Max Cooke Interview: Inside Ellie Goulding's Live Show

Lights - Max Gordon Remix by Interscope Records

If you've seen Ellie Goulding's live show, you know it's a great time.  Ellie's vocals sound great in a concert venue, and she's got a great backing band that deliver fantastic renditions of her hit record, Lights.  I caught Ellie's show a few months ago at the World Cafe Live (one of the best venues in Philadelphia, hands down) and was in awe-- I really loved the show.

I recently talked to Max Cooke, Ellie's live keyboardist-- and sometimes guitarist-- about what goes into a show like Ellie's.  Max is also well known for fronting the band Goodbooks a few years ago in the UK.  If you've been to Ellie's shows, looking at the stage, Max is on the right behind a Moog Voyager.  He gave me the inside scoop on all of the tech, and here's your chance to check it all out.  Read on below to see how Ellie's North American tour was built.

Bag Raiders Interview

Bag Raiders - Sunlight (feat. Dan Black) by modular people

BAG RAIDERS is an incredibly big name right now.  The Aussy duo exploded onto the scene with their track "Shooting Stars" in 2009.  Last October, they released their self titled record, which contained brilliant tracks like "Sunlight" and "Snake Charmer".  More recently, they've toured  with the phenomenal Ellie Goulding and brought their amazing sound to the, in my opinion, dance-deprived US.

"Shooting Stars" tore up the Australian charts, as well as the Hype Machine.  The track features an amazing synth hook that builds upwards and hooks the listener to a climactic explosion of dance greatness--the beat is even featured in Madeon's "Pop Culture" mix.  The music video for "Shooting Stars" features fantastic flying-on-car action.  Their record Bag Raiders follows up perfectly to this.

I chatted with the duo recently about their tour, their hit "Shooting Stars", collaborating with Dan Black, and their amazing synth collection (the one I envy most since Diamond Cut!).  Read on below to check out the inside scoop on Bag Raiders.

Patch Breakdown: The Prophet Piano

Mozart - Sonata in C using the Prophet Piano Patch by The Synth Symp

Today I'll be breaking down a patch for you guys.  This was one of the original intentions of the site, so hopefully this will happen more often from now on, since patch building is essentially the heart of synthesis.  You can have a great synth with crap sounds if you're not careful.  I didn't create this sound but I'd like to start with it as a template to what the future of this will look like.  Above is the Prophet Piano patch (No. 77 on my DSI Tetra) playing Mozart's Sonata in C (MIDI from this website).  I think it's a decent stab at the sound of a real piano, and should be easily recreated on any number of synths.  Hopefully this tutorial will give you a really great understanding of what is happening in this sound.

Great Article from Moog Archives on Velocity Sensitivity

You can read a great article on the development of velocity sensitivity in synthesizers by Dr. Moog today, courtesy of the Moog Archives.  The full article scans are here, I don't want to host them completely here, that would be cheating Moog.

The article gives a nice insight into what goes into synthesizer thinking and the history of keyboards.  There's also a valid point made in the article about what we prefer our keyboards to feel like-- whether they have organ like response, or piano like response, or a mix.  My Little Phatty actually has a really great feel in the keys, no surprise there.  It's also quite cool to read an article written by the legend Bob Moog himself.  I hope that we see more great articles like these from the Moog Archive.  I find it fascinating how he talks about the other corporations in his competition.  Enjoy the article, it's a quick read and worth it if you're interested in the history of synths, or you're ever planning on building a keyboard yourself.

Lightwaves Interview

 

Lightwaves by lightwavesmusic

LIGHTWAVES is Jan Rosenfeld's newest DJ project, consisting of infectiously catchy synth hooks, thumping beats, and smooth talkbox robot vocals.  Jan formerly sang for Yes Giantess, the 80s nostalgic synth pop band that would make even Prince jealous of with their rich analog sound.  Lightwaves has recently released his first two singles (as heard above) and two dance remixes of Savoir Adore and Freelance Whales.  When he isn't producing his next big single, he's filling the dance floors in clubs around DC and NYC.  I caught up with Jan about where his sound comes from, his synth gear, and what's coming next for Lightwaves...

What makes a Moog a Moog?

I apologize for the lack of posts the past couple days; I took a day off, and when I returned, Blogger had fallen apart :(.  But now I'm back!

If you own a Moog, then this post will probably be old news to you, but one synth everyone comes across when they start looking at synths is the Moog Little Phatty.  Moog has the largest legacy of all the synth companies, due to the fact that Bob Moog, the company's founder, invented synthesizers.  You could head over to their site and check out the legacy section for all the information you could want.  What makes a Moog a Moog though?

The biggest differences between this instrument and a DSI instrument, or any modern synthesizer, is the fact that it has VCO's (voltage controlled oscillators).  Many old synths use VCOs (like the original Prophet 5 which DSI has remade as the Prophet 08), but they've mostly gone the way of the dinosaurs in synthesizers because they're harder to keep in tune.  The VCOs go slightly out of tune, which is what you want when you buy an analog synth.  The drift of the oscillators is the "warmth" you always hear about.  The Minimoog Voyager has even better waves than the Little Phatty.  Not long ago, I found a site where someone had used their oscilloscope to look at the waves, and the Phatty had more rounded edges, meaning it had less harshness.  The Voyager is still king in this respect, but the Phatty is still a great analog synth.  I sadly haven't had the chance to buy one, but have played with the Phatty on multiple occasions, and I can tell you, it's great.