Marcus Söderberg Jansson is a Mechanical Engineer at Teenage Engineering, and has has been involved with many of the music gear products from @teenageengineering over the the last 4 years.
Check out the OP-1 Field https://redir.love/ucjFVhcT
Tag: teenage engineering
Joel Negus – Synthing Classics
1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?
Cutoff on the Moog Sub25. Nothing like the ladder filter!
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
The Vermona DRM-1 mkiii is amazing, but maaaan I wish the trigger inputs were on the front panel!
3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?
OP1 basically lives in my backpack if it’s not out in the studio. I’ll often develop ideas on it that end up staying on a track.
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
Couldn’t come up with a direct answer to this question 😂 so decided to answer it by saying that the Arturia Polybrute beautifully blends software / hardware as a complete instrument.
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I used to own a Korg SV-1 until my dad passed his 1977 Rhodes down to me. I always enjoyed playing the sv-1 and realize I shouldn’t have sold it whenever I see one.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
The Moog Subharmonicon!!! More ideas have started on that thing than any other instrument for me (except maybe the piano).
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
If I had known just how magical tape echo was, I probably would’ve wanted it sooner… but it probably wouldn’t have been first 😂
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
The helping hand for soldering!!!
9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I recently learned about the tails mode on the Earthquakes Avalanche Run – haven’t used it yet, but I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about that before I bought it!
Artist or Band name?
Joel Negus
Genre?
Various, often in classical / jazz / electro-acoustic worlds
Selfie?
Where are you from?
Born and raised in Chicago IL, but I’ve been in Cleveland OH for 15 years.
How did you get into music?
Both of my parents are professional musicians. Growing up, I was a boy soprano 🤵 and my dad had me sing on a number of commercials on the jingle scene. Eventually I fell hard into the punk rock scene, which turned to metal – I was a part of starting the band Born of Osiris. Changed directions in high school and focused on classical / jazz upright bass.
What still drives you to make music?
Creativity cannot be severed from relationships. The very act of making itself is collaborative – this connection to others is a constant source of inspiration.
How do you most often start a new track?
Playing an instrument and a spark hits. Recently though, trying to think more in silence before jumping in – starting more in my head. Always looking for different ways to compose!
How do you know when a track is finished?
I rarely “feel” that it’s finished, but I suppose it’s when I’m at the height of my excitement over it. I’ve found it best to wrap it up somewhat quickly when I’m really excited about how things are sounding.
Show us your current studio
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
We can’t just think about what we’re making, but the social context in which we’re making.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
I just released a score I did for a modern dance company in town called Inlet Dance Theater. The piece was called Red Tape and was a total joy to collaborate on. Cheers!
https://joelnegus.bandcamp.com/album/red-tape-original-score
JayE – Diamonds From The Basement
[Editor: In case you didn’t know this… JayE is a Diamond record producer. That means over 10 million copies sold. And this was back when actual units got shipped and not streamed. He might not be making music in your preferred genre, but he is a heavyweight. And it is quite wonderful for me to share his answers with you all]
1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
The frequency knob on the Memory Moog. It’s a duel knob that has a center knob inside for fine tuning. Really unique and useful for a single knob.
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
My MPC3000, I wish it had CV and Gate out, like the current MPCs (MPCX and MPC One) The 3000 is a beast other than that.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
OP1, iPad, and A Pocket Operator.
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
That’s a tough question since so many pieces of hardware are now software. So I would have to say, I wish maybe a iZotope RX9 hardware piece of gear would be awesome. I use it a lot to remove elements from vinyl record samples, like removing the vocals to make instrumentals , or just have the drums or the bass stand alone of a sample.. it’s really powerful and would be pretty awesome to have right next to my turntable at all times and move knobs on the fly to remove elements.
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I sold my OSCar and TR909 a few years back. I really wasn’t using them a lot cause they both had internal issues, that I wasn’t at the time knowledgeable of, but I probably could fix them now on my own, with a bit of help from friends and searching on the internet.
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
I would say my MPC 3000, it just has an awesome feel and its also the one piece of gear I can be blindfolded and still work with.
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
A Juno 60 or 106… I feel like its a perfect synth to learn synthesis and learn to design sounds.. I started off just using presets and a lot of my early boards were too complicated to sound design on the fly… like the Korg Trinity and K2600.
8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
That’s tough cause if it is annoying, I usually replace it for something non annoying… I guess I would say the ASR10.. I love the sound, but I still have yet to master it.
It has so many pages of options, and every ASR 10 I have had, has been unstable, where the more tweaking you do, it freezes up or crashes, which is annoying… but it is one of the warmest samplers I have ever heard… nothing sounds like an ASR 10 sampler.
9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
I recently discovered step sampling on my MPC 3000 I always seen it, but never dove into it.. back then I never found a need for it… and thought it wasn’t practical on how I record, but now I use it a lot.
Artist or Band name?
Jay E
Genre?
HipHop/Pop
Selfie?
Where are you from?
St. Louis.
How did you get into music?
I was a house party DJ that loved music and decided I wanted to make the same kind of records I was spinning.
What still drives you to make music?
New equipment and new music from different genres of music… I rarely listen to hiphop… even though that’s what I’m known for.
How do you most often start a new track?
Lately its been sound designing and wherever that takes me. I used to just start with drums or a melody.. but after 20+ years of making music.. I tend to try new techniques and less obvious ways of starting music making.
How do you know when a track is finished?
When I have a good idea on what the verse and hook sound like. After that I just structure and do breakdowns
Show us your current studio
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
Limit yourself to one or two pieces of gear and it forces you to be creative in a new way.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link
New sounds are available at JayESounds.com
Instagram/Facebook/YouTube – JayEBeats