Drumcode's Producer Playbook Part 3: Charles D, Rafael Cerato, 19:26 and Bittermind share hard-earned studio wisdom

There’s no single formula for becoming a better producer, but there are habits, instincts and hard-earned lessons that keep surfacing. For the third edition of Drumcode’s Producer Playbook, Charles D, Rafael Cerato, 19:26 and Bittermind – all featured on the newly released DC4 Vol. 5 – share their thoughts on knowing when a track is finished, developing a recognisable sound and avoiding the mistakes that can derail progress. As Charles D puts it, finding your sound can be a lot like refining a recipe: work out what works, repeat it, then gradually introduce new ingredients.

Q: Producers often say a track is never finished. What tells you it’s finally ready to release?

Charles D: I don’t think a track is ever truly finished. There’s almost always something you could add, remove, or tweak. For me, if I have the opportunity, testing a record on the dance floor is one of the best ways to close that loop. Sometimes you play something out and it just works. Even though you know you could go back into the studio and change another ten things, seeing that reaction can tell you that the record is already doing what it’s supposed to do.

I also think every record needs something different from you. Sometimes there’s a certain magic around an idea and you need to finish it quickly while you’re still connected to that feeling. Other times, stepping away and working on something else is exactly what it needs. You might come back a month later and immediately hear one or two things that weren’t obvious before.

The important thing is not staying with a record so long that you start changing things simply because you can. At some point, you have to recognize when the track is communicating the idea you originally felt and allow it to exist.

Rafael Cerato: It’s true, it’s not easy to agree with the fact that a track is fully ready, but that’s why sometimes it’s great to make collaborations with different artists. This time, Charles and I, we both agreed that our track ‘Right Now’ was ready after a long road-testing session. Crowd reaction was insane, the mix sounded powerful and the build-up was on point, at least, for us! Haha

19:26: I don’t think a track ever becomes objectively finished. It simply reaches a point where changing it would no longer make it better, only different. I live with my music for months. I listen to it thousands of times, play it in different rooms and on different systems, and observe what happens when other DJs play it.

I usually keep refining a track until only a few days before release. So, to me, the release date is not proof that the music is complete. It is simply the line you draw to end the conception phase and allow the track to begin a life outside of you.

Bittermind: When tweaking small details no longer improves the energy or emotional impact of the track, I feel like it’s finally ready to be released.

Q: What is the best advice you can give producers trying to develop a recognisable sound without simply copying the artists they admire?

Charles D: For me, the goal has always been familiar but different. You want your music to feel familiar enough that it belongs within the world you’re making it for, but different enough that there’s something fresh about it and, eventually, something that feels like you.

I think that comes through experimentation, but more importantly, repetition. The more music you make, the more you naturally develop your own patterns – the way you mix, arrange, write, automate, or create tension. Maybe 20 or 30 percent of each record is experimenting with something new, but the rest is often built around techniques you already know work for you.

I’m actually a strong believer in trying to make the same record over and over again – not literally, but in the sense of developing your own recipe. If you finally find a recipe that works, why would you immediately abandon it? Repeat it. Get better at it. Understand why it works. Then slowly introduce new ingredients as you go. Over time, those repeated decisions become your foundation and eventually your sound. You’re not forcing yourself to be different just for the sake of being different. You’re building something recognizable while still leaving enough room to evolve.

Rafael Cerato: It’s a good question because I think its human and natural to be influenced by artists and the music that we like. When a very unique strong track is out, we are like ‘fuck I would have loved to produce it!’ and unconsciously our brain is already influenced. But when we are back in the studio with our identity, we have to focus on it, and automatically our own touch is coming back. I remember a friend of mine and super talented artist Amine Edge told me 15 years ago: “Your own tracks have to be better than your favourite track from your favourite artist, it has to give you the same feeling when you listen it”. And these words are still following me everywhere.

19:26: At the beginning, imitation is not a failure. Trying to recreate the music you admire is one of the fastest ways to train your ears, understand production and develop technical ability.

But only taste can give you an identity. Once you have the tools, your sound begins to emerge through the choices you make. It comes from having the courage to remain faithful to your own taste: your background, your instincts, your obsessions and even your imperfections. A recognizable sound is rarely about inventing something that has never existed before. It is about making a combination of decisions that nobody else would make in exactly the same way.

Bittermind: Constantly experiment, listen to as many different genres as possible and take inspiration from them to apply to your own sound.

Q: If you could stop every new producer from making one common mistake, what would it be?

Charles D: I would say not trusting your gut enough. Especially when you’re starting out, it’s very easy to become obsessed with technique, trends and feedback. I definitely went through that. You learn how to make the big stab, the huge build, the drop that hits, and all of those things are important. But eventually I started asking myself a different question: what is this record actually about?

For me, production techniques are almost like exclamation marks. They can emphasize something, but there needs to be something worth emphasizing in the first place. Otherwise, it can become like an action movie with no plot. Everything is big and impressive, but there’s nothing underneath it that makes you care.

The same goes for feedback. I think feedback is incredibly valuable, especially technically, but when it comes to the feeling, writing and identity of a record, you have to trust yourself. You never know what headspace someone else is in when they hear your music. If you’re DJing, listening to music, going out and you know the feeling you want that record to create, protect that instinct.

A record doesn’t always need to be complicated or ground-breaking, but I think it should have a reason to exist beyond simply sounding big.

Rafael Cerato: I think I would suggest to have a more long-term vision and not be producing the trend constantly. I know that it’s not easy and I am doing it sometimes but we have to keep this in mind, when a trend is coming there is always the #1 top artist of this vibe, and there is only #1. You don’t have to copy this guy because they are already taking the space and they have created something unique and personal. So you have to create your own vibe, your own world.

19:26: I would stop them from abandoning their own artistic research every time the market changes direction. Trends can be useful, but dangerous at the same time. If you rebuild your sound around every new wave, by the time the music is released, the wave may already have moved on and you are left with neither relevance nor identity.

This does not mean that an artist should stop evolving. But evolution should come from your own process, from showing up in the studio every day, following your ideas and trusting your taste, even when it does not match what is happening around you. You have to believe more in what feels right to you. If you work hard enough on an idea and the result makes you feel genuinely excited and proud, there is a good chance that other people will feel something too. First a few, then more, then more. And at some point, instead of following the trend, you may become the one creating it.

Bittermind: Overcrowding the track with too many elements and making it unnecessarily complex.

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