Spitfire Chamber Strings Review

Review by Jordan Killiard Edited by Sam Dudley Price: £599 inc. vat Developer: Spitfire Audio Spitfire Chamber Strings has risen out of the ashes of Spitfire’s original Sable series. Released back in 2013, Sable was a modular library beginning Spitfire’s British Modular Library (BML) series, released in five volumes, including specially created ensemble

ACID Pro 8.0 Review

Review by Katie Tarrant Edited by Sam Hughes Introduction ACID Pro 8.0 is a DAW targeted at music creators and producers that thrives on loop-based experimentation and production. In need of an upgrade since its initial creation, MAGIX have given ACID a much needed makeover, with a sleeker design, the addition of a

Evolution of a Theme: Final Fantasy’s Prelude

Banner image of Final Fantasy I

Analysis by Sam Dudley Edited by Alyx Jones This is the first in a series of articles discussing the nature of themes in video game music. We'll be looking at what makes thematic content in video games different to that of other mediums, with in depth explorations into some well known concepts

PLAY! – The British Paraorchestra & Friends in Concert Review

Review by Andrew Overfield Edited by Sam Hughes Artistic Director: Charles Hazlewood Composer(s): Various Venue: Leeds Town Hall On the 20th March, Andrew Overfield and Sam Hughes checked out the PLAY! concert; a series of classical pieces performed alongside classic and modern video game music, by the British Paraorchestra & Friends, conducted by Charles Hazlewood.

Woodchester Piano Review

Review by Katie Tarrant Edited by Sam Hughes Fracture Sounds is a company founded and run by composer and programmer Will Bedford, who specialise in crafting virtual instruments and composer tools. Their previous releases include Granulate 2, Dream Zither, Tiny Music Box, and ARCO, and their latest release is Woodchester Piano. Woodchester Piano

ARCO by Fracture Sounds Review

Review by Katie Tarrant Edited by Sam Hughes Introduction Fracture Sounds is a company founded and run by composer and programmer Will Bedford. His previous releases include Granulate 2, Singing Bowl, Dream Zither and Tiny Music Box. His latest release is ARCO. A year in the making, ARCO is a smooth four piano

Resurrection of the Night – Music from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Review

Review by Andrew Overfield Edited by Katie Tarrant Publisher: Materia Collective Arranger(s): Wayne Strange, Tim Stoney Artwork: Walid Feghali Executive Producer: Sebastian Wolff Introduction I’m going to start by making it known I have never played a Castlevania game. There, I admitted it. I have, however been a huge fan of the music for some time now.

Umlaut Audio Motors Review

Review by Jordan Killiard Edited by Katie Tarrant Price: $99 US Developer:  Umlaut Audio Reviewed on: Mac Pro 5.1 Back in June 2017, I reviewed Umlaut Audio's uBeat bundle. I liked its customisable features and how it encouraged you to make the supplied pads and loops your own through use of FX. Now Umlaut Audio

Umlaut Audio uBeat Bundle Review

Review by Jordan Killiard Edited by Katie Tarrant Price: $199 US Developer:  Umlaut Audio Reviewed on: Mac Los Angeles based Umlaut Audio originally began creating custom Kontakt libraries for composers such as Danny Elfman, Harry Gregson-Williams and John Debney, but soon they started to offer commercial libraries to the masses. Their first commercial libraries Pads and Arps were very