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The Roland Magazine

How to use mastering for a BIG sounding mix

  TOP STORY

How to use mastering for a BIG sounding mix

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It’s a common scenario — you mix your song, you think it sounds great, then you play your CD or MP3 alongside a commercial record and suddenly yours doesn’t sound so big anymore. Why is that? The short answer is that you are comparing your mix with one that has been through an extra stage known as mastering. The much longer answer is to describe what mastering actually means. [Photo: John Hult]. What is mastering? A top commercial mastering house has the best monitors, lots of expensive boutique processors — often bristling with glowing valves —superb acoustics and an engineer…

Roland TB-03 and TR-09: A Classic Pair Resurrected

  How To Guides

Roland TB-03 and TR-09: A Classic Pair Resurrected

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In the past few years, we have seen a huge resurgence in both analog and digital hardware. Eurorack modular synthesizer systems have exploded in popularity and vintage synth prices have skyrocketed. The tactile experience of using hardware instruments is drawing artists back to tabletops filled with drum machines and synthesizers. The original Roland TB-303 Bass…

Get the most out of your Roland Boutique with MIDI Mapping

  How To Guides

Get the most out of your Roland Boutique with MIDI Mapping

The Roland Boutiques have had rave reviews ever since their release. These versatile and exquisite sounding modules allow access to rare and classic Roland instruments at a great price, in a portable and easy-to-use format. Along with the astounding TR-09 drum machine, the Boutique series also includes the powerful TB-03 Bass Line synth and the…

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What is a Vocoder?

  Product News

What is a Vocoder?

HISTORY The vocoder was developed in 1928 by Bell Labs, and first demonstrated in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. Its intended use was to reduce the bandwidth of voice information, allowing it to be transferred across further distances. Unfortunately, the voice reproduction of these early systems was not great and they were never…

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Lawrence Insula and JD-XA synth: live keys with Rita Ora

  Artists

Lawrence Insula and JD-XA synth: live keys with Rita Ora

Nobody said session work was a walk in the park. Four years back, when bassist Lawrence Insula began working with British pop phenomenon Rita Ora, he found himself pushed outside his comfort zone. “I’d always played electric bass,” he tells us, “but I needed to learn synthesis, because a lot of the songs I was…

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CREATING BEATS FOR DANCE STYLES WITH THE DJ-808

  How To Guides

CREATING BEATS FOR DANCE STYLES WITH THE DJ-808

In this article, we’ll show you how to create some typical breaks on the DJ-808. Whether you play House, Drum and Bass, Trap or Electro, you can use the TR-S on the DJ-808 to incorporate live drum elements into your mix and make your sets stand out from the crowd. The videos included here will…

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Did you know a SYSTEM-8 synth can do this?

  How To Guides

Did you know a SYSTEM-8 synth can do this?

The SYSTEM-8 PLUG-OUT Synthesizer features amazing recreations of the JUPITER-8 and JUNO-106. However, its core synthesis engine is very powerful and unique sounding on its own. Our previous synthesis tutorials had examples that are easy to replicate on most subtractive synths. The 7 synth tips in this tutorial are ones that take advantage of some…

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The Ultimate Guide To The AIRA MX-1 Mix Performer

  Product News

The Ultimate Guide To The AIRA MX-1 Mix Performer

The humble mixer has long played a significant part in music creation and performance. Dub music for instance, was pivotal in moving the mixing console to centre stage, where it became an instrument in itself. Dub music showed the world the wondrous possibilities and creative power of the mixing desk, demonstrating that it could be…

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Did you know a JD-Xi synth can do this?

  Buying Guides

Did you know a JD-Xi synth can do this?

Combining analog and digital synthesis in a compact and user-friendly design, the Roland JD-Xi is ideal for live tweaking, recording and using on-the-go. With its warm, fat, true analog bass and lead tones, as well as polyphonic PCM essentials such as pads, strings, brass and more, the JD-Xi is a versatile and mighty sounding instrument….

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Roland Icon Series: The JUNO-106 Synthesizer

  Buying Guides

Roland Icon Series: The JUNO-106 Synthesizer

The Roland Icon Series is a collection of articles looking back at the most popular and recognised Roland instruments. In over four decades, Roland has designed many world-first instruments like the first touch-sensitive keyboard and first guitar synthesizer. Previous articles in the Roland Icon Series revisited the classic Roland Jupiter-8, the SH-101, the MRS-2 ProMars,…

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7 More Hidden Features of the Roland Boutiques

  How To Guides

7 More Hidden Features of the Roland Boutiques

Introduced in 2016 to much excitement and acclaim, Roland’s Boutique modules have won hearts and minds. The Boutique series use Roland’s ACB technology to recreate classic, rare (and now, expensive!) Roland synthesizers and drum machines at an affordable price, in a small, modular format. Following the success of the first round of Boutiques, namely the…

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