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10 questions with Wolfgang Gartner
Here at Sounds/To/Sample, we don't do things in half measures. That's why we've brought you an exclusive interview with the hottest talent in electro-house today, Wolfgang Gartner.
In the world of electro-house his name is synonymous with quality. In the past year Wolfgang (aka Joey Youngman) has landed two top-10 singles in Beatport's sales chart with releases on labels including Om, Naked Music and Instereo. He was recently a Pete Tong 'essential new tune of the week' on BBC Radio 1. DJ appearances have come thick and fast, with shows from Japan to Brazil, the UK to USA. Here, in an S2S exclusive, he takes the hotseat and shares his production secrets.
Who's currently rocking your world as a producer and why?
Deadmau5. There are others, but this guy simply destroys everything else out there, hands down. Musical perfection.
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the beat and build your way up from that?
Yep. Always drums first. Once I've got that good groove and foundation going, everything flows from there. I usually go with a bassline after that.
Do you use mainly analogue or digital soft synth sources? Do you think analogue still really makes a difference?
I pretty much only use hardware for synths; it still makes such a difference. There are some people who can use soft synths and make amazing music, but I just can't do it. I don't know how much difference there is between analog and digital, but hardware vs software is a no-question issue for me.
Do you use loops, or do you program your own beats from single hits?
It doesn't really matter as long as it sounds good. I have a very specific sound in my head that I go for, and I am the only one who knows how to make it, so I usually program it from scratch. That's not to say I won't use a little snippet of a loop somehow - filtered, chopped, or otherwise tweaked. The only way to create your own signature style is to do stuff predominantly from scratch though. Use loops as a tool but not a foundation.
What's your opinion on processing the mix buss? Leave it clean or drive it to the extreme?
It depends on a lot of things; whether it's going to be mastered, whether you put the processing on it before you start making the track; and what quality of processors you're using. When I'm writing a track, I leave the master buss completely dry. Then when I've finished, I begin mastering, and put all my processing units on the master buss. If the mastering process has affected the mix in a bad way then I will go back into the track and make any final adjustments.
How important do you think it is to have your music mastered commercially? Can you do it yourself as effectively and what tools would you recommend?
It's extremely important to have a good mastering job, but how you choose to do it is down to personal taste. I decided to start mastering my own stuff last month and invested in some nice hardware to help do the job. My main tools now are a Crane Song STC-8 compressor and an SPL Tube Vitalizer, in addition to a pair of Empirical Labs Distressors with British Mode that occasionally work for mastering, but not always. Aside from that, I just throw a limiter on top and maybe EQ it a bit in Cubase, but overall I let the hardware do most of the work.
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors?
I have been using the same pair of Tannoy Reveal monitors since 1997, powered by a rare model Nikko amp that was made in about 1979. It's a completely coloured monitoring system, and probably very inaccurate, but it sounds great! The old amp can drive the monitors really hard, and I push it as hard as it will go when I'm working. I've battled on and off with getting some high-end self-powered monitors and ditching this setup, but every time I go into somebody's studio and hear what 'flat', accurate monitors sound like, I'm turned off. Maybe they're good for mixing and getting your levels right, but the sound seems so sterile. When I'm trying to write a bassline or jamming out on one of my synths, I need a deep bass and a cripsy treble with the sound in-my-face. I do have another set of smaller monitors in the studio on a parallel wall as an A/B system, but they are pretty coloured and inaccurate too. I guess it works for me because my ears know the speakers. I always test out my finished tracks on other systems - in the house and in the car - so my mixes end up being okay.
What sounds do you find are the hardest to create from scratch?
The hardest sounds for me are those 'what the fuck' sounds. By that I mean sounds that you can't identify or say: "that's a saw or a square wave" and you can't pin down how they were made when you hear them in a track. I use these kinds of sounds as leads or hooks in a track. Just a melody played with one or two oscillators on a synth isn't enough for me - I'm not satisfied with using some vanilla preset or saw wave; it's too simple, too predictable. I like to try and create a sound that's not easy to create - something the synth wasn't supposed to make. I usually end up using a lot of modulation and automation to tweak different parameters and morph the sound into something unique.
What do you believe is the secret to your success as a producer?
First and foremost, it's that making dance music is the only thing I ever wanted to do, since I was a kid. I had absolutely no interest in anything else that could materialise into a job. Girls, food, making music - that's pretty much what I was interested in. If there were something else that had interested me, I probably would have pursued it long ago and quit this music thing during one of the hard periods where I wasn't successful. But there's just nothing else out there for me besides this. Another thing is that I'm extremely antisocial and reclusive, so I pretty much don't go out, don't socialise and don't do anything except sit at home all day and make music. That means I get a lot done. And I seem to have a personality trait that makes me very persistent when I want something. Once I've decided what it is that I want, I am willing to do pretty much anything to get it. It's not easy for me to make good music; it doesn't just flow out of me like water. It's something that takes a lot of effort and hard work with every track that I make, but I want it so bad that I'm willing to sit in there all weekend and try and write a bassline for 15 hours until something finally comes out. And it really does take that length of time. Overall then, I guess it's determination as much as anything.
And finally... Have you any advice for aspiring young producers out there?
Keep at it. I know everybody says it, but that's because it's true. I had been sending demo tapes to record labels for seven years before I got my first record deal.
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For more on Wolfgang see: www.myspace.com/djwolfganggartner