Tag: verbos

Color Moxie – A Bokeh of LoFi

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

Verbos knobs. They are red, they are smooth, you can spot them from a
distance.

Verbos

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

Tascam Portastudio

My Tascam Portastudio keeps on breaking, it’s very fragile, but I like tape
saturation so much. I wish they made new-old tape cassette 4 track
recorders.

Tascam Faders
Tascam knobs

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

Laptop, QuNexus and Shure 215 in ears. The QuNexus is super slim and
durable, the in-ears don’t use up much space in a bag and they block out
exterior sound pretty good. All of this fits in my laptop case.

Qunexus

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

Sonic Labs Fundamental is my favorite plugin at the moment. It sounds
very organic and has lots of character. The hardware version does exist in
real life, but I do not own it (yet?). I’d also like for a OP1 synth engine VST to exist.

Sonic Labs Fundamental

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

I should not have sold my Squarp Hermod. It was the perfect brain for my
modular setup.

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

OP1

The OP1. So many functions in a small format. Nice synth engines, 4
track recorder, built in microphone, speaker and built in battery.
Everyone loves the OP1.

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

Buchla music Easel and a Wurlitzer.

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

If this counts as gear; I hate having to use an iLok. It uses up a usb port for nothing and I’m always scared of losing it. As for real gear, I get pretty crazy about ground loop noise. Very annoying to have to figure out where it’s coming from in your signal chain and trying to fix it. It happens often when I mix eurorack, synths and my computer in a live performance type of thing.

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

For bass-y sounds, crank up the compressor on the OP1’s master, which will add lots of noise. After recording short sounds, add a gate in your daw with a very slow release and you’ll have a nice noise tail to your notes. Which will sound even better if you compress it again. Lofi.

Artist or Band name?

The Color Moxie.

Genre?

Spontaneous experimental compositions (?) I’ve just recently started
making one music video a day. It can be anything. It usually falls into the
synth / melancholic / saturated / overdramatic / noise category.

Selfie?

hi.

Color Moxie

Where are you from?

Melbourne, Australia.

How did you get into music?

Growing up, my older brother played drums. I wanted to make music too,
so I asked my parents if I could get guitar lessons. I had a few rock bands
which led into effect pedals. Fast forward a few years and now I’m into
synths, noise & sound design.

How do you most often start a new track?

I find a drum sample I like, chop it up and mangle it, until I start hearing
what mood the music is asking for. After that, i’ll find chords add synths,
and add some spatial textures to complete it.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When you run out of ideas.

Show us your current studio.

Color Moxie Studio desk

Not an offcial studio spot yet, but here’s what I had setup today.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Record everything !

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

My instagram is pretty new:

https://www.instagram.com/color.moxie/

I’m also working on an EP which will be announced on that platform when it’s ready

[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…]

Victor Öberg – Urba Doloro

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

Right now I’m crushing hard on the faders of the Verbos Harmonic Oscillator. But in a longer perspective I’ve got to say the Octave and Waveform switches on the Vermona Perfourmer, the resistance and “click” is true perfection.

Vermona Perfourmer

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

That would be my analog noise machine, aka my cat, Frasse. He  makes all kinds of inspiring noises. But he would benefit a lot from a gain knob.

Frasse Cat

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

My laptop and, if not completely impossible, my trusty eurorack case!

Urba Doloro’s Eurorack

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

The blisko cello kit from felt instruments. I absolutely love it, but I would love it even more if I could have a small(ish) stand alone device with knob per function.

Blisko VSTi

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

I once bought and later sold the Waldorf Streichfett. Then I bought it again, and sold it again. Give me another year and I’ll probably have bought it a third time..

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

My Hammond SK-1. Right now I use it as part time Hammond organ and part time midi keyboard for using the Spitfire felt piano.

Hammond SK-1

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

I would, as last time, get a piano first. Learning the piano and music theory is really the staple of how I approach writing music. I find it very enjoyable to compose on the piano and then arrange it for eurorack, strings and piano.

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

My laptop. I can’t say I enjoy working on the computer when making music, but I can’t see myself managing without a computer at this moment.

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

Not really a trick, but I recently was surprised by how much I love the distortion you can create with Mutable instruments Veils just by pushing it towards the exponential mode. There are like a million sweetspots there when using it with various sound sources!

Artist or Band name?

Urba Doloro

Genre?

Somewhere between electronic minimalism and classical music maybe?

Where are you from?

Sweden, currently living in Västerås. It’s basically in the middle of Sweden, close by Stockholm.

How did you get into music?

I often went to a small record store called Jay’s records to buy a bunch of Bob Dylan albums when I was like 16 or 17 years old. One day the store owner told me he had put away something special for me. It was The Brown Album from The Band. It 100% blew me away and for the first time I understood why people love both playing and listening to music. I spent all summer learning the songs on piano. To this day the track King Harvest is still one of my absolute favorite songs of all time.

The Band

What still drives you to make music?

It’s a combination of doing it for myself because I feel a need to, but also to be able to communicate views on human society that I feel is not the most focused on in music. Urban alienation being the main theme I try to work with.

How do you most often start a new track?

It’s twofold. The creative process is generally started with reading scientific articles/books within my line of work, urban planning, to find topics to composer over. The actual writing of the music is almost always starts at the piano. I tend to start out with a few rules of limitations and then improvise over them for an hour or two. Then I try to find pieces of the improvisation I like and start arranging them.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I really don’t. I’ve had serious problems finishing projects the last few years. However, I’m really trying to find some kind of middle road right now by letting friends listen to my tracks. Based on their reactions (and of course my own judgement) I decide when things are finished.

Show us your current studio

I’m waiting for a new grand piano, which will spice up my “studio”. So for now it’s just my eurorack case, my laptop, and my hammond. I tend to try to move it around a lot in my apartment to stay inspired, here is a summer-version of my studio!

Eurorack and cat

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

I’m going to go with something Todd Barton recently told me when discussing what to buy/not to buy and how to stay creative, he told me to “Follow the sound”.

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

My instagram always loves some support.

[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…]

Caspar Hesselager – Synthful Jebus

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

Mighty Macbeth Vernier knobs

Great question. This matters. 100% the Vernier-dials on my Macbeth Elements. Posh answer, I know, but they’re just so smooth and satisfying to turn!

MacBeth Elements

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

Probably my Sequential OB-6. It’s so damn good. In a perfect world it’d be 8 or 16 voices. But it’s amazing, and especially if you add the GeoSynths Low Frequency expander (which I definitely will) it’s pretty much all the poly-synth you (I) need. The Make Noise Shared System is close to perfect in a way too. I would make the Erbe Verb have a stereo input, if I could change one thing. Best reverb ever.

Sequential OB-6

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

I’ve brought my OP-1 and/or Digitakt on several trips and tours, but I usually never get around to using them much. Right now with this whole Corona-situation I’ve assembled a little spot at home with a DFAM, Vermona RetroVerb and a modest 104hp of Eurorack to pass the time and come up with sounds to use later on.

TE OP-1

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

I wish there was a Soundtoys multi-fx hardware unit of some sort! Like their Effects Rack plugin. That would be fun, especially for live use. I use Soundtoys constantly (like everyone else?).
The other way around is more tricky, I almost feel like we already have everything? Oh, I know, an iPad Make Noise Shared System would be interesting for jamming in the sofa.

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

I regret selling my Prophet 08. I replaced it with the Rev2 because it has some advantages live. But I have to say, the 08 just sounded better. I will be getting a used desktop version at some point again, I think. I usually hold on to things though, since I just know I’ll come back to most things, even if I don’t use them for a while. I don’t really have any buying regrets. Maybe some modules here and there, but hey, that’s part of the journey!

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

Yamaha upright piano

Definitely the good ol’ piano. But I find the Make Noise Shared System (and modular in general) incredibly inspiring too.

Make Noise Shared System

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

Starting out today with synths on a relatively modest budget, and wanting to get into (semi) modular,  I would probably get a 0-coast, Mother 32, or Grandmother. For starting in general, get a laptop and Ableton or Logic. All you need, basically.

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

My computer, by a mile. I kind of hate it, and Logic too (which I the only DAW I use). Don’t get me started on why! And a shout out to my MFB Tanzbär. I use it quite a bit and adore the sound, but man, that interface is something else. Drives you crazy. Good luck getting parameter locks to work, EVER!

MFB Tanzbär

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

More a general piece of advice or tip maybe, but I encourage everyone to get into pedals and hardware effects. It just changes how you approach making sounds, and takes you away from the screen. As much as I love plugins, there’s just no substitution for the hands-on tweaking and interaction on the fly that you get from pedals. And it teaches you to commit to your sounds, because there are no infinite recall and undos. I have this chain that I use very often where every synth I have goes through a small stereo looper, three Eventide pedals + one Strymon, and into a Culture Vulture stereo distortion before hitting the computer. The opportunities with something like that are infinite.

Artist or Band name?

Caspar Hesselager. My Heart the Brave. Palace Winter.

Genre?

Epic widescreen alternative everything.

Selfie

Caspar Hesselager. A man of many knobs!

Where are you from?

Copenhagen.

What still drives you to make music?

Simply discovering new sounds. Infinite options, surprises, and ways to go, even with the same few Legos.

How do you most often start a new track?

Often with a tempo that feels right for that day. After that drum machine and acoustic piano combo, usually. With modular, sort of the same, I have a tempo and a vibe from the beginning that I try to pursue, and then the machine will surprise me along the way.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When it sounds KILLER! 😀 At some point it just becomes this little universe that stands on its on feet, and then you leave it there. I can take a week or 2 months though, to get to that place, that’s the tricky part. But I’d say in general, I don’t have a hard time finishing tracks.

Show us your current studio

Caspar’s Studio

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

Hmm, trying to search through all the bad advice I’ve endured to get to some good, hold on. I heard Knud Romer [Editor: Danish author] say recently when asked, how do you write a great book, that “you edit a bad one”. To me that translates to keep writing and recording until it’s good. Stay at it, eventually you will come up with something cool.

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

6 Synthesizer Performances Album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4YaG8wKDZap9Ge3HF5Snel?si=g0ooOyFCTHGHgq_p4M-5jg

YouTube synth videos:
https://www.youtube.com/c/casparhesselager

[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…]