Блоги: заметки с тегом Behind the scenes

My entire DJ collection: I’m sharing all of my 84 playlists!

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:53:31 +0500

Back in 2019, I published an article ‘How I prepare my DJ playlists’ (which now has over 21K views), providing behind-the-scenes into the structure of my DJ collection. Since then, my collection has evolved, as it’s an ever-changing process that reflects my DJ needs.

And today, I’m sharing my entire DJ collection with my Patreon subscribers. This is something that sane DJs probably would never do!

So, here’s the thing. I have my DJ collection with over 7000 tracks on iTunes (‘Music’ app on macOS), which I use as the main hub for all my music. To keep all of the music sorted and to find tracks during my DJ sets easily, I keep all those tracks in over 80 playlists, neatly organised by energy levels and mood. This collection and the playlists are mirrored in Rekordbox, which is the main DJ software that I use to export music to USB sticks which I then plug into the DJ decks on my gigs.

I also have that music collection and playlists mirrored on Spotify, and this is what I am sharing with my Patreon subscribers. While I can’t share the physical audio files from my music library for copyright reasons, even Spotify playlists are a pretty big deal.

First of all, that’s a lot of great music. A lot. Secondly and most importantly, this is my real DJ collection that I am actively using and keeping up to date – so it’s a great material for learning and inspiration to see how I organise my playlists, a real behind-the-scenes peek into the mind of a DJ. I’ve also recorded a video walkthrough to provide more explanation of my playlists.

If it sounds interesting to you and want to get access to it, consider joining me on Patreon (and have many more goodies besides this DJ collection): patreon.com/daniellesden

Music genres aren’t binary

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 19:11:18 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Oftentimes when some people think about music genres, they think binary. It’s either this or that. It’s either House or Trance. It’s either Techno or Psy-Trance.

But I think today’s variety of music genres is too vast and too complex for that. Music genres have evolved and diversified so much that categorising them into strict binaries requires a bit of different thinking.

When we think of music genres, we’re considering a multitude of elements that contribute to a track’s identity. Elements like rhythm, sound design, tempo, melody, and even cultural influences all play a role. It’s not just about the primary beat or the dominant instruments; it’s the intricate blend of these components that creates a unique sonic landscape.

This is why I think of genres as a spectrum, like the adjustable sliders in photo editing apps.

For example, a track might have the driving beat of Techno, the atmospheric elements of Trance, and the rhythmic structure of House, all blended together in varying proportions. Which genre should this track belong to, in this case? That’s the tricky part – it’s up to identifying the proportion of those elements on the imaginary spectrum, or sliders.

The practicality of genres as guiding stars in navigating the expansive realm of music remains undeniable. As a DJ, I still rely on genres to discover fresh tracks. Nevertheless, it’s equally crucial to acknowledge the mixture of styles within tracks that extend beyond the confines of the notion of genres that we know today.

I think recognising genres as a fluid spectrum rather than strict binaries helps to embrace the diversity and intricacies that make music a constantly evolving and endlessly fascinating art form. And this mindset certainly helps in my decision-making process behind curation.

My decision-making process behind curation at Beatport

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 13:25:34 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

One of the things I do now as a music curator at Beatport is to feature releases on the store. Every week I listen to thousands of tracks (literally) and decide whether to feature each or not. And since featuring placements are very limited, I have to decide thoroughly.

If you think about it, that’s thousands of micro-decisions to make every week. I started to analyse some common patterns in my decision-making process, and I thought I would share my observations with you.

Here are some of the things that I pay attention to:

Production. I use production as a broad term to describe the overall quality of sound design, arrangement, mixdown and all other nuances that form how a track sounds. Sometimes a track has some decent musical ideas, but how does it sound? Would it be played well in a DJ mix? Would it hold up on a big sound system in a club? Since the electronic dance music genres I deal with are predominantly made for the dancefloors and play a big role in the DJ culture, these questions are essential. In 2016 I published a post where I gave my insights into what I think is the criteria of professional productions, and it’s still relevant.

Novelty. To me, novelty is something that makes a track stand out. Let’s say there are a hundred amazing-sounding tracks in terms of production, how would you choose just one among them? It doesn’t have to be something entirely new per se, but there must be something to it, some idea, a musical or any other cleverly-made part.

Trends. Genres always blend, evolve and emerge. I love noticing such changes, and I believe it’s a part of my job to reflect those changes as an answer to the community’s needs. But oftentimes, finding future trends means actually going against the current trend. As a curator, I’m trying to be proactive, and sometimes I highlight tracks that are odd. Tracks that are different from what is called music standards of a particular genre. I’m trying to be open-minded and willing to embrace experiments, and who knows, maybe a track that sounds weird today will become the next big thing.

Diversity. I think diversity in a broad sense makes the global phenomenon of electronic music so interesting, so I’m trying to reflect the communities we serve, including people and music from all different genders and backgrounds. This is how the music culture evolves, and I’m doing my best to nurture it.

Release type. As an artist, I know what it takes to make an album. Sometimes artists work on their albums for years. So while a sheer quantity of tracks is never a factor for a feature, I might prioritise an album over a single, if everything I’ve talked about above is also true. It’s just more proportionate to the efforts and it feels right.

This list is not definitive by any means, but I hope it helps to provide at least some insights!

“What are you going to play?”

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 01:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

When I announce a new show, people sometimes ask me in the comments or private messages: “What are you going to play?” It’s an understandable question, considering the musical diversity of my DJ sets, mixes and podcasts, with tempos ranging from 120 to 150 BPM!

The short answer is — I don’t know :-)

I don’t plan exactly which tracks and in what order I play, and I usually go with the flow instead. I’ve talked a little bit about this before, for example, in the post “How I organize my DJ playlists”.

That said, I have a sort of “wishlist” – a playlist where I throw in tracks I’d like to play at an upcoming event. It could be some hidden gems I recently dug in the depths of Beatport, or some hot promos I’ve recently received and am now eager to give them a road test, or just some cool old tracks that seem appropriate to play at this particular event.

Typically, there are many more tracks on that wishlist than I need for a set. For example, I can put a hundred tracks on a playlist, even though I only need about thirty tracks for a two-hour set. There were times when I played almost the entire set from my wishlist. And sometimes I played almost nothing from it, and that’s okay.

The key here is that it’s not a plan but rather something like “it would be nice to drop some of these tracks”. Just my own feeling and educated guess, given the lineup, place, and time.

Dream train

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 03:11:05 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Sometimes, before the sleep, I read a book to my son. It begins with a train coming through the darkness:

Clickety-clack!

As it should be – with a honking, roaring engine, clattering wheels, and a cloud of steam:

Wondrous sight!

I will not retell the entire book, and go straight to the finale (spoiler alert!): in fact, the train turns out to be a toy train, and everything that happened to it was in the boy’s dream.

It was just a dream. A book ”Steam Train, Dream Train” by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

I liked this simple idea so much that I wanted to implement it in a track. To make something powerful, straightforward, in a sense even monotonous – like a train that goes on and on without stopping; but at the same time mysterious and atmospheric.

Perhaps some people have already guessed. The phrases the dreams, dream machine and we can fly from my track “A Train Into Darkness” are a direct reference to this book and a subtle hint that everything that happens in the track is also a dream:

Daniel Lesden — A Train Into Darkness (Preview)

That’s why the track is intentionally hypnotic and even a bit dreamy, that’s what I wanted to portray. However, it turned out that this track works well not only in dreams, but when you are awake too:

Playing ”A Train Into Darkness”. A fragment from my set at Skazka Rave

That’s how, unexpectedly, even for myself, a children’s book became the basis for a serious track.

The single “A Train Into Darkness” will be released next Monday, February 8, and is already available for pre-order on Beatport and presave on Spotify:

Stream or download

Ready check

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 14:43:42 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

At Skazka Festival two hours prior to the doors opening. Photo: Schneider Family

No matter when my set time is, at 1 or 4 AM, I always try to arrive at the venue prior to the doors opening, especially if it’s the first time.

Is all the equipment functioning properly? Is the volume of the DJ monitors controlled by the Booth Monitor knob? Does it have sufficient overall volume, or should I ask the sound engineer to turn it up? How does the acoustics sound in this room? Won’t that spotlight over there hit my eyes?

Does LINK work? Is the USB port for the USB stick broken, or should I play from my SD card today? Is this the right deck model for me, or is it better to get a controller out of the backpack? Is there room on the table for a laptop, and if it isn’t enough, how can I move everything to make other artists feel comfortable too? Where should I put the recorder?

Are sound guy and stage manager here? What do they look like, and where to find them in the middle of the night if necessary?

What’s the audience like tonight and what’s they up to? What tracks do other DJs play? How do people react to them?

And it is only a tiny part of the technical and organisational questions. Of course, you can’t think of everything, but if you know at least these moments in advance and not five minutes before your set in the middle of the night, chances for a successful performance slightly increase.

How I prepare my DJ playlists

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Sun, 19 May 2019 13:29:13 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Organising playlists by energy levels, vibe, and flow

It would be interesting to know how you prepare your DJ sets, how you decide which track will be mixed well with the previous one, how on stage you choose such tracks that were not included in your planned tracklist, etc.

Vlad Zabolotsky

How to organize your music collection in order to quickly pick the right track at the right moment out of tons of material?

Dj Nerva

Preparing for the performance includes a lot of things: negotiating with the promoter, visiting the venue (when possible), agreeing on a technical and domestic rider, researching the lineup and communicating with other artists, thinking through and launching an advertising campaign, recording a video invitation or a promo mix, working on social media and much more. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about it, but today is all about the “creative” part, the music.

I don’t think of DJ as a creative profession, hence this word is quoted. I’ll write my thoughts on this later

Vlad, to answer the question of how I decide which track will be mixed well with the previous one, I have to explain the structure of my DJ collection first. A similar question was sent by Dj Nerva, so I will combine them into one.

Rekordbox and playlists

DJs play on various media, apps, and gear: laptops, disks, flash drives, vinyl, smartphones; on Pioneers, in Ableton, Traktor, Serato, and many more options. Speaking of myself, I use three things: Recordbox, USB sticks, and Pioneer media players.

On audio formats support

Here is how it works. First, I add music to Rekordbox on my laptop. Then I carefully tag the tracks so that they are automatically distributed among the ‘intelligent’ playlists, and sync these playlists to the USB sticks. Then in the DJ booth, I connect my USB sticks to the Pioneer players, and inside I see all the playlists exactly as I structured them on my laptop back home. And this is the key moment because thanks to these playlists I can easily find that very track I want to play next within a few seconds.

Now I’ll tell you about the key playlists that make up the structure of my collection.

Energy levels

First of all, after adding tracks to Recordbox, I assign them the energy level. This is the main criterion. The most important thing here is that the level of energy is how I feel the tracks and not a formal thing like the tempo or anything like that.

How DJs usually do

Here I want to make a little detour and tell how DJs usually do. Most DJs pre-select the required amount of tracks in advance and arrange them in the order in which they plan to play. So that is complete predestination. Of course, such pre-planned sets can sound great at home, but they might be completely inappropriate on the dancefloor.

It may seem that only newcomer DJs do this, but no: even those who have been performing for more than a decade are doing this, so it’s really common. Some DJs even record the whole mixes in advance and during the performance they basically fake, but this is just so wrong so I won’t even discuss it.

More proficient DJs don’t prepare sets in advance in such a way but select tracks right during the set looking at the crowd in front of them. Most often, they use tempo as a plain simple criterion for choosing the next track.

So it turns out about the following. Let’s assume the following track is playing on the dancefloor:

Dylhen, Paul Thomas — Diablo (Original Mix) 122 BPM, Em

A DJ thinks: “Aha, 122 BPM. The dancefloor is going on well, everything is fine, let’s not slow down the pace.” He is looking for the next track in his digital library of hundreds of tracks, scrolling and scrolling that rotary knob, and he finds this — a track in the same key and even two BPM faster:

R3cycle, Roy Lebens — Babylon (Rise & Fall Remix) 124 BPM, Em

Obviously, the energy on the dancefloor went down; people going out. Lowering the energy during a set down is fine if you know why you are doing this. But if the DJ from the example above wanted to keep the driving vibe, then this is a failure.

Or here’s the opposite example. Suppose a DJ is playing such melodic progressive:

Tim Penner — Oceans Between (Original Mix) 125 BPM, Gm

He does not want to speed up the tempo, so he finds the track in the same key and even one BPM lower, and in addition also from the same record label:

Aaron Cullen, Tommy Conway — Glack (Original Mix) 124 BPM, Gm

Do you get it?

It is clear that the energy is partially correlated with the genre, and as a result — with the tempo. However the relationship of energy level and the tempo is not always that obvious, and it is not always predictably linear.

This is why relying simply on the tempo of the tracks and thus mechanically selecting the next track for mixing is clearly not worth it, and hence I organise my tracks by the energy levels instead.

So, now going back to the energy levels I use in my Rekordbox. In total, I make five levels:

★	Opening
★★	Build-up
★★★	Driving
★★★★	Peak-time
★★★★★	Banging

Experienced guys might have noticed that these names resemble a type or time slot of a DJ set: opening, warming, “peak-time” and so on. Indeed, speaking of the energy level, I immediately think about the scenarios for using a particular track. In other words, I ask myself: “At what point of the event would it be appropriate to play that particular track?”.

For example, I can easily put a driving track in the middle of a warming-up set if I realise that I need to cheer up the dance floor a bit, or vice versa – put a warming-up track in the middle of the night, if I decide to give the crowd a little rest.

energy level is how I feel the track

Update from February 2024

I’m now sharing my entire DJ collection and all of its 80+ live-updating playlists as one of the exclusive benefits for my Patreon subscribers. It’s a great material for learning and inspiration to see how I organise my playlists, a real behind-the-scenes peek into the mind of a DJ. If it sounds interesting to you and want to get access to it, consider joining me on Patreon (and have many more goodies besides this DJ collection). For more details, visit dsokolovskiy.com/patreon.

Inside the energy level playlist, I make four more sub-playlists nested according to what I call vibe and the flow:

Dark Hands-up

Dark Heads-down

Melodic Hands-up

Melodic Heads-down

And here the most interesting part begins.

The vibe

“Dark” and “melodic” are more or less intuitive terms, although the names are very nominal. This is the emotional ‘colour’, the mood of the track.

First, a couple of obvious examples. Here is the “melodic” — think of rainbow, butterflies, flower meadow:

Ivan Nikusev, Platunoff — Aura (Original Mix) 121 BPM, Cm

And here’s the “dark” — twilight, anxiety, hypnotism:

Don Argento, Paul Angelo — Final Sentiment (Alfonso Muchacho Remix) 122 BPM, Cm

Please note that these tracks even have the same key, but how different their mood is.

But there is also a less perceptible difference. This is especially true for Techno, where a pronounced musical part is not always present.

Listen to this:

Section One — Arcadia (Roby M Rage Remix) 132 BPM, Gm

Is it “dark” or “melodic”? Someone can say, “what are you talking about, there are just a kick, bass, and hi-hats, how can you understand anything?”. For me, the answer is clear: if while listening to the track I’m smiling like an idiot, then this is “melodic”.

Now listen to this track. I specifically chose a similar style and even the same artist to shift the focus of attention only to the vibe:

K-Hate, Roby M Rage — Floating (Original Mix) 130 BPM, Am

To me, this track is colder and more aggressive, hence clearly “dark”. And if you think there’s not much of a difference when listening at home, there is a huge difference on the dancefloor.

The flow

“Hands-up” and “heads-down” are pretty unique entities, and I didn’t see anyone using these terms for their music libraries.

To me, this is all about the structure of the tracks: build-ups, breakdowns, pitch-rising effects, big drops, climax etc. In other words, how the tracks flow.

If the track goes smoothly, and you can just dance and keep dancing without being distracted by the breaks and big drops every minute or so, then this is the “heads-down”. In a sense, we can say that the heads-down tracks are more monotonous. This is not very accurate, but sufficient for a general understanding.

What is Progressive

If there are constantly some breaks, new leads, intense breakdowns and all those big things where people literally put their hands up, literally, then it’s “hands-up”.

Below are a few examples:

Filterheadz — Synergy (Sisko Electrofanatik Remix) 128 BPM, Fm

Pay attention to the breakdown in the middle and drop at 1:30. This is “hands-up”.

Another example:

Proff — What It Feels Like (Original Mix) 127 BPM, Dm

You probably realised by now that this is “hands-up” too.

From the two examples above it may seem that the hands-up is always something melodic and cheesy. But for the vibe, we have another criterion, and here we are talking only about the structure. Just both of these tracks are “melodic hands-up.”

Here is another “hands-up”, but this time it’s “dark”:

Dylhen — The Upside Down (Extended Mix) 124 BPM, Fm

And now let’s take a listen to “heads-down”, for contrast:

Chris Sterio — Zen (Matter Remix) 121 BPM, Fm

Can you feel how much smoother this track is?

If it seems to you that heads-down is necessarily something slow and deep, here’s a driving Psytrance example:

Sonic Species — Smashing The Veil (Original Mix) 142 BPM, A#m

Note how this track just is going and going without interruption, you can close your eyes and just dance without the breakdowns.

Speaking of breakdowns, listen to this track:

Union Jack — Cactus (Jonno Brien Remix) 125 BPM, F#m

Here the breakdown is stretched for a minute and a half, but notice how smooth and even monotonous it is, again, if we compare it to breakdowns in the hands-up tracks.

Therefore, knowing the energy level, the vibe, and the flow of the track, I can fully control the direction of the set. And thanks to the playlists, I know exactly where the next track is. This classification of all the tracks and new arrivals in my media library is the main work on the preparation of my DJ sets.

Stepping aside

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 21:29:01 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

For the last few years, I’ve been living on inertia. Write a track, share something on Facebook, record a podcast, all as per usual. Always in a hurry, always in a rush. Why? I thought I knew the answer — because that’s how it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? But recently I asked myself: “Do I want to see myself there in 5 or 10 years?”, and surprisingly, the answer was no. A part of that answer was the music which no longer excites me that much.

Psytrance is stale. Even if the most successful artists say so (Astrix posted this a few days back on his Instagram story), then the scene is really in a bad place. I never said this before, but in reality, it’s not that easy to find even 10 to 15 fresh and original tracks a month to fill the monthly podcast. Same kick and bass, same copy-pasted leads, Terence Mckenna phrases, or Hindu vocals, or bloody stupid triplet drops that make absolutely no sense. Don’t get me wrong, there are some awesome and talented producers and labels around and I still love Psytrance, but not that kind of “Psytrance” that you typically hear at a festival or in Beatport’s top chart.

It’s time to make a change.

I have decided to give myself a little break, time off to make something fresh. You’ll probably won’t see me very active on social media and even think of putting Rave Podcast on hold for a while, but I want you to know that is only because something new will be forging in the meantime.

How much I earned on the album sales

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 00:18:51 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Behind the scenes in facts and numbers

Last year I released my second studio album 2000 Years Ahead, my the most successful release to date.

Success shows in different ways: followers’ growth, bookings, smiles on the dancefloor. But today I’d like to share specific numbers, and that is how I earned on the album sales. Just in time as I recently got a financial report from the label.

How many copies sold

The album was released in two formats: digital and physical. Label — Digital Om Production. At that time Bonzai Music was taking care of the digital distribution, whilst Arabesque Distribution for the CDs.

940 tracks and 140 CD copies sold so far

For the first quarter, people downloaded 940 tracks and purchased 140 CD copies.

Is that good enough or not?

Let me answer with the fact: the album was #1 on Psyshop and #2 on Beatport top charts for the whole month:

“2000 Years Ahead” in the top sales charts. Source: bptoptracker.com.

Overall, the album spent 18 days in the top-10 and 69 days in the top-100 on Beatport. Sitting in the charts for more than two months considered as quite an achievement.

How much I’ve got

Now comes the more interesting part. To be clear, all numbers below are net, i.e. after the deduction of the stores and distributors commission, which is roughly 50% depending on the platform and region. For example, when you see $1,99 retail price per track on Beatport, the real income from it is about $0,9. That’s the numbers I’m operating below.

Stores take 20—50% cut from retail price

So, this is what’ve got from all sources — digital sales (including streaming), physical sales and sublicensing:

Revenue
Digital sales	+€815
Physical sales	+€610
Sublicensing	+€200
Total revenue:	+€1625

A thousand and a six hundred euros sound nice, right?

But revenue ≠ profit. The album also had some expenses on production and promotion that we have to take into account:

Expenses
Mastering	-€225
Artworks	-€200
CD printing	-€300
Logistics	-€100
Marketing	-€100
Total expenses:	-€925

Now let’s calculate the profit: €1625 (revenue) – €925 (expenses) = €700. But we’re not done yet since all profit splits between the artist and the label — that’s a typical deal in the industry. So, then: €700 / 2 = €350. And that is how much I earned before taxes.

€350 is how much I’ve got a year later for the first quarter of sales

Added in 2021: I want to emphasize that all numbers above are given for the first quarter of sales only since the release date. For the last two years since I wrote this post, my total net profit from the album is over €1500, mainly due to streaming.

Now we can make a few conclusions:

Once again I’ve got a confirmation of my own words that a music producer cannot make a living on the music sales alone. I’ve written about it earlier and talked on my master class.
Music release is not only income but also expenses. And whilst you may not gain profit at all, it will cost you something for sure.
It’s important to mention that in my case the label took all expenses since we already worked together and I got a trustworthy reputation. Keep in mind that not every label would want to invest a thousand dollars if you are a new producer with a debut release.
People still buy CDs!

Why I’m telling this

Perhaps, not everyone aware of that, but we actually have a problem in the music industry: many young producers expect to make a living on the debut release sales, then they see a financial report with a 2-digit number (or nothing, at all), start to accuse everyone around and eventually quit their career.

I’m sad to see these things happen all the time and hence why I share my experience on how things work behind the scenes.

I’d love to tell you that “I released my album and bought a house”, but the truth is after a year of hard work and a fantastic appearance in the charts, the album sales directly gave less than a monthly salary of a janitor. That’s the true story.

That’s why you need to remove the pink glasses and start working hard — a something that musicians do not really like to do. And threat your music releases simply as a portfolio.

Bonus: stats

A financial report is not only about the money, it’s also a lot of juicy data. I’ll put some metrics that I find interesting down below.

Digital sales, by store:

Beatport	75%
iTunes	18%
Juno	4%
Google Music	2%
Amazon	1%

Digital sales, by country

USA	20%
United Kingdom	13%
Germany	12%
Australia	9%
Switzerland	7%
Japan	5%
France	4%
Canada	4%
Brazil	3%
Finland	3%
Netherlands	3%
26 more countries	14%

Streaming, by service

Spotify	50%
Apple Music	38%
Google Music	5%
iTunes	4%
Deezer	3%

Streaming, by country

USA	10%
Germany	9%
United Kingdom	7%
Mexico	6%
Russia	6%
Netherlands	5%
Switzerland	4%
Australia	4%
Japan	4%
Sweden	4%
France	3%
Canada	3%
37 more countries	25%

On easy money

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:49:30 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Jiz Lee

I’m going to put here some quotes, and try to guess what I’m talking about:

“There are performers, there are lighting people, there’s a PA, there’s a manager, there are all of those people and that’s the production day. And then there’s post and editing. Even beyond just the set, the industry is so much more of a business than people realise. Like every company has a sales team and an accounting department. [...] There are so many people behind the scenes.

Just like any other job, there are some days that are like the most fantastic days ever and it’s ‘I like my job!’ and there are some days where it’s like you’re working. Not everyone in the industry makes a lot of money, but it costs a lot of money up front for sure. I put more hours into being a star then I think the average person puts into their nine-to-five job.

People might know me for being up from the camera but I do marketing and I set at a desk most of my day. If you do it as a career, you end up wearing so many hats: some performers learn how to do makeup, some learn how to edit [...] Creating your own content, creating your own mini-vids or clips for sale, learning how to edit and upload. All of these things are the learning curve that you have to have in order to be a... I don’t even say successful, that steady working performer.”

All of these things are learning curve that you have to have in order to be a... I don’t even say successful, that steady working performer.

That’s must’ve been about the music industry for sure, right? Well, you’re wrong: these are the quotes of the porn stars interview for Iris.

It’s amazing how similar the expectations of newcomers to the porn business and the music industry: both seem to think that being a performer is easy money and pure pleasure.

Many think that once you’ve learned how to mix two tracks, you’re a DJ. Or just make some music and the gigs will come along, automatically. Or act in porn and just get some free sex and fun (and even get paid for that). Sounds easy!

Well, in reality, there’s a ton of hard work behind the scenes and not every performance gives you satisfaction. I think everyone who wants to make a ~~porn~~ music career should know about it.

Reflecting on my CDs DJ past (glad that’s over!)

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 13:56:07 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Oh, check this out! This picture is intriguing—not just for my baby face or the Stanton CD players (Stanton!), but also for that folder filled with disks.

I remember having to manually “burn” each disk, creating covers for all of them: typing titles and tempos into a Photoshop template, printing, cutting, and carefully inserting them into the CD folder. It was quite a laborious task. Fortunately, the era of CDs in the DJ market didn’t last too long.

This photo dates back to September 2011, taken by Alexey Druzhinin. Huge thanks to him for capturing this moment!

Pros and cons of my career decisions

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 22:31:10 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Vlog 003

I’ve got great comments to the previous vlog, in particularly, Elimelec Domínguez asked the following:

“If you had to start again in your career, what would you focus on? What skills and areas are vital to the success that you already have? What things would you completely rule out?”

Wow, I love it. I recorded a new vlog episode to answer these questions, I hope other upcoming producers will find it useful too. So there you go, the pros and cons of my career decisions:

Or watch on Facebook

Thanks to Digital Om Productions for the nice t-shirt :-)

Backstory series. Part 3

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 11:11:43 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Getting to a new level

Backstory series
Part 1. Psychedelic community
Part 2. First local gigs as a DJ
Part 3. Getting to a new level
Part 4. First gigs as a producer

Previously I told about my first local gigs in 2006 and shutting down the community website in 2008.

During the next three years after these events, I lived a normal life trying to make a career in a totally different field of work. No music production whatsoever, I’m not sure I even listened to music — I guess that is how strongly burned-out I was because of the study, the job, and the toxic relationship I had back then (tough times of being a teenager).

So, year 2011, I was 24. That was the time when I realised that not only I want to come back to music production, but also make it a big part of my life and eventually make a living on music.

It was sound like a nice plan, right, but where to start? After a 3-year long break, most of my connections in the industry had gone, basically, I had to start from the very beginning.

That’s how eventually I found Audio School — a Moscow-based school of electronic dance music that offers courses on production, DJing, VJing, music theory, and other related disciplines. In total, I spent six months learning the basics and nuances of the profession and studying there was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

The final exam on DJing discipline at Audio School. Performing on 4×Pioneer CDJ-1000, DJM-800, and an external SFX-processor by Korg. Moscow, 2011

Also in the same year, I started my radio show, Rave Podcast, actually several months before my education. Now it’s funny how clearly you can hear the difference in my mixing skills before and after the study. I know those first episodes sound terribly bad, but that’s exactly why I keep them — it’s a reminder to myself of where I started.

All in all, education at Audio School gave me a great head start and saved a tremendous amount of time because learning all of this by myself would take me a way much more time. Eventually, the track I’ve made for the production discipline final exam is the track you know as “Contact”, my debut release signed on Ovnimoon Records.

Advice: a music career has many pitfalls and nuances, so if you have a serious intention to make music as your profession — learn from someone who already mastered these things. It can be a school, online courses, master classes, blogs, vlogs, whatever. Always raise the bar and never stop learning, that’s the only way of getting to a new level. The time and money you invest in self-education will always eventually pay off.

Always raise the bar and never stop learning

To be continued.

Celebrating 100 articles in the advice series

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 15:33:11 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

What I’ve learned and what’s next

In August 2015 I launched the advice series to help aspiring producers and spread the knowledge. And last week I posted the 100th article in this series. Hundred articles on music production, sound design, DJing, industry insights, marketing, and career advice. This is huge.

I thought such a round number would be a nice moment to thank everyone who sent me the questions and contributed to the blog. So thank you guys, thanks for your curiosity and striving for knowledge which drives this series forward. You’re awesome! <3

And taking this opportunity I would also like to tell a bit of what I’ve learned for the past two years of writing this series and what comes next.

What I’ve learned

Good always wins
When I introduced the advice series, all sceptics were saying that people will steal the tricks and ideas I share, that I will look stupid by trying to teach other people whilst I’m still an uprising producer myself (“You know nothing, Jo... Lesden”) and more criticism. Well, I had no doubts that none of this would happen and I was right. I was amazed by how many people found this blog useful and genuinely shared their own techniques as well. I have a feeling that over time we’ll see more producers sharing their knowledge, too.
Knowing ≠ understanding
I realised that knowing things is not the same as understanding those things. When you explain things to other people, your mind processes it differently and you certainly learn something new even if you thought you knew it before. I can’t stress enough how much I’ve learned from this.
Content marketing works
This whole advice idea came out purely out of the altruistic initiative, I didn’t think about it as a marketing tool. But turned out, that many people — including industry professionals — have discovered my music because of this advice blog. A kind of side effect but in a good way. I certainly recommend other producers to start blogging, it helps people and increases the overall awareness about your name with no money investment needed, something that a classic advertisement can never do.
Writing consistently is tough, but boosts your skills
Back in 2015, I asked myself: can I possibly write a new article every week on a regular basis? Frankly, it was quite a challenge. I’m not a full-time writer nor a blogger, I’m a musician and DJ that writes about music and that’s a totally different thing. Writing a single article is tough, but writing a new piece of advice every week is quite a challenge indeed! Nevertheless, I have to admit that consistent writing helped me learn how to explain myself clearly and even become a tiny bit better in English.

What’s next

The advice series will continue to come out on Wednesday, but probably not every Wednesday. More like When-I-can-s-day.

I want to keep delivering thoughtful and well-made content that other producers hopefully find useful while experimenting with its frequency a bit — sometimes weekly, sometimes bi-monthly, sometimes less often.

I also have a few really cool projects on the way (won’t spoil it here), but sacrificing the quality of one project over another is the last thing I want to do. Quality > quantity, not the other way around.

As a consequence of this changing schedule, more questions will be stacked up in the queue. If you ever wanted to send me a question, I would suggest doing it today as from now on it will take a longer time to post a reply.

The benefits of “no”

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:19:59 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Success story: Tim Bourne’s behind the scenes on reaching out goal through rejections

“Per aspera ad astra”, 1894

One of my daily duties as an A&R at JOOF Recordings is listening to incoming demos we receive on a regular basis. And whether I like it or not, I have to say a “no” as an answer very often. Artists react to rejection differently: some of them never reply back, some others get angry. Well, no surprise: getting a “no” answer is tough, I know it myself perfectly.

But one guy stood out: every time I told him “no”, he came back with the updated track asking for new feedback. Four months later, he managed to make an amazing track that I was happy to sign on the label.

The guy I’m talking about is Tim Bourne, a 22-year-old aspiring music producer from Indonesia. I invited Tim to share his progression in this blog and I hope other up-and-coming producers will find his experience useful and motivating.

From there, Tim tells:

“To me, this drive of wanting to get accepted into JOOF started two and a half years ago when my friend introduced me to the label, ever since then my perception towards electronic music completely changed (in the best way possible). Since that it was something that I had to do, it was more than just a goal for me to make a track that lives up to the standards of the label.

I wanted to know where I sit when it comes to producing, am I really making something that is up to par — quality wise — or am i just making tracks that only sound good to my own ears, even then, my ears wasn’t really catching the small details of music production, I was missing out on so many essential parts of production.

I knew that it was going to be very tough because in my country there is very limited access to production courses or even Psytrance producers, so I had no one to really guide me on what to do technically or musically.

I would have never evolved with my music production if it wasn’t for no’s and rejections.

I started sending out demos to the label since 2015 — 20 years old by that time — and it was just no’s after no’s after no’s. In total, I’ve probably sent over ten tracks and one of the tracks I had to re-do and re-edit over five times due to song length, sound design, not enough variations, you name it... and it was still a big ‘no’. It actually got to a point where I was so pessimistic about myself and my music that after a couple of days after sending ‘The Wounded Healer’ I emailed to Daniel again and assumed that the track got rejected.

But alongside the no’s, Daniel was kind enough to actually give me very useful feedbacks, he gave me constructive criticism that was essential for my learning. And to be completely honest, I would have never evolved with my music production if it wasn’t for no’s and rejections. It was through this that I was able to learn and not just force any kind of sound into a track.

Here are some of the conversation we had on the track:

Of course, it was really hard to accept the fact that my music wasn’t quite cutting it, but either I stop and give up or just push through and make a track that I would have never imagined I’d be able to make a couple of years ago.

It started with this very flat sounding bassline loop with no melodies at all, just a pitched down FX:

0. Flat Bassline Loop

Then I played around with the sound, added a little bit of processing, added hats and a clap and i played around with the notes because my ears were so exhausted of hearing the same note playing over and over again. Came up with this kind of groovy bassline:

1. Groovy Baseline

As I was trying to fiddle around with the bass, I found a vocal sample that was perfect for creating anticipation for the groovy bassline. So I decided to add the vocal alongside a drum fill. I also added more processing to the kick and bass to make it sound thicker:

2. Vocal Entry

After creating what I thought was a strong body to the track, I know I have to accompany it with also a strong melody:

3. Rough Melody

But i was not pleased because it felt like it was forced and it didn’t go smoothly with the track, so I changed the sound and came up with these two melodies:

4. Better, Smooth Melody

Then comes the breakdown which I really enjoyed creating. I always have a thing for breakdowns, to me, it creates the emotion of a track. This was the very first version of the breakdown, very empty and the arp melody just didn’t feel right:

5. Empty Breakdown

So I decided to completely change the arp melody because turns out that it was the melody that made it sound a bit weird. I changed the arp melody, brought back the FX’s and i added some ethnic percussion which drew the breakdown more into the theme of the song:

6. Final Breakdown

I created this melody as a draft but It just didn’t sound right to my ears, I was okay with it but I wasn’t happy with it:

7. Draft Melody

I tweaked the notes of the melody a little bit, got rid of the acid and added more saw’ish sounding synths to layer. And this is what i came up with:

8. Final Melody

And alas, ‘The Wounded Healer’ was born:

9. The Wounded Healer (pre-master demo)

I want to say thank you to Daniel who has given me the opportunity to tell a little bit about my upcoming EP, The Wounded Healer and also the story of how I managed to pull through after so many ‘rejections’ and ‘no’s’. ”

Download the EP on Beatport

Interview with Trance Magazine

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 02:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

TranceMag is a leading Trance music site who shares the latest reviews, interviews, and hosts TranceMag Sessions every Sunday. After making the guest mix, Daniel Lesden has been invited to chat with TranceMag stuff writer Florin about his background, second album, expectations, and opinion on the Psytrance scene.

Hi, Daniel. We’re glad you’re able to take some time to talk to us. Hope you’re doing well.
Hello and thank you for having me here. I hope you’ve enjoyed the guest mix I did for TranceMag Sessions recently.

We most certainly have! Thank you :-) Let’s start off with a little introduction for our readers. When did you get interested in electronic music, PsyTrance in particular?
Formally speaking, my music career began five years ago with the debut release on Ovnimoon Records, but my love and passion for electronic music have started long before that — around the age of 11.

Could you tell us more about your early musical background? How did it all start for you as a producer, and what were some of your influences?
Since childhood, I knew for sure I wanted to connect my life with music, and to encourage my initiative, mom bought me a Yamaha keyboard. The best present I could ever dream about! The same year (1999) I got my first ever PC, and that was a starting point of my experiments with music. In fact, I have written about my first music production experience — an article in two parts with all the behind the scenes details and even samples of my earliest music (spoiler alert: it sounds terrible, you’d better not listen to this).

As for influences, well, you have to realize that a 13-year old kid had very limited access to music at the end of 99—early ‘00s. I desperately tried to find any piece of electronic music, so overall my musical taste was very broad: from Prodigy’s Breakbeat and Scooter’s Happy Hardcore to Nitzhonot of Cyan, Goa Trance of Astral Projection, ‘Classic’ Trance of M.I.K.E. Push, and even some really crazy 180-BPM Trancecore stuff, like Beyonder and Rebellion. But I get used to calling all these diverse genres by one simple word — Rave.

I get used to calling all these diverse genres by one simple word — Rave

What was the first track you heard that you instantly fell in love with? What about the first record you bought?
Speaking of Psytrance music, Astral Projection’s “Mahadeva”, Yahel’s “Last Man in the Universe” and Man With No Name’s “Floor-Essence” were definitely some of these tracks.

Taking a look at your productions from last year, one is treated to an outstanding line-up. However, Enuma Elish seemed to steal the show, due to it being widely supported by both well-known Trance artists and listeners, catapulting you into the limelight. What’s the story behind the track title and production? Could you share your experience while making it?
I’m glad you like Enuma Elish, and thanks for asking because there was an interesting story, indeed. I received a personal request from John 00 Fleming to make a “138-140 BPM driving monster”, the kind of real Trance he’s been hungry for. And that was perfect timing as I felt the same.

You know, all those modern dancefloor tricks like build-up and drops that we hear in today’s Psytrance music are fine, but sometimes I feel that ‘Psytrance’ misses the ‘Trance’ component. I wanted to make a straightforward track with a hypnotic vibe, a track that awakens emotions, even if it’s considered as old-school today. So, inspired by the old 00.db tracks, as well as by many of my personal all-time favourite Progressive and even Goa Trance tracks, “Enuma Elish” was born.

And just to tease you a little bit, “Enuma Elish” is gonna be remixed by a UK artist.

I wanted to make a straightforward track with a hypnotic vibe, a track that awakens emotions, even if it’s considered as old-school today

Your work has appeared on some of the world’s best Trance labels (specifically those more underground Trance oriented) like JOOF Recordings, Pharmacy Music and Digital Om Productions. How important, do you think, is their support for a young and talented artist like yourself? How hard is to maintain the consistency and authenticity of your sound?
JOOF Recordings, Pharmacy Music, and Digital Om Productions are some of the best labels in underground music with a huge cult of followers. But what’s most important is the people behind label names: they are truly passionate about what they do, real professionals. Their support means a lot. And it is an honour for me to work and learn from them.

It is nice to have a unique signature sound of course, but when an artist uses the same sounds over, and over and over again with no any development, to me it’s more like laziness rather than “signature sound”. That’s why, from time to time, I go out of the comfort zone to make something totally different, and “Surreal”, released earlier this year, is a testament to this.

You are one of the most versatile producers nowadays, managing to successfully balance Progressive and Psy, integrating a lot of melodies, and pushing your sound in an exciting direction. What is most important to you when making music? What message do you want to spread with your sound?
I think the most important thing is to stay true to yourself, regardless of trends. It may sound selfish, but first of all, I make music to express myself musically. If you try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone. And I am very grateful to all the people that follow me throughout this journey.

If you try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone

From what you announced recently, we learned you are working on your 2nd artist album. Could you share some details about it? What inspired the album and what sound dominates throughout?
I am a huge fan of cosmic exploration and science fiction. Pretty much every track I’ve made so far was inspired by one of these themes, and the album I am working on at the moment is no exception. The album is still in the making, but I would say it gets a more full-on-ish type of sound, more aggressive, more “high-tech” if I may call it this way.

Does the album have a name yet? Also, will it be released on JOOF, like your previous one, Chronicles Of The Universe?
It has a couple of working titles, but the final name is yet to be decided. As for the label, I’d keep it in secret for now. Let it be a surprise!

You have mentioned a few collaborations and a remix will be featured on the album. Could you tell us with whom you have worked? What were you looking for when it came to picking the producer (or producers) to collab with?
AudioFire is an amazing producer I have worked with, perhaps you’ve seen my recent announcement about it. The remix was done for some folks from Serbia, producers I admire a lot. I’m afraid, that’s all I can say for now.

When picking a producer to collab with, I look for similarity and otherness at the same time. Both of us have to like each other’s music in the first place, that is for sure, but at the same time, we have to use a slightly different approach. What’s the point, otherwise? Same as in a dispute, I believe the best solutions are born from the collision of different opinions.

I believe that a track has to have some storyline behind it, some plot that would open up the listener’s imagination.

Is there one track on the album that perfectly describes your style and sound you want to present to the listeners?
I think the album production teaser I’ve shared recently sums up the overall album vibe perfectly. If you enjoy that teaser, I guess you should love the whole album, too.

What is the most important thing for you in a track? Do the listeners have to search for a deeper meaning?
I believe that a track has to have some storyline behind it, some plot that would open up the listener’s imagination. Someday, I want to make music while also accompanying it with a short film and written a story, so people can experience my vision as a whole. So yes, listeners certainly can find some deeper meaning in my music.

What are your expectations from the album in general? What message do you want to send?
I had expectations before, and it didn’t end up well. Expectations are no more than guessing of the outcome, and the outcome is something that you cannot control. What you can control, however, is your own actions. So rather than set high expectations for something that may or may not happen, set yourself a habit of doing your work well, do it on a regular basis, and on the best possible level you can. And this is exactly what I’m doing with music now — just doing my best.

Expectations are no more than guessing of the outcome, and the outcome is something that you cannot control. What you can control, however, is your own actions

What is your opinion on the current Psy-Trance scene and the modern sound that people are attracted to?
We can certainly see a growing interest for Psytrance music these days, some Psytrance acts are now playing at the world’s largest festivals along with commercial Trance and House DJs in the lineup — something that wasn’t possible just several years ago. And I like it, because a growing audience opens up more possibilities to the scene. As you probably know, I grew up in Moscow, and what I remember is that many good party promoters gave up on organising Psytrance parties simply because there were not enough attendees to cover the costs for a venue rent, good equipment, artist fees etc.

I believe that since Psytrance has gone mainstream, more people will demand smaller underground parties as well, which would give a second breath to the clubs, party promoters, and artists. Commercial and underground music are two sides of the same coin, like light and darkness, they exist only because of each other.

What do you think needs to change about the scene? Any producers out there at the moment that you are really enjoying?
I like the fact that the entry threshold for electronic music, in general, becomes easier, and more people can afford making music. More people in the scene means more ideas, more talents yet to be discovered. And this is great.

However, the professional side of music has many more questions than answers available. As a result, we see a lot of low-quality tracks flooding music stores or up-and-coming artists who have no idea how record labels work. And I’m trying to change it by making knowledge more accessible and widespread. That’s the reason why in August 2015 I launched the “Advice” series, where every Wednesday I answer the questions people send me. Together we make the music scene better, and I’m very grateful for the massive feedback I receive from the music community, fellow DJs, and producers.

As for producers I really enjoying — oh yes, so many good artists around. Just listen to my radio show!

We see a lot of low-quality tracks flooding music stores and up-and-coming artists who have no idea how record labels work. And I’m willing to change it

Where do you see yourself in 10 years, in terms of your music?
As I said above, I don’t want to fall into the trap of expectations, so hopefully, I’ll just continue to follow my journey.

Let’s bring it a little closer to current events. This year marks the 5th anniversary of your monthly show, Rave Podcast, so congratulations! How does it feel to have reached this milestone?
Thanks! Frankly, it was unexpected. I was like, “okay let’s see what we have for the February edition… hold on, is it February 2016 now? I’ve launched the very first episode in February 2011, so this must be the five year anniversary, jeez!”. Time flies! I’m really amazed by how many people became regular listeners of Rave Podcast throughout these years, and I really appreciate each and every one.

Staying on the subject of the podcast, what is the concept behind it? Following that, how do you choose your guests?
At first, I started the podcast just to share the music I love, and the basic concept was to show different music genres — hence the name, “Rave Podcast”. But Rave Podcast is more than just a show, reflecting my ever changing musical taste.

By the end of 2011, I had changed the concept to not stick only to Psytrance as the main genre, but also showcase artists from all over the world. At the moment, artists from 27 countries have made their guest mixes for Rave Podcast. Just imagine how big and diverse the Psytrance scene is!

Having a radio show with a loyal following is also a huge responsibility because at some point it affects people’s taste. When choosing a guest, I’m trying to showcase a very broad spectrum of musical beauty: from deep Progressive to uptempo Fullon, from mellow to harder sound, from up-and-coming producers to the world’s largest names. It’s a fine balance, and it looks like we’re doing well so far.

We’re curious, outside of DJing / Producing, what else do you do with your time? Besides the album, what else can we look forward to from you? Any confirmed gigs?
These days, artists have to do much more than just music, so when I’m not making music or DJing, I do everything else: business negotiations, work with the audience, marketing plans, website, blog, social media, dealing with the press, just to name a few. Speaking of personal time, I love running to keep my body healthy and mind clear.

Before the album, you’ll hear a remixes EP of my tracks, including my own 2016 mix for one of my older productions. This one is gonna be really interesting.

As for gigs, I have a lot of requests from both promoters and party people in USA, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, Japan, Brazil and India, just to name a few, but none is confirmed so far. Maybe it’s for the best as I’m trying to use this time wisely to finish the album. Studio work and active travel are two things that can’t be easily combined.

Is there a track in history you wish you would’ve written, or have been there to witness it being made?
No, I don’t think so :-)

Silly question, but do you have a pet? If not, what would your ideal pet be (you can even go with an imaginary one, if it’s more interesting)?
I don’t have a pet for now. I believe that a pet (whatever it may be) is not just a toy, it’s a living creature that needs attention no less than a person and spending extra time is something I can’t afford at the moment. But if I had a pet, I think it would be a cat — I just can’t resist their cuteness!

Any last words for our readers and your fans?
I would like to thank all my fans, colleagues and the people I work with for their support and experience. I sincerely appreciate it. And thank you for the nice interview, TranceMag! Can’t wait to see you all on the dancefloors around the globe!

Link to the original post
Text — Florin Bodnărescu

Interview for TranceFamily: album behind the scenes

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 02:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

The interview for GTranceFamily reveals Daniel Lesden’s upcoming album behind the scene details.

Hi Daniel, congratulations on the new album and thanks for taking the time to speak with us today?
Hello guys, and thanks for your kind words! It’s a pleasure to talk with you again.

Can you share with us how the idea of ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ first came about?
Oh, I’m very fascinated about the Universe, the Cosmos and all that bright dots above our heads! I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings, because it can answer so many timeless questions like ‘where we come from’ and ‘where we are going’. My previous EPs were also connected to the cosmos in some way, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to make a full-length album based on this same theme.

I believe that our Solar System is a very unique place, all the planets are so different but at the same time are so harmonic with each other. It is, after all, our home. I get my biggest inspirations, which really made me want to start working on my album during my evening running near the sea where I live. Every time I saw a sunset it made me wonder how the Sun could be so far (150 million km away!) but still look beautiful and warm, so I guess the Planets, which we can’t see through the naked eye must look amazing too.

Each of the tracks on the album tells a very different story but all carry a similar theme linking them together. How hard was it achieving this but at the same time creating each with its very own sound?
Being honest with you it wasn’t an easy thing to do. I watched a lot of documentary films and read numerous scientific journals to double check facts. You can actually see many parallels between the tracks and the planets they are about.

I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings

For example, Mercury is solid rock with a huge metallic core and no atmosphere. And despite it being the closest planet to the Sun, the opposite side is very cold and if you look up from the Mercurian surface you’ll see absolutely dark skies. So I tried to create this feeling by not adding any pads or atmospheric sounds. The tech-groove and percussions and even some kind of dubstep sounds which you here in the breakdown relate to the metallic core. It has pretty minor melodies with a few evil laugh effects because, well… ‘Mercurian Night’ is a pretty scary place!

Another example is the next track, ‘Ishtar Terra’. Unlike Mercury, Venus has a very tight atmosphere, so it has a very low and heavy ambience. It has a very hot temperature, so the track runs ‘hot’ all the way through, almost with no breakdowns.

Or ‘165 Earth Years’, is actually how much time it takes for Neptune to make one orbit around the sun. It is a story about one of the most atmospheric planets in our Solar System so of course, I had to put this into the track.

You can also hear how the track tempo reduces down from 138 BPM to 130 BPM from first to last track in the album, symbolising the various orbits form the nearest planet from the sun, to the furthest.

During the album production process, I tried not only re-create some scientific facts but also create my own fascinating story for each track, which with a bit of imagination, makes you wonder and really travel through the Universe. Did I achieve this, well that’s up to the listener to decide.

Neptune Skies by Greg Martin

We’re interested to understand how long it took you to finish the album from its initial conception through to final mastering?
Talking about production, I started working on the album in May 2013 and finished in October 2013, whilst at the same time making few extra tracks. I finished remixes for Lyctum’s ‘Galactic Society’, Ace Ventura’s ‘Presence’ and of course my latest single ‘Space Form’, which is pretty fast I’d say.

Searching for the label was something that took a very long time and if I am honest was quite frustrating. You just send a demo out and can only hope you hear back from them. Unfortunately, you’re not able to speed things up or to do anything else other than just wait, which can be very painful.

Full cycle from initial idea to release it took nine months, so I’m very happy and it was totally worth it to know the album gets released on the 10th February.

It took me took nine months from the initial album idea to signing it on the label

Your new website that goes with the album provides the listener with an extra dimension with both it’s visuals and write-ups. What were you thinking behind this and how much does it go hand in hand with the album?
It seems my brain is the so-called ‘visualising’ type and whatever track I listen to, I always have some images in my mind. Depending on the track I am listening to they can be pretty abstract or specific.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people who without their assistance the website would not have become the success I dreamt it would be. Simon Waring for the well-written texts, Dragos Zavadschi for technical assistance and to all of the artists and agencies who’s images perfectly illustrate each track: NASA, Max Mitrofanov, Billelis, Joe Vinton, Mirai Art Studio and Greg Martin.

Creating a great album as you have done is one thing but getting it signed to such a respected label as JOOF Recordings is something else. Tell us how this came about and your excitement when you first found out?
First of all, you have to know I am a very big JOOF Recordings fan from a listener’s point of view and have been following this label since 2006 and have over 100 of their releases in my collection.

I have enormous respect for John 00 Fleming and with any doubt, I can say he is the person who inspired me the most to start my musical path. I guess now you can understand how happy I was to find out ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ would be released on one of the most respected and my all time favourite label.

Whilst I can’t give away too much at this stage, the album is just the beginning of my relationship with JOOF Recordings. I am currently working on further projects and hope to be able to share with you more about this very soon.

We wish you all the success you deserve with your new album and can’t wait until it’s release.
Thanks a lot for the chat and your kind words! I sincerely hope the listeners will find similar sentiments in the album as I did writing it.

Link to the original post
Text — Simon Waring

Interview for United Stated Trance Movement

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 02:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

Daniel Lesden’s interview that has been made for United States Trance Movement.

Hi Daniel, how are you doing? Thanks for taking some time out on your busy schedule. We know you’re swamped in the studio, we can discuss that in a bit.
Hello guys, it’s a pleasure for me to talk too.

For those who may know not you on this side of the pond, tell us briefly on how Daniel came onto the Progressive Psy scene.
I loved trance music since early childhood and tried to write some of my first tracks at the age of 12, but only in 2011 I decided to become a professional artist to spread good music around. I graduated Moscow-based Audio School, and as the result, my first track «Contact» was born, later released as my debut EP on Ovnimoon Records. Followed by that, my second and third EPs were released on Synergetic Records. That’s how my path started.

You grew up in Moscow, right? But you live in Israel. Tell us about the move.
Yes, that’s right. You may love Moscow if you are a tourist, but for me, a huge megapolis with mostly cold weather wasn’t the best place. Now I live right near the Sea with 8 months of summer during a year — the place just makes me happy!

Artist influences? Who do you look up to?
One of the artists who inspire me a lot is John Fleming. Being more than 20 years in his musical career and still doing his best, surprising fans with each new release — that’s what I would like to do too.

Your monthly show Rave Podcast features some great guest mixes along with an hour from yourself, showcasing some of the best of the underground scene. How has that been going?
Looking back in time for almost 3 years (the show was born on February 2011), the first episodes did not have any guests and was mixed terrible (laughing). Rave Podcast is a bit more than just a monthly radio show, it’s a reflection of myself in a musical way. You can listen to the show from the first episode and see how my tastes have changed and skills have improved. Each month I try to do my best, so I hope you’ll enjoy Rave Podcast for some more time.

This year we saw some great remixes along with your Mars One EP. What do you have in store next? Anything you can tell us exclusively?
Probably you know about my forthcoming studio album because I announced it public already. But by the secret, you’ll hear another release from me before the album. It is going to be a single — a pure dancefloor track with slightly tech-groove, which is an experiment from me.

What does Daniel do for R&R (Rest & Relaxation)?
I live a healthy lifestyle and love running, especially since I live in Israel and can run along the coast where there are amazing views of sunsets at the Sea. Running for me is something like active meditation — when I’m running I feel the road under my feet, music in my ears, and nothing else in my mind.

You have an upcoming album in store. What can you tell us?
From start to finish, it will be a complete musical journey, where each track is connected with each other and related to the album title. I definitely can say that this album has consolidated all my musical vision and skills in one place. Can’t wait to let you guys listen to it!

Your productions have been supported by some major artists in the scene. How does one take in a great feeling?
There is a lot of work behind each track, so of course, it’s amazing when your job is appreciated and supported by big name artists. I am also very grateful to my listeners. Weather its a small comment from someone from Brazil, or detailed feedback from guys from Germany, I want to thank every single listener around the globe — your support is the best guys!

Where can we see you play next? Any confirmed events?
I just recently settled in another country, so I didn’t have as many bookings last time. On a positive side, it’s given me a chance to focus on studio production, so that’s how I spent the last several months. There was talks about my India tour this Fall, but it was delayed probably till 2014. Hope the album will spread my name across party promoters a bit; and I’ll be able to rock on the dancefloors around the world.

If the world was ending in 24 hours, what would you do?
I’d organize a meeting with my family members who live in several different countries. Spend time with my family and friends — priceless.

Is music production full time for you? If not, what else do you? Your wife probably takes up most of your time right?
I would like to have music production as a full time job, but it’s not just yet. I would like to be able to produce even more music — is one of my ultimate goals. Isn’t everyone dreaming to do what they love to do? :-) So for now I have another full time job, related to web marketing. My wife married a musical freak guy who spends 18 hours per day sitting on a computer, she has great patience. I am very grateful to my wife that she lets me do what I want and supports all my crazy ideas.

If you could play anywhere in the world, where would it be? The USA? New York?
The whole world is new for me, so I would play with huge pleasure equally, everywhere. Weather it’s an underground club in the UK, a desert rave in Israel, forest trip in Europe, or a huge area in the USA.

Any last words for your fans and our readers at US Trance movement?
Don’t look at a neighbor’s playlist and modern trends, but love music that your heart really cares about, let the music be with you!

Link to the original post
Text — Douglas Marrero

Interview for TranceFamily Community

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 02:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

I gave an interview to TranceFamily Community, one of the leading Trance music page and entertainment website. The interview covers a lot of my background and personal life.

We know you’re from Moscow but tell us did you grow up in the City or Suburbs and what memories do you have from your time there?
I grew up in Central Moscow and it’s a great city with so much more to do these days than in the past. I will always remember it for being cold and wet most of the time but you get used to the weather.

Was your family musical and did you learn to play any instruments as a kid and at what age?
Some of us are, we have a few artists as well so I guess you could say there is some creativity yes. I got my first Yamaha PSR-330 at the age of 10 and pretty much taught myself to play it, so no formal training really.

How did you spend your time as a kid and what sort of things did you use to like to do?
I’ve always been into games and puzzles as I like the challenge they offer when you’re playing against an opponent or challenging yourself to solve something. I was also into ‘Lego’ in my early years as were most boys at that age I’m sure. I got my first computer when I was 10 and then everything changed for me. At first, I was on it pretty much from the moment I got home from school until I went to bed, playing games mostly. Then after a few years I started experimenting with music software such as Modplug Tracker and Re-Birth RB-338 and was instantly hooked.

What about the things you used to get up to with your mates?
We used to do normal things most people at that age would do. I’ve got fond memories of us trying to get into raves and clubs by convincing the bouncers we were old enough and most of the time it worked. A big part of the scene was house parties, a lot of these would have the biggest and loudest sound system you could imagine, so there certainly was a buzz about the place. I could go non stop through a weekend, each night at a different event or club. Then get up on a Monday morning bright eyed and ready to go and I never needed to take any drugs to feel good. I guess it’s part of my make up so I’m definitely not going to complain.

Describe to us the style of music you used to listen to growing up and what was it about this that attracted you to it?
When I was quite young I used to like Prodigy, Scooter, Marusha and others on that sort of wave length. It was a good mixture of Techno and Breakbeat, which I liked. Around 1998 I got more into the Hardcore and the subgenres ‘Gabber’ and ‘Happy Hardcore’ as well as Trance and its ‘Progressive’, ‘Goa’ and ‘Dream Dance’ styles. This changed once I started going to raves and events and I was more into the likes of Ferry Corsten when he used the alias System-F as well as Rank 1, Push and so on. Weirdly I also had a passion for the more Techno sound of things from the likes of Mauro Picotto and Yves Deruyter. Around 2004–2005 my musical tastes transformed again and I re-discovered the beauty of ‘Goa’ and ‘Psychedelic’ Trance. That was the golden era of full-on sound as I used to call it. I loved the melodies and 145-150 BPM, hell yeah!

Can you remember any events you went to and tell us your memories of one of these?
I remember the first ever ‘Gatecrasher’ rave in Moscow in 2004 with Motorcycle, Gabriel & Dresden, Prodigy and Bobina as a few headliners on the bill. It took place at ‘The Gaudi Arena’, which for Moscow ravers is a legendary place. It’s located in an old industrial area of Moscow and the event was just massive. I will probably never forget the feeling of being around so many people who were all there simply for the music.

Is music your biggest passion and if so why?
To me, music is no different from the air that I breathe, it makes me want to get up every day and I couldn’t imagine a world without it. I took the decision towards the end of 2011 that if I was going to make this work I needed to concentrate 100% of my time on it and the only way to do this was to go professional. With the backing of my family and friends I took the first steps on this path and haven’t looked back since.

What other things are you interested in and do you think these have any bearing on the style of music you produce?
I have a deep love for everything to do with the Universe and its infinite complexity. The fact we know so little about the galaxies and stars that surround us excites me immensely. I find myself drawn to the potential discoveries that we can only dream of. I try to use this outlook in my productions and remixes by pushing the boundaries further and further each time. Technology also excites me and I love how the likes of the Internet has opened up a completely new opportunity for artists like myself. Whether it is collaborating on a track with someone on the other side of the world, or interacting with my fans. It brings like-minded people who share a passion together like nothing else we have seen before. Outside of the musical sphere I love cooking, this goes back to the days I used to be a chef. There is no better feeling than sitting down with your closest friends and family and sharing a good time around the table.

Are you driven by the ambition to be successful?
I’m not the sort of person that says to themselves I would love to play this event or collab with such and such a producer. I normally get on with it and try to give my best in everything I do and push myself further each time because I just love what I do. It seems to be working and 2013 has been a great year for me so far with a lot more to come. Hard work and determination are two key attributes you need in this industry and not forgetting the encouragement of those around you to keep you on track. My ultimate goal would be to follow this path for the rest of my life. Who wouldn’t want to spend the rest of their days doing something they love!

Outside of music what dreams and desires do you have for yourself?
Travelling is probably one of the biggest I can think of. I love discovering new places, experiencing different cultures and meeting new people, this opens your mind and broadens your horizons and can only help on our own journey through life. As for choosing one place to travel to it would have to be Mars (and back!) :) I think this may well be possible at some point during this century and as I have a love for all things to do with the Universe this would have to be my ultimate destination.

So what does family mean to you?
Simple, it’s the most important part of my life! When I first made the decision to go professional I was expecting them to convince me it was the wrong thing to do and to get a normal job. It was, in fact, the opposite, they supported my decision and backed me 100% so I have a lot to thank them for, especially my wife. Without the support of your family around you, life is so much harder, so I am blessed to have such a great family.

The tools of any artist or craftsman are important so tell us about your setup?
I run a quad-core i5 iMac with a 27-inch screen pretty much maxed out as well as an i7 MacBook Pro running Ableton Live and just love it! A Novation 25 SL MKII keyboard/controller and an Allen & Heath XONE K2 controller. It pretty much does what I need it to but I’m looking to invest in some better monitors to round it off. As far as plugins are concerned I love Sylenth1. I find it so easy to use and it sounds solid at the same time, as well as a NI Massive for its sheer flexibility no matter what I need it to do.

How much time do you get to spend in the studio?
Not as much as I would want to if I am honest! It can range anywhere from 2 to 4 hours depending on my current schedule. I tend to get into a state of mind when I’m in the studio and focus on what I’m doing, so you could say I work alone pretty much. It’s simply about getting the balance right.

What currently inspires you?
If I had to choose one artist that inspires me the most it would have to be John 00 Fleming. He is a legend and has been doing his stuff for the last 20 years and still manages to surprise everyone with another masterpiece time and again. He’s remained true to his routes with his underground style and at the same time achieved commercial success around the world. I respect him not only as a producer but as a person.

Tell us how you go about working on a new original or remix?
The idea comes from something I see or hear and then I build a storyline behind it. I find by visualising an image or a short scene in a movie I can start to build the emotion for the various parts but not necessarily in the right order. Once you have the basic building blocks then it is about making sure the script takes the listener all the way through to the end with just the music.

Your tracks are played on the likes of Open Up and many others. How does it feel to know your hard work has paid off?
It means the world! The support from various DJ’s and radio shows gives me the further drive to continue on this path. I have a long way to go but if I continue to do what I love then the hard work will be worth it.

I know you won’t tell us but still I have to ask. Are you working on any collaborations at the moment with anyone we might know?
I’ve been asked to do quite a few collaborations recently and whilst I would love to pick these up I have been concentrating my time on finishing my new studio album. I just finished the sixth track and it should hit before the end of the year. Once I’ve got this nailed I’ll be looking at doing some great collab’s and have some things already lined up for early 2014.

Life is about more than the music but it plays a big part in a lot of peoples lives so rather than ask a question we thought we’d leave it to you to close things off.
Words are sometimes not enough to convey my thanks to those that have supported me and given me the strength to move forward and chase my dream. These guys know who they are and I am eternally grateful for your support and backing. Just as important are you guy the listeners and your appreciation for my music. The reaction you get from people who buy or share your tracks is the ultimate recognition any artist dreams of so thank you!

Link to the original post
Text — Simon Waring

What setup I use

Daniel Sokolovskiy — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 02:00:00 +0500

Daniel Sokolovskiy:

This post originally appeared on my Facebook page. Watch also my 2017 Ableton setup (vlog)

People often asked me what setup I used in my recent gigs. Well, here is it.

So, I’m using 8-10 channels. First three audio channels – main tracks for mixing. Channel #4 I’m using for mashups (melodies, voice etc). On this channel – sidechain-compressor which use kick pattern from another midi-channel to prevent kick overlay. Channels #5-6 with some hats and percussion loops.

On each on these channels – EQ-Eight with Hi-Pass filter. Then few midi-channels with VSTs – I’m using it for live versions of my own tracks, playing some melodies or modulate synths in real-time. Then Send/Return channels with various effects such as Reverb and Redux.

So all these effects send to other channels via return, except several effects such Beat Repeat. So all of these things and many more such scene select, play, pitch control, filter and more I controlling in real-time using midi-controller.

p.s. So, who said “performing using laptop easier than CDs”?