M. Beckmann – Post Droner

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

Count to 5 by Montreal Assembly

The “E” switch on Count to 5 by Montreal Assembly, specifically on mode three. I love the eight seconds looping mode and that switch is the one that allows you to add a second and a third playback of the same loop, also reversed and pitched up or down, chromatically or at different intervals. I love the ability to abruptly add some sped-up elements.

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

Since I primarily loop stuff, I have to go with Blooper by Chase Bliss. Even though it has a 30 seconds limit and it’s mono (which contextually is what I would change), it’s a very powerful and versatile looper, and I could probably perform just with it – and say a guitar and reverb, or OP1, or a keyboard in general – and get plenty of inspiration.

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

Usually on holiday (since I don’t do many livesets) a backpack with my norns and grid by monome, OP1 field and a stereo pedal – Zoia or Mood MkII, or Walrus M1 – maybe now the latest addition, Chroma Console.

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

Ridgewalk iOS app

I recently discovered Ridgewalk by Aqeel Aadam as AU on my iPad and I really love it, an original and accessible take on a looper/delay/granulator. I’d love to have it in pedal form. I guess I would expose my laziness by saying that I’d love to have any Spitfire library on hardware – because I could “just” learn cello or something. Though, since I love portability, I’d love if they could do some cheaper libraries for OP1 or stuff like that. That would be great.

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

I regret selling my 2019 monome norns shield. After I got my hands on the original
manufactured by monome, I kept it for 6 months or so, and then I decided to sell it. I really wish I didn’t, norns scripts are a real source of fun and potential ambient-electronic bliss, and having a couple of units should be really nice in a live DAWless setting.

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

Probably a tie between the app Samplr (I started 14 years ago heavily using iPad for making music) and the OP1 (I had the OG before the field), mainly for their sample mangling and looping capabilities. I love treating dusty recording as samples or loops, and both excel in that.

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

If I had not much money I would start over just like I started 14 years ago, which means an iPad and apps in the AUM ecosystem. I think iPad music making is also a good combination of software flexibility and tactile experience. There’s lots of inspiring stuff to explore. If I had plenty of money I would go modular – always in a sample-oriented way, like granular and looping modules above all. That’s very tempting!

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

Zoom H6

My Zoom H6 recorder, it is annoying in that it is old and also for the fact that five years ago or so I decided to set the screen as always backlit when powered on: the constant high brightness level started whitening the corners about 3 years ago and now the display is all white except for a central circle, where I can barely see the levels. I will need to change it some day.

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

Pladask Baklengs

This is not so much a trick or tip on a piece of gear, I probably have very little wisdom in that regard, but something I find useful to balance my dark EQ instinct, so to say. I very often tend to cut a lot the high frequencies while recording, but I do know that “they are good for me”, so I started using Baklengs by Pladask Elektrisk in its octave up mode right after Blooper, which creates a fluffy and digitally-warbly higher pillow of sound to lift up the whole piece. I mix it in as I go.

Chase Bliss Blooper

Artist or Band name?

M. Beckmann / the volume settings folder

Genre?

Ambient-drone-post rock

Selfie?

M. Beckmann / the volume settings folder

Where are you from?

Padua, Italy

How did you get into music?

Gawd, it’s been a journey! I was into techno-eurodance stuff between 7th and 9th grade, then a friend at school lent me a copy of Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson, and I was hooked. From mainstream modern metal (here is where I started playing guitar, obviously) I started exploring the fringes – drone, post metal, post rock, ambient, electronica… and here I am!

What still drives you to make music?

I love making sounds and compositions that evoke the feeling of nostalgia, even if it’s not attached to a particular event or person (I recently found out that this is called anemoia, the nostalgia for a time you never experienced). That’s it. Better making this music myself than waiting for someone else to please my taste.

How do you most often start a new track?

By throwing a couple of chords – or a melody if I’m really inspired – into my pedals, start looping and building up from there.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I always finish a track – and by that I mean that since my approach is mainly improvisational and recorded on the spot, I can’t and I don’t want to treat it much further on my DAW (even though I sometimes do it). In fact, the feeling of knowing that I will not need to expand on what I recorded with some post-production is what makes me say that I did something good and I can consider it finished.

Show us your current studio

Table of fx pedals
Studio desk

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

To force yourself into using sounds or gear that you don’t like in principle, or make you uncomfortable, and incorporate even bits of these into your music. I don’t always put it in practice, but I have to admit that when I do the results are very good, more original than usual. I can’t remember who said this.

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

Here’s a link to my bandcamp page with the latest releases, and to my social network pages:
https://linktr.ee/thevolumesettingsfolder


Asymmetric Cut – Davide Bernardi

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

Arturia MicroFreak

One of my favorite knobs are all the Arturia MicroFreak potentiometers, but my fav thing about the MF is the touch sensitive keyboard (I was scared at the beginning, but now I’m totally in love).
Another thing that I like so much, are the wooden and clicky buttons of the OrganelleM.

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

I don’t own many things, I have the Critter & Guitari Organelle M, Norns Shield by Garret Labs (+ Novation Launchpad Mini MK2 as 64 “Grid”), Arturia MicroFreak, Koma Elektronic Field Kit FX, Zoom MS-70CDR pedal and an old Panasonic Dictaphone.

Panasonic Dictaphone

I use an old version of Ableton Live Intro (8), just as multitrack recorder + Audacity and Adobe Audition for “editing” with Zoom U-22 as audio interface.
I would love to start/switch into the modular world, but for now I’m learning/trying this great and awesome world with VCV Rack 2.
Also the Ciat-Lonbarde ecosystem, it fascinates me a lot.

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

Critter & Guitari Organelle M

Organelle M is the perfect companion in combination with the Norns Shield (with external power bank) and Zoom MS-70CDR.

Zoom MS-70CDR

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

Valhalla Supermassive as a real pedal and almost all the Splice VST effects.
I would love to have all the Ciat-Lonbarde (Cocoquantus, Deerhorn Organ, Sidrax Organ, Tocante, etc …) as virtual instruments, to try/learn their workflow.

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

Regret selling, the Boss SP-202 and the Yamaha MT50 4 track cassette recorder.
Regret buying, probably nothing, all the equipment that I’ve had, have in some way either good or bad things about them, that help me to learn something.

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

Norns Shield and Organelle M are my main “brains”, especially with generative scripts / patches.
I like to control them with 2host USB (Midi USB-USB) or sequencing the MicroFreak.
Sometimes I like to record samples / fields recording, with piezo mic on the Koma Field Kit FX or with the Dictaphone.

Norns Shield

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

I’m not consider myself as “musician”, my workflow is about feelings, insights and following the flow, so maybe probably, learn and study music theory and a lot of things that I don’t know, even if I like (perhaps too much) the transportation and philosophy of the generative music.

Arturia MicroFreak and Organelle M

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

Cables and power adapters.

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

I have no real tricks (being self-taught), but I have learned a lot thanks to the various online communities (for Norns and Organelle) and I wanna say thanks to all those who spent time and energy creating new scripts and patches!


Artist or Band name?

Asymmetric Cut

Genre?

Ambient / Soundscape / Drone

Selfie?

Where are you from?

Italy

How did you get into music?

When I was child, I got an xmas gift (Bontempi keyboard) then around 14, playing guitar (hardcore / punk / grunge), then I dive into electronic music with FastTracker 2 on 486 PC.
Later with different gear, such as samplers (E-mu ESI-32 and Boss SP-202) and grooveboxes (Roland MC-303 and MC-505).

What still drives you to make music?

I’m not a professional musician (I’m photographer and teacher), so for me it’s just something to relax, make something (hopefully good) and with the social media, make connections and know nice and talented people (like you and many others).

How do you most often start a new track?

Depends of my mood, but usually I start with the Norns Shield or /with Organelle M and the MicroFreak through the MS 70-CDR, layering some sounds and working on, till I’m ok with the result.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I usually start listening to it many times to understand if I have skipped any steps or made some drafting errors, then I let it settle, like wine and decide if it is usable or not.

Show us your current studio

Desktop Studio

I don’t have studio or studio space in my little apartment, so every time I wanna play I set everything on the living room / work / eating table.

Koma Elektroniks FieldkitFX

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

For me works very well the Samuel Beckett’s quote: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better”.
So this kind of mantra could be … try, try, try, don’t be afraid to fail and then try again, having learned something valuable from your experience.
Eventually it goes without saying, you will achieve success.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asymmetric_cut/
Bandcamp: https://asymmetriccut.bandcamp.com/

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/asymmetriccut


Shipwreck Detective – Dev Bhat

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

I love the knobs on Chase Bliss pedals. They have responsive, precise dialing and feel durable.

Chase Bliss Mood

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

The Empress Effects Zoia is beautiful and versatile when it comes to sound and design. It’s a studio and performance mainstay for me. It’s nearly perfect, however the tweaking of effects is not as immediate as on a dedicated effect pedal. I’d also love to get weirder with the ins/outs, like routing an fx send to an external loop of other effects and then back in. But that’s a small trade-off for what the pedal is already capable of — which is a lot.

Empress Effects Zoia

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

I don’t spend much time making music when traveling, but I once took the OP-1 on holiday, and it was the perfect tool for creating little sketches inspired by the moment or the day. I treated it like an audio travel journal. If I’d had the Zoia at the time, I’d have also loved to bring that.

Teenage Engineering OP-1 and Empress Effects Zoia

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

I’m not very familiar with software. I used Reason for production many years ago when I was first getting into electronic music composition, and the detailed graphic interface had a lot to do with why I eventually became more interested in hardware. On the flip side, if there were a software version of the Chase Bliss Mood (or some kind of similarly playful granular/sampling effect), I’d definitely be interested in exploring it. The only software I use these days is Logic to record.

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

I don’t get attached to most gear, but I regretted selling my Moog Sub 37 a few years ago. I tried to fill the hole it left with a Matriarch, but the Matriarch could not have been more different. I recently reunited with the Sub 37, and the Matriarch is up for sale. 

Moog Sub37 and Matriarch

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

The OP-1 has played a major role in a lot of the music that I’ve released in the past couple years. Its digital tape opens up so many possibilities for texture and looping. I like to record directly to the OP-1 tape, experiment with the tape speed, and process more when I find something I like. I’ve also used my pedalboard to create most of the sounds that eventually end up on the OP-1 tape. I treat it like an independent sampler.

Teenage Engineering OP-1, Empress Effects Zoia and a Tascam Porta-03
Moog and FX Pedalboard friends

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

I don’t think I would change anything gear-wise, but I do wish I had had a better understanding of what I wanted to create. Now that I know which textures and atmospheres I want to convey, I can better figure out which instruments are best suited for that sound. Then again, I wouldn’t have figured that out any other way than through trial and error. My very first synth was an Alesis Micron, bought from a second-hand instrument shop in Santa Cruz. I don’t have that synth anymore and probably wouldn’t use it now, but I love what I learned from it. I feel that way about most gear: each piece of gear teaches me something even if I don’t end up keeping it.

[Editor: I feel exactly the same way. Sometimes I even think that buying a new piece of gear is like borrowing the musical-brain from a gear-maker. Using a great piece of gear really feels like a conversation]

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

I thought this would be a tough question until I looked over at my Octatrack Mkii. It’s a pain in the ass, and I love it. I purchased it thinking I’d use it as a super powerful looper or for chopping guitar samples to use in my band. Instead I use it as an advanced, MIDI-powered mixer that can do stereo looping and some light DJ effects. It’s a kind of hub for my jams that I can’t imagine not having. 

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

That method of using the Octatrack as a mixer comes straight from Enrique Martinez. His videos completely re-contextualized the instrument for me. Thinking about the Octatrack in terms of tangible use cases made it far less intimidating.

Elektron Octatrack

Artist or Band name?

Shipwreck Detective

Genre?

Ambient downtempo drone stuff

Selfie?

Dev Bhat aka. Shipwreck Detective

Where are you from?

San Francisco

How did you get into music?

My first instrument was the trumpet, but discovering rock, especially metal, punk, and industrial music, as a teenager was transformative. Music videos were unashamedly a big part of this. The sound blew my mind, and seeing musicians interact with their instruments and each other also changed the way I interpreted that sound. It looked a lot more fun and expressive than what I’d been doing (sitting and playing old symphonic music in the school band). So I took guitar lessons for a little while and eventually taught myself bass and drums. I just wanted to be in bands and play shows. That’s still all I want. 

What drives you to make music?

A combination of expression and exploration. I want to express the way I feel on the inside through sound and texture. I have a hard time understanding myself most of the time, and exploring sound feels the same as exploring my own thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it’s warm and soothing. Other times it’s noisy and confusing. I love music because it doesn’t have to have words; there doesn’t need to be an explanation. It can just be. 

How do you most often start a new track?

How I’m feeling informs the overall tone. Then I establish an atmosphere and sense of place that the track is happening within. I build everything from a base texture like a synth drone, guitar loop, field recording, or maybe a percussive noise (I’m also a drummer, so sometimes I’ll start with beats before melodies).

How do you know a track is finished?

A track is done when it matches the atmosphere in my head and when I feel like I’ve challenged my own conventions at least a little bit. 

Show us your current studio

Shipwreck Detective Studio
Shipwreck Detective Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

The phrase “keep it simple, stupid” has become an ethos for how I make music. I appreciate art that has a minimalist, uncomplicated, or even un-finished element to it. Not to say I don’t appreciate complexity, but there’s a potent energy when something is done quick and dirty—using only what was necessary—and then left that way. It preserves the raw emotion that too much polish can destroy. 

Promote your latest thing

My most recent thing as Shipwreck Detective is a long-form streamed performance that I did for a small group called Man vs. Machine. The audio for that is at shipwreckdetective.bandcamp.com

I’ve also been making music with a new band, Grimoires, and look forward to releasing some songs with them soon.

[Editor: Dev also does a lovely instagram @ShipwreckDetective]


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw us a comment below…
]