January 2021 Magazine Contents

Love the sound of high‑end analogue kit, but don’t have the space or the money to buy it? No problem...

BONUS WEB EXTRA REVIEW! Could Apple’s latest 27-inch iMac be the perfect all-in-one at the right price for musicians and audio engineers?

Arturia’s popular KeyStep controller goes up a gear.

If you crave the refined sound of large planar magnetic cans but are put off by the price, Avantone’s newest headphones could well be the answer.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. This sample‑based drum and percussion library is aimed at media composers and electronic music producers.

Eventide have put their out‑there reverb effect into a compact pedal.

Felt Instruments’ Blisko Collection offers a unique blend of sound and motion.

The spearhead of Focusrite Pro’s Red range enjoys some light refreshment.

Griffon’s new Fuzzyphone is part microphone, part fuzzbox!

Korg rework their popular Volca Sample with some welcome additions.

We check out Korneff’s vibey take on a tube‑laden FET compressor.

RootOne refreshes the parts most other enhancers cannot reach.

Now you can rock the MOD on your desktop!

Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Evolving pads is what this synth does best and it does it in a very endearing way via its almost childishly simple interface.

Is the Maschine+ the standalone music‑making box you’ve always dreamed of?

NI’s new instrument makes owning and playing a Stradivarius easier than ever before!

Novation have injected the Bass Station II with a healthy dose of Aphex acid.

Have you ever wished convolution reverbs could be a little more malleable?

Ocean Way’s newest studio speakers bring the sound of ’70s horn‑loaded mains to the nearfield monitor format.

Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Drawing on composer Jeff Russo’s work for Star Trek: Discovery, Modus contains 21 ensembles recorded at Teldex scoring stage from up to six mic positions.

OWC make high‑quality computer accessories with musicians in mind.

Want a full orchestral sample library for free? Spitfire have got you covered...

Steinberg turn the dial up to 11 with a stonking new version of Cubase.

True to form, Teenage Engineering’s approach to modular synthesis is about as idiosyncratic as it gets.

Toontrack’s debut EZbass Expansion hits all the right notes.

Some of the performance issues associated with guitar‑to‑MIDI systems may not be insurmountable after all!

Could this be the perfect portable package for podcasters and musicians alike?

Bruce Springsteen’s latest album was an international hit last year, but the console it was mixed on was made a quarter of a century ago. Mixing legend Bob Clearmountain was at the controls.

LCR (Left-Centre-Right) panning isn’t so much a technique as a mindset that can lead you to more satisfying mixes.

It’s not always obvious in Logic Pro X how to go about incorporating hardware into your workflow; we show you how.

In this final episode of the SOS Mastering Essentials series, Ian Shepherd reveals the best specification and file formats for submitting your masters — both online, and for CD and vinyl.

We explore Ableton Link, record arm options and other new features from the 2020.9 update.

We explore a couple of ways to add analogue warmth with the Reason Mixer.

Version 5.1 recently dropped and it includes score printing and more besides. We explore the new features in the Score Editor.

While it’s obviously a great idea to seek tips, tricks and guidance when you’re learning how to mix, and to consider how you might apply that advice, you also have to be careful that in the process of applying it you don’t lose sight of the big picture.

The SOS editorial team shared notes to come up with 21 ways you can greet 2021 with a better studio.

I cannot be the only person connecting two rooms with Dante, so is there a smarter way to use Dante Via for this? Or is there a smarter, better way to connect these two rooms?

I enjoyed Hugh Robjohns’ excellent article ‘Patchbays In The Modern Studio’ [SOS December 2020] but one point he made left me confused...

My church is using Shure SE‑215CL in‑ear monitoring with PreSonus HP2 personal amplifiers, and the sound is distorted...

A Grammy‑winning engineer shares his secrets.

A special podcast in honour of the 100th birthday. We speak to Cyril Lance (Chief Engineer, Moog), Dorit Chrysler (composer/New York Theremin Society), Bruce Woolley (songwriter/Radio Science Orchestra) and Katia Isakoff (singer/songwriter and producer).

Few artists straddle the line between classical and electronic music with as much success as Anna Meredith. We talk to her about the creation of her recent Mercury‑nominated album.

In this video, Editor in Chief Sam Inglis explains how to handle those awkward studio moments with tact and diplomacy, and emerge with your dignity intact!

[VIDEO] If you want a better drum sound, you can change the drummer, or the mics, or the drum kit... but what about the room?

In our new monthly feature, we track down the new producers who are making waves and find out what makes them tick.

Today’s teenagers see nothing odd about playlisting The Beatles and Sinatra cheek by jowl with trap‑metal and drill. Music of the past is seen as a canon to be added to, not an embarrassment to be left behind. This seems to me a very positive change...

If regular open mic nights aren’t quite right for the emerging army of knob‑twiddlers, loopers and beatmakers, where do we go to perform?

For their latest album, You Me At Six threw out the rulebook and spent six weeks at a residential studio in Thailand. Producer Dan Austin was at the helm.

Richard Wear of Interfacio talks about the opportunities that exist within the pro-audio industry and how to improve your chances of finding a career within this field.