Welcome
US house producer Morgan Page has been nominated for a Grammy (for the Deadmau5 remix of The Longest Road, featuring Lissie) and remixed songs by the likes of Madonna, Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado and Coldplay. He released a new album, Believe, earlier this year, which gave Future Music a good excuse to catch up with him in his new LA studio to talk gear and technique.
Moog Minimoog Voyager
Moog’s mighty keyboard is one of several hardware synths in Morgan’s studio, and a firm favourite. He describes it as: “One of my main ‘go-to’ keyboards for new sounds. I love it.”
Akai LPK25/Dave Smith Instruments Tetra
From a monster monosynth to this little creation: “I’ve made my own ‘mini synth’ with a Tetra and this Akai MIDI keyboard,” says Morgan. “I use [the LPK25] a lot actually - it must remind me of playing the old Casio SK1 or something. The keys on it feel fantastic: it’s such a cool little keyboard.”
Dave Smith Instruments Prophet '08
Another DSI synth, this time the Prophet ‘08 keyboard that you can see Morgan playing here. “This is the special edition. I love all the Dave Smith Instruments synths,” he confirms.
The rack
Morgan doesn’t rely on an excessive amount of outboard hardware for processing, but more might be added in the future. So, what’s on the shopping list? “Maybe I’ll get a couple of Neve 1073s or some other really boutique preamps. Oh, and maybe a Distressor too for vocals.”
M-Audio Sputnik tube mic
The relatively affordable Sputnik is Morgan’s vocal mic of choice: “This is a great mic for the money and I can make it sound any way I want with software processing,” he reports. “But I generally go for a clean input signal.”
Pro Tools LE
A Digi 002 system is hooked up to Morgan’s Mac, though he confesses that he doesn’t actually use the hardware that much. “I thought I’d be all hands on and using the faders for automation but that didn’t happen,” he explains.
Mackie HR828 monitors
An overview of Morgan’s studio shows that he currently has a pair of Mackie’s classic monitors installed, but they could be on the way out soon. “Now I have a big room, it’s tempting to get some big monitors, so I’ve been looking to replace these. I need to check out the Event Opals, the Focals and the latest PMCs at some point.”
Liked this? Now read: In pictures: Freemasons’ home studio
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