Rhyw's Creative Process And Studio Setup | Thomann

We visited acclaimed electronic music producer Rhyw in his Berlin studio to gain an insight look into his production workflow, creative process and the tools that he uses.
Gear Used:
Elektron Digitakt: www.thomann.de/de/elektron_di...
Moog DFAM: www.thomann.de/de/moog_dfam.htm
Strymon Big Sky: www.thomann.de/de/strymon_big...
Sherman Filterbank 2: www.thomann.de/de/sherman_fil...
EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine: www.thomann.de/de/earthquaker...
Rokit Monitors: www.thomann.de/de/krk_rp7_rok...
Focal Monitors: www.thomann.de/de/focal_shape...
Allen & Heath ZED-22FX: www.thomann.de/gb/allenheath_...
Webshop: www.thomann.de
Facebook: / thomanninternational
Twitter: @thomann / thomann
Instagram: @thomann.music / thomann.music
Pinterest: / thomannde
Visit our blogs:
GER: www.thomann.de/blog/de/
ENG: www.thomann.de/blog/en/
FRA: www.thomann.de/blog/fr/
ESP: www.thomann.de/blog/es/
ITA: www.thomann.de/blog/it/
NED: www.thomann.de/blog/nl/
FIN: www.thomann.de/blog/fi/

[@drthorpe8602]

love everything this guy does and finally, I know how to pronounce his name

[@hiroakitsuname5430]

More cutting edge artists like him please! Really dig his sound and interesting workflow overall!

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

which artists would you be interested in getting featured on our channel?

[@hiroakitsuname5430]

@@ThomannSynthesizers DjRum, Call Super, Vynehall, Simo Cell, Pearson Sound, Wata Igarashi, Stenny .. something contemporary =)

[@coolpyHD]

@@hiroakitsuname5430 uff stenny would be great

[@chateaudisco1436]

@@hiroakitsuname5430 WATA!

[@compucorder64]

@@ThomannSynthesizers how about Mumdance, Blawan or Overmono?

[@igorcvitkovic9870]

am I crazy or cameraman is trying to hint "use digitakt to sequence Vermona" then "use Digitakt to sequence R8" hah ,btw nice working habits in the studio :)

[@psyphon604]

Hahahaha

[@earlsfield]

Yeah, a lot of suggestive shots:)

[@igorcvitkovic9870]

@@earlsfield if Felix or Jonas are behind cam, they have to hire someone less geekier to do that job and avoid camera suggestions

[@earlsfield]

@@igorcvitkovic9870 It was Felix for sure lolol

[@maticherzog]

haha true, i use digitakt for vermona, works perfectly.. i used ableton external device for vermona before but ever since i got the digitakt its just easier, faster to run all the machines with it.. i usually need 2-3 channels for vermona. kick on one midi, then combined perc on two i.e.

[@cameron-smith]

I really like this setup and explanation, thanks!

[@frankiewylde7649]

This is great. Would love to see this workflow in action. Thanks for the great and detailed videos. Really enjoying the content.

[@psyphon604]

Been enjoying everything Rhyw releases and his work with Mor Elian on the Fever AM label. Wondering if there will be further releases by Cassegrain/Arcing Seas?

[@samlinden898]

Very cool workflow

[@albionpatterns3986]

What a nice fellow, cool music too

[@viviansutherland2169]

craziest DJ set i've ever seen

[@fruchticaramelos9013]

schönes durchdachtes setup und der sound ist interessant.

[@michaartist9809]

great video😉

[@MLElf]

Great video, you work flow is identical to mine, love your recent releases and got your latest on Vinyl , take care :)

[@user-vd3if4wq6m]

Nice open studio

[@brettboarder]

Super cool guy

[@Otomo83]

Very interesting, thanks! Do you use the pedal effects for the benefit of hands on control, or do you think they sound better than plugins/Ableton effects?

[@rhyw3183]

Hands on for sure, but there is a different sound as well. I wouldn't say "better" though. You do end up with different results sometimes with outboard gear, I use a lot of plugins (much more in the last couple years), but often the real "magic" moments come from gear.

[@flashproductions3416]

Wie heißt das Mischpult, welches du benutzt? :) klasse video und ein schönes Studio!:))

[@acdnrg]

Good luck resisting the wormhole :D Eurorack is Borg, and I love it.

[@jimicob9143]

agree, but my bank account hate it 😰😰😰😰

[@istvanbrassay1389]

Hi! I am curios about the way you sync everything in Ableton. I recently got the chance to set up a lot of gear at a studio but I am at a learning faze and it can get a bit overwhelming sometimes. I tried to daisy chain everything, but since there is a lot of gear I am still experimenting which option would be the best for us. I would love to have Ableton as the main sequencer, so I can easily send out MIDI to all of my gear. I tried to use a MIDI interface with a lot of inputs, but it looks like we got a faulty piece, so it takes some time to get a new one. Did you have latency, or syncing issues between the synths? Would love to read your approach, thanks!

[@rhyw3183]

Yeah I've had midi splitters fail very quickly before too. So just make sure it works and its pretty simple, I just send midi signal from the sound card to various equipment hooked up. I dont have any latency issues in real-time, but i used to have the problem of having to change the starting point of the recording. This is simply fixed with having "OFF" clicked rather than "IN" when recording in to Ableton. It was quite a "duh" moment - so many issues are usually something extremely simple you find after breaking your head.

[@RogerWarszawa]

I have a question; the music playing throughout this (really interesting) video, I'm assuming it's by Rhyw, is there a link to where we can hear it in full, because it sounds fabulouso. Great video, btw (and a slight shame it wasn't longer).

[@FeverAM]

:) feveram.bandcamp.com/album/loom-high-fam08

[@FeverAM]

B2 Loom High

[@TheHorseValse]

Nice one! I always wondered how one can handle and plan the power requirement side of it. Extension leads, special power source, and what not? :) Is it difficult?

[@rhyw3183]

Nothing special, just several power strips. Have had no issues with gear - the problems come with heaters, kettles etc :)

[@TheHorseValse]

@@rhyw3183 Cheers! :)

[@decapitateallcops3214]

Another excellent video!!! You guys should do one with Decoder. The kid is only 17 and Hawtin is playing his tracks. Decoder is a techno genius. Prodigy is a word some would also use.

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Nice recommendation(s)! We'll see what's possible ;)

[@joaomineiro8457]

Is Rhyw recording every instrument individually? or is he editing a stereo recording of all the instruments? If he is multitracking what's the setup?

[@RhysOlwyn]

Wondering, does he know what his name means in Welsh? I assumed he did, but now I've heard his accent I'm not so sure

[@rhyw3183]

Yes;) Im half Welsh (half Greek) but only lived there as a child

[@armignac]

What do you mean by getting the CV out of the sound card? How is that even possible? Gerne auch in Deutsch antworten :)

[@igorcvitkovic9870]

If you have soundcard that has DC coupled outs and for example you are using Ableton ,so you have CV utilities and can easily send them into your cv controllable device.

[@rhyw3183]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIithJaOibpnn8U

[@rhyw3183]

there's another one somewhere - that shows you how to use a drum rack - which is much more useful as you can sequence with midi and get beyond of the 8-steps the DFAM offers.

[@coolpyHD]

Hey how do you approach a arrangement of a song?

[@rhyw3183]

I wait until i feel like I have all the elements and sections recorded, everything I might need. Once I've played around and feel confident in it, I start laying it out. Always depends really, I dont have a formula for anything. Lots of trial and error, seeing what works-when. Sometimes it's tricky and takes ages, other times it all kinda falls into place and just makes sense. Lately I've been more arrangement heavy - several changes/edits etc to keep things interesting and maintain energy.

[@coolpyHD]

@@rhyw3183 Thank you for the answer! I am struggling a lot with arranging my tracks. After a few days working on a track I beginn to kind of hate it if you know what I mean (feels boring). And then I start a new session and try too do something better lol. Not getting out of this endless loop.

[@rhyw3183]

@@coolpyHD I think its fine, it happens. You'll do something at somepoint that you feel needs finishing. Its all about making something that keeps you entertained and interested before considering anything else like audience, label, etc etc. Another way would be to jump into arranging quickly rather than playing around for too long with your samples/recordings. Make an early commitment so it gets you rolling with the structure of the track.

[@alfredo3980]

which soundcard is he using?

[@igorcvitkovic9870]

some RME

[@rhyw3183]

old RME fireface 800

[@telumatramenti7250]

It's very difficult to set up a studio properly, even if you don't have that much hardware. I would always say to people who are just starting in the world of music: Get the largest mixing board you can afford, preferably with a USB to PC capability. If you think you only need 6 channel inputs, get a 16 channel one, and get a patch bay. You will ALWAYS end up running out of channels, and I guarantee you that you will very quickly need a much larger mixing board, and that you will have to sell your older one which won't even be enough to cover a quarter of the new one's cost. Best design of any studio is a square around you, but a centered one, so that you could still have access to the square's periphery, - don't put tables or desks flush with the wall. Standing desks are the best solution unless you have a disability, but when it comes to chairs - I found nothing better over the years than an older design drafting chair which can come down to the height of a normal computer chair if necessary. If you're like me and prefer key-less synths to keyed ones, - get a bunch of computer monitor swinging arms (gas ones preferable) and find a way to attach the hardware synths to them, this is the best solution for quickly switching between different synth control surfaces without needing to lift or carry them, making dropping a synth less likely, and providing maximum air cooling which increases their life span. Also if you're a big coffee fan or like having drinks while you're working, - this will allow you to have your drinks without fear of spilling them over your hardware. Another good tip is NEVER plugging your hardware or computers directly into wall sockets. Always use power bars. Daisy chaining power bars is actually perfectly safe (addendum: I'm not talking about un-protected power strips here, but circuit breaker equipped devices, to be clear), but you could also create an AC power centre with fuses for your studio or get a few UPS power supplies so that you would have time to save your work in the event of a power loss.

[@Neohippyy]

Regarding the daisy chaining power bars I can say from experience that it dirtens up the power and can mess with your sound quality 🤯 and though it may seem safe, manufacturers don't recommend it because the maximum power capacity of one power bar gets split across all in the chain

[@telumatramenti7250]

@@Neohippyy It doesn't just seem safe, it actually is despite the lasting belief. I'm talking power bars/circuit breakers here not power strips. Power bars come with bi-metallic strip-based circuit breakers so if you over current (which is extremely unlikely, if not impossible, when using electronics like synths or samplers that run on 12 volts DC or below), - you won't create a hazard, - the power bar will simply turn itself off. It's a different story when you plug household appliances such as refrigerators, electric kettles, ACs, etc. but then again - even that is generally safe because of the mentioned circuit breaker. This is why going cheap on power bars is not recommended, a good power bar will tell you if the grounding(earthing) is intact, and you can expect a quality build. I tripped so many power bars in my days by plugging in a toaster oven and a kettle or AC into the same power bar. I didn't daisy chain - 2 devices like that on one bar were enough to overload and sidestep manufacturer's recommendations. The circuit breaker always tripped, and not a single power bar caught fire or blew up on me. Manufacturer's warning is definitely there for a reason: some people also plug 2-pronged extension cords into power bars and overload those with high current devices, which is definitely unsafe, as they're not equipped with any protection and their wire gauge isn't meant for high current. To not dirty up the sound, make sure that each fuse in your fuse box, and all of the power bars that are running from receptacles protected by that fuse are ONLY used for audio equipment, nothing else, use ferrite rings and/or balanced audio cables, and plug in your computers into a different receptacle altogether. I had it plugged like this for years, and I used optical cabling for sound output, the sound quality wasn't impacted. It's not an ideal situation by any stretch, but for a poor man's sound lab it will do.

[@telumatramenti7250]

@@Neohippyy I wanted to explain this idea in details, but I can't do it better than Technology Connections, so why bother, right? Go to 13:33 of the video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZDUXqukjreonbM It also dawned on me that I only have familiarity with North American electrical systems, so... If you live elsewhere take my words with a grain of salt.

[@Neohippyy]

@@telumatramenti7250 Thanks for the proper education 🙋‍♂️ will look into it :)

[@earlsfield]

How is A&H mixer connected to the computer, usb is not in?

[@rhyw3183]

Its the other way around, Ableton/soundcard is connected to a stereo channel in the mixer. Then I record back in to Ableton via "record out" - but I'm going to change this setup soon.

[@earlsfield]

@@rhyw3183 yeah I thought you are running digital stuff into, say, two summed channels. However you are having double AD/DA conversion there (although with sample rates nowdays hardly an issue, plus it might give it a little bit of a secret sauce). I recently picked up ZED 24, as I got sick of running synths and other stuff directly into interfaces. I have too much gear and effects to go into the box directly, even when I pair interfaces via ADAT. Since long time ago when I ditched my combo of Yamaha 02R with ADAT connected by optical to RME Hammerfall, I was using RME and UA converters directly, ni mixer. I also got Audiofuse studio for another studio place, but my point is, I was trying to run a hybrid studio without a mixer. Now I am going back to mixer and patchbay-based studio, but will not use ZED’s usb, rather connect analog out to Apollo. Thanks for the reply. I really like the music you are producing and thanks for sharing the process:).

[@alfredosmart3888]

Hey rhyw what a&h zed mixer are you using?

[@girlinagale]

Looks like Zed24.

[@girlinagale]

Oh wait, description states Zed22fx.

[@rhyw3183]

yeh Zed22FX - but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

[@girlinagale]

@@rhyw3183 I like my Zed24 but rarely use it because I keep a tight little set-up in a suitcase, ready to transport.

[@djleeross]

Resume: I have all this arsenal but Ableton is enough! 😂🤣😂🤣