Invictus Hi-Fi – Esoterica

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

Nektar Panorama CS12 controller

I use a Nektar Panorama CS12 controller which has a fader you can easily assign use for automation in Logic, so I’ll go with that. Not just good for plugins and hardware synths either – I’ve a fair few MIDI enabled guitar pedals it gets used for too. 

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

Vult Freak Manifold Filter

It’s a recent purchase but the Vult Freak Manifold Filter is just amazing, and I say that as someone who isn’t a heavy user of filters normally. I cannot understand how something digital can sound so organic. Leonardo, the guy that makes them, must be some kind of coding genius. 

The only change I’d make is more filter types but that’s being greedy as there is already a fair few and I imagine that will happen eventually anyway. 

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

4ms Metamodule

Something not too different from the setup I used on my new live album Appearance, but now I’m the proud owner of a 4ms Metamodule I’d use that rather than the the Mod Audio Duo. There’s a Pam’s Pro Workout and Bitbox Mk2 sampler in there too – you can get a lot done with that setup. 

As for holiday, I’d normally just take a laptop or use that time to get a break from music and recharge. 

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

I wish all of those excellent UAD and Softube plugins I own were hardware – as I’d be asset rich in that instance, although space poor as the studio is at capacity in terms of kit! 

VCV Rack and a MacBook

There’s a few modules on VCV rack that I wish were hardware but the Metamodule is increasingly making that a reality.

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

My GAS would never allow me to regret a purchase but the one thing I regret selling was a Dreadbox Abyss synth – which is both sonically and aesthetically beautiful. I had used it too much on tracks though and didn’t want it to define my ‘sound’. 

Also the WMD Crucible, a Eurorack drum module for cymbal type sounds that can be pushed to some really interesting places – but that’s less of an issue now those guys are back in business so I’ll be getting another one eventually. 

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

Gear comes and goes in order to keep things fresh but both albums so far have had kit which has inspired the most. For The Market Deities it was the Moog DFAM, the only Moog thing I’ve ever owned, and the 4ms Ensemble module – which can create really unique tones and textures. 

Dreadbox Abyss

For The Vanishing it was the aforementioned Dreadbox Abyss and the ASM Hydrasynth, both of which helped me push sonic boundaries a fair bit.

ASM Hydrasynth

I think the Waldorf Iridium, Michigan Synth Works Xena (an excellent take on the Mutable Instruments Ambika synth) and the Nord Drum 3 will probably define the next album, as they’re seeing serious use right now. 

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

I’d probably just start with a laptop and VCV rack, and then learn the aspects of Eurorack I enjoyed before dropping cash on random modules in the hope they might chime with me. Also a great way to understand the fundamentals of Eurorack too. 

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

I have an OXI One sequencer which is excellent normally but for some reason is misbehaving at the moment. I’ll have sort it out soon though as I genuinely cannot live without it, especially for controlling Eurorack drums through its CV module. 

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

One thing I do often but don’t hear much of elsewhere is using clocked LFOs and sequencers to creatively modulate Eurorack drum and FX parameters – especially using less common LFO shapes and sequencer patterns at irregular and shifting speeds.

Eurorack modules

I use this technique to add additional rhythmic aspects and it makes the drum parts feel a lot more organic, as well as adding some weird offbeat variations to their tone and texture. 


Artist or Band name? 

Invictus Hi-Fi

Genre? 

Experimental Electronica 

Selfie?

Invictus Hi-Fi

Where are you from?

UK 

How did you get into music?

I listened a lot to Prince as a kid and he inspired me to learn a fair few instruments and start creating my own tracks.

What still drives you to make music?

I would just lose my mind if I couldn’t do so. It helps me process the world in ways I don’t even understand. 

How do you know when a track is finished?

When it’s uploaded to the distributor. Honestly, I’m much of a perfectionist for my own good and so that helps formally draw a line, stop tweaking and move on. 

Show us your current studio

Invictus Hi-Fi studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I’ve honestly only ever seen or heard bad advice, especially on social media as of late. I’ve learned to ignore completely – and advise others to as well. 

Forge your own path, people!

[Editor: I genuinely don’t know if Mr. HiFi is being ironic. Advising people to ignore advice. Either way I must disagree… Sharing thoughts and advice is … Well, the entire point of this blog, and I’ve never come across a piece of advice that i didn’t learn something from. Including Mr. HiFi’s… Which is why I’ll still post it, even though I disagree]

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

The new Invictus Hif-Fi album Appearance is out on the 31st January. It’s a live album with raw and experimental versions of past singles and album tracks using a method inspired by 1970s Dub sound systems. 

You can find it on BandCamp or watch the performances each track comes from over on YouTube.

https://invictushi-fi.bandcamp.com/album/appearance

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcbOYfqrRFi0povr3YC9gUyoivQu2B0M_


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]