This is where all the money went.
For a music technology geek, there is almost nothing better than to brag about your equipment. In a lazy manner, you nonchalantly spit out models, brands, bits, length of cables, operating systems, obscure hacks and those resonant crystals meant to saturate the signal in just the right way.
It's a sickness alright, but a delightful one.
So with the greatest of all pleasures I will spend a few moments on the equipment I treasure and why.
At the centre of it all is a quite speedy Apple iMac. For the longest time I used to work with Windows. In fact - to the far left you can see the edges of a monitor - that's the only window to the Windows platform I have left in my studio. Windows is ok to be fair - but after working with music for twenty years - starting with Atari ST - OSX is the most streamlined and stable operating system for music I've ever used. Period. Expensive, yes. But you do get what I pay for. Quality.
It's a sickness alright, but a delightful one.
So with the greatest of all pleasures I will spend a few moments on the equipment I treasure and why.
At the centre of it all is a quite speedy Apple iMac. For the longest time I used to work with Windows. In fact - to the far left you can see the edges of a monitor - that's the only window to the Windows platform I have left in my studio. Windows is ok to be fair - but after working with music for twenty years - starting with Atari ST - OSX is the most streamlined and stable operating system for music I've ever used. Period. Expensive, yes. But you do get what I pay for. Quality.
Beauty.
At the bottom right of the above picture, you can see one of the most beautiful
synthesizers ever made - the Virus Polar. To be honest - I'm not too
fond of it. There are some great sounds in it - but I'm not a big fan of the filters and the LFOs. They wobble in the wrong way for me. If I were to sell it, the money would directly go to a Moog Voyager. Sure - virtual analog has come a long way the last ten years, but still cannot touch the real thing.
Beneath the Macbook with Spongebob is one of the latest newcomers in the studio: an Elektron Octatrack. This piece of metal and plastic can be described as a sampler for the new millennium, and is as confusing as it is genial. It's like you take the concept of sampling and turn it inside out. I cannot wait until my next batch of concerts, when all will be controlled from the Octatrack.
Beneath the Macbook with Spongebob is one of the latest newcomers in the studio: an Elektron Octatrack. This piece of metal and plastic can be described as a sampler for the new millennium, and is as confusing as it is genial. It's like you take the concept of sampling and turn it inside out. I cannot wait until my next batch of concerts, when all will be controlled from the Octatrack.
Wicked.
Barely visible in the centre-right position, there is an old Ensoniq DP/4 parallel effect processor.
As with everything Ensoniq, this is an effect processor that is nothing
like what's being made today. Quirky as hell, but full with attitude
and surprises. In short, it's not one effect processor but four. And you
can connect them internally in any way you want.
Other equipment that cannot be seen in the picture is a huge external sequencer called Octopus from a german manufacturer who recently decided to stop making them.The approach of making music with the Octopus is so different from working with a computer, the result always become different. It is a huge source of inspiration, especially when you have neither inspiration or ideas.
Other equipment that cannot be seen in the picture is a huge external sequencer called Octopus from a german manufacturer who recently decided to stop making them.The approach of making music with the Octopus is so different from working with a computer, the result always become different. It is a huge source of inspiration, especially when you have neither inspiration or ideas.
Magic.
Lastly, I'd like to mention My Last
PC. The only reason why this huge piece of bloated, fugly equipment hasn't
been transformed into a house for badgers is that it's loaded with old
Creamware/Sonic Core DSP cards. The story about Creamware/Sonic Core is
as tragic as it is baffling. I've never seen a company with such
advanced technology, cunning and being so far ahead in the future - with
that perfect sense of picking out the worst business decisions
possible. That they are still around is a true wonder - but maybe
reason for that lies in its quality. There are instruments that still
cannot be touched by traditional software synthesis. If I were to talk
about secret weapons for your sound - I would think about the Scope DSP
platform. Not UAD or Powercore. Quirky. But incredible cool.
Finding that special connection between the user and the machine is hard, and is in all its essence why most musicians are contantly buying and selling their equipment. It's all about finding that workflow where the distance between idea and creation is as short as possible.
Finally. I'd like to say a few words of wisdom to all aspiring producers.
Bloatfield is the result of all broken musical endavours, all broken dreams and failed plans. But you know what? Failure is good. Failure is what help you understand which things that really matter. It make you see things in a different light. Failure is essential for any artist who want to break free from their own manacles.
Of all 20+ years I've been making music the most valuable lesson I've learned is this.
Find out who you really are,
not who you think you are, who you want to be, or what people might expect.
Then push it as far as you can.
Do that and you will never fail.
/C
Finding that special connection between the user and the machine is hard, and is in all its essence why most musicians are contantly buying and selling their equipment. It's all about finding that workflow where the distance between idea and creation is as short as possible.
Finally. I'd like to say a few words of wisdom to all aspiring producers.
Bloatfield is the result of all broken musical endavours, all broken dreams and failed plans. But you know what? Failure is good. Failure is what help you understand which things that really matter. It make you see things in a different light. Failure is essential for any artist who want to break free from their own manacles.
Of all 20+ years I've been making music the most valuable lesson I've learned is this.
Find out who you really are,
not who you think you are, who you want to be, or what people might expect.
Then push it as far as you can.
Do that and you will never fail.
/C