ILS
Jul 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Tamara Palmer
It's still true: Next-level music can just as capably emerge from older equipment as newer advancements. Just ask Ils, who has enjoyed a 10-year career that has successfully maneuvered tricky and versatile crossovers among the discerning drum 'n' bass, downtempo and breakbeat elite through recordings on top British labels such as Good Looking, Mo' Wax, Fuel and Marine Parade, which released his Soul Trader debut overseas this past year. Most might be startled to learn that although competent on a Mac, Ils (a contraction of his Welsh first name, which he prefers to conceal) chooses to use an Atari computer to power his home-studio setup.
“The Atari speeds up the way I work by about 20 or 30 percent,” he says. “If I had a remix to do and I had to get an Apple Mac in, I'd work so slowly that I would probably miss all the deadlines. It usually sounds totally different, as well [on a Mac]. I can't explain how it changes my sound when I program on it. I also don't have time to literally sit out for six months and retrain and get a second sense for Mac — I've never even had three months when it wasn't okay for me to be functioning at full speed!”
Ils emphasizes that his Atari use shouldn't particularly be imitated; rather, it should help producers with outdated equipment to view their gear as not necessarily outmoded or limiting. “Nowadays, if you do use an Atari, you'd probably be putting yourself at a disadvantage just because you can't get spares for it,” he cautions. “And especially when you use samplers with it, I'm starting to find out that there is absolutely no way to deal with things that go really wrong.
“I do know that in the next couple of years, I will be moving on to Mac,” he says slightly ruefully. “It's not just repairs but being laughed at, as well!”
Teased by some, Ils is truly respected by many others as a “producer's producer” for his gut-driving beats and chest-throbbing bass. For Soul Trader's U.S. release, Ils has had the rare opportunity to rerecord the album using an entirely different and much newer sound process. Working with Myutopia, a label affiliated with 5.1 Entertainment (purveyor of 5.1 surround sound), he traveled to its Los Angeles studios to rework parts of the album that he was unhappy with — Soul Trader was originally recorded a year and a half ago — while experimenting with a broader palette of panning.
Back in the UK, Ils is often in the teacher's role, as he takes a healthy interest in training people in the studio. He has brought a number of aspiring producers into his studio to provide apprenticeship opportunities. He encourages the sharing of sounds and offers some for free download on his Website (www.ilsmusic.com). And his basic advice to anyone with any level of music-making intrigue is simply this: “I recommend that anyone pick up a copy of Reason. Before you go and spend thousands of dollars on equipment that immediately devalues, go get this lovely, simple program that's the biggest equivalent to Atari there is on a PC.”
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
