RS: How difficult was it for him, do you think, to perform in a language he doesn't usually speak?
Roger Sanchez: The emotion side is not a problem for him because that is his forte. What I worked with him on was his pronunciation of certain words, and he's always going to have a strong Latin accent but I think that kind of adds to the track because the track actually has a very kind of romantic, slightly flamenco feel to it. So it's a bit
endearing, and the emotional quality of his voice, even with the accent, really, really, works because he's got an amazingly emotional voice and he keeps it very, very sensuous throughout the song.
RS: From the sensuous, let's go mechanical. What software do you use in the studio?
Roger Sanchez: I'm very much a Logic Macintosh user, and I use ProTools, the hardware, and the base program behind that. I also use a lot of plug-ins, I use a sampler, the B6400 from Emulator which they're not even making anymore, and the FB1200 which they're not even making anymore, so it's my two old school things. But I can't even
think of all my equipment right now.
RS: It's just the idea that you have physical equipment in your studio, still.
Roger Sanchez: I still have some physical equipment because I still love some of the sounds that are on it. But I also use a lot of plug-in synths, so I kind of try to marry the two worlds. And I use a lot of live instrumentation too.
RS: Well, it mentions on here that you have live cellos…
Roger Sanchez: I have cellos and violas.
RS: And the viola. It seems to me to be really difficult to get a real string instrument like that in a dance context.
Roger Sanchez: I was very fortunate because my engineers that I've worked with over the years, especially one, Doug De Angeles, taught me how to record and with different microphones. And the thing was with me, I'm fortunate enough to be in the position to try to buy the best equipment that I can, so I may not have twenty-five million microphones but the microphones that I do have are very high quality. I have a Norman U87, a couple of road microphones, and I'm getting a Browler mic next. So it's like the mic-ing that I did was very, very good, and for the room that I had to record it in, it was a very tight room to fit these three in. But the dynamics and the acoustics were perfect, so I got a really great sound, and then I just learned how to track over it and make it sound like a big orchestra.
