In pictures: Sander Van Doorn's synth-loaded studio

Welcome

He may recently have been voted the world’s tenth best DJ, but Dutchman Sander Van Doorn (real name Sander Ketelaars) is an equally adept producer. Having released his first album, Supernaturalistic, in 2008, this year has seen him remixing tracks for The Killers and Depeche Mode. Future Music met up with him in his Eindhoven studio…

Moog Voyager

When it comes to studio gear, the Moog Voyager is one of Sander’s most treasured possessions. “I think every producer either has, or wants one of these,” he says. “It’s the ultimate bass synth and I use it a lot for those really dramatic and thick sounds.”

DSI Poly Evolver

Sander doesn’t mess about when it comes to synth hardware: Dave Smith’s Poly Evolver is another instrument that means business. “I’ve used this synth for the lead sound on the track Riff,” he reports. “It can be a bit of a stubborn machine at times, but it’s really unique and great for really thick lead sounds.”

Nord Lead 2X

Next up, a classic from Nord. “I’ve used this underneath loads of other lead sounds,” says Sander of the Lead 2X. “It’s a brilliant synth for sort of filling in the sounds that are missing.”

Access Virus C

Sitting behind his Apple Mac Pro keyboard you’ll find Van Doorn’s Access Virus C - yet another legendary synth. “I think this is a brilliant synth and sounds really warm and thick. I still use it all the time even though I’ve had for a while now,” Sander confirms.

Waldorf Blofeld

The final arrow in Sander’s synth quiver is his recently-purchased Blofeld; “quite a good little synth,” is his assessment of it so far. “It’s not as fat as some of my others but has some really classic detuned-type sounds.”

Software synths

Despite his obvious love of hardware, Sander still finds space in his productions for software synths. Rob Papen’s Predator (“a great synth, especially for percussive type sounds”) and Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere (“really good for the thick and warm trance pads”) are among his favourites.

DAW

In the studio, Sander is a Logic Pro man, though he does use Ableton Live for “mixes and edits”. It’s when he’s back in Eindhoven, however, that he really gets down to business: “I really need a quiet environment like my studio to work, although I suppose I’ll sometimes use Logic on my laptop and write small melody ideas,” he explains.