Hi all.

Can anyone tell me the type of software most likely used on Bjork's "It's in Our Hands" song? I'm curious to know what software she's been using since Vespertine for beats.

I'm getting into this just recently and can't decide which programs to start with. I have an MPC 2000XL but am looking to get more computer-based.

So, what does Bjork (and crew) use to make beats and tracks?

Thanks so much to anyone who replies. I'm having a hard time looking this stuff up online.

Cheers,
Chas Blackman

Bjork's Vespertine was done on Logic and ProTools (on Macintosh, of course.)

The beats were mainly produced by Matmos - they're using all kinds of old gear, like the 12-bit Roland W-30 sampler (the same sampler Liam Howlett of The Prodigy has used a LOT) and Emulator e6400.

They go out recording whatever weird sounds and then edit the noises into instruments. I don't know if they still do it, but they used to use Macromedia SoundEdit 16 a lot for editing.

(Matmos use DP as a seq on their own projects + MOTU 2408, Roland SH-101, Korg Mono/Poly and some mics for recording + the above mentioned samplers, they master on DAT and then use a outside mastering studio for finishing up.)

But I don't think you can create their sound by duplicating their equipment. Their entire production philosophy is not least bit about gear, it's just about music.

Yeah. I talked to Martin Schmidt from Matmos and he said the software they use is MOTU DP and Sound Edit 16.

I'm not trying to really emulate their sound, per se, I''m just interested in how it was structured.

Can someone explain to me a bit of what Logic can do? I'm a little confused.

And "It's in our hands" was released after Vespertine. I'm not interested in how they got the samples they did -- that should be different for everyone and I don't aim to copy that -- I just want to know what program was used.

So, were the Vespertine beats done with DP or Logic, or both... I need help.

Thanks much!

"It's in our hands" was produced by Björk and Drew Daniel of Matmos (again). I think it's safe to assume that Bjork wasn't very involved in the technical side, so probably it was done in the Matmos way using DP and SoundEdit 16.

Vespertine was done on Logic and ProTools, like I wrote earlier. Matmos didn't produce Vespertine album, they did beats programming - so an educated guess would be they had their laptop with SoundEdit 16 and DP + the samplers in the studio, created the sounds in the style familiar to them, and the final sequencing combining their stuff and the rest of the material was done on Logic.

Another educated guess would be that the multitrack recordings of individual songs created in Logic were then transferred as audio files into ProTools where the final mixdown took place.

Logic can do whatever a fully professional audio sequencer is supposed to do. You can do all the midi programming in it, you can do all acoustic instruments recordings in it, you can use software instruments - you can do the whole track with it, including the mixdown. Logic is a complete professional studio in one package.

However, in the more demanding productions (like a Bjork album I'm sure) it's quite common to do the final mixdown using a different system - like for instance ProTools or a high-end analogue desk.

Hope this helps a bit.

What can Logic do?

Well, umm, everything? Everything you'd expect a desktop studio to do. It has instruments, sampler, tracks, editors, synchroniserators, graphicness, customiseabilty, external control, it handles any interface you throw at it and two or more at a time, I mean, how many other packages let you use PT hardware and native power at the same time with all the goodnes that they both provide mixed in with each other? It's got everything in one box, you add a supercomputer and you've got your desktop studio. Even the pre 2000 versions really perform well and had features that others just couldn't compete with. It's just good. I love Pro Tools too, I think they innovated with their software and others now copy their arrange window. OK they're more corporate than Emagic were but not so much now it's Apple. Did Emagic ever charge for minor ( .1, .11 .2 etc etc ) updates? Wasn't it just 4 to 5 to 6 and so on...On the other hand, I do like that you get all the instruments and extras in Logic bundled in rather than buying them individually.
Sorry, I'm rambling on here.

I would say Bjork uses a very eclectic mix, sampling unusual experimetatative stuff with strange techniques and classic orchestration. But she's definitely mac based, beats etc may come from collaboraters so you could have anything in there. In the good old days albums would have instrument lists for each track, Bjork covers are usually very graphic with little or no text

Thanks for all your info guys.

-- Chas Blackman

Looks for your sounds Chas, it is in tune with them, they are there hoping for you. The sounds that you discover will be better than the attempts of Bjork.

Again, I'm not trying to copy her sounds, I just wanted to know how they were strung together (technical aspect and all).

-- Chas