Sub Focus studio focus

Roland D-50. [It was delivered by courier and arrived in the middle of the interview. Douwma immediately plumbed it into the studio and got to work, tinkering around with the presets.]

ND: “I’ve been trying to keep a balance between digital and analogue in my setup. I’ve been in some studios where they’ve got a fantastic selection of vintage monosynths, but I prefer to have a bit more of a range of tonal characters.

“The music that really first drew me into drum ‘n’ bass was Goldie, LTJ Bukem… I love those pad sounds. Digital pads can be very different to anything you’ll find on an analogue machine. Much thinner and shinier. Analogue pads sound fantastic, but they can also take up a lot of room in the mix with loads of low-mid. I like the idea of having lots of sounds from different eras at