Ellie Dixon is a self-producing artist who, despite amassing millions of streams, continues to make her sample-heavy songs in her bedroom. In this episode, find out how lockdown fuelled Ellie’s TikTok success, hear how her song ‘Swing’ became a demo track in Logic Pro 11, and be challenged to raid your kitchen for samples.
Ellie Dixon is a self-producing artist who, despite amassing millions of streams, continues to make her sample-heavy songs in her bedroom. In this episode, find out how lockdown fuelled Ellie’s TikTok success, hear how her song ‘Swing’ became a demo track in Logic Pro 11, and be challenged to raid your kitchen for samples.
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://acoustica.com/products/mixcraft
https://uk.akg.com/condenser-microphones/C214.html
https://www.boss.info/global/products/rc-300/
Paint - After Ever After 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIQr_TrFTUk
Ellie Dixon - Space Out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk8WktTD2dE
https://focusrite.com/products/clarett-plus-8pre
https://kalabrand.com/collections/archtop-ukulele/products/ka-jte-2ts?variant=23283533697
https://www.lewitt-audio.com/microphones/lct-recording/lct-640-ts
https://www.lewitt-audio.com/microphones/lct-recording/lct-1040
https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=0838-AAE
https://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/time-machine/1961-jazz-bass-heavy-relic-3a-rosewood-fingerboard-3-color-sunburst/
https://www.soundtoys.com/product/devil-loc-deluxe/
https://aberrantdsp.com/plugins/lofi-oddity/
https://teenage.engineering/products/ep-1320
https://www.instagram.com/willowkayne/
https://www.reddit.com/r/OP1users/comments/8bs24q/fun_with_the_cow_effect_op1/
https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/en-UK/p/hd-650/
Chris Barker:
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 audience 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 eternity. But even in the world of studio foreverdom, we have a few rules indeed.
Chris Barker:
Our guests will select a computer, a DAW and an audio interface. Those are the three items we let everybody choose. Then our guests will choose just six other bits of studio kit and one luxury item.
Will Betts:
However.
Chris Barker:
No bundles. Yes, 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 an amazing self producing singer and songwriter who took to TikTok in lockdown and went viral with the COVID of Britney's Toxic.
Will Betts:
Yes. Their witty lyrics, catchy hooks and fantastic production has seen them gain millions of streams, play Glastonbury and even get their track embedded in logic as demo song.
Chris Barker:
That's a nerd flex. I love it. This is my Forever Studio with Ellie Dixon. Welcome, welcome.
Ellie Dixon:
Hello.
Chris Barker:
Hello. Thank you for joining us.
Ellie Dixon:
Thanks. Evan.
Chris Barker:
Let's build the studio.
Ellie Dixon:
Let's go. I'm so pumped for this. I've treated this like homework.
Chris Barker:
Okay. And you've got the notes.
Ellie Dixon:
I've got my notes page up. Yeah, I'm really. You're a planner. Type A. Fun at parties.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Right, well, before we, before we get into that list, let's expand on our little intro there. You know, it sort of seems a bit frivolous to just say we went viral on TikTok and here you are. We didn't mean it to sound like that, but as in, as in tell us about that journey though, that story. Because you were kind of. You have always made music for a long time and then the pandemic sort of changed things and shift things around, right?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've been producing for. I'm old now, 13 years, since I was 13, basically. And like, it's just that that was kind of the first thing I really fell in love with. Like as a singer and artist. Writer, musician, really. Production was kind of the first thing I became truly like obsessed with.
Chris Barker:
And what tools were you obsessed with? What were the first.
Ellie Dixon:
So the way I discovered production was my dad downloaded Mixcraft on the family computer back when you'd have to like bargain for time after school of who gets the computer it's actually. I still have a friend that produces. I don't know if he. I don't know if he still does, but shout out George Moyer because he makes the most unbelievable, like instrumentals on Mixcraft. Still.
Will Betts:
It's been for a long time.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It really has.
Will Betts:
Since the beginning.
Ellie Dixon:
It was cool and I. It was quite the music. Quite.
Chris Barker:
Why Mixcraft?
Ellie Dixon:
I genuinely. You know what, I've quoted this so many times and I've never asked dad why he did that. I don't know. He's just a techie guy. Yeah. Phone him right now. Phone a friend. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I don't know why he downloaded it, but he's a very like creative, techy person.
Chris Barker:
He works. He must have researched it and gone. That's the one. Because it's not something that's in the conscious of most musicians. They would. They've, you know, like even conversationally. Most people will have heard of Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic, GarageBand.
Ellie Dixon:
I mean, this was. It was just cheap, I guess, and I don't know how much it was back in the day, but I basically at that point also I didn't have an interface or anything. Like, this was the family. What I did, what I did have, it was one of those like old school PC microphones.
Chris Barker:
On the little stand.
Ellie Dixon:
On the little stand. Yeah, yeah. And then we had like an even weirder one that was like a little bass with this tiny little stick.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Really strange. That was the only kind of input I had into it and a MIDI keyboard and. But I was just dragging and dropping like loops in and I just. I just couldn't believe that I could like put Irish flute over like rock drums. I was like, I. Mozart.
Chris Barker:
I don't know much about it. Does it do the thing where it like puts it in the right key for you and tempo, stretch it and things or.
Ellie Dixon:
I can't remember. I think you set the. I think you set the key of the project and then. And then it kind of did it for you. I'm sure there was. You could get way more into it if you wanted to change things up. But I was using it pretty basic stage, just dragging and dropping stuff in and it would work magically straight away, which is perfect for someone who's just started and just getting to know the feeling of like. Like it feels like immaculate conception, you know, it's like I just made something from nothing in a way.
Ellie Dixon:
And that's. I always like hone into that when I'm making music still. Like that is still the Main kind of like magic and motivator that always makes me. I never lose that childlike joy of like, it's in here and now it's in real life. Like from brain to physical audio world.
Chris Barker:
Take us to the next stage then. When did it start getting serious or small serious? When you were like, right, Mick's craft isn't cutting it, or the family computer isn't cutting it or whatever.
Ellie Dixon:
So it was at school. I moved secondary schools and I came from a secondary school that was very like performance, like more classical performance or like real instrument performance. And I was like trying to learn clarinet and just didn't get on with it. And I never dealt well with lessons. Like I started doing piano lessons when I was like seven and I would like hide under the piano before my lessons, hoping he wouldn't see me. I don't know why I thought that would be a good hiding place from my piano teachers under the piano. I just. I think I really struggled with like this kind of idea of like discipline and learning these pieces by rote.
Ellie Dixon:
Then I moved schools and they had. It was back when, you know, loads of state schools could get extra funding by calling themselves an academy and specializing in something. And my second secondary school, because we moved house picked like the performing arts, basically. And so they got a suite of Macs, all with logic, on a recording studio for 11 to 15 year olds. Absolutely mad. And so I suddenly was learning how to use logic and I actually hated it because I was used to mix craft and I was like, this is rubbish and I get so angry. And then I got used to it and realized how amazing it was and I started doing lots of like orchestral stuff.
Chris Barker:
That's huge for you though, like. And it sort of. Well, again, political says a lot though. It's like the access to the stuff changed everything.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly. And it was purely just like the angle the school wanted to go down.
Chris Barker:
You know, and there's so many kids because of budgets and stuff that don't get access to Macs or studios or whatever.
Ellie Dixon:
And it's like, yeah, and you need consistent repeated access as well. Because when I first touched logic, I was like, I don't understand what this is. Having already used a piece of software as well. So it wasn't like the concepts were new, it was just like, where's the button? Yeah, you know, so. And I.
Chris Barker:
Where's the button?
Ellie Dixon:
That's true though, with technology. So I was just getting.
Chris Barker:
Well, when you're trying to get the ideas out of your head or you're just Trying to do something. It's frustrating when it's like.
Ellie Dixon:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
Especially if you've got another tool that.
Ellie Dixon:
You know that, you know, work.
Chris Barker:
And it's like, why am I even. I could have had this done by now.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And then slowly fell in love with that. Out of Mixcraft. I went to Audacity because I ended up getting a proper microphone, which was gorgeous. AKG C214, they still have that. I still use like 12 years later.
Will Betts:
That's a great microphone as well.
Ellie Dixon:
It's great. And I think it's me. Me and the mic have an understanding at this point. Like, I think my voice really sits well with this microphone. Yeah. Got the AKG C214, then started using it in Audacity. But at that point, there was no, like, snapping to grid. There was a metronome, but it was like living on a prayer a little bit.
Ellie Dixon:
So everything was kind of all over the place. But I just loved, like, recording audio over and over, basically because it didn't have a lot of, like, VST and like, there's no really instruments in it. There's a little bit, but not much. And then I finally upgraded to Logic as a birthday present, I think. How old was I? Maybe 18. I finally got Logic some of those.
Chris Barker:
Limits because of Mac and PC and family computer being PC or. Or.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, yeah, that was it. I actually forgot. Yeah. The whole thing was that I needed a MacBook basically for logic. Yeah. But it just was the thing I was so comfortable on after working on it. And I took music gcse, so I got really comfortable with it. And then took Music tech, a level which you also did at the same school, as it turns out.
Will Betts:
Weird coincidence. Yeah. Shout out, Barry Watson.
Ellie Dixon:
Shout out, Barry.
Chris Barker:
I feel like I'm not alumni here, so.
Will Betts:
Sorry, Chris.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, missed out.
Chris Barker:
Missed out on that.
Will Betts:
So you ended up at sixth form.
Ellie Dixon:
Doing music tech and then I dropped it.
Will Betts:
Oh, right. Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
I only did one year of it because I was doing maths. Further maths, physics, French. I was doing some really intense A levels. I found the coursework with the music tech course, it was just a lot. And I was basically like, this is the only thing I can still do at home. Like, I can't just be doing, like, sums in my bedroom. And I really love doing maths and physics and all these other things, so I just dropped the thing. That meant I.
Ellie Dixon:
The only thing that I could keep doing in my own time. And also I. I don't really deal well with, like, being told what to do so much. With. With coursework, it just being like, you have to do this thing. This is the deadline.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
There's not. There wasn't as much creative freedom in.
Chris Barker:
In terms of the music.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Yeah. And I learned. I learned so much, like, in that first year. I'm so glad I did it because it gave me this kind of foundational knowledge of just kind of how sound works. And I think that has just helped me endlessly because my music, my production then still didn't sound good for probably about five to six years after that. But having the foundational knowledge of, like, how E EQ works, how a compressor works, how sound even reaches your ears, how the psychology of the factual thing we hear versus what we think we hear and all these things. I mean, that is so fascinating to me.
Ellie Dixon:
Like, the psychology of that is.
Chris Barker:
I think a lot of creative people struggle with studying the topics like art and music and stuff, because obviously teachers need to grade it somehow, but it's kind of.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I didn't.
Chris Barker:
So objective, subjective. And then. And then things like coursework. It's like this. What?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Like how it doesn't make any sense because you don't have that in the real world either. You don't need to show your workings or show your influence or.
Ellie Dixon:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
Or do a project to prove that you know how to edit a sample or.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. And I still really enjoyed it. I remember I did a house remix of I Want it that Way by the Backstreet Boys.
Will Betts:
Yes. Nice.
Ellie Dixon:
With full key change at the end.
Will Betts:
Oh, beautiful.
Ellie Dixon:
Who's playing a key change in a house track? Yeah, this gal. It was. I can't find it as well. I wish I could find it because I think it was.
Chris Barker:
Do it again.
Ellie Dixon:
Really cursed.
Chris Barker:
That'd be a great.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Just try and recreate it from memory.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Absolute madness.
Chris Barker:
No, just approach it again and it'll be interesting with all you know. Now.
Will Betts:
Song prompt, Backstreet Boys house version.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, my God.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
This is gonna go crazy in the club. You're gonna see that in the charts.
Chris Barker:
But keep putting key changes in.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, like every 10 seconds.
Chris Barker:
No, no. Just when you get the first key change and people. Oh. And then another.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, it's a love on top situation.
Will Betts:
Oh, yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Love on top situation. And fade out right at the end.
Chris Barker:
Gorgeous DJs. Love a fade out.
Ellie Dixon:
It's just Beyonce didn't stop singing. Another key change. We're getting out your range now. Phase you out. Yeah. Dropped the music tech. But it was. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Just the kind of first principles of how everything works meant that when I started, the true learning is just making music over and over and over again, but knowing the kind of. Almost like science, I guess, of why these things are doing what they're doing, it was so helpful.
Will Betts:
And with your background as well, you were doing maths and physics as well. Presumably that was like. There was an extra layer of interest for you then in the science side of how that all worked.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. Like the science of audio and then.
Chris Barker:
Acoustics and psychoacoustics and reflections.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I didn't really get massively into, like, acoustics just because I think that's a whole other art.
Will Betts:
It's insane. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
That also wouldn't let me be creative again. And so it was kind of this middle ground that I loved love. That's like the. There is this scientific side, but then there is this kind of pure creation and freedom. And I think that's where I am the happiest. I'm the most in the zone. And I just love thinking about the psychology of it and how. How the listener is going to receive something and thinking about, like, perceive loudness versus loudness.
Ellie Dixon:
Because I. I. When I first started putting music out, which was literally just through, like, I think it was tunecore when I was. So I ended up doing a maths degree because I was like, again, I can just keep making music. This is the thing that, you know, I can't do maths in my own time. You can to an extent, a bit weird. So.
Chris Barker:
But people will sign an unqualified musician. Nobody's gonna hire an unqualified mathematician. Right.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, I guess that's a good way of putting it. Like it was. And also at that point, because by this point, I'm also now being a solo artist. I'm writing, I'm performing. And performing was a whole journey because I had really bad stage fright. And so when I was going into uni at 18, I just didn't think I could be an artist because of how intensely I struggled with performing. So, like, the concept of going on tour, I was like, I will die. Like, I will have so many panic attacks.
Ellie Dixon:
Like, I could barely eat for two days running up to a gig. So it just wouldn't. I just didn't think it was possible. But I still love doing it.
Chris Barker:
And so that's a new modern thing in the music industry, though, where you can't really exist. It is hard to exist as an artist without doing live. Whereas maybe, you know, 20, 30 years ago, you would have been like, just, right, I'm just gonna make records. Like, I'LL be. You can be a producer, you can still be creative and output stuff. Whereas that doesn't really make any money any. Doesn't pay the bills as much does it to be just.
Ellie Dixon:
Well, I also loved it. It was a weird thing of, like, I loved doing it and it was almost like my. Was like dragging me kicking and screaming to do the thing that was so terrifying. Cause I almost knew there was something behind this wall of fear. And so throughout uni, I just kept playing shows and they got more and more fun. And my friends could now drink before my shows and would show up screaming all the lyrics, you know, like, smashed at the barrier. And that was like. That suddenly started opening up this kind of new avenue of confidence, I guess.
Ellie Dixon:
And so, yeah, so I. I did this master degree, but I was kind of always making music in the background and I was mixing and mastering all these eps. So every summer all my coursemates would go off and do internships and I would just stay at home, make an EP and then go back to uni again. And I just didn't think anything of it. And I'm so grateful that my parents let me do that. I don't. I can't remember the conversation that was me just going like, yeah, not going to do that. I'm gonna sit at the computer.
Ellie Dixon:
Bye. But that's. Yeah. They've always just been so supportive and I think they've always been like, as long as I'm working on something and.
Chris Barker:
Pushing myself, it's not like you're out partying or like. Yeah, it's just like, there'd be words.
Ellie Dixon:
If I was just watching the tv.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
But it was. I was clearly doing something that I loved and was pushing myself. And because I was mixing and mastering it, I ended up having to do lots of research into how do you mix a track? How do you master a track track? Like, why is this not loud enough? I'm putting more layers in. It should be louder. And then learning about, like, the system's capped at this much and suddenly you're learning about like. Like frequency real estate of like, you kind of hit this wall of how much of any one sound you can have. And then it's a psychology of what actually sounds loud. And that was when I was getting into researching mastering and how to get.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, volume out of a track. And so I ended up actually learning a lot and hitting my head against the wall a lot because I was doing it all on my own. And just me And Google and YouTube, just a little trio trying to work out how to make this song louder.
Chris Barker:
So was there a specific track or production moment that you can look back on and go, that was the sort of turning point when either other people were looking at you or inwardly you were like, right, this is the one that I can present to the world. I'm really. Or was it really gradual?
Ellie Dixon:
I think it was really gradual, but there was a turning point. There was a couple of turning points. The first turning point was a song called Freak that I put out, I think, just after I graduated. Or the summer. The summer before. Summer before I graduated. So I would have been 20, maybe. Yeah, 20, 19, 20.
Ellie Dixon:
And it. I was listening to what just come out. Feel it still by Portugal the Man.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And I was listening to the production on it. And it was really simple and there wasn't a lot of layers in it, but it had so much punch. And for some, I don't know why it was this song, but that song suddenly, like, hit something in my brain where I was like, maybe less is more. Because I was such, like, a wall of sound stack loads of acoustic guitars. And it was quite folky at the start as well, because I didn't have a whole lot of tech. And so me and inter microphone and Logic, I was recording a lot of acoustic guitar. I didn't have an electric guitar at that point where I had one, but it was like 20 quid. And it didn't sound good when I plugged it in.
Ellie Dixon:
And I had no pedals, and I didn't really know what a pedal was, so it was really like, you just. You're gonna. It's just gonna sound acoustic, basically. And then I. Freak was the first thing that started to sound more indie pop. And I went down this road of like, okay, I'm really reducing the number of tracks I'm putting into this. I'm gonna be way more deliberate. And I was writing on a loop pedal most of the time at this point.
Ellie Dixon:
I had a boss RC300 at this point. And that was what I was writing on. And you can't layer too much of that before it gets really messy. And so that was my writing tool at uni because I didn't have any recording equipment with me. It was all at home, right. And so it was like I would just do as much as I could on the loop pedal and, like, film myself. And then when I'd get home for the summer, I'd then record it all.
Chris Barker:
Rerecord it all, basically. So you're sort of demoing ideas, like.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. And what was really nice about loop pedal is it's kind of like a really quick door in the sense that you're. You're stacking and you can input really quickly and it's quite natural.
Chris Barker:
You can arrange quite quickly using it, like turning stuff on and off and things like that.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, and the RC300's great for that as well because it's. You got three. Three different looping channels. You've got like undo. You've got a bunch of effects pre built in as well. So I was actually. It was pretty comprehensive in terms of just sitting, sitting with one little piece of kit with like not written, no like computer monitor, just a little screen. That was how I was doing most of my writing.
Ellie Dixon:
And then I think the next production turning point was when I released a song called Space out in. This is jumping forward to In Covid now because I graduated uni thought I don't want to do math, I want my job. Because it's all not sounding very interesting. I think if I had, I would have gone into coding. I liked the. I did more computer science in my third year at uni, which was fun, but I just. I just wanted to play shows. And I joined the uni's band Society Shout out to Bandsock and started like, I made.
Ellie Dixon:
Kind of formed a band with the help of the Society. And we just had so much fun. And so I was like, I want to do this. And so I moved back home in with my parents and I was like, can I do this, please? And they were like, okay, you get one year. Show us your plan. Let's go. So I was gigging loads for six months, making music, putting a couple of tracks out. Then Covid hit.
Ellie Dixon:
And as someone who did everything myself in my bedroom and was still kind of stressed out by live shows, I was like, well, well, well, how the turntables. This kind of suits me. Cause you know where my studio is in my house. So I was quite, I don't know, uniquely qualified to deal with a lockdown. And so I started producing and really focusing on like getting. Getting my prod skills up and then also social media because I love video and hadn't really ever had a chance to commit to it. I'd do like two videos in the summer and then we'll go back to Unique or school or whatever. And so I never got to commit to like, post, post, post, post.
Ellie Dixon:
And I grew up with YouTube. I grew up with like Walk off the Earth and Dodie and like all these and paint. Did anyone ever watch John Cozart he did after. Ever after. So he like sung these incredible like acapella arrangements of Disney songs, but singing about the like, grisly demise of Disney princesses.
Will Betts:
Ah, okay.
Ellie Dixon:
Amongst loads of other stuff. But I' watching, you know, like musicians on YouTube who were doing things themselves in that room. Yeah. And I really saw myself in them. And so that was something I just wanted to commit to through Covid. And then Space out was the first song I put out after doing kind of just absolutely drilling like songwriting challenges and covers. I was doing loads of DIY covers at this point. So I was sampling random objects.
Ellie Dixon:
Like I. I did a cover of Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles, but the whole production is just made from sounds from a watermelon and stuff like that. Oh, and a bass. Bass guitar. Because turns out you can't get bass out of a watermelon. Try my best. You actually can, but not the way I wanted it.
Chris Barker:
You can't get bass out of a watermelon.
Will Betts:
There we go.
Chris Barker:
That's.
Ellie Dixon:
Get that on a T shirt.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's the episode title.
Ellie Dixon:
You got any merch?
Will Betts:
You could do merch.
Chris Barker:
And then the. I mean, we said in the intro that the Britney 'Toxic' one was that kind of like that was a turning point to where people would want to sort of work with you and investing you, like labels and those kind of things. When did that go? Does that work?
Ellie Dixon:
It was a really gradual. Well, sort of gradual, sort of. Not like the TikTok numbers started going pretty crazy. But I was putting YouTube, YouTube videos and Instagram videos out for ages before TikTok. And then some of my friends were like, you should go on TikTok. They'd really like it over there. And I'm like, what is TikTok? What are you talking about? And I would put my like, like immaculately produced landscape YouTube videos onto Tik Tok. Like, the kids are going to love this one.
Ellie Dixon:
And then it would like bomb.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And I was like, why is this not working? And then I'm scrolling for a while and then I was like, okay, I get it. Like, firstly turn your camera the other way. Then, you know, realizing the types of things people were after. And so I just. And I love harmony and vocal layering. That's always just been a massive love of mine. And so it all just kind of like came together really nicely where I was writing these verses on songs. And that was what the.
Ellie Dixon:
The Britney cover was. And the first thing that started going viral was these harmony layering videos because I love. Again, back to the psychology of music. I find it really interesting, this idea of, when is a melody recognizable? Or what if you take. I was an alto in choirs, by the way. I sung in loads of choirs growing up. And anyone who's an alto knows that, like, using the weirdest part of the harmony.
Chris Barker:
And if you take that out, it's no longer the melody.
Ellie Dixon:
It's completely unrecognizable.
Will Betts:
It's often very static as well.
Ellie Dixon:
Very static. And just like, what is this?
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And so I took that to the extreme where I started writing more and more complex harmonies and showing the weirdness that you get away with in the context of a really sweet triad. You know, if you just. If you pick one interval within that, it will sound completely different. Or if you pick one line, your brain will automatically assume a different key. And, like, your. Your perspective on what the root key of a song is. And this is anyone. This isn't people with, like, music theory knowledge.
Ellie Dixon:
This is. Our brains are really clever. It's just people with music theory understanding know what to call it. But everyone can find a. In some way. And that's how people who are completely untrained can still go, that sounds out of key. That sounds pitchy. This sounds good.
Ellie Dixon:
This sounds bad. Like, finding ways of basically showing people how clever their brains are with. If you just show them the small bit in the middle and then stacking the stuff that gives it context and you go, oh, it's that thing. And that was my whole series. Guess the song, right? Which I still do live, which is really fun. I'm going on tour next week, and I'm picking some really funny songs to do guess the song with.
Will Betts:
Can you give us any previews? What have we. What can.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, well, I'll be on tour by this point, so it's fine. I'm gonna do the we theme. And it. It just starts with me going like. And everyone's like, you can't tell what that is, especially when you don't know what to expect. So you're like, I've told you so. You're like, obviously, that's the we theme. But if you're like, I wasn't like.
Chris Barker:
Obviously, but I could hear it in it. I was like, if you didn't know what you were going to see, you'd be like, yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Because if you're expecting, like, I don't know, an old blues record, like, you don't. You have no idea.
Will Betts:
In all of music.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. You're like, this could be anything. And again, this is this whole thing of, like, playing with people's brains and what they're expecting versus then the moment at which something clicks, I think is such a magic moment.
Chris Barker:
You have that with rhythms as well, where, like that whole thing where a rhythm is cycling at the start of a song and then where the one drop.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, that's not right. I love it. I love it so much. Yeah, exactly. I've actually got a song coming out soon, actually, that plays with that exact thing. It's like the most rhythmically nerdy thing I've ever written where it. Basically, it's.
Chris Barker:
You start grooving and then it comes and you go, oh, that's.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. And even things like grouping of beats.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Because there's. There's a moment in this song where you can clap like the whole time and you'll still be in time, but the emphasis changes completely. And it's all about, like, the way your body wants to move with it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Is completely different.
Chris Barker:
I love all those videos that do that with like. Like the. Everybody Wants to Rule the world.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Where you can play on the way. Yeah. But you can do loads of different versions of.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And they all technically are in time and they work, but your mind's like, no, that's not.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's not it.
Chris Barker:
That's not the one.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I love all that stuff. So, yeah, that just started getting loads of traction, basically. And so then I was putting original music out alongside that space, out being the first one. And that was really when I locked in on sound and it was just because I was. Spend so much time at my computer. Like, I didn't take a day off. I was at that computer seven days a week for like a year in lockdown.
Ellie Dixon:
And I loved it. And I wasn't doing anything else, you know.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And then, yeah, major labels started getting in contact and I got a manager through Instagram and yeah, it all kind of suddenly started looking like a career. And that was the goal, so. But it was.
Chris Barker:
But it proves, like, obviously have to be talented and good, but consistency and just constantly doing it.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's like you can have one great record, fine. But you have to support it with social content and consistent stuff and build an audience before people start contacting you.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And it's. People want shortcuts, don't they? But, like, that's a year of you doing it full time for zero money pretty much. And it's like, this is what it takes.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly. And also people don't know what you're doing behind Closed doors as well. Like, I made everything I was doing as public as possible. Possible. And not cynically either. I just love sharing stuff. Like, I'm just basically, me posting online is the same thing as me running downstairs and going, mom, look at this thing I made. But then I get that, like, times a thousand, then times 2000.
Ellie Dixon:
It's really exciting. And I think that, like, excitement really started to form a fan base quite quickly because everyone's like, what's this crazy cat gonna do next? You know? And we form quite this humorous bond, I think, me and my fan base, where we just. They're like, go on, what have you got for us? There's this sort of unpredictability, I think, in what I do that I love that they've given me the space to do.
Chris Barker:
Well, speaking of unpredictability, let's see how predictable your first choices are.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, here we go.
Chris Barker:
Before we get to the gear, let's talk about where you would have your studio in the world and what the kind of vibe is. What's it look like?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, okay, so this is really boring.
Chris Barker:
But okay, next question.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, this question. Imagine me going, this question's really boring. My answer's really boring. It's gonna be in my house. I think, no matter, like.
Chris Barker:
So where's your house, though? You could. This is your fantasy forever studio.
Ellie Dixon:
That's what my address is.
Chris Barker:
No, but as in, like, London. So you would still keep it in London.
Ellie Dixon:
I would keep it in London because all my friends are here. My whole network's here. I want to be able to. To have a session with a mate. Anyone. Like, you know, people are in London all the time. If my favorite artist is in London, I can go come to my studio. I want to be able to finish a session, then go hang out with my mates.
Ellie Dixon:
Like, I want it as connected as possible to my life. So it's in my house. It is a bedroom studio, but it is not my bedroom.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
There is a bed in it.
Chris Barker:
Spare bedroom studio.
Ellie Dixon:
Spare bedroom studio. But it's. It has to have a bed in it. It has to feel exactly like a bedroom. But I'm thinking it's sort of tacked on to. This isn't possible. I live in a flat in this imaginary beautiful universe. I'm in a house.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I've got a garden. Why not? We're talking real estate now. I'm in a really nice little.
Chris Barker:
How crazy we are nowadays. I've got a garden much as nice. Can you believe you got a garden? No, no, I haven't either in London. No.
Ellie Dixon:
I forget.
Chris Barker:
Fantasy. The fantasy crazy world we live in where humans have an outdoor space where.
Will Betts:
You can actually touch your own.
Ellie Dixon:
This is communal grass touching.
Will Betts:
Question. Bed in that room for acoustic purposes.
Ellie Dixon:
Four. Oh, four.
Will Betts:
No, no, I just mean like to sit on. I didn't mean anything by that. Sorry.
Ellie Dixon:
Groovy studio.
Will Betts:
So sorry. I didn't go there.
Ellie Dixon:
No, I took it there.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Great first date. And this is for acoustic purposes? Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Strictly for acoustic.
Ellie Dixon:
I've been single for 10 years.
Chris Barker:
Still working on the old rizz, Will.
Will Betts:
But why is the bed important in the bedroom studio?
Ellie Dixon:
Well, I think it provides like this level of informalness firstly. Like, like it's just great. It's like a giant sofa, but there's more of it, which I love. I have professional sessions where they just come in. I'm like, don't mind my bed. But it forced me to keep my room nice and tidy, which is good. It's the only reason I clean, really.
Will Betts:
Guests.
Chris Barker:
Guests.
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
I love that story about the guy that had a bad roommate and he went on Tinder as a fake profile and basically like, like was like, oh, should I come round tonight to get his roommate to tidy up and then be like cancel at the last minute?
Ellie Dixon:
That's genius.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's great.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh my gosh.
Chris Barker:
Because we've all been there, even if it's not dates. But like if somebody makes plans to come around your house, you have it tidy up and you smash it in like two and a half hours or whatever. Oh yeah, rather. No procrastination.
Ellie Dixon:
Insane level of hyper focus.
Chris Barker:
And then they cancel. And then they cancel and you go, oh, my house is pretty nice.
Ellie Dixon:
I guess I'll enjoy this to myself. For acoustic purposes. Yeah, I love a bed. Like people can like sprawl out on it, like write on it. I love sitting, sitting in bed with a guitar. Like that's, that's how we all started. So I think there's this kind of informalness that sets a tone with all my like writing all my sessions. Like when I'm writing for myself.
Ellie Dixon:
That's really like not self conscious.
Chris Barker:
Build the picture though, because in my head the bed is up against the wall sort of in a corner. Or are you thinking the bed like a bedroom, like in the middle of.
Ellie Dixon:
The room or so I'm thinking it's in a. I think it's in a corner. But it's got to be a nice big open space. Yeah, just big old square, like.
Chris Barker:
But you can access the bed from both sides or only from one side.
Ellie Dixon:
That's from one side.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
Ellie Dixon:
That's what I was imagining. And it gives it more sofa energy. I'm thinking pillows all the way round. So it's still kind of so fury.
Chris Barker:
No, we're on the same page. I was just trying to get that image in my head correct because, yeah, especially after, you know, the acoustic situation.
Ellie Dixon:
You're never living that down.
Will Betts:
No, I'm never living that down.
Ellie Dixon:
That's gonna be for episodes to come. But, yeah, it's very bedroomy, carpeted, nice rugs. And then, like, clutter. Like, loads of random stuff on shelves everywhere. Cause for me, like, I sample so many random objects, I want to just. And it normally comes from almost, like, convenience. I'm like, oh, I need, like, a little tap sound. And I'll just.
Ellie Dixon:
My desk is covered in, like. I have Mike Wazowski in a Hot Wheels. I've got. Who hasn't? I got, like, pot of pens. I've got all this random clutter on my desk that I'll just pick up and hit. And so there's this sort of tactile immediateness. And it's the best soundproof. Yeah, I don't.
Ellie Dixon:
I don't soundproof my bedroom or for.
Chris Barker:
Reflections, at least, because it's just. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. It's kind of scatters. So I'm not.
Chris Barker:
It's interesting, what you're saying about just, I want this type of sound. Oh, if I hit that, it'll make that type of sound. I think a lot of people forget that, as in, like, loads of interesting old records and stuff where they're like, how did you get that synth sound with the. And it's like. No, that's just me going.
Will Betts:
Or like, jungle with the horns. And they're just going.
Ellie Dixon:
I was listening to the episode. That's so cool.
Chris Barker:
And I didn't know. Yeah, we were like. But it's like. Of course. You just make that sound. But, yeah, the Depeche Mode that. I think it was a song that was used on the CLO show back in the day with that gong, gong, gong. And it's just.
Chris Barker:
They just. It's layered with a synth as well. But, like, they just sampled.
Will Betts:
That's why it sounds like.
Chris Barker:
You spend ages synthesizing it. You don't need to just sample it. In an age of samplers, I think.
Ellie Dixon:
Especially when I've had such a cheap setup for years, like, the only option is. And also, I'm sampling someone that wants, like. I Want something instantly. So I'm not waiting to program a synth. To program a synth or like, order some percussive thing. It's like, I can make that. And I want to make that in the next two minutes because I've got an idea or I'm making it with my mouth.
Chris Barker:
And it brings its own unique sound as well. Like by doing that, by using rice or, you know, like all the kind of things for percussion you get. It's not like something everybody's got.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
And. But so much of what you. The signature of your sound is that is sampling things around the place. It's really apparent in your work that there's. Whether it's the baseball bat sound in swing or there are just so many examples of it.
Ellie Dixon:
Wooden spoons in green grass. Shout out to wooden spoons. Honestly, such a good sound. And chopsticks as well. I use a lot of chopsticks. Like, best beater in the biz. If you want a little. Little tap, there's chopsticks lying around everywhere.
Will Betts:
I mean, there must be. You must have tried some weird stuff, though, that's snuck into tracks that maybe.
Ellie Dixon:
Well, my favorite is if you slam a microwave door. Unbelievable snare sound. So good because you get. You get such a slam. Like, you know how microwaves just always sound pretty violent.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Like washing machine doors as well. Similar, kind of. Because it's got like a latch and a clatter.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. This is the thing with all these natural sounds is they have so much like natural variation. There's this imperfection that I think we're really drawn to as imperfect beings. You know, like, we love. We love electronic music, but normally there is some kind of weirdness that draws us to something when there's this sort of mass drawing more to something. It's normally quite an imperfect human aspect of it that we love. And back to, like, the psychology of music as well. I think our brains are very clever, and I don't think we.
Ellie Dixon:
Even if you manipulate a natural sound, I think your brain can still tell it came from something natural. Even if you can't. Even if you're not consciously making that connection, you're just going, oh, there's something about this that I like. And if you hear these kind of everyday sounds that you hear in your world buried in music you're listening to, I think you feel. It feels very familiar and homely and part of your world already.
Chris Barker:
It can be dangerous too, though, because when you recognize a sound or you get somebody explains a sound like the microwave door. Snares.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Maybe That's. They'll hear that now.
Ellie Dixon:
That's good though.
Chris Barker:
Do you like.
Ellie Dixon:
Do you not want to hear a little snare when you're heating up your pot noodle?
Chris Barker:
My example of that is. I was once. I was elected a long time ago. We were looking at the movie Aliens and the foley sounds in it.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And when this, the massive six wheel lander thing they have comes to a halt and it's like. And they would. We had interviews with the guys and they were like, oh, that's just a London bus pulling up. And then every time we watch the.
Will Betts:
Movie, it's like the magic's gone.
Chris Barker:
Oh.
Ellie Dixon:
If you know the source of sound.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. And then you hear it and then you picture just a bus.
Ellie Dixon:
This is.
Chris Barker:
And not like a spaceship.
Will Betts:
Yeah, I see what you're saying.
Chris Barker:
Like when you found out about the Wilhelm scream, like, ah, you know, that's in loads and I hear it all the time now.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. You gotta be careful. I think about the information you share over the Foley. Cause it's gotta be. It's gotta add to the story.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Otherwise. And I think for pop songs, that's fine. Right. Everyone's like, oh, cool, that's in there. But if I was like, this is actually a really like serious excerpt from a political speech I've hidden in the bridge of.
Chris Barker:
I love that in reverse.
Ellie Dixon:
You know what I mean? You know what I mean? You gotta think about what you're using. But yeah, I think tactile human sounds really draws us to things, which I love.
Will Betts:
How did you discover that the microwave door was a great snare? Was there a moment.
Ellie Dixon:
I was desperate. You know when you're looking for a snare sound?
Will Betts:
So you were looking for a snare sound. It wasn't like an accidental angry microwave meal.
Ellie Dixon:
No, it was.
Chris Barker:
The irony is she had 18 microwaves.
Will Betts:
What brand do you use?
Ellie Dixon:
I was trying to.
Chris Barker:
Was actually. This actually happened. Curries.
Ellie Dixon:
I was going to say I was in a John Lewis. I was going crazy.
Chris Barker:
Sorry, madam, can I. Can I help you? Not now.
Ellie Dixon:
You don't want to see me in there. I've been banned from curries for life.
Will Betts:
How much reality is that? Is it. Was it at home? Was it in a curries?
Chris Barker:
Did you.
Ellie Dixon:
It was at home. It was just my. Just my microwave at home. Got my iPhone out. Just voice memos.
Chris Barker:
Still got that microwave?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. No, no. Wow. That was a roller coaster. No, my parents changed it.
Chris Barker:
Gutted. Do they not know the history of that?
Ellie Dixon:
It's actually in a museum now. Yes, it's in a tip, isn't it? Yeah, landfill. But chuck it in again. Yeah. So in the studio, we're talking 10 microwaves. No, just clutter everywhere. Yeah. It's free soundproofing, too.
Ellie Dixon:
It doubles up like. I want thick curtains, all this kind of, like bedroom stuff. I've never struggled with room sound and I've never. I've never soundproofed any of the bedrooms I've worked in. It's just like, there's enough soft furnishings in there. And then also you want. I'm not recording in, like a cupboard or something, so, like, the space is big enough. I record very hot, like, very close to the mic.
Ellie Dixon:
So, like, I'm having to turn the gain down enough because of how close I am to the mic that then you're not getting any of the room noise anyway. So you have two birds, one stone, loads of samples and no room noise.
Will Betts:
And that bed, I imagine, is quite a good bass trap.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. You know what? I never even thought of that. That's true.
Will Betts:
I'm sticking to my previous statement.
Ellie Dixon:
You're involved with this once you again, acoustic purposes.
Will Betts:
I'm just saying.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, Love it.
Chris Barker:
As long as it's a trapping base and not people will.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. That's what you gotta hope is. Dude. Also natural light. Natural light is so important. I am a plant.
Chris Barker:
Well, plants and windows.
Ellie Dixon:
I've thought about the lighting quite a lot in this because I'm a lighting fan. I want sunset lamps, I want lava lamps. I specifically want my dad to hook up the lights because he is obsessed with lighting. He's incredible. He's decked out my current flat with just loads of, like, programmable colored lighting, moods and light.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
He has constantly got, like, a roll of LED strips ready to go at any point. I want presets on presets. I want groovy mode. I want party mode. I want mellow mode.
Will Betts:
I want more cyberpunk mode.
Ellie Dixon:
Cyberpunk mode. Hell, yeah.
Will Betts:
I want some of that blue and pink.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Some of this. All of it. And then I want what I have in my current studio, which is a fat filming light that I point at, like the sort of wall ceiling, you know, sort of upper wall, and I turn it to max and it's like the sun, the heart of the sun, and reflects back. Yeah. And it's constant, like, sunny day, basically. I'm such a plant. If I'm not in a really well lit room, I'm getting pretty sad.
Chris Barker:
The sad disease. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I do genuinely, medically have sad as well, but yeah. So I want natural light, but also I need unnatural light. I need my own synthetic sun.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, let's start building.
Ellie Dixon:
Let's go.
Chris Barker:
We've got, we've got the, the spare bedroom studio ready.
Ellie Dixon:
We have.
Chris Barker:
So first is your three free items. So computer.
Ellie Dixon:
We're going MacBook Pro. I need portable.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
I'm using logic. So we gotta have, we gotta have a Mac.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Also you're going door also.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, jump to door. But with the MacBook I want, I want top, top spec. I want and biggest screen as well.
Will Betts:
I want 16 inch.
Ellie Dixon:
16 inc. I currently have a 16 inch and it's so heavy and I regret nothing because I want to see as much as possible. Yeah. Just absolutely souped up to the nines. I want everything.
Chris Barker:
All laptops seem light nowadays though.
Ellie Dixon:
You have not felt my bricks.
Chris Barker:
No, but you know, in real terms, like. No, but you used to. Do you remember the max that had like the big border around was a 17 inch.
Will Betts:
17 inch for a bit and it was crazy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. But anyway.
Will Betts:
But it's. Yeah, it's a lot of real estate.
Ellie Dixon:
Also compared to what it's doing. Right. Like, it's actually crazy.
Chris Barker:
I've thought I just got used to old PC laptops back in the day being so heavy. Honestly, it happens to me this morning because I forget it's in my bag because it used to be like, oh, the laptop's in there and now it's like, is that there somebody taking it?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
You think it's constant paranoid. Yeah, yeah. And this is a pro. But like I couldn't imagine a Mac put air on something. I'd feel like I'd lost it all the time. Okay. So with Mac Logic.
Ellie Dixon:
Yep. Mac Logic audio interface. Oh. So I've just used focusrite interfaces forever really. And the red ones, the red ones, you know, the ones I'm going for my current interface just because it's. I know how to use it. It's great. Focusrite Clara plus eight Pre.
Ellie Dixon:
Loads of ins, loads of outs. I like the focusrite control I see in my dreams. So, you know, I can. I'm at home there. It's quick. It's just.
Chris Barker:
Is that like the routing software that comes with it and stuff?
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, we're pretty high end though on the focusrite lane ratio.
Will Betts:
That's a good interface.
Chris Barker:
We're not talking about Scarlets.
Will Betts:
No, cut above.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. That was given to me by focusrite actually. And yeah, they were like, what do you want? I was like, well, I want I want the best you got.
Chris Barker:
Should have asked for one of their desks.
Ellie Dixon:
Not in my bedroom. You're not fitting that in.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
It's a stretch.
Chris Barker:
Well, we've locked those in and that was easy.
Ellie Dixon:
Mm.
Chris Barker:
Now we get onto slimming it down to just six items. Item number one.
Ellie Dixon:
Okay. Item number one is I already own, but I need it. It's my Carla Uke ukulele. I think ukuleles are really. They were done dirty.
Chris Barker:
Is that why I've seen you playing on? Sorry to interrupt Bond, because I actually was thinking, was it a uk When I was watching it, you were on like a canal boat going around London. Little live show thing.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Is that what you're playing there? Yeah. Ukulele sounds amaz.
Ellie Dixon:
It sounds gorgeous.
Chris Barker:
Sounds really good.
Ellie Dixon:
They were done so dirty by you. Like people on YouTube singing Hey, Soul Sister in the 2010s. I just think, like, we really pigeonholed the ukulele and. But I just. I love nylon strings. I was torn for this item. I was torn between this or like a classical guitar, which I love as well. But like nylon strings, I think are so enticing and also very versatile because I think their sound changes, changes massively wherever you are on the fretboard.
Ellie Dixon:
Like you can get something really like tight and plucky or something really kind of woody and warm. That sounds so much nicer to me than like metal strings, basically. So. And you. I mess with ukuleles. Like the sound. The post processing you can do on them is. I have this.
Ellie Dixon:
There's. I keep talking about songs that aren't out yet, but I have another song. My EP is coming out in like a few months, so you'll hear it. By the time this comes out, maybe. Maybe all the songs will be out. But there's a song on the EP that has this like weird glitchy synth. That is me. That was originally just like a finger plucking pattern on a ukulele that I distorted and resampled over and over and over again.
Ellie Dixon:
And it's just completely unrecognizable. But again, it's like if the source sound is natural and imperfect, you end up. Even through all of this mad processing, you still have this sound that has that core energy in it. So, yeah, I like to do a lot with ukulele. It's really good.
Chris Barker:
And how long have you had that one specific.
Ellie Dixon:
This Kala, I've had for year and a half.
Chris Barker:
So these quite. I mean, I don't know much about ukuleles. I mean, is this high end in the world of ukulele?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah, pretty high end, I would say. It's like, it's as high end, I'm sure. I mean, there's. There'll be vintage.
Chris Barker:
There's always something.
Ellie Dixon:
But. Yeah, but like, it's pretty. It's not like 20 quid off Amazon.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
You know what I mean? It's. It's a really nice one. And you can tell because.
Chris Barker:
Well, that's why I questioned even if it was a ukulele when I saw that video, because I was like, this sounds amazing. Like.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. It's like it's a professional instrument. You see what I mean? They've been done dirty. They are gorgeous. And when they're made well as well, like, they just. Just sound beautiful.
Chris Barker:
And you had that with it when you were doing that gig and you had the acoustic guitarist as well. It paired so well together and like. Yeah, really nice.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, beautiful sound. Big up the ukes.
Chris Barker:
Okay, item number two.
Ellie Dixon:
Item number two is I want a Lewitt LCT 1060 microphone.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
So I currently have a Lewitt LCT 640. I love it.
Chris Barker:
What are we on today?
Ellie Dixon:
What are we on?
Will Betts:
These are rays.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Lewitt rays.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, nice. I've never tried one of these before. We'll find out in post. Yeah, so I have. Well, I had. It's in heaven now. It broke literally the other week. So I'm just in the process of reviving the sweet microphone.
Ellie Dixon:
But because it broke, I started looking into, like, what the next models up were. And. And I was like, what the hell is this? This 1060. And it has, like, has a vacuum tube in it and. Which basically feels like it models my current setup, which is. I have the Lewitt, which is modeled off. Well, not explicitly, but it feels like it's modeled off the AKG series that I started with the C14. It has the exact same kind of like, tone and feel on my voice.
Ellie Dixon:
It's really nice in it.
Chris Barker:
So it's a 21 4. Like a lower down model of the 4.1.4. Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then. But then with the Lewa LCT, you've got the LCT 440, 640.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And so it feels in the same world. So when I first got it, it was. It was barely. Like, I changed microphones, which is really nice. Like, the frequency response is a bit different. I think the Louis a bit brighter, but it's really. Just works for me. Works great.
Ellie Dixon:
But then. So the setup I have is that Mic. And then I have a Behringer Ultra Gain Mic 2200, which is like a vacuum tube preamp, basically, that I've used forever. I think my dad had it lying around at work for context. My dad works in video games and so there's like random gear in the office sometimes. And so sometimes he'd like, yoink a little something for me. Um, and so there was this. This Behringer preamp that I've used forever.
Ellie Dixon:
And then one day I decided to bypass it. Cause I was like, I've never bypassed this. Like, what is it? What's this doing? And I was like, wow, it's doing so much. This sounds amazing. And so basically the 1060 feels like it's my current system, but in one mic. And it comes with like its whole own interface. That's mental. And you can choose, like, how much of it runs through the tube.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And you've got like, oh, I see something like 16 polar patterns on it. It's absolutely crazy, like the. The kind of before it's even hit the laptop.
Chris Barker:
So is it mic modeling as well?
Will Betts:
No, but it's. There are four different tube characteristics in it and it has, as you say, a polar pattern control where it's just sort of endless. Or 16.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I can't tell from the knob whether it's a continuous thing or like a.
Will Betts:
And I think once you get to 16, you may as well.
Ellie Dixon:
Exactly.
Will Betts:
Splitting hairs at that point, are you?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, but, yeah, I feel like that is like a step up from my current system. And it's a system that I know works that I'm really comfortable with.
Chris Barker:
Well, that's a. What, three, four grand? Michael. Is it?
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's a spenny.
Ellie Dixon:
There's a reason I don't have it right now.
Will Betts:
So I'm seeing the LCT 1040 here, which is the. It's a beautiful thing.
Chris Barker:
Reviewed by Music Tech. I see as well. So, yeah, £3,000. So that's. That's a forever studio. Weighty choice.
Will Betts:
Really good choice. And also, like, nice to have something that's got that tube sound, but also really modern and clean.
Ellie Dixon:
It is so clean. It's so nice. And just from my experience with the 640, like, it just works really nicely with my voice in my setup. It just seems to work. So I'm. I like to. I'm generally someone that if I find something that works, I'm not super into. I will try other stuff, obviously, but if I find something that works, like, great, if I want to upgrade it Then like I will upgrade within that series because there's something in that that's working for me.
Ellie Dixon:
I'm not going to like sidestep to just a completely different model just because it's more expensive or this studio use it or this person uses it. Like I know what's working for me.
Will Betts:
But it's like Mixcraft all over again, right?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
You're trying to get the idea out into the world rather than messing about with changing the fundamentals of your recording.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly. Your equipment is just the starting point. It's what you do with it. And sometimes limitations are better. You know, like maybe, maybe something isn't as high tech, but if you become really good at using it, if you. You know, I'm. I have no doubt that the way I sing by this point is probably influen by the mic I use because I have so much live feedback with when I'm singing. What sounds good, I'm gonna sing so that it sounds good.
Ellie Dixon:
And that's gonna be inherently linked to the how this particular mic sounds. And so it's sort of like you're.
Chris Barker:
Picking up audio equipment.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so lock in the Lewitt.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Item number three.
Ellie Dixon:
I want the grottiest vintage finish Bender jazz bass old just done in. I like a really dead what day era. I don't mind.
Chris Barker:
Do you want to take it off a musician that you admire?
Ellie Dixon:
No, no, I just want something. The problem is I want to try it out. Right. Like I don't know what other people like. I don't know what works for them. Might not work for me in my dream. If we're talking dream, we are fantasy forever. I go into to a room full of microwaves.
Will Betts:
Again.
Chris Barker:
This again.
Will Betts:
Very good.
Ellie Dixon:
Imagine all six items are just different models of the microwave.
Will Betts:
I'll take the Bosch Indesit.
Ellie Dixon:
I like the Mielle.
Will Betts:
Nice deep cut.
Chris Barker:
It's quite a nice bell on this one. The door's better on that one.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, don't even get me started on the buttons noises. So many samples.
Chris Barker:
A room full of the bases and you can try them all out.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. I want to find what plays nice for me. I've got genuinely the tiniest hands in the world. So as a bass player, not great. I want a nice thin neck. But I like. I like basses that I guess are quite dead.
Will Betts:
So like flat wound strings as well. As opposed to round wounds.
Ellie Dixon:
I could have flat wound. Again, it's about the combo. Like some things I think are going to sound really nice with flat wound and Don't. But I in conceptually love flat wound. I do find I slip.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I'm used to being absolutely grated to pieces by, like, a nice. Nice sandpaper string, those calluses, you know, we love it. So, yeah, I want to try a bunch out and then pick. You know, it's like in Harry Potter getting a wand. You know what I mean? It's like you just sort of connect with it.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
I have a great quote, actually, from Shout out to George, who I'm currently borrowing my current Fender Jazz from. And because I got a new Fender recently, and he just texted me going, yeah, you should bury that in your back garden as, like, just mess it up. It's like new things out the box. Especially date baby places. They're very straight.
Chris Barker:
Peri as well, isn't it?
Will Betts:
Oh, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Bury it.
Will Betts:
Bury it.
Chris Barker:
Gives it a different vibe.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Depending on where you bury it as well.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, well, do that. Well, I'm gonna bury it in my garden that I have.
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Actually.
Will Betts:
So you're gonna pet cemetery your base, basically. Are you?
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, basically.
Chris Barker:
I hope you replied to your friend. To George. It's like, you should bury it. Where am I gonna bury it? I don't have a garden.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. George, we just got into a really big debate about real estate in London.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
But, yeah, basically, George, just, like, one that's been used for me is nice. And I. I just. I want to di that bad boy in. I don't want to run it through nothing. I want that to just plug in sound beautiful, which is kind of what my current one does. It's a, like. It's like a 2015 Mexican Fender jazz.
Chris Barker:
Okay, nice.
Ellie Dixon:
And I love it. I love it. It's so playable. And. Yeah, it's just lost all that, like, brightness that a new bass has that is. I'm, you know, works great for some things, but for me, I want it to feel, you know, like, proper. It's a jazz bass. You want it to sound like it's in a jazz record.
Chris Barker:
Sound like it's described.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
All right. It's locked in. Item number four.
Ellie Dixon:
Item number four. That I had to pick a plugin. And I know the rules. This is sentence. I love something Sound toys.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
The finger. I had to pick one, but I have some honorable mentions because it's like picking your favorite child.
Will Betts:
Sure.
Ellie Dixon:
Sound toys. Devil-Loc Deluxe for me is unbeatable. It is the, like, cornerstone of my vocal chain, which I learned from Charlie, who you had in. Literally. Literally. Can I say this? Yeah. This in Literally an hour ago. Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Shout out Charlie Deakin Davies. They showed me. They were like, this is. This is not meant to go on vocals. It's like a saturator compressor. It's supposed to go on kind of guitar. There's not. It's not supposed to go on anything, but it's designed to be more for guitars and stuff.
Ellie Dixon:
And they're like, yeah, put it on my vocal. It sounds unreal. And. And so I did it, and I was like, oh, this changed the game. It just immediately just adds. You've got crunch and you've got. What is it? You've got Google Image.
Chris Barker:
Crush, Crush, Crush, Crush.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, crunch and crush and darkness and mix and dark. Yeah. I don't touch darkness. Cause it's dark enough already.
Chris Barker:
Don't touch darkness.
Ellie Dixon:
I don't touch the darkness.
Will Betts:
So superstitious.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, the lyrics have changed.
Ellie Dixon:
This isn't fun anymore. Don't touch the drone.
Chris Barker:
You just start dialing it up, and.
Will Betts:
The song just gets slower and the drones emerge.
Ellie Dixon:
She just writes a whole new song. But, yeah, it's just. Especially for kind of like an alt pop vocal. It's this really nice place where it's feeling poppy with the amount of compression on it. But this crunch element just gives it this grit that makes it a little bit less pleasant, you know, it's not like la la la. It's like la la la. You know, it's got some crisp, some crunch personality.
Chris Barker:
Gives it personality beyond just like a clean vocal.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly. So that's like, really the key. This kind of the main thing in my vocal chain.
Chris Barker:
So is this the honorable mention or is this the actual.
Ellie Dixon:
This is the actual one.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
The honorable mention mentions are Soundtoys Crystallizer.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ellie Dixon:
Beautiful. Like, it's kind of like a weird delay, but it does a lot of, like, reversing in it. So it's just beautiful for Atmos, basically. And it's. I throw it on instead of delay a lot because it does. It fills the space in a similar way, but it just adds, like, a little bit more weirdness to it.
Will Betts:
Where can we hear that on your releases?
Ellie Dixon:
Oh. Oh, it's all over Guts, my latest single.
Will Betts:
Yeah, nice.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Loads of Crystallizer in that. There's. There's another big honorable mention in Guts, which is Echo Boy as well. Love Echo Boy. Oh, my God. Sounds amazing. But between Echo Boy and Crystallizer, they are absolutely holding it down in Guts.
Ellie Dixon:
That's kind of the main wet effects going on in there. Then the other one is Lo Fi Oddity by Aberrant and it's.
Chris Barker:
I don't know.
Ellie Dixon:
This one, it's just got four knobs and I only use one of them.
Chris Barker:
Darkness.
Ellie Dixon:
Darkness. No, but it's kind of along this lines because it's the. The knob doesn't even have a name. It's all got like. It's just in Alien Language. This one knob, it's just.
Will Betts:
Oh, I see you've got Corruption comp Tape and then Alien Language.
Ellie Dixon:
Alien Language. And if you turn up Alien Language, the Alien Language starts to block, blur and like glitch out. But it basically. It's like a reverb delay but with like loads of tape effects on it. And it's. It's.
Chris Barker:
It's free.
Will Betts:
It's free.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Is it?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I didn't pay a penny. That's good.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Don't even remember. Yeah. Everyone get it? It's great.
Chris Barker:
This.
Ellie Dixon:
This one Alien Knob, it's really good. And it's just. I just really like kind of wet effects that aren't just just doing the basic. There's like a kind of tone to it. And this one's. This one's just weird and like. Oh. Especially on BVs, if you want a BV to sit in a different space and really fill space.
Ellie Dixon:
That does such a good job of that.
Chris Barker:
It's. I have a thing. I don't know whether that's what you're referring to, where. Try not to get multiple versions of. Because I got into a bad habit of it of having the same plugins, like 12 different compressor plugins. Just find the one. And a lot of the time the one in your door is fine.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
As in like. So it's effects like that and plugins like that that are really genuinely innovative and they're genuinely the plugins that.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You need more than like. Cause you can. You could have a thousand rebirths, a thousand delays, thousand. You know, all the stuff that comes standard with your door times 10.
Will Betts:
Easily.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. I mean, so I didn't have any third party plugins until a couple years ago ago.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I used just stock.
Chris Barker:
But all the ones you've mentioned there are all very unique.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
But speaking of stock, demo song in Logic 11.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
Ellie Dixon:
Wild. Genuinely wild. Like if you told me when I was screaming at Logic in my music classroom that my.
Chris Barker:
Don't worry, soon they'll come to you.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Literally, like, if you told me that my song would be in it as like an example of how to use the software. Oh my God. And especially Just Made In My Bedroom, you know, just made with really like not that much fancy stuff.
Chris Barker:
Give us the rundown, though. So literally, was it when you were contacted, we don't need to know about it. You were contacted, but was it just like send them the project and that's it? Or did you have to remake some things to make it like Logic or did they help with that housing?
Ellie Dixon:
They help massively with that. Because.
Chris Barker:
I guess I would. You would have had some. No, you didn't have third party.
Ellie Dixon:
You said no third party. But it needed to be kind of like remodeled visually to make it as what's. What I'm looking for intuitive for someone just coming into the project. So they did a lot of kind of like grouping and moving around and it doesn't.
Chris Barker:
Labeling, coloring, all of that kind of stuff.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. And this is Pre Mix as well, because at that point I was sending off to chat. Lee Smith AMAZING MIX ENGINEER so it was Pre Mix, so we wanted to make sure it sat in a space where like it still sounded closer to the master. But you're getting into just Pre Mix production. Yeah, but they took care of a lot of that. And basically I had to do the initial tidy up and then I sent it over and then they played around with it, sent it back, made sure that I was happy with it.
Chris Barker:
But how did the whole thing. How did. Did they get. Because you know, you hear a song on the radio and you don't think, oh, that's made in Logic. You must have talked about using logic or worked with somebody and then it comes through like that way.
Ellie Dixon:
So I've been kind of chatting with Logic for years now because I put out a production breakdown of my. That first track. I was picking up space out. I put a production breakdown on YouTube literally years ago through lockdown, and they got in touch and they were just like, we've just came across this. We love what you're doing with the software. And I was like, okay, cool. I remember we met over Zoom and they were really friendly. No, well, actually it wasn't even Over Zoom.
Ellie Dixon:
It was over wherever.
Will Betts:
The WebEx or something.
Ellie Dixon:
WebEx. Thank you.
Chris Barker:
Is that Apple specifically?
Will Betts:
I think they're corpse. People use that.
Ellie Dixon:
I didn't even think. But they have to be so, like, secure.
Will Betts:
Oh my God.
Ellie Dixon:
It's crazy as well, because they'll be just be like spying on each other, I imagine. But yeah, so we kind of got in touch and then they were just sort of like, cool. Well, when the timing's right, we want to help you. We love what you're doing. Like, let's just keep in touch. And so over the years. So even before that, they sent me one of the new M chip MacBooks before it was on public sale. And I got to try it out and feedback on it and speak to the guys in Silicon Valley even about how the M chips work, which is really interesting.
Chris Barker:
But you didn't have to make the logic project for them. That logic project was made and they, they took it and did that with it. That's what I mean. There was no conversation of like, we'd like to feature you in the next logic. Just be aware of that when you're next making your song.
Ellie Dixon:
No, no, no. They just, they basically got in contact. They were like, I can't remember when this was maybe two years ago. And they said, we'd love to put one of your songs in the software. Do you have one in mind?
Chris Barker:
Amazing.
Ellie Dixon:
And then I said, babe, this one is all logic. Couldn't be more logic if it tried. This is all stock.
Chris Barker:
That's so great that it's authentic. Just. That's why I was pushing on that, because you don't know how these things work.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, that's great. Completely. And. And again, that was just coming out of me not wanting to spend a bunch of money as well and also just being able to work within the software, you know. And again, that goes back to being in just learning the fundamentals back in the day. So most of these fancy plugins you can kind of recreate if you stack enough stock, if you stack enough eqs, compressors, vibratos, whatever, you might get to that thing and grant long. And now I pick and choose these unique things that would take me a very long time to make from first principles. But like, yeah, I don't know, I just really pushed all the stock to its limit before I started upgrading.
Ellie Dixon:
I think that's made me a lot smarter with not spending loads of money on plugins.
Chris Barker:
But it's how you know what's going on behind the scenes of these mad plugins as well. Like a lot of them are just kind of like macros of lots of. Lots of different layers of things.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, we're locked in on that, right? The Devil Lock. Devil Lock is locked.
Ellie Dixon:
Hell yeah. Item number five, my current desk. My dad built it for me. It's custom, it's beautiful. It's got. It's like my happy place. It's got a slide out keyboard.
Chris Barker:
Funny. Furniture desk.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, sorry, yeah. Not mixing desk. I love. We're on a tech podcast And I'm like, so, furniture, microwaves.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You can get the desk that can.
Will Betts:
Be included in your.
Chris Barker:
Or it could be the luxury item. Yeah, like, let's get to that. Let's talk studio kit.
Ellie Dixon:
Okay. Amazing.
Chris Barker:
You've got two items left.
Ellie Dixon:
Okay, I want The Teenage Engineering EP 1320. It's a little medieval synth I haven't got to use, and everyone's been sending it to me. So my whole latest EP is like super, kind of like fantastical medieval. And it came. And as soon as I started doing this campaign, they released a synth and I was like, this is destiny. This made for me. And so I've just been chomping at the bit to get my hands on one and start to play with it because it just looks insane.
Chris Barker:
Have you. I haven't played with it.
Will Betts:
I've played with it. It's a lot of fun, actually.
Ellie Dixon:
Is it? Oh, I'm so jealous.
Will Betts:
Yeah. I played one a few, a few months back, and the sounds are ridiculous, but also, like. It's a lot of fun. I think there's, like. It's useful for about one thing, but it's.
Ellie Dixon:
But I'm gonna have a great.
Will Betts:
You can have a great time.
Ellie Dixon:
Especially if my EP is kind of all one thing, because currently I'm in medieval mode and perfect for that.
Will Betts:
I mean, the sorts of sounds that you have, like peasants, for instance.
Ellie Dixon:
Perfect.
Will Betts:
Just some.
Ellie Dixon:
A bit of peasants sometimes crave giving a good peasant noise, you know.
Will Betts:
And it's also, you know, it's got also sort of medieval instruments.
Chris Barker:
And has it got lutes? Is this lute. I don't know.
Will Betts:
A while ago. I played it now, but as an arpeggiator as well.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, I think it's a super cool.
Will Betts:
It looks incredible. That's the other thing. Like, it's got that brilliant sort of goldy look to it. The cases you can get.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's nice. It's nice.
Will Betts:
It's super cool.
Chris Barker:
Okay, great choice.
Ellie Dixon:
Thanks.
Chris Barker:
Do you.
Will Betts:
Have you used any of the other teenage engineering stuff?
Ellie Dixon:
I currently have an OP1.
Will Betts:
Oh, brilliant. So, you know. You know, the workflow and stuff.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah, it's great. It's so, like. I think it's so intuitive. It's so good for writing in particular as well. There's a cool artist called Willow Kane, and I spoke with her a couple years ago because she writes, like, really interesting music. And I was like, what do you write? But like, what's your process? She was like, I just sit on the OP1. I was like, what what are you writing on this thing? And I used to love watching these videos. Have you seen red means recording?
Will Betts:
Yes.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah. Like watching them just use the OP1. So, like, fluidly and satisfyingly.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
It's so interesting. I love the synths on it. Like cow synth. Big up. I don't know what it's. Does it have a name? Cow.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Is it just mooing?
Ellie Dixon:
It's not mooing, but picture of a cow. It's moo adjacent.
Will Betts:
What do they call it? Calcinth? OP1.
Chris Barker:
It gets some weird Google results. Calcium.
Ellie Dixon:
Some may call it a moog.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, nice.
Ellie Dixon:
That's what I'm here for, guys.
Chris Barker:
I must be thinking of udder synths.
Will Betts:
Oh, lovely. What'd you say he was thinking of? Udder synths.
Chris Barker:
No.
Ellie Dixon:
Oh, fair.
Chris Barker:
Okay, let's lock in the teenagers here and move on from my punnage. Final Item. Item number 6.
Ellie Dixon:
Final item. Because I currently can't hear anything. Yeah. I think my mixing headphones are. I'm gonna go with. Because they're the most portable. They are the most comfortable headphones I've ever used. The Sennheiser HD 650.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Popular choice. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Like, so comfy. They're the most kind of, like, flat sound I've had where I'm not. I don't feel like I'm battling through a lens. You know, it's really like, they're so clean and they're so comfy. And I'll bring them to sessions and anyone, like, any singer who's recording will put them on and be like, oh, my God, what are these? Because they're. Because, you know, like, the D770 is, like, really. Well, most of them really, like, the classic studio headphones are all very round.
Chris Barker:
But, you know, loads of spill. If you're using them with singers, because they're open backs. Right.
Ellie Dixon:
Not a lot of spill. I don't get a whole bunch, but I guess I don't. I tend to be quite conscious about spill where I keep it kind of. I keep my level kind of low when I'm recording anyway. And I like a bit of spill. I've actually got a song coming out the. The weird time signature one that had loads of spill in it. Because I was recording.
Ellie Dixon:
I recorded like, basically all of it on a SM7B, literally, with the monitors playing into the room. And so it was just unbelievable. Bleed. And it's made such a weird universe in the song. So I think bleeds kind of cool. It adds almost like extra effects. I mean, shout out to my mix engineers.
Chris Barker:
I was gonna say "bleed's cool?" they're like, "not this again"
Ellie Dixon:
Make it stop. I don't know what stem this even is, but it tends to not be a problem again, because of kind of how close I am to my mic when I'm recording. And I think, obviously it depends. Depends on where I am and what I'm doing, but for at least, this Forever Studio works really well. And I keep the volume pretty low and it works so well. And then, yeah, like, when I'm mixing and producing, it's just. They're just so, so reliable.
Will Betts:
And how did you come across them in the first place then?
Ellie Dixon:
I did a lot of Googling. Mostly I wanted open back because the previous headphones I used were open, open back. And then I got some that weren't and it was just so boomy and I hated it and I just couldn't get on with it and I'd get a headache. Didn't like it at all. So I knew I needed to open back and I just went on such a Google deep dive for ages. And then I was like, I think. I think these are the ones. And also they make it oval because our ears are oval, not circles.
Ellie Dixon:
Like you want that to sit. And I'm sitting, mixing for ages, you know, like this needs to sit and be comfy. And so. So, yeah, ordered them. And I was like, well, sometimes research does pay off. So, yeah, that's my fav. And shout out to my Adam Audio monitors. But so if I'm only having one thing, I think I would have headphones because I'm recording all in one room.
Will Betts:
Well, that makes perfect sense. Bedroom studio vibe as well. It's a perfect fit for that environment.
Chris Barker:
Before we get to the luxury item, we get Will to do you a rundown. Describe what we've just built.
Ellie Dixon:
Yes, please.
Chris Barker:
See how this sounds to you in terms of Fantasy Forever Studio. Okay, Ellie Dixon, here we go.
Will Betts:
We're in London.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
In a spare bedroom studio in your home. You have a garden. The dream. Inside the studio, you have nice rugs, heaps of clutter. Mike Wazowski in a Hot Wheels. Thick curtains. Natural light. Sunset lamps.
Will Betts:
Lava lamps.
Ellie Dixon:
Lamps.
Will Betts:
And a synthetic sun.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
For your three free.
Chris Barker:
The Star in the Sky. Not. Not like A.I. the Movie. Not like some kind of robot Pinocchio.
Will Betts:
Not a robo.
Chris Barker:
Do you want a robot Pinocchio?
Will Betts:
Luxury item. No. We'll get back to it.
Ellie Dixon:
Luxury item. A child.
Chris Barker:
A synthetic stone.
Ellie Dixon:
My offspring.
Chris Barker:
Sorry. Well, go on.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Thick curtain.
Will Betts:
It's a big lamp.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Your three free items for your computer you have a MacBook Pro 16 inch, 48 gigs of RAM 8 terabyte drive.
Ellie Dixon:
Good stuff.
Will Betts:
Top spec interface is a Focusrite Claret 8 Pre. Your DAW of course is Logic Pro 11, of course.
Ellie Dixon:
Shout out.
Will Betts:
For your six items, you have chosen your own Carla Ukulele. For a mic, you've chosen the Lewitt LCT 1040. For your base, you have decided to find a vintage Fender base, bury it and then dig it up again.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah, yeah. Nice.
Will Betts:
For a plugin, you have Soundtoys Devil Lock Deluxe. Your penultimate choice is the Teenage Engineering EP 1320 Sampler. And your final choice is a pair of Senhora Hyzer HD 650 headphones.
Ellie Dixon:
That's popping.
Will Betts:
That works.
Ellie Dixon:
That's good.
Chris Barker:
Sounds alright, doesn't it? Sounds okay.
Ellie Dixon:
So when do I get it? Okay.
Will Betts:
Working on it.
Chris Barker:
And obviously we touched on this. It doesn't have to be your luxury item, but you have one more item left that isn't a bit of studio kit. So tell us what that might be.
Ellie Dixon:
So I completely independently thought of this and it turns out so did you, Charlie. This is, this is completely independently. But I want a magic microphone arm from the ceiling specifically.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I'm adding magic because you said luxury. So I'm going fantastical.
Chris Barker:
And there's nothing more luxury than magic, is there?
Will Betts:
That's true. That's all magicians say.
Chris Barker:
It's the ultimate luxury.
Ellie Dixon:
Magic is the ultimate luxury, right? Precisely to quote Dynamo.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
So. Or Potter himself. Yeah. So I want it from the ceiling. I want. XLR is sort of like tucked up and in. I'm not worrying about that. It's going into my desk.
Ellie Dixon:
I'm not worried about that. It's sort of like it's on a sort of infinite. Sorry. I keep looking up because basically it's coming down from the ceiling. You're like, where is it?
Chris Barker:
I'm picturing it.
Ellie Dixon:
It's on like, like a, A per. Like a full two dimensional track. Like it can be positioned at any point.
Chris Barker:
Like those cameras above a football stadium.
Ellie Dixon:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Oh yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
But no wires. It can just go.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Anywhere you want.
Will Betts:
Because it's magic.
Ellie Dixon:
Because it's magic. And there's. There's no twisty things. There's no worrying about re screwing. Because the things got loose.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Nothing, nothing's drifting.
Chris Barker:
Okay. We get, we get out of it works.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Why?
Ellie Dixon:
Because I have, I, I have never had a working microphone arm like within, within days. It's, it's sagging, it's drifting. Like for me, the Process of just. And also then being able to move it. Like setting up mic stands to be in the right place, stay in the right place. Wherever you are in the room, you're.
Chris Barker:
Always tripping over the legs. They're always in the way. Then if you have too close together, one's on top of the other. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
Falling about. Like, I want it to be super accessible and it means that I can record anywhere in the room super quick. If I'm in a session, I can just, like, chuck it over.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
And it's just the most, like, streamlined way of holding a microphone. And it's not taking up any floor space because it's coming from the ceiling.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
It's a great shout.
Ellie Dixon:
Luxurious.
Will Betts:
It is luxurious.
Chris Barker:
We have it locked in the magic microphone arm.
Will Betts:
I think somebody needs to just design this now.
Chris Barker:
There are similar things, though. Like, I remember Red Bull Studios in London had a. A similar thing to try and keep stuff off because it was a small space, because they had to set up as we have in this room, break the fourth wall here. But cameras on stands as well. If you're trying to shoot in a studio and you've got mics on stands, it's just all stands.
Will Betts:
It's just.
Ellie Dixon:
It's. So my room at some points is just pure stands.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, Yeah.
Ellie Dixon:
I just can't. It's. It's too much real estate. I want to be dancing as well.
Chris Barker:
Turn upside down, Stand on the ceiling.
Ellie Dixon:
Sounds on the ceiling.
Will Betts:
What a feeling.
Chris Barker:
What a feeling when there's mic sounds on the ceiling. And that's the end of the podcast, actually is.
Ellie Dixon:
But, yeah, you're making so much merch. Slogans.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, there we are. It's locked in. We've got the magic microphone on. We've got the six items. How do you feel about it?
Ellie Dixon:
I'm buzzing. That's great. Well, really pleased with that.
Will Betts:
And what about you? What's going on for you right now? You say you're going on tour. Is there more music coming? What's happening?
Ellie Dixon:
Everything's coming. This is like the most intense week of my life right now because I'm finishing my ep. That's all going to be out for the summer. I'm about to go on a support tour, but then I'm about to announce a headline tour in the autumn all around UK and Europe. And then just. Yeah, new music is just coming thick and fast, basically. So this whole EP will be out super soon. We've got more.
Ellie Dixon:
Couple more singles and then the EP is out.
Chris Barker:
All right.
Ellie Dixon:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Fantastic. Thank you so much, Ellie Dixon.
Chris Barker:
Thank you so much.
Will Betts:
Well, all that's left to say is thank you so much for tuning in. And we'll catch you next time for another adventure into Studio Foreverdom. Bye. Bye.
Ellie Dixon:
Bye.
Chris Barker:
Bye.