Plug-in developers Voxengo have released a beta version of an update to their excellent SPAN spectral analyser plug-in. You can grab the download here.


Reaction to the new version appears to be mixed, but what do you make of it?

After the success of last September's Hospitality Q+A+E at the British Music Experience museum (www.britishmusicexperience.com), Hospital Records are sending three of today's hottest producers to run one of its masterclass sessions. On March 5 2010, the BME in London will play host to DnB dynamo Danny Byrd, prolific electronic producer John B and rising dubstep star Emalkay. During the two-hour session running from 19:30-21:30, the trio will be answering questions from the audience, talking about their experiences in the industry and demonstrating some of their prized production techniques.

Tickets (£5) will be very much in demand, so be sure to get yours soon: www.hospitalrecords.com/qae

Still not convinced? Get a flavour of the Hospitality Q+A+E sessions by watching this video from last September's event:

Our Computer Music Mixing Special is going down a storm in the UK and Europe, and as of today, readers in the rest of the world can get their hands on it too!*

So, if your finished tracks don't stand up next to your favourite commercial mixes, don't despair. CM Special 39: Fix Your Mix! brings you the solution, with 38 step-by-step mixing techniques you can put to work on your tracks right now.

You can produce polished, pro quality mixes with your home setup and the help of our team of mixing experts. Here's just a taster of the pro tricks that are revealed in the magazine/DVD:

Making it loud
Dynamic mixing
Attention-grabbing effects
Sitting a vocal
Separation techniques
Processing tricks galore
Super-wide mixes
Snap compression
Parallel compression
Making space in the mix
EQing the bottom end
Transient shaping
Fat compressed beats
Boosting the energy
and more!

Plus:
How to mix a complete track from start to finish
The Fast Guide to Monitors - how to get your listening setup right

CM Special 39: Fix Your Mix!
Get it now!
UK READERS - FINAL TWO WEEKS ON THE NEWSSTAND.
*US READERS - APOLOGIES, THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN HELD IN CUSTOMS. EXPECTED ON SALE DATE IS FEBRUARY 3, 2010

Computer Music Specials are available from selected WH Smith, Barnes & Noble, Chapters and independent newsagents.

Or by mail order from: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/store/displaystore.asp?sid=551

Get the cover image for your desktop here.

7.7GB OF CONTENT ON THE DUAL-LAYER DVD

• Zynewave Podium 2 CM
A complete music production package for Windows PC is yours free with CM148! This powerful, ultra-customisable DAW offers audio and MIDI editing, built-in effects, VST compatibility, and plenty more.

• 1,994 24-bit Fidget House samples
This selection of nearly 2000 hits, loops and multisamples is inspired by the likes of Crookers, Foamo and Hervé – bonkers basses, wild glitch FX and pumping drum kits are just a few of the delights awaiting you in this twisted collection.

• Producer Masterclass tutorial and video: Subscape
Combining big beats and basslines with deep musical sensibility, Subscape is one of the most exciting new producers on the dubstep scene. In this exclusive video, the Woking wonder talks us through the concepts and techniques behind the track Nothing's Wrong.

IN THE MAG

• The Beginners' Guide to Effects
The first of five easy-to-follow guides to the fundamental concepts behind computer music. We kick it all off by showing you how to improve and enhance your productions by using effects plug-ins.

• Inside the Record mixer
Master Propellerhead Record's awesome SSL-cloned mixer with our guided tour and how-to's pertaining to its numerous features!

• 'Casting the net
A professional podcast can be a powerful tool in promoting your music, and here we show you how to create one. Licensing, jingles, links, hosting, and, of course, the software you need to make it happen are all covered.

• CM Focus: Jump-up DnB
Rip up the dancefloor with our guide to producing a complete jump-up drum 'n' bass track. The creation of every element is covered in our tutorial, from slamming kicks and snares and driving percussion to warped bass noises and wild FX.

• The Nextmen's Dom Search interviewed
It seems that The Nextmen can do no wrong, whether they're collaborating with huge names, producing quality tracks in myriad styles, or raising hell with their four-deck live show. For the CM interview, we speak to one half of this dynamic duo about software, videogame music, work ethics and more.

• Reviewed!
Celemony Melodyne editor • Ableton/Cycling '74 Max For Live • MOTU Digital Performer 7 • FabFilter Pro-Q • Flux Syrah • Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro • Notion Music Notion 3 • Wave Arts Tube Saturator • …and more

Plus!
• Instant arrangement: Our guide to quick and effective dance music track-building
• Sound Essentials: Scot Solida shows you the basics of string synthesis
• Off The Dial: rachMiel has a hankering for some manual slicing
• The Easy Guide: Major and minor thirds dissected and laid bare
• The Burning Question: Is streaming the future of music consumption?
• And much more!

You can order this issue (as well as recent back issues) by calling 0870 837 4773 in the UK, +44 1858 438795 everywhere else, or emailing future@subscription.co.uk.

Subscribe to Computer Music now and save over 23% (UK only) at the following address: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.

Readers in the US save $90, subscribe at www.imsnews.com.

Readers in Europe and the rest of the world, subscribe at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

Computer Music's second app for iPhone and iPod Touch is now available for free! Download it from the App Store here.

Computer Music: Make Music Now, Volume 2 gives you a collection of sampled hip-hop loops to manipulate and remix via an intuitive touch-controlled six-track audio sequencer. Simply drag your chosen sounds onto the arrange page, then resize, copy, layer and mix them to create your own track. Want to edit the loops themselves? Use the innovative Clip Masher to slice and rearrange them as you see fit.

CM:MMN 02 is the second in a series of apps built on Hige Five's Pocket Remix engine – watch this space for news of the next one, and get Volume 1 (Dub) here.

As you may already be aware, Ableton was originally founded by Bernd Roggendorf, Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke, with the latter two men first coming to public attention through the electonic group Monolake. Behles now spends his time running Ableton, leaving Henke to carry on Monolake, along with new recruit, Torsten Pröfrock. In addition to Monolake duties, though, Henke still plays a technical role within Ableton, chiefly working on Live's included instruments and effects.

What's more, Henke is now offering up a bunch of awesome new MIDI and audio plug-ins for the company's Max for Live program. The new devices consist of PX-18 MIDI plug-in, which is based on Behles and Henke's original step sequencing software of the same name (in fact, Henke says that the original unit was used to create many Monolake tracks, as well as providing inspiration for some aspects of Live); Black, which simply displays the track time in hours, minutes and seconds on a black background, and may be useful for listening to your mixes in detail without seeing them as blocks onscreen; Distance, an audio unit that adjusts the volume, pan, filtering and stereo width of incoming signals to simulate spatial effects; Circular Doppler, which emulates the effect of two microphones rotating around a central sound source; and finally, our favourite of the new effects, Grain Freeze, for creating skittering, mashed-up sections from any audio source.

That's your lot, although Henke promises some more Max for Live plug-ins in the near future, including some cool Live.API devices. We can't wait to find out what he has in store for us, and we'll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, head to www.monolake.de/technology/m4l.html to pick up all of Henke's fantastic freebies.

Just a quick note to let you know that the Computer Music team are now all on holiday until the beginning of January, so there won't be any activity here until then.

We hope you have a great Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you all in 2010!

KJ Sawka, the live DnB drummer, has teamed up with Ableton to give Live owners an early Christmas present. Head over to Ableton's site to get hold of two exclusive Live Packs: the first consists of a bunch of drum, bass and melodic loops for throwing into your own projects, as well as some groove templates and MIDI grooves recrded by KJ during a live session at the Art Institute in Seattle, USA; the second contains a Live Set of KJ's latest tune, Void of Truth, for either learning a little more about the tub-thumper's music-making process or for remixing in any way you want. Note that you can't release a remix of KJ's tune yourself without permission, and you'll need Ableton Live 8.1 to run the sessions.

www.ableton.com/madbeatz

Veteran music software developer Steinberg has created a virtual online museum with a host of media from the company’s 25-year history.


As well as the cool pics of the now ancient Steinberg Pro 16 for the Commodore 64 and vintage visuals from old version of Cubase, the site is worth checking out for its entertainingly baffling interface. You can find it here.

There seem to be plenty of companies giving away free goodies at the moment, so here’s CM’s roundup of the best stuff you can get your hands on without making a dent in your wallet.


Cakewalk - SFZ+, Square I, AudioFX 1, 2 and 3 (PC VST)


Native Instruments - Holiday Selection 2009 (Kore / Kore Player soundpack)


OhmForce - Symptohm:Melohman Performance Edition (PC RTAS and VST, Mac AU, RTAS and VST


Wave Alchemy - Drum Tools (samples - this one requires you sign up for Wave Alchemy newsletter)

If you’re a regular reader of our blog you’ll remember our news that CM synth and sample users The Dirty Chimes were in the running to appear in C4’s teen soap Hollyoaks.


Voting is now open for the contest, so please help support the band and CM by voting here. Voting ends at midnight on Wednesday the 16th of December, so please vote as soon as possible!

Don't despair if your finished tracks don't stand up next to your favourite commercial mixes. Our brand-new Computer Music Special brings you the solution, with 38 step-by-step mixing techniques you can put to work on your tracks right now!

You can produce polished, pro quality mixes with your home setup and the help of our team of mixing experts.

Here's just a taster of the pro tricks that are revealed in the magazine/DVD:

Making it loud
Dynamic mixing
Attention-grabbing effects
Sitting a vocal
Separation techniques
Processing tricks galore
Super-wide mixes
Snap compression
Parallel compression
Making space in the mix
EQing the bottom end
Transient shaping
Fat compressed beats
Boosting the energy
and more!

Plus:
How to mix a complete track from start to finish
The Fast Guide to Monitors - how to get your listening setup right

Don't delay - the last time we released a CM Mixing Special it sold out in record time, and this one is even better!

CM Special 39: Fix Your Mix!
Onsale dates:
UK - out now
Europe: 17 Dec
North America: 7 Jan
ROW: 21 Jan

Computer Music Specials are available from selected WH Smith, Barnes & Noble, Chapters and independent newsagents.

Or by mail order from: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/store/displaystore.asp?sid=551

Computer Music 146, December issue, gives readers the chance to win a bundle comprised of a Cakewalk V-Studio 100 and a copy of Sonar 8.5 Producer Edition, worth £1064 in total. The Sonar software provides everything you need to record, compose and produce on your PC, while the V-Studio 100 works as an audio interface, DAW controller, mobile flash recorder and even a mobile mixer.

Turn to p85 in the current issue (CM146) to find out how to enter and to read the full details of the competition.

Be sure to check out www.cakewalk.com and www.v-studio.info for more info on Sonar and the V-Studio series!

There's been a seismic shift in music technology throughout the last decade that's seen the pro-quality studio transformed from a room-full of expensive hardware to a laptop-full of affordable software. Since it's initial release in 2000, Propellerhead's Reason has been at the forefront of this revolution, offering all the flexibility, power and convenience of software in a virtual rack-based system that even the most old-school of producers would feel right at home with. It's without doubt one of the most popular music-making applications in the world, with plenty of big-name fans and a thriving online user community.

Whether you use Reason on its own, in conjunction with Propellerhead Record, or ReWired into a 'traditional' DAW like Logic, Cubase, Live or Pro Tools, Reason: The Ultimate Guide will sharpen your skills, feed your creativity and give you plenty of ideas to bring to your productions. Comprising tutorials, tips and advice drawn from the pages of Computer Music and Computer Music Specials, and including a DVD packed with sounds, videos and tutorial files, it's an indespensible resource for Reason users of all ability levels and musical tastes.

Reason: The Ultimate Guide is available in good newsagents and online at www.myfavouritemagazines.com now.