DSF Q&A 20: Downlink

[narrator]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Q&A man (without sounding like a kiss ass) you're definitely in my Top 5 favourite producers.

If you wouldn't mind sharing some details on the punchy triplets bassline in Reploid I'd be really grateful, it just sounds so gritty and chunky.

[mikeyp]

hey, no questions here. pretty much anything i could ask has been already in some way. just want to say thanks for doing this

[ridethecliche]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop?

[eldoogle]

Where was your first live gig and when, if you can remember. Like a house party or real show?

Also, what methods did you use to spread your music? Did you talk to a lot of producers and label guys online?

[Artie_Fufkin]

Thanks for doing this, man! When my friends showed me "dubstep", one of the first things I heard was your Ignition EP and I must've listened to that at least three or four times more than the other stuff I was checking out. I just gravitated more towards your stuff

Where did you get the dialogue samples you used on Ignition EP?
How did you process amen breaks?
Do you have any tips for getting new sounds out of the same effects? Like specifically, bitcrushers and flangers?
How do you think the sound of brostep will evolve over the next few years?
Do you split frequencies or prefer layering different synths or different samples?
Have you used granular synthesis in any of your tunes?
What is your workflow like when collaborating with other producers? Any tips for making the most of your time when doing so?
What is your opinion on the loudness war?
How would you feel if someone sampled your stuff without your permission?
How do you get that ravey sound in Emergency sounding so huge?

Once again, thanks!

[Climax]

As a follow up to my question about live performance.... you said that you do have different versions of tracks and special loops and builds and such for live playing...


-What are you able to get away with that you wouldnt normally, on a regular EP track, when making "system music" for playing out live? Do you just edit your arrangements of your original tracks or are you literally changing your EQ's, Gain structure, etc....

-Do you feel like you have much more room in the low end or anything like that?

-Also just any general advice for someone who wants to make productions that translate well onto large proper systems


So glad you are doing this and really taking the time to answer so thoroughly! Cheers mate

[lloydy]

I just want to say hello out of politeness really,i have no questions or need for help in direction i just wanted to say hello and how you doing?

what's up man?! I'm chillin. thanks for being polite. I had heard this place had become a haven for a rare breed of ravenous sleep-steppers, but its been peachy.

Haha!Yeah i'm cool mate,just want to say i don't really do bro but really feel what you and excision put out,i like the hard edge sound you boys get.Just a few question then fuck it!Do you produce under any aliases that we don't know of and do you ever make the deeper side to dubstep?
See the way i see it your are really competent at what you do but making one genre of music can get head banging so do you ever just break away and make something chill for yourself?

[Fbac]

Quite a nice read so far cheers for doing this and cheers to whomever sorted it out

When you mixed down the new Korn album what did you A/B compare it too? If you dont mind me asking.

Also if you weren't doing what your doing now what job do you think you would of wound up doing?

[Killamike49]

I only have one question.
Are you ever going to make a remix or VIP of Ignition (my favorite song by you)? If not, release those stems so we can hear some really dope versions of it, please.

[djOdyssey]

Hey dude,

just had a couple questions about sidechaining if you were willing to share. I'm starting to work alot on my mixdowns recently, and this is one my of my biggest problems. Is there a certain thing that should be sidechained or is it only needed if you want to automate the volume in comparison to another sound?

any light you can shed on this concept, or really the mixdown concept at all would be insanely helpful!

Also, just wondering, are you and jeff still living together. Do you guys share that house with the 2 Studios?

[Immerse]

big up

[downlink]

Sorry for neglecting this for the past couple days. I'm going to try to get to a bunch more questions later tonight!

[outbound]

Nice one for doing this man,

Only question I'd add is how many hours do you put into producing each week? Do you put much time into DJ'ing outside of shows? or is it more a case of just trying new things as you go along when you play out?

[downlink]

Thank you Downlink for taking time to do this, much appreciated!

My question is a further elaboration of Jr's question, "Melody or Tone, which is more important?":

In the context of producing bass driven music, what is the mindset you have when composing basslines?

To explain: For myself, I'm very attracted to the upper end of the freq spectrum, especially harmonizing tones. Chords are so emotionally powerful, that I feel it'd be a crime to not use them in the main focus of the track (a la trance music). How do you translate the same emotional effect that trance has been built around, to the aggressive style that bass music has evolved to? I know layering is a good way to make a bass tone sound full, but are upper frequency harmonies to dissonant to low end bass music to be the focus of the track? Is there a reason trance and aggressive dubstep haven't seen much of a crossover?

To hear trance and dubstep crossing over, you just need to look around. There are definitely some fairly musical dubstep tunes around with trance influences. I don't count myself a fan, but they are out there. Also I think aggressive dub step doesn't really fit with Trance in that the mood is totally different. When I hear aggressive dub I get pumped up and feel my head bobbin, bass face etc etc... Trance honestly makes me laugh and I walk away, but for most I guess it is supposed to invoke emotion a lot more. I'm not looking to take people on an emotional roller coaster, I just wanna rock. I'm personally a sucker for heavy riffs and tend to ignore melody and chord progression for the most part. Only recently have I begun to experiment a lot more with music theory, harmonizing lead line notes to my basslines and such. It can be done and no the upper frequency harmonics are not too dissonant to the low end stuff. You just have to exercise slightly more skill in the mix.

[jrisreal]

If you came home and saw a slinky lying around...what would you do with it first?

[downlink]

What guys (if any) do you look up to that are in the game right now? as in actively releasing material?

There are many producers that I rate. A few that come to mind right now are

Noisia, Spor, Nero, Burial, Tipper, Zedd, Knife Party, Far Too Loud, Koan Sound...

[downlink]

thanks for the answer! feel free to decline my reguest, but would you mind uploading a massive patch/project file for us to analyze?
would you say you do most of your filtering(for main movements ie wobbles, and big robot sounds) inside massive? or do you use massive's filters just to give it some movement and then proceed to process it outside of massive and apply external filters to achieve the main movement.
also, how does ableton come into play in your production process?

Honestly me uploading a patch won't really do you any good. I do so much processing and stuff to my sounds that there are only a few out of the box patches that sound amazing to me.

I do most of my filtering within massive yes, but I definitely add movement to the sound using phasing, and frequency shifting outside of massive. Also I do things like automate EQ sweeps or automate saturation amounts. Rarely will I use external filters for the main movement of a massive patch, simply because the filtering and modulation properties within massive itself are so wicked. For FM8 however I will break out camelphat or Fabfilter Volcano or some other filter to get more modulation out of the sounds I create.

As far as ableton goes as a production tool I use it for drastic time stretching processes. I have tried all of Logics time stretching modes and compared to ableton, and to me its clear that abletons complex algorithm is superior and sounds better in the end. If I'm doing a simple time stretch of a percussion loop of like 10 bpm or something I will just use Logic, but if I'm stretching vocals or anything that requires more serious bpm adjustments, then I will use live. I also should note that I use live to edit music for dj sets as well.

[jrisreal]

Spor

This guy is WAY better than FeedMe IMO.

Koan Sound

Absolute Yes

[downlink]

Hey Downlink,
if you could tell all new producers something, what would it be?
Also, what pisses you off in the dubstep, dnb scene?

I would tell new producers to make sure that they work on defining their own style and sound, and to put as much time into this as they can. Work on building your arsenal of unique bass patches and processing chains that you can rely on to make your stuff unique. Don't kick yourself for copying people in the beginning if its helping you learn stuff, but in the end always try to follow your own path.

What pisses me off in dubstep is the segregation within the scene itself. I personally listen to all forms of dubstep and feel that each different sound has a time and place. I tend to play heavier more energetic music, but that doesn't mean I don't feel right at home chillin out to some deep stuff. A lot of people say things like _____ ruined dubstep, or that's not REAL dubstep or whatever. Call it what you want, and listen to what you want. Times change and so does what's popular. Who cares what other people think is cool or what they are listening to. Do what makes you happy and listen to whatever the fuck you want. Stop hating

[downlink]

I'm always struggling with basslines/leads and in some point they sound ok, but after a while they start to sound crappy and again the same thing starts over. What is the hardest part of making a track for you?

The hardest part of making a track is coming up with that initial 8 bar loop of the drop that has the "wow factor". After that is made you can kind of expand on that 8 bar loop and develop an entire track by incorporating patch changes and edits and whatnot. Maybe once you work in a melody you may want to change some notation so that everything harmonizes, but really that first 8 bar loop is the real clincher for me.