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Common mistakes producers make, I would say for new producers, one of the biggest mistakes
is owning too many VSTs. I think we all fall to it every now and then. And I know I get
to a point sometimes where I might buy say, 3, 4, 5 new synths and you end up at a point
where you actually only start using 1 of them, because its only one of them that you've learnt
the menu system or the sounds of or the bits and pieces and the finer details. I think
that's something that I've always tried to advise people - is just get one. Stick to
it, learn it inside out. Because that's really when you start to become a bit more creative
in your processes and you really start to know your limitations, basically. But yeah,
I think if you get too many too soon, you just get lost in this swamp of new sounds.
Its really difficult to deviate from presets then, and it makes it a lot harder to learn.
For getting stuff finished I... I heard a quote once and I can't remember who said it
and I should really find out, because I've quoted this a few times before. But some one
once said, "Art is never finished, its only ever ready." And I kind of live by that rule
when it comes to finishing things, in that you can always add in a new hi-hat, you can
always change your kick drum, you can always completely revamp your bass line or your top
line melody, or make some tweaks here and there. But I think, if you're asking yourself
if its finished, your asking the wrong question. Its not really a question of whether its finished,
its more a question of whether its ready. And I think for me, my process is can I play
this at my own gig? If I went to a gig tonight, can I play this in the middle of my set and
would it stick out like a sore thumb - in a good way or bad way. If you can't finish
a track, don't finish it. Bin it. Get rid, move on. You've got to. And I live by that
myself. I'll come up with- sometimes I'll come up- I tend to start with a combination
of sort of bass line, drums, and develop a groove first, as part of my process, and if
I can't get further than that, bin it. Get rid, move on. Its as simple as that,
because if you're struggling to get past that point, it wasn't inspiring you enough to make
it further. And I think its where we, as producers, get our creativities from. Our own creativity.
And it has this sort of spiraling, rolling effect, so I think yeah, its.... And when
I say "bin it", don't actually get rid of it to never be seen again, maybe bring it
up in 6 months time and give it another go. You might find it inspires you. You might
find the fashion or the industry or whatever has changed to a position where this now works
or something. Or you might have learned a new technique, where now you know how to treat
this sound that it is you're struggling with. For me, I think its a case of just keep going,
keep persevering basically. And if you hit a brick wall, just move on.
That's a tough one. Fantasy plugin... I'm not sure that I can think of anything that
doesn't already exist. But, I think effects companies, or plugin companies, who develop
effects, I'd like to see more envelope following effects. So for example reverb or delay that
follows the envelope, whether that be frequency envelope or amplitude envelope or something
just that is a bit more creative. And I think there's so many companies out there at the
moment, especially in the lines of djing equipment. People are bringing out all these mixers and
you get a filter, a delay, a flanger, a reverb, a beat repeat, and its always those effects.
And the same goes for plugins as well. When you get the live laptop DJ plugins and effects
units, they all have the same effects and I just think actually there's a whole world
of effects out there that we could be making. Whether it be some kind of additive harmonic
something or other, or some envelope follower. There's not so much out there that's a really START FROM HERE ---
creative breath of fresh air. It tends to be very much the same stuff over and over
again. It would be nice to see plugin companies really doing something that's a bit 'out there',
but useful at the same time. There are a few that have tried it but failed miserably.
My production process is kind of all over the place really. I don't tend to do the same
thing over and over again. Sometimes I'll be- I think it comes down to what I'm playing
with at the time. Generally I start with Nerve, for example, so a drum machine. And I'll start
there and I'll play with some sounds, and develop a loop or a groove or I might find
that by tweaking the perametres of the kick drum or something, actually I could make this
into a bass line and I'll really start. And its all about finding that inspirational moment.
But then other times I could be playing with a synth and just flicking through presets
to see what its got on offer. And I'll just start playing some chords and go, "actually
I quite like those chords with this sound." And I'll take it from there and start developing
it from there. Sometimes I might develop an entire breakdown before I've even got to how
the drums are going to sound. So its a bit backwards really.
Which track do I wish I'd written or produced? I don't know, which one made the most money?
How else do you work it- how else do you define it? I mean, oh man, which one do I wish I
had produced? I wish I was in the studio during the making of Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells because that
sounds like it would have been a riot. Frustrating but a riot. In watching one man try and play all
these instruments to poorly synced 8 tracks. That would have been fun. Dance music wise,
I'd like to be in the studio working with or watching people like Noisia or Knife Party or Pendulum
purely because, I mean I really respect their music from a grabbing-the-industry-by-the-balls-and-swinging-it
around viewpoint. That's what they do to a T. And I think they do it both artistically
and sonically. So yeah, I guess what track would I like to have produced kind of falls
under the same category. Yeah a lot of the Knife Party or Noisia ones, because they do
stuff that I couldn't or wouldn't do and its just so 'out there' for me. So worlds apart
from my sound that yeah, I really appreciate and respect that.
Best music production advice I was ever given... is probably, not just production but industry
advice. Pick something and stick to it. When I first started djing many many years ago...
I mean I grew up in a family who were into all sorts, from prog rock to jazz to electro
to everything, so because of that I sort of loved most genres of music, there's very little that
I don't enjoy. And so when I first started djing my sets would start off chilled out
and end up raging techno or something. And my productions were very similar at the beginning.
And I still like to venture into other genres or whatever. I've produced loads of dubstep
tracks, of drum and bass tracks, of hip hop, all sorts. I've never released them, I've
never shown anyone them, but that's part of my learning curve. But publically I stick
to one kind of, not necessarily one sound but one key format and I keep trying at that.
And I think that's probably the best advice I ever got, from a DJ - Colin Dale actually.
And yeah I think that's - so many people sort of scramble at something and go oh its not
working, I'll scramble at this, and actually if you stopped scrambling and kept at a solid
walk then you'll get there in the end.
The difference between a DJ and a producer these days is near zero. And do electronic
fans care? I hope not. And they shouldn't either. Electronic fans should care about
electronic music, not who's pressing play or who's using a sync button or who's got
the biggest limo or who's got the biggest ***. That's not what its about. Its about
music and that's all it should ever be about. When I first started going clubbing I'd go
to a club and dance all night, I didn't care who was playing. If there was some one who
really entertained me that night then obviously I'd remember their name and maybe go to more
of their gigs. But yeah, I think its a bit of a sad state of affairs if we're judging
people on anything other than the music that comes out the speakers. There's a lot of negativity
going around at the moment with the whole sync button this and sync button that and
I just think well, djing has evolved. It used to be about beat matching and it used to be
about vinyl and whatever and if you want to maintain that then crack on. But good luck
finding all the new music on vinyl. You know, its as simple as that really. And vinyl at
the time, you know, when technics came out or pre-technics even, when you had pitch
control on vinyl, people thought oh well that's cheating. Well, you know, where are we now?
There's no such thing as too easy when it comes to production. In fact I mentioned this
in the session earlier on, that some people seem to talk about, that you shouldn't use
loops in your productions for example. As far as I'm concerned that's absolute rubbish.
House music was built on samples. It was built on loops you know? Without the idea of using
loops and samples then electronic music wouldn't exist. How do you think you got your kick
drums and your snare drums and all of these sounds? They're all samples, they're all loops.
So the technology that we've got today makes all of this a lot easier. And I think so long
as you're not only taking the easiest possible option because its easy, then I don't have
any problem whatsoever. If some one has a track that's only 3 layers of sound and all
3 of those happen to be loops or whatever, if it sounds good it sounds good. What's the
problem with that, you know? If it gets played in a club and people start dancing, mission
complete. Job done. That's really why we're all here to enjoy it, isn't it?
The one in Birmingham probably. What's the best BPM? 128 of course.