The beauty of semi-modular synths is their ability to straddle the divide between accessibility and complexity. With a pre-routed, subtractive synth engine, anybody can create and edit sounds with ease, but the addition of a patchbay opens up the road to more complex, creative and weirder sound design tricks.
Why not modulate the filter cutoff with an audio rate oscillator? Randomise elements with a little sample and hold? Link up an external instrument as an additional sound source...? The world is your (semi-)oyster.
In this issue’s cover feature, we’re delving into semi-modulars in both hardware and plugin form, to help you get more creative and design bigger, better sounds.
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Interviews
Maribou State – UK electronic duo show off their impressive live rig and tell us about new album Kingdoms In Colour
Danny Byrd – The UK drum & bass king shows us around his central Bath studio
Thomas Dolby – The new wave icon tells us about his latest tour and the cutting edge technology that brought it about
The Track: OC & Verde – Ben O’Connor and Jon Verde discuss their latest track, Indica
Classic Album – UK reggae legends Steel Pulse talk us through Handsworth Revolution
Technique
Semi-Modular Masterclass – A guide to mastering semi-modular sound design, with hardware and plugin guides and essential techniques explained
Producer’s Guide – All the knowledge you need to start working to picture
Modular Monthly – Creating patterns with the Abstract Data ADE-33 Event Boss
Toolkit – Crafting classic sounds with software samplers
Reviews
Dreadbox & Polyend Medusa
Analogue Solutions Generator
Roland System 500
Yamaha MODX
iZotope RX7
And more...
Samples
Sub Bass Weight – Add some low-end power with this pack of speaker-shaking loops, hits and multisampled instruments
Radio-Ready Drums – Bright, bold beats processed to perfection, ready to punch through your next pop production
Access the FM sample archive: Download the ‘Archive’ packs and get over 12GB of loops, hits and instruments from our back catalogue of high-quality and royalty-free samples. From vintage synths and drum machines to esoteric instruments and FX – think of it as our best of. All the samples you need to create great music!
