This week, Dan Giffin sat down to chat for the EDM Prodcast.
Dan Giffin is an Ableton Certified Trainer who runs the website Live Producers Online and hosts the Ableton Music Producer Podcast. Currently based in Indianapolis, he has taught Grammy-winning artists and major acts like Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly & The Band Perry.
He also produces under the alias Philia, where he writes bass music infused with jazz, soul, and other styles. Philia is also a band when they perform live, in which Dan does improvised DJing as well as playing the drums, along with a saxophone player and keys player.
We dive into topics such as the mental side of music production, and why he believes the key to music production is mostly overcoming mental hurdles. Later on, he also emphasizes the importance of finding a mentor and learning in a structured way.
Towards the end we talk production, some of his favorite plugins and devices right now, and some great techniques for staying creative.
Links:
Live Producers Podcast → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/podcast
Ableton Live MasterClass → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/masterclass
Ableton Live 11 Discount → https://www.liveproducersonline.com/buyableton
Expressive E Touché → https://www.expressivee.com/1-touche
Smooth Operator → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjqAFIaXvSs
Connect with Dan Giffin:
Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/PhiliaMusic
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/philiamusic
Soundcloud → https://soundcloud.com/philia-music-official
Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/artist/6WS2tulZgvxGCX2OnxPbMg?si=3fkWImXcSUOwJIp5_IjJnw&dl_branch=1
Timestamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 2:00 Interview Start & GIFs
- 3:52 Dan’s Background & Becoming an Ableton Certified Trainer
- 6:26 Practice & Collab With People Better Than You
- 8:26 Listening To Different Types of Music (& Moving to NY)
- 11:02 Should You Move to A Major City for Music?
- 12:24 Does Playing An Instrument Help Production?
- 15:08 The Problem With Tutorials & Free Resources
- 15:45 Running Live Producers Online
- 17:40 What Holds Back Most Producers Mentally?
- 22:19 COVID’s Impact on Writing Music for Live
- 24:45 The US’ Explosion of Live Shows
- 27:40 How Performance Nerves Can Be Selfish
- 28:57 Working With Mac Miller & Major Artists
- 31:24 Finding Opportunities Working At Studios
- 34:04 Moving Cities For Music (Again)
- 36:35 Online Music Communities
- 38:26 Dan’s Music Project – Philia
- 41:52 The Importance of Live Show Visuals
- 44:16 Developing His Live Show
- 46:04 Accidentally Throwing A Drum Stick At A Fan
- 47:37 DJing vs Live Shows
- 49:44 Pendulum’s Insane Live Show
- 50:58 Redundancy in Live Shows
- 53:30 Dan’s Writing Process
- 55:35 What To Consider When Working With Vocals
- 56:50 Sidechaining Things That Aren’t The Kick Drum
- 58:16 Favourite Plugins & Techniques
- 59:59 Favourite Ableton Live 11 Features
- 01:04:36 The Power of Stock Tools
- 01:07:51 What’s Coming Up Next?
- 01:09:11 If you had a time machine, what would you change?
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