I sample things all the damn time. There's no end to it.
I hear something great – I will sample it.
I also go to record stores and buy a bit of this and that.
Sometimes I buy records quite blindly just to support a record store, but in hopes of finding something useful.
I just bought a 1 EUR bargain bin soul record with a really crusty sleeve too.
And I found something useful:
2023-01-14 15:54:25 +0000 UTC
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Got my monthly DJ show rolling via Twitch.
The .mp4 video can be downloaded/streamed.
(it's also available from ...
I hope everyone's had a really good and inspirational holiday period!
As the old year comes to a close and a new one is around the corner, I first wanted to say big thanks to everyone who's here and supporting my Patreon.
It honestly means a lot to me, and I think this year has been the best so far.
Some of you I've mentored and seen your musical progress, I've had many good talks with you about plugins etc., and I always enjoy that.
Some of you I've had nerdy brea...
Every DJ gets some really bad experiences sometimes. Travelling ones especially.
Let's talk about them.
How did I become a DJ?
I bought myself a pair of Technics in January 2000 to learn DJing, and never regretted that.
I'm happy to say my music (and being able to DJ and play music similar to my own productions) has taken me around the world to DJ and I'v...
2022-12-29 13:22:03 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Xmas – I’ve got some viewing for all you DNB headz for when you’re wildly downing that eggnog!
Here’s a walkthru of my Metalheadz song, Legacy.
It's the song of mine that's got the most plays (if that matters at all).
I’m going thru the project and showing what’s happening, why, talking a bit about what I think makes a Metalheadz song, the importance of different song sections etc.
Class in session, so grab a classy brew and start mak...
2022-12-23 10:46:16 +0000 UTC View Post
(yeah, correct, it is a bike in that pic – I took it outside the house an hour ago...we've got some snow here!)
So wanted to do a quick update on things to come and what's been.
You may have noticed I've been slightly silent here.
Well, reason is, I was rrrreally fecking sick with some monsterous influenza for a while. Didn't leave home for 10 days and I didn't know I could cough like that, and hearing was going in and out on some days.
Was smashing the most urgent end-of-yea...
You remember Uncle Fanu promised to hit you up with some snares soon?
Well here they are!
20 snares – download
(and no sharing the link)
These are all copyright-free.
I've tried to keep these organic-ish and mallable: the stuff I would (and will!) use myself.
Good for DNB, trap, hip hop, doing custom breaks, and so ...
Pro-Q3 kick/bass sidechain
So in a nutshell, place the EQ on your bass track.
Activate sidechain view to see the sidechain frequencies.
Create an EQ node, and turn its outer (dynamic) ring counter-clockwise.
Click on "auto" and then the little arrow-like button – this activates dynamic movement for the EQ node based on the incoming sidechain signal.
Notice that the incoming signal has to exceed ...
Always willing to inspire others, I wanted to let you know about this cool speech sample source site because it's quite unrivaled!
Basically that site allows you to search for phrases of speech in a huge movie database. You also get to see what movie it's from.
Obviously you can sample it, but you can also download the movie clip!
(on Mac, I use Audio Hijack for recording any source).
You ...
2022-11-20 10:07:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I'll soon have a new batch of fresh drumsounds coming for you, but check this. Cutting the audio gunk out of your signal AND then boosting – dynamically! – the good parts of it can make such a big difference to your sound.
Especially useful with noisy and resonant samples.
Can technically be done with any EQ that offers dynamic EQing.
2022-11-19 10:53:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Who wants some kickdrums?
Grab them HERE!
(no sharing!)
Basically, I was creating some kicks with Steinberg Backbone.
I did a bunch, scrapped some crappy ones, and here's a batch I think should be useful.
Some can be used as main kicks, some as layers…go wild.
I actually plan to give you more drumsounds and crea...
I got this question:
"Would there be any benefit to temporarily putting a limiter on the master in order to highlight any issues in the mix (I mean would it highlight anything too loud in the mix or annoying frequencies)?"
This is a good question, and I'm happy to answer this. Even if you're not that interested in mastering, this can be useful, because it can kind of give you some feedback on your mix.
First, quickly in a nutshell about what a limiter (also...
Modular bass growl filth with Ableton Live from scratch? Hold my beer!
Using the modular Oscillot synth (a M4L pack).
Let's build a basic one-osc synth and get growly…the power is in that filter!
So let's get this breakbeat thing rolling!
Got lots of requests for that.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hrefo8z49ypnq3b/dirgepatreon.mp4?dl=0
(NO sharing the link! But feel free to tell your friends about my Patreon)
I took a break I've been working recently and I'm going thru that.
Covering some of the basics like how I chop, what do I look for in a brea...
Ez ya'll!
Just letting you know that I've been planning the Patreon horizon, and a lot of the recent requests have to do with jungle and chopping breaks.
I've been into that for some 25 years now...still as fun as it ever was!
Sooooo, letting you know I will be going thru some of that stuff on my Patreon this fall!
So…watch this space 👀
Also big thanks to everybody for the support...you keep me going ❤️
2022-10-09 10:50:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Audio enginerding stuff here!
Seems the Loud Split plugin of Bitwig's new Spectral pack is pretty nice for controlling the amount of noise in a signal.
Making drums less noisy here, and also going super noisy!
It's interesting, as good denoising isn't always a walk in the park, but this new type of loud/quiet split tool should be good for that (this should be a good tool for dialogue denoising, too).
PS: I’ve seen these paid Bit...
2022-10-07 11:50:14 +0000 UTC View Post
A good request was, "Could you show how to create basses with Vital?" so hey let's do just that!
Vital is a great-sounding FREE wavetable-synth you should grab.
So let me show you how to create a nice, moving, Reese-ish bass sound as well as a growly plucky one to get you started with it!
Video here (no sharing):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zfidh5e2q70v5he/vital.mp4?dl=0
I really want to let you know about this new DrumGAN feature of Steinberg Backbone.
It can create new drumsounds for you from scratch OR emulate a drumsound you drop in.
I've stayed away from synthesized drumsounds most of the time, as they just don't fit my style (they rarely sound organic enough), but there's a new badboy in town, and it's the new Sony-developed AI feature, DrumGAN, that's ...
I recently did a nice session with a patron using a drumloop he gave me, which is the original drumloop that was used in the classic Alien Girl tune by Ed Rush, Optical and Fierce.
So here's me having a go with it, layering things a bit and doing some analog-modeled processing to glue the drums together more and add some energy and dirt to the sound.
Let's get that low-level signal up for added body and full tone.
25 minutes of drumbreak nerdery, here you go!
(...
It's easy and fun to create two-oscillator basses such as Reese basses with Serum, as they sound lively due to the movement caused by two detuned oscillators.
However, this often causes a problem with sub bass, which will also drift in and out, which we don't want: we want a solid sub bass level.
This video shows you how it's easy to fix this with Serum.
Today, I'm telling you about using limiters and clippers.
Where they differ, what's similar, when you should use either, and so on.
Join me for this 20-minute audio engineering lecture!
WATCH HERE (no sharing)
BTW, after I had filmed this I realized I prob didn't mention this, so I'll just write this here:
*IF and when* I u...
👉🏻Watch here 👈🏻
(no sharing, as it's Patreon-exclusive)
So in this series, I want to take a song I'm working on and go thru some things that I feel are interesting. Can be song structure, sound choices, plugins etc.
Aiming to keep more bite-sized than mega masterclass, so this is 24 minutes long.
In this episode, talking ...
Aye ya'll!
Just letting you know briefly that very soon I'll be publishing the first episode of my new miniseries, Short Studio Sessions.
In those sessions, I'll go thru things relating to making songs I've been working on recently: song structures, mixing tips, as well some interesting check-out-worthy plugins I want to show you.
The first episode features a new, unreleased house tune.
So, stick around, for some exclusive goodies are around th...
First STEAMY SUNDAY STREAM on Twitch is done!
• Watch/download the video from Dropbox
What tune in the mix made me feel I need to take a shower after playing it? You have to listen to the archive to find out (I do mention it).
The Twitch sets will be streamable from my Twitch account for two weeks, and they they’ll ...
2022-07-24 15:52:06 +0000 UTC View Post
So I’ve decided to start streaming DJ sets via Twitch (I may make downloads Patreon-exclusive)
First test stream is happening today, and very soon.
EDIT: Downloadable here now!
At 14:00 CET time (1 pm UK time), join my free Twitch to witness how well (or awfully badly) my first-ever stream will go…yikes!
Be there and drop a comment in the chat if ...
2022-07-24 10:25:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Here’s an old one from the archives!
Fanu: “Hämärä”
(Soundcloud has downloads enabled)
This is 10–15 years old!
I sampled a Finnish vocal group back then, and I was excited about this.
I kept contacting their agent, trying to discuss if they’d allow me to use the vocal, so I could use it in the song and feature it on my album back then.
Comms finally dried up, and back then, in frustration, I deleted the whole projec...
2022-07-17 09:20:35 +0000 UTC View Post
I received a good question: what do I take into account in mixing kicks?
VIDEO HERE (25 mins)
In this video, I go thru the things I always look for when mixing kick drums.
Covering the plugins I always use and go through some thoughts.
If these won't make the kick work, the kick probably sucks!
Slamming you with SP-12 drums sampled from my SP-12 AND instruments for Ableton Live 10 & 11, Bitwig Studio, and Redux/Renoise.
If you've been hanging around on my Patreon long enough, you'll remember that I originally did a rack for Ableton Live 10.
Now, I did an updated version for Ableton Live 11 (basically just named the pads, thanks to Esa Ruoho for the reminder!), Bitwig Studio, and Redux (can be loaded in Renoise<...
Been digging more and more into Bitwig Studio, and wanted to find out how to do this oldskool jungle type timestretch effect. Here's two similar ways!
First method is very interesting and more Bitwig-specific, but the second one is more applicable to most samplers.
🎥 Peep it here! 📽
Class is in session!
Here comes a video (47 mins) walkthru of my recent remix for Make Or Break label:
(Patreon-exclusive, so please dont share the link)
In this video, I'm talking about breaks, things relating ...