This time, we're privileged to host legendary DJ, producer and music educator, King Britt. He's well known for being a musical innovator, for co-founding the groundbreaking label Ovum Records with Josh Wink, and collaborating with De La Soul, Madlib, Moor Mother and many others. In this episode, discover why he prefers vintage samplers over modern, which audio manufacturer he trusts above all others for mixing drums, and learn which specific piece of hardware he must have on all his mixes.
This time, we're privileged to host legendary DJ, producer and music educator, King Britt. He's well known for being a musical innovator, for co-founding the groundbreaking label Ovum Records with Josh Wink, and collaborating with De La Soul, Madlib, Moor Mother and many others.
In this episode, discover why he prefers vintage samplers over modern, which audio manufacturer he trusts above all others for mixing drums, and learn which specific piece of hardware he must have on all his mixes.
Things we talk about (SPOILERS AHEAD)
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 producers, engineers, DJs and industry figureheads about their Fantasy Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
The studio that our guests invent, will be one that they have to live with forever. But as you might know already, there are some rules in Studio Forever land; totally rational rules.
Chris Barker:
Yes, there are a few rules. Our guest can select a computer, a DAW/audio interface; those are given. Then they have the mind-mangling challenge of picking just six other bits of studio gear, plus one non-gear related luxury item.
Will Betts:
But there is one little rule they must not forget, right?
Chris Barker:
Yes.
SFX:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
No bundles.
Will Betts:
That's, any collection of software or hardware sold as a single item is illegal.
Chris Barker:
That's right. Today we are super privileged to have the legendary DJ, producer and music educator, King Britt.
Will Betts:
King Britt's list of musical achievements and accolades are far too vast for our brief introduction here, but he's well-known for being a musical innovator, co-founder in the groundbreaking label Ovum Records with Josh Wink, and collaborating with acts such as De La Soul, Madlib, Moor Mother, and many others.
Chris Barker:
Luckily for us, he's also a massive gear geek too, so it's going to be an interesting chat. What will he choose?
Will Betts:
Let's find out. This is My Forever Studio, with King Britt.
Chris Barker:
Welcome. Welcome, welcome.
Will Betts:
Hello.
King Britt:
Hey. What's up, y'all? Yes.
Chris Barker:
Flying from space.
King Britt:
Yes. I'm in space right now. I'm transmitting.
Chris Barker:
We hear on the grapevine; and why you got involved in this; is because you're a bit of a gear fanatic, a bit of a gear geek, a nerd. One of us. One of us.
King Britt:
Absolute 100%. And it may not be as in-depth as some, but I definitely, ever since my first SK-1 Casio sampler, I've been a geek ever since. Yeah, it's a lot of fun then.
Will Betts:
Well, let's start building your forever studio. Your fantasy forever studio is going to be a challenge. I guess, first thing to say, I mean, we know you've DJed on every single continent, except for Antarctica.
King Britt:
You know, that's on the list.
Chris Barker:
Oh, it is on the list. So, I mean, with that in mind, where would you place your fantasy forever studio? If you could have a studio anywhere in the world, I mean, forever, where would it be and why?
King Britt:
Okay. It's funny you bring this up, because I was just discussing this with a very close friend of mine, who's also a music geek. But anyway, I'm not gonna say who it is.
Chris Barker:
Ooh, a mystery.
King Britt:
... but we both love... Yeah. Just because privacy, because he's about to move there.
Chris Barker:
Oh okay.
King Britt:
But Japan. 100% Japan. And also, if it was my choice, which in this fantasy world it is, but actually it may happen, it would be close to Roland. That's on the outskirts. I think it's near Nagoya, but past, in the countryside. And so, it would be definitely Japan. Definitely the countryside. And definitely near Roland.
Chris Barker:
Will, have you been out to Roland? I've never been.
Will Betts:
I've not. In a place called Hamamatsu, which is just near to Nagoya. Why? Why do you need to be so close to Roland, King Britt?
King Britt:
No, that was... I mean, hey, if I'm going all the way to Japan, and I'm going to move there, I want to also be kind of in the know of what new is coming out. And also, Japan is like the most cutting edge, technologically. They've always been. Plus I just love the culture and the spiritual vibe there. But Roland, I mean, Roland man.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. And somebody needs to stay near Roland as well, just to check that they don't keep making bad versions of Legendary sense as well. Just like, "Come on, guys."
King Britt:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Come on, guys, that's not a JUPITER-8. Stop it.
King Britt:
Yeah. But I do have to say, I was in... A lot of people disagree with me. One being Lisa Bella Donna. We talk a lot. You should have her on the show.
Chris Barker:
Anytime, man. Anytime.
King Britt:
She's unbelievable. But we agree to disagree about the SE-01, the Roland Studio Electronics collab. I really liked it, man.
Chris Barker:
I think most people like those. I think the boutique ones, all of them sounded fantastic. I mean, there was never a question of that. I think some of the peeps, some people, were just a bit disappointed that they were a bit fiddly to use, because everything was shrunken down, which was obviously... there was a point of that for portability and all that.
Chris Barker:
But yeah, I think it did pretty well on the MusicTech reviews and stuff, that kind of... I think those kind of things do good. Yeah, I think people just got disappointed when they were making the big flagship things,
King Britt:
Oh yeah
Chris Barker:
Jupiter 80, and people thought it was gonna be a Jupiter-8. And it was a fantastic machine, but it wasn't a Jupiter-8, and they kind of lent on that brand name a bit. But I think a lot of these companies have sorted themselves out now, it feels like. Like KORG and Roland. They're all crushing it at the moment and putting out loads of great gear. All the big name brands have stopped doing that thing of trying to exploit old brand names. They're just making real authentic cool versions of stuff now. And that Roland cloud seems to be massively popular; everybody has that.
King Britt:
Yeah, I won't comment on that. But I do love...
Chris Barker:
We like the spice. We like the spice.
King Britt:
I do love the... I got the TR-06, 606, because I never... I always wanted a 606, I just never got around to getting one when they were affordable. And then they [inaudible 00:06:08] out. Yo, it sounds unbelievable. [crosstalk 00:06:12] And the gates, it has all these gate trigger outs. And that, along with modular, oh my god, bro. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Nice. So we're in Japan, we're locked in.
King Britt:
We're in Japan.
Chris Barker:
Now tell us about the vibe inside a studio. What makes you feel creative? What do you like in working environments. People have a lot of different tastes of how they like their layouts, how they like their... the style of a studio to be.
King Britt:
Okay. So most of the studios that I... I have one in Philly at the moment, which I need to move the rest of it to San Diego, where I live now. And then my studio here, which is on campus, it's pretty, pretty sick. It's in an old studio building that was built here, the late 70s, early 80s, where each office/studio, each office is a studio here, like a personal project studio. But it's pretty huge, right?
Will Betts:
Yeah. Well, a project studio in the 70s had to be huge, whereas now you get a lot of stuff in there, yeah.
King Britt:
Exactly. And so, each one is already linked directly to the main room, the main live room, where you can actually record an orchestra in there, whatever. But we're patched in, so I can record directly in to that room, which we haven't done it. But when the pandemic happened, that was on the list, like maybe we should, because there were all these kind of recording projects that needed to be done within the school. And they were thinking about that, but it just... it never came to fruition. But it is patched up like that.
Will Betts:
I love those old studios there, where they put tielines in everywhere.
Male:
Everywhere.
Will Betts:
Like the studios where there's tielines to the shed in the garden, just in case we were feeling wanting to go down there and like... Those really old studios where they had crazy budget, and they've like, "Oh yeah, I can't remember where did I go?" There's some studio. And it's like, "Yeah, you can patch it through to the kitchen," when you're making coffee and listen to it.
Will Betts:
There was actually this one place I went to one time in Germany, it was called the Funkhaus in Berlin. And they had tielines... Oh my lord, it was this broadcast complex, right? So it had tielines into every single place. You just walked past a wall in a corridor, and you just pop off the wall and there was tielines. None of it worked anymore, that was the great shame of it.
Chris Barker:
That was the old... where they used to record the Russian orchestras and stuff during communism, wasn't it, that big building? I think it was the radio station.
Will Betts:
Yeah. It was the radio station.
Chris Barker:
Broadcast. Yeah. But that's where they did Superbooth and stuff.
Will Betts:
They did.
King Britt:
Nils Frahm's studio's there.
Will Betts:
Correct. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Ah, that makes sense.
King Britt:
I don't know. Don't quote me. I think Mouse on Mars is in there too.
Will Betts:
Yeah. At least they were. Yeah. They might still be. Yeah.
King Britt:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Back to the My Forever Studios. So we've got it in Japan. But what's the actual style then? You say it'd be like an office kind of vibe with a studio attached?
King Britt:
No, no, no, no. Okay. So I was just explaining kind of where I am now, which is, I call it like a laboratory because it's more like a laboratory and it's on campus. Then my studio in Philly is just a loft. And I really love that the openness, the space, right? And so, since we're in Japan, it would be great to get an old tea house, in the countryside, and convert the tea house, and it's all wood, just the old wood, and convert the tea house into acoustically proper studio. It would be awesome.
Chris Barker:
Nice. Yeah, that'd be very chill space as well.
King Britt:
Take your shoes off, please, which is better. It's actually quieter with the socks.
Chris Barker:
You'd have to have guests... little soft house slippers for the guests.
King Britt:
Oh of course. With a logo, like the crown.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
King Britt:
Yeah, come on man. It's all ready. Let's go. Let's do it.
Chris Barker:
Yes, slippers with a crown. I like that. Yeah. You mean you should get those made anyway, that's cool merch. Like little house slippers. King Britt studio slippers. That's what you should call them.
Will Betts:
Studio slides.
Chris Barker:
Studio slides. Yeah. Yeah. Let's start moving on to the gear, and get the boring bits out of the way. Well, I call them the boring bits, but it's not always boring. You get three bits for free before we go into your six items. But they have to be a computer, an audio interface, and a DAW. So, computer, what you're choosing for your forever studio is a computer. Are you just going to max out a Mac or are you going to go retro?
King Britt:
No, I mean, I would max out a Mac. Those new Macs, they look like little spaceships. They're black, right? I don't know what it's called. Maybe it's just Mac Pro. But they had [crosstalk 00:11:22] new the ones.
Chris Barker:
There was the ones that look like the little trash cans.
King Britt:
That's it. Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Barker:
But there's a new one.
King Britt:
Oh, yeah?
Chris Barker:
So we can...
Automated:
Upsell your dreams.
Chris Barker:
... which is what we do on the podcast.
Chris Barker:
They've moved from the trash can, you referred to as a spaceship, which is much kinder. [crosstalk 00:11:38] But they have a new one, which looks like a cheese grater. I think that's crazy powerful. That's generally the one people go for on the podcast to be honest with you. That's why I say it's kind of a boring question, because everybody just goes, "Give me that." What is it, Will, $58,000 or so?
Will Betts:
It's there abouts, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
King Britt:
Well, to be fair, and to keep it interesting for you, there's certain things that I loved about my old MacBook Pro 17 inch 2010, right? All the ports. Snow Leopard was incredibly solid, never had a problem. And so, if I need to open old files, say Ableton 9 and back, then an old Logic Emagic with the key, then we'll keep that computer on the side, okay, to keep it interesting for you. So if you ever come to the studio, we'll have you use that computer. Right?
Chris Barker:
As a test.
King Britt:
Because you didn't like the cheese grater, so you're not allowed to use it.
Chris Barker:
Fine. Fine. Will, we've been punished for the first time [crosstalk 00:12:54]
Will Betts:
Oh no.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, fair. Okay. And what about... So we've got a specked out Mac. Yeah, it's cheese free.
King Britt:
I'm lactose intolerant.
Chris Barker:
So what about the audio interface? What's your dream audience interface fantasy forever studio?
King Britt:
You know, I'm not... Gotta keep it simple. I mean, I love the Apollo, man. I love the UAD. It just makes sense. The pres are great. I love the plugins. This isn't a plug either. No pun intended. But it's just great. Convenient.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Again, it's a popular choice. I mean, so you mentioned the pres there. Will, there's two versions, right, of the top flagship Apollo? You're going to get the... Is it the 8P?
King Britt:
X8P. I have it right here. We're talking through it, right there.
Will Betts:
Very nice. You're gonna stick with the X8P?
King Britt:
Yeah. I mean, if it's right now, and we're talking about fantasy studio in the now, yes. Now in the future... I'm sure they have things that are coming out. So who knows?
Chris Barker:
Oh, I thought you could actually tell us the future there. And I was just strapped in and ready.
King Britt:
Nah, I signed a NDA with the divine, so I'm not allowed.
Chris Barker:
That's what the D in NDA stands for, divine.
King Britt:
Divine.
Chris Barker:
The non divine agreement. Okay, so the final free item is your DAW. What, you get one... Well, you can have as many DAWs as you want down the line, if you want to pick more as your six items, but the one we give you for free, what's it going to be?
King Britt:
I mean, I get it for free in anyway, but Ableton, man. And I don't... I'm not saying that because I get it for free. It's I've been a supporter of Ableton since it came out, and been helping with beta testing and all of that since maybe version six. And so, I just... and I teach it as well. It's just, me as a producer, it's just mind blowing what you can do, especially with Max for Live.
King Britt:
But also, now with, I would say from nine, and now we have 11, sonically it really sounds good, whereas before it was a little bit falling flat. No pun intended again. Against, say, Logic. Logic sounded fantastic. But now Ableton is right there, up there with the quality of sound.
Chris Barker:
Tell us about that time when you've discovered Ableton then, if you were there from the very start, what were you on before and what was the kind of... what was the feature that made you go, "Right, stop everything, I'm switching"?
King Britt:
Right. It was Logic. I was a huge... So, when I first heard... my first DAW ever was Master Tracks.
Will Betts:
Wow.
King Britt:
Do you remember Master Tracks?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
King Britt:
Master Track. So, my first maybe five Eps, like E-Culture with me and Josh wink; our first 12-inch that came out. That was all master tracks. And yeah, so going from master tracks and then Logic, when Logic first came out, and Emagic had the little blue key, which I still have. Before Apple bought them and ruined him. But yet, when Emagic was... Oh, man, they're going to... Anyway. Maybe we can edit that. I'm just kidding. Don't edit anything. The blue key Emagic Logic was incredible. The sounds are incredible. It was really fun.
Chris Barker:
It's a shame they didn't have like a red key for Ableton, and then it could have been, "Which one do you choose, the blue key or the red key?"
King Britt:
That's funny. Yeah. Oh, that would be a nice meme.
Will Betts:
We'll make that.
Chris Barker:
Somebody make that meme. Anybody listening now, make that meme, email it to editors@musictech.net. We love it.
King Britt:
Now when I first got Ableton, I didn't grasp it a hundred percent. I didn't, because of the Windows, right? With Session View, I didn't understand it at first, the whole idea, right? And so I just used it as I would Logic. I just used it as a linear arrangement view DAW. And the reason I used it that way is I'm from old school MPC. You know, 60 MPC3000, 2000. I had the S50. I'm huge into samplers. I'm coming from that culture, taking any sound and manipulating it.
King Britt:
And so, to be able to stretch a sound and sample in real time like that, without losing quality and without changing the key and keeping it consistent like that, harmonically. Come on, man, it was like, "What? I can do what?" And so yeah, that was the beginning of, "Okay. I'm gonna stick with this company," because their vision, the way they thought about music creation was next level. And I stayed with it. And then I saw Sasha.
King Britt:
I was at limelight. And Sasha, I was like, "Yo, you're DJing with Ableton?" And so, what he was doing, he was DJing but then he had... and we're talking Ableton 6. We're talking way back. And he was DJing, but he had stems. I'm talking back in the day. He had stems in Ableton, and then he was also DJing. So he had this combination going, right. But he was able to... he MIDI map the tempo, so he can mix it in, right?
King Britt:
I was like, "Yo," and then because he can manipulate the tempo, but everything was warped, that's what... I was like, "Oh, my God." And then when Push came out... well, first the APC40 and then Push. Then it was a physical manifestation of what was on the screen in the story, because I'm coming from old school physical knobs. I like knobs. I like pads. And that was it.
Chris Barker:
Nice.
Will Betts:
You said a little moment ago about Max for Live and how much you can do with that. Can you tell us a bit about what you're actually doing in there? Because I think it can be a little bit overwhelming for a lot of people sometimes.
King Britt:
Well, first of all, my colleague, which... when I first started, I'm at UCSD in San Diego, so University of California, San Diego. And my colleagues, they're all mind blowing. Right? Tom Erbe. He's my colleague, he makes the modulars, the Erbe-Verb and the Mimeophon and all. And then, Miller Puckette is my colleague. And I remember when I first started, and Miller Puckette invented Max/MSP. MSP is Miller S. Puckette, right?
King Britt:
And so he's walking down the hall. I'm like... I'm ready to get an autograph. You know what I mean? It's crazy. Like, "Yo, you invented Max, and Pure Data." Yeah. He invented both. And he's one of the chillest humans ever, and he's just like, "Yeah, yeah."
Chris Barker:
You'd expect somebody who invented those things to be basically like an Android that had no social skills at all. You know what I mean?
King Britt:
He's complete opposite. Like come into all... We were throwing parties here. We are on campus, we have a club Shigeto, Taylor McFerrin, whatever. He would be at every show, rehearsal, soundcheck, just chilling. Just in it. And that's how... That's what makes you really a good creative, when you immerse yourself in things, right?
King Britt:
But anyway, Ableton... when Ableton introduced Max and Max for Live, it's kinda like, and I hate to say this and I hope it doesn't offend some people, but it's kind of like Macs for dummies, where you're coming from Ableton, and I just, "Ah, I love plugins, and I'm just gonna grab, boom, boom, boom, boom," into a world where you can create your own plugins, and that sort of thing.
King Britt:
So it's kind of a gateway into that. And it's kind of like, I see that here on campus, you get to a certain point, and the student wants to take it further and create their own sort of plugin. And they have ideas that they want to bounce and so then they take a Max course with Miller. And so it's a beautiful... It's a beautiful exchange. But Max for Live, for me personally, I just love all these creative ideas, and most of them are free, or you donate to whoever the creator is.
King Britt:
And, man, there's been some phenomenal things, man, that have just come out. And also Ableton is very smart. Those patches that are huge and popular, they slowly integrate them into Ableton in the...
Chris Barker:
It's kind of like a shop floor for seeing what's going on looking at... Yeah, nice. So far, we've got the Mac, we've got the UA, Apollo, we've got Ableton. So now, you only get six items of gear now. So item number one, what's it going to be?
King Britt:
It's hard because I'm a huge Moog fanatic, collector. And just, my first keyboard that I bought with my money, my summer job, saved the money and got a mini Moog. Right. And that was 85, 86... 86. And so, that's very dear to my heart, the mini Moog, but that's not one of the six.
Chris Barker:
Were they still making them new in 86, or was that a second hand...?
King Britt:
Second. Yeah, second hand. We had a place, but it was practically new, right? We had a place in Philly, Philadelphia, is where I'm from, called Cintioli's. And it's this older Italian gentleman, he actually passed away last year, which was sad. Actually was talking to Jazzy Jeff about this recently, but we all used to go to his place. It was out a little bit... you drive out. And he's just this personality. He's like, "Ah, what do you want?"
King Britt:
And we're like, "What keyboards do you have today?" He had this massive warehouse, somewhere in Philly, of every keyboard known to man, and he had like 10 of them. And so every few days, he would just bring keyboards out. And now you got to remember, this is when nobody wanted to buy keyboards, right? People were like... And we're talking like 90 maybe 90... 90, 91. People, they didn't want 303s or any... They were just not even interested, in Philly anyway.
King Britt:
And so, he brought out... Now one of the keyboards that he brought out, this is one that I want in the studio, so that's why I'm telling this story. He brought this out, he's like, "Ah, just give me $100." Practically brand new Mono/Poly Core. Still have it. It's in Philly, but I'm bringing it soon. Beautiful, man, Mono/Poly is one of the best keyboards of all time. That's one thing that will be in the studio.
King Britt:
The mini Moog. Back to the mini Moog. Yeah, it was used but it was practically new. Someone probably... maybe in a rock group or something in Philly. Maybe not. Maybe didn't want it and then just brought it.
Chris Barker:
They probably returned it because they were like, "I think it's broken. It only plays one note at a time."
King Britt:
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So anyway, the Mono/Poly, that's number one. We're going to have the Mono/Poly in the studio.
Chris Barker:
Okay, and then let's move on to item number two. What's it going to be?
King Britt:
Number two. Also bought at Cintioli's. Yeah. I don't know. It's cool. But it needs some work. Just give me $200 for it. Okay. Sonic Six Moog.
Chris Barker:
What?
King Britt:
So the case... the case was broken, right? So it needed hinges. And it needed to be cleaned up and the pods and whatever. And so I just kept it. I got it, I didn't use it too much, and I kept it. And then a few years ago, maybe I'll say five years ago now, there's a company in Philly call Bell Tone Synth. Anyone needs synth repair, this couple, they repair synths. They're unbelievable. Cleaned it up, it's like brand new. They put hinges. It's unbelievable.
King Britt:
And I used it for the album I did for Hyperdub Fhloston Paradigm - The Phoenix. It's all over that record. I used to run drum machines through it. I did everything with that. So that's number two.
Chris Barker:
They can't have made many of those. You don't see them very often at all.
King Britt:
Yeah, I thought they made about 1,200 I'm gonna say. Yeah, but you know, don't quote me on it. I don't know.
Chris Barker:
But it was an era probably where a lot probably just got thrown away and stuff. You hear horror stories about synths like that, especially in education institutes where they just all got skipped when the new generation came out and things like that. Schools just like... Yeah, one summer there's just a skip full of synths on... Oh, these are old. We're getting the new ones.
King Britt:
And actually, I'm gonna pull it up, right. Here it is. I just happen to have it because of class, when I do history. So I'm gonna leave it up for now.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's nice. Making us jealous here.
King Britt:
Zoom. I love Zoom. And this is just a photo of it. It's in Philly, too. And so, Sonic Six Mono/Poly. Okay?
Chris Barker:
Okay, so let's take a pause. So item number one is Mono/Poly. Lock that in, Will. Number two is a Sonic Six, the Moog. Lovely blue colour as well. It looks gorgeous as well, doesn't it. It's a great, great looking thing.
King Britt:
And I have the Monarch, the new Monarch, which is beautiful synth. But the cool thing about it, it looks like Sonic Six, like they adapt that vibe.
Will Betts:
So just that front panel of it, looking modular, is being easy to navigate, each section is sort of outlined.
King Britt:
One hundred present, because it was made for... I heard stories, and I have to actually ask Michelle Moog about this, but I heard stories where he used to go door to door with the Sonic Six, and then just pop it open like, "This is what synthesis is." And it's all laid out. It was an educational, it was supposed to be a educational tool. That's what I heard.
Chris Barker:
That, I love the idea of just Jake.
King Britt:
Dude, I don't know if my Moog showed up at your crib. [inaudible 00:30:07] Yo, that would be...
Chris Barker:
Hello. And then just bust out a synth solo on the Sonic Six. You like that, you like what you hear? You want to buy one?
King Britt:
Well, you know what? Prince was a Jehovah Witness. So he had to go door to door, that's part of your... it's part of being in that religion. And he would show up their stories, man. He would show up at someone's house.
Chris Barker:
He'd knock on the door and people would be like, "No, I'm not interested." And then they just hear that opening chord of Purple Rain. And then they'd open the door and go, "Okay, come on in."
King Britt:
That's epic.
Chris Barker:
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Will Betts:
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Will Betts:
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Chris Barker:
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Will Betts:
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Chris Barker:
So, item number three, right?
King Britt:
Now, when you say item, are we speaking about speakers as well?
Chris Barker:
Everything. You need to build your forever studio with six items. So you do need some speakers because you don't have any right now. So as cool as these synths are, you can't hear them yet.
King Britt:
I'm a really simple guy. I can mix pretty much on anything. And it's so funny, I've been mixing on the 824s, the old Mackies, for so long, I just know them. But I recently picked up focals. Focal A 80s, I think these are? Oh my God, I can hear. It's wow, they're really good speakers, man.
Chris Barker:
They're not even the big ones in the Focals, are they?
Male:
They're not super expensive either. That's the great thing. They're the alpha-
King Britt:
That's why I got them.
Chris Barker:
You could've saved that money for those synths.
King Britt:
I was like, "What can I get the most bang for my buck?" And everyone told me... Actually, Lisa Bella Donna. We're going back. She said, "Get the Focals." And I trust anything she says. I hit her back up soon as I got it, I was like, "Yo, thank you so much. They sound amazing."
Chris Barker:
But can we (singing). Because you love the Focals, but we could get you some big bad boy Focals, top of the range SM9 - a popular choice.
King Britt:
I mean, please, please.
Chris Barker:
Have you seen the SM9s, they're kind of nice, [inaudible 00:33:34] on the side. You can split them up into two.
King Britt:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay. (singing) Dreams have been up-sold successfully.
King Britt:
Yeah, yeah. [inaudible 00:33:44]
Chris Barker:
Okay, so item number four. We're racing through these now, but item number four. And we'll do a little rundown once you get to the end of the sixth and you might want to change your mind, but item four, what's it going to be?
King Britt:
You're going to laugh. SP-1200.
Chris Barker:
Ooh, I'm not going to laugh. Have you seen the S2400?
King Britt:
Yeah. Actually, everyone but myself has one.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I've got one.
King Britt:
All my friends have one. I'm like, "Why didn't they send me one? No. But yeah, I saw and I heard it's incredible. What do you think?
Chris Barker:
We just reviewed it? One of our team reviewed it and yes, it was wicked. I think it's a really... I think, from the review it was kind of like a really nice modern update, a sort of homage to it. It's kind of... it's hard to compare to something that old because you want it to do new stuff. But it keeps being updated with new features and new firmware.
Chris Barker:
It was kind of... I think it was kind of challenging review that because it came... for the reviewer, it kept being updated mid-review, so it was slow to do. I think the reviewer loved it, Will?
Will Betts:
Yeah. No, I mean, it's a very different looking thing. It's like although it's got all the same functionality as the original, but you've got all... You can use SD, you can upload samples via USB and all that useful stuff. You don't have to have a floppy drive. So what is it for you, Britt, about the SP1200 that's... why is it that one and not other samplers?
King Britt:
Every sampler I've had, they've all had their own kind of character to it. So there's two things about this. The first thing is, I was an idiot and sold mine. So I want it back. The other thing is, I love the limitations of it. Oh, of course, the sound. The sound. It sounds like no other sampler. Okay? And I was a... I went from Drumulator, I had the old Drumulator. Remember those?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
King Britt:
I still have it. Mint, actually. And it actually matches the Sonic Six, because it was blue. And so, upgraded to SP1200 when I could afford it. But I love the limitations, especially going back. When I got it back in the day, there's something about pushing. Those limitations push you to be more creative. And the funny thing with my students, even though I'm teaching Ableton and all, I set these limitations up.
King Britt:
I'm like, "You can only use this, this, this and this. You can only use 12 seconds," whatever. And they have to be as creative as we were back then, because drum and bass, you think about the S950 and the limitations that it had, but also that time stretch. That created a sound. You know, we had Hank Shocklee in class. And he was telling us how he did the first Public Enemy record from pause tape ideas, and then getting a sampler but playing everything in down the track; the kick and snare.
King Britt:
So when you try to mix that record, it's all over, because it's a live record. It's alive, they didn't sequence, they played. And so, when it comes to the SP1200, just first the sound of it, and then the limitations of it, how many seconds and all. Now I would upgrade it. I would add a... if it's possible to add a SSD drive, that would be sick.
Chris Barker:
I mean, is that possible technically, Will?
Will Betts:
I think there's a guy... If I'm not mistaken, there's a dude called Bruce Forat, who does all this kind of stuff. He's in LA.
King Britt:
He's in LA. Okay.
Will Betts:
I think he's in LA. Yeah. So he updates all of these things and he's got a mad cave of wonders that he does these upgrades in, but I think he does one of these actually.
King Britt:
Yeah, I might have to invest. They're pretty crazy financially now. I mean, how much they cost now, the SP1200.
Will Betts:
Oh yeah. I might be mistaken there, but yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's the Forever Studio though, so we can get Bruce to mod it, get an SSD in there. Lovely stuff.
King Britt:
Yeah. Be awesome.
Chris Barker:
The favourite records you've made using the SP, and what about favourite records that other people have made using the SP; what are standout records that you just...
King Britt:
Anything by Pete Rock, which he still uses. I mean, his videos every week, he's using it on whatever. I mean, come on, man. Pete. Anything Easy Mo Bee has done, fantastic. Kenny Dope. You know, all the early MAW stuff, which he actually announced today, new MAW next week. Masters At Work for those who don't know.
King Britt:
But yeah, anything Kenny Dope has done. Now as far as I'm concerned, I did a lot of my demos for Sylk 130. My first kind of foray into... That was my first album album. Did most of those demos on the SP. And then three of those made it onto the album, as far as the SP itself, and then I sold it like an idiot. But I did tonnes of demos with it, before that album came out, and then I got the MPC, and the MPC replaced it.
King Britt:
But if you're talking to me about what I want in this dream studio. Just the way snare sound and kick sound out of that SP.
Chris Barker:
On the speed of it, I've used now I guess, it's like you say you use it for demos, because you could just get something going straight away. I mean, that's why loads of... like all of the Alan Braxe stuff and Stardust, Music Sounds Better With You. It was all SP.
King Britt:
Oh yeah, that was SP?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah, Alan Braxe is running as well. That was SP, I made a video with him on that somewhere on YouTube. But it's mad. It's just like a floppy disc. And obviously they were probably just playing with ideas. And then they're actually like, "Actually this is the track, just stick it through that Alesis 3630 compressor, and then that's it." We're done.
Chris Barker:
I guess that's the beauty of that thing. It's just with the speed of being able to play it like an instrument as well. So, that's item number four locked in. So we're on to item number five.
King Britt:
Well, because this is the dream studio, now I've always wanted an API board, custom. Okay?
Chris Barker:
With a little crown on it?
King Britt:
Why not? The crown series. The crown series. So, I'd like an API. Just 16 channel, nothing crazy.
Chris Barker:
Well, you can have whatever you want. You can go bigger than that if you want. Why not?
King Britt:
Yeah. It's a very... 16's good, because like I said, limitations.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
So, tell us about your API journey then. Why API, because that's quite an unusual choice? People often go for [Neve 00:41:21] or SSLs, but API's a very particular sound.
King Britt:
That's right, everyone goes for Neve and SSL. API just has this... The way it sounds for drums, and it just has this punch that the others don't. Neve, rocking, amazing, warm, round. Like it's very round on the bottom. But the API... And SSL is, it's cool. But don't get me wrong, there's an SSL thing coming up in a second, for the studio. And I'll tell you about it. You probably already know. You already know what I'm going to say, but we'll get to it in a second.
King Britt:
But API, it's just punchy. And so, a good friend of mine in New Orleans has one. He just got a custom... Oh my god. I was like, "Yo, how much was it?" He's like... He told me. I was like, "Oh well."
Chris Barker:
Yeah. When you find out how much this stuff costs. I mean, an education place I used to work at before, we had the API for the students and it was very popular, obviously. But I used to literally tell... I'd be showing around parents like, "This is where you should bring kids to study." And I'd literally tell them the price of it because it's like... I mean, come on. Be like same price as a small flat or a house or apartment somewhere. Crazy. But yeah, serious bits of care. Sounded amazing though. Like you say, for drums. Those EQs on drums.
King Britt:
Oh my god. And also, how sensitive they are, the EQ. You don't need to boost it too much or when you cut, it's just little bits and pieces. It sounds, ah man.
Will Betts:
So question here is do you want the vision, do you want the legacy, do you want a 1608, the really miniature one? What are you after? You after like a big old thing or do you want the slightly more tiny one?
King Britt:
I want a newer, just because with the older, too many repairs. I'm going to be out in Japan, way out there in the field. So it's just... it's going to be a pain. So I'd rather just work.
Will Betts:
What about things like Flying Faders, like on the 1608 you can get the Flying Faders in recall modules, so it will recall... Actually it probably doesn't work with Ableton though, does it. Probably only works with Pro Tools.
King Britt:
Flying Faders' cool, but what I want to do, I want to be Tom Dowd, before... Pre... Because he created the Flying Fader actually. Because he got tired of doing what I'm about to say, but I want to ride the Faders like... I want to do it live, I don't want that automation for everything.
King Britt:
Ableton, we can recall anything, fantastic. In the computer, that's our recall centre. Analogue, let's keep it analogue, let's keep it where we don't have any sort of... less mechanical stuff, the less possibility of it breaking.
Will Betts:
I'm just going to say here that we do have a Forever Studio tech, who we've allowed other people to have vintage pieces of gear, so that they can keep them maintained. If that changes things for you, Britt, let us know.
King Britt:
Okay. All right.
Chris Barker:
So what's the most expensive, poshest 16-channel API they do then? They do custom builds I guess.
Will Betts:
I think for a 16 channel, it looks like Legacy might be the one. I think Vision is the biggest. But we're talking like 48 channels. There's the box, which is quite an interesting thing. I think it's a bunch of line level stuff and then you can put in the 500 series things, you can build it exactly as you want it. But that feels a bit like a bundle, so let's say, we'll go 1608. I think that's the one.
Chris Barker:
The 1608 has the slots for the lunchbox EQs as well.
King Britt:
Oh really?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. So that on the 1608 you can flip out different EQs in, I think. I don't know if it's actually 500 series, or it's just an option of the 1608.
Will Betts:
Oh no, you can. Eight spaces for 500 series models. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
There we go. Eight spaces, that's pretty good.
King Britt:
Ah, space is the place.
Chris Barker:
This is item number six.
King Britt:
So my next item, SSL G Series bus compressor.
Chris Barker:
Okay. And it's interesting you're using up a whole item for this, because you could've got a desk and a bus compressor in one item.
King Britt:
I want a desk though. I just want the bus compressor, which you can get... You can find them in... Get it done into, like a box or whatever. Someone just sold one, I saw on Instagram. I was like, "Fuck." And it was pretty affordable.
Chris Barker:
Yes, assuming somebody will take one out of an old desk, a 500 series it up. Yeah, okay. That's very cool. And you can have that right in your API. And that little SSL compressor won't know what the hell is going on, it'll be like "Where am I."
King Britt:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
I do not before here. Where is my G series mama
King Britt:
Or he might be really happy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Could be a good foster home for him.
Will Betts:
Change of scene.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. He's been in the system and it worked out.
King Britt:
He was being abused in the SSL.
Will Betts:
Yeah. This analogy might need to stop, guys.
Chris Barker:
All that nasty pop music, all that weird pop music that was going on for that SSL. No. Yeah, okay, okay. Okay, we'll stop that analogy, Will, it's going to go too far for me there. Okay, so Will, do you want to runs us through. We got to the sixth item...
Will Betts:
Oh, wait, before we do the rundown, tell us why the G series, because you could've gone 2500 in the API. You could've gone... Of all the bus compressors, you could've gone like a 33609. Why the G series for you?
King Britt:
Nothing sounds like it, man. It adds this kind of... It adds this distortion that you don't really get with any other board, and any other SSL for that matter. It's just something about it, man. You can read up on it too, just to get into the kind of weird tech side of it.
Will Betts:
It's got to be the most cloned compressor ever, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, sure.
King Britt:
And there's a reason for that.
Chris Barker:
Ant talking off closed, in term of software, have a software version that comes close? Tell us.
King Britt:
UAD. Right before we got on with this call.
Chris Barker:
You had one for ages and it wasn't SSL branded, right? And then an SSL branded one appears and I always questions like, "Have they done anything to it?" I guess the actual audio changed or they just got a licence to now. Question for UA there.
King Britt:
It actually worked with the people at SSL to create that plugin. So that's why I kind of gravitated to it. It sounds much better than Waves one. Waves has a version.
Chris Barker:
Well, and there's the glue. That was kind of...
Will Betts:
Yeah. That's now in Ableton.
Chris Barker:
In Ableton yeah. That was sort of modelled one as well. But I mean there's hundreds of software ones, there's got to be.
King Britt:
The glue is hot. I mean, no pun intended again. Lots of puns today. The glue is hot though. The glue is... The Glue compressor in Ableton is really good. It just adds colour distortion to it. Desaturation. It adds a really nice saturation to it, yeah.
Chris Barker:
So, Will, let's picture this studio for a second. Will can take us through. And then we'll see if we want to make any changes before we get to your luxury item.
Will Betts:
We're in an old converted tea house in the Japanese countryside near to Roland HQ. We step over the threshold, it's all wood and no shoes. We pop on the studio slides with the crown logo. In the corner we see a 17 inch MacBook Pro 2010 running Snow Leopard. Are we sure we're going with this, or we going with the specced out Mac? We're going specced out Mac, right?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I think that laptop was a punishment for me to have to use.
Will Betts:
Okay, so that's the guest computer. We have a specced out Mac Pro. Audio interface is the universal audio, Apollo X8P. For our DAW, we're using the Ableton Live 11 Suite. And our studio items, we have two amazing synths; the KORG Mono/Poly, we have the Moog Sonic Six. We're listening back on the Focal SM9s. Then we also have the samplers.
Will Betts:
We have the E-mu SP-1200 for the sound and the limitations, but sort of unlimited with the SD card upgrade, which I discovered you can get one from Rossum Electro-Music. The 35th anniversary edition, not cheap. But it is the Forever Studio, so you can have it. Then for a desk, we have the API 1608 custom... the 16 channel. And then finally, you chose the SSL G Series bus compressor. How does that feel, Britt?
King Britt:
Oh my god. I'm trying to go. Let's go, right?
Chris Barker:
Yes. Let's. That's good, that's good. I think we've nailed this one. So the final thing then is not a piece of studio gear, not music making equipment, but something you would like in your studio, so your luxury item.
King Britt:
I would say, if it's luxury and it's completely bonkers, it would be the first test pressing framed of Space is the Place.
Chris Barker:
That will be an inspirational bit of wall that, wouldn't it?
King Britt:
Exactly. Right in the middle, unless there's a window there, but it would be somewhere where I could feel that energy all the time.
Chris Barker:
That is nice. That's nice. And you're saying crazy like... That's crazy item to own, but...
King Britt:
He would make his own covers too. So they would draw their own covers, so the artwork is sure would be beautiful.
Chris Barker:
That's such a much more beautiful well thought out luxury item than we usually have, isn't it, Will?
Will Betts:
Usually people pick coffee machines or rotating, floating waterbeds, and things like that.
King Britt:
Really?
Chris Barker:
What a nice, beautiful one to end this episode with. That's lovely.
King Britt:
Thanks.
Chris Barker:
It's made me feel warm inside late at night here. It's good. Well, that's the My Forever Studio. Kind of a nice, soft ending to that one, wasn't it?
King Britt:
Thank you, man. That's the whole idea of the studio. When you leave, you're going to feel soft and zen, when you leave that studio.
Chris Barker:
We're not leaving. I slipped my feet into those King Studio slides and I threw my shoes into the forest, never to return.
King Britt:
That's epic. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
See ya later. Unless Prince returns them, then... You lost your shoes, man.
King Britt:
We're going to make this... We're going to manifest this whole studio. Yeah, thank you.
Chris Barker:
And bring Prince back, for god's sake. We miss him. What a legend. Okay. Right. Well, that's the My Forever Studio podcast. Thank you so, so much. It's been a blast. I love chatting to you.
King Britt:
This is the most fun I've ever had with an interview ever.
Chris Barker:
It really warms our hearts and helps us get better and better guests and more and more fascinating and interesting people like yourself, so give yourself a round of applause. Thank you so much for joining us. Well, that was awesome. That was the first time I've ever spoken to King Britt. What a delightful person he is. Brilliant choices there.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's unusual and high-end picks there, I'd say. I'd even describe... I'd go so far, Chris, as describing the Sonic Six as #foreverstudiogoals.
Chris Barker:
Ah, we got a hashtag. Anyway, if you live in the My Forever Studio, as you know by now, you have to subscribe. And you have to do it using your favourite podcasting app, and maybe even drop us a five star rating. You know the drill. Come on.
Will Betts:
You don't have to use the hashtag, just to be clear.
Chris Barker:
No, no. To be clear, you do have to use the hashtag now. #foreverstudiogoals
Will Betts:
All right. Cool. And if you do that and if you leave us a review, you'll have a special place in our hearts forever, obviously. And if you want to contact us or get suggestions to us for guests, email us at editors@musictech.net.
Chris Barker:
Yes. And more importantly than our little ego and reviews, we have another show next week, and on next week's journey into Studio Foreverdom we have British composer, DJ and electronic music producer, Matthew Herbert.
Will Betts:
Yes. Matthew Herbert. And spoiler alert, he's another rule breaker, so it's going to be another fun show. But we'll see you next time.
Chris Barker:
See you next time. Bye-bye.