Originally from Croatia but now residing in Serbia, Goran Paradinja also known as Reblok is one of the best newcomers to the scene. He has released an already impressive back catalogue of music on some of the biggest labels including Elrow, Viva Music, Suara, Toolroom, Repopulate Mars, Sola, Abode, Stereo Productions and Material. As well as recently touring across the globe in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Germany and the Czech Republic, his music has been played by some of the most respected DJs such as Jamie Jones, Steve Lawler, Marco Carola, The Martinez Brothers and Seth Troxler. The rapid rate in which Reblok’s career is growing looks set to continue as the world discovers his incredible productions and DJ sets.
Reblok released today his new Hot Creations EP entitled ‘Smile’. For the special occasion he shares 5 golden tips for producing electronic music.
A message from Reblok: “I’ve written this advice from my 10-year experience in this industry and 12 years of active producing. Hope someone finds them helpful”.
1. Don’t leave your tracks unfinished: I never leave tracks unfinished because usually if I don’t finish them from day 1 I never come back to them ever… or even if I try to find the mindset I had that day when I started that song, I can’t, also usually I forget what I wanted to achieve on the initial day. So, tip number 1 would be don’t ever leave tracks unfinished unless there’s only the arrangement left to do…because the arrangements are the easiest thing to do.
2. Do the tracks backward: I always put all the sounds that I want in the track into 30 seconds loops at the beginning, mixing them and proceed to do the mastering… Yes, you read it well… I do the tracks backward, which will probably sound weird to most people but it is how it is. Then when I have those 30 seconds sounding perfect, I start going into the arrangements. As the bassline is my favorite part of the track I always start from that part. If I don’t have a good bassline, I don’t even continue working on a track.
3. Share your tracks with friends and peers for their feedback, but have a clear vision on what you want to achieve: In order to gain clear feedback, share the tracks with friends and peers with the intention of having an open mind to their opinions. Take into consideration not just the general opinion but also the technical aspects of the track e.g. the sound itself, production level, skills. Try to keep comments at bay regarding your actual idea/vision for the track as this would influence you in terms of your style which goes against who you are as an artist in the first place. Do not change your style to please your peers, just take useful feedback to improve what you already have. This is what leads to the success of music making its way to reputable labels, despite criticism from others. Go with your gut instinct and welcome any constructive feedback that feels right to you.
4. Discard comments that don’t make sense to you: There are literally no rules in music. Whenever I listen to the advice of people who have limited thinking and living inside of a balcony, I feel sad. For example in my humble beginnings, one DJ told me “You can never release an actual track unless you go to that DJ studio whose label is … and recreate it again”… Imagine that kind of nonsense. When you don’t know anything about the music industry this kind of situation gets you down, and for the record, this guy never created a single track in his life. So watch out on what you hear from other people and take it always with high reserve.
5. Producing a track is only 50% of work that needs to be done: If you have 30-40 tracks finished on your computer that means literally nothing unless you do the other 50% of work which is finding the proper labels for them to signing them and release. I have different friends who have loads of produced tracks but they never actually sent them to anyone which makes them worthless. Other problem is that the style/trend you made those tracks might pass and something else comes along, which is totally different from your own tracks, so the possibilities of releasing them get reduced. Also, you need a lot of patience with labels because in most cases if a touring DJ is the imprint head you might have a rough time waiting for him to come back from tour.
Reblok’s ‘Smile’ is now available via Hot Creations. Buy and stream here.
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