With releases on Guy Gerber’s Supplement Facts and Dirt Crew, collaborations with Tigerskin and Catz N Dogz, remixes for Ministry of Sound and Plastic City and a critically acclaimed debut album having just dropped on Suol, Till Von Sein has carved a reputation as one of the most consistently diverse producers on the techno scene. We headed to his Berlin sonic bunker to talk tools and techniques.
What is the prognosis for the music industry: terminal decline or steady recovery?
I like the situation we’re in right now. You’ve still got big labels and expensive videos but you’ve also got lots of small labels doing vinyl-only releases in the underground. i don’t really care about what’s going on in the major major labels but from my perspective things are more than solid. If you work hard with talented and unique artists then you’ll survive no matter what the rest of the industry is doing.
Does the industry these days dictate that artists need to be both creative artists and businessmen in equal measure?
If you want play that game, do It. You don’t need to though. If you’re a great artist like Move D, for example, you don’t need a YouTube account, 10 million Facebook likes and Twitter followers because you produce dope tunes that people will always love. However, if you want the Senator Miles card and 5 star hotel every weekend then you should definitely work on your business skills.
As an international touring artist who can regularly find themselves on different continents in the same week, how do you strike a balance between your touring schedule and time in the studio?
I’m not a ‘working on tracks every day’ kind of person. I really need to be feeling a certain vibe in order to get in the zone and work on new tracks. That means that sometimes I don’t work on new material for weeks and other times I’m so psyched to be making music I can’t leave my computer alone.
Who’s currently rocking your world as a producer and why?
I’ve got some great people around me who always surprise me with their music: Tigerskin or Catz n Dogz and Adam Port. I always like to discover new people too, such as Eats Everything who has blown up this year. And then there are the perennial talents such as DJ Koze, who can do no wrong in my eyes.
What one piece of kit or plug-in can you not live without?
My speakers. I always used work on old hi-fi speakers and 2 years ago I bought a pair of Adam’s P11´s from Martin Landsky and I’m more than happy with them. I’m not a gear freak but those two black boxes always make me smile!
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the drums and build from that?
Sometimes I start with the drums. I’ll work out a little rhythm or a basic groove to get things going. Or sometimes I might have a specific sample I want to use, like an old funk guitar riff, so instead I’ll mess around with that as the starting point. Sometimes it can be hard to write the drums first and then fit a melody on top, so starting with a melodic sample is a good way to avoid simply making a dancefloor tool sort of track.
Do you prefer to use loops or one-shots? Do you use samples or sound design from scratch, or a mix of both? Do you like to record your own sounds?
I use everything I like the sound of. When it comes to the whole sampling topic I’m really anarchic. If I like a loop or one-shot I won’t hesitate in using it. I love sampling and my whole producer career has been built on sampling from day one. I’ve never done any field recordings to date – but never say never!
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? Loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors? Do you reference on multiple systems?
I like to keep the volume reasonably quiet. I’ve got my Adam P11´s as my main monitors but I always listen to my new tracks on basic in-ear headphones afterwards to get a feeling of how it will sound of different systems. I’ve always got my iPod with me so I really understand how those headphones make things sound.
What are the biggest barriers new producers face?
The challenge is to develop your own style. These days it is too easy to copy what you like rather than search to find your own sound. That path of discovery can often prove too difficult for some people so instead they take the copy-cat route.
What three pieces of kit / software could you not mix without?
In general I don’t do mixdowns and I’m not a big fan of doing them at home alone either. If I’m in a rush I’ll do it myself and go with my gut instinct but usually I like to get an objective pair of ears in the studio with me for the mixdown. Most of the time I do it with Tigerskin or Chopstick and the Suol guys, who are in their own little analogue world, which is perfect for mixing!
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself when you started out in music, what would it be?
Just do it! I was always way too insecure and whenever a problem arose I would always stop and start surfing on some random website looking at sneakers or new tunes rather than being focused on resolving the issue. You’ve just got to knuckle down, do your thing and believe in yourself.
What do you find hardest to get right when making a track?
Getting the bass and kick to sit right together. It’s so hard to find the right balance so it really works on a club system. Most of the time it’s either a steady bass wave or no wave – I hate that!
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More from Till Von Sein on his website
