Noctopolis – Mattis Hencke

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

Jen SX2000

I’m not that emotionally attached to individual knobs and faders, but there might be a few which have been important. First, the ”Frequency” fader on my first synthesizer, the Jen SX2000, which gave me the first real player experience of an actual filtered analogue synth sound and gave birth to a lifelong fascination.

Korg MS20 Mini

Second, maybe the MS20 Mini Lowpass filter knob which brought me back to analogue synthesis after many years of playing mainly samplers and vst plugins. And finally, any of the SOMA Lyra 8:s VCO tuning knobs which made me listen to sounds in a different way and appreciate imperfection.

SOMA Lyra 8

When it comes to tactility I must say that my Bugbrand banana cables mean a great deal, though. They’re a pleasure to use. Colourful and sturdy fun!

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

The word ”almost” is important here because the perfect bit of kit doesn’t exist, I think. Gut feeling right now whispers about the Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus. It never disappoints and has opened up a vast sound palette to me. Though ”perfect” is certainly not the correct word for any C-L gear. Which is the wonder of it!

Ciat-Lonbarde

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

Always: Field recorder. A pretty crap one, my old Zoom H-1 (the Rec button on that one´s been very important, too). For many years the small holiday setup was Laptop/Cubase, USB audio interface, master keyboard.

Lorre Mill Double Knot

If I ever start travelling again I guess the Cocoquantus or the Plumbutter (or my most recent addition, the Lorre Mill Double Knot) would be great to bring but I’m not sure I’d risk them.

Ciat-Lonbarde Plumbutter

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

I’m not very good at wishing for what isn’t there already. Nowadays I find it really hard wishing for hardware to be anything else. The tactile side of playing electronic instruments has grown extremely important to me. That doesn’t mean I don’t like software. There are lots of great fx and instruments which I use a lot. I love the Sketchcassette, Valhalla Supermassive and NI Kontakt, for instance.
Software into hardware… if Soniccouture suddenly turned their Geosonics library in a portable, beautiful little synthesizer I’d probably be curious about it.

Tactile synths

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

I regret selling my second synth ever which was the Roland SH1000. I sold it for very cheap around ’98 when it seemed completely obsolete (and it probably still is, but what a clumsy old beauty!). To be honest, there was some divine justice going on since I sold it to the same guy from who I bought a Yamaha CS5 even cheaper a few years before that.
I kind of regret that I sold my Tascam 388 quarter-inch tape/mixer studio too, but that may be mostly from nostalgia and considering the recent tape hype.
Through the years I’ve bought lots of gear which I’ve sold pretty quickly. I’d say most of the Volcas and a Roland Boutique JX03 were all pretty regrettable purchases. And I didn’t gel with the Eowave Quadrantid Swarm, sadly. Maybe I should have been more patient.

Hyve-Synth

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

Chronologically: my family’s upright piano, my first Porta studio (Fostex 260), the AKAI S2000 sampler, and most recently the Ciat-Lonbarde instruments. All of these have shown new and compelling paths into new territories, or territories looking more and more like the ones I vaguely started dreaming of exploring as a kid. It’s not that different now from what it was back then.

Ciat Lonbarde Deerhorn-Organ

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

Piano, DAW, a nice bass guitar and some assorted percussion. And after that I´d discover touch- and gesture-based synthesizer instruments a bit earlier 🙂 .

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

I usually sell the annoying stuff. One instrument I think will stay with me is the Lyra 8. It changed my listening a lot and I love it but to be honest, those tuning knobs really take some patience. The lower they go, the more mindfulness demanded to get the wanted notes. But having grown into that routine has made tuning of the Ciat-Lonbarde instruments a breeze, so I guess I should be grateful to that sturdy little ”white angel”, annoying as it is.
The Tocante Bistab is on the whole extremely annoying and I could definitely live without it, but it’s a fun curiousity.

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

To my surprise I´ve become a much better bass player through switching to fretless bass. Over all, everything that forces you to listen carefully, instead of having safe routes and measures laid out all the time, is good. As long as we leave the Theremin out of it, of course. And a bunch of other instruments. But – baby steps …

Fretless Squier Jazzbass

Artist or Band name?

Noctopolis and Mattis Hencke.

Genre?

For Noctopolis I guess have to say electronic. And I would hope cinematic and emotional in its better moments. MH is more semi-classic, fairytale music and pop.

Selfie?

Sort of, but not really. A musical portrait 😀 .

Mattis Hencke aka. Noctopolis

Where are you from?

Living in Uppsala, Sweden.

How did you get into music?

Singing, drumming on biscuit tins and making up melodies from early age. Discovering the sound of synthesizers and pop music in general at the age of about 10 was a huge revelation. I took drumming and piano lessons and performed in different orchestras and ensembles but more importantly, I always wrote songs and formed different bands with my brother and schoolmates. Making noise, trying different instruments, dreaming up concepts and bouncing hissy tape recordings between decks with my friend to create full productions became very important, we learned about multitrack recording and from there it really took off. I’ve just never stopped creating and discovering music. Artists like David Sylvian, Trent Reznor, Scott Walker and Fennesz have been huge inspiration sources, as well as numerous neoclassical, ambient and post-metal artists and bands.

What still drives you to make music?

I want to create the sounds and represent feelings and pictures that I carry inside of my head and which are beyond words. I also strive to make the music I want to hear, it´s a way of life by now. Playing and making music is ta great path to get in touch with my core, so to speak. I wouldn´t call it an escape from reality – music and art contains so much more of creative, constructive reality than a lot of other miserable pastimes and preoccupations. Music can be an outlet for emotions and a recalibration of the soul and spirit. And that’s regardless of objective quality and results, as long as it leaves the performer curious and imaginative, I think.

How do you most often start a new track?

That varies a lot. Sometimes with a bassline or a sample, more often with improvising on the piano which turns into fragments of a song. Sometimes with a sung melody. There are plugins which have inspired quite a lot of my music too. The last few years I´ve started to improvise a lot on hardware electronic instruments and nowadays the Ciat-Lonbarde setup is a good starting point for exploring. I’ve got loads of recordings and snippets on the hard drive which sooner or later find their way into more ambient tracks or actual pop songs.

How do you know when a track is finished?

A good sign that I’m on the right track is when I get the sensation ”Wow, did I really create this?”. That, combined with a certain kind of childish happiness when listening to the music in an environment which is not the studio. The most difficult part, when it comes to knowing whether a track is really good or not, is to find the balance between emotional impact and cool or newly found sounds and ideas. That, and also to know that sometimes less is more, but that more is more quite as often!

Show us your current studio

It’s about 1,5 x 2,5 meters with no window. That’s definitely both a blessing and a curse.

Noctopolis home studio
Noctopolis home studio
Noctopolis home studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Spend time away from your music before finishing it. Never mix more than one track at once. Abandon songs that keep annoying you and make you frustrated, they’re probably not that good anyway. Or (quite rarely) they are, but you need more time to grow into them.

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

Recent two track ambient single:

https://noctopolis.bandcamp.com/album/a-year-ending-when-getting-back-home-single

2020 ”Space trilogy” albums:

https://noctopolis.bandcamp.com/album/malacandra-2 and

https://noctopolis.bandcamp.com/album/perelandra

…and a sentimental little something:

https://mattishencke.bandcamp.com/album/everyday-tales-bonus-tracks-version

They´re all at the major streaming platforms as well.


[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…
]


BoBeats – Treats from BobEats

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

Since I am a poor keyboard player I really like the Digitakts buttons. Playing on them is for some reason easier to me than playing on regular keys. I guess its because they are just simple on/off buttons. Feels like typing on a keyboard. 

Elektron Digitakt buttons

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

I would say that Maschine+ comes very close to perfect. Being in love with the Maschine workflow and now being able to use it without a computer. Its kinda dreamlike. 

Native Instruments Maschine+

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

It varies a lot. Next summer Maschine+ will 100% come with me to the cabin. Digitakt & Circuit is always nice too. I do like my grooveboxes. 

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

Hardware that was software… Maybe a Subharmonicon VST? It is a unique synth and a software version could be pretty epic. Especially if you could play it polyphonically somehow… 

Moog Subharmonicon


Software in hardware form? I wouldn’t mind having an Ableton Push 3 be standalone! That’d be kinda cool having the Ableton Live DAW in hardware form.

[Editor: This too would be my wish]  

Ableton Push 2 (so close)

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

I regret selling my old Yamaha RM1X. 

Yamaha RM1X (photo:wikipedia)

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

Korg Minilogue. 

Korg Minilogue with custom knobs

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

A good audio interface. Something to grow into, with expandability (adat) and decent latency. 

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

Octatrack MK2. It is so good, yet at the same time so frustrating at times! 

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

I had a Digitakt beta unit and when I was playing with it I noticed it could make some epic synth sounds. Turning it into a groovebox and not just a drum machine.


Artist or Band name?

Bobeats

Genre?

Mostly electronic stuff, I’ll let others label it.

Selfie?

Nobody beats like BoBeats

Where are you from?

Sweden

How did you get into music?

I watched a friend make music on the Playstation ”game” Music.

What still drives you to make music?

It brings me joy.

How do you most often start a new track?

Usually by going thru sounds and finding something that click. That gets me interested.

How do you know when a track is finished?

You don’t. You have to decide that it is. You learn this from the experience of doing it many times. 

Show us your current studio

BoBeats Studio – Lots of grooveboxes and synths
BoBeats Studio – iMac and speakers
BoBeats Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

”What matters isnt what you do in life but that you do something you feel passionate about”.

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

Videos at https://www.youtube.com/bobeatsmusic


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]


Ricard Magnusson – Wheel

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

The boring answer is the Cutoff! It’s probably my most used knob after all… If I choose to interpret the question from another angle, and discuss the overall feel of my favourite knobs, I’d say the knobs on my Novation Peak. There is a stiffness to them that makes them feel sturdy and reliable, and a rubberized texture that is really great. The Peak feels like it could survive anything! For me it’s really important to connect with a synth on an aesthetical level, an UI level. It needs to look and feel great and be inspiring. For me that’s the whole point of hardware!

Novation Peak

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

Elektron Model Cycles

There are two pieces of gear that I have recently owned that I liked a lot, but had some shortcomings. First off – The Elektron Model Cycles. Fun, cheap, and almost everything you do on it sounds good. But I really would have liked individual outs on all tracks and the ability to play it like a 6 voice poly. The other thing is the JU-06A, which also is a fantastic piece of kit that just sounds awesome. But why only 4 voices… Bugged me a lot!

Roland JU-06A

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

Since my computer is the only thing I can’t do without when producing, I’d have to start off by saying my Macbook Pro. Just bought the 2020 13” which is a perfect size for me. My Keystep usually tags along as well, it has great feel in the keys and a good size. Add my Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones and I’m all set! All I actually really need, holiday or not!

Macbook Pro and Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro

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

There is a piece of software I always dreamed of having in hardware form: The Sonic Charge Microtonic drum synth. I use it all the time and in all my productions. I really like hardware drum machines, and would really enjoy getting hands-on with the Microtonic in a fully analog hardware form. I would really like a software version of the Boss Tera Echo pedal. Maybe there is one that I haven’t found? I mainly use software effects to be able to tempo sync easily, automate parameters etc, and the Tera Echo is the only thing I haven’t really found a software equivalent of.

Boss Tera Echo TE-2

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

This is a hard one… I have a complicated relation to hardware (even wrote an editorial about it: https://producerhive.com/editorial/confessions-of-a-compulsive-gear-flipper/). I constantly buy and sell stuff. Basically, I regret buying almost everything. I kind of regret selling the Sequential Circuits Pro One I used to own in my 20’s (by the start of the millennium). I owned early on, when I was just getting into synthesizers. I have realized that I didn’t appreciate it enough when I had it… Would love to turn back time an own it again, a beautiful and fun machine! The only synth by Dave Smith that hasn’t failed me… I had a Prophet rev 2 that I had to replace the main controller board on, even though I bought it brand new. Had a Tetra recently with a dead sub oscillator and bad LCD-display. Also owned a Prophet 08 Desktop with encoders that had a life of their own…

Guts of a Prophet rev 2

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

I’d have to say Omnisphere. I keep coming back to it. It has a preset library that never ends, and great modulation options. It always leads me to exciting places I didn’t know existed. When it comes to hardware it’s probably my Novation Peak. It has a perfect balance between complexity and easy tweakability.

Novation Peak and Arturia Keystep

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

Nothing. Well, not really, but I would try to not get too hung up on getting the “right stuff”. Give me a Mac laptop and I’m good to go. I started out with nothing but my computer, not even a midi keyboard. I just entered notes in the Piano roll (in Cakewalk, at the time).

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

I’m trying really hard to live by the code “Don’t get stuff you can’t do without”. But I guess it’s my computer. Can’t do without it when it comes to music making. It’s also many times a source of frustration. I have a new computer now, but the one before it was a real pain. I accidentally poured a cup of coffee (my biggest addiction) over the keyboard, which made it act really irrational. Had it like that for like 6 months before I gave up and got myself a new computer! Computers have historically been a big source of annoyance for me, mostly due to failed hard drives. Nowadays I have a rigorous backup solution, so nothing gets lost.

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

Maybe not that surprising, but at the moment I’m really into random waveform LFO’s, that are key synced. I really like making sequences where each note played gets a random modulation of some parameter. On the Peak you can modulate just about everything which is great fun!


Artist or Band name?

Wheel

Genre?

Electronic music, mostly quite chill. A reviewer once called it Chill-glitch, which kind of sums it up quite well!

Selfie?

Ricard Magnusson aka. Wheel

Where are you from?

Sweden

How did you get into music?

Started playing a nylon string guitar, inspired by my grandfather who played classical guitar. My dad and brother also played a little, so there were always guitars around. Moved on to playing with a progressive death metal band in the mid-nineties. Kind of slowly digressed to synth driven, electronic music from there… How did that happen?

What still drives you to make music?

I need to have a creative outlet that is not about demands or goals, just about being creative and reaching a flow state.

How do you most often start a new track?

I’d say with a pad sound. Most of the time it doesn’t stay in the production, but I’ve always been a sucker for pads, and I use them to set the mood of the production and get some basic chord progressions going.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When I can listen to a track and not instantly come up with things I would like to change, it’s probably close to finished. If I feel the same after not listening to it for a day or two, it’s probably done!

Show us your current studio

It’s constantly changing, and I change up my gear all the time. But the pic shows the current state!

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Wow, there are lots of advice floating around and I’m guilty of a few myself… But the one thing I try to remember is to not overthink my productions. Let go of the fear and just release stuff!

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

Sure thing! Make sure to check out my editorials at producerhive.com, where I write about the connection between the mind and music production/creativity. You find it all here: https://producerhive.com/author/ricardm/

The latest single I released is found here:

https://open.spotify.com/album/17HQRNPSGUIJRMS4W3yuFa?si=u_SeC-tbQVqGwza_b9J4sg


[Editor: Do you have a favorite tip, trick or way of working with any of the gear from this interview?
Then throw a comment below…
]