Future Music delivers the technique and technology behind the hits. Packed with inspiration for today’s modern musician there’s reviews of hot new gear, tons of tutorials to help you get the most out of your hardware and software, and exclusive In The Studio features where the stars take apart their tracks.

Chance encounter

Future Music

IN THE ARCHIVE – UPDATED! • FM’s Sample Archive gives you over 18GB of carefully-curated, royalty-free sounds to use in your music. Here’s what’s inside...

Arturia’s latest V Collection brings more analogue and digital classics to the party • A Juno, Emulator and vintage Vocoder are the latest additions to the French brand’s plugin bundle

The Future Of Music

Generate new musical ideas in Ableton Live • PROBLEM: How can I create a musical ‘riff’ using MIDI in Live?

Amon Tobin Foley Room • Ninja Tune, 2007

In the studio with Amon Tobin

LIKE IT? TRY THESE…

ALBUM REVIEWS

ORDERED CHAOS Randomisation, probability and generative music • From hardware by the likes of Korg, Arturia and Elektron, to Live 11 and Bitwig Studio, randomisation and probability tools seem to be everywhere these days. But why, how and when should we use them?

Tailoring a patch with randomisation using Korg’s opsix • Randomising synth parameters is a quick way to create new sounds, but controlling the process can make the results far more usable...

Probability variations with Bitwig Studio’s The Grid • Bitwig’s flagship modular instrument features a host of chance, random and logic-based tools, which can be combined to generate fresh ideas

Randomly modulated effects in Ableton Live • Adding a touch of unpredictability to static effects treatments can be a great way to maintain listener interest. Here’s how it can be done using LFOs

Be the curator

FOUR MORE AGENTS OF CHAOS…

A GUIDE TO GENERATIVE PATCHING • Explore the mysterious sonic landscape of generative music with Rob Redman

A CHOICE SELECTION OF MODULAR GOODNESS FOR GENERATIVE MUSIC

Cable splitting • It might be obvious but using stackable cables, or splitters, allows you to take one output and send it to multiple destinations – great for syncing modulations. Less good for accurate pitch though.

BUYER’S GUIDE • Complete modular systems for generative music...

Fraser T. Smith • Award-winning hit maker Fraser T. Smith is famed for his songwriting/production work with Adele and Stormzy, but now the shoe is on the other foot. Danny Turner discusses his hugely ambitious debut solo project, Future Utopia

DJOKO • Building a track from scratch in Live

Making sexy synth edits in Ableton Live • Johannes gets his beats and bass grooving, then cuts up and processes synth samples

ABLETON LIVE 11

The small things add up in Live 11

Your pleas have finally been answered: Live now has comping! • Live 11 introduces Take Folders and Comping into the Ableton workflow, and it couldn’t be easier to start using right away

QUICK TIPS

Use new MIDI probability for varied beats • It’s never been easier to add a bit of variation to your patterns now that Live 11 has Probability

Live 11, now with probability

Getting to grips with Pitchloop89 • This Max For Live pitch and glitch machine, inspired by a rare hardware unit, was developed with Ableton co-founder Robert Henke

A Winged Victory for the Sullen • A Winged Victory for the Sullen comprises Stars of the Lid founder Adam Wiltzie and film composer Dustin O’Halloran. Danny Turner speaks to Wiltzie about the duo’s latest theatre production score, Invisible Cities

ADAM’S ESSENTIAL GEAR

Dub • A colossus of bassweight, dub is the reggae offshoot that inspired...