The mysterious Fauntleroy gives us a virtual tour of his creative space.
Fauntleroy – My Studio
So this is where I make music. As you can see, Ableton Push is the core centrepiece,which sends MIDI and controls all the synths. I like to use flash (SSD)-based computers, so this one is the ultra-fast and portable version – I would never go back to moving drives when using audio! On the left you can see the superb Moog Little Phatty Stage 2. I believe this model is now a classic since it’s the last one Bob Moog worked on.
Ableton Push
This is the brain of my studio, where I do all the programming. It interfaces perfectly with Ableton and I use it to control each channel I’m sending anything through.
Maschine
This is the rhythm section of my studio. I use it for all percussion and drum work. Its pads are rock solid for banging out beats, and the sounds Maschine comes with are 20 years of classic drum machines in one box.
Korg MS-20 Mini
A beast of a semi-modular synth with the original circuitry of the 70s classic. It always adds a raw and unexpected edge to any sound. It seems to have a soul of its own and the patching experiments can give you really unexpected buzzes and pulses.
Moog Sub Phatty
I’m really into modern analogue synths, and this lil fatso has a third oscillator, a sub which gives ridiculously heavy bass power. Think 90s jungle bass.
Sleep Drone
Now this is a peculiar one. It’s technically a guitar effect box, but with four simple oscillators, turn it on and it just blasts out noise. You can adjust the pitch and wave with the old-style flick switches in the hope of getting some sense out of it.
Calavera Print
This is a strange calavera print I picked up in Mexico recently. It reminds me that life is short, but the dance is eternal. Mexico’s one of my favourite places to play – it’s so hardcore and beautiful at once. I like this kind of Latino dichotomy: dance or die, or both…
Fauntleroy’s debut release ‘Canadian Tuxedo’ is out now on his own label Anemone.
12.21 AM
The push + synth integration I bet is going to show up in more and more studios – what has me curious is how he integrates Maschine into Ableton, I’ve not really managed to find a better workaround than having to route every output in the Maschine 2.0 VST to individual channels which makes loading saved kits / switching drum bits out aggravating since it resets the routing every time. I also haven’t figured out a good way to automate parameters in the VST from Ableton so you end up having two different sets of automation. Annoying.
12.40 AM
I have the same gripes with Maschine, especially since 1.8 was so much better in that regard. But I’ve learned to just go with it. In a better world, the thing would work as 1.8 did, with the midi/routing integration much more manageable. But I’ve started to treat mine as something like an old school electribe es-1, which I used to just record in stereo and i was fine with that. I now use my maschine on every track, but more as an instrument that i can use to access all my NI stuff quickly, tweak with the knobs, build beats, etc. I sometimes have up to four instances of Maschine running in one ableton set that are all doing different things.
The Beatles recorded albums bouncing everything around on a four track, so why can’t I make do, you know?