Beatmag’s regular technical columnist James Spectrum (AKA Jari Salo of Pepe Deluxe)

For the past few months I’ve been working mainly on the cover art and graphics for our videos and live visuals, and as there really haven’t been any deeper Pepe audio explorations, I decided to take some time to answer a few questions we’ve received about the album Spare Time Machine.

Q: You mention “Museum Water Power” in the CD booklet, can you tell something about it?

A: Lots of musicians and also music fans are crazy about so called “vintage” sounds. One of the main reason for this is the apparent “coldness” of digital recordings. This has created a somewhat of an industrial boom: many gear manufacturers hype their latest tube products, claiming that tubes (valves) can warm up digital sounds and make them sound like analog recordings. It’s like when you get an average pizza: add a few drops of Tabasco … and Bob’s your uncle! Same idea, same results. Works well if you’re under influence, but it just ain’t the Real Thing (TM). For that you need what chefs to as “a wonderful balance of impeccable ingredients”. After years and years of research we finally discovered what’s probably the most overlooked ingredient of any audio recording: electrical power! It’s the ether that every single recorded sound has passed thru since the demise of mechanical recorders. The main revelation to us was that most of the early rock and pops tunes were not recorded with Nuclear Power. Now some people might claim it’s just a coincidence than once we moved from regular power to local Museum Water Power, generated with turbines dating way back to 1910, our sound got nicely rounded and aged. We pity the fools. Try putting some diesel in a petrol car and see how well it runs.

Q: The name “Markus Schneider” sounds familiar to me, who is he?

A. Markus Schneider, who’s teamed up with theEnnio Morricone of computer music, Rob Hubbard, began his career by composing tunes for Commodore c64 games. When we heard that the guy had transcribed the title tune of the c64 hit “International Karate” to a full classical orchestra (performed in Leipzig in 2005), we knew we just had to work with the him! Markus was (and is) a very busy man but luckily he had enough time to do the orchestration for the final part of “Apple Thief”.

Q: What is the weirdest instrument you recorded for the album?

A: It’s really hard to pick one as there’s quite a few candidates. My friend’s father has a huge collection of Finnish toy ocarinas. We recorded a set to double whistles on “Mischief” (btw probably the most famous ocarina solo is on Troggs’ “Wild Thing”). “Ms. Wilhelmina” features ESKO-100, a huge and heavy monster of a Soviet guitar effect. Among other things it has as filter effect that make your guitar sound like a robot more depressed than Marvin of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Synth manufacturer Metasonix were kind enough to let us record the prototype of what’s probably the craziest synthesizer in the world, all-tube S-1000 Wretch Machine (low bass on “Apple Thief”). But my personal favorite is McGyver’s dandelions (on “Capt. Carter”). He’s been playing them since he was a little kid, and according to him you have to do it before the flower matures into a globe of filaments: once that happens the sound is gone.

Q: Are the lyrics of “Pussy Cat Rock” about what I think they are about?

A: You hit the nail on the head!

Q: Do you improvise or go by the book when recording instruments?

A: A bit of both. I usually plan the sessions well but then I just use my ears and improvise on the spot. I do have a few common practices like the combination of good gear and bad gear, but I strongly believe the lunch you
prepare for the musicians, the coffee/tea you brew and especially the t-shirt you wear have a much bigger impact on the final results than any tools you use. As long as they work, their type or quality is pretty unimportant … unless they are inspirational. In fact that’s probably one of the main reason I have plenty of weird gear, as plugging an organ into a modified Mr. Microphone mike-radio transmitter, and getting that signal from a futuristic orange 50′s design radio is much more fun for everyone in
the session than just going to the tape recorder directly.

Q: The best recording advice you ever got?

A: Every time you work on some important audio clips like a guitar riff, drum groove, vocal lick and you feel unsure about the quality of it, just ask yourself “Would I sample this?”. OK the session took two days to prepare, you had some wild ideas, excellent musicians and expensive gear… but if the honest answer is “No”, better just forget the recording and move on. Otherwise you’re just polishing a turd.

Q: How do you polish a turd?

A: You have to freeze it first. That’s an old producer trick… but make sure your significant other isn’t around when doing that.

Filed under: Life, Pepe Deluxe Gets Technical by Flexmaster Nylon
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