SURCO's Live Hardware Techno Secrets Revealed

In this episode of Electron Talk, we are delighted to welcome Eric, also known as SURCO, to the EZBOT studio, where he will divulge his preferred techniques for live improvised Hardware Techno. SURCO has earned acclaim for his electrifying Techno productions, renowned for being crafted live, ensuring a unique experience for his audience. Today, he will share insights into his creative process, utilizing an array of equipment including the an assortment of Eurorack, Elektron Syntakt, Rytm, Octatrack MK2, Oxi-One, and 1010 Blackbox. Join us as we explore the intricacies of live Techno music production with one of the genre's luminaries.
SURCO’s KZbin channel: / @surcolive
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Music: / ezbotmusic
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0:00 Stream starts
02:11 SURCO's setup
11:07 Take me to Techno Paradise
23:00 It's starting to make sense
53:35 Live Fully Improv VS Finished Patterns
1:01:03 Dropping the tempo for a laugh
1:05:43 How do you mix on your hardware?
1:58:16 SURCO Performs
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Engineering a new music device? Ensure its success by consulting with an expert in hardware music production. Let me help turn your dream device into a hit: ezbot.live
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[@EZBOT_]

Don't forget to subscribe and join the discord! discord.gg/KUSBH9h I love to teach -> Lessons and contact: ezbot.live Support this channel by joining the Patreon : www.patreon.com/ezbot Support this channel by visiting my hardware electronic music store: www.modbang.com Octatrack Performance Mixer 3.0 Out Now: ko-fi.com/ezbot or www.patreon.com/ezbot

[@MichaelMai]

40:17 words of wisdom. Thanks for sharing ❤

[@maikvanrossum]

Those damn nights I wake up way too early and can’t get no sleep… that these kind of conversations are available to all of us is such a relief 🙏🏻😊👌🏻 Night well spent after all 😉

[@ycnakajsph]

And to paradise we went! Surco is amazing god! Such a great artist and a great set up, both is combination is incredible !

[@rolymiller4466]

thanks gents, awesome stream, love seeing you hang out, learned a ton.

[@sonicindustries227]

EZBOT - with SURCO! 2 of my favourite KZbinrs - talking gear & Techno. Fantastic! Quite the incredible set-up Eric. Changed again since I last saw it. Slamming performance at the end too. (The DB4 didn't have midi, had one myself. The Xone 96 is the latest flagship model and that does).

[@JorgBarrett]

Such a nice complex setup. Great sounding techno. It’s hard to create such groovy hypnotic techno. Amazing Surco

[@EZBOT_]

Glad you like it!

[@SURCOlive]

Thank you so much!

[@RJ_Eckie]

This must’ve been my favorite stream so far! Surco’s improvisational techniques are truly inspirational

[@circadian_daw]

Always great to see you two chatting together. I love this setup and the overall idea of starting with a clean canvas. The one thing I do not understand is how Eric knows where all the settings need to be set again to get to the clean starting canvas. I would think after a while you are so far down the rabbit hole that it is hard to return.

[@SURCOlive]

To be honest I move from wherever I am to where I want to be. It's less about having a standard starting point and more about getting comfortable with how to quickly adjust the sounds. THanks for tuning in!

[@koalemos1679]

I would really like a video on performing with a focus on live sound. When I've played live I've always had a problem with getting bass volumes correct, a lot of random noise, and overall just being really quiet.

[@EricRaymondSF]

Eye-opening, super generous, and tons of fun. Thanks, guys.

[@liamcampbell8441]

I had the pleasure of seeing Stoor in paradiso at ADE last year and it was as insane as they say! Only Speedy J isn't just doing effects and mixing, he is also throwing sequences in the mix!!! Amazing stuff

[@jamesherndon8066]

Really nice performance. I hope to catch a set some day.

[@7177YT]

Very insightful and inspiring! Thank you!

[@nostandingonlydancin]

That was greats thank you both!

[@EZBOT_]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SURCOlive]

Thanks for tuning in. it was a blast!

[@jorgbarr]

Great Techno set. Surco and Ezbot are a great team. love this content, I always leave inspired ready to learn the elektron workflow, just got the syntakt

[@EZBOT_]

Great to hear!

[@hosedog99]

Thank you both for sharing this knowledge. It’s super inspiring.

[@MrRachele]

Wonderful to see some more improvised hardware sets happening. Funny to hear you talking about recording stereo. I have also been doing it for years now. I know exactly that feeling of living with what you produced at that moment. And living with the little mistakes, and releasing them as tracks anyway. People have told me to multitrack. I then try to explain that even if I did multitrack, if I altered anything, then it would end up being something different. The sound I was loving at that moment, would be lost. Talking about live mixer, Honeysmack and I have been using Play Differently Model 1 for live. It is awesome.

[@intersweat]

Does anyone have a link for the origins of techno documentary that Surco mentions around 1.15.45?

[@luvinfunvan]

Cool to see other performance setups, thanks for sharing. Also so much for "less is more" ;-)

[@spenzasequenza]

That was insightful… thanks for sharing!

[@Jack458111]

I traded this guy a moog for his A4! Nice dude! Go SURCO!

[@Honeysmack]

Great insight as always... and thanks for the mention, humbled!

[@toffchunks]

DREAMTEAM in Action !!!!

[@JohannesLind]

Ezbot break free of the whole genre think, just play whatever comes through you!

[@maarzt]

i very much jive with surcos approach

[@joshuabanham2566]

Love this content

[@simonliubinas6152]

Such a great stream. Surco mate, dropping the BPM sounded sick!

[@SURCOlive]

Maybe I have a future in Dub Techno. hahaha

[@MrQmason]

Good stuff !

[@rman2x16]

this inspired me greatly! great collab!!

[@EZBOT_]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@toffchunks]

top as usual!!!

[@quantummonastery]

That kick tho! props Surco Great collab

[@mikg2618]

1:22:36 Surco's secret glue ;)

[@Orge77]

“You should have a mask so you open and close”. 😂

[@raysubject]

Walter White did best thing when he moved from cooking meth to producing and live playing techo - he is goddam good with machines !

[@francescoelipanni]

Great video and precious intel revealed 😂😊 it was expecially nice seeing how much Surco has enjoyed your performance template for the okta! Do you have any suggestion for a “lower budget” piece of hardware that one could add to a digi-box to kind-of-replicate the okta template? I’ve tryed messing up with the syntakt fx track but it feels a bit restricting and not so easy-to-use for buildup and releases

[@FUMU_FUMU]

Hey @SURCO. Why exactly dont you use the the hybrid Template instead of the Techno? Does it make make more sence for techno because of? :)

[@FUMU_FUMU]

My thought was to then not need the blackbox anymore

[@SURCOlive]

@@FUMU_FUMUI could for sure but I love the ease of performance with the Blackbox just touch and go rather than digging through samples to play.

[@FUMU_FUMU]

Thank you so much for your answer. You are one of my biggest inspirations. Sounds cheesy but i mean so. Greats from berlin 🖤

[@SURCOlive]

@@FUMU_FUMUwow. Thanks! I’ll be in Berlin for Superbooth. Come say Hi!

[@FUMU_FUMU]

@SURCO So i know you are a DAWless person. But i wonder if you could combine two different soundcards with mac in Ableton to process the percussion side with soundcard X and the melodic side with soundcard Y to use the stereo output from soundcard X to sent it to A+B input of the OT and use the Output of soundcard Y to sent it to C+D input of the OT. Then of course put the Main Outputs back to one of the soundcards. If thats possible we could to final sounddesign in Ableton for both sides but still use the full capabilitys of the wonderfull performance templates. We even could then use the in case of the hybrid template the cue outputs of the OT to send it also to one or both soundcards depending on which kind of sample it is. I spent all my money on Instruments and dont have something left to just buy another soundcard also cause i dont have the knowledge to understand if this even is possible. I hope my english is understandable 🫣

[@JakePickle]

THe Coral is in the case because it's f*king awesome!!! Dude needs to do his research 🤣

[@Lo-fi_Hi-brow]

Question-for anyone willing to answer: I use a Digitakt/Digitone with an 0-Coast for bass. If ai wanted to add a couple modules, how do I hybridize my Elektron set-up to work with modular? I can handle the 0-Coast because the out is just a line level. I'd like to maybe get a synth voice module and sequence on the DT or add FX modules for the 0-Coast and DN. If I pass O-Coast's line level signal through a modular FX...does the signal remain at line level.

[@FilippoCarrux]

Huge stream!! thank u EZbot ! Could I know the name of the sampler module in the bottom left of the modular system near the midi ports?

[@EZBOT_]

Rossum Assimilator

[@FilippoCarrux]

@@EZBOT_ thank you so much man!

[@hiiipower3005]

I'd of thought the machinedrum instead of the analogue rhytm would be more suited to the drum machines as that dirt sound only unique to the MD sounds more up SURCOs street....and has 16 lfos to use at once (watch max marco machinedrums vs analog rytm) video n decide ureself... sound so filthy . Wanting the oxi now lol

[@SURCOlive]

I'd love a Machinedrum to go WITH my Rytm... Never instead of. The Rytm is the last piece of kit I would sell if I had to sell everything. :)

[@ycnakajsph]

What is the speedy J band SURCO is mentionning?

[@maikvanrossum]

Not sure, but I think it’s STOOR Live with Speedy J

[@stereopsis]

Wow, Walter White has gotten into techno!

[@iancain6647]

Yeah I was just going to say that.

[@mard8148]

"Its Breaking bad but set in Berlin"...

[@stereopsis]

@@mard8148 Funnily enough, Breaking Bad would never happen with the health care system of a typical European country 😅

[@SURCOlive]

Now that's funny... @@mard8148 🤣

[@audiolego]

It's Heisenberg man❤❤❤❤❤

[@chambre466]

[@Lordxfx]

I still remember the day I discovered Surco. What a lad, what a knight.. The man just loves what he does. It truly resonates with me!. Just like EZBOT, the AlgoRYTM just smashed another electronic wizard in to my YT-feed.