1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
Moog Delay
The time knob on any analogue delay stomp box, follow closely by the feedback knob.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
The Elektron Digitone (I). I would change nothing, because it’s the limitations, that make it such a great creative tool.
Elektron Digitone
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
My Akai MPC Live II. Or my laptop running Logic.
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I’m a big fan of granular synths, so it would be nice to have something like the Tasty Chips GR-1 as a plug in on the AKAI (Force/MPC).
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
Akai Force
It would have been nice to have kept the Roland W30, it has a very gritty 12-bit sound. Maybe I’ll very soon regret not buying a second spare Akai Force, because they are not produced anymore, and I’m not sure they’ll make a Force II.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Well, the list is very long, starting with my first samplers, the one in the Amiga 500 and the Roland W30 way back in the nineties. But the last few years it has been the Elektron Digitone. My latest album (“Wait”) has some tracks that are made entirely on the Digitone. Generally, there is nothing like a good sine wave to get me inspired, so I love digital synhts with nice sine waves, like the Blofeld or the Digitone. I also get a lot of inspiration from stomp boxes, like the Cosmos Drift Station or the Strymon Nightsky.
Strymon Nightsky
And of course delay boxes, of which I have a few (my favorites being the Moog MF 104 and the Jahtari rebuild of the Korg Monotron delay).
Jahtari
Oh and I almost forgot the Tasty Chips Granular GR1. I love all things granular…
Tasty Chips Granular GR-1
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
An MPC. The sampling workflow is second to none, and the plug in synths are usefull (I use the Juno 106 replica and the electric piano, which can be turned into a sine wave plus noise synth).
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
The Digitone. It happens so often that I get completely lost because I accidently change the wrong notes on the sequencer and loose some of the programming (every note on the sequencer can have a different sound set up).
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
The digitone surprises me all the time, I find some clever way of doing something and then the next time I use it, I have forgotten what I did. So I’m sorry: No tips and tricks.
Artist or Band name?
Dub Tractor
Genre?
Sine wave
Selfie?
Where are you from?
Nivå, north of Copenhagen.
How did you get into music?
Spending long summer days inside listening to cassettes.
What still drives you to make music?
Curiosity.
How do you most often start a new track?
Either with a sequence (an ostinato) or with a beat. If I start with a beat, the track never turns into anything.
How do you know when a track is finished?
I never know.
Show us your current studio
Akai MPC Live II
The core of the studio: The Force and the Digitone.
Force and Digitone
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Listen to your music at very low volume (or from another room).
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
Peavey PA-600 mixer
The “reverb” knob on my old Peavey PA-600 mixer. It’s big and it’s beautiful. As the name suggests it’s an old PA mixer but It sounds amazing in it’s own way, and I run a lot of stuff through it. It’s brilliant on electric/acoustic guitar, vocals and drums. The preamps in itself are great, but that spring reverb on electric guitar or a snare drum – WOW! Only problem is that weird enough it’s mono so wouldn’t work as a real mixer in the studio. I need to find someone who can make it work as a stereo mixer! 🙂
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
As I’m a guitarist I have a lot of guitar pedals and my favourite one has to be the Strymon Deco. I recently traded my old version 1 to the v2. The v1 didn’t have a tone knob on it and no midi – it does now! To me it’s now perfect and I wouldn’t change anything as it now has the tone knob. Nice and smooth, crunchy and fat tape saturation on one channel and great wobbly tape modulation on the other. Great on guitar, but definitely also on synths, bass and even drums! It’s a Desert Island piece of gear to me! Guitar pedals in music production in general can be mind blowing!
Strymon Deco
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
I’m originally a guitarist and songwriter so I tend to always have a guitar near me, whenever I’m away. But holiday sometimes is a weird state of mind for me as I try to relax but often end up feeling restless and guilty about not working and sometimes feeling more creative when I’m away and not able to work. Having a guitar around sometimes only makes it worse, as I’m supposed to be on holiday with my family – not working!
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
Almost all the software that I use are some kind of emulation of old outboard gear. Hmm.. Fabfilter plugins wouldn’t be that sexy as hardware would they? Maybe the good old ValhallaVintageverb would be fun to have as an outboard gear! I would love to have more reverb outboard effects in general! Although I don’t own one myself, It would be great fun if Chase Bliss Audio made their pedals as plugins as well. On second thought… that would maybe just make you craving their guitar pedals even more…
Chase Bliss Audio Mood
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I’ve had a lot of guitars in the past – and present. Two comes to mind. I sold a Gibson Melody Maker from 1965 which used to belong to Kashmir’s Kasper Eistrup. That guitar was used a lot during the recordings of their last album E.A.R. I actually didn’t buy it because of him, it just really spoke to me and I just had to get it. I used it a lot in the studio and live, but sold it in a weak moment to buy something else.. Can’t remember what really… The other guitar that comes to mind was an all original white Fender Mustang from 1966. A really great guitar, but I sold it to buy the most precious guitar that I own, my all original 1965 Fender Jazzmaster. I do miss that Mustang quite often, but I know it’s in good hands.
Pedalboard of goodies
Regret buying.. Hmm.. I tend to buy nice things! Haha! Well.. I remember when I was a kid I had a Strat and an okay transistor amp and then I bought a Korg multi effects pedalboard. I never really learned how to use it and I kinda hated it, but I used way too much time with it. Should have stuck to pedals from the beginning. I did have some nice ones that I skipped for a long time. Had i just stuck to them I think I would have dug into the pedal world much earlier and developed my playing, musical style and songwriting much more and at a younger age.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Gibson J-45 acoustic
About 10 years ago I bought a 1967 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar. That guitar made me write stuff so easily. Songs in me were waiting to be written on that guitar. It was quite amazing really, and somehow I always knew that I needed to get that guitar model at some point. These days I find my Jazzmaster through my newly acquired 70’s Vibro Champ pretty inspiring as well! Amazing studio amp.
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
As a producer you can’t live without your computer. Sad to say.. But what I’ve learned over the years is that it’s not the expensive preamp or the vintage microphone you record with that’s the most important thing. Of course it helps indeed! But in the end it comes down to the instrument and the performance. So if I was to start all over and had the money, I would skip the bad decisions of buying cheap and bad quality instruments and get some nice ones from the beginning – and then find an inspiring teacher and start a band 🙂 Also I would have loved to learn how to play the drums! I love playing drums but I never really took the time to learn it.
Synths and keys
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without
The most annoying is when something doesn’t work. I am NOT a great technician or a computer tech guy – AT ALL. I wish I had the skills to repair my own gear but I don’t, and I don’t think I’ll ever have the time or mindset to learn it. Computer problems must be the most annoying part of music production.
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I have definitely underrated the power of hardware gear. When I first started recording music with my own band I didn’t really think too much about outboard gear.
Outboard and studio gear
And when I started off producing and recording music myself, I didn’t have much more than a laptop, a cheap interface and one microphone. And that’s all I used for a long time, but at some point I found out that just because the technology is so good now that you can hardly tell the difference between vintage outboard gear and plugins, doesn’t mean that I don’t need the hardware gear. I do. Hardware is so much more inspiring. Turning knobs on a synth while playing, running guitar through my PA mixer or Space Echo with worn out tape that keeps jumping around. There’s the magic. It’s inspiring. That’s the trick. That’s the technique. Don’t underestimate the power of the outboard gear!
Peavey PA-600 mixer
Artist or Band name?
Linus Valdemar
Genre?
Alternative pop, Indie, Folk, Britpop, Shoe-gaze and organic, nordic music.
Selfie?
Linus Valdemar
Where are you from?
I grew up in Lynæs (Hundested), a small town in the north of Sjælland, Denmark, but have lived in Nørrebro, Copenhagen for about 18 years now.
How did you get into music?
My dad was always a singer/songwriter and played his own songs in a local band, so I picked up the guitar at a young age because of him, learning from him and the local music school.
Also I was fortunate to have a few good mates and we made our first band before we could even play really.. We were 11-12 years old.
My mom has definitely influenced me as well, while my dad was the executive musician, my mom had a nice vinyl/CD collection and the knowledge about music in general. This combination made me fall in love with music.
What still drives you to make music?
Over the years I’ve only been more and more curious about new music. Discovering new great artists and producers and how they do it really inspires me. Doesn’t have to be new upcoming artists, as long as it’s new to me it’s inspiring. When I was younger and frontman/songwriter in a rock and roll band, I was definitely more narrow-minded and thought I knew exactly what I liked and disliked – what a fault that was! You can find inspiration and drive in any genre really.
Also new gear or new ways to use gear definitely drives me. And as my studio is based in a complex with other studios and great colleagues, we’re constantly talking and exchanging experiences which helps you and drives you on to the next project with new approach and ideas.
How do you most often start a new track?
It changes from time to time. Sometimes I have an idea on the guitar or piano, and sometimes I try to make a drum beat and play some bass on it. I like messing around with the Logic Drummer – haha! Today I entered my studio and instantly sat at my upright piano and just started writing – before having my morning coffee! So yeah I don’t have a go to way to kick things off really.
A selection of instruments
How do you know when a track is finished?
I don’t. It’s really tough. I will always find things in my mixes that I want to change and edit, but working with deadlines can be a nice way to get things done. Also working fast is a nice way to get it done. I’ve composed some scores lately that I almost started and finished the same day. I’ve learned over the years that being in a flow and working fast is nice. Get it done and move on! Don’t dwell too much. In the end you are your own biggest critic and the audience can’t tell if you think it’s done or not.
Show us your current studio
Linus Valdemar’s studioLinus Valdemar’s studio
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Here’s one phrase that just came to mind: “Stay curious”. That’s what I intend to do! I keep searching the internet, talking to fellow producers, trying to find new methods to record stuff, write stuff and so on. Music is universal and can still feel different to each of us and hopefully I will never get tired of finding new ways to produce it.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
It’s been a while since I’ve released my own music but here’s a track I produced last year by Marie Fjeldsted.
Also please visit my website to see/hear my portfolio, thanks!
1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
The mighty Hammond Organ
After giving this a lot of thought, I must admit it’s the power switch on almost any piece of gear. If not all gear. Being a Hammond organ player by heart, it’s always a bit of a cliffhanger, if the instrument will work or even turn on from one gig to the other – and with newer synths, the joy of seeing the lights flicker across the instrument when turning on, is pure bliss! The rest seems purely functional, but that first way of making contact with the instrument by turning it on does it for me. That almost sounds wrong.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
What first comes to mind is my Holy Grail (old reverb pedal). It has one knob: reverb amount. There’s absolutely nothing I would change on it. If not that, it’s gotta be the Korg MS-10. Super simple and perfect for what it can do and does. If I could change anything, it might be another oscillator – or the possibility of hearing a polyphonic version of it. Oh, and midi.
EHX Holy Grail
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
Holidays and commutes is where I bring the outcome of other people’s gear and ideas: their music. Since most of my worklife is based around music, holidays are not really a thing. Other people’s holidays are my busiest times of the year, and… well, as musicians, we don’t really take time off, do we? There’s always some sort of music going on… and this question got me thinking: if there was a piece of gear, I could bring – and this is sort of a dream for me – it would be the Vongon Replay. I don’t own one, and unfortunately never tried one, but wow… just look at it!
Vongon Replay
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I only use Ableton when it comes to software, but definitely wouldn’t wish all my hardware had turned to software overnight.
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I bought an MS-20 and an MS-10 in 1998 and paid 2100 Danish kroner (about 300 dollars) for both of them. However, they seemed to be broken, ‘cause none of them produced more than one note at a time. Disappointed as I was, I sold them again for 2500 kr. I did, however, buy an MS-10 a few years back, and love it to heaven and back.
Korg MS-10
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
The Hammond Organ. No doubt. The simplicity and it’s way of letting it sound like you can actually play, when all you do is just switch between a couple of keys and know your C7.
Hammond Organ
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
A band. Definitely. That has always been the main reason for playing music: hanging out, sharing stories and creating music. Dreaming.
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
The Roll’or’kari’s (dolly to haul the Hammond B-3 around). It’s heavy as hell, even by itself, and then you slap them on a 150 kg organ and carry them both. Hate it. If it’s playable gear, it would be the Chase Bliss Mood. Not even the MKII. The first one ‘cause it’s such a beautiful piece of aesthetic wonder. Can make anything sound good and musical. Thing is, I still don’t really know exactly how it works or what it does and when it does it. Sort of like eating food when on vacation. You don’t really know what it is, how it tastes so good or what the consequences will be… When it comes to annoying gear, that I wish I could sell, it’s the Chase Bliss CXM 1978. I wish I’d just sell it, but it just sounds so damn good. And those motorized faders… (getting chills just typing this)
Chase Bliss CXM 1978
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
Ooooh, this is a great question! Nikolaj Svaneborg from Svaneborg Kardyb taught me this trick for the Juno-6 and 60’s:
Set the resonance at 7 or 8, set the ‘kybd’ knob to 10, turn off all three oscillators, set the filter to 10 and then slide the fader down until tones start to come out. You can tune it quite precisely, but you never get it to tune perfectly – that’s the charm:-)
This sound can be heard on the track ‘Balancen’ from their newest album.
Juno-6
Artist or Band name?
The Orgelheimers, Nairobi Auto Service, Me Llamo Speedos and Hippie Da DA
Wanted to hang out with the kids playing music in the small town I grew up in. It was an easy transition from skateboarding into music.
What still drives you to make music?
Good question. I’ve been low on drive for a while. The hassle of playing live, working with musicians (who run different notions of time and professionality) and a general “Why do we do this? Why do people need to hear this?”. And frankly, this is still a question for me. The key so far is sharing. Bringing music to people for whatever reason. As long as it means something. As long as it matters.
How do you most often start a new track?
By hearing a melody, beat or bassline in my head.
How do you know when a track is finished?
Usually doesn’t take long. when there are no more ideas that present themselves in relation to the piece I’m working on. Sometimes it’s as simple as others saying: “I think it’s great like this!”, then it’s done.
Show us your current studio
Studio space
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
“No matter how much you practice, you can’t run away from who you really are”. Meaning: you are you, and you’ll sound like you. That’s who people go to see/listen to. They don’t listen to you to hear Bowie or Engelbert Humperdinck.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
