[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]
[Editor: In case you didn’t know this… JayE is a Diamond record producer. That means over 10 million copies sold. And this was back when actual units got shipped and not streamed. He might not be making music in your preferred genre, but he is a heavyweight. And it is quite wonderful for me to share his answers with you all]
1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
Memory Moog dual Frequency knob
The frequency knob on the Memory Moog. It’s a duel knob that has a center knob inside for fine tuning. Really unique and useful for a single knob.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
My MPC3000, I wish it had CV and Gate out, like the current MPCs (MPCX and MPC One) The 3000 is a beast other than that.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
OP1, iPad, and A Pocket Operator.
OP1, iPad, and a Pocket Operator
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
That’s a tough question since so many pieces of hardware are now software. So I would have to say, I wish maybe a iZotope RX9 hardware piece of gear would be awesome. I use it a lot to remove elements from vinyl record samples, like removing the vocals to make instrumentals , or just have the drums or the bass stand alone of a sample.. it’s really powerful and would be pretty awesome to have right next to my turntable at all times and move knobs on the fly to remove elements.
iZotope RX9
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I sold my OSCar and TR909 a few years back. I really wasn’t using them a lot cause they both had internal issues, that I wasn’t at the time knowledgeable of, but I probably could fix them now on my own, with a bit of help from friends and searching on the internet.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
I would say my MPC 3000, it just has an awesome feel and its also the one piece of gear I can be blindfolded and still work with.
Akai MPC 3000
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
A Juno 60 or 106… I feel like its a perfect synth to learn synthesis and learn to design sounds.. I started off just using presets and a lot of my early boards were too complicated to sound design on the fly… like the Korg Trinity and K2600.
A chorus of Junos
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
That’s tough cause if it is annoying, I usually replace it for something non annoying… I guess I would say the ASR10.. I love the sound, but I still have yet to master it. It has so many pages of options, and every ASR 10 I have had, has been unstable, where the more tweaking you do, it freezes up or crashes, which is annoying… but it is one of the warmest samplers I have ever heard… nothing sounds like an ASR 10 sampler.
Ensoniq ASR10
9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I recently discovered step sampling on my MPC 3000 I always seen it, but never dove into it.. back then I never found a need for it… and thought it wasn’t practical on how I record, but now I use it a lot.
Artist or Band name?
Jay E
Genre?
HipHop/Pop
Selfie?
Where are you from?
St. Louis.
How did you get into music?
I was a house party DJ that loved music and decided I wanted to make the same kind of records I was spinning.
What still drives you to make music?
New equipment and new music from different genres of music… I rarely listen to hiphop… even though that’s what I’m known for.
How do you most often start a new track?
Lately its been sound designing and wherever that takes me. I used to just start with drums or a melody.. but after 20+ years of making music.. I tend to try new techniques and less obvious ways of starting music making.
How do you know when a track is finished?
When I have a good idea on what the verse and hook sound like. After that I just structure and do breakdowns
Show us your current studio
Fisheye in the studioPanorama of the JayE’s studio (Hint: this photo is clickable to view a big version)
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Limit yourself to one or two pieces of gear and it forces you to be creative in a new way.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
Akai S950 Data Wheel
I can’t isolate just one unfortunately! Boring answer: I just bought an Akai S950 and really like the feel of the main data wheel. The knob itself is quite aesthetically boring but the mechanical click feel of it is great and responsive.
Akai S950 12bit rack sampler
Slightly less boring answer 1: I also really like the XY stick on the Intellijel Planar 2. Slightly less boring answer 2: The main main frequency knob on the XAOC Devices Belgrad Multimode filter, superb quality!
Slightly less boring answer 3: the main pitch knob on the Strymon Magneto is also excellent. Slightly less boring answer 4: Most of the Erica Synths module knobs.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
For ease of use, feature set and general overall desire to use, the MPC (previously the X and currently One in my case). I’d change a fair few things, some examples would be latched pads/looped samples (like the Roland SP404/505 etc have, so you can have an infinitely sustaining loop. I discovered a way to override this in the MPC by tricking it into not receiving a NOTE OFF message which is the issue. I’d also have a much deeper modulation matrix. Disk streaming, ability to install an SSD (MPC One), more CV outputs.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
I don’t do any of those things to warrant taking a machine with me! But if I toured, my MPC One plus a midi controller or an MPCx would be the logical choice. Or two MPC Ones, a midi controller and a DJ mixer.
Akai MPC One… with a nice metal data wheel and some custom decals
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
No software equivalent of anything, but a hardware equivalent of Renoise would be amazing (if it had the exact feature set and capabilities, with 16 pads of course).
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I regret selling my MPC 2500SE for sure, I’ve also had a few Yamaha SU700’s and have always thought I should have kept one, but it’s one of those machines that can be amazing and fun, but can be irritating to use on occasion. It also looks brilliant, and unique. No regrets buying really, not that I can think of right now. Maybe a larger Eurorack case but that would be irresponsible 🙂
Strymon Magneto
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Once again the MPCs I’ve owned over the years, (2500se, 1000, 5000, X, One, Live).
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
An MPCx or if you mean go back in time, an MPC3000 / 4000 / 60
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
Roland MC707
The Roland MC707, I never intended to buy one, but initially bought it just to try and it’s been a complete revelation. It’s so good in many areas (the synth engine, the Scatter effect, the clips/matrix/scenes etc), but the sampling, file handling, some program parameters (like how the pads in a drum program behave in contrast to an MPC) and various other areas need much improvement. I’d really miss it if i sold it though. Also my Ensoniq ASR-X. I very nearly sold it recently as it takes ages to load and save samples. I have the Turbo version which means it has SCSI so I need to buy a compatible SCSI drive or emulator ideally, to see if it speeds things up considerably. Also, half the pads are failing (a well known issue) and the encoders can be slightly glitchy. But it just sounds so good and is really quick, plus the effects are great. Lastly, it just looks superb in my opinion. A lovely, underrated vintage piece of gear.
9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I developed my own ‘granular time-stretching’ technique with the MPCx. You can control the start point of a sample with velocity. Dedicated sample start manipulation and automation was one of the biggest omissions from the MPC which the Elektron Octatrack could do since it was released in 2010, this technique brings the MPC feature set for experimentation up to par, but surpasses the OT because of the MPCs sound quality (something I felt always lacked with the OT). https://youtu.be/CE4ZaEExNdc
Ensoniq ASR-X – I
And again, the Ensoniq ASR-X – I discovered, or rather stumbled across a glitch when I was trying to create a synth tone, looping just a few frames of a sample. If you pitch the sample up as high as possible it can lead to some bizarre, circuit bent type effects and mixes and occasionally blends several samples together. Very cool and surreal trick.
Artist name:
Tubedigga.
Genre?
Jungle/Drum and Bass / Hip Hop / Electronica / Drone / Experimental
Selfie?
Mr. TubeDigga
Where are you from?
London UK.
How did you get into music?
Parents record collection, older sister bringing home early Electro records (Cybotron, Man Parrish, Tyrone Brunson etc)
What still drives you to make music?
I have an addiction to learning new bits of gear and making them do things the manual doesn’t mention, and I love designing sounds and discovering new textures/moods/tones/
How do you most often start a new track?
Maybe once a week/fortnight if it’s a full track, every day if it’s a basic loop/idea.
How do you know when a track is finished?
That’s somewhat subjective but I suppose when it sounds good, feels good, does the right things at the right time, and when it feels like it might go wrong or be ruined if I add more or too much.
Show us your current studio:
I keep those things private, sorry 🙂
[Editor: But here’s a photo of TubeDigga’s studio monitor]
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Creative advice would be to try and take a step back from being too serious (electronic music and being a techie/geek can get like that sometimes). A great engineering tip from a well known jungle producer was ‘cut more, add less’ when it comes to EQ and mixing. I often ignore that advice though 🙂
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
[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]
