Photo by Noel Woodford
We at TuneReel are excited to launch a short interview series with our contributing artists, composers, and music producers. In these interviews, they will be talking about their creative process and technical details about their setups as well as favorite tools and equipment. If you’re a beginner music producer, these articles will show you how sorting out your studio setup can boost your creativity and help you find your unique sound. And if you’re already an experienced professional, we hope you can still find some inspiration from your contemporaries!
To start the series, we prepared a quick questionnaire for one of our contributors – Jessi Lee.
Jessi makes contemporary R&B music with UK garage elements and dreamy synth soundscapes, accompanied by her beautifully floating silky vocals. Once you hear these tracks, they gently ring in your ears and keep soothing you for the rest of the day. Let’s see how she does that.
How did you start producing the music you make today?
I started out as a jazz saxophonist and composer, so I’m really thankful to have had that experience writing and arranging, improvising, and performing. I was also playing for horn sections in Neo-Soul/R&B groups. When I decided to start producing, it was in more of a hip-hop and R&B direction, but I kept feeling like I should play some guitar and write more songs. So now for my solo stuff, I do a lot more synth-pop and indie music, which I started performing live before the pandemic, but hadn’t formally released yet. I’ll be releasing some of that music this year, so I’m excited about that.
Which DAW do you use?
I usually use Ableton, though I started producing on Logic. I jump back and forth when I need to, but usually, I’ll work in Ableton. Funny enough, I only started using it for live purposes recently because I had more fun producing on it!
Do you use any hardware in your music?
I’m using a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 interface. It’s a pretty big interface, but it’s for versatility with both my live performance setup as well as for recording or multitracking. I don’t have a lot of fancy microphones, but I’ve had the same Rode NT1000 condenser mic for basically half of my life. And as far as instruments go, I’m a saxophonist so I do recordings for other people as well. I play some keyboard, guitar, bass, and I do my own drum programming. I’ve inherited a Korg Studio Vintage keyboard SV-1 and this old Akai synth. I tend to use VSTs or record the audio on my own with various other instruments or even some foley sound.
What are your essential plugins, tools, instruments?
I think a couple of my go-to plugins are TAL-Chorus LX, QuikQuak Pitchwheel, Soundtoys Decapitator, and J37 Tape Emulator. I play a Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone and a Fender Mustang guitar.
What would be your dream sync/placement situation?
I think it would be absolutely amazing and unreal to be placed in a popular TV show, like on Netflix or a major cable network or something. I’m a huge TV buff, so it would be a life-changing moment to be watching something and hearing how one of my songs was used to enhance a scene envisioned by great storytellers.
Jessi Lee is a saxophonist and music producer based in New York City. She’s worked with artists such as Ada Lea, Broken Luxury, and XM∆NE. She will be releasing her next single entitled Same Thing on June 26th.
