Masters at Work: James Wiltshire (Freemasons, Beyonce) Creating a Drum Track from Scratch - Pt1

Download James's project and drum recordings here :: ow.ly/Wh9cE
In part one of our brand new Masters at Work Series, James Wiltshire (Freemasons, Beyonce) shows you how to record Roland's classic 808, E-mu SP-1200 and the new Roland TR-8 as well as giving plenty of insight into how they work.
Find out more about Ableton diploma courses here :: ow.ly/PnhKn
Point Blank is The Global Music School, with courses in London, Los Angeles and Online. Voted 'Best Electronic Music School' by DJ Mag, learn Ableton or Logic via our online courses or in our state-of-the-art studios in London or LA :: www.pointblankl...

[@4partmedia]

This man is the Producer's producer. Man, this guy walked me through so damn cleanly, it's scary. A true master of the craft.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+ngomusicgroup Agreed!

[@wa1no137]

Certainly not a house guy but I can appreciate this dude fully understands everything he has in front of him. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

[@doqtrshine6012]

I'd like to learn from your comment, if you'd be so kind, can you tell me in your view why he's not a house guy?

[@khalidmonzur5333]

I think they mean House music is not a genre they're into or at least not looking to produce

[@wa1no137]

Lol I mean I'm not a house guy 👍🏻

[@Audiotent]

James Wiltshire is the absolute BOSS! Always packs in extremely useful information and is most definitely a "Master at work".

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+Audiotent We agree!

[@chillwalker]

After producing for almost 30 years professionally: This was refreshing! And fascinating! Thanks, Master Wiltshire! Greetz from Germany.

[@KennyLauderdale]

Pretty good info here. I love how he knows the hidden secrets of each piece of equipment. I own the SP 1200 though I rarely use it anymore. I just use Reason or FL Studio now... But if I want a dirty sample, I can chop in FL then sample it into the SP then spit it back out into Pro Tools.

[@malenky4057]

I love watching people like this work, so genuine and talented.

[@samsidique8662]

Its been over two years and I still come back to this particular video from James for inspiration.

[@guillenrossi]

best tutorial point blank has ever done!! a mix of analog devices and tricks to design and shape the sounds using Ableton, they only forgot the cabling process for all those hardwares into Ableton

[@bobjob3694]

He's got 'producers knock' Fumbling about beneath the desk for cables he's bumped his head lol

[@TroubleinZION]

So much fun watching this guy! He knows exactly where he wants to go. One day I hope to produce like that.

[@sugarpuppies]

Watching this part AGAIN since there are so much to learn from James. This is one of my favorite online tuts evah

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+Sugar Puppies Woo!

[@nodz007]

You can get this lofi sound if you have Maschine. Just put it in SP 1200 mode in the engine and pitch the sample up or down by a few semitones. Then grab the audio from Maschine and put the sample in your DAW. Try it. Your clean drum sounds will get fatter and they will have some texture overlaid into them. You also get the artefacts of ring modulation, noise etc, similar to what James is looking for in this video.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+Nadeem Inayat Definitely a great tip

[@nodz007]

+Point Blank Music School Thanks and to add. Once I have that sample from Machine, I put it into a Drum Rack in Ableton and then put a really small amount of pitch and filter modulation on it. This way I get the slightly different nuances to each drum hit in the arrangement which Is something James also mentioned. Thanks for all your videos PointBlank. These ones and the ones by JC you do from time to time are invaluable resources for any budding producer. James is simply a legend.

[@Area32AudioMCR]

caught up with this a long time after it was shown but really enjoyed it as an owner of a lot of older hardware it was great to see the old and new integrate with each other and explained well thanks

[@DRISCOLLAZ]

Im so mind blown by all of his equipment, I have so much to learn!

[@GoodfaYou]

I’ve watched this over n over finally pulled the trigger on that lil ms1 sampler ..pretty dirty lil trick ..thanks

[@Claidheambmor]

They're really cheap aren't they? What do you think of it? I've had SP-404s and wondered if the wet sound is similar to the lo-fi sampling mode on that.

[@PsychoCaki]

At half of the video I must say my eyes are wide open while watching this! Freemasons are one of my favorite remix duo producers.

[@djvartan]

This guy is impressive.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+djvartan We agree!

[@DontPickLemons]

He knows his technical stuff that's for sure and definitely impressive, though I'd like to see him create a more interesting and dynamic beat than the typical house beat we've all heard and made thousands of times

[@simonyricools]

Addictive watching.

[@lrrrruleroftheplanetomicro6881]

he don't pussyfoot.

[@PsychoCaki]

@@simonyricools true!

[@ninjafukwan7]

JAMES I get a kick at watching you in your studio around all that awesome gear...don't care if they all get used or not !!!

[@Racingheartrecords]

Damn. That 808 sounds fantastic.

[@raffygeneralespaldon8977]

Brother James I am a sound engineer myself and a brother from Southwest Lodge 283 nice tutorial, keep it up!

[@turkscfc]

Really enjoyed this. So much passion.

[@skrie]

Back when I used Fasttracker to make beats I used to tune every clap slightly different to get that same effect.

[@bkxt]

love his 'bats & cats' metaphor

[@LFOVCF]

PURE BLOODY GOLD!

[@mantax55]

Personally, I always loved MIDI's off timing, it adds to the groove and the drift between the notes adds to the human feel. Never straight set bpm

[@misatzu]

my sentiments exactly

[@Hartekist2France]

he gave us lot of tricks, dudes! what a man. cheers

[@TheBumpdjs]

really really awesome vid - great too see this workflow and that even the pros get the MIDI jitter! I love how he just deals with it and moves on - cant tell you how much i loved this vid!

[@IUsedToBeAPygmy]

I'm in at @2:35 and I have to correct a tiny mistake - the difference in bits doesn't mean there's a difference in *samples*, it means there's a difference in *accuracy* in which *each sample* can be stored. The amount of samples is determined by the sample frequency. The bit-depth tells us how many individual values each sample can have.

[@taimans]

so professional, wow

[@adjaxa]

Great video ! It is funny that the buttons make so much noise when pressed .. Old school . Respect ..

[@mattlouv]

Very humbling to watch someone so competent.

[@AbcAbc-qb8lj]

His productions are fabulous.

[@user-jz6go2vl4h]

Thanks for this series of videos - one of the most informative I have seen. James gives some wonderful insights into Ableton and music production. More from James please.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+Roger Hembrough Nice one Roger!

[@twoscoops2]

I love and miss The Freemasons. James is awesome, thanks for the video!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Best holiday special ever.

[@DemiGodsMusic]

Brilliant video. Great idea to resample the whole loop for transitions/breakdowns etc.

[@davidstoneback6159]

Best video on all of youtube.

[@LeslieSmits]

I love his tutorial. Always nice and easy with a great sense of humour.

[@Mclennnan]

Brilliant. TY PB and the very generous Mr Wiltshire X

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+John Mclennan Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Mclennnan]

+Point Blank Music School Gunna watch it again and again. Hopefully my gear lust won't kill me first though :)

[@WorksopGimp]

Love the Freemasons sound

[@markemerson98]

ah so glad i discovered this gold nugget

[@andrewgarcia7199]

thanks Ive been a BIG fan of freemasons for many years and now you,,your a great teacher ... Muinto obrigado Peace

[@thomasmatthews5732]

This is good stuff. I actually apply all these techniques using my MPC, Casio Keyboard and FL Studio.

[@Mt84290]

this is great, I love the "cut in's". genius.

[@TheDddkkk]

you build some awesome almost like real looking midi controlelrs. love it.

[@jhonatanstadler6230]

He knows what he's doing, he has showed exactly what I wanted to see, not too extravagant but effective, using ableton's native plugins

[@bobbynikolopoulos5720]

You're background is beautiful. As an electronics engineer who wishes to go musical at one point, thank you for sharing.

[@allowambeBOWWAMB]

The Heston Blumenthal of music :)

[@fundementalroast7002]

Literally watching a Master At Work!!

[@fundementalroast7002]

@DeeJay1210 They used to be great producers , today not so much.

[@alf3k1]

The bit depth is not the "number of samples" (that would be the sample rate), it´s the number of "loudness steps" (which is the bit depth).

[@misatzu]

I wanted to comment the same thing until I realized that he said it correctly a few seconds earlier.

[@RobertParenton]

This sold me for Point Blank Music School.

[@bigulful]

Because of Audiotool,, I have used the digital versions of the TR 808 and 909. I just wish I could hold and play one in my hands for real.

[@Morenob1]

Wow shows us we are allot behind with our software applications, this is how music should be made. this are people that are behind all these Vengeance sound loops.

[@fizzygreen]

This is a superb video, explains the fundamentals so well

[@LaymensLament]

i love this guy

[@Niele160]

Exceptionally well explained, thx for sharing!

[@how3recordings]

gr8 video full of handy hints, even for seasoned professionals

[@gtao22]

Is he a real master at work? More like a genius at work in the genre!

[@robertlee1176]

KZbin needs a love button

[@djscottfrenzy]

Absolutely brilliant so interesting thanks for the upload

[@SriharshaaPrabhakar]

OMG! This is one great Tutorial. Loved the way this has been put together !

[@Punisher0107]

great job james

[@seansavageca]

Great video. I achieve the same thing with much less work. Using NI battery I simple select vintage on the sample and choose SP 1200 then tune it. The Neve and SSL comp and eq I use plugins after.

[@vincentramos6120]

damn how this dude keeps time with his left hand, that's legit.

[@cortreynolds-bolan6738]

toronto loves u bro

[@MikePreset]

inspiring..especially in buying SSL components and the sampler MS1

[@dopenerd9180]

to be highly recommended. Cheers

[@GIANT299]

ur great ...bless to have sp 1200 & the 808 wow

[@Kazemijazi]

Some pretty high peaks of ear satisfaction.

[@cheapspace]

finally someone with a pair of opals!

[@MatthewNash92]

god, this guy sounds like he knows his shit.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

+Matthew Nash That's cause he does ;-)

[@AveMcree]

yet he can't explain why the SP1200 give a specific harmonic character to drums.

[@1pauluzz1]

So what. The guy is an expert at using that machine to create. He's not the engineer who built it. There's plenty so called experts online who intellectually understand everything about certain production gear or software, but whose songs sound like poo. I'm not saying you are, but if you'd expect a guy like that to explain why the SP1200 gives a specific harmonic character to drums, you might be focussing on the wrong thing.

[@SheepdogColumbus]

Its easy to sound like you know your shit. Sounding like he knows his shit, and making some standard junk, while getting folks to think he's amazing, is a whole other level of genius.

[@F9Audio]

I certainly can - Its a whole lot of little things adding up - The 12 bit DA converter was fairly ropey by todays standards and suffered heavily from Jitter thanks to the basic internal digital clocking .. the Filter chips used inside the SP1200 are close to the holy grail of filter ICs from around that time ( filters were used to stop the digital aliasing of low rate sample playback - see here for more info : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing) . The 12 bit sampling resolution ( actually 14 bit companded to 12 I believe ) , low sample rate and filters necessary to remove the artefacts mixed with the VCAs employed gives this early digital devices enough analogue soul to make it remind many users of worn vinyl ... Top end disappears from vinyl reproduction the further into the recorded side you go - as the SP1200 had a fixed sampling rate of 26.04 kHz its probably able to reproduce as much top end as halfway through a 33rpm 25 minute album side - James Wiltshire - F9 Audio

[@nogoogleplus]

Great vid, cool to see you work James

[@mickeydavenport6955]

This lad has the 3rd Eye. Very knowledgeable

[@AlexJohn2us]

Thanks James x

[@konchus2]

why am i enjoying this?

[@slcone9051]

Impressive. Love the equipment :)

[@WorksopGimp]

One complaint its hard to hear when you hit the button, your finger makes more sound than the sample

[@ianvjones]

So good! Thanks guys!!

[@jdtorian]

Still great in 2023

[@RB-mk8un]

Grammy Nominated...How many producers can say that?

[@alphaplus3774]

Living Legend

[@PoppAlex-r3i]

Spot on! Is he so fast or is the video playing in fast forward!!! Amazing guy!!! :-)

[@Mr_ToR]

some parts (fx/mixing/etc) are actually left out and some sounds are selected earlier. So it's a bit in fast forward.

[@mleecthulhu]

Alex Popp umm no...thats house music..its always around 130 BPM

[@roxylatinfoxy]

thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!! Love your Channel

[@LaurentLaborde]

4:57 : no, i don't hear the extra harmonics on youtube. But the button have a nice sound :p

[@jjbranches7342]

I could easily hear them. What were you listening through?

[@LaurentLaborde]

Focal Alpha 65

[@LucasBarbuzzi]

I could hear them too

[@guynamedowl1313]

does anybody know how he patches his hardware into the AD ? synth A into pre B into compressor C into AD? I don't see a patchbay...

[@mikohenriksson450]

Your gear is worth more than I will earn in my whole life lol

[@dimitripetrenko9734]

Fantastic

[@AndrewLeSynt]

awsome vid ! thanks for this

[@LaszloMag]

Great stuff!!!

[@benjahnz]

So much wow.

[@jpjimmyp8041]

Great video

[@djdel1122]

Amazing!!

[@maximrowan9339]

you can add that kind character to a kick drum using redux effect in standard ableton effects.

[@JamesBermingham]

Impressive to a point. But it must take forever and a day to complete a track/song etc.. Perfectionism to the extreme.

[@penguin0075]

Amazing bloke, top advice. OT - Shorts in December? I'm a Penguin and that makes me feel cold.

[@lkbaikal]

That was fun

[@Mr_ToR]

19:38 WTF

[@kavokei1337]

Exactly my thought...

[@CoolOutSessions910]

That was a looooot of work

[@Crystal-wd5to]

amazing

[@Hartekist2France]

30:02 and this is masterpiece, nigaz! Great video production editing by the way :wink: