Dubstepforum.com

1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)
Specifically what I use to produce dubstep:
Ableton Live, Logic Pro, some cheap M-Audio Midi controller, a Micromoog from the 70's (it is my dad's from when he played in a band. He no longer uses it so now I use it. I haven't used it in a song yet but I can get some cool bass from it), Novation Launchpad, and some other junk.

As far as my other stuff. Before I produced I played in bands and played a ton of instruments so I have guitars, basses, horns, drums, keyboards, and other various instruments laying around that I'd like to use in a tune but I'm just too lazy to do so. I'm really thinking about using my oud in a song.

2. What is your musical history? (Any instruments/djing etc)
Well I started playing trombone when I was 10. So I've been playing that as my main instrument for about 11 or 12 years now. Did every music program in high school and went off to some shitty music school where I was studying trombone performance but sucked. At that school I learned a lot. The music I played there was the hardest I've ever encountered. Jazz and some classical. Learned some cool theory. And started to learn Logic Pro. Rewind a bit. Through those years of grade school and high school I also taught myself how to play drums, guitar, bass, and a bit of piano. All throughout high school I wrote Industrial Metal songs on my own. Eventually joined a punk band with horns. (not ska) I played trombone in that for a while until we broke up. Looking forward to playing bass in a hardcore band in the future whenever my bros want to get started with that. I haven't started DJing until after I started producing.

3. How do you go about starting a new tune?
Well first I usually have the kind of tune I want in mind. I write out a few beats and variations of those beats. Then I make my primary bass patch and jam it out over those beats until I get what I like. When I get the basic structure of the song down I go back and do automation and add in all that other stuff you'd want in your song.

4. Name some of your favourite places to sample from.
Going way back to my industrial metal days I had tons of ideas to sample from so many sci-fi films. One of my influences was Powerman 5000 so that expains that. But I love sampling from Sci-Fi films, Spaghetti Westerns, Anime, and a bunch of old cult-classics. It doesn't hurt to throw in samples from "Manos" The Hands of Fate. I know I love to hear samples from some old film I love. I imagine another fan would like to hear those samples as well.

5. Why did you start producing?
Well looking back I've always made my own tunes. Back when I was writing industrial metal the most I could do was write out the song in something like Guitar Pro since I knew no one who'd be interested in doing that kind of music. And it would take a band of like 6 people to accomplish what I imagined. When I started listening to dubstep I realized that if I produced it would be my chance to actually make my ideas in my head into actual songs.

6. Who inspired you and how, both musically and non-musically?
Girl Talk was always a huge inspiration. I love his no rules kind of producing and taking old things and turning it into something new. Specifically for dubstep Skream and Rusko are my biggest inspirations.

7. What genre/style would you place your music under. Do you feel part of a scene at all?
I think I write that older style of brostep primarily. The Cockney Thug kind of brostep not the Doctor P kind of brostep since I really don't know how to make tunes like that. I'd like to though. I've been experimenting with less agressive older dubstep recently. Also a tiny bit of jungle, moombahton, trap, and garage on the side.

8. What would you say is the "signature element" of your tunes- and how would someone go about recreating it?
Copying artists I like? lol I dunno. The only thing that sticks out to me is my drum beats.

9. For you what is most important- artistic self expression or making dj-friendly beats?
A bit of both. I like to express myself but I also keep in mind that to get my tunes out there I have to be DJ friendly and follow certain structures.

10. What are your production goals, both in 2013 and beyond?
To stop being so damn OCD and stop going back and editing the same tune for months on end.
And to put out an EP on vinyl. Even if it is only just one copy for me. I want my own vinyl.

11. What do you find most challenging about production? Maybe describe a problem and how you overcame it?
I feel as if something I create is never good enough and that I need to keep going back and making changes. I'm never satisfied with myself. I wish I can overcome this someday.

12. Finally, time to plug yourself- post what you consider to be your best song and maybe explain why- ONLY ONE SONG.
Out of my few finished songs it would have to be this one.
Soundcloud
This song just feels so fun and dancy.

hasezwei wrote:

cryptical wrote:1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)

[...]korn nano controller[...]

imagine how much money you could make with that

j-devil signed it himself before he gave it to me
its priceless

Right, since the Q and A's have dried up, one way to fill the void would be to just talk to ourselves. I'll post a lot of the most common questions here and you all try and answer them as fully as possible. (If you don't want to/ can't answer a question then that's fine- likewise if there's a question you feel should have been asked then feel free to include it).

1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)

Acer laptop (4GB Ram, 2,10 GHz Pentium processor)
Creative SoundBlaster
Headphones - flicking between AKG K518 and Sony MDR-V150
2.1 PC speakers for 30 euros. I replaced the satellites with speakers from an old Hi-fi and it sounds nice
Reaper + tons of freeware vsts (Garageband till not long ago lol)

2. What is your musical history? (Any instruments/djing etc)

None, really. I used to record myself drumming on random stuff and mumbling random lyrics as a kid. Found those tapes few years ago and they were immediately destroyed lol.
And i can play a very little on piano.
I DJ, I play mostly dubstep, but i venture into 85/170 and 130 territories aswell

3. How do you go about starting a new tune?

Depends on the tune really. Sometimes i start with pads/fx/atmospheres, lot of time i lay down a bassline first, and sometimes i start with drums. I used to do drums first all the time, but i felt that led to pretty dull tunes, so i'm trying to experiment.

4. Name some of your favourite places to sample from.

Household. I got many sick percussions from recording myself hitting random stuff.

5. Why did you start producing?

Well i kinda got into dubstep and electronic music as whole after listening do Dubstep Warz, and i wanted to make my own stuff like that. So i just started messing around in Garageband, no idea what i was doing, and learned as the time passed.

6. Who inspired you and how, both musically and non-musically?

Well in the dubstep scene, my inspiration is definitely Skream and his old tunes, they are epitome of something that is simple yet effective, i would like to be able make stuff like that one day, overproducing a track is very easy to do. And definitely Burial, his tunes give electronic music a whole new dimension. As for non-musical inspiration, my parents of course.

7. What genre/style would you place your music under. Do you feel part of a scene at all?

I'd say dubstep, as most of the time i make that and I enjoy it. I did a few dnb tunes and messed with hip-hop stuff a bit. I like that too, i need to get away from 140 a bit again, i think .

8. What would you say is the "signature element" of your tunes- and how would someone go about recreating it?

That's a bit hard to say, every tune i make is different, i rarely re-use percussion hits for example. But i think the signature element of my tunes would be a brief silence before the drop. I love that.

9. For you what is most important- artistic self expression or making dj-friendly beats?

Both combined of course. If i had to choose one, i'd say the self-expression. Too many people are trying to make their tunes just to make them fit into specific DJ's portfolio, and then it all sounds like 1000 carbon copies of same thing, 95% of 'dungeon' dubstep for example.

10. What are your production goals, both in 2013 and beyond?

Make a tune good enough for someone to release it

11. What do you find most challenging about production? Maybe describe a problem and how you overcame it?

Writer's block. It's shit when you force yourself to make another 16 bars. I don't know how to fight it, it just comes and goes, there are times when i feel very creative but also the opposite. And also, in the actual production - mixdowns. When i hear some of the unmastered tunes the 'big guys' make, i wonder how they can get them so loud and clear. I feel like i'm making a progress on this, though

12. Finally, time to plug yourself- post what you consider to be your best song and maybe explain why- ONLY ONE SONG.

2 tunes of mine i like the most aren't on the net, so i'd say this.
Soundcloud
The notes seem to be a bit odd, but i don't care, i honestly like the instruments, the beat - especially the beat, chopping breaks is fun, the bassline. I love it all ha!

1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)
Fl10, Massive, Kjaerhus VSTs, Bionic Delay, Akai LPK25, Yamaha HS80M

2. What is your musical history? (Any instruments/djing etc)
Used to play bass, guitar, but not for long. Got into dnb + dubstep afterwards.

3. How do you go about starting a new tune?
Usually I'll start with the drums, getting them exactly how I want them to sound in a 16 bar loop, then I'll just have Massive open for a few days to find some new bass sounds. After that it's just trying to make something with what I've got.^^

4. Name some of your favourite places to sample from.
Blokhe4d pack, random packs found here and on doa.

5. Why did you start producing?
Because I wanted to learn how to create music that sounded good to me.

6. Who inspired you and how, both musically and non-musically?
Red Hot Chili Peppers are a major influence (do what you want, express yourself, love what you do), Pendulum + Camo & Krooked + Noisia (mixdowns + reeses), Reso (drums, atmosphere)

7. What genre/style would you place your music under. Do you feel part of a scene at all?
Dnb + dubstep, no I don't really feel part of a scene, I just like the music.

8. What would you say is the "signature element" of your tunes- and how would someone go about recreating it?
Still pretty bad bass sounds, not hard to replicate. Other than that I guess not much really. :/ I'm still trying to find a style.

9. For you what is most important- artistic self expression or making dj-friendly beats?
Artistic expression! The thing is: at the moment I like dj-friendly beats.

10. What are your production goals, both in 2013 and beyond?
Learn how to make my basses sound better, improve my mixdowns, learn music theory, get a track signed somewhere.

11. What do you find most challenging about production? Maybe describe a problem and how you overcame it?
Melodies. I have no idea about music theory and I really need to catch up on that. Also finding a point where you think "that tune's finished now".

12. Finally, time to plug yourself- post what you consider to be your best song and maybe explain why- ONLY ONE SONG.
The clip of the dnb tune in my sig. Although I don't really like the intro, I think it's my best mixdown yet.

1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)

Fruity Loops.

2. What is your musical history? (Any instruments/djing etc)

Started messing around on an old Casio when I was a kid. MTV Music Generator was my first DAW. Picked up guitar when I was a teenager.

3. How do you go about starting a new tune?

Just mess around. Chop up vocal samples and see what I get.

4. Name some of your favourite places to sample from.

Movies, like everyone else. I like using female vocals.

5. Why did you start producing?

It started as something that I needed to figure out because it seemed cool. I quickly developed a knack for it.

6. Who inspired you and how, both musically and non-musically?

I always was into keyboards. Video games and movies gave me a taste for 80s music. Non-musically, everything inspires me. I'm influenced by negativity. There's a lot of that in the world, so I should never have a problem.

7. What genre/style would you place your music under. Do you feel part of a scene at all?

The first EDM I ever listened to was Hard Techno and Trance. I was always into Hip-Hop and come from a Metal background, so all of those things are influences. I say my music is Dubstep/Trap/Whatever, using those terms loosely and generically. Who knows what any sound is anymore. Plus people get crazy about what genre anyone says their music is, so I don't care. I produce, but I don't DJ yet, because I don't what to just take a laptop on stage and hit buttons. Be it a controller or CDJs, I want to actually be doing something, but Im not there yet.

8. What would you say is the "signature element" of your tunes- and how would someone go about recreating it?

I make weird arpeggios, chop up vocals and add effects to them, and try to make hard hitting bass. I try to keep my tunes simple. Adding a thousand sounds and having 20 variations within one track is too much for me.

9. For you what is most important- artistic self expression or making dj-friendly beats?

I try not to make any song too wierd. I try to think if people can dance to it. If it's too dark and weird, what can you do with that? I like making that stuff, but for now, I'm trying not to make anything too obscure.

10. What are your production goals, both in 2013 and beyond?

To have people hear the stuff I make. I want to start DJing. Have something released on a label. Not looking to become rich and famous, but waking up knowing all I had to do in a day is work on some tunes and head to a show would be a nice life.

11. What do you find most challenging about production? Maybe describe a problem and how you overcame it?

I don't know the ends and outs of production as well as I should. I sometimes don't know how to do something that I'm trying to do, so sometimes it takes a while to get what seems like small things done. It takes me a while to convince myself that I need to break down and ask for help.

12. Finally, time to plug yourself- post what you consider to be your best song and maybe explain why- ONLY ONE SONG.

Mistake(VIP) I consider this to be the real version of the song, even though it's the third version. I've never worked so long and hard on a track. (Which if people think it sucks, could be a regretful statement :/) I like it.

http://soundcloud.com/drvinnyboombeats/mistake-vip

1. What is your production set up? (hardware and software)
iMac 27" 3.4GHz.
M-Audio Axiom25 and a Korg Poly-800.
Auralex foampads underneath my KRK Rokit 5's (been using these since my Behringer's stopped working).
Logic Pro 9 and Reason 6.5 (legit)
All my current plugins are not legit except my Wave's OneKnob (which was free).

2. What is your musical history? (Any instruments/djing etc)
I played drums casually since my 13th.

3. How do you go about starting a new tune?
I rarely start off with drums.
I start off with looking for sounds/sample packs and looking for some unique sounds I can either sample or recreate.
From there on I'll play my notes and try to get the vibe before I put in my drums.

4. Name some of your favourite places to sample from.
I don't know really, I sample from everything I can find, my keys, running water in my bathroom.
Whatever comes to mind that will fit my track.

5. Why did you start producing?
About 2 years ago I found a Reason 4 crack from a mate. Fast forward 2 years and I'm using Logic and have a degree in Audio Production (Only 1 year so nothing big).

6. Who inspired you and how, both musically and non-musically?
Marvin Gaye, seriously, fucking Marvin fucking Gaye.

7. What genre/style would you place your music under. Do you feel part of a scene at all?
I don't really feel part of a scene or a genre/style for that matter. I make music that comes up in my head and I try not to limit to my BPM or a genre.
I do often choose for a certain genre tho.

8. What would you say is the "signature element" of your tunes- and how would someone go about recreating it?
I don't really think I already got a signature element, I don't know...

9. For you what is most important- artistic self expression or making dj-friendly beats?
Artistic self expression for sure.
I would be sooo bored and limited if I had to keep in mind that I have to be around the 140 bpm and that I need to have x bars intro, x bars 'drop' and so on.
I hate limiting myself to anyone or anything.

10. What are your production goals, both in 2013 and beyond?
Ye I feel really ridiculous to say this but I would love to get a release in 2013.
Something, I don't know, to keep me motivated, to push me further.

11. What do you find most challenging about production? Maybe describe a problem and how you overcame it?
Everyone seems to hate mixing but I quite enjoy it.
I hate sound design, I'm incredibly lazy with it because I know I can push a sound further but instead of doing that I just go with it as it is now.

12. Finally, time to plug yourself- post what you consider to be your best song and maybe explain why- ONLY ONE SONG.
Soundcloud
DEFINITELY this one. I've hadn't had this much fun creating a track in ages. Everything just flowed and I'm incredibly proud of it eventhough it's 6 months old.
It also contains vocal samples of Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' .