Groundbreaking DJ/producer Tony Colman—a.k.a. London Elektricity—talks about gear, technique and how to thrive in a changing industry.
Tony Colman, a.k.a. London Elektricity, has been breaking ground as a DJ, producer and label head for over a decade. Not only is he the mastermind behind seminal drum & bass albums like Billion Dollar Gravy and Power Ballads, his label, Hospital Records, has launched the careers of influential artists like High Contrast and Danny Byrd. In addition, Colman’s Hospital Records podcast has become one of the best places to hear innovative, unsigned music before anyone else. We caught up with Colman to talk about gear, technique and how to thrive in a changing industry.
What can London Elektricity fans expect from your upcoming album? We hear rumors that you’ve been working on your guitar chops.
I hate the word expect! It always leads to abject misery in the user. I’ll just say don’t expect anything but hope for an album you can visit time and time again. I’ve ditched mainstream dance music structures for the most part. And yes, I got all my guitars out, filed the frets, sorted the pots and restrung ‘em. They’re all over this record.
You do a lot of work from your home studio and use old, obscure samples from vinyl. How has iZotope RX been helpful in the process of making music and dealing with samples? iZotope RX has been amazing for me. While I was prepping for this album, I went through my entire sample library and RX’d it. It’s a tool that I never thought would be possible. It’s such fun that it makes you want to use it even when you don’t need to—I find myself making excuses to use RX because it’s so satisfying. It leaves all other clean-up systems behind, even ones that cost 10 times as much.
How have you been using iZotope Ozone in your music?
I’m just getting to the mastering stage now, though I’ve used Ozone on some prior instrument processing jobs. It’s such a powerful tool. Ozone is a unique approach to mastering and once you master it you’ll be integrating it into all your projects.
You and Chris Goss (the original second half of London Elektricity) have managed to create an incredibly successful independent label in an era where MP3 sharing has threatened to make labels obsolete. Care to share any of your secrets?
These are our honest-to-god secrets: DO NOT have a business plan. DO NOT set targets. Just work harder than you ever imagined was possible for longer than you ever thought you’d have to, and treat your artists like you’d like to be treated by a label. And then one day you look over the parapet and you realize the landscape has changed for the better. And don’t be paranoid. File sharing is the best form of viral marketing out there.
There seems to be a very DIY approach to making music among the Hospital artists. When you sign a producer’s music, are you signing finished tracks, or does Hospital step in to help polish the sound?
We sign up talent. Originality. Those things are paramount. Technical expertise can be the most boring thing in the world. It’s tertiary to talent and charisma, because you can’t learn how to be a genius and how to inspire people, but you can learn how to get a brilliant mixdown.
Cutting-edge electro-house duo Guns ‘n’ Bombs uses Torq DJ software to conquer the underground club scene.
Guns ‘n’ Bombs has been called “America’s answer to Justice”—and the Los Angeles-based production team boasts the credits and accolades to back it up. In just two short years, the group has released a string of highly successful remixes (Chromeo, The Gossip, Klaxons) and secured a record deal with ultra-hip French label Kitsuné. Comprised of Ima Robot bassist Filip “Turbotito” Nikolic and Chicago DJ Johnny Love, Guns ‘n’ Bombs is known for taking underground clubs by storm and rocking the crowd with their ambitious style of robotic electronica. Their hit single “Nothing Is Getting Us Anywhere” practically dares you not to dance—pulsating with digitized basslines and infectious synth grooves. With a production rig based on Torq DJ software, Guns ‘n’ Bombs continues to attract international attention for their powerhouse performances and dance-friendly remixes.
Performing Live with Torq
The Guns ‘n’ Bombs sound was born from a musical melting pot of hip-hop, electro house and disco influences. To reproduce tracks live, Turbotito uses Torq DJ software for advanced control over his sound clips and backing tracks. “I used to produce a lot of hip-hop in Denmark and we always dreamed about having the vocals on vinyl so we could cut them up,” he explains. “Torq has made all of that possible. We can record a live vocal bite, add effects to it, drop it back in a sample clip and instantly scratch it into our set. Torq allows us to go beyond emulating vinyl by doing something that’s impossible with traditional records. For Guns ‘n’ Bombs stuff, it’s great to manipulate sound clips using vinyl control. I can just throw down my hand for edits and speed control—it’s really fun for experimenting.”
Turbotito was an early adopter of digital DJ technology—he initially tried out Serato and Final Scratch before discovering Torq DJ software. “Torq has extremely accurate pitch controls and beat calculations, making it superior to the other DJ applications,” he says. “It’s super precise, which makes the loops tighter as well. The looping is the best I’ve tried on any system—including CD DJ players and other DJ software.”
For live DJ performances, Turbotito enjoys the intuitive user interface that Torq DJ software provides. “I never really understood the waveform display on Serato,” he relates. “Every time I use it for correcting stuff, I kind of make it worse. I like the waveform display in Torq much better. If you are unsure of what’s going on with your beat matching, it’s so easy to see which track is behind. It makes DJing a visual experience.”
The M-Audio Torq Xponent comes with the revolutionary Torq DJ software
Unique Studio Sounds
Turbotito has developed a unique production style that involves tweaking and manipulating original sounds using a variety of hardware and software tools, including Torq DJ software. “I never use sampled material,” he states. “When I first started making electronic music, I bought a sample CD—but after six months I started hearing those clips and sounds in other people’s music. So now we only use drum samples, no loops.
“I use hardware synths and software plug-ins to make the majority of the Guns ‘n’ Bombs sounds. If you just open a synth and start playing it, it’s going to be totally recognizable. We alter all the sounds we use because I don’t like playing the presets that come with the synthesizer. The looping controls and effects in Torq are great for altering prerecorded synths and drum tracks to create something unique. Torq lets you make your own sound.”
As computers become even faster and more affordable, the DJ world is quickly opening up to new digital perspectives. Thanks to the use of the newest software technology, DJs have the power to mix digital music formats like audio CDs and MP3s. With the DJ Line, Native Instruments develops software for the DJ of tomorrow. Audio tracks can be easily mixed live on a laptop or desktop computer, with unprecedented flexibility and intuitive operation. In design the DJ software applications resemble the classic DJ setup, with two decks and a mixer. But what is now possible with NI software far exceeds the limits of conventional turntables.
Due to outstanding BPM detection, MP3 and audio CD tracks can be automatically and precisely synchronized. This makes it possible not only to play two tracks simultaneously, but to set tempo accurate loops on the fly. You can shift the loop position forward or backward, or resize its length during playback, all while staying locked in the groove. Another innovation is the Mixfile format, which allows DJs to record, playback and overdub all mixing actions without replicating the audio material.
TRAKTOR DJ Studio 3 featuring 4 decks and countless innovations
TRAKTOR DJ Studio 3 is the professional DJ software for live mixing and mix production. Version 3 brings with it numerous innovations for DJing at clubs and parties. Some of the most thrilling new features are the expansion from 2 to 4 playback decks and an emulation of the new, much sought-after Allen & Heath Xone:92 4-channel club mixer. Four professional, tempo-synced effects and an even easier operation will see you mixing hypnotic DJ sets. The integrated access to Beatport Online Music Store, the world’s leading internet dance music specialist, means you’ll always have just the right track to hand.
Traktor was first released in 2000 and has gone through several major application changes. The initial versions of Traktor were Traktor Studio and Traktor DJ, with Traktor Studio being more full featured (and expensive). In 2002, Traktor DJ Studio 2 was released. Traktor DJ Studio 2 offered several new features, including scratch macros. It also expanded its looping, MIDI, and cue point functionality. In 2003, Traktor DJ Studio 2.5 was released. This new version expanded the time stretching functionality, added OpenSound Control (OSC) support, and gave the user limited ability to customize the look of the interface.
In 2003, Native Instruments partnered with Stanton Magnetics to develop the software for their Final Scratch product. This partnership not only gave Stanton a Win/Mac version of the Final Scratch software (which previously ran in a version of Debian Linux), but it allowed Native Instruments to use the Final Scratch timecode engine in their own Traktor line. In 2005, Native Instruments added vinyl emulation capability to Traktor DJ Studio in version 2.6 of the software. 2.6 also included live input, streaming internet broadcasting, support for more file formats, and greatly expanded MIDI capability. Soon after, Traktor DJ Studio 3 was released. Traktor DJ Studio 3 added 2 more playback decks (for a total of 4), built in effects, Beatport online store integration, a 4 channel mixer, a Universal Binary version, deck caching, as well as many small improvements to existing features..
Traktor SCRATCH
As the original inventor of several fundamental DJ techniques outlined in his seminal “Quik Mix Theory”, and as the first hip hop artist and DJ to be inducted into the prestigious “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame”, Grandmaster Flash personifies the creative and technological evolution of DJing in a unique way. As a pioneer in every regard, he also became known for always taking advantage of the most advanced equipment available to expand his creative options, even building his own crossfaders at a time when sophisticated DJ gear was not available.
Grandmaster Flash has carefully evaluated the emerging digital vinyl recent years, and has ultimately decided to adopt TRAKTOR SCRATCH as his new performance tool of choice, finally switching from vinyl records to a computer-based DJing system. With its impeccable vinyl feel, advanced hardware interface, and versatile arsenal of creative features, TRAKTOR SCRATCH is the system that Grandmaster Flash trusts to take his technique into the future.
“I feel right at home with Traktor Scratch when rocking the party,” says Grandmaster Flash. “The interface is great, and I love the effects and the accuracy of the time-code vinyl. Whether I am doing a slow rub, a fast rub, a cut or backspin, the response is amazing.”
Native Instruments TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO is the premium system for DJs spinning digital tracks on vinyl and CD, and the new gold-standard in professional digital vinyl systems.
Native Instruments TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO contains a host of amazing features including four decks, an arsenal of new effects and a completely redesigned interface.
TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO also includes a comprehensive library of ready to scratch sounds. Over 700 MB of sounds recorded in pristine 24 bit / 96 kHz audio quality are itching to be scratched and include many lead sounds for solo scratching as well as sound FX, endless tones, tunes for juggling, loops and more. The library is primed for performance situations thanks to the TRAKTOR-specific meta-tagging and Crate Flick functions, so finding just the right sound to scratch is fast and easy even in the heat of battle.
Native Instruments TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO system comes with the AUDIO 8 DJ – the ultimate audio interface for DJs. AUDIO 8 DJ features maximum connectivity to easily integrate practically any equipment into your DJ setup. Highest resolution control vinyl and CDs plus ultra-efficient Multicore cables complete the hardware.
Mark Ronson is currently one of England’s biggest music exports, having won an English Brit Award and being a three-time Grammy award winning music producer and artist .
His second album, Version focused on the British music scene, with covers of songs by the likes of Radiohead, Maxïmo Park, The Smiths, The Zutons and Kaiser Chiefs. The album includes three top ten hits and won Ronson a BRIT Award for Best Male Artist 2008. He is the first person to win a BRIT award who does not sing on the actual recording.
Ronson’s heritage comes from being a superstar Dj seemingly to some of the music/fashion industries biggest names, P Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger to name a few.
To be more exact, it’s been about six months since Ronson has spun in Manhattan — the borough that made him famous for his selector skills. But one fulfilling evening doesn’t override his feeling of burnout. “I don’t enjoy [DJing] five nights a week — playing new hip-hop and stuff — because it doesn’t really get me that excited anymore,” he laments.
Some 14 years in the booth can do that to you. Ronson still gets his fill by spinning recent hip-hop hits, electro, rock and remixes of his own records — primarily at the renowned YOYO parties in London and for his weekly Internet show “Authentic Shit” on East Village Radio. Those couple gigs aside, he’s no longer keen on being the celebrity DJ that he became in the late-’90s by entertaining the rich and famous. As fun as it was rocking parties for Tommy Hilfiger and Diddy, it wasn’t enough creatively.
By 2000, Ronson found a new outlet with a piece of equipment he was already familiar with as a hip-hop head: the MPC. His first notable production work was heard on vocalist Nikka Costa’s album, Everybody Got Their Something (Virgin, 2001), and two years later on his solo debut, Here Comes the Fuzz (Elektra, 2003). This anything-goes party album featured everyone from Sean Paul to Saigon and saw Ronson translate his kinetic turntable magic onto wax.
Since cutting back on spinning in clubs in early 2006, Ronson has never been busier on the production front. Christina Aguilera, Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse have all reached out to Ronson recently for his soulful backdrops. Ronson has also produced Liverpool’s own Candie Payne’s “One More Chance (Ronson mix)” in 2007.
During a little downtime from his work for others, the producer recorded his surprising new sophomore album, “Version” (Allido/RCA, 2007) — a record that was never supposed to happen.
The album was been well received by critics. In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine Mixmag. On June 23, the DJ made the cover of the Guardian newspaper’s Guide magazine, alongside the singer Lily Allen.
In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.
Mark is the epitome of a modern day DJ who has advanced into the production realm. His work for other artists and producing covers’ is arguably what he is now most known for.
Ronson has only one request regarding working conditions when making music here: “It just has to be quiet in the studio,” he says humbly. That’s not much to ask, and as you’ll soon find out, Ronson is rather easy to work with.
But before he welcomes others into the studio, this soul purveyor sits at his Akai MPC3000 LE developing drum patterns. While the drums were the first instrument Ronson picked up as a kid, he admits to not being able to play them all that well. Thus he prefers recording the MPC pads to develop a track and then adds live percussion later. “The beats all come from the MPC, and then depending on what I think the song should start with — a keyboard, the guitar, a bass line — that determines what I should put on top,” he explains. “I just find a beat that I like on the MPC and then lay it into Pro Tools and then just add all the live instrumentation on top of that.”
Sticking to his old-school sensibilities, Ronson often draws from his collection of vintage keys: a Roland RS-101 Strings synth, a Wurlitzer electric piano, a Hohner Clavinet D6 and Yamaha grand piano, to name a few. “The only new thing that I use is a Nord Electro because I don’t have a hammer board, and it has a pretty good sound.”
Even with vocals, Ronson likes to take it back as heard on “Valerie” with Amy Winehouse. Here, using an old RCA DX77 ribbon mic through a Neve mic pre, the soul singer’s Motown-esque tone simply pops.
Soon after recording a handful of tracks with the aforementioned gear, Columbia UK picked up his new album (via Allido), and all of a sudden, there was a budget. With the dough came a world of possibilities. After working with funk/soul band The Dap-Kings on Winehouse’s Back to Black [Republic, 2007] album, Ronson called upon the horn players from the Brooklyn group to help blow out the covers on Version. He also hired large string sections — a move he never thought he could pull off.
“After working on Amy Winehouse’s record, that was sort of my first experience producing and arranging by myself in front of a band and going in front of a string section — something that maybe I would have been a little bit intimated to do before. So once I had the learning block of getting over that working on Amy’s record, that’s when I was able to have the confidence, and that’s when we brought that into my own record.”
Ronson worked with Tom Elmhirst, who mixed a quarter of the tracks on “Version” having already mixed Back to Black (Winehouse), Elmhirst was already familiar with Ronson’s robust funk/soul sound that relied so much on horns and big-band arrangements. “[Version] was very much a continuation of what we’d done on Amy’s record, which was that thing of having people play but make it sound contemporary as well,” Elmhirst explains. “On the mix side, I was really keen for it to kick. So a lot of times with The Dap-Kings, I’d be blowing up the sounds to make them heavier with samples to make it kick as well.”
As a veteran who’s worked with Moby, Bush, Goldfrapp and dozens of others, Elmhirst takes a purist’s approach to mixing. Working behind a Neve VR72, he likes the physical aspect of the console. “I enjoy the mixing side of it rather than just pushing a mouse up and down the whole time,” he says. “But it’s pretty conventional — Pro Tools|HD, and I managed to get it all out of 48 outputs.”
With his love of reggae, Elmhirst used acquired techniques to slip in a little Caribbean flavor on Version. “On a lot of the horns I’ll put a delay on them, but what you have to do with horns sometimes so they can come through clean and [with] that old, almost Motown sound — sometimes you need to distress them a bit so it’s extremely broad frequency-wise,” Elmhirst explains. “So I’ll put shelves on them, I’ll put Lo-Fi on them — anything to sort of crunch ‘em up and put ‘em into place. And the way the [horns] were tracked, they weren’t played individually — they were played as a group, so you’ve got a nice blend.”
MARK RONSON’S
ALLIDO HEADQUARTERS
Computer, DAW, recording hardware
Apple Mac G5
Digidesign Pro Tools|HD system
Studer 16-track tape machine
Synths, software, plug-ins, instruments, amps
Ampeg Jet guitar amp Clavia Nord Electro organ/piano Crumar Roady electric piano
Digidesign ChannelStrip, Lo-Fi plug-ins
DW drum kit Fender Jazz Bass, Rhodes electric piano, Twin guitar amp
Gibson Les Paul guitar, acoustic guitar
Hohner Clavinet D6 Line 6 Amp Farm plug-in Rhodes Mark I Stage Piano
Roland A-90 Controller, RS-101 Strings
Wurlitzer electric piano
Yamaha grand piano
LCD Soundsystem is the musical project of producer James Murphy, co-founder of dance-punk label DFA Records. The music of LCD Soundsystem is a mix of dance music and punk, along with elements of disco and other styles. LCD Soundsystem is particularly popular in Britain, with two albums reaching the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart..
On December 8, 2005 the group received nominations for two Grammy awards in the Electronica category for their self-titled album and in the Dance category for “Daft Punk Is Playing at My House”.
However LCD Soundsystem are a live band, a live band that play dance music, the type that we are now very used to being played by one man and a laptop. Leader and founder James Murphy has more to do with the punk and new wave acts of the 70’s and 80’s than any of the usual white label fodder.
Referencing acts like Public Image Ltd ,Brian Eno, The Fall, The Velvet Underground, Richard McGuire from Liquid Liquid and Holger Czukay from Can as some of his primary influences. “I thought dance music was all about C+C Music Factory,” he says, “and when I heard a piano stab or a 909, I immediately tuned out and stopped listening to it. Although, I do like old disco, Chicago house and that classic stuff from Detroit — you know, something seminal.”
Murphy grew up on punk rock a played in rock bands his entire life.
A quick scan over his microphone list is like who’s who of classic ribbon microphones, in fact the whole equipment list is a purist’s wildest aspiration.
Murphy also had a friend modify his Fun Machine (an old organ with a filter setting in it) to help him figure out a way to play a live version of the track “Disco Infiltrator” from the last album and for use on Sound of Silver track “Us V. Them.” “We have knobs that have been modified all over this light-up home organ from the ’70s,” he says. “You can tap into time where it can receive a pulse and stay in time, and you can also attack the filters. It sounds amazing, and we now use it on a lot of stuff.
Allot of this equipment is sadly now not in manufacture ( particularly the synthesizers ) so how do WE get the same sounds from today’s available equipment?
LCD Soundsystem Equipment Round -Up
Computer, DAW, recording hardware
Apple Mac G5 running Logic Pro 7
Apogee AD-8000 A/D converter
Console
Purple Audio console with custom-designed moving-fader automation
Samplers, drum machines
Roland MC-909 Sampling
Groovebox, SP-606 Sampling Workstation, TR-33 and TR-808 drum machines
Simmons SD8, SDSV drum machines
Various organ beat boxes
Synths, software, instruments, amps
Ampeg Portaflex B-15N bass amp
Baldwin Fun Machine organ
Bradley Jazz Guitar
Congas and percussion
Custom modular synth
EML Electrocomp 100 synth
EMS Synthi A synth
Epiphone P-Bass copy bass guitar
Farfisa Professional Duo organ
Fender 1961 Jazzmaster guitar
Hohner Clavinet D6 piano
Korg SQ-10 analog sequencer
Moog CDX organ, Rogue synth, Taurus II pedal synth
Propellerhead Reason soft synth
Roland Juno-60, SH-101 synths
Sequential Circuits Prophet-600 synth
Silvertone guitar, practice amp
Squier Telecaster guitar
Vox AC30 guitar amp
Wurlitzer 200A electric piano, Spinet piano
Yamaha CP-60 electric grand piano, CS-50 synth
Misc
AKG BX 10 Reverberation Unit
Akai MFC42 analog filter
Altec Salt Shaker mics, Tube Mixer rackmount mixer
Beyer M160, M201 ribbon mics
Coles 4033 ribbon mic
dbx 161, 162SL, 165A compressor/limiters
Electro-Voice RE2000 condenser mic
Lexicon Prime Time, Prime Time II and Super Prime Time delay processors
Manley Reference Cardioid mic
Neumann TLM 193 condenser mic
Pendulum Tube Limiter
RCA BK5 ribbon mic
Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A leveling amplifier
Ursa Major Space Station effects unit
Various Tape Delays
The Novation XioSynth 49 is a complete music recording/producing workstation in a compact and highly affordable format. It boasts a powerful 8-voice Novation synthesizer engine with several cool new features, like the X-GATOR onboard patch sequencer and 200 fantastic preset sounds, including 60 from internationally renowned artists and producers. In addition, the Novation XioSynth 49 has USB audio and…
“For many yearss I trrick and tweek all ziss syntesizing maschinery to produce hyooch aural vibrationss. Bat zey are all not capable to produce a sound so powerfull and fäät like I need for ze big explosionss.
Zey are so big and so many zat I cannot take on the journeys, you know? My very german…
Ultimate Control For A Complete Experience Without Mackie Control Universal Pro, your music production software just isn’t complete. MCU Pro rounds out your software’s functionality to deliver the ultimate in hands-on command. In fact, your software was designed with MCU Pro in mind. Developers access the MCU Pro via its unique communication protocol — pioneered by Mackie —…
State-of-the-art analog modeling and multi-band vocoding are finally available in a compact, portable instrument. With 37 keys and 128 user-rewritable programs, the microKORG Synthesizer/Vocoder is perfect for the performer, producer, computer musician or beginner looking for an affordable synthesizer. The new microKORG delivers the quality sounds and features you expect from Korg at a price that will astound you.…
The award-winning MF-101 Lowpass Filter is a direct descendant of the original Moog modular synthesizers. It contains two complete modular functions: a voltage-controlled lowpass filter and an envelope follower. It can be used with any instrument-level to line level-signal.
The moogerfooger filter’s control parameters are signal mix, cutoff frequency, resonance amount, and envelope amount. All of…
Divine reverb for mere mortals Down from the heavens comes the Holy Grail, a compact digital reverb guitar pedal. Priced so low thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s reverb tank any longer. The Holy Grail will make you a believer with its emulation of classic Spring reverb so faithful that even Dick Dale couldn’t tell the difference. Next, get lost…
The Affinity series electric guitars are straight-ahead, affordable instruments ideal for beginners of all ages. The Affinity Tele has a slightly slimmer body crafted from solid Alder. All Affinity guitars feature comfortable, 21-fret Maple necks with fast-action fingerboards and die-cast tuners. The Tele features two single-coil pickups and 3-way switching. Squier instruments are all backed by Fender, so why…
The Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition is a real analog synthesizer in the tradition of the original Model D minimoog. It adds modern features like MIDI, a touch surface controller, preset memory, and many new synthesis features. **Electronic Musician Magazine 2003 Editor’s Choice award!!!**
** 2003 TEC Award Winner!!! ** Moog Music presents the award-winning minimoog…
!! Now 192kHz as standard !! The all-new Rosetta 800 takes two of Apogee’s most celebrated products and the latest in high-definition digital and combines them into one impressive package. The Rosetta 800 gives you eight channels of superior AD/DA conversion at sample rates of up to 192k, Apogee´s “SoftLimit”, “UV22HR”, and our advanced “Intelliclock”. The result…
Logic Studio delivers everything a musician needs to write, record, edit, mix, and perform in the studio and on the stage. With three applications, instruments, effects, and a massive sound library, Logic Studio puts powerful music creation and production tools in one comprehensive package. The ultimate box set. Produce your music. Create soundtracks for film and video.…
Simian Mobile Disco ‘s Live equipment list comprises of a large range vintage analog equipment (Sequential Circuits Drumtraks, KORG MS20 and so on) paired with a Mac Laptop Sequencer. This gives the act the best of both worlds utilizing those ‘Phat’ analog sounds with the reliability of digital technology.
James Ford and James Anthony Shaw are together aka Simian Mobile Disco, James Anthony had this to say about the live shows:
Instead of leaving their studio behind for their first solo tour, SMD packed the whole thing up, brought it around the world and dissected it for us in this film [Taken from revision3 ]
You do live shows as well. How does it work? James Anthony Shaw: Well there’s loads of stuff for the live show. We have a mixer and loads of vintage analogue synths, a modular synth, lots of outboards. We can play the tunes, change the structure, the mix. There’s loads of room for improvising, like segways between tracks, mixing them on top of each other or sections on top of each other. There are lots of bits we make up things on the spot. Depending on how that goes, we’ll either develop that for a while or jump onto the next track. The whole idea is that it’s fun for us.
French duo Justice are one of the hottest electronic-music acts today. They have achieved great success since the release of their debut album last year, which was even nominated for a Grammy-Award for “Best Electronic/Dance Album”. With an impressive live setup and some cool-sounding records, here’s a great opportunity to check out which gear they use…
Justice are Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Either releasing super-catchy pop singles such as “D.A.N.C.E.”; remixing major acts such as Britney Spears, Franz Ferdinand and Daft Punk; or causing widespread controversy (at least back home in France) with their ultra-violent video for “Stress”, Justice have put their mark on the current music scene. Their eclectic sound has managed to attract indie rock and dance music fans alike, and their influences couldn’t be more diverse. They say they are ”hardcore fans” of acts such as Sparks, The Beatles, Parliament, Snoop Dogg and Steely Dan, among others.
“We never aimed to do proper dance music. Some of our tracks are being played in clubs by DJs, and that’s great. But we wanted do an album that you could listen to at home – not just a collection of bangers. ” Gaspard told Remix mag.
Unlike many modern DJs, they don’t use MP3s when DJ-ing.
“I think the technical possibilities are wider with CDs than with Serato. You play faster when you don’t have to choose from a million MP3s.” said Xavier.
The act is also vocal about their preference for music software such as GarageBand and Cubase:
“We love the flexibility and the possibilities offered by software. A lot of people say that software is s**** because it doesn’t sound like analog-hardware stuff. I think the fact that it doesn’t sound like analog gear — but something else entirely — is why we like to use it. And with Cubase SX and GarageBand, we mainly used the sound libraries, which are quite amazing.”
Their electro-punk (or “heavy-metal techno” as dubbed by some) sound has gained them fans worldwide and the band has performed on major music festivals across the planet. Their live act is very impressive, consisting of their trademark glowing cross in the middle of the stage, an impressive amount of racks and two mighty walls of Marshall cabs on both sides of the stage.
Justice and their Pioneer CDJ-1000 turntables
Equipment used by Justice in their productions include:
Danger Mouse is one of the most creative minds in the music industry right now: He formed Gnarls Barkley with Cee-Lo Green and produced their hit albums St. Elsewhere and The Odd Couple. He produced the second Gorillaz album, 2005′s Demon Days, as well as Beck’s 2008 record, Modern Guilt. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Producer of the Year category and mashed up Jay-Z and The Beatles…and even made music for Cartoon Network!
Danger Mouse first gained attention in 2004, when his revolutionary “The Grey Album” gained great reviews and no little amount of controversy…
“The Grey Album” was a mash-up of Jay-Z’s “Black Album” and The Beatles’ “White Album”, and was released in limited quantities to a few outlets only. However, it created a massive amount of controversy when EMI, copyright holder of The Beatles, ordered Danger Mouse and retailers carrying the album to cease distribution.
The amount of attention The Grey Album received caused EMI to act. Danger Mouse never asked permission to use The Beatles’ material, and intended to produce a limited production run of 3,000 copies. Jay-Z’s material, on the other hand, was commercially released in a cappella form. Although the work was copyrighted, it was released for the implicit purpose of encouraging mashups and remixes.
The album quickly became extremely popular and well-distributed over the Internet because of the surrounding publicity, and the music world quickly realized how talenteded Danger Mouse was.
In 2005, Danger Mouse produced the second Gorillaz album “Demon Days”, giving Damon Albarn’s side project its biggest chart success.
Danger Mouse (left) and his Gnarls Barkley mate, Cee-Lo
As as as producing albums for alternative artists who seek a more original sound (including albums for Sparklehorse, The Rapture, Black Keys and, this year, Beck’s ‘Modern Guilt’ album) Danger Mouse is the other half of Gnarls Barkley and produced both their albums, which were huge hits worldwide.
Danger Mouse explain what inspires him:
“Woody Allen was an auteur: he did his Thing, and that particular Thing was completely his own,” he said. “That’s what I decided to do with music. I want to create a director’s role within music…I have to be in control of the project I’m doing. I can create different kinds of musical worlds, but the artist needs the desire to go into that world…. Musically, there is no one who has the career I want. That’s why I have to use film directors as a model.”
So…what sort of gear does he use? Here’s a look at some of the tools he uses to unleash his creativity:
His favourite keyboards are the Korg MS-2000 and Roland Saturn 09 – both discontinued, and both considered classics. For those who love the warmth of vintage synths, the Korg MicroKorg is a worthy successor to the MS-2000, because it features the same DSP analogue modelling system as the Korg MS-2000 and, indeed, in recent years has become somewhat of a new classic in its own right.
As for software, DM has used Digidesign Pro Tools and Apple Logic in other people’s studios, but he prefers Sony Acid Pro at home. “I used to use old samplers and a lot of old drum machines and samplers, and then I made a switch years back,” DM says. “I basically use that program now in the same way I used those.”
About the Acid Pro, he says: “I started using Acid a lot because it’s pretty basic. It’s more about the person using it than the program itself.”
Although DM buys a new PC every year, it’s not to increase his processing power. “I use very basic PCs,” he says. “I don’t have any special soundcards or anything. The reason I get a new one every year is because there always winds up being some fucked-up virus or some kind of crash, or something ends up broken on it, so I wind up getting a new one all the time.”
Danger Mouse also loves his vintage E-mu SP-1200 Sampler/ Drum-Machine. The SP-1200 was THE drum machine & sampler combo of legendary status among old school rap and hip hop artists from the eighties and nineties. It is similar to today’s Akai MPC samplers – it is a sampler plus drum machine.
Three of his main pieces of gear, live with Gnarls Barkley, are an Wurlitzer organ, a Korg Micro Preset and a Yamaha SHS-10 keyboard.
Other gear he’s used include a Roland XP-60 keyboard and Ensoniq ASR-X sampler.
Of course, as a skilled DJ, Danger Mouse also has his favourite choice of turntables, the Technics SL-1200, Back in 2004 he did prestigious DJ sets at the Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals in the USA, and besides the Technics turntables, he also used two Pioneer CDJ-1000. Danger Mouse, even back then, confessed to be more of a studio person, and had to pick his gear carefully, to find something he could trust. “I don’t want to use computers live. I’m just so afraid of getting locked up on stage. For me, that would ruin it. I’m so young in terms of performing in front of people.”
Danger Mouse Beat-Making Tips:
Though generally he tries to keep some mystery regarding his projects and studio setup, in a 2005 interview he gave a few clues to his beat-making process.
Double up:“I’m kind of a fanatic about my drums and spend a lot of time on them,” DM says. “There’s a specific way I do them almost every time, whether it’s the Gorillaz record or anything, really. You want something to sound live without too much reverb or without all of them sounding the same on each track. There are no live-played drums on here, but I definitely double my kicks and snares up. I usually use more than one or two, even though it doesn’t sound like it, necessarily.”
Crunchy, sandy snares on his track “Old School”:“That whole break was messed around with, and it makes it sound very much like a shaker,” DM says. “It’s a way of making it sound rhythmically like there’s no space in between any of the drums — and a way of hiding a lot of mess that was in the sample. If you just had a typical kick, hi-hat, snare, you’d have a lot of space in between; then, the sample would start to distract you. So on that one, there’s no space. It makes [the snare] sound like it came from the same place as the samples and the drums — like one big recording.”
Really piling it on for “The Mask”:“That’s a lot of crazy different drums,” DM says. “That’s about four breaks in one — four parts of four different pieces. There’s a kick that I got from somewhere, a drum roll, a snare … and then the pattern was just kind of one I put together. And you keep thinking it’s going to actually break into something else a little bit easier to nod your head to, but it just kind of keeps the tension. It’s as complicated as can be. It’s probably my favorite beat on the record.”
