What's up everybody, it's is Jake T. with Minimal Audio, and we're coming at you with another blog! As you may have seen, we're celebrating our 3rd birthday!
This milestone has given everyone here at Minimal Audio cause for celebration, but perhaps none more so than two of our founders: Nate Wexler, and Ben Wyss! I sat down with them to learn more about how three friends from college came together to make Minimal Audio.
Hey Nate and Ben thanks so much for sitting down with me! If you don't mind I'd like to jump right in, so tell me: How did everyone meet?
Ben: I met Nate and Jake Penn about 10 years ago through the bass music scene we were a part of and Nate and I lived together in college. We played a lot of shows together, collaborated on music, and geeked out on sound design.
Nate Wexler: We’ve all known each other for over ten years. We made music and played shows together when we were young, and naturally formed a deep connection between the three of us. Jake Penn (one of our founders) and I go back all the way to elementary school and we’ve always shared similar interests, whether it be music-related or not. Ben and I lived together in Washington over a decade ago, we've always created together and inspired each other. We’re all super passionate about sound, and when Jake approached me to create an audio company with him and Ben about 6 years ago, we were all hyped to create something big together.
What were the early days of Minimal Audio like? When you released Rift Filter Lite, what was that morning like?
Nate: Before launching Minimal Audio, we concentrated on shaping the brand's identity to align with our ethos and interests. We iterated over the branding and website several times until we arrived at a result that excited us all. It was simple; we wanted to create powerful plugins and sounds that inspired us, and we wanted our brand to reflect that.
When we released Rift Filter Lite, it was pretty surreal. We launched our first product, and with the help of our producer community and friends, the word naturally spread. We knew it would be a good introduction to our plugins to start with something free, so we could get it in more people’s hands.
Rift has such a unique architecture. How did you develop the plugin from its beginning stages to what it would eventually become?
Ben: Rift's multi-polar distortion engine started as a Reaktor patch that I had made. After porting that to C++, we continued to add things that we thought worked well with the distortion. Rift was a fun project because the interplay between the different modules produced some unexpected but awesome sounds.
A lot of parts of Rift have been widely adopted by the industry. How does that feel to see your creation have such an impact?
Nate: It’s been inspiring to see. Not only is it something I use regularly in my workflow, but it’s been awesome seeing artists we love using Rift and our other plugins in their production.
Ben: Its been very cool! It's really interesting to see how many different ways people use it.
Next, let's move on to Current. During its development what was the moment like when you realized you had something special?
Nate: We always knew that we had something special with Current. It tied all of our work together into one product, combining our love for cutting-edge DSP with the sounds we make.
Ben: For me, it was when I started using the different sound, and effect modules together to create patches and make new sounds that I hadn't heard before. I couldn't help but be excited!
That's so interesting. One of my favorite things about Minimal Audio is the way products like Current, and Rift feel like they're in conversation with each other. It makes me wonder - for you two what ties all of the Minimal Audio products together? What would you say are some of the foundational ideas that you build your plugins from?
Ben: I think the main things we try to achieve with each product are a unique sound and a fun, creative workflow. We spend a lot of time on each of these things, trying to make exploring the product as rewarding as possible.
Nate: We’re super focused on workflow and quality. May sound a bit obvious, but we spend countless hours on every aspect of our products to make sure it feels up to our standards. It comes down to this: if we think it inspires all of us, we know it will inspire others.
What are you most looking forward to with Minimal Audio? What would you like to see for the company's future?
Nate: Right now, I’m mostly looking forward to expanding on Current, improving all aspects of it, from the engine to the content. I love working with artists from around the world creating new presets and sounds for the engine. I look forward to doing that more for Current and every other product on the horizon.
Ben: Continuing to explore ways we can process and generate sound. I'd like to see Current developed further so that it's even more refined and unique.
Wow, you guys have got me excited too! Okay, now for our last question. What does Minimal Audio Celebrating its 3rd anniversary mean to you?
Nate: It's been an incredible journey and I look forward to many years to come!
Ben: Three years working with some of my best friends. Looking forward to the future!
There you have it folks! I want to take this opportunity to thank Ben, and Nate for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions and give us a peak behind the curtain at Minimal Audio!