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


Lucas Delacroix – Caveman Rec

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

UAD 1176 Rev E

The input knob on the 1176 compressor is my go-to. There’s this little trick I love—turning the attack off to turn compression completely off . It makes the compressor act more like a tonal distortion, adding this raw, saturated tone, especially on drums or guitar. Then you use the Input and Output knob to taste. Of course it has to be an emulation in software that replicates the whole circuit, and not just the compression part.

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

Sontronics Helios Microphone

Yes! I’ve got this Helios microphone that sounds great, but it has this high-pitched noise that I can’t control. I bought it used, and it has some weird charm, but that noise can ruin a take if it decides to act up.

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

I keep it simple with a nylon string Spanish guitar. It’s not a fancy one; just something that feels like home. Perfect for when I’m on the go and want to mess around with ideas.

Acoustic Guitar

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

Decapitator by Soundtoys, hands down. I wish it were hardware. It adds this perfect, warm saturation, like analog gear. I use it on pretty much everything!

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

Oh, definitely. I bought this beautiful 1962 German-made 335 style electric guitar that looked incredible but played horribly. I couldn’t get a decent chord out of it. I ended up trading it for a Strymon Timeline pedal, which was a much better decision.

Strymon Timeline

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

Guitars, absolutely. I’ll start with guitar ideas and build the rest around them. I think it’s my main voice as a musician; it’s where my best ideas come from.

Fender Jazzmaster

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

I’d go for a guitar again, for sure. It just feels right, and it’s where I get the best start on my ideas.

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

My tape machine, a Revox A77. It’s a hassle to maintain, and it breaks down more than I’d like, but I can’t imagine not using it.

Revox A77 Tape Recorder

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

There’s another trick I like besides the 1176 one. It’s the classic with the Pultec EQ—the ‘boost and cut’ technique. Basically, you pick a frequency, boost it, and then cut it at the same time. Sounds strange, but it actually saturates the tone in a way that just works. I use it a lot because it brings this really smooth, controlled sound, especially on drums or if I’m running it on a bus. It’s one of those little moves that changes the character of the mix without being too obvious.

Pultec EQ from UAD

Artist or Band name?

Just my name — Lucas Delacroix.

Genre?

Alternative… though it’s a mix. Could be rock, could be something else entirely. It depends on the track.

Selfie?

No selfies here, but maybe a picture of my hand?

Monty Burns as Howard Hughes tattoo

Where are you from?

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Currently living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark.

How did you get into music?

Guitar was always around when I was growing up. I think it was just natural—I’d mess around on it as a kid, and it felt like the most obvious thing in the world.

What still drives you to make music?

Sometimes I hear a specific guitar tone or melody, and it just fires me up. I could spend years chasing that feeling, trying to capture it in a track. It’s like a love affair that never gets old.

How do you most often start a new track?

Always with guitar. I’ll get an idea down and then build out the rest from there.

How do you know when a track is finished?

It’s a gut feeling. It’s like there’s this small voice that just says, “Alright, you’re done.” It’s rarely 100% satisfying, but at some point, you just know it’s time to move on.

Show us your current studio.

I like keeping it low-key. Let’s just say it’s an underground space, literally.

Caveman Records Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

It seems like it’s obvious, but mix at a low volume. I realize it feels nice to listen to a song loudly, so it feels like the earth is moving and something dramatic is happening. But it really does you no favors, if you’re totally deaf after mixing for an hour.

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

I’ve got a playlist with my latest productions which I have recorded and produced for other artist. Check it out. Also, if you’re curious about my own music? Here’s an album called Somos.


Andrea Cichecki – ElectrOrganic

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

Mutable Instruments Ripples

My favorite is the filter knob. I use it a lot, especially, when I’m recording live, either to create space or for creative effect. On the picture you can see the filter knob of my Mutable Instruments Ripples. Other ones I like are the function knobs, to dive into the menus of my devices. I need them in order to make everything work.

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

Blofeld synth

It always changes but, at this moment, I’m in love with the Waldorf Blofeld. I can produce full songs with it, as it has all the sounds I need in there. It’s small, so it fits easily in between my other gear. It would be great if it had more knobs to have more access at once, however, for the price, I really can’t complain at all.

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

Eurorack and buddies

That would be my Digitakt, Strymon Timeline, Big Sky, my modular synth, the ZoomTrack 8 mixer and my Beyerdynamic headphones. It’s all compact, fairly easy to set up, light weight to travel with and it all fits in one small suitcase. If it’s just a small trip, it’s usually my Digitakt as I can create a lot with that already.

Elektron Digitakt

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

I wish the Make Noise Morpaghene had a software version. The same would be the case for the Mutable Instruments Beads. Software I’d like as hardware: a Teletronix LA-2A compressor would be very welcome in my studio. I just love this compressor, especially, for my synth sounds. It’s a classic and it just works.

Mutable Instruments Beads

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

I’ve got little regret regarding gear I bought in the past. When I buy something I try it out and if I don’t use it a lot, I will sell it again to find something else. Until now, I don’t have regrets on sales either as my setup always improved for the better.

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

Soundcraft desk and Strymon FX

My Soundcraft desk. It took me a while to find out what works best for my workflow and the mixer is the main instrument, as I can route everything with each other, send signals in all directions, which makes it a lot more fun to record. I don’t need to worry anymore, think about how to connect things or route it, as it’s all set up and ready to go.

Soundcraft Desk

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

The book Patch and Tweak and piano lessons instead of the clarinet training. The book is a must if you want to work with synthesis, I learnt a lot from it and still read it regularly.

Bjooks Patch & Tweak

Piano lessons would have made my life easier in terms of composition. However, I’m slowly progressing with my compositions now and just give myself the time to learn. It’s never to late for that and every day you can learn something new.

[Editor: The author of Patch & Tweak did a interview on this very blog right here Kim Bjørn]

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

Euroack Patch Cables

My patch cables, they always lay everywhere in the house, but I cannot do without them. I recently bought a couple of nice patch cable hangers from Sector Sieben, this already helps a lot.

Even more Euroack Patch Cables!

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

Mackie Big knob

Get a monitor controller and establish two settings to listen at, one low listening level (you still can hear somebody whisper) and a higher level around 70-80dB SPL. I mostly listen on either of these two settings.

This way you train your ears and start to hear small differences when using compression, EQ or FX settings. Last but not least, the most important ‘trick’ is to A/B reference your song, level-matched, with either previous versions of your mix as well as other songs. You can easily fool your hearing by thinking louder is better and sometimes you may think you are doing a good job treating a sound, only to find out, after level matching, you did too many changes.

With level- matching you really hear what you do. Plugin Alliance has a good plugin for that (Metric AB) but you also can do this in your DAW and simply level match the different songs with each other.

Metric AB

Artist or Band name?

Andrea Cichecki

Genre?

Deep music such as ambient, big soundscapes, dub-techno and ‘immersive organic sounds’. I like to emulate nature with electronic gear.

Selfie?

Andrea Cichecki

Where are you from?

I’m originally from the Netherlands, but have been living in Germany since 2012. At first, I lived in Berlin and now in the countryside near Dresden. I moved there because of a beautiful recording studio called Castle Studios where I work as well.

How did you get into music?

When I was young, I started with the clarinet and played a lot of classical music. Around my 16th birthday, I fell in love with electronic music and started to collect vinyl and, eventually, became a DJ.

In my mid-twenties, I already wanted to learn audio engineering but, sadly, where I lived at the time, there was no audio school and no online education available. So I tried to meet people to find out how things work and learnt a lot by myself until later in my life, where I attended the Abbey Roads music production and audio engineering school.

Clarinet

What still drives you to make music?

It’s a very strong inner feeling, call it intuition that I have. I’ve done a lot of different things in my life for work already, but this feeling with music always came back, telling me that I need to make music and learn all I can about it. I try to just follow that intuition. My life has changed ever since I became a full time producer and audio engineer. It’s hard work, especially, when you need to build it up from scratch to make a living. It’s also a particular life style. You really need to want this, otherwise it doesn’t work. I gave many things up in order to do it, but also don’t regret it a minute.

How do you most often start a new track?

Mostly, I start with a sound or chord progression on a synth that inspires me. I choose the key I work in and just go with the flow. Sometimes a drum loop inspires me or a melody gives me a certain feel and then it depends. Generally, there are two ways of making music for me. Either, I create a live-set, which means that I let things flow a bit more and don’t work in a particular song structure. However, when I produce songs with something specific in mind, I’m very structured and try to follow the sections. It took me a long time to find out how to finish tracks and, working structured and in sections, was the best for me. That also goes for when I work with clients.

Most musicians have a structure in their music as well and it’s just easier to be able to work like that, to have the same language. Otherwise translating their needs can get complicated.

Ableton Template

How do you know when a track is finished?

When the deadline is there. 🙂 In general, when all elements of the song are there and work good together, than it’s time to mix. Usually, I already do a lot in pre-production stages, so that I can keep my mixes simple and effective.

Show us your current studio

Andrea’s Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Have a lot of quality output, educate yourself and, if possible, learn from mentors that can guide you. This is what I started to do, I try to educate myself on everything to do with music, the industry, music business in general, producing and engineering, marketing and promotion, social media.

Having an understanding of the work you need to put in makes everything a lot easier, as you can plan along and are able to communicate with the people around you better. Having mentors in your life to learn from is very important, so that you can improve yourself and are able to ask for advice.

Socials:
https://www.andreacichecki.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/AndreaCichecki/
linktr.ee/AndreaCichecki
https://www.instagram.com/andrea_cichecki
https://www.facebook.com/AndreaCicheckiMusic
https://soundcloud.com/andrea-cichecki
https://castle-studios.com/