You better work(flow) it
Having started with OctaMED on the humble Amiga 500 and worked his way up to a studio full of desirable gear, Tom has seen music technology change beyond recognition. While he uses a lot of the latest and greatest plugins to achieve his trademark techno sounds, Tom also loves to work efficiently, particularly with regard to studio workflow. We probed him further to find out why this is so important to him, and learn what tricks he’s picked up over the years.
: You’re passionate about workflows! TH: “The reason why workflow is important to me is that I don’t want to lose time setting stuff up, or finding out why things aren’t working, because then I will lose interest and in turn lose that creative spark. When I sit myself down in the studio, I just want to start jamming!”
: What is it about Live that makes it great for workflow? TH: “I know a lot of people that work in the Arrangement View, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But for me, the concept of Live was built on the Session View – clips that then form an arrangement. Jamming, creating different versions of clips without thinking of the arrangement – it’s a quick creative tool. With the right mindset, you can find literally a thousand ways to use a delay. It’s nice that you can create something cool, freeze the track, bounce it to audio, then do something else... it’s all so fast!”
: You must generate a lot of sonic material. How do you organise it all? TH: “I have a network storage setup that I can access from anywhere… even from a hotel! Everything is on it: not only my samples, but also all the tracks that I DJ out. It’s mirrored, too – I also have backups at a remote site and on Amazon. In the past, I’ve lost plenty of data; projects, samples, etc. Speaking of samples, I try to stay organised. Take the standard things like kicks, hi-hats, percussion sounds, bass sounds, synths, strings, FX and so on – I try and put them in those relevant folders, and organise them by date so I know what’s old and what’s new.”
: You also seem to have a lot of premade instrument and effects chains. Do you worry that approach could lead to formulaic results? TH: “No, because I mess around with them – it’s always more as a starting point. For example, if I was making the typical ‘ techno rumble’ which everyone likes, I’ll use the same principle; but I’ll add, change or reverse elements in the sequence. And it’s all in combination with the signal in question – it’s always unique because it’s a combination of two different variables, the signal and the processing.”
: You’re a big fan of Roland TR-909 sounds. What do you think it is about these sounds that has given them such longevity? TH: “That’s a hard question! For me, it always feels like the right hi-hat, the correct ride, and the perfect clap. Why? Probably because they’ve been used for so many years! The 909 has an aggressive feel to it… an uptempo feel, maybe? For my style, it immediately gives you the feeling of ‘ yeah, let’s go!’”
: Do you have any advice for other aspiring producers? TH: “There’s only one piece of advice that I can give, and that’s ‘stay true to yourself’. If you try to make what you should make, you’re already trying to copy something. Get creative, and try to inspire yourself by listening to other styles of music, but be sure to create your own identity, and stay true to it. People seem to only accept things now that are labelled and put in boxes, so producers do exactly that – and that’s a bit sad, because I feel like there are producers capable of doing unique things, but they don’t dare to do it under their name! So my advice is to stay true to yourself. Let the music speak.”
“The Roland TR-909 gives you the feeling of ‘Yeah, let’s go!’”