Artist spotlight: Puzzle Factory
Puzzle Factory was one of the earliest stars on dnbscene after its 2010 relaunch, and has been quietly putting out some of the highest quality dancefloor tunes this site has to offer. His unmistakable movie soundtrack style has won him many fans, and recently has landed him significant recognition as one of his tunes was selected by Sony as the backing track to a high profile Playstation advert in the UK. Make no mistake, this hard-working Londoner is one to watch, and in this interview he discusses his studio, his techniques for making those orchestral soundscapes, and provides some insight into how exactly he got into a PS3 advert.
But first, let's get the basic details. Who is the man behind the puzzle?
My real name is Gareth Thomas. I'm 32 years old, from London (England), and have been writing music for about 15 years. When I'm not writing music, I am at my day job of working in a market.
Okay, let's start with the question everybody wants to know the answer to. How exactly did the PS3 inFamous 2 advert come about?
There's no real special story behind this. I have some great people on my side getting my music out there. Although I don't have a deal with any labels at this present time time, I do have a manager (Phil Wyard at Beyond Management) and a publisher (Tim Greaves at Brainrot Music Publishing) both of whom have years of experience working in and around the music industry and work really hard to push my music into other medias. Getting Pixel Dust onto the PS3 ad (as well as spots on Football Focus and many radio plays on BBC Introducing Essex) is a direct result of that work. We are also looking at releasing an E.P. later this year, which may well be on our own label.
Sounds exciting. Now, since we have our anoraks on, can we take a peek into your studio?
Sure, here's a pic of it.
And here's a more-or-less complete inventory:
That's quite some setup. Can you give us some insights into how you use all that stuff? For example, how do you make those big warm orchestral strings that are so much a part of your style?
In a word, layering. I don't really have any expensive sample libraries (at least not expensive in terms of orchestral samples). When using Logic or Live I use the VSL sounds that come as part of the Kontakt factory library. When using Reason and Record I use the Miroslav library (which costs around £150 i think). Both of these libraries have a nice range of instruments and articulations that you can layer to create a big cinematic sound.
For example, with Pixel Dust I used 4 different string instruments to create the finished sound. I had a string ensemble playing the basic chord progression. Over that I have the melody played by two different instruments, solo violins and solo cello. Finally I have another string ensemble playing an arpeggiated pattern using a staccato articulation. I then create space for each instrument in the mix with some careful EQ cuts. By this I mean I find the sweet spot for, say, the violins (either by sweeping the frequency range with an EQ or using a frequency analyser) and then making a cut in both the cello and ensemble channel at those frequencies. I then do the same for the cellos (but not for the string ensemble as it's just filling out the frequencies not used by the other instruments, or the staccato strings as they punch through the mix anyway because of their strong transients and short stabby nature). To further separate the sounds and give them space in the mix I applied different levels of reverb for each part and panned the sounds in slightly different directions.
These techniques of layering and creating space with careful EQing and spacial positioning is not restricted to just string sounds. It can (and should) be applied to any sound, whether it's a bass or a lead or a pad.
One final note. When it comes to staccato strings (especially when playing an arpeggiated pattern) they don't seem to sound natural and even slightly out of time when played exactly on the beat. They seem to sound most pleasing on the ears (at least in my mind) when nudged slightly to the left of the beat (around 1/64 or 1/32 will do). You can do this by physically moving the notes or by using your DAW's midi delay function.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
When it comes to drum and bass then my influences are all the usual suspects from the Neuro scene. Noisia, Spor, TeeBee and Calyx, Phace and Misanthrop as well as a host of other artists I've downloaded from beatport. I get a lot of tracks from listening to a DJ on Soundcloud called Percy from "Technoid Community". Every couple of months he does a mix as part of his "Neurophunked" series (I think he's up to number 15 now) and he gives a track list of everything he plays. More often than not I'll have a listen to his mix and then go over to Beatport and download the tracks he played.
When it comes to dubstep I've really just been adapting what I've already been doing with my drum and bass tracks. But saying that, I really like artists such as Benga, Skream, Coki, Chase and Status, DJ Fresh, Nero and Skrillex.
The influences on the more "musical" aspects of my tracks stem from a few years ago when I was writing more Hip Hop/Trip Hop/Downtempo styles of music and my tracks then were directly influenced by artists such as Cinematic Orchestra, Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Herbaliser, and RJD2, to name but a few.
Which of your tracks is your favourite and why?
Right now I'm really enjoying writing dubstep, so it's those tracks I'm favouring at the moment. Obviously "Pixel Dust" is enjoying some success and so has a special place in my heart and one of my newer tracks "Bugged Out" is one I really enjoy. Both of these tracks really express the contrast and juxtaposition between the cinematic buildups/breakdowns and the heavy beats and bass that I aim for in most of my music.
On the drum and bass side of things "Spirals" has always been one of my favourites. It was the first time I tried the techniques of both resampling (a technique I haven't really explored since) and splitting audio into frequency bands to create the bassline, and I was really pleased with the results. Although I'm not a DJ (something I probably should learn at some point) I've always felt that this track would go down well in a club.
And finally, if you were a videogame character which one would you be?
Well, being an old school gamer it would have to be Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat.
Listen to Puzzle Factory's highest rated track, Will O The Wisp
Where to find Puzzle Factory
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/puzzlefactory
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Puzzle-Factory/134911733199439
Management - Phil Wyard at Beyond Management Ltd - phil@beyondmanagement.co.uk
Publishing - Brainrot Publishing Ltd - tim@brainrotmusicpublishing.com
But first, let's get the basic details. Who is the man behind the puzzle?
My real name is Gareth Thomas. I'm 32 years old, from London (England), and have been writing music for about 15 years. When I'm not writing music, I am at my day job of working in a market.
Okay, let's start with the question everybody wants to know the answer to. How exactly did the PS3 inFamous 2 advert come about?
There's no real special story behind this. I have some great people on my side getting my music out there. Although I don't have a deal with any labels at this present time time, I do have a manager (Phil Wyard at Beyond Management) and a publisher (Tim Greaves at Brainrot Music Publishing) both of whom have years of experience working in and around the music industry and work really hard to push my music into other medias. Getting Pixel Dust onto the PS3 ad (as well as spots on Football Focus and many radio plays on BBC Introducing Essex) is a direct result of that work. We are also looking at releasing an E.P. later this year, which may well be on our own label.
Sounds exciting. Now, since we have our anoraks on, can we take a peek into your studio?
Sure, here's a pic of it.
Click to enlarge
And here's a more-or-less complete inventory:
- Mac Mini - This is temporary replacement to my Macbook Pro which recently died. To my surprise I'm finding it a really powerful little machine that can handle my projects easily.
- Focusrite Saffire 6 USB
- Novation 49SL Compact
- Novation Launchpad
- Yamaha HS60 Monitors
- Logic Studio - I've been using Macs for years and along with them Logic. I cross platforms a lot but always gravitate back to Logic. It's a great DAW.
- Ableton Live - I bought this recently to put a live set together which I've had to put on hold since my laptop died. But I've actually been finding it a great bit of software for writing music. I particularly like the parallel effect processing you can do on each channel, which is great for splitting bass tracks into different frequency bands and applying different effects before summing them back into a single channel again.
- Propellerhead Reason & Record - I've been using Reason since it came out and I love it. Now I equally adore Record as well. It's my go to program when I want to work a little differently. I wrote Pixel Dust entirely inside Record.
- Native Instruments Komplete - I love all things Native Instrument and this is one of the best packages on the market today. If I was going to recommend any bits of kit for a new producer I would say get a cheap DAW like Reaper and then get this. It's got everything you're likely to need.
- Native Instruments Maschine - I bought this a while ago but still haven't really used it in any of my productions, it's more of a toy really. I've had a side project in the back of mind to try my hand at writing some Electro House so I might kill two birds with one stone and use Maschine to do it. Watch this Space.
- Native Instruments Session Strings Pro - This is a recent purchase and I'm loving it already. The "Animator" step sequencer is a really nice way of turning simple chords into realistic rhythmical string patterns.
- SSL Duende Native - These are probably the most expensive single plugins I've bought but are well worth it. When I first got into making music everything was hardware-based (with computers being used for midi sequencing only, except in the big studios that had the early Pro-Tools rig) and the pinnacle was (and still is) the big consoles by companies such as Neve and SSL. The fact that you can now get plugin versions of parts of those consoles made by the companies themselves is absolutely amazing. The channel strip is great with some really clean and musical EQs, and the Stereo Bus Compressor really does tie a mix together.
That's quite some setup. Can you give us some insights into how you use all that stuff? For example, how do you make those big warm orchestral strings that are so much a part of your style?
In a word, layering. I don't really have any expensive sample libraries (at least not expensive in terms of orchestral samples). When using Logic or Live I use the VSL sounds that come as part of the Kontakt factory library. When using Reason and Record I use the Miroslav library (which costs around £150 i think). Both of these libraries have a nice range of instruments and articulations that you can layer to create a big cinematic sound.
For example, with Pixel Dust I used 4 different string instruments to create the finished sound. I had a string ensemble playing the basic chord progression. Over that I have the melody played by two different instruments, solo violins and solo cello. Finally I have another string ensemble playing an arpeggiated pattern using a staccato articulation. I then create space for each instrument in the mix with some careful EQ cuts. By this I mean I find the sweet spot for, say, the violins (either by sweeping the frequency range with an EQ or using a frequency analyser) and then making a cut in both the cello and ensemble channel at those frequencies. I then do the same for the cellos (but not for the string ensemble as it's just filling out the frequencies not used by the other instruments, or the staccato strings as they punch through the mix anyway because of their strong transients and short stabby nature). To further separate the sounds and give them space in the mix I applied different levels of reverb for each part and panned the sounds in slightly different directions.
These techniques of layering and creating space with careful EQing and spacial positioning is not restricted to just string sounds. It can (and should) be applied to any sound, whether it's a bass or a lead or a pad.
One final note. When it comes to staccato strings (especially when playing an arpeggiated pattern) they don't seem to sound natural and even slightly out of time when played exactly on the beat. They seem to sound most pleasing on the ears (at least in my mind) when nudged slightly to the left of the beat (around 1/64 or 1/32 will do). You can do this by physically moving the notes or by using your DAW's midi delay function.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
When it comes to drum and bass then my influences are all the usual suspects from the Neuro scene. Noisia, Spor, TeeBee and Calyx, Phace and Misanthrop as well as a host of other artists I've downloaded from beatport. I get a lot of tracks from listening to a DJ on Soundcloud called Percy from "Technoid Community". Every couple of months he does a mix as part of his "Neurophunked" series (I think he's up to number 15 now) and he gives a track list of everything he plays. More often than not I'll have a listen to his mix and then go over to Beatport and download the tracks he played.
When it comes to dubstep I've really just been adapting what I've already been doing with my drum and bass tracks. But saying that, I really like artists such as Benga, Skream, Coki, Chase and Status, DJ Fresh, Nero and Skrillex.
The influences on the more "musical" aspects of my tracks stem from a few years ago when I was writing more Hip Hop/Trip Hop/Downtempo styles of music and my tracks then were directly influenced by artists such as Cinematic Orchestra, Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Herbaliser, and RJD2, to name but a few.
Which of your tracks is your favourite and why?
Right now I'm really enjoying writing dubstep, so it's those tracks I'm favouring at the moment. Obviously "Pixel Dust" is enjoying some success and so has a special place in my heart and one of my newer tracks "Bugged Out" is one I really enjoy. Both of these tracks really express the contrast and juxtaposition between the cinematic buildups/breakdowns and the heavy beats and bass that I aim for in most of my music.
On the drum and bass side of things "Spirals" has always been one of my favourites. It was the first time I tried the techniques of both resampling (a technique I haven't really explored since) and splitting audio into frequency bands to create the bassline, and I was really pleased with the results. Although I'm not a DJ (something I probably should learn at some point) I've always felt that this track would go down well in a club.
And finally, if you were a videogame character which one would you be?
Well, being an old school gamer it would have to be Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat.
Listen to Puzzle Factory's highest rated track, Will O The Wisp
Where to find Puzzle Factory
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/puzzlefactory
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Puzzle-Factory/134911733199439
Management - Phil Wyard at Beyond Management Ltd - phil@beyondmanagement.co.uk
Publishing - Brainrot Publishing Ltd - tim@brainrotmusicpublishing.com
Post a comment
Please login to post a comment.About the author
|
