Dasha Rush¶
Dasha Rush is a Russian-born, Berlin-based electronic musician and interdisciplinary artist. Starting her career in Moscow, she later moved to France and now lives in Berlin. Rush creates experimental electronic music, often blending ambient, techno, and live performance with visual and theatrical elements. She has released albums on labels like Sonic Groove and Raster Noton, and runs her own label, Fullpanda Records. Her projects, such as “Les Territoires Ephemeres” and “Dark Hearts Of Space,” combine music with dance, poetry, and digital visuals. Rush is also known for her live shows, which explore the emotional and technological aspects of sound, often collaborating with dancers, cellists, and visual artists.
Live Setup¶
Benjamin Weiss: What’s your favorite setup when playing live?
Dasha Rush: I don’t have one. I choose accordingly to whatever the concert is. If it’s a techno set, it’s more classic stuff—more drummy, percussive stuff.
My biggest complaint is that there are no good sequencers. Gear should be made with internal sequencers. Then you don’t need to bring the laptop additionally. Some gear is great for the studio, but if it doesn’t have a sequencer, I can’t bring it. That would be my main complaint for most gear. I like gear where there are internal sequencers where you can do minimal work. If you want to have something complex, you can do that in the studio, but for simple stuff—especially techno—you have to have them inside.
Preferably a complex sequencer, not in a simple way, but with extra things. Extra features like probability per note; a little extra touch. Playability is important.
Benjamin Weiss: But I still see you playing with lots of gear on stage.
Dasha Rush: Every time it’s different. I don’t really play live so much anymore. I don’t want to play techno live yet; next year I’ll do maybe two. Every time I bring something different, I just play with it—whatever happens, happens.
I wish the Vermona DRM would be a bit smaller. It’s really annoying and big. Or something conceptual; I would like to have just two Vermonas and a few effects. But that’s more abstract stuff, not for techno. After the concert: laptop. Always laptop. I need the laptop because I can’t do so many things without it, it has so many sounds. If a sound is coming from somewhere else, I have to sample it.
What would be useful is to have a sampler inside, a bit like a Digitakt. Live sampling would be interesting, or even if you prepare stuff in the studio, you can play and modify in real time with modulations. It’s a balance between a sampler and sequencing. When it’s one big machine you have a lot of possibilities, but then it gets too busy.
Size, Portability, and Interface¶
Benjamin Weiss: What’s the good balance between busyness and size for you?
Dasha Rush: If you focus on one machine or two, the size should be no bigger than a Machinedrum. Maybe a tiny bit bigger. It shouldn’t be too big because it won’t fit in a suitcase. I never bring checked luggage; it has to be carry-on luggage size. Machinedrum size is the maximum because in my suitcase it fits, but I have to force it a tiny bit.
Benjamin Weiss: Foldable stuff?
Dasha Rush: Foldable stuff is not practical; they are going to break. But if the drum machine did not have a screen built-in, you could connect a screen—even an external screen.
Benjamin Weiss: Do you like touchscreens when playing?
Dasha Rush: No, not touchscreen. Just to see what’s going on. To see which parameters are active, because if it gets too busy with “Function + this and that,” it’s annoying. I prefer flat hierarchies—not too deep. When you play live, especially in the darkness, even if you know the machine well, deep menus are annoying.
A reliable screen is important so you can see the active functions and what you do. Values are very important. What you touch, you want to see. It’s an ongoing process; in the studio you can come back to it, but while you’re playing, you need to see it to help you remember the actual value.
Benjamin Weiss: For interaction, what’s important for the buttons and knobs?
Dasha Rush: It depends which function it is. For encoders, I like them a little heavy and tighter where you feel the weight as you turn. If you’re in a fast process, you really need to feel the weight. The buttons really need to feel solid.
Benjamin Weiss: Do you prefer faders or knobs for levels?
Dasha Rush: Knobs are better for traveling because faders get broken. Space between them is important. I hate the little Pocket Operators; they are cute and work well, but they get on my nerves. Even the Roland Boutique versions are too tiny. Machinedrum size is good because you have space.
Customization and Power Supplies¶
Dasha Rush: I like interchangeable knobs—extra knobs by color. You can additionally buy a box of interchangeable knobs. I want blue for certain parameters. I usually do it on my controllers; I change all the knobs by color. In the darkness, it is important because if everything is in the laptop, I don’t need to hunt for things. I know blue is delay or effects, and the purple one is a particular synth. Color coding is important—minimal, at least: red, blue, green.
Benjamin Weiss: What about the power supply?
Dasha Rush: Can we just use the same power supply for everything? I hate “wall warts.” USB-C power works. These cables are genius—the ones I have now for the Eventide effects. It’s a 9-volt USB thing and it’s just connected. They take less space and work without the big adapter.
Can we make things smaller? Sometimes the adapter is bigger than the box. It’s heavier than the box itself. I ordered a new one and it was even bigger. I don’t know why you need to make an adapter like that.
Feedback on the TBD Prototype¶
Benjamin Weiss: This is a blank canvas. You can program it and assign functions to the buttons.
Dasha Rush: For a sequencer, okay. You can assign some functions per page, per button. Page one is an oscillator, page two is an envelope, page three is something else. But for drums, it’s not possible because it’s too small. To pre-program a sequence in the studio is fine, but if I really want to play, it’s too small.
Dasha Rush: Can you connect a sustain pedal? If it’s a granular synth where you make drones and loop them, there should be a sustain pedal. You can’t put everything in one machine, and you don’t have to. You should have one thing for rhythmical patterns and one for crazy semi-granular stuff—two boxes with an interconnection.
Benjamin Weiss: Do you use Link or MIDI?
Dasha Rush: Just MIDI. I never linked anything in my life. It stresses me.
Benjamin Weiss: You can store up to 16 different firmwares and switch between them while it’s running.
Dasha Rush: How much memory does it have? If I use it as a sampler, the processing inside is important.
Benjamin Weiss: It’s an ESP32. It’s a DSP that is a little slower than a Raspberry Pi.
Dasha Rush: Why don’t you make it a tiny bit bigger? As an effect or a small extra thing, it’s nice that you can assign things, but the buttons are too small for playing. If you had parameter locks per step, that would be useful. I would probably use it for a little oscillator or a sequencer where I modulate the envelope and filter on top. For drums, it’s just annoying.
Benjamin Weiss: If it had a battery, would you like that?
Dasha Rush: A power bank is actually fun. You can program it on the plane. A few times I was making patterns on a plane. With a small device, you can have fun and program some sequences for extra stuff.
Interview: Benjamin Weiss (MID)
Funded by NLnet