Sylvan Esso

a volca beats is the only thing sitting on nick's desk while mixing. he has also said in a reddit AMA that the korg volca beats are " the best cheapest thing ever, buy one if you can"

Sylvan Esso return to the Moog Sound Lab to re-imagine "H.S.K.T" from their self-titled 2014 release. Using Ableton Live to route MIDI messages to an array of analog synthesizers,

Nick (@madeofoak) did an amazing Ableton Q&A on Instagram in which he explained the "Die Young" synth sound using a Moog Matriarch.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17859075212595668/

The item can be seen 2:57 into the video.

Nicholas Sanborn tweeted a photo of his recording setup for the latest album, featuring PO-20 (purple knobs give it away)

The item can be seen 0:19 into the video.

Item can be seen 1:02 into the video.

Can be seen 3:24 into the video.

Can be seen 3:26 into the video.

Can be seen 3:26 into the video.

In an Instagram photo, Sylvan Esso is shown wearing an Apple iPod Shuffle as an accessory, visible on her right ear.

The PO-24 is pictured here, distinguished by its yellow knobs

The OP-1 can be seen on the desk just behind the APC.

Used during their live performances to balance signals.

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The Monome Grid 128 is visible. Nick also mentions using Monome in this 2020 Music Radar article: https://www.musicradar.com/news/sylvan-esso-we-know-its-not-going-well-if-we-feel-like-assholes

The PO-16 is seen here, differentiated by its orange knobs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq3pN9S6ZpA Min 9:58

YouTube: "Sylvan Esso - Numb (Live at Durham Bulls Athletic Park)" Nick can be seen using the Roland Juno-6 at 2:08.

https://youtu.be/7a8imUt4Q1g?t=128

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The UA Apollo Twin X is visible.

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The Hologram Microcosm is visible.

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The Hyve Touch Synth is in the top left. Nick also discussing using the Hyve on the Free Love album in this 2021 Music Radar article: https://www.musicradar.com/news/sylvan-esso-career-in-gear

[The Hyve Touch Synth has] got this absolutely wild, plaintive, dangerous sound, that was just perfect for that. Especially paired with that Landscape Stereo Field, which is another touch plate thing. It feels like you're holding a lightning bolt, it's got this insane noise to it.”

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The Landscape Stereo Field is in bottom left. Nick also discussing using it with the Hyve Touch Synth on the Free Love album in this 2021 Music Radar article: https://www.musicradar.com/news/sylvan-esso-career-in-gear

[The Hyve Touch Synth has] got this absolutely wild, plaintive, dangerous sound, that was just perfect for that. Especially paired with that Landscape Stereo Field, which is another touch plate thing. It feels like you're holding a lightning bolt, it's got this insane noise to it.”

In this 2021 Music Radar article, Nick discusses using the Make Noise Phonogene on Frequency:

“”Frequency” was made around this loop that I made with a module called the Make Noise Phonogene. It’s this beautiful old sampler that they don't make anymore, that has this wonderfully bad sound to it, it almost sounds like a hacked sampler.

“It’s got this ultra lo-fi kind of that kind of quality to it. But for whatever reason, it has this miraculous amount of soul to it, it feels like everything you put in there emerges with more intent and meaning than it had going in. It's like this way of revealing a melody within something.

“So the whole initial piece, that fluttering sound that provides the backbone of the track, is all me sampling my own voice into this Phonogene and then sequencing it. It's totally one of those things where I don't think that song would have happened without it, it's a beautiful piece of kit.”

In this 2021 Music Radar article, Nick discusses using the Voyager on Die Young:

“Amelia wrote this at our friend’s studio, and we were trying to sketch it out. At this place, they had this absolutely insane Moog Voyager XL. Which was the kind of thing that - especially back then - we would never have access to this giant, beautiful instrument.

“Right away she came in and I wrote that bassline, the main riff of the song, using that. Because we were sitting with that, that part became that classic, Moog-y, almost Hornsby sound, with one oscillator tuned to the root and one tuned to the fifth above. There’s no way that song would have happened that way, had that thing not been sitting there.

“It’s actually funny, too, because we were recording it, assuming we were just recording the demo. Because the waveforms I was using were so simple, it’s literally a triangle wave and a sawtooth. I thought, I’ll just remake this on something else, make it tight and play it better and all that stuff. But we couldn’t beat the sound of it with anything else. It was one of those things where it’s like, it’s a triangle wave, how can it be that different? It was so frustrating - we finally had to borrow someone’s Voyager and redo it.”

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The OTO Bam Space Generator sits next to the Hologram Microcosm.

In this Instagram story on March 16, 2022, Nick (@madeofoak) posts his workspace from what looks to be Betty's Studio in Durham. The Mr Black Vintage Ensemble is far left.

In this KEXP at Home YouTube video posted on October 2 2020, the Elektron Octatrack MKII can most easily be seen at 51:40. The Octatrack is visible throughout Sylvan Esso's set.

In this September 24, 2020 Music Radar article, Sylvan Esso can be seen using the Monome Arc. Nick notes that they use more modular on Free Love.

"The Mannequins/Whimsical Raps (opens in new tab) Just Friends module, that was a big thing on this record too. All the Monome (opens in new tab) stuff too, I’m a big user of that. Those three companies were probably the ones that opened the most doors on this record and helped me think about things in a new, freeing way."

In this September 24, 2020 Music Radar article, Sylvan Esso can be seen using the Monome Norns. Nick notes that they use more modular on Free Love.

"The Mannequins/Whimsical Raps (opens in new tab) Just Friends module, that was a big thing on this record too. All the Monome (opens in new tab) stuff too, I’m a big user of that. Those three companies were probably the ones that opened the most doors on this record and helped me think about things in a new, freeing way."

In this September 24, 2020 Music Radar article, Sylvan Esso can be seen using the Moog DFAM. Nick notes that they use more modular on Free Love.