Masterclass | Philth on finding inspiration and developing your workflow

Philth's incredible creative output is matched only by his various roles across the music industry, and during his recent visit to dBs Music he demonstrated how he finds inspiration and uses his time to maximum effect.
Not only a well-respected player in the drum and bass scene, Philth is also the frontman of Peer Pressure Records alongside friend and collaborator Facing Jinx. With his debut album in the pipeline for Dispatch Recordings, Philth's relentless work ethic continues to propel his career skyward.
In his masterclass Philth shows us how he's able to spin so many creative plates, discussing the best ways to discover inspiration and sharing his unique workflow.
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[@tbg6nb]

Very informative! I did some notes that I would like to share below: - reuse samples in many projects (don’t create kick, snare etc for every project), do preproduction- e.g. prepare snare, chop breaks etc to avoid doing it every time - samples are a good source of inspiration for an initial mood e.g. some voices, pads etc. - keep some bass on pads to not lose the depth - use tuner but also trusts instinct if it sounds good - use reverb on bass but only above the lows of the bass - use busses e.g. for bass -> he routes everything to these and they are already prefilled with fx - clean sine wave pattern may lead to losing the movement if the bass has certain movement, so usually use sub from the bass patch not separate - use bandpass for interesting mids - boosts the low end of the kick with something similar to Ableton's drum buss plugin (Ableton user here^^) - If your head is not nodding, it is not right ^^ - Gaps between things make music sound faster - if hihats are missing in the intro which only has some ambients (pads), it is hard for the dj to mix it

[@atetraxx]

Philth is literally the teacher. Love it

[@automated8493]

The guy at the front didn’t look up from his laptop on Facebook etc once, so disrespectful.. 2nd year drop-out? This was so useful, I really enjoyed it.

[@andrewjordan2004]

this video just gave me a whole new perspective on writing music and has pin pointed exactly what kills my vibe in the studio and why i feel like writing a track ism more of a task then actual fun. prep prep prep, i have thousands of samples and loops but nothing i made my self. What i need to start doing is chopping up everything and creating my own library of loops and samples that fit my style and taste. Instead of trying to find other peoples samples and loops that fits their taste. Sometimes you buy a sample pack or a plug in bank and only use 10-20% of what you paid for cause you don't vibe with the rest. Dam this has really gave me hope again.

[@dBsInstitute]

That's what we love to hear Andrew. Good luck with the future productions!

[@impossibleleap1371]

Splice sounds bro it’s a godsend just buy the samples I like out of each pack

[@Pablosko611]

@@impossibleleap1371 thats the spirit

[@mattwilson3417]

Awesome im gling to start doing the sams stuff

[@slipper-uk9878]

Phil is a don in the studio and a great teacher. he showed me some very usefull tips on sound design. its nice to have this for free on youtube.

[@esobeatz9864]

This guy is a crazy good teacher

[@zodiac909]

His intro talking about how "the music gets lost along the way," is SPOT ON.

[@danoreilly5020]

I don’t listen to d&b much these days but Philths lesson here is amazing… his philosophy on all of this is brilliant and he is completely open book with us about it all. Great bloke!

[@adenaas9108]

2 of the best tips I've heard from a masterclass/tutorial on YT 1)- don't start with the drums or you'll be listening to a kick drum for hours while developing melodies... if u make the track sound good without drums when you put the drums to it, it will sound even better and 2)- separate your sound design and music-making by this he means take one day to design sounds you like and know that you will use when making a track.. this is invaluable for me i have only just started saving sounds and instrument or effects racks and i only just found out you can drag your clips in Ableton over to the subfolders on the left where your samples are ... this can save loads of time...i used to make my kick drum from scratch every time i produced something, this was coz i enjoyed it at first but also lack of experience. cheers Dbs great content as usual

[@scatterbraincrafts]

This is easily the best production masterclass I have ever watched. By a long long way

[@ajaz_ahmed]

he just answered why i have all these unfinished tracks. Good stuff.

[@Miuc969]

This is a great masterclass tutorial, Thanks to Phill for sharing his workflow and all the useful tips! :)

[@MrVitalic85]

Golden advice. I started doing what he does a while ago by preparing ‘sample pools’ before I start to write a track.

[@monomode8133]

Productivity and tools, we need a lot of it. Separating sound design and mix down from the vibe/creative flow is a top tip. So many times I get caught up in the process of designing sounds while building up a song and I end up taking ages to form a simple concept. I'm taking all the techniques in this video to the bank. Thanks for sharing!

[@ansmfella]

Bonus tip: For a snappy AF snare, sample Philth's accented hard "K's" 🤟😎 Big up though, sound advise, and apreeeeeeeesh the share

[@malsana1]

2:58 I absolutely had the urge before to share with my friends how I enjoy a specific sound at a party, kicks, snares, bass lines, percussions, leads, .. and it has been inspiration for my productions after such parties/festivals

[@Drumvicious_]

This is something every producer should watch

[@carllewis6745]

I wish I had seen this a decade ago, wisest man on the planet!

[@chris5375]

One of the best teachers out there 👍🏻👏

[@DetoxDubz]

Great masterclass. Learned alot from the boss Philth.

[@K100music]

That was a really good talk, its great to see peoples workflow from scratch

[@joegrech7744]

big ups to Philth, nice bloke, great delivery. This was extremely useful

[@mr.anderson7233]

OH Snap those samples are from Under the Skin! Thats so cool. Such a great idea.

[@richgreen5988]

cheers, really valuable advice Philth, will defo be making the melodies first than adding drums, did try before and it worked out better.

[@LazyCloud9]

Finally! I love his work!

[@RobChinn]

Brilliant, thank you so much for uploading this for free. :)

[@lawrenceb9441]

Very interesting, learned loads! That is some serious keyboard shortcut tekkers throughout also

[@spurito]

Brilliant insight and execution! Thankyou so much

[@poor_impulsive]

awww i cant wait to get up tomorrow and chop some breaks (❁´◡`❁)

[@6THSTREETMusic]

SO helpful! THANK YOUUUU for this upload! I produce future bass and electronic music and I'm definitely inspired to upload more of my own tutorials and music on my youtube channel!

[@jeddaniell8528]

brilliant video, one of the best out there by far

[@EXKORTEX]

This is so amazing, thank you for uploading it

[@therub2191]

wicked insight into your method, oh and im diggin the stuff of yours ive heard over the past couple of years, has an edge of underlying menace about it, big up Philth and dBs

[@sybreedsTV]

Great insight Philth, wonderful watch, spreading fun and knowledge one day at a time :)

[@andykon5433]

I revisit this on a regs - Wicked masterclass

[@quarush]

OMG! THIS IS SO GOOD I NEED TO SCREAM IT!

[@sheepinsane]

Master!

[@laurensimpulse257]

Great teacher, great masterclass

[@jamesodell6050]

Some great pointers in there, sometimes agree with making samples before hand in a session, but at the same time your limiting yourself on how your songs going to go, you may get inspired from something you started on the day, or making great samples and they just don’t work together, and that’s not saving time. Cool video

[@dBsInstitute]

Good point James! It's all about just refining the process that works best for you at the end of the day. Glad you still got some helpful tips from this :D.

[@diyandochev1354]

Nice techno

[@stratagistuk]

Big up Philth! This was very good insight!

[@sramirez1906]

Super informative!

[@kiakamgar]

Making music is about feeling. It's about understanding your own flow. It's about your personal expression at the time you make your song. If all you're doing is 'bangin' out a tuuune' with a bunch of things you've made in the past, you're missing the beauty of making music. This is the reason why dnb all sounds the same and has been like that for a long time. All you're doing is making a palette of sounds, and then just mixing them and just seeing what 'sounds good' together. Why not just be a DJ and mix tracks that have already been made? Am I alone in this? FYI I've been making dnb since '91 and making music and Djing since circa. '88 (Skeleton Recording, Ghostwriters, K-Rox) Not stuff you've probably heard of. It was a long time ago, and haven't made anything since. Not sure why. ;-)

[@djb903]

I agree it's about feeling. So if you're coming up with bits and chopping samples that you're feeling all day, then when you use that as a starting point and have go-to homemade elements to work with instead of losing the flow trying to rebuild everything from scratch every time, you stay locked in more.

[@bobbynecro]

OG👌 skeleton records yes. Got some k rox vinyl in the collection

[@Stanley9863]

What a legend

[@eliase95]

Great Masterclass, love it ;)

[@djmsquared]

So many great tips, thank you!

[@dBsInstitute]

So glad you enjoyed it!

[@роман05-б7я]

Thanks👍✌✊🙌

[@andristeika1452]

I think that spooky sample was from Under the Skin ... great Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi and sound track done by Mica Levi

[@dBsInstitute]

Good ear Andris!

[@magnafide]

That's my dude!!

[@polaritymakina8440]

I dont even produce dnb but this was very educational thank you

[@jamiewalkling5592]

Thanks a lot!

[@TFuSionCobra]

Big up Phil

[@tech1238]

Thank you very much guys

[@saaaz]

this is so thorough!! instant like

[@Endle185]

The only thing I got from this is the future in council estate music is in the hands of middle class kids. So the poor who’s music it is that taken from them too. Great

[@KovarniyPi]

Holy shit, pihlth on masterclass. :OOO

[@chrisb6296]

Not a fan of his music but his methods / practices make sense

[@dBsInstitute]

Hey Chris, great that you could still take a lot away from it even though the music isn't to your taste. Thanks for watching!

[@No.0.o.0]

I trust anyone with this accent when it comes to music production.

[@psychicsidekicks]

I sampled that too when that movie came out, creepy

[@EXKORTEX]

1:19:00 and I DEFENITLY would want to listen to that

[@stenhousemuir]

lol

[@MikhailKhaliulin]

Where can I buy this tune? :) 10/10

[@john_atco]

You are right. Leave Drums out initially. By the time you have expended your creative energy producing a drum track. Your ears a tired & you are likely to have a headache. Bip blat blip blip 4 to the floor...Good vid.

[@shitmandood]

Man, that song he made was so clean and crisp, all in one go.

[@dBsInstitute]

Philth is the boy!

[@RAW78_dnb]

11:50 whats the guy on the buttom left doing😂😂

[@kidsonicofficial]

Like I've had to justify about 30 times now, Because I am legally registered blind/partially sighted, I find it easier to replicate settings that I feel help me the most.

[@kickass910]

Why is his laptop screen zoomed in so much??!

[@kidsonicofficial]

Because I'm visually Impaired.

[@antyvirusuk8056]

Does DBS focus on DnB artists?

[@dBsInstitute]

Not exclusively, we've had quite a few recently. We embrace all genres though :-)

[@antyvirusuk8056]

@@dBsInstitute ay i'm not complaining i wanna do dnb as an artist/dj

[@Ozzy-87]

Dnb production techniques can be used in all gernes, dnb is the most complex music to make.

[@antyvirusuk8056]

@@Ozzy-87 true

[@philrobinson2104]

speaking to the students before and after, there were loads of DnB heads so you'll be among like-minded people :-)

[@mattdyne]

Philth is subtly jokes, "I'm not rushing because I'm a plugin wizard, I just want reverb" Funny as fuck haha

[@SkorpionDnB]

who else noticed the guy in the front row on facebook with like size 1000 font

[@kidsonicofficial]

how many comments have I gotta reply to to inform people that I'm visually impaired. That's why my screen is at "1000 font". Does it not occur to people that some may be visualy impaired and find it easier to listen, and then watch the video back with the ability to zoom in on what Philth's doing without looking even weirder with a webcam zooming in when the vid's being recorded to go at my own pace?

[@SkorpionDnB]

@@kidsonicofficial hey mate if thats you i meant no disrespect at all, just a stupid youtube comment. I am hearing impaired producer myself and I would never mean to offend you. Love you tunes and big up man keep doing what you do!

[@adirsab]

I rarely start a track with a kick drum. its so uninspiring.

[@yesthisisdonut]

bro what in the hell is that dude on the left doing on his laptop lmao

[@kidsonicofficial]

Ever heard of taking notes? Because I'm Visually Impaired I find that it helps me to try and replicate settings that I find useful.

[@jordifilali4921]

funny how he keeps going on about workflow and not doing too much sound design and still spends more than half the time on sound design

[@autofocus4556]

Under the skin lol