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Head 2 Head - Testimonials and Interview Archives |
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Yves Frulla Yves has been the resident keyboard player for Canadian diva Celine Dion since 1990. He has played with Celine to packed audiences in every corner of the globe and recorded three live albums with her. Yves is also an experienced composer and arranger who produced music for television, film as well as numerous songwriters and artists. After five years in Las Vegas for the A New Day show at the Ceasar's Palace, Celine and her musicians are now back on the road for the Taking Chances world tour. Since February 2008 they have played in South Africa, Asia, Australia and major European cities. They will start the North-American portion of their tour in August. We were lucky enough to catch up with Yves on his way to Zurich following a show in Munich. |
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Kevin Young Kevin has written, recorded and toured with the Juno Award-winning band Moist, the David Usher Band and a variety of other projects. As a working musician he has appeared on stage with a diverse group of artists, including Ridley Bent, Brian Byrne, Stabilo, Classic Albums Live and others. He continues to tour regularly and provides sound design and music for various broadcast and web applications, live theatre and dance. He is also a freelance writer specializing in music, tech, travel and humour for a variety of national magazines and industry trades. |
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David Kristian In this second interview, Montreal-based musician and film composer David Kristian shares his views about scoring music for horror movies, time spent between recording and editing performances, and analog vs. software synths among others things... |
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Paolo Rustichelli Italian composer Paolo Rustichelli shares his time between Rome and Los Angeles working on his own material and scoring films for Hollywood. Legends like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Carlos Santana figure on the long list of players he played with. And these days, he's fully taking up on the latest plug-in technologies... |
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Gregory Simpson Greogry Simpson returns to sound design duties with Journeys after a 20-year hiatus... |
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Michael Herberger Michael Herberger is one of Germany's finest producer and composer. Take a peek at its impressive bio and read our interview... |
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Loren Gold Loren has been musical director for Tiffany and now for Hillary Duff, he's also Mandy Moore's session player, and he just released is third solo album: Keys. We had the chance to catch up with this busy man... |
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Paul Hartnoll Paul Hartnoll has been one half of the techno giant Orbital for 15 years. The journey took him around the world as a premier live act but the man is now working solo... |
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Akufen Akufen, also known as Marc Leclair, produces an interesting mix of minimal house and experimental techno with underlying influences from Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Kraftwerk, and Throbbing Gristle... |
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SEL At the forefront of modern Indian music, SEL (Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy) pursues an impressive career both in prolific Bollywood and on stage. Influenced by the diverse backgrounds of its members, SEL's eclectic music blends in a unique manner influences from Indian classical music, pop, jazz, fusion, and electronica. To learn more about this incredible band, read the interview that Ehsaan gave us from Bombay. |
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Deadbeat Deadbeat is one Scott Monteith, an adopted Montrealer who has been releasing his own special blend of dub laden, minimal electronic music since 2000. His work has been met with consistant critical acclaim from the industry's leading publications and websites, and drawn performance invitations for some of the world's most respected festivals, including Barcelona's Sonar, Berlin's Transmediale, and Montreal's own Mutek... |
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Gusgus Gusgus is an electronic-soul band formed in 1995. A short brake in the making of the short film Pleasure made it possible for the first Gusgus self-titled album to be born. In 1996, Gusgus got a record deal with 4AD. This collaboration gives birth to three albums: Polydistortion, This Is Normal, and Gusgus vs T-World. During the 4AD years, Gusgus starts touring massively, stirring the music world with their powerful live-show. In 2000, the group changes - Six original members leave and the three remaining producers find hope in a new female singer, Earth. In 2002, Gusgus make their fourth studio album Attention with a new record company: Underwater. Attention arises the techno side of Gusgus and puts the band back on the map with the massive hit David, and the ever amazing tour Look Busy 2002-2004. Today, Gusgus are working on a new album scheduled for fall 2005. |
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Husky Hoskulds Husky has quite an interesting and eclectic résumé, his studio credits include albums by Sheryl Crow, Tom Waits, Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Turin Brakes, The Wallflowers, Vanessa Paradis and Joe Henry. And, in 2003 Husky received two Grammys for his work on the Solomon Burke record "Don't Give Up On Me" and Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me". |
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Harm Visser Harm Visser studied music theory and composition at the Utrecht Conservatory. Harm composes music for documentaries, he also worked with Dutch graphic designer Jaap Drupsteen and the Dutch painter/performer artist Moniek Toebosch. For the last four years Harm's compositions have been focused around the use of physical modeling brilliantly taking advantage of the tremendous freedom in performance technique that this synthesis method provides. Today he lives and works in Amsterdam. |
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James Raymond An adopted child, James' parents were keen to pick up on his musical gift early in life. In 1995 James learned what to attribute some of that gift to, when he was reunited with his birth father David Crosby. In June of 1998 the self-titled debut album from CPR (Crosby, Pevar & Raymond) was released on Samson Music. The band has performed on The Tonight Show, appeared on Oprah, and was invited to perform at the internatinally renowned Montreaux Jazz Festival. CPR's second studio record, 'Just Like Gravity' was released in June 2001. James was the keyboardist/vocalist on the acclaimed Graham Nash solo tour in September 2002 and recorded a new record with David Crosby and Graham Nash in '04. James is currently touring with Crosby, Stills & Nash. |
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Guy Sigsworth "I like this new "Folktronica" scene, associated with Four Tet and others. If it was just DJs sampling Incredible String Band CDs I'd wouldn't care for it. Anyway, I think Tassman is the perfect program for that idea of music, because it's so easy to create folk-like sounds that suggest something between an acoustic guitar, a harp, and a dulcimer, without quite being any of them. Plus, these patches just react under the fingers in a wonderful way, quite different from layered samples." |
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Terry Lawless Terry Lawless is a keyboard and sequencing specialist. He has been traveling the world with Cher, U2, David Bowie, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson and many more. |
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Glen Darcey "For me Tassman has been about rediscovering the fun of breaking out of the OSC-FILTER-VCA patch that all other synths have. With a modular synth, hopefully you are always in the experimenting stage. The possibilities only get as stale as your ability to imagine does." Glen Darcey is a sound designer/synthesizer programmer with 22 years of noise making experience. He learned synth programming on a Prophet V, customized Moog 55, Aries 200 modular synths and slew of other 70's and 80's gear. He went on to Berklee College of Music to study in their electronic music program and in his first semester, was tutoring Seniors students in the program. He left Berklee, studied electronics and went on to work for 360 Systems where he did sound programming and editing for Disneyland, Disneyworld, Universal Studios Tour, Knott's Berry Farm and on the Midibass Pro. He went on to work for Roland US for 7 years. During his time at Roland he wrote articles for Music Technology Magazine and did synthesizer programming and consulting for many of the top L.A. studio musicians. He's programmed sounds and sample libraries for Alesis, Ilio, Sampleheads, and Prosonus. He now spends most of his time making sounds for cartoons, doing video editing and motion graphics. His hobbies include skateboarding, mountainboarding, bullfighting, and diamond cutting. |
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Geoge Duke "When I first loaded this program, I was amazed at its' flexibility. Though the presets sound good, it's the way you can tweak them that really makes this package unique. Besides Rhodes, there are Wurlitzers, and an array of other interesting keyboard sounds - well worth the money!"
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Alain Caron "I used the Lounge Lizard extensively in the production of my latest album '5'. The interface is extremely intuitve and allowed me to very quickly shape my own custom sounds that worked well in a wide range of situations. Overall, Lounge Lizard is a professionally designed instrument with great sound that comes highly reccommended." Becoming a professional musician at a very early age, Alain Caron is a considerably accomplished bass player, especialy on the 6-string bass. At 15 he discovered the music which would soon become his life's passion - jazz. He taught himself how to play by listening and learning, following correspondence courses, and eventually attended the Berklee College of Music. Opportunity knocked in 1977 when he met the Michel Cusson Group. With UZEB he found himself on world tours and with albums on the hit parade: pretty heady stuff... In the last few years, he has chosen the solo route - writing and producing his own music for Le Band - and taking it on tour to ever appreciative audiences around the world. |
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Scanner "Having always had an aversion to cables and wires, the possibilities held within software synthesis is very inspiring. In my exploration of Tassman I've discovered shapes and colours in sound that I could never otherwise have access to, and these in turn have suggested a new way of working in the studio. I can't wait until I then begin to open the manual :-)" Working under the alias of Scanner, Robin Rimbaud is an artist who resists categorization. Originally gaining noteriety for his work in the early 90s using samples taken from highjacked radio and cell phone signals, Rimbaud's creative endeavours have expanded to include various CD and record releases, installations for some of the world's most respected museums and galleries, as well as various time based intermedia works and commissions. |
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Richard Hilton "Lounge Lizard has become my #1 Rhodes/Wurlie of choice for the recordings I'm doing with Nile Rodgers. It sounds great, gives me amazing flexibility in the sounds, and runs on all my computers including my iBook. I can use it with Pro Tools, I can use it with Cubase SX, and I can use it as a stand-alone instrument. I love having it with me when I'm on the road with Chic. It's the lightweight electric piano I've always dreamed of!" In his 10 year working relationship with Nile Rodgers, Rich Hilton has worked with the some of the brightest stars in the music industry, including David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Chic, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Ramones. His deft skills on the keys have also graced the advertising campaigns of Nike and Chevrolet, as well as the sound tracks to such box office successes as Thelma and Louise and Beverly Hills Cop III. |
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Steve Tavaglione "Tassman for me is a unique world of sound production perfectly suited to todays' requirements in Cinema, TV , and creative electronica projects. It is an open system that begs to be programmed to one's own style. It has a sound all it's own, definitely not another copycat synth. Dance with it's technology. Empty your mind and create new soundscapes. I can't wait to use it with Thomas Newman and other composers with whom i work. The reharmonizations of Struck Instruments are unparalled." Both an accomplished sound designer and skilled saxophone player, Steve Tavaglione has recorded with some of the biggest names in the industry, as well as performing on the soundtracks for hit television series' Charmed and CSI, and movies like American Beauty, Finding Nemo, and Oceans 11. |
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The Herbaliser "Its the best sounding fender rhodes I have ever heard, even better than the two REAL ones that we have taking up space in our studio... I bought the EVP88 a while back, and I WAS pleased with its sound, but it was nowhere near BETTER, or as good, as the REAL RHODES... Lounge Lizard simply is!" -Jake Wherry With a steady flow of killer albums and EPs for Ninjatune, both as a the dynamic duo of Jake Wherry and Ollie Teeba and with the full Herbaliser band, and remixes for everyone from reggae dub sensation Little Axe to avant-jazz master Nils Peter Molvaer, the Herbaliser have been steadily smashing down the barriers between jazz and hip hop, and creating a funkified sound all their own in the process. |
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Paul Haslinger "Physical Modeling clearly is the next frontier in instrument and sound design. It will change the way we create music, and Tassman is making this promise a reality right now." Although achieving success in the decidedly crowded field of film scoring is by no means a simple task, Paul Haslinger has since 1987, quietly been adding an ever expanding list of box office successes to his filmography. Though his name first came into the spotlight as a member of the electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream, it is his solo work for film and his ongoing partnership with Graeme Revel that has made him one of Hollywood's most active and in-demand composers. |
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Rick Wakeman "The Tassman has become a permanent fixture in my studio and an invaluable tool that I use in all the areas of music that I am involved with." Originally finding fame as the keyboard player for 70s progressive rock giants Yes, Rick Wakeman has established himself as one of the most prolific rock musicians of all time with nearly 100 releases to his credit, and one of the industry's strongest proponents of cutting edge music technology. |
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Yves Frulla " ...having been raised on modular Moog and Arp synths , the Tassman 3 is the logical evolution of what a modular synth should be. The flexibility is unparalleled and , with the addition of physical modeling , the Tassman 3 is capable of creating classic tones as well as far-out textures to help the creative mind achieve sonic nirvana !!!" In the last 10 years, Yves Frulla has performed to audiences in ever corner of the globe as the keyboard player for Canadian diva Celine Dion. His work has also been featured on a variety of award winning albums for such artists as French pop sensation Garou and Sass Jordan. |
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Jetro Dasilva - Berklee College of Music "I love it. I hear the sound improvement (in version 2). I like the way the presets have been organized. It is definitely a powerful plug in. I have been using in lot of my projects and it is also a great inspiration for my original pieces..." Jetro Da Silva is the Assitant Chair of the Piano Department at the wolrd reknowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. Prior to taking on this respected position, Jetro was one of the most in demand session keyboard players in the industry, performing on stage and in the studio with the likes of Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Faith Hill, Brandy and the Pointer Sisters. |
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David Chan "At BioWare we use Tassman as part of our arsenal to create new and unique sounds. Incredible creatures and worlds deserve incredible audio and Tassman helps us create sounds that live up to the BioWare name of creativity and quality in videogames." As chief sound designer for video game giants Bioware, David Chan has been responsible for the creation and compilation of the audio landscape for some the most popular video games of all time, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Baldurs Gate, and Never Winter Nights. |
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D.A. Young "Tassman and Lounge Lizard have been very useful in the studio and live. I have a Wurlitzer A200 but it’s such a great convenience to be able to have some classic Rhodes and wurly sounds provided by Lounge Lizard. A major plus with Tassman is the ability to tweak the sound character and personalize the patches." D.A. Young is head of sound design for Comedy Central's hit animated TV series Southpark, and a respected session keyboard player. |
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David Kristian "Tassman has single handedly replaced my modular synthesizers. Physical Modeling has already eclipsed most methods of digital synthesis because it's the only one that let's you work intuitively...using Tassman made me realize there was life after analog." When the topic of Canadian electronic music arises, the name David Kristian is often one of the first to hit the table. Having drawn comparisons with some of the industry's elite players(Richard D. James, Autechre, Tangerine Dream and Tom Jenkinson to name a few), not to mention sharing stage, vinyl, and CD with many of them, and fostering an impressive roster of soundtrack and sound design credits, David has time and time again established his place as king of the nerds from the great white north. |
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Chops "I really dig Lounge Lizard's warmth, it's full and beefy. That sets it apart from other VSTi's. The growl and bark you get from adjusting pickups, etc. on a real Rhodes, you can get with this thing, except instead of taking me all afternoon with a screwdriver, it takes a few minutes with the mouse." Though his jazz infused organic funk arrangements echo the soul sounds of yesteryear from Detroit and his native Philadelphia, Chops employs some of the most cutting edge production tools in his studio along side his vintage pianos, guitars, and drums... including the Lounge Lizard EP-1. Having recently contributed material for the Hollywood box office hit Brown Sugar, Chops is a name to watch in the years to come. |
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Mike Shannon "I think that Lounge lizard is by far the best sounding soft synth I have ever used. It really has inspired me to take a slightly different path on the music I`ve been writing today. I`ve heard tons of Rhodes patches but nothing as real and as warm as Lounge Lizard..." Mike Shannon has built a solid reputation for delivering menacing, dark dancefloor techno, with an ever present touch of hopeful soul groove through his releases for Germany's Force Inc and his own Cynosure Recordings imprint. |
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Algorithm "Tassman's modular architecture really offers up a near infinite number of possibilities..." With faders, fingers, and the occasional record flying in all directions, Jeff Milligan aka Algorithm, has been captivating dancefloors the world over for the last ten years, with his uniquely twisted blend of quirky minimal techno, always delivered with his signature three turntable gymnastic style. Jeff has released music for a variety of internationally respected labels, and since 1998 curated his own Revolver imprint. |
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Andrew Coleman "...I've been having a great time with Tassman 3. It can sound like nothing else out there- very unique and very wonderful." England's bovinyl label founder Andrew Coleman is a man with a diverse collection of sounds running a muck in his head, and an uncanny ability for stringing them together in strange and undeniably beautiful ways. Under his Animals on Wheels moniker through 2 albums and several singles for Ninjatune sub-lable Ntone, he serves up a glitchy jazz soup spiced with a range of off-kilter drum'n'bass and hip hop percussion. |
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I8U "The great advantage of working with Tassman is basically that I can reproduce whatever I can come up with in my head, that's an incredible freedom to have." One of the most respected names in experimental music scene world wide, I8U has treated audiences throughout North America and Europe to her brooding bass scapes to critical acclaim. |
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Vert "What I really love about (Tassman) is the complexity of the sound: when you repeatedly play one particular sound, there are minute variations, just as when you repeatedly play one key on a piano. So it is immediately in a different realm to most other synths, real or virtual... It's so great to be able to build an instrument and use it immediately as a VSTi." Adam Butler is a UK based electronic music artist, recording for some the the world's most respected experimetal audio labels, including the Mouse on Mars founded Sonig imprint. |
George marks the launch of his new record label, Big Piano Music, with his latest release - Face The Music. As if an impressive career as a musician, producer, and musical director (with multiple Grammy nominations and other awards) weren't enough, George now adds "record company executive" to his resumé. George has more than 35 albums to his credit and can claim collaborations with some of the world's greatest musicians -- Dizzy Gillespie, Al Jarreau, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Miles Davis, and Stanley Clarke - just to name a few. With George, it's all about the music.