Everybody Wants to be a DJ

Arguably the most overrated profession in the world, the DJ is another word to describe someone who is basically unemployed. I sold my turntables some years back after realizing that it was no longer fun to play other people's music, and that for one to push himself creatively, he must create, he must produce. Shortly after selling two of my three turntables (I keep one for sampling records), i jumped into the dazzling world of production. Ever since moving to Hong Kong some years back, my studio has been confined to a small dusty corner in my mom's basement back at the house i grew up in. I would do anything to ship all the hardware back to Asia, but due to the limited real estate space i have in my room, i'm better off utilizing music software in my computer as a tool rather than a hardware synthesizer.

My Access Virus KC (that needs dusting)


Red keyboard is the amazing Nord Lead 2X and in the front is the vintage Roland TR-909 drum machine


The top rack is my beloved patchbay (shown without the patchwires). The next rack is my MOTU 828 audio interface. This is the single most important piece of equipment. It basically serves as the recording soundcard, where the signal is then fed directly into my sequencer, Cubase SX in the Mac for recording. Next up is the my MOTU Midi Express 128 which connects all my hardware synthesizers, drum machines, midi controllers into one unit. The third rack is a TC Electronics reverb unit to breathe more life into the TR-909's drum kicks and snares. It is also amazing if you run a synthesizer right through it and mess around with the settings. The last rack in the box is a TC Electronics M-One compressor unit. This may sound like Egyptian to you, but its there to compress the signal. Simply put, whenever you are running a 16 track sequence in your mix, there tends to be "mudiness" in the song as the different signals compete with each other. Compression (and lots of EQ'ing) tend to fix this problem. Compression is best used in dance music mainly on the drums. If u listen closely to a 4/4 signature dance song, when the drums get cut out of a mix, you will notice that everything else becomes slightly louder. When the drums kick in again, everything else becomes softer giving way for the drums to sit nicely in the mix. You can also notice this the next time you turn on your radio station and listen to the host of a show speak. When you hear his voice cut into the mix, whatever music was playing in the background will automatically sound softer in the background. This is compression ladies and gentleman.


Another closeup shot of the legendary Roland TR-909 drum machine



Looking at these pictures really make me sad. There is something different about using analogue equipment, as opposed to the newer generation of digital software technology. Clicking on a mouse on the screen is not quite the same as listening to the sound you are hearing blasting out of the speaker monitors and playing with knobs on the keyboard. I miss my gear!!!