Name: Samuel Van Dijk aka VC-118A
Nationality: Dutch
Occupation: Producer, composer
Current release: The new VC-118A album Waves of Change is out via Delsin.
Gear Recommendations: Trackspacer has been a great help for placing vocals. PSP Vintagewarmer 2 is a great compressor and eq. SH101 - vintage model just works on anything!

If this VC-118A interview piqued your interest, visit him on Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.   



The views of society towards technology are subject to constant change. How would you describe yours?

It’s designed to be addictive, manipulative, with virtual gratification, and visual overstimulation. The application of self-doubt and comparing.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist/producer?

I started with Instrument orientation: physicality, practicing routine, hearing tonality, and applying discipline. I was definitely more fond of hitting the keys on a piano and seeing what happens, which notes sound nice together.

In some way I still have that same mindset today. Never stop growing and learning.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and then becomes increasingly professionalised. How important is playfulness for you today and if it is important, how do, concretely, you retain it?
 
I feel it’s important to make sounds you actually like to hear, and translate your emotions to the fullest.

Switch instruments around, change setups, play out with equipment at a friends studio, record sounds from nature, use step-sequencers on anything, and play with sound, texture and rhythm.

Which other producers were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

Rasmus Hedlund for the top shelf engineering in our Dialog studio sessions. Damian Keane for macro listening, analysing, deep diving in structure and texture.
ERP for melody and soul.
Drexciya for eternal water funk and applying concepts.
Mark, Moritz and Tiki for the foundation.
Benji for his infinite spiritual guidance.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

A game of expanding, reducing, researching, and trying out things. It’s important to switch things around and find the tools that work to get your message on the map.

I like analogue hardware processing, compressors, parametric equalizers, and old synths. The 500 series rack modules are inspiring to use. SH-101 is really good sounding.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?

Banana synths feel right, something about the cables and experimental architecture. It’s experimental with the right musical approach/angle.

What is the relation between innovative tools and "innovative music"?

Music has no boundaries, it cross pollinates, and is pure emotion. One feels when a piece of music hits, it holds no walls.

The sound is not bound to any timeframe, progression, or innovation.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

Electronic music is a drop in the ocean. There are many different styles, cultures, traditions that use texture and sound - with any instrument, object or surrounding available to them.

Limiting is either a choice or by force. One can create the most textured sound with a single instrument. There are infinite different nuances in the shape, tones, and velocity.

The voice is one if the most powerful instruments.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

I hold a large folder with dumped sketches made on hardware, jam sessions, field recordings, textures, and tones. Pure unfiltered experiments. I like to rediscover old projects from 4/5 years ago and update them with the current studio setup, learnings, and mindset.

I often export stems from unfinished projects and delete the project files. A constant exploration of overdubbing, reworking, remixing, and processing.

From your experience, are there things you're doing differently than most or many other artists when it comes to gear and production?

Staying deep and true to the sound.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. Do you feel these terms have a relationship to your own work of and approach towards sound? Do you find using presets lazy?

Whatever sound you have to use to get your message in the music. It’s a personal journey. Use what you feel like using, and name it how you like to name it.

There is no right or wrong.

Production tools can already suggest compositional ideas on their own. Which of these have proven particularly fruitful in this regard?

Modular synths of any kind are a great source of uncertainty. So are 90s rompler rack units, and complex software.

To me, isolating sounds help to learn about the essence of the vibe in the recording.

Working together with a variety of people gives the best ideas and most progressive results in any shape or form.

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

It seems unstoppable to explore technological limits. We are naturally curious.

If anything, I like to see AI implemented in file management, backup systems, recording setups, and anything that makes studio operating easier.

Technology has continually taken on more steps of the compositional process and "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin?

At the very end, one can hear emotion (or lack of) in the music. If the message speaks to you in a personal and relatable way, there isn’t any end or beginning to it - its transformative. No beginning or ending.

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

I’m really interested in an 8 stereo channel mixer with parametric eq + inserts + 4x aux + master module with returns.