hanging out with audiophiles hanging out with audiophiles

He's worked with Donny Hathaway. That's it. That's all the intro he really ought to need. I mean can you IMAGINE being in the room with Donny singing? Too much. Ah but Jimmy has worked on music from Aretha, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones not to mention his extensive collaboration with Timbaland. Yeah, Jimmy is heavy. What's more he's a very friendly and engaging chap that has a pioneering spirit and he is not overly nostalgic in that way that can hold a person back. No wonder he's been so busy and in demand for all these years. A true master. Jimmy's in the HOWA house (literally.. this was a rare face to face. So fun)
The show is kindly sponsored again by the excellent Soundtoys. 
I delve into the world of the panman to do things other than just your average spinning.
Micro nitty!

Great to chat with Brian and Josh from the band !
we talk minidisk, the joys of analog, hurdy gurdy and fish. I mean if that doesnt tickle yer fancy I dont know what to say :)
Various links feel like they cropped up in the show
--Valentin Clastrier - Master of the Gurdy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRsJw7UW98g
--TAGO MAGO by can - go and listen (you can find it with your preferred music environment )
--If you need good tinned fish in the USA go here !
https://rainbowtomatoesgarden.com
--MODBAP - OSIRIS badass oscillator 
https://www.modbap.com
--JORANALOGUE DELAY 1
https://joranalogue.com/products/delay-1
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kind sponsorship comes from the excellent SOUNDTOYS
https://www.soundtoys.com

My guest on the show is James Ford who is really one of the most badass producers in the business. 
Im talking about the kind of low key English badassness and not the Tarantino variety if you know what I mean. James is involved in so many things and yet he does it without needing a big spotlight on himself. Humble badass. That’s the one. 
He’s been active for many years. I mean we used to see each other in that classic ships in the night stylee when I was touring with Cristian Vogel back in the late nineties. We are talking about a man with Multiple decades of energy dedication and knowledge a go go!
He’s got the quadfecta mad skills as composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter which is probably one of the reasons he’s been able to be so nimble and effective working with a huge range of incredible artists from Arctic Monkeys to Depeche Mode via Foals, Gorillaz and Kylie Minogue.
 
You may know him as one half of Simian Mobile Disco, alongside longtime creative partner Jas Shaw or perhaps as a touring member of The Last Shadow Puppets.
The hat cupboard in the house is ample!
 
I was lucky enough to feature on a track with SMD a while back and got to see the studio when it was at the Premises in Hackney. 
Now he’s got a supreme attic room that is beyond decked out. We have a little tour of that for anyone who is curious about his gear choices after all this time. 
Then we get deep into the world of making, art, the hurdles, the path. The good stuff of rambling! Welcome to the mind of a sonic chef.
His first solo album “The Hum” is out now on warp records and it’s a corker!
 
https://www.jamesellisford.com
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If you want to directly help support me in the pod work please consider joining my
Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/HOWA
All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier !
________________
 
Id like to thank show sponsors 
 
SOUNDTOYS
 
https://www.soundtoys.com
 
KORG
 
https://www.korg.com
 
STAGER MICS
 
http://stagermicrophones.com
 
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NITTY!!!

 
Jon Hopkins pays attention. He has a ear for the smallest details and a deft touch both as a pianist and a producer. 
I feel this interview is very timely as the rise of psychedelic therapy has caught the imagination of so many.
Jon has made music that is so perfect for those wishing to go deeper with their experiences in that hugely rewarding domain. 
His is the mindset that wants to expand and to meditate instead of flex and win the popularity contests in the game of music. Very refreshing. 
We get into his beginnings in the classical world, his lack of patience with distracting factors and on to his success story and on to his musings on the current state of being a musician releasing music in this arguably confusing time.
 
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The nitty returns !
I was fortunate enough to get an early copy of Andrew Huang’s first plugin :)
It's a collaboration with Baby Audio called “Transit”
It really inspired me to get my hands dirty and to explore it’s outer ways. 
I stacked up about 30 or so instances to pull off a tonal transition that is rather epic !
I learned from an older me on this one. In EP 58 I explored a related idea in Melodyne.
Here’s that show 
******
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SPECIAL DEAL !!
 
I’m happy to be able to offer listeners to the show a 10 % discount on TRANSIT when using the code
BABYHOWA
at check out
Here’s the plugin!! Check it :)
https://babyaud.io/transit
Also..
Here’s the Ableton session called “The Bends” that I made to demo this 
(sadly I forgot it’s the 11.3.10b5 Beta version of Ableton you’ll need to run this .. oops!) 
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Big ups to Catechism and REZN for their music on this show. 
It’s from an album called “Infected Ambient Works”
Here’s the link to it
https://rezzzn.bandcamp.com/album/infected-ambient-works
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A massive shout to show sponsor Soundtoys!
At the start of this episode I add the New SUPER PLATE and the classic PHASE MISTRESS plugins to a tape jam that’s fresh from my new studio and it just enters into a whole Different dimension. 
These are Shockingly good plugins! Some of the very best you can find. 
That’s why I’m so chuffed to work with these legends ! 
Check their masterful work here 
https://www.soundtoys.com
 
____________
If you want to directly help support me in the pod work please consider joining my 
Patreon 
https://www.patreon.com/HOWA
All sounds from this episode will go to those on the upper tier !
 
 
 
 

DESCRIPTION After a hefty and well needed break I’m back
The pod returns :)
I trust y'all are hanging in.
I hope in fact you’re more than just hanging in.
I hope you are diving in and thriving and embracing the endless realm of possibility that presents itself to you.
Don’t worry, I’ll not linger on the guru talk. Just stating the obvious !
As you can see from the show title I got to finally chat with the brilliant Benn Jordan.
We met at NAMM a couple of years back (I’ve had some great hangs at NAMM I must say)
He’s a smart, witty man with endless curiosity and it’s really fun to explore all manner of mind realms with him.
We can TALK! Oh how we can talk. This conversation was at least 3 hours long and it’s been cut down a fair bit but there’s no end of tangents and insights into
The mighty Benn. I think those of you who are familiar with his excellent YouTube material will enjoy hearing an extended ramble portal into his many ways.
It’s great to be back
This show has 2 excellent sponsors
1st off I’m super happy to get to work with my pals at Soundtoys for a few shows.
They agreed to come on board and I couldn’t be happier. Just love them and their excellent plugins.
Top shelf stuff! In this episode I show off 2 of my faves, decapitator and devil lok.
They are both such wonderful tools. Potent and endlessly useful in equal measure.
Like Salt in cooking, they amp up the tasty.
Head over to Soundtoys if you know what’s good for you!
I’d also like to thank “a tasty pixel” for sponsoring the show.
They are makers of the unbelievably good LOOPY PRO.
Absolutely stunning software for anyone who really wants the last looper.
It is the most fully featured pure looper Ive ever used.
Beardyman uses it. If you were wondering if it were capable I think that’s all you need to know!
Interested in looping?
Let me save you some time.
All you need is LOOPY PRO
Click here for more info!

Tycho is Scott Hansen and
Scott is a deeply friendly and humble chap.
I didnt know too much about his background or what made him tick but I tried to get to “know” him and makes some guesses about that by tuning into his music.
It’s clearly so well crafted and put together with meticulous attention to detail that this man had to be fastidious but how would that quality manifest?
He manages to ride us on a carpet of textures which guide the process of musical flight, once a mood is found, it’s held with patience so the listen can dwell in a land. It’s a style that has been really honed and has found a large following for good reason!
It was a real treat to get on the ramble road with him. I left the interview unedited for maximum deviation potential (you’re welcome)
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This episode is sponsored by A tasty pixel and their excellent
LOOPY PRO!
As many of you are aware, I’ve spent years of my life with loopers of all kinds from the crudest guitar pedals to my own Max/MSP effort in 2000 to Tim Exile’s wonderful “flow machine”
Making a looper setup that fits your style is everything and to do that, a tool that is very flexible and open to configuration is needed. I’m happy to report that this is perfected inside loopy pro. I’m also happy to say that It’s one of the best loopers I’ve ever used and has become the heart of beardymans new setup so you know it’s capable.
Needless to say Im really happy to be working with A tasty pixel.
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I made a new video to highlight a specific use of Loopy Pro that came to me one evening.
There’s plenty of excellent tutorial videos to get started online so I wanted to show something a little unique.
I took 4 instances of the Chamberlin M1 samplepack I made (which is now available at decentsamples.com!)
fed each to an array of 4 speakers around a Neumann head for some quadra funky tape loopidelic delightfulness.
Yes, it’s A little nitty basically :)
Watch
HERE!!