In recent years, the edits scene has gone into overdrive, progressing the DJ world from the often crude but fun mash-ups of the 2manydjs heyday into an evolution of the 70s disco edit movement. There are 99 terrible edits for every good one, lazily and messily cobbled together and not offering anything that enhances the…
There’s something magical about the clank of the motor starting up, the gentle movement of the tonearm and that familiar, warm crackle emanating from your speakers as you settle back and enjoy your favourite album on vinyl. But setting up a turntable system at home requires some thought. While many might seek to prescribe expensive…
With the home becoming the primary venue for music listening over the last 12 months, it’s no surprise if you’re dissatisfied with the basic functionality of a sole Bluetooth speaker. So if you dream of flitting room to room as your favourite tunes follow you around, then a smart multi-room audio system may be for…
Despite the seismic advances in virtual-instrument technology and the increasingly diverse range of popular soundtrack styles throughout all manner of media, the piano remains an object of eternal love and devotion. The instrument plays an enormous part in everything from contemporary TV shows such as Broadchurch and 13 Reasons Why to countless independent and blockbuster…
It feels like everyone has a podcast right now. For music producers, it’s fantastic – if you can sift through the noise of food, politics and comedy ‘casts. We’ve done the hard work for you here and plundered into the podcasting platforms to find the best music technology shows out there. Music production professionals have…
In partnership with Orchestral Tools Close your eyes, just for a second. Think of a string section. If you’ve been lucky enough to attend a gig with live string players, you’re probably visualising a semi-circular group of musicians facing towards the middle of the front of the stage, maybe with a conductor waving a baton…
For many, the term ‘synth pad’ conjures up thoughts of loud 80s bands with big hair, utilising equally large polysynths from the same era and using them to ramp up the cheese, but the actual concept of the pad was initiated long before then, it’s just that the pad’s increased association with synths placed it…
Vocals make tracks memorable. Whether you fancy yourself as a beatboxer or take pride in screaming along with guitar solos and synth hooks, it’s difficult to deny that it’s the combination of melody and lyrics that provides the most natural and irresistible pull towards the world’s favourite tracks. In this feature, we’re looking at vocal…
Though trackers might look like a nightmare to the uninitiated, their ghastly visages belie a more malleable and fun-loving nature. Don’t let the cascading digits and dry UIs fool you – these things simply love to party. From Calvin Harris and Deadmau5 to Venetian Snares, many legends of electronic music have used the sequencing software…
1. BandLab A free online DAW with social networking serving a userbase of over 18 million, BandLab is a cloud-based cross-platform DAW that works in-browser and via a standalone mobile app. BandLab’s intuitive ecosystem boasts features such as realtime collaboration, MIDI control mapping, video sharing and messaging. One key principle is ‘Forking’ which encourages you…
