iLan Bluestone Discusses Music Production Techniques on Gibson Tour Bus

EDM producer iLan Bluestone talks to Gibson Brands / Cakewalk's Jimmy Landry and Markkus Rovito of Electronic Musician on his approach to his unique sound. From the creation, to the mix, to the fans, Ilan Bluestone chooses SONAR Platinum for his signature sound. On debuting new material at shows: "I do it in small clubs to test it out first. Once I'm happy, then I'll play it at a festival." On initial passes into finishing a song: "Mostly [I focus on] the balancing of the mix to see how the mix sounds... The kick drums, snares, overall arrangement to see if it works with the audience. Sometimes you want to break down quicker. The song can drag out, but you want everyone to be constantly tuned in." On layering: "Most of my projects are, like, 130 layers of sounds. Sometimes I've got one lead doing the same thing but I've got three sounds doing the same riff, to really beef it up. There's no special, magic technique. It's all about what I kind of hear in my brain which I want to put down. And it's all about experimentation--you've got to experiement and give yourself goosebumps. If you're doing that, you're on the right track." On appealing to a larger audience: "How is that person's ears adjusting to your melodies or your beat? You have to kind of break your brain down to the point of where you're dumb with the music. You're going to be thinking about the EQ and the top-range compression on a sound, where another person doesn't know what that is or why it sounds so bright. You have to put yourself in the listener's shoes rather than the musician's shoes." On tools: "I use a lot of Z3TA+, and Sylenth, Massive, Spire... All the known VST Plugins... A lot of Kontakt Stuff. Mostly the go-to plugins that everyone else is using, but I like to take presets and make my own, customize..." On Mixing: "I mix as I go along, and there's no certain mastering technique that I do. I just mix on the go, make sure everything is sounding balanced. If you've got your pre-master sounding great, you're on fire."