Luxsynth describes his experience connecting with other EDM artists on Twitter and also gives some tips for DJ livestreaming. He talks about developing a vision for the creative process and his approach to finishing tracks.
Episode Links:
Luxsynth:
- Website: https://www.luxsynth.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/luxsynth
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luxsynth/
Sound Design:
Plugins:
- Output Portal: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PORTAL–output-portal-granular-fx-plug-in
- Movement: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MOVEMENT–output-movement-rhythm-processor
- Manipulator: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Manipulator–polyverse-manipulator-pitch-shifter-plug-in
- Serum: https://xferrecords.com/products/serum
- Omnisphere: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Omnisphere2–spectrasonics-omnisphere-2.6-software-synthesizer
Gear:
- VSX Modeling Headphones: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/VSX–steven-slate-audio-vsx-modeling-headphones-closed-back-studio-headphones-with-modeling-plug-in
- Cannon 80D: https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Camera-Megapixel-Sensor/dp/B01BUYK04A
Episode Summary:
EDM artist Daniel Gonzales tells the story of how he became an electronic music producer. He discusses the ins and outs of using Twitter to get to know people on a personal level and build an audience of 9,000 followers. He talks about meeting and working with vocalists and also collaborating with other producers using different DAWs.
Daniel started as a guitar player, but his formal training was mostly with Berklee. He found a set schedule and accountability to be helpful in forcing him to learn.
One artist who inspires Daniel as a persona is Michael Jackson. Some artists who inspire his musical style include Apashe, Hans Zimmer, Armin Van Buuren, Nasko, Excision, Illenium, & Slander. In particular he has enjoyed sound design tips from Nasko manipulating his vocals on Twitch.
Some favorite plugins include granular synthesizer Output Portal, Movement, and Infected Mushroom Manipulator. He likes Widener to help fill out the stereo field. For mixing he does like monitors, but he also uses the Slate VSX Headphones to get the feel of a virtual listening environment.
In working with vocalists, Daniel likes to build around the vocalists’ melody and emotion. He takes a simple track and imagines what would sound good supporting that acapella. He tweaks and develops from there. Sometimes he suggests melodic additions and has the singer develop something around the addition. Even if the vocal isn’t perfect, he likes putting it into the DAW and building everything up. He then refines the scratch vocal with a better take.
Regarding work / life balance, Daniel exhibits great discipline in his production work. He works on his tracks in the morning, during break, and also after work. He even finds that he may work better by having very limited time. He listens to his tracks on the way to work, then makes notes on his phone and then makes his corrections during his next session. In addition, he discusses the importance of taking breaks and resting your ears.
Daniel believes in forcing himself to finish projects. Sometimes he does let them rest for a long time and then comes back to them. He may later use different instruments to increase the quality of the track or add additional sections to make the song flow. He also believes in having a story or outline for a track. He is inspired by his internal vision, or the emotions from his daily life. He believes in keeping the bones of the track as simple as possible and generating the outline as quickly as possible.
Lastly, Daniel gives a few tips on performing and live streaming. He discusses how visuals can be a problematic drain on your CPU. He has participated in virtual festivals on Twitch and put his DJ skills to work. For prerecorded sets he likes to record his video with a Cannon 80D and sync up the audio from his controller. In a pinch he says you can stream from Instagram Live.