Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

eats everything in his studio
Tech “Entrance Song is a massive 808 sub and a 909 kick. Those two shouldn’t work together - I’m not sure they were even in key”: Eats Everything on his ever-changing approach to production and DJing
Riva Starr
Artists “I have an original 909 – every time I use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: Riva Starr's studio essentials
Behringer Model D
Soft Synths 10 producers share the studio gear they can’t live without
Djrum
Artists "I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: How Djrum made one of 2025’s best electronic albums
romesh
Producers & Engineers “Your work, your mix, your production: that’s your business card": Motörhead producer Romesh Dodangoda
Travis Barker in the studio
Artists “I got a feeling about this one…": Travis Barker reveals his production tricks in a new studio tour
dr dubplate
Artists “If you've got one follower or 10 million, that doesn't matter”: Dr Dubplate on "gatekeeper mentality"
  1. Artists
  2. Djs

Me in my studio: Drumsound & Bassline Smith

News
By Chris Barker published 8 June 2012

The bass-heavy trio talk us through their setup

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Intro

Intro

"Hi I'm Simon Bassline and these two are Andrew Wright, Benjamin Wiggett, together we are Drumsound & Bassline Smith. We would like to give you a quick tour of our studio and introduce you to some or favourite bits of kit which we have used to create our first album and also our upcoming album including our current single ' Through The Night'.

"Up until 2002 we had a much larger studio in the centre of our hometown of Derby, UK. After the building was demolished to build a new ring road we took the opportunity to down-size our outboard gear, save on expensive office rental, taxes etc and move back to our houses. During this time alot of people were going completely digital but we couldn't bring ourselves to get rid of some of our favourite pieces so we have kept them to this day."

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Akai sampler

Akai sampler

"Our first sampler that we learnt on was the Akai S-1000. At the time this was a revolutionary piece of kit for us and paved the way for our love of music technology.

"When the S-2000 came on the market it was the first piece of kit we saved up for and bought and although it had only a tiny 30 second sampling time as standard it was what we made the first tunes together as Drumsound & Bassline Smith on. As time went on we bought the S-5000 as pictured which, by this time, we had got some serious sample time - around 30mins - which meant we could experiment much more with our sounds and textures."

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
EMU E6400

EMU E6400

"Moving on.. We heard, through the grapevine, that Ed rush & Optical had been using the Emu E-6400 so, when we could afford it, we got one.

"The Emu had a different kind of operating system compared to the akai which meant that it slowed our workflow down a bit at first but when once we got the hang of it we used it on most of the heavy twisted basses on our 1st album " Nature of the Beast " in 2003/2004. This became an integral part of "our sound" with tracks like "Tyrant" and "the Odyssey" and if you look carefully you can see we still haven't pulled the dust cover off the front screen."

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Korg

Korg

"Besides the Wavestation, The Korg Prophecy was among one of the first synthesizers we had in the studio.

"Its sexy silver design and Ribbon controller soon made us put the Wavestation to one side and get serious with the programming of great new sounds and to develop our knowledge of synthesis in general. Its a bit battered now but it still holds a place in our hearts along with our JV-1080 ( pictured below ) Access Virus and the JP-8080."

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Roland JV-1080

Roland JV-1080

"Roland's JV-1080 was our first rack mounted synth and was pretty much a studionecessity at the time. Ranging from great pads, effects, leads and percussion it was a fabulous all rounder which definitely deserves a come back sometime soon."

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
Monitors

Monitors

"We have had loads of monitors over the years but because we like it LOUD not many have survived.

"The Spirit Absolute ones & Absolute Twos were good as were the Yamahas and the Events but nothing has lasted as long as these KRK ROKIT 8s and the Dynaudio BM6As.They provide all the accurate and bass heavy monitoring we need in such a small space and, without doubt, have paid for themselves five times over."

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Cubase

Cubase

"We were one of the last artists in D'n'B to move over to digital as we were so fond of our sound and studio setup at the time. We never believed we could recreate the warmth in a completely digital world but as our environment changed and we needed to keep up musically we reluctantly moved on.

"Since then we have worked hard to maintain the warmth and depth created by these classics and grasped the greatness that the new technology has brought to our productions. We have used Steinberg’s Cubase since the Atari days and have used it religiously ever since. There are some great new DAWs on the market right now such as the new Presonus studio one which we may start using in the future but we know Cubase like the back of our hands and the speed of our workflow cant be beat. Alongside Cubase we use various different vsts to help get the sound we are looking for.

"Native instruments' Massive is one of the core products we use daily and is one of the greatest instruments we have ever used, particularly for basses."

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
D'n'B award

D'n'B award

"In fact, we used Massive to create the bass for our award winning track, Close in 2011. Other products made by companies such as the Fabfilter, Voxengo and Sugarbytes to name but a few all play an integral role in creating our sound."

Drumsound & Bassline Smith will be appearing at Glade Electronic Artst Festival, nr King’s Lynn, Norfolk from 14-17 June.

www.gladeofficial.com

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
Chris Barker
Read more
eats everything in his studio
“Entrance Song is a massive 808 sub and a 909 kick. Those two shouldn’t work together - I’m not sure they were even in key”: Eats Everything on his ever-changing approach to production and DJing
Riva Starr
“I have an original 909 – every time I use it I feel like I’m ruining it”: Riva Starr's studio essentials
Behringer Model D
10 producers share the studio gear they can’t live without
Djrum
"I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: How Djrum made one of 2025’s best electronic albums
romesh
“Your work, your mix, your production: that’s your business card": Motörhead producer Romesh Dodangoda
Travis Barker in the studio
“I got a feeling about this one…": Travis Barker reveals his production tricks in a new studio tour
Latest in Djs
Richie Hawtin
“All my equipment kind of glowed and then shut down”: The weather event that shaped a Richie Hawtin classic
Menendez Brothers social post
Have you seen this woman? The Menendez Brothers are searching for the thief who stole their record bag from Fabric
Deadmau5 and James Hype
“Next time don’t bring a wet sponge to a tech fight”: deadmau5 just beat down DJ James Hype by beating Elden Ring with a Pioneer CDJ-3000
Djrum
"I have a very emotional relationship with my machines”: How Djrum made one of 2025’s best electronic albums
Lawrence Hart
Watch UK electronic artist Lawrence Hart build a track from scratch in his hardware-stuffed studio
The Cure
“Way beyond anything I could have hoped for”: Robert Smith announces new Cure remix album
Latest in News
Home studio
You don't need to be a music theory expert to make electronic music, but it helps - here's our guide to the basics
Ed Sheeran, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix
How Ed Sheeran generated royalties for Bob Dylan by borrowing from Jimi Hendrix
Richie Hawtin
“All my equipment kind of glowed and then shut down”: The weather event that shaped a Richie Hawtin classic
Bono black and white in glasses
“Our band is...three musicians. And a salesman”: Bono suggests next U2 album will have a looser feel
Apple's new Automix
Sack The DJ: Apple launches its new feature that can mix tracks using AI
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: My pick of Father's Day deals for musicians include $400 off the Polyend Play+, $200 off a Martin acoustic and so much more

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...