Label boss Hannah Wants is welcomed back to own imprint, Etiquette, this summer with a brand new collab EP joining forces with label favorite, Eskuche, to deliver ‘The ISH’ EP. With combined releases on highly respected labels including Hot Creations, Repopulate Mars, Toolroom, elrow, Sola and Brock Wild, this dynamic duo combine their production prowess and the result is nothing less than pure fire. The new material is truly reflective of both Hannah’s and Max’s unique sound; adopting rolling pulsations, piercing synth patterns, powerful basslines, infectious drum grooves, warped vocals and thumping tones to create an effervescent atmosphere throughout.
Today Hannah Wants shares five tips to shine in the studio.
1. Sample selection
For me, sample selection is everything. Most music whether it be purely sample-based or hardware and outboard gear is, at the end of the day, still being sampled back into your DAW at some point and those sounds are all that matter. Effecting sounds and sound design is fun and a part of my ever-changing process but sample selection is where I love to really focus. If you start with an incredible sound it’s only going to massively aid you in the long run.
2. Make what you feel
If you want to shorten your kick drum until it’s just a click or have it as long as the bar do it! As long as you feel it’s right don’t stop! Always check your phasing and fundamentals like levels, etc. but the idea of music is to create so try not to let the “rules” of music get in your way, it can really hold you down. Be free and have fun!
3. Finish your ideas
For me, it is good practice to finish everything you start. They may not get a release and they may not ever get heard in a club but teaching yourself the ways to finish off songs will help you no end as most songs are extensions of ideas/loops you have had. Learning the art of structuring those ideas out can mean you have four songs finished and not four small ideas on the hard drive.
4. Dig into old hard drives
This is actually one of my favorite things to do. As a DJ I LOVE to spend hours and hours digging into all of my old hard drives to find old and forgotten gems I can bring back to the dance floor. In terms of production old hard drives, for me, are a huge multi TB base of ideas, sample packs, tracks, acapellas, etc. spanning the past 10-15 years and the inspiration is real.
5. Widen your horizon
I love to gain inspiration from a lot of different genres of music. In fact, aside from house music, my love and passion is chilled and downtempo RnB and I get so much inspiration from listening to this kind of music even though it’s the complete opposite vibe to a track you’re gonna dance to. I love the vocal and percussion work from downtempo RnB and I like to implement subtle elements when I can. So yeah, widen your horizons and enjoy searching and listening to a multitude of different artists and genres… you just never know what’s gonna give you that new idea!
Hannah Wants & Eskuche ‘The ISH’ EP is noa available via Etiquette. Stream and buy here.
