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Motorway to Roswell wrote:

south3rn wrote:Try to think of people who have made names for themselves without any production. I'll try to list a few.

Joe Nice
Nick Argon

And that's all I can think of right now.

Argon has a record label to push things, but all Joe does is spin and promote Dub War NYC. Simply DJing really isn't enough. Tiesto even said it himself, something along the lines of "to be a superstar dj you have to make superstar tunes"

Oneman?

I've heard Oneman productions. But there are people I missed.

take their number as well as giving yours.

Play parties. after parties, as much as possible to build a following and then once you get one make sure everyone knows when you are playing.

TAKE REQUESTS!

nothing worse that a DJ not listening to what the dance floor wants to hear, within reason like.

Motorway to Roswell wrote:

south3rn wrote:Try to think of people who have made names for themselves without any production. I'll try to list a few.

Joe Nice
Nick Argon

And that's all I can think of right now.

Argon has a record label to push things, but all Joe does is spin and promote Dub War NYC. Simply DJing really isn't enough. Tiesto even said it himself, something along the lines of "to be a superstar dj you have to make superstar tunes"

Oneman?

great example. at the begining of 2006 he didnt even think of himself as a dj. started doing a show on react.fm...within two years he was booked at dmz and now hes got a show off rinse. in part because he knew a lot of people from back in the day but i think mostly his success is off the back of him coming up with great tune combintiions and having superglue tite mix skills.

afaik benufo is a similar story.... he was making some of the sickest blends even before hessle existed.

youngsta is also kind of a good example. not as obvious a case b/c he has been in the thick of things since the start but he's always had really tite mixes and he's also been a standard bearer for a specific sound over the years.

seriously tho whats the worst semster you could have???

i was cutting my teeth on production while taking diff eq and classical mechanics AND a seminar on william faulkner. AND had a girlfriend and got drunk and high on the regs.

i mean im not that good still but the point is you could at least get started. no excuses.

My only further advice then is work with what you've got. You'd be surprised how much being able to tightly mix will help your production. There is so much crossover, in technique, if you're seriously getting into it. You'll find that when you're working on mixing you'll not realise how much you're improving your instincts until you start doing some production. I said i've been listening to dubstep, and various (un)definable sub-genres, for about a year before i wanted to take it on myself to try getting some stuff going myself. It really is important to listen to what other are people doing, and know how they're doing it. That helps to get ideas flowing, but it should also serve so you don't go ripping shit off. Countless people will ask ''How do i get x's synth sound... '', or whatever, but that only helps if they aim to either build on it, or use it as a foundation to create something completely different from. Unfortunately, some people are quite happy with just using x's synth sound. Thats all fair and well, until someone recognises it, hears that its not original enough and moves on. The same goes for using samples etc etc. Unless you're really making it a different sound, i'd steer clear of the easy, time saving ways out. Most of the guys that have moved from here onto big, indy labels have at least been bringing something new to the board. All the guys that are on major labels have done more than that; they've brought the sound from being underground into mainstream - in quite a short time period as well, if you think about it - by putting themselves out there so much that average joe starting listening to this music with infectious sub, and dub heritage know what names to go to, to get their musical fix.


I guess as well you'll have to be patient and don't try to bite off more than you can chew. Its a big world, with everyone having aspirations to get their sound further than their bedroom or shitty clubs in town. I know, especially with dubstep, that it is difficult to be more than this. Even on these forums there are so many aficionados that could hear whether you're fail, or have promise; whether you actually deserve to get your sound further than what you could normally manage. If you're going to be 'making it' then you'll probably want to be making a good, respected name for yourself before the dubstep, mainstream waves bring the tide in some more. There is so much more credit that can be given to people if they've got the skill to take their sound from the underground, to mainstream - where as just coming in at the mainstream level with sheepy sounds will just make you look like a bit of record label, manufactured dick really. Alternatively, being happy with playing some brutal, or to the other extreme, 'emotional', atmospheric and dark tunes at underground level, on a wide scale, could carry a lot more credibility in the scene especially. Being seen as a sell-out is one of the worst things a serious musician can be seen as, by other musicians.

Final words: You'll get the most credibility and long-term success if you get noticed on the actual merits of your music. Getting noticed by marketing yourself, and such, should always come after - if at all - people out there have recognised what you're doing with your music and appreciate it, without you, as a 'brand' pushing it forward.

Peace, and don't take my words for gospel.

Do crap remixes of songs popular with students and upload them on youtube. Make sure the word dubstep is in every single video title.

best thing to me is to start your own events!

best way i think.

fuck me, first off.. big up s to butlerfield! your advice is pretty fucking good, kinda given me a widened vision of how to go about things. really appreciate that

drlego wrote:take their number as well as giving yours.

Play parties. after parties, as much as possible to build a following and then once you get one make sure everyone knows when you are playing.

TAKE REQUESTS!

nothing worse that a DJ not listening to what the dance floor wants to hear, within reason like.

i have a few of the event organisers numbers, should i give them a ring/text? i feel like a bit of a whining dick doing it but i suppose if i get a set it pays off, right?
and about the requests last few times i played out my set went down pretty well, one guy asked me to play 'where's my money' remix and another cockney thug, i was so reluctant to play it but i suppose it kept the crowd happy after my deeper darker tip.

quantum soul wrote:Being lazy won't help! You've gotta spend every possible minute learning your chosen software, and obviously make tunes that sound sick on a system

Some good advice here, but there really is no substitute for hard work which results in good tunes.

pompende wrote:seriously tho whats the worst semster you could have???

i was cutting my teeth on production while taking diff eq and classical mechanics AND a seminar on william faulkner. AND had a girlfriend and got drunk and high on the regs.

i mean im not that good still but the point is you could at least get started. no excuses.

yeh both of you i think you may be right. just need to pull my finger out my arse and actually get down to the nitty gritty.
its coming up to exam period right now so im not sure if this will be the best time to start...

big ups everyone who posted advice tho..
if in doubt, ill pull my dick out mid-set.

Break into the studio when Skream's presenting Stella Sessions, and just as he's about to drop the latest remix of Sweet Shop, sneak up to the decks and place your nuts over the left CDJ. This will lead him to unwittingly playing the sounds of your testicles to all listeners. Then, after he suddenly realizes what's happening, sucker punch him and run (but not before teabagging him when he's unconcious)

Dead Rats wrote:Break into the studio when Skream's presenting Stella Sessions, and just as he's about to drop the latest remix of Sweet Shop, sneak up to the decks and place your nuts over the left CDJ. This will lead him to unwittingly playing the sounds of your testicles to all listeners. Then, after he suddenly realizes what's happening, sucker punch him and run (but not before teabagging him when he's unconcious)

i did this and it worked, im pretty sure its how benga got big too, his balls were too big for a cdj so he had to put them over the 1210 and the sound of the needle on his leathery sac is the sample skream uses at the start of wobble that gut

i would spend more time doing than worrying, and as far as uni goes.... its the best and most unpressured time of your life... do what you want... its not hard getting a good degree....

beatsalad wrote:i would spend more time doing than worrying, and as far as uni goes.... its the best and most unpressured time of your life... do what you want... its not hard getting a good degree....

haha, i dont wanna sound like a tnuc, but doing a maths degree at uni is pretty hard.

ahier wrote:

Dead Rats wrote:Break into the studio when Skream's presenting Stella Sessions, and just as he's about to drop the latest remix of Sweet Shop, sneak up to the decks and place your nuts over the left CDJ. This will lead him to unwittingly playing the sounds of your testicles to all listeners. Then, after he suddenly realizes what's happening, sucker punch him and run (but not before teabagging him when he's unconcious)

i did this and it worked, im pretty sure its how benga got big too, his balls were too big for a cdj so he had to put them over the 1210 and the sound of the needle on his leathery sac is the sample skream uses at the start of wobble that gut

It's well known that Skream wrote "Trapped with a Dark Ballbag" for that very event.

Dead Rats wrote:

ahier wrote:

Dead Rats wrote:Break into the studio when Skream's presenting Stella Sessions, and just as he's about to drop the latest remix of Sweet Shop, sneak up to the decks and place your nuts over the left CDJ. This will lead him to unwittingly playing the sounds of your testicles to all listeners. Then, after he suddenly realizes what's happening, sucker punch him and run (but not before teabagging him when he's unconcious)

i did this and it worked, im pretty sure its how benga got big too, his balls were too big for a cdj so he had to put them over the 1210 and the sound of the needle on his leathery sac is the sample skream uses at the start of wobble that gut

It's well known that Skream wrote "Trapped with a Dark Ballbag" for that very event.

i dont think theres any set way into the industry these days. but u definetly got to be multi faceted. djing doesnt really cut it unless ur the first to showcase the cuting edge sounds coming out from the slums of bognor regis. some ppl might graft for years where as someone else might be lucky enuff to be the cousin of some big name and thats them there.

u got to dj, produce, have a radio show, host a music scene documentary, fuck it, launch a fragrance, mines gonna be "zen fragrance" - "making ur birds twat smell pleasing since 2010". ANYWAY, i divulge. whats working for me so far is doing the radio ting, just making hard beats in general and trying to get anyone whos someone to listen to them, u can meet these stnuc at nights, on aim, thru here...

kwun-tings wrote:

truefiktion wrote:Mate im in exactly same boat as you, but i know that if i started producing or making more effort to get big I would have no time for uni and fuck my degree up. for now just perfect your mixing skills, get a job (unless u already have one) and save up for proper decks like im gonna do cos ive only got basic CDJs and then when you leave uni decide what u wanna do then u can balance producing and working and then see where that leads you.

aleks zen wrote:

kwun-tings wrote:I only mix at the moment, i dont have enough time to produce because im a student

lol! if u think ur going to find more time to produce once u enter the working world.. the whole point of uni is to piss around doing ur own thing, everyone knows that

I'm doing a maths degree so its pretty fucking hardcore, it just takes up so much time!
im using a Technics 1210 and a 1200 at the mo, so im not gonna be gettin any upgrades in a rush

i actually started toying with Reason and a tiny bit with Logic 8, but its so in depth that i dont kno where to start.
the production bible on DSF is fucking massive and being the lazy tnuc i am, i cant be arsed to read it lol

Yeah same I got Reason and it scares me with how complicated it looks so for now im gonna stick to DJing until I get some master jedi to teach me how to use Reason. I tihnk what im gonna do is just mix at as many clubs as possible on south coast so that a large area have at least heard my name and by then I should be pretty good at using production software.

south3rn wrote:

Motorway to Roswell wrote:

south3rn wrote:Try to think of people who have made names for themselves without any production. I'll try to list a few.

Joe Nice
Nick Argon

And that's all I can think of right now.

Argon has a record label to push things, but all Joe does is spin and promote Dub War NYC. Simply DJing really isn't enough. Tiesto even said it himself, something along the lines of "to be a superstar dj you have to make superstar tunes"

Oneman?

I've heard Oneman productions. But there are people I missed.

Oneman only recently made tunes though or they were only in the public eye last year.

He made his name DJing.

In order to maximise your chance of making it you have to do all of the above really!!

ill use EZ as an example in garage!!

As well as being techincally the best dj (maybe karl brown was up there with him for a bit but thats another debate entirely) he literally covered every base

*had his own pirate radio station for a bit an then helped run freek fm 101.8 which was one of the biggest pirates back then
*also had one of the leading radio shows of the time for a few yeard before he was picked by Kiss
*Ran his own events like Club Z at the gass club
* also dabbled in production ( some of his intros are baddddddddd)

all this on top of being technically the best dj

If you want to make it nowadays i'd say you would hav to go about it somehting like this

as sad as it may be i dont think technical skills on the decks matter too much, obviously it helps but alot of people seem to get away with not really being able to mix. example - i went to some club called roxy in tottenham court road the other day, shit tunes, shit dj, fair enuff its a commercial club - but hes obviously making gwop. but then look at man like coki, last time i checked his mixing it wasnt very good, but hes obviously gotten recognition for a being a pioneer/his productions. u just gotta find ur own niche out here

Motorway to Roswell wrote:

south3rn wrote:Try to think of people who have made names for themselves without any production. I'll try to list a few.

Joe Nice
Nick Argon

And that's all I can think of right now.

Argon has a record label to push things, but all Joe does is spin and promote Dub War NYC. Simply DJing really isn't enough. Tiesto even said it himself, something along the lines of "to be a superstar dj you have to make superstar tunes"

Oneman?

Ben UFO?