Hailing from Glasgow, We Should Hang Out More are longstanding champions of the city’s thriving dance music scene. Since arriving on the scene in 2014 Oliver Melling and John Markey have evolved from fresh-faced upstarts putting on small parties on the fringes of the Glasgow scene, to becoming two of the most celebrated DJs and party curators in Scotland.
John Markey and Oliver Melling‘s new three-track EP is a pristinely produced house record, placing themselves and budding new label Jackie Knows Karate Records at the forefront of Scotland’s dance music scene. The record is the sixth impressive release to come from the label and sees the pair confidently step into the house genre. Deep and atmospheric, ‘March Last Year’ is one for the afterparties.
Today We Should Hang Out More share 5 key tips to apply in the studio.
1. Collaborate
Actively seek out work with other musicians, writers, singers – other artists have the potential to benefit your creative development and provide you the opportunity to learn more about your creative process. It can be a really fulfilling part of the production, arriving at the ‘eureka’ moment with another person.
2. If it sounds good, stop fiddling
In the world of digital production there are so many tools, methods, plugins, avenues, and possible ways of operating. Sometimes it’s incredibly easy to forget to be even briefly objective about a piece you’ve written and aim for a constantly evolving sense of perfection. If an element sounds good – stop working on it and move on to another part of the composition. You might go back but remember to keep an open mind and keep developing the overall piece.
3. Just because there’s space – doesn’t mean you have to fill it.
It’s very easy to keep adding instrument after instrument to a production. Sometimes, it’s worth taking a step back and realizing that the space in a piece accentuates and can help establish the written parts better than adding more written parts. Even in the most minimal or complex production, there is a benefit to understanding the use of space within it.
4. Shortcuts
Doesn’t matter what DAW you are using, learn shortcuts. Workflow is the most important part of digital production, it needs to be as seamless as humanly possible in order not to disrupt the creative process. If a menial task can be done faster, learn how to do it faster. Momentum can be everything when you’re in the zone so having to manually transpose notes between octaves rather than CMD + A, Shift + Up can kill that momentum dead.
5. Send yourself demos
Once you have a rough arrangement of a piece, take a step back, bounce it down and listen to it in other situations and on other systems. Every set of speakers, headphones, every room, every setting is different in some way. Finding areas of your mix which stick out often takes a few different listens to recognize. Not only that, but often repeatedly listening to an early version can get your subconscious juices flowing so the next time you’re sat in front of your production set up you can write with a new perspective and introduce a host of fresh ideas.
We Should Hang Out More’s ‘March Last Year’ EP is now available. Grab your copy here.
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