Fanu/FatGyver

I EQ things for my living, every single workday of the year, and have done so for 11+ years (technically I've been EQing things since 2000 or so: I started making music in 1992, but there were no EQ in software back then, ha!) EQ is by far the most meaningful tool in my work, and I've always said, m

🎛️👌🏻🎅🏻Xmas is coming early: get ready for more of these shorter mixing/production videos…there's a lot lined up. All these are from my daily work and productions. This one's for both producers and engineers that can appreciate good kicks with decent punch. This can help those into tech house, D

This video tutorial will show you how to create the a classic layered drumloop, Tramen, from the right parts. (If you're breakbeat-minded, you'll find 14 other episodes of this series HERE) if you've been into drum and bass for a while, you know what a "Tramen" is: it's the drumloop that was created

It's time for another D&B production session. I'll run you through what I've been creating and how. I'll help you make it bang. Let's rock in the vein of artists/labels like Evol Intent, Technical Itch, Hive, Metalheadz etc. In this tutorial, I will show you what I've used to create the bass using a

Let's talk master limiting. I'll show you a recent client case where I'm going loud-ish with mastering, but, while doing my usual master limiting, I'm getting distortion I cannot accept. This obviously happens in my daily work as an engineer, and I always need to find ways to tackle it. We'll call t

I never stop pampering my subs. Recently, I've given out God Particle, Gold Clip, Soothe etc. Spiff is up next. This plugin needs no introduction if you're into transient work. I use it daily, and you've seen it in my videos many times. So, I'm giving away a one-year license to spiff. How to take pa

This is not genre-specific per se to be honest, but checking out some house kicks here, including two John Summit project kicks. ❗️Part 1 of mixing kicks is here - probably also worth a watch. Don't miss the video on how to layer fat kicks. Relative levels for kicks, hat, clap, and bass HERE and HER

This tutorial will teach you how to create the most popular basslines but also avoid its most common shortcoming in its low frequencies. One of the challenges as an audio engineer is a drifting sub in many electronic styles. It may not be obvious to you at home why it's not great, but especially if

Compressing your drums - that's what I get asked about a few times a month. I want to you understand and also hear the difference between VCA and FET type drum bus compression. Both are useful, but sound slightly different. A drumloop makes for a great example here. Sometimes when you look for a tra

Let's talk about making a CUSTOM BREAKBEAT (as opposed to chopping an existing one): -what to take into account, -workflow, -how to best browse drums and use similarity search, -why VCA compressor is your friend in drum bus -where to get some good drumsounds etc. I'm also showing some processing tha

This plugin needs no introduction if you're into taming harshness. I use it quite often. Also a great sidechain (the only kick/bass SC I use) I'm giving away a one-year license to soothe2. If you want one, drop a comment. You have to be a paying subscriber on that date to be eligible (i.e., free mem

(For an abundance of other mixing-related posts, see the dedicated collection (link) I always remember Optical the DNB producer saying he approaches things with the philosophy that he wants to process things as little as possible, and I agree with that. With all the plugins available to us today, I

Transient tools are all the rage. They are in style. Every company has their own. There's many benefits to using them, but also, I hear the misuse. Where and how have I used them in my daily mix work and productions? A practical tip and thoughts here. Not genre-specific at all. (By the way, I've add

I'll start a little series of minitips for production and mixing (BTW don't miss my first miniseries, Why your mix isn't working). Short form content has been requested - I hear you. Don't worry, I won't stop doing long form content: to me, it's by far the favourite form and I've been doing it for y

Oh, late summer / early autumn, and that often re-invigorated inspiration for making music (somehow I'm not at my most productive when it's summer and hot - anyone else relate?). So, fittingly, I soon have subscriber-exclusive videos coming out (among other things): Breakbeat music production tips a

One thing I always like to do in my mixes and masters is open up the top end for that contemporary silky sheen. If you've heard my mixes/masters (a curated portfolio HERE), you know what I mean. Where to boost and where to cut and why? I wanted to cover that. Once again, good audio is often somewhat

Let's go through the processing of a house music song that's quite close to a mix + master (parts of it lean towards a stem master). I'll talk about where I think the song needs some help and where the producer's own mix is slightly lacking. This is what I have to assess daily before making mix deci

I have crossed a big milestone: the Mixing and Mastering collection on my Patreon now has one HUNDRED posts. Access it all HERE. I've been putting as much my audio engineering knowledge there in the past few years as possible. If you want those audio tips from a fully booked engineer that actually h

Gain staging can be a difficult, complex topic - I get questions about it all the time. Tracks of the mix hitting red - is that ok and what level should I use? How the achieve the right input level for plugins with or without paid plugins? My fave artist always clips his master - is that ok? Does Tr

A Patreon member sent me this break and told me it's used in a really slamming DNB tune, so I did get all stoked! I've been playing it as a DJ myself. What tune? You'll hear in the video of course. Not sure it's been used elsewhere. The drumbreak really needs some help - listen to the preview! - but

I was stem mastering this UK indie type song, and the drums track was something that I thought needed a whole lot of tightening. "What you do have in your drum bus?" is something I'm often asked. Now this video is one good answer, and in case you've missed it, I have another earlier post, "Best plug

This video will show you me hitting -3 LUFS on a stem master to match the given reference, and we're going clean and punchy, and you will hear it. I will walk you thru how I am achieving it, what I am using for it, what I improved in the production, etc. There's one specific master tool that gives m

Let's produce some slamming DNB with modern bass (btw for more drums and breaks stuff, see the COLLECTION). This could sit well on Dispatch Recordings for example. I created the drums and bass without samples. I'm giving you some techniques for creating original bass tones that sit very well in mode

I have mixed and produced hundreds of basslines and want you to get it right, too. Creating a strong bassline will make sure the low end hits well, is heard from laptop speakers too, and isn't just a stale element in your song. No tricks needed, no mix bus emphasis: just the right material from the

It's time to make drumfunk/jungle! (See other Breakbeat Of The Month episodes HERE 📺) A patreon member sent me a drumbreak which I honestly have never heard before in any jungle tune. EDIT! Someone pointed out DJ Die prob uses this one in the intro of "Play It For me"! It is a long one and it does

(🎧Use a system that produces proper lows for hearing this one. Phone speaker won't do it any justice 🔊) If this doesn't help you layer your kicks a little better in terms of their lows, I'll give you your money back. When I was younger and I was layering kicks for weight, a lot of times the result

I'm improving the presence of a bass and also giving it a lot of width and wanted to help you do this too (see the very end of post for more links for bass content and a great free bass enhancer VST). 🎧 Use headphones for proper stereo listening for this one! Phone won't do this justice 🔉 (BTW did

Clippers are getting more and more popular in audio, and even in socials I've seen posts where advice is thrown out telling people to clip their masters for a louder output. Let's go to the very grassroots level in signal processing. Let's get the facts straight. 📺 In similar context, do not miss m

Got seven sound design tips for you! (btw almost all tiers sold out as we speak so do join now if you want in) I'm taking a whole week off to work on music, so got good stuff coming your way. We've been quite technical for a while, so let's get more into creative things for a second. 📺 COMING SOON:

I was happy to work on two songs for the new John Summit album (mixed "Don't Believe It" and did mix+master on "Mess With Me"). We have a long history, going back a decade now pretty much, and this style if anything is my jam as an engineer. Some of you may have noticed it sounds a lot like Thin Lin

If there's one topic that's raving around in music production circles, it's limiting and/versus clipping. Those of you who have been following me know that I have definitely covered on my Patreon this a bit and you know my stance already. This week, when mixing and mastering a song, I came across a

Over the years, I've had a few hard rules in my productions and engineering, which have helped me tremendously with my sound, which is punchy, clear, rich, bassy, and loud. I know there's a whole lot of info and advice thrown around online these days, and it can be confusing to many - and also very

I have worked on tons of tech house, including dozens of John Summit songs over the years, including his second Defected song, La Danza. I wanted to go thru the production, the final sound, my mix decisions, and the arrangement and discuss what works well and what I might even do a little differentl

No matter what your genre, having this stock plugin on your drum bus with the right settings can really improve and tighten your drums: hear it for yourself. BTW, it is not Drum Buss, as much as I dig it for drums. This one, unlike Drum Buss, does nothing to the signal by default and does not change

It’s my 46th birthday today (March 21) as I write this, so here’s 46 tips and thoughts from a 46-year-old music industry dude. I have plenty of technical stuff coming up soon (mixing plugins mini-series, new Breakbeat Of The Month lined up etc), but I thought this might make for an interesting chang

File this under Short Studio Masterclass - find other episodes in the series ➡️HERE⬅️. Dropping a few production and mixing tips and thoughts as I go and work on this song – I wanted to share a few things...hope you can pick up something useful! Chasing the energy and tone that's important to me as

I mixed two high-profile artist songs this week and this one came in handy. In one of them, the kick was lacking in lows. EQ didn't really hit. Pulled out this legendary parallel / NY compression technique that has helped me so many times in the past giving a kick some real GIRTH. If your music has

And I am not talking about Soothe (or SPAN in the pic, ha, this is something much better). You will hear a really resonant synth, and see how I am fixing it with my number one tonal corrector that sure is worth its weight in gold. I use it on sounds as well as masters. Especially every time I think

So a recent IG reel absolutely blew up and I've been flooded with questions on how to create a custom slicing preset with Ableton Live. Here, I'm running you through it all, discussing how to create a preset, how to apply it, what to take into account etc. The part about creating the preset starts a

I want to teach you the ways of proper breakbeat DNB drums (aka "drumfunk") as well as I can. While it's always been my strength to make those drums (as those who have been listening to my music made and released in the past 20 years know), teaching them and talking about them has always been challe

Compression is a bit of a lifelong topic, and one of the more complex topics to both understand and teach. With this three-episode miniseries, I'll explain why not all compressors and compression types are equal: they have very different uses. I'll show a few different compressors I've used a lot in

This one is way overdue: I need to address a mixing "trick" that's been thrown around the internet for years, and it's seriously hurting a lot of people's mixes. It's getting even more popular, and the thinking behind it is very much a shot in the dark as opposed to being precise. This seriously nee

If there's one thing I do every single workday in my life, it's limiting masters to desired loudness. I started mastering for others 11 years ago, then expanded to stem mastering and mixing, and I always master my mixes, too. This involves limiting the mix to desired loudness. Even by some loose mat

OK, let's dive a little deeper into deeper waters. If you make or mix bassy music, this is made for you. Inverting the polarity of your kick (or bass) can give you a better overall bass result. You will very clearly hear how I am improving the bass here. Took these from the mix I did for a decent es