The Playground: Welcome to the big, bad world of music production – With Level One

Halfway through March and the sun is shining gloriously, wrapping up the entire surface area of The Netherlands in a longed-for blanket of warmth… Vacant streets are now filled with laughter from jubilant, active children and empty terraces have finally transformed into a vibrant hub of social individuals. It seems as though everybody is enjoying the early spring sun – well, everyone except me.

I have instead installed myself in the studio; a dark chamber consisting of overloaded ash-trays, empty beer cans and extortionately priced equipment that makes the place look looks like an unsterile NASA headquarters. Whilst the sunbeams outside are continuously calling my name, I stay put, as I’m here for a reason – that being the fact I’m going to delve deep into some good ole’ research by collaborating with the talented newcomer Level One. In order to provide the ‘outside world’ with some interesting insights, this project aims to reveal what it’s really like to be a producer in this industry.

This is the first chapter of: Production 101

I’ve known Bas van der Herpt, aka 20 year old Hardstyle producerr Level One for two years now. His productions, for instance, “Doomed,” display such a unique, macabre sound that instantly had me hooked! It’s not often that you hear young producers who boast such a distinctive and impartible sound. Don’t get me wrong, like every youngster there’s a lot of room for improvement, however I still love listening to every one of his tracks.

“No better way to learn than by watching the master perform, right?”

And here I am, in his studio. On his desk stands a set of sub-woofers and it feels off that this tiny room is the sanctuary where he’s created tracks that I’ve been commending for two years now. After making some fresh coffee we decide to start right away – no better way to learn than by watching the master perform, right?

It doesn’t take long before Bas gets completely lost in his own mind. At lightning speed, his fingers are flowing over his mouse pad as he’s struck with yet another blast of creativity. “So what are you doing at the moment?” My question is lost in oblivion. “This sounds fucking horrible” I hear him mumble whilst he’s fiddling to get the right sound. I try to keep up, but at times Bas is inimitable for laymen like me. Old plug-ins are closed as fast as new ones are opened…

“The screen of his laptop now looks more like a F16-cockpit”

After some time struggling, we come to the mutual decision to work with the lyrics from Linkin Park’s “Wretches and Kings,” leading us to phase two – creating a suitable melody. Opting for a typical Level One melody that matches the powerful sound of Linkin Park’s vocalist, in that moment I realised just how difficult it was to create a melody. It’s a task best defined as ‘creative destruction…’

Every time I feel we’ve struck up a cool melody, it gets smashed down to pieces – however, out of its ashes arises a better one. This tedious process repeats itself a couple of times and although I soon lose focus, Bas is still in his zone, deliberating every step until he finally ends up with an awesome riddle.

For me this riddle already sounds quite sophisticated, but Bas ensures me that our journey has only just began. “So now we need to add some plug-ins and layers to create a nice sound.” As the screen of his laptop now looks more like a F16-cockpit, Bas patiently describes the steps he takes to get to the right sound in the melody line – often added with some cursing towards his laptop.

Creating the right sound for a melody is not as simple as it looks. Layer after layer is added to the melody and it baffles me to see that Bas still knows what he is doing.  When asked, he reveals: “It took me years to master this and I am still learning every day…”

While Bas is pumping some of his producer magic into the melody line, I am struggling to correctly write down the name of the program he works with. Therefore, you can only imagine that his patient efforts to elaborate excessively on some of his magic are lost in hopelessness.

Have you ever tasted wine whilst some expert is spinning lines like: “this is a soft and elegant, medium-bodied Merlot with delicious red berry aromas, dark red berry fruit, textural oak and silky tannins,” but all you can taste is wine? Well, this is how it feels to sit in the same room with a producer. As I bravely mumble ‘uhuh’ to his explanations I have merely the slightest clue as to what he’s yapping on about. My respect for the producers in our scene is exponentially growing by the second.

“Bas is so caught-up in his production to the point where he completely ignores these biological signals…”

The six hours we’ve been working on this track feels like five minutes. My mouth runs dry and my stomach demands food, but Bas is so caught-up in his production to the point where he completely ignores these biological signals. “If everything goes well I completely get caught up in the moment and totally forget that I need to drink, eat, sleep or piss” – a malady that every producer can relate to. I eventually have to drag him out of NASA headquarters to find a proper meal.

As we sit down on a terrace, catching the last glimpses of the day’s warm sun, we start to talk about what moved Bas to become a producer…

“I always loved to make music. However, in the dark period when my parents divorced, producing was a way of letting go of all the oppressing emotions. You can say that it helped me through a difficult period in my life. Ever since, the hours I spent producing never decreased. It became a part of my life…”

As he speaks these words, devotion and joy sparkle in his eyes. “Creating a smashing kick or cutting screech generates such an awesome feeling, although after listening to it a couple times the magic becomes lost and I often turn to hate it.” As I sip my cold beer and listen to him talking, the words “creative destruction” pop up in my mind once again.

Producing is an unstable process in which one’s creation is constantly assessed, demolished and recreated until satisfaction emerges – if ever.

I know you’re all dying for a preview of what we’ve come up with so far – but be patient, because in the next episode of ‘The Playground’ we’ll treat you all to an exclusive listen!

In two weeks we will continue to work on this piece, taking along your constructive critique and thus, providing you another peak into the life of a producer!