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23 - Two Round Robins

23 - Two Round Robins

Giannis Kampiotis
November 08, 2022

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Two Round Robins

Coming from Slovenia, he is not limited to making music only in his studio.

Looking for alternative instruments and allowing for space in his music, “ambient sessions have now become far more therapeutic” he says 🎶

Read Time: 9 minutes 📰

The Setup

Gear List

Synths & Grooveboxes

Teenage Engineering - OP-1
Teenage Engineering - PO-33 KO
Teenage Engineering - PO-35 Speak
Teenage Engineering - PO-20 Arcade
Monome - Norns Shield
Monome - Grid
Bastl Instruments - Kastle Drum
Korg - NTS-1
Korg - Monotron Delay
Nintendo - Gameboy Color + Arduinoboy
Recovery Effects - Instrument 01
Alesis - Micron
Yamaha - VSS200

Tape Stuff

Tascam - Porta Studio MK II
Sanyo - Dictaphone
Sanyo - Pocket Corder
DIY Cassettone
Loads of tape-loops

Pedals & FX

Electro Harmonix - Memory Man 2
Boss - DD-7
Boss - Looper
Boss - RE20 Space Echo
Boss - Tremolo
M-One - Effect Unit

Controllers

Akai - MPK mini
Native Instruments Maschine Mikro MK2

Interface & DAW

Audient - iD4
Logic - Pro X

Instruments

Acoustic Guitars
Deering - Banjo
Mandolin
Violin
Lapsteel (modified)
Electric Guitar
Kalimba
++ small musical toys, instruments

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

I live in Ljubljana, a capital of a very small central-Europe country called Slovenia.

I started making music in my early teens. Coming from a non-musical family, it was your usual "Dad bought me a guitar" story that through trial and error and some basic lessons transcended into a music-making love affair, that seems to roll on.

I never really bothered with playing other peoples stuff, like most of my peers did, but I'd rather strum away and try to find my own thing from the very beginning.

From your usual early-teen metal phase I moved on to alt-rock and then it kinda jumped into all sorts of genres. In my early 20s I started doing film scores for smaller movies and various other media. This helped me to become quick in the various technicalities of music composition and production.

After my job at SAE Institute sadly ended, I moved on and did a lot of freelance work within the music field, before getting another regular 9-5 job in another media educational institute, which still provides my main income.

It's hard to survive only with musical output in Ljubljana, Slovenia especially if you come from a rather non-privileged background. So having a regular salary definitely helps that when you focus your creative energy on making music, the output is strictly what you decided to be.

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

It's a hard question since every synth or music making gadget, at some point, is like a little baby that you can't live without. But thinking of it logically...

It's probably my laptop.

Thinking with heart however, I'd probably go with TE - OP-1 or Monome - Norns Shield.

What's your process?

Since I consider myself a newcomer into the intriguing world of DAWless jamming and ambient music, I tend to find my process to be constantly shifting.

However, what I seem to revolve around is texture. I start with texture - may it be a sample, synth or a field recording. The initial sound and colour has to draw me close enough that I can just sit and listen for a few minutes, enjoying the soundscape.

I learned slowly (and I still do) that I need to take time with each new sound element, processing it and still keep enough space within the atmosphere to let the piece breathe naturally. I was guilty (and still am at points) of doing the newbie mistake of adding and adding different harmonic layers, melodic ideas until all that is left is an asynchronous mess.

I still have a long way to go until I'll be comfortable enough to call myself anything close to a sound artist.

How would you explain your style?

I'm drawn towards a sound that sounds nostalgic, innocent and broken so I guess my style would be considered in the brighter spectrum of ambient music.

Taking a lot of ideas from nature and childhood, I try to create something that I would consider warm, beautiful, calm but at times chaotic. A lot has to do with gear that I own (or at least aspire to own) that I just enjoy the sound of and believe that such sound will push this initial style into a firmer ground as well as new territories.

Norns was something that changed my style as exploring. It's scripts forced me out of my comfort zone of quantized based music. It helped me understand that emotion is not grid-locked and my (now more open) mind found ways to conceptualize the uniqueness that came out of that little machine.

A similar breakthrough were tape-loops as well. There is no doubt in my mind that my style will evolve and something I consider now to be groundbreaking will look like a mere happy accident that kind of happened.

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

Definitely!

The thing I really disliked when my creating was only based in a DAW setup was getting home from work and having to open my laptop yet again, staring at the same screen and making something that seemed I made a million times before. With this typical DAW fatigue I started losing interest in creating electronic music and found that strumming away on an acoustic instruments was a far more satisfying creative session.

But soon enough, the limiting sound that strictly acoustic instruments produce pushed me to search for alternatives. Once I got myself an OP-1 everything kinda changed. I took it to the park and found out that I really enjoy noodling on these portable synth around the beautiful scenery and I just let these droney textures take over.

I always knew that music has a healing effect on me, but making something that seems so naturally slow and evolving really adds it to a new level. Ambient sessions have now become far more therapeutic.

Music making (at least in this context) is now a far more meditative experience that makes me more relaxed than it used to with just creating a track in Logic Pro and now I come out of it far more satisfied.

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

Be bravely slow.

I did a lot of music with a mindset of being quick is the only right way. But now I find that this tends to push me back into making the same stuff over and over again.

But taking time and really enjoying the process is a way more rewarding experience, giving you a sense of yearning for more exploration. You take this feeling and let yourself be hungry for a new session or better yet a new exploration into the whole unpredictable world of sound. This will then make you excited whenever you sit back with your gear just to noodle around and most importantly have fun doing it.

A book/movie/article that fueled your creativity?

Huh, a hard question since a lot of books, movies and music inspire me, but if I'd have to put a finger on it I'd say probably Steinbecks "Grapes of Wrath". I took a lot of themes from that book and used them in lyrics for a folk inspired EP I'm working on.

Another book that greatly inspired my sense of trying to mix emotion with a unique take on creativity is Danielewski's "House of Leaves". I absolutely adore that book.