Ugo/Chris Sciurba

Occasionally I'm asked about myself, rather than about my plug-ins, so I thought perhaps it was time I wrote a bio.

I debated writing this in the third person because it might sound more "official" that way, but that seemed kind of silly. This isn't some big faceless company, it's just me - so I may as well just write this as if I was in the room, talking with you. "Hey, groovy decor. I like what you've done with the place!" Ok...maybe not quite like that.

Background

I've dedicated more than half my life to music, and much of that time to music equipment. However, I didn't seriously get started in music until I was 17, when I got my first bass. I tried one at a friend's place and I immediately was drawn to it. That night we stopped by a music shop so I could take a look around. I found one I thought was cool and not too painfully expensive (a used black Hohner fretless Steinberger copy) and bought it the next day. It was like I had found a missing part of myself, and from that point on my primary focus in life switched from visual arts to music.

I started out like most people, playing mostly covers and the occasional original tune, but in a few years I was in an experimental, largely improvisational, somewhat prog-ish rock band that religiously met several times a week but rarely finished songs and never gigged. I learned a hell of a lot from playing with those guys though, and would not be the level of musician and composer I am today it if wasn't for them.

In the mid 90s I went solo and started writing all my own stuff. It was at that point I got my first drum machine, a used Korg DDD-5, and first synth, a Yamaha SY-35. At the time I only used them for accompaniment as my passion was still bass. At the time I was even working as a professional luthier, repairing, customizing, and sometimes building guitars and basses. That was my main profession for nearly 10 years, but I eventually transitioned to graphic design.

In 1998 I got my first real sequencer, an Ensoniq ASR-X, and my obsession with synths truly took hold. Once again, it was like I had found a missing part of me, and the quality of my song writing took a great leap forward. I continued with hardware synths, building up a rather nice collection of them, until the early 2000s when softsynths started to really grab my attention. I could only do so much with software at first because my computer was too slow, but when I got a faster machine and tried SynthEdit, the hardware began to collect dust.

SynthEdit let me combine all of my top interests/skills: music, synthesis, customizing and designing instruments, and graphic design. I was hooked.

Plug-in Design

In 2003 I released my first synth, Motion. That was quickly followed by Rez, Texture, and the highly popular String Theory. 2005 brought my first commercial release, and my first effect, Metallurgy (which got a 10 out of 10 in Computer Music Magazine). With each plug-in I've built since, I've continued to push myself and try something new each time.

My main inspiration for the plug-ins I build has always been my own musical requirements and interests. I've got somewhat eclectic tastes and write music that isn't exactly what's mainstream at the time, so my needs are a bit different than most. Also, being a gear addict, I've got an ever expanding collection of instruments and there's no sense in building something that does the job of what I've already got. The combination of building for my musical needs and filling in gaps within my existing arsenal of sound machines leads me to create plug-ins that are somewhat niche market and different from a lot of what is available out there. I consider this to be one of my strongest points as a product designer.

I tend to think of myself as more of a designer than a developer because I don't code and I lack the knowledge and resources to take my concepts as far as I think they could potentially go. What I create with SynthEdit are essentially proofs-of-concepts for my ideas - and I make them as good as my abilities will allow me to. I use this virtual box of spare electronics parts to design the functionality, user experience, tone, and presets, and use Photoshop and Knobman to design the GUI. In a way, I see the whole process as extensions of sound design, graphic design, and musical composition, rather than as software development. The end results may not be on par with what is produced by the best plug-in developers out there, but they are good quality plug-ins that provide artists with new tools to express themselves, and at a price point that computer musicians at nearly any income level can afford.

Other Pursuits & Professions

While I would love to be able to pay all the bills just by making plug-ins and sounds, I've yet to get even close to pulling that off...so I work several other jobs too. Much of my days are spent working as a designer for my family's web/graphic design company, Corti Designworks. I am also a part-time contractor for Camel Audio, assisting with their customer support and sometimes doing sound design and providing photography. Additionally, I occasionally do sound design for various developers, and I organize a group of independent plug-in and soundware developers, called the Indie Dev Collective.

When I'm not working at my jobs, working in SynthEdit, or writing music, I enjoy photography - usually shooting macro and abstracts.

If you'd like to know anything else, please feel free to ask.