#01 Creative basslines

In this tutorial you’ll learn how bass can be so much more than a rhythm instrument as we delve into that low end

15 questions with…Sun-El Musician

Sun-El Musician has a huge fan base in his home country of South Africa, with tens of millions of Youtube views, but is on a mission to spread his brand of EDM across the world, even inventing a sub genre of it along the way – African Electronic Dance Music. We catch up with the man whose ambitions are as big as his setup is small. “I’m not one to have crazy things and just like my studio to be simple…”

EQ & filtering

Let’s explore a few different ways to shape your sounds with EQ and filtering

Dynamics

For our final ‘How to do everything’ set of workshops, we’re looking at the moving subject of dynamics

BLEASS Dragonfly £25

Bringing a fresh approach to one of the oldest of modulation effects, Dragonfly re-thinks tremolo as a reactive rippler for quirky pop

Expressive E Imagine €166.80

With the latest addition to their softsynth lineup, Expressive E get modelling, and there’s not a tube of glue in sight

Beat it!

We open our How To Do Everything features with beats, and with our free plugins, you can get great beats… fast

Heavyocity Symphonic Destruction £325

Ever wondered what a symphony would sound like if it were to do battle with Optimus Prime? You’ll get a kick out of this then…

Keys and more

Now it’s time for the keys to step into the spotlight as we move on to think about creating chords and harmonies

MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD

Martina Topley-Bird has a three-decade career during which she has worked with Tricky, Massive Attack and The Prodigy, but her fifth album, Forever I Wait, sees her embracing a new-found confidence

Mixed in Key Live €58

Embarrassed by theory-blindness? This learned virtual assistant can step in to detail what your music is doing in the theoretical sphere

Mastering the Mix Reso £41.65

Mastering the Mix present another innovative peak-smoothening tool. Reso’s smart insights prove the benefits of AI for music production

15 questions with… Mason Maynard

After last month’s 15 Questions With Shane Codd, we have another young producer who is making it big in the world of dance music. Mason Maynard already has the backing of BBC stars and some top production legends plus a studio packed with the best hardware and software. And it all stems from a school lesson when he was asked to produce on a computer. “There was another way to make music…”

15 questions with… Amon Tobin

Amon Tobin’s new release, How Do You Live, marks his 25th year in music. Working under four aliases and across more than a dozen albums, he’s transmuted elements of jazz, drum & bass and trip-hop into his own brand of intricate, brooding electronica, developing a sound and method that’s defined by process and technique – not genre or style. But, we hear you ask, what are his favourite plugins?

Arturia SQ80 V Cross Wave synth €199

Arturia have emulated the SQ80 from Ensoniq, an interesting sample-based synth from the 1980s. But does it have a place in 2021?

A TB-303 via Zebra CM

TB or not TB! It’s not so much a question, as how we use our own Zebra CM plugin to recreate the sound of a TB-303 for our 303 issue!

Cherry Audio Mercury-4 £30

The bygone, underappreciated Jupiter-4 hums with life once again, thanks to this new, intricately modelled software adaptation

EFTERKLANG

Producer Mads Brauer explains how the experimental Danish trio have gone back to basics for their latest album – and back to nature…

Nugen Audio Paragon ST £209

Imagine if you could combine the flexibility of an algorithmic reverb with the authenticity of convolution? Imagine no more with Paragon ST…

Problem-solving mixing

Part of the job of a mix engineer is to solve problems that might arise at the recording stage. Software – and creative thinking – can help!

Steinberg WaveLab Pro 11 £430

If 11 is one louder than 10, then WaveLab 11 must be one better than WaveLab 10. But, actually, it turns out that’s quite a lot better…

The Roland TB-303

It’s issue 303 of Computer Music so there really was only one feature that we could lead with – one comparing and contrasting the attributes of a hardware 303 with its many software counterparts. It’s time, then, to explore the finest pieces of software inspired by the legendary Roland TB-303…

How To Build A Home Studio

We show you how to turn your humble abode into a recording studio, complete with control room

New funk samples!

We set our sampling gurus a funk task this issue and they have two all-new packs for your funktastic delight on the DVD or download at filesilo.co.uk

15 questions with…ISHMAEL ENSEMBLE

Ishmael Ensemble is a collective of Bristolian musicians, throwing elements of that city’s rich and varied history into a melting pot of styles and fusions. ‘Experimental jazz’ is one label, only the results are much better than that sounds, and have already drawn praise from the national press and landed the band two BBC sessions…

Audio Imperia Solo $299 PC MAC

With many orchestral libraries offering music en masse, Audio Imperia distill things to a singularity, going for virtuoso with Solo

15 questions with…BOMBA ESTÉREO

As one of the biggest bands in South America, Bomba Estéreo have notched up more views on YouTube than most bands can dream of and have built up a huge audience with five acclaimed album releases and half a dozen Grammy nominations. The band’s founder Simon Mejía shares his refreshing production ethos: “Don’t let your brain lead you…”

4 funk ‘n' disco packs!

We’ve gone deep into the mighty Vault this month to grab three classic funk packs and one disco one to maintain the happy dance summer vibes…

SANDUNES AGAINST THE TIDE

With live performances that ‘reveal an appetite for integrating the worlds of studio and stage’, Sandunes was on something of a roll pre-pandemic, having made a mark at many high profile festivals including Blue Dot, WOMAD, Roskilde and more. However she’s used the enforced time and studio world to come up with her best EP yet, and continue an upward momentum that has brought her sound to the attention of everyone from Ableton to Warp, Bonobo to Red Bull…

ROOM ACOUSTICS IN DEPTH

We’ve just looked at some DIY acoustic solutions. Now some simpler and more ‘pro’ routes to turn your abode into a studio