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Track-by-Track: Reset Robot Deftly Details His ‘Duplicate’ EP

Dave Robertson joins us for a track-by-track run-through of the new Reset Robot EP ‘Duplicate’ (Poker Flat Recordings), in which he discusses the tracks’ origins and some of the equipment he used in their creation.

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Reset Robot, photo by Reset Robot

Whether it’s a dancefloor or just a straight-up chill session after a long day, Dave Robertson has got you covered with his brand new Reset Robot EP entitled Duplicate. Released just last week via Poker Flat Recordings, the three-track offering is the follow-up to his Tired Voice EP.

The Portsmouth, UK-based Robertson is a masterful DJ and producer who has been working hard for a long time to pinpoint just the right sound for which he’s been looking. What he’s come up with is a pretty crafty combination of traditional house music with a more classic techno feel. Although it is just three songs, Robertson really exudes a lot of confidence in moving between different beats and sounds, featuring some juicy basslines, propulsive beats, and a heavy dancefloor ambience.

Joining us today is Robertson himself for a track-by-track run-through of all three songs on Duplicate, in which he discusses the tracks’ origins and some of the equipment he used in their creation.

1. “Duplicate”

“‘Duplicate’ was one of those ‘lucky moment’ kind of moments. I was going through a bunch of old reason files, and there was this idea sitting there with a great bassline and a vocal/pad kind of synth pinning it all together. I’d already sent a couple of bits to Steve, but he wanted something slightly more ‘peak time.’ I wanted to create a track that was rolling/chunky/clubby out of the parts that I heard. This track was pretty much all in the box except for the synth that starts to rise in each breakdown which was made on the Moog Matriarch. I really like the baseline in this track. I used Thor in Reason for the bass, and had one running a nice low sawtooth bass, and another Thor an octave + a 5th up from that, which creates quite a catchy/clubby bass.”

2. “Hyra”

“‘Hyra’ was written in one of the lockdowns. I wanted to create something moody and emotive. It took quite a while to get this right, if I’m honest, as I couldn’t get the kick and perc groove to sit properly. There is a bit more hardware going on in this track. Some of the pads are from the Matriarch. I made some long recordings whilst messing around with different parameters. I like to do this, then reverse stuff and pitch parts differently!

“Once again, I used Thor for the bass and created a layer using the Matriarch. The high sine wave type melody is from Europa (another Reason instrument). I find Reason very inspiring. It’s very hard to get stuck for ideas when using it, as there are so many options for sound sources and different ways of wiring things up. Pair that with a few key hardware pieces, and it’s a match made in heaven.”

3. “Service”

“This is a deeper cut which I’m really into. I made the bass for this on the Moog Sub37 and created the siren/pad sound on my Korg MS2000. Again, I recorded plenty of takes with the hardware and used a bunch of stuff reversed and reverbed as effects. This was supposed to be quite low-slung, druggy, and techy. It kind of reminds me of some of the old London tech house from the early 2000s.

“Even though this is quite a basic track, the mix wasn’t easy to get right. This was sent for mastering, but when I got it back, it had just shown up all my mistakes. I had to revisit the file and send it over again. The guys at Poker Flat were super cool when I said I wanted to submit a new pre-master.”

Artwork for the EP ‘Duplicate’ by Reset Robot

Artwork for the EP ‘Duplicate’ by Reset Robot

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