Computer Music

Computer Music's goal is to help its readers create great music with a PC or Mac. Each month find easy-to-follow tutorials for all sorts of music software, unbiased reviews of the latest products and answers to technical questions.

welcome

DAW updates a plenty… • Bitwig the 4th, Reason’s dozen and 11’s all round everywhere else

Ins & outs

App watch • We report on the latest devs in phone and tablet music making. Easy!

Get with the programmers • A musician, producer, engineer, collector and sound designer for SounDevice Digital. And, no, not that one…

10 years back • Our monthly shake-of-the-head at our younger selves’ news choices…

Ochestral Tools Tom Holkenborg Percussion • Orchestral Tools Tom Holkenborg Percussion is the latest fruit of a team-up that previously brought us the remarkable Junkie XL Brass. We speak with Tom Holkenborg about what we can expect from this innovative new library

BUILD YOUR OWN PLUGINS • Creating your own instruments and effects is surely the best way to get a completely custom sound. In this feature we detail three of the best ways to build DIY synths and effects

REAKTOR

Step by step

Polyphony

>KnobMan

MAX FOR LIVE

Step by step

> Bang on

MIDI sequencer

> Bugging out

MELDA MSOUNDFACTORY • Melda’s MSoundFactory is the latest plugin-creation platform and is also behind your free plugin in this issue. Here’s how to get up and running with this ‘one plugin to rule them all’ and also some more detail on how the free cm plugin was created…

Step by step

15 questions with… LORAINE JAMES • Electronic producer Loraine James had just produced what many critics cited as the ‘album of the year’ when a certain pandemic hit… and all with a 50-quid keyboard and freeware. What to do? Produce your way out of a pandemic with another album of the year, that’s what…

BACK TO LIVE • The end of Covid restrictions (whenever that is for you) means more than giving your finest out-of-the-house trousers an airing. Yes, it’ s time to get gig-ready…

Gear and performance • Playing live requires a considerable amount of courage, thoughtful preparation, and of course, some investment in the right (reliable) tech. Let’s explore the technical setup considerations, and other factors, that could transform your gig into a showstopper…

Visual appeal

Hey scenesters

Growing your audience • You may be putting on some exhilarating live shows, but if you’re not effectively nurturing and analysing your new fans, you may as well stay in your studio. If audience management on top of everything else feels too much, here are some hints

The future of live • Being a live performer means a very different thing in 2021 than it did even five years ago. With the increasing pace of internet speed, you can stream a show for thousands of people straight from your home studio. But does new technology increase the risk of losing that vital live experience, or does this all lead somewhere even more exciting?

GT THE GEAR

Chris Bergstrom: live ‘n’ Dandy • Chris Bergstrom is front of house manager for The Dandy Warhols. Here he shares some lockdown experiences and knowledge for any live musicians and engineers…

#13 Heartbreaker chords • Sprinkle a little magic, wonder and even soul into your chord progressions with this neat music theory device…

PRO TIP

Dave Clews

#03 U-he Zebra CM talking filter • If synths could talk, what would they say? OK, we can’t answer that, but the Zebra filter, with its impressive Formant filter, comes close

Dave Gale

PRO TIP

#11 Rising FX from scratch • Discover the sound design techniques behind rising...