Felix da Housecat: The Next Episode
Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Ken Micallef
FEAR OF A BLAKTRO PLANET
One of the calmest, most well-informed engineers anywhere, Sheppard brought Virgo Blaktro's sonics to the next level.
“Rick recut and spliced all my vocals, cut out all the noise, cranked them up even louder and spread them across the span,” Felix declares. “He took them to an extreme new level. There is a huge difference sonically between this album and Devon Dazzle. I told Rick I wanted my stuff to sound big like on a hip-hop or R&B album, but I didn't want it over the top. I just wanted it big, like electronic-pop music.”
Sheppard gave Virgo Blaktro maximum impact, while BC enabled Felix to focus more on singing, songwriting and his performance. The two worked as a unit, beginning with BC's tutorials on the intricacies of Apple Logic. Giving Felix a copy of Netopia Timbuktu remote-control software, BC was able to control his computer from Antwerp and educate him in the process. Soon, they were working like old shipmates. The fruit of their relationship is heard in three of the album's best tracks: “Radio,” “Tweak” and “Future Calls the Dawn.” The sounds in “Tweak” are particularly interesting, like robotic cockroaches scurrying down virtual wormholes.
“That's a siren from a Public Enemy record, a sample of a horn or a siren chopped up and reversed,” Felix explains. “I am sure [producer] Hank Shocklee took it from somewhere, too. Then we matched it with a Logic ES1 synth, two sirens going at the same time, so it sounds like it is overlapping. We had to pitch-shift the sample and the synth.”
“That is a lot of Logic BitCrusher,” BC adds. “I crushed the hell out of the lead ES1 sounds, then put a pitch-shifter from Logic after that sound. That way, we moved it up gradually in the middle of the song where the synths dart around. The song is called ‘Tweak’ because we moved everything around and added lots of EQ. That made it move and filter up and down. It almost doesn't matter what the lead sound is 'cause it is so heavily BitCrushed; it gives a nasty distortion sound.”
“Future Calls the Dawn” adheres to Vocoder-heavy, synth-pop style, the song swirling and spiraling as if on some endless loop. It's notable for its parallel stomping bass drum and synth wash. If the sources seem connected, as if the bass drum is triggering the synths, it's because they are.
“BC and I often argue whether the magic box works better than the Vocoder in Logic,” Felix says. “‘The Dawn’ is where he wanted to prove that it sounds just as good. He took my natural singing voice and ran it through Melodyne and stretched the notes a little bit to give it a robotic feel. Then he used an Orange Vocoder. We are constantly working with our vocoder so it doesn't sound like Daft Punk or someone else. We take my natural voice, tune it, stretch it, leave some natural voice, then use the Orange Vocoder and all these crazy effects. But I prefer my magic box 'cause I don't want it to sound like everyone's vocoder.”
But BC has plenty of tricks up his own sleeve to avoid sounding the same as everyone else. “For that track,” he says, “I ran a whole pack of synths through a bus in Logic, put a compressor on the bus and sidechained it with the bass drum, so every time the bass drum kicks, the synths go down in level. That is why you get that pumping feeling there — that triggering of the Logic compressor makes it pump. Everything that goes through that bus goes up and down; every time the kick drum hits, it slams the synths up and down. Benny Benassi put that on the map.”
WILL THE REAL FELIX STAND UP?
Felix Stallings loves his aliases, be it Devon Dazzle, Son of Analog or Virgo Blaktro. They make it easy for him to slip in and out of view, whether he is remixing a pop star, working with a hip-hop icon or simply burying himself in a bottle of mescal. Felix da Housecat may be back on the ground, but Virgo Blaktro is a man on a mission.
“A lot of people loved Devon Dazzle, which trips me out,” Felix remarks. “That was a stressful record to make. It wasn't really natural. Everybody on the record wanted the ball. You can't all take the shot! When you listen to Virgo, you feel a warm, good feeling. The melodies are within the synths, the lyrics and the vocals, three different melodies going at the same time on each song. Sonically, Virgo is just more melodic.”
Inside the Movie Disco
Computers, DAW, hardware, software
Apogee X-Symphony card, Rosetta 800 AD/DA converter
Apple Mac Pro Quad Core running Logic Pro 7
MOTU 896HD interface
Netopia Timbuktu remote control software
Synths, soft synths
Alesis Andromeda
Arturia Minimoog V, Moog Modular V soft synths
Korg Legacy Collection soft synths
Logic Pro 7 ES1, ES2 soft synths
Moog Little Phatty, Moog Voyager
Roland Juno-106
Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Prophet VS
Yamaha CS-80, Motif 6
Mics, mic preamps, EQs, compressors, effects, plug-ins
Apple Logic Pro 7 BitCrusher, EVOC20 Vocoder, Linear Phase EQ, Pitch Correction
Blue Blueberry mic
Camel Audio CamelPhat v3.4 CamelSpace v1.4 Rhythmic multi-effects processors
Celemony Melodyne
DigiTech Vocalist
Prosoniq Orange Vocoder
Sonalksis SV-315 Mk2 compressor
Space Designer convolution reverb
Sampler, turntable, DJ mixer
Apple Logic Pro 7 EXS24 mkII sampler
Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD turntable
Rane Serato Scratch Live DJ software/hardware
Rane TTM 56 Performance Mixer
Monitors
Genelec 1030As
Technics RP-DH1200 headphones
DARP GEAR (courtesy Rick Sheppard) Computer, DAW, hardware, console
(3) Apogee AD-16X A/D converter, Big Ben Master Digital Clock, Rosetta 200 A/D/A converter
Apple G4 1.25 GHz dual processor running Logic Audio
Lucid AD9624 24-bit stereo 96 kHz A/D converter
Spin Audio Virtual Mixing Console
Tube-Tech SSA 2A Stereo Summing Amplifier
Key Rack 1
E-mu Audity 2000, Morpheus, Proteus 2000, Proteus/1 and Proteus/2
Korg TR-Rack
Roland JV-2080s (2), U-110, XV-5080
Waves L2 Ultramaximizer
Yamaha TX81Z
Key Rack 2
E-mu Planet Earth, Turbo Phatt, XL-1 Turbo
Korg MS2000R
Roland Fantom-XR
Studio Electronics Omega 8, SE-1
Key Rack 3
Alesis QSR
E-mu Mo'Phatt, Virtuoso 2000
Kawai K1r-II
Korg Triton
Kurzweil MicroPiano
Novation Nova
Quasimidi PolyMorph
Roland D-550, V-Synth
Samplers, drum machines/modules
Akai MPC2000
Alesis D4, DM5
Boss DR-770
E-mu Pro/Cussion, (2) SP1200s
Kawai XD-5
Novation DrumStation
Roland CR-68, CompuRhythm, HPD-15 HandSonic, MC-303 GrooveBox, SP-808
Sequential Circuits Studio 440
Keyboards
Access Virus
Clavia Nord Lead
Fatar 88-Key MIDI Controller
Korg Karma, Micro, T3, Trinity Plus, Triton
Moog Source, Moog Voyager
Novation KS4
Oberheim OB-8, OBX-A
Quasimidi Sirius
Roland Juno-106
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Prophet-T8
Wurlitzer electronic piano
Yamaha DX7II-FD
Vintage Rack
Akai S1000, S3200, S6000
E-mu Planet Phatt
Ensoniq ASR-10, Mirage
Korg EX-8000, Wavestation A/D
Kurzweil K2000R
Next Vox-II Vocoder
Roland SVC-350 Vocoder
Studio Electronics Midimoog
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