Wolfgang Merx – Mr. X

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

Moog Sub 25
Moog Sub 25

Look at this great filter cutoff frequency knob on the Moog Sub 25, one of my recent additions and mainly part of my setup for gigs. I guess the resulting filter sweeps when turning this knob are the most famous synth sound!

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

Moog Little Phatty Stage II
Moog Little Phatty Stage II

This Moog Little Phatty Stage II is the first synth I ever bought and still my go-to synth when simply wanting to play or starting a session. It’s almost perfect because of its sound and the stripped-down layout, but exactly this one-knob-for-all layout has one flaw: it results in “jumping” of the values when turning the knobs after selecting a different feature. For example, you set the cutoff first and then select the resonance, but the value will jump as you move the knob. As always with synths, it is better to try and hear it than to read about it.

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

Mobile Modular Euro Rack
Mobile Modular Rack

This is my Mobile Modular Rack which I use for gigs because it has many essential modules and offers five or six separate voices, depending on the patch (details are available here: https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1933212). I use an Arturia Keystep Pro with this rack.

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

Arturia Minifreak
Arturia Minifreak

No idea. I rely on hardware, but I use Ableton for mixing. I still added a picture of my Arturia Minifreak because they added a VST along with the hardware synth. I think this is a very good idea of combining both worlds (despite the VST having its flaws).

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

No regrets! I take a lot of time before buying or selling anything. Planning my setup before buying anything is crucial to me.

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

Moog Little Phatty
Little Phatty

I must get back to the Little Phatty again. The classic Moog sound is what made me want to make music in the first place. Of course it is monophonic, but melodies which sound good on this synth will certainly have more to offer when you add more instruments and introduce polyphony and harmonies.

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

Nord Electro 5D
Nord Electro 5D

Despite loving synths, I would get a Nord keyboard like the Nord Electro 5D. It is the most versatile instrument in my setup and covers a lot of ground.

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

Behringer Model D
Behringer Model D

I had a Model D, the MiniMoog clone by Behringer, but it suffered from pitch drift in such a severe way that I couldn’t use it for performances anymore unless I wanted to tune every 30 minutes. This was a problem with the early runs of that model. It was long out of warranty, but to my surprise somebody bought it from me. Still, I bought another model because I need that sound in my setup. The pitch is stable so far.

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

Doepfer A-121-3
Doepfer A-121-3 in the thick of it

I don’t know whether this is a trick or not, but I like to combine multimode filters and two crossfaders to create a pseudo-stereo sound. The Doepfer A-121-3 multimode filter offers four filter types: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and notch. You can pair them and send those outputs to the crossfaders. When the crossfaders and the filter module are modulated, you can create constantly evolving soundscapes with these few modules already. This works in a similar way with the Nonlinear Circuits Feague which is a filter module and a quadrature VCO. It has four outputs: two low-pass and two band-pass.


Artist or Band name?

Wolfgang Merx a.k.a. Mr. X.

Genre?

Berlin School, Kosmische Musik, Ambient, Synthwave and a bit of Funk.

Selfie?

Wolfgang Merx a.k.a. Mr. X

Where are you from?

Bedburg, Germany, close to Cologne and Düsseldorf.

How did you get into music?

I started listening to hard rock and prog rock when I was a teenager. The most important band that started my interest in synths and making music is Emerson Lake & Palmer. Hearing the sounds that Keith Emerson made with his famous and enormous Moog modular has been mind-blowing and very inspiring, even to this day. Klaus Schulze is my other major influence, along with Tangerine Dream which I discovered a few years later. Schulze’s spacy and dream-like music is amazing and shows what one person can do …with a lot of synths and keyboards. Tangerine Dream, being a band, expanded this idea in their unique way, adding a sense for fantastic group improvisations.

What still drives you to make music?

Listening to other people’s music and hearing sounds, for example in nature or in everyday life.

How do you most often start a new track?

Most of the time by either improvising a soundscape with pads or Mellotron sounds or by improvising a synth sequence.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I think that music is never finished if it is performed. But when I record music for a future release, I simply feel when the music calms down and a jam is coming to an end.

Show us your current studio

Mr. X’s studio setup

Mr. X’s studio setup

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Miles Davis once said: “Don’t play the butter notes.”

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

This is my latest album „Time Stands Still”, available on most platforms and Bandcamp, of course: https://wolfgangmerx.bandcamp.com/album/time-stands-still


Dieter Doepfer – SuperBooth 2023

At the very last hour of SuperBooth 2023, I was lucky enough to bump into Dieter Doepfer himself, the man whose company – Doepfer Musik Elektronik started the eurorack modular format. So I immediately asked him if he would be willing to do a short interview, which he graciously agreed to do, before heading off towards beer and concerts.

Check out some of Doepfers modules:

Doepfer A-125 Phaser https://redir.love/KSp7r7ve

Doepfer A-137-2 VC Wave Multiplier II https://redir.love/C5uE4IqI

Doepfer A-118-2 VE Noise and random generator https://redir.love/PnIXDAzw


Martin A. Ottesen – Funkstar De Luxe

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

Mod Wheel on the PolyBrute

Besides a high quality keyboard bed, I love the modulation wheel and assigning it to control various parameters of a patch. I’m a keyboard player of the 80/90’ies, so my left hand is used to working the mod wheel quite a bit. It’s nice and tactile and you can instantly see and feel the position. An important element of breathing life into a sound – to me at least.

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

The latest addition to my setup is the PolyBrute which is really great overall. If import and playback of own samples/waveforms was possible, it would have been perfect.

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

A MacBook Pro and a small controller. I’m a keyboard player so keys are vital to me. How my fingers move around on the keys is a big part of the writing process. I don’t like minikeys, but for travelling it is convenient bringing a small controller such as the Korg Nanokey[US, EU] or a Korg Monologue[US, EU]. I always bring good headphones.

Korg Nanokey and a red Monologue

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

Logic has a Step FX plug-in which I totally dig. Would be cool having complete hardware control over that – a dedicated unit/controller with the same visual layout. I love hardware, so no particular wish for anything to be software. I believe there’s plenty of software solutions out there. 

Logic Step FX plug-in

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

I sold a Roland SH-101 years ago. I would like to have kept it, but then again, I probably wouldn’t use it that much. I bought the microKorg [US. EU] some years ago thinking that it would be a nice travelling companion, but I didn’t really get into it so I sold it again.

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

Definitely samplers, I made my entire debut album ‘Keep On Moving’ with a Yamaha A-3000 before DAWs became the norm. Later on I bought the Native Instruments Maschine [US, EU] when it first came out and that was really a boost for me making more sophisticated drum patterns. Recently I have retired the Maschine and turned to Logic’s samplers, especially the Q-sampler chopping up all kinds of audio. Q for Quick, and it certainly is. 

Native Instruments Maschine

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

Besides a MacBook Pro running Logic, a high quality MIDI controller keyboard. I recently upgraded to the Arturia Keylab 88 mkII, Arturia Keylab 88 mkII] which is just brilliant.

Arturia Keylab 88 mkII

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

The analogue and modular synths take so much time to patch up, but I really like having hardware synths in my studio. If I get stuck on a project I usually find some inspiration or new ideas in the synths. They’re also the only instruments I know and then just play.

Eurorack square of Doepfer

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

Sending audio through my little modular system for modulating is great fun and often gives surprisingly interesting results. Even with just a few modules a dull audio track can be transformed into something completely different.
Another technique I find interesting is setting up a patch on a hardware synth (preferably mono modular) and the letting Logic’s auto sampler sample it into a polyphonic patch. It usually turns out different than expected.

Analog corner

Artist or Band name?

Funkstar De Luxe

Genre? House / Electronica

Martin Aulkjaer Ottesen aka. Funkstar De Luxe

Where are you from?

Kerteminde, Denmark

How did you get into music?

My mother was a musician. We had a piano and an electric organ, and I was always fascinated by the knobs and switches on the organ. When I later discovered synthesizers I was hooked and knew that I wanted to get into that. But first my parents arranged for me to get piano lessons.

What still drives you to make music?

Sounds, atmospheres and of course grooves. I find it amazing that you can get so many differents sounds out of even the smallest synth. The big reward for me is when a track really comes together as a unity.

How do you most often start a new track? 

If it’s a remix, I usually start with the bare acapella finding a cool chord progression that fits, then drums and groove. If it’s a track from scratch, I’ll probably program a sound and find some chords or a melody to begin with. Recently I have been getting into just jamming away and see what comes up. That’s a nice contrast to building a track sample by sample in a DAW.

How do you know when a track is finished?

Most often I cycle between mixing and adding new elements but I try not to put too many layers in a production. It’s better having a few that really work, also in order give those layers more room to live in. When everything comes together the right way it just sounds finished.

Show us your current studio

I used to sit in the garage of the house but due to flooding in 2021 I have moved to the attic. I have a minimal setup at the moment but a few pieces of good gear definitely goes a long way.

Home studio – movin’ up in the house to the attic

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Limit your options. If you have a studio full of gear and so many possibilities it might be hard getting anything done. Pick a few pieces of gear and see how far you can go with that. Once you have an idea or direction, you can always use other gear if you are looking for a specific sound or effect. The same goes for software. See how far you can get with just a handful of plug-ins.

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

My album Redemption (out on 21 Oct. 2022) is quite different from my dance remixes. This is more melodic and electronic sounding, not specifically aimed at dancefloors. It’s been very refreshing doing a whole album giving room to different kinds of expression, definitely a very personal piece of work: https://funkstar.lnk.to/album


[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]