When describing both Tony Williams' music and schedule, "fast" is an appropriate term. Jetting around the globe, the young producer known as Addison Groove and Headhunter has a habit of igniting dance floors with his quick mixing and up-tempo live sets. Ableton Live has been a central part of these live shows. "For me, the greatest thing was that it was a totally new approach to making music," explains Tony of his first encounters with Live, and the intuitiveness of clips. "[W]hen things are less visual, you hear a lot more, and get into the groove a lot faster. It's definitely helped my whole sound."
Beyond providing the backbone for his live setup, Tony also uses Live as his primary sampler in the studio. He often utilizes unusual clip lengths to compose syncopated and evolving rhythms. "One thing I do that really adds groove to the sound is playing around with the loop length," he explains. "For example, rather than having something playing for one bar, shorten it to ⅓. You find some interesting rhythms this way." Additionally, Tony triggers on uneven measures in a live setting, something which can feel a bit uncertain. "It's always unexpected," he relates, "you take a gamble hoping it's going to work, but 9 times out of 10 it really does."