More than 50% of Grammy 2024 Nominations went to independentsMore than half of all 2024 Grammy nominations went to independent artists and labels according to A2IM (American Association of Independent Music). “A2IM offers its heartfelt congratulations to the independent. Continue reading
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Music Health Alliance offers healthcare help for musiciansMusic Industry 360 is our music industry podcast that aims to educate new and existing musicians about tools in the industry, while sharing knowledge to help artists take their careers. Continue reading
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QUICK HITS: Machin + Virgin • Brooklyn Basement expands • GoldState + Flexpoint Ford •Machin & Equinoccio Records have signed a worldwide agreement with Virgin Music Group.  The independent labels, founded by legendary Mexican singer, songwriter, and producer Pepe Aguilar, both focus on the Regional Mexican genre. • Brooklyn. Continue reading
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For the love of sound : How vintage hi-fi sound systems are driving boutique club nights forwardFor the at-home enthusiast, audio gear from the 70s and 80s is highly prized – and the price and rarity often reflect this. Older brands, such as Klipsch, Sansui, and Altec Lansing made consistently high-quality audio equipment, while today’s major brands, like Bose, Pioneer, JBL, and Sony had their moments of brilliance too.
READ MORE: Majority’s Teton Plus raises the bar for what an entry-level home AV system should aspire to
Using this vintage equipment in bars and clubs is a much trickier endeavour. The gear is far pricier and rarer, the speakers less efficient, and the amps less powerful. Yet, it is also this equipment, or designs and components used in this vintage gear, which is most sought after by some of the best-sounding bars, clubs, and speaker designers around.
To find out more, we hear from two legendary club nights and sound systems, London’s Beauty and the Beat and Leeds’ Cosmic Slop; head honcho of Rhythm section Bradley Zero and his excellent new bar Moko in London, Tottenham; custom speaker designer Friendly Pressure; and legendary London hi-fi store Audio Gold.
Beauty And The Beast setup
Why go vintage?
Some reasons for purchasing vintage gear are rational, others are emotional. On the latter point, a chrome face, power gauges, analogue dials, and the glowing valves of an old system are rewarding to feel and see. On the former, they often sound excellent. It’s hard to quantify, as the senses remain subjective, but older audio components are known for their relaxed, warm sound, thanks to the analogue circuitry. This is usually in contrast to the cleaner and more detailed characteristics of modern audio.
Custom speaker maker Friendly Pressure, based in London, plans and builds custom speakers for home or venue use. In the words of founder and owner Shivas Howard Brown, FP aims to combine the sound and component quality of vintage speakers with modern manufacturing techniques such as 3D printing – as shown below sitting nicely at Moko.
Friendly Pressure, Image: giftyphotographer
On the rational side of why and how, Shivas explains that older speakers use materials that are simply harder to come by nowadays – resistors and transistors, for example. Secondly, the majority of the audio market is focused on PAs for public venues rather than home sound systems. In addition, the ways we recreate and amplify sound – in all but the higher end of audio equipment – have swapped quality for efficiency, and so moved to digital from solid state or valve, for example.
A growing interest
Shivas says, however, that this increase in convenient, passive listening has caused an increase in active, dedicated listeners too: “They want a more emotional and sentimental connection to their music.”
Robin, one of the team members at Audio Gold, a three-decade-old audiophile Mecca in Muswell Hill, London, agrees. He says that the uptick in interest has been particularly driven by younger generations. For reference, the global home audio market is expected to grow at an aggregate rate of 11.4 per cent from 2022 to 2027, and for vinyl, 2022 marked the 17th consecutive year that the number sold rose.
There seem to be more bars and clubs using this vintage sound too. One to note is Moko in Tottenham – run by global oddities and house label Rhythm Section head honcho, Peckham legend, and all-round lovely guy, Bradley Zero.
Friendly Pressure. Image: giftyphotographer
Moko may not be quite a ‘listening bar’, but there is a similar attention to detail in the hardware used – if in a setting more appropriate to dancing. Friendly Pressure’s custom FP398s provide the sound, with custom monitors, a Technics 1210 turntable, an Acuphase amp, and a rotary E&S DJR400 turntable “for now,” says Zero.
The space is, however, is in desperate need of room treatment and soundproofing, with its concrete roof and subsequent resonance.
Bradley Zero speaks less about his bars and more about what should be an essential pilgrimage for anyone with two ears and two legs: Cosmic Slop in Leeds. This monthly club night is run by the people behind MAP, a charity that provides children less fortunate the opportunity to learn about music production and gain BTEC qualifications.
Cosmic Slop
To this writer, there is no better-sounding club, more beautiful a crowd, or more noble a cause.
The system in Cosmic Slop, located in Hope House just outside of Leeds city centre, is truly special. It’s so special, in fact, that the sound (and its charitable cause) brings DJs such as Floating Points, Coco Maria, and Bradley Zero himself, who all typically charge pretty hefty fees, to play for free. Furthermore, lineups are often left unannounced, which makes it even more rewarding when you see someone special in the booth.
Tom Smith, the founder and owner, is the custodian of the original blueprints from New York icon Paradise Garage. He went to New York and met some of the last people who worked on the system for Larry Levant and built it to Cosmic Slop’s spec. As Bradley Zero’s says, “when you play there, you feel you’re stepping back in time to this paragon of musical excellence.”
“Every note played gets powered up and comes out earthshaking,” he adds. “Last time I played, Tom ended on a blues song, and it had a room full of young people going crazy. Just the stomp of the foot was causing the room to shake.”
Tom also runs MAP Charity, an alternative education provider working with young people who are unable to access the mainstream school system.
Beauty and the Beat
Beauty and the Beat is a party in London with a similar focus on sound quality supplied by pricey vintage components.
They started with two stacks of Klipshorns, and over 18 years, built the system to where it stands today:
• Five Klipschorns (one of these is used as a mono channel)
• Two Tannoys (one York and one Majestic)
• Two Mark Levinson amps (27.5 and 334)
• One Music Fidelity XA50 mono amp
• One Sugden masterclass SPA-4 stereo amp
• Isonoe ISO420 mixer
• Two Technics 1210 turntables with upgraded tonearms (Jelco) + Isonoe isolation feet
• Audio Technica VM740 ML cartridges
BATB adds two more Klipshorns into the mix for a seven-point system in their current venue Hackney Wick Baths. One of the founders of Beauty and the Beat, Cyril Cornet, says that “being surrounded and immersed by music is pretty hard to beat…When dancing in the sweet spot, you forget where the sound comes from”. Plus, they add, there’s a social aspect to the setup – it means dancers don’t end up all facing the DJ at the front.
This is a truly special party, which sounds, feels, and looks excellent. You’re as likely to hear classics like Santana’s //Black Magic Woman// or Talking Heads’ Girlfriend is Better as you are hypnotic tabla solos and spiritual chanting – and all on wax.
It takes years to build such exquisite and priceless gifts to the human ear and heart, but you have to start somewhere. Hence, personal friends Fly Away Hearts, a new party in London, are building their own bespoke Klipschorn system, so they deserve a shout-out here too.
Dedicated to the cause
It’s not just the gear used that makes these places special. With this sound comes an ability for DJs to truly play whatever they like – as illustrated by Tom Smith’s closing tune. People playing here usually, and should, exploit this freedom to the fullest, dredging the bottom of their record bags and finding oddballs and gems.
Cosmic Slop is unashamedly fun and free, – and totally without pretension. Beauty and the Beat differs slightly. Its ethos is almost spiritual, much less anarchic, and verges on serious and sophisticated, with a focus on global, percussive, and psychedelic tunes.
The music played is, of course, the star of the show. After all, I’ve had more enthusiastic dances around a decent portable speaker than high-end vintage audio systems. However, the music is given new life when played through systems of this quality and becomes truly transcendental.
But it’s more than just sound quality. These sound systems are a mark of dedication. It may not be the most accessible of pursuits, but running these rigs shows a love for music that’s been built over a lifetime. Instead of hoarding such high-end (and expensive) equipment inside their living rooms, they share the love with a room full of dancers and trust no one pokes their key through a driver. Brave.
The post For the love of sound : How vintage hi-fi sound systems are driving boutique club nights forward appeared first on MusicTech.

Now-Again label head hits back at “baseless and libellous” MF DOOM lawsuitOne of MF DOOM‘s former collaborator’s attorneys has hit back at a lawsuit claiming that he stole dozens of the late rapper’s private notebooks, per Billboard.

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MF DOOM’s widow sued Eothen “Egon” Alapatt last month, claiming that Egon, the founder and president of Now-Again Records, took the notebooks while DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile, was in the UK before his 2020 death, and has refused to return them.
But Egon’s attorneys have called her case “baseless and libellous”, with attorney Kenneth Freundlich releasing a statement on Tuesday (14 November). He wrote, “Plaintiffs’ complaint is the continuation of a year-long smear campaign filled with baseless and libellous attacks on Alapatt’s integrity and character.”
DOOM travelled to the UK to perform in 2010, but due to immigration issues couldn’t return back to the US. He then died suddenly a decade later following rare complications relating to blood pressure medication.
His widow, Jasmine Dumile Thompson, sets out in the lawsuit that DOOM left behind 31 “rhyme books” in his Los Angeles studio, containing original lyrics to both released and unreleased songs, as well as song ideas. Her lawyers claim that Egon “took advantage of DOOM’s being out of the country” to buy the books from his landlord without his permission.
And it’s alleged that when DOOM asked for them back, Egon “delayed, obfuscated and deflected”, before refusing to return them. And Thompson claims that he’s demanded the notebooks be donated to an archive, going against her late husband’s wishes for them to stay “secret and confidential.”
Thompson’s lawyers wrote in their complaint, “Who is Alapatt to decide that the notebooks containing the personal and intellectual property of DOOM, the rights to which are plaintiffs’ alone, must be donated to an archive against the will of the deceased artist and his surviving family? Setting aside the fact that the notebooks were stolen, Alapatt’s arrogant paternalism and extreme tone-deafness in trying to dictate that the notebooks be donated is astonishing.”
Meanwhile, Egon’s lawyers have admitted that he took possession of the notebooks, but claimed that DOOM wasn’t their legal owner at the time of his death. Rather, the landlord was the owner because the notebooks had been left there, and there was unpaid rent on the studio.
They argued that, had Egon not bought them, the landlord “would have either sold or possibly destroyed the notebooks.”
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Steinberg unveil Nuendo 13 Nuendo 13 delivers a range of improvements to the built-in immersive audio capabilities, as well as kitting out sound designers, mixers, dialogue editors and ADR engineers with a whole host of helpful new tools and features.

David Guetta claims world no.1 DJ title in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs pollDavid Guetta has once again claimed the title of World’s No.1 DJ in DJ Mag’s annual Top 100 DJs poll.

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This is the fourth time the French producer-DJ has ranked top on the poll. Commenting on the win, Guetta says, “It’s incredible! It’s wonderful! It’s great because I feel like every time I’m on the top of the Top 100 DJs, it’s for a different reason.”
“You know, the two previous times were probably thanks to Future Rave. This time is probably thanks to I’m Good and those big crossover records. I love that I can express different feelings in different ways.”
Last year, Guetta’s longtime collaborator and friend Martin Garrix topped the poll. Both DJs are now the owners of four No. 1 titles, second only to Dutch trance legend Armin van Buuren, with his five No. 1s.
A luminary in the realm of electronic dance music (EDM), Guetta’s breakthrough came with the release of his 2009 album, One Love, which catapulted him to international fame. The French DJ’s prowess has also been acknowledged with multiple Grammy Awards, including Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his work on Madonna’s Revolver and Best Dance Recording for When Love Takes Over with Kelly Rowland.

Within the last year alone, Guetta has partnered with artists such as Britney Spears, Zara Larsson, Bebe Rexha, Kim Petras, and BTS star Jung Kook.
A total of 1.3 million votes were counted from 237 countries in this year’s Top 100 DJs poll. Check out the full list at DJ Mag.
In related news, David Guetta has dismissed claims made by Deadmau5 that “[at] most major festivals, [DJs] have to play pre-recorded sets”.
“I was looking online at Deadmau5 who was saying every DJ, including me, is playing a pre-recorded set,” the Titanium producer said in a recent interview on The Daily Star’s Wired column [via NME].
“I won’t speak for other people, but I’ve never done that. You often see comments from people that I do this, but it’s not true. I love DJ-ing, and DJ-ing is about reading the crowd and connecting to them.”
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“I wouldn’t be surprised if George wanted to get back to his garden in all honesty”: Giles Martin says George Harrison didn’t love Now And Then when it was first recordedGiles Martin, the co-producer of the Beatles’ new song Now And Then, has shed some light on George Harrison’s lack of love for the track when they recorded it in the ’90s.

READ MORE: Is Now and Then really the end? Peter Jackson says it’s “conceivable” to make more Beatles tracks using AI

Touted as the fab four’s “last”, Now And Then features sonic contributions from all four Beatles: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The song arrived earlier this month and is part of the newly remastered The Beatles 1962-66 (aka The Red Album) released last week along with The Beatles 1967-1970 (aka The Blue Album).
In addition to the cleaned-up audio sourced from a John Lennon demo tape dating back to the late 1970s, the song features guitar contributions from the late Harrison, who made no secret of his dislike of the song.
Asked if there were concerns about Harrison’s wishes being posthumously overruled with the release of Now and Then, Martin told MOJO magazine: “No, because of course this wouldn’t happen without [George’s widow] Olivia and [son] Dhani’s approval.”
“It wasn’t that George didn’t like the track,” the producer explains.
“It was that they’d done the other two and the quality [of the Now And Then demo] was so bad, I wouldn’t be surprised if George wanted to get back to his garden in all honesty.”

In related news, Giles Martin has clarified that AI software was only used to extract and clean up Lennon’s vocals on the demo track, saying, “It might have been easier if I used AI, but I didn’t.”
Of the song’s backing vocals in particular, Martin said: “No, it’s not artificial or intelligent. No, it’s the same process that I used, as you say so rightly, in Love.”
“I’m not using AI to recreate their voices in any way. I’m literally taking the multitrack tapes of Eleanor Rigby, some stuff from Because and Here, There, and Everywhere, just in the same way the Beatles are splicing that in.”
The post “I wouldn’t be surprised if George wanted to get back to his garden in all honesty”: Giles Martin says George Harrison didn’t love Now And Then when it was first recorded appeared first on MusicTech.

Yamaha’s new HS3 and HS4 studio monitors are the brand’s lightest and most compact yetYamaha has announced the latest addition to its iconic HS Series with the HS3 and HS4 speakers. These new two-way bass reflex powered studio monitors feature a premium, compact design, delivering “faithful sound reproduction” for professionals and audiophiles who require a small, lightweight footprint.

READ MORE: Black Friday deals 2023: Best early deals for music producers, DJs, beatmakers and musicians

The HS3 and HS4 are said to “continue the design philosophy and know-how of previous Yamaha studio monitors”.
To start, their compact size was made possible thanks to the use of a highly efficient class-D amplifier. Using one amp for two speakers allows for a reduction in the weight of the speakers and simplifies the cable connections, making the HS3 and HS4 perfect for home studios or on-the-go use.
While they’re both pretty tiny by studio monitor standards — and certainly the smallest of the HS range, the HS4 does come with larger cone woofers and dome tweeters compared to the HS3. It also boasts a slightly wider frequency response of 60 Hz – 22 kHz (-10dB) versus the HS3’s 70 Hz – 22 kHz (-10dB).
The monitors feature Yamaha’s proprietary “Twisted Flare Port” technology which reduces air turbulence noise in the bass reflex port for clear and accurate bass. Users can enjoy outstanding resolution, sound image, and depth, with a flat response across all bandwidths and no colouring of the original sound.
In addition, the rear panels of the HS3 and HS4 are equipped with Room Control and High Trim functions so you can adjust the sound to suit your environment, like reducing the exaggerated low-end that may occur when speakers are placed next to walls.
Connections wise, we have XLR/TRS phone, RCA, and stereo mini-jacks, which should cover everything from computers and audio interfaces to audio mixers and electric instruments.
Both speakers are available in a sleek black or white finish. The HS3 is priced at $229.99 while the HS4 comes in at $249.99.

Learn more at Yamaha.
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Black Octopus Sound Futuretone – Slap House Delight Black Octopus Sound and Futuretone have released 'Slap House Delight', a collection of samples and presets ideal for Slap House and a variety of House and EDM music. What's... Read More

5 of the best early Black Friday deals on plugins at Plugin BoutiqueWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. For more information on how this works click here.
Black Friday 2023 takes place on 24 November. Major music tech brands and retailers have already begun competing for your attention, however, by offering early discounts on their products. These offers aren’t to be sniffed at – we all remember that exclusive deal that’s become a mainstay in our setup, don’t we? A Black Friday deal can invigorate your music production in so many ways.
READ MORE: Black Friday deals 2023: Best early deals for music producers, DJs, beatmakers and musicians
If you’ve ever bought a plugin, you’ve likely heard of Plugin Boutique. It’s an online store offering a range of software-based goodies by loads of brands, from software instruments and effects to DAWs, utilities and more. It’s offering up to 95 per cent off its range this Black Friday and we’ve put together five of our standout deals. Check them out below.
5 of the best pre-Black Friday deals on plugins at Plugin Boutique, at a glance:

AIR Music plugins – Up to 100% off
SSL X-Limit – 75% off
Korg Collection – 50% off
Sonnox Oxford Inflator – 75% off
Arturia V Collection 9 – 50% off

AIR Music plugins – Up to 100% off

AIR Music’s collection of plugins consists of instruments, synths, virtual instruments, drum machines, samplers, and effects. These include popular items like its high-definition virtual synthesizer, Hybrid 3, the brand’s multitimbral workstation, Xpand!2, its expansive Boom drum machine, and its own recreation of the iconic Mellotron keyboard. The offer even takes AIR’s new Jura Chorus plugin down by 26 per cent to around $18.

Offer ends 30 November 2023
Check deal at Plugin Boutique

SSL X-Limit – 75% off

Solid State Logic’s X-Limit is an audio-limiting tool for artists, producers, and engineers, enhancing loudness without clipping. It offers transparency or character, variable release times, SSL’s True Peak + Lookahead algorithm, and minimal latency. It also has a cool all-in-one visualiser for threshold setting and various limiter styles for mix balancing.
Now, as an early Black Friday deal, the SSL X-Limit is being offered by Plugin Boutique for 25% of the original price, down from $124 to just $31.

Offer ends 19 November 2023
Check deal at Plugin Boutique

Korg Collection – 50% off

For decades, Korg has been a pioneer in music tech, delivering loads of acclaimed hardware products. Not only is the brand a well-known name in hardware, though. From effects to synths, Korg also has some pretty sweet software offerings.
On Plugin Boutique, you can get up to 59% off their collection of meticulously recreated, plugin-based synths & effects, featuring iconic models like M1, TRITON, Kaoss Pad, and the extensive Korg Collection.

Offer ends 30 November 2023
Check deal at Plugin Boutique

Sonnox Oxford Inflator – 75% off

Sonnox’s Oxford Inflator is a widely-used and highly-regarded dynamics processing plugin designed to enhance and fatten audio without compromising the natural dynamics. Unlike traditional compressors or limiters, it boosts the perceived loudness, adding warmth and presence to individual tracks or entire mixes. It uses a unique algorithm to provide analogue-like saturation and can be applied subtly or aggressively to achieve fuller, more impactful sound.
Plugin Boutique is giving it away for 75% off, making it just $43, down from $171.

Offer ends 5 December
Check deal at Plugin Boutique

Arturia V Collection 9 – 50% off

Arturia V Collection 9 is a mammoth software package that contains a wealth of accurately modelled vintage synthesizers and instruments. It includes emulations of classic analogue synthesizers like the Minimoog, ARP 2600, and Prophet-5, alongside electric pianos, organs, and more. And now is your window to grab V Collection 9 at a fraction of the normal cost, giving you access to a ton of iconic sounds for an absolute steal. Arturia’s also offering loads of its other products for 50 per cent off, so make sure you snap up those deals!
Plugin Boutique is hosting Arturia’s Black Friday sale, offering the bundle for half the price, making it just $325 and, trust us, this is a lot of bang for your buck.

Offer ends 5 December 2023
Check deal at Plugin Boutique

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Beginner’s Guide: Everything you need to make your first beatAdvertorial feature with Focusrite
There’s never been a better time to be a music-maker, thanks to top-quality studio gear available at super-accessible prices. With the right tools and a laptop, desktop or iPad, you can be making beats, recording audio and mixing pro-sounding tracks with minimal hassle. But what exactly do you need to make it happen? Our quick guide explains all and offers some insider tips on what to look out for when choosing your gear.
Audio interface
An audio interface will be a crucial part of your studio. It lets you send sound into and out of your computer at the highest possible quality. Your computer’s built-in soundcard simply can’t compete with a professional audio interface.
Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen. Image: Simon Vinall
Connecting to your computer over a USB cable, audio interfaces contain digital-to-analogue converters that seamlessly manage the transfer of sound between the digital realm – your computer – and the analogue realm – your microphone, headphones or speakers.
When making your first beat, you may want to record some vocals, instruments, or vinyl samples, so your interface will need to have one or two audio inputs with high-quality preamps. You’ll find this much in Focusrite’s Scarlett Solo and 2i2 models. These also take the hassle out of setting recording levels with innovative Auto Gain and Clip Safe modes that mean you’ll never accidentally record too quiet or too loud.
An audio interface also lets you monitor on headphones, which is necessary when recording a live source like a vocal or acoustic guitar. Plus, you can connect monitor speakers so you can hear your recordings out loud in the room. Some interfaces, including Focusrite’s, work both with your computer and a recent USB-C-equipped iPad, letting you be even more mobile when you make your music.
Focusrite Scarlett 4th Gen. Image: Simon Vinall
A microphone
A studio condenser microphone is another vital piece of equipment for capturing professional-sounding recordings, like from a guitar or a singer.
Connected to your audio interface, a mic like Focusrite’s CM25 MkIII (included in the Scarlett Studio bundles) will pick up a strong and clean signal and let you lay down loops, licks and vocal lines for your tracks. Condenser microphones often require phantom power – a small electrical charge – to get up and running, so it’s well worth looking out for an audio interface that can supply this.

Headphones
While it’s fun to blast music at full volume, it’s not always practical to do so. A reliable pair of headphones, like Focusrite’s SH-450 (also included in the Scarlett Studio bundles), are comfortable for long periods of listening and also let you work on your music without disturbing the neighbours. And when you’re recording with a microphone, you’ll need to listen on headphones to avoid feedback from the existing tracks. A dedicated pair of studio headphones will do a better job of letting you hear the nuance in your music than an off-the-shelf pair.
Digital Audio Workstation
Of course, you’ll need somewhere to record your sound and edit those recordings. A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is an application that runs on your computer and does this and much more.
Ableton Live is a supremely popular DAW that runs on macOS and Windows and lets you create projects into which you can record and edit audio tracks and also software instruments to create backing parts. Naturally, you don’t just do everything in one take so there’s support for doing multiple takes, chopping up different parts and moving them around to create an arrangement, and layering different instruments together.
DAWs like Live and Pro Tools also contain software effects that can be used to add depth and interest to your sounds and tracks. Common types of effects to use include reverb, which creates a sense of space around parts like vocals or drums, delays which creatively add echo, and equalization which is used to balance all the different parts of your beat together to make sure they sound great as a whole.
A copy of Ableton Live Lite and a three-month trial to Pro Tools Artist are included when you buy a Focusrite Scarlett interface.

Software instruments
The beauty of modern music-making is that you can fit a whole studio’s worth of instruments into your computer with software instruments. These can be loaded onto tracks in your DAW and played with a MIDI keyboard or programmed using your DAW’s MIDI editor. In Focusrite’s Hitmaker Expansion bundle, you’ll find several cool virtual instruments you can use to build up backing parts for your loops and beats.

XLN’s Addictive Drums 2: Studio Rock Kit is a powerful and slick-sounding drum instrument based on hundreds of real drum samples; you can use this to create serious beats to back up your tracks.
Native Instruments Massive is a synthesizer plugin that covers everything from huge basses to searing leads among its 1,300 presets, and also lets you design your own sounds.
Meanwhile, XLN Audio’s Addictive Keys Studio Grand puts a beautiful concert grand piano at your fingertips. Use instruments like these to create rich and interesting backing parts without needing any extra musicians.
Effects processors
When you’ve recorded and programmed your various sounds, you’ll want to make sure they sound their best. To that end, Focusrite’s Hitmaker Expansion bundle comes with essential plugins for perfecting your vocal recordings.
Antares AutoTune Access is an industry-standard processor for auto-tuning vocals for perfect pitch, and ReLab’s LX480 is based on a legendary reverb unit, perfect for adding space and depth to vocal tracks. Guitarists will also enjoy Softube’s Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555 for adding authentic crunch to guitar recordings either during or post-recording.

Mixing tools
When you’ve recorded, edited and arranged your track in your DAW, you’ll then want to mix it using specialised plugins to sweeten and balance everything to prime it for release. This doesn’t have to be complex, and advanced tools like the FAST Balancer can help streamline the mixing process.
Plugins such as the Bx_console Focusrite SC and Red 2 & 3 Plugin Suite will also help you ensure your final mix and master sounds smooth and ready for release. And if you need an extra hand, every Scarlett includes five free masters from LANDR to help give your songs a professional, polished sheen.
So there you have it – with the right core hardware and software tools, you can be making pro-sounding music in just a short time. And why should it be complicated?
Learn more at focusrite.com
The post Beginner’s Guide: Everything you need to make your first beat appeared first on MusicTech.

FabFilter Pro-R 2 is a flexible reverb that you’ll use more often than you think£144 (50-65% discount for those with previous FabFilter purchases), fabfilter.com
When FabFilter first released Pro-R in 2016, it was an exciting new reverb plugin with easy-to-understand controls, a clean and natural sound, and an innovative Decay Rate EQ that allowed you to shape the character of your reverbs like never before. After seven long years, and the release of a range of equally exciting, competing reverbs, it’s time for an upgrade. Pro-R 2 retains the look and ease of use of its predecessor, but adds a bunch of useful features to greatly expand its flexibility.

READ MORE: FL Studio 21.2’s stem separation is amazing, and FL Cloud is a workflow boon

Clean and easy
One of FabFilter’s core design philosophies in Pro-R is to have a powerful and flexible reverb that avoids the overly-complex controls found on other algorithmic reverb plugins. Instead, we find simple-to-understand dials for Space, Brightness, Character, Distance, Width, Predelay and Mix.
FabFilter Pro-R 2 main GUI
The main Space dial lets you smoothly cycle through over a dozen room models, while simultaneously increasing or decreasing the decay time. The Distance dial makes adjustments to the balance of early reflections and can make a sound feel closer or further away, and the Brightness dial controls the overall tilt for high and low frequency absorption. The Width controls the stereo width (unsurprisingly), and Character adds pleasing modulation to the tail.
This is combined with the return of the Decay Rate EQ and Post EQ that fill the main portion of the user interface. Each has six flexible bands that can be used to shape either the decay time for that particular frequency range, or the overall spectral output of the reverb. It’s all very intuitive to edit and you can quickly dial in reverb sounds that sit well in the mix, rather than wrestling with obtusely-labelled controls and hoping for the best.
What’s new in FabFilter Pro-R 2?
These features were all present in the previous version though, so what’s new?
One of the main improvements, in terms of flexibility, is the fact that you now have three algorithms to choose from. The Modern style is taken from Pro-R 1 and has a clean and natural sound, whereas the Vintage style recreates the warm and lush sounds of classic digital reverb units. Plate gives the more metallic sound of analogue plate reverb. They’re quite dramatically different, so you should experiment depending on what you’re looking to achieve.

Although it sounds less like a real space, the thick sounding Vintage style can sit really well in the mix, and can give anything an instant dose of 80s vibe. The effects of the Character dial change a little depending on which algorithm you choose, giving variations in the style and speed of the modulation.
FabFilter Pro-R 2 algorithmic styles
Thick tricks
Another new addition is the Thickness dial, which adds a combination of saturation and density to help thicken and colour the reverb.
This is a useful tool that expands your sonic options when trying to get sounds sitting in a mix, without needing to add extra saturation later on. You just have to be careful with rebalancing volumes, as turning the dial up often results in a reduction of reverb volume as the signal is flattened.
Duck and cover
Arguably even more useful is the introduction of built-in ducking and auto-gate features.
The Ducking dial will pull down the reverb volume when triggered by the input, which can result in cleaner sounding separation between the wet and dry signals. Meanwhile, the Auto-Gate feature simply has an on button and the ability to set the time in milliseconds or as a synced beat division.
This can create classic 80s gated reverb sounds in seconds, especially when combined with the Vintage algorithm. Having these built in is a nice timesaver – you don’t have to fiddle with setting up sidechained compressors. That said, it would be nice if you had the option to trigger via the plugin’s sidechain input, just for flexibility.
FabFilter Pro-R 2 controls
Exotic imports
Pro-R 2’s most standout new feature is the ability to import an impulse response (IR) file, which Pro-R 2 can analyse recreate as an algorithmic preset. It’s an easy and fast process, although we find the results a little mixed when it comes to accuracy.
FabFilter says that it’s more of an approximation than an exact copy, as the plugin is limited by the controls and algorithms at its disposal.
FabFilter Pro-R 2 IR import
We find that some IRs sound pretty close, and we actually prefer the more open-sounding Pro-R version. However, further tweaking will be required to get the best results, especially with regards the low-mid range and width, and we found some examples that were quite far off. Still, it’s a great way to quickly expand your preset collection, and having parameters to tweak means you can further edit the finer details, which isn’t possible with a fixed IR file.
As Marlon from White Noise Studios points out, this innovation may also have applications in post production for helping to match reverb spaces between different mic tracks.
Immerse yourself
Elsewhere, improvements have been made to the output options on the Decay Rate and Post EQ. You can now choose between L/R or M/S outputs for each band, which opens up possibilities for finely crafting your reverb space. This lets you do things like reduce stereo width in the bass while carving space in the centre for more midrange instruments.
There’s also full support for surround/immersive audio and Dolby Atmos. Loading the plugin on a surround channel gives you further output options for each band, including an Effect Tilt section that lets you slant the effect of each of the main plugin parameters towards the front or back of the room. The mind boggles at how this could be used, but imagine complex reverb sounds that hit you brightly upfront and then with a swelling low end behind you.
Elsewhere, the Freeze button can create infinite decays – ideal for ambient beds.

Pro-R 2’s improved preset browser now has tags and favourites. We commend FabFilter here – there are a plethora of presets but tags for nearly all of them help describe the sound and usage. It’s a small thing, but a strong example of the attention to detail in this release.
The added features in Pro-R 2 clearly expand its sonic palette with new modes and additional character. It may not be the most characterful reverb in our toolkit, but a welcome increase in versatility might make you reach for it fairly often. It can sound open and rich or tight and more raw, and it’s easier than most to tailor results that will sit well in the mix.
The IR import feature is hit-and-miss, but it’s still a unique and exciting idea that can be used to further expand the preset list. FabFilter could have added a few flexible modulation options such as those found in their other effects plugins, but this may over-complicate an otherwise intuitive layout. All in all, it’s a solid update to an already excellent all-rounder reverb.
Key features

Algorithmic reverb plugin
VST, VST3, AU, AU3, AAX Native and Audiosuite
30-day trial available
Modern algorithm, plus new Vintage and Plate algorithms
User-friendly Brightness, Character and Distance controls
Step-less Space control blends between dozens of room models
Flexible decay time editing with the Decay Rate EQ
6-band Post-EQ
New impulse response import feature
New Thickness control adds saturation and compression
New built-in ducking, auto-gate and freeze features
New immersive / Dolby Atmos functionality, with channel layouts up to 9.1.6
Improved preset browser
New L/R & M/S mode switching for Post EQ bands
New surround mode speaker settings

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