One of the great things about being involved in such a small scene is that one person can, with a bit of hard work/motivation/talent, have a really important part to play in the direction the music takes. DJing’s one thing, but we wouldn’t have a scene at all if it wasn’t for the producers, so here’s the first part in what might be a little series of tips from some of the best up-and-coming artists around.

This definitely isn’t meant to be a reference for established freeform folk – instead the idea is to give some of the TYFTH crew some absolutely entry-level beginner’s tips on the kind of stuff I always wondered (and often still wonder) about. A few people here have talked about producing one day, or taken some very early steps, so this might be another little motivating push in the right direction.

This time around there are tips from Aryx, Substanced and Matt England – enormous thanks to all three for coming up with some brilliant stuff, I’m really grateful. If you haven’t checked it out already, the video at the top of the post is a guided tour through Aryx’s TYFTH ‘release’, Galaxis, and is an awesome introduction to both Reason’s interface and Aryx’s production style.

Aryx (Aurora, Chaldea, Galaxis etc)

Aryx – Aurora (Unmastered preview) by Aryx

What do you use for production?

Reason, mostly because I think it has the most 90s-style trance sound, which were the golden years for trance and, for me, the most quality ‘commercial’ music. What we have today is just complete rubbish – no musical feeling, just a cash thing. I completely despise that. I hope that freeform will open a window to more quality music in the future 🙂

Any production tips for beginners?

The main thing is the practical part, which means working on music daily (at least I did, for one and a half years).

The other important thing is NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH YOUR WORK TOO QUICKLY! This is the main problem with freeform producers these days, so the result is what it is. I prefer to take several months to work on one track than release it too soon.

Also, when I started producing I learned make melodies by recreating the melodies from tracks I liked….loads of them, that is.

Those are the main things that helped me progress.

Matt England (Consciousness, Psiosis, Decelerate etc)

Matt England – Consciousness by FINRG Recordings

What do you use for production?

I use Cubase 5. Haven’t yet upgraded to 5.5 as everything works well and I don’t want to risk the hassle of updating just for the sake of a couple of new features which I probably won’t even use. Cubase’s plugins really aren’t all that. Here’s a tip for Cubase 5 users though: If you want quadrafuzz back (and who wouldn’t, it was the only decent Cubase plugin), it can be found here:

PC:

ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/Download/Legacy_Additional _Content/Additional%20Cubase%20SX%20Plugins/PC/Dis tortion/QuadraFuzz.dll

Mac (PPC):

ftp://ftp.steinberg.net/Download/Legacy_Additional _Content/Additional%20Cubase%20SX%20Plugins/Mac/PP C%20only/Distortion/QuadraFuzz.vst

Any production tips for beginners?

Listen, listen listen! Hear as much music in your chosen genre as possible so that you know what your goals should be. Obviously this can then be expanded to encompass influences from other genres but that comes with time. Try to emulate what you love and your own style will follow in due time.

Watch production videos from magazines like Computer Music. This can be a great look into established producers methods and setups. Some of them are awful though, so don’t get into the habit of believing everything you hear – and also don’t get sucked into gear envy! A good producer can make great music on iffy equipment (e.g. Rob Swire made a lot of the early Pendulum tracks on Behringer Truth monitors).

This is one I’m guilty of doing but I will say anyway: Do experiment with VSTs and plugins to find ones you get along with, but once you do find the ones you like best learn them properly. Don’t just hop presets in loads of different synths. Try to play with the various knobs and sliders to see what they actually do.

Try to finish tracks. You’ll learn so much more from one completed track than you will when you’ve got stuck with a case of ‘loopmong’ and haven’t progressed a project.

Find the best source samples you possibly can. This is the first, most important step to making any form of dance music in my opinion.

Play with pre-made midi files to see how melodies work. You can find many midi files for download on the internet of great hard dance tunes. Don’t just limit yourself to those though, find midi from everything you can and be nosy! Put one on a channel with your favourite vst on it and play with the sounds it can make.

Also try to recreate melodies that you know and love.

If you’re not feeling it, take a break!

Substanced (Wonderland, Crank Cleopatra, Lost Temple etc)

Substanced – Wonderland by FINRG Recordings

What do you use for production?

I’m using FL Studio because it’s very simple, I’ve been using it for about 7 years and I don’t want to change anymore. I recommend it because it’s a ‘beginner friendly’ software, although you will need some other samples and VSTs because the Fruity samples are very shitty 😉

Any production tips for beginners?

I always start my tracks with melodies. Then you can easily build the track around it, and pick some nice sounds that are compatible with the melodies. 

Listen to your favourite tracks and think about how some of the effects were created, then try to imitate it. After that you can make your own version, and that’s how your own sound will come from your head 🙂