4000 Hz – “Being In The Heart Of Paris, I Get That Urban Energy”

“It’s a proven and undeniable fact: every respectable studio needs a cat.” We asked 4000 Hz to show us around his respectable studio in one of the most quotable My Studio features to date.

Paris-based 4000 Hz (aka Sacha) has been shaping nu-trance for the past few years. Rooted in the French rave scene and driven by a love for hardware and expressive sound, he blends contemporary techno grooves with classic trance energy.

Building on releases like “Gun Fingers” and outings on KTK and INNERGATE, ‘Hot Sensation’ released in November last year marks his latest – a high-energy, bouncing, house-infused cut via Teletech with some neat production techniques throughout.

We asked him to show us around his Paris studio.

MY STUDIO

As the name suggests, it’s a room in my apartment. The high cost of real estate in Paris doesn’t (yet) allow me to rent a professional studio, so I made the most of the space I have.

I’ve customised it to fit my workflow: every piece of gear, every instrument, and even the furniture placement has a purpose. I’m surrounded by my pets, which makes it feel cosy and alive, and I get plenty of natural daylight, which really helps during long production sessions.

The room itself isn’t acoustically treated, but I know its quirks inside out, from how the bass resonates in one corner to how reflections affect the high end. Over time, I’ve learned to work with the space rather than against it.

The location adds its own charm too: being in the heart of Paris, I get that urban energy, the sounds of the city filtering in, which somehow becomes part of the creative vibe. It’s compact, personal, and entirely mine.

MOOG SUBSEQUENT 25

What’s not to love about a Moog?

Its oscillators can be juicy and gritty or silky smooth with just a slight tweak. Add to that the legendary Moog filter and the Multidrive knob, which works pure magic by generating rich, complex harmonics, and you have something truly special. It’s my Swiss army knife for leads and basslines.

I used it on my latest release “Pull Up The Tune” to create a heavily DnB-influenced Reese bass, and it absolutely delivered. A little anecdote: when I was designing the bassline, the frame with my girlfriend’s diploma literally fell off the wall because of the vibrations. Is that good enough for you?

I wouldn’t sell it for the world. Even if, let’s be honest, it’s nowhere near as versatile as a digital synth. It excels at a few specific things, but it does them exceptionally well, and that’s exactly what you want from it.

Pioneer DJM V10 LF

This mixer is one of my latest additions to the studio. I originally got it for DJ sets, but its built-in soundcard makes it perfect for practising live sets in Ableton Live.

Bringing it into my production workflow has been a game-changer. It puts me in the mindset of the artist who will eventually play the music I am producing, and that perspective naturally influences the structure and arrangement of my tracks.

At first glance, it can feel intimidating because of the sheer number of features, but at the end of the day, it is simply a six-channel mixer.

[quote align=right text=”The room itself isn’t acoustically treated….over time, I’ve learned to work with the space rather than against it”]

Technics SL-1210 MK2

The Technics SL-1210 MK2 needs no introduction. It is old and has barely changed in over 20 years
years, yet it remains an absolute classic.

I mainly use it to sample extracts from vinyl records I found in my grandparents’ attic, turning them into little easter eggs hidden in my productions. In my track “Real Love”, for example, there is a fire siren sample taken from a vinyl distributed during World War II, featuring safety instructions in case of bombing.

GENELEC 8030

Have you ever looked at a photo and thought, “God, do I really look like that? You can see my
pores!” That’s exactly how I felt listening to my tracks on those speakers…

Switching to the Genelec felt like going from 720p to 4K. Suddenly, everything becomes audible, even the things you might have preferred not to hear.

I was worried they would not deliver enough low-end. Funny enough, the day I received them, my neighbour knocked on my door 40 seconds into the very first track I played.

Unfortunately, my room is not treate,d so I can’t trust them 100% yet, but with the help of Sound Id
Reference by SonarWorks, it still sounds pretty decent.

MIDI CONTROLLERS: NOVATION LAUNCHPAD X & MIDI FIGHTER SPECTRA

MIDI controllers are my bread and butter. I love them because you can map them to do absolutely anything you want. Whatever control you imagine, you can map it.

Whether it’s a simple hi-pass filter on your master or a wild timed looper combined with an LFO routed to multiple destinations, you can map it all. It makes me feel like a mad scientist. And of course, we can’t forget about the cool factor: RGB-lit buttons? Come on…

CABLE BOX

Producers, let’s be honest, we all have that messy box of cables. We sort it and try to keep it organised, but it takes time. Then, as if by some dark magic, one day we go back looking for that one specific cable we only use once every leap year, and suddenly, everything is a mess again.

A not very well-known artist, I like to call Pablo Picasso, once said: “A good artist is never tidy.”

ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS

Some were brought back by my parents from their trips, some were handmade by me when I was six, and some I bought, thinking: “This would be perfect to record and put in a track!”

Spoiler: I never did.

Still, I like keeping them close as a reminder of happy childhood memories. Or just keeping them around thinking, “Just in case” 🙂

SSL II MK2

The SSL 2 MKII is nothing fancy. Just a straightforward audio interface with supposedly solid preamps. The 4K mode adds some nice harmonics and a bit of character, but it is nothing groundbreaking.

Say what you want: no audio interface = no recording possibilities, no monitors. Whether you like it or not, it’s the core of all music studio configurations.

MY CAT BISCOTTE

It’s a proven and undeniable fact: every respectable studio needs a cat.

Joking aside, her presence has truly become essential to my daily life, and especially to my production process. Even though she has countless cushions and beds at her disposal, her favourite spot is on my desk or on my lap. Her gentle behaviour calms and soothes me, helping me relax when I’m stuck on a part of a mix or testing the tenth synth that still doesn’t fit in the track.

That said, I still haven’t figured out how to connect her via MIDI…

Find 4000 Hz on Instagram.

4000 Hz’s new single “Pull up the Tune” is out now on Milli Records. Listen on SoundCloud.

Don’t have Ableton Live like 4000 Hz? Buy it here. Heads up, it’s an affiliate link. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission (it doesn’t affect the price).

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