I have to accept the situation, because that’s how it is nowadays. Are you okay with people accessing such detailed music that you’ve created through streaming? I know a number of listeners will access The Fall of a Rebel Angel via Spotify and other streaming outlets. So yes, I’m always searching for the new sounds, as you said. I’ve always felt like a musical alchemist, which is why I take all of the ingredients and combine them in a way that nobody did before. That’s what I love, and what I’m known for - selecting sounds, editing them, building new layers all these things. Would you say you’re always on the hunt for new sounds to add to that library? The library is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I’ve stored everything, including all the new sounds I came up with during the recording process of the new album. I have a terabyte of sounds that I did just by myself - all the atmospheres and other things I’ve done for the last 25 years. The bigger I go, the bigger the sound files. All the big sounds are in my libraries and available for my layering and building.
The Mac is equipped with the biggest size of RAM - whatever’s available, so that I can work properly. “I have a terabyte of sounds that I did just by myself.” The concept of this Merlin is, while the outer surface survives with time, the insides can be renewed at any time as needed, so I’m always technologically up to date. I changed to the new Mac Pro, and updated the hard drives. In the early days, I just updated the technical elements. Merlin also includes other gear like an Apple Mac Pro, LogicPro software, and, I’m happy to hear, surround sound speakers. So I decided to make a smaller version, which, from the technical point of view, is more advanced. The Alchemist was the prototype, and then as technology developed, it kept getting smaller and smaller. I have had this machine for four or five years now. The one you had before it was a grander, bigger version called The Alchemist.Įnigma: Yes, Merlin was something that was custom-made for me and my method of working. It is now exactly as I had it in my mind when I started to work on it.”Įnigma called Digital Trends from his current homebase in Ibiza to discuss how he creates his vast personal sound library, how Sadeness got “resolved” 25 years later, and how tension is key to the musical journey.ĭigital Trends: You recorded The Fall of a Rebel Angel on Merlin, your mobile digital studio. I’ve chosen a new way for this album, and I’m very happy with the result. Doing the same Gregorian chants 25 years later would be impossible. But each time, it has to be a completely new approach, how I dive into my thoughts and my emotions.
“When I start with a new Enigma album, I always start with something new, without leaving the spirit of Enigma. “I’ve always said that I hate to copy myself,” confirmed the artist born as Michael Cretu in Bucharest, Romania. “That’s one reason why it takes four-and-a-half years or more to get my albums done.”Įnigma looked to travel down new sonic roads for Rebel Angel. “It’s been a long, long quest, and it’s a very hard, long way until you find all the pieces that fit the puzzle,” Enigma told Digital Trends. Rebel Angel veers from the insistent, stereo-challenging percussive drive of The Omega Point to the wide-open keyboard-wash palette of Lost in Nothingness to the sequel-of-sorts Sadeness (Part II), featuring international female superstar Anggun on impassioned vocals. That, coupled with the far-reaching impact of tracks like 1993’s Return to Innocence, which sported a Taiwanese chant and a sample of John Bonham’s signature drum beat from Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks, all helped propel Enigma to sales of over 70 million albums worldwide to date - not to mention hundreds of millions of overall views on YouTube.Īfter an eight-year absence filled with only MMX The Social Song, a single in 2010 created with the help of his fanbase, Enigma returns with the broad electronic strokes of his eighth album, The Fall of a Rebel Angel, out today in various formats via Republic. in 1990, he literally turned the electronic music genre on its ear with his innovative use of Gregorian chants on Sadeness (Part I), an international dance smash that featured vocals in both Latin and French. When composer/producer Enigma dropped MCMXC a.D. I take all of the ingredients and combine them in a way that nobody did before.” “I’ve always felt like a musical alchemist.