Other favorites include the SSL Fusion Vintage Drive plug-in, a digital emulation of the saturation processor of the same name from SSL's critically acclaimed Fusion hardware. “I use the Vintage Drive quite a bit on basses, usually the growling frequencies,” he says. “I’ve also dabbled with the Violet EQ plug-in,” which is also an emulation from the SSL Fusion. “I work a lot with vocalists and rappers as well, and I tend to use the Violet EQ’s, the Vocal Strip 2 and Channel Strip 2 with them — more so the vocal strip, but Channel Strip 2 sometimes, if it's on a bus or for more synthy, spacey frequency range stuff.”
When he first got his hands on the SSL plug-ins, he says, “I didn't quite realise how many plug-ins there were in there. I was familiar with a few of the popular, go-to ones, but there were just so many more! One of them, the Digicrush, which I think is a newer one that they released in the last year or so, I've been using quite a bit recently to add a little bit of crushy, crusty sort of feel. I tend to use that on a variety of different things, like weird little one-shots and vocal stabs and things, just to make them a bit more animated and crusty sounding.”
In fact, he says, “I like to use a lot of distortion. I like crunching things up. That reflects what my go-to plug-ins are — the Variable Harmonic Drive (VHD) emulation, X Saturator, Digicrush and things like that.” That love of distortion may stem from his playing in heavy guitar bands during his teens. “Before I really got into producing electronic music, I used to play bass in a hardcore metal band. I would down-tune the bass and use distortion pedals. I really love that in-your-face, distorted sound, and I think I've carried that through into my adult life, where it translates into my productions.”
