Interview with Urs Heckmann from u-he

We had the great opportunity to do an exclusive interview with Urs Heckmann the founder of u-he. The u-he company is one of the most famous plug-in developers in the world and they are enormous famous for creating the best sounding synthesizer plug-ins.

Hello Urs, welcome to the Noizefield.com Talk Zone and thank you for taking the time for this interview. If i am informed correctly, you are developing since 2002 plug-ins. How did you come to music? and can you talk a little about you musical background?

I went to a grammar school with a musical tradition. So I got in touch with synthesizers and music composition in my early teen years.

What was your intention to start with developing your own synthesizers and effects?

Well, VST plug-ins were new and I was a student in the ‘90s. I couldn’t afford the latest and greatest synthesizers, so I saw an opportunity in creating my own.

How many people are working for u-he and what is their role?

It’s about 10 people full time plus 3 part time and one intern. And quite a few external freelancers who we book from time to time.
While every one of those 10 full timers takes over various responsibilities, there are 4 – including myself – focussed on development, 3 on graphics and web content, 2 on support and preset design, 1 is coordinating things and cooking meals.

How long do you work (on average) on a new prototype and how much time do you invest to create a new plug-in in total? Is there something you like most by creating new plug-ins and what is the most “pain” for you?

That depends. A new product probably takes about a year of work. We’ve released 10 or so products in 13 years, plus freebees and magware. What I like most about it is the creative part, while the most painful part is finding bugs. Latter isn’t creative work, it’s just something one has to deal with.

What is the best selling product from u-he and what is your favourite plug-in?

There’s an ongoing fight between Diva and Zebra for the top spot. Diva usually sells a few units more each month while Zebra has had a great head start of several years. At the moment Zebra has a small lead, but we expect Diva to overtake Zebra in a few months, with Zebra coming back after the next update.

My favourite plug-in is always the one I’m current working on. Or maybe it’s the other way round – whatever plug-in I like most at a given time is also the one I’ll be working on.

Do you also produce and play music?

Unfortunately not enough. We had some stressful years with lots of changes, and that kept me from making music. This is changing, however, things are calming down and I hope to be a bit more enthusiastic about composition and production soon.

What is your favourite gear/synth, and what is the most hated, crappy stuff?

That always changes. But I pretty much love every single one of my 30 vintage analogue synths. I don’t hate anything, but the most disappointing synth I invested in was the Siel Opera 6, which sounds a bit too clean for what I expected.

Which interesting plug-ins or other new products can we expect in the future from you? Do you also plan an App for iOS or Android?

Well, it’s no secret that we’re working on a major update of Zebra. But we also have major feature updates for almost everything else we have in the works. As for new products, I think in the next 2-4 years we’ll do a drum machine and a truly giant modular synthesizer.

Can you give us a little production tip or do you have a secret function in one of your plug-ins?

In any synth, try a highpass filter in front of the common lowpass. Keep the highpass at a very low frequency, add – if possible – a little resonance. As paradox as this sounds, that can boost your bass big time!

If I wouldnt develop plug-ins I wanted to be a/an…

Porn star? Nope, honestly, I have no idea.

Something you always wanted to say, to all the Noizefield readers.

The past ten years have been an amazing time for me, and hopefully for all the people who use our stuff. I can’t stress too much how grateful I am that we got so much support from so many musicians out there – thanks for that!