The month of September marks the end of Summer and excitingly another Makoom Release out on 405 Recordings this Friday, September 13th. Soul Sugar is a change in style from my previous releases. This EP explores some slower and more melodic sounds and I will definitely make more in the future! I enjoyed playing with each element, how sounds layered, the groove of the track, and all the little extra bits that go into making a groovier track. I had such a good time making this record that I actually made two versions. The Original Mix which is focused on a deep house vibe combining drums and simple melodic elements and the Dark Club Edit. Befitting its name, the Dark Club Edit combines a much fuller melodic breakdown with a driving acid synth to get the dance floor moving early in the night! I loved making both versions and hope that you enjoy listening to them.

Changing the Format

I decided that I wanted to give y’all a more official experience and here it is. This is my new Newsletter format and I hope you enjoy it. I’m open to your feedback and am excited to hear your thoughts!

Tip of the Month: Making a Full Drum Sound

For my music producers, I’d love to provide some tips and anything else to help with your production or DJ journey. Please shoot me a note about what you’d like to hear and I’m happy to help. For this month’s tip, I’d like to talk about making a full drum sound. Sometimes, using one drum isn’t quite enough to get it to punch through the mix. You have two choices, either use a multi-band compression to really push the sample/sound your using or layer some sounds. I really like layering sounds because it helps you build something unique that is exclusive to your tracks. If you’d like to hear it in action, check out my bootleg of Ferry Corsten’s track, Yes Man!

1. Find two or three drum samples that span different areas of the frequency range.

2. Normalize their volumes to each other.

3. Process them to make the specific part of each sound pop out!

4. Group them in a process chain.

5. Give them a slight Glue Compression for 1-2db of reduction with a 10ms attack, ratio of 4:1, and automatic release.

6. Process any group reverb or delay effects that you want this sound to have.

7. Enjoy your new layered drum sound and don’t forget to put it in your drum group or any other drum processing chain you want to use.

Photo of the Month

I wanted to share a photo of my constant animal companion, Armin. Obviously he’s named for Armin van Buuren and he is one of the best studio buddies I could of asked for. He enjoys the music more than my wife (I think). He will hang out with me as I spend hours tweaking mundane details and will sit at my feet as I record a podcast episode!