DJ Craig Heneveld

I recently found a great resourse for music production tutorials and what not.  Check it out here http://musicproductionvideos.blogspot.com/.

I found this really nice article by Christian Reutens on Beatportal.  It describes some important tips on how to create a good house track.  I thought the most important tip was the tracking working the dance floor.  Whats the point of a dance track if you can’t dance to it?  Here are the tips:

1. It has to work the floor
2. Pay attention to the tempo
3. The arrangement ain’t that simple
4. Work on your hook, like a boxer
5. How important are vocals?
6. Gear doesn’t matter as much as ideas
7. What’s the right length?
8. The dance floor litmus test
9. The mix down is important
10. It’s only house

Read the whole article here.

I was recently working on a promotion mix of some of my tracks for the summer and was wondering what the best wrapping method for whole tracks was. I did some digging and found this great article which can be read here. Tim Poultney describes 2 different warping methods, complex and complex pro and gives audio snippets of each at different tempos. I thought this was an interesting post so I figured I would share.

Excerpt:

The warping algorithm used in Live since version 5 has been Elastique Audio Efficient, and although this is an amazing piece of software that gives high quality audio results, one of the complaints about upgrades to Live is that they haven’t included the Elastique Audio Pro algorithm. Ableton have obviously listened to their critics as one of the key features of the upcoming version 8 release is that they’ve included the Pro algorithm. The main difference in the Pro algorithm is that it preserves formants, I’d love to tell you why that’s a good thing, but that Wikipedia article confused me.

You can also find an interesting discussion around Ableton Live’s time stretching here.

I found this excellent interview with Nic Fanciulli. He explains “How to run a record label in 2009″. If you are an artist or a future record label manager I highly recommend reading this.


Here in a lengthy audio interview, Nic Fanciulli talks about how to run a dance music record label in 2009, and how he saved Saved Records. Our chat discusses everything from online promotion, the A&R process, building a family of artists, digital versus physical, piracy, and brand identity.

Read the rest at beatportal HERE.

I just wanted to share a few great sites where you can find the latest in dance music news.

Beatportal – Beatportal aims to be the world’s best electronic music blog and resource. The blog offers up-to-the-minute news about electronic music, informed music recommendations, DJ technology news, remix competitions with top artists and labels, and live blogging coverage from the most important artist tours and industry events. Beatportal’s Beatwiki – an index of 72,000+ artists and 8000+ record labels – is the biggest publicly editable database for electronic music available online. Beatportal is powered by the recognized leader in electronic music downloads, Beatport.com.

House Music Online – contains charts, audio previews, dj mixes and a forum.  Good source for house music info.

Resident Advisor - Resident Advisor (RA) is a 100% independent online magazine devoted to dance music and club culture.  Each month over 400,000* people across the globe visit the site to read the latest news, reviews and interviews, download podcasts, and contribute to the world’s largest and most reliable source of club and event listings. Established in Sydney in 2000, RA has since expanded beyond its aussie roots and now has staff in various continents across the globe.  RA is proud of its international character; its many writers, photographers and coordinators hail from New York, London, Berlin, Sydney, Paris, Barcelona, Melbourne, Miami, Chicago, Ibiza, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Beatfactor - is an online resource providing fresh dance music oriented content. You can find news, featured articles, music, audio, dj/artist profiles, record lables, photos, event reports, contests and a public forum.

Dance Nova – Dance music news charts and reviews.

BBC Dance and Electronica – BBC’s answer to Dance & electronica.

Also check out Tampa House Music and Funk The Nation.

APC40 Performace Controller

I just found out about this new AKAI midi controller that is made for Ableton. I have been waiting for this controller since I learned about Sasha’s live setup. Something like this takes live remixing to a new level.

From Akaipro.com

The APC40 is the link between human and computer that perfectly balances analytical parameter control with creative expression. Whether you are an electronic music artist and Live is your canvass, a DJ using Live to mix or remix tracks, or a more traditional musician using Live on stage or in the studio, you will find the APC40 to the intuitive, powerful instrument that directly links your inspiration with Ableton Live.

May 23rd and 24th, 2009 in Tampa Fl .

2 days and 2 nights filled with Peace, Love, Music and Art Primitive Camping and the best Jam Bands from the 4 corners of Florida and everywhere in between, plus some guests from out of State.

I will be closing Saturday night!

Go to Open Grass for more details and tickets sales.

Initial Line Up include:

• The Malah
• DJ Craig Heneveld
• Cypress
• Aquaphonics
• Cope
• Sosos
• Christie Lenee and FunkGrass Groove
• and other special guests

Check out this remix contest on Beatportal.  Win some nice Native Instruments gear!

“If it wasn’t for Depeche Mode, electronic music might be very different. The English group’s innovation in the studio, particularly with their use of samplers, has influenced electronic music in uncountable ways.

The three pioneers of techno – Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins, regularly cited Depeche Mode as an influence when they were experimenting with Detroit techno in the mid 1980s, and Depeche Mode are often named by today’s leading DJs and electronic music artists as key influencers.

No other band of their stature has commissioned so many dance music producers to remix their work. The list so far includes Sasha, UNKLE, Paul van Dyk, Ricardo Villalobos, Booka Shade, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Michael Mayer, Rex The Dog, Ewan Pearson, Plastikman, Speedy J, Orbital, Blackstrobe, Underworld and Boys Noize.

The band’s connection to electronic music is more than just influence, it helped to give it a beating heart. That makes a Depeche Mode remix contest something special, and for the first time ever, the band have agreed to let the public remix one of their songs officially.

Beatport is honoured to bring this unique opportunity to the electronic music community.”

Check out Beatportal for more information.