Music Tech Magazine - Issue 103

Build better-sounding, professional drum tracks, get to grips with additive synthesis and find the latest hardware and software reviews. Reason 5, Cubase 6, Logic Pro and Guitar Rig Workshops. Plus: 4GB of DVD content, the latest news and more.

Publish date: 13 September 2011

Click here to buy this issue.

Issue 103 of Music Tech Magazine is out now in newsagents throughout the UK.

Keep up to date with us on Twitter & Facebook

In the issue…

Music Tech Issue 103 Cover

Features
Drum Production
The drum parts of a track are a minefield of potential errors, which will ultimately affect the power and quality of your mixes. Liam O’Mullane offers up tips and tricks for making successful drum tracks each and every time – while not stifling your creativity.

Harness the Power of Additive Synthesis
Additive synthesis hasn’t gained the popularity enjoyed by other forms, but behind its apparent simplicity lies a whole world of innovative sound design. Robert Alan adds it all up.

Studio Icons: BBC LS3/5A
Accurate monitoring is crucial to getting the sounds you actually want. John Pickford explains how the BBC set the standard…

The MTM Interview: Bob Katz
As an engineer, audiophile, developer and educator, Bob Katz’ contribution to the audio world we know today can not be underestimated. MTM finds out more.

Ten Minute Master
Additive Synthesis
Additive synthesis offers an exciting new palette of sounds, but what are the systems on offer and the principles behind it? Mark Cousins investigates.

Subscribe today!

Get every issue direct to your door

USA and Canada readers - pay $99 for 1 year - that’s just $8.25 an issue! Click here or call toll free on 800.428.3003

This Month’s Workshops
25 Tips For… Cubase 6
Now more comprehensive than ever, Cubase 6 has a raft of new features and functions that even long-time users might struggle to find. Tim Hallas shows you around.
Building Custom Guitar Rigs in Guitar Rig 4
Guitar Rig 4 comes with a good variety of presets, but it’s not until you get under the hood that you fully realise what’s available. Liam O’Mullane is your guide.
Logic Pro: the Modulation Matrix
The Modulation Matrix forms an essential part of the deeper functions and capabilities of the ES2 and EXS24. Mark Cousins enters the Matrix.
Reason 6: Dr.Octo.Rex
Dr.OctoRex can be used to build the foundations of a track or just to add interest and variation, but either way it’s an invaluable tool. Hollin Jones calls it out.

Reviews
New kit coming under the expert eyes of Music Tech’s reviewers include NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Roland Jupiter-80, Mackie Pro16FX, Looptrotter Monster Compressor, Orange OPC, Sugar Bytes Turnado, JZ Mics V12, Avid Sibelius 7, Josephson C42 MP and more…

ON THE DVD - 4GB of Content!

Cinematic Pads (880MB)
The humble synth pad offers many programming possibilities as multiple oscillators or samples can be layered and each can fade in or evolve over time. It’s no wonder that pads are often used to underscore scenes in films as they can provide the perfect balance of detail and simplicity on which to lay sound effects and dialogue. This month’s lead pack comprises ten deep and menacing pad sounds in 24-bit/44.1kHz WAV format with accompanying Kontakt instrument patches. All of the sounds here have been hand-crafted by our synth experts by layering the internal waveforms of a Roland XV-5050 and at times dropping them way below their intended register to create interesting textures and artefacts.

MIDI Piano Loops (184K)
Although hearing a new and exciting instrument sound or loop can often get the creative juices flowing, so too can an interesting melody or chord progression. We’ve got 30 piano and keys MIDI patterns that can be loaded into your DAW and previewed with the instrument patch of your choice. The loops are divided into folders of piano, electric piano, urban piano, Rhodes and Wurlitzer; all feature different styles of playing. Feel free to try them out with a variety of sounds and see what works best for your track – and don’t be afraid to experiment!

Digital Labs Production Seminars
Over the last year, tuition school Digital Labz has been running a series of production seminars presented by some of the UK’s freshest underground talent. They’ve been kind enough to provide 40 minutes of footage covering a wide range of software tricks and mixing techniques from producers Eveson, Inside Info, Wedge and mastering engineer Henry Bainbridge. You can download the full-length videos in super HD for a mere £2.69 from the Digital Labz website, where you’ll also find details of the next event, being held at the Bristol Marriott hotel on Saturday 1 October.

macProVideo Cubase 6
Recent updates to Cubase have turned Steinberg’s DAW into a MIDI machine to be reckoned with. Cubase specialist Matthew Loel T Hepworth covers all bases across 51 chapters in this new tutorial from macProVideo. There are sections on controlling virtual and hardware synths, recording and editing MIDI, quantising grooves and more.

Loopmasters Taster Pack (195MB)
This month we’ve hand-picked six of the finest recent Loopmasters releases for you to check out. Once again there is a wide variety of royalty-free, cutting-edge samples on offer, finely crafted by some of clubland’s top artists and presented in pristine 24-bit WAV format. First up, to accompany the review there’s live funk guitar, grooving congas and soulful keys from the Reel People Vol.4 pack. You’ll also find upfront D‘n’B breaks from DJ Krust, deep house chords and grooves from Alex Niggemann, plus industrial-strength beats from the Bomb Squad. Finally, there are chopped vocal snippets taken from Minimal Tech Vox 2 and some screaming French and Dutch-style loops from the Electro Basslines pack.

Music Tech Focus

On-sale now! Music Tech Focus: Recording

Buy online (£9 UK, £11 Europe, £14 Rest of World inc p&p) or Subscribe online and save 17% on every issue.

Plus - Check out all these other great issues of Music Tech Focus:

Ableton Live 8 Ableton Live 8 Deutsch Native Instruments Mastering Mastering Deutsch Logic Pro 8 Guitar Tech Propellerhead Reason Cubase Pro Tools Ableton Live 7 Music Tech Masterclass

Recent issues...

	Issue 108			Issue 107 This month's live performance special explores the increasingly popular trend of using controllers to put on a stage stage, including an interview with the King of Controllerism Richie Hawtin. Plus: scoring for the big screen and much more!
	Issue 106 How the role of the mastering engineer has changed, and what to expect when taking your band into the recording studio. PLUS: Cubase 6 and Logic Pro workshops, the latest reviews and industry news.			Issue 105 Find out how 10 world-class mix engineers go about their work, why recording a band in a studio can be both rewarding and inspiring, and how to program and beat-slice in Kontakt, make old-skool dance and more.
	Issue 104 Alternative uses for distortion explored, vintage compressors and today’s counterparts, Logic Pro, Reason 6 and Ableton Live Workshops, Metropolis engineer Sam Wheat interviewed, the latest reviews, industry news and more.			Issue 102 Find out what's new in the latest version of Reason, get to grips with scoring for strings, and go in deep with our ultimate guide to filtering. PLUS: Logic, Ableton Live and Absynth workshops, up-to-the-minute news and the latest reviews.
	Issue 101 Master the art of sampling with our in-depth guide to this staple studio technique. PLUS: choosing the right preamp, Trevor Horn interviewed, Logic Pro & Ableton workshops, comping vocal and more.			Issue 100 The instruments, recording techniques and innovations that have brought us some of the most popular productions over the last 50 years. PLUS: Logic Pro, Reason 5 and Live 8 Workshops, how to make dirty bass lines in Massive and much more...