Intro
New York born, but based in Switzerland, he's among the worlds Top 100 DJs, a studio production expert and self confessed music technology nerd. As a DJ he's played the biggest clubs in the world and a regular and massive nights such as Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, The Gallery and more.
Here, Tyas takes some time to show us around his Switzerland studio base and explain some of the kit he uses to craft his dancefloor destroyers.
Main studio
“My studio is located in my basement here in Teufen, Switzerland, and of course because of the concrete walls, audio reflections were immediately a big problem.
“I always sort this out a bit ghetto-style, by carpeting every last inch of the room ;) This is also quite handy if Logic crashes after not saving for hours, prevents damage to my hands if I punch the wall.”
Three displays
“I think dual displays is the standard these days for most Logic, Cubase, or FL Studio users, but one thing I really hated was looking to my left all the time to do my arrangement (with the mixer being on the right).
“So to sort this and add functionality, I added the third display so that for one; I Always have a Finder window open to browse for samples and drag them into projects and secondly; the arrangement is right dead set in front of me.”
MIDI and audio
"I've just started using the Novation Remote 49SL MKII and it seems really great.. The Automap is taking me some time to get used to, and also to get in the habit of using, but I'm sure it'll make things way faster.
"The Fireface is the most trustworthy & stable Audio Interface I have ever used, and that goes into a calibrated KRK ERGO unit for helping to calibrate for this room - essentially it correctly attenuates the bass imperfections caused by the walls in this studio, and does an amazing job at it."
sE Electronics SE2200a Mic & Reflexion Filter
"This I mostly just used every week for my voice-overs for my weekly Tytanium Sessions Podcast, but its such an unreal microphone.
"The Reflexion Filter I have added onto the stand around its back also brings HUGE improvement on cutting out my unwanted room reflections."
Novation Nova
"Still love the old Novation synths big time, and until I can find a reasonably priced Supernova 2 keyboard, this one will do, and at least it the very rare white special edition.
"It's got a very unique filter sound at high resonances and a chorus in a class of its own."
Roland JP-8000
"I just can't bring myself to get rid of it even though I barely use it! Sentimental value I suppose."
KRK VXT8
"These speakers are so detailed, especially inthe mid range. If you had seen my Future Music "In the Studio" DVD videos, you will remember I came from the Behringer Truths...
"What a difference these make! Not really sure how I got on without these VXT8s."
Access Virus TI Snow
"I had a TI Keyboard for about three years but after much deliberation I decided to downsize to the Snow, as I ever used more than four parts in the multimode, and wanted to save some space on my main studio table.
"It's got pretty low polyphony but I still can get my sounds out of it and bounced down if need be."
Mac & Stanton SCS4.DJ
"To my left sits my Macbook Pro and Stanton SCS.4DJ. The Macbook basically just tends to my email needs and anything internet related each day, such as setting up my podcasts, updating my website and social networking.
"The Stanton I've recently added to the set up as a quick way for me to play around with new tracks and testing how they mix with others in a set."
The mess
"I think everyone's studio wouldn't be complete without a mess pile SOMEWHERE, so here is mine. Extra cables, leads, packaging for certain stuff I keep around, mags, manuals, Promo CDs, etc."