5 Studio Staples with Aitor Etxebarria
The Basque composer's Bilbao studio is part archive, part instrument: vintage synths, pianos, a reel-to-reel he can't quite give up, and a comfortable sofa…
Words by The Blank Team
Aitor has built a practice around the point where acoustic and electronic stop feeling like separate things: vintage synths processed until they lose their edges, pianos recorded alongside reel-to-reel tape that softens whatever it touches.
His screen work, Burning Body, Intimidad, and the HBO series Rage, carries the same instinct. Most recently, he scored The Black Mirror Experience, a free-roam VR work selected for the Cannes Immersive Competition, where the brief was essentially to make something feel perfect until it doesn't.
The Pianos & the reel
“Although I'm not a pianist, I love having pianos in the studio. The building of the studio used to be a music school of my wife’s family, and the Pianos used to be here.
I currently have 3 pianos in the studio, 2 uprights and one baby grand. If they are simple pieces, I like to play them myself. But I also enjoy inviting brilliant pianists and recording them in the studio… I also love reel-to-reel tape, which I use very little now, but from time to time we run recordings through the tape to give them a less defined and less clean character.”
The sofa & the Yamaha Electon B-405
“I spend many hours in the studio. It's important to rest, and I felt it was crucial to have a good sofa that was comfortable yet aesthetically interesting. My friend Carlos from Galea Home recommended this piece by Joquer, designed by Mario Ruiz.
The Yamaha B-405 organ has some really fun drum patterns and a very characteristic sound. The harmonizer it has is also quite amusing. Normally, we record it with microphones, but it also has an audio output.”
“I spend many hours in the studio. It's important to rest, and I felt it was crucial to have a good sofa.”
Korg Poly 800 & the Holográficam microcosm
“I love having the Korg Poly 800 and the Hologram Microcosm together. I love having analog connection to the speed of the arpeggios created by the Poly 800.
It's one of the first synthesizers I bought, and right now I'm using it a lot for the original soundtrack of the HBO series called ‘Rage’.”
Boss KM 60
“I love this mixer. I use it a lot to give a bit more grit to pads or percussion like hi-hats or snares.
It's very practical for mixing electronic drum patterns and giving the sound a more analog character.”
