John Rolodex shows us the SECRET to making a track for Metalheadz in 2020 | Ableton Tutorial

Learn the secret to making a track on the legendary Metalheadz label. We get an in-depth session with Canadian veteran John Rolodex on his latest EP 'The Rainmaker'.
THE RAINMAKER EP:
○ metalheadz.bandcamp.com/album...
○ spoti.fi/32RJ06f/
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0:00 Intro
1:17 Catch up with John
8:38 La Bodega - Bass Section
13:43 Music Theory Tool
19:27 Arrangement
22:36 The Rainmaker
24:57 The Breaks
26:03 DMG Equilibrium
32:27 How to Make Pattern
33:45 Vocal Trick
36:34 John Recalls a Story About Me
40:03 Conclusion
DISCLAIMER: Links in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you free content each week!
Demystifying music production so that you can succeed in making music!

[@STRANJAH]

👉1000 LIKES please! Who else would you like to see on my channel? 🙂

[@divineintervention7925]

If you could get a Liquid producer on to do a track breakdown that would be fantastic!

[@alejandrogr9516]

Skynet. As producer and sound engineer.

[@pyroghost11]

Any big name from your country like Catacomb or NC-17, Psidream, Pacific especially

[@gtabro1337]

@@alejandrogr9516 Whoa, jumping into the big league names right away hah. I'd love to see HLZ, discovered his music only last year and I've been in love with his production since.

[@makevi7176]

skeptical, kiril, friske, mikal, hlz and many many more....

[@jmcframe]

Imagine doing one of those with Paradox and he just sits there with his Commodore C64 and some tracker software from 1995 switching ZIP drive discs. I'd love to see that.

[@sutusmihaly]

..same idea Ive had 🖤 but he's using an amiga 😉

[@jmcframe]

@@sutusmihaly Ah yeah you're right.

[@Hedphoniks]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3XRaI16mN1srZI this is kind of similar to Paradox's approach

[@R4NS0M]

Late 90's, my friends and I were so obsessed with dnb, and getting to a level where we would have dubs to play in our sets. My younger sister would overhear these conversations sometimes, and one year for Christmas she asked if she could buy me a dubplate as a gift.

[@lateralshiftmusic]

The length he goes to make those breaks is incredible, massive respect to him!

[@STRANJAH]

🤓 THIS is going to be a long one (40-minutes) so watch it in parts if you need.

[@My_man_G_UK]

One time standard! 👊🏾😂 Big Up 🦁

[@phillipburian3297]

really like this longer videos. This was very interesting to see and i learned some cool new things. Big up!

[@reinhartrolfson2048]

My ADHD says thank u ❤

[@user-ug9cs4uk1q]

Awesome, thank you

[@Delusional_Rhythm]

Dope feature Stranjah, keep it up my dude, you're the best drum and bass channel on youtube.

[@STRANJAH]

I appreciate that!

[@dualidentity]

When I went to Toronto International Carnival in 2004, I went to Eastern Bloc Records and met Ryan Ruckus. I go to every record shop to find out the local DnB events. I also went to see Shimon at a restaurant on Queen St with a basement where the club event was. Good memories of T.O.

[@BreakbeatAuditor]

Who remembers Cartridge and John Rolodex - Light Cycles? Banger tune.

[@STRANJAH]

Glad you brought that up, loved that tune.

[@UgoZg]

One of my favourite tracks EVER.

[@rebusd]

I knew John back in the late 90’s and he was always on the front end of music. Never saw a dubplate in my life before going to his reno’d basement for a hang

[@bardistass]

Rolodex is a bloody surgeon... Those drums though! *kicks nan down the stairs* I love that story at the end... This youtube channel is evidence you still go that extra mile for the scene... I love that. If this was football and DnB had a stadium, there would a statue of you outside it for sure Shout out to Rolodex too for a brilliant tutorial

[@ahdsr307]

What a trip down memory lane when I hear the name Mystical... one of my favourite local DJs. Not sure how I haven't come across your channel before, big thanks.

[@seansley]

Yes on Vinyl Syndicate! I'm an old Toronto junglist from the late 90s, now based in Goa, running Goa Music Lab. Sniper, Capital J, BASSMint, Dose events... Was an infinitely inspiring scene and time. Great video to see real-world production techniques, learned a lot.

[@tonyleparty2858]

His sound is very old school, in a good way. I remember this from the late 90. Nostalgic sound.😊

[@milan9398]

When I saw this was going to air, it instantly made my day! Love to the both of you guys for putting this out!

[@LeMeAtOm]

absolute quality! solid content as always Stranjah!!

[@SonicGasoline]

This is a genuine gem in terms of helpful content for producers. I watched the whole thing start to finish and learned a lot!

[@adrouf1]

Great to see the process. Thanks for this video.

[@torontojungle]

The whole video is amazing, great insight into rolodex's process, that story at the end was classic, big up stranjah

[@loma-uu5mg]

These videos are an invaluable resource. Much appreciated!

[@lowpro5743]

Yes John! Love ya guys! Massive Respect.

[@djkrptdnb]

Thanks for this one, just now getting to the end of it - it’s been one of the most helpful for me in terms of the breakbeat processing and editing - but the tips from the first tune were great too!

[@IncisionSheffield]

This is a gem of a video, some great insight into his process.

[@spatiallllk]

Love how you started just catching up and having a regular conversation. Made it feel much more pleasing and personal.

[@jameslutze]

Looking forward to this one guys 🙌👍

[@Mr.TeETH78]

Such good vibes and great information! Thank you both for sharing your talents and tricks! I learned so much!

[@jasonlieberman4606]

EDM production videos are a dime a dozen here, especially house. Thanks for making dnb more present.

[@STRANJAH]

most welcome!

[@codenamedashman1541]

This was so dope! Rolodex is a beast. Thanks so much for the content. :)

[@Nick-be5hh]

Such a valuable conversation! Big up!

[@x26musik]

this is so valuable big up stranjah. Rainmaker breaks were so sick it was amazing to see how he made them

[@gertfukked3082]

This is amazing 👏 some great tips and also good to have some validation for the way i have been learning production without much music theory. Love it

[@DrumandbassNL]

This is a great piece of content, thanks for all the insights and cool background stories!

[@blkrbbt]

I gotta say, I'm so glad I'm late in the game with music, and even finding your channel... lots of backlog for me to learn off of, and it's such a comforting vibe...

[@bonifacedubss6302]

how amazing, massive respect to both of you, in all honesty i haven't heard of John Rolodex before this video. absolutely brilliant, so many ideas to take on board, thank you both loads, happy Christmas and a happy new year, from me Rob Boniface.

[@wedfrest]

Love it. Nice one guys!

[@aviveyal07]

This was awesome, insightful and aspiring. Thanks for doing this! Def more at this form will be nice.

[@STRANJAH]

Thank you defnitely more coming

[@niceup1177]

stranjah and rolodex you absolute dons. all these videos are better than gold. sooo insightful watching mr rolodex work those breaks.

[@souljorn1]

Hell Yes!!! Great video. So informative.

[@ViperShortz]

Just wanna say big ups to you @stranjah for all of your content so far, its been a huge help and fun to watch, I really enjoyed watching this interview and hope to see more behind the scenes. This kind of thing is what really helps our scene to evolve and grow into the young teenage beast that it is already. Thx Ash / DJ Instinct

[@kray9438]

Holy smokes this is insane! Two legends in the house! Taking down notes and studying hard. Thank you both for this incredible insight! Both great teachers, inspiring the next generation of headz 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@FirstoftheFallen]

Great and insightful video. Always good to learn from each producers individual approach. Shows theres no right way of doing something - its whatever works for you.

[@thinkingisthebox]

This is GOLD thank you gentlemen

[@MikeDeanOfficials]

He’s amazing. Thanks for this Stranjaaaaaah

[@2intoonmusic670]

this video was Mega helpful mate, thank you!

[@nickstreet83]

LOVED this. Thank you

[@alexgarber7910]

Awesome! Thanks man!

[@genkibald]

I walked past my vinyl collection in storage the other day. My eye caught the dragon ep.i had a deep craving to hear it through a needle but sadly everything still in storage. This is the video only my subconscious knew I needed to see. Brilliant thanks

[@richardyoung8213]

Had the pleasure of meeting John once. He was a Gentleman. Thanks STRANJAH for all the insight Respects

[@jeffsymons7084]

I never knew Marc Royal moved to Canada. His production skills were way ahead of the time back in the early-mid nineties. Good to know he is still around helping other producers get a clean mix and master. It is a massive shame he doesn't make dnb anymore. If you ever get a chance to talk to him or have him on the channel it would be the greatest thing ever for me. Fantastic video by the way. Really appreciate seeing other artists on the channel. Everyone has their own style and ways of doing things so it is great to see the workflow, techniques and ideas. Shows that there is so many different ways to get a result and everyone can always learn from each other. Love what you do for the community. Even though it's a niche subject, you really deserve more subs.

[@ianmelven7365]

Thanks very much to both of you, lots of good tips ! The end brought back some memories of driving up to Toronto from Boston for Syrous events in the mid-90s :D

[@carveh13]

This was awesome, amazing info!

[@djmatinay]

loving the long form breakdowns

[@AlejandroGuerrero]

Guys incredible work! Thank you! Cheers from Madrid.

[@greenleaf504]

Absolutely wicked video. I watched it in one sitting. Big up, guys!

[@STRANJAH]

thank you!

[@krismatic06]

john rolodex - light cycles tune is one of my favorites!!!! glad he's back!

[@JinbumusicUK]

This was dope. Thank you

[@carbon1479]

Love the Final Approach flange on Rainmaker.

[@marklowings5476]

Such a good tutorial. Thank you John & Stranjah. Metalheadz is the style I’m working really hard to try and achieve and this is tutorial gold for me. I would love to see a tutorial from Jubei or Friske . Keep up the good work.

[@tylerfrost9186]

Amazing material!

[@jedhubic]

This video is like a dream I'm not sure is real. Thanks!

[@dartzero758]

Thanks for sharing. Excelent !!!!!

[@RussDnB]

Superb video! Thank you both!

[@STRANJAH]

Glad you enjoyed the content!

[@StanAllDay]

Supper dope! TY

[@ZONE6666]

Props to Rolodex and to you Stranjah for this insight!! i was so exited to see some actual metalheadz breaks in action! i'll be studying this video over and over :) Respect !

[@STRANJAH]

Great I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@milan9398]

Have been looking for a while to find some good techniques of actual quality breaks. This is a proper one!

[@dja-myx2781]

Loved this. I subscribed

[@shawngrove8543]

awesome ! i appreciate it !!

[@adamh1005]

Such a good video !!!!

[@telmwilson2167]

Great tutorial, good workflow tips and tricks!

[@MrMarklew]

This is awesome.

[@bohman3231]

I've had this one on rinse and repeat !

[@STRANJAH]

Amazing man!

[@alexwild1435]

This is so cool. I’ve been a fan of John since I picked up his first two EPs on Dread back in the day, from Black Market. Then he came and played at the Islington Academy and blew my mind with his newer stuff, sounded unlike anything else I was hearing at that time. What a legend.

[@ultrajayme]

Dread. Now there's a label I haven't seen in a looooong time

[@tactic_dnb]

Great Video!!! Thank you STRANJAH!

[@shawncartwright]

This is amazing.

[@DrPepper776]

So sick thank you for this stranjah and thank you john!

[@sssss3750]

SICK!

[@professorwreckless1]

This is great! Thank you 🙏

[@Artersa]

“Releases from Tech Itch and Freaks” Yooooo!!!! I cannot wait to absorb from this video. Absolute love for these labels. Big ups Stranjah, I love how youre involving other producers into your videos. Really helps seal that this is a community. Edit: Watched the video and the time melted away. Awesome, awesome video. I really hope this becomes a more routine thing, especially since the workflow is different from yours. Shines a light on the various ways to work in dnb. Can’t express enough how cool this was. Big ups.

[@STRANJAH]

Thank you man, that's what I hope to do, provide you guys TONS of value.

[@djgalebcn]

Thanks for creating this content! Music divulgation at is best form!

[@SpennieLence]

Oh man, you are a god send to music production tutorial videos on tutorial. Big up ya chest Strangah!

[@STRANJAH]

You're welcome!

[@Swancore1]

What I found interesting was the difference of John's audio workflow vs TC's midi workflow. The comment on how it is time consuming but you get the control was interesting. TC stacks alot of processing and shaping of samples inside the drum racks allowing you to organized drums in one lane. Seeing SPY doing his 15 track rule songs vs Metrik's 150 plus track songs is interesting too. I loved seeing how different people's work flows can be and how revealing this video was. I do like the idea of creating super loop and arranging song from there. There was a tutorial I saw that took inspiration from Stephen King's writing and starting with climax and working way from there and John's style was similar to that tutorial which I think was a producer dojo tutorial. Nice to see that theory essentially come alive in John's production style.

[@adamonline45]

OMG so insightful, and validating! I love audio over midi for drums, and that website with the chords! I am also not musically trained (barely inclined)... Also "have nothing but choices and then start arranging." Can't say how many times I had to hunt to fill in a track and it changed the direction of the track and more often than not, it would fall apart... EQing drums to a note is brilliant! Beatbox as a template... I never remember the sound I want to go for by the time I find a sample to achieve it, but that'll lock it in... I really appreciate John sharing that amazing track, his workflow, and spending his time with us!!!

[@wallrider1538]

Very interesting work flow and techniques. Thanks for sharing this video. It is very helpful to be able to learn from such experienced people... Regares❤❤😎😎🙌🙌

[@gl6338]

Props to Rolodex, he is a D&B Ninja for real!

[@rekall76]

absolute legend

[@MrMallum]

I used to work at Vinyl Distribution and we used to send a lot of beats to Eastern Bloc. Big up the Canadian steppa’s!!!

[@LawrenceAaronLuther]

This is right on the money, thank you both!!!

[@STRANJAH]

welcome!

[@zk2532]

Stranjah's face from trying to absorb all the golden nuggets from JR to base his next 15 videos on! Priceless! Great Video - I'd suggest Dillinja but that would probably be too mind blowing!!!!

[@itsdjdozer5025]

Sooo helpful. I will use look ma no hands for my tracks from now on. That’s my biggest struggle.

[@E-1K]

John Rolodex is a bad, bad, bad man. 🔥 Had fun with that Trash 2 vocal thing today. 👍

[@drastikdreamz]

John Rolodex is a natural teacher

[@drastikdreamz]

Let's give people a little taste ^-^

[@freeradical82]

great vid thx so much!

[@SirTheoTheWhite]

The Rainmaker is such a banging track! 👊🏻 I’d love to see John talk about making Light Cycles with Cartridge. Also, “saving as” after each addition/change to a current project is very good advice. Just having a folder with multiple version of the same track/project is Extremely helpful.

[@trevor4835]

This is blowin my mind! Never thought id see big dnb names in a setting like this 😭

[@chiefthomson]

that was great insight, great help and a nice chap it seems ;)

[@guillaumed4145]

So interesting, thanks for sharing :)

[@Alecc_93]

Love this 💙

[@RITUALMUSIC]

Two Toronto legends! Makes me feel good being a dnb producer in Toronto :)

[@mildsteven77]

John Pops up on my suggested FB friends quite often. It was nice to kind of meet him via this video 😂

[@DirtyBeatsBassTV]

wow TBT i have not seen mystical influence & Sniper since 98 / high school in Boulder CO . big ups on this vid.

[@richardcrossman9276]

Stranjah: You should use Splice, it allows you to add descriptions when saving a session and also keeps a version history, which you can restore to an earlier saved version. This saved my life a few times!

[@danieltheis4016]

Wow Alan, this was insane. What two chill guys. I learned a lot from this one. I would be highly interested in Photek if that would ever be possible.

[@STRANJAH]

Thanks we'll see!

[@ZONE6666]

@@STRANJAH I'd like to see haha

[@1234321mike1234321]

Hehe good luck mate, Mr. Parkes is a tricky one to get old of...

[@ultrajayme]

Photek 20 years ago, sure.