2019-07-01_Computer_Music

Ins & outs

UNCLEAN STREAM

You’d have thought that, as no

physical product is made,

streamed music would have less

environmental impact. However, it

turns out that this isn’t the case,

with the huge amounts of energy

required to store everything in the

cloud adding to the problems.

JUMPSHIP

Welovecollaborationsbut

didn’twhollyenjoyDavidLee

RothandArminVanBuuren’s

EDM-infusedreworkofVan

Halen’sJumpattheUltraMusic

Festival.Theremaybemore,too;

dancefanRothsaysthatallofhis

tracksare“eminentlyremixable”.

MUSKDOBETTER

ElonMuskisa manwitha lotof

ideas,buthisdecisiontorecord

anAuto-Tunedtributetosadly

departedgorillaHarambewasn’t,

perhaps,oneofthebetterones.

CheckitoutontheTeslatycoon’s

EmoGRecordsSoundcloudpage:

bit.ly/rip_har.

NektarTechnologyNektarSE

Themicrokeyboardcontrollermarketis hottingup,it wouldseem,as

NektarTechnologylaunchtheirownevenmoreaffordablerivalto

NativeInstruments’newKompleteKontrolM32.TheNektarSE

featurestwooctavesofcustom-designed,velocity-sensitiveminikeys

(“thatactuallyplaywell”)witha choiceofthreevelocitycurves,

reassignablepitchbendbuttons,andNektarHostIntegrationfortrack

selectionandtransportcontrolofa widerangeofDAWs.It also

includesthenovelPart2 system,wherebyholdingdownthe2 button

togglestheMIDIChannel,Transpose,Layerand/orLatchsettingstoan

alternativeconfiguration,forperformancevariation.

TheNektarSE25is onsalenow,priced£44.

nektartech.com

MEGA IMPRESSIVE

There are plenty of ways to give

your computer-based music a

chiptune flavour, but Remute has

upped the ante by releasing an

entire album, Technoptimistic, as a

Sega Mega Drive Cartridge. All

sounds are generated in real-time

via the console’s FM soundchip.

FOOLS’GOLD

Asever,musictechcompanies

t intotheAprilFool’sDayspirit.

Topbantzthisyearcamefrom

Korg,withtheir4-track

Volcassette,andAbleton,who

wenttosurprisinglygreatlengths

totellusabouttheirReChorder,a

polyphonicrecorderplugin.

years

back

Wegotouronlinenetworkinghatonin

July 2009 ( 140),profilingthe“Web2.

siteslikeMySpaceandTwitter”froma

musician’sperspective.Wenotedthat,

whileit wasdefinitelyworthhavingan

accountonanupstartsitecalled

Facebook,MySpace“stillhadthe

monopolyonartistmusicpages”– a

situationthatwasreversedwithin

secondsofusgoingtopress,aswerecall.

IntheNewssection,wediscussed

Propellerhead’sRecord,a newapplication

designedspecificallyforstudio-style

audiowork.It wasa niceidea,butit lasted

justa coupleofyearsasa solobitof

software– it becamepartofReasonwhen

thatapphitversion6 in2011,whichis

probablywhereit shouldhavelivedinthe

firstplace.

Sparksflew,meanwhile,asour

enrageddeputyeditordiscussedhis

futilefumbleswithhisdry/wetcontrol.

Worsestill,a readerwrotetotellushow

andwhereheenjoyedhisissuesof ,

confessing that he liked to peruse the

mag while “stewing in his own filth” in the

bath. Dark days indeed, friends.

InJuly2009, was still

pondering which social

mediaplatformwasking

“We noted that MySpace

‘still had the monopoly on

artist music pages’”

The Nektar SE25 features a

specially designed keybed that

claims great playability

GET INTO THE GROOVE

Want to get your music on vinyl but

don’t have a clue how? Bandcamp

can help you out with its new

crowdfunding pressing service. Set

up a campaign and, once your

funding target is reached, everyone

who wants your album on a platter

will get it. Job done.

July2009’s gave you enough music production

tips to last you through to the noughties

got

c

July 2019 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 13