Recording with Clarett+

Clarett+ redefines clarity, and it’s no surprise that it has a home in so many setups across the globe. We joined up with Andrea Rocha, Jacob Bugden from Beabadoobee, SIPHO., and Joel Amey from Wolf Alice, to hear about their experience with Clarett+. Hear how they got on and how it fitted into their music production process, enabling them to collaborate with fellow artists and bandmates.

Andrea Rocha is a songwriter, producer, cellist, and string arranger who has been playing music since she was five years old. After studying classical music theory for a year at university, Andrea soon realised that her heart was in creating and making pop music. Starting as a Scarlett user, Andrea found Clarett+ to be a massive step up for her work due to the upgrade in the number of inputs. Andrea was able to get great-sounding recordings straight away and record large groups — such as string quartets — all in one take, which helped immensely with capturing the moment and momentum.

“The Air func­tion really brings out the kind of high-end tones, and I think it really cap­tures those soft tones in the cello as well when I was re­cord­ing some kind of tex­ture sounds, it really brought out the kind of woody airy feel of that.”

“I’m SIPHO., don’t forget the dot. I make music; write it, perform it, live it, breathe it.” Starting by recording songs at school, SIPHO. realised he was decent at making music; it then became his passion. Clarett+ delivers studio-quality audio, and “because of its size, I can take it around if I have to go to a smaller session, and you know, with two good pres, you can make magic”. With the combination of the two powerful mic pres and Air function, SIPHO. can get his voice recorded pure and clear. Having the bridge between software and hardware, in the form of Focusrite 2 Control, is a bonus for the artist, enabling him to get set up straight away and easily access settings.

“Being able to use the Focusrite Control as well, it's made it a bit more interactive with my system because I found with a lot of interfaces, there's no kind of rendezvous point between the two. Focusrite Control gives like a bridge, so it's easier to set up.”

Jacob Bugden is a guitarist and producer for Beabadoobee, signed to the legendary label Dirty Hit. Jacob started playing the piano at a young age before moving to guitar and venturing into Logic Pro, and now finds himself sitting in the studio, Sleeper Sounds, recording the next album for the band. With multiple inputs, outputs, and MIDI in and out, all in a compact size to take anywhere, Clarett+ enables Jacob to re-amp guitar and instrument takes as well as work with synths in the studio that are not available at home. It’s the flexibility of Clarett+ that helps it fit into any home, studio setup, or on the road.

“This one will definitely be coming on the road with me… The thing I like most about it is that you can send things to re-amp really easily. MIDI in and out so you can programme MIDI straight in your DAW, send it to other synths.”

Drummer Joel Amey, of Wolf Alice, used Clarett+ when writing a demo so that there was a speedy workflow and the inspiration for riffs, beats, and melodies wasn’t lost when in the flow. Using Clarett+’s numerous inputs allows for an easy setup, and with everyone knowing how to use it, when creativity struck, the instruments are ready to go, and all that was needed was to hit record. While using Focusrite to capture the moment, Joel is fond of the Air function on Clarett+ that adds clarity to cymbals and the lower end of a drum kit, which can sound muddy and blended without this feature. It helps to have a great-sounding take right away, rather than fixing it in post-production.

“When someone has got a riff or a beat, and they need to get it in quickly, you don’t have to overthink it too much. There’s a time and a place for overthinking — at the beginning, when the idea’s there, that’s just not what you want to do.”