S1E10 Atom the Creator: Dubstep, Collaboration, and Hustle

Atom stops by to discuss his creative process for writing dubstep.   He talks about the importance of time management and improving your skill set.  Lastly, he gives some great tips for building your tracks.   

Episode Links:

Atom The Creator: https://linktr.ee/AtomOfficial?fbclid=IwAR1cjYKn81CGIyWU6ZWgOGcD-CjQdVv59eXbNJSoatlan9LCH748hAqlU0w

Native Instruments: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/

Cymatics: https://cymatics.fm/

Episode Summary:

Atom started his musical journey in high school and went on to study audio engineering in college.  Atom loves the sound of ‘dirty’ dubstep and some of his favorite artists include Jane Cicada, Liquid Stranger, and Taboo. 

Atom is also influenced by house and is currently working on a collaboration with artist Golden Goddess.  He was able to connect with her through Facebook.  Atom heard her on Spotify and reached out to Golden Goddess by sending her a track he had stashed away.  

Atom and I discuss some the differences between house and dubstep.  This includes the driving 4/4 kick of house as well as a lot of chords.  Dubstep is heavily influenced by gritty basslines, atmospheres, and the grimy sound of south London in the early 2000s.  Atom loves bass music because there is total freedom to make whatever sounds and effects he wants.  Anything goes in this style. 

Some of his favorite plugins include Serum, Vital, and alchemy.  In particular, he finds Serum very useful for creating a modern bass music sound.  He also loves Native Instruments libraries and Maschine.  He finds the ‘hard bass’ presets from NI as an excellent starting point for his style.  Some of his favorite sample packs come from Cymatics.  

Atom mentions the term ‘riddim’ as he discusses his style.   He likes to define it as a repetitive bassline over a drum beat.   The term comes from the early Jamaican sound systems that used to add beats to ‘dub plates’ for DJs. 

Atom finds different methods for starting his tracks.  Sometimes it’s the drop.  Sometimes it’s a melody.  His focal element as he writes is to get an idea of what the beat is in his head and then adding a melody or bass over that.   He then likes to move into a chorus and a drop.  He likes to include a subbass, synth lead, and also some arpeggios for the chorus.   For a bass drop, he suggests going all out looking for one-shots, loops, and complimentary synth bass.  He takes an exploratory approach and loves to find complimentary sounds.     

S1E9 Jawsh Crespo: How to Release Your Mix and Get Pro Sound From a Minimal Studio

Jawsh stops by the studio to talk about producer income streams, proper 808 sounds, working in a small studio with other artists, and social media tips.  He also gives some excellent tips for producing hard hitting music and vocals with limited gear.  Jawsh loves collaboration and putting his work out there.  He recommends new artists do the same. 

Episode Links:

Spotify / Instagram: @joshonthebeat

Samples:  Cymatics: https://cymatics.fm/

Beatstars:  https://www.beatstars.com/sell-beats?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkIGKBhCxARIsAINMioKHbmYGT7ReH94Lz2WmlqhfGWKd937Us-nYDjKoY4EsSShBs30FuYkaArGAEALw_wcB

Addictive Keys:

https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_keys

Episode Summary:

Jawsh stops by the studio to talk about producer income streams, proper 808 sounds, working in a small studio with other artists, and social media tips. 

Jawsh started simply by making beats on his Macbook and organically developing his skills.  As a guitar player he has been able to incorporate a lot chords into his early music.  Now as a producer he incorporates a lot of hip hop and trap into his work. 

Jawsh has worked with a mixing mentor.   To get a powerful 808 sound he would often allow the sound to clip.  Now however, he focuses more on gain staging.  He also suggests leaving some headroom for other artists.   He is also a fan of using templates to get his workflow started rapidly.  

Jawsh loves collaborating with other artists.  He has loved playing in a band setting.  He loves playing live and he loves the collaborative process of just jamming with other artists.  

 

Making vocals gel is a process.  He recommends getting comfortable with your voice and also using vocal layers.  Importantly, he mentions finding your range and getting used to it.  He is also a big fan of using reference tracks.  

For releasing, Jawsh recommends putting your work out there.  He doesn’t like to hold onto things.  He would rather make it happen.  He often builds a simple beat.  Later, he may come back to the beat and refine it into a whole track. 

He also gives some excellent conceptual thoughts on creating an A and B section.  He mentions the importance of contrast.  Also, the progression of emotional ideas and reflecting that in the track. 

S1E8 Jake Stevenson: Vaporwave, Collaboration, and Online Communities

Jake stops by to discuss the vaporwave music production style.  He tells us about how some of his life experiences directly led to his creative production process.  He also discusses about his involvement with the Reddit community “World Problems” and how that inspires him to write.  

Episode Links:

Jake Stevenson: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3GBYwmlNNqUlJpx2TxcmtE?si=1otCi7k2RhGAOI92XWhyjA&dl_branch=1

Vital Synth: https://vital.audio/

Summary:

Jake took a non-traditional route to making music.  He woke up one day and decided that this was going to be his path, then dove in head first.  His influences include alt rock bands such as Imagine Dragons, but also EDM influences such as Avicii and Feed Me.  In addition, he is strongly influenced by cinematic composers such as Hans Zimmer and Jack Wall.

One of Jake’s favorite genres is Vaporwave.  He describes vaporwave as a genre that repurposes or recontextualizes existing music samples.  For example, he will slow the sample down, chop it up, add reverb or other effects, and reverse or rearrange some parts.  He uses the term ‘plunderphonics’ to describe this process. 

He goes on to describe his love of physical media.  He loves CDs and distributes them as part of his process.  He also describes vaporwave as being heavy on cassette, cd, or other physical media distribution.  He also describes how vaporwave is nostalgia based.  And emphasizes the importance of recontextualizing the sound.  And it often expresses a sense of longing.   

Jake began his “World Problems” album with only three tracks.  He then continued to add tracks on Bandcamp.  He mentions how this work is orchestral, whereas most of his work has been influenced by vaporwave artists.  Regardless, he suggests that it is all about creating feelings.  He likes trying to mimic the feeling of albums that have inspired him.  Ultimately, he finds that he can use the vaporwave writing process as an instrument of healing. 

He believes the choice of DAW is personal preference.  But he believes the most important thing is to find what is going to work for you.  Even if that means a work around.  He also believes in the importance of working rapidly.   If he comes up with a new idea he sprints to his laptop and works on it rapidly.  When he becomes frustrated with structured study, he likes to take an experimental approach to synthesis…capturing whatever comes in the creative process. 

Jake wrote the song “Late in the Night” with vocalist Celestic.  This track was inspired by Jake’s enthusiasm for the Reddit forums “World Problems”.  He was able to connect with Celestic on Twitter.  She was able to tweak some existing lyrics and create a compelling vocal that fit the context of Jake’s vision.  

To prevent getting stuck while writing, Jake recommends a subtractive synthesis type of approach.  He will first make a big idea and then spread out the clips and progressively build back up to the full idea.  He also reminds newer producers that creative output is the name of the game and not to get hung up on conforming to ‘the normal’ way of producing.  Also, get opinions from other artist friends.  He believes there is always a workaround to realize your vision. 

S1E7 KOI.SUM: Producing Lofi Sounds and Atmospheric Music

Koi.Sum gives some great tips this week on working with original sounds and keeping the creative juices flowing.   He talks about the importance of choosing complimentary sounds and also having fun and not worrying too much while producing.  He also gives some great tips about track construction and keeping the creative process moving.  

Episode Links:

KOI.SUM: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6QsWX5nXEgnbDQ9XteVRkO?si=FyGGLcDvT4uhtEYDGDuswg&dl_branch=1

Photo App: Pixart https://www.pixart.com/

Samples: Splice https://splice.com/

Drums: Cymatics https://cymatics.fm/

Gclip: Free clipping plugin.  https://cymatics.fm/

Episode Summary:

Koisum is a big fan of EDM artist like Kaskade, Deadmau5, and Tiesto.  However, nowadays he prefers discovering new artist on Soundcloud, because he believes there is a ton of great music out there from less famous artists.  He follows ‘Not You’ and also loves the track ‘I Forgive’ by Grynpyret. 

He finds that creating a vision and atmosphere is an important part of his process.  He thinks it makes it more fun to make take a sample of absolutely anything and especially loves organic sounds.  He likes to build from the bottom up…usually starting with drums and a bass.  From there he likes to layer in samples.  But in particular he is thinking about the mood of the track as he starts to lay down the vibe.   He imagines himself in a scene as he builds.

Besides using samples he likes to build chords around a sample.  Then he likes to do a little sound design and make the sample more his own.  For a good mix, he likes to get his bass layers down and do a little EQ.  He recommends not getting too crazy, but rather focusing on good sounds that complement each other.  He loves ‘soft’ clipping plugins. 

To create a lofi sound he likes to use tape noise, vinyl crackles, and other samples.  He also likes to roll off the highs, maybe as low as 16KHz.   He also loves to layer complimentary sounds, creating a ‘sound sandwich’.  For bass, he starts simple with a subbass in Operator that is simply a sin wave.   He likes to use this with a sampled Reese bass.   He also loves 808 samples for bass. 

For releasing, Koisum loves DistroKid.  That helps him get his music out on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.  He has also explored the new platform, Audius.  

When he gets stuck, he stops looping the project.  Then he copies and pastes it into an arrangement.  Then he starts taking things away to make an arrangement.  He’ll start to build sections like an intro, build, and a drop.  He will save a copy and then try something new.  Most importantly he thinks it is important to keep moving.

For tips he recommends learning one DAW first.  Secondly, he likes to use a reference track.  Lastly, he loves Youtube tutorials.  But while watching Youtube he recommends pulling up the DAW and following along to reinforce your learning.  

S1E6 Jonathan van Clute: Room Treatment, Mobile Producing, and Early Electronic Music

Jonathan van Clute stops by to discuss room treatment and some early electronic music influences.   We talk about different creative workflows including writing from an acapella.   We also discuss how electronic music and the term electronica have evolved over time.   Lastly, Jonathan gives some great tips and apps for making electronic music one your phone or ipad.  

Episode Links:

Jonathan van Clute: 

Soundcloud:

 

Tutorials:

Sonic Academy : https://www.sonicacademy.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjo2JBhCRARIsAFG667WnBRGheWBwZ_Crwa3nf_brbB9xtA-XS2XT_x1D1bYCT73BrA7GoCYaAg1FEALw_wcB

 

Ask Video: https://www.ask.video/

 

Berklee Online: https://welcome.online.berklee.edu

 

Sadowick on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SadowickProduction

 

Influences:

Hooked on Classics: https://open.spotify.com/album/3ja7CEvtGHq95Fv3p10vUd?si=kwAv-TDYQqmKO24SpX97Ew&dl_branch=1

 

Hardware:

Juno106: https://tinyurl.com/aj8k5e33

 

Focal Alpha 65 Monitors:  https://tinyurl.com/vrt456zt

 

Room Treatment:

Prime Acoustics: https://tinyurl.com/5famwprh

 

Overhead Acoustic Cloud: https://tinyurl.com/36m7447b

 

Sonarworks Room Mic: https://tinyurl.com/scbrbnav

 

Apps:

Propellerhead Figure:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/figure-make-music-beats/id511269223

 

Korg Gadget:

https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_gadget/

 

Auxy:

https://auxy.co/

 

Ableton Link: https://www.ableton.com/en/link/

 

Episode Summary:

 

From a young age Jonathan wanted to write his OWN music.   He is a multi-instrumentalist playing piano, viola, and cello.   He discusses doing releases on his own on cassette…getting a friend to make some airbrush art for him and creating and selling 100 copies of his own album. 

 

When people ask him what instrument he plays, Jonathan tells people “I play the computer.”  Jonathan discusses the differences between working with virtual instruments rather than hardware synths and keyboards. 

 

Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos was one of Jonathan’s early influences.  He considers the album one of the seminal albums for electronic music.  Interestingly, the album was composed on monophonic synths one track at a time.   Another early influence was Hooked On Classics – a series from the early 80s that consisted of an orchestra playing a continuous mix of famous songs set to a TR-909 beat.  

 

Other influences for Jonathan included New Wave artists like the Pet Shop Boys and electronic artists like William Orbit. 

 

 

Jonathan takes a deep dive into room treatment and room measurement.   For sound treatment he uses London set from Prime Acoustic.   He mentions how calm and peaceful his room makes him feel because the room is treated.    In particular, he emphasizes the importance of using bass traps, reference tracks, and having an acoustic cloud over your head.  In addition he discusses the importance of treating a room with a room-measuring microphone. 

 

In releasing music, Jonathan has worked with a music production coach in the past.  He focused on mass creating 9 ideas in various styles with various stages of completion.  From here, he began to whittle down the tracks into a common style.  He has always struggled to find his sound and this was a helpful exercise in trying to answer that question.   Much of his music was electronic and new-wave influenced, but predates the term ‘electronica’.  However, he now considers that to be a fitting category.  Eventually he chose 3 tracks that fit together to release as his Huxlous Aldey Red EP. 

 

Jonathan has explored various workflows in his production.  For instance, on his track “Vermillion”, he used an acapella vocal for inspiration.  He actually found the acapella for “Call Me Maybe” and wrote new music to support the track.  He then removed the acapella and had his instrumental track to build from.  On the other hand, when starting with a blank DAW, Jonathan recommends just putting ANYTHING in and building off of it. 

 

For using mobile music applications, Jonathan likes to use his phone as sound input for his Mac.  He has also used Link to make applications talk to one another on mobile.   He then simply records the audio onto his desktop when he gets home.  Favorite mobile apps include Propellerhead Figure and Korg Gadget is closer to a mobile DAW and has powerful sounds.  He also likes Auxy, which has some loop functionality, but less functionality than a full DAW.  Another thing he likes about mobile producing is that he can change his environment.  For instance, one of his favorite places to produce mobile music is in an art gallery.  

S1E5 Heitor Silva: The Intersection of Heavy Metal and the DAW

Heavy metal artist Heitor Silva stops by to discuss all things integrating heavy music with the digital realm.   Heitor gives us a ton of great plugin suggestions for heavy genres.  He also discusses how he was able to leverage his background in software to land a gig producing game music. 

Episode Links:

Heitor Silva:

https://linktr.ee/itshsilva

Plugins:

  • Akai Multimedia

Brazilian Heavy Bands:

Hardware:

Guitars:

Youtube:

Book:

Episode Summary:

Heitor started playing guitar at a young age.  As a heavy metal fan he naturally gravitated toward playing in bands.  Eventually he started studying at Point Blank learning music production.  He hopes to become a producer for heavy metal bands.  

He believes the DAW can be a tool not only for mixing and mastering, but also as a tool for creativity.   He mentions that the metal community already uses computers quite a bit.  One example he mentions is Neural DSP because this company makes great plugins and hardware for metal artists.  With their software, small artists can access the sound of big amplifiers and cabinets with just a laptop. 

Heitor mentions a couple of favorite Brazilian metal bands.  Angra mixes a lot of Brazilian rhythms with metal.  Vitalism mixes Brazilian funk with metal.  Heitor’s early influences include Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai, Opeth, and Arch Enemy. 

With regard to fusing the computer with metal, Heitor recommends checking out Korn’s collaboration with Skrillex.  He loves to see the experimentation and fusion of metal with world sounds and other styles.  We also discuss the industrial contribution to heavy music.  Some noteable artists include Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Slipknot, and Linkin Park. 

For composition, Heitor prefers to start with the melody.  He will start with his guitar or keyboard.  Then he will begin to build up and add harmonies to the melody.  He thinks he may reflect on 2020 and dedicate an album to this.  He likes to build up with orchestral parts such as cellos and violins. 

In the DAW Heitor will either begin by recording a clean guitar without effects or he will start by recording MIDI with a controller.  For heavy effects in the DAW he loves Positive Grid Bias FX and Neural DSP.  He feels these DAW plugins give his music a heavy feel very similar to hardware. 

Heitor goes on to discuss how he was able to land a soundtrack writing gig by leveraging his network.  Even though he works in software, by keeping his options open, a consultation about writing software eventually led to this opportunity.  He now works on not only the music but also software development.  

When he gets stuck, Heitor likes to take a step back and try a new approach.  In his free time he likes to host his own podcast in Brazilian Portuguese.  Here he and his long-time friend discuss various musical topics such as taking a deep dive on musical themes.    

S1E4 Digo: Future Bass Influences and Recruiting a Talented Vocalist

Artist Digo stops by to discuss how future bass influences like Illenium (among others) lead him to produce in a unique style.  He talks about some of the subtleties of electronic music genres and how certain characteristics separate house and techno from other styles.   He takes a deep dive into his single Crashing and how he was able to create this modern track with a powerful lead vocal. 

Episode Links:

Digo:

  • Twitter: @official_digo1

Sound Design:

Plugins:

  • Klanghelm MUJC Compressor: https://klanghelm.com/contents/main.html

Gear:

Samples:

Art:

Episode Summary:

Daniel got into bedroom producing by taking a class in high school and also by getting a certificate at the recording workshop in Chillicothe, OH.  One of his early inspirations is Illenium who he saw at a festival.   Other favorites include San Holo, Porter Robinson, and Duskus.  While he doesn’t completely define his music as future bass, he recognizes it as an influence in his style. 

In discussing the differences between future bass and house, Daniel mentions the differentiation of the rhythm as a starting point.  Half time or syncopated kick snare patterns make this genre different from techno and house.  In addition, he recommends searching Youtube to find some broad strokes on ‘how to make a future bass beat’.   He also likes to use ‘wall of sound’ chords or eighth note supersaws to start the vibe.   For mixing, he says that sidechaining is crucial.

Digo likes to use Splice as a resource drum hits, melodic samples, impacts.   He also mentions how helpful it has been to have a friend who is a mentor.   For kicks, he discusses the importance of having enough high end to cut through the mix, but also something that can hit you hard in the chest on a good system.  At the same time, the kick can’t be too long and boomy or it will interfere with the bass.  These aspects are crucial for making a good kick drum to cut through the Future Bass or Electropop mix. 

He likes plugins like Fabilter that don’t take up too much CPU.  He also enjoys the simplicity of Klanghelm’s two-knob compression.  He also likes Youtube creator Dylan Tallchief.  Dylan has some great videos talking about other artists that can be helpful for getting started. 

To get his track off the ground he usually likes to start with chords.  He will use a piano or simple synth.  He will work with progressions and explore inversions.  He usually has a general sense of whether something sounds good to him when he is starting.  Even though many tracks have similar chord progressions, Digo mentions that what really separates your track are the elements of sound design, rhythm, melody and a strong vocal.  He also discusses that using different extensions can completely change the flavor of a progression.  This is particularly important for the future bass genre.  To a degree, Digo likes to ‘build in’ the melody into his chord progressions. 

Digo doesn’t write intentionally toward an emotion.  Rather he is in the moment and finds that making music can be meditative.  He likes to get into the flow of production and the music is what comes out of it.  

On two of his main singles Digo was able to use the same lead sound, which is a processed pan flute sample.   On ‘Crashing’, he put the instrumental together really quickly.   He then sent out a request for singer demos after having the main arrangement of his track together.  Then his vocalist was able to write over it. 

With regard to making hooks, Digo believes in finding a balance of repeatability with just enough variation to keep things interesting.   There should be simplicity, but also small changes.  Some methods he likes to use to create interest in his melodies are changing some of the notes, making them higher or lower, or by creating small rhythmic variations.   

One of his favorite synths is Serum because he finds it to be very intuitive.  He finds the visual feedback to be particularly helpful in this synth.  He also has Casio SK1 sampling synth from the 80s.    

He does like to have a promo plan for his releases.  Part of this is getting together artwork for the album.   One useful resource for album artwork is Canva.  Also, he finds it helpful to collaborate with artists from other mediums including graphic designers and photographers. 

Digo believes that when you are just getting started you have to create, even if it’s not good.   He recommends you just try things, be creative and take risks.   Don’t be afraid that something won’t sound good.  Rather, take an exploratory approach to designing your music…and if it isn’t good, just learn from the experience.  As you create in this manner you may find that you only like one sound, chord progression, or sample from the song –  and you can at least save that for later use.  Ultimately he believes the more you create the more you will learn about your own process. 

S1E3 v i v: Creating Dreamy Vibes and Producing to Support the Environment

Producer v i v stops by to talk about her creative process and the importance of not giving up.   She discusses how she was able to springboard her experience with classical guitar and jazz into a passion for music production.  She mentions how much inspiration she has found from video game soundtracks and also gives some tips on how to give tracks a dreamy sound.  Lastly she talks about her release Deep Blue for Tsunami Sounds’ environmental compilation album, Save Our World.

Episode Links:  

v i v:

  • Spotify: 

Influences and Inspiration:

Plugins:

Gear:

Episode Summary:

Viv’s musical background is diverse, but it starts with learning classical guitar.  She played in grunge and metal bands and explored various styles early on.  One of her early inspirations was artist Hikaru Utada who wrote music for the Kingdom Hearts video game.  In particular, she found it inspiring that Hikaru could compose, play music, and sing her own music even at a very young age. 

She believes that even time on an airplane can be used for creative purposes too.  She likes to experiment with plugins like Native Instruments’ Reaktor.   She finds this to be an excellent plugin for sound design.  In addition, she likes the Korg Monologue for its portability and step sequencer.  

Viv often describes her music as dreamy and minimal.  When she writes music she likes to focus on the feeling and the mood first.  Also, many of her melodies come to her in her dreams.  She will often wake and take voice notes and sing them to capture them.  When writing melody she likes to keep from getting too cliché.  She likes to play with different voicings or take the melody on a journey.  At the same time, it should be simple and easy to listen to but without being too simple – just push the boundaries a little bit.   

   

One of her favorite ways to begin is with a simple piano sound or Rhodes.  She will begin with a chord progression or melody.  She will often then develop the idea with the guitar and also get into sound design.  To her sound design is more important than complex melodies because the sound design will dictate the atmosphere of the track.  In producing her track for Tsunami Sounds, she created a dreamy yet underwater feel for the track.  She accomplished this through a combination of low pass filtering, chorus, reverb and delay.  Naturally her tracks also need to include fitting and interesting drum beats.  Viv also loves to use grain delay and ‘break’ a sound to make something new out of it. 

On mixing, v i v does believe it is possible to mix on headphones.  However, she thinks it is best to have both headphones and monitors.  This allows you to perceive how others will perceive the music in certain environments.  She thinks the most important thing in treating the room is to identify the problem frequencies in your room and quality bass traps. 

When stuck on a track, Viv recommends that you ‘don’t give up’, but instead explore new approaches.  If you’re stuck in the Ableton arrangement she recommends moving your loop to the session view and changing at least one aspect of the music.  This could be the instrument rack or the beat for example.   Always be creating here, and then arrange your new loops.  If you still don’t like them, try chopping them up with a sampling plugin such as Simpler. 

 

S1E2 Invibed: Universal Elements of Dance Music & Writing with a Purpose

Invibed discusses the common elements amongst dance tracks and also unique elements to make an EDM track stand out.  He also takes a dive into personal style and the creation of his first music video.  Lastly he talks about defining your mission as an artist. 

Episode Links:  

Invibed:

  • Facebook: Facebook.com/invibedmusic

Plugins:

Episode Summary:

EDM producer Waldek Jarosik joins the Sample Hacker podcast this week to discuss how having and underlying mission drives him in his career as an artist.  He explains his vision and how he condensed this mission into a piece of art by creating a music video.

Waldek’s background includes computer science.  Along with playing in bands this led him to a natural transition into computer-based music.  One challenge relates to having played in various bands is the coordination of getting all of the members together and on the same page.  With EDM, he likes that he can control the entire process and has the capacity to complete projects in their entirety on his own. 

Waldek goes on to discuss the power of music on emotion and how it can shape moods.  To him, being able to influence other people’s lives in this way is very rewarding.   In particular, he loves being able to reach the part of someone’s subconscious that makes them want to dance.  

In writing dance music, he has often found that there are certain rhythmic patterns that play an important role in creating the danceability.  He further discusses how this can in some ways be a double-edged sword for the creative artist.  On one hand, danceable patterns create a universality to the music.  On the other hand, it can be easy for dance tracks to sound “the same.”

However, Waldek describes how bedroom producers can look for opportunities to separate themselves and make their tracks more unique.  One prominent way is with a unique vocal track.  However, other methods include using orchestral or unusual instruments.  Still another method of exercising unique creativity would be to use unusual scales…such as an Arabic scale in a dance tune. 

When listening critically to a piece of music, Waldek likes to keep in mind what he calls the Three P’s:  Pieces, Production, & Placement.  That is to say, what pieces or elements are in the music?  How are they produced to play a certain role?  And lastly where do they sit in the mix?  He likes to use this strategy to study the danceable patterns that work in EDM.  

In addition to good production and rhythm, Waldek emphasizes the importance of energy management in music.  Part of this includes making solid transitions.  At all times, he is asking himself “What story am I telling?”  and “Does this music make me want to dance?”  Along with energy management is the idea that you can often change the energy by removing elements.  Waldek likes to begin with more elements than he needs, and this can give him options when he wants to remove elements. 

To break out of a loop Waldek suggests playing live instruments or experimenting.  He also thinks that flipping through presets and experimenting with them can sometimes be a way to find an inspirational spark. 

To improve your mixes, Waldek recommends listening back to yours music constantly and taking good notes.  Also, he emphasizes the importance of beliving in yourself when you first start out and giving yourself time to develop.  Lastly, he recommends surrounding yourself by peers who can give you objective feedback on the quality of your work. 

S1E1 Luxsynth: Social Media, Livestreaming, & Writing With Vision

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:

Sound Design:

Plugins:

Gear:

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.