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MANAGEMENT
Spanning from mainstream chart hits to outsider
Brand Director, Music: Stuart Williams
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underground parties, house music is still a dominant force
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on dancefloors from Ibiza to Chicago to Japan. It’s split and
Group Art Editor: Graham Dalzell cross-pollinated into a multitude of sub-genres, spanning
Future Music, ISSN 0967-0378, is published monthly with an extra issue in December
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So how to tackle the concept of making house music in
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– the classic sounds and techniques that form the
backbone of house music in all its forms. This issue we’ll
explore some of the general rules and classic sounds of
house, which are useful to know – even if you ultimately
decide to subvert them.
We’ve also handed over a considerable amount of our
cover feature to artists pushing the genre forward, in the
hope they can inspire with their innovative ideas, cross-
genre DJ sets and fresh takes on classic house sounds.
We hope you enjoy the issue.
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5
FM | CONTENTS
Contents | This Issue

IN THE STUDIO WITH…

Hania Rani
The Polish composer on how she came
to embrace vocals and synth tones for
expansive new album, Ghosts

6
 This Issue | Contents

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

92
Knowledge
Transient shaping

72
REVIEWED

IK Multimedia UNO
Synth Pro X
IK’s synth line gets a knob-laden new
entry. Does it have the X-factor?
64
In the studio with…
Lukid

60 70 18 88
Producer’s Guide to… Pioneers Classic Album Review
The 808 Kick Aphex Twin Radio Free DC Arturia Acid V

REVIEWS ARTISTS REGULARS SOCIAL

72 IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro X 16 TALKING SHOP 12 Filter: The latest news Find us online at
76 Intellijel Cascadia 18 Classic Album: Fort Knox Five, futuremusic.co.uk
PIEZO Radio Free DC
79 Knobula Pianophonic 46 IN THE STUDIO 22 SAVE MONEY, subscribe today! Watch our videos
80 Kurzweil K2700 HANIA 24 Releases: What’s caught our ear
this month?
youtube.com/
futuremusicmagazine
84 The t.bone RB 500
86 Focusrite Scarlett 4th RANI 60 Producer’s Guide: The 808 Kick

70 Pioneers… Follow us on Twitter

Generation interfaces 56 PRODUCE LIKE…
Aphex Twin @futuremusicmag
88 Arturia Acid V PAPER DRAGON
64 IN THE STUDIO 92 Knowledge: Transient shaping Join us on Facebook
90 Sounds and Samples
LUKID 93 Effects tips: Part 5 facebook.com/
futuremusicmagazine

7
FM | DIGITAL
ACCESSING YOUR BONUS
DIGITAL CONTENT

musicradar.
com/how-to/
future-music-
401-downloads
Head to the link above to
grab the latest samples
and downloads!

56
PRODUCE LIKE…

Paper Dragon
INCLUDES VIDEO
The Bristol three-piece demonstrate the
reamping techniques they use to add life
to their gloriously nostalgic tracks

8

IN THE ARCHIVE – UPDATED!
FM’s Sample Archive gives you
over 18GB of royalty-free sounds.
Here’s what’s inside...
ARCHIVE
CLASSICS HOUSE & TECHNO
AMBIENT SOUNDS PT.1
> ’90s Ambient (562 samples)
> Ambient Dawn (490 samples)
AMBIENT SOUNDS PT.2
> Majestic Bells & Mallets (444 samples)
> Spring Reverb & Tape Delay (533 samples)
ATMOSPHERES &
BACKGROUNDS
> Atmospheric Beds (369 samples)
> Noise, Crackle & Hiss (512 samples)
> Sounds of the City (371 samples)
BASS BUNDLE
> Amped-Up Bass (234 samples)
> Sub-Frequency Grooves (256 samples)
ESSENTIAL DRUMS
> 808 and 909 (39 samples)
> Ultimate Cymbals (503 samples)
> Ultimate Kick Bundle (505 samples)
> Ultimate Snares & Claps (676 samples)
> Vintage Drum Machine Hits
(548 samples)
FOUND FAVOURITES
> Mechanical Sounds (390 samples)
> Out There FX (500 samples)
> Studio Noise (234 samples)
> The Edge Of Noise (512 samples)
> The Sound Of Water (375 samples)
FUTURE DRUMS
> Beyond Breakbeats (186 samples)
> Digital Percussion (502 samples)
> Electro FX (321 samples)
> Granular Drums (499 samples)
FX & TRANSITIONS PT.1
> Filter Fun (496 samples)
> Gates ‘N’ Sidechains (287 samples)
> Total Transitions (260 samples)
FX & TRANSITIONS PT.2
> Destroyed synths (519 samples)
> Sci-Fi FX (501 samples)
HIP-HOP, FUNK & SOUL
> Cosmic Soul (386 samples)
> Funk Keys (279 samples)
> Hip-Hop Drum Machines (387 samples)
This Issue | Contents
TECHNIQUE & FEATURES
> Minimal Hip-Hop (540 samples)
> Chicago House (537 samples)
> House & Techno Stabs (213 samples)
> Jacking House (518 samples)
> Warehouse Techno (575 samples)
PERCUSSION
> Modular Percussion (510 samples)
> Shakers, Tambs & Toplines (503 samples)
> Sticks, Knocks & Rims (502 samples)
26
MORE BEATS
> ’80s Pop Drums (197 samples)
House
> Dub Percussion 2 (537 samples)
> Jazz Drums (499 samples)
> Total Snares (501 samples)
TRANCE & RAVE
> Classic Breakbeats (371 samples)
We explore the fundamentals of
> Rave Synths (524 samples) house, and take some notes on
> Trance Tools (537 samples)
how to push the sound forward
NEW PACKS
from some of our favourite DJs
’70S SYNTHS
> ’70s Synths Pt 1 (102 samples)
> ’70s Synths Pt 2 (192 samples)
’80S SYNTHS EXCLUSIVE SAMPLE PACKS
> ’80s Synths Pt 1 (265 samples)
House Hooks
> ’80s Synths Pt 2 (279 samples)
’90S SYNTHS
> ’90s Synths Pt 1 (414 samples)
CYCLICK SAMPLES PRESENT…
> ’90s Synths Pt 2 (411 samples)
’00S SYNTHS Need some ammo to accompany
> ’00s Synths Pt 1 (308 samples) this issue’s cover feature? Look no
> ’00s Synths Pt 2 (188 samples)
further than this pack of ready-to-
DRUM HITS
> Analogue Drums (311 samples)
go house inspriation
In Reverse
> Rims ‘n’ Things (549 samples)
> Resonator Percussion (502 samples)
> Hats, Cymbals & Gongs (280 samples)
LO-FI TOOLS GROOVE CRIMINALS PRESENT…
> Clips, Skips and Glitches (497 samples)
> Tape World (499 samples)
We flip reverse it for a pack of
> Lo-fi Acoustic (277 samples)
slippery FX, backwards beats and
ETHEREAL FX
> Digital Nature (255 samples)
unique rhythmic patterns
> Clouds & Air (496 samples)
9
Contents | This Issue

BONUS SAMPLES DOWNLOAD AT MUSICRADAR.COM/HOW-TO/FUTURE-MUSIC-401-DOWNLOADS

01 02

03 04
loopmasters.com
01 Hy2rogen Moombahton Madness
02 Loopmasters Lovin Lo-Fi
03 Element One Hex Dark Halftime
04 DABRO Music Deephaus Vocals
05 rv_samplepacks Modular Technoverse
06 Ghost Syndicate Frontline Neuro Drum & Bass

05 06

10
FM | FILTER
Filter | The Future Of Music

Serato brings
stem separation
to your DAW
Serato Sample 2.0 could be an instant
remixing secret weapon

12

>
Serato has added some extra
allure to its Sample plugin;
namely, the stem-splitting
technology that has also
found its way into the company’s
Studio DAW and DJ products.
Released in 2017, Sample was
always designed to be fast and fun.
Drag in an audio file and Serato’s
acclaimed Pitch ‘n Time technology
will detect the tempo and key,
enabling you to match these to your
current project. Slices of the sample
can then be assigned to pads and
triggered in old-school fashion.
Sample 2.0 is cut from similar
creative cloth, but adds the ability to
extract vocals, melodies, bass and
drums from the audio, giving you
instant access to them in your DAW.
This has the potential to make it a
valuable remixing tool.
“Innovation is at the centre of the
Serato universe – not only in how we
work, but how our community
creates,” said Serato chief strategy
officer, Nick Maclaren. “Sample 2.0
brings stem separation to everyone’s
fingertips, blowing the lid off what’s
possible in the sampling space.”
Sample 2.0 is available now for a
one-off price of $149, or you can get
it on subscription for $10 a month.
It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU
Sample 2.0 looks to
unlock remixing for all
formats, and there’s also a free trial
version that you can download from
the Serato website.
In other Serato news, it was
announced last month that Serato
had been acquired by Pioneer DJ
owner AlphaTheta, bringing two of
the biggest names in the DJing
market under the same roof.
Pioneer DJ’s hardware controllers
have long been compatible with
Serato’s software, so the acquisition
certainly makes sense. Serato also
develops several pieces of music
production software: Studio, Sample
and Pitch ‘n Time.
Commenting on the news,
Yoshinori Kataoka, President and
The Future Of Music | Filter
CEO of AlphaTheta, said: “I am
delighted to announce the
acquisition of Serato. Through
extensive discussions within our
company and with Serato’s
management team, we have been
exploring new ways to contribute to
the industry. Bringing Serato into the
AlphaTheta Group will lead to new
synergies and significant
technological innovations, adding
continued value to the community.”
Young Ly, the CEO of Serato,
added: “Serato has enjoyed a
25-year history of success that’s
driven by a single-minded focus on
serving DJs, producers and
artists[…] Today, we’re excited to
deepen our long-standing
partnership with AlphaTheta,
accelerating how we create value for
our users and the industry.”
Not everyone is happy about the
potential takeover, however. The Post
– a newspaper based in Serato’s
native New Zealand – reported
earlier this month that InMusic,
owner of Numark, Rane, Denon and
Stanton, is currently considering an
attempt to block the takeover with a
series of lawsuits, accusing it of
being anti-competitive.
13
Filter | The Future Of Music

BLEASS' Fusion is the Swiss

Army knife of distortion
>
BLEASS has announced the
release of an innovative new
distortion plugin: Fusion
utilises waveshaping
techniques in order to distort and
saturate your sounds and the
developers are claiming that this will
make Fusion the "most versatile and
adaptable" plugin of its kind.
Fusion's waveshaper is equipped
with 58 wavetables, each of which
fine-tunes the character of the
distortion or saturation being applied.
The user can also import their own
custom wavetables, meaning that
Fusion is capable of producing a
hugely diverse variety of sounds;
everything from warm, analogue-
inspired saturation through to
abrasive digital clipping.
The plugin's interface is divided plugin's signal chain. processed into a control signal to also a neat randomisation function
into four tabs; Waveshaper houses The Modulation tab offers a ton of modulate any of Fusion's parameters. that lets you instantly randomise all
the waveshaping controls, while Filter possibilities for creating evolving, Fusion's modulation capabilities of the plugin's parameters, making
is home to a pair of resonant dynamic distortion effects; there are are bolstered further by the inclusion for a potentially quick and easy route
multi-mode filters; filter types include two highly tweakable LFOs onboard, of a sequencer, which can be used to into wild sonic experimentation.
high-pass, low-pass, bell and notch, along with an envelope follower, a program complex patterns of values Fusion is available for Mac, iOS
and each filter can be positioned useful addition that converts the that modulate two more of Fusion's and Windows in VST3/AU/AUv3
before or after the waveshaper in the dynamics of the audio being controls. Alongside all that, there's formats and is priced at $19.99.

Cherry Audio's Harmonia combines The sound from Harmonia's dual

oscillators runs through a stereo

additive, vector and wavetable synthesis

multimode filter and can be shaped
with click-and-drag amp and filter
envelopes before being processed by

>
Cherry Audio has unveiled a
new synth plugin. Harmonia
is inspired by the vector and
wave sequencing synths of
the '80s and '90s, building on these
techniques with a modern
architecture that harnesses additive
synthesis to create "lush, evolving
and polyphonic sounds".
Harmonia is equipped with two
sample-based oscillators, each of
which can generate up to eight
pitches using waveforms in the
plugin's library. These pitches, or
harmonics, can then be tuned
individually to create harmonically
complex timbres.
The volume of each of these
harmonics can also be tweaked
individually, adjusted collectively
through a handy slider, or even
modulated to produce evolving
textures, through a process Cherry
Audio has named “interpolated
harmonic scanning”.
Cherry Audio claims that
Harmonia's waveform library
contains "hundreds of meticulously
sampled waveforms sourced from
various synthesisers, traditional
instruments, and voices, as well as
an array of quirky "lo-fi sounds",
which sounds like it means that
there's tons of potential for
sound-building and tone-sculpting.
Users can also import their own
samples which can be then used
as waveforms.
four onboard effects: distortion,
modulation, echo and reverb.
Harmonia is outfitted with a fairly
capable modulation matrix with 80
destinations and 19 sources,
including four tempo-syncable LFOs
with ten waveforms.
Harmonia supports aftertouch
and flexible MIDI mapping and it
sounds like there'll be plenty of
scope for expressive performances.
The plugin arrives with 350
presets, so even if you're a little
stumped by its unique approach to
sound design, you'll be able to get
going straight away.
Harmonia is priced at $49. The
plugin is available in AU, VST, VST3,
AAX, as well as standalone formats
for Mac and Windows.

14

Native Instruments'
new Traktor DJ
Controller: 'X1 of a kind'
>
It’s been over five years since
Native Instruments last
launched a significant piece
of new hardware for its
Traktor DJ platform and we were
starting to wonder whether we’d ever
see a new Kontroller again. That dry
spell is finally over though, as NI
launches the third version of its
Traktor X1 controller – and it looks
like the most significant update yet.
The entirely new layout is the
most obvious change, and NI says it'll
make the X1 more intuitive and easy
to use than ever, with user-definable
button colour-coding, an extra row of
buttons, four encoders and OLED
displays for key info, with the aim of
reducing 'Laptop Face', which sounds
like a problem we definitely have.
There are five OLEDs spaced
across the controller, so you can
garner crucial info, like track info,
remaining time, effects parameters,
plus relevant parameters, without
having to peer at your laptop screen.
This will also leave you free to
admire the all-new coloured lighting
under the chassis. The ambient
lighting system is customisable via
NI's Traktor Pro 3 software, which
comes bundled with the X1 and can
The Future Of Music | Filter
Universal Audio's
Apollo Twin X USB is a
gift for Windows users
>
Universal Audio has revealed
the latest tweak to its
acclaimed Apollo audio
interface line, which looks
set to open up its Twin X's box of
tricks to Windows-based musicians
and producers.
The Twin X USB retains the key
USP of its predecessor, the
impressive Apollo Twin X – inheriting
A/D and D/A conversion from the
rackmounts of the pro Apollo X range
– but at the same time it also adds
be configured to warn you when, for
instance, a track is about to end or is
in a loop.
Traktor X1 Mk3 is out now,
retailing at £259.
Dubreq launches pocket-
sized drum machine
Stylophone Beat
>
Stalwart manufacturer
Dubreq has announced the
release of Stylophone Beat,
an affordable, pocket-sized
drum machine featuring the same
stylus-based design as its flagship
Stylophone synth.
The drum machine offers four
drum kits that can be played by
tapping different segments of the
touch-sensitive interface with the
attached stylus. Stylophone Beat can
also play four bass sounds.
You can record, layer and loop
drum patterns, mute individual
sounds, change overall tempo and
quantise your beats. It has an
onboard speaker and is battery-
operated – you can take it anywhere.
the benefit of USB 3 connectivity for
Windows users.
Of course, UA's secret weapon is
still very much in play, with UAD-2
DUO Core processing allowing you to
work through preamps from Neve,
API, Manley, and more, with UA’s
Unison technology allowing for
low-latency recording through
analogue hardware emulations.
The Apollo Twin X USB is
available for order now, priced at
$999.
That's about all there is to say,
really – the main draw of the original
Stylophone was its cutesy simplicity,
and that's also the case with the
Beat, which is a nifty and affordable
little music-making device that's
tailor-made for delivering simple and
fun beatmaking.
This isn't the first drum machine
in the Stylophone family; the
now-discontinued Stylophone
Beatbox sported a similar interface to
the Beat but with fewer features.
Stylophone Beat was released in
September, but Dubreq has been
taking pre-orders and has 'limited
units available'.
The drum machine is priced at a
very reasonable £29.95.
15
 Talking Shop | Piezo
T
he term piezo is derived
from a Greek word that
means to squeeze, press,
or push. It’s a fitting
moniker for Luca Mucci,
a rising Italian producer and DJ
making propulsive, kinetic club
music that pushes all kinds of sonic
boundaries. Mucci’s twisted,
complex beats dance on the fringes
of techno, footwork and UKG, never
staying in one place long enough for
us to pin them down.
Mucci’s work is driven by a
boundless talent for sound design;
he tells us that creative effects
processing, precise audio editing and
a whole lot of resampling are the
keys to producing “unexpected but
© Sara Scanderebech
controllable results”. While he’s
previously released on a venerable
collection of imprints that includes
Orson, Swamp 81, Idle Hands and
16
––––––+ TALKING SHOP +––––––
Piezo
Luca Mucci talks studio gear,
weird effects, and why he
records absolutely everything
Wisdom Teeth, 2023 has seen
Mucci release three EPs across three
more labels – most recently, the
knotty, shape-shifting Cyclic Wavez
EP arrived on Nervous Horizon.
We caught up with Mucci to
find out more about his unique
approach to electronic music-making
and he was also kind enough to
leave us with three helpful tips for
aspiring producers.
When did you start making music?
“I started making electronic music
when I was about 18 years old, after I
saw a friend playing around with all
those wires and racks on
Propellerhead Reason.
“I was really impressed, so I
got a copy and started making my
first beats, which were mainly fast,
hard tekno: free parties were the
thing at that time, and my biggest
inspiration was seeing these artists
playing laptop or drum machine-
based live sets in the middle of the
crowd, in front of these massive
sound systems.”
Tell us about your studio/setup.
“I work in a small studio flat where I
used to live many years ago – luckily I
don’t live there anymore. It is nice
and comfy and I’m the only one
using it, so I end up spending
most of my time there. The only issue
is that it’s on the sixth floor, with
no elevator…
“My setup is mostly computer-
based: I have a few pieces of gear, but
I tend to work mostly in the box,
especially these days. I am very fast at
the computer, and also quite lazy and
impatient with hardware, but I’m
trying to change.”
What DAW (or DAWs) do you use, and
why did you choose it?
“I use Ableton Live 11. Again, when I
was a kid I was so fascinated by
people playing electronic live sets at
raves, but I didn’t have the money to
buy drum machines, so Live was the
most obvious choice. In the first years
I was making loops with Reason, then
importing them into Ableton to play
them live, but after some time I
started making everything in Live
and became quite obsessed with it. I
also was very lucky to become an
Ableton Certified Trainer at a very
early age, which definitely helped me
to further increase my technical
knowledge, and the ability to explain
it to others.”
What one piece of gear in your
studio could you not do without,
and why?
“I don’t wanna be boring, but I guess
the only piece of gear I can’t live
without is my old reliable pimped-up
2014 iMac – bless her!”
What’s the latest addition to
your studio?
“I’ve recently bought a copy of
Arturia Pigments: it really impresses
me how deep and complex it can be,
but always staying easy to use. I also
got some Unfiltered Audio plugins:
they are the best for the crazy stuff! I
think I’m gonna get a Tasty Chips
GR-1 granular synth soon, cause I
love granular stuff, but would love
more of a hands-on approach to it.”
What dream bit of gear would you love
to have in your studio?
“An EMS Synthi A, a Prophet VS and
a Moog One 16. Thank you.”
There’s a lot of creative effects
processing going on in your tracks.

What are your go-to tools or techniques
for this kind of sound?
“I use weird combinations of audio
effects, both in insert and return.
Sometimes I even pick random
presets, or I randomly automate
parameters, but then… I record
everything! And do a lot (a lot) of
audio editing. When I come up with
some interesting material, I resample
“I’VE RECENTLY BOUGHT A COPY OF
ARTURIA PIGMENTS: IT REALLY IMPRESSES
ME HOW DEEP AND COMPLEX IT CAN BE,
BUT ALWAYS STAYING EASY TO USE”
it or arrange it in an audio channel.
That’s the key to getting unexpected
but controllable results for me.”
When you’re approaching a new
track or project, where do you
usually start?
“I always start from the beat, but
that’s become a really unhelpful
habit: I always end up with dozens of
drafts that are just cool beats, but
don’t go anywhere. So I’m now trying
to do it differently and begin from a
sample or music texture.”
Conversely, how do you know when a
track is finished?
“When the deadline approaches! No
seriously: I have bad OCD and could
keep working on a track forever.
Every time I listen back to the latest
version of a tune, I always find
something I wanna add or change, so
really the only way I can save my soul
is someone else telling me to stop.”
If you had to pick one song/album
that’s been most influential on your
work, what would it be?
“Aphex Twin – Drukqs.”
Any current or upcoming projects
you’re able to tell us about?
“I’ve recently released an EP, Odd
Hooks, on my own label Ansia and
am currently working on the next
two releases on the imprint. Still on
the crazy dancefloor tip, I also have
another EP out on Nervous Horizon.
I’ve also started working on a new
longer project, but that’s gonna take
a while…
“I’m also quite happy with Cortex
of Light: a more ambient/DnB-ish
project I have with two
other artists here in Milan.
Beyond production, I spend
a lot of my time and energy
on DJing, which is
something I’m really
passionate about and
keeps giving new challenges:
I’m super happy to be
touring Japan and North
America soon.”
PIEZO’S
CREATIVE TIPS
Jam and record
everything
1
“I can’t stress enough the importance
of recording literally everything. If you
are DAW-based, make sure you find a
quick way to be able to record everything
Piezo | Talking Shop
you do (eg, the I/O Resampling function in
Ableton Live, or even routing the master of
your DAW into another DAW with
something like Loopback). Once you’ve got
a nice loop going, or you’ve built a good
synth patch or audio effect chain, map a
few crucial parameters to your MIDI
controller, then hit the record button
and jam. When you’re done, isolate the
best parts and do some audio editing.
Then resample everything in another
channel, or just use those parts as
arrangement variations. You can build
entire tracks starting from a single loop
and some effects.”
Try offline editing
2
“I sometimes find it better to edit
things offline, rather than in real
time within the project. Things like
clicks and glitches, but mostly hums and
resonances (which I often end up with
when using tons of effects like delays) can
be removed much more easily with an
offline audio editing tool (like iZotope RX)
rather than EQs.
“I prefer to use EQs and compressors for
the musical stuff, not for the ‘problems’.
Any time you hear something you don’t
like, just bounce the channel to audio,
then import the file in RX or any other
editing software, fix the problem, and take
it back to your DAW. In this way you can
use your effects more for creative and
musical purposes.”
Take notes with fresh ears
3
“If you mainly make music
in-the-box, I recommend this trick.
Even if your project is at a very
early stage, at the end of each session
always export the master and upload the
file to your phone or your cloud. Then on
the day after, go somewhere else and
listen with a different device (eg, use your
earpods in a quiet outdoor place). Take
your virtual or physical notepad, and type
everything that comes to your mind,
stream-of-consciousness style: it’s crucial
that you never stop the music, as you need
to keep note of both the details and the
bigger picture, so just type quickly.
“Then go back to your project and
approach it like a bullet point list: this will
help you focus more on what you are
actually listening to and what you want
from your music, rather than what
happens on your DAW’s interface.”
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Piezo’s Cyclic Wavez
EP is out now on
Nervous Horizon
17
 FM | CLASSIC ALBUM
Fort Knox Five
Radio Free DC
Fort Knox Recordings, 2008
H
ailing from Washington, D.C. And formed in the melting
pot of the city’s incendiary live music scene, stood four
funky brothers. United on a quest to ignite dancefloors
into a white hot frenzy, they mined and refined the finest
elements of hip-hop, Latin, breaks, soul, reggae and electro into 24
carat grooves.
Inspired by the bullion depository of the same name, Steve
Raskin, Rob Myers, Sid Barcelona and Jon Horvat (R.I.P.) bunkered
down in the studio and began to forge their own brand of beats
under the hallmark of the Fort Knox Five. And, as they reached
debut album time, the team was striking musical gold at
Words by Roy Spencer
a dazzling rate.
“We’d all been having success in other groups like Thunderball
and Thievery Corporation, and releasing tracks under the name DC’s
Finest,” says Steve Raskin. “And then we compiled our biggest
18
singles as Fort Knox Five on our 2006 label compilation, The New
Gold Standard – which was technically our first unofficial album.”
That LP hoovered up all of the group’s most popular songs, so
work had to begin anew on what would become the official debut,
Radio Free DC.
Tied together with radio dial-tuning skits, the album acted
like a trip through the group’s vast musical influences. Flitting,
track-by-track, through funky beat after funky beat. All held together
by the vocal talents of rappers, toasters, singers and MCs they’d
met on their collective musical journeys. Each vocalist, as vital to
the audio alchemy as the core beatsmiths that minted the music
that backed them.
“Part of the Fort Knox Five mythos is that there were just four of
us, and the fifth member was anyone we collaborated with,” says
Raskin. “And we wanted to work with these people to cross-pollinate
all our favourite musical influences.
“We wanted to make breakbeat, that wasn’t just in the breakbeat
genre. So, we were all about hooking up with these MCs to cross
tempos and styles. And this album became this really perfect place
to explore a type of music that was all our own. And it owed nothing
to anybody. Even genres.”

Track by track
with Steve
Raskin
RFDC: A Place Called
Fort Knox
“It’s a short skit with us scrolling
through an old radio. It’s a bit of
a conceit with the record – as we’re
switching through genres, you’re
switching through channels. In the
same way you’d jump around on
a radio dial. You might land on a jazz
song and be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t set out
to listen to that’.
“I was a bit obsessed with foley
and sound recordings. I’d go around
with my little digital recorder,
capturing overheard conversations,
things on the radio. There’s still
ridiculous amounts of material to
go through [laughs].”
Insight
“I couldn’t imagine a better track to
summarise everything Fort Knox.
It’s hip-hop. Breaks. It’s funky. It’s
everything. It’s all live instrumentation
and horns. Mat the Alien on scratches
here, and the rest of the album. And
then Asheru from Unspoken Heard,
who most people know from The
Boondocks theme, raps.
“He did it in one take. Nailed
everything. And the best line is, ‘This
is music with a meaning. Party with
the purpose. Being smart with the
art makes the average folks nervous.’
That’s our whole approach to making
music. This song was the first piece
in the puzzle that let the rest of the
album take shape.”
Funk 4 Peace
“Mustafa Akbar [RIP] on this rock-y
beat. He’s sung on more of our tracks
than anybody. He was the voice and
musical soul of the group. Like we
say, the fifth member of Fort Knox
was any person we collaborated with.
And Mustafa was more the fifth
member than anybody else.
“He could preach and tell it like it
is. And here the imagery is all about
using music to fight back. I would
consider us party music, but he
added a whole other layer of
meaning on top.”
How To Start A Band
“We got Ian Svenonius on this. He’d
Classic Album | Filter
© Subterraliens
© Khali Photography
“Early reviewers would always label us this,
‘sample-heavy group’, you know? And it’s
true, it was samples. But, we were sampling
ourselves. That’s because we came from
a live music background. We’d make loops
and riffs and sample them and chop and
layer them back in. There was never an
uncleared sample in anything that we did.
Fort Knox Five Recordings celebrate
another ten solid gold years in the game “It was great being that sync-friendly. We
with the new label compilation, Another
Decade of Fort Knox Recordings. It’s
got licensed on all these big TV shows, films
the first in a series of 20th anniversary and computer game soundtracks. That let
releases from the imprint and the crew
behind it. With a rather special remix us be able to continue to making whatever
album on its tail, featuring choice re-rubs
by the likes of funky beats merchants The random music we wanted.”
Allergies and Krafty Kuts, as well as tech
house monsters, The Sponges. Keep it
locked to the label’s Bandcamp page
for links and listens.
fronted load of bands in D.C. Coming on the A side, then it continues on thematic to the songs and tie it all
up, I was in the same punk scenes. the flip on part two, which was together, as well. And to do that we
Then, years later, I ran into him in always funkier.” used Rootz, from [D.C. reggae band]
the street. D.C. is small. See-I, like a radio host. You’ll hear
“We talked about doing that The FK Strut more of him, as we go along.”
punky thing he did – like The Jon “This is probably what people would
Spencer Blues Explosion, but super sort of say is a quintessential Fort The Party Pushers
funky, with stripped-away distorted Knox Five sound. It’s an old-school “Another Mustafa track. It started off
guitars and screaming – and let funk track with amphetamine beats as a title. And he came in with the
him do his thing. that just keep rolling, rolling, rolling idea to create a call and response
“I love his humour, and [his] out. I don’t even think it has song. I love a good call and response.
stream of consciousness stuff. a breakdown! “Musically, it’s like a homage to
This song reminds us that music “Straight-up live horns. And, Afrika Bambaataa, with a lot of
is supposed to be fun, after the I have to say, all the horns on the old-school bleeps in, and a little
previous, more serious track.” album are by Stewart Cole from old-school breaks feel. Then mixed
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic with a little D.C.-style Go-Go, which is
Sao Funky (Parts 1 & 2) Zeros. Rob [Myers] had met him the call and response.
“This was a homage to that Ray when touring with Thievery “It was all of us crammed into
Barretto, Latin-sample stuff that we’d Corporation and hit it off. In some the vocal booth, singing along,
be playing in our sets. I love Latin ways it was it was the last piece making our own party track. There’s
music. That influence is clear on a lot of the puzzle.” nothing like making your own crowd
of the tracks, even if it’s just in the noises [laughs].”
percussion. Javier [Miranda] from RFDC: Calling All
Empresarios plays percussion and Stations Killa Soundboy
sings on this. He’s on other album “Another little radio skit. The album “This goes back to the early days of
tracks, too. was intended to be listened to from breaks, mixing in that reggae and
“I love that idea of parts one and beginning to end, like a story, and sound system stuff, with people like
two, as well. Going back to old-school these were like chapter headings. We Dub Pistols. This track is a homage
45s, where you’d have one song tried to make all these little tunings to those days.
19
Filter | Classic Album

LIKE IT? TRY

“It features the dancehall MC
Sleepy Wonder. He’s super fast. We
met him through Thievery. And he
goes back to back with Zeebo from
See-I in that ragga boombast kind of
style that is pure fire. To this day, it’s
one of the best sounding tracks of
ours that I play out. Even on bills with
that modern bass frequency stuff.”
The Wonder Strikes Again
“So far, we’re proudly showing off our
influences, and they’re meant to be
shown. And dub was a big influence.
Sleepy Wonder again. His vocals
“WE’RE PROUDLY SHOWING
OFF OUR INFLUENCES,
AND THEY’RE MEANT
TO BE SHOWN”
really shaped the music. After he
boom, funk had really come into its
own with the Ohio Players and all
these big funk bands and the string
sounds – we were into that sort of
imagery. And, above all, car chases.
“I’d explored a lot of that on the
Thunderball project, before this. But,
we wanted to really let the rubber hit
the road, here. Taking all those ideas
from old ’70s blaxploitation films and
smashing them into one.”
RFDC: The Power Of Five
“Another radio skit. And this is funny.
I was outside with my little digital
recorder again,
and my nosy
neighbour
literally came
over the fence
like, ‘What you
doing?’. And
I told him I was
recording stuff.
He said that he
did impressions, and I just started
add some other vocals on it. But, THESE…
I couldn’t get a nice clean version,
so we started rebuilding it.
“But, as we did it was like, ‘Oh,
what are the pieces involved in this?’
Like, how do you even make a song
like this? It became homework. A lot
Various‎
of times, we’d make mashups under
The New Gold
the name DC’s Finest, and it would
Standard
Label comp stocked with the shiniest
end up as really good practice for nuggets from early Fort Knox wax,
writing original tracks.” including what could have been
the official debut’s title track.
Uptown Tricks ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST:
‘Radio Free D.C’, Blowing Up The Spot’,
“The arc of the album is really set ‘Brazilian Hipster’
here. Papa Was Stoned was a big
instrumental study in funk, and this
was, ‘Okay, we’re coming to the end’.
It added balance to the whole thing.
Thunderball
“Again, the soulful voice of
Mustafa Akbar. And the crazy sound Scorpio Rising
Steve, Rob and Sid’s side project,
on there is actually from a Moroccan
‘hoof horn’. Rob, as he travelled the
predating FK5. This superb slice of
future jazz and drum & bass is full
world, would always pick up weird
instruments. This had such a spooky
of car-chase funk and blaxploitation
movie moods.
tone. There’s no horn section on this ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST:
– just an animal horn [laughs].” ‘Heart Of The Hustler’, ‘Scorpio Rising’, ‘Solar’

recorded, we had to rework the beat. taping him.

We’d added so many layers, but we
stripped it all back to let his voice
and lyrics shine.
“When you’re not a vocalist
yourself, there’s a tendency to add all
these layers. Then, when you listen
back to the demos, with all the bells
and whistles in, it didn’t hit as hard.”
The Spirit Of ’75
“I liked the concept that right before
1975 so much was happening in
music. Before we had the disco
“I said, ‘Just riff off doing
something about the power of fives,
the number of fives…’ And I was in
stitches. Stitches! And I was like,
‘This is 100% going on the record’.
“Again, another moment of levity,
right? This is fun. Music is supposed
to be fun. It’s fun and funky.”
Papa Was Stoned
“This one actually started off as
a mashup. I wanted to take the music
from Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, and
Not Gonna Take It
“And some reggae to end on. In our
DJ sets, I would say 99% of the time,
we would close out the night with
classic reggae. It just worked after
banging it all night long in our DJ
sets. And then, all of a sudden, I’m
Still in Love, Uptown Top Ranking,
No, No, No. And that’s what we
wanted here. It’s Rootz on vocals
here. He has such a unique voice.
And he’s been the host on the
album the whole evening.”
Fort Knox Five
Reminted
Seamless DJ mix of the boys’ fave
friends and collaborators, showcasing
the other likeminded funky fellows
making these type of beats in 2007.
ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST:
Nickodemus – ‘Give The Drummer Some’,
Dynamo Productions – ‘Get It Together’,
Kraak & Smaak – ‘One Of These Days’

RFDC: Signing Off Thievery Corporation

“The last of the chapter headings, Radio Retaliation
breaking the album down. They’re Raskin notes: “Thievery is almost our
almost like these little blocks. I can’t sister or brother act, because we share
imagine ending it any other way. And so many of the same performers.”
Especially on this 2008 banger.
that bookends with Insight, telling
ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST:
you where we’re going to take it. ‘Sound The Alarm’, ‘33°’, ‘Vampires’
Then sending you off in a little
cuddly bun after the whole journey.
“I’m very proud of this record.
In the studio with Steve Raskin It really captured a moment in time.
Various
And what better time to talk about it,
“Fort Knox was originally just the name of any studio we had. It moved
with the Another Decade of Fort Knox Another Decade of
around, but by this album, it settled at Rob’s house on the ground floor in
Recordings compilation and the remix Fort Knox Recordings
Washington, D.C. We all come from a live music background. So, we had a
The brand new label ‘best of’ album,
giant desk. Some amazing Genelec speakers. For bass we had a Hagstrom albums out now!”
showcasing its second ten years of
guitar and a Virus Access C synth. For keys we used the Roland JP-8000,
24 carat musical output. Not to
Fender Rhodes and an old Hammond organ in a plywood case – just guts
be missed!
and draws. WANT TO KNOW MORE? ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST:
“Guitars were the Gibson Les Paul and SG, DeArmond hollowbody and Fort Knox Five – ‘Swinging On A Rhyme ft. Flex
a Fender Strat, with effects like the Wah, Analog Delay, Digital Delay, For all the latest on the Mathews’, Mustafa Akbar – ‘Resist (Fort Knox
Overdrive, Phaser, Tremolo, Uni Vibe, and Line 6 guitar synth/modulation brand new compilation, Five Remix)’, Omegaman – ‘Oye Como Suena
ft. Empresarios (Skeewiff Remix)’
pedal. Javi, on percussion used congos, bongos, and other bits. And finally,
some miscellaneous stuff like a Moroccan ‘hoof horn’ and a sitar.
remix album, and some
“It was all recorded using Pro Tools with the Waves Platinum plugins killer DJ sets, hit:
bundle. And it was mixed by Eli Janney.” linktr.ee/Fortknoxfive

20
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FM | RELEASES
Aphex Twin, Forwards
Festival
Bristol, 2 September
N
ow in its second year, the
2023 edition of Bristol’s
Forwards Festival offered
a solid case for the idea of
electronic music as a truly ‘live’
proposition, as opposed to something
confined to clubs and DJ booths.
First night highlight Bonobo has long
been one of dance music’s best live
performers, and his commitment to
touring with a full live band featuring
keys, drums, a brass section and
guest vocals is laudable, and pays off
24
in the form of a varied and engaging
career-spanning set. Similarly
impressive are Neil Barnes’ revived
incarnation of Leftfield, whose set
combines pulsating sequenced
basslines with live percussion and
numerous synth filter freakouts.
The main event comes in the
form of Aphex Twin, playing the final
date on his short run of 2023 gigs
that also took in London’s Field Day.
As with that show, his headline set is
high-intensity, often jarring and
unlikely to win over any swing voters.
For Aphex devotees though, his
hybrid DJ-come-live show is like a
treasure trove. There are tracks that
touch on various aliases and eras,
from The Tuss’s Synthacon 9 through
several choice AFX rarities, a
standout airing of Drukqs cut
Vordhosbn, and what we’d assume is
a fair volume of unreleased material.
These come side-by-side with
tracks from contemporaries like
Squarepusher and The Black Dog,
© Beth Whelan
along with a couple of surprising
dubstep cuts, each bent and
reshaped to fit perfectly with the
Aphex aesthetic. There are moments
when it becomes challenging – an
extended interlude of feedback and a
final few minutes where tempos push
up toward the 200bpm mark – but
these are short-lived enough to come
off as playfully ‘difficult’ moments
among an otherwise coherent and
surprisingly danceable set. The
visuals, provided by London’s
Weirdcore, are stunning too – working
iconic cover art, VST UIs and local
celebrities among an onslaught of
colour and movement, occasionally
dropping away to reveal the
silhouette of Richard D James at the
centre of it all. A top-class victory lap
from an artist rightly lauded as a
legend. Si Truss
VERDICT 9

ON OUR
PLAYLIST
TRACK
Waleed, Diario
City Slang
Waleed first caught our ear with a stellar
two-track debut released last year; while
Se Rompen picked up most of the
airtime, earning support from Four Tet
and Ben UFO, it was Sueños that blew
us away with its ethereal vocals and
dreamy sound design, laid down over
jittery club rhythms (we can see why
Kieran Hebden’s a fan – the influence
isn’t hard to spot). The producer returns
to City Slang this month with Diario, a
track that thankfully delivers more of
the same: restless house beats and
resonant synth plucks, couched in
reverb and overlaid with spoken
Spanish. Matt Mullen
LIVE
Dekmantel Festival
Amsterdam, 2-6 August
Dutch festival Dekmantel is
approaching its 10th anniversary and is
now firmly established as one of
Europe’s premier destinations for dance
music fans. The festival itself sprawls
across Amsterdam with a variety of
pre-shows and satellite events, but the
focus is a three-day run at a site in
Amsterdam Bos, a wooded park a little
way outside the city. The festival
benefits from quality production values
and excellent sound, with stages that
range from the hanger-like UFO – a
haven for bass-heavy techno – to the
glass-roofed Greenhouse and new,
multi-level Radar stage.
2023’s lineup was, as with past years,
brilliantly curated too. Highlights of the
main festival included a brilliantly lively
and eclectic main stage set from
Berlin’s Objekt, immediately followed by
a thumping hour of metallic live techno
from Blawan. The day before, the same
stage saw a wonderfully fun and
energetic set from local(ish) hero
Carista, making the most of a brief
window of bright sunshine.
Over in the dark realms of the UFO
stages, a B2B set from Skee Mask and
Stranger found an energetic middle
ground between techno, breaks and
IDM. Less eclectic but no-less brilliant
was a three hour closing set from
Donato Dozzy, the Italian DJ masterfully
layering percussive loops into a
slow-building techno odyssey. Si Truss
Releases | Reviews
ghost orchard, ALBUM
Re: Rainbow S
am Hall’s Rainbow Music
was one of our most-played
albums of 2022. Under the
alias ghost orchard, Hall
Music
repurposed the rhythms of DnB and
UKG into a lo-fi bedroom pop context,
sounding a bit like PinkPantheress if
she grew up in Michigan and owned a
Winspear 4-track Tascam and a handful of
effects pedals. That record has now
been reimagined by ten underground
© Nik Arthur
music-makers for an endearingly
chaotic remix album, with a new track
and two reworks from Hall himself.
Re: Rainbow Music is a messy
affair, reeling from gaucherie to
genius in the space of just two tracks:
Pudding Club’s silly-but-fun electro-
ska take on Bruise precedes the only
cut that threatens to top its source
material. Miyauchi Yuri’s blissful,
starry-eyed remix of Jessamine strips
out the breakbeats and amplifies the
glitchy atmospherics, elevating the
original to a place of heart-stopping
beauty. Matt Mullen
VERDICT 7.7
Machinedrum &
EP
P
Holly, River of
ortuguese producer Holly
and American beatsmith
Machinedrum link up for a
third time on River of
Heaven
Heaven, a six-track EP showcasing
mind-bending, maximalist EDM of
the highest order. Novaform is the
record’s heaviest hitter, taking us
Vision Recordings back to 2013-era dubstep with its
superbly-sculpted wubs; Hide Sun is
a potent slice of liquid DnB, while
Blueshift is the most intriguing pick
of the bunch, contrasting a whimsical
lead synth line with a frazzled,
face-scrunchingly weighty trap beat.
As is often the case in
Machinedrum’s music, the devil is in
the details: the madcap sonics of
Blueshift’s transitions, the reversed
vocal snippets in the opening track
and the dizzyingly complex drum
programming in Luminae. It’s the
attention paid to these little
flourishes and points of difference
that makes the EP stand out.
Matt Mullen
VERDICT 8
25
Feature | House: the 2023 Guide
THE 2023 GUIDE
I
t’s not a competition, but if
we were to crown one
electronic genre as the one
that represents dance music
in its purest form, it has to
be house. House music is the
genre from which countless others
were born. It was the genre that gave
birth to DJing and clubs as we know
them, spanning from its black and
queer roots in Chicago to arenas,
festivals and pop charts across the
world. Sure, techno has a decent
26
claim to equal longevity and
popularity, but it hasn’t reached quite
so deeply into both the commercial
and underground realms as house.
That spread has meant that, in
2023, it’s hard to define ‘house
music’ as any one thing. It’s a genre
tag that encompasses everything
from Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue
through to big-room Ibiza house and
EDM, to fresh takes on the sound
coming out of Africa and South
America, the weirder, lo-fi sounds of
the UK and European underground,
and back to the raw house styles still
coming out of Chicago and Detroit.
So our ‘definitive guide’ is
doomed to be anything but. Instead,
this issue we’ll explore a few lasting,
core genre tropes, as well as the ways
that modern gear lets us put a fresh
spin on things. We’ll also defer to a
few of our favourite current producers
too, to get the lowdown on house in
2023 straight from those pushing the
genre forward.

T H E H O U S E
T O O L K I T
LIKE MOST ELECTRONIC genres, early
house music was defined as much by
the instruments used to make it as
its musical influences. While the
genre is directly descended from the
lush orchestrations of funk, soul and
disco, it’s equally born out of the
sampling techniques and synths and
drum machines – most notably
Roland’s TR boxes – used to turn the
loose grooves of disco into longer and
more repetitive tracks suited for the
Chicago clubs where house first rose
to prominence.
In 2023, it’s important not to get
too hung up on this vintage gear. You
don’t need a huge studio stocked
with classic hardware to make a great
house track. That said though, an
awareness of the kit used by dance
producers in the late ’80s/early ’90s
can still provide a useful foundation
when it comes to establishing your
own sound. Analogue drum
machines, hardware synths, crunchy
samplers, budget mixing desks,
outboard effect units and cheap
guitar pedals were all available at the
time. It’s possible to emulate these
effects using software plugins or
more affordable, modern equivalents.
You’ll get close by sourcing the
original drum sounds from classic
machines such as Roland’s TR-808
and TR-909 – you’ll find some in our
sample archive – so load up some
one-shots into your drum software of
choice. A pad-based soft sampler
and MIDI controller combo (think
Push, Maschine or similar) will go a
long way in replicating the workflow
and vibe of a retro MPC setup. These
drum machine hits can be a little
thin, so a high-quality saturation
effect can impart that driven
character that was once achieved
with pedals and sampler overdrive.
REPLICATING THE PRODUCTION ETHOS CAN
BE JUST AS, IF NOT MORE, IMPORTANT THAN
REPLICATING THE SOUND OF THE GEAR
ROL AND TR-808 …but bear
in mind that in 2023 you can get
cheaper alternatives for a song
House: the 2023 Guide | Feature
ROL AND TR-909 Vintage gear,
if you’re lucky enough to own it,
will impart accurate house tones…
Saturn 2 by FabFilter, Output
Thermal and u-he’s Satin all offer
great quality drive and distortion in
the box. For the crunchy 12-bit lo-fi
effect of early hardware samplers, get
busy with a bitcrusher on drum parts.
Analogue-style EQ can also tame
harsh treble and add ‘warmth’ to
sterile samples.
Affordable mixers would sum
signals in a characterful way, and
their preamps were overdriven for
extra fuzz, an effect that can be
replicated to some degree using one
of the many console emulation plugin
collections available.
For those looking to replicate the
feel of classic house records,
replicating the production ethos can
be just as, if not more, important
than replicating the sound of the gear
itself. Many early house records were
made using cheap,
limited setups, often
used creatively to get
the most out of their
capabilities. House
producers couldn’t
afford to record the
string arrangements of
disco and soul records, so layered
synths and samples were used
instead. Samples were taken from
vinyl records, using gear with limited
sample times and sync capabilities,
resulting in looser, less clean samples
that were characterful as a result.
A similar approach can be
achieved by pushing cheap and
readily available hardware to its limits
– try creating full tracks with a couple
of Korg Volcas and some cheap guitar
pedals, for example. Another good
move is to take a more back-to-basics
approach to sampling, eschewing
automatic warping and pitch-shifting
functions in favour of manually
repitching loops by ear and slicing
elements by hand on a timeline.
27
Feature | House: the 2023 Guide

Creating a classic
house beat
This classic house beat is built
using TR-909 drum samples from
our sample archive. The kick is
03>
A clap sample, again from the TR-909, is
placed on beats 2 and 4 of each bar.

punchy, but doesn’t feature a long

Transient shaping and tape saturation add
crack and drive, and we also use our DAW’s
track delay to pull the clap back by 5ms for

tail, leaving space for a weighty more groove.

bassline to work around it

VELOCITY VARIATIONS ARE programmed in and an MPC swing template is
applied for that ’90s garage-esque shuffling groove – moving every second and
fourth 16th-note back a touch. Things would sound much more rigid and
robotic without this effect, so be wary of keeping all your own parts locked to
the grid if this is the effect you want.
04>
Now we program in the rest of our 909
drums. The open hi-hat sits on the offbeat,
while closed hats, rimshots and ghost snares
fit around the main hits. The groove of an
MPC swing template is applied to the MIDI
notes for more of a shuffling garage vibe. You
can download the full MIDI file at this issue’s
download page.

01>
To lay down an initial foundation for our
drum groove, we loop up a sample of some
05>
Everything’s sounding extremely dry, so we set up some
crusty vinyl crackle to create the illusion that
our track is sampled from a record. Some
room reverb on a return channel and send our hi-hats,
subtle sidechain-esque volume pumping rims and snares’ signals to this channel. We also add in
gives this noise some rhythmic movement.
a shuffling tambourine loop low in the mix to fill in any
gaps in the rhythm.

02>
A TR-909 kick drum, layered with a short transient
click sample, provides the punchy 4/4 backbone for
our retro house rhythm. Processing-wise we apply some
front-end snap with a transient shaper, some EQ to
remove boxy mids, and tape saturation for grit.

06
Finally we group all of our drums – except
the kick – to a group bus. Here we use some
EQ, subtle bus compression and peak
limiting to remove treble harshness, giving a
unified ‘old-school’ warmth to the beat.

28
 House: the 2023 Guide | Feature

BEYOND THE
808 AND 909
ROLAND’S TR DRUM machines, specifically the 808, 909 and – to a slightly
lesser extent – the 707, are still very much the core of the house sound in 2023.
Skim through the top house releases on any streaming service and it will become
immediately apparent just how prolific the crunchy claps and tight hi-hats of
those early grooveboxes and their modern sound-alikes remain. Still, even the
most traditionalist house producer is unlikely to stick to just these classic drum
sounds without deviation. For all of their influence and longevity, those classic
drum machines are rather limited, and limiting yourself to only using a few
vintage sounds is a surefire route to boring and samey productions.
One of the most common tricks in house music production is to add a ‘looser’
feel to drum patterns with the addition of organic-sounding or acoustic
percussion. Shakers, tambourines, bongos, congas or any kind of hand-played
percussion is great for this. It’s best to work with loops rather than one-shot
samples here, as the aim is to capture the feel of the playing as much as the
sound of the instrument, which can easily get lost when sequenced using a DAW.
There’s no end of samples available online (and plenty you can grab from our
sample archive). For something more unique though, take a DIY approach.
Record loops of whatever you have to hand, whether that’s basic percussive
instruments, or even just shaking your keys or tapping your desk. It’s amazing
how something so basic can help bring a synthesised groove to life.
Another resurgent technique, with its roots in ’90s raves, is to blend sampled
drum breaks in with sequenced drum machine rhythms. This is far easier to do in
2023 than it would have
been in the ’90s: simply
load your break of choice
into your DAW and slice
its transients to a MIDI
instrument. For
authenticity though, try
applying some bit-
crushing for a ‘crunchy’
sound, or turn to a
hardware sampler like
Korg’s Volca Sample or
Elektron Digitakt.
Trackers provide a great,
old-school way to
approach break
sequencing too.
Polyend’s modernised
Tracker and Tracker Mini
are particularly great
POLYEND TRACKER Trackers tools for detailed,
deliver a deep-rooted through-line
to ’90s rave songcraft ’90s-style editing.

29
Feature | House: the 2023 Guide

H O U S E
With its roots in disco and funk,

DOS &
however, house has always kept one
foot in the world of traditional ‘songs’

H O O K S
even as it moved onto the dancefloor.

DON’TS
While not every house track will have
verses and choruses – although a fair
amount of them do – it is common
for tracks to be structured around
identifiable elements like vocal hooks
DO: Explore AI as a
WHAT IS IT THAT differentiates house percussion and ‘live’ shaker or or chord progressions.
from other electronic genres? There tambourine rhythms. Grooves tend to Taken together, this gives us a sample source. OK,
are multiple common answers to this, be looser too, with more swing than rough idea of house’s common so the likes of
none of which are exactly definitive. machine-like techno. characteristics, if not a hard-and-fast MusicLM aren’t
Its BPM – usually between 115 and Probably the most consistent definition. That lack of specific rules
130 – is an obvious signifier, but this point of difference between house is something to be embraced though;
convincing enough to
crosses over with a lot of techno and and techno is the fact that the former part of the genre’s longevity lies in its put session vocalists
electro too. puts far more emphasis on traditional shifting nature. Over the decades out of business – and
Compared to those genres, there
are notable differences in the sound
song structures and ‘hooks’. A techno
track can often work with little more
house has morphed into sub-genres
and cross-pollinated with other styles
we definitely don’t
and feel of the rhythm. While each than a rolling drum rhythm and of electronic music, simultaneously want to see a future
has roots with Roland’s ’80s drum repetitive bassline, perhaps with crossing over into the mainstream where that happens
machines, house tends to incorporate sparse use of samples and effects to and venturing into the underground – but with some
more organic elements like acoustic keep things interesting. as it’s done so.
creative prompts it’s
possible to coax
vocal-like tones and
3 approaches to sampled house vocals short ad-libs from
With its roots in disco, funk and soul, house has always been a vocal-heavy genre. Many classic – and modern classic text-to-audio tools.
– tracks use featured vocalists to provide the track’s hook. This is great, but requires access to a great singer, and Maybe you shouldn’t
recording capacity to match. This hurdle is why, pretty much since the genre’s invention, house producers have been
expect it to generate
using sampled vocals which they can repurpose to provide hooks. The traditional place to source vocal samples would be
from vinyl records; generally producers would rely on finding vocal breaks with few or no instruments in the background. you a perfect soul
These days, there’s a wealth of purpose-built samples available from the likes of Splice or Loopcloud, while YouTube can acapella, though.
also provide a deep well of esoteric sample sources. But how to use these? Here are three tried and true approaches…
DON’T: Be afraid to
experiment with your
own voice. Even if
you don’t like the
tone of your voice,
there’s plenty of
scope to warp
yourself into shape
using pitch or
formant shifting,
REPURPOSED VO C A L SPOKEN auto-tune, vocoding
AC A P E L L A S CHOPS WO R D or a variety of other
EXAMPLE: DJ Koze, EXAMPLE: Nightcrawlers, EXAMPLE: Cajmere,
creative effects. Try
Pick Up Push The Feeling On Percolator
(MK Dub Remix) recording yourself

1 3
Many of the best house vocal While a beautifully sung
saying a few random

flips don’t overthink things. DJ
Koze’s Pick Up is a great
example. Its hook is a fairly
straight lift from Gladys Knight’s
Neither One Of Us. Comparing the
track to the original, there’s not a lot
that’s been done beyond some minor
editing to make the hook fit Koze’s
rhythm track. The skill in this case
simply comes from being able to
identify a winning hook.
2
Pioneered by the likes of MK
and Todd Edwards, the
chopped vocal involves
slicing a sample into parts
and resequencing them, overtly
editing rhythm and pitch in the
process. This is easy now that most
DAWs have ‘slice to MIDI/sampler’
functionality. Once sliced, try playing
your vocal with a MIDI controller/
keyboard for a more rhythmic effect.
melodic hook is great,
simple, distinctive spoken phrases. Treat these
word hooks can be as like you would any
impactful. Percolator is the obvious other sample and
example here, but the whole career
of Green Velvet (aka Cajmere) is a
challenge yourself to
good reference. One of the best bring them to a point
things about these types of vocals is where you no longer
they can be recorded in a DIY
manner and allow for experimenting
feel self-conscious
with effects or even vocoding. about them!

30

5 staple house bass sounds
(and how to make them)
ORGAN BASS
1
The Organ 2 preset from
Korg’s M1 is a simple sound
that’s had an outsized impact
on house music. Best known
for its use in Robin S’s hit Show Me
Love, it’s become a staple house bass
tone over the years, and recently
returned to chart prominence via its
use in Beyoncé’s Break My Soul. The
sound is simple, but it’s easy to see
why it’s a popular bass sound; it’s
percussive enough to add rhythmic
interest and provides plenty of
low-end weight whilst maintaining
mid-range presence. Naturally, the
easiest way to get the sound is to use
an M1, or its plugin counterpart. A
DIY version can be made fairly easily
though by using two analogue
oscillators: use a triangle wave for
low-end weight along with a
sine-tuned 19 semitones (an octave
plus a fifth) above it. Filter out some
of the high frequencies and use an
appropriately snappy amp envelope.
If you want it more percussive, layer
in white noise or a very short pitch
envelope to emphasise the attack.
DARK FM BASS
2
FM synthesis is great for
bass sounds, since its use of
digitally manipulated sine
waves can create clean,
precise tones that reach well into sub
frequencies. Yamaha’s DX7 is the
quintessential FM synth and turned
KORG M1 The famous Organ 2
preset has a starring credit on hits
from across house history
up on countless house classics,
largely because it was cheap and
widely available around the late-’80s
and early-’90s. Numerous DX7
presets were great for house bass,
from the faux bass guitar sounds of
the fretless bass presets through the
‘hollow’, ‘dark’ digital bass sounds.
Due to the fiddly nature of FM
synthesis, it’s not worth trying to
recreate these from scratch, but any
FM hardware or plugin worth its salt
is stocked with similar presets, and
many let you import DX7 patches,
which are widely available online.
ACID BASS
3
The squelchy acid bass
sound will be forever
associated with Roland’s
TB-303 and, to a lesser
extent, SH-101. Both synths are very
simple, based on a single square/saw
wave oscillator and resonant filter
House: the 2023 Guide | Feature
with a snappy envelope. This is easy
to replicate with many synths, but
the key to an authentic ‘acid’ sound
comes down to the way these
instruments were programmed. The
303 in particular was fiddly, and
involved inputting pitches, triggers
and accents separately, resulting in a
lot of happy accidents. Accents –
which boost the filter and amp –
along with octave jumps and slides
between notes, are key to that sound.
FRENCH HOUSE BASS
4
The French ‘filter house’
sound of acts like Daft
Punk, Stardust and Fred
Falke takes heavy influence
ROL AND TB-303 The acid
bass sound made famous by this
synth was the product of its quirks
from disco, and like a lot of classic
disco, the bass sounds are generated
largely by live bass guitars, albeit
often resampled and heavily
processed. If you’re not a bassist
yourself, the best starting point is to
use a sample (there are plenty in our
sample archive). At a push, FM
synths like Operator, Digitone or
Opsix can create similar sounds.
Whatever you use, heavy compression
and modulated, resonant filtering is
key to processing the sound.
Underpinning live bass with a
synthesised sine wave sub will help
add weight when played on a club
sound system too.
JUNO-STYLE
SYNTH BASS
5
Roland’s Juno-60 has long
been another staple
instrument for house bass.
It’s simple but punchy-
sounding, with plenty of low end.
Junos themselves go for wild
secondhand prices, although there’s
no shortage of quality emulations out
there these days. Fortunately the
basic principles of a Juno-style bass
are easy to capture with many
analogue synths: try combining saw
and pulse wave oscillators with a
touch of PWM applied. Filter these
down to remove the high end but use
an envelope for short, percussive
filter mod. A sub osc underneath the
main sound will add extra low-end
weight. A Juno-style chorus applied
at the end will add a nice finishing
touch too.
31
 Feature | Cinthie
© Marie Staggat

32

C I N T
H I E
As a DJ, producer, label boss and
owner of the Elevate record store,
Cinthie is a cornerstone of Berlin’s
contemporary house scene
erlin-based producer
Cinthie has deep
connections to the
storied dance music
scene of her home
city. As a DJ, she’s
been playing in
clubs since the
mid-’90s, including
a spell as a resident
at Berlin’s famous
Watergate. As a
producer, she’s been refining her raw, hardware-driven
sound for over 20 years, releasing a stellar album, 2020’s
Skylines – City Lights and a string of EPs for the likes of
Aus and Shall Not Fade. Recent years have also seen
Cinthie taking on new challenges as both a label boss,
running 803 Crystal Grooves, as well as opening a physical
record store, Elevate in Berlin.
We caught up with her to get a 360 degree view of the
state of European house music…
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE HOUSE MUSIC IN 2023? WHAT
IS IT THAT MAKES A ‘HOUSE’ TRACK?
“House music always works best in its purest form. It’s all
about the groove, the uplifting vocals, the bassline, the keys,
the chords, the pads… But I believe that after the pandemic
the whole of what was formerly so called ‘underground
music’ became a lot more commercial. I always said that in
house music there is a small step from being cool to being
cheesy and commercial. House in 2023 is still house, but I
feel like the vocals are becoming increasingly aimed at being
radio friendly.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CURRENT STUDIO – WHAT ARE
YOUR GO-TO INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS RIGHT NOW?
“For the studio I have two approaches at the moment. I use
Cinthie | Feature
my laptop with Ableton 11 and mostly use built-in devices
or Arturia instruments, which are pretty much the same
instruments I have in my studio. It comes in very handy to
prepare stuff while I’m on tour and then translate them
into my studio. My go-to plugins or VSTs at the moment
are Ableton’s Wavetable synth – a very powerful instrument
– as well as the Juno or Jupiter from Arturia.
“My studio is full of hardware goodies and my forever
favourite instrument is the Roland TR-909. It’s super easy
to slam out a groove and then go from there, or if you have
a bassline idea you can just use it to fill it up with some
drums quickly.
“My next go-to instruments have been Roland’s SH-101
and the Juno-60 or 106; I think it’s a very classic
combination for house music. But as I don’t want the other
instruments to be sad or collect dust, I’m usually rotating
with other instruments and try to strengthen my skills with
them. I’ve recently used the 808 a lot and even released a
more footwork-sounding track on my latest EP for Heist. I
love to surprise people with new directions in my
productions, because if you always hit the ‘house nail’ it can
become quite boring for the audience.
“So I’m always trying to discover new sounds and
instruments; my rather new Moog Grandmother has been
an absolute beast, and the old Korg MS-20 was super fun to
work with recently.”
WHAT’S YOUR USUAL STARTING POINT FOR A TRACK?
“That really depends. It’s actually just recently changed. I’ve
finally been taking piano lessons since the beginning of the
year and I have to admit it has opened a whole new world
for me. I was able to jam a little bit before but since I’m not
a classically trained person – playing the triangle in an
orchestra as a kid does not really count, right? – it took me
very long to find a good chord progression or chords in
general. Although, when I double-checked the chords in
some older projects, they sounded great although they were
a bit out of tune. At the moment I try to program a
rhythmic piano in the same key usually with Ableton’s
Grand Piano, then I move the notes around so I have a nice
progression or variation (for example in Piano Heaven also
on my latest EP on Heist.)
“Once I’m happy with the ‘riff’ I’ll take the MIDI notes
and put them on the channel of my instrument of choice
and work on the sound. Then I’ll program the backbone of
the track, aka the drums with the 909, and go from there,
adding whatever is needed. High strings, pads, an acid line,
bassline etc.
33
 Feature | Cinthie

“But as I said before, at the moment I’m trying different
things. For example I’m currently working on my new EP
for AUS Music and I just finished a more happy hardcore
track, which was a lot of fun to do.”
THE CLASSIC HOUSE SOUND WAS ORIGINALLY DEFINED
BY DISTINCTIVE VINTAGE INSTRUMENTS – PARTICULARLY
ROLAND’S DRUM MACHINES, SYNTHS AND
GROOVEBOXES – HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK THOSE
ARE TO THE HOUSE SOUND OF 2023?
“Since my studio is pretty much a Roland museum I’m
always going
back to those
of processing as it sounds a bit like a wet fart otherwise
(excuse me for that!). Also the 303 sounds boring when you
don’t know how to program the notes and let them jump
over a few octaves. In my humble opinion though, there is
nothing better in a club than a marching 909 drum groove.
“I recently started playing live and it’s still a process of
finding the right instruments for me. I don’t really wanna
bring any original gear on tour as they’re too fragile and
expensive to just get ruined by airlines or a simple beer
spilled over them. So I’m always up-to-date with new and
very light gear. I like those modern instruments, but
sometimes they offer way too many options which can be
quite overwhelming, especially for new producers.”

“SINCE MY STUDIO IS PRETTY

old machines.
I believe that YOUR STUDIO CONTAINS HARDWARE FROM DIFFERENT
ERAS – WHAT’S THE SECRET TO GETTING THEM WORKING
MUCH A ROLAND MUSEUM, I’M
they are very
easy and TOGETHER IN ONE TRACK? DO YOU NEED TO PROCESS
VINTAGE AND NEWER INSTRUMENTS DIFFERENTLY?
ALWAYS GOING BACK TO THOSE
intuitive to
use, hence “Luckily I have a friend who helped me install all the stuff

OLD MACHINES”
everyone
loved them
back in the
day. Apart
from the 303 maybe, because that one can be very
confusing to program to start with, but it’s very logical once
you’ve done it a few times.
“As I already mentioned, house music works for me
always in its purest form. Hence all these machines are all
still very relevant and important. You get an instant groove,
and that’s what makes them so fun to work with.
“But don’t make the mistake of thinking they all sound
great to start with: the 909, for example, always needs a lot
© Marie Staggat
in the studio, so everything is ready to use but a handful of
instruments I have to patch if I want to use them. I can
pretty much use everything in a track but I’ll always process
them in different ways or try out new things. I’m just a big
fan of going out of my comfort zone and doing a little bit of
trial and error.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS SAMPLING TO YOUR PROCESS?
“Sampling is very important to me for vocals. I can’t sing
and it’s the only thing I need to ‘borrow’ from other people.
I’ll usually use Loopcloud and browse through stuff until
I’m happy. The good thing is, you can search for a key and
then it always fits to your track. I’m still pretty new to this

34

whole vocal processing thing but I believe I’m slowly getting
to a point where I can make them sound good and sit right
in my tracks.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR MAKING TRACKS SOUND/HIT
RIGHT ON A CLUB SOUND SYSTEM?
“Not really; well that’s not true… I do have a few tips. I try
to produce in a simple way, which means I’m not adding
endless layers of sound which avoids any frequency clashes.
On top of that I’m always listening to advice from friends. I
met Harry Romero the other day and he gave me the tip to
“MUSIC OF TODAY ALREADY HAS
A LOT OF EFFECTS, NO NEED TO
CRANK IT UP WITH EVEN MORE,
AT LEAST NOT IN MY HOUSE”
always tune my kick to the track, and he is right, it always
gives it this extra strong feel in the track. Then of course
you need to EQ and process every instrument. I love the
FabFilter plugins, or I just put on a simple Ableton
Saturator to make sounds more crunchy. But there are
millions of ways to add more brilliance to your music. It’s a
learning process over many years. I watch a lot of tutorials
from a few people to always be up to date.”
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO DJING…
“My usual setup when I play is two turntables and a mixer.
Cinthie | Feature
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
As simple as that, but I also add at least one CDJ to be able Cinthie has upcoming tour dates in
to play some new tracks from the stick. To prepare my sets, the US, UK, and France as well as
her native Germany this autumn.
I simply go through the records in my record bag, move Find more at linktr.ee/cinthie_dj
some out, move some in. Since I also own a record store, I
try to be always up to date with new music and add the
ones I like the most to my sets, mixed with a few old classics
or my own tracks. Mixing wise, I keep it simple and try to
let the people dance rather than just do the knob fiddling
and adding lots of effects. Music of today already has a lot
of effects, no need to crank it up with even more, at least
not in my house music world.”
HOUSE MUSIC HAS LONG BEEN
SHAPED BY LOTS OF SHIFTING
SUB-GENRES AND TRENDS. AS A
DJ, LABEL BOSS AND RECORD
STORE OWNER, WHAT DO YOU
THINK WILL BE THE NEXT BIG
TRENDS IN HOUSE MUSIC?
“I personally think that the music
will be more uplifting and groovy
again. We will move away from the
Mickey Mouse edits or the brutal
hard techno (I hope) and move over to more ravey stuff.
Still kinda fast but a bit more serious. In house, it will be
more bouncy. I see a lot of house tunes touching UK garage
elements now, which makes them fresh and funky. Let’s see
what’s gonna happen in the near future.”
IF YOU HAD TO NAME ONE ‘GREATEST HOUSE TRACK OF
ALL TIME’, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
“Phew, as always this is a very hard question for me! I
would probably choose something from Chez Damier or
Kerri Chandler.”
35
Feature | House Arrangements
HOUSE
BUILDING
Learn how to structure a great house track
with our 6-step guide
A AND B SECTIONS
1
House as a genre is a little
more ‘song’ focused than
loop-focused techno or DnB,
which puts a lot of emphasis
on builds and drops. While your track
doesn’t necessarily need full verses
and choruses, before tackling an
36
arrangement for your house track it’s
worth developing at least two distinct
sections, labelled A and B.
These should be variations on one
another, giving you two versions of
your main hook to switch between to
keep the listener interested. If the
main emphasis is a sampled vocal,
try using two different looped lines or
phrases to make different sections. If
your track is built around a distinctive
riff or progression, try swapping the
instrument in the second section or
inverting its direction so the notes
progress down the scale rather than
up (or vice versa).
SUBTRACTING
2
Any arrangement tutorial will
mention the ‘subtractive’
method of turning an eight-
or 16-bar loop into a full
track. To recap, you simply lay all of
your elements out across your arrange
page for the requisite number of
minutes – in this case your full A and
B sections – then delete parts until
you’re left with a typical dance track
structure. The idea is that it’s far
easier to chip away from something
instead of staring at a blank canvas,
which is certainly true.
It’s a tantalisingly simple
approach, but while it does work, you
still have to ‘patch up’ transitions to
fill in gaps between sections,
otherwise you can be left with a
somewhat generic, eJay-style
‘block-based’ arrangement. What this
approach also misses is that
sometimes there’s a lot of mileage in

keeping your arrangement interesting
by swapping like-for-like elements,
rather than simply removing them.
For example, switching an open
hi-hat for a ride cymbal playing the
same pattern, or trading piano chords
for a synth pad.
BASIC STRUCTURE
3 4
What should your house
arrangement look like?
There are no hard and fast
rules, and you should defer
to what feels right, rather than try to
force your ideas to fit a specific
template. That said, the following
format makes a good starting point:
Intro section > build-up > first
breakdown > main A/B sections >
second breakdown > main A/B
sections > outro
Let’s look at this piece-by-piece.
The intro (discussed below) is a
stripped-back section making it easy
for DJs to mix into your track. The
build-up is an evolution of this,
introducing elements such as
percussion and bass, without
revealing the full impact of the track.
The first breakdown is generally
shorter than the second. It’s a
moment to pull things back to create
extra impact when your main ‘A’
section is introduced. You might
choose to cut the kick and/or bass
here, and insert an element that
leads into your main section, like a
distinctive vocal hook or chord stab.
The main A/B sections are the
core body of your track: its hook and
groove, the elements capable of the
most dancefloor impact.
The second breakdown is likely
longer than the first and should be
different, to avoid repetition. Try
using filters and effects here to ‘wash
out’ your groove before bringing
everything back in for full impact.
For the repeat of your main A/B
section – ie the second ‘drop’ or hook
House Arrangements | Feature
– try introducing a subtle change
such as a synth pad or new
percussive element.
Finally, the outro gradually strips
elements away, giving DJs a sparse
section that can easily be mixed into
the next track.
INTROS AND OUTROS
As music primarily designed
for clubs, it’s common for
house tracks to include
extended intro and outro
sections making it easy for DJs to mix
out of/into other tracks. Don’t get too
bogged down on creating these early
on; it’s generally something that’s
easy to develop once the main body
of your track is in place.
The general rule for these mix
sections is to include the basic
percussive elements of your track
without anything too melodic that
might clash with another track in the
mix, such as chords, complex
basslines or vocal hooks. However,
just because something is supposed
to be simple, doesn’t mean it needs
to be boring. Try to include some
kind of simple but distinctive
element to make your intro stand out,
such as unique rhythmic FX or a
sparse vocal hit. These kinds of
distinctive elements can make your
track more appealing to DJs, giving
them something they can tease the
crowd with as they mix the track in.
USE DYNAMICS
5
It’s tempting to pile up
more and more sounds in
the search for change and
interest. Counterintuitively,
though, it’s often the quiet moments
between the intense sections that
give a track real power and flow – you
can’t really have moments of high
intensity without contrasting sections
of low intensity.
Subtle dynamic interplay is what
separates the classic house sound
from more in-your-face EDM. While
the latter genre’s more ‘big room’
approach tends to emphasise bigger
and bigger drops and in-your-face
transitions, the more groove-focused
house approach works by making
small changes, like cutting a clap for
four bars, switching one percussive
sound for another, or cutting back
sounds using filter or envelope
changes. Try rolling down filter cutoff
on some of your main elements to
make a ‘quiet’ section, before
reintroducing sounds at full force.
REFERENCE
6
The use of reference
tracks when mixing is
common… but have you
tried using reference
material to guide your arrangement?
Find a track you like, place it
from left to right on your timeline,
then use your DAW’s marker feature
to plot important sections – eg, intro,
breakdown, etc. Then delete that
track from your timeline and use the
markers to guide your arrangement.
Another great reference method is
to load it into your favourite DJ
software/player and try mixing it with
tracks you like. How do the dynamic
changes, hooks and transitions sound
in a mix? How do the various
frequency elements of your track
match up to a commercial release?
How easy is it to mix in and out of
your track? Let these factors
influence changes to your final track.
37
38
Feature | Octo Octa

Photography © Desmond Picotte Words by Danny Turner


O C T O
O C T A
DJ/producer Octo Octa (Maya
Bouldry-Morrison) has been lauded
for her modern yet classic approach
to house. We sat down with her to
get her production take
nitially a breakcore/IDM producer, by
her own admission Brooklyn-based Octo
Octa was relatively late to the house
music scene, yet like a duck to water
Maya Bouldry-Morrison’s breakout
single Let Me See You (2011) and slew
of subsequent releases have positively
radiated with authenticity.
Fully embraced by the house music
community, Bouldry-Morrison has
approached DJing with equal
legitimacy. Her vinyl-only sets and
mercurial blend of mixing styles display a natural affinity
for house music tradition amidst an uncanny ability to
connect with audiences on a transcendental level.
WHAT APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT HOUSE GROWING UP?
“As a teenager, I was a big drum & bass, jungle and hardcore
lover – that was my punk rock. All my friends were in punk
bands but I just wanted to listen to Dom & Roland. I
started getting into electronic production with a few
friends, making experimental noise, IDM and eventually
breakcore in my early 20s and then I finally fell in love with
house music. After seeing the response to my debut single
Let Me See You, I realised that this was what I’d been looking
for the whole time.”
DO YOU HAVE A ‘GREATEST HOUSE TRACK’ OF ALL TIME?
“Oh gosh, I was just talking about this the other day. I really
love the Masters at Work dub of the Björk track Violently
Happy called Basso Hitto Dubbo. First, I love dubs and
almost always play dub versions of house tracks in my DJ
sets, but the sampling is fantastic, it has a really wonky
bassline and Kenny Dope’s drums are spot on. It has
interesting production, great drum programming and
Octo Octa | Feature
doesn’t sound like anything else, but it’s still a recognisably
great house track from start to finish. When you listen to
Todd Terry records, most of them are extremely weird too,
but they’re so recognisably house and this remix is equally
in that space.”
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE HOUSE MUSIC IN 2023?
“These days, I do hear records that very much call back to
the classic sound of ’90s house, but I don’t like them as
much as the original releases because something’s not quite
there. I prefer records that are on the edge, like UK garage
and progressive house, which pull elements from those
genres but feel of this time.”
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU SIT IN THAT SPACE?
“When I first started, I’d listen to a house record and try to
learn all the elements but what would come out at the end
wouldn’t be anything like what I was trying to make. Today,
I still think of myself as a house producer and the space
around what that genre means to me is really big, but when
I’m producing I don’t think, ‘I’m going to make a house
track right now’, or take into consideration the core
elements of a classic house track, my brain just likes to
make what it makes.”
THE CLASSIC HOUSE SOUND WAS ORIGINALLY DEFINED
BY SOME DISTINCTIVE VINTAGE INSTRUMENTS –
PARTICULARLY ROLAND’S DRUM MACHINES, SYNTHS AND
GROOVE BOXES. ARE THOSE INSTRUMENTS RELEVANT TO
HOW YOU MAKE HOUSE MUSIC TODAY?
“That gear still feels very much present and important. I
used to write most of my records in the box without any
external gear, but now it’s a hybrid process. I’ve slowly built
an extensive studio of old vintage gear that I use constantly
for productions, including some brand new groove boxes,
and I especially love all the little boutique ones.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY ROLAND SYNTHS?
“I have an original 909 and a TR-09, but I can also sit in
front of Ableton, pull up a drum rack for a 909 kick, draw
in the MIDI patterns and do a little editing to create a really
classic-sounding pattern. Ultimately, I prefer programming
and interacting with the drum machine itself. It feels a lot
more satisfying to be able to have quick access to a bunch of
knobs to set levels, change the tuning and play around
while I’m recording. The vintage pieces are not necessarily
the most important thing; I just think it’s nice to have
equipment in general.”
39
 Feature | Octo Octa
DID YOU BUY A 909 SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE YOU
WANTED TO CAPTURE THOSE VINTAGE SOUNDS?
“I’d been working hard all summer and wasn’t getting that
much time in my studio, so I just wanted to treat myself to
something special. I got an original 909 and a 303, but for
me it’s mostly about the interface. For example, I love the
TR-09, but it doesn’t have individual outs for the channels
and I just got a really big Allen & Heath ZED-428 large
format mixer, which gives me plenty of space for routing. I
also have two x0xb0xes, but the programming interface on
those is also different – they’re much more static than an
original 303
would be.”
“FOR ME, PERCUSSION,
WHAT ELSE
CAN WE FIND
GREAT DRUMS AND PATTERN
IN YOUR
STUDIO RIGHT
CHANGES REALLY ADD TO WHAT
NOW?
MAKES A GREAT HOUSE TRACK”
“I still have
my very first
beat machine
– the Korg
Electribe ER-1, plus a Roland Alpha Juno-2 with a PG-300
programmer and a Korg DW-8000. I actually have most of
Korg’s old poly series synths. I have a Waldorf Microwave, a
Sherman Filterbank and just got a Future Retro Revolution,
which is their TB-303 clone. I use the Volca Keys constantly
in my productions as it’s probably one of my favourite
synths of all time. I also do lots of effects with guitar pedals
and all of my hardware sequencing is done within the Akai
MPC2000, recording it into Ableton Live for editing.”
© Tiu Makkonen
40
YOU’RE BASICALLY USING THE MPC TO ACHIEVE A
SPECIFIC SOUND AND FEEL…
“For sure – I really love sequencing on the MPC and how
the MIDI timing is slightly wonky. I want to preserve that as
much as I can because I do very little audio warping in
Ableton and don’t like sending MIDI out and recording it
back in. When it comes to plugins, I’ve been working in
Ableton for way too long and prefer to solely use their
plugins and a few third-party compressors every now and
then for mastering.”
FOR YOU, WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS THAT GO
TOWARDS MAKING A HOUSE TRACK?
“There are lots of amazing producers, but some house
tracks I hear consist of the same drum loop throughout.
For me, percussion and great drums and pattern changes
really add to what makes a great house track. I love
old-school producers like Todd Terry and Kenny Dope and
think that they’re both fantastic drum programmers.”
YOUR NEW EP, DREAMS OF A DANCEFLOOR, SEEMS TO
CARRY THOSE CLASSIC HOUSE TROPES MIXED WITH A
MODERN PRODUCTION AESTHETIC. WHAT’S YOUR
TYPICAL STARTING POINT FOR A TRACK?
“It’s different every time but usually comes from having a
new piece of synth gear at home that I want to play around
with or a drum machine. Having used Ableton Live for
such a long time, I’ve got extremely quick at making synth
sounds and drums, but that way of working leaves very
little space for errors, interesting rhythms and other weird
things to occur. That’s why I started reintegrating gear,
especially un-synced delayed pedals, reverbs and groove

© Margo Lavign
boxes. Ableton does have a ton of plugins that introduce all
sorts of randomness, and when I work with Eris [Drew] in
her studio she uses lots of really cool Soundtoys plugins,
but for some reason I’d rather just record myself twisting
knobs and see what comes out from the gear.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS SAMPLING WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR
PRODUCTION PROCESSES?
“I prefer to sample vocals and drum breaks rather than
melodies and bass. When I DJ, I use a lot of scratch records
and samples and, as a result, have lots of DJ battle tool and
acapella records in my collection. Some of the scratches on
my records are of me doing a few takes – I come from a
nerd collector background and love playing vinyl, so I’m a
vinyl-only DJ and that’s how I sample in the studio.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR MAKING TRACKS HIT RIGHT
ON A CLUB SOUND SYSTEM?
“My older records don’t sound good on club systems
because I didn’t know how to engineer them, but I’ve
learned some new tricks since then. The biggest tip I’ve
learned is to gain stage everything and leave some head
room. When I used to send out pre-masters, everything was
being slammed through a compressor, which would sound
good on headphones but terrible in a club, so I’ve learned
to use filters to cut out the low-end rumble from audio
recordings, which leaves space for things that should
actually be there.”
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO DJING. WHAT’S
YOUR TYPICAL SETUP?
“Unfortunately, because most people are not playing vinyl
Octo Octa | Feature
anymore, turntables in clubs are in
pretty bad shape so my DJ rider is
pretty much a pair of Technics
SL-1210 M5Gs, which are digitally
calibrated with a button that changes
from +/- 8 to +/-16. That allows me
to play records between 33 and 45
rpm and allows an extremely wide
range to pitch records up and down
with a BPM swing of 40 that really
opens up the amount of records I’m
able to mix with. Because the
Technics are digitally calibrated, I also
get really consistent calibration from
venue to venue. Alongside that, I use a
Pioneer DJM-900NXS2 mixer
because I like to use the cross fader
quite a bit, do some scratching and
the effects are pretty fun for doing
drops and stuff.”
DO ANY MIXING TECHNIQUES DEFINE
YOUR STYLE?
“Yeah, I’m an American [laughs]. I
learned to DJ while living in New
York and my partner Eris is from
Chicago and has been DJing for 25
years, much longer than I have. She’s a
really technical DJ, so when I met her
I realised I had to get better to keep
up. Thanks to Eris, I now have a much
larger arsenal of mixing styles – I can
do hard cuts, vinyl double tricks and
really long blends. European DJs have a very consistent
style, with short transitions from one track to the next, and
I might be wrong, but I feel that Americans have a whole
range of different ways to approach that.”
HOW MUCH PLANNING DO YOU DO FOR YOUR DJ SETS, AS
OPPOSED TO TURNING UP AND PERFORMING?
“Since I play vinyl I can only bring around 85-90 records
with me on tour, but that’s still quite a spread so I can do
really long sets. When I come back from a tour, I’ll pull
things out that didn’t work so well or discard records that
are poorly pressed or have dynamic issues. Then I’ll see
whether there are any new records that I bought or maybe
an old song that might play well in a set and rotate things in
and out. I play cross-genre, organise my records by BPM
and mark them up with a big X for when I’m in a dark
club. Each set is always different and I love re-
contextualising records from night to night because you get
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
to learn them really intimately. I pay really close attention to Dreams of a Dancefloor EP is out
a track’s arrangement until it becomes innate – that’s what now on T4T LUV NRG, the label
co-owned by Octo Octa and Eris
enables me to mix new records with ones that I’ve played Drew. For more info visit:
for years.” linktr.ee/octoocta
ARE THERE CERTAIN RECORDS THAT SEEM TO STAY IN
YOUR BAG FOREVER?
“As long as I’m still enjoying playing them I’m very happy
to have a record sit in my bag for a few years, but it’s never
about playing a track purely for my own satisfaction. If
you’re playing in a room and no one’s dancing it’s kind of
hard to DJ for two hours. There’s so much music in the
world, so I can absolutely pack a bag of records that I love
and know other people will love too.”
41
Feature | Josh Caffé

42

J O S H
C A F F é
With his edgy, charismatic take on
Chicago house, Josh Caffé tells all
about his ambitious debut LP –
Poppa Zesque
n Josh Caffé’s own words, “the
sound of Chicago is embedded in
me”. Over the past decade, the
British-Ugandan DJ and producer
has become an influential figure in
London’s contemporary house scene,
reframing past and present with his
frenetic DJ sets and enigmatic-
sounding releases. Caffé’s exuberant
vocal tones and productions can also
be traced to collaborations with the
legendary Robert Owens, Honey
Dijon and, most recently, gritty acid house purveyors
Paranoid London. Now signed to Erol Alkan’s Phantasy
Sound label, Caffé’s debut LP, Poppa Zesque, takes his
characteristically raw sound to new, decadent heights.
“IT DOES TAKE A LOT TO WORK
WITH A VOCALIST – IT’S NOT
JUST A CASE OF SOMEONE
TURNING UP AND SINGING”
Words by Danny Turner; Images © Jorge Monedero
WHEN YOU THINK OF HOUSE MUSIC, DOES YOUR MIND
TRAVEL BACK TO THE ORIGINATORS OR THOSE THAT MAY
HAVE FOLLOWED AND HAD A MORE DIRECT INFLUENCE
ON YOU?
“It definitely starts with the originators. When I started
getting into house music in my late teens I was introduced
to people like Jamie Principle and Robert Owens and fell
in love with the music and sounds they made and what
they stood for, especially from a queer black point of view.
Josh Caffé | Feature
Those early vocalists and producers still shape a lot of the
stuff that I do now.”
WITH THAT IN MIND, DOES ANY ONE HOUSE TRACK
APPEAL TO YOU ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE?
“I know it’s quite an obvious one but Jamie Principle’s
Bad Boy is a track that I really liked. There’s a line that
says, ‘You might call me a freak, you might call me a queer,
but I’m just a bad boy,’ and because I was an outsider in
the queer scene growing up and not fully into R&B or
dance music, I’ve learned to embrace those things that he
was expressing lyrically.”
HOW DO YOU THINK HOUSE MUSIC HAS EVOLVED IN
RECENT DECADES?
“The sound of house has obviously naturally progressed,
but the need for good voices and lyrics seems to have gone
a bit – you can count good vocalists that represent house
music in a really good way on the fingers of one hand.
That’s something I’m trying to incorporate back into the
music because a lot of the lyrics and songs from old house
tracks really signified what was happening on the
dancefloor and in the culture.”
DO YOU THINK THAT STEP-CHANGE HAS BEEN A RESULT
OF HOW PEOPLE HAVE DRIFTED TOWARDS USING
ELECTRONIC RATHER THAN ACOUSTIC SOUNDS?
“I think so. It’s not a negative
thing, but people are probably
learning how to produce without
factoring vocals into their house
music productions. It does take a
lot to work with a vocalist. It’s not
just a case of someone turning up
and singing; you need to
understand the key, melody and
how and where a vocal range sits.
When people learn how to
produce today, it seems to be more
about experiment with genres, which is great, but the
vocal element gets pushed aside.”
PRINCE IS A HERO OF YOURS. HE REFERENCED VARIOUS
GENRES BUT ALWAYS MADE THEM HIS OWN – IS THAT
WHAT YOU’RE ALSO TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
“A lot of people influenced me when making Poppa
Zesque, from Prince to Kraftwerk, Grace Jones and Fingers
Inc., and I wanted to combine all of those elements to
43
Feature | Josh Caffé
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Poppa Zesque is out now on
Phantasy Sound. For more details
and upcoming tour dates, visit:
linktr.ee/Josh_Caffe
44
create my own unique sound. Back in the day, Prince was
very much creating sounds that hadn’t been made before
while taking elements from rock, soul and jazz, and I
wanted to add elements from the indie side. Working with
Alex White from Fat White Family was really interesting
because he brought in a lot of his knowledge of playing
saxophone and guitar and putting them on house records,
which is something you don’t see very often.”
YOU WORKED ON THE LP WITH QUINN WHALLY OF
PARANOID LONDON. HOW DID HE HELP YOU TO REALISE
YOUR VISION?
“We both have a love for house music, proto-house and
Prince. Quinn is also involved in so many projects and
really understood where I wanted to go musically.
Generally, I’d come in with a reference track, but there
was never a ‘no’ moment, we’d just egg each other on to
make the track better or explore things in a different way.
I learnt a lot about production because, as a session
vocalist with other producers, I hadn’t been given the
“THE TRACKS I’M NOT ALWAYS
FEELING SEEM TO END UP
BEING THE ONES THAT PEOPLE
LIKE THE MOST”
chance to express my ideas, so it felt more like a
partnership. We’d just have a laugh, get really pissed in the
studio and the next day think, shit, did that actually sound
good? But it usually did.”
DOES SAMPLING PLAY A BIG ROLE IN YOUR SOUND? IF
SO, HOW DO YOU APPROACH SOURCING AND
PROCESSING SAMPLES?
“We sampled a couple of things on the album even if we
didn’t really want to do that at first. There’s a Man Parrish
sample on the track Meine Lederjeans, and although
sampling is not something that I’m massively into, when
you find something that really works, it’s worth going
with it.”
ARE THERE VARIOUS KEY ELEMENTS THAT ARE
IMPORTANT WHEN MAKING A HOUSE TRACK?
“I would never want to make something that sounds
obvious, so the house influence is much more of a
subconscious thing. A loop is probably the key element
that I start with and when I’ve got that structure there I’ll
start writing things in my head that will dictate where the
rest of the track goes. I don’t like writing songs in a
standard verse/chorus format and prefer to work in a
more abstract or poetic form. Although there is a formula
that you have to take into account if you want your tracks
to be playable in a club, I also want people to listen to
them at home.”
DO YOU FIND THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN TECHNIQUES
THAT WILL HELP A TRACK WORK BETTER ON A CLUB
SOUND SYSTEM?
“If you’re making a more techno-led club record, then
having a few less lyrics probably works better, as does
understanding the timing of your drops, how long an
intro should be for DJs mixing tracks and how to end a
song. Once you get to understand those you can slowly
work on building everything else up. It’s hard to answer
what will sound good in a club because I’ve discovered
that the tracks I’m not always feeling seem to end up
being the ones that people like the most. I can’t explain it
in terms of production, but my tracks seem to work
better in a club when they don’t always fit together in
my head.”
DO YOU USE VINTAGE INSTRUMENTS, DRUM MACHINES/
SEQUENCERS IN ORDER TO CREATE OR SUPPLEMENT
YOUR RHYTHMS?
“I didn’t want the album to sound too much like a
Paranoid London record even though there were
opportunities to use vintage hardware instruments and
Quinn is a genius at working with them. I wanted there to
be a separation from that and incorporate more live
instruments, like guitar, saxophone
and bass, which will lend well to
my live shows.”
DO YOU HAVE A HOME STUDIO
PER SE?
“This is the first time that I
actually got to help on the
production side rather than
featuring as a vocalist on other
people’s records, so I basically
worked in Quinn’s studio and it
was my first time getting stuck into Ableton Live. I wanted
the sound to continue from the proto-house vibe of my
2018 single, The Adventures of Mr Freek. We made the
album during lockdown and were in there pretty much
every day. After a few weeks, we listened back and
everything started to make sense and sit together nicely.”
ON THE DJ FRONT, IS HOUSE MUSIC STILL AN INTEGRAL
PART OF YOUR SETS TODAY?
“Nowadays, I play a much more eclectic mix. When I
started out, I would play house sets inspired from ’90s
New York and the Sound Factory or stuff that Danny
Tenaglia, Junior Vasquez or Vibe Committee used to play,
which I guess you could describe as ‘bitch house’. After a
while, I started to feel more comfortable adding other
elements into my sets. For example, I’ve been playing
some drum & bass sets recently, which I never thought
I’d get into. I don’t want to be known as just being a house
DJ – I enjoy playing longer sets and like to take people on
a journey.”
HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO YOU PLAN YOUR SETS AND
WHAT DOES THAT PROCESS ENTAIL?
“I play vinyl and CDJs, but tend to play vinyl a lot less
now, so I’ve got rid of my decks at home. I’ve got quite a
big library of music and I’m quite anal in how I organise
my record box, so I’ll definitely sit down beforehand with
everything arranged by genre ready for the night. When
I’m DJing, I’ll just go through and pick things out that
seem to be working. I can use Allen & Heath mixers or,
preferably, Pioneer, but I’m happy to go with whatever the
club provides. These days, it’s very rare that I get there and
the gear hasn’t been looked after.”
 Josh Caffé | Feature

“NOWADAYS, I PLAY A MORE

ECLECTIC MIX. WHEN I STARTED,
I’D PLAY HOUSE SETS INSPIRED
BY ’90S NEW YORK”

45
 In The Studio With | Hania Rani

Moving beyond her classical repertoire, Hania

Rani faces her fears with expansive new
album, Ghosts. Danny Turner finds out more
© Clara Schicketanz

46

orn in Gdansk on the Baltic coast of
northern Poland, neoclassical pianist
Hania Rani studied piano in her home
town, later incorporating jazz into her
musical curriculum. After collaborating
with cellist Dobrawa Czocher on the
instrumental album Biala Flaga in
2015, Rani began composing her own
improvisations, resulting in a series of beautiful melodic
piano vignettes for her debut album Esja four years later.
While further releases incorporated various film, theatre
and symphonic works, Rani’s latest LP Ghosts is the first to
truly diversify beyond the confines of her classical
upbringing. In keeping with the haunting undertones of the
album’s title, Rani’s use of synths, strings and vocals,
alongside collaborations with Patrick Watson, Duncan
Bellamy (Portico Quartet), and Ólafur Arnalds, introduces
eloquent new layers to her neoclassical sound.
Were your studies at music school in Gdansk and
Fryderyk Chopin University of Music enforced on you by
your parents or were you a willing participant?
“I come from Poland and our music education system is a
“I WASN’T MUCH INTO PRACTISING, BUT BY
THE AGE OF 10 I’D TOTALLY CHANGED MY
MIND AND REALLY WANTED TO BECOME A
PROFESSIONAL PIANO PLAYER”
little different to other Western countries. A couple of schools
in the bigger cities offer a very professional education: you
apply when you are six years old, need to pass an exam and
then pick an instrument and attend varied music classes
mixed with regular subjects. While you’re learning how to
write academically you’re also being taught how to write
music, so you’re kind of trained to be a professional
musician. At the start, I wasn’t much into practising, but by
the age of 10 I’d totally changed my mind and really wanted
to become a professional piano player. Nobody had to
convince me; I just started practising on my own, became
very ambitious and began travelling, taking part in
competitions and playing in chamber music groups.”
Did you have a piano at home to practise on?
“At first I just had a regular upright piano and then my
parents bought something that was good enough for me to
take the next step. I practised on grand pianos at school too,
so I was usually spending the whole day there from 7 o’clock
in the morning, but that was just the way that we were living.
It was the same when I started my university studies in
Warsaw and Berlin – I would spend the entire day practising
and a little bit of time with my friends, but you get used to
that lifestyle.”
At what point in time did you start to think about
moving beyond your classical training to create your
own compositions?
“First, I should say that my parents were not musicians; my
father is an architect and my mother a doctor, so at home
they loved classical music but also listened to Pink Floyd and
Hania Rani | In The Studio With
Cat Stevens. Music was always there and at high school I
quickly started to make friends with people who had similar
backgrounds and liked indie rock and jazz. I remember being
very much into classical music but was also going to shows
and spending a lot of time playing instruments and
composing. I didn’t feel like I needed to share my music with
anyone or consider myself a composer until I started to meet
musicians in Warsaw who were making pop and electronic
music. It was a cool environment and I wanted to be involved
so I tried to take part in any activity I could, whether that was
giving lessons or helping people to make very simple
arrangements. Once I remember doing a professional
arrangement and when I heard it recorded and released it
sounded mind-blowing to me.”
Was that a catalyst for you?
“I started playing classical music with my friend Dobrawa
Czocher, who is a cellist. We lived and studied together in
Warsaw and she was offered to do an arrangement for a very
famous Polish rock band in the ’80s and early ’90s. They were
very rebellious and against the government, so everyone
knew about them, and when Dobrawa was offered the work
she asked me if I wanted to help with the arrangement.”
How did things evolve?
“We performed the
arrangements during a festival
and then a journalist from a
local radio station heard it and
offered to help us create a small
show. We had to prepare 60
minutes of music and that was
the first time that I was able to
include a couple of my own
compositions. The show was broadcast live around
Christmas and many people listened to it in memory of this
rock band, but it was also the first time that I would perform
my own music. It was such an addictive feeling and I couldn’t
forget how free and fearless I felt being on stage. From that
moment, I felt more courageous about composing and
arranging; I played in a garage band playing synths and
doing strange singing in Polish and did many other things to
help me think about fully focusing on a solo career.
Eventually, I finished up all my projects and sent a demo to
Gondwana Records in Manchester. They accepted me, but it
still took many years before I released my debut album, Esja,
in 2019.”
You’ve released numerous different albums since then,
but is Ghosts the first album where you’ve collaborated
with other artists to enhance your solo work?
“My previous solo album, Home, was released in 2020 and I’d
been very busy working on other projects since then, but
when I started working on Ghosts I wanted to start from a
blank page and make it sound a bit different. I also wanted to
change how I worked with instruments, my whole recording
and mixing process and have other people contribute.
Hopefully, I’ve picked wisely, but I love all the amazing
musicians that have contributed to this album because they
changed the sound.”
The piano is still prevalent, but would you say that
Ghosts is the first body of work where the instrument
has moved into the background a little?
“It’s hard to know how to respond to that because the album
47
 In The Studio With | Hania Rani
is very long and varied and at some point the whole process
became ambiguous. I’m also involved in making film music
soundtracks and became fascinated with the rough sound of
synthesisers, so a couple of album tracks were made only
using a Prophet ’08. For me, Ghosts has become a picture of
me as a person, which is definitely difficult to define. I
decided to sing because I started to feel good about my voice
after going on tour last year and felt that I suddenly had a lot
to say when it came to writing lyrics. Ghosts are always
connected to stories or myths, and that all seemed to fit in
with the music that I was writing.”
We get the impression that your work in film soundtrack
has been influential to the outcome of this album too…
“There are a couple of important moments that relate to
that. First, I mentioned the album I made with Dobrawa for
Deutsche Grammophon where I was very much processing
recordings of her cello. The instrumentation we used was
very limited but we did a lot of layering and one track,
Whale’s Song, really changed my way of thinking because it’s
really just made from cello sounds that were pitched and
processed in such an extreme way that it almost sounds like a
different instrument. From that moment, I was so fascinated
“BECAUSE MY INSTRUMENT IS ACOUSTIC
– WHENEVER I PRESS ONE OR TWO KEYS
IT TELLS ME SOMETHING ABOUT A
PARTICULAR SPACE OR ENVIRONMENT”
© Clara Schicketanz
48
by the possibilities that I kept that idea very close to me. Then
I got a commission to score my first series for Amazon
Prime, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, where the director
pushed me to investigate this area further. The story is quite
dark and has a lot of elements of abuse and rage, so I was
forced into doing something very different. The soundtrack
includes a little bit of piano, but it’s only a minor element. I
was allowed to use my imagination without limits and dived
into sounds that would probably never come to me naturally.
I also tend to work on a lot of things at the same time, so I
was working on two scores mostly based on synth sounds
and processed strings while also working on my solo album.”
The title Ghosts could refer to many things, but we
understand it was partly based on somewhere you
stayed during a two-month residency in Switzerland?
“This was at the beginning of 2022 when I was working on
the soundtrack to On Giacometti – a documentary about the
artist Alberto Giacometti who came from the Swiss Alps. I
was looking for a place to stay and work in Zurich or Basel as
I knew the score would be recorded in Switzerland so the
director proposed that I rent a studio that she knew based in
an art residency/house in the mountains that was similar to
the environment that Giacometti
grew up in. Because I’m a city
girl, it was a unique opportunity,
so I moved all my instruments
and piano to a beautiful space
close to Davos. I’d never lived in
such a remote place. It was built
at the end of the 19th century
and used to be somewhere that
people went to get treatment
when they were ill – similar to a
hospital or a retreat. The studios were huge, with
two big pianos and I was kind of alone in this valley
during the winter. You could hear the wind and
snow and I could feel a certain spirit or atmosphere,
as if the building’s history was soaking into me. I
am quite fragile when it comes to spaces in general
because my instrument is acoustic; whenever I
press one or two keys it tells me something about a
particular space or environment.”
Hence the title, Ghosts?
“The topic of ghosts was already interesting to me.
You can interpret the word many ways; it can mean
believing in some spiritual life, or associated with
memories, identity or something contemporary.
We all have personal ghosts, which might be
expressed through our social media avatars or the
personalities we create in virtual realities. So this
place, full of smells, feelings and stories, was the
starting point and the first song I composed was
Dancing with Ghosts because it felt meaningful to
me to talk about imagined situations or stories
relating to the fine line between life and death.”
Were you storytelling or projecting various
personal fears?
“Lots of artists come to this moment of wanting to
face and interpret this subject and music is such a
great tool to create your own perspective. It’s so easy
to sing about love and sex, but aging and fear of
death is considered a taboo subject. Obviously, I’m
 In The Studio With | Hania Rani
© Clara Schicketanz
just using abstract language when it comes to my album, but
you can imagine how liberating it is for me to talk about
things that are important, even if my own way of expressing
them is very soft and mellow.”
Although the album is quite melancholy, it’s also
beautiful and uplifting. On reflection, it must be
interesting to look back at how you interpreted and
expressed those emotions?
“Yes, especially as the recording process was so improvised.
The songs were obviously there, but I never pushed myself to
count track times. A couple of songs are very long but I
wanted to pick takes that had a certain mood that I was
looking for and keep all of the imperfections. All of these
little decisions were very important to me and have hopefully
helped push the music into a bit of a different direction.”
Were the tracks written as solo piano pieces before
building various layers around them?
50
“Some of the other songs were based on piano, but most
were actually based on synthesiser sounds, starting with very
simple and short motifs. Obviously, I love the piano and I’m
always trying to add it in, but it was not the starting point.
Hello, the first single, and Don’t Break My Heart, which will
be the last, were worked on with Duncan Bellamy from
Portico Quartet. I asked Duncan to contribute to Hello first
but he changed a lot of the song. I wasn’t happy about that
but I loved his beats, so I created a new song around those.
For Don’t Break My Heart I asked him to send me some more
beats and sequences and that song was also recreated by
changing the metronome, harmony and structure and
cutting out the whole second refrain. This process worked
really well for us.”
How did you find the process of recording vocals for the
first time in your career?
“When it comes to sound, the voice is just another amazing
instrument to tweak and process and I’m a huge fan of how

HANIA’S GO-TO GEAR
Bechstein pianos
“Right now, I am mostly
working on Hoffmann
pianos during my live
shows and in the studio.
The T122 and 128
literally became the ‘piano
sound’ of Ghosts.”
Prophet 08
“I’m still mastering it but
don’t really see the limits.
The track 24.03 was
played live on the Prophet:
one take, one instrument.”
Roland FP-7
“I love the touch of the
keyboard and mostly use
the Rhodes samples and
organs. See Komeda and
Dancing with Ghosts.”
Elektron Machinedrum
SPSI-UW
“Reminds me of a synth
with its detailed
possibilities and rich
character that balances the
acoustic tone of my work.”
KM 184, Schoeps MK
21 and…
“I balance them with other
cardio mics, which I almost
put inside of the instrument
and a pair of Coles and
piano pickups.”
EchoBoy and
Tape Delay
“Delays were used
massively on the record, on
all instruments and vocals
when sketching new tracks
and in real-time recording.”
Crystalline Reverb
“With so many mellow
sounds, we needed
something almost ‘plastic
and pink’ to bring a fresh
breath to the music.”
Moog Subsequent37
“Recorded partially by me
in Amsterdam but also in
Warsaw by the best Moog
player that I know,
Ziemowit Klimek.”
Hania Rani | In The Studio With
vocals are treated by Thom Yorke. One of his songs was
mixed by Francesco Donadello who told me that Thom
didn’t want his vocals to be clearly recognised, but for them
to be taken as an instrument; not hiding behind the music,
but making the voice sound a little bit more disguised by
using delays and reverbs. I really love this approach and as
you can probably hear my voice is quite high, so most of the
time I’m adding pitched octaves to create a little bit of an
androgenic alter-ego of myself. Tracks like Don’t Break My
Heart almost sound like a songwriter’s song, but on Thin
Line my voice is a little more background and used as a
rhythmic instrument. On Hello, the whole song rhythm is
based on voice delay as a circling energy. Without the delay,
the song sounds totally different.”
On the track Dancing with Ghosts you duet with
Canadian singer-songwriter Patrick Watson. Were these
vocal sessions recorded remotely?
“When I composed the song I thought, oh my god, this
sounds just like a Patrick Watson song. He was someone I
listened to a lot when I was learning to compose my own
songs, so I got in touch when I was touring in Montreal last
year and he told me that he really admired my music too. I
feel that his approach is similar to mine because he’s so easy
going and believes in improvisation, introspection and doing
things in the moment, but I’m a little bit shy so when I
composed Dancing with Ghosts I just sent it to him and asked
for his opinion. Thankfully, he loved the song, recorded a
second vocal for me and also processed a lot of the vocal
sounds and piano. I loved what he did so much because he
added things that I couldn’t come up with and when he sent
the stems the process became very quick, easy and natural.
He gave the song a haunted feeling, which was perfect
because it’s literally about ghosts.”
Ólafur Arnalds also guests on the record. He’s an artist
who has very successfully bridged neoclassical and
popular music. Presumably, you wanted to work with
him for that very reason?
“He was very influential at the start of my career and also
very kind to me. We share the same booking agent, so we’d
met a couple of times and kind of became friends so I
thought it’d be really nice to do something together. I was
travelling after doing a project in Iceland, so I visited his
studio and, funnily enough, showed him the track Don’t
Break My Heart. I presumed he’d be too busy to contribute,
but he said, to be honest, I’d really love to create something
from scratch and invited me back for a couple of days. With
each artist, the process of creating is so different. I came back
to Ólafur’s studio a few weeks later and we spent a couple of
days improvising, jamming and making music. He’s
obviously an amazing engineer and producer and it was very
interesting for me to learn about all the gear he was using.”
There appears to be lots of ambient noises on the track
– breathing, whispers etc?
“We were recording everything live and only took a couple of
takes without any cuts, but I think the sounds that you’re
hearing are something to do with the location we were
working in at a complex of studios in Reykjavik. Many artists
have worked there, from Björk to Dustin O’Halloran and
Ólafur, who is now working in the studio that used to belong
to Sigur Rós. It’s based in a port area that’s not perfectly
isolated, so you can hear lots of noises coming from the
outside. Sometimes we would have to wait before recording
51
 In The Studio With | Hania Rani
because the fishermen were unloading fishes at the dock and
lots of seagulls would come. It was peculiar, but I like the vibe
of Icelandic artists; they don’t feel the need to make music
that’s totally pristine and Ólafur likes to create that
atmosphere too.”
Was leaving those sound artefacts in something quite
new for you?
“I usually prefer my tracks to feel like they’re all coming from
the same space, but this album was recorded in so many
different places, using so many different instruments and
sound engineers, that this element of the production couldn’t
be avoided. Some of the tracks are first takes, for example,
24.03 was performed and recorded on a synthesiser in one
late night session. That’s the story of the album, and there’s
no point fighting against that because that’s ultimately what
makes it interesting.”
Was that the reason you felt the need to use Greg
Freeman as mix engineer and Viktor Orri Árnason to
help arrange the tracks for you?
“I can produce and edit, but I don’t feel that I have the skills
to mix tracks myself. I’m such a big fan of Portico Quartet
“SOMETIMES WE’D HAVE TO WAIT BEFORE
RECORDING BECAUSE THE FISHERMEN
WERE UNLOADING FISHES AT THE DOCK
AND LOTS OF SEAGULLS WOULD COME”
© Clara Schicketanz
52
– the band has shaped me so much and Greg has worked
with them and was therefore really important. He also loves
to sit alongside an artist when he’s mixing, so we spent two
weeks together in Berlin where he processed everything
through tape delays, which contributed to the sound in such
a beautiful way, bringing lots of different vibes and colours.
He basically managed to bring all these different tracks
recorded in different places and put them in one cohesive
space. With Viktor, I’ve been working with him for a long
time because he is one of the most skilled sound engineers
when it comes to arranging string recordings. We only had
one day to record a big group of strings and I knew he’d be
great at conducting and directing the musicians, so I wanted
him to be there.”
You mentioned using synths on this album as opposed
to just piano...
“I’m probably a little bit different to other musicians in that I
spent 20 years playing one instrument but I’m still interested
in investigating others like the Prophet ’08. I knew a hip-hop
producer who had one but was just using plugins, so I asked
if I could buy it from him. This allowed me to bring in
sounds that I had not been aware of before and use arpeggios
and other little sequences, which
are now present in almost all of
the songs. The Elektron
Machinedrum SPS-1UW was
also used in a lot of the
recordings. It’s vintage but fully
digital and very eclectic and
contemporary sounding. I’ve
started touring with it, but the
plan is to also start using it as a
trigger to compose new music,
like I did with the Prophet.”
What DAW are you using for recording?
“It’s funny because, when I started, my main source
of knowledge came from the same hip-hop
producer I mentioned who told me that Ableton
Live was the best thing to use. I’m mostly working
with live samples, recordings of myself and doing a
lot of processing, so there is no need for me to use
any crazy plugins. I’ll use a couple of delays and
pitch a lot of things, but if we need to do something
special we’ll just replace stuff in the mixing process
or use Pro Tools.”
Will you be touring Ghosts in the near future?
“We start a tour in early October and I want to
bring lots of new tracks to the stage, so right now
I’m enjoying rearranging a lot of my old stuff. I’ll
obviously be singing, playing keyboards and
performing with my friend Ziemowit Klimek who
plays double bass and Moog. As I toured last year, I
feel much more comfortable performing even
though we’re playing in bigger venues and the music
is quite fragile, so it’s still quite a challenge!”
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Ghosts is out now on Gondwana
Records. For more, visit
haniarani.com
Hania Rani | In The Studio With

53
 –––––+ PRODUCE LIKE… +–––––

Paper
Dragon
The Bristol trio combining their
varied industry experience to create
raw, nostalgic club music
56

INCLUDES
VIDEO
Paper Dragon
demonstrate
their reamping
process
ristol-based
three-piece Paper
Dragon only have a
handful of releases
to their name, but
they’re certainly not
newcomers to the world of dance
music. Each member has their
own, varied roots in the industry.
Jon Savage has spent several years
on the road managing and working
with acts including Fred V & Grafix
and KOAN Sound. Bruce Turner is
a multi-instrumentalist who has
played guitar for acts such as drum
& bass artist TC and teaches at
Bristol’s dBS institute, while Kris
Burton has worked as an engineer
at Abbey Road.
Formerly a four-piece fronted by
vocalist Ruth Royal, Paper Dragon
returned this year with a refreshed
lineup and a stellar EP of nostalgic,
rave-influenced tracks, Amplified
Nostalgia. We caught up with the
trio at Bristol’s dBS to get under
the hood of their techniques.
How did Paper Dragon come
together as a group?
Bruce Turner: “Me and Jon met
studying a master’s degree in music at
Bath Spa university.”
Jon Savage: “It’s probably almost 15
years ago. We hit it off on the first day.
We started an act called Playhead
fairly swiftly after meeting. We were
just making eclectic dance music. We
made an album as our masters
project, and then we made another
Paper Dragon | Produce like…
The members’ deep industry links
afford them the luxury of some
enviable studio spaces
EP. Then Bruce started working at
dBS where he met Kris, who’s the
other member.
“Initially, we were working with
vocalist Ruth Royal, and it was the
four of us. We did two EPs. And then
Ruth sort of moved on to focus on
her solo work. And we had a little bit
of time off, sort of figuring out what
our next steps were. And then at the
start of this year, we came back with
the new, revamped Paper Dragon.”
What were your individual musical
backgrounds prior to meeting?
“WE ALWAYS STRIVE
FOR THAT UNDER/
OVERGROUND
BALANCE”
BT: “I’ve been performing all my life,
mostly as a guitarist. That grew and
grew over the years and eventually I
started doing hybrid electronic and
live music, which then sort of led me
into the drum & bass scene. I was
doing guitars for TC, who’s a drum &
bass artist. That was my introduction
to performing on proper stages and
festivals and things.”
JS: “I started drumming at the age of
about eight or nine, and then got into
playing in championship brass bands
and orchestras. Then in my teens I
found electronic music. I started
producing on an Amiga, with
Notator, and a synth. Eventually I
moved into show production work
and started working with the likes of
Fred V & Grafix and KOAN Sound,
and other electronic acts, sort of
curating their live acts and how to
translate their studio music. That gave
me the insight and know-how to start
working on those things.”
How did the sound evolve between
your early project Playhead and
Paper Dragon?
BT: “I suppose there
are certain values that
we’ve sustained – the
trans-genre kind of
approach, which means
we do kind of dip in
and out of all kinds of
styles, but it’s a little bit
more accessible. I think
the stuff we were doing
before was a little bit
too experimental, which some people
absolutely loved. But you know, it’s
not sustainable.”
JS: “I think working with Ruth helped
us hone the songs’ accessibility. It
made us think more about how to
create electronic music with a slightly
more accessible view in mind. We’re
always striving for that underground/
overground balance – sometimes we
get there, sometimes we don’t.”
Do you all tend to agree on what
you want to do as a band?
57
Produce like… | Paper Dragon

BT: “I would say our values align
quite well, based upon our
experiences and the sort of things that
we enjoy. Many different genres, but
pretty much all in the rave. We all
work with instruments as well, in
different ways; I’m more experienced
with playing instruments than
programming, whereas, Jon is sort of
half and half. Kris has got amazing
experience with some of the best
musicians in the world, but from the
point of view of recording them.”
Do you all have different roles in
the creative process?
JS: “We have areas that we sit into, but
it does all blur. I think I come in as a
connector – I have a really good
overview of lots of musical stuff and
quite often I have a lot of ideas for
starting tracks. But then Bruce is the
best musician of all of us.”
BT: “That’s my main language, better
than I can talk. I tend to do the
orchestration, though I’ve gotten
weirdly into drum programming,
which used to be Jon’s main area. I’ve
done so much that now it’s become
the focus of the PhD I’m doing.”
JS: “Then Kris is producer, sound
engineer, arranger. I suppose he has
the overview. But then we all
contribute to everything.”
Do you each have your own
individual studio setups?
BT: “Yeah, we’re quite lucky in that
respect. We’ve all got our own studios.
Although I tend to do a lot of work
here at dBS, because of the clean
sound and the soundproofing. The
treatment is just so good here. It’s
really convenient.”
JS: “When we first started working,
we did a lot of stuff in the studio all
together. But then we had the
pandemic and other things, and that
has shifted, which did make things
difficult. When we were making the
music together in the studio, it was a
blast, you know? We had those
moments when we’d lay a track down
and you get those collective ‘oh my
god, this is the one?’ moments, as
you’re all in the space together.”
BT: “It’s an energy, isn’t it? There’s
nothing that needs to be
communicated. Whereas I think
when you’re working separately and
also in different listening
environments, a lot of things that can
sound brilliant in one studio don’t
always translate. There are a lot of
WhatsApp messages.”
Is there much difference in the
gear you’re each using?
BT: “Working with Kris is always an
education, but he’s quite keen to try
and unify what we’re using as much
as possible. Down to what sort of
monitors we’re using, which would be
amazing. Right now there is variation,
though. We all tend to prefer real
instruments rather than software. I
started out playing guitar, and now
I’m using a few analogue synths too.”
JS: “The Sequential Prophet-6 gets
used a lot. Kris has got the rack
version of that.”
BT: “I’ve got the Rev 2 as well.”
JS: “The Moog Sub Phatty too.”
BT: “Both Kris and I’ve got Moogs
that we use. I don’t have too many
synths though, I’d rather have fewer
and know them a bit.”
JS: “Then another classic is Juno
– that’s one that just has a sound that
always fits into tracks. There’s
something about those Roland synths,
the bandwidth. We’re not fortunate
enough to have an actual 808, but
we’ve got a couple of the new releases,
like the TR-8.”
BT: “I love running that through the
MXR distortion. I’ve actually got a
cab modeller, so I’ll run the drum
machine through the MXR Super
Distortion, out of this Mesa Boogie
amp, through an amp sim, which has
got all of its own profiles to mess
around with.”
JS: “Part of how we work is about

WHY I LOVE MY…

making those instruments exist in a
real space. We call it incorporating ‘air’
into recordings, putting them through

Strymon El Capistan
distortion channels or reamping.”
BT: “Kris has so much experience
working at Abbey Road, making use
of the space and the environment and
Kris Burton: “I really wanted something in the using that as a kind of way of binding
everything together.”
studio that I could use to do some dub mixing
with. What I actually found is that, as well as
doing dub delays, the El Capistan is also great for WANT TO
stretching vocals and giving you a stereo image. KNOW MORE?
I might go for one tape setting, one repeat mode, Paper Dragon’s latest EP,
and then pan them left and right and you just get Amplified Nostalgia, is
this nice thick sound.” available now

58
 Paper Dragon | Produce like…

GET THAT SOUND…

Paper Dragon’s Kris

Burton on reamping
Kris demonstrates how he uses a guitar amp and
carefully placed mics to create a natural reverb space

01 >
Although Paper Dragon’s music is primarily
04 >
Kris has mics set up in two places. Firstly, an SM57
electronic, the band’s chief studio wizard
Kris likes to make use of reamping
and AKG kick drum mic are placed close to the amp,
techniques run through the SSL desk at to pick up the direct output.
Bristol’s dBS studios.

02 >
He has the individual elements of the mix
running separately out of Pro Tools into the
desk, so he can send them out to a Fender
Twin amp, making use of its onboard spring
reverb. Kris is going to treat the track’s vocals
and drum breaks.

03 >
Kris uses a DI box before the signal hits the guitar amp,
05 >
Kris also places a pair of mics out in the
in order to make sure the output from Pro Tools is hallway, to capture the reverbed sound from
the room.
running at an appropriate instrument level.

06 >
Kris runs each element through the amp and
captures the mic recordings back in Pro
Tools. He’ll roll off the low end for clarity, and
mix the reamped signals in balance with the
dry sounds.

59
FM | PRODUCER’S GUIDE
Producer’s Guide To | The 808 Kick
The 808 kick
Whether used as a kick or bass, get perfect 808s every time with our
essential guide…
O
ften used as either a kick,
a bass, or a combined
kick-and-bass in many
genres, the TR-808 bass
drum is undoubtedly the most
recognisable electronic kick sound of
all time. During an era where kick
drums were designed to emulate the
midrange punch of acoustic sounds,
the 808 kick’s sheer subsonic power
shook sound systems in previously
unheard ways – and still does to
this day.
60
But exactly how does the TR-808
synthesise its famous bass drum?
“The 808 kick is effectively a
resonating circuit,” explains Roland.
“This circuit’s time constant
determines its frequency and decay
time. If accent is present, the
oscillation frequency is doubled for
the duration of half a waveform cycle
of an ‘un-accented’ kick’s frequency
– making accented kicks ‘punchier’.”
While the TR-808 bass drum
can’t be transposed directly on the
hardware, producers discovered a
new way to fill the low end of a mix.
By sampling a single note, then
playing this note across the
keyboard, the sound can be used as
a relentless barrage of pitched bass
notes – a technique which has
become the centrepiece of genres
such as hip-hop, R&B, juke, trap,
jungle and drum & bass.
When working with your own
‘808’ – hip-hop’s colloquial term for
the famous bass drum – be aware
that the sound will completely
dominate the low end of a mix, so
allocate low-end space by employing
adequate high-pass filtering
throughout your other track
elements. Check your mix on smaller
systems too (earbuds, laptops and
phones) to ensure sufficient
harmonic presence; there’s nothing
worse than programming a
bass-heavy 808 in the studio only
to hear it disappear on consumer-
grade speakers.
 The 808 Kick | Producer’s Guide To

How to shape the

Always tune

2
Even when
used as a

perfect 808 kick

kick rather
than overt
basslines, be sure to
tune an 808 kick
Processing and sampling tips to help you achieve sample to the key of
your track. Use a tuner
clear, powerful 808s plugin, play an
initialised synth patch

Not all equal alongside as you tune,

or even smash the raw

1
sound through a
It’s a common misconception that all 808 kicks are effectively the saturation plugin to
same, so once you’ve got one sample in your library, there’s no need decipher its key.
for any more. In fact, there can be massive differences, both in the
initial sounds themselves and the manner in which they were Added attack

3
recorded. For one thing, TR-808 drum machines were notoriously variable The 808 kick’s attack is
from unit to unit, and although in theory the kick on any 808 was tuned to rather thin. Try using a
punchier kick focused
56Hz – a slightly sharp A – in reality there was often a significant around 80-100Hz to
difference from one machine to the next. The age of a machine can affect provide the front-end punch, and
the tuning and tonality of a kick too. Added to that, a sampled kick can gently sidechain the 808 layer
take on a lot of subtle characteristics depending on how it’s been recorded: against it.

has it been run through a characterful compressor? Is there a touch of

saturation or noise? How long is the decay of the recorded sample? The Low-mid
point is that if you’re someone regularly working with 808s, it’s worth presence

4
having a variety of source sounds to hand. Better still, a modern emulation,
Gentle
such as Roland’s Cloud plugin or modern TR machines, or Behringer’s
saturation is
RD-8, will allow you to sequence, shape and resample custom kicks for
great for
each new track.
exaggerating
an 808 kick’s low mid
harmonics. To keep
the raw sound intact,
send it to a bus and
use a linear phase EQ
to isolate the areas you
want to accentuate
before applying drive
in parallel.
Shaping with
compression

5
When it comes to
compressing kick sounds,
the most important
parameters at your
disposal are the attack and release
controls. Consider the attack time:
the initial impact of an 808 kick is
its punchiest, highest-pitched
moment. Is this the part of the sound

61
Producer’s Guide To | The 808 Kick

Clear some space around it

you want to catch and process with
your compressor? If so, you’ll need an

6
extremely fast setting to ensure
compression begins immediately. Or, When it comes to sub-heavy elements like an 808 kick, part of the
you might want to leave this initial
secret to getting them sounding clean and powerful is to stop other
transient alone and to squeeze the
dynamics of the decay portion of the
elements clashing with them. You can do this through programming:
sound – where most of the bass if you have other bass heavy elements such as a bassline or synth
frequencies are – in which case a chords, try to make sure these don’t play at the same time as your 808 kicks,
slightly longer attack time, which to avoid them competing. In cases where it’s unavoidable, roll off any
ignores the initial impact, will be
unnecessary low-end
required. The attack time will still
need to be quick, however, as that
frequencies from
initial transient won’t last for long. anything other than
Similarly, how quick do you want the bass parts – eg, snares,
release time to be, to control how chords, percussion
quickly the decay stage returns to
– and use sidechained
normal having been processed?
Explore these parameters in depth –
compression to duck
they may have an impact on a kick’s elements around
tone as well as its dynamic response. one another.

Roll off the lowest

frequencies
8
One of the most appealing aspects of an 808
kick is its sub presence – the ability to add
speaker-rattling low-end rumble to a track. For
less experienced producers, it can be tempting
to simply boost the hell out of an 808’s bass frequencies
to really maximise that low-end power. Doing so can have
the opposite effect though. Anything below around
20-25Hz is beyond the realm of human hearing and will

Tail considerations
certainly get lost on anything other than a powerful club
sound system or monitoring setup with a powerful sub.
While it’s not always possible to hear those frequencies,

7
they can still cause problems with how well your track will
An 808 bass drum’s weight lies in its translate between one speaker system and another. You
decay tail. It’s important to devote care to might, for example, wind up with a track that sounds good
your sound’s volume envelope, and apply on headphones but becomes a muddy mess when played
careful compression if necessary. in a club, or which has decent bass presence on your
Because of this, rather than simply dropping your studio monitors but loses all its low-end power on a home
speaker setup. The best ways around this are to use a
808 sample onto your DAW’s timeline, or using a high-pass filter or shelving EQ to cut anything below
basic sampler, it’s often best to play the sound 25Hz, and to test your track on a variety of speaker setups.
back via a sampler that allows you to shape its
amplitude via a proper volume envelope –
preferably with decay, sustain and release stage.
Classic 808 kicks tend to vary a little in pitch
from the initial attack stage to the end of a long
tail. Bear this in mind, as you may find the
perceived pitch of your sound changes somewhat
depending on how long or short its volume
envelope is. This effect can be particularly
noticeable with distortion applied.

62
 The 808 Kick | Producer’s Guide To

How to blend
an 808 bass
and kick
Combining an 808 kick bassline
04 >
Although our bass generally works around the kick,
some of the hits do fall at the same time, resulting in a
and another kick can be tricky. clash in the low frequencies. We EQ our 808, cutting
some content at 90Hz, which is the frequency our
Here’s how it’s done… other kick is hitting at. We also cut the 808 below
20Hz to cut out unnecessary sub muddiness.

01 >
We have a simple drum & bass loop going,
consisting of a synth, a drum break, and a
separate kick. Let’s use a tuned 808 kick to
create a sub heavy bass. To start, we load an
808 kick sample into Live’s Simpler and use
a tuner to check its pitch. We then transpose
it in our sampler so it aligns with our MIDI
input (ie, a C note plays a C pitch).

02 >
We program a simple bass riff that works with our loop.
We have Simpler in ‘Classic’ mode, which gives us an
ADSR amp envelope; we can use this to adjust the
kick’s long decay to suit the tempo of our track. We also
set the sampler Voices to 1, making it monophonic, so
we won’t have multiple bass notes clashing.
05 >
Next, we increase the attack in our 808’s
sampler a little, to reduce its punchiness.
This cuts some of the punchy attack from the
808 but leaves its low-end tail, which gives it
more definition as a ‘bass’ element,
compared to the other, more obviously
percussive kick.

06
Finally, we apply a compressor to the 808, with the
main kick as a sidechain input. Quick attack and
release settings here mean that the 808 is ducked out
of the way of the kick’s attack without being too
obviously squashed.

03 >
The kick sample has lots of bass but lacks
midrange presence. For this we’ll use
distortion. Output Thermal allows us to apply
multiband effects targeted at the low-mids
(100-600Hz). Light distortion adds extra
harmonics, but we also use gentle
compression and some mid/side boosting to
emphasise these frequencies while keeping
the lowest elements clean and mono.

63
In The Studio With | Lukid

Adding a lick of paint to his first new

Lukid album in ten years, Danny
Turner chats to Luke Blair about
ditching his pursuit of perfection

64
 Lukid | In The Studio With

uzzling, complex and yet still oddly

accessible, Lukid’s 2012 album Lonely at
the Top suggested an electronic artist
approaching the peak of his powers. Few
might imagine, therefore, that Luke Blair
would abandon returning to Lukid for a
further decade. Instead, the North
London-based producer became hot
property in the world of advertising sync, whilst side-stepping
into the self-described functionality of drum & bass/jungle
with Jackson Bailey, under the name Rezzett, alongside his
own Refreshers side project.
The only other constant has been Blair’s monthly show on
NTS Radio, allowing him to keep abreast of the latest
cutting-edge sounds in dub, hip-hop and electronica. All of
the above have fed into Blair’s belated return as Lukid, which
serves as a timely reminder of just how comfortably he sits
among his peers. Tilt is a refined and sophisticated re-arrival,
with piston-like beats underpinning monochrome,
sandpapered patterns and gorgeous melodic refrains.

Do you seek out the work of other artists as a form of

research to keep up to date with what’s current or
relevant in electronic music today?
“I guess listening to any music is research because it’s all going
in and influencing me. Part of the reason I work on NTS
Radio is because it forces me to find stuff that would be easy
to forget if I didn’t do it for a living. But I don’t look for
techniques unless I’m doing something very specific – I’m not
really that technically minded, although I do genre-study the
jungle stuff because it’s a bit like learning a language.”

Was composing for film and TV something you actively

sought or did you suddenly find that people were
approaching you for projects based on your solo work?
“That whole world is tricky to navigate because a lot of it is
about who you know. In my early 20s, I was a runner for a
branding agency and met a few people who went on to do
film and video within the advertising world. They knew me
and my music, so they’d hit me up and ask if I had anything
suitable for a particular project. It’s nice to have that discipline
alongside my solo stuff where there are no deadlines or briefs.”

What are some of the pros and cons of making music in

that world?
“It’s a good way to earn a living in music, especially as there
are not that many ways of doing that these days, but you have
to be willing to be very versatile, make lots of different types
of music and take comments from clients who don’t really
know anything about music. You also have to be willing to
work quickly and be a cog in a wheel, which can be quite nice
when it’s balanced against working on your own stuff.”

You have two drum & bass/jungle side projects,

Refreshers and Rezzett with Jackson Bailey, yet
unusually that genre of music was never an initial
passion of yours?
“You’re right that I was never into one particular genre of
music and I wasn’t going to clubs either, but I’ve got an older
brother who was big into jungle so I’d hear a lot of it from
him even though I didn’t understand the language or how to
work with breaks. Then a few years ago Jackson challenged
me to come up with a jungle tune. I’d been struggling to make
music for a few weeks, so chopping up breaks felt new and
fun compared to trying to find some really original or specific

65
 In The Studio With | Lukid
snare sound. I ended up making a track in four hours, which
ended up being the first Refreshers tune, How Bout You?. It
was cool because, within jungle, I could use all these genre
signifiers and not worry too much about the integrity of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of that stuff, but it’s more
functional. The Rezzett stuff was mostly Jackson, who’s a bit
of a genius and can knock out a jungle track in minutes. I
definitely learnt a lot from seeing how he layered breaks and
put stuff together.”
’90s jungle was typically built around the sound of
hardware synths and samplers. Does working in that
field therefore necessitate using different tools to your
solo projects?
“In general, Jackson buys and sells a lot of hardware so we’ll
always jam on a new bit of kit, but he also makes jungle stuff
in the box using tracker software where you have all these
mad numbers going down the screen. It’s a bit like looking at
The Matrix. Personally, I feel I can do more within the
computer, which is basically a mixture of me being lazy, tight
and stuck in my ways. I’m so used to being able to edit, fine-
tune and automate stuff [where] using a hardware sampler
would feel like a roundabout way of getting the same result.”
“PERSONALLY, I FEEL I CAN DO MORE
WITHIN THE COMPUTER, WHICH IS
BASICALLY A MIXTURE OF ME BEING LAZY,
TIGHT AND STUCK IN MY WAYS”
© Áine Devaney
66
The Rezzett album, Boshly, and your latest solo LP, Tilt,
have both been released this year. Did you work on
them simultaneously?
“The Rezzett album was finished quite a while ago. I actually
moved to Lisbon in 2018 because my girlfriend was there and
Jackson was already living there, so I started sharing a studio
with him. We worked on the Rezzett album in 2019, Jackson
left Lisbon and then I started working on Tilt, which is made
up of stuff I’d been making over the past ten years or so. In
between, I’d been making the Refreshers stuff, which is a fun
palette cleanser and they all seem to complement each other.”
Having taken a ten-year break from Lukid, have you
found that your music has become more informed by
your sound design work for various media?
“I have a big playlist that I keep of little sketches. Usually some
kind of loop or a couple of sounds put together that feel like
they could be the basis for a new track, but I don’t necessarily
know what I’ll end up using them for; a bit of film advertising
or they’ll go towards a jungle tune. If I’m not working on a
particular project, I’ll try and get a couple of sketches down
per day, which I add to this big playlist on my phone. It’s so
easy to forget stuff you’ve done that I need to export it, have it
on a listenable playlist and think
of it as building up a library of
work for the future.”
We read that your fear of
death impels you to create –
as if there’s a need to get your
version of something out into
the world before it’s too late?
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 In The Studio With | Lukid
© Áine Devaney
“That’s got to be the inspiration for a lot of art, but I was
finishing this album during the pandemic and, although it’s
hard to remember now, there was a bit of a feeling of who
knows what’s going to happen? It was a bit of a wake-up call.
It’s all well and good having music sitting on my laptop, but
what’s the point if no one else can hear it? If you call yourself a
musician, you need to be putting out music. I also liked all the
music I had sitting around but didn’t necessarily like what I’d
released that much. If I meet someone at a party and they take
my name down and listen to my stuff on Spotify, they’re
going to judge me on what they hear not what I haven’t
released. So yeah, I guess fear of death is still part of the
motivation [laughs].”
Artists are rarely fully satisfied with what they’ve
released. Are you trying to attain perfection?
“Waiting for something to be perfect is a mug’s game and
kind of what led me to not releasing anything for so long.
You’ll be waiting forever, so you have to accept the flaws. It’s
easy to overthink things and imagine that inspiration will
come along ‘one day’, but that’s not how it works – you have to
force it a bit. I’ve perhaps avoided the technical aspect because
I’ve always looked at music as an emotional thing, the
problem being that the means to this emotion is through the
technical. I don’t know how successful I’ve been, but I’ve
always been focused on trying to make something unique that
has its own mood.”
Did the starting point for Tilt always revolve around
those sketches that you mentioned?
“It depended tune by tune. Some started by putting together
68
drum sounds in Ableton Drum Rack and others started with
a synth or string sound. Others started with previous sketches
that I ended up resampling. I actually did that quite a lot on
Tilt – in the process of making a tune that I thought was good
but not that unique, I’d take it back into the Ableton sampler
and work with it as if it was someone else’s tune and make
something new out of it.”
Are you motivated by sound as a source or techniques
you want to try related to sound design?
“A good example is a track on the album called The Great
Schlep, which was made by playing around on the MIDI
keyboard using a Kontakt string library on my old PC. I
recorded jams that I thought sounded nice into an old tape
machine separate, recorded them back out into Ableton,
pitched everything down and chopped it up to make a new
melody. I used a similar process of working with audio quite a
lot. For example, the first track, End Melody, was just me
having a jam and chopping it up to create a chord sequence.
There’s a mode on Ableton where you can make a clip trigger
the next clip, so you can create loops out of that and choose
different starting points within the audio.”
The string emulations on The Great Schlep seem to be a
strange combination of various processed and natural-
sounding techniques?
“The samples themselves came from a library on my old PC
that I don’t use anymore that had a bowing sound mixed with
a touch of glissando. Part of the reason I wanted to change the
pitch and add a little bit of tape saturation was because I
didn’t want the samples to sound too much like a Kontakt

library. Changing the pitch is a classic way of changing the
frequencies enough to make things sound more interesting
for the listener.”
Tape is obviously a form of hardware outboard, but then
you’ve have a fascination for tape ever since finding a
bag of cassettes in the street?
“More and more people are getting rid of their old tapes these
days, but a long time ago I was living in Archway and found a
box of them outside a neighbour’s house. Most of it was full
of weird audio books and language tapes, but one was marked
‘DISCO’, which I ended up sampling for a track on my last
album. I’ve tried to avoid using tape saturation on Tilt
because you can get addicted to that type of sound. The only
other bit of hardware I used was a Boss guitar pedal.”
Lukid is sometimes comparable to Autechre, yet tracks
Belly 1 and 2 have these beautifully syncopated
melodies; something Autechre would probably never
allow themselves to do. Do you have a view on that?
“Well first of all, thank you very much because I’m glad you
like those tracks for that reason; I’m a big melody man and
that’s what I was aiming for. Dance music can be a bit
“FOR ME, THE MARRIAGE OF RHYTHMIC
AND MELODIC ELEMENTS IS WHERE THE
MAGIC HAPPENS AND IS THE MOMENT
WHEN I KNOW I HAVE SOMETHING”
© Áine Devaney
Lukid | In The Studio With
snobbish in that regard but, for me, the marriage of rhythmic
and melodic elements is where the magic happens and is
often the moment when I know I have something. I love
Autechre and a lot of their earlier work was quite melodic, for
example, Drane 2 was always a big track for me. As a young
music maker, I held it up there as being kind of what I wanted
to achieve.”
You seem to deliberately combine frayed and melodic
sounds so that one accentuates the other?
“That’s where the happy accidents come from. You’re putting
these disparate elements together to see how they play off
each other. The two tracks you mention came from the same
initial track that I’d made using a bell sound sample, so Belly 1
and 2 were abstractions of that and feature the same kinds of
melodies but with different variations.”
You also do a lot of vocal sampling…
“I have a folder full of acapellas and little bits of voice that I’ve
found, which I guess has become a shortcut to adding a
human element or extra layer of melody. Sometimes I worry
that I use vocals in that way too much, but adding in a vocal
snippet does feel like a sprinkle of salt or the cherry on top of
a track. I love songs and music
with vocals, so maybe it’s just a
way for me to cheat without
having to work with a vocalist,
although that’s something I’d
love to do.”
Are you using any other
third-party plugins?
“Because a lot of this album was
made on an old PC that I
somehow managed to get over to Lisbon, it’s hard to
remember, but I did used to use a lot of Native Instruments
and Arturia plugins. I initially used Ableton as an instrument
to chop up audio that I’d then record into my PC, until a few
years ago when I started using it to arrange full-time. A good
plugin that I got recently is the M-Tron Pro emulator, which is
an updated version of the original Mellotron sampler that
The Beatles used for Strawberry Fields Forever. I also use the
Surge XT plugin quite a lot, various free VTSs and Kontakt –
especially for the film and commercial work. They sometimes
need something very specific-sounding, like a banjo, so I’ll
have to try and find the best banjo plugin out there. Because
of that, I have all these very weird plugins on Ableton that
often end up making their way onto a Lukid track somehow.”
Is there anything particularly about making music that
makes you frustrated?
“The only time I get frustrated is when I feel like I have a good
basis for a track but can’t find the key to unlock it and have to
wait for the right elements to fall into place. When that works,
I can move to the arrangement and mixing stage, although
mixing for me is all just part of making a track. I always get
confused when people talk about ‘mixdowns’ – I guess that’s
not how I work [laughs].”
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The new Lukid album Tilt is out
October 6 on Glum. For more, visit
lukid.bandcamp.com
69

© Andy Willsher/Redferns/Getty Images
I
t’s all about the numbers with
Richard D. James aka Aphex
Twin, whether it’s the frankly
enormous number of
pseudonyms, the freakish number
of songs released, the ever-growing
list of myths, or simply the
colossal array of genres he
manages to pack into his infamous
live shows and DJ sets (and very
often into just one song). And with
these numbers, James truly is a
pioneer of all music, not just
electronic. Not that he’d like being
called one…
Raised in Cornwall, James
enjoyed some early breakthroughs
thanks to the dance music
sweeping from the States across
70
––––––––+ PIONEERS +––––––––
Aphex
Twin
A man of many names, many
genres, and many myths,
Richard D. James doesn’t
play by the rules
Europe at the end of the ’80s
(although he would certainly repay
any debts back into that scene
over the following decades). He
started playing at local raves and
free parties and produced his
debut EP Analogue Bubblebath
– still one of his finest works – in
1991, although had been making
music from as early as 1983.
Like many, James was
snapping up dance music gear
while it was still relatively cheap
– there’s a fantastic 1993
interview in this very magazine
that shows a very young Aphex
Twin already modding such
hardware. He was putting it to
great use too, with the album
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
not only becoming one of the great
comedown albums, but also
introducing him to a huge
new audience.
Like other big names of the
’90s – Massive Attack especially
– Aphex Twin became something
of a crossover dance act, with
music equally at home in a sweaty
rave as it was on a swanky
dinner-party record player.
Myth making
Some might think that this
new-found level of fame led to the

creation of those many aliases.
That he decided to go more
underground, releasing music
under names including Polygon
Window, user48736353001, The
Tuss, Q-Chastic and probably
about 500 others.
There was also some idea that
the different names would end up
releasing different styles of music,
and while that was partly true,
James has since admitted that
there wasn’t any plan at all. Which
is quite brilliant too.
The truth appears to be more
simply that James has always
produced lots of music – we’re
talking Prince levels of prolific
output here – so basically just
needed the names to get the
music out there.
This prodigious output also led
to many myths – some, it must be
said, being nudged along by
James himself. Stories going
round included that he started
making music when he was 12
(true, probably earlier), that he
writes music in his sleep (true),
that he secretly entered but then
won a Future Music remix
competition (true, and he won
some sample CDs for his efforts)
and that he has a recording studio
in every room of a massive castle
(we might have just made that one
up; it’s really an old bank).
Gear head
And talking of gear, he loves it
more than most. The first nod is
the Aphex name, of course, but
even as recently as this summer,
his latest EP Blackbox Life
Recorder 21f featured bits of what
we reported as a Sequentix Cirklon
rendered into its artwork. He also
put the AFX name and sound into
a limited edition Novation synth,
something so unlikely to happen
that it now seems obvious he’d
do it.
His live appearances have
become legendary too. He can
play or DJ any style of music you
can imagine – and many more you
can’t. Shows like the recent Field
Day and Forwards festivals (see
p24) aren’t exactly about dancing
– unless it’s your dad trying – and
can be challenging. But they can
be admired too, as James often
blurs the arts of DJing with live
music performance. It can become
so mashed up that you start to
believe that he is actually just
playing a random five-second
sample from every track he has
ever produced, splicing the whole
lot together into a two-hour set.
Actually that might be a good
idea, if he hasn’t done it already,
but it would probably last
24 hours…
Aphex Twin is a true legend
and pioneer, then, but he’d
probably rather be seen as the
disruptor, challenger, or just
someone who is mostly having a
laugh and always with a cheeky
story to hand. But mostly he’s
just an amazing producer
responsible for making (lots of)
incredible music.
Aphex Twin | Pioneers
APHEX TWIN IN
FOUR TRACKS
Analogue Bubblebath
Mighty Force, 1991
Aphex Twin’s debut EP might well
have been his first release proper but
he could have been dabbling in
music up to a decade before. It does
sum up that period well though: crisp
Roland beats, synth stabs and a
beautiful melodic riff that would be
his early trademark. See also any
track from SAW 85-92.
Windowlicker
Warp Records, 1999
What you might call peak Twin, with a
proper video, and even a Top 20
charting position, Windowlicker was
James in full flow during one of his
most creative periods. It also
demonstrates an early mashing of
styles he would become so famous
for, with that late ’90s sampler
working in overdrive.
Vordhosbn
Warp Records, 2021
We can’t put it any better than one
YouTube commenter who says “this
track sums up everything about Aphex
Twin that makes him so great and
unique”. It features some of those
pleasing riffs and synths but drags
them into the 21st century with beats
and effects that are driven and frantic,
resulting in a track that marries earlier Twin with the
incredible beat programming that was to come.
Blackbox Life Recorder 21f
Warp Records, 2023
The Twin’s latest release very much
returns to his earlier sound… at least
to start with. It almost then becomes a
history of James, starting out with
lovely ambience before introducing a
rave-style break, but this is soon
destroyed in a concoction of beats and
mayhem – very 21st century. You do
wonder though, if someone at the record company said
‘we need some music’ and he just emailed over a random
track from the box marked ‘1999’.
71
FM | REVIEWS
Reviews | IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro X

IK Multimedia UNO Synth

Pro X £520
The latest in the UNO synth range takes a left turn with more
hands-on control, says Andy Jones
CONTACT WHO: IK Multimedia. WEB: ikmultimedia.com KEY FEATURES Digitally-controlled analogue synth with 3 oscillators (variable
waveshape), paraphonic architecture, 2 filters (2/4 pole, HP/LP), 2 LFOs, 3 envelopes, 16 slot Modulation Matrix, 10 effects (2 modulation, 5 delay, 3 reverb)
in 3 slots, 64-step sequencer, arpeggiator, 256 presets DIMENSIONS: 333 x 150 x 50mm WEIGHT: 800g CONNECTIONS: MIDI in/out, audio out x 2 (6.3mm)
plus 3.5mm headphone; audio in (3.5mm); 2 x CV Gate in and out, USB C (can be powered by this), PSU jack

72

he IK Multimedia
UNO Synth range
has given us pretty
much everything we
need from an
analogue synth in
2023: fat sounds,
ease of use, compatibility with
modular, different models and, most
importantly, keen price points. You
can get the basic UNO Synth model
or choose from two more Pro versions
– each designed to suit different
users. Enter the new UNO Synth Pro
X, which, with its extra controls and a
few sonic injections, could be the
range’s most ‘analogue’ synth yet.
The UNO Synth line started out
with the smallest and cheapest
model, the UNO Synth, a lightweight
analogue synth released in 2018 and
IK’s attempt to get some of the cheap
analogue synth action that the likes of
Korg Volca and Arturia’s MiniBrute
had started reeling in a decade ago.
With big analogue sounds, an
easy-to-use architecture and few
moving parts to keep the price down,
this original UNO has been so
successful, it started a family.
IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro X | Reviews
IK’s UNO Drum followed a year
later with a lovely workflow and
analogue and PCM drum sounds and
UNO Synth Pro then came out in
2021 with two new models under
that Pro name: a desktop version with
a touch-sensitive keyboard, and a
bigger model with similar specs but a
full-size, semi-weighted Fatar
keyboard. The desktop model has
touch strips for pitch and modulation,
while the larger keyboard has wheels,
but aside from that they’re identical.
This latest UNO Synth Pro X
model is top of the tree in terms of
THE PROS & CONS
+
Lovely sounds and
loads more hands-on
control over them
compared to
previous UNO synths
Different effects and
Drive control mean
the sound can be
more varied
The price is still very
good considering
what you get
-
The ‘keyboard’ really
isn’t great so you’ll
want an external one
The choice between
UNO Synth Pro and
Pro X is slightly
harder now
specs but its lack of a proper
keyboard keeps its retail price around
£500. The first question, then, is
‘what does X bring to the party?’
The dual-filter, 3-oscillator
paraphonic engine is still in place as
are the number of presets (264) and
64-step sequencer. But gone is the
matrix and button combo that makes
the Pro and original synths so easy to
use by way of minimal rotaries.
Instead, UNO Synth Pro X’s front
panel is packed with some 23 dials,
including a set of multi-function
buttons alongside each section to
73
Reviews | IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro X

THE ALTERNATIVES access more sets of parameters. A
useful Shift button also unlocks
another underlined parameter
beneath some of the dials.
With the multifunction operation,
you get, say, a set of standard ADSR
dials but these can be switched
Arturia between the filter, amp and new
MicroFreak envelope 3 options, while another
£349 function button switches between the
The polar opposite to two LFOs. The filter function button
switches between the 2- and 4-pole
UNO Synth Pro X with
and LPF and HPF filter options, and
a hybrid analogue/
each of the three oscillators can also
digital architecture be moved between, so you can
and a dozen engine control each’s continuous waveshape,
modes. But it has a tuning and level.
similar paraphonic Without wishing to detract from
engine, sequencing, the Pro or original UNO synths, these
and a great
modulation matrix.
extra controls add instant seriousness.
There’s none of the occasional knob
www.arturia.com wobble that you get with the desktop
Pro and there’s a weight to Pro X that
makes it feel more, well, Pro. It
certainly sits firmly on any desktop
and is extremely tactile. And it must
be said that with these extra controls,
Pro X suddenly feels more ‘analogue’
than its siblings, even though they all
share a similar analogue architecture
and you can wrestle similar sounds
out of all of them.
We say ‘similar’ because Pro X
does add differences in this regard
too. You get that extra envelope, plus
a Drive rotary to control the analogue
drive effect for extra grit. And while
this effect was an option in Pro, there
are different effects here compared to
Pro’s. The main one is the new
Shimmer reverb that replaces the
reverse and spring ’verbs and is
exactly as its name sounds, ladling on
lovely atmosphere wherever you spill
The first UNO that feels
like it’s truly unlocking the
potential of that engine
it. A Uni-vibe effect also replaces the
phase and flanger effects so the
actual number of effects is ten –
down from 12 on the Pro – but they
feel just as, if not more flexible as
those on the Pro, and that Shimmer
’verb is a highlight. You also still get a
very flexible three slots to put the
effects in – modulations, delays or
reverbs – at any one time.
Connectivity options are as good
as the Pro, so they cover a lot given
the space. Standard MIDI (in/out) and
audio (two out) connectors sit
alongside an audio in, so you can
route an external signal through the
Pro X’s filter and effects. There are

IK Multimedia
UNO Synth Pro
€499+tax
Same price, engine,
and similar results. THE MODULATION MATRIX
The Pro X has the
hands-on controls and Modulation on UNO Synth Pro X is a little different to that on the other machines in the
more sound design range, as the grid matrix has gone. In its place are just three buttons for Source,
tweaking possibilities Destination and Amount. Hit the first two to select a slot (from 16) using either the Data
but the Pro (and it’s dial to cycle through them or the 16 step sequencer buttons (a red button indicates a slot
the bigger one we’re is being used; off means it’s not). Once you’ve selected from your 16 slots, you hit Source
talking about here) to choose from some 38 sources – oscillator and filter parameters, velocity, aftertouch,
has the proper envelopes, LFO etc – and then assign a destination. Among the sources and destinations
keyboard. So it’s keys you’ll find the two CV and gate inputs and outputs so that you can connect and control (or
vs knobs. You pick. be controlled by) an
www.ikmultimedia.com external modular synth
setup, for example.
While the way to set
the matrix up is slightly
different on Pro X, it is
very intuitive, and it’s also
Korg Minilogue easy to dive in and out of
XD £499 if you’re just playing
A desktop version of presets, sequencing or
the excellent doing something else on
Minilogue offers Pro X. You can just select
fantastic analogue a slot, source and
sounds, great controls destination and then
and other very similar you’re sorted, in as quick
features to UNO a time as it takes to read
Synth Pro X. this sentence!
www.korg.com

74
 IK Multimedia UNO Synth Pro X | Reviews

also two assignable CV/gate ins/outs

so you can route to and modulate
modular gear (and vice versa).
The Pro X obviously lacks the
full-sized keyboard of the larger Pro
but can be played via a set of 13
buttons which covers an octave (plus
an extra C) that you can step up or
down by two. It’s not a great playing
experience, and we wonder if some
kind of workaround using the
sequencer buttons would have been
better. It’s maybe just there to
audition and play UNO Synth Pro X
on the road (Pro X can be powered by
USB), but back in the studio, you’ll
want to use Pro X with an external
controller keyboard.
To the onboard sounds and we’re
used to the UNO analogue sound
being clean and fat, and that is
maintained here, albeit with some
extra layers. When you load in a
preset you also load in a sequence
that IK has programmed across up to
64 steps. There are 16 buttons for
each of these steps which you use up
to four times, so you also get a further
four buttons to show you which set of
the four you’re cycling through.
While we’re talking sequencing,
you can record sequences on UNO
Synth Pro X in real- or step-time. Just
press the Record and Play buttons at
the same time for the former and
MODULATION The modulation area KEYBOARD This octave of buttons GOING DEEPER The Shift button SPEC’D UP The sequencer is well
everything you then play is recorded is just three buttons, but uses the 16- lets you ‘play’ UNO Synth Pro X but unlocks the secondary function, spec’d with 16 steps cycling up to
step sequencer buttons for its slots you’ll want an external keyboard an underlined parameter shown on 64 steps and four buttons indicating
as step information. Just pressing Rec and is very intuitive several dials which cycle you are on
allows you to input notes and
parameters ‘manually’ per step. All
the info held in a step is shown on
the synth’s screen when you hold a
step down and can be edited there. Other presets highlights include a want to tweak and spend more time do want those extra controls! The
We should also touch on the swirling Supersaw with real attitude, a designing sounds, and the effect engine in the range was always big,
arpeggiator, which is well spec’d with fine set of analogue beats, and loads flexibility and controls help open up fat and juicy and UNO Synth Pro X
ten modes, and gate and swing of bass sounds with plenty of snaking new possibilities in this regard. adds a few fuel injections and access
options. You can also record movement for heavier electronic UNO Synth Pro X is the same points to make it that much more
arpeggiations directly into the genres, while there are also plenty of price as the Pro with the full-sized flexible and sonically appealing. UNO
sequencer. Finally, the sequencer also other sounds catering for synth wave keyboard, so measured against that Synth Pro X really is a lot of analogue
includes a new random option plus a and other electronic subgenres. as its direct competitor, you would synth for the cash.
Bassline mode to help you emulate There’s very little not catered for, and choose one for the extra controls and
the playing style of a 303 with extra the overall sound is clean when you the other for the playing experience.
accents and interaction between want it to be, and incredibly fat. And This makes it a slightly harder choice
filters and envelopes. it can be properly filthed up via the to make. Ideally, you’d want one with FM VERDICT

When you load the sequences in
with a sound, they invariably show off
the full range of Pro X, so are worth
auditioning. Hardlead (number 9), for
example, is a Daft Punk-style
sequence that filters over its first two
cycles before exploding outwards with
beautiful effects on its last two, not
only showing the sonic range of just
one sound, but also how easy it is to
record automation and parameter
changes (also including CV/Gate).
dedicated drive option or all manner
of modulations – see the box for
more. And while the drive effect is
available on other UNOs, just having
it here as an extra tweakable dial is
very satisfying – you’ll be reaching for
it a lot as you get into Pro X.
IK’s UNO Synth Pro X is a
fantastic analogue synth and the first
in the UNO Synth line that feels like
it’s truly unlocking the potential of
that engine. It’s more appealing if you
8.7
the controls and the keyboard – and
we can see this being a future IK
Product (the Pro XL or XK?). But were
we to choose between the two, we’d
probably veer towards the Pro X to put
on our desktop and control it with an
external keyboard.
It’s a great-sounding and
The first UNO Synth to feel
well-priced synth and a bit of a left like a proper analogue synth
turn for the UNO Synth range and and the sound is as big
perhaps one we didn’t expect, but and bold as ever. Great for
now we’ve got it, we realise we really dabbling in sound design

75
Reviews | Intellijel Cascadia

Intellijel Cascadia £2,025

With this coast-crossing, platform-hopping, semi-modular synth,
Intellijel aims to win a torrent of new fans. Rob Redman gets into
the flow

CONTACT WHO: Intellijel WEB: www.intellijel.com KEY FEATURES Two Precision Analog VCOs, Six Channel Waveform Mixer, 4-Pole
Multimode Filter, Dual Digital Envelopes, MIDI > CV Interface

76

ascadia is
something of a
departure for
Intellijel, being its
first foray away from
Eurorack where it
has earned legions
of fans. That said, it can fit into a
Eurorack workflow with ease, so
brand loyalists won’t feel alienated.
The semi-modular synth is smaller
than it looks in photos, at just under
35cm across, yet doesn’t feel at all
cramped, even considering the
number of features that have been
THE PROS & CONS
+
Compact but
feature-rich
Mix of East and West
Coast synthesis
Versatile and varied
tonal possibilities
-
Expensive
No onboard effects
or sequencer
crammed in. Intellijel has always
excelled at clean, clear labelling and
Cascadia is no different. The layout
is crisp, with simple colour coding
helping you find your way around,
from in and out ports to pre-wired/
normalled circuitry. Which is a fine
time to mention that Cascadia has
an awful lot to offer before you even
reach for your first patch cable.
Although not Eurorack format,
Intellijel has kept to a familiar design
language, so those with one of their
Palettes will feel at home. There’s a
top row, which is similar to the 1U
Intellijel Cascadia | Reviews
An awful lot to offer before
you even reach for your first
patch cable
strip, housing some of the IOs, as
well as labels for the back panel. The
rear itself is where you find the 1/4
inch sockets for outputs (line and
headphone), the effects loop and
MIDI in, out and through, alongside
power and USB C port. The rest of
Cascadia is laid out in clearly
defined sections.
The features on offer cater to
pretty much everything you’d ever
need in a synth, with a couple of
notable exceptions. Firstly there are
no onboard effects. At first glance
this omission feels off but it turns
out that Intellijel has made the right
call. Rather than cluttering the front
panel with effects that may, or may
not be used, this approach means
you can use your favourite pedals
and outboard gear, tailoring patches
to fit your workflow and, let’s be
honest, outboard effects are
generally of a much higher quality
than built-in. Having effects in a
send/return loop with controls for
levels and mix makes it easy to dial
in too. That said there are features
here that could be considered
effects, such as ring mod and drive,
both of which sound glorious.
Secondly, there is no built-in
sequencer. Again, it would be nice to
see but considering the real estate of
the Cascadia, something would have
had to make way to include this.
Again, Intellijel has made the right
call here and one of the joys of this
synth is its ability to fit into a wider
workflow. The options for connecting
with other gear are just right, with
excellent MIDI to CV options, that
include clock divisions, gates, CC
and even a MIDI LFO. Every patch
point is Eurorack-compatible,
making it simple to integrate with
other modules, so sequencing can
be handled elsewhere, freeing up
77
Reviews | Intellijel Cascadia

THE ALTERNATIVES space for features that are more

beneficial to a standalone synth.
The top down view of Cascadia is
as a dual oscillator mono synth, with
two filters, wave folding, modulations
galore and VCAs to help refine a
patch. That massively undersells
Erica Synths Cascadia however, which is one of
Syntrx £1900 those rare devices that is far more
A semi-modular dual than the sum of its parts. Every
VCO mono synth module (if that’s what we’re calling
the features) is well thought out,
with plenty of
most of them having a toggle switch
modulation,
here, or a patch point there, that
controlled by a opens them up for experimentation
matrix. It’s a and allows for near limitless patching
beautiful synth, well and sound design. Some are more
crafted and sounds obvious and clearly go beyond
wonderful. The commonly found options.
joystick control is a The filter is a prime example of
nice addition this. It’s a multimode filter that has
ericasynths.lv eight modes, is self resonant, as well
as having slider controls for FM. It’s
I/Os Housing the IOs on the back COLOURFUL CHARACTER LOOP THE LOOP An effects
a wonderfully wet-sounding filter panel keeps everything clean and Clear colour coding really aids in loop is a fantastic addition for
helps for a tidy setup when used navigating Cascadia, including introducing outboard gear and
with plenty of character and in a broader system pre-wired paths rare to see on a synth
demonstrates Intellijel’s focus on
offering that little extra.
Sound design starts with the two
Moog Matriarch VCOs, both of which output a
£1600 number of wave shapes, including Envelopes are a similar deal, with All of this, along with the sample
For an instantly PWN on VCO A, with a slider and one being a traditional East Coast and hold section, the wavefolder and
playable semi- patch point for pulse width. VCO A is type, although it has an assignable the VCAs would be great but
the more complex of the two and is hold function, as well as a speed managing everything is key to the
modular synth you
where a lot of modulation takes toggle. The second is less of an success of any synth so,
can’t go wrong with
place. There’s also a toggle for hard envelope and more a function unsurprisingly, you’ll find a strip of
the Matriarch, with or soft sync and TZFM (through-zero generator, that can be used for all utilities across the middle section of
its excellent keybed, frequency modulation), making for manner of shaping, with options for Cascadia. These run from Multi and
module style layout further tonal variation options. VCO rise and fall. Options for speed, burst unity mixer to Slew and Envelope
and a beautiful B is a simpler affair but still outputs and shape, amongst others, again Follower, controls for expression, and
stereo delay four wave shapes, as well as having a showing Intellijel’s thoughtful design. everything is labelled for ease of
moogmusic.com toggle to switch it to LFO rates. Both It would have been easy to throw in following the signal path.
VCOs have pitch controls alongside two ADSRs and be done but, much Intellijel has diversified here and
an octave selector, covering eight like the rest of Cascadia, the options it was a decision well made. It’s a
octaves, which track perfectly. are useable in a multitude of ways. simple device on the face of it but
marries East and West seamlessly, is
capable of a wide variety of great
Behringer tones. It may be a hefty initial
Neutron £350 investment but soon becomes a
A very capable rewarding one.
semi-modular synth. EAST VS WEST
Like Moog’s Mother
32, it has all the Synths generally fall into one of two camps; East or
patch points in one West. Moog-type instruments fall into the East Coast and FM VERDICT

block, making it easy
to get at the controls
while you’re setting
up a patch
behringer.com
8.0
feel somewhat more tradition and linear when it comes
to sound design, where West Coast, most notably those
made by Buchla, tend toward the wave-folding style.
Cascadia implements both in a way that feels perfectly
natural. More synths are doing this recently, which can
only be a good thing, as it offers musicians more A bit of a master stroke.
versatility and prevents the whole ‘which camp do you Cascadia merges different
fall in’ debate. synthesis types wonderfully
and houses them in a format
that works extremely well

78

Knobula Pianophonic £420
Rob Redman settles in at the old Joanna and explores “the
percussive detail of sampled sounds”
CONTACT WHO: Knobula WEB: knobula.com KEY FEATURES I/O: Sample & Wavetable synthesis, Built-in reverb and filter, CV controls
K
nobula hit the ground
running with its first
modules, gaining a
reputation for innovative
and useful devices. Pianophonic at
first glance seems more limited but a
little time exploring can show just
how experimenting pays off.
Pianophonic is a solidly built
module, with clear graphics,
reminiscent of certain classic synths,
which makes sense when you look at
how it works. At just 12hp, it’s suited
to rigs of all sizes and can really be
seen as a full synth voice, as it has an
envelope and filter, on top of the
voice, plus it offers a simple yet
great-sounding reverb.
Polyphony is becoming
increasingly common in Eurorack but,
in cases like this, it’s a must and
Knobula has chosen just the right
path for the sounds it has set its
sights on. There are eight voices,
each with three wavetable oscillators
and a sample-based voice, which
delivers that crisp detail attack,
combined with more synth-like trails.
Managing this is easy too. At the top
of the module is an ADR envelope,
below which sits the part selector.
These controls set the balance
between sample and oscillator, with a
toggle switch to set where in the note
the sample plays. The start point and
direction of the sample playback each
have a control, with the start point
also having a CV jack.
Shaping tones is simple too. A
single knob filter controls low pass
when turned anti-clockwise, or high
pass when reversed. Holding the shift
button puts the control into resonance
mode, which can sound pretty juicy.
Similarly the reverb knob sets the
mix, while holding shift enables
Knobula Pianophonic | Reviews
THE PROS & CONS
+
Excellent
combination of
sample attack and
wavetable tones
adjustment of the decay. Further
refinements can be made with the
All-in-one synth voice
dynamics knob, for setting
in a small module
compression or drive.
Pianophonic’s bottom section
houses the CV ports, shift and voice
mode buttons and output ports. The
usual suspects are all there, from
volts per octave, gates and MIDI in. A
-
For MIDI-through,
MIDI-through port would have been a an additional module
welcome addition but considering is needed
that would have meant losing
something the choice is probably the
best one and modules that do this are
small and cheap.
Being a sample-based module, at
least in part, Pianophonic can
generate a vast array of sounds,
depending on what’s loaded onto the
SD card and while piano-like tones
are obviously a key feature (hence the
name) Knobula has created a free to
use waveslicer software to allow users
to create their own libraries. This
module is fantastic as is but the extra
value of the waveslicer can’t be
sniffed at. It’s a simple-to-use tool
and can be used to build new sound
banks from existing audio, smartly
splitting into pitch, hammer and
wavetables on the fly, from just a few
controls, each with a helpful hint on
getting the best results.
Obviously you may never use this
tool and the SD card comes loaded
with a lovely array of samples but to
get the full benefit, try out the slicer
tool and experiment with your own
custom sound banks.
FM VERDICT
8.0
A module that fulfils a
need but then takes it a
step further with additional
features that raise it above
the rest
79
Reviews | Kurzweil K2700

Kurzweil K2700 £2,969

With its vast array of synthesis and performance technologies,
Kurzweil continues its legendary workstation ethic, through an
updated workhorse. Dave Gale investigates

CONTACT WHO: SoundService-MSL Distribution WEB: kurzweil.com KEY FEATURES I/O: 2 x Stereo outputs, with onboard USB audio
interface, MIDI via USB & 5-pin connector, 88-note, fully-weighted Italian keybed, Ribbon controller and fully assignable faders, pots and buttons, 256 note
polyphony, Onboard synth and sample based engines, with 3.5GB of user RAM allocation DIMENSIONS: 1295 x 393 x 139mm WEIGHT: 24kg

80
 Kurzweil K2700 | Reviews

THE PROS & CONS

+
Very high
specification
professional
controller and
workstation
keyboard, which is a
total joy to play

The immediacy of
control over patches
is a boon for live and
session-based
performances

Enormous bank of
impressive sounds,
from electronic to
acoustic, with an
inbuilt sequencer
and arpeggiator

ot many
companies hold
the reputation of
Kurzweil; it has
made high-end
keyboards and
modules since
1983, thanks to its founding fathers,
Stevie Wonder and Ray Kurzweil. The
brand has always held a sonic
identity, with pianistic requirements,
musicians and performers at the very
heart of its design.
The K2000 Workstation, which
could be considered the K2700’s
-
Some of the sounds
feel a little dated, in
contrast to the
classier onboard
examples on offer
It’ll take a while to
get to know! The OS
goes deep… and
keeps on going!
great grandparent, was released in
1991. It was an immediate hit,
thanks to its innovative Variable
Architecture Synthesis Technology,
known as VAST to friends. This synth
engine remains aboard the K2700,
but now increased to an enviable
polyphony of 256 voices. This is not
the only synth engine in town though,
with the welcome return of the KB3
ToneReal engine handling classic
organ and Hammond patches.
Meanwhile, the sampled content has
also been increased substantially,
with 4.5GB of factory samples
included, and another 3.5GB of user
allocation, should you want to load
your own pre-edited samples.
There’s a nice, large display
located centrally on the K2700, but
regrettably not a touchscreen,
reverting to the familiar buttons
underneath menus, that adapt to
reflect your direction of OS travel.
There’s also a Virtual Analog
engine with powerful anti-aliasing
oscillators, emulating classic VCOs
from subtractive classics, and a true
six-operator FM synth engine, for
recreating Yamaha DX-style patches.
It also goes further, by allowing
samples to be used as operators. The
inclusion of FM is unexpected, as
DX-style sounds seem to fade in and
out of popularity rapidly, but there’s
undeniable capacity for exploration.
With so much synth and sampling
technology at source, how does this
break down? Before we answer that,
it’s important to discuss the K2700’s
place in the production food chain.
We’re all used to switching on a synth
for the first time, and being
obliterated by a complicated patch,
with more identity than your mix can
handle. Because of the K2700’s slant
toward the professional arena, it
doesn’t do this, but what it does do is
provide a plentiful supply of
categorised patches. Moreover, from a
player’s perspective, access and
control of these patches is quick and
easy, in part thanks to a scroll wheel
and previous/next buttons standing
close to the display, but also thanks
to 16 category buttons, which move
you straight to the sound category you
require. With plenty of user patch
provision, and the ability to create
multis, it’s an 88-note workhorse.
It all begins with pianos; there’s a
ton of variety, but in some cases, it
feels like the lily has been gilded.
Don’t get us wrong, many inclusions
portray a wonderful sense of depth,
with an overall brightness that will
settle beautifully in a mix. But some
examples are pure solo, with
mid-register bumps in frequency
content, that may well need some
EQing to sit in your mix, unless you’re
going completely solo with your piano.
The good news is, if something
doesn’t fit your bill, there will be
something else that will, and you can
always tweak the sonic
characteristics, under the hood.
Moving to the electric pianos, the
collection is vast, including Rhodes,
Wurlys, CP-80s and extending into
the FM realm. In all cases, the EP
patches benefit from the impressive
effects section, which demonstrates

81
Reviews | Kurzweil K2700

THE ALTERNATIVES

Nord Stage 4 88
£4,199
The Nord Stage 88
is stacked full of
pianos, electrics and
organs. It’s sonically
a class act, though it
lacks the Workstation
sequencing element
nordkeyboards.com
MIDI CONTROLLERS: The K2700 SOUND CATEGORIES: Despite ARPEGGIATOR: The K2700 is KEYBED: The included keybed is
is replete with performance controls, the abundance of patches, quickly equipped with a full arpeggiator one of the best currently available,
including a full bank of nine user- locating a category of sound is a section. The large tap-tempo button with a realistic piano-style feel, albeit
assignable faders, pots and buttons, simple prospect, thanks to the will allow you to keep it in time with a at the expense of the keyboard’s
alongside pitch/mod wheels and a dedicated bank of buttons band in a live musical setting overall weight
Korg Nautilus 88 ribbon controller

£2,270
The updated
Nautilus now
capacities from basic phasers to pad sections, with the latter providing passing resemblance, but use solo
provides full full-on tube crunches. Arguably, some a very rich tapestry of content. In all and the mask will drop fairly quickly.
aftertouch, along of these go so far you’re unlikely to instances, the synthetic patches The K2700 has a huge task on its
with complete locate a home for them any time supply immediacy, through access to hands; it makes no bones about being
Workstation soon, but one person’s DI Rhodes, is elements such as the filter, again via a workstation, with some very
functionality the next person’s amped and miked the assignable faders. substantial live performance tools to
korg.com cabinet, with a small stone phaser. Moving back to the acoustic hand. It’s fully equipped with the
In the Organ category, the KB3 domain, there’s a lot of acoustic capacity to record and produce up to
ToneReal awakens, with an string content, with the ensemble 16 tracks internally, with an onboard
über-realistic collection of Hammonds orientated patches being the most USB interface, for connecting mics,
and affiliated styles of organ. It’s here successful by far, especially when lines and guitars. Operating as a
Roland Fantom-8 that the nine controller faders provide blended with instruments such as tracking sequencer is pleasant
£3,200 direct drawbar control, as you play. piano. The wind and brass fair less enough, but it will feel tortuous if you
Roland’s take on the Superb in sound, with exemplary well, with the latter being notoriously are used to a DAW environment. It
workstation provides levels of live control. difficult to pull off in sampled form. raises the question, why not just
an engaging and Some of the more rewarding Place alongside other instrumentation connect the K2700 to your DAW via
sonically rewarding sounds are found with the synth and though, and the brass will offer a USB, for both MIDI and audio?
top-flight keyboard As a performance controller,
roland.com armed with a formidably extensive set
of sounds, it’s a pro-level act that
serves brilliantly. It’s quite heavy as a
gigging keyboard, but that’s the price
for 88-notes of fully-weighted action,
CONTROLLING INFLUENCES and while your back might not thank
you, your hands most definitely will,
The sight of a K2700 in pro settings is no rarity, but why from the moment you start playing.
is this? It’s all to do with the quality of the product,
sound and controllability. The keybed is a TP40, as good
as it gets in weighted keyboard terms. Next, it’s
bedecked with nine assignable MIDI faders, allowing FM VERDICT

8.8
instant control of patches, accompanied by a ribbon
controller, and pitch and modulation wheels. Expression
is high on the K2700’s faculties, which also explains
why there’s hardly a show in the West End that doesn’t
have at least one in the pit. Apart from its controlling
influences, the enormous included sound library is very
A performance tool that
workable; most sounds are incredibly effective. Punch
continues to impress,
the ‘Strings’ button and you’re away, and in a live
through unrivalled real-time
scenario, that’s a very desirable workflow aesthetic.
control and multiple tone
generation systems

82
Reviews | The t.bone RB 500

The t.bone RB 500

£85
Fancy some retro ribbon sounds? Jon
Musgrave gets miking with this re-issued
affordable design
CONTACT WHO: Thomann WEB: www.tbone.audio KEY FEATURES TYPE: Dynamic
TRANSDUCER: Ribbon PICKUP PATTERN: Figure 8 RIBBON: 2” aluminium (strength: 2 µm) MAX. SPL:
148dB FREQ RANGE: 30Hz-18kHz SENSITIVITY: 1mV/PA (0dB=1V/PA @ 1kHz) SIZE: 105 x 235 x
80mm (inc bracket) WEIGHT: 995g (inc cable) PRICING: FetAmp Bundle – £129

84

erman retailer and
manufacturer
Thomann has
recently relaunched
its affordable ‘the
t.bone’ product
line, which includes
a large range of microphones,
headphones and wireless systems
including in-ear monitoring. On the
test bench today is the RB 500
ribbon microphone. Inspired by a
number of classic designs, this figure
8 mic features a large ribbon capsule
housed in an oversized headstock,
with gunmetal grey body and
traditional u-shaped body mounted
bracket. In typical retro style it has a
hard wired captive cable, which I’m
not a massive fan of, and at about
three metres you’ll probably need to
extend it anyway. That said, it’s good
to see there is a lead clamp attached
to the mic mount and this should
reduce the strain on the cable entry
point. The overall mic finish and
build quality seems very good, and
there’s also a rather stylish
duffel-style pouch, although it’s quite
a challenge getting both the mic and
its lead back into this.
Ribbon mics often have quite
modest output level, and at 1mV/Pa
the RB 500 is no exception, needing
plenty of preamp gain. This might
explain why for an extra £44 you can
buy it bundled with t.bone’s FetAmp
inline amp. Alas, there’s no quoted
noise figure, and listening back to my
test recordings revealed some low
level background hiss. I don’t think
this would be a problem for most
applications, but I’d avoid using it for
quiet or ambient applications. As you
would expect for a figure 8 design,
the 90 degree off axis point provides
excellent rejection across the
frequency spectrum. What’s more,
the RB 500 is also pretty consistent
between front and back.
Moving on to the sound, the RB
500 is very mid-range-focused, with
both low-frequency and particularly
high-frequency tail off being quite
noticeable. This makes it great for
speech, and for curtailing harshness
in sounds such as cymbals, assuming
that’s what you want to do. It delivers
a punchy strummed acoustic sound,
although as mentioned I wouldn’t use
it for quieter picked acoustic because
it would be a bit noisy. Where it really
shines is overdriven electric guitar,
smoothing out the edginess of a
cabinet close mic for a rounded rich
sound. The figure 8 pattern also
picks up some ambience from the
back of the mic, and assuming your
The t.bone RB 500 | Reviews
THE PROS & CONS
+
Great for guitar
amp and bass
amp miking
Nice retro look with
large grille and
u-shaped bracket
Well made with
quality finish
-
Captive lead not to
everyone’s taste
Not a do-it-all mic
Quite noisy
room isn’t too lively, this also gives
the sound a bit of breathing space. I
find recordings made with ribbon
mics are easy to enhance with EQ,
and this is true with the RB 500, so
if you decide it’s too dull, hefty
sweetening EQ is definitely an option.
It may sound like I have quite a
few issues with the RB 500, but in
all honesty they are just niggles, and
things that you’d expect done better
on a more pricey mic. Actually, I
quite like this mic and if you
regularly record rocky guitars, it adds
a tonal flavour not really available
from other mic types. Given the
amazing price I think it’s well worth
checking out.
FM VERDICT
7.8
If you’re interested in
trying a retro-style ribbon
mic the RB 500 offers a
capable and very affordable
entry point
85
Reviews | Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen Interfaces

Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen

Interfaces from £140
Focusrite’s most popular interfaces have received a welcome
update. Jon Musgrave sizes up the new Scarletts

CONTACT WHO: Focusrite WEB: focusrite.com KEY FEATURES ALL UNITS: Up to 24-bit/192kHz INPUT CONNECTIONS: Solo: 1 jack, 1
XLR, 2i2: 2 jack, 2 XLR, 4i4: 2 XLR/jack combi, 2 jack OUTPUT CONNECTIONS: Solo: 2 jack, 2i2: 2 jack, 4i4: 4 jack USB: USB-C POWER: USB with
additional USB-C power inputs for 2i2 and 4i4 SIZE: Solo: 142 x 96 x 45mm, 2i2: 179 x 116 x 46mm, 4i4: 179 x 129 x 60mm WEIGHT: Solo: 365g,
2i2: 586g, 4i4: 814g PRICING: Solo: £140, 2i2: £200, 4i4: £275

86
 Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen Interfaces | Reviews

ocusrite’s long- THE PROS & CONS

established, highly

+
popular Scarlett USB
interfaces are
available in many
shapes and sizes, Up to 24-bit/192kHz
offering everything
operation on all three
from simple 2-in/2-out to the full-on
of the interfaces
multi-channel 18i20. The process of
moving to the 4th Generation
devices is now well and truly Very handy auto gain
underway and for review I have the and clip safe options
new Solo, 2i2 and 4i4. on 2i2 and 4i4
These are direct replacements for
their respective 3rd gen devices. The Improved Air
Solo includes two inputs (one mic enhancer feature
XLR and one line/instrument jack)
and two outputs, and the 2i2 is also
Better RedNet
two I/O but with two mic preamps
(two XLR and two line/instrument
convertors
connectors). The 4i4 has four inputs
(two mic XLR and two line/ Slicker front
instrument), four outputs and MIDI panel with soft
in/out. All three have a single button selectors
headphone output with dedicated

level control (this is an upgrade for
the Solo) and all offer up to
24-bit/192kHz operation. USB
connection is via USB-C but is
compatible with regular USB 2.0,
and the 2i2 and 4i4 include an extra
USB-C power socket. All three
interfaces can be USB-powered, but
the 4i4 in particular needs a hefty
1.5A supply and thus includes an
external PSU for those not using a
USB-C equipped computer.
Seeing Scarlett
The interfaces retain the same red
metal casework and functional shape
of the 3rd gen, although the case
sizes and feature layouts have been
modified somewhat. For example,
the 2i2 and 4i4 both have channel
selectors and shared buttons, with
encoder-style gain knobs, all of
which feels slicker in use. For
minimal latency input monitoring the
Solo includes a single function
Direct button, and the 2i2 a dual
function Direct button, with mono
The reworked Air mode is
ideal for livening up vanilla DI
electric guitar or bass
mode. This now has two stages of
enhancement – presence or presence
with harmonic drive. I found the
latter was ideal for livening up vanilla
DI electric guitar or bass. The only
downside is the Solo unit can only
apply Air to the mic input and not
the instrument input.
Extra features
There are some further new features
that are specific to the 2i2 and 4i4.
The reworked preamps have an
impressive 69dB of gain, which I
found to be ideal for low output mics
-
Best new features
are reserved for 2i2
and 4i4
potential to make big gain changes
in real time.
Although they might look similar
at first glance, the new Scarletts
could definitely be called slicker
interfaces, with better specs and
more options. I am inevitably drawn
towards the great new features on
the 2i2 and 4i4 but, in all honesty,
all three are worthy upgrades and
highly recommended.
FM VERDICT

and panned options. The 4i4 has no
hardware option but has three
software cue mixes, accessible via
Focusrite Control 2.
The 4th gen Scarletts include
technical improvements across all
interfaces with 120dB dynamic
range RedNet A/D converters, a new
improved headphone amp, better
implementation of knob halo
indicators with output metering for
the 2i2 and 4i4, and a reworked Air
9.0
such as ribbons.
The 2i2 and 4i4 preamps also
include optional auto gain and clip
safe. The former monitors the input
for ten seconds, setting the gain
accordingly, and also includes a dual
channel option. The latter applies
Great upgrades to a popular
real-time changes to the gain setting
to avoid clipping. I found that both
range. The new features
worked well, although the clip safe particularly in the 2i2 and
option works best with properly set 4i4 will help improve your
initial gain levels, as it has the productivity and recordings

87
Reviews | Arturia Acid V

Arturia Acid V
€99
The French brand plugs a 303-shaped
hole in its V Collection line-up but, Si Truss
asks, is Acid V missing a little mojo?

CONTACT WHO: Arturia WEB: arturia.com KEY FEATURES Software 303 clone. Formats:
Standalone, VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS

88

ou’d be forgiven for
assuming that Arturia
already sold an
emulation of the
TB-303. Releasing a
virtual 303 in 2023
feels less like a bold new move for
Arturia, and more like plugging an
obvious gap in its V Collection
line-up. Not only is the 303 widely
known by modern producers, but it’s
also widely emulated – in hardware
form from Behringer, Donner and
Cyclone Analogic, plugins by the likes
of D16 and Audiorealism, and of
course Roland’s multiple hard and
soft recreations.
Naturally, Arturia has added some
significant extras to supercharge its
virtual version. As with other V
Collection synths, Acid V operates in
two views, Hardware and Advanced.
The Hardware view largely mimics the
basic design of the original, but with
a few additions to the format. Arturia
has added a sub oscillator alongside
the standard square/saw oscillator, as
well as a subtle vibrato effect that
works really nicely with the synth
engine. There’s a multimode
distortion module here too, which is a
must for processing any 303, and
Arturia’s is flexible and characterful.
Clicking the arrow above the
synth’s logo reveals an additional
‘under the hood’ panel for further
shaping the sound beyond what the
original was capable of. Options
include pulse width control, cutoff
range, accent attack, noise level, and
pitch tracking, which can make the
synth sound a little more like a
‘wonky’ piece of aged hardware.
As 303 clones go, it sounds
excellent. Arturia makes claims about
the authenticity of its modelling,
which I don’t doubt. Between the
core controls and the various extra
parameters mentioned above, it’s
certainly possible to coax all of the
sounds you’d want and expect out of
Acid V.
Where Acid V deviates more
significantly from its inspiration is in
the Advanced panel. Here we get
three highly customisable LFO/
envelope generators, which are great
for replacing the hands-on tweaking
of a hardware 303. There are also
four additional effect slots, packed
with all of the usual, impressive
Arturia processors.
What I’m less convinced by is the
sequencer. Arturia has replaced the
original workflow with a multi-lane,
Arturia Acid V | Reviews
THE PROS & CONS
+
Excellent sound
Under-the-hood
parameters can
subtly reshape the
tone and
characteristics
Modulation, effects
and advanced
sequencing all
add significant
extra scope...
-
...Although the
user-friendly
sequencer takes
away from the
authentic workflow
of the clumsy
hardware original
transposable pattern sequencer and adjustable playback directions and a
arpeggiator. It’s not that this isn’t generous crop of preset sequences,
well-designed and powerful; by most including various ‘soundalikes’
metrics, it’s a better sequencer design (Sandstorm, anyone?). Those looking
than that of the original 303. What it for authenticity might find themselves
isn’t, however, is authentic. disappointed though. It’s a shame not
While this might sound like to include a like-for-like hardware
splitting hairs, the convoluted mode for authentic programming to
approach of the original 303 – where sit alongside the more capable
pitch, timing, slides, accents and Advanced mode.
octave jumps were all input separately
– played a major role in shaping the
acid basslines we know and love.
While it’s certainly possible to create FM VERDICT
7.1
similar patterns with Acid V – and
randomisation and modulation allow
for the ‘happy accidents’ that were
common of the original hardware – it
doesn’t quite capture the workflow of
the original 303.
For users unfamiliar with the
Acid V sounds great and
original hardware, this isn’t likely to
be a problem. Arturia’s version is
outstrips its influence on all
unquestionably more approachable, fronts, but the sequencer
usable and creative, thanks to detracts from that authentic
features like polymetric sequencing, 303 ‘vibe’
89
FM | SOUNDS & SAMPLES
Impact Soundworks
– Water Piano $69
>
Sometimes the strangest and
craziest ideas lead to fruitful
creative territory, and out of
all the conventional acoustic
instruments the piano seems to have
borne the brunt of invasive sonic
Impact Soundworks – MB Gordy
Percussion Boobams $59
90
experiments. Pianos ‘prepared’ with a
host of sound-altering mechanical
elements have been captured and
distilled into digital instrument
libraries over the years, though the
recording of a burning piano for
Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere arguably
represented the ultimate example of
an instrument suffering for art’s sake.
Impact Soundworks has chosen to
explore the polar opposite with its
new instrument library based around
>
It’s an Impact Soundworks
double-bill this month,
though the second instalment
is a little more straightforward
and doesn’t involve large quantities
of water!
This library is devoted entirely to
boobams. Although originating as
solely bamboo-based tuned
percussion, boobams take various
forms, but now commonly have a
drum skin and are therefore similar to
a set of tuned bongos. They can be
heard across a range of musical
styles, but a listen to the classic
avant-garde soundtrack of Planet Of
The Apes (1968) demonstrates their
a piano filled with water! Water Piano
was created in partnership with
YouTuber Mattias Krantz and involved
filling a waterproofed piano case with
lots of water and recording it at
different water levels. Within this
Kontakt-based instrument you can
control the ‘Water Level’ from dry to
fully submerged. This might just
sound like a gimmick, but with a
single control a pleasant-sounding
piano is transformed into its more
muted and odder alter-echo. The
lower registers transform into
something akin to a palm-muted
piano, whilst higher keys continue to
ring out in a more conventional way.
However, this alone wouldn’t
really justify the purchase price (even
with the option to add sound effects
such as drips and splashes). The real
winner for me here is the Freeze
parameter which adds an infinitely
sustaining granular/reverb layer to the
‘straight’ samples. Even better is that
it’s also controlled by the amp
envelope and sustain pedal allowing
you to create playable slabs of ‘frozen’
piano that cut off between each
chord. More conventional reverb can
be added, and further processing on
top this takes place in the Console
page. A good place to get the measure
of the scope of this instrument is via
the factory snapshots.
Water Piano is fun and flexible but
also high usable. Bruce Aisher
impactsoundworks.com
VERDICT 8.8
effectiveness in a movie score setting
(which has continued to this day).
Here ISW has collaborated with
Hollywood percussionist and
drummer MB Gordy and composer
Lennie Moore to record a boobam kit
played with fingers, hot rods (brush/
stick hybrid), mallets and sticks. In
many respects this is a pretty simple
instrument, but its usefulness has
been expanded by providing
ensemble options (where hits are
layered, and triggered with variable
timing between hits) and the
extensive effects and processing
options. These are nicely
demonstrated with the provided
snapshots that extend its range into
more unusual distorted or reverberant
territory. Bruce Aisher
impactsoundworks.com
VERDICT 8.0
 Sounds & Samples | Reviews

Audiotent – Pause £55

>
One of the largest libraries to date from the
always generous AT camp. This time around
the sound design squadron turns its attention
to the vintage Buchla Music Easel ‘command
synthesiser’, as well as some other choice modular
synths, to plump out this super fun and funky
full-size collection.
The 1,000+ sounds coaxed out of these iconic
machines tick off a ton of rad retro rhythms,
futuristic techno tones, and other raw-to-the-floor
chords, drums, bass, FX, synths, pad loops and hits.
All crafted with care to make and shake your next
underground dancefloor behemoth.
There’s plenty of inspired waveshape twisting and
oscillator tweaking on show, as you’d expect. And
every last beep and bloop gets picked up and
polished with the cleanest of chains, for maximum
club-troubling impact. Roy Spencer
audiotent.com

VERDICT 9.0

Sample Magic – Splice – Oliver – Loopmasters – Loopmasters –

Deep House Redux Power Tools Polychromic House Hard Techno
From $7.99/month Decades: 80s From £29.95 Darkness £27.95
$7.99/month

> > >

Take a trip back to the golden In his debut sample pack, DJ, If you like your techno pitch

era of hip and happening
house music with this lovingly
curated collection of ’90s
dance samples and presets.
That unmistakable swing and
sound of vintage analogue machines
pushed to their limits, by kids who
didn’t know any better, is the order of
the day here. The lo-fi quality charm
of the resampled soul hooks and
chopped up melodies has the grit and
thump of those old-skool classics.
With a sweet stack of other chunks of
tunes keeping the retro energy levels
up. There’s organ riffs, keys,
vinyl-caught grooves, tops and beats
for days in this 340+ sample set. Top
one, nice one, get sorted. Roy Spencer
splice.com
>
Oliver continues to bless us
with serious sample pack heat.
Power Tools started back in
2018, and here it takes us on
a narrower tangent with ‘Decades’,
starting with a cracking collection of
tough and tasty drum grooves,
inspired by the sounds of the ’80s.
There’s killer cowbells, poppy
claps and percussion. Funky fills,
booming 808s, and plenty of other
big backbeat business and cool conga
lines to lift. The slower loops nod to
early rap, while the more uptempo
fare has that Fun House freestyle
flow. Everything gets the top-tier
polish, too, with the processing
expertly handled. Roy Spencer
splice.com
producer and live performer,
Rodriguez Jr takes us on a
joyous journey through the type
of hardware noodling that’s kept him
relevant for just over two decades. His
true school studio kit gets dusted off
and mined for its golden tones, with a
vast array of prized analogue synths in
attendance. You can hear the glorious
sounds of the SH-101, ARP 2600,
TR-909, DrumBrute and more.
Tempos rise from 120-128bpm,
as chords, patterns, stabs, and
swashes loom out your speakers. Add
to that percussion, drum loops,
basslines, patches and MIDI, and
you’ve got enough to super-charge
any track with. Roy Spencer
loopmasters.com
black and as hard as steel,
then you’ll get your fix with this
heavyweight gathering of loops,
hits, and MIDI files. Tear through the
big hitters in this fresh and fierce
385MB soundbank and you’ll find
mainroom drum loops and foley
percussion workouts, moody
atmospheres and pads, aggressively-
minded synths, and other meaty
melodies, vocals, and bass biz to get
dizzy with.
Everything feels handcrafted by
mad scientists, days deep in the lab,
grinning from ear to ear. And the
speeds hold steady at 145-160bpm.
Dancefloor dynamite. But, clearly not
for the faint of heart. Roy Spencer
loopmasters.com

VERDICT 7.0 VERDICT 7.0 VERDICT 8.0 VERDICT 8.0

91
FM | KNOWLEDGE
UNDERSTANDING:
Transient
shaping
T
he hard-hitting impact of
any sound is its transient: a
short, sharp spike at the
very start of a waveform that
contains huge amounts of high
frequencies and inharmonic content
compared to the rest of the signal.
Often referred to as the ‘attack’ stage
of the traditional ADSR envelope, this
high-energy peak will generally be the
loudest part of a sound, and the
louder the transient, the more snap
or crack it will appear to have, due to
the fact that our ears and brain
respond to that sudden impact. The
most hard-hitting sounds in a mix will
have the most transient presence, so
you need to be able to manipulate
their amplitude at source.
While traditional compressors and
limiters offer the ability to raise or
lower the level of your signals’ attack,
dedicated transient processors are
92
less destructive to the original
waveform, usually giving more
transparent results. A transient
‘designer’ will detect an incoming
audio signal’s amplitude envelope,
then the user can simply raise and/or
lower the level of that signal’s attack
and sustain stages. Imagine shaping
a sound’s amplitude envelope on a
synth or sampler – that precise level
of amplitude control is possible over
entire chunks of audio, busses or
even entire mixes in real time.
German manufacturers SPL came
first with their legendary Transient
Designer hardware unit, and the
design has remained relatively
unchanged since. Now other options
are available in software from the
likes of Native Instruments, iZotope,
FXpansion, MeldaProduction and
more – not forgetting SPL’s own
highly-regarded software port of their
classic Transient Designer. Most
DAWs also now offer an envelope
shaping solution off the shelf.
Three approaches to
shaping transients
TRANSIENT SHAPERS
1
Transient designer plugins
provide an efficient method of
shaping the amplitude
response of a signal, in a way that’s
often more clean, simple and precise
than more traditional compressor or
limiter devices. Multiband transient
shapers take this concept further
still, dividing up your signal into
user-defined frequency ranges and
allowing you to increase or decrease
attack and/or sustain over only those
specific areas. This gives you much
more scope when working with tracks
containing multiple elements, or even
an entire mix, as you can home in on
those flattened treble frequencies
and raise their snap while leaving
your precious mid-range percussion’s
dynamics untouched. This can work
wonders over an entire drum mix, as
you can theoretically shape the
transients of an entire drum mix over
just a single stem; adding snap to a
kick’s low, body to a snare drum,
click to a hi-hat, and so on.
COMPRESSORS/LIMITERS
2
Compression with a slow
attack will let transients
through and pull down the
sustain, for a snappier front end. And
while transient shapers are always
clean, you may have ten different
compressors that all impart their own
sonic flavour or analogue character.
Limiting is just high-ratio
compression, but dedicated brickwall
limiting or soft-clipping can be
thought of as the more ‘invisible’
option when you want to shave off
transients by a few dBs. Be aware
that this will completely lop off peaks
instead of turning them down.
SATURATION
3
Magnetic tape saturation is
still an old favourite for
transient reduction and peak
clipping from pre-DAW days. There
are plenty of tape emulation plugins
that do a sterling job of emulating the
effect in the box. The process of
saturation can also clip transients in
a harmonically-pleasing way when
driven hard.
 Quick Synth Tips | Knowledge

Quick effect tips: Part 5

Get more out of your processors with our series of quick-and-simple effect ideas

DISTORTED
CHORDS
Applying distortion to polyphonic material will
have a vastly different effect compared to using
it on a monophonic source, and the results can
be harmonically pleasing or unpleasant
depending on the relationship of the pitches
used. Fifths and octaves generate the most
controlled results, with minimal intermodulation.
This is why guitarists rely on them for impact.

USE SATURATION FLANGED HATS

INSTEAD OF The robotic nature of flanging particularly
suits metallic sounds such as hi-hats or
COMPRESSION cymbals. Blend a gentle amount of medium-
rate flanging on your percussion bus for some
Saturation and distortion methods reduce a sparkly sweeping, or apply overt flanging on
signal’s highest peaks, clipping a waveform synthetic rides for a futuristic effect.
as an audio circuit’s capacity is overloaded.
This process, while adding harmonic content,
also serves to reduce the difference between
the waveform’s highest and lowest points.
This reduces a signal’s peak level while
increasing its average level, adding perceived
volume while actually hitting lower levels in
your DAW’s channel.

LO-FI
TOUCH
Emulate the classic
varispeed trick by pitching
down an audio signal,
rendering it to a new audio
file, then tuning it back up to
original pitch. This’ll bring in
odd artefacts that work well
on synths and vocals.
WANT
REVERB ON MORE TIPS?
DELAYS Come back for more
next issue, and watch
When adding delays to vocal treatments via our playlist of 20
an auxiliary, it usually helps to send this synth tips – in a
auxiliary channel to the one(s) providing handy phone-friendly
reverb. Spatially ‘smudging’ the delays in the format – at:
same way as the original dry vocal, helps it to bit.ly/fm_quicktips
sit in the mix.

93
Gear Guide | Essential Tools For Music Making

FM | GEAR GUIDE
SEMI-MODULAR SYNTHS
Y
TR
EN
W
NE

Intellijel Cascadia Bastl Softpop SPII

£2,025 £445
Full Review: FM401 Full Review: FM393
A bit of a master stroke. Cascadia merges Softpop is an instrument that offers vast tonal
different synthesis types wonderfully and houses options and great sequencing, connectivity and
them in a format that works extremely well. portability. A huge leap over its predecessor.

Korg Volca Modular £190 Moog Mavis £339 Moog DFAM £549 Arturia MiniBrute 2S £575
Review: FM342 A West Coast synth in a Review: FM387 Mavis can’t be faulted at this Review: FM333 A unique percussion synth, and Review: FM328 Takes on an expanded synth
compact package. It may be fiddly, but give in to price. It covers a wide range of tones, is well the perfect partner to the Mother-32. The lack of engine and semi-modular architecture. The
its experimental ethos and it’s endless fun. built and brings new options to the classic Moog. MIDI is quite disappointing though. sequencer-focused 2S is our favourite.

Moog Subharmonicon $699
Review: FM359 Mixes familiar Moog sounds
with experimental sequencing and rhythms. An
inspiring, well-built and well thought-out synth.
Moog Matriarch £1,979
Review: FM355 The Matriarch is very inspiring.
It’s well built, has the classic Moog Modular
sound and is complex yet still pleasingly
intuitive. A future classic!
Behringer Neutron £549
Review: FM334 Despite a couple of design
issues, the Neutron is a fun, useful and
immensely flexible synth. At the suggested price,
it’s fantastic value for money.
PWM Malevolent £499
Review: FM388 A bold and characterful debut
and very much worth your attention, although its
vintage ethos occasionally limits its versatility.

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DAWs
Bitwig Studio 5
$399
Full Review: FM399
At v5, Bitwig Studio is hugely creative,
experimental and deep. That won’t suit everyone,
but in its niche it’s unrivalled.
Steinberg Cubase 12 £497
Review: FM382 Version 12 is a solid and
dependable update to Cubase, and offers some
excellent new features and small, but important,
updates to others.
Universal Audio LUNA free
UA might not want to call LUNA a DAW, but let’s
be honest... Even in its version one form, this is
a slick and stylish recording environment and a
great freebie for Apollo users.
Tracktion Waveform Pro
from $119
Review: FM345 Waveform is now friendlier,
contains more creative tools and brings workflow
ideas you’ll have missed from other DAWs.
PreSonus Studio One
Pro £345
Recently updated to version 6, Studio One now
has a lot to offer those working with traditional
notation and scoring for screen.
Essential Tools For Music Making | Gear Guide
Ableton Live 11
Suite £497
Full Review: FM368 (v11.0)
With the latest 11.3 update, Live gains a
brilliantly, user-friendly new synth, Drift, and a
host of new expressive capabilities.
Apple Logic Pro $199
Review: FM361 Still no Logic 11, but seeing as
Pro has had so many updates (it’s recently
dropped the ‘X’ too), it’s hard to complain. In the
latest, spatial audio tools join the party.
Image-Line FL Studio ¤89
Review: FM334 Over 20 years since it first
appeared, Image-Line’s FL Studio is a powerful
and inspirational application – and it’s a
welcome addition to the Mac realm too!
Reason Studios Reason 12 £499
Review: FM375 It’s debateable whether the
upgrade is worth it for existing Reason 11 users,
but taken as a whole, Reason is looking the best
it has in years.
Avid Pro Tools from £25 p/m
Pro Tools has now caught up with other DAWs,
bringing in a fast workflow to match its power.
It still only runs AAX plugins, and there are
alternative subscription payment models.
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Gear Guide | Essential Tools For Music Making
STANDALONE MUSIC MAKERS
Akai MPC Key 61 £1,699
Full Review: FM387 The MPC takes the winning
format of the MPC Live and builds it into a
keyboard workstation. It’s a logical, winning
concept and well-executed.
Ableton Push
From $999 Roland MC-707 $999
Review: FM349 It lags behind some rivals on the
Full Review: FM397 | Push finally lives up to Ableton’s sampling front, but on the whole the 707 is a
vision of controller-as-instrument, and standalone mode is powerful and well-designed groovebox. A
a great new way to use Live. welcome return for the company’s MC line.
COMPACT MONITORS
KRK GoAux 3 and 4 from £280
Full Review: FM394 KRK’s GoAux monitors offer
a great solution for those on the move or simply
short of space. Not the cheapest, but they offer
reasonable value and flexible features.
IK Multimedia iLoud
Micro £250 JBL One Series 104-BT £150
Review: FM346 The One Series 104 is a stylish
IK’s Micro monitors are compact and portable but offer compact monitor that delivers decent sonics,
surprisingly powerful and high-quality sound. Room flexible connectivity and solid build, all at a very
correction EQ is handy for on-the-go use too. attractive price.
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Akai MPC X SE £2,050
Full Review: FM397 This is a fine update to the
original MPC X – the new instruments and
effects are really excellent. The retro look is very
stylish too.
NI Maschine+ £1,099
Review: FM363 There are some limitations, but
Maschine+ delivers the core Maschine workflow
in standalone form: inspiring, creative and fun in
the process.
Genelec 8010A £270 (each)
Genelec’s distinctive compact monitors are a
modern classic for small spaces. Not cheap, but
there’s a lot here that make these far more ‘pro’
sounding than their size suggests…
Focal Solo6 ST6 £1,149 (each)
Review: FM396 For their size, these are sublime,
top-drawer little monitors that will be an asset to
any small studio (or used as satellite monitors in
more ambitious installs).
 Essential Tools For Music Making | Gear Guide
HARDWARE GROOVEBOXES
Polyend Play $799
Full Review: FM384 Play’s capabilities aren’t
quite ‘DAW-replacement’ level, but the
sequencing workflow and live performance tools
are some of the best going.
Roland SH-4d
£549 Polyend Tracker £699
Review: FM357 Despite its retro influences,
Full Review: FM394 | Roland have released a lot of retro- Tracker is less esoteric than it first appears. This
inspired gear in recent years, but this synth/drum combo is a sleek, well-designed hardware sampler that’s
is a real sonic playground. both fun and inspiring.
STUDIO HEADPHONES
Røde NTH-100 £149
Review: FM384 The NTH-100s are the best
over-ear headphones we’ve tried for their price
bracket. Go-to cans for all listening scenarios.
Austrian Audio Hi-X15
£89 Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X
£219 Review: FM380 A reliable pair of
Full Review: FM386 | Superb cans for those tracking and headphones that combine great build quality
mixing on a budget. Their compact size and light weight with excellent sound.
will also appeal to pros on the move.
Elektron Syntakt £849
Full Review: FM392 Building on the successes
of multiple other Elektron instruments, Syntakt
is a top quality analogue-meets-digital groovebox
with a lot of power under the hood.
Novation Circuit Tracks £360
Review: FM369 Circuit Tracks is an excellent
update to one of the best value hardware
instruments on the market. MIDI, samples and
synths in one bargain box!
Focal Listen Professional £219
Review: FM342 Honest, transparent circumaural
phones that cause little fatigue over long periods.
A favourite choice in the all-rounder category.
Sennheiser HD-206 £20
Deceptively rugged all-rounders delivering much
bang for buck, these represent a brilliant solution
for budget-conscious studio scenarios.
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Gear Guide | Essential Tools For Music Making
MIDI KEYBOARDS
Arturia Keylab Novation FLkey €99
Essential Mk3 €199 Full Review: FM383 (37 and Mini)
Novation’s FLkey range has provided FL Studio
Full Review: FM399
Better and slicker than its predecessor, Keylab
Essential 3 delivers great control features, quality
design and good DAW integration.
Akai MPK mini mk3 £90
Review FM363 A very decent upgrade with
genuinely pro features, fixing its position in the
top rung of mini keyboard controllers available.
Novation SL MkIII £540
Review: FM338 Well-designed and versatile. For
those who work with both hardware and software,
this may be the best studio centrepiece that’s on
the market.
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NI Komplete Kontrol
A-Series | from £119
Review FM338 A quality controller combined
with a well-rounded software bundle.
Arturia MiniLab 3 £90
Review: FM392 A great value keyboard with an
updated feature set that makes this one of the
best mini controllers around.
users with the pro-level controller range they’ve
always deserved but long been denied. The range
has now been expanded with new 49 and 61-key
models for added playability.
Donner DMK-25 Pro £125
Review: FM395 The DMK-25 Pro stuffs loads
into a lightweight, compact, and visually
appealing package. Ideal for on-the-go use.
Novation Launchkey 88 Mk3
£200
Review: FM386 Launchkey 88 is a great
standalone controller but is best coupled with
one of the script-supported DAWs.
Novation Launchkey Mini Mk3 £110
Review: FM349 Small but well spec’d, this is a
convenient and well-made controller that’s great
with or without Ableton Live.
Arturia KeyStep Pro £339
Review: FM359 For melodic sequencing duties
and flexible hardware control, this is one of the
best keyboard devices around.
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