The Virtual Orchestra Part 3 of 9: Woodwinds

May 21 2013 2:00PM
Sampled woodwinds are generally easier to navigate than the brass instruments we looked at last month. Their rounder attack, lighter tonal weight, and mellower timbre makes blending, layering, and mixing sounds less of a More...

The Virtual Orchestra Part 2 of 9: Brass

May 15 2013 6:17PM
Last month we discussed general methods for getting the most out of software-based orchestral instruments. Now, let’s dig deeper into each section of the orchestra, starting with brass. Getting realistic brass digitally has More...

Tracking Analog Synths That Have No Presets or MIDI

May 15 2013 3:00PM
Now that real analog synths are back with a vengeance, producers have to contend with—gasp—no programmability. Many of the best analog beasties shipping today—like the Arturia MiniBrute, Doepfer Dark Energy, and Tom Oberheim’s More...

Tune Up, Fade In, Jam Out: Advanced Oscillator Tricks

May 15 2013 3:00PM
In the previous column, we started tuning oscillators in various intervals. This month let’s have some fun with bringing in transposed oscillators using a performance controller. In today’s world of soft synths, oscillator More...

That Minimal Techno Sound

Apr 17 2013 4:39PM
Minimal techno is a genre that constantly percolates just under the radar of mainstream, but is a huge influence throughout the worldwide electronic dance music scene. Originally, this production style thoroughly lived up to More...

Building an All Analog Track Tutorial

Feb 28 2013 5:00PM
The modern age of computerization has brought a great deal of pre-made goodness to our immediate disposal.  From keyboards and modules with thousands of presets to seemingly endless virtual instruments, we can find just about More...

Tutorial: Make That Talking Synth Sound

Feb 16 2013 12:19AM
Simulating the human voice is a time-honored tradition that has evolved with technology over the past 50 years. One could say that it all began with the earliest Doctor Who episodes, with their ring-modulated Dalek voices. More...

Get That Vintage Arcade Game Sound in your EDM Tracks

May 8 2013 12:00AM
From electro to tech-house and everything in between, countless electronic dance tracks have made use of vintage-style arcade game leads as their main hook. Let’s explore the concepts behind this approach to sound More...

Synth Soloing Portamento Master Class

May 3 2013 12:34PM
In the last two columns, we’ve explored the difference between single (legato) envelope triggering and multiple triggering, and the performance possibilities offered by each. In some synths, you can also vary between legato More...

Use Hardware Synths Like Soft Synths in Ableton Live

Apr 23 2013 4:00PM
Good hardware synths have a presence—in regards to both sound and tactile experience—that software instruments don’t fully duplicate. However, getting them to interact seamlessly with your favorite DAW can be challenging. More...

Synth Oscillator Tuning Tricks

Apr 19 2013 2:00PM
A world of possibilities opens up when you tune two or more synth oscillators in various ways, relative to one another. Let’s explore.       Detuning Here’s a classic sound—the warm beating of oscillators drifting More...

Roland Integra-7 Synth Module

Apr 17 2013 5:06PM
PROS All the Jupiter-80 sounds, 50 new SuperNatural sounds, plus a deep vault of Roland legacy patches. Multiple outputs and surround panning of multitimbral parts. Part effects stay the same when in a Studio Set More...

Solving Stereo Stage Piano Problems

Nov 26 2012 5:25PM
By KEVIN ANKER ALL STAGE PIANOS ON THE MARKET HAVE A RANGE OF DIFFERENT STEREO PIANO SOUNDS. For that matter, so do workstations and general-purpose ROMplers. They sound great in the store, incredible through headphones, and More...

THE ART OF SYNTH SOLOING Super Sync Sounds

Nov 26 2012 5:19PM
By JERRY KOVARSKY LAST TIME, WE STARTED EXPLORING SYNCED OSCILLATOR PATCHES, one of the classic sounds of lead synth playing. This month, let’s get into some other programming ideas for adding variety to your sync lead More...

The Virtual Orchestra Part 1 of 9: Articulations 101

Nov 26 2012 5:00PM
Fig. 1. A composer’s DAW template might have dozens of sequencer tracks, each with one patch devoted to one rticulation per instrument. SOUNDING LIKE REAL ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS IS A TASK MANY KEYBOARD PLAYERS More...

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