Table of contents for 02-2021 in Beat English

Whether depending on the current situation or not, the listeners are longing for a good mood, dancing and carefree indulgence is currently more than popular. Just like Melodic Techno. The music style combines all these properties in a club and living room compatible construct, is always danceable, but never too hard, minimal, but never boring and exudes a euphoria that is comparable to the rave of the 90s, but it feels like with just half of the tempo. But how exactly do these magical melodies come about, what should be paid attention to when choosing a sound and how do all the individual parts result in a rousing arrangement despite the low number of them? We will answer you all of these questions. Simple means, great effect Melodic Techno is…

Beat / How is the mood in the US so soon after the elections? Grandson / If you walk out you could hear a pin drop. Everyone is holding their breath. I am cautiously optimistic about the future, even if I felt nauseous last night. I think many were anticipating that it would be competitive and that a lot of people don‘t want to change anything. It‘s crazy that so many millions of people in this country have lived through the same four years as I have and still don‘t want any change. Much remains to be done. I guess some believed the election was going to be such a landslide that we‘d just get rid of this Twitter racist rhetoric, but sadly it doesn‘t look that simple. But there…

Project info Material: MPC Live, X, One, Touch, Studio, Renaissance, Force, software 2.x or MPC Beats Time required: 1 hour Content: Re-arrange and remix existing loops and sounds by slicing. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Sampling source Whether you sample ideas from older tracks or sequences from synthesizers, or simply load finished loops from packs, it doesn‘t really matter in the end. The important thing is that the material or pattern has something that appeals to you personally. Be it the character or the melody. For our workshop, we will use some samples from Splice. 2 Sample editor In the pack „Zephyr - Future Bass & Melodic Popstep“ [1] you will find the PMZP_Piano_ Loop… a very pleasing melody that inspires us. So, we sample the loop, cut away the silence at…

Project info Material: Novation LaunchKey Mk3 Time required: 1 – 2 hours Content: Optimally prepare for live performance with software and hardware. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Basic setup Basic setup To make a live set as easy as possible, a well laid-out and consistent structure is essential. For our small demo setup, we divide the songs of the sets into eight consistent parts: Kick, drums, bass, lead, pad and vox, as well as a solo synth in the form of a plug-in and a hardware synth, in this case a groovebox. 2 Structure is everything Each of the tracks is given a fixed track color, which we meticulously maintain so that we can easily keep track on the MIDI controller as it mirrors the colors. The different songs are separated by…

Icelandic multi-instrumentalists Bergur Þórisson and Pétur Jónsson have developed into one of the country’s most intriguing exports. Childhood friends, growing up in the town of Seltjarnarnes close to Reykjavík, the duo played in various funk, jazz and reggae bands throughout their teenage years, but only began producing after gaining access to a recording studio in 2012. Their haunting self-titled debut album – Hugar (2014) – became a critically acclaimed release amidst collaborations with fellow Icelandic artist Ólafur Arnalds on the soundtrack to the ITV crime drama Broadchurch and Sigur Ros on their Black Mirror score. More recently, the pair completed The Vasulka Effect: Music for the Motion Picture, a documentary based on 1960s video-art pioneers Steina and Woody Vasulka. After scoring the docu-movie, Hugar expanded the project to create an…

5Pin Media Cristoph Progressive & Techno 2 The successful Techno, House and Progressive artist Cristoph inspires us with his latest work: Progressive & Techno 2. The result is 315 loops, 350 one shots, 267 multisamples, 24 instrument patches and 126 MIDI files of fresh, creative material. A respectable number of 267 multisamples, which have been prepared for common sampler formats, completes the successful pound of sounds along with a complete Ableton Live template. Crisp, transient-rich and punchy, the drums are recorded and cleverly combined as loops. Short harmony licks and sequences that range from high strings to sharp hookline leads to bell-like arpeggios line the music folder. The sound effects are mostly transitions and impacts. Verdict All in all, a varied collection that is progressive but not overly pushing, which…

Pioneer DJ promises the DJ community a powerful innovation boost in new dimensions with the new CDJ-3000 multiplayer. Two ARM Cortex multicore CPUs, which benefit stability, provide more power under the hood and a higher quality resolution of 96 kHz and 32-bit floating. Correctly connected In addition to an analog and digital stereo output there is an SD card slot and a USB-A port for playback of storage media. Accepted file formats are WAV, AIFF, FLAC, ALAC, MP3 and AAC. The USB-B port is intended for computer connectivity. To conveniently load songs onto a second player, the network connection helps with the Pro-DJ-Link technology. No CD drive It can also be used to synchronize light with the sound. In contrast to the previous model, there is no CD drive. Even…

The common thread: Beat issue 02/2021 For many years, Beat has been inspiring its readers not only with practical and musical topics, but above all with the tight integration of editorial content. From the very beginning, Beat has been about creating, about the structured building of ideas and the common thread - in the magazine as well as in the tracks. This navigator shows you the highlights of this issue and allows you to see the big picture. Studio Insights: Hugar Hugar are the latest icelandic export in a long line of visionary artists to emerge from the neoclassical and ambient scene there. Danny Turner explored their vintage studio. Page 48 Review: Roland Jupiter X The modern Jupiter-8: Roland‘s new flagship synthesizer offers a huge arsenal of emulated analog classics…

1 Grooves Techno productions need one thing above all: groove. So before you wonder what else could be missing in your track, check out the beat first. Simple structures with 909 bass drum, open hi-hats in the off and the obligatory claps on the second and fourth eighth don‘t blow anyone away anymore. Take advantage of the big wide world of synthesizers and samples and decorate the beat with toms, percussion, snares and effects in all their variations. Of course, everything in moderation and not at the same time, otherwise the result will sound overloaded. If the beat still sounds too normal, simply move the sequences forward or backward by a sixteenth as a test. Or put the playing pattern on a completely different sound. This can lead to unexpected…

Project info Material: Cubase Pro Time Required: about 20 minutes Content: Design send effect channels with Cubase plug-ins. Difficulty: Advanced As a pro member on MeinHomestudio.de you have access to our video course „Learn to mix“ and our track archive with more than 30 creative send effects for intuitive mixing in Cubase. 1 Import vocals Create a new Cubase project and drag the audio file „18 Vocals“ from the medibay onto an audio track. Add a stereo send effect channel to this vocal track and load the Frequency equalizer as the first effect. We want to control the send effects channel pre-fader and therefore change the send mode in the channel settings. 2 Equalizer Das The signal on the send effects channel should now be limited to the upper mids…

Project Info Material: Ableton Live 10 Suite Time required: Approx. 20 minutes Content: Two ways to create 808-style kick sounds with the Wavetable Synth; configuration of the Wavetable; sound design via modulation of pitch and filter; effects to enhance the sound characteristics. Difficulty: Advanced 1 Select a Wavetable Load a Wavetable synth into a MIDI track. The best way to do this is to open the extended view by clicking on the small triangle in the upper left corner of the title bar of the Wavetable synth. The easiest way to create a really deep kick is to select the sine wave in Oscillator 1, which already appears by default after loading. 2 Pitch modulation Create a MIDI clip in the track and program some kick drum notes on C1.…

Project info Material: Studio One 5 Time required: 1 hour Content: Prepare for live performance with Studio One‘s Show Page. part 1/2 Difficulty: Advanced 1 Bands and solo acts Unlike Ableton Live‘s clip-based setup, Studio One focuses entirely on shows by solo artists or bands where the playback of songs or their backing tracks is the main focus. Nevertheless, performances can certainly be designed dynamically. The basic idea of the Show Page is to run through songs from beginning to end. 2 Sections And we want to do this, but with the ability to play certain song parts as a loop in order to improvise simultaneously. To do this, the songs must be prepared accordingly. Create a new song and load a finished song into it as a WAV file;…

Eventide ShimmerVerb The algorithm used in ShimmerVerb comes from Eventide‘s H9 hardware and has been ported to the native plug-in format by the developer. The layout of the user interface is identical to the other current Eventide effects, so you can quickly find your way around. The shimmer effect is based on a combination of reverb, dual pitch shifter, delay and EQ. Eventide has integrated the pitch shifter into the feedback loop. Both pitch shifters can be individually adjusted in musical intervals in the range of 2 octaves including fine tuning down or up. The delay feeding the pitchshifters allows delays up to 1000 ms and can be synchronized to the song tempo. The feedback control not only adjusts the number of repeats, but can also disable the pitchshifters or…

Beat / How did you get into DJing and when did you step into the studio for your first own productions? Pretty Pink / I took my first steps in electronic music as a DJ in a small region in Germany, the beautiful Harz region. Back then, I did the artwork for the flyers for clubs in the region and by chance I was put behind the decks one evening. Despite the lack of routine, that worked immediately. I fell in love with DJing straight away and spent more and more time doing it. As the months went by, the gigs increased and the smaller ones turned into shows in bigger clubs and later on festivals. During this time I also felt the desire to create my own tracks, edits…

No brainer: FMSynthesizer Opzilla for fat sounds With the OpZilla, the developers at 2getheraudio present a powerful-sounding FM battleship that also appears to be attractively priced. FM synthesis, which is often associated with synthesizer classics like the Yamaha DX-7 from the 80s, is more popular now than ever and OpZilla wants to prove that. The Opzilla generates its sounds using four operators and 64 algorithms. For each of these the operators, there is a choice of 16 waveforms. To bring more bite and attack richness into the FM synthesis, attack samples can be added. Crisp basses, bell sounds, FM piano sounds and banging drums can be quickly conjured up in this way. Each operator also has its own envelope, which can be used to determine whether it should be processed…

1 | Intro Kick, hi-Hat, clapi Without further ado, the classic techno track starts with kick, open hi-hat and clap to make life easier for the DJ. The complete beat is sent to a bus track (here: PRESS). Its high-pass filter is automated to around 200 Hz for the first eight bars, and to 45 Hz for the following eight bars. Why? / The reduced intro offers numerous entry points for the DJ mix. Due to the filter automation, the beat is present and audible, but saves the full force for the part that follows. The eighth bar remains without a kick. Effects Every 16 bars we add a noise downer (NOISE FX), but alternately as a long and short version. On the first of measures of the ninth and…

Project info: Material: XronoMorph (see magazine download) Time required: about 2 hours Content: Introduction to XronoMorph, creating polyrhythmic melodies and patterns and export as MIDI Difficulty: professionals INTRO 1 Treasure chest Right up front, XronoMorph is not a plugin, but a not-so-straightforward program. The good news: You can load plug-in instruments, play external sound generators, sync everything via midi, and most importantly, have a huge treasure trove of crazy, polyrhythmic and Euclidean patterns under your control. And it‘s not even as complicated as it sounds. 2 Start The Mac version of the program is not verified by Apple. However, this is not a problem if the app is opened by right-clicking on the first start. Confirm the message with OK. Starting the program takes a few seconds (even under Windows),…

Project info Material: Native Instruments Maschine Plus Time required: 20 minutes Content: Arrange tracks directly in Maschine+ Difficulty: Advanced 1 Use groups In the Maschine+ all sounds are divided into groups. You can determine for yourself which sounds are in which group. A tip for more overview is to place similar sounds in the same group. For example, all melody sounds can be in Group A, while Group B contains the drum section. 2 Groups and tracks Since the Maschine+ does not need a computer, the question is how to name groups and tracks. First you call up PAD mode. On the left the groups and on the right the pads of the respective group are displayed. If you hold down the Shift key, the Rename tab becomes visible. Now…

Project info Material: Apple Logic Pro X Time required: 20 minutes Content: Start sequencing triplet grooves with confidence. Difficulty: Beginner/Advanced 1 Quantization Recording triplets is unusual for some musicians. To be on the safe side, one chooses the appropriate rhythmic quantization in advance to save oneself one surprise or another. One of the swing variations A-F is not enough for our project. For a clear triplet pattern, the quantization 1/24 or (for faster tempos) 1/12 are the correct choice. 2 Grid for piano roll Recorded phrases are edited more often than not in the piano roll editor. You won‘t get anywhere with the usual 1/16 subdivision within these editors. At the top of the transport field, you have to set the rhythmic resolution. As with quantization, 1/12 or 1/24 are…

Project info: Material: FabFilter Pro-Q Time required: 1 hour Content: Bring sounds and instrument groups to the foreground and make them more present using three-band EQ. Difficulty: Advanced 1 EQ instead of OTT In this workshop, we will use the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 [1], but you can also use the freeware TDR Nova [2] or any other equalizer you choose. First of all: The OTT multi-band compressor will not be reproduced here. It‘s available as freeware anyway [4] and our desired final sound is a bit different. 2 Create three bands Instead of splitting the signal into three bands with different settings for up- and downward compression and expansion like in the original, we keep the technique much simpler with simple boosting and reducing of different frequency ranges. Load the…

Plug-in, soundset, audio demos and MIDIfiles for download: www.bit.ly/BeatDL181 1 Drums In the following, we will create a Retro- Electro track with a moderate tempo of 110 BPM using the Zampler soundbank. For our beat, we use the UVI Beatbox Anthology 2 [1] drum library for the UVI Workstation. The drum kit „072-PCollins-One More Night“ delivers crisp TR-808 sounds that are perfectly suited for the intended sound aesthetic. 2 Groove The bass drum plays on eighth-note beats 1, 4 and 6, and the snare plays on every other quarter-note beat. A lively hi-hat groove provides the necessary drive. The beat still doesn‘t sound punchy enough to us. Parallel compression with the Goodhertz Vulf Compressor [2] provides a remedy for that. Now we want to add a driving arpeggio to our…

For a long time, there was speculation about a polyphonic synthesizer from Arturia as a complement to their monophonic examples such as the Micro-, Mini and MatrixBrute. In the fall of 2020, the PolyBrute was introduced without much notice and, a few weeks later, we were able to test the first production model. Instrument Feeling Externally, the PolyBrute closely resembles Arturia‘s previous synthesizer flagship the MatrixBrute, and we wanted to flip up the Minimoog-style control panel right after unpacking; however, that didn‘t work out. Unfortunately, this option was omitted from the PolyBrute. The workmanship of the PolyBrute is impeccable - the sturdy case combines dark lacquered metal with walnut wood elements. The feel is excellent, and only the halved matrix with 8x12 small illuminated soft buttons is a bit at…

The MIDI standard has long since been updated to version 2 and manufacturers are responding with correspondingly appropriate new products. The A-88 MKII supports 256 MIDI channels, articulation types, better timing and other advantages of the new protocol; however, the A-88 MKII communicates just as well with older MIDI equipment, for which two classic five-pin DIN jacks are available. In a nutshell, it is a large controller keyboard with three keyboard zones, useful playing aids, a rudimentary arpeggiator plus software support for operation. With a combat weight of around 16 kilograms, it is also attractive for live performances. Hardware Mechanically, the Roland A-88 MKII appears extremely robustly built. All controls are located to the left of the keyboard. This has a rather unfavorable effect on the width of the controller…

With their warm, organic sound, tape recorders from Studer/Revox, Teac/Tascam and Telefunken have truly written music history and shaped the sound of countless classics. So, it‘s no wonder that the fascination with analog tape machines remains unbroken. From today‘s perspective, however, these devices are not only usually quite expensive, but also bulky and high-maintenance. Old video and music cassette recorders are much more affordable and compact and are still popular for adding character effects such as noise, pitch fluctuations, saturation and frequency limitations to sounds or complete tracks. Tape echo units such as Charlie Watkins‘ Copicat from 1958 and Roland‘s RE-201 Space Echo, which was available from 1974 and also integrates a spring reverb, are also in great demand. Virtual replicas Even though old video or cassette recorders are not…

» Sometimes I have no idea what I am going to start my set with. « Beat / Few DJs have a busier schedule than you. It is hard to imagine what the lockdown has been like for you. How have you been dealing with the situation? John Digweed / A day in my life now, during lockdown, and before are very different. There is no rush at the moment to get things done, as before I would normally leave for the weekends gigs. I have enjoyed not having jet lag for the last 8 months. But really miss the social aspect of being and playing in clubs. Beat / You‘ve talked a lot about how you started DJing. But you‘ve also been very active in radio to the degree…

Abu Nein: Secular Psalms Abu Nein from Stockholm feel at home somewhere between synthwave, dark wave and post-punk. On their debut album „Secular Psalms“ the formation around singer Erica Li Lundqvist uses old school drummachines in combination with analog 80s synths and occasional The Cure-like electric bass as a basis for the rather deep vocals of the front woman. The result sounds anachronistic and gloomy, danceable and underground. The ten tracks fit perfectly into a wave of retro cold wave bands like Boy Harsher, Hante, Minuit Machine or Linea Aspera that have become increasingly popular in recent years and have made this almost extinct sound „fashionable“ again. For lovers of these sounds, Abu No is now also a must. Genre: Cold Wave | Label: Progress Productions Fotos: Auf zur Illumination…