TERJE
Hi Andy, may the nerd be with you and congratulations with your album that´s coming out 28th nov.  It´s entitled Monophonic volume 1 and each title says what synth you’ve used to create the track.
So, no cheating? No other sounds than the stated synth? Or did you nick a kick from the “best of super funky house ibiza 2011″ sample pack?

ANDY
Ha! No cheating, not even tempted.  I have wanted to do this album for so long and so nothing was going to detract me from the purity of my objective.
Making Monophonic was me nerding myself off big time. The only external processing I used was the resonator input on the Polymoog and a Small Stone Phaser.

TERJE
That´s indeed nerdy, welcome to the gang! I have to say, this album sounds unmistakably you. I always thought the fantastic Emperor Machine leads sounds were your EMS VCS3 synth,
but looks like you know how to get a great lead from anything. Which sounds were the most difficult to make?

ANDY
None really, I spend hours and hours on these synths every day and I can get the sounds I want really quickly.
Saying that, the VCS3 does sometimes take me longer. It’s a wonderful machine but mine tends to drift in and out of tune at will. It can add to the soundscape but it can also make me want to chuck it out the window! Idle threat!

TERJE
How did you record this? Everything is obviously in sync and I guess you didn’t record it live by playing 10 different VCS3s played with 1 finger on each…?

ANDY
I used Logic 9 on a laptop, an IMac & my MPC300.
The way I did it was to start creating drum sounds first, sometimes sample them straight into the MPC and then record a basic pattern in Logic with the drums and then spend a day or so fiddling and recording loads of riffs.
Usually I reckon 3 days worth of ideas per synth and then move on to another synth before boredom sets in.
For me I like to have more than enough ideas for each track and then come back to the track and sort out all the sounds I like best and trash the rest… bit of a clean up session.
Lastly I replay all the drum patterns because the first ones are usually crap guide patterns.
Probably all in all a week per track, all played live and no quantizing.
For anything that needed syncing (e.g. white noise hi hats) I used a clock off a Doepfer MCV24 or a Kenton Pro 2.
Also if I did own ten different VCS3s I really would disappear (further) up my own vintage arse.

TERJE
Today this seems like a pretty novel approach, but back in the 70s this must’ve been cutting edge technology. Do you know if there were lots of producers using synths to make sounds this way?

ANDY
Well there are millions of Moog demonstration LPs but most of them use live drums.
I bought a few ARP demonstration LPs but one of my favourite albums I sometimes play while re-wiring my studio is by Mort Garson called Electronic Hair Pieces. I think it´s mostly Moog again but with the Moog being used to create the drums.

TERJE
Aah, this is fantastic! Do you have any idea on how they did this? If all the sounds were recorded simultaneously, they must´ve had one crazy setup. Or did they have the possibility to record multiple layers in sync that early?
I read somewhere that Giorgio Moroder´s engineer “invented” synth syncing with I Feel Love by recording a click to tape and using that click to trigger the envelopes for each new take, but that wasn´t until 1977.

ANDY
Well in the the late 60s there were at least 8 track recorders available that were being used in studios so multi tracking wasn’t hard work.
A way to sync to tape would have been a sync pulse that would control the speed of playback through the use of an external device.
Also the idea of a click track was being used a few years back in film scores but yes it was Robbie Wedel who helped Giorgio Moroder lock in the Moog to tape.

Another way of making loops or notes or music without a sequencer was done by splicing together & making tape loops. The longer the length, the longer the sequence.
The way to do that was to determine the timing and the tempo of the track, the tempo would need to correspond to a certain number of centimeters and millimetres.
E.g., a quarter note equals a certain length, a half-note was double the quarter, a full-note would be four times, an eighth-note would be half. Generating the different pitches and tones would be done by using the vary speed on the tape recorder.
Clever stuff eh! It’s just a sampler for us.

TERJE
And what about more modern ones like Patrick Cowley or other disco producers? Claps and snares are quite common, but have you heard other producers from that time that made f.i. kick drums from synths?

ANDY
Well apart from Moroder with the System 700 and the Moog I suppose Kraftwerk with Trans Europe Express is another one.
I would have thought Patrick Cowley did kick drums as well, seeing as he was influenced by the above. Menergy sounds like it could of been done that way.
Also Human League’s “Empire State Human” (1979) was a System 100 kick drum.

TERJE
Any plans of a live show? If so, how high will the insurance be?

ANDY
I loved the live shows that I did last year, or was it the year before? I couldn’t take all the synths on the road but my solution was to pre-programme/sample the sounds/riffs into drum pads. This enabled me to get a live feel and re-produce the sound of the Emperor Machine.
Probably if I toured Monophonic I would definitely pre-programme most riffs into drum pads and take some of my less valuable and more transportable (and replaceable) synths on the road.
The only two things that I can remember that stopped me taking out more synths on the E.M. gigs were weight at airports and the lack of a hairy roadie. As for insurance god knows…
You know if someone said to me Ok Andy we want you to take the Monophonic LP on the road and pay you lots and lots of money and even insure all synths AND have a hairy road crew I might think about it.
The last load of Emperor Machine gigs I did I came back with really bad tinitus and two synths literally fell to bits in their flight cases, a Moog Prodigy & a Pro Mars, almost as if the baggage handlers were throwing the flight cases onto the plane, they don’t do that do they?

TERJE
Ouch… Ok, soundclip time:

Andy Meecham – Oberheim Sem

TERJE
The Oberheim SEM track sounds yay! Old or new SEM? Any difference between the 2?

ANDY
Old SEM. Aren’t there 3 versions of the new SEM?

TERJE
No idea.

ANDY
I haven’t played with any of the the new ones but I read a review that mr.Oberheim states they’re all 100% analog.
Mine is really battered and at some point in it´s life it was modded with a patch panel at the front, unlike one of the new ones with the panel at the side on top.
Everybody needs a SEM! “Just for the filter”.

TERJE
How much time and money do you spend on repairing your babies? Wouldn’t it be nice to sell all your synths to buy a private jet instead?

ANDY
Nice opportunity for me to mention James Walker of Synth Repair Services. The man is actually very fair and bloody good. You will find him, and many many people do,
hiding in a workshop near Stoke on Trent. The most I have spent on repairing one synth is around £500 – it was a Polymoog I bought for about £500, one recently went for sale on Sphere auction for around £1500 – so that’s ok.
As for the jet, if I´m honest I don’t like flying that much. I always have to get drunk first.

TERJE
When is Monophonic Vol 2 coming and what synths are you going to use?

ANDY
Monophonic Nerd session Vol 2 has been started, confirmed (working) synths so far are:
Moog Minimoog
Moog Multimoog
Oberheim 2 Voice
Arp 2600
Arp Omni
Roland SH9 X2

TERJE
What, no Roland System 700??

ANDY
No, I decided it deserves a whole album to itself.
I have already got some sequences I recorded with it that I could develop more but it’s too much of a monster to only record one track with. It has to be an album!
More to add to this list once they have been properly fixed! Or maybe I should make an LP of synth samples/noises called “Broken Monophonic”..?

TERJE
Finally, which of all these synths would be your desert island pick?”

ANDY
It´s neck & neck between the VCS3 & the System 100.
If I had to choose I think the System 100 because it has a great sequencer & it´s semi modular & if ever I´m bored I can always make the “being boiled” drum pattern.
Doing that always makes me smile.

TERJE
And if you´re really really bored, you could just fly back home. It´s obviously a space ship in disguise.

ANDY MEECHAM’s  “Monophonic volume 1″ is coming out on Nang/Control Room 28th november 2011. Cz-cz-czech it out!

TERJE:
Hi Morgan. Let us embrace the nerd in us. First of all, what kind of program or hardware do you use to produce music?

MG:
I use a combination of sequencers and Digital Performer. I don’t want to endorse Digital Performer because it’s a total pain in the ass. It’s a piece of shit in many, many ways and MOTU made some moronic decisions as they “evolved” it, sort of like how American car manufacturers used to change completely unnecessary things with each model year just so they’d have something to advertise. I just have been using it in one form or another since 1991, so it’s habit.

TERJE:
When I think of Environ, I think of old analogue synthesizers and drum machines, I guess you use quite a lot of the real stuff?

MG:
Yep.

TERJE:
Long live recordings or short cut´n´paste samples?

MG:
If I had to choose one, I’d say long live recordings – of course, these can be long recordings of short cut-n-paste samples! Like how I did that? There’s something nice about a drum machine or sampler running as opposed to retriggering an event (like a sample or soundbite) in today’s high-resolution software. I used to think samplers just played events but, maybe because of the inherent shit resolution of MIDI, sometimes there’s a little slop that can either suck or be charming. When nice, it adds a tiny bit of imperfection that keeps us from falling into a deep Abletonian sleep. I guess I’m thinking of sampling drum machines like the SP12. Mostly, MIDI sucks and enhances nothing.

TERJE:
Do you prefer to sync everything for a multitrack recording, or do you just insert every part into your project without necessarily everything being in time?

MG:
If you use tape, I guess you have to get it right beforehand. I’ve also found over the years that there is no substitute for just getting things right going in, and that includes timing, especially if you’re using a live player, singer, or non-recallable instrument or signal path. It’s far easier to capture a nice performance than have to futz around with everything later.

For better or worse, I record with a computer, not tape, so to answer your question: it depends on the song. It also depends on the quality of the sync available. Syncs can differ radically in quality – if you don’t believe me, try triggering from audio or analog versus MIDI. The main thing is to use your ears and your body’s response to the music. Electronic musicians in particular have a bad habit of relying on technology instead of their ears, or not paying enough attention to whether a groove (or pitch, or phase) is making their body tense because it’s off. Today, you can slide shit around in time in your computer, and I do this all the time. But it can mess things up, too, so save often if you’re not sure about what you’re doing.

If you REALLY don’t know what you’re doing, there’s always Ableton and thousands of people who like dancing to the sound of quantized dripping.

TERJE:
Ok. I´ve read somewhere that the 808 rhythms aren´t 100% straight, and that this is allegedly part of the magic. Are the “flaws” random or have they been designed to appear in a certain pattern? Could I do the same thing in Cubase just randomizing small errors in the 16ths? Please shed some light, it’s so dark.

MG:
To be honest, I’ve heard that too, but it makes no sense to me, because I’ve accidentally started patterns on step 2 in the 808 and it’ll sound the same as starting it on step 1. If things aren’t “straight,” meaning they swing, that just means every other 16th is slid back or forwards – so the beat should change radically whether you start it on an even or off 16th note. Or maybe my logic is off? My math is probably at the 3rd grade level, and that’s in the Americun Public Skool Systim.

TERJE:
Favourite drum machine?

MG:
Probably the 808, even though I’m sick of it. It’s just our history, you know. I remember the day I found it in New Jersey, maybe 17 years ago. I was nearly crashing my car because I kept turning around to gaze at it in the back seat. I couldn’t believe I had finally found one! And yes, I had lost my virginity by then, so no jokes. And I mean, like, with a girl.

TERJE:
Favourite tracks using the 808? (Mine is perhaps Mark Kamins’ remix of “Love Tempo” by Quando Quango and/or every R.D.Burman acid bollywood track)

MG:
“Love Tempo” is good. There are too many to pick one. I think early hip-hop and “electro”/bass music was pretty big for me. Miami stuff, Techno Hop records, commercial stuff like “Radio” by LL Cool J and even Beastie Boys stuff was important. “Sexual Healing” is great. 808 State. Freestyle! Severed Heads. Everything. God, I even bought an awful Nine Inch Nails record (“Down In It”) because I heard an 808 in the little break. It’s funny, the 808 has made me buy so many records, even ones I didn’t like.

TERJE:
All time favourite synth (stranded on a deserted island choice)?

MG:
Probably the Juno 106, even though I’m sick of it. I’m defining “favorite” by what gets used the most, not by what I want to answer, which is of course the Koshertronics 7D Modular with the custom Trayf Modulator.

TERJE:
You have a Supiter (Roland MKS-80 aka Super Duper Jupiter), is it totally super awesome?

MG:
I’ve been cheating on the 106 with it. I refuse to read manuals and totally find the “Patch” setting unpredictable. The 127-step zippering of the programmer sucks balls. However, the synth sounds really nice. Oh, and I kick it at least once a day because it stops responding to MIDI. A kick always works (seriously – even restarting it doesn’t). I could just fix the DIN jack connecting the programmer to it, but kicking a $2000 synth is fun, plus it’s in a low rack space and I have a bad back. I kick gently.

TERJE:
Why aren’t more girls into synths?

MG:
I don’t know, but it doesn’t concern me in the least ever since I saw this video:

TERJE:
Who should I bother next? I’ve heard you’re sitting on a interview of Patrick Adams? Would LOVE to read that!

MG:
I want you to interview the guy in that video.

EPILOGUE (Terje) tried to check the accuracy of a classic 808 beat: Nairobi´s “Soul Makossa”. I recorded a few bars, guessed the tempo to be 118.25 and laid the audio out in Cubase. Screenshots show that the 16ths are never exactly on grid, some are before, some are after. The deviation isn´t much at any point, but it´s there. This was boring, I should´ve done some actual work instead…

TERJE
First question is, how do you record your drums? Can you teach me? I wanna set up a kick/snare/hihat/2tom set in a small room, it´s got wooden floor and no damping on the walls. How do I get this to sound ok? I´ve read somewhere that you have a quite basic approach to this. Please do tell, o oracle of nice sounding drums. Preamps?

JAMES
For some DFA drums:
It’s simple, but not so simple. Firstly, I like to “deaden” the room quite a bit. I put blankets up on the walls and stuff. And maybe something blocking the drums from the rest of the room with a big duvet on it, to make the reflections less. Then, listen standing in front of the drums when someone plays… Is there a lot of “low mid range”? If so, put something like a plush chair near the kit. Then, I like to make a “kick drum hut”. My favorite thing is to put a piano bench right in front of the kick. That way i can keep the mic on the kick outside the drum while still getting less bleed. Then, take the bottom heads off the toms and deaden them with some fabric gaffer’s tape and small squares of neoprene mouse pad. So they go “thud” instead of “booooongggg”.

For mics, I like to use nice nice nice mics. Me? Kick and snare are Neuman TLM 193s. Medium sized condensors. You can get away with an Equitek e100 for a cheap alternative. Snare top and bottom (with the bottom out of phase). Toms, I use very fast medium diaphragm mics – -EV RE2000s. With a slow pre-amp, like the built in pres on my Otari MX5050Bll 2-track. Overheads, I like something nice, like some Schoepps, or AKG 451s, more over the snare than the cymbals. Then, I make a “beatle sound” as well…  which is a pair of old ribbon mics…  RCA bk5s or Coles 4038s…  One, mono, just over the kit — between the overheads. The other in front of the kick. I get a tape measure and make them both the same distance from where the beater hits the kick drum head. Those 2 mics I mix together as an “image” of the kit. The other mics are like the “disco” sound — tight and dead — and the ribbons are like the “soul” sound. And you can mix them together.
Setting the mic pres….  I run drum pres VERY VERY cold… Low input. As low as possible. So that there’s tons of un-distorted headroom. That way the ring and room and cymbal noise isn’t too loud. People tend to record drums “hot”, which is why they suck. If you record drums “hot”, they should be one or 2 mics at most. You can cook the ribbons, for example, but nothing else. I like UA 610s with the eq on them, no compression. I tend to lift the highs a bit when I print so that they have a nice disco snap. The ribbons I run thru an old Altec tube mixer.
That’s the drums, I guess…

TERJE
Can you please explain to me what a “word clock” is? You showed me at least 3 boxes of word clocks in your word clock closet the last time. Is this something I need to worry about, or can I be happy without knowing?

JAMES
Oh…  Right…  It’s the thing that makes sure the digital info all lines up. Each bit of sound info is like a picture. If you think of an image as
pixels, and the image you look at has 300 pixels, and so does the screen you’re using, it’s very critical that the pixels line up… otherwise, each screen pixel will be an averaging of 4 other pixels, making the resolution much shittier. That’s what happens on cheap digital audio. There’s a noticeable “flatness” that you don’t get with analog. No “depth”. That’s from the digital info being translated sloppily. The word clock is the thing that, 48,000 times a second, in 24 places, lines up all those little samples. Not a sexy job, but a critical and difficult one. So WCs tend to be both expensive and ignored. But that’s why so many tracks you get sent in MP3 form as promo sound “good” on your laptop, but then you get the vinyl, and they basically sound the same. Not very deep or interesting. They just sit there, like MP3s, Even though it’s vinyl. And so you say to yourself “well, why bother playing the vinyl”. It’s the in-the-computer-mix disease.

TERJE
What´s the best compression setting EVAR? Would life be easier if I studied lots of compression theory?

JAMES
Shit — that depends. I like playing with stuff that sounds awesome. I have some invisible compressors that are amazing, but not exciting, and I have ones with real “sound”. I use a DBX 165 VU (old, black faced VCA
compressor) and an original Teletronix LA2A for vocals. Also Purple Audio copy of an 1176 on tons of other shit. Fuck around.

TERJE
I hear you´re no enemy of VSTs, anything recommendable?

JAMES
Not a single thing. Though that shitty “mic modeller” thing was good. Not for “modelling mics”, but it had a “proximity” setting that I thought was great for bass guitar. There’s a logarithm for the curve and shape of low frequencies based on proximity that you can’t replicate with a typical eq (and it’s often the thing that “fixes” low end) that this plug in did quite well. Otherwise I use the gates on the computer (because they can look ahead) and that’s about it.

TERJE
Have you thought of constructing your own gear? If so, what?

JAMES
Yes! We make monitors now, which I use in the studio. We’re working on a pre-amp and a DJ mixer (that’s almost done…  totally amazing sounding… really).

TERJE
What are your 5 most favorite synths?

JAMES
Shit.

EMS synthi A or VCS3

Yamaha CS60 (or 50, or 80)

Moog Taurus ll

Korg Poly Ensemble

TERJE
Synth/effects/thing that´s highest on your wantlist?

JAMES
Some big Oberheim.

TERJE
Who should I interview next?

JAMES
Hmm… Morgan Geist?

TERJE
Okley dokley. Thanks!

Okidok, let´s go.