Tutorials

The Endless Uses of LFOs – It’s not only for Wobbling

LFO or Low-Frequency Oscillator is one of the most used tools in the world of sound design and production. Many of the classic studio effects we can find in any DAW like Flanger, Chorus, Auto-Filter, Auto-Pan, Phaser and others have some use of an LFO. In simple terms an LFO allows us to wobble any parameter we want. Not all LFOs are created equal but there some controls that we will expect to find on most if not all units. A basic understanding of these controls can help us get the most out of the LFOs whether we use them in Synthesizers, effects or with Max for Live/Modular gear.  divider style=”clear” LFO Controls   Rate – Change the speed of the LFO can be Free (Hz) or Sync (1/4, 1/8, 1/16 etc.)  Amount/Gain – Control the amount of modulation. How pronounced is the modulation. Waveform/Shape – Change the movement type …

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iZotope Ozone 9 – The Future of Mastering

iZotope Ozone 9 – The Future of Mastering iZotope has done it again with the release of Ozone 9. This update includes some welcome changes to the already behemoth Mastering plugin. The interface is similar to Ozone 8, but the modules have been redesigned to reflect the rest of iZotope’s recent upgrades their mixing plugins. In this article, we’ll dive into the plugin with a tutorial and review. We’ll touch on its new features, and tell you what we like and dislike about it. su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#d2d2d2″ size=”1″ How Does It Look? How Does It Feel?     It looks good, like, really good. iZotope has been updating its line up of mixing software over the past year and its paid off. The interface has become easier to navigate, and more enticing to use. Everything is where you need it to be, with just a few clicks to get there. …

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Instant Afro – Make Clave Beats Like an Expert (Afrobeat/Reggaeton/Dancehall)

Instant Afro – Make Clave Beats Like an Expert (Afrobeat/Reggaeton/Dancehall)   We can find influences of Afro-Cuban and Latin rhythms in all styles of music. The main rhythm that inspired other cultures all over the world was the clave rhythm. Interestingly enough, the African rhythms they were inspired by came back to Africa. Today, we can hear the clave rhythm in modern African pop music, Dancehall, Reggaeton, and even dance music like big room house and tribal. Clave rhythms and its variation are the backbones for all these beats. Let’s first check out the main clave pattern.     Scroll Down for Free Download   divider style=”clear”   Clave     This pattern is extremely popular in modern African pop music with artists like Maleek Berry, WizKid Burnaboy & Mr. Eazi.   Maleek Berry – Love U   divider style=”clear”   Mr.Eazi – Supernova   divider style=”clear”   Dancehall   …

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How Pros Make Hits: Sicko Mode – Travis Scott

How Pros Make Hits: Sicko Mode – Travis Scott This blog post is a chapter from How Pros Make Hits by Tom Frampton, posted with permission. Most critics and fans consider SICKO MODE to be the highlight of Scott’s 2018 album ‘Astroworld.’ Astroworld was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, with ‘Sicko Mode’ receiving nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. The song was Travis Scott’s first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. 32 songwriters and 6 producers are credited as being part of the production process of this track. With guest vocals from superstars Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk posthumously. The phrase ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ clearly doesn’t apply in this circumstance. Let’s unravel the components of the track and see what can be used as inspiration in our next production.   su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-JBBNg8YKs” …

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Sugar – The Ultimate Audio Sweetener

Sugar – The Ultimate Audio Sweetener This week we are covering an incredible multiband plugin called Sugar. Sugar is made by Process.Audio where they are all about the music. They are a collection of artists and music makers who got together to shift the focus of modern production back onto the music-making and less on the minutia of music editing. Sugar is the result of this mission, and is appropriately dubbed the ‘ultimate audio sweetener’. Sugar is a one-stop-shop, a plugin that is meant to put mastering-level processing in an easy to use package. In this article, we will run through the plugin’s features and tell you what we love and think could improve (if anything). Continue below! su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#d2d2d2″ size=”1″ Workflow The workflow with Sugar is simple, it is made to enhance audio. There are limited controls so you only need to face a limited amount of parameters …

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iZotope Neutron 3 – Mixing in the 31st Century

iZotope Neutron 3 – Mixing in the 31st Century We’ve covered various products from iZotope over the years and are excited to cover their updated version of the insanely powerful plugin Neutron 3. This marks the third iteration of the plugin, which we wrote about the first version back in 2017. The most significant changes to the plugin come with the Module Interface, the Masking Meter, the Assistant Feature, and the brand new module called Sculptor. iZotope also made changes to the technology under the hood to improve performance and processing, these changes are tangible as you can now throw more instances of Neutron 3 in your project than before. In this article, we’ll take you through the new features found in Neutron 3 and show you how to get the most out of the plugin. su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#d2d2d2″ size=”1″ General User Interface First thing’s first – the GUI (general …

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