Hello, humans! Luke Rain here. Thanks so much for being a loyal listener of The Human Music Podcast! We're currently on hiatus, but I have a new solo podcast out called Create Your Life! Please check me out over there. I have included snippets from my first two interviews with producers Evan Hatfield and Nyrus in this podcast preview. Please follow this link to go check out Create Your Life on your favorite podcast streaming platform. Follow and give me a...

Ep. 136 - [Torbjorn on Planning a Tour and an Audio Visual Set] Fresh off touring the US and Europe with Dark Time Sunshine, Torbjorn is back on the podcast! He’s been following up on the goals he shared last time with putting his vocals, rapping and singing, on his music. Now he’s ready to go off on his own headline tour! Let’s catch up with Tor and talk about putting together his own full visual DJ set, his new favorite lighting and video effects, how he’s running his audio visual set when...

Ep. 135 - [Luke Rain’s Ecstatic Dance DJ Tour] Yo Humans! It has been a while since we came at you with an episode, thank you for your patience! Part of the reason was because I was on tour! And on this episode we’re gonna talk about my tour experience, from setting up the tour dates, how to ask for gigs on a cold email, what kind of gigs to go for based on personal alignment, building community around music, the history, benefits and caveats of playing ecstatic dances, planning a set vs....

Ep. 134 - [Nintendeaux’s Songwriting & Mixing Advice] Our friend Nintendeaux, who may or may not be best friends with Sasquatch, is finally on the podcast! He’s been a Producer Dojo Sensei, DJ, producer and mixing engineer for many years and has a ton of experience to share. We talk about learning and comparing multiple DAWs, new computer problems, M1 vs intel chips, plugin issues, writing music on an MPC, resampling sounds through analog rack FX, the history of the recording process,...

Ep. 133 - [Sound Library Organization] On this episode we’re talking about doing things that support your workflow, like deleting samples you don’t like, creating folder trees based on your own music brain, tips for organizing drum samples, one shots and loops, where to put your sparks and faces, 128s, mini 128s and other types of sampler instruments we use, and building and saving racks and templates. We also dive off on tangents on making drums sound good and arrangement...

Ep. 132 - [Goal Setting for Music Producers] We start 2023 off the rails, so right on brand! Then we get into goal setting, including how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals, how to organize and prioritize, how focus is like a muscle, how to build momentum, riding the changing waves of motivation and much more. Song of the Week: Dr. KattyWhompus x Luke Rain - To the Moon f. john dvln https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/drkattywhompusandlukerain/to-the-moon-feat-john-dvln Support Our...

Ep. 131 - [Porch on Making the Music You Want to Hear] Porch is a producer, DJ, reggae bass player in the band Iya Terra, and a Producer Dojo alumnus. We get into the new gear he’s picked up lately, using modular synths in his workflow, remembering not to buy too many plugins or pieces of new gear at once, his favorite underrated ableton stock effects, his favorite plugins, expanding his musical influences, starting his reggae band Iya Terra through a craigslist post in college, why he’s all...

Ep. 130 - [EP Boot Camp] In November 2022, ill.Gates went to Denver to host EP Boot Camp, and a lot of great folks from the Producer Dojo Community came out to learn! We talk about eternal recurrence theory, writing your own eulogy, the power of starting songwriting with a strong face, how to write good elevator pitches, turning an idea into a polished song, and how fun it is to meet other music producers in person. If you feel fomo having missed this, there’s another one coming in spring...

Ep. 129 - [Random Producer Advice vol. 2] We tapped in with our humans on Producer Dojo’s Dojo TV live stream (link in the description) and answered burning questions, like: What are our favorite new production techniques? What’s really important when writing a song? How much sausage fattener is too sausagey? Do you REALLY need that element in your song? Do you need to pull out all your producer tricks in every song? Do you need to get rid of all your imperfections? Do you need to stick to a...

Ep. 128 - [How to Use Clipping for Loudness] Every electronic producer wants to be able to get their songs loud, but how do we do this? There is a lot of information about this out there, and some of it conflicts. One way that we’ve found to help a lot is using Clippers. On this episode we dive into what clipping is, how to use clipping, why we were told to leave headroom in the mix bus, whether we actually do need to leave headroom, the “skrillex bussing template”, which clipper plugins we...

Ep. 127 - [Mental Health for Musicians on Coping with Colleen] Last year we were invited to be on the mental health podcast Coping with Colleen to discuss how music professionals and artists deal with mental health, what kind of challenges and issues we come up against in general and what we have each gone through personally. We’re happy to share this episode here on our podcast, too, for all our humans to hear! Song of the Week: Luke Rain - Be...

Ep. 126 - [The Power of Committing as a Music Producer] Commitment is important to being a music producer, but what does that really mean? We explore commitment from the micro to the maco: committing to your musical phrases, committing to arranging ideas into songs, committing to practicing mixing and mastering on each song, committing to the process of learning as you go, committing to audio from MIDI and when not to, committing to your sound and committing to finishing the song and...

Ep. 125 - [Playing an All Original Set at a Festival] Luke Rain is fresh off playing an all original set at Heart Expansion festival outside Seattle at the end of August. We talk about how to set the vibe, transitioning between tempos, getting over the fear of playing chiller songs, how to get bookings, how to prepare for a show, how good it feels to have people ask for an ID on your original tune and tangents that go off the rails about tripping hazards, haunted forests, yurts, teepees and...

Ep. 124 - [How Much Computer Does A Music Producer Need?] RIP Kenny just bought a new computer… Bonus, he bought it with streaming money! (It DOES exist!) We’re discussing what kind of computer he got and why, and what specs we recommend music producers go for. Do you NEED a mac or is a PC ok? How much do you need to spend? What kind of specs do we recommend? Also, the RIP Kenny - Escapism Visual Album will be dropping on 9/22! Song of the Week: RIP Kenny -...

Ep. 123 - [Vibra Boemia on Alchemizing the Human Experience] Vibra Boemia is a duo consisting of Rebecca Elatiki and Yatri Sol, they make  acoustic music, art, jewelry and travel the country attending music festivals and medicine ceremonies. They told us the story of how they met in far corners of the world, what it’s like working in an artistic team, what medicine music means to them, what alchemy means to them and how it’s different from healing, how travel has affected their worldview,...

Ep. 122 - [Kellan. on Creating a Vibe with Music] Kellan. is a producer, vocalist and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. We had him on to talk about his origins as a percussionist, getting into production with an old version of Cubase, why he switched to Ableton, the evolution of his musical taste and style, getting into the beat battle scene, which of his songs are his favorites, his approach to writing lyrics, creating a vibe, letting go of perfectionism and the importance of...

Ep. 121 -  RIP Kenny’s album, Escapism, is now out on all streaming platforms! It’s a celebration, humans! We asked him about the inception of the album, how long it took him to complete it, how many songs did not make the album, why it’s a concept album, the hardest parts of writing a concept album, how his epic mountain bike injury inspired songwriting, his thoughts on becoming a vocalist, his process of writing and recording vocals, and if there will ever be another album. Song of the...

Ep. 120 - [Unknown Player on Show Promotion] Unknown Player is a Seattle-based DJ and promoter who has started quite a few weekly music nights. We discuss how he got into electronic music, how he began to promote music events, the importance of being present and consistent, how promoting lead to getting DJ gigs, being direct when leaving business relationships that don’t work, having the hard conversations in a kind way, starting his own weekly music events, his passion for getting exposure...

Ep. 119 - [Dream Tonic on Her Songwriting Process] From starting composing as a six year old to being trained as a concert pianist, Dream Tonic has been deep in music her entire life. She talks about her education, her time as the keyboardist for a 10 piece all female brazilian band, diving into being a vocalist, overcoming the fear of learning how to produce her own music, finding Producer Dojo, the feedback process for releasing her EP, getting her EP remixed, her songwriting process,...

Ep. 118 - [Missing Lynx on Music Mentorship and Taking Feedback] Missing Lynx is back for his second Human Music Podcast episode, so we catch up on what he’s been up to since last time, including buying a house to rent as an AirBnB to subsidize being a full time musician, the importance of finding a relationship with someone who truly supports your music career, releasing his first single as Missing Lynx after producing for 12 years, training with multiple music mentors, how to take feedback...

Ep. 117 - [Finishing an Album] RIP Kenny has been hard at work on his debut full length album for about 2 years, and it is finally done and ready for distribution! Big Up, RIP Kenny! On this episode we talk about some things you may not think about when finishing a project, why he chose to make a concept album that tells a story, choosing to maintain focus on the project at hand, and tricks to standardize your process across album tracks. Song of the Week: RIP Kenny - Open Your...

Ep. 116 - [Seth Pearson on Finding Self Love and Purpose] Seth Pearson is the host of the Love Amped podcast and runs a coaching program called Purpose Accelerator, among many other things. He believes that inner peace is possible and when we love ourselves the problems in the world can melt away and that you have innate worthiness inside you and you’re here to do great things. We discuss being intentional with what we choose to consume and what we choose to share, doing things that bring...

Ep. 115 - [Volunteering At Music Festivals] Your boy Luke Rain just got back from volunteering at the Any Patch of Grass festival, aka APOG, in Northwest Washington state and has a lot of stories to tell, and the Dojo TV chat chimed in with some great advice for folks thinking about volunteering. There are lots of benefits, from free festival admission, to getting to be behind the scenes to the amazing community forged while helping to put on our favorite events. Song of the Week: Sam...

Ep. 114 - [Christian Caicedo on Sound Selection and Engineering] Christian Caicedo is an audio engineer at Envious Audio and host of the podcast Electronic Dance Money. He talked to us about inheriting a love of dance music from his parents, dealing with impostor syndrome based off unrealistic expectations, how the Producer Dojo helped him become a better engineer, starting his mixing and mastering business, the importance of the business side of the music industry, why you’re focused on the...