Oli Freke is a musician and journalist whose writing has been featured in Sound on Sound, The Quietus, and Mixmag. His work spans everything from using mathematics to examine the melodic possibilities of the Western 12-tone scale to detailed explorations of effects plug-ins. He has also authored a book on the history of the synthesizer, following its development from 1963 to 1995 as the technology moved from analog to digital and, eventually, back again.
Freke’s latest project is Beat Gems, a lavish coffee-table history of drum machines published by Bjooks. In keeping with the publisher’s style, Beat Gems pairs striking photography with rich historical context and hands-on guidance for getting more from the hardware, whether that means a classic Roland TR-808 or a more contemporary curiosity such as Erica Synths’ Pērkons.
What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer?
If it’s a new computer, it’s almost certainly going to be my music machine, so Ableton Live is the first thing I install. It’s an extraordinary piece of software, and its depth still feels astonishing when I think back to starting out with an Atari ST 520, which could just about handle MIDI and had no audio capabilities at all.
Which social media platform do you use the most (if any)?
Probably YouTube, assuming we count it as social media. I love that you can find knowledgeable people explaining ideas, techniques, and whole fields of expertise in such an accessible way. I watch plenty of science, maths, chess, and, naturally, electronic music content. The algorithmic clickbait can be hard to avoid, though, which is part of why I don’t spend much time on other social platforms.
Which is the most disappointing gadget you’ve ever owned?
Those vegetable choppers and cubers always look useful in theory, but in practice they never seem to work properly and don’t end up saving any time or effort.
What game do you have the fondest memories of?
Elite on the Atari ST was incredible. It’s world-building on a (memory) shoestring when severe technical constraints existed, and the results were truly creative.
What is one thing you wish you had created?
As a musician, I wish I’d written a song that the whole world knew and loved, and that fans would demand I play at every opportunity — until I got so heartily sick of it that, in the end, I wished I’d never written it. Perhaps this has happened, and all these wishes have come true!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
From my father (I’m appropriately writing this on Father’s Day in the UK): “Say yes to any opportunity that comes your way — worry about whether you can do it or not later!”
What is your current obsession?
Drum machines! Researching for the Beat Gems book has reminded me of the primacy of rhythm to the human musical experience; how drum machines have tapped into this need, and in doing so have transformed musical culture over the last sixty years. It’s utterly fascinating.
What do you do when you need to focus?
I put on www.rinse.fm/kool, choose a set of banging drum’n’bass rollers, and then I’m very happy (and focused).
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck?
Remind myself of the infinite number of combinations of ideas. I once wrote an article that demonstrated there were 82 quintillion (82^18) 10-note melodies that can be written with the eight notes of the octave.
What’s the last piece of physical media you bought?
The soundtrack on vinyl to a beautiful film called Resynator. It’s about an obscure synth from the early ’80s and a daughter’s quest to learn about her father, who invented it but sadly died while she was a baby. Can’t recommend it enough.
What do you think is worth splurging on?
A high-quality road bicycle. Compared with cars, bikes are cheap, and you can buy machines not far off the quality professionals use for relatively reasonable sums. The difference between a good bike and a run-of-the-mill one is vast. Cycling in the countryside on a good bike brings me a great deal of joy.
What would the tagline for your biopic be?
Watch a man type words into a computer. For ages. Then watch him make music on a computer. Also for ages. Then watch him do some normal things involving a house, family, and car. Occasionally he is turned away from boarding a plane to Berlin to go to the launch of his Kickstarter because they changed the rules without him realizing it! Disappointingly, this doesn’t transform the biopic into a Falling Down-type scenario.
What’s the last GIF or meme you used?
