Author: Martin

Ian Pritchard – Collector//Emitter

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

My favorite control is always the lag or delay time control on a chorus, vibrato, or flanger pedal. I think the Caroline Guitar Co Somersault specifically does it really well, but a lot of pedals have the control now. Changing the delay time makes a huge difference to the tone, and I’m really surprised that pedals only recently started giving this control.

Coraline Somarsault Lo-Fi Modulator

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

Maybe this is a non-answer, but I honestly can’t think of one. Sure, all my gear has some flaw or limitation, but rarely is it something that gets in the way of working with it. I usually see those limitations as a way of guiding how I work with it, which usually helps me break out of my routine. For example, Digitone could have an output per track, but see question 9 for how I work around that.

Korg Prologue

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

I’ve been searching for the right thing for a while. It’s a guitar when I can, but when I’m flying I bring something else. First it was an OP-1, then an OP-Z, and now I think the Model:Cycles is the perfect travel synth for me.

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

I really wish the SoundToys plugins, specifically Primal Tap, Echoboy, and Little Plate were available as hardware. Those sound incredible, and I’d love to have them on my pedalboard (I’m aware these are modeled on hardwarem but I love their dsp, but I’d love a Prime Time 93).

There are tons of pedals I wish were software, but only if they 100% nailed the sound. For example, the Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water is an amazing lofi vibrato that saturates in the perfect way, so having that to easily put on mix busses would be incredible.

Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water

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

I’m a bit of a hoarder, especially when it comes to gear, so I find it hard to sell something unless I really don’t need it. There are a few pedals I’ve sold and miss, but usually I have some pedal that can do something similar. My biggest “regret” would be selling my Sub 37 which I loved. I only sold it because I had no space for it, but I miss it a lot and can’t recreate some of those thick, distorted duophonic sounds.

[Editor: I just sold my Subsquent37 for the same reason. No space. I miss the sounds, but I also feel strangely free]

Moog Sub37

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

I’ve recently discovered that what inspires me the most is actually minimal setups. I’ll usually pair one or two pedals with one synth and see what happens. That gets me out of my head thinking about perfect separation of each track or things like that, so I can jump into working on whatever ideas come to me.

Keeley Eccos

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

A nice guitar. I’ve played cheap guitars for so long, so when I finally got a nice one (a Bilt Relevator LS) I was blown away. From there, I’d probably get a few pedals (probably Red Panda Tensor and Smallsound/Bigsound Mini), obviously some kind of amp, and an affordable groovebox like a Circuit or Model:Cycles

Bilt Relevator LS

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

The old Line 6 DL4 is the best looper I’ve ever used, but they’re also notorious for randomly breaking for no reason. And they don’t use the standard pedal power supply. But I truly love it.

Line6 DL4 and buddies

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

Not sure if this is really surprising, but I’ve recently started doing it – on any groovebox that lets you pan the tracks, you can pan the rhythmic tracks to one output and the melodic tracks to another, and run the melodic output through any effects that you don’t want messing up the rhythm. This helps me record videos with my Digitone or Model:Cycles into a pedal, live in one take with just a two-track interface.

Elektron Cycles into Hypersleep pedal

Artist or Band name?

Collector//Emitter on youtube for all my pedal demos and synth videos, and Collector for my music releases.

Genre?

Kinda all over the place… ambient, glitchy, electronic and/or guitar-based

Selfie?

Ian Pritchard aka. Collector//Emitter

Where are you from?

Originally from Philadelphia, now based in Brooklyn.

How did you get into music?

When I was a kid I loved listening to music, so I wanted to play it. Then I wanted to learn how to record, so I did that and played in bands for a while. Now I am enjoying music as a creative outlet on my own time, with no real motives beyond making music.

What still drives you to make music?

Making youtube videos keeps the muscle memory there for when I want to be creative. Working full-time in a music-related field and then wanting to make music in my free time can be tough, but having an objective and deadline helps keep me going.

How do you most often start a new track?

Maybe once a week, it depends on the week. I usually focus my creative drive on making videos, so weeks when I have extra drive or inspiration I might start 3 or 4 tracks.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I’m really bad about that… I usually struggle with completing things. I guess when I can listen through multiple times and enjoy it, it’s done.

Show us your current studio

Studio with light leak

(This is unfortunately the best picture I have, and I can’t take one at the moment because I left Brooklyn to stay with my parents while NY is still bad with covid)

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“[The recording] was really noisy. I kind of liked it. That was the way it had to be. Then you stop worrying whether you should have made this decision or that about how things sounded, and just get down to the business of making songs” – Elliott Smith, Tape Op Winter 1997

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

My latest release will always be a pedal demo on youtube, since I post them once (or twice) weekly – https://youtube.com/c/collectoremitter

But my latest music release was an ambient thing with the Elektron Model:Cycles and Red Panda Particle V2 – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/collector1/particles

[Editor: There are affiliate links to the relevant gear throughout the articles. It helps to support this blog. In fact, should you be needing some patch cables or guitar strings. Then clicking on one of the above links and buying any product that you prefer, will help the blog… doesn’t even have to be the ones in the link. Thx]

MPCHead – Marlow Digs

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

Mpc 2000xl data wheel is my favourite, it’s smooth to turn but you can still feel the clicks plus it has a finger rest to help you turn the wheel. The mpc 2500 had a similar wheel but it was noisy as hell. All these new data wheels suck big time. I also enjoy the softness of the Elektron buttons, they’re noisy but easy to press.

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

I think the Akai Force comes pretty close to a perfect instrument for me. I don’t like the layout but I love the fact that its has the mpc drum programs with Ableton’s sequencer. I don’t need a touch screen, I’d just minimise everything to be a portable Mpc with Ableton’s sequencer. I’d change the buttons, they’re so hard to press.

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

I don’t holiday that much, I am a bit of a workaholic but in case I find my self on the road I always have an mpc around.

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

Octorex from Reason. I spent some time working with Reason back in 1.5, I think it would be so cool to use Octorex in real life.

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

I don’t get attached to instruments that much, but I did make a stupid trade once I swapped a pair of Behringer speakers for a launchpad. Looking back I think it was dumb, but I really wanted a launchpad and I had spare pairs of speakers at the time. I never got to use the launchpad that much. But I think it’s ok to own a piece of gear for a while and then swap it for another and try new ideas.

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

I think I’d have to say my MPC2500 with jjos, I made some great music with it.

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

I’d say the Akai Force or maybe some like the akai force but better looking. That machine has everything I need.

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

I love all my equipment. Tripping on cables is annoying but you got to have them.

[Editor: Yeah, cables are pain]

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

Not about a bit of kit but music production, using the bass to make those kick ghost notes, I am still experimenting with this but it makes your music groove so much better.

Artist or Band name?

Marlow Digs aka Quantum Low aka mpc head.

Genre?

Hip hop beats, electronic hip hop, boombap, lofi …. idk anymore.

Selfie?

Where are you from?

Portugal, Viseu

How did you get into music?

MTV grunge music videos, I loved it, we made a band, I played guitar and screamed at the mic, and I have always been chasing music after that. At the beginning I had several bands, but when I discovered that I could make my own music I bought
an Mpc and that was it. Hip hop and hardcore were so intertwined at the time that I transitioned naturally to hip hop. Been making beats ever since.

What still drives you to make music?

It’s the high of making music. listening to music and finding new samples. It’s addicting digging for samples and finding that hit. And I love dancing after making a beat. that is the only time I dance.

How do you most often start a new track?

with the samples, I cut samples all the time so I end up having this huge collection of folders filled with samples. I go through them and load up what I am feeling itm. I make a drum beat and then layer my chops over that beat. Very standard stuff but
it works. I spend a lot of time on the drums, if the drums don’t knock no sample is going to help you.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I am not falling for that one. A track is never finished.

Show us your current studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Ghost notes. nudge notes. Watch out for the swing.

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

YouTube: http://youtube.com/mpchead

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlowdigs/

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

[Editor: There are affiliate links to the relevant gear throughout the articles. It helps to support this blog. In fact, should you be needing some patch cables or guitar strings. Then clicking on one of the above links and buying any product that you prefer, will help the blog… doesn’t even have to be the ones in the link. Thx]

Søren Lemmike – Russian Corvette

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

The freq fader on the VCF section of my SH-101. Riding the cutoff frequency on that synth is just such nice squelchy acid techno sound that’s been used on many classic records. It was also the first analog synth I got and the one I learned basic synthesis on. Most synths have a big old knob for cutoff control these days, but I like that the SH-101 is all faders.

[Editor: Yeah, I like how faders are easier to read visually too]

Roland SH101

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

The Elektron Digitakt is great, but I would like to see a bandpass filter, an extra LFO and maybe some more sequencer playback options like reverse and random etc. Maybe we will get it a firmware update some day.

Elektron Digitakt

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

On holiday I would bring a Model:Samples – still waiting for that battery handle so I can make beats while I sip drinks in the swimming pool, haha.

Elektron Model:Samples

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

It would be cool to have Madrona Labs Aalto as a hardware synth, preferably Eurorack-compatible. The sound and design of Aalto is inspired by a Buchla synthesizer, so it could actually make sense in hardware form. It’s just a lovely sounding synth and the patchable UI is great fun. Seems like most hardware has been ported to software already whether it be, pre-amps, tape machines, fx units or guitar amps – a lot them sound great.

Madrona Labs Aalto

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

I regret selling my Fostex 280 4-track cassette recorder. I still have a bunch of old tapes in the basement with recordings of songs and demos that would be fun to have a listen to today. I regularly check the market for used ones, but seems like they’re either too expensive or too hard to get a hold of these days. The demand seems to be high so maybe it’s time Fostex, Yamaha or Tascam start up production again?

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

For any genre I would say the electric guitar. Specifically for electronic music I would say a computer with Ableton Live. I switched from Logic to Ableton back in 2003 and from getting ideas down to a final track, I think this setup has led me to produce the most music. I do think it’s healthy to shake things up now and then and try new ways of working. I recently setup a couple of small hardware only workspaces in the corners of my room just to get my eyes away from the computer screen and see what happens. One is based around a modular setup and the other one is based around some drum machines and analog monosynths.

Hardware setup with monosynths and drum machines
Modular setup
Modular setup from a swish angle

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

A computer or maybe a sampler. When I upgraded from the multitrack cassette recorder I bought this Roland VS-1680 harddisk recorder, which I used for a long time. It was ok, but quite clunky and difficult to edit recordings. Looking back I should have just have skipped it and gone with a computer and good soundcard, but computer/software and soundcard solutions were kind a of new thing then and not that stable back then.

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

I have this Roland GI-10 guitar to midi interface which has terrible tracking. You listen back to the recorded midi file of your performance and it has all these random ghost notes that you didn’t even play on the guitar. It’s quite annoying to have to sit and clean up the file afterwards, but it’s also just fun playing synths and triggering samplers from guitar. You just have to kind of embrace the chaos or play really clean with it.

Roland GI-10

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

Generally I am fascinated by distortion and how it can either subtly or radically change the timbre or transients of a sound. Instead of making synth sounds with standard saw/square-waves I like waveshaping a basic sinewave and see what comes out. Instead of grabbing a compressor to treat the transients on drums I might try distorting them instead.  Not really a musical tip, but I was pleasantly surprised that you can twist the voice mode knob while powering on to play a video game on a Korg Minilogue. Easter eggs are cool.

[Editor: WUUUUT?!!!]

Korg Minilogue startup game

Artist or Band name?

Russian Corvette.

Genre?

I try to avoid sticking to genres.

Selfie?

Søren Lemmike aka. Russian Corvette

Where are you from?

Copenhagen, Denmark

How did you get into music?

My dad had a classical guitar hanging on the wall in the house I grew up in. I just picked it up one day and tried to figure out how to play it by playing along to records I liked. I think I was about thirteen years old. The year after I got an electric guitar and a 4-track cassette recorded and started recording my own sounds.

What still drives you to make music?

I just find it exciting, entertaining and fun. I get really restless if I cant make music on a regular basis in some way or form. It’s like stepping into an unknown fantasy world. Especially working with electronic music, there is so still so much new ground to cover and new stuff to learn, it never gets boring.

How do you most often start a new track?

Usually it will be a sound that grabs my attention and that inspires me to build a track up around it. The initial sound or idea can come from anywhere really, but usually it will come from a synth, guitar, field recording or sounds in nature. If it’s a techno/electro track it will usually start with a beat made on a drum machine or Ableton.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I try to trust my intuition to tell me when a track is finished.

If I feel like it’s not getting better when working on it or if I get bored with it, it’s usually a good time to let it sit and come back to it later – lot’s of times it will sound finished after letting it rest a while.

Setting up predefined rules, such as max number of tracks, only live recordings, no overdubs etc. or a deadline can be helpful too.

Show us your current studio

Home studio desk

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Not sure if it was meant as creative advice, but as Da Vinci said, art is never finished, only abandoned.

I think what he is saying is to don’t expect everything you do to be a masterpiece and remember to enjoy the process of creating, as least that’s how I interpret it.

Some other good ones: think outside the box, challenge your ideals and try to do things the wrong way once in a while.

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

Here’s an ambient thing I did with the Neutron synth while I was beta-testing Aaltoverb

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

[Editor: There are affiliate links to the relevant gear throughout the articles. It helps to support this blog. In fact, should you be needing some patch cables or guitar strings. Then clicking on one of the above links and buying any product that you prefer, will help the blog… doesn’t even have to be the ones in the link. Thx]