This year I was invited to speak at Ableton’s first-ever LOOP conference in Berlin. I sat alongside a panel of acoustic drummers, who like me, had transitioned into producing electronic music. It was an hour long conversation about which techniques as an acoustic drummer have informed how we create our electronic music.

I spoke a lot about how think about each of the ostinatos my limbs are playing like stems in a track, and that the way they overlap and intersect is very important to me. Dan Zanziger and Katharina spoke about the discipline of their creative process, and how history of where they grew up playing also impacts what they choose to create electronically.

I linked up with designer Alison Wood who created the Reify App, and I recorded music with artist Max Markowski which is below:

https://soundcloud.com/maximilianmarkowsky/calm-down/s-kgFUk

The afterparty for LOOP featured one of the most incredible DJs I have ever heard, DJ Sarah Farina, who spins what she calls Rainbow Bass. Below is the Spotify playlist I created from her set that night, alongside Mykki Blanco.

I did an interview with Created Digital when I was in Berlin, which  you can watch below.

I since have completed the book by our moderator, Dennis DeSantis, called Making Music: Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers. It inspired me so much to see that everyone goes through the same problems – not being able to finish, not feeling like the track sounds fat enough, not knowing the right order for a track, not knowing whether to use live drums or electronic drums. The book is cleverly organized and took only a few days to get through the entire thing. I recommend it for novices and veterans alike!