Music Tech Showcase 2021: It’s a fact that no matter what level you’re making music at, every musician has at least one piece of gear they lust after. Even artists with synth-stuffed studios, or those embracing minimalism and claiming to be happy with what they have.
When it comes down to it even the most zen and anti-materialistic music makers have something they’d love to add to their setup.
So what would be your dream addition to your studio? Every month, we put that question to an artist as part of our regular Talking Shop features. Below, eight artists explain the gear of their dreams...
Scalping
“We’d love a Waterphone – an instrument used for horror movie soundtracks, it’s made of a shallow resonating bowl with thin metal rods of different lengths sticking up all around the rim, when you strike or bow the rods they resonate and create these horrible but beautiful screeches.
“For now we’ve had to make do with smacking the skip outside our studio for similar sounds.”
School of X
“I’ve always wanted a super slim recording setup. I like the idea of bringing whatever I can have in a backpack and being able to record quality vocals whether I’m in a hotel in NYC, the countryside or in my studio. But recently I’ve been wanting to get a great chain for vocals. I asked Chris Tabron who has mixed my past two albums and he recommended a few things. I need something versatile so right now I’m looking to get a Chandler LTD-1 and a Distressor. I’ve been wanting to get the Shelford Channel from Rupert Neve too as it has a great distorted sound.”
Goose
“Synthi A AKS from EMS – an amazing-sounding synth with endless sonic possibilities. It has an exceptional Battle Ships-style patch matrix. It’s a retro-futuristic looking synth housed in a beautiful plastic briefcase that comes with a small plastic keyboard. The sequencer is great too. It does things you could never program. Lucky accidents can make a track!”
Roosevelt
“I’ve always wanted an original Teletronix LA-2A, I worked on one in a bigger studio and everything you do on it seems to be in the sweet spot. Any signal you run through it sounds better afterwards, even if you just use it as a distortion unit and don’t actually reduce any gain.”
Selective Response
“The Erica Synths Techno System is insane. I’m also super keen on the UDO Super 6. Seriously next level. It sounds so lush and full even without any effects. Of course, I’d love all the big classics, Jupiter 8 and 6, 909, etc, but I’m rather content with my setup. Maybe a sick pair of big boy Genelecs or the like would be cool though.”
Martin Terefe
“I don’t know if it would be a dream or a nightmare but I would love to have an original Mellotron. They are a maintenance nightmare but such amazing things!”
CID RIM
“If I had to pick one thing it would be a grand piano. Just last week I recorded in a beautiful, old, huge radio studio in Vienna, Studio 2 at Funkhaus. It’s where they record entire orchestras for radio.
“In there they have two Bösendorfer grand pianos, and one of them has the lightest touch to the keyboard I’ve ever felt. So one of those please, thank you!”
Paleman
“I’d love a Buchla or Serge modular system one day, and a high-end mixing console. The world of analog processing and outboard effects is a big obsession for me, I’d love more Thermionic Culture gear (I use my Culture Vulture a lot)… the list is endless.”
