I started Djing about six years ago. We’d come home from a night out and wanted to listen to music uninterrupted by the inane chatter of a radio DJ. So I’d get two YouTube windows open on my laptop and mix from one to the other. That led to us buying a DJ Controller, learning to use it and putting mixes onto Soundcloud and Mixcloud.
In 2015 a friend who was starting a community radio station (Radio Flintshire) wanted a dance music programme for Saturday evenings and she asked us if we’d like to do it as she’d listened to our mixes. We said yes with no idea as to what we’d need to put a show together. We had two weeks to prepare and that was the start of 'A Darker Wave'.
I started messing about in GarageBand, without really knowing what I was doing, although I did come up with half a dozen house tunes. I purchased Ableton, read the manual and watched the videos on the Ableton website.
I also did some courses on Digital DJ Tips which are really good for new producers. Despite all this, I didn't really understand EQ-ing, frequency distribution, arrangement, mixdown, and sound separation, and everything sounded dense and muddy.
An American DJ & Producer Eric Louis did a guest mix for 'A Darker Wave' and I joined Eric's online community for underground DJs and Producers, 'it's the dj'. I found it to be the most valuable learning resource to help me improve my production techniques. In summer 2017 Eric told me he could do four-hour-long, one to one, tutorials via Skype on the fundamentals of music production. I was eager to learn so I jumped at the chance. Out of these sessions came our collaboration 'Marionette’ on which I wrote the music and melodies and Eric did the mixdown and arrangement. 'Marionette' got a release on Get Physical Music 12 months later.
In 2019 I did a six week Ableton production course at ICMP in London. The tutor is an incredibly talented and knowledgeable guy called Marcello Ruggiu aka 'Amousement' and I learned a lot about sound synthesis and Max for Live from him.
Also in 2019, I attended a 12-week course at the Lisa Lashes School of Music in Northampton, UK, which covered all aspects of getting on in the music industry, including production and DJ skills.
Ableton Live 10 is my DAW of choice. I love its flexibility and power and the fact that everything you need is all there in one place. Max for Live (included in Ableton) is so inspirational to use. The midi effects tools are just amazing. I love working with Ableton. I regard it as a musical instrument in its own right. It’s also great for live performance, which is something I’m working on.
I am also learning to use Logic for its really interesting sound packs and some great sounding synths.
My Sennheiser HD25 headphones and my laptop. As long as I have those I can make music wherever I am: at home, on the train, at an airport, in a cafe, on a park bench, anywhere. Very often an initial idea for a track has happened when I’ve been away and I’ve developed that idea later on at home.
You can get lost in the number of plugins available. ‘Marionette,’ the track I did with Eric Louis, was done 100% in Ableton with no third-party plugins. On most of my tracks and remixes, I just use Ableton's native plugins.
I do use Hybrid and Arturia Pigments, both of which have some cool sounds, Kickstart for easy sidechaining, Scaler for finding chords and progressions and Shaperbox to help with my mixdowns.
And that’s it. I don’t need a whole load of plug-ins when I’ve got Ableton. It’s more important to develop my own unique sounds.
The original idea can come from anywhere. Sometimes I get a drum pattern, synth riff or melody in my head and as soon as I can I get that down in Ableton. Or over a single month, I’ll formulate one idea a day for a drum loop, a melody or a bass line.
When I’m working on a track it’s always the kick and percussion first because I find that everything else depends on the drums. Then I look for a strong bassline that works well with the kick, then search for a memorable riff and a catchy melody, then special effects.
I’m a big fan of vocals as they can add emotions that you just can’t get from instruments. My approach to remixes centers around vocals. Most of the tracks I’m asked to remix are instrumentals. I always search for a vocal I can sample which includes the track title, or alludes to it in some way. Alternatively, I’ll record my own vocals with Paul, my other half. Then I can build the remix around the original elements I want to use and the vocals.
#31Days31Tips by Richie Atkins aka Dirty Secretz who is an incredibly accomplished house and tech house DJ & Producer. His YouTube channel is packed with excellent and informative advice, resources, tips and tricks for music production.
Don’t waste your time watching loads of YouTube videos on various production techniques. You’ll never remember ten percent of it unless you put it into practice as soon as you’ve watched the video. Concentrate on just a couple of really good online training resources and dip into them when you need advice on a technique and immediately put into practice what you have learned.
Spend at least 15 minutes every day on music production. The best way of learning is by doing. Working on music production every day builds the right mental habits and improves your techniques, just as practicing a musical instrument enables you to become proficient at playing that instrument.
Don’t waste time setting goals. I find them counterproductive and unhelpful. They can create stress and unhappiness if you aren’t achieving what you set out to do. Rather than spending each day setting tasks then reviewing how I did, I’d rather spend that time producing music and going with the flow.
Overcoming that little voice inside my head that says what I’ve done isn’t good enough and spending so much time on one track that I lose the ability to tell what’s good from what isn’t. It’s always worth leaving it for a few days or a week to regain some objectivity.
I always ask others for their opinion on what I’ve done. Paul is great at providing objectivity and musical inspiration when he listens back to what I’ve done and I always ask three or four other people for their opinions too. I ask them to be honest. If it’s rubbish, tell me. It’s the only way I’ll learn how to get improve and how to make better sounds!!
I like to work on two or three tracks at the same time as it stops me from becoming bored with just one.
Turn the volume down to avoid clipping and never go into the red. This applies to any instruments or sounds you are making in your DAW and to your DJ mixes. It adversely affects audio quality. Also, avoid excessive use of compression and limiting for the same reason.
Loopcloud is a great online resource. It gives you access to loads of loops, midi sounds and one-shots and works within the track inside Ableton so you can audition different sounds as your track is playing.
Yes, I do. I always ask Paul for his opinion first. Then I upload my track to Soundcloud as a private track and send the link to the people whose opinion I would like to have. I also put my tracks on Audiu which is great for feedback on work in progress. It is always a little intimidating putting your music out there for others to comment on, but it is a necessary part of the process of making great music. You’re too close to your own productions to be truly objective about them and the opinions of others are a necessary part of getting quality tracks finished.
I’m proud of them all, but ‘Marionette’ makes me feel especially proud. It was my first release on a major label, Get Physical Music, The label arranged two amazing remixes by Jazzuelle and I still love listening to it. I learned so much from Eric Louis in making this track and I use those techniques on the tracks and remixes I do now.
It hasn’t affected the way I make music, although it’s sister platform, Audiu has from the feedback I’ve received on my tracks. But I have found lots of amazing music and producers through RepostExchange and it helps me find music to play on 'A Darker Wave' and DJ’s whom we invite on to the show to do guest mixes.
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This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
