Computer Graphics World- Edition 2

> 15 questions with /  gotsome

15 questions with… Photo: © Khali Ackford

GOTSOME

Bristol-based producer and DJ Adam Gorsky is the face

behind GotSome, and has been releasing bass-heavy

tunes and remixes since 2013. Time for 15 questions…

The track Bassline put Bristolian producer were all pals – they were all like big brothers to and what era it’s come from. I also go as deep as
GotSome on the map in 2013/4, after me. They took me to a lot of parties that I to find out what the artist was into or sampling
being championed by Annie Mac and others. shouldn’t have been at. Then I started at the time when they made the song!
Following that, the Just A Feeling EP led to producing and enrolled in a music school and
collaborations with Wiley and AC Slater and realised I was much better at music production “I’m a very simple and hands-on producer. I
remixes for Sub Focus and Craig David and started a garage alias with my pals called love a vibe, a loop and stacking sounds. If I don’t
among many others. Forget Me Not. We did an EP that got picked up get a vibe from an idea within an hour or so, I’ll
More recently, Adam has been dabbling in by DJ EZ, then things dispersed. So, Alex move onto a fresh idea. I want to work quickly
[Holmes] and I started GotSome. That’s when and easily. Also, I’m not a mix engineer in any
other genres including house, but it seems the Bassline came about and things blew up.” way and I’m useless at mixing down – I’ve never
had the patience for it. I’m super creative and
bass has always been with him… I’ve always found mixing down stunts my
creative process. I get help with my mixdowns
1 How did you get into production? 2 And you DJ as well as production? and always have done. I find this process allows
Adam Gorsky: “The key thing for me was AG: “As a DJ it’s wanting to be inspired by me to work fast and focus on my skillset.”

being young and being from Bristol when drum the music I play whether it’s new or old. It has to

& bass was big – being around that and hip-hop. tell a story or make you feel a certain way. With

Bristol had the cream of the crop in the recording, I come from a hip-hop background 3 How did you specifically get into
computer-based music production?
underground scene, and I just wanted to be so sampling is everything – I spend most of my

involved. I just wanted to save up for some time listening and searching for samples. When AG: “This is a funny story actually. I had that job

turntables and learn how to DJ on vinyl. Back I hear a new song on the radio and recognise a working at a record store in Bristol called

then I used to hang out with a bunch of sample, I’ll spend the day trying to find out Chemical Records. One day one of the bosses

other DJs, guys from Full Cycle and Kosheen; we where it’s been sampled from, what artist it is came in and sacked me. A day later I was feeling

50  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

gotsome / 15 questions with <

really down and my self-esteem was rock 8 Any specific production tricks? played me a DJ edit of the original song by Little
bottom. My pal [drum & bass producer] Danny AG: “One is the way I use samples. Like Louie Vega & India and I never knew it was
Byrd rang me up and told me to buck up and them; I had always thought it was a Peshay
jump on the bus to Bath. We jammed in the with my latest tune, I sampled a kick from an old vocal tune. I found out it had gone from being a
studio together and ended up writing a song deep house record on Strictly Rhythm to then
called Planet Music which later came out on Bugz In The Attic record, percussion hits from being re-sampled into a jungle record in the late
Hospital Records. This spurred me on and a few 90s.
weeks later I enrolled on a music tech course at an old DJ Gregory record and a hi-hat from an
Western College. So a big shout out to Chemical “I wanted to do something different to what
Records for giving me the push. Gutted to hear old Kerry Chandler record. Then I went about Peshay had done on his jungle mix but bring it
it closed its doors a few years later.” back to a house tempo so I could play it in my DJ
trying to make that beat into my own; chopping sets. So I researched how Peshay had done his
process. I re-wrote the chords and re-sampled
cuts and flipping rolls and processing and India’s vocals from the Junior Boys remix, where
the acapella slips and there is an easy and clean
bouncing. When you listen to a GotSome record, sample gap. So this is my flip of the original
song with a nod to my jungle roots and Peshay.”
listen to the collection of samples: you can hear

what I was influenced by at the time, be it late

80s house or a hip-hop jam from the mid-

4 So the college course spurred you on? 2000s. When I was a kid, someone told me to
AG: “As soon as I went to college I picked
pick five of your best records, then find out what

up Logic and wanted to play around on synths they were influenced by. It’s like a musical family

and compressors. I didn’t really have a plan. I tree of samples. It gives you the knowledge of

just wanted to explore noises and soundscapes. the music you’re trying to produce.”

All these techniques I learned at music college I 15 What have you got coming up?
AG: “I’ve been writing throughout the
use now in the way I produce my music.” 9 What is on your wish list gear-wise?
AG: “I’m keen to try out all the new
lockdown, so I’m keen to get back into the

5 Tell us a little about your studio gear Behringer clones plus that new SSL SiX Desktop studio and lay the ideas down. Also, I want to
AG: “I share it with two other producers, so
Mixer – that looks tight AF.” start my record label, not necessarily solely for

there’s also new equipment to play around with. GotSome but for me and my pals to put music

I’m currently messing around on a Roland 10 What would you like to see developed out – a simple grass roots thing and to do small
in terms of studio technology?
Boutique SE-02 synth, a Moog Voyager, a nights to celebrate the latest releases, stuff like

Waldorf Pulse 2 and an Elektron Analog Four.” AG: “I love all the classic old synths but they’re that. The one thing I’ve learnt over the last few

all so expensive. It would be great to see more months: forget the super club and the big raves,

7 How do you put a track together? clones and replicas, more boutique-style synths we’ve got to get back to where this shit started.
AG: “I start stacking loads of drums and
for the kids to use for £200-300.” Small parties with all your mates playing new

synths to get a vibe. After finding a rhythm I’m music. I’m from Bristol and we’ve been top draw

happy with, I look for a hook, whether it’s 11 Any advice from playing live? at this for years, so watch this space!”
AG: “You can be the best bedroom DJ/
something sampled or played in. Then I try and

progress it, maybe with adding a lead sound or producer, but the stuff you learn on the road is

bass riff. At this point I always have a fight with far more important than what you learn in the

myself: does it want to be a kick lead tune or a bedroom. So get out there and do it; failing is

bass lead tune? Then I usually start looking for a just as important as being successful.”

little vocal sample or hit. Sometimes I work with HEAR MORE

singers and sometimes I sample. I love sampling 12 And from working in the studio?
AG: “There are no shortcuts. Most people
but recently it’s slowed me down. Waiting on

samples getting cleared so they can be released you look up to have been doing this for most of

is a stressful thing. their lives, so don’t think it’s a walk in the park.”

“After I’ve got this sorted I start arranging the

structure. I’m firstly a DJ so I make DJ friendly 13 And from the music industry?
AG: “Carry on going even if you want to
tunes; a clean and tight intro and tight beats Bassline feat. The Get Along Gang
bit.ly/gtsmbssln
that are easy to mix in to. Then straight to a give up. Everyone struggles. This industry is full River Ocean
bit.ly/gtsmrvrocn
hook leading to a powerful drop. Roll out either of ups and downs.”
soundcloud.com/gotsomedj
32 or 48. Then back to the hook sample or vocal. twitter.com/gotsomemusic
facebook.com/gotsomedj
I originally started writing drum & bass so I love 14 Tell us about your latest release...
AG: “It’s called River Ocean. I first heard
a good second drop. Sometimes I’ll add an extra

bass or synth line or some extra percussion. I’m this vocal when I was a kid on an old (Good

not a massive fan of long tunes. I usually want to Looking Records) jungle 12’ by an artist called

finish mine off at somewhere between four and Peshay. The song was Vocal Tune, the b-side to

six minutes. I make dance music not film music his classic hit Piano Tune. A couple of years ago

or soundscapes!” I was playing B2B with my mate DJ Die. He

6 What are your five favourite plugins and why?

Cable Guys Shaper Box Valhalla VintageVerb Black Box HG2 TAL Chorus-LX Oeksound Soothe

“I got this two years ago and “My go-to reverb at the “I got this around 18 months “When I wrote The Message, I “I’ve been using this on vocal
used it as a side-chain for moment, as it’s so easy to use. ago, and the first time I used it borrowed a Roland Juno-6 to and harsh drum samples. I
beats and basslines, but then I I love the lush Concert Hall I put it on the drum bus. The write the bass, but came to just whack a sample in and try
delved a little deeper and mode and the three colour drums I had were a little clean the studio to mix it and there and clear up the tops of the
started using the TimeShaper modes, and I always draw for and I wanted to drag them was an edit of the bass that bottom-end rumbles. I
function. It is so much fun, the blue pink 1980s sounds – through a hedge backward didn’t have the right amount sample from films and TV and
when you put full samples in so sexy. I usually put one on and this is the plug to use. I of chorus on it. So I needed a I always find this is great to
and mess around with the drum and vocal bus right love the Air knob and the vintage chorus plug that carve out low-end chit chat so
grooves and shuffles. I love at the start of opening any Density dial; love the raw tube could give me the same all you hear is the main vocal.
this function so much new arrangement. It always sound. Be careful not to go classic sound and stumbled I use Soft mode as it picks up
because you never know makes everything melt into overboard as you can over- across this brilliant free more cuts. I love the EQ
what you’ll get.” each other.” saturate your mix.” plugin. It’s so easy to use.” options too.”

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 51

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Easy Guide 54 80s
flavours
Songwriting
with Dave Clews Nail the distinctive sound of the
1980s! Dave shows you how to
recreate it in your tracks

56 The Filter
Part 1

Modular Scot Solida is back! And he’s here
Masterclass to discuss one of the most
important modular synth features
Monthly synth work
with Scot Solida

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 53

to songwriting

#3 DOWNLOAD

80s flavours Download the accompanying
video and the MIDI/audio files at
filesilo.co.uk/computermusic

The distinctive sound of the 1980s is back! This month, Dave Clews
shares some techniques for recreating it in your tracks

Music technology in the 1980s, went commercial electronic pop music, with tracks But how do you go about getting that
through a transformative period. The such as Blue Monday and Sweet Dreams (Are distinctive 80s flavour into your own tracks?
arrival of MIDI and digital synthesis on the Made of This), spearheaded a radio-friendly This month I’ll be looking at a couple of
scene superseded ‘old-fashioned’ analogue revolution in how popular music was now meant constructive ways in which you can do just that,
equipment such as the Minimoog, and to sound. with sequenced synth basses, blippy arpeggios
sampling and sequencing were on the point and big polyphonic synth chords being the
of revolutionising the way that records would Fast-forward almost 40 years and you only order of the day.
come to be made. have to listen to current releases by Dua Lipa,
New Order and the Eurythmics were just two Lady Gaga or The Weeknd to realise the You’ll find all the synths used in this tutorial
bands whose experimental forays into influence that 80s music is now exerting on in the vault, so dig out your mullets, neon
current releases. shades and shoulder pads, and let’s Jump to it.

>Step by step Creating an 80s-inspired soundscape chord progression using ‘parent scales’

TUTORIAL

FILES

1 To illustrate a few typical 80s-style 2 To emulate an 80s-style, step- 3 In the 80s, compressor sidechaining
sounds and the parts that make them sequenced analogue bass synth part, livened up the dynamics of sequenced
tick, we’ll add some tracks to a project that let’s turn to Synapse Audio’s excellent basslines like this by allowing non-accent
already contains a suitable drum loop. Dune CM. Load an instance onto a notes to poke out in between drum beats.
This was made using sampled sounds Software Instrument track in your DAW Place a compressor across the Dune CM
from a classic 80s sampling drum and select 010 Chorus Bass RL, then track and select the drum loop track as the
machine – the E-Mu SP1200. The tempo of program a sequence of sixteenth notes, all sidechain input. The settings shown dip
our track is 90bpm. with the same length and velocity, on the the bass in volume when a kick or snare
notes C, G, B and F, as shown. hits, giving the bass a pulsating feel.

4 Analogue synth pads are the glue that 5 To really 80s it up, use a slightly 6 Here’s what it looks like if we apply this
holds everything together musically. different voicing on a couple of these to the G major and F major chords. In
Let’s load up u-he Zebra CM and select the chords. Extend a regular triad by adding this case, instead of adding the ninth to
‘JA Subtle Phazor Strings’ preset. To extra notes from the scale, such as the the triad to make a four-note chord, we’ve
thicken up the sound we add a touch of seventh and ninth. If you just add the ninth simply shifted the root note up a whole
compression and one of Logic’s own stock without the seventh, then transpose the tone to make a three-note add9 chord. So
Chorus plugins, then program in some ninth an octave down so that it sits G major (G B D) has become Gadd9 (A, B,
simple triad chords – C major, G major, B between the root and the third, you get an D), and F major (F, A, C) has become Fadd9
major and F major. add9 chord, (G, A, C).

54 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

easy guide / make music now <

PRO TIPS Dave Clews

GATEWAY TO THE EIGHTIES Casio CZ101 and the Yamaha DX7 In a studio career
Other well-used 80s tropes, eventually dismissed as spanning more than 25
clichés at the time, come in handy when trying to evoke Fairlight CMI and Synclavier. Great examples include years, Dave has
the sound of the decade now. For example, gated reverb Native Instruments’ FM8, Waldorf’s PPG Wave 2.V and the engineered,
– allegedly discovered when Hugh Padgham patched a DX7 V, CZ V, CMI V and Synclavier V synths from Arturia’s programmed and
gate over the heavily-compressed listen mic used to V Collection. played keyboards on
communicate with Phil Collins in the drum booth – records for a string of
became a decade-defining effect, used a lot on drums. artists including
Make your own gated reverb effect by heavily George Michael, Kylie
compressing a non-linear reverb tail, then placing a Minogue, Tina Turner
noise gate plugin across it to chop off the release. and Estelle. These
days, he writes articles for and
SYNTHS YOU BEEN GONE other magazines and websites,
The 1980s was also the decade in which innovative new and is the author of Avid Pro Tools
synthesis techniques like FM (Frequency Modulation), PD Basics. Follow him on instagram
(Phase Distortion) and Wavetable synthesis appeared on @electricdave67
the scene. So a great way to recreate the sounds of the
era is to dig out software emulations of iconic synths
from the period like the Yamaha DX7, Casio CZ101,

7 To create an arpeggio part, we first 8 We’re going to use an external 9 Use another Bazille CM’s HS Double
load up an instance of Bazille CM and arpeggiator for this, as would most Tap for a stabby synth part. We’ve
select the ‘3ee Pulsea’ preset. Because the likely have been the case in the 80s. So we copied the chords from the arpeggio
arpeggio we want is a four-note ascending use Logic’s Arpeggiator MIDI FX plugin almost exactly for this part, but played
pattern, we program some four-note with the settings shown, to produce a one inversion higher, and placed one long
versions of the chords. Here we’ve ended simple, ascending four-note arpeggio and three short, clipped instances of each
up with Cadd9, Gadd9, B maj7 and Fadd9 – based on notes within each chord. Finally chord in each bar. The preset’s built-in
with a sneaky Gadd9 tacked on at the end dial in some delay via Logic’s stock delay delay effect creates a syncopated rhythm
to bring us back round to the C. plugin, sent from an Auxiliary send. that interplays nicely with the short chops.

10 Lastly, to get yourself an 80s-style 11 For the part, we’ve come up with a 12 As a finishing touch, we add a hint of
synth hook that might work for a hook that uses a particular technique modulation via our MIDi keyboard’s
chorus or tag section, we load up an for playing monophonic lead sounds – we mod wheel controller on the last note of
instance of Cherry Audio’s Voltage hold down one long note and play shorter each phrase. Mod wheels in the 80s
Modular and select the Wide Modular notes higher up in pitch so that after each almost always controlled vibrato, and this
preset. This is a monophonic lead sound short note, the pitch reverts to that of the sound has been selected largely due to
with portamento applied so that the note long held note. This makes good use of the fact that MIDI CC 1, as transmitted by
pitches glide together. the glide setting built into the sound. the mod wheel, controls vibrato for an
authentic 80s feel.

NEXT MONTH Dave looks at how to put together a great bassline September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 55

Modular

masterclass
with Scot Solida

#04

The Filter – pt 1 DOWNLOAD

Download the accompanying
video and the MIDI/audio files at
filesilo.co.uk/computermusic

The centrepoint of subtractive synthesis, the filter is the subject of
adoration, debate… and this month’s modular synthesis class

When we speak of ‘analogue synthesis’ we digital means. That waveform likely consists of signal’s frequencies that gives subtractive
usually mean analogue subtractive the fundamental frequency, plus harmonic and synthesis its name. But a filter is also often the
synthesis. There are, though, many other inharmonic frequencies. Said waveform is then defining aspect of the instrument being used.
non-analogue forms of subtractive synthesis spat through a filter, which is used to hack away Most readers know that Moog’s synths are
– the typical sampler fits that description. You at those frequencies. The filter’s actions might prized for the rich, characteristic sound of their
see, the ‘subtractive’ bit has nothing to do be defined by modulation sources such as low transistor ladder-based filter circuit. Roland’s
with how a synth makes its sound, but how frequency oscillators, envelope generators, or TB-303 is also liked for the raw, squelchy sound
that sound is manipulated once generated. performance controls like velocity sensitivity or of its filter. Below, we’ll use Cherry Audio’s
In the case of subtractive synthesisers, an keyboard scaling. More on that below. Voltage Modular Nucleus to show a well-
oscillator generates a waveform by analogue or appointed filter module in action.
It’s this hacking away at (or subtraction of) a

>Step by step 1. Frequency flier

TUTORIAL

FILES

1 Cherry Audio’s Voltage Modular 2 To better understand what you hear – 3 Next, scroll up in the Library until you
Nucleus doesn’t give us a lot of choice and see – you can build a simple see the Amplifier. Again, we’re not
when it comes to filters – there’s only one synthesiser patch. Start by going to the quite ready to begin patching. There are
such module in the collection. However, it module library on the left and scrolling still two more modules to bring in. The
has all the features one might need for down to the Oscillator module. Add it to first is an Oscilloscope. This will allow you
most uses. Go ahead and fire up Nucleus your rack. Scroll up to the Filter and add to see the signal as you experiment with
and click the New button in the upper-left that one. Don’t patch them together yet – the Filter. Find that module and add it to
to clear the rack. we’ll get to that soon enough. your rack.

4 Finally, bring in an Envelope Generator 5 Go to the CV Sources panel up top and 6 Each of our Oscillators’ outputs
and drag it over to the left of your run a cable from the Gate down to the produces a different waveform, and all
Amplifier. This will allow you to trigger Envelope Generator’s Gate In jack. We can but the two on the left have different
sounds. Let’s begin patching. First, patch now trigger the envelope with MIDI. Patch harmonics. Let’s run a cable from the
the Amplifier’s ‘+’ Output to the the Envelope’s positive output (on the bottom-left output to the Filter’s Audio In
Oscilloscope’s Input A jack. Run a second right) to the Amplifier’s CV Amount. Patch jack. Next, we’ll run a cable from the
cable from the Amplifier’s ‘+’ Output to the the CV Source’s Pitch to the Oscillator’s Filter’s low-pass output (the leftmost one)
1L(M) jack in the Main Outs panel up top. Pitch CV jack. to the Amplifier’s Input.

56 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

modular masterclass  /  make music now  <

PRO TIPS Scot Solida

THE TOPPERMOST Michel Jarre fans. Today’s modular synthesist has access Scot is a synthesist,
The various filter modes and slopes available to the to numerous filter designs, each with a specific character. sound designer and
module in play – high-pass, low-pass, band-pass – are audio engineer of
discussed below. These functions are common, but the FILTER THIS? international repute,
circuits designed to produce them play a big role in a Though we’re discussing filters as used by synthesists, and has provided
filter’s character. Moog’s famous filter, say, made use of a note that the graphic equaliser in your grandad’s prized factory presets for
‘transistor ladder’, so called because of how the matched car stereo system was also a filter, albeit one with control many of the music
pairs of transistors were arranged in the design. This was over a number of pre-determined – or ‘fixed’ – software industry’s
cutting edge when Bob Moog patented it, and it’s inspired frequencies. But wait! Don’t some modular systems have most acclaimed
countless designs (and rip-offs) since. And for good modules called ‘fixed filter banks’? Indeed, and they synths, samplers and
reason – Moog’s filter sounds great with its full, meaty low perform the same function as old Peepaw’s Blaupunkt. drum machines, not to
frequencies, and powerful resonance boost. mention plugins from the cm
Our next filter variant is the vocoder. Vocoders use Studio. On rare occasions, he
Other synth makers took different paths to roughly multi-band filters to split a signal into various frequency manages to find time to make
the same destination. EMS’s venerable VCS3 and Synthi A bands which, in turn, drive multiple envelope followers to records for Beta-lactam Ring
(the same synth, different packages) used a ‘ladder’ impart each band’s shape onto another signal. Records under the name Christus
design as well, this one made of matched pairs of diodes. and the Cosmonaughts.
The result is less precise than the Moog filter, but there is Want more examples? How about a wah-wah pedal
a fuzzy squelch when the resonance is cranked that is (based on a resonant band-pass filter)? Or the talkbox.
instantly recognisable to Hawkwind, Gong, and Jean- Often mistaken for vocoding, the talkbox’s filtering is
actually provided by the user’s mouth!

7 Go ahead and trigger a note – any 8 You’ll note that the sound becomes 9 Using the low-pass output (the
note – from your MIDI controller. You less bright as you reduce the Filter’s leftmost output), reducing the Cutoff
will hear the Oscillator’s ramp waveform. Cutoff. If you look to the Oscilloscope, reduces the high frequencies, allowing
You’ll also see its shape depicted in the you’ll see that it also slowly loses its shape low frequencies to pass through. The high-
Oscilloscope’s display. Currently, the Filter until it becomes a sine wave and then… pass (rightmost output) does the reverse –
is not affecting it in any way. Find the silence. Try switching to the Filter’s other it allows the highs to pass, filtering out low
Filter’s Cutoff knob. Play and hold a note, outputs and see how they affect your frequencies. The band-pass (middle) filters
slowly turning that knob anti-clockwise. ramp waveform. anything lower or higher than the Cutoff’s
currently dialled-in frequency.

10 Let’s return to the low-pass output. Set 11 Go back to your 24dB Slope. Now, set 12 Turn Resonance back down and the
your Cutoff to around 400Hz. Play your Cutoff to around halfway. Find the Cutoff fully up. Switch the Osc’s output
and hold a note while paying attention to Filter’s Resonance knob and play and hold to the sine wave (second from right). Play
its sound and shape. While holding the a note. Examine the waveform as you a note and turn the Cutoff. It doesn’t do a
note, switch the Filter’s Slope from 24dB gradually increase the Resonance knob lot. That’s because it has nothing to grab
over to 12dB. The Slope determines how until it’s set fully clockwise. Resonance hold of – the sine wave has no harmonics –
aggressively the filter works on the (also called ‘Q’ or ‘emphasis’) boosts the only the fundamental frequency. Keep
harmonics immediately surrounding the level of the currently selected cutoff experimenting until next issue when we
selected cutoff frequency. frequency. take a deeper look at filters.

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  57

THE
PROFESSIONALS

Want to make money from your music? Ever thought
about scoring video games or movie trailers? We speak
to the producers and sound designers behind the
soundtracks for games like Final Fantasy and trailers for
Blade Runner 2049 and Avengers: Endgame…

We’re used to talking to producers in
Computer Music, but this month we’re
featuring three interviews with
composers from other very different
walks of life, but from careers that might
be more lucrative in terms of making
money from your music. So if you have
ever wanted to be a sound designer, have
your music in video games or in films,
read on for some top tech chat and
advice from experts who have scored
video games like Torchlight and trailers
for Blade Runner 2049 and Avengers:
Endgame…

58  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

the professionals  /  interview  <

The Movie Trailer Composers

Vikram Gudi and Richard Schrieber are award-winning composers who have scored
countless movie trailers including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame,
Top Gun: Maverick and Blade Runner 2049. Together, they run the music school
Protege which teaches musicians their winning formula to create music for picture.

In 2012, Vik founded Elephant Music in LA, an independent production company
that produces music for movie trailers. He has produced no fewer than 700 songs
and more than 60 albums’ worth of material for Elephant and has won countless
awards including two Clios for the Ready Or Not and A Quiet Place trailers.

Richard specialises in darker, more organic trailer cues and has scored the gritty
soundscapes for British horror Truth or Dare, epic hybrid orchestral music for
Japanese blockbuster Tenku No Hachi, and uplifting pop for the dramatic short film
Quietus. He has also had his music licensed around the world for TV shows
including UFC, Got to Dance, and Catfish and has written music for clients including
Google, IBM, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler and Unilever.

Computer Music: Tell us a little about your formed a couple of bands at school and then
musical backgrounds learned about electronic music and DJing while
Vik: “I had trumpet and guitar lessons at a very studying engineering at UCL, finally ending up
young age but my enthusiasm initially grew with doing an audio engineering diploma post grad. I
singing in the choir. I was surrounded by Indian started producing beats and using Logic and
classical music as a child as my uncle was a Ableton for another five years before my first
famous singer – Madhava Gudi. My cousin was break in the music industry.”
also a movie star in India, so Bollywood songs Rich: “I grew up being exposed to lots of music,
chimed around my house every day. My school a kind of mix between pop cheese and film score
was selected to sing with Phillip Schofield and (which kind of explains my own taste). At the
Andrew Lloyd Webber in Joseph and the age of 10 I asked for keyboard lessons, which I
Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat; I was only 10 really enjoyed, but it was not until I discovered
but I already knew music was the one for me. I the guitar and the Smashing Pumpkins that
picked up a guitar for my 15th birthday and music became a huge part of my life and my

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  59

> interview / the professionals

identity. I immersed myself with all things guitar gained some traction, so Vik decided we should
and rock and loved finding out how things were do an album of tracks like it. What came out was
written and played. It still amazes me to this day a track called Syndrome which Vik produced
the variety of music that we can create from the with me and it is still one of my favourite tracks.
same few musical notes. I then discovered that I Because of the sounds I had chosen and the
could make up my own music and record it on a extra elements Vik requested I put in to the
tape machine. That’s when something clicked track, it got picked up for Mother! (and many
and I fell in love with writing music and more placements after). It was so rewarding
exploring sound.” because it came from a place of play; having fun
with sounds and textures and not being swayed
: How did you first break into professional by the rules of trailer music.”
soundtrack composition?
Vik: “My first ever gig was for a friend from uni. almost turned into a joke with some of my : Why do you think people approach you to
His post grad architectural video needed a clients. We ended up landing six trailers score their work?
soundtrack, a film about a dystopian London including the main one for the film. I still feel Vik: “We have an incredibly original and gritty
which had been taken over by trees. The film blessed to have won that one.” sound, which we have been perfecting for some
ended up winning an award and I got to hear my Rich: “My highlight was landing my first big time. Our music is also very honest and
piece in the Prince Charles cinema in London. I trailer for Men In Black 3 which was a ‘trailerised’ emotional and we don’t really follow trends. If
have been hooked ever since.” version of Danny Elfman’s original theme. That anything, we make extremely experimental
Rich: “Mine was a piece I had written for a short was a huge fanboy moment for me: recording albums which often flop in the first year, then
film. The director asked for something like the my music with an orchestra for a Japanese get picked up after a few years when people are
Lost score. At that point I had never even heard looking for originality.”
of Lost and couldn’t find the score anywhere, so Rich: “Yeah, like Vik says, we really do have a lot
I made it up! The piece wasn’t used, but it got the of fun pushing the boundaries and we also work
attention of a young music consultant at Boosey
& Hawkes who then signed me up as a “I wanted to get music on the Blade Runner
composer and it was the track that not only 2049 marketing campaign so bad it almost
landed my first placement (a Hewlett Packard turned into a joke with some of my clients”
viral campaign), it then went on to land a
national TV ad that brought in my first five-
figure pay check!”

: What have been some of the highlights movie. Another was winning the Music & Sound very organically together making the process
since then? Award for my music on the Mother! TV spot. And very quick and easy. We trust each other’s
Vik: “Two trailers spring to mind: Avengers: then bringing in enough placements to quit the musical intuition and knowledge which really
Endgame and Blade Runner 2049. Blade Runner day job and do this ‘full time’ (I only work a few brings the best out of our work.”
was so important to me growing up, and the hours a day.)”
music of Vangelis became an obsession for me : How does the process of scoring a trailer
in my 20s. I knew Blade Runner was in : And you work on tracks together? usually work in terms of your brief, the
production for some time. In LA they are all Rich: “The Mother! TV spot was a wonderful one amount of time taken and delivery?
given codenames. I found out which houses and highlights the great working relationship Vik: “It varies a lot. Trailers are always last
were working on them and started blasting Vik and I have. We had released an album that I minute, partly due to the competitive nature of
them with tracks for the next month. I wanted to had used a cello on. That single cello sample had the trailer houses and internal competition.
get music on the marketing campaign so bad it Everyone is trying to outdo each other on speed
and quality so we are expected to deliver within
24 hours or sometimes on the same day. We are
lucky that we won with the best music
supervisors in the business so the briefs are
always detailed and spot on.”
Rich: “It depends on whether it is custom or not.
If it is custom it’s all about nailing the brief as
quickly as possible and then hoping that the cut
your track is on gets chosen. For the production
music side of things we really do just look at
what films are coming out and what might be
called for. We then do our own thing with all that
in mind.”

Spifire Albion, Spitfire BBC Symphony : And how does it vary when scoring a
Orchestra, Rode NT1A, Shure SM7B bigger film?
Rich: “This depends on the size of the project
and who you are working with. I have had films
where I have scored the whole thing and right at
the last minute the director has then asked for
me to re-score it again as his vision had shifted.
Other times, the movie Tenku No Hachi for
example, it can be a wonderfully simple process;
they give me a list of the cues they want in what
moods, what tempos and what instruments. I
then write them and they get put in the film. Job
done. If you can build the relationship with the
creative decision-makers (directors/producers/

60 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

the professionals  /  interview  <

Rich preps for an
online class with his
RØDE Podcaster
mic (and
Beyerdynamics
DT770 cans)

editors) it really does help because you then Rich: “My Rode NT1A mics do everything I need. : Tell us about your joint venture Protege?
begin to understand each other’s choices. It also Admittedly, I’m not fussy about the sound but Vik: “It’s a unique online school where we
helps a lot when you are hired for the sounds they really do give me a great representation on started to teach young composers everything
you make and what you bring to the table. They all the sounds I record. Software-wise, Logic we know about making placement-worth tracks
have always made for the smoothest and most aside, I would have to say that Spitfire Audio’s that we would then pitch to our network of
fun jobs.” Albion (the original release) was an absolute contacts and clients. We have had success
game changer for me and I still use it on almost training aspiring composers and then giving
: Tell us a little about the hardware and every project I work on.” them real world opportunities, so we wanted to
software in your studio? turn this into something that has much more
Vik: “Logic Pro X is my DAW of choice. I use Vik and Rich have come together to establish online impact. Protege not only teaches them
Spitfire Audio’s BBC Symphony Orchestra and music school Protege everything we know from the composition,
Chamber Strings, plus the full Native production, and business side of the music
Instruments Komplete suite. I own lots of industry, but it then gives them the chance to
guitars including a vintage Les Paul. I use a have their music published and placed and
Shure SM7B and Rode NT1 for most of the earning them money.”
recording and a Native Instruments Komplete Rich: “For Protege we are going to be spending
Kontrol as the keyboard.” the next year building the careers of our
Rich: “It’s Logic all the way with me too – on an students; improving their output and serving
old Mac Pro. I have lots of libraries from Spitfire them opportunities to make a living from their
Audio, Native Instruments, and Spectrasonics, a work. This is going to grow organically and be a
few Rode NT1A mics plus an Alesis MIDI really beautiful thing. We kind of created
keyboard. And I do it all on headphones Protege for our younger selves, to share our
(Beyerdynamic DT770). We don’t want people to combined knowledge and expertise and our
think they need loads of expensive gear to do many opportunities. We want other composers
what we do. If you have a computer, a DAW, a to share this with us. You get guidance, support,
mic or two, and a sampler, you are sorted!” learning from award-winning tutors and then
continued chances to get your music on TV,
: What are your favourite studio items? films and trailers.”

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  61

>  interview  /  the professionals

The Sound Designer

Dylan Levitt is a senior sound designer at Sound Lab, which
specialise in creating custom sound design for movies,
video games, TV shows and location-based entertainment.
Sound Lab has been involved in huge projects including
the Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Gears of War, Fable and Epic
Mickey franchises, and with developers including Riot, NC
Soft, Tencent and Square Enix. Dylan’s role can be as varied
as supplying ‘real’ sound effects for a film or game
character’s movements, or imaginary audio, created in
software for creatures in fantastical environments

Computer Music: Explain the concept behind : How did your career progress when you Dylan: “That is very much a part of it. You’ve got
sound design… started at Sound Lab? to know the game. I’m working on one now
Dylan: “There are two major philosophies: one Dylan: “I started out as an assistant, mostly where I’ve been playing it solo in a test world for
goes back to the famous film and sound editor organising our server and sound library, quality- a while but am now playing it with other players.
Walter Murch who coined the term ‘sound controlling stuff that went out to clients. As I As the game progresses and we are able to play
design’ – which is essentially how the sound in a was able to show my skills to [renowned with other people, it becomes super insightful
film develops over time. He did the sound for Hollywood sound designer] Scott Gershin, they and makes a lot more sense. They [the game
Apocalypse Now and would write on paper gave me more and more editing jobs which was developers] will sometimes build us a ‘test
where certain elements would fade in and out super helpful as it made me very, very room’. We had one game where they built a
and how they would blend, like the scene with organised. Consequently I’m able to turn world for us that was every imaginable surface
the ceiling fan turning into a propeller.” quicker than some of my peers because I know in a line so you could walk on the grass and then
the whole process of how everything comes in the snow, mud and dirt and hear as it
“On the other side, there is Ben Burtt at and exactly how we deliver to the clients – it’s a transitions. So, yes, playing the game is a huge
Skywalker Sound, purely coming up with things good place to start.” part of knowing what to design for it.”
that don’t exist in our world – things that sound
awesome. It’s not just a metal clank, it’s a metal : Now you are a senior sound designer, : What is the main difference when doing
clank that you put through a couple of effects what does a typical project entail? sound design for a film?
boxes, then layer it with a door slamming and a Dylan: “It’s different for every project. With a Dylan: “Working on a film, the process is a lot
fire woosh, creating this huge, awesome thing. game, we can be involved at a very early stage more ‘known’; it’s usually pretty straightforward.
That is using sound over time to tell a story.” and we’re integrating into their game engine You start getting rough cuts in from the picture
and submitting ideas. We might have budget to department and then reels and there’s a script; a
: When did you become interested in do sketches where we make a video capture of very regimented process. Games are getting
sound design? some early animations and work against that, more cohesive in that way but they have more
Dylan: “As a high school theatre techy doing or even get involved before they’ve had a variation in how they come together. It’s non-
lighting and sound. I found a Sound Design chance to dump any art into the game – they stop. With a film it goes from a pre-production
program at The Savannah College of Art and might just have a very early sketch. We like to to production to post production to release.”
Design. It was specifically for sound in movies, be a part of the project as early as we can, but
but they also had a Sound For Games program sometimes we are brought in close to the end!” : Tell us about how you come up with
and I thought, ‘that’s what I need to do’.” sounds; we’re guessing you record a lot!
: So you will be playing a game and Dylan: “Most of us sound designers have a
“We did dialogue editing, effects editing, literally filling it with sound?
event sound design… They had an intro through
advanced courses, even courses on the history, “I know the whole
all the way back to early human communication
and the history of the various companies that process of how
have built our industry. I got my undergraduate
degree and a master’s degree which was more everything comes in
focussed in game audio, VR and that world.”
and exactly how we
“After, I went straight to work for Sound Lab
and moved to LA when Sound Lab was a part of deliver to the clients”
Technicolor. We’ve now been a part of
Keywords for three years which own facilities
around the world for voiceover and game
localisation and testing, which is a huge part of
its business, and we’re its sound design
focussed group.”

62  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

the professionals / interview <

Cockos Reaper is big in the game world systems. But Reaper is also very popular in the my own demo cuts I was constantly checking:
game world – it does super-powerful, amazing ‘Does what I’m doing hang out with all this? Is it
couple of mics and recorders at home, and have things. We also use Soundminer which is our up there, does it whoosh and explode and have
friends who go out and record all the time. Part library database software. We have a standard the right emotional impact?’”
of the job is to maintain your own library of set of plugins for all our rooms and then people
recordings which is constantly growing, either bring their own iLoks in with some crazy stuff : So almost like having a signature sound.
by acquiring weird things you hear in your they have worked with at home. I love [Native Do you recommend having a show reel too?
house or you might get a couple of friends Instruments] Kontakt which is super-powerful Dylan: “Pretty common in the industry is a test
together and record. Then when you get a really for sound design. Whenever I know I’m going to that we give almost all of our new hires. We send
big project, like a big film project, there is be working on this one creature for maybe two them a one-minute video with a whole bunch of
budget and time to go and get specific sounds.” weeks, I’ll take a couple of days at the beginning, different things in it, like there’s a soldier and a
put a whole bunch of different samples of things big alien comes through the door and he’s
: So that’s your first sound design I think could work well together on a keyboard rolling and they’re shooting at him and he roars.
definition, what about the second, creating patch, and mingle them together to create a So it’s a quick one-minute test, like, ‘OK, can you
the ‘ear candy’? performance and figure out my creature that do sci-fi with soldiers and creatures?!’. Having
Dylan: “For us, because all of our studio rooms way. The iZotope Creative Suite has also been your own reel is great, but if it’s just like a ‘walk
are in between the worlds of film, television and amazing. We used Ozone on a lot of Foley and talk’ TV drama and you want to work at
games, we’re all working on Pro Tools HD mastering stuff and have switched over to using somewhere like Bungie, they are going to want
Neutron 3 as it is very much effects focussed.” to hear more, so they’ll send you a test. It gives
you an opportunity to really show them: ‘hey
: What advice would you give anyone this is me going all out’.”
wanting to steal your job?
Dylan: [Laughs] “If they want to steal my job : Finally, what projects have you worked
they just have to do it and do it a whole bunch. on that you are most proud of?
Listen to what is out there and being done. Dylan: “For me as a gamer, I’ve been pretty
Constantly compare yourself. This can be hard happy to be a part of League Of Legends – to
but listen to your stuff against other stuff, like I even touch that game in a small way. We did the
have a Pro Tools session of clips, little moments Final Fantasy opening cinematic sequences and
in game or in film that just sound awesome. every time we get anything from [FF developer]
Early on when I was looking for gigs and making Square Enix, it’s exciting.”

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 63

>  interview  /  the professionals

theme [as used in the Torchlight II] were almost
pre-determined, just because that’s an easy way
to remind players of one of the signature
elements (I hope at least) of Torchlight II.”

: What were the biggest challenges

working on the game?

Max: “One of the biggest challenges is that

Torchlight III has completely different tech than

Torchlight I & II. Most of the team is different as

well, so we had to adapt to both using the Unreal

Engine and working with different engineers.”

Matt: “For me, Torchlight III was a crazy jumble

of things, like everything from real orchestra

with 90 pieces and an exotic diatonic folk

instrument to just me and my guitars and

Vienna samples. The challenge was making that

crazy gumbo of source into a coherent mix that

made the game exciting in the right spots. For

example, the title/fort theme we

currently have was created almost

The Game Composers as a demo by me, with perhaps 30
hours of work into it, while we have
tracks buried deep into the game
that have multiple layers where a

single layer with hundreds of

labour hours into it, from arrangers,

Matt Uelmen is a US musician, composer and sound orchestral musicians and so on, is

just one slice of one action piece.”

designer, who specialises in audio for PC games. Max : Talking of the orchestral side of the
Schaefer is the co-founder of Runic Games and CEO of soundtrack, how much is ‘real’ and how much
Echtra Games. They’ve been working on music together in the box?
for 25 years, including for games that defined the action Matt: “The opening ten minutes is a good
role-playing game genre, like Torchlight I and II, Diablo I and example of that being impossible to answer,
II, and, most recently, Torchlight III because it is almost an even mix of real live
orchestra and sampled orchestra. The opening
Computer Music: Tell us about your music Max: “The world of Torchlight is completely boat pan and title theme are all real players, the
background? different than what Matt is most famous for, the town fight is samples but with sloppy live snare
Matt: “I grew up in a musical household, all five Diablo series of games. Where Diablo is dark, drum, the opening action sequences are mostly
people in my immediate family, which includes grim, and gothic, Torchlight is light, colourful, samples but with plenty of live guitar, then,
another professional musician, can play some and has a sense of humour. Torchlight III in finally, when you are peaceful in town, you hear
keyboard. I was very lucky to have had the idea particular adds a more grandiose scale than the full live orchestra sessions which was the
of trying to focus on video games back when the previous iterations, with more of a concrete centrepiece of what I was trying to do with
everything about the video game development world and history, so Matt had to capture all this release.”
and music worlds were incredibly of that.”
uncompetitive compared to today.” Matt: “I was involved in Torchlight III fairly early “Then, even later in the game, is a mix, with
on in its development. My brief, in particular, the music in Act 2 being 90% samples, and some
: How did you get into writing music for was also to push the interactive elements live electric guitar, and Act 3 having the big
games professionally? possible with current off-the-shelf audio action pieces structured around live sessions.
Max: “Matt gave us no choice. After applying for middleware, such that the soundtrack was So, a mix throughout, with live orchestra
our job opening, he hounded us daily until we genuinely interactive, and used genuinely featured in our big boss fights, too!”
realised the path of least resistance was simply random elements. I’ve had live elements in
to bring him on board. 25 years later, I can say previous projects, but I’ve never been very : What software do you use?
that was a good decision.” ambitious in terms of doing truly interactive Matt: “I keep things very caveman-simple. I just
Matt: “What he said!” tracks, so this was a good example of the fact use Logic, Vienna samples and Omnisphere 2 on
that no two projects are alike. my main production rig. However, I have
: What kind of music brief would you get recently purchased Reaper and have an open
with a game like Torchlight III? “It’s been satisfying to hear it demoed when mind about it, which is on my other rig.”
a real dynamic track comes together, but it has
had the laborious aspect that comes with Which are your favourite plugins for game
learning a genuinely new art form. I think it’ll be music composition?
somewhat standard as a production approach Matt: “I am incredibly unhip on all plugins, but
in the future (and already is to some degree in almost consciously so; I like most of the creative
video games), but it’s still a real challenge when decisions the designers at Vienna and
you want a ‘good’ pianissimo and ‘good’ Spectrasonics make, and usually anticipate
fortissimo on the exact same track at once. having a sweetening/mastering pass from my
producer Erika, who has younger and better
“I also wanted to try to keep continuity going ears than me!”
from the previous Torchlight games, and to try
to give the different slices their own : What would you like to see developed in
personalities. So, things like using the Smetna terms of studio and recording technology
and why?
Matt: “The main thing I want for studio
technology is totally ridiculous: a slightly
circular 128-key keyboard in a nice frame, just so
I feel a little more like a crazy scientist.”

64  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020



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The latest computer music gear tested and rated!

68 ARTURIA OB-XA V Our promise

The latest emulation from the French plugin supremos will We bring you honest, unbiased
appraisals of the latest computer
have you Jump-ing for joy at the 80s sounds on offer music products. Our experts apply
the same stringent testing methods
to all gear, no matter how much
hype or expectation surrounds it.

What the
ratings mean

1-4 A seriously flawed product

that should be avoided

5 This product’s problems

outweigh its merits

6 A decent product that’s only

held back by a few flaws

7 Solid. Well worth considering

8 Very good. A well-conceived

and executed product

9 Excellent. First-rate and

among the best you can buy

10 Exceptional. It just doesn’t get

any better than this!

70 72
Rob Papen Hit’n’Mix
Quad Infinity

74 75 76
Baby Audio Mini reviews Soundware roundup
Comeback Kid
A product has to really If the product In the opinion of the
Awarded to products impress us with its exceeds expectations Editor, the best product
that challenge existing functionality and for its price, it will reviewed in the
ideas and do something features to win this one receive this gong magazine this month
entirely new

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 67

> reviews / arturia ob-xa v

OB-XA V SEARCH MENU JUMP! ADVANCED PANEL
Clicking this opens Opens comprehensive Just in case you’d forgotten, the synth Opens up extra effect
up preset saving/ preset search options loads up with that (bloody) sound and modulation options
export and window
resize options

MASTER MIDI
The section for LEARN
global controls Hit this to
and includes a place the
Chord feature synth in
MIDI Learn
VOICES mode
To set Unison, ENVELOPES
Spread and Both filter
Detune options and loudness
options here
BASIC
MODULATION E
LFO modulation
options here
(more advanced
options in the E

Advanced DIRT! OSCILLATORS LOWER TOOLBAR FILTER SECTION
panel) Someone’s not washed Extra waveforms and For CPU usage, Again, you get more
FM options from the polyphony mode and modulation options in
their hands. Extra OB-X can be found here MIDI channel the Advanced Panel
virtual dirt right there

Arturia

OB-Xa V €199

‘Growl… da… da… da… da-da… daa… da… da… da da daaaa’. Now you too can
recreate one of the most ‘iconic’ synth intros of all time. But please don’t

There’s been a decades-lasting joke among this new OB-Xa V plugin hits that growl intro X versus a versus V
members of the Computer Music team – and chord, and plays that (bloody) riff… But if you
indeed between us and many other music gear can, look past that intro – and apologies for The original early 80s synth that this emulates
magazines – that whenever we attend a music planting it in your ear for the rest of the day – as had a 2-oscillator design, with 4, 6, or 8-voice
equipment show, we are guaranteed to hear the OB-Xa was used on many other tracks and options. Whereas its predecessor, the OB-X, as
someone, usually of middling age, either by artists as diverse as Talk Talk and Prince. And mentioned earlier, was more raw and
demoing or auditioning a new synth by playing to seal its approval in our eyes, Gary Numan aggressive, the ‘a’ refined things a little as its
the intro to Van Halen’s Jump. At least five times. once cited it as the ‘best analogue synth ever’. internal circuitry became more integrated,
A day. And considering we’ve been going to although the newer synth did offer more flexible
gear shows for two decades now, that’s an awful “Its seal of approval in 2 and 4-pole filtering to bring back some of that
lot of times that we have heard that intro. It’s fair our eyes is that Gary aggression. The ‘a’ also delivered more presets
to say, then, that when we finally get to review Numan once called it and keyboard splits, although it did drop the X’s
an emulation of the synth behind it, the the ‘best analogue FM modulation option (where one oscillator
Oberheim OB-Xa, you can surely understand synth ever’” could modulate the frequency of the other) in
that we are approaching said review with some favour of pulse width modulation.
trepidation. Actual anxiety and shaking, if you
must ask, and even the ‘fact’ that some say the With OB-Xa V, however, Arturia have supplied
actual synth used on Jump was actually the both modulation options, and of course those
OB-X (the ‘a’’s predecessor), doesn’t calm us polyphonic restrictions have been lifted, so you
down at all, especially when the very first video get up to 16 voices. While the exacting sound of
we stumble upon on Arturia’s website demoing the original has been adhered to thanks to
Arturia’s TAE® (True Analog Emulation)
technology, the Grenoble-based company have

68 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

arturia ob-xa v  /  reviews  <

“You can enjoy the
purity of the original
and explore the more
modern options at
your leisure”

taken the opportunity to add some other The Advanced Panel opens up very easily for Modulation and Effects options
features – and why not? You therefore get four
waveforms per oscillator (over the two on the Advanced Panel options The Modulation options are fantastic,
original), additional modulation options, nine with up to four envelopes (selectable
effects, up to eight voices of unison, an If there’s one criticism that has been from the middle screen) that you can
arpeggiator, stereo spread plus greater LFO and levelled at Arturia’s emulations over assign to most parameters by way of
mix flexibility. While you could argue that it’s not the years it’s that they can sound rather destination drop-down menus. You get
an exacting replica, then, we think these drenched in effects. Happily OB-Xa V a neat graphical representation of the
additions are sensible and sensitive to the doesn’t exhibit this too much (the Jump waveform in the centre which is
original. And, let’s face it, at its core, its sound preset doesn’t even feature the original editable in up to 16 steps, so you can
really does make you want to… effects as standard) but you can easily effectively turn it into any wave type
control the applied effects by clicking you want, although there are loads of
Jump! the Advanced Panel. Here you get two presets to choose from here too. Finally
options: Effects and Modulation. Within you get an Input Modulators mod
Sorry, we just had to. So getting into the sounds the former, there are some mostly matrix to connect more common MIDI
– and moving swiftly on from the ‘one’ that great sounding effects, with nine sources (velocity, modwheel etc) to
OB-Xa V loads with – it’s pleasing that you can options selectable from drop-down destinations. Both Modulation and
search by category (including styles like Bizarre menus for each of the three blocks on Effects sections are very tidy and
and Aggressive) and also by type (Bass, Lead offer. Parameters are shown for each useful, making advanced edits easy.
and so on). We also like the fact that the effect ranging from a couple for the
Advanced Modulation options – see right – are in Bitcrusher up to seven for the reverb.
full effect, adding a rich and dynamic quality to
lots of the presets. Indeed it’s a good idea to synth both easy and inspiring – it’s truly great in Alternatively
keep this tab open as you explore them to learn that regard.
how the programmers make the most of this Datsounds Obxd
very useful side of the synth. Conclusion £free
Features the sound of Oberheim’s
Like the OB-Xa V itself, the sounds deliver a Aside from this being a faithful rendition of the OB-X, OB-Xa and OB-8. A great
good mix of old and new, with classic clean and original OB-Xa (and bits of the X), OB-Xa V adds emulation and superb free plugin
dirty basses and leads sitting alongside more some lovely touches in terms of some modern
contemporary presets that will suit all sorts of modulation and effects. But it’s the brilliantly Sonic Projects OP-X Pro II
modern genres. The mix theme continues with simple way that both are implemented that is a 133 (Player) » 8/10 » $99
both clean and ‘growly’ – the dirt you expect huge highlight. It could have been that these
from the OB range being nicely on display but would detract from the authentic recreation but This is based more on the original
there also being surprisingly clean and as they are almost bolted on (but in a much OB-X with a very close sound but
wholesome sounds on offer. Some of the pads better way than that expression implies) you does include features of the a too
are rich and beautifully evolving – easily can enjoy the purity of the original synth and
tweaked and drenched in effects for your Scandi then explore its modern options at your leisure. Verdict
dramas. And, as we say later, it’s good that many
are left untouched by effects so you can enjoy There are other options if you want the OB-Xa For Lovely OB-Xa emulation…
the rawness, before the ladling commences. sound, from freeware right up to huge and … with some fine 21st century additions
expensive hardware. Nor is OB-Xa V that cheap – Some fantastic and varied sounds
Overall, it’s that word ‘mix’ again; the range is although there is an intro offer at the time of Great and easy modulation options
wide and varied, and OB-Xa V is certainly more writing and it will surely be part of V Collection. Very useful effects
‘race horse’ than ‘workhorse’, and well suited to Whichever way you look at it though, OB-Xa V
a large variety of production tasks. And the does give you a great marriage of old and new, Against Van Halen’s Jump
modulation options make programming the and overall, we can see it being a synth we Some sounds are a bit processor-hungry
return to again and again for a wide variety of
Three effects blocks with nine effects on each are on functions, not to mention quick sound design Great-sounding OB-Xa plugin with some
offer in the other Advanced Panel tab and inspiration. It’s so good that we’re nearly, very easy to use advanced features.
very nearly, over that Jump thing too. Until the Another top emulation from Arturia
next show we go to, that is…
9/10
Web arturia.com

September 2020 /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  69

>  reviews  /  rob papen quad

AUDITION PRESETS SETTINGS
Preview the current Select these from the dropdown menu Access the settings page to adjust screen
patch by clicking or via the full screen browser size global MIDI and tuning settings
above the note icon

OSCILLATOR FILTERS
More than 100 The two filters can
analogue modelled, be used in series,
spectral and parallel or split to
additive waveforms one oscillator each

PHASE OSCILLATOR
DISTORTION AND MODULATION
WAVE SHAPER Select and adjust
Use these and various types of
the handy XY cross modulation
pad to modify between
your oscillators the oscillators

MODULATION ARPEGGIATOR
MATRIX Quad includes a
The 8-slot matrix simple but
connects internal capable arpeggiator
sources and assigns
MIDI controllers ASSIGNABLE ENVELOPES AND LFOS EFFECTS
Two of each to provide modulation sources One effect engine handles modulation,
for the modulation matrix the other handles delay and reverb

Rob Papen

Quad €99

We’re always up for a synth that does things slightly differently from the
norm. Let’s see what innovations Rob Papen has to offer in Quad

Quad was originally designed as a rack additive and spectral waves with tuning, system and these provide phase distortion and
extension instrument for Propellerhead detuned Spread and analogue Drift. The sub wave shaper distortion for each oscillator. The
Reason and has now been relaunched for VST, oscillators are fixed at one octave below and can phase distortion influences how the oscillator is
AU and AAX users. Like many Rob Papen synths, be either sine or square wave and oscillator 2 actually generated; meanwhile the wave shaper
most of the functionality is found in one jam can be synced to oscillator 1. Further interaction provides further manipulation of that waveform.
packed window, and it’s fair to say this is available between the oscillators (see box Each process has 21 different distortion types
contributes to a functional rather than designer out). However, the big ticket feature and the one and each of these has two adjustable
layout. However, if you’ve used Rob Papen that dominates the interface, is the XY pad parameters, which are assigned to the X and Y
synths before you’ll appreciate that the axes. So, you have incredible power to
directness and efficiency are accompanied by “The big ticket feature manipulate the sound of each oscillator at the
incredible depth of features, a plethora of and the one that most fundamental level and starting with a sine
presets and an awesome sound that you’ll keep dominates the wave we quickly created a harmonically rich
coming back to. interface, is the XY oscillator simply by selecting distortion types
pad system” and manipulating the XY pads. Factor in the 21
Quad Core distortion types and 128 core oscillators and the
potential for tone creation is immense.
Quad features two core oscillators each with
their own sub oscillator and 4 XY pads – two per However, where things get really interesting
oscillator. This four-fold ‘quad’ arrangement is when we add in modulation, as each axis can
dominates the interface, forming the backbone be modulated via the 8-slot modulation matrix
of the synth. It works as follows: each oscillator using either onboard sources (LFOs, envelopes
can choose from 128 analogue modelled, and so on) or via MIDI CCs. A cursory delve into

70  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020





rob papen quad  /  reviews  <

“Rob Papen synths
usually deliver big time
on the presets, and
Quad is no different
with more than 750”

this revealed we could quickly conjure up some Oscillator Modulation Use the dropdown
very dynamic sounds. menu to select one
Quad includes various ways for of the oscillator
Deeper oscillator 1 to control osc 2 and vice modulation types
versa. In the dropdown box at the
Quad is supported by a full gamut of synth bottom right of oscillator 2’s XY pad, modulation 2 (FM2) is a sample and
extras. There are two analogue modelled filters you’ll find a choice of 16 modulation hold algorithm with oscillator 1 as the
with serial, parallel and single oscillator split types accompanied by two amount sample source and oscillator 2 as the
routing. Each filter gets its own envelope and controls. Modulation types include target. The adjustable parameters are
the choice of filter types is extensive. For sound typical options such as ring frequency modulation amount and
design we particularly liked the comb filters and modulation, phase modulation and sample and hold interval.
vocal style filters (Vocal, Form2 and Form4). four types of frequency modulation.
There are two effects engines. FX1 handles However, each type has quite specific There are some less obvious
modulation: you choose one from chorus, features and to that end the function of algorithms that create dynamic blends
ensemble, phaser, flanger and widener. FX2 the amount controls is specific to each of the two oscs or use one to change
handles reverb and delay and you can opt to use modulation type. If you really want to the polarity of the other. Rounding
both together in series if you wish. At the know what’s happening, the manual things off is a string option that turns
bottom of the interface you’ll find two freely includes a detailed description of each oscillator 2 into a string model with
assignable envelopes and two free LFOs. All can type, but, as an example, frequency adjustable length and damping. This
be tempo synced and the envelopes include creates fantastic plucky sounds,
adjustable velocity and pitch modifiers. As and Quad Sweep) joining traditional rich sounds particularly coupled with some phase
mentioned there’s an 8-slot modulation matrix, (Like Jupiter Pad 01) and more unusual ones distortion (Bit of Rimba and Quad
and we counted 25 internal sources and well (Submerged Space). There are also some pretty String Arp are good examples).
over 100 targets including all of the FX1 and FX2 edgy sounds such as Twin Rain 1 and 2 (which
parameters. You can also use the matrix to use pulse modulation of Osc1 by Osc2) and also Alternatively
assign MIDI controllers. Rounding things off is a some biting leads (Uni Q-Syntho and RP Quad
global amplifier envelope, arpeggiator and Lead). Modulating the XY pads can create very Native Instruments Massive
playback mode (Poly, Mono, Legato and Arp). dynamic outcomes and this is great for tempo 107 » 9/10 » £129
This last option includes various unison settings, synced dubstep sounds. Quad includes 35 very
a quick route for fattening up your sounds. playable dubstep presets, many of which patch If dubstep’s your thing, Massive
tempo to the pitchwheel and timbre (via the XY conjures suitable sounds with ease
Sounds pads) to the modwheel. Quad also has some
great arpeggiator patches such as the Plugin Boutique Virtual CZ
So, what does all this mean for the sounds? As Kraftwerkesque Chord & PitchWheel. The £60
noted, we found turning a basic waveform into synth’s sound really lends itself to short precise For retro phase distortion synthesis
something more interesting was quick and arps. That said, the arpeggiator is a bit basic this Casio emulation is great
simple. However, Rob Papen synths usually compared to some RP synths. Furthermore,
deliver big time on the presets, and Quad is no although there were a few basses we really liked Verdict
different with more than 750 to choose from. (MidTone Bass and Tof Bass for example), we
Patches can be loaded either via the Bank and couldn’t get quite enough attack for a really For Flexible core sound generation
Preset menus in the top left, or via the Manager thumping bass. Easy to use XY pad configuration
page, and include both a core categorised set Modulation matrix with an extensive
and further artist contributions. Overall, Quad is a sonically interesting design range of options
and though not quite a one-stop synth, it covers Oscillator cross-modulation options
Within the library, pads are particularly well a lot of ground. It would benefit from a better Many and varied presets
represented, with evolving sounds (Harsh Planet arpeggiator, additional onboard processing, and Easy to use single window interface
more extras such as chord memory mode, but
Quad’s preset manager provides excellent category and as a whole it’s easy to program and delivers Against Some features such as effects
search options many awesome sounds. and arpeggiator are quite basic

Web robpapen.com Quad’s reappearance as a plugin
instrument brings this creative yet intuitive
synth design to a much wider audience

8/10

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  71

>  reviews  /  hit’n’mix infinity

EFFECTS RIPSCRIPT MENU AUDIOSHOP UNPITCHED (HIGH)
MENU Select script-based functions Apply various script-based Visualise and edit the higher
Pick from real- and access RipScript Editor changes using this handy toolbar frequency unpitched audio elements
time effects
including pitch RIPLIST
correction, vibrato See all the
and formant available
shifting audio rips
and palettes

PALETTE LAYERS
Draw notes from Mute, solo
scratch using the and adjust
onboard palette level for
or by creating each Layer
your own
SET MUSICAL UNPITCHED (LOW) PLAYHEAD VISUALS NOTE GRAPHICS
SCALE Visualise and edit the Animate the Colour intensity shows volume;
With a defined lower frequency unpitched playhead with colours are user-selected on
musical scale, audio elements animated graphics a layer-by-layer basis
notes will snap to
the correct pitch

Hit’n’Mix

Infinity £299
When science and creativity collide, the results are invariably interesting.
Let’s see if this long-running audio dissection editor can make sparks

In the decade since Hit’n’Mix’s audio software noise elements, Unpitched (Low) and Unpitched directly in the workspace and apply a number of
first appeared, it has come on leaps and (High), and as many melodic Layers as it sees fit. real-time changes including volume and pitch
bounds and not only grown in terms of features You’ll find these listed in the fold-out Layers correction via the dropdown Effects menu.
but also sounds a whole lot better. Somewhere panel on the right hand side, and this includes Further destructive processing is accessed via
along the way it acquired the Infinity name and other layer-specific functionality such as mute, the RipScripts menu. Finally, there’s also a Sound
now, at version 4.7, could finally be ready for a solo, note lock, playback level, rename, delete Palette feature to draw notes from scratch.
much wider audience. and duplicate as well as various visual options
such as colour and width. You can edit notes Infinity’s initial analysis is CPU intensive (our
Basic concepts 4 core i7 took about four mins per minute of
“Note Editor lets you mixed audio). How it separates the file is also
Billed as the world’s first atomic audio editor, paint, erase, smooth quite important. A simple monophonic sound
Infinity is a standalone application (OS X 10.10 or and adjust different will be presented as a single melodic Layer with
later, Windows 7 or later) that analyses audio types of harmonics two noise Layers, whereas complex audio files
(WAV, mp3, Flac, Ogg) and presents it as melodic across selected notes” will have more melodic Layers, and we’ll look at
and noise components. These can be edited in the implications of this later. Infinity also uses a
various ways to achieve functional, reparation user editable script-based system for much of its
and creative tasks. Melodic and noise editing and processing functions (see box out).
components appear in a typical timeline
workspace with pitch/frequency on the y-axis What can it do?
and time on the x-axis. Infinity uses a layers-
based workflow, and once it’s finished analysing Infinity lets you modify the pitch, amplitude,
an audio file, presents what it calls a ‘Rip’ as two timing and harmonic content of the analysed
audio. Pitch editing is assisted by an optional

72  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

hit’n’mix infinity  /  reviews  <

“There’s quite a steep
learning curve, though
this is considerably
improved by the
interactive help option”

keyboard scale on the left and you can also Infinity’s RipScript Editor is a powerful Python-based customisation tool
define and snap to a specific key scale, which is
handy. There are various pitch options that Scripts However, perhaps an easier option is
flatten, shift, quantise and slide the selected simply to launch the RipScript Editor,
notes, and deeper functions to harmonise and Infinity uses the coding language click on an existing script from the list
add vibrato. Script-based options add more Python for its scripting, and, as on the left (you’ll notice the factory
complex tasks including pitch redrawing of mentioned, scripts form the basis of ones have padlock icons) and duplicate
existing notes, pitch cloning between notes, many of the editing processes, it ready for modification. Now we’ll
pitch mapping over time and chord creation. including the Note Editor, Chord admit scripting isn’t for everyone, but
Creator, the four Mapper options (Beat, we did exactly this, taking an existing
For note timing, you can move and stretch Panning, Pitch and Volume) and script (Infinity Scale), duplicating it and
notes and sections of notes can be cut, copied Audioshop tools such as clone, draw, changing the pitch parameters to
and pasted. You can modify overall timing by join, blend and so on. However, Infinity create a new script. So for anyone with
adding tempo changes, or map individual timing also incorporates a fully-fledged script the time and inclination, Infinity clearly
changes across groups of notes. Note volumes editor. To get started, you head to the offers a wealth of scripting possibilities,
also support a number of realtime and script- RipScript menu and launch either the and if it really isn’t your thing, you’ll
based changes including mapping. The fact Create RipScript option or the RipScript find a few user-created scripts on
you’re editing audio here but with the facility of Editor. The former provides various Hit’n’Mix’s RipScripts Forum.
a MIDI editor can’t be overemphasised. templates and starting points and once
selected will open the editor for you.
If you want to edit the unpitched aspects of
the audio such as percussive attacks, thumps complex tracks these often combine different Alternatively
and high frequency voice noises (t, sh, s and so instruments, which makes extracting a specific
on) you can simply solo the two unpitched sound or quickly modifying just one instrument Steinberg SpectraLayers Pro 6
Layers. However, for an overall view, quite difficult. It’s not totally impossible to From £257
Audioshop’s ‘Edit Unpitched’ uses the whole resolve as you can move notes between Layers, SpectraLayer’s manipulation and
workspace, making it much easier to zone in on but this can be time-consuming. editing of audio files can achieve
specific frequencies. It also includes a nifty some impressive results
threshold-based Noise Removal script. Next up, there’s no getting round the fact
that when you pull apart the sonic components Celemony Melodyne Editor
As we said, Infinity can also edit harmonic that form a mix, the isolated sounds can be CM148 » 9/10 » €399
content, which comes into its own within the pretty unusual. This is fine if you just want to For pitch manipulation of both
Note Editor option. This script-based editor lets make changes within a mix, but if you’re looking monophonic and polyphonic
you paint, erase, smooth and adjust different to extract a pristine vocal from a full mix, it’s less sources, Melodyne is hard to beat
types of harmonics across the selected notes. successful. Also, from a user perspective it’s
From a creative perspective it’s hugely powerful. very easy to make multiple changes and find Verdict
yourself some distance from your original audio.
Finally, note that Infinity can import and It therefore pays to save copies of your edited For Unique mix of editing tools
export MIDI files and for the latter this means Rips as you go, and we found duplicating Many options for editing individual
conversion of your audio to MIDI note data. individual Layers also helped if we wanted to pitched elements inside an audio file
A/B different changes. There’s also a reasonably Simple timeline/layers-based workflow
Mix dissection steep learning curve, though this is considerably
improved by the interactive help option. Against Accurately extracting specific
As mentioned, Infinity splits mixed audio into a instruments from mixes can take time
number of different Layers. Unfortunately, for All told, Infinity is a very powerful application Expensive
that can be a little clunky to use. That said, it
The Note Editor provides extensive harmonics editing offers the sort of depth that appeals to audio Performs impressive functional and
that can transform your sound creatives, and the fact that you can repair and creative tasks… but it would still benefit from
redesign your audio files all under one roof, a slicker user interface
makes it a pretty unique application that will
repay the time you invest in it. 8/10

Web hitnmix.com

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  73

> reviews / baby audio comeback kid

Baby Audio

Comeback Kid £39

We gave away the little brother in last month’s Computer Music, so
how does the full version of Baby Audio’s new delay shape up?

Last month’s Computer Music had a rather Over on the opposite bottom left corner you particularly love messing around with the
great freebie in the shape of Baby Audio’s get a set of Stereo options to bring width to the envelope and filter options and that Ducker dial
Baby Comeback CM, a plugin especially put delays, either with a Pan control, Wider or adds a touch of class, all meaning that
together for us by Baby Audio and an Richer, which uses a pitch-shifting algorithm for Comeback Kid really can deliver a varied,
exceptional delay that is capable of providing a more dramatic widening effect. A Shaper on quality sound that is right up there with that
sublime results. It is based on Comeback Kid, the top left offers two quite dramatic filtering from much pricier options. And of course if you
Baby Audio’s latest delay, so now it’s time to look options, while the Attack and Sustain dials don’t believe us, buy our last issue for a flavour
at this bigger version to see what you get for not introduce some transient designing so you can of what this Kid can deliver.
such a big outlay. emphasise certain elements to be delayed – we
had some terrific results on pretty simple Web babyaud.io
We kid you not sounds, homing in on specific frequencies and
then emphasising the effect with the Sustain Alternatively
As we fell in love with our freebie, you won’t be dial. You can also hear it in full effect on some of
surprised to learn that there’s a lot more to love the presets (see below) like one called Pick Up ValhallaDSP ValhallaDelay
in Comeback Kid. Like Baby Comeback CM, Kid The Telephone. 271 » 10/10 » $50
has three BPM-synced modes – Straight, Dotted
and Triplet – to offer different timed delays, Needless to say things get pretty dramatic One of the best-sounding, most
while the main Time dial allows you to select when you start dialling in different times and comprehensive and versatile delay
intervals down to 1/64th note. increase the feedback with the main dials and plugins we have heard
the output mix, but a useful Ducker control also
Those pretty cool Flavor options are also cleans things up a little as it ducks the delay Arturia Three Delays You’ll
included again, which add a lot of character to when the dry signal plays. Actually Use
the sound. However, this time you get to dial in
the actual amounts of Tape effect (for Conclusion 276 » 8/10 » $199
saturation), Swirl (for phasing) and Sauce (for a This recent bundle gets you the
shimmery reverb), while a Cheap button gives As we’ve already given our seal of approval to ultimate in delays but is pricey
you a kind of low bit-rate distortion, but quite a the cutdown version, it’s almost inevitable that
subtle one. These are great effects overall, if Comeback Kid will get a thumbs up from us, Verdict
sometimes a little indistinct from one another. and it really does, especially for the price. We
For Great and varied sound
Use the presets, learn the plugin Particularly like the Shaper sections and
Ducker option
With any plugin, we always say it’s best to where the Ducker can be heard in full effect Easy controls and no hidden menus
dive in and experiment rather than just use (Chaos Motion); and others (Metal Box) Good range of presets
presets, but in this case they not only provide where the Hi-Cut dial ably affects the
a great starting point and give you an transients. Others like Lots Of Sauce are pure, Against Flavour options can be a little
indication of the breadth of sound available, evocative ambience where, if you nudge the subtle and indistinct from one another
but also help you to understand how each Feedback and mix dials up, you’ll be instantly
section on the UI will impact on the overall chilled; and at the other end of the scale, Comeback Kid is an easy to use but
Kid sound. Guitar Lead Dirty Slap gives you cleaner and surprisingly flexible delay that rewards
perhaps more mix friendly, tighter delays, experimentation, giving a great sound.
There are some great slapback type delays and displays the breadth of sound Comeback
(Slapback Vibe) that can be boosted with that Kid is capable of. 9/10
Sustain dial; some quite dynamic effects

74 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

mini reviews / reviews <

mini reviews

Sontronics

Podcast Pro £99

Web sontronics.com separate one, it won’t hurt to employ it. other quality solutions like the Rode PodMic
Gear Dynamic podcast microphoneOM The mic has a supercardioid pattern which (£115) and the AKG Lyra (£139 and reviewed last
issue) Sontronics are bringing in a touch of
ANDY is ideally suited to the ‘cast, offering a good recording and professional class into the world
For obvious reasons, there have been more of us targeted area for speaking and excellent side of podcasting, and we are all sounding a lot
with time to broadcast something, and there’s rejection, so if your kids are messing about better for it.
certainly lots to talk about, so the field of in the same room while you broadcast
podcasting is booming. Sontronics are best your opinions, you’ll hear less of them. n9/10n
known for their higher end studio microphones We found this worked well in practice
– like the Aria, Delta and Mercury – that they (although obviously recommend a
have been making since 2005. The new Podcast kid-free environment should you
Pro doesn’t quite have their top-end recording wish to take up this ‘art’
aspirations, but nor does it boast their prices professionally) and the actual
and it does pack some Sontronics quality in microphone response to be
there, resulting in a well-spec’d mic for the cash. surprisingly fulsome, and we
certainly didn’t miss any lows or
First up there’s the build quality. It’s a pretty high-end sheen that the response
light-weight mic at 356g, but has a very solid feel might suggest. Whether you could
and great overall design (it’s also available in a use it for higher-end recordings is
striking red). With a frequency response of 50Hz debatable, but it could certainly handle some of
to 15kHz it’s not going to break any recording your workhorse jobs with some aplomb, not to
records, but nor is it meant to. That range will mention other non-music tasks like gaming.
easily deliver a good vocal response and this is,
of course, where Podcast Pro excels. It comes You can, of course, pick up complete podcast
with a built-in ‘fine-mesh’ pop shield which helps kits – with a stand, a mic and an external pop
cut down on annoying plosives but if you have a shield – for around half the price, but along with

Sound Dust W.A. Production

Saxomaphonium £40 Punchy Worm $20

Web timespace.com Web waproduction.com
Format PC/Mac, Kontakt Format PC/Mac, VST/AU/AAX

Built on the same core engine as The cringe-worthy GUI scored it a
Pendleonium (9/10, 237), few easy headlines but we still find
Saxomaphonium’s 2.6GB sample Punchy Worm to be a keenly
bank comprises looped “long priced ‘one-knob’ transient shaping
note” baritone and alto and distortion effect that can do
saxophones in clean and tape- great things to drums, basses and
saturated flavours, “honking lead synths in particular. It couldn’t
goose” staccato sax, a hand- be easier to use, either, with Input
pumped harmonium, and a and Output knobs for overdrive
binaurally recorded foot-pumped and output balancing, a button
room organ. (the leaf) for switching between x1, x2, and x4 oversampling,
and a big knob that dials in transient emphasis when turned
Each of those six elements comes on its own channel in the anticlockwise from centre and saturation clockwise, using a
scripted Kontakt interface, with controls for level, panning, combination of upward and downward compression, filtering
octave (+/-1), sample start and loop length, filtering, pan and and analogue circuit emulation.
volume modulation, vibrato, chorus, convolution reverb (24
types) and, for three of the sounds, distortion. These are There’s no real justification given for the childish GUI
supplemented by algorithmic reverb and delay send effects, beyond the suggestion that it forces you to “trust your ears”,
and distortion, EQ, another reverb and rotary speaker master but it’s not quite as eye-rollingly infantile as it might first
effects. Phew. appear, with the animation of the eponymous worm
responding smoothly to output signal level. Obviously, though,
The lack of a proper manual isn’t helpful, and the interface is we’d prefer a standard meter.
fiddly on a Retina/HiDPI display, but this is without doubt our
favourite saxophone-based Kontakt library ever. The ‘warts ’n’ More importantly, Punchy Worm sounds really good,
all’ recordings are wonderfully characterful, and the interface whether applied gently for a bit of extra presence or cranked
offers huge scope. up for overt crushing or transient enhancement.

n9/10n n8/10n

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 75

> reviews / mini reviews

Soundware round-up

Ben Aylon

One Man Tribe $26 or subscription

Percussionist Ben Aylon serves 100 loops and one-
shots performed primarily on a variety of African
drums, but also incorporating a few Indian
instruments, most notably dholak and kanjira. Aylon’s
style is chiefly informed by the Senegalese tradition,
so there’s plenty of temporal and melodic trickery in
evidence, and his playing is phenomenal. The loops
range from solo lines to polyrhythmic ensembles,
while the one-shots include rolls, flams and other
‘articulations’, played on single and multiple stacked
drums. For non-subscribers, the price feels fair, too.

noiiz.com

n9/10n

Ztekno Abstract Sounds

Rave Game £20 Hypnotic State £17

Misleading title alert, as Rave Game is 500MB of kick (30), hi-hat (30), clap (20), percussion
in fact a straight-up 128bpm techno (60) and texture (60) loops for minimal techno, micro
sample/MIDI/VPS Avenger preset house and related electronic styles. The kicks, hats
library. 20 eight-bar drum loops come and claps are well made, and many have reverb
in four increasingly built-up versions, baked in, which can be handy or annoying,
full and stemmed, and set the dark, depending on context; and all of them are at 122bpm,
driving mood of the whole thing. 30 apart from, oddly, ten of the 30 hi-hat loops, which
16th-note analogue basslines come are at 124bpm. It’s in the Percussion and Texture
with sidechained variations; 60 synth folders that things get much more engaging, though,
loops, 25 acid TB-303 lines and 11 vocals as a panoply of fascinating electro-organic rhythmic
get dry and FX-processed variants; a beds and environmentals reveal themselves.
ton of superb one-shot drums and FX
go straight in the bank; and eight loopmasters.com
release-quality construction kits
provide instant inspiration. Unmissable. n8/10n

loopmasters.com UNDRGRND Sounds

n10/1 Romanian Minimal House £30

“Inspired by the Romanian minimal maestros
Rhadoo, Raresh and Petre Inspirescu,” UNDRGRND’s
intriguing 735MB pack makes for a uniquely
characterful collection of mesmeric tech-influenced
beats, basslines, textures and melodics… but there’s
an issue. We’re not sure whether it’s down to genre
tropes, but we’ve never come across such prolific and
obvious reuse of MIDI patterns in a sample library
before – different sounds, but the same rhythms and
melodic progressions over and over again. It’s very
strange, but if you’re OK with the notion, there are
some splendid noises to be had here.

undrgrndsounds.com

n7/10n

Zenhiser

Doof – Psytrance $60

The latest epic construction kit library from Zenhiser
breaks the table at a vast 10.5GB, the bulk of which is
taken up by five full-length ‘songstarter’ kits. These
are spectacular, giving you access to the inner
workings of five bangin’ 143-147bpm hard trance
choons – audio and MIDI. The main attraction,
however, is the set of 25 16-bar-long loop kits, which
comprise drums, basses, melodies and FX, and are
accompanied by a wealth of one-shots. Once again,
the separate ‘reverb tail’ loops feel like a waste of
space – why bother with the tail-free versions?

zenhiser.com

n8/10n

76 / COMPUTER MUSIC September 2020

mini reviews  /  reviews  <

Native Instruments ModeAudio

Anima Ascent £44 Symmetry £18

Produced by Ivory Bull (Nicki Minaj, Charli XCX), A sample library of two halves, Symmetry’s 60
Anima Ascent snapshots the current genre- celestial ambiences and sci-fi textures mesh nicely
assimilating state of pop in a 1GB Expansion. with its 20 groovy basses, 30 wistful synth lines and
Maschine and Battery users get 47 and 40 complete 20 glitchy ‘Rhythmic SFX’, but we’re particularly
kits respectively, complete with patterns for the taken with the 20 stemmed drum loops (60 files),
former, and all of the resulting loops are also supplied which draw on house, trap and even dancehall in
as bounced audio loop construction kits for everyone their rhythmic and sonic shapes. The source MIDI
else. The nature of the subject matter lends Anima files for all the bass and synth loops are thrown in too,
Ascent considerable diversity, and as well as the so you can purloin the melodies and easily create
stated audience, producers of R&B, trap and even accompanying instrumental parts of your own. One
certain ‘wave’ styles will find lots to enjoy here. of Mode’s finest to date.

native-instruments.com modeaudio.com
n8/10n n9/10n

Loopmasters UNDRGRND Sounds

Nightfall – Future Hip Hop £25 Organic House £35

As dark and foreboding as the name suggests, A cheerfully cerebral 1GB library of dancefloor-bound
Nightfall successfully brings together the MPC swing loops and one-shots, Organic House’s 24 stemmed
of golden era hip-hop with the modern synth work of drum loops (151 files) work cleverly around the grid to
trap and bass music. The drum loops are super phat – pull their grooves in unexpected directions. The 19
there are only 24 of them, but 17 come with variations synth b-lines, meanwhile, are tight and economical in
– and the 14 hi-hat and cymbal loops fit them well. We their sound design, and the 18 chord and 24 electric
love the basslines, which stray into almost EDM piano loops are the prettiest and smokiest we’ve
territory in places to great effect, and the imaginative heard in a while. The ‘Mallets’ folder brings a touch of
keys and synths. It’s a rather disappointing amount of the tropics, too, although much of its contents
content for the money, though. sounds more kalimba than marimba (ie, plucked
rather than struck) to us. Lovely stuff.
loopmasters.com
n7/10n undrgrndsounds.com
n9/10n
Big Fish Audio
ModeAudio
Ambient Minimalism 2 £86
Apex £14
Put together by Funk/Soul Productions, this 3.4GB
Kontakt Player instrument maps categorised loops to Mode’s new patch bank for Xfer Records’ Serum
individual keys across 44 patches (with transposition synth is all about arpeggiation and LFO-based
keyswitches), taking in the artsy likes of upright bass, ‘sequencing’. Apex’s 50 presets use 45 custom
cello, prepared piano, ‘Noisescapes’, ‘Ambient Taikos’ wavetables and 15 custom LFO shapes (for use in
and ‘Minimalist Beats’, and also includes 11 original sounds) in the concoction of a smorgasbord
multisampled instruments. The barebones Kontakt of highly animated, arps, basses, leads and FX. All
engine is fine (actually, the pitch-randomising Warp four of Serum’s macros are assigned in every preset –
control is awesome), but it’s the loops themselves the arp/sequence accelerating/decelerating LFO Rate
that define Ambient Minimalism 2, and on that score, control being notably ubiquitous – and the sounds
it’s a stunner. are palpably ‘analogue’ in their movement, yet
modern in terms of sheen and polish.
timespace.com
n9/10n modeaudio.com
n8/10n
W.A. Production
Loopmasters
EDM Vishnu $20
Michal Jablonski – Techno
Inspired by the ‘eastern’ flavours of KSHMR, 22Bullets Oscillations £25
et al, 3.1GB of EDM Vishnu’s whopping 3.5GB footprint
is taken up by a set of exceptionally well produced Polish muso Michal Jablonski’s small but well formed
construction kits, giving you all the samples, MIDI collection of samples deals in techno projects of the
files and synth presets (Sylenth1 and Serum) required dense, relentless kind. The pounding beats and
to build and mess with five complete tracks. The disintegrative atmospheric FX are the highlight, while
other 400MB consists of synth and percussion loops, the repetitiveness of many of the synth and bass
one-shots (drums, synths and FX) and more presets, sequences are a slight low. At just 166 loops (130bpm)
but the construction kits are the main event, which is and 175 one-shots, Techno Oscillations isn’t the most
something to be aware of if such prefab foundations capacious pack, but Jablonski’s deft programming
aren’t your bag. skills keep quality high throughout.

waproduction.com loopmasters.com
n8/10n n8/10n

September 2020  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  77

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T RMS AND CON ONS: Áǝǣɀ Ȓǔǔƺȸ ƺȇɎǣɎǼƺɀ ȇƺɯ ɀɖƫɀƬȸǣƫƺȸɀ ɎȒ ȸ Ƭ ɮƺ Ɏǝ ˡȸɀɎ ‫ ה‬ȅȒȇɎǝɀ ǔȒȸ ‫ חחِח‬ǔȒȸ Èk ȸƺ ً ‫ חח חڡ‬Ȓȸ ȸȒȵƺ Əȇ ‫ ח חڟ‬ǔȒȸ ȸƺɀɎ Ȓ ɯȒȸǼƳِ

ƺȸ ɵȒɖȸ Ɏȸ ƺ ً Ȓɖȸ ɖƫ Ɏ Ƭƺ ɯ Ƴ ɀɎ Ɏǝƺ ƳƏȸƳ ȇ ǝǼɵ ȸƺƬɖȸȸǣ Ƭ Á ƫǣ ɀɎ Ə ɀ Ə ƺ ǝ ƬȒȅȵƏȸƺƳ ɯǣɎ ǝ ³ «¨ ǔȒȸ

ƏǼǼ ɀƏɮǣȇǕɀ ƳƺɎƏǣǼɀً ɀƺƺ Ȓɖ ȒȇǼ ȇƺ Ȓǔ ƺ ȵ Ǖƺ ç ɖ ƬƏ ɯ Ɏƺ ɎȒ ɖɀ Ȓ ƏȇƬƺǼ ɵ ɖ ɀɖƫɀƬȸǣȵ ǣȒȇ ɯǣɎǝǣȇ ‫ ג‬ƳƏɵɀ Ȓ ȵɖ Əɀƺ ¨Ə Ɏ Ȓȇ‫ٮ‬ȸƺ ɖ ƳƏƫ ƺ ƏǔɎƺ Ɏǝƺ ‫ ג‬Əɵ

ƬƏȇƬƺǼǼƏɎǣȒȇ ȵƺȸǣȒƳ Ǽƺɀɀ ƺɴ ȇ Ǽ Ƭǣ ɖ ȇƬƺɀ ƏȵȵǼɵِ ɖȸ ɀɎƏɎɖɎ ȸǣǕǝ ɀ Əȸƺ ȇȒɎ ƏǔǔƺƬɎƺƳ ¨ȸǣ ƺɀ ƬȒȸȸƺƬɎ Ɏ ȵȒ ȇɎ Ȓǔ ȵȸǣȇɎ ƏȇƳ ɀɖƫ Ƭ ɎȒ ƬǝƏȇǕƺِ IɖǼǼ ƳƺɎƏǣǼɀ Ȓǔ

Ɏǝƺ (ǣȸƺƬɎ ( ǕɖƏȸƏȇɎƺƺ Ə ɮƏǣǼƏ ȇ ȸƺȷ ɀɎ I ɖǼǼ ƺȸȅɀ ƏȇƳ Ƭ ȇ ǣ Ȓȇɀً ȵ ƺ ǣɀ Ɏ ƫ Ɏ ƏǕ ƏȇƳƬ …ǔǔ ȸ ƺ ɀ ‫ ׏ב‬ǕɖɀɎ ‫ ׎א א‬

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82 PULSAR SMASHER Free access for every
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> free software / pulsar smasher

>Free software

PULSAR SMASHER DOWNLOAD

Engage ‘all-buttons-in’ with this issue’s free plugin Get the plugin on
from Pulsar Digital. It’s smashing. Let’s rock… your PC/Mac at
filesilo.co.uk/computermusic

Pulsar Digital are relatively new plugin in’ effect first experienced on the classic can authorise the plugin either directly through
developers but with a lot of experience – hardware UREI 1176 compressor. Also known as the iLok License Manager app or as you install
their team having previously programmed ‘the four-button trick’ or ‘British Mode’ this the software (where you will need an internet
plugins for Arturia and Slate Digital. They effect was discovered when pressing all of the connection). We detail the process opposite,
have three plugins: Mu, Echorec and hardware’s Ratio buttons in at the same time. and then on the following page run through
Smasher, and it’s the latter 1176-type The resulting sound is aggressive and, like we some settings that you might like to use on
compressor that we have here for free! say, not subtle. Engineers like using it especially various parts of your mix.
Generally speaking, compressors can be on drums and to add dirt to bass sounds, but it
used to tame audio subtly – as you might do in can also be used on vocals to make them a little We’ll also briefly run through Pulsar Digital’s
mastering – or used as an effect to add punch more forward and in your face. two other plugins as you might want to use the
and grit. As you might expect from the name, special 20% discount offer just for Computer
Pulsar Smasher definitely falls into the latter In this tutorial we’ll run through how to install Music readers. This code is on the text file on
camp. It is essentially emulating the ‘all-buttons- and use the plugin. You’ll need to have an iLok the DVD or at filesilo.co.uk. Head on over to
account set up (don’t worry, this is free) and you pulsar.audio for more info on all the plugins.

UNDO/REDO PRESETS OUTPUT LEVEL INFO BALLOONS
Made a mistake? Not many, but these presets This can be linked to the input Hover over any control and
Undo it here. Change will give you a flavour of what by hitting the Shift button. It a pop-up balloon tells you
your mind? Redo it! Smasher can do also acts as a saturator what it does. (This can
be deactivated)

BYPASS MAIN MENU
Select to With links to
switch in and socials and
out the plugin oversampling
options

INPUT KEEP THAT GAIN IN CHECK MIX ADJUST SIZE
Sets the input signal level Set your levels and stay out Set to how much of the You can easily adjust
and, as with the original of the red compressed signal you the size of the plugin
1176, the threshold is fixed want to hear to suit your screen

82 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

pulsar smasher / free software <

> Step by step 1. Getting started

1 First you need to set up a free iLok 2 You’ll need to register and complete a 3 Now download the iLok License
account if you don’t already have one. simple security process before Manager App. This is on the front page
Head on over to iLok.com and click the starting. You will then be sent a of the iLok.com website and there are
Create Free Account at the top of the verification email and your free account versions available for Mac and PC (32 and
page. There are also videos here that will should be set up. Once you click the link, 64-bit). Once downloaded, launch the
help you through the process. you’ll be taken to the Account Activation application and sign in using the name
page of the iLok website. and password you just used for your
account creation.

4 Now you need to redeem the code to 5 Now you need to run the Pulsar 6 Run through the install process and
activate Pulsar Smasher. Simply click Smasher installers which are on this the plugin should be installed in the
the icon top right in iLok License Manager month’s DVD and also available from the correct location on your computer, along
as shown, enter the 30-digit code from the Pulsar.audio website. Double-click either with the manual (although we’ve included
file on the DVD or issue 285 at filesilo.co. the Mac or PC DVD installers. this on the DVD just in case).
uk. You then choose your computer as a
destination and Pulsar Smasher will be
active for that machine.

7 There is an alternative way to install 8 Now when you run your DAW, it POWER TIP
which is easy if you already have an should pick up and scan the new
iLok account. Simply double click on the plugin and run it as any other plugin. Turn > Logic 10.5
installers from the DVD or Pulsar.audio over the page for some brief user
website and you will be asked directly for instructions and for a look at other Pulsar Logic 10.5 has some issues with
the iLok code on installation. Manually Digital plugins. third-party plugins and a lot of
type this in and the software will link developers are releasing special
directly to your iLok account and you updates to tailor for it. Pulsar’s latest
should be ready to go. downloads should work fine, but if
you are using an earlier version or
have any issues, they say: “For the
Logic 10.5 issue, we found that if you
have any problems, install the latest
version and delete any file located in
~/Library/Caches/AudioUnitCache.
This way Logic will scan the plugins
again which should solve the issue.”

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 83

>  free software / pulsar smasher

> Step by step 2. Smasher in use

1 We’ll start off at the extreme so you 2 Now gradually reduce the Mix dial 3 We can go for a more controlled,
can instantly hear what Smasher is which lessens the Smasher impact saturated effect by dialling the Input
capable of. We’re starting on drums so and starts to deliver perhaps a more control back but the Mix control up. Push
load in an audio loop or MIDI beat, set the usable and less squashed sound. It starts the Output dial up a little too for more
Input and Output dials to around 80 and to become a lot more joined up and saturation. This doesn’t sound too over
the Mix to maximum. Heavy distortion smoother, and adds a great live feel to a the top but still gives you a nice Smasher
and saturation alert, because this is more static drum loops, with an increased flavour for your drums.
Smasher in full flow! sense of ambience.

POWER TIP

4 Finally, for the drums, try pressing the 5 Now we’ll turn to the bass which is > It can be massive
Shift button while adjusting the Input more about saturation and dirt rather
dial and the Output will also be linked to it than glue. We’ve set up a softsynth Unusually for a plugin of this ilk,
(moving in the opposite direction), bassline and with the setting shown, Smasher can be completely
offering some good combinations of ‘glue’ Smasher is taming it, with the Mix dial also customised in terms of size. Click
where various parts of your kit can be allowing parallel compression. Hit the and drag on the bottom right corner
smoothed or subtly enhanced. We found Bypass button and you’ll notice a bit more of the plugin’s UI to take it right up
that the Input at around 30 and output punch… for now. to a massive 200%, or click the
around 60 reined in the kick more on our 100% or 150% boxes for instant
loop, for example. adjustment. It’s a tidy feature as, on
a massive screen, those ‘electronics’
look very cool indeed.

6 Now push the Mix button up and you’ll 7 We found with our particular 8 Finally, Smasher comes with three
introduce more grit into the sound. analogue-style bass sound that presets to show just a few uses of its
Increase the Input dial for even more decreasing the Input and increasing the processing ability, but you can easily save
whereas in this case the Output dial Output settings to those shown, while out any good combinations that you
delivers more volume as well as punch setting the Mix to 75%, really added some program by hitting the Save As button.
and dirt. lovely energy to the sound. As ever, Enjoy smashing your sound, for free!
though, experiment.

84  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

pulsar smasher / free software <

Q&A with Pulsar Smasher developer François Reme

How did you first of creating and using audio software. I think FR “Arturia’s FX Collection is totally
that’s what makes our products so appreciated.” unbelievable for the price, and I’m not just
get into plugins? saying that because we worked with them!
Tell us about your plugins? Fabfilter’s Pro-Q 3 is definitely the fastest way to
FR “The three of us – FR “We have three. Pulsar Mu is an emulation EQ a track! Soundtoys Decapitator is the
of a well-known mastering compressor. We are ultimate colour box. Waves H-delay might not
François Reme, Niccolo not allowed to tell you which one for trademark have the most character, but it does allow you
reasons, but I think you will be able to recognise to achieve excellent results in no time. Finally
Comin and Vincent it! The sound of this compressor is unique. It has iZotope’s Ozone is the ultimate surgical tool for
a unique Topology Preservation Technology, a mastering, great to use in conjunction with
Travaglini – have been push-pull tube amp, and a gain reduction circuit more colourful tools… like Pulsar Mu!”
that polarises very particular tubes. It’s really a
musicians since we jewel of warmth and it glues your mix like no What would you like to see developed in
other compressor on the market. The added terms of music technology?
Pulsar were kids. Niccolo and I saturations are really unique. What more can I FR “For me, some products have really
Digital are pianists, and say except that you have to listen to it?” changed the way the studio works. When you
Vincent plays the hear Freddie Mercury’s vocals, you understand
“Algorithms that rock in that doing this in 1975 really required being a
François guitar. fantastic singer. Today, if you know how to use
“I remember all possible settings on Revoice and Melodyne, and if you know how to
meeting Vincent 10 compose a vocal arrangement, you can achieve
Reme years ago. I was playing any source” an incredible result, and this from your room at
your mum’s place. So I guess I’d like more of this
in a residence with one “We also have a delay called Echorec. If kind of software that makes history!”
you’ve ever tried the original machine, it has a
of my bands at a venue, really a magical feel. It’s a thick, organic delay, What advice do you have when it comes
and you’re instantly transported into a Floyd to music production
and there was this guy sitting on a table with his record. On the machine, you can tap the disc FR “Take as many decisions as you can during
with your fingertips while playing; it’s like a the tracking. The most precious thing is the time
laptop. At that time Vincent was developing the crazy delay, it’s unbelievable. We put this into you have with fresh ears, as a composer, as well
the plugin, so you can play with the magnetic as an engineer. Make choices quickly, and don’t
FG-X for Slate Digital. When I saw that, I thought disc, and it enables you to explore really worry if you can’t go back, you shouldn’t regret
interesting sound textures.” it, it’s always cool!”
I had to do something like that too! We became
“And finally, of course, we have Pulsar What advice do you have from working
friends, then we decided to set up Pulsar some Smasher. It’s a modified emulation of a 1176 in the industry?
compressor, in ‘all-buttons-in’ mode. We FR “There are some plugin makers who are
seven years later. I think for the three of us, it’s discovered this modification by chance while sure they know everything about how people
working on a full 1176 algorithm we were work, but there are as many ways to work as
really this intersection between art and science developing for a client. So the Smasher isn’t there are artists actually. I remember a
really an 1176 anymore, but you understand that workshop with Murcof. This guy only worked
that motivates us!” marketing is always about machines that make with freeware, and a pair of M-Audio speakers
you dream! Still, it can take the world’s most worth $200 a pair and, honestly, he’s one of the
And how did the company develop pitiful-sounding bus and make it blow up, and it most unique-sounding electronic music artists I
from there? will also inflate your bass, and other sounds.” know. So don’t listen to the experts too much
FR “When we created Pulsar, we’d been and do things your own way.”
making plugins for companies like Arturia and What are your five favourite plugins
Slate Digital for about ten years. We wanted to made by other companies? pulsar.audio
raise the quality bar but, more importantly, to
have a stronger and more human connection
with musicians and engineers. But we had to
start from scratch; we didn’t even have 100
contacts to send our first plugin to!

“Now I feel more like a perfectionist jeweller
than a software developer. We do this job with
passion, and I think people are sensitive to that.
Well, they are sensitive to the quality of the
products, but also to the people behind them.

“Over time, we’ve built up a pretty clear idea
of what makes a plugin a good tool. It’s an
irreproachable sound quality and algorithms
that rock in all possible settings on any source.
Then the plugin must be easy to use in terms of
ergonomics, and with many functions but only
a few but very intuitive parameters.

“This vision is based on a 10-year experience

The original Universal Audio UREI 1176 compressor

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 85

>  free software / pulsar smasher

> Step by step 3. Other Pulsar plugins

1 There’s a 20% discount code for other 2 To add a bit of punch to a drum track 3 Now turn the input knob up until you
Pulsar plugins on the DVD (and filesilo. with Pulsar Mu, set fast Attack and start getting a good amount of gain
co.uk) this month, so let’s take a quick tour Release times plus a high Threshold level reduction as the compressor kicks in. Dial
of them, starting with Pulsar Mu, an which will keep the compression ratio the Look Ahead knob clockwise and you
emulation of a classic not-to-be-named high. (Ours is set at around three-quarters should hear your drum track sound a lot
compressor which is as at home for of the maximum). more lively and fulsome. Reduce the
mastering a mix as it is taming a bassline. Attack time for a more subtle effect.

4 The Pulsar Mu can also be used to add 5 Pulsar’s third plugin is Echorec that POWER TIP
similar clout to a bassline. Again, try they describe as, ‘the best software
fast Attack and Release times and bring emulation of the Binson Echorec 2’ which > Mastering Mu
the Threshold level down. Your bass was a legendary 1970s echo unit used by
sound will be enhanced and should sound the likes of Dave Gilmour. Echorec models Pulsar Mu can also be used as a
far more gritty. the unit in three different conditions to mastering compressor to add glue
give you everything from a clean and subtle warmth to a mix. This is a
magnetic delay to one that is totally lot more transparent than the uses
grunged up. for bass and drums that we have
shown here, so you’d choose
different setting according to you
mastering options. As a leveller
you’d use much longer Attack and
Release times, whereas for that
added glue try slow Attack and fast
Release. As a limiter use a faster
Attack and Release.

6 Over on the left of the UI you can do a 7 Over on the right, a Drive control adds 8 To go extreme with Echorec, set the
couple of extras that the original more warmth; Mode offers three echo Delays to 7, Mix and Feedback to
couldn’t. Turn the Delays dial down and modes (including feedback); Tone adjusts three-quarters and play with the Disc
the plugin becomes more tube emulator EQ; Condition has those three Used, Good Speed knob. Now try switching between
than delay. Flick the Host switch and the and Mint emulations; and Stereo Drift the three Modes and Conditions for some
delay gets sync’d to your DAW. The On/Off adds timing delays between left and right way out action. As Pulsar say, Echorec is
switch acts as a bypass. channels for dramatic delay effects. far more than just a delay.

86  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020



> free samples / drum samples

All-new beat samples

To celebrate our drums theme this issue, we have two very varied and new
beat collections for you. Get them on the DVD or at filesilo.co.uk

ACOUSTIC
DRUMS

Acoustic Drums Drum Machine Beats

We’ve got a huge set of features designed to help you get a Our next set of beat sounds is of the more electronic variety and was
great acoustic drum sound, but you can always use these produced by Groove Criminals. Oli from Groove says of their creation:
samples instead! Robbie from Cyclick samples says… “It’s all about the beats this month. We’ve balanced some genre-specific
beats (with variations) with some loops taken directly from a select few of
“This set of samples utilises an acoustic SELECTED GEAR our drum machine stash.
drum kit (kick, snare, rack tom, floor tom,
hi-hats, ride cymbal and crash cymbal), a Thermionic Culture The “Hardware-wise we rinsed our trusty Roland TR-8 (the 606 expansion
bunch of mics/preamps and seven Rooster, Focusrite ISA828, as well as the usual 808/909) and DrumBrute. To be honest, we’re not that
tempos. For each tempo, the kit was CAPI VP26, Gyraf GIX and fond of the Brute’s built-in engine but its programming features are
tweaked a little (tom and snare tuning) Trident-MTA Signature excellent, so we tend to use it to sequence other MIDI-enabled drum
and then 30 minutes’ drumming was put Two preamps boxes. A good example of this is the JoMox AirBase 99, basically a rack-
down, sifted through for one- or two-bar mounted 909 clone, a bit impenetrable to program but nice and chunky
nuggets and mixed. A second kit was set Coles, STC, Telefunken, RCA, sounding.
up with just the room mics brutalised Varacoustic, Royer,
with UAD 1176s along with the overheads Beyerdynamic, Calrec, AKG, “On the vintage side we pulled out the Oberheim DMX, an 80s hip-hop
and Super Stereo Ear (see below) and kick Shure, Joe Meek and Maplin classic and the unfortunately named Korg Super Drum, which, er, isn’t.
drum speaker mic tucked in behind. This Super Stereo Ear mics Both do, however, have a very limited, filthy lo-fi charm.
is a heavy, squashed sound which works
great so long as the ride cymbal isn’t UAD, Eventide, iZotope Ozone “The newest of the bunch is the Volca Drum. We love this; it’s got an
used, so those beats are left out from the 8 and Neutron 2 plugins unusual drum synthesis engine and effects but sounds awesome. All the
Crushed Room Mics folder.” Steinberg Nuendo 8.3 hardware loops are straight from the machines with no processing to let
you add effects and compress the hell out of them. They’ll thank you!”
Super Stereo Ear: “On top of a baffle in
front of the kick drum was a Maplin Super GEAR USED
Stereo Ear condenser mic and AGC Arturia DrumBrute
(Automatic Gain Control), a fun DIY JoMox AirBase 99
project that cost about £5 and delivers a Korg Volca Drum
compressed, distorted and raw sound.” Oberheim DMX
Roland TR-8
For more, see the PDF in the folder at
filesilo.co.uk (see p81) or on the DVD.

88 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

vault / classic free samples <

FROM THE VAULT

8-bit Bonanza

We’ve had all-new acoustic and electronic beats. Now here’s a huge set of 8-bit
samples plus bonus chilled, synth and fantastical hits to complete your beats

We really have pulled out the stops delays and sometimes a mild bit of Wittchow’s fantastic Nanoloop cart INCLUDES…
to give you a huge range of beats modulation. or pixelh8’s music tech cart. Both of
this month. This selection comes these self-programmed cartridges 75 Bitty hits
from the mighty Vault with the “The FM Arp Loops are three allow access to the Game Boy’s 74 Bitty noises
main focus on 8-bit hits and loops different arpeggiated FM synths, 4-track sound chip to create 46 FM Arp loops
but we’ve also dug up some bonus each providing loops in five sounds and, in Nanoloop’s case, 335 Multisamples
chilled loops from Groove tempos: 100, 110, 120, 130, and sequence both notes and drums.” 98 Vocobits
Criminals plus some extra fantasy 140bpm. For the multisampled 99 Perc hits
and percussive hits. Beat that! synths, simple synth oscillations “The other SID-style samples 150 Game Boy
were given a whole heap of digital were created using the excellent 77 Loops and FX
On his 8-bit selection, Robbie abuse in order to produce low- quadraSID VST by reFX that does a 9 Sound font sets
Stamp had to work creatively resolution tonalities that can really good job of emulating the
within his remit… “The hits and somehow still carry a tune – they all C64’s legendary SID sound chip.”
noises are from two main end up being a long way from their
processes, one on bit-reduced humble sine, sawtooth and triangle Finally, we’ve dug deep for
vocoding effects (Vocobit Hits/ waveform beginnings.” some bonus samples. These
Noises), and one leaning heavily on include modular and fantastical
bitcrushing/sample rate division Oli Bell of Groove Criminals has hits (more fantasy samples next
effects (Bitty Hits/Noises). They been bashing his buttons for us month) plus lovely chilled loops
were made with simple synth too. “All of the Game Boy samples, from Groove Criminals.
sources (see below for more info) beats, loops and multisamples
that were then sent through several were taken straight off either an All of the samples can be found
bit-reduction and sample-rate original grey Game Boy or a Game in the Free Samples folder on the
division processes along with EQs, Boy Advance SP. All the sounds DVD or at filesilo.co.uk under issue
were composed using either Oliver 285. Register if you haven’t already,
and fill your beat boots.

GEAR USED
Jen Synthtone SX-1000
Kurzweil K2600r
Pearl Syncussion drum synth
Nintendo Game Boy
Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP
Oliver Wittchow’s Nanoloop and
pixelh8’s music tech carts
reFX quadraSID VST

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 89

> free samples / loopmasters

Loopmasters 285 samples

01 Loopmasters DJ S.K.T - In the House 05 Famous Audio Dark Tech Neuro DnB
02 Blind Audio Repercussion - Drum Shots 06 Loopmasters Nightfall Future Hip Hop
03 Cinetools Lost 07 House Of Loop Analog Session
04 Loopmasters Blunted Beats 08 Loopmasters Subterranean DnB

90 / COMPUTER MUSIC / September 2020

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video

Download this month’s videos: filesilo.co.uk/computermusic

/experts SYNTH MASTERCLASS

Our resident music production THE FILTER
gurus walk you through their PART 1
specialist field every month

COMPOSING

80S
FLAVOURS

Read the full Read the full
article on p54 article on p56

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 93

> 15 questions with /  joris delacroix

Photo: © Khali Ackford

15 questions with…

JORIS DELACROIX

Recently voted Techno DJ of the year by DJ Magazine,
this French producer has remixed for a host of stars, all
the while making his own unique blend of melodic and
uplifting music. 15 answers please…

Award-winning techno and trance DJ/ “I’m just a humble guy from the south of with people. I don’t need to intellectualise what I
producer Joris Delacroix started out France and I do music just because I enjoy doing do, I’m just happy if my music can make you
making music at a very young age, growing it,” he says. “I can’t really say why it became forget about your problems and have some
up in the south of France and surrounded by successful, it’s probably a combination of a bit of good times.”
the classic French Touch sound so popular in talent and a lot of luck.”
the late 90s and early 2000s. 2 When did you get into using a computer
Last year he debuted what he calls the Time for 15 questions, and to hear about Joris’ to produce music?
‘SuperSet project’, a live show with both DJ possible ‘farming’ diversification ambitions…
and live performance elements, which he
premiered at Viertel in Basel and the JD: “I started to listen to electronic music when I
Electroday Festival. He has produced two
solo albums and recently released the track 1 What would you say is your overall was 10. I wondered how this music was made
Stay on the Hungry Music label. philosophy or approach when it comes
and realised it was mainly with computers and

to music? expensive machines, two things my parents

Joris Delacroix: “I guess my main philosophy is didn’t have at that time. When I was 18, we finally

simply to have fun doing it and enjoy sharing it got an acceptable computer and most

94  /  COMPUTER MUSIC  /  September 2020

joris delacroix / 15 questions with <

importantly, a good internet connection (I lived JD: “Always watch the crowd when you play. Try
in a small village so it took time before the to interact with them and adapt to their
internet properly arrived). When we got this, I reactions. Don’t be in this dumb mood I see
was finally able to download tracks to get sometimes when the guy says, ‘I don’t care
inspired and software to put my ideas into about people, I play for myself’. If you want to
practice, and I’ve been doing it ever since. play for yourself, just stay in your bedroom.”
Luckily I’ve been allowed to earn money with
this so now I can legally buy my software 12 And from working in the studio?
and tracks.” JD: “There is one important thing that I

learned in my studio, when I sometimes don’t

3 Tell us a little about the gear that’s in have any ideas for making new tracks. For a long
your studio?
time I was torturing myself with this, thinking I

JD: “I have a lot of hardware synths, but I don’t have to force myself to get new ideas, before

use them all the time. I always try to find a realising it’s totally useless. Creativity is not

balance between the hardware, which is fun to something constant or something you can

use and offers a solid sound (when you know control. If you accept this, and learn to know that

how to use it properly), and the software which today creativity might not be with you, then just

is easier to use and allows you to do more and do something else, like cleaning, paperwork, or

different things.” “In my opinion, something you like, whatever allows you to
Apple’s computers are
less and less fitting empty your head. Usually creativity comes back
with electronic
4 That’s a good philosophy to have; so it’s music production” over the following few days.”
all about balance?

JD: “To be honest, having a lot of gear is cool 13 And from working in and around the
music industry?
and allows you to shine with other producers,

but as time goes by, the more I am starting to JD: “Be careful who you’re working with, and as

think that gear is not really so important. The an artist, don’t think that the music industry is

only important thing is what your sound does to always your friend.”

people. It doesn’t matter if it’s made with fancy

hardware or not.” 14 Tell us about your latest release, Stay?
JD: “I can’t explain the track’s story exactly

5 What are you favourite five plugins? but the inspiration is simple and positive. The
JD: “It’s very difficult for me to pick only
happened for my last track Stay. The little trick spirit is all about sharing, as I let the public
with the main melody of that track is that I put
five, but let’s say: U-he Diva is my favourite the chords in an arpeggiator which doesn’t reset decide what the theme means to them. Just go
at every chord. And also that it’s three notes on a
synth plugin at the moment. It has a very good 4/4 structure; the fact that the arpeggio rhythm and listen, maybe it will make your life easier for
continues and makes the melody sound a little
sound engine which very successfully simulates different each time. However, it’s exactly the five minutes.”
same notes, and that’s what creates the
different hardware synths. I can produce a lot of difference in the track. It wouldn’t be the same if
the exact same rhythm kept on repeating every
different sounds with it including basses, leads 16 times.” 15 What else do you have coming up?
JD: “It’s difficult to talk about touring,
and brasses.

“I also like Valhalla’s Reverbs and Delay because with the crisis nobody has been

because these are very creative effects which touring, so maybe I’ve decided to sell all my

can reveal any sound or completely twist it to stuff, buy a farm and start a cannabis culture in

get something different.” order to earn money, waiting for the virus to

“Spectrasonic Omnisphere is perfect to find disappear.”

organic sounds, textures and cinematic effects. I 8 Is there anything on your wish-list
studio gear wise?
sometimes use it for leads – it’s pretty easy to Delacroix will (hopefully) perform at Morocco’s
Origins Festival and in Toulouse alongside
use as well.” JD: “Nothing! Right now I feel like I have Drumcode affiliate Sam Paganini and fellow
Hungry Music artist Joachim Pastor. Stay is out
“I use Cableguys ShaperBox 2 for side- everything I need.” now on Hungry Music

chains, remix effects, panning, filters, LFO etc.”

“Finally, Fabfilter’s ProQ is almost the only 9 That’s possibly the first time we’ve had
anyone completely happy with their
equaliser I use, because of its sound quality and

practical workflow.” studio setup…

JD: “Actually I’m tired of feeling beholden to

6 How do you tend to produce and Apple, spending thousands of euros for
arrange a track?
computers that, in my opinion, are less and less

JD: “I don’t really like to reason that way, fitting with electronic music production (I know, HEAR MORE

because if I begin a track using the same we can also do it on PC, but I’m definitely not a

process every time, I become afraid that all my PC guy).”

tracks will sound exactly the same. So for every

track I say to myself ‘OK, how do you want to 10 So what would you like to see
developed in terms of studio
bring this idea to life? What do you want to

express?’ And that’s all that matters. Of course technology and why?

there will be some methods that I use to JD: “It would be really cool if there was some Stay
bit.ly/jdlcrx_st
construct a track that I repeat, but each time I kind of standalone solution dedicated to making Start The Engine
bit.ly/jdlcrx_strttengn
also really try to get away from those and try music, for example like Akai started to with the
soundcloud.com/jorisdelacroix
something different.” Force. I can imagine a complete standalone twitter.com/JorisDelacroix
facebook.com/jorisdelacroix
solution made by Ableton for using Live, or by

7 Do you have any particular production Steinberg for Cubase etc. It’s probably a little
tricks that you employ?
utopian but then again we are still allowed to

JD: “More and more I find my main melodies dream after all!”

when I’m at the piano. It generally starts with a

suite of chords which I decompose to find a 11 What advice have you picked up from
playing live?
proper melody and groove. That’s what

September 2020 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 95

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