions. This helps you to
store temporary and memory files, which will quickly identify large areas of disk taken up
degrade performance. by files or folders and make a
decision about what to do with
A good rule of thumb is that any boot drive (the drive them.
on which your operating system is installed) should have
at least 20% of its total space free to ensure smooth
running. When your apps start to request more memory tricks, so if youre running these systems you will find
than you have installed, the OS uses the hard drive for RAM issues occur less than on earlier versions, but
swap files, a workaround to keep things running when nonetheless a full boot drive is never good.
RAM is low. This is much slower than real RAM and
when theres little free space, the system has to hunt Nap those apps
around on the drive for areas to put it. Windows 8 and OS There are some hard and fast rules for maintaining a lean
X 10.9 do a good job of managing RAM using some clever system that optimizes the space you have available to
you. Obviously, dont install applications and libraries
that you dont plan on using. Or if you do install them and
find you never use them, uninstall them. Just trashing an
PRO TIP app folder rarely makes for a proper uninstall as apps
ONYX FOR MAC scatter content all around your system folders. Use
OnyX (free from http://www.titanium. something like AppZapper for the Mac, Windows
free.fr) is an excellent system
maintenance tool for OS X that allows you
Uninstall tool or the uninstaller that is provided as part
to tweak the appearance and behaviour of many apps installers. On a related note, dont run apps
of the Finder as well as clearing out the that you dont need. Any running application makes use
many caches and logs that build up over
time. Run once every few months it can of system resources that you would prefer went to your
help to reclaim a few GB of space and fix DAW. OS X 10.9 has App Nap which is able to mitigate this
crashing or troublesome apps.
to an extent but its still better not to open apps that
youre not using.
PRO TIP SAFE AND SOUND

Although some files can be safely moved off your boot drive its
not recommended to actually track audio to a USB connected
drive and certainly not to a wireless drive. Any latency or
potential connection issues can cause a recording to fail, so its
a good idea to record everything to your internal drive and then
decide later whether to move it, perhaps after your project is
completed.
PRO TIP CLEAN UP WITH CCLEANER

CCleaner for Windows (https://www.piriform.com) is able to scan
your system for old and unwanted files as well as caches and other
clutter and delete them. As well as generally speeding things up and
reclaiming some disk space this can have the benefit of fixing
issues with corrupted apps, apps that wont boot and so on.

Many music applications and instruments come with Its also worth clearing out files you no longer need
a large amount of sample-based content and this can and apart from shifting big libraries off to external
easily run to many GB in size. A few years ago it was drives, you can use an app like WhatSize (Mac) or
common to recommend offloading this to a second WinDirStat (Windows) to display your drive
hierarchically by size. You might find a folder full of
movies you had forgotten about which can be thrown
A drive should have 20% free away. Some apps, particularly video-editing packages,
can store large scratch or render files which may be
space to ensure smooth running eating up space. Operating systems also store a lot of
cache and other files, many of which can be safely deleted
with an app like OnyX (Mac) or CCleaner (Windows). As
internal hard drive, though with tower machines now ever, make sure you have current backups before
outnumbered by laptops and all-in-ones like iMacs (no tinkering with your system.
Apple model now officially allows the fitting of a second
internal drive) youre much more likely to be putting it on
a USB or Thunderbolt hard drive. Sometimes this can be
done during installation, by pointing the installer at the
external drive. In the case of DAW content like the stuff
that comes with Logic or Cubase, it can be better to leave
it in its original location to avoid getting error messages
every time you boot up.
Not just audio

Its often not DAWs or instruments that are the biggest
offenders when it comes to taking up space, but music,
photo and video libraries. If your machine is meant for
music production you should probably prioritise that, and
transfer your consumer media libraries to an external
drive. One good solution is to use a NAS or another
wireless drive for this kind of content because they tend
to be very spacious, can hide away next to your wi-fi
router and the latency of connecting wirelessly isnt a PRO TIP KEEP IT SIMPLE
problem. Find where your library lives and perform a Get Although most DAWs come with a lot of content, you dont necessarily have to
Info or Properties command on it to see how big it is. You install it all right away. Logic, for example, lets you manually choose which content
to download from the web at any point. Consider doing a lean install initially, then
might be surprised that iTunes or movie libraries can get re-running the installer later to add the extra content if you decide you need it.
really huge.
MTF Pro Advice DIY electronics

Adding RAM shouldnt with some electronics
require a degree in presents the
electronics but if you want possibility of
to go further, youll need to receiving a
know components and potentially fatal
follow circuit diagrams. electric shock.
You might also need to Ensure that the
know how to solder and power supply is
how to diagnose faults. switched off
Most importantly of all, whenever you
you must appreciate and are working on
understand the physical the circuit
dangers involved in board. If you are
working with electronics. If testing for
you have never tackled voltage
something like this before, readings or
wed suggest honing your faults, the
skills with some cheaper power will need
and easier projects. to be switched
on, so ensure you keep
SAFETY WARNING one hand firmly placed in
As always, we should your pocket
caution you that working while probing.

Storage options
Choosing the right hard drive can make all the
difference to the performance of your system..
Hard drive speed can make a world of difference to the

every-day performance of your music setup. While raw
CPU speed is important for processing effects and
achieving a low latency, the speed with which your
computer can read and write to its hard drive is
massively important for launching apps, streaming
samples and handling all kinds of file operations.
The majority of computers still come with a
conventional spinning hard drive. These are fairly
affordable and come in large capacities of 1 or 2TB, or
perhaps 500GB for a lower spec machine. So
they are great for storing lots of large files,
though a 7200RPM speed should be
considered for decent performance. 10,000
and even 15,000RPM drives exist, though
mostly for larger machines rather than laptops. The pro tip The ideal mobile setup
Many people run mobile setups these days thanks to the incredible
performance of these drives is perfectly acceptable for
power of modern, well specified laptops. An SSD drive is ideal here,
many people, especially if your work isnt hugely taxing, because it saves battery power while offering amazing read and
say perhaps running some Propellerhead Reason or write performance. The only issue is space, and you can expect
around half the storage youd get from a similarly priced spinning
Ableton Live projects. drive. However you can add a capacious and inexpensive USB2 or 3
external drive to store all your movies, sample libraries and
Solid State Drives have no

backups and get the best of both worlds. Apple only builds a single
model with a conventional drive now, though the multitude of
specialist audio PC builders will be able to stick a fast and spacious
moving parts so read and write drive into most Windows laptops if you prefer. A few are even able to
fit an SSD and a spinning drive, at the cost of the optical drive which
is used less and less these days anyway.
speeds are incredible

one during build or upgrade your existing drive, youll
Dont move probably wonder how you ever lived
Solid state drives (SSDs) use Flash memory chips rather without it.
than a head and platter to store and read data. They Almost all laptops and all-in-one
have no moving parts so they are more power systems like the iMac and Mac Pro
efficient and their read and write speeds only allow one internal drive, but
are incredible, especially for large tower PCs still allow multiple
individual files. The PCIe-based SSDs internal drives to be fitted so a good
in the top end Retina MacBook Pro, solution can be to use an SSD for the
for example, is able to read and write system drive and much larger
at around 700MB per second in real additional internal drives for extra
world situations. storage. Apple makes the Fusion
Although you pay much more per Drive for the iMac, a clever hybrid of
gigabyte, SSD drives have fallen in both drive types, which can help.
price and are a dream to work with for Adding an external hard drive is a
more demanding users. If you specify good move for any system, with
spacious USB2 or 3 drives now very
pro tip A tower of power affordable, and Thunderbolt
Apple no longer makes tower systems since the demise of the old versions also appearing, but at a
Mac Pro but specialist PC builders definitely do. The advantage of higher cost.
a tower is configurability you can add multiple internal hard
drives, lots of RAM and PCI cards to expand your I/O. As far as Wireless drives like NAS
drives go, look for a decent SSD for your boot drive so that systems are great for backup
Windows will run nice and quickly and then add one or two though not ideal for storing samples
additional internal drives running at 7200RPM and with capacities
of 1TB or more. You might use one for backup and one for due to the latency involved in
recordings and samples, for example. Apples Mac Mini and iMac loading samples from them over a
can have their drives beefed up as far as a 3TB Fusion Drive in the
case of the iMac which should provide a good balance of speed
wireless connection. Connecting
and storage to deal with anything you can throw at it. the drive via Ethernet is always an
option, of course.

BACKING UP AND DATA PRO TIP KEEP

MANAGEMENT REGULAR BACKUPS
Always back up regularly, and
especially before performing
It might not sound glamorous, but having a good any system changes like
backup system can really save your bacon updates or clearing out or
uninstalling things. On
occasion, a system update, for
We have looked up to this point at what you can do to example, might break your
audio driver or your DAW or
upgrade, clear out and spec your music computer for the
favourite plug-in, and you dont
best possible performance but having a proper backup want to get stuck waiting for a
routine is just as important to the ongoing health and fix. With a new backup you can
roll back to the previous
security of your system. Back in the bad old days, version, if you really have to.
operating systems and applications were much less
reliable and data loss was not uncommon. A bad crash
could take down the system and lose your work or worse
still, fry a hard drive. Things are much better these days
but its still quite possible to accidentally throw
something important away, or suffer a crash or a theft Time Machine creates a fully-
and lose your projects. The good news is that backing up
is easier than it has ever been. bootable backup so if your system
Getting your back up dies a version can be restored
There are some good general rules for backing up and
some platform-specific techniques, which we will talk Mac OS X has Time Machine which is an excellent
about in a moment. Whatever system you are on it makes built-in backup system. It works incrementally which
sense to keep copies of installers on a separate hard drive, means that after your first backup of the entire system, it
complete with copies of serial numbers and individual only backs up changed files so each backup is relatively
updaters in case of problems. Rolling back to a previous small. It works with any connected or wireless hard drive
app version can be tricky if the developer doesnt make and you can even use multiple drives, maintaining an
old versions available for download. Its a good idea to up-to-date backup on each one for added security.
back up sample libraries as well, though you really only The beauty of Time Machine is that when you go to
have to do this once if the library isnt likely to change. your backups you can pull any individual file back to the
PRO TIP
Consider duplicating it to an external drive initially and present, recovering a version of a Logic file, for example,
then saving modified files to a new location as you go. By
CHOOSE WISELY that you may have modified or deleted since the last time
Backup drives dont
using a big backup drive say 2TB or so you can back up necessarily need to be as fast
you backed up.
incrementally without ever running out of space. as hard drives inside your The system also creates a fully bootable backup and
computer because they are this means that even if your system dies or is stolen, a
used much less intensively. So
a decent USB2 or 3 external
drive with a high capacity of
1TB or more, connected to
your computer whenever
backups are performed
should be fine for most things.
Some backups are bootable
meaning you can actually run a
system off them, but this is
generally only for
emergencies.
PRO TIP TAKE CARE WHEN

EJECTING
Always eject your backup drive properly, and
never just pull out the cable. Although modern
operating systems are pretty good at dealing
with errors, the best way to corrupt a drive is
to unplug it without first ejecting it from the
Finder or from Windows using the mouse. This
could destroy your precious backups, so you
have been warned!

working version can be restored, byte for byte, onto a new

drive or Mac.
And on Windows
Windows has its own backup system. In Windows 8.1
this is twofold : File History and System Image Backup.
The former creates ongoing backups of your documents
to an external hard drive and the latter creates a complete
backup of the whole system. System Image Backup also
works in Windows 7, and this version of the OS also has
Backup and Restore which can be found in Control Panel
> System and Maintenance. There are a number of PRO TIP USE EMAIL OR CLOUD BACKUP
third-party backup apps for Windows as well such as Email services like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo store attachments on
their servers so emailing files to yourself is a good way to quickly
those from Acronis, Norton and Paragon, all of which back things up if you dont have time for a full backup immediately.
offer various backup methods. This is fine for files of 10-20MB or so but for anything bigger you can
Although whole-system backups are generally too use Dropbox, Google Drive or another cloud file storage system. Its
quick and easy.
large to be performed online (though this is possible with
some tools), people increasingly use cloud services to keep
backups of smaller bundles of data. You might, for created during a project would be backed up to the cloud
example, keep local physical backups of the whole system automatically. This requires a little work in identifying
but also back up individual things to Dropbox, Google the folders, of course, but its worth considering. The
Drive, iCloud or SkyDrive. Or indeed one of the many majority of DAWs allow auto-save and versioning too, so
other commercial cloud storage services. its a good idea to set up your specific DAW to
Imagine you have been working on a Pro Tools project automatically save as you go, and perhaps even have
and want to make doubly sure its safe. As well as a local those files watched for auto-upload too. With fast
broadband and spacious hard drives as well as modern
With broadband, spacious hard backup tools like all these, theres no reason to lose any
data ever again.
drives and modern backup tools, PRO TIP CONTROL WHAT IS BACKED UP
theres no reason to lose data Time Machine on Mac OS X lets you delete every instance of an item
from your backups if youre absolutely sure this is what you want.
Enter Time Machine and locate the file or folder, then right click on it
and select Delete All Backups. If you have accidentally been
backup, copy the project folder to the cloud, making sure backing up a large folder of temp files for example, this will reclaim
all audio files are included. It might be a couple of you some space.
gigabytes but this is increasingly realistic as an upload
size with modern broadband.
Some cloud services like Dropbox offer watch folder
functionality, which can be really useful especially for
music backups. As well as your music project folder, if you
specified your plug-in settings folders to be watched for
example you could ensure that any new presets you
PRO TIP MANAGE YOUR BACKUPS

When your backup drive gets full, your system might start deleting
the oldest backups but should warn you before it does. Many
systems like Time Machine allow you to copy an existing backup to
a new drive, either a larger one to continue the same backup or to
archive that backup and start a fresh one on a new drive.

FIX THE MOST COMMON PRO TIP FREEZE

TRACKS
STUDIO PROBLEMS Most DAWs allow you to freeze
tracks : to render down versions
If youre suffering from these frequently of tracks with instruments and
encountered issues, help is at hand effects as simple audio tracks,
and temporarily disable other
processing. This is better than
exporting a version of the track
Anyone who has worked in tech support with a focus on as you are able to unfreeze and regain editability at any point,
the pro audio world will probably be able to name the top though both techniques will work to lessen your CPU and RAM load.
few problems that they see day in and day out. Latency is
a big one the gap between playing a sound while
recording audio and hearing it back through your quit them if necessary.
headphones or monitors. As long as your audio interface Crashing apps are often outdated, so make sure you
drivers are up to date and well-written (which most are have the latest version thats designed for your OS
nowadays), this is usually a case of finding the optimum version. DAWs can crash because of outdated or
balance of CPU usage and audio buffer size. In your incompatible plug-ins and while some like Logic will scan
DAWs audio control panel, setting a buffer size of 256 and disable any bad ones to prevent this, you should
samples or thereabouts should offer very low latency at
the cost of some more CPU usage. Go lower for better
latency, and raise the buffer when mixing and you want Treat your computer well
to divert that CPU power to running plug-ins. Consider
getting an interface with Direct Monitoring, which dont overload it and restart it
bypasses this problem by feeding the sound back to you
before it has been passed to the computer. Finding the and it will return the favour
right buffer setting should also deal with dropouts, pops
and clicks in playback. always look for a specific plug-in thats causing a problem
and disable or delete it if an update is not available. As
Quick start guide good as modern systems are, our expectations of them
Slow startups are usually caused by over-full hard drives rise in line with their specs, so remember that even a
or rogue startup items, so in OS X, go to System good machine has limits. Treat your computer well
Preferences > Accounts and remove any unwanted Login dont overload it with rubbish, restart it now and again
Items from your account. In Windows, go to the System and freeze tracks when necessary to make the best use of
Configuration tool, find the Startup tab and disable its resources and it will return the favour. MTF
anything you dont need. Both of these should speed up
login. Slow general performance is often the result of
insufficient RAM, so use the Activity Monitor app (Mac) PRO TIP
or open the Task Manager in Windows to see what apps STAY UP TO DATE
or processes are using RAM and CPU resources, and force Its worth updating to the latest version of the OS that will
comfortably run on your hardware. Mac OS X 10.9 for example has
many optimizations for maximizing resources like App Nap,
memory compression and Safari Power Saver. Windows 7 is
significantly more power efficient than its predecessor and
Windows 8 is also generally kinder to memory hardware.
PRO TIP TURN OFF

BACKGROUND TASKS
While backing up is important, it does use
system resources, as do renders, file uploads
and other similar tasks. You dont want this
stuff kicking in when youre trying to record
audio at low latency, so keep an eye on what is
running and schedule anything that can be
put off for later.

MTF Technique How to produce Dirty Dubstep
Technique How to produce
Dirty Dubstep
Fierce yet clear, loud but clean Liam OMullane and Christopher Pearson guide you
through the process of creating the harder edge of this contemporary genre, their main
point of call being the fundamentals of bass design
D
ubstep is a genre thats morphed from its offering a variety of techniques you can use to create
dubbed-out form over the years and since On the disc something original. It would be pointless to give you a full
splintered into two distinct camps. For the more how-to on todays sound as the leading artists will have
meditative and deeper experience, artists such moved on by the time youve learned your trade. Although
Accompanying
as Burial, Phaeleh and Mala fly the flag, sticking example audio files
todays sound is of importance, do try to keep an open mind
to the genres original principles of a mix with depth, space included on the DVD and fully explore our suggested practice in your own way.
and general musicality. Over the years and more recently in This is key, as a lot of the best ideas and sounds will come
the mainstream, a louder and more aggressive influence from happy accidents and a pursuit for originality. So set
has taken hold. The driving force behind this new breed of your tempo to 140bpm and lets begin by first defining the
dubstep include Skrillex, Zomboy, Excision and Flux essential components for the dirtiest of basslines.
Pavillion to name a few. Although terms like EDM and
brostep are often frowned upon due to their buzzword Bass: defined
nature, this is the musical style we are focussing on in this The word bassline when used in bass music may differ to
five-part feature. your own definition, so its important to understand what it
means in the context of a dubstep track. Although a sub
Set your DAWs tempo to bass is used to pin various instruments and sounds
together so they have an even sense of low-end weight
140bpm and lets explore the what people consider to be the bassline can be a large
range of musical, noisy, discordant and SFX sounds. If we
components of the dirtiest of break down the elements that form to make a dirty
bassline, there are no set rules and this is why
dubstep basslines experimentation is so important. Though less common in

use today, a single bass sound can be the singular feature
of a track, but this does require a huge amount of creative
Like any bass-orientated electronic genre, there are programming to give it the variation it needs to hold the
rules that apply across the board in terms of composition listeners interest. The more common approach today is to
and production. These aspects will be highlighted when work between at least three separate sounds with
relevant, but our real aim here is to educate you on the contrasting timbres, then after establishing an initial
standard tools for crafting a heavy dubstep track, whilst
FOCUS ON...GUIDE DRUMS

Though were starting our track off from
bass-design onwards, its good practice to get
some basic drums in the mix for a guide as you
go. The basic requirements are a kick and
snare with some form of cymbals/percussion
to add a further sense of rhythm. Anything
busier than this could be too much information
at this stage and influence your choice of
sounds, so remember to try to keep it simple
Though your first drum sounds can be sparse,
they still need to be appropriate for the genre.
Keeping things simple weve used a quick
double layering technique with an acoustic
sounding drum kit from BFD edited to add a
sense of space and texture. Weve then layered
synth drum sounds for that much needed
weight and impact using Tremor. Our hi-hat has
been chosen simply to be clean and minimal.
This is all we need to then start creating our
first bass elements. In terms of programming,
its a good idea to create a pattern thats longer
than just a short, looped bar - a longer and
more varied drum pattern will encourage you to
find the right rhythms then create a more varied bass section,
which in the long run, will avoid too much repetitiveness.
MTF36.tut genre dubstep pt1.FOR PRINT.indd 82 18/08/2014 16:18

How to produce Dirty Dubstep Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Vowel bass foundation with FM synthesis
Not all FM synthesisers are equal and some techniques might

translate differently from one to the next. The fundamentals
however, are the same. Sytrus is one of our preferred options
because it allows control of individual partials (harmonic frequencies
above the fundamental).
idea, use internal modulation and automation to twist

01 Our first oscillator begins its life as a sine wave-based sub. Sines are a clean
source meaning frequency modulation is easy to hear and therefore control in
finer detail. The sine is pitched to E1 or 41.2034Hz this will sound much higher when
and take their tone into different areas for maintaining
we apply frequency modulation. The second oscillators pitch is the same as the first,
listener interest. Though dirty bass might be fierce and but slight detuning can be used to create movement.
in your face, a constant barrage of a singular distorted
synth will lose the listeners interest quite quickly
through monotony. Bass design is about building the
right sounds, but before you lay down a single note,
you need to be thinking ahead for how youll create
bass dynamics.
Dynamics
When designing a bass sound, asides from the technical
starting points well discuss next, be mindful of your
options for twisting and turning a sound. When
balancing parameters of a synth or subsequent creative
audio processing, take note of parameters that create
either a subtle or severe timbre shift. These can then be
either internally modulated within your synth or
sampler so they respond to MIDI note information as
you play, or you can program them within your
sequencer through automation or MIDI CC data. 02 Our second oscillator is set to modulate the frequency of the first oscillator
using a triangle wave. This imposes new harmonics which thicken up the sine
wave. If you can control oscillator partials, raise the 32nd to add a new fifth octave
The more common pitch to the triangles shape. Otherwise, add a 3rd triangle oscillator up by five octaves
to modulate the 2nd.
approach now is to use

at least three sounds
for you bass
In the interests of workflow, make use of macro
options within the instrument itself or your DAW so
multiple parameters can be controlled at once. If you
dont decide on the best parameters to modify, or group
them up in this way from the start, youll soon find
yourself swamped with confusing movement data. This
will always cause problems when it comes to
arrangement and further editing of your track, so do treat
this as an essential part of the initial creative process.
As the parameter combinations of synths and audio
effects are infinite, lets look at the standard options we
03 Moving the modulation amount for the second oscillator will now create a basic
vowel sound. Next add another oscillator to create high information for a sense
of air. Pitch a different oscillator (weve used a square) up by 64 semi-tones and add
always consider when creating a bassline sequence. modulation depth to taste.
The first choice is what register you want a sound to live
in. Even though the sub bass may stay in the same
frequency area, a lot of dynamics can be created by

and noise like. This is a big reason why FM and additive

synthesis are used so much in todays production for
dirty-sounding bass. Uneven clusters of harmonic
content that are static or move over time are all used
against each other to create the type of textures the
older generation often dismiss as noise. But its this
contrast of tuned and none-tuned sounds that are
essential in creating aggression, abrasion and a
generally up-front energy that still retains a sense of
movement and depth.
FM design
To start with a solid foundation, we use a sine wave
based oscillator. A pure sinusoidal waveform is the
most clean, and therefore most powerful wave we
Bass Processing uniqueness in character. This allowed us to firm can create and being infinitely smooth, it has nothing
There are two different categories you can put up certain areas of the frequency spectrum and
audio processing into when it comes to bass: add harmonic information per-band or mid and but its fundamental frequency to impart. The sub is
creative and mixing. Creative processing can be side plane as required. For EQ balancing you essential as it carries the weight of the track and the
a fundamental part of a sound or punched in on shouldnt need to do any major removal work to frequencies you want from sub woofers to rattle the
occasion to create a timbre shift for dynamics remove brash frequencies. If youve got too much
and variation. Amplitude modulation is a popular grit, go back to source and find what element of audiences nose cartilage.
choice at the moment and can be achieved your synth or plug-in chain is creating it and tone On its own, a sub instrument can be nice but our
through a tremolo effect or LFO controlling a it down!
synths amplitude. At slower rates youll hear a Wherever possible we like to group types of
examples throughout the article contain sub, mid and
detectable rhythm, but get the rate above 20Hz sound together. Not just for aesthetics and high range information. Sometimes well achieve each
and youll hear a distortion that creates edge housekeeping but mainly to give groups of bass instrument with more than one layered source, but
with a soft characteristic sounds their own identity and colour in the mix
As long as youre processing the mid to high to help them stand out as a unit. For example, its entirely possible to create large and complex
frequency part of your bass sounds (i.e. not all bass sounds will go to a bass group and patches within a single synthesizer. In this particular
processing the sub-bass) the options for creative be compressed, EQd and mastered as a unit.
processing are endless. Dry/Wet reverb control, This solidifies its range and defines its space,
strong phasing, guitar distortion and glitch-like allowing other groups to cut through around
effects are tools which feature in dubstep on a these main bass elements.
regular basis. So the more you experiment with Bear in mind that its always good practice to
the less common options, the better. pick out similar sounds. So rather than grouping
Mix processing involves the use of EQs and everything musical to a single music group,
dynamics processing to balance each sound to think about dividing them by their transient and
fit comfortably within the track. We generally timbre nature. For example, we wouldnt group
used multi-band processing that also includes pads and guitars together as theyre so different
an element of saturation. FabFilters Saturn, sonically. If picked instruments are grouped, we
Image-Lines Maximus and iZotopes Alloy 2 can then accentuate frequencies that are plucky
are good examples for their sonic quality and with EQ and add transient processing if required.
The sub is essential as it

Experiment with different processing on your grouped bass sounds
to fill or create space to all sounds as a whole. This will help unify
them and put them in their own space within the mix.
carries the weight of the track

and the frequencies you want to
come from the sub woofer
alternating between a low and high pitched instrument.
For instance, one sound can be very low-end orientated
which leaves space in the mids and top-end of the mix.
Another sound can have lots of mid and top info so its a
fuller-sounding part and the third sound could be
scooped in the mids by being a sub with a thin sound
that plays towards the top-end of the mix very much
akin to classical music.
The nature of each sounds frequency content is
another element to explore for dynamics. Fundamental
waveforms sine, triangle and saw waves are pure,
slightly and very harmonically-based respectively. The
harmonics are even so they create a pleasant, defined
musical pitch. Square waves also carry pitch clearly, but
they consist of odd harmonics which means they sound
When experimenting with audio processing, or any onboard synth
big and hollow. These waveforms can be used in modern
modulation, its worth trialling a sound to see if it works better when
dubstep, but they will be a point of contrast against re-sampled into a sampler or kept live. Playback speed alters when
other, much less musical components. These playing a sample higher or lower and this adds a character of its own
to a bass idea.
instruments are a counterpart by being non-musical

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MTF36.Ed Keys ad.FOR PRINT.indd 75 18/08/2014 16:56

Re-sampling and Slip Editing

A good way to get creative with an existing idea is to re-work it as
a new sample. This can be done in various ways depending on the
tools available in your DAW. All DAWs can bounce audio and this is
the simplest way to re-sample. Once bounced, you can chop and
re-edit the sample, or use slip editing to move the start position of
the audio within the audio clip. This changes the content but the
clip itself stays in place on the grid. This is good way to encounter
happy accidents and is most commonly used on long pieces of
audio recorded when jamming with a synth and its parameters.
genre, FM synthesis seems to be the main staple for

Though were focussing on FM synthesis for most of our bass design, additive synthesis is a great option
bass creation. Because of how FM synthesis works, it for different textures. It allows complex waveforms to be built from many sine waves just as real sounds
becomes very simple to create complex, warped are in the natural world. But its the unique approach it takes to synthesizing sounds and its interface that
will encourage unique results.
sounds. In fact, even when basses are created in other
types of synthesizers, its usually an FM technique that
will make the sound fit the genre. For instance, NIs operator, set to sine and keep it modulation free. This
Massive, although subtractive, uses phase modulation means we have all elements of the sound available to
play in one instrument.
FM synthesis allows us to Food for thought

In this tutorial weve covered the very essence of what
create warped tones a sine this genre is about bass! You should have the tools
and basic understanding of FM synthesis to explore or
wave adds more harmonics to use to try and mimic our example sounds. You can
explore different styles of guide drums at this stage to
create a new waveform help expose new potential vibes, but thats for a future
article! MTF
to create similar-sounding effects.

FM Synthesis allows us to create very warped tones
by using oscillators to modulate other oscillators. A sine
wave set to modulate another will impart new even
harmonics which in turn create a new waveform at the
synths output. But detuning the modulating oscillator,
or changing its wave type, it will venture into noisy and
unpleasant timbres. Sweeping the amount of
modulation being applied is key to achieving the FM
bass sound used countless times in this genre. So be
sure to explore tuning, waveform choice, waveform
phase and additional oscillator routing to move away
from the norm.
For example, a few of our bass sounds use Image-
Musical keys side of this, going too high can leave your track
Lines Sytrus with internal modulation amounts being Due to the sound-design biased nature of the lacking in any low impact information when
used for movement. After exploring some strong- more extreme end of dubstep, musical keys compared to other music in the mix. Also bear
sounding parameters to automate, we then mapped are difficult to decipher and follow. Pitching in mind that sound systems are EQd to sound
sounds, re-sampling them, pitch-bending etc pleasant for their environment and genre; boosts
them across an X/Y controller within the synth. These can result in the end result, often venturing into and cuts will be applied in the expected sub
X/Y parameters are then mapped to our host software non-western scales and microtuning. But an area, kicks, snares and even where cymbals are
important factor is the choice of root notes expected to fall. For all of these reasons, bass
as two automation lanes to keep life simple. To find the that you base your sub bass around and its genre artists have naturally fallen into using the
sweet spots of where the X and Y best overlap, we closest harmonics. keys of around E, F and G.
started with random automation data, then fine tuned Most club sound systems have a bass roll-off You can test this phenomena by running
of around 40Hz which means pitching your sub reference tracks through a spectrum analyser
the automation until we achieved a groove and bass any lower than this can cause a less than to study where their keys lie. Even individual
interesting timbre shift against our varied drum track. universal translation from one venue to the next. sounds are becoming standardised to frequency
To underpin an FM instrument with a clean sine In some cases this means youll hear no sub at all so mixes tend to have a unified and equally
if your choice of key is too low. On the opposite musical sound.
wave to emphasise bass, we can simply enable another

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MTF Technique Producing drum n bass
Technique Genre focus
Authentic and original

drum & bass Part 1
Arguably one of the most difficult electronic genres to master, D&B veteran Liam OMullane
explains the core techniques for achieving an authentic production sound.
A
longside genres such as techno and trance, you will be aiming to create music that will have the
drum & bass is one of the more mature styles On the disc necessary production values to sit happily in your list of
that has constantly pushed the boundaries of respected artists. But in a genre this mature, many styles
electronic music production. And although and ideas have already been done to death, so you will also
many people regard dubstep to be the most Accompanying need to strive for originality in your work.
innovative and perhaps less rules-driven genres of modern on the DVD Your key focus should be to experiment until you stumble
times, D&B started its life in much the same way. on something unique, so the bass and drum techniques
During the first half of the 90s, a large part of the rave were about to discuss will give you the baseline knowledge
scene was splintering off to become hardcore, and as needed to successfully take an exploration into sound, then
another offshoot of this development, jungle was born. From package that into a balanced musical production. It can take
jungle through to its evolution into D&B in the early-to-mid- an artist years to craft and perfect the sound that ends up
90s, the genre has always pushed the boundaries in terms defining them, so dont expect to bang out deep, detailed
of how technology can be used creatively. tracks which conjure up vivid imagery to the listener after
just reading this. But do note that although there are many
Your key focus should be to

tutorials out there that aim to teach you how to sound like
big-name artists who already own the rights to the sound
theyve carved in the genre if you stick with the
experiment until you stumble fundamentals we cover here youll find it much easier to
on something unique
take experimentation and make it work as a finished track.
So set your sequencers tempo to between 170180BPM
(depending on your mood!) and lets get started. MTF
In this two-part series we will be looking at the four core

elements that apply to all the sub-genres that have emerged
over the years bass design, drum production, decorative
sounds/melodies and arrangement dynamics. Unless you
are planning to produce yet another formulaic track in a bid
to compete with the existing big commercial tunes around,
FOCUS ON
PROGRAMMING DETAILS
Although copy and paste are functions that
are embedded in modern computing life,
using them or a duplicate-part function as
a general writing and arranging technique
isnt the key to achieving tracks with a deep
sense of detail. However, were not saying
that you cant start a general idea as a loop,
but you should definitely keep the loop
minimally short 1, 2 or 4 bars before
extending the idea. Anything longer will
invite you to be lazy when it comes to
adding variation and detail to your work at a
later stage. Instead, try to expand an idea by
writing new parts one after another. You can
copy smaller sections from the content of
previous parts, just try to avoid global
copying of all parts and their content. A
better approach is to pinch and borrow
little bits here and there, then vary them as
you progress.
MTF36.genre dnb tutoria.PT1.FOR PRINT.indd 88 18/08/2014 15:55

Producing drum n bass Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Drum work
01
The only requirement for the main drum sounds in D&B is that
they need enough presence to sound strong enough on their own
before you add decorative sounds. For the kick and snare were starting
02
From here were going to explore layering possibilities to lend an
individual tone to our drums. Due to the faster tempo in D&B than
other genres, its important to keep the lower-frequency elements
with two samples chosen for their weight and good transient snap. quite short in duration. Keep a keen ear on this by using fades or ADSR
Weve then programmed four bars with variation. amplitude control. These can be used to carefully tighten each new
sound as you add it.
03
When adding new drum layers, utilise high-pass, band-pass or an
EQ filter to remove any unnecessary frequencies that may clash
with other drum sounds and mix elements as the song progresses.
04 Anything from hi-hats to sliced breakbeats can be used to add
more rhythmic information to your core sounds. A filtered break
slice is often used as a textural layer to the kick and snare, but weve
Weve achieved a woody-sounding kick and piccolo snare tone were used it between the main hits in a sparing fashion and filtered them so
happy with by creating a few layers, but dont be opposed to changing they dont sound too dominating. Also try high-pass-filtering long
sounds as your song and mix demand. sounds to give a sense of space to your drum sound as a whole.
05
As you may have guessed, layering is going to play a pretty large
part here too. Weve duplicated our lead track, which gives us six
saw waves to play with. Its sounding really nice and buzzy now, so we
06
Although the commercial side of D&B became very loud over the
last decade, modern underground releases allow more room for a
mix to breathe. So dont overdo processing like limiting, hard-clipping
dial in a little reverb to give it even more space and character. We dont or any other effects designed to max-out a signal. Try achieving more
actually have our lead playing all the time rather, it kicks in every power by sidechaining sounds other than your kick and snare having
second bar or so. these drop by just 24dB is enough for a solid yet dynamic sound.

MTF Technique Producing drum n bass
MTF Step-by-Step Bass design and re-sampling
01
Whether you plan to keep an instrument live throughout the
production process or intend to re-sample it (which tends to be
the case in D&B), both approaches start with a sound source of
02
Theres no set rules for the type of waveforms you can select here,
but youll generally find that a bigger sound is achieved by using
square waves within your mix of synth layers. Saw waves offer a lot of
discernible pitch or more noise-like and pitchless character. The latter edge that cuts across a mix; highly pitched sine or triangle waves are
can be achieved with drastic pitch variations or heavy use of FM, useful for achieving softer tones. Make sure that you also explore the
ring-modulation or any other heavily discordant processing. best octave for each layer as you stack synths or oscillators.
03
The next step is to add movement to your sound. The best
starting point is to play with any controls as you listen for
something interesting. Use the more coarse-sounding changes to
04 If you plan on re-sampling your sound, this is the point at which
you can pile on processing effects without worrying about getting
in a tangle with automation later on. Explore parameter changes with
develop a unique character. At this stage, try to assign an envelope or effects as you did in the last step and record them as automation.
LFO to these parameters so they can be triggered as you play. Common effect choices are phaser, notch-filtering and stereo width/
widening tools. But here, anything goes.
05
Re-sampling is the most practical way to deal with these large
effects chains and automation recordings. Before sampling,
explore the best note to record as some will have a certain sonic
06 A designated sub-layer is essential for the low-end weight
needed in D&B. These are often stacked sine waves with
octave- or harmonic-based intervals. Alternatively, triangle waves can
sweetness over others. After recording them into your DAW, drag the be quite useful when low-pass-filtered for a thicker sound. Keep the
audio into a sampler and explore the possibilities with this (and any sub as a separate instrument rather than a layer with other sounds so
other re-sampled bass sounds youve created). it can either play in unison or be varied from the other parts.

Producing authentic drum & bass Technique MTF
Authentic and original

drum & bass Part 2
Following on from the creation of drum beats and bass lines in Part 1, Liam OMullane turns
his attention to the vital elements of melody, atmosphere and arrangement techniques.
T
his second instalment builds on the knowledge reprocessing and re-editing, its important to remember that
gained in Part 1 for creating original-sounding On the disc although this may bear no fruit to begin with, pushing
drum & bass tracks. But while the drums and forward past poor initial results is the only path to creating
bass are at the heart of D&B, its also important something genuinely interesting. Creating perfect and
to consider the melodic and perhaps not so Accompanying unique sounds through sound-design and mix-processing
melodic parts youll need to create. Depending on the on the DVD as well as re-sampling techniques can be slow at times, so
direction you want to take your work, you may need to create keep an open mind as you work and be patient it can take
huge atmospheric soundscapes for a dark, techy, sci-fi anything from 20 minutes to over a day of trying out ideas
movie-like track; if youre creating a more musically driven until you stumble on that golden nugget!
piece, you will need decorative melody information in the When youve got your ideas together, start to think about
your arrangement; here well be exploring a few ways in
Were arming you with the tools which you can take your ideas and work them into a playable
structure. Theres no strict form that a D&B song must take,
youll need to take creative ideas but do keep in mind that the majority of your audience will
hear your music in a DJ-mixing context, so its important to
and make them work as a song make it suitable for both club and radio play as well as
maximising on the moments when the song might be
present in a mix alongside another track.
form of arp synths, pads and so on. Even the most minimal But as we stated in Part 1, were arming you with the
forms of the genre have elements that sit in the background tools youll need to take creative ideas and make them work
behind the more obvious foreground sounds, and this is as a song not how to churn out yet another bandwagon-
where your mixes can gain a sense of depth. chasing club-banger. So turn on that sub, shut out the
First well look at the approach (and perseverance) youll daylight and do whatever else you need to do to get into a
need to take when it comes to sound-design. Using a creative headspace. MTF
multi-layered approach of processing, rendering, editing,
FOCUS ON PERSEVERANCE & NEW SOUNDS

Sound-design is an integral part of D&B and there are many approaches to creating something
unique and engaging for your tracks. Although sound quality is important in all
aspects of music production, sometimes the audio
quality of your source material is less critical when
its being used as a trigger for heavily processed
audio. In fact, itll often be a more suck-and-see
approach that youll need to take: starting with a
selection of sounds, trialling various processing
chains, applying automation and exploring whats
possible. If you keep the processing live and in real
time you can always swap-out the source sounds to
see how they are affected by the processing.
The audio for this tutorial employs various
stages of processing and should give you an idea of
how you can approach this technique. Starting with
a few randomly chosen bass guitar slide samples,
the material is processed three times to create
contrasting results. These include a combination of
reverb, saturation, frequency-shifting and
white-noise vocoding. Certain parameters are
automated and edited to try to gain the most tonal
change for each sound within the phrase. EQ is used
to re-balance the sound and reduce unwanted
frequencies, then all three results are rendered into a
new audio file to be treated as a new source sample. This is then
chopped-up and edited into something of interest. By listening to this audio you can hear how
these techniques can yield surprising results that are drastically different from the source.
MTF36.genre dnb tutorial.FOR PRINT.indd 91 18/08/2014 15:53

MTF Technique Producing authentic drum & bass
MTF Step-by-Step Decorative sounds and melodies
01
Depending on the vibe of your track, you can choose to fill the
background with melodic pads, pitched FX, drones, atmospheres
or a mash of the lot. Weve chosen to create a sinister pad as a tension
02
For atmospheric sounds you cant go wrong with long doses of
reverb, with a mostly wet balance to achieve a diffused tone.
Anything goes for the sound source. We used pitched percussion in the
layer for the intro by playing discordant notes, layering sequenced main section and a saw synth for the intro to create a huge, horn-like
sounds underneath the louder synthetic strings (for movement) and sound. We automated the reverbs Freeze function to extend the tails
automating the pan position of the quieter layers for stereo interest. and changed the room size, all of which adds detail for the listener.
03
For radio-friendly styles, melodies usually require straightforward
synth sounds. These are readily available in many synth libraries
and can be customised through layering and editing. For deeper styles,
04
Once youve created a few background sounds, render them
down to audio for further editing. This is a simple way to create
the much-needed variation within a track and is an economical use of
try working with less conventional sounds. Weve layered a blend of the sounds youve already spent a lot of time perfecting. These can
bells, cowbells and claves and added a tom underneath for continuous then easily go through further generations of manipulation without
punch and weight throughout. taxing your computer too much.
05
Stabs are useful for announcing new sections or to insert
sporadically to create tonal contrast when everything else drops
out. Stabs are easy to make as they require just a good dose of
06
As your mix builds up, use a fine-tooth-comb attitude to justify
each and every part to avoid unnecessary clutter. Remember to
replace sounds if needed as you develop the mix to give everything the
layering, spreading of pitch and creative panning if you want stereo space it needs to breathe. We went through various bass sounds, kicks
width. Again, explore the most unexpected sounds in your library and and snares to maintain clarity as we developed our ideas. If it helps,
use mistuned layers to give denser, moody and less-musical tones. save a new project version before making drastic changes.

Producing authentic drum & bass Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Creating arrangement dynamics
01
When you want to develop an idea into a good 16 bars or more, a
balance between creating an interesting sonic tapestry while
being sensible about your approach needs to be struck. By this we
02 Breaks and pauses are needed not only during full breakdowns.
These are great dynamic tools for momentarily throwing the flow
in a groove, creating lifts before a new section, and adding durations of
mean not keeping hundreds of tracks running with live effects and space to break up a busy track. Focus on short sections to figure out
automation throughout the project. When you have the sounds you how many elements can be removed for a drop in energy. Mute send FX
need, render them down to audio to make your project easier to handle. such as reverb and delay through automation to achieve digital silence.
03
A high-pass filter will lift the low end from single sounds, groups
or the entire mix before a new section to make it seem heavier.
This technique can also be applied to parts in full song sections to
04 A D&B tracks arrangement is not set in stone, but the basics of
intro, breakdown, drop, counter sections, 2nd breakdown, drop,
alternate sections and outro is a guide if youre unsure. If you make the
create more space in a mix for busier sections. For example, a lead intro rhythmic it will be useful to a DJ for mixing, but a more important
synth might have its full frequency content allowed in a breakdown, feature is a unique sound or melody. This acts as an audible signpost
but is high-pass-filtered on the drop to accommodate new content. for an audience to know that your song is currently being mixed-in.
05
There are many ways to continue an idea after the first main
drop: exploring bass tones over time; melodic progression; drum
sound switch-ups (switching from one tone to another); stripping back
06 The outro serves the same purpose as the intro but in reverse.
While its tempting to simply copy and reverse the parts in the
intro, try to use it as another dynamic tool. This part of the track will be
to a more sparse section or a completely different style to push the the last piece heard as its mixed over someone elses intro, so create
song in an unexpected direction. Explore a few options, save them as excitement by using a different combination of previous parts and
different projects and do some trial arrangements to see what works. re-editing or introducing a new element to sign-off with.

MTF Technique Producing techno
Producing techno
in-the-box Part 1
A genre that has influenced so many others over the years, techno is still the vibrant tech-
based music it has always been. Liam OMullane gets you started on writing your own.
F
rom its infancy in the late 80s right through to technology is the instrument! Effects such as delay are
the present day, techno has maintained the two On the disc used to create interesting rhythms from short blasts of
key aspects that make it easy to define: a driving sound, which are then experimented with to create a
heartbeat-like pulse thats provided by a songs main elements. Its this creative and progressive use
pounding kick drum; and an almost futuristic Accompanying of effects processing that forms the non-human aspect of
sound sculpted through sampling, synthesis and other on the DVD the genre thats so engaging, resulting in sounds that the
sound-design techniques. Techno is a fascinating genre as real world cannot emulate.
it manages to simultaneously paint vivid imagery in the Although techno started life in hardware samplers,
listeners mind, while also engaging the body through synths, mixers and drum machines, today its
hypnotic hooks. commonplace to create a track by working completely
in-the-box within your software of choice. Although Im
Technology isnt merely the describing techniques using my preferred software

Ableton Live each technique can be replicated in all of
means by which we create the major DAWs around today. Audio examples are provided
on the DVD to give you an idea of how these techniques can
and finish music be applied, but asides from the core aspects of song design
that makes techno the genre it is, the application of these
techniques is open to interpretation.
The thing that makes these hooks unique to most other Your first consideration should be to focus on the timing
genres is a lack of traditional musical content. In techno, of your parts, creating a groove that your listeners can lock
hooks are usually created from sounds and pitches that in to. Although there are also many sound-design aspects
work well together, rather than using the traditional to focus on as we move forward in future instalments, after
western scale. Its therefore the sounds and rhythms that reading the following techniques for groove, drums and
well be focusing on in this first instalment of the series. decorative sounds, you should be in a position to get the
When writing a techno track, its important to feel of your initial ideas right. Next time, well look at taking
understand that technology isnt merely the means by your sound-design further, working sections into an
which we create and finish the music in techno, the arrangement and finishing a mix to complete a track. So
set your BPM to 120 or more and lets get started... MTF
FOCUS ON GROOVE AND FEEL
The groove of a techno tune is an essential element that requires great attention to detail. Although
the pulse throughout a techno DJ mix may seem relentless, the individual feel from one tune to the
next provides the variation a DJ needs to use it as a dynamic tool. In the right
hands, these grooves can be used to control a crowd
and take them on a hypnotic journey.
Groove can be added globally in most software
sequencers and swing amount is a good starting
point before getting into other groove-based
techniques. First create a simple drum pattern
comprising kick, clap and hi-hats, then dial in the
amount of swing that seems appropriate. As you
add more sounds, continue to alter the swing
amount until you require unique timing changes on
a sound-per-sound basis. At this point its best to
turn off your softwares quantize function and
explore shifting the notes for a single sound in
finer increments. Loop around the pattern and use
a MIDI encoder or key commands to control your
movements in an incremental fashion. This helps
you to make an educated decision as you clearly
hear the results of each minor change.
The next level of detail is where you dig deeper and shift notes around on an
individual basis for variation. Be careful here, as its quite easy to undo the overall groove youve
established. Make minor changes and keep looping to hear how it affects the overall groove.
MTF36.genre techno tutorial.FOR PRINT.indd 94 18/08/2014 15:59

Producing techno Technique MTF
MTF Step-by-Step Drums and rhythmic editing
01
As in many genres, your choice of kick tone is dictated by the
nature of your bass instrument. If the bass sounds only on the
off-beat, when the kick doesnt play, youre free to choose any kick you
02 The clap is generally used to reinforce the 2nd and 4th beat of the
bar while the kick plays on every beat (this can be quite open in
terms of its sonic character). Use the pitch of the clap to tune it to your
like as frequency conflict is not a concern. If they sound at the same existing drum sound as you work. Either create a close and punchy
time, youll need a kick with its main energy below around 50Hz so a sound with a small amount of reverb, or EQ-out the lower end and add
bass can sit above it (or vice versa). a long reverb for a larger, cinematic-type sound.
03
Reverb is a handy tool for creating interesting and dynamic
backdrops in your mix when used as an insert effect on a single
sound. The simplest technique is to automate between the dry/wet
04 A more complex reverb technique involves rendering a mostly
wet, long reverb as audio. You can then edit it creatively as you
would any other sample. This can involve simple looping to retain the
amount mostly dry for light ambience; mostly wet for dominating a density of the reverb as a constant backdrop, or in-depth, rhythmic
mix. Either do this gradually throughout a longer 1632 bar phrase for a programming of the audio for interesting changes behind your sounds
gradual crescendo, or quickly over the last few bars as a fill technique. in the foreground.
05
Decorative rhythm sounds are usually minor elements in a mix,
but in techno they are often treated like a lead instrument. That
being said, a 16th hi-hat pattern is usually used to glue the drums
06 Although parallel compression is a good way to achieve a higher
sense of energy, parallel distortion can be used to create a dense
wall of frequencies; you can then use EQ to tune it into an available
together, create a feeling of momentum and help to drive a track. They space in your mix. This is great for a high-octane, fizzy-sounding mix.
will need to be clearly heard throughout, so use a combination of Generally speaking, the higher the gain, the lower the distortions
sound source, pitch and EQ to find a sweet spot in the mix. output needs to be as it becomes less dynamic and more noise-like.

MTF Step-by-Step Decorative sounds and control
01
Theres no fixed approach to finding the right sounds to base your
track around, but wed recommend focusing on the rhythm first
before spending time exploring sonic possibilities. For simple variation
02
When youve created a sequence youre happy with, experiment
with either a single sound or a combination of contrasting tones.
A single sound can be given sonic variation over time to add interest,
as you work and to help your programming duplicate the sound a which can be as simple as a slight, fine pitch change. Weve used the
few times and change the start point of each copy. cents control on a sampler for our tuning change, which is hard to
notice at first but can be heard when removed.
03
Delay is a good way to add a further level of variation to your
sound, but be sure to leave gaps in your sequence so the effect
has space to be heard. Work in milliseconds rather than sync amounts
04 Delays can be coloured with mix processing just like any other
sound. Weve added chorus to ours to smooth out transients as
well as give them a wider stereo spread. Like parallel distortion, were
as M/S offers a much finer level of control in terms of time (and bracketing the delays with EQ to tune them to a suitable space within
therefore groove). When automated, changes to delay time are also our mix. All of this processing helps to give the delays a unique
smoother to listen to as you move from one groove to another. character, making them a feature of the mix.
05
If you want to explore different sounds within your sequence,
there are no rules as to what they should be. Instrument stabs,
drums, foley samples, SFX or recordings made from the objects around
06 When using different sounds for a sequence, it can be difficult to
create a sense of equal power and clarity. These sounds are one
of your lead instruments, and in turn they need to sound unified. This is
you are all fair game. The main requirement is to find a group of sounds where group processing is useful, bringing an element of similarity to
that contrast with each other, while helping to accent the dynamics of each sound. Vintage EQ, compression, distortion and modulation
your rhythm. effects are all good starting points for achieving a consistent tone.

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MTF36.backissues.FOR PRINT.indd 97 19/08/2014 17:52

Producing techno
in-the-box Part 2
The process of making this futuristic-sounding genre continues as Liam OMullane moves
on from drums, percussion and groove to look at creating and developing song sections
A
lthough techno is a genre that was invented by string being bent on a guitar. This creates a sense of tension
humans controlling machines, last time we On the disc and can be utilised on elements such as our 303 acid bass
explored how important the human element of line and arpeggiated melodies.
groove can be when programming electronic If you have multiple instruments in your track, try
drums and percussion. Other sound-design techniques Accompanying offsetting their tuning from each other. Most synths and
were covered as well, but in this second instalment were on the DVD samplers have a master tune control that can be tuned by
looking at layering sounds to create various song sections. cents to make them slightly sharp or flat in relation to the
All of this is leading towards the next part in this series, rest of the songs global tuning. Again, this will help to
when well look at arrangement editing before we finalise create a sense of edge.
everything with a mixdown. If you explore the techniques covered here along with the
detuning techniques for sound-design discussed previously,
Breaking away from the

you should have the skills to create some very dark-
sounding techno. When this is bundled with the song-
section construction techniques were about to cover, you
western scale is important for should be in a position to finalise and edit an arrangement
creating a sense of depth

by the next instalment. So, lets look at some more
techniques to help move your techno track further forwards
in its creation. MTF
The melodic elements created in the following two

walkthroughs consist of arps, bass lines and atmospheres.
While these are melody-based, dont forget the importance
of creating some discord within your song. Breaking away
from the often pitch-perfect western scale is important for
creating a sense of depth and darkness. Luckily, this isnt
too difficult to achieve if you use the following simple-yet-
effective techniques.
Melodies can have a looser sense of pitch if you use glide
or portamento settings on your synthesizers or samplers. A
longer glide time means that shorter notes within a busy
rhythmic pattern will not quite meet their intended pitch; if
short enough, they will merely move towards the note like a
FOCUS ON...VOCAL PROCESSING

Although techno isnt a genre thats known for using vocal elements as a main focus within a track,
some choice spoken-word samples or short sung phrases can work very well if used tastefully. In
theme with everything else in the genre, vocals are usually given an electronic production vibe,
either through the use of intricate effects and edits or processing in order to transform a vocal into
something more futuristic-sounding. Delays and reverbs are good to pepper additional information
between a vocal phrase and will make them sound larger-than-life. Pitching vocals down is a
simple but effective way to get a darker vibe, but dont go too mad or it will sound like an R&B track.
Other useful effects that most people will have in their toolbox are ring modulation, frequency-
shifters and modulation effects like chorus and phasers. These can all create severe pitch and
frequency-based changes to really mangle up the human voice. Another severe processing option is
a vocoder effect, as you can use any carrier signal you want to be manipulated by the vocal as it acts
as a modulator. White noise as the carrier creates ghostly spoken words; a simple but raspy
low-pitched saw wave synth can create an aggressive robotic sound from any vocal. As the carrier
signal can be anything you want, put your sound-designer head on and explore whats possible.
Other creative flavours of vocal processing are also worth exploring, like Bitspeek, from Sonic
Charge. This uses the same technology as early 80s speaking computers, but has enough
user-editable parameters to craft some incredibly unique and sinister tones from any vocal source.
MTF36.tutorial genre.FOR PRINT.indd 98 18/08/2014 16:23

MTF Step-by-Step Creating new song sections
01
Our initial idea is quite minimalist a kick, clap, hi-hat, bass and
off-beat percussive sound. This serves to establish a groove that
we can build on with a monotonous bass line that has only two notes.
02 Next weve chosen to explore some other potential sounds while
our arp pattern runs in the background. A Juno bass and 303 acid
sound work really well, so for contrast were using both (the same
For the first layer, weve experimented with additional melodic content. pattern but using one for a call and the other for an answer). Both
This is a good time to use step-sequencing, adding one note of an sounds lend themselves well to filter cutoff automation, so this gives
arpeggiated piece at a time to slowly build up your idea. us a simple way to create sonic variation over time.
03
Now one section is in place, its time to work on alternate sections.
As the main section is quite minimal, well contrast it by passing
the same bass line through a guitar amp/cab simulator. This thickens
04 Well create another breakdown with even more sonic density to
give us more options when it comes to arranging. An atmospheric
tone to serve as a backdrop will provide a full-frequency fill and create
the midrange with additional harmonics while also removing the low a darker mood; exploring extreme down-pitching of samples is good for
end for a sense of lift. Weve also created stereo contrast by processing creating low, sci-fi-like rumbles. Add distortion to create new higher
the left/right channels to differ from the normally mono bass sound. harmonics as youll lose them when severely pitching things down.
05
As an alternate version of our high bass layers from Step 2, well
go for a new layer to replace them with a different sonic
characteristic and rhythm. This allows us to place them in the
06
We have enough high-energy sections now, so this is a stripped-
down idea for a break before the main drop. Its just a kick, some
new atmosphere sounds for contrast and a vocal sample weve created
arrangement as we deem fit based on the energy levels needed. This using the techniques discussed in the Focus On... box. The atmosphere
sound ended up being a classic rave stab that was filtered using an is musical this time and plays in a different key from every other
envelope-modulated high-pass filter. section, so it helps the track to move from one key to another.

MTF Step-by-Step Automation
01
Like most electronic genres, its common to begin the techno
writing process with a main section. This allows you to establish
a hook and production sound, which you can then work backwards
02 After deciding on your first main section, find some special FX
layers that work for adding variety over a 1632-bar section. This
can include an impact sound for the beginning, like a large-sounding
from to extend into an intro. This usually involves stripping elements crash, a white noise sweep, or a drum sound passed through a long
from the main section so theres less energy in the intro. Snippets of reverb. By printing these to audio and reversing/re-pitching them you
sound from the main section act as a teaser to the listener here. can create various lead-in/lead-out sounds for each section.
03
Once youve applied the last technique to a few sections youll
have sounds to use as teasers in your intro. These sounds can be
programmed in a less busy manner as one way to hold back from their
04 As you lay out the drums/other sounds for your intro, you may find
a need for more melodically driven sounds. This is fine as long as
you keep referencing your main drop to ensure youre not stealing its
use in the main section, or can be made to sound less exciting through thunder. Time locators can be useful for this so you can jump from one
subtractive effects like a filter. Its all about figuring out different ways section to another. Here weve gone from adding a small two-beat arp
of holding back whats to come. line to it being repeated and edited to build up to the first breakdown.
05
Controlling and withholding drum energy can be an important
factor for your intros progression. This can be a simple matter of
borrowing rhythmic parts from other sections and stripping them back
06 Youre building the intro as a means to arrive at the already
established destination of your main section, but ideas you have
for the intro can often indicate a better direction for your main section
if needed. As before, keep referencing the main sections to make sure to go in. After weve worked on our intro it sounds like too severe a
theyre not prematurely raising the energy in the track. switch when the melody of the main drop begins, so weve re-edited
the first play of the drop to play down the melodic aspect even more.

Producing techno
in-the-box Part 3
In this penultimate installment of our techno production series, Liam OMullane guides you
through the finer aspects of variation and sound-design.
W
ere nearly at the end of our journey, having Although were going to treat the process of mixing down
developed some solid musical ideas in part 2 On the disc as a separate task in the final part of this series, we have
of this series. Now these ideas need fleshing already created a fairly solid balance of sounds to work
out and generally improving as the reality of with. Aside from some pretty huge-sounding ambience
our arrangement and ideas become clear. Techno has no Accompanying effects that weve used to create a distinct division between
example audio files
hard rules in terms of arrangement, just that songs usually included on the DVD foreground and background sounds, the majority of the
pass through one or more ideas with a sense of progression. mixs balance comes from the right choice of sounds.
This can be achieved through rhythm and note Theres no mass-layering techniques used in the drum
programming, but more often than not is carried out through design, for example, just simple trial and error to find the
manipulating the timbre of sounds as they groove. sounds that slot together best. Explore a sounds tuning and
octave choice to see if it will slot into the mix aesthetic
The mixdown stage shouldnt

youve already established if it doesnt, you have the
choice of taking the song into a new direction that suits the
completely overturn a track

sound youre introducing, or simply ditching it and moving
on to find something more suitable. Theres no right or wrong
and its content

way to do this, which is why our song has mutated a fair bit
from the ideas first outlined in part 1. Just be mindful to not
let a new sound unbalance a mix thats already established,
and dont expect us to look at fixing poor sounds in part 4.
Our initial ideas from part 2 have been modified, The mixdown stage shouldnt completely overturn a
shortened, repeated and, in some cases, deleted altogether track and its content (unless thats the aim for creative
something that can sometimes be necessary when youre reasons); it should instead be an opportunity to tighten up
aiming for an end result thats better than just OK. As is the tracks energy, maintain clarity and in turn help the
usually the case, a fresh session helped us see where some tracks arrangement make even more sense to the listener.
ideas could be taken and highlighted other things that Until then, lets focus on a full arrangement. MTF
simply werent going to work.
FOCUS ON...MAKING IT ALL BREATHE

Although certain sonic nuances are dealt with at the mixing
stage, the grooves in techno are a marrying of melody, rhythm
and sound-design. This means that all of these factors are part of
the composition process and must be applied before mixing.
Weve already covered obvious methods of manipulation in parts
1 and 2 of this series these included re-sampling parallel
effects for independent editing, making your own lead-in/out
sounds, and dynamically controlling reverbs used as inserts to
move a sound from the foreground to background over time.
Now think about some more subtle ways to move and
animate your sounds as they play throughout your track. For
instance, we used a narrow EQ boost to find a pleasant higher
harmonic on the bass line and then jammed with the gain control
throughout the tune to give it more movement and dynamic
overtones. We performed the same task for the acid line with a
notch EQ and also slightly modified the parameters of effects like
a bitcrusher and so on.
This is when using a MIDI controller can help as you can play
these parameters and capture your performance. We used this
technique on various sounds, including automating a live filter
performance on our intro arp synth and atmospheric sounds as
well. Just remember that although extreme variation can create
large shifts in dynamics and tonal changes, these more subtle
approaches to altering sounds over time is essential to go from a track that sounds flat to
something that has a higher level of energy and interest for the audience.
MTF36.tutorial genre Pro tec.FOR PRINT.indd 101 18/08/2014 16:21

MTF Step-by-Step Developing ideas further
01
If youve decided to repeat some sections to make them longer,
think about how you can edit certain sound layers in and out.
Weve used the acid line from the last tutorial to create a break in the
02
Another way to create variation is to apply an effect in a way that
makes a small sound become larger to fill out your mix. You can
use a dry/wet control, auxiliary send or frequency filtering to hide/
middle of two repeats. We also removed the bass track at this point so reveal the changes over time. Here weve applied parallel processing of
theres a sense of lift, as the tune sounds less full and dominant. The a wet reverb, which is filtered to create a rhythmic backdrop. Weve
bass seems heavier for being muted for a brief moment. automated various controls for a deep, moving background.
03
You can steal an idea to help out another weve chosen to
create a more dramatic segue from the short vocal break by
adding another bar and a build-up sound. This sound is based on the
04 Setting up different echo sends that have individual delay times
lets you use incidental sounds to trigger interesting rhythms in
your most minimal sections. To create a much denser tail to the sounds
same MIDI pattern as the bass afterwards, but weve assigned the new and in turn a more interesting stereo spread weve also used some
clip to a less dominant, percussive sound. With automation applied, of our existing send FX to get a thicker texture, enabling a tiny sound to
weve created a sense of movement to get from one section to the next. create a huge ambient and rhythmic texture.
05
To get to and from a section or to vary whats already in place, its
worth treating your drum and melodic patterns as you would an
audio loop. Weve created a build by grabbing a beat of our drums MIDI
06 Playing around with ideas as loops can also help you to come up
with interesting cross-layers and rhythms where the loops dont
overlap each other immediately. This is very effective in techno, with
clip and repeating it a few times at different speeds until the new percussive sounds used to create more groove. We found that one of
section begins. You can also introduce melodic ideas by slowly looping our deeper sections had space for a percussion sound, and looped it to
their first half or quarter and eventually revealing the whole melody. an irregular measure that we looped every four bars.

MTF Step-by-Step Animated backdrops and textures
01
Another dynamic tool within a mix can be a manipulatable
backdrop tone or drone. Weve covered this already in a basic way
for mood, pads and other sounds, but this time we want something
02 Now create a range of send effects on auxiliary channels to feed
from these sounds and create multiple senses of depth. We like
the high-end reverb plug-ins here, and also some distortion. If you set
that varies over the whole track. Grab a few of the main sounds from the reverbs decay times long enough, you can create 3264-bar
the track and copy them to a temporary area. Youll want more melodic sections that will have constantly changing tonality.
and noise-based sounds here than full rhythmic sections.
03
Now its time to make this sound manageable by exporting the
main mix output to a new file. Load the exported file into your
project and remove the parts used to make it. Next, explore pitch- and
04 The backdrop needs to be fairly consistent in volume so theres a
constant bed of sound to carve some movement out of with
further processing. With careful application of compression and other
time-manipulation and dont be afraid to re-edit and re-render your dynamics plug-ins, you can squash your decaying sound and turn it into
processing as necessary. solid levels of sound. You can repeat this process to create a second
backdrop if you want more distinction between sections.
05
When youve created your textured backdrop audio files, lay them
across the track and lower the level so you can only just tell
theyre there when you mute them. This is how subtle this backdrop will
06 Weve run through the track while capturing MIDI control of the
filters cutoff frequency so theres a constant sense of movement
in the track. We dont want any repetition or looping, this backdrop
be, but you should feel like a sense of size is lost from your mix when its track should help you create gradual builds to aid your arrangement,
muted. You can use the hide-and-reveal techniques covered in parts 1 like an exponential raise of the cutoff towards the end of a section.
and 2; we suggest a low-pass filter to enhance your arrangement. Jam and play rhythmic ideas that bounce off the other content.

How to produce
techno Part 4
Its time to put our techno tune to bed. Liam OMullane fine-tunes the mix, getting it up to
scratch and ready for commercial release.
W
ell, it has taken a while and our track has We also use mid-and-side processing quite a bit, so you
moved in various directions, but were now On the disc need to understand what this is. The mid is the signal that
going through the final stage of our journey has the same information on the left- and the right-hand
through the art of producing techno in-the-box. channels of a stereo sound. So to your ears, this is the
Last time, we had the full arrangement laid-out and a fairly Accompanying centre of the stereo signal. The sides are the elements of
example audio files
respectable-sounding mix now its time to finalise our mix included on the DVD the left and right signal that differ; as a result, you hear
and call our track finished. these as the stereo elements of the sound. For an enhanced
Its been a couple of weeks since we last worked on our element of mix processing, were splitting these into
project and we can now clearly hear various aspects of the separate components to apply different treatments to.
mix that need tightening up. This tutorial will focus on Separating mid and side is simple in some DAWs; for
instance, in Live you can split a signal into two copies using
Chains in Audio Racks. You can then drag a Utility device to
Its important to keep focused each one and have the width set to 0% on one and 200% on
on creating a mix that sits well

the other, creating mid and side signals respectively. Other
DAWs may require a different approach, but the simplest
way is two make two channels for one sound source and
with your peers add a mid and side splitting plug-in. The Brainworx bx_solo
plug-in is one of a few free options to use for this task.
Some words on good practice when mixing. First, make
selling the arrangement thats already in place using a range sure you use well produced tracks as reference material.
of mix tools, some of which are very simple, like volume Second, it can be useful to occasionally add a basic
automation, and others which are a bit more complex. mastering chain to give you a sense of how your mix could
Well be explaining various applications for sidechain sound after professional mastering is applied. Reference
compression so youll need a sidechain-capable compressor material is important throughout the song-making process,
(most DAWs have these). Simply set it to listen to the but even more so when mixing to keep you focused on
external key-input; this is used to trigger the compressor. For creating a mix that sits well with your peers. When using
instance, you could use a kick drum to trigger a compressor mastering processing, be careful not to check your reference
through its key-input thats actually processing other material through the same chain, otherwise youll be chasing
sounds. Just place it over an individual sound or a group and your tail, trying to match material that has been mastered
those sounds will duck in volume whenever the kick sounds. twice once by the label, then by your own chain. MTF
FOCUS ON...GETTING THE MIX RIGHT

Although we classed our arrangement as finished in the last instalment of this
series, following a subjective listen a few weeks later, we identified a few things that
we could do to enhance the arrangement throughout the mix. These are less about
editing the musical aspects of the track; more about making decisions as to what is
and isnt the main focus within our mix at any given moment.
For instance, the pitched-down vocal plays only a few times in the track, but its
alongside the atmospheres and other sound FX that appear more often than not. So
to make the vocal more of a feature when present, weve used the vocal to sidechain a
compressor placed on our atmos sounds, so theyre ducked out of the way. Another
example of where weve had to enhance the arrangement is the off-beat percussion
part. This has a parallel layer of filtered, distorted reverb that creeps up in intensity
during its first musical section. It gets more present through the filter being raised in
the next section to make it more of a feature. It turns out that this effect sounded
even better in the second section when we muted the original dry percussion part. It
draws focus to the distorted reverb as well as removing the sharp percussive element
of the dry signal for the new section, so it has a greater contrast to the section before.
A final decision we made was to put work into the clap sound as the mix was
lacking midrange punch. The clap is a repetitive, pulsing element and it wasnt getting
through the mix clearly. With some EQ exploration, layering, re-balancing and a reverb
for ambience, we found a space in the mix where it could cut through a lot more clearly.
MTF36.tutorial Techno pt4.FOR PRINT.indd 104 18/08/2014 16:34

MTF Step-by-Step Tightening-up the mix
01
The kick sounds far too forward and out of character with the rest
of the elements in the mix, so weve decided to locate the
lower-mid knock sound that lives around 200Hz and the midrange
02 To give the kick a sense of impact weve added some pretty heavy
compression, blended in with the original using a dry-wet control.
This is the simplest approach to achieving parallel compression and
click at around 600Hz and pull them back with subtractive EQ. The with a short attack and release, the compressed signal performs a
sub-bass and its decay feel a little low in volume, so weve gone for a quick down-then-up volume movement. Dont set the attack too short
broad EQ boost to enhance the existing sub content. or youll dip the volume too early and lose the transient.
03
With so many layers in this track, its time to get things organised.
This will let us know whats going on between the sounds and
allow us to apply further processing to give them more separation. The
04 When youve got sounds into their respective groups, experiment
with tonal processing to add individual character per group. This
can be a variety of processing types, but vintage emulation is our first
categories have been divided into groups and labelled as bass/arps, choice. It will impart additional harmonics through saturation, so if you
drums, rhythm (excluding main drums), atmos and vocals. Now its choose a different flavour per group, its easy to achieve contrast in a
time for some character-processing. mix. EQs, compressors, saturators and so on are all worth exploring.
05
The key rhythmic aspect is the kick, so weve grouped other mix
elements into two categories. One is for key sounds that are the
melodic content, the other is for decorative sounds. Add a compressor
06
Our main sounds now have a sense of movement, but the
ambience effects also need rhythmic control. Weve grouped our
effect return tracks to one new group and added a compressor. Like the
to each group and have them listen to the kick via the sidechain. group sidechaining, this compressor will make ambience effects duck
Decorative sounds will duck the most when the kick plays and well use when the kick plays. Weve gone for quite a lot of gain reduction so that
light compression on the key sounds so the movement is less obvious. the ambience really moves up and down in time with the track.

MTF Step-by-Step Enhancing stereo field and depth
01
There are two sections that scream out to be stereoised. These
are the 303-type parts and the 16th hi-hats. The 303 is mono, so
weve used a separate EQ shape on the left and right audio channels to
02
The hi-hats consist of two layers: one is constant, playing 16ths,
the other is used occasionally as an accenting sound. Weve left
the accenting hat as it is and created a left and right channel for the
create stereo spread. The EQ originally swept around the midrange of constant hi-hat to process independently. There are many ways to
the 303 to create movement, so weve duplicated this for both channels process a signal for stereo spread, but weve chosen to use different
while keeping them unique on either side so the stereo effect is not lost. flavours of saturation for the left and right channels.
03
For stereo control weve enhanced a section where our rave riff
comes into the mix for the first time. It already has a stereo sound
and along with fading-in its volume, weve added a stereo width control
04 To create contrast, its worth looking at where you can clear up
layers of sounds or effects to strip-down parts of a mix. We have a
snare sequence that plays a roll while rising in pitch to go from one
to automate over time. Now the riff fades in and goes from mono to section to another. But with so many effects being used by other sounds
wider-than-normal stereo towards the end. This wider sound loses its at the same time, weve chosen to manually duck the ambience effects
power, so weve also raised the tracks volume to compensate. so the new section is established with a much dryer, cleaner sound.
05
Another trick to create movement is to make either the mid or the
side of a stereo signal pump in time with the track. Our drums
and atmos tracks are the only stereo mix elements that run throughout
06 A final trick to immediately widen a mix is to reverse the channels
of your ambient effects. This will make ambience panning oppose
that of the source instruments, so there are two positions per panned
the track, so weve set up a compressor on the side signal of our atmos sound in the mix. Because weve already grouped our send effects, we
track and set that to pump to the kick drum. Again, this will orientate can just swap the channels over on the group either using pan controls
more aspects of the mix around the pivotal pulse of the kick drum. or, in this case, a left and right channel-swapping plug-in.

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MTF Reviews Rob Papen Blue II
MTF Reviews
this thing is huge, but despite all of
these features it is still surprisingly
easy to get around.
Easy times six

Hardware Software Mobile Technology Samples The synths front panel is easy to
understand from the off. All six
Choice oscillators are laid-out in channels, like
9/10
9
9/10
a mixer. Each has tuning and wave-
For PC shape parameters to control plus, of
& Mac
course, the volume of each part. The
real beauty begins when you select the
original waveform its like lifting the
bonnet of your car for the first time and
discovering a monster engine. Or, in this
case, 12 monster engines
Yep, there are a dozen different types
of source waveform to choose from:
anything from analogue, through
spectral through to a whole range of
sample waveforms. The analogue
section itself has 15 different
waveforms to choose from and the
additive a mere 39! So what Im
attempting to say is that the building
blocks in this synth are many and
varied, but multiply that lot by the six
oscillators and you have an enormous
synth with enormous potential.
The layout loveliness continues with
ROB PAPEN the destination options. As with

choosing your source waveforms, click
Blue II
in the Dest window and select one of 11
destination options. With each oscillator
you can choose to send the signal
through one of two filters, one of four
Blue was released in 2005 and won the hearts of many, including effects engines, two of the effects
engines or simply all four of them.
MTF editor Andy Jones. Will their love affair be reignited with v2? So you can already get a pretty clear
picture of Blue II. Lots of oscillators,
I
Details ts hard to believe that the first Blue II is quite definitely maintaining each with lots of different waveform
Price 109 (upgrade version of Rob Papens Blue was that Cross Fusion Synthesis angle with categories, each with lots of waveforms,
from Blue 35) released way back in 2005. Its the subtractive, FM, phase distortion lots of destinations to send them to
Contact Time+Space
ability to cover so much ground with and wave-shaping of the original plus a (including the two filters) and lots of
01837 55200
www.timespace.com its so-called Cross Fusion Synthesis lot more besides. It has six oscillators effects to splash across the lot. Lots
Minimum system won it many fans. It came with FM and which use any of these synthesis types then. With all this in mind were
requirements
subtractive synthesis, plus add-on alongside new sets of sampled expecting a huge array of very varied
PC 32-/64-bit VST
and AAX for Windows phase distortion and wave-shaping, waveforms. Then there are a couple of sounds. And, of course, this is Rob
Vista or higher making it a kind of best of of electronic
Its like lifting the bonnet of

Mac 32-/64-bit AU, music-making. Indeed, it stayed on my
VST and AAX for
Mac OSX 10.6+
computer for many years and was, for a
long while, my go-to synth (sorry, I hate
that expression too). your car for the first time and
Key Features
It slipped from my hard drive during
a major computer upgrade but I discovering a monster engine
remember the original for its wide
FM, subtractive,
phase variety of consistently great sounds filters with 27 different filter types, a Papen. Were surely not going to be
distortion and that all blended seamlessly in any mix, big set of effects processors (each disappointed by the quality as well as
wave-shaping so news of its sequel is very welcome offering 35 FX types), a huge (and I do the quantity, right?
synthesis
2 analogue-style
indeed. And my interest was piqued at mean huge) collection of presets, an
modelled stereo the NAMM Show back in January when onboard sequencer and arpeggiator, Do everything
filters I saw, from a distance (you couldnt get loads of modulation possibilities and it So were not even into the sounds yet
Sequencer
close for all the people watching), a nicks the XY pad feature from its Blade and we can already see that this synth
Arpeggiator
4 FX processors
demo of Blue II, complete with fancy relative (youll find more on that does loads, almost too much. And
bouncing ball graphics. connection in the boxout). On paper sound-wise there are almost too many.
MTF36.review blue 2.FOR PRINT.indd 110 18/08/2014 16:04

Rob Papen Blue II Reviews MTF
The XY Vector synth

Click on the XY button and a new part of Blue is revealed, albeit one
taken from Robs Blade synth. On a simple level, the XY pad lets you
move a ball between the first four oscillators of the synth, increasing
volume as you move towards each corner. You can record these
movements and make it part of the sound (which works particularly well
when you sync it to tempo).
However, the fun really starts as you can also assign eight of any of
Blue IIs parameters to up and down movement (four each) and left and
right movement (again four each). So while you veer widely between
sounds you could also be opening the frequency or sending to an effect,
detuning, whatever you want. There are different preset movements to
load in like the one shown (left) where, as you can see, Ive sent a whole
sequence of notes into a square-shaped spiral and each circle on the
spiral represents a different note from the sequence. Its an exceptional
tool and often mesmerising. Just dont use it while taking any illegal
substances; you might end up staring at it all day...
Genre sections include a couple of

hip hop banks and a drum&bass one, all
The XY Vector area allows notes (the light blue balls) to follow either preset or user created paths with a good variety of sounds including
that veer between 16 sets of parameters, four on each side of the screen, as shown above. plenty of big basses and leads. There
are also percussive banks and several
When I reviewed the Yamaha MOXF of the late 80s, when the programmers named ones, some of which contain
hardware workstation a couple of put in mighty performance presets that among the best sounds in Blue II really
issues ago I was almost overwhelmed stretched the very specs of the dirty, in-your-face presets that inspired
by the number of presets on offer and hardware. Here there are plenty of me well into this marathon session of
Im getting that feeling now. There are those even though Blue IIs engine is preset auditioning.
25 banks each with 128 presets, which hardly trying barely ticking over if I So all of that leaves me pretty much
adds up to a mighty 3,200 presets want to really stretch that car analogy zero room left to talk about the
(including the sounds from the original thing too far. sequencer and arpeggiator. Both are
Blue). Not all of the preset slots are
filled there are quite a few empty ones
for you to fill with your own creations Rob clearly wants Blue II to be the
but theres still a good couple of
thousand-plus to get your teeth into. only synth you use, so there is
Like I said, potentially overwhelming.
Fortunately, the sounds are arranged something for everyone
by category, but its a little like Rob didnt
quite know how to label them. Should Anyway, theres tons of emotion, surprisingly fully featured, the former
he do it by sound type? By programmer oodles of atmosphere and some allowing you to use Blue II as a
name? By genre? By tempo? What the incredible richness. You might even I standalone music-maker, but it
heck, do it by all of the above! So it might never thought Id say this want to pull undoubtedly sits well with any
seem a little random at first but lets back and turn off a couple of oscillators sequencer as possibly being the only
dive in, because theres a lot of on some to make them sit better in your synth youll need.
swimming to do. mix as they are so big, otherwise its hit Like I said earlier, Rob Papen has put
Were not going to describe each and one note, instant Vangelis. so much into it thats clearly how he
every sound here, just attempt to give As you step through the four bass wants you to use it, so it could be my
you a flavour of what is going on. banks (two analogue, two digital), the go-to synth again, much like v1. I cant
Basically, Rob clearly wants this to be synth moves from the late 80s through believe I said go-to synth three times in
the only synth you use, so like The MOXF the 90s, noughties and very much more one review, mind... MTF
and like the Roland FA-06 I reviewed the up-to-date with some absolutely huge
following issue there is something for presets that would easily carry a tune MTF Verdict
everyone. Unlike those, there are fewer from any era. The digital basses are + Loads of flexibility
real sounds apart from a keyboard surprisingly, how should I say, un- + The XY pad is a particularly
category that has some nice electric digital? Some are massive, so if youre welcome addition
pianos and real keyboard sounds. There expecting a load of DX7 bass sounds + Loads of features, but
+ Very easy to use
are also some proper choirs and some which I admit I was you will be
+ Huge variety of sounds
fantastic strings, but the rest pleasantly surprised.
concentrates on proper synth stuff The lead sounds, again, are nice and - Huge number of sounds can be
and lots of it up-to-date although I was less somewhat daunting
The first three banks are pad enamoured with the sequencer sounds.
Blue II is any synth you want it to be
sounds. What really comes across here Some were so short in duration that, and a lot more. A worthy and cheap
is the fact that there are six oscillators even within a sequence, they simply upgrade to the original and one that
on offer as many utilise at least three of sound a bit, well, bitty. The same could will have you tweaking, bouncing
them to get lots of movement and be said of the Arp banks, although with and playing for many a year.
variation. For those of you old enough,
its like going back to the digital synths
three of these on offer there are far
more hits than misses.
9/10
MTF36.review blue 2.FOR PRINT.indd 111 18/08/2014 16:04

MTF Reviews Novation Launchpad Mini
Alternatives
The Launchpad S (150) was
already very portable but
has larger pads that make
performing much simpler. Abletons Push (429)
is very much the de rigueur Live controller
and has a ridiculous amount of flexibility. The
QuNeo, from Keith McMillen, (199) is another
controller that features a greater range of
options than the Launchpad Mini.
activate loops and samples; you also get

packs of custom overlay stickers to
make things more straightforward for
both FL and Live. Adding the Launchkey
Mini to your studio setup very much
completes the Novation jigsaw;
NOVATION
however, the Launchpad Mini is a useful
standalone tool as it is.
Launchpad Mini
We first got our hands on the newly
announced instruments in the Launch
family at the Novation stand at this
years BPM Show and had a wonderfully
fun time, triggering loops with the
Novations new slimline Launchpad is aimed at the iPad Launchpad Mini while constructing
Generation. Andy Price gets mobile elegant melody, lead and bass lines with
the Launchkey Mini, then tweaking
E
Details arly last year, Novation revealed from your iPad or computer, so leads filters and effects with Launch Control.
Price 79/$99/98 the Launchpad S, a bells-and- that would nullify its mobile nature are The harmony between the instruments
Contact Focusrite whistles version of the original absent. While the Launchpad Mini in the Launch family is something that
01494 462246 Launchpad that included FL fluidly connects with Live, FL Studio and Novation has been keen to trumpet, and
Web
Studio support, brighter pads and a DJ software such as Serato and when all three are working together you
http://uk.
novationmusic.com much smoother experience all round, so Numerology, whats integral to the iPad can understand why. The three
Minimum system it was something of a surprise to hear of Generation ethos is the interaction with instruments, although all good in their
requirements yet another iteration of the Launchpad the (free) Launchpad for iPad app. own right, click together well, resulting
PC Windows 7
some five months later. This latest, Connecting to the iPad is in a highly versatile control system that
Mac OSX 10.7
iPad2 or later is
re-sized model was revealed as part of straightforward, but you will need to inspires new methods of composition
recommended, iOS 5 a trilogy of announcements that purchase the iPad Camera Connection and performance possibilities.
expanded Novations Launch range. The Kit (25), which mind-bogglingly isnt One downside of the smaller pads is
compact MIDI keyboard Launchkey Mini included in the box. that they could be more difficult to
was also announced, as was the mixer/ trigger those with bigger fingers might
controller Launch Control (well be Pads to Pad need to be careful not to trigger two at
bringing you reviews of both in Once connected to your iPad, once. But overall our experience with
upcoming issues). Launchpad Mini becomes a versatile the Launchpad Mini was a good one. Its
Novation promoted the trio with a instrument, triggering the Launchpad remarkably simple to use and
slick and focused marketing campaign apps vast range of loops and samples undeniably fun, practical and intuitive,
that emphasised the appeal of that come courtesy of Loopmasters, with plenty of options to satisfy your
composing in the great outdoors, the although with a recent app update, its creativity even on the stairs! MTF
companys target audience being the now possible to add your own to the
iPad Generation a roaming horde of app. You can import WAV and AIFF MTF Verdict
homeless nomads who never know samples organised by bpm via a
when inspiration may strike, be they on DropBox account to create whatever + Live and FL Studio integration
+ Compact size
a park bench, in a taxi or halfway up a libraries you want. + No power lead required
flight of stairs. In a studio environment the + Impressive bank of
The Launchpad Mini is perhaps the Launchpad Mini works well, boasting performance-aiding effects
most user-friendly of the three, and one effortless integration with Live 9. Clip + Colourful LEDs useful for
Key Features low-lighting scenarios
that is perfectly suited to this kind of on- and scene triggering in Live is a doddle;
185 x 185 x
the-go music-making, yet also works controlling volumes/sends feels natural - iPad CCK not included
16mm
428g lighter just as well in a home studio context. and is an organic way of interacting with - Requires more precision to
than an iPad! Like its siblings it features 64 bright, your projects. The Launchpad Mini operate in a live environment
Draws buss than its bigger brothers
three-colour pads (arranged 8 x 8) that comes with Ableton Live Lite, so if youre
power from iPad
or Mac/PC activate loops, effects and sounds, with new to the DAW you wont feel left out. A wickedly fun mobile controller,
Fast response a lightning-fast response time (despite Noticeably, Novation has done away with all the features of its larger
time not being velocity-sensitive). The with the Ableton branding that the padded brothers but for a fraction
64 LED pads customisable performance buttons Launchpad S sported, going instead for of the size.
16 performance
buttons
that run down either side are labelled
AH and 18. The unit draws power
its own logo and imagery. Users of FL
will enjoy using the Minis grid to
8/10
MTF36.review launchpad mini.FOR PRINT.indd 112 18/08/2014 16:09

Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Reviews MTF
However, what theyve actually picked

up is some very slight distortion on one
of the bass parts. On closer inspection
in Logic I see that this part is just very
slightly hitting the red, so I notch it
down buzz off. Impressive stuff.
On to some different tracks and a
quick blast of Modeselektor some of
the best-produced music, in my opinion
and Im hearing detail Ive not heard
through my Bose headphones
(especially down at the bass end, which
is strong but not overwhelming). Again,
the stereo spread is astonishing and Im
starting to realise why these phones
have such a good rep with mix
engineers as Im hearing new life in
music I thought I knew well. Id mix on
Excellence these any day.
Some more delicate, more acoustic
music is in order and I turn to Talk Talks
I Believe In You, the same track I played
through my Rocks when auditioning
them. Not only did it make my arm hairs
AUDIO- Details raise but my leg hairs, too, at the time

yes, the very reason I plumped for the
TECHNICA
Price 159, 179 for
ltd edition blue/brown Rocks. So do I get the same reaction
Contact using these? Oh yes
ATH-M50x
Audio-Technica
0113 277 1441 On to some of my old 80s favourites
Web www. and Uncertain Smile from The The is
audio-technica.com next, and these phones are so honest
that they pick up hiss in the intro Ive
Audio-Technicas M50 headphones are a standard feature in many not heard before as noticeably. OK, so
studios, but you asked for more, and AT answered that call by sometimes things can be a bit too
clever by half
adding an x to M. Andy Jones does the can-can If ever you want a set of headphones
to use late at night listening to your best
T
he entry-level set of headphones circumaural design contours for music, these will have you in tears in
in Audio-Technicas new range excellent sound isolation. So while seconds. But, more importantly, for
the ATH-M20x have already these arent active noise-cancelling producers they will enable you to
been tested by us and scored a headphones, they certainly do a good produce such music in the first place.
very good 8/10 and our Value Award. To job of excluding a lot of it. As I type this I Theyre accurate, practical, sound
be honest, though, its the ATH-M50x can just make out my tap-tapping on excellent and will have you fixing bits of
that weve been looking forward to more the keyboard and the annoying, your mix that you thought didnt need
as this is a re-imagining of one of the yapping dog next door has become less fixing. I also had them on the entire time
most popular studio headphones, the of a future dog murder victim. The while writing this review and
ATH-M50. And when I say re-imagining, phones themselves have 45mm experienced no discomfort whatsoever.
what I mean is that AT hasnt totally large-aperture drivers that deliver a Simply superb. MTF
redesigned them from the ground up 15Hz to 28,000Hz range and this is
why do that with such a successful where AT has been wise the same MTF Verdict
product? but instead kept the best coveted sonic signature. + Excellent sound quality
bits and added what youve asked for. + Exceptionally honest
Key Features
Detachable cables were a big ask Add x to excellent + Great value
Type: closed-
and you get three of them: a 3m Lets check this signature out. First up, a + Great for mixing your music...
back dynamic
+ ...and for listening to everyone
Driver diameter: straight, 1.2m straight and a 1.2m couple of mixes Im working on kind of
45mm
elses
coiled, my personal favourite for studio ambient house stuff with lots of deep
Frequency
use. (Im one of these people who basses, heavy kicks, pads and strings. - The colour of the limited edition
response:
1528,000Hz clumsily gets cables tangled together in These tracks were mixed on Unity Audio brown/blue ones may not be to
Max input power: any situation, so having one that coils in Rocks and the M50xs tell me I did a everyones taste.
1,600mW
on itself, keeping away from all other pretty good job with a great set of They take what some see as an
Impedance:
38 ohms studio devices, cups of tea OK, cans of monitors. The arrangement sounds industry standard up a notch. These
Weight: 284g beer and other cables is a godsend.) lush, deep and very wide. Initially on one are among the best headphones
Cables: 1.2m Next up are 90-degree swivelling of the bass parts I hear a very slight you can get for your studio.
& 3m straight,
1.2m coiled
earcups for one-cup monitoring or
DJing, plus what AT describes as
tingling, almost a buzz, so at first I think
its a very slight fault in the phones.
10/10
MTF36.review ath_M50.FOR PRINT.indd 113 18/08/2014 16:41

MTF36. MTM App ad A4.FOR PRINT.indd 114 19/08/2014 16:47
Best Service Cantus Reviews MTF
Alternatives
There are plenty of
sampled choir
collections out there
as well as the odd
VSTi choir generator
(Magnus Choir,
$39.90, for example),
but none offers
quite the same
degree of flexibility
plus the ability to
create words and phrases. That ability comes
from Best Services own products, one such
being Shevannai, but that is Elvish.
Back to that reverb point Eduardo

made earlier: I thought we might end up
having to add reverb but there is a
suitable amount included (only the
original recordings are dry) plus a level
BEST SERVICE control to add/reduce it. You can also

control other parameters, like start,
Cantus
length, volume and attack. Its a flexible
For PC and creative vocal tool thats capable of
& Mac creating a lot of different Gregorian
vocals from seemingly few ingredients.
With Cantus, Best Service continues to release intriguing and Next up its Cantus Chants with a
similar concept, this time with whole
high-quality libraries. Andy Jones dons his cloak songs chosen by the red keys (from a
choice of 20) with each blue key playing
S
hould the name Eduardo reverbs out there that I have chosen to a phrase of that song in the same key.
Key Features
Tarilonte be unfamiliar to you, allow you complete control to adjust the There are 400 phrases in total, making
2.6GB
let this sentence be his reverb sound to your own taste. I 5 Gregorian up over an hour of music.
introduction. He is the man wanted you to feel the cold breath from legatos (a,e,i o,u) Finally the Soundscapes, with 20
leading Best Service into fantasy land the mouths of the monks singing in 24 words, 3 pad/vocal sounds to choose from.
articulations
and is behind the amazing libraries those cold monasteries. I hope you feel These are a mix of atmospheres and
Words split into
Forest Kingdom 2, Desert Winds and my the same goosebumps I feel. 120 syllables chants, some menacing and all with the
personal elven favourite, Shevannai. 20 Gregorian option to mix up the four elements that
This man creates legendary sounds and Can do chants split to make up each one, add effects and
400 phrases
is fast becoming a legend in sound And so to the collection. Its a 2.6GB 20 soundscapes
change other parameters. I like this
design because of it. affair available on disc or download. section but its not as varied as those
Cantus is the latest in his vocal Having a new Mac its the latter option youll find in Shevannai.
Details
series a Gregorian choir library that for me, and after a quick unpack the You cant fault the recording, nor
Price 159
focuses on mystical, monk-like voices now usual add library in Kontakt 5 I Contact Best Service
how Cantus has been put together. You
from the Dark and Middle Ages. Like was up and running. +49 (0) 89 45228920 can build your own words and phrases
Shevannai, it includes words and The library is set out in two folders: Web and there are some great soundscapes
www.bestservice.de
phrases in this case you get 400 Monks and Soundscapes. The Monks to add atmosphere. Its narrow in focus,
Minimum system
phrases, 20 Gregorian chants and a folder contains two subfolders: Cantus requirements for sure, but it sets out to achieve
word builder with 24 words, three The Monks and Cantus Chants. The PC Windows 7 Gregorian atmosphere and succeeds,
articulations and 120 syllables. former contains the a, e, i, o, u legatos Mac OSX 10.7 doing brilliantly what it says on the tin.
Combine that with five legatos and you and 24 common monk words, such as Or Abbey. Bona quidem valde. MTF
have a powerful voice tool. mortis and deus. You select between
The choir used for the recording was these with the green keys and play
MTF Verdict
a proper Gregorian choir the Schola them in different pitches with the blue.
Gregoriana Hispana, who have been Theres also a Words Builder a cool + Excellent quality
singing for 25 years with conductor tool that lets you to take the 24 words + Word Generator is very flexible
+ Menacing soundscapes
Francisco Javier Lara. I say proper as and create new ones by patching + An hour of chanting
Eduardo Tarilonte believed that to get a together 120 syllables. Youll probably
true Gregorian sound, he would have to end up with some real Latin words, but - Narrow focus
use a Gregorian choir rather than a with so many additional slots to fill with
Were huge fans of Best Service and
normal one attempting Gregorian and whole words and syllables, Im also
the directions in which the
missing its subtle nuances. guessing youll end up with a lot of company is taking music-making
He also recorded the choir dry, nonsense unless Latin is a super- plus the fact it is prepared to
stating: Gregorian music and reverb flexible language. Either way, to these produce niche libraries like these.
are good partners, but I didnt want to ears (it was German all the way at our Cantus is another winner.
tie the recordings to any special room
sound. There are so many impressive
school) it all sounds just like you would
expect to hear down the cloisters.
Octo/10
MTF36.review cantus.FOR PRINT.indd 115 18/08/2014 16:05

MTF Reviews Heavyocity DM-307
enabling you to establish a completely

different drum sound for every 16th
division. As youd expect, the Step
Sample parameter is a great source of
pseudo-random rhythmic madness,
but its also equally useful as a means
of occasionally switching a snare or
kick drum sound throughout the
duration of a loop.
In total, the DM-307 includes more
than 180 Kit Grooves all grouped by
musical genre, with some particularly
great examples in the Dubstep and
Industrial Edge folders. Its also
interesting to note that the Grid can be
triggered in a number of different ways
from your DAW using either B1 to
trigger the complete five-voice pattern,
or individual notes as part of the same
MIDI octave if you want to trigger each
voice lane by itself. When coupled with
the Trigger-FX options and Amp
Sequences (which well come to in a
minute), you really start to release the
live potential of the DM-307.
Beat head
Beyond the Grid-based instruments
theres plenty of additional content that
further extends the possibilities offered
by the DM-307. The Kits folder, for
HEAVYOCITY
example, provides an alternative means
Choice of accessing the single-shot drum
9/10
9
9/10
DM-307
sounds used to power the Grid presets,
For PC as well as an additional collection of
& Mac
impacts and FX sounds that add instant
aural interest to any trailer-like
composition. The Kits are ideal if you
Following Damage and the AEON series, can the DM-307 live up to intend to sequence the DM-307s drum
Heavyocitys high production standards? Mark Cousins finds out. sounds from your DAW, especially when
using the Element Kits, which present
H
Details eavyocitys adrenalin-fuelled Grooves instruments folder. The Grid the sounds by type, so that an
Price $299 sound libraries have received works as a form of five-voice drum instrument contains just snares, for
Contact via website plenty of praise over the years, machine, enabling you to sequence and example, or only kicks.
Web
demonstrating a consistently abuse the collection of single-shot As well as the 80 Kits, the DM-307
www.heavyocity.com
Minimum system powerful cinematic sound alongside sounds included in the library. also includes 1,200 tempo-synced
requirements some ingenious approaches to Ultimately, it means that the DM-307 is loops, much like those included in
PC Windows 7*
exploiting the dexterity of Kontakts steeped in creative potential, especially Damage or the AEON Rhythmic
Mac OSX 10.7*
*Kontakt 5.3.0 playback engine. The DM-307 is the by comparison to many loop-based collection. As youd expect, the loops
companys latest release, pitched as a libraries, with the various sounds and sacrifice some of the creative potential
modern groove designer and arguably pre-programmed rhythms being just of the Grid system, but given that theyre
representing an extension of and the starting point in terms of what you presented in both in their complete form
complement to some of its existing can achieve with it. (as part of a suite of loops) and as a
rhythmic libraries (Damage and AEON Delving a little deeper into the series of element-based loops, theres
Rhythmic). However, as the modern Grid-based instruments included in still plenty of potential in terms of how
groove designer tag suggests, the DM-307, its interesting to note how you layer and trigger the rhythmic
Key Features DM-307 is considerably more than just much thought has been put into its elements. Add to that an intriguing Loop
7.5GB data a collection of pre-recorded loops, so we feature set. For a start, rather than just Mutator as first introduced in the
(4.8GB on disc) decided to take a closer look. being a one- or two-bar sequence, you AEON series and youll find yourself
3,600+ samples
can actually chain together a total of having plenty of fun.
1,500+ NKIs
300 performance
On the grid eight 16-step sequences, opening up A new departure for Heavyocity is in
multis Arguably the key factor that marks the the potential for long and complicated the Multi patches, of which more than
Standalone, VST, DM-307 out from Heavyocitys previous rhythmic patterns. We also enjoyed the 250 are included with the DM-307. The
AU, DXi, AAX,
RTAS formats
offerings has to be the new Grid fact that each track lane has a unique Multis illustrate how various instances
interface, found as part of the Kit Sample Select parameter for each step, can be layered together, with a number
MTF36.review heavyocity.FOR PRINT.indd 116 18/08/2014 16:07

Heavyocity DM-307 Reviews MTF
Alternatives
Released just a month or so before the
DM-307, iZotopes Break Tweaker (189)
shares many similarities to the DM-307,
although there are some important
conceptual differences. On the whole,
Break Tweaker is a plug-in first and a sound
library second (the same is true in reverse for the DM-307). As such,
Break Tweaker can perform some amazing feats, largely in relation to
glitch and stutter treatments, but it possibly misses out on the breadth
and quality of sound content included in DM-307.
between inspiring sounds and being a

musical tool that you can adapt and use
to your own creative ends. Its also
arguably Heavyocitys most musically
diverse tool to date punchy and
contemporary enough for hard-edged
electronica, dubstep and drum & bass,
but also equally adept as a tool for
soundtrack composition, which has
been a staple part of Heavyocitys sound
The Advanced Trigger FX are switchable real-time effects offering incredible scope for creative and and approach from the start.
intuitive sound-tweaking. You can modulate the effect changes via a 32-step sequencer.
Price points
of great Artist Multis produced by the slightly, as many of the instruments While the DM-307 isnt the cheapest
likes of Kaiserdisco, Martin Eyerer and have a certain degree of Punish drum library going, theres little doubt
Uner. Not surprisingly, the Multis also applied by default. that youll need to spend several
showcase the DM-307s application in Although its hard to criticise such a months exploring its various Kit
dance music, with plenty of four-to-the- deep and complex sound engine, the Grooves, Loops, Multis and single-shot
floor action. However, its worth noting only possible issue for new users is the Kits before you run out of inspiration.
that youll need to run the Multi
graphics installer (found in the
DM-307s Library folder) for the Multis
to display correctly, otherwise the
Heavyocity has developed one of the
interface will look distinctly grey...
most feature-rich sound-managing
Trigger finger
Users of Damage or the AEON
engines to ever grace a Kontakt library
collection should be well aware that
Heavyocity has developed one of the time it takes to fully understand the Even then, some quick experimentation
most feature-rich sound-managing power behind the DM-307. Indeed, given with the Loop Mutator or The Grid will
engines to ever grace a Kontakt library. the immediacy of the sound content, its immediately yield new sounds. Having
Rather than facilitating the static conceivable that many users simply set a high standard with both Damage
application of distortion, filtering, delay wont have the requisite inquisitiveness and the AEON series, therefore, the
and so on, Heavyocitys sound engine to delve deeper, which is a shame as DM-307 more than meets the levels of
makes the process considerably more theres so much to discover. excellence weve come to expect from
dynamic. Trigger FX, for example, Heavyocity, and may well prove to be the
enables you to add or remove FX blocks Drum power companys finest and most flexible Method Spot
on-the-fly using a MIDI keyboard, even As with Heavyocitys previous offerings, library to date. MTF In effect, the Loop
Mutator works like
triggering an individual step sequencer DM-307 demonstrates both an a form of
for each FX block. Theres also an Amp aggressive, upfront contemporary MTF Verdict arpeggiator, offering
some radical ways
sequencer as well (again, MIDI- sound as well as illustrating just how
+ Powerful, contemporary sound of re-sequencing
triggered), which enables you to gate or much can be achieved using Kontakts + Build your own loops using the the included loop
stutter the sound in a rhythmic way sound engine. Inevitably, its hard not to content. Holding
Grid feature
down a single note
an effect thats often used to great draw some comparisons with iZotopes + Superb audio-mangling effects reveals the basic
effect in many film trailers. Break Tweaker, as both products are + Great range of single-shot premise, with Loop
sounds and FX Mutator appearing
For instant gratification, the large based round a five- or six-voice step/
to jump around
Punish and Twist controls found on the drum sequencer. However, although - Deep and complex interface different steps of
Main page are great fun, arguably Break Tweaker undoubtedly has the the loops, as
The DM-307 offers a killer defined by the Step
making use of a hybrid of effects such better engine behind it (especially in
combination of cutting-edge drum Loop parameter.
as compression and distortion (in the relation to its unique glitch and stutter Add more keys or
sounds and internal step-
example of Punish) to create a powerful effects), the DM-307 wins hands-down modify the Step
sequencing thats perfect for Length and Step
and contemporary sound. Interestingly, when it comes to the library content. hard-edged electronica or Velocity parameters
on the rare occasion that you find the Pleasingly, for a market saturated aggressive cinematic scoring. and the effect
DM-307s output slightly too harsh, its
well worth turning down these controls
with instant one-finger gratification,
DM-307 offers an ideal balance
9/10 becomes even
more interesting.
MTF36.review heavyocity.FOR PRINT.indd 117 18/08/2014 16:07

MTF Reviews EZdrummer 2
TOONTRACK Choice
9/10
9
9/10
EZDRUMMER 2 For PC
& Mac
Toontracks latest revision of EZdrummer has plenty of bold and Subsequent edits, therefore, require
extensive editing in your DAW, often on
innovative new features. Mark Cousins finds the perfect beat. a note-by-note basis.
As with Logic Pro Xs Drummer
O
ver the last five years the assembled a large library of expansion feature, EZdrummer 2 realises that
virtual drummer has evolved packs for EZdrummer, its worth noting means of sequencing the drums is as
from an instrument that (at that existing libraries will load important as the sounds themselves.
best) sounded like a real kit, to themselves into the new engine, As a result, EZdrummer 2 includes a
a tool that forms the backbone of your complete with updated graphics, mixer number of tools from a more intuitive
rhythm section. So weve come to settings, and of course, the all- means of finding and selecting grooves,
expect more from our virtual drumming important MIDI grooves. through to the ability to modify them on
software not just a collection of MIDI EZdrummer 2s core library is a musical level that makes the
loops, but integrated mixing software, divided between modern and vintage, process of drum sequencing infinitely
kit customization and more besides. with the modern kit being recorded quicker, without sacrificing your
Even the off-the-shelf DAW has got in through a Neve 88R and TG12345 all-important creative input.
on the act, with Logic Pro Xs Drummer consoles, while the vintage drums were Looking first at the selection
feature being one of the best integrated tracked through a rare REDD console. process, easily the most ingenious and
solutions weve seen, so any virtual All the kits covering selections from revolutionary features has to be the
drumming software offering something DW, Gretsch, Yamaha, Ludwig, Sonor,
new has a lot of work on its hands! Tama and Brady where recorded by
Chuck Ainley at Mark Knopflers British Alternatives
EZ does it Grove Studios. Alongside the main kit XLN Audios Addictive Drums (179) is popular,
As one of the more cost-effective sounds, theres also a sprinkling of easy-to-use virtual drumming solution, with a
range of drum kits and MIDI grooves. As with
solutions on the market, Toontracks percussion sounds including shakers, many other virtual drumming solutions, the
EZdrummer has built up both a large tambourines and claps which add notion with Addictive Drums is that chosen
user base and accompanying sound extra flavour to the main kit. loops are dragged-and-dropped into to your
DAW for further editing and refinement. On
library. Borrowing many features from the plus side, you get access to more internal
Superior Drummer 2.0, EZdrummer Finding your groove signal processing options, although this
arguably adds complication to those that
offered immediate, great-sounding Although well return to the sound of the
simply want a great sound with the minimum
results with the minimum of fuss. kits later on, arguably the most useful of fuss. Compared against the shiny new
However, with the world of virtual improvements to EZdrummer relate to EZdrummer 2, though, its showing its age,
especially with respect to the loop browsing.
drumming moving so fast, it was clearly the use and selection of the MIDI
time for a refresh providing a tool that grooves and, latterly, the means of
still had the same immediacy as sequencing these loops into a complete
EZdrummer but with a host of features performance. Of course, the majority of
Details
that made the end result even more virtual drumming software (and the
Manufacturer
closer to a real drummer! original EZdrummer) offers little more Toontrack
EZdrummer 2, therefore, has a than a means of browsing integrated Price 99
wealth of new features under its sleeve, MIDI content, with the resultant song Contact Time + Space
01837 55200
not to mention a new set of core drum being created by dropping the MIDI Web
sounds. Importantly, for those that have loops over to a track on your DAW. www.toontrack.com
MTF36.review EZdrummer.FOR PRINT.indd 118 18/08/2014 16:06

EZdrummer 2 Reviews MTF
HANDS ON
Rather than simply adapting the existing MIDI data, the Amount
parameter uses a special algorithm to either add or subtract notes from
the existing performance. As such, Amount can be thought of as an
intelligent control, adding additional beats particularly ghost notes
that a drummer would play to add density and movement to the
pattern. Even adding new parts of the kit works in this way, adapting the
existing MIDI groove in a way the mimics a real performance.
The kits in Vintage kit seems softer on its

EZdrummer 2
offer a wide range
transients, which when combined some
of sounds for various natural room ambience, really helps
genre types. produce a natural lifelike sound.
Although the mixer offers full control
over the level of each kit elements, you
dont get the same level of edibility
when it comes to the application of
signal processing. Ultimately,
EZdrummer 2 is designed as a tool with
immediacy in mind, and in that respect
the handy macro controls over
controls like Dynamics, Reverb Time
and Mic Bleed provide enough control
without getting bogged down in detail.
Should you really find the need to
process sounds using you own choice of
EQ and so on, theres always the option
performance using the kit as a visual Key Features of running the individual channels out
guide, rather than having to reposition New audio
to discrete outputs in your DAWs mixer.
Tap 2 Find option found under the MIDI notes in a DAWs Piano Roll editor. engine
search tab. Rather than wading through For example, the Power Hand lets you Improved groove An EZ life
browser
thousands of MIDI files by name, Tap 2 re-position the driving force of the With so many great sounding virtual
An all-new sound
Find lets you suggest a basic rhythm, pattern (usually the hi-hat) to a new library drumming solutions, its interesting to
which EZdrummer 2 uses to find an part of the kit like the ride cymbal, for Song creator see how much attention is now being
appropriate series of matches from its example, or a floor tom. Likewise, an Tap 2 Find diverted to the usability and musicality
library. You suggest a rhythm by Opening Hit assignment also lets you of the instrument as well as its sonic
recording a short two-bar loop, either mark the start of the phrase, usually performance. Aspects like the Tap 2
by tapping on an attached MIDI with something like the crash cymbal. Find feature, therefore, as well as the
keyboard, or by clicking on the drum kit You can also add new additional kit powerful integral sequencing features,
elements on the interface. Once youve elements into the phrase, as well as really mark EZdrummer 2 out from the
inputted your suggestion, EZdrummer 2 adjusting the density and velocity level crowd, and certainly offer a host of
finds a series of best match loops on a drum-by-drum basis. For example, intuitive musical possibilities that go
ready for your approval. selecting one or more toms will add above and beyond what weve come to
some tom movement, while you could expect from a virtual drummer. More
Song smith tweak the Snare Amount control to add than just an update, EZdrummer 2
Once youve found a basic loop, youd more ghost notes, and maybe lower its defines the next generation of virtual
expect to drag-and-drop the MIDI file velocity slightly for less power on the drumming software that many will seek
over to your DAW, but in EZdrummer 2s upbeat. You can also augment the to emulate. MTF
case, we can use its own integral song pattern with three percussion sources
track to piece together a complete clap, shaker and tambourine again, MTF Verdict
performance. Dragging the loops into simply by clicking on, and adjusting the
+ Powerful and intuitive virtual
the Song Creator, for example, instructs relative icon and its parameter set. drumming
EX Drummer 2 to create a series of When youre finished, simply export + Musical control set
variations, covering Intro, Verse, Bridge, the song as a MIDI file (or drag-and- + Nice balance between
Pre Chorus and an Ending, which can drop it into your sequencer), or export contemporary and vintage kits
+ Works with previous EZX libraries
then be organised onto the track lane. as an audio file, assuming youre using
Alternatively, drag the various library EZdrummer 2 in its standalone mode. - Limited access to internal signal
loops onto the song track, assuming processing
you want a more radical change Sound of the drums
between the sections of the song. As youd expect, the sound of the two The new kits sound great, but its
the much-improved browser and
The advantage of keeping the song kits covers a suitably broad enough flexible internal sequencing
sequence inside EZdrummer 2 is that spectrum to make them versatile features that really sets
you get more editing options to refine across a range of genres. The Modern EZdrummer 2 apart from the
the drum phrases in a quick, intuitive Kit sounds tight and focused, but add competition.
way. Clicking on a region in the track
lane, therefore, lets you edit the MIDI
some room ambience and the sound
becomes pleasing looser. Likewise, the
9/10
MTF36.review EZdrummer.FOR PRINT.indd 119 18/08/2014 16:06

MTF Reviews Softube Console 1
a parameter on the hardware, or push

one of the buttons. It is a shame the
controls arent touch sensitive, as you
have to start twisting a knob, or push a
button to bring up the GUI, but you can
just press the Display button, which
doesnt affect any of the parameters.
Along the top of the controller are a
series of buttons, 1 through 20, that are
used to switch the controller from one
channel to the next. Whichever channel
is active here is the channel that the
controller will be assigned to, not the
active plug-in in your DAW. This can get
a little confusing at first, but soon
becomes second nature.
Its not always easy to know what
instrument is on what numbered
channel, so Console 1 enables you to
name your channels in the plug-in.
This means typing in the name of
each channel a second time
(assuming youve named all your
channels in your DAW you have,
SOFTUBE havent you?). The exception to this is in

Presonus Studio One 2, and soon in
Console 1
Cubase and Nuendo, where the DAW
provides the name to the Console 1
plug-in, saving you the time. Softube
tell us they hope to roll out this
Softube has launched a hybrid hardware/software mixing system. functionality to more DAWs, but this
requires changes to be made to the
Mike Hillier finds out if this is the one DAW software as well as the Console 1
software, so is dependent on the DAW
designers as much as it is to Softube.
W
Details e first saw the Console 1 unique GUI layer, which pops up taking
Manufacturer over a year ago, at over the whole screen showing all the A walk down the strip
Softube Musikmesse 2013, and parameters. This can be resized, for Console 1 has five primary sections,
Price $1149
the concept was creating example, to the size of your other first an input section which has an
Contact Softube
sales@softube.com quite a lot of buzz around the halls. plug-ins so you can show several input gain, high- and low-pass filters,
Web Since then Softube has been hard at simultaneously. We did find that if you and polarity switch. This then feeds the
www.softube.com work refining and perfecting the click on the GUI at any point then your Shape, EQ and Compressor sections,
Minimum System
Requirements
Console 1, ready for release. DAW is no longer the active application, and finally into an output stage which
PC Unlike most control surfaces the and so your key commands no longer has Drive controls, pan/balance,
Windows support to Console 1 does not use a variation of work including even basic controls volume and solo/mute switches. This is
come MIDI, such as HUI, to control your DAW
Mac
and plug-ins. In fact, it doesnt even
Based on the SSL 4000 E,

Mac OSX 10.7, VST,
AU or AAX host (32 or attempt to control your DAW and
64-bit), spare USB 2.0 plug-ins at all. Instead the Console 1 is
port, 1200x800 screen
resolution
designed only to control its own plug-in.
However, the Console 1 plug-in is a
there isnt true like-for-like
complete channel-strip designed to be
placed as an insert on all your channels,
functionality it does more
enabling you to perform your entire mix
from the Console 1 hardware, without like start/stop. Thankfully, you should a fairly comprehensive channel-strip,
having to resort to mouse or keyboard. never have much call to click on this GUI and the Console 1 even enables you to
as all controls can be accessed from route the filters to only the dynamics
Console action the hardware. Furthermore, it isnt side-chain and not the direct signal,
The plug-in itself is slightly unusual in strictly necessary to have the GUI open and to change the processing order,
Key Features
that the plug-in window only shows at all, as there is some visual feedback placing the EQ before, between, or after
USB control
surface some very basic controls the channel on the hardware. Our favourite way to the Shape and Compressor modules.
SSL 4000 E number and a solo safe button. You can work, once wed got used to the Console The console strip in Console 1 is
channel strip show the state of parameters from the 1 was with the display in Auto mode based on an SSL 4000 E studio console,
emulation
plug-in window, but its a bit small and this mode shows and hides the GUI but modules can be swapped out for
Transient shaper
fiddly. Instead, Console 1 has a separate layer automatically whenever you alter any of Softubes other EQ and dynamics
MTF36.review Softube.FOR PRINT.indd 120 18/08/2014 16:16

Softube Console 1 Reviews MTF
Alternatives
The Console 1 brings a unique hybrid approach to mixing, but you can get
great results by using any hardware controller. The Avid MC Control is
one of the most advanced, using the EuCon protocol rather than a MIDI
based system, such as HUI. But HUI systems shouldnt be overlooked,
and the newly announced Behringer X-Touch is certainly one to consider.
characteristics of this Drive distortion,

from bassier distortions to one end and
more high-end distortions to the other.
Fingers on the buzzer

Our initial experiences with the Console
1 left us a little perplexed as to why
Softube had chosen such a tough route,
designing a controller that used its own
application layer, rather than just a
simple MIDI controller designed for the
plug-in. But as we got a few mixes
under out belt with this system, the
After working for some time with Console 1, it became much like using a real mixing console with you
controller become a part of our
becoming less reliant on the computer screen and just working with the hardware no bad thing workflow. The initial set up is a little
fiddly, but this should get better over
time as more DAWs support the system
modules. Unlike the other modules filters for keying the sidechain again directly, and once youre set up and the
however, the SSL E channel-strip wont an option not available on the original. software is on every channel. It
be available outside of Console 1. While The compressor section includes a becomes much more like mixing on a
based on the SSL 4000 E, there isnt mix knob, enabling you to achieve quick real console. You dont notice the screen
true like-for-like functionality and in parallel compression without the need as much, and you get used to switching
most cases there is actually greater for additional channels again a the channel on the Console 1 hardware
functionality in the Console 1 than in a feature not present on the original and just working, without ever letting go
true SSL 4000 E channel-strip. The consoles. The SSL channel compressor to use the keyboard/mouse, except for
Shape module, for example, misses the is a fantastic and versatile tool, which the odd additional plug-in much as
range knob of the SSL 4000 gate, can be used to tame almost any you might work with a real console,
doesnt have the fast-attack option, and incoming signal. With a low ratio and adding occasional plug-ins to your mix
provides soft- and hard-knee modes slow attack it can be almost completely as and when you need them.
instead of the hardwares Expand and transparent, but increase the attack Automating becomes simpler as you
Gate modes which change the ratio. and you can get some very aggressive can now grab a bunch of controls
But it also adds a transient shaper, compression. On stereo channels the simultaneously and draw in your
which is unique to Softube, and makes compressor doesnt quite have the glue automation, straight to your DAW the
up for the missing gate features. that the later G-series compressor was best of all worlds. The addition of a
The EQ is based on the E 242 black famous for, but it has a similar vibe, and fader instead of the output volume
knob EQ module which was developed mixing into the Console 1 across your knob might have made the Console 1 a
in 1983 with Sir George Martin for his drums buss can get them sounding little more like the real thing, especially
SSL console at AIR studios. The 242 EQ punchy with very little compression on for automating levels, but were happy
is known for its aggressive tonal any individual channels. using the it alongside our existing
controls, with plenty of available gain, To emulate the harmonics and controllers to bring a little extra
and steep filtering. This is the EQ design non-linearities of the SSL 4000 E hands-on depth, without the physical
that SSL continues to use on its consoles, Console 1 has additional space required for a full console. MTF
E-Series EQ modules. The Console 1 Drive and Character controls on the
captures the aggression of these curves output section. Pushing the Drive
MTF Verdict
fantastically, and even enables you to control emulates driving the line-amps
switch the high- and low-bands into of the SSL console hard, while the + Great tactile response
additional filters, which can be very Character control changes the tonal + SSL 4000 E emulation
+ Expands with Softube plug-ins
handy if you are using the Input module
+ Great transient shaper built-in
- Time consuming to set up

- Limited to Softube plug-ins
- Limited to EQ and dynamics
- No fader
Softube has developed an

interesting and fun to use mixing
controller, putting the most used
controls back at your fingertips.
Softubes Console 1 is refreshing in its design, taking a
modern approach and combining it with some classic mix
tools so can it be the best of all worlds? 8/10
MTF36.review Softube.FOR PRINT.indd 121 18/08/2014 16:16

MTF Reviews Korg Taktile
Alternatives
Arturias KeyLab 49 is another 49-note
controller of a similar price but its trump card
is that it concentrates on being a hybrid synth
rather than performance tool. Its more of a
sonic beast as it comes with loads of synth
sounds,and you get as many knobs, pads and
sliders but no Korg X-Y touch pad. Well be
looking at it in more detail next issue.
feature that made me feel very at home.

And talking of XY, Taktile really
comes into its own when you make the
most of this central controller. First up
when playing an instrument you can
KORG select a scale type (35 to choose from)

and key using the +/- buttons and
Taktile 49
perform with it, playing notes or chords
(or, of course, just drum sounds) with
the 16 pads. The Value Slider then lets
you add to the richness of these chords
Were all soon going to be buried under a huge pile of controller by stepping up or down. The arpeggiator
can also be operated here on both the
keyboards and studio monitors, but can Korgs Taktile kick this touch or trigger pads. You select the
invasion off with a bang? Andy Jones dons helmet pattern number and again play by note
or chord. Finally you assign control info
here for control change messages on
A
Details t the Frankfurt Music Show in to give it a modern feel. Connections are the F1-F8 function buttons or
Price April, where most music gear on the right side rather than the back TouchPad. Obviously this opens up the
279 (streeting 259)
companies announced their which may or may not be a good thing keyboard to controlling all sorts of
Contact
01908 304600 yearly releases, it seemed depending on your set-up (it works for external features including synthesiser
Web www.korg.com that pretty much everyone was me as it sits to the left of my laptop). parameters and effects so its easy to
releasing one of three types of product: Knobs, sliders and switches feel solid go to town performance wise.
monitors, MIDI controllers and keyboard not too loose nor tight although the And in truth these added extra
controllers. So MusicTechs monitor faders may be a tad short for some. features take Taktile beyond other
tester Huw Price has enough work to As is the USB cable that connects to controllers as there are so many
keep him going until retirement, and as you computer (luckily it is to the left of performance options that they open up.
for that mountain of controllers, were my laptop as stated!). Connect that And then it has those great
going to pick and choose the most though and the unit powers by USB real-time options and superb DAW
interesting over the next few issues. with a small screen to the right of the integration, and I havent even
Key Features So first up we have Taktile from Korg. main X/Y touch pad revealing which of mentioned the software bundle which
Keyboard: Its a USB keyboard controller available 16 editable scenes (set-ups, basically) includes Korgs M1 Le software, EZ
49-key semi-
weighted, in 49 and 25 keys, with Triton models you are in, and which pads, sliders and drummer Lite, Lounge Lizard Session,
velocity- coming out later this year featuring controllers you are using. Its small but an Ableton Live discount coupon and
sensitive
Triton a sound engine which were quite all the detail is there. Reason Limited, which is enough to get
Arpeggiator:
6 types, 50 excited about. We have the 49-key Setting up with your DAW shouldnt anyone going from scratch. So there
rhythms Triton-less version on test here and be a problem. With Cubase, for example, might be a lot of controllers on the way
16 velocity- even though it might not have any dial the Cubase scene on the keyboard but Taktile has set the bar high a great
sensitive trigger
pads sounds, there does appear to be plenty and set it up as a Mackie Control. Its package and performance tool. MTF
8 x switches, on offer to control whatever you use. similarly easy in other DAWs although I
sliders and Out of the box it acts as a DAW had to download a plug-in for Logic. No MTF Verdict
knobs
controller for Cubase, Logic, DP, Live, effort though: install it, Logic sees
DAW transport + Very easy DAW set-up
2 x wheels SONAR, Pro Tools and more, while a Taktile as a device and suddenly you + Superb performance features
(pitch bend and Kaoss X/Y touch pad adds some Korg can control eight channel faders at + Sturdy and light
assignable) brilliance for loads of real-time once with dials controlling pan and + Fun to use and play
Touch pad: touch + Good software bundle
scale, control
performance options. Taktiles being switches controlling mute and solo
and track pad touted as fun, functional and cool (the brilliantly easy and one of the quickest
- Connections may be inconvenient
modes promo video features a player with and most successful set-ups Ive had - Short cable and faders
Connections:
USB, assignable
baseball hat, beard, short-sleeve shirt with a controller and Logic. - Bit plasticy
switch and and tie so it definitely ticks that last Another very neat feature is that
pedal, MIDI In A very versatile and useful
box) so lets get in and get controlling. when you hit the Trackpad button the XY
/ Out controller with lots of performance
pad in the middle of Taktile acts like a options that takes it beyond a
Dimensions
(mm): 750 (W) x Light and easy mouse pad so you can use it to move typical keyboard controller. Cant
290 (D) x 83 (H) First up its lightweight yet solid, two your cursor, click and you even get wait for the Triton version.
Weight: 3.8 kg/
8.38 lbs
ticks I need in a controller. Textured
beige plastic covers the back and sides
familiar Mac swipes great in Logic to
navigate around its windows and a
8/10
MTF36.review korg.FOR PRINT.indd 122 18/08/2014 16:08

Reviews MTF
Chris Octane Presents Drum & Bass Core

Manufacturer Loopmasters beautiful pads, with more snarling and
Innovation raspy synth lines.
Price 29.95 (download)
Alongside the loops youll find a
Contact info@loopmasters.com large collection of bass and lead hits
Web www.loopmasters.com and multisamples, plus fx, percussion,
and a superb folder of crunchy and
T
he latest artist pack from interestingly-processed drum hits.
Loopmasters sees producer
Choice There are plenty of rhythmic variations
Chris Octane delve into the
darkest recesses of his studio
for a unique collection of twisted neuro
9/10
9
9/10 on the same bass and lead sounds,
which offer an easy way to craft
complex neuro bass patterns. However,
bass lines, glitched-out drum and at times, as with the rest of the pack, we
bass-style breaks, and moody pads, found some of the sounds to be a little
leads and fx. too complex and evolving, arguably
Theres around 1GB worth of loops making it hard to process further and
and hits, presented in Wav, Apple Loops processed through an array of make your own.
and REX2 formats, with other options different distortion, saturation and amp Although the unique programming
also available from the Loopmasters effects to give maximum impact and heavy processing in this pack may
website. Most of the loops are divided through the speakers. Some also have prove a little too off-the-wall for some
into bass, breaks, music, and perc separate layers alongside the full bass users, this is the very definition of
folders, with a further folder containing loop, which gives an interesting insight cutting-edge production. MTF
10 construction kits of short tracks and into the production process. On to the
drum ideas. From the off, its clear to Key Features drum and percussion loops and theres MTF Verdict
see that Octane is a bit of a scientist Breaks, bass, a surprising amount of variety, from
music loops Occasionally overly complex but,
when it comes to production and sound 140bpm glitch dubstep grooves, to overall, a dark and original
Drum/inst hits,
design, as every loop and sound is 121 patches faster 170bpm live breaks, with plenty masterclass of exquisite
meticulously worked over and crafted. 24-bit Wav, of original and quirky rhythms and production and inspiring hard
The bass loops are particularly Apple Loops sounds thrown into the mix. Also of -edged sounds and loops.
impressive, with unique and warped
riffs in constant movement and
and REX2, or
Live and ReFill interest are the music loops that
combine deeply spooky and eerily
9/10
Leap Motion Controller trigger each others assignments. After

20 minutes or so of having your arms
held out you do start to feel some
The unit plugs in via USB and, after muscle-burn in your shoulders, so there
Manufacturer Leap Motion
Choice the Leap Motion software is installed, are the physical demands to get used to
9/10
9
9/10
Price 79.98 you can visit the Airspace app store and as well. However, we managed to set up
Contact via website explore whats on offer. There are plenty interesting expressive setups such as
Web www.leapmotion.com of cool apps available but well focus on filter cutoff via the left hand and
those that might benefit your music- saturation via the right.
L
eap Motion Controller is a tiny making. Many apps in the music The response time of Leap Motion is
device that weve been itching to Innovation category are little more than toys impressive and is always the make-or-
play with since we saw the first which we soon realised within a minute break aspect of any audio control
promotional videos. This was or so but one app that is causing a system. The detection is also quite
because it seemed to offer low-latency, stir is Geco MIDI ($9.99), which enables sensitive, which enabled both slow and
hands-free control that could really you to set a custom MIDI CC output for controlled or fast and rhythmic
benefit those in the studio or onstage. any of the available hand movements detection with a high level of accuracy.
The device can detect between your left and gestures. With two assignments per hand we
and right hands, X, Y and Z movements, After watching a few tutorial videos could easily control more parameters
tilting of your wrist, finger movements it is easy to grasp how Geco MIDI works. than is possible using a conventional
and more. For detection it effectively A solo button per assignment can be controller, and with time you may find
creates an invisible half-sphere on your used so you output only one MIDI CC as you can master the control of many
desktop for you to interact with. you try to assign it to a parameter in more assignments. MTF
Key Features your MIDI-mappable software or
Hands-free
device. This is a great feature and MTF Verdict
operation
80 x .7mm in size avoids a lot of potential misfiring of
Large range of other CC messages. Hands-free, multi-gestural control
apps in Airspace that will augment any studio or live
As with all new technologies,
Supports MIDI setup for high levels of expression
controlling Leap Motion takes practice. and something visually stimulating
and OSC
Includes both
We soon learned that its best to keep a for others.
short and long
USB leads
body-widths distance between your left
and right hands so they dont falsely 9/10
MTF36.review minis.FOR PRINT.indd 123 18/08/2014 16:14

MTF Reviews
CONDUCTR the forthcoming touchAble release,

but CONDUCTR lets you simply click
and move the parameters you want
Manufacturer Patchworks from any relevant plug-ins within Live,
making the task simple to implement.
Price 15.49
Setting up requires installing server
Contact via website software on your computer, then
Web www.conductr.net connecting to your computer via Wi-Fi.
We really enjoyed the interface layout
A
t the moment, Ableton Live is as it can be split into four areas,
probably the most-supported dividing the screen into quarters. These
DAW in terms of customised can be magnified half- or full-screen
controllers. Even before as required. The only issues we had with
Abletons own Push instrument came Liine has also recently released the app were a few screen glitches on
into being, various hardware and LiveControl 2, which is technically free opening, resolved by rotating the iPad.
iOS-based systems have been created but does require you to own the pricy Also, the landscape layout worked in
to control nearly all aspects of Live. One Lemur app. This also offers a good only one orientation which happened
Key Features
of the latest releases for this task is degree of control and gives you plenty to be upside-down with our iPad case/
Specifically
CONDUCTR, aiming to offer live- focused on using
of input options for composition. stand (these should be addressed in a
performance control from your iPad. Live for live So, does CONDUCTR offer anything forthcoming update). Overall, this app is
The competition for iPad-based performance new when it costs just a snippet under a good consideration if you want to
Runs on iPad 1
control of Live is pretty stiff. There is upwards
the price of touchAble? Well, yes, but no, perform live with a simple interface to
already an all-bells-and-whistles Full, half or as it actually offers less than the other work with and minimal clutter. MTF
option in the form of an app called quarter screen two, but this is intentional: CONDUCTR
split based
touchAble. This gives you control over
interface
focuses purely on controlling Live in live MTF Verdict
Live as if your computer is in front of User-definable performances. It also offers this in a
A great start for this new app with a
you. Version 1 of touchAble has been a modules customisable way: rather than just
strong focus on controlling only
great success, and the forthcoming v2 Click and chucking all options at you to figure out what you need, when you want to, in
add custom
looks like it will take things to the next parameters
and use as you find relevant, you build a live performance.
level in terms of control and a user-
definable GUI design.
from Live the controls you need, bit by bit. This
can also be done with Liines app and
7/10
Hero3+ Music
Manufacturer GoPro
Price 359.99
Contact 44-20-70849725
Web gopro.madison.co.uk/
N
ow heres a novel idea, but
you may want to get in there
quick to take advantage of
it. GoPro cameras have
quickly made a name as the go
anywhere HD camera system youll
find them strapped on all sorts of even have every band member strapped but youll want more than one
sports equipment and they can capture in to record a live video. Scatter a few eventually, so the cost could add up.
pretty much every extreme activity you among the crowd and you have an easy The only other downsides are the
can think of. But this new Music bundle and unusual recording of a gig at extra cost of a microSD card, and that
takes the black edition camera on several angles (up to 50 can be head strap would have been a great
stage, designed, as it is, for bands to controlled remotely over WiFi). inclusion, otherwise its a futuristic
capture every angle of their But, like we said, youll have to get in pointer for band videos to come. MTF
performance. The clip-on camera there quick as this is the obvious angle.
comes with a Flex Clamp, mic stand and Key Features Better, but less obvious ideas include
two instrument clips to allow it to be 1080p camera having several placed in your writing MTF Verdict
clipped to anything musically. The uses (1920x1080 studio to capture song-writing sessions
resolution) All aspects of a bands life could
for this kind of camera in a live situation for blogs for your fan base, or even life in come alive with these cameras,
Auto Light
are obvious. You could, for example, mode the van on the road. In use, its simple to whether you are famous already, or
have the somewhat intimate images of Flex clamp operate with great results. You could get in search of gimmicky videos by
a close-up on the vocalists tonsils or Mic stand and away with one camera and a lot of play which to become famous by.
guitarists plank beamed to a larger
screen for the audience to wonder at, or
2 instrument
mounts throughs to record your bands videos, 8/10

Reviews MTF
TMA-1 Studio (Young Guru)

Manufacturer Aiaiai protective as it claims
being, well, a pouch rather
Price 183/250Euros
than the plastic solid
Contact +45 35 34 63 54 case youd find with a
Web www.aiaiai.dk Bose, for example).
You also get the
A
iaiai has already made a signature Young Guru
splash with the TMA-1 DJ sound which actually
headphones and is now isnt so much about the
entering the studio with two sound but more about
models: the TMA-1 Studio and Studio the phones ruggedness for
Young Guru. road use and comfort, both
Headphones are, of course, of which we can report as
incredibly cool these days and being very positive these
associate them with a name and they are a joy to wear and very
suddenly become even cooler. Young Key Features solid with a design that any
Guru is a Grammy-award winning Transducer: Scandinavian country would be
engineer who has worked with Kanye Dynamic, proud of.
closed
West, Jay-Z and Drake so certainly has The sound too is spot on. The
Driver Unit: 40
the credentials. You pay an extra 50 mm Studio and DJ TMAs are already
Euros for his name which gets you a Impedance: making their mark here and these are MTF Verdict
lighter set of phones and a straight plug 3210% Ohm as good. Clear, true, honest and great
Frequency Forget the name and feel the sound
rather than the angled one on the Response: 20 to
for mix monitoring and even the odd quality and comfort. Aiaiai is
original. Otherwise the feature-set is 20kHz mastering job. Wed never buy a set of making big waves in the headphone
similar, with interchangeable ear pads, Total Harmonic phones just because someone famous market and with the TMA-1s its
Distortion: easy to see, and hear, why.
a flexible headphone cable (our has endorsed them but these, and the
8/10
<0.35%
favourite type), a three-button remote Weight: 180g other TMAs, are justifiably winning lots
cable, plus a carry pouch (not as of friends inside studios and out. MTF
Toll - Historical Bells Collection

Manufacturer Sonokinetic Ltd Key Features evocative sound the familiar peal of the
Price 60 8 bell sets Carillon (church bells) is the star of the
600+ samples show as far as we are concerned. Two
Contact via website
(3+GB) versions are available, hard and soft.
Web sonokinetic.net Full round robin
Both are beautifully pitched and just
T
4 IRs
he Dutch samples library the job for adding a touch of grandeur
developers Sonokinetic can to all kinds of production styles.
usually be relied upon to come While the Carillons are perfect for
up with something a little melodic work, the Historical and Silk
different whether it be an orchestral Road bells are tuned in a pre-modern
phrase library like Minimal or a Middle fashion and suited to adding dramatic
Eastern instrument collection such as production effects. The Cathedral Tower
Sultan Strings. For their latest release, Bells, too, are very weighty sounding. sample to play first in a chosen RR set.
Toll, theyve been climbing cathedrals The main UI is simplicity itself We cant fault this collection. Large
(on the inside we hope) and risking although, because of the small text and historical bell samples are quite hard to
deafness sampling sixteenth and murky icons its difficult to read exactly come by and for the money, Toll is hard
seventeenth heavy cast bells. The which bell collection is selected. Other to beat. The exquisite sounding
complete 3GB collection covers a controls include release tail length, EQ, Carillons are easily worth shelling out
variety of European bells as well as reverb selection and round robin. Four the asking price for. MTF
recordings of South East Asian adjustable reverbs are included.
ceremonial bells from countries such Round robins are well catered for
as Vietnam and China. and they cycle for each key for a natural
MTF Verdict
Programmed for Kontakt 4.2.4 and 5 playback. Which sample is playing can An excellent set of large historical
there are four main categories: be observed by following a marked MIDI bells suitable for many types of
Carillons, Historical Bells, Silk Road key towards the bottom of the keyboard. production, the highlight of which
are the Carillons.
Bells and Tower Bells. With a range of A useful feature is the option to repeat a
five octaves and a wonderfully sample (freeze), exclude one or mark a 9/10

MTF Reviews
BIAS for iPad gate and room sections, plus eight

Quick Snap slots for flipping between
presets. Tap the Settings icon to be
from the gorgeous interface, and tap
and drag to swap components and
change settings.
Manufacturer Positive Grid taken to a rather cool customisation There are 36 amp models included
Excellence section, where you can tap and drag to as well as different tube and
Price 10.49
reorder any of the components in the transformer types and behaviours as
Contact via website
signal chain, including preamp, EQ, tone well as a nifty drag-to-position mic
Web www.positivegrid.com stack, power amp, transformer and cab. interface that enables you to change
Tap on any of these to edit it the tone easily. You can save setups and
P
ositive Grid makes a range of send them to JamUp XT, the companys
guitar-centric software other guitar performance app, and it
and hardware works with GarageBand for iOS via
products centred inter-app audio. All major iPad guitar
on the iPad platform, and its interfaces are supported, too.
latest is BIAS, an amp This is an excellent guitar processor
designer, modeller and thats highly configurable but easy to
processor for the iPad 2 and use and has a powerful, meaty sound.
later, and requiring iOS7. Youll believe that the company spent
Processing guitars through some considerable time getting the
an iPad is nothing new, but tone just right, and some of the demos
the company firmly believes on the website are simply blistering. For
that BIAS has more focus on the price its an absolute bargain one
the achieving of great guitar that will have guitarists of all kinds
tones than its competitors. riffing like mad. MTF
It certainly looks good, Key Features
and there are nine presets Multiple virtual MTF Verdict
categorised by type covering components
blues, rock, metal and more. iPad 2 or higher Say it very loud probably the best
Highly guitar amp sim on the iPad today.
Along the base is an
omnipresent toolbar with in/
out volume controls, configurable noise
configurable
Excellent sound 10/10
Drumming for Dance Music presentation style is quite informal,

throwing in various useful tidbits of
(EDM) with Paul Kodish

information as they become relevant.
This makes the course feel more like a
long one-on-one tutorial session, which
Manufacturer Producertech house, breaks and drum & bass. Paul we think works well when learning a
Choice Kodish takes you from the basis of good new instrument.
9/10
9
9/10
Price 49.95
technique for ergonomics and stamina After 11 videos on technique, the
Contact via website to understanding rhythmic measures. skills are then put into context for each
Web www.producertech.com For stick techniques, single- and genre. A nice progression of intricacy
double-stroke approaches are covered develops with each video, while Paul is
V
arious drummers have and given context to when theyre most careful to slow down trickier parts so
managed to bridge the gap useful in electronic music. Heel-and- they are easier to grasp.
between live performance and toe techniques are also slowed down so We chose to review this course as
electronic music. Notably, Clive you can learn to create the sometimes we thought it would offer education to
Deamers work as the backbone of intricate rhythms required. drummers, programmers and engineers
Portishead and Roni Sizes Reprazent in Pauls alike. Although this does turn out to be
the 90s showed us that there is a place the case, its more focused on core
for human groove in electronic music, drumming techniques for those at the
both in the studio and onstage. There earlier stages of playing. However, the
are a handful of contemporary techniques are solid and will help
drummers who shine in Clives footprint, Key Features beginners to focus on the right area if
the most well known being Andy 43 videos electronic music is their thing. MTF
170 minutes
Gangadeen, KJ Sawka, Jungle Drummer
5 electronic
and Paul Kodish. Between them, these music genres MTF Verdict
guys have performed live for Pendulum, Backing track
audio. Live, Logic The price is fairly high, but beginner
Chase & Status, London Elektricity,
and Reason to intermediate drummers will
Apollo 440, DJ Fresh and Destroid. session files benefit greatly from Pauls shared
This streaming online course is Performances professional experience.
purely about drumming for electronic
music, focusing on hip hop, dubstep,
available as
audio and MIDI 9/10

Reviews MTF
Spirit Professional We next tried them out with some

harder-edged metal and the midrange
crunch of the guitars came through
Manufacturer Focal quite well, though due to the non-
Choice fatiguing nature of Focal products,
9/10
9
9/10
Price 249
extreme metallers may crave a little
Contact SCV London 03301 222500 more bite. However, the contrasting
Web www.focal.com dynamics of drum cymbals were well
portrayed and we trusted our
A
fter 25 years of experience in perception of the mix overall.
speaker design and Turning to electronic music, we tried
manufacturing, Focal has now some deep trance and enjoyed the wide
poured its expertise into the stereo field, which has convincing
design of a new pair of flagship placement within it. True to the nature
closed-back studio headphones. of Focals, you do feel like youre within
Provided with both coiled and straight the mix rather than it being to either
cables, you also get a 3.5mm-to-1/4- side or in front of you, and the only mix
inch jack adaptor and a carry pouch. The different listening materials to see how aspect that didnt come through 100
straight cable is for mobile playback as they fared under their final test per cent were some rhythmic sub parts
it includes a remote with onboard mic conditions. First up we listened to a on one track in particular. In general,
for hi-fidelity conversations. classic pop album that had a good though, the bass response has an even
As soon as we picked up the balance of both loudness and depth. A reach down below 30Hz and the timing
headphones we noticed the slick finish soft female lead and backing vocal is very tight. MTF
and robust build. That being said, they which usually smear into one in our
are also incredibly light; alongside their experience suddenly gained another
MTF Verdict
Key Features
soft yet firm cups they are perfect for degree of separation. Listening to some A well designed, accurate and
255 grams
long sessions as we experienced no ear classic jazz recordings also revealed versatile pair of headphones that
Sturdy build
fatigue or headaches when using them. this detail within a nice sense of depth, wed feel confident using for both
Straight and
long tracking and mixing sessions.
9/10
After using these headphones for a coiled cables enabling us to discern the tiniest
few weeks to ensure they were Comfortable nuances in room sounds and plate-
design
bedded-in, we selected a range of reverb tails.
Novation Launch Control

Novation encourages using the
Launch Control in tandem with the
other Launch products and, most
importantly, the Launchkey/pad iPad
Manufacturer Novation Key Features controls located on the right-hand side app, which we must stress now
Price 79 Up to 448 of the unit that can move the control features the ability to import your own
controls
Contact Focusrite 01494 459920 grid) the possibilities that Launch loops and samples via Dropbox. We
16 assignable
knobs Control opens up are vast, particularly tested the Launch Control with the
Web http://uk.novationmusic.com
for those who want to get more aforementioned app/pad controller and
N
8 LED pads
ovations recently released Fast response hands-on during live performance. found it to be a very useful addition
time
Launchkey Mini and Another thing to mention is the for live performance, Novation clearly
Draws buss
Launchpad Mini were power from iPad exceptional build quality of the small, hopes that youll use the Launchpad
essentially smaller, more or Mac/PC rectangular box. The knobs are soft yet Mini to trigger your loops and samples,
compact versions of products that Comes with have substantial resistance on turning, while the Launch Control will be the
Ableton Live Lite
were already popular and widely used, and like the Launchpad Mini, it is primary parameter and studio workflow
and now we have Launch Control, the incredibly light and has no trailing controlling mechanism. With Ableton
third release in the companys range of power cables as it runs on buss power. Live it also works a treat.
Minis. With 16 However, if youve opted for the
assignable knobs Launchkey Mini we cant really see any
that can operate reason for buying this separate control
a variety of DAW box, for it too includes a range of
controls parameter-adjusting knobs and
including controls unless, of course, you wanted
filters, levels and that little bit more flexibility. MTF
panning along
with eight MTF Verdict
buttons that can
A well-made controller that adds
trigger clips, an extra degree of creative
loops and dexterity to Novations iPad-based
samples (not and Ableton Live-using performers.
forgetting the
directional
8/10

MTF Interview Jesse Terry
MTF Studio Session
Meet The
Ableton Team
Ableton product specialist and former artist relations manager Jesse Terry talks Push, Live
and introducing his heroes to each other
MusicTech Focus: Tell us a little about your MTF: Tell us a little about some of the artists
background and about your career in the audio you have worked with and what they have
industry? brought to Ableton and vice versa?
Jesse Terry: I'm a musician first and have played guitar all my JT: Its always inspiring to see how different people are using
life. In high school I interned at a big recording studio Live, and also fun to get to hang out with some heroes. I am a
(Ruffhouse Records) where they made great albums by huge Herbie Hancock fan and got to sit in on his soundcheck,
Cypress Hill and the Fugees among others. Back then I had a alone in an auditorium and it was pretty powerful. He uses a
cassette 4-track to learn about recording at home, and really complicated Ableton Live rig with Max For Live plugins
recorded myself and my band. Those days were different, to quickly jump to different areas of his set to power his solo
what with having to bounce down tracks and worry about shows. I also am a fan of Flying Lotus and I had the secret
cassette quality. In university I started to study up on a bunch wish that Herbie would record some Fender Rhodes on a
of genres of music and music technology. I got into the Flying Lotus album, so I introduced them and Herbie is
software side as the Apple G4 made much more possible on indeed on Flying Lotuss upcoming album! It's very cool to
my computer and then started to write reviews for music link up my heroes (it sounds fantastic by the way). Flying
magazines, and in particular became the Music Technology Lotus has helped us to uncover bugs in arrangement view
editor for XLR8R magazine. and usability issues in Live that we hope to improve on.
MTF: How did you become involved with

Ableton? I mean, no one asked for
Push, this came from
JT: Around Live 2, I got a review copy of Live and loved the
potential for live looping and recording. By Live 3 I was
hooked and had ditched my DAW, and was using Plogue
trying to imagine a better

Bidule to get around Live's lack of MIDI. I was using Live a lot
on stage with a band and to record with. I wrote some
favourable articles about it, and I guess kissing ass gets you
everywhere! My writing caught Abletons eye and I joined
around Live 4 as a product specialist. Since then I've edited
movies, was Artist Relations Manager, worked with getting
way to create music!
Live Lite to our various partners, and then have settled into a Ive met some other great people using Push as a
product design/project management role with the APC40, songwriting tool on the road, like Thom Yorke and others who
the Bridge and now Push. are inspiring in a visionary way like Bjork. She was really
interested in changing time signatures and tempo by
MTF: Explain your role at Ableton - what is it relabelling scenes, a technique which made its way onto
you do day to day? Biophilia. Probably the artist I hang out with most is DJ Jazzy
JT: I work remote from Philadelphia, so a morning is filled Jeff because we live near each other, and because he is the
with meetings, working on coordinating the design and classiest dude, willing to freely share his feedback,
implementation of various features of Push at different knowledge and experience with the history of drum
levels. To make a successful product, you need a blend of machines, samplers and beatmaking in general. I love this
viability, feasibility and desirability, and in many ways my job kind of artist the best, the artist who holds nothing secret,
is making sure all of those things are on track for a product. and wants to help and inspire everyone around them. Its also
So I work with software developers, feature designers, kind of badass he can give me the same samples, the same
industrial and visual designers, our sales team and plugins and the same techniques and he will still make a
manufacturers to make sure we get an exciting product out. beat ten times better than me. Talking to people like Jeff,
MTF36.interview.FOR PRINT.indd 128 21/08/2014 07:17

Image Michael T Regan
Jesse Terry with we wanted to cover. In the beginning we designed it with

King Britt, Diplo and Q-Tip, and DiVinci from Lauryn Hills rapper and hip hop
hacked together controllers and MIDI buttons attached to
band inspire us to think about certain ways of working with producer Warren G
Legos, so we could move things around and get the
Push and how we might improve it in the future. There are
ergonomics right. The parts Im particularly proud of is the
hundreds more whose feedback, complaints and praise help
melodic layout for folding notes in key, and the drum layout
us to make Live better.
which combines step sequencing and playing. A lot of blood
sweat and tears went into those parts, with many night
MTF: Do you incorporate a lot of artist feedback
playing with prototypes and thinking about how it could
into the software and hardware revisions?
be improved.
JT: Sure, we do a ton of user testing with famous and non
famous users in our lab or in the field. I dont think we
prioritize artist feedback over our general user base, but it MTF: Can you give any hints at all about any
does bring some weight when you can help an artist, at the plans you have for the software and hardware
same time as your general user base. We have to balance for the future?
between taking in wishes and trying anticipating underlying JT: I think with something like Push, it does creation with
user needs, because often what is asked for does not really MIDI (drums and Instruments) very well. Personally it has
help the root problem they are trying to solve, and we changed the speed and excitement with which I make music,
definitely dont want to add complexity to our product when and I know a lot of users and artists feel the same way - it
there may be a simpler solution. I mean, no one asked for has been received far beyond our expectations. But it opens
Push, this came from trying to imagine a better way to up a lot of doors as to what more it could do, or how it could
create music! be streamlined and improved, to expand and refine upon its
current workflows.
MTF: In terms of Live what questions do you get
asked the most about the software, and how do MTF: And anything that you would like to see
you answer? personally - a dream wish list if you like?
JT: Im not sure where to start here! There are so many JT: I wont go into it, but lets just say I have spammed our
different wishes and complaints and praise in all forms company with 1000s of wishes in my time here. The hard part
about all kinds of features, from basic to the nitty gritty API is refining these into something useful. When I started here,
questions. I cant really ever say what's coming in the future, Id write pages of complicated solutions, but nowadays I try to
but I always take down the questions and we process them think really hard about the specific problems Im having. As
and weight them when prioritising new or refined features. our CEO Gerhard Behles once told me, after one of my
lengthy emails, the best wishes fit in the subject line of an
MTF: Tell us about your involvement with Push ? email. This changed how I approached my inter company
JT: I am responsible for the overall vision of what Push should spamming technique. Generally, I get frustrated in places
do, working in conjunction with our CEO Gerhard, who has where I have to do too many steps to do a frequent action, or I
the vision for the entire company. So, along with Gerhard and am hindered or confused by things that are inconsistent.
a dedicated team of great developers and designers, I helped There is a lot that we are currently working on that I am very
design a lot of the functionality, and worked on the workflows excited about. MTF
MTF36.interview.FOR PRINT.indd 129 21/08/2014 07:18

MTF On Your DVD
With masses of features and an ever-expanding library

of instruments and Max4Live devices, Live 9 is a deep
and complex beast of a DAW. Whether youre looking to
record instruments, write a dance masterpiece or
create a live DJ setup, Live and the Push controller/
instrument have plenty to offer, and weve compiled a
host of content to help you get the most out of them.
Theres over three hours of tuition videos, the latest
software demos, freeware plug-ins, and promo videos.
Theres also plenty of royalty-free loops, samples and
Live devices, and finally all the files you need to follow
along with the workshops at home.
MTF On the disc Over three and a quarter hours of pro video tuition
LIVE-COURSES.COM RACKS AND CLIPS REVERB, DELAY, COMPRESSION & EQ

01 Producertechs Rob Jones gives a useful
02 Groove3 has provided a whole load of pro
03 Six more chapters from Groove3 to help
introduction to Live 9 with an overview of the videos taken from its Live 9 Explained and Live you understand early reflections and
main windows and features. Theres also a 10 9 Racks Explained tutorials, which includes secondary reflections in reverb, delays,
minute video by producer Paul Maddox that chapters covering routing and monitoring, advanced compression parameters,
looks at building an old school house beat clips, freeze and resample, rack types, and multiband compression techniques, and
from scratch using Push. drum rack chains. mastering compression.
LOOP+ POINTBLANK MUSIC SCHOOL LOOPMASTERS SAMPLES

04 Two videos of production tips including
05 London-based Point Blank Music School
06 A hand-picked library of royalty-free
a look at splitting up your audio into takes a massive tip filled journey through two samples in 24-bit Wav format including many
frequency bands so that they can processed epic videos totalling nearly an hour and a half. taken from Break Symmetry DnB, CAPSUN
independently, and also a Quick Tips on using Course tutors Freddy Frogs and Sie Medway- Chill Trap & Future RnB, Deep & Raw Techno,
subtle pitch bend automation on bass lines Smith explore preparing a mix, thickening Double Tiger Horns of Dub, Puncture Kit, and
to add character and sonic interest. drums, getting creative with Racks and more. Synth DNA Korg MonoPoly.
MTF36.your disc.FOR PRINT.indd 130 18/08/2014 16:38

On Your DVD MTF
MTF Your Disc

MTF DVD36 Ableton Live 2014 For PC & Mac
PROMOTIONAL
VIDEOS MTF DVD 36
Weve got over 800MB of Ableton Live 2014
videos showcasing the
latest plug-ins and COPYRIGHT ANTHEM PUBLISHING 2014
hardware including a FAULTY DISC?

Check www.musictechmag.co.uk for known issues
range of cutting-edge Return to: Anthem Publishing (disc returns),
Suite 6, Piccadilly House, London Road,
hardware synths and Bath BA1 6PL, UK
software instruments
from Rob Papen,
Toontrack, Elektron,
Native Instruments,
Sonic Faction, Best SOFTWARE DEMOS
Service and Roland. Youll If youre looking to
also find high-quality supplement Live with
audio interfaces and some extra tools, then
monitors from Apogee, why not try out the latest
Universal Audio, and plug-ins. From innovative
Genelec, plus top of the synths, to analogue
range software and
hardware controllers For PC & Mac modelled, classic
processors, weve
from Korg, Novation, rounded up a range of
Patchworks, Zero Debug, demo and freeware
and Ableton. software for you to try
out. Youll find plenty of
USING OUR creative effects,
WORKSHOPS samplers, beat creation
Whether youre totally tools, filters, synths, EQs,
new to Live or a seasoned compressors and more to
pro, weve got a host of help you compose and
Live and Push workshops fine tune your tracks.
to help you improve your
MTF DVD 36 LOOPS, RACKS &

programming, mixing and
mastering skills, plus DEVICES
Ableton Live 2014

genre workshops on To give your inspiration a
creating techno and bit of a boost, weve
drumnbass tracks. rounded up a whole load
Where appropriate youll of royalty-free samples,
find hi-res images, Max devices and
project files and audio on instruments for you to
the disc so you can follow COPYRIGHT ANTHEM PUBLISHING 2014 use within Live. There are
along at home. Be sure to plenty of useful tools
copy all the files to your
FAULTY DISC?
from Sonic Faction,
computer before opening Check www.musictechmag.co.uk for known issues Puremagnetik, Sample
a project. Return to: Anthem Publishing (disc returns), Logic and more, plus a
Suite 6, Piccadilly House, London Road, whole load of chunky
Bath BA1 6PL, UK beats, live percussion
grooves, synth riffs
and MIDI melodies
courtesy of
Loopmasters,
Equinox Sounds, and
On the disc Beta Monkey Music.
YOUR DVD CONTENT FILES Download them to your hard drive and unzip them to endeavour to supply you with a replacement disc
ZIP FILES access the individual files (remembering to eject the DVD immediately. Please note that were unable to provide
To maximise the amount of content we can bring you on to prevent your computer from slowing down). technical support for the software on the MTF DVD
each DVD, the video, tutorial and samples files are please check our website at www.musictech.net for any
supplied compressed (zipped). Mac users should be WHAT IS ROYALTY-FREE? known problems.
able to decompress ZIP files simply by double-clicking on Any MTF DVD content marked royalty-free can be used
them; PC users may need to download a utility such as in your own original compositions (even commercial MISSING YOUR DISC?
WinZip (www.winzip.com). ones). You may not, however, resell these samples in any If your disc is missing, contact us at editorial@anthem-
other form. publishing.com with your full postal address and the
TUTORIAL FILES issue number.
The software tutorials that feature in each issue of MTF DEFECTIVE DISCS
are almost always accompanied by files and audio so you In the unlikely event that your disc is defective, please
can work through them on your system. These files are return it to: Disc Returns, Anthem Publishing, Suite 6,
zipped to reduce the space they occupy on the DVD. Piccadilly House, London, Bath BA1 6PL. We will
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FREE INSIDE

OVER THREE HOURS OF PRO VIDEO TUITION

THE IN-DEPTH GUIDE FOR THE CREATIVE MUSICIAN

The best gear for your Live studio

Master dubstep, techno and drum n bass

Compiled by the Ableton Live experts from MusicTech

Andy Jones Senior Editor

FOCUS Ableton Live 8 Volume 2 | 03

MTF36.welcome.FOR PRINT.indd 3 20/08/2014 07:51

Issue 36 Ableton Live 2014

Feature MTF Workshops

Get Your in Live p22

Music Online and mix

4 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

MTF36.contents.3aj.indd 4 20/08/2014 07:55

MTF Issue 36 Full listings

A complete guide to giving your LIVE PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS

music the pro edge p61 018 | Compose and experiment

Supercharge your 052 | Mixing tools and techniques

Supercharge your 094 | Produce techno part 1

Jessie Terry MTF DVD 36

Meet the Ableton team p128 COPYRIGHT ANTHEM PUBLISHING 2014

FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 |5

MTF36.contents.FOR PRINT.indd 5 21/08/2014 07:31

6 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

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FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 | 7

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 7 18/08/2014 15:26

SOUND SELECTION AND TWEAKING

MAKE YOUR OWN SOUNDS

LAYER SOUNDS TOGETHER

would be the use of LFOs to modulate the cutoff filter in a

TRY TO USE REAL KIT

8 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 8 18/08/2014 15:26

You dont have to be an expert

ADD SUB AND NOISE

SAMPLE YOUR OWN

FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 | 9

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 9 18/08/2014 15:26

EMBRACE THE CHAOS

SUPERCHARGE TIP Some people give their best

CLEVER USE OF EFFECTS

10 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 10 18/08/2014 15:26

FOCUS Ableton Live 2014 | 11

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 11 18/08/2014 15:27

USE TAPE SIMULATORS

SEQUENCING AND EDITING

within recorded audio parts 34 EXPERIMENT WITH ARRANGEMENTS

EMBRACE THE FLEXIBILITY OF DIGITAL AUDIO

12 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 12 18/08/2014 15:27

computer can handle running loads of tracks, so you have

Classic tools like AKAIs MPC represent not just

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MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 13 18/08/2014 15:27

Metering the output of

An audio analysis plug-in will

TEST YOUR MIXES

Use grouping to gain better

14 | Ableton Live 2014 FOCUS

MTF36.130.feat supercharge.FOR PRINT.indd 14 18/08/2014 15:27