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10 questions with Dave Audé
LA-based uber-producer and A-list remixer du jour Dave Audé tells us why vocals rule and headphones are for pussies
Turn down the thermostat! Open the doors and windows! It doesn't get much hotter than this! Here at Sounds/To/Sample we promise you the biggest and best producer interviews and by heck do we deliver.
This month it's the turn of LA-based uber-producer and A-list remixer du jour Dave Audé. With a career spanning an impressive 16 number one singles on the Billboard Dance Chart and remixes for acts includng Coldplay, Gorillaz, Pussycat Dolls, Craig David, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Sting and everyone's fave screen starlet Paris Hilton he is also the owner of leading underground dance label Audacious Records. A frequent name in DJ magazine's top DJ charts, Dave also finds time to act as musical director on the telly talent show Girlicious (UK viewers can see him on Channel 4 at the weekends) and DJ all over the USA and beyond. In one the most forthright producer interviews we've read in a while, we grill the leading man on the leading issues in production.
Who's currently rocking your world as a producer?
In this world guys come and go so fast. One minute you’re on top, the next you're gone. But Kaskade’s stuff is always solid. Deadmau5 has been making good records for a few years now, Klaas is having a run (with the same sounds no less), and I usually like anything by Axwell or Dirty South. As all-round producers Mutt Lange and Jeff Lynne are my all-time mentors.
When building a track how do you normally work? Do you start with the beat and build your way up from that?
Yeah, I guess that's how I usually do things: if your drums suck, pretty much everything else is going to suck. Having said that, I’ve made some mediocre songs with not much but very loud kicks! And in a lot of house music, the kick really is king: my advice would be to do your mix and then at the end turn your kick up another 2db.
Do you use mainly analogue or digital soft synth sources? Do you think analogue really makes a difference?
I don’t care much about the fight between analogue and digital: if it sounds good, that’s all that matters. I have lots of analogue synths that I've been using for years. Why would I throw them out to use a soft synth? In my opinion, soft synths are a few years away from blowing our minds. It's all about memory and RAM and I cant wait until the day when I hear a sound on the radio and my computer responds and brings it up!
What is the key ingredient for a track? The breakdown? Style of production? Bassline?
The best tracks are either good songs or feature memorable vocals. These days, if you don’t have a vocal or some memorable cracked out sound, you don’t have shit. A good rule is to make tracks that people can run home and Google if they hear on the radio or in a club.
How do you make your beats? Do you use samples or do you make them from scratch?
A combination of both leads to the best sounds. The only rule is: don’t use too many loops/beats. It's easy to have too many loops playing so chop up the samples so that you only have the elements you like. There's no point, for example, having three loops with hi-hats doing the same thing.
How important do you think it is to have your music mastered commercially? Can you do it yourself as effectively and what tools would you recommend?
Anyone can master their own song as long as the original track doesn't sound too different to other tracks out there. The most important (and easy) thing to do when mastering is to make things loud. Unfortunately, so many people are using mastering plug-ins and making their stuff sound terrible. A good point of reference is to compress things 4 to 6 db louder than the normalised zero. In other words, after you normalize or gain change to zero, you might insert a Waves L3 or L2 and place the threshold at 4–6db.
Any advice on monitoring? Quiet? Loud? Do you prefer flat and boring speakers, headphones or big, phat and chunky monitors?
Listen at all levels possible without killing yourself. Try turning your level down as often as possible. JBL LSR6328 speakers are the cleanest and most accurate speakers Ive heard in a loooooong time. Headphones are for pussies.
Any advice for aspiring producers out there?
Finish songs and move on to the next one. And don't spend too long perfecting a single mix - it's better working on as many different songs as you can rather than tweaking one for a month.
How do you see the dance music industry developing over the next two or three years?
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
What is the secret to your success as a producer?
I don’t consider myself successful. I consider myself lucky and fortunate to do what I do.
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More from Dave at: www.myspace.com/daveaude and www.daveaude.com
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