Tag: gibson

Linus Valdemar – Synthing & Guitaring

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 studio
Linus 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!

https://www.linus-valdemar.com

Navin Kala – Pastoral Electronics

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

Roland RS-09

Right now, the RS09 Tuning knob. I like the little struggle that happens inside our brain when a note is slowly approaching the “tuned” area.
Five months ago, was the Grandmother cutoff filter, it’s addictive, I guess they know it and that’s why they made it so big.

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

Gibson EH150 lap steel

My Gibson EH150 lap steel, from 1937. It’s 84 years old and sounds like it has always been here and always will. I feel inspired just by looking at her. And I’m not a guitar player myself, just an aficionado. It makes me wonder how my Digitakt is going to look in 84, by the year 2104.

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

If I have to leave home, I’ll take the iRig2, the reface CP, and the garage band on my phone. It’s a frustrating experience though, it reminds me how little is needed to make music technically acceptable nowadays.

iRig, Yamaha Reface and cat

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

Studio desk and racks

I don’t use software. Two months ago, I bought Reaper, but I’m using it strictly as a multitrack recorder. Paired with the Softube Fader, so I can have a more tactile experience.
Don’t get me wrong, plugins and VST are as good, and many times better than the real thing. But when I see my studio with all the gadgets, I feel inspired to play. If instead, I see a computer screen, I don’t feel the call at all.
It’s like masturbating versus having sex, you’ll reach the same level of satisfaction. But you’ll miss the joy of the process. Although it will be less tiring, that’s true.

[Editor: Literally I laughed out loud at this comparison…. it’s so true]

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

TC Electronic Finalizer

Due to logistics, I can’t sell anything. The post office is 100 km away and parcel companies are few, and they never find our house. If I was living in a city, I would definitely be selling stuff.
I do regret buying several things, one of them the TC finalizer, I still don’t know what it does. But there’s a small revelation in buying the wrong gear, you slowly find what is adequate for yourself, by elimination.

[Editor: I totally agree, this kinda process is also an essential part of learning and growing. The only thing, is that people get so bummed out by their regrets. Enjoy your regrets! You’ve learned something and it means you’re willing to take creative risk, so it’s all good (I actually just picked up a Finalizer too 🙂 haha)]

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

Piano and pussy

Just like others already answered on your blog, the piano. I sit in front of this massive primitive device, and there’s an instant communion. It’s like the whole mechanism is holding plenty of new songs, waiting for someone to take them out. It is an utter physical experience. And this is something I exclusively feel with the piano.

[Editor: Yup, I got that with the acoustic guitar]

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

I started years ago with Cakewalk and a Dx7, I don’t wish this on anybody. I suffered so much with the membrane buttons, and the menu written in extraterrestrial code. That was a huge technological wall between electronic music and me. And actually, that’s why I completely stopped making music in my first reincarnation. And also why choosing the right tools, for oneself, is pivotal in the engagement with music.
Today, I would buy the Korg Minilogue, functional, intuitive, and with a great sound. I don’t have one though.

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

Cables and patchbays

The Patchbay, but not the front side, the backside of course. It was a pain to set all the cables, but once it’s done, it makes everything much easier. Until you need to change some routing.

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

Korg Monologue

I like to use the Korg Monologue as an analog drum machine. I started diving into this thanks to Oscillator Sink’s rhythm collection on Korg’s site.

Artist or Band name?

Navin Kala

Genre?

I’m still experimenting and trying to find a comfortable place. Right now, this place must be somewhere between electronica with ambient and a bit of experimental.

Selfie?

Navin Kala

Where are you from?

Brazil, with mixed blood.

How did you get into music?

I began piano lessons as a child, it was either that or karate.
But it is extremely frustrating, learning with music you don’t like or feel. Stuff like “What Mozart composed when he was 5”. And I was 10, so it was like saying, you are retarded.

What still drives you to make music?

It makes me feel good, I know that without music I don’t feel fulfilled. Creativity, of any sort, sublimates our existence. This and the fact that I have a 70% of hearing loss, since a child, and at some point, I might lose it completely. I want to play as much music as I can before my only working ear falls under a functional threshold. Funny fact, Stereo does not exist in my universe.

[Editor: Damn good reason!]

How do you most often start a new track?

With Instagram, I force myself to make a post, like an exercise, a few every week. Each time with a different instrument. Something comes up. I see people’s reaction, and from there I decide if I keep working on the idea. Is like a focus group.
This first idea narrows down how the next instrument will interact, and so on. Limiting each time your options. I call it the Funnel Paradox. You begin with a universe of options, and as you add layers, these options decrease.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I don’t have a rational answer to this. I have a big folder with tracks I’ve started. Some go a few years back. And I certainly know that they are not finished. But I don’t know what it takes for them to be completed. Paradoxically, when they are finished, I know they are. I suppose is easier when you work with a client, let’s say making a soundtrack. The deadlines will tell you when something is finished.

Show us your current studio

Navins Studio with a couch, patio doors and a hammock!

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I was thirteen years old, my piano teacher was pissed with me, again, because I wasn’t able to prepare the lessons before the class. Instead, I was procrastinating playing popular music (the concept of procrastination didn’t exist back then). He asked me eventually; “When you wake up every day, do you feel a compelling need to play the piano?” I said “Nope”.
And he replied; “Then you must find, quickly, something that you feel like doing daily. You’ll be a realized person.”
I quit piano lessons the next day. He was relieved.

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

My second album, Horse. Few months old. I hope you like it.

Navin Kala – Horse album

[Editor: Also check out Navins IG… it’s lovely. C’mon join the funnel paradox]

Mikael Tobias – ResonanTechno

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

After much deliberation, I’m gonna go with the volume knob on my 80’s Japanese Fender Precision Bass. Something about the textured metal just feels so solid and badass.

MIJ Fender P Bass Volume knob

Honourable mention goes to the knobs on the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor for their sheer monstrosity, which I get to use when I work at @SixBitDeep.

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

Every piece of kit is perfect just the way it is =D

VervilleAudio MDC-1

Ok, actually I’ll shout out my homies at @VervilleAudio for their MDC-1 which is a hand-made 2-channel Variable Mu tube compressor on steroids plus 2 preamp channels. I have a Beta version which sounds incredible, but I’ve been in close contact with them discussing some minor improvements (mostly just the interface) and I think the next version will be close to perfect! These guys are developing some amazing gear in Montreal.

VervilleAudio MDC-1

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

The last tour I did was a solo one around Europe and the UK. I was taking planes, trains and busses everywhere, so I needed a really compact setup. Laptop, small RME FF400 interface and Novation Launch Control XL controller (+ some vinyl and extra clothes) in a backpack and my lap steel guitar and a few pedals in a soft gig bag (actually a rifle case!)

Gibson Lapsteel in a rifle case
Rifle softcase

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

Hardware sequencer Faderfox SC4

I don’t find myself wishing this very often. A lot of the software I love is already great emulations of hardware, and generally when I’m using hardware it’s because I want to have my hands on something other than the mouse. Having rare and expensive hardware reverbs and compressors easily available in the form of plugins is a godsend! And conversely, there are so many software sequencers, but I always seem to get more interesting results when I use a hardware sequencer. So I guess the short answer is no 🙂

Hardware sequencer Akai MPC1000
Hardware sequencer Arturia Beatstep Pro

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

When I moved to Copenhagen from Montreal I had to sell a ton of stuff, and while sometimes it’s nice to do a purge and move on, I sure do miss the amps I had. There was a Traynor YBA-1 head with this awesome old Peavey cabinet that was painted white and that I put a vintage 15” Jensen speaker in. And the love of my life was a Music Man 210HD One Thirty. One of the guys from Arcade Fire once asked if they could buy it from me and I said no. 

Traynor YBA-1 with Peavey cabinet

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

Sennheiser MD211
Electro Voice RE15

Probably getting a new microphone. Whenever I pick up a new mic, I immediately want to hear how it sounds on different sources, and putting myself into that engineer mindset always makes me feel super creative. A new instrument has a similar effect. When I got my Korg Mono/Poly I did a pretty deep dive and got really inspired with the sounds it can make. That thing is all over my new album.

Korg Mono/Poly

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

That’s a tough one because I started with a guitar (a cheap copy of a Gibson Les Paul) then an amp, then a wah pedal, and I don’t think I’d change that course of events. But in the early 2000’s I had a friend who sold all his keyboards. He had a Rhodes MKI, a Roland JX-3P and a Korg MS-10. I bought the Rhodes and 2 of my friends each bought one of the synths… all for dirt cheap. I wish I had taken the MS-10 instead of the Rhodes (I can’t play piano for shit) but synths were such a mystery to me then. My homie still has it though so at least it’s in the family.

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

Getting on the case

CASES! Rack case, road cases, instrument cases etc…It’s such a juggling act to set up a studio that’s ergonomic and makes good use of available space. I feel like I’m on a never-ending quest to find the best compromises between a great setup that’s easy and inspiring to work in, and portability (if I need to take some gear on location or on tour, etc…). And all the seldom-used cases take up so much space, but, like what do I do when I need to take my synth somewhere once every 2 years?!?!

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

It’s not actually about the gear, it’s all about what you do with it.

Artist or Band name?

Mikael Tobias

Genre?

Ambient / Post-Rock / Neo-Classical / Experimental Techno

Selfie?

Mikael Tobias

Where are you from? 

Toronto/Montréal Canada

How did you get into music?

My parents put me in guitar lessons for a year when I was 10, then I essentially taught myself the rest.

What still drives you to make music?

Some kind of burning inner demon, I mean a compulsion to create, to experiment, to push boundaries. Music has given me so many of the most visceral and emotional experiences of my life and I’m very interested in all the ways sound can affect us, both physically and emotionally. So there is a constant quest that I can’t imagine ever coming to completion.

How do you most often start a new track?

Generally with some kind of “play.” If I can lose myself and not worry about how productive I’m being or what I’m doing this “for” that is when I feel like I’m accessing real creativity. So being in the moments and just playing is often how my tracks begin. 

How do you know when a track is finished?

Some kind of combination of utter mental exhaustion, and 1 or 2 re-scheduled self-imposed deadlines.

Show us your current studio

A leopard skin chair is essential…. for those vibes
FX and Pedals
Stacks and Racks
Guitars and Synths living together in harmony

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

If you’re getting stuck, grab an instrument that you don’t know how to play. It breaks you out of the confines of muscle memory and patterns you’ve developed and it opens up creative doors that you probably didn’t know were closed.

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

My new album APERTURE:

https://mikaeltobias.bandcamp.com/album/aperture