How to add creativity to your music through technology
For many DJs and producers, it is easy to get stuck in a routine when working on a project or mix for a long time. When you’re approaching the end of a project, it’s critical to have an informed idea of the overall characteristics of your mix. But how do you find the right perspective after hours of working with the same sounds? Here are a few handy tips, tricks, and pieces of equipment which can give you the added vigor when you are struggling for inspiration:
Open your mind to the Akai
The Akai MPC is a common sight in studios everywhere. It is steeped in history and has established itself as a true cornerstone piece of equipment, but the MPC Live changes all that. The recently released unit from Akai takes all the functionality of yesterday’s MPC and packs them into a portable controller for playing live. The iconic 16 pad grid is still there for launching clips, loops, and one shots. But where the MPC Live really becomes a live tool is when the 2.o software allows you to play out your entire live set without the need of a computer. The 7″ touch screen gives you all the tools to create on the fly in any live setting, and with a compact and portable design, it is a perfect traveling tool that fits the habits of DJs and producers worldwide. If you’re lacking ideas, this sparkly little number will give you the added boost of creativity you so desperately crave.
Rework your order
All DJs and producer can benefit from approaching their production process in a new, unpredictable or fresh way. For many, it can be as simple as starting with your chords and fleshing your track out from there. Or when performing live, deciding on your set opener and ender, and that packing the middle with tracks via skilled crowd reading, gauging a vibe for the atmosphere in the venue.
“A great DJ can adjust to a room”, says Dutch EDM kingpin Tiësto. “Every room is different. The timing of when you play which record is something you can’t really learn. You either have it or you don’t. And you have to get the crowd going with tracks they don’t know. A lot of DJs, they go for the guaranteed-success big tracks, and that’s what everyone plays. If you have a couple of tracks out there and you know the crowds have never heard before, and you can still get them to go crazy, then you’re a really good DJ.”
When you feel your creativity is lacking, take a step back, and try to reorder the way you do things.
Check out the Toraiz
The Toraiz SP-16 may look like a drum machine and sequencer you’d see in the studio for producing. But with a few clever features, it is a seriously powerful DJ tool as well. The Toraiz SP-16 is indeed a sampler, sequencer and workstation for building your own tracks. But what makes it unique for the DJ is its compatibility with CDJs and other compatible DJ controllers. Using its intuitive syncing feature, the Toraiz can playback all your samples, clips and sequences in sync with a connected DJ controller. The result is a machine that blends studio technology with a live DJ setting. Anything that blurs the lines between the studio and the stage, and pushes the envelope for what playing live can be, deserves attention, and the Toraiz can be used for sampling, sequencing and DJing with Pioneer DJ controller compatibility too.
Consider a collaboration
Friendships with lots of history have traditionally made for some great songwriting partnerships. But they can also be destructive to your songwriting if they’re not fresh, healthy and inspired. One of the factors behind remarkable success story like the one between Swedish duo Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso is that they barely knew each other when they began collaborating in their early Swedish House Mafia days, with Axwell recalling how he was introduced to this ‘crazy, larger than life, Italian guy’ in a restaurant and how Seb seemed ‘pushy’ after inviting himself over to Axwell’s studio. Egos, expectations, competition, and habits usually don’t play a big role in new creative relationships, but when seasoned partners sit down to write music together, they often do.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWSAwhEBPHe/?taken-by=ingrosso
If things seem stale with your music, it’s a good idea to take a fresh look at how you make music. All musicians can benefit from approaching music collaboration in new ways, and sometimes this can involve bringing in somebody new to your writing and production process. You can trade instruments in the studio, or play the mixing board together to determine the progression of the track. You can even let one person record every part while the other does the arrangement or start with a sample or loop and just jam over it for a while.
Though introducing new elements into your process can seem scary at first, all the very best DJs and producers have had to take a huge step out of their comfort zones at some stage. In order to climb to the summit, a refreshing spark is needed from time to time. Whether you gain your spark from a new creative partner in the studio, bringing new technological equipment into play, or re-ordering the way you do things, staying relevant and staying creative go hand in hand. Apply these techniques and your empire will grow in no time.