Hello music people 👋

Today we're featuring Hills And Valleys

I really liked his approach in the studio and his tip on creativity.

Be prepared for a long gear list 😲

Read Time: 4.30 minutes 📰

The Setup

Gear List

Synths (* favs)

• Korg Minilogue*

• Korg Poly61*

• Roland JX-8P + PG800*******

• Roland Juno 106****

• Yamaha DX7**

• Moog Sirin

• Korg Polysix*

• Korg Microkorg

• Roland D-110*

• Roland JP8000

• Novation BassStation Rack

• Waldorf Streichfett

• Yamaha CS-1X

• Yamaha VSS-30*

• Arturia Microfreak**

• Roland VP-03

• Roland TB-03

• Roland TR-09

• Roland A-01

• Roland JP-08

• Roland JU-06

• Roland JX-03

• Roland D-05 + Dtronics DT-01*

• Roland SE-02*

• Roland TR-08

• Roland SH-01a

• Behringer Model D

• Behringer Poly D*

• Behringer Odyssey*

• Behringer Cat

• Behringer WASP Deluxe*

• Behringer MonoPoly*

• Behringer 2600

• Behringer Pro 1

• Behringer Crave

• Behringer Neutron

Pianos

• Yamaha CLP-430WH*

• Korg SV-1*

Drums

• Roland TR-505

• Roland TR-707

• Yamaha DD-14

• Korg DDD-1

Grooveboxes

• Roland MC303

• Korg Electribe ES-1

• Korg Electribe EM-1

Guitar/Bass

• Epiphone Studio - Les Paul*

• Hohner Professional B2*

• and some guitar fx

...and all the stuff I forgot!

What's the one thing in your studio you can't live without?

I think at the end of the day it's the computer. It's definitely the heart of my hybrid studio.

Here, it all comes together.

What's your process?

Mostly, it begins on the piano.

I start playing around and if a melody or a chord progression kicks me I start to compose and record it on my mobile phone.

After some days or even weeks I listen to it again and if I still like it, I start producing the song at the studio.

How would you explain your style?

70% Synth-wave, 20% Pop, 10% indefinable.

I always try to create an emotional melody and find a perfect matching sound for it.

Sometimes I send one midi line to nearly each of my hardware synths to find the best sound. I think it's also important for the mixing process. I always try to find the best combination of sounds to get a harmonic mix.

I'm also a big fan of side-chain compression. It's a great opportunity to get a groovy flow in the mix.

Has this journey of building a hardware setup changed the way you think about music or life in general?

It's definitely changed my way of work.

I've always wanted a setup where I can instantly play, edit and record as many synthesizers as possible. I am very happy that I can work with almost 30 synthesizers without patching cables, edit midi-channels or all these annoying steps. I think that was the hardest challenge.

I also created a template in Ableton Live with a complete midi and audio routing. It combines the creative work on the hardware (with all it's charm) and the digital post-processing.

What’s your ONE tip on music-production or creativity?

Stop thinking, start creating.

How can people find you?

Linktree

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Gianni @gkampiotis

P.S. Suggest me (with a reply) a book/movie/article that fueled your creativity 🙌