MANIK

Manik – My Studio

Here I am looking semi-handsome pressing a button of some sort. I believe I was working on my upcoming album.

The Focal Solo6 monitors are what I use in the studio. They are super flat and that’s why I like them. If you can make it sound good on them, it’ll be dope. They also go really low for being 6.5 inches on the low end. I’ve been producing with them for about four years. The KRK Rokit 8s provide a great B assessment for me.

The paintings on the wall are by my father, Peter Manik.

Studio Desk

I run Logic as my main DAW but also Ableton via my laptop for ideas and loops. In this picture are a few Korg Volcas, which I love, and my beloved Steve Vai special edition Eventide Ultra-Harmonizer, which is my favourite rack effect. I picked it up a few years ago. I usually run all types of audio through it. It has some great flangers, reverbs and random digital delay/pitch settings which make things interesting. Toss this on a clap and smile.

Moog Voyager

Probably my favourite synth I own. This lucky lady has been in my possession since December 2012. I use it for bass and leads and overall just weird sounds. I still have yet to build my modular setup, but one day when I have more money to actually build one, I will be integrating the Voyager into it due to its crazy number of inputs. Long live the Electric Blue Moog Voyager – it’s now discontinued.

Roland JX-3P

I’ve owned so many Roland synths, I’ve lost count. But this JX-3P, which came out in 1983, has stuck around the longest. Obviously, you have to get the PG-200 controller, but between its Juno-60-like analogue strings and brass, and its funkier Juno-106 bass flavour, it really is, in my humble opinion, the most underrated gem of the 80s Roland polysynth family.

Roland TR-8 vs RE-201

Old school meets new school. I just love this Roland combo. I honestly believe the TR-8 is the best thing to come out in the recent ‘remake waves’ these classic analogue gear companies are getting into. It is by far my favourite drum machine, and I have used it on every track I made in 2015. ‘Buffalo Trace’, which dropped on Nice Age, is a great example of the use of TR-8.

Recently, I’ve been running the hats and/or claps through my Space Echo for extended tape delay and dirt. My Space Echo is a dirtier unit than most. I compared it to a friend’s once, and mine is for sure dirty and weird, and I like that.

Moog 101 Overdrive/Filter

I just love running things through this. Whether it’s an old loop I’ve sampled from a record or just something new I’m sequencing, if it needs a bit of warmth, I use this.

Roland and Moog

The trusty combo of Roland and Moog. It was love at first sight with these three, let me tell you. This hardware area is my favourite part in the studio.

Studio Toys

Just a few little things around the main desk to remind me of what I like. NYC and Seattle – two of my favourite cities – and then Dwight and Jason, two of my favourite on-screen characters. For some reason, Jason tends to have a bad attitude when Friday the 13th rolls around…