The Art Of Production: Surgeon's techno live setup

Read the full feature on RA: www.residentad...

[@SuperHappyplant]

Nice. Simple and very effective. I don’t care if it’s modular, analogue, vinyl, laptop or two spoons across his knee, his job is to make people dance and he does that extremely well. Keep cracking on Surgeon

[@Unsubscribedd]

We need to bring spoons back to the scene.

[@3stools518]

Jeremy Walter nah, I reckon kazoos are the next big thing. 100% analogue

[@michaels8597]

exactly..this gear thing can get silly...

[@Quim1441]

UK Techno OG

[@jordanpeakofficial]

DJ Spoony live spoon set

[@XpRnz]

Love that Surgeon actually looks like a surgeon.

[@j0bey1]

Sounds like one too.

[@neylarragoiti-mtbmexico2658]

haha!

[@horsezanthus5040]

To be fair, he’s had me in pieces in many a sweaty club.

[@kenshininoue7648]

the crazy thing about this is that he was well known as an "in the box" producer since the 90s. He actually brought all those iconic surgeon sounds into his live setups which had to be super difficult, but its surgeon so...

[@XiantekMusic]

He is a master and he is representing 'live performance' artists so well. Big respect 🙌🙌

[@39993]

If you can get such a combination of sounds with such a simple setup you're a genius in my opinion.

[@NextSound170]

Its not about what you use this is why the music from many sounds shite. Its you that controls it not the other way round. Put some soul inna the ting.

[@petrektek1385]

@@NextSound170 you're right it seems he can completely express his soul through this equipment.. Like an extension of his mind.

[@albertohernandez2540]

🤩🤩🤩👌👌👌👌

[@minkowski4d]

Dudes a legend! I remember him playing in Frankfurt back in the 90s (dj set). Absolutely nuts. He still manages to keep that distorted sound he's known for

[@dhollsynthmusic]

my kind of techno, lock-groove they used to call it. surgeon true to his name dissecting the sound, cutting bits here and putting new bits there, all the while making sure the heart keeps pumping.

[@christophremmery4520]

Nice to see Faderfox in the setup. Faderfox PC12 really opens up the Analog Rytm. I liked Surgeon on the modular, and somehow he will still have it, together with other gear, coz the Octatrack isn’t going to fill itself with those Surgeon sounds. Respect for what you have given techno.

[@J43rv1]

everyone who has an octatrack seems to use it differently. such a deep machine!

[@ownedbymykitty270]

Järvinen - I was about to sell mine then found its arpeggiator and MIDI capabilities. Now seeing that Surgeon and The Field use it, I will keep digging deeper.

[@thames21]

Phart if you have the motivation and the understanding of these kind of machines, you should never get rid of it. For now it’s all a bit much for me personally so I don’t own one yet but I’ve seen so many people get so many different things out of it.

[@josepholiverstreeter-smith7821]

Funny how his entire new setup costs less than just the quad filter in his eurorack setup...😂

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

my two Elektron boxes cost less than a few of the expensive Eurorack modules. I know guys with 50k plus in modular gear. Too rich for my blood.

[@s90210h]

@@GuitarsAndSynths I prefer this richness over the amazon tesla type ;-)

[@2bitnpc]

@@s90210h is it the process or the result that matters most tho?

[@turbochargedfilms]

@@2bitnpc "change the process, change the outcome"

[@ringtangting]

I come back here quite a lot to just listen to the music. Damn it, it's powerful. Hope to catch him live in a distant future.

[@jasonnm5972]

Amazing old-school techno sounds and vibes! I want to listen a full set made by him!

[@svnlto]

I think it's awesome he's brought out the LepLoop again. It's such an amazing and underrated machine.

[@geraldgoodiii6993]

Sven Lito I never heard of it before. To me it looks like a 2 Osc synth with a Turing machine built in

[@snares3326]

what a goddamn track! exactly what i love about techno. powerful, dark, driven and hypnotic! amazing how he gets that sound out of that minimal setup

[@astro_poly]

Love how he creates such great rhythms with so little gear

[@TwinCityShredder]

It's nice to see zero thumbs down, for this absolute legend.

[@hajvan92]

And you jinxed the video..

[@TwinCityShredder]

@@hajvan92 I'm just gonna pretend it was you:)

[@brobb-sd9vp]

Presently 26 twats called bullshit.

[@ssnochevy]

i can really appreciate his set-up and work flow, and i'm not into techno by any means...super dope!

[@plaztik767]

Amazing range for the simplicity of the setup. Love to see this live.

[@NutritionalZero]

I enjoyed this almost as much as Red Polo did

[@AThousandDetails]

remember red polo. Hail all who seen it live.

[@fexxe]

His shirt?

[@baax]

Genuine LOL at that, Red Polo lives!

[@andersborum9267]

Word has it he's still dancing.

[@marcrtaylor]

Used to go see Surgeon at Atomic Jam and HoG in Brum. Good to see he's still going strong.

[@michaelharris4389]

Yep great night's and times in Birmingham i can remember him working in pure records a fantastic DJ

[@peter3deckwizard]

The Art of Techno by Matt Damon.

[@HotShots00]

Heston with a wig

[@portra_services]

aka willem dafoe

[@notsure1135]

Guy Pearce sort of…

[@alanburgess2203]

Absolutely brilliant, set me up for the work day, now in a top mood, I might have to buy this setup lol

[@nexuswh]

Is there a video where he shows his setup for a hour or so ?

[@lovedeathdisco]

damn, this setup is nice. minimal and overflowing w/chaos & potential. not having to access menus. NOT HAVING TO ACCESS MENUS! this is a beautiful rig that i'm certain is the result of much trial and error. love that everything runs into one final box, sort of mastering the tone, uniformly. may seek out a similar grid of knobs to reach into my digitakt after seeing this.

[@michaels8597]

Let's recall when this started in Detroit,it was Juan Atkins and others,in their bedrooms,with minimal gear and features..That's all that matters,and all you need,is to have a few things,master them,and make the most out of them.,like samplers.If you are paying thousands to just rip records,you are wasting what a sampler can really do.

[@tinypatches6939]

smart move with the compressor on the end of the chain.

[@brunobeeper]

That’s a real good setup. I use a compressor too at the end of the signal, but things could go so wrong!

[@0713dm]

I just bought a 1997 repress (brown label) of Surgeon's "First" LP... pretty stoked. Love that raw sound. Any other suggestions are welcome! I'm new to the movement but diving in headfirst, no helmet!

[@albertohernandez2540]

Birmingham.Dynamic tensión and downwards

[@mortalcurse]

now this is techno

[@acidtears]

incredible!! seriously debating between starting off on a live setup & physically modulate the sounds or playing other artists tracks & mixing them together or maybe a combination of the two..

[@MRSMiFF]

nice! i like the simple set up, finishing with compressor

[@x0d-live]

This reminds me that I still want/need a Faderfox PC12 for my MPC and Analog Four mk2.

[@martti7363]

I know right, the never ending list

[@Ν11-φ9ρ]

Absolute Legend... massive inspiration !!!

[@fasterdetail]

a legend calling another a legend..super meta!

[@RetroPlus]

I've always loved surgeon ever since I heard his tracks in midnight club

[@phoenixvette]

This simultaneously showed me a leploop for the first time and made it my top wish list item.

[@moralrevulsionLive]

Always come back to this when i get the sell my elektron for a more modern box. But no way. What a legend this dude is

[@MaffiLu]

Watching DJs and Live Acts work makes my fingers itchy to start myself AAAAAA

[@chemicalBR0]

his next setup will be 2 bean cans and a set of chopsticks and it will still sound dope

[@dibsmm9888]

Great set up I spent the 90s at H.O.G GO SURGEON

[@triffski]

My first ever proper rave back when I was at art school in Bournville :)

[@dankefurnichts]

That's the key! Very nice to sea that he uses practicaly the same setup as i do :-) Sampler, Midi Controller, a Synth and thru a master Fx. Nothing more is needed and the most important is you can have fun during performing not to be afraid of getting lost. I wonder why some live acts go and play out with a such enormous machine park that you could feed a complete band with. I did this in former times and this was hell of stress to handle all.

[@SlashnKashmir]

Wow he went really minimal setup

[@callumtheleegend406]

Geined858 simple, yet effective

[@geraldgoodiii6993]

LeLeoop.. never heard of it. Looks like a dual VCO monosynth with a Turing machine built into it to grab random sequences

[@WisdomAndEase]

This is like physics for musicians. Only the best strive 🙌

[@peterlel7661]

beautiful, just such a great musician!

[@xpomosoma]

I remember Tony has shared his modular setup on some forums back in the days. Things gone minimal since then

[@NVUSROADHOUSE]

i techno with a tr09 and se02 .. my greatest issue is constantly having to map and reassign perams as i work. turning the knob to trigger the delay or the filter is just magic .. setting the compressor perfect and getting that real box groove and playing the sequences in time has a far closer feel to what i remember of playing live music in say rock bands. if i have one more controller that can have access to filter vc, delay, and envelopes... right now i use a launchkey to trigger se02 from an emu 2x2 running into my mpcs usb port. also have both units plugged there as well

[@petert7807]

Any videos of your live techno? Sounds like a very nice compact setup.

[@gee_emm]

loving this series! so nice to get a peak into the creative process! 🙏🏿🤘🏿

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

How come Surgeon looks way younger here than recent photos? He looks like he is only 22 in this video but other pics make him appear to be over 50? Love how he uses Elektron Octrack with modular.

[@acidrunner]

Good Hard Sound and realy nice filtering

[@marcharrison4225]

We've hit clubs to see him in Yorkshire .... awesome nights !!

[@edjwise]

Really similar to how I work. I typically have 2 or 3 or 4 small set ups. I move them around or change them depending on the project. One is a lot of sampling, another is a lot of analog gear, another is multiple drum machines, etc.

[@oN00KIEx]

I need this track !!! Oh my GOSH!!

[@dangayle]

I wonder how many people bought the Leploop based on this video, then discovered that they are not Surgeon and can’t make great music with it

[@ANDREAS-ji3yi]

The King of techno, simply surgeon.

[@benluff6079]

Brilliant stuff... although I'm sure his setup was much a more complicated rack system when I last saw him perform live in London

[@rich6076]

Surgeon is a House Of God Leg End !!! Birmingham Que Club oh yes !!!

[@cryptout]

I love this setup!

[@oliviergautier1973]

Nice set up !! Great sound.

[@davidestrambino]

DAVIDINO DA TORINO DAVIDE STRAMBINO!!! MagicoDivinoFavoloso

[@davidestrambino]

DAVIDINO DA TORINO DAVIDE STRAMBINO!!! MagicoDivinoFavoloso...

[@ghostrip]

Very good sounds he makes by these babies 😃👍

[@usuwaniestukotu722]

2:53 hahaha i can feel that too :D

[@nd-kay]

Thanks for sharing! That was top😊

[@auggysimcity]

Prefer his patch synth from the dekmental feastival boiler room set

[@clarkflavor]

Holy cow that's awesome sounding! I wonder why he doesn't use the OctaTrack MkII..

[@eastcolumbiastrecords3907]

Dont fix something that isn’t broken i guess,

[@devonhughes3805]

The Faderfox connector is USB-B...Octatrack MIDI in is 5-pin DIN connecctor. Where is the USB MIDI host? Offscreen? Do they now make a single cable which converts USB-B to 5-pin DIN MIDI???

[@rhythmdroid]

@D D yeah, I finally looked closer and saw that too. He's only using the USB port for power.

[@fabiengaubert764]

anyone found a full live recording where he uses this set up?

[@joeyhughes1413]

God at work

[@schwabsauce]

hmm might like to play out this audio, with narration and all :)

[@fabianpino4910]

Damn, how can I learn all the magic behind mixing and doing live tracks? Seems so fucking cool

[@realizedj]

just start

[@tresporros]

very cool and smart minimalistic setup! great you dont have to carry tons of equipment, plus cables....:), but my question is don't you feel the 'palette' of sounds you can make with just octatrack and leploop can get exhausted quickly ? I presume there is certain sound you can create, but I am interested in your opinion. I am looking for minimalism as well, dont like carrying tons of boxes and cables:)

[@elifan2523]

I think the key in his setup is to go back and forth with the leploop and backing tracks from the OT to keep it interesting. I don’t have much experience with playing live but can Imagine the simpler the better is good aproach. Depending on your style and preparation you can easily do a whole live set with the OT and a synth with hands on controls, thinking sh-01a is great companion. Jacob Korn has a really nice live set from Boiler room where he uses the OT, a 909 and small mixer. I like to pair my OT with Novation launch control xl using the Calc template. Faders for all the channels and a lot of live tweaking possibilities. Preparing a live set with the MnM and OT, by no means a simple setup but damn it sounds good

[@yunggaucho3534]

Interesting setup

[@Heirarc]

Are there any recordings anywhere of him using this setup?

[@johnpaullovetek1809]

MASTERCLASS!!!

[@midierror]

Love this guy, love the minimal setup!

[@addsoysauce4862]

where can I learn how to connect what goes to what, and what triggers what to what? i really want to get into this!!

[@nicolasmarinus]

So is that an actual track around the 4 minute mark? Sounds great!

[@AntonioSilva-ld4dq]

wow....i found really difficult play online with hardware. Nice done

[@Asiosky211]

mans got knob turning down to an art form!

[@javierpiles5833]

thanks for sharing!

[@mowbyone]

Really really great,thanks for sharing that 👍

[@lilakmonoke982]

Nice setup especially the boom. Would be interesting to add a mixer with good eq. But the octatrack makes it sound like thousands of other live sets. It's all in the timing not the sound with techno!

[@russellbrown8760]

Felt like the game was to not say the word "mix"

[@purposemaker909]

So dope

[@electroscope943]

Thx a lot Surgeon! Rave up!

[@oliverguy3121]

Giving me pink floyd on the run, dark side of the moon vibes.

[@harryh3203]

Good interview though he did once shove a guy off the stage from behind at Jackhammer in Edinburgh. Could have resulted in serious injury.

[@bent540]

so what? gtfo fuckign beta loser!

[@NextSound170]

Technical and soulful not just Technical. Learn this and Techno will sound better people

[@marcusschulz2111]

Even Anthony😎😎😎 Master of his class

[@SashaLenskyj]

Wow! Another random recommend gem

[@raphaelbardin9175]

How do you assign the octatrack's paramaters to the midi controller ? and, where can i get my hands on a lep loop ??? Great stuffs btw, keep up the amazing work!

[@mdykehouse]

i love this but wonder why he stepped away from the modular in the live context....that jomox kick destroyed everything

[@frunkfrankly]

I feel like a bit of a knob for asking this here but does anyone have an idea how these guys get those incredibly long, sizzly rides all over without them sounding like shit? Surgeon throws his in at around 4 minutes but also talking about those sort of shaker patterny sounding sort of retriggering rides that were all over Speedy J and Chris Liebing's sets a few years ago. I remember having them almost nailed ages ago when I was using logic but have long switched daws and of course lost all my older project files some time ago. Obviously feel free to troll me, I'm pretty much asking for it, I know :-D

[@MarcDupuis50400]

I guess it could be a number of things done to the rides to make them sound better, but here are a few guesses : - High pass filtering them around 100k to remove the useless low end - Sidechaining them to the kick (in the OT he might be using the "fake sidechain" technique, having an inverted LFO on the Volume that hits every time the kick does) - Having different velocities (for the shakers for example). That animates them a bit and makes them less boring. - And last but not least, I reckon the OTO BOUM does a lot to it here, glueing everything together and warming the sound up.

[@Cian808]

makes me want to go to berghain

[@pablors6718]

LOVE IT !!!! More Techno like this? leave your set or track :

[@tlatsegms]

Amazing⚡️

[@jgw840]

My newbie ass brain just turned to scrambled egg..

[@fgjtygjkk]

I'd love to hear live act on cd

[@borisblack3219]

Living legend.

[@20thingsgoing62]

Are those his real hands

[@Inzolectric]

Wait what? Where's the modular?? 😭

[@Shadefury]

Taken from the article on RA: "Just to clarify, the fact that the modular isn't part of this current setup isn't down to any sort of political reason. I very quickly became seen as some sort of modular guy and that made me really uncomfortable. Modular is just one of the machines or approaches that I've used and being tied to one thing like that is weird to me."

[@ownedbymykitty270]

Modular has just become a trendy expensive GAS hobby more for nerds than people who actually want to make good listenable music

[@juliaseppi2205]

@@ownedbymykitty270 Not really.

[@dennisvanopstal7360]

@multigrooves it only hurts when you let them.

[@ownedbymykitty270]

Chaz Dadkhah - Just bc I criticized modular means I listen to that stuff? Idiot.