Me in my studio: Jupiter Ace
Intro
"My studio space is in Start Together Studios in the centre of Belfast.
"Start Together mainly record rock and indie bands and I'm always bumping into people from that world in here which is really interesting. I produced the debut release for my new record label Big Vision in this studio."
"The label is a joint venture with Strictly Rhythm and I have one simple mission – to deliver dance bombs of epic proportions! I hope I've achieved this with the first release 'Wheel Of Life', which is out now."
The studio
"I share this space with the Start Together guys - they sometimes record bands or voice-overs in here which explains the big Protools control surface!
"The acoustic in here is excellent, my productions have gone up another notch since I started to work in this room."
Macbook Pro
"My beloved Macbook Pro. I made the leap to working exclusively on a laptop a few years ago.
"Whilst I do most of my work here, it's essential for me to be able to work on the move as well. As you can see I'm a Logic man. My favourite synths would be Sylenth, Nexus, Massive and the Logic ES1 and ESP.
"Some fave effects plugins would be XFER LFO Tool, Valhalla Room reverb, Waves CLA compressors and the Sonalksis TBK series."
Apogee Duet
"This was a pricey unit considering its simple features but the money goes into the quality of the converters, which Apogee have an amazing reputation for.
"It hasn't let me down yet and interfaces very nicely with Logic."
M-Audio Oxygen Controller Keyboard
"Does what it says on the tin… I don't tend to twiddle knobs much on this, I just draw my automation.
"To be honest, half the time I just hit 'Shift Lock' in Logic and input MIDI that way!"
Genelec 8040A
"My beloved Genelecs. I've had them a long time now and they work well for me."
"I have tried the NS10s in the other room here which I know some people use for dance, but for this style of music, I think you need monitors that are going to give you a bit more top end and most importantly low bass - it gives you a rough idea of what it will sound like on a club system."
Korg MS-20
"I would describe this as my pride and joy. I got it for my 21st birthday and it's stayed in my studio since.
"It's semi-modular so you can have a bit of fun tinkering with it, and the filters are fabulous of course. I must admit, it's harder to find a place for it in my productions these days both practically and sonically, but I still love it and I will never part with it."
Various pedals
"The Digitech Talker is an interesting pedal - it works like a vocoder but sounds more like a talkbox.
"It's very clear-sounding, I'm about to give it a try on a new remix to process vox. The Moogerfooger pedals belong to Start Together - they have loads of lovely gear here that I can use."
Vocal booth
"The studio was originally built for TV and voiceover work, which explains the layout of the booth. It works really well."
Wunder Audio CM7
"Start Together recently bought this mic - it's a replica of the legendary Neumann U47 which is very popular for vocals.
"It's so great to have access to this, I really couldn't ask for more in terms of quality. They have a range of mics I can use - including a Blue Mics Kiwi which is also very nice to use for vocals."
Presonus Tube Pre
"This is a very simple tube preamp which I bought some time ago for under £100. It's got a lovely tube drive on it which adds that distinctive presence and edge to vocals.
"There are of course better preamps out there but this is working for me at the minute."
SSL G-Series Console
"Start Together use this console for all their mixdowns. I was so excited when I heard they were getting this in that I got in touch and that's actually how I ended up in here.
"It's an 80s desk and has a very retro-looking computer which is used for the recalls amongst other things. Again, I can get access to this if I need it which is amazing - I have done some mix-summing through it and it certainly adds character."