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ABLETON LIVE 9 2013 THE IN-DEPTH GUIDE FOR THE CREATIVE MUSICIAN
ABLETON LIVE 9
2013
TAKE YOUR LIVE
PRODUCTIONS
TO THE NEXT LEVEL
132
ABLETON PUSH
HOW TO MAKE
THE MOST OF THE
HARDWARE
ISBN 978-1-909590-24-3
8.99
9 781909 590243
www.musictech.net
PAGES OF
LIVE 9
TIPS & TRICKS
Launch
Your
Music
The Novation Launch family is growing.
Effortlessly create, control, and launch your
music. Combine our expanding range of
complementary instruments and apps and
power them with your Mac, PC, and iPad;
Launch, in the studio or on the move.
www.novationmusic.com/launch
Welcome MTF
Welcome
Contributors
Grant Bridgeman, Mark Cousins, Keith
Gemmell, Alex Holmes, Hollin Jones, John
Pickford, Huw Price, Russ Hepworth-Sawyer
Art Director Jenny Cook
jenny.cook@anthem-publishing.com
Advertising Director Simon Lewis
simon.lewis@anthem-publishing.com
Managing Director Jon Bickley
jon.bickley@anthem-publishing.com
Licensing enquiries Jon Bickley
+44 (0) 1225 489984
www.anthem-publishing.com
Printed by Polestar UK Print Ltd
Tel +44 (0) 1582 678900
| 03
MTF Contents
Issue 32
ABLETON
LIVE 9 2013
132 pages of Live know-how! With a record
number of tutorial workshops, features on DJing,
performing, mixing and mastering, plus plenty of
tips to speed up your workflow, we are confident
that this special MusicTech Focus will turn you
into an Ableton Live Power User.
Feature
Feature
Push it!
Its more instrument than controller.
Find out how to make the most of
Push here p38
4 | Ableton Live 2013
focus
MTF Interview
Erin Barra
Contents MTF
p120
Reviews
p116
p118
p108
MTF Tutorials
p68
p76
p88
p84
p26
From DJ to
Producer
p15
|5
BECOME A
P WER USER
If you feel your approach to music-making or the kit you use to do it needs reassessing, its
time to look at your entire studio with fresh eyes. Hollin Jones goes back to basics.
|7
Tech Terms
STUDIO SPACE
The space in which you make
and record music. This could
be a desk in the corner of a
spare bedroom or a dedicated
room in any building anything
in between.
GEAR-LUST
The understandable desire
to acquire lots of equipment.
Perfectly fine, but not
necessarily essential to
making good music.
focus
A commercial space outside of the home for making music is ideal but obviously the most costly
option. But if you are in a band and practicing, it could be one of the best solutions
|9
Choosing a
computer
I/O is important, and you can add PCI cards to tower systems to
accommodate protocols such as FireWire or Thunderbolt.
focus
Platform wars
The Mac-versus-PC debate is as old as computers
themselves, and were not going to come down on
one side or the other because, quite simply, theres
no right answer and a lot of music software is
dual-platform anyway. There are, however, factors to
consider when deciding which route to take.
Lets start with PCs, which can be put together
yourself if you so choose. Windows is better than it
used to be in terms of stability and userfriendliness, with Windows 7 enjoying a generally
Tech specs
When specifying a computer of whatever platform,
think about the following factors. The processor is
the systems brain, so a faster CPU with more cores
will be able to do things more quickly and in
parallel. Intels i7 family is recommended for
performance, or even the server-class Xeons if you
64 bit technology is now commonplace, with Mac OSX and Windows having been
fully 64-bit compatible for some time and the vast majority of leading music
software having followed suit. This is important because 64-bit applications are
able to access far more RAM than 32-bit ones, resulting in better performance.
And now that you can fit 32GB or more of RAM inside tower workstations, loading
up huge projects, sample libraries and other projects is quicker than ever. 64-bit
systems can address far more RAM than its currently possible to fit into a
computer so were not likely to exhaust this technology any time soon.
| 11
Your approach
to production
L
A
C
O
V
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orp derae-tab morf tsuj ton yniturcs staht os htiw ytiniffa larutan a evah lla ew
kcal dluoc lacov A .meht ot netsil ot emit eht sekat ohw enoyna yllaretil tub ,sreenigne
tub KO yllacinhcet dnuos dluoc trap lacov delipmoc yldab a ;yreviled sti ni noitcivnoc
ton thgim trap eht fo seulav noitcudorp llarevo eht ,llits rehtruf gnioG .ytidiulf gnikcal dna larutannu
.xim dna noitatnemurtsni gnidnuorrus eht rof elbatius eb
ynam hguohtlA .erutaef siht ni no gnisucof ton erew tahw yltcaxe si eussi tsal siht ,revewoH
xim lanif eht ni thgir dnuos ot lacov a teg ot elggurts a ti dnif lliw stsidrocer dna sreenigne gniddub
erom eht lla ksat taht ekam nac taht seussi fo sdnik eht sserdda ot smia erutaef siht ,yawyna
tcaf eht esiugsid tnow dlrow eht ni gnissecorp eht lla egats taht ot teg neve uoy erofeb tluciffid
ot gniog erew ,neht ,ereH .testuo eht morf )nwod tel saw ro( kcart eht nwod tel tsilacov eht taht
eb ot dnet hcihw fo ynam ekat lacov tcefrep eht gnitteg ot yek era taht stnemele esoht enimaxe
woh erolpxe dna ,sgniht fo edis ecnamrofrep eht fo ssenerawa ruoy esiar ot si mia ehT .dekoolrevo
oT .stluser elbissop tseb eht eveihca ot remrofrep eht htiw krow nac recudorp ro reenigne na sa uoy
Splendid isolation
The first thing you should figure out is
mic placement and isolation. Try to use a
directional mic for sources like vocals and
guitars, which reject sound from the rear and
sides at least to an extent. An omnidirectional
mic will pick up way too much ambient sound.
Use a popshield for vocals and an isolation
system for vocals and amp recording. Mics
should be placed around six inches away from
the sound source and many studio mics will need
phantom power to make them work. Turn off all
speakers and monitor on headphones to avoid
feedback and close windows and turn off phones.
This sounds obvious, but any unexpected noise
can ruin an otherwise good take.
Setting recording levels is crucial. Your
interface will have preamps, and if youre
recording guitars, the guitar and amp will have
level controls too. A good rule of thumb is to play
as loud as youre planning to play and make sure
theres no peaking when you watch the input gain
meters. Also, try not to drive the inputs so hard
as to introduce hiss into the signal. Some
interfaces have built-in DSP-powered effects like
compression that can be used in small amounts
during recording to help to eliminate the
possibility of clipping. Remember that there are
gain controls everywhere, from instruments
through interfaces to the DAW mixer and your
speakers and headphone outputs, so keep an eye
on them to keep a check on your levels.
sucof
focus
Be inspired,
not hindered,
by your
working
environment
Other tricks
Using templates can be an excellent way of getting
up and running quickly in your studio. Your
hardware setup will probably not change very often,
so the same things are likely to be plugged in to the
same inputs and the same monitors connected.
Spend a little time setting up preset templates
containing pre-routed audio tracks and
Tech Terms
ISOLATION
Creating an environment that
is as near to silent as possible
with as few reflections from
interior walls in order to
capture clean recordings.
ERGONOMICS
Arranging your studio and
its contents in a way that
maximises the efficiency of
the space and your workflow.
This must be balanced with
positioning equipment for
optimum recording/playback.
| 13
MUSIC PRODUCTION
AND DJ COURSES
LONDON UK
HARNESS
THE POWER
OF ABLETON
AT SUBBASS.
SubBass is simply a brilliant school for music production.
You get expert advice and teaching in small groups so you learn fast.
I would recommend it to anyone with a passion for electronic music.
DJ Lottie. Radio 1, Space Ibiza
SubBass Academy of Electronic music is the leading course provider in London for students looking to learn music production
and DJing. With over 12 years experience SubBass excels in helping students learn and understand how to produce electronic
music with top international instructors such as D.Ramirez, Glimpse, Graeme Lloyd and Tom Demac. SubBass is close to the
heart of the Industry and provides students with a career path, with our own label and monthly club nights at Ministry Of
Sound In London.
SubBass music production courses cover a range of subjects, from basic short courses to longer more intensive courses. If
you cant get to the studio in London, or prefer to learn online, then we have a range of online courses to suit basic to more
advanced music production students.
Check out our Ableton Essentials series with International DJ and Producer Glimpse or for beginners there is an
in-depth course taking you from the very basics of Ableton, through to building your first track with Ableton
Authorized Trainer MISK.
WWW.SUBBASSDJ.COM
+44 (0)207 404 7080
facebook.com/subbassdjacademy
soundcloud.com/subbassrecordings
twitter.com/SubbassDJ
skype: subbassacademy
FROM DJ TO
PRODUCER
Get into production
using Ableton Live
Any DJ worth their salt can select, mix and creatively
manipulate other peoples work, but these skills can also be
transferred to producing music. Liam OMullane explains.
he art of DJing has inevitably evolved over the years, but the core skills have remained
much the same. A good DJ needs a musical ear to pick out quality tracks, and can detect the
different energy levels and musical feel of each track in their collection so they have control
over their sets dynamics. They also need the skills to perform the mix live, which can be as
basic as crossfading from one track to another in the last five seconds regardless of any
difference in BPM, or performing continuous, pulse beat-matching of one track to the next to perform
a seamless mix. In fact, genre and DJing styles aside, the only big difference in more recent years has
been the degree of audio manipulation involved, along with the use of additional audio loops and
samples to augment a mix.
Audio manipulation can be as basic as fast fader and rhythmic flicks of the crossfader to get that
chop-and-change sound. The next step would be the use of EQ, filter and multi-FX. Additional sounds
can be triggered from a sample deck or cue points on a deck, letting you add single-shot audio-like
special effects to your mix or reordering loops and small sections of a track respectively.
These skills, built up over the years, can be the basis of your approach to audio production. Here
well look at production that utilises those DJing skills while minimising the need to learn new skills
for successful music production.
In the beginning
There are quite a few software choices when it comes to sequencing and mixing your own music. Logic,
Cubase, Reason, Pro Tools and Ableton Live are the most common titles youll hear when it comes to
which program to use. They all have plenty of attractive features, but its Live that wins over the DJ
crowd. This is mainly due to its looping nature, ease of use, and that 99 per cent of its functions can be
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 15
Tech Terms
carried out during continuous, undisturbed playback.
This feature is called Session View, which lets you work
like youre in the middle of a DJing mix, so its a
comfortable place for you to start.
We recommend that you initially get to know the
software by learning to mix a few tracks together to
understand its basic functionality. Live comes with
some excellent tutorials in the Help View window for
various elements should you need help with the very
basics, for help with beat matching your tracks, look at
the Warping Songs walkthrough to the bottom right.
In this feature we will show you how to use Live for
working with looped and single-shot (non-looped)
audio and MIDI clips. Use Session View to create a
combination of sounds that you can base a track
around. You can then use your DJing skills to trigger
and shape each Scene (row) to create a full track. Now
you are ready to get started, lets look at a simple trick
to help achieve a more professional-sounding track
from the very beginning.
PLUG-INS
A piece of software
you can plug in to
your main software.
Live lets you add
plug-in instruments
and effects from
various other
companies in the
VST (PC/Mac) and
AU (Mac) formats.
Time spent learning Lives Beat Repeat will enable you to loop a single
beat of your song to then divide into smaller loops, allowing you to
easily create build-ups to new sections on the drum group.
Reference material
Its most likely youre wanting to create your own music
because youve been inspired by someone elses.
Theres also a good chance that youre into a particular
sound of the moment and have a handful of new tracks
that would be great examples of what you want to
create. Grab one or two favourites from this selection
and drag them onto a new track within Live. This will
mean theyre on hand at any moment to help judge
how your own work is sounding.
After Warping them to be in-sync with your own
work, assign this reference track to one side of Lives
crossfader. Set all of your audio, MIDI and send effect
For clean-sounding
mixes, use an EQ
Three or Eight on
your Deck Groups
and individual
layers to remove
bass from sounds
that dont need it
(all but bass sounds
and kick drums).
This also avoids
pushing the mix
into the red.
tracks to the other side of the crossfader. This will give you a
clear-cut comparison of the two sources on either side of the
fader (nothing beats putting your work directly up against
reference material in this manner to hear if your work is
making the grade or not).
Another benefit of this kind of setup comes from splitting
the reference material into song sections or what DJs tend
to refer to as phrases. In dance music youre usually talking
clean sections of 16 to 32 bars when a track maintains
similar sounds and musical parts until a noticeable change
at the 17th or 33rd bar. This is the next phrase in the track.
After splitting the track into separate audio clips per phrase,
you can concentrate on the individual musical elements and
sounds within each phrase. This will give you a more clear
idea of the type of material needed to create the given genre
and style of music in question. The walkthrough on
Identifying Song Parts shows you how to put this technique
into practice.
Well now look at the various options available for sound
sources in a song and weigh up the pros and cons when used
as a DJs approach.
Sonic beginnings
Many people over-complicate the process of music
production at the stage of sourcing sounds. As a DJ, you
already have an ear for a good or bad sound, so use your skills
and treat this stage as you would when building or selecting
tracks for a record crate. You dont need to be creating a track
yet, purely building up a crate of quality sounds.
focus
Use Scenes in Session View to lay out different layers of energy. Lower the energy
levels by using fewer layers/filtering/processing to make them sound less full-on.
much space there is for each new layer as you add it against the
existing drums as well as other instruments in your song.
Melodic parts need different levels of energy too this can also
be achieved through layering. A single melody playing in a
breakdown can seem bigger on the main drop if accompanied by a
bass part or another sound playing the same melody. Try setting this
second layer at a different octave for a bigger sound. Low- or
high-pass filters can help here to remove the fullness of a single
melodic sound until you want it to be fully revealed. The fact that
you are holding back on some of the sound in the melody acts as
another form of energy control.
01
02
Tech Terms
MIDI
Short for Musical
Instrument Digital
Interface, MIDI lets
you draw notes
inside Live MIDI
clips which will then
trigger synths and
drum machines.
03
might point you towards free online content, weve seen plenty
of people waste time looking for samples all over the net with
only mediocre results. With commercially released material,
the price pays for production decisions by the makers
knowledge you may not have at this stage. Loopmasters,
Sample Magic, Prime Loops, Samplephonics, Future Loops
and Wave Alchemy are all good starting points.
As you grow your skills, use single samples to augment your
sounds. Play to your strengths: dont jump in too soon,
grabbing lots of single samples and setting up instruments. As
youll find, your DJ skills will enable you to create plenty of
interest in your sounds.
Deck count
Certain restrictions and disciplines need to be applied in order
to keep your work manageable. We plan to process sounds
with filters, faders and effects, so having these options spread
over too many channels will soon become confusing. Most
songs can be divided into drums, bass, melody and other (the
latter reserved for musical sounds that arent stealing the
limelight from the melody along with other sounds like special
FX and risers, etc). Its most common to create your drum
sound from several layered loops, so if theyre grouped into a
01
02
03
| 17
Classic skills
After beat-matching, channel- and crossfadermanipulation is one of the oldest skills in a DJs
arsenal. If you release Lives crossfader from reference
track duties the simplest way is to mute the
reference track (you can always use solo to hear it
again in the future) the unassigned side of the fader
can be used to rhythmically mute any of your four
groups. Right/[Ctrl]-clicking (PC/Mac) the crossfader
on Lives screen lets you choose a preferred crossfader
curve for a faster and more instant muting effect, like
that of a scratch mixer. If your skills are up to it, theres
nothing preventing you from creating more complex
patterns through a combination of channel and
crossfader rhythms at the same time.
This double-fader technique is a simple way to
manipulate elements in your song, but youll
need to set up a new audio track in order to
record your actions as a new loop. Channelfader action and any other processing of a
group can be recorded from the output of
that group. Set the Monitor In on the track
you will record on to listen to that group.
Crossfader action is trickier to capture as it
happens on the master track, not the groups
themselves. This means that everything you
hear from the master needs to be recorded.
There are two workarounds for this. The
first is to set an audio track to record the
master output of Live, but that means you can
An investment in a
quality sample pack
for the genre you
want to produce is
like buying the best
tracks for a mix.
Filter control
Filtering is commonplace on many hardware
mixers and DJ software, so were assuming youve
used them before. Filters are useful in production
in many of the same ways as they are in a DJ set.
You can bring a sound in or out with a rumble
using a low-pass filter. High-pass filters let you
bring the body of a sound in or out while
maintaining bite and brightness. Lives Auto Filter
can be set to one or the other at a time, so youll
need to create two if you want both filters
available per deck. We prefer to add a third-party
bi-directional filter plug-in for a setup thats much
more intuitive in terms of DJing. Bi-directional
filters enable you to sweep from low-pass through
to high-pass with the central position being
neutral an essential tool to move swiftly from
one filter type to another in a musical way.
01
focus
02
03
Effects processing
As a DJ, effect types like flanger, bit-crusher and delay
shouldnt be foreign to you. These effects are found on most
DJ equipment. These and plenty of other options are
available in Live. They can be punched in and out as
momentary effects (great for fills before a new song section)
or applied in a way that creates an entirely new sound. This
can then be recorded as a new loop.
Delays are good to apply to sounds with plenty of space in
their content. Without the space you are just adding clutter
to an already busy sound, which will detrimentally affect the
output. Map delay times to a MIDI controller and change the
setting at different points in the song a simple but
engaging way to create interest to the listener. Chorus,
flanger and phaser can all be used on sounds if they dont
need maximum attention as they tend to push sounds back
in a mix. Background pad and ambience sounds benefit
greatly from this.
If youre from the days of creating stutters with two copies
of the same record, you can use Lives Simple Delay to create
the same effect. Set the Delay Time to Link so its just a single
mono delay rather than a stereo one. The Time should be set
to four measures and the dry/wet dial can be used as a
crossfader between the original and repeated sound. Try this
on drum loops and hear how adjusting the dry/wet can create
interesting new drum patterns.
The next step in terms of timing manipulation is to
experiment with re-triggering loops as you would when
setting cue points to a track in a set for reworking live. This is
covered in the Cue Point Triggering step-by-step. Although
this is also incredibly simple, it uses the same principles as
the more advanced loop-slicing and re-programming
Tech Terms
GROUPING
If you group various
audio and MIDI
tracks in Live it
makes them
visually organised
as they are put into
a folder track that
can be minimised
and expanded.
The audio of these
grouped tracks
is then passed
through this single
folder track.
Applied skills
Asides from learning some basic Ableton Live navigation
skills, all were really talking about here is turning your
existing skills in a new direction. In time you can start
exploring your own drum programming using single drum
samples or a drum machine plug-in, then move on to
instruments and all the flexibility they offer. But for now,
though, there are plenty of ways in which you can produce
your own tracks with the skills you already have albeit in a
slightly different way. MTF
01
02
03
| 19
MTF Interview
Erin Barra
Its fitting that in this special MusicTech Focus we
catch up with a composer at the forefront of Live
technology both in the live and Ableton senses
of the word. Andy Price talks to Erin Barra
focus
| 21
EB For me, its always about the why, and the concept of
what Im trying to accomplish today in the studio. The other
day me and one of my co-producers were in the middle of a
song and we came across this string patch. He started
playing a progression with it and I said, Hold it! Were
stopping right now and starting another song because this
is the start of something new! So sometimes new ideas can
come quickly like that. But often I just come in with some
separate concepts. Ill come in and say I want to write a song
about uncertainty or something like that. But that initial
idea will dictate how the harmony will progress, what the
BPM will be. I hardly ever come into the studio and dick
around. I always have a purpose, but there are different
ways to get there and that varies with each song.
MTF Who are your biggest songwriting influences?
EB My parents were children of the 60s and 70s so we
listened to a lot of singer/songwriters when I was young,
people like James Taylor, Billy Joel, Paul Simon those
traditional songwriters of that era, but then also people like
The Doors. At a certain point in my life I found Stevie
Wonder I must have been 13 or 14 and spent the next
decade completely immersing myself in his work. Not only
is he a fantastic songwriter and instrumentalist but hes
multi-genre, creating music based upon the why of
something. I really relate to his electronic experimentation
and the fearlessness with which he created it. So hes
definitely my biggest influence, but Im constantly inspired
by my peers, especially here in New York where theres a
very vibrant scene.
MTF How much creative control do you take over your
music? Do you tend to collaborate often and allow others to
add their elements or do you like to work singularly?
EB I am definitely a collaborator, yeah nine times out of
ten Im collaborating. Usually when its just me its a weird
one-off project that Ive been hired for, but typically,
whoever Im working for is in some way collaborating with
me. Its just boring being by yourself, but there are certain
parts of each project that Ill have to do by myself, whether
its vocal editing or this, that or the other Ill do those in
isolation. But when Im creating I like to be surrounded by
multiple energies.
MTF Aside from Push, what other instruments do you use
for studio or live work?
EB My stage setup has been pretty much the same for the
last year: Im playing a Moog Little Phatty for lead lines and
focus
Let me entertain
you: Erin keeps the
crowd happy...
| 23
MusicTech.indd 1
05.09.2013 11:41:42
MusicTech.indd 2
05.09.2013 11:41:59
On the disc
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
Getting started
EQ SOLO
The
headphones icon
enables you to hear
just the EQ filter
youre editing. This is
very useful for
hearing exactly the
frequency area you
want to hone in on.
BROWSER
The Add Folder option
enables you to add as many
destinations as you need. The
new folder system also
automatically closes one folder
when you open another.
focus
01
02
PRO TIP
You can edit automation to
perfection using the new MIDI
Stretch Marker function.
Highlight the area of
automation you want to work
on and drag the markers to
condense/expand your edit to
perfection. A Pseudo MIDI
Stretch Marker can be placed
by clicking in the Marker area
between the two existing
markers. This is great for
experimenting with prominentsounding parameters.
03
01
02
03
| 27
PRO TIP
EQ Eight now features an
adaptive Q mode that changes
the Q amount along with
changes in gain. This is to
imitate the behaviour of more
classic EQs and goes from a
wide Q at low gain amounts to
a narrow Q at extreme gain
settings. Use this mode for a
much more musical sound as
you explore what EQ
treatment you want to apply.
01
04
focus
02
05
03
06
01
02
03
01
02
03
| 29
On the disc
performance
Play it safe
For anyone who hasnt used Live before or those who
only dabble with it for the odd task the two screens
youll spend most time in are Arrangement View (which
functions like other linear DAWs) and Session View. The
latter flips tracks to run horizontally on the screen like a
mixing desk. The difference is that these horizontal
SCENE
LAUNCHING
Each row across
Session View is called a
Scene and can be
launched from the play
buttons in the master
track. Make sure that
you rename these via
the Edit menu so theyll
make sense in the heat
of a live performance.
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
STOP BUTTONS
Launched clips can be stopped by pressing the master stop button at the bottom of
the track. The Stop Clips button on the master track will stop all playing clips.
focus
01
04
02
05
PRO TIP
Live is very flexible when it
comes to syncing with other
tech. The MIDI tab in
Preferences lets you use MTC
(MIDI Time Code) or MIDI clock
to output to other slave devices
while Live is the master.
Alternatively, use the MIDI
input to make Live the slave
from another device. This can
be two or more laptops running
Live, a laptop and drum
machine or anything else that
can sync via MIDI.
03
06
Talking stems
Djing with stems is the next level of mixing from a DJs
perspective Loopmasters Mix Tools series is testament
to this. These Mix Tools are full tracks provided in their
core elements: drums, bass, melodies and so on. For DJs
this gives a much deeper level of control in terms of
manipulation and arrangements, but this approach can
also be applied to your own musical material.
By preparing audio stems for the core elements of
your own work you can drag them into a single live DJ set
and work with them. If you stick to a clear stem formula
when preparing your tracks you can create a left and
right set of blank tracks to accommodate them and mix
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 31
On the scene
Another option is to work in a much more fundamental
way, using just a handful of clips per scene. Each scene
represents a full musical idea, and by using your mixer
and effects you can introduce elements, process them
and jam around a musical section before cueing clips
PRO TIP
When creating chains of
effects make use of the Group
function from the Edit menu,
then you can right-click (PC)/
[Ctrl]-click (Mac) and assign
any parameter to one of the
racks eight macro dials. This
makes it easy to control one or
more parameters at once with
a MIDI controller.
Mix it up
When it comes to the mixer, the most effective controls to
use are channel volume, channel mute and send levels
for effects such as reverb and delay. Faders are useful for
01
04
focus
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Programming
technique & workflow
Both audio and MIDI can trigger that creative spark and get the ball rolling when it comes to
composition. Liam OMullane sets you off on the right track.
On the disc
Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD
FOCUS ON RECORDING
Many of you will want to record your own sounds a
single event to treat like a sample, a short sequence
to turn into a loop, or a full musical passage which
may or may not be edited subsequent to recording.
Recording to either Session or Arrangement Views
starts in the same way: select the correct input on an
audio track thats armed to record, expand the level
indicator by dragging it upwards with your mouse in
Session View for a more detailed look at your input
levels, then hit record. If you want to set up effects to
help the performer, be sure to get the lowest possible
latency time so that the effects arent delayed too
much, which will throw off the performance. This is
done in Preferences by adjusting the latency buffer
size so you have low latency without any break-up in
the audio signal.
focus
To move from one note to the next using the arrow keys, hold
down [Alt] at the same time. You can be looping around while
editing to hear your changes, or use the MIDI Editor preview button
(the headphone icon above the vertical piano) so you hear each change
in pitch as you make it.
No matter how your MIDI part has been created, there are some
great editing tools available in Live, but youll first need to
highlight two or more notes. The mouse is the obvious choice for this
task, but for quick keyboard work, hold down [Shift]+[Alt] while using
the arrow keys. You can alter this section or duplicate your work and
alter the second to extend the phrase.
The Invert (Inv) and Reverse (Rev) buttons to the left of the MIDI
Note Editor will flip all highlighted MIDI notes upside down or
back to front respectively. Both are easy ways to create variation in
your parts. A reverse of a beat or half/a full-bars worth of notes is
useful for creating variation at the end of a phrase. Alternatively,
highlight random sections to alter for a less predictable outcome.
Two other useful functions for creative editing are the half- and
double-tempo functions (these are the :2 and *2 buttons above
Inverse and Reverse). These let you change your MIDI, and doubletempo is especially useful for creating small flourishes within a piece.
You can stretch highlighted content for more control over this type of
change just drag the stretch marker above the notes.
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| 35
The first few variables for an audio file can be discovered quite
easily with single sounds. Starting with Warp mode disabled,
Transpose will let you pitch the audio up and down with vari-speed.
Extreme settings of an octave or more in either direction will cause
great sonic changes which can generate very interesting textures and
sounds to start an idea with.
To quickly explore the effects of warp markers, use the half- and
double-time buttons. Warp modes can be chosen from the
dropdown menu below the :2 & *2 buttons and all but re-pitch modes
will generate a unique, stretched timbre. Warp markers themselves
can be moved around for an in-loop variation of time-stretch and
compress effects.
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focus
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Making the
most of Push
Learning to use Push entails more than simply understanding its functionality.
Liam OMullane shares best practice for starting ideas and laying out a song.
On the disc
Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD
focus
Its a good idea to hit the Duplicate button every time you create a
new rhythmic layer. This approach makes it much easier to
access different variations of the drum pattern to work with. Wed
press Duplicate now if we feel that we may later want to strip things
right back to the fundamentals of our song.
You are now at a stage where you can add some more sporadic
percussive sounds to create a longer pattern with more variation.
First press the Double button a few times to create a longer pattern,
then hit record and play in a part that doesnt repeat itself too much.
This is often easier to do when you perform it live, but you could always
do it via step-sequencing, with careful use of Nudge as well.
01
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| 39
The choice of scale is easy to change and its worth taking some
time to explore the library included with Live. Scale-changing is
immediate when applied, which makes it a creative tool in itself.
Instead of moving your chord hand, hold a chord shape and switch the
key or scale with the other hand as you play.
Because you can play the same chord in different areas of the
scale grid, interesting rhythmic possibilities can be explored as
you can play the same or neighbouring notes with both hands, like a
drum. Hold the same chord with your left and right hands, then either
alternate between two identical chords or use the individual notes for
creating arpeggiated pieces.
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When your basic song ideas are together in Push, its time to
commit them to Arrangement View so you can move over to the
computer and finish everything off. There are a few ways to do this, the
first of which uses the classic approach of launching clips as a
performance. To begin, switch from Note mode to Session mode.
You can now see all of your clips and scenes, which can be
launched via the illuminated pads or quantize buttons down the
right-hand side respectively. From here you can start creating more
scenes using Duplicate, then modify certain clips or use Delete to
create different combinations of clips for more variation.
You can reprogram certain clips for more variation, but this isnt
the only option another approach is to alter a clips properties.
Press the Clip button to view and alter the play marker position and
loop-length values (short loops work very well for stuttered effects).
You can alter the start position to move around the contents of the clip.
Hold down Shift for finer movements.
For a more full-on performance as you record into Live you may
want to set up various essential parameters to tweak as you
record. To create custom mappings, switch Push into User mode and
use MIDI Map mode in Live to assign certain parts of Push to elements
of your performance. Make sure that the input of Push has Remote
Mapping mode enabled in Preferences or mapping wont work.
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| 41
POWER USER
TIPS FOR
01
MAPPING MODES
Live has a simple click-and-assign method for assigning
computer keys or MIDI controllers to most controls. Enable
Mapping mode by clicking the KEY or MIDI buttons in the
top-right of the screen; select what you want to assign, then
press the button or move the control you want to assign.
04
02
TRACK DEFAULTS
Live 9 now features user-defined default-loaded
devices for both audio and MIDI tracks, which can save you
time when setting up a project. Set up your favourite devices
on an audio or MIDI track first, then right/[Ctrl]-click on the
track title bar and select Save As Default Audio or MIDI Track
from the dropdown menu.
03
focus
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05
08
08
PUSH SENSITIVITY
Pressing and holding the User button enables you to
configure the sensitivity and velocity curve to your personal
preference. Start by lowering the Pad Threshold so its just
above the point where the pads self-trigger, then explore the
different velocity curves to get the right feel.
05
ADDITIONAL HARMONICS
If you want to create accompanying notes for a melody
line to make chords or harmonies, select them all and hold
down [Alt] while you drag to make a copy for a higher or lower
melody line. If you want the original lead melody to remain
prominent, hold down [Ctrl]/[Cmd] while hovering the mouse
cursor over one of the newly created notes and drag to
change the velocity of all selected notes.
09
06
INFINITE RACKS
You can use Audio Racks inside other Audio Racks by
expanding an effects Chain section and dragging further
effects inside it. The result is a near-infinite level of flexibility
for processing sounds, and by saving the Rack at the top level
you can instantly recall whole chains of effects with a single
click. Use this to create complex, layered effects.
07
GLUE SATURATION
An alternative to using Saturators Analog Clip setting
for analogue-style saturation is to use Glue, instead. Enable
Glues Soft Clip mode and use Makeup Gain to drive the input
into the saturation stage.
10
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07
| 43
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focus
CREATIVE SLICING
Although Slice To New MIDI Track
(accessed from the right/[Ctrl]-click menu) is an
incredibly fast way to program or take slices
from drum loops, its function and available
presets can be used on any audio as an
experimental tool. Try slicing instrument
melodies or vocal parts and experiment with the
Create One Slice Per settings for transients or
lots of small slices such as 1/16 notes. Then you
can apply MIDI effects like Random or
Arpeggiator to create reordering of these slices
for instant mashed-up audio. With Random it
may be worth recording the output of the device so any
happy randomness can be captured to use again.
20
21
21
Unsyncing tempo-based
effects can be a liberating way
to work when playing live
GROUP TRACKS
By grouping tracks together you can manage complex
projects much more easily. This feature is especially useful
when performing, as it means less scrolling and navigating.
The small arrow located at the top of the Group channel
enables you to minimise the component tracks, leaving only
the group available. You can also launch clips and change the
effects sends and level of the group, or expand it to change
tracks within the group. Its also possible to work with
scenes using groups.
22
EXPORT AS STEMS
If you are exporting stems for mixing elsewhere or for
DJing, use the Export dialog to select which tracks will be
rendered. If you plan on remixing a track in a live setting, it
makes sense to export different groups of sounds as
different tracks say, the drums, percussion, bass and
23
GROOVE EXTRACT
Right-click on an audio or MIDI clip
either in its clip slot or in the Info viewer
at the bottom and you can choose to
extract the groove from the clip. This will
then appear in the Groove Pool and can be
applied to any other clip, as well as being
renamed to make things easier to follow.
Say you have one great sampled beat: by
taking the groove from it in this way you
can match other audio and MIDI parts to it effortlessly.
24
UNSYNC YOURSELF
Live is very good at keeping everything in sync, but
sometimes this can be the opposite of what you want,
especially when it comes to things like delay effects. There is
often the option to unsync a tempo-based effect from the
project tempo and to work with it freely or to set its time in
milliseconds and not divisions of the project tempo. This can
be a liberating way to work when playing live.
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32
Pushs encoder dials, but make sure that you keep contact
with the ribbon throughout your recordings as it will
otherwise snap back to the middle.
QUANTIZE AND NOTE CONTROL
Although Record Quantization is available from the Edit
menu enabling your performances to be cleaned up as they
are recorded into a MIDI track it doesnt cater for the end
positions of each note. Quantize Settings (from the Edit
menu) lets you choose how the manual Quantize command
behaves, and here you can specify quantizing end points. If
you want all notes to be the same length, the simplest way to
do this is to highlight them all and drag the longest note to
the smallest size possible. When you expand them again, they
will all be the same length.
29
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31
36
focus
33
EFFECTIVE PITCHING
When working with audio files, you can quickly re-pitch
one or a collection of highlighted audio clips by adjusting the
Transpose control (and Detune for finer tuning). All Warp
modes except Re-Pitch keep loops the same length while
changing the pitch. Switching to Re-Pitch mode will disable
the use of Transpose until you turn off Warp mode, which then
locks pitch and length together in a classic vari-speedbehaviour, like most samplers. The Frequency Shifter audio
effect is another option that has a different tone from normal
pitch-shifting algorithms. This can be useful for tuning
elements of drum hits with a balance of the original by
adjusting the dry/wet balance.
34
35
BEING NEIGHBOUR-FRIENDLY
Your neighbours will like this tip and you may avoid
noise-pollution lawsuits at the same time. If you work in
genres with a lot of bass you can add an EQ Three to the
master output to temporarily remove the bottom end when
not working on bass-essential sections. Use Key Map mode
to assign the Low On/Off button to a handy key to toggle the
bass cut on/off while you work. Set the FreqLow dial high
enough so you dont feel the bass through the floor or the
walls when touched with your hand.
36
37
38
39
40
39
SAMPLE MAGIC
Sometimes its
handy to record parts
from another audio
channel to create new
loops or sample material
to load into instruments
or perform all sorts of
audio manipulation on.
Rather than set up an
audio track each time, set up a dedicated
track for recording, set its input to be the master buss,
and set Monitor to off to avoid feedback. Now you can
capture magic moments and use them within a project as
audio straightaway, or drag them to the browser for later use.
41
| 47
MAPPING AFTERTOUCH
WITH PUSH
Aftertouch is available on all
128 of Pushs pads and can be
wasted when not utilised. In
Live Suite you can load in a Max
For Live device called
Expression Control, found in
the Max MIDI Effect folder. To
map aftertouch globally to any
parameter, click on the blue
Map button on the Max device,
then click the desired parameter
and immediately explore if it can be used
expressively as you perform.
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focus
50
On the disc
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
UNDERSTANDING
MAX FOR LIVE
Ableton Live 9 Suite
Max for Live is now bundled as part of Live 9 Suite, so its the perfect time to find
out how it can help your music-making. Matt Jackson gets you started.
a
c
DEVICE BROWSER
Built-in Max for Live
objects are kept under the
Max for Live category in the
Device Browser.
DEVICE
PATCHER
WINDOW TASKBAR
This is where you can
toggle various modes
of your device, such as
locking, freezing,
Presentation mode
and preview.
TRACK VIEW
When a track is
selected, you can drag your
Max for Live devices here to
add them to the audio chain
for that track.
focus
01
04
02
05
PRO TIP
Freezing a Max for Live device
gathers up the files it depends
on to work and bundles them
together, ready to distribute. If
your device relies on
third-party externals
you can include both
the Windows and Mac
versions in your Max
search path and once
frozen, the device will
run on either platform.
03
06
Live show
So how does it work inside Live? Start by dragging a Max
for Live device to your chosen track from the Device
Browser, as you would with any other. There is a blank
template for each device type instrument, audio effect
and MIDI effect each with inlets and outlets that pipe
audio and/or MIDI between the track and the device,
making it part of the effects chain. Clicking on the Edit
| 51
Max out
Tutorials are generally the best way to clear up the
initial puzzlements. If you look under the Help
menu when Max is open youll see tutorials for
Max, MSP and Jitter, which are strands of Max
that deal with data, audio and video respectively.
These tutorials are thorough and all come with
interactive examples. YouTube has some brilliant
video tutorials, too. The huge online community
makes learning Max very achievable on your own.
01
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PRO TIP
Max for Lives global
transport is linked with
Lives. This means that you
can sync the timing in your
patch with that of your
session with ease. For
example, to create a phasor
that is always in time with
your Live session, set the
rate to a quarter-note value
and type phasor~ 4n @lock
1 into a new object box.
01
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| 53
Taking control
Traditional methods of human-computer
interaction can impede many of the creative and
performance aspects of making music
improvisation, group collaboration and virtuosic
www.shure.co.uk
www.shure.co.uk
Whats the strangest Max for Live device youve seen being shared
on the internet?
That would have to be Synplant Genes, from Xanadu. Put it this
way: its described as being able to manipulate the genes of
Synplant. If you just think about this sentence without actually
knowing what Synplant is and how it works, you get an idea of just
how strange it is.
www.maxforlive.com/library/device/1441/synplant-genes
Can you give us an idea about future devices you are working on?
Alas not yet, sadly. But I can tell you that Im studying some
interesting synth techniques...
Christian has been using
Max since the turn of the
century and believes
reverse-engineering is
the best way to learn.
Meet the
Ableton team...
Dennis DeSantis
Dennis DeSantis is Head of Documentation at
Ableton. He tells MTF about some of his own
thoughts on where music production is heading
as well as talking us through the major new
features in the new v9.1 update
focus
| 57
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Artist
Interview
Phon.o
focus
| 61
On the disc
Getting creative
with Abletons synths
Accompanying
project file included
on the DVD
In control
Lets do a quick refresher course. Were not going to delve
into the absolute basics here we trust that if youve
gotten to this point, youre reasonably familiar with what
an oscillator is but we are going to spend a little time
talking about how to apply certain techniques.
FILTERS
No fun until theyre automated or modulated. A filter cutoff told to move
can turn even a pedestrian synth sound into an amazing one.
OSCILLATORS
These are the bread
and butter of any amazing
synth sound, so spend a
little while tweaking and
detuning them.
ENVELOPE
Perfect for
shaping the
sound or rather,
for fine-tuning a
base sound
youve
discovered using
the oscillators,
LFO and filters.
LFO
Youll need to think
about whether you want
some subtle vibrato or a
wobbling demon of
modulation. This largely
depends on the kind of
track youre making.
d
c
focus
01
04
02
05
LFO lowdown
Its worth revisiting LFOs as well. It might be instinct
to always apply an LFO to your sound it gives
movement, and movement is almost always
desirable but you may want to look carefully at how
you apply it. You can get immensely creative with
LFOs: chaining them together and having them
PRO TIP
Remember to view your
sounds in the context of your
mix, not just as individual
sounds. The greatest synth
sounds are always those that
complement the surrounding
instrumentation think
MGMTs Kids. You can spend
time building an enormous
monster of a synth, but if it
takes up the entire frequency
spectrum, youre going to find
it difficult to put other
elements around it. When
youre experimenting, keep in
mind what else youll be doing
with the track.
03
06
Preset puzzle
One of the exasperating debates among synth players
concerns presets. Drop into practically any online
forum and youll find two camps: one which says that
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 63
PRO TIP
It might sound odd to
say this, but dont try
too hard to be original.
You can handicap
yourself by trying to
find a synth sound that
no one has used before.
While its certainly
possible to do this,
youre far better off
getting a great sound
that bares a passing
resemblance to
something someone
else has done. After all,
most dubstep is built on
a fluctuating, wobbling
growl, and that element
alone results in
thousands of very
different tracks. Focus
on making a great track,
and let that dictate what
the sound will do.
DAW by design
Ableton Live isnt
like other DAWs. Its
designers took a
long, hard look at
Cubase, Pro Tools,
Logic and Reason
and thought: no,
were not going to
do it that way. Were
going to create our
own bespoke DAW.
One that gives
musicians a live,
tempo-synced
sketchpad as well
01
04
focus
02
05
03
06
Those are the main two synths, but there are actually
around five in all. Tension is a synth dedicated to
physically modelling string sounds; Electric does the
same with pianos, and Collision with percussion. If youre
looking for purely synthetic, decidedly electronic sounds
then Operator and Analog will more than take care of
your needs, but these three are also worth exploring if
youre on the hunt for a very specific sound.
Its worth noting however that youll only get some of
these instruments as standard when you buy Ableton
Live Suite, which costs 600. If your budget cant stretch
that far, not to worry theyre all available as individual
purchases which you can acquire when youre ready. To
give you an idea of cost, Operator is 79, which is pretty
affordable. And trust us: these are instruments you
definitely want to have in your arsenal.
If you take nothing else away from this guide, take
this: find the synth you think can give you the most
jaw-dropping sounds and which you can have a blast
working with. Then start making music! MTF
01
04
02
05
03
06
| 65
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COMPLETE
THE ORDER
FORM
OPPOSITE
On the disc
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
Bass design
with Operator
Operator offers a great deal more
than just FM leads and pads.
Liam OMullane has the low-down.
PRO TIP
Subtractive and additive
synthesis can usually benefit
from some modulated filtering
from the filters own envelope
or the LFO (when assigned).
For FM work, try using it as an
EQ to hold back excessive top
end with a low-pass filter.
Got rithm
The four divided sections to either side of Operators
central display are called Shells. After clicking the
bottom right-hand Shell this Global Shell will reveal 11
colourful algorithm symbols across the top of the
central display. Although they look like the puzzle
pieces from Tetris, they are in fact routing diagrams
flowing from top to bottom. 1
focus
6
7
Modulation can be used for subtle or dramatic
effects like most audio parameter settings, use the
most extreme settings to fine-tune parameters
before backing off to a suitable amount.
4
The LFO can be assigned to many other modulation
destinations via Dest.B. In most cases youll want to
disable its default assignment in Dest.B by clicking the
A, B, C and D buttons. Although the filter cutoff can be
assigned here, setting its Depth to 100% wont move the
cutoff from its minimum to full. A workaround to
achieve a full-range cutoff sweep is to assign Dest.B to
filter cutoff. With both assignments set to 100% and the
LFO set to SwDown, you can achieve that tight and
defined rhythmic modulation sound that has been
recently made famous by the artist Datsik. 4
Returning to the Hoover-esque sound for a moment,
you can get a more authentic upwards and downwards
pitch change over time by using the Pitch Envelope in
the next Shell down from Filter. With a positive setting
between 1050%, shape the envelope to create a
medium attack slope and longer decay time. 5
Additive approaches
Frequency modulation
PRO TIP
Many sounds can be given an
extra dimension through
octave-based pitch-bending.
Just set Pitch to
+12 or +24
semitones from
the central
display for the
Global Shell.
Perfect harmony
Each oscillator has an envelope that modulates its level
like any normal synth, letting us slowly introduce this
higher harmonic layer with a slow attack stage. These
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 69
10
11
12
13
focus
14
On the disc
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
Global working
The term send is short for auxiliary send (auxiliary
meaning something thats supplementary). In this case
it means a second copy of a signal being sent from a
channel in a mixer. This copy is most commonly used to
PRO TIP
Along with the process of
setting up essential reverbs
and delays for a mix, many
engineers will have their go-to
parallel processing set up this
way so its ready to go at any
point in the mix. This can be a
compressor set up with a low
Threshold and high Ratio for
that slam channel to feed
various mix elements to. It
could also be a distortion or
saturation plug-in to get some
more harmonics and density
in the mix. Experiment with
what works for you and have
them set up from the start to
achieve consistent results.
1
2
3
Creating one or more foldback mixes for performers
is still done today in the same way it was when the
auxiliary buss first arrived on the scene.
focus
Post-fader uses
There are a few reasons as to why working with
post-fader sends is still a popular choice. The first is an
old and familiar one letting you share ambience
effects across your mix so theres a sense of coherence
to the sounds as a whole. An additional benefit to this
comes from the more efficient use of processor
resources as youre sharing one instance of reverb with
32 channels rather than adding 32 instances of reverb,
one for each channel. That many reverb instances will
soon bring your computer to its knees and also create a
somewhat confusing mix if theyre not all set to
similar-sounding spaces.
Start investigating return tracks by setting up two
instances of reverb and one or two delay channels.
Select a small room preset for one reverb and a larger
hall-like ambience on the other. Use the Hot-Swap
button on the title bar of the Reverb device to look
through the preset folders. 3
Delays are a lot more open to personal taste, but a
good starting point would be two simple delays that
can be set to different times depending on the nature
of the song youre working on. When you add a Simple
Delay to a return track make sure its set to fully Wet (as
you would with Reverb devices as well). Drop in an EQ
Eight after it so you can use the high- and low-cut
filters to control the frequency range allowed for the
delays. This is essential to shape the repeats to fit into
the context of your mix. 4
under scrutiny here, a Drum Rack has the best send and
return features of the three, but with a little set-up time
you can do the same with an Instrument Rack.
For drums, first create a Drum Rack, load in a preset
and program in a drum pattern with only a few
elements. Click to reveal the Show/Hide Chain List
button, the Input/Output Section and both Send/Return
buttons down the left-hand side of the Drum Rack. They
are all coloured yellow in our example. 5
Youll see each drum pad as a Chain List to the
right-hand side above the area that says Drop Audio
Effects Here. Dragging a device like a Reverb to this
blank audio effects area will create a Return Chain that
sets up an internal send and return within the Drum
Rack. Youll then see a new send slider appear for this
effect in the Chain List above. 6
Because the return effects run through the Drum
Racks output, it means you can add compression to
your drums and effects as a whole. This is the easiest
way to get pumping drums and reverb for your rhythm
section. If you right/[Ctrl]-click (PC/Mac) the space
PRO TIP
Some of the techniques in
this tutorial take a while to
set up, so spare yourself from
repetitive work and save your
favourite sends and returns
into a template. For a global
template go to Preferences
and click the File Folder tab,
then click Save at the top to
save the set as a default.
Drum Racks
Live has had Drum, Instrument and Audio Racks for a
while now, and although they sound similar, they have
slightly different features. In the context of the topic
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 73
7
8
under the reverb you can add another Return Chain, but
without a device. This is useful if you want to send one
or more single drum sounds out of the Drum Rack to
your global return effects. Select the desired return
track from the Audio To menu and it will behave like a
normal send. 7
Instrument Racks
Anyone who creates music that requires big, stacked
synth sounds should definitely know about Lives Group
function. Once youve grouped one instrument into an
Instrument Rack you can add extra Chains for extra
instruments, which can be played as one. Although
these look similar to Drum Racks they dont feature any
sort of sends, so a workaround is required if you want to
send some of the Chains in your Instrument Rack to
global return effects.
To create an Instrument Rack for layering with
additional instruments, create the first instrument and
group it via the Edit menu, then enable the Show/Hide
Chain List button (the second one down on the left of
the Rack). From the Chain List view you can drag as
many new instruments across as you want to get the
sound youre after. 8
The next step is to create a new audio track from
the Create Menu for each Chain (instrument) you
have in your Rack. Set the Audio From menu on each
one to the name of the channel that your Instrument
Rack is on. Next, select the specific instrument Chain
so they are routed to these new audio tracks, then set
the Monitor to In to let the audio pass through. Finally,
mute the channel containing the Instrument Rack so
youre hearing only the newly routed channels. These
9
10
focus
On the disc
Drum sounds
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
and devices
PRO TIP
Fast drum layering can be
achieved by highlighting
numerous audio files in the
Browser to then drag into the
Drum Pads Chain List (not the
main Rack). This may create
too many competing layers,
which will overload the output.
So expand the Drum Rack
mixer in Session View,
highlight all channels, pull
their volume fully down and
then blend to your own taste.
3
Various presets are available for full drum kits or single sounds, both with
plenty of macro-based variables for easy control. These can be used as
quick audio starting points to then swap out for other sounds later on.
focus
Swap shop
The Hot-Swap button appears in various different
places within a Drum Rack. It looks like a recycling sign,
with two arrows rotating in one direction. To speed the
process up, press the Q key to engage Hot-Swapping.
Reading from left to right, the first Hot-Swap button
is on the drum pad itself; this can load single sound
presets or raw audio files while creating a default
Simpler device to play it. The next is on the Drum Rack
title bar; this replaces the entire Rack with other
presets, so its useful only when starting drum work and
searching for a kit to get started with. You can always
use the other available Hot-Swaps to swap out sounds
after youve programmed a beat later on. 3
If youve loaded a preset kit or sound, the Simpler
device may be surrounded by an Instrument Rack for its
own macro controls. Its Hot-Swap (on kick-606) only
lets you change for more presets, not audio files. If you
are working on drum layers (which involves numerous
chains on one pad), you can Hot-Swap one layer at a
time using the Hot-Swap on each chain to the right of
the solo button. The final two are on the Simpler itself,
which is the default instrument holding the audio file.
Using the Simplers title bar option will leave any MIDI
or audio effects in the current chain intact but change
the Simpler, whereas the Hot-Swap button on the
bottom-right of the waveform display changes only the
sample and leaves all settings such as filter, pitch and
ADSR controls as they are. This is handy if you want to
try different sample sources while keeping any
sound-shaping you have already created.
When using sample-based hot-swapping from the
drum pad or the waveform display, be sure to disengage
auto-audition by clicking the small headphone symbol
at the bottom of the file browser. If you dont do this,
PRO TIP
A fast way to interact with any
potential new audio file is by
manually using the audition
option in the File Browser. Set
the Quantization menu to
None, then switch off
auto-audition by clicking the
headphone symbol below the
Browser. Now you can tap out
rhythms with the right arrow
key and preview any potential
new sounds on the spot.
Simpler sounds
Whether you load in presets to start with or work from a
blank canvas by loading in raw audio, the best control
can be done at source and this process, by default,
starts with a Simpler. The purest way to start is when
audio has been dragged to a pad or a chain. This way the
Simpler will be initialised for you to then shape the
sound as you prefer.
The release stage on the volume ADSR usually needs
increasing so each sound has a natural decay. But the R
symbol in the lower right has a choke-like behaviour
and prevents overlaps on fast repeats of the sound.
Before thinking of compression, lower the sustain level
and shape the initial transient with the Attack and
Decay stages, then raise the Sustain as appropriate.
| 77
10
12
11
focus
On the disc
Sound-on-sound
recording in Looper
Ableton Live
project file included
on the DVD
PRO TIP
If you are intending to use
various internal and external
sound sources for your
performance you can make
things easy to manage by
assigning each tracks Record
Arm buttons to a controller.
This will mean that one
controller can easily control
various instruments and live
external sources can be heard
only when needed.
1
3
The orange plus icon to the right of the Record menu means that after
pressing the MPTB a second time to finish your first recording pass
you are instantly in overdub mode.
focus
Going back
Better control
Now that weve covered the basics of Looper, you will
need to start thinking about how you intend to control
the device in a performance scenario. Unless you plan on
playing a keyboard, drum pad or perform vocal parts, its
unlikely that youll have a spare hand to control what
Looper is doing, so a MIDI footswitch is essential for
keeping your hands free. You can assign the MPTB (plus
a few other handy controls) to this pedal by clicking on
the MIDI icon in the top right-hand corner to enable MIDI
Map mode. Simply click the parameter on Looper
followed by the desired footswitch to control it. 5
A good way of working with sound-on-sound looping
in general is much like the approach to sequencing
loops: as you add layers, increase
the loop length. You could beat-box
a bar as your first recording and it
will sound quite solid as its a short,
repeated part. As mentioned before,
try to record your parts after youve
played them once as youll get better
start and end points.
The Double Length button (the x2 in
yellow) is handy for building up the overall loop length
as you add more layers. 6
PRO TIP
When you want to just play
something live over your
looped musical bed a fun trick
is to apply long delay times to,
lets say, a vocal part so that
you can speak a phrase and
then have it repeated. Here
weve set up two delays for a
two-bar delay set to fully wet,
which then goes through Lives
Vocoder (set to pitch tracking).
This creates a vocoded repeat
of two bars for a call-andresponse effect.
Looping in numbers
Although weve covered only a handful of features so far,
they are sufficient to create a multi-song performance
alone, but there are two main drawbacks that stem
from the same restriction. Once your layers are
recorded in Looper they are merged into a single audio
file (apart from the last one, which you can undo). This
therefore limits the degree of control you have
| 81
10
To record and access
a potentially
unlimited number of
layers simply create
as many Loopers as
your footswitch can
control and use
grouping to create a
single Effects Rack.
11
14
12
13
focus
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On the disc
Live 9 project
file included on
the DVD
PRO TIP
If youre going to be getting
into rhythmic automation on a
regular basis, create a
template clip using any old
audio loop with the track
muted. Program various
rhythms into the clip so you
can then highlight the part you
need as required, copy and
paste it where needed.
Press Re-Enable
Automation to revert back to your
original work. It can also be useful for allowing you
freedom to perform with that parameter in a live
situation. Assigning the Re-Enable button to a key or
MIDI control will then let you quickly revert back to a
preprogrammed part when done.
In Session View, a new pair of buttons appears to the
right. Were interested in the first one that has a circle
on it this is called the Session Record button. When
enabled, automation will be applied to active clips on
all Armed tracks. If you want to just jam with a MIDI
controller for various elements at once (regardless of
whats armed), you can enable Record Session
Automation in to All Tracks from Lives Preferences. 2
General editing
Now that the super-unsexy bits of information are out
of the way, lets start getting a little hot under the collar
and look at ways to edit your recorded automation
parts. You can view your automation using the Show/
focus
Automation
now features
both linear,
convex and
concave
control for a
much more
musical
approach to
programming.
4
5
PRO TIP
To quickly switch a curved
automation line back to being
linear, hold down [Alt] and
double-click on it when the
Curve tool appears on your
cursor. This wont toggle back
to its curve if you double-click
again, though; in this
circumstance resort to Lives
Undo function.
| 85
10
11
Shortcuts are a must-learn to achieve a creative
flow of editing. The stretch functions in MIDI clips
are also useful for expanding or compressing
highlighted sections of automation.
Modulation envelopes
Live 8 only had what Ableton refers to as modulation
envelopes for Session View automation within clips
here is a new feature. This offers only a relative means
of control, so drawing in a full-shaped modulation
envelope for a parameter from 0% to 100% will control
only the full range of the parameter if the physical
13
14
12
The older style of modulation
envelopes are still a valid tool to use,
but must be fully understood to
avoid confusion as you work.
focus
Mastering music
for club and radio play
Getting your tracks ready for playing to the public is something
we all need to do from time to time. Liam OMullane shares
his tips on making the best-sounding master possible.
Reference material
A/B referencing between released material and your
own work is useful both at the mastering stage and
during the song-creation process. It provides you with
constant goals to aim for and helps you stay on course
for completing your track. Weve all lost perspective on a
PRO TIP
For more detail when working
with EQ Eight, double-click on
the analyser to see a much
larger view. This also adds a
frequency and musical pitch
info box to the lower left, which
helps when you need to focus
on certain notes.
1
2
focus
8
5
7
6
Dynamic shaping
EQ work
Before applying any dynamic processing, start with an
EQ Eight for surgical work to knock things into better
shape. As a general rule, select Oversampling by right/
[Ctrl]-clicking (PC/Mac) on the devices title bar. This
allows for a higher internal sampling rate and reduces
the chance of aliasing being introduced as you work. 4
The first task with surgical EQ work is to reduce/
remove any non-musical resonances. These may not be
immediately obvious, so an additive sweeping
technique is usually required. EQ bands 36 are
parametric by default, so start with one of these.
Increase the gain to around 10dB, the Q (width) to 23
for a narrow band, and sweep the Freq dial until a
specific frequency starts to sing out in a nasty manner
when boosted. 5 Now explore either direction for the Q
amount so only the nasty area is being boosted. The Q
needs to be as narrow as it can be without being so
narrow that it doesnt boost the whole problem area. 6
To reset your ears, click on the Gain control and hit
backspace to return it to zero. Apply sufficient gain
reduction to reduce the problem area as much as
possible without leaving a hole in the overall sound. 7
You can repeat this process as required, but if youre
applying more than three or so cuts it may be worth
looking at your mix elements to find the sound that is
responsible for the problem and apply this technique to
that sound directly so the whole mix isnt EQed as much.
Bracketing your songs frequency range with lowand high-cut filtering is the next step with EQ Eight. Sit
a filter just below and above the visible energy of the
track to remove any content that doesnt aid the sound
of the track. This is especially important in the low end
PRO TIP
If you need more frequency
content in the 25kHz area of
your mix but are pushed for
time to tweak this during the
mixing stage, Lives Overdrive
can help fill in the
gap, with careful use
of Drive and Tone
along with a narrow
band-pass filter.
Use a very low dry/
wet balance from
1% upwards.
| 89
11
12
10
If your drums dont stick out in the mix sufficiently to trigger Compressor, use the EQ so it
reacts to the specific frequencies of certain drums and not others.
Peak limiting
Peak limiting is the final element in the processing
chain. This limits the range of any momentary peaks,
which enables more volume to be squeezed out of your
master. Although the Limiter might be the most obvious
choice for this task, we often opt for Saturator or Glue
instead. These often have a more musical sound than
the Limiter, which can pump when pushed hard. For
both Glue and Saturator you need to enable soft clipping
and increase Drive until the signal starts to break up.
Once there, simply back off a little (or a lot, depending
on how in your face you want the mix to sound). 14
Saturators output level can be set to keep everything in
check, but Glue needs a Utility device adding afterwards
as it can be quite loud at its output. 15
At this point you should have a polished-sounding
track that you can export and distribute. If you have
time, though, come back to it with fresh ears and apply
any minor tweaks that perhaps didnt seem so obvious
during the previous session. MTF
13
14
focus
15
Magazine
www.musictech.net
Staple
taple
DIY
studio
acoustics
Creating that pro studio acoustic experience at home is
easier than you might think. Russ Hepworth-Sawyer offers
some affordable DIY solutions to bring a professional
acoustic and aesthetic to your studio
eve witnessed significant advances in music technology over the past 15 years or
so which, combined with ever lowering costs, now mean that many more of us can
and indeed choose to record at home. However, there are changes that you will
need to make to your home environment in order to get the best sonic results.
Fortunately its not as difficult nor as costly as you might think. Over the
following pages were going to detail some of the problems you might encounter and, of course, the
solutions for a perfect mixing and monitoring environment.
The most immediate aspect aside from annoying the neighbours (which is not covered here) will
undoubtedly be the acoustic performance of your listening environment. This is a subject that could
see you tinkering with your setup until youve got it absolutely right, but a detailed and reliablesounding room is perfectly possible with some simple tools and materials from your local DIY store.
As we start to improve our lot, we predominately have to address the negative results of sonic
reflections. The reflection plays havoc not only with our desired flat frequency response and stereo
focus
On reflection
It all starts with the humble reflection. Surfaces, hard
or soft, all reflect sound in one way or another. Harder
surfaces will typically reflect sound clearly and
accurately, whereas softer surfaces will soak up some
of it. The problem is that reflections can later reconnect
with direct sound from a monitor or instrument,
blurring what we should be hearing via problems such
as excessive reverb, comb filtering, flutter echoes and
standing waves.
Given these problems, youd be forgiven for thinking
it best to place your monitors in a completely dead
room an anechoic chamber where the only sound
you hear is from your monitors. However, this would
sound too artificial. Actually, what we need to do is
maintain an even and low reverberation time across the
whole frequency spectrum. Theres much debate around the
precise value, but a reverb time of around 0.3 seconds (known
as RT60) is an ideal to aim for.
Universal Acoustics
Jupiter Bass Trap is a
good example of a
foam corner bass
trap that also
absorbs higher
frequencies, too.
Standing still
CARA FABRIC
Cara fabric is a
hessian-like lining
used in many
studio applications
due to its sonic
transparency.
MINERAL WOOL
FIBRE
Mineral wool
fibre is used in
many building
applications to
insulate buildings,
but is also
exceptional at
absorbing sound.
| 93
wall
Loudspeaker
Standing waves can play havoc with the bass end of your mix but are
easily identified and controlled.
Absorbers
Absorption is the easiest course of treatment as it
immediately improves your acoustics with only minimal
installation. Essentially, an absorber is constructed using a
Staple
4
Frame
1
01
focus
02
03
Although somewhat labour-intensive, the fully installed corner bass trap can be the most
effective at dealing with extreme low frequencies. To satisfy aesthetic requirements, the trap can
be faced with Cara fabric or an elaborate drilled-out wood panel.
Bass traps
A basic bass traps is simply a deeper absorber.
Low-frequency wavelengths are very long; in many
cases, longer than the length or width of your room. For
example, a 50Hz waveform has a wavelength of 6.8
A Helmholtz Resonator is
extremely effective at tackling
problematic frequencies
metres. We cannot assume that a typical absorber,
described above, with a shallow depth will soak up
these wavelengths. To use absorption we need to gain
depth, and as bass often lurks in the corners of your
room, enter the corner bass trap.
Other forms of trap exist that are not based
completely on the same static form of absorption but
resonate, instead. The Helmholtz Resonator can be
extremely effective at tackling many problematic
frequencies, but it must be constructed and tuned with
the room modes in mind. Some approaches blend both
absorption and resonation by utilising barrier matting
01
02
03
| 95
Diffusors
Diffusion is an excellent way of ensuring that the
direct signal from your monitors reaches your ears
uninterrupted. The theory of diffusion is to scatter
sound around the room as much as possible rather
than reflecting sounds in the expected pattern.
Heres how you should go about it: if you draw a
birds eye view of your studio and plot the line from
your monitors to the side walls reflecting to your ears
you will find the point at which a diffusor would be
best employed what Ill call the mirror point. Placing
a diffusor here will scatter the signal away from your
ears and assist in clearing up the focus and stereo
width of your mix.
01
focus
02
03
Sound advice
Take time to experiment with your space and consider the
sound youre aiming to achieve. You can tailor the number and
position of absorbers and the types of bass traps until youre
starting to hear that professional sound. Obviously, diffusors
may take a little more time to build, so using the calculations
is sensible for identifying what you need and where.
Bringing that professional acoustic response to your
room the do-it-yourself way does mean a little investment in
time and money, but will reap rewards at a fraction of the
cost of commercial solutions. The benefits are that you can
tinker with the materials and the finish until youve got the
ideal sonic response, and choose from a wide range of
fabrics and finishes to personalise your room. In the links
Tech Terms
RT60
The time it takes
for a sound to
reduce its sound
pressure level by
60dB within an
acoustic space.
HELMHOLTZ
RESONANCE
Resonance in an
enclosed space,
such as that
caused by blowing
over a bottle. This
principle can be
used to accurately
trap frequencies in
the studio.
audio.nl/
spk_calc.asp
A good diffusor calculator is
downloadable as an application from: www.
subwoofer-builder.com/qrdude.htm
Cara fabric is available in all kinds of colours from
www.eqacoustics.com/products-page/acoustictreatment/acoustic-fabric/cara-acoustic-fabric
WAVELENGTH
Wavelength
is determined
by frequency.
The lower the
frequency
the longer the
wavelength
and the deeper
your acoustic
absorption will
need to be.
| 97
Minute
Master
Studio
connectivity
Linking up equipment in the studio, whether that be a
project room or a larger installation, can be daunting.
Russ Hepworth-Sawyer explores the ins and outs.
Balancing act
Tech Terms
SHIELDED
Studio cabling should have
a foil or webbed shield
around each balanced pair,
protecting the signal from
RF interference.
IMPEDANCE
Every audio signal
connection has a resistance
known as impedance. An
understanding of
mismatching and how to
overcome it can be invaluable
during busy sessions.
Bantam
connectors (top)
rather than TRS
are the choice
for professionals
due to their
relatively slim
proportions.
Patch perfect
Many studios now opt for bantam patchbays. Despite the
increased cost, these take up less space as 96 sockets
can fit within 1U of rack space (TRS is typically 48
sockets across two rows of 24 per 1U of rack space). The
rear of bantam patchbays, just like many consoles/
1
2
The ubiquitous three-pin balanced XLR. The pins are known as 1 (ground), 2 and 3 (the two positives).
The left-hand plug is a female XLR, the one to the right is male
focus
GPO patchbays (also known as B-Gauge and 316) are robust and
very common across the professional audio and broadcast
industries. These make up many a BBC jackfield.
Balanced cabling is an
ingenious solution to
overcoming inducted noise
by turning the interference
out-of-phase with itself.
Tech Terms
CONNECTION GENDERS
Connection protocols such
as XLR come in two formats:
a socket, known as female,
and a plug, known as male.
Making connections
At times youll need to connect a balanced signal to an
unbalanced input or vice versa. Connecting a line-level
signal (ie a portable recording device or synth) to a
Tip
Ring
Sleeve
Three-pin jack plugs such as these are known colloquially as TRS which stands for Tip, Ring and
Sleeve. XLR pin 1 equals the Sleeve, pin 2 the Tip and pin 3, the Ring.
The humble DI Box is the most common of all impedancematching devices. Every studio should have at least two!
| 99
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NI RAZOR
Price 99 Contact
2twenty2 0845 299 4222
Razor has been designed
by German producer
Errorsmith in conjunction
with Native Instruments
and works with the latest
version of Reaktor and the
free Reaktor Player. At first
glance, Razor looks much
like a traditional
subtractive synthesizer,
having two oscillators, a
filter section, envelopes,
LFOs and effects. However,
behind the scenes it is
creating and sculpting its
output purely in the
additive domain, using 320
partials to assemble
sounds on a harmonic-byharmonic basis. Overall,
Razors sound is edgy and
digital but not at the
expense of power, depth or
beauty and it comes with
a range of presets catering
for everything from heavy
dubstep wobbles to eerie
pads. On the downside, the
well-designed GUI and
unique additive-style
output comes at the cost of
a high CPU hit.
Web www.nativeinstruments.com
IZOTOPE IRIS
U-HE DIVA
TONE2 RAYBLASTER
| 103
SUGARBYTES CYCLOP
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NI MASSIVE
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Freeware synths
WOLLO DRONE PC
One of the top-rated synths at the
excellent Plug-in Boutique (www.
pluginboutique.com) and we
certainly agree. Its a Juno-style
analogue synthesizer with some
great sounds and enough
polyphony to build some great
walls of electronics.
Web www.wollo.com/vst.htm
MINIMOGUE VA PC
Continuing the theme of free synths based on classics, heres one based
on one of the best of all the Minimoog. And when this synth sticks to its
guns, producing those original sounds, it scores highly. Basses are deep,
leads piercing and, all told, its hard to believe its free. If you want to find
out what the fuss is about regarding the Mini, its all here Voltkitchen,
the developer, is also responsible for the Arppe2600va, which is based on
the ARP2600 (www.glenstegner.com). Its rather good, too.
Web http://home.no/gunnare
FREEALPHA Mac/PC
This is a cut-down version of LinPlugs Alpha synthesizer and is essentially
an advert for it but so what? Its a proper, fully functional synth that is
very capable and fat-sounding thanks to dual-waveform oscillators, a
multimode filter and a great modulation matrix that lets you hook up mod
sources to various destinations. You get a wide variety of sounds
programmed by the pros one of the best freebies out there.
Web www.linplug.com
SYNTH1 Mac/PC
Like Crystal, Synth1 is widely regarded as one of the best freeware synths
of all time and it does sound incredible as long as you explore and play
with it. Its presets dont show it off to its best, but start programming
yourself easy for anyone familiar with analogue synths and you will
achieve wonderful results.
Web www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth
106 | Ableton Live 2013
focus
DAHORNET Mac/PC
Based on the Wasp synth from the 70s, one of the first
affordable synths (affordable because it was basically a bit
rubbish unless you wanted buzzing-bee noises). With
stacks of presets that really will rock your productions,
forget the original and bask in the glory of this one instead.
Web http://nusofting.liqihsynth.com/freeplugins.html
TAL-BASSLINE Mac/PC
Anyone familiar with classic synths will know exactly
which one this is attempting to emulate: the Roland
SH-101. The simple signal path will appeal to synth
newbies, while the sounds themselves will appeal to both
veterans and dance-heads alike fat basses, searing
leads and some real dirt. Its a shame you cant add a
handle and play it while on the move, just like the original.
Web http://kunz.corrupt.ch/products/tal-bassline
focus Ableton Live 2013
| 107
MTF Reviews
Hardware
Software
Mobile Technology
Samples
For PC
& Mac
ABLETON
Live 9 Suite
& Push
Has software and
hardware truly united?
Liam OMullane puts a
new combo to the test.
Details
Price
Push & Live 9 Intro
429
Push & Live 9 668
Push & Live 9 Suite
863
Live 9 Intro 69
Live 9 299
Live 9 Suite 519
Contact
Ableton
+49 302 887 630
Web
www.ableton.com
Key Features
LIVE 9 SUITE
54GB of content,
40 effects, 9
instruments, Max
for Live
Enhanced mixing
devices and new
Glue Compressor
Improved
Browser layout
and functionality
32-/64-bit plug-in
support
Session View
automation
PUSH
Solid build
(weight 2.99kg)
Bright, colourful
RGB pads
4-row LCD display
Touch-sensitive
encoders
Velocity-sensitive
pads with
aftertouch
focus
Excellence
10/10
however: Live isnt the same as other
DAWs, so its wrong to compare them in
such a literal way, feature for feature.
Making introductions
Live 9 comes in three flavours: Intro,
Standard and Suite. As youd expect, the
entry-level Intro has limitations that
reflect its price. These include a small
number of idea spaces in Session View
(Scenes), a maximum of 16 audio/MIDI
9/10
9
9/
10
A full suite
Audio content aside, there are
some other significant
differences between Suite and
Standard. Standard comes
with the same three
sample-based
instrument devices
as Intro, but it offers
much more in terms
of factory content.
Alternatives
For hardware control of software with visual
feedback on the device itself, both NIs Maschine
(483) and AKAIs MPC Studio (350) may suit
your needs. These arent quite as in-depth in terms
of features and flexibility, though. Live 9 could be
purchased alone and used alongside Novations Launchpad S (150),
AKAIs APC 20 (170) or APC 40 (290). These are all a solid choice for
performance control, but they dont cater for expressive musical input in
terms of notes. Other comparable software options are FruityLoops 10
Signature Bundle ($299) from Image-Line and Propellerheads Reason
6.5 (349). These both have very intuitive GUI designs, a healthy library of
sounds and instruments, and are easy to pick up and learn.
Note Box now has reverse, invert, legato (to modify notes end to end) and duplicate loop, which
doubles the loop brace and its content. These all help speed up workflow and encourage creativity.
Max(imum) benefit
While Suites comprehensive features
make up at least 50 per cent of its
attraction, for us the real deal-sealer is
the inclusion of Max for Live. For the
The newcomers
Both Suite and Standard have some
other fantastic new features. Highlights
include Audio to MIDI, the Glue
Compressor and some well thought-out
overhauls of other mixing devices.
ENCODERS
All encoders are touch-sensitive, which enhances the LCD
screens function as it displays relevant material as you work.
a
b
PADS
The main 8 x 8
grid of pads are very
firm and take a while to
get used to. Sensitivity
and velocity curves can
be user-defined.
| 109
Streamliner
Before we look at how Push may
redefine how you interact with Live, well
take a moment to cover improvements
to Live 9s workflow from a
programming point of view.
Session and Arrangement Views are
finally truly united, with automation
that works between both Views for
audio and MIDI clips. It may sound
Pushing on
Other new additions include an Audition
mode for helping you to hear the
frequency band youre working on, and
an Adaptive mode that adjusts the EQ
filters Q width as you change the gain
amount, resulting in a much more
musical sound.
Two other devices to undergo
updates are Compressor and Gate,
which now have graphical feedback on
MTF Your website describes Live as A DAW that makes you think
differently. What feature has changed how you work with Live?
RS Live 9 seems snappier than 8. The new browser is really
speeding up my workflow its much more intuitive than before and
searching for files in the search field is considerably quicker. A
close second favourite new feature would be the visual feedback
you now get from the Compressor, EQ and Gate plug-ins, which also
makes it quicker to get a result.
MTF What in Live 9s new features represents the biggest sonic
improvement for you?
RS That would have to be the oversampling option in the EQ Eight
and Glue plug-ins they add a lovely fidelity. The Glue plug-in is
amazing, by the way. Ive been using the Cymotic plug-in for a few
years now its great to have it so integrated within Live.
MTF Have you explored any Max For Live devices yet?
RS To be honest, Ive mainly been playing with the Max For Live
presets up until now. Ive downloaded a few fun devices
ultraGlitcher and The Granulizator by Design the Media, for example
but havent really got in that deep yet. Im more interested in
eventually making my own stuff, but Max has a such a steep
learning curve. Its very nature as an open-ended piece of software
focus
MTF Verdict
LIVE 9 SUITE
10 /10
MTF Verdict
PUSH
When it comes to mixing, the overhauled EQ Eight, Compressor, Gate and new Glue Compressor
really up Lives game in terms of mixing and controlling your sound to microscopic levels of detail.
9 /10
Method Spot
When youve got a
feel for Lives new
go-to mixing tools,
its a good idea to
store them as a
default for any new
track you create in
the future. Once you
have an audio or
MIDI track as you
would like your
defaults to be,
right/[Ctrl]-click
(PC/Mac) the title
bar of the track and
select Save As
Default MIDI/Audio
Track. Wed
recommend having
all tracks begin
with an EQ for
general frequency
housekeeping
(making use of its
new steep low- and
high-pass filters),
then a dynamic
device, another EQ
for mix-shaping
and a Limiter or
Saturator at the
end to catch any
stray peaks.
| 111
Alternatives
JazzMutants Lemur is
somewhat different in that it
runs on an iPad and controls software
over a wireless connection, but its not a million
miles away from Base and costs $50. Theres a
lot more visual feedback, though you dont get
any pressure sensitivity since youre using only
the iPads screen and not real pads.
LIVID INSTRUMENTS
Base
Custom control
Key Features
32 velocity- and
pressuresensitive pads
with aftertouch
9 touch faders
with multiple
LED modes
8 touch buttons
8 function
buttons
All controls have
RGB lights
USB-powered
and-class
compliant
Constructed
from quality
aluminium and
rubber
focus
Set assignment
The web app behaves much like a
regular app in that it displays the layout
of your hardware and for any given
section allows you to make multiple
configuration settings to alter the
behaviour of the unit. This goes much
deeper than simply assigning notes and
extends to pressure, MIDI CCs and the
way in which the lights on the hardware
behave. The emphasis seems to be on
creating smaller, focused control
setups that can be stored as presets
rather than necessarily DAW-wide
setups, though this is possible using
banks of controls. Youll need an
understanding of MIDI and CCs, of
course, but the layout of the web editor
app is sensible and logical.
You can tweak anything from fader
display modes and the velocity
sensitivity of the pads to button modes
and colours and save these internally.
Livid says that most people use their
Base jump?
This is not a controller for the fainthearted, nor for anyone who simply
wants to plug in and start DJing. Its a
very powerful controller with a huge
depth of programmability and its more
likely that users willing to invest some
time and effort and who have a
decent understanding of MIDI control
protocols will get the most out of it.
The touch elements work well and
remove the risk of damage caused by
transporting the unit, which can be a
risk with knobs and dials that often
protrude from hardware surfaces.
Livid could do with making things a
little clearer, too. The web-only
approach to documentation and
instructions is sensible enough, but at
present everything is a little too spread
out and hard to find. If your technology
is relatively advanced, as this is, you
need to point people clearly in the right
direction at least at the start. Then,
when theyre happily pushing buttons
and lighting lights controlling Live,
theyll be fine. The language of the
support website is of a technical level
commensurate perhaps with the skill
needed to program one of these things
properly, and it can look daunting to
newcomers. Complex doesnt always
have to mean complicated... MTF
MTF Verdict
+ Hugely programmable
+ Solidly built
+ Web app is useful
+ Touch and pressure sensing
+ Save setups onboard
- Firmware update on OSX is fiddly
- Not really for DAW-wide control
An advanced controller with great
potential, though setup and initial
directions need to be clearer.
7/10
Super slides
The saz is similar to a lute in
construction, but unlike the lute its
fretless, which allows much sliding in
its playing style. With seven strings in
three runs (low octave, middle single
and high unison) it sounds somewhat
like a 12-string guitar. Wide, expressive
slides are possible and these have been
sampled on all strings with multiple
velocity layers and 4x round-robin.
However, because each string can be
controlled independently, at first sight
the GUI appears complicated, with
myriad keyswitches and controls.
Nevertheless, its a logical layout that
doesnt take long to get used to.
SOUNDIRON
For PC
& Mac
Acoustic &
Electric Saz
9/10
9
9/
10
Details
Price $229
Contact via website
www.soundiron.com
Minimum system
requirements
Kontakt 4.2.4
Key Features
2 baglama
libraries
Deeply sampled
articulations
Advanced GUI
Full automation
support
Alternatives
Soundiron appears to have pulled
off a scoop with its acoustic and
electric saz library. Theres little
else on the saz but UVI World
Traditions (76) contains a selection of loops
featuring baglamas/saz and other Turkish and
Greek instruments, and saz licks can be found
in Ethno World 5 Professional (359).
Saz pizazz
The saz makes a truly vibrant sound
warm, gloriously twangy and ideal for
featured solo pieces. Unlike when
working with a conventional sampled
Eastern promise
Until now, the saz appears to have gone
largely unnoticed outside of Middle
Eastern cultural music. With the
introduction of sample libraries like this
one, though, that may be about to
change. We wouldnt recommend buying
it to replace a good conventional guitar
VI but we do think it will make a great
accompaniment to one. Its ability to
blend with Western rock styles is a big
plus, and when used imaginatively
(excellent demos are available online),
its capable of adding a new slant to
conventional rock guitar genres. MTF
MTF Verdict
+ Great sound
+ Excellent composition tool
+ Very intuitive
- Fairly complex
Both the acoustic and electric saz
sound terrific and are fairly easy to
learn and play. Whether emulating
Middle Eastern styles or blending
the electric with bass and drums,
superb results are obtainable.
9/10
| 113
Quiet affair
Auto-mute is another interesting
feature. It kicks in after the input signal
has been absent for 30 minutes. We
discovered its actually an auto-standby,
allowing power consumption to drop to
just 0.5 watts. Additional shaping has
been applied to the edges of the front
panel to further reduce diffraction. The
look is certainly more sophisticated and
the perimeter of the front port appears
to have been rounded off, presumably to
minimise chuffing.
Since the new Rokit 5s are likely to
be used with a wide variety of pro,
semi-pro and domestic equipment,
they are designed to cope with a wide
Choice
Rokit 5
9/10
9
9/
10
Key Features
Class-A/B
amplifier
Proprietary
waveguide
optimised for
superior imaging
1-inch softdome tweeter
HF/LF
adjustment
Lightweight,
glass-Aramid
composite
woofer
Front-firing port
XLR, 1/4-inch &
RCA connectivity
KRK
Price 249/pair
Contact Focusrite
01494 462246
Web
www.krksys.com
Alternatives
Behringers B3030A Truth (257
pair) is a two-way active studio
monitor with a 6.75-inch Kevlar
woofer and 2-inch velocity ribbon
tweeter, built-in 75W (LF) and 35W (HF) power
amplifiers, magnetic shielding and
servo-balanced inputs with XLR and 1/4-inch
TRS connectors. The Tannoy Reveal 601A
(286 pair) has a 6-inch (165mm) LF/MF driver
and 1-inch (25mm) soft-dome tweeter, 60W
(LF) and 30W (HF) amplification, trim switch
(+1.5/0/-1.5dB) for room adjustment,
rear-mounted volume control, balanced XLR
and unbalanced jack connectors.
focus
Bass space
Given the enclosure dimensions, the
depth of the low frequencies is
impressive, with frequencies below
40Hz clearly audible. Fans of the
originals will also be pleased that the
slightly enhanced upper bass response
has been retained.
Consequently, some bass
instruments can sound a bit tubby, and
the Rokit 5s dont track more intricate
low bass grooves as well as some more
expensive monitors. Then again, we
found the 2dB and 4dB settings quite
MT Verdict
+ HF & LF controls
+ Auto-standby
+ Impressive image depth
+ No port-chuffing
+ Very enjoyable sound
- Slight upper bass tip-up
- L/R imaging could be sharper
Great-sounding speakers for the
money, with ample power and
user-friendly features.
9/10
Alternatives
Solo oboes are not easily sourced,
but Wallander Instruments
includes nine physically modelled
oboes in its Woodwinds &
Saxophones collection ($329).
Going beyond just woodwind, UVIs truly
extraordinary collection of IRCAM Solo
Instruments ($399) includes a modern oboe.
VSL has a French oboe full (110), extended
(60) and standard (51) available from Best
Service (www.bestservice.de).
For PC
& Mac
8DIO PRODUCTIONS
8Dioboe
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Go solo
Key Features
Emotional
sampling
approach
Single
instrument
patch
Fluid legato
Expressive
control
Express yourself
Tonally, 8Dioboe is rich and assertive,
just the ticket for a solo instrument of
this kind. However, we found it a touch
harsh for passages of a sweeter kind
and it wouldnt be our first choice if
anything of a baroque nature was
required. For writing and recording film
music, though, its ideal, especially for
slower tunes where the use of
expression is paramount.
If you own an orchestral library then
the chances are that you already have a
decent solo oboe to hand thats suitable
for classical work and general
orchestral use. They may or may not
satisfy your expectations in an
expressive sense, that is. If not, then its
worth paying a visit to 8DIOs website,
where you can listen to several demos.
When it comes to solo instruments, its
always good to have a choice. MT
MT Verdict
+ Brilliantly simple to use
+ Fluid legato
+ Natural flow into/out of vibrato
+ Expressive dynamic control
- Minimal articulations
A clever, well implemented virtual
oboe with a vibrant tone thats
ideally suited to film work.
Brilliantly simple to use.
9/10
| 115
For PC
& Mac
Orchestral textures
PROJECT SAM
Lumina
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Price 859
Contact Time+Space
01837 55200
Web
www.projectsam.com
Minimum system
requirements
PC Windows 7
Mac OSX 10.6
Key Features
38.8GB library
pool (75GB
compressed
NCW format)
3 stereo mic sets
for almost all
instruments
44.1kHz/24-bit
audio pool
Kontakt Player 5
license included
focus
Lumination
Weighing in at more than 38GB of
sample data, Lumina is one of Projects
SAMs biggest libraries to date. This
space has been put to good use,
though, offering you three different
microphone positions (Direct, Ambient
Solo performer
Although theres a collection of Legato
Soloists (covering alto flute, oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, soprano, trumpet and
tin whistle) as well as a scattering of
other single-instrument samples,
Epic scoring
Having created such an exciting
product with the first Symphobia,
subsequent editions have had to work
hard to live up to the same standards.
While Symphobia 2 stuck to familiar
territory, its pleasing to see Lumina
taking a different approach, covering
lighter orchestral colours and even
comedy, which is something missing
from the first two editions. As always,
the quality of sampling and mapping as
well as the imagination applied in
creating the product are exemplary. Put
simply, no other sample developers
create such an epic sound, and for that
reason Lumina will be an enticing
proposition for many composers.
Inevitably, though, its hard not to
mention the price, which in keeping with
the other Symphobia editions is around
800. Lumina is arguably a premier
product with a premium price, but given
strong competition from the likes of
Spitfire Audio and Sonokinetic (among
others), its an increasingly challenging
position to take. Only time will tell
MWobbler
Alternatives
Since the release of Albion, Spitfire Audio has done a good
job building on the sound palette and approach defined by
the first Symphobia. On the whole, the Albion series has
been keenly priced, although its scope isnt as broad as that
of Symphobia. Spitfire Audio has also taken some unique moves of the
development of the library, with Albion II (394) focusing on a smaller
string sound, while Albion III (406) addresses the low end of orchestral
scoring. At the moment, though, theres space for all of the libraries, as
each has something slightly different to offer.
MTF Verdict
+ Imaginative sounds
+ Detailed mapping
+ Three mic sets
- Expensive
- Bias towards ensemble sounds
Its an expensive product, but
Lumina delivers a timely new
strand to the Symphobia series.
Perfect for epic fantasy scores,
Lumina is an inspiring and
expressive instrument.
9/10
Value
Manufacturer MeldaProduction
Price 50
Contact via website
Choice
Web www.meldaproduction.com
9/10
9
9/
10
Wobbler, from
MeldaProduction, is a
distorting filter plug-in with
two serial filters, 98 filter
types and a huge amount of modulation
options that can turn a simple sine wave
into a growling monster.
At the heart of the plug-in are the
filters themselves, which range from
simple high-pass, low-pass, band-pass
and band-reject to more exotic formant,
comb, diffusion and polymorph types.
Each one sounds slightly different at
varying frequencies, with further
tweaking available via a Character
slider on certain types. The filters also
have a Drive at the input stage, followed
by tube saturation on the way out,
which, when combined with the global
Saturation and an optional clipper on
the final output gives a total of six
potential stages of distortion.
Key Features
Dual distorting
filer plug-in with
98 filter types
Multiple
distortion and
tube-saturation
stages
LFO and Follower
with sidechain
Hugely flexible
modulation
options
Dual user
interface, preset
morphing and
more
MTF Verdict
A superb sound-design tool with
complex but hugely flexible
modulation options. MWobbler
excels at creating dirty, moving bass
sounds and a whole lot more.
9/10
| 117
Alternatives
The APC 20 (170) from AKAI
is the nearest grid-based Live
controller on the market at around
the same price. It has a smaller 8 x 5
grid, so you see less of Session View than
on the Launchpad. It does, however, feature
fader control, which covers track volume,
pan, send A & B and three user setups. It also
requires a mains power supply.
S stands for...
NOVATION
Launchpad S
Three years after the original Launchpad was released comes the
new and improved version. Liam OMullane charts the changes.
Details
Price 150
Contact Focusrite
01494 462246
Web
uk.novationmusic.
com
Key Features
64 multi-colour
LED buttons with
two brightness
modes
USB-powered
from computer
or iPad
Includes
Loopmasters
samples and Live
for Launchpad
Custom overlay
stickers for FL
Studio
Making a scene
As a direct replacement to the original,
the new Launchpad S looks very similar
to it but comes with added extras. The
grid still functions as before, remaining
based around four modes which can be
switched between using buttons at the
top right of the unit.
Session mode lets you launch
scenes in Lives Session View using
buttons that run down the right-hand
vertical strip. Individual clips can be
launched in the main grid area. When
focus
MTF Verdict
+ Retains all positive aspects of the
original Launchpad
+ New daylight-bright LEDs
+ Much faster LED response time
+ Customisable hardware ID for
easier setup with multiple units
- Pad-and-button-only design is
not a complete controller solution
- Pads not velocity-sensitive
While this could have easily been
named Launchpad v2, the upgrades
are significant improvements that
give the unit a new lease of life.
8/10
Alternatives
For PC
& Mac
HYBRID TWO
Project ALPHA
Key Features
2.3GB+ of
hybrid musical
sound design
200+ Kontakt
patches
Flexible
UI script
Alpha appeal
Compared to many other recent
cinematic offerings, Project ALPHA
seems somewhat modest in size, with
around 2.3GB of data. The library
doesnt use Native Instruments Service
Centre for authorisation, so youll need
to ensure that youre working with a full
version of Kontakt 5.1 to use the library.
Despite the relatively modest install
size, there are more than 200 patches
to play with, all intelligently divided
between 13 or so category folders.
As the sound categories suggest, the
library is oriented towards cinematic
sound design, covering areas such as
Smashing sounds
A key part of the appeal of Project
ALPHA has to be the interface and the
potential for sonic mangling that it
offers. Internal effects cover filtering,
distortion, compression, punch, delay,
reverb and EQ, so that within a few
seconds you can transform a sample
far beyond its original form. Arguably
the best feature though is Project
ALPHAs internal step and gate
sequencer, which is put to great effect
on many of the presets. However, like
our recent experience of Cinematic
Guitars 2, the use of deep and complex
effects chains arguably taxes the CPU
more than some of the more
straightforward sample libraries.
Of course, even with the greatest
user interface on the planet, a library
like Project ALPHA will win or lose based
on the quality of its samples. Having
Cinematic ambitions
Overall, Project ALPHA is an excellent
first offering from Hybrid Two,
demonstrating an enviable knack at
creating powerful cinematic effects.
However, Project ALPHA does enter a
rather crowded market, with numerous
products already covering similar
sounds in an effective way. While Project
ALPHA undoubtedly provides plenty of
new material, itll be interesting to see
how Hybrid Two develops its own niche
in the cinematic sampling market,
especially given the somewhat prolific
release schedule some developers
seem to adhere to. MTF
MTF Verdict
+ Powerful cutting-edge sound
+ Good UI
+ Great tempo-synced sound
+ Deep low end
- Strong competition
- Occasionally taxing on CPU
With a host of superb cinematic
effects and a powerful GUI, Project
ALPHA is an impressive first outing
for Hybrid Two.
8/10
| 119
Details
Price 199
Contact Focusrite
01494 462246
Web www.focusrite.
com
FOCUSRITE
Value
Scarlett Studio
Buying the right kit for your first studio setup is a daunting task.
Liam OMullane finds out if Focusrites bundle is a sound choice.
Getting started
Scarlett Studio is a bundle based
around a 2i2 Scarlett audio interface,
CM25 large-diaphragm condenser
microphone and a pair of HP60
headphones. A three-metre mic lead is
included, so asides from the necessary
mic stand and pop shield for the most
optimum use of the setup you do have
pretty much all the hardware that you
need right out of the box.
focus
Key Features
Direct
monitoring on 2i2
3-metre mic lead
included
CM25 mic is
compact in size
Striking red
colour scheme
Method Spot
Although Direct
Monitoring
switches are
usually included for
getting around
latency issues
inside your
computer, we found
this switch also
removed the need
to learn too much
about how the
internal audio
routing of Cubase
LE 6 works.
Although you
should learn the
software Direct
Monitoring options
in Cubase over time,
this switch will
allow you to
instantly hear the
instrument youre
recording alongside
any other sounds
on playback.
Going in deep
The 2i2 audio interface is a well
featured entry-level unit. It includes two
dual-purpose XLR/jack inputs and the
input stage can be switched between
line or instrument levels on both inputs
independently. Thankfully, this can now
be done via a hardware switch on the
unit itself. Earlier units in the Scarlett
The 2i2 audio interface includes two dual-purpose XLR/jack inputs and the input stage can be
switched between line or instrument levels on both inputs independently.
Balanced bundle?
The HP60 headphones are classed by
Focusrite to be studio-reference,
meaning that they shouldnt glorify the
sound too much. We tried various
genres on them and found the top and
low extension to be quite impressive.
Theyre not by any means a neutral set
of headphones for making high-end
mix decisions on, but they are
reasonably well balanced given the
bundle cost. The most immediately
noticeable thing about them is their
weight and build. We found them to be
incredibly comfortable to work with and
this goes a long way when youre
working late into the night while trying
not to disturb your neighbours.
Ultimate Drums
Manufacturer Sonic Academy
Price 34.50 for all four (9.99 each)
Contact info@sonicacademy.com
Web www.sonicacademy.com
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Alternatives
At 219, the AudioBox Studio from PreSonus
is a direct competitor to Scarlett Studio. It
includes an AudioBox USB audio interface,
M7 mic and HD7 headphones. The included DAW is PreSonus own Studio
One Artist 2. This is designed to be easy to use so absolute novices may
prefer its approach to sequencing and recording. We havent tried out the
hardware though so cannot draw a direct comparison between the two.
MTF Verdict
+ Well-rounded selection of
hardware and software
+ Great value for money
+ Includes all leads
+ Well-rounded selection of
hardware and software
+ Great value for money
+ Includes all leads
A great starting point for those who
want the best quality they can get
on a tight budget.
8/10
MTF Verdict
A superb-value collection of
current-sounding hits and loops
that will have you crafting
club-ready beats in minutes.
9/10
| 121
MTF Reviews
Permut8
Innovation
Choice
Web www.soniccharge.com
EZX Pop!
9/10
9
9/
10
Key Features
12-bit digital
delay with
variable clock
speed
Operator
switches for
adjusting the
read position
Analoguesounding input
and output with
soft clipper
Create unique,
complex glitch
effects and
lo-fi, bit-crushed
sounds
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Manufacturer Toontrack
Price 54.95
Contact Time+Space 01837 55200
Web www.timespace.com
focus
Key Features
10 upfront and
punchy, modernsounding kits
Made from
layered
electronic and
acoustic hits
Includes a range
of percussion
instruments
Processed
through
analogue
hardware
Large range
of MIDI groove
styles
MTF Verdict
A truly original plug-in that excels
at glitch edits and dirty, lo-fi
sounds. The Operators will
potentially confuse some users, but
flicking random switches creates
good results and is great fun.
9/10
MTF Verdict
A great-sounding collection of
carefully layered drum kits that
combines the best of Toontracks
acoustic drum heritage with
punchy electronic hits and bold,
upfront processing.
9/10
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MTF Reviews
Acoustic
Soundscapes
Excellence
10/10
Key Features
3.6GB of
24-bit audio
Apple Loops,
ACID WAV, REX
& Stylus RMX
formats
Huge range of
plucked and
bowed string
instruments
Also available
with 35 Kontakt
instruments and
a custom GUI
Value
focus
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Key Features
361 24-bit loops
213 one-shots
Includes WAV,
Apple Loops and
REX2 formats
All loops at
122BPM
Inspired by 90s
New York House
and New Jersey
garage
MTF Verdict
A huge collection of evocative loops
played on a wide range of string
instruments. We found the simple
riffs a pleasure to work with and
easy to fit into arrangements.
10/10
MTF Verdict
A great-value collection of classic
house loops and sounds with
infectious jackin grooves and a
modern production punch.
9/10
Reviews MTF
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Web www.samplephonics.com
Innovation
Key Features
130 grooves
by Ukrainian
producer Histibe
86 180BPM
Custom Kontakt
interface
Add and edit
slices to the
waveform
Control volume,
pitch, effects
and glitches for
each slice
MTF Verdict
An original-sounding collection of
cutting-edge beats in a range of
electronic styles, combined with a
superb Kontakt interface for
adding your own glitches and edits.
9/10
Key Features
426MB of
24-bit audio
310 samples
across 9
categories
Producerbased sample
collection
MTF Verdict
A well produced pack that
eliminates the need for mix
processing all you have to do is
start getting creative.
8/10
| 125
MTF Reviews
Glitch 2
Manufacturer Illformed
Price 47.94
Contact via website
Web www.illformed.com
Key Features
Flexible grid
divisions and
length per scene
MIDI note
switching of
scenes
Good variety of
effect types
Well integrated
random options
Manufacturer Toontrack
Price 111 (All three EZkeys
instruments now available for 179)
Contact Time+Space 01837 55200
9/10
9
9/
10
Web www.timespace.com
focus
Key Features
Deeply sampled
Rhodes MK1 and
Wurlitzer 200A
electric pianos
Works as a plugin or standalone
Built-in song
track with dragand-drop MIDI
Preview
potential chords
with the chord
selector wheel
MTF Verdict
A great re-design of an already
iconic audio-manipulation tool. The
layout is much improved, making it
even easier to learn.
8/10
MTF Verdict
The same excellent songwriting
features are present, but this time
bundled with some beautifully
sampled Rhodes and Wurlitzer
instruments that are a joy to play.
9/10
Reviews MTF
Cyberstorm
Excellence
10/10
Manufacturer Zero-G
Price 60.95
Contact Time+Space 01837 55200
Web www.timespace.com
Key Features
Futuristic robot
and warfare
sounds
1,300 samples
and 45 sampler
patches
2.3GB of
24-bit audio
Inspired by
Terminator and
Transformers
films
Produced by
sound designer
Frdric
Devanlay
MTF Verdict
and samplers were used for making the
sounds, along with home appliances
and car servos morphed with animal
sounds for the drones.
The level of detail is hugely
impressive, from the clatter of falling
debris to the sounds of mines
10/10
10
iRig HD
Manufacturer IK Multimedia
Price 79 .99
Contact IK Multimedia 01223 234414
Web www.ikmultimedia.com
Choice
9/10
9
9/
10
Key Features
30-pin Dock and
Lightning leads
included
iOS/OSXcompatible
Low noise floor
Input gain
control
Compact design
MTF Verdict
Asides from the headphones
restrictions if you want to move
around, the sound quality is a major
upgrade from the original.
9/10
| 127
MTF Reviews
Vintage Vibe
Manufacturer Big Fish Audio
Price 125 (download or DVD)
Contact Time+Space 01837 55200
Web www.timespace.com
Key Features
97 multisampled
instruments for
Kontakt 5
12GB of audio
Drums,
percussion,
keyboards,
basses and
guitars
Inspired by retro
sounds of classic
rock, R&B, soul,
funk, country
and jazz from the
50s, 60s and 70s
Beat Construction
Manufacturer Samplecraze
Price $15
Contact via website
Web www.samplecraze.com
focus
multi-sampled
with several
layers, and many
have multiple
keyswitches to
change between
different versions.
The guitars and
basses, for
example, have
open and muted
versions recorded
through a DI box as well as through
crunchy old amps for extra character.
All of the instruments bar the drums
share the same Kontakt interface, with
a main page showing the effects plus a
page for portamento controls on the
guitars and basses. Theres also a
Display page that shows you what
keyswitch and sample you are
currently playing. However, it seems a
bit ridiculous having three pages for
these items as everything would have
easily fitted into one.
Many of the patches use the same
raw samples but get their personality
via Kontakts effects, although, if were
MTF Verdict
A great-value collection covering a
broad range of vintage instrument
sounds that will instantly transport
you to the 50s, 60s and 70s.
8/10
Choice
informative text
and the
accompanying
imagery, helping
you to fully grasp
each concept. Everything is explained in
a good deal of depth, so this will be of
interest to entry-level learners as well
as more seasoned practitioners.
There are too many sections to list
here but they all go into good detail,
offering plenty of different solutions
and approaches to the same task, and
the reading is easy thanks to Eddies
casual and unhurried style. He also
explains that it isnt necessarily
designed to be read front-to-back
each section is set out in such a way
that you can jump in without having to
read previous sections.
Whether youre new to the art of
beat-creation or already working at a
more advanced level, theres sure to be
something here for you. MTF
9/10
9
9/
10
MTF Verdict
A very useful educational and
reference tool for both beginners
and more advanced beat-makers.
9/10
ON SALE NOW!
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Search Classic Pop
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FROM
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M AKER S
OF
19/09/2013 14:23
LOOPBLOG
These videos supplied by LoopBlog
include four in-depth tutorials on setting up
Live from the DJ Podcast, how to make a
snare-layering rack from Quantize Courses,
and a review of the Novation LaunchKey by
Producertechs Rob Jones.
LOOPMASTERS SAMPLES
Loopmasters has provided an eclectic
mix of pro samples taken from six of its latest
releases, including Atmospheric Textures,
Capsun Trap, House & Garage Vocals,
Psychedelic Dub Chamber, Lynx Eclectic Drum
and Bass Vol2.
PRIMELOOPS SAMPLES
A hand-picked library of dance floor
beats and riffs in 24-bit WAV format,
including twisted synth leads, growling bass
lines, industrial glitch percussion and
heavyweight drum beats and grooves.
01
04
focus
02
05
03
06
MTF DVD 32
Ableton Live 2013
PROMO VIDEOS
SOFTWARE DEMOS
If youre looking to
supplement Live with
some extra tools, why not
try out the latest
plug-ins? From hi-tech
processors to innovative
new FX machines and
synths, weve rounded up
a range of demo and
freeware software for you
to try out. Youll find
plenty of EQs,
compressors, limiters,
audio analysers, synths,
drum machines, reverbs
and saturation plug-ins
to help craft your tracks.
USING OUR
WORKSHOPS
MTF DVD 32
Ableton Live 2013
COPYRIGHT ANTHEM PUBLISHING 2013
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On the disc
ZIP FILES
To maximise the amount of content we can bring you on
each DVD, the video, tutorial and samples files are
supplied compressed (zipped). Mac users should be
able to decompress ZIP files simply by double-clicking on
them; PC users may need to download a utility such as
WinZip (www.winzip.com).
TUTORIAL FILES
The software tutorials that feature in each issue of MTF
are almost always accompanied by files and audio so you
can work through them on your system. These files are
zipped to reduce the space they occupy on the DVD.
WHAT IS ROYALTY-FREE?
DEFECTIVE DISCS
If your disc is missing, contact us at editorial@anthempublishing.com with your full postal address and the
issue number.
| 131