wire to the ear

Wire to the Ear takes you to Jomox. from wiretotheear on Vimeo.

Last week I decided to buy a Jomox Mbase 01. It’s a 100% analog kick drum module. It gives you kicks that range from a small click to complete bass insanity. It can convincing do any 909 or 808 kick drums plus many more variations. Honestly it’s the best kick drum I ever heard. I will be doing another post with samples and a full review. Take it from someone who performs live every weekend: having a killer perfect kick drum is vital!

My first go to place for all things analog boutique is Schnieder’s Buero and since I already have a Vermona DRM1 MKIII on order with them I thought I would just add the Mbase onto the order. Unfortunately they said they were out of MBase’s and didn’t know when new ones were coming in. Next I walked over to Sound & Drumland and they told me it would be about a month. A month? Come on man! I have money there must be a way right?

So I did what any American born capitalist would do and emailed the manufacturer direct. Just a few minutes later Jürgen Michaelis the owner and producer of all the Jomox products emailed me back saying he had one left and I could pick it up from him. I knew if I was going to Jomox I had to bring my camera.

I got on my bicycle (it’s the best way to get around Berlin) and made my way to Neukolin to Jomox headquarters. What I did not expect was Jürgen being so open and friendly. He could see I was seriously interested in what was going on and he put aside a good hour of his day to show me his workshop and toys. I’m very pleased to be able to show you the video above.

Do you see that Mbase 01 he signed? That one is mine!

Here are a few bullet points I picked up from my conversation with Jurgen Michaelis:

• He once worked at Sound & Drumland.
• He repaired Roland TR-909s at a place called Xtended which still exists.
• Because he did repairs for the Roland drum machine he had access to the papers and could design his own machines (the Xbase line) when Roland decided not to compete in the Analog space.
• Roland has never shown any ill will to the Jomox line.
• He personally took a trip to Taiwan to find a manufacturing plant for Jomox products.
• He hand tests every Jomox product still.
• The metal work comes from within Germany.
• He doesn’t listen to much electronic music (I did give him my album though!).
• He is thinking about moving to America someday.
• He did tell me what he is working on next but I can’t tell you (sorry!).

Besides the video I took a few still photos. Check them out: click here

Cihan Kaan is a Brooklyn native who in the early ninety’s made a ton of underground electronic music under the name 8Bit. In fact as he will tell you he’s the original 8bit. Last week I was chatting with Cihan and he mentioned he recently performed live in the online game Second Life. When he told me he made money I knew I had to interview him for Wire to the Ear.

You grew up in Brooklyn saw the rise of techno take place just blocks away from your house with Frankie Bones, Groove Records and the Storm Raves. Tell us in brief your interaction with the “scene” as it was called! Who were some of your friends and what were you guys all doing?

Yea, everyone lived within a two mile radius of each other, Sheepshead Bay/Canarsie/Marine Park/Avenue U. Lenny Dee of Industrial Strength Records had barbeques at his mom’s place (now a russian health insurance fraud clinic) with all the acts on his label so I was there as much as I could be without being invited, hehehe. Frankie and Adam were over on the west end of Avenue U and I had street beef with the west end Avenue U Boys (AUB) so I couldn’t really stretch over there too much without threat of escalating my beef (in a nutshell, my best friends brother was Avenue U East Side crew leader who was missing so ppl thought I had some connection to that). Heather Heart was making the Under One Sky zine and lived the closest to me and on any day you would see her wandering Neck Road with a tb-303, hunched over walking home. Thats a clear image for me because I was a drugstore delivery boy and I would see Heather all the time walking around with some vintage acid toy. Most of my crew was the “younger” lot of rave kids, so although I was one of the first promoters of Storm Rave I was primarily converting skaters and punks to the new rave scene of the time. There was never a full acceptance into the older generation of techno ppl, most of the kids I brought in were still wide-eyed about techno and there was a sense that this optimism made you less of a hardcore head. I don’t think that was true. After the Storm we all became NASA elite and I remember Moby performing every week. One night me and Moby talked about my new demo I was pimping around on Cassette (the OHMZ cassete) and he wanted to meet after his show, but that night my bag of tapes got stolen so the transfer never happened. Later in the night I was depressed in the chillout room and Ernie (a kid who ran around with an Ernie doll on his neck) found the bag, but it was too late. Around that time I hooked up with Super Mario who was starting a hardcore label with Joey Jupiter of Atomic Babies and put out my first 8Bit record Tweeked, which he took privilege to completely cut apart to make DJ Friendly. That record actually is mostly all that red box you gave me along with the Oberheim you also gave me. The 707 I bought from the buy-n-sell for $50, and the Amiga I used for samples obviously was left over from before the scene. After Tweeked came out (it was a white 7″), Curious George and Deitrich Shoenemann from Prototype 909, hooked me up with job at Moby’s old label Instinct and I packed his records in boxes all summer. I hope that answers your question, I’m really flying over lots of details and probably forgetting lots of people along the way.

Tell us a few of the most memorable events (dare I say Raves?) or nightclubs from back then.

The Storm Rave in ‘93 the warehouse in Shaolin was like the Thunderdome scene in Mad Max; burning cars, people dancing on rusty metal barrels. It’s a root memory I have I always mine from when I’m making a track. Frankie screaming into the mic that we were future. Never seen party like that since. Also, remember we had no style back than, so for the most part it was a diverse set of kids (not yet called ravers) all gathered listening to this new future music. It wasn’t a poseur thing at all — in all these academic papers on the rave scene I read about, people seem to forget that techno really emerged as a movement, not a style. It was Dinkins’ New York when you were still allowed to break in to places and bring in Speakers and equipment. Storm raves were always great parties but other events that stood out were the outlaw parties thrown around the neighborhood, the Gerritsen Beach swamp parties were nuts, not only could i ride my bike to the party, but everyone would be there and the music was insane, all in a swamp marsh. I tried to recreate that in the scene in “Refuse to Fight” when the crew is staring into the fire, the video I directed for Frankie. Seems like parties were all over back than, under the highway, under the bridge, whereever we had access to a dark spot with concrete around.

Darker memories come later when I was too hopped up on psycedelics particularly at NASA, one night I lost my mind and the beats sounded like machinations from Hell and I thought the dancefloor was a shark infested pool. I actually leapt into my boy Evan’s chest trying to get some of his positive “E” vibes. Of course that didnt work and I quickly fell into a fear and loathing type of head and pulled a blade out on the guards who were trying to quell me (I was trying to jump into Dante’s chest, Scotto’s chest, etc). They threw me out and all i remember from there is walking around in the winter on the west side of manhattan with my clothes ripped off.

Since this interview is for a music tech blog let’s talk gear. Compare how you made music in 1994 to 2007. What was your computer set up then vs. now? Read “8bit interview. Music from Brooklyn and Second Life.”

Qoob.tv is an Italian video website that partners with MTV Europe. It has it’s own internet shows and networks and it also allows users to upload content. One of the gems on the site is an in house show called Tech Stuff. They have produced ten excellent electronic music related videos.

Some of the subjects covered so far include a visit to Jomox in Berlin, Sherman Filter, Moog Music, Analog Synthesis, Theremins and more. The videos are all well produced and worth a visit.

Tech Stuff is a documentary of 10 x 4 mins episodes on the techniques, the artists and the most bizarre instruments which have made the history of electronic music. Why is it that bands such as Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk use equipment from more than 30 years ago? What are Theremin, Moog and generative music? How does a filter work? How is sound digitalised? Who were Robert Moog and Lev Termen? Did electronic music already exist in the 1920s? How is a vinyl record pressed? And what about the future? These and many more questions find their answer in Tech Stuff, with rare footage, performance excerpts and interviews made to appease the needs of the International sound enthusiasts. - Tech Stuff, qoob.tv

Here is the 5 minute Jomox video interview with founder Jürgen Michaelis. In the video he mentions they still have a shop open in Berlin. I’m going to have to make a trip over there as soon!

There is a company in New York called Voxonic and they are doing something that completely blows my mind. They can take a vocal track from a song and change the audio into a new language. For example, the vocals from a English hip hop track can be made into French or Spanish in the artists original voice. The artist does not have to re-sing the song or know the foreign language! The results are amazing believable.

Take a listen to this clip “French/English/Chinese”:

I came across this company while listening to an interview with Arie Deutsch the Co-founder of the company on NPR.org. I highly recommend taking a listen. During the interview they play several more audio examples including Bill Clinton’s inaugural speech translated into Spanish: click here

Voxonic has developed proprietary patent-pending software, which transforms voices, making it possible to replicate any person’s voice in any language. Voxonic applies its “Voice Models” to transform speech from one person to another. All we need is a one-time, fifteen-minute sample of your voice. With that we will be able to present you saying what you want in the language of your choice. - Voxonic.com

For me this is one of those “wow they can do this now” moments. Imagine this technology built into your DAW? Another amazing fact from the interview is that Mr. Deutsch says the processing happens quickly in about the length of the source. So could this mean with a much faster computer we are approaching real time language translation? Voll giel!

Covenant is one of the best known electronic bands from Sweden. Since the early 1990s they have sold a huge amount albums. I recently caught up with the lead singer Eskil in Berlin and asked him a few questions about songwriting, studio techniques, fashion and gear.

When you write a song do you work on the lyrics or music first?

Neither! We usually start with a sound, noise or the idea of a song. Then the melodies pop up as I start working on it while Joakim is starting up his lyrics engine.

Do you have any preferences when it come to a microphone and mic-pre for your voice?

Yes. When we did “Northern light” with long-time Rammstein producer Jacob Hellner we tried a bunch of different microphones and pre-amps, Neumann and stuff, but what we finally picked was a copy by Soundelux Inc of an all time classic: Telefunken Ela-M 251. The Universal Audio 6175 is a good companion and pre-amp.

Is there any software, plug-ins or special effects you particularly like on your voice?

I used to love to put a subtle chorus from an old Roland unit but these days I try more to get the sound directly from my vocals and the mic rather than tweaking it.

How about sequencing? Ableton Live? Pro-tools? Or something else?

Yeah, we’re Steinberg users since Atari 1040ST. Before that we had a sequencer and before that we played everything manually, even live! So we have earned our sequencer so to speak. We were 5 guys and having fun.

I know you own a Moog Voyager. What other key hardware pieces do you use and enjoy?

Hm, I like my microphone, but the Waldorfs (Q, XT & Pulse) still sound like friends I like to know. And Joakim likes to surround himself with red synthesizers from that Swedish company. I love the computer.

What is the secret to writing a great song?

There is no secret, just listen to yourself. Some basic knowledge of structure helps but actually I sometimes feel the music is just passing through me and its up to me to use my craftsmanship to make the best of it. Maybe as a musician you are more of a talented receiver picking up signals than the creator of them. But I also devour popular culture output, maybe that helps.

You are always dressed quite well! Do you have a favorite fashion designer?

I like shoes, with decent shoes you could even wear jeans (I dont have any) but no shorts please. And I like hats. Church’s and Borsalino, way to go.

What is some music your are currently listening to?

Field recordings and drones without rhythm or melodies. This is a gem caught in the web: www.touchradio.org.uk

What are 3 great websites you check often?

BBC, wiki, industrial.org and whc.unesco.org as a bonus site.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We just completed one of the greatest DVDs known to the industrialized mankind. Do us a favor and check it up: In Transit by Covenant. See you around, take care and control. Eskil: www.covenant.se

Sometimes in life you have to wait. I was reminded of that on Friday when I showed up to record some voice overs for a mobile phone company. It turned out my appointment at 4pm was also twenty other people’s exact time slot and they were only recording one at a time! Normally, I would have walked, but I spotted the cover of a book that looked interesting on the table in the waiting room.

“Making Tracks: Unique Recording Studio Environments” is a 208 page hard cover coffee book with photos of one of a kind, unusual recording studios. We are not talking bedroom studios. These are multi-million dollar facilities on beaches, mountains, vineyards, etc…

The Interviews are great, discussing how people arrived at the designs, what the use of the space is about, personal journeys, and more. I highly recommend this book and have enjoyed reading it.” - Tape Op Magazine

Unlike so many of the available studio coffee table books, Making Tracks has that high quality, hard cover, colorful coffee table style quality, with tons of photography and in-depth interviews with each subject. This book is very easy to pick up when you have five minutes to kill, or sit with for a good hour.” - Pro Sound News

I own a few coffee table books including Supercade and Digital Retro which I also recommend. One good thing about the “Making Tracks….” is it’s from 2006 and you can get it at Amazon for $32. Highly recommended.

Synthesizer fans have been coming across photos of your Analog Miniature collections on the internet. In fact your set on flickr.com has been viewed over 80,000 times. What inspired you to make these?

Well I’ve always been interested in human/machine interfaces and I think analogue synths and equipment are quite exciting visually because of all the knobs and sliders (usually one control for every function). I always wanted to design a synth but lacked the skills and resources, and making small models was something I could do. As far as I was aware nobody had built miniature synths before. I was already building small sculptures out of framing mattboards so this seemed like a logical step.

How long does it take you to make one?

Generally I’ll spend 2 to 3 days on each model, but I’m a perfectionist so if something isn’t right I will always redo it.

The photography of the miniatures is an art in itself. Do you have any comments about that? Are you a camera, lighting or Photoshop geek?

All of the above. I use a Nikon D-80 and a couple of speedlights. All of my diffusers and snoots have been constructed from cardboard and copy paper, so it is very much photography on the cheap. I love the process of setting up a photographic composition, but I still don’t see myself as a professional photographer.

Are the Miniatures your most popular work? Did that surprise you?

Absolutely. I had no idea they would appeal to anyone outside of the synth community.

I see your miniatures have found there way onto Steven Jansen’s CD cover. Are there other commercial places the Miniatures can be found?

Well I’ve done a couple of CD covers. The Moog Acid record is the other major one. I was delighted to be involved with that because I’m a big fan of the artists (Jean Jacques Perrey and Luke Vibert) and I think Non-Format also did a terrific job with the sleeve design (link). I also produced some work for a compilation on Canadian label Do Right! Music (link). There are a few other commercial projects featuring the miniatures which should see the light of day soon.

Can anyone buy one of your Miniatures? Read “Interview with Dan McPharlin. Analog Miniatures.”

I had the pleasure of using a Macbeth Studio System’s M5. Some people compare it to an ARP 2600. It does have a similar layout although I personally found the sound to be also Moog-ish. Have you used one? What are your thoughts?

I have checked out the M5 a couple of times now. I first saw it at MusikMesse in Frankfurt a couple of years ago, and after getting to play with it unfettered, I had the pleasure of meeting it’s creator Ken Macbeth. I found the instrument to be built of very high quality and the sound quality was exceptional, however, I felt the filter was not very similar to that of the ARP 2600. People may compare it to the 2600, and as far as the layout goes, it is somewhat similar making it easy for me to navigate, however, the sounds that the M5 produces are all it’s own IMHO.

I really like it.

I am looking forward to seeing the M5 and Ken again at the NAMM show.

What makes the TimewARP 2600 different from the Arturia ARP2600 V?

I believe that the TimewARP 2600 sounds much more like a real ARP 2600 than any other virtual synth on the market. This belief has been confirmed by many very notable users of ARP 2600s. Our emulation is sample accurate in all respects and models the original circuits of the ARP 2600 where ever possible. One area that TimewARP 2600 stands apart from other products is in the area of audio frequency modulation. You can take any audio source on the TimewARP 2600 and route it to an CV input and get the behavior that you would expect if you were to do that on a real ARP 2600 across the full frequency range of the component. I have not seen this in other virtual instruments. This feature is how many famous ARP 2600 sounds are created.

Will there be more features added to the TimewARP 2600? A sequencer for example?

I would love to expand the TimewARP 2600 to include a sequencer, however, I can’t say when that will be. We recently added a couple of small additions to the TimewARP 2600 including a “Master Volume” control and offset controls to the MIDI beat synch feature. As time permits, and market allows, we will continue to enhance the TimewARP 2600.

Let’s talk about kikAXXE. It’s a synth, drum machine and sequencer which sounds super yet it’s priced quite low. Was there a lot of special discussion of it’s price? I am surprised by it honestly.

We did not compromise on sound quality in KikAXXE. Our goal was to produce a cost friendly electronic music environment that was fun. We left out a few features in order to justify the price, but all in all I believe KikAXXE delivers the goods. Our hope is that by providing KikAXXE at such an attractive price, that it will open the door to a wider audience of users and allow more people to discover what analog synthesis is all about. At the same time, we have many pros excited about KikAXXE too.

The thing that has to be clear is that KikAXXE is inexpensive, but still sounds awesome and can produce very useable results quickly and easily.

Are you still in contact with Alan R. Pearlman? I know he has endorsed the timewARP 2600. Did you send him kikAXXE?

I try to stay in touch with Alan as often as I can. He has been very supportive of Way Out Ware, and we really appreciate that. He has told me that he believes in what we are doing regarding brining analog synthesis to a wider audience, and making it affordable. He said that he had considered producing a computer based synthesizer when ARP was still around, but the computers of the time were not powerful enough to get the job done. I believe that he feels that WOW products are bringing his legacy to a new generation of users.

Besides your own products have there been other audio software emulations have impressed you? Read “Interview with Jim Heintz of Way Out Ware.”