In the late ‘80s, before Brown and Booth were Autechre, they were part of Greater Manchester’s graffiti scene and were dubbing their own electro and house mixtapes. And while Autechre may have moved to software with the Max/MSP programming language later in their career, the fundamental drive behind that move was the same: opening things up, tinkering with them and creating one-off tools that nobody else has.īelow is brief story of how Autechre’s process has evolved, from a cheap £25 keyboard you could buy in a high street chain store to their own custom software patches. In the early years, they used cheap, off-the-shelf gear, circuit bent or combined in unusual ways. These interviews prove that Autechre are masters at getting everyday equipment to do extraordinary things. It’s so long (106 pages), and Autechre fans are so dedicated, there’s even an organized Google spreadsheet collecting each question and answer. The session includes a mind-boggling amount of information, detailing everything from how they feel about Skrillex to what the most “Autechrean” planet is. Aside from brief mentions in the scattered interviews across the years, they’ve spoken to Sound on Sound at length about their process twice, in 19, and held a huge “Ask Autechre Anything” on the WATMM forums back in 2013. However, Brown and Booth have discussed what tools they have used to make their music on a few occasions. In the past three decades, they have moved from using rudimentary, off-the-shelf outboard gear to harnessing a chain of complex, often bespoke software. But process isn’t something that Rob Brown and Sean Booth really talk about for two reasons: some production tricks they prefer to keep to themselves, and the way they make music is continually evolving. Visit We Are The Music Makers – a popular and notorious IDM discussion forum – and there’s plenty of speculation over how specific tracks were produced, what gear was used, and how the duo’s setup has shifted over the years. With the exception of Aphex Twin or Kraftwerk, no electronic act has inspired quite as much discussion on how their music is made than Autechre.

Scott Wilson explores their musical evolution through seven key instruments. Autechre’s studio and live processes are closely guarded, but the duo have left a breadcrumb trail across the internet that details their complex methods.

Max 7 synthesizer patch