Aron Magner and Conspirator

Fusing Live Performance and EDM Tracks with the GAIA SH-01

Aron Magner and Conspirator

Photo: Dave Vann

Looking for an outlet to explore electronic music production, keyboardist Aron Magner and bassist Marc Brownstein of the popular jam band The Disco Biscuits formed Conspirator in 2004 along with DJ Omen. Their 2013 EP Unleashed clearly demonstrates the group’s powerful sound, which combines a heavy, electronically produced core with skilled live instrumentation.

Augmented on stage by drummer KJ Sawka and guitarist Chris Michetti, Conspirator blends electronic rock sensibilities with dance-floor-shaking dubstep rhythms. Touring coast to coast across the U.S., they’ve built a legion of devoted fans by delivering a captivating, high-energy show that’s equal parts inspired musicianship and pulsing EDM precision.

Aron uses Roland’s GAIA SH-01 on stage with both Conspirator and The Disco Biscuits, and he’s created a custom patch collection that you can download for free at the Axial sound library site. Insider talked with the busy keyboardist recently, and he shared many insights into Conspirator’s unique approach and how the GAIA SH-01 fits into their stage show.

Tell us about Conspirator’s live show and how you’re using the GAIA SH-01.

The SH-01 is definitely a staple of the setup with Conspirator. We do all of the pre-production in advance in the studio, and then we remove from the computer mix what we can physically play: lead lines, bass lines, and all the drums. KJ Sawka, our drummer, plays a real drum kit, but he uses Roland drum triggers to trigger the actual drum sounds that we used to create the music. Things that stay in the mix are fast arpeggiators, sound effects, risers, downlifters, wind noises, some wobble basses, and extra lead lines to just beef up the sound.

Aron Magner and Conspirator

Photo: Dave Vann

What we get when we put the instruments and the synthesizers back into the mix is this really cool sound that harnesses all of the energy that EDM music has. It’s a perfect hybrid of both live playing and the precision of produced tracks. There is response from the crowd that we’re playing what they’re hearing, in addition to being augmented by everything that has been previously pre-produced.

I use the SH-01 for some leads, and I use it for a couple of pads. It’s definitely a left-hand synth of mine in the setup.

What do like about the GAIA SH-01?

I still like the hardware synthesis aspect of playing in general. That’s where the GAIA SH-01 falls into that mix. With the world that I come from, I like to have everything laid out in front of me. I don't use all of the VSTs live from how we wrote the tracks in the studio, so I use the SH to emulate the sounds that were originally in the computer. That’s kind of the SH’s role within Conspirator, and I feel like its flexibility gives me the ability to quickly dial something in.

How do you recreate the sounds from the recordings with the SH-01?

There is more of an interpretation on the SH from what is happening on the recordings. The recordings are very finely tuned and automated—instances of massive [sound] or silence. I have other keyboards as well within Conspirator, but a lot of what the SH does is supersaw-type sounds and stacked waves.

What we do live that is really cool is side-chaining all of the keyboards individually to KJ’s kick drum. This is great for making chords pump, especially with an oscillator like a supersaw. It gets done out at front of house, and we work with our FOH engineer to alter the ratio and threshold from song to song. That's how we’re able to get the full, pumping electronic sound out of a hardware synth in a live setting, which is really cool.

Aron Magner and Conspirator

Photo: Dave Vann

How does that setup work?

My computer is the master; I’m actually like the DJ as well as the computer player and the synth player. I’m controlling Ableton Live, I’m moving around tempos, and I’m sending out my click to the drummer. He’s playing an acoustic drum kit, but each piece of the kit has its own individual Roland trigger that triggers sounds from the drum rack in Ableton. The trigger from his kick drum is being sent back through front of house, and that’s the side-chain input for the keyboards.

That’s a pretty cool setup. You’re making use of both a hybrid electronic kit and other electronics in a live show.

It’s really cool. I think that now, when hearing electronic music, we’re just so used to the sound of something ducking underneath the kick drum. You know, it’s a staple of any style of electronic music. There are other ways you can replicate that [effect], but nothing sounds the way that it should unless you’re actually physically side-chaining it and ducking it underneath the kick drum.

It’s also really fun, because you don't really normally get that experience of playing it live that way and hearing it in real time. On the computer, you put the compressor on and then alternate your thresholds and ratios until you get the desired tone that you’re looking for. It’s actually great to be able to hold out a chord and get the sucking sound from [a live musician] playing that kick drum.

How is the audience reaction to Conspirator? Do you get a strong reaction with live players as opposed to just a computer and a DJ?
Aron Magner and Conspirator

Photo: Dave Vann

It’s interesting. I feel that we’re at a tipping point right now where live musicians are starting to go back towards being live musicians. Not to say that DJs are gone, but I feel like the height of DJ as rock star is really two summers ago. When you’re a DJ, you can plug in everything, so you’re full production and everything is perfect: your video walls are perfect, your risers are perfect, your intensity, all that stuff was done in advance with absolute precision, which is why it sounds so amazing.

I’m trying to be careful with my words here, but I definitely feel that the audience needs something more. Conspirator kind of brings the niche back. We’re able to fuse the power of pre-produced music, harnessing the power of the computer, with the musicianship on stage. And I feel that we’re connected to the audience because of that. The audience is reminded that music comes from a place, not from a box, and that people masterfully control what goes on in the box. I feel that’s the really interesting and unique part about Conspirator as a whole.

In your experience with EDM, are you seeing more and more artists bringing synthesizers and samplers on stage?

Definitely. I think it’s more proving to both themselves as well the audience that they’re not just DJs. I mean, it’s almost that DJs [have gone] the way of the dinosaur, and it’s producers that happened to evolve in the last ten years to actually become DJs as well. I’m seeing a lot more where, even if you are a DJ, you may supplement it by also having a synth up there or a rack of MIDI synths. Even if you’re not physically playing, the computer is sending MIDI [data] out to the rack, and then you can control the filters yourself. So you’re doing somewhat of a performance with it, as opposed to just playback of zeros and ones.

I feel like I’m seeing it a lot more—people are bringing back the source. But not that many people are bringing a full band into the electronic world. As a musician and a producer, you are always trying to push the envelope. And at the end of the day, it’s always more fun to be physically playing something rather than just triggering something.

Would you say that the SH-01 is a good synth for live EDM artists?
Aron Magner and Conspirator

Photo: Dave Vann

Yeah, of course. The simplicity of its layout is what I particularly like about it. The fundamentals of synthesis are laid out right there for you. There’s really no putzing around—there’s no screen with edit menus and drop downs and pull downs. Everything has a dedicated knob and a fader. And that’s kind of the world that I come from, I guess, so I’m used to it. When I first put the JP-8000 into my other band, The Disco Biscuits, it definitely transformed the sound of it. The JP-8000 is still a staple of The Disco Biscuits. So I come from that world, especially with Roland-centric layouts with knobs and faders.

It’s nice to have it all laid out where you know where everything is, and I know how something is going to affect something. I know specifically that if I want to bring something up live I can dial it up instantly, and I can tweak a parameter or two or add another oscillator or move some filters around. That being said, it’s also really fun to take these little journeys and start seeing where sounds can go. It’s nice to be able to have such quick, easy access, and that’s why it parlays so nicely to a live setting. You know, my son was sitting on my lap earlier today with the SH-01. He was just randomly turning knobs, and that little 18-month-old kid was coming up with some pretty cool sounds.

How many custom SH-01 sounds do you use for live performance?

I try to keep it simple, because I have other boards as well. I stick to one bank of sounds in my Conspirator setup. I use eight patches, and I rarely stray from that bank. That’s mainly because there are a certain number of songs that we do, and Conspirator isn’t really improvisational or anything like that. I have brought the SH out with some other projects that have a lot more elasticity. You know, you go to a bank and go to a sound and then start to mess with it until you have what you’re looking for.

Before we close out, what’s going on with Disco Biscuits?

The Disco Biscuits just finished Camp Disco, which is the big 25,000-person festival that we do annually in upstate New York. We’re in a really interesting stage of our career right now, where everybody is getting a little older. I’ve got a family, our bass player and drummer have families, and our guitar player is trying some new business ventures. We haven’t really been touring at all, but we still play shows. And what’s interesting is that the two or three dozen shows we play a year are bigger than any of our shows have previously been. Our fans are so loyal, and we’re picking up new fans somehow along the way; their numbers just keep on going up. I would love to play more and more shows for sure, but everybody is in different places in their lives. Therefore, my desire to continue as a musician and explore new territories has been satiated to some extent by Conspirator.

Learn more about Conspirator at the group’s website.