In this interview, we dive into the world of Electronic music production with Tom Tainted. A seasoned producer with a passion for creating melodic Electronic sounds, Tom shares insights into his journey, gear preferences, and production techniques, join us as we explore Tom Tainted’s view of music production and learn more about his processes and insights.
Hello Tom Tainted! How’s it going?
Great, had a short break from producing and now can’t wait to get back in the studio.
Can you tell us about your journey into Electronic Music production? When did you first start producing?
I started with DJing and at some point wanted to make my own tunes, that was probably in the late 90s.
What was the first piece of gear you bought?
Good question, that was either a Quasimidi Raven or a Roland MC-505 groovebox, I think I had the Raven first. Later, I also had a Novation bass station and an Access Virus. Unfortunately, I sold all of them at some point… I really should have kept the bass station and the virus.
Do you have a specific DAW that you use? Which is your favourite?
I started with Cubase and later switched to Ableton Live as it was great to make edits and mashups for my DJ sets. It got even more powerful over the years and I just stayed with it and kept updating.
Can you walk us through your usual production process? How do you approach starting a new track? Do you have a specific process that you use each time, or does it change?
It really depends what I have in mind. I’m currently working on a track that I started with a kick and a snare and some percussion. I was listening to a track and really liked some of the drums in it and wanted to use something similar, that’s how it started. I then added a bassline and some chords but later deleted all that and wrote new chords in a different key.
Most of the time it’s the chords that get a song going for me, once I got some decent chords that I like, the rest of the track develops around it.
What would be your top three essential pieces of equipment?
I don’t use a lot of hardware at the moment so really essential would be my computer, my Komplete Kontrol S49 MK2 and my Shure SRH940 headphones.
Did you receive any production advice when you were starting out that remains important in your process?
When I started there was no YouTube tutorials, so it was really hard to figure things out on your own. It was all about finding some information on the internet, reading magazines and talking to other producers. I guess two of the first things you learn about Electronic music production are, side chaining and EQing… super important to get a decent mix. But probably the best advice I ever got was to use reference tracks, not to copy other peoples music but to make yours sound as good as theirs.
What would you say is important to keep in mind when producing?
For me, that’s remembering to keep things organized. I’m sometimes a bit chaotic and it’s so easy to get carried away and just add more tracks and stuff but it’s so much easier when you colour and name your tracks right, set track markers, etc… that really speeds up your workflow especially when returning to a project you haven’t worked on for a few days.
But most importantly enjoy the process and have fun!
Can you name your most used plugins?
At the moment that would be u-he Diva, Soundtoys Decapitator and Fabfilter Pro-Q3.
In your opinion, which elements would you say are most important when building the foundation of a powerful track?
In Dance music, that would definitely be the drums and bass for me. If you got your drums right and a nice groove going, you’re already halfway there to a decent track not matter if it’s House, Techno, Trance, whatever.
We finish this interview thanking Tom Tainted for his time shedding some light into his music production journey, as well as sharing more details about his production and gear preferences. Make sure to follow him across social media to remain updated on his latest releases, as he promises more music on the way.
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