Ricky Allman – Cinematic Hauntology

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

Custom filter cutoff on the Sequential Pro 3
Custom filter cutoff on the Sequential Pro 3

Filter cutoff on the Sequential Pro 3. I like how big it is, i like that its right in the middle, it’s super easy to grab.  The rubber one was great but I tried out an aluminum knob, and unfortunately it covers up the orange around the bottom but it feels and looks great. 

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

Moog Little Phatty
Moog Little Phatty

Most of my annoyances with gear are user error, I assume it can do the thing I want it to, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. I think the Little Phatty is near perfect in that the sound is awesome and powerful and just the essentials are there and easy to control. I just with there was a knob for tempo division/pattern for the arp.  Also I think the OB6 is perfect soundwise, but aesthetically I don’t like it. I also don’t like the plastic knobs. I replaced them with rubber Prophet knobs. 

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

Teenage Engineering, Chase Bliss and Roland gear
Teenage Engineering, Chase Bliss and Roland gear

Usually Teenage Engineering stuff. Opz, Op1, Tx-6, they can do so much in such a small format, its an easy choice. Then I usually bring some pedals, probably chase bliss to maximize space and functionality.  Recently got the Roland Compact J6 and E4, those are great. And a small bluetooth speaker. 

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

The only software I use is Ableton to record. I hate software and working on the computer, so I guess I would wish ALL software to be hardware.  If there was a software version of every hardware that would be fine too I suppose, I wouldn’t notice. 

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

Moog One
Moog One

I regret selling my first synth, the MicroKorg, that is an awesome synth and vocoder.  Sometimes I regret buying the Moog One, because it is intimidating to me and even though I love it, I feel like I’m not making the most of it and using its potential. And its so big and so expensive, sometimes I question myself. But its fucking amazing.

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

Maybe the Prophet X. That is a pretty central piece of gear on each track, whether its backing strings, a saxophone, marimba, weird drums, it does everything and always sounds so good.

Sequential Prophet X
Sequential Prophet X

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

Fender Jazzmaster guitar
Fender Jazzmaster guitar

My very first piece of gear was a guitar my friend sold me with scalloped frets, I hated those scalloped frets and wasted too much time trying to play that guitar.  I would’ve got a normal electric guitar with a normal fretboard.

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

Roland VP-03
Roland VP-03

Roland VP-03, I love that thing, but its very annoying, those tiny sliders and the bizarre sequencer. Especially since my volume knob randomly cuts out and I’m constantly fussing with it. 

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

Boss DD-500
Boss DD-500

One of my favorite tricks is on the Boss DD-500 pedal (or similar), when you hold a delay note, then mess with the time knob you can create some really fun repeating patterns


Artist or Band name?

Lucite Plains 

Lucite Plains
Lucite Plains

Genre?

Cinematic, Hauntology

Selfie?

Ricky Allman

Where are you from?

Born and raised in Utah, and have been living in Kansas City, Missouri for the last 16 years

How did you get into music?

I’ve always loved music and wanted to know how to make the music i heard. I started playing guitar in middle school and learned playing Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins and stuff like that. I played in a band throughout high school.  Then I studied art for a while and didn’t pursue music very much during that time.
After life settled down and I had a steady job teaching painting, I started playing guitar more and started buying more and more pedals until I realized I was trying to make synth sounds with my pedal board. Then after I bought my first synth/vocoder (microKorg), I was completely hooked on gear. 

What still drives you to make music?

Its fun, 99% of the time I’m making music for myself, I just really enjoy playing and listening. Sometimes I’ll just hit record and do a long rambling improvisation, and then play it back and listen to it while I paint.  A lot of music I make is for my art band Lucite Plains, we usually do a live improvisational set along with a bunch of looping videos/animations etc. So before a show, we will practice around a key and a bpm and figure out a basic structure for a live performance.

How do you most often start a new track?

Sometimes it will be a guitar loop, but more often than not, its chords on the Prophet X, something mellow like a pad or a slow arp that I can start building on.

How do you know when a track is finished? 

People finish tracks?

[Editor: Ha!]

Show us your current studio

Ricky Allmans studio synths and guitar
Ricky Allmans studio eurorack and fx pedals
Ricky Allmans studio eurorack and fx pedals

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Just show up. Show up on a regular basis and start making something, whether you feel creative or not.  You can waste a lot of time waiting for inspiration to hit. 

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

Probably not your usual thing but I just released an art history course about Post Impressionism on Wondrium.  I found the subject incredibly fascinating to research and write about: https://www.wondrium.com/post-impressionism-the-beginnings-of-modern-art


Only Ruin- Austin White

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

This is a tough one. I’m a sucker for filter sweeps, and I think currently my favorite filter is on the new Prophet 5 (Rev 4) so I’ll have to go with the cutoff knob on that. Honorable mention to the Dry/Wet on the OTO Bam, though. Fully wet on the Bam in ambient mode is heaven.

Prophet 5

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

There are a few pieces that come to mind where one little thing is missing that would just suit my workflow perfectly, but generally that’s what I love about working with hardware – finding the way around those things. Like the (new Korg) ARP 2600 would be absolutely perfect if it had like 2 or 3 more patch points to sent gate/cv in other places, but not having those makes me think more creatively. Also, that’s one of the things I love about eurorack, if it’s missing just add another module.

Arp 2600 with Make Noise 0-Ctrl

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

For travel in the past it’s been a small eurorack case, like 48 hp or something, and a drum machine – usually the Elektron model cycles. But now it’s the Polyend Tracker. I rarely leave home without it. Touring or gigging can be a bit different, I’ll usually want a bigger eurorack case (usually my MDLR 6u 104 hp) and a sequencer of some sort (Tracker, 0-CTRL). Always my laptop, Ableton is there when all else fails.

PolyEnd Tracker

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

Honestly most of the plug-ins and software I use are based on actual hardware, so there’s not much that comes to mind. Sometimes I wish there was a more “player friendly” granular software, something like the Make Noise Morphagene.
That would make an incredible plug in.

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

It’s a constant process with hardware, so not really. Especially with eurorack, there are modules that I’ve bought and not been able to figure out, sold, and then bought again a year later and loved. The one area I have grown skeptical in is MIDI controllers. I’ve tried a few that I hated, like the Qu-Neo. Anything that requires drivers and software for mapping and all of these additional steps kind of drives me crazy. Especially for something that should be fairly straight forward, like a controller.

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

There have been phases of different gear inspiring a lot of music, but probably the Tracker. It’s just completely changed the way I make music and I love it. I’ve already released one EP of tracks all made with it, and I have at least one more that I’m basically done with. It’s just one of those things that I can’t seem to get bored with, and I’m always finding new stuff that I love about it.

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

Honestly I would probably just get Ableton and really dig in first. I had absolutely no understanding of synthesis when I first started getting in to eurorack, and then eventually other hardware. I think having the understanding of what’s happening lends itself to making better decisions as far as purchasing and adding the tools you want to be creative. But since this is an interview about gear, I’ll say the either the Tracker or a standalone modular system like the ARP 2600 or the Make Noise black and gold system.

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

cables

Cables. Audio and MIDI routing are the two things that are always going to be an issue when working with as much hardware as I do. I have everything set up in my studio now so it’s not an issue, but if I ever want to make a change it’s a whole thing. I moved recently and it was a nightmare reconfiguring my studio from scratch, but I’m happy with it for now.

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

Like I said earlier, when I first started with eurorack I knew nothing about synthesis, and very little about electronic music in general. So every time I become more familiar with a technique, it’s a bit surprising. All of the stuff that I’ve learned in modular synths translates to hardware synths, too. Now I find doing sound design on more traditional synths like the Prophet or the OB-6 to be really fun and challenging. Sometimes I get lost just trying to make good kicks on the OB-6 for a couple of hours. Maybe not the best use of my time, but it’s just a way I’ve found to explore a synth’s capabilities more.

Only Ruin eurorack

Artist or Band name?

Austin White aka Only Ruin

Genre?

Who knows? Genres are silly, and according to Spotify there are like 1000000 of
them. Dark ambient synth and break beat IDM?

Selfie?

Austin White aka. Only Ruin

Where are you from?

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, currently residing in Brooklyn, NY

How did you get into music?

I’ve been kind of obsessed with music since I was a kid. I started playing bass when I was pretty young, and got serious about it around 15 or so. I studied jazz and went to school for upright bass for a while. Before I got into producing electronic music, I was mainly playing improvised and experimental music.

What still drives you to make music?

It’s just what I do. Outside of my family, music is my entire life. It’s everything to me. I can’t imagine living without a creative output, and I’m eternally grateful that I don’t have to.

How do you most often start a new track?

A melody or a harmonic progression, sometimes a texture. Usually I’ll start writing on some kind of poly synth like the Prophet or the One, and then build from there. Recently I’ve been doing more writing on eurorack, where I’ll get some kind of semi-generative or evolving patch going and just resample in Ableton for a few minutes, then chop it up and find parts that I like.

Polysynths Moog One and Prophet 5

How do you know when a track is finished?

I don’t. I get sick of working on it, maybe. I’m terrible for not finishing things, or more accurately for getting a song to a point that I’m happy with it and then never releasing it because I’ve listened to it so much that I hate it. I have probably 3 or 4 full albums worth of material that I’m just sitting on, but it’ll get out there eventually.

Show us your studio

Only Ruin studio
Roland TB303 in blue
Roland TR909 in blue
500 series rack

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I studied with Reggie Workman a bit in college. Reggie is a legendary jazz musician who played with everybody (Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Coltrane), and he had a huge impact on me as a musician. Most of the advice he gave me as a bass player was about space – leaving space for everyone else to exist in the world that you’re creating together. A lot of that thought is just about playing music in a similar way to how you live your day life, drawing parallels between the person you are creatively and otherwise. Producing electronic music alone is a different thing entirely, but I still think about how to be honest with my output and stay connected to my own individual voice.

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

I have a bunch of music (hopefully) coming out soon, but in the meantime here’s some fairly recent stuff I’ve done :

Tracker EP :
https://soundcloud.com/onlyruin/sets/trackerep

Beach EP :
https://onlyruin.bandcamp.com/album/beach-ep

Distant EP :
https://open.spotify.com/album/4cEWslfdXskHswIpF96kTm?si=1TL6-
PowSA2YZRMzecxM6Q

Always posting jams on IG and YouTube as well, find me @onlyruin


[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…
]