Paul van Dyk: Digital Spin
Few DJs can electrify a crowd like Paul van Dyk. That connection was originally analog—all of his grooves were etched into a few tons of vinyl. But for about three years now van Dyk has been strictly digital. Today he conjures his sets on a pair of MacBook Pros using Logic Studio and Ableton Live. In fact, it probably isn’t accurate to call him a “DJ” anymore. Van Dyk weaves his own music real-time, like any live musician. He uses his dance-floor sixth sense and his skills as a renowned producer to create new tracks during every performance.
“I’ve developed the same passion I have for making music as I have for DJing over the last 15 years,” he says. “It’s the ultimate thing to be able to combine both. I can use my production skills as well as my skills as a DJ together to create new things live. The whole experience of me playing music is much more intense because it fits the atmosphere of the moment, of the set, of the venue, and of the crowd.”
Of course, van Dyk is also a renowned producer. He’s considered one of the pioneers of electronic dance music. His songs have smashed the dance charts, soared on the pop charts and even invaded video game soundtracks. He has made remixes with Depeche Mode, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and many others. Today he makes all his music with Macs running Logic Studio and Ableton Live. “Ever since I basically began making music, I’ve worked with Macs,” he says. “They’re in the studio as well as on the road. I’ve always had my Macs with me. They’re an essential part of my music.”
In the Lab
When he’s not on the road, van Dyk turns out tracks at his Berlin studio. The electronic music laboratory is packed with old analog gear and the latest Macs running Logic Studio. Logic Pro 8 is at the heart of his setup. The application is his blank page, studio recorder, mixer and effects processor rolled into one. It also plays nice with the legacy gear that van Dyk has used throughout the years. “My music production starts in Logic,” he says. “I usually nail down a speed, then get a nice drum loop going for some rhythm. Then I lay down chords or a bass line or some piano—some stuff like that. When I feel the musical idea I have is coming across, and I can feel it, I get to properly blowing it up and doing drum programming and better bass line sequences.”
Van Dyk grabs sounds from the Logic Studio library and records riffs from his old gear. “Most of the stuff is not samples,” he says. “It’s all tweaked synthesizer. In Logic I use the ES1, ES2, EVP88 and the like.” Great instruments are important, but finding the right ones for a song is key. Again, Logic Studio has the solution. “It provides the perfect surrounding for searching for the right sound,” says van Dyk. “It’s great how you can dive into the synthesizers, grab those different sort of resonances and look through the library to find exactly what you need. And once you’ve found what you’re looking for, there are a lot of possibilities to produce a unique song. You can use filters—put a gate on it or use the envelope or compression to make it crisp and shine through whatever else is going on.”
Logic gives the producer the flexibility he needs to make his music come to life. “That’s the cool thing about Logic,” he says. “You can make it easy for yourself and use all the presets and settings, or you can go into it and create something that sounds unique and special. It’s flexible and you can use it to do exactly what you want.”
Real-time Remixing
For the most part, van Dyk’s music making process was a mystery to his fans, until he put his studio on stage. On tour for his latest album, “In Between,” the producer uses two 17-inch MacBook Pros running Logic Studio and Ableton Live. “One computer is for the audio library, the other computer is where the software synthesizers are for sequencing,” he says. “The computers are connected through an interface and an Allen & Heath 3D mixer, which is also a MIDI controller. I have 19 software synths installed and I have two MIDI keyboards, so I play a lot of things live. I also have a UC-33 controller, an Akai controller and some other things that I can play with when I’m up there. With all these things I’m able to do some crazy stuff.”
Van Dyk essentially creates remixes of his tracks live, tweaking them to suit the vibe. “I could play your favorite tune and it sounds completely different—different bass line, different drums,” he says, “but it would sound so much better at that particular moment of the set.”
New remixes are often born out of that spontaneous intensity. “Some of the remixes I’ve done in the last few years are basically the outcome of me playing a certain track live,” he says. “Then I just redid exactly what I did live in the studio and it was a remix. The live performance is influencing the production work and vice versa. When you go to the studio to do a remix you think about it a lot. When you create it in front of people, it’s part of the set, an element of the journey. You don’t really think so much about it, you’re just influenced by the vibe. You may do things that you never come up with [in the studio] because you’re in the flow. It’s very inspiring.”
It’s a far cry from the days of vinyl. “I’m so busy when I play now,” says van Dyk. “The other day I was wondering, what did I actually do once the record was playing? Wait for eight minutes to mix in the next one? How boring.”
Compelling Clash
Van Dyk is always looking for a challenge. Lately, that means working with pop superstars to create intriguing remixes that appeal to his hardcore fans and the masses alike. “Making a remix on the scale of Depeche Mode, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, it’s a difficult thing,” he says. “The fact is, the fans of Justin Timberlake aren’t necessarily enjoying the elements that I’m putting in my remix. At the same time, my fans aren’t too excited about the sounds that come from Justin Timberlake’s music because they’re not used to them. What you’re trying to do is combine those two worlds to make a compromise that’s not exactly a compromise. It’s a real challenge, but I enjoyed it tremendously.”
The producer recently remixed The Wombats’ single “Moving to New York.” At first glance it seems like an unlikely clash of musical genres. But van Dyk was entranced by the band’s sound. “It’s very difficult to translate what The Wombats do into my field of music,” he says. “It was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced in terms of making a remix, but I really wanted to do it because I love the band so much.”
For van Dyk, remixing is all about fusing different musical styles to create compelling sounds. It’s a process that inspires producers and artists in every genre. “You always have people who are open to and interested in new things, as well as being inspired by them,” he says. “And if you look back in the past two or three years, a lot of pop artists have started to involve sounds that traditionally come from my musical field in their production. People realize that there is so much potential for being creative with electronic music. I think it’s fantastic.”
Fast Forward
Van Dyk’s “In Between” tour is still going strong and he has no plans to abandon his club schedule. Still, he has managed to make four new songs during all the chaos. “I don’t have the mindset yet to go back and make a full album, but I’m still coming up with new tracks,” he says. “My Macs and the live setup allows me to explore new things while I’m on tour and that means I can make more music. When I get back to my studio in Berlin, I have a lot to work on.”
He’ll also have a lot to work on when he’s on stage. The musician’s live setup continues to evolve, giving him more flexibility and a greater degree of creative freedom. “It’s always changing,” he says. “To be honest, if you would’ve asked me five years ago if I would be on stage with computers and software synthesizers, playing live with a custom-made mixer and MIDI mapping and all that stuff, I would have said probably not. We keep getting better software and tools. The future of electronic music is very exciting to me and my Macs will be a part of it.”
