Drumcode's Producer Playbook Part 4: A.D.H.S., Gonzalo F, Sam WOLFE, PETER PAHN & Kos:mo share hard-earned studio wisdom

The best producers rarely stop learning. As Drumcode's Producer Playbook returns for a fourth edition, five artists from the label's latest DC4 Vol. 6 compilation —A.D.H.S., Gonzalo F, Sam WOLFE, PETER PAHN and Kos:mo — reflect on the beliefs they've left behind, what makes a track truly memorable, and where they'd spend the first hour helping an aspiring producer improve.

Whether it's stripping a track back, trusting your instincts or protecting the spark of a great idea, the recurring theme is clear: great music comes from clarity, not complexity.

Q: What's one belief or habit you've completely changed your mind about as a producer?

A.D.H.S: The importance of plugin XY, or rather the quality boost I thought I could only reach with it. I really believed that with this fancy plugin I'd make better tracks. The more I progress in production, the fewer plugins I need and use.

Gonzalo F: I think two things that have really changed the way I produce are rest and how long I think a track should take to finish. When I started, I thought I had to spend many hours in the studio and that a good track should come together quickly. Over time, I realized that rest is also part of the process, and that some tracks simply need more time than others. The important thing is to stay consistent, but also know when to stop and when to come back.

Sam WOLFE: I used to think my music had to fit inside an arbitrary box. I realised my most popular tracks so far came when I removed those boundaries, and just made what I wanted to make, not what I thought people wanted me to make. That change almost always works.

PETER PAHN: I used to think that the longer I worked on a track, the better it would become. Over the years I've learned that you can easily produce the life out of a good idea. If something gives me that feeling early on now, I try to protect it instead of constantly adding more layers or changing things just because I can. Sometimes an idea you build in a few hours has an energy and spontaneity that you can never recreate after weeks of polishing.

Kos:mo: The fact that less is more. I know it hurts sometimes, but letting go of certain sounds in my projects that are just „too much“ is the best feeling ever. I think the best music in this world is simple and minimalistic and when I got to understand that my whole view on music production changed.

Q: What separates a technically good track from one people remember?

A.D.H.S.: A musical hook, a theme or a strong emotional core. The best technical track in the world can be the most boring thing you'll ever hear.

Gonzalo F: I think technique is very important, because for a track to be memorable, it also needs to sound good. But I think the difference is mainly in the musicality and the emotion behind it. An atmosphere, a vocal, a melody, or an element with a lot of personality can make a track memorable. And of course, having something catchy, something that stays in your head, is really important too.

Sam WOLFE: No one other than maybe producers wake up in the morning after the night before, talking about how clean your mixdown is on Spotify, but the simplest eight bar loop melody might burrow itself into your brain for the whole next week. So, to me, they are one in the same, a technically good track, is, a memorable track, because to technically make something well, you have to make it timeless, they are one in the same, even if a song has the best mix master ever or was made on the craziest analogue gear, if it wasn't memorable, then it technically is not good for me.

PETER PAHN: For me, it's identity and emotion. There are so many technically perfect records out there, but perfection alone doesn't make a track memorable. It needs that one element – a vocal, melody, sound or moment – that immediately belongs to that record. I'm always looking for that moment in my own productions. The best tracks are the ones you recognise within seconds and that make you feel something before you even start thinking about how they were produced.

Kos:mo: Basically the ability to extend one catchy and memorable thing into a full track, without adding things that distract from this ‘main character’. Nobody will ever forget the melody of Sam Paganinis ‘Rave’ for example, because the track continuously repeats it for you but in an exciting way. Along with that, I think it’s super important to make music from emotions. The more emotions I put into a track, the more I think people can feel it in the end. Not necessarily the same emotion that I felt, but I believe it sparks something.

Q: Imagine an aspiring producer spends one hour in the studio with you. What's the first thing you'd help them improve?

A.D.H.S.: To carve out the vision / true identity of the track. What is the main character, and what distracts from it?

Gonzalo F: First, I would listen to what they’ve been working on and try to identify their main weaknesses. But generally, one of the first things I would focus on is the low end. I’m a big believer that if the low end is right, everything else starts to sound better. For me, having a solid foundation in the low frequencies is essential for giving a track power and clarity.

Sam WOLFE: Finding their identity. I’ve done many production lessons, both learning from people like UMEK and teaching others, and the thing that's most important is you have to sound like yourself – you need a unique vibe unlike anyone else. All the best artists have a distinct identity to their production, it’s like DNA, and once you find yours – that’s how you stand out. So, I would help them stand out, (and make sure they are using a clipper to help max headroom inside the mix)

PETER PAHN: I'd focus on the core idea of the track before touching the mix. What's the one thing people are supposed to remember when the track is over? Once we've found that, I'd look at everything around it and ask whether it actually supports that idea. Especially when you're starting out, it's easy to think that adding more will make a track better. Quite often it's the opposite – removing the things that get in the way of the main idea can make a track much stronger.

Kos:mo: I’m a very technical guy, spending lots of time on kick and bass, making everything sound powerful and so on … But honestly, the most valuable thing you can teach someone in my opinion is having fun. So what I would do is: Put up a drum machine and a few synths and just roll with it. Have fun, record everything, do “stupid” things as much as you can - you will strike gold for sure. And it’ll never get boring if you have fun with it! :)

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