With over two million subscribers on YouTube, Andrew Huang is one of the most popular music technology personalities around. He's sampling obsessed and a modular synth nut, but what six studio items will make it into his Forever Studio? Listen to learn why Andrew is the Christmas studio Grinch, how he has managed bend our rules to change the game forever, and which non-musical items he could sample for eternity.
Chris Barker:
I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts, and this is the MusicTech, My Forever Studio podcast.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast, we speak with artists, engineers, DJs and today, a YouTube music production superstar about their fantasy Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
But just like real life, there are rules in the fantasy Forever Studio, and it's a studio that our guests will have to live with, for eternity.
Chris Barker:
That's right. Our guests can select a computer, a DAW, an audio interface, then they can only choose six other bits of studio kit, plus one luxury item.
Will Betts:
And now, I'm going to ask a question to which I already know the answer. What if a guest wants a combination of items compiled into an individual single package?
Automated voice:
No bundles!
Chris Barker:
No bundles, there we go.
Will Betts:
This time, we are joined by internet sensation and Canadian music production power nerd, Andrew Huang.
Chris Barker:
With over two million subscribers on YouTube, Andrew is one of the most popular music technology personalities around. And his knowledge and passion for gear, makes slimming down his setup to just six items a real challenge.
Will Betts:
Andrew has detailed the process of making music by sampling almost everything including his own unborn child. And with the recent launch of Flip, his brand new sampling app, it'll be interesting to see if this makes it into the final six.
Chris Barker:
I absolutely can't wait to hear his picks for this made-up menagerie of music making. This is My Forever Studio with Andrew Huang. Welcome.
Andrew Huang:
Thanks for having me, guys. This is going to be very difficult but enjoyable.
Chris Barker:
Good. That's exactly what we want. So you know the concept, you know the podcast. Yeah. I mean, the first thing we can talk about is, the location of your perfect studio. Before we get into the individual items, if you could have your studio anywhere and what would it be like?
Andrew Huang:
Yes. So two things came to mind because I thought it would be amazing to just be in space, and if we're fantasising, why not? But then I thought, "It might get a bit cold. It might get a bit lonely." I mean, it's a really tough call because I just think that would be cool and here's a cheap excuse to also fulfil another dream of mine, which is to be in space. But also, I thought of Hawaii. I was going to listen to a bunch more of the podcast, but then I realised I didn't want other people maybe affecting my answers. And so when I came up with Hawaii, I was like, that feels like it would be the vanilla dream studio location answer, but I'm still going to go with it.
Chris Barker:
It's one of the popular ones. I will say, it's one of the popular ones. But the most popular one is Malibu, actually.
Andrew Huang:
Oh.
Chris Barker:
Basically Rick Rubin's studio is what everybody wants location wise.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, I mean, that's pretty dreamy.
Chris Barker:
But I think we've had Hawaii before. We've actually had a spaceship before, haven't we?
Will Betts:
Yeah, we did have a spaceship. Well-
Chris Barker:
Was it the Death Star?
Will Betts:
It was the Merlin Falcon.
Chris Barker:
No. Yeah. Sorry, the good guys. Yeah.
Will Betts:
So why Hawaii then, Andrew?
Andrew Huang:
I was there one time, and it just actually is paradise on Earth. I think there's something like seven different climate zones or something there. Like it's much more three dimensional than just the palm trees and beaches. But also, it is the palm trees and beaches and you can just feel like everything is right with the world and have the warm water on your toes, or explore a volcano. It's just such a cool place. I saw rainbows multiple times while I was there.
Will Betts:
Was this any inspiration for Sparkle Mountain? Does this relate back to your trip to Hawaii or is that unrelated?
Andrew Huang:
Oh, unrelated, I guess. I don't know if that maybe crept in subconsciously. But no, I was in Hawaii several years ago, part vacation and part doing some building with Habitat for Humanity. So I'll just get all the disgusting, humble bragging out of the way there. But no, it was a really cool experience and then at the same time, just enjoying this place that you didn't think was possible to be real, because it really is just so beautiful, so breathtaking and actually like perfect weather and all this stuff that you think can only be a photoshopped postcard.
Chris Barker:
What's the actual studio looking like? I mean, is it a kind of wooden shack or is it some kind of modernist... Does it fit in with the Hawaiian vibe or is it completely different?
Andrew Huang:
Oh yeah, it absolutely does not. I guess I'm a pretty big fan of the more modern and minimal styles of architecture and design. I mean, my space right now is not far off of it, but it's a very plain version of it, because my studio's just like all white walls and all white sound baffling and just a couple of plants besides all the mountains of gear. And so, I think I'm just inspired by larger, more open spaces, higher ceilings and a lot of daylight is great. I've got three skylights in the studio that I made and a big window. Yeah. I like the openness and the brightness of a space like that for some reason. Maybe it's too many years of hanging out with smelly guys in tiny, cramped basement, grey foam walled studios.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That's how we all start, isn't it? Down in the dungeon. All the lads, smelling it out.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's got to be dank.
Andrew Huang:
Smelling it out.
Will Betts:
So you were going to have big windows overlooking the ocean then, is that the vibe?
Andrew Huang:
I think big windows overlooking the ocean is the dream. Yeah. I can't imagine a more inspiring view other than maybe like space.
Chris Barker:
I kind of like the idea that your studio can maybe just have a landing pad on Hawaii and actually is a house spaceship that just kind of goes up into space.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, wow.
Will Betts:
What about a SpaceX barge? Can we...
Chris Barker:
That's right, upsell your dreams to a floating space house?
Andrew Huang:
Absolutely. I mean, I can't believe I didn't already come up with that. That's great. You should be on my team.
Chris Barker:
For this podcast, we are the team. We're the My Forever Studio team.
Will Betts:
We're on Team Andrew.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. No, that's brilliant. Launchpad, go to space anytime. I guess I couldn't have a space station permanently but I would have to orbit, right? I don't know enough about space to even have any... There's no credentials here. I'm just daydreaming. But yeah, space related things, put them in there.
Will Betts:
We're no space experts either. I mean, we'll all correct each other on any kind of music technology related nerdiness, but with space I think we're all in the same spaceship, so to speak. Lost.
Chris Barker:
Right, so we've got the incredible upsold dream of the Forever Studio space house in a Hawaii landing pad. Now you get your free items, which we can sort of whizz through, is, I mean, computer wise, Mac or PC, do you care what's the Forever Studio computer?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. I'm actually doing a video about this soon and it's going to potentially just explode my channel into pieces. I'm going to do an Android verus IOS and a Mac versus PC video, specifically with regards to making music. Because there are a few ways, and they're not even big ways, that I feel, and I don't think I'm alone, like Mac wins out and as well, I feel like IOS wins out. I don't even like saying that because I have used all of these platforms and I love the idea of music being accessible, but I think at the end of the day, having used both systems, I prefer Mac for the workflow and stability I guess, as part of it.
Will Betts:
You're going to go for the what, mega Mac, the Mac Pro for the Forever Studio?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. I've been working on an iMac from 2015 that I've been quite happy with, and I just have ignored whatever else they've put out since then because maybe I got sucked into too many other gear wormholes already that I'm like, "When Apple does their announcements, you guys just go for it. I'll be over here." But yeah, if we're talking about Forever Studio, I'll probably just spec it out as much as possible. I was hearing there was a $50,000 configuration you can get, which is bonkers.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, something like that. I think it tops out-
Will Betts:
Oh yeah.
Chris Barker:
... about 88,000 or something, isn't it?
Andrew Huang:
My God.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
Does it?
Chris Barker:
That's probably with that stand that's the extra 1,000 or whatever.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Anyway. Anyway, so we've got Mac. What about your DAW of choice?
Andrew Huang:
Oh yeah, I've been an Ableton for over 15 years, so it's not going to change now.
Chris Barker:
I mean, was it always Ableton? When you say 15 years. I mean, what did you start and did you start on Mac? Because that's another thing, most people don't, do they? Because, like you say of accessibility, they usually start on other devices or other OSes.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, absolutely. I grew up on PCs, so I was using Cubasis, which is like a light version of Cubase. That was my introduction to MIDI sequencing. I don't think it even had audio, or if it did, I never figured it out. So I was making little tunes with that, with just general MIDI sounds, when I was a small child.
Andrew Huang:
And I got onto FL and then I think I just went dark crazy for a couple of years because I was like, "What is the right one for me?" or, "What is the one that's going to make my music better?" And so I tried everything. I did a little bit of Pro Tools and ACID and Reason and Cakewalk, all the major ones, I think. Then a buddy of mine showed me Ableton and I didn't understand it at all, because the first time you open it up, I think it's in the clip view or session view.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
And so I did not understand what it was meant to be doing, and so I wrote it off. But then I was invited to a demo of it and just like having a person walk through a few of the features like the audio warping, which at the time, no other dock could do, and exactly what the clips were for and how easy automation was and assigning hotkeys yourself and all that kind of thing. It just immediately clicked with me. So I think that was 2004 and I've been on it since.
Chris Barker:
Nice. What about your audio interface? Then we get to the end. These are the freebies. What's the audience interface of choice?
Andrew Huang:
Oh yeah, I'm not sure. I really like my UAP. I'm not a person who's done tonnes and tonnes of looking into the very high, high end audio interfaces. I don't know what's out there. I may just keep it that way. It's served me well for so long.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Again, it's a kind of popular choice, isn't it, Will?
Will Betts:
Yeah, very popular, that one. It's a very good choice, yeah.
Chris Barker:
So can we upsell your dreams on the UA though to their flagship, whatever... Will will be able to tell us what that is.
Will Betts:
That basically is the flagship, isn't it? I mean, it's got eight PRIs in it.
Chris Barker:
Oh.
Will Betts:
So you're doing well, yeah.
Chris Barker:
He's upsold already.
Andrew Huang:
There is something else they have that's like, a little more expensive for whatever reason, but I think I prefer having a preamp on every input.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay, fair. Right. So now it starts getting challenging, because we're going to count down your six. So we're going to go start with item number one for your Forever Studio.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, so the first thing actually that I thought of, and I'll just throw this out there because I think it'll actually be the most surprising thing. But I want to have a Yamaha Disklavier. The like player pianos because my first instrument was piano. I studied it for years and though I don't play it too much anymore, I don't think I could go forever without a piano. I think it's something so enjoyable that's just sitting down at the keys and working out a song that way, or being able to play some of the old classical tunes that I enjoyed.
Andrew Huang:
And then I have actually just recently been interested in getting a Disklavier for experimenting with, being able to send MIDI to it or just like, watching the keys play themselves is kind of going to be entertaining forever. I remember the first time I saw that as a kid and blew my mind. So I'm putting that down, and I realised later too, it could double as my MIDI controller, which would just be like, the most overpowered MIDI controller. But then I don't need to take another slot up on the list. But yeah. Nice piano.
Chris Barker:
So hang on, have you spent any time with the Disklavier? Have you actually tried it as a MIDI controller or anything like that? Or is this just like-
Andrew Huang:
No. Only at Nam. And I am just hoping that it would work out. And I imagine it would be kind of annoying because you probably still will be hearing the piano when you're using it to send MIDI, but I don't actually know.
Chris Barker:
I guess if you have it set up incorrectly as well.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You select the wrong track, you'll go to play something and then it'll start playing the song from the other track.
Andrew Huang:
General MIDI drums.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Nice. Okay. Well, that's an original item.
Will Betts:
We've not had that before, but also like it is... I know you said that you grew up playing piano, but I don't hear a huge amount of piano on what you're making right now. Is this just sort of so that you can work stuff out? Because that's what other people have done. They've sort of gone for like, they want a grand piano or an upright piano just they can play with stuff, be it closer to the music and explain things to other people as well through the keyboard. Is that an element of it for you at all?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Piano and guitar are the two best songwriting instruments in my opinion and so I do a lot of working things out just at the keyboard or at the guitar. And I guess if there's a reason why it's not showing up in my work, it's because I don't have a piano right now. And I guess in a way that does inform my output because I'm exploring so many different genres. And so when I can avoid MIDI instruments I tend to. And I guess that's just what's been happening is like, "If I can't get my hands on a real piano, we'll work on this other stuff that doesn't need a piano."
Will Betts:
Yeah, sample my baby instead. For instance.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Great sounds everywhere.
Chris Barker:
All right then, so moving on to item number two.
Andrew Huang:
Right. I put down my first guitar. And I've had this thing since I was 14, it's not anything special, it's an Ibanez Talman from like the early 90s that I got used when I was in high school and it actually turned out to perfectly fit my future aesthetic. At the time, I thought it was kind of cheesy because it's this white guitar with like a pearl inlay and some gold pickups and another gold detailing. And at the time, it sort of felt like, I don't know, an old jazz dude's guitar or something like that, which was not really anything I related to.
Andrew Huang:
But then, I realised just a few years ago that my entire studio was white and then I had this golden pineapple on my desk, as one of my only like trinkety decoration things. I just got the gold iPhone too and I don't know. So now I've become one with this thing that I started with. But yeah, I feel like I couldn't go without a guitar. So it was really tough deciding between acoustic and electric. I just have too much fun with pedals and, I don't know, weird experiments with bending and tremolo and whatnot.
Chris Barker:
And it's interesting. You've gone for like the guitar that you sort of... It's more of a sentimental thing, because obviously Forever Studio, you could have Jimi Hendrix's guitar or whatever you wanted in the Forever Studio, but you still go... Does it hold sentimental memories? Does it reminds you of gigs or different things from growing up? Is that why you want it?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, I mean, it was my only guitar forever, so there's a lot of stuff baked in there. Definitely the first time I performed live with guitar, that was the one. I just lucked out with the one I happen to choose because I think it's comfortable to play. It punches a little bit above its weight as far as its quality or what I would have expected for its quality now that I know guitars and I know that it was only $400, that kind of thing.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, I mean, I might modify it with like a floyd rose before I go off forever, but yeah. I think this is something maybe that surprises people too. But as much of a gear guy as I am, I just don't care about guitars. To me, it's six strings on a hunk of wood and I play them to just get something out. And I don't obsess too much for about the finer details. Even people go really, really crazy about like, "Oh, is it gonna be like single coil humbucker," whatever and I'm just like, "I don't know."
Chris Barker:
I like that.
Andrew Huang:
Which is so different from how I am with any kind of synthesis thing.
Chris Barker:
That's like the equivalent of saying, "I don't care if it's a square wave or like a triangle wave." Can you imagine?
Andrew Huang:
I wonder if it right? Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Can you imagine saying that?
Andrew Huang:
So I have the kind of like, oh, what's the... See I don't even know the term for it. But it's like two humbuckers and then a single coil in between, like there's a name for that setup. I guess with that I have five different positions in my pickup selector and it covered enough of the range, that for me it felt like, "Oh, yeah. I can get kind of a twangy. I can get kind of $1 tone." I'm good. And I'll do the rest with effects.
Chris Barker:
I wonder if guitar guys have the same thing, like where they just go, "Just bring up a synth sound," and you're like-
Andrew Huang:
Right. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But be more specific. Just a synthy sound.
Andrew Huang:
I can totally imagine a session with a guitar guy where it wouldn't matter if it was like a trance stab or like an atmospheric pad. He'll just be like, "Yeah, we need a synth right there."
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Just stick that in. We're motoring through these as two down already and it's going to start getting difficult soon. So item number three.
Will Betts:
For item number three, can I just warn you? You don't have anything included to listen on.
Chris Barker:
I was going to not remind the guest this time. I was hoping we could get Andrew all the way to the end and then go "Ha ha, you've got no speakers."
Andrew Huang:
Right. I was wondering if this was a trick question because I'm like, well, they gave us all these freebies and there's no monitors or headphones.
Will Betts:
Yeah, so you're gonna have to have some. But a pair of speakers is a pair not a bundle, you'd have to get speakers individually as much as some shops will want to do that to you. We give you a stereo pair.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Okay, so this is another interesting one. And we'll just go here because I have a few kind of like grey areas on my list. But let's talk about listening then. Some people know this about me and I've been public about it, but I just don't speak about it very often. I have a lot of hearing loss. And so my monitoring has just never been as important to me I think, compared to a lot of people. And so right now, I'm using these V-MODA headphones, and they're really fun for a lot of people. They're like the hypiest headphones I've ever owned. But I tend to use them the most, because they give me so much extra bass which is an area that my ears are kind of lacking in. So yeah, honestly, if choosing monitors has to be one thing on this list, I would defer to an expert and just say "What's something that'll lasts forever for me?"
Chris Barker:
I mean, you could get headphones if you wanted headphones instead. Do you prefer working on headphones for that reason? Or do you prefer using monitors?
Andrew Huang:
Overall, I think I just prefer using monitors for the freedom of moving around. One of the signs for me that track is going well, is if I get up out of my chair and it kind of happens involuntarily sometimes. I just got to move around to this or you get excited and you get up. I guess I don't actually find myself doing that ever in headphones because I feel tethered.
Chris Barker:
So you have to pick some monitors then. We can tell you some popular choices, but I'm sure-
Andrew Huang:
Right now, I've been using these Genelec 8351As that I really love and they're pretty nice. I visited Deadmou5's studio last year once with a buddy who's on his label, and he had some insane thing going there that that sounded amazing. So I don't know if I could find out what those were, maybe I'd put that down. But-
Will Betts:
I'm googling it right now.
Chris Barker:
We interviewed Deadmou5 few a few months ago, so maybe it's on that list Will.
Andrew Huang:
Oh, I wonder. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
We can just say the item is, steal Deadmou5's monitors.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. I would like to deprive dead mouse of his monitors forever.
Will Betts:
Excellent.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. That's nice. That's a lovely Christmassy message.
Andrew Huang:
I'm pretty grinchy. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Deadmou5 and the Grinch sounds like a good show. I'd watch that.
Andrew Huang:
Oh, that would be a great little cartoon. Me trying to sneak into Whoville where Deadmou5 lives, take his studio stuff.
Chris Barker:
Just to ruin Christmas. I'd like to hear a Deadmou5 Christmas track actually. Joel if you're listening, I'd love a Deadmou5 Christmas track. Do you have an answer on the Deadmou5 thing? Or should we move on?
Andrew Huang:
I do. I do. They are ATCs And they look like the SCM300ASL Pro.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
They are big. Big ones that live in the walls. Soft and mounted.
Chris Barker:
Made in the UK, right? The ATCs?
Andrew Huang:
Made in the UK. Yeah. British brand that. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So have you been up sold? You're going to steal those speakers?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Oh, definitely.
Chris Barker:
Beautiful. Beautiful. Good choice. Nice. So what's that? Two more items left?
Will Betts:
Three more. That was number three. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Number three. Okay. So we got three more. So item number four.
Andrew Huang:
Okay. So the no bundles rule, I'm not sure how this is gonna work out, because I feel like I would need to have some hardware modular with me
Chris Barker:
Finger on the trigger Will, get ready.
Andrew Huang:
So obviously, I can't pick a bunch of different modules but I would maybe like... Would a system count as one item?
Chris Barker:
Explain what you mean. Explain yourself.
Andrew Huang:
We'll say like, I actually haven't used one, but like a Moog System 55. That kind of seems like it's just one-
Chris Barker:
That's fine.
Andrew Huang:
... item.
Chris Barker:
I'm saying that's fine. What do you reckon, Will? I think that's fine.
Will Betts:
Exec. decision. Yeah. I mean, look, sure you can steal a famous one.
Andrew Huang:
I'll steal Hans Zimmer's
Chris Barker:
Wow, go big or go home Andrew.
Will Betts:
Jeez, Hans Zimmer's right.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, he can use VSTs from now on.
Chris Barker:
It's model 55?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, I think it's the big one with the keyboard. Cool, I can have a second set of keys. But I just know, for me, I would need to have some kind of physical patching. I just know I would miss it too much. I feel like it brings out a different aspect of creativity. Even though I've used software modular stuff before, it never quite feels the same. I don't feel like the results end up in the same place and patching is such a unique way to go about creating sounds and creating music. So I just wanted some kind of modular in the Forever setup. But yeah, I'm just dreaming big with the Moog stuff and I love all the Moog stuff that I've used, but I've never actually touched a System 55.
Chris Barker:
That's epic, that choice.
Will Betts:
Yeah. I mean, I've not played with one that big before. Shut up Chris.
Chris Barker:
That's good sample for your Christmas card, Will. Forget it. Item number five.
Andrew Huang:
Number five then. This is really tough, getting down to two more. So I'll put down a microphone. I'll need to have a microphone with me. And I've just gone with the U87. I say just but-
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah.
Andrew Huang:
And in a way, it's another one of those items where it's like, well, it's the best one in this category that I've tried, I'm gonna go with it. But also it's been kind of special for me because I was introduced to it years and years ago on a session with someone who had rented it and I was like, "Oh, I can't believe you can rent something that's this expensive and luxurious." And so then a few years on from that I rented one myself and I really love how it sounds on most things.
Andrew Huang:
And I did a mic shootout video where I compared the Neumann U87 with some kind of like, general share offerings, as well as a $20 mic that I bought from Amazon and that was a fun time. But then, just last month actually, they've sent me one. And so, it's been a whole special journey with this microphone where I believed I would never ever buy one and then I'm still never going to buy one because they just freebied me which is amazing. So I don't know, it's a nice little testament to what I managed to do with my channel.
Will Betts:
Yeah. That's so, so nice.
Andrew Huang:
Besides being a beautiful sound.
Chris Barker:
How did the $20 compared to the U87 then? I mean, is it-
Andrew Huang:
You know what? It's ridiculous, the results of that shootout, because once you put all the mics through a nice PRI, and you put a few effects on, you compress it may be a little bit of reverb, and I was just testing on vocals only, so I can't speak to how they performed on other instruments. But for the average listener, it was very hard to tell the difference, which is amazing. And I think I could tell the difference because I knew what to listen for and there's like this just extra sheen on the high end with the U87.
Andrew Huang:
But I actually asked the viewers to close their eyes the first time they listened to this demo, because I was going to be switching mics in midway through this piece of music that I was singing. And most people, I don't know if it's most people, I got a lot of comments where people said, "I didn't notice the mics changing at all and then when the song finished, I opened my eyes and realise you had gone through all of them." So that's been, kind of perspective shifting.
Chris Barker:
I was that using the UA as the PRI.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. That probably would have been with the PRI.
Will Betts:
Okay. So not even like, I mean, I'm not saying the UA stuff is really good as we know, but it's not like it's some super duper individual high end PRI.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, no. Just a decent one. And I think the cheap mic would have been a little bit noisier otherwise, and definitely alone, raw, without effects, it sounded tinnier for sure. But then, I don't know, once you put it through like a full vocal chain, it's in a mix with other instruments. Yeah. And I don't know YouTube compression, people argue about how much of a difference that may make, but-
Will Betts:
I think it's-
Andrew Huang:
A lot of people couldn't tell.
Will Betts:
I guess the other factor in this that obviously, you were doing the test for quality, but I guess there's the robustness is the other thing that will come. If you kept doing that test for two years, would that $20 mic still survive?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
That's the thing. I guess that's the other thing you're paying for, is it?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. But I also think, if you're recording an entire track, and it's mostly live instruments, let's say. If it's all going through the 87 compared to everything was going through this $20 thing. That would add up.
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah. It's those small percentages-
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
... built up over time. That yeah, make that difference.
Chris Barker:
Are we coming up to last item time, Will?
Will Betts:
This is last item time and I just want to reflect back to you, Andrew, you don't have any software yet, is that going to change?
Andrew Huang:
Oh, do I have to include like a VST or-
Chris Barker:
You don't have to.
Will Betts:
You don't have to do anything like you've got Ableton, you've got all the things that come with it.
Andrew Huang:
Right. I'll be working with stock. Oh my god.
Will Betts:
Yeah. You can have you can have the top one.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. This is super tough because it also was forcing me to prioritise what instruments I would choose because I play a few instruments and to think about going forever, like without a drum kit is pretty odd. But I think that's what I'll be doing. So I think I have to have a bass guitar with me.
Will Betts:
Ooh, what kind?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. I don't know, but I'll take Paul McCartney's. One of his. Yeah. Again, I don't even care that much about the specifics of the instrument itself. I'd like it to have a nice action. But I really just I enjoy playing the bass. It's one of the things that I find is harder to replace with something digital. And I don't know, if this was really tough call with not having a drum kit, let's say, but I felt like I usually do drums electronically, you can do decent live sounding drums even from sampling. But yeah, just being able to play a bass guitar, I feel like, is something I'd want to hold on to forever.
Chris Barker:
I think that's a thing as well, with guitars and bass guitars, generally. It's how you interact with it, so even if you can get the sound really close with an instrument, you don't play the notes correctly, when you're playing them in on a keyboard to how you don't slide up to them. You don't have that tremor level. It's just the things that you do-
Andrew Huang:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
... naturally without thinking about, when suddenly you're trying to programme it, you're like, "Oh, why doesn't that sound right?" Because you would slide to that note, or you would bend and so I think that's why you have to have the physical thing.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. All those little expressive things true. Those really add up. Yeah, so that was a surprise for me to honestly because I thought if I'm limited to just a few items, I could get tricky and like pitch down the guitar or like, try playing some lines twice as fast and very speed them or whatever. Maybe it's because the bass was one of my earlier instruments too that I ever got on. But yeah, taken up three of my slots with guitar, piano, bass, and I think that's the way it's got to be.
Chris Barker:
And stealing Paul McCartney is because you're a big fan of his bass style or music or just because it's worth loads of money.
Andrew Huang:
Just the most famous bass player, why not? Ripping off Deadmou5. Let's also go to Paul. And I do love the Beatles. So it'd be kind of cool just to own something of theirs.
Chris Barker:
It's going to be a challenge for us to get it but it's fine. It's the Forever Studio-
Will Betts:
We have ways.
Chris Barker:
... we'll get the Paul McCartney bass. What is it a hohner?
Will Betts:
It's a hofner violin bass.
Andrew Huang:
Right. And you know what? I don't think it would even be that one. I'm sure he's got just like a Fender lying around somewhere that I would actually prefer.
Chris Barker:
Paul McCartney's back up bass. Is that what you're saying?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Yeah. Not the one that he's famous for.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
Never been a fan I guess of that hofner shape, but it's purely an aesthetic thing.
Will Betts:
I've just googled Paul McCartney's backup base and he basically has four of these in a rack.
Andrew Huang:
I don't think he has anything else.
Chris Barker:
No, not that one.
Andrew Huang:
Well, he is committed.
Chris Barker:
Have you got any ones that don't look like violins? Because I just can't. So Will, do you want to give us the rundown of the studio?
Will Betts:
Right. We are in Hawaii on a launch pad. Let's say next to a launch pad overlooking the sea. Our computer is a Mac Pro, fully specced out. The audio interface is a Universal Audio Apollo x8p. The DAW is Ableton suite. Your studio items, you've gone instrument heavy Andrew, with the Yamaha Disklavier as your MIDI controller and it's the most extra MIDI controller I've ever heard of. It's incredible. Your very own first guitar, a white and gold Ibanez Talman modified with the floyd rose bridge, did we say?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, floyd rose tremolo, I'm after.
Will Betts:
Beautiful. You're listening back on Deadmou5's ATC SCM300ASL Pro, soffit mounted speakers.
Chris Barker:
God, sorry, they need to stop naming speakers like this. Come on Andrew, you're one of those popular guys in this arena, can you get them to name speakers like they name cars, and stop giving them these ridiculous number names?
Andrew Huang:
Oh, yeah. It would be a step up, at least. I make fun of car names as well, but it would be better than just numbers.
Chris Barker:
Sorry. Just run us through those ATCs again please, Will.
Will Betts:
ATC SCM300ASL Pro.
Chris Barker:
It's the Pro.
Andrew Huang:
Oh yeah.
Will Betts:
For modular, you have chosen, okay, I think this is a bending of a rule and we're gonna have to from here on out change our rules, Chris because we're gonna have to accept a modular system as being a thing. So you've broken it, Andrew, but we're fine with it.
Andrew Huang:
Okay,
Will Betts:
it's Hans Zimmer's.
Andrew Huang:
I'm glad I'm the one to break it.
Will Betts:
It had to be this way. The Moog System 55 from Hans Zimmer's studio, and Neumann U87 to record all of the real world things. And Paul McCartney's backup bass, that's not a hofner. That's the only specification right? Not a hofner?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Whichever bass, Paul used the most of that is not hofner. Let's go with that.
Will Betts:
Nice. Okay, so that's the studio. So the final thing we talk about is, it's not a bit of studio gear, but a luxury item that you would have in the studio forever. Like, what would you like in there?
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, this was a tough one for me. Because it's funny, I have so much gear in my studio, but I really don't have much else in my life or my house. My wife and I are pretty minimum we have like furniture and plants, basically. No art on the walls or anything, nothing out. Okay, here's the two things that I thought of, if you would let me have a personal chef, that would be a luxury item that I would take. Because I actually enjoy cooking but if given the choice, I'll always prefer to do music. And if not that, I was thinking just whatever the most large comfortable bed is in the world, I'll take that and just get the best sleeps I can.
Chris Barker:
I'll allow the chef if you pick a celebrity chef.
Will Betts:
Ooh, you have to choose one.
Andrew Huang:
Oh, I haven't watched enough of the shows recently.
Will Betts:
Living or dead.
Andrew Huang:
Oh, yeah. Who are the dead celebrity chefs? How long has cooking on TV been going on?
Chris Barker:
It's a really good point.
Andrew Huang:
I probably have to choose someone with a nice energy. No Gordon Ramsay, you go to this.
Chris Barker:
You would imagine Gordon in the studio just screaming at you and says, "Andrew your dinner is ready. Can you just decide what you want to eat now!" "I'm trying to do a vocal take, calm down, Gordon."
Andrew Huang:
Being in the background of all my tracks. Yeah. Just someone pleasant, I don't know. Who's that? Rachael Ray is coming to mind.
Will Betts:
Ina Garten maybe. She's a very chill.
Andrew Huang:
Yap. Maybe someone from like the Great British Bake Off?
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah.
Andrew Huang:
I don't know. One of the one of the contestants. We'll go for a deep cut.
Will Betts:
Oh, Mary Berry. The really old Mary Berry. She'd be nice in the studio making... You get really fat really quickly, though. Just eating cakes.
Andrew Huang:
Maybe I shouldn't pick a baker. But I'm glad you're allowing the personal chef option, that's amazing. True luxury.
Chris Barker:
We've had the chef before, but we never thought about the type of chef. We just thought yeah, cool Chef, I think it's quite interesting. So I mean, just to end on that then, if we're not talking to celebrity chef, what would it be their specialty cuisine? What could you eat every day?
Andrew Huang:
I try to eat healthy and I think I don't do a good enough job of it on my own. I think if I had someone just helping me out, that would be great. Just a generally lighter, perhaps a vegetarian diet. I'd be pretty happy with someone who could come up with really creative snacks. You know those things where it's like, "I can't believe this is healthy, but it tastes amazing."
Will Betts:
I often find that that's generally lies once you dig in.
Andrew Huang:
I know right?
Chris Barker:
You go it's healthy too then you really go, "Oh no it's not." Okay, back to the fruit. Do we want to quickly briefly just talk about before the end here. You've got your new Flip app, right?
Andrew Huang:
Oh, yeah. Well, and this is another thing too. I was like, "Are they letting us have phones? And if so, would I have apps on my phone?" But anyway, I thought this all through. I probably wouldn't have, if it came down to it and it was in the rules, I wouldn't have my app with me forever because I would just do all the sampling in Ableton, as much as that pains me to say.
Andrew Huang:
But yeah, no, I've got this new sampling app out. It's for iOS right now, but we're testing it to see if it'll work on Android as well. And it's just meant to be like a super fun, really quick sampling workflow, but it's also quite powerful for an app. It's got interesting sequencing stuff going on, like lots of automation lanes with independent lengths, and there's cool live performance controls, you can export stems off of it. So yeah, it's called Flip. It's a good time.
Will Betts:
And it's out now.
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, just came out a week or two ago. And it's in the app store. Was number one and a few countries which we're very proud of.
Chris Barker:
Nice work good work, man.
Will Betts:
It's a lot of fun. I've had a go with that. It's great stuff actually. How quickly you can get from just sampling anything to it sounding really decent, like having all of the effects right there to be able to just be like, "Oh, yeah. I want to crush that and I want to make that weird. It's really, really nicely thought out."
Andrew Huang:
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that was where the idea started from. I just have about 100 or maybe more recordings on my phone of things that I found while I was out and about, and I never used them because I would have to email them to myself and then decide where to put them on my computer, bring them in Ableton all that kind of stuff. And I just started thinking what would be the ideal workflow for being out and about and discovering a sound. And the quickest way to get from point A to B, in terms of like hearing something cool, and then making music with it. So yeah, I think we got about as close as we could.
Will Betts:
I mean, just on that sampling point real quick, because you've sampled so many things over the years, where has it like gone wrong?
Andrew Huang:
I mean, I think I've always been able to find a way. And it just sometimes means that the final product is a little bit off. So my favourite example is I covered 99, red balloons, or 99 left balloons using only balloons. And it was just a bizarre idea that I had actually because I wanted to make something Germany related to promote a tour I was about to embark on in Germany. And being a North American, I don't know very many German songs, so that's what came to mind. It had balloons in it I was like, "Oh, I'll just do something ridiculous and see if I can make it with balloons."
Andrew Huang:
And it turned out that balloons can make such a huge variety of sounds from like, rolling them up and plucking them, to obviously inflating and deflating them, popping them, squeaking them, rubbing them. So it was very surprising just the breadth of sounds I wasn't expecting to get but then also, the song is like probably almost entirely above like 800 hertz or something like that. It's just a squeaky mess, with an occasional bump from an inflated balloon kind of being hit and probably over EQed in the low end to try and make a kick drum. But yeah, the the final results are sometimes absolutely unlike anything else you would normally call music, but I think they just squeak in.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I mean, that's kind of the point as well, I guess. It's like-
Andrew Huang:
Yeah. Well, and it's fun just incorporating unorthodox sounds in a normal production, which I think is much more common and plenty of people do that. But of course for the internet every once in a while if you do something where it's all balloon sounds or it's all pants sounds or it's all, like I did one with things that you can make meth with or do a whole desert island show that's like, pick six things you're going to make music with for the rest of time that aren't musical.
Chris Barker:
That's what we should have done with you.
Andrew Huang:
Oh my god. That's the podcast.
Chris Barker:
Would have been wild.
Andrew Huang:
I guess I'll take a couple of goats with me and try to make a drum.
Chris Barker:
Okay, you've got one a minute. What have you got?
Andrew Huang:
Oh, God. Okay. A log... Oh, this is terrible already. I'll take the balloon.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
A large cave. Let's go with that. Get some natural reverb.
Will Betts:
sure.
Andrew Huang:
Oh, what are the like the everyday things that make pleasant sounds? Some kind of like resonant tube. Something I can use as a wind instrument maybe. Well, I'll just say it, a carrot. I made flutes out of carrots once and it worked out. Obviously it would just spoil. It would rot away soon, but that's fine. It's on the list.
Will Betts:
Maybe a vegetable garden so you have replenish supply.
Andrew Huang:
Perfect. Yes. Renewable carrot flutes. Two more. What have I covered? I guess like there's a lot of stuff to to hit for drums.
Chris Barker:
Maybe something like a bag of rice.
Andrew Huang:
A shaker? Yeah. Would love a shaker. What's a good shaker? Yeah, box of quinoa, I've use that a lot.
Chris Barker:
You got one left.
Andrew Huang:
I think I just need to move to a farm. I'll be covered.
Chris Barker:
Or a supermarket. Yeah.
Andrew Huang:
I think I just need something really ridiculous. I mean, I've got the cave but just something outlandish. And I always wanted to do a video where I made music using a volcano. I've had a few videos on my channel where I like travel to a strange place to make music and I did that. Like, they invited me to Florida, so I was like, "Oh, what can I do in Florida?" But we visited an aquarium where there are these rescue dolphins and I made all this music with dolphins. And I was like, one day, next instalment of that show maybe, would love to do it in a volcano. So we'll fulfil that dream here.
Chris Barker:
I just want to pick up on the fact that you said, "I do a series where I travelled to a strange place. So I went to Florida."
Andrew Huang:
Right yeah. Other times I've been in the middle of a frozen lake or whatever. But yeah, Florida is just-
Chris Barker:
The strangest of them all.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Well, that's the end of the show, My Forever Studio. Thank you so much Andrew for coming on and having a giggle with us and talking tech. We really appreciate your time. And do check out Andrew's app-
Andrew Huang:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
... if get a chance to be on the app store. It's awesome.
Will Betts:
Thank you very much Andrew.
Andrew Huang:
Thank you for having me on. Yeah it was super fun.
Chris Barker:
And that's My Forever Studio. Thank you very much.
Andrew Huang:
Air horns. Air horns.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Well, thanks again to Andrew for taking time to appear on the podcast, some interesting choices there.
Will Betts:
Yes. Some very interesting choices and remember if you're a fan of our My Forever Studio podcast, make sure you subscribe using your favourite podcasting app and maybe even give us a delightful five star rating.
Chris Barker:
Yes. Yes. Please do that. That can be your Christmas present to us, we would love that. And speaking of Christmas, next time on the show, we have a very special guest for our My Forever Studio, Christmas Day special.
Will Betts:
Yes, a fully fledged pop star on the MusicTech podcast. Mr. Gary Barlow. Tune in for some festive Forever Studio fun next time.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. It's gonna be a challenge for him. We know he's a gear nerd.
Will Betts:
Yes he is. Anyway, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time for more adventures into studio foreverdom.
Chris Barker:
Bye-bye.