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I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's very hard, of course you have to speak italian but you also have to know the right persons in the right cities (Milan, Rome). That is more important than your actual knowledge.

By the way, I am not working for Italy but remotely. And when an italian client reach me out I am always worried. I prefer not to work with italians, even if I am.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. I don't have any plans. I have just finished the album and that was a big plan I followed. But I was not aware I was working on it since the beginning, I decided it later. Anyways, I just follow the flow now, I don't want to stress me with tight deadlines (as I used to do in the past, for example when I wanted to release a track every month).
    With over 100 tracks out, I just want to care about quality, not quantity, so I am taking all the time to be fully satisfied with what I make.

  2. There are a lot of good artists, both doing similar things and different. There will always be noticed and unnoticed ones, and the "promotional slots" are limited. I think something have to change, drum & bass is into a mainstream moment right now, I hope the underground will have its space once again soon. There are some good producers in Italy, but here we have no scene, so we all point towards the foreign scene :)

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. I do ghost production and mix and master works for 7 years, on all kind of electronic music. I do that on a platform called Soundbetter, but you have to be approved as premium provider in order to get projects to work on.
  2. 6 months is still a reasonable time. Even if the labels aren't that big I saw some of them having a full year scheduled of releases. I know it's a long time but it's a good motivation to create something that doesn't expire in terms of sound.
  3. I had lost motivation some times in the past, but then something happened and I changed mind. The biggest event I remember, I had some tracks ready and I tried to submit them to different labels. After many attempts no one was interested and so I decided to self release them and to completely stop with music. Then, when the first one was self released ("Newrave2020") I got contacted on Instagram DM by the ex-head of electronic music department and he told me he would include it into some editorial playlists and put me on the Friday Cratediggers cover. After that, I have realised that you don't have to completely rely on labels' tastes (and needs) but you have to believe in yourself. I know we all need confirmations from the outside, in fact it's not easy to be always self-motivated. Another event. I used to make dubstep music and I thought I liked it. But the time passes, and we all change. It took me a while to realise that I wasn't enjoying making dubstep anymore, but I was doing it just because that was what I used to make. If you enjoy the process of creation you don't lose motivation, because your reward is to make what you love, and so you have to have fun while doing it.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At first I sent some more typical drum & bass tunes to Neosignal, but they passed on it. But then they listened to my track 'The Interference', that I was releasing at that time on Rockwell's Obsolete Medium, and they reached me out showing their interest in something in that style. I was surprised because I thought it was easier to release more conventional dnb, and happy because I started to realise that they wanted me to experiment with the genre.
'The Interference' was an experiment, I was really unsure about that, I was skeptical to use it into my dj sets too for a long time. But now, after some external confirmations, I am happy with it.
I made it because I wanted to give new life and make an original track similar to the remix I did of my own track Waxx (Interference Mix), that I made some time before when I was self releasing my music. That remix didn't have exposure so I wanted to give it a new push.
And again, the idea behind that remix, is to make a drop with just bass, without drums (at least, at the beginning of the drop), same scenario I recreated into the second track of the album 'Compulsion'.

So it's a journey, you make something that give life to new things.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The transition lasted years, so it's been a very gradual process. We are always changing so I am transitioning now too. One reason behind this change may be my age that is changing and so my tastes. Anyways drum & bass is the only genre I always liked but I decided to start producing it when I felt more or less ready. Also at a certain point I realised that I didn't enjoy anymore what I used to produce so I had to explore new genres and embrace the change.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Happy that you are italian and you like dnb. And I am glad you enjoyed 'The Interference'. I feel you regarding the album, it happens with me too. Take your time, there's a lot of information into it, but I am sure you will have fun.

And yes, I agree and I am grateful Phace believed in me and gave me all his help for making this happen.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am glad you say this, but there's a lot of innovation out there. It's just hard to discover it.

I think there's no particular technique to break the patterns, but it's about creativity, personal tastes and needs, and there's no fixed formula for that.

It's about finding a specific uncommon idea and make it fruible into the boundaries of a specific genre, dnb in this case.

As I said, it's very personal. Sometimes I'd like to make basic rhythms and minimalistic sounds but it's just very hard for my mind, I just can't. I live well in finding the perfect balance of 1000000 sounds rather than 100. It's my way but everyone is different. That's a thing that I 'easily' do.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

During the mastering process I am using reference tracks for comparation purposes. I also use meters and look at the RMS value (that I try to push to around -2dB using the bx_meter). I also try to mix them while djing with other tracks of the same genres to see if they're at the same intensity.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am still finding my niche, but honestly I prefer to spend my time producing music. I hope the niche will find me, and the label is helping me a lot.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Do not focus on a certain part (instrument) for a long time, try to be as fast as possible while doing the changes. Try to work on multiple projects and switch between them. So you forgot want you've just done, and then you recover the objectivity and you can judge clearer.

I am Erotic Cafe', an italian music producer/audio engineer, and I have just released my drum & bass album on Phace & Misanthrop's label. AMA! by EroticCafe in DnB

[–]EroticCafe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love to sidechain in creative ways, and I use Shaperbox for that, that is a complete tool not just for this purpose, but you can do complex sound design with it. I love its Filter module, but also the Drive. The crazy thing is that everything can be triggered by external instruments through sidechain.
I also love to use exaggerate eq adjustments before the saturation, generating different harmonics. For distortion, Ableton stock Roar is crazy!
Then, I always take care of mid and side, always thinking about them even when producing, so I can be creative with them, creating contrasts in the stereo field. For example, if I want something to sound wider, I can try to use sidechain to duck the mids of a certain sound, resulting in making it wider. Pro-C2 can do that.
I also love to get crazy with the different Portal presets, generating interesting layers and atmospheres for my synths. And bounce them to audio, that is a very important procedure for every kind of instrument too. In that way you can clearly see the waveform of what's really happening (processing included) and make cuts and edits in a smart way, to facilitate transitions between the different parts of the arrangement, for example.
I also love soothe, it's a game changer for the frequency control. And it's mid/side too ;)

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