2019-07-01_Computer_Music

JimMuir,akaHeist,hasbeena

prominentfeatureonthedrum’n’

basslandscapesincetheearlynoughties,

witha stringofsingleandEPreleaseson

labelsincludingMetalheadz,FullCycle,

Ganja,SumoBeatz,Playazandhisown

Co-Lab.Healsoservedasengineerto

DnBroyaltyGoldieforalmosta decade,

andnowdivideshistimebetween

production,engineeringandhisprivate

tuitionservice.May 2019 sawJim

unleashhisdebutalbum,Iacon, onLow

DownDeepRecords,oneofthetracks

fromwhichisthesubjectofthismonth’s

ProducerMasterclass.

Jimfirstgotintoelectronicmusicasa

teen,whenTheProdigy’sseminalLP,

Experience, changedhislife.“Thatwasthe

pivotalpoint,”herecalls.“EarlyMoving

Shadowwasaroundatthattime,too,and

ReinforcedRecords,andMetalheadz,soit

wasthatkindofstuffthatreallygotmeinto

musicandproductionintheend.”

Aswasanalmostuniversalriteof

passagebackintheday,Jimbeganhis

careerinelectronicmusicasa DJ.“Ata

certainpoint,I gotsofarwithDJinglocally

thatI knewI hadtoproducetoprogressto

thenextlevel.Peoplewantedtoseeme

playingmyownmusic.

“Myfirstproductionsetupwouldhave

beenaround96-97,”hecontinues.“I hadan

AkaiS2800,oneofthoseoldsilverthings

withabout 11 secondssampletime,running

intoa Studiomaster8-channelmixer.

EventuallyI gota [Roland]JV-1080,whichI

stillown,andthatwasa workhorse.”

Aftera fewyearsofworkingsolelywith

hardware,thesoftwarerevolution

happened.“Asthenoughtiescameabout,

Cubasestartedgettingsogoodthatyou

couldactuallyputaudiointoit,”Jimlaughs.

“I startedonCubaseontheAtariST,sotobe

abletoputsamplesintoit wascrazytome.

I’vebeenfollowingCubaseliterallythe

wholeofmyproductionlife.I’vegotallof

them– Logic,Ableton,Reason– butCubase

hasjustgottheworkflowforme.Ultimately,

alltheDAWsdothesamething,butCubase

hasthoseextralittlebitsthatnoneofthe

otherseemtohave.”

Backtothefuture

Today,Jimworksoutofhisnew,recently-

builtstudio,usinganimpressivearrayof

hardwaresynthsalongsideallthe

computer-relatedessentials.“Softsynths

soundamazingandI lovethem,butI

definitelyfindthatyoudogetsomethinga

littlebitmoreoutoftheactualsignalwitha

hardwarebox.

“Forinstance,whenI usemyJVorthe

JD-XA,I cangetit tofitinthemixeasily–no

EQ,nocompression.WhenI’mtryingtouse

Sylenth,ortryingtogeta patchfromAlbino

tofitmycomposition,it doesn’tseemtojust

happenthateasily.”

ForhisProducerMasterclass, Jim’s

chosentodeconstructthetrackMisery

Guts, fromhisIaconalbum.Wheredidthe

inspirationforbothcomefrom?“The

album’sinspiredbya lotofstufffrommy

childhood,”hesays.“Iaconisa fictionalcity

fromtheoriginalTransformersseries. Over

theyears,I’vesampledMegatron and

SoundwaveandOptimusPrime, and after

thatI didthingslikeDungeonsand Dragons,

• Venger–BattlestarGalactica... So there’s a
  lotof80sinfluenceinthesounds. The
  soundscapesontheintrostothe tracks
  werequite80sinfluenced.It’sall dancefloor
  stuffaswell,aimedatpeopleactually
  dancingtoit,notjustsittingdown and
  strokingtheirbeard.Therearepeople who
  lovetodothattodrum’n’bass,but this isn’t
  thatsortofalbum.Thisisa getdown and
  dancealbum.
  “AsforMiseryGuts, thevocal sample is
  talkingabouttheendofexistence, and he
  justsoundedlikea reallymiserable guy, so
  I’vecalleditMiseryGutsbecause of that. I’m
  verymuchaboutthatinmynaming: I’ll
  namethingsBritishslangwords, just
  becauseit raisesconversationwith people.”

“Cubase hasthose extra

littlebits thatnone ofthe

other DAWsseemtohave”

Inthisexclusivevideo,

Jimshowsyouhow

heproducedthetrack

MiseryGuts, fromhisdebut

album,Iacon

WAtCH

tHe ViDeo

Watch the video

tutorial on your

PC or Mac at...

bit.ly/cmuhstpm

Criminal behaviour

Selectedkitlist

HaRDwaRE

NativeInstruments Maschine

accessVirusTi

DSIProphet-12

waldorfQuantum

RolandJD-XaandJV-1080

SOFTwaRE

NI Massive, Reaktor and Transient Master

SonalksisCreativeFilterandFreeG

XferRecordsLFOToolandSerum

UaDLittleLabsVoiceOfGodandPultecEQ

FabFilterPro-Q2 andPro-L

wavesTrans-XMulti,aphexaural Exciter

BBESonicMaximizer

SlateDigitalVMRandFGX

JST Sidewidener CM

producer masterclass / make music now <

July 2019 / ComputermusiC / 43