Audiotool

Interview

Hello Audiotool community! I'm Jens and I live in a small town near Hannover in Germany. I am now 48 years old.

About JayFK: Hello Audiotool community! I'm Jens and I live in a small town near Hannover in Germany. I am now 48 years old, married and father of two fantastic boys. I've been on Audiotool for almost exactly a year now. I like rock as well as electronic music, no matter if it is techno, hip hop, ambient or whatever. Salami with anchovies and lots, really lots of cheese!
Describe the style of music you produce: I'm not tied to one genre when it comes to producing. The genre in which I travel the most is trance. Detached from the genre, my tracks usually have a dark, melancholic touch.
What is your musical background and when did you start making music?: Everything I know about music today I have acquired myself over the years. I have no musical training. But I've always loved listening to music. I'm a big fan of The Doors, The Ramones and Placebo. In the 90s Steve Mason had his own radio show on BBC Germany. That was the beginning of my passion for techno and trance. My brother came one day with a used 2-channel mixer and we started recording our own mixtapes. A little later the first turntables were at my house and we tried to emulate our idols — Marc Spoon, Carl Cox, Kai Tracid, Adam Beyer and Sven Väth. My highlights here were sets on a truck at the Reincarnation Parade in Hanover and once I was allowed to DJ directly after Kai Tracid on an open air rave. At the time, one of my DJ colleagues was already producing his own tracks with an old Atari ST. First I worked with Steinberg's ReBirth, a software variant of the Roland 303, 808 & 909. Then Propellerhead's Reason came out and I stayed there for the next 20 years until I discovered Audiotool.
What is your favorite Audiotool device and why?: I'm not sure if the Pulv or the Quasar is my #1 choice, but they're definitely the two devices that appear in 99% of my tracks. I love the sound of the Pulv, which can produce almost any sound imaginable. With the Quasar, I love the adjustment options and the infinite width that it can give to a sound.
What is your favorite trick in AT/What technique do you always use?: For the Pulv, I like to use the noise volume control. Turned up at the right time, a baseline sounds like distorted drums and can prepare for a drop or the start of a new instrument. I often use another trick when I don't know what to do with a track: I take a pattern from one instrument and copy it to the note track of a completely different instrument. This often results in unexpected sounds.
Have you ever had a writer's block? If so, how did you deal with it and what do you recommend to your colleagues?: Sometimes I really have no idea at all. What can help is to break your normal routine. If you usually start with a baseline and build your track around it, then just start with a few piano chords or something else. It doesn't help me to decide: "Today I'll produce a chillout track." In the end, a completely different genre usually comes out than I planned. So the best thing is to just let things go.
What has helped you the most on Audiotool to improve and widen your musical horizon?: A suggestion from Snad Breugen was a huge help. He suggested that I should start by using the presets of the devices to understand how they work. That really helped a lot. Just as helpful is the remix function, which allows you to analyze tracks and see what others are doing differently. But the most important point here is clearly the community. My special thanks go to kurp and Soph.
What do you like most about Audiotool? Is there anything you would like to suggest?: I think Audiotool is absolutely fantastic for a free DAW. What I love most is the endless possibilities of interconnecting devices. There really are no limits. If I could wish for anything, it would be a new synth or a sampler with a filter and the ability to edit the pitch and length of the sample using the keyboard in the pattern track.
Your message to the community:: Be nice to each other!

“I think Audiotool is absolutely fantastic for a free DAW. What I love most is the endless possibilities of interconnecting devices. There really are no limits.”
— JayFK