Show Off Your Studio: Tube & Berger’s creative temple
The house duo’s booth might look small, but rest assured the sounds that amplify from this space are the total opposite.
#SHOWOFFYOURSTUDIO
Studio owners Tube & Berger
Contact tube-berger.com
Beatport | SoundCloud | Spotify
Key Kit
- Sequential Prophet 6
- Roland VT-3
- Moog Sub 37
- Barefoot MM26 Speakers
- A big SSD Hard Drive
- A slightly detuned guitar
Some more info on our gear…
Prophet 6
The first main piece of our studio has to be the Prophet-6 synthesiser by Sequential. We use it in almost every production. It’s super versatile in the studio and you can squeeze out some very fat basslines, pads, leads etc.
Roland VT-3
This one is a super fun tool to use in the studio, either for jamming, but also for recording vocoder effects. In the early 2000’s we used the Boss voice transformer VT-1 a lot, and rediscovered the effect a few years ago.
Moog Sub 37
This one needs little introduction. A legendary synth with powerful, unique sounds and an industry-leading build quality. A trooper in every electronic musician’s studio.
Barefoot MM26 Speakers
We produced music on crappy speakers for too long. So last year it was about time to get a major upgrade. We don’t regret anything.
A big SSD hard drive
Having ample data storage is so satisfying. Over the years our VST collection has grown a lot and many of our releases are based on digital synthesisers and samples. Therefore, a big and quick hard drive is a must-have for us.
A no-name cheap and slightly detuned guitar.
We’ll take about that later 🙂
How do you use your studio, gents?
Our studio is our temple and creative playground. We conspire about new song ideas, record vocals with some very talented dudes and dudettes, hold general meetings and occasionally kill a beer or two in the process. Also, most recently Tube started working on a children’s audiobook.
Tell us more about the studio!
Solingen has been our personal rock city no.1 for as long as we can remember. We were raised here, held our first private jams and stayed loyal to the city that brought us up till this very day. The studio itself is actually a little house in a secret backyard.
Which DAW do you use?
Cubase is our go-to in the studio and we’ve synced it up with Ableton Live. We love that session view when we start out a new track. Debates can get pretty heated in the battle for the best DAW. At the end of the day, it’s just a preference thing. We got started on these two, so we stuck with them.
How much time do you spend in your studio per week?
That varies from week to week, depending on how many shows we’re playing. But usually when we’re back from touring and have spent enough times with our families, we pretty much hit the studio immediately. Once we’re in, it’s open end for that day/night. But on a weekly average, I’d estimate it to be around 30-35 hours.
How did you go about getting the acoustics right in the studio?
Our room acoustics were horrible in the first few years of our career. We literally put damping foam on some random spots on our walls. But a few years ago we visited our long time mate and producer friend Kean Sanders, who has a top-notch studio with outstanding room treatment. We couldn’t believe how clean everything sounded in this environment. From that moment on we were hooked and immediately hired a carpenter who built us a professional room. He did the whole thing while we were on a USA tour. When we came back we felt like children at Christmas.
What atmosphere do you try and create in the studio?
Aside from the equipment we use on the day-to-day, we also park our old basses, guitars, synths etc. in the studio, which gives us that extra scoop of nostalgia. So, it’s a mixture of the gold old stuff and the new and shiny.
What is your favourite piece of gear?
It has to be the guitar that Tube played Imprint of Pleasure on. Although we don’t use it daily, it’s legendary nevertheless. We bought it from a friend for 30 German Marks (which is around €15 nowadays). This guitar has probably been listened to more than 80 million times.
What is next on your shopping list studio-wise?
We’ve recently stumbled upon an interesting tool by Vochlea… They developed an instrument that lets you use your voice to control synths, drum machines etc. Technically you could Beatbox a whole track. We’re really looking forward to trying it out.
Do you have any frustrations with your current set-up?
Our room sounds awesome from the inside but apparently also from the outside – that’s what our neighbour said at least. Whilst we took this as a compliment, he’s asked us to shut it down during the night time… Now we have to keep it more a bit more quiet, unfortunately.
What is your dream piece of gear and why?
Hah! It has to be David Bowie’s stylophone that he used in Space Oddity. Or maybe the theremin that The Beach Boys used in Good Vibrations.
What is your top piece of production advice?
If you come to the point where you reach the flow, don’t let anything stop you. A lot of our most successful tracks were written super quick and in that state of flow.
What is the one piece of advice you would give someone starting out building a studio?
If you want to build a proper studio, prioritise the room first and foremost. Yeah, it’s tempting to go for the most expensive best outboard equipment first, but that just won’t sound right in the wrong environment.
Tube & Berger’s latest release is Free Tribe 2.0. You can purchase it from Beatport.
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