Here at Core we love nothing more than the discovery of new music and talent. As a team of music fanatics, it's hugely exciting but in today's industry it can be increasingly difficult to get your music heard. Of course, there's a plethora of competition out there but are you really helping yourself when you send demos off? The music industry is of course, just that - an industry…that means having an element of professionalism at all times. We spoke to Stephen McConachie, DJ, producer and label owner who kindly offered to give budding young producers out there some handy hints to get your demos heard. Interested? You should be!

If you have read the last couple of my interviews for Core (you will find the links below), you will remember my tendency to lean towards the deep, ambient and experimental side of techno. Recently, I had nAX_Acid provide me with a guest mix for my podcast. What I received was two hours of quality music. The tone, richness and variety of his sound represented everything that this sub-genre of techno means. Full of flavour, intensity and certainly experimental. His decision to double the length of the hour mix signalled to me that it was meant to be a story so I chased him up to ask about his tale…..

Perverse are one of the most popular newcomers on the dubstep and garage scene. They've only been making music for a year, but the success they’ve seen with their productions has been mind-blowing and yet completely justified. These sub-bass architects have created tracks with a beautiful resonance. They will appeal to fans of all genres, not just classic bass fans. 

So, we thought we had it all and then along comes Bitwig studio!

I asked them to let me in on the beta list, so let's see if they do. It looks cool, but I must admit I'm not too sure about learning another DAW. I have to say that this looks like the Serato / Traktor argument to me which
Traktor seems to have undeniably won.

Following on from my last article, this installation I will explore the 3 dimensional world of music. In other words I will be delving into some techniques that use the power of stereo to enhance your productions. First of all, something which I and many others will vouch for is the importance of the 'mixing' stage of production. Nailing this will make each track shine to its full potential as each of the elements are heard with clarity and definition as well as injecting energy, warmth and character into the music. Using your stereo field effectively will really help you find space in your mix where you didn't think it existed and take that flat sounding piece of whatever and transform it into something with a bit more shape and rhythm.

This issue, I decided to go straight for the jugular and weigh up the differences between the 3 most popular Digital Vinyl (DV) systems on the market.

Don't know what a Digital Vinyl system is?

It's a software / hardware setup that allows you to play any digital music files from your laptop with the use of Digital 12" Vinyl or CDs. It's not a particularly new concept. Ritchie Hawtin was pioneering the first "Final Scratch" system back in 2001. But computer processors have come on a LOT since then, and so has the software, and these systems have become so popular I thought it was about time to go "Head 2 Head" as the choice between the brands is a difficult one.

The Contenders:

. Traktor, by Native Instruments is probably the best known.
. Serato Scratch, by Rane comes a close second.
. Cross, by Mixvibes is less known, but seems to be becoming popular.

Compression is arguably one of the deadliest weapons in the studio. It can make your track come tearing out of the speakers and destroy the dance floor, but equally it can squash your music flat as a pancake.  It's one of the gain-based family of effects, evening out the peaks and troughs in volume of whatever you apply it to.
 

If you know anything about live electronic music you'll probably have run across Akai's famous MPC samplers at some point. For the uninitiated, they are a cross between a drum machine and a sampler/sequencer with the typical rubber drum pads and flat desktop design with a small flip up screen. The simplicity and versatility of the MPC’s have made them popular with many artists for live performances.

Dave The Drummer gets an interview with Graham Ball - Ableton Live's communications manager