teenage engineering Archives - Page 10 of 11

Ian Pritchard – Collector//Emitter

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

My favorite control is always the lag or delay time control on a chorus, vibrato, or flanger pedal. I think the Caroline Guitar Co Somersault specifically does it really well, but a lot of pedals have the control now. Changing the delay time makes a huge difference to the tone, and I’m really surprised that pedals only recently started giving this control.

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

Maybe this is a non-answer, but I honestly can’t think of one. Sure, all my gear has some flaw or limitation, but rarely is it something that gets in the way of working with it. I usually see those limitations as a way of guiding how I work with it, which usually helps me break out of my routine. For example, Digitone could have an output per track, but see question 9 for how I work around that.

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

I’ve been searching for the right thing for a while. It’s a guitar when I can, but when I’m flying I bring something else. First it was an OP-1, then an OP-Z, and now I think the Model:Cycles is the perfect travel synth for me.

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

I really wish the SoundToys plugins, specifically Primal Tap, Echoboy, and Little Plate were available as hardware. Those sound incredible, and I’d love to have them on my pedalboard (I’m aware these are modeled on hardwarem but I love their dsp, but I’d love a Prime Time 93).

There are tons of pedals I wish were software, but only if they 100% nailed the sound. For example, the Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water is an amazing lofi vibrato that saturates in the perfect way, so having that to easily put on mix busses would be incredible.

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

I’m a bit of a hoarder, especially when it comes to gear, so I find it hard to sell something unless I really don’t need it. There are a few pedals I’ve sold and miss, but usually I have some pedal that can do something similar. My biggest “regret” would be selling my Sub 37 which I loved. I only sold it because I had no space for it, but I miss it a lot and can’t recreate some of those thick, distorted duophonic sounds.

[Editor: I just sold my Subsquent37 for the same reason. No space. I miss the sounds, but I also feel strangely free]

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

I’ve recently discovered that what inspires me the most is actually minimal setups. I’ll usually pair one or two pedals with one synth and see what happens. That gets me out of my head thinking about perfect separation of each track or things like that, so I can jump into working on whatever ideas come to me.

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

A nice guitar. I’ve played cheap guitars for so long, so when I finally got a nice one (a Bilt Relevator LS) I was blown away. From there, I’d probably get a few pedals (probably Red Panda Tensor and Smallsound/Bigsound Mini), obviously some kind of amp, and an affordable groovebox like a Circuit or Model:Cycles

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

The old Line 6 DL4 is the best looper I’ve ever used, but they’re also notorious for randomly breaking for no reason. And they don’t use the standard pedal power supply. But I truly love it.

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

Not sure if this is really surprising, but I’ve recently started doing it – on any groovebox that lets you pan the tracks, you can pan the rhythmic tracks to one output and the melodic tracks to another, and run the melodic output through any effects that you don’t want messing up the rhythm. This helps me record videos with my Digitone or Model:Cycles into a pedal, live in one take with just a two-track interface.

Artist or Band name?

Collector//Emitter on youtube for all my pedal demos and synth videos, and Collector for my music releases.

Genre?

Kinda all over the place… ambient, glitchy, electronic and/or guitar-based

Selfie?

Where are you from?

Originally from Philadelphia, now based in Brooklyn.

How did you get into music?

When I was a kid I loved listening to music, so I wanted to play it. Then I wanted to learn how to record, so I did that and played in bands for a while. Now I am enjoying music as a creative outlet on my own time, with no real motives beyond making music.

What still drives you to make music?

Making youtube videos keeps the muscle memory there for when I want to be creative. Working full-time in a music-related field and then wanting to make music in my free time can be tough, but having an objective and deadline helps keep me going.

How do you most often start a new track?

Maybe once a week, it depends on the week. I usually focus my creative drive on making videos, so weeks when I have extra drive or inspiration I might start 3 or 4 tracks.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I’m really bad about that… I usually struggle with completing things. I guess when I can listen through multiple times and enjoy it, it’s done.

Show us your current studio

(This is unfortunately the best picture I have, and I can’t take one at the moment because I left Brooklyn to stay with my parents while NY is still bad with covid)

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“[The recording] was really noisy. I kind of liked it. That was the way it had to be. Then you stop worrying whether you should have made this decision or that about how things sounded, and just get down to the business of making songs” – Elliott Smith, Tape Op Winter 1997

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

My latest release will always be a pedal demo on youtube, since I post them once (or twice) weekly – https://youtube.com/c/collectoremitter

But my latest music release was an ambient thing with the Elektron Model:Cycles and Red Panda Particle V2 – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/collector1/particles

[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]

Select – Sounds Soul Soothing

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

The best knob I know is the Cutoff of my Mother 32, its feedback is not even close to be equaled by any knob I own! In general, when I touch a synth, I try the Filter (Cutoff/Resonance). If the vibe is not here, the synth is not for me.

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

I think u-he Diva is really huge, but it’s soooo CPU expansive! I wish I could load tons of Diva tracks for my Live session, but I can’t 🙁

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

I always bring my OP-1 on holidays, but I never use it, because it’s the only time I do other things than music!

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

I wish I could have a universal VST hardware, some sort of box on which we could load VSTs with generic knobs or something like that. I can’t even imagine making music without a computer if I can’t use VSTs.
And I really dream of a solid Korg Trident VST. I want to get the true Trident someday, but it’s a lot of money, so I’m waiting for the good Trident emulation.

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

I bought the Behringer Deepmind 12D, and I quickly regretted it. The thing was completely soulless, it had no punch whatsoever, so I sold it.

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

By far Ableton Live on my computer. If I had to keep one single thing to produce music: Ableton Live, even just with stock plugins, without VSTs. For real.

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

Well, a computer with Ableton Live! Seriously, I always want to tell young producers to just stop buying gear! If you are not able to make something decent with a tool as powerful and simple as Ableton Live (or any DAW), you won’t with any piece of hardware. So stop with your GAS thing, and try to make actual music!

[Editor: I have to say, I kinda disagree. I always used to feel bad about GAS (gear aquisition syndrome)… but I’ve started to accept it. Even to the point of telling myself- “It’s fine. Buy a pedal. Make some music. Sell it again, whenever.” It’s all just… colors for a painter. Who are you really hurting? No need to feel bad about buying gear…
But Benjamin also has a point too. So go ahead, make some tunes... and feel good]

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

The Doepfer A-190-5! It’s a simple midi to CV interface, but sometimes it completely freezes/bugs, and the thing has to be reloaded. So my whole modular has to be powered off. The real problem is that my live setup is based on the Expert Sleepers ES8 audio interface which is in the modular synth! So if I power off the synth, my whole setup is down, and Ableton output is offline… It’s kind of a big deal during live sets.

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

I think the most important trick I discovered is the ability to create sync tracks in every setup. Making a hard sync ping in a stereo channel is a very simple trick to do and it opens a large panel of possibilities, like playing with a Nintendo Switch and a modular in sync!

Artist or Band name?

Select

Genre?

Electro

Selfie?

Where are you from?

Paris, France.

How did you get into music?

I used to play some flute and piano when I was a kid, but I quickly gave up since I was way more hyped by video games!
I’ve always been more or less in computer music, since early 2000’s, I’ve been playing around with Fruity Loops, then Reason, then Live. But nothing serious.
Then I became a software engineer, and it was so boring, I wanted my life not to be that pointless anymore, so I started music production seriously when I was 30 (never too late).

[Editor: Whole-heartedly agree]

What still drives you to make music?

To be honest, I don’t really know. Music production is a lot of pain, I spend 99% of my time just complaining, suffering and finding myself completely useless. But, I don’t know why, I’m addicted to it. The 1% left is just pure happiness and it heals all the pain of the process!

How do you most often start a new track?

1. Open Ableton Live.
2. Load the crappiest synth (like, it has to be awful or extremely basic).
3. Try to write something catchy with it.
4. Try until something beautiful comes out.

This process forces me to actually write something I want to listen to before having any sound design research.
When I got my chord progression, I start to actually produce.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When I’m bored enough to stop!

Show us your current studio

Here it is (actually, it’s in the middle of my living room)

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“You have to make every single sound special”.

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

I recently have been live for the Bpm Contest on ClubbingTV, so here’s me playing a 30 min DJ set with an APC40 controller and eurorack modular.

[Editor: Benjamin also has an instagram with some lovely visuals for his tasty tunes]

Liam Killen – Killer Beatz

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
OPZ knobs are so smooth- they’re the easiest things to spin- easier than any other knob that i’ve seen. It’s quite genius actually! A + to Teenage Engineering on that design (as per usual).

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
Recently I’ve been discovering Arturia’s software synth bundle. Synths/keyboards include: DX7, Jupiter 8V, Fafisa, Prophet V and many more. KILLER and super affordable pack that I would recommend to anyone, I got it off Splice.com
I love me some synth hardware, but I just don’t have the space, budget, time and interest to deal with it and this is an amazing alternative.

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
I would bring my laptop, just because I can do most of what i’m capable of doing at home with just that- and of course my OP1 because of how portable and easy to use it is. It also makes for a great midi keyboard, instead of using the keys on my laptop. Sometimes I actually prefer a mini set up rather than all of the gear I have at home.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I’m beginning to wish that all hardware was software just because of how much easier/less expensive/more accessible it is in that format. That being said, there’s nothing quite like a modular synth, or an OP1 and I don’t think it would ever be possible to replicate it 100% using software (watch it happen this year). Honestly, I don’t have a solid answer to this question right now. I like everything as is, that being said, I feel like a combination of hardware + software is the way to go as a producer in 2020.

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I recently bought an API lunch box- but then never needed to buy pre amps to go with it. I bought it to record drums, which i’m not really doing much of anymore, because I no longer have a studio to play at. So now it’s just sitting at my friend’s place…collecting dust.
I will say that buying gear is a skill- like all of the gear that I own now, I use, where as when I first started collecting gear, I bought things that I thought were cool, but I didn’t really need. I feel like it’s just something that you have to go through- so just make sure that you take care of your gear so you can resell it when you’re done.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
Recently i’ve been using the SP404 a lot and have been composing tunes specifically for the sound and aesthetic of the instrument; so more in the lofi genre. That being said, i’ve been exploring what other genres work and the thing is quite diverse! I recently posted a live set on my Youtube channel, for anyone who’s interested, linked right here below.

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
I’m happy with where i’m at now, not sure I would change anything to be honest! I’m glad that I started on drums because it gives me that rhythmic intuition that most people don’t have. Sometimes I do wish that I had started my Youtube channel earlier so that i’d have more of a following, but it takes time and i’m really enjoying the process anyway. I genuinely do love creating videos for you guys and so i’m going to keep doing it!

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
I bought a Pocket Operator Modular 400 months ago. The gear itself is not annoying at all…What’s annoying is assembling the thing. I’m pretty sure that the screws that came with it were not the proper ones- so I had to find these tiny little watch screws to put the thing together. Assembling it was probably the most annoying thing that i’ve ever experienced. That being said though, now that it’s all built, it looks so pretty!

Teenage Engineering PO400 and a little Rick and Morty PO35

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
When I was taking drum lessons, my teacher taught me what I think is one of the most important things that i’ve learnt in music- and that’s the long/short note method. I wouldn’t be able to explain it thoroughly over text but it has to do with syncopation of long and short notes and how there’s actual rules to what makes something groove. Basically, Quarter notes are long and so they are accented and syncopated notes followed by a rest are also long- also accented. Everything else is a short note, and there for played as a ghost note. These rules basically revolutionized the way that I think about rhythms and music in general.
In the synth/gear/modular world, these rules are nowhere to be seen, but I try to make them work in my electronic music tracks, which I think helps give me a certain edge. Maybe i’ll get into this in a Youtube video one day now that I think of it… hmmmmmmm.

Artist or Band name?
Liam Killen

Genre?
That’s a tough question- we’ll say Electronic Music for now.

Selfie?

Where are you from?
Montreal, Canada

How did you get into music?
I always knew I wanted to do something in music but that “something” has changed a lot throughout my life. I started very young at the age of 9 on the drums- my parents bought me a kit because I was constantly banging rhythms on tables. When I was around 15, I became pretty much obsessed with jazz drumming- wasn’t much of a sporty kid so I figured i’d focus my energy on something that I was naturally good at. I ended up going University in jazz performance on drum set- which I graduated from in 2015. I knew I couldn’t make a living off of jazz performance so I branched out during my time in university- played in a million bands, started learning new instruments and eventually got into music production, which i’ve been making a living off of for the past 5-6 years. Just recently though, like in the past 6 months, i’ve really started focusing on creating video content and not just music, and finding my voice and personality over social media, mainly my Youtube channel. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it and it will remain my focus for the foreseeable future.

What still drives you to make music?
I’ve always been a very motivated person when it comes to music- like i’m really not hard to inspire. Honestly, recently i’ve been listening to less spotify stuff and more to people over social media, like on instagram and youtube and learning from them, which gives me plenty of motivation. I also just feel “at home” when i’m creating- it’s been a solid outlet for me since as long as I can remember, which is why i’ve worked so hard to make it my living.

How do you most often start a new track?
Recently, i’ve been starting tracks by either programming a solid drum beat that I vibe with, or with a really inspiring sample, whether it’s one of my own or someone else’s. I used to be against using other people’s samples, but if you think about it, the biggest producers in the world do it, so why would wouldn’t I? Why limit myself?
I’ve noticed that the whole sample thing is controversial for some people. So here’s another interesting way to think of it:
My roots are in a band setting. So for me, I was a piece of the puzzle as was everyone else in the band, I was basically a hired gun a lot of the time. So let’s say you use a drum sample in one of your tracks, something that you had no hand in ACTUALLY creating, isn’t that basically the same thing as a band leader hiring a drummer to play drums on his track? That’s sort of the way that I look at it now. And lastly, if it sounds good it’s good! Also it has to be legal, lol.

How do you know when a track is finished?
I usually like to take a couple of days away from the track when I think that it’s finished. If when I go back to it i’m able to listen through without being “taken out of it” or distracted by an element of the track, that’s when i’m happy. I try to limit myself in that respect though, because it’s easy to go in circles, especially when it comes to the mix, in which case it becomes a waste of time. Just put it out!

Show us your current studio
It’s such a mess right now! My videos look pretty clean, but then when you see behind the scenes, you see how messy it really gets.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
I’ve noticed that a lot of people have a hard time getting started- and 90-95% of being prolific is just sitting down at your computer/instrument, and starting. Once you come up with an idea or something that inspires you, you’re in the clear!

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
I’m constantly releasing stuff and the best way to keep track is through my social medias. I’m always posting new videos to my Youtube channel and I’m also releasing my first official EP to all listening platforms, so stay tuned for that, out April 7th, 2020. EP cover and Youtube channel linked down below.

Liam Killen YouTube

CURIOUS final.PNG — LK Curious album cover

[Editor: Liam is obviously a Teenage Engineering fanboi, just like me. But do YOU think that collecting gear from one manufacturer is a good thing or a bad thing, for creating a personal musical style? Leave a comment below]