Table of contents for 11-2020 in Beat English

PodTrak P4 – Are physical distances a problem for Podcasts? The PodTrak P4 offers four microphone inputs with newly developed microphone preamps that operate at up to 70 dB gain. The four headphone outputs with individual volume controls also allow for larger conversations and, if a guest is physically not able to be on site, it can easily be switched on via a connected smartphone. Four sound pads can be used to play jingles, sound effects or music, which can be recorded on 2 of the 8 available tracks to SD card. You can also connect the P4 to your computer via USB and use it with conferencing software. According to the manufacturer, the P4‘s integrated mix-minus function automatically eliminates annoying echoes and feedback. The P4 is also an audio…

1 Live Stream: Here‘s How To set up a DJ set as a live stream on Youtube, you need three things besides the DJ equipment: audio interface, webcam and streaming software. While the audio interface takes the sound from the DJ set professionally and the webcam creates a video, the streaming software is used to manage the media streams. In addition, it forwards the stream to Youtube. 2 All-in-One Solution In this context, the Zoom Q8 is an all-rounder, as this cell phone video recorder can act as a webcam and audio interface. Furthermore, the wide-angle lens also captures larger DJ sets with more equipment. First, we install the webcam driver [1]. Then, we connect the main output of the DJ mixer to the combined XLR/Link inputs of the Q8.…

TikTok is currently booming like no other social media platform: it was the most downloaded app in January 2020 with 800 million active users per month and an average in-app usage time of 52 minutes. But what is TikTok, which content performs best there and how can music be optimally staged? We answer these questions together with Julia Szymik. TikTok is an Instagram-like video platform where users can record short clips, add different tracks and sounds to them and edit them in different ways. The platform‘s video clips and creative tools are more popular than ever. Instagram recently launched „Instagram Reels“, a similar feature: this adaptation further underscores the app‘s relevance. Among younger users, TikTok has long since replaced all other media (mainly „Instagram“ and Facebook), but the relevance of…

Beat / You grew up at a time when art and politics were intricately connected to each other. How did you experience that yourself? Michael Rother / From the late 60s onwards, I‘ve always been a political person. I was a conscientious objector in 1969. After looking at the world around me, it seemed like the logical thing to do: The student protests, the fight of the black population against repression and for equality in the USA and the Vietnam war all deeply affected my view of the world. Beat / What effect did they have on how you saw yourself as an artist? Michael Rother / I wanted to develop my own sound and identity in music. There were obvious parallels between this goal and what was happening politically.…

+More Cubase Workshops and Video courses can be found at www.MeinHomestudio.de. 1 The Routing Create a stereo group channel and a stereo audio track. Route the output of the group channel to the input of the audio track. This allows you to record the audio signal of the group channel directly on the audio track. Changes to the plug-in parameters are thus recorded in the recording, even without automation. 2 Drums and Hall Load Groove Agent SE on a new instrument track and open the Minimal Kit 01 preset. Route this track directly into the group channel. Now add the REVelation effect on the instrument track and load the Reverse Ambience Dark preset. This creates interesting reverse elements on the synthetic drum sounds. 3 Fluttering Reverb Activate the recording mode…

1 More Space Load any sound that sounds rather ordinary to you. Use it to record a clip with a few short and longer sounds. Load the default reverb preset into the track. Set Predelay to 0.50 ms and Dry/Wet to 100%. Vary the other parameters as desired. Either way, your sound gets life. 2 Distortion Or you can use the Redux effect instead of Reverb. Activate Overload and select the value so that a slight crackling or noise in the sound can be heard. Set Downsampling Mode to Soft and turn the knob up a little so that the sound is more distorted but also brighter. 3 Artificial Overtones Another way to beautifully affect the timbre and tone of a sound is using the Saturator. For example, select Hard…

1 Mastering chain While older MPC‘s were still equipped with a limited number of dynamic effects, current models show off their sheer mass. As always, however, the right tools for the job have to be found first. To save you from tedious experimentation, we‘ ll give you our personal Beat-MPC Mastering Chain. 2 Standard effects Our demo project (see Workshop Data [1]) sounds relatively dull and quiet, so here‘s something you can do: Our basic setup consists of the parametric 4-band equalizer (PEQ 4-band) and the Mastering Compressor. Switch to the CHANNEL MIXER via MENU + Pad 12 and select Masters at the MIXER or open the mixer via the MPC software. 3 EQ settings Load the effects into slots 2 and 3, leaving the first slot free for an…

MOK Waverazor 2.5 The exceptional MOK Waverazor synthesizer has arrived at version 2.5 and continues to polarize with its futuristic sound. By manipulating the waveforms, this synth, with its three oscillators and three filters per voice, produces primarily harsh tones. The sound can in turn be pumped up considerably with three internal effect blocks and twisted through the missing sound. Version 2.0 adds an extensive edit mode, the current update 2.5 continues to build on the synthesizer in a useful way: There are three new filter types which, like Waverazor itself, do not conform to the standard. With the „All Pass Filter“ a reverb can be simulated, eight short delays are provided by “TapLine8“, and the comb filter allows spatial effects. We particularly liked the new reverb effect and the…

With its features, these headphones are recommended for stationary use in a desktop studio as well as for producing or pure music enjoyment on the road. For mobile use, these space- saving headphones can be folded and transported in the supplied case. They have a very rugged design and the most important components are made of metal instead of plastic. This makes the headphones, which weigh a good 350 grams, look more expensive than many of its competitors. The oval cups can be folded, tilted and swivelled, which, together with the angled mounting, increases the fit and comfort of these headphones. In the test, the headphones sat securely and snugly enough on the head to neither slip nor press uncomfortably. The soft imitation leather of the padding feels nice to…

We’ll fix it in the mix.“ – Of all the rock‘n‘roll lies, this is certainly the best known. With equalizers, compressors and the like, you can iron out some recording problems, but you certainly can‘t make a hit out of a bad track. Fortunately, there is no recipe for how a really good song should sound, which opens up unimagined creative freedom for the mixdown. Aside from the creative aspect, there are a few basic technical points to consider when mixing that are simply characteristic of good craftsmanship. The following six basic rules will help you on your way to a successful mix. SIX BASIC RULES FOR TIDY MIXES 1 / Volume - The magic key Your most important tool for getting a good mix is the level faders. Make…

1 Create Instrument Rack Our Looper Rack will consist of four units, but you can extend it according to your needs. Load an empty Instrument Rack onto a MIDI track. Open the Chain List in the rack and create four chains by right-clicking in the Chain List display. Name them as Drums, Bass, Harmony and Lead, for example. 2 Assign Chains Open the editor for the Chain Dial Zones. Select all chains and drag all zones over the entire area. Right-click in the area and select Distribute Areas Equally from the context menu. In the first rack, map the Chain Selector to a macro slider. 3 Create Looper Rack Load a suitable instrument into each track in the first rack. Place an Effects Rack behind the rack, which also contains…

Dear Beat Reader, In the past few months, it has become increasingly difficult for us to squeeze the concentrated load of Software Highlights onto the 8.5 GB magazine DVD. That‘s why you can now get the monthly plug-ins and samples as unlimited downloads. By saving the unnecessary plastic, we are also doing something for the environment. And we‘re starting right away! With the current issue, you won‘t get the usual 8.5 GB of data, but an incredible 12 GB! Packed with the best plug-in highlights and inspiring loops & samples for the hottest music styles and much more! Access is easy: Just click the link: bit.ly/BeatDL178, enter the requested word from the booklet and download it all. Alternatively, you can register as a subscriber for free at www.plugins-samples.com, where all…

Beat / How did you get the idea to make music with such fancy instruments and broadcast it live? Hainbach / To be honest - I have always been interested in strange instruments. I used YouTube for documentation in the beginning and quickly noticed that, when pictures happen to music, people tend to stay tuned. There was more and more positive feedback and so one thing led to another. Beat / What should a streaming beginner be prepared for? Hainbach / The setup should be tested and stable before the first stream starts. Latency is also important, because if a stream is recorded, the computer needs some power. Additionally, with the audio routing (i.e. once into the video setup and back again), there can be noticeable delays and picture and…

»The use of Benzos is playful. The once-great Trap Hope, Lil Peep, shook pills directly from the bottle into his mouth – as if they were Smarties.« American Hip-Hop remains the measure of all things. So, German rappers not only imitate their American role models when it comes to beats, lyrics and sounds when it comes to their music; but also when it comes to the choice of their favorite drugs. A wave of substances that have long been considered the new stars in the drug sky in the USA is currently sloshing onto our shores. They are marketed under such melodious product names as Xanax, Valium, Percocet and Halcion. Although they have certainly not achieved widespread popularity in Germany, their use is increasing rapidly. The effects of these „Benzodiazepines“…

1 Clear Direction In addition to the kick, rides, shakers and the open hi-hat play an important role. All play simple patterns: i.e. open hat on the off-beat and eighth note rides. Thanks to sparse instrumentation, it‘s important to make the sounds as fat as possible. Create a new GROUP and load the samples from the 909 Analogue folder in the Workshop files. 2 Open-Hat On Pad 9, there is a typical 909 hi-hat, which we‘ll place on the off-beat. Pan Pad 9 all the way to the left and duplicate it on Pad 13, which you‘ll pan hard to the right. To keep the two from being erased, we‘ll transpose Pad 13 down three semitones and set the Samplestart to about 150. This effectively eliminates overlap. 3 Rides From…

1 Stamp Tool First click on the Stamp tool, located in the upper left corner of FL Studio‘s Piano Roll, next to the Snap-to-Grid tool. Here you can select different scales and chords. It‘s important that you first click on the „Only One“ tab to disable it. This way you don‘t have to select a scale each time. 2 Define Scales Now it‘s time to define chords or scales to work effectively in the piano roll. In our case, we chose a major scale. To define the root note, just click on the note in the Piano Roll. We chose „C“ as our starting point. Now all notes of the C Major scale are shown in the Piano Roll. 3 Drawing Scales The next step is to place the scale…

»The music business is a den of sin and inequity, but there’s also a negative side..« Few electronic artists have displayed their passion for sound, technology and innovation with as much enthusiasm as Maryland-born producer Brian Transeau (BT). From his first album, Ima (1995), BT has adopted a pioneering approach to music-making, segueing into film soundtrack, TV and video game scoring, with each project informing the next over a diverse catalogue of releases. Not just a technology geek but an inventor, BT is famed for creating iZotope’s Stutter Edit sound-processing plugin and, more recently, Stutter Edit 2, BreakTweaker and Phobos with Spitfire Audio. Following two full-length multi-movement experimental albums in 2019, The Lost Art of Longing sees Transeau return to the classic trance sound he’s best-known for, binding 25 years’…

Jan Hoeglund, Founder and CEO of Audio Imperia. Beat / How did the idea for Areia come about? Jan / Areia was created as a logical extension to the strings we recorded for Jaeger. The strings for Jaeger were deliberately chosen to have all the basic material to be able to write epic / hybrid / orchestral music with a library. Of course, Jaeger also works great for other genres and this gave us the impetus to expand Jaeger‘s string concept accordingly to simply offer greater flexibility and articulation in a separate string library. Beat / What sets Areia apart from other string libraries? Jan / Areia stands out particularly due to the variety of possible applications. We deliberately chose the recording room for its fantastically clear, direct, but very…

PluginGuru Cloud City for Unify With Unify, PluginGuru has introduced a universally usable platform this year, which is specifically suited to new sound libraries. Cloud City is the second - and very enthusiastic - library for Unify. Cloud City comes as a collection of 450 patches, 1300 samples and 700 MIDI files. As the title suggests, it contains sounds and grooves from current urban styles like trap, hip-hop and RnB, as well as „cloudy“ sounds that are ideal for Downbeat, Dream Pop and Chillout. The BPM Split creations provide great inspiration for new tracks, with newly harmonizable groove playback for the left hand and individual sounds for the right hand. Verdict Cloud City is a fantastic collection for modern urban/pop music production. Above all, it shows that Unify (version 1.1…

»Your task is to present music that was mainly produced by others, who are much cooler than me and you. « Beat / The Corona pandemic has made career management hard for many DJs. Your life, meanwile, never seems to have been as organised as that of some of your colleagues anyway. San Proper / Yes, my life is quite chaotic, though adventurous and dramatised. My schedule usually is based upon studio-sessions during weekdays and performing during the weekend - for that‘s when people dance. Beat / That, in a way, is a sort of routine as well. San Proper / True, and I think this balance is very healthy. The seclusion of a hermit and the extrovert entity form a sweet recipe for an exotic cocktail. Beat / You‘ve…

The Common Thread: Beat Issue 11/2020 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: BT BT, Brian Transeau, is a Grammy-nominated soundtrack composer and a Trance legend. Now he‘s back with his first dance album in 7 years. Danny Turner explored his stunning studio and learned more about the artist‘s obsession with technology. Page 50 Review: Roland JU-06A The successor to the limited JU-06…

Streaming and Podcasting are currently on everyone‘s lips. Gamers in particular have been broadcasting their gameplays live on the Internet for several years - and with great success. Well-known streamers reach tens of thousands of users and can even make their living from the gamers‘ room. Meanwhile, successful podcasters are also being provided with highly remunerated exclusive contracts by various streaming providers - and in times of curfews and concert cancellations, streaming services and live broadcasts are also becoming more and more interesting for musicians. Concerts, musician podcasts, lessons or studio insights - all this can be done in the home office nowadays. The quality of the transmissions has also improved in recent years. Viewers expect good transmission quality, in which the picture and sound are as good as those…

1 Like Radio Right at the beginning, the question arises: Why upload a podcast as MP3? SoundCloud, Hearthis, Mixcloud and other providers allow the upload of long files. Right, but if you want your podcast to be ad-free for all listeners, the traditional solution is currently the only one available, but it does have its advantages… such as a permanent listenership. 2 Preparations To create the podcast, we need the following things: a microphone, an audio editor and webspace. Any low-noise model is suitable as a microphone, but a table tripod is a great advantage because you probably don‘t want to speak standing up. If the device is only used for podcasts, a model with a USB connection is completely sufficient. 3 Equipment Recommended are the mPod [1], C01U [2]…

Beat / It‘s been about seven years since your debut album. The obvious question is, why did it take so long to produce a successor? Yoann / It felt like time flew. When I finished my first album, I had the feeling that I needed to take some more time to make my second record. I felt a bit burned out and there was a lot to learn. Accordingly, in the last few years I have mainly been concerned with getting better, made a few collaborations and met other people. Then one morning I woke up, the album was done, and it was seven years. But I‘ve always taken a lot of time for my projects, whether it‘s videos or music. I think that time has a lot of value.…

1 Let it do the click Load an instance of the Wavetable and switch on Osc 2, leaving Osc 1‘s waveform on the Sine for now. This will give us the click of the kick. Osc 2, in turn, will give us the characteristic boom. The former is easily generated: Connect Env 2 with Pitch at +30 intensity and set Env 2 Decay to 150 ms. 2 Sub-Oscillator Attack and Sustain are reduced to zero. This already creates a nice base for the kick. For amplification, we switch on the Sub-Oscillator on Octave -1. We also set the Amp Release to the minimum value and switch to Mono mode. With Osc 2, we now bring the second part of the bass drum into play. 3 Oscillator 2 Set its waveform…

1 Foundation First we need a groove that is to be modified. This can be a beat created with the new Drum Machine Designer. Of course, loops (WAV, Apple, etc.) can also be imported or external plug-ins can be used. In our example, it‘s a simple hip hop groove from Izotope BreakTweaker, a drum machine (AU plug-in). 2 Sample Recording On a second instrument track we use Quick Sampler. The two-bar drum groove from BreakTweaker can now even be recorded directly as an audio file in Quick Sampler. Click on Recorder, select BreakTweaker (Instr 1) as the input and press Record: Now play the loop and record it in Quick Sampler. 3 Slicing The Drumbeat is now playable as „My Sample.aif“ via a keyboard (note C3). It‘s not a problem…

1 Activate To set the entry and exit points for a phrase to be repeated in your current song, you must first select VAMP in the menu and then I/O EDIT. Make sure that V.EDIT has a black background in the upper area. This indicates that VAMP is active. Use the F4 key to switch the VAMP function on and off. 2 Mark The song must be stopped during the setup described above. To set the entry and exit points, start the song. Press F2 at the point where you want the repeat to start and F3 to mark the end point of the loop. This is a quick and easy way to mark up to 10 phrases and recall them later. 3 Jump To jump to the previous or…

Cherry Audio‘s virtual modular system is available in three versions [1]: Voltage Modular Core with 105 modules, Ignite with 45 and Nucleus [2] with 22 modules. With the extensive range of modules, the Core version (tested here) is perfectly suited for creating powerful synthesizers, complex effect processors, and drum or drone machines. On board are oscillators, filters, LFOs, envelope generators, sequencers, arpeggiators, a large selection of utility modules and nice sounding effects. And Misfit Audio‘s Electro Drums collection is more than just a bonus - offering modules inspired by Roland‘s classic TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines and a chaser trigger sequencer. Plug-in Integration Another great addition is the ability to load VST2, VST3 and AU plug-ins into Voltage Modular. This allows you to integrate your software synths and effects into…

Tonsturm FRQ-Shift Modular freaks have known it for a long time: Frequency Shifters are an insider tip when metallic effects or robot voices are required. Of course, it only gets really exciting when the sound parameters are modulated. This makes it all the more gratifying that Tonsturm offers FRQ-Shift, a plug-in that offers powerful modulation possibilities. In the center of the FRQ-Shift user interface, there are two frequency shifters between which you can crossfade using the crossfader. Four additional effects in the feedback path (shifter, delay, resonator and multimode filter) further enhance the creative potential. The modulators can be used to control almost all parameters, resulting in very lively effects. LFOs, random generators and envelope followers are available as modulation tools. Since the LFO‘s waveforms can be freely drawn in,…

Zampler Plug-in, Soundset, Audio demos, MIDI- files and Presets for Download: www.bit.ly/BeatDL178 1 Let‘s Go! With the exciting hybrid sounds of real and synthetic instruments, the excellent Zampler & MPC expansion Nordic Nature, is predestined for modern Epic Music. Reason enough to tackle a track with this soundbank! We decide on a tempo of 90 BPM and get inspired by the structure and instrumentation of modern trailer music. 2 Braaam Sound First, we would like to create an appropriate atmosphere. So, we try out the different presets of the soundbank. Load Zampler//RX, click on Load Bank and open the file „Zampler Nordic Nature.fxb“ from the folder where you installed the expansion. The patch 025: LD Bass Drop is perfectly suited as a „braaam“ sound. 3 Epic Effects The desired long…

ADDAC System VC Triple Bandpass Filter The team at the Portuguese module maker ADDAC System is into rough sounds, we already experienced this when testing the Gotharman‘s tube filter. With the Triple Bandpass Filter, they seem to be going down a more subtle path. But only seemingly, because the module is not based on tubes, but offers one distortion preamp per band. But let‘s start at the beginning… The ADDAC603 consists of three identical bandpass filters with controls for gain, frequency, bandwidth, feedback and output volume, as well as a switch for slope, either 6 dB or 12 dB. Feedback works discreetly over three-quarters of the control range and is very powerful on the last quarter, so you have to be careful here. On the other hand, you‘ll get dirty…

1 Standard EQ Start Virtual DJ 2021 after installation and switch to Pro mode. Under the Audio tab, you‘ll find a mixer with a standard 3-band equalizer, which allows editing of highs, mids and lows in the frequency spectrum. In addition to the standard EQ, there are two exciting modes: EZRemix and Modern EQ that can be opened with the arrow symbol. 2 EZRemix In the following dialog, select EZRemix so that the 3-band EQ is renamed Vocal, Instru and Beat. Now drag a beat-heavy song with vocals and instruments onto one of the decks. Turn Beat to the left and the drums are gone. If you turn right, only the drums will be heard. It‘s the same with Vocal and Instru. 3 Modern EQ If you choose Modern EQ,…

Christoph von Deylen: Colors The name Christoph von Deylen may be unknown to many, but under Schiller almost everyone knows him. The fact that the artist now appears for the first time under his civil name has to do with a musical reorientation. Instead of fluffy electro- pop, “Colors” features an almost entirely instrumental mixture of ambient, electronica and synthwave. In addition, the piano takes a leading role in some tracks. Nevertheless, you can recognize Deylen‘s style, because these ten tracks also have many moments of well-being and have something peaceful and warm about them. In addition to the ten actual tracks, there are twelve live versions, where the piano seems even more in focus and is complemented by ambient spherical sounds, soft synths and beat elements. Genre: Ambient, Electronica…