At this year’s Decibel Festival in Seattle, we had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Phil Hartnoll of Orbital, one of the most influential dance music groups of the last twenty-five years. The Grammy Award-winning duo consists of Phil and his brother Paul, both originally from Sevenoaks, England, and they began releasing critically and commercially successful dance singles and albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In this video interview, Phil Hartnoll talks about their early beginnings and individual musical influences (including Kraftwerk, English rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, classic Motown soul records from the US, film scores, and Jamaican ska, reggae and dub), their connection with musical contemporaries The Prodigy and Underworld (who were playing similar acid house and rave club gigs back in the day), the origin of the torch glasses, constantly refining their live setup, using the TR-909 vintage analog drum machine and the Ableton Live controller Griid, the importance of improvisation and playfulness in electronic music performances and sets, and most of all, staying true to oneself and not getting caught up in hype.

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For the second year Dubspot has partnered with Decibel Festival in Seattle to present a series of music production and DJ workshops with our team of instructors including Thavius Beck, DJ Shiftee, and Chris Petti. This year we also brought our camera crew along to capture some of the best parts of the event for our online audience. This video gives an overview of our experience at Decibel Festival 2012. Check out interviews with key figures and luminaries in electronic music such as Carl Craig, Roger Linn, Robert Henke, Orbital, and rising stars like Mimosa and Machinedrum. We will have more in-depth coverage and interviews to share in the coming weeks as well!

Carl Craig and Roger Linn

Thavius Beck

Chris Petti

Shiftee

Orbital

Carl Craig

Monolake

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In the interview Starkey talks to Raz about his early influences living in London in 2001 and listening to UK garage and grime pioneers So Solid Crew, and connecting with fellow Philadelphia DJ / producer Dev79 to form Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey Records, known for their “street bass” sound (an amalgam of bass music styles with an emphasis on the use of vocal samples). He also talks about using electronic experimentation and other compositional techniques in his creative process, getting into boutique sample libraries, and building Reaktor patches.

Starkey’s latest single “DPMO” b/w “Poison” is out now on Slit Jockey / Seclusiasis.

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Electric Zoo, New York City’s largest electronic music festival, took place at Randall’s Island this past Labor Day weekend. An estimated 110,000 fans and supporters were in attendance to witness the biggest names in electronic dance music play alongside rising and underground artists. Dubspot was there of course, and we caught up with some of the DJs and performers including Rusko, Benga, Datsik, Morgan Page, Gabriel & Dresden, Eliot Lipp, and Paper Diamond among many others. In this video recap we talk to them about their current DJ and live performance setups, electronic music genres, upcoming projects, and valuable advice for aspiring DJs and producers.

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We normally think of Maschine as a plug-in instrument, but you can also use it as an effects host in a DAW. This allows you to use all of its built-in effects as well as any third-party AU/VST plug-ins in combination, while also taking advantage of its powerful looping and automation capabilities to create some unique pattern-based effects. Let’s look at how to set this up in Ableton Live.

Setting Up The Maschine

Load the Maschine VST onto an instrument track in Ableton by dragging it from your plug-ins column to a MIDI track.  Once you have the Maschine interface open on screen, select Sound 1 on Group A.  Click on the drop-arrow shown on the first “Module” tab for Sound 1, and select “Input.” In the Input Settings, you will see a Level knob as well as a Source selector.  Select “Ext 1” from the source menu and you will be able to send any audio signal from through Maschine and its effects. “Big deal,” you say?  Well, here’s where it gets interesting.

With this setup, we now have access to all of the pattern-recording features in Maschine.  The patterns allow us to create loops of notes, or loops of automation. This means we can now create patterns without loading any sounds, so we can create loops consisting solely of effects automation. Let’s try this and see how it works by passing some audio from another track in Ableton through the Maschine effects.

To do this, first we need to create a new audio track in Ableton, drag an audio loop onto it that we can experiment with, then click in its Track Output to change the audio destination to the track hosting Maschine:

Now any audio we play from track “2  Audio” will be sent to the MIDI track hosting Maschine instead of going straight to the Master Output as it usually would.

Automating Effects in Maschine

Now let’s insert an effect in Maschine. In Sound 1, click on the drop-arrow on the Module 2 tab and  select “Grain Stretch.”

Now hit play on your loop to start Ableton’s transport moving and start the audio playing. You should be able to hear the effect of the Grain Stretch on the sound as you move the controls. To record effects automation as the audio passes through Maschine, hold the “Auto Write” button on the Maschine controller and turn the knobs on the “Grain Stretch” (or click and drag on the outer ring of any knob).  There should now be automation data recorded below the note matrix in the pattern section of Maschine (see image below). As the automated parameters change over time, you should hear the audio effects shift and loop as the pattern plays.

One of the best things about working this way in Maschine is that you can use all of Maschine’s pattern and note controls to trigger and shape the sounds. This means you can still Quantize, Nudge, Duplicate and Edit your FX patterns easily, as well as get more experimental with pattern and note lengths.  Just like any pattern in Maschine, your effects loops can be as long or as short as you prefer. This is a very interesting way to approach using Maschine and offers many new possibilities for performers and producers. Now try experimenting with this on your own a bit using various effects and plug-ins available in Maschine.

One important point to keep in mind here: you will see AU/VST effects and plug-ins appear in Maschine’s available plug-in list under two headings, “Plug-ins” (for instruments) and “FX” (for effects). Many Native Instruments plug-ins such as Massive or Reaktor will show up under both headings because they are available for use either as instruments or effects, but in this case we want to use them as effects specifically, so we need to make sure to select them from under the “FX” category; otherwise, they will not pass audio through the channel and you will get no output from Maschine.

With this setup, you can create amazing automated effects loops without permanently altering your original audio, and save the loops to reuse later.  Create delay buildups, automated drowning reverb effects, chains of plug-ins to morph your old loops into new sounds for your tracks, or bring a new level of dynamism to your live performances!

Also, now that Maschine has four individual audio inputs instead of just one, you can potentially have four independent effects chains set up at the same time, and follow the same steps above to set up different tracks in Ableton to go through each of the chains, quadrupling the possible combinations of different effects you can use at once.

In one of my next articles, I’ll show how to achieve similar effects with Traktor by running it side-by-side with Maschine on the same computer and routing the outputs from Traktor’s decks through Maschine’s effects just as we have done here with Ableton.

Dubspot contributor Computo is a half-human/half-machine electronic music producer and DJ, focusing on bass music of all varieties. He currently works for Native Instruments in Los Angeles as West Coast product specialist and trainer for Maschine and Komplete, and recently contributed programming to the Maschine expansion pack Raw Voltage. His YouTube tutorial on creating wobble bass with Massive has been viewed over 800,000 times.

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Dubspot is thrilled to announce a partnership with Subatomic Sound System to present an exciting new music festival: Dub Champions! We’re starting this Thursday September 20th and running through Monday September 24th with events happening at multiple venues throughout NYC, featuring live dub performances and education workshops with legendary Jamaican dub pioneers such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, Scientist (together with The Roots Radics), and Clive Chin. Future bass and electronic dance music innovators Kode9, Appleblim, and Dubspot’s very own DJ Kiva will also be on deck to deliver performances connecting the music’s past and present and offering a glimpse of things to come.

A Tribute to Augustus Pablo with Legendary Jamaican Producer Clive Chin featuring Prince Polo

Here at Dubspot, on Saturday September 22nd at 7pm EST, we will be hosting a special afternoon workshop paying tribute to legendary Jamaican reggae and dub producer Augustus Pablo with special live dub performances from Clive Chin will be doing a live dub performance off a traditional analog mixing board setup using his ORIGINAL master tapes of Augustus Pablo’s first song and biggest hit “Java”.

Horace Swaby, a.k.a. Augustus Pablo – “Java” (1971)

Clive Chin produced Augustus Pablo’s first track “Java,” one of the first dub records to come out of Kingston during the early 1970s. Dubspot Instructor DJ Kiva and guests will demonstrate a modern dub session with Ableton Live and Akai APC controller. This workshop is part of a continuation of our series featuring the work of Clive Chin at Jamaica 17 North Parade Studio. Check the Facebook event page and please RSVP@dubchampions.com attend.

Dubspot’s DJ Kiva “Guided Dub” Performance w/ Ableton Live and APC40

Dubspot Instructor, multi-instrumentalist and producer DJ Kiva delivered an exclusive Ableton Live and Akai APC40 performance of a track titled “Guided Dub” in Level 2 of Daniel Wyatt’s Mixing & Mastering class. The song was written in a classic “Steppers” dub style. It showcases mixing techniques developed by dub pioneers such as King Tubby, Mad Professor, and Jah Shaka, and applies these skills in a new context using Ableton Live and the APC40. DJ Kiva developed a new system of mapping the APC for mixing music, using the clip launch buttons as effect sends, providing the ability to have all effect sends in-line for each channel, as well as access multiple effects at the same time per channel.

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Once again we are proud to announced that this year we’ve partnered with Decibel to present a series of music production and DJ workshops and panel discussions with our team of instructors including Thavius Beck, DJ Shiftee, and Chris Petti. We are of course sending a camera crew along and we’ll be documenting the festival with frequent updates on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

We kick off our workshops and panels on Wednesday with Dubspot Curriculum Director Chris Petti exploring interesting ways to create new sounds with everyday items in “Sound Design with Common Objects,” while Dubspot Instructor and 2X DMC World Champion DJ Shiftee will demonstrate using Native Instruments’ Maschine in conjunction with Traktor S2 to create engaging DJ sets and performances. On Thursday September 27th, Dubspot Instructor Thavius Beck will discuss aspects of MIDI controller design and the way in which the form of the musical interface is changing the music itself, Chris Petti will examine different ways of using Reason 6.5, and Shiftee will talk about using Native Instruments’ Kontrol F1 with Traktor. On Friday September 28th we’ll close with three workshops including “Studios On A Budget,”  a session with Chris Petti that looks at how to build a home studio, DJ workstation, or recording environment on a limited budget using affordable household materials and a few innovative tools and tricks.

Decibel Festival 2012 Lineup

For its 9th anniversary, Decibel Festival has gathered an exceptional list of  international electronic music artists and performers. This year, headliners include electronic music giants Orbital, Carl Craig, Matthew Dear, Monolake, Bonobo, Star Slinger, Actress, John Talabot, Nina Kravitz, Fennesz and Jon Wozencroft, as well as The Cannabinoids featuring Erykah Badu, DJ Shadow and a wide array of electronic music artists including Machine Drum, Shlohmo, FaltyDL, Maria Minerva, Teengirl Fantasy, Demdike Stare, Andy Stott, and Dam-Funk.

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Tyeze

Brooklyn-based DJ/producer Tyeze offers a collection of expertly-crafted remixes, blends, and DJ mixes informed by a plethora of current dance music styles ranging from global bass, moombahton, and dubstep to Jersey club and future bass.

Global & Future Bass: June (DJ MIX) by Tyeze

Born in California, raised in Reno, schooled in Canada, and now based in Brooklyn after a stint teaching in South America, Teagan Tyeze has been steadily building momentum as a DJ and producer. When she performs she delivers a unique, intricately-woven sound spectrum integrated with an unforgettable, interactive exchange with her audience. She plays deep bass, dropping a plethora of genres from future bass, hip hop, dancehall, dubstep, glitch hop, electro, moombahton, cumbia, and more, a tango of many different spices mingling. Teagan studied electronic music production at Dubspot and has releases and collaborations dropping soon.

Zavvi

Zavi Harman is a 20-year-old electronic music producer, musician, and writer from Richmond, Virginia, currently based in New York City. Zavi was a dedicated guitarist in high school but after being exposed to Ableton Live during his freshman year of college, he decided to take the next step in his music: Zavi took a year off from college and moved to New York to attend Dubspot and take the DJ / Producer Master Program.

Sun Drips (ft.LλMBDA) by Zavvi

Zavi immersed himself in his studies at Dubspot, primarily the Ableton Certificate Program, as well as additional courses and workshops from the Sound Design, Music Foundations, Mixing & Mastering, and DJ programs. Zavi also took advantage of Dubspot’s three-month internship program in the tech department. Outside of Dubspot, Zavi enjoys networking in New York City’s electronic music scene and working with Dope on Plastic, an excellent blog that promotes the underground electronic music scene. He wrote a show review on Bass Squad and Interstellar Pig’s summer opening party at club Drom, which included an interview with the notable DJ duo Flosstradamus. Recently Zavi passed the Logic Pro 9 Level 2 Certification Exam and has become an Apple Certified User of the software; he is also hoping to explore Reason and Pro Tools in the near future.

Zavi will be returning to Richmond this fall to pursue a degree in Music Business at Virginia Commonwealth University. Taking the skills learned from Daniel Wyatt (Mixing & Mastering), Zavi is also looking forward to starting his new internship at Red Amp Audio recording studio in Richmond. After a year of training at Dubspot, Zavi is more than ready to put his skills into practice through producing and performing in the mid-Atlantic music scene.

81Neutronz

Nick Low-Beer a.k.a. 81Neutronz lives in New York City and currently splits his time between piano practice, music composition, and Qigong. Here’s a fragment of one of his experimental electronic music compositions…head over to his SoundCloud for more.

154 WheelofKARMA_fragment by 81Neutronz

Nick “81Neutronz” Low-Beer is a composer, audio engineer and performer/DJ best known for his electronica, ambient and hip hop music. As a composer, Nick’s biggest credit was his contribution to the track “Cinderella Man” from Eminem’s Grammy Award-winning album Recovery. Nick has also done several remixes for genius British electronic musician Alex Paterson of The Orb and completed a number of film and TV projects for Broadway legend Sergio Trujillo, choreographer behind Jersey Boys, Memphis, and Leap Of Faith.

Nebizha

Nebizha is an electronic musician, producer, and DJ currently based in Washington D.C. She produces techno and house with a sharp focus on sound design and environment.

Nebizha – Dreamsity (Original Mix) [Unsigned] by Nebizha

Nebizha is an aspiring electronic musician, producer, and DJ who grew up in the rigidity of steppes and mountains longing to explore what lie beyond. Years later when she realized the importance of finishing her musical education, she got herself back on the path toward music production, classical composition, and sound design. She enjoys the combination of sad and minor soundscapes with dark and grinding sonic elements, translating this into dark techno and tech house tracks.

Meketrefe

Meketrefe is the alter ego of Henry Henries, a producer and DJ from Mexico City. He’s currently based in NYC, making infectious dance tracks and remixes.

SINGLES by El Meketrefe

Meketrefe started DJing as a teenager and quickly became a prominent figure in Mexico’s underground music scene. He’s played internationally-renowned festivals like Vive Latino and shared stages with world-class rock bands and DJs. His work navigates various culture industries, building and supporting bridges between music, street art, and underground fashion. He’s held residencies at some of Mexico’s top nightclubs such as Imperial Club and Club Social Rhodesia. Meketrefe is now living in New York City, rocking parties in Brookyn and Manhattan and producing and remixing music at his own studio 255MK.

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We are very excited to present the latest Dubspot podcast from “The Sound Originator” himself, Japan’s very own Takeaki Maruyama a.k.a. Deep Medi Musik recording artist GOTH-TRAD. For those who are not familiar with his work, get ready to be introduced to one of the most remarkable electronic music artists and performers working in the field of bass music at the moment. Heavily influenced by electronic music pioneers like Kraftwerk and pivotal labels like Warp Records, young Takeaki was turned onto the sounds of electronic music from an early age. As GOTH-TRAD, Takeaki has been performing and releasing forward-thinking, boundary-pushing electronic music for over a decade. His releases can be found on one of Britain’s most trusted and influential labels for bass-heavy soundsystem music, Deep Medi. This mix was recorded live at Dubspot and contains substantial material from GOTH-TRAD’s most recent album, New Epoch (out now on Deep Medi) along with tunes from labelmates and like-minded producers Distance and V.I.V.E.K.

GOTH-TRAD (Deep Medi / Japan) – Exclusive Mix Recorded @ Dubspot NYC! Podcast 031 by Dubspot

GOTH-TRAD Dubspot Podcast Tracklist

01. GOTH-TRAD – Grind (dub)
02. GOTH-TRAD – Dark Path (DEEP MEDi)
03. Karma – Meanings (dub)
04. GOTH-TRAD – Cosmos (DEEP MEDi)
05. GOTH-TRAD – Axis (dub)
06. GOTH-TRAD – Seeker (DEEP MEDi)
07. GOTH-TRAD – Man in the Maze (DEEP MEDi)
08. GOTH-TRAD – Departure (DEEP MEDi)
09. Distance – Traffic [GOTH-TRAD Remix] (Planet Mu)
10. GOTH-TRAD – Air Breaker (DEEP MEDi)
11. GOTH-TRAD – Itinerant Priest (DEEP MEDi)
12. Pampidoo – Synthesizer Voice [GOTH-TRAD Remix VIP] (dub)
13. GOTH-TRAD – Cut End VIP (dub)
14. Johnney Osbourne – Fally Rankinig [V.I.V.E.K. Remix]  (Greensleeves Dubstep)
15. GOTH-TRAD – Meteor (dub)
16. GOTH-TRAD – Born To Know (dub)
17. GOTH-TRAD – New Epoch (DEEP MEDi)

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Harmonic singing is a great source of inspiration for a tutorial on synthesis, because the way a synth works is very similar to how the voice works.

When we sing we generate a note and push it out through our lungs, just like an oscillator generating a sine wave routed to the amplifier of a synth. We can also modulate the voice with filter or pitch effects, just like using an LFO to control parameters in a synth, or generate noise by adding hiss, our voice’s version of white noise.

To some, harmonic singing may seem ‘other worldly,’ mainly because specific frequencies normally suppressed in the voice are amplified in harmonic singing and because the mechanics of performing this style require learning a particular vocalizing ability.

In this sound design example, rather than hearing harmonic singing as being something mysterious and exotic simply because it is somewhat foreign to the Western ear, I’ve tried to create an Instrument Rack in Ableton Live focused on how the mechanics of harmonic singing works, boosting certain frequencies and widening the resonance. – Raz Mesinai

Related Dubspot Courses:

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

• Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
• Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
• Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
• Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
• Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
• Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Become fluent in the language of sound design with this comprehensive program. Our six-level Sound Design program uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, this comprehensive series of courses covers most common synthesis methods available for music production in the DAW of your choice.

Discovering the right sound is like finding a needle in the digital haystack. Learn the fundamentals to make this easier, and gain the depth of knowledge to make a good sound better. Factory content is great, but everyone has it – your mix needs something special.

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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It’s that time of year again! Get ready for New York City’s massive electronic music festival Electric Zoo! Made Event’s fourth annual EDM get-together goes down on Labor Day weekend (Friday August 31st – Sunday, September 2nd) at Randall’s Island.  It’s estimated that nearly 85,000 people attended the festival last year, and this year promises to be even more spectacular with some of the biggest names in electronic dance music including Pretty Lights, Skrillex, David Guetta, Tiësto, Luciano, Sasha, Claude VonStroke, Maya Jane Coles, Rusko, Above & Beyond, Axwell, Benny Benassi, Laidback Luke, A-Trak, Dillon Francis, 12th Planet, Bloody Beetroots, Kill the Noise, and many more slated to deliver exciting crowd-pleasing DJ sets and performances! Check out the confirmed lineup for the 2012 Electric Zoo Festival below.

Dubspot was in attendance at the festival last year; check out our recap video of Electric Zoo 2011. We caught up with some of the DJs and performers including newly reunited duo Gabriel & Dresden, legendary progressive house DJ John Digweed, Swedish DJ/producer Alesso, and beatboxer/electronic musician Beardyman, among others. They share some valuable advice for aspiring DJs and producers looking for a successful career in music. After the video, peep the entire 3-day lineup for Electric Zoo Festival 2012!

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FREE to attend | RSVP on Facebook

Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
2637 Welton Street
Denver, CO 80205

Respected across the globe, Truth (Andre Fernandez and Tristan Roake) have cut a clear pathway through the international dubstep scene as both world-class producers and party-rocking DJs. On the nightclub and festival circuits, the fruits of their labor have included three European tours, three American tours, countless Australian and Asian spot dates and a loyal following across New Zealand. They have built this performance presence through DJ support from Mala, Skream, Joe Nice, Youngsta, Hatcha and N-Type, giving their music an advance presence at key club nights like DMZ in London, Club Love in New York and through seminal radio stations such as BBC Radio One, Kiss Fm and Rinse FM.

Dubspot Instructor Shiftee unveils Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol F1 with Greg Nice.

2x DMC World Champ + Dancefloor Destroyer + Harvard Math Grad + Top 10 Producer =

New York City’s Shiftee has translated his intuitive math geek mentality into far-reaching success on the turntables, electrifying crowds from NYC to London to Hong Kong. With a degree from Harvard, 2 unique DMC World Champion titles, a NYU adjunct professorship, a top 10 debut release on Beatport’s Dubstep charts, a membership in the supergroup Mostly Robot, a finger on the pulse of bass music, and an ongoing international tour schedule, this overachiever can do it all. [head over to Shiftee's Palace to read more]

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In the first episode of our new series, On a Mission with Rich Medina, Booker T. Jones spoke to Rich Medina about some of the highlights of his long career in music: the early days of playing the organ and the oboe in grade school; forming his own band, composing and releasing the classical instrumental jam “Green Onions” at the young age of sixteen; learning music theory, composition, and orchestration and earning a music degree from Indiana University while fronting a successful band; and the early days of the classic American soul and R&B record label Stax Records. He also talked about singing lead for the very first time on his latest album The Road from Memphis (on which he collaborate with ?uestlove of The Roots and Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings), and about musicians and artists covering and sampling his work, from composer and arranger Henry Mancini to Jay-Z and Kanye West (whose international hit “Otis” sampled “Try A Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding, which had Booker T. and the MGs as the backing band).

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In the latest installment, Chris Petti offers some sound design tips and techniques for live performance to Zac Baird (musician and keyboardist for KORN) using the Sylenth1 software synthesizer by Lennar Digital together with Ableton Live.

I hope that you’ve been enjoying my series. I have received a lot of great feedback, and I really appreciate it. Thank you!

I was all set to do the next installment of the Petti Test with the focus on chord entry into a sequencer. I had received the submission a little while ago, and thought it would be a good one. Two days before the shoot however, Dubspot received an email from Zac Baird, keyboardist and pianist currently collaborating with the band Korn.

Zac said he was going to be in NYC as they had a show in New Jersey. He said he was a big fan of Dubspot, had watched many of our YouTube videos, and loved what we are doing. He said he had a day free in NYC and could either go to a museum or come to Dubspot and learn something. (Not to say that he wouldn’t learn something at a museum, but anyway…)

So we invited him to drop by and asked him to make a guest appearance on The Petti Test. I got to spend quite a bit of time with Zac, and I can honestly say that he is one of the coolest cats I have met in the music industry. He is using Ableton Live on his tour with Korn but he hadn’t really worked with too many of the rack devices, so we spent some time working with those and putting parts and sounds together for his live performance setups. He has a rich history with hardware synths and workstations and the flexibility of the rack devices in Live allowed us to create setups that paralleled the way he used to do it.

Check out the video, and I hope that you enjoy!

- Chris Petti

Related Dubspot Courses:

Our music production program is custom-tailored to fit your musical style. You can choose from several Digital Audio Workstations including Ableton Live, Logic Pro, or Propellerhead’s Reason.

After completing this program, you will leave with 4 completed tracks (EP), a remix entered in an active contest, a scored commercial to widen your scope, and the Dubspot Producer’s Certificate in Ableton Live.

What’s Included:

• Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
• Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
• Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials
• Ableton Live Level 4: Sound Design & Instrumentation
• Ableton Live Level 5: Advanced Composition & Production
• Ableton Live Level 6: Taking Your EP Global

“So far the experience through Dubspot is incredible, and I can’t wait to go through the next levels. It’s just getting better each week, and I can not wait to start putting an EP together, not just being able to put a successful track together!” - Dan Carter, United Kingdom

Become fluent in the language of sound design with this comprehensive program. This six-level Sound Design program uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, this comprehensive series of courses covers most common synthesis methods available for music production in the DAW of your choice.

Discovering the right sound is like finding a needle in the digital haystack. Learn the fundamentals to make this easier, and gain the depth of knowledge to make a good sound better. Factory content is great, but everyone has it – your mix needs something special.

What’s Included:

• Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
  
• Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
• Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
• Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
• Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
• Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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Rob Garza of Washington D.C.’s legendary duo Thievery Corporation visited Dubspot recently, ahead of a DJ set at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge. Garza and his musical partner-in-crime Eric Hilton are well-regarded for their innovative use of sampling, and incorporating a broad range of musical influences and elements, ranging from Jamaican dub reggae and soundsystem music to Brazilian bossa nova, Indian and Middle Eastern classical music, and driving hip hop rhythms and electronic dance beats. As a veteran producer, DJ, and musician, Garza stresses the importance of continuous learning and improvement.

In this video interview, Garza discusses the music production techniques and workflow used in the early days of Thievery Corporation, working with diverse and seemingly disparate sample sources and using the Akai MPC3000, Ensoniq ASR-10, and recording straight to Digital Audio Tape with no separate tracks. He talks about taking advantage of new music technology and software like Ableton Live, Logic, and Native Instruments’ Maschine and Kontakt. The conversation touches on the creative freedom of an electronic musician (experimenting with instruments and sounds and collaborating with other musicians), live performance, social and political activism, and traveling to Nepal with the World Food Programme, and also offers some details about the upcoming Thievery Corporation album (which will have some new songs with frequent collaborator Mr. Lif).

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Deadmau5 on the cover of Rolling Stone

deadmau5 is right of course: many EDM performers (especially at larger shows) do play a live set that is prerecorded and presequenced to some extent, whether they use computers or DJ with vinyl or CDs. This shouldn’t be shocking news to anyone though: after all, the whole genre of electronic dance music started with a DJ mixing a set of prerecorded tracks together one after another!

These days, instead of DJing some well-known EDM performers like deadmau5 are just ‘pressing play’ at the beginning of their set and playing back a (mostly) preconceived performance, perhaps changing some levels or adding some effects or filters during the show to give it some live feeling (as deadmau5 describes in his own case). Looking at it one way, a performer like deadmau5 is doing less than a DJ freely mixing tracks together, because the order and length of everything in the set has been decided in advance. On the other hand though, it is also possible for him to do MORE than a DJ can as far as actually changing the sound of the music while it is playing, because he has control over the individual parts of the music (drums, bass, synths, etc.) and he doesn’t have to worry about what’s coming next.

DMC champ, Dubspot Instructor, and electronic music producer/performer Shiftee

Of course, using prerecorded tracks in performance is not something that started with electronic dance music: many major pop and rock acts have been using live sequencing like this for years. Particularly at very large pop shows involving a big stage show with dancers, lights, video and pyrotechnics, it has long been common practice to run a computer offstage with most or all of the parts of the music playing out of a DAW like Digital Performer or Ableton Live. Certain parts from the master sequences (such as the live bass or guitar) will be muted in favor of having them played live by musicians on stage, while other recorded parts (such as backing vocals or percussion) will be played from the computer. The live drummer (if any) plays with a click track in headphones to keep time with the sequences.

Travis Barker: “I love, love playing to a click…”

As deadmau5 mentions, this is done in part to keep music, video and lights in sync at huge shows. Also, many major artists don’t want to take a lot of chances with a live show, they just want everything to run smoothly and give their audience what they paid for. This is not limited only to the most ‘commercial’ artists, either; I wouldn’t expect that there is a lot of room for musical improvising in Amon Tobin’s solo ISAM show, for example (although I could be mistaken), but this is not what it’s about, it is a tightly-linked audio-visual piece:

There is not necessarily anything wrong with this, there is room in electronic music for different types of performances and for different kinds of audiences. Of course it can be really enjoyable to hear a set of your favorite music performed together with a mindblowing visual show at a huge venue, even if you know how most of the music is going to go in advance. On the other hand, there are different pleasures to be had at a more improvisational show where you don’t know what is coming next and the DJ or live band is totally in tune with the energy and mood of the crowd and amplifying it with their track selections and performance.

Ean Golden is right that the feedback loop between performer and audience is the crucial thing here: the ability for the performer to feel the energy of the crowd and respond through their performance. This is what makes for the most legendary live performances, this felt connection between the people in the crowd, the action on stage, and the sounds that result.

However, this does not necessarily require a lot of fancy gear or a complex controller setup — the performer just needs to be able to manipulate SOME aspect of the performance in response to the audience. To a large extent, the audience doesn’t really care (or even notice) how the music is being made or what aspect of the sound the performer is controlling; what they DO care about and will notice is whether or not the performer is interacting with and responding to them somehow by changing up the energy and flow of the performance.

Even if all you are doing is mixing one track into the next DJ-style, if you are flexible in your track selection, creative with your mixing, and in tune with your audience you will be able to interact with their energy and take them on a memorable journey. Great DJs are expert at using selection and sequencing to shape a mood.

In fact, in some ways playing prerecorded music gives DJs more freedom to interact with the audience than a live band has, because they don’t have to concentrate on keeping all the parts of the music going from moment to moment and they don’t have to follow a predetermined set list. This is one of the keys to the power of a great DJ — thinking about the overall flow of the performance from a higher level and deciding what will be played next, over the course of an hour or over the entire night, rather than just concentrating on the song at hand.

So although deadmau5 got slammed for some of things he said recently, we shouldn’t be afraid to admit that he’s right — many if not most EDM performers use prerecorded music in their sets to some extent, there are very few electronic bands who actually trigger every note and sound ‘live’ (Mostly Robot comes to mind for example). This isn’t necessarily a problem though — the whole dance music scene traces back to listening to selections of prerecorded music together in a dark club or warehouse, often played by a DJ who no one knew or could even see. At its root dance music is really about the experience of hearing and feeling the music and seeing each other and dancing TOGETHER, not about watching a superstar performer.

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Online conversation: Peter Kirn also had some thoughts on this topic at CDM, and Bassnectar weighs in with an interesting contribution on his blog as well.

Side note: ‘pressing play’ i.e. using prerecorded backing tracks in a live performance like this has long been a source of controversy in music, in fact people used to get much more agitated about this than they do now. Although it may seem a bit silly to us now after 2 decades of DJ culture, back in 1990 state lawmakers in New York and New Jersey were actually debating putting some legal controls on the use of recorded music in live concerts, because it was felt that audiences were being ripped off by the use of canned backing tracks.

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Brian Williams (better known as Lustmord) is an accomplished British electronic musician, composer, sound designer, and visual artist. He started his recording career in the early 1980s when he joined the legendary industrial and noise band SPK. Williams is regarded as one of the key innovators of the industrial genre and a pioneer of the subgenre commonly known as ‘dark ambient’. A large body of his work remains defiantly experimental. As Lustmord, Williams has remixed and collaborated with bands such as Tool, Coil, The Melvins, and Isis. He’s also worked in sound design for film and television, lending his technical expertise to movies like The Crow, Underworld, Tank Girl, Spawn, and even a Nike Sports basketball commercial.

In this episode of Dubspot’s Wireless interview series, Brian Williams a.k.a. Lustmord sits down with composer, producer and educator Raz Mesinai f.k.a. Badawi for a brief interview that touches on experimental and extreme creative processes in electronic music, sound design and composition techniques, live performances, visual composition, and more.

Become fluent in the language of sound design with this comprehensive program. Our six-level Sound Design program uses Native Instruments’ Komplete as a platform for learning synthesis and sampling techniques. Starting with an introduction to the properties of sound, this comprehensive series of courses covers most common synthesis methods available for music production in the DAW of your choice.

Discovering the right sound is like finding a needle in the digital haystack. Learn the fundamentals to make this easier, and gain the depth of knowledge to make a good sound better. Factory content is great, but everyone has it – your mix needs something special.

What’s Included:

Sound Design Level 1: Introduction to Komplete 8
Sound Design Level 2: Synthesis with Massive, FM8 and Absynth
Sound Design Level 3: Sampling with Kontakt and Battery
Sound Design Level 4: Advanced Sound Design
Sound Design Level 5: Reaktor Ensembles and Instruments
Sound Design Level 6: Reaktor Programming

Start dates and information about payment plans can be found here.

Or if you have questions, please call 877.DUBSPOT or send us a message.

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In the third installment of Dubspot’s Road Test video series, Dubspot Instructor, globe-trotting DJ and producer Abe Duque gives us the run down on the Boss VE-20 Vocal Effects Processor. After exploring some of the creative and performance possibilities of the FX pedal in several live music settings on a tour in France, Abe brought the vocal processor back to the lab for a deeper and more detailed analysis with assistance from none other than beatboxer extraordinaire and Dubspot staff Jase Mason.

Digital DJing w/ Traktor Pro 2 Program

DJ Extensive Program

Immerse yourself in the complete art of DJing from beatmatching to stage presence. Whether you’re a beginner in search of the fundamentals or a seasoned pro looking to take your talent to the next level, our curriculum is designed to accommodate all skill levels and styles of music. This comprehensive DJ program covers everything from basic mixing to advanced digital DJing. Learn more about our DJ courses and programs.

What’s Included:

• DJ Level 1: Rookie Sessions | Essentials I
• DJ Level 2: Phrase Mixing | Essentials II
• DJ Level 3: Beyond The Blend | Intermediate Skills
• DJ Level 4: Preparation | DJ Psychology
• DJ Level 5: Classroom to the Club | Advanced Techniques I
• DJ Level 6: Club to the World | Advanced Techniques II

“I love the class, and the content! Shiftee and Endo are very funny, and very clear, so the material is easy and fun to follow! I wish my college   teachers  were more like these two!” – Leandro Martinez, Chicago IL

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We’re very proud to celebrate Make Music New York Festival 2012 happening June 21st! Hundreds of free live shows, concerts, performances are scheduled throughout NYC! Yes, we’re excited to be kicking off the first day of summer with a series of free live performances and DJ sets from some of New York City’s finest electronic music producers and performers you’ve never heard. This will be happening just outside our school location on 348 West 14th Street. Below, read about Make Music NY and check out the full line-up of Make Music New York 2012 @ Dubspot!

Now in its sixth year, Make Music New York, “the largest music event ever to grace Gotham” (Metro New York), is a unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City, all on June 21st, the first day of summer. MMNY takes place simultaneously with similar festivities in more than 460 cities around the world — a global celebration of music making.

Make Music New York is a live, free musical celebration across the city that takes place each June 21, the longest day of the year. On that day, hundreds of public spaces throughout the five boroughs become impromptu stages for over 1,000 free concerts.

Make Music NY 2012 @ Dubspot

12:30pm – 1:10 pm – BomberGirl and the Mechanic

1:10pm – 1:50 pm – In The Loop

1:50pm – 2:30 pm – Banginclude (Mike Hatsis)

2:30pm – 3:10 pm – BAEK

3:10pm – 3:50 pm – Molly Joseph

3:50pm – 4:30 pm – Daughter of Darrr

4:30pm – 5:10 pm – Comandante Zero (CØ)

5:10pm – 5:50 pm – Exaltron

5:50pm – 6:30 pm – ATOM

6:30pm – 7:10 pm – Jawwaad + Kiva

7:10pm – 7:50 pm – Redgreenblue

7:50pm – 8:30 pm – DJ Bluz

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Native Instruments recently announced the formation of Mostly Robot – a team of five exceptional and well-respected musicians and performers.  The members of this super-band includes Dubspot instructor and turntablist extraordinaire DJ Shiftee, British soul singer and electronic musician Jamie Lidell, the ridiculously talented Jeremy Ellis, producer and performer Tim Exile, and keyboard player Mr. Jimmy. Dubspot caught up with Mostly Robot ahead of their highly anticipated debut performance at Sónar 2012 by Day Program for an exclusive interview in which the members discuss their shared ideas, influences, the current state of music technology, the future of the band, the importance of the human element in live performances, and much more! Needless to say, their performance at Sonar is guaranteed to be one of the most unique events at the festival this year. Read our exclusive interview below.

What are some of your shared ideas, influences, views on the current state of music technology?

Jamie – Make laptops fun.  Everything that used to be done in the realm of synthesis and the analog world can all be done on computers .  You have to embrace the laptop and not deny it as something that’s ugly.  It’s not everyone’s favorite aesthetic, but you can’t deny it. Feel the power, use the power.  It’s an open book.  You can liken the computer to an instrument that no one’s learned.  You can’t really master a computer since it’s growing away from you.  There’s no end. You can’t get to the end of level boss with a laptop.

Jimmy – We all use computers in a crazy way as new instruments.  If you deny the computer, you’re missing out a little bit.  What’s cool is everyone is flipping it in his own way.  Laptops have started to creep on the stage or backstage of every band.

Shiftee – We are all trying to push the envelope in our own fields with respect to technology.  I don’t think anyone settles in to what they’ve always been doing.  New toys come out and we want in.

Jeremy – We’re all definitely pushing the envelope as far as our skill sets and technology is concerned.  It’s also pretty strange to hang out with this many people who know what an LFO is.

Tim – I completely deny the existence of laptops.  The laptop never happened.  Steve Jobs never lived.

Tim Exile and Native Instruments present “The Mouth”

How are you all preparing for the Sonar performance – individuals and as Mostly Robot?

Jamie – Lyrics.  Lyrics is a big thing for me.  Memory and learning stuff quickly and holding the form of these songs.  And before, writing, writing the melodies and lyrics.  It’s old school.  I’m taking the old school in a way.  Singing, songwriting.

Jimmy – Programming.  I think everyone did a bit of programming. Whether it’s the last month or the last year or two years, everyone’s been programming.  And dreaming!  Dreaming first, programming second.

Shiftee – I’m eating a ton of Gazpacho.  Seriously, I ate 8 bowls of Gazpacho yesterday.  As a group, we work largely in a song structure. We’ve got our tunes, so a lot of the preparation is just arranging and practicing our songs.  Right now, we’re practicing for a week in Sitges, Spain – villa style.

Jeremy -  It’s the mindset of taking a one man band and removing chunks of it robotically.

Tim – I am trying to work out how I can have enough will power to do 25% of what I normally do.

Jamie Lidell – Little Bit of Feel Good

What’s the ultimate goal for Mostly Robot? What are your plans after the > Sonar performance?

Jamie – The ultimate plan is pleasure.  Musical pleasure.  It’s a decadent band.  We are in a villa right now with catering to do 1 show.  We are embracing the decadent potential of this band.  It’s a got a lot of weird intersecting things, it’s like a meeting of the minds on a technological and musical level.  It’s cool just to see where everyone’s at.  Everything else is a side effect.   We can relax and be creative.

Jimmy – Ultimate goal is just to have fun.  That’s my whole deal.  I want it to be the funnest hobby band in the world.  If we get together 3-4 times a year.  Friendship, healing.  I hope I can convert everyone to Jesus.

Tim – I’m going head to head with Jimmy and converting everyone to Buddhism.  I’m in it for the hang, gonna see what happens.  I want to make some Mostly Robot machines.  Especially Robot machines.

Shiftee – The rehearsals have produced some cool music, so watch out for some Mostly Robot releases.  We’d like to keep playing, even if it’s a few times a year.  Get together, hang out and have fun, make some new music, and play a show or two.  Watch out for Mostly Robot brand gazpacho as well.

Jeremy – World robot domination.

Traktor Kontrol F1 – Scratch Clips w/ Shiftee and Greg Nice

Why the decision not to use a MIDI clock and emphasize the human element/your individual ability to playing independently on your own but keeping the group in mind?

Jamie – It forces you to actually play live.  Everyone can play live, so everyone does play live.  That’s what keeps it a little wonky and wobbly.

Jimmy – This is one I kind of didn’t believe in at first.  But after we got into it, that’s the whole point, taking computers off quantization.  In Nashville, that’s everyone’s problem with computers.  “What, you’re on a grid!?!?!?  You guys are faking it.  The computers are doing all the work.”  It’s not like that.  So we’re slipping off the grid.  It makes it breathe.  It makes it real.

Tim – I’m kind of stuck with my own MIDI clock.  My machine has its own thing, so it snaps to its own grid.  Sometimes I go off the grid. I can’t really keep a free tempo, it needs to be locked to some kind of tempo.  It’s a little difficult in the band, since everyone else is playing free.  I’m a free floating clock, I get my clock out and rock out.

Shiftee – I think that’s when we all have the most fun.  When you’re off the grid there’s a layer of excitement and danger.  We’re mostly robot, but we’re still humans.

Jeremy – I never use MIDI clock personally.  It is indeed about the human element of the robots.  Robots need to be programmed.  You can program them to act freely.

Jeremy Ellis performs on Maschine Mikro

Conceived by Native Instruments, Mostly Robot will utilize an advanced array on NI hardware and software, pioneering a creative interplay between technology and cutting-edge artists from diverse musical backgrounds.

Mostly Robot is a real band, made up of exceptional artists: Jamie Lidell, Tim Exile, Jeremy Ellis, Mr Jimmy and DJ Shiftee. Truly ‘live’, each musician plays independently of each other – instruments are synced only by the human element, with no MIDI clock or prepared grid obstructing their creativity.

Placing themselves in the tradition of inspiring jazz concerts, Mostly Robot draw their magic from bringing highly skilled individuals together, creating a unique momentum. What’s more, the Sónar showcase is a rare moment to catch a glimpse of yet unreleased song material from individual band members.

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