And Now, Two Bits From Geza XBIT ONE: Dub Russell and his INSANE BEAT MACHINE

Picture the console of a spaceship that jumps between dimensions. That’s 2020, a semi-modular beat machine that ditches the timeline for a single window where you manipulate, randomize, wire and perform beats in real time. Its website describes it as a German DAW, a Swedish hardware groove box and a cable-tangled modular synth torn apart and fused into one. Four probability-driven grid sequencers, a sample slicer, loopers, a dozen samplers, a kick synth and two FM synths feed 14 patchable effects, including granulators, bitcrusher, glitch and repeater, with freely configurable routing. Then comes “Dejavu,” which turns every parameter randomizer into a generative sequencer that recalls its own past values. Millions of patterns, and it still surprises. Map it to MIDI, OSC or keyboard shortcuts, sync it through Ableton Link, and let it run. 

A Beat Machine That Thinks for Itself

Yotaro Shuto, who performs as DUB-Russell, started DJing at 15, inspired by the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, then moved to breakbeats on an MPC. He has no formal training in code. He taught himself Max, then C, then C++, all for the love of sound.

The idea behind 2020 was there from the start, back when Shuto first opened Max (ableton.com/en/live/max-for-live/): a beat machine that could semi-autonomously evolve its own patterns. For years he refined it for his own live shows, then decided to pull all of it together into one standalone application.

The crowd agreed. When 2020 hit Kickstarter, it reached 670 percent of its funding goal. “It was much more successful than I expected,” he says. (This was where I first discovered 2020 and I’ve been a fan ever since.)

The hard part came after. The first version lived in Max, and Shuto kept supplying it to his backers for a long time. But staying in Max would make stability and new features ever harder, so he rewrote the whole thing from scratch in JUCE, a C++ framework. “That was really, really hard. I underestimated how difficult it would be,” he admits, recalling how new problems forced him to start over “again and again.” His verdict: “I never want to go through that again. Haha.”

The payoff is a semi-modular environment with enormous routing freedom. The interface looks complicated, but it is built for live improvisation onstage. Shuto’s DJ experience shaped it, and the design pairs open routing with several ways of “taming randomness and making it musically useful.” The result surprises even its creator. “Even I, as the developer, can sometimes create beats that surprise me.” (Editors note: That is the understatement of the century!)

He keeps it moving on his own. Nearly every feature gets reworked and improved regularly, and he does it all alone. He’s also 2020’s “biggest and most obsessive user,” so he enjoys the work. Sometimes he links multiple computers running the app to one another or uses multiple screens and projectors.

Glitch With a Tribal Pulse

Shuto’s own music is where the machine’s personality shows. He describes his approach as using noise and Japanese glitch techniques “while aiming for something that feels more like tribal music.” On paper that clashes with software that looks IDM-oriented, and he knows it. What he’s chasing is “a much more raw and organic groove.” Add to that the sophisticated and surprising self-evolving elements created inside 2020, and you have a whole new form of magic! 

Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) is an experimental genre of electronic music from the early 1990s characterized by individualistic studio experimentation rather than fixed dancefloor conventions. Key artists include Aphex Twin and Autechre.

Is he more programmer or DJ? “Both. I really enjoy doing both.”

What’s Next

Shuto says he finally has a clear path to the features he originally imagined for 2020. After that comes a Windows version, and he says there is plenty left to explore.

Get 2020: Available now on the Apple Store. More at 2020.dubrussell.com.

BIT TWO, WHY VINYL?  

Files And Artwork

Last time I promised to walk you through the obstacle course of vinyl production. Fasten your seat belt, it’s a trip. Let’s start at the first hurdle, the one that trips up almost everybody: the files you hand the plant.

Your audio is a size problem, not just a mixing problem. 

Vinyl is a physical format, and a groove can only hold so much. For a 12-inch LP, the commonly recommended maximum is about 22 minutes per side, and 18 to 20 is safer for loud or bass-heavy material. The more minutes you cram onto a side, the quieter and thinner it has to sound. The loudest record I can think of is Daft Punk’s Around The World, which is notorious for skipping on some record players. That’s what hot BASS is all about.

Heavy low end that’s wide in stereo, harsh sibilance and hot, overloaded peaks can all cause trouble when a lathe cuts them into a groove, and that can mean skipping or distortion on the finished record. A mastering engineer who cuts for vinyl knows how to tame them. Mastering for streaming and mastering for vinyl are NOT the same job. Abandon all hope when ye enter here. For the record (pun intended) a dynamic range of 12db is recommended and its best to minimize everything below 30 hz and above 12k.

Then check the plant’s spec sheet, because it is never the same twice. Every plant publishes its own requirements for audio format, track labeling and side breaks. You will want to provide a “cut sheet” listing track titles, the order, the gaps, length of each track and total per side.

Artwork is where deadlines go to die. Your jacket and label art must be built on the plant’s own templates, not a generic one from the internet. Expect requirements on resolution, color mode, bleed and safe zones. Don’t be surprised if the plant sends your art back a number of times if it’s the wrong format, created in the wrong art app, doesn’t fit the template right…I mean it can be daunting to say the least. Using an artist who is familiar with print specs is recommended.

Before you send anything:

• Check each file against the current spec sheet, not an old email. Requirements change frequently.

• Listen to your master on more than one system. Make SURE it isn’t over compressed.

• Have someone else proof spelling, track order and credits. A typo on a printed jacket lasts forever.

• ALWAYS get a test pressing. If you’re short of cash or in a hurry, a “digital test pressing” is ok since it’s made from an actual pressed disc.

Or hand the project to someone who jumps through these hoops for a living. This is exactly why I do what I do. A professional vinyl broker and project manager knows each plant’s quirks, catches problems before they become rejected orders and missed release dates, and gives you one honest, all-in price. You stay focused on the music while someone else keeps the process on track.

Next time, we’ll look at what happens once the files are accepted. That’s when the real fun begins.

Geza X has legendary status as an independent producer and proponent of the DIY recording scene. He can be reached at gezaxrecords.com.

The post And Now, Two Bits From Geza X first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.