Bohemyth - Learning Rules to Break Them - Music Production Podcast #435

podcast
Written by Brian Funk

Beau McLeod is a music producer and educator, who makes music as Bohemyth. Beau runs Low End Candy, where he designs plug-ins and Ableton Live tools. His newest plug-ins are Preverb for easily creating reversed reverb, and Slingshot for creating reversed delays.

Beau spoke about his journey learning how to make plug-ins and tools for producers. We discussed how he came up in the music production world by working with some of his favorite producers. Beau shared some of his insights on how to develop a unique sound and stand out from the crowd.

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Episode Transcript:

Brian Funk (00:01.08)

What's up, Beau? Welcome aboard. Good to have you, man.

Low End Candy (00:03.63)

How's it going, Brian? Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk (00:06.156)

Going good. I'm I'm happy to see you in person. I like I was telling you earlier, I've been following your stuff. a lot of cool tutorials and information you're sharing on YouTube and low end candy's got a lot of really nice tools, plugins, Ableton devices. yeah, you you're doing great stuff and it's fun to talk to somebody that's involved in all this. So yeah, so you kind of reached out about preverb.

Low End Candy (00:29.838)

Likewise.

Brian Funk (00:36.3)

Which is a really cool effect, reverse reverb type of thing. That reverse reverb is usually one of those things when you go to do it, it's like, all right, you gotta kinda set it all up, you gotta record it, you gotta bring it back, re return it, move it into place and you've really simplified that with this.

Low End Candy (00:36.398)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (00:48.13)

Mm. Mm.

Low End Candy (00:54.444)

Yeah.

Yeah, I like to think so. I mean, I've been doing it forever. I've been doing it since I started producing.

I've used a bunch of different techniques. I know a lot of different artists and producers who have used it. You can use it to like foreshadow a sound. You can use it to kind of like build a a riser almost. And as technology's kind of been advancing, and I've been getting my feet wet with like Ableton Macs for Live devices and and being able to create VSTs. That's one I had in my the back of my head that I've always wanted to make. I feel like a lot of producers have probably had like a plug-in somewhere in their mind, they're like, it'd be really cool if they had this. And now we have so much cool stuff where

It's like you can kind of realize that that vision and that's kind of what I did with Preverb is something that I know that I do all the time, simplified it, optimized it, and then made it accessible to everybody. So that's kind of the idea behind it.

Brian Funk (01:48.396)

Yeah, that's one of the ones, I guess, where it just cuts out a lot of heartache, a lot of stress of of the process where I mean, it's a really cool effect. You so if anyone's not sure what the reverse reverb effect is, it's it's sort of this like swelling that happens before the sound and you get it by recording the reverb of a sound.

And then reversing the reverb and putting it before the sound so it comes in backwards instead of after the sound. And it kind of creates a little anticipation, a little moment of excitement. But it it's kind of it's a lot of steps and it can be a little annoying. Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (02:25.218)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (02:29.612)

Yeah. Especially depending on what doll you're in. God forbid you're working in like Pro Tools or something. Like I wouldn't even know how you would do it in Pro Tools, but I'm sure it's sure it's hard.

Brian Funk (02:38.28)

Mm.

I guess like the bounce features that are in live now have helped a little bit with some of that stuff. I love those new bounce features. They're there's so much you can do so easy now and

Low End Candy (02:47.382)

For sure, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (02:54.552)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (02:56.769)

But yeah, it's a really nice interface, clean and a lot of fun to use.

Low End Candy (03:03.458)

Thanks. Have you been playing with it a bit?

Brian Funk (03:05.535)

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you might start hearing like reverse reverb on a lot of tracks I do now. Yeah.

Low End Candy (03:11.766)

Yeah.

Yeah, I I I mean, just from basically how I've used it, I know there there's certain types of reverb that sound really good and ones that sound good in situations like vocals, like reverse reverb into vocals is like mandatory. Like I always do that because it tells the listener the vocal is coming, gives a nice kind of like lush sound into it. And then the cool part about preverb is you can actually also keep the reverse reverb playing throughout the clip. So there's a setting where you can have it basically end on the first transient or

Or you can keep it playing through and then it's got a really cool like reverse effect throughout the entire sample. So yeah, I've I've all kind of always done the little tail on my vocals, but having like the reverse reverb play through the the vocals is something super new I don't think I've ever seen or heard anyone do. So yeah.

Brian Funk (04:00.343)

Mm.

Yeah, I was thinking that would be fun to use with some kind of side chain to kinda duck it out of the way when the singing's happening and then just kinda swell in and out.

Low End Candy (04:09.134)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (04:12.95)

Yeah. It does have a ducking feature too, which is cool. So it doesn't like crowd up your vocal or whatever if it's playing over, you can get that ducking. Which is another thing with, you know, reverb if if it doesn't have a ducking feature you have to like side chain it in parallel and like so I kinda tried to take all those like

Brian Funk (04:16.015)

I didn't see that. Yeah.

Low End Candy (04:32.268)

labor intensive steps out because my philosophy with production has always been like get to where you're trying to go as quick as possible because it's like a race for your brain to stop being creative. And that's what I tell a lot of my students is like becoming better, more efficient in Ableton and in production in general is gonna make you a better producer because for me it's like I get an idea, I'm inspired, I sit down, and then if it's gonna take me three or four hours to get that idea down, I'm like fatigued, I'm over it, I'm kind of like in a space

Where I'm like not amped about it. So every step for of my production for me has been like, how can I optimize this and like get this done as quick as possible? So there's a lot of like Ableton Macs for Live devices, as I'm sure you know, like shortcut buddy, No Noir Labs I think it is is like a tremendous one where basically you can map any key to open a plugin. So for me I have like P for Pro Q or like E for EQ eight and just those little like steps here and there

really like optimize your flow and help you get to where you're trying to go faster. And so like a way it was put to me a long time ago is like I'm like a really big car guy and I really like the McLaren F one when it came out. And the way they made the McLaren F one is they took this car that was already like tremendous and they

They increased it and made it better in the smallest parts possible. Like they were literally shaving down washers to like add that like point zero zero one whatever it is ounce of weight reduction. So like optimizing your flow just like a teeny bit here, a teeny bit there, I feel like has helped me to become like a way better producer. So that's kind of like another part of the thought process of Free Verb.

Brian Funk (06:15.703)

Hm. Yeah, I I agree with you totally. I I framed it a little bit differently when I talk about it. little things like even just searching in the browser to find your EQ and then just clicking arrow enter will save you five, ten seconds. But if you th yeah.

Low End Candy (06:28.334)

Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yeah.

Yeah. But in a session, you know, that adds up.

Brian Funk (06:41.513)

If you think about all of those plugins, all those devices you put in, if you're saving five or ten seconds every single time, you're over the course of a year, I mean, you might get a couple extra sessions back. But the way you put it too, like just the creativity, the inspiration, it it is so fleeting. I I think of inspiration like drinking water out of my hand. Like if you don't drink it, it seeps through your fingers and

Low End Candy (06:48.163)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (06:53.944)

Right? Yeah.

Low End Candy (07:04.558)

Yeah, exactly. yeah, a hundred percent.

Brian Funk (07:09.535)

It's like always getting away from you. So that's that's a really good point that it does help you stay in those moments.

Low End Candy (07:12.14)

Mm.

Low End Candy (07:18.178)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (07:19.639)

'Cause that's not the fun part of making music, it's like, cool, let's go on the browser and let's you know.

Low End Candy (07:23.638)

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, which I mean you know, Ableton coming out with Max for Live, like really opened the door to like realizing your ideas and now we have so mu much tools that allow us to like like Ableton just came out with extensions which is great. I don't know if you've played with extensions at all.

Brian Funk (07:42.431)

A little bit, yeah.

Low End Candy (07:43.811)

Yeah, but stuff like that, like even Ableton seeing like, okay, like this is what people are wanting right here. They're wanting like quicker ways to do this or they're wanting which makes a lot of sense. Like there's a lot of debate with AI and and music production and my take is is if if it's helping you get to where you're going faster or realize your idea faster, like I'm all for it. So I I mean that's kind of been my take with with using AI and your own plugins and whatnot.

Brian Funk (08:12.382)

Hmm. Yeah, speaking of the extensions, your video is one of the first ones that I came across about them. like of somebody actually making them. And it it looked like you were do you were doing it you were coding like through AI, right? Like just asking it and I mean that's such a cool thing 'cause for me, 'cause like I'm not I don't even program Max for Live.

Low End Candy (08:26.424)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (08:33.196)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (08:42.586)

So, you know, coding is that's not where I'm at. And it's not where I wanna go spend my time and learn too. So yeah, the the possibility for having like extensions kind of brewed up for you if you can just think of the idea and then have it happen is it's that's very exciting. and it's kinda cool that they're doing it that way because it'll avoid feature bloat, I guess.

Low End Candy (08:49.238)

Exactly, yeah. Exactly.

Brian Funk (09:11.764)

You know, 'cause if they put in all of these ideas that people are coming up with, like it's like I'm gonna right click on a clip and it's gonna, you know, be this menu that like like a C V S receipt or something. It goes on forever.

Low End Candy (09:14.903)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (09:20.586)

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. They're kind of just giving you the power, it's like

That's kind of always been the thing with me with Ableton because I started in in reason when I first started producing and then I eventually moved over. I knew I was going to Ableton just because like you can't really argue with the numbers of like some of the producers who are using it. but the flexibility to like really make it your own has always been like kind of my draw to Ableton of like you can take this and you can build chains and racks and groups and templates has always been like this is perfect because everybody's workflow is like

a little bit different and if you've ever used someone else's template thinking it would be better for you, you know what I'm talking about where you're like I do stuff so different and that's what makes me like unique as an artist. So that's like for me, for Ableton and and all the the extensions and whatnot is is so exciting about it.

Brian Funk (10:19.52)

You've been coding in Max for Live for a while now?

Low End Candy (10:22.794)

Actually no, I I kind of started to get my feet wet with Max4Live pffff probably about a year ago and my first idea for a Max4Live device was we have you know we have MIDI generation tools now since twelve I believe they came out, Ableton twelve. and we have ones that can generate

you know, chord progressions and ideas and whatnot. But then I started thinking like, what if there was a way to describe a chord progression and then have AI help you realize that chord progression? And there's a lot of debate around this topic, because people are they're gonna have the people that are the naysayers and they're gonna say, Well you're using AI to generate chord progressions. my take on it is

If you, you know, say you're a newer producer and you know what you want something to sound like, but you just don't know how to speak the theory, what if you could have music theory basically speak your language? And that was the idea for my first match for live device, which was Crux chords. And basically this was a box that in a MIDI generation tool that connected to open AI, and you could say, like, hey, I want a chord progression that's dark, that's trappy, that's gonna work well at 130 BPM, and I want you

Low End Candy (11:46.347)

And so that was the first one I put out. The I think the idea was there, but AI still to this day I don't believe is the best for like generating like MIDI ideas or chord progressions. So that one was kind of like some people really liked it, some people really hated it. but that was the first time where I kind of started to see how some of the tools we have today can help you create Macs for live devices, even if you're not a developer, because I am in no

Way, shape, or form, a developer or a like I don't know any of these like C or Python or anything like that. We just have tools today that can help you again, kind of like I was talking about with the chord progressions, help the code speak your language. So the code is now coming to you, and you have the accessibility to explain to something what you want the code to do, and then the code's gonna do that. So that's kind of where I

Started playing with Max for Live in in general. And then my next thought is like, well, why are we limited to Max for Live devices if we have all these amazing tools? And that's where, you know, I started to look into what's possible with creating your own VSTs and plugins. And it's it's not as nuanced as you might think. So

Yeah, I still play around with Max for Live. There's a lot of cool tools out there that can can help you build devices. But at this point, it's like right when extensions came out, I was super hyped on them and I still am. But where we're at today, it's almost like it's almost just as accessible to start creating

external VST than it is to go back there and program a Max for Live device or an extension. So that's kind of been like my path the last year of figuring out like, okay, well if I can do this, why can't I do this? And there's definitely some technicality to it, but I feel like

Low End Candy (13:49.113)

You know, if you're if if you're somewhat savvy, there's a way to get there and start creating your own own ideas. So

Brian Funk (13:58.848)

Hm. Well, a VST or w whatever format you make a plug in in can reach a lot more people too. You know, you're not just stuck with live. everything is now open.

Low End Candy (14:08.426)

Exactly, yeah. Yeah.

Low End Candy (14:14.208)

Exactly. Everything's open for those of you who are hard headed and don't want to come over to Ableton. You can still use the plugins. But I still will try to push you to Ableton if you're in a session with me.

Brian Funk (14:19.983)

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean it's okay, but I don't know why you wouldn't wanna come over. I have a couple of friends that are still in other Daws and I'm like, I'll help you

Low End Candy (14:28.631)

Ha ha ha.

Low End Candy (14:36.044)

Yeah, it's it's like car manufac like if someone's a BMW guy and you're like or no, like the right comparison is if someone's like an Android person. Like everybody has that Android friend and it's like, dude, you're messing up our group chat, like nobody's getting good pictures, like it's just a mess. Like just come over to iPhone. It's so much better. We have this, this and this and they're just so that's that's kind of how I think of people in other DAOs. But teach their own. I know there's some incredible features in some other DOS, so

Brian Funk (14:49.042)

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk (15:03.593)

Yeah, and at the end of the day I think it's what you know, you know, what you know how to use and and the people I'm thinking of are actually making music and they're you know, in pro tools or whatever and they they got it down. They use it the way they use it and that's fine. So learning something new or getting s a new toy, new piece of gear, as much fun as it is to get it and it might open some doors, it does also kinda set you back a little.

Low End Candy (15:07.381)

Exactly, yeah.

Low End Candy (15:20.995)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (15:32.664)

Totally, yeah. Huge learning curve. Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Brian Funk (15:33.865)

You have to now figure it out.

Hm. What is just out of curiosity, like is there a certain software you use to make VSTs? I mean, like a platform or actually know nothing about that.

Low End Candy (15:51.393)

So I I've gotten pretty heavily involved in AI over the last year as well. first it ca it stemmed from automations and like I'm a big like in everything I'm do I do going back to like the McLaren comparison, like I want everything optimized. And so with some of the tools we have we can really automate a lot of stuff and then getting into AI and and discovering what AI can do with certain tool stacks,

Really like there's codecs, there's claude code, there's all these different like coding AI tools and I use a kind of nuanced like stack of different tools to do this. But what I tell people looking to like kind of get into that side of things is like you can really just ask AI and like it'll it'll kind of push you in the right direction of of how to do it. now there definitely is like some

At this point, and this might change in the future, there's definitely some points where you want developers to step step in and take a look at stuff. There's definitely places you need to be knowledgeable in, but it is getting more and more accessible to to everyone. And so

Yeah, I would say any of the AI coding languages is something to take a look at if you're looking to kind of get into that element, that aspect of of creating your own VSTs. And then there's the getting them and this is all stuff I've had to learn the hard way, getting them

basically signed off by Apple to where Apple's like, okay, this is a this isn't gonna crash someone's computer. So if an Apple user downloads this, you have that certification of, okay, this is this is good, this this person built it and sent it and we've signed off on it. So there's stuff like that and then there's just testing and testing because

Low End Candy (17:40.193)

Anybody who's used AI knows sometimes AI can give you just outlandish responses. Like AI has told me some crazy stuff that's not at all true. And so like there's that a aspect of like you can use it and it's an amazing tool, but at the end of the day, like you have to go in there and like check everything and make sure everything's correct and like the sounds right and this and that. So it is a process, but I would say it's a lot it's way more easily obtainable than like I remember ten years ago, five years ago, I would have no idea.

Where to start to create a VST. And now that is on the table. So if you're computer savvy, it is something you can you can get into.

Brian Funk (18:12.565)

Mm.

Brian Funk (18:18.761)

Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. that it opens those doors 'cause that's to me helping you be creative, you know. I I think the AI that kinda turns me off is the stuff that's being creative instead of you, you know, that's taking away from like I don't want that to happen, you know. I take my job, not my creativity, you know. But

Low End Candy (18:27.202)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Low End Candy (18:36.578)

Mm, totally.

Low End Candy (18:42.38)

Yeah. Exactly, yeah. No.

Brian Funk (18:48.915)

Yeah. my house plants are definitely doing a lot better thanks to my consultations with AI. Just take pictures and it's like, you gotta you gotta fertilize that thing and

Low End Candy (18:55.502)

Nice.

Low End Candy (19:00.178)

S Yep. Yeah. Can be a huge help. yeah, I I sometimes I pop into like the I'm in a bunch of Facebook groups. I just like to keep up with what's going on and like the Suno groups are just like Man There's like Suno producers and and I agree, I I don't think that I think it's fun it's a fun toy to with for people to play with, but it is a little like

you know, when we're thinking of terms of people like me and you who have been around producing forever and it does kind of take away some of the spark that that has. But I mean, any producer if you play like an AI track like we know right away. So

Brian Funk (19:43.337)

Hm. Yeah, even if I don't know and I'm enjoying it, once I find out I'm like, I don't care anymore. It there's there's something that I don't know why exactly, but there is something that just kinda like my interest just disintegrates the moment I discover that. I g I guess like maybe 'cause the first thing you ask when you hear a song you like or

Low End Candy (19:52.066)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh.

Brian Funk (20:12.104)

You d who did that? Or you see a great movie like, who was the director? Who was inv you wanna know about the people that created it?

Low End Candy (20:18.348)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brian Funk (20:24.338)

Yeah, that's all that. Yeah, so like you've been doing a lot of cool stuff, a lot of teaching too. you were out here in Brooklyn with three four three for a while. And I'm I'm wondering like I found at least I learned I learned more than anything when I'm teaching. which is funny, you wouldn't think, but that's

Low End Candy (20:32.846)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (20:36.515)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (20:48.568)

For sure, yeah.

Brian Funk (20:51.88)

That's what happens. You you wind up being the one pretty much that learns the most. what'd you gain out of those experiences?

Low End Candy (21:00.279)

Of teaching?

Brian Funk (21:01.416)

Yeah. Yeah. Anything to change the way you see things or the way you work or anything?

Low End Candy (21:07.212)

Yeah, so I mean my my experience with teaching as a whole, like I I did go to Icon Collective, which now is closed, but for those of you who don't know, it's a very like neat you're not niche, but like it's a electronic music production or was school and it was it was in Burbank and I remember when I was first started to produce, I would

I saw a video from Jaws, you know, who's a bass house producer and he was talking about it. And then I went and looked and just all these incredible artists were coming out of there. So my thought process has always been like you don't know what you don't know. And I've been blessed enough to when I decided I wanted to start producing, which was p ten years ago now or so, I had a cousin who's been producing for a long time and he's he's an old school hip hop guy. So he he's been working on the since the ASRs. So like I remember going back over to his house when

I was little, eight or nine years old, and they were working off floppy drives, so like the a the floppy disks, and they were putting them into samplers, sampling sounds off record, so they were unplugging a left or right speaker. And just like this was like the first way that people were producing beats is like grabbing these samples and making loops out of them, and they were just in his room making beats and were rapping over them and stuff. So I've had him as a resource to kind of like bounce questions off, but like in my

experience and my opinion I think the best way to to get good at production is to work with a mentor because again you don't know what you don't know so there's been times where I've been teaching people and there's you know I I've had like people where you know this guy was like man I've been trying to create this sound I just can't get it I've been working on it for days and he's been trying to synthesize the sound and and you know I was able to take one listen and tell him like that's a sample so you're probably not gonna be able to like synthesize it. So you don't know

You don't know. And so I went to Icon Collective and that was an amazing experience. a very like unique experience. It was during COVID, unfortunately, so it was it was a a bit like limited as far as in-person experience and networking. But after that, I one of my instructors there was Great Dane, who's a tremendous trap and bass producer, actually one of my favorites, so it was a little bit ironic that he worked there. And then they signed me as his mentor. but we kind of connected, and after that he was like, do you wanna you know

Low End Candy (23:31.56)

move up here to LA, I'm looking for a roommate. We kinda made similar styles, so I ended up doing that. And he plugged me in with a number of just my favorite producers. One was John Casey. John Casey's a trap producer out of

South Africa. A really cool guy. I've known him a number of years now. But I worked with him directly one on one for several months. And it was during COVID. So again, he was stuck basically in South Africa. He wasn't able to come over here and tour and play. So he was he was mentoring at the time. And in those s I don't know, four or five months I was working with him directly, almost weekly. That is where my production really kind of changed course because there was someone who had the skills that I

I wanted to develop and I was able to ask the him questions directly. And so that experience for me was I would say more beneficial than my entire experience at Icon Collective and my years and years of like trying to figure stuff out on my own. So what really got me into teaching was being able to offer that to people because I think it's an optimized way to get to where you want to go and you know, in any sort of business or any sort of anything in life, you want a mentor who's been there. And so

So that basically gave me the drive to want to like be able to offer that. And I started teaching a couple years before I was at 343 and

It was just basically one on one. I did it through Super Prof, which is an amazing platform. They basically people can can search for what they're looking for as far as an artist and a DA and they connect you guys and you could basically take it from there on, you know, what kind of like mentorship or relationship you wanna have. I really enjoyed doing that and again, like you said, I learned so much from the people I was teaching, as far as like, you know, where are people stuck at and like

Low End Candy (25:26.603)

What like sometimes people would people who had been producing like a week would pull up and I'd be like, I did not know you could do that in Ableton like crazy stuff like that. So and then just developing amazing connections with people that I still am in touch with today, people I I've mentored long time ago. and so

Brian Funk (25:33.556)

Mm.

Low End Candy (25:46.786)

Then I moved, I was in Florida at the time, and then I moved to New York City, where my old roommate, Great Dane from LA, actually lived. And I I knew I wanted to get in the music industry or connected in the music education industry. He was a ment teacher at at 343 Labs. So I kind of followed him over there and I was like, Hey, what's up? Can you get me, you know, can you plug me in here? And he did plug me in as the content guy. And so when I was at 343, I did their videos, I did their social media.

and I would do their YouTube videos. So I never taught directly in a classroom setting, but I was responsible for walkthroughs of you know, new Ableton devices and new Ableton features and production techniques and whatnot. So that's where I really got into the content side of things and you know, getting better with the camera and a and a microphone and all that kind of stuff and you know

being kind of the latest on on Ableton updates and being able to v provide that for students and on their YouTube channel. and yeah, I just I've always enjoyed it. Like I always like to be the one to like, you know, show people stuff or or put people on cool stuff and I'm a huge nerd about Ableton. So

Yeah, that was also really cool and then, you know, being able to see like making a video and being able to see like the lights come on for someone, they're like, my god, I didn't know you could do that or whatever, in the sea of negative comments, it's always cool to see those, you know, on YouTube and stuff. So yeah, teaching overall and and being at three four three has just been really cool because I had those people there for me in you know, when I was a novice and I didn't know anything and and being able to like provide that to people and then like kind of work together as a community, to

Brian Funk (27:09.928)

Hmm.

Low End Candy (27:31.049)

like figure stuff out and like we're all doing this together is is a cool experience I think.

Brian Funk (27:36.264)

Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool path too that, you know, just from connecting with people really is sort of the the theme I'm seeing here is you're you're making connections through the people you're learning from and then next thing you know you're you're in that world with on the other end of it. y you just never really know where all this stuff is gonna lead when you start down these paths.

Low End Candy (27:45.569)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (27:54.295)

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (28:01.313)

Yeah. Yeah. It's it's crazy, you know.

Brian Funk (28:06.769)

Yeah, I'm sh sure I've seen some of those videos that you worked on then. 'Cause see that on

Low End Candy (28:12.033)

Yeah, yeah. It's and like you could definitely see the progression of like when I started the videos were just so cringe, like the audio and video quality and like it's yeah, it's just, you know, try to do stuff better one percent every time you do it. And

Brian Funk (28:24.935)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (28:25.845)

For anyone who's thinking about starting doing content or teaching, like I thought I was like the last person to ever do anything like that. Like I don't like being on camera. I'm not like that, hey, what's up, YouTubers guy? Like I'm not like that type of dude, but like, I do like sharing knowledge and like definitely it's something that comes with time, but it's definitely like feasible. And it's my my YouTube channel, my teaching has

Definitely taking me places like I never thought I would go in like production and education and companies reaching out to me. probably like the coolest thing to me now is like when companies reach out to me and they're like, do you want to try our plug in? And do you or do you want to like review our like piece of gear? And I'm like, Yes, like free gear like a free plug in or like some free speakers, like that's awesome to me. So yeah, yeah, I love that stuff. Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk (29:13.147)

Yeah. Yeah, it's an honor. That's cool. You know, you you tapped in on two different things that in the last two days I got emails from people about. one person was someone that listened to the podcast, another was a former student. but they were one was sort of like wondering when am I ready? When when can I like start, you know, moving forward with this and I I was

Basically like what you said, you you just get one percent better. You start out terrible. You you're never ready. You and don't wait to be ready. Don't wait for the certificate in the mail or the permission from, you know, some what it just doesn't ever come. And it might be why

Low End Candy (29:49.579)

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Brian Funk (30:00.14)

so many of us kind of feel like imposters through half of it where you're kind of like, how do I get here? Well how am I talking to you right now? Like y you know, like but it's you just gotta start doing it and just try things out. It's so much easier to go down the wrong path and then turn around and go down another path because y you just

Low End Candy (30:04.61)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (30:08.846)

Hundred percent, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk (30:24.883)

now you have momentum at least and you don't really know what the wrong path is half the time until you go down it anyway. And you can't foresee all these things that are about to happen until they start happening.

Low End Candy (30:31.512)

Yeah, that's that's very true.

Mm. Yeah.

Brian Funk (30:41.037)

So it's yeah, you just gotta get in there and that was one person and the other person was kinda like, you know, been through school now. I've getting a degree, now what? And so much of it is about making those connections with other people, talking to people, learning from people, showing up where the music's happening and

being involved like like you came out to teach, got whatever job you can. All right, I'm making content. I never thought I'd be doing that. But that's it's a great thing to have in your pocket now. you're reaching people because of that. And because you've done some of that, I'm sure people are coming into low end candy to see some of the plugins you're making, some of the devices you're making. it all kind of fits together in a weird way that doesn't make sense until you sort of look back on it.

Low End Candy (31:35.864)

Yeah, no, that's for sure been the case.

Brian Funk (31:39.699)

Hmm. So, you we were talking about the extensions. I'm kinda curious, what have you found that's really exciting for you?

Low End Candy (31:50.915)

The extent so the thing about the extensions is like I

Like I try to be like the first person in the know of like Ableton stuff. So I have like the the beta program and like as soon as like I see that a beta update is has been released, like I hop in there and like look at the notes. And like really the trick with like YouTube is like if you're the first person to talk about something, like your video's gonna do well. So that's kind of always been like my edge is like I like if it's like two AM and like Ableton drops an update release, like I'm gonna like

sh like shower, put my clothes on, like turn my lights on and make a video then because that's what's gonna like separate me from like all the videos that follow. I remember

Trash Isotope has a really cool plugin called Trash, which is like just horrendous distortion that sounds awesome for like bass music. And I saw it come out like randomly. I was up at like 3 a.m. and I saw it come out and I'm like, I need to make a video about this right now. And I got one out in like two hours, and like I think to this day it's like the number one video for trash. And I have I've had like Virtual Riot commented on stuff, which is really cool for me. but to circle back about the extensions is I saw those come out and I was like, okay, this is huge. I know

Brian Funk (32:41.863)

Distortion, yeah.

Low End Candy (33:04.88)

need to like hop in this right now and see what's actually possible because I feel like it's

a little blurry exactly at this point like what able like what extensions are capable of doing and what they're like aside from what they're capable of doing what they're actually gonna be like practical for. And so I right away I hopped into extensions. I started playing with them. I started asking like different language models of like, what can I do? What's gonna be cool. And short very shortly after that I was kinda like my whole thought process is like I'm gonna be the extensions guy. Like because if you can get kind of that like ahead of of other people like you can kind of get that authority.

Brian Funk (33:21.011)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (33:39.795)

And that's like huge for a channel. But right after that is where my my brain started to turn, and I was like.

If I can make these like how can I get into like the VST game? And so my attention's definitely been turned to that, like in full force, as opposed to like sticking with the extensions. So I haven't dived quite as deep as I would have liked to in the extensions. but that's definitely something I'm gonna circle back to because I think I definitely think there's a lot of cool stuff there to be done. So I mean I you like what's your experience been with the extensions so far?

Brian Funk (34:12.807)

Hmm.

Brian Funk (34:17.86)

It's been very little so far. just you know, trying to find the time to work with everything. It's so funny how fast like these updates are happening now where it's like the new thing comes out, cool, cool. And then I and th thankfully through teaching especially, all the stuff that I sort of forgot about, the new stuff that was really exciting that you'd forget about 'cause another new thing came out, that stuff s tends to resurface a lot.

but I like a lot of the stuff that makes sample editing faster, like even just the strip silence. where that will just take if I have, you know, a twenty minute piece of audio I'm just hitting random things, it'll just chop it for me and just give me the hits and take all that silence away. And that's something Pro Tools had when I first got Pro Tools in like two thousand five. But it

Low End Candy (34:47.693)

Sure.

Low End Candy (35:15.502)

Mm.

Brian Funk (35:18.244)

I didn't have no use for it really then, but now is like samples and just the renaming stuff, I think it's gonna help me do some more of that kind of stuff that I like to do without the tedious part of like, okay, let's zoom in, let's get it right to the edge, let's zoom out and then go to the next one and it it's just manual labor that I could certainly do without. That kind of stuff I think is pretty exciting.

Low End Candy (35:20.237)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (35:42.466)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (35:46.929)

Some of the just like the renaming, the I I don't even Yeah, and I don't even know like you said, like what can I even do? Like I this is probably why I never got into programming Max for Live too, is because I I don't even know what I would make really. And there's so many people making a lot of cool stuff that I never knew I wanted until I have it.

Low End Candy (35:50.766)

the renaming clips.

Low End Candy (36:13.452)

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Uh-huh.

Brian Funk (36:17.042)

But I think anything that's gonna make me work faster is gonna be fun and interesting to have.

Low End Candy (36:21.922)

Yeah, I agree. That's kind of like the power I saw in the extensions. Is I think the first one I played with was like

automatic clip coloring. So it would basically analyze your clips and like based on the type of sound it was, if it was like a bass or drum, it would recolor them. I'm like, that's brilliant. Like that's cause I'm like a very like organized project kind of guy. Like I'm not like tons of tracks, unnamed, I'm like everything like I'm very like analytic about that because again it helps me produce faster. Like I don't want to have to go around and guess like which one's the drum and like the c so like the coloring and the renaming like those are amazing. Those are like

Amazing as far as I know, I don't think there's been like a third party device or anything that's capable of doing that. So like totally agree with you there. Those kind of extensions are like amazing and I feel like there has been some features that other dots have had for a while that Ableton hasn't had. And I know Ableton probably gets slacked for that. Like and I I don't know if they like gatekeep or like what they're doing. but I feel like they kind of handed it over to us and they're like, Okay, like if there's something that's missing, like you guys go you

You go and make it. And that's I feel like that was kind of the thing with Max for Live too. And that's what's been like really has separated Ableton like away from from all the other dolls is like giving you the flexibility to like create what works for you. But yeah, those are a couple of the ones that I've really liked as far as extensions goes. I should definitely like hop on YouTube and see what what people are making and what what ones have came out because I'm probably a little behind the curve on those at this point.

Brian Funk (37:56.487)

Yeah. Well I guess historically if you look back at some of the Macs for Live things that have come out, a lot of them do become features down the road and it's it seems like they use that as a way to test out things and see like how it's gonna work and what people are doing. even just like like the follow actions on the scenes is one that comes to mind where there were

some solutions for that with Max for Live that were cool. But now that you know that I guess they saw how it was working and then integrated it in a way that was now it's just really smooth and works just like any other follow action. I can imagine that's something that might start happening where they see like, hey look this is something somebody came up with it's helpful. People are using it. And we'll

Probably smooth it out, streamline it a bit. Get it in there.

Low End Candy (38:56.3)

Yeah, yeah. I think about that. I wonder how because there's there's so many like Max for Live communities and it's like such like a niche thing. it's definitely like once you get into like the Max for Live things, like you're like an official nerd. It's like it's funny 'cause I tell people like when I started making music like ten years ago or like I just wanted to like make beats, like make cool beats and like it went from that to like

I tell people like I wanted to be like an artist and now I'm like a nerd with back problems because I sit here all day and I'm playing with like Macs for Live Devices and this and that. But like yeah, there's a r a lot of really cool niche communities for for what people are building and and people are just cooking stuff up and for the most part just sharing them. You know, they're just a lot of them are free or they're ch or they're very like reasonably priced. But I wonder at what point Ableton sees something and they either recreate it or they're potentially reach out to the developer and they're like, Hey, this is something we wanna offer.

so I mean, I think that'd be pretty cool, but yeah, we'll see what they do.

Brian Funk (39:57.842)

Well, I bet you can relate to this with some of the stuff you make. Yeah, there's a lot of people speaking up. Why doesn't live have this? You see it every time an update comes, they're like, Well what the hell you don't have this and that. but

Low End Candy (40:10.742)

Yeah, huh.

Brian Funk (40:16.123)

How do you have a piece of software that is it's a good it's like twenty I think it came out in two thousand, it's so it's like twenty six years old where you're constantly adding things. And one of the things that I loved about Live is it was pretty clean and simple and easy to f navigate, you know, stuff I I love the consistency of it where a knob is a knob everywhere.

Low End Candy (40:41.122)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (40:41.261)

And in some of the other DAWs that I was in, like every time you open a new plugin or a new device, it's like a whole new spaceship I have to learn. And it helped me understand stuff because I'd see like I would understand like, this is just another filter. This is just another envelope, just like in the other thing, whereas I never could see the connection. But how do you not make it

Low End Candy (40:48.844)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (41:05.217)

after a while just have so many buttons and faders and menus that it's impossible to use. And I I could imagine you must you must think about this when you're doing yours, like what do I give you access to? How far do I let that knob actually go? Because you could probably let us have a a reverse reverb that's seventy-two minutes long if we wanted to.

Low End Candy (41:26.094)

Mm.

Low End Candy (41:32.685)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (41:32.901)

But you must have at a time said like, All right, it doesn't need to go that far. This is enough.

Low End Candy (41:37.945)

Yeah, a hundred percent. Like that's that's the part where like theoretically, I mean anyone can can go in and like if they dedicate the time and and the effort they can make their own plug-in. But it's like that touch of a producer who's been, you know, working in music for such a long time is is like the the what makes it different as far as like, okay, I know this sounds good, I know we don't need this, I know we don't need that. What are like the core features that makes this like exciting and usable for a professional producer, but not over

overwhelming for someone who's like kind of testing the waters and is just like getting getting used to the the the feel of things. And so I fe I feel like I've done a good job of like this is what sounds good and I've getting like I've gotten a lot of emails of like hey you should add this and add that and like I definitely always take those into consideration but I at the same time yeah keeping the plug-in simple because I feel like one of the quickest ways to get like task paralysis is when you open up a plug-in and it's just like

You have no idea what's going on in there. Like I remember, you know, being in the production game like six months, and someone's you need serum. And then you open up serum and you're like, What is going on here? It just looks scary. There's like a thousand knobs and wave tables and menus and stuff like that. So, yeah, trying to keep a good balance of like, okay, this is what's useful and this is what's what's gonna help somebody who's been doing this for a long time, like do it correct and make it sound good, and then someone who's like new can still utilize it.

Brian Funk (42:50.265)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (43:07.828)

And like get the hang of it quick. One feature I added was, and I love this, and all any plugin should have this, I think, is the the randomize button. So it's a it's a dice icon on mine and it's it is all on all of other plugins as well. And basically you click it and it randomizes like all the different knobs that would make sense to be randomized in one click. And like to me, that's being a bass music producer, like it's always been about like no rules, like there's no rules.

like whatever sounds cool however you get there and so that's kind of been like a a technique I've used on a lot of stuff is like let's just kind of like I call like beadsurfing like randomizing sounds until you find something that sounds cool and my thought process with that is like that's something that you pre an area that your brain wouldn't have gone in because a lot of the times as producers like our brains go in the same directions every time as far as like okay I do this and this and I use this filter and whatever. So like the randomized feature I think is really cool because you can like stumble upon

on a sound that you wouldn't have thought of in the first place. And it's also cool because like even if you don't know all the technicalities of like every knob, we all know what sounds good to us. And so being able to like sit there and play us play it over sound and just hit randomize and feel like, wow, that's rad. is like I think that's a really cool feature. And I think that people are gonna have a lot of fun with that. I have a

Ableton rack that's been really popular where it's basically 12 macros that are all mapped in a very like thought out way to different serum knobs in in like the the correct ranges where it makes sense. So there's like LFO speed, filter, like wavetable, and basically what you can do is like you can take an existing preset and hit hit the randomize button, and it's gonna randomize all those macros and give you for the most part like a really cool.

Brian Funk (44:46.737)

Mm.

Low End Candy (44:59.988)

unique sound that like nobody else has that you would have not have thought of any other way. So I love stuff like that and I love being like experimental and coming up with like in my opinion one of the things that makes an artist like good is having sounds that no one else has. Like the way I explained to it to students is like

If me and you wanna go to we want a we want a double double or whatever it is, we're gonna go to In N Out. We're not gonna go to the burger place across the street that makes burgers just like In N Out doesn't make any sense. So there's a lot of good artists out there, like insanely like technical good artists who can make s like music just like Skrillex, but it's like if we wanna hear Skrillex, we're just gonna go listen to Skrillex. So my thought process has always been like, how can you come up with something original that no one else has?

And I feel like stuff like that, like features like that, can really like kind of do that for you. And you don't again, you don't have to be like you don't have to have technical knowledge about every single knob. You can just like kind of find something that sounds good and and resample it and just work with it and you know put it in your library and that's your sound now. So I feel like and you know, again, some technical people might not like that approach, but I feel like for me that's always been something, even with my technical knowledge that is like, okay, this is really cool. This gives me

like a unique sound no one else has and this is gonna like help me to grow as an artist. So

Brian Funk (46:29.678)

Yeah, I think it's an awesome button. And s a lot of plugins have it and it's always kinda fun. And some of them some of them are chaotic and like it just ruins everything and but some of them are a little more dialed in and they're even ones where you can exclude certain parameters. I mean I love even on macros inside of live on an instrument rack to just bloop, click it. And then you can save those little macro presets in there. Yeah, I I get a lot of

Low End Candy (46:38.753)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (46:54.666)

Exactly, yeah, that that random button.

Brian Funk (46:59.268)

things that I wouldn't decide to do because whatever, maybe I just wouldn't think of it or I'm not supposed to. But that's where a lot of the interesting territory is. And you mentioned like bass music and so much of what you're not supposed to do has become kind of what you do now. And a lot of that sound design clipping is like remember when you were never supposed to clip? It was like the worst thing you could do.

Low End Candy (47:02.776)

Yep.

Low End Candy (47:20.13)

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (47:26.016)

Yeah, yeah.

That exactly, that's like it's like for me bass music is like the twenty twenty six version of rock and roll where it's like let's just sort the guitars and let's like that's kind of how it is to me is like let's break like one thing I heard over and over in at Icon is like learn the rules so you can break So learn the rules, like learn the correct way to do everything, but then so you can like break in your own unique way and like kind of make your own rules. And there's an artist I really like, his name is Jessic, shout out Jessic, and he literally just

Brian Funk (47:36.837)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (47:44.848)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (47:57.429)

just clips every track he has is like clipped like he clipped hard and but he does it in an artistic way where it always sounds like so good and like intentional. So yeah I feel like you know in bass music and stuff like that breaking the rules is clipping is just like you know if you ain't redlining you ain't headlighting like yeah right

Brian Funk (48:20.784)

That's funny. But when you're trying to so much of that music especially is the sound. You know, it's it's not a lot of other genres, it it doesn't really matter as much, but it's a big part of it. And you need to have something that people haven't heard, or that's surprises them, or that's unusual, pleasing, or d sometimes even not pleasing, but it's presented in a way that

Low End Candy (48:28.662)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (48:44.61)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brian Funk (48:50.008)

makes it interesting and fun. But you're not gonna get there just doing everything by the book.

Low End Candy (48:52.3)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (48:57.144)

Exactly. Yeah, and that's so I have a sec kind of like a

second edition of like what happens if this is backwards plug-in that just dropped actually and it's called Slingshot. And it basically what it is is it's reverse delay, which to my knowledge isn't something that's common at all. Like I don't think I I've never done that. I don't even know how you really would do that. And so my thought process was like, well preverb's been pretty successful, a lot of people really like it. what if we reverse delay? And this is an area where

It's kind of like uncharted territories and it's really like crazy unique. The randomized button we have like it's basically the can like same framework as Preverb, but we have all the the controls that would be on delay. So there's like different delay kinds. There's like

you know, ping pong and and filter delay and and everything. But then you can also reverse the delayed signal. So it's playing up until the transient, same as prevert, but you can have the reverse the the sample played backwards delayed or forwards. And then there's some really unique there's like an LFO you can map to stuff. and so that's something I feel like like for me with plugins like I feel like every producer's been through this where you're like new in production or you're not and

You've been around a while and you're just a plug-in junkie. Like every time a plugin comes in, like I need that. Like this is gonna make me produce better. And you end up with like thousands and thousands of dollars of plugins. And I would say for me, like speaking personally, pr probably like 70-80% of them like do the same thing. Like I can't tell you how many distortion plugins I have. I can't tell you how many like EQs I have. And there's ones that are different, there's ones that have features that none of the other ones do. But as far as plugins that are truly unique.

Low End Candy (50:54.152)

There's very few that I like I could probably name like five or ten that can there's the only plugins that can do that kind of thing. So that's kind of like the angle with Preverb, that's kind of the angle with Slingshot. It's like this is a plugin that nothing else in your plugin library can replace or do. And so that's kind of where I'm at with with, you know, the low-end candy plugins as a whole right now. There's actually some other really cool free ones I have up right now.

that or kind of kind of in that that same ballpark. But Slingshot I feel like I I'm really excited to see what like some creative artists are gonna do with because it's a sound like reverse delay is like a is a sound that really catches your ear because I I don't I don't think I've ever really heard like a sound or sample like that or or someone use that to my knowledge. So yeah that's that's an idea I'm kind of stoked on right now.

Brian Funk (51:50.512)

Hm. Well that is a good thing to aim for 'cause yeah, I've got I was thinking about this even when you were talking about I think it was shortcut buddy where you hit the E and your EQ pops up. how many EQs are there that are maybe some subtle mo

you know, modification of some hardware or this was and you probably have like seven of that hardware, that particular board. And they're all slightly where I I just most of them I don't even come back to. You know, I get and they go in the folder and I might try them at the time, but you know, they just kind of vanish. I'm I'm at the point now where I'd I'm much more hesitant to add

Low End Candy (52:18.979)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (52:28.77)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (52:40.559)

plug in to what I have 'cause I'm realizing that I'm just overwhelmed every time I go to look that it's like where do I even start? I I don't remember what company made it or, you know, it just it becomes a lot to navigate through a gigantic list of

Low End Candy (52:43.085)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (52:51.618)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (53:01.206)

Mhm. Yeah, at a certain point it becomes like like you not like you don't want any more plugins because it's like actually causing you problems. You're like like ta like paralysis of like which one to pick and like when really for me like there's like ten plugins I use out of like who knows how many that are, you know, actually in like my library of like I need this one. So

Brian Funk (53:12.053)

It's not helping anymore. Yeah.

Low End Candy (53:25.624)

Yeah, I'm hoping that, you know, pre verb and slingshot can be for some creative artists, like, this is a tool that I reach for for this effect that I can't get anywhere else. Like for some of those for me that I remember were like Voice of God is one by Little Labs. I don't know if familiar with that one, but it's like Yeah, it's like a a that one is like it's a base r

Brian Funk (53:42.271)

I've seen that around, yeah. I don't have that one. Don't tell me. No, just joking.

Low End Candy (53:49.535)

Don't tell me, yeah, yeah. It's like a bass resonator tool and like it's got a sound that I'm like literally the voice of God. It's like it just enhances your bass in a way that no other plug in has or can do. And so I'm I'm like hoping that, you know, we can kind of like follow in those footsteps and have ones that are like irreplaceable parts of people's plug in inventory.

Brian Funk (54:11.215)

Yeah. Well that's tough to do 'cause you need that original idea, you know. so to be able to get there, y you gotta think outside the box and probably it goes in with like what you've said to students about trying to be unique, trying to be different. It's not even just the sounds or the workflows, but also just, yeah, like what kinds of tools are you using.

Low End Candy (54:15.118)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (54:41.955)

How are you putting them to work? going to the trouble sometimes of doing things the hard way. actually recording the samples, even though you could probably just download it. But there's something special about that. If you've maybe you want some birds in your track, you could download and have in five seconds, but going out and seeing what you can get.

Low End Candy (54:42.008)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (54:55.63)

Mm.

Low End Candy (55:08.75)

Mm.

Brian Funk (55:09.059)

I mean, not only is it personalized and special to you in that experience, but you might come across something by accident too that you're not gonna get when you just search in like birds in the morning on whatever. You might

Low End Candy (55:23.96)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do they call it? a like a beautiful accident or like you know, when when you stumble upon some and that's like another been a another huge like technique and thought process of mine is like kind of like finding rhythm where rhythm is not and like I was saying earlier, you know, having sounds no one else has.

Brian Funk (55:31.395)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (55:50.177)

like one of the first songs I put out on I on my first C P like twenty nineteen, twenty twenty. I was like sitting at my desk and I was hitting pots and pans with spoons and knives. And I just came up with this like articulation and this pattern that I'm like that is so cool. Never would have thought of it and it went in like one of my most popular songs. So yeah, I agree with you. Like getting those original samples and ideas no one else has is key.

Brian Funk (56:20.621)

Yeah, it takes an awareness to realize, that's making a sound. That's it. There's a rhythm to that. You hear that? Like the the copy machine is it's like jamming out, you know. Pay attention to it. and then go to the trouble of just capturing it and doing something with it. not necessarily knowing where it's gonna take you.

Low End Candy (56:27.873)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (56:33.11)

Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah.

Low End Candy (56:45.634)

Mm. Yeah.

Brian Funk (56:47.065)

That's that's where a lot of the fun is for me these days is the surprise of it. The like unknown and i because it's almost like a form of collaboration with yourself, where I wasn't expecting that, and now I'm gonna do something that I never would have done. Almost like another person came up with a musical idea and then now I'm reacting to it and in a different place than I would have been without that.

Low End Candy (56:53.09)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (57:14.53)

Yeah, you know what you like. That's one thing about production.

Brian Funk (57:17.486)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (57:19.99)

If you know what you like and you you know, you hear it, then it can't be wrong and that's kinda like like you were saying, like you had the student who never knew when he was like ready and you know, imposter syndrome and like that's I feel like that's in all of us. Like and the part is is like I feel like a lot of like the artists I look up to and the ones that have have made it, are the ones who are confident in their ability that they're what they like is good if it's good to them then it's good to

Then they're gonna put it out and they're gonna stand behind it. And like that's I have I've you know, every student I have, and myself included, who is like, you know, I'm not gonna put this out because it's not perfect and this and that. And like one of the biggest lessons I've learned in music is like put stuff out. Because nobody can hear stuff when it's like on your hard drive. And that's how you get better is by finishing tracks and putting stuff out. And it's just it's like a sad day when there's like a really good artist and someone's like, shit.

Brian Funk (58:14.777)

Mm.

Low End Candy (58:19.961)

Show me your music and it well there's nothing out yet or there's nothing on my sound cloud and it's like yeah, you know, n like there's is never gonna be a right time. I feel like you're never gonna be like obsessed or like think one of your tracks is perfect. Maybe you will. I've never have. And so just putting out music and like having fun, I feel like is is what what makes you better as an artist.

Brian Funk (58:43.149)

I think so. And you gotta practice finishing. You gotta practice getting there 'cause if you don't then you have that gem idea and you don't know what to do with it. And those those reps matter. yeah, like I I mean I'm generally pretty proud and happy with anything I put out, but it's not 'cause it's perfect. I mean I'm not going for that, but

Low End Candy (58:46.467)

Yep.

Low End Candy (58:52.737)

Exactly, yeah. Can't finish it.

Brian Funk (59:13.571)

There's an excitement to getting there for the next thing because you're like, Okay, yeah, that was cool and now I know what I really gonna do next and it keeps you going. But when I d when I'm not finishing stuff or I'm getting stuck, like I don't get those feelings of like, yeah, now, next, let's go and see what we can do here. all that stuff feeds it feeds you, you know.

Low End Candy (59:20.791)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (59:31.663)

Yeah, yeah. Mm. Yeah.

Low End Candy (59:38.925)

Yeah, for sure.

Low End Candy (59:43.162)

So I'm curious, yeah, I'm like I was th I was looking at some of your stuff you were doing earlier, and what's new for you in terms of with all the developments of like being able to create some new stuff, do you have any plans as far as like, you know, creating some some extensions or some plugins or some new new Ableton devices or

Brian Funk (59:43.255)

It's cool stuff.

Brian Funk (01:00:05.696)

Yeah, I don't know about extensions really of what I could make, but I wanna I ha I want I'm excited to get into it more. So w just seeing what people are making and seeing what's going on with that. I'm excited though because I think it's gonna help me make more stuff. Like I was telling you about like cutting up samples and stuff. something I wanna do this summer that I need to get on is I I wanna take

Low End Candy (01:00:15.951)

Mm.

Low End Candy (01:00:20.013)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:00:35.084)

I have an old piano in my house. And I've already made instruments out of it. It's o over a hundred years old, so I call it the hundred year old piano. And it's it's quirky. Like it's yeah, there's keys that make noise and you know, funny things about it, but that's why I love it, 'cause it's got a lot of character. But I wanna get some felt and put it in there, make kinda like a mellow felt piano, something kind of muffled down and sample that nice.

Low End Candy (01:00:51.726)

Mm

Brian Funk (01:01:04.562)

so that's a project I wanna work on. make music, really. That that's big right now. I feel I got some time on my hands, so yeah, I'm just excited to record stuff. Not even exactly sure what, but just follow the the excitement. I just got one of these

It's called the jam stick actually right here. This guitar here. It's called the jamstick. And they've been making for a while, but now they finally just made like a guitar. And it's a MIDI controller, but it's also a guitar too. So it's so responsive. I that's my instrument is guitar. Like that's how I understand music the best. So

Low End Candy (01:01:45.935)

I guess I'll

Low End Candy (01:01:55.28)

So now you could play in the MIDI okay, yeah, I saw that.

Brian Funk (01:01:57.335)

Yeah, I'm like playing the synths with it. I'm like, whoa. Like and it responds to bends and vibrato. I I'm very impressed with it. I've tried other things in the past that were just disappointing and that really never used. But this thing is like I'm like, wow, this might make a real difference for me.

Low End Candy (01:02:04.522)

rad.

Low End Candy (01:02:09.527)

Mm.

Low End Candy (01:02:16.151)

Yeah. Did you did you go to Nam or do you do you typically go? man.

Brian Funk (01:02:20.502)

I've never gone to NAM, no. Yeah. I've wanted to, but it's usually while I'm working, teaching, so it's never a good weekend for me. At some point I'd like to go. I mean, especially just for meeting people. Like I a lot of people I speak to here are there and they're like, it's n are you gonna be at NAM? I'm like, No

Low End Candy (01:02:28.483)

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Low End Candy (01:02:35.854)

Mm-hmm.

Low End Candy (01:02:43.673)

If you ever have the chance, like definitely check it out. Just as far as like people getting s you know, trying to get stuff off the ground and new like MIDI tools and synthesizer. It's like it's like a candy store. Like you could just be there for for weeks. But I think I saw that that guitar there, yeah.

Brian Funk (01:02:57.453)

I bet.

Yeah, th they're cool. They're they're making a good product right now, that's for sure. I'm into it. are y you ever think of like presenting your stuff there? Getting a booth or something?

Low End Candy (01:03:12.827)

That would be cool, yeah. That would be be very cool.

Like I was saying, this the whole like stumbling into the VST world has been like new for me in the last couple of months. I, you know, in being a music producer and basically my my thought process has always been like what can I do that a involves music, so I'm I'm working in something I love and B is somewhat passive so I can make more music. And so that's kind of always been my goal is like, you know, do something I'm passionate about and that allows me the time to kind of like make my own music.

And so

I in you know, in attempting to do that, I I've done a lot of teaching, I've done a lot of like course creating and stuff like that, but finally kind of like turning the corner of getting into VSTs is is kind of like I'm kind of creeping up on where I want to be, where I can do something I love, be creative, work in music, talk to people like you, and then have the time and resources to create my own music. So the VSC thing's like super new, but like I've been very surprised of s of like the support I've gotten from from like certain websites and companies.

and like people I look up to who are artists I look up to who are stoked on it. So I think that would be a realistic possibility is, you know, trying to get a booth at Nam and and and teaching teaching about the plugins and what they can do.

Low End Candy (01:04:36.463)

But yeah, it's kind of like for me this whole journey's been like super random and like just kind of having fun, honestly. Like I kind of like come up to my computer every day and I'm like, how can I do something like that's fun that I'd love to do and and make something that's beneficial for other people? And that's kind of like how teaching is too. It's like let's hop on a call and be excited about music and like I'll show you some stuff, like I'll produce, you'll produce. So yeah, I I would like to do that at some point. You know, it's like I have I have no idea.

idea where you know it's gonna I got plans but where it's gonna take me as far as what's next and you know a lot of everything we do is really also like hindering on what's gonna happen with like technology and AI. So I'm also like keeping that taking that into consideration. But you know like we were talking about AI is is that no place

replace you know a real artist or like a real good idea and if you've ever ever asked AI something about music you know that because it'll it'll give you like technical knowledge but like most of the time it's wrong and or not like it's just the the creative part is not on point and that's why there's so many MIDI generation tools out there that are just not it and like I've I've reviewed a bunch of them and I've I've had a lot of companies reach out to me and I won't like put something on my channel that I don't stand behind or I don't enjoy

So like I've had a lot of companies are like, try our you know, AI Midgeneration tool or like our MIDI controller. And if I don't like it, like I'm not gonna make it I'm not gonna tell my audience about it. And there's been so many where it's like they're they're getting closer. Like AI can make some pretty good, like MIDI stuff, but it's just it doesn't have like the characteristics of like a real artist. And so

We have a ways to go in that department, but I feel like, you know, we we really have no idea where where AI is gonna take us in terms of like software and accessibility and whatnot. So yeah, we'll we'll kinda see where things go, you know.

Brian Funk (01:06:36.119)

Hm. Yeah, I I hear from those people a lot. I get AI generated emails about the AI music generators. And like almost every day somebody w has something and I'm not terribly interested in it. I like the act of figuring that stuff out and making it. That's

Low End Candy (01:06:46.187)

Yeah, yeah, you're like

Yeah, me too.

Brian Funk (01:07:02.027)

And it a lot of them feels like that's what they're gonna take away from me. So it doesn't interest me, but it's a funny time because even like with creating tools now, there's gotta be a weird and I've heard this from a few people in software development. Like how much do you let them do? 'Cause like we could add a feature in in the DAW like the DAW say is there

Low End Candy (01:07:06.137)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:07:31.864)

To help you make your music, get your ideas down, be creative, simplify difficult tasks. I mean the ultimate simplification would just be like generate song, right? Like just that one button and like that'd be the whole interface. how far do you how far do you go with putting all this stuff in? How much freedom do you let people have? It is gonna be an interesting

Low End Candy (01:07:44.195)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Mm. Yeah, basically, you know, Suno

Brian Funk (01:08:01.217)

to see where it goes and there's probably gonna be stuff that I mean there already is stuff that does it all for you and there might be stuff that is doesn't let you do half of the stuff you wanna do. I mean, I've recently saw there's a a DAW that's like a real to real machine. I don't know if you're s have you seen that one? It's that's what it is and it's it's very it's just that workflow. And

Low End Candy (01:08:18.095)

Mm.

Brian Funk (01:08:28.453)

Having having I have a tape machine and having worked with it, I mean I love the sound of it, but a real big part of it and the fun of it is the workflow, is the limitations, is the fact you're not on a screen and the commitment you have to make to whatever you just recorded is you know, it's kind of thrilling. It there there's a little more danger in what you're doing every time. That's

You know, there's it's like an adrenaline rush or something, like, okay, we're gonna punch in, like shit. We gotta 'cause we're gonna tape over it. It's gone. And so there's a now I just saw like, you know, in the last couple of months there's a DAW, I forget what it's called, but it that's the interface and and that's the whole selling point is like it doesn't have all those features.

Low End Candy (01:09:04.195)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

Low End Candy (01:09:20.75)

Yeah, it's it's always like intrigued me how like the goal of production is always to like there is like more and more becoming getting away from like a digital sound and back to like an organic sound as far as like that's always like groove has always like intrigued me. That's been one of my biggest like fascinations 'cause I'm a I'm a big like drum and groove guy and learning that it's like you be you want everything but a robotic on the grid sound. Whereas like a drummer his goal is to

Brian Funk (01:09:33.153)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (01:09:50.676)

be like as on grid as possible and like getting back to those roots of like what what sounds human and like making a doll sound organic. So yeah, stuff like that's cool. I like that.

Brian Funk (01:10:03.617)

Yeah, I find myself having everything I wished I had when I was back in the day on a four track cassette recorder, you know, as a teenager. And like wishing I could play drums and time, wishing I could sing and pitch and all these things. And now I'm like re engineering it back into my music. I'm like screwing with the timing and then, you know, letting things be out of tune because it

Low End Candy (01:10:28.181)

Mm. Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:10:33.325)

It is it's a weird thing. When you on a lot of like synths and virtual instruments, when you play a C, it is a C. It if you looked at the the guitar tuner, it's not moving. It's zero point zero cents off. But if you play a even an analogue synth, it's like kind of on a C, you know? And an octave higher is like it's a little different. And

Low End Candy (01:10:43.223)

No, yeah. huh. Yeah.

Yeah.

Low End Candy (01:10:56.579)

Yeah, yeah. You get the

Mm-hmm.

Brian Funk (01:11:02.005)

All those little inconsistencies they do add up into something that strangely we prefer. It just feels better.

Low End Candy (01:11:07.247)

For sure.

Low End Candy (01:11:12.877)

Yeah, yeah, it's definitely like your ears can pick it like you know, even as like a just somebody who's enjoying music, like it's definitely something our ears as like humans pick up on. And that's another reason I love Ableton it's tract delay. Like I love the tract delay feature where tract delaying grooves are like two of my favorite things because it's like yeah, my goal is to is to like

nothing should be like maybe w the kick and the snare should be on grid and then everything else should be like and that's what gives it like that bounce and that feeling to it.

Brian Funk (01:11:48.909)

So are you like nudging like your hi hats or something with the track delay, making a little late that way?

Low End Candy (01:11:54.298)

Yeah, I mean I I'll delay my entire percussive group. That's a trick I learned a l a long time ago. It's like literally my entire percussive group I'll I'll delay it like negative twenty milliseconds and it's like almost inaudible, but like that track delay on a lot of different elements like does add up and it for sure gives like that head knottiness I call it. You know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. huh.

Brian Funk (01:12:16.274)

So it's like behind the beat a little. Yeah. Right. Yeah, that's funny. It's just like a little bit of a lazy percussionist.

Low End Candy (01:12:26.351)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly.

Brian Funk (01:12:28.844)

It's a little bit late to the show. Yeah. The grooves are are incredible and that's sort of a a feature I don't see a lot of people going for. Although they're kind of made it a little more of a default thing in the recent updates. But like you can sample any groove you want. You yeah.

Low End Candy (01:12:30.743)

Yeah. Yep.

Low End Candy (01:12:42.981)

Mm. Yeah, the group full.

Low End Candy (01:12:48.023)

You could extract a groove, yeah. Which is cr like crazy. I've I've hardly ever seen people do that.

Brian Funk (01:12:53.686)

Half the time I think when people are sampling things, that's really what they want. They want that feel and you can just extract it. And yeah, I've I've made a lot of those. I got like you know, Michael Jackson grooves and even though half of that stuff is drum machines, it's still when you look at it, they're not exactly right. Th there's a life to them. But

Low End Candy (01:13:00.738)

Yeah.

Low End Candy (01:13:07.636)

nice.

Low End Candy (01:13:15.395)

Yeah, that's in my opinion that's what separates like those those, you know, Quincy Jones like Timbaland producers is like that those teeny details and like, you know, that creates like that human feel and makes it makes it sound good. So yeah, I I love grooves as well.

Brian Funk (01:13:28.236)

Mm.

Brian Funk (01:13:33.644)

Yeah, it's almost intangible, but it's real.

Low End Candy (01:13:37.743)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:13:38.86)

That's cool. I never really played around with the track delay, to tell you the truth. So to try it. Just I guess I've just always moved MIDI notes and but

Low End Candy (01:13:44.932)

They

Yeah, you can like definitely I mean you can sh I think it's like shift arrow and or command and like nudge stuff. But th they they started like hiding the track delay, it's kinda weird. You gotta go to settings to get it, but it's definitely like a f yeah, yeah, v track options of view or whatever, but it's definitely like and I've seen producers delay stuff by like a hundred milliseconds and it's like it gives you like whiplash basically. It's like I love it. It's one my favorite things.

Brian Funk (01:13:59.457)

Yeah. Track options or something like that.

Brian Funk (01:14:13.58)

That's cool. I'll play around with that.

Low End Candy (01:14:19.075)

Yeah.

Brian Funk (01:14:21.932)

Well hey man. it's been awesome chatting with you and good to interact with you in real life after seeing your stuff online for so long. we gotta send people to check you out. I know lowendcandy dot com, that's where they can get preverb and now slingshot and also like a lot of the Max for Live and Ableton stuff that you've got too. A lot of cool stuff. They can sign up for lessons. I think your YouTube channel is really great too.

lot of good stuff there. is there anywhere else you wanna tell people to go see your stuff? I mean, I guess music too, right?

Low End Candy (01:15:01.187)

Yeah, I mean my my artist name is Bohemoth. If you're a bass music fan, it's B-O-H-E-M-Y-T-H. Mostly on SoundCloud because I love using uncleared samples. but if you're a bass music guy or trap guy, like definitely check me out. Definitely send me some music. I love hearing, you know, what people are making. and then yeah, low end candy. I I'm trying to do a little bit more stuff on social media, on TikTok and whatnot. So yeah, definitely come and you know, and check it check it out.

Brian Funk (01:15:29.59)

Nice. Well yeah, definitely do that everybody. So thank you for spending the time and thank you for everyone for listening.

Low End Candy (01:15:39.021)

Yeah. Thank you for having me, Brian. I appreciate it.

Brian Funk
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