Electronic Musician

Recent models may have come in black, but as far we're concerned, the MPC color is gray, so we're delighted to see that Akai has returned to this retro scheme for its MPC X Special Edition. Launched to celebrate the Music Production Center's 35th bir

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

You can make vast-sounding synth strings by using saw waves, your synth's unison control, and a splash of spacious reverb. Unison, which stacks copies of the oscillator to create a bigger sound, should be turned up above two voices on each of the osc

Music would be very boring indeed without variation, and that's exactly what musical dynamics are all about: variations in loudness. Examples might be a quiet verse leading into a loud chorus, a synth line that gradually increases in volume, some not

I nitially a drummer, Sheldon Young studied music at university in Oklahoma before making beats under the mentorship of childhood friend and American rapper Ray Jacobs (aka August 08). Working on material under the alias Channel Tres, Young first arr

An album can be many things to the person who makes it: a diary, a mission statement, a love letter or just a bit of fun. But for Brazilian producer Joyce Muniz, her latest record Zeitkapsel acted as a time capsule: a diverse collection of tracks tha

Since Roland's Jupiter-4 synthesizer first brought the Jupiter moniker to our attention in 1978, it's fair to say that it has since become a byword for synth excellence. The Jupiter-8 that followed in 1981 was a massive 8-voice, polyphonic analog syn

KEY FEATURES CONTROL: 25-key velocity-sensitive keyboard with aftertouch, backlit pads, faders, scroll wheel and touch strips I/O: USB-C, 3.5mm MIDI out WEIGHT: 680g DIMENSIONS: 337 x 183 x 26mm Those on the hunt for a portable, affordable MIDI keybo

KEY FEATURES FREQ RESPONSE (@ -3DB) FULL-RANGE MODE: 40Hz-40kHz FREQ RESPONSE FOCUS MODE: 110Hz-10kHz MAX SPL: 112dB INPUT: Balanced XLR 10 kΩ BASS AMP STAGE: 2 x 70W RMS; Treble amp stage: 50W RMS USER CONTROLS: Sensitivity, stand-by, Left/Right, HP

Audio analysis tools are a key component of modern music production so it's tempting to upgrade your DAW offering with something more capable. Vision 4X (VST, VST3, AU, AAX and standalone) from Excite Audio and Dutch trio Noisia is such a plugin and

KEY FEATURES Analog multimode filters, 8x 1/8-jack Eurorack-compatible CV inputs and outputs, A voltage-controlled LFO with waveform blend control and two outputs 180° out of phase, Mode control to select between low-pass, band-pass and high-pass fil

CONTACT WEB: audient.com KEY FEATURES ANALOG INS: 2 mic/line/instrument, 6 mic/ line – EVO mic pre, JFET instrument ANALOG OUTS: 8 Balanced Line Outputs DIGITAL: 2 ADAT Inputs, 2 ADAT Outputs SAMPLE RATE: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz CLOCKING: Internal, ADA

One probable question that you're likely to address fairly quickly is whether to go for the Standard or Pro editions of the V8. The Standard V8 is equiped with the basics, much like a traditional Mk1/2 Rhodes. You'll get the classic sound, which incl

Some instruments are iconic: the Minimoog, Stradivarius violin, Steinway pianos, and we'd like to suggest one other instrument which fits a similar cult status, which can be referred to by a single word: Rhodes. So what is a Rhodes? In essence, it is

Steinberg's HALion (standalone, VST, AU, and AAX) is a do-everything plugin and features sampling, virtual instruments, a wealth of sound design and synthesis options and over 37GB of content. Version 6 was a big chapter in its story, a life which be

We use meters to gain an objective view of our audio and part of that process is comparing it to other audio and in particular our favorite reference tracks. With this in mind, the Vision 4X bar graph analyzer includes a choice of 17 reference curves

The mere mention of the Minimoog will bring a smile to the faces of most musicallyminded people. But, there are times when you want just that little bit more. GForce Software are on hand to provide and deliver a Mini, with a hell of a lot more. We lo

The level of modulation in HALion 7 has always been high but Steinberg have given it an overhaul with v7. Changing how sounds dynamically morph is easier than ever. The controls display their modulator sources once you click them, and a drop-down men

What makes the Minimoog what it is? Any seasoned user will tell you it's in the gutsy and full-toned sound of the original hardware. Some will say it's the simplicity. While it is easy to reminisce, there is no doubt that synthesis has moved apace si

You would be forgiven for thinking Impact Soundworks' Tokyo Scoring Drum Kits might be a bombastic ensemble-based collection geared toward ‘big' film score work. However, after reading further on the product page – and seeing the picture of a relativ

Big and beautiful batch of presets for Arturia's OP-Xa. And this fabled growling monster of a synth gets every last ounce of sick sound wrung from its beefy bowels for your track-tickling pleasure. Choose from deep and deadly lead lines, bottomless s

We often discuss theory through the lens of acquiring knowledge, but this month we're going to round up a few pieces of software that know it all already, and can help you to get it right. Some of these tools will be able to suggest chords to fit int

Dan Griffith, aka Gryffin, is a DJ and San Francisco native, a songwriter and record producer who is fast carving himself out a fanbase of millions across Spotify and YouTube. He released his debut (and critically acclaimed) album Gravity in 2019, af

Modern electronic music studios more often than not contain a hodgepodge of equipment from different manufacturers that – thanks to MIDI – can all communicate. This wasn't always the case. Before MIDI, very few synth manufacturers offered communicati