Dan Delaney
"Using the Miko allows my creativity to flow the way its supposed to."
- Dan Delaney
Growing up with a guitarist, singer and song writing father (who penned a number one hit in Europe in the 80s), producer Dan Delaney was exposed to and developed a passion for music very early on. At a young age, Dan took to making music with the hand me down equipment he got and quickly adopted the keyboard as his instrument of choice. He spent countless hours writing songs and visiting all the professional studios he could, in order to get an insight into the world of music production.
Around this time Dan also discovered and fell in love with Hip Hop, which was still in it's early stages of conception, and a relatively new thing in Australia, where he grew up. It would however become a huge influence in his musical taste and direction, and he spent every cent he could on cassettes of artists like Run-DMC, Eric B and Rakim Ice-T and Schooly D making mixed tapes and introducing everyone he could to this exciting new music.
Eventually setting up a studio of his own, Dan formed a group with some high-school friends and honed his song writing and production skills for many years until he was finally signed to Zomba/Jive records in 2001 as a songwriter and Producer, a position that gave him the opportunity to work with some of the countries hottest Urban talent.
After the company's takeover however, Dan moved on and continued to work with many artists independently as well as making music for film and TV. He also set up his own company in 2004 called "Magic Theatre Productions" and began focusing his sights on the US, the place he had always maintained was his goal.
Since then Dan has worked with some of the hottest up and coming talent in the Rap game, including Red Cafe, Yung Texxus and many more as well as signing a management deal in the US. In 2007 he signed a deal with MTV/Viacom, to become one of their music producers and has also inked a deal with Loud.com. This is just the beginning for Dan Delaney, who’s an incredibly passionate and determined producer set to make some serious noise in the world of music in 2008 and beyond. So get ready!
Artist Q & A
Q: How did you first hear about Open Labs?
A: From an add in Scratch (R.I.P.) Magazine.
Q: How has the MiKo changed your method of work
A: The Miko has brought the creative flow back. I know longer have to save the settings on a whole lot of different machines and move around the room flicking switches, and turning knobs, it's all there. I feel like a kid again with that very first keyboard, I can do everything on.
Q: How have you integrated the MiKo into your current studio setting?
A: It is the Studio now!
Q: What is your MiKo's primary function?
A: I make all my beats on it. I record samples to it, I clone keyboards on it, I sequence and mix everything on it, and the pop out a CD or MP3 on it.
Q: What is your favorite software on the MiKo? How do you use it?
A: There's some very cool stuff that comes with MiKo, but I love MimiK. That makes this machine worth it's weight in gold, because now I can clone any keyboard I want. If it's got Midi and I can hire it for a few days from a shop, I'm gonna clone it.
Q: Which kind of keyboard have you owned in the past and how do they compare to your MiKo?
A: There's nothing out there like this.
Q: How different is the compostion process compared to the standard computer or laptop system?
A: The built in computer is very powerful and fully upgradeable, and specifically designed with music in mind. I can now run all the VST instruments and plugins I want without it crashing, so I've been able to extend my creativity and take it to new levels, plus like I said it's a keyboard and mixer too, so this thing's a Beast!
Q: Do you think the quality of your production now would be possible with another keyboard?
A: No, not just one keyboard could match it, it'd have to be tons of keyboards, a computer, soundcard, mixer etc, and again you'd be back to the problem of a stop-start way of making music, which will mess with your creative flow.
Q: What artist have you produced or are you currently producing with your MiKo?
A: Like I said I just got it, and I've been carefully customizing it to suit myself. But I'm preparing a lot of tracks that will be submitted to a lot of quality artists
Q: Have you had any experience with our Tech Support and how does it rate with you?
A: No, I've used the Open Labs forum though, and that's been a great place to get some advice on anything.
Q: What is next for you and your MiKo?
A: More keyboard cloning, more Ram & hard drive upgrades and more Serious Music!
Equipment Used
Purchased MiKo SE (Gen3)
Artists Links