BT, aka Brian Transeau, has led the way in various dance music genres, composed music for more than 20 major films, remixed everyone from Tom Jones to Madonna, and even programs his own music software. For a man who has “more plug-ins than god” he obviously needs the best in hardware control.

Trying to keep tabs on what exactly BT best known for is difficult because whatever field he dabbles in seems to bring him enormous success. During the 90s he was a pioneer in breakbeat, trance, and progressive house music and he consequently has dozens of remix credits to his name. He has scored or supplied tracks for a long list of movies including Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Fast And The Furious. Then there are the collaborations – he’s worked with Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos and Billy Ray Martin among many others – and the numerous video game soundtracks. More recently he’s dabbled in classical composition and become highly regarded for his use of technology, writing his own software effects BreakTweaker and StutterEdit. In a famous Computer Music magazine interview he even stated that he has more “plug-ins than God”, so what does a man at the cutting edge of so many coal-faces use as his main controlling tools? Not one, but two Jazzmutant controllers.

“I have been waiting for the right tactile system that gives me a more hands off approach to performance,” says Brian. And no one knows more than him that taking computer music out of the studio onto the stage for a performance is one of the most difficult jobs. “I think it’s really boring to watch a guy using a laptop to perform,” he agrees, so the Lemur’s are that ideal solution, offering multi-touch screen control over any parameter. BT: “They have a perfect interface for me to get to what I need to get to without using a mouse and other boring input devices.”

BT recently performed to 104,000 in one gig and his Lemurs are serving him well. He is just about to test them further in another high profile outing…

“I am just preparing to start using them for live performance on my next tour with Blake Lewis from American Idol,” he says. “They are extremely versatile and fit in to my workflow great.”

Finally there’s one other area that BT is exploring with the help of Jazzmutant, and that’s surround sound.

“The Dexter’s use of surround is essential now in my mixing arsenal,” he says. “I could never go back to just a mouse. These two [Lemur and Dexter] are a must see for anyone serious about live performance or surround mixing.”