TOP DOWNLOADS
Top 10
10 questions with Mason
Best known for his genre-defining anthem 'Exceeder', Dutchman Mason has toured as support to Tiesto, remixed Moby, Hadouken and Robyn, and released on Ministry, Great Stuff and Pickadoll. He tells us where he gets inspiration, why he leaves mastering to the pros - and why he finds the majority of track arrangements so BORING!
Who's currently rocking your world as a producer and why?
Tony Senghore is on fire these days in an absurd way, but I also really dig the bass-driven stuff from Disco Of Doom (new four-to-the-floor alter ego of Rogue Element and Tom Real). We're really big italo disco fans, so people like Aeroplane and Grum are rocking our boats. Oh, and then there's Popof, Style Of Eye, Magik Johnson and... pffff... The list goes on!
What is the key ingredient in a track? Breakdown? Style of production? Bassline?
It's a matter of taste, but I'm not fond of tracks that purely revolve around a nice sounding rhythmic loop. I get more excited when there's more of an idea or theme behind a track. Maybe that's the reason I'm not a tech-house DJ ;-).
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the drums and build from that?
It varies. The track can begin with anything from a beat to a riff, from a melody to a chord progression. Our phone is loaded with voice memos of ideas we get on the road, in bed or on the toilet. We do a lot of crate digging, which is one way to get great ideas. Lots of our grooves evolve around chopped up samples or beats from old funk records, although we usually recreate the samples afterwards. Sometimes playing around on old analogue gear - especially modular synths - is a great way of generating ideas as it's so unpredictable.
Do you mainly use analogue or digital soft synth sources? Do you think analogue makes a difference?
We use both, and although analogue does make a difference, these days you can achieve very similar results using VSTs. That said, I think unless you have really good controllers and know how to use them, analogue gear presents a more intuitive and therefore more musical way of working. It is also true that some sounds are just impossible to get out of a computer, such as certain overdrive and distortion effects.
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? Loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors?
It depends on the room. Our studio room isn't huge, so we mainly mix on the small Adam A7s (although we check mixes on NS10s and a few others for reference). I like the idea of getting big woofers but that would purely be for our pleasure - not really to benefit our mixing. When travelling I make tracks using laptop headphones but for the mixing proper we leave all work until we're in the studio in Amsterdam.
Any arrangement secrets you wish to share with us?
There are loads of tracks out at the moment that have a one minute intro, then a bassline than a breakdown, then the highlight then a one minute outro. Beatport is loaded with them. These tracks are so BORING! I'd like to see more producers breaking the rules and make less obvious arrangements unique to each track.
How important do you think it is to have your music mastered commercially? Can you do it yourself as effectively and what tools would you recommend?
We master our tracks up to a certain point. Beyond that I think it's best left to the pros. A quality mastering job is not something many producers can pull off - I'm happy to focus on making music and leaving the mastering to those who understand its craft.
What's your opinion on processing the mix bus? Leave it clean or drive it to the extreme?
There are no real rules: it all depends on the material. Sometimes a track sounds great when driven to extremes, at other times the usual tricks don't work and you end up squashing the dynamics from a mix. Try and avoid using the same standard bus set-up on all tracks to stop them sounding generic. We also route a lot of busses into analogue compressors and then feed them back into Logic (long live the i/o plugin!)
What do you believe is the secret to your success as producers?
It's hard to say, but I think we follow our own star and are doing what we feel like. Hopefully you can hear that in the tracks we produce. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Any advice for aspiring producers out there?
I know everyone says it, but don't focus too much on what's hot, what your favorite DJ plays or what's charting in Beatport. You'll get more success, more fulfilment and more tracks made if you make the music that you feel. You can hear the difference when a producer is being truthful to themselves and writing from the heart.
_________________
More from Mason: www.myspace.com/musicofmason
(c) 2010 Sounds/To/Sample