Special Message from:

Eric Louis (Nervous Records, MATTER+, Janowitz Records, Autektone, Vortex)

As seen on Decoded Magazine, Data Transmission & 6AM

Hi Friend,

Thanks for popping by.  This message is all about how I went from fumbling around with production to getting numerous tracks signed in a few short years.  I won a couple competitions as well but I'll get into that later.

If you've every listed to tracks by your favorite producers and thought to yourself..

Let me help you...

I want to assist 2 kinds of people

• Aspiring DJs
• Serious Hobbyists

If you wanna DJ, very very few DJs these days do so because of their skills behind the decks - you need to produce.  If you're a serious hobbyist, don't you want to make something you're proud of...soon?

What you don't want to have happen is to be producing for a while and have nothing to show for it.

If you're into golf, those guys always talk about their numbers.

Same for you gym bros "How much you bench?"

Again the goal is to make music with that you're happy and proud of. If it makes it's way on to labels and other DJ's play lists - great.  But in short it's about gaining skills, mastering the process, and having quality tunes to show for it. 

Here's the deal.

If you want to make your next belter of a track..

It's time to..

Stop following conventional producer wisdom - the way we normally learn and the things we "think" we need to have are just over kill.  The usual approaches are too taxing on time and money for the results they produce. 

You need a new set of rules!

​

It's time to be a "Rebel Producer"

​

After a hiatus of close to 5 years I got back into production and starting finishing more music than I ever did before.  With less gear and less time.

3 Releases on Nervous Records

Appearances on the Beatport Top 100 (releases)

Winner in a remix competition with over 300 submissions

Recently signed to Jannowitz Records/Jaw Records (Matt Sassari, Fractel, Lutzenkirchen among others)

I never had a mentor or family member who introduced me to the scene and showed me the ropes

I work a job

I'm married

I have a kid too

I also cook, work out, and have some freelance projects.  

I don't have fancy studio, just a few choice pieces of gear.  I use an agin 2011 iMac, so I don't really have more than 25 stems or so in each track...

A dj buddy got his first record signed (looking back this isn't that hard) and the label had a couple guys who would remix. 1 dropped out so there was an opening.  But...it had to be done in time as the release day was already set.

I got the chance..

And slugged away at it with nearly every free minute I had.

I did get it done but not by much.

Sadly it was such a rush, that the label didn't release the professional master, what got released was my final mix or pre-master, so it sounds OK but not as loud as mastered versions.  

There had to be a better way...and I did the usual things..

Tried to learn new stuff on YouTube

Paid for 1 on 1 lessons about mixing (these were great, it's just that mixing is only of several important things)

Bought some new gear

Bought some tutorials

Bought sample packs...and the results were still the same.

While I was happy with the music I was making it was still taking me nearly an entire work week - close to 40 hours. 

​

I was persistent but scattered...

Produce here,

Arrange there

Fiddle with mixing

"Oh Parallel Compression" Let's give that a try

Auto mate filters

"Shit - how am I gonna do this break down part"

So it went back and forth round and about.

Think you need to know every single feature and function within your DAW?  Nope

Remember what I said - conventional wisdom is chock full of advice that might be nice but it's NOT essential for the dance music producer.  You don't need to know how to mix as well as an engineer who get's paid lots of money per hour to record and mix.

​

You don't need to how to "master" your music. That's rubbish. People who teach that are more interested in selling you a course than giving you good advice.  Friends don't let friends self master.  Let me tell you a story..

I wish Beatport still hosted these but oh well.  Anyhow, I figured, sure I'll at least download the remix pack I'd love to hear what Victor's track stems sound like. 

Then I was like "Well, if I can put something together I like and I don't get killed on time, I'll enter (at the time it was wife/kid/baby/freelance/job search)

I got some patterns going and the rest is history. A little more to it than that but every now and then the stars align a bit.  While this was a great win, I was at the point where I was getting good music done in a fraction of what it used to take.

Arranging was sorted out - no longer a time sucking black hole!

Mixing was taken care of - that's no longer a struggle and the nagging insecure thoughts about my mix are done.

See what I'm getting at?

I realized that I don't need to know how to mix as well as Dave Pensado, I just need to know enough to mix dance music/techno.   

It's because I learned to focus on the essentials, not the fluffy interesting stuff.  

TONS of articles, videos and tutorials exist not because they are practical but because they are interesting.  

Just get good at the 4 basic stages of making a "house" track.

Generate good ideas/loops.

Arrange them

Add automations/ear candy

Mix and Master - again, just the mix, masters I send out.

So forget about all the interesting stuff, just focus on these things...actually doing them. Remember, producers produce.  "Wanna-preoducers" wank around looking at tutorials, shopping plugins, collecting samples.

Invest in a couple good things, limit your resources and get on with the music.  

If I showed you exactly what I do in each phase don't you think you could get a similar result? I think so!

Dean had 2 deep house tunes on beatport, then took my course.  He created a bad ass remix for me that went to #5 for releases on Beatport!

Simon now no longer struggles, he's making kick ass music.  Instead of slogging through arrangements at a snail's pace he's finishing great tracks and spending time promoting himself and building a fan base. 

• "Whatever Eric is proposing will cost a lot" - Not the case
• "I love learning new tips and tricks"  Great - keep learning let me steer your to learn things that give you great bang for buck.  The time you spend learning will pay dividends. 
• "But I thought musicians have to put in their 10,000 hours"  That doesn't guarantee anything other than 10,000 hours going by.  Doing the wrong stuff doesn't pay. 
• "But what about sound design, I have to sound unique"  That's important but you can get a lot of mileage out of tweaks to pre-sets and some good sample packs. If your ideas die in the loop grave yard, more sound design won't help. 
• "But my stiff sounds like crap compared to ________" That's because your sabotaging yourself by comparing your rough mixes and self masters to those of professionals with way more gear and experience than you.  But you can send your music to the same guys the pros use - this way you can stop chasing warmth, sparkle, polish, and punch.

To recap learn and focus on the essentials, not learning every single thing just because it's possible.

Most art has a "format" of sorts.  Opera has to follow a certain order - other wise it's not opera.  

12 Bar blues

Rock n Roll

Movies (The Matrix - The God Father)

Pop Music...and....

Good Old "Club Tracks" all have a certain rhyme and reason they all follow. 

Think about 12 bar blues.  12 bar blues ALWAYS uses the same chord changes.  That's a template.  And I know some people think "templates" are the antithesis to "techno" but consider you had blues orginators like Robert Johnson using 12 bar blues, Led Zeppelin, and even Prince.  Different artists all completely original. 

So when it came to arranging my music I used to just slug my way through it figuring it out as I go along.  Then I got smart.  I'm not Sam Paganini - let me stick to what's been proven on the dance floor and use other tracks as a reference for arrangement.  Often we only do this to mix, I did it for arranging.

So I started analyzing and taking notes...it got easier and less of a hassle. In fact I could use another producers track to sort out how long my intros are, where the break down should be, how long.  I even built up a list of approaches for how I can do things like vary energy levels through out the tune. 

Is this cheating?

No, it's just sorting out the framework. 

When you go to music class to learn classical, blues, most popular genres worth studying they talk about form and structure.  It's just that techno has never been broken down like this.  

Again, copying is sitting down and trying to learn how someone does their sound. And you see tutorials like this all day.  They are "neat" but they don't teach you essential skills.  You're not copying another producer's sound - you're copying their arrangement or structure - not the lyrics, not the melodies, or chords.  Also not sampling them and plagiarizing. 

Because you can free yourself from all the stuff that doesn't work, and takes too much time and money to learn.

Maybe you're overwhelmed because you have all the tools, but you want to put this together in a sensible way. 

If it's OK with you I have something that will help you do just that.

Members Only access to 20 videos, templates, that break the complex world of production down to 4 simple parts. 

You’ve already seen that’s this works for not just me but also others

This is for beginners or anyone who wants to put music out they can believe in.  Getting signed by a label, or support from bigger artists may happen later, but for right now it's all about making music you feel proud of.  So if you've been fumbling to put it all together this course will help!

Maybe you're thinking you can't get started because...

You don't have the funds (This is very affordable)

You've tried other courses (Many are "good" but fall short of giving students the complete picture)

Why isn't it free? (Everyone charges for their premium material and if you're cobbling together your own curriculum from YouTube you're getting an incomplete picture. Traditional music lessons, boxing, martial arts, fitness all costs money and all tend to get results.  I've never heard of someone becoming great from just "free lessons" they are OK to a point.)

Plus these templates

In addition to high quality videos you can stream on any device you get templates.  These are full tracks = real working tracks that have been played in clubs and gotten support from bigger producers.

Most templates are generic, and here today gone tomorrow.  Because they are made by "sound designers" copying what's popular.  "Sound Designers" typically never release their own dance music or DJ mixes. 

You Get "The Pulse" one of my original tracks. Downloaded by Sam Paganin. All done 100% in Ableton.  You can see how it was mixed-everything.

You'll also get "Waiting for You." I give all stems and ableton sessions so you can practice everything. Mixing, arranging, remxing.  In section 1 of the course you'll see how I put the beginning ideas together.  Then you'll see how I arranged it. And you have access to all the music. 

The "New York Muscle" sample pack.  Inspired from by vinyl collection and records bought from 2002-2004.  One of my favorite periods in music.  These samples are provided to help you get ideas going. 

Way less time trying to "figure" stuff out.  That's because I tell the whole story about producing a track. I don't hand out tid bits.  

You'll not only increase your output but also your quality. 

No longer will you be...

Feeling insecure about your arrangement or mix

Lusting over gear you can't afford (that also won't make a big difference in your music)

You won't have to pimp yourself out, take on big debt, beg, borrow, or steal.

If I wanted to keep making music because I was becoming more of an adult ;)

Wife, baby, job hunt, lifting weights so I don't become a total suburban Dad fat ass. 

And now I can still produce and make good music while being an "adult" and stuff.  (I know many of you are in the same boat or close behind)

Computers have democratized making music.  No longer do you have to shell out thousands of synths.  Back when I started computers weren't really powerful enough for VST synths. So you had to shell out big bucks for real gear. 

Also, the sounds you can get today with like $20-$50 on a bit of quality samples are far far superior to what I used to get.  I used to have to buy a $50 sample CD of which I'd only use a handful of sounds. 

And there was virtually no education.

I did take an 8 week course, it really was great for the time.  But when the 8 weeks were over all I had was the notes I took on paper.  Kinda hard to refer back. And it was group lessons, I had to travel to NYC for each class. 

​

Today it's way more approachable to learn to make music. Computers are very powerful, high quality sounds are a dime a dozen as is instruction.  The problem today is that there's too much!

​

And more producers are stuck as a result.

This situation is typical among different hobbies and interests.  Investing, fitness, health.  Take exercise, just like production there's all sorts of interesting stuff you could do.  It's all neat and cute and shit.  Like fitbits.  Sure it's interesting to track and talk about steps and what not. 

But you know who uses those things?  People on the hamster wheel. People who never really get strong and fit.  They talk a lot, they do a lot, but they are just doing the mainstream bullshit that doesn't really work.  Same for diet.  These people will load up on carbs for the main source of calories and that doesn't work.  

This is why serious people have abandoned all that noise and conventional wisdom and have taken up various high intensity training programs. Like crossfit...or just lifting a god damn barbell.  

Most producers do the equivalent of treadmill walks and stuffing their face with carbs.  Carbs are generally low cost easy to get calories.  Producers load up on low cost easy to get samples and tutorials.  The result is a whole lot of nothing. 

Anyhow (end rant)

At nearly $1,100 if all this course did was help you:

• Get 3-6 tracks done in the next 3 months in your limited free time with the gear and software you have right now
• Finally have the mixing and mastering sorted out so you no longer feel “inferior” and totally perplexed by how your favorite producers sound so good
• Make better music in 50% less time - meaning it will no longer take you about an entire work week to make a track 

Would it be worth $1,091?

I'd say yes because..

• Think about the tuition I paid. $1,000 - no samples, no templates no nothing, no recorded videos to reference.
• Schools like Berklee, PointBlank, Sub Bass, will charge you a small fortune teaching you material that’s OVERKILL for underground producers - plus you’ll be learning and futzing off in classes for a good 6 months
• You can try cobbling together your own solution from YouTube for free or you can buy other people’s stuff but remember that very few of those instructors make credible techno/underground music..and while you’re watching their “basic” techno stuff they are on to the next “hot sound” - Future bass, Tropical House - Why learn from “sound designers” who aren’t part of the scene?
• You can pay a mentor - but that will cost far more. They might be good at producing but not so good at teaching. Plus you’ll be working on their gear in their studio which will just be big distraction.

Think about it…If you WERE ABLE to GET YOUR BEST MUSIC FINISHED IN 50% LESS TIME - would that be worth it?

Now you can see why people have paid what they did.  And you already heard the wicked music they're making.  Don't think about this as a cost or an expense, think of it as an investment.  

Because that's what it is.  And when you do the work, you can become a black belt level producer fast. 

Yep a buck forty nine.  Far less than what I paid over the years. 

There's 2 things you can do.

Nothing, which is basically doing what you've been doing

Or you can take a little risk and sign up.  Be a “Rebel Producer” and forget about the clutter and distractions and join “Underground Elite™”  a Brand New Way of Making Music  - and most importantly finishing music!

Sign Up & Get a Free Custom track review ($30 Value)

Send me a link to your latest track and I’ll send you a detailed video review. Pin pointing strengths, weaknesses, and mapping out clear next steps.

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