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Scott G.: But the lowpass filter sounds good. The EXS-24's timing is sample-accurate. We used a lot of the choir sounds from the Spectrasonic/Ilio Symphony of Voices sample CD.
What about plug-in effects?
Blum: We used the Waves Renaissance compressor and Renaissance EQ. But for reverb, we used a Lexicon PCM 91 rack unit; there still is no reverb plug-in that compares with the Lexicon. And we used the Universal Audio UAD-1 card and Powered Plug-Ins on "Metro."
Are you using MIDI, or do you primarily record things to digital audio?
Scott G.: We used to use Cakewalk 3.0, but we realized that there was a lot of time lag with MIDI. Things didn't sync right.
Blum: It was really tight when we were using Cakewalk with DOS on a 386. But when we switched to Windows and Cakewalk 3.0, we would trigger loops and they would be off. Nothing sounded right.
Scott G.: We ended up going to ADATs. We would dedicate the computer's processor to doing one track at a time and sync everything up using SMPTE. When the processor only had to deal with one track at a time, our tracks would come out tight. MIDI is fast enough to do one thing at a time. When we want to construct a part off of one of our keyboards, we'll sequence it in Logic and print it to audio immediately. No one can play our parts tight enough. You still have to use MIDI a little bit.
Blum: It's different to play something on the keyboard than to program it in the computer. It's a distinct thought process, and you have a different creative flow when you're using a keyboard as opposed to a mouse.
What is the biggest benefit of computer-based music production?
Blum: Money is no barrier to entry anymore. I'm sure there are kids in their bedrooms with their computers who are writing better music than we are. Anyone can do it now. You don't have to work for 10 years just to buy a decent keyboard. Hobbyists can do it now and do a good job at it.
Scott G.: But there's a bit of a downfall to that. I remember when Jason and I got involved with this. When we were listening to the music that was coming out then, we didn't know what the sound of the 303 was when we first heard it. We went on a quest to find out what made that sound. We talked to one guy who played keyboards for a long time, and he told us it was an ARP 2600. When we found an ARP 2600, it sounded nothing like that. Finally, we figured it out through trial and tribulation and tracked down our own 303 for $450. I also remember when we discovered the "zipper" hoover sound on the Roland Alpha Juno-2. The joy of finding out what made a certain sound doesn't happen anymore. All of those sounds are available on a groove box, and everybody has them.
Blum: All emulations sound good, but, ultimately, none of them sound as good as what they're trying to emulate. A 303 sounds better than ReBirth. I still have mine and won't ever sell it. It's a bitch to use, hard to sync up and program, and it doesn't do swing, but it's cool. But, then again, I'm not going to junk my JP-8000 for a Jupiter-8.
How did you do the filter sweeps on the intro to "View From a Stairway"?
Scott G.: We sampled a stack of the JP-8000 with a huge sawtooth pad, a Triton pad and a Virus pad playing at once. We played a variety of chord variations, sampled each one into the E-mu E6400; and used the E-mu's bandpass filter.
Blum: The E6400 has the best filters of any sampler ever. And its modulation matrix is really cool. I can play with it all day.
How did you record the vocals?
Blum: Scott did the vocals for "Ride" at home.
Scott G.: "Smile" was cut in our studio with Saffron from Republica. We brought in a friend of ours from D.C., named Kevin 131, to record that for us.
Blum: The thing about working with vocalists is not so much knowing how to record them but knowing how to make them feel like they want to be recorded.
Scott G.: Kevin made Saffron feel comfortable. It's about relating to vocalists so they can perform the best they can.
Blum: Even great vocalists can sound like shit until they get somebody who can help them sound their best. Kevin brought his ADATs, mic preamps and AKG C 12 VR mic here. He knew his gear and how to run it. We sat on the couch, made some suggestions, and they gave us what we wanted.
Scott G.: At the end of the day, we took the ADATs, dumped the recordings to our computer and rearranged it in Logic. We used AutoTune just to clean it up a little, and we added some distortion, but Saffron was totally in key. We just used AutoTune to tighten up the harmonies.
How do you make the transition from the studio to the stage?
Blum: We render a lot of stuff to audio clips and put those on a laptop. We use a WAMI box, which has MIDI and audio on it. It has just one MIDI In and Out and 16 channels, but that's enough for what we need to do. We never have more than 16 parts at once.
Scott G.: We do phrase sequencing on the Triton with the sampler and use it to trigger crucial parts like riffs and loops. We can also run arpeggiators with MIDI Clock.
Blum: We play stuff live over the top of that - keyboard lines, percussion and lead sounds - and make a show out of it. Ultimately, the laptop runs the MIDI time clock and synchronizes us. It's running the backing tracks, MIDI clips, audio clips and timecode. We get a lot done with a small amount of equipment. After the events of September 11, it's been even harder for us to get all of our stuff on the plane. We used to take our Triton and Mackie mixer, but now we have the promoters rent those items for us, along with a Nord Lead. We just take our Prophecy, a rack and our laptop -
Scott G.: And do a Sys Ex dump from the laptop to load up our sounds.
Big-name DJs have been playing your music from the beginning. Any tips for getting your tracks licensed?
Scott G.: We've always had incredible luck getting our songs licensed by big DJs. It's a lot harder now than it used to be, because things are oversaturated.
Blum: When DJs are putting together a mix CD, they will send out an e-mail and ask for submissions. That way, they get all the newest, freshest music on a CD-R. Unless you already know people in the business, you should hire a good manager who has connections.
Scott G.: A lot of DJs will just throw your stuff away if they don't know who you are. You have to be on a priority list just to get into that stack of stuff that they want to go through.
Blum: The labels we were on were really small, but they had dedicated people working there. They always tried to get our stuff out to the right people, and they knew the right people.
When artists are as forthcoming with their production secrets as you are, it helps people learn more quickly.
Blum: I think that many artists now realize that there's room for everyone. Some people are afraid to show what their studio looks like and tell people what gear they use, because they think they are going to reveal some trade secret. A lot of the British guys are bad about that.
Scott G.: Whenever anybody asks us how we did something, we tell them. It's free knowledge. It's music.
Blum: Why would I want to keep somebody from making music? One of the coolest things is when someone walks up to me after a show and says that they got our record and started writing music because of it. I started writing music because I loved certain bands. It doesn't help anybody when you don't let people know how you made your music. If we don't work together, we're just shooting ourselves in the foot.
DEEPSKY GEAR LIST
STUDIO GEAR
Audio-Technica AT4050/CM5 multipattern studio mic Apogee PSX-100 A/D/A converter Computers: PIII/933 MHz (2), PIII/800 MHz, PIII/450 MHz Emagic Unitor 8 MIDI interface Mackie HR824 studio monitors Mackie SR24-4 audio mixer MOTU 2408mkII audio interface MOTU 2408 audio interface MOTU 308 digital interface expander Technics SL-1200MK2 turntables (4) Yamaha 02R digital mixer
OUTBOARD PROCESSORS
Avalon VT-747SP Stereo Opto-Compressor/Program Equalizer Avalon U5 mic preamps (2) Behringer Ultra Curve Pro DSP 8024 digital stereo EQ/frequency analyzer Digitech Studio Quad multi-effects processor Electrix Mo-FX multi-effects processor Electrix Filter Factory filter Electrix Warp Factory vocoder Lexicon MPX 1 multi-effects processor Lexicon PCM 91 digital reverb TC Electronic FireworX multi-effects processor
HARDWARE SYNTHS/SAMPLERS
Access Virus synth module Clavia Nord Rack 2 synth module E-mu E6400 Ultra sampler E-mu E6400 sampler Korg MS2000R synth module Korg Prophecy synth Korg Triton synth Oberheim Matrix-6 synth Roland JP-8000 synth Roland Juno 106 synth Roland Juno-6 synth Roland TB-303 Bass Line Yamaha SY-99 synth
DAWs/EDITING SOFTWARE
Emagic Logic Audio Platinum Propellerhead ReCycle Steinberg Wavelab
SOFTWARE SYNTHS/SAMPLERS
Emagic ES-1 Emagic EVP-88 Emagic EXS24 Native Instruments B4 Native Instruments FM-7 Native Instruments Pro-52 Native Instruments Reaktor Steinberg Halion TC Works Mercury Waldorf PPG-Wave