Studio Favorites: Tristan Arp

Nord Drum 3P

The Nord Drum has become my primary instrument in live sets but it’s been put to use plenty in the studio too, especially on the next Asa Tone album and our album New Forms. I love the sounds I’m able to design from scratch on it––it really shines with melodic percussion in my opinion. I’m a real nerd for physical modelling synthesis, hand drumming, and a portable piece of kit, so it’s become a natural companion.

Euclidean Circles by vpme.de

Euclidean rhythms are a big part of my music and it’s really fun having some tactile interaction with them. Pair it with an S&H/shift register and a pitch/cv quantizer and you’ve got generative rhythmelodic music.

Granulator II by Robert Henke

This Max for Live plugin is so powerful and best of all it’s free. I’ve made so many instruments/presets that I return to over the years and I still find myself going to it more often than any other granular device.

Grain Forest by Dillon Bastan

One of the most conceptually inspired plugins I’ve ever come across, Grain Forest is a real treat from the mind of experimental plugin designer Dillon Baston: a probabilistic granular audio processor where “seeds” (grains) have the probability to grow into trees, affected by other parameters like wind and soil. It works on live incoming audio and has lots of sweet spots, even when the results are a bit beyond your understanding.

Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai

This might be the only piece of gear that has stayed with me since I was a teenager. It’s an echo with diffusion that can turn it into a cloudy or springy reverb but most of all it’s a looper that operates like a tape machine with varispeed and reverse function. Guitars, synths, and everything I’ve ever played has gone through this live and in the studio. I think it was the first piece of gear that really taught me about sound manipulation and abstracting source audio beyond recognition.