Chris Lake had his breakout with ‘Changes’ in 2006, and he’s been an unstoppable force in dance music ever since, including global hits like ‘Summertime Blues’ with Sammy Virji. On this episode, Chris shares some of his production secrets, including how he gets bass to sound just as powerful on headphones as club-shaking sound systems, Ableton Live’s most powerful stock effect, and a fantastic way to find never-before-heard sounds for your tracks. Along the way, find out how a Yamaha keyboard saved him at an ill-fated gig, the instrument-effect combo he uses to endlessly inspire singers, and which DAW he’ll never get his head around.
Chris Lake had his breakout with ‘Changes’ in 2006, and he’s been an unstoppable force in dance music ever since, including global hits like ‘Summertime Blues’ with Sammy Virji. On this episode, Chris shares some of his production secrets, including how he gets bass to sound just as powerful on headphones as club-shaking sound systems, Ableton Live’s most powerful stock effect, and a fantastic way to find never-before-heard sounds for your tracks. Along the way, find out how a Yamaha keyboard saved him at an ill-fated gig, the setup he stole from Bonobo to endlessly inspire singers, and which DAW he’ll never get his head around.
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/overview/
https://musictech.com/
https://tyxstudios.com/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD)
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/musical-instruments/keyboards/explore/synth-chronology/modal/modal-qs300.html
https://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/djx-iib
https://www.roland.com/uk/products/mc-303/
Crumar Seven: https://www.crumar.it/?a=showproduct&b=36
https://www.hologramelectronics.com/microcosm
https://www.focal.com/products/trio-11-be
https://augspurger.com/product/augspurger-solo-12mf-sub-212-dsp3-1250/
https://www.trinnov.com/en/products/nova/
https://slatedigital.com/legacy-products/
https://www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/mini-v/overview
https://novationmusic.com/products/summit
https://sequential.com/product/ob-6/
https://www.analoguesolutions.com/fusebox
https://www.analoguesolutions.com/telemark-k-keyboard-synthesizer
https://www.analoguesolutions.com/colossus
Chris Barker:
Hi, I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts and this is the MusicTech My Forever Studio Podcast brought to you in partnership with Audient.
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 little rules.
Chris Barker:
Indeed, 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 gear, plus one non studio related luxury item. But oh yes, no bundles. No bundles.
Will Betts:
Choosing something sold as a package of separate software or hardware as a single item is strictly forbidden.
Chris Barker:
Our guest today is a DJ and producer who shot to fame with his breakthrough track changes in 2006 before heading to Los Angeles to conquer the US dance music industry and grow his label.
Will Betts:
Yes, after a multitude of club hits, he built up his label, Black Book Records, and has continued to headline clubs and festivals all over the world. And he's not letting up with recent inescapable hits like Summertime Blues with Sammy Virgie.
Chris Barker:
But the real question is, how will he cope with the ultimate industry pressure building his Forever Studio?
Will Betts:
Let's find out. This is my Forever Studio with Chris Lake. Welcome, Chris.
Chris Barker:
Welcome. Hello.
Chris Lake:
How are you doing?
Will Betts:
You're right, very well, how are you?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, great, thank you. Great.
Chris Barker:
Flown in for us. I love it, I have.
Chris Lake:
But you know what, like, honestly, it's worth, it's worth the journey just to talk tech. So I'm excited.
Chris Barker:
It's been a while. I mean, I will say, like, you know, I interviewed you many times, starting your career mill, your career now at the peak.
Chris Lake:
We've aged together.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, me worse, I think. Thanks for that. Luckily, there's no record of me on camera back then, but there was you.
Chris Lake:
It's all right, it's all stored up here, mate.
Chris Barker:
I've always. I'm actually 75 years old.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. No, no, honestly, you look great for 90, so.
Chris Barker:
Well, you heard the, the intro there. The rules that we've got of building.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I'll probably forget them.
Chris Barker:
But before we dive in about building this Forever Studio, let's talk about the early days, how you broke into the industry, you know, even pre changes, like what was the first delving into music production? What was the kit, what was the process back then? And how old were you? You must be very young.
Chris Lake:
I was really young when I started. I'm 42 now and I think I started getting into it around about 97. So like, you know, sequences like daws weren't really around by that at that point. They were just kind of. They were MIDI sequences. So you'd have, you know, you never get Cubase on an Atari or whatever. And whatever logic was before. Was it emagic magic? Yeah, yeah.
Chris Lake:
I didn't, I didn't run any of those. So I went down. The route of my first keyboard was the. On reflection was actually a really bad choice. But the Yamaha QS300, not really the greatest keyboard. It was essentially just a bit like a. Remember you remember when you used to get like the. The Yamaha keyboards and they'd have like that.
Chris Lake:
That standard set of MIDI instruments within that. It was just that and just a little bit extra.
Chris Barker:
I'm testing my home keyboard knowledge. But wasn't that the one, was it after or before the Yamaha djx? Because I had the djx, remember with the kind of DJ DJ before. But it had some of those noises.
Chris Lake:
I had one of those as well. I actually forgot I had that until you mentioned it. Yeah, yeah, I had one of those. But then the. Probably the first significant piece of gear that I got after that was the MC303.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
So I loved that. Shortly afterwards.
Chris Barker:
So much harder to program than an actual 303.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. Then after that moved to the 505 with the D beam. Yeah, D Beam, yeah, And I loved that. I think I can't remember what else.
Chris Barker:
I bought the demos for. That would just be like a guy playing drums and then slapping it like it was a cymbal.
Chris Lake:
Well, talking about demos, let me tell you a funny story. So I remember I was in this band with my buddy Andrew Dukett. We were in. We must have been like 15 or 16 and we got this gig playing in this local hotel and we worked out that I think we had 40 minutes worth of original music.
Chris Barker:
Just what the guests want.
Chris Lake:
Honestly, just like. I think back to it and I'm like, oh God, out of hotel.
Chris Barker:
I did stuff like this as well. It's like, what do we want? Well, there's these two 16 year old kids that want to do 40 minutes of original music. That sounds great actually.
Chris Lake:
Well, it was kind of like originals and then we did a lot of like when I first started, I was remaking a lot of old classic, classic tracks. That was kind of how I got into making music. But anyway, we did the set. It was just as you expected. Shit, I felt sorry for anyone that was there. And we get to the end and we realize, oh, I thought we had 40 minutes of music. We don't. We have 36 minutes.
Chris Lake:
We've got four minutes left to play. Anyway, I had my [Yamaha] QS300 there and I was like, fuck, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Oh, if I press these two buttons and hold them down, it goes into demo mode and it'll play Cotton Eyed Joe.
Chris Barker:
And then what? You just danced.
Chris Lake:
I played that and honestly, it was the best song of the set.
Chris Barker:
They finished with a good one.
Will Betts:
Guys End on a high.
Chris Lake:
I'll never forget that. It was honestly one of the best moments of my career.
Will Betts:
Amazing.
Chris Lake:
I would never have told, honestly, in the first 10 years of my career, I don't think I would have ever said. I would have been so embarrassed to tell people. Now I tell people with pride that that's what I did.
Chris Barker:
Now you get. You'd move a lot of traffic if you did that at Tomorrowland or something. Now does it troll the whole crowd Deadmau style?
Chris Lake:
I don't know if it'd be a troll anymore.
Chris Barker:
People just go for it. Where did you get that? Awesome. Phoenix.
Chris Lake:
Oh, that's a deep cut.
Will Betts:
Where did you go?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah. But anyway, yeah, that was, you know, I've got a lot to thank Yamaha for. They saved. Yeah, they saved me in that four.
Will Betts:
Minute window from Cot Nye Joe to the location of your dream studio. Dream studio.
Chris Barker:
Where would you go? Nice. Yeah. So, yeah, where would you be if you could put your studio anywhere in the world? And remember, this is fantasy Foreverland. Like, where would you put your studio and why?
Chris Lake:
I think I've definitely always dreamed of having. I'm a bit conflicted with this because over the years I've definitely realized some of my dream scenarios in certain ways with my studio, with regards to gear and things like that. I've recorded some really cool places. But I've also found sometimes that the most idealistic setups and situations don't actually end up being as great as I expected them to be. Sometimes the output of the music. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes. Honestly, it's just like the.
Chris Lake:
You know, I think about some of the music that I've made in the least ideal places. And it's actually ended up being some of the best music I've made.
Will Betts:
Come on. They're like, what?
Chris Lake:
Well, a lot of the songs. I mean, I've made loads of songs in hotel rooms.
Chris Barker:
Is it when you're like, forced into boredom basically and like, well, just do this or.
Chris Lake:
Well, you know, one of the best things, one of the best things I've learned in the last 10, 12 years is if you're on the road and you know, one of the, one of the good things about being, you know, if you get success with your, with your music and dance, it probably means that you'll end up going on the road. That always has an effect on your output with music. And I soon realized I have, I have to make a choice here if I want to continue making music. If I only wait for the most ideal times where I'm in a studio, that's going to be perfect, I, I'm not going to be able to make music that much. So I've got to retool and learn how to make music anytime, any place. And that was, I think technology allows that now. And that's like. I've got a lot to thank Apple for.
Chris Lake:
I think these MacBook Pros are absolutely unbelievable. And I use the laptop speakers in any place, any room and I can make music just off the laptop speakers. So that would be, that would be my.
Chris Barker:
It's you on the plane.
Chris Lake:
Well, no, I mean, we're going a bit far there, but yeah, I think they're absolutely fantastic. But you know, that was like, you know, then, then once, once you kind of like realize, oh, you can make music anywhere, it's taken, taken a bit of a restriction away from you.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
That's not really answering your question, is it?
Chris Barker:
But I guess once what you're saying is, and when, when you're doing it on the laptop, on the road, you're going, trying to get it to a point of like now it's exciting to take it to a studio or to take it to a collab, all those kinds of things.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, 100%.
Chris Barker:
Whereas if you go just with nothing to a studio, it can be counterproductive because you just end up messing around on all of the options. Options paralysis.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You don't have an idea.
Chris Lake:
And in a great sounding studio, it's really easy to focus on the, on the details rather than the song and the bigger picture.
Chris Barker:
Just like all that sound, that kick.
Chris Lake:
You feel that sub. The way it's thumping in my chest.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. And most people will experience that.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. But you know, someone walks in and goes, yes, but it sounds like like shit.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Oh, it's really boring. It's got no life to the music.
Will Betts:
So is that like, if you're producing with the laptop speakers, how much of an impact do you think that actually has on the production itself, like the sound of things. You must tune things in a particular way. So it works on a laptop speaker to start with. And does that translate to later?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it does actually I found that I think there's enough detail coming from these speakers to actually do some really significant work. They're not bad speakers at all. And you know some of the most functional speakers in studios, like the, the NS10s, you know, they're like, I listen to music on that and I'm like this isn't really enjoyable at all but like so many people use them in studios because it ends up translating to other speakers. And I find when I work on stuff on the, on the, like the.
Chris Barker:
Modern NS10, the MacBook Pro speaker, it kind of is. Well, I guess actually most people have them, don't they?
Will Betts:
A lot of people have them.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Well, yeah, most musicians.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So where would it be though?
Chris Lake:
We'll answer a question at some point.
Chris Barker:
Where would you put your studio in the world if you could have.
Chris Lake:
Okay, so Leo, let's just ignore that bullshit I just talked about. So I think that I would like an ocean view. Like an ocean beach view. So somewhere with windows. But anyway, all the acoustic people tell me that windows are really, really bad for sound in studios. But you know, fuck em, you can open a window. I don't care about their expertise. I want a window.
Chris Barker:
Okay, yeah, so we're gonna have windows with an ocean view. Where in the world though are you?
Chris Lake:
That's a good question. Where's my favorite food? Japan.
Chris Barker:
Japan.
Chris Lake:
Japan.
Chris Barker:
We've had it. A few choices.
Chris Lake:
I have a button. Sushi.
Chris Barker:
Okay, we'll get to that.
Will Betts:
Is it just sushi? Are we going like.
Chris Lake:
I probably have worms within a week.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, okay, perfect.
Will Betts:
But so whereabouts in Japan and tell us about.
Chris Lake:
Oh fuck, I don't know, you get a bit specific. Let's just say Japan.
Will Betts:
Japan with an ocean view.
Chris Lake:
No. Osaka.
Will Betts:
Osaka. Nice.
Chris Lake:
No, Kyoto.
Will Betts:
Kyoto.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
Delete, delete, delete.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And okay so well that brings us on to the. Let's get the bit out of the way. The first three items that every guest gets.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So that's a computer, an audio interface and. And a DAW computer.
Chris Lake:
MacBook Pro. 16 inch, fully loaded, expensive as fuck.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Audio interface. I mean, I guess, I guess the UAD. What I use which one?
Chris Barker:
8 XP.
Chris Lake:
I think I use the 8 XP. I got two of them with the pretty.
Chris Barker:
Microsoft.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, use that one. What was the third one? Oh, the daw. Ableton.
Chris Barker:
Ableton yeah.
Chris Lake:
Who's not using Ableton? Come on.
Chris Barker:
Loads of people now, mate. Fl. Studio Logic.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, Studio.
Chris Barker:
Showing your age there.
Chris Lake:
Weird architecture, man. I just, like. I still don't get it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. I think we come from that generation.
Chris Lake:
Where it doesn't make any sense now.
Chris Barker:
It's.
Chris Lake:
It's. I mean, I can't. I can't knock it, though. Like, I know a bunch of people.
Chris Barker:
You must have. You must have people that come through your studios and label them. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
And they annoy me.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. They got strong feelings.
Chris Lake:
Oh. Like, get out. They're like, oh, I'm really excited for this collaboration. They open up the computer. Flck. Come on. Sorry.
Will Betts:
Is that the same with all other doors or is it just.
Chris Lake:
No, I'm only joke. I'm only joking, kind of. It's a lot easier to work with people, you know. Also working in Ableton. No, but I work like. I work loads with Chris Lorenzo. He works stubbornly in Logic.
Chris Barker:
But you. You weren't always in Ableton, were you?
Chris Lake:
No, I used Logic as well. I think we did. We did some stuff in Logic.
Chris Barker:
I think Logic.
Chris Lake:
We filmed some stuff in Logic.
Chris Barker:
I think Logic was the. Yeah. The sort of. Yeah. Few years after Changes. Right. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Then it was like, really mostly because I'd got more into vocal recording and recording vocals in Ableton was not really good in the early days. It's not the best now, but it's.
Chris Barker:
But then when I saw you later on, almost like your whole studio and complex, everybody was on Ableton. So it made. You were switching ideas amongst collabs and stuff. It was very much a. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
I've used Cubase a bit. I worked on Cubase with Marco Lis.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
And it's powerful. But. Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. Ableton.
Chris Barker:
Ableton. Locking it in.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, Ableton.
Chris Barker:
Okay. I had a question about Changes, though. Why is it not on Spotify?
Chris Lake:
It's funny about music created in that period. There's a lot of catalog of dance tracks released in that period that is not on streaming platforms. It's just the way, like, it's almost. I think it's something to do with the way that distribution worked at the time, the way that contracts were written and what wasn't written in there. And there's just a whole load of rights that just fell through the gaps. There's a whole bunch of songs that are just not on there. Anyway, I will. I.
Chris Lake:
You've reminded me. I should. I need to get that one back up on.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Because I just.
Chris Lake:
I own the rights to it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Because you licensed it, right? It wasn't.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I licensed it. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Anyway, I may kids the edit, but yeah, you should time for a remix as well, surely.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Probably 20 years old.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Fuck yeah. I know. That's what I was thinking. It's like. Yeah. And everybody knows it. It's like.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. But what I found interesting, whereas last is it clearly, like you said, like compilations that it's on come up. But that's, you know, it's grayed out and it's like.
Chris Lake:
Oh, yeah.
Chris Barker:
It makes it a deep cut though as well.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I guess like Corn Ey Joe.
Chris Lake:
I get. Not the version I played. That's a deep, deep cut. Probably of the 1000 QS300 owners that.
Chris Barker:
You could get changes as the next demo song on a new keyboard. It could go full circle. Imagine lofty aspirations on the QS400 or whatever it is now. Yeah. Right. Okay, so now we get into the six studio items. So at the end you'll get a luxury item which isn't a bit of kit. So think about that later on.
Chris Barker:
But right now we've got six bits of kit. All you have so far is what we said, a computer, a daw and an audience face.
Chris Lake:
Okay. So honestly, I am going to base a lot of my choices on what I have now.
Chris Barker:
Yep.
Chris Lake:
Because I got. I really like my setup. So I have one of my most used pieces of gear the last few years has been an electric piano called the Crumar Seven.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
It's a beautiful piece of furniture. I love it. I love the sound of it. I just find it's. It's like my go to piece of equipment for every song that I write.
Chris Barker:
This is a real electric piano.
Chris Lake:
It's a real. Like. I'm telling you.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Notes and everything.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Music. Yeah. Very non dj like.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. A lot of people would find that surprising.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I love it. I absolutely. I think it's. I actually bought it for my wife for her birthday because she was wanting to but like practice playing the piano more and it sat gathering dust and was like, well, you know what? Move it into the studio and it's the best thing that's ever happened. I'm so glad that she didn't use it. And her loss is my gain. Yeah, I love it. I use it on pretty much every record.
Chris Barker:
Do you find it sort of restrictions of it just being a single instrument good for writing then?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it's just fantastic. Whenever a songwriter comes in, any artist comes in, it's always the first instrument that I. That I go To.
Chris Barker:
I can't imagine you writing pizza on that. That's it.
Chris Lake:
When I'm working with Chris, it's a little bit different. It's a little bit different. We just.
Chris Barker:
We are odd for anybody listening or watching. Yeah. Check out the Chris Lake, Chris Lorenzo pizza track. Features a lot at the end of my sets.
Chris Lake:
Anti. Yeah, that's our Anti up project.
Chris Barker:
Fantastic.
Chris Lake:
What stupid vocal.
Chris Barker:
I just can imagine. You sat. Yeah. Although I can. I can imagine. Yeah. Actually I've got it. I can imagine.
Chris Lake:
Right. Yeah.
Will Betts:
So what's special about the. I mean, is there anything particularly special about the Crumar as opposed to. Would you not want something like a Roads. A Rhodes?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I love the Rhodes too. I've used that. The. The new ones they're making are really fantastic. They're really expensive actually.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Like 10. Starting at 10 grand. I think the one that I'm using is like 2300.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Dollars. I don't know what that is.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
So two grand.
Chris Barker:
1600 pounds.
Will Betts:
Yeah. But it's Italian, right? Crumar.
Chris Lake:
I believe so.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Looks fantastic.
Chris Lake:
It's a beautiful. Right. That was actually one of the reasons I got. It was. Was based on looks and, and the reviews of how it sounded. But yeah, I just love. I've always loved electric pianos and I love the way they sound. I find them really inspiring.
Chris Barker:
Does it have midi? Can you use it to control?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh yeah.
Chris Lake:
But most of the time I'm just recording audio.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. But in this limited six item studio, it could be a MIDI controller for you as well.
Chris Lake:
It can be a midi. It won't be, but yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, okay.
Chris Lake:
Well maybe, maybe it will be. We'll see. We'll see.
Chris Barker:
You might change your mind once you get to five items.
Chris Lake:
If something pops into my head.
Chris Barker:
So we've got the Crumar locked in. So item number two.
Chris Lake:
Yep. So I learned about this, this pedal through Bonobo. I was working with Bonobo on a track for, for my album Chemistry. The track's called Falling. And actually these items that I'm talking about, like the electric piano and the pedals was completely inspired by a setup that he had and he showed me this hologram electronics microcosm pedal and it's a very, very. I don't really know how to explain it. It's just very random, glitchy, kind of like long self oscillating kind of like feedback unit that just creates some really, really odd, unpredictable tones and drones and undertones and delays and effects that when you actually, when you plug the electric piano through it. It's just.
Chris Lake:
There's something that, like, it's just immediately inspirational, especially when you're. When. When you're writing songs with people that you maybe you've only just met. It's funny, I. I can literally just go boom, boom, boom. And then just the delay that this, the microcosm will just take off and just go and do a load of random things and I can. I'll be recording that. That audio.
Chris Lake:
And. And every time I. Every time I play something through this microcosm, the singer just immediately just like erupts in. In ideas. I find it. It's just an unbelievable, inspirational machine.
Chris Barker:
So you're kind of making your own samples and loops with the.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. So then I'm. I'm recording. I'm recording all the audio and then I can then go. Go into Ableton. I can capture a loop and. And then start building a beat around that. So I.
Chris Lake:
I found that a really, really inspirational piece of equipment. It's obviously, I'm saying that's one. One sound source that I'm talking about putting through it predominantly, but you can put loads of stuff through it and it's.
Chris Barker:
So is it made for guitars, essentially, or is it just.
Chris Lake:
It is actually designed as a pedal. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
But I sit on top of the electric piano.
Will Betts:
I think a lot of people use them in studios for that sort of thing because it's. Yeah, they call it a granular looper and glitch pedal.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it's weird.
Chris Barker:
So did Bonobo bring this into your studio?
Chris Lake:
I went to his and he was using a similar setup and I was like, actually, this is a really good, like, singular station to kind of like just go and, you know, like, just work on some melodies and some. And some tones. And I was like, I think I'm going to replicate that. So I did. I copied him perfect. And I'm really, really happy I did. So. Thank you, Bonobo.
Chris Barker:
Well, it's a brand new item for the podcast, I think.
Will Betts:
I know we've had it before, which.
Chris Barker:
Is very rare, so well done.
Will Betts:
Good choice.
Chris Barker:
So item number three. It looks. Looks lovely. Sorry.
Chris Lake:
It does look nice.
Chris Barker:
Do look it up if you're watching or listening. It's got a really nice design as well. Item number three.
Chris Lake:
Okay, so this is a geeky one.
Chris Barker:
Good.
Chris Lake:
Actually, I'm wondering what order I should do this in, so it makes sense. I'll go with my speakers first.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
So I have been using for like the last two years the focal trio 11Bs. They're big.
Chris Barker:
They are Big boys.
Chris Lake:
They're big. They sound fantastic. No sub needed, just they got some welly. You can really feel the sub. There's great detail.
Chris Barker:
The speakers are usually area where we can, we have to upsell people, but.
Will Betts:
These are, I don't think we can.
Chris Barker:
These are big boys.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
These are serious speakers.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
These are dream studio speakers, aren't they?
Chris Lake:
They're great. They are really great. I mean, you know, there's, there's bigger ones, I guess. You know, there are bigger ones that I, I, I can't. I was in a studio literally about two hours before I came here. I flew here and I can't, I think. Orsbergers, Is that the name? Yeah, I was in, I was in a studio with Chris Lorenzo and Kenny Beets. I'm not sure if you.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, he's his. Oh man. The speakers he's got are absolutely unbelievable. As I was driving up here, I was on FaceTime with Chris Lorenzo talking about these speakers. They're really, really cool. I just don't know what model they are. I think they're about like 28 grand or something.
Will Betts:
They are expensive.
Chris Lake:
They're expensive. They sound unbelievable.
Chris Barker:
Fantasy studio.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
Do you want these over the focals?
Chris Lake:
I mean, I don't know.
Chris Barker:
We can upsell some drinks.
Will Betts:
Maybe we can upsell your dream.
Chris Lake:
Well, let's go for the upsell.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
So let's just spend some, let's spend some, let's spend some good old British pounds.
Will Betts:
Tell us about the sound then. What was impressive?
Chris Lake:
Thumping Very, very impressive. I like the, Are they physically bigger speakers? Yeah, they are.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
They are, they're much bigger. Yeah, they're a bit more like main size.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
I've also used the, I think I've used the PM. I think it's the PMCs a lot. Yeah, they sounded a lot like the, the sub and the, the weight just felt a much, much different. I don't know how to explain it. Just even, just like the demos that we, that we, we worked on, when I listened back, they translated really well. Everything sounded really good. I don't know but like, you know, I'm kind of splitting hairs here. I think like those speakers that I don't really know that much about, that we're dreaming of here.
Chris Lake:
The Osberg. I said they're, they're really nice. But I can tell you about the trios. That would be my, yeah, you know, my second.
Chris Barker:
How did you end up at the Trio? Did you have this?
Chris Lake:
Yeah. So I started off with the 6B's for a long time. I actually was using them for, like, 10 years. Then I moved up to the trios.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Where you could switch one side off. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
I used them for about a year, and then I went over to Australia and Fisher's studio had the 11 B's. I took one listen to. Oh, man, there we go. I'm going back home, I'm gonna spend a fortune.
Chris Barker:
And you've just got the other ones.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically, I just kind of. I heard. I heard those speakers in his studio and I was like, okay, I'm gonna go back and get. Get a pair of those. That's exactly what I did. And they are unbelievable. They sound really, really good.
Chris Lake:
Because before I was using the. The Tree, the. The smaller trios, the Nines, or whatever. With subs. With a. With a pair of subs.
Chris Barker:
Oh, wow.
Chris Lake:
I didn't love the way I'd got the balance and everything. It's just a lot better when you've got everything coming from the same source. Yeah, much better, for sure. Much more balanced.
Chris Barker:
So the Ausburgers, they look like the solos, right?
Will Betts:
Looks like the solos, yeah. The ones you were using. Yeah. Which come in a variety of extreme colors. So would you go for the Augsburgers, or would you stick with your trio?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I think I'd roll the dice and go for the Augspurgers. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
In which color? Bright yellow.
Chris Lake:
I mean, I don't know if I could look at bright yellow for the rest of my life. You know?
Chris Barker:
Silver glittery.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, maybe. Maybe. I'm open.
Chris Barker:
Silver. Silver's cool.
Will Betts:
It's kind of cool. They cost $46,000, you know, small change.
Chris Lake:
For a dream studio.
Will Betts:
That's fine. Snoop Dogg's studio also has them. The Mothership has them.
Chris Barker:
The Mothership.
Will Betts:
That's what they call it.
Chris Lake:
I've been in that studio.
Chris Barker:
Have you? Oh, yeah.
Chris Lake:
I got high with him at the Mothership. Yeah?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
He said I. Like I was with him, and I says, I ain't leaving here until I smoke with you.
Chris Barker:
Apparently quite deadly.
Chris Lake:
Oh, my God. It was ridiculous.
Chris Barker:
I interviewed a producer once who did a track with Snoop, and he was a Norwegian producer, and he liked to smoke this Norwegian guy. Then when he met Snoop, he was like, I've never experienced anything like that.
Chris Lake:
It's pretty heavy. And he said. He said, you'll have to. I'll have to sit you in your car and buckle you up before I give you this, because you ain't gonna be able to walk. Wow.
Chris Barker:
Wow.
Chris Lake:
So I gave the keys, I gave the keys to someone from my team and proceeded to smoke. And he was absolutely right. I could barely walk.
Chris Barker:
So. Well, that takes us to item number four. Item number four now. So we're racing in. Not many left.
Chris Lake:
Are we already on four? Alright, cool. So this is the, this is where things start to tie together. I would choose the Trinov Audio Nova, which is a. A hardware room correction unit with phase alignment. So it's a little bit different to probably one of the, like, the more familiar systems like the sonarworks.
Chris Barker:
Is this what Gary Barlow chose?
Will Betts:
Similar.
Chris Lake:
Really? Yeah, yeah, he's a good lad. The phase alignment section of it is really quite staggering. How profound. It changes the. The stereo imaging of the, of the, of your, of your setup. Once you, you know, it's just one of those ones where there's a special mic for the unit, set it up in your seated position, they do the whole room sweep and then it corrects for EQ level and, and phase alignment. But then you just the, just the, the stereo imaging is crazy, how detailed it is and the mixes really translate well. It's actually quite wild how much it changes the sound in your room.
Chris Lake:
So. But I've been using it for like the last four years and there was a mix engineer, Eric J. Dabowski, who, who recommended it to me. He just got it in his room and I was like, okay, I'll go get it. And then I told Chris Lorenzo about it. He went and got it and now A.C. Slater's got it and who else has? I think there's a few people that have got it. It's just a brilliant piece of kit.
Chris Barker:
But it's a hardware unit.
Chris Lake:
It's a hardware unit. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
So does it sit. Does it run all the time or does it just calibrate once and that's it?
Chris Lake:
Well, you can, you can continually calibrate it. You can, you can calibrate it for different listening positions. You can, you can have presets that are recallable on a, on a remote. I. So I actually.
Chris Barker:
So if you've got a studio where there's a sofa at the back and you're trying to show A and R, you can go.
Chris Lake:
So you can select, you can select it for that, that listening position. For me, I have windows in my studio and we have blinds that were designed kind of like to acoustically treat them as well. So I bring the blinds down and I can have a preset for blinds.
Chris Barker:
Up or blinds down. Nice. I like that.
Will Betts:
Smart.
Chris Lake:
It's really cool.
Chris Barker:
Which is perfect for your studio here. In Kyoto. Because you're gonna have Windows as well.
Chris Lake:
Absolutely. You know, see where I'm going. Yeah. Thinking about this. Yeah.
Will Betts:
This is.
Chris Barker:
I appreciate it. This is deep. Deep cut. I didn't. I didn't know this device was a hardware. I thought there was. Because Barlow's one was hardware, though. Is that.
Will Betts:
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Is that the same?
Will Betts:
It's. I don't think it's the same one quite. But the Nova is the newer one.
Chris Lake:
Oh. So his would have been the ST2.
Will Betts:
That's quite possible.
Chris Barker:
Right.
Chris Lake:
That was the older one.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
The Nova's the updated one.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Which is the. The Nova's a single unit. One unit rack.
Chris Barker:
You just sold Gary Barlow one of these.
Chris Lake:
It's an upsell.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it is though. That's how the word spreads. Like you said, you've got an engineer then.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, mate, call up your local dealer, get out.
Will Betts:
The ready's only four grand.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. But yeah, that's like half a minute of Take that royalty.
Chris Barker:
But he had a similar thing to say about it. They knew. They're like this kind of just game changer. And the fact that people are putting it in forever studios where you've got quite a limit shows how important it is that it's not just like an icing on the cake thing. It's like a game changer piece of equipment.
Will Betts:
Has it changed your production at all, like, and how much?
Chris Lake:
It's not changed my production. It's changed my confidence in what I'm hearing in my room.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
And my belief in the choices that I'm making. That's a. That's a pretty. It's a pretty big deal when you, you know, you're really trying to tighten up the low end on a song. And yeah, you know, that's the difficulty with club music is you're trying to make it. You're trying to make it pleasing to listen to and you're also trying to make it thump.
Chris Barker:
Massive.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Thump on a. On a. On a juiced up sound system. And those decisions can. Well now more than ever are really, really important how you and they can be quite all together.
Chris Barker:
Counterintuitive those things as well. Because trying to make it hit in one, you can ruin it for people listening on their headphones or MacBook speakers.
Chris Lake:
Exactly. Which is where balance comes in and you know, like being able to listen on different. Different audio sources. This is why I believe in these things so much. But then I also, you know, on the. On the flip side, believe in like having a great system where you can really feel the detail of the low end.
Chris Barker:
Tell us about some moments where you've played a track out for the first time, maybe before it's been mastering. Like, you know, lots of DJs do get it to a point, play it out. What do you notice when it's not perfect? When you're playing out in a big club? Because the punters probably don't notice. Right. But you're playing it out if you have a good reaction to the actual song.
Chris Lake:
I actually disagree. I think the punters normally do notice. And you can tell by the, like the. You can tell by the way people dance, the way they react, and you can just. Just.
Chris Barker:
It, you know, but you're noticing against the track before, the track after. Or is it.
Chris Lake:
It's just that intuition as well, of what you. What. What you feel you should. You would expect people to react. You know, I'm thinking about the way that I want to react to it and then I want people to feel it the same way that I feel it.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
And that there are. There's. There is a. There's a method to that, you know, and you. Sometimes you just got to work the mix and just get it, get it, get it in the right spot. When something really, really hits, really lands, it ends up feeling effortless and it's very, very rewarding.
Will Betts:
So something like the bass line in Toxic, for instance, and the bass line in Summertime Blues as well. I mean, like, those both work on big systems, but also really work on headphones as well.
Chris Lake:
Toxic's a great example. That was, you know, that's a song with. In contrast to Summertime Blues, Toxic is really essentially kick bass, drums, vocal samples. That's it. There's not really much else going on. And I worked way too much on that song. Just trying to get the balance between the kick, the snare and the bass. And you can hear that.
Chris Lake:
I have loads of different versions where. It's almost where the final version ended up. And it was kind of like there was pros and cons to all of these versions. But when I finally got that, the one that came out, I was like, oh, yeah, this is hitting exactly where it needs to hit. And when you hear it on a club sound system, it's validating.
Chris Barker:
And what's the bass line? Where's it from?
Chris Lake:
The bass line is.
Chris Barker:
We've got money on this.
Chris Lake:
It's Arturia. Both of us lose the Moog.
Chris Barker:
Oh, really?
Chris Lake:
Okay, so it was one of the Moog ones. Yeah. I can't remember the Mini V Yeah, I think it's the Mini V, but it's heavily, heavily processed.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay. But still.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, but it's a Mini V. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
We had Serum or no.
Chris Lake:
Okay, so. But like, funnily enough, funnily enough, I've seen quite a lot of recreations of that on Serum.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
And they're impressive.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
I wish I could make sounds that quickly and that. Well, it's really annoying. These kids do my head in like. I wish I could do that, but I would.
Chris Barker:
I don't know. I'd struggle to get that sound more on the Moog, I think. But I guess it's the way you work. Like you say, if it's processed afterwards.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it was sort of heavy processing.
Will Betts:
How heavy are we talking? What sort of, what sort of processing were you doing on that? To make it sound that way.
Chris Lake:
Distortion saturation, Eqing.
Will Betts:
So distortion saturation to get the. Get it so you can hear it more on headphones because you don't have the. Okay.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. But then that trade off with, you know, that processing often takes away low end detail. Trying to get a balance of that. Another one that I actually used for, like when this. When the sound really opens up within Ableton, the new Roar plugin.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
Has a setting on there for noise injection.
Chris Barker:
You just give it a little bit fizz.
Chris Lake:
So I'll automate that in and it's very, very powerful. It makes. Makes the sounds kind of like really almost like overload a little bit.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
And yeah, so I automate that in to just make those like, those little like moments.
Chris Barker:
It's like saturation but without removing detail. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Lake:
So it can be a bit much. But that's one of the. That's the sort of thing you need to dial in.
Chris Barker:
But that's kind of like a parallel thing that you would just put along. Okay.
Will Betts:
So is that sort of a psychoacoustic thing where you're like, oh, I'm hearing this as being a particular way rather than it adding to the bass end or.
Chris Lake:
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's an addition. It's just to try and make these moments like the. On Toxic. One of the main things is like the bow on the downbeat. It only really happens occasionally, but just making that really stand out because, you know, it's not, it's not just. It's not always just the case of depending how you program the sound, just, you know, taking the cut off and going. Yeah, it doesn't.
Chris Lake:
That can. That can sound like. Like it opens up, but it might not really pop out of the speakers and really absorb you. So that was where.
Chris Barker:
Or it can be too resonant as well.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, exactly. It all depends. It all depends on the, you know, the. The tone.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Underneath that filter. So for this one. Roar, I. I think Roar is. The Roar is possibly one of the most powerful plugins in Ableton now.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Chris Lake:
Really good.
Will Betts:
Great tip. Love that.
Chris Lake:
That's for free.
Chris Barker:
Well, it is free. It comes in Ableton as well. So. Yeah, it's a free item for you. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Ableton ain't free.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so I'm number five.
Chris Lake:
Yep.
Chris Barker:
What's it going to be?
Chris Lake:
I think we need a microphone.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
Again, I will choose some of that. I have. And this one isn't really the most expensive piece of gear. It's that.
Chris Barker:
Oh, time to upsell. Maybe we'll keep you.
Will Betts:
I'm ready. I'm ready to go.
Chris Lake:
It's the. The slate microphone.
Chris Barker:
Oh, the modeling one.
Chris Lake:
I really like it.
Will Betts:
Vms.
Chris Lake:
I use that one.
Chris Barker:
Splits the crowd, that one, doesn't it?
Chris Lake:
But, yeah, I use that on every track on my latest album. So that's 15 tracks, all using that song, all using that microphone. Mostly because it's the only one I've had set up in the studio, but. And that's really why I don't feel.
Chris Barker:
Do you use all the different models and modes on it? Do you go through.
Chris Lake:
I've used some.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Chris Lake:
Basically, could sound a mic. Everything seems to translate. I like it. I'm like. I just.
Chris Barker:
I don't know much about it, but.
Chris Lake:
Well, honestly, nor do I. But look, you asked. Yeah, I'm telling you. That's the one I'm using.
Chris Barker:
So do you have to choose a model for it or is it. Does it have its own.
Chris Lake:
You don't have to. You don't have to. You don't have to. It sounds good as a microphone.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
As it is, ironically, I bought the UAD one, the Townsend. Sorry, sorry. Sorry, guys. Yes. And I've never used it, so I don't even know how to compare because just essentially when push came to shove every session. And I think this, actually, I think this is an endorsement every. Every time I've come, you know, I've come to record something I've been loathe, to roll the dice and test something else because I knew that I would get the sound that I needed from the slate mic. And I think that's a great endorsement for a microphone.
Chris Lake:
I'm not like. I haven't had recordings where I'm like, ah. I don't really like the way that sounds. So there we go.
Chris Barker:
I think you find that with speakers and microphones, generally, it's like people like the. It's what I know. Thing, because it's like if it ain't broke don't fit it. It definitely works for those situations.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. So. And that's, I think, really, at the end of the day, you just want to get the. You want to get the sound in and be able to. To manipulate it the way that you want to be able to manipulate it. And there's been songs where I've literally done hardly anything to the vocal off the microphone. And it sounds great.
Will Betts:
And so how did you come across this? Where did that. Did you see it somewhere else?
Chris Lake:
I actually met Stephen Slate. I've known him. He lives kind of close to me.
Will Betts:
Right.
Chris Lake:
I think he sent it to me. So. You know what? Who doesn't love a freebie?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah.
Will Betts:
Great.
Chris Barker:
Nobody has confidence in his products. Doesn't he. He does that a lot.
Chris Lake:
No, it's good. I don't need to endorse it or anything. It's a great mic.
Will Betts:
Excellent.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
And so the recent tracks, what have you recorded with it?
Chris Barker:
Is it new album stuff?
Chris Lake:
I guess, yeah. All the new album stuff. So recorded. Ease my mind with that. With Abel Balder. Everything that I recorded in the studio there. Chemistry with Vera Blue.
Chris Barker:
So you tend to always bring people in to record rather than send you files.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tend to not. Not on everything. Savannah. I didn't record. Okay.
Chris Barker:
And is that just out of diaries and things like that or is somebody quite particular about their voice being a certain way or.
Chris Lake:
No, I just. I. I like being involved in writing it. It's actually like I end up getting the results that I want if I'm in the room and I can guide. Guide the direction of.
Chris Barker:
So not necessarily about quality. It's about performance. Like. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Lake:
100. Yeah. And. Yeah. Sometimes recording vocalists. It's almost like for dance music, it can be a two part kind of discipline. It's like this. There's a songwriting phase and then there's the.
Chris Lake:
Once they've gone, I'm going to absolutely tear this vocal. A new asshole phase.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. And processing and all of that.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah. Which is not pleasant to do in front of the vocalist because they're just watching.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
You know, it's like. It's like chopping up a Ferrari, turning it into a hot rod.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. But I guess you need that. You need that quality at the start and the performance that you want.
Chris Lake:
It doesn't always happen. I'm not chopping down everything, but that often happens. And, yeah, two part discipline.
Chris Barker:
So final item, this gives you. This is where things get stressful and you might want to change some things.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Okay. So I'm thinking it's got to be a Synth, so.
Chris Barker:
Yamaha QSR.
Chris Lake:
QS300.
Chris Barker:
QS300. I'm sure it's QSR300.
Chris Lake:
QS300 QS. It's really crap.
Will Betts:
QS300. Oh, Chris.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Oh, well, it looks quite nice.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it does look.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it doesn't sound it, but I'm a little torn, I think, like, tell.
Chris Barker:
Us the options, we can help.
Chris Lake:
Okay, so. Because I'm guessing, like, we don't do plugins here, right? We're doing.
Chris Barker:
No, we can do plugins.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, it's. Right. Plugins are ten a penny. There's just loads of them. It's sort of.
Chris Barker:
No.
Will Betts:
No bundles. I don't need to. We haven't gone there yet.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, go. Go there. Show me. You said you'd only do it once.
Chris Barker:
No bundles.
Chris Lake:
I. Okay, so I got a couple of synths in the studio that are already good. The. The Novation Summit's used quite a lot.
Chris Barker:
That probably doesn't get the shout out it deserves. Actually.
Chris Lake:
It's a great. It's a really great synth.
Chris Barker:
Doesn't come up often, but when it came out everybody loved it and it sort of disappeared.
Chris Lake:
I find the OB6 really, really versatile.
Chris Barker:
Dave Smith.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I just get lost doing Prince style D train and that kind of stuff on that.
Chris Lake:
I love it. Yeah, absolutely.
Chris Barker:
That synth, it just makes you want to play that stuff all the time.
Chris Lake:
And then what other synths am I using a lot? I think I'd probably go for something a little bit weirder. And the synth that served us really well has been the. Well, I say, us, me and Chris Lorenzo for the Anti Up project, we used the Analogue Solutions Fusebox.
Chris Barker:
Big shout out to Tom Carpenter.
Chris Lake:
This is. You know, they're not a big company. Birmingham company.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
They make some great products and we've. This is. This is something like a little unpredictable about what you'll get out of this machine. And it's been very inspirational for all the Ante up stuff. If anyone's listened to the Anti up stuff, it's a bit.
Chris Barker:
So where the little weird lead line comes from in Pizza Sounds like him. Now I can. I love his products. Tom Carpenter. I dealt with him a lot over the years. I reviewed their. For music tech. Can't remember what it's called.
Chris Barker:
But it was mad. It had analog effects and digital effects and. Yeah, just inspirational. You kind of.
Will Betts:
It.
Chris Barker:
Soft sequences, but it didn't have a sequencer. But it was like the modulations would make it do weird sequences and riffs, honestly. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. He makes some great stuff. And so they've updated. There's the Fusebox, which. That's the orange one.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
There's a Fusebox, too. I've not used that. I mean, like, there's some. There's some parts on that Fusebox. Like, the build qualities, like some of the buttons are a little bit questionable, but maybe they've updated that. The two. They probably have. And then the.
Chris Lake:
But the other one that we used before, that was the Telemark-K. Yes.
Chris Barker:
They were really popular, weren't they as well?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, that was. That was the first one that we used, the Telemark-K. Telemark-K2, I think. So one of those.
Will Betts:
We're gonna have to.
Chris Lake:
You want me to make a decision?
Will Betts:
You gotta make a decision. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
You know what? Probably because it's got the keyboard, I'll use the Telemark-K. It was the Impulse Command.
Chris Barker:
I reviewed that one. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Chris Lake:
I've not used that one. Is that more for drums or.
Chris Barker:
Nope. No, it's full on. It's crazy.
Chris Lake:
When did. When did he Release that one?
Chris Barker:
2019.
Chris Lake:
How much is it?
Chris Barker:
849. It's inspirational, mate. You'll love it. The effects on it. It does have a sequencer, but it's like a analog sequencer. Like, you just twist. But you can sequence the effects to things as well, so it's really interesting.
Will Betts:
So why the Telemark-K? Is it just because it's got a keyboard or is there?
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I do like hitting the keys sometimes. It just pisses me off that you have to.
Chris Barker:
But that's how you get the weird results, though, when you just like. That's why I like this at first, I think in the review I wrote. It starts off and it really irritates you and then suddenly it just clicks and you're like. It's just giving you. Like what you said about that pedal, where it just serves up things and you're like, oh, another one. Another idea.
Will Betts:
Is that something that's happened a bunch with this 100.
Chris Lake:
And that's why I really like it. I think. I think the. Sometimes that can be the problem with some of, like, the more traditional great synths, like I mentioned.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Like, you kind of know what you're going to get and you can really dial in the sound that you know you're going to get. It's predictable, it's easy to get to. And. And that can sometimes be a hindrance, depending on the style of music you make it. I remember when I was working with Sebastien Leger, he's like, I'm not looking for the. I'm not looking for the best idea. I'm just looking for the best mistake that so. And I thought.
Chris Lake:
And that's really stuck with me, just like looking for that little piece of magic that you weren't expecting to find. And I like the pieces of gear that increase the chances of you getting to that.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Getting to the thing that you weren't expecting. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Lake:
You're now making me think about buying that synth.
Chris Barker:
You should get it 100%.
Chris Lake:
Just based off your review, which I probably would have read, and I trust you.
Chris Barker:
That's a little demo.
Chris Lake:
You just cost me 900 quid, you bastard.
Chris Barker:
Upsell.
Chris Lake:
There we go.
Chris Barker:
Although we can upsell further as we've just hit.
Chris Lake:
Oh, no, I know which one you're gonna go to.
Chris Barker:
The Colossus.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. That's crazy. That's too much for me, man.
Chris Barker:
It's like a wardrobe.
Chris Lake:
That's crazy.
Chris Barker:
It's like a sideboard, isn't it?
Chris Lake:
Basically. That's crazy.
Chris Barker:
I love the fact that there's still people out there. That's why I love Tom that does this. And there's loads of other synth people like this all over the world. But like people that still make this stuff where it's just like, yeah, I'm just gonna make a synth the size of a sideboard, fully analog.
Chris Lake:
Did you get into all the modular stuff?
Chris Barker:
Nearly. I didn't. It was a bit too crack for me. I just can't. I think I prefer. I prefer having an item that's just like a toy that you get out and you focus on this one thing and then you can put it away self contained.
Chris Lake:
That's the other thing that I like is the. A lot of the synths I've gravitated towards have been semi modular. Yeah, I like that, like, put the guardrails up. Don't give me too many options. Yeah, I don't want to, like. I don't want to get lost in this. I want to, like. I want to.
Chris Lake:
I'm a musician. I actually want to make something. I think one of the best things about modular for. For the. Right. For certain types of people is that, you know, they love that you can make anything and everything. You can go so many different directions. And that's part of the joy of it.
Chris Lake:
That's not the joy for me. I like. I actually like the restrictions. I like working within restrict because it can get to a result quicker.
Chris Barker:
I think that neatly brings us back to your first item, though, the electric keyboard and why you like that. So we're going to lock that in.
Will Betts:
Locked in.
Chris Lake:
Locked in, Locked in, Locked in. Never going to make another decision that veers away from this one.
Chris Barker:
We love it. Analog Solutions Telemark-K. Locked in. Right.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
So before we finish up, Will's going to run you through what you've chosen. So Will, take us through the Chris Lake Forever studio.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, tell me.
Will Betts:
We're in Japan, in Kyoto Prefecture. A bright and airy studio with big windows and an ocean view. You're.
Chris Lake:
There's a discrepancy here. There wouldn't be an ocean view if we're in Kyoto Prefecture.
Will Betts:
You can be by the sea in the prefecture.
Chris Lake:
Okay. Fair. Fair. I like that. Well done. Thank you. Thank you for checking me on Google Maps.
Will Betts:
Your three free items. Your computer. You've got a MacBook Pro 16 inch, fully loaded. Your interface is an Apollo X8P. Your DAW is Ableton Live Suite. That's a good one for your six items. Your first is the Crumar Seven electric piano. The Hologram electronics microcosm.
Will Betts:
Your speakers are Focal Trio. Oh, no. We went to Augsburger Quattros.
Chris Lake:
We did. We did.
Chris Barker:
Thanks to old Kenny.
Will Betts:
Your fourth item was the Trinov Audio Nova. For your penultimate item, you have The Slate Digital ML-1 mic, all the vocals, and then your final choice is a synthesizer. The Analog Solutions Telemark K for all of the unpredictable weirdness.
Chris Barker:
Sound good.
Chris Lake:
I can make some great records with that, I think.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Okay.
Will Betts:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
So that takes us to the luxury item for the end of the podcast.
Chris Lake:
The luxury item has to be something for my ass. So cream or. Yes, exactly.
Will Betts:
A big tube of Anusol. Preparation H. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Chris Barker:
And that's the podcast guys Wonder. Come in.
Chris Lake:
Here we go. Oh, dear. Apply liberally. So it's gotta be a chair.
Chris Barker:
You can have a chair.
Chris Lake:
I think it's a chair. So it's either a sofa or what.
Chris Barker:
Kind of chair, though you fancy? You got Herman Miller or something like that.
Chris Lake:
Yeah. Do you know what? I've been using one of those kneeling chairs lately. I've been getting a lot of shit for this, but it's great.
Chris Barker:
The ones where you sort of tilt.
Chris Lake:
Yep, one of those. I look like an absolute dickhead.
Chris Barker:
Quite easy to Push you over as.
Chris Lake:
Well if you want to be in a little bit. But it's. It's good. It's good once you get used to it, it's good. But I don't know if I choose one of those. Yeah, Probably a Herman Miller. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Barker:
Fancy. Keep it fancy.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
I've been using those for years. They're great.
Chris Barker:
Fair.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Well, that's it. That's. That's your studio.
Chris Lake:
I would like to know what other people have chosen for the luxury item, though. So I'd probably be in a bag.
Chris Barker:
Biohacked sushi trains that come straight out of the scene to their studio revolving. We had beardy man shoulders. A revolving bed.
Chris Lake:
Okay. But beardy man's brain does not work the same way as others.
Chris Barker:
What else have we had?
Will Betts:
160 foot waterfall.
Chris Barker:
128 foot waterfall. Yeah, that was. Who was that? I can't remember.
Will Betts:
We've, yeah, had a few odd ones. Yeah.
Chris Lake:
And I chose a chair.
Will Betts:
You can have more than a chair if you want.
Chris Lake:
Lame.
Chris Barker:
What was that? Or ice cream, wasn't it?
Chris Lake:
You wouldn't let me. Luxury item. Luxury item.
Will Betts:
What about the button?
Chris Barker:
The button for the sushi.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, I think the sushi button would be good.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, I think that that's like.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, just a service button. But that's really what a phone is.
Chris Barker:
But as a button.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, a button. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So there's.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, there we go.
Chris Barker:
A service button with the sound effects connected to it.
Will Betts:
Sushi on a button.
Chris Lake:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It'D be cotton eye Joe.
Chris Lake:
Yeah, yeah, just bit on a bit. And then the Deep Cut Edition.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Chris Lake:
Yamaha Deep Cut Edition.
Chris Barker:
Right, well, that's it. That's the. That's the. My Forever Studio with Chris Lake. Chris Lake. Thank you so much for coming today.
Chris Lake:
Thanks for having me. Thank you very much.
Chris Barker:
Absolutely awesome. Thank you so much.
Chris Lake:
Thanks. Thank you.
Chris Barker:
Well, all that's left to say is thank you for tuning in and we will catch you next time for more adventures in Studio foreverdom. Goodbye. Bye.
Will Betts:
Bye.