New keys samples

We have two all-new packs of highly-processed keyboard samples for you this issue. You can get both packs on the DVD or download direct at filesilo.co.uk

Neuratron PhotoScore & NotateMe Ultimate 2020 £199

To scan and edit existing musical scores, the best option is a dedicated application (and one with a very long name)

15 questions with…SNARL

Snarl might not be old enough to set foot in a club yet, but he’s already producing tracks so good that he has been described as ‘dance music’s next great prodigy’. Not that Prodigy, although he does come from Essex…

Recording Masterclass

Recording external instruments or an entire band into your computer can seem a daunting prospect if you’ve never done it before, but with today’s tools – and advice from the following pages – it’s surprisingly easy to get great results. Welcome to the Recording Masterclass!

KRUST: Moving in cycles

Along with Roni Size, Krust was at the forefront of jungle in the 90s, helping to launch the genre and one of its most legendary labels, Full Cycle Records. After taking a seven-year break from music production, he is back with The Edge Of Everything, his first album in 14 years, an extraordinary cinematic production that came together with the best of old and new technology…

JEFF RUSSO

Jeff Russo is one of the world’s leading film and TV composers, currently on a mission to boldly produce exceptional soundtracks for both Star Treks Discovery and Picard. For these critically-acclaimed soundtracks, he even had his own custom-built sample library co-developed with Orchestral Tools (now available for us all to use) complete with a Klingon Choir…

CM diary

In part two of his exploration of the human side of computer music-making, Ashley talks about how to keep social – outside of your usual beat-making bubble

The Sequencer, pt 1

Scot takes us through the history and development of another synth staple and advises how to use it in a modular setting

cm/the 6 best… Lo-fi Plugins

Get the vibe and nostalgia behind lo-fi hip-hop, or just add some crust to purely digital projects with these six devices

Accusonus ERA 5 Bundle Pro $39/month, $299.88/year, $999 forever PC MAC

When you’re fixing up compromised audio you want a toolset that’s quick and reliable. This updated package could well be the answer

cm/diary

Musicianship is more than just gear (we were shocked too!). For a new column, we asked one of our favourite new musicians to talk the human side of computer music

Ableton Live 11 The Ultimate Guide

Ableton have just announced Live 11! We’ve had exclusive access to the beta release for some time now to bring you all the inside detail…

cm/ the 6 best… Controller keyboards

The best keyboards of all shapes and sizes that we’ve recently reviewed in Computer Music

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK

OMD were one of the first bands to take the sound of the synth and create perfect pop songs with it. Here, founding member Paul Humphreys looks back over four decades of musical innovation: “We started out making computer music, just without computers!”

PreSonus ioStation 24c £258 PC MAC

Fancy an interface and controller for any DAW in one smart box for a bargain price? Time to take the train arriving at this ioStation…

The 100 Greatest Mobile Music App

Mobile music making is big business, with iOS and Android devices easily capable of producing as pro-sounding tunes as desktop counterparts. Over the following pages we round up 100 essential apps for all aspects of music production…

cm mini reviews

A rapid-fire round-up of sample libraries, ROMplers and music gear

15 questions with… HERMITUDE

The Australian duo of El Gusto and Dubs have just taken on the world with the single Spotlight with Daniel Bedingfield. Here they talk two decades of music production, from an Atari ST to LA…

14 questions with… TENSNAKE

After being given a classic drum machine, Hamburg-based Marco Niemerski started releasing music under the name Tensnake, including the worldwide hits Coma Cat and Love Sublime with Nile Rogers. Not a bad gift…

Roland A-88MKII £879

Finding the right controller keyboard is very personal, but Roland’s latest is both feature-packed and potentially future proof…

THE PROFESSIONALS Luis Guerra

Welcome to another in our series of features focussing on composers making money with their computer music making, and not always in ways you might imagine. This time around we feature Luis Guerra who writes music for an incredibly diverse range of media…

Delay plugins

We’ve reviewed some wonderful delays over the last 18 months or so. Here are what we consider the very best…

Arturia 3 Modulation FX… €199

Classy modulation can transform the sonics of your track. Let’s see what this new bundle – part of the ‘you’ll actually use’ series – has to offer

15 questions with…HOT CHIP

Is it really two decades since Hot Chip first got together? Time for a celebratory album release in the form of a Late Night Tales compilation, and for the band to reveal their studio – and many a Eurorack – secrets

Anatomy Of The Techno Kick

It’s the first in a new series of production techniques from the experts at Audiotent, with a special guide to producing perfect kicks

SYNTH SPECIAL

It’s a super synth special in this month’s Computer Music and we have a fantastic selection of hands-on features to help you make great synth music and create some great sounds…

K Multimedia iRig Keys 2 Mini €122

IK Multimedia deliver one of their dinkiest computer music-making keyboards, and it might be just what your mobile production needs

Modulation

In this instalment of our synth series, we look at some common mod sources and how to use them to bring your patches to life

Electronic Beats

Last month we looked at how to make your acoustic beats more human, more realistic and less machinelike. This time, we’re going to the electronic side. Leave your humanity at the door

MIXING BEATS

Getting your electronic beats mixed well together can make or break the backbone of your tune