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  Features
Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’!
Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases!
Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme!
Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works.
Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain!
Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September!
NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases!
Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup!
Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast!
Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music!
SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023!
The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023!
NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music!
Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project
The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22!
A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden
Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma
Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino
New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik!
PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records!
Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters!
N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood!
Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna
A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!
'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!
DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022!
TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022!
A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London!
Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide!
DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022!

My Digital Enemy

Reported by Tom Cypher / Submitted 01-11-11 17:30

Brighton based Tech House duo, My Digital Enemy have taken the dance world by storm with their signature sound, and are going from strength to strength with releases on some of the most respected record labels including Stealth, Spinnin and Floorplay. Their productions are heavily sought after among the DJ elite, and have received praise from the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Roger Sanchez, Erik Morillo and Judge Jules to name a few! Last month saw the release of My Digital Enemy’s new artist pack for Loopmasters, House Anthems, an exclusive collection of ‘anthemic’ House sounds and samples. We talk to the guys to find out a bit more about them, their production techniques and their latest pack.



You've just released your latest Artist Series pack for Loopmasters - what can producers expect to find?

Well you will find all of the things you would expect on a sample CD, bass lines, loops, FX etc, but the main focus this time round was on the riffs and melody.

We feel there are some great producers out there but some times they find the riff and melody writing more of a challenge so we thought we would help them out.

The pack weighs in at 1.83Gb’s. The main sections are synth loops, piano loops, electro loops and hook construction loops where the layers of each synth hook are broken down giving the user much greater flexibility in using them in their productions. We are giving away eight free bonus samples on our Facebook page so head over to www.facebook.com/mydigitalenemyofficial and ‘Like’ us to download them.

What do you prefer producing - Sample packs or singles?

It’s great to do both, variety is the spice of life! Seriously though if it came down to one or the other I would have to go with producing singles- that’s the reason I started music and ultimately you can’t go touring off the back of some great sample CDs.

What's your advice to new producers or those thinking of starting out?

It’s very important if you want to make money to look at your work as a business and take it seriously, but it should always be fun as well. Don’t lose sight of what got you into producing in the first place!

What's your favourite bit of hard/soft ware?

Hardware: KRK VXT4 Monitors – These are great monitors. We also have Mackie HR824 & KRK VXT8’s but we tend to use the VXT4’s the most.

Software: Cubase 6 – Where would we be without this sequencing package. We have used Cubase since about 2000 and it has gone from strength to strength. The automation is amazing in the latest version. It would be nice if they improved the onboard fx though as logic still has the upper hand in this department. We tend to use the Waves, Oxford & PSP plugins most.

What's your workflow?

It all depends! We sometimes start with a riff or vocal idea then write the track around that, or start with a drum groove and build on top of it. It’s always best when you have a clear idea of what direction you want the track to go in so it is a good idea to reference some tracks in the style you are aiming for.

What's more important - the idea or the production?

It depends on the type of track really. If you are doing a very simple minimal track, the production must be amazing to keep the interest. If you’re doing a more melodic track you can get away with it not being as well produced as there is a melody to keep the interest! That aside, both should be done to the best of your ability.



What's been your biggest inspiration in 2011?

For Main room production probably Afrojack & Wolfgang Gartner, as they have really brought underground house & electro into the mainstream. We are also big fans of the Spanish sound pioneered by DJ Chus & David Penn and their productions are still some of our favourites. It was great to have our track ‘Don’t Stop’ released on DJ Chus’ label Stereo Productions last month.

What are you currently working on music wise?

Our studio diary is bursting at the seams at the moment! We are always busy working on My Digital Enemy tracks, but have also recently started a new commercial project called Billionaire and have recently remixed Beyonce, Olly Murs, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Usher. We have also been working on collaborations with Jason Chance and Prok & Fitch.

Have there ever been any disasters in the studio?

Yeah when we had that really cold spell of weather last year we didn’t go into the studio for a few days, and when we did finally get there our water-cooled computer had frozen! Nightmare and a half I can tell you . . .



Have there been any major technological changes since you started out?

Well yes we started producing with notator on the Atari ST with a load of outboard gear! Technology has come so far with soft synths and audio editing, I remember the days of having to plug in all your outboard gear and use midi to trigger them all with no means of recording straight into the computer. You had to be so careful about saving the synth patches and draw a diagram of what mixer channels everything went into. Also having to edit samples on a small Akai S2000 LED screen - Thank God for Cubase’s audio editing screen! Now its possible to be working on an unlimited amount of projects at once with no fear of the mix being different when you load your computer up. This flexibility really has made such a difference to how we work.

What do you know now that you wish you had known at the start?

It’s what you know and who you know that gets you far!

Are they any production techniques that really grate on you?

Over pitch correction did start really annoying me for a while but after years of hearing it I kind of like it now.

Do you have any tips for keeping the quality level high while maintaining a busy schedule?

Lots of coffee, no sleep and hibernating in the studio throughout winter!

What do you consider before starting work on a sample pack such as 'House Anthems'?

Well it’s getting an idea for the pack then making sure that all the samples you create fit the style. If the sample pack is called House Anthems then there is no point having a load of Hip Hop beats on it!

What's on the cards for 2012?

We have recently signed tracks to Hotfingers, Floorplay, Stealth Records & Nervous Records. Also we are launching our new label Zulu Records so are pretty excited about that. Don’t forget to head over to www.facebook.com/mydigitalenemyofficial for your free exclusive producer samples and tracks!

My House Anthems features big drum loops, glitched Electro percussion, House arpeggios and Tech noise, this is one fat collection destined for all cutting edge and peak time producers.



All photos courtesy of My Digital Enemy. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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Other Features By Tom Cypher:
Perfect Stranger Takes a Leap of Faith With His New Album
Marco Scherer's Patchwork 17
Lee Mortimer goes Loopy.
Studio Talk with Organ Donors
Essential Hardcore with Sy & Unknown
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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