Sebastian Mullaert (aka Minilogue)

My Studio – Sebastian Mullaert (aka Minilogue)

Here is my studio; a small little house in the village of Röstånga located in the south of Sweden. I was living the first 16 years of my life in the middle of the forest; living close to nature and letting it be part of my daily life is an important part of my well being and also a way to find and express my creativity. After 15 years living in the city I moved back to the countryside with my family five years ago.

The studio is a separate house, around 20 minutes walk from my living house. I built it last year during six months of full construction work together with a carpenter and friend from the village where I live (thank you Micke). It was very rewarding to take part in building the house myself – it gave me great perspectives on life that are easy to forget being an touring techno artist. I think that it’s important to take breaks from everything in your life, also your profession… especially when it’s also your hobby and passion!

I’m trying to set up my studio in a way that everything is very hands on and direct. I like to be able to express myself without needing to think (too much).

In the centre of the studio is my TOFT ATB32 mixer, I’m very happy with it. I love the sound, but the quality isn’t the best and you have to live with some noise and crackles. In the front you see my ATC100 monitors. They took my perspective of sound to another level.

The studio setup is made for both being like a solo jam space shuttle for myself but also a creative jam spot when I’m doing music in the different constellations I have with other artists.

I see the studio as a garden, it will never be ready… it’s developing and changing, together with me. A lot of corners of the studio are taking form, some parts are resting and others are at the moment in the spotlight. I try to keep it open and free, just enough structure to keep things easy but not too structured so life and creativity is suffering.

Rhodes piano

The Rhodes piano can be heard a little bit everywhere in my music. I love to play pianos; both acoustic and electronic have their charm. At home the piano is placed in the middle of our house and everyone in the family plays a little bit almost every day. Spontaneous musical live expressions in the daily life is such a healing process. Here you also see my love for outboard equipment… simple function, knobs for everything… open for expressions.

Moog voyager + ARP sequencer

The left side of the studio is becoming the synth side. This is still in progress; a second mixer and more effect processors will be connected here to create more hands-on access. The Moog Voyager connected with the ARP sequencer is an old love of mine.

303, 808, MFB-522, Maschine…

The left side of the mixer. Everything placed for hands-on reach. 303, 808, MFB-522, Maschine… and all the aux sends from the mixer. The Bricasti M7 is a wonderful reverb that I can recommend to everyone that wants to spend some extra on a really good reverb. The eventide H8000 is also a great friend of the studio.

Outboard Gear

The right side of the mixer. Easy access to the TR-8 and my deep love, the SH-101, which I used on my recent remix of ‘Vedanta’. Also one of my stereo bus channel strips… this one with the Culture Vulture, a vintage trashy compressor and a SPL Tube Vitalizer. I’m building up different channel strips, a mix of old and new outboard gear. The garden is slowly growing!

Channel Strip

Another nice channel strip. I also use it as a master strip (but then with the reverb disconnected). I try to build up racks on wheels so I can move them around the studio, placing them close to where I’m currently jamming which is also great when there are more people in the studio, it’s easy to move around things so they are placed in a way that encourage them being used.

Juno-60 & Pedal Chains

At the moment I have the Juno-60 behind me, so it’s being used a lot. I love pedal trains – this is one of my favourites.

Studer Tape Recorder

The old Studer tape recorder is being used a lot to add texture to different recordings and also to make pitch effects.

Recording Booth

The recording booth (still in progress, like everything else). It’s great to have a corner with different acoustic instruments and a microphone, especially when you have several people in the studio. This corner always adds some magic to the recordings. In this shot you can see a lot of Kristofer Ström’s toys. We have a new project that will probably see the light next year.

Studio Altar

Any ceremony can be used to remind the presence about the presence… to stay here and now. Here is my little studio altar, where I always light an incense stick and a candle when I come to the studio. Things that are given to me with love have a spot on the altar – they carry a lot of meaning. Here you can see some stone formations put together by my son and a box with stones, glass and shells picked and designed by my daughter.

Meditation Mat

This should probably be the first picture. Almost every studio day starts with a long walk in the forest and after that my daily hour of meditation. After that I’m ready to meet the studio with peace, I’m able to express from the being without forwarding too much other destructive patterns into the music.