SKP Sound Design has been with us since the launch of Reason+ in early 2021. As a master of combinator wizardry and creator of immersive soundscapes, it’s time to shine a spotlight on SKP Sound Design!
What device or feature of Reason do you like the most?
By far my favorite device/feature is the Combinator. I tend to look at the devices as individual components for Combinator creations; for example, I’ll use an instance of Polytone for one oscillator and then maybe an Objekt for the second oscillator, followed by a Pulveriser to give us a filter and inject some character. Working this way, it’s possible to sculpt really interesting combinations of tones and timbres, all with a custom interface on the front panel. It’s a bit like a “lite” version of Rack Extension development that is accessible enough that anyone can have a go at creating their own custom synths and FX without knowing anything about coding. All in all it’s super powerful and great fun if you’re in that technical creative mindset.
What do you find most rewarding about creating sound packs?
I enjoy making useful tools that capture people’s imagination and get the inspiration flowing. Whether it’s genre construction kits or Combinator “device” style packs, my main aim is to provide a set of patches that are of a high quality, fit with the genre in mind, and most importantly are useful and inspiring to users.
How do you typically get into the creative flow?
Usually, packs will begin with a rough brief from the Reason Studios guys, which will usually be a working title like “90s Alternative Dance” along with suggestions of artists and tracks to check out. This typically gives me a challenge as often the genres are something I’ve never really dabbled in. Then, I’m off to YouTube to do research, which involves immersing myself in the requested genre and its underlying subcultures. It can take a considerable amount of time to really lock down these genres in an authentic way, and I really enjoy that challenge. This kind of genre exploration is really inspiring and when I finally nail the ten patches along with a cool demo it’s super rewarding.
Do you have any unique or unconventional aspects of your work style that you would like to share?
To be honest, I wouldn’t really know. I’m entirely self-taught with no formal music, production or audio engineering education so I probably do a lot of things in a convoluted and unconventional manner. However, my educational background is in electronics, so I’m good at building things logically and value elegance in my workflow. I’d like to think that that combination of traits along with the love of cool sounds and music leads to well imagined patches and device combinations.
Which of your sound packs was the most satisfying to produce?
Wow, that’s a tough one to answer as at this stage, I’ve done quite a lot of packs over the past few years. I’d say that there isn’t really a single pack that I can point out, but, I do enjoy it when the guys at Reason push me out of my comfort zone. For example, I’ve done a couple of Latin packs that are miles outside of my usual styles, but I had so much fun learning about the genre and its subgenres, as well as immersing myself in the culture via youtube travel vloggers. So yeah, I’d definitely say the most satisfying results come when I’m pushed in a new direction, or at least a direction that is new to me.
What are you currently working on aside from sound pack production?
Outside the day-to-day pack production, you’ll find me head down in the studio preparing loops, samples, and patches for the factory bank, as well as new Reason instruments and FX. For the foreseeable future I’m continuing to work closely with Reason Studio’s as a music making content creator, so if there is anything you users specifically want to see from SKP then feel free to drop me an email.
Three of our favorite SKP Sound Design sound packs:
Buried Echoes
Traded Dreams
Enotronics
Follow SKP Sound Design on www.skpsounds.com
What device or feature of Reason do you like the most?
By far my favorite device/feature is the Combinator. I tend to look at the devices as individual components for Combinator creations; for example, I’ll use an instance of Polytone for one oscillator and then maybe an Objekt for the second oscillator, followed by a Pulveriser to give us a filter and inject some character. Working this way, it’s possible to sculpt really interesting combinations of tones and timbres, all with a custom interface on the front panel. It’s a bit like a “lite” version of Rack Extension development that is accessible enough that anyone can have a go at creating their own custom synths and FX without knowing anything about coding. All in all it’s super powerful and great fun if you’re in that technical creative mindset.
What do you find most rewarding about creating sound packs?
I enjoy making useful tools that capture people’s imagination and get the inspiration flowing. Whether it’s genre construction kits or Combinator “device” style packs, my main aim is to provide a set of patches that are of a high quality, fit with the genre in mind, and most importantly are useful and inspiring to users.
How do you typically get into the creative flow?
Usually, packs will begin with a rough brief from the Reason Studios guys, which will usually be a working title like “90s Alternative Dance” along with suggestions of artists and tracks to check out. This typically gives me a challenge as often the genres are something I’ve never really dabbled in. Then, I’m off to YouTube to do research, which involves immersing myself in the requested genre and its underlying subcultures. It can take a considerable amount of time to really lock down these genres in an authentic way, and I really enjoy that challenge. This kind of genre exploration is really inspiring and when I finally nail the ten patches along with a cool demo it’s super rewarding.
Do you have any unique or unconventional aspects of your work style that you would like to share?
To be honest, I wouldn’t really know. I’m entirely self-taught with no formal music, production or audio engineering education so I probably do a lot of things in a convoluted and unconventional manner. However, my educational background is in electronics, so I’m good at building things logically and value elegance in my workflow. I’d like to think that that combination of traits along with the love of cool sounds and music leads to well imagined patches and device combinations.
Which of your sound packs was the most satisfying to produce?
Wow, that’s a tough one to answer as at this stage, I’ve done quite a lot of packs over the past few years. I’d say that there isn’t really a single pack that I can point out, but, I do enjoy it when the guys at Reason push me out of my comfort zone. For example, I’ve done a couple of Latin packs that are miles outside of my usual styles, but I had so much fun learning about the genre and its subgenres, as well as immersing myself in the culture via youtube travel vloggers. So yeah, I’d definitely say the most satisfying results come when I’m pushed in a new direction, or at least a direction that is new to me.
What are you currently working on aside from sound pack production?
Outside the day-to-day pack production, you’ll find me head down in the studio preparing loops, samples, and patches for the factory bank, as well as new Reason instruments and FX. For the foreseeable future I’m continuing to work closely with Reason Studio’s as a music making content creator, so if there is anything you users specifically want to see from SKP then feel free to drop me an email.
Three of our favorite SKP Sound Design sound packs:
Buried Echoes
Traded Dreams
Enotronics
Follow SKP Sound Design on www.skpsounds.com
