March 2020 Magazine Contents

Wave Sequencing is back — and this time it's got knobs on!

The most classic of '80s reverberators has been reinvented — complete with retro controls — for the 500-series.

Will Bob Clearmountain's signature plug-in help aspiring mix engineers emulate their hero's success?

Apple's top-of-the-range laptop gains an extra inch and a lot more besides.

Korg's painstaking recreation of the legendary ARP 2600 may be even better than the original...

Can this 'New York–style compression' recapture the experience of sending audio out to a UREI 1176 in 'all buttons in' mode, smashing the crap out of it and blending it back under the dry signal?

Drawmer's affordable EQ brings a '70s vibe to your studio.

Bass9 transforms the signal from a standard six-string electric guitar into one of nine different bass sounds...

Eventide's first venture into iOS territory brings us three effects processors. All offered as iOS AUv3 plug-ins as well as working via IAA or in stand-alone mode.

This plug-in offers parallel compression and tube-like saturation.

With the Hear Back Octo, you can add personal foldback mixing functionality to almost any live–sound or studio setup.

Rating: ***** 4/5 Stars. This company has been filling various sonic gaps with their innovative and affordable electronic, acoustic and hybrid instruments. Now they've added the evocative and useful Duduk.

Kurzweil's PC4 is a solid all-rounder with hidden depths...

There's a lot more to Moog's Subsequent 25 than meets the eye...

MOTU's debut entry-level interfaces offer professional performance at a cut-down price.

This hardback tome might just be the ultimate coffee table book for anyone interested in effects pedals.

Cardioid subwoofer arrays were once the preserve of big-budget events and festivals, but QSC are making directional bass a realistic prospect for the masses.

Rode's new NTG5 makes pro-quality location recording more affordable than ever.

Can Sample Modeling's combination of, er, sampling and modelling deliver convincing string sounds?

Ever wished you could play your Tele but hear your Les Paul? This clever box of tricks makes that possible...

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Moonkits' unique selling point is that it is dominated by (mainly) brushed drum sounds...

Sonnox's innovative dynamics processor offers unprecedented ability to separate wanted from unwanted audio in drum recordings.

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. If you're used to old-school percussion libraries consisting largely of single hits on individual instruments, this collection may come as a pleasant surprise.

For those who want an iOS workflow that closely follows established desktop conventions, Cubasis is probably the most popular DAW/sequencer app currently available.

Strymon's analogue-modelling effects pedals have acquired an enviable reputation — can their first amp simulator live up to it?

Telefunken's newest range of mics combines vintage sound with modern styling.

These audio files accompany the review of the Telefunken Alchemy Series microphones in SOS March 2020.

We try out Yamaha's first entry to the portable column PA market.

Cubase 10.5's Padshop 2 granular synth can create wonderfully engaging pads from any sample.

The minimal arrangement of Ellie Goulding's unlikely New Year number one was underpinned by a rather less minimal mix...

M‑S miking is easy to set up, offers plenty of options at mixdown, and has some unique advantages over other stereo arrays. So if you've not yet tried it, why not give it a go?

Solutions to mixing problems can sometimes be found in your arrangement...

These audio files accompany my Mix Rescue article in SOS March 2020, featuring the song 'Muddy Water' by Dorothea Wessel.

Chris Rabold has gone from selling T-shirts out of a van to mixing Bruno Mars' epic two-year 24K Magic tour.

Did the first full year of incremental Pro Tools updates justify the cost of our subscriptions?

Why not use Reaper to find out what difference your 'character' plug-ins are really making?

We take another look at Reason's endlessly useful Combinator.

How do you record a piano and drum kit in a modest live room, at the same time? Our engineer explains his approach...

Take a listen to these audio examples created when recording a piano and drum kit in a modest live room, at the same time.

Studio One 4.6 introduces a  major reboot of PreSonus's Ampire plug-in.

Here's how to manipulate pitch and time in Logic Pro X.

The designers behind some of today's most innovative studio microphones tell us what we can expect from the mics of tomorrow.

I picked up a couple of (large-diaphragm) AKG C214s, and they sound much more natural. Though that solved my problem, I'm still curious: is there such a thing as a 'soft'-sounding small-diaphragm condenser?

I double-tracked lead vocals by combining two different vocal takes from the same singer, each recorded on a different mic (a Shure SM7b and an Audio-Technica AT4033a)...

I use a Focusrite ISA Two preamp with a Clarett 4 Thunderbolt interface, but I'm having trouble getting the two meters to match...

When a band have been producing their own hits for a decade, it takes a brave producer to jump into the hot seat...

The success of Jax Jones demonstrates that there's still a role for old-fashioned musicianship in electronic music!

As we write this, Sound On Sound is hurtling towards its 35th birthday. The world's changed a lot since 1985, certainly in the sphere of music technology...

Our dedicated team produces Sound On Sound magazine and website each month for you, our fabulous Readers, so help shape the future of what we do by completing this survey.

To help you brush up on your listening skills, we examine the production of some recent hits by Dua Lipa, Tones And I, Caroline Shaw/Attacca Quartet, Arizona Zerva and a Destiny's Child classic mix.

Almost no cell service reaches my home studio. People come here to record, and within moments of arrival, they inform me that they have zero bars... Then a wonderful thing happens: they put away their phones and we get to work.

After nearly 40 years everybody's favourite digital music protocol is about to get an upgrade...