Keita Sano

Keita Sano – My Studio

My studio is in my new apartment in Berlin. I’ve just relocated from Okayama, Japan. My studio in Japan has a lot of gear so I had to make some difficult decisions on what to bring over to Europe!

AKAI MPC2000XL

My studio is focused around the my AKAI MPC. My MPC2000XL is customised by MPC STUFF Florida and ghostinmpc from Kanagawa Japan. I use all of these a lot for producing.

AKAI MPC1000

The MPC1000 is the workhorse for my new live sets. My brother Yuta gave me one of these when I was 15, I used to make dub and electronica and play gigs with it in local live venues back in Okayama, Japan.

Clavia Nord Lead 2 Rack

The Clavia Nord Lead 2 Rack is good for lead synths and pads, I like its analogue modelling and digital synthesis. I used this on ‘Full of Love’ which I released on Prins Thomas label Rett I Fletta.

Moog Moogerfooger MF-101 & Minitaur

The Moogerfooger and Minitaur go well together. The Minitaur is good for leads and sub kicks.

I like to record the sub kick into Logic and sample it as part of a layered kick. I recommend to record the Minitaur sub kick through the Moogerfooger low pass filter and mix it together by adding drive and turning on the low pass filter, it adds nice harmonic distortion and once I find the sweet spot I record it as part of a layered kick. These are my toys.

Tascam DP-32SD

Usually, I use the Roland VS-2480 but I couldn’t find one on eBay so I got this one. I felt that this would be cool to record analog-only jams without a computer. I was inspired after seeing Kenny Larkin play in Watergate two weeks ago. I imagined that their Detroit style of making music would be recorded onto something like this so I got one.

SONY MDR-V6 Headphones

I used to break a lot of other headphones but these Sony MDR-V6 seem to be very tough. I’ve had them for nine months now. They are good for jamming and the sound quality is decent. Once I’ve finished tracks I’ll go to my brother Yuta’s set up next door and check my mixes on his monitors.

American Spirit Yellow Cigarettes

I like to smoke as a break from making music. When I’m smoking I get a bit of inspiration on what to do on my tracks. I love smoking.

The Madonna and Child with Two Angels

My landlord is really into art. At first I was a little scared of these Renaissance paintings and decorations but now I feel they are my friends and looking after me. This one is called ‘The Madonna and Child with Two Angels’.