1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
This was my favourite switch on any gear that I used. Turn on the JUICE!
Add the juice
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
I wish some synths, like this Oberheim, had a sustain/hold so that both my hands could be free to use the filters to play patterns.
Oberheim
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
I just got The Orchid; I think it’s this generation’s Omnichord. So good.
The Orchid
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I’d love to see Arturia make a software version of TONTO! This whole album series, I’ve been saying in interviews how Arturia has really enabled folks to have access to a version of some pricey and rare synths (see: ARP 2600s!) so it’s been nice to see what’s possible on much of the album with those VSTs before going and using the real deals at National Music Centre and VintageSynthesizerMuseum.
Tonto
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
Nothing I’ve regretting buying, I passed on getting a Wurlitzer 10yrs ago cause I didn’t think I needed as much as I use it now, now that I found one (more than twice as expensive!) 10yrs later.
Wurlitzer
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Ableton. I started using Fruity Loops in Jr. High, then switched to Cubase in High School cause it was the only program which could run on my dad’s old laptop. Then I got my first Macbook toward the end of college and got an Mbox and Pro Tools. I made my first EP on the 32 track version of PT LE and most of my first LP on it before final mix downs in professional studios. I got Ableton partway through making the next record and never looked back, as the workflow was so great for me and I think things had just gotten to the point where things weren’t crashing all the time like they used to (2013). It’s lightyears beyond what it could do back then too with all the VST softsynths and complicated FXs you can be running while the CPU is still only hanging around 60% without issue. I think as far as synths go, I’ve always loved the Model D or Minimoog.
Double Minimoog
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
I started with the Korg Triton LE which was nice to have an all around workstation. Kinda nice to have that one even though the synth programming was difficult in the sub menus of that small screen. I wish I had of gotten a real analogue one earlier but I used the Arp 2600s at school which was great.
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
The computer.
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I like making synths out of vocal samples like on my track “Release”. Nice way to have a sound you’re sure no one has made before.
Orf/recorder, then school band for trumpet/percussion, bass in rock bands, school jazz/symhpony/percussion ensemble bands, home recording and recording in university for my music electives, then bar bands, then playing my own music.
What still drives you to make music?
Who knows what drives us??!!!
How do you most often start a new track?
Chords mostly.
How do you know when a track is finished?
When I don’t feel like I need to adjust the mix when playing for someone.
Show us your current studio
When not just working in the box and/or with my one Sub37 or Trition, I like to visit the Vintage Synth Museum in LA to get real deal sounds.
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Make art that makes you happy and/or affects you first before it can do that for others.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
Synthetic SE4 coming Oct 30. you can get it and the other 3 seasons (and with a box for them all) from my bandcamp.
1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
Moog Sub 25
Look at this great filter cutoff frequency knob on the Moog Sub 25, one of my recent additions and mainly part of my setup for gigs. I guess the resulting filter sweeps when turning this knob are the most famous synth sound!
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
Moog Little Phatty Stage II
This Moog Little Phatty Stage II is the first synth I ever bought and still my go-to synth when simply wanting to play or starting a session. It’s almost perfect because of its sound and the stripped-down layout, but exactly this one-knob-for-all layout has one flaw: it results in “jumping” of the values when turning the knobs after selecting a different feature. For example, you set the cutoff first and then select the resonance, but the value will jump as you move the knob. As always with synths, it is better to try and hear it than to read about it.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
Mobile Modular Rack
This is my Mobile Modular Rack which I use for gigs because it has many essential modules and offers five or six separate voices, depending on the patch (details are available here: https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1933212). I use an Arturia Keystep Pro with this rack.
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
Arturia Minifreak
No idea. I rely on hardware, but I use Ableton for mixing. I still added a picture of my Arturia Minifreak because they added a VST along with the hardware synth. I think this is a very good idea of combining both worlds (despite the VST having its flaws).
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
No regrets! I take a lot of time before buying or selling anything. Planning my setup before buying anything is crucial to me.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Little Phatty
I must get back to the Little Phatty again. The classic Moog sound is what made me want to make music in the first place. Of course it is monophonic, but melodies which sound good on this synth will certainly have more to offer when you add more instruments and introduce polyphony and harmonies.
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
Nord Electro 5D
Despite loving synths, I would get a Nord keyboard like the Nord Electro 5D. It is the most versatile instrument in my setup and covers a lot of ground.
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
Behringer Model D
I had a Model D, the MiniMoog clone by Behringer, but it suffered from pitch drift in such a severe way that I couldn’t use it for performances anymore unless I wanted to tune every 30 minutes. This was a problem with the early runs of that model. It was long out of warranty, but to my surprise somebody bought it from me. Still, I bought another model because I need that sound in my setup. The pitch is stable so far.
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
Doepfer A-121-3 in the thick of it
I don’t know whether this is a trick or not, but I like to combine multimode filters and two crossfaders to create a pseudo-stereo sound. The Doepfer A-121-3 multimode filter offers four filter types: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass and notch. You can pair them and send those outputs to the crossfaders. When the crossfaders and the filter module are modulated, you can create constantly evolving soundscapes with these few modules already. This works in a similar way with the Nonlinear Circuits Feague which is a filter module and a quadrature VCO. It has four outputs: two low-pass and two band-pass.
Artist or Band name?
Wolfgang Merx a.k.a. Mr. X.
Genre?
Berlin School, Kosmische Musik, Ambient, Synthwave and a bit of Funk.
Selfie?
Wolfgang Merx a.k.a. Mr. X
Where are you from?
Bedburg, Germany, close to Cologne and Düsseldorf.
How did you get into music?
I started listening to hard rock and prog rock when I was a teenager. The most important band that started my interest in synths and making music is Emerson Lake & Palmer. Hearing the sounds that Keith Emerson made with his famous and enormous Moog modular has been mind-blowing and very inspiring, even to this day. Klaus Schulze is my other major influence, along with Tangerine Dream which I discovered a few years later. Schulze’s spacy and dream-like music is amazing and shows what one person can do …with a lot of synths and keyboards. Tangerine Dream, being a band, expanded this idea in their unique way, adding a sense for fantastic group improvisations.
What still drives you to make music?
Listening to other people’s music and hearing sounds, for example in nature or in everyday life.
How do you most often start a new track?
Most of the time by either improvising a soundscape with pads or Mellotron sounds or by improvising a synth sequence.
How do you know when a track is finished?
I think that music is never finished if it is performed. But when I record music for a future release, I simply feel when the music calms down and a jam is coming to an end.
Show us your current studio
Mr. X’s studio setup Mr. X’s studio setup
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Miles Davis once said: “Don’t play the butter notes.”
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
In terms of aesthetics and tactility, it has to be the main rotary knob on the ZOIA by Empress Effects. The way it subtly clicks is super satisfying, and the chunky chrome design stands out compared to other pedal knobs. In terms of functionality I’ll go with the D-C-V (Dry-Chorus-Vibrato) knob on the Walrus Audio Julianna.
Dry-Chorus-Vibrato knob on the Walrus Audio Julianna
It controls the stereo spread of the effect and the mix of chorus and vibrato. The Julianna is an ‘always on’ pedal for me – the modulation sounds great and D-C-V knob helps to always find that sweet spot. I typically use the Julianna to make lofi guitar tones using the random LFO setting and a slow vibrato.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
I’ll have to go with the ZOIA again for this question! It’s one of my favourite pieces of gear and I use it in pretty much all of my music. It’s both dauntingly complex and surprisingly intuitive. It’s mind-blowing how much Empress Effects managed to cram into this small box! I’ve been using it for a couple of years now, but I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what it can do. I use it in all sorts of ways, such as a semi-generative synthesizer, looper, midi controller and of course as a multi-FX unit.
ZOIA by Empress Effects
My only complaint is that because it does so much it’s difficult to know where best to put it in the signal chain. One possible solution would be a set of additional inputs/outputs for an FX loop, and the ability to assign modules either before or after the FX loop. A couple of additional assignable knobs would also make parameter control more immediate.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
I’m a fan of the Elektron Model:Samples for making music on the go. It’s super portable and I like the directness of the ‘function per knob’ design. It’s perfect for quickly sketching out ideas whilst travelling.
Elektron Model:Samples
Other devices offer more features, like the OP-Z, but I have a soft spot for the Elektron workflow. I don’t use it in my main setup due to the lack of direct sampling, but it’s a fun device to kill some time with.
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I predominantly use a ‘DAWless’ setup, so I don’t have much experience with software. I only really use my DAW (Studio One 5 to be exact) to record/master and try to do everything else using hardware. Tactility is an integral part of making music for me, I like the physical connection to whatever I’m writing. I don’t have the same drive to write music when I’m working on a laptop. I also find a limited palette of sounds to be quite inspiring, so the inherent limitations of hardware gear can paradoxically be liberating.
Nathan’s pedalboard of tactility
That said, I would love a virtual version of my pedalboard so I could try out different setups without having to tear the whole thing apart!
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I recently sold my Walrus Audio Slö reverb pedal and replaced it with a Meris Mercury7. Although I really like the expansive stereo sound of the Mercury7, I definitely prefer the modulation on the Slö. It has a unique dreamy quality which is perfect for lo-fi reverbs and woozy textures. I would rebuy it in a heartbeat if they ever made a stereo version with a random LFO mode
Sovtek Big Muff
My biggest gear regret is not looking after my Sovtek Big Muff. Unfortunately it’s been battered from years of gigging and no longer has the original knobs or switch. It’s just too temperamental to use regularly in my setup now.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Roland JU-06A
I’ve been really inspired by the Roland JU-06A synth over the past year, it’s the synth I come back to most often. I love the range of sounds, the simplicity of patch design and its compact size. Roland did a great job replicating that classic Juno sound in a small and affordable package. I also get a lot of inspiration from my humble Boss RC202 loop station. I love working with loops and layers, and the RC202 offers a good balance of features and usability. All of my tracks begin as loops, and I wouldn’t know where to start without my RC202.
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
This is a bit of a cop out, but if I had to start over I would probably start with some guitar and piano lessons! I’m completely self-taught, so I sometimes feel a little limited by my technical skills. To answer the question more directly, if I was starting over with electronic music production I would probably begin with an Arturia Microfreak.
Arturia Microfreak
Due to the wide range of features and relatively low price, it’s a great introduction to hardware synthesis. The keybed isn’t for everyone, but the range of synth engines, the intuitive modulation matrix and the analogue filter make it incredibly good value. If it had built-in FX it would be the total package. Although I don’t use mine much anymore, I still consider it to be a modern classic.
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
As much as I love my Elektron Digitakt, it can be a real pain to use sometimes! There are a lot of functions which are not immediately apparent, and it takes time to learn how to use it properly.
Elektron Digitakt
I actually prefer the usability of its little brother, the Model:Samples, but the additional features of the Digitakt make it substantially more powerful. It’s basically the brain of my setup, even though I probably don’t use it to its full potential. Elektron have done a great job with software updates over the years and have added a number of clever features, like the secondary LFO.
9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
The Expression Ramper by Old Blood Noise Endeavours is a deceptively versatile pedal, which offers a unique approach to expression control. There are so many ways to use this tiny pedal to drastically change how other pedals work.
Expression Ramper by Old Blood Noise Endeavours
My favourite trick is to use the Expression Ramper to control the pitch parameter on the Red Panda Particle v2. Whilst in reverse mode it creates a fantastic reverse pitch-shift effect which cascades with the delay repeats.
Artist or Band name?
Accelerator Jengold.
Genre?
A mix of lofi, synthwave, dreampop and shoegaze.
Selfie?
Nathan
Where are you from?
North Wales, UK.
How did you get into music?
Music has always been an important part of my life; I’m thankful that my parents and brother introduced me to artists like The Cure, Radiohead, Tom Waits, Massive Attack, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Brian Eno. I took up bass when I was a teenager and played in a few post-rock and post-metal bands whilst in University. I later moved into electronic music production using software like Reason, and then got into hardware gear with an Arturia Microbrute (which I sadly no longer own).
What still drives you to make music?
I’ve always enjoyed being creative and having a musical outlet helps me to cope with stress and anxiety. I like having a way to express how I feel, even if I don’t always understand my own thoughts and feelings – which probably explains why most of my music has a downbeat or melancholy vibe. Producing something tangible from my creativity, like a finished song or EP, is a big driver for me. I think this is linked to my preference for tactile music production; using software feels too ephemeral to me. I love conceptual music and take inspiration from a wide range of books, films and other media when writing. Short-form jams on Instagram are my primary output, so I’m super inspired by other artists with a similar approach like Andrew Black, Joshua Dowell and Simon Von Walbrook. I’m really proud to have had my music featured on microbiology posts by Chloe Savard and Penny Fenton, and I would love to produce more music for other media.
How do you most often start a new track?
I typically start with sound design, either creating a unique guitar sound using various FX or developing a new synth patch. I’ll then loop a simple melody and experiment with different layers until it feels right. Sometimes I focus on the melody, other times I focus more on the overall vibe, it just depends on the individual track. Percussion usually comes last so I can choose samples and rhythms to fit the music.
How do you know when a track is finished?
Most of my music is based around looping and building layers of melody, so an important skill is knowing when to stop. When I can remove a layer and the track sounds better, it’s probably finished! If I get stuck on a track I’ll take a break for a few days and then come back to it with a fresh perspective. My least favourite part of making music is mastering, so I’ve developed a couple of mastering templates in my DAW to help speed up the process and remove some layers of indecision. For official releases on Spotify (etc.) I rely on my good friend Chris Walker, who always does a great job fixing up my masters.
Show us your current studio
Synths, samplers and loopers
My setup is in a tiny office/walk-in wardrobe in my house, but it has pretty much everything I need. I’m planning to add an analogue synth at some point (like a Pro-1 or Minilogue) and a Colour Palette electronic kalimba by Lottie Canto.
Studio desk
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
I’m going to echo what Dev Bhat (Shipwreck Detective) said in his interview for this blog: “keep it simple, stupid!” This really resonates with my own approach to writing music. There’s a skill to communicating an emotion, theme or concept in an honest and direct manner without resorting to cliché. I like to embrace simplicity and try to express myself with a limited number of components. An important part of being creative is trusting your instincts and not focusing too much on what does or doesn’t work in theory – theory should be used to help us translate and communicate our ideas rather than to provide a rigid framework for them.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
I regularly post jams on Instagram (@accelerator.jengold), so that’s the best place to keep up to date with what I’m doing. My music is also available on most streaming platforms, just search for Accelerator Jengold. My latest EP, Pyre, came out last year and is full of weirdo synthwave tunes, go check it out! I’m currently working on a new EP and some upcoming collaborations. Thanks!
