Davide Coretti – Dave Bundy

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

Doepfer Wasp filter

It’s definitely the Frequency knob of the Doepfer Wasp Filter, when the Resonance is 100%. I have two of them, because that filter has a unique character and timbre which i love!
They say it’s noisy and dusty dude, but that’s the way we like it.
All you need to do is to put the Resonance at 100% and tweak the frequency a little bit and you’ll find all the sweet spots you didn’t know you needed. LOVE IT.

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

XOR Electronics NerdSeq for sure.
It has tons of functions and possibilities, but triplets and 3 based tempos aren’t well implemented, so you’ll need to find lots of work-arounds to achieve it.
I must say that if you use the module the standard way – only with its built-in I/O – you’ll have a easier time with it, but if you push it, as I do, using tons of expanders and connections… then it can be very complex.

XOR Nerdseq

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

Through the years I tried to achieve the “standalone-repeatability” in modular synth world and I think i made it using the Nerdseq combined with the ES-9 and the MPC One.
I have a pre-patched system where every single module is patched to the NerdSeq and its CV Expanders, so I can reach and modulate most important knobs with the sequencer per step. The MPC is connected to the class compliant modular audio interface ES-9 from Expert Sleepers, which provide me an audio track per module (channel strip, eq, noise gates, compressor, fx, etc per single module).

MPC One and Eurorack

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

In my opinion there’re already so many possibilities both hardware and software that I can’t really tell which one I wish it was real/vst.. but for sure I’m still looking for a sequencer as the one in the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators or the Erica Synth Perkons HD-01, that can control external gear so easy as they do… maybe with integrated fx per step too?

Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator PO32

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

7 years ago, when I moved from my hometown (Taranto) to the city where I live now (Camerano) before buying a house with my wife – I needed to sell a bunch of gear and instruments that I still miss.
One of those is the 5U portable system from Synthesizers.com which I really loved and I would have loved to integrate with my current studio gear, to see what it could do with the latest sequencers and newer midi-cv connections.

Synthesizers.com 5U modular

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

If we talk about software I would say Propellerheads Reason 3.0 because it was my first love with a DAW and I still find some lost projects in it, like some ancient hard-disk that I try to recreate with new sounds and gear and it still is inspiring to me.

On the hardware side I would say the Make Noise Shared System with the CV Bus case for sure.
I didn’t have all the exact modules from the original shared system – because I didn’t get it as a whole piece, but module by module – but it was definitely the most inspiring gear that made me jam a lot and record some videos and tracks.
My only problem was the one-shot approach: once you switch it off you’ll never be able to recreate it perfectly (which IS also motivating/inspiring somehow)

Make Noise Shared System

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

Following my heart I’d say the Moog Voyager that was one of the synth I loved the most… but now a days it would probably be a Moog Matriarch, because of its character, paraphony, possibilities, easy layout, semi-modular structure and so on.

Moog Voyager

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

It’s the NerdSeq again. It was the game changer of my gear, but I had to choose an approach that fit its needs and it was – and is – not so simple.
I still use some of note sheets as summary of knob connections and reminder of hexadecimal values to reach certain sounds.
It’s probably the most annoying piece of gear to get prepared, but once it’s done.. just wow!
To avoid losing the flow – in fact – I use to get the track ready in Logic with VSTs and plugins and then translate it in NerdSeq language.

Nerding out with the Nerdseq

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

It is the Erbe-Verb secret drums!
Try sequencing the size knob of the Erbe-Verb module and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
Advice: set big differences between steps to hear it better. Check it out in this video here:
Dave Bundy – Floating (MakeNoise Shared System)


Artist or Band name?

Davide Coretti aka Dave Bundy.

Genre?

Industrial, OST, electro with constant melodic component.

Selfie?

Davide Coretti aka. Dave Bundy

Where are you from?

Italy.

How did you get into music?

My journey began in 2001 as a drummer, then in 2006 I discovered Nine Inch Nails and it all started… software, pedal effects, hardware, synths, modular synths, outboards, and so on.

What still drives you to make music?

Making music – to me – is a need and that’s the reason why most of the things I do are still on my hard-disk years later.
I used to share more in the past, but I don’t know when or why I stopped doing it.
Probably when internet got flooded by people talking too much, instead of playing something.

How do you most often start a new track?

The real question is “How often do you FINISH a track?”
As I said I do it for a need, so I start a new track anytime I need to put it out… recording an audio note on my phone, while working or driving, recording a jam or just sitting in the studio with an opened project.
All that’s not finished is still new.
It’s easy to start something fresh, but finishing it and moving on is the real point.

How do you know when a track is finished?

In my opinion a track is finished once it’s released or published.
But even in that case there’ll be remixes and alternative versions!
For this reason I keep all the unfinished tracks and projects in my hard-drives as a sort of Harry Potter’s Pensieve, where I can find old memories and feelings through years.. believe it or not but i remember every single project and the feelings that moved me, to start it in the exact moment I recorded it.
Yeah I know, it sounds a little bit weird and I probably am, but let me say that it is so good to open an old project and add something fresh to it, as a constant evolving train of thoughts through the years.

Show us your current studio

Studio 1
Studio 2
Studio 3
Studio 4

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I think I heard it from Deadmau5 Masterclass.
He said to store every single pattern, project, sound or idea – apparently useless or without context – in a personal library, because there’ll always be a moment where you think that you’re stuck and that library would save you from using other people ideas, keeping your authenticity.

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

Not my latest, but one of my favorite one for sure (as Dave Bundy)
Dave Bundy – Amorphous
This is the latest one from my historic band, which I am the drummer and co-author of some songs. In this track I played drums and recorded most of the synth you hear using the Moog Slim Phatty.
It’s Today Or Never


Frank Pedersen – EuroCrack Soundscaper

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

From eurorack modules, I really like the white knobs on Vermona and the keys on the NerdSeq is just fantastic. Both Modules have a good build quality. Also the patch cables from Instruo and Vermona I really enjoy using because they are great quality.

NerdSeq tracker sequencer in the center of the picture

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

Well yes, but mostly no 😉 I primarily use eurorack, so there is always coming and going modules in my system, but that’s a big part of the fun in eurorack, at least for me. Last year I bought around 140 -150 modules and sold maybe around 100. I cleaned out a lot and tried getting rid of the modules that didn’t fit my workflow and purpose. I’m currently down to 1750 HP which I feel is a good size for my home studio. [Editor: May I, on behalf of all the readers, say ‘Woa!’]

FourMulator from Vermona

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

Holidays?? For Modular meet-ups I used to carry a medium and a large flightcase, plus a big backpack with cables, but it turned out I damaged my back by carrying this. So for the time being i’m down to a 60 HP case from 4MS. I think I will get the Intellijel Palette soon though. It seems to have a good size for a small backpack.

My first homemade flight cases. The small one was used for a Mother32 and a few modules

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

Orca from Hundredrabbits. It can run on Monome Norns, but the display is small and it’s not eurorack. I would really like a dedicated hardware module with a large screen for that. I don’t wish for any modules to become software.

Orca from Hundredrabbits

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

Yeah a lot of things.. Roland TR8s was surprisingly awesome, and I regret selling it. (Did you know that you can multitrack record the channels on the TR8’s directly to your DAW with usb. It’s quite awesome, most synth boxes just pop up as a Stereo Master). Hermod and Pyramid from Squarp, OTO BAM, Orthogonal Devices ER-301. And of course all my 12 Amiga’s I had through time. I really wish I still had them all. Regrets from buying, sure, lots. There will always be many regrets when buying eurorack modules no matter how well you research modules. Period!

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

It’s kinda of weird, but I was fascinated by RF noise since I where a kid. For space sound textures I like the CW-upper sideband and CW-lower sideband the most. Running it thought various filters never disappoints me. Lately I’ve been “resynthesizing“ it through Panharmonium, and it can create some crazy wicked sounds, as well as nice random melodies.

Panharmonium from Rossum (picture taken the day I got it)

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

From standalone synths I would most likely buy Syntrx from Erica Synth and Tracker from Polyend. On eurorack modules I would start with what I know is good for me. NerdSeq, Trident, Panharmonium, and various standard modules. I have a long list in my head 🙂

Trident from Rossum

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

Besides the obvious; my computer. Then it is the Clouds and Rings. I currently don’t have either, but I have a Rings on the way again 🙂

Samsung 49” 32:9

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

I guess it is what I mentioned before. Any RF noise from an AM radio and the Panharmonium or just some nice filters. Wasp and Belgrad are great for this.


Artist or Band name?

Franksemi

Genre?

Interstellar soundscapes & ambient

Selfie?

Uffff.. but ok

Franksemi

Where are you from?

Denmark, Northern Jutland, Countryside. Raised by my Grandparents.

How did you get into music?

My uncle was teaching me how to play guitar every Sunday afternoon from when I was around 6 years old. But I lost interest in that after a while and somehow I also managed to break the guitar in half.. I don’t remember how and why, but I most certainly remember making up a cover story, so that my Grandparents would not get angry at me 😀 I can’t believe they fell for the story. I put the guitar back together as good as I could and placed it between some heavy wooden boxes so that it looked like the boxes had fallen and broken it… haha 🙂 Then I moved on to bass, and then tried drums for a bit. I also got tired from that pretty fast. Then when I was 13, the Amiga popped up and I was hooked on Protracker for some years. Later I got access to a 303 and borrowed a 606 for a while. Then it was mostly software for many years and next a 15 year break from making any music. Three years ago I split up with my x-girlfriend after many years together, and I needed to do something creative again, so I started building my first Eurorack flight case. And from there I started with Eurorack which was something I wanted to do for years.

My third homemade modular flight case

What still drives you to make music?

I don’t know if what I make is considered music, at least not in a traditional way. I would just categorize it as making space soundscapes & textures for my own personal meditative pleasure, and that is really what drives me. That and making something creative, which I have always done one way or another. I always imagine myself how I would enjoy these sounds while leaving this solarsystem in a spaceship. Plainly put; sounds for space travel. But I also think of it as kind of alien communication that I am still trying to learn. Sometimes I would call it ‘Sound Design’ but that’s probably a stretch 🙂

How do you most often start a new track?

I just start a new patch and see what happens.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I never finished a ‘real track’, at least not for many years. I often just make patches and let it run for a couple of nights, sometimes a week or more. I like falling asleep to that, instead of just putting on some random DI stream etc. Most of time I don’t even bother to record it, cuz it is too much of a hassle and I often have problems with getting the levels right etc. But sometimes I put a small video clip on Instagram, but not so much anymore.

Show us your current studio.

Franksemi’s Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

When I was in Art academy in Kolding 25 years ago, I had a teacher that told me that the best art is always something you made 20 years ago. That was funny back then, cuz I asked if he meant, that I made art like a 5 year old. But no, seriously, depending on how you will interpret it, I think this can apply to music as well. I will let you think upon that for yourself.. 🙂

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

You are very welcome to follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franksemi/

[Editor: Eurorack modules: Too much or Never Enough? Leave a comment below. ]