Part One of this series covered setting goals and deciding on the direction of your DJing career, and the second installment helped you secure your first gigs. But now that you’ve got some skills and some steady gigs, how do move to the next level of booking high-profile, globe-trotting dates? Any DJ’s path to the top will be multi-faceted, but it’s pretty much accepted these days that you will not get there without producing your own respected tracks and remixes. Many DJs will already have a music background or a desire to produce music, so it’s not simply a career move to do so. However, for some insight on the correlation between production and a DJ career, we talked a man who might not have a DJ career without production: San Francisco’s tech-funk producer/label owner/DJ Claude VonStroke, who had some great advice to share.
While it’s beyond the scope of this one article to show you how to make good electronic music, over the coming weeks, DJ TechTools will begin offering technical articles on music production for DJs. Please use the comments section if you have specific wishes for what you’d like to learn or understand better about music production.
Claude VonStroke is the DJ/production pseudonym for Barclay Crenshaw, who grew up around the rich musical breeding ground of Detroit and bounced around New York and Los Angeles before settling in San Francisco. After producing a 6-hour DVD package on the international electronic music scene called Intellect, the Claude VonStroke persona was born one night at a party as friends were discussing fake European DJ names. Before long he was spinning and producing as VonStroke, and in 2005 he started the tech-funk label Dirtybird, followed by the deep techno lable Mothership in 2007. VonStroke has amassed a lengthy credit list of productions and remixes in less than five years, including his second full-length album, Bird Brain, released just last month.
What interested you first, DJing or producing your own music?
I always DJ’ed since I was a kid (maybe not house blending-style DJing). But producing is what I am best at, and it’s always better for me when that is going well.
Would you be where you are today in your DJ career without having produced so many of your own tracks and remixes?
No way. It’s not like I’m Derrick Carter on the decks. I had to make my way through the production route for sure. I kind of learned to DJ professionally on the road, believe it or not. When you have big tracks, sometimes people assume you are an awesome DJ, but it’s not true all the time. Some of my early gigs were so shitty they make me cringe when I think about the mixing. I’ve really progressed as a DJ over the last few years. Now I feel much more comfortable and fearless on the decks than before. DJing is my “most improved” skill.
Was there a particular track or remix you made that got you a lot of DJ gigs on the strength of that track?
I’d really like to think it was the “Warpaint remix” (my favorite) but i have a feeling it was actually the more commercial “Heater” [2007] and “Put Your Hands Up for Detroit” [2006] remixes that got me the bigger paid gigs. [VonStroke discography]
How did you first get into production, and what’s a good first step for other DJs to get into production?
I got into production when I was 11, and I’ve always been obsessed with gear and computers — so I don’t have any real advice for someone who wants to learn everything in like one year. All I can say is that if you want to be great, it is going to take some time. Start by copying your favorite tracks. Seriously… try to copy them exactly — even for sound quality. You will learn a ton by dong this. It is the fastest way to ramp up your skill level (or get really frustrated).
Do you have advice on how to get remix assignments?
Yeah, make hit tracks! Or… tracks that sound really different to the point where someone will be like, “I want this kind of sound,” and then you are the only option available. You will need to have some releases out on real labels for anyone to notice you, for sure.
Once someone makes their own tracks, what do you think is a good first step for getting the music some attention?
Sell them to your favorite label. Make tracks specifically for a label and send them in saying “I made this for your label.” The worst possible thing you can do is send out an email to 30 labels saying this is your new demo. Then no one feels special, and they’ll just bin it straight away.
Is starting a label a good approach, or should DJs be established first before doing so?
Starting a label is a great way to go, but… you need to save about 20 grand before you even consider doing it. You need great art, great music, good mastering, etc. It takes some money to get started, believe me. You should be able to go through four releases before you get paid 1 cent. That is a good plan for starting a label.
What’s in your recording and mobile production studio?
I’m usually deep into Reason and Ableton Live. I rarely dabble in Cubase and Logic, but I have them. I used to love Sony Vegas and Cakewalk Sonar on PC, but now I’m on Mac. I have a lot of outboard gear, but it’s not necessary gear. It’s writer’s block gear — meaning I twiddle some knobs to break through when I’m stuck, but I don’t rely on the outboard stuff. I have a Moog, a [Korg] Radius, some analog valve gear, lots of pedals, a patch-bay, etc. I never produce tracks on the road, so my laptop isn’t really set up for making music.
Claude VonStroke hosts his Bird Brain album release party tonight (Nov. 13) at Mezzanine in San Francisco. Check out his music and other upcoming show dates on his Myspace page.
More VonStroke music at Rcrdlbl.com.
Guys a legend! Love his music. He’s not lying about production taking some time to get to grips with, so much to learn! And then theres perfecting what you’ve learnt
[quote comment=”23737″]Great idea to cover some production on here as well. Personally I would like to see a tutorial on doing fairly simple re-edits of tracks – seems like a good place to start for DJs branching out.[/quote]
+1 This would be very much appreciated!
very good article and helpfull!!!!!!
Man, I just learned a lot just from reading this article and the responses to it. No question is a stupid question and in this case no answer is a stupid answer. Keep ’em coming…you people are my knowledge base, Yeah, TECHTOOLS and it’s community!!!!
Love it.
It’s always great to get some tips from people that are really into it but not over the top, egotistical douchebags like a lot of DJs I’ve ran into.
Good read 🙂
all I have to say is THANK YOU for all this information. 🙂
this article was very interesting.
It’s interesting advice.. I always figure I need to work on fitting in more rather then being unique.. I think I’m too damn unique!
I don’t know how long it really takes to learn to produce properly.. I mean.. what.. learn to sequence, sound synthesis, mix engineering.. some kinda compositional sense.. etc.. all takes a life time to master but.. I would imagine if you’re super crazy hard core about it.. you could maybe get some place interesting inside of a year?
I mean.. the 101 of all this stuff isn’t really that complicated.. and you know.. do you necessarily even need to know how to program a synth right off the bad with all the patches the stuff comes with?
I think learning composition on a computer is maybe the easiest way to go.. I mean.. program something, hit play, now the question is.. what do you think of it? Repeat process.. have some basic framework for thinking about your experimenting.. and you’ll no doubt get some place in not too long. When I first started I’d produce about a track a week for something like 3 years and on year 2 I felt I was really getting some place…. and I couldn’t really program a synth to well and new very little about mixing.
I’d like some some tips on mastering and eqing
Lovin the new album on Dirtybird this week. I’ve canned it for 3 weeks straight. There is a crunk slow one for the Bay area guys and a huge Monster track w/ Godzilla noises goin off.
Who plays Dirtybird on this forum I wonder?
The current sound of SF…Who would have thought it was minimal kinda. All inspired by Matt Edwards basically….Radio Slave and the sound of Berlin.
Yeah it takes aaaaages to learn how to produce properly, i have been producing for about 10 or so years now and i only think i have really got any good in the last few years, but still not as good as i would like to be ! Its a slow journey, its highly challenging, but you learn a hell of alot that will make you a much much much better dj in the end. Not just because you can play your own tracks but because of all the things you learn along the way that help improve your approach to mixing.
Great article for someone that’s looking to start in the production scene themselves cheers!
Could you guys maybe try to get an interview with Fake Blood on how he remixes his tracks? He has some killer remixes from some big artists.
Thanks for the production direction, it’s exactly what I have been looking for.
i also hate when i send tracks out mixes out to ppl and tell them to tell me what they think they dont respond but then send me a friends request on myspace thats the one thing i hate the most
hey djtt,
this article is ok but i think instead of asking big name dj’s can we ask some of the lil guys that are producing their own tracks. i have some remixes that im working on but i always find myself using other ppls loops or 1 second sound clips to make my remixes or i just play round with pitch and studdering a beat. i can mix vocals really good but when it comes to the music the sounds i hear in my head dont come out in reason. i have a elementry understanding of how synths work with lfo’s and whatnot but even with tutorials i cant get the sounds i want. ( biggest problem_)
the problem with copying your favorite tracks exactly depends on how you produce or remix your own music. with me i take bits and pieces of other ppls tracks to make one. then lay over my own synths. this makes for an ok remix but whenever ppl listen they always tell me this isnt so different from the original. so whats the point??? i always thought thats what remixes were something that still captures the original track but with your own spin on it. how you would have done it.
ive started out as a producer from rock music so its a world of differance between recording real intruments to working with midi only. and i started djing so i could get my own tracks out there and then start doing live sets with ableton.
then we come back to the all important circumstance of money. ableton cost 600-700 serato cost the same then you have to buy turntables any decent pair cost 400 each or cdj’s of course pioneer at least 800mk2’s 800 each. ppl say this is an investment but when does your remixing or djing start paying for all this equipment. i hate to turn down gigs that dont pay cause i need to get my name out there ( exposure_). but at the same time i want to get new equipment and have legit software that doesnt crash every 5 minutes. yes your skills speak for themselves but without a huge ( legit_) following anyone can have a mailing list of 600 ppl but how many of those ppl are actually going to show up. you also need the right ppl around to hear you or your just another fish dj in the ocean.
i produce remixes with ableton and dj with torq’s xponent – alot of ppl call me a fake, pretend or bedroom dj. im out in the club busting my ass week after week. on the internet asking clubs, event companies and promoters to let me spin their events. ppl promise alot but when it comes down to actually letting me spin they dont respond or they just keep pushing the dates back and its like wtf! really!! again!!! i know this is all apart of a beginner club dj but still i just wanna find a club i can call home already spin there weekly and start from there.
YES! tips and tricks on mastering (and production in general) would be awesome..
As DJTT is quite into dance music
i would suggest to start the production section with some knowhow about the lower freqs part in your track
= Kick + Bass
it´s also the part with the most “mysteries”
[quote comment=”23720″]yo – love the article idea here and especially the one to come – production for djs. anyway i’d like some tips, ideas, video replies on how people use Maschine for remixing (i do search youtube). i’m really new to production – no experience and just want to know the most time efficient ways to making beats and creating my own remixes. some days i feel like i should’ve invested in ableton rather than maschine – but its a nice piece of equipment and i think i just need to work with it longer and get more experience. i’m lucky to get 5-10 hrs a week on the maschine so the learning curve is slow.[/quote]
+1 on the Maschine question. The new software update seems to make it a lot easier to implement the Maschine into a DAW 😛
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/11/13/whats-new-in-native-instruments-maschine-1-1/
[quote comment=”23728″]lol , most of the well know djs dont even produce their own track, but pay other guys to do the job. That may not be the case for Claude , but people like Guetta , Sinclar , or others have “ingeneers” to compose and produce the tracks they want.
So being able to produce music is definetly not mandatory to be a succesfull dj , if you can find someone that will do it for you.[/quote]
Sad but true… Most openly admit to it. It is ok over in Europe to not make your own muic. They think its ok, but its really not. Would it be ok if you bought a Picasso and then found out he didn’t paint it? No. Ther would be no excuse if he were like “well I don’t know how to paint, I do a good job pretending like i painted it, and i can act like an artist…” It just sounds stupid when you think about it. I know of many BIG named guys who cannot produce their own music… I can promise you if I outed some of these names you would be so surprised, the say its an engineer, but no matter what you call it, its cheating. Overall its not right and it is ruining the industry. Unfortunately what cannot change what is being done. 🙁
[quote comment=”23717″]
I’ve tried this and it didn’t work. I was told by the label we are not accepting new material. They never listened to my demo.
I tried selling my music on beatport they told me something similar. To much music we’re not accepting any new tracks.
It’s hard to get people to listen to your material.
The only company that said yes was djdownload.com I have to have my own label or be with a label to sell on there site.
Great article Markkus. Could you give us more detail on how record labels work. For example I have a friend in Chicago who makes track for a label. My friend gets $1000 up front and a percentage of the sale. He never receives any $ from the sales.
He said this is the way all of the record companies work in Chicago. The other thing he told me was the record label own part of the rights to the track. So the record company release your track when they want to.[/quote]
Just because a label turns down your track doesn’t mean that its not good. If you send it to multiple labels (like20+) and you get no response or suggestions, then chances are its not ready… So go back and work some more. You have to consistently produce stuff and develop a sound of your own. Pitch the completed songs to the right label.
Now that being said, I get probably 10-20 demo submissions everyday. Some are horrible, some are good but need work, some are ok but the don’t belong on my label, then there are one or two every few weeks that get a really good listen from me and those then get reviewed hard for consideration of being signed. But this is not a fast process, and if you think getting something signed is going to be quick well you are in the wrong business…
Since you don’t have a name and you don’t really have any tracks out, don’t expect a big advance, or any advance at all. Many labels now are only digital, so a big advance will not really happen. Most tracks unless they break Top 100 on beatport only clear a few hundred dollars, but those tracks that do make it into the tops sell well, but still its very nominal compared to the old days when vinyls sold well. Think about it. new tracks are only $2.49-1.99 on beatport, once they get their cut, well my label only takes home a small amount. There are many label out there that have to use a distributor as well, and those labels make pennies on their sales. So all I m saying is don’t expect a big advance or any advance on your first track. You should get percentage of sales (royalties) and again, do some research, because if that label uses a distributor then you need to realize that beatport takes their cut, then the distributor tkes their cut, then the label takes its cut, then you get yours, and that money may now be very small depending on how well your track sells.
Hope that provides a little insight for you… most importantly, don’t let your first track not getting signed slow you down. Make music, lots of it.each track will get better… you just need to keep plugging away. And make sur the track yu send out to labels i ready to be listened to…
[quote comment=”23700″]Great article. Love to see djTT spreading their wings even further. This new area of covering production can definitely be taken even further on this site. I’d like to see more articles on interviews from different DJ/Producers, like VonStroke, to see what they are using to produce music, and what outboard gear (if any) they are using. Many options are out there, and a lot of people can learn from this to decide what direction they want to take.[/quote]
Great Idea, i think this needs to be done more!!
[quote comment=”23742″]
IMHO, it’s simply not necessary to be a DJ/Producer to achieve notoriety; just know your craft – see DJ Qbert
[/quote]
yeah fair enough, however being a turntablist is a LOT different to maiking & spinning tracks to fill dancefloors the world over.
It seems to me the world of djing has become so perverted – that’s why we see a lot of DJs dabbling in stuff like producing.
What do I mean???
What are professional musicians, writers and engineers for? They’re there to create the music, and DJs are there to spin them. Is it that these days many DJs don’t really know their stuff so they use the so called “producing” to embellish themselves? Or is it that DJs today feel that quickest path to stardom is produce something or anything at all; so when they generate enough interests from their productions, they can show up at gigs and play top 40 hits?
Frankly, most DJ productions sucks…apart from the usual suspects which most of us can roll-off our tongues-Guetta, VonStroke etc who’re good at what they do-DJs for the most part should stick to what they know or should learn their craft and leave the rest to the pros.
IMHO, it’s simply not necessary to be a DJ/Producer to achieve notoriety; just know your craft – see DJ Qbert
Deep Thought:
DJs should start coding their own DVS programs and design the dance floors of clubs in which they play in(…just snark)
Nice article – Plz more 🙂
Great idea to cover some production on here as well. Personally I would like to see a tutorial on doing fairly simple re-edits of tracks – seems like a good place to start for DJs branching out.
Personally I really like that djtt covers about producers.
Coz production is only one thing that you can do in order to get big.
I am DJing as well as Producing so I enjoy reading suggestions from other dj producers
I think this blog should stay away from production because this is DJ TechTools not Producer TechTools (another blog for another time perhaps). Sometimes maintaining the status quo and focusing on core topics is hard when the chance to grow to something bigger is always possible–unless Ean would like to become a blogger more than a DJ.
I think it would be great to interview DJs and talk about what got them to where they are now. But what about the other players in the game? This may have been touched on before but I would really like to hear from other as well: Label owners, Promoters, BOOKING AGENTS, Road/Tour managers, Club owners, Music festival production workers, DJ hardware developers, the list goes on.
I think getting a larger picture view of how the whole industry around DJing is thinking and working is essential to joining in the fun whether it is as DJ or some other profession. The world already has plenty of DJs but the world could use a bit more of the people who help make the DJ and DJing possible.
this site is so great
keep on like this!
[quote post=”3360″]lol , most of the well know djs dont even produce their own track, but pay other guys to do the job. That may not be the case for Claude , but people like Guetta , Sinclar , or others have “ingeneers” to compose and produce the tracks they want.
So being able to produce music is definetly not mandatory to be a succesfull dj , if you can find someone that will do it for you.[/quote]
Ha, ha — fair enough. I know guys like Oakenfold and some others do that, but that Billionaire Boys Club is not taking applications for new members as far as I can tell.
Whom we’re talking about here are guys like VonStroke (the real deal), Treasure Fingers, The Bloody Beetroots, Le Castle Vania, Crookers and so on and so on. There are many people out there who may not own their own yachts, but are doing pretty well as DJs and owe a lot of that to their productions, many of which were done on little more than a laptop with some software.
Even a dude like A-Trak, who was a well-established, champion DJ before doing any producing, put himself in front of huge new audiences and now keeps himself relevant for a longer time with his tracks and remixes.
Great article and a fantastic idea to publish some production related articles. I’ve been thinking about production more and more the last year, this may be the kick up the arse I need to get started.
Cheers.
[quote comment=”23708″]Nice, I just beatgridded vocal chords yesterday. 🙂
I really like this venture into production land. Just keep the articles from a DJ’s POV, like you did in this interview.
Some advice how to tackle a remix without access to proper remix material (a track’s isolated instruments, vocals, drums…) would be neat.[/quote]
This would be a cool idea or Seeking the breakdowns from artists (prob way harder). I feel like DJTT is inside my head. I starting thinking of something & then log onto this page & find exactly what I was thinking. Crazy! Im fairly new to this site but the amount of great content is just bananas! From the staff to the members its an endless flow of useful knowledge. I LOVE YOU MANN! lol Keep up the great work!
I’ve been slowly making the switch from vinyl to digital and this site continues to make me feel I made the right choice in buying traktor scratch Pro for my intro into laptop dj’ing. I’ve been applying your steps to becoming a more busy dj. And this article has confirmed my ideas on how to become a globe trotting DJ. I have to admit I’m a hip hop and a 80 & 90’s house music head and not crazy about a lot of todays electronic music or any style that sounds too techno or trance. I’d like to know more about producing more soulful house/ Disco/Classic R&B sound. Don’t get me wrong, groups like Daft Punk and Startdust or more recently Duck Sauce, is more of the sound I’d like to produce. And I like to know how using the VCI 100 will enhance my dj’ing or on the fly remixing in the clubs, spinning that style?
Keep up the good work guys
lol , most of the well know djs dont even produce their own track, but pay other guys to do the job. That may not be the case for Claude , but people like Guetta , Sinclar , or others have “ingeneers” to compose and produce the tracks they want.
So being able to produce music is definetly not mandatory to be a succesfull dj , if you can find someone that will do it for you.
[quote post=”3360″]Now I have Logic 9 and start to learn step by step, are some webpage, where is all info about logic and tips where I must started.[/quote] @DjTammela: For me, good free Logic 9 Tutorials are hard to find. If you can pay for some professional stuff there’s this: http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/logicpro/logicpro_tutorial.htm
i would also love some more articles relating to original productions and/or remix production!
good stuff.
also, claude vonstroke is one of my +Fav! i love his often minimal tech funk sound 😀
Just saying that those eyes from the first pic are freaking the shit out of me.
yo – love the article idea here and especially the one to come – production for djs. anyway i’d like some tips, ideas, video replies on how people use Maschine for remixing (i do search youtube). i’m really new to production – no experience and just want to know the most time efficient ways to making beats and creating my own remixes. some days i feel like i should’ve invested in ableton rather than maschine – but its a nice piece of equipment and i think i just need to work with it longer and get more experience. i’m lucky to get 5-10 hrs a week on the maschine so the learning curve is slow.
Man, now I want to start trying production again! I’ve been away from it for so long, since I moved my focus to digital DJing, and more recently to hobby electronics (I’m interested in a milion-and-one different things at the same time, and choosing one to focus on is the only way for me to get stuff done). Now I’m itching to get back to production, but I don’t want to have to reboot my mac into XP all the time to use FLStudio (esp. because it crashes left and right because I’ve got a poor setup and buggy BootCamp support for audio)…maybe I’ll buy a cheap PC and a good sound card and get back into it now?
Thanks for this great article, and thank you, Von Stroke for keeping it simple and straightforward. Track production always seemed like such a huge, scary territory to break into, but your point of view is very reassuring. I always just kind of hobby-dabbled at it all the way through high school, but that’s because I have no musical training whatsoever, can just barely read sheet music, but that’s thanks to my high school roommate who is a musical (and technical) genius and helped me out a LOT.
I learned to play the recorder in grade school, and can adapt to similar instruments such as the ocarina. Hooray. Not going to get me far.
Any tips for an easy way to break into music theory and stuff? I’m very stuck on that. Maybe an article about “Music Theory for Dummies” as a primer? I think I would love that. No money or time for serious classes right now.
[quote post=”3360″]Once someone makes their own tracks, what do you think is a good first step for getting the music some attention?
Sell them to your favorite label. Make tracks specifically for a label and send them in saying “I made this for your label.” The worst possible thing you can do is send out an email to 30 labels saying this is your new demo. Then no one feels special, and they’ll just bin it straight away.[/quote]
I’ve tried this and it didn’t work. I was told by the label we are not accepting new material. They never listened to my demo.
I tried selling my music on beatport they told me something similar. To much music we’re not accepting any new tracks.
It’s hard to get people to listen to your material.
The only company that said yes was djdownload.com I have to have my own label or be with a label to sell on there site.
Great article Markkus. Could you give us more detail on how record labels work. For example I have a friend in Chicago who makes track for a label. My friend gets $1000 up front and a percentage of the sale. He never receives any $ from the sales.
He said this is the way all of the record companies work in Chicago. The other thing he told me was the record label own part of the rights to the track. So the record company release your track when they want to.
For the last serveral months the articles have been outstanding and have provided great insight please keep them coming.
[quote post=”3360″]Starting a label is a great way to go, but… you need to save about 20 grand before you even consider doing it. You need great art, great music, good mastering, etc. It takes some money to get started, believe me. You should be able to go through four releases before you get paid 1 cent. That is a good plan for starting a label.[/quote]
Well… I guess I’m destined for failure then. Good thing my goals are set low right now. 😉
In our digital age though, with a much smaller amount of money, the right talent and contacts you should be able to start a label. I think he’s dead on about the 4 releases thing and I bet it may actually take more than that.
$20k would be nice to start with, but it’s a lot of cash too. There will be the temptation to not spend it as wisely as you could and you may in fact spend money on marketing when all you really needed was to focus on the social networking side of things more.
Now I have Logic 9 and start to learn step by step, are some webpage, where is all info about logic and tips where I must started.
Great article and techtools.com is becoming my fav website… I started producing in 2007 whilst mixing vinyl and then moved into controller based DJ’ing when the VCI-300 came out…great advice from the Stoke-ster, copying a fav track is something I have tried to do but you end up going your own way so it is not easy….Techtools rules fools……
[quote comment=”23703″]Hi
A request for technical articles on music production: How to isolate and incorporate vocal samples into a track. Preff. in Ableton.
Cheers![/quote]
+1 for that markkus
[quote]Start by copying your favorite tracks. Seriously… try to copy them exactly — even for sound quality. You will learn a ton by dong this. It is the fastest way to ramp up your skill level (or get really frustrated).[/quote]
+1 for that VanStroke, it’s the first thing that I will learn to do when start to produce my stuff
Nice, I just beatgridded vocal chords yesterday. 🙂
I really like this venture into production land. Just keep the articles from a DJ’s POV, like you did in this interview.
Some advice how to tackle a remix without access to proper remix material (a track’s isolated instruments, vocals, drums…) would be neat.
Love this website! I’ve just switched from analogue to digital djing and it’s great to have a source like this for tips and information.
Just listend to vonStrokes Vocal Chords in my car and now I went online and I see this arcticle about his producing. Great!
arhhhh best site in the world, always fresh and new djtechtools team keep it up, maybe a series on beginner through to advance on ableton live 8, im yet to get my head around this program and there doesnt seem to be any simple tutorials on the net
Hi
A request for technical articles on music production: How to isolate and incorporate vocal samples into a track. Preff. in Ableton.
Cheers!
This website has quickly become one of my favorite’s over the last year and has now become my homepage because of all the great articles like this one… Thanks for this one Markkus! Great job DJ tech Tools, love your work! Keep em rollin! =o) AJ
Interviews are intertaining – woot!
Great article. Love to see djTT spreading their wings even further. This new area of covering production can definitely be taken even further on this site. I’d like to see more articles on interviews from different DJ/Producers, like VonStroke, to see what they are using to produce music, and what outboard gear (if any) they are using. Many options are out there, and a lot of people can learn from this to decide what direction they want to take.