DSF Q&A Sessions Vol.16 : DJ MADD

[pdomino]

Big thanks to DJ MADD for this questions and answers sesh'





BIO
Based in Bristol, UK

Fast forward to the present, with remixes from “Breakage”, “Ikonika” & “Akira Kiteshi” as well as solo and collaborative projects DJ Madd is fast becoming one of the most recognisable names and demanded artists in the scene, his DJ demand have been stretching from Europe, the US and to the other side of the world as far away as New Zealand.

After hearing Dubstep in the early stages of 2007, Budapest born artist DJ Madd was hooked. Going on to release his first tune in 2008, ‘Numbers’, DJ Madd hit the world by storm. Following on from this, Madd secured a three track EP on Boka records then his collaborative effort with Frances “Von D”, featuring “U” and “It’s Over”, and fellow Hungarian, “Matt-U” with the highly praised “Why” and “Sound System” on Tube 10 all gained huge support and accolades around the globe.

Gaining momentum, Black Box capitalizing on DJ Madds success then picked up “Someone”, which was also remixed by the mighty UK producer, “Breakage” for the flip. Returning to Boka with his big release of “I Know It's You” we then have “Akira Kiteshi” stepping in to remix DJ Madds “Better With You” with huge success.

With 2010 already looking to be a big year, Subway have signed a number of exclusive tracks for their label as well as future releases set for Black Box and Boka including a remix from “Ikonika” and more! Quickly gaining support from the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs, Skream, Breakage, Hatcha, Joe Nice, Martyn, 2562, Ikonika and many more; his tunes can already be heard in various sets and leading dubstep radio shows around the globe.

With his arsenal of tunes; released and unreleased, DJ Madd has been touring and DJing for years perfecting his DJ sets to be able to share his unique sound at it’s very best for your event.

LIVE DATES
Oct 1 2010 - On Toast - Liverpool, UK
Oct 2 2010 - Hospitality - Bristol, UK
Oct 29 2010 - Midnite Run - Brussels, Belgium
Nov 13 2010 - Major League - Budapest, Hungary
Nov 15 2010 - Hit&run - Manchester, UK
Dec 03 2010 - Tbc - Netherlands

WEB LINKS
NEW DJ MADD FACEBOOK
DJ MADD MYSPACE
DJ MADD SOUNDCLOUD
DJ MADD DISCOGS PAGE

BOOKINGS
bookings@twuagency.co.uk

This Session is OPEN FOR QUESTIONS.
It's up to the producer if they will continue answering questions. So don't make silly faces if your question is left unanswered.

[Depone]

Easy.. I will kick things off then.

Do you feel that bristol has shaped your sound and style of dubstep?
Because to me it sounds very 'bristol'. I used to live just on the outskirts and im a follower of labels such as Punch drunk that have this distinctive sound among others.
Cheers.

PS: also gonna ask the obvious... What equipment do you have for music production? is it all inside the box? if so whats your sequencer etc.. ?

[pete_bubonic]

Your sound as mentioned is quite distinct, stripped back rhythms with superb sub bass. Where have your influences come from, what other genres directly affect your music and do you have a clear image of where you want to take your sound or do you not apply thought to that aspect?

(HAI PETE - Come for a drink in the spotted cow again sometime).

[miscreant]

I have a problem of finishing a tune, thinking its alright then listneing to some released stuff and noticing so much thats shit about my own work. Something I've began to think about is that I'll be listening to professionally mastered material.

A lot of your tunes sound so huge, the bass on that Hold the line remix is huge, how much of the weight behind your stuff would you put down to good mastering?

[madd]

Easy.. I will kick things off then.

Do you feel that bristol has shaped your sound and style of dubstep?
Because to me it sounds very 'bristol'. I used to live just on the outskirts and im a follower of labels such as Punch drunk that have this distinctive sound among others.
Cheers.

PS: also gonna ask the obvious... What equipment do you have for music production? is it all inside the box? if so whats your sequencer etc.. ?

Ez man

Yeah definitely!
I was actually always into the Bristol sound both in dnb and dubstep so even before i was into making music I was collecting the full cycle / dope dragon vinyls and that kick-started the whole idea to move to Bristol.

I use Cubase as the main sequencer and a couple of plugins on top, I was using Kontakt for a long time but at the moment Its all audio tracks.
Funny enough the most used plugins are the free to download Kjaerhus classic series but unfortunately the website is down for some reason. I'm sure you can still google it and find it easily.

[madd]

Your sound as mentioned is quite distinct, stripped back rhythms with superb sub bass. Where have your influences come from, what other genres directly affect your music and do you have a clear image of where you want to take your sound or do you not apply thought to that aspect?

(HAI PETE - Come for a drink in the spotted cow again sometime).

Hey Pete hope all is good, will defo have to go for a drink!

I would say the main influences are the already mentioned classic Full Cycle and the old Dillinja & Lemon D bits so the pure sub-bass was always a special thing for me.
I like to think I'm open minded when it comes to other genres, been listening to a lot of instrumental hiphop from Krush and when it comes to more crazy stuff I'm into Slugabed / AK Kids (Akira Kiteshi) and that lot.
Also being into reggae I came across the classic dub artists like Scientist and Lee Perry who influenced me on my first couple of rootsy vibe tunes.

I really had no idea where to begin when I started making tunes. Now I do have a more clean idea where I want the sound to go, but I still would like to mix it up and not stick to 1 vibe cause that wouldn't be me. That said I been making more and more tunes on the techy-dark tip and I really enjoy it, I would say thats where I am musically at the moment.

[madd]

I have a problem of finishing a tune, thinking its alright then listneing to some released stuff and noticing so much thats shit about my own work. Something I've began to think about is that I'll be listening to professionally mastered material.

A lot of your tunes sound so huge, the bass on that Hold the line remix is huge, how much of the weight behind your stuff would you put down to good mastering?

Thats the best thing you can do man. When I was starting to care about how my tunes sound the first thing I done was buying some tunes I rated and loaded it into a project file and kept soloing and muting it to clock the differences. I done it all by ear and slowly figured out how things should sound, and I heard a lot of people still do this so I think It's a good way to a/b your tunes.

Mastering is important but finishing a tune might be even more important, I think the more tunes you write the better they will get just don't end up sitting staring at a half finished project thinking there are thousands of tunes sounding better:)

[mentalien]

What do you think, is there a connection between the time what takes to finish a tune and the possibility for that tune to become a 'top hit'? Many producers say that their biggest hits were made in like 10 minutes or half an hour maximum, did you experience something similar in your musical work? How many time does it take for you to finish a tune nowadays, and how many time did it take when you started producing tracks? If you had to say an approximate time, how many hours/days would you suggest a producer to care with a tune? Is there a point in time, from where it's useless to care about a tune if it's not finished, and better to move on?

[Depone]

Your sound as mentioned is quite distinct, stripped back rhythms with superb sub bass. Where have your influences come from, what other genres directly affect your music and do you have a clear image of where you want to take your sound or do you not apply thought to that aspect?

(HAI PETE - Come for a drink in the spotted cow again sometime).

Hey Pete hope all is good, will defo have to go for a drink!

I would say the main influences are the already mentioned classic Full Cycle and the old Dillinja & Lemon D bits so the pure sub-bass was always a special thing for me.
I like to think I'm open minded when it comes to other genres, been listening to a lot of instrumental hiphop from Krush and when it comes to more crazy stuff I'm into Slugabed / AK Kids (Akira Kiteshi) and that lot.
Also being into reggae I came across the classic dub artists like Scientist and Lee Perry who influenced me on my first couple of rootsy vibe tunes.

I really had no idea where to begin when I started making tunes. Now I do have a more clean idea where I want the sound to go, but I still would like to mix it up and not stick to 1 vibe cause that wouldn't be me. That said I been making more and more tunes on the techy-dark tip and I really enjoy it, I would say thats where I am musically at the moment.

Yeah man! Im a collector of full cycle, prototype and virus recs. Theres that odd record shop thats above rooted recs further up gloster rd which surprisingly has like a back catalogue of bristols finest old dnb. all cheap too.
Also listen to a lot of Krush, Lee perry, but also Jah Shaka.

[madd]

What do you think, is there a connection between the time what takes to finish a tune and the possibility for that tune to become a 'top hit'? Many producers say that their biggest hits were made in like 10 minutes or half an hour maximum, did you experience something similar in your musical work? How many time does it take for you to finish a tune nowadays, and how many time did it take when you started producing tracks? If you had to say an approximate time, how many hours/days would you suggest a producer to care with a tune? Is there a point in time, from where it's useless to care about a tune if it's not finished, and better to move on?

There might be a connection of how quick you can transfer a good idea to a tune without changing it but it's defo not impossible to make a 'top hit' if you have to spend weeks on it I guess.
Recently my tunes do not take that much time to make, or If i get stuck I get onto another older idea to finish up. Whatever someone does I would say do not delete a tune if you get stuck just put it aside and work on something else. I do find new ideas refreshing and even when I can't work on a particular tune that usually pushes me to get back on something I started and finish that quicker.

[pete_bubonic]

Your sound as mentioned is quite distinct, stripped back rhythms with superb sub bass. Where have your influences come from, what other genres directly affect your music and do you have a clear image of where you want to take your sound or do you not apply thought to that aspect?

(HAI PETE - Come for a drink in the spotted cow again sometime).

Hey Pete hope all is good, will defo have to go for a drink!

I would say the main influences are the already mentioned classic Full Cycle and the old Dillinja & Lemon D bits so the pure sub-bass was always a special thing for me.
I like to think I'm open minded when it comes to other genres, been listening to a lot of instrumental hiphop from Krush and when it comes to more crazy stuff I'm into Slugabed / AK Kids (Akira Kiteshi) and that lot.
Also being into reggae I came across the classic dub artists like Scientist and Lee Perry who influenced me on my first couple of rootsy vibe tunes.

I really had no idea where to begin when I started making tunes. Now I do have a more clean idea where I want the sound to go, but I still would like to mix it up and not stick to 1 vibe cause that wouldn't be me. That said I been making more and more tunes on the techy-dark tip and I really enjoy it, I would say thats where I am musically at the moment.

Yeah man! Im a collector of full cycle, prototype and virus recs. Theres that odd record shop thats above rooted recs further up gloster rd which surprisingly has like a back catalogue of bristols finest old dnb. all cheap too.
Also listen to a lot of Krush, Lee perry, but also Jah Shaka.

Think you might mean the record shop below RePshycho the vintage clothes store?

[lowpass]

Hi, just a quick one. I've been trying to add more atmospheric elements to my track's (pads etc) but struggle to get any decent sounds. Was just wondering how you get such atmosphere and get those elements to sit well in your mix?

[madd]

Hi, just a quick one. I've been trying to add more atmospheric elements to my track's (pads etc) but struggle to get any decent sounds. Was just wondering how you get such atmosphere and get those elements to sit well in your mix?

What I do with pads is to use 1 or max 2 sounds and duplicate and process them individually. You have to be careful with frequencies too cause pads can be really wide and that can cause frequency clashes, but cutting down the bottom end usually solves most problems.
I would say try and reach for some non-token samples and instead of just pads try to layer some real atmospheres under it like sweeping noises and background sounds but first try to concentrate on 1 sound you really want to be in your tune and after polishing that up with eq duplicate it to see how different effects like phaser / distortion / filter modulations sound on it while the original is still dominant.

[pdomino]

What is/are your current favourite ...

Track?
Gadget?
Crisps?
Car?

[Depone]

Your sound as mentioned is quite distinct, stripped back rhythms with superb sub bass. Where have your influences come from, what other genres directly affect your music and do you have a clear image of where you want to take your sound or do you not apply thought to that aspect?

(HAI PETE - Come for a drink in the spotted cow again sometime).

Hey Pete hope all is good, will defo have to go for a drink!

I would say the main influences are the already mentioned classic Full Cycle and the old Dillinja & Lemon D bits so the pure sub-bass was always a special thing for me.
I like to think I'm open minded when it comes to other genres, been listening to a lot of instrumental hiphop from Krush and when it comes to more crazy stuff I'm into Slugabed / AK Kids (Akira Kiteshi) and that lot.
Also being into reggae I came across the classic dub artists like Scientist and Lee Perry who influenced me on my first couple of rootsy vibe tunes.

I really had no idea where to begin when I started making tunes. Now I do have a more clean idea where I want the sound to go, but I still would like to mix it up and not stick to 1 vibe cause that wouldn't be me. That said I been making more and more tunes on the techy-dark tip and I really enjoy it, I would say thats where I am musically at the moment.

Yeah man! Im a collector of full cycle, prototype and virus recs. Theres that odd record shop thats above rooted recs further up gloster rd which surprisingly has like a back catalogue of bristols finest old dnb. all cheap too.
Also listen to a lot of Krush, Lee perry, but also Jah Shaka.

Think you might mean the record shop below RePshycho the vintage clothes store?

Is it full of old Hi fi Junk too? I cant remember what its called.

[madd]

What is/are your current favourite

Track? - It's a close call between Seven - Wait and Matt-U - Caveman
Gadget? - My iPod filled with oldschool emulators and roms
Crisps? - Walkers Thai Sweet Chilli ftw
Car? - I'm not a car person but I would like to sit in a Delorian

[pdomino]

Definately about the sweet chilli's, nice one sir !

[sixth sense]

Hey! big up Dj Madd, one of my favorite tracks by you would be Reasonz and I was wondering how you went about making the main lead sound its kind of like a laser beam was this something you sampled or synthesized yourself? if so could you lean me in the right directed on how you created this I have been trying to reproduce this sound for awhile now.

Cheers.

[madd]

Hey! big up Dj Madd, one of my favorite tracks by you would be Reasonz and I was wondering how you went about making the main lead sound its kind of like a laser beam was this something you sampled or synthesized yourself? if so could you lean me in the right directed on how you created this I have been trying to reproduce this sound for awhile now.

Cheers.

Hello mate,
Do you mean the 8bit bleeps that come in a bit later? I used a freeware vst called MiniSid check it out here http://delamancha.co.uk/freeware.htm
It's pretty much a simple arpeggio with some delay / chorus on top maybe. Let me know if thats the one you meant

[jjbutler88]

Hi Mate,

I'm really rating your stuff at the moment, particularly dub marine (and the kryptic mindz remix). Absolute banger of a tune, I was wandering if you could tell us how you made that bass line? When I try and make subby lines they tend to be pretty rigid, yours seem to flow about nicely

Big up, keep on making them sweet noises!