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Orchestral Instrument emulations are a versatile tool within your arsenal as a music producer. Whether you're creating contemporary classical, or just adding some subtle strings or brass to a tune, there's a place for orchestral instruments in a wide variety of genres. Over the years, orchestral emulation in electronic music has been somewhat divisive.  In the early years, there were the fake analog emulations that sounded nothing like the real thing, but nevertheless found widespread success in an era when synthesisers were the new toy all the musicians wanted. Since then, we've seen more capable digital emulations, and moved on...

It's always exciting when your DAW drops an update. Sometimes we get a tonne of new features, other times it's quality of life improvements, and sometimes a bit of both. This month, Ableton has dropped its 11.2 update for Live, with some exciting new improvements including a refreshed Reverb plugin, new Max for Live and more. So let's have a look at what's bundled in the 11.2 update for Live!   Quality of Life improvements Before we move on to the couple of exciting points, it's worth touching on the general improvements 11.2 brings. We have a range of plug-in...

There are many different types of synthesis out there. If you're a relative newcomer to making music, then all of the different synthesis terminology can be a little bit daunting. Some of them are fairly straightforward, but others are a little bit more complex. In general, synthesisers use oscillators to create sound waves, which are then morphed using filters and amplifiers etc. However, Granular synthesis is a little bit different. So, in today's guide we are going to break down granular synthesis. We'll cover what it is, how it works, and some of the cool plugins available that make the most...

If you're used to working with presets and get overwhelmed by the idea of creating your own sounds from scratch, then the concept of sound design can be quite a daunting one.  The idea of tackling all of the various controls and options within a synth or sampler is certainly overwhleming, but luckily, sound design isn't as hard to get into as it may first appear. In this guide, I'm going to show you how to create a synth pad which incorporates some really unique sounds. And that's because the actual sound you use for the synth pad is totally...

Hopefully you've stuck with us through these recent guides. Originally it was going to be one guide, but it became clear that it would take up way too much screen space. The devices contained within the Inspired by Nature pack are all fantastic and interesting devices, which have already added many new ways for me to make music. Hopefully the same is true for you! Whether you're creating generative and evolving patterns with Bouncy Notes, getting weird with samples using Emit, or making some more avant-garde sounds using Tree Tone or Vector FM, there's something in this pack for everyone! So far we've covered four...