British drum 'n' bass act Rudimental are the latest guest on the Tape Notes podcast, joining host John Kennedy to give viewers an insight into the gear and production techniques behind a handful of tracks, including the unreleased Thank You, from the forthcoming album RUDIM3NTAL.
While Rudimental has explored a variety of genres throughout their career, drum 'n' bass has always remained at the core of the group's sound. In the Tape Notes interview, Rudimental's Piers Aggett and Kesi Dryden reveal the software that has shaped their soulful, radio-friendly take on DnB.
Breaking down the unreleased track Chop Dem Down, Aggett sings the praises of VPS Avenger 2, which was used to create the song's bassline. A powerhouse soft synth from Vengeance Sound, Avenger 2 offers virtual analogue, wavetable, FM and granular synthesis alongside multi-sampling and an array of effects modules.
"I downloaded VPS Avenger about two years ago and it changed my life – I made like, every song with it," Aggett says. "It's got these crazy, loud, obnoxious sounds and presets in it. It's got this '90s pack which you can download, and it's just mad. It's one of my favourite synths."
I love a good preset – you find a good preset and I'll use it every single time, for everything
Aggett picks out a handful of Universal Audio plugins that pop up frequently in Rudimental tracks, singling out the company's plugin emulation of the Eden World Tour 800, a bass amp head widely considered a modern classic. "Eden sounds amazing on bass. It's my go-to – it just sounds warm," Aggett says, lauding the plugin's Vintage R&B preset: "I love a good preset – you find a good preset and I'll use it every single time, for everything."
Aggett also praises Universal Audio's software version of the Thermionic Culture Vulture, a British valve distortion unit that he admits the group have in their studio, despite using the plugin emulation. "We've got the real actual hardware in the studio and we used to run lots of stuff through it," Aggett says. "We do that less now, because it's all online."
"The distortion you get from it, it's nice, without sounding horrible," Aggett says, showing viewers how the Culture Vulture was used to add warmth and harmonic distortion to a horn part in Chop Dem Down. "We do a lot of drums through it - get a drums bus and put it through the Culture Vulture. Horns and drums; not too much distortion, but it just warms it up a bit."
The enduringly popular SoundToys plugin EchoBoy also gets a mention, as Aggett reveals how he uses the analogue-emulating delay plugin's Echo Boy's Galaxy preset to create a dense and atmospheric effect that's closer to reverb. "I honestly put that on almost everything," he says.
RUDIM3NTAL is due for release 22 August.
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