1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?
The knobs on my MoogerFooger RingMod are the best, I think. They have the good resistance, size and shape. They just feel right!
2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?
The Elektron Digitakt is almost perfect for me. I love the workflow, its limitations, the sequencer, the size and the sound. That box sounds so good and has such unbelievable headroom! I guess I would like to have a slot for an SD card for more storage and easier sample transfers.
3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?
I always bring my Zoom H4N everywhere to record field recordings which I really enjoy doing. For a minimal holiday setup, I would add to that my OP-1. Not super original here, but you can do so much on the OP-1 alone, it wins for a minimal setup!
4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?
I think having PaulXStretch in an effect pedal format would be pretty cool! Freeze, stretch the signal to immense drone with frequency shift, filters etc…
For a while, I was wishing for the Digitakt sequencer to be available as a software, but with overbridge it’s almost the case now. Also, Ableton 11 implementing randomisation in the sequencer totally fills that gap now for me.
5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?
I don’t really sell gear, cause I’m always afraid I’ll regret it later and that I might need it for a project. To be fair I’m also really cautious of the gear I buy and I don’t have a lot. I sold my first electric piano which was a Yamaha S90 a while back. I kind of regret selling now, because it had a pretty good keybed and I think I could use it now as master midi keyboard. Therefore, reinforcing that I should not sell gear! haha
6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?
I know it’s not a hardware piece, but I need to say Ableton Live. It’s definitely “the piece of kit” that got me started and I can still find endless inspiration within. I like that there’s so much different workflows possible, different ways of doing things and it’s such a modular environment to make music. No two person use it exactly in the same way!
7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?
Something like the Minilogue I think. A synth with almost all the functions on the front panel is way better to start learning about synthesis.
What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?
Cables!!! We absolutely need them, but there are too much cables around everywhere in the studio: xlr, 1/4, usb, dongles. It never ends OMG.
9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?
A surprising trick I learned watching a Dave Meck tutorial was that you can create FM tones by setting a really fast bpm multiply on the LFO and modulating the sample tune. Better to check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wsu7CB1SSI
Artist or Band name?
Viñu-Vinu
Genre?
Electronic music, ambient, downtempo, experimental, melodic, beats (I guess??)
Selfie?
I’m cheating here… That’s a photo taken by my friend Mathieu Lalonde (Couleurves)
Where are you from?
Montréal, Canada.
How did you get into music?
I started taking piano lessons when I was 10 years old and continued studying music and classical piano performance all through college and University. I completed a Bachelor degree in both classical and jazz piano performance at University of Montreal. Around 2013-14 a friend showed me Ableton and I started experimenting more with sounds and textures and started doing electronic music and music production more seriously around 2016. And here we are!
What still drives you to make music?
I think what still drives me is the infinite quest, exploration and learning experience that music is for me. I’m always looking for something new to make or to learn.
How do you most often start a new track?
Most of the time I fire Ableton Live and then it so much depends on the day! I generally like to establish and think about a process first. For example: explore this new plugin, today granular stuff, starting with a hardware synth, work with that new sequencer. The process gets me going at first and then I can go where ever from there and a new track or idea start emerging from that.
How do you know when a track is finished?
When it’s released and I’m listening to it on the Bandcamp or another platform stream. It’s really the only way you’re sure the track is fully finished… haha. Joke aside, that’s such a hard question to answer. For me it’s really a gut feeling, a sense that all the pieces of the puzzle are together, like I almost see the whole thing visually. Sometimes it happens really quickly and sometimes it takes for ever to get there.
Show us your current studio
Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?
See your art as a practice and practice it everyday. Even for a really short amount of time. Blankfr.ms posted something in those lines a few days ago in an Instagram caption. It’s something that I always tell my piano student, but it kind of reaffirmed it for myself reading it. You’re better practicing 10 min a day, than an hour once in a while. Getting that sense of daily creation is such a good and rewarding feeling too.
Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link.
I just released my new album Exilio Transitorio:
Vinyl + download:
https://vinu-vinu-music.bandcamp.com/album/exilio-transitorio
Streaming: https://album.link/i/1557425920