Gear Porn: Future Music

Hey everyone. It's been an interesting week. DJ Haze fried his PC and it's now in the shop, so that's why he hasn't been on-line in a minute. I'm not sure when he's going to make an appearance again either. It should be sometime soon. I myself had a big week. I just started a new job, have a new girlfriend, and I am in the process of tracking down equipment, cables, accessories, and doing research on stuff I still need for a small budget bedroom studio that I'm putting together for myself. I got a turntable and mixer, just got an Akai MPC 1000, got a mic stand and popper stopper (I don't M.C. or sing myself. I got these to record others, but you know, since I'm going to have it I might as well funk with it a bit...right? Of Course.) I'm still waiting on an Akai dps12 portable studio/multitrack, a Shure 57 mic, some Samson Rubicon 6A studio monitors, and a bunch of lil odds and ends. It's madd stressful getting equipment, but very exciting at the same time. There is way too many options, and way too many things to consider, and way too much money that you may never see any returns on, but it's a labor of love and obsession to the highest degree. Nonetheless, I've been running around like a mad man this week, and I finally have some time and energy to sit down and make a post.

So, anyways, back to the matter at hand. Today I'm going to do a review on a dope magazine I found on a news stand near my work: Future Music. Incidentally, it's a magazine about...yes...music gear. "Electronic" music gear at that. It's perfect for the beat digging head that wants to find out more about different programs and equipment so they can make beats; perfect for all types of "electronic" musicians not just Hip Hop; and also perfect for those who just want to stay informed about the ever evolving technology of music production.

What caught my eye first about this magazine was that it came with not one, but two CD-ROMs. Both CD's come jam packed with gear and software demos, and get this...approximately 1000 royalty free samples spread out over the two discs. The samples are hits, loops, and multisamples in WAV, AIF, and REX2 (Reason/Recycle) files. There are even some Maelstrom and Subtractor patches (both are for use in Reason software as well). The style of samples range in everything from Hip Hop, Progression, Afro Latin, Session Drums, Electro Breaks, etc. The selection is fairly diverse. The Hip Hop sounds were ok. It's nice to have some extra sounds to mess around with regardless.

Now as far as the content of the magazine itself, I was fairly impressed. It's very well written. Most of it is technical in nature, but that is to be expected. It is written in a very understandable, easy going, and straight to the point style. My only complaint is at times it can be too conversational. At times, the writers more or less just express their opinions without really saying why they've come to certain conclusions. Thankfully, this doesn't happen very often.

Now, this magazine is not tailored to us Hip Hop heads like say Scratch magazine, but the information and what is covered is very relevant to Hip Hop production. Future Music covers a lot of things that will and should be of interest to many Hip Hop producers whether they are making beats in their bedrooms, or in expensive studio facilities. There is full reviews of the latest in software and gear. One of the most notable reviews was on Serato Scratch which is basically software that allows DJ's to use their turntables to mix, cut, and scratch MP3s just like actual vinyl. The benefits of this are obvious. It opens up a whole new world of music for DJ's to mix and manipulate. It also saves DJ's from carrying around crates of vinyl with them from gig to gig. Another very interesting review was on the Faderfox midi controllers. These basically make Ableton Live software become more like hardware by giving kinesthetic (hands on) people what they are missing when it comes to working with software set-ups. There are three separate controllers that give physical control over most aspects of the program. This look really great in concept, I wonder if it's equally as great in practice. Hopefully so.

A feature that I found kinda cool was the audio makover section called Changing Studios. I'm sure most of you have seen talk shows like Jenny Jones, Maury, and all that other crap, that give their guests with poor fashion sense makeovers and make 'em look pretty/handsome, and updated. Well, Future Music gives audio makeovers, if you will, to those who are suffering from outdated and/or poor gear. This was compelling. I'd love to get that shit done. If the editors are reading this...hook a fella up...nahmean?!!? For Real. I need that shit so bad.

The magazine I purchased is from the UK. This is my first time seeing the magazine, so I am not sure if there are different versions for different regions. There are tons of ads in it for UK retailers with prices for all types of gear. Anything from computers, to keyboards, midi controllers, monitors, microphones, etc. etc. is in here. So for those who are in the UK, this magazine might be helpful to you if you want to buy some new gear and want to price shop. For those that are not in the UK, Future Music does have a feature that showcases and compares "the best of" certain types of equipment such as monitors, samplers, sequencers, microphones, and keyboards, even sample cd's. This could be very helpful regardless of which region you reside in. I would, however, take the opinions with a grain of salt, because a lot of this is personal preference, and is quite subjective. Future Music does primarily stick to popular opinion anyway. If you know anything about music gear, you probably won't be surprised by their lists. If you know little or nothing, this should bring you up to speed on what gear is current, and has a reasonably good reputation for whatever price bracket you're looking at. Even if you aren't in the market for gear, it is still interesting to check out.

All in all, Future Music is a pretty solid magazine and has lots to offer. It is a bit pricey. I'm not going to lie about that, but the cd-roms make it worth it. Both for the free stuff that's on them, and for making the magazine a more interactive experience. Each issue is pricey enough that I probaby won't buy it every month, and I bet the subsription cost is quite steep too. However, I will defintely purchase it when it has particular things of interest to me. This is definitely on my "To Check For" list. Definitely check it out for yourself when you have the chance.

If you like The Low End Theory and would like to help get the word out about it, and would like to help support a couple of music addicts in doing their thing, check out our on-line store. We only make 50 cents to a dollar per item. It's not the money obviously, we would just like our blog promoted, and the items are pretty dope. We have shirts, hats, notebooks, and other cool shit. When I get over my gear lust I'm going to cop something for myself, and yes I do have to pay for it too, so does DJ Haze. He got a shirt for his dog (yes, we got dog shirts too).

I'm including two zip files that contain most of the samples that come with the issue I purchased (May 2005). One set is from Tekniks (183 MB), the other is from Loopmasters (285 MB). They both have sounds for a variety of musical genres, and are encoded in a few different file types: WAV, AIF, and REX2. Both zip files are rather large. I would suggest only those who have a high speed connection download this. However, if you got dial-up and really don't mind letting your pc run all day/night to download these...be my guest. If you like this post be sure to check us out in the future. We will have more posts on gear/equipment.

Tekniks Samples
Loopmasters Samples