Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello gives a tour of his studio

[dannystrongstrong]

i've watched this at least 500 times

[LEXTHE4]

Dntel is the best

[dannystrongstrong]

Jimmy tamborello IS inspiration.

[beezledubz]

haha love the ending

[blc01]

man i like ya drum machines

[djphazer]

"So that's the end of my studio tour... uh..." XD

[tokyorose999]

wish i had money for an avalon!

[breakyournose]

JIMMY TAMBORELLO IS A GENIUS and i wish i had all his stuff.

but life isnt about what i want.

[36drummer09]

Anybody knows 4:03 ??

I'd very appreciate your response.

[darthsarcasm73]

@36drummer09 It's from "The Distance" one of my favorites off of "Dumb Luck".

[atarashiihito]

@36drummer09 That's the Dave Smith Poly Evolver.

[justtheroses]

He's now using Logic according to his website.

[TheDrummerkid770]

@heyheyblog elektron. He said so in the vid

[lisamp7]

all these knobs and words and wires... its overwhelming. I just want to make some music, not save the world

[jbjindra]

@lisamp7 I hear ya. He's probably gotten some fat paychecks from doing the postal service albums and now can buy whatever he wants. I doubt you need half that stuff to make some great sounds.

[UTubeKEYGEN]

it's pronounced "mogue"

[Swiftlygothedays]

To me, Jimmy T's more of a wizard now that I've seen how he makes his music. Can't get enough of this guy.

[ElephantTusks]

The joke of it is that 90% of these devices can be emulated/utilized by using Ableton Live 8 and Native Instruments Komplete. I know of some incredible musicians who use nothing more than Logic Pro and a simple midi controller. Check out an artist called Obfusc -- his material is quite inspiring. Most of the time less is more.

[LightSpeed91]

@ElephantTusks Some people, such as myself, prefer hands-on hardware. It's really just preference

[LyndonTCorbett]

@ElephantTusks

it also makes for a pretty boring show staring at guy/girl behind a laptop, and I would feel like shit paying more than $5 to watch said guy/girl trigger samples or loops of their stuff in ableton.

[iledet]

@ElephantTusks

You can also emulate drums, guitar, etc. but it's much more fun to get your hands on the real thing, it's more expressive then sitting behind a monitor and using a mouse. There is also the argument that software emulation doesn't sound nearly as good as analog equipment and I have to agree with that. I suppose it's just preference and how you like to work.

[heyheyblog]

Great Video, Its give me a better idea for what to have in my home recording studio! What is the swedish things called, can reply plz, thanks

[Kyle2themax]

Wow. Thanks for the tour this is great! Two years later and no one has added this information to his wiki page. Well don't worry I just did. By the way, at 1:31 it sounds like he is playing the opening chords to "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight".

[MRT3ABAG]

IMO i reckon daft punk and jimmy should do a song together would be interesting and awesome.

[IrishMisfits]

i have a microkorg myself, it doesn't look too intimidating but it actually makes some pretty diverse sounds.

[kristopher081]

Dynaudio=Big bucks!!!

[mahkind]

Damn that mini moog is sweet

[sonnyx88]

jimmy 4 president!

[cashc0w]

jesus christ thats alot of equipment, the monomachine is rad, too bad i cant afford that maybe one day! thanks jimmy!

[KingGreen12]

got my machinedrum in the post this morning

[tehpr0lol]

wow. his studio is epic.

i want it.

[OhHiNick]

He doesn't even mention is Radium MIDI controller.

Oh well.

[amonster8mymother]

vermona!!!

[roryrandomlyrocks]

I wonder how much it would cost to buy all of this in one go...

[atarashiihito]

I calculated it up once, and it was nearing $24,000 if I remember correctly. That's assuming if you bought everything brand new too.

[roryrandomlyrocks]

Aha, brilliant work man.

How much is that in pounds sterling = / ?

[atarashiihito]

£14,349.57

[roryrandomlyrocks]

I suppose you guessed? That, or you're an incredible helpful man.

[CourtneyheartsDuncan]

my last names Tamborello o.O

[foxrider415]

Does anybody know what the red synth or keyboard in the background is at 7:00 ? Love the analog studio by the way.

[atarashiihito]

Minimoog Voyager.

[8greyskull8]

voyager is the one hes playing

[matthijscoman]

I think it's a Clavia Nord Lead something although I don't know what specific model. Pretty sure it's a Clavia Nord though, as most professional red synths are Clavia's.

[atarashiihito]

It's a Nord Modular G2.

[LyndonTCorbett]

Actually it's a G1 - you can tell by the dial being on the right-hand side.

[atarashiihito]

@matthijscoman It's a Nord Modular G2!

[doritou]

hi ...i love your work! i m a huge fun of postal service and to be honest i think it s my favourite album...keep up the good work ..it is so nice that music has someone like you

[dan71092]

I would have no clue where the fuck to begin.

he is genius to produce any type of harmony from all those fandangled machines.

[kuptai]

I use to agree until I started listening to aphex twin

but tamborello is still pretty sexy

[lama231245]

3:55 awesome sound

[carbunkel]

It's on the song "The Distance" off Dumb Luck.

Check it.

[Joeda6]

TAMBORELLO WILL YOU MARRY ME  ?

[lglglglg]

I've been listening Dumb Luck 24/7 with my mp3 player. It's a masterpiece.

[shinynewmachine]

Dear Jimmy,

Thank you for sharing about your music making. I love your work!

[TMVmucho123]

i finally figured out he said "kaoss pad(paddy)" thing at 6:58 referring to the kaoss pad

[mayorofthenonsense]

thanks for sharing that with us.

[thentherewas]

intro bit is hilarious.

[ohotis]

Brother can't even say Moog right.

[TMVmucho123]

haha i say it moooog too

when really its "mogue"

[LyndonTCorbett]

Hahaha, most don't - easiest way to remember to say it right would be to remember that it rhymes with Rogue - The Moog Rogue.

[Chad63092]

Does anyone recommend a relatively cheap drum machine that can make music thats very postal service esque?

[branbilling]

i have no answer but jeeez i wanna know one so fucking bad!!!

[bw120205]

Any basic 16-step drum machine should serve your purposes to make Postal Service-esque beats. The Roland 909 is pretty cool. It's a vintage drum machine that has the 16 steps right there on the drum machine. It was made in the 80's and has a lot of vintage tones. There are like a million drum machines out there today though, but I tend to prefer the ones that have 16 steps laid out right on the drum machine.

[chins8888]

wht song???

[atarashiihito]

The Distance, it's right at the beginning of the song.

[chins8888]

at 3:55

that should be one of the sounds for the new postal service album

[lynl]

its already on the dumb luck album..

[CofCGuy]

Fascinating tour, TY for posting.

[HeckYeahOhio]

I wish i knew what KEYBOARD or program was used for the intro of Such Great Heights....that has got me so curious! haha

[imfamousyourefamous]

my theory is that it is the microkorg.

[roryrandomlyrocks]

The intro to Such Great Heights is amazing. I'd hazard a guess that it came from a combination of those two electron programmers (at around 2.00 in this video)

[KingGreen12]

most of the postal service sounds were made on the monomachine. so good! oh what id give for one!

[LyndonTCorbett]

You are wrong. Maybe after Give Up, but I asked Jimmy what was used on Give Up and was told the following:

Cubase 5.0

Motu 828

Mackie 1604

kurzweil K2000

nord modular G1

line6 delay

I still have the original message saved if you care to argue it.

[lilfoodstamp233]

it's kinda hard to believe he made all of that with just TWO synths.. I'm not saying it's impossible but damn

[LyndonTCorbett]

The nord modular is technically 500 synths in one, if not more, and can be whatever you want it to be. If you haven't looked into one, check it out - either the G1 or G2. Hell even the micro modular is a cool little guy to have around.

[iledet]

@lilfoodstamp233

Two synths? I see at least five (Moog, Vostok, Nord, Elektron, Korg, DS PolyEvolver). In all honesty, if you know what you're doing (and JT apparently does), you would only need one modular synth to create any sound you could dream up. They all have different characteristics though and I'm guessing there is a little gear lust involved here as well. =)

[theconsolationwars]

@LyndonTCorbett how can that possibly be right when Cubase 5 wasn't available till recently and Give Up came out in early 2003?

[LyndonTCorbett]

@theconsolationwars good catch!

Funny thing is 5.0 wasn't even out when I typed that! It's suppose to be 3.0. He used 3.0 not 5.0 - but the rest of the list still stands. I actually took a screen shot of the email and posted it at Vintage Synth a few years back, because there were a few that found it hard to believe he used such a minimal set up.

[atarashiihito]

@HeckYeahOhio Jimmy has said that the Postal Service record and everything before was mainly produced with a Kurzweil K2600 sampler and a laptop. A much simpler set-up than the one he has here. I'm guessing the Such Great Heights intro was a synth line made with the K2600, recorded, and then sliced up with the K2600 or software.

[wbradley]

This was helpful for ideas, I just realized I need a new interface/software for recording, and his MicroKorg and MiniMoog were awesome.

[TurncoatVids]

It's a voyager, dude.

[atarashiihito]

Right, a MiniMoog Voyager.

[xpostspikex]

let`s blame all the electronic musicians on global warming with all the power their little machines need.

[Fogelkorps]

awesome!!! more!

[Gyasiwenthome]

I've just noticed something, is that the Linux penguin at the back there on a shelf at the start?

[iledet]

No, it's a monkey.

[atarashiihito]

I love this studio and the music the man behind the studio creates. I have a Machinedrum and I am saving up for a Monomachine.

I also have to say that I miss Cubase. I've been using Ableton and Logic Pro for a few years now, and have been thinking about swapping Logic for Cubase.

[iwuvpanda]

nice. that is an incredibly expensive collection there. very nice. love the music. can anyone guide me into what software or hardware i could use to modify/harmonize vocals? like, high pitched, electronica kinda baby-sounding, as in not too techno-ish. (like the band breathe caroline)

[stillbreathing8]

you need to use a vocoder for that really stupid played out sound ;)

[sonorosapiens]

video really interesting, i really like jimmy's work.

[alfons00p]

i got the feeling that u have no idea about youre stuff and what u all could do with it am i right?

[Joeda6]

lern gramer and speelling

[JOEDONUT]

It's so cool how his whole career is like in that little room. It's so cool. Like so much stuff came through there you know. It's so weird.

[djlaketrout]

I have cubase for my atari 1040 STe and it runs rock solid....no audio track recording though :(

[subcultureshock]

jeeze for a nice sound some of the users should relax a bit. if you are correcting people so much then why isnt your name out there like Jimmy Tamborello now there buddy? anywhere i go where somthing "cool" or underground is everyone becomes a critic.this man doesnt have to demonstrate anything. hes just sharing. i think its nice of him.

[telepharmavangelism]

thanks; im not a complete noob, i have a microkorg

[telepharmavangelism]

whats that tiny analogue synth thing called??? i cant understand what he says??

nice kit but

[atarashiihito]

Which tiny analog synth?  The Vostok Matrixsynth? Or The Korg Micro Korg. The MicroKorg is tiny, but it's not analog, it's digital.

[hsellors]

wow thats exactly what Iv been looking for, hes such an inspiraton for what I do. Iv got a microkorg but I do think it will be aveyr long time untill I can get all of that! I really want an Elektron Machine Drum but theyre like £750

[JaccobDC]

I'm surprised he uses such cheap equipment actually.

[paedrough]

yeah, i know... plus cubase? i hate cubase. but it's probably a lot better on a mac.

[atarashiihito]

The only "cheap" piece of equipment I see is the MicroKorg. That would be the cheapest thing, but that's still $399.

[quimkaos]

nop that would be de 3€ microfone he has...

[TVTsteven]

The Dl-4 is 250 idk just saying haha

[daddyandrea]

thanks for your great music man!

[unfinishedideas2]

Being an audiophile myself - I almost had a heart attack watching this. It was.. amazing.. God I wish I had even a fraction of your gear! I do have a question though.. why, if you have all this stuff, is the sound quality on your cam so low? Why not run one of the mics or something?

[lookoutamouse]

where can i get some sythn equpment like that?

[JaccobDC]

Check manufacturer's websites, it depends on what you're looking for, try w w w [dot] m u s i c 1 2 3 [dot] c o m.

[fridgemedia]

the shop?

[ckydan99]

Hes a legend

[moshibbie]

I did not have a clue about how much went into his music. shit he's gone way up in my heroes list.

[Gyasiwenthome]

really expensive "stuff" love that guy

[baronvonsauna]

this is Rad...  sooooo good to see... way to quell my curiousity, i really have pondered what gear he used forever.

[introducingiheart]

wow i totally have the same glockenspiel! the baby blue one - soooo exciting!

[john6111]

god i love you jimmy. u da mannn

[Katalyzt]

Cool

[klauzenmusic]

Cool stuff!

[theonefreeman12]

great stuff, expensive i bet. i love how he refers to it as stuff before he goes and reads the label.

[djlaxa]

and there's where the sound come from ;)

[saigneursam]

can't wait till the new album!

[xsquizzlxbizzlx]

so stoked for the new record....i'm the hugest tamborello fan.

[articbassline]

this answers so many questions

[JiveMonkey]

cooliecoolcool!

[JoeThePsycoRobot]

holy crap! that's the korg i have!!!

[JoeThePsycoRobot]

wow

[3577]

BOOOYAH. i love this record label and everyone on it. i really wish i could play synths. or afford them :)

love you guys.