Synths & Sound Design

Tip | Feb 12, 2014 by Rich Tozzoli

What’s better than a single guitar amp plug-in? Why two, of course! In this excellent tutorial, Rich Tozzoli breaks down how best to use multiple guitar amp plug-ins to achieve unlimited sounds.

Tutorial | Feb 11, 2014 by G.W. Childs IV

The Korg Volca family of synths replicate the quirkiness of the analog world while allowing you to interface with modern music software. Here's how to sync the Volcas to Ableton, Logic & Reason.

Editorial | Feb 08, 2014 by Gary Hiebner

Simple ideas can be the most powerful. In this article Gary Hiebner suggests some obvious yet effective ways to diversify your compositions & music productions by implementing other genres & styles.

Tutorial | Feb 02, 2014 by G.W. Childs IV

When Native Instruments gave us The Finger (ahem!) in Komplete it didn't get the same kudos as its sibling plug-ins. But, this MIDI controlled fx plug-in is very powerful as G. W. Childs finds out.

Tutorial | Jan 29, 2014 by Jay Asher

There's a continuing number of high-quality plug-ins available for the UAD-2 platform. So much so that it can be difficult to discover the plug-in best suited for your needs. Jay Asher reveals 6 gems.

Tutorial | Jan 27, 2014 by Darren Burgos

Want to create stunning st-st-stutters in your tracks using Logic Pro X? Well, you're in luck: Darren Burgos reveals his production techniques for great gated stutters.

Tutorial | Jan 26, 2014 by Matt Vanacoro

There's not much you can't achieve with drum sounds using FXpansion's excellent BFD3. In this tutorial, Matt Vanacoro puts it to the test and shows how to create realistic sounds using it!

Tutorial | Jan 21, 2014 by Hollin Jones

If you've got Cubase 7.5 you've also got HALion Sonic SE2 - a versatile sampler instrument / synth with powerful features. In this tutorial discover how to build a multi-layered instrument using it.

Tutorial | Jan 20, 2014 by Gary Hiebner

Live 9 users who want to truly manipulate audio have never had it so good thanks to Max For Live's Buffer Shuffler. Gary Hiebner gets his shuffle on in his quest for unique, creative effects.

Tutorial | Jan 10, 2014 by Toby Pitman

In this tutorial, Toby Pitman shows how to create a cool and rather enormous guitar tone that can be achieved in Logic Pro X thanks to a few new additions to the Pedalboard plugin.

Tutorial | Jan 09, 2014 by G.W. Childs IV

Uncovering Harmor in FL Studio means needing to get to grips with a very powerful and capable additive/subtractive synth. G. W. Childs walks you through the essentials in this tutorial.

Tutorial | Jan 08, 2014 by Toby Pitman

The Korg iMS-20 (think Korg MS-20 and MS-20 mini) was one of the first serious synth iPad apps for musicians and is still going strong. Find out how to unleash the power behind its Patch Panel.

Tutorial | Jan 07, 2014 by Gary Hiebner

Ever wondered what a reverb or a phaser would look like on a photo you took on your iPhone? How about editing audio loops in a text editor? Enter the world of databending where everything is possible.

Editorial | Dec 31, 2013 by G.W. Childs IV

Don't be stuck in your studio. There's a world of inspiration beyond your four walls. Now that laptops, iPads & controllers can fit in your backpack it's easier than ever to explore & create anywhere.

Tutorial | Dec 30, 2013 by G.W. Childs IV

When you think of white noise you might not feel inspired, but with some clever filtering tricks and when played through Reason's Subtractor you can create something musical and unique.