In his Studio Time Youtube series, composer & synthesist Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg) gives a tour of his new studio.
Holkenborg is known for his dance music remixes and his soundtrack work for blockbusters like Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool and Zach Snyder’s Justice League. He previously had a massive studio, featuring a museum’s worth of classic synth gear. But he announced last year that he found that he had too much gear – keeping it up was interfering with his work – so he put much of it up for sale on Reverb.com and downsized his studio.
His new studio is surprisingly compact. And, while it’s packed with synths, they’re mostly modern flagship synths, like the Korg Prologue, Waldorf Quantum and Moog One, and not the rare vintage synths and modular systems that filled his previous studio. It’s interesting to see how his views on what gear is needed to score Hollywood films has evolved in the last few years.
Has Junkie XL traded vintage classic synths for modern classics? Check out the video and let us know what you think in the comments!
those inexpensive ART tube preamps instantly went out of stock everywhere when he mentioned them.
Isn’t sitar Indian (and not Persian)? All you need is a quick google search to know that.
A quick google search and direct from Wikipedia: In India, the Sitar is an ancient instrument with many forms. Its name is “an Urdu transcription of the Persian siht?r”.[1] The Indian instrument was likely adapted from instruments brought from the north with invading Muslim armies and then developed locally.[1]
Sometimes he makes tiny mistakes in his videos… not sure English is actually his first language (Dutch I think??), and sometimes when you’re speaking on camera, it makes you a bit nervous and small errors creep though. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the information he shares.
That is not entirely accurate. The word sitar comes from the Persian word “sehtar” and the origins of the instrument are widely disputed by scholars as to its origin, with both India and Iran claiming its origins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitar
https://www.britannica.com/art/sitar
Very interesting! Okay, I learned something new today 🙂 Thanks
My pleasure sir!
The sitar is also a Persian instrument.
What about the Shiturd
I will get my coat and let myself out the building.
#synthfluencer
Looks crap now without all that nice big modular gear.
The studio is somewhat uninspiring in my my view for the layout, which obviously works for him and that is all that matters, however the wall of crap otherwise known as modular is gone and I could not be happier to see that!
Such a nice guy. Always willing to show how he does things, which is not common in this industry.
Junkie you detoxed after snorting all that vintage analog gear.
Well said and he is indeed a very nice and humble person.
Met him at SynthPlex, where he was a speaker, and had a chance to talk with him for a bit. He seemed like a very down to earth guy and very thoughtful about what he does. Did not seem like a ‘big ego’ guy at all.
Now he can concentrate on maki music more efficiently instead of wasting time on the eye candy distractions
I always enjoy his videos. I can appreciate him scaling way back on the hardware. It’s easier to focus when you don’t have a literal ton of gear stuffed in a room.
Bet he still has the modular – just not in the main studio
He put most or all of his vintage and modular gear up on Reverb a few months ago. A lot of his big modular gear is still up there.
I missed a fantastic deal on his Voyager XL because I second guessed myself. Still kicking myself about that one!
basically he got rid of the old stuff and septs the new stuff.
Hey Junkie I recall a video you did of same bass sequence on your many different a analog synths
to try and find the most whatever.
At the time I said to my self maaaaan this is so unnecessary getting in the way of your music making.
But you had to find this out for yourself. And you did.
What’s with the Kevlar vest?
He lives in a country that has more guns than than people living in it.
Before someone says it’s not a vest, yes, I know.
sound- and gui-wise, he could do *everything* with his white montage and cubase.
there´s zero need for the rest imo.
hero worship never interested me.
Understanding that there is a lot you can learn from successful mentors, though, should.