Australian producer Ninajirachi’s brand of ‘girlEDM’ blends hyperpop, hard dance, electro house, and video game music. She’s remixed for Deadmau5 and The Neptunes, opened for Charlie XCX, and has been likened to Scary Monster’s-era Skrillex. On the eve of her debut full-length album release, we talk about making tracks dancefloor functional, the lengths to which she’ll go when processing her own vocals, and an unusually adorable softsynth.
Australian producer Ninajirachi’s brand of ‘girlEDM’ blends hyperpop, hard dance, electro house, and video game music. She’s remixed for Deadmau5 and The Neptunes, opened for Charlie XCX, and has been likened to Scary Monster’s-era Skrillex. On the eve of her debut full-length album release, we talk about making tracks dancefloor functional, the lengths to which she’ll go when processing her own vocals, and an unusually adorable softsynth.
Season 7 of the My Forever Studio Podcast is supported by Audient, and the incredible new iD48 audio interface.
https://audient.com/
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id48/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD)
https://www.ninajirachi.com/
https://musictech.com/features/interviews/ninajirachi-interview-girl-edm-disc-1/
Madeon - Pop Culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B496Qv0CuOQ
https://soundcloud.com/CASHMERECAT
https://pcmusic.info/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_Robinson
https://www.lanewayfestival.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff,_Alberta
https://www.lifx.com/
https://soundcloud.com/ninajirachi/fuckmycomputer
https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio/plugins/gross-beat
Fruity Dance https://www.image-line.com/fl-studio-learning/fl-studio-online-manual/html/plugins/Fruity%20Dance.htm
https://reverb.com/uk/p/blue-bottle
https://www.genelec.com/8361a
https://www.genelec.com/music-studio/8361a-w371a-stereo-system
https://www.fabfilter.com/products/pro-l-2-limiter-plug-in
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/musical-instruments/pianos/products/p-series/p-45/
https://www.nordkeyboards.com/products/nord-stage-4/
https://soniccharge.com/synplant
Chris Barker:
Hello, I'm Chris Barker.
Will Betts:
And I'm Will Betts and this is the music tech My Forever Studio podcast brought to you in partnership with Audient.
Chris Barker:
In this podcast, we speak with musicians, DJs, engineers and producers about their fantasy Forever Studio.
Will Betts:
The Fantasyland studio that our guests dream up is one that they must live with for the rest of time. But even in the world of studio foreverdom, we have a few rules.
Chris Barker:
Indeed, our guests will select a computer, a DAW and an audio interface. Those are free items that everybody gets. Then our guests will choose just six other bits of studio gear plus one non studio related luxury item.
Will Betts:
However, no bundles.
Chris Barker:
That's right, 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 this time is an Australian electronic music producer, DJ and singer whose self described girl EDM blends hyper pop, hard dance, electro house and video game music.
Will Betts:
That's right. And her resume is equally intense. She's remixed deadmau5 and the Neptunes, sold out shows both sides of the Pacific, opened for Charli XCX and drawn comparisons to scary monsters era Skrillex with her brain melting sound design.
Chris Barker:
That's right. But until now, she has never released a full length album. So on the eve of releasing her debut LP entitled I Love My Computer, we are here to ask the most important question we can summon. What six pieces of studio gear would you want to live with for eternity?
Will Betts:
That is our mission. And this is my Forever Studio with Ninajirachi. Welcome, Nina.
Chris Barker:
Welcome. Hello.
Ninajirachi:
Hi guys. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.
Chris Barker:
No problem. Thank you for the long intro. Putting up with it.
Ninajirachi:
No, that was a very sweet intro. Thank you.
Chris Barker:
Hopefully that gave you a little bit of insight into what we're going to be talking about today. Building your Forever Studio.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah. Let's go.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Right, let's go.
Will Betts:
Let's do it.
Chris Barker:
Let's go. Well, actually, before we start, let's talk about how things all kicked off and how you got into making electronic music.
Ninajirachi:
I started as a musician. My first instrument was the piano when I was about six or seven years old. And I was never that crazy at it because, you know, there's kids that go really crazy with the piano. I was never quite like that. I just enjoyed playing it and learning the songs that I liked and I would kind of songwrite a little bit. But I wasn't a singer or anything. I don't have a very strong voice or a very. It's not a thing.
Ninajirachi:
I practiced very much and Then I started using GarageBand when I was about 8 or 9 years old because my mom got an imac and she let me play on it like it was a new toy, which was very generous of her. And that was my hobby for a little bit when I was a kid. And I would just loop the stock loops and record over the top through the MacBook microphone. A lot of the first recordings, I didn't know how to turn the metronome off, so it would be just completely out of time with everything I was recording over the top. And yeah, I still have a bunch of those old recordings. Recordings. But I eventually started using different software when I got into electronic music when I was in early high school, like maybe about 12 years old. And I realized I kind of needed something more powerful if I wanted to make sounds like the ones I was hearing in my favorite songs.
Chris Barker:
And what were those favorite songs at the time? What made you go, okay, GarageBand isn't doing it because I want to sound.
Ninajirachi:
Like, yeah, well, my musical hero as a kid was Lady Gaga. So I feel like I was primed to get into electronic music through that kind of being my upbringing. And when I was. Yeah, about 12 was when the Madon pop culture video came out and I heard it in the background of a YouTube video on how to tie dye denim shorts. So I just looked through the comments until. Yeah, I was really big into that. I would buy like secondhand jeans and cut them into shorts and. And bedazzle them and stuff and do like little commissions for my friends.
Ninajirachi:
And there was a. A. Yeah, I just went through the comments until I found someone who named the song. And then I got into Madion and his original music as well, and all of his related artists and stuff like that. And it was also on the radio around that time was like Calvin Harris and Avicii song. So it was kind of just everywhere and that. I mean, it was everywhere already. But once I got further into YouTube and recommendations and stuff, I just got deeper and deeper into it and it was blowing my mind.
Chris Barker:
Your early music, though, maybe didn't sound exactly like that. I guess it was more the Lady Gaga influence. It's a little bit more pop music led, a little bit more song led and a little bit less aggressive, a little bit less hard in terms of its sound choices. Tell us about that. You know, evolving.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, definitely. I stopped listening to, like, kind of traditional EDM as the. As the term goes, kind of probably when I was about 14 or 15. Like, that was what got me into producer music. But Then the further I got down the rabbit hole of kind of Soundcloud and stuff, I discovered more artists and labels that were super inspiring to me. Like I discovered Kashmir Cat and he became one of my favorite artists of all time. And Muramasa and the labels that they were onto and their adjacent artists and Fractal Fantasy as well and PC Music and Sophie. And that all probably shaped my taste maybe, maybe even more so than the like, I feel like the, the EDM was kind of like a gateway drug into, into discovering kind of more, more of that kind of stuff.
Ninajirachi:
And you know, I was also making music without ever having been to a show or a venue or a club. And I didn't know anything about dance music functionality or why there was like a build up and a drop. I just thought that sounded cool.
Chris Barker:
Oh yeah, that's, that's, that's interesting.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, so I think like all of my first music was. There's some, yeah, there's totally some music that, that I never will ever show anyone that was trying to be like build up drop music. But I didn't know why I was doing that. It's just what every song sounded like and, but I didn't know why like the point of it because I'd never been to a show or anything like that. So then when, yeah, eventually I just started making electronic music that was good for listening and like. And you know, I always loved pop music so that was always like a huge influence. But then when I started playing shows, it was so hard because I had all this music that was just like not show, not like dance floor functional because I didn't know what that entailed because I don't know, I was like a kid from a small town. I'd never been to a venue or anything like that.
Chris Barker:
Can you tell us about the first show you went. I mean, did you play a show before you'd been to see anybody else's show then?
Ninajirachi:
No, I did fortunately get to see a few shows before I started playing shows. My first show was an under 18s Porter Robinson matinee DJ set when I was about 13 or 14 years old. And I couldn't believe that that was even real at the time. So I went with two of my childhood best friends who are still my best friends now. And yeah, it blew my mind. I'd never heard like producer music on a big sound system. It was really crazy and, and fully visceral and yeah, life changing and stuff. So I got to see that and yeah, but I really didn't see I saw a lot of kind of like Australian live music and stuff.
Ninajirachi:
But a lot of the time when EDM people or there's. I actually have a photo from like 2013 or something the first time Kashmir Cat came to Australia and he played at a really small venue in Sydney and I was yeah, 13 or 14, so I definitely couldn't go. But I was in Sydney with my mum and I went and took a photo out the front of the venue that said like cashmere Cat tonight. Cause I was just so gutted that I couldn't be there. But yeah, so I did get to see a couple of shows including the Porter Robinson one and a couple of other times he came to Australia and fortunately played all ages shows. But yeah, only a few times I ever went to see electronic music live before starting to play a few shows of my own.
Chris Barker:
I never thought about that, you know, being old, but like actually no, but when I was a kid, you know, 16, 17, getting into clubs and stuff, that's sort of like what you said, where you hear proper electronic music for the first time. You know, I guess there was the early days of the Internet and stuff, but for a lot of people now they get to hear every type of music, even if it's out of context. Like you say maybe where you're going, why is it like this? I'm listening to it on like a little Bluetooth speaker. But they don't get what it would be like. I mean it must be like that for like drum and bass and some of the really weird things that people listen to on a laptop. And then you go to a drum and bass gig and like, oh, okay, I get it now.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, definitely.
Chris Barker:
So let's move on a little bit into building your forever studio. The first thing we always ask people is where in the world would you put your studio if you could have your studio anywhere and any kind of style. Take us through where it would be and what it might look like in terms of vibe and architecture.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, well I was thinking about this and I was thinking about a lot of really beautiful places that I could be in and look out the window and be like, wow, that is beautiful and stuff. But then the more I thought about it, I've been so much more productive and gotten so much more lost in the work when I'm in those box studios where they don't have windows and you don't know what time of day it is, especially when I'm with a collaborator or I'm working with someone else and you can just forget what Time it is, and not get distracted by what pretty stuff. Even working by myself. And the light stays the same, so you just don't know the time is passing. It's maybe not the healthiest way to work, but it's definitely been, if I think about it, you know, in terms of, like, the actual data, it's maybe been the most productive way to work for me. But, you know, maybe in. In a nice place so that when I step outside, there's a beautiful bit of scenery to look at.
Chris Barker:
So you think in remote?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I think so. Maybe remote, but also somewhere that you can walk and get good food. Does it have to be real? Like a real place or how fantasy?
Chris Barker:
Well, no, I suppose it doesn't have to be real, really, but it's mainly just getting a vibe for whether you want to be in a city remote. And, like, the idea of being sort of in a basement with no windows and no clocks has come up before on the podcast for that same reason that you say is that, like, actually looking out onto the beach makes you just want to be on the beach.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I'd be really good to have some LIFX lights or something where I could change the color, at least to change the mood a little bit. But actually, yeah, now that I think about it, one place that I went and worked that was really beautiful was Banff in Canada, in Alberta, Canada. I had a few days off between shows, and I was in Canada, and I just needed to kill a few gays, so I went. Well, I got some recommendations from friends, and there's a lot of Australians in Canada as well. So I went to this ski town, Banff, and just worked in an Airbnb for a few days and looked at the mountains and the snow, and it was so awesome. I love the snow, and there's just not really snow in Australia, so I know some people are like, oh, the snow. But I love it so much.
Ninajirachi:
It's like a huge novelty for me. It'll never get old. So being there and, like, just working with this beautiful view and then being able to walk outside and, like, being knee deep in snow, walking to the shops to get a bagel and then walking back, that was amazing. So maybe I'd have the basement, but, like, in Alberta, Canada, so I can step outside and have a fun snow time in the breaks.
Chris Barker:
So Banff is in Alberta. Is it amazing?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, yeah. They got the northern lights there, too.
Will Betts:
Oh, yeah. Amazing. What a great choice. And what else do you think then you'd need nearby in Terms of facilities that are critical to your working in that place.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, definitely a good place to get food and coffee or some other kind of beverage within a walking distance. Kind of like within 10 minutes. A nice 10 minute walk is probably good. It doesn't. Yeah, it wouldn't have to necessarily be Alberta, Canada. That was just one place I went. It could be anywhere in the snow. You know, I've always really wanted to go to Iceland and Lapland, so maybe somewhere up there would be really cool.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I just definitely kind of need maybe like a pub nearby for after the studio. Could be pretty nice. Public transport accessibility. I'm a big public transport fan. Love to get the tram in Melbourne.
Chris Barker:
What about the daylight situation? Do you mind if it's dark for six months of the year?
Ninajirachi:
I mean, maybe I could just not work there for that six months. It doesn't take me more than six months to make a whole bunch of music. So could be six months on, six months off. Or maybe in this fantasy version of the Snowtown, they just got regular daylight. We can make it up.
Will Betts:
We're gonna have to change the angle of the earth, I think, to make that work. But that's okay.
Ninajirachi:
I'm sure we can make it happen.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, inside the studio. So we're in your basement thing. Do you like quite a tidy, slick space?
Ninajirachi:
I like things organized, but not slick. Like it's nice for it to feel like home, you know, like a couple of rugs on the floor is pretty good. Mess is really distracting. But stuff is kind of nice. Like. Like organized mess is probably a nice way to put it in between. And couches are really good if there's a collaborator. Like, I'm kind of always at the computer, but it's nice if whoever I'm working with can kind of lay on the couch and feel super comfy and have, you know, the colored lights that we can change and make it a different mood or feel like daylight or feel a bit softer and sleepier.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, yeah. I think like a lounge, roomy kind of feel. Maybe if we could get a half in there somehow and have it not be like a safety hazard, that would be crazy.
Chris Barker:
No windows and a fireplace. All right, maybe. No, I can picture that. I get exactly what you mean by the kind of having stuff, but it not be messy.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, yeah. So it's, you know, somewhere in between.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Okay, so that takes us on to the free items. So we're really kicking off the studio bit now. Free items. Everybody gets these. You choose a computer, choose an audio interface and you choose your daw for your forever studio. So talk to us about your computer. Now, according to one of your songs, this is quite a sexy choice.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, my computer. Okay, yeah, well, yeah, exactly. Right now I have a 16 inch MacBook Pro 2023 M2 Max. That's the. That's what I got. I don't feel like I need to trade it out for anything else at this point. I really like being portable. I know that having a desktop computer or like a PC would probably be so much more powerful, but I'm really happy with having a laptop.
Chris Barker:
This is your fantasy studio though. You can go the latest, sexiest MacBook. I think we should clarify what I meant by the sexy choice. One of your tracks is called Fuck My Computer. Yeah, exactly.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So I mean, if you have a relationship with this 16 inch MacBook Pro 2023 M2 Max, then that is fine. But if you're willing to cheat on it with a new modern. What is it, we on M4 now or something?
Will Betts:
M4 would be the latest.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, M4.
Ninajirachi:
Wow.
Chris Barker:
Then you can, if you want to go super new.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, you know what, I would probably transfer all the data and take the newest hardware.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, fuck you computer.
Ninajirachi:
It still would. You know, it's like transferring the soul though. It's just kind of like a new body upgrade.
Chris Barker:
That's true, that's true.
Will Betts:
Okay, fair. Yeah. And talking of that song, then it's. Yeah, tell us about the song.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, absolutely. Well, the kind of. The idea behind it was. Well, I was just thinking about kind of the way I make music or maybe I was answering someone's question about what gear I use or something like that. And I am always just saying that I just kind of make it on the laptop and it's just a trackpad and keyboard and yeah, I can use a mouse every now and then, but I'm pretty happy to just work with what I've got. And I feel like as time goes on, I get faster and better at making music. But the next kind of frontier of being faster would maybe be limiting the distance between myself and the computer at this point. And I always wonder things like if, because this is kind of my instrument, and maybe if the trackpad was an inch square inch smaller or the, the, you know, the physical architecture was different, would that have kind of a butterfly effect on the way I make music? And you know, like, I guess if, if a guitarist played two different guitars, would the tiny little differences come out in the performance? And yeah, so I wondered.
Ninajirachi:
I was thinking about that and, and I was thinking, how can I make, how can I get the brain to page quicker or how can I widen the bandwidth here in terms of like getting my ideas down? And I think I was just in my kitchen and, and thinking about like, you know, those memes you see that are like listening to the song isn't enough. I need to fuck the song. I was in the, in kind of the, the. In the swamp with making a bunch of album demos and that. I was like, I just need to fuck the computer. Like it's. I need to get closer to this thing that I'm trying to achieve. And that felt like the most effective way to get there.
Ninajirachi:
Even though it's not possible yet maybe.
Chris Barker:
So with that ability of shortening the route between your, the idea and what you're trying to achieve, how do you feel about AI? I mean, are you fully on board with this? Are you embracing these tools? And how do you feel about your music being potentially trained on it? Have you thought about that at all? Because it kind of goes with what you were saying there about like shortening the route.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I don't think that would really help me though. I don't think I want my music training any AI because the like fun and kind of magic of this hobby turned job that I have is still just kind of doing it myself. And I think of the idea and then kind of make it happen. And that's the awesome part of it. I don't want to delegate that to a non kind of conscious thing.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. A lot of corporations, let's say, I think could potentially see completing the task as like the end goal for everybody. It's a bit like once they invented the prepackaged ready meal that nobody would ever cook anymore. It's like, well, people enjoy doing the process and that seems to be lost with a lot of this stuff. That people might enjoy the actual doing of the process.
Ninajirachi:
No, exactly.
Chris Barker:
And making the songs and figuring stuff out and failing and succeeding and all the things that can go with it.
Ninajirachi:
No, exactly. And I feel like when I'm talking about kind of getting my ideas faster from brain to page, I'm not talking about trying to lose that part of it or pass off the hard work of it to something else. I'm more just talking about if I can hear something so specifically in my head, I'm like, okay, how can I get that down? The quickest, the quickest way would be to USB my head into the computer and just do it, do it kind of that way. But that's not Possible. I don't think AI would solve that for me because I'd still have to use language which has all these limitations to type out, make it sound like this. And it just would not get it. So. Yeah, and I don't want to pass off that the struggle of getting it right to something else because I still might hear an idea in my head and be like, I want to make this happen.
Ninajirachi:
But it never comes out that way, way entirely. And that's really cool because you bumble around and you click this and like, ah, that's not what I meant but oh, that sounds good. And you just find really fun accidents along the way. So yeah, like you said, the end goal is not just to have like the finished song. It's like the fun of being in the weeds with it is also so good.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not just about like I want to make content for other people. It's. Yeah, the process is part of it. I think what you said there is, yeah, completely spot on.
Ninajirachi:
I also just wanted to say real quick, I'm totally not like a 100% AI hater either. Like that. I didn't hope I didn't come across that way.
Chris Barker:
No, no, neither are we. I love the tools, but it's just this idea that sometimes people kind of want you to type in a box and go, make me a EDM song. And then they go, here's an edm.
Ninajirachi:
Yes, exactly.
Chris Barker:
And that's a bit. That, that's the bit that's a bit. A bit. Well, who knows? I think I feel like that could be a bit strange creatively.
Ninajirachi:
Yes, totally. Okay, cool. Yeah, so I just didn't, for anyone listening, didn't want people to think I'm a total hater because I'm not.
Chris Barker:
Let's move on to your audio interface of choice for your Forever Studio. So yeah, dream big if you want.
Ninajirachi:
Wow. Well, right now I have an Apollo twin and that's working pretty well for me. I never really need more than one input because the only thing I'm ever really recording is a microphone. Maybe I'd, I'd take a. I mean there's two inputs on there. That's all I need really. If it's a Forever Studio, like, sure, I'll take like the, the biggest, best one there is because why not, you know, just in case I randomly have like a like 12 piece band come in that want to record all at once. I mean, you don't know, maybe.
Chris Barker:
But yeah, let's go where we can go we can upsell some dreams. Can we will sell your dream so we can. What? What have we got above that, Will?
Will Betts:
You could go for the Apollo X8P. That would have eight preamps in it. I mean, you're going to be restricted later down the line with the number of items you have. So maybe your call. Are you planning to have six microphones as your six choices or are we going to go for other things?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, see that's the thing because I wouldn't even be able to have, you know, I could take 100 inputs, but I wouldn't have 100 instruments to record. So you know what, I'm pretty happy with the twin because I'm not really gonna have more than one mic.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's a tough upsell is an audio interface anyway, so we failed that time Will.
Will Betts:
Sad times.
Chris Barker:
Right, well, let's move on to your DAW for your Forever Studio. What are you using right now? I mean, you went GarageBand and then what was the next leg up? Tell us about your DAW journey. Are you still on the one you used after GarageBand?
Ninajirachi:
No, I'm not. I've had a bit of a journey. I am pretty faithfully with Ableton now, but after GarageBand I tried Logic for a while because it seemed like the obvious next step and it was great. I have a lot of really talented friends who use Logic, but it wasn't for me. And then I used FL Studio and I was pretty specked into that for about five years and all my first singles and first EP was FL Studio Music and I still have it installed on my computer because I like to open the old project files and love some of the plugins in there so much. But I am now with Ableton and I can't imagine using anything else as much as I do Ableton now. I'm pretty, pretty faithful to it at this point.
Chris Barker:
And was FL Studio inspired by, you know, Port Robinson and all those people?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I just was a like a kid and I didn't know anything. I didn't know anyone who was in music or made music. So I would just google what, who. What does XYZ use? And FL Studio was the most regular search result. So I got the free trial and took it away.
Chris Barker:
XYZ would be a good artist name for an EDM artist actually.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, it would probably.
Will Betts:
What plugins from FL do you miss in when now you're in Ableton?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, Grow Speed comes to mind.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Ninajirachi:
Got a lot of pretty cool ideas out of just Grow Speed presets and even Kind of automating between gross beat presets was really good. Even just like the 3X OSC was like a real super basic kind of like this is not a. Not the right comparison but like it's. It was like an FL Studio operator kind of thing. Just like a. It was not as. I don't think it could do as much as operator, but maybe it was kind of an equivalent those two. And I really liked how the.
Ninajirachi:
The graphics on like the EQ and the reverb even like everything was just quite pretty and there was even Ferdy Dads was a little plugin that. It was like the FL Studio logo kind of made into a little Chibi girl. And she would dance in time with the tempo of whatever project and you could change her moves and just put her in the corner. And so whenever you'd press play, she'd dance along to it. Yeah, that would be good. And that was like a native plugin. That was a pretty cool thing that they added.
Chris Barker:
They have always just done whatever they wanted image line with FL Studio and I kind of love that. I read that they kind of helped invent sort of that 140 kind of genre. Because FL, unlike other doors that open at 120bpm, FL would open at 140bpm. Right. And that inspired that whole genre of music from FL kids going oh, let's make a track and oh, no way.
Will Betts:
Never knew that.
Ninajirachi:
Sick.
Chris Barker:
I love that. I love that.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, that's awesome.
Chris Barker:
And why does every door open at 1:20? And why does everyone copy each other? There's no answer to that. It's just Cubase did it probably 35 years ago and everybody's just stayed there.
Will Betts:
I don't know, Chris. I think that's just the tempo of music.
Chris Barker:
120.
Will Betts:
Yeah, that's how tempo music should be. If it's not 120, it's not for me.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, somebody at Steinberg liked Staying Alive by the Bee Gees and they just went, that's it.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's for chest compressions to make sure everyone could stay on the beat when they're doing.
Chris Barker:
In case you need to quick open Cubase. Somebody needs chest compressions. There's an emergency. Get the metronome on Cubase stat. The music tech. My Forever Studio podcast is supported by Audient, makers of the ID range of audio interfaces.
Will Betts:
Yes. Building on Audient's decades of Design heritage, the ID range spans from the portable ID4 to the feature packed ID14, 24 and 44 interfaces. Plus an awesome Brand new flagship.
Chris Barker:
Let's get into it. The new interface is called the ID48 and it completes the range with a whopping 24 ins and 32 outs. It also features switchable balanced inserts allowing users to record with outboard kit and easily process stems via hardware when mixing.
Will Betts:
Yes. Aimed at both producers and engineers, the ID 48 packs in eight audient console mic preamps, advanced 32 bit ESS converter technology, and that all new switchable analog insert technology too. Add to that, professional must have features like ADA expandability, JFET DI inputs and customisable monitor control and it makes for a really serious audio interface for your studio.
Chris Barker:
Yes, the ID48 is ready to transform your studio for US$999, 899 and 749 pounds.
Will Betts:
Visit audient.com for more information and to explore the full breadth and features of the ID interface range.
Chris Barker:
Now we get to the first of your six items. So tell us about your first item for the studio.
Ninajirachi:
First item. This can be digital or hardware, right?
Will Betts:
Correct. Yeah. Yeah.
Ninajirachi:
Okay. I would say Ableton Simpler is probably my most used.
Chris Barker:
Do you not get that in suite?
Will Betts:
It's built in, isn't it built in suite?
Ninajirachi:
So I'm allowed to. I don't have to include built in stuff.
Will Betts:
No, no, you get everything. You get everything in Ableton Live suite. Yeah.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, that's amazing. Oh my God. Okay, cool. That's actually. That frees up a lot of space because I use a lot of stock Ableton stuff.
Chris Barker:
You're not allowed bundles, don't forget.
Ninajirachi:
Got you. Okay, cool.
Will Betts:
We do have the air horn ready to go at a moment's notice.
Ninajirachi:
Well, yeah, that frees up so much because I had a few Ableton native things in here, so. Okay, that's great. Well, I will take a microphone of any kind. Like I'll take iPhone, voice memos, I don't really mind. I just need something to record in. Maybe like a really fancy Newman mic, if it can be anything at all.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Yeah, we can do some upselling.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I mean, right now I've got a few different little mics at home, but the one I probably like the most out of what I have is the blue Bluebird mic. Yeah, it's like nice and crisp and I like how it makes me sound. And my favorite color is blue, so it's nice to look at.
Chris Barker:
I think that we don't need to upsell on that. That's a cool mic. And if you like it. Yeah, I mean, if you're only going for fancy Neumann because you feel like you've got deep pockets because it's a Fantasy Forever studio. Then I think go for the Bluebird. Come on.
Ninajirachi:
I'm happy with the Bluebird. It is quite pretty.
Chris Barker:
Unless. Is there a fancier version of the Bluebird? Will.
Will Betts:
I mean, there's a very fancy version that's a shrunk down version of the Blue Bottle, I believe. I'm not sure if it's still made because it got bought by Logitech a few years ago.
Chris Barker:
The mouse company.
Will Betts:
Yeah, because they remember the blue Yeti mic. The USB mic was their big, big seller, so Logitech bought them. But yeah, they. They do have heritage in. They have this enormous bottle shaped microphone, same as the Bluebird, but it's. I believe it's got tube circuitry. Sounds amazing. Costs heaps.
Will Betts:
But I'm struggling to find a price for you right now. Yeah. So would you upgrade? Can we upsell your dreams to the most expensive one?
Ninajirachi:
You know, I'm going to look up a picture of it real quick because I do really love how the. Oh, okay. Yeah. You know what? I will take that because it's. Yeah, it is really pretty. I know it shouldn't really matter, but I just. I do really like how the Bluebird looks.
Chris Barker:
Of course it matters.
Ninajirachi:
But the Blue Bottle looks pretty good, so I will. I'll take it. Yes.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Upsold. Blue. Blue Bottle. Locked in.
Will Betts:
You said at the beginning that you didn't feel like singing was something you had developed that much earlier in your career. And yet your voice is on all of your tracks and it's. I mean, you've got a great voice. How did you get to the point where you decided that your voice was going to be across all of your music? And what's that. What's that journey been for you?
Ninajirachi:
It was really hard, honestly, because I've always loved songwriting and found songwriting so fun since I was a kid. But I've never been a singer. I would still never introduce myself and be like, hey, guys, I'm Ninajirachi, the singer. Because if people were like, okay, sing for me, I would say, no way. I really don't sound very good, like live or. And I know it's just an in, like a. A muscle that you have to train like a. Like, you know, singers are kind of like throat athletes, really.
Ninajirachi:
And if I trained it, I could probably sound better. But when I was younger, I was producing by myself all the time and just teaching myself things. And when I got older, like probably from about 18 onwards, I started working more and more with other artists and a lot of singers and then learning how to treat their voices and produce vocals. I realized that I could just do that on myself and I can actually make myself sound however I want. And even still, like on this album, like, my voice is on every song, but a lot of them are comped syllable by syllable and tuned up a lot and changed and like, yeah, because I just don't sound amazing. But that's. That's fine. I actually like when people say, like, oh, what do you mean? You have a great voice.
Ninajirachi:
It's like, okay, cool. Well, I'm doing my job well then like, I making it work, you know what I mean? And I can't remember who, like tweeted it. Maybe like umru or maybe he got it from somewhere. But I saw like a tweet once. I think it was an UMRU tweet being like, if. If pitch was all that mattered, then everyone would just be a sine wave. So, you know, there's so many ways that a voice can be expressive and with software, I feel like I can kind of do anything with it.
Will Betts:
That's such a great piece of insight and advice for people who aren't confident singers. I mean, I think myself included, I'm not a confident singer at all. But, you know, to be able to know that with that production, understanding, you can do all those things to your own voice, you don't have to be perfect. And to get that personality into the sound is more important.
Chris Barker:
At this point, I'd like Will to just press the. Upsell your dreams.
Will Betts:
Upsell your dreams.
Chris Barker:
Come on, Will, you can sing. That's Will singing.
Will Betts:
I need to tighten that up. That's been needing some melodyne for a long time. I need to fix that.
Ninajirachi:
Well, that's actually you singing. Oh, that sounds great.
Will Betts:
Oh, thank you so much.
Chris Barker:
It's Will singing.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah. That's fantastic.
Chris Barker:
Both of you two amazing singers talking yourself down. I will not have it from somebody who can't sing. I will not have it. You sound great, both of you. Okay, let's move on to item number two.
Ninajirachi:
Number two, I'm gonna say my Beyerdynamic DT880 headphones, which I've got on me, and I feel like this is going to be really hard to upsell me on because my main reason for picking them is because I can use them for so long without getting uncomfortable or tired or like my head getting sore. They just fit my head and my ears so nicely and I don't really get fatigued from using them, so. And I'm not really going to know if anything is better without using it for a chunk of time, so.
Chris Barker:
That's true.
Ninajirachi:
I'd have to have like so many guarantees and people saying, you know, these are super comfy. I swear. I swear they're really comfy.
Chris Barker:
Surely the 990 Pros.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, sure. Why not? Yeah, absolutely.
Chris Barker:
Are they not 110 better than 990 Pros?
Will Betts:
Is that how that works?
Ninajirachi:
Maybe. I actually. Well, I got the A80s because they were the only ones the store had when I was. When I was there. So I was like, yeah, sure, let's. I just need them right now. I'll take what you've got. I'm sure that the 990s are really comfortable too.
Chris Barker:
You threw down the not being able to upsell gauntlet, so I had to challenge it. But I don't know. Are the A80s open backed?
Ninajirachi:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
Are the 990s literally just one of them in the range? I don't know.
Will Betts:
Do they have the sort of grille on the outside rather than the.
Ninajirachi:
They do, yeah.
Will Betts:
Okay. Yeah. So the main difference is the 880s have a bit more of a neutral mid range while the 990s have a bit more bass. That's the main difference between the two. But you decide. What do you wish for in the. In the forever studio?
Chris Barker:
No, I don't think you should. You should upsell here. I think you're right. I think you've used them for so long, it's impossible to know, isn't it, with headphones?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, it's tricky. Yeah. I'd take those.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, take the A80s. I would hate for you to be in your forever basement in bang going, oh, these headphones. Why did I listen to it?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, totally. I mean, I know I've read like a lot of kind of threads and stuff in forums about people. Like, I know people get really deep into the EQ and like how the and stuff, but I think differences like that are so minute to me compared to just the comfort and like being able to use them for like five hours at a time without getting sore. So yeah, I'll take the 80s and.
Chris Barker:
Take your 880s because they're probably all. They're all molded to your head now as well and they're all comfortable for you.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, totally.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Item number three.
Ninajirachi:
Number three. Yeah. I guess that the next logical step is monitors. Yeah. It can't be a bundle. Right? Like, let's see. Well, I've got a pitch.
Will Betts:
Okay, let's hear it.
Chris Barker:
You don't have to buy monitors individually if that's what you're thinking.
Ninajirachi:
Okay, got you. What about. So like at home currently I use like the like 6 inch genelex and a sub with the SAM kit. Is that one unit or is that, you know, monitors sub. Separate situations.
Will Betts:
Okay. So this is the one place where we do allow a little bit of rule bending because, because we've had Atmos.
Chris Barker:
And all sorts, haven't we?
Will Betts:
Yeah, we've. We considered monitors to be a, a thing. So we will allow you to have. Yes. Sub.
Chris Barker:
Do you want to go bigger?
Ninajirachi:
Thank you. Yeah, I can go bigger. I really haven't looked into it because I'm, you know, I've just got what I've got and I haven't felt the need to upgrade. But I can tell you what I've got and you can let me know if you think I should move on up.
Will Betts:
Yeah, let's hear it. What you got?
Ninajirachi:
There's two Genelec 8330A six inch monitors.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Ninajirachi:
7350A subwoofer and then the, the SAM kit with the, the little mic and. Yeah, tunes it to the room and stuff.
Chris Barker:
You can go 80, 40. What's their biggest egg?
Will Betts:
The biggest egg? The one with the point source? Yeah, good question.
Ninajirachi:
I mean I'm pretty happy with them. I can't imagine having a studio much like. Yeah, I wouldn't need like a super massive room. I feel like the 6 inch ones would fill it pretty well volume wise. But I'm open ears for sure if there's something better.
Chris Barker:
8350 as are the SAM, the biggest SAM studio monitors.
Will Betts:
Oh, I'm seeing an 8361A in fact, not to outdo you here, Chris.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well we'll go.
Will Betts:
Sorry. Ridiculous.
Chris Barker:
Okay. But we're staying with Genelecs anyway. Let's talk about the Genelecs rather than the upsell because we can figure out what they are. How did you land on the Genelecs? Did you hear them at somebody else's studio or.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I had like for the, for a really long time up until a couple years ago. I don't know, when I was younger I just had kind of like walks in computer monitor things and I would just kind of more use my Apple earphones than anything else. And then I went to a friend's studio but probably in 2020 I started going there and I would work there sometimes and sometimes work there with him, and he was all about Genelec, and he's a, like, really amazing engineer and mixer and stuff and produce. He was helping me learn how to mix music more. I just. There was a lot of stuff I didn't know. This was all in 2020, and he was mixing some of my tracks, and I got to sit in on the sessions and watch what he was doing. And, yeah, he was just all about Genelec.
Ninajirachi:
And his room sounded so amazing. And I found, like, it was actually, like, going there and working there. I actually started to get better at mixing my own music just by virtue of working in his room. And I realized, like, wow, I'm actually so bad at mixing my music because I'm working on, like, in a shitty room a lot of the time. I actually can't hear anything where I'm working. So that was the first time I kind of, like, started working regularly in a proper studio and clocked why it was so important. And then when a couple years ago when I was moving houses, I saw, like, a Facebook marketplace offer for, like, the whole kind of setup that I have. And I thought, you know, I'm just gonna go.
Ninajirachi:
And it just reminded me of his studio and how good that was. And I was like, I'm just gonna go and get all that stuff. And I think it really has improved my. My work a lot. Like, I can just hear everything really well on them. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's often said with the Genelecs, that's a good thing. They're really transferable throughout the whole range.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So if you get the little ones, they sound very similar, just different sizes and obviously really transferable against the range. So when you go to his studio, it kind of. It's not too much of a leap if he's got a bigger system or whatever than what you have. That's great.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, definitely.
Will Betts:
How do you feel about. They do do a. I wouldn't call it a bundle. I'd call it a collection. It's sold as a pair of 8,361. As which are the slightly bigger ones with the single point source. And then they come with two subs as well, so you get full range of sound. Would that be your vibe? Would you be game for that in an upsell scenario?
Ninajirachi:
I think if, you know, if the sound is transferable, like you guys are saying and kind of like, I've experienced. Yeah. I'll totally take it.
Will Betts:
Okay. Well, thank you for indulging us in this upsell.
Ninajirachi:
My pleasure.
Chris Barker:
It's your forever studio. You've got to have some big, big, big ass speakers. It's your forever studio.
Ninajirachi:
Exactly.
Chris Barker:
Item number four.
Ninajirachi:
Number four, I'm gonna say Pro L, I think.
Will Betts:
Ooh.
Ninajirachi:
Okay. Yeah, yeah. Just because it. I feel like if I didn't have any other kind of, like, third party mixing tools, I could totally get by and, like, I feel like I could even just like forego, mostly forego, like a whole kind of master chain if I could just put Pro L on the end and have it all sandwiched kind of nicely, you know, in like a desert island scenario. Yeah, like. Like this, you know, if I was really limited.
Chris Barker:
A snowy Banff scenario.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think I'd take that one.
Chris Barker:
Okay. And when did you start? When did you discover the. The Pro L again? It's a quite popular choice, not necessarily on the podcast, but you see it. Everybody has this, right?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, I think I got it a couple of years ago when I was just kind of having a little bit of a crisis because I was starting to tour a lot and travel a lot and work on music on the road, and I would want to play it out unfinished or unreleased. And it was just always sounding so bad. And I was like, man, I can't just, like, go to studios while I'm touring all the time to fix this stu stuff up. Like, there's got to be something I can do to just make this sound better, even if it's a bit quick and dirty, so I can just play it out and test it and stuff. So I tweeted about it and my friend, the producer, Gazia, DM'd me and was just like, hey, this is my setup. Just so you know, if it helps and stuff. And, yeah, he really helped me out with it and put me onto that plugin. And I know that bundle is like, super popular, and I'd seen heaps of people using it and talking about it, but I mostly just use native software, so I hadn't really, like, thought about it up until that point.
Ninajirachi:
But I'm just. I've been a fan of his music for, like, more than 10 years, and everything he releases just sounds so good all the time. Like, I always play his music in DJ sets and stuff. So, yeah, I really took his advice and. And bought it and I love it. He was totally right.
Chris Barker:
Awesome. So we're locking in the L2. Yeah, we've got two more studio items left. We're on item number five.
Ninajirachi:
Number five. I'll take a. This is what. You can probably upsell me on this. I'll take a weighted Key MIDI piano. Currently I've got a Yamaha P45, but I'll take something better if you've got any ideas. It's great though. No shade to my piano.
Ninajirachi:
It's been lovely, but I've just had it for a long time. I'm sure there's other options. I could take a really big one. Maybe more than 45 keys is kind of what I'm saying. Sorry.
Will Betts:
P45. This is a very affordable digital piano. How fancy would you want to go? Do you think?
Ninajirachi:
I would take something with more maybe sound presets built into it. I know I could plug it into Ableton, get anything.
Chris Barker:
My upsell would be a nord. There's a reason you see them on all the stages. They're at the piano range.
Ninajirachi:
Absolutely.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Swedish wood, Swedish steel, bright red keyboard. Can't miss it. I don't know what they have in terms of the weighted range. Are you heart set is on weighted keys? Yeah. Because of your piano background?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah. It just kind of feels nice. It's. You know, if it's a forever studio, I wouldn't ever go out there and call myself like a pianist. I really can't like play the piano very well. It's just the instrument I learned on and it's. It's fun for songwriting and jamming sometimes. So it'd be nice to have there.
Ninajirachi:
But I really am not versed in like what the great pianos are by any means.
Chris Barker:
But do you use that weighted keyboard at the moment to play in your synths and stuff in your music?
Ninajirachi:
Yes. I don't record with it though. Like I wouldn't write maybe, you know, it's not like a regular part of every song that I make. It's just sometimes for songwriting, if I want to get away from the computer, I can just voice memo and tap. Tap around for a bit and kind of see what comes out.
Chris Barker:
I guess what I'm asking is like when you play in to your computer right now, do you have a separate MIDI controller with like a keyboard action or do you use the weighted keys?
Ninajirachi:
Keys? Either. Either. Really?
Chris Barker:
Oh, okay.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah. Anything. I'm not. My heart isn't set on either way. Even like having kind of. Yeah, I mean the way like the. The weighted keys are also nice for like the sensitivity and stuff, but because sometimes even playing in like, like percussive sounds, sometimes they still have like a fundamental frequency and they can be awesome to play up and down the keyboard. So, yeah, kind of whatever is inspiring, really.
Ninajirachi:
Even like scrap audio, it doesn't even have to be musical.
Chris Barker:
So I think we go for a Nord then. Because then you've got your weighted keys. It's still a nice sounding piano if you just want to tinkle and not turn on the computer kind of thing.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, that's the idea. Just a. Just a fun machine.
Chris Barker:
And you've got. And then you've got a nice quality MIDI controller. Two for one.
Ninajirachi:
Amazing.
Chris Barker:
I have no idea on the model numbers of Nords though.
Will Betts:
So this would be a Nord Stage 4, which is their 88 key digital stage piano or the Nord Stage 488. My apologies.
Chris Barker:
88 keys. Imagine that. Definitely need a chair with wheels.
Ninajirachi:
Stunning.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Right, let's lock in the stage four. 88.
Will Betts:
Done.
Chris Barker:
Locked. The most serious of keyboards. Okay, that takes us to your final studio item. Item number six.
Ninajirachi:
Six. Item number six. I would say maybe. Oh, it's such a. It's such a toss up. I'm gonna say maybe sin plant 2 for. For like a VST. It's such a toss up between that and.
Ninajirachi:
And like. I'm not even gonna name the other ones because I feel like it's cheating.
Will Betts:
No, we want to know what's in the mix. Come on.
Chris Barker:
We want to know. Can we try. Can I guess? Serum.
Ninajirachi:
Yes. That was. That's another desert island synth. For sure. Yeah. Big time. Yep.
Chris Barker:
Is it Spire, the other one that everybody likes? Spire. Is it called Spire?
Ninajirachi:
I love Spire. Yeah, that's. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So what were you toying with?
Ninajirachi:
It was mainly between Synplant 2 and Serum.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Ninajirachi:
Specifically Synplant 2 though, because it's got the kind of. The generative bit to it. This is what I mean. I'm not an AI hater because I love Synplant 2. That thing is so cool. It's got that section where you can drop in any bit of audio and it'll try to recreate it. But the part that's cool about it is when it gets it wrong. So it's trying to recreate like a kick drum and it sounds like a fart or something, but in an interesting way.
Chris Barker:
That's kind of a cool idea for products, isn't it? Like an AI assistant. That's just really dumb.
Ninajirachi:
I love it so much. I really love it. It's so sick.
Chris Barker:
Somebody should make like a chatgpt bot. That's just like. Like drunk. Drunk Chat GPT.
Will Betts:
It's just that.
Chris Barker:
Oh, yeah, I guess. I don't know. Let me just. That'd be brilliant. Drunk chatgpt. Somebody make that for us, please.
Will Betts:
But in terms of Slimplant 2, then how are you using that in your process? How did you come across it in the first place? What does it appear on? Tell us all.
Ninajirachi:
I first found out about Synplant from Kutchka, the Australian producer. Kuchka.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. We've also had her on the podcast. Brilliant.
Will Betts:
You should go and check it out.
Ninajirachi:
Oh my God, I need to go back and listen to that. She's so awesome. Yeah, I'm a really long time fan. I've been listening to her music for like a decade and I went to a talk that she did when I was a teenager that was like of an Ableton kind of presentation and she talked about Synplant and honestly I just thought the interface was really cool and pretty. You know, I like things that look nice. And yeah, I went and got the trial and tried it and I just thought it was an interesting way to make music and sounds. And it's, you know, it's. It's not super straightforward or, you know, that's why, you know, I was really tossing up with serum because it's kind of got everything and way more straightforward.
Ninajirachi:
But yeah, I just think Symplant is really fun and interesting. And then Synplant 2, when that came out with the new kind of plug sounds in bit to it. Yeah, I've had so much fun with it. I don't use it like in every song ever. It's more just interesting for kind of just kind of seeing what comes out. Like sometimes putting bits of my voice in it even and seeing how it interprets that and what it spits out on the other side. It's like a fun ideas machine really. I use it maybe in a similar way to the way people like crate dig, almost like just kind of digging through to find material that you can reinterpret and stuff.
Will Betts:
And so what sort of samples are you dropping into it? Because for people who don't know Synplant to it, it creates editable synth patches from audio recordings you drop into it. So what are you putting in?
Ninajirachi:
Anything? Seriously, anything. I'm never really putting stuff in there that I want it to recreate perfectly because I don't feel like I need it to do that. I kind of want it to get it wrong and spit out something ugly. So a lot of the time I'm putting in scrap audio, like just rubbish voice memos or just foley sounds just to kind of see what comes out or. Yeah, or like putting voices into it is interesting because it tries to synthesize that and it's like A thing that's basically impossible to synthesize. So it's kind of nice to hear the attempts and it's kind of endearing, you know what I mean? And just seeing where that kind of sound can go is really fun to me.
Will Betts:
In terms of the scale of AI scariness, it's in the sort of.
Chris Barker:
Aw.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, exactly.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's sort of sweet.
Ninajirachi:
I just think it's really cute. And yeah, I love it. I have so much fun with that, Cynthia. But yeah, because it makes it into a patch. It's kind of like a sample digging machine, but then it's a patch. So you can also just do all of the kind of standard synth stuff with it as well. That's why it's a nice kind of all in one inner way, I think.
Will Betts:
What's the weirdest thing you've chucked into it then? Come on.
Ninajirachi:
I don't know, like maybe. Maybe like whole chunks of a song that's not that weird, but maybe the results might have been weird. I'm just thinking off the top of.
Chris Barker:
My head, that's kind of a cool idea. So like a song you're working on, you extract like, like an eight bar mix down of the entire thing, put it back in. Yeah, that's kind of cool.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, yeah. Just see what it spits out. It's like totally rubbish. But the, the rubbish is. It's. I mean it's not rubbish. It's just. Just doesn't get it right.
Ninajirachi:
It can't. Like what's. I mean, I don't want it to. I wouldn't want to like put in a bit of audio and, and have it like spit out the exact same audio. That's would defeat the whole purpose of it. It's nice when it's. It spits out something that's incorrect.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Something that inspires the next step.
Will Betts:
Yeah, you have these incredibly intricate edits that some of them very sort of warbly sounding. Like you described it as the YouTube to MP3 aesthetic. Like how, how are you getting those sorts of sounds? Is that there must be a completely different process again? Or is that involving synth plant in some way?
Ninajirachi:
No, it's not necessarily involving synplant. I mean sometimes maybe, but it's just a lot of like re sampling, honestly. So like resampling from any source. It could be Synplan or it could be any other VST or bit of audio. It's usually audio. Honestly, that's, that's kind of why I said Ableton simpler as my first choice before I realized it was already included, luckily, because I just honestly use that more than anything. I just get audio and put it in there. And a lot of the time, even if it's a bst, I might like free sample it to audio and then because that way it feels kind of more like collaging, like cutting pictures out of magazines and sticking them down.
Ninajirachi:
And that's the most fun way to make music for me. Maybe. So yeah, it's usually all of those kind of fills and stuff. It's usually just arranging something, putting however many effects on it, resampling that more, resampling more and just finding. Then it's a lot of junk and then just pulling out the little bits that catch my ear and stitching them together.
Will Betts:
Nice.
Chris Barker:
I really resonate with what you just said that you can just like that kind of collagen effect of just finding all the bits and then going, right, what are we going to make with all these cool bits? It's a whole different process. It's very hip hop, isn't it?
Ninajirachi:
It's so much fun.
Chris Barker:
Like the original style of hip hop.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, let's have a little rundown before we get to the luxury item. Will is gonna talk you through the Forever studio so far Will take it away.
Will Betts:
We're in a windowless basement studio slash lounge room. It's organized mess. There's a big couch and a hearth. You can't tell what time of day it is so you can remain immersed in the process. You're surrounded by LIFX coloured lights so you can change the mood at the drop of a hat. And when we step outside, there's snow. We're a mere 10 minutes walk from good food, coffee in a pub. We are in where? Banff, Canada.
Ninajirachi:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Fantastic. Okay, we've abandoned Lapland. That's probably for the best. For your free items, you have chosen for your computer a 16 inch MacBook Pro M4 Mac Max. Your interface is a Universal Audio Apollo twin and your DAW is Ableton Live 12 suite. And then for your first item you have chosen a microphone. The Blue Microphones bottle. For headphones you've chosen the Beyerdynamic DT 880s.
Will Betts:
For your monitors, we managed to upsell you with the Genelec 8361A and the W37 1A. The most memorable names for speakers going Genelec.
Chris Barker:
Genelec needs to sort that out. Just call them something cool like the Genelec turbo bombs and the big bass. Big bass boxes or something.
Will Betts:
Okay, we'll continue with our lobbying efforts. Chris, item number four is the FabFilter Pro L. Do you want to go Pro L2? Can we do a mini upsell?
Ninajirachi:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Yes. Okay.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, absolutely.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Will Betts:
Fabulous. For your controller, performance, keyboard, you've gone for the Nord stage 488. And finally, in a first for the podcast, you have chosen Sonic Charge Synplant 2 as a soft synth. How do you think you get on with that in your studio?
Ninajirachi:
I think I'd have such a good time.
Will Betts:
Excellent, excellent.
Chris Barker:
Well, then, let's finish this good time with your luxury item. So, not a piece of studio kit. What are you thinking? Be as wild as you want to be. Forever Studio.
Ninajirachi:
I think it would be a cat. I've had cats since I was born. Like, my family's always had cats. And, I mean, if you already have a cat.
Chris Barker:
If you already have a. You don't have a cat right now.
Ninajirachi:
No, I do have a cat. Yeah. That's why I picked it, because she sits next to me while I make music.
Will Betts:
Strongly endorse this, but you can always.
Chris Barker:
Bring your pets and your family and your friends. You're not, you know.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, sick. Okay. Oh, that's great.
Chris Barker:
A cat is included. If you didn't have a cat. If you didn't have a cat and you always dreamed of having a cat, then I would have allowed it as a luxury item. But you have a cat. Just bring the cat with you.
Will Betts:
Yeah, you're allowed.
Ninajirachi:
Okay. Fantastic.
Chris Barker:
Luxury item.
Ninajirachi:
Oh, wow. Okay. I didn't think beyond a cat because I didn't think I'd be allowed. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Could be for the cat. A massive cat playground.
Ninajirachi:
Okay. Oh, man.
Chris Barker:
It's always funny, this question of how it goes with people. People. Some people are quite, you know, quite modest. They don't want to be flamboyant with their answers and they don't feel like they need anything. And other people.
Will Betts:
Well, Kutchka, for instance.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. You'll enjoy listening to the Kutchka one. We won't. No spoilers. But, yeah. Oh, she had no problems with the luxury item.
Ninajirachi:
Okay. Wow. I really didn't think this far ahead. Maybe. Maybe, like, I don't know if this is too indulgent, but maybe, like, a portal to, like, anywhere in the world.
Chris Barker:
To anywhere.
Ninajirachi:
There we go. Yes. Well, I just realized, like, Banff is amazing, but it's a bit hard to get to from Australia, so it'd be nice to just be able to pop over or, you know, just invite anyone over and. And they'd be like, well, it's gonna take me while. And I could be like, well, babe, take the portal.
Will Betts:
Yes. I think this is my favorite luxury item of all of our episodes so far.
Chris Barker:
Babe, take the portal. I'm gonna say those people, like, that exists. We all have. That's the takeaway from today. Next time your friend says, oh, it's gonna take me a while, just say that like it exists. Until people are like, I've heard these people. Some people have portals.
Ninajirachi:
I've never.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, yeah, let's do it.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, just teleport to me. Yeah, yeah. That would be so good. It would be awesome. Because then I couldn't. That's, you know, part of the other thing is, like, some of my favorite people to make music with live in different countries, and when I'm there, I have to maximize my time making music with them. But if I could have the portal to anywhere, I'd be like, pop over, come for just an hour, and then you can leave.
Chris Barker:
Good name for an album as well. Portal to Anywhere.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, that would be really.
Chris Barker:
Could be the new album by xyz.
Ninajirachi:
Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
Xyz. Portal to Anywhere. I'd buy that.
Will Betts:
You should make it.
Ninajirachi:
I would buy that, too.
Chris Barker:
On cd, probably. Well, well, well, well. That brings us to the end of the My Forever studio podcast. And thank you so much, Nina, for joining us. It's been amazing, and thank you for spending the time going through our mad studio build. Well, your mad studio build. And it's been great, and I hope you enjoyed yourself.
Ninajirachi:
I had so much fun. Thank you, guys. This was. I feel like I've made new neural pathways in my brain, having to think, you know, imagine what's beyond, what's possible today. So thank you so much.
Chris Barker:
Exactly. Well, time to hop in your portal to anywhere and get yourself probably to bed or nearly to bed if it's Australian time. Right?
Ninajirachi:
Yeah. Just about.
Will Betts:
Before you jump into the portal, though, tell us about your new album. When's it out? Where can we find it?
Ninajirachi:
It is out everywhere on NLV Records on August 8th, and it's called I Love My Computer.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
Will Betts:
Amazing.
Chris Barker:
Well, thank you so much, Nina.
Will Betts:
Thank you, Nina.
Ninajirachi:
Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.
Chris Barker:
Okay, well, all that's left to say is thank you for listening and we'll catch you next time for another adventure into studio Forever. Them.
Will Betts:
Bye.
Chris Barker:
Bye.
Will Betts:
Bye, bye.