PRODUCER WEEK 2025: Last year, we dug deep into our video archives to highlight 10 things producers can learn from our In The Studio With video series, in which we visit artists and producers - you guessed it - in the studio to document their creative process.
Poring over hours upon hours of valuable insights from some of the most revered music-makers of the past decade, it was a tough job to narrow the article down to just ten points.
With that in mind, we’re back for another round. Below, we present ten more pearls of wisdom offered up by artists we’ve interviewed, in the hopes that they inspire or inform you in your own creative practice.
1. Stay on top of your sample library
First up is a handy piece of organisational and time-saving advice from American DJ and music producer, Morgan Page. He recommends a frequent clear-out of your sample library in order to speed up the sample-browsing part of your process.
If you come across a sample you don’t and won’t use, either move it to an archive folder or delete it altogether. Anything you do use, place within arm’s reach, ready for your next project.
Page likens this to taking your old unworn clothes to Goodwill, which for our UK readers, is the equivalent of ‘putting them in the charity shop pile’. These days, we’re truly spoiled when it comes to data storage. Not so many years ago, technological limitations forced us to be selective with the files we kept hold of.
Today, there’s little stopping us from hoarding days' worth of samples, but being diligent with your collection can minimise the delay between sparking an idea and sketching it out in your DAW.
Next time you’re faced with a case of writer’s block, try wading through your sample collection and chuck out anything that sounds unlikely to make it into one of your productions.
2. Use natural sounds for a human touch
British producer, DJ and composer Jakwob was a major figure in the dubstep scene around the time this video was shot. In it, he’s kind enough to talk us through his 2014 remix of Sigma’s Nobody To Love.
Jakwob details how he uses breath sounds throughout his productions and remixes in order to add a human element to the track: “I try to put breaths anywhere and everywhere I can,” he says. In this case, Jakwob creates a short riser by applying a volume fade to a recording of a breath sound.
Even if the listener doesn’t consciously recognise the noise as a breath sound, it’s widely believed that we have an intrinsic attraction to sounds of human origin, and these can imbue your track with a subtly organic vibe. Try creating breathy risers or layering samples with your own voice to add a human touch to your next production.
3. It’s better to fix mix issues at the source
Back in 2014, we were invited back to Dada Life’s Stockholm studio to hear about the making of their EDM hit One Smile, which makes generous use of a talkbox. While there’s no doubting the unique sonic qualities of this unconventional instrument, it clearly presents some technical challenges that Dada Life sought to address early on.
The Swedish duo explain how they experimented with recording at various tempos in order to find the right compromise between groove and intelligibility. Once they found that balance and laid down some audio, they encountered some unwanted resonances that were too subtle and dynamic to fix with traditional EQ. Instead, they used iZotope RX, an advanced audio editing software, to spectrally attenuate problematic frequencies.
The pair point out that in its raw form, the recording’s resonances didn’t appear too offensive. The issues became clearer later on when further processing such as compression, reverb, and distortion was introduced. This highlights the importance of fixing issues as close to the source as possible in order to prevent a desperate bid to ‘fix it in the mix’ down the line.
4. Working with audio forces you to commit
In Wilkinson’s marathon In The Studio With video, the DnB producer shares his creative process as he creates a synth-focused track from scratch, making use of a Sequential Prophet 6 to write the song’s lead synth line.
We won’t be diving into the hardware vs software debate here, but Wilkinson does highlight a key benefit that comes with the use of outboard gear, in that it often forces you to commit to whatever you’re working on.
Unlike working in the software domain, where you can recreate infinite identical takes, recording with hardware compels you to commit to a particular idea. If you do want to make any major edits after the fact, you’ll need to get creative, which can also produce some interesting results.
This is particularly true if you then delete any MIDI used to create audio recordings, something Wilkinson claims that he does for the above reason. He also says this has helped him to overcome writer’s block, as narrowing your options forces you to progress an idea with the audio you have by any means necessary.
Of course, this approach isn’t reserved for hardware purists. Those who prefer to work in-the-box can also adopt this approach by simply resampling their soft synths’ output to a new audio channel and then deleting the source.
5. Be prepared to ditch any idea if it isn’t working
Many videos in the In The Studio With series have featured multiple nuggets of wisdom, but perhaps none more than Moonlight Matters’ 2014 studio visit.
While we’ve identified a treasure trove of useful tips and tricks that could well have made it onto this list, we were particularly drawn to some advice Moonlight Matters offers right at the end of his studio session.
“Kill your darlings” is Moonlight Matters’ way of saying that no matter how much you love an idea, or how attached to it you may be, you should be prepared to ditch it if necessary. No matter how long you spent finding the ideal snare sample or designing the perfect riser effect, if it doesn’t enhance the track, then it shouldn't be there.
Try taking a break from the composition or mix, then listening closely to each element to really figure out what, if anything, it’s adding to the track as a whole. If you’re not sure, try muting it on the next play-through to check if it’s worth keeping.
6. Save unused material to reuse in future projects
If you’re someone who struggles to part ways with creative ideas, then this next point might resonate with you. In his recent appearance on In The Studio With, Djrum discusses the making of his track Frekm Pt.2. As the track name suggests, the song is a follow-up to Frekm Pt.1, from which Pt. 2’s main melody was repurposed.
In the video, the London-based artist shares how he created multiple iterations of the same source material when making Frekm Pt.1, before ultimately having to commit to just one of those iterations. In this case, the source material was a flute-like synth sound. In Pt.2, a long chain of effects and a frequency shifter were used to completely transform it into a dissonant texture. This unrecognisable sound formed the basis of the new track.
Contrary to what Moonlight Matters suggested in the last entry, Djrum argues that it might be wise to temporarily park your darlings, rather than kill them altogether. If you are finding it challenging to select a single version of a sound or figure out the right way to utilize it, don’t be afraid to hold back the alternative candidates for potential use in future projects.
7. Establish a setup and workflow that's fun to use
Mark Gardener is a celebrated musician and producer from the south of England. He’s released music under his own name, as well as with the bands Ride and Animalhouse. During his In The Studio With, Gardener takes the time to explain how his Oxfordshire-based studio came to be, and how his synths have their own space, aptly named “synth corner”.
Gardener describes how this part of the space encourages him to play and experiment with sound; “I don’t feel particularly an expert in anything really, in anything here whatsoever. The bit that works for me is that feeling that I’m a kid in a toyshop.” As a creative, it’s easy to get caught up in the pressure of meeting deadlines, keeping up with industry trends, or trying to reach numeric milestones.
Mark Gardener’s ‘kid in a toyshop’ analogy is a helpful reminder that music production should be fun and experimental, and this is where some of the most powerful and authentic ideas stem from. Your creative environment and the tools you use should be set up in a way that is fun and rewarding rather than limiting and laborious.
8. Fidelity isn't everything
As a music producer, it’s easy to be drawn into believing that you must have a studio stuffed with the latest and most expensive gear to make great music. Occasionally, though, we need a reminder that it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts.
Today, that reminder comes courtesy of Yunè Pinku, a UK-based electronic artist responsible for a growing catalogue of unique and atmospheric productions. In her In The Studio With, Pinku creates a track from scratch in her London-based studio. At the core of that track is a piano recording that was made in the moment using her mobile phone.
The sketch she assembles in this video is proof that it’s possible to create great music with inexpensive tools that are available to any of us. Pinku applies a range of software-based processing that ultimately makes it impossible to discern what kind of equipment was used to make the original recording.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter whether she used an iPhone or a U87 to record her piano, the processing is what made it work within the context of the composition.
9. Do your best with what you have
As musicians and producers, we all run into some unsavoury technical issues at some point, whether that’s in the studio or on the stage. The acid house and techno duo Paranoid London are certainly no stranger to the odd hardware hiccup. In an In The Studio interview with one half of Paranoid London, Quinn Whalley details how the duo’s Roland TR-808 failed to switch on moments before a gig.
Due to their presumed reliability compared to the original 808, their solution was to use Roland’s modernised boutique version of the TR-08, and later the Behringer RD-8.
Whalley admits that there’s a trade-off between reliability and sound; “It’s not quite the same, we’ve started taking [the 808] out again. It’s whatever you can make a noise with really. Because we couldn’t rely on the same bits that were good on that [the 808], we just did different things on the Behringer.”
The key takeaway from this is that it’s important to be adaptable in your practice, particularly when there’s an element of performance involved. Sadly, things don’t always go to plan, so it’s good to have backups for when things do inevitably go awry.
10. Mixing is secondary to writing
Ralph Myerz’s In The Studio With entry is one of the oldest on this list. It’s also one of the longest, and as such it’s brimming with useful production tips and techniques. From using subtle variations to enhance your arrangements, to recording unique disco claps with your belly, Myerz’s contribution to the series is an insightful watch.
One of the biggest takeaways from the video comes during the concluding section where Myerz explains that for him, writing and arrangement is far more important than mixing in the process of creating a great track. “The mixing and the panning and all that stuff, I do it roughly while I’m working on the track, but I’m more obsessed with getting the right hook and the right notes,” he says.
“The music of the track is the most important thing, then I go into mixing at a later stage.” After all, you can make a brilliant song with a less-than-average mix, but if your raw material is garbage, you can’t mix your way to a solid track. As the old saying goes, you can’t polish a turd.
While his stance on the importance of music versus mixing is clear, Ralph Myerz is obviously no slouch in the latter department either. Whether you’re looking for technical tips and tricks to improve your mixes, or unique artistic approaches to spark some inspiration, Myerz’s In The Studio With is well worth checking out in full.
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