What’s on your hard drive?
Prequell
The French composer and producer couldn’t live without Sibelius and Spitfire
ABLETON LIVE “I started on Nuendo and Cubase when I was a teenager at the end of the 90s. Then, as I was doing film music, I had to work on Pro Tools. I don’t know why, but I was always very uncomfortable on it. When I started to do live performances with my former electronic band, I had to start right at the beginning again with Ableton Live. I fell in love with it in the same way I fell in love with Cubase; it’s a quick way to realise your ideas without barriers; there’s no limit to your imagination. I also use some VSTs and effects from Live, and they will often sound better than much more complicated setups.”
AVID SIBELIUS “I write my orchestral parts in Sibelius. It’s very professional and my scores are ready to be printed for an orchestra – on my album The Future Comes Before, I conducted The London Symphony Orchestra. Sibelius can play your score with acceptable sounds, but I use the NotePerformer plugin for a more realistic result. We recorded all the orchestra parts in less than five hours! Sometimes I export the scores as MIDI to Ableton, but most of the time I just run both programs at the same time! I’m still searching for a plugin that will link Sibelius and Ableton Live. If anyone knows how, please get in touch!”
UNIVERSAL AUDIO AND VALHALLADSP PLUGINS “I mix my tracks exclusively with UAD plugins like the Pultec EQ or the VOG [Voice of God] for basses. I also used some of the reverbs from Valhalla; they help me to create a cloud of notes in the background. It’s almost like a drone, but it’s on the orchestra as well as the keyboards.”
“I worked with the Isobel Griffiths Orchestra at Air Studios and the LSO at Abbey Road”
SPITFIRE AUDIO INSTRUMENTS “For me, Spitfire’s instruments are the best. I love using the percussions, marimba, Orstphone and celesta – the sounds were recorded in the amazing Air Studios. For the album, I worked with the Isobel Griffiths Orchestra at Air Studios and the LSO at Abbey Road. The Spitfire sounds are so good that I can keep the virtual instruments in my mix even when I add the real strings.”