CHRIS SU JOINS SEASON 4 TEAM!
So this is the last artist to announce for next season, and a person that universal respect across the genre. His name has been mentioned in several past tutorials in the context of providing advice and guidance, State of Mind mentioned they learned new skills from him and recently Jade telling the story of how Chris helped him out in the early days, showing how to revive music of his and turn it into something special. Chris has been involved in the the music for 20 years with a huge list of superb releases.
As one of the commanding producers and DJs in the Hungarian scene, Chris.SU among others has put his country on the map of drum and bass. His first international break through was the track “Astro-Sine” with the well-known techno-sample “My house is your house”, in 2002 on Trace’s label DSCI4. Since then, his tracks enjoy the support of drum and bass’ finest, from Klute to Ed Rush, Concord Dawn, Pendulum, Ill.Skillz, BSE, Bailey, Flight, D-Bridge, Matrix, Teebee, Dieselboy and Andy C. Raised in a small city one hour drive from the capital of Hungary, Budapest and trained from the age of 7 as a classical cellist, Chris soon found himself edging away from the traditional music and getting into electronic music. As soon as he got his first PC in 1996, he immediately started making music in various genres such as hardcore techno and house.
We’ve received the first set of samples from him and needless to say they are superb. This is a producer who knows what makes top notch starting blocks and we can’t wait to get these out into circulation. Add this to the immense knowledge of production, sound design and music theory covered in his tutorials, we know you’re going to be very excited to be under the expert guidance of Chris SU…
We asked him a few questions ahead of next season…
How long have you been involved with D&B?
I’ve been listening to d&b since the late 90s and started to make my first d&b tunes in 1999
How did you move into production, were friends around you learning or was it something you did by yourself?
Music was very important to me since my childhood, I’ve played the cello at the local music school since the age of 7. When I found out you can also make music with computers around the mid 90s it was a natural step to me to try it out myself.
What was your first production set up and how is it different from what you have now?
In theory there isn’t much difference between my first set up and the one I use nowadays as I was always an in-the-box type of guy. I began making beats on a 486 PC with 40 MHz CPU and 170 MB HDD in 1996 on a black & white screen and cheap hi-fi speakers. Obviously as technology evolved the computing power of computers became so good that nowadays you can emulate most of the very expensive hardware units only professional high end studios could afford back in the days. I also use professional monitor speakers and a midi keyboard and a hi-end sound card.
How much time do you spend each day / week on making music?
I spend at least 6-7 hours every day in the studio. I love my job and I’d love to spend even more time with production but I have family duties now. You can add to that the weekends when I’m on the road DJing. Outside d&B I’m a part time lecturer in a local music production school
Can you give a rough outline of your creative process?
I always try to reflect my actual mood with every tune I start. It’s very important for me to work as long as possible if I catch a great ’vibe’ as the next day I might be in a totally different mood. I’m not afraid to try unusual things while I’m in the creative process of a project but sometimes I have a very specific thing on my mind and I’d like to come close as possible to it upon writing a track
What’s three of your favorite older dnb tracks?
Ed Rush & Optical – Gas Mask A very good friend of mine played this track to me on vinyl and I was blown away how well structured it was as it’s nearly 8 minutes long and it keeps changing all the time.
Capone (Dillinja) – Friday This tune never leaves my bag, perfect balance of well processed drums and rolling basslines
Kemal & Rob Data – The Encrypter I think I heard this tune in an online live stream from a Russian Love Parade. Konflict a.k.a. Kemal & Rob Data were so ahead of their time you can still play their tunes nowadays and they sound fresh. Wicked tune.
Do you use Sample Packs, do you think they are helpful if so?
I’m using some sample packs but I always try to add my own ’spice’ to it with my special processing. I never use an unchanged synth preset for a main theme of a song for example, I always try to tweak it after my taste.
What area of expertise do you think you can bring to sample genie and to help its members with samples and tutorials?
I have nearly 20 years of experience and by now I mostly know what works in a track and what doesn’t. Since I’m a trained musician, I can give something special for those who’re looking for help with building up harmonies and chord progression. Also it’s very important to me that a track’s mixdown sounds as good as possible so I have affection for both the technical and melodic side of production and that’s quite rare I think.
SO YOU HEARD IT FIRST! SAMPLE GENIE SEASON #4 KICKS OF FROM 2 -7-16
SEASON 4 TEAM: SIGNAL / DOSE / JADE & MINDSCAPE / SUNCHASE / POSIJ / CHRIS SU
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