words: MICK WILSON
TECHPRODUCER
We reveal some handy tips and tricks to help you on the
road to wicked productions...
D
KILLER SOUNsouSs
freshest nd
BRODANSE’S DANCE
COLLABORATIONS
How to create the
on the dancefloor...
TECH PRODUCER
Welcome to Plug-in
Corner, our monthly
exposé of some of the best
plug-ins around for creating
electronic music
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DEVELOPER: D16 GROUP
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VERDICT
AUSTEN SMART, one half of Brodanse/
Danse Club Records, spills the beans
on working with the almighty Groove
Armada…
“We met Groove Armada at a gig
they did six months ago at Village
Underground. They were ‘big
fans’ (their words, not ours) of a track
we made called ‘Activate’ featuring
Cari Golden and they played it on their
BBC 6Music show. From there we talked
about doing some music together.
“We kick-started an idea and sent it
over to Cari, she loved it and laid down
some vocals that night in her studio
and sent them over the next morning.
It was quite serendipitous really as she
had this vocal hook for ages but no one
was sending the right stuff. Anyhow,
Groove Armada loved it, and then we
all went away and did our thing with
the tracks, eventually coming back
with the ‘Club Version’ and the ‘Deep
Version’ — there was meant to be a
third version, but it never happened.
We were so happy with the two edits
and could not see any reason to add
more to the EP.
“Talking from our side on the
production front, we used Logic
alongside an Arturia Minibrute,
Spectrasonics Omnisphere ‘mother
synth’ and a mixture of samples we
have gathered over time. We worked
the vocals with some relatively simple
effects, e.g. reverb, delay and a bit of
EQ. Obviously, production methods
are quite subjective and we don’t
believe there is ever any right or wrong
way. We have a template already set
up so that as soon as we want to get
to work we can instantly get an idea
down and not lose momentum at the
outset of a project — we would highly
recommend doing this in a format to
suit your production needs.
“The most important thing we can say
to upcoming producers/DJs, though,
is get out there and meet people! This
whole EP came about from meetings in
person. We met Cari at Sonar festival
through our friends Anja Schneider &
Ralf Kollmann [Mobilee Records] and
we met Groove Armada through our
main man, great friend and Danse
Club ambassador Severino of Horse
Meat Disco.
“We are currently working on what’s
known as a triptych, so ‘Sweat’ is part
one of three of this collaborative EP,
which seems to be working nicely!
‘Part 2’ is with Kevin Knapp, who you
may remember from his bomb ‘Like
This’ with Audiojack, and ‘Part 3’ is
with… no, we can’t tell you...”
SAMPLETANK: LOOPMASTERS: ‘MEDIKS’ DRUM & BASS SURGERY’
IT’S all about the drum and the bass this month as we take
a look at Loopmasters’ newest sample library designed to
tear apart those bass-ready dancefloors…
Loopmasters turn to Bristol’s freshest bass-meisters Ross,
Dan and Rob — also known as the Mediks — to deliver this
slice of drum & bass sample library goodness. Focusing
around the original uptempo jump-up sound of the genre,
the pack is filled to the rafters with deep, wobbly basses and
high-impact drum samples that have been associated with
the drum & bass scene that is still flourishing in deepest
Bristol.
As the blurb so simply puts it, “Expect to hear over 500MB
of precision-tooled samples including cutting-edge beats,
bold basslines, upfront leads, twisted SFX and a whole
bunch of filthy one-shot sounds ready to drop into your
drum & bass productions”. The Mediks have used their
extensive production know-how to bring to the masses a
sample pack that champions their sound and gives instant
inspiration for those future dancefloor fillers. To make
things even easier for producers, as well as the usual sample
formats ‘Drum & Bass Surgery’ is available in Ableton Live
Pack, Apple Loops and Reason Refill variations which can be
purchased separately, and producers can even buy various
elements of the pack individually at a reduced rate.
110
djmag.com.au
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