Master the Art of Sampling
Sampling is an artform that has been instrumental to the success of numerous tracks over the years. Liam O’Mullane explores some of the techniques commonly used and explains why they are still useful for inspiration in the software-based studio today.

New vs Vintage Preamps
Sound engineers can get obsessive about classic mics, so it’s no surprise they can get pretty geeky about classic mic preamps, too. But what is it that made those early designs so enduring? Huw Price has previous…

Studio Icons: TG12345
Advances in multitrack recording in the late 1960s inspired a series of mixers designed to cope with expanding track counts. John Pickford reports.

The MTM Interview: Trevor Horn
A pioneering producer of the 80s, Trevor Horn takes a moment to talk to MTM about the journey from analogue to digital in this magical era for production. PLUS: MTM talks to Rob Papen and Hank Shocklee.

Ten Minute Master
Room Responses
The response of a room may be having a more profound effect on the sounds we hear than we realise. Grant Bridgeman is all ears.

This Month’s Workshops

25 Tips For… Sound Design
Sound design is an important aspect of writing music for computer games, movie soundtracks and more. We lift the lid on creating unique sounds…

Comping Vocals for a Perfect Take
Vocals can be tricky to nail in one take, but today’s DAWs make it easy to stitch together the perfect vocal track. Hollin Jones slices and dices.

Mixing down in Logic Pro
Logic has a number of tools that are essential for controlling and shaping an unwieldy, oversize mixdown. Mark Cousins gets organised.

Stereo Effects in Ableton Live
The stereo plane is a powerful and important factor in creating a dynamic and sonically rich-sounding mix. Liam O’Mullane shows you the tools for the job..

ON THE DVD - 4GB of Content!
European Engine Battle - Part 2
We’ve teamed up with Best Service to bring you a huge selection of playable instrument sounds, plus the chance to win a trip to NAMM 2012 in LA! On the disc you’ll find Best Service’s Engine Sample player (in PC and Mac formats) alongside taster patches taken from their Epic World, Galaxy X and Synth-Werk packs. You have until 31 August to produce a composition using just these sounds (up to three minutes long). More info can be found in the Libraries.zip file. NOTE: See last month’s disc for the rest of the sounds.

Liquid Arps
We love synth arpeggios here at MTM, so when our friends at PinkNoise Studio suggested an innovative arps pack for the next coverdisc, we jumped at the chance. You’ll find 12 complex-sounding arpeggio patches for Kontakt and Reason’s NN-XT and Combinator. Initially, a number of evolving multi-sampled synth sounds were created using a Nord Modular G2x and a Waldorf Microwave XTk, which ranged from slow resonant sweeps to elaborate, moving wavetables. The audio was then loaded into the sampler, with the start point set to randomly move each time a note in the arpeggio is triggered. The result is a rich, random-sounding arpeggio that can be used to add detail and texture to your tracks.

Live Breaks
Add some live feel to your tracks with these raw-sounding live breaks courtesy of Equinox Sounds. There are 73 loops in total ranging from a dubby 60BPM to a grooving 90BPM in a variety of playing styles. Several kits and processing techniques have been used to create a multitude of different sounds, from heavy and compressed kicks and snares to light and shuffling hi-hat based grooves. All of the loops are in WAV and Apple Loops formats and are clearly labelled by tempo, so you can easily drop them into your own productions.

Mixing Electronic Music
Groove 3 has provided four videos from its new Mixing Electronic Music Logic tutorial, presented by master remixer Timothy Allen. A number of Logic plug-ins are used alongside third-party processors such as Cytomic’s The Glue, Sonnox’s Oxford Limiter and 2C Audio’s Aether reverb as Allen works his way through the various stages of constructing a tech house track.