Richard Devine
Open Labs Exclusive Artist Interview
- by Carson Barker, Open Labs Staff Writer
Richard Devine literally puts his heart into his music. Don't believe me? Sound too cliche? Check out this sample and you'll hear a steady, metallic beat, which is the sound of Devine's most vital organ pumping blood through a man-made device.
"In 2007, I had my aortic replaced with a mechanical valve," said Devine. "I had a staff infection, I was rushed to the hospital and basically the doctors told me that if I didn't have immediate open heart surgery I would die. One of the first things I decided to do when I got out of the hospital was record the valve. We did it (the recording) with a contact mic that is typically used for being connected to the bridge of a guitar, but it works really well with all kinds of objects. I thought, 'This makes a great metallic hi-hat sound."
For the record, Richard Devine is not a cyborg. Though one might think otherwise, judging by his partially mechanical body, and the fully mechanical orchestrations that he creates with his hundreds of synths, racks, computers, and pretty much any electronic music gear imaginable. Check out his website at www.richard-devine.com, and you'll think that you've mistakenly stumbled into some military black-ops company that produces machines capable of God knows what (and some interesting music to boot).
"We've launched our own boutique sound design house that provides specific sound designs to companies who come to us," said Devine. "It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time."
The best way to describe Devine's style is "expansive." The theme that weaves through all of his music is fluidly composed, undiscovered sound. Some musicians are string pickers, some are beat makers, some are vocalists, Devine is a parameter tweaker. Sampling sounds from a light bulb buzzing to his own metallic heartbeats, Devine tweaks the parameters to the point that the original body of work is unrecognizable. Take thousands of those tweaks and aesthetically lay them out into a classical composition, and you have the works of Richard Devine. The composition theme comes from Devine being a classically trained pianist, playing songs by Debussy and Chopin throughout his youth.
"I became fascinated with the structural architecture of audio, and I tried to emulate it using completely different sounds," Devine said. "I'd use sounds that I captured and recorded out in the field using a John Cage-type approach. I wanted to make music that couldn't identify with any genre."
So what kind of work does Devine do? The logical question to ask is what kind of work doesn't he do? From building songs and sonic textures for top grossing best video games, to designing samples for Sony libraries, to scoring indie and major release films, and remixing music for industrial techno monsters, Aphex Twins, Devine's touch is unmistakable and in high demand. You name it, and Devine has probably done it or is in the process of doing it. To top it off, most of his personal work is available straight from his brain to the public for free, via his website.
"We've just launched a new library with Sony media. This is our second library and it's all analog recordings of old modular synths and stuff like that. I do so much work with Roland, Akai, Korg, and Native Instruments, it's been kind of all over the place. Every weekend there is a constant mix of crazy things going on. Devine Sound has been our main focus, but I'm also doing things like custom sound designs for Ableton Live."
At the center of Devine's haphazard, sound-designing lifestyle is his NeKo. The heart of his electronic body, simply mention the word and Devine will unleash a tirade about how this machine, above all else, is doing things that none of his 100+ other synths or computers can do.
"I don't think I've had more fun working with any other computer," said Devine. "I've tailored programs specifically with the NeKo. It responds with very a gestural sense, so you can control the sound. That would only happen because I have the touch screen interface, that's what I love about it. I did a five-day workshop with the graduating classes at a Denmark Music Conservatory. We had one day when we talked about alternate controllers and having environments where you had the ability to control software in ways that you couldn't before, and I showed them a video of me in the studio with a Reaktor patch open, and it sounds like a bunch of crazy modulated noise stuff going on. That's what's so cool about Open Labs, I've told to Victor several times that it's so unique that you're able to manipulate a Windows computer with the touch of your finger."
Here's a laundry list of the many things that Devine uses his NeKo for on a daily basis:
- Track mixing
- Sampler
- Triggering effects with keyboard, "It's been a vortex of sound possibilities."
- Plug-in chain environment, "It's the only environment that unifies all plug-ins and virtual instruments."
- Sound effects machine
- Effects processing
- Scoring film
- DJing
- Making sound libraries
You name it, he's done it.
"It's the Swiss Army Knife of the studio. It can take on any form you want."
But the really innovative aspect of Devine's blessed NeKo, is that it's a GEN1. At half a decade old, the GEN1 Open Labs "Synth" still breathes new life into his harmonious lungs.
"My system is probably outdated," said Devine. "I got one of the first 1000 units released. I updated until a certain point, but the way that I have it running with the software I use it's perfect. Open Labs has made some crazy improvements, it looks even more fast forward to the future than my unit does today."
Regardless of what parameter Divine is tweaking, what sound he is designing, or what company he's building sound for, his number one tool for creation is his NeKo GEN1. It might be five years old, but it still acts as the marrow to his musical bones, the flesh of his creative muscle, and the blood of his electronic heart.
"Even today my machine is still working and functioning better than anything else in my studio," Devine said. "I do all of my DJ mixes on it, there is no other way to do that with any other MIDI interface. It's almost like you're using software in a way it wasn't meant to be used."
Equipment Used
Purchased NeKo 64 (Gen1)
Artist Link