Fred Everything

Apr 6 2011

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Frédéric Blais, better known as Fred Everything and sometimes Frederico Todos. I'm a music producer, dj and I run my own record label, Lazy Days recordings. I've been making music since I was a teenager but releasing music since the mid 90s. I've been djing for about 20 years now.

What hardware are you using?

Synths & Samplers:

AKAI MPC-3000 (& MPC1000) AKAI S-612 Korg microKORG Korg Poly-61M Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue NI Maschine Nord Electro 2 Prophet '08 Roland SH-101 Roland SH-09 Roland JUNO-106 Studio Electronics ATC-1 (& SE-1X) Yamaha DX-100

Rack Gear:

Avalon VT-737SP Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-X Lexicon MPX-100 MOTU MIDI Express XT Patch Bay RME Multiface Roland RE-150 Space Echo Soundcraft GB2R 16 Mixer Universal Audio 2192 Converters/word clock

Monitoring :

Focal CMS 50 Dynaudio BM 5A Mackie Big Knob

I use a lot of hardware synths as you can see. I feel like they have more personality than their software versions. I also like to program them much more than using a mouse. I feel like I get a better sound from them. I compared the Voyager to a Moog plugin, and they were so different. I wrote a bassline on the plugin and switched the MIDI to my Voyager and the room went shaking! There were layers and dimension to the sound. The plugin was…just alright. I also sometimes re-program my beats with the MPC-3000 as it's got a better sound than using samples in the computer. In fact, importing a sample into it turns it into something completely different sonically. It's a little bit of a way around but it's rewarding.

What software are you using?

In the studio: Logic Pro (latest). I'm also a huge fan of the Universal Audio UAD plugins, I own most of them and I also use SoundToys and a lot of Logic stock plugins. I have been meaning to use Ableton Live more but I'm so used to Logic that it's hard to make the switch. So I use Ableton once in a while for trying out ideas.

I started using Traktor Scratch Pro last year for DJ-ing, purely because I was tired of spending countless hours burning CDs. I use it with a MacBook Pro and Kontrol X1.

What would be your dream setup?

I'm pretty happy with what I have. The size of my room really limits my gear addiction, especially keyboards! One day, I'd like to have a Modular System and maybe a few more old synths like the ARP Solina or ARP Omni and buy a new Fender Rhodes (my old one got ruined in a flood). It would be nice to have a 24 channel high end mixer like API or Neve. For the time being, I think I might just build a lunchbox and buy a few pieces at a time.

Invest in some hardware synths, anything outside the box will give you a different perspective and a different sound. Too many people just rely on, often stolen, plugins with the same presets and it really lacks personality. Don't overuse compression. I use mainly parallel compression now on my drums rather than buss compression, that way I retain the dynamics of the drums. Also, understand the gain staging in your program. In Logic, you have to keep the levels really low in order to get a good summing. If you start mixing with your kick, make sure it doesn't go above -12 dB on the Logic master meter. It will be easier to place each element around. Don't worry about being loud, that's the mastering engineer's job. If your mix is well balanced and proud, it will be easy for the mastering guy to make it loud while retaining the dynamics.

Where can we find you on the web?