BEAT MAGAZINE #188

For those who hate manuals, find recording books too dry, and don‘t like searching on YouTube, we‘ve got 98 compact answers to the most important studio and technology questions, plus useful power tips ranging from creative boosters to tricks concerning songwriting, arranging, and sound design and well-kept mixing and mastering secrets. Also included: the best add-ons, shortcuts, and workflow accelerators specifically for your DAW so that production becomes less work and more fun again!

Free: Tracktion Retromod FAT + Synthwave expansion for Zampler & MPCs

Our highlight Tracktion RetroMod FAT brings the powerful and multi-faceted sound of modern Moog synthesizers to your DAW, including crisp basses and punchy leads, of course, as well as pads and much more.

The name Moog stands like no other for the unbridled power, dynamics, and diversity of analog synthesizer sounds – not least of all thanks to the legendary Minimoog, as well as the Voyager, Sub 37, and Minitaur. Tracktion Retromod FAT brings this punchy and multi-faceted sound to your DAW, including crisp basses and assertive leads in addition to pads and much more.

Retromod Fat includes all contemporary Moog synthesizers, with the exception of the Mini, for the first time in one package. Not only the final, complete sounds of each instrument have been sampled but also every basic element, starting from the pure waveforms. The result is a virtual future Moog capable of generating incredibly rich sounds.

Also on board is the equally powerful and beginner-friendly DAW Avid‘s Pro Tools | First, which includes 16 tracks, 23 compressors & EQs, and excellent sampling and time-stretching tools. AIR Music‘s Xpand!2 plugin and UVI‘s PlugSound library provide inspiration.

„Back to the 80s!“ is the motto of the new Starwave soundset for our Zampler//RX, as well as for AKAI‘s MPC series, which provides 90 powerful basses, gripping leads, shimmering keyboard sounds, and warm pads with an extra dose of retro feeling. No less inspiring is the 4 GB sample collection with fresh sound fodder for House, Dark Techno, Electronica, Hip & Hop, and Drum & Bass, and also distinctive Eurorack drums and retro sounds.