Varien (Nick Pittsinger)

Varien has appeared on Skrillex's 'Bangerang EP' and his track 'Mirrors' took Beatport's #1 Drum and bass charts in less than 72 hours after it was released. We caught up with Varien to find out more about him and his work so far...

Varien

Unconventional instrumentation protagonist

Tell us about your music and yourself?

I like to combine the traditional and unconventional in a familiar setting. I love to use orchestral instruments, electric guitars, hang drums... things like blown bottles, Amen breaks and kalimbas but in the genres of dubstep, drumstep, electro and more!

The combination of synth noises and organic noises lends itself to very unique textures! I personally am a jazz trained multi-instrumentalist from Tampa, FL and I love all music from progressive metal to gypsy jazz to electro house.

I have been in metal bands, have produced everything from trip hop to breakcore and just genuinely enjoy the music making process! Varien is the synthesis of all of the above, but in the median of modern, club-friendly electronic dance music.

I also compose soundtracks to video games and short films!

Mirrors FL Studio Project

How did you get into music?

I've always been around music. Since day one I was exposed to people like Beethoven, Pantera, Rush, The Moody Blues, etc. It only seemed natural to continue my journey and eventually I self-taught myself piano, music theory and production!

Varien's Mirrors slams Beatport

How did you come to use FL Studio & what were your first impressions?

I got FL Studio 8 at 19, sat down and did nothing but learn learn learn. I tried other DAWs like Ableton and Reason, but nothing got my ideas out faster and better than FL Studio. I loved it when I first picked it up and I love it to this day.

Throne of the Ravens FL Studio Project

Tell us about your production environment & toys?

My production environment is pretty simple actually! I have some Samson Resolv A8 monitors, an M-Audio Keystation 49e and thats about it! I am mostly a software person, and I have quite a collection of sample libraries I use with Native Instruments Kontakt.

Throne of the Ravens Track

Any links you would like to share?

Cloak & Dagger Track

Varien.

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POWER USER LIST

BT (Brian Transeau): "FL is such a fresh approach to composition. It literally blows me away every time I work in it."
Project 46 (Thomas ...: "It is the cornerstone of our productions and without it we would not be able to make the music we do."
Dot Rotten (Joseph ...: "It pushes me as a producer, it never fails me, its also a program that helps create success over the years."
Sacco (Matias Monte ...: "I have yet to find a software that is as cool and has such a fast workflow as in FL, and believe me I tried everything."
Ronald Jenkees: "...I don't really endorse anything, but spreading the word of FL Studio has been a no-brainer because it's given me so much"
Tritonal: "FL Studio has been the powerhouse behind many of our productions as Tritonal and remains a go-to production tool"
SoundTakt: "FL Studio helped us realize our creative potential and hone our skills"
Tom Swoon: "It's so addictive! There's too many awesome features to list"
Marcus D: "A fellow Seattle producer introduced me to FL Studio ... I grew up on the cusp of the digital production age and didn't have the money to buy hardware, so naturally software was my go-to move"
Synthetic Orchestra ...: "Not only did the patterns in the playlist feel just right, but the piano roll was more powerful than anything I had used before"
Seven Lions: "It just very easy to be creative with this program, no road blocks"
Tristam: "The pattern/clip set up is amazing, I mean 'make unique' is just bliss!"
Phoenix (The Sound ...: "It's simple at the end of the day. Everything they [other DAWs] can Do FL can do better"
Naden (Daniel Taranger): "Ever since i tried fl studio, the program and I just clicked"
Amir Acid: "FL Studio has a great environment and makes it so easy to be in touch with the tools"
Indivision: "we haven't met any other sequencer which would help us to lay down our ideas so quickly and simply"
Jayce Lewis: "[FL Studio] really has become a big part of what I am as an artist"
Dexplicit: "FL Studio is without a doubt the most important tool in my inventory"
Mick Gordon: "I use it [FL Studio] for scoring, sequencing, designing sounds, and musical sound design. It's just so easy to work with, and work with quickly"
Madeon: "...with the incredible depth of the software, I never feel like something isn't achievable"
Meran (Meran Abbasi): "My dreams came true when I was introduced to FL Studio. This software has formed a big part of my life & I am so glad because of it I am enjoying my music."
Richy Pena: "Before you know it I was playing the keyboard, recording melodies on to FL Studio and creating songs"
Ephixa (James Leusink): "I have never left FL because of my love for the piano roll"
Varien (Nick Pittsi ...: "I tried other DAWs like Live and Reason, but nothing got my ideas out faster and better than FL Studio"
Boi-1da (Matthew Sa ...: "A friend had told me about FL Studio, I ended up going out and getting a copy of it and using it ever since "
Danyella: "I loved the user-friendly layout. Just a few months later my tracks were already signed away to labels "
audiopeel (Kieron Gore): "The fruit however struck a chord. It's interface and workflow, everything seemed logical."
Rodney Anonymous (D ...: "I still consider Fruity Loops the most addictive substance I've ever been exposed to"
Cyriak Harris (anim ...: "Most of my videos start months before I even realise it. That's when I make the music that will eventually inspire the visuals of the video"
Ajurika (Akitaka To ...: "I am instantly able to achieve the desired result and also to create the sound I am looking for."
Veela: "I quickly came to realize how complex and beautiful the program really was"
Andrew Aversa (Zircon): "Trying to use any other piano roll after working in FL was like having my mouse dipped in molasses"
Hitfinders (Andrew, ...: "We noticed it [FL Studio] while reading a producers forum, and were instantly hooked"
Pete Marriott: "When I realized how I could use it as a sound design and production tool I became hooked instantly"
The Flashbulb (Benn ...: "Nuendo and Pro Tools wasted a lot of my time, and I started noticing that FL Studio was blossoming"
MdL (Mason Levy): "FL Studio is the fastest and most inspiring piece of software in my workflow."
Afrojack (Nick van ...: "Don't let people tell you that Logic or other programs are 'superior' "
Feed Me / Spor (Jon ...: "Despite working on other platforms occasionally I still find FL the fastest and most powerful way to get my ideas down."
Porter Robinson: "At first, FL stood out to me just because it was vastly more intuitive and usable...there's way too many awesome FL Studio features to list"
Avicii (Tim Berg): "It's so easy and quick to use ... I literally couldn't shut the program down."
Anurag Dixit: "I’ve used every damn thing that can make music, but nothing comes close to FL."
Alex Medina: "I was first drawn to FL Studio's when a friend introduced me to it and taught me how to make hip hop beats. To this day I have used FL Studio..we are one :)"
Matthew Dear: On FL Studio: "It came highly recommended through various artists I'd meet on the road. I finally gave it a shot, and it immediately enhanced my production techniques..."
Infinity: "It means Everything, without FL i wouldn't be producing."
Ripley+Jenson: "When I took a look at a FL demo version in order to understand it, I discovered that it was the software I always had been looking for."
Nely (Arma Secreta): "For me FL studio is the easiest way to project your ideas and anybody can lay out any musical ideas."
Big Giant Circles ( ...: "FL has always been centric to my studio. It's the cornerstone of my creative process"
Jay Frog (ex-Scooter): "The fact to compose songs and quickly notate ideas on the road within FL Studio was a real innovation for me."
Secret Cinema: "I bumped into Fruityloops at version 3 and Immediately loved it!"
AudioJack: "We are known for having an individual sound to our music and FL Studio has been a key part to shaping that"
Tom Ellard: "It was the Fruity Scratcher that finally convinced me to use FL Studio... It feels like I'm using the hardware but I can save the whole patching system to hard drive."
Jeff Samuel: "Once Fruityloops started to use audio and sampler channels, I switched and never looked back! It was tremendously powerful just with those features but no one really realized it until years later."
Meg Hentges: "FL Studio (plus a wave editor) is the only software I ever use ...and since FL added audio recording, my rack mounted hard disk recorder rarely gets switched on."
Franchize Boyz: "Franchize Boyz and Fruity Loops"
Seismic Crew: "I used the demo of FL a lot back before I was making any real money with my music. I had been using the old software drum machine Hammerhead, but FL offered endlessly more flexibility and power."
Toby Emerson: "I found the demo while searching on the internet for a program that I could create drumloops with. I ended up finding FL studio and have been hooked ever since. It is more addictive than crack (not that I have tried that)."
Peter Presta: "A friend of mine introduced me to FL Studio and I instantly fell in love with the sounds you could create as they ALL sounded so BIG. I was Totally Hooked on FL Studio from there!"
Doug Lazy: "... stumbled across FL while surfing. I tried it and immediately Loved it. I was still into hardware at the time but slowly over the last few years have transferred my work to PC exclusively with FLS."
Mark Tinley: On Fl Studio: "It means I can create multi-track drum loops, music loops or even entire songs and dump them straight into Pro Tools for further mixing."
Steve Duda: "FL means a whole lot, if I were restricted to one item of music software on my PC, it would certainly be FL."
Justin Lassen: "Probably around '98, a friend showed me FruityLoops. I just thought it was the coolest piece of software."
Basshunter: "A friend of mine showed me Fruityloops when I visited his place for a LAN party, and I got hooked right away."
DeadMau5 (Joel Zimm ...: "It’s ease of use and fast results are what get the ideas down as fast as they come to my head, and that’s really important for me"
9th Wonder: "The programs we use are Cool Edit Pro and FL Studio. Those are the two programs that we use, and that's what we did the whole album on."
Mike Oldfield: "It is very good to see a product like FL Studio which is available to all and doesn't cost $10000000000 of dollars"

We asked some of our 'Power Users' how they got involved in music and how they use FL Studio.

Varien (Nick Pittsinger)

We asked some of our 'Power Users'
how they got involved in music and how they use FL Studio.