The Munich-based producer is currently one of the most respected within the melodic house and deep techno genres with successful releases on Stil vor Talent, Einmusika, Watergate, and Kompakt.
To celebrate his latest EP ‘Malva’ which just came out on Einmusika Records, Wassermann shares with us some studio tips that help him on his creative process.
1. Find the right kick
Find the right and perfect kick for your track. Start your song with a kick sample, make a rough mix with all parts and later compare the kick with some different kick samples. You will hear a lot of differences – choose wisely!
2. Get organized
I recommend grouping your channels into categories like ‘Drums’, ‘Bass’, ‘Melodies’, ‘Pads & Atmospheric Sounds’. It’s much easier for the mixdown and you can add different compressions, tape machines, and EQ settings.
3. References
Use references of songs you like and compare them with your result. Also, I am working on both speakers and headphones during the production process. My secret is to check the song in my car later. Then I know if the song is working.
4. Sidechain compression
Definitely one massive tip is to use sidechain compression. For example, most of the producers use the kick channel as a trigger to have an effect on the bassline. But if you try out this effect with some different triggers you will get a lot of space for your parts. So you can easily make two melodies work together if you use Melody 1 as a trigger for sidechain compression for Melody 2.
5. Finish it
Get your songs finished! I usually make 3 studio slots to finish a track. Day 1: starting to record the basic idea + rough mix. Day 2: Basic arrangement for the song and improvements in the mix + maybe changing/adding some missing parts. Day 3: Final settings and improvements. If you have a good workflow this should work!
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