Roscius walks us through his instrumental setup
In a world full of technology, electronic influence and futuristic sounds – Roscius, a French composer and percussionist, is making an impact with his unique, organic and innovate sound. Releasing via Nomadic Recordings, offers a captivating blend of piano and dulcimer, creating a polyrhythmic melody that evokes a dreamlike state. Roscius describes the single as a “musical threesome,” reflecting his unique approach to production and composition.
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With support from notable publications like Mixmag, The Guardian, NME and more – Roscius is carving out a space for himself in the music scene. His forthcoming debut album promises to be a captivating exploration of sound, drawing inspiration from diverse genres and cultural influences. As a regular performer at Glastonbury and Wilderness Festival, and with upcoming dates at renowned events like Amsterdam Dance Event and We Love Green. We asked the prodigious talent to walk us through his new single “INCELUSIVE”
Main Instrument: Balafon
So, the main musical instrument I used on this track “INCELUSIVE”, (as for the rest of “NO FALA B” actually), is a chromatic balafon, handmade in Burkina Faso. It’s at the heart of this debut and forthcoming LP, the equivalent of a synth for me. Its 37 blades are made of duramen, the heart of dead trees’ wood, and they’re tuned by cutting little bits of their lengths and widths. I took off its calabashes (dry fruits underneath each blade, serving as a natural sound amplifier) and I set up my own customized system of 37 piezo contact microphones stuck to each note with some paste, to get the straight dry sound from the wood. I have to thank two insanely brilliant London balafon players for this idea by the way, Moussa Dembelé (Koroleko) who I experimented with, at the very start of my process, as well as Bex burch, who helped me (a lot) understand different possibilities of making that set up work.
I chose not to play the balafon the traditional way (two hard sticks), firstly because I haven’t mastered this technique yet, and there are dozens of amazing real balafon players around (so there’s no point in trying to compete); but also because I’m more of a contemporary / nu jazz / IDM music orientated guy, and I got used to play with 4 soft mallets on a european 5 octaves marimba from a young age, so that felt closer to what I was aiming at, in terms of possibilities of harmonies, genres and sounds.
I play 99% of my chords, harmonies and melodies on this balafon, as well as all my bass lines, (via the Octaver OC5 by BOSS). The way I play with different types of mallets, and techniques of rolling, hitting, or even using the grip of sticks to create sonic effects that could be compared to the ones of a synth (at least in my head), whether I cut the resonance and the sustain by not allowing the blade to vibrate, or if I move along the top or the bottom of the blade, we can hear different frequencies of each note (envelop). I can also fake a longer / smoother attack by fade in rolls. All these are well known tricks by percussionists.
Dulcimer – used across Roscius’ work..
The combo mics: AKG 414 x SM57
Literally, to me the best microphone combination ever experienced. They complete each other perfectly in the studio. In my opinion, it’s really a must have. The AKG 414 is really large, bright, yet it handles subs and space too, whether you want to catch the natural reverberation of a room when hitting acoustic instruments, or the shininess of cymbals, gongs, the sound of the rubberband hitting the wood of the balafon, of course voices, breaths, singing, or even massive bass drums. That’s also what I used to capture the sound of the Dulcimer that features in this specific track INCELUSIVE.
Then I double it with the SM57, “the mic for poor people” yes, but when you’re on a low budget, what a mic. No wonder it’s in every venue I ever played. I love this one for the attack. It’s almost like it contains a weird compressor within, and any hits will really be conveyed dynamically with this one. Snares, claps, kicks, it really does slap, and adds what’s missing in the 414.
I recommend this combo to anyone up to record whatever instruments they have. Honestly, that’s also how I mic’d up my old upright piano which is the third guest on this track INCELUSIVE, and how I record almost anything acoustic in my studio. No extra hardware (for now), just straight into the soundcard. That combination is also really interesting for mixing (see below). I have the simplest template when I open logic. And everything comes by two channels, as these two mics are always plugged in and ready to record anything acoustic.
Connect with Roscius: Instagram / Spotify / Resident Advisor / Facebook
The post How It’s Made: Roscius takes us through the stunningly organic “INCELUSIVE” appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.