Reset Robot is a name that is increasingly familiar to fans of dubbed-out, moody tech house all over the world. Having released a series of well-received tracks on key labels including Truesoul, Drumcode, 100% Pure, Excentric Muzik, 8 Sided Dice, and Noir. Reset Robot then made a debut on Dubfire’s Sci+Tec Digital Audio imprint to crown what has been an amazing start to his career. Soon after that he followed up with another EP on Sci+Tec, Get Physical, Drumcode and Soma.
Can you please tell the readers a little bit about yourself and your background in the industry?
My name is David Robertson and I currently write music under the names Reset Robot, Mister Woo and Customer. I have lived in Portsmouth (UK) for about 17 years and this is where my passion for dance music began. I studied music production/technology at college for 4 years from 1999. I was learning how to record and mix bands predominantly. We would spend hours setting up drums, and microphones and then we would record to 8 track DAT and see how good we could get it all to sound. I learn’t a lot of mixing techniques from the lecturers back then. They had a couple of Akai samplers as well. My friend and I would stay behind after class and link the samplers up giving us 16 channels. We made some weird music but had so much fun doing it. Currently I produce music for myself at my studio in Portsmouth. I also work alongside people like Alan Fitzpatrick, Adam Beyer, Victor Calderone and Rhymos to name a few.
Take us through your studio set up?
My studio setup is simple. Reason 8, Adam P11a Monitors, Motu Ultralite Mk3 and a Herman Miller chair. Alan got the Korg Volca series recently and left them down at my studio so we’ve been using those a bit too.
What is your favorite piece of equipment to use in the studio right now and why?
Thor in Reason. Beast of a synth with so many possibilities and routing options. It’s great for simple pad sounds or complicated rhythmic sequences. You can get some lovely organic sounds from it and some really heavy bass hits and low stabs.
What do you think of analog vs digital in the studio?
Analog vs Digital….I like both and can see the benefits of both. I’m definitely going to get some hardware but choosing what to get is very difficult. I’ve heard the new moog is very good and the latest Elektron drum machine as well. Maybe those 2 would be a good addition? There is quite a big difference between tracks made in the box or with hardware. I definitely think the analog gear has a richer sound and a bit more weight to it.
What one piece of advice would you give to new producers starting out? words of wisdom.
My advise is always the same. Don’t rush!! Get your sound right and try not to get ahead of yourself. Get your tracks spot on first and you will have much better results when sending demo’s. I definitely released music to early.
