Electronic Musician

The new ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN is a “must have” resource for anyone who makes music, plays music, and shares music. Every issue includes "gig tested" product reviews on music gear, tons of how-to's, and interviews with today's stars revealing the secrets of their songwriting approaches and audio-production concepts.

Six months on…

Electronic Musician • Vol. 36 No. 11 NOVEMBER 2020

NEW GEAR

Next-gen Korg Volca Sample improves on the original’s biggest hangups

A more affordable Universal Audio Apollo is here, but it’s not as new as you might think…

THIS MONTH IN SOFTWARE • There’s another free DAW for new producers to consider, and a bevvy of plugins doing jobs from simple delay to out-of-this-world AI mastering

DiscoDSP OB-Xd 2

ValhallaDSP SUPERMASSIVE

BETTER BASS • Synthesis is one of the quickest and, potentially, easiest methods of creating awesome bass sounds from scratch. Here’s how it’s done…

DAVID STRICKLAND • David Strickland is one of North America’s most successful audio engineers, making a huge contribution to hip hop and indigenous music cultures. Danny Turner gathers his take on the music industry today and becoming an artist.

THE ART OF SYNTH SOLOING Let’s talk about sax… • Look to sax players for fresh ideas and inspiration while playing blues and funk

BLAST FROM THE PAST Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar • One of the last of the legendary monosynths, this odd duck – loved for its “analog” sound – is not, in fact, entirely analog, though it is unmistakably English

Three software OSCar alternatives

EASY GUIDE Tonal & modal harmony • In the first of a two-part instalment, Dave compares and contrasts two different approaches to harmony

Recommended listening

Pro tips

Hydrasynth $1,299 ashunsoundmachines.com • A new, Hong Kong-based company and a new synth with a new approach and sound. Time to take a dip and test the water…

Effects, arp and connectivity

THE ALTERNATIVES

Launchkey Mk3$Var novationmusic.com • Novation’s third incarnation of the Launchkey has a lot going for it if you are a Live user (and the smallest almost offers the most)

Studio One 5 $399 presonus.com • The latest version of this well-established DAW introduces an extensive list of improvements, many of them user requests. How does it stack up?

Go live with your Studio

NT-USB Mini $150 rode.com • Need a compact podcasting mic? Let's size up this new compact USB design from the Aussie mic giant

Thermal $175 output.com • This multi-stage distortion from the eclectic US brand has the potential to really heat up your tracks

OB-Xa V $235 arturia.com • ‘Growl… da… da… da… da-da… daa… da… da… da da daaaa’. Now you too can recreate one of the most ‘iconic’ synth intros of all time…

Advanced Panel options

Waveform Pro 11 from $119 tracktion.com • Does 2020’s update to this resolutely ‘different’ DAW add enough to keep things moving without compromizing its unique proposition?

New MIDI effects

LCD-1 headphones $399 audeze.com • The high-end headphone brand dips under the $500 barrier for the first time. Let's take a listen

Morph $51

Mixing drums • Mix a drum kit to perfection with our step-by-step guide to processing and balancing along with some top tips

Drum miking 101

Drum mixing tips

WAVETABLE SYNTHS • What do you get when you cross the complexity of FM with the ease of substractive? Read on…

QUICK TIPS

6 wavetable synth plugins to help you create one-of-a kind sounds

Animating through wavetables • The real fun starts when things get moving…

Turning sampled waveforms into wavetables • Creating a...