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His newly released Erratic2 drumsampler plugin showcases his evergrowing talent into gathering creativity and a lot of randomization features with a slick interface.
Hello, my name is DeLaMancha
Hi, who are you ? Where do you live, what's your age, Where do you come from ? What's your background ?
I’ve been asking myself the same thing since 1969. I live in London, a small village on a small island, in fact a former French colony. To paraphrase Montesquieu, “Je suis nécessairement homme et je ne suis Anglais que par hasard”. In real-life I’m an engineer, a husband and a father of two mini-manchas. I love snowboarding, air-cooled VW’s and Thai food. I hate racism, bigotry and treading in dog shit.
Flying Mancha in action
What music/artists do you like ? Do you play any instrument yourself ? Do you play in a band ?
I have quite an eclectic taste. Taking a look at my Ipod I have The Black Keys, The Orb, Serge Gainsbourg, Burial, Battles, Polar Bear, Chemical Brothers, Radiohead, Analord, Prefuse73, Venetian Snares, Kraftwerk, Fuck Buttons, Stars of the Lid, The Beatles and the theme from the Pink Panther. I guess it’s mostly electronic, but I also like jazz, blues, some classical and old school hiphop, Run DMC, de la Soul, Beasties.
I don’t play anything well enough to call myself a musician. I’m not a realtime person, so using a computer suits me better.
I don’t play in a band, but if I did, I’d be that geeky guy that twiddles knobs and makes weird shit happen.
What did lead you to make music tools and plugins ?
A plugin that didn’t exist and a curiosity to learn. I wanted to use the keys of a midi controller to toggle mute of a mixer channel, so by playing different keys, some sounds would play and others wouldn’t. I couldn’t find one, so I tried a demo of SynthEdit to see if I could make one. That was my first plugin, moot. Then I saw the huge potential for making new and creative plugins and that’s where my addiction started.
DeLaMancha Industries
Could you present us your company ?
Well the company is me with a lot of help from my internet friends and collaborators. The spirit is creativity and fun, doing it because we get a kick out of it. I really enjoy the fact that so many people want to contribute ideas, samples, do testing and be part of the process of making plugins, it’s a great community and I met some really nice people this way.
What's hot now with DeLaMancha ? What is warm out from the oven, or can you tell what is still on the desk ?
There’s a lot going on right now, in various stages of completion or just ideas.
Erratic2, my update to the drum sample player, has just been released after the longest time in development
I have a dual compressor plugin called bathtub which is also nearly done except for some more presets, and will be out in a few weeks. It also has some little freeware brothers and sisters that will follow
With runagate we formed the Evil Alliance and our first effect plugin should be ready very soon. We are also working on an entry for the KVR dev challenge 2008
I am working on a new synth with Singing Crane, with whom I made Octav8r. I can’t say too much, but it’s different than anything I’ve done before
I also have a new lofi synth in development, based on some samples from my cheesy old Casio
Behind that, many other ideas and suggestions that I look forward to making reality !
About the graphic design part of your work : what is the idea behind your design and the features you put in your plugins ? The graphic aspect seems very important, and you are also a graphic designer, can you tell us something about that ?
I was always into art, drawing, painting, sketching, cartoons, graffiti and street art, I doodle all the time. When it comes to GUI’s I’m still learning a lot about what works or doesn’t, and of course everyone has different tastes. I like clean, vector style GUIs, like Ableton Live and energyXT, I’m not big on photo realistic hardware emulation, I find it too busy for my eyes and brain. I try to make the GUI intuitive, simple to navigate and hopefully pleasing to the eye.
Also, you seem to like randomization a lot, unpredictable stuff, and broken or DIY equipment, right ?
Lol, yes, randomisation does feature a lot in my plugins, and probability and modulation too. I mainly use FL Studio as my host, and in my plugins I tend to recreate the methods that I use to modulate parameters within the host features.
being an indie dev
What makes you wish to work on vst development when you wake up in the morning ?
Ooh, good question. Coffee and creativity. I think I just need to make stuff. If it wasn’t plugins it would be something else. I can’t just sit and read a newspaper or stare out of the train window, so I use my commuting time to make plugins. I don’t know what people imagine, but the dlM production line is mostly just my laptop and me on a train for 45 minutes each way to work and back...
Your first plugins were freeware, now you release mainly fairly-priced payware plugins. What is your take on this ? Do you think the bloat of free plugins on the internet and/or the piracyit has an impact on the market ? On the quality ? On the music ? On the user's expectations ?Is the huge amount of plugins released every day motivating or mostly boring ?
When I first started making music on a computer, it was in the early 90s on an Amiga using SoundTracker. Plugins didn’t exist back then but already the shareware scene allowed me to get started for an affordable cost. Later when I got back into MAO on a PC, I looked at the cost of things like Cubase and Sonar, Reaktor and Waves, and it seemed unaffordable. Then I looked a little deeper and found all these freeware plugins, affordable hosts like FL Studio (v4 at the time) and I realised that I could make almost any sound I wanted on a very small budget. If it wasn’t for the freeware scene, I would never have got back into it again, and we wouldn’t be having this interview now.
As for the quality of freeware, well yes it is much more variable than payware in general, because much of it is made by hobbyists and beginners. But then when all this software is given away for free, you have to expect to put a little effort into testing it out and seeing if it’s good for you. Something you need to do even with payware. Some freeware is very high standard and often quite original, not held back by the need for commercial viability. Some payware is crap too, so it works both ways
You also have to avoid the trap of “I must install every plugin ever made” and pick the ones that suit the music you make and the sound you look for.
Does it affect the music? No, the person making the music affects the music. They choose their tools and instruments, they choose their sound design and they choose if they let others hear it. Great music can be made on absolutely anything. Shit music is still made on very expensive technology.
Releasing affordable effects is quite a political act, don't you think ? It makes music-making more affordable than in the not so old hardware-only days, and also it doesn't try to fit in the same pricing category than the « big names » from the VST market, right ? What is the intention behind ?
I’m not so political, I pitch my prices based on what I would pay for such a plugin and I don’t have much to spend. I don’t feel I’m competing with the big names, in fact I don’t feel I’m competing with anyone really, I’m not in big business, I’m just trying to cover the costs of my hobby
Do you think that digital music tools has changed the way of making or listening to music in the last 2 decades ?
It certainly allows greater accessibility to creative tools, and encourages experimenting more, which means more people can enjoy it as a hobby and don’t need to sell music to afford the gear. As an example, with a sampler and a decent sound set, you can write, create and produce an orchestral piece for a full symphonic orchestra. Sure, classical music fans will always prefer to listen to the real thing, but so what, if the guy at home feels proud of his creation, and only his wife or dog hear it, it doesn’t matter, he made something that he wouldn’t be able to do before. It’s the same if it’s dubstep, jazz, hiphop, 70s rock or deathmetal. A computer and some software will let you try anything you feel inspired to do.
What is your point of view into being an « indie developer » ?
As a one-man show, I can allow it to be a creative endeavour, not a business, not a job, not work. It’s fun, I can make plugins that I want, I can make mistakes or plugins that no-one will buy, but it doesn’t matter if I enjoy it. I can still decide to make fun freeware like Styrofoam as a break from difficult challenges like erratic 2
the future
Do you use yourself your creations in a band or a music project ?
I do sometimes use my plugins, when I need them, but not as a priority over anything else. I also use a lot of other freeware and a few key bits of payware I have. I use Absynth and CamelPhat & CamelSpace a lot, and Voxengo plugins always end up in my projects too
What is your plugin utopia ? I mean : both what would be your dream digital music tool/plugin, and what use would you like people do with your creations ?
My dream plugin?. Probably the VST equivalent of the love child between a Korg KaossPad and a Monome.
For my own plugins, I’m already there, some people use them, they like them and they even list them as plugins used in their projects. This makes me happy and proud, my goal is achieved.
What do you intent to do by bringing such things as Erratic2 or DirtBox3 to life ?
With many of my plugins, the intent is to add a twist to the music making process. With dirtbox3 it’s the crazy modulation of the distortion, with erratic2 it’s the randomisation and variation of the drum pattern.
Which artist would you like to know is using your plugins ?
If I found out that Venetian Snares. Squarepusher or Aphex Twin were using my plugins, I’d be a happy man, but really just reading that an ordinary guy on an internet forum is recommending my plugins is much better praise
How do you see the future in some years ?
A distopian Mad Max world, where there is no electricity and acoustic instruments will be king again. Mac v PC, Analog v Digital, it will all be forgotten and become more primeval again, about banging things with sticks and screaming.
What is your take on hardware ? Do you use it yourself ? Do you see plugins as « the next step » over hardware or do you think plugins are for people who can't afford hardware ? Or do you like the combination of the two, or... ????
I have only 2 bits of what you could call vaguely call hardware, a Stylophone and a Casio HT700, both lofi and kitsch. I don’t have hardware because I don’t have the money or the space, but if I did I probably would like to fill a room with analog legends, who wouldn’t? I do keep considering making a DIY analog synth, but it’s just a dream at the moment.
And what is your point of view between the two different « dev schools » : some people try to recreate emulations of expensive, rare vintage hardware to the deepest detail, and some use the digital tool in order to create new musical instruments aimed at producing yet unheard sounds and/or new ways of making music... ?
There’s room for all and a mixture of both. I guess I’m more the second one, but I use emulations of Rhodes, Prophets and 808’s and I’m glad someone out there makes them.
Is there any other developers you admire ? (or hardware manufacturer, or anything ???)
I admire xoxos a lot, he makes some very original plugins and tackles interesting physical modelling stuff, gives most of it away for free and is a great contributor to the community. Also Odo and Tweakbench, both freeware heroes and making plugins that appeal to me, sound and GUI wise.
Thank you !
De rien
... and don't forget to check :http://delamancha.co.uk/
[interview by Snk]
