Doing it For The Exposure... Do's & Don'ts!

'It's good exposure'. The single most horrible phrase in the music industry. It's the one people use when they've just asked you to spend thirty or forty hours working on a remix for no cash, or to trek down to London, DJ at their club night and then get the first train home in the morning, all without the promise of even the train fare. Nightmare, right? Well, it's not always a bad thing. So read on, as we take a closer look at this thorny issue.

If you just look at the principle, there's really nothing wrong with the idea of doing something for no upfront payment, if the fringe benefits (usually publicity) can be significant. Indeed, a lot of artists and labels spend good money trying to drum up publicity in a variety of ways. So spending your time and energy in return for exposure is, on paper, no worse than spending your hard-earned cash.

The problems come when 'the exposure' is out of proportion to the effort that you put in. This normally happens when a label or promoter don't want to pay someone. It can occasionally be tempting, but few landlords will accept exposure in lieu of rent, and it should really set alarm ringing. Why don't they want to pay? The most common reason is usually that they're just trying to bulk out a product in the hope of bringing in a spot of extra cash for themselves. As such, you need to get a little mercenary in your thinking.

What exactly is the exposure you'll be getting? Can you do better? If you're being asked by some no-mark label for free product, you'll likely resent the process, do a poor job, and they'll not bother promoting it too hard because they didn't have to invest in it. It's a lose-lose all round. Instead, try hitting up a label you like and asking to do a remix 'on spec'. This means that you work for free, with no obligation to the label to pay you or even use the mix, but that if they like it then hopefully you can work something out later. Most labels are open to the idea of free stuff so it's often possible to get some remix stems. This way you are much more motivated – it could be your big chance, imagine getting a remix out on this great label – so more likely to spend time and do a good job, which increases the chances of the label liking it and wanting to release it. A much better result than being remix 7 out of 8 on some tiny label that doesn't want to pay its artists.

Free tune giveaways can be useful too, but again, are best off done on your own terms. Far too often a free tune is given away via some small blog or inconsequential website and garners no attention. Disclosure, on the other hand, kickstarted their whole career with a free tune giveaway; managed via their Facebook page, it required a 'like' to be downloadable. As it was such a good track, it proved very popular; and several thousand 'likes' later they were suddenly flavour of the month. A much better result than a few thousand downloads from a magazine site where people may not even click through to their fan page.

DJ gigs are a little more complex – most nights will have plenty of budding DJ's queuing up to play, but you should still exercise a little discretion if you're asked to play for free. Again, what's in it for you? It doesn't have to be anything big - the promoter owing you a favour perhaps, or, and this would be the most common reason, the sheer fun of it. A good set in front of a decent crowd, with a few beers and some taxi money home can be one of the best nights out you can have. Conversely, playing a backroom to no-one on a broken P.A. isn't a good, or fun, use of your time. Anything involving travelling should, however, be treated with great caution. If you're spending money on trains and staying overnight, there's more to lose – so try to make sure you're getting something back in addition to playing out; for instance coverage on the promoter's blog or a mix on their radio show. It's not always plain sailing; your author recently spent a hefty wedge travelling across the country to play a free show for a famous fashion magazine, in return for a feature in the print mag. As soon as the gig was over, however, the magazine stopped returning calls. Very frustrating.

Overall, doing things 'for the exposure' can be a great way of putting your name out into the world, and getting yourself onto releases or into press that you would not otherwise get. But it can also be a great way of letting people casually rip you off, without getting much in return! So make sure that before you do anything in return for exposure, you're clear about what that exposure is going to be, how you're going to get it, and make sure that there isn't a better way of doing it yourself!

Sign A Deal!

At some point, if things go well and you've been paying close attention to this blog, you may find that a label wants to sign you up for a single release. Often, they'll then send over a contract for you to sign. But what do all these terms mean? Everyone's heard about 'getting your lawyer to look over the contract' - but in the real world, no normal person is going to get a lawyer involved for a contract that might cover 300 vinyls and a handful of digital sales. These contracts are usually pretty perfunctory anyway, but there are a few things you need to know about. So let's take a look at some of the things you need to keep in mind as you scour that first contract!

First, there will be the 'term'. This is how long the contract will last (or to put it another way, how long the label will own your tracks). It's usually in perpetuity - that's forever - which is a touch harsh, we feel. Some more progressive labels these days use a term of something like 7 years, after which you'd be free to offer the tracks for free download on your own site, for instance. If this appeals, it might be worth asking to change the contract in this respect.

Then there may be some talk of 'an advance'. If there is, you're lucky - the advance is an endangered species and has been very rarely seen in the wild since about 2008. An advance is exactly what it suggests; you get some of your share of the profits up front. This is, of course, re-coupable - so if you get an advance of £200, then when the money comes in, the first £200 from your side will go to the label. If the record doesn't make that much profit, then technically you will owe the label the difference. In practice though, they can't charge you for it. An advance is definitely a positive - it shows the label has confidence in your release, and forces them to commit to working hard to make sure it sells enough to make the money back.

The 'option' is very important and commonly misunderstood part of some contracts, and will usually be used in a context like 'the option of two further singles'. This means that the if the label is happy with the release, they can exercise the option and extend the contract - thereby contracting you to deliver more singles (which they will also own). You would theoretically have no say in this. In practice, it's usually not as sinister as it sounds, many labels wouldn't exercise the option, and it's usually used by labels who want to develop with an artist, rather than constantly release different artists all the time. But it's important to check a contract to see if this clause is there, and to understand what it could mean for you. If you're not happy with it, ask for the clause to be removed.

Most contracts will also include the phrase 'the artist waives all moral rights'. This means that you waive your right to veto if, for instance, the label manages to get your track licensed to a cigarette advert or arms company. In practice, the number of arms companies that go around licensing underground dance tracks for their adverts is pretty much zero, and most dance tracks don't get licensed at all, let alone by morally suspect types. But again, if this bothers you, it's worth asking to remove it.

Publishing is occasionally mentioned in contracts, although it's more often a separate issue. But it's important. In short, when your track gets radio play, TV licenses, compilation use or anything like that, you're entitled to a royalty. A publisher rounds up all these royalties, takes a cut and passes the rest on to you. Often these days, especially with medium to large record labels, a label may want to sign the publishing on the track, as well as the recording rights. That's not necessarily a problem, but make sure you get some details on what their publishing arm is like - it should usually be 'sub-published' by a larger company who can handle the admin, and so on. There's nothing wrong with signing the publishing to your label, but make sure you're confident that they'll do a decent job!

Lastly, there's the issue of costs. In general, most dance music deals these days will just split the profit 50/50 after costs. That's about as fair as it gets - so just make sure that this is what is stated in the contract. We have seen a couple of contracts that split the cash before costs, and then take the costs out of the artist's side. This is old-school major label behavior, and not really suitable to today's landscape. If a label tries to pull this one on you, we'd suggest you politely take your tracks elsewhere!

One thing we've emphasised here is that you can always ask the label to change the contract. Many people, especially newcomers to the industry, are often too shy to ask for changes to the contract, worrying that it may somehow jeopardise their release. Not so - it just shows that you're keen to know what's going on, and paying attention. And anyway - if your tracks are genuinely good enough, there will be plenty of other labels who'd be happy to take them on should negotiations go sour.

As you can see, most contracts are actually fairly straightforward - the legal jargon can look impenetrable but in fact it's just wrapping up some quite simple concepts. So bear this in mind as you scan through that first contract from a new label, and don't be afraid to get in touch with them if you don't like the look of things. It doesn't need a lawyer after all!

Does Free Music Pay Off?

You've seen it pushed on every forum and industry blog from here to Timbuktu - give your tracks away for free and wait for the money to roll in. 'Free' is better than 'paid'. But is it really? Does it work, and should you give it a whirl? Read on.

Over the last few years, and especially recently, the idea of giving away free tracks has become very common. In fact, it's pretty much the established wisdom - you have to give something away free to the bloggers, the hungry masses, and this will help you boost your profile. People have even given away free albums, or on a 'pay what you want' basis. It's everywhere now.

So, it's everywhere, and you for that reason you shouldn't dismiss it, but don't just jump in head-first. First, it's important to think why you're giving something away for free, and what the 'angle' is. If you're just giving something away, for the love of it, then that's fine - but it won't necessarily help your profile. You can't put something up on your Soundcloud account, not really promote it, and wait for the hits to roll in; there are lots of people doing exactly the same thing. The fact that it's free doesn't really set it apart from all the other free things out there. But if you're releasing a single or EP on a label, and are prepared to give away one of the tracks, that's a different thing - you're setting yourself slightly apart from the other million releases out there, and that's something you can emphasise in your promotion campaign.

Blogs aren't always interested in mails that say 'my track is out now in shops'. But if they can offer something more to their readers, then they may help you promote your release. You'll notice the mentions of 'promotion' there, and this is something that's really important now. It's no longer the case that a free track alone is enough, and will generate its own publicity; you have to promote it just as much as you would if it was a 'real' release. You should be sending it to blogs - lots of blogs - posting on forums, hitting up your mailing list if you have one, getting your friends to tweet about it, and so on. As such, of course, if you're going to promote it like it was a real release, you need to make sure it's as good as a real release! The last thing you want is for it to work against you - someone checks out your free track, it's a bit substandard, and instead of winning a fan, you have just persuaded someone that you're not very good. So quality control is extremely important.

Another thing to consider is what you can expect, results-wise, from the process. A good free release will certainly boost your profile to a degree; if you can get it on plenty of blogs, websites, magazines, and into free music archives, you can expect a significant bump in people's awareness of you; you can check this with google insights. If you're diligent with your promo, you may even see a lift of 50 - 100% in searches for your artist name. This will, however, be extremely transient - maybe even for just a week or so, such is the internet generation's constant hunger for the new.

So if you're not getting money from it, and it only lasts briefly, is there a point? Yes; but only if you build on it. You need to make sure that you're able to direct all this traffic to your website or facebook page; you could even set up a topspin or bandcamp account that will collect an email address from downloaders. If you do that, though, make sure people can preview the track before they have to give up their email address, as it can put some people off. What you can also do, however, is to use it as proof; mail some local promoters and ask for gigs. Mail some local papers and try to get a small feature in the night-life section, based on how this local artist is getting global coverage from their DIY promo efforts. Also, as you make contact with blogs and websites, use it to build a relationship - as you say thanks for the coverage, ask if you can do an exclusive mix for them, offer them something in return. This may serve you well in securing future mentions from a friendly blogger.

We can see, then, that getting hits from a free release is not an end in itself, but it's something you can incorporate as part of a wider effort. So plan it carefully - what will you do next? How will you build on it? Which sites and blogs will you target? And when will we be seeing your free track out there on the net?

Self Promotion: Make Yourself Heard!

In this day and age, there are more producers, remixers, mashup artists and bedroom sound-hackers out there than ever before. So it's important to make your stuff stand out from the crowd. But how should you set about doing this, and getting yourself heard? Let's run over some options...

There are plenty of ways of getting your message out there, but there are also a few things you need to make sure of first, before you start shouting from the rooftops.

To begin, you need to have a point where people can hear your stuff, and get information about your, for when the hits and listeners start rolling in. Five years ago (or even three), this would have been a Myspace page, but since it became a spam graveyard everyone deserted it. Facebook? It's fine for now, but what's to say it won't go the same way? Anyone with a couple of thousand friends on there can tell you how much spam they've been getting lately. Soundcloud is a great place to host your tracks, but it's limited as to how much information you can include, and how much you can customise your site.

Indeed, social media as a whole can change quickly, as new sites come and go. So instead of setting up profiles on every new system that comes along, a better idea these days is to set up a blog. The likes of Tumblr and Posterous offer simple sites that are easily customisable, and easy to post to. From these you can link to a simple 'place-holder' on Facebook that just redirects people to your main site.

On this site, you should have some basic information. Embed tunes from your Soundcloud account and youtube channel, have a press shot or logo in case anyone wants to write about you, include contact details, and a short biography explaining who you are and what you do, any releases you've had. That'll do for now.

So, you're all set up for when the hordes start piling over to your site. Time for step two; getting them interested!

You can start close to home; hit up your friend list on Facebook, tweet about your new site, tell some buddies on AIM. You can even post on some forums where you're a regular, and people will check out your stuff. This is the easy part; all of these listeners are people who would be sympathetic to your cause, as friends who are interested to see what you've been up to, for instance. The challenge is getting people who have never heard of you to listen.

For this, you need an angle. Everyone is a bedroom producer with some tunes, so you need to distinguish yourself somewhat. Send your beats out to all the DJs you can get contacts for (hit them up on AIM or Facebook). Don't be precious about the tracks – people know the score these days and know not to share, so the more exposure you can get the better, and it all helps to make your case. Saying that these tracks have are getting plays from DJ's X, Y, and Z will make them stand out from the next forum post along. When sending out tracks, it's best to aim slightly low; the likes of Skream or Eric Prydz will be receiving hundreds of tracks per day and can't possibly listen to everything. If you start a touch further down the league table you're more likely to be heard, and those DJs can pass your tracks along to their crew, or even some bigger names. Don't forget the internet radio DJs too – these can reach a worldwide audience.

You should also think about getting a good DJ mix together. Putting single tracks up on your site is all very well for the heads, but the people who will make up the majority of your future fans are those who go out to the clubs on a Friday, listen to mixes on their iPod on the way to work, and don't want to be sifting through tonnes of demo tracks. So a good mix is important, and this is another reason for getting your tunes out to as many DJs as you can – because then you can start swapping tunes. This comes back to the same issue of making your mix stand out; anyone can mix the Beatport top 10 together; a mix full of unreleased tracks will be that much fresher. But don't just stop there – can you incorporate a live aspect somehow? Do some special edits exclusively for the mix? Get a local MC to come down and do some hosting? Again, the more distinctive you can make the mix, the more people will want to check it out, so really go to town on it.

Once you've hit up your friendlists, it's time to get onto the blogs. This is going to involve a lot of research – you need to sit down, get surfing, and make a list of blogs and their contact details. Don't just stop at five or ten – spend a whole weekend gathering hundreds of the things. Yes, hundreds. And don't forget the foreign language blogs too! There's a whole world of music fans out there. This is a boring process but it will really help make people aware of your stuff. If you can email blogs individually it will yield better results, but if you don't have time you can mass-mail. But remember to always BCC people in – no-one likes being reminded that they're just part of a big campaign.

In your mail, include details of what you do (and a description of what your music sounds like, don't wait for them to click), your website, and – this can't be stressed enough – a link where people can stream your beats. Bloggers get so many mails these days they can't afford to waste their precious spare time waiting for a MegaRapid.com before they can get an idea of your style. You should keep the blogs up to date with what you're doing – don't mail every week, but maybe every few months – and consider offering a free tune at (say) 192k to those that seem interested. Blogs always like to have something exclusive to offer their readers and it's a good way to persuade them to post about you.

If you're going to go down the 'free tune' route (and it's something we'll look at in a future column) then consider setting up an account with the likes of Bandcamp or Topspin. These services enable you to offer tracks in exchange for an email address, and there are even sites that can set up a free track for people who tweet about it to their friends. This will help get the track out further, or enable you to build up a mailing list so that next time, you can go directly to people who already like your sound.

Don't forget also to go on the hustle for gigs; get in contact with promoters in your city for some local warm-up slots, and look on local forums for details of parties in your area that you could hit up. Bring CDs of your stuff to hand to some of the other DJs, and make sure you shout about it too – if you can help with promotion, you'll be more likely to get a repeat booking.

Self promotion is, as you can see, an awful lot of work, but when done properly it can really boost your profile. We could write thousands of words on it, quite frankly, and many people have done - if you want to go into depth then try reading sites like musicthinktank.com where industry people go into some serious detail about how to do it.

But when you come down to it, the single most important thing you can do to get your name around is to write incredible music. If you're writing tunes that DJs are begging you for, word of mouth will do the rest! So before all this, make sure your tracks are not just up to scratch, but blowing up the dancefloors. That's the most helpful foundation you could have.

Then, once you've got the beats sorted, fire up a spreadsheet and a browser, and get hustling!

In the Studio With Noisia

By: Ben Gomori

When you think of the best, most talented, innovative and inspiring producers in electronic music, Dutch trip Noisia have got to be up there. Gatecrashing the D&B scene in the mid-'00s ("Dutch D&B? Really? Don't they make gabba and trance?"), their prolific output, hard-hitting sound and intricate production skills fast earned them a name as ones to really push the boundaries of a sound which was at that time, becoming rather stale. Forays into breaks andelectro showed them to be equally adapt at smashing up the rule book and creating tracks that made you feel like you were being smashed over the head with a big filthy hammer.


Their debut album this year, Split The Atom, proved them to be more than just 12" churners, and the title of the album really nailed what they area all about - dissecting the intrinsic parts of sound, smashing them apart and creating something entirely fresh out of all the remains. If you've ever wondered how they create that gnarly, hyperactive, ribshaking sound, you're in luck - as they gave DT a belated goodie to their studio essentials.


Cubase
We started using this a long, long time ago and our brains have grown into a synergetic relationship with this creature. We use it for almost everything - tracking vocals, arranging, remastering bounced WAVs, sound creation, recording samples from vinyl, processing sounds, arranging tracks and so on.


ADAM S3A / P-22A Active monitor speakers
We're currently giving the S3A a go again. We used to use the P-22's mostly before we re-did the studio a few weeks ago. We love the ADAM sound, the ribbon tweater gives such a detailed sound. Very good to work on fast transients. We might go back to the P-22's. They're not as precise, but they sound more like loud speakers when you turn up the volume, which is not desirable for mixes, but it is more enjoyable when you're making a tune that sounds really fat coming from the speakers. When it sounds fat on a P22-A it will still sound good everywhere.


Native Instruments FM8
Very precise synth. Good if you want ultimate control. Can sync oscillators, so they always start from the same start point in the oscillation cycle. Easy to add and exaggerate harmonics. Flexible envelopes are a godsend.


Access Virus TI
Virus sound - need we say more?


Xbox 360 & 42 inch TV
Right now we're playing Just Cause 2, Fifa 2009 and Trials HD. Martijn is an absolute demon with that.


Herman Miller Mirra chairs
Because we just got them and they are expensive.


Air conditioning
Before we had it it would be insanely hot in summer and also rather cold in winter. It is a bit noisy however.


Korg SV-1
We set out to buy a versatile workstation with as many stock sounds as possible and then we came across this beauty. It only does a few sounds but it does them so well and its such a joy to play.


Studio couch
It's a couch.


Neumann TLM102 - Audient Mico - RME multiface
Our vocal chain. Still getting to grips with it but the preamp has a harmonics knob so you know it's good.

Signing Tracks & the New Label Landscape

You've written and mixed down your new track, and you're certain it's a surefire hit. Well, you're pretty sure it's quite good, anyway. Time to get it signed to a label, right?

Well, perhaps. Let's take a look at the whole business of getting tracks signed, from demo to release, and consider some advice for newcomers to the business.

The beginning, of course, is to get your demo out there. We can forget the old days, when everything was black and white and people used to send CDs out. Now, you can do it quickly and easily via email. But the problem is that everyone does just that - so you need to help the label as much as you can. They get overwhelmed with demos now, so there are a few things you should cover in your submission.

First, make sure you include a personal element in the email. Acknowledge the name of the label, or the guy running it, or say why you like their sound. Something that lets them know you haven't just spammed the same message out to hundreds of people. Next, you need to give them an idea of what the demo will sound like. Hopefully, this will pique their curiosity and make someone click on through. If you can, include the names of people who've been playing it out.

Then - and this one is absolutely crucial - you should have a link to a simple, clear, streaming preview of the track, without popups and delays. Soundcloud is ideal; zShare is usually terrible. But you certainly don't want to make someone wait 45 seconds to click a download link on MegaRapid.com and wait for a .zip file to come down before they can hear your sound. They'll be onto the next demo long before that happens.

You don't need to have your tracks mastered, a simple limiter on the master out (just taking off 2 or 3dB) will cover it for now.

But you do need to make sure that your contact details are everywhere: in the email, in the filenames, and in the ID3 tags on the files. It's incredible, in 2010, that people still send out tracks with no artist name, no email address, sometimes not even a trackname. But they do. Don't be that person!

So, let's fast-forward a touch, and assume for a moment that you've had an offer from a label who would lke to sign your tracks. The jackpot! Yes?

At this point, it's worthwhile to think how much the music industry in general, and dance music in particular, has changed in the last 4 or 5 years. Way back when, all labels released on vinyl, which meant that to release your track they basically had to pony up at least a thousand pounds before you were even in the shops. That's quite a commitment. There were a lot of labels, but most tracks managed to get themselves a review in one of the national magazines, maybe even a spot of radio play.

Now? For a start, it's only a significant (and shrinking) minority who still release on vinyl. There are also ten times more labels than there were back in, say, 2006 - which means a lot more product competing for the consumer's dollar. That also means it's a lot harder to get your stuff noticed, whether as an artist or a label. The fact a digital label doesn't need to invest financially - digital mastering services come very cheap these days - means that they don't necessarily need to make a large commitment to your release. Magazines don't have a hope of reviewing everything that comes out, although there are now plentiful blogs that may cover new releases. One upshot of all this is that it is now much easier to generate hype without having contacts in the old world of magazines and radio. But another is that it's now perfectly possible for a release to, basically, sink without a trace.

Of course, this doesn't mean that getting a release, even if it's digital-only, is pointless. But it does mean that you should consider your options carefully, because we are no longer in a situation where 'any release is better than no release'.

The main thing, now, is to think what the label can do for you. As mentioned, a release doesn't necessarily mean that you'll make money, or boost your profile; but a good label will make both of these things happen. So look at the artists they've released before - how are they doing now? Look at the label's soundcloud page - does it have many followers, do their tracks have many plays? Do you see much evidence of effective PR work - did they get the tracks to the magazines, or on blogs?

Have they tried any clever or innovative ideas to drive sales or publicity?

Of course, just the absence of a track record does not always mean bad news, and it's best to chat to the label owners to see what their plans are. Often, the best labels grow with their artists - see Hyperdub and Burial; both started out together, as unknowns.

If your track really is good, then you'll likely be able to find more than one label that wants to take it on, so you shouldn't just jump at the first offer that comes up. Bear in mind that when you sign a track to a label, you'll usually be signing away the ownership of the track. So be sure that you're signing it to someone who'll do a good job of getting you the hype you deserve!

Hopefully this has given you some food for thought regarding the brave new internet-based world of dance music labels. So, have you got your demo ready to go? A list of labels perfectly suited to your sound? Then let's go...

In the Studio with Magnetic Man

You've got to respect anyone who manages to bag credible Top 10 hits while continuing to churn out resolutely underground bangers, and full-length albums to boot. Skream & Benga's continually prolific output and ongoing contribution to the dubstep scene has never been in doubt, and now their Magnetic Man project with one of the scene's godfathers, Artwork, is taking on a life of its own - showing the dancemusic world at large that it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. 


Dubstep has grown so big that a dubstep act can now get in the Top 10 without compromising their style. OK, so we've not had a dubstep track in the charts without a vocal, but who cares when the vocals they're using are top-notch?

I digress. I Feel Air might be a bit too poppy for some, but after a listen to the debut Magnetic Man album, it's clear that this is no throwaway, cash-grabbing exercise. They've found themselves a label who are willing to back them withou

t making them water things down, and we're all the better for it. If you've heard Mad, you'll know the raw power they're capable of; if you've heard next single Perfect Stranger, you'll know they can do the anthem thing no problem. We caught up with them at London's Shoreditch House to discuss studio business, production tips, and their attitudes towards making music. . .

OK, first question - for people who are just getting started or on a budget, what should be your first purchases? What are the best things to spend your hard-earned cash on?

Benga: Erm, what did I get first? FL Studio?

Skream: I'd say a good soundcard, you can record in and get outs out of. . .

Benga: . . .'cos whatever sounds you can't make inside your computer you can make with your mouth. It's a good one I guess. What else do you need? You just need a program, you need a sequencer so you need FL Studio which is just massive and you can do so much stuff with it.

Do you all use FL Studio?

Skream: No I use it. But if you're on a tight budget then for me it's the best. I'm gonna say it 'cos I use it but it's the easiest to actually understand how to work a DAW.

Benga: No but I think it's actually the best program like for drum programming and stuff and getting in like. You don't wanna use Logic for your first go, let's put it that way.

Artwork: I would say the most important thing to buy is music, 'cos you need to be listening to so much stuff. If you're starting out making music you need to be listening to music 24 hours a day.

I was going to say, for inspiration is that all you guys do - just constantly listen to new stuff - or is it like "we need some ideas let's sit here and listen to a few new things"?

Artwork: You should just always be listening to good music, do you know what I mean? It's so important to keep listening, not just listening to your own stuff all the time.

But there's definitely been a lot of the kind of most legendary producers have been people who made music in a bubble and they don't listen to...they ignore everything else...

Benga: But they wear themselves out.

Skream: Yeah, but that's like a select few over god knows how long.

Artwork: I mean for a period if you're gonna go in and write something yeah fine, but most of the time when you're driving home or whatever or if you're sitting around at home, don't watch the telly - listen to music? You should be listening all the time.

Skream: 'Cos then the thing is, like what happened with me and Benny, you listen to stuff and you actually try and make it but you're not... you can't, and then you sort of end up with your own thing from it.

Was that the same experience for all three of you when you started making music? Were you trying to emulate something?

Artwork: Yeah definitely. When I first started out one of the most important things was I'd get a track that I loved and I'd try and recreate it. And in the process you learn so much 'cos you're listening to how he's done that and how he's done this, and you just try and copy it exactly, and in that process you'll learn so much, and you'll find your own way of getting that sorta sound - and then you just build your own sorta sound.

Following on from that, do you think when you sit down and start making tunes you should concentrate on trying to get your own sound, your own style or should you just make whatever kinda comes out naturally?

Skream: You can't get your own style or sound until you've learnt the basics, until you've built your way up 'cos you don't know what you're looking for until you find it - if that makes sense. If you try and start by looking for your own . . . I don't think it works, you need to...

I've phrased that badly, more once you've done that should you focus on, "OK I'm just going to make quite a narrow style so I kinda get my name known and my sound known" or do you think it's not so important, is it more important just to make whatever you want?

Skream: See what you're more comfortable making.

Artwork: If you're gonna be really successful you have to come up with something new. You have to come with a different sound. You do see these people that kinda do well because they sound like someone else, but then everybody knows they sound like that person.

Benga: But then you can never be as big as the person that you sound like.

Artwork: No, so you really should just try and make something different. Listen to everything else... but, yeah make something different.

Alright then let's get down to the nitty gritty, kicks and snares, talk to me. . .

Benga: Kicks and snares...I guess you've just got to find the best packs you can, because when it comes to kicks and snares there can be so much processing that you'll go round, and I guess if you just find the best recorded kicks and snares it'll help you out so much.

Skream: It'll save so much time.

Artwork: Yeah if you can get something, if you can get like a kick that sounds amazing without any EQ on it then you know you're on a winner? Rather than getting one and thinking ah well I'm guna boost the bottom end, I'm guna cut that very low end off and try and find it in and so and so. . .

. . . you're wasting more time. . .

Artwork: You waste a lot of time, yeah

Benga: And then again, sorry to cut you out, when you do EQ stuff, once you do find your way around EQ and stuff you have a sound, that's how you get your sound, mix-wise...processing.

Do you guys kinda stick to a certain number of kicks and snares do you just always go back to (what you did) or do you look at new ones all the time?

Skream: I don't I. it's whatever mood I'm in really. If I'm in a tinny mood, if I'm in a 909 mood. I think it just comes down to what you want. Like you sort of know an area in the packs that I think you know you tend to work from a bit more than others.

Moving onto bass that's something that people often say is the hardest kinda thing to master so what are your biggest challenges in that area?

Skream: Mine's still the same as level erm with levelling it out with the kick, that's always been my one. 'Cos I like a bass-heavy kick and a bass-heavy sub. So...

Benga: Get your side-chaining out!

Skream: Yeah.

So you can have a nice lot of low end in both of them?

Artwork: Yep.

When you're making you know music that does really focus onto your dance music (focusing days) specifically that's one of the lead things, is it essential to have some subs on your set up?

Artwork: Yes.

Benga: Yeah.

Skream: Oh no, oh no no no no... subs in the room? I haven't got no subs in the room - I can't work with them. I find it really hard working with them but I guess that's me, 'cos these two both do.

Benga: Yeah we're different.

Artwork: Yeah I use them.

What monitors do you all use?

Skream: I've got Dynaudios. BM1. . .

Benga/Artwork: BM6As

Artwork: Yeah I've got the same as that and some Genelec 1032As as well.

Benga: I got the same as them. . .

When you hear other people's productions and what other people... what's the most common mistakes or kinda shortcomings that you hear?

Skream: Mastering tracks themselves and limiting the fucking life out of it so when you open it up on a screen there's a block, with no peaks.

Artwork: And no dynamics. . .

Benga: It's really hard to master again after that, you can't get in. . .

Artwork: You can't master (it again).

Skream: I've had stuff I've been mastering for my label and it's been sent back and stuff gets sent back because he [the mastering engineer] knows exactly what you've used: he's like you've ultra maximised it, you've put a multiband compressor on it duh duh duh - and they know. And it's like, cool, but if it' . . .they can make it sound dynamically so much better for press. . . .

Benga: Just don't start your tune with anything on a master.

Favourite bits of kit and software please?

Benga: Ooh well to be fair I'm not telling anyone anything anymore. Nah only joking. I use, my favourite bit of kit at the moment. . .nah I can't say that. I just gotta give you an EQ. Er my favourite EQ at the moment is the Neve on my UAD card. It's one of the best things I've ever purchased, ever.

Artwork: One thing I've learnt is that the EQs on Logic are - when you get a lot of them - if you've got like 24 tracks and you've got Logic EQ's, on all of them, the bottom end is really really funny in the mix and you'll find it really hard to control what's going on. They do something down the bottom end so just switch it up, just try another one, try some different EQ's you don't have to go for. . .

Benga: It's lighter as well innit.

Artwork: Yeah you don't have to go for like the really high high, you know thousand quid EQs but if you just...

Skream: Find one you can run with well. . .

Artwork: Find one you can control easily and then use that instead, 'cos the bottom end of your mix will be a lot cleaner.

Skream: My favourite bit of kit at the moment. . .

Artwork: Kettle?

Skream: Is. . .

Benga: Oooh. . .

Skream: It's the Moog Little Phatty at the moment. I've been using it a lot at the moment as well for my bass. It's nice.

Do you guys use a lot of outboard stuff?

Skream: I've just got a couple of synths. To be honest,, I use different things for different style of tunes. I generally use the Moog when I'm going for something with a deeper sound, rather than if I'm going to do something mental I'll use a plugin, just for the different shapes/waveforms.

Again, you might not want to give too much away here but your favourite recently learned little tricks, or something that you would share?

Benga: Wow something that I'd share with the world. Erm, what would I share? 'Cos I know sharing's caring and all that. . .

Skream: Not in this game haha!

Benga: Yeah not in this game. Er, do I wanna give anything away? Does anyone else wanna give anything away?

Artwork: I'm trying to think of something useful.

The thing is at the end of the day you can give loads of stuff away but if you haven't got the tunes or haven't got the ideas. . .

Benga: I guess the biggest thing is right - and this might sound like the dumbest thing - but it's like. . .

Skream: Sorry that's censored haha!

Benga: Hah . . .get the arrangement up right. Get everything you need up and then actually start to filter what's not really necessary. . .

Skream: Just take it out like. . .

Benga: Yeah 'cos there's too much things going on in the mix. Use the most rhythmic things, and the things that add so much to like the power of the song, and the rest of it, just get rid of it.

Artwork: The most important thing is that kick and bass. Give it it's own space, d'you know what I mean? It sounds obvious but to people that probably, you know, are just getting into mixing or whatever the most important thing is finding a place. Look at it like a picture - you can see that the bass is gonna sit down there and you're gonna have your kick up there or your gonna have your kick down there and your bass a bit higher, but give them their own place to live or whatever

Benga: Mask as they call it

Artwork: Yeah yeah, exactly.

When you started collaborating or rather when you collaborate now, how does it work? Does it get crowded sometimes or is there always a specific role, how does it work?

Artwork: It's different for every record I think. It's like, you know, it's starting things together and then splitting off then someone will take it, do a bit more to it, you know move around - it doesn't matter. But one thing we kinda worked out from the start was that if one person doesn't like it, it doesn't go in. Rather than "oh well, two people like it and one person don't so that's that you know it's going to go in" - that can't happen. If one person doesn't like it, that's it.

That's when you get the split of creative differences. . .

Artwork: It's out..

Benga: Ha ha. . .

Artwork: But it's quite good, it's really good because you not only do you not have any arguments, you get a better product' 'cos you got three people that like that thing. So if you are gonna work in a group I would say that's a good way of doing it.

Quality control. . .

Artwork: Yeah.

When you made I Need Air did you have radio in mind and different dynamics to the usual club records, cos it's kinda less focused on the bottom end a bit. . .

Artwork: No not at all.

Skream: If you think about it – she [Angela Hunte] picked the tune. . .

Artwork: Yeah I mean the thing is when you've got a vocal that's as big as that is, it would have been difficult to put a massive top, mid-rangey bassline in there as well and hear all the words quite as clearly as it is, and it's a song. It is a song, it's not a. . .

That's a key element. . .

Artwork: Yeah, the key element of that record is that vocal. And you have to respect that, you know you have to with all these things and if you was making a track that was just about baselines then you wouldn't try and put a vocal in there. And it's the same. . .

Benga: How you mix, when you leave things out 'cos you know it's gonna clog up the space. . .

You've got to let it breath. . .

Benga: Yeah.

Artwork: You've gotta look at every record separately and say: "what is it in this record that is 'the thing?'" And in that thing it was the vocal.

And last thing who did the vocal on The Bug?

All: Sam Frank.

OK 'cos it didn't say on the promo version and I thought it may have been one of you guys or something. . .

Skream: No there was a rumour going out there that it was me or Benny... we started off saying it was Barry White and then I think Benny said it was me, and I think 'cos I didn't clarify and say it wasn't me it got out that everyone was saying it was me, but no it's Sam Frank.

I'll make sure people know. . .

Interview by Ben Gomori

5 MIDI controllers you probably didn't know existed

Okay, so if you're familiar with MIDI controllers, you'll know that MIDI keyboards are used by producers the world over, MIDI mixers allow for easier level alteration and you might have even come across the odd MIDI guitar... but have you come across these before?

1. MIDI Saxophone

Think brass instruments have been underrepresented in newer musical genres? Take a blast from the past and tie it in with a blast from the future on the Akai EWI 4000 MIDI Saxophone!

This device is seriously expressive, with touch sensitive keys, breath sensor for dynamics and wireless MIDI connectivity.

...And most importantly, how could you possibly look cooler than donning a jazzy hat, wearing your favourite blacked out shades and playing some smooth jazz on this baby? Or perhaps some hardcore gabber. As always with MIDI, there's no limitation to what you can play!

2. Otamatone

Think that conventional instruments are too boring? How about this fantastic device that pretty much exemplifies the phrase "only in Japan".

With a ribbon controller for pitch and squeezing the little guy's face for velocity, this really is one of the more unusual devices out there.

3. GypsyMIDI

The name is horrendously deceptive - I don't think any old gypsy could easily afford one of Sonalog's MIDI controllers at £480 a piece, but with the device actually attatching to your body to trigger the music in an exoskeletal musical combination, this is certainly one of the more impressive looking devices.

However, if you want to complete your raving terminator look, then how about...

4. MIDIGun

With a distance sensor coming out of the barrel, a crossfader, several knobs, a scratch wheel, accellerometer for motion-based alteration of parameters and far too many other cool things to think about, this device is pretty much the ultimate MIDI toy. Particularly if you're making gangsta rap - I can think of no more appropriate live instrument.

5. Misa Digital Guitar

No ordinary MIDI guitar, this one combines a multi touch, pressure sensitive pad with 24 frets of note choice on the 6 rows available, giving you the conventional guitar playing experience minus the... uh... strings. This does give you the ability to vastly change the sound in ways you never could on a guitar, however - it doesn't appear to be for sale just yet. So I guess you could either make your own, or ask the owner nicely to hurry up and market it already!