Wanna dutty up your sounds?! You can mash up your beats using Tape, yes, Tape (ask your Dad). You can add grit, dirt, fuzz, wow and flutter and all other sorts of Lo-Fi goodness by reading through the steps below and getting experimental. Dive into the world of Lo-Fi now... In the age of Lo-Fi Hip Hops’ burgeoning popularity, it...
Remember that old toy keyboard you used to play with as a kid? Well, that sort of thing is gold dust to a Circuit Bender! A bit of rewiring wizardry here, a dash of circuit manipulation there, and there you have it, you've got yourself some crazy new sound to tweak to your heart's content! There's plenty to explore in...
WRITERS BLOCK! The bane of anyone trying to stay creative. The struggle is real!! It’s all too easy to get caught in a routine when creating. Break the cycle, step out of your routine and try something different. You've probably heard it all before. But there are some tried and tested ways to get the juices flowing again... Going through...
Gully man ting! UK Grime has had a stratospheric rise to become THE sound of the last decade in Britain and beyond! If you wanna learn how to make your beats DENCH, then take a look at our dive into the inner workings of Urban UK's dopest genre... The Birth of a Genre Its earliest conceptions come from the likes...
Crunchy nostalgic vibes! Lo-fi Hip Hop conjures up chilled-out feelings and hazy memories. Beautifully simplistic, it makes the most out of a few basic sounds and boy does it make them work!! Lo-Fi Hip Hop continues to go from strength to strength, especially with the emergence of YouTube channels such as Chilled Cow, ChillHop, The JazzHop Café amongst others. The...
Your phone...sometimes it's hard to stop staring at it. We use them to kill time, keep in contact, send funny messages, get the news, all sorts. In between the endless scrolling, sometimes inspirations can hit. So you better be prepared! Take a look at some of the best apps available to bang out some tasty beats on the move!! Mobile...
No studio? No problem!! Yea, yea, it's not the flash space, decked-out in expensive kit that you see the big players using when conjuring up some new fire. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most of what you've got! This gets harder when your studio doubles up as your bedroom!! But luckily we've got some ideas to help...
Hip Hop, it don't stop!! You can find a sick sample just about anywhere these days and get yourself a heavy beat rolling! Get amongst these top tips on how to use these samples to your advantage. There's plenty of info below for you to dive into; who's knows what you could create by the end of this article!?? Read...
Foley percussion!? Grab yourself some pots and pans and start clanging away!! OK, maybe it's a tad more complex than that, but it's not a bad starting point. Check out some creative ways to get more out of your percussive parts using everyday items you most likely have lying around the house. Get involved!! When it comes to studio recording...
Mixing can be a tedious process! It can feel like you're banging your head against the wall trying to get everything to sit in place. Don't let it get you down! Follow these simple steps and you'll at least be ahead of the game in getting that much-needed gloss on those sounds! To mix like a pro, you need to...
Want your sounds THICK!? Everyone's looking to crank the Bass up, but the other elements of your track need some love too, don't neglect them! Check out some ways you can beef up various parts of your sounds and turn your featherweight track into a heavyweight!!! A lot of people struggle to make the sounds in their tracks rich and...
The idea of Stereo Widening isn't – at first – too hard to grasp. Making things sound wider, right? Hmmmm, maybe...but the devil is in the detail!! While it might sound appealing to have a huge wide soundscape, this ain't always the one. Things can get messy real fast! Lets guide you through this very important area of production... Why...
Embrace new technology!! The tech-wizards are constantly bringing out incredible new developments that are changing how we look at music. So don't be afraid!! Have a look through our selection of cutting-edge tech to bang out some fresh new sounds with!! The traditional arsenal of effects is familiar to most producers – delay, phase, distortion and so on. Useful for...
Wanna make the most out of some old analog gear that doesn't work quite right?! This week, we're looking at the technique of multisampling. And no, we ain't chatting about using two different accapellas in the same track. Multisampling can be way more handy, and can help you get the best out of any sound source that you might have...
So you've made an absolute belter, someone's signed it, now what?! Well you'll need to come up with what is commonly known as a 'pre-master'. Sounds simple, but can very easily get people confused - what even is a pre-master anyway? Read on, as we take a deeper look into this delicate issue... Ultimately, a pre-master is just the two-track...
The kick is like the anchor of the track. You feel it wallop you in the chest when you're out in a club! It sets the pace and rhythm that everything else works around. So read on for the fundamentals on how you can make it hit right. You want that bad boy to slap!! This week I was asked...
Lee Perry, right? A stoner genius hunched over a giant 1960's mixing desk, concocting a dizzy swirl of reggae loops and effects? If you wanna mix it up inna rub-a-dub style, you don't need a huge mixing console and an even larger bag of herb. You can do it at home, now pass over the chalice and read on!! Well...
Crate Digging! That's how it's done. It takes time and a lot of trial and error, but you'll find some of the sickest and most obscure gems by getting your hands dirty and diving in! You also need to know where to look; we can help you with that... Electronic music has been showing us for years that a good...
Sub-Bass; you feel those warm vibrations when you get closer to the speakers and it breeds excitement and good times!! It's damn important and anyone who says otherwise is missing out on the depth music can have. Well, that's what I reckon anyway, but, what's the best way to do it!?! And what makes a good sub anyway? The Basics...
What even is a tracker? Seems a bit dry and a bit too much like coding to be particularly creative right? If you're like the majority of the music-producing masses, you'll probably be used to a conventional sequencer. But there are a group of musicians who think there is merit in having limits. Crazy right?! Well, let's hear them out...
