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RAY
MAXER
WINNER OF THE ACCESS REMIX CONTEST 2002 - by
Matt Skaggs
Ray,
could you give us a little background on yourself and your
musical
career?
RM:
Well, I am a student running my home studio, which I've started
about 4 years ago (with a virtual analog synth btw). Music interested
me a lot since my childhood - I was singing like from age of
3,
also been learning to play piano being a child, but was never studying
that classically. Unfortunately, I am not playing guitar, though
that is on a "to study" list too :) I've got a page
holding my old tracks at http://www.mp3.com/raymaxer
if someone is interested in taking a listen to other tracks, though
I should warn that most music there is different to Virus Remix
contest style. One of the tracks there (Without You) was holding
a #1 place in the europop charts for several months on the mp3.com
and stayed in Top 10 in Pop category some time ago.
What
have been your influences in your music?
RM:
My influences in music are wide, IMHO. Being very young I loved
listening to the rock and pop-art-rock bands like Deep Purple, Rainbow
and Alan Parsons Project. Then I somehow moved to listening to a
lot of Genesis albums (still listening to them), but at that point
I still was not interested in electronic music at all. I think it
all started with Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre, which later led
me to enjoy such bands as Orbital, Orb and stuff like Blue Planet
Corporation and Matthew Herbert. And on a bit other side (and closer
to Access Remix topic) I am now also enjoying stuff from Paul Van
Dyk, Oakenfold, Deep Dish and so on.
No
Kraftwerk? :)
RM:
YES! :) No Kraftwerk - haven't heard a lot from them practically
up to 98-99. And at the moment only have one CD of them ...
Have
you done a great deal of remix work previous to the "Endorphins" remix?
RM:
That may seem funny and make some people wonder, but remixing
the "Endorphins" was like my first try in remixing
(except may be remixes of my own stuff, and even that was not
a usual thing
for me). I was always somehow interested in composing part of everything
- the basic melody included.
Not
bad at all for a first remix :) Keep em coming.
RM:
Thanks a lot :) I'll do my best...
Access:
How long have you been a Virus user?
RM:
I was going to get Virus since the 'a' model was out but at that
time, my studio and budget were much smaller and I could not afford
it. In the end I bought a Virus B in summer of 2000 - so it's like
1.5 years.
What
was it about the Virus that first got your attention before you
purchased it?
RM:
First of all I was always impressed by its advanced sound structure;
it was really cool for me to know that there were 2 fully packed
filters at 98' time (Taking into account that my first pro synth
was AN-1x, which I still like, but it'ssound engine is a step
simpler).
And the fact that the synth was "growing" with you (I
mean the OS updates) - that was and is a big pro. I was subscribed
to the Access mail-list (Hi to Jay - mail-list starter) like a
year
before I actually bought Virus itself so I could see the way it
was supported, the problems user had, the results it gave.
Access:
What has been your favorite feature addition to the Virus with these
free OS updates? Reverb? Analog Bass Boost? Phaser? Groove Delays?
Others?
RM:
I love the addition of Groove Delays in the OS updates we had,
also like the Phaser a lot ... not too fancy of analog bass boost,
would
love to move it a bit closer to a parametric EQ but it's still
nice to have it sometimes. Also I find using the distortion
in the effects
section very often.
Access:
Would you recommend that new Virus users subscribe to the user forum?
What do you think the forum offers users?
RM:
Surely I'd advise new users to join the forum - it's a great source
of tips and tricks, and also a lot of problems and questions can
be solved with the help of the nice people we have there.
Access:
In the remix - is there a characteristic or feature of the Virus
that you think is really highlighted?
RM:
Well, I think one of the characteristic features of the Virus itself
is its distortion/overdrive stages, both in the filter stage and
in the effects. They are really tasty and give you a big variety
of the tone you can get. So, more than a half of all sounds had
a bit of distortion going. I think it is one the features that makes
Virus sound closer to analog machine (we a speaking about soft/light
models and generous amounts here, not 127 of Digital distortion
:)
Access:
What role did the Virus's internal effects engine play in mixing
the track down?
RM:
In remix I used its distortion effect a lot I think, as I like the
big variety of the edge and touch you can get using different models
of it, plus I used the phaser on one or two sounds. Also some of
delays were coming from it, though I used TC and Lexicon units for
some more delays and reverb too. So in the results only chorus was
the one that was not used I think. Compared to other great effects
on VirusB chorus is not my fav.
Access:
Have you found yourself running external signals through the Virus
to fatten them up?
RM:
I am yet planning on using Virus as an external effects unit and
think its going to be perfect for that, just didn't yet have time
to plan it out and make effective routing in my studio for that.
It has really got cool filtering and gating abilities plus it got
a vocoder.
Access:
What was the first word out of your mouth when you learned that
you won the contest?
RM:
Reading the first line of "You are the winner" ... my
first thought was "Oh, yeah, great - I am in top 10 or 5 after
the first tour or something like that". It was only after I
read that I'll get the prize that I realized that I was the winner
of the contest :) And first thought was like "Oh, shit, where
do I put another Virus?" Joking. :) The first thing to do
was to open a bottle of champagne btw.
Access:
What's next? Any projects coming up we should look forward too?
RM:
I am going to produce under the "Digital Illusions" name
in the close future and hope to get some stuff released and think
it will be mostly dance/trance kind of music. Also there will
be
other things going...
Access:
Thanks for talking with us. Best of luck Ray.
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