DSF Q&A 20: Downlink

[rymebox]

Thanks for taking the time to do this man!
My questions are:
1. Any tips on being more focused on a tune? Like do you ever turn off the internet/eliminate distractions?
2. Do you make your own drums out of drum machine samples instead of vengeance samples, and if you do any tips?
Thanks!

[Augment]

Bigup, love your stuff
I would just like to know your favourite plugins, like disto or compression. (ohmicide or something like that?) :p

[bassinine]

first off, just wanted to say thanks, downlink. you were a major inspiration for me when i started producing ~2 years ago.

question: what is your work flow like? do you normally start with drums, a melody, arrangement, or synthesis/bass patches? basically, i'm just looking for the order in which you produce the different elements of your tracks.

the better i become at synthesis the harder it becomes to arrange and compose tracks - to take the next step... but i know this is because my work flow is all over the place.

[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?

[downlink]

Hey guys,

Sorry for just getting going with this. I hadn't actually been made aware of when we were officially going to start with this and only really found out by seeing a link on FB to this discussion!

I'm gonna spend a bit of time today answering some questions, but I'm honestly going to play poker tonight with some friends so I won't be able to get to all of these in this one sitting. I will come back on tomorrow though and get to some more Q's

Now then, let's get started...

[downlink]

Awesome, thanks for doing this. How long have you been producing for?

I started messing around with production in about 2002 with Reason. I continued to learn the ins and outs of DAWs and synthesis over the next few years but I didn't actually get serious about it until around 2008.

[downlink]

How do you fine tune sub frequencies when mixing in a non ideal environment with non ideal equipment? (ex. using monitors that lack proper bass extension)

I'm fortunate enough to have access to a decently large studio with Barefoot Micromain 27 monitors so monitoring sub frequencies isn't really an issue anymore.

I guess back in the day I would just do a lot of A/B'ing with tunes that had great mixdowns and use frequency analyzers a lot. Generally when making dubstep you really just need to see the relation between where the sub is hitting and where your kick and other elements are sitting. I typically like to have my sub hitting atleast as loud as the kick, but this isn't a 100% rule to follow. You really have to use your ears and do what sounds good. Not having monitors that accurately reproduce low frequencies is especially challenging when making dance music, but thankfully lows are fairly easy to deal with visually on analyzers.

[downlink]

What is your system setup?

What plugins do you swear by, hardware, speakers etc.?

I have two studios in my house.

Upstairs in one room is a full DJ set up - Pioneer DJM 900, 3 CDJ-2000's, 3 Tech 1200's MK-3, Pioneer HDJ-2000, Serato SL-3, MacbookAir

Also in this room there is KRK RP-8 monitors, Apogee Duet, MacbookPro 13inch, Audeze LCD2 headphones.

Downstairs main room is Barefoot Micromain 27 monitors, Avocet Crane Song, RME Fireface 800, Audeze LCD2 headphones, Access Virus TI, MacPro

Software

Logic Studio (primary DAW)
Ableton Suite

Plugins

Fabfilter, Waves, Sonnox, Sonalksis, Voxengo, Camelphat, Ohmicide, Sugarbytes, Tone2, All Native Instrument main stuff, Sylenth, Vanguard, Nexus, etc, etc...

There's so much stuff I occasionally use and I probably missed a few big names in the plugins section but I dont have my DAW open now and can't think of them all.

[downlink]

Awesome! Cheers for doing that

How did you wrap your mind around sound design, and use it to create the sounds in your music? Also, do you go in with a sound in your mind, and then create it, or just twist and turn knobs until something cool comes out of it?

Do you mix as you are producing a track, or after? Or possibly a mixture of both?

When (if ever) did you reach that point where you felt like your production was decent enough to be released to the public? And was on the same level / above the level of other producers?

Hardware or Software? Or both?

When you started out, what kind of set up / studio were you working with? (I'm guessing it's a lot better now )

When you felt your music was ready to be heard, did you just send it out to a bunch of labels? Or what was your process of getting it out there?

Finally, if you have any more advice for up and coming producers, that would be greatly appreciated! Any little tips on processing your drums or sounds would be awesome!

Lots of questions here but I'll do my best...

Sound design is one of the things I enjoy the most about producing music. I spend a lot of time on it and have become fairly good at understanding how it all works. I am usually able to imagine a sound and then create it because I have trained myself to imagine sounds within the parameters of the tools I know how to use. I think in terms of subtractive synthesis and filtering and saturation and eq'ing etc etc... Sometimes though I do just fuck around and try random shit until something cool comes about. I've been learning FM synthesis a lot more lately and this is kind of how I've been approaching it. LOL

I definitely mix as I go. That being said, there is definitely need for a full mixdown at the end.

I just knew that the music I was making was as good or better than most of the stuff I was hearing in dubstep at the time that I began releasing.

The only hardware I been using is the Virus. Other than that I'm all software.

I started out with a shitty old PC and Reason 2. Things have definitely gotten better

Believe it or not I began by posting dubstep songs on the dubs section of this forum and then some small labels took notice and signed a couple tunes up. Next thing I knew Rottun was hitting me up and I've been working with them and other labels ever since.

As for advice to up n comers - Put in a lot of time, Watch tutorial videos if you are unsure how things work, Read production magazines and articles, LISTEN TO ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC. and occasionally, or regularly, smoke weed

[downlink]

Ive seen you a few times over the last couple years, and your live shows have become really, really good!

Do you tend to produce a lot now with the Live stage in mind? Do you make a lot of seperate productions (full tracks, breaks, builds, drops, etc) specifically for "Real System" applications?

If so, how do these productions differ from what you would release for a public EP?

Good question and thanks for the compliment as well!

I definitely consider the LIVE environment a lot more now when writing tunes. DJ'ing out a lot to big crowds you definitely learn what works in terms of structure and from an engineering perspective what works. You know that 32 bars of hi pitch squelchy madness needs to be followed by an 8 bar break / build up section if you want to drop back into another 32 bars of that type of energy. You know that certain systems work with low sub notes, and certain systems dont. Also you learn that overly musical tracks sometimes don't work on the dancefloor or that you have to play those tunes near the end of your set or end of the night etc...

I edit almost every single song that I DJ out. I shorten stuff up a lot of the time and cut out sections and parts that distract from what I want to be achieving with the track. I add risers where there needs to be, I will throw in downlifters, delayed fx, accapellas, even go as far as adding in little melodic accents sometimes (i know i'm pretty lame here with this shit)

Also mixed in key has become a great tool to use for DJ'ing. I don't swear by it 100% but it helps when programming material for sure.

[downlink]

What provides your inspiration for a track, is it a particular sample, mood, newfound technique, or a combination of all?

Bug ups for doing this

It can be one or a combination of any of those. Often other music I hear inspires me as well.

[Mammoth]

What music down you find yourself listening to aside from electronic?
Do you play any instruments?
When do you prefer to work with audio vs. midi? (pro tools user) LOL
indica vs. sativa during production?

[MowyWowy]

what made you so big? How did you get known?

[ehbes]

Where do you start in your production ie do you start with drums, basses, leads et.

[Instep]

I've been using Fm8 a lot lately.

However, I wind up mainly using filters and stuff to make the sounds I want. You said you've been doing fm synthesis. So does the FM do most of the work.. or does it really just set up the tone for other plugins to destroy?

Thanks. I was jogging to your music the other day. Thanks for helping me stay in shape!

[jrisreal]

What's your favorite color?
Melody or Tone: Which is more important?
Synthesis or Sampling: Which is more fun?
Sennheiser, Shure, AKG, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, KRK, Yamaha, M-Audio, Mackie: Preference?
Dogs or Cats?
Coke or Pepsi?
Behringer: Thoughts????????

[Noisestorm]

Thanks for doing this man!

If you are cool about sharing this- when designing a new mid bass sound, what chains of plugins would you place after the core FM8 patch for example? I know it would depend on the sound, but it would be very cool to see what choices you make to change the sound, and the order that you place them in. Is there a particular process that you use to start making the bass more metallic and robotic?

[JTreeZY]

What's up Downlink, love your music... I've started trying to learn how to produce this year and It's a lot of fun and I'm making progress leaning how to use Reason but would you recommend someone go to a school to learn how to produce or is just learning yourself via the internet and experimentation an adequate way to go about it? Did you go to school or did you teach yourself?

[Depone]

Easy man,

How do you approach a track? Do you go for the main drop first then work around that?

Ps Ghost is still a personal fav of mine, I've never been able to quite get my bass that wide without it loosing 'focus'

[Towany]

Hey man had the pleasure of meeting you when you were in Ireland a while back!

anyways...do you ever think you'll do like an interview or a masterclass for computer music or any other type of thing like that? I still refer back to the Reso masterclass a lot cause it helped me out a ton with getting to grips with logic and stuff.