Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt Q&A Part Two - production and track breakdown
Last day of half-price digital and thanks for a great fwf party x
Hi friends - hope all good :)
Big thanks again for the support for Jolanda and Karen’s album, today I’m really happy to share the second part of their Q&A - we can see by their careful considered approach to every aspect of the creative process what a thoughtful pair of musicians they really are.
Last day of half-price digital and some CDs left - message me if you bought the physical and want a private link to the gorgeous long-form version of the album.
Q&A Part Two - thanks to Jolanda and Karen!
Please can you give us an overview of your studio and favourite instruments?
Jolanda:
My home studio is minimal: just a desk, a computer, an audio interface, a single microphone - mostly for recording vocals. For years, I worked exclusively with headphones, especially when I was living in Berlin. Apartment life made speakers nearly impossible.
Since moving back to Italy and settling in a remote mountain area, I can make as much noise as I want - no neighbours, just the sounds of nature, so I got myself speakers (Yamaha HS7). My main instrument is the voice, especially for my experimental solo project. My setup is minimal: one microphone (AT4050) going straight into my audio interface (Apollo Twin X). That’s it. I learned music production on Logic, but I also picked up the basics of Ableton Live, particularly for live performances.
I use two loopers, a BOSS RC-505 MKII and my old RC-300, mainly to sketch ideas - loops, melodies, vocal textures. They're a central part of my live setup, but for production, I rely entirely on my voice and a handful of plugins. It’s a very handmade, almost artisanal process. Every note is sung, every harmony, every bass-line, every texture - all built with my voice and shaped afterward. I rarely reuse stems from older sessions, because I value the intention and energy behind each take. My voice carries different nuances in every song, so sampling it never really works, it has to be captured in the moment.
For my other projects, like my band She Owl, I now handle production as well. The studio has grown a bit. I have a Nord Electro 3 keyboard, an upright piano with a kind of haunted-house charm, and a small collection of microphones gifted to me by friends. I also have a collection of acoustic instruments I’ve picked up during my travels around the world - kalimbas, autoharps, a monochord, and a variety of percussion. I make limited use of sound libraries, since I find that working with limitations enhances my creativity.
For my upcoming album Birdscapes, released under the name Sound of Spells, I recorded everything using a single microphone. I physically moved the mic along the body of the upright piano, close to where the strings are, adjusting its position to capture different registers and textures across the octaves. It was a very tactile and intimate way of recording, almost like painting with sound.
My reference headphones are the AKG K702 - and that completes my setup.
Karen:
My studio is a corner of the living/dining room in my apartment. It is centred around my desk (a standing desk), a shelf, and a cupboard that I sometimes use the top of when I am making music - to put pedals and things on. If I am really wanting to spread out and make a big mess, then I use the dining table for that, but mostly only when I am doing guitar stuff. But my studio is very minimal and very simple. Living in a small apartment in Paris with my partner and our cats, I have to adapt to the space and the conditions here. One day, I would love to have a room of my own. Crossing my fingers to be able to afford to rent a bigger apartment one day to do that. In the meantime, I make do with the space I have and mix everything with headphones. The way I make music is very much about making do with the space and equipment that I have.
A recent “extension” to my studio in the past year was a mini vocal booth that was a DIY project. I needed a better, isolated place to record my vocals, and so I commandeered a small alcove in the bedroom. There is a very small walk-in robe in the already small bedroom where I would hang my clothes. I sacrificed my half of it (I don’t have many clothes anyway, lol) to turn it into a vocal booth. In the past, I would go through a labour-intensive process of making a big cubby house with blankets and fabric every time I needed to record a good vocal, just to block out the sound of the traffic outside. So I have my studio microphone permanently set up there (Rode NT1) along with my studio channel preamp to boost the signal, and also a monitor to see the wave as I am singing. I bought a mini pc last year and so I can move it between this vocal booth and my desk to work on music. A great investment that was only a couple of hundred euros, and a huge improvement on processing time.
As I work with vocals mostly these days, I don’t have many instruments lying around except for guitars. My oldest guitar is a Maton acoustic that I’ve had for over 20 years now. Then there are a couple of electric guitars I use. But I love working with my voice - and it really is an instrument in itself! The way you process it is endless, and I don’t use any synths in my music, so I will use layered vocals to create a similar sound.
My looper pedal is my favourite piece of gear. It’s a constant source of inspiration, fun and I use it often for improvisation sessions. It is actually a guitar looper (Digitech Jamman stereo looper - no longer in production), and it is wonderful to use on its own and put either vocals or guitar through it to make multi-layered loops. I use it when I do Bandcamp Livestreams.
Please can you give a quick breakdown of how you made each track?
For the initial recording session together, it was a very minimal setup in our kind of “on-site” studio for the improvisation sessions. A laptop with Logic DAW, a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 soundcard, and our two microphones (SM 58 for me and a Sennheiser E935 for Jolanda). Jolanda recorded directly into the soundcard, and I had three pedals - a looper, a microcosm, and a Boss VE20 that I was going through. That was the simple recording setup. Then we went back to our respective studios and did the editing, mixing, and production remotely, with a couple of in-person chats and listens during that time.
1. The scent of a storm on the wind
Not much was altered for this track when you compare it to how it was recorded in the improvisation session. We kept it fairly natural and light.
2. Body in the shadows, face in the light
The biggest challenge was working with a super minimal recording setup, especially since Karen's vocals were already processed through her effects chain, including loops and various treatments. Jolanda had to do a lot of detailed work to extract nuances, individual notes, and sound fragments from our vocal tracks. It involved extensive EQ work of isolating specific elements in order to either process them further or bring them out more clearly in the mix. This track is a good example of that process - how, through careful post-production, we were able to expand on the raw material and transform it into something more layered and dreamy.
3. Time and tide
This track stands out as our most ambient and drone-focused piece. We aimed to craft a hypnotic atmosphere by stretching loops into expansive textures, allowing the sound to ebb and flow like the ocean itself. If you listen closely, you can hear the length of the loop slowing down as it gets stretched more and more towards the end. So, the name time and tide really is appropriate for this one.
4. Through the portal
This piece is made from just a very small sample from the improvised session. So it’s self-propagating! This was initially going to be the end of one track, but it became another thing entirely, and is a significant part of the album where the mood shifts. High-pitched, heavily processed vocal notes create a shimmering, stardust-like atmosphere.
5. Whispers in the sand
This track was all about layers, and adding layers to build it up and allow sounds to move in and out of it. We focused on expanding the already-processed vocal loop to create a backbone throughout the song, and then we kept expanding it with breaths, crackles. and interesting noises from the improvised sessions. There is a lot going on in this one! We worked carefully with stereo spread to give the sound a wide, immersive, and expanded feel, with fragments of the voice drifting and dissolving across the stereo field.
6. Hydroelectric
This is the track where we really leaned into the concept of "quiet details." We isolated elements like electrical interference, breaths, and the sounds of our bodies moving (pushing buttons, brushing too close to the microphone, mouth noises, etc), subtle crackles in electric signals, and the kinds of sounds that are usually edited out. These “quiet details” became fundamental building blocks for the soundscape, adding texture and intimacy. It’s about turning the overlooked into something expressive and letting the hidden noise speak its own language.
7. Moonwater
This was more experimental and had the most production. We aimed to evoke an underwater-like atmosphere. Karen recorded her vocals by singing through a straw into water, as well as blowing bubbles, and created the foundation for the main drone. Jolanda layered harmonies on top, forming a mysterious, submerged-sounding choir. One vocal stem was heavily transformed and processed with reverse delays, distortion, and other effects until it resembled a synth, adding to the immersive texture.
8. Underwater forest
As with the first track, there wasn’t much post-processing involved here - it’s primarily an improvised live performance. What you’re hearing is the raw energy of the moment, captured with minimal interference. The first 50 seconds are the little bumps and clicks on the microphone that are normally edited out. These details are part of that moment, and if you can treat it in an interesting way, it gives texture. Both our voices are taking it in turns, for this track, and there is a call and response going on that feels spacious, but very much of that moment. This all gives the track a kind of magical vibe that is unfiltered, intimate, and alive.
Now some shout-outs :)
qd35 Jolanda Moletta and Karen Vogt
Wonderful interview with Jolanda and Karen over on the essential
- written and curated by Cynthia Bernard, otherwise known asHighly recommend subscribing for “two creative interviews a month with women + gender expansive artists, marine eyes updates + links to the latest ‘women of ambient’ updates”.
Read it here:
Misty Phil Hardy including track on his Mellow Mix here
Whitelight // Whiteheat including the album in their weekly music tips here
fields we found - resolve / relate 05
Thanks to Francis Beaubois for including the stasis dub on Electronic Therapy
fields we found - resolve / relate 06
Finally big shout-out to everyone that came to the
Listening Party for this release last night!Another wonderful session and very pleased to hear many of you think this was your favourite of the series so far - it goes deeper in harmonic interaction than before, polymetric and polyrhythmic patterns working together to create melodic evolution. Also percussive elements feature prominently for the first time.
As our good friend Mark (Ur Trommler) said, it felt like a conversation - which is a lovely way of describing it.
Thanks to all of you that came, our community is incredible and it’s a real privilege to hang-out with everyone :)
Last day to download the stasis dub if you bought the release and aren’t a subscriber - if you subscribe, that, plus everything else is yours forever. Thanks so much to everyone that puts their trust in my music - so grateful x
Much love friends and have a good weekend!
Alex
quietdetails.com
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my music as fields we found - individual works, and subscription with exclusives and more
Love getting even more insight into their process here, what an amazing pair!