Sept

Sept

This year was a bit tricky for me as I had to relocate my studio several times around Warsaw. However, now I am very happy to have it set up properly! It’s located in a very quiet and calm neighbourhood which is full of trees, even though it is not far from the city centre. As you can see it is a very bright place and to be honest it really helps to keep my mind clear and full of creativity which serves the production process well. I have been collecting my gear for a couple of years, but I’m trying to keep it to only machines that I am really using. There is no need to hoarde loads of devices and see them getting covered by dust!

Modular Rack

One of the most important parts of my home studio is the modular setup, which includes the Moog Mother-32, MFB Dual ADSR, uBurst (Clouds), Doepfer A-118 Noise, Mutable Instruments Braids, Make Noize MATHS, Mutable Instruments Ears, Make Noize Echophon, Mutable Instruments Veils, Doepfer A-124 Wasp Filter and Bard Ivan.

With these synths, I’m able to create slick and rolling basslines (Mother-32 kills it in this case), warm sounding leads (Braids is the king here), granular sounding textures, some cracking percussion sounds and spacey drone pads. All the sequences are coming in from Ableton Live through a Mother-32 MIDI interface.

Access Virus & Elektron Analog Rythm MK I

Virus is one of the most powerful digital devices I’ve had the opportunity to work with. It’s analogue sounding output perfectly fits my style. I use it mostly for making distinctive and ravey leads, plucky basslines or subtle sounding stabs.

I was using a couple of drum machines before getting Elektron Analog Rytm, but this one entranced me especially with its sound. I really like to mix percussion samples with sounds generated by this device and then add a bit of internal overdrive which has a very characteristic crunch to it.

Other than percussion sounds, sometimes I transfer into it single synth one shot sample and make sequences with it. This option is a very useful especially when it comes to live sets.

Rat 2 Foot Pedal

Many people have asked me about the distortion I am using in my tracks, so here we go…! The answer: Rat 2 Foot Pedal.

I am transmitting sounds from Access Virus or sometimes drums from Elektron Analog Rytm through this pedal. For those who would like to check how it sounds without purchasing a pedal I recommend getting the free download emulation by TSE Audio – R47. Obviously it does not sound exactly the same as the physical one but I used this digital version a lot before getting mine and I was really satisfied with the results.

Korg MS-20 Mini-Analog

This synth is the newest part of my setup and I am still exploring its possibilities but what I adore the most is the sound of its thick filter and decent oscillators. What makes it even more attractive is that it’s possible to put in an external signal I’m able to connect my modular synth to it.

Ableton Push 1 & Korg NanoKontrol

Even though I use hardware mostly for music production, my main studio tool is Ableton Live controlled with MIDI Controllers. Ableton Push helps a lot with writing drums and sequences in general, as well as controlling internal effects. However Korg NanoKontrol (which I bought around 10 years ago and basically was my very first studio piece) I still use for controlling VSTi’s parameters such as CutOff, ADSR etc.

beyerdnamic DT 990 PRO

My main audio monitors are Adam Audio A8X, which I have owned for around eight years now and it doubt I am going to change them soon. I really like to constantly check how my production sounds on headphones and I use beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro. It gives me a better idea on the panoramas as well as clearer picture on monitoring track levels.

VTSS HEAD 3D PRINT

I know it doesn’t happen too often to own your homies 3D head print but  I remember when I arrived in Płock’s main square, right after leaving my live set gear at the hotel, I met VTSS there and she was giving these away to her friends. Cheers Martyna!