Max Beatwerk – Finger Rabbit

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

Dirtbox by Dr Alien Smith

As a drummer I am not so much of a knob guy, but right now I always enjoy dialing in the amount of distortion with my newly acquired Dirtbox from Dr Alien Smith.
And then there is that light switch in my studio which powers up everything with just one touch. Very satisfying!

The studio switch

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

I think that would be my two Sebatron VMP4000e tube preamps. They are tubey but fast and make me sound better without having to practice, haha! However I wished for a more relaxed output dial knob. You need a calm hand to use them, because it quickly jumps from not enough to way too hot output, at least with loud sources like drums. But that’s a minor issue, I really love these units.

Sebatron VMP4000e tube preamps

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

Compact stage drum kit

Generally I like compact setups. The stuff I bring depends on the music, but it is basically my 20“ aluminum bassdrum, two shallow snares, a cymbal and a floortom. Then an array of sizzlers and dampeners and maybe a sample pad for sounds that are hard to reproduce mechanically in a live setting.

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

Never really thought about that. My tracking room has all the tactile stuff like drums, cymbals and analog gear, whereas my mixing space is at home and strictly software. Perhaps some of the elaborate software I use would be more fun, if it was hardware. But I don’t care because I could not afford it anyway.

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

In today’s used gear internet cycle, it’s easy to sell and rebuy stuff. However, I really regret selling a Noble&Cooley Piccolo Maple snare drum I bought used for cheap. I sold it for another snare and since then I ask myself: Why? Then there was this big Sonor SQ2 high end kit I ordered when that line was first released. It was a great sounding instrument, however the wait was really long and during that time I began switching to smaller kits, so when it finally arrived it felt massively oversized.
Things got even worse, because when I tried to cut the air vent into the resonant head of the bass drum, I slipped off and cut my thumb so badly that I had to drive to the hospital. So I had a brand new, oversized kit, that I could not even play for three weeks.

But I have a story with a happy end, too! A few years ago I regret selling my Pearl Masters drumkit I bought new when I was 16. I contacted the guy who bought it from me back then and he agreed to sell it back to me. After 18 years. That kit sounds so good and I still use it regularly.

Pearl Drums

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

Broken lamp percussion. Not to be played by hand!

That’s a tough question. There certainly is some piece of gear I produced the most beats, with but that might not necessarily be the one that inspires me the most. However there are things that are part of my setup almost all the time. For example that quirky single tension pancake aluminum drum from Sugar Percussion. That’s a funky piece of gear with a stunningly versatile sound – at least for my stuff. Recently I found out that a broken IKEA lamp I accidentally killed with one bash, gives me a lot of inspiration. And that’s true for both the intact and broken condition.

Pancake snare

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

I would probably treat my room with acoustic elements.

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

It’s soft mallets, no matter which brand. I love the broad sound and the tamed transients, but the way I use them (hard hits on cymbals, rimshots etc.) they never hold up well for longer than a few weeks. That’s really annoying…and expensive. But I simply cannot live without them.

Mallets

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

I once discovered that plastic bottles and metal nut cans are not only great for carrying around water and nuts, but also act as great sound bending tools. Another cool discovery was the doorway to my studio. I found out that it doesn’t only act as a decent doorway, but a very exciting and dirty (and cheap!) reverb device. Pretty cool!

Bottle Phaser
Natural Reverb

Artist or Band name?

Maxbeatwerk

Genre?

Electro pop, hiphop, experimental, industrial, remote work for basically every genre

Selfie?

Max Gebhardt and the rabbit finger

Where are you from?

I am from Bremen, Germany.

How did you get into music?

My parents are both music lovers. When I was a kid my dad played the saxophone in a bebop band. He regularly „ordered“ me in front of my parent’s stereo to listen to Charlie Parker, Don Ellis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, my mom also played classical music to me. Then at age 13, I visited my cousin, whose brother had a drumkit. Although he was not at home at the time my aunt allowed me to try it out. The rest of my stay must have been a nightmare for everyone except for me, because it was impossible to make me stop banging on those drums. After I got home my parents had no choice, I had to have my own kit. It was a beat up Gretsch from the 70s.

What still drives you to make music?

Music!

[Editor: Yes!]

How do you most often start a new track?

I modify parts of my kit until I „hear“ something exciting. Or create something from my little instrument collection. Many drummers play the best when their kits are set up exactly the way they are used to. But at some point I found out that it pushes me when the drums and cymbals are set up somehow weird or odd. This approach is certainly not the best when you have to play a certain routine, but for my work mode it’s great. Sometimes it feels natural from the get go, but often enough I have to really learn my „inventions“. You don’t see it in the videos, but almost any horizontal motion interferes with the physical playing balance because it messes with gravity. The same goes for let’s say a bottle on a bass drum beater. It looks easy, but it changes the feel drastically to the point where my stuff is almost unplayable. These breaking points are where I become creative.

How do you know when a track is finished?

My mix place is at my appartement. At some point I turn up the volume, go to the kitchen and if it still feels good while hearing it from the coffeemaker I know it’s finished.

Show us your current studio

Max Gebhardt Photo:Ben Eichle
A slam of snares

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Be fearless! Sounds easy, but it took me years to listen to my inner voices and apply what they say to what I am doing. Another great advice came from drummer Jojo Mayer who said something like: „don’t aim for perfection, but instead for clarity“. I don’t know if that’s an original quote, but it is powerful.

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

www.maxbeatwerk.com

[Editor: Max also have a lovely Instagram chock full of weird beats and odd noises. Check it out instagram.com/maxbeatwerk]


Project Null – Noise and Dropouts

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

The speed selector of the Uher 4000 Report-L. You have to push it down and drag it like a gear lever, so satisfying.

Uher 4000 Report-L

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

The Tascam Portastudio 424. It’s a 4 track tape recorder, you can adjust the pitch by more or less 4 semitones, you can switch the speed from « high » to « normal » and to « slow », that’s pretty unsusual for a tape recorder, it distorts well when you record a hot signal, it has a good and effective EQ, panning for each track. Only regret is that there is no xlr input and no phantom power to use condenser mics with it – but this is not really a problem, I use a portable phantom power supply -.

Tascam 424

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

For sure my Volca FM, a tape recorder or a dictaphone, my shortwave radio and a Zoom MS70. (However, when I’m on holidays (which is rare), I don’t do music that much (if I do, its generally field recording))

Volca FM, tape recorder, shortwave radio and Zoom MS70

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

I don’t use that much my computer when I produce music. Of course, I edit/mix my tracks with it, especially when tape recorders are too noisy using a denoiser or to compress a little bit using Klanghelm’s MJUC, or to arrange the stems. However I tend to say that iZotope’s Iris 2 would be great in hardware.

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

Not really a regret because it’s objectively a great synth, but the MS20 (mini) doesn’t really suits me. It’s the first synth I bought when I started – because it looked cool with the patch panel, I felt like a mad scientist or some shit – but I rarely managed to use it in my music, even though some patches are unique and amazing. Sold it 1 week ago because I’m low on money.

Korg MS20 mini

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

The Minilogue has definitely inspired me a lot, especially the mono voice mode – highly underrated imo -. You can bring a sub oscillator, detune you 2 vco a fourth, a fifth or just a little bit, affect your lfo to the pitch or the shape – to get some shifting in the sound – at a really slow rate and you get a massive sound on the lower notes. Also, the sweet spot on the Q of the filter is really nice. The built-in delay is incredible too, noisy as hell and dirty, absolutely perfect.

Korg Minilogue

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

I would get the Yamaha VSS-200. The sampling section is insane on this one, I use it a lot in my music production. I sample basically anything and everything, from other synths to acoustic instruments such as flute, guitar, even my voice, and it sounds so gritty, lovely. I made this demo on my YouTube channel, to show how it sounds like: https://youtu.be/vxlvFDanYbo

Yamaha VSS200

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

The Casio CZ-101. I love this synth, great evolutives sounds and has a warm character for a digital one, but it erase all the presets you’ve done if you don’t use it for two days. It uses those big expensive batteries (type D I believe), and I didn’t figured out yet how to mod it so it can use standard AA’s batteries. It’s a pain to program too, especially the enveloppes, so I use my iPad and Patch Base to edit my presets and manage them.

Casio CZ101

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

The generation loss technique. It’s mostly known for vhs, but it works with regular cassette tapes as well. When you record something into a tape, and sample it back into another tape, you experience the generation loss. And each generation sounds « worse » than the previous one, with more artifacts. I use it a lot with my two vcrs, but sometimes I also use two walkmans and bounce my stem from one to another. Experienced it on this little snippet on my Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/p/CBLj1X9o4De/

(you can hear the dropouts and the subtle wow and flutter as soon as I engage the vcr)

VCRs

Artist or Band name?

PROJECT NULL

Genre?

Electronic

Where are you from?

Draveil, France

How did you get into music?

When I was 17 years old, I watched on YouTube a drum solo by Joey Jordison, drummer of Slipknot, I was impressed and I wanted to play drums.

What still drives you to make music?

Making stuff that I would like to listen to, I mean, I put a lot of pressure on myself, I don’t want to share anything if I am not ok with it.

How do you most often start a new track?

I start by finding a chord progression or a melody. Then, I work the sound on a synth, depending on the type of sound I’m looking for I’m gonna use a different synthesizer or a different effect chain. Finally, I record it into my tape recorders, reel to reel or vhs, and if I want to give it some mood I resample it again and again, degrading it until I like the result. Then, I add other stems, like some noises, samples from my own stuff, some radio interferences, field recordings… Recently, I even tried to add subtle rhythm (recording real drums/various percussions mixed with electronic sounds) but I’m not really satisfied by the result.

How do you know when a track is finished?

Honestly, I don’t know, I am never satisfied by how my track ends.

Show us your current studio

Project Null Studio
Project Null Studio
Project Null Studio
Project Null Studio

Sorry for the bad light, its a very tiny room (less than 7 sqm) without any window, so no natural light. Lots of mess too, especially on the last photo, and the « light spots » I use for my videos are two Ikea’s light with tissue to avoid too much reflection (hmm I should buy proper lights at some point)

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Less is more. I often want to add too much but I realised that, sometimes, when I « clean » my Ableton session by removing stems, it sounds much better.

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

I released my first album on march, you can listen to it on every streaming platform you use – I put a Spotify link here but it is on every streaming services -.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2c52lcjvCs1T7mKbXA2fFS


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



Liam Killen – Killer Beatz

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
OPZ knobs are so smooth- they’re the easiest things to spin- easier than any other knob that i’ve seen. It’s quite genius actually! A +  to Teenage Engineering on that design (as per usual).

TE OPZ
Teenage Engineering OPZ

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
Recently I’ve been discovering Arturia’s software synth bundle. Synths/keyboards include: DX7, Jupiter 8V, Fafisa, Prophet V and many more. KILLER and super affordable pack that I would recommend to anyone, I got it off Splice.com
I love me some synth hardware, but I just don’t have the space, budget, time and interest to deal with it and this is an amazing alternative.

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
I would bring my laptop, just because I can do most of what i’m capable of doing at home with just that- and of course my OP1 because of how portable and easy to use it is. It also makes for a great midi keyboard, instead of using the keys on my laptop. Sometimes I actually prefer a mini set up rather than all of the gear I have at home. 

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Teenage Engineering OP-1

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I’m beginning to wish that all hardware was software just because of how much easier/less expensive/more accessible it is in that format. That being said, there’s nothing quite like a modular synth, or an OP1 and I don’t think it would ever be possible to replicate it 100% using software (watch it happen this year). Honestly, I don’t have a solid answer to this question right now. I like everything as is, that being said, I feel like a combination of hardware + software is the way to go as a producer in 2020.

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I recently bought an API lunch box- but then never needed to buy pre amps to go with it. I bought it to record drums, which i’m not really doing much of anymore, because I no longer have a studio to play at. So now it’s just sitting at my friend’s place…collecting dust.
I will say that buying gear is a skill- like all of the gear that I own now, I use, where as when I first started collecting gear, I bought things that I thought were cool, but I didn’t really need. I feel like it’s just something that you have to go through- so just make sure that you take care of your gear so you can resell it when you’re done.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Recently i’ve been using the SP404 a lot and have been composing tunes specifically for the sound and aesthetic of the instrument; so more in the lofi genre. That being said, i’ve been exploring what other genres work and the thing is quite diverse! I recently posted a live set on my Youtube channel, for anyone who’s interested, linked right here below.

Liam Killen killin’ it

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
I’m happy with where i’m at now, not sure I would change anything to be honest! I’m glad that I started on drums because it gives me that rhythmic intuition that most people don’t have. Sometimes I do wish that I had started my Youtube channel earlier so that i’d have more of a following, but it takes time and i’m really enjoying the process anyway. I genuinely do love creating videos for you guys and so i’m going to keep doing it!

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
I bought a Pocket Operator Modular 400 months ago. The gear itself is not annoying at all…What’s annoying is assembling the thing. I’m pretty sure that the screws that came with it were not the proper ones- so I had to find these tiny little watch screws to put the thing together. Assembling it was probably the most annoying thing that i’ve ever experienced. That being said though, now that it’s all built, it looks so pretty!

Teenage Engineering PO400 and a little Rick and Morty PO35

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
When I was taking drum lessons, my teacher taught me what I think is one of the most important things that i’ve learnt in music- and that’s the long/short note method. I wouldn’t be able to explain it thoroughly over text but it has to do with syncopation of long and short notes and how there’s actual rules to what makes something groove. Basically, Quarter notes are long and so they are accented and syncopated notes followed by a rest are also long- also accented. Everything else is a short note, and there for played as a ghost note. These rules basically revolutionized the way that I think about rhythms and music in general.
In the synth/gear/modular world, these rules are nowhere to be seen, but I try to make them work in my electronic music tracks, which I think helps give me a certain edge. Maybe i’ll get into this in a Youtube video one day now that I think of it… hmmmmmmm. 


Artist or Band name?
Liam Killen

Genre?
That’s a tough question- we’ll say Electronic Music for now. 

Selfie?

IMG_1074.jpg
Liam Killen

Where are you from?
Montreal, Canada

How did you get into music?
I always knew I wanted to do something in music but that “something” has changed a lot throughout my life. I started very young at the age of 9 on the drums- my parents bought me a kit because I was constantly banging rhythms on tables. When I was around 15, I became pretty much obsessed with jazz drumming- wasn’t much of a sporty kid so I figured i’d focus my energy on something that I was naturally good at. I ended up going University in jazz performance on drum set- which I graduated from in 2015. I knew I couldn’t make a living off of jazz performance so I branched out during my time in university- played in a million bands, started learning new instruments and eventually got into music production, which i’ve been making a living off of for the past 5-6 years. Just recently though, like in the past 6 months, i’ve really started focusing on creating video content and not just music, and finding my voice and personality over social media, mainly my Youtube channel. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it and it will remain my focus for the foreseeable future. 

What still drives you to make music?
I’ve always been a very motivated person when it comes to music- like i’m really not hard to inspire. Honestly, recently i’ve been listening to less spotify stuff and more to people over social media, like on instagram and youtube and learning from them, which gives me plenty of motivation. I also just feel “at home” when i’m creating- it’s been a solid outlet for me since as long as I can remember, which is why i’ve worked so hard to make it my living. 

How do you most often start a new track?
Recently, i’ve been starting tracks by either programming a solid drum beat that I vibe with, or with a really inspiring sample, whether it’s one of my own or someone else’s. I used to be against using other people’s samples, but if you think about it, the biggest producers in the world do it, so why would wouldn’t I? Why limit myself?
I’ve noticed that the whole sample thing is controversial for some people. So here’s another interesting way to think of it:
My roots are in a band setting. So for me, I was a piece of the puzzle as was everyone else in the band, I was basically a hired gun a lot of the time. So let’s say you use a drum sample in one of your tracks, something that you had no hand in ACTUALLY creating, isn’t that basically the same thing as a band leader hiring a drummer to play drums on his track? That’s sort of the way that I look at it now. And lastly, if it sounds good it’s good! Also it has to be legal, lol. 

How do you know when a track is finished?
I usually like to take a couple of days away from the track when I think that it’s finished. If when I go back to it i’m able to listen through without being “taken out of it” or distracted by an element of the track, that’s when i’m happy. I try to limit myself in that respect though, because it’s easy to go in circles, especially when it comes to the mix, in which case it becomes a waste of time. Just put it out!

Show us your current studio
It’s such a mess right now! My videos look pretty clean, but then when you see behind the scenes, you see how messy it really gets. 

IMG_1075.jpg
Liam’s studio desk
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E-piano and E-Bass
IMG_1079.jpg
E-Drums and E-Guitars and other guitars

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
I’ve noticed that a lot of people have a hard time getting started- and 90-95% of being prolific is just sitting down at your computer/instrument, and starting. Once you come up with an idea or something that inspires you, you’re in the clear!

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
I’m constantly releasing stuff and the best way to keep track is through my social medias. I’m always posting new videos to my Youtube channel and I’m also releasing my first official EP to all listening platforms, so stay tuned for that, out April 7th, 2020. EP cover and Youtube channel linked down below. 

Liam Killen YouTube

CURIOUS final.PNG
LK Curious album cover

[Editor: Liam is obviously a Teenage Engineering fanboi, just like me. But do YOU think that collecting gear from one manufacturer is a good thing or a bad thing, for creating a personal musical style? Leave a comment below]