Not sure if you're familiar with No-ID (he's a producer that has worked with Kanye and JayZ) but these two vids are an awesome look not only into his studio (which borders of insanity), but his approach to sessions with his co-producer Jimmy Douglas. We all have different approaches to mixing , but there's something I really liked that Jimmy mentions in at 7:40 which is his approach to mixing which I found really interesting, or as he calls it "addition, not subtraction". He focuses on creating headroom so increase loudness, which seems obvious enough but is something we sometimes lose track of. I tend to go the opposite direction because I tend to start with really dense mixes and I find I have to pull back or remove elements in a mix to create more space, and I think a lot of how we mix is dictated by genre and what sounds right to us. Interesting nevertheless. Studio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNEUyEz3lN0 Session https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mm995LYec

mmh interesting, posting to save the topic. i have Super Audio Kart for kontakt that has a lot of those sounds (made a few "retro" soundtracks). great to see it free eheh

Another cool 303 plugin, this one actually looks pretty insane in terms of features...  https://www.if-tah.com/devices/sting/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWe8SAwS0r0

I'll bring coffee or tea.  Looking forward to it.

Few years old but a really interesting video to that talks about key changes in #1 top billboard tracks from 1958 to to 2023 (round that basically to today as well). Most modern popular music really doesn't have a lot key changes, if any, which is why a lot of it tends to sound the same IMO. Having key changes in a track isnt a requirement, but it does make it interesting and helps the track stand out more, almost like having an extended vocabulary to help you articulate and express things better. Its a little different though with electronic music since it tends to lean more towards dance and he touches on that in the beginning when he references disco. But I think its a really interesting find and something to consider: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVllpzhA5VM

Not sure if any of you caught this video Alex Ball posted about two weeks ago but it was a lot of fun watching. Even though he said that first track was in the style of Mario Kart, it could have easily been Sonic. I had both the 990 and 5080 and intimately familiar with both... crazy how much those sounds were used   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK0FhoO3w7U

Let me add to that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kreWKsu0tg

@samuraitracks Val! Glad you're back and hopefully had an opportunity to disconnect even if went longer than you expected!   Yeah man, things just seem to get more complicated these days. I'm dealing with renewing my residency at the moment... man what a shit show. Funcionarios are the bane of my existence   Lets catch up soon if you have time before school kicks off again!

@aymat Damn bro, 2006 and i haven't, while searching i was about to say i didn't knew him either, but then i remember his band from Beavis and Butthead, just didn't knew his name, gonna check it out! thanks for the heads up.

Got served a couple of insane videos today from the YT algo: This channel is fucking fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpLFASOJJyc Ridiculous drumming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g93XjvbbtII

Thats a bummer, thankie for the heads up, can confirm also got it.

Not sure how many of you are aware of Lenzman but he was a top tier dnb producer who sadly passed away a few days ago. He was a bit of a titan, sort of in that mythical realm of producers and all it takes is typing Lenzman on any of your social feeds to understand why. He's released on dozens of highly regarded dnb labels and his discography is outstanding, every release is quality with zero filler. He also founded his own label, The North Quarter, which is also one of my favorite dnb labels because the quality of releases is beautifully curated and always on a different level. I'm mentioning him for several reasons. He was one of my favorite dnb producers and a lot of how I think about structure in a tune and creating a vibe is influenced by his music. I lose track of how many incredible tunes he's made over the years but if I could recommend two of my all time favorite releases hes put out, they would be Looking At Stars and The Golden Age EP. Worth picking up because they are fantastic and even over a decade after their release, I still listen to them regularly. For anyone thats interested in his approach to production, check out this video that was released today on Sample Genie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vATlCSE4qos Also, he shares some valuable insight at the beginning of the tutorial, something I absolutely agree with and practice myself, which is his approach to curating sketches. In his words: *"If you make a basic sketch and select your best work from those sketches at a later time, you're eliminating a lot of pressure from yourself, because you're not investing a great deal of time just to get an idea down. To me, it's all about getting ideas down quickly and leaving them be, so you can detach yourself. Getting rid of pressure and trying to create a carefree environment in the studio is really where it's at. *People put a lot of pressure on themselves when they're writing music, or doing art in general, and whatever you can do to eliminate that is great. It's also a way of being efficient with your time. Say a whole track takes you about 10 hours to finish, whereas a sketch could be done in about an hour, maybe less. You could write 10 ideas in about the same amount of time as finishing one track. I'd much rather have 10 ideas for tracks where I can select the best ones than invest 10 hours of my time and have one tune that might not be the best, idea-wise, at least."   I also want to share of a few of his tracks below. Even if they may not be your vibe, I think just listening to them will give you an impression of just what an incredible producer he was.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9z-9xoEnFA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtqZMETI-tw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf2SoTl_-j0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m0p-sp3Udw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60BWpYx6T5A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhWbME97dzg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4AnH5EnB_g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiB-tj_95gA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpXT90h9VoY

Pixies are my favorite band so these two videos were a nice surprise on my feed today. Been thinking a lot about creativity and process recently and couldnt come at a better time. Definitely worth checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZr6sr-bRAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrVWOlzmWOM

Hi everyone, Sorry for the radio silence recently! I'm coming back online after a rough week with vertigo. Some context, I've had vertigo for years and it usually comes and goes within a day but I've never had it this bad which is a little concerning but at the moment I'm feeling a lot better. Still not 100% though so I'm going to see a specialist just to make sure its nothing serious. Regardless, I'm back at it and looking forward to starting sessions again.   Apart from that, I'm currently working on a few other things in the background for the site which I plan to release later at the end of the month. I'm really looking forward to sharing that with you guys. Anyhow, hope youre all doing well and cant wait to catch up soon! - J

Yo!  thanks for sending this.

took a peak, super handy, saved at watch later, focusing/rushing on that side b track the drums "muting" might add to what's missing from my attempt, i didn't even showed you the other tracks, there's one i got the "ice ice baby" from Vanilla Ice, TO COLD, TO COLD.

Something to consider when the odds feel like they're stacked against you. Making music in 2026 might feel like youre roller skating up a hill but this should put things in perspective. And it's not impossible either, the key is consistency:

I'm not a huge fan of Beck, not because I don't think he's any good, in fact quite the opposite, but his music never really spoke to me. However, I thought this was a really interesting short interview about his process for the track, and how important it is to lean into influences and the things that make your music uniquely your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uV-wHENnI

@samuraitracks It does look pretty amazing and the potential really does look endless. The only thing that puts me off, and this is for any "synth" in general, is the learning curve. When I was younger I would have happily spent weeks figuring this thing out but as I get older, I just dont have that kind off time or patience any more. I just want something simple and if I cant figure it out in 5 minutes, I'm done