Anybody here Producing Tech House or Minimal ??

[TweakHead]

Interesting thread!

The thing is, despite a lot of us - myself included - don't exactly qualify as fans of this new wave of EDM in which Skrillex is just the most (in)famous example, we should be able to recognize some simple facts: I had the chance to listen to a live act of his long before his carreer exploded and turned him into a name everyone knows of, and the fact remains that it was one of the most impressive live acts I've ever listened to, quality wise.

While most of us are ready to make (bad) jokes about it, we fail to admit this guys usually know their stuff inside out. Be it synthesis, be it being able to costumize their own drum kits to perfection through layering and carefull sound design, they know synthesis inside out to, I mean, Skrillex surely knows more about FM and Wavetable synthesis then most people round here for sure. He also does a pretty impressive job filling up the frequency spectrum with those big farts of his. But regardless of our own taste, even this big snarling sounds are the product of carefull layering that includes some pure form of sub, usually a sine wave whose range (as in octaves or semitones) is set so it doesn't clash with the Kick, then there's the lead sound and possibly some high end stuff where stereo has gone spread, or something interesting is happening stereo wise. The level of DAW skills involded in editting audio in such a way are incredible and surely much more developed then - I dare say it again - almost anyone here.

Claiming he doesn't know music theory and songs are lacking structure is a very old argument that comes up with every new genre. But how come is that true if even those screaming distorted leads of his only sound like that if played on some notes? and if there's chords backing it up? and emotional crescendos crafted with utmost care.

Then, if you praise mixing as an art, you have to take your hat off to someone who can mix an entire tune inside the box and manages to be able to pump it through any sound system - funktion one included - and it sounds good. So there you go: EQ, dynamics, stereo width, depth, so forth and so on, without a single mistake, crafted to a professional level. That takes some reading, tons of experimentation, lots of knownledge and a lot of will and dedication to acomplish. This, dear folks, is just a blatant fact that you just can't ignore!

Even David Gueta, if you will, has earned his place in this maniac world of constantly touring and playing live for big crowds. Not everyone is suited to such a thing, it's certainly demanding, there's certainly a lot of pressure involved, and the level of professionalism is paramount!