Dot Major is the keyboard player and percussionist for the hugely successful British trio London Grammar, and he’s recently launched a solo project born out of his love for electronic music and synths. stories of lost gear rediscovered, a synth he bought in a sale, his terrible file naming habit, the effect he’d be lost without, and how his one esoteric drum machine choice could see him through to eternity.
Dot Major is the keyboard player and percussionist for the hugely successful British trio London Grammar, and he’s recently launched a solo project born out of his love for electronic music and synths. stories of lost gear rediscovered, a synth he bought in a gale, his terrible file naming habit, the effect he’d be lost without, and how his one esoteric drum machine choice could see him through to eternity.
Season 5 is sponsored by Audient: audient.com
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
https://www.sequential.com/product/prophet-12-keyboard/
https://www.instagram.com/ginfactorystudios/?hl=en
https://www.uaudio.com/audio-interfaces/apollo-x8p.html
https://www.boesendorfer.com/en/pianos/pianos
http://www.stateofthearkstudios.com/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-arts-chopin-idUSL2141309320070321
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325209903345
https://www.ericasynths.lv/shop/standalone-instruments-1/perkons-hd-01/
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/studio-monitor/dynaudio-bm-15a-active-studio-monitor-right-per-unit
https://musictech.com/reviews/munro-sonic-egg-150-monitoring-system-review/
https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/buchla200e.php
https://reverb.com/uk/item/15979856-buchla-thunder
https://reverb.com/uk/p/buchla-252e-polyphonic-rhythm-generator
https://www.180thestrand.com/richard-mosse
https://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/dx1.php
https://black-corporation.com/product/deckards-dream-mk2/
https://www.ashunsoundmachines.com/
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/reverbs/lexicon-224.html
Chris Barker
I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts
And I'm Will Betts and this is the music tech, my firm's studio podcast brought to you in partnership with Audient. And we're coming to you this time from TYX in Tileyard Studios London.
Chris Barker
That's right. In this podcast, we speak with producers, engineers, musicians, and more about their fantasy forever studio.
Will Betts
The fantasy studio that our guests dream up in this session right here today is one that they will have to live with forever. But even in fantasy studio foreverdom. There are some rules.
Chris Barker
That's right, the rules, so I guess can select a computer, a DAW and an audio interface, then they get just six other bits of studio kit plus one luxury item.
Will Betts
There is one more rule though, isn't it? Yes.
Chris Barker
No bundles, they will not be allowed to select a package of software or hardware that sold as a bundle of items as a single item. No bundles,
Will Betts
No bundles. This time, our guest is the percussionist and keyboard player from the enormously successful British trio London grammar, and he has just launched his own solo project.
Chris Barker
Yep, a solo project born out of his love of electronic music and since so it's gonna be interesting to see whether we can slim down his studio two, just six items.
Will Betts
Indeed, it will be let's find out if you can. This is my forever studio with Dot Major. Welcome.
Chris Barker
Hello. Hey, the big enthusiast again. So yeah, I mean, you know, we all know London grammar and this but let's do a little bit about the new project and how that how this I mean, we said it was born out of a love of electronic music. And, you know, we've we've looked your Instagram, we've seen your nice kids. So how did that? How did that start? I mean, obviously playing keyboards and stuff. Yeah. What do you think get out of control?
Dot Major
Oh, wow. Was it? Well, no,
Chris Barker
no, no, it's
Dot Major
completely average. Well, it's yeah, it's kind of it's interesting, like growing up, actually, I was as a pianist, it was like, my brother, my dad did like kind of collects guitars. And my brother is a guitarist as well. He's like singer, songwriter, and he has a they I growing up, they always had this kind of like growing guitar collections. And they could always, like, almost idolized the guitars they had and like they had any I felt like a really special connection as like someone who did kind of enjoy collecting things. But I mean, collecting drum kits or pianos is like I mean, drum kits is obviously not a vibe anyway to collect but also like for space reasons like pianos and drums. It's just never really was a thing. So when I finally kind of got into since I felt like I could connect with this, like historic version of things in a way that I couldn't before, because it was always, I mean, like vintage drums, for example. Some people are into it for me, they just kind of sound pretty, perhaps it's like, it was never really, like I've always been into really pristine sounding kind of like punchy drum kits. So it was always like modern work to me anyway. But then, as soon as I started getting into sound design, it was like, Oh, shit, there's this whole new world of stuff that to get
Chris Barker
obsessed about. Yeah, which was obviously symbols can be a thing that a lot of drummers get into though for that reason. Like kind of,
Dot Major
I mean, how exciting is that?
Will Betts
Yeah. Into the NAMM show. Oh, yeah, people love a symbol of course.
Dot Major
That was me like when I was a kid I mean, magazine it was like yeah, it was never really kind of got me and I was that I was like hydro I remember this power reference kit when when I was like 18 It was just like insane. I was crying I was like it's got three sheets of African mahogany maple I was just like this is it. Yeah, but
Chris Barker
then yeah, I didn't know what it is. No, you do know about wood inside and panels
Dot Major
now? Yes. I mean, I do that I'm kind of into that. We all are it's fun. Yeah, yeah, that's actually really fun to say like other Jupiter it's just like the fact that it has like metal sides I've always found
Chris Barker
cement cheeks making you do that
yeah. So what was the first what was the first like major synths you bought? Then around that time? When When did it start being as expensive as as as important as drums?
Dot Major
Wow. I mean, was expensive. Immediately. Yeah, I mean, it was it was already kind of more important. I think because for me, I kind of grew up in Canada and playing drums and then it was like it to really express myself like, I found that in production in in sonically for sure. So it was like, having the ability to like having the ability to kind of explore so many different worlds was I started just like getting an SPDs and I was like, bam buzzers and I was just like sampling random shifts, and they're like, Sorry, can I sorry? Yeah, like um, you know, with nail and I had that thing where is like, Why has my head gone? Like, just pissing everyone off in my band practice but then it was like, first endeavor what was a prophet 12 And it still is actually also interestingly like, until the other day was the only synth of have sold. Oh, yeah. It was like, because that is Just too, I'd probably enjoy it more now, but for a first thing, it was just so many new divey I always really liked kind of one not perfect, like simplicity. If I want to do something, it's like, I want to do it quite quickly.
Chris Barker
Is that did it have pots? Or was it the endless rotaries?
Dot Major
No, it does. It does have pots. It's just that it's like, it's it's probably it's actually quite interesting. And then the other day, I sold him a milk one, like probably reasons. And actually, when I sold it, I got it out and was like, messing with it. And I was just like, I was I Why am I selling this? It's so good. But
Chris Barker
I just had that demo, in a sense, somebody comes down and says, Oh, can we see it working? And you start playing? To show him how good it is? Yeah, it's really good. You should buy it, then you're like, oh, no, this is really good. Yeah.
Dot Major
And when the guy was there, I was like, This is great. And I was I was selling it. I was like being a salesman. I was so good. Exactly. Why do you want to have a long way? Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker
So tell us about like, you know, building the studio, and then how you and how you produce as well, because I mean, we're gonna get on very quickly to building your fantasy forever studio, but like, you know, what, what do you look for in a creative space? And like, you know, does it even matter? Do you care, as long as it's got loads of
Dot Major
Yeah, I think like, I really don't care about whether something comes from like a soft synth, or a synth, or whatever it is, I think it for like for creative. Like, for me, it's not even really about necessarily so much how it sounds, it's like, it's almost purely about the process of like, it's the same thing as limitations. It's like, if you have with us with a centerfire, I quite often will just like just scroll through soft synths and find something I like and use it or whatever. And sometimes it's like my modular or whatever is being so annoying that I'm like, okay, screw you, I would just go over and do it on the computer button. But it's more like if you're working with other people, like there's nothing that I personally find it more dry than just like a room of like a computer and like one MIDI keyboard. And it's like, so let's like write some music, because it's there. I think if you want to make especially if you're delving into electronics, it's like, you would always have the same things like sitting around a campfire with an acoustic guitar and like a gym bag, or whatever it is like instruments gives you the ability to communicate with an immediacy that like you just can't do when you're just now getting in front of computers, the other
Chris Barker
master artists like that before where they'll have loads of kit that essentially never really makes it onto the record. Yes. Like it's just makes them want to go into the room. And like I'd like started doing stuff. Yeah, I mean, but then it might end up being Oh, well. That's cool riff but I'll do it. I'm not soft. Oh, like, Oh, it's
Dot Major
just so obtuse ly out of tune. Yeah, you're just like, I've got to replace that. But it still, for me, I'm always like I do I do. Like I do use them all the time. But it's definitely a thing where it's, it's very much a very much about the process and like and by the same token, I've spent too much time with all of this stuff that's like never quite set up properly or you have all your shit on like Jasper's racks, and then you're like, oh, let's use that as your go in there, pull it out and put it down. So it's actually only really this year that I basically went through the studio and they only had a bit of downtime and like, after we finished and touring it with the band, and I I've got everything, like hooked up on all the time because then you know, like I'm gonna chambers's Yeah. So it's kind of like the sound I'm like, What is the point in having myself it's not just on and I just want to be able to walk over 10 thing and play it and then it'd be like it's on a channel and you've lost the moment of like wanting to create or like whatever your idea was
Chris Barker
and in your sort of dream forever studio which would be somewhere that you have at home or would it be something that you go to because some people have different opinions on on that?
Dot Major
Yeah, depends who's about
Chris Barker
well let's let's dream forever studio. Let's start off with where would you have it in the world if you could have a studio anywhere in the world skies? Like where would you put baby to put them
Dot Major
I mean, I really don't Yeah, I don't I don't think that like necessarily having some other than having daylight that is obviously important because I spent three years with like, Jr, St. Louis and my brother we like shared a studio and we had this year it was in complete memory bank din factory studio. Okay, it's now like Sony studios Clark. And what I think we were three stories down. And it was just like this dungeon where like there was did you have had it or No, it wasn't there my brother claims that there was a ghost and that someone came in and told him that there was a ghost and I was like I was right, because obviously that means he was right. But basically, we go down like three flights of stairs and it did have a kind of vibe where sometimes I just go to work and then I just like have a nap on the sofa and then just like I've worked I've been to work so it was like it sometimes that can really destroy your creativity. But I like actually where where we are now is like I'm in it's only about 10 minute drive from my house, but it's just I would I would say it's in London because for me it's like you could go and have some studio in like the rain forest somewhere have a beautiful view but like really music is a choice. So the tune I just released yesterday good plug. Yeah. Called hideaway was actually I took a modular case with me to Brazil and it was in the rain forest and like, it was absolutely pissing rain every day. Obviously, it's a rain forest. I didn't really think. And so that ship band and that was just raining every day. So I was just on my modular nodes, and it was really beautiful. And I actually made that track like on the modular in in, in Brazil, okay, like I said, it's like if you wanted to have a dream studio, it's really about the people who you can bring in and stuff. So yeah, so for me, it's London, like it's just such a great place with so many talented people.
Chris Barker
And the rats and mice thing wasn't an insult. We did the first season of the podcast in a basement facility near the Thames. And there were there were actual
Dot Major
there was lots of there was like rats at my old flat in Camden. And it was and I was like, I remember once I was actually working in this rat came in through the wall and try to get picked up a penguin from the kitchen. And then the advert said no. So I turned to look at it. And then he saw me and he just dropped the penguin. And then and then as he's run up again, I was like if he comes back, I'm gonna film him. So he came back. He's picked up the hanger again. So I started filming him. And he's tried to jump up with the pigment in his mouth, like trying to shove it through the hole in the wall. Nice. Did
Will Betts
you get away with it?
Dot Major
No, no, you got a bit of a penguin but you could have had it. I gave it to him. Yeah.
Chris Barker
It sounds friendly. Friendly.
Will Betts
So housemates.
Dot Major
Yeah. I mean, it's not great in your house.
Chris Barker
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts
Yeah. That's a good point. So you need daylight, you've got to be in London. So what what's the interior aesthetic of this place?
Chris Barker
So you're not in a basement? You're somebody you hire. You're looking over London?
Unknown Speaker
It's No, I don't really care if it's high up, I'd rather it be higher than low down. Like I'm not into the really low down basement thing having done that. But I mean, intrinsically, that's not gonna have daylight anyway, so I don't really care if it's ground floor, or I probably rather it not be like, the 2000s floor of the W Hotel, because it's just a bit wanky. Right. Okay.
Will Betts
You don't want to be top of the Shard or something? No, no, no. That's just me.
Unknown Speaker
I mean, it's like a novelty, isn't it? But imagine you've got a session with someone and then you're like, just come to the top of the Shard. And then they get there. Yeah, it's kind of puts you on a bit. It's a bit of a power trip. So my
Chris Barker
form is just playing SimCity and building a big thing or Yeah, a big mayor's house on a mountain in the middle of SimCity. Studio at the top. Yeah, well, in my head. Yeah. So somewhere
Will Betts
a bit more down to earth, then. Yeah, sure. Definitely. Yeah. Somewhere between a basement and the top of the Shard is what we're working
Dot Major
with. 100%
Chris Barker
Yeah, yeah. Okay, what's the kind of vibe that we need to kind of vibe so like, what's okay as your creative space decide? Is it is it all modern, minimal, futuristic? Or is it wouldn't knows it's
Unknown Speaker
actually like, implicitly, it's like, specifically, neither. Like it can't be like chintzy and Okay, richety tea and stuff, but it definitely, definitely can't be like clean space. I hate that. Like, I hate that so much magenta lighting clean white, like, take your shoes off when you come in. No way. Okay. Okay. So not a direct London experience.
Will Betts
What's the studio that you've gone into and thought this is just right,
Chris Barker
you must have recorded loads of please. Yeah. So what I mean, any commercial facilities or places you've been? We've gone this. Yeah. I mean, like, we're just steel.
Dot Major
So we did the whole second now. And we're learning grammar at [Paul Epworth's] The Church. So I mean, that's not bad. Is it? Yeah, it's,
Chris Barker
it's just not is that kind of middle ground cozy, but not? Yeah, it's cozy.
Dot Major
It's really lovely. Yeah, I mean, it's beautiful. And it's just like, that was actually one of the times where I really like, Paul [Epworth] kind of got me into Eurorack, which is, Thanks, mate. Right. But yeah, it's like, it was definitely a time where I like really kind of connected with that stuff. Because I'd just be there late at night. And just like, it's kind of amazing. The church because when when the lights are dim, and it's like there's no window light coming through the stained glass windows. It's just all the lights are blinking on everything. It's kind of amazing.
Will Betts
Nice. So it's got that whole Eurorack wall behind the Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Amazing. So you're spending time just noodling on this Yeah.
Chris Barker
Yeah. Wow. That's such is like drug dealing isn't introducing.
Dot Major
Start with one. Gateway, and then you're adding your accent?
Chris Barker
Yeah, exactly. That
Will Betts
so you could just take the church. Yeah. could just take it over as fantasy fantasy forever. So you don't have I mean, you don't close with Paul. Yeah. Cool. Do you okay,
Dot Major
I mean, it's great. Listen, it's a beautiful studio. Like there's some things about it personally, I yeah, like it's really interesting. It's kind of unique because it has the whole thing about the desk. This desk is in the live room. So like it's a really I've never been to a studio especially on that like commercially on that level where that's the case. So you're always more To turn on cans, so it's kind of interesting. Like there's obviously they have different rooms but the main room the desk is in the studio, which is a really it's a really fun thing to work with. But I don't know if I would want that to be the case all
Chris Barker
the time. But we just mean the vibe like the actual vibe. Yeah, I mean, it's beautiful.
Will Betts
So, church law you could take something like the church whacking a big wall in the middle, okay, so that you can have your control room say, you know, get some architects in like a wall up Yeah, pop it wherever you're trying
Chris Barker
to get we're trying to upsell dreams. Yeah, I'm trying to
Dot Major
okay, you can have all of that but I don't want it to be in a church. Okay, because I think there's just too many connotations to the
Chris Barker
total building it's from being haunted out of the last place.
Dot Major
I don't want any potential ghosts.
Chris Barker
Ghosts priests adjacent friendly, right? It's fine. A ghost not too far. Yeah,
Dot Major
I can see a rat. Can't see a ghost.
Chris Barker
Okay, well, let's, let's let's let's move on to the the three free items, which are the audio interface, the computer and the DAW that you would have in your fantasy studio. So like, what are you using at the moment? And what would you have forever?
Dot Major
I mean, audio interface. I just go you a Yeah, yeah. No questions asked. By the top. So whatever top system of UAS I mean, I'm using like an eight XP or whatever now, but I have them in a you know, by Studio home in my studio with the band, so I kind of, it's like, amazing, Plug-in computer and same experience.
Chris Barker
So it's AP. That's the with the preamps with the P Yeah. Okay. And what about D? Aw,
Dot Major
da W, I'm going to have to go logic just because I've always had, I've always used it recently, I've sort of been cusping to Ableton, but I'm going to stick with logic. Okay,
Will Betts
not tempted to go over to the Ableton side. You do have forever after?
Dot Major
Yeah, I'm gonna, I do forever. If I was on my own, I'd probably say maybe I would choose Ableton, but I have to choose logic. It's just two things that annoy me. I listen, I can't, you can't scroll. You can't zoom in and out properly. It's just flawed.
Will Betts
Okay, interesting. So you've been with logic for a long time? Yeah, I've used
Dot Major
logic my whole life as well, since I was like, 14,
Will Betts
right? Wow. Okay. So
Chris Barker
when going more into electronic, that's when you sort of start to experiment with able to know, because it's Yeah,
Dot Major
sandbox, you can just go okay, I want that. And then you're like, I want to have an LFO over there. And I want to put that on there. And then I want to sample this thing, and then apply the groove of that to this. It's kind of like a complete and utter like, lateral thinking sandbox, which is really cool. But it's just like, there's certain things about it. Logic. I'm very well versed in like the first logic I ever bought came with this in a box, like, whether there was this many books. You read my dad always you say RTFM. Like, there was I was like me, I didn't even read the manual. I mean, he reads the manuals for like the toaster. But like there's, there's like this. There's this box, like this big. I don't know. But like it came with it's kind of bad. But yeah,
Will Betts
yeah, that was
Chris Barker
actually pre Apple must be was
Dot Major
It was no, it was it was apple, but I think it was like the first apple. I mean, they just bought it and they were like, we bought it. We're making the books. Yeah. Yeah.
Will Betts
I had to throw out my logic books just recently. And I was really sad. Yeah, so just recently, so yeah, weird. Admission read them. However. I never read them. Yeah. logic books. Knowledge. Yeah,
Dot Major
of course. Pointless law knowledge. And now they've changed the shortcut about 20 times.
Will Betts
Yeah. Nightmare. Your computer then?
Dot Major
I mean, it's just a new Mac. Yeah, I've actually got the yeah the MAC studio I've been using in the new fast Mac whenever.
Chris Barker
Nice. locked in, locked in.
Will Betts
Will soup it up as well.
Dot Major
Yes. Keep it up. Give me all the other shit. bells
Will Betts
and whistles. Good graph.
Chris Barker
And now we get to move on to the more sort of personal suggestions. You got six other items in the studio. So item number one. Okay, or forever studio.
Dot Major
Item number one is a Bosendorfer upright piano. Okay. Yeah, I mean, to be honest, it's a Steinway grand. But um, but you know, we don't know. I don't exactly know how much space you've got in the studio as
Chris Barker
much as you want this fantasy. Yeah, okay. Well, I sell dreams. I just
Dot Major
think of Bosendorfer outright. It's maybe a little bit more interesting. Okay, sounds great.
Will Betts
Why the Bosendorfer over the Steinway, apart from space concert is actually what yeah, like I was
Dot Major
playing in the Yamaha shop the other day, I was playing well, not even a while ago, but I was playing through them and like, there's one particular Bosendorfer I was just like, so beautiful. And I think because I grew up on it. I mean, I love playing grands have played them on a lot of records and stuff. But actually, the church has an amazing Steinway grand. And we did our first one was place called state of the art and they had a really amazing Steinway grand as well down in Richmond, so yeah, exactly. So it's kind of like I love that sound and it It's beautiful. And it really works for what I like to do as well. But I just think there's something about if it was forever, there's like a familiarity to like just even the way the process of sitting down and writing like seeing the hammers in front of you and stuff. So you take the front off, always take the front off. Yeah.
Will Betts
What's that about? Is that just the sound of it as the sound recorded differently? Or what? No,
Dot Major
no, it's the sound. I mean, like most of them are dire straits because of it. Because, like the ones there's one that my brother and I've had forever that's just like, it's it's hard to have us fix me ties from like parties and stuff, but it's
Chris Barker
the front has been taken off. You mean
Dot Major
their friends off and like, everyone's just sort of like, yeah, it's kind of an old rickety panel that answers fine.
Chris Barker
But they built you build a bit like an emotional attachment to those kinds of instruments, don't
Dot Major
you? Yeah, like that one's just covered in, like, passes from gigs, we've gone to like, just the whole thing's covered, and it's gone. Oh, that's nice.
Will Betts
And so would you would you not just get that one refurbished?
Dot Major
No, I hate that. I'd never play looking at it. But honestly, I really don't like that.
Will Betts
And I mean, you could steal somebody's Bosendorfer Do you know of anyone who plays this? Or would you just I mean, you could just ride the Yamaha shop obviously don't have to
Dot Major
No, no. I mean, would if I could have like a particular piano. I mean, maybe I'd take like Chopin's riding pianos. I mean, just for like, nostalgia. parently someone like bought a flat and found that piano were in the attic. Pretty sure we should definitely show of hands kind of I don't know if it was an someone like bought a flat and it was in the attic, and then it was worth like, 2 million. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts
Right. Yeah. found after 150 years.
Chris Barker
Wow. Yeah. Yeah, Reuters. Well, that's not enough. Right, right. Yeah. It looks like
Dot Major
baby grandmas also baby. Why do you how do you have that in your attic? And you don't know why. Yeah. says there's like a ship banner in the attic. You can have it.
Will Betts
I don't think it was an apartment. I think this was like a country state or country house. Yeah.
Chris Barker
Yeah,
Will Betts
I might. Okay, so you've got the the Bosendorfer front off.
Chris Barker
Item number two. Number two. Yeah,
Dot Major
I decided I was going to just completely like not think about these before because I was. We like that as well. Yeah, just item number two. I mean, it's got to be a Jupiter eight. Okay. Yeah.
Chris Barker
You've got one of those already. Yeah. Where did you get that?
Dot Major
I bought that about five years ago. Something from Tom Carpenter, you know? Yeah. So I went to his, his house. It was really windy that day. Like I'm a bit rambley. Like, glue into the house from like, freaking out. But he's kind of He's mad. He's such an amazing guy. Yeah. Yeah. So like, it's got a couple of things for him. But yeah, that's definitely in the Jupiter's just like, it's the only one because I've got quite a few like vintage scents. But I think it's the only one that like is just, it can be completely modern digital, like not digital, like modern, clean sounding if you want and like it's very versatile. It's not like I've got a memory move, which Well, currently, if I turn it on, I can play one chord and then it sticks on that port, but they're not even winning. And over and over, even when it's working. It's like, it just it sounds unbelievable. But if you want to put it in a record, it's so huge. It's just ridiculous. Like you have to EQ the hell out of it. Like get anything takeaway all out? Love.
Chris Barker
It's joy the good way. Yeah,
Dot Major
I think that's what people don't realize about vintage synths in general is that they think because they listened to like YouTube demos of just like a big minus seven. And you're just like, Whoa, that sounds ridiculous. But then you try putting it in a record. Like the reason it sounds so good is because it's not quite in tune. And therefore like if you try and put the record in, maybe it doesn't sound right. And then if you want to make it perfectly in tune, that's just like a prophet six. And then people are like, well, it doesn't sound as good as the prophet five. But that's because it's in tune. Yeah, like,
Chris Barker
but there was there was a trend for this with plugins, like not in the soft semi early days of plugins, where they'd have these patches that you could just like, oh, the big like the Omnisphere patter. Yeah, absolutely. And stuff back in the day. Like that's amazing. Yeah, huge. You couldn't make you can't make records. It's just it's like evolving.
Dot Major
Universe and you're like, 12 different
Chris Barker
appropriate to like serving any song. Yeah.
Will Betts
And then you go into like some effects rack in the back of the plugin. There's just like, 2017 oscillators? Yeah. What's weird about that? It's like the Vegas mode for desks, right? Yeah. For patches. It's just going this is what it can do. Yeah, on a desk. It's like no one's gonna have the the faders going up and down all the time. All the lights. Yeah, I don't know. But like, yes, the demo tool. It's
Dot Major
like a Tesla doing that thing. You know it does. Right? song you don't use not great for driving. Yeah.
Chris Barker
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Will Betts
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Chris Barker
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Chris Barker
so I guess you're it's totally refurbished by Tom the Jupiter and yeah, yes and everything. Yes.
Dot Major
Yes. Like it's great. It's and you know what it's like it's it's never had a problem, since I bought it for a much more reasonable price. Yeah, kinda nuts.
Chris Barker
Well, that's the thing with those. Oh, my God, Jesus. Some of the prices.
Dot Major
You guys don't fancy you
Will Betts
don't have around I'm afraid.
Chris Barker
Okay, moving on. Item number three. We've got the Jupiter eight locked in. Yeah.
Will Betts
Before we get to three. Tell us about the the Jupiter eight as it appeared on your new material. Is it? Oh, I've
Dot Major
used it on a lot of stuff. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to I don't really remember what I use stuff on, because I just have a lot of different things. And then I never name anything. So it's like on logic. So it's like track 37 Yeah, check phase seven could be like, some Bongo like park that comes from modular, or it can be like Hannah's vocal on another ground that you'd have no idea. So it's actually good practice guy. Yeah. It really really fast. Because we send the stems to me, we're like Dan was saying Lionheart and we were all senses. Like, we're setting the steps as I'm on and then they're like this, they're just like, can you could you explain this? Like, why don't I just figure it out? Just
Will Betts
listen. Yeah, just use your resume.
Dot Major
That's the bongos. But yeah, the Jupiter I've used it on quite a lot of stuff.
Chris Barker
And what's been some of the most significant gear on your solo project? Oh,
Dot Major
yeah. Yeah, I mean, like, the Erica sense stuff in general. Like, it's just all over everything. Like, there's quite a lot of modular and also like, the, the, have all this stuff. And then I always go back to like the particularly the OB six, and the Prophet six, like so when we go from the studio to live. With band stuff. I basically took all of the synth parts, all the Polly's stuff goes on, I make a representative patch on the Prophet six, and then all of the mono stuff, I make patches on the sub 37 Just like absolute road horses. And I kind of felt like I fell out of love with them a bit just because they what they meant they were like, we're going on tour, whatever it was, but like, and I used them in that context. But actually, I really got back into them and like their profit. I mean, the profit six is so amazing. I've been using it all the time. Like it's just, it's so versatile. And like it just sounds so good. And it's just like so I mean, those are all over always all over everything. I just tend to put like over six is all over my solo stuff as well.
Chris Barker
And until they survive,
Dot Major
they survive great. I mean, they're a bit the the there's a couple of buttons that don't really work and yeah, but actually, one of them just completely broken. So no. Yeah, luckily we had the backup. Yeah,
Chris Barker
yeah. But a lot of people won't even take those until they'd take you know, they'd have that yeah resample them and you know, like just have
Dot Major
Yeah, of course I just like it's for me, it's like again, it's like the process of I just love I kind of have like, I have a Nord stage two got like a machine and it goes next to the machine. Something else obviously really important. And then there's like the profit and stuff and then I have like my junkets it's kind of like a little world and I kind of want to jump around and stuff.
Chris Barker
And a lot of it is visual as well like having just a MIDI keyboard connected to Lotus. Alright, and well let's, let's go on to item number three.
Dot Major
Yeah. So yeah, item number three is I've got to pick a drum machine so I'm gonna go for the park on the new Erica John machine, probably like the least like practical
Will Betts
Oh, yeah, good choice. Yes. Great.
Dot Major
I've been using on everything. Yeah, amazing.
Chris Barker
So Oh, yeah, I know this one with a little pinboard thing, right? I don't know, sequence. Let's
Will Betts
go sequencer on it. Yeah. So what is it about the Perkins that
Dot Major
is just, it's just instantly sounds great. Like, it's just you don't really have to particularly know what you're doing really interesting sequences that are really easy to use. And it just is a little bit deeper than, you know, like a, like a drumbrute, or whatever. Yeah, like, so that sort of stuff. I've used that a lot as well. But like, it's just the sequences are amazing on Arturia stuff. It feels like you're using like a plugin. Yeah. But then if you have the Erica thing, it's just kind of like, it's just so much deeper. Like the the drummer is limited very much by its sound palette, which is also why it's great, because it always sounds good. And Erica can definitely sound not good, but it's um, you just will get to bad places, I think overall.
Will Betts
And so you're you you said the Erica stuff appears a lot on the material like, specifically Perkins.
Dot Major
Yeah, that's all over. Right. Okay. Yeah. And the Zen delay, which I probably have to pick as one of the things we'll get there. We'll
Will Betts
get there. But like,
Dot Major
so like with these things? Are they just is this all? This is all just like hardware? Essentially? No, you
Will Betts
can have software.
Chris Barker
Software will be an item. We have one one. You're gonna need some speakers as well. Probably. If you want to hear anything,
Will Betts
okay. It's up to you. Yeah. Yeah, I only got three left. But okay, cool. And in terms of the pecans, then those sorts of sequences you're making with this? Are you making full like kick snare hats, everything? Or is it just sort of odd percussion parts?
Dot Major
of you, I just have to make everything with that. And I'd have to like, obviously, feeding volta multi tracking, because it's
Chris Barker
built on your actual solar stuff as well. Yeah, like
Dot Major
I'm, I kind of use it. Yeah, I always use stuff annoyingly in one batch. And then I'm, like, get to the end. And they're like, Have you got this kick drum without the Hat? And I'm like, no. Can you get it back? No. It's like, you can only ever get these things once. Yeah, yeah. But then it's so it's kind of difficult to mix sometimes. But I feel like it's just more I tend to just do long takes with stuff like that. Like hi hat find moments. Yeah, like, if on all of my services, like the high hats are basically always like they're always different the whole way through the track. And then even if I'm doing on software, I play all that stuff in on a keyboard. Like it's just kind of I never ever in my whole life have ever dragged and dropped a beat once. Wow. That's a bold claim. dynasty validity is the one thing that I can I never did. I don't know why just for me personally, it just never works
Chris Barker
out on a t shirt. No drag and drop. I'm walking to like, your super booth or some music event. Yeah, IMS in IBPS. Just drag and drop beats. It's like It's like no sing for DJs production.
Dot Major
Production flex sinks, man. Drag and drop.
Will Betts
I mean, I guess you're a drummer and the keyboard. Yeah. So why would you need to? Yeah, why
Dot Major
would I drag and drop? Yeah, same reason.
I spent my whole life learning it's like a drag and drop.
Will Betts
But to quantize you must use it
Dot Major
to quantize.
Chris Barker
Drag and drop
Dot Major
you can apply a bit of quantize you edit your way up to 100 and then you'll actually know that sounds right. Yeah.
Will Betts
Sort of like
Dot Major
80s 999 Yeah, it's a bit of me and
Chris Barker
this is the future this is where I was gonna be. Yeah, I've got a new track how much of his a year 1% The rest of it. I just I just asked for a tracking Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, let's we'll go on to item number four.
Dot Major
Okay. Do I need some speakers then?
Chris Barker
Well, you don't have to but you know,
Dot Major
haven't speakers fine. I'll have I'll have to be honest. You could obviously go for like ACC so they're kind of like the best speakers. But I'm just gonna go from my speakers the Dine audio fifteens because I just absolutely love them and they sound quite significant speakers on it. Yeah, they're big, big boys. Yeah, you have to get one of the have to get the like the things to actually put them on which is which I really didn't realize when I bought them and then there's like one bloke who makes them and he's like I can have some for you in five months time. I was like Ah yeah, then what the speakers I will not have is the Yamaha said no, no then it sounds course classic but know that the HS wherever it's just home. Oh, yeah. And then there's a pair at my studio and it's like, they seem to whenever there's a problem they reappear and I come into the studio, and it's like, oh, there's obviously the problem. The other speakers and they're there again, I just like they play. Oh, I see. So you use them but like they just do
Chris Barker
against the Speaker It just represents the problem in the shoe studio because they appear and it's like
Dot Major
yeah, also just read. Yeah, I don't I don't like them. They just they were
Chris Barker
really popular for a while though the HS series like we've had them actually, I think we've even had them. No,
Dot Major
they are they are really good. That's I think they're like that's, that's what they managed to do of Yamaha is like, they they've kind of done a similar thing than the Ns 10 and how they've managed it because now the Ns 10 is the speaker that everyone has. And it is like, the thing about the Ns 10s is like, it's so amazing that because they don't sound great, but like if you make something sound good on ns 10s It does genuinely sound good on everything. I don't know why that is, I think but then. I don't know if that's necessarily exactly the same with the HSV because but overall, I mean, they're
Chris Barker
gonna say all they did with HIV, they made this thing white. Yeah, I literally was like, Oh,
Will Betts
I mean, it's genius. Marketing. It's like the Klk yellow. Like the focus, right? Yeah. Being red. I mean, that just instant brand. Well, they're
Dot Major
also the white on white. I mean, that's like a flex, isn't it? You know, like some people have been white on white. Ah, yeah, they're a bit much. Yeah, but
Will Betts
yeah, so yeah, Gordie? Yeah,
Chris Barker
I love the whole range of those DNS servers go down to like, you can get like a because they were like hifi speakers. Essentially, you can get like little diddy ones. You can get like tiny little. Yeah, like three inch cones or two inch car, you
Dot Major
put like a thing above on them and
Chris Barker
walk around like you've got dt 100 You're cool, but I've got actual mini ns 10s on my head. You know your stuff. Yeah.
Will Betts
So these are the beads of BM fifteens. Are they? Yeah,
Dot Major
yeah, that's it. They've been 50 days. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker
What did you have before that then?
Dot Major
Before that had eggs, which I loved but like eggs are a nightmare. I got my second pair of eggs fixed the three times by one guy who like knows how to fix Monroe eggs? Yeah. And then um, they just like they just, they just kept breaking because I
was good. But yeah, I was they in my old flat. It was like a complete it was chaos. I mean, like, it was like, all of the synths were around, and we'd have parties and then it would just be like, everything got smashed. And it was kind of like I had like a memory, mood and energy bitrate and all this stuff. Like in the middle of the flight was kind of hilarious, but, and then they'd be like, 100 people just like partying and a flat. But it was a no have separations. That was fine. But like, yeah, the eggs were important because there was no acoustic I actually, they I think that eggs are the modern day version of the Ns 10. Like they're so honest, and that if you get something right on that they're really and I felt really confident mixing on those and then they're just a bit they were just so hard to fix. And obviously they went bust I think probably because they were selling ridiculously low the amps are like so beautifully made were made in England, I think unlike Yeah.
Chris Barker
Sorry, no. Good sound I want to Why are you
Dot Major
kicking me under the desk?
Chris Barker
But yeah, nobody would they went were really popular. But like, I think a lot of people find it weird that they had an amp in there because they came out in an era where everybody was like, Oh, thank God, we got active speakers. Now we don't know
Dot Major
why. And it's also it made me realize that there's a thing, there's like, speak on cables, and some of speak on some of them cables. Like, actually don't they look like they didn't give us the they don't transfer the power or whatever. So there's like, I still don't really understand this. But there's one cable that works for like both of the legs in my studio. I think it might be like the power of the amp is too low or something because I can I still can't really get both of them working. So I've kind of given up. Okay, so you still have them and I still have them they just sit and it just annoys me that they don't work because I tried to make them work because I was like I need these eggs to work. Yeah, but I don't I just blast the darn audio the whole time. So I'm bit dhafir Would you
Will Betts
keep them just as an ornament broken? Exactly.
Chris Barker
No, it's a Monroe. Yeah.
Dot Major
Yeah, much less beautiful. No, they're really bad ornaments because then you need to stand because you they don't sit up right like it's all about Janus.
Chris Barker
Anyway, people collect them. No lucky people collect those.
Dot Major
Yes. You mean there was like the egg that someone found the other day? That was one of the last 50 eggs from like the ancient Russian royal family or something like Yeah, that's probably one of them, isn't it? Yeah, like is that a Faberge egg and someone found one in an antiques dealership. And it's worth like millions. I'm really
Chris Barker
impressed by your knowledge of people finding
Dot Major
two versions of that that I know.
Chris Barker
I'm hoping for more. Recently, I found one. Yeah, look it up. Is it Hey, payroll egg.
Will Betts
Yeah, I mean, there's no date on this. So no, no was the other day I think it was the other day. Okay.
Chris Barker
Yeah, a couple of you don't know about this. Well, come on. I'm normally
Will Betts
all over the Faberge egg news. Honestly, I've got a Google Alert. Okay, anyway,
Chris Barker
yeah, it was locked in item number five.
Dot Major
Item number five. I'm gonna go for I feel like I just have something modular. Just for fun one thing. Oh, yeah, one thing unless you get because I got a, you know, like, I bought a boot color. I can turn. Okay, that comes as a sport. It's one system I got it came yesterday.
Chris Barker
We allow a system right?
Will Betts
We're not we're not going to hit the No, I'm not.
Dot Major
Okay, fine. It's the bundler. It's a boot class. So come on, it's gonna say no.
Chris Barker
We've allowed more tents and things before so
Dot Major
I've got a model 1550 Nice. Yeah, probably not as good as this one, actually. Because the 10 is got the there's the 901 a's and the 15, which are the oscillators so they're like, the original secretaries. I think just the 901 which is like supposedly sounds better. Okay.
Will Betts
That is what we're here for. So, genuinely, yeah. So it's a booklet 200 EDIS? Yes, this is? So what's the what's the story behind it? And it's actually like,
Chris Barker
you just bought it. You've just got it. Why did you actually because they don't
Dot Major
like March 16th. Yeah, I ordered it in April last year. So it's actually kind of a crazy story that my my grandma died last year. And then she's basically like, definitely a bit of money, obviously not Ookla money, but she like I just decided, like I was going to get something with that towards it that like I would, that I wouldn't really look completely superfluous to my needs that I would never buy like 20 Something special or whatever. So are the speaker system. And then the last thing she ever said to me was, you're gonna put it over Blanca, which means white dove, which is like a song with her own Paloma Blanca, and just the bird in the sky. And so this keyboard took obviously from April till this year to come. And then in March this year, well, end of February this year. Basically, I released my first song, poor bear. And then I got this email saying like your system has finished and then not a shot. I sent a picture to my mum, my mum was like the keyboard is a white dove. So I've called the system and diploma Blanca.
Chris Barker
Oh my god. Yeah.
Dot Major
I hadn't flunked that the keyboard was actually a white dwarf. And I was wondering whether to get the, the, the one that's just like the music box, like yes or no. But I thought with the boot color, like I just wanted to use it. as wacky as it is, I kind of wanted to use it as intended. Because sometimes I do this thing with like modular cases where I get a new case. And then I whacked like, expert sleepers, yes, nine on a black sequencer from Erica Anna. And then I'm like, all my cases end up functioning in a very similar way, which I don't think is the point of Eurorack. Just so they're so usable. But I ended up making some I've got four or five of these, like travel cases that I've ended up making them into very similar sense. And I'm kind of now I look at it, I'm like, Why, whereas like, with the bootcamp, I'm staying in that world. Like, I don't want to be able to just like, make it work in exactly the same way as everything and make it
Chris Barker
too close to actual like, moves and exactly does or whatever other you know,
Dot Major
I mean, it's completely meant, yeah, I got it last night, I plugged it in, and I spent, I was up to about 4am Actually just like messing around on it like, and it's just like, I don't know, it's completely off. It's not I managed to get some really cool drone thing going. Okay. And then I suppose quite wacky. And the thing about saving stuff is quite interesting, because I was like, you know, you can save patches on eternity, obviously. So each each each module has like a remote enable, which means that you can save everything across all the sequences and all that stuff. But obviously you're not saving like the patching. No, yeah. So if you patch up your system, and left it the same, obviously you can save stuff, but then in a way if you screw up with like saving sequences and stuff, because I've got that polyphonic sequencer, which I haven't gotten to yet, but have you seen that with that little round screen thing? Obviously just got it because it looks sick, like you gotta have that just looks like obviously can't have that. And then in fact, it's just like, I think there's something like that is obviously really in deep like in depth of it's not like I've had sessions before where I've had people in and they've and I've just sort of I've made the mistake of thinking like let's knock something up on my modular and like oh yeah, and then you could just feel the light on the sofa just been like definitely a no go like it's a real soul pursuit like it's a lonely art and it's fun. Unless you get like a complete nerd that you're working with who like like you and they just want it they're like let's get into that must come but
Chris Barker
I guess the point of them is to break the way you usually work especially like you can play you can play really well so you don't need to.
Dot Major
That's exactly why I like modular because I you basically instead of controlling it Actually what it's doing, you're essentially giving it? Well, yeah, you're giving it you're basically saying like, here's the rules, like, you can do this, you can do that you can do that. And then and then it kind of makes something for you. So it's like, it's, you just come up with stuff you wouldn't like the tuner released yesterday, the main sequence of it is from a modulator, just like, it just has like a wave. I would never write that. Yeah, but I can't think of why I would write that.
Will Betts
And in terms of, I mean, if you're into things doing, you know, giving a set of instructions, are you interested in the generative music stuff at all? Or is that a bit like?
Dot Major
I am, yeah. Like, and, yeah, in terms of, we are with Mario with modular, it's quite interesting. Actually, I do sometimes that weirdly, I tend to do more myself. So like, I'll quite often just like fire up all the scents and then just like, get them all kind of set to hold and then I will tune them all to different notes. And like, just make like a really kind of big, ambient chord of line 50 notes or something. That's all from different since. That's one thing what was really fun about having them running through desks. Because the only time I ever used desks, I never have like a desk in my studio. I just think it's
Chris Barker
so another question around that then. I mean, like, the sort of music you're putting out right now is it's, you know, without being too blunt, it's music. Are you interested in sound design and stuff for movies and things? Yeah, like, because like that what you just said? Sounds like
Dot Major
soundtrack? Yeah, no. 100% I've always been brilliant. And that's yeah, definitely. These
Chris Barker
tools are perfect for that. Aren't they? Like, definitely really finding your own unique sound for soundtrack and stuff?
Dot Major
Yeah, definitely. There's actually, I mean, you can hear when stuffs I can hear when it's modular. It's like there was a, there was a gallery exhibition the other day, I don't know if it's still on at the strand by a guy called Richard Moss, like who's a photographer and he took a load of old. It was a disused, like load of film that we used to use to like shoot infrared pictures of fields. That was the only way they could see where there was like hotbeds of army and stuff. And then they resorted they just lit his shot with a Brazilian rainforest to document like the deforestation problem. Yeah. And it's beautiful. Like all the rain forest come up as read notice. It's like very symbolic of what's happening. But the soundtrack was that they like you can go down into this room and watch the video. And the soundtrack was all done by Ben Pitt, Ben frost, sorry. And I just got it on vinyl, actually. And I could hear like the modular in it. And then I went on his Instagram just to see because I was like, and then I could just see he's obviously massively into modular Yeah. But it's kind of just sounded so deep, and that he managed to make it because I think with modular like, you know, some people just, you go on like, you see, like, I'm buco system and you're like, and then it's just goes, there's like, it doesn't that it's a way of
Chris Barker
like, you don't want it to sound like something falling down the stairs, getting randomly triggered. That's why
Dot Major
sometimes you can be influenced by like, for example, with a boot color, like all the floating a lot of floating point stuff. He's a speaker, and that to me, I was like, that was like a sign that I could go and get one because I've not heard that much stuff made on Boutrous, which I actually genuinely think sounds beautiful. It's obviously interesting, but I think like it's important to know that it can do though thing
Chris Barker
Yeah. Like they had that similar thing back in the day with like, even the DX seven and stuff like that, where it got known for like cheesy sounds. Yeah, of course. But actually, then these people that you know, and stuff would dig in and oh, it's nuts.
Dot Major
Have you ever paid in a DX one? Yeah. Yeah. Who had one is actually on the last? Fine. It's five Dec sevens in one, isn't it? Yeah, it's just slightly. But I think that's got poly aftertouch. Yes. Which is really weirdly rare. Like, I've got a decade stream, which is great. But like, I when I first got it, I was kind of like, this is not that amazing. Like for what it is really? And then and then I bought a hydrogen. Yeah. Because it's pretty much the cheapest way to buy a polyphonic aftertouch keyboard and it's also really sick. But then, soon as I started playing with Polly ofsuch on the Decker stream, it kind of unlocked what it was. I mean, that's what the CSAT Yeah, it's really the controllability of it that makes it and the ribbon
Chris Barker
and the ribbon. Yeah. Yeah. That's
Dot Major
sort of like the ribbon. Isn't that?
Will Betts
No. No, no, no.
Dot Major
That's looking good. Yeah, that makes that has decades has a ribbon as well. So yeah, the deck is dreams got ribbon in front. So I was doing a thing. Yeah, they call it the Theramin controller. So it's like, actually, I use it like on you can kind of play these melodies on it and you just kind of like Sony's Why is it only as wide as the book? No, no, sorry. I don't mean the downs. I mean, sorry. Yeah. So like, that's really cool. Like, I mean, yeah, it's kind of interesting to you.
Chris Barker
I'm talking we didn't lose.
Dot Major
Voices. Yeah,
Will Betts
very. I mean, this is something I've got. I'm not a good pianist. I'm not a good keyboard player, and I find that polyphonic. Well, I mean, you've done you've put out some records. More than I've done Um, I find having a polyphonic aftertouch is sometimes a bit too sensitive, like how you deal with?
Dot Major
No, I don't know, I really like it. I don't know why I feel like if you're not a pianist, it's kind of amazing because you can just sort of like, rock over to your left leg and then rock or you could just show me it's kind of like a really intuitive thing. Maybe I don't know, maybe, maybe
Will Betts
about this. Well, maybe. Maybe my fingers are wrong.
Dot Major
No, it's interesting. Can you it's like a, like a really intuitive or like, if you just put your fingers on the desk, like could you just separate? Do you have separation? Like, could you go that finger? Push that one down? Or push that like fourth one down there? Oh, yeah. Do you know I mean, are you doing it in patches a bit because you don't have the control of it? Probably off, that'd be
Chris Barker
if I was attacking anybody watching you loving this, right? Yeah.
Will Betts
Anyone listening?
Dot Major
Salesman? You know,
Chris Barker
anybody listening or watching? Right? Try? Try individual different pressures. And you think that it's harder than it sounds? Especially towards your pinky. Yeah, like you start doing this finger as well. You can't do them individually. Yeah.
Dot Major
I'm sure there's other skills I could use to transfer that. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker
I like the faces. We'll pull what we're doing
Dot Major
really serious use. Anyway, but you should really try that before you buy one of these probably off search keywords. Don't go drop it. ATK on the CSAT if you don't try this test first. Because, you
Chris Barker
know, that's why you kicked out music shops, isn't it though? Just
Will Betts
the faces is the faces and the music,
Chris Barker
especially on keyboards that don't even have polyphonic aftertouch this was just anyway, it's a lot. We've got. We've got the booklet. We've got the book. Yeah, yeah. So we're on the final item now.
Dot Major
Okay, cool. I'm gonna go for just like a would be more specific, but I want just a lexicon reverb. And I was using originally the ones that were there was like the old plugins that were just had like Lex hall next concert hall. But then for some reason, I think they may be discontinued. So now I'm using just the U UA, like lexicon two to four. But just like a nice
Chris Barker
original version of that then the hardware version.
Dot Major
Yeah, I could do but I probably prefer I really like digital as hell. Reaver I don't want any like, vintage vibes in my reverb. I just want it to be like clean
Will Betts
digital, it's just yeah.
Dot Major
I'm sure it just has like less control. I don't really need the physical thing. I mean, it might look cool. It's a flex isn't it? Having that little white box? I didn't really care. I just wanted like a really nice crisp digital reverb so
Chris Barker
we can upsell dreams on that. If I could remember what it's called. Do you know what's called?
Dot Major
Oh, yeah, the chase bliss one. No, no, you're talking about the gray box
Will Betts
Bricasti
Dot Major
the like the things
Will Betts
move on their own. I also Chase bliss do a thing called what is it called? Now? I know the one that's got motorized. That one that one is delightful.
Chris Barker
Yes. It is nice to
Dot Major
see like an outboard. Well, yeah, it's an outboard controller. Because I just like the thing is I just want a reverb to be on my computer. So you could okay even though it's obviously probably way better. I just want like a plugin.
Will Betts
You can have a plugin. Yeah. Any plugins? Yeah.
Dot Major
I don't want to like, I don't know. I feel bad about the Bricasti era I should have taken. It's funny.
Will Betts
Yeah. Okay, so, yeah, the broadcast it it's a Here we go.
Chris Barker
It does have a plugin doesn't it? Version.
Will Betts
It's called the M seven. And it's a rack mount thing. It doesn't look like much in the rack. But
Dot Major
there's also you know, I'm only allowed one thing in the rack, so it's gonna look a bit sad on its own as well. You can hide and there's gonna have a giant rack with hiding behind a Jupiter.
Chris Barker
Yeah, everybody listening and look this up the Bricasti M 10. Controller. It looks like something from a call 70 space looks like
Dot Major
it's like it's from like an office in the late 90s. Yeah.
Will Betts
Is that not the vibe you want? Yeah, like, like
Chris Barker
it does look like a little bit like the the phones that you have in hotels. Yeah, it does. I buy a bed which has loads of options, just expensive. Anyway, yeah. So the next we're going to look in the lexicon.
Dot Major
The Lexicon plug-in. Just go for the 224 the UA one. Oh, nice.
Will Betts
Okay, nice.
Chris Barker
Right. Well, all that's left to do is have a think you've got one more item left. Which is a luxury item. So not a piece of gear but something else for your studio. Okay. Be as eccentric or as long as you want fantasy. Yeah, but before we get there, we'll just going to do a little rundown. Have a listen of your studio so far. Okay.
Will Betts
We're in London. In a daylight filled studio. Not too high up.
Chris Barker
Not 100
Will Betts
not haunted. NO Rats. It's not too clean. Not too rickety. Just just right. In your computer you've chosen a MAC studio. Your interface has a UA Apollo X eight p your DAW is Logic Pro X. For your first of your six items, you've chosen the Bosendorfer upright piano with the front off. Importantly, your first synth is the Roland Jupiter eight with the MIDI mod. You have chosen an Erica Perkins as a drum machine. Your studio monitors are Dynaudio bm 15 A's your second synth is a buckler 200 E system. And your final choice is a plug in the UAE 224 Lexicon reverb
Chris Barker
nice ever come down at the end? I think
Dot Major
it's just purely pragmatic. If I didn't have reverb, I'd have no careers. I've got to have a reverb Yeah, say that again. Hang on. Wait,
Will Betts
why do you think you wouldn't have a career if you didn't have reverb?
Dot Major
Well, everything I've ever been involved in musically is definitely reverb is like the the most important effect and we always used to joke we've learned grammar as well. Like we'd be screwed without reverb. And without modern algorithms, or either reverbs like we'd have had to go and record stuff in certain spaces.
Chris Barker
I'd like to hear and that's true that I'd like to hear an album that has no reverb on it. Obviously I would actually enjoy listening. Yeah,
Dot Major
exactly. Yeah, so I feel like she's stressed with my sheer when you say not to clean we're talking from an interior design perspective not from for the listeners not from our
site. I need to stress it. It's not too clear. Aesthetically. Yeah, aesthetically.
Chris Barker
Not just like yeah, not just Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts
Just on that reverb point. Yeah. So where would you have to go to do you think if you if you couldn't have that reverb, where would you record to get something?
Dot Major
It'd be like a big cave, like, you know, a big heavy a huge gate or anything?
Chris Barker
Like so. Yeah. Oh,
Dot Major
no more. That's why I have to have the algorithm. Yeah.
Will Betts
That makes perfect sense. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, well, no, actually,
Dot Major
I mean, obviously outboard getting like plates and stuff are great, but like if you put it back before any of that, like, you'd have to just go somewhere like a cathedral I mean, cathedral. Actually, to be honest, I'm gonna take a federal because yes, there's nothing you can't really beat the sound of like a beautiful cathedral like the way the reverb just is so amazing. They were designed to be sung in those things
Chris Barker
and you have the Bosendorfer but you're going to be recording it with your iPhone it seems because there's no mics I've got no mic.
Dot Major
Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. I mean, we already you already I was pragmatic enough. Now you're killing me on the property we'd have to leave for like an SM seven beef to be honest. But yeah,
Chris Barker
then you need a cloud lifter probably
Dot Major
don't need a cable miking Yeah, we're
Will Betts
no no we don't Yeah, but yeah, the cables are included. That's fine. Yeah.
Chris Barker
What's the gain on the Apollo SAP deal? Will it gainer seven SM seven. Yeah, it is like 70 DB for for SM seven. Would you mean on a gain? Because quite quiet.
Dot Major
No, no, I've I use that for what I use all the time. So it's fine. Yeah, you don't need the CloudLifter No, I don't
Chris Barker
I don't need Let's see who's gonna who's gonna flinch. Okay, fine. All right. Well, okay, let's go. Let's get let's talk a final thing before we wrap up is the luxury out and then so anything that you've moved from studio to studio, so anything that means a lot to you, or anything mental that you would love to have in your dream studio? That isn't a bit of a move?
Will Betts
Any hobbies maybe
Dot Major
yeah, hobbies, or bootcamp time for others. Got the t shirt on titles over 40 I'm trying to figure out how to make it make a sound What if I move from shoot studio? I'm actually like remarkably unsentimental when it comes to stuff in the studio. I think one thing that has annoyed me forever is I've always had a shocking sofa Okay, so like it's just I don't know why I've got all this other stuff but it's just every time anyone new comes in I think like that sofas shit that you need. It's just embarrassed. Like we've every everywhere I've ever been. I've always had like a bit of a bad sofa. So maybe I just set a really really lovely sofa. Like, can't be leather, obviously. That's awkward. Okay, it's done. So it's got to be like material. Nice sofa.
Chris Barker
Oh, it's quite. That's quite friendly. Yeah. And that's a big,
Dot Major
big so big one. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like weirdly big where it's like a subject to talk about. Where it's like a statement piece. Okay
Will Betts
so I mean if you have you been happy with witness, have you experienced
Chris Barker
I've experienced an awkward sofa.
Dot Major
Yeah, probably not something I talked about. Yeah,
Will Betts
why don't you like a leather sofa? What's wrong? Why is that so? What
Chris Barker
noises I
Dot Major
should say horrible. Yeah, I've got a thing I don't understand why people like leather, leather sofas. I just it's always blown my mind like they look
Chris Barker
nice. I have a leather sofa at home and I hate it for that. Crap. But every time
Dot Major
she's not a nice is it especially. Yeah, it's not like it's just
Chris Barker
covering it in like blankets and soft things to make it actually nice. Yeah, plus, you can't get the reverb to the leather so Egan's it's offensive as well. Some people that leather. I mean, you don't want to do leather. That's true. Some people might say work with you.
Will Betts
Is there any particular
Dot Major
sofa vibe you're going for? Just Well, if I knew more about sofas I'm pretty wouldn't have said shit ones
Chris Barker
do I look? Good sofa guy. Yeah, well, let's just say a nice nice big bracket, but not all sofa. Okay, good. That's good. Excellent. Well, all that's left to do is say thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast and building this forever studio. Most of the stuff you have apart from the Bosendorfer right? So you just basically slim down your existing studio rather than building your fantasy studio.
Dot Major
ego trip of all time. I want my studio just give me my other stuff back. She's like a way shit if you really sick things.
Chris Barker
Well, thank you so much dark. Podcast.
Will Betts
What's next? Then tell us more about what's coming up for
Dot Major
you. Yeah, there's definitely there's there's there'll be new soon. Well on all fronts really. Like I'm I've got some exciting stuff coming out with my electronic stuff. And I feel like that it's like a journey that's just beginning ready. And I've got a lot of there's a lot to happen, but it's just it's starting very particularly very club focused, and so that there'll be more DJing and that sort of stuff as well. And then there'll be definitely some news with a band soon as well, which is really exciting. So those
Chris Barker
are families Yeah. And touring as well, potentially, or is that the news?
Dot Major
There's nothing in the diary yet, but you know, I'm sure it will happen. It's just like, we always sort of like wait until
Chris Barker
a DJ festivals, things like that. People will be nice. Yeah,
Dot Major
I'll definitely be I'll be I'll be a few things. Okay. Coming. So
Chris Barker
I like the kind of secretiveness Yeah, I
Dot Major
just I'm not to be honest, it's like not that I'm just saying I'd be racing to this time. But it just it will happen soon. It's actually more from that perspective. And I'm not telling you
Chris Barker
but you've got you've got stuff out there right now the solo stuff is out. Yeah, check it out.
Dot Major
So yeah, there's there's like there's, there's some more stuff coming in the next few weeks. So there's lots Yeah, lots happening.
Chris Barker
Excellent. Thank you so much.
Dot Major
Thank you very much.
Chris Barker
Okay, well, another great episode, and a nice heavy synth episode as well. Lots of gear, lots
Will Betts
of gear and I really enjoyed that we finally got the pecans in as well because that's pretty cool thing Yeah, half in the world and amazing that he already has most of this gear as well. The exception of the Bosendorfer
Chris Barker
Yeah, I accept that. Yeah, I set the sofa obviously. Importantly, the sofa sofa. Yeah, anyway, all that's left to do is say thank you so much for tuning in and we will catch you next time on my forever studio for more adventures into studio forever them. Goodbye. Bye bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai