Music Tech Magazine

Editor At Large Andy has an MA in Music Technology and has been writing about it for 25 years. He has launched and edited several magazines in the subject and was Editor of MusicTech for four years. Naturally, he has far too many synthesisers. Dave i

The road to a successful career making or producing music is fraught with challenges, not least the fundamental difficulty that many face developing a sound or USP of their own. In the wise words of this month’s cover star, however, often the best wa

The first in the Japanese instrument maker’s Aira series, the TR-8 is a digital-hardware reimagining of the classic 80s drum machine with all the punch and joy of the original, plus some extra effects. We called it a “great sounding and great looking

The label owner couldn’t be more transparent about the process for submitting demos. “Sending them to [email protected] is probably the easiest route,” says Aoki. “We do have a team of people that go through the demos at Dim Mak, and then it filters u

When asked what production he’s most proud of, Steve says Happy Mondays’ Step On was something truly special: “It was incredible, and completed over just three days. It was right at the beginning, after we’d done all their remixes. This was originall

M ore than any other part of the music-production workflow, mastering seems to evolve and adapt dramatically. The reasons behind these fundamental shifts can be explained by both an evolution in music formats and more intriguingly, changes in peoples

Chords are a vital component of nearly all forms of music, creating the harmonic bedrock on which melody, mood and emotion are built, so it’s little surprise that Cubase has a number of tools and workflows that centre around them. Chords are, of cour

Getting your music out there and playing live has become increasingly essential, as the way music is consumed changes almost month-by-month. More people are making music than ever before, but fewer are paying for it in the traditional way, so you nee

Iappear to have used the words “it only seems like xx months since I last reviewed Loopcloud” in at least two of my previous Loopcloud reviews, so rapidly does this sample-management app receive an update. The last version came with the ability to us

Pioneer DJ already dominates the DJ booth with its range of CDJ players and DJM mixers and in 2016, the company turned its attention to a more musical range of devices aimed at live electronic-music performance and studio use – the Toraiz range. Laun

Most controllers will give you some level of DAW control, for sure, but when it comes to instrument control, perhaps the most outstanding ones I have reviewed recently have been the extreme ends of Novation and Native Instruments. NI has its Komplete

The Korg Gadget ecosphere might seem a little complicated at first, but have no fear, it’s quite simple. Korg’s Gadget first appeared on the iOS platform a few years back and was the one app that drew me over to the iPad for complete music production

With so many new outboard units being copies (or ‘reimaginings’) of classic vintage hardware, I immediately know what I’m in for when I see any of the numbers ’73, ’47 or ’76 in the name of a new product. But when I was asked to test Black Lion Audio

Brainworx is a developer that has quickly built up a reputation for delivering outstanding software plug-ins. Up until now, it has specialised in signal processors like its bx_townhouse (based on a 1978 compressor from Townhouse Studios), guitar-amp

Audix is an American mic-maker with 35 years of experience. It offers a wide range of mics for both studio and live applications, including several specially selected packs for drum mic’ing. Aside from the ubiquitous AKG D112 kick-drum mic (and its a

We all need pianos from time to time and it’s often helpful to have a sizeable arsenal to call upon, so that you don’t find yourself returning to the exact same sonic imprint time after time. UVI’s new collection of acoustic keyboards could come in v

Mixed In Key was introduced several years back as a way for DJs to quickly catalogue the key of their tracks, to enable more harmonic mixing and smoother blends when at the decks. You load your music library into the software and it analyses the temp

Contact Loopmasters/Plugin Boutique | pluginboutique.com There’s no real hiding what Khords is from the outset. This is a samplebased virtual instrument that plays chords in various categories all based on a 400MB collection of 315 samples. Where it

For years, Traktor Pro was the go-to DJ software of choice for many, myself included – it was reliable, rock-solid and enormous fun to use. But when I began playing live more frequently, having to take my laptop, a controller and a whole heap of aux

Contact AIR Music Technology | airmusictech.com Drum Synth 500 is a collaboration between AIR Music Technology, Akai and Alesis, the latter two certainly having form when it comes to drums. It aims to create a 500-series module experience with so muc

Price £29.95 Contact loopmasters.com This new pack from Loopmasters transports you into the mystical world of the hand-pan drum, with 243 haunting loops and 102 single hits. Playing techniques include gloved, bare-hand and beater patterns, with each

“I try to have the sound evolve. The thing that drives me crazy is that when people set up one effects chain and it’s usually on a voice – that’s what I’m most obsessed with. Like when people put one delay sound on the voice and they’d be content. I’