Sub Focus - In The Studio

Published on Jul 20, 2017 FACTmagazine

"See the rave master at work.

Nick Douwma, better known as Sub Focus, has been creating drum ‘n’ bass tracks since the early ‘00s and is synonymous with the genre.

In 2005, he scored a number one single in the UK dance chart with 'X-Ray' and since then has been producing across multiple genres, while also building up his hardware collection, which includes everything from vintage synths to custom modular rigs.

We caught up with Sub Focus in his north London studio to get the lowdown on how he builds his signature tracks."

Patch Notes: Maciek Polak (Pin Park)

FACTmagazine

"A live session with four VCS Synthi instruments.

Maciek Polak is a musician based in Gdańsk with a love of vintage analog gear who performs as one half of improvisation duo Pin Park. He doesn’t just make music with it – he also runs Analogia, an analog synth store and repair centre for rare electronic instruments.

When Polak got in touch with Fact to let us know that he would have his hands on four classic EMS Synthi instruments (one VCS3 and three Synthi A models) for a limited time and offered to record a live session with them and his RC-505 looper, we couldn’t say no.

Watch the session above and find Polak’s music at Bandcamp.

https://www.instagram.com/analogia.pl...
https://pinpark.bandcamp.com"

Buchla 200e - Gear Guide - Superbooth 2018

Published on May 4, 2018 FACTmagazine

"FACT was at Berlin's Superbooth to capture the latest gear action from the three-day synth celebration."

Julia Govor - Against The Clock

Published on Jan 2, 2019 FACTmagazine

"Julia Govor has lived many musical lives. Starting out as a singer in a well-known military band in Russia, she then spent time as music journalist, before ultimately settling on music production.

After many years playing underground institutions in Moscow, such as the now-closed Arma17, she made her way to New York, where she can now be found billed next to techno legends such as Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin and Sven Väth.

Even though according to Govor, 'for music, there is never enough time', we visited her Brooklyn studio to put her Against The Clock. Using just a synthesizer and a Tempest drum machine, she was able to put together a gorgeous slice of whiplash-inducing techno in just 10 minutes."

Leafcutter John - Against The Clock

Published on Apr 17, 2019 FACTmagazine

"For the past 20 years, John Burton – aka Leafcutter John – has been at the forefront of experimental composition, constructing his own technological systems out of hardware and software to make ornate, complex electronica.

Ahead of the release of his seventh album on Border Community this week, we visited Burton at his studio to see what he could create with his one-of-a-kind setup in just 10 minutes, using Max, a home-made light interface and modular system to manipulate a collection of field recordings. The result – beautiful chaos.

Yes! Come Parade With Us is released on Border Community on April 19."

Check out more posts featuring Leafcutter John here.

Watch Rival Consoles cover Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' - RE:COVER

Published on Jan 11, 2019 FACTmagazine

Featuring the DSI / Sequential Prophet Rev 2

"For RE:COVER's fourth episode, we visited Erased Tapes mainstay Rival Consoles, in his studio to capture his stunning interpretation of Kate Bush's anthemic ‘Running Up That Hill’.

Focusing on the similarities between his intricate electronica and the pop icon's unique approach to bold and emotive songwriting, the artist delivers a shimmering ambient take on the classic track.

Last year, Rival Consoles released Persona, his fifth studio album with Erased Tapes."

What to expect from KORG's new lab in Berlin

Published on Feb 25, 2020 FACTmagazine

"Tatsuya Takahashi has helped to create some of the best selling synths of the past decade, including KORG’s Volca line, Monotron and Aphex Twin-approved Monologue. This year, he’s embarking on his biggest challenge yet: heading up a Berlin-based subsidiary of KORG alongside E-RM founder Maximilian Rest.

FACT met up with Takahashi and Rest to find out more about KORG Germany and what we can expect from their new instrument lab, what the office might include and what kind of people they’re looking to hire.

To find out more about KORG Germany and to apply for a role at the company, visit https://korg.berlin/."

Patch Notes: Heinali

video by FACTmagazine

"Heinali is the alias of Ukrainian composer and sound artist Oleg Shudeiko, a musician who works extensively with modular synthesis.

On his latest album, Madrigals, he takes inspiration from the music of the Middle Ages, utilising historical instruments such as the theorbo lute and baroque alto viola alongside generative synthesis.

In this episode of Patch Notes, recorded live at Ostriv in Kyiv last year, Heinali keeps things simple, crafting a dreamy performance with a compact modular system.

Madrigals is out now on Injazero Records. Find the rest of Heinali’s music at Bandcamp.

Heinali on Bandcamp: https://heinali.bandcamp.com​
Madrigals: https://heinali.bandcamp.com/album/ma...​"

Awanto 3 - Against The Clock

Published on Jun 21, 2017 FACTmagazine

Constructing a track with an Akai MPC 2000 XL. It's interesting seeing it all come together in the end.

"Steven van Hulle aka Awanto 3 is an integral part of Amsterdam's music scene. He's a regular on the city's Rush Hour and Dekmantel labels, using his background in hip-hop, soul and disco to craft sun-drenched house music.

Following the release of his second album, Gargamel, we visited the producer at his studio in Amsterdam to see what he could make in 10 minutes. As we discovered, he's an MPC wizard, using it to sample vinyl, synths and even his own voice."

Patch Notes: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith

FACTmagazine

"Last month, West Coast composer, artist, and producer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith launched her latest album, The Mosaic of Transformation. With the world locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic, she experimented with live streaming as a way to launch the LP in lieu of being able to perform at venues.

In this episode of Patch Notes, we present an exclusive archive video of one of those live streams, which features an extended version of album highlight ‘Expanding Electricity’ performed with Buchla modules and touchplate controller alongside visuals by Sean Hellfritsch originally made for the tour.

The Mosaic of Transformation is available on now Ghostly International and can be purchased at Bandcamp. Smith also recently launched a multidisciplinary platform called Touchtheplants, which releases music and art, including a book and deck of cards called Listening. Touchtheplants is also raising money for Black Lives Matter LA with a limited edition T-shirt sale with all proceeds going to the organisation.

https://kaitlynaureliasmith.bandcamp....
https://ghostly.com/products/the-mosa...
https://www.touchtheplants.com"

Chang Rodrigues on how analog synthesis, nature and ruins inspired her live act

video by FACTmagazine

"Chang Rodrigues is a Brazilian DJ and producer based in Rio de Janeiro, whose music has explored a range of genres over the past decade, from house and techno under the name Amanda Chang to experimental electronics under her current alias.

As Chang Rodrigues’ style has evolved, so has her artistic practice, which has seen her begin to incorporate modular and semi-modular synthesisers and analog gear into her workflow with skills learned at the La Siesta del Fauno studio from veteran synthesist Ernesto Romeo in Buenos Aires.

Chang Rodrigues’ artistic philosophy isn’t just focused on the technical aspect of synthesis, but a spiritual outlook that combines her love of yoga with a close connection to the natural surroundings of her home country. In this video, she explains how this dialogue with nature and the way in which ruins connect the past to the present has inspired the latest evolvution of her sound."

Driftmachine - Against The Clock

Published on Aug 22, 2018 FACTmagazine

"Modular synths aren't as rare and unusual as they once were, but few artists can claim to have mastered them like Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer. As Driftmachine, the pair use two systems running in sync to create multilayered compositions that straddle the line between techno and drone.

The pair have a released several albums on Umor Rex over the past four years, including this year's Shunter, a deep dive into "post-industrial dub" peppered with noise and field recordings. However, as we discovered when we visited their studio for this episode of Against The Clock, they sometimes use puppets to make music too."

Voodoo can.

FACT review: ROLI Blocks

Published on Apr 17, 2018 FACTmagazine

"New innovations in hardware design are making music production easier and more accessible than it’s ever been. Spearheading this revolution is ROLI, a UK startup that has challenged perceptions of electronic interfaces with its Seaboard RISE controller, a keyboard that responds to strikes, glides, slides and lifts like an acoustic instrument.

ROLI’s latest system, Blocks, aims to take this technology to the mainstream. This modular, snap-together collection of controllers can be used to make rhythms, play notes, generate chords and add effects, either by using them with Ableton Live, GarageBand and other compatible software or with ROLI’s own mobile app, NOISE.

With the recent introduction of the Seaboard Block and updated Lightpad Block M, we decided it was the ideal time to give Blocks and NOISE a go for ourselves in the first of a new series of video reviews from FACT’s Make Music section. Are Blocks as good to make music with as they look? Watch above to find out our verdict."

Moog’s synth-filled LA bungalow, the House of Electronicus

Published on Feb 5, 2018 FACTmagazine

"Cactus-powered synths, a bed that vibrates to bass frequencies, a theremin-controlled video wall and more.

Last month, Moog transformed a bungalow in Los Angeles neighborhood Echo Park into a synth wonderland called the House of Electronicus, filled with instruments and custom-built installations. Alongside the Asheville company’s new Drummer From Another Mother semi-modular percussion synth, there was a cactus-powered synthesizer, theremin-controlled video screens and even a synth-connected bed that vibrated to different bass frequencies.

FACT visited Moog’s one-of-a-kind house to experience it first-hand, where we spoke with Moog about how it all worked and beat scene linchpin Daedelus on why the new Drummer From Another Mother could be a Moog classic in the making. Watch above, and check out FACT’s photos from the event for more visuals of the House of Electronicus.

Filmed by Jesse Orrall."

Sonar+D 2018: Google Magenta shows us its machine learning synth

Published on Jun 16, 2018 FACTmagazine

See the Google label below for more.

Barker - Against The Clock

Premiered 113 minutes ago FACTmagazine

"Against The Clock is a series where we give an artist 10 minutes in the studio and see what they come up with.

This week, we visit the Berlin studio of Ostgut Ton artist and Berghain resident Barker, whose kick drum-free techno has provided some of the best records of the past few years.

In his Against The Clock, Barker hits our pleasure centers using a version of his current live setup, which includes an Elektron Octatrack and Digitone, Nord Drum and extra plate reverb.

Barker's latest album, Utility, is out now on Ostgut Ton: https://sambarker.bandcamp.com/album/...

Filmed by: Frank Zerban"

Primary Optics: How Robert Henke used five 1980s computers to create his CBM 8032 AV show

Published on Apr 29, 2020 FACTmagazine

"Primary Optics is a series that dives into the ideas and technology behind some of the world’s most innovative audiovisual shows and artists.

In this episode, filmed at Berlin’s Radialsystem during CTM Festival 2020, FACT goes behind the scenes of CBM 8032 AV, the latest show from the mind of musician and visual artist Robert Henke, aka Monolake. The show revolves around a simple but technically challenging idea: what if you could create an audiovisual show using computers and technology from 40 years ago?

'This work is about the ambivalence between a contemporary aesthetic and the usage of obsolete and limited technology from 40 years ago,' Henke says. 'Everything presented within the project could have been done already in the 1980s, but it needed the cultural backdrop of today to come up with the artistic ideas driving it.'

The computer used by Henke for the show, the Commodore CBM 8032, was originally released in 1980. For comparison, the microchip you'd find in today's average domestic washing machine would be around 100,000 times more powerful that those inside each of the five computers Henke uses live on stage.

One is used for sequencing, one for creating visuals and three for creating sounds. Although he uses hardware effects from the era for filtering, pitch-shifting, looping and reverb, and expanded the computers' capabilities with a self-produced digital to analog converter, the sonics generated are a sparse, simple combination of sine waves, clicks, bleeps and cuts.

'The sound quality on one side is very limited, it's very rough,' Henke says. 'But exactly this kind of rough, edgy sound is something that suddenly becomes interesting because we are used to perfect sound.'

The graphics evoke a nostalgia for a more primitive age of computing, yet push the visual capabilities of the machines into a more psychedelic realm. This part of the show was developed by software engineer Anna Tskhovrebov, and required some clever hardware modification to interpret the computer’s visual data for projection.

'These machines can only display green and they can only display a limited number of graphic symbols, so in 1980 this was not seen as sufficient to do a one-hour performance' Henke says. 'Nowadays we are surrounded by virtual reality, millions of colours with unlimited channels of sound and suddenly the experience of going somewhere and watching for one hour a green screen is something special.'

Directed, filmed and edited by Pedro Küster
Produced by Scott Wilson

Special thanks to:
Robert Henke and Studio Robert Henke for their contribution and archive material
CTM Festival
All at Radialsystem, Berlin
Nai Fowler
Celia Solf and Soho House Berlin

https://roberthenke.com
https://www.ctm-festival.de/
https://radialsystem.de"

Albert van Abbe - Against The Clock

Published on Apr 25, 2018 FACTmagazine

Insane. Here is something you do not see everyday.

"Albert Van Abbe has been releasing gritty, atmospheric techno for over a decade on underground labels like Semantica and his own No Comment imprint, so we figured he'd know his way around a synth well enough to make a track in 10 minutes for our Against The Clock series.

However, we were completely unprepared for what we got when we caught up with him at the Willem Twee studios in the Dutch city of 's-Hertogenbosch. There, he opted to make his track on a giant wall of oscilloscopes, pulse generators and filters from the 1950s and '60s along with an ARP 2500. Eurorack this is not."

Fact Live: Paranoid London

FACTmagazine

"The third in our new series of live sessions filmed behind closed doors by Fact at 180 The Strand is a cathartic set of raw acid house and techno from Paranoid London, the hardware-heavy project of Quinn Whalley and Gerardo Delgado.

When Paranoid London first emerged in 2007, their music provided a gritty counterpoint to the European minimal sounds and disco edits that proliferated at the time, and their vinyl-only releases gained them underground success at a time when the format was in decline.

In the 13 years since, the project has been host to a rotating cast of guest vocalists, including A Certain Ratio’s Simon Topping, Arthur Baker, Josh Caffe and the late trans activist and DJ, Bubbles Bubblesynski. On this performance they’re joined by regular collaborator Mutado Pintado with visuals by Bob Jaroc.

Classic drum machines and synths such as the Roland TR-808, TR-909 and SH-101 lie at the heart of their setup, with acid lines provided by the Cyclone Analogic TT-303 Bass Bot. Effects come from a host of cheap Korg Monotron Delay units, which slather vocals and synths in a grimy echo.

Paranoid London’s latest album, 2019’s PL, is available now. You can find the rest of their catalogue, including their ongoing series of edits, at Bandcamp."

FACT review: Roland TR-8S

Published on May 20, 2018 FACTmagazine

"In 2014, Roland released the TR-8 drum machine, a continuation of the legacy of the classic TR-808 and 909 devices that defined hip-hop, house and techno. Lots of musicians loved the TR-8 for its faithful drum sounds and hands-on control, but there was plenty of room for improvement.

Enter the TR-8S, Roland's latest entry into the mid-range drum machine market. It does everything the TR-8 does with a few key additions, such as an increased pattern memory, the inclusion of more classic Roland drum sounds out of the box and the ability to upload your own samples.

Of course, with these extra features comes an increase in price: $200 up to $699, to be exact. So is it worth upgrading? In the latest video review from FACT’s Make Music, we put the TR-8S through its paces to find out."