Denis Sulta Breaks Down His Track "It's Only Real" | Masterclass

Denis Sulta joins Point Blank Music School and DJ Mag to break down his seminal melodic house track, "It's Only Real" in this production tutorial masterclass in Ableton Live. First released on Numbers in 2015, the track has taken Denis Sulta to new heights with sets on DJ Mag's Best of British, Boiler Room, Cercle aswell as headlining countless festivals across the world.
We're also proud to present a new scholarship scheme that gives UK based applicants with disabilities, whose circumstances may otherwise prevent them from commencing their studies in music, the chance to study with Point Blank. Introducing the Denis Sulta X DJ Mag Future Stars Scholarship in Association with Point Blank.
Find out more about the scholarship and how to apply here: bit.ly/pbdjmagscholarship
CONTENTS
Intro 00:00
Track Beginnings 00:55
Drums 02:40
Main Synth Melody 7:44
Ambient Synth 10:35
Bass 12:48
Master Channel 14:09
Outro 15:35
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KZbin: / @denissulta
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KZbin: / djmag
Follow Point Blank Music School:
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Interested in studying with Point Blank? Get 25% off our Online Diplomas using the code DIP25 and 10% off any of our Los Angeles-based courses using the code LA10 til September 30th!
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Point Blank is an award-winning music school with courses in London, Los Angeles, Ibiza, China, Mumbai and Online. Voted 'Best Music Production & DJ School' by DJ Mag, you can learn music production, sound engineering, DJing and much more via our online courses or in our state-of-the-art studios:: www.pointblankmusicschool.com
#denissulta #pointblankmusicschool #djmag

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

Who else would you like us to bring in and what track would you like to see?

[@JoinTheBlocks]

I think Denis T'd it up nicely for Skream 🙌🏽

[@reger9325]

Paul Woolford, Vortex 150

[@jasoncurrie1983]

Mella Dee

[@j-star1]

Patrick Topping, Melé, Bontan, Route 94.

[@fakta-motion2394]

Skream for sure

[@JoinTheBlocks]

Just shows you don't need 100 channels to make an absolute banger... best ever example of less is more

[@JoinTheBlocks]

@B W most of my tracks end up in the 25-30 range to be fair but this is defo inspiration to get more creative with half that space 🙌🏽

[@vintsent7749]

In the intro he says it all. It maybe is the most honest and fun piece of music he has ever written, for me it's the most honest, fun and beautiful track ever made. I'm always trying to find words to describe what this track does to me... but honestly, I will never find them. Every year when I travel to France by car I play this one when I'm entering the south in the morning sun. Great views up ahead, between wine fields, leaving BS life behind for just a decent time, shed a tear. It happens to me every time.

[@AVAFestival]

Easily one of the greatest Boiler Room's we've hosted 🔥

[@ondre508]

Yes legendary stuff, Hubie smashed it too

[@FlanzoDJ]

Agreed💯 This track holds a special place in the boiler room history books. Iconic moment🔥

[@tims3817]

That set was insane, it's my go to.

[@athostriglianos357]

The best boiler room of all boiler rooms period

[@esmith9875]

writing & arrangement trumps sonics 9 times out of 10. Its super important to see tutorials like this. Big ups to Denis for doing it, Im sure he thought twice at some stage. Props.

[@oama2009]

These are great sonics

[@verycleanboy8235]

Man I straight up needed to see this. I overthink all my tracks into boringness. It’s nice to here someone you can look up to say it’s just about getting out what you feel 🙇🏽‍♂️

[@aldcliff9882]

I have been staring at this song in span trying to figure out how everything was done, can't believe it was so simple! Thanks for making this!!

[@caromarkx]

Sulta is so full of passion even off stage. I love this guy!

[@breenr2020]

i needed this tutorial so badly, ive been so caught up in thinking that i need to be an amazing sound engineer to make good tracks its so refreshing and reassuring knowing that one of my all time favorite dance tracks was made with such minimal emphasis on sound design.💯

[@MariaHennessy97]

You’re my favorite because you are so genuine. I saw your set at electric picnic in Ireland back in 2018. Best set of the weekend, I’ve been to a lot of gigs and you’re the only dj that you can see that truly just enjoys being on the decks. Keep doing what you’re doing 🤍

[@sssilverman]

Very grateful for this, thank Denis you are amazing. Your music is incredible and you are so generous in sharing your techniques... and thanks Point Blank!!

[@beemmeupscotty5993]

Denis is unique and extravagant in live performance. Nice track breakdown

[@trhoades2063]

One of my favorite producer's, thanks for this clip

[@etobaba]

Can't believe this only has 9 tracks in it, deffo good inspiration man. LESS IS MORE

[@j-star1]

Amazing getting an insight on his productions and mindset!

[@SunlightOfTheSpirit]

Free VST’s and not afraid to EQ. I’ve spent a fortune and get nada finished lol.

[@ronanmurphy8453]

yesssss been waiting for this for too long !!!

[@infrasurge]

Been listening a lot to this one lately! Really cool to see this

[@vdub4216]

Great insight into routing and bussing / effects management. Cheers.

[@Aidyba81]

This is fabulous- thank you ☺️

[@anishkumaruk]

A landmark tune 👏

[@busywl69]

refreshing. Love how its sitting on a uber expensive desk surrounded by outboard equipment. All you need is a little audio know-how and some passion.

[@jpa_fasty3997]

What a sick video. Brilliant

[@topdecktunes]

Remember first time hearing this. Bicep playing it in Cosmic Ballroom Oct ‘15.

[@Hi-kru]

Class vid, didn't realise it only had 9 channels! More of these vids would be great.

[@Supremessi10]

Denis is a Legend.

[@hey_lilz]

Thank you for this🙏

[@Gome.o]

Word I learned so much from this

[@sniperspa]

loved this track at that time...also putted in some mixes if I remember well

[@s6383]

This tune is a masterpiece

[@TheSideProjectMusic]

Such a great breakdown!

[@robertbutter1759]

What a cool and smart dude, tune is a fucking banger too

[@ethanmoir69]

Legend🖤

[@a_neven_sp]

True masterpiece from this guy. Just saw this video and my heart missed a beat :D

[@ronanmurphy8453]

I loved the Denis Sulta masterclass , I had been waiting for something like that for years so thank you, Could you do Patrick Topping - Be Sharp Say Nowt ? The song has over 11 million views and it think people would learn a lot from it. thanks

[@saizn9sr]

Great advice on the outro

[@garethelliot]

Excellent watch

[@wolfganghalusiak3318]

Witnessed this banger in Berghain!! BOOM!!

[@jasoncurrie1983]

such a great track

[@mickimarbhmusic]

Excellent 🙌

[@TheSiimur]

This is sooo good!

[@mickimarbhmusic]

Damn that was awesome 👏

[@keonshamlou2551]

This is wild 💣

[@roofied8153]

absolute masterpiece this, euphoria to the brim🧲🧲

[@yannfontaineproject]

Liked the outro !

[@dial_up_romance]

one minute in and already love it

[@crooksey2020]

Class 😎

[@vicarofleng23]

Came for the jumper, stayed for the knowledge

[@sturgeois]

Wicked insight guys

[@ADAMAudioBerlin]

So helpful! 🔥

[@chrisb6296]

Thanks

[@dicem8977]

I love the music of Denis Sulta, especially this track,.it has such a catchy melody. Pete Tong championed it, thankfully. Love his mum too.

[@dougdee]

Idol!

[@alottarhythm]

🔥🔥🔥

[@edenul]

those days in 2015 .... bro!

[@isaacanthonydj4124]

i just figured out how to use random patterns from my Behringer TD-3 to make a song melody for different parts, shifted into key...

[@housegrooves]

Nice!

[@famousarmystudio]

and done on a clearly very old macbook pro with a cd input on the side, proving its not the gear, its the producer

[@LP-ug9rv]

this song is one of the goats

[@jamesmetcalf2065]

What a track! Can any sound design experts tell me how he's modified that preset? Downloaded the triple cheese vst and the sound for that specific preset is way off

[@MaxFlinterman]

this was so helpful! fucking great track too :)

[@killawetbee]

is there a mono sequencer in logic?

[@microsoftpain2734]

Damn, those eq curves look crazy, but they work so whatever) Mybe that's the thing to learn from this guy

[@vigilant545]

I, as an amateur mixer, think that this topic is very misunderstood. If you compose and shape your track the eq moves can be drastic without problem. If you are a mixer and get stems from a producer you don't want to destroy the product a producer has created, so that leaves you operating in smaller boundaries. This is a sign topic not often talked about. So many mixing videos start with the raw track but it does not sound raw to me. The producer must have done something prior to make it sound good. These tracks are oftentimes clipped and controled before the mixer is doing anything and literally the mixer is adding just 10-15 % to the sound as a whole. I'd love to see more content about this thing because when you start out many people think that prior to mixing the track sounds boxy, flat and lifeless. I can't imagine that a good producer would send bad sounding tracks to a mixing engineer. Hope you get my point!

[@benhoughtonmusic]

it's mostly drastic cutting rather than boosting which is a big difference. Cutting like that helps open up space for the other parts to sit in

[@karinho_]

cool dude

[@stevenmiller213]

anyone recognize the sample pack used at 6:00 ?

[@killawetbee]

how is ableton running on that machine? that's gotta be like a 2011 MBP

[@AKAtAGG]

Not that arsed about the track, but that jumper is gold, liked and subbed just cos of the jumper. edit: jk i was already subbed and i love the track, but that jumper is def the best thing in the video.

[@hendrikvanboetzelaer9958]

Few know that you can do this randomisation on velocities and more in Bitwig

[@JimClermonts]

I couldn't find the mono sequencer in live 11. I don't have max for live. Are there alternative plugins that do the same?

[@aime_33]

You gotta download the max for live essentials under packs. Might only be available for suite

[@bci3937]

i like uhe freeware too :)

[@BenzhyM8]

Can anyone please tell me what programm is being used in this video?

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

Ableton Live

[@TounInTheHole]

Dude uses the analog mixing console as a laptop stand :D

[@liamgreen5375]

how tf do you even get max for live

[@booyakaluke]

would someone be able to explain if there are pros or cons to routing his busses as sends, as opposed to routing to a normal audio track as a bus or grouping?

[@shuffle5678]

I think that functionally, routing to a send is the same as routing to a group. Another technique in Ableton is to create parallel processing with audio group chains (aka audio effects rack, create one by selecting one or more audio effect plugin and ctrl/command g to make a group). This is basically the same thing as using multiple sends, you can balance the levels directly in the audio rack. Sends Pros - you can apply the same fx chain to multiple instruments; you can send a channel to multiple sends and then have control over the resultant sound by mixing the send levels as he showed with the the melody-pad thing (when he jacked up or down the reverb send) Cons - he's using post fader sends and sends only, so it might take more work to rebalance the levels if he wanted to lower the fader on the original channel; also if he wants a "dry" sound mixed in, would have to make a dry buss, or change the dry/wet setting on the sends which might require revisiting the send levels again. I think sends also use less CPU than parallel audio effect racks or groups, not sure on that though. So really, it's up to how you want to organize it. I've never used sends only like he does, gonna try it for my next track

[@ParasVibes]

@Point Blank More Old Skool Choons Please LOVE DA LFO Break Down

[@hectorguzman1996]

I love the bass line, its simple and great

[@robertgarvansnyder4665]

So Denis is using Return channels for his busses? Am I hearing this right?

[@119Prescott]

Bus and return, same thing in this case

[@lewt7594]

Anyone know the simple delay new version name?

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

It's now just called "Delay"

[@TehRc3]

I have a 64key midi but I still use the mac keyboard 🤣

[@maxredden9232]

Hi What is the FLstudio equivalent of the monosequencer? x

[@alexlassabeatmaker]

The actual step sequencer has all you need

[@ravirana2001]

Step sequencer where you click to sequence drums there you can do paning pitch and many more things 🔥

[@maxredden9232]

@@alexlassabeatmaker as in the menu that comes up in the keyboard tab at the bottom to edit pitch velocity etc. Of notes

[@maxredden9232]

@@ravirana2001 as in the menu that comes up in the keyboard tab at the bottom to edit pitch velocity etc. Of n

[@ravirana2001]

@@maxredden9232 that can do the same .

[@dylanroller2223]

Once saw this guy playing in NL, he was prepping with a bottle of tequila 😂

[@accidental.district]

Legend

[@seany108]

Not buckfast ? 😊

[@SEFFOfficial]

Standard ;)

[@federicozorzetto_ai]

Claire club? Ade2019? 🤣

[@lebontv6921]

He's Scottish, you sound surprised?!

[@taekstickers]

Ketty geezer

[@PrestonFaceMusic]

Fantastic tutorial except for the tip around using delay to shift sounds into thier own stereo space. Lieteral phasing nightmare waiting to happen :/

[@tomatochicken1]

is it just me or does denis sulta have the nicest scotish accent :D

[@stevencarlin5328]

I'm even Scottish and know what you mean. He sounds a bit like James McAvoy also lol. 👍

[@cacoine1321]

bring peggy, lets see if she can break down her own track :D

[@EYDuff]

lol haha

[@SEFFOfficial]

Fair play mate, it’s always those quick ones that seem to do the most damage, I’ve noticed it with my own material too!!! I played this to f’in death all over the world man, still love it!! Hit me up Dennis I’d love to do something for ya label :)

[@SEFFOfficial]

Also Camel Crusher and camel space are now built into Logic as Phat Fx and Step FX I think they’re called 🤔

[@kidchina7201]

ayee seff ive seen you live great to see you in the comments

[@SEFFOfficial]

@@kidchina7201 Class bro, whereabouts? I so need to get back out there now jeeeezus

[@Rhys5945]

me one day

[@TheSiimur]

sorry mate but this bit got me howling 2:06 ahahahahhahahahhahaha

[@nedflanders8351]

First!!

[@nutterwithbutter]

Only 9 tracks but sounds big

[@peturmagnason]

Denis needs to fix the fan on his MacBook or is it just my tinnitus pløying with me?

[@mycelliumoftheworld4807]

Intel runs hot

[@Theshortshowpodcast]

💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@CarlosCastro-yf2cp]

202

[@wendywolfman]

Is this guy from trainspotting?

[@topofthemornintoya]

Logic bought camel audio, now native to Logic

[@giorgikatamadze3386]

Charlie pace from TV series LOST would Denis sulta in 2021..

[@nomer440]

All I got from this video is he’s wearing airmax’s with adidas socks

[@MrUplandfootball]

No way my man is still using an OG Mac with a CD reader. That’s so classic

[@atollbits8870]

12:55

[@KREEATE1999]

😂

[@tmlst8925]

2nd