Producer Spotlight: Jaytech, Part 1

Producer Spotlight: Jaytech, Part 1

2 July, 2008 | 12.00PM

• Section: Music News Topics: DJ Gossip, Technology
• Written by: francispreve

James Cayzer aka Jaytech is one of the hottest producers in the current progressive scene.

In the past year, his tracks have become a staple on the Beatport charts, thanks to his unique approach to melding prog and trance, with touches of electro and tech thrown in for good measure.

In the past week, he’s had thirteen tracks in the Beatport Progressive Top 100.

It’s no wonder he’s a favorite of the Anjunabeats family.

With his new album, ‘Everything Is OK’ blowing up the Beatport servers, we figured now would be a good time to hit him up for his production secrets.

Prepare to be amazed by his studio rig, it’s not what you’re expecting. 

Before we delve into your production secrets, tell us a little bit about how you got started as a producer.

I had been listening to trance music since I was about 10 years old, and when I was 14 (in 1999) I went to an all ages rave in my hometown. 

I was blown away by the music I heard that night, and started writing tunes on my computer the following Monday.

So, who are your influences, past and present?

Past influences are people like Paul van Dyk, who started bringing this sort of stuff to the masses before anyone knew what it even was. 

For this question I will always cite Melbourne’s Andy Page as an influence as he really thinks outside the square – a thoroughly understated producer. 

A big influence for me at the moment is Canadian Paul Keeley. 

He’s on a similar path to me but so different at the same time, and some of the tracks he’s put out lately are top notch.

Your productions are so punchy, yet spacious. A tough trick to pull off… What’s your studio rig?

I have a relatively simple setup really - a MacBook and my Sennheiser headphones. 

I have two MIDI controllers, an Akai MPD and an Edirol keyboard, which I use for live stuff and the occasional mix. 

I have a pair of studio monitors which I occasionally use for reference, but basically I try to keep my setup portable so I can continue to write music while I travel. 

Once I’m more settled in the UK I intend to get a more established studio space up and running, though! 

I have a large library of all sorts of WAV samples—as far as synths go, my music is primarily done with Native Instruments plug-ins as they’re stable and are very useful for creating a variety of great sounds.

And your sequencer/DAW of choice?

I’ve been using Ableton Live for a number of years now. 

Before that I was a Logic guy, and I still have a lot of respect for the Logic working environment, especially with the new improvements version 8 has brought. 

At the end of the day though, I feel I can achieve results quicker and more efficiently in Ableton as the interface is better suited to working on a laptop, and you can edit and manipulate sound incredibly quickly as well.

How do you approach a new track? Where do you start? How does it progress?

The process changes every time really.

I have lots of little ideas for melodies or chord progressions in my head that get used in tracks eventually. 

A track I finish this week might be the end result of a riff I’ve been playing over and over in my head for months. 

Ultimately though, most of the important sounds come from screwing around with synths and sounds in one’s sequencer program until it starts sounding cool.

Are there any particular Native Instruments you turn to for specific sounds? Do you have a preferred bass synth? Pads? Percussive parts?

Definitely – each synth is strong in certain areas and weak in others. 

For pads, strings and melodic elements I use Native Instruments FM8 for nearly everything.  It’s versatile, easily tweakable and doesn’t use too much processor.

For grittier sounds and some seriously cool basses, Native Instruments Massive usually does the trick.

And what are you using for drums?

As far as percussion goes I do pretty much all of it from WAV samples in my sequencer. 

Ableton is great for laying out a few one-shot samples on a grid and instantly turning them into a drum loop.

Once you’ve got that loop you can chop it up again and tweak it, reverse it, do whatever you want – it’s very nifty like that, and doing it this way means I rarely find a use for using a sampler of any kind. 

You can source good drum samples from all over the place, usually music production magazines have a whole heap of them on their cover CDs each month, and online sample vendors like Zenhiser are becoming more popular nowadays as well.

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Tomorrow, James reveals his secrets for getting those tight and funky grooves – as well as a closer look into how he mixes his tracks.

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• Check out Jaytech on Beatport