MusicTech August 2019

Performing your music to an audience is always a daunting experience, whether you've never played live before in your entire life or if you're on show 52 of a non-stop tour. There's always that potential for things to go wrong, for your gear to fail or for the crowd to simply not get what you're trying to do with your music. It stands to reason then, that preparation is key to feeling more comfortable on stage and thus being able to enjoy the experience – which ultimately translates to audience satisfaction. Martin Delaney (perhaps the most 'outgoing' of our writing team in this regard) has penned our cover feature this month, which elucidates numerous aspects of going live; from setting up your gear to fine-tuning your performance style. Elsewhere this issue, we're honoured to speak to production legend Hugh Padgham. Hugh was behind the desk during the making of key records from the likes of The Police. Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and David Bowie and is responsible for popularising the ubiquitous 'gated reverb' drum sound of the era. We also visit the London studio of creative pioneer Leo Abrahams and return to Abbey Road to present round two of our reader questions. Highlights of our review section this month include the latest generation of Focusrite's widely popular Scarlett series, Arturia's sizeable V Collection 7 and Bitwig's Studio 3, which refreshes the increasingly respected DAW with a modular flavour. There's much more, including tutorials, tips and a look around some of our reader studios… Enjoy the issue.