Will Clarke literally began DJing as a child, and in this episode, he shares his prodigious journey from playing at a local caravan site to blowing up in Ibiza's club scene. Along the way, he reveals the unique Russian drum machine that forms the backbone of his techno tracks, and explains how he avoids using other people’s samples in the studio. This time, find out about his Somerset dream studio, the must-have synth that could fuel his creativity forever, and which readily available mic he trusts for capturing vocal recordings.
Will Clarke literally began DJing as a child, and in this episode, he shares his prodigious journey from playing at a local caravan site to blowing up in Ibiza's club scene. Along the way, he reveals the unique Russian drum machine that forms the backbone of his techno tracks, and explains how he avoids using other people’s samples in the studio. This time, hear about his Somerset dream studio, the must-have synth that could fuel his creativity forever, and which readily available mic he trusts for capturing vocal recordings.
Season 7 of the My Forever Studio Podcast is supported by Audient, and the incredible new iD48 audio interface.
https://audient.com/
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id48/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD)
https://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/2xo155/stanton_str850_good_buy/
https://esp-musicrentals.co.uk/products/vestax-pmc-06
https://www.ejayshop.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ejay/comments/xn4fmk/ejay_famous_top_100/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2005/01/27/somerset_spinners_kickback_feature.shtml
https://samdivine.co.uk/
https://www.noraenpure.com/
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/16-inch-space-black-standard-display-apple-m4-max-with-16-core-cpu-and-40-core-gpu-48gb-memory-1tb
https://www.soundtoys.com/product/primaltap/
https://www.soundtoys.com/product/echoboy/
https://www.apple.com/uk/logic-pro/
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/audio-interfaces/komplete-audio-1-audio-2/
https://solidstatelogic.com/products/big-six
https://www.avpsynth.com/ads-7-mk2-analog-drum-synthesizer
https://buchla.com/musiceasel/
https://www.seedsessions.co.uk/meet-the-team/mitch-jones/
https://soundcloud.com/djwillclarke/will-clarke-feat-sharlene-1
https://www.optimum-mastering.com/
https://www.adam-audio.com/en/main-monitor/s6x/
https://musictech.com/features/interviews/olafur-arnalds-characterful-sound-piano-synths-bonobo/
https://www.moogmusic.com/products/moog-one
https://www.izotope.com/en/shop/ozone-11-advanced/
https://cradle.app/products/the-god-particle
https://devonanalogue.com/
Chris Barker:
Chris. I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts and this is the music tech. My Forever Studio podcast brought to you in partnership with Audient and we're coming to you from Tyx Studios in London.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast, we speak with musicians, DJs, engineers and producers about their fantasy Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
The Fantasyland studio that our guests dream up is one that they must live with for the rest of time. But even in the world of studio foreverdom, we have a few rules.
Chris Barker:
That's right. Our guests will select a computer, a DAW and an audio interface. Those are free items. We let everybody choose. Then our guests will choose just six other bits of studio gear plus one non studio related luxury item.
Will Betts:
But Chris.
Chris Barker:
Oh yes, no bundles. That's right, no bundles.
Will Betts:
Choosing something sold as a package of separate software or hardware as a single item is not allowed.
Chris Barker:
Our guest this time is a Grammy nominated DJ and producer who has been DJing since he was an actual child.
Will Betts:
Yes. And his early years as an event DJ soon transitioned into residencies in Ibiza before his productions were picked up by huge labels and his career skyrocketed.
Chris Barker:
Plus he's a really successful podcaster too. So we have to be worried.
Will Betts:
Yeah, we're in good company. This is my Forever Studio with Will Clark.
Chris Barker:
Hello, Will.
Will Betts:
Welcome.
Will Clarke:
Take one. You absolutely smashed it. And I love the horns. Is that like a Zane Lowe? And like.
Chris Barker:
Well, you just wait. Those horns will be triggered even if you say the wrong thing.
Will Clarke:
Oh yeah.
Will Betts:
Shit.
Will Clarke:
Are we allowed to swear?
Will Betts:
Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
Great to see you guys. Thank you for having me.
Will Betts:
Thanks for coming on. It's a pleasure to have you on.
Will Clarke:
No worries. I like it down here. It's cool.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, we're in a little dungeon, but it's great.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so we'll start out with how you got started in this. So we heard on the intro, I mean I read DJing at like 13 or 12.
Will Clarke:
I started. Yeah. So. Well, I actually.
Chris Barker:
It's not like those other 13 year olds.
Will Clarke:
Lazy, lazy bastards. No, I think I actually started like DJing younger but mixing was 12 and my first show was when I was 13. Yeah, it's kind of crazy if you look back at like. So I was obsessed with Faithless, like when I was a kid and it. Yeah, electronic music kind of just became part of my life. I don't know, it was, it was very strange. I don't know. My brother bought back a compilation.
Will Clarke:
I don't know if any of you remember compilation CDs. Oh yeah, they were great. A Dance 95. And it had like. I think it had God is Deja or Insomnia on. I think it was Insomnia. And I was just obsessed. And there was some really cheesy records like Scooter, move your ass.
Will Clarke:
Remember that record? Classic. I'm surprised nobody's done a remake of that.
Will Betts:
Actually, it's time.
Chris Barker:
It's time to probably have it. The rights lockdown.
Will Clarke:
Oh, of course. But they're willing to make some more money. Yeah. So it kind of started from there. And lo, there was. My parents were friends with a local disco DJ and he was like the resident DJ at a local caravan site.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
And I think I went down there when I was 9 years old and started playing records with him. And it was like just cheesy. Like they were playing bingo. It was like classic English caravan site. And it started from there and then I was. I started playing the piano or getting keyboard piano lessons, but I never practiced. It was just something that I'd always go to the lesson and just never practice.
Chris Barker:
Was it something you were sort of semi forced to do?
Will Clarke:
No, I really wanted to do it, but I just. My teacher was amazing, she was great. And I actually went back to her last year and then still never practiced. And it's just like a classic thing for me. It's like, unless I'm like obsessed with it, I'm just not gonna do it. I love the idea of doing it, but not actually doing it. It's like when I'm playing, I'm like, I'd rather just write a record than. Than learn.
Chris Barker:
Feels like it's getting in the way rather.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah. And we went to a shop in Bristol, my parents and I, music shop. And I think it was. I can't remember what it's called. It's called PMT now, which is like the classic PMT shops. And there was a thing on the wall, like an advert on the wall and it said DJ Academy. I was like, what's this? And mum was like, oh, you should go. Like you've like saved up some money so like pay for it and go.
Chris Barker:
How old were you at this point? I was like, you already have 10 years in the game. At this point. I was a bit late for an.
Will Clarke:
Academy, so I started. I started the academy when I was 12. Okay, okay, fair, Right. And this academy was. I don't know if you'd ever heard of it, it was a DJ academy that would tour around the uk. So it would be in like Bristol on a Monday, Birmingham on a Tuesday, Manchester On a Wednesday run by Craig David. That's great. That's great.
Will Clarke:
A guy called Rich used to run it. Anyway, he. I went there, turned up on. On this first day. It was like this 12 year. My dad was. Took me, if you know what I mean. And it was a.
Will Clarke:
It was a DJ school in a club that they'd hire clubs out and bring a load of decks and then split everybody out into like intermediate, like average.
Chris Barker:
This is the only way though.
Will Clarke:
This was the only way.
Chris Barker:
You didn't have it any. There was no academic courses or the.
Will Clarke:
Only courses that were on DJ. And it was the DJ Kuber Scratch DVDs. Yes. They were the only things that I can remember from back then. And those DVDs. I had one and those DVDs were just iconic. Like that was kind of. There was a scratch dj, there was a tutor, I can't remember his name on the DJ Academy.
Will Clarke:
And he got me into like scratching it initially. So like my. I bought a STR8 150 and the Vestax pencil mixer and I was literally just scratching. That was my. Because I couldn't afford the second deck. So I'd be scratching and just practice every time. And I had a CD from like my disco days where I could play something and then scratch onto it. So I didn't.
Will Clarke:
I was in like, obviously the like beginner part of this course. And it was a really interesting course because it, it wasn't just about how to mix, it was about how to promote yourself, how to put a night on.
Chris Barker:
Oh, that's good. Yeah. So.
Will Clarke:
So it was like. It was a whole like artist mentorship. It wasn't about making music. Cause making music wasn't really a DJ thing.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, they were separate businesses, weren't they?
Will Clarke:
It was completely different.
Chris Barker:
So let's talk about that to the music making point, because did you feel like you hit a point in your DJ career where you knew you had to make music to take the DJ career further, or did you always want to make music? Cause some DJs, like, do you think if you'd have been born 15 years earlier into, you know, would you think you would have been more down the just pure DJ route? No, you would have always wanted to make music.
Will Clarke:
I remember going to Australia on like a family trip when we were. When I was 11 or 12 and we came, we had friends that just moved to Singapore and their son had EJ on their computer and whilst he was at school, I just go on EJ all day.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
So I was like. It was kind of, like, coincided.
Chris Barker:
It's amazing how often that story comes up, you know, really like, Dan, cj.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Load of people. It transitioned them from DJ to like. Oh, I get it.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Make music now.
Will Clarke:
I was clearing out my attic about a month ago, and I found all the EJ samples. And I'm like, this is gold. It's absolute gold. Because I bought them all on a. When we used to buy sample CDs, I bought it all, the whole EJ catalog on. On CD samples. So I need to pull them out.
Chris Barker:
They can't be open royalty free, can they?
Will Clarke:
They must be. They must be.
Chris Barker:
I wonder if any. That's actually interesting. I wonder if anybody's released anything maybe on, like, who sampled, see if any EJ samples are maybe out there already.
Will Betts:
100% royalty free.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Guaranteed.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Whoa. I know. That's where my hints.
Chris Barker:
We're in the modern age now where, you know, there's a generation releasing songs that they've made on the phone and charting with it.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And I wonder if back then there was anybody actually put anything out.
Will Clarke:
I don't think ej, I don't think it's.
Chris Barker:
How would you get it off? You'd have to just take your whole thing to the.
Will Clarke:
I don't know how. I don't know if you could. Used to export. I don't know if you could even export. You just, like, had your project and hit. I don't know.
Chris Barker:
Could you save.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, you could say.
Chris Barker:
You could say. Okay, yeah, yeah, something.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, but. So, yeah, music production and music. But I never really understood the whole music production until I was at school. I. When I first went to, like, high school, yeah, there was a teacher that called Mr. Bailey, and he was really cool. He, like, came to my house and, like, set me up with Cubase.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
All schools had Cubase back then.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Steinberg.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, they did. With their. Their keys, dude. They sucked. He was really cool. And then he sadly left. And then the other music teacher was a guy called Mr. Taylor.
Will Clarke:
And he was the worst music teacher ever in the sense.
Chris Barker:
Not as supportive for the old tech side.
Will Clarke:
He said that electronic music isn't a genre of music and you'll never have a career in music. Literally. I was like, game on. I'm gonna. I'm gonna prove you wrong. So it was like. It was.
Chris Barker:
Even at that point, he must have seen. You know, he must have heard of Kraftwerk and Gary Newman.
Will Clarke:
And he was very classical. He was, like, very stuck in his way, sadly.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Very stuck in his way.
Chris Barker:
And just Again, I think that's quite a common story. I can relate to that story. I had the same thing and I think it happens a lot. The access to different parts of the music industry at an education level is really lacking, which is why you have private organizations and courses popping up.
Will Clarke:
Because I think courses are so cool now. Like it's. The Internet's amazing, obviously, we all know that. But it's like the courses that you can get on the Internet are just insane.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
And like just the ability to like. Oh, like I did it the other day. There was a record. I can't remember what it was but. But I was like, I really just want the MIDI for that and I can't be bothered to work it out. So I like googled it and then somebody had made the whole project and I'm like, okay, I'll just buy that and I'll write to it with some top liners and then turn it to something else.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. Use it as the.
Will Clarke:
Just use it as a tool.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
So, yeah, it's really amazing. But going back then. And then, yeah, the DJ Academy, it was like a 10 week course and then at the end of that course everyone gets together and puts a night on. And that was like the first night I played in a club. I actually found a picture of me playing there the other day. Like my parents had just moved house and they were digging out photos and there was one I was like, this is epic. Beardless. In fact, you probably met me beardless.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I did. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
That was a long time ago.
Chris Barker:
Beardless. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
And pretty much the rest kind of. Kind of was history. It we. I used to buy my records in a place called Spin Central in Western Super Mar. And the. How it. The southwest you guys know, but the southwest back then was. We're talking early 2000s.
Will Clarke:
Very drum and bass, very hard.
Chris Barker:
Still is really. It's like there's not really any house nights.
Will Clarke:
Like no. And it's. It's very. It was very hardcore then. Like happy hardcore. Happy hard house as well. Especially Western. So I rocked up in this Spin central and there's just like two.
Will Clarke:
Two guys that owned it. Gareth Legend, DJ Kickback his name was. And I always asked him about house because I was always into house over hard stuff. I never was the, like into drum and bass or anything at the time. And he was like, I couldn't really help. He couldn't really help with. He had like the house section.
Chris Barker:
It's amazing you didn't compromise on that because a lot of People, I just, it's terrible. But a lot of people would have just gone, oh, I'll just play that so I can get gigs.
Will Clarke:
I love drum and bass now. I love drum and bass, but like the hard style, I just, I really can't really.
Chris Barker:
But I mean, just to get gigs as a kid you could kind of like it's, it's hard to stay focused on what you want to do if like all the gigs people say you can play, but you have to play open or you have to play this.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. But I think back then like club nights were different. Like you'd have a house room, you'd have a hard house, you'd have a drum and bass room, you have a chill out room. So like it's only been maybe the last like eight years where the industry's become so like stagnant of being long.
Chris Barker:
Sets, one headliner and a resident that places creative.
Will Clarke:
It's like you go to. It's all packaged nicely. It's just like the supermarket. Right. Everything's packaged really nicely. It's like the EU got into the music industry. Right. It's just like, it's been like, you have to do this and you have to do that and you have to do this and sadly that's where it is.
Will Clarke:
Where. But I think that also stagnates creativity generally. It stops people finding new artists, it stops people finding new sounds and.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Scenes.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Because yeah, it would be that thing. You'd go to a club and you'd go into the. The other room and be like, oh, what's this? I've never heard this style before. Or this vibe or this. You find out new genres and. Actually I do. I might not like listening to it at home, but in a club, I love this stuff.
Will Clarke:
Why is there no chill out rooms?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Like that was the best thing.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
Like this terraced it space. Like the upstairs terrace, Alfredo's old spot. Yeah. And you're just like this. This is perfect. What we need. We're going, we're going. Going Raven.
Will Clarke:
We're going Raven for hours. Let's like at least have a spot for people to chill. But maybe that's where things have changed. People aren't raving as much. People aren't going to places for hours. But anyway, cut. Long story short, at this record shop I rocked up one day and there was a blonde haired woman girl at the time and her name was Ms. Divine and that turned into Sam Divine, who was the house lady at Spin Central.
Will Clarke:
So I was buying record I've known Sam since I was 13, 12, 13 years old. She booked me for a show in Western Super Mare and then she got a residency, a Hush in Ibiza, which was on the West End, like classic Workers bar. And when I was 16, she asked me to go out. I was actually 15 at the time when she asked me, but I turned 16 and she asked me to go play in Ibiza for her for a show. So I Rock up 16 years old with my records. Absolute shit in a brick. Trying to like, put the. The needle on the decks and.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, from that I was just absolutely hooked with Ibiza at that time. I was going to college, starting to go to college as well, and did music technology at college. And kind of each summer I would go back and forth to Ibiza.
Chris Barker:
So those early days, I mean, we'll get to your studio in a second, but those early days started with. With Cubase, then I guess.
Will Clarke:
Cubase and Reason.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Reason was interesting. I could never get my head around it, but it's look like it would be way easier if I opened it now. But like, yeah, when you first start and you're like, oh, what is all of this? Yeah, but the simps were amazing in Reason.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Well, let's move on to sort of. We'll get back to a bit of tech as we move through this, I'm sure. But the first thing we always ask people when they're building their Fantasy Forever studio is where. Where in the world would you put your studio if sky's the limit? Like, where would you put it? What would it look like? What would the vibe be?
Will Clarke:
I think where I live in the UK now, like Somerset, it would definitely be there, but it would be in the middle of a field, looking out to the fields and no neighbors. Like just literally middle of nowhere. Okay. There's something about. So I used to live in Detroit and my studio in Detroit, I got an acoustician to come into the room and do whatever they do, realistically make it sound dead as fuck. And he, like boarded up all the windows. And sonically it sounded great, but vibe, it was just completely vibress.
Chris Barker:
Bit of a Guantanamo vibe.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. And Detroit. Detroit.
Will Betts:
No, literally.
Will Clarke:
And the thing is, it was a really big room. It was a nice room, and every time I went in there, it was like, not very creative.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it feels like. It always feels like sometimes you need kind of double rooms. You have kind of the ideas room, which is fun, loads of gear. Doesn't necessarily sound acoustic. And then like the mixing room where hopefully somebody Else does it for you?
Will Clarke:
Well, that's the thing, but I think also the part of the mix down is the vibe. Some of the best records we've all partied to that sound epic in a club. Like, not mixed. It's literally like vibe. One Chuck down record done in an hour. Like how many times I was listening to a podcast today and they were talking about Leonard Cohen and how long it took him to write Hallelujah. And it took him seven years to write Hallelujah. And then it was the same conversation with another guy at the time, I can't remember.
Will Clarke:
And it took him 15 minutes to either to write the record. And I think that's the thing is like, you hear that classic thing of like, oh, that record only took me an hour to make. But, like, it's. It's just vibes.
Chris Barker:
I mean. Yeah, I think it depends how you work. Some people sort of mix as they go as well, and other people, you know, have, like, create the track and then they go into, like, mixing mode. Yeah, yeah. Would you say you mix as you go? You kind of. Yeah. So that's why that vibe thing's really important to you, I guess.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. I think also, like, with technology nowadays, there's so many, like, cheats to mix in and it doesn't make. I'm. All the mix engineers out there are gonna hate me for saying that, but it's like I can get an 80% sounding record to go and play in the set to get a vibe.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And also it's just about. I'm sure everyone said this, it's just about knowing your room. If you've been in the same room for 10 years, you know, even if you got the worst speakers in the world and the worst acoustics and you know what that kick drum is going to sound like in a club from your room. Yeah, Right. I'm very fortunate I get to play these records the next day.
Chris Barker:
I make them mixing as you go. Because dance music revolves around, like, the sounds a lot more. So you have to have it sounding right before you know where you are in the record. Whereas I think a lot of the old techniques came out of you recording musicians and being like, right, the song's there now. We can make it sound great. I think that's.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's a difference in electronic and dance.
Will Clarke:
Music because I think also where dance music came from was sampling disco records. Right. So the actual mixing had been done right on those records. And we were talking about Daft Punk beforehand is like, if you listen to those records, now, sonically, they don't sound great, but it's still a vibe.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
There's artists out there that are very good at both. Like Deadmau5, for example. When Deadmau5 came out first, like, we all know that sound. We were like, what is going on? Like, it was probably like a time where music was pretty stagnant. Minimal was destroying the dance floor. Ketamine got in and deadmau5 was kind of popping up. And sonically, what he was doing was like, whoa, this is definitely something different.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And how he sounds even now, it's still, you know, it. Like, just sonically, it might not even be the standard Deadmauous chords or whatever, but sonically, you know, he's mixed it, he's made everything. And I think some people have. Some artists have that artistic, like, mix sound, but it's hard. You have to be pretty geeky.
Will Betts:
So, yeah, that's. I mean, that's the whole.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, that science.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's the baseline.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
So in your studio, then you talked about you don't want the windows covered up. What's the vibe inside the studio that you'd have in your forever?
Will Clarke:
Big and open.
Will Betts:
Big and open.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Like those. Yeah, Windows. Floor to ceiling windows. Like, I just want to be able to see out. I'm very much a, like, daytime writer. I've, like, gone past the days of writing at 2:00 in the morning, so I like to see. I love bad weather, so England's great.
Will Clarke:
I love it when it's raining, but I also love it when it's sunny. But just being able to, like, get into the studio, look out to nature. I'm sure everyone says this.
Chris Barker:
I don't know, it's usually one or the other. Like, some people like to be amongst it, some people like to have no windows.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You know, I think this is. I think. Can I guess about the bad weather that it's. If it's sunny, it feels like you should be outside in it, isn't it? It's a very English thing, I think, because it's so rare.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Whereas when it's raining, you're like, that's fine. It's horrible out there. Let's make a track.
Will Clarke:
I like going outside in the. In the rain. Like, I really. I genuinely just love being out in nature. This. I don't know, I was. I just had. I don't know when this podcast coming out, but I just recorded an episode on my podcast with Nora Impure, and she.
Will Clarke:
She was talking about like, the power of being in outside and in nature. And kind of during COVID I spent most days up on the hills by myself. And there was always this like, strange feeling of when I was walking down the hill and coming back to reality, there's this like, weird feeling that I was just like, this just doesn't feel right. Like there's something that kind of like, oh, you have to now think about every other. Every. Every struggle that we all have. Right. We all have those daily struggles.
Will Clarke:
And there's just something about being in nature where there's just nothing to think about like that I have to worry about anything else.
Will Betts:
So it's like a mini holiday.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Every time you go.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, but I don't like holidays. So it's like. So it's like being able to switch off in my workplace so that all externals. I'm very much a. A writer that I have to be in a good mood. I can't go in the studio if I'm. If I've got other shit going on or need to deal with something or have a meeting here or there and go in between. It just doesn't work for me like that.
Chris Barker:
So no writing on the road.
Will Clarke:
I used to. I write edits on the road. Yeah. But I was on the plane the other day and tried to write and I'm just like, this just makes me unhappy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. Again, it's. It's. We. We find that like, some. Some people can just turn to it. Like, it's like work. Is it like, right, I've got to do some work.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And other people need to be in a certain headspace to be able to. To get that creativity out.
Will Clarke:
I can treat it like work because I do do the like eight to six in the studio, nine to seven in the studio. But. Or like, if I come to London, I do a lot of writing sessions here. So I'll come to London and I go, okay, I get into the studio. Session starts at 11. I'll get into the studio for 9:30. I'll do an hour and a half writing, making ideas, doing stuff like that. The top liners will come in.
Will Clarke:
We're right, three, four songs there go. I'll go back and then I'll rework them. But again, I can. If I'm in a bad headspace there, I can kind of switch it off because I've got other people, other people to. To kind of go, okay, well, I have to work. Right. But when I'm like going back into that shooting, I'm not In the best headspace. I really have to, like, try and work out how to get out of that, and n really does help.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so we've got the. We've got the room.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Floor, ceiling, windows. We've got a kind of chilled vibe in there. I guess it's kind of. What is it? Kind of cushions and comfy.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah. Candles, incense.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. It's gotta smell good, right?
Chris Barker:
That's vibe.
Will Clarke:
Wood floor.
Chris Barker:
Wood floor.
Will Clarke:
Herringbone wood floor.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Yes. We like the details.
Will Betts:
I. I love a herringbone.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Who does?
Will Betts:
Who doesn't? Yeah, it's got the sort of village hall vibe.
Will Clarke:
Exactly, exactly. Posh village hall, though.
Chris Barker:
So let's go.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Let's get to the three free items. Let's get to the three free items. So we've got. You get a free daw, free audio interface, and a free computer. Let's start with a computer. What computer are you choosing?
Will Clarke:
Just a MacBook Pro. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
The most spec'd out one, I guess.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. It has to have most storage.
Chris Barker:
Storage. Okay.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. I use a lot of storage rather than the RAM nowadays. It's just like. It's so big anyway.
Chris Barker:
Say, do you ever find any limits when you make it? Like there's.
Will Clarke:
There's one plugin that always one name it. It's the sound toys. It's one of the delays.
Chris Barker:
Echo Boy.
Will Clarke:
No, it's not Echo Boy. Oh, that's really bad. I love it as well. It's got a freeze function.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
And you hit freeze and then you can adjust the time and it kind of makes it just primal tap. Primal tap. Yeah, and it makes it super weird and sometimes that goes special.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
Interesting.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
But everything else is absolutely fine nowadays.
Chris Barker:
It's gonna be fine on this Mac. Okay. So Willa will spec up that.
Will Betts:
I'll spec you up something nice.
Chris Barker:
Spec up something nice. And what about the daw then? So you said cubase. You're on Logic now.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, logic with much to everyone's disbelief and also my disbelief. Everyone's like, why aren't you on Ableton? Why aren't you in Ableton? I recently just did a live show tour and everything was built out using Ableton.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
So I'm a little bit more aware of what Ableton and I used to DJ mixes in Ableton when we have to do DJ mixes. But I really want to get into Ableton.
Chris Barker:
The live show will probably push you into that a little bit more.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it will, but this is so stupid. Shortcuts.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Oh, yeah, like, it's just so different. And I think, like I've been on logic since probably 15 years old. Yeah. Since I was 15. So it's like I've. I've gone through all of these different. Like I've tried Ableton so many times and I realistically just need to go, I'm deleting Logic and I'm gonna go on Ableton.
Will Betts:
Why though?
Will Clarke:
Because Logic is actually really not good. And it is, but there's so many bugs and it's so buggy and I just wish they would fix it.
Will Betts:
Have you found more of that since 11?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it's just. There's always bugs, always bugs. And it's really frustrating and it's. It's not as like. Ableton is very intuitive. Right. And so is Logic for if you know it. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
But I think for the, for the music that we do.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. If you're doing loop and dance based music, Ableton makes sense.
Will Clarke:
Ableton's so good for me.
Chris Barker:
Going from that kind of like the kind of the classic door experience of Cubase and Logic and those kind of. To Ableton. There's a point in Ableton where I really struggle and then you just have a kind of aha moment. All of it makes sense of how it's all. Because it's a different way of working.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. And I think Abelson's terrible at recording vocals. I don't care what anyone says. It's just.
Will Betts:
They got that comping feature now.
Will Clarke:
Oh, wow. Like 20 years later. Like, why the fuck didn't you do that 20 years ago? Like.
Will Betts:
Well, they're all designed for different things.
Chris Barker:
There's no vocalist in Berlin. I don't care about that.
Will Betts:
How dare you? How dare you?
Chris Barker:
They've been working on a new hi hat feature for 20 years.
Will Betts:
Come on now.
Will Clarke:
No, that's the thing. And to be fair, like, I probably will always stick with Logic.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But I mean, most people have two now anyway. People are much more dual agnostic now. Back in the day it was like very much, you know, stand on tribal, wasn't it?
Will Betts:
Yeah, it is weirdly tribal.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Well, it was so expensive.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah, that's true.
Will Clarke:
It's like. It was like. Now I know Ableton's actually expensive. Logic's cheap as fuck.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, but you need a Mac. So it's.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, but it's a PC guy.
Chris Barker:
No, I'm a. I don't care guy.
Will Clarke:
I'm a derision walk out PC guy.
Chris Barker:
He's a Mac guy.
Will Clarke:
I'm a Mac guy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah. Oh, dear.
Chris Barker:
I think.
Will Clarke:
Sorry to PC people.
Chris Barker:
Anyway, let's get through.
Will Betts:
Sorry, the freebies.
Chris Barker:
No, let's get through the freebies. So we've got Logic, we've got the Mac, and what you're gonna have as an audio interface.
Will Clarke:
I don't know.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Because.
Chris Barker:
Can maybe we suggest the Audient?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, I'm interested. I've. For the last, like, four years.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. What are you on now?
Will Clarke:
You really want to know?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Native instruments.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Just the basic audio interface, the complete.
Will Betts:
Is it called?
Will Clarke:
Or Control Complete thing. And I've used that for probably eight years and I.
Chris Barker:
Stable. You like it, though?
Will Clarke:
I don't have. I don't even have the new one that they bought out. It's still the old version of it. And I've been trying for years and years to find one that I like, but it's never like the uad. I don't like for certain reasons. And that's in every studio I go to. And I'm just like, why is this here? And I know. I understand why people love it because they use the plugins and preamps and all of that.
Will Clarke:
And it's like I. I don't use any of them. So I had a UAD for a while and, like, I love. The whole concept of the business is great, but I just don't get on with it. So I'm still trying to find one.
Chris Barker:
Do you track vocals and stuff into the native instruments?
Will Clarke:
Absolutely. Fine.
Chris Barker:
Maybe you get the new version of that.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it's cheap.
Will Betts:
It's 80 quid.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it's cheap.
Chris Barker:
Is that their flagship model? They must have a flagship.
Will Clarke:
Is it the black one now?
Will Betts:
The black one is sort of a bit more square and chunky.
Will Clarke:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
Can they not do a bigger fancy? That's it.
Will Betts:
I think it's just a little one.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah. It's 80 quid now. That's gone down.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
It's 100 channel US.
Chris Barker:
I mean, this is your forever studio. This is.
Will Betts:
Sky's the living.
Chris Barker:
Sky's the limit.
Will Clarke:
If the Sky's the limit, I'd have an SSL desk with the audio interface.
Chris Barker:
Is that a bundle?
Will Clarke:
SSL bundle? That's not a bundle. This is an audio interface. I'm fighting this one.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay.
Will Betts:
I mean, there's definitely SSL interfaces. They have the SSL 2 and the SSL 12, but the. Oh, are you talking about the little one that was at the big six. Okay. Yeah. That is an audio interface and a mixer in. That's a smart.
Will Clarke:
I know.
Chris Barker:
Hack. Okay.
Will Clarke:
Don't give me that bundle.
Will Betts:
Big six, Big six. That one called the six. And there's another one called the Big six, I believe.
Will Clarke:
I love. We're fact checking right now.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Big six, class compliant.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
1900 pounds.
Will Clarke:
Pretty cheap for like, for what you're getting.
Will Betts:
I've borrowed one of these off a mate a couple of years ago and it's, it's really good.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
You get so much stuff in it. You have the EQS, you have four preamps.
Chris Barker:
That's a great leap from an 80 quid. Native instruments interface might be good.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's.
Will Clarke:
It's not a bundle there. I'm not going bundles.
Will Betts:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
No bundles. No bundles. You survived the bundle. Right, well let's. Should we lock that in? Lock in the big six.
Will Betts:
Incredible.
Will Clarke:
Okay, if anyone listening from SSL hook me up.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Shout out or Audient. We can, we can definitely say Audient.
Will Betts:
Well, I mean this one has a lot of, a lot of great features on it.
Will Clarke:
I was talking to Will at the top and like I asked him because. Or every time I've used an Audient it's been in a studio that uses UAD and the UAD's failed. They've just bought a small Audient in.
Will Betts:
Oh yeah.
Will Clarke:
So I don't have any experience with Audient so I asked him to tell me a bit more.
Will Betts:
They're just really solid.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
I mean like all class compliant.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Works.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. And that's what, that's why I love the native instruments. It's literally plug and play.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
I don't need to install anything and it's like, this is what I want. I want to just make music. I don't want to like go into like the back end of, of the Apple Mac. Because you used to have to do on the M3 with the UAD, you had to go into the back end of it, install like, take off the like security.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And you're just like, I don't want to do this.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is it.
Will Clarke:
Work.
Chris Barker:
Not music making. Yeah, yeah. Right, well that takes us on to the first of your actual items. Okay, so you know what you've got already? You've got the audio interface, the computer and logic. So first studio item, what's it going to be?
Will Clarke:
My ADS7AVP or AVP ADS7 drum machine.
Chris Barker:
I don't know what that is.
Will Clarke:
It's a handmade Russian drum machine.
Chris Barker:
Is it the 808 clone?
Will Clarke:
No, no, it's not a clone. It's like its own thing.
Will Betts:
Oh, wow.
Chris Barker:
Okay, okay.
Will Betts:
This is. Will put up on the screen the ads 7 II tell us your story with it.
Will Clarke:
So I. 2018, I think. I don't quote me on dates, but I think this is 2018. I saw a clip somewhere and I was like, what the hell is this? And this was during my, like, leaving Dirty Bird to like, go and put my toes into techno. And I was like, I really want to change drums. I really want to have like a specific sound of what my techno side sounds like. And I was like, what is that? That can help me get that? And I reached out to them and DM them and they were like, yeah, we make these by hand. Like, it's literally like only a few ordered get ordered and we make a few and then they don't get sold again.
Will Clarke:
So I actually have the. I think I have the Mark 1. I think the Mark 2 is now out. Yeah. So I ordered the Mark 1 and it, yeah, just rocked up from Russia on my doorstep. And it's very easy to use. It's very specifically, like. It's a.
Will Clarke:
It's a unique sound. It's very noisy.
Chris Barker:
But that's a. That's a great thing as well for you. Like you say, finding it going into a new genre, experimenting. You don't kind of want to use the same tools as everybody else. Otherwise, what's the point?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, right. We've. Everyone can get a 303, everyone can get a 909. It's like, do we need another 99 kick job? No, we don't. Right. So for me, it's like I. And I still use it to this.
Chris Barker:
Day and predominantly for what hats?
Will Clarke:
All of my hats. All of my shakers. A lot of my shakers.
Chris Barker:
It's got really good noise generation and stuff.
Will Clarke:
It's really noisy and like, I like just twisting.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
I'm not like a super nerdy synth guy of like, knowing everything about synths, but I know what I need to know and, like, just get the job done.
Chris Barker:
Because it's quite an intimidating interface.
Will Clarke:
It looks Russian as fuck.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. And there must be, what, there's gotta be 30, 40 rotaries on the front of it.
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
And sequencer.
Will Betts:
So when you say it's noisy, do you mean it's just like. There's buzzes?
Will Clarke:
It's analog. It's like just a classic analog. Like, it's not a clean sound, but that's. I'm not looking for a clean sound. I'm looking for something gritty. I'm looking for something to kind of just get textures into the record that you wouldn't get from a sample. Right, right. And you can.
Will Clarke:
Well, you can see how many knobs there are on it. You can just twist away. Twist away.
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
We've never had that one before as well, so.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah, that's good. So item number two, an original bouchlet easel.
Will Betts:
Nice. Very nice.
Will Clarke:
Like I. I use that synth in a Artoria. The plugins.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And it's so weird. Like, it's so weird. And I. I write quite a lot with a guy called Mitch Jones who's an insane keys player. And every time we're looking for like inspiration, just pull up the buchla and we're just like, let's just see what it does. Because you can literally like push a button and it never stops. It'll just keep going. And you could like there's.
Will Clarke:
It's not like your generic synthetic of like, you know what you. It's not like the adsr. It's just weird.
Will Betts:
It's the west coast style.
Will Clarke:
I don't know what it is. I don't know. You guys probably know more about it than me, but it's like. It's just weird.
Chris Barker:
What was the sense that the Grateful Dead had.
Will Betts:
That was a boucler as well. And they used to drip LSD onto the controls and that's when a guy who was restoring it had like a.
Chris Barker:
Nine day trip after nine hours.
Will Clarke:
Nine days after that he did it.
Chris Barker:
Nine hours, nine days in. In a row.
Will Betts:
I think you put gloves on. But that's. Yeah, that's a great choice. So, yeah, west coast style. So it's not subtractive. It's a bit more open and weird.
Will Clarke:
Okay. You know more about it than me. I just know it makes weird. Right.
Will Betts:
That's kind of the.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Five grand.
Will Betts:
It's about five, four or five.
Will Clarke:
It's actually not that expensive.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, like, I mean, it'll hold value as well.
Will Clarke:
Oh yeah, those things. Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
It's. That's a beautiful instrument. So have you played one? No, a physical one. Oh, okay. So you're going from digital to.
Will Clarke:
I've never even seen one.
Will Betts:
So what have you used it on, like track wise?
Will Clarke:
Literally most tracks on my album.
Will Betts:
Ah, yeah. Okay.
Will Clarke:
One that comes to mind. Holding on, it just goes a bit mental and there's. It's all like the soundscapes in the background that you probably don't even know they're there. But there's just weird stuff that's kind of going on. There's almost like a Clav. Right, that's on that as well. But it's like a pitch up and down. Clav.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. There's just loads of. The whole album is full of.
Chris Barker:
But it invites you to make weirdness and then that weirdness inspires.
Will Clarke:
I think that's, for me, is like in a day and age now where, like what I was saying before, I feel like it's very stagnant of what you're allowed to do for things to do well. It's like there's certain creative tools that we can have in the studio that allow us to be weird and like this. It isn't what you would normally do. Yeah. I just like doing shit like that.
Chris Barker:
Let's lock it in.
Will Clarke:
Love it.
Chris Barker:
Lock it in the booty.
Will Betts:
Great choice.
Chris Barker:
So we're on item number three.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Do we talk about speakers?
Chris Barker:
No, you haven't picked any yet.
Will Betts:
So you will need to listen.
Chris Barker:
You've got all this fantastic equipment and it's all coming out of a MacBook Pro laptop at the moment.
Will Clarke:
Ah, yeah. We need speakers, don't we?
Chris Barker:
Have you been to a studio or a venue where you think, yeah, if I could take these home.
Will Clarke:
I remember going to Optimum Mastering in Bristol.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Sean, I think the guy that owns it, and he had the PMC stack, but like the, like floor to ceiling, they're like 30 odd grand or something.
Will Betts:
Oh, that. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Exe.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, they. They sounded great. But I am a huge lover of Adam. I. I write on Adams. I love the. Like, they're not super true, but then like Genelecs are too true in a sense of. They make everything sounds great, especially if you're in the right room.
Will Clarke:
Adams don't make everything sound great, but they don't fatigue my ears.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
So I can work on them for hours. So I would probably get a stack. The big. I can't remember what they're called.
Chris Barker:
Biggest. Adams.
Will Clarke:
The biggest stack. Just because we're animals and want the biggest and best.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
I think we'll be looking at the s series.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
S5HS5V. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Again with the numbers. Why don't. Why just. Just call them.
Will Clarke:
Just call it the Adam Big stuff. Like, just stop being like techy and geeky about it.
Chris Barker:
S5V.
Will Clarke:
No, it's not that bigger. No, no, no. It's like actual stack. Oh, okay. So.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Soffit now.
Will Betts:
Yeah, Soffit.
Chris Barker:
Soffit mounted.
Will Clarke:
Is that what it is?
Chris Barker:
Whether in the walls?
Will Clarke:
Yeah. I wouldn't have it in the walls, though.
Chris Barker:
No. Okay. No.
Will Clarke:
I know heads do Them as well.
Chris Barker:
And have you tried that? I mean, because obviously the. The heads are made in Berlin. The Adams aren't anymore. Right.
Will Betts:
S6X massive ones. These are the ones with the sort of silver center. It's these guys, isn't it?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
They're probably still made in Berlin. Are they that when you get to the high end models.
Will Betts:
These are 24 grand.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, these are 24 grand. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
The barefoots are beautiful as well.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Like the. The. Like. This is why I'm like.
Chris Barker:
So which Adams do you have right now?
Will Clarke:
A seven.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
X.
Will Betts:
Nice.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. I should upgrade them as well.
Will Betts:
It's just a really popular. Well, it's just great.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, they're great.
Chris Barker:
But it might be. It might be worth staying in that world for your fantasy studio and just. Because keep it in the Adam world.
Will Clarke:
And go to the. Yeah, why not?
Chris Barker:
Five grand pair.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, why not? Yeah, they sound great. So.
Chris Barker:
Okay, lock those in.
Will Clarke:
Lock them in.
Chris Barker:
S6X.
Will Betts:
S6X.
Will Clarke:
Noted for the shopping list.
Chris Barker:
Right, let's go to.
Will Clarke:
What's the, like. Sorry, what's the craziest? What, like on speakers? What is the, like, most absurd speakers you've heard?
Will Betts:
We had a full Atmos system one time that somebody chose, which was a bit of a cheat, honestly. We let it slide.
Will Clarke:
Did you not bundle that?
Will Betts:
Because it was speakers? I feel like it's.
Chris Barker:
If you want to do Atmos, it was somebody that did that. So if you want to do Atmos, it's your only option, really, isn't it? Yeah, I think.
Will Betts:
Is that bt Maybe.
Chris Barker:
Bt? I think it was. Yeah. We have. We've had people like the huge Soffit mountain stuff can go into hundreds of thousands and, you know.
Will Betts:
Oh, yeah. Like Augsburgers and those sorts of things.
Chris Barker:
As well, where they're built into the walls and. Yeah, they come with this room. I mean, you couldn't do it in the ocean. You've got glass walls.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So you couldn't do.
Will Betts:
Anyway, you're not in a glass cube, though, is it?
Will Clarke:
No, it's like. So it's the desk. Speakers, Massive windows. Or like. Yeah, like.
Chris Barker:
Okay, like real world.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like real world. Like Devon analog.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Nice.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
That type of vibe.
Will Betts:
Lovely.
Chris Barker:
I was preferring the idea of just a glass box in a field. Like an art installation.
Will Clarke:
Like David Blaine in Somerset. Everyone just chucking hot people's ass working on a trap just in the field. Next hike.
Chris Barker:
And you sleep there as well.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And it's all open.
Will Betts:
You may never leave.
Will Clarke:
Have you seen Arnold? Arnold? Arnold's, yeah. Arnold Studio.
Chris Barker:
No.
Will Clarke:
So his is like. His is beautiful and the inside is like a log cabin.
Will Betts:
It's beautiful.
Will Clarke:
It's insane. Yeah, yeah. And, like, it would be similar vibes to that, like, but with glass on the front. Yeah. It's just creating a cool vibe.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So where are we? Item number four.
Will Betts:
Number four, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Item number four. Don't forget, you know, you don't have any plugins. You don't have, you know, any synths. Any synths.
Will Betts:
You don't have a keyboard. Yeah, you've got the booklet.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, you've got the booklet. That's your MIDI interface.
Will Clarke:
I'd have some. I feel like I should have prepped a little bit because I. I'd have some sort of poly synthesis and I'd probably get the Moog one, because I don't. You might hit the bundle button. But it's like. Gives you everything, like. Yeah, that synth is an absolute beast. It's also very expensive, so a lot of people don't have it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
So you're getting a lot of stuff that. A lot of people. You're not just getting a profit, you're.
Chris Barker:
Paying for that uniqueness, aren't you, as well?
Will Clarke:
Or like. Like, I use a sub 37 in my studio. It's like everyone's got one of those now. It's like. So I'd like to get something that not everyone has.
Chris Barker:
Move one. It's a good choice. And. And then you do have your MIDI controller there as well.
Will Clarke:
Exactly, yeah.
Chris Barker:
You've got your. Your interface for your Mac.
Will Betts:
Yeah, Very solid choice. Yeah. Okay, so you've. Have you used one of these? Yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
Amazing.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Absolutely amazing. Sims.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
What is it? I mean, you say it does everything.
Will Clarke:
It literally does everything. It's like, obviously it's poly. It's a polyphonic, but you still have the Moog grittiness. A lot of, like, real heads will say you lose the grittiness of, like, what you'd get from a monophonic monosynth that, like, it is. It's not. It's not a sub fatty, if you know one thing, right? It does everything, but it's like a computer. Like, you turn it on. Have you guys used one?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Will Clarke:
And it's loud. It's like. It sounds like a computer turning on. It's like. It's a big thing, but the sounds are just ridiculous.
Will Betts:
And you want that sort of heft impressiveness, Right?
Will Clarke:
Like, it's like, literally, like the first time I heard It. Somebody pressed the key and I'm like, what the. Like, it just sounds full. It fills records up.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Well, two more items left. Item number five.
Will Clarke:
What more do we need?
Chris Barker:
Oh, punk.
Will Betts:
Hang on, you can't. You can't leave with four.
Chris Barker:
Do you not need a mic? Do you want a mic for a vocalist?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, but like the best vocals are always just a scratch, right? Like sm7b d db or something like that. The one with the bill cloud lifter. It's not like the best in the world, but I write nearly every single one of my records is recorded on one of those.
Will Betts:
So tell us about that then. Because it sounds like that you're recording in the room together. So you. You is the more important thing then the vibe between you and the top line.
Will Clarke:
And I think it's like you get artifacts in the recordings, which sometimes is really annoying. But with technology nowadays you're like, okay, it is what it is. You can take that. Those artifacts out or sometimes leave them in. It's for me just trying to write the best record, not sonically the best record. I've not had many records mixed by other people. Occasionally I get Andy from AM PM Audio. He masters all my records and has done for years.
Will Clarke:
But I used a guy called Cow, he's based out of the 360 studios to mix my album. And I was in the whole of the mixing process. We did like two days of just like just wired of just mixing the album. Me sat in the back of the room and him. Him kind of on the controls. And he's an amazing mixer. He does like. He does everybody.
Will Clarke:
He's doing Ellie Golden's album right now. He does like Stormzy, he's. He's legit really good. But I think being in the room whilst mixing it was always. It was like an interesting thing where understanding what he's doing, but also trying to keep the vibe of what the original record sounds like. And that's what a good mix engineer does. It's like you're not actually doing much, you're just making it sound a little better. It's adding that 5% at the end and.
Will Clarke:
And that's the. The craziest part of the art is. Is doing that. And I think for me is when you're making the record, if you're. If you're trying too hard to make it sound good at the time, you just lose everything and. And it's like, well, what are we doing? So the way I wrote the album, the way I write now a lot is I go into a studio, I'll write a disco song and it. Or I'll write like a ballad or I'll write something that's just completely A rock song. Right.
Will Clarke:
And then I'll go back to my studio and just completely resample it and treat it like a sample.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
So I don't have to clear any samples. I don't have to worry about that. But I'm also getting original, original music. So if you look at all the records as house music producers we sample previously, they weren't perfect records. They were all made in disco records or soul records or gospel records. They weren't recorded in the best studios in the world because the best studios weren't even around then, if you know what I mean. Like, technology's moved on. So it's like we still want grit, we still want sound.
Will Clarke:
Or I do in. In the records. And I think by having the most perfect mic set up, preamps and all of that. Yeah, it sounds great, but I'm not Ryan Pop records.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
So, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Happy with the 7. Sm7, then?
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
I've got to ask you, though, about this because you've. You're known for recording your own voice into tracks here and there now and again. Now and again. What would you be using for that? Just anything. Phone. Just phone?
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Or like just any mic. Like a SM57 in the studio that I've got. Just like chuck it in.
Will Betts:
So you're not sort of. You don't need a U47 or anything to get those things you're going to grab?
Will Clarke:
Not if I'm paying you.
Chris Barker:
Not paying.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Sky's the limit.
Will Clarke:
Realistically, no.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
I'd love to say yes. I'd love to be like, I want this. This chain for my vocal chain. And I'm like, am I really going to, like, is it going to be a creative part of. Of me of the shoe years? No, it's not.
Chris Barker:
Well, I mean, you might not want to waste one item on a mic at all then. But should we lock it in for now and see how you get on with the final item? You don't have any plugins yet. I mean, is there.
Will Clarke:
Oh, you don't get plugins. Yeah. But logic's got quite a lot.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. You get what comes with logic.
Will Clarke:
And I'm not allowed bundles.
Will Betts:
No bundles.
Chris Barker:
No. No bundles.
Will Clarke:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
I mean, we're not forcing you to have them if you don't want them. But it sound like you said about the. The primal tap. Is that quite an important thing to.
Will Clarke:
Have I use the Echo Boy more?
Chris Barker:
Right?
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
I. I love Echo Boy. It's on everything. I use a lot of free stuff as well.
Chris Barker:
There's still this.
Will Clarke:
That's still that still class.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yes, the items.
Will Clarke:
Oh, is the ozone 11? Is that a bundle?
Will Betts:
No, no, it's not.
Will Clarke:
I'd use like Ozone.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You really wanted to speed, didn't you? So you really wanted to press the air horn.
Will Clarke:
I really did, yeah.
Will Betts:
You've seen skirted the.
Will Clarke:
The rule there. I do. I'd use something like that. It's. It's a in or like the God Particle, one of those, like, plugins. The Cradle Audio. God Particle. Insane piece of kit.
Will Clarke:
So. So is Ozone like the new stuff that they're doing? And it's more so in a sense of. It actually helps me get a record to a point of where I can hear it as loud as everything else. And I know there's limiters out there, but the God part, God Particle does something that. I don't have a clue what it does. Same with the Ozone, right. It's like. It does something that, like, I'm gonna have to think so many and go through so many processes to get it to like this.
Will Clarke:
That again, it goes back to that vibe is quick. It's like, I can play this in an hour if I want.
Chris Barker:
I'm gonna say that. And that's important to you, isn't it? Getting something to stage where you can play in a club and see a.
Will Clarke:
Reaction or just finish it. It's like.
Will Betts:
Right.
Will Clarke:
It's like, I really dislike spending months and months on a record. It just loses it for me. If I can. If I have an idea, I can finish it. Let's say, for instance, yesterday morning I had. I started a record a while ago. It was just a vibe. I went into the studio, said I was like, okay.
Will Clarke:
I'm giving myself an hour and a half to finish it. Whether it's going to be a good record at the end of it.
Chris Barker:
So you ditch a lot of material.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, a lot.
Chris Barker:
You got like a Prince style vault.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, there's a lot.
Will Betts:
You don't just delete projects.
Will Clarke:
No.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
No.
Will Betts:
Because I feel like that's an unhinged move.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, there's a lot of like.
Chris Barker:
Like E.J. no save. Wow.
Will Clarke:
I do think that would be really cool, though.
Will Betts:
Well, that was. SARS said that, didn't he? That he, when he was making beats early on, didn't have a version that he could save on. So it's just remaking beats every single Time.
Will Clarke:
That's cool.
Chris Barker:
Like you have to finish it.
Will Clarke:
Oh yeah, yeah. I, I think that is. I get asked obviously with the podcast. There's a lot of, A lot of like new producers that kind of listening and new DJs. And a lot of what they ask for is like a lot of the struggles is like finishing projects.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, well, there's whole courses on that. It seems to be one of the trending YouTube like cells on. When you see on socials.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I'm going to teach you how to finish records.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, because.
Will Betts:
Is that because you don't finish records? Because I'm the same. I get served the same material. Maybe there's a whole other.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, they know. They know. They know as well.
Will Clarke:
The algorithm is.
Chris Barker:
It's that and burger joints. That's it. That's why I'm not finishing records.
Will Clarke:
No. Yeah. And I think that is the issue is that like we can all make a 16 bar loop sound great, but can you make it into a great record? Some 16 bar loops aren't going to be a great record.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And you got to accept that.
Chris Barker:
So it's like Thomas Bangalore. That's it.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. But I'm sure he, out of the great ones that he's done, he's got a hundred thousand others that are shit.
Chris Barker:
But it's, but it is back to that. That's why EJ and things were a game because you get the loops, but it's like can you make a track?
Will Clarke:
Exactly, exactly. And that's the game and that is it.
Will Betts:
But just back to ozone and God particle then. So for people who don't know the God particle, tell us what it does.
Will Clarke:
I don't know.
Will Betts:
What do you use it for?
Will Clarke:
So I use it literally on my master chain.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
I actually use both of them at the same time. So I use the ozone. I used to use the God particle, then the ozone. Now I use the ozone to kind of get a really bit of a cleaner mix ready. And then I turn, I keep the limiter on the ozone, but put it down so it's literally just not doing anything.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
And then put the God particle on and just use the limiter on that.
Chris Barker:
And that kind of gives you the life and the sparkle.
Will Clarke:
Have you used it?
Will Betts:
I haven't used God particle, no. Used ozone for years, but never God particle.
Will Clarke:
So God particle, I guess it does a bit of compression, a bit of EQ and a bit of limiting. Right. But in its own unique way. And you can add more or less of it. And I literally don't I don't generally touch the settings. I literally just plug it on and just go, okay, sweet, this works. It's pretty game changing.
Chris Barker:
And how did you discover it?
Will Clarke:
Some like Instagram ad. And then like, I'd go into studio sessions with people and they'd be like, oh, have you got the God particle? And I'm like, no. Like, everyone's telling me, Maya, say finish.
Chris Barker:
Records and yours, like, your records are finished. You need this. You need God.
Will Clarke:
Find God. And yeah, like it. Yeah, I just, I just bought it. It's not that expensive.
Will Betts:
I don't think it's 120.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it's really not that expensive. In a grand scheme of things, if you use it on every record, it's. It's worth it.
Chris Barker:
If you use it one record, it's all right for that, right?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, well, maybe not in streaming, but you need 100 million streams to pay that back. But, but, yeah, like, it's amazing. But Ozone, I was very fortunate. The guy sent me that. And I've had some of the guys from Ozone on. On my podcast as well or from Isotope and they're is what they do is amazing as well. I love it, absolutely love it.
Will Betts:
So which is it going to be? Or are you going to get rid of your microphone and have both?
Will Clarke:
No.
Chris Barker:
Ozone or God Particle?
Will Clarke:
Ozone.
Chris Barker:
Lock it in.
Will Betts:
I'll give you advanced.
Will Clarke:
Oh, thanks, man.
Chris Barker:
Well, okay, well, before we get to the luxury item. Yeah. We'll have to do a little rundown of everything you selected so you can imagine it.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And see if there's any changes before. Yes, the luxury item. Okay. Will, do you want to take us through the other Will's choices?
Will Betts:
We're in Somerset, in the middle of a field, looking out over nature. You have floor to ceiling windows, so you can.
Will Clarke:
This is so sexy. This is so sexy.
Chris Barker:
It's like an Ms. Sauce, literally.
Will Betts:
Floor to ceiling windows so you can absorb the rain. You have no neighbors. You have candles and a herringbone floor.
Will Clarke:
Keep talking dirty to me.
Will Betts:
Your free items, you have a MacBook Pro with 8 TB storage.
Will Clarke:
Oh, pricey.
Will Betts:
Your interface is the SSL Big Six. Your DAW is Logic Pro 11. And for your items you have chosen, item number one is the AVP ADS 7 drum machine. For a synth, you have the booklet easel, a fine choice. For monitors, you have the Adam S6X soffit mounted or.
Will Clarke:
No.
Will Betts:
Another synth, your poly synth, you have the Moog one. For a mic, you have the Shure SM7DB. And your final item for mastering is ozone 11 advanced.
Will Clarke:
Yep.
Will Betts:
How does that work?
Will Clarke:
It works. Do you know there's one thing that this is sticking out and it's the speakers.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
I still want us like a floor stack.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Do you want the PMCs?
Will Clarke:
Yeah, I think I want the PMCs.
Chris Barker:
I think I want the PMCs. Nice.
Will Betts:
Okay, so that's their biggest ones that bb6xbda.
Chris Barker:
Are there these model numbers? It's the worst thing.
Will Betts:
It's your pet peeve.
Chris Barker:
It is my pet peeve. It's gone throughout every episode of the podcast. I know this, but like, look at that one. Read that one out second.
Will Betts:
1 MB2SXBD.
Chris Barker:
No, the one after that.
Will Betts:
This is the IB2SXBD. A and then Roman numeral II, but italicized.
Will Clarke:
How much are they?
Will Betts:
I think if you have to ask, then.
Will Clarke:
Enough.
Will Betts:
Yeah, enough, Enough, Yeah.
Chris Barker:
They will be made to order, right? Pretty much.
Will Betts:
I don't know. Actually, I've only ever seen them at trade shows and in very, very high end studios.
Will Clarke:
They're beautiful.
Chris Barker:
So we're just going to swap those out with the Adam.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Okay.
Will Clarke:
I love Adam. But. But yeah, I need a floor stack.
Will Betts:
Floor stack, yeah, good choice.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, good choice.
Will Betts:
And then you've got more of a.
Will Clarke:
Sort of more of a space. It's like they sit on the floor in their own little way. Whereas the wide speakers, they take up the view.
Will Betts:
Yeah, you want more view of the great outdoors. Yeah, yeah, great outdoors.
Chris Barker:
Could they make them perspex or see through?
Will Clarke:
Oh, have you seen the, the see through speakers?
Chris Barker:
No.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, they're cool. I don't know if they sound any good, but they look great.
Chris Barker:
You can put a special request in for Adam to make them see through.
Will Betts:
Pmc.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, pmc. Sorry. Yeah, Keep up, Chris.
Will Clarke:
Just add a few grand.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it should be fine.
Chris Barker:
Let's lock those in. Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, locked.
Chris Barker:
We're swapping those out. Okay. Now, final thing is a luxury item, which isn't a bit of studio kit.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So something else you would love in your studio or maybe that you've taken from studio to studio or you know, because you lived in Detroit for a bit as well. Like you've got anything that you've taken along the way?
Will Clarke:
No.
Chris Barker:
All right.
Will Clarke:
Is it luxury item? What can you, can you, can you.
Chris Barker:
Like dream a dream, mate? Dream a dream? Whatever you fancy.
Will Clarke:
Can it be like a sauna?
Chris Barker:
Yeah. It can be a great shower.
Will Betts:
Yeah, lovely.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Can it be like, am I allowed a bundle item?
Chris Barker:
Don't know.
Will Betts:
Ask, try and see what Happens.
Will Clarke:
He just wants to press the button.
Will Betts:
Maybe I do.
Will Clarke:
It would be like, I'm not. I know I'm not allowed this, but it would be like a gym, sauna. Like a health club. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
A whole health club?
Will Clarke:
Pretty much, yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Based on any health clubs you've been to?
Will Clarke:
No, no, no.
Chris Barker:
Custom.
Will Clarke:
Custom or. Yeah, but like, you're within. Getting into bundles. Like, for me, it's like, how can I make this, like, the place that I just want to go and enjoy and I can be there for as much. So it'd be like a. Like a really nice outside kitchen.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Where I can like, cook, like in nature on, like, fire and then go.
Chris Barker:
Make music and sauna.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Swim.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Gym. Okay.
Will Clarke:
Paradise.
Will Betts:
This sounds beautiful. Pick maybe one part of that.
Will Clarke:
The kitchen?
Will Betts:
The outdoor kitchen.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Is it covered? Is it like.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, it's covered, but it's not. Got a front.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Beautiful.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. So you're cooking outside, but. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Joy of cooking. Do you love cooking?
Will Clarke:
Love cooking?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Yeah, I love cooking.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Clarke:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
What are you making in this outdoor kitchen?
Will Clarke:
Steaks.
Chris Barker:
Steaks.
Will Clarke:
Steaks and pizza.
Chris Barker:
Oh, pizza oven.
Will Betts:
Wood fired.
Will Clarke:
Wood fired.
Will Betts:
With one of those giant paddles.
Will Clarke:
Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, definitely.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
That's pretty cool.
Will Clarke:
And if music fails, I just set up a restaurant.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Bring people to the field. Destination restaurant.
Will Clarke:
Airbnb. No neighbors.
Will Betts:
That actually sounds great.
Will Clarke:
That's always been a dream of mine, though. And, like, a goal for, like, music eventually is to build a destination studio.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Like a live in place.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Just like a place, like, residential. There's plenty out there now. But, like Devon analog. Similar, but, like, just somewhere where, like, people can just go be creative.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And, like, I love cities. Like, I love New York. I feel so creative when I'm in New York.
Chris Barker:
There's a couple of those in Ibiza now as well, isn't there, like. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Tom stars.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Yeah. But for me, it's just like something about British music culture that I just feel like we just need more studios for people to just like, the Oasis boy is going to live there for a month.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah.
Will Clarke:
Just go write an album. Like, go be.
Chris Barker:
That didn't work out so well though, did it, when they did that?
Will Clarke:
No, they, like. Well, I think they wrote the album, didn't they?
Chris Barker:
I think, I think, I think.
Will Clarke:
And then they split up.
Chris Barker:
But they. Yeah, but they. I think it was a nightmare. Didn't they have to move studios and at some point?
Will Clarke:
Yeah. Like, one of them smashed one of them over the head with a fire extinguisher. But I think for me is like. Like we're in this world now where the business side of the music industry, slow is slowly taking over the creative side.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Clarke:
And I think it's when as artists and creatives, we need to, like, bring back the power of creativity and. And being. Putting ourselves in creative spots and wherever that is and wherever that works for you as an artist to be creative and to remember that the creative, the musicians are the people that build this industry. And if there wasn't the musicians and the creative people, there wouldn't be an industry. And I think that's the thing for me is like allowing. Allowing people to be artists again. And that's what I would love to create for a space.
Chris Barker:
Well, that is a beautiful note to end the podcast on, and I couldn't agree more, really. Thank you. Will Clark.
Will Clarke:
Thanks so much.
Chris Barker:
Amazing. Thank you for taking the time to come and some great choices there.
Will Clarke:
Thanks for having me, lads. Appreciate it.
Will Betts:
Well, all that's left to say is thank you so much for tuning in and we will catch you next time for another adventure into Studio Foreverdom. Bye.