Mixmag Producer Special Part 1 Jan 2011

producer SPECIAL 2011 2011 is the year that YOU start making tunes.

We’ve rounded up tips and secrets from eight of the hottest producers on the planet, and tracked down the entry-level gear you need to get started

PART one

Words Phil Dudman

ou r expe rt producer pa n e l Danny Byrd D’n’b don behind ‘Red Mist’ and ‘Ill Behaviour’.

Second LP, ‘Rave Digger’, is out now

Grum The electro-disco-pophouse producer is also iTunes’ ‘Best New Dance Artist’

Robert James Check the inspired, groove-filled house of ‘Sleep Moods’ and ‘Malibu’

Glimpse Stunning jazz and soullaced techno from ‘If I Was Your Girl’ to ‘Train To Austria’

What gear do you need to start making tunes?

Sinden He’s behind huge tunes like ‘Beeper’, ‘Mega’ and 2010 anthem ‘After Dark’

Ste Mac Half of tech-trance duo Mac & Taylor, of ‘Dirty’, ‘Sub-Limit 2am’ renown

Nicolas Jaar Perhaps the most exciting breakthrough techno producer of the year

Mat Zo From trance to electro to d’n’b, Zo’s releases have excelled in every genre

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Danny Byrd: I’d say you need a basic computer, PC or a Mac or Mac mini (though they’re not that cheap any more – about £500), a cheap midi keyboard and a copy of Reason. There’s lots of free software out there as well, particularly on the front of computer music magazines. I would never advise going down the pirate software route because I don’t support it, but there is still a lot of it out there.

Robert James: I started off with just a laptop, headphones and a full copy of Ableton Live, but the main thing is decent monitor speakers and a pair of headphones. That’s ideally what you need to begin with.

Nicolas Jaar: I guess you could make music with just a computer and a microphone. But definitely get speakers as opposed to headphones.

Grum: When I started out I used to use my dad’s computer when he was at work. All you need is a cheap PC and some free software and you can dip your toe in and try it out without spending too much.

If you want to take it further, the most important thing is to get a sound card and some monitor speakers because without them you’re not going to be able to hear what you’re doing properly.

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What’s the best software to start on?

Sinden: I’d recommend Logic, but it’s really up to the individual – there are so many now: Cubase, Reason, all really cheap, and Logic as well, they’ve dropped their price and bundled in Apple Loops and the Logic Studio making it really affordable. Logic has a scary interface, but once you get around that I’d say it’s pretty easy to use.

Robert James: I’ve never used anything else than Ableton. I started with Ableton, I’m happy with it and I know my way around it so if I went to another software package while using Ableton it’d be like starting from scratch all over again, I think. For the full programme, Ableton Suite 8, you’re looking at about £500, but if you’re a student you can get a special price of about three hundred and something quid.

Glimpse: Ableton, a computer and a pair of monitors. I come from an instrumental background, so the first thing I did was start playing guitar and drums. I think that sitting down with Ableton and a bunch of samples, if you aren’t a musician or don’t have any musical background, is a pretty restricted way of going into music – Moving a mouse around doesn’t really project much soul into something.

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Sinden: Get a laptop, a cheap set of monitors, a copy of Logic and a sound card.

Mat Zo: I started making tunes on an ancient 800 MHz computer with £20 headphones. I still used that, up until early 2008. Having a MIDI keyboard helps, though – mine’s an MAudio keyboard and I’d say my entire set-up cost no more than £900.

Ste Mac: With Ableton Live on a home PC you can make tunes as good as anyone. Even the cheapest computers these days have decent specs and should be powerful enough to run a simple programme for a beginner. Get a decent set of monitor speakers – I suggest Behringer Truths, about £250 – and a few plug-ins and virtual synths. For about £1000 you’ll be able to make as good a tune as someone with a £5000 set-up.

Danny Byrd: Reason is easier to get to grips with for beginners, purely because it comes with its own sound bank. You can get your head around it and get going in seconds using the pre-built in loops. Logic is pretty much a blank canvas. It does come with some sounds, but Reason is very dance musicorientated. It has the right kind of loops, whether for d’n’b or house – you can just dip in to it quickly. The only problem is that if you get too into that comfort zone, you may find it hard to move onto other programmes.

Mat Zo: Starting on software like Fruity Loops or Reason is helpful for most people. Fruity Loops, in particular, can give you professional sounding results with a relatively simple layout. If you’re making loop-based dance music you can get ideas from your brain to your computer very quickly without the mental strain of Logic or Cubase. Of course, it depends on how ambitious you are; Fruity Loops can limit you in terms of structural creativity. For the more leftfield producer I recommend Ableton, which is what I use to this day. It has a smoother workflow, but it’s a bit lacking in sound quality (something I hope will be fixed in the next version). I wish there was a combination of both Ableton and Logic in one package.

Nicolas Jaar: I think the best one to start with is Reason. Not because it sounds particularly great, or because it’s the best, but with Reason you’re going to learn how analogue hardware works, through software, which I think is really smart. After that, start getting into Ableton, but Reason is more musical. With Ableton you’re going to start using loops straight away.

Glimpse: I started on Reason but I’d probably say Ableton. It’s just so quick; in fact in a lot of ways it’s probably too quick. If you just want to knock out a tune I think Ableton’s probably the best.

Grum: I would say that if you’re doing the PC thing then something like Ableton or Fruity Loops is good to start off with.

I started off using Fruity Loops on PC, sequencing drum patterns and understanding how that all worked. But if you want to spend a bit of money, Logic comes with every plug-in you could ever need, plus synths and multi-sampled instruments as well, so you’ve basically got unlimited sounds. It’s quite cheap now, about £300, which is pretty decent for a good sequencer. It comes in a big box with about five DVDs. It’s of a professional standard too, so the sounds are all really good.

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Do i need hardware? what should i invest in?

Danny Byrd: Hardware is definitely the connoisseur’s choice now.

I’ve got racks of gear that I just never turn on any more: samplers that cost me £3000 when they came out and now they never get used. They haven’t got a tenth of the power that I’ve got in my Mac. I’d say the only hardware you need now is a sound card and a midi keyboard. You always need a midi keyboard.

Robert James: I wouldn’t get into hardware yet, if you’ve just started producing. I’d get to know your programme first.

Ste Mac: No. Look on the internet at the sort of studios that people are using: all the hardware synths that you’d have to use years ago, that would cost you fifty thousand pounds to get anything half decent, now cost you a fraction of the price as they’re all virtual.

Mat Zo: Sometimes soft synths can’t give you that warm sound that you get from hardware synths. I personally don’t own one piece of hardware besides a mic, so I have to somehow forge that warm analogue sound from VSTs (virtual studio technologies). Having hardware can give you that edge when it comes to writing a big hook ,or a big bowel-moving bassline.

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Nicolas Jaar: I think the most important purchase anyone can ever make is a really good microphone. You can make a kick, you can make a high hat, you can make a snare, you can make a guitar sound. You can make anything with a microphone and it will sound more interesting than a sample you’ve got from a computer magazine’s sample CD. Glimpse: I’m a bit of a hardware junkie. I collect stuff, and do as little as possible on the computer.

My computer is just used to record things; probably ninety per cent of my tracks are made on analogue kit. So I’d probably recommend getting a good drum machine, say a Roland 909, and a good synth, like a Nord. You’re going to get much more original results with that than sitting down with a mouse in your hand.

Danny Byrd: For a basic midi keyboard, I’d say you need to spend between £80-£100. You can get real mini Korg keyboards for about £50, which are aimed toward laptop users, but they’re a bit plasticky.

I’d say, get an MAudio keyboard, something with over two octaves – three or four, ideally. Like I said, M Audio offer a good range of budget keyboards and soundcards. I’d have a good look around, really.

What’s a good budget synth to start on?

Ste Mac: The Access Virus TI synth is the only piece of hardware that we use, and it’s a bit pricey at £800-£900. It’s one of the most popular out there.

Nicolas Jaar: The Roland Juno 106 is amazing.

It’s polyphonic, so you can do keyboards and bass.

It has a bizarre quality to it; it sounds very warm even though it’s cheap.

Sinden: I really get on with the Dave Smith stuff, like their Tetra and Mopho synths (www.davesmith instruments.com). I’ve got their little analogue synth without a keyboard. You can get an interface for your computer so you can either control it from your desktop or be hands-on. The presets are good, so you have a great starting point. It’s very accessible; you can just dive in without being intimidated.

Mat Zo: If there was one piece of hardware I’d want to own it would be a Virus TI, Everyone has one except me. It’s so versatile and it sounds incredible!

Robert James: I’ve got a decent midi keyboard where I put clips and synths and stuff so I can and play it that way, but if I got into hardware I’ll start off with a decent synth. You can get decent second-hand synths that are as good as any others, I think.

Grum: The Micro Korg has been popular over the last few years and is a good thing to start off with. There aren’t too many knobs and stuff – you can just load up sounds and start playing. It’s got a keyboard, it’s small and costs about £300 – very cheap for a synth.

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starter home production gear

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S o f t wa r e round-up

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The best production software as tipped by our pros Reason 5 £253 (best price), www.propellerheads.se Logic Studio 9 £239 (best price), www.apple.com/uk Cubase 5 £350 (best price), www.steinberg.net Ableton Live Intro £90, Ableton Live 8 £250 (best prices), www.ableton.com FL Studio Producer Edition (aka Fruity Loops), £172 (best price), www. image-line.com

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NEXT M ONT H : pa r t 2 4

Th e b e s t places to learn Where the top producers get their ideas S ta r t i n g a track

1 Novation Nocturn 25 Novation’s entry-level, 25-key midi controller comes with a high quality keyboard, eight drum pads and a total of 33 easily assignable controls. Mac and PC compatible. £149, www.dolphinmusic. co.uk

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2 Pioneer S-DJ08 and S-DJ05 Monitors These clever studio monitors / DJ speakers allow you to turn off the EQ for a truer sound when producing - or back on for a DJing club sound. £499–799, www.pioneerprodj.com

3 Native Instruments Komplete 7 This new software bundle offers studio-quality effects and instruments with 24 pieces of software and over 10,000 sounds and 90GB of studio-grade sample material. £499, www.nativeinstruments.com

4 M-Audio Axiom Pro 25 This 25-key USB MIDI controller is compatible with Cubase, Logic and Reason as well as software instruments, has a backlit LCD screen for intuitive programming and a semi-weighted action. £265, www.dolphinmusic. co.uk

Where and how to get samples Recording live vocals and instruments january 2011 [[2R]]