Megan Leber – Modular Mist

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

Lots, but one of them is the “Tone” knob on the Desmodus Versio. Try turning that reeeaaally slowly 😉 Also every fader from Gaz’ modules (Big T Music LTD), they just feel so sturdy and smooth!

Rangoon and Monsoon from Big T Music LTD  eurorack module
Rangoon and Monsoon from Big T Music LTD

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

This is such a hard question! Well, a bit unexpected maybe, but I’m going for a VST here: Cycles by Slate & Ash. It’s just spot on for me, I could create an entire album using just that. The atmospheres you can get out of there, the subtle movements, the gorgeous effects, the sequencer, the granular part. It’s still so inspiring after 2 years of using it. I also love the Xone 96 by Allen & Heath, this mixer is perfect for my live performances.

Xone 96 by Allen & Heath
Xone 96 by Allen & Heath

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

If I have to bring as little as possible I’d bring my Digitone or Tasty Chips GR-1 and Octatrack. But if I’d do a tour I’d probably add something.

Tasty Chips GR-1
Tasty Chips GR-1

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

Paulstretch and definitely Cycles + Landforms from Slate & Ash. Their software is mindblowing! And vice versa: Intellijel Rainmaker.

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

No! 🙂 You can learn something from every piece of gear. If something doesn’t spark joy anymore or stops inspiring you, just let it go. For instance I recently sold my Mannequins Mangrove and Three Sisters and I think many people would have kept them because they’re so hard to obtain nowadays. But that’s no reason for me to keep stuff.

Three Sisters Module
Three Sisters Module

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

All of my granular modules (Arbhar, Morphagene, Monsoon)! And I’d say that Cycles by Slate & Ash inspired me so much, that it really got me to produce regularly again and to feel creative. It even got me looking into modular again until I couldn’t stop myself from buying the first modules. Since I started with modular I got more and more inspired, especially by the granular modules mentioned above. With these modules, combined with a nice reverb/delay, you can create otherworldly soundscapes which can really carry you away and make you lose track of time. Love that!

Make Noise Morphagene
Make Noise Morphagene

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

I don’t think I would have done anything differently, other than getting into modular earlier on. The creativity I get out of that is unbelievable. Oh and I would have put my music out there earlier too.

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Hmm, I would say the Octatrack? No, I think I could live without that (if I have to). Unanswered!

Elektron Octatrack
Elektron Octatrack

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

My D.O.MIXX (5-channel mixer module by Blood Cells Audio) has 1 aux send. I just recently found out you can switch between pre/post aux per channel, so if you choose pre aux you can cue your channel with headphones. I’ve now routed that aux send to my Xone 96 mixer (on send D) so I can cue every channel of my modular on there and this is huge to me for my live improvs!

D.O.MIXX (5-channel mixer module by Blood Cells Audio)
D.O.MIXX

Artist or Band name?

Megan Leber

Genre?

Techno and ambient/electronic (if I have to put a label on it).

Selfie?

I rarely take selfies! 

Where are you from?

Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

How did you get into music?

I remember I was always drawn to instruments from a very young age. When I was 10 my teacher put a piano (and later a guitar) in the classroom and I was instantly hooked. He taught me some stuff about chords and intervals and let me play after school. Later my parents let me buy my own keyboard from my savings and after that I got my first electric guitar. Never took any lessons, I always played by ear.
When I was 16/17 I got into electronic music production, when I put Reason on my laptop and a whole new world opened up! Soon after that Ableton followed and I got more and more obsessed. Got a few MIDI controllers and my first synth: a Yamaha AN1x. A year of studying Electronic Music Production, a few drum computers, synths and modules later: here I am!

What still drives you to make music?

I just HAVE to, it’s this thing I can’t stop doing. It’s what I love to do most and which will never bore me. As soon as I open my eyes I’m thinking about making music. When it comes to making music I’m a sponge. I always want to know and try more. My mind can be quite chaotic sometimes, but when I’m making music I’m at ease. It gives me this weird (the positive weird) feeling I can’t really explain, like all these endorphins are floating around inside of me. Endless possibilities!

How do you most often start a new track?

It sometimes starts with an idea or feeling in my head, something I want to try out, “what would happen if I do this?”. Sometimes I create a soundscape first, other times I start with a sequence on the Atlantis. What’s important to me is that I can completely lose myself in the sound design and slowly build a “mood”. But I also start without any idea/expectation and just jam.

How do you know when a track is finished?

Intuition. It’s just a feeling of being satisfied with the result. And to be honest there are always things that could have been changed after a track is “finished”. I also have to admit I’m bad at finishing tracks! I’m more of a creator and that’s what makes me happy. As soon as I have to stop creating and start mixing etc, I get bored or distracted and want to make new things… haha. 

Show us your current studio

It’s constantly changing! Here’s one of my most recent pictures, just before I hooked everything up again (cables cables cables):

Megan Lebers every changing setup
Megan Lebers every changing setup

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Can I also put my own advice here? 😀 Do exactly what you want to do and not what you think others might expect from you. Don’t follow any ‘hype’ because you think you’ll get noticed. Stay true to yourself! 

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link

Check out Mystery Circles’ BandCamp on the 5th of June for a nice surprise! 😉 https://mysterycircles.bandcamp.com

[Editor: Megan’s IG can also be found here: https://www.instagram.com/meganleber]


Michael Hell – Minimalist Conjuring

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

I think this is a toss up between the fader on the Octatrack and the magnetic encoders on the OP-Z, they both feel great on their own terms so I would say both.

Octatrack Fader and OPZ encoders

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

The OP-Z is great and I think it is almost perfect. The big one is of course the hardware itself. I am currently having lots of issues with miss triggering and double triggers and it’s getting a bit annoying tbh and of course I hear people having issues with warpage of the OP-Z itself and popping encoders. On a lighter note, I would love to have the tonic drum engine (from PO-32) in the OP-Z as well, then it would be perfect.

Teenage Engineering OPZ

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

I think it might be obvious by now…. OP-Z.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I would love to have OrcΛ in hardware form, I just dreamt of a hardware device similar to Polyend tracker, but instead of a tracker for sequencing it’s OrcΛ.

PolyEnd Tracker

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I miss my Moog Minitaur a lot actually, the bass that thing churns out is staggering. I also miss the MPC Live at times, it was a really nice partner with the OP-Z. But I found the workflow really boring tbh

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

OP-Z for sure. I love how you can twist and bend a sequence with it.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

Octatrack, It’s just a stream filled with possibilities.

Elektron Octatrack

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

The SP-404 I love the thought of it, but I hate using it, but I don’t want to sell it. One day I will truly master it! and I also feel like i should enjoy Eurorack a lot more, but I’m actually on the fence about selling all my Eurorack. I’m really down with minimalism. Ohh and the keys on the Arturia Keystep are atrocious, but that little thing is so damn handy.

[Editor: I had the SP404 years ago and sold it coz I just didn’t use it enough. Then I just got the SP404sx model with sd card. It’s strangely a lot more useful. Dunno why]

Roland SP404

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

Octatrack and QY70 go really well together. The standard midi template on the Octatrack corresponds with the midi implementation of the QY70. So basically you just have to connect them via midi and then start p-locking parameters without even setting up the CC’s. Also realizing that the midi implementation on the MPC Live is actually fantastic once you connect the devices with both midi in and out. the MPC reads all the midi CC settings so you can automate everything on the machine. its pretty incredible tbh.

Octatrack with Yamaha QY70

Artist or Band name?

Grååskala or Graaskala for you non nordics Genre? IDM…. i guess… Glitch… Maybe?

Micheal Hell

Where are you from?

Märsta outside of Stockholm. Currently living in the north of Sweden with wife and family.

How did you get into music?

Played piano and violin as a kid (briefly) but really connected with music through a friend who was doing troubadour gigs at the age of 21. Learned to play guitar and sang to that. Then I went on to study music as a vocalist for two years. Played in bands and such as a vocalist. Got into the electronic hardware thing just a couple of years back, when I wanted to get back into music, but didn’t have anyone to play with… so basically I made a one man band.

What still drives you to make music?

It’s a stress relief thing, I just love disappearing into music. Plus I have a primal need for creating stuff, I guess that’s why i became an engineer by trade so that i can always be in the process of creation.

How do you most often start a new track?

Drums. Almost always drums.

How do you know when a track is finished?

Through my work I’ve learned to adapt to the phrase “good enough”. I know a track is ready when I feel like I have a structure in it or rather a story, there’s almost always imperfections in my recordings, but I chose to honor it instead of shunning it.

Show us your current studio

I’m not a collector in any sense. I have a ‘one-in-one-out’ policy and I strive towards having a streamlined workflow and most importantly FUN. So this is what I’m playing with currently.

Michael’s studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

On the subject of writer’s block Björk stated something in her Reddit AMA that really resonated with me. TL;DR don’t force your creativity.

“I think creativity always lives somewhere in everyone, but its nature is quite pranksterish and slippery and every time u grab its tail, it’s found a new corner to thrive in. Perhaps the trick is not to force it and put it up against a wall and want it to be in a particular area. But rather with a lot of kindness sniff it out and wonder where it has gone to this time around. If its in sauce recipes , writing theater plays , paper-mache improv with nephews, discovering new hiking routes or simply trying to figure out a family members sense of humour . I definetly don’t succeed in this all the time, but feel overall things have been more fertile when I trust this creatures instincts and follow it, rather than me willfully reforming it into a circus animal colouring by numbers”.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

Well it’s not new by any sense, but it is my latest, my OP-Z only album released on Golfshoe Music. Straight stereo recordings of performances, with imperfections and all.

Thanks for having me! Stay safe and creative folks!!


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]


Marine Drouan – Kritzkom

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

I love the even VCO main knob from Befaco’s Eurorack module. It’s beautiful, and I
like the feeling when you turn it. And I like to use it (it changes the octave) mostly if
it’s plugged on a reverb.

Befaco VCO

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

The Octatrack is for me almost perfect. A kind of similar software like the Overbridge for the other Elektron machines would be perfect. Of course a possibility to record the 8 tracks separately, but simultaneously. Add it a simple synthesizer and it would be totally perfect.

Elektron Octatrack

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

On holiday, I take a small battery powered devices because I like to be outside. It can
vary from a sampler (MicroGrany for Bastl Instruments or SPS-404) or the Teenage
Engineering PO-35, or the iPad. I almost always take a recorder (Zoom) to do field
recording.

Bastl Microgranny
Portable samplers

If I am on the train or plane I love to work on the computer, either exploring some Max for live patches I never tried or some other little software that I usually don’t use.

Zoom sampling on a boat

It is interesting how having fewer devices force us to explore other ways to do music.
When I perform I always take my Machinedrum, often the MicroKorg XL and if not
other small synths. Now that I have one, I would also take the Octatrack. I also take a
few MIDI controllers like the Novation Lauchpad and the my old Korg NanoControl,
they are small and are practical.

Zoom recorder and various input devices

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

Borderlands (the iOS app) as a hardware could be interesting to imagine, although I
have no idea how it could look. Probably this is also the reason I like this kind of app, which really use the touch screen and couldn’t have exist as a hardware. On the other side I have the feeling most of the hardware now exists as a software. I find modular synthesizers as software pretty nice, even if it never can replace it. It is perfect to try some modules, learn to use it, or if you cannot afford it.

Borderlands iOS

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

My first machine was an MC-303, but at this time I had nothing else. It was interesting to learn, but alone it was a bit limited. I was a teenager I had no access to any studio or couldn’t buy more machines. I sold it to buy a MIDI keyboard which was at the time the best for me. If I see one I get a bit of nostalgic and I sometimes regret I sold it.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

The Electron Monomachine, it was my first proper sequencer and it made a huge
difference in my way of doing music. Having a sequencer improved so much the way
to use synths. But then it is the Machinedrum which inspired me the most and for a long time.

Elektron MonoMachine

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

I should have get the Elektron Machinedrum as soon as it got released.

Elektron Machinedrum

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

Only an old M-audio firewire sound card which is very small and has midi in/out + 2
stereo audio outputs and one stereo input, so everything you need all the time. I took
it everywhere, it worked forever, the most stable I ever had. Unfortunately it now
doesn’t work on the new OS. I still have a hard disk partition with an older system on
my mac to use it. But because of this I use it less and less… Only because of the
driver is not updated.

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of gear?

Nothing really crazy for a user of modular synthesizers. But as I am still in the discovering phase, I enjoy this little self-discoveries, and find it funny to trigger the steps of a sequencer (In my case: Pop Corn from Bastl Instruments) just by touching the cable. Of course, it is doing an electric impulse which makes it goes to the next step.


Artist or Band name?

Kritzkom

Genre?

Electronic music of many kinds from ambiant, experimental, to slow techno with a touch of house sometimes.

Selfie?

Marine Drouan

Where are you from?

Nantes in the west of France.

How did you get into music?

I started to learn play the piano which is an instrument I like a lot, but I stopped after 2 years. I wanted to play my own tunes, still it was the first keyboard experience. I guess, it was listening to techno music late in the night on the radio as teenager, that I really started to really love music and wanted to do some.

What still drives you to make music?

Life in general, but more nature than humans. I guess I need music and often I have
something in mind I want to express. What I work on is sometimes the only thing that I want to listen to. Like an infinite exploration. The nature and listening to its subtle sounds, is definitely the most inspiring to me.

How do you most often start a new track?

By experimenting with and making sounds, textures or loops most of the time, but it can really always be different. The only sure thing, I never start with a structure.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I can be hard to know. If I don’t know, I stop to working on it and let it be, so that I can listen to it with more distance a few days later, then it’s much easier. It can either be very simple and intuitive or be super hard. It can happen that I do 30 different versions and it makes it harder to choose. Sometimes it can also mean that it’s not worth it to finish this track.

Show us your current studio

It is hard to do in one only one picture, as the room i have, is long there is not so much place to take a photo. I also have a cupboard where some gear is resting quietly and safe from the dust before I feel like using them again.

Eurorack on the rack
Studio
Home studio from above

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Trust your ears.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.

My last album “Melt Map”:
https://disorientation.bandcamp.com/album/melt-map

A new track “Infinite” on the compilation Kedi 2 on Baumusik:
https://baumusik.bandcamp.com/album/kedi-2-2

[Editor: Do you have any tips or tricks with any of the gear in this interview? Leave a comment below]


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]