Fanu/FatGyver

🙏🏻 Blind faith and serendipity in field of music 🤞🏻

I hope you've stayed productive. To me, autumn is definitely a creative period. I'm still kind of "recovering" from finishing my recent album, Classy Coffee Cuts, but I'm definitely enjoying working on new ideas etc (finished a new song this weekend, yay!)

📹I have exciting stuff lined up for ya: e.g., I have Ableton Note tutorial, new DAW stuff (!?), new album song walkthru video, plugin giveaway etc etc…you just wait! 📽️

I want to inspire people, and maybe this little story could do that to an extent.

Some of you that I've been tutoring a bit may have heard it.

In 2017, I was going thru a somewhat depressing period of making music. I have only had two really kind of heavy periods; another was maybe around 2011-12 or so, when I thought for a while I'd quit (couldn't, luckily!), but around 2017 I recall feeling quite down, and I felt things weren't going anywhere (I've learned in a way that these periods do happen, and I can take them) instead of trying really hard – there were no gigs, not much in terms of any sort of recognition etc (btw I could prob write another whole post about how rewards rarely come when you actually expect them).

I've always been the type of person that if I give myself a goal, I will stay hell-bent about it to make it happen: I've moved from the worst countryside to capital city, earned a university degree, become Ableton Certified, established myself as a full-time audio engineer, earned gigs to travel the world etc., had my hip hop released on my fave (now defunct) instrumental hip hop label…

And getting on Metalheadz was one of those goals.

I remember sending music to Headz for a while; among the first things I sent, I think, was an album around 2005–2006, and some talks were in the air about Goldie releasing it, but that didn't happen (you may believe it or not, but Photek was considering releasing it, too, as crazy as it sounds – that album was my Daylightless album).

I kept sending stuff over the years and around 2017 I was about to give up. Like I said, many things felt like they weren't going anywhere, and I was about to give up on the Headz goal to not be depressed about it.

I recall working on a slower song back then, around 135–140 BPM. Someone had randomly sent me a breakbeat via email, and I don't usually get that stoked about getting samples from elsewhere, as I guess I've always had a healthy pride in finding stuff on my own, I admit.

But I was working on a song around that breakbeat. I felt that was something nice. There was something truly dope about that song. You know how sometimes you get a feeling that you're creating something that's kind of different and it excites you?

I recall the song was around 60% done at one point and I thought I need to finish that one in order to not have it be one of those numerous unfinished ones.

I recall on the Friday or Saturday when I had promised myself to work on that one, a friend sends me a message saying they're doing a housewarming party and they have tons of free beer and they want me to come. Normally I might be stoked. But I told him that even though this might sound nerdy, I'd be working on that song only, because I had some sort of silly blind faith in it and it should be finished. I'm a man of my word when it comes to promises, and that mostly applies to promises I give myself.

Well, I did finish that song that weekend. Wasn't hungover, wasn't tired, as I didn't go and get wasted. Well, didn't get fun memories from a party with friends, but I had this one song.

I recall sending it to Metalheadz the following Monday. I felt a bit silly about it, as the tempo was slower than DNB. Also, I was about to send it, I kind of said to myself that this is just kind of desperate at this point; if I have been sending tunes for that long, why on earth would this make any difference, being slower than the stuff they usually release. I literally said to myself this will be the last tune I'd send to Headz.

Two weeks later I was contacted by the label A&R about the song, saying he and Goldie love the song. I said it's still available, and soon after that I was told they want to sign it.

That was massively inspirational to me. The rest of the EP wrote itself really quickly as I was so massively inspired about this one getting picked up. The song in question is "Baretta" on that EP.

A few months after that I got a call from Goldie and we discussed the EP and that was it.

What's the takeaway here?

Getting somewhere in the field of music takes some blind faith (me working on that song) and rewards may not happen when you expect them to (sending it out even though I kind of felt it doesn't make sense at all, as none of the other stuff that I found much more fitting did stick).

Maybe things take some sort of luck or serendipity too (someone I don't even know sent me that breakbeat, and I made the song around it).

Also, my first-ever hip hop release was originally released by now defunct Redef Recordings. I was absolutely obsessed about that label at one point and their output (Damu, K-Def, Def Dee etc) inspired me so much, I struggle to recall another period when I was that inspired by one label alone (aside from Metalheadz).

I was quite hell-bent about getting on the label because I knew that stylistically it'd fit.

I made an album worth of material – it was honestly a 100% finished package – and sent it to them on Soundcloud. I was msging them about it for weeks, and I said to myself, "I'll take a rejection OR getting signed to the label, but there will be no between".

It honestly must've been the 15th nudge to them (Was I already ashamed about the amount of nudging? Yes!) when they finally replied along the lines of, "Hey we just heard this and it's great and we'd would love to sign and release this".

Moral of the story? Don't give up – a lot of times, the life of a producer takes a lot of that blind faith!

Making a sample-based hip hop beat

Time to get busy with some sample-based beatmaking!

I’ve always loved hunting down samples and making stuff around it.

I don’t always build things “around it”, but this time I’m doing just that.

I’ve seen some people say stuff like sample-based music is on the decline, and hearing that alone was enough to put my FatGyver pants on and do this for ya’ll!

Going thru my usual workflow, I talk about my sampling aesthetic, I discovered something really useful about my audio editor that I guarantee you don’t know…etc!

Let’s check out some professional sample stem separation too.

This video is actually quite truthful to my workflow.

I hope you’ll get some inspo out of it!

On the video I said I’d include my Lalal affiliate link (price for customer is 100% the same but I’ll get a small cut). I noticed they have once again improved their algorithm, and I won’t lie, it’s pretty badass in terms of sample separation.

Link to Lalal: https://www.lalal.ai/?fp_ref=janne30

PS: I noticed there is a a Patreon community chat feature now. It's something that I've been wanting/considering for a while. I've thought of Discord possibly, but I've sort of disliked the thought of

1) having an extra app for it, and

2) becoming even busier/distracted (my work life with audio engineering, students, patrons, patreon content, and music-making is a handful, I kid you not.)

It's now here – HOWEVER, it's only on the phone app. I'll be honest, I can't stand typing more than a few words on my phone (I handle all my socials/emails/msgs on my computer).

I hope it'll work on a browser soon. The day that happens, I will activate the chat! Because that'd be great. Just can't stand being on my phone more than I already am (I bet some of you can relate). Let's hope for a browsed-based chat!

New album "Classy Coffee Cuts" out today

My new album, “Classy Coffee Cuts”, is out now.

All arenas, Bandcamp preferred:

• http://fanu.bandcamp.com

• Spotify

(The actual selling price of the album is more than the lower tiers – I can link producer tier members to the download of the album, so just DM me if you want it)

Man, it’s tough to describe music with words, and I’ll let the music do the talking, but I decided I’d write an honest album intro in one single sitting using 10 mins on it tops, so here it is.

This one took a long, LONG time. I’ve been making music for 31 years (since 1992), and while the technical process of making music has become much easier, I’ve become increasingly picky in terms of what I want to do – and especially release.

And I’ve been trying to slightly reinvent myself all the time as I go, which isn’t always easy, but it is very fulfilling.

I’ve always been going against the grain in a way (not always by design – it’s just what I do and how I do it), and releasing an album of 14 songs is an absolute musical suicide in terms of capitalizing on people’s attention…but I didn’t start making music in 1992 for the sake of a popularity contest, and I’m not doing it now, either.

I very largely dislike many things relating to how the world of music “should” operate.

Albums, if you ask the industry, are not the way to operate these days: you should sprinkle things out there constantly to stay out there and stay on radars.

Nah. To me, albums are by far the best way to make music and present it: you get a lot of room to do you, be you, and even re-discover new sides of yourself. It’s a very long journey where you ask yourself a lot of musical questions and come up with some musical answers.

Those of you who have been following me closely for the 20 years I’ve been releasing music for will hear familiar moments and discover moments that go back to my very roots, but also hear something new. I hope.

I guess as an artist, you create your little own musical dimension, shape it along the lifelong mission, and dictate there how music should be for you. This album is just that.

Not all of it will be super easy to digest or appeal to a large group of people, but that’s exactly how actual art is: it’s not always easy, it’s not for everybody, but it will (hopefully) resonate in the right people.

I’m a “lifer” when it comes to music, and I look massively up to guys like Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin, The Future Sound of London, etc. who never wanted to place themselves in a mould, and that’s what I’m trying to avoid, too. Those guys started in the early 90s too, and back then, albums were more popular, and so was sticking out stylistically as an artist – instead of fitting in. My soul is still in that era.

Did any of that even make sense? Album took 1.5 years at least, but I told you I’d write it in one sitting (instead of hiring a pompous publicist).

Will I ever write another album? Remains to be seen. It can be massively taxing in a way. In a way I thought this one’s never come out.

Anyways, it did, and “Classy Coffee Cuts” is my story. It’s a long, detailed campfire story of someone who’s been in a conversation with breakbeat-driven music for three decades…and who ain’t stopping.

SICK basses with Saturn 2! You prob haven't tried doing this...

Bass class is in session! If you like filthy gnarly basses, this is for you, my bass junkie friend.

I've been using Saturn 2 for creating new bass sounds out of existing basses.

This video will show you how. And it's much less about saturation than you might think.

You can get experimental and squeeze some new filthy basses out of your existing basses...so let's get our hands dirty and create new bass pressure suitable for DNB, dubstep, and similar styles!

Whats your fave way to create basses?

One patron request was to create some classic DNB basses with the free Vital synth, and that is in the books!

Also just got the latest version of TAL Bassline, and its distortion sounds really, really good, like proper analog roasting (btw this is not an ad; I've paid for the plugin, like pretty much all plugins I ever cover…I never do any of this from promo angle)

Fix your mono!

If there is one thing I’d want to help every single producer in the world with, it’s their mono signal – even just to make my daily work a bit faster (especially when it comes to mastering only where I can't fix this, while I can in mixing when I have the stems).
Hence the public video (one reason I made this is I can point my patrons/students/clients to this instead of writing about it detail every time).
I hope as many producers in the world will get to see this as possible. Feel free to share!

So let's make your signal strong and mono-compatible.

On the video, I’m letting your hear how a sound that is nice and wide may perform very poorly in mono. I show you how to hear it and how to fix it very easily with free tools.

Get that mono right!

PS: Next up: a Patreon-exclusive Metalheadz video walkthru…so stay tuned! 🤘🏻💀

PPS: Thanks to everybody for the support!

Let's make some acid with Renoise/Redux! [video]

Alright, it's time to do some acid lines with Renoise/Redux!

Can be done with both, and hey, technically this technique can be applied to any sampler in the world, basically! I just want to keep things varied, and there's something really nice about doing this with Renoise/Redux (and some of you have been asking), so here we go.

Also, you can download the project or the instrument used in the video (the instrument can be loaded into Redux VST).

Aceeeeeed!

Improve the drop of your song (mastering, video)

There's this one thing (or two) that I do on many masters that have a breakdown and a drop – a lot of electronic music – and I wanted to share.

Working on a song of mine here to keep it copyright-free and all that.

See if you can hear the difference, and try it on your songs. No epic mastering skills or anything needed (literally anyone can do this with any DAW), but putting it under mastering tag, as it sort of falls there.

Man I got a stupid amount of stuff lined up, so especially video-wise, horizon is looking JUICY for the autumn time!

Operator wubs! [Ableton video]

I promised recently to show how I created the Operator basses in the recent project I posted, so here we go…get all wubsy with it!

If anyone says stock DAW tools aren't powerful these days, I'm going to slap them around with a very large trout.

More bass stuff in the near horizon; I just discovered something really cool and new I want to share next month.

So keep your eyes locked on the page....Uncle Fanu aka Lil Wubsy's got you covered with bass!

Plugin giveaways!

I’ve got two plugins serials to give away:

PolyMAX synth from Universal Audio (no UAD interface required) and Morph EQ from Minimal Audio.

Should you want one, just leave a comment (don’t DM me please). I’m making a wild guess that there may be several peeps wanting some, so to give everyone an equal chance, I’ll randomly pick a winner by rolling some virtual dice on Sunday, 20 Aug.

Lesson prep material: Ableton bass sound design

Alright, dear students, so let's do something different.

I will soon post a video about how to do some very techy Ableton Operator basses.

However, before that, I want to prep you for it!
A good student is also curious, and I've always wanted to raise that curiosity, because that is what makes you dig these things and learn techniques of your own instead of only absorbing material/info.
(Btw, anyone had those annoying teachers at school that showed you a bunch of text which you had to write down, AND they were telling you about it at the same time? So you learnt very little, as it's hard for us to focus on two things at the same time, such as writing AND listening/understanding).

📁 Load this set (compatible with Ableton Live 11) 📂

It has three different, very techy Operator bass sounds where there's bit of this and that happening. Check out the sounds and see if you can figure out how they are made and what is happening. I know they may be slightly overcooked but they're also easy to tame!

So, there will be a video soon and I'll run you thru it, teaching how to do these techy basses, and once you learn the technique, it is very malleable so you can roll your own very easily. Doing this kinda stuff will make you cooking basses like in Quartz's "Blacklist" tune.

So, check these out for a moment!

(I used to be a teacher in a respected school, and prepping students for the upcoming topic was important, so for the first time ever, I am doing it on Patreon!)

Career protips / thoughts

That subject may be a bit cheesy or whatever, but it serves its purpose!

I haven't done a written post in a while, but I've been meaning to; got many on my notepad ready to go (there are many videos on the way, so trying to keep it a bit varied, too).
One I have had there for the longest is lists of short thoughts relating to one's career/success etc. These could be applied to being an artist, being a freelancer, running one's business, working with labels, etc.
So let's do these bite-size things every once in a while!
These are quite condensed, but I can assure these are true, based on my experience at least.
These are partly based on convos I have had with students / patrons / people I have mentored.

Having been one with a somewhat special skillset, having made my living that way for a good while, and having worked on some of my interests since I was a teenager, here's my stone-cold facts relating to that lifestyle. The older I get, the more I can assure you these are true.

• The more time you spend on what you are good at, the higher the chance that that becomes your living or at least a part of it.

• The better you do what you can do, the higher the chance that the work comes to you instead of you having to look or ask for for it.

• Taking risks is a must to grow and progress. Risks and work don’t always feel comfortable. It often feels "logical" and "safer" to turn down the risky moves that make you shit your pants and stay with what you feel safe with, even though it may not take your any further. Comfort zone may stall your progress.
Example: when I fully wanted to try and expand my audio business (which is now a full-time living, and has been for 8 years), I dropped ALL my other work so I could concentrate on the audio engineering thing fully in many ways (learning, focusing, offering my services).
I was doing a bit of teaching and language work at that time, and I just dropped it.

• Handling one task well may bring a lot more, so always treat every single task with equal respect and handle them as well as you can. The word always goes around, so never forget that.

• People that take more than 2 emails and messages to get back to you are not worth your time.

• Being good at your craft attracts a lot of people who want your expertise but won’t offer you anything in return. Don’t feel bad for not helping those people – time can be a luxury.

• …but on the other hand, helping people may spread a good word about you and earn you projects. Kindness you invest in life comes back to you manyfold.

• Being truly great at something, with a great reputation, beats paying for ads.

• Over the years, you develop a hunch in terms of how people/clients/etc feel when they approach you and who you might want to avoid. Your gut feeling is right most of the time. Every single weird case I have had, I have kind of sensed very early on, and have still accepted the project, sort of against my inner sense that I should probably avoid it...and I have regretted that later on. Listen to that voice.

• Be you. Don't stress it. Those who accept you as you are belong on your path, and those who don't aren't meant to be there.

• You will lose people along the way, but also meet new ones who you vibe with.  What you are and represent will attract similar-minded people.

• Focusing fully on what you do may mean your circle of friends isn’t huge and you don’t go out much (I admit I am a total hermit, but I also do not have shame in admitting that!). A few good close people who resonate at your wavelength and who you can feed off of mean more than a large social circle of "empty friends". Don’t feel bad for being a bit of a hermit when it takes you closer to where you want to be. In the end, fulfilment is the goal.

• On the road to success, you must also fail a lot. It is unlikely that you will get successful at what you do unless you try things out, fail at some, win at some. Do not be afraid to get your hands dirty. Do not let the failures discourage you: they are to teach you. One should call them "experience" and not failures, actually.
Like me doing this post, heh: if it gets zero likes and comments, I will consider it a "fail" and not post about such stuff again 😜 But you need to try things out.

I would love to hear any thoughts of your in this vein!

📹 ...got some videos coming soon, so stay tuned, video lovers! Got more Headz walkthrus, bass stuff, Choppin Science etc!

🤔 PS: Should I do a (paid?) Discord server?? 

🤔 PPS: You may have noticed I am doing a bit of a social detox thing (personal FB, IG, Twitter)...can recommend!

Music is work! Motivation will fail you. Discipline gets the work done!

(I don't do videos for Youtube often anymore, but helps to throw in some people to my Patreon, which I want to grow as much as I can and keep it as part of my living)

Having been a creative being for 31 years (I started making music in 1992), I've always been interested in philosophy and also "tips" relating to making music – and getting things done. 

I wanted to put forward critical core thoughts in terms of how you should approach music IF you want to get it done and not just mess around! 

Hope it helps – would love to hear about YOUR approaches!

About breakbeats and transitional energy in songs [video]

Working on another song idea, I wanted to share some thoughts regarding distributing the energy in a song, this time mostly relating to using a breakbeat but also some other song elements.

Let's talk about BASS!

A few thoughts relating to bass as I'm working on a song.

• Solid sub for a 2-osc bass

• Using Ableton Multiband Dynamics for sub boost + control

• Hive 2 triangle bass

Song walkthru: FatGyver – "Slow Progress" (+ drum samples)

New beat walkthru time! Also I've got some drum samples for you (check end of post for links).

So in this video, I'm covering a song called "Slow Progress" from the recent FatGyver album.

Going thru the bass and drums (Addictive Drums 2), mostly, as that's mostly what the song offers.

Peeping a few plugins too and hearing what compressor can do to drums to get their aggression up quite a bit.

Giving LoopCloud a look too and see how it works…I think it's dope!

Here's two drum loops plus a few separate shots for you:

Beat 1 / Beat 2

Chopping Science! Redux part 1: chopping + FX [video]

Chopping Scientists need to know about good tools for chopping ✂️

If there's something that'll always get me all stoked, it's good samplers. 

Redux sampler offers very fast and light choppery. This is one of my favourite tools to chop up a drumbreak really quickly. Obviously it can be used for ANY samples. 

I'm also showing you how the FX work and unravelling the modulation side of things.

Also at the end, I'm having a great moment of teaching where I learn something new about it in terms of what can be done and what not…so you don't have to  learn the hard way, uh-oh! These happen to all teachers at some point, ha!

Also at the very end, I'm mentioning and showing what's also coming: you'll get a phat little sound taster (HINT: Luke Vibert would like it).

Hope you dig it!

Chop chop! 

Make your hihats classier

Heyhey, a quick tip on making your hihats classier.

(🎥 BTW there'll be a Redux sampler video coming soonish, as promised. Got many msgs about it – just wanted so say here, you've been heard! 🎥)

Thought I might make a video of this, but this technique really is as simple as it gets.

Most hihats have resonance peaks in them that may create annoying "hollow" ringing. Even the classic Roland drum machine hihats.

A lot of times, you don't necessarily (realize you) hear them until you create a narrow cut and flick it on and off.

I definitely don't claim to always hear them myself either until I try.

I start by looking and cut where I see a sharp peak.

The next time you work on your song, try looking for those narrow peaks, do a narrow cut of a few dBs and hear what it does.

You can make many hats so much classier by taking out the resonances.

"Man, this is all very obvious, we know, why even mention this?" I hear you say…yes, I know, but I do say, a lot of times you don't realize the resonance is in there until you try – or, especially in the case of hihats – look and then try. I hear so many resonant hihats in my daily mixing work, I will say, this most definitely isn't obvious to everybody.

Any zero latency / minimum phase EQ is def good for this (no need for linear phase).

Make a habit of this!

Ableton Push 3 [video]

So Ableton Push 3 is out today.

Available as a standalone and non-standalone versions.

I was happy to receive my unit early and I've been a tester for a while.
So, wanted to create this video for release day.

Hope you like!

About lowpass and highpass filtering

Being an audio nerd and engineer, this sort of stuff does fascinate me. Came across this article on the interwebs (shouts to Owen Palmer) and wanted to share.

There’s some interesting stuff about how minimum phase filtering affects the decay and amplitude of low frequencies.

Read up! And don’t high/lowpass that master ;-)

Anyways here’s the article! 📝

PS: Plenty of video stuff coming…wait till you see what drops on Tuesday ;-P

PPS: I rarely low/highpass anything!

Why new samplers don't sound like old ones

Phew, sorry for possibly several notifications for this today…you don't even want to hear why I had to do this again not once, but twice…so here, maybe the third time's the charm and this is it!
Was supposed to be a quickie, but ironically ended up taking tons of time!

(e.g., second time, I tried uploading the video to Patreon's own system, skipping YouTube, and it worked and looked good…until I hit post and checked it all a bit later and noticed there literally is no video inside the post…sigh, technology is here to help us…well at least some things, like old samplers, still work, ha!)

Currently got a mild flu, of course, as it's my off week and it's at least 17C outside, so wanted to do something to kill time and wait for recovery.

Chopping Science tools: TAL Sampler – it rules! Let's chop some drums and play bass [video]

Chopping Scientists need to know about good tools for chopping!

TAL Sampler is by far one of my fave samplers, because it's very light, quick to use, grrrreat for chopping – and it sounds banging! And that is why I want to tell you about it. Gotta love it.

PS: Will also do a similar video about Redux, too, as it's great for chopping as well

PPS: Will do another sound design video with TAL Sampler soon!

Sample Shack for May (download) [bass & drums]

Lemme slap you with some samples!

(Btw don't forget to check the earlier samples or downloads)

Most of these are from some of my most recent released songs, but I also added a few extras there.

There are kicks, hats, snares, and basses. I wanted to bounce these into audio so I could use them again myself, and hey, I want you to have them too.

Got a new video coming soon, so stay tuned for that!

Ableton protips time! [video]

This video for Ableton Nordic Youtube channel is waaaaaaaaayy overdue.
But hey, protips don't age.
Hope you like some of these!

"Reverse Dawn" song checkout [VIDEO]

Let's take a look at what happens in Reverse Dawn (Dispatch Dubplate).

I'll show you the drums and point you to the source, talk about a bit about the drum pattern, discuss song structure and voice my opinions on today's DNB structures in general, and so on…

VIDEO HERE (no sharing!) 

Make a classy brew and join me on this 30-minute song walkthrough video.

"No Horizon" drums + sample [VIDEO]

Always willing to inspire people to work on fresh drums, I want you to see what's happening with the drums in No Horizon (Metalheadz).

Video here (no sharing!) 

Also revealing the source sample and who sent it to me maybe 15 years ago and also used it in D&B before me (has only been used once before, afaik).
You can download my edited+processed version here.

What's coming soon

First, hi!

Second, thanks to everybody for the support and hanging around.

Third, letting you in on what's coming.
Soon, I'll go through some drumwork stuff on two new releases (I may split that to two videos).

I always aspire to inspire, so I'll let you in on the drumworks of No Horizon (Metalheadz). It has a drumbreak I'm almost 100% sure you've never heard of – especially not in D&B context. I wish more people used it, as it has a lot of great drumhits. I actually want to use it again as there's more to unravel in it.
DNB needs fresh drums and I want you guys to give it a shot (like with Rock Dirge).
The bass on that song is interesting too (prob the most complex, or at least longest, processing chain I've prob ever done – it's not a sample, it's an Ableton synth, which is good original bass sounds).

Another song where I'll want to cover some stuff is a soon-to-drop Reverse Dawn on Dispatch. You may have heard those drums before, but your guess as to where it's from may not be correct ;)
So I'll let you in on the source (I've processed it and will say a few words about that too).

Also will want to cover a few good non-DAW-specific samplers that are decent for chopping, as that's been requested a bit. Bitwig choppery has been requested, too, so will do a quickie on that, too.

More new Metalheadz walkthru videos are on the books, too.

So, just wanted to say, there's a lot of new stuff on the horizon.
Thanks for the support, as it's massively encouraging.

I hope everyone's been productive. I just submitted my new EP to Goldie (no release date yet), that's a bit different from the norm and there's plenty more being worked on.

PS: I'm always all ears to new ideas from you guys too <3
Wishing everybody a nice Sunday…talk to you soon!

"Headgames" [Metalheadz] walkthrough [VIDEO]

My new Metalheadz EP is here, and so is the walkthru for the opening track, Headgames!

🎥 VIDEO HERE (no sharing: it's all Patreon-exclusive!) 🎥

I talk about the arrangement, how the song sections work, the importance of transitions, emotional elements, drums of course – and why you should sometimes take a break from your usual style.

Any Qs, hit me up!

(PS: I can't share the EP, as it's owned by the label)

Chopping Science episode 2 [VIDEO]

I'm slamming you with Chopping Science episode 2 to get you into the mood to work on some drums!
(no sharing the link!)

Who's gonna work on some drums this weekend? Well, I know I am?

Anyways, here I continue from where I finished in Episode 1.
I'm making the drumloop more aggressive and talk about how to do it, while showing you, of course.
Talking about the importance of different drumhits in a drum pattern and how they accentuate the energy.
Let's take a mellow drum pattern and make it much more energetic!

Way more will come – feel free to slap me with Qs again!

PS: What's next? Weeell, Metalheadz and Dispatch tunage drops soon, so expect some DAW song walkthrus for example ;--)

Processing layered breaks [VIDEO]

Hey ya'll!

Chopping Science vol. 2 will come in Feb, but peep this!

I wanted to share a few techniques in layering drumbreaks.

Going thru some plugins and techniques to really squeeze some added tone out of a supporting break while keeping a main break on top.

I can guarantee there’s especially one plugin you’ve probably never used before which can really enhance the energy in the signal.

Add these tips to your mixing/processing toolbox and start creating your own monster layer breakbeat with a dope tone!

Also dropping a tip on a new break for you that you prob don't have…great for jungle and hip hop.

Chopping Science episode 1 [VIDEO]

The most requested thing from me, by far, has been relating to chopping drums and making breakbeats.

And that’s what I will present to you, in the form of Chopping Science video series.

First episode is up on Patreon now (40+ minutes).

VIDEO HERE (No sharing!!)

I’ll show you how I chop my drums, what I look for in a break, what device I like to use, and I’ll create a breakbeat loop in the end.

The techniques I use are universal and not DAW-specific.

With this series, I will help you build your understanding of chopping drums, programming breakbeats, as well as doing your own custom breaks.

I’ve never been one to hold back information: I feel one can only gain by spreading the knowledge, and that’s what I’ll keep doing.

Breakbeat heads, join the ride!

Lesson will continue on Episode 2 later.

PS: In the video, I'm using Ableton Live, but you can chop beats with any DAW.
I said in the video I'd link you to my slicing preset, and it's here.

To use it, place it at User Library > Defaults > Slicing (locate that folder via Ableton browser, then right-click and show it via Finder/Explorer and drop the file there).
It'll show up once you right-click on a warped audio file (e.g., a drumloop) and select Slice to new midi track; you'll see it in the Slicing Preset dropdown menu.

PPS: An old video about creating the slicing preset by me is here.