Future Music

Editor-In-Chief Si Truss, simon.truss@futurenet.com Reviews Editor, Music

Future Music

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New year, new ideas

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5 highlights of Arturia Pigments 4

Arturia’s multi-mode softsynth gets a UI overhaul and a raft of new features

“I made my dream synth”: Hainbach’s Fluss, is a granular playground

>YouTuber/producer Hainbach and developer Bram Bos have announced

Mutable Instruments shut up shop for good

>Having announced earlier this year that they weren’t

Korg’s Modwave goes native

>The trend for official software versions of contemporary

FL Studio 21 is here!

>Believe it or not, it’s been four-and-a-half years

Sonible takes AI to the limit with its quick and easy dynamics processing plugin

>AI-powered plugins aren’t going away – in fact,

Generate new musical ideas in Ableton Live

How can I create individually-processed vocal chops that I can sequence with MIDI?

Hollie Kenniff

The ambient artist talks studio gear and shares her minimalist approach to music making

Plump DJs Eargasm

Finger Lickin’ Records, 2003

Track by track with Lee Rous

Creepshow “It became the first track on the

50 WAYS TO KISCKSTART YOUR NEXT TRACK

Overcome writer’s block and create your freshest ideas yet with our bumper crop of inspiration-sparking tips and tricks

LET THE MACHINES DO THE WORK

> When you’re in a creative lull in

CREATIVE CHALLENGES

Restricting yourself in the studio can be a great way to boost your creativity. Test your production skills with these project ideas…

ARTIST TIPS

Take inspiration from these top artists on the art of starting a track

5 PLUGINS THAT CAN GENERATE FRESH IDEAS

27 AUDIOMODERN PLAYBEAT/CHORDJAM/ RIFFER Recent years have seen

ARTIST TIPS

Seven more successful artists reveal their creative process

ARTIST TIPS

Our final batch of creative gurus share their tips on getting started

STRIKING THE RIGHT CHORD: THEORY IDEAS

> Even if we’re not all virtuosic players,

Cutting-edge plugin tools

Get to know the past year’s most forward-thinking plugins with this tour of the state of the art

Waves Harmony

> Since Waves hit the scene back in

Multiband delay with Lese Strum

1 Strum is a neat little multiband

GS DSP Magic Blur

> As technology’s power grows, so does its

Getting real with Kirchhoff EQ

1 Three-Body Tech’s Kirchhoff EQ is a

Where next for synthesis?

> On the one hand, synthesis has forefronts

UNDERSTANDING: Limiters

WHAT ARE THEY? Compressors even out a signal’s dynamic range or shape its dynamic response, but can’t always act quickly enough to catch the fastest peaks. A limiter is a compressor that reduces the fastest peaks via a very fast attack, release and a ratio of 10:1 or higher. Designs vary depending on attenuation: analogue-style ‘limiting amplifiers’ are simply heavy-handed compressors, and add flavour; a digital ‘brickwall’ limiter, a transparent design with infinite ratio, gets its name from its output ceiling that acts as an absolute barrier

Quick synth tips: Part 2

Get more out of your synths with our series of quick-and-dirty synthesis tips

ANALOGUE BEATMAKERS

NEW ENTRY Elektron Syntakt £849 Full Review: FM392

DIGITAL POLYSYNTHS

Arturia MiniFreak €599 Full Review: FM391 | Although

STUDIO HEADPHONES

Austrian Audio Hi-X15 £89 Full Review: FM386 |

DJ MIXERS

Pioneer DJ DJM-V10 £2,899 A favourite of many

MAELSTROM & LOUISAHHH

After a decade of collaboration, techno rock duo Maelstrom & Louisahhh release their debut album. Danny Turner finds them at the peak of their powers

GOLD PANDA

Derwin Dicker’s fourth album finds him exploring mental health and self-care through sample-based electronica. Matt Mullen finds out how it was made

KATE NV

Embracing the polarities of abstract and popular music, Danny Turner chats to Kate NV about her idiosyncratic approach to sound

DORIAN CONCEPT

The Austrian producer, musician and synth savant lets it all go on his new album, What We Do For Others. Matt Mullen chats to Oliver Johnson

Korg Drumlogue £529

Some two years after it was first announced, Korg’s hybrid drum machine is finally here. Si Truss finds out if it’s worth the wait

Elektron Syntakt £849

Elektron’s latest groovebox borrows sounds and ideas from various places in the company’s product line. Si Truss asks if this is more than the sum of its parts

sE Electronics DM2 TNT £119

The DM2 TNT is an ultra-quiet, inline preamp that provides a lot of bang for your buck, says Simon Fellows

IK Multimedia Tone X Capture £233

IK have come up with an easy way to feed your hand-crafted guitar tones into your amp and cab sim ecosystem. Andrew Price found out more

Arturia MiniLab 3 €99

The popular mini keyboard controller is back with a refreshed new look. Jon Musgrave runs it through its paces

Klevgrand Tomofon $129

The Swedish developers’ ‘real audio synth’ is the company’s biggest release yet. Si Truss sees what it can do…

Noise Engineering Tymp Legio £205

Rob Redman takes a look at a percussive voice module that isn’t afraid to put wackiness front and centre

Universal Audio Volt 476P £390

Charlotte Sterland goes large, with the studio veterans’ latest interface that’s built to handle bigger performances

Impact Soundworks – Rosette Fingerstyle $179

>We last featured an Impact Soundworks product in

Vital Vocals – Blues Rock Acapellas £24.95

>Some seriously heavy vocal samples up for grabs

Audiotent – Torque $26

>For the latest edition to their wonderfully well-stocked

Vocal Roads – Apocalyptic Vocal Future Beats £24.95

>With a title like that, you’d expect End

Splice Originals – Sahara Malian Afrobeats From $7.99/mth

>Give your Afrobeats a sonic shot in the

Sample Magic – Dreamy Indie & Lo-Fi From $7.99/mth

>Wistful, warm and fuzzy feelings mix with woozy

Mastering the Mix Limiter

>AI plugins have grown in popularity in recent

Roland MC-707 £879

Roland’s flagship groovebox was already impressive – Leo Maymind dives in to see how well it’s held up