This time, our guest this time is Kailtlyn Aurelia Smith, and electronic musician, composer, performer, and producer whose serendipitous run in with a Buchla 100 completely changed how she approached making music. She’s worked with synthesizer pioneer Suzanne Ciani and film composer Emile Mosseri, and on her new album she explores darker, more club-friendly styles than ever before. In this episode, learn more about how her first experiments with a Buchla taught her patience for “irritating” sounds, how her synaesthesia turns sounds into bodily sensations, and the ways that this affects her production. As always, expect Forever Studio rules to be tested, but never broken.
This time, our guest this time is Kailtlyn Aurelia Smith, and electronic musician, composer, performer, and producer whose serendipitous run in with a Buchla 100 completely changed how she approached making music. She’s worked with synthesizer pioneer Suzanne Ciani and film composer Emile Mosseri, and on her new album she explores darker, more club-friendly styles than ever before.
In this episode, learn more about how her first experiments with a Buchla taught her patience for “irritating” sounds, how her synaesthesia turns sounds into bodily sensations, and the ways that this affects her production. As always, expect Forever Studio rules to be bent, but never broken.
Season 8 of the My Forever Studio Podcast is supported by Audient, and the impressive new Horizon range of audio interfaces.
https://audient.com/
https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/horizon-range/
https://musictech.com/
https://tyxstudios.com/
STUFF WE TALK ABOUT (SPOILERS AHEAD)
https://www.vintagesynth.com/buchla/100-series
https://www.avid.com/pro-tools
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singeli
https://www.gforcesoftware.com/product/imposcar3/
https://www.vintagesynth.com/buchla/700-series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMS_Synthi_100
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music)
https://evolutionmusicpartners.com/omni-loop-kaitlyn-aurelia-smith/
https://www.overstayeraudio.com/saturator-nt-02a
https://www.instagram.com/thommonahan/
https://www.neumann.com/en-gb/products/microphones/u-67-set
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_for_18_Musicians
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:
That's right, the studios that our guests dream up are ones that they must live with for all eternity. But even in the world of Studio Foreverdom, we do have some rules.
Chris Barker:
The rules. So our guests will select a computer, a DAW, and an audio interface. Those are the 3 items that everybody gets. Then our guest will choose just 6 other bits of studio gear plus 1 non-studio-related luxury item.
Will Betts:
However—
Chris Barker:
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 this time is an American composer, performer, and producer whose serendipitous run-in with a Buchla 100 completely changed how she approached making music.
Will Betts:
That's right, it's taken her on a journey from ambient music through to much heavier and darker electronic styles.
Chris Barker:
She's also worked with synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani and film composer Emile Mosseri.
Will Betts:
And on her new album 'Ruin: It's Not Just Music', it's a real departure, exploring super club-friendly sounds with drum and bass, two-step, and hyperpop influences.
Chris Barker:
This is My Forever Studio with Kaitlin Aurelia Smith. Welcome,
Will Betts:
welcome Kaitlin.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Hi, thank you so much for having me on the show.
Chris Barker:
Thank you. Thank you for dealing with our intro.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It was beautifully done. Thank
Chris Barker:
you.
Will Betts:
Too kind.
Chris Barker:
Um, well, you know, you've, you heard the, uh, the premise of the show there. So we're, we're going to sort of build up your dream studio. But before we sort of get to that, let's talk about that serendipitous run-in with the Buchla 100. Because you trained in classical music guitar, right?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I wanted to be a conductor and I wanted to compose for orchestras and do film scoring. And when I went into conducting school and composition, they told me I needed to have a dedicated instrument. They told me that prior to applying. And so I chose classical guitar and also studied classical piano.
Chris Barker:
Okay. And why the choice for guitar or piano? Was this something
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
So I really wanted to have a representation of music horizontally and vertically, and the chord structures are really different with piano and with guitar. And I also loved the tiny stool that you put your foot on, the classical guitar. Yeah, that sold me.
Chris Barker:
I always forget about the tiny stool.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh my God, the tiny stool is everything. I had so many different ones.
Chris Barker:
Do people get quite, you know, precious of their own tiny stool?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Do they bring their own stool?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, I feel like with classical music, I'm always trying to get people to laugh a little bit more. And I feel like there's like such a seriousness with the tiny stool. And I really wanted it to be like all these different tiny chairs and tiny couches and like just ultra comfort for my foot. But I didn't really find the right one.
Chris Barker:
That would be great to make tiny versions of like classic furniture. Right?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, that was what I was thinking.
Chris Barker:
Like the Eames chair.
Will Betts:
Yeah, a little Aeron for your foot.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, exactly.
Chris Barker:
That's nice, that's nice. Um, well, I guess, um, that does lead us on into that moment with Buchla, because if you were looking for ways to, you know, represent music vertically and horizontally, you've got kind of a totally different way to represent music with— when you get to like modular synths and the way the Buchla works, right? Was that what kind of intrigued you?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I mean, that wasn't initially what drew me to it. I think what drew me to it was being so stumped with like what it was when I first encountered it. Because I studied classical music, and then I kind of moved into sound engineering and wanted to be an acoustician. And then my neighbor started talking to me about synthesis. And I was like, oh, you know, I'm not like— I know about outboard gear and like know recording studios, but don't really know synthesis. And then he was like, do you want to learn about a Buchla? And like, do you want to take it home and like study it for a while? And when I first brought it home, I was like, what is this? I mean, I understand patching, but I was like, what is this thing? And it like really drew me into listening in this new way. And I think having like just so much novelty with it. I didn't really even think about horizontal or vertical.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I just thought about music in a completely new universe. It blended my classical, my love of frequencies and sound engineering. And then also just it really helped me develop a sort of patience for being— I'm trying to think about how to put this. It helped me develop a patience for irritating sounds because I feel like to really go deep with modular synthesis, you really have to have a patience for sound and a trust that something's going to happen, but it's going to take a little bit.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. It's not a process that an audience would enjoy.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know. I feel like it's so funny because people will ask me to improvise. Um, or like watch me while I'm making music and I'm like, really? You're going to have an awful time. Like, don't do it. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I remember the early days of making music, you know, even on the computer and people going, oh, I'd love to come and see one time. And then they're sat there while you're trying to choose a snare drum for an hour. Yeah. Actually, I'm going to go.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. This isn't like the music videos at all.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. So you, I guess, from your engineering side, you already had experience and knowledge of recording studios. So you already had, in terms of this world we're going into now with the Forever Studio, you already had some likes and dislikes about the studio environment, I guess.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, definitely. Which it's like, there's so many choices. And every time I go into a studio, I'm like, oh my God, no, that one too. So to be like limited by 6, I was like, oh, it's a big deal.
Chris Barker:
Well, speaking of choices, the first choice we have to talk about, which will tell us a little bit more about you as well, is where would you have the studio in the world if you could build your perfect studio, your forever studio?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know I was really, really stumped with that because I'm still trying to answer that for myself right now, like in general. Um, so I don't have an exact location, but I have parameters that I'm looking for of, um, like I wanna be by the forest, I wanna be by the beach, I wanna be by a city that has like, um, a vibrant music community. And I want to be by an airport and I wanna be, um, I mean, it does sound really similar. We're in Barcelona, aren't we? Well, I was gonna say it sounds really similar to where I live now.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Because I live in, I live like a little bit above Lisbon in a beach town.
Chris Barker:
Okay, there you go.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
So I'm like, it kind of sounds like where I am. I think
Chris Barker:
you've found it. You've nailed it.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah, I feel like—
Chris Barker:
So we're talking hot weather though. We're talking hot weather. We're not talking—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, with a coastal breeze. Okay. Yeah. And like somewhere, I think some things I would add to it that is different from where I am now is like a little bit more connection with seasons because I do miss like more varied seasons. And I like a big, like drastic change between winter and summer. Like I love when it's like more, like a lot more daylight and a lot less daylight. Yeah. Because I grew up really far north.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And so I'm like almost on the same hemisphere line as Iceland. And so I'm used to that like really drastic Late shift. Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I think a lot of British people have that where like they miss seasons when they move away and they miss the extreme extremes of weather, especially if you're from the north of England as well. It's like, I, you know, I, I get that.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Um, so what brought you to where you are now? Like why you're not in the States? What's going on?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I was living in LA and I was going between LA and an island close to Canada and, um, Then I started to get a lot more work in Europe and in the UK. And so I was like, okay, well, I feel like on the island, I like really have a studio and a home that I cherish in the US. And I want to put some energy into like the European side. And Portugal just seemed like a great, like, why not? Yeah.
Will Betts:
It's a beautiful spot.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So we've chosen where you are now, right? That's, you—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, basically. And then maybe I go like up to Scandinavia when I'm like, okay, I need more dark.
Chris Barker:
Okay. But we've built, we're building the studio in Portugal. We're going to have to lock that in.
Will Betts:
Yeah, we got to pick one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Which is great because that's, okay, we'll say Portugal because that's where I'm currently at and that's what I'm doing right now anyways.
Chris Barker:
And what's the vibe of the studio? I mean, tell us about your experiences in other studios and any things that you really dislike or things that you've been trying to chase and recreate that you can now recreate?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I love a lot of daylight. Like, I feel like studios don't usually have a lot of daylight, and I really like being able to see, um, like, being able to see a horizon line is really, like, crucial for me in just my well-being in general. Um, so being able to see some sort of, like, horizon line, and then, um, Trying to think, like, well, I was in a studio today actually that this like really, really works for me is when, uh, someone has put in the time to like really wire everything. So all you have to do is turn one switch and it turns everything on. And it like all of the outboard gear is all like all the returns are set up and it's like a template when you open your DAW. And that like nowadays is really, really important to me.
Chris Barker:
Probably going to be less of an issue in the Forever Studio. You're just going to need one extension cable, 6 bits of kit.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Will Betts:
One plug on the wall.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
That's true. I know with the 6, the 6, it's true. In this, in this scenario, I feel like just honestly, like, um, I went to this place in London that maybe you guys know about. Um, It's called V&A Archive Museum. Is that what it's called?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Yes.
Chris Barker:
Yes.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. You know the room where it's like, um, the like beautiful wood interior that is like, it's like off to the side and it has like the hidden inlet, like lighting. And—
Chris Barker:
Is this at V&A East?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Um, yeah. The big archive warehouse. Yeah. And it's like, you know how they have like whole rooms in their archive?
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Like that kind of interior for if I'm going to have a minimal studio where it's like there's like floor-to-ceiling glass windows and like really amazing, like Frank Lloyd Wright, like Utonian, what's it, Utonian?
Chris Barker:
Mid-century kind of stuff.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Like where the walls are like the art and like all the lighting is hidden and like even the windows, they have like these little windows that Usonian, that's what I'm thinking of. Usonian architecture, where it's like even all the— there's like these little windows in the walls that are cut in a way where the light shines through and creates like little shapes everywhere. And like no art on the wall and like no anything, and everything is like hidden in drawers, and it's just this like empty room with these 6 things. That would be like my dream space. Mm-hmm.
Chris Barker:
Until you have to record anything.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, no, no, no, then— I know, like all the cables are like wired in a way where it's like hidden. Yeah. Oh,
Chris Barker:
that's true. That's where that fantasy of— yeah, that's good. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, it's so, so clean and empty. I love emptiness. That's like my favorite creative space.
Chris Barker:
That always used to be the, uh, the problem, isn't it? When you would see certain bits of kit, DJ kit is a good one, things advertised and set up in living rooms, you'd be like, oh, that looks so nice.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Even hi-fi equipment. And then when you get it home, you're like, oh God, there's so many cables.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Chris Barker:
It's such a nightmare.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
You're like, they Photoshopped it out.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. And like, even if you go really, really limited, you still have to have a power cable somewhere. Yeah. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh yeah, actually, maybe that's what it is, is like all the 6 items are built into the wall so that all the cabling is behind it. So it like looks really like, like art studio vibe or art museum vibe.
Chris Barker:
That's, that would be nice.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Um, well, we'll get to that depending on the 6 items, I guess. But let's, uh, let's, so we've, we've got this style. We've got the, the Portugal vibe in there. Um, now we've got the 3 free items. So everybody gets these. You get to choose a DAW, an audio interface, and, um, a computer. So what's the computer?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I mean, I feel so lame because I'm just gonna say I'm always the most current MacBook Pro.
Chris Barker:
Well, I'm not gonna deny it is lame, but everybody does it. Everybody does it.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I'm like, what else are people saying?
Chris Barker:
I think we've had, have we had an Atari? We've had no computer.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
That was bold.
Chris Barker:
And we've had a couple of, well, we had a few Windows machines, but mainly, yeah. Mainly Will is speccing out some monster Mac for somebody. But we can ask, would you go laptop or would you go big powerful desktop?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I think I would do laptop still and probably have like backup. Computers, you know how you can like, uh,
Chris Barker:
whoa, whoa, whoa,
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
whoa.
Chris Barker:
Hang on a second. You only get one computer.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, I know, but like, you know, the backup. Oh, okay. So I can't even say, 'cause you know how you can like daisy chain those, but okay. Right. No bundles. You're right.
Will Betts:
No bundles. Yeah. I'm not going to do the air horn because, uh, yeah, but I know, just a laptop. Are you going to go for the, uh, 14 or the 16 inch? Do you want the ludicrously large one or just the, uh, The normal one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I actually really like the normal one because I like the versatility of being able to take it out and like it, it's not like overwhelming when I'm taking it out.
Chris Barker:
Perfect. Do you ever feel limited by the computer nowadays? In terms of, do you ever hit like where it's glitching or do you ever hit problems?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh yeah, all the time.
Chris Barker:
You, okay. Tell us about that.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, I'm just one of those people who can like never stop adding takes. Like, and so I feel like it's less about me using up CPU to like run stuff on the computer and more that I'm like 200 tracks in and I'm like, oh, it like can't keep up with playing like the playback usually. So.
Chris Barker:
Ah, so yeah, so it's maybe RAM as well. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, like I feel like I, I always have to like, um, I mean, it kind of reminds me of when I used to record on a 4-track. It's like I always have to like commit and bounce down, commit and bounce down.
Chris Barker:
My question was leading, expecting you to say no.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh,
Chris Barker:
because I don't think— no, but I don't think— not, not for you personally, as in like, I don't think many people hit those limits now. So it's interesting that you still are.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Why do you have so many takes of everything? What parts are you redoing and redoing?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, it's not so much that I'm redoing, it's that I'm, um, the way that I record, which it sometimes even irritates me is, like, I— because of my love of sound design, in order for me to make one sound that I like, I tend to record sometimes 8 to 25 different formants and, like, different things to make this one sound.
Will Betts:
Right.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And then I'm like, okay, now I have to bounce that down. And now that's, like, my, like, foundation for an instrument. And then I do that many, many times. And that just like sometimes blows up my session.
Chris Barker:
So do you find yourself bouncing down, building an instrument, and then starting another project?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, usually around 80 tracks, I'm like, I better start a new one.
Will Betts:
And are we talking like 80 tracks of audio? It must be 80 tracks of like synthesizers and of like sample playback. What is it?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's usually audio because I'm like recording. hardware, and then I'm like, all right, this is a real thing, and then I need to start anew.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, but in order— but a lot of times, like, I'm still using outboard for effects, but sometimes I'm using, like, coupling with a software synth for a part because I'm like, oh, but I like the frequencies of, like, that one part in the software synth. And yeah.
Will Betts:
So where would we hear something where you've gone through this process on your current record?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Everywhere. This is like how I work. Yeah. Which is, it makes it really hard when people are like, can I get stems? And I'm like, no, you can't.
Chris Barker:
No, you should always just go, yeah, good luck. Imagine that. Imagine asking to remix one of your tracks and you sending a zip file with like 900 tracks.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know. And then it's really funny because they're always like, can I get stems and can I get it separated by like drums? synth voice and, you know, like all that. And I'm like, oh my God, wouldn't that be amazing if I could be that organized?
Chris Barker:
But also it'd be— it's funny because it would put a real like edge to like remixing you. It's
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
like, yeah,
Chris Barker:
proper challenge.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Anytime someone does remix me, yeah, I usually just send a stereo track and I'm like, just cut it up. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It's funny, isn't it? Like, uh, because that's a lot of early remixes were just from stereo tracks and people just had to be creative. And then Or you'd get the— you'd get an instrumental and an a cappella maybe if it was that kind of track. Yeah. Um,
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
yeah,
Chris Barker:
yeah, it got to a point I remember like asking for remixes and people sending MIDI and all sorts of bits. And it's actually— it can be, as we've said on one of the other episodes of this series, a bit option paralysis, a bit. Yeah, actually giving all of that stuff can make it a bit of a nightmare. Yeah, because just reconstructing their track is, is like the first part before you even do anything else.
Will Betts:
That's the test. That's, that's the job application, Chris.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Here's 800 stems. Good luck. Call me in a month when you've actually got the track up.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So let's— we get that locked in, the super duper Mac. And what about an audio interface and a DAW?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I was really torn between that because I use Ableton because it makes the process that I do really fast. But I do miss Pro Tools. And so I feel like I really like, I'm only allowed to pick one because I also really don't like what happens when you export from Ableton. And so I tend to do like a real-time—
Chris Barker:
In what sense?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
There's like some sort of normalization and something is happening to the frequencies. And I feel like some people talk about it and can hear it. And then other people are like, I have no idea what you're talking about. And so I tend to do like a real—
Chris Barker:
Those are the people that are Ableton.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Chris Barker:
They work for Ableton.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, they're like, we have no idea what you're talking about. But I do like a real-time export into Pro Tools oftentimes to get it to sound the same. Or
Chris Barker:
as in out of your audio interface?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, like setting up.
Chris Barker:
And then back in.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. And so I'm trying, I mean, I think I would still do, actually for this, I would do Pro Tools because
Will Betts:
Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's less stuff.
Will Betts:
I guess as well because you're doing so much audio recording that it kind of makes sense in that respect, right? Yeah. Just like the take management apart from anything else.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
Okay, so we're on Pro Tools audio interface. What do you think?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I really like MOTU. That was like what I started with and it's like still one of my favorites.
Chris Barker:
It's such a relief not to have somebody choose—
Will Betts:
Oh my God.
Chris Barker:
An Apollo.
Will Betts:
Huge relief.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, though, I mean, I love Apollos, but But also I feel like they over— they get overwhelmed a lot faster than a MOTU does in my experience, but I still really like Apollos.
Chris Barker:
They're so reliable, aren't they? The MOTUs.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. And I've never performed live with an Apollo before, but I've performed live with a MOTU like so, so many times. And I feel like the MOTU is just like really, really sturdy.
Will Betts:
Nice. And which one do you— well, which one would you have in the forever studio?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I mean, I think I would have a rack one in the forever studio because if I'm not going to like be moving around.
Chris Barker:
What's the fanciest?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, the fanciest one, whatever the fanciest one is.
Chris Barker:
Fancy is a good word for this podcast.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
For all of these 6, whatever's the fanciest.
Will Betts:
Yeah, I think right now that the fanciest one I can find is the 828, although I think there might be one bigger than that, but I'll come back to you if there's anything.
Chris Barker:
It's not about bigger. It's about more fancy.
Will Betts:
Oh, it's fancy. Don't get me wrong. It looks very fancy.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, make sure it's fancy.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Do you need pres though?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I never use pres with analog synths and the ones that are on my list are analog synths.
Will Betts:
But, okay.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
But for voice and also the micro— yeah. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Sorry. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
You might need one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Let's, let's come back to the pres because now I'm like, I want to think about that.
Chris Barker:
Well, see where your other items take you.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And then we shall find that out.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Okay, so, I mean, well, that leads us on before we choose the first Forever Studio, and let's talk about vocals because was that always part of the idea when you were making music? You know, have you used your voice since the classical days of the guitar and the piano or not?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. When did I start with voice? I felt like Voice was always my tool for coming up with music. It was never like really like, oh, I want to be a singer, or I am a singer. I still to this day, if someone asks me if I sing, I'm like, no, I just like to sing. But it's always the like first place that music starts for me is like in my voice. And so for me to like know what I'm making, I have to feel it in my body. Like I can hear it, And then I have to feel it and then I can like put it into an instrument. Um, and then I think it just like naturally stayed in places because sometimes I'll record with my mouth just like, uh, sounds that I want to be there and then I'm going to like come back and change them.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And then sometimes it ends up where it's like, oh no, I guess that's just the sound there now.
Chris Barker:
Did you ever just write songs on the piano and sing them?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh yeah. A little bit. I'm just like, not very, like, I love performing and I love making music, but I don't love when there's a lot of attention on me. And there's something about like, just singing and playing piano where it's like, oh, wow, now the attention's on me as a person.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, it's quite vulnerable, isn't it? Singing generally.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
So I feel like there's been this progression towards more of a club-centric sound. It's sort of putting the onus on the audience to do their thing a little bit.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
And then with some of the other stuff, I mean, even like going back to Tides, it's an accompaniment to what other people are doing. Has that sort of then always been there for you as like in your head of like, I'm kind of out of the way and I'm letting the people do what they're doing with my music? Or do you, do you have a sense of like, I'm the conductor here and they should be looking this way?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh yeah, that's interesting. I feel like it's neither of those for me. It's like the thing in between. It's like less about me or— it's almost like if you're out and you see a really pretty sunset and then someone happens to be walking by and you're like, look, look at this sunset. That's kind of what I feel like my role is with sounds is where I'm really excited about sounds. And then I'm like, look, you guys, Look at this sound.
Chris Barker:
Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
That's great. I love that.
Chris Barker:
So you're not sort of instructing them to do anything. It's just like—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You're curating—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
For them and then allowing them to do whatever. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But it's definitely like, like Will said, it's, um, there's a lot of that kind of hyperpop kind of like, yeah, drum and bass influence, sort of futuristic pop. It's, it's a lot more sort of accessible than some of the other more ambient electronic albums that were more for synth heads like us, maybe.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And was that, was that a natural decision or was it just something that's just been growing over time as you've found sounds and been composing?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I feel like it just happened on its own. And I feel like the last decade I've been a little bit limited to like when I'm learning to use certain synths, like not necessarily being able to make what I want to make, but just like letting it like, uh, show me what is the thing to make with the skills that I have at that time. And I feel like now I understand synthesis a lot more that I'm able to like make music that I'm like, oh, this is what like I would listen to. And not saying that like I would listen to my album, but meaning like, um, the type of music that I listen to on a regular basis is like a lot. Yeah. faster. Like, I love Senegalese music a lot, like where it's 180 to 300 BPM. I love music that makes me like freak out a little bit.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It does a similar thing that jazz does for me where it like, it goes faster than my brain's going so that it turns off my brain.
Chris Barker:
Ah, yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That's a really, really nice way of putting it.
Will Betts:
What were you listening to specifically then when you were making this album? Because it sounds really British to me.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
What were you listening to? I'm really interested to know.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, interesting. Well, it's funny because I just started investigating a lot more of my like stimming tendencies. And one of them is that I love to, in my head, mimic accents like repetitively. And I think—
Chris Barker:
Feel free on the podcast, please.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And it's funny because like I'm working on a song right now that is, um, How, how I hear Portuguese, it's not actually Portuguese, but it's what Portuguese sounds like to me. So it's like, Mm-hmm. Um, it's more of like a made-up language, but that kind of, I like when you say, what were you listening to? It's like, I'm, I'm listening to everything all the time and how it gets translated in my head is often like a storage of everything that wanted to become a new stimming thing for me. Mm-hmm. And I mean, definitely drum and bass has like a strong UK influence and history. And so I was listening to drum and bass, but I really wanted to make an album with impact, like, because so much of the ethos of this album is that it's like a fuck you album, not to someone, but for everyone, because there's just like so much of that energy pent up in the world and And I had a lot of that energy pent up in me of, like, being fed up with, like, injustice. And so I just wanted, like, a lot of impact sounds. And so I think, like, all of the, like, playlists that I was saving for myself and creating during the process of it was just, like, anything that made me feel like my world was getting a little bit disrupted.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Because I knew that I was naturally going to weave in orchestral things because I just like don't know how to not do that. So I knew there was going to be a through line of more beautiful melodies in there naturally that I just wanted to like listen to a lot of things that would create disruption.
Chris Barker:
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Chris Barker:
Okay, so item number 1.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Um, well, one of my favorite synths is this synth called an OscAR, capital O-S-C lowercase A-R.
Will Betts:
Yeah,
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
and
Chris Barker:
just because of that punnage, that's the—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, I know. And it's funny, whenever I tell people who are really into synths that this is like one of my like absolute favorite synths, they're always like, why? Like, it's like they're like really confused by it. But it's just like from the beginning, the very first time I played it, I was like, you are my like favorite because of its delay that it has, like its filter delay. And, um, ah, and then also it's like natural triangle chorus, like very, uh, Like crisp, like it's like, uh, very mutable.
Chris Barker:
And do you have a real one already?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, I don't. It's one that like I—
Chris Barker:
They're quite rare, aren't they?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
They are. I mean, I, I've seen them where you can, you can buy them and it's definitely on my list, but I just haven't, haven't done it yet.
Chris Barker:
And, uh, do you use the software version by our good friends over at GeForce Media?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I have used it before. It's not the same, like all the software versions aren't the same. Um, but they, they are like a beautiful other thing that is, uh, really complementary to like the analog one. Like, I really like sometimes using the software, uh, like boucle plugin with a real boucle because it like creates like a cool bridge with some other sounds. Mm-hmm.
Chris Barker:
There was a guy that made like a gigantic MIDI controller that looked exactly like the Oscar.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, cool.
Chris Barker:
To control the software.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I remember interviewing him a long time ago.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, wow.
Chris Barker:
Because, because they were so hard to get hold of.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That, yeah, he just went and did that. So it was like he had one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, I mean, there's lots of residencies you can go to that have them. Um, like almost, almost all of them that I've been to for Vintage since have them.
Chris Barker:
Well, I think it's probably a first for the podcast.
Will Betts:
I think it is a first for the podcast. Yeah. Yeah. Extra points there.
Chris Barker:
Extra points.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I love getting extra points. I didn't even know I was getting any points. What do my points do?
Will Betts:
We're not sure yet.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. I'm like, how do I use them?
Chris Barker:
We're just always pleased when somebody picks something that's new.
Will Betts:
Um, so when did you first come across an Oscar then? When did you first use one?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I think it was in my beginning synthesis years. I had a job where I was delivering synths to a synth repair person in Canada. And he had one. Yeah, I think that was the first time I saw it.
Chris Barker:
Your job was delivering the synths, the broken synths?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Did any, did any ever go missing?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, I know. Wouldn't that be amazing? I know. No way. These are—
Chris Barker:
Sounds quite torturous, doesn't it? Like—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, it was amazing because I got to play them.
Chris Barker:
Oh, that's true.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. And then I got to like, I mean, it was nice getting to know the repair person and he would sometimes talk to me about them, like about repairing them. But I was always like, I don't want to learn any of that. Don't talk to me about that.
Chris Barker:
Let me stop you there. Let me stop you there.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I don't want to build them and I never want to repair them. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Those people are never really interested in music either, are they?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Chris Barker:
Like, I once, uh, I once, uh, had a writer, uh, that I worked with a long time ago and, uh, he did a lot of that technical writing about, you know, like synthesis and all that. And I, and then, you know, socially I said, oh, what kind of music do you— and he was like, I'm not really, I don't really like music. Not really interested. He just likes the electronics.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
That's so funny. I know. But thank goodness he does. Cause like we need people who are into.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, exactly. No, no, whatever's your thing. I'm not— I'm not— it's just a surprise, isn't it? Because you think, God, you know, in my mind I was like, you're so into music, you've gone literally into the electronics of it because you're so interested in music, and it's absolutely the opposite way around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, okay, so that takes us on to item number 2.
Will Betts:
Before we get to item number 2, I do just want to ask, have you used the Oskar in your work before? Where can we listen to your—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
it's, um, The last time I used it was at a residency. So it would have been on— it's on Gush. It's on—
Will Betts:
The track or the album? Which one is it actually on?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's actually on both.
Will Betts:
Oh, great. Okay, nice.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, it's on What's Between Us.
Will Betts:
Oh, nice. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
And what part is it playing in there?
Chris Barker:
Probably about 800 different parts.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I feel like I feel like on that one, I'm mixing the Oscar and the Buchla.
Will Betts:
Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
The Buchla easel. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That is a heady mixture. That's good, isn't it? That's some rare.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, that goes into what the second item is because it's a Buchla. Okay.
Chris Barker:
So we're going, are we going Buchla for the second item?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Tell us about which one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Um, well, I know it's so, it was really hard for me. to pick which one. And then I was like, I was like, well, if this is my dream fantasy one, and I wanted to pull up a picture of it because I wanted to make sure that it was the 400 or the 700. Yeah, the 700.
Will Betts:
This is a deep cut. Oh, wow. Okay. This is sort of what got membrane switches on it. When would this have been made? 1987 it was made.
Chris Barker:
Oh, yes. I have seen this before. It's so good.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know. Wow.
Will Betts:
I've never seen this before.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I've never played one, so I have no idea what it sounds like. But I've just like always wanted to play one that I was like, well, if this is my fantasy studio.
Chris Barker:
First booklet to have MIDI, right?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Wow. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
It also has 2 RS-232 ports, which I have no idea what they are, Will. What are RS-232 ports?
Will Betts:
That is a piece of information I have dumped out of my brain at some point.
Chris Barker:
Good. Good. The reason I asked was to just check.
Will Betts:
It's a serial connection. It's like the, what you used to have, like a keyboard type.
Chris Barker:
Pressure and position sensitive touch plate.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh man.
Will Betts:
So '80s.
Chris Barker:
I love that. I love it. It's like—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's all the Buchla stuff. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. It's so good. It's so good that like, you know, we'd perfected keyboards at this point and they were like, nah, none of that. None of that. We're going for pressure and position sensitive touch.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, and then the 3rd item is a Synthie 100.
Will Betts:
Ah, okay. So you're getting all sorts of different types of like esoterica here. This is great. Okay.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
EMS Synthy 100, is it? Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's, uh, that's nice and big. That's gonna, that's gonna struggle to be just neatly hidden on your wall, that one, isn't it?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No way. That one will have, it's like an alcove. I can already see it. You know how like there's sometimes those built-in beds where it's like an alcove? It'll be an alcove.
Chris Barker:
Oh, okay. I see. Yeah.
Will Betts:
Oh, like a Murphy bed. Like a sort of, you'll flip it up into the wall sort of vibe?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, this, no. Oh my God, I would never flip up a Synthé 100.
Will Betts:
I think you'd have to be the Hulk to do it. I think that's just unrealistic.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
But no, where it just like fits in perfectly.
Will Betts:
Oh, I see.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's got its own spot. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like the wood in the studio would match, like hopefully all of the like framing of the Synthé 100 and the The Buchle. I feel like all the wood framing would match.
Chris Barker:
So the cost of it was the equivalent of about £100,000 nowadays. I know. When it first launched.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
You said that I had no limits.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, there is no limits. I was just, yeah,
Will Betts:
I'm
Chris Barker:
just so, so people know the kind of level we're at. Yeah, this is, uh, this is serious kit. Are they still, still being made, the Synthys?
Will Betts:
I don't think so.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I mean, there's only, I mean, I know of 6 in the world that like, that you can like, or like, I know where 6 are that are still working, but I'm sure that there's all sorts of private owners.
Will Betts:
So this is really interesting. Do you have a sort of a Rolodex in your head of like the synths that you can use and where you need to get to use them? It's just like, this is your life in synthesis.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And it's great because then I'm like, I'm like, okay, cool. I'm doing a show here. Great. I'm going to plan a few extra days and write that person and say, oh my gosh, please can I come play on this? Yeah, that's how I like plan stuff. And then I have my stuff that I know I'm going to play live. So then I'm like able to do my whole like formant sampling of like, like building all these like sounds to create sampled instruments that But then on my MIDI controllers, when I'm playing live, I can play those parts. And then I have my boucle that I play live.
Will Betts:
Tell us more about that, the formant shifting element then, because it's something that you can sort of hear quite a bit in the production of your tracks. Tell us, what's your process for that and what are you using?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, when I was studying to be an acoustician, I fell so in love with the overtone series and learning that by what frequencies you're pulling out, you're becoming an instrument creator. and that's like how all instruments are created is like by which frequencies are magnified and like what's the resonating body. Yeah. And so that's like how I like to approach all sounds is like the frequencies of this one and the frequencies of this one and like Frankenstein them together to create my own sound from that. And so I don't have like a toolkit that I use to make it. I like use my acoustician knowledge and frequency knowledge and then usually like do it in probably like the least efficient ways because I feel like my process is not very efficient. It's just like what I'm fastest at and what I've like learned for myself.
Chris Barker:
So is it a lot of experimental trial and error as well in a nice way, sort of finding your way? Do you find yourself going one way and then discovering something else?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. And I usually just let my synesthesia lead me where I'm like, it'll tell me when it's wrong. It'll tell me what I need. And then I just like know how to do it.
Chris Barker:
Do you see different colors or shapes when it's wrong?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know I don't have that form of synesthesia. I have a form where it's like connected to my feeling center. So I get really intense feelings, like not emotions, like physical sensations. Where it's like, oh, my shoulder feels like it's like grated, or, you know, it's like really specific feelings. And it's not like limited. It's like my imagination is very connected to that part. So it's not like that sound will always create that feeling.
Chris Barker:
It's in the moment.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
So are there tracks or sounds that used to be good feelings that are now bad feelings in your— you can't listen to?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, it's interesting, actually. This is the first time I've thought of it, but maybe because of my synesthesia, my emotions don't connect that much to music. Like, so there's no good or bad feeling for me in music. It's like, it's just feelings. And like, maybe other people will be like, that's a scary sound that I feel this and this. And I'm like, oh, I just feel Like, like my shoulders grated. I guess I'll just use that example again.
Chris Barker:
So if somebody describes to you a scary sound, what do you think?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Like, I can respond, like, if, like, for instance, with film scoring, it's really fun for me if someone is like, oh, I want it to feel like this emotion. I have like a really, really detailed gradient encyclopedia of like how to create emotions with sounds, but I don't personally feel like an emotion to it.
Chris Barker:
It's an amazing thing you've got for not going to clichés and tropes as well for that, right? Because obviously, if somebody says scary sound, immediately, somebody without synaesthesia, myself, would— you'd go for dark, you'd go for these kind of deep notes, these kind of tones, whereas maybe you can break out of those tropes and worlds because it's this kind of feeling-based. I'm obviously not describing it as well as you, but I wonder if that's, that's, that, that's kind of a killer skill.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. Although it's fascinating because in music school, we had to like practice mimicking things and I could not get my creativity and my brain to like be patient enough to mimic something because the moment I would start doing 2 notes or like 2 seconds of the thing I was going to mimic, I was already like, oh, but what if it went over here instead? And like, yeah. So,
Chris Barker:
I mean, how did you cope with learning classical? Because you must've had to learn pieces.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
There were some classes I did really well in and some, some that I didn't because I would get too excited and like start making my own stuff. Um, but theory and like written notation, that was easy for me because it was like a different part of my brain. Um, I wasn't like, yeah, like I can—
Chris Barker:
It's more like a puzzle, I guess.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
I'm really interested to know, you said there was a sound like grating your shoulder. What is that sound?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, I don't even know how to describe sounds, but it's in the song that I'm working on right now. So it's like the most forefront sound for me, but it's almost like, you know, like in the morning when you wake up and you have your vocal fry and you're like, ah, la,
Will Betts:
la, la.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's like that sound, but like a little bit sharper. So it's like that sound mixed with like a shh, but it's on a synth. So that's like the sound that I was just making right before this interview that like, to me felt like someone was like, like my shoulder was a grater and someone was like cutting a bell pepper on it. So that's how my brain talks about sounds.
Will Betts:
That's brilliant.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I'm like, can we get more shredded bell pepper, please?
Will Betts:
It was like, uh, everyone's got an art teacher like that though, right? I know. More shredded bell pepper, please.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, I know. And that's why I'm like, if someone asks me for stems, I'm like, you don't even want to know what I name stuff.
Chris Barker:
Item number 4.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
An Overstayer saturator, which is like a more recent boutique processor But I really, really like it. One of my friends who's an amazing producer, engineer, Tom Monaghan, he introduced me to them. And I've always loved saturators. Like, I love harmonic exciters and like things that like will like stretch out and tickle frequencies in like an additive way. And I don't mean to like— tickling sounds like gross to say that. I actually, I want to take that back. Take
Will Betts:
it back.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
But that's like what it's doing is like exciting the frequencies and the Overstayer one does like a really good job at it.
Chris Barker:
Another first choice for the podcast as well.
Will Betts:
It is, yeah. And what do you use it on then?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Because Buchla is additive and like, I love the additive process. I like to use it on things that are not additive. Like if there's 2 sounds next to each other and, and I'm like, they are not friends. They need a 3rd person to like be the glue for them. Then I, like, make a sound that becomes a bridge between those 2 sounds, and I use harmonic exciters and saturators on that bridge to, like, close the gap. So it's more of like a felt, not heard thing.
Will Betts:
I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say they're not friends. Can you elaborate on that?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, because I, like, personify everything. Like, basically, you know, if you're at a party and you're like, oh, wow, those are 2 people that it would be really interesting to watch them talk. It might be a little bit strange. I don't think they're going to get along. And then you're like, maybe.
Chris Barker:
And then you think, ah, let's see.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. And then you're like, and maybe if I add this other person in there, like, you know, it's like if you have a party where all your friends are there and you're like, you're the bridge between 2 people where you're like, they would not be friends.
Chris Barker:
Yes. Like, they're only there because you're there. Like every wedding, every wedding you go to.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Where you think this group of people would not all be here in any other circumstance. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Well, sounds are like that. And I feel like orchestras, what makes them work is that they are like, they have bridges next to it. Like they're blended. There's like a lot of thoughtfulness in their instrumentation of what makes a blended sound. And I feel like when you're producing, you have to like think about that.
Will Betts:
Are we talking about a very pure tone versus one with much more harmonic content, those not being friends? Or are we talking about a deep bass versus something that's very high? What are we talking about?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's not really like an across-the-board thing. It's more like characters. For instance, my voice with a square wave, because I know my voice so well, if I were to just do a duet, me and a square wave, I would be like, absolutely not. That they need to, like, have some sort of mediator. And so then I would, like, probably find some sort of soft synth that's digital. And I'm only using this example because I know it so well, because I know my voice so well. And then I would use a saturator on the digital soft synth to, like— it's almost like, you know, when you're making a fade on a track, it's like creating a fade. Mm-hmm.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
in the harmonic series. And then it kind of blends into one sound, the square wave, my voice, and this like digital processed synth.
Will Betts:
This is a completely new way of—
Chris Barker:
Will's mind is exploding.
Will Betts:
I'm doing, yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
This is why I have 200 like tracks all the time.
Will Betts:
Item number 5 then.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Then next on my list would be a bass clarinet, but it would need to be someone, and it would need to come with someone who knows how to play it because I don't know how to play it.
Will Betts:
You do have forever.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I might need to learn it.
Chris Barker:
You've got forever to learn, so you'll be alright.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
That's true. Okay. Bass clarinet.
Chris Barker:
A bass clarinet as your item number 5.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Will Betts:
That's a curveball. That's a real curveball. So
Chris Barker:
bass clarinet, go on. Why that in a studio full of vintage Quite abstract kind of synths and a saturator.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, because I feel like for me, I always need something that shows you air moving through space. And I feel like a bass clarinet just really blends well with analog synths. And the last item is a microphone, is like a Neumann 67 mic, because I would need to record it.
Chris Barker:
You would, but you might also need some speakers.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I, well, oh, because we don't get headphones. No, I thought, oh, I thought it said that we get speakers and our headphones. We don't?
Chris Barker:
No, no, no.
Will Betts:
Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, oh my gosh. I did make a mistake. Wait, you said I had points.
Chris Barker:
That's great. That's great. Wait, what are these points for? Will, I know you never mention the points, Will.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I think it's, yeah, I get a 7th item.
Chris Barker:
You don't get a 7th item.
Will Betts:
I'm afraid, no, we can't, we can't do that. Ah, okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well then. Oh my gosh, I'm really stumped.
Will Betts:
While you think about it, let's talk about the bass clarinet. So you don't play the bass clarinet, but you must have one.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Ah, yeah.
Will Betts:
Because it, yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, then I guess maybe I have to— Tell us more. Does that mean I have to take it out or can I leave it?
Will Betts:
I mean,
Chris Barker:
they're a funny looking instrument, aren't they? The bass clarinet.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, they're amazing. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But they are, they do look funny. It's quite comedy. I don't know who would choose to play that. That's what I mean.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Really? I would.
Chris Barker:
No, now I would. But I mean, most people choose instruments when they're like, you know, before the age of 10, if you're going to get really good.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
I just, I just can't imagine going, do you know what? Bass clarinet.
Will Betts:
I think a bit like the bass guitar, it's out of necessity, right? You don't, It's not necessarily everybody's first choice. You're just like—
Chris Barker:
Bass guitar though, you know, Rapper's Delight, Another One Bites the Dust, Seven Nation Army. People hear that and want to play it.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, but maybe it's like you first learn clarinet and then you're like, I want bigger. I'm going to go lower and bigger.
Chris Barker:
As you grow up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You've had a growth spurt. Get on the bass clarinet. Come on, Timmy. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
You're 13 now. Put the other clarinet down.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Time to get serious.
Will Betts:
So where did you hear? Bass clarinet and synthesizer, like what— this combination is not super common. Where did this come about from?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, I didn't hear that combination, but I've always loved bass clarinet. And the first time I heard Music for 18 Musicians, it made me feel like all the instruments were electric. And so— or electronic and electric, both. And so the like pulsing pulses on Music for 18 Musicians.
Will Betts:
Steve Reich, yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
That's with a bass clarinet. And I feel like I always wanted to, like, do something with a synthy and bass clarinet. And I did that on Ears. I used that combo. And it's just one of my favorite combos because, like, I love beat frequencies. And so, like, I feel like you can really get that effect with that if you're doing spatialization. Which, ugh, if I don't have the 200E, I know this is really hard. This is—
Chris Barker:
There's a reason we landed on 6 items. I know.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Because it irritates everyone.
Will Betts:
Yeah. Yeah. We never have any nice emails afterwards.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. Does everyone make a mistake or am I the first one to make a mistake with this one?
Will Betts:
You're not the first.
Chris Barker:
Not by a long way. A lot of people make presumptions on microphones and speakers. It's because we give those 3 free items, they just They add in the rest, I think.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It's true.
Chris Barker:
Yeah,
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know. I think we're all like, we're all like, why wouldn't you? Yeah, that's just mean.
Chris Barker:
It is mean. It is mean.
Will Betts:
Sorry.
Chris Barker:
That's what we're here for.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
So, yeah.
Chris Barker:
What are you going to get rid of? Oh, I mean, you can.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, I have my points, so I can kind of—
Chris Barker:
I mean, you can use the laptop speakers. You can use the laptop speakers.
Will Betts:
You could use the laptop speakers, yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Ugh, ew, but yeah, I guess so.
Chris Barker:
Ew.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. What am I going to get rid of?
Chris Barker:
Well, let's decide on the speakers before you decide what you're going to get rid of. What do you love monitoring-wise?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I mean, I really like Genelecs, but I think if it were my forever studio, then I think I would want something more custom architectural. I really like the way that right now there's like a lot more like designer speakers where if I could have like the Genelec sounding speakers in a like more architectural.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Custom Genelecs. I mean, the Genelec shape is quite architectural. I think we're all just a bit used to seeing it now.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
But when they first came out, when they dropped that boxy shape and they went to the, yeah, the sort of more eggy shaped.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, I guess I just assumed that in my dream studio, there would be speakers built in. To all the walls and subwoofers under the floor.
Chris Barker:
Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
So I made the assumption that you guys already knew this.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you shouldn't assume, you know.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know.
Will Betts:
So, I mean, what we can allow though, as this choice, because we have allowed bigger systems for speakers before, we can allow it to be this fully integrated speaker system in the room. And that's very cool.
Chris Barker:
But it's going to be one item. You're still going to have to buy it.
Will Betts:
Yeah, it's going to be one.
Chris Barker:
But when you say, how would your custom Genelec look then? What are you thinking?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, no, I changed my mind. It's built in. Oh, okay.
Chris Barker:
Soffit mounted.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Classic. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, it's built in. And I think I would get rid of probably the saturator, the overstayer, because I'm using all analog stuff. So I don't actually really need it. And, and I want to keep the microphone because of my voice and the bass clarinet. So. Okay.
Chris Barker:
So what microphone?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh yeah, the Neumann 67.
Chris Barker:
Neumann 67. Okay.
Will Betts:
Yeah. That's a good choice.
Chris Barker:
That loses you points, by the way. The only points you did have, you just lost for choosing the 67.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, because everyone, everyone loves it. I know, but everyone loves it for a reason.
Chris Barker:
Yep, it's true.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And it just happens to be that it like works really well with my voice, like the frequencies in my voice.
Chris Barker:
When did you first use it? When did you first go, ah, this is the mic?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
One of my friends let me borrow it. This was like maybe a decade ago. And then one of my favorite residencies to do is at this place called the National Music Centre in Calgary.
Will Betts:
Amazing.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And they will let you set up all of their rare microphones and do like an A/B thing, which is so fun to do because at the residency they like set you up with an engineer and you actually can't touch a lot of the rare instruments. Like you can touch the synths, but like some of the like really old ones, they have to like set it up for you. So all the mics, they were like, do you want to do a blind shotgun test of all of them to figure out which one you like? And I was like, of course, who's going to say no to that? That's like, yeah. And then that one was one of the most famous.
Chris Barker:
That should have been a blog post or a feature in a magazine.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know I'm really bad at capturing or whatever it's called. Documenting.
Chris Barker:
Doing content.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Content. Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to get better at it, but it's just, you know, I get so excited about the moment of creating that I'm like, I don't want to take away from this moment.
Chris Barker:
Well, and it ruins doing the thing, doesn't it?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
That's the problem.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And then it's funny because I'm also camera shy. So the idea of having someone there filming me is like, Real.
Chris Barker:
It'd been good to have a writer there to just document it and say of your findings. I'm saying it from a nerd point of view, like having lots of microphones. Like writing, um, like a, like a roundup test.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Oh yeah. Well, my brain went to a really funny, uh, thing for when you said having a writer there of like the way that in court someone is like a stenographer.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Oh, and of course, if you're camera shy, we'll just have somebody rapidly paint as well, like in the court, just Yeah, that's good. Yeah. But I
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
did get excited about that.
Will Betts:
Why not?
Chris Barker:
That would— I tell you what, if you got insanely rich, that would be funny, wouldn't it? Just be like, just go, like, that sounds like something like, you know, some mad pop star would do just at some point go, right, that's it. No more photos.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
And no more audio or video. All I'm going to do You can have, you can have footage of me, but it has to be a courtroom sketch artist and one of those shorthand typists. Okay, so before we get on to your luxury item, which is obviously not a piece of studio kit, Will is gonna do a little rundown of what you've built and set the scene. Okay. And yeah, and it'll be your last moment for any changes before we do the luxury item. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Okay.
Chris Barker:
Talk us through it, Will.
Will Betts:
We're in Portugal, just north of Lisbon, with its vibrant music community. We're close to the beach, the forest, and within striking distance of the airport. The studio itself is Usonian in style. It's designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We brought him back for this. And as we enter the room, we see no gear whatsoever, but we do see floor-to-ceiling windows and the walls are wood paneled. It's completely empty, but by pressing one button, the studio emerges from the walls. For your 3 items, you have a computer, a MacBook Pro M5 14-inch.
Will Betts:
Your audio interface is a MOTU 828 that has preamps. The DAW is Pro Tools. For your 6 items, you've chosen an Oxford Synthesizer Company Oscar, a Buchla 700, an EMS Synthy 100 for your 3rd synthesizer— very synth-heavy one here. Your microphone, you have chosen a Neumann U67. A curveball, you have chosen a bass clarinet as your 5th item. And your final item is a custom architectural built-in speaker system with underfloor subs that can all be disappeared with the press of a button.
Chris Barker:
How does that sound?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
It sounds great. And there's one more thing to add.
Chris Barker:
Um, careful.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Um, just that the, the room is designed by an acoustician and treated.
Chris Barker:
Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's not an item.
Will Betts:
Oh, okay. We assume perfect acoustic accuracy in every Forever Studio.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
That's great.
Will Betts:
We have power to do that. Yes, of course. Perfect. Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Will will only ever go in rooms that are perfectly acoustic, like I sleep in
Will Betts:
an anechoic chamber.
Chris Barker:
He does.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I love that.
Chris Barker:
You invite him round, if he steps in and hears one reflection, he's out of there immediately.
Will Betts:
I'll go out the window if I have to. Yeah.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, my luxury item is— we're just gonna assume that a physicist helped make this work.
Chris Barker:
Okay. Yep. Yep.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And it's not like a— it's like an item that I'm designing, calling into fruition because it doesn't exist. But I love see-through acrylic so much that somehow this room has shapes that make me feel things. Because that is like what does make me feel emotions is shapes. Like objects make me feel empathy in like these really big ways. And so if there's like see-through shapes that are creating like sculptural objects in different places that the light can shine through and create like refractions on the wall, um, at different times of day.
Chris Barker:
Nice. So tell us about some of these shapes and pieces and, and maybe do you have any that you've, that you've experienced? Like, you know, any artists or any sculptures or?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I mean, I see them all, all around. It's not necessarily like certain artists, um, but it's just like shapes that I have a lot of pictures of shapes that like really work for me.
Chris Barker:
So can they be quite utilitarian as well? It doesn't have to be art. It could just be an object that's serving a purpose, but to you it—
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. Like the mic stand itself can be A really unique shape.
Chris Barker:
Does that work the other way? Are there things that, like, you can't bear to be in your environment or you can't bear to be around?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Definitely.
Chris Barker:
Okay,
Will Betts:
come on. What can't you have around? Really interested.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh, like in the hotel room that I'm in?
Chris Barker:
Yeah, let's do that.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Oh,
Will Betts:
well, wherever. Yeah,
Chris Barker:
have you hidden anything?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, okay, I've tried for my— this is like my game I love to play with myself when I go into a hotel room, is like first I like find what is my favorite object So that I'm like leading with positivity. And then I'm like, okay, who would I like kick out of the room? Um, and definitely the wallpaper in this room because I cannot handle— I'm looking at it right now and it's like, for some reason to me, it's like a really strange combination of things that I'm like, this is where I would want the overstayer to like blend stuff. Because it's like really bizarre wallpaper. It's hearts, a drill gun, a dice, a toaster, and cherries, and a snake. And to me, those objects do not go together without some sort of bridge.
Chris Barker:
I think I know that wallpaper, Brad.
Will Betts:
I can also say, as somebody without synesthesia, that is a weird combination of things.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know. I know. Yeah.
Will Betts:
As somebody who goes to a lot of different studios, that must be a challenge, right? Because you're going into these places and they must all have, you know, trinkets and, you know.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Well, I think my, my, like, empathy steps in the way in those situations because, um, I don't like to be judgmental. So if I'm going into someone else's space, it turns off. But if they leave me alone in that space, then it turns on where I'm like, get rid of it. Get rid of those objects. Then I'm like, I don't like that in there. And so statues are really hard for me. And it's really funny.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
My sister, anytime I come to stay at her house, she turns the statues around. To face the wall, which then I always—
Chris Barker:
For you or to wind you up?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
No, no, no, for me. But then I always tell her that it makes me feel bad because then I'm like, now I feel like they're in trouble and they're like facing the wall.
Chris Barker:
And you can see their butts.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Well, not all of them have butts though. It's like statues are interesting. Like it's like the back is forgotten sometimes.
Chris Barker:
Just lazy.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah. Yeah. That's
Chris Barker:
lazy. They need one of those things to marry the frequencies.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Right. So,
Will Betts:
so what's, um, do you want to tell us about the album? It's out now. What are your tour dates looking like? What's coming up for you?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I'm playing, um, in Manchester November 21st at Warehouse Project. And then I'm playing January 25th at, uh, Berghain in Berlin, which I'm really excited, the main room.
Will Betts:
Wow.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Amazing. And then I'm playing February 25th at Fabric in London.
Chris Barker:
Amazing.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
And then
Chris Barker:
all incredible sound systems as well.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
I know, I'm really excited about it. And then playing a few festivals and then a lot more stuff is coming in right now for 2027, but for the rest of this year, just Manchester.
Chris Barker:
Nice. Well,
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
yeah,
Will Betts:
amazing.
Chris Barker:
That's going to be epic. Those, the Berghain one as well will be insane.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, I'm excited. And then we're going to do more orchestral shows. I premiered the album at the Barbican with London Contemporary Orchestra, and we're going to do some more shows as well. Oh, fantastic. Because I like having the combo of— because when I wrote the album, it came from a feeling of feeling confined to a seat but needing to move. And that was this feeling that was stuck in me that made the album. And so I wanted to like create some situations for people to tap into that feeling. And then I also wanted to do shows where it's like you're in a club and you can like have the proper standing version.
Chris Barker:
And how long is a show?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Right now it's an hour, but for my own enjoyment, I always love to play unreleased stuff. And so sometimes it goes a little bit longer depending on if I'm like making a lot of stuff Right now or not.
Chris Barker:
And is it, is there much improvisation or is it quite like, does it change much from show to show?
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, it usually, I feel like it has like its skeleton and then it changes. There's like lots of areas where I get to, to have fun in that way.
Chris Barker:
Amazing.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah.
Chris Barker:
Well, that was an incredible interview and very eye-opening. Uh, loads of things that never even crossed my mind in terms of interpreting music and objects and sculpture and feelings. And turning around statues. Yeah, turning around statues and grating red pepper on your shoulder. It's been quite the journey. I loved it. Thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thank you.
Chris Barker:
Thank you so much, Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith:
Yeah, nice chatting with you.
Chris Barker:
What a studio. What an experience as well. I've learned a lot. And thank you to everybody who tuned in today. And we will catch you next time for more adventures into Studio Foreverdom. Bye-bye.
Will Betts:
Bye-bye.