Inside the Studio of Tobias Menguser: From Analog Gear to Software Instruments
Tobias Menguser crafts his 10 Phantom Rooms sample-based instruments with precision and creativity, guided by the clarity of Amphion One25A monitors.
Inside a light-filled studio in Mallorca, Tobias Menguser builds instruments not from wood or metal, but from sound itself. Each day, he experiments with tones, textures, and recordings, reshaping them into something entirely new. Through his company, 10 Phantom Rooms, he turns experimentation into instruments that speak their own language.
Tobias’s journey into sound design began in the 1990s, fueled by a fascination with how sound can be shaped and transformed. Starting with tape recorders and early synthesizers, over time, his sample-based instruments have become integral tools for artists and producers across the globe, powering countless tracks, films, and trailers. Chances are you have already heard his work, as his sounds appear in hundreds of film trailers and productions. For Tobias, sound is never just a technical process; it is a language of emotion and imagination.“Music is very emotional,” Tobias says. “When people listen to it, they get a certain feeling. That’s what I try to achieve with building samples that inspire producers and, hopefully, result in music that touches people while listening to it.”
Crafting Instruments
On a typical day, he builds dozens of new samples, layering recordings and sending them through what he calls his wall of processing devices, racks filled with compressors, channel strips, and tube equalizers. “I do between fifty and a hundred samples every day,” he explains. “Each single sample is hand-drafted here with all the gear.”
Projects like the one of the latest instruments, MR1, and the experimental Low End Toys reveal the depth of his approach. A single recording can evolve into something completely new once it passes through his chain of analog gear. The result is sound that feels tactile and emotional, inviting new ideas with every note.
Samples Require Precision Without Compromise
When the task is to refine a single sound sample, there is nowhere to hide; it demands a different level of precision. Tobias relies on Amphion One25A monitors, the latest addition to his setup, for the clarity and accuracy needed to make the smallest adjustments.“The One25As give me the best possible solution for my studio. They’re so much fun to work with for hours every day — incredibly honest and revealing every detail I need to know about the samples.”
Have a look behind the story of his instruments and how decades of sound design experience shape his work.
Learn more about 10 Phantom Rooms: 10phantomrooms.com
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