Produced by Kyiv-based DJ & producer Andrey Sirotkin before the war in Ukraine, ‘Her Soul Sparkles’ wonderous techno affaire, inspired by the concept of ‘the soul of every human being’, as ‘the soul is a tender instance that keeps the connection to all the best in the world: love, kindness, joy, happiness, empathy, compassion.’
To landmark the drop of ‘Her Soul Sparkles’, Andrey Sirotkin invited EG into the studio for 5 basic studio tips every producer needs to know:
1. Control Your Lows
As you know dance music is all about well-balanced lows, which are the key. To be honest, all our studios do not have perfect acoustic treatment for those purposes. For additional monitoring, I use a plugin called dearVR MONITOR. It emulates different listening rooms (while in the headphones). And also I use just another pair of headphones (dry DAW output signal). By switching between those two and your speakers you can get the best balance. A pair of fresh ears and AirPods Pro can also help – just take a listen the next morning.
2. Check Your Mix Through Different Audio Systems
Before playing your track on the dance floor, it’s mandatory to make sure it works on other sound systems other than your studio speakers 🙂
What can those systems be:
- Studio speakers with low and hi-cut at master EQ (emulates the low-frequency range speaker)
- Small studio speakers
- Studio headphones
- Studio headphones + dearVRmonitor virtual plugin
- Air Pods pro / other headphones
- Car sound system
- TV
- Laptop speakers
- Mobile phone speaker
Of course, you can use a plugin that emulates all these, but again you’re gonna listen through the same sound system in the same environment. So switching speaker and environment can give you some unexpected results
3. Find Your Production Tempo
My latest tempo is to finish the track as soon as possible to keep a feeling and idea in my head without switching. Then, I have one revision the next day with fresh ears and finish the track. I also can revisit the track somewhere before preparing it for release. You can try my way or choose the one that works for you the best. Just remember about it.
4. Change Environments
Unfortunately, every producer has its “creative limit”, which is when tracks somehow can sound similar. Over 15+ years of production, I found that I have to change the production “environment”:
- Hardware synth, modular synth, 100% “in the box” or a mixture of these.
- One- take track recording, multitrack recording at the same time, or recording audio one by one.
- Producing with studio PC or with a laptop while traveling. Cubase or Logic.
- Using your own sample libraries, purchased libraries, or sampling yourself.
Try different and then alternate ways you produce music. The most interesting and “successful” tracks of mine were produced outside of the studio and mixed in good acoustically treated rooms.
5. You Can’t Make A Bullet Out Of Shit
Bad quality samples can’t make your track sound good. Of course, I’m not talking about the “color” like vintage noise, crackles, or lo-fi effects. If your 808 or 909 is too boomy, has no transient, is too thin, or has clicks – you can’t make it sound great.. or even good. It will sound poor. Also, you cannot expect a new element to sparkle in your track if it’s bad quality or thin sound. In the best case, it will do nothing.
Andrey Sirotkin’s ‘Her Soul Sparkles’ is out now. Purchase your copy here
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