Omnisphere is “one of the most inspiring instruments,” says Tourist
“So much of my music is just Omnisphere presets.”
Credit: Left: Spectrasonics | Right: Press
Tourist has commended the “inspiring” presets found on Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere plugin synth, hailing it as a solid “starting point for sounds”.
The British producer and Grammy-winning songwriter – real name William Edward Phillips – hailed Omnisphere in the latest episode of My Forever Studio. It’s a podcast on which artists, producers and musicians dream up a fantasy studio setup, picking a limited number of items.
In this episode, the award-winning plugin (Version 2.8 was launched in 2021) is named by Tourist as a key starting point when starting a new project. He also emphasises his desire to find instruments that “inspire him”.
“It’s one of the most inspiring instruments,” Tourist says of the plugin. “You open it and it’s like, you know, it’s such a good starting point for sounds.”
He also addresses the stigma surrounding the use of presets in music production, emphasising the importance of embracing inspiration in any form. He asserts, “If you find inspiration in a preset, don’t in any way judge yourself for thinking like that. You’re immediately pissing on your own fire of inspiration.”
“It’s so important that that inspiration is what carries you through the rest of the record because there’s nothing wrong with it, you know? That’s me embracing using presets. So much of my music is just Omnisphere presets, but that’s fine.”
At another point in the episode, Tourist discusses the preciousness around collecting treasured gear that doesn’t end up being used by its owners. He says, “Your studio is not a museum. You don’t want to feel intimidated by it. You want to feel like you can revel in its creativity. I’m not like ‘This one here…’ Like a fucking wine cellar.”
“The emotional value of something sometimes is what you create with it. To some extent, these things are tools and the tools allow you to make magic, and the magic is what you need to get from these tools.”
Listen to the episode below:
My Forever Studio invites guests, in the form of producers, musicians, songwriters and studio engineers, to dream up a fantasy studio they’ll make music in forever. This studio can be anywhere in the world, but there is a catch – each guest is only allowed to pick six studio items. Before you ask, no, these cannot be plugin bundles. *sounds the ‘no bundles’ klaxon*
Find all episodes of My Forever Studio via MusicTech.
