In this month's action-packed issue of CM, we're focusing on melodies, bringing you a huge hook-writing guide to help your tunes truly stand out, and a free MIDI app to keep you it all in key. Elsewhere, we've got an exclusive in-studio video with DnB legend Dom & Roland, 2.8GB of free samples, a mash-up masterclass, in-depth looks behind two DAWs, and loads, loads more.
Get this issue now!
Print + DVD | | Android | | iOS | | Digital cross-platform
Digital editions include all extra content via Vault download
FREE PLUGIN when you subscribe or resubscribe
Pay less every month by choosing one of our print or digital subscriptions, and get your free copy of the AIR Xpand!2 workstation instrument when you subscribe or resubscribe to CM via our link. Read more about the offer, or dive right in and grab your subscription now from this link!
How to write Perfect Hooks
What separates a good song from a great song? You can practice your craft, follow all the advice, and it'll get you 90 percent of the way… but that extra spark of genius is harder to come by. That extra ten percent is the subject of this issue's huge cover feature. Over 19 pages with 21 videos, we'll tell you everything you need to know to bring your tunes to the next level…
- The theory behind hooks - how and why they work
- Basic building blocks and creating effective one-note hook lines
- What makes four classic catchy tracks tick… second by second
- Exploring complex lead-synth programming and talking synth hooks
- Designing and programming overtly percussive and rhythmic ear-catchers
- Ten quick-fire hook ideas to give you instant inspiration
To get started with this epic feature, check out the video below, and get the remaining 20 with your Print or Digital copy of CM240!
FREE MIDI app - AutoTonic CM
This month's CM software giveaway is like no other - AutoTonic CM is an advanced real-time MIDI note transposer that snaps the pitches of notes played on your MIDI keyboard to a given scale. With a normal keyboard, you've got to learn scales and fingering patterns if you want to sound any good… with AutoTonic CM installed on your PC or Mac, all you need is the white notes, while the black notes act to switch between scales.
Check out what AutoTonic CM is capable of in the video below, or check out its full spec. Readers of the print edition of Computer Music 240 get AutoTonic CM on their cover disc, and digital readers get the app via Vault download.
Producer Masterclass - Dom & Roland
A true DnB veteran, Dominic Angas has been making epic dancefloor anthems for more than two decades. Shortly after the release of his seventh album, we smuggled ourselves into Dom's West London studio to get an exclusive look at a work-in-progress track, and to find out how he makes his big beats and low-down bass. Oh, and we filmed the whole thing too!
Check out part 1 of this huge exclusive video masterclass below, and get the rest with this issue!
2.8GB FREE Samples
Our never-ending quest to bring you the world's best samples for just the price of a magazine continues, kicking off with 504 exclusive Transition Tools samples - a pack of synth noise, moving notches, 'plosions', down-zaps, moving tones and more, to get your tracks from place to place. We're also busting an old pack out of the archive - CM Guitar Loops contains 1860 WAVs and 31 multisampled instruments for the best in guitars, be they acoustic, steel-string, 12-string, lap steel or otherwise. Finally, our Bonus Loopmasters Samples contain a taste of eight of the premium sample label's biggest recent packs.
Genre Mash-ups
When two musical styles clash, it can either go very wrong or very right. We'll show you how to overcome the differences and play matchmaker in this tutorial feature. If artists like Clean Bandit, Burial and Jack U have got you all mixed up, we'll help you put it all together over six pages of tutorials, explanations and tips, so you can create your own epic style-clash tracks.
Check out some of the action in the video below, and get the whole article as part of this issue!
Reason 9: the CM Guide
Propellerhead's DAW revolutionised how we made music when it burst onto the scene in 2000. Now, eight versions later, a lot has changed, but the core remains the same. In this feature, we get on board with Reason 9, checking out the new Player Devices, Pitch Edit mode, MIDI and Audio tweaks and more. Check out the Players in the video below, and get the whole article in CM240.
Also in the issue…
Steinberg Cubase Pro 9 is out now! Check out our official opinion in our three-page review
We pin down Aussie-born DJ/Producer Sonny Fodera, and grill him on his production techniques across five pages
Explore the Music Theory behind Combined Scales
Delta Heavy tell us their tactics for making catchy tunes and hooks
Put the bang back in your beats with a look at Found-Sound Drums
We bring you a one-page history of the LA-3A Limiter
Dirty South dishes the dirt on his top-five essential software tools
We run-down the latest free software in this monht's edition of Freeware News
…and more
Get this issue now!
Print + DVD | | Android | | iOS | | Digital cross-platform
Digital editions include all extra content via Vault download
FREE PLUGIN when you subscribe or resubscribe
Pay less every month by choosing one of our print or digital subscriptions, and get your free copy of the AIR Xpand!2 workstation instrument when you subscribe or resubscribe to CM via our link. Read more about the offer, or dive right in and grab your subscription now from this link!
