As certain as the sun setting across San Antonio Bay each night, throughout every Ibiza season there is a record that becomes the track of the summer. This year Roberto Surace’s ‘Joys’ is that track. Championed by legendary Ibiza heavyweight Marco Carola for some time now, as well as island tastemakers Andrea Oliva, wAFF and Joey Daniel, there has already been serious demand for the club cut, being awarded with DJ Awards “track of the season”.
For the special occasion, Roberto Surace shares some of the tips he used to produce the Defected anthem.
1. If possible, create a proper environment to produce: I have been producing since 2013 and in my opinion, to create a good track/record and to work well in the studio, you definitely need a good sound card and two 8-inch studio monitors.
2. My favorite Drum Machine: The one I prefer and use is a Maschine Mk3 from Native Instruments. I also recommend using Ableton for producing.
3. Use Midi Keyboards: Midi keyboards are vital, I use midi keyboard a lot to play the bass and synths with various external VST.
4. Some musical tips: For the percussions I often use African sounds or hip hop tunes. For the basses, I like them full-bodied and very cheerful, very funky, with a touch of soul, jazz and drum&bass. I use Roland TR 909 and 808, so I fully recommend them. I modify the percussion equalizing to my liking, I dwell a lot on the kick, clap, hi-hat because I believe they are fundamental to make a track sounds good.
5. Effects are essential: I like to create effects in the various pauses of the tracks. My advice is to focus on the right elements and not to use effects excessively, to use them above all on mixing and on the drafting of the project.
Buy and stream Roberto Surace’s ‘Joys’ here.
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