Pattrn – Brice Deloose

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

Xaoc Belgrad

As a proper gear junkie I can’t choose just one, but I can limit my addiction to two knobs 🙂 For the feel – Xaoc Belgrad cutoff frequency. That knob is just the perfection! It’s both solid and fluid, the size is perfect for precise dialing (I can play melodies with just with this filter in high resonance configuration, and I even do this live sometimes). If anyone wants to feel what a knob should feel like, then they need to try this one out!

The second one is feature/playability oriented, it’s Shakmat’s Knight Gallop “pulses” one. I love how easily and musical I can play complex beats and percussions with it just by twisting it. To be honest it’s my secret trick for percussions programming… I don’t program, I just play with Knight’s Gallop and I have been doing this for over two years on all my records that have percussion sounds in it.

Shakmat Knight’s Gallop

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

Not really, I like to craft things from the start (or nearly from start) for every track. I love to experiment, jam for hours on my modular synth and then just edit and cut pieces out of all this improvisation, to start building a track.

Pattrn Eurorack

I feel sometimes people are too obsessed by the quest for perfection and forget that it all comes down to context. A “shitty kick’ can sound awesome in the right context. At the end, it’s how it all blends together to create a story.

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

Elektron Analog Rytm

I always have my Elektron Analog Rytm. It’s such a powerful and compact machine, but is also very fun to play with. Next would be my laptop with Ableton Live (I’ve been using that for nearly 20 years now) and RME Fireface UC sound card.
It’s rock solid, drivers and sound are just on point and I use the bigger Fireface800 in the studio, so I’m very confident with this setup and how stable and reproducible it can be between studio and live.

RME Soundcard

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

Tricky question… soft synths wise I love Serum for its flexibility and modulations capabilities and Omnisphere for it’s amazing lush and organic sound, so I’d say these two could be lovely to have in a hardware format, yet, somehow in my workflow I realize that I like the recall features of my soft synths and, for example, I don’t use my beloved Access Virus at all anymore. It has stayed on a shelf now for over 5 years (even if it has midi in/out and I could record all knobs movements as automations).

Access Virus

I think it’s a matter of perspective and your approach to these things. I like twisting knobs on my eurorack to create sounds, but then I love to mangle this audio and simply draw automations (by mouse or controller) in the DAW. It’s like fixing things on a canvas and moving forward with what has been done.

Actually I think it’s nice that some things are only accessible in some format, it forces you to make choices on how to use them and in this frame of ideas, limitation is also a tool to move forward. Maybe i should give this whole question a deeper reflection, but I’m pretty happy with how things are :p

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

Nothing 🙂 I have difficulties to sell things :p Still got my first Yamaha RM1X collecting dust and like i said earlier my Virus as well. Only thing I sold were some modules and no regret at all.

I spend a lot of time before i decide to buy something, i watch many videos online or try it out at friends, so I only got one regret of buying (and regret is a strong word as it was a very cheap thing and I sold it again easily)… that was the Volca Bass.
It doesn’t sound bad, but I didn’t like the ergonomics and it didn’t integrate in my workflow, neither live or in the studio.

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

My speakers without any doubt. I’m always amazed when I see studio pics with guys owning crazy amounts of expensive gear and only using tiny HS8 or mini 8010 Genelecs. It all comes down to what you hear!
How can you enjoy expensive gear if you don’t hear it properly. I’m deeply convinced that I can make better music with good speakers and a laptop only, than with a crazy wall-of-modular and shitty speakers.

Kii Three’s Controller

Also quality speakers make you dive into sound, which is so enjoyable, plus the decision making process is way faster, so I’m more efficient and work not only faster but better, which ultimately keeps me in the flow. Actually i have been a very lucky owner of Adam S3XV for over 13 years and just decided to upgrade to Kii Three’s for the exact same reason.

Kii Three’s

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

The speakers and of course some proper room treatment.

Acoustic panels

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

I don’t have any… A piece of gear simply cannot be annoying or it breaks the flow and this is a no brainer for me. Menu-diving? Hell NO! Or maybe then I’d say the computer. As it’s not an instrument, but it can do everything, but you need to remap, re-adjust things for every track.

I tried some “automap” controllers but i can’t work with these. I’d dream for an ultimate controller for the computer with like nano-bots that build the interface every time you create a new channel or load a new plugin so everything is always ready at a twist of the fingers… maybe technology will be there in a few years from now… but then this thing would become a huuuge console and would create all kinds of other problems in terms of ergonomics and horrible early-reflections from the ‘desk’.

‘Air’ and space in the studio

As I’m a bit of an acoustic freak this won’t work either. Also having space around me and a feeling of “air” or freedom becomes more and more important. When you spend over 8 hours a day in the same room, then when there are too many things much to close to you, it becomes claustrophobic somehow.

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

Resampling in Ableton. I love it. Just create a new audio track and record onto it everything that goes trough your master bus. It’s the best trick to create new textures that are evolutions or answers to previous ones. Sometimes I just solo some effects on some return busses and record those, pitch them down, stretch them, warp them, slice them and then feed them back into the same (or others) effects chains. I like to approach sound like clay and really get to sculpt it.

Also fixing things while bouncing audio is again a way to move forward. If at some point you wished you didn’t do it and wanted to go backwards then you have to become creative with new solutions and this is also something I love, as it pushes you out of your comfort zone and often results in a more creative outcome, than if I could just change a note on a midi clip or reopen the filter on a synth for example.


Artist or Band name?

Pattrn

Genre?

Deep Techno, Dub Techno, Ambient and Acousmatic music

Selfie?

Brice Deloose aka. Pattrn

Where are you from?

Brussels

How did you get into music?

Started learning the violin when I was almost 4, then discovered electronic music with cassettes that my big brother made me and ultimately started playing with Fruity Loops before diving into Ableton.

What still drives you to make music?

That indescribable feeling of just loving doing it, falling into a vortex and not seeing the time fly. And later to share it with people, spread love and joy while playing and giving the opportunity to people to escape their struggles, their pains for a little time… or simply get out of their day-to-day life.

How do you most often start a new track?

I really don’t have a routine, it can be a loop from some previous modular recording, a preset on a synth, an idea or theme I want to depict, … for me routine is killing the fun and the creativity. Some tracks have been made fully into Ableton with only VST’s, some others are nearly fully made from jamming on my modular synth.

Euroack cables

How do you know when a track is finished?

When I don’t see the point/added value to change something. The structure works and is coherent, I like the sound design and the mix is clean, with depth, space, width and all elements are intelligible.
This is the thing that took me the longest to achieve, the “letting go”. The quest of perfection is the worst enemy and can completely kill a track. The thing that helped me was to start working on many (4, 5 6 or 7) tracks in parallel.

Sony and Sennheiser Headphones

I have a round of listening to all of them and take notes, then I start editing and adjusting what was in my notes (without playing the whole track back). Doing so allows me to keep my ears fresh and avoid the trap that the rabbit hole the loop pushes you into.

Also no spending hours tweaking a sound until the whole track is drafted, because every element needs context. Spending too much time listening to the same thing in a loop is killing objectivity and I tend to get bored by my own work, making me want to change things just because my memory knows how it has been and wants something fresh, but this is not how people receive a “finished “ track.

So avoid at all costs the loop, taking breaks of sometimes days not listening to a track helps. Only at that moment can you really know if doing something helps the track or is just satisfying your brain as giving something fresh to your memory.

Also accepting to let go of things. You can spend hours doing something, if it doesn’t help the track, don’t force it, just throw it away and try something new. Often this works faster and better.

Show us your current studio

Pattrn Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Start as fast as you can to draft the track in its full length, listen to it from start to finish without stopping to keep an eye on the big picture or the overall story/structure and then at last, if at some point you feel bored, try instead to add something on top, or to find a way to tweak what’s there, to make it evolve and support the whole story.

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

Check out a FurtherSession that I did –
https://furthersessions.bandcamp.com/album/pulsing-light-in-a-frozen-solitude


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]

Danny Kim – DSKO

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

Modal 008

Favorite knobs would have to be the Modal 008. They are metal, round with a dimple on top. Favorite fader would have to be the Juno 106. Just a couple millimeters makes the filter morph into a different sound. I’ve ridden the cutoff fader for miles. I also like the fader on Roland System 100 Model 101. Old, but sturdy and stylish.

Roland Juno 106

For Eurorack, I’d say my fav knobs are on the Rossum Evolution. They’re kind of similar to the pots on the Dave Smith PolyEvolver.

Dave Smith PolyEvolver

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

Well I guess that would depend on three criteria for me. The character of the sound, depth of synthesis, versatility, intuitiveness of the interface, build quality. I also like a bit of a challenge to learn. But not so complex that it takes forever to get to a sweet spot.

Modal 008

For me, one all-encompassing synth would be the Modal 008. It is the most refined sounding analog poly synth that I’ve played in the past 20 years. It has 15 different filter modes, tons of physical controls at your fingertips. There are no on-board effects but you can dial in some very refined and inspiring sounds without too much difficulty.

Modal 008 with 15 filter modes

Then you have a great sequencer that can trigger notes or modulate almost any parameter with the “Animator” feature. It does have a bit of a wonky menu, that sometimes freezes on a knob turn. I wish I could update the processor to eliminate some of those glitches and give it an OLED touch screen to improve the navigation but nothing’s perfect.
The designer George Hearn moved on from Modal to found a company called UDO. In late 2020, he released the Super 6 binaural synth. It’s a really cool 12 voice polyphonic synth with high resolution digital oscillators. I’m looking forward to diving deep into it this coming year.

Modal 008 Sequencer

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

MPC Live 2

I have a retro MPC Live 2 that is pretty cool because it has a sound bar, is rechargeable and you can produce full tracks on it with some diligence and patience. You can load it up with a ton of samples. It can even be upgraded with an internal SSD drive. I recently got an ASM Hydrasynth Explorer that can take batteries. I think I might bring it next time I travel.

Hydrasynth Explorer

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

I wish there was a hardware version of Absynth. It was one of the most unique sounding synths I’ve ever heard. Sadly, it was announced a few months ago that Native Instruments was going to discontinue its inclusion in their collection.

I think it would be cool to get a software version of the underrated Modor NF-1, since it is all digital and there are ten different forms of synthesis. There are a ton of physical controls but due to its complexity, there’s still a lot under the hood that you have to dive into the menu to find such as the FM operators or formant features.

Modor NF-1

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

I regret selling my big yellow Waldorf Q. I was broke in Hollywood during the actors and writers strikes of 2006. I was a freelance sound editor and had just left the studio I was working at after I had worked on a big feature film called Pathfinder for 20th Century Fox. The strike went on for a long time and eventually I had to let go of one of my first synths. I’ve since owned and sold the Waldorf Microwave XT, original Pulse rack and 2 Pole Filter Pedal.

Conversely, I haven’t been as into the Waldorf Quantum. On paper and visually it looked like most amazing synth ever. But it sounds kind of sterile to me, even with the analog filter. I have a friend who likes the Iridium for its sample playback capabilities, but I generally prefer VCO’s and non-sampled realtime sound sources. I get more of my style of sounds out of synths such as the Moog Matriarch or Cwejman S1 MK2. So I may be limiting myself from the Quantum’s best features. I’ve heard other people get cool results from it. I think I would get more out of the PPG Wave tribute from Groove Synthesis, the Third Wave.

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

Lately, I’ve been really into the Elektron Syntakt. You’ve got 8 digital and 4 analog tracks. Each track can be configured to a different “machine” that is synthesized around conventions such as bass drums, snares, hats, claps, etc. On the synth side, you’ve got an 8-bit SID type of machine, chord generator that can be quantized to different scales, then an analog two oscillator synth. Unfortunately it’s monophonic, but I hope that it gets firmware to allow the combining of tracks allow for 2 to 4 voice polyphony at some point soon. It certainly has the capability with 12 tracks.

Being confined to a set of 8 unique parameters for each synth or percussion machine did a couple things for me: first, it forced me to fully utilize each machine’s sound design capabilities. Since you can quickly settle on a sound relatively quickly with the limitations, you can focus on the writing of notes and beats. The second thing it did was the polar opposite; the limitations drove me to find external/outboard solutions such as polyphonic sound sources that could be sequenced from the Syntakt’s external MIDI machine. The first candidate was an Erica Synths 42hp Pico case. I put a Supercritical Demon Oscillator and Expander with a Pittsburgh Local Florist and a Supercritical Neutron Flux stereo filter in there. So that skiff essentially became the 8th track on my Syntakt.

Eurorack

One of the things that helped me unlock the Syntakt’s capabilities is the Arturia Keystep 37. The Keystep has a great feature which is that you can hold the function button then instantly change the MIDI channel from the keyboard. So you can jump back and forth between tracks in your sequence while you’re writing melodies and parts. You can quantize your notes as they are being played in.

Arturia Keystep Pro (pictured here) and the twin Elektron Syntakts

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

Prophet XL

With my existing knowledge and experience? Maybe a Sequential Prophet XL. It covers a lot of different sounds between the virtual analog waveforms and sample oscillators. If I was starting out, I’d probably get a Juno 106, which was actually the 3rd or 4th synth I first bought.

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

JX-8P

The Roland JX-8P. Big heavy with plywood bottom and plastic ends that have fading metallic paint. Membrane buttons as frustrating as the DX-7. But the pads out of that thing sound beautiful. I was able to get a PG-800 programmer for it, which made it much more useable. The JX-10 is basically two 8P’s and is somewhat strange to program even with a PG-800 since it has two halves. The JX-10 was used by the composer Angelo Badalamenti for the iconic theme song for David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, which was later sampled by Moby for the house track “Go”. I can’t seem to bring myself to sell it, but it’s so bulky that it’s usually sitting upright until I need it for its lush pads.

Roland PG-800

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

Probably the strangest feature I’ve encountered is the countdown menu in the Modor NF-1. You have to make your selection before it finishes counting down, otherwise it exits on its own.

Modular Eurorack in Black light

Technique-wise, one of the coolest things about modular synths is the ability to chain multiple clock and rhythm modules. For instance, I might use the ALM Pamela’s Workout as an initial tempo generator into Vermona Random Rhythm to create a bunch of multiplied clock signals in different clock divisions. From there it may go into Mutable Instruments Grids or the more recent Mystic Circuits IDUM module. Then finally with the 3rd layer, I’ll patch into the actual sequencer be it WMD Metron or Shakmat’s Four Bricks Rook. My goal is to create rhythmic variations for the sequence that can be globally affected with a relatively simple knob or fader movement, which is ideal for live performances. Trying to achieve some randomness but still enough control to make it sound musical. That’s generally where I like to reside.


Artist or Band name?

It was Psinex, then Distco, Distortion Corporation, now DSKO. My actual company is named Distortion Productions from when I worked full time as a freelance sound editor on films and directed concert and music videos for various local LA electronic music producers, classical Indian musicians and the “Inside” video for Detroit’s ADULT.

Genre?

All over the place: electro, Italo disco, synth wave, techno, dub, electroclash, trip hop, ambient. I try not to think too consciously about genre when I’m writing something.

Selfie?

DSKO

Where are you from?

Was born in Palo Alto and raised in Santa Rosa, Northern California. Have lived in Las Vegas, Hollywood/LA and Seoul, Korea. Now I’m back near where I was born, in Santa Clara and San Jose.

How did you get into music?

I started out as a cellist in the high school orchestra. I took lessons from Corinne Antipa, a cellist in the local Santa Rosa Symphony.
Music-wise I was a big Front 242 and Depeche Mode fan as a kid. I actually just saw Front 242’s final performance at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco recently. It was great show and an emotional moment for them saying goodbye on stage. In college, I was a tech house and trance DJ during college in Las Vegas and in LA during the rave scene.

What still drives you to make music?

I’ve always wanted to see electronic musicians and the synthesizer community properly represented from a cultural and artistic standpoint. I’ve been going to shows for many years, but from 2016, I started putting on my own live synth shows in the SF Bay Area, primarily in downtown San Jose in association with the First Friday monthly street fairs organized by Cherri and Brian from Gallery Anno Domini. I built good relationships with synth companies such as Sequential, Make Noise, Folktek as well as some very talented performers from across the country such as Richard Devine, Patrick O’ Brien, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Lightbath while promoting equally talented locals such as r beny and Haptic Synapses.

My interests tend to pull me towards their origins and pioneers. It was a sort of pilgrimage traveling to the Detroit Movement Festival in 2006 and 2008 and hearing Octave One, Scan 7, Model 500, and many others there. I also had a chance to go to the 2012 Moogfest when it was still in Asheville, North Carolina. It was great to see the Voyagers on the Moog factory line along with the showroom. Those trips were a big inspiration to me as a promoter and artist. I feel like I’ve carried those experiences with me in spirit in all the events that I have held.

How do you most often start a new track?

I used to make a new track every month. Lately, it’s become either a new modular patch video on my Youtube or Instagram. I would definitely like to get back to writing full tracks and albums.

How do you know when a track is finished?

Usually when I can listen to a track repeatedly without getting tired of hearing it. I’d imagine that’s how a sculptor feels by the time they decide when to stop chipping away at the stone. I suppose the difference being that you can’t add back what you remove to a stone. With a track, it’s certainly possible to overembellish it with too many elements.

Show us your current studio

Neon Dragon
A desktop of synths
Studio Rack
Studio Buddies

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

It’s a fairly common piece of advice, but particularly important for someone as easily distracted as I am. Finish your project and don’t try to make it too perfect. Allow for mistakes and imperfections. The pursuit of perfection can lead to becoming discouraged and eventually abandoning something that might actually be much better than you might think. Like many artists, I tend to be very hard on myself.

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

I’ll be performing at SynthPlex in LA/Burbank on the evening of October 29th, 2022. It’s been three years since the last event so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve got a laser show planned to go with my live synth set.

I’m also putting out the follow-up to the 2019 synth and arts print-only journal called Open Source. It’s taken the better part of 3 years to put it together. One of the most difficult projects I’ve ever worked on because of the ever-increasing scope of it.
It started from around 80 pages and now up to around 130 with original articles, artwork and interviews from artists I admire from around the world such as Robert Henke and Nonotak. By the time the project is finally completed, I think it will be worth the effort. I’m aiming to get it done in time to show at Superbooth next May in Berlin.


[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]