Me in my studio: Eelke Kleijn

Intro

He's been released on Nick Warren's famed Global Underground label, worked for huge acts such as Way Out West, Hybrid, Miss Nine and Sander Kleinenberg and has a growing fan base as a solo Artist.

His second album, Untold Stories was recently released and he's been growing his own label, Outside the Box Music since its launch in 2006. We asked him to tour us around the facility where all this musical magic happens and give us an insight into his favourite bits of kit in the studio.

Studio overview

"This is my home studio based in Rotterdam. I'm pretty happy with it right now, but plan on renovating it next year.

"I'd love to have a recording booth so I can invite people over for sessions, and a dedicated studio desk with 19” spaces is high on the list as well."

Daw and more

"On my DAW, I run Cubase 5.5 and Wavelab. I use a lot of plugins, mostly Native Instruments, Spectrasonics, D16 and Universal Audio. I totally love their UAD2 and have a Quad and Duo card installed."

Smart AV Tango

"The pride of my setup is my Smart AV Tango. It's the most intelligent controller I've ever come across and totally integrates into Cubase.

"It has a 22” touch screen and automated faders that you can selectively group together."

Monitoring

I use Dynaudio BM6 MK2 monitors. These have been my favourites for a while, they sound really dry and clear. I also have a Dynaudio sub but nowadays it's more off than on.

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Lower rack

"This is the bottom part of my rack. From top to bottom we have the TC Electronik Konnekt 48 soundcard, Motu MIDI interface, Patchbay and Furman Powerwasher. "I'm really fond of the Konnekt, it sounds excellent and the remote control is very handy."

Top rack

"This is the top part of my rack. From top to bottom we have the Novation Supernova 2 which was really present on my first artist album. Nowadays I don't use it that much anymore.

"Below that we have the Sherman Filterbank 2, which is a wicked filter and distortion unit. Then underneath is my Nord Rack 2X, which I still use a lot. You have to run it through some effects to hear what it's really capable of, but even dry it sounds extremely good."

Hardware synths

This is my Creamware Minimax and Access Virus C. To be honest I don't use these that much anymore. I've had the Virus for ages, and nowadays I tend to grab a plugin to get the typical Moog sound.

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Mixer and master

"On top my Allen & Heath Zed 24 mixer, which is basically just there to hook all the synths up to.

"Underneath is my master keyboard the XP-30 which I really love. The keys are semi-weighed, which makes it a lot better to play than most MIDI controllers that get sold these days."

Acoustic panel

"Here you can see one of my acoustic panels. I have a set of basstraps and first reflections panels in place from Realtraps USA. They really help to get an honest response at my listening position."

Waldorf Blofeld

"The latest hardware synth that I bought is the Waldorf Blofeld. This is a really nice little machine. Can do some extremely good effects and pads."