Si Begg Q&A session - open till Sunday 21/01/07

Walter Odington · Post by **Walter Odington** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:18 am

So here we are, one day later than expected (my fault, d'oh!), for the glorious Si Begg Q&A session. Pitch your questions to Si in this thread and he'll pick out those he wants to answer.

Si Begg has been making breaks since before the current scene emerged, and has not stopped pushing the envelope. Recently his latest offerings Jetlag and Tinnitus were made singles of the week in Mixmag, but looking back on his discography you can see he has been delivering quality for a long time.

Check out http://www.sibegg.com/ for more information about his music, his opinions, and indeed free download of original samples from his archive.

Many thanks to Si for his willingness to do this - let the games begin!

afdafsf · Post by **afdafsf** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:21 am

the most basic question of them all

What is your favorite synth and why?

also

Who do you feel is leading the world in Nuskool Electro Breaks right now?

thank you

BLista · Post by **BLista** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:29 am

Ez Si - nice to meet you at Herbal - and you fucking tore it up - that was the first time i'd heard you play.

It won't be my last.

So questions:

What is your fave sample editing suite(soft or hardware) and which editing techinique/trick have you discovered which you are most pleased with - i.e. - gave you the greatest feeling of accomplishment or most crazy end result.

Also, would you care to share it with us

Wonkeye_Dan · Post by **Wonkeye_Dan** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:03 pm

oooh so many questions which one to ask, ok what would outside influences do you find dictate the music your writing, for example i've been trying to write kinda funky electro breaks but lately i've been a right moody git and found moodier music just comes easier that way, would you say you do the same depending how things in life are afecting you, or just bang out wicked tunes regardless

andi funkbudha · Post by **andi funkbudha** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:08 pm

hey si what are u doin about global warming.........

superdisco · Post by **superdisco** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:11 pm

Si, long been an admirer of yours

Could you (briefly) talk us through your workflow when making a tune. Is there a standard starting point? Do you spend hours playing around with 8 bar loops, or just get on with sequencing? Do you EQ as you're going along, or have a big mixdown session at the end? Etc.

Your tunes are so detailed, well-mixed and well-constructed, and I've always wondered how you do it. Cheers

uncle jam · Post by **uncle jam** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:12 pm

ez

i spend a fair amount of time on writting tracks ( my last track 4 1/2 months and my current will prob hit the 2 month mark ) and i often hear people saying they do a track in a day, do you have an average time it takes you to write tracks and which part of the process do you dislike / find the hardest ?

cheers

andi funkbudha · Post by **andi funkbudha** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:13 pm

whats your fav colour

sibegg · Post by **sibegg** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:22 pm

nuskoolbreaks_head wrote:the most basic question of them all

What is your favorite synth and why?

it would have to be the good old sequential citcuits Pro One as it was the first synth i got really into ..for a wee monosynth it packs a huge punch especially in the bottom end and it has loads of features allowing you to go way beyong basic VCA/VCF/ADSR stuff...

as far as more recent ones go nord modular gets my vote..you will *never* get bored of that bitch..although the bottom end is slightly lacking and it sometimes is hard to make it 'bite' ..but the sheer amount of madness its capable of more than makes up for any shortcomings in tone

Silas_Greenback · Post by **Silas_Greenback** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:35 pm

Quick one this

Analogue or Digital?

plazadefunk · Post by **plazadefunk** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 12:57 pm

as far as I know you still use Logic 4.7 on a mac, so what is your working method?

since it's a very limited system I'm guessing you must still be using a lot of midi and splicing stuff with recycle, or do you mostly work with audio?

thanks mate - you rock!

_ _ _ · Post by **_ _ _** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:15 pm

if you were forced to choose - reason or fruityloops??

any chance of you letting us have all the parts to 'i cant take it' for some oddball NSB remixes?

frazzles or onion rings??

:gone: · Post by **:gone:** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:30 pm

Si

1) all that TV as a kid, do you think it was a good thing?

2) is there any one area of your life or any modern media that you repeatedly draw inspiration from?
3) any idea how much the Sausage Doctor 12" is worth these days?
4) did you get those e mails?

ta

ol' dirty badja · Post by **ol' dirty badja** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:15 pm

do you really like it?

is it is it wicked?

My Name is Gino · Post by **My Name is Gino** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:23 pm

Did you have a mis-spent youth in video arcades?

sibegg · Post by **sibegg** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:32 pm

thanks for all these Qs people..i will get thru em

sibegg · Post by **sibegg** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:39 pm

nuskoolbreaks_head wrote: Who do you feel is leading the world in Nuskool Electro Breaks right now?

thank you

hmmm..no-one! we have no leader and we have no heroes

seriously tho, probably the kid who hasnt released anything yet and no-one will book sitting in his bedroom up all night with a studio tan doing the most far out sh*t you've never heard ..if u get me

and anyone whos pushing it , sticking their neck out , doesn't give a f*ck and wants to mess with peoples minds on a dancefloor

sibegg · Post by **sibegg** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:48 pm

BLista wrote:Ez Si - nice to meet you at Herbal - and you fucking tore it up - that was the first time i'd heard you play.

It won't be my last.

So questions:

What is your fave sample editing suite(soft or hardware) and which editing techinique/trick have you discovered which you are most pleased with - i.e. - gave you the greatest feeling of accomplishment or most crazy end result.

Also, would you care to share it with us

nice one mate ..glad u enjoyed..just got booked for fabric 2nd feb w/ tayo if yr interested...

errrm..tricky...logic is the workhorse but for neat stuff thats fresh and is differnt to what every other b*ggers doing, i think metasynth has some amazing features that sound like nowt else...

but most of all, to be honest, is alot of hard trakball graft and studio hours..i am pretty chuffed with a coupla new bits comin out real soon..but as far as tricks go i think theres no substitute for sweating it out in the studio ..listening till yr brain hurts , working damn hard and not compromising ..u *know* when its sounding hot and you *know* when its kinda whack and needs tweaking and sometimes u have to be prepared to bin the whole beat/b-line whatever and start again..

BLista · Post by **BLista** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:50 pm

sibegg wrote:
BLista wrote:Ez Si - nice to meet you at Herbal - and you fucking tore it up - that was the first time i'd heard you play.

It won't be my last.

So questions:

What is your fave sample editing suite(soft or hardware) and which editing techinique/trick have you discovered which you are most pleased with - i.e. - gave you the greatest feeling of accomplishment or most crazy end result.

Also, would you care to share it with us
nice one mate ..glad u enjoyed..just got booked for fabric 2nd feb w/ tayo if yr interested...

errrm..tricky...logic is the workhorse but for neat stuff thats fresh and is differnt to what every other b*ggers doing, i think metasynth has some amazing features that sound like nowt else...

but most of all, to be honest, is alot of hard trakball graft and studio hours..i am pretty chuffed with a coupla new bits comin out real soon..but as far as tricks go i think theres no substitute for sweating it out in the studio ..listening till yr brain hurts , working damn hard and not compromising ..u *know* when its sounding hot and you *know* when its kinda whack and needs tweaking and sometimes u have to be prepared to bin the whole beat/b-line whatever and start again..

Thankyou - and yes you do - generally within the first hour - yet sometimes you carry on for hours and hours flogging the proverbial dead horse.

thanks man

sibegg · Post by **sibegg** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:53 pm

Wonkeye_Dan wrote: what outside influences do you find dictate the music your writing, for example i've been trying to write kinda funky electro breaks but lately i've been a right moody git and found moodier music just comes easier that way, would you say you do the same depending how things in life are afecting you, or just bang out wicked tunes regardless

hmmm...hard to say i'm not always as self aware as i should be..i wrote the next tune i'm putting out (hornsey slap..was on the myspace page for a while) when we were going thru a bitch of a house move and all sorts of other crap..and my girlfriend heard and said thats a bit bloody moody do u think u were a bit stressed? so i guess outside stuff always leaks in but i dont always realise..the only thing i do know is that anger fuels alot of my stuff, because i'm pretty chill in that respect and maybe i use the music to get it oot...wether its directed at society/life in general or my anger towards the music scene including supposed underground dance stuff right thru to q mag / 50quid man tedium