JAMES WILTSHIRE
The F9 Audio boss shows you how to fake analogue in software
From the moment we entered James Wiltshire’s gear-laden studio in sunny Brighton, it was clear this wasn’t going to be your average Producer Masterclass session. “I’ve already sampled a load of multisamples from the Jupiter-8, and I’ve prepared plenty of tricks for the video,” James grins. “I’ve also screen-captured another video, showing you how to use modulation in Massive to make it sound analogue.” If it wasn’t already obvious that James is passionate about making the sound of hardware accessible to all, this exclusive video session – plus tons of multisamples – will set you straight.
While setting up the gear for our technique-packed video shoot, we grabbed a coffee and a chat with the ex-Freemasons producer, soundware creator, and possibly the nicest guy in music production.
: How’s F9 Audio going? Is it your main focus at the moment? JW: “Really well! And yes, it is. I’ve just started remixing again under the F9 name. It was time for Russell [Small, other half of Freemasons] and I to separate things – he wants to carry on DJing, but I can’t travel any more due to family commitments… and also my ears! It’s not the monitors that hammer my ears; it’s the headphones, when you’re trying to compete with levels.”
: You own a lot of classic synths. Is it always your [Sequential] Prophet-6 synth sitting here in prime position? JW: “No, I’m constantly rotating things. The idea was to do the classic thing of having all my synths set up and ready to use around me, but everyone I know with that kind of setup doesn’t use a synth that’s more than arms length away! By making sure I put the instruments in front of me, I actually use the damn things.”
: You’ve got tons of gear here, but you also champion the use of plugins. JW: “I love the best of both worlds. My gear collection is a bit of an oddity, to be honest. When our Freemasons stuff all came in at once, we were either going to be massively taxed for two years… or I could buy gear! There was an investment allowance: as you bought the stuff, it instantly came off the tax bill. So I bought kit. What I should’ve done is put it into property, as I’m now sat with all this stuff depreciating, and as you know with eBay, there are times when nothing sells at all.
“Each piece is in here for a reason, though. And the funny thing is, now I’m running a sound design company, I’ve used more of it than I ever have! Literally everything gets used at some point. By doing this stuff repeatedly, you get so much better at using it. Now I’m getting back into production and remixes, I’ve got all this knowledge about all the various tools.
“Plus, if you pull a synth or bit of kit out and put it in front of you, you’re doing the classic recording thing of making a part that becomes an overdub, as opposed to programming software. With plugins, your brain knows you have 20 other softsynths that can do the same job, and that psychologically eats away at your confidence; but with an instrument in front of you, you work on the sounds more, and become a better sound designer. Hardware is very powerful for that approach.”
“Analogue versus digital is like artists arguing over their paintbrushes. It doesn’t matter…”
: What about producers that don’t have access to hardware? JW: “It’s now getting to the point where software is so, so close. I have many friends who are analogue obsessives, but as we’ll see today, I like to be as subjective as I can and A/B between gear and plugins. I love the Acustica [Audio] stuff, and have been testing out their analogue emulations… man, do they stand up to hardware! There’s no way you can hear £10,000 worth of difference! If this is the point we’re at now, the next generation of producers will be fed this incredible stuff. It’s only going to get better and better. And the Roland Cloud instruments: their Juno is exactly like the real thing, even down to the hiss from the chorus circuit.”