2019-07-01_Computer_Music

82 / COMPUTER MUSIC / July 2019

interview / jon hopkins

theywerecertainlycheaperthanthetop-
notchhardware.
JH:“Actually,it wasthewhole‘recordingaudio’
thingthatgotmeworkinginsidethebox.After
theAmiga,a computergeniusfriendofmine
builtmea PCandI moveduptoCubase.I could
recordaudioand,veryquickly,I foundI was
leaningtowardsthatwayofworking.Assoonas
I’dgottherightnotesinMIDI,I’dprintit.I had
theconfidencetosay,‘I’mnotgoingtochange
thatbunchofnotes’.
“I wasusingSoundForgeatthetime,which
meantthatI coulddestructivelyapplypluginsto
theaudio,sothatI stillhadsomecontrolover
thesound.ButI likedtheideathatI’dapplieda
smallfull-stoptothatbitofthesong.It wasin
thecomputerandI wassafe.I wasn’tgoingto
loseit.
“Conveniently,I alsofoundthatI likedediting
audio.I couldgetstrangeresults.SoundsthatI
couldn’tgetwithMIDIprogramming.Chopped
upreverbsanddelays.Weirdcut-offs.
“I’venotgonefullynative.I stilllikehardware
synths.It’snota pointofprincipal.I justlikethe
soundofa realsynth.”

: Grammynominations,decentalbum
sales.Nodoubtyou’vetreatedyourselftoa
fewsynthgoodies?
JH:“Thatwasalwaystheplan,butit never
happened.I’vegotmySY77,MoogSubPhatty,
theTrinity– whichI nevergaveback!– anda
KorgMS-20.AllrunningviaAbletonLive.
“I wentfromCubasetoLogic,butmovedto
Abletonaftertheyrebuilttheaudioengine.Up
untilthatpoint,I hada realproblemwith
Abletonbecauseit soundedlike...Ableton.Now,
you’vegota soundthat’sasgoodasLogic,but
you’vealsogotthepowerofAbleton.Forme,it’s

themostincrediblepieceofmusicsoftware

that’soutthere.”

: Andplugins?

“Altiverbhasbeena goodfriendtomeoverthe

years.EchoBoyisamazing.I investedina Waves

bundlebecauseI likethesoundofthe

RenaissancereverbandEQ.TheVulf

compressorfromGoodhertzisverynice.There’s

somegreatfreewareoutthere,too.

“I’mreallyenjoyingusingBubbler,whichisa

superbgranulardelay.I’vebeenusingit to

generatepadsoutof...well,youcanmakea pad

outofanything.It’sbeenyearssinceI’ve

actuallyuseda padpresetona synth.Evena

simplepianocanmakea harmonicallycomplex

pad,andit’sa lotmorefunthanjustpullingup

thesameoldpadpreset.”

: Thepianoisa recurringthemeinyour

music.Realordigital?

JH:“I’vegotthesameuprightgrandthatI’ve

hadsince1989,permanentlymikedupinthe

studio.I havetrieda fewpianoplugins,butthey

allsoundliketheM1pianotome.Thefirstone

thatI’vefeltcomfortablewithisNilsFrahm’sUna

Corda,whichisa Kontaktinstrument.NilsandI

sharethesamepiano-playingaestheticofhot

mikingandsoftplaying.It wasusedonthe

album– attheendofLuminousBeings– andit’s

mymainlivepiano.”

: You’vegotlotsofliveshowscomingup

thissummer.

JH:“SingularityisthefirstalbumI’verecorded

using Ableton Live, which makes the live show a

lot easier. Ableton plus a couple of controllers,

with the audio sent out to Kaoss pads. That

allows me to do anything I want to do.

“I supposetheoddthingisthatI don’treally

considermyselfa dancemusicartist.Although

thereareelementsofdanceintheliveshows,

I’mnotreallytryingtocreatea full-onparty.I

canextendsectionsandI canrespondtothe

crowd,butI don’tliketheideaofturningmy

musicintosomethingthat’sunidentifiable.I

wantpeopletoknowwhichsongI’mplaying

whenI playit.”

JonHopkins’latestalbum,Singularity, is outnow

andhe’llbetouringthroughoutthesummer,

includingatthisyear’sGlastonburyFestival

(jonhopkins.co.uk/live)

“Forme,therehavealwaysbeentwosidesto
electronicmusic.There’stheethereal,
weightlessside;andthedark,filthyside.And,
yes,I likethingstosound...big. HowdoI get
thatsound?Massiveamountsofprocessing
forthefilthyside.LotsofSoundtoys
Decapitator– andI meanlots! Boostingthe
bitsthatyouthinkarejustnoise.Boosting
themistakes.UsingAbletontoreallydiginto
thedetailsofthesound,soI canpickout
artefactsthataren’tevensupposedtobe
there.Boostthem.Anddistortthemagain.
“Attheetherealendofthespectrum,
startlookingatthestereospread.I
constantlyplayaroundwiththewidthofa
sound,startinginmonoandmovingthings
outintowidestereo...vaststereo!
“Thenyousetthetwoagainsteachother.
Starta fightandseewhowins.”

jonhopkins.co.uk

soundcloud.com/jonhopkins

twitter.com/Jon_Hopkins

facebook.com/jonhopkinsmusic

Singularity

bit.ly/jh_sing

OpenEyeSignal

bit.ly/JH_OES

HEARMORE

WWW

That big, broken

Jon Hopkins sound

Photo: Steve Gullick