MusicTech Magazine

18 June 2020

The human voice can be a malleable instrument. In a mix, it can be chopped, duplicated or used as the raw material to craft apocalyptic choirs or ethereal soul-tugging soundscapes. In a conventional track, the central hook is usually carried within the vocal melody, and so it’s massively important that the recording, treatment and placement of the vocal is done to the highest possible standard. In this month’s cover feature, starting on page 014, Jono Buchanan guides us through the steps required to create such perfect vocals, and suggests a few more creative ways with which to manipulate the voice. Also this month, we spend some quality time with production icon Stephen Street, whose impact on British rock is nothing short of seismic. Recently awarded the Outstanding Contribution to UK Music by the MPG, Stephen explains his process, thoughts on the industry and studio memories on page 024. Elsewhere, you’ll find a fun guide to crafting your own multisample instrument using household items, and we head to Barcelona to learn more about DJ and producer Wehbba’s incorporation of found sound into his work. In this month’s tutorial section, we focus on techniques using all the major DAWs, and recent interviewee Jesse Ray Ernster guest-writes a guide to his go-to drum gating approaches in Pro Tools. On the review bench, there’s a mountain of tantalising gear to read up on, including Logic’s sizeable recent update, Arturia’s thrilling KeyStep Pro, and Moog’s semi-modular wonder, the Subharmonicon. I hope you enjoy the issue.