Big news today here at daveclews.com – I’m really happy to announce that I’m now officially a columnist! Yes, the July 2013 issue of Computer Music magazine is finally here, and it contains the first instalment of my regular monthly ‘Dave Clews’ Easy Guide’ music theory column. This first one is about the power of the pentatonic scale, and it spans two pages with two six-step walkthroughs that outline how to construct and use pentatonic scales within a practical production context, accompanied by a video that you can find on the covermount DVD (or download from the CM vault if you have the digital edition). I even get a photo byline, a small bio and a link to this page, so if you’ve come here via CM193, welcome!
Elsewhere in the mag, I’ve contributed quite a bit of other stuff to this issue too. Apart from my column on page 70, I’ve written the first five pages (33-38) of the cover feature, a massive guide to modulation. Looking in-depth at the way different kinds of modulation are used in synth sound design, and featuring lots of practical examples, with video, of how they can be applied in real world music-making scenarios, the feature covers:
LFO’s – what they are and how to use them
ADSR Envelopes and how they can be used to modulate a sound
Complex, multipoint envelopes – now these are very cool!
… and lots more besides.
I also have the DVD tutorial this month, found on page 6 and detailing the features of the rather marvellous Cableguys WaveShaper CM plug-in, a combination of a digital oscilloscope and waveshaper that you can’t get anywhere else – it’s only available from CM, either on the cover DVD or as a download with the digital edition!
As if that wasn’t enough, starting on page 16 I’ve also done the CM Plug-ins Quick Guide, which this month is a four-page guide to the ins an outs of the fantastic Dune CM soft synth that’s also given away free (along with about 30 other plug-ins) every month.
Quite a landmark issue for me this, and I’m proud to say that I take up a total of 14 pages in this one. And with the second instalment of my column already written and the video already shot and edited, I can confidently say that you’ll be seeing at least two pages of me in the mag every month from now on!
Like really tight jeans, key changes can be quite difficult things to pull off if you’re not sure what you’re doing. While it won’t do anything to help you get your trousers off, my 12-step Easy Guide with accompanying video, found on page 74 of the June 2014 issue of Computer Music, does explain the basic theory behind key changes. I then go on to show some real-world examples, breaking them down to illustrate how they’re constructed.
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