Funktion-One, for years now a staple in nightclubs and bespoke dance music festivals, has traditionally employed point source arrays to deliver on its goals of uncompromising audio fidelity and high-efficiency sound reinforcement. Meanwhile, recent decades have seen competing speaker manufacturers capitalize on the convenience of the now ubiquitous touring line array approach.

For a time, Funktion-One was conspicuously absent from this specific sector of the loudspeaker market. Then, the mid 2010s marked the long-awaited debut of their first vertical array format offering in the form of the Funktion One Vero system. Vero is a large format system that combines the convenience of a line array with Funktion-One’s proprietary point source technology. It is designed for large-scale concerts and festivals with over 10,000 in attendance.

Funktion-One Vero debut at Prolight + Sound Frankfurt 2016.

In 2019, the loudspeaker manufacturer introduced a first-of-its-kind compact speaker variant. The launch of the Vero VX compact point source vertical array was, of course, not the headlining story of the event production world in 2020. Early March of the same year saw the near-complete shutdown of countless trades around the globe due to restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19.

As an industry inherently reliant on social gatherings, the nightclubs, concert halls and festival production companies of the world were among the hardest hit by the ensuing social distancing mandates. Introducing a touring concert sound system to an already competitive market was made all the more challenging for Funktion-One by the global lockdown.

For all the hurdles facing it, the company certainly has inertia working in its favor – due in no small part to a history in live music that extends farther back than many music fans may realize.

Funktion-One was founded in 1992, but the company traces its speaker design lineage back to the early days of big concert sound in the early 1970s, when audio engineers were still deciphering the alchemy of live audio reinforcement. Prior to that, in the initial years of big crowds and live bands, achieving a good audio result was almost impossible with the existing technology.

Sound provided by Funktion-One cofounder Tony Andrews for the debut 1971 edition of Glastonbury Festival.

The infamous 1966 U.S. tour on which The Beatles embarked was perhaps most notable for exposing just how woefully incapable the existing amplification solutions were of adequately broadcasting music to the often tens of thousands of fans in attendance. For reference, the entire Vox amp speaker assembly onstage at most of their bookings ran at a total of around 500 watts. Today, its common for a rock concert or festival rig to operate at 200,000 watts or more. 

Following that enlightening set of disasters was a major ramp up of live audio technology development and experimentation over the next decade and beyond. This period arguably jump started the large-format speaker industry we know today.

Some such approaches, like the Grateful Dead‘s famous Wall of Sound, were useful exercises in exploring what could be done with sound on this new scale, even if the overall concept of per-instrument speaker arrays didn’t catch on for too long. At the forefront of the new standards in big audio were the designers and engineers at Turbosound, namely Tony Andrews and John Newsham. 

John Newsham (left) and Tony Andrews (right) in 1978.

Cutting their teeth at the debut 1971 edition of Glastonbury Festival in their development of the original Festival System, Andrews and Newsham’s large-format arrays initially relied on separate speaker enclosures for low, mid, and high frequencies, respectively. It was during these early years that the duo happened upon the signature Turbo for the mid frequency driver loading. They reportedly “put a rolling pin down the middle of the horn,” causing “the waves coming off the cone started to become more organized” in a way which greatly increased the fidelity of the mid-range output.

Andrews and Newsham went on to incorporate all three frequency-range output devices into a succession of all-in-one speaker cabinets. Their original TSM-3 design and its variant dominated the live sound reinforcement industry through the ’80s. It gradually evolved into the award-winning FLASHLIGHT system, so named for its exceptionally directionally precise output. 

The FLASHLIGHT array debuted in at Roger Waters‘ The Wall: Live in Berlin in 1990. It was thereafter adopted by a wide range of touring musicians and bands at the time, among them Depeche Mode, The Cure, Iron Maiden and Oasis. 

A look at photos of these concerts from the early ’90s reveals that the speaker clusters, rather than the now familiar line array format, were often in a semispherical point source arrangement. The success of such formations relied on highly directional cabinets like the FLASHLIGHT system, typically configured so that the final output of any given speaker doesn’t overlap with any adjacent units, resulting in exceptionally clear and intelligible sound. Andrews and Newsham went on to form Funktion-One in 1992, and they continued their design legacy with the Resolution and Evo point source arrays.

Festival System, used in the ’80s by Frank Zappa, Carlos Santana, Status Quo and others.

FLASHLIGHT system, used for Roger Waters: The Wall in Berlin in 1990 to an audience of 350,000.

Early Funktion-One deployment at the Immersive Experimental Sound Field at Glastonbury Festival 1992.

The ’90s also saw the rise of the increasingly common and affordable line array format. In addition to loading and assembly conveniences, a line array system uses overlapping speaker outputs to constructively increase the overall volume of the final output beyond the sum of its individual components. Stacking audio wavefronts in this fashion can cause major issues with clarity and intelligibility, however, particularly in the mid and high frequencies. This often calls for corrective equalization and other forms of destructive processing in an effort to maintain audio fidelity.

Funktion-One, and Tony Andrews in particular, have been outspoken about their commitment to absolute audio fidelity in their products. In conversation with Selector, he explained how the compromises inherent to a typical line array speaker arrangement were simply incompatible with the design philosophy of Funktion-One.

“It’s so important to get everything utterly coherent, and it took us some time to develop new technology until we knew we could do that with do that in a vertical array,” Andrews said. “There’s no arguing with the convenience and the ease of it. But you have to ask, at what cost? We just weren’t prepared to make a compromise.”

Andrews was quick to note, however, that “We’ve been at pains to not call it a line array because it’s a different principle at work. We prefer to call it a vertical array.”

Funktion-One Cofounder Tony Andrews.

With the Vero system, initially debuted in 2016, Andrews, Newsham and the other engineers on the team managed to find the magic (and secret) blend of their patented waveguide technology. Not only that, but they arrived at a high-efficiency driver expertise that allowed them to configure their speakers as a vertical point source arrangement without the usual compensatory signal processing used in an array hang. As such, while the Vero system is certainly built in the format of a standard line array, the actual output distribution stays largely true to the deployment ethos of traditional Funktion-One speaker clusters.

“I’ve been very much against line arrays, because it’s quite simple for me, if I stand in front of it, I want a stereo image that I can climb on,” Andrews said. “The whole approach with audio should be, do as little to the signal as possible, try and get it right at the source, and then don’t mess about with it. Implementing that with natural geometry instead of processing was a big challenge.”

In addition to the proprietary speaker housing and waveguide that Funktion-One had effectively adapted for the new format, the challenge faced by Andrews and his crew was to devise a custom rigging system that would prove both easily adjustable from the ground while still maintaining the audio fidelity so crucial to the success of the design. “One of the things we had to do with the flying system was to have it rotate around the center of the box,” said Andrews. “That’s quite a big thing really, because no matter what angle you set, it has to be geometrically aligned, and therefore will be singing off the same page.”

The angle-adjustment system of this speaker style is a crucial component in adapting a line array for the standard J-shape required to cover the entire audience from the bleachers to the front row, such that the lowest hanging boxes are curved down towards the audience. Meeting this objective while maintaining natural coherency led to the patented Funktion-One Lambda rigging system, which allows the center of rotation to be exactly between any two Vero enclosures.

Here again, Funktion-One designed the Vero to maximize convenience without sacrificing audio quality by making any such adjustments relatively speedy. If an adjustment of the arrays curve need be made, “you can actually take the tension off the back of the hang, and the system goes into a natural straight line. All the tension’s off the angle adjustment, at which point you can dial in new angles, and then re-tension,” according to Andrews. 

“So that was a nice result that came out of what we had to do for the geometry, and it’s certainly a very unique system,” he continued. “One of our younger engineers called it ‘clockwork tonnage,’ which I thought was quite amusing. We went through probably about a year of all kinds of grief. I had to learn about the vast array of different steels and what you can and can’t do with them. The difference between mild steel and some of the more exotic varieties you can get your hands on is unbelievable.”

Behind the front cover of the Vero speakers, the signature Funktion-One waveguide design is still making magic. “The axe-head has a vertical directivity which allows us to move the angle [of the Vero boxes] between about a quarter of a degree and maybe as much as twenty,” Andrews pointed out – plenty for the needs of a vertical array.

Using Funktion-One’s proprietary Projection software, sound engineers can calculate the best set of angles and overall curve for the Vero array at a given event based on the venue specs and attendance layout. This is standard for most line array speaker stacks, but they usually require the individual cabinets to be configured for and locked into specific angles before being flown above the stage, already in a curve.

The Vero array, however, is designed so that the speakers are initially stacked straight up from the ground, with the technicians setting the calculated angles on each box while a set of motors lifts the stack progressively upwards. After being raised in the air, the lowest speaker in the group is pulled back and upwards from a rear tension arm. The hoist naturally pulls the array into the predetermined curve shape, with each cabinet only rotating as far back as the angle setting allows. 

Adaptability of a single sound system to a range of spaces is a key appeal of the line array format. Once the angles of the individual speakers are set and flown, though, it can be quite difficult for most line arrays to be adjusted in the event that, say, the venue decided to open up an additional section of nosebleed seats or move the front rail a few feet closer to the stage, after the speakers had already been flown.

Despite the positive reception of the Vero system in the line array global market, Andrews and his team also recognized the need for a more compact design to fit the wider range of performance spaces that a touring artist might encounter.

Many concert halls, theaters, and music venues can only accommodate speakers up to a certain size and load before safety becomes a concern. “For arenas, Vero was fantastic, but it became apparent that for more standard situations it was too dedicated to achieving a big result. It wasn’t universal enough,” said Andrews.

Early Funktion-One Vero deployment at Welcome to the Future 2017 in Amsterdam.

After the initial award-winning debut of the Vero system at the 2016 edition of Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt and a number of high-profile festival bookings, the need for a more compact touring option became obvious. “Vero is a big system, and one of the early tours we did went through some smaller venues, where capacities were only 2-3,000,” Andrews recounted. “It was quite hard to get it into the venue and into the ceiling.” 

The Vero VX system was born of solutions to these obstacles. In addition to the purely dimensional challenges of fitting a system like the full-format Vero into smaller venues, available rigging points can often be few and far between.

“With the Vero VX, we made further refinements to the basic Lambda flying system because of the experience we’d gained from using Vero – but we still held onto the same principles,” Andrews said. “We only get one hanging point sometimes, so you’ve got to commit. And we’ve got the flexibility to rearrange the angles without having to drop it down and rebuild the entire array.”

He went on: “We thought, well, if we’ve only got one flying point, to maintain adjustability without dropping the system, we had to we get back into the mechanics. We developed a motorized moving point on the main bar where you can change the angle the angle of the entire array by moving the pick up point within the bar via a back and forth hand controller on the ground.”

Andrews is confident that the intended balance between top-tier audio quality and line array-style ease of use was struck in the transformation of the Vero paradigm into its smaller VX product line. “We didn’t put convenience in front of the audio quality,” he said. “So with the vertical arrays that we’ve now got to, we’ve finally figured out how to hold onto that integrity of a perfect geometric three-dimensional cluster in a linear, vertical fashion, which has the huge advantage of being able to be deployed so easily. The two of us could put a Vero or Vero VX system up in twenty minutes.” Funktion-One also developed custom transportation carts, carrying four speakers each, to facilitate speedy array-stacking and disassembly while effectively protecting the hardware.  

Converting the Vero design into this compact form factor was no small challenge, but after three years of experimentation, refinement, and development, Andrews brought the system back to Prolight + Sound in 2019. Billing it as a “a smaller system that offers the same performance characteristics and ease of deployment” as the larger Vero offering, Funktion-One began bringing the VX system out to select U.K. events including Gottwood Festival and Hide&Seek Festival in the latter half of 2019.

Tony Andrews helping with a Funktion-One Vero install at Hide&Seek Festival in Macclesfield.

“Vero achieved what we wanted, but by polling everybody, we got the fact that the VX needed to be not much more than a meter wide,” said Andrews. “So we were really cramming it in because not only are we making it smaller, we were actually trying to get the low frequencies in there as well. It was very challenging in that regard, but we did manage it”

Meanwhile, Funktion-One prepped for a larger global deployment in partnership with live music companies such as Awaken The Night (ATN) in Denver, Colorado. In addition to organizing electronic music gatherings of its own, the company stood out as one of the few official dealers of Funktion-One speaker systems in North America, poising it to capitalize on the upcoming Vero VX rollout.

“Vero VX was all set to go like crazy,” Andrews said, “and then we got hit with COVID-19.”

What can you do when an entire global industry is forced to shut down, with no clear timeline for a return to work, and a precedent-setting sound system sits unheard in your warehouse? For ATN Founder Jimi McClain, the choice was obvious. “We shut it down, completely, and we kept all our guys on,” he told Selector during a meeting at a members-only after-hours club run by the company out of Denver.

“When your lifelong career is music, and you just get furloughed, where do you go? Where does your skill set apply? So I took on the personal debt of keeping my guys working, and we used that time to innovate,” McClain explained.

As the only Funktion-One affiliate to own the Vero VX system in North America – the largest entertainment market in the world – McClain and the ATN crew have been fortunate enough to maintain their business in expectation of events returning. At the same time, they have utilized the downtime to refine both their technical approaches to sound system deployments and the guiding philosophy of their operations. 

“Running a company during the pandemic has been probably the best thing that could have happened to us,” Lee said. “It took us to a different frame of mind, and made us look at things from different angles, and made us better. COVID-19’s been devastating to so many of our peers; it’s tragic. We’re fortunate that we’re still standing and even able to have this conversation.”

ATN was – and still is – the only U.S. production entity in ownership of a full Vero VX array, as well as the sole point of contact for any U.S. touring artists interested in renting the VX system for their shows. The company had thusly been selected to facilitate the U.S. debut of the brand-new array at the June 2020 edition of Sonic Bloom Festival in Rye, Colorado.

“We had it set up where Tony was going to come out as a guest engineer and it was going this really special introduction, with all four stages, as an introduction of the Vero VX to the world,” recounted Lee. In early March, however, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Less than a month later, Sonic Bloom’s organizers announced that emergency guidelines would force them to postpone the 2020 edition.

As discouraging as the turn of events may have been, the ATN crew chose to remain optimistic about their position within the event production world. A year without constant bookings and trade show obligations has allowed them time to refine both their system’s design approaches and continue to build upon the already significant anticipation for the debut of the Vero VX array.

ATN Talent Buyer and Artist Relations Manager Dr. Kelly Neff told Selector about the vocal support the company received from the local music scene. In particular, she and the team were most surprised by the demand to introduce the new system out as soon as possible, despite them never having publicly debuted the VX itself.

 “The system had been at Prolight + Sound and it was at NAMM, but those were just demos. This was the only [touring] build that had ever come to America,” Neff said. “And now Sonic Bloom just got rescheduled again. Same lineup, and we all confirmed with [headliner] Tipper and [the festival management] that yes, we will still do all the sound for 2022. But we’re sitting here with this amazing system that’s really one of a kind, a game changer, and haven’t been able to fly it yet.” 

With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021 bringing just shy of 47% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated at time of writing, the music industry is gearing up for a major return. Many states have lifted social distancing mandates and gathering restrictions entirely. Some festival promoters are already planning and hosting large multi-artist events, and nightclubs across the country are spinning back up into activity.

Fears of infection resurgence remain plausible, to be sure. Variants of the virus are still prevalent in some parts of the globe, with India seeing a record-setting spike in cases early in the month of May. The long-term preparation involved in planning large-scale touring acts, like those who might utilize the Vero VX system, means those bookings aren’t likely to be active until the fall and winter. Many rightly question how event organizers might enforce vaccination requirements or other post-pandemic safety precautions. Across the U.S., though, the live events industry is warming back up and preparing to entertain the millions of people who have spent a whole year foregoing concerts, festivals, and nightclubs.

For his part, Andrews shares McClain’s hopeful outlook about the future of Funktion-One and the anticipated deployment of the Vero VX array in national and global tours. When asked if the initial enthusiasm from potential customers and fellow sound engineers to get the system out into the world had persisted through the pandemic, he affirmed, “Definitely, and I’m pleased to say that hasn’t gone away. We’re just hoping that the vaccines win the race over the virus mutation rate.”

The global lockdown on events has also afforded Andrews a brief respite from the demanding schedule required of a lead systems designer, live sound engineer, and brand ambassador for a company like Funktion-One.

“You know there are trade shows and all manner of things that go on throughout the year, and you have to be there, and it’s very hard to get into a deep developmental groove when your time zone’s being trashed one week to the next,” Andrews said. “And that’s been fantastic; we’ve really been making progress. It never ceases to amaze me how deep this subject is and how many things it involves – everything from human attitudes to what’s the best way to get pure audio to the people.”

Through it all, the music is still the bottom line for Andrews. “The funk is still it for me,” he said. “That’s why we’re Funktion-One I suppose. Funk is on the one.”

“Sequential will operate as a separate entity to the other brands in Focusrite Group, and will continue business as usual,” explained Focusrite Group and Sequential in a joint statement. “Operationally, Sequential will retain its existing company structure, with Dave Smith leading engineering, product development and mentorship of Sequential’s new breed of designers.”

Few music hardware brand identities are as intrinsically linked to their founders as Sequential is with Smith. He’s credited with developing the first polyphonic synthesizer (able to play multiple notes at once), the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5. It became a staple in records by prominent artists like Michael Jackson, Radiohead and Dr. Dre. The Prophet product line remains a staple in many studios to this day and sees regular revisions and new module iterations designed by Smith himself.

In 1981, Smith proposed and spearheaded the concept of a digital inter-device communications protocol, which would allow synthesizers, drum machines, and other modern instruments to synchronize with and trigger notes on other devices throughout the network. This protocol, refined with the help of fellow synthesizer legend Tom Oberheim and Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, became known as MIDI, or “Musical-Instrument-Digital-Interface.” It set the standard language of playing and writing music in the digital era, and as of 2020 it saw a significant update in the form of MIDI 2.0.

The news of Focusrite Group’s acquisition of Sequential might initially raise concerns of potential dilution of the legendary synthesizer brand. It seems Focusrite Group and Dave Smith recognize the value of Sequential’s continued autonomy within the industry, though, reassuring devotees of the Prophet manufacturer’s continued focus on their established technology and potential products.

Rather, the partnership creates a conduit for the exchange of technical features and developments between Sequential and its new partner brands. Like the recent Pioneer DJ Toraiz hardware implementation of Smith’s filter design, it is not out of the question that future Novation products, for example, might implement some iteration of Sequential’s signature filter architecture. Sequential might also integrate Focusrite’s established USB interface technology into their synthesizers, allowing for expanded audio connectivity.

“With Focusrite, we’ve found an ideal home and a perfect cultural and technological fit,” said Smith. [Focusrite Executive Chairman] Phil Dudderidge and his team have a long history of quality, vision, and focus on what musicians and audio professionals really want. We’re excited to join such an industry powerhouse and contribute to our mutual success. I expect great things.”

In spite of the now annual investment of development resources necessary for music software companies to maintain compatibility with Apple’s experience-breaking operating system updates, Serato has introduced a number of standout features with this latest edition. It does bear mentioning that Big Sur and M1 Mac users can finally use the DJ software with their computers as expected, but the additional inclusions and updates steal the limelight here.

Subscription audio services Beatsource LINK and Beatport LINK received updated integration with the addition of Offline Locker functionality. Users can now download and store as many as 100 whole songs from these services as local files, playable without the need for an active internet connection. Link Pro and Pro+ accounts are required for this functionality.

Serato DJ Lite can now utilize the virtual audio sharing functionality introduced to the DJ Pro package in version 2.4. DJ Lite users can opt to output audio directly to live streaming platforms such as Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) without the need for external audio cable routing. Windows users will need to install the Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) utility to enable this feature.

The popular Phase wireless digital vinyl hardware is now an official Serato accessory, which brings improvements in latency, scratch accuracy, and other upgrades to performance. Leaning into the trend of leaving physical audio cables behind, Phase can now be used with a single USB cable to control the Serato virtual decks instead of connecting directly to a DJ mixer. Additional integrations include LED feedback on the Phase hardware for song loading and track end warning, as well as battery indicators directly in the Serato interface.

Lastly, the new Reloop Ready intro controller is now officially supported by Serato as well. Designed to sit directly on top of the keyboard of a 13” laptop, the controller packs an impressively full set of hardware controls into a compact package, serving as a comprehensive workstation for beginner DJs.

Serato DJ Pro 2.5 and Serato DJ Lite 1.5 are available now on Serato.com.

Released in 2018 in partnership with Audiokit, the free Synth One iPad app gained industry-wide acclaim for both its mission and straightforward but in-depth user interface and sound design capabilities. Now, Audiokit has released available a free digital book to accompany the learning process and open information sharing goals of the original synth app.

Written by Francis Preve, Synth One: The Ultimate Guide offers a deep but accessible dive into the world of digital synthesis in the context of the Synth One app. Covering a range of subjects from oscillators and filters to larger melodic concepts, the text is a comprehensive exploration of the principles of synthesis.

As an established product consultant for companies like Ableton, Roland, Korg, and others, Preve is well-equipped to guide new users through their first steps into digital synthesis. He even includes custom presets for the app with which readers can follow along as they make their way through the lessons.

AudioKit Synth One: The Ultimate Guid‪e is available for download at Apple Books. AudioKit Synth One is available for download on the App Store.

While compatible with any normal MP4 player, opening the song in a Stems-equipped software like Traktor allowed DJs to isolate individual song elements like bass lines and vocals while mixing, for more intricate transitions and mashups. Music distributions services like Beatport and Traxsource were quick to offer songs in the format on their site, and NI’s own free Stem Creator tool enabled producers to package their own tracks as Stems-compatible masters. Despite the ever-undefined holy grail of “live remix” DJing, though, a lack of adoption by many artists and labels, coupled with the need for DJs to re-purchase their music if they wished to use the song in Stems format and the initial requirement for owning NI-branded hardware to control the mixing, led to the concept being relegated to Traktor’s heap of underused features next to Remix Decks and Slicer Mode.

The recent advent of open-source AI and machine learning tools may well have finally culminated in a solution for NI’s dead file format. NUO-STEMS promises the ability to convert existing song libraries into Stems-compatible track files, utilizing the free audio-source separation tool Spleeter by Deezer. The utility analyzes the source file using the “Vocals/Drums/Bass/Other” source-separation model, outputting a converted song file ready to be loaded into Traktor and mixed like NI’s existing Stem tracks. The ability to use one’s existing library for this innovative mixing approach is certainly an enticing idea, and NUO-STEMS offers a full library conversion tool to make that happen with a few easy steps.

As with most automated solutions, however, the resulting output from NUO-STEMS is not always perfect, and occasionally unusable depending on the song. Certain tracks lend themselves well to the source-separation algorithm, resulting in well-defined drums and melodic lines. Others leave glaringly obvious audio artifacts and poor separation. Vocals and percussion elements with similar frequency content seem to suffer the most here, often jumbled and sounding like a bad MP3 recording.

But the utility, like the underlying machine-learning algorithms it incorporates, are still in the early years of their development, and are sure to improve over time. Despite NI’s false start, the goal of accessible live remixing is alive and well. Programs like djay Pro AI and the enduring Virtual DJ announced their proprietary version of a live stem separation last year, replacing the existing lo/mid/hi EQ paradigm with controls for Beats, Instruments, and Vocals; results are similarly hit or miss, but promising. And as the AI-based algorithms used by NUO-STEMS improve, the dream of show-ready backwards-compatible Stems mixing might finally catch up with NI.

NUO-STEMS is available here for $45 or a $5 per month subscription, with a limited free demo download.

Acid house was a key component of a late ’80s youth culture revolution in the U.K. that extended beyond nightlife to affect politics, commerce, and countless other aspects of day-to-day life. Since then, the signature sound of the 303 has perpetuated long past the heyday of the genre to become a staple of dance music across an array of tempos and musical styles.

Like so many genre-defining instruments and sounds, however, the Roland TB-303 Bass Line synthesizer did not begin its life with the goal of becoming such an icon of dance music production.

The “Transistorized Bass” device, released by Roland in 1982, was originally intended as a programmable solution for musicians in need of an accompanying electric bass guitar sound. Following the advent of MIDI technology the year before, the TB-303 sought to capitalize on the concept of an all-in-one band by providing a single instrumentalist with all the sounds necessary for a complete production or live performance, with a focus on ease of use.

Indeed, the design philosophy of Roland, as described in his book I Believe in Music by the company’s founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, posited that “It is important that the manufacturing side concentrate on providing ‘useful’ devices to meet creative wishes. It is not the proper role of a manufacturer to demand that the artist perform totally new playing methods. That would merely be an attempt to exploit novelty devices that had been dreamed up by arrogant designers.”

Ironically, the TB-303 was almost immediately seen as a commercial failure due to its infamously convoluted and unintuitive programming workflow. The sheer time and effort required of the user to squeeze out even a passable replication of a classic electric bass guitar sound demanded too much of artists who would, in theory, purchase the device to save time.

Such hurdles led creatives to dismiss the device as a computerized alternative to a live bassist. The absence of internal amplification and necessity of a dedicated bass amplifier did the hardware no favors, nor did the lack of English-language manuals in the early release units. The 303 was discontinued in 1984, the remaining units sold off at clearance prices, and Roland moved on.

After the initial sales flop and relatively brief production run, the unit was adopted by thrifty electronic musicians who discovered the true magic of the device by completely disregarding its intended workflow. Rather than trying to emulate the specific and humanized sound of an electric bass instrument, acts like Newcleus, Phuture, 808 State and others began to utilize the aggressive filter resonance and envelope parameters far outside their intended ranges to derive a weird and relatively alien sonic result.

The Slide control, out of place in the hardware’s original goal of imitating a bass guitar player, facilitated similarly strange and squelchy gliding between the sequenced notes. Perhaps the only remaining element of the 303’s instrumental roots was the even more satisfying sound obtained by adding classic distortion and overdrive guitar pedals to the signal chain, which further defined the acid house sound.

Today, finding an original TB-303 for less than $2500 is near impossible. The exploding popularity of the sound it defined has spawned dozens of cloned units and software emulations by a variety of manufacturers in the years since.

Roland themselves released the sample-based MC-303 in 1996, which was often dismissed as a poor imitation of the original analogue design despite positive sales numbers. Recent updates like the analogue-circuit-modeled digital TB-03 and TB-3 capitalized on improvements in virtual hardware emulation for a more accurate sound. Other manufacturers like Behringer, Korg, and Propellerhead Software have maintained faithful clones and emulations between Roland’s releases, while aftermarket mods of original units by companies like Devil Fish have greatly expanded the flexibility of the existing circuitry.

The Roland TB-303 synthesizer, more than almost any other electronic music hardware or instrument, has gone on to shape the sound of dance culture in a way far exceeding its original intent. Dance music is rife with entire genres arising from the misuse of its tools, but there is arguably no more prevalent example of such innovation than Roland’s “novelty [device]” having gone on to define dance music as a whole.

The current TB-3 and TB-03 are available from Roland. Watch Nate Harrison‘s 2005 documentary TB-303 Documentary – Bassline Baseline below.

With the 1.6 update to their Engine Prime OS and Prime media players, however, Denon DJ is bringing cloud storage synchronicity to their full range of standalone hardware and track preparation software.

In practice, DJs can now sync their music playlists and folders directly to their personal Dropbox accounts from within the Engine Prime export software or via standard file drag and drop. Once those tracks have been uploaded, users can step up to an internet-connected player and log into their Dropbox account on the device, using their phone for two-factor account authentication.

The player will download a database directory of the Dropbox library, with tracks pulled from the cloud individually when selected for playback. A connected physical storage device is still necessary to cache the track downloads, but a single SD card or flash drive can be left in the player for any DJ to use. Denon’s latest SC6000 series, like the standalone Prime 2 and 4 units, support an internal SSD which can also function as the cache storage.

Each player can have a single Dropbox account signed in at a time, so back-to-back DJ mixes are still an option in booths with two or more decks. When wrapping up a set, signing each player out of the respective Dropbox login is just a button tap away, ensuring a quick and safe swap to the next DJ. Preferences are similarly available for clearing any cached data, changing the local storage device, or refreshing the downloaded Dropbox database to reflect any new songs in the folders. The latter option is especially helpful for mobile DJs and home setup users who frequently update their libraries, but the fast login and track download functionality certainly seems ready for club DJ use.

Engine 1.6 also brings a few more major and long-requested features to the Denon Prime ecosystem.

Flexible Beat Grids now allow tracks with changing or dynamic tempos to stay locked in time with a master deck or beats-per-minute source. In-browser track preview and an improved horizontal layout for the Prime 4 are likely to keep home users happy. Beatsource Link track streaming joins Beatport, TIDAL, SoundCloud, and more for additional on-demand track loading.

Dual waveform view expands on the players unique ability to play two tracks on a single deck, allowing DJs to keep track of both playing songs with all the benefits of full waveform displays. This updated layout hints strongly at Denon’s leaked and upcoming sidecar controllers, which are likely to hook up with the dual-layer main players to provide full four-deck hardware control.

Full update notes are available on Denon’s forum. Engine 1.6 is available for download on the Denon DJ website.

Roll That Tape

Producing music in Live has historically been an experience centered around an “in-the-box” workflow with an emphasis on sequencing, virtual sound design, and dance music-oriented audio processing. While the integration of external hardware instruments and live recording have been perfectly serviceable in Live for many years, studio and recording engineers still prefer alternatives like Pro Tools, Cubase, and Logic Pro for their more comprehensive multitrack toolboxes.

With the new Live 11 release, though, Ableton is taking a firm step in the direction of offering a viable and competitive solution for tracking bands, hip-hop artists, and instrumental ensembles.

Chief among these new features is the brand-new comping architecture for easily recording and compositing various takes of any audio or MIDI lines. Specifically, comping allows musicians and vocalists to record multiple attempts of the same melody or verse, then select the best phrases or notes from each of those takes and combine them into a single perfect line.

Ableton’s implementation is characteristically straightforward and efficient. Looping a set number of beats, the musician or vocalist can lay down a few versions of the same line without pause while the software creates new lanes for each take under a master clip. Then, by simply highlighting the best bits of the individual runs, the master clip integrates those selections into a single best-of audio or MIDI file.

Multitrack recording gets a similar upgrade in the form of Linked Tracks editing. Studio recording of drums and other instruments often involves two or more microphones, and often many more, to capture the full sound of the instrument.

Each of these microphones is recorded into its own audio file, leaving the recording engineer with multiple tracks to edit and keep in time. Live 11 now allows you to lock any number of tracks together, keeping arrangement placement and warp markers consistent across the individual clips, and functionally treating them as a single audio or MIDI file.

Now Play It Back

Instrumentalists and live musicians also have some treats awaiting them in Live 11. The long-awaited integration of MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) recording and editing brings a wealth of expressive note data to the DAW’s existing MIDI functionality, including pitch, timbre, and pressure variation.

Owners of hardware like the ROLI Seaboard and Ableton’s own Push controllers will now be able to record MPE data directly into MIDI clips, with full support for per-note data editing and chord cross-note morphing for some truly wild sounds. As of release, the Wavetable, Sampler, and Arpeggiator support MPE natively, with further integrations sure to follow in future updates.

Device racks also see some welcome improvements in this update. Macros can be scaled down to a single knob for interface simplicity or up to sixteen controls for deep parameter flexibility. Macro randomization, with the ability to lock specific knobs, can certainly yield some interesting sound design results, while the introduction of macro snapshot storing within the device rack grants users a quick and easy way to save the most memorable outcomes and recall them without diverting their attention elsewhere.

Chance and randomization are certainly a focus in Live 11, with the introduction of note and velocity chance within MIDI clips. In addition to the familiar velocity edit interface in the clip edit window, each note can be designated with a specific probability of occurring, generating unusual pattern variations with a single midi clip over time.

Similarly, the velocity of each note can also be assigned a range and probability of triggering. This introduces not only the randomization of patterns, but their humanization too – something likely welcome to producers with limited playback recording capabilities.

Live performance artists also get some useful tools today. Live can now interpret the overall BPM of any incoming audio signal and keep the session in time with that feed.

Helpful in situations where an Ableton user needs to keep time with a live instrumentalist like a drummer, this feature will likely work better with certain genres than others, but is an algorithm likely to be updated frequently.

In a live performance situation, system slowdowns can easily kill the vibe of the show, so the addition of CPU-usage meters under each channel can help quickly identify overloaded tracks and devices. Finally, added functionality for Follow Actions are a welcome expansion for clip-based Ableton DJs.

Live 11 introduces an array of new devices and environmental sound effects, including a Hybrid Reverb, Spectral Resonator, and a jittery glitch effect called PitchLoop89 designed by Robert Henke. A partnership with MaxforLive developer and audio effects wizard Dillon Bastan delivers six instruments and effects inspired by physical and natural modeling. And a new collaboration with Spitfire Audio brings an updated range of classic chamber instruments to Ableton’s audio library.

See the Ableton Live 11 feature page for a full dive into these and other additions and improvements to the software.

Ableton Live 11 might not be the most glittering, feature-heavy update in years, but it does bring a number of new and improved functionalities that greatly expand its viability in both live performance and pro studio recording environments. The addition of comping and multitrack editing will surely turn the heads of entrenched recording engineers, while the added MIDI and note editing tools will help producers create more expressive compositions.

Ableton Live 11 is available for download today via Ableton.com.

Wading through the complex world of music production – from software solutions like Ableton and Pro Tools to hardware-based studios filled with keyboards and drum sets – to find a compact, all-inclusive groovebox focused on jamming down those fleeting song ideas as fluidly as possible can be a project in itself.

Companies like Akai and Roland have long offered staples of this product category, but recent years have seen Novation, drawing on their deep catalog of synthesizers and MIDI controllers, venture further into the world of standalone studios-in-a-box, with their latest offering: the unassuming but powerful Circuit Tracks digital groovebox.

The original Novation Circuit, released in 2015, struck a resounding chord with music producers and live performers alike as a speedy and engaging musical scratchbook, and it saw many years of welcome updates to the units pattern and project management, hardware connectivity, and song arrangement toolbox. The new Circuit Tracks features a refresh of the hardware’s design language, which serves to reflect the added functionality of the numerous updates, while imparting a refined and utilitarian aesthetic reminiscent of Native Instruments recent overhauls of their Maschine and Traktor hardware.

The housing of the unit is also significantly sleeker and more portable than its predecessor, a design choice which hints at one of the most impressive features of the Circuit Tracks: the internal battery. While the original Circuit could function for a couple of hours on six disposable AA batteries, Novation’s updated offering houses a rechargeable lithium-ion power cell that promises four hours of jam time, perfect for a long bus ride or a few lattes at your local café.

On the Grid

The Circuit Tracks is built around an array of four-by-eight velocity-sensitive multicolor pads used for step sequencing, melodic note input, drum pattern triggering, and a variety of pattern and song arrangement controls. Surrounding the grid is an array of buttons which define the behavior of those pads, including functions for preset browsing, settings for notes and effects, and play and recording controls, with the row directly about the grid selecting instruments or drum tracks to sequence.

Finally, the eight encoders at the top of the device, like the pads below, are multifunctional, offering control over everything from synthesizer parameters to effects modulation to basic mixer duties. The color coding and variable brightness of the LED indicators under each encoder, a standout feature of the original Circuit, provides a direct and intuitive indication of the given parameter currently linked to that encoder.

Novation brought their established pedigree of virtual-analogue synthesizers to the Circuit Tracks with a pair of fully featured polyphonic Nova Synth engine lanes. Hitting the Preset button with either of these two synths selected brings up a pleasing variety of synth and bass patches which can be auditioned and tweaked live with the encoders. The sample-based drum machine offers four lanes of sequencing, with the ability to jump between different sounds within each pattern, enabling a more diverse range of percussion hits than the four slots initially indicate. Moreover, these samples can easily be swapped out using a new microSD card slot on the rear of the device or using the accompanying app via the included USB C cable (more on that later).

In a welcome addition to the workflow, Circuit Tracks provides two lanes of external MIDI sequencing through the full-sized DIN ports around the back – a marked improvement from 3.5mm jacks and adaptor dongles of the original Circuit. These are joined by a new Sync output jack to interface with sync-compatible devices like Korg’s Volca line of hardware.

These MIDI lanes, combined with the two new audio input jacks, enable comprehensive sequencing and integration of external synthesizers and other hardware, with audio passing back through the groovebox’s effects and audio processing. Particularly helpful is the ability to sidechain these audio inputs to the internal instruments and drum hits, a feature consistent with Novation’s dance music roots.

Semi-Conductor

For such a diminutive device, the Circuit Tracks delivers a remarkably capable pattern arrangement workflow, encouraging the chaining of multiple sequences into larger song sections and even full session projects. The user can switch between these sessions live, while carrying over both track tempo and key for a seamless transition between songs. While most producers will likely export their finished projects to a software solution for a final mixdown, the live arrangement capabilities of the Circuit Tracks also make it an exceptionally powerful performance workstation, both on its own or as the hub of a larger hardware setup.

Within the core sequencing workflow, Novation also provides a variety of tools for musicians to spice up their beats and melodies. Features like polyrhythms and the “Micro Step” mode enable far more detailed and varied pattern sequencing than your grandpa’s 808, while the “Probability,” “Mutate,” and non-quantized recording functions allow for all manner of random and humanized pattern building for every instrument. A full suite of chord modes, scales, and arpeggiators keeps the melodic content of the projects flowing, while fully featured parameter automation and per-step editing equip the user with plenty of options to keep their sounds evolving throughout the arrangement.

Rounding out the sound design features are “Reverb” and “Delay” effects, called up as a variety of presets via the pad grid with the encoders functioning as sends for each instrument or sample track. The Master Filter knob, presented in the hi/low center detent style with which DJs will instantly be familiar, lends itself well to live performances, while a toggleable master compressor will help tie the final output together.

Short Circuit

While the Circuit Tracks comes fully equipped to start building compositions straight out of the packaging, Novation also flexes the digital architecture of the groovebox with a comprehensive Novation Components configuration utility enabling a considerable level of user customization.

Here the Nova engine displays its sound design potential with a full set of parameters reminiscent of Novation’s dedicated synthesizer offerings, all of which can be mapped to the eight hardware encoders in any combination of macro controls for truly custom patches. This utility also acts as a portal for uploading sample packs, custom sound content, and firmware updates to the internal storage of the device, while the microSD card slot on the rear of the unit allows for expanded sample and content capacity.

Considering the digital nature of the device and Novation’s history of frequent firmware updates, there are undoubtedly plenty of additional features which the Circuit Tracks could see in upcoming workflow revisions. While effective, the “Reverb” and “Delay” units will hopefully be joined by additional sound design goodies in the future – ideally with onboard parameter adjustment via the encoders. With the welcome addition of the microSD card slot and USB C port, individual stems export and expanded integration with digital audio workstation software such as Ableton may also well be on the horizon.

The original Circuit established a loyal following of producers and live artists drawn to the straightforward instant-gratification of a device unencumbered by creativity-killing software settings and menu diving. With the newly minted Circuit Tracks, Novation continues their momentum in the dedicated groovebox workspace, offering a no-nonsense and capable musical sketchpad for musicians to get their songs from idea to composition with ease. The updated hardware offers some engrossing new features which will likely tempt owners of the original unit, also providing a great starting point for budding musicians and weathered producers alike looking to ditch their screens and try their hand at the compelling groovebox workflow.

Novation has confirmed that the Circuit Tracks will be joined by the Circuit Rhythm, a dedicated sampler model, summer 2021. The Circuit Tracks currently retails for £359.99/ $399.99 via Focusrite. More information is available on the Novation website.