Bart Wolff – Sendepause

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

Buchla Portamento Knob

I think the Rogan knob on my Music Easel is kind of iconic. It’s also very much a “thing” for the old Buchla modules.

Buchla Rogan Knobs

Besides the easel i have a few pieces that are inspiring or important for me. First is the “Buchla signal converter” that i have build. It converts euro cv and gates to Buchla format (1v to 1,2v). It uses Cynovatron element pcb’s. It enables me to use the fantastic Frap Tools USTA as sequencer for my Buchla system. 

Buchla signal converter

Another pride possession is thge EHX 16 seconds looper / delay. Its just a fantastic delay and looper. And my my PMC monitors are also very dear to my. Normally unobtainable considering the price, but i got them insanely cheap :-). best bang for the buck, so to say hahaha. And my 200 system of course…

EHX 16 seconds looper / delay

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

Top half of a Buchla Music Easel

My perfect piece of gear is the Buchla Music Easel. I have built my Music Easel myself and it was my starting point for getting into Buchla. I love this thing. The picture shows only the 208 module because I have my 218 keyboard currently put in my 200 system set up. The Music Easel is a self contained musical system. It has boundaries and it is in a certain way, maybe even limited in its possibilities. But I love to explore and make music within these boundaries. It is in my opinion also very important to have with the 218 module. It needs tactile input.

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

I commute by bike so I only use a headphones and listen to music. On holiday: during family vacations it’s not really the moment to bring music gear. I get lost… My family members don’t really like that. 

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

No idea. I only use Ableton, mostly to record. 

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

Yeah enough: I regret selling my TR-909, TR-808, SH-101, Juno-106, Nord Lead, Nord Rack, Nord Modular.  Basically everything I had when I had a hardware studio during my studies….
[Editor: Ouch!]

PMC Monitor

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

I think the moment I started with eurorack. I’m not very good at making tracks / finishing tracks. But I am getting music on youtube, instagram or a bandcamp I manage. 

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

I don’t know. I think this is the way / was the way for me. Everything has a reason. And I try not to think too much about the things I sold in the previous question 😉
[Editor: Yes, indeed… This is the way]

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

Not really annoying but I think my Korg tuner is very important. Tune your VCO’s folks! Everything will start to sound better.

Korg Tuner

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

Not a trick or technique I guess: I’m not a trained musician. Never learned to play an instrument or learned how to read music. It is one of my frustrations, because I like to make “good” music. So reading a bit about music theory helps me make my tunes sound better. 


Artist or Band name?

Sendepause

Genre?

Melodic Buchla stuff, techno, beats and modular

Selfie?

Sendepause sent a pause

Where are you from?

Amsterdam The Netherlands

How did you get into music?

No idea! When I studied in Berlin in the mid 90-ties, I got hooked on techno. Coming back I started collecting gear and built a small home studio to make dance music. Never recorded anything (it was pre audio interface, DAT tape era so to say). Got kids, sold everything. 10 years later I was thinking about a career change. Did a part-time education for sound engineer. Wanted to make music again, started in the box, got frustrated. Did a workshop modular synthesizers and that’s where it started. 

Now I make music, i organize modular music events in Amsterdam under the name Voltage Control Amsterdam. I’m one of the organizers of Dutch Modular Fest. The modular music scene has become my family. I made fantastic friends from all over the world. Modular syths has become a very important part of my life. And i’m not talking about GAS  / buying stuff. It’s the community for me…

What still drives you to make music?

All the above

How do you most often start a new track?

Sometimes with a structured idea. Maybe I have read something about some music theory I want to try. Or I have some melodies in my head. Or I just set the drum machine to 138bpm, put a kick on, tweak my stuff till I get a tune…

How do you know when a track is finished?

I can make great one minute instagram tracks ;-). Doing real tracks is hard for me!

Show us your current studio

Sendepause Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Always do your own thing.

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

Check my Instagram here and my Youtube page… https://www.youtube.com/@sendepause7164

I think the last couple of things i have uploaded sounds like what I had in my head…


[Editor: There are affiliate links to the relevant gear throughout the articles. It helps to support this blog. In fact, should you be needing some patch cables or guitar strings. Then clicking on one of the above links and buying any product that you prefer, will help the blog… doesn’t even have to be the ones in the link. Thx]

Paul Cousins – Reel-in-Vibes

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

The play switch on my Akai X-100D reel-to-reel. It’s extremely sturdy and has a very rewarding click. It’s 56 years old and works perfectly, which just blows my mind. There’s something pleasing about having to use physical energy to make sound happen.

Akai X-100D reel-to-reel

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

Roland Juno 6

A slight cheat on this answer. I thought my Juno 6 was somehow inferior to the Juno 60 (which is what I truly wanted) because it doesn’t have memory patches. That would’ve been my answer, but I’ve grown to love and appreciate the fact that the instrument exists as it is – whatever you want from it you have to make happen. It’s a productive way to learn how to use a synth because there are fewer shortcuts. See also anything pre Prophet-5.

Tape machines

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

On writing trips I just take a laptop and good headphones. So AKG K701s get packed!

AKG K701

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

I’d love a software version of the Empress Echosystem, it’s my favorite pedal. And if there were somehow a rackmount version of the Fabfilter Pro-MB I’d be all over it!

Empress Echosystem

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

I once sold a 1973 Gibson EB0 to the bass player from Showaddywaddy. It was a really beautiful bass, no idea why I did that. And the second synth I ever bought was an Alesis something… which I didn’t gel with at all and regretted pretty quickly.

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

The Roland Space Echo RE-201. It’s just the most amazing piece of engineering, half a century old and it can still create magic from nowhere. I use it any chance I get.

Roland Space Echo RE-201

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

A good set of monitors. I think this is the most valuable piece of equipment you can own. Currently I’m loving the PMC Result 6.

PMC Result 6

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

I’d have to say the amp powering my Yamaha NS10’s, it buzzes slightly but I always need to use them. It’s on my to do list!

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

Watkins Copicat

I think using the pre amps of echo machines is often overlooked. Just driving a guitar or bass through a Copicat or Space Echo is the most awesome tone. Same with reel-to-reel, they can be overloaded to produce amazing results.


Artist or Band name?

Paul Cousins

Genre?

Ambient, Tape, Experimental

Selfie?

Paul Cousins

On tour in Mordor

Where are you from?

London

How did you get into music?

I’d been singing and playing bass in bands for a number of years before I started making electronic music.

What still drives you to make music?

Finding a point of creative satisfaction.

How do you most often start a new track?

I’ve recently got into writing a short piece, transferring it to tape loops, and playing it back through various effects or in some obtuse setup. The original piece comes back like a weird photocopy of its former self. There’s something about transferring music to a physical format that revives it from a potentially anodyne digital state and gives it a different life. 

How do you know when a track is finished?

You stop wanting to mix it.

Show us your current studio

The organized chaos of my studio is frankly an embarrassment. Instead here’s a heavily curated corner featuring my new upright piano and an Akai 4000DS.

Upright piano and an Akai 4000DS

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Music is the silence between the notes. Which Debussy said over a century ago, but has never lost relevance!

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

A recent 20 min ambient reel-to-reel mix: https://youtu.be/_g7Kurux36w

[Editor: Paul also has a quite lovely and lively instagram @paulcousinsmusic which I don’t think you should miss out on]