
Justin Lassen is a composer, producer, sound designer, and good friend to PreSonus. Justin has had his hands in a LOT of music, TV, and video game projects over the years, but is perhaps best known for his best-selling sound library White Rabbit Asylum. Always one to outdo himself, Justin has followed it up with a spiritual successor called Black Fox Society: Abstract, available now at shop.presonus.com.
Let's be clear from the get-go this is not just another sound library. Justin spent ten years traveling to obtuse corners of the earth to record strange and unheard sounds for this project, and then spent another year just editing them all together for this massive 3.7 gigabyte collection of loops, instrumentals, and industrial beats-all inspired by mysterious secret societies. He was kind enough to take the time to share some stories (and AMAZING photos!) of how this all came to be. Strap in, this one's quite a ride.
Talk to us a little bit about some of the mysterious locations you went to-22+ countries is a LOT!
Secret societies have fascinated me for years. When I lived in Europe in my twenties, I became aware of so much history the world never hears about. Everything in these ancient cities is literally built on top of the previous generations. This means there are a lot of hidden spaces and forgotten stories to uncover. I knew that every country in the world has stories to tell, but I focused especially on the places that have shaped the world as we know it today.
I was drawn to places where I knew groups of influencers have gathered throughout time. So, I would start with plans to visit places that I knew would not only be visually intriguing but would also provide unique sound environments that could be crafted into high-quality ambient concepts. The most surprising part was what I would find along the way. As I talked to locals and explored some less-traveled roads, I found spaces that had a unique vibe, and I would stop and capture the environment before moving on.
Staying flexible in both my expectations of what I would actually capture, as well as where it would happen, allowed for some unexpected opportunities to capture some once-in-a-lifetime material.
For example, when I was in Korea, I received a tip from a local contact about a secret shamanic temple up in the mountains outside of the city. With very few people around, I was able to capture much of the mystical ambiance that was available among those sacred stones. Distant chanting and ceremonial bells enriched the environment more than I could have hoped.
In Europe, where so much history has been buried through the years, I made a point of going off the beaten path. This led me into ancient grottos, up decaying staircases, through ruins and forgotten graveyards full of nameless stones. You can't be in these places without feeling something.
You might think that this is the magic behind Black Fox Society, but it's these feelings that inspired me to take the recordings I collected around the world and shape them into individual works of art that evoke specific emotions, reminders of what I felt in these places.
What sort of field recording gear did you use?
My primary field recording equipment was Zoom F4, Sennheiser Ambeo-VR Mic, and a Roland R-07 Recorder w/ Roland binaural headset/mic combo. I also brought a Netbook on my trip, several hard drives, and a ton of SD cards for the various recorders and camera equipment. I also used the Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset for some cool unique recording situations.
Any fave mics, recorders, etc? Binaural mics?
With all of that gear, and using all of it in each country and location, what ended up being my favorite piece of gear was the Ambeo Smart HeadSet, particularly when going into places that I wasn't able to bring all of the mics, XLR cables, recorders. It ended up capturing some really beautiful audio that felt 3D and even made me feel like I was there on playback. Upon returning from my trip, I actually got a ton of new equipment and microphones that I plan on bringing with me on my next set of adventures.
How do you keep such a huge collection of .WAV files organized when you're busy traveling? One SD Card per location? Strict file naming conventions?
Keeping the files organized is easier than you might expect. I was walking an average of 10 miles per day in most cities. I was usually pretty tired by the end of the day! It was a non-negotiable routine when I would get back to my computer to download the work from that day. I would organize it by city and by date. I kept a concise log of my itinerary, including notes of where I went and what I did that day. I organized the video, pictures, and drone footage the same way and that helped keep everything straight.
The most important thing to know about the file management is that at the end of the day, the project didn't demand location-specific end products. Creating the library was a much more artistic venture than just a single track pulled from a cathedral in Prague, for example. Each ambient loop in the library has 8 to 17 layers in them, each layer coming from different parts of the trip and world. The color of each audio sample was more important than the locale in deciding how it would be used in the final content.
The file names were simple, based on date and city. My criteria for what was worth including was determined beforehand, so I didn't need to filter my content much when I got back. I ended up using almost every single thing I recorded!
Did you have any issues getting all of that recording gear and media from country-to-country (through international customs) in your travels?
Yes, actually. I was at airports almost every other day, and no airport ever took it easy on me. I had to take everything out of its case, out of the bag each time, to show them
More from PreSonus
16/08/2024
By Craig Anderton
Keyswitch keys enhance expressiveness by letting you trigger various real-time articulations for instruments like strings, brass, guitars, an...
09/08/2024
By Craig Anderton
The Channel Editor places all of a mixer Channel's elements-level fader, inserts, sends, individual effects, input controls, routing, mac...
02/08/2024
By Craig Anderton
Yes, just click here to download 25 Analog Cab IRs.zip. The IRs are 1024 samples long, 48 kHz, 24-bit, and mono, so they work with pretty muc...
26/07/2024
By Craig Anderton
It's been a while since we've had a post for sound design fans. So, let's create some crazy FX for sci-fi/suspense/horror movies,...
24/07/2024
The Black Dahlia Murder guitarist and New Jersey native talks about taking his leap.
A life in music requires passion, creativity, dedication - and for many cr...
19/07/2024
By Craig Anderton
There's no right or wrong way to mix. For example, many successful engineers adjust individual tracks, and then mix groups of tracks....
12/07/2024
By Craig Anderton
I admit it: the following tips are based on personally embarrassing experiences. I like to work fast to keep the creative juices flowing, but...
05/07/2024
By Craig Anderton
You've probably seen ads for packs of MIDI chords that claim to help you write hits that will make your listeners' jaws drop in amaze...
28/06/2024
By Craig Anderton
Some of my favorite guitar sounds involve using Ampire's amp, bypassing its cab, and adding a cab from the Helix Native plugin. Others in...
26/06/2024
The self-taught multi-instrumentalist and St. Louis native talks about taking his leap.
A life in music requires passion, creativity, and dedication - and for ...
21/06/2024
By Craig Anderton
Sure, you can follow your virtual instrument with an audio compressor. But there's a problem: an instrument's dynamics and expressive...
20/06/2024
Watch the independent artist and Wiz Khalifa producer cook up a song in a single day
Imagine meeting someone for the first time and making a song together. Tha...
14/06/2024
By Craig Anderton
Announcement: The 2nd Edition of The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks is now available as a free download for owners of previous versi...
07/06/2024
By Craig Anderton
Usually, the Vocoder inserts into a track that provides the modulation, and the Vocoder's sidechain receives the carrier. But why be norm...
06/06/2024
The GRAMMY-winning fiddler, songwriter, and New Orleans native talks about taking his leap.
A life in music requires passion, creativity, dedication - and for ...
31/05/2024
By Craig Anderton
Let's get right to what this sounds like. It's not quite feedback or tape reverse, it's well, listen to what it does in this blue...
24/05/2024
By Craig Anderton
A Pro EQ3 stage's gain can respond dynamically to incoming signal level, so that louder inputs kick the gain higher (or lower). But Studi...
22/05/2024
If you're a PreSonus user, you're probably pretty hands-on in producing ...
17/05/2024
By Craig Anderton
When I heard about binaural beats, I was interested-I like beats, and I'm into binaural audio. But this has nothing to do with either o...
15/05/2024
Professional drummer, producer, and New Orleans native talks about taking the leap.
A life in music requires passion, creativity, and dedication - and for many...
08/05/2024
Take the Leap with the Next Generation of PreSonus Audio Interfaces
MEET THE ALL-NEW FAMILY OF QUANTUM AUDIO INTERFACES
The culmination of nearly 30 years of ...
08/05/2024
Take the Leap with the Next Generation of PreSonus Audio Interfaces
MEET THE ALL-NEW FAMILY OF QUANTUM AUDIO INTERFACES
The culmination of nearly 30 years of ...
03/05/2024
by Craig Anderton
About four years ago, I did a tip on multiband gating. Although it was a cool effect, it was guitar-centric, cumbersome to edit, and time-con...
26/04/2024
By Craig Anderton
With this technique, when you play a standard 6-string electric guitar, you'll hear the rich, vibrant sound of a 12-string guitar. The pr...
19/04/2024
By Craig Anderton
Impact XT can launch clips, which is great for songwriting (see the blog post Songwriting with Impact XT). But few people realize that Impact...
12/04/2024
By Craig Anderton
Good mixes often depend on carving out a unique sonic space for each instrument, so you can hear them clearly. Sometimes carving out that spa...
05/04/2024
By Craig Anderton
MIDI guitars are a niche product, because the learning curve can be daunting for some guitar players. However, I'm surprised how many pro...
29/03/2024
By Craig Anderton
As the universe of Studio One users grows, so do opportunities for collaboration. But your collaborator may not be using the same version of ...
22/03/2024
By Craig Anderton
Over three years ago, I wrote a blog post on how to make a drumcoder. Its design was somewhat like a vocoder-drum audio served as a modulat...
15/03/2024
By Craig Anderton
One of Atmos's coolest features is scalability. No matter how complex your Atmos project may be, you can render it as Binaural, 5.1, 5.1....
13/03/2024
Watch the Brooklyn Synthpop duo remix their song Blame in Studio One
Less than 24 hours after meeting each other, producer Luke Moellman and vocalist Jon San...
10/03/2024
By Craig Anderton
The impetus behind this design was wanting to add envelope flanging to amp sims like Ampire. But there's a problem: most amp sim outputs ...
01/03/2024
By Craig Anderton
Supplementing close-miking techniques with room mics gives acoustic sounds a life-like sense of space. Typically, this technique involves pla...
27/02/2024
Notion Mobile v3 took mobile music creation to the next level with support for iOS, Android, Windows, Fire OS and macOS. Now v3.3 adds many enhancements and fix...
26/02/2024
Logic's Grammy-nominated producer breaks down his Sweet Spot.
Before he found success as an avant-garde hip hop producer, 6ix was just 30 units shy of a de...
25/02/2024
The Grammy-nominated multi-Platinum producer breaks down his Sweet Spot.
From the studio with chart-topping artists like Aerosmith and The Fray, to empowering ...
23/02/2024
By Craig Anderton
Do you think of mixes in absolute terms, or relative terms? Knowing the difference, and when to apply which approach, can make a huge differe...
16/02/2024
By Craig Anderton
Calling all beats/hip-hop/EDM/hard rock fans: This novel effects starts with drums modulating the Vocoder's white noise carrier, and take...
09/02/2024
This tip is about working with stereo, NOT about Dolby Atmos or surround-but we're going to steal some of what Atmos does to reinvent stereo panning. Stud...
07/02/2024
The GRAMMY-winning recording and mix engineer shows us how he uses Studio One to create an artful immersive mix.
Jeff Ellis is a force to be reckoned with. The...
02/02/2024
Presence's sound library includes a fine acoustic 12-string guitar, but not an electric one. So, perhaps it's not surprising that one of the more popula...
26/01/2024
At first, this might not seem too exciting. But follow the directions below, and try comping using this method-I don't think you'll be disappointed. Thi...
19/01/2024
You know the feeling: You're tracking or doing an overdub with a virtual instrument or amp sim, but you're frustrated by the excessive latency inherent ...
12/01/2024
Recording audio using more than one feed from the same source may create phase issues. For example, when miking a bass amp and taking a DI (dry) input, the DI...
05/01/2024
If you haven't experimented yet with mid-side stereo miking, you'll be in for a treat when you do. Here's why:
Record background singers with gorge...
29/12/2023
This complements the tip Better Ducking for Voiceovers and Podcasts and the tip Why I Don't Use Compression Anymore. It applies the concept of voiceover duc...
22/12/2023
Engineers sometimes advocate using high-pass filters to clean up the low end and tighten the sound. Others believe that because of issues inherent in highpass...
20/12/2023
The GRAMMY-nominated artist, producer, and songwriter shows us how he uses Studio One to cook a musical idea from scratch.
Josh Cumbee is a triple threat: The ...
15/12/2023
This wasn't a conscious decision, or something I planned. But when I looked through my last few songs while seeking candidates for a book's screenshots,...
08/12/2023
First, a follow-up: In the October 13 tip about creating Track Presets for parallel processing, I mentioned that Track Presets can't include buses, which is...