We're Blu Mar Ten, Drum & Bass / Electronic producers and record label. Ask us anything.

Firstly congrats on yet another superb new album. Who in the band has the biggest wanger?

thanks tom. that would be me.

Hi guys. I've noticed a bit of complaining/moaning lately by deeper d&b artists (Doc Scott and Fanu) online about their position in the whole industry. They get less gigs, they are not high profile like the acts on Ram and Hospital. Have you ever felt any pressure to write more commercial sounding d&b to try and get booked for bigger gigs? Or Make some banger tune / remix to try and get on an Andy C compilation or some shit / A spot at a Hospitality night? Or are you content with being in the more left-field side of things with d&b?. Even if that means playing to audiences of 200 people rather than 2000?

good question. i think the thing is you need to be realistic about your sound. Music like ours generally isn't suitable for 10,000 people off their nuts at a festival. And we're ok with that. If trying to be Andy C is your aim there's no point writing esoteric music, you need to go all out. But no, we have no interest in that. The sort of music they play in gyms isn't the sort of music that speaks to us. As Morrisey once sang, "the music that they constantly play, it says nothing to me about my life".

But Andy C doesn't even write his tunes?

haha, i was literally just reading that article and associated reddit thread: http://www.brobible.com/music/article/personal-secrets-worlds-top-djs

Hello mate

oh look, it's mate

Good to see you on here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FonGAaLt3Yo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nlzwDfxVSg

lol

Wait, you mean all those DnB/autonomic artists I listen to use reddit just like regular folk? MIND = BLOWN.

I was also a bit pleasantly ever-so-slightly surprised to see ASC comment in here

he stalks me everywhere and emails me photos of his nob. it's a bloody nightmare.

hello mate. what is your opinion on vg roots?

i want to believe

I quite enjoyed that quick pads video tutorial you posted a while back. Any chance of you doing more of those?

yeah we've been meaning to do more of those for ages, we've just so busy it's hard to fit them in. but i promise we'll try and do more soon. Anything in particular you'd like to see covered?

I'd just like to see an overall walkthrough of a particular song.. Kinda like Audio did for Headroom, or Camo & Krooked did for In the Future. Any production tips regarding where you let certain instruments sit in the mix would be cool.

we did a walkthrough many years ago with a track in reason. Might be interesting? We should do another one soon, you're right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCyj-Gf8mPA

As with anything in life, there's more than one way to do things. Some times you want the sounds louder, sometimes quieter etc. With almost all our sounds, they go into a group channel, with an eq knocking out anything below 200 - 300hz (or 400, etc!), then a light compressor, and a limiter. Play the track in the loudest part and compress so there's a light compression (slow attack), then push the limiter a little so the sound is pushed a little at the loudest parts of the track.

Then you can change the level of everything as you like.

For some sounds, that you really want to poke out of the mix, you can route them straight to the master output, probably after eqing and compressing/ limiting them by themselves.

Thanks man

Just about anything, really, but in particular: bass (especially getting those warm, full bass sounds without eating up the entire mix), drums (your snares sound so good!), and anything to do with using vocals. Thanks!

Hey there!

I mentioned to someone else about bass below, but to go over it; for a strong warm full sound you need good strong subs (those notes that rattle the windows) and then a bunch of other sound on top which is also relatively full, and strong. Finding the balance in the mix is the key, and it's something which is difficult to do, one thing i find helps is to get the drumsounds pounding away nice and loud and then drop the bass in so that it's not overpowering the mix (I watch the level meters an awful lot) and then try to fiddle with it. A great tip is to add a clean sine wave underneath. Drives me crazy but it sounds amazing everytime, and makes you think 'damn i'm glad we did that!'

Drums you just need to practice really, learning about what sounds like what in terms of the punch and thwack and some kind of 'fullness' or energy. Layering stuff helps, as does envelope shaping on kicks and snares (so only a tiny bit of the sound plays, giving you nice sharp attacks, which you can then add more sound to). Play with natural and synthetic drum sounds and distortion for D&B, and compression limiting, grouping etc. Also it helps to 'a/b' your track with other tracks to see if overall things are sounding ok or too dull or too muddy or whatever.

Vocals it's tough, again you have to spend a lot of time just listening and seeing what sounds right and what needs to be better; I find I use an absolute ton of compression (for D&B) - really flatten the vocal out using a real quick attack). Then i add more compression (slow attack) to bring up the average level. We have a nice waves de-esser sometimes to get rid of the sssss-sibilance. Then send the signal from a vocal group with some eq for brightness, then send that to a reverb unit so that you keep the presence of the vocal, then duplicate the vocal again maybe add some delays here and there (cut the vocal up a bit). Key is the recording as far as I can tell. Real difficult to make something not so great sound great. Auto tune/ Melodyne is cheeky I suppose (get the singer to sing in tune!) but is massively effective and generates nice unnatural effects.

Hope some of that helped!

ok, duly noted and we'll try and come up with some stuff when we get time.

This was my second question, hope they answer!

see above!!

how are your music/tasks/ideas split between 3 people? what's your workflow like?

also thanks for finding delpurr and eraser. they are awesome. any future collaborations maybe?

yeah they are good aren't they? hopefully they'll come up with something great again soon. in terms of workflow, there's actually only 2 of us working on the project now, and we almost always work together in our studio. I (chris) tend to deal more with melodic and musical stuff whereas michael is more focused on percussion and bass along with engineering stuff. It's easy really. We're very old friends and never argue about anything.

nice! in terms of working with other people, i can relate to michael. thanks for answering!

cheers!

Bit of a personal one here, but you said ask anything! Do you guys have jobs on the side?

Is the label/gigs enough for you to get by on?

Please ignore if you don't want to answer.

That's ok! Yes we all have day jobs as well so the music and label work gets done at night and the gigs at weekends (obviously). Not so much time to sleep, that's for sure. We possibly could survive from music if we really wanted to, but that's not an avenue any of us really want to go down. It's a path that's littered with compromise and shit synthesizer riffs.

That's sad to hear. You've really stepped up your game, and are releasing some really quality music. As someone who stepped away from dnb in order to work in game audio( its cool, I'm back), I was hoping that people like you, as artists/djs/and label owners, could make enough to be able to focus exclusively on DNB, without having to resort to cheese pop dnb.

Is it disheartening to know that you have made it in the dnb world, yet still need a dayjob. How long do you think you can continue to work a dayjob and keep up with production, gigs, label matters , and little sleep.

I don't know. I think that's the question almost everyone in music is asking themselves right now. Times are tough and they're going to get tougher. Expect to see a lot of people just give up over the next couple of years.

Are they music/production related? Or is that a dream too far...?

hah no, not music related, thank god.

Best moments in your music careers and the lowest points?

What would you say you have sacrificed to follow your dreams?

Also, I see Blu Mar Ten is the height of professionalism as both an act and a label. This, in my eyes, differentiaites you from 99 percent of other drum and bass labels. What has your experience been of labels being run properly throughtout your career?

Thanks for the great music.

thanks, that's nice to hear. The best moments are when you strike a chord with people. When someone contacts you and says they're using your music at their wedding or at the funeral of a loved one. This is incredible. Also I'd say that doing an activity that allows you to meet people and make friends in countries all over the world is about the best thing you can do. We have many people who we originally met as promoters or listeners and they've become great friends over the years. The lowest points are probably when you get dicked around by record labels. We've sacrificed many things to make music happen but that's what you have to do if you want to really push it. You can't turn up 6 hours a week and expect anything to come out of it. You have to let it engulf you until it sits inside you staring out of your eyes.

In terms of other labels I'd have to say Hospital is the best run label of those we have dealt with. They're professional and above board 100%. They're a good model to follow.

Hi guys,

I start with the loathed production talk :P

• Favourite Mix compressor? favourite attack and gain reduction for drumheavy mixes?

• Favourite Break to process/use?

• Favourite software limiter for mastering?

• What do you guys thing about the excessive mastering compression/limiting in electronic music these days?

• How do you prevent ear fatigue? What db do you generally work at/mix at?

thanks!

Lol someone had to I suppose!

1. Izotope Alloy and Izotope Ozone currently sit round the mix buss; also Waves Ren Comp (because I know it inside out-ish), but these days we're mixing without a mix compressor, and relying on mastering to just pump it up like a bike tyre haha.

2. Come on, there's so many breaks! And often, like many things when making music, you put another break alongside it or on it and you're like oh that's cool! Processing: split out kicks and snares on separate channels, add synthetic kicks and snares, fiddle with envelopes, add some more breaks, then some subtle sounds... etc etc. Group kicks and snares, then group all drums... also keep one kick and snare just going straight to the master out

3. We had a love affair for years with the Voxengo Elephant but some reason we recently started using Oztope's own limiters. Goddam the eq is so sweet on that vst!

4. As long as it's overall a good sounding track then i'm ok with it; it's a real part of making music these days. I guess there's something to be said for the 'smacking you in your face' sound, and it's really modern. I think it helps if it's electronic music, makes it more palletable. With dubstep and those massive synthy house tracks, it seems to suit it. What i find interesting is the way that so many pop mixes come out just great, the engineers push the sound but steer clear of noticeable distortion. But overall, I liked it when it wasn't a massive part of modern music.

5. I use earplugs in nightclubs, and monitor really quite quietly except when working on drums (generally 'finishing them off') and bass (you can't hear it properly when it's quiet), and then the final mix gets a loud blast too.

http://i.minus.com/iluyn2FYVZPTF.png Why'd you get rid of the hair Chris? :D

From the "Hey Good Looking" documentary, 97 or 98 I believe.

lolol. good times

I know that you guys listen to a lot of different stuff, but what's some dnb artists known and lesser known you're digging at the moment? (Beside Stray, Frederic Robinson and other stuff from your own label)

Big up on the new album by the way, it sounds neat!

glad you like the album, andy. thanks. there's a couple of young guys i've got on the boil at the moment who i think are going to be excellent. i'll reveal some names pretty soon when we sign some material. in terms of other producers. I really like dub phizix, clarity..um.. my mind's gone blank. Suggest me some.

Sounds sweet, can't wait :)

Assuming you are pretty well into recent dnb I'm gonna name some smaller names I've been digging, that you might not have heard of:

Deep n sub: Bredren love these guys and their half-time stuff

Liquid: Malaky and Pennygiles

shameless self-promo: Mindloader - a new day

Thanks for doing the AMA, keep it up:)

nice one. yeah i know pennygiles & malaky. I'll check out the others for sure. Always in the market for new talent.

Hello mates! First post on the mighty Reddit. Hope your well!

I think I asked this question a couple of years ago but never got an answer (strange as the flowchart did not apply there)

You obviously enjoy writing the more experimental stuff, both within D&B and at different tempos but why do you stick to the standard structure of intros, drop, slow down, second drop that most electronic tunes stick to? I guess this also applies to track length as well. Do you ever find yourself writing abnormally long songs that you then trim back for commercial release?

HI PHILIP
that's a fair question. I suppose the reason is that we like the limitations of convention because it gives you something to build on. We find it stimulates ideas rather than suppresses them.

hello mates

yes hello this is mates

u wot meights

m7s

Hi guys! I want to ask about 'Love Is The Devil' the track, it's got to be the best track for 'getting lost in', genuinely fantastic mood. How did it come about?

who knows. that was so long ago. we just threw ideas around and somehow it appeared!

that's outrageous, it's the best

lol

Great to see you guys doing this! I'm a big fan of yours. Is there any story or meaning behind the name Blu Mar Ten?

hello, nice to be here. the name just appeared one day and stuck. None of us are quite sure where it came from, but once it turned up it just stuck around. Like a stray cat.

How much of your music is sample based?

less and less as time goes on. when we use samples we usually replay them and replace them

Hello mate, the BMTM Music podcast has been one of the standout projects for me in the last 12 months or so largely due to the diverse and eclectic selection that it constantly delivers. I have learnt so much about music throughout the series so far and can't wait for the next instalment! My question to you is how do you decide what to include on the podcast and secondly, why no voice over anymore? I used to enjoy the introduction/anecdote surrounding the track and I think the podcast loses something as a result of the commentary no longer being included!

hello mate, glad you like them, thanks. I usually start with a track and let the podcast build itself. There are 3 elements to consider when going from one track to the next - tempo, harmonics & texture. If you can get two of those 3 elements to translate between two tracks then it's a winner, and you keep doing that for an hour. The lack of talking is entirely my fault and down to a lack of time. Sorry, i'll try and pick that up again.

Any thoughts on the demise of DOA?

Bit of a shame, but in many ways those sorts of forums have had their day what with facebook / twitter etc...

yeah it was my "front page of the internet" for ages then Digg/Reddit took that roll. move with the times but it was definitely a shame all that content was unceremoniously flushed

yeah i agree. but maybe a fresh start is a good thing. It might shake some people up a bit.

It has ruined my fucking life mate.

no forum for dj mix

i know your label for supporting unknown artists - how do they reach you? via demos or other channels? also, what criteria must be fullfilled by a demo to be considered by you? (especially in terms of engineering skills)

btw, i think it's a very nice move doing a reddit AMA ;)

hello! I'm glad someone asked that. The best thing to do is to email us links to PRIVATE soundcloud tracks. There are more tips here: http://www.blumartenmusic.com/contact - We're looking for things that don't really sound too much like other things, or if they do then they'd better be much better than the thing they're trying to sound like. I'd definitely say that if someone sends us tracks and they're already plastered all over the internet and had loads of listens etc then we'd just ignore it. We're more interested in things that haven't had exposure than things that have. Also, "this track was shared with you and 39,4576 other people". Don't be that guy.

How do you feel about the metalheadz crew? Also favorite song by you is Future Proof! Big Up

yeah always loved the metalheadz project right from the start. An impeccable back catalogue. 10/10.

Hey, I was actually curious as to what got you guys into the world of drum and bass. What really drew you in? Also what tunes were and still are the ones that just really punch you right in the "feels"?

well, we're quite old so d&b didn't exist back then, in any form. To cut a long story short, our musical journey up to what you're referring to went like this:
82-86: Electro & Hip Hop
87 - 88: 'New Wave' & house
88 - 89: House & Acid
90 - 92: hardcore / rave
93 - 95: jungle / d&b (same thing by a different name)
95 - 2013: more or less where we are now

More or less I was looking for some of the tunes that you guys just fell in love with at first listening. The ones that always take you back.

wow, so many. Here's a few:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGqiBFqWCTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tsfJn8YdwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j61qFnjKfd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2OWcaVJ3Bs

Other than Renoise and Ableton, what would you say are the best music softwares/hardwares for producing IDM/ Drum and Bass music? Thanks a lot

we use cubase, but it's utterly irrelevant what you use. there is no 'best', there is only how imaginative you are.

Love you guys! Big fan.

1. What software do you guys use to produce and how would you suggest getting into it?

2. Do you have any tips for an aspiring DJ/Producer?

3. How did you get started in the EDM business?

4. All Over Again is one of my favorite songs of yours. Have you considered doing more House stuff like that? It reminds me a lot of Kaskade's older stuff.

Thanks! Keep up the good work

Thanks man!

1. I started on Reason and then moved onto Cubase and Nuendo, we tried Logic but it just didn't really work for us. All you can do is make music, as much as you can for as long as you can. Focus on it and don't forget to finish things but most of all just sit in the studio for hours and hours. I used to go to bed early on Friday nights so I could get in the studio for 9am on a Saturday and spend all day there before anyone else got in. If you mean, how do you start making music, that's a big question - you need to already know the kind of thing you want to make for a start, I guess!

2. As above, spend all your time making music, once they start sounding amazing (not just to you and your mum!) then start mailing them to people; don't annoy anyone, and try to make some connections, try to find people who like what you're doing. You can try putting on your own night, though you need to be able to lose money if you do that from the stories I hear with d&b! Djing seems to go hand in hand with producing these days, and i guess if you're 'just a dj' these days, you might need more than that to get bookings etc. Put yourself in a promoter's shoes: why would I book me? what would be in it for the promoter to book me? Again, if you really want it, the worst thing is, it can be done.

3. Chris and Leo began making music in '95 back in the old days when you sent out DATs to people or gave them one in a club by turning up to give them it! People seem shocked when they email out stuff and nothing comes back, but compare it to the old days when you had to go out, with a DAT and give it to a dj (probably one of your heroes) and then get nothing back! If you can get involved with one or two other people who want similar things, that seems to really help.

4. ah thanks man! We're so busy with d&b that we just don't get the time; but who knows maybe one day we'll go back to that kind of sound. We all like so much different music so that's why the catalogue is so varied.

Thanks again

Thanks for the advice! Just a quick follow up:

The original recording of Starting Over released on Hospital Records is another one of my favorites - what was the reason for putting the remixed version on Natural History? Those vocals give me chills every time, who was the vocalist?

cheers. we just thought the original was a bit weak and wanted to rework it. The singer is a girl called Kameel who also sang on several other of our tracks over the years.

I feel like I might already know the answer to this, but it's never been confirmed...

Was B.R.O really an acronym for Bukem Rip-Off? And if so, was it meant to be cheeky? Was LTJ in on the joke or was he clueless?

DnB has lost all its dolphins and whales and that's a shame.

yes that is a true story. it's partly called that because it had fragments of atlantis in it, and also that we always considered it a really unimaginative good looking-esque roller - a rip off of the bukem sound, as it were. Hence BRO.
We mourn the dolphins too.

everyone i knew had a copy of that EP and BRO was in steady rotation for years. despite its origins, it fit that era so perfectly that i imagine you moved quite a few units. well done.

it came out years after we wrote it. It was done in 97/98, something like that and didn't come out until 2001 or something, long after we'd left GLR

Are there any more 20C/21C Minimalists you admire/have discovered recently?

I found a bunch of unknown minimal pianists by searching on soundcloud last year. They're great. Try searching 'Steve Reich' on soundcloud, it turns up some great material.

Hey guys, really loving the new album, its insanely good! I have basically just discovered your sound, and I'd like to ask which of your songs, in your opinion, expresses what your music is about best? Any favourites? Stoked to see you @Vienna in January, it's gonna be sick!

thanks, and welcome aboard! A personal favourite is a track called 'Blush' from 1998: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA99ngPopws Come and say hello in vienna :D

In your humble opinion, besides yourselves... Who is the best producer in d&b history? Klute, Calibre, Seba, Konflict, Goldie, Bukem?

Also, I know you guys used to produce a lot of non d&b music and Natural History was the return to d&b. Do you think you would make an album of music of other styles/genres in the future? Or do you and Michael just enjoy d&b more?

You mean who's our favourite, or who is technically best? Probably pound for pound I'd go with seba for sheer number of tracks that i've enjoyed. There are loads of people who are technically better producers than him but their music does nothing at all for me. Yeah we're thinking of making some other stuff again and we have in fact been toying with some new non d&b material. It's just a matter of time unfortunately. It's in very short supply these days!

Hey guys. Are you planning to do some neurofunk related stuff in the near future?

Thanks for your music, you really are one of my favourite liquid artists!

we do occasionally wander in that direction. for example:
http://soundcloud.com/blumarten/holding-pattern
http://soundcloud.com/blumarten/problem-child-litd

I'm a huge neuro guy as well. Love Is The Devil is definitely in my top 10 D&B albums, and I usually listen to it all the way through, which isn't common for a lot of my albums. I really love your style, and I hope to hear a lot more from you. Keep up the good work!

thanks!

Hey guys, Where did you find Frederic Robinson? Also, any new stray on the way? Love your podcasts btw, please keep doing them xxx

thanks, will do.
It was actually Stray who brought Frederic to our attention a couple of years ago. He came to the studio with a bunch of tunes this kid had sent him and said "you have to hear this! it's some 19 year old german kid and he's great!".. and we started speaking to frederic and it grew from there.
I'm trying to persuade Stray to let me release two release nice tunes of his I've had for ages but he's moaning about it not being what he's into now etc etc so they'll probably never see the light of day. The bastard.

Nice to see this is still up!

I'll sneak another question in if I can.

How you do feel about people promoting stuff on YouTube? Like buying an artists song, then uploading it for promo purposes.

I feel like they have good intentions but probably are going about it the wrong way, is this a bit of a grey area? I know some artists are okay with it as long as there is info about them there, whereas others completely disagree with it because it is so easy to rip a song from YouTube.

I'm sure many people remember making there favourite cassette from ripping radio tunes

Edit: I meant ask one more thing...

I went to detonate indoor festival back in 2012, I drove quite far to get there and when I was there the majority of people I spoke to seemed horrified that I had come all that way just to listen to music, to them it was another night out. The comments on Facebook/YouTube all the next day were things like:

Wicked night! Shame I was pilled out my face, can't remember nothing!

I'm all for people having fun but how does that make you guys feel? Like when you play live shows knowing some people are there only for the atmosphere and other things

I'm fine with it, although it's slightly more complex than the uploaders think. If someone uploads something after it's released that's not too bad. If they upload it before release (for example a soundcloud rip or a clip from a radio show) that can be a problem because we might have made an exclusive arrangement with another channel or the release might have been cancelled or pushed back etc etc, but often uploaders can't seem to make the distinction between those scenarios.

Following on from that, when you need to get someone to take something down we always try and contact them directly first, but it's often very hard. Some people even have private messages turned off so you have no choice but to issue an official takedown notice. Sometimes people get all upset about this and get all "wtf man you could have contacted me, it would have taken 5 minutes!!!", and you really feel like saying "yeah and you could have contacted me in the first place and avoided all this".

I would say, if you're going to upload something include all the artists web & social urls and include buy links for the track. That way it's actually helpful rather than uploading a full quality tune with no info that viewers just rip and download.

PC or Console gaming?

we don't play any computer games at all.

How do you approach mixing someone else's track?

you mean remixing? we usually get given the component parts and then try and shift it into a different key from whatever it was originally written in. often we end up chucking out almost everything we've been given and replacing it all with own own material that conveys the spirit of the original, rather than the actuality.

Hello Chris & Michael.. Chris, it's Liam from Edmonton and I just wanted to commend you guys on the release of Frederic Robinson 's Mixed Signals....especially on vinyl. Just fantastic.. Hope you are well, and big ups for being interactive with your fans like this. Much appreciated. :-D

hey liam. good to hear from you! hope all is well :)

What are your classic tunes of choice when you want to turn up the heat during a DJ set? Do you draw for the older stuff or anything newer that you are feeling at the moment? Much love from Glasgow.

yeah we frequently play old stuff. we often dig out old metalheadz stuff which is always good for a party. Drumz 95 all the way, and some classic dillinja.

It's a real shame DOA is no longer up. The amount of questions BMT answered on the Grid (the production forum) over the years was ridiculous. And the Q&As were so valuable to me. If anyone knows if they've been rehosted somewhere, please do share with the rest of /r/dnb.

I think in a way it's quite good it's gone. The Grid was a real progenitor of the hand-holding culture that's plagued electronic music for some years.

Hi guys, I have untold respect for you and your music. The podcasts regularly go round my whole office – it’s amazing the positive reaction from people who would normally listen to a default radio station playing the latest pop cack. And the Apple Hotel mix is a particular fave – proved very useful in the aftermath of my recent baby!

I read below you both had day jobs - how do you juggle these with the music. Are they just a means of paying the bills so you can get on with the music without financial worry or are they ‘careers’ in their own right. And how do you find the time for wives/girlfriends/families and all the rest. Don’t go into detail, it’s just being in that situation/age I find windows of opportunity for music are very small, but not doing it at all is just not an option. Do you sleep?! Cheers, Ben

hi ben. Thanks very much for that. Much appreciated.
We work in the day and do music stuff at night and weekends, just like anyone else would have to. They are careers in their own right. It's not easy, but then if it was easy everyone would be doing it, right?

What is your favourite tune of yours? (besides Futureproof)

Probably 'Blush': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA99ngPopws

Okay last question I promise and thank you for answering all of my questions. you guys are massive. What are your thoughts on Bassline House and Speed Garage?

yeah we like garage. we actually had quite a big garage track out in the 90s under a different name (never to be revealed), but i can tell you it was the most money we ever made from music in the shortest time!

Hear of any new American dnb artists lately? We have a lack of that over here :/

no not really. there were a few popping up a few years back but they all seem to have given up. Can't say I blame them tbh. There hardly seems to be a d&b scene in the US anymore.

Thanks for putting your stuff on Spotify. Means I don't have to resort to less ethical means. Do you get much revenue from it? Is Thom Yorke full of shit, or does he have a point re. independent artists getting shafted by streaming?

we get next to nothing for it.
yeah the whole streaming thing is unsustainable for people like us. If everyone stops buying music and goes to streaming we're in a bad position.
But what can we do. It's THE FUTURE, right?

The Apple Hotel mix you did back in 2007 is still probably one of my favourite mixes of all time, just in the way it progresses and builds. Obviously you're currently doing the music podcasts (which are great), but have you given any thought to possibly revisiting something a similar series of mixes again?

Also, if you could recommend one artist or album to listen to that makes similar sound scapey ambient stuff to say, FSOL's lifeforms, who/what would it be?

there are a few other mixes like that that we did. Take a look over here: http://www.blumarten.com/mixes. The podcasts have sort of replaced that mix series now. They're very time consuming to make so an hour a month is about the limit now. One day I might get all the podcasts, remove the speaking and string them together into one long 20 hour mix.
There's no one quite as good as fsol, i think. If you want really good mixes you should take a listen to www.soundcloud.com/nayf - the Knight's End Road mix is amazing.

Do you guys still sit down and just listen to music for enjoyment?

oh yeah, all the time. We make a podcast out of it every month: www.blumarten.com/mixes

What for you guys is the starting point of a track? Do you hunt for a sample first? If you weren't using a sample, where would you start with a track and how would you build from it? (Eg. Riffs, pads, beats, bass etc.)

It's always different, some tracks start off a sample, which then usually gets replaced and removed, some tracks start off just drums, then chords on the top, some of them come from a set of chords or a pad or two. There's no one set way, and we're the kind of outfit that just makes a ton of really simple things (maybe just four or five key things; a chord or two, a pad, a chimy noise, a bassline) and a simple drum pattern, then from there we take the 'best' ones and work on them, maybe changing the drums, or sometimes someone might have drums from a different track that never went anywhere etc. The musical idea is what sells a track to us though, not a drum pattern or a riff on its own.

Short answer: start with drums or music, but music is easier

faggietfaces?

hello mate

Hi there. This is a production related question. I am pretty good at creating nice sounding basses, along the lines of fat angry evil sounding ones but one thing I would like advise on is making them sound really "Fat" like in some ram productions. I tried using stereo delay effects on the higher end of the sound and while it is stereo it sounds better however when summed to mono it adds a phased aspect to the sound that i do not like. Do you have advise on making the bass sound really wide and big while retaining its original characteristics when summed in mono?

Hey there; I'm not sure what you really mean! Fat bass is related to the lowness of the sound - the part of the sound that rumbles, and then the 'low mids'. One thing you can try is splitting things up - for example, copy the track, then distort it and then eq the bass out so you're just left with crunch, then you can compress that and lay it on top of the other fat sound, etc. The balance of the frequencies needs to be right to get a particular sound.

But don't underestimate the fact that the sounds you're talking about, the things you like about it are probably already in the sound, so it's not really processing which is achieving what you want, you need a great source sound to begin with. Try layering a couple synths and maybe pitch one up an octave, distort it, group them together, bounce some sound, or try sampling the synths and sticking it in kontakt and playing a bassline. Then add a clean sub under it like i mention elsewhere.

When you're talking about stereo to mono, you're right in that it will always change the power. Sometimes chorus might help and panning might help too but overall the 'width' of the sound is determined by keeping some of the stereo in the sound itself, from the synth or wherever.

As mentioned elsewhere, you just have to listen and practice and think a little bit and practice some more and some more and some more and some more

How active are you on the UK-wide scene? On a related note, have you heard of/spoken with Jawnae, who is based somewhere in Scotland?

Sorry, not quite clear on the question there. Can you clarify 'active'?

How did your first gigs come about? Had you released a lot of music by that point?

no not very much. we released our first record 8 months after our very first studio session and we deliberately didn't dj until we were in a position to do something good. About 18 months and about 3 releases later we played our first gig as Blu Mar Ten at Ministry of Sound.

Do you ever have a 'go to' brand when it comes to VST's or hardware?

no not at all; we use plenty of the usual suspects but nothing in particular. i think the important thing is what you do with what you have; buy stuff a bit at a time, figure things out, as opposed to gathering a nuclear arsenal of amazing plug ins and vsts and synths and outboard gear

The Space Between Us is one of the most brilliant mixes I have ever heard. Its been in my heavy rotation for years. More?

thank you very much. Yeah there are loads more mixes like that. Have you heard our monthly podcasts?
On soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/blumarten/sets/podcasts
or on itunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/blu-mar-ten-music-podcast/id556715872

Hey guys, huge fan. Someone linked me to "By the Time My Light Reaches You I'll Be Gone" and I've loved your music ever since.

Anything big coming up? Any collabs?

Also, Five Summers was killer and you guys should do more stuff like that haha

Edit: Also, as someone living in the US, I would definitely want to see you guys in the New York or Boston area!

lol thanks. yeah we just released a new album on monday: http://youtu.be/JZOggKjIQRg

it's got a collab with seba on there. And also one with robert manos.

Oh, awesome! Love Robert Manos too. Not sure how I missed your new album, I'll be buying that when I get home for sure

Also, a year or so ago, one of you sent me a friend request on last.fm, presumably because I was one of the top listeners for quite awhile. It seems like a small thing to do but you guys really do connect with your listeners way better than most anyone else. I never would've expected anything like that, so thanks haha

nice one! yeah that will have been me (chris). we like to get in touch with people who are listening a lot. It's not exactly a massive scene is it, and everyone's pretty close so it's good to get to know people.

yeah i sent you guys a mail about using music in student projects and got an answer in a blink! that is outstanding!

that brings me to a question myself. if someone have an (commercial) idea that includes your music (e.g. a documentary/film) are you open for such projects?

yes, always open to ideas. Hospital recs deal with our publishing so that would probably go through them, but we're always happy to hear ideas for sure

Huge fan of your body of work over the years and happy to catch the tweet about this live forum.

Question, thick, rich low-end always seems to be an issue with my production and becomes frustrating at times. Any tips for bassline/bass sound creation?

Bass is something i find difficult too; the thickness comes from having a round and full very 'bottom' (the sub, the notes that move the speaker cones), and then nice/ rich 'harmonics' on top, that are thick and consistent and maybe 'move' a little. We always layer a clean sub under everything we do (tend to use Kontakt for that) and we're always amazed how much bassier things suddenly sound; maybe route that straight to the master output also. Also try duplicating the bass, then distorting it and then eqing the distorted version. The distortion adds harmonics in addition to the harmonics in the sound itself.

and thanks for listening :)

Excellent! Thanks for the pro-tips - Respect!

thanks!

Would love to see you guys stateside soon! My question is, what artists inspire you? What do you listen to besides drum & bass?

we love a massive variety of music form across all countries and centuries. You can hear a lot of what we like in our monthly podcasts. there's hardly any d&b in them at all. it's mostly loves & influences:
soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/blumarten/sets/podcasts
or on itunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/blu-mar-ten-music-podcast/id556715872

Do you plan do any more of your epic mixes?

Face of the Earth is still one of my all time favourite collection of tracks

https://soundcloud.com/blumarten/blu-mar-ten-face-of-the-earth-mix

thank you very much. Yeah there are loads more mixes like that. Have you heard our monthly podcasts?
On soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/blumarten/sets/podcasts
or on itunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/blu-mar-ten-music-podcast/id556715872

What do you use for the instrumental part of your tracks? I like the soulful sound in most of your tracks.. Big up!

Any sound, from pretty much anywhere, as long as it sounds cool...

We use the sound of pianos, electric pianos, synth stabs and synth pads, vocals, any other instrument which sounds cool like xylophones or trumpets or saxophone or some strange synth sound (out of all of them, I only really hate the bagpipes and the harpsichord, but I'm digressing), and then we might chop them up, pitch them up or down, timestretch them, layer them, eq them, filter them reverse them, distort them, reverb them, delay them, phaser them, flange them. A lot of the time we like to make natural things sound unnatural, and unnatural sounds sound natural, or make things sound bigger or smaller or further away... then we arrange them so they sound like some kind of pattern forms and we add other smaller sounds to add more texture or layers, so you might have some things happening in the distance and some in the foreground, some might be 'direct' like a strong melody, and other sounds might be more wishy-washy and sort of drifty.

Thanks

How did you go about putting together the Apple Hotel, Face of the Earth etc mixes? Are they all queued in Ableton or some other software?

Did you use key matching software etc to help?

hi hughbert. no they were all matched by ear. there was no keymatching software around when we made those, they were just pasted together in waveleab.. no sequencing, just moving stuff around by hand. very basic approach. The new monthly podcasts are put together in cubase which is much easier.

They are favourite eclectic mixes, thanks very much.

thanks, glad you like them! There's more like that over here: www.blumarten.com/mixes

hi guys! i can't say enough how much i admire and am moved by your work. when you are in a creative slump or just don't feel like working, do you force yourself to go into the studio or wait until the feeling to create strikes you? what do you do to break out of dry-spells or low motivation? love, soulus (edmonton, canada)

hey miss! nice to see you here. always force it. the old saying that 'when inspiration comes it has to find you working' is very true. It's like any exercise, you have to do it every day to get strong, whether you feel like it or not. If you only went to the gym when you felt like it you'd pretty much never go, and you'd never get strong. Turning up every day is the key to making progress. Do something useful every single day.

Let me start by saying that one of my favorite songs of all time is your remix of Bop's "Nothing Makes Any Sense", my question then would be how do go into the studio ready to make music? Like what is your mental approach to producing a song, and how does that differ from doing a remix?

actually the process is almost identical. we take one core sound and build a track around it. In the case of that Bop remix we only used one tiny little blip from his original parts and everything else was ours. In terms of 'being ready' I think you just have to turn up every day and try and do something useful regardless of whether you're in the mood or not. Just keep turning up every day and eventually something will come out of it.

What kind of shoes do you wear?

shoes which are only a fraction as expensive as those we'd like to.

Is it any different mixing a set when going head-to-head with other DJ's like in the Mixmag DJ Battle vs Mutated Forms or is that generally just marketing hype?

http://soundcloud.com/mixmag-1/mixmag-dj-battle-blu-mar-ten

Loving the new album and thanks for producing quality podcasts!

thanks! i really like playing b2b with other people as it happens. It's usually chaotic but always good fun. We just did a b2b with BCee last week which was such a mess but great at the same time. The styles go all over the place and you;re always trying to throw the other person a curve ball or back them into a corner and that's the fun of it, to see if you have the skills to get out of the corner.

Hi guys! Couple of really random & pointless questions:

1. Best breakfast setup!?

2. If BMT had a slogan what would it be?

3. To what records you own are you most emotionally attached to?

Thanks for doing this AMA :)

1) coffee on the balcony with mrs mar ten
2) 'making good use of the things that we find'
3) the original streetsounds electro series

Firstly, I want to give a big thanks for all the awesome music you guys have made. There are so many areas of dnb and music that I love, yet I always find myself coming back to your work.

1. Favourite beverage? (Far out, what a cliche opening question…)

2. Favourite non-music pastime?

3. BMT’s sound has progressed and evolved over time, but it has always had a “BMT style” to it. Have you guys decidedly pushed for a particular sound and direction over the years, or has it always been something that you just arrive at?

4. How do you feel about modern music distribution, primarily in regards to streaming services? I bought Famous Last Words as soon as I was able, but prior to that transaction I heard it via Google Music All Access. Do you feel these streaming platforms are financially viable from an artist’s point of view? Does this in any way tie in to BMTM at all?

5. Is there anything that BMT does which you think might be useful to aspiring producers? Not necessarily technical, but more to do with ideas and non-DAW processes that are important to your music production. EG, “talk it through with someone”, “lock the door”, “get a good night sleep”, “let ideas go if they suck”, “beer/caffeine up for a production session”, “have a cat in the studio”, “listen to polar opposite genres”, etc.

Thanks for doing this AMA. Hope it’s as good for you as I’m sure it will be for us. :)

(Hope I'm not too late... Just realised I had my timezone shift all wrong!)

thanks, glad you;ve enjoyed it!

1) studio coffee, the best in the uk
2) reading
3) it's always something we just arrive at. It's just part of us. In the same way your arms and nose are part of you.
4) no i don't think those streaming platforms are viable. I think they're great for listeners but not good for artists. But regardless of my opinion they're the shape of the future in one form or another so we need to find ways of making it work.
5) Good question - I would say always work, every day. I don't think it's something you do 'when you're in the right frame of mind'. You have to create that frame of mind yourself, all the time and then run with it. I'd also say work quickly and don't get bogged down in detail. Get a lot of ideas on the go and pick the best ones to work on later when you can get some perspective on them.

Your answers to 3+5 have given me some food for thought, but especially 3. Been trying to make a particular kind of music for a long time now. Always kind of figured it was a matter of practice and skill as to why I was never happy with it, but perhaps I should go with whatever I "just arrive at" instead.

Thanks, Chris! (And Michael if you're around :))

yes i'd agree with that. Not sure if you've come across Badmammal (he did a remix for us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-9BNOUsg6E). He was trying to write d&b for ages and it wasn't quite there, but then he sent me some of the other stuff he'd been writing and it was amazing. So i told him he should ditch the d&b and just follow his nose with that other stuff and he went from strength to strength. I think it's about having the confidence in your own vision rather than trying to ape someone else's. That's never going to be a winning formula.

I've heard the remix and a couple other bits; will listen to some more.

That's some great advice there. In some ways it seems kind of obvious, but I imagine for a lot of people it's very easy to completely miss or forget it. Especially for aspiring artists who end up trying to emulate what they love to listen to.

When you guys were starting out did you struggle with things like this?

no not too much. we had a vague idea of direction but then let the music lead the way. you have to trust it to have a life of its own. It's much like children, you know. You can't wrap them up in cotton wool and expect them to do exactly what you think is best, you have to set them free to make their own mistakes and define their own path.

Huge fan of your guys music, Five Summers is one of my favorite tunes overall. Anything between BMT and Seba always turns out fantastic.

As a d&b producer myself, you guys are a huge influence and its really awesome to see you guys doing things like this and wish more producers would consider it.

I've been been working on an album just for personal purposes and have been considering sending some of my music off to some records or producers just for some feedback. Would you guys be open to that sort of idea?

Thanks and keep up the great work!

Thanks very much. yeah we always like to hear new stuff, for sure. It's hard to give feedback as that process is so time consuming, but if we hear something we like we'll def get back to you and talk about it. here are some tips for contacting us: http://www.blumartenmusic.com/contact

or post your soundcloud here, seeing as we're in the house right now.

I just put up some new tracks on www.wakethephantom.bandcamp.com

My mainstream influences are pretty clear but I'm always trying experimental stuff and coming up with original sound seeing as I've got plenty of time before I break into the scene.

Thanks a lot for checking it out!

yeah that first track is pretty nice. not massively our sort of thing but i like the chords at the start. you should ditch those horrible vengeance drums and try and do something more inventive & interesting with the whole rhythm section.

What do you all think of NETSKY?

yeah he's good! it's hard to write catchy music and he's great at it. On a personal level he's a nice boy and i'm really pleased he's successful and not sitting in an office somewhere quietly contemplating suicide. Good for him!

who was your inspirations , old skool , what was your fave old skool track and who got you inspired ? btw you rock :)

thanks jenny. so many great tracks from the old days. This was a particular favourite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjQW0l9pTaA
Doc Scott, Bukem & Grooverider were always amazing to listen to as well.

Hi!

I made an account on here just for this, I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to hear great music! I heard Believe Me when it first came out through pure luck.

I collect vinyl now and have really opened myself to a lot of new music, I have you guys to thank for that.

Well done on all of your achievements so far and I wish you guys all the best for the future!

I still search for Believe Me on vinyl weekly, seriously rarer than diamonds! Aside from the few copies that pop-up on discogs for a few days :(

thanks for coming to say hello. that's really nice of you.
And yes, our vinyl always becomes very hard to find, unfortunately. I do try and tell people that whenever we release a new one but I think they think it's just hype and then they moan 6 months later when they have to pay £50 on discogs.

Hey guys! I really love what you guys have been doing with the label, and I love the new LP. I pretty much listen to your podcasts and mixes nonstop, so I'd just like to ask if there are any plans for guest mixes in the future?

thanks, glad you enjoy them. Yeah i need to get on the case with more guest mixes. Did you have anyone in mind?

How do you go about picking vocalists and artists to work with? I'm really liking what I hear from Agne Genyte, and your music is the first I've heard of her, so I was wondering how these collaborations take root.

Also wanted to say thanks for the amazing album, November has been a busy month for dnb LP's, and to be honest I'd never listened much to your tunes before a friend showed me this album. Gonna have to give the back catalog a listen.

thanks very much, glad you like the album. Agne just hit us up on soundcloud out of the blue. I'm still not quite sure what led her to us. That's often how things happen to be honest, there's never normally any grand plan. Collabs with other producers tend to be just people we're friends with and like working with. InsideInfo is a good example of someone like that. Not a necessarily obvious match but we're get along really well so it's always fun.

What are your views on vinyl do you still play with them ?

no not any more unfortunately. The state of turntables in clubs deteriorated to such a degree that it was almost impossible to play a set. It just became embarrassing so the switch to CDs had to be made. I still prefer vinyl but it's not feasible to DJ with.

Any future collaborations with Frederick Robinson; post album coming soon? Thanks for the AMA!

he's working on a remix of one of the album tracks for us which will surface next year and we have more material coming up from him in 2014 as well.

What have you guys been listening to lately?
Dont have to be electronic of course.

btw just wanted to say that Nobody Here was my anthem for a whole fuckin year, that album(Natural History) still gets played on the reg.

hi kloster. you can get a good idea of our listening habits from our monthly podcast: www.blumarten.com/mixes
Or you can keep an eye on our LastFM if you use that: www.last.fm/user/BluMarTen

Thanks for having lossless downloads available - how important is the sound quality of your product and how can we encourage more artists to release in FLAC?

personally i always buy WAVs from digital stores when i can. I think most people do release lossless don't they? I can't this of anyone who doesn't. If you don't already use it www.digital-tunes.net is a great store. WAVs / MP3s are all the price. I buy most stuff from there.

You are in contact with blu Saphir recordings. I am looking for the vip version of a aspect - soul lady for ages. Any idea where I could get it?

I did have that tune many years ago. God know where it is now. I think I have a dubplate of it actually.
You should contact Jay Rome who runs / ran Blu Saphir - he could help you.

Hey! I used to blast your tunes all the time at the radio station I work at in Atlanta. I don't do the DnB show anymore as I've been put off by a lot of the commercialized preconceptions that come with it these days. I'm not into the club anthem type sound; it's kind of sad to see artists like Netsky go from making Memory Lane to his newer stuff. I miss the LTJ Bukem and older Photek or Squarepusher stuff which seemed much more experimental. I believe it was more rooted in sampling and atmosphere, kind of like the UK's take on hip-hop. It's not a direct question, but what do you think of this?

yeah i think you're right, sampling had a lot to do with it. Unfortunately when acts get really big they also attract a lot of attention so they can't be using samples unless they want a big fat writ in the face. And that's a shame because a lot of the surprising ideas and textures came from that recontextualization of sounds into new forms.

Hello Greetings from Upstate NY! I have a few questions. First is do you think Drum & Bass is a hard genre for people to understand. Second is what do you think the difference between jungle and Drum & bass is. And third is do you like the label EDM in the music industry? Also would you ever collaborate with any of the metalheadz?

hello to you!

1) I think any resolutely instrumental music can be hard for people to grasp, as it's purely abstract. Your brain has to work a lot harder to grab an abstract form than it does a figurative one, and people mostly don't like working very hard.

2) There is no difference between 'jungle' & 'drum & bass'. It's just how some journalists decided to rename it. To me it's all jungle and it always has been. You'll note the taglines on our twitter & soundcloud accounts. (Queue loads of neckbeards lining up under this post to debate the relative merits of the modern canadian ragga jungle scene ad nauseum)

3) No i loathe the EDM term and everything it stands for. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

What do you guys think about MCs? A lot of people see them as an insult to the track, I personally see them as bringing a performance together. What do the producers think?

If the latter, who are some of your favs?

yeah i really like MCs. For me a good MC is the personality of the night.
I always enjoy playing out with Ruthless, Lowqui, Bassline, Wrec, DRS.. and.. um.. probably others but my mind's gone blank.

What are your thoughts on the rise of EDM in America?

you know what you are

gammon brunch?

oh look, all the mates are here!

@Blue Man Ten. Were you guys around when the rave scene started if so what was your favourite rave? what are some of your favourite drum and bass tracks. What do you guys consider to be the best drum and bass album of all time.

hello chantelle.
Yes we were around at the very start. My best memories are probably Rage at Heaven in London, or maybe Raindance.
My favourite d&b track is probably:
Secret Liaison by Source Direct: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=480Q_aZUcxw
Staggeringly elegant.

Hey Blu Mar Ten, do you have any hobbies other that music? If so, what are they?

I read a lot and work with animals, but no there's not too much free time in our world.

Let me ask another one, guys: How do you make covers for your Blu Mar Ten Music releases? do you actually ask people if you can use their faces? anyway, i like (most of) them. it's an original approach.. on the other hand though many labels use pictures of landscapes or geometrical shapes (etc.) instead..which gets kind of cliche-y IMHO. thank you again, in advance good night oh ..and greetings from Prague. should've said that first. nevermind

The photos we use are all out of copyright and available for commercial use. They mostly have no provenance (no one knows who they are or who took the original photos). The person responsible for all our artwork and imagery is www.ithinkitsnice.com

No question, I just wanted to say thank you for creating such wonderful music. Please keep up the great work. :)

thank you! much appreciated.

Hi BMT, when you were children, what did you want to be when you grew up? Also, any advice for budding future music producers? By the way your music is amazing, my favourite song is The Fourth, it's hard to describe how important that song is to me but thank you so much for making it, you guys are great! Well done on the new album as well, it's brilliant.

thanks very much. glad you like the tunes.
I wanted to be a zookeeper when i was a child. I'm not sure about Michael, (and i think he might have gone to bed now so I can't message him to ask).
My advice for budding producers is to try and stick out, don't try and fit in. That's the worst thing you can do. Asking anything resembling "am I doing this right?" is the path to failure.