25 Years In The Life Of A Bedroom Producer.

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
1,217 Thanked
West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
*thread reseurrection from the old Trancefix*...


Hello,well i thought some of you may find this vaguely interesting,im documenting the last 25 years or so as a 'bedroom producer'.

Ive always thought of myself as that,as in not having a proper studio,no hardware synths,not even having a music keyboard or play an instrument - just me,a mouse and a copy of Logic!

The insight may be interesting for any budding new producers out there,or maybe producers who have had similar experiences and turned pro - or even ones who have quit the scene since.



Ive documented events by years :

The Early Years


I grew up in the 80's and the house we lived in had an old Wurlitzer jukebox,which had so many different types of music on its 8" vinyls....music all the way from the 1950's....The Beatles,Led Zeppelin,Frank Sinatra - even things like The Ghostbusters Theme and Chubby Checker! I was heavily influenced by what my parents used to listened to,so two huge artists for me early on was Queen and Michael Jackson - i remember i used to listen to the 'Bad' album on my old Sony cassette Walkman as i walked around the house.

My early memories of electronic music would be when my parents used to play Enigma on a new CD player we had bought,around 1990 - i used to think this sound was quite haunting at the time,but now i look back and i think this mustve been a huge influence regarding Ambient,Downtempo,Breakbeat music.

Into the mid 90's and i started to collect the 'Now That What i Call Music' series - first on Cassette and then on CD. I used to love the dance tracks they normally put on at the end - artists like St Etienne and N-Trance. One track that really caught my ears was JX - Theres Nothing I Wont Do...although classed as 'Euro Dance',this had some really Trancy riffs and i would say an important record in the beginning for my love of Trance.

And then in early 1999,i was working at a tumble dryer factory at 16 years old as a part time job - i heard a track that came on the local radio station - it was System F - Out Of The Blue. I had no idea who Ferry Corsten was and what Trance music is but i know i fell in love with that sound and i bought it straight away on release. And as you all know,that was the start of the Trance wave in the UK that year - tracks like Gouryella and Veracocha started hitting the charts.

Shortly after,i also saw a TV advert late at night on my small portable black & white TV - it was for the very first Euphoria CD mixed by PF Project. The only track i recognised on it was Lucid - I Cant Help Myself - i had it on a Now CD from the year before. I bought the Complilation and its the CD that changed my life,i fell in love with every track - and after that i collected pretty much every Trance CD that year in 1999,along with a host of CD singles - and the rest they,is history!

1999

I started out experimenting with production on the Codemasters 'Music' games on the Playstation - i made around 100 tracks in various styles such as progressive,techno,industrial....i started out at 150 BPM!


2001

I joined a few Trance forums,including Trance.nu,Tranceaddict & Anjunabeats. I didnt post a track for a few years,but these forums were a great place for track discussion and discovering classic i hadnt heard yet,and i could also hear what other bedroom producers were making in the production forums.

In late 2001 i bought myself a couple of Numark belt drive turntables and a budget mixer - i spent the entire first day trying to mix the only two vinyls i had....Hemstock & Jennings - Mirage & the Praha remix of Outlaw.


2004

I dabbled on Ableton & Reason before i chose Logic Express as my main program.



2005

Created the 'Magdelayna' alias and starting learning Logic from scratch with no manuals as such. I made 'early works' tracks covering progressive Trance & Chillout. I took a lot of producer advice on forums such as Trance.nu & Tranceaddict - artists such as Airbase & Airwave were big helps back then.



2006

First release on Aurora Digital with a track named 'Prolific'



2007

I developed a 'spacy' Trance style and my 2nd release on Aurora reflected that with 'Rings Of Saturn'.

My first remix release was on Bonzai with 'Aerium & Krivi - Forever Playing' this got my first major support from Aly & Fila.

My radio show 'Moments of Energy' started on Danceradio.gr



2008

My collaboration track with Richard Gale entitled 'Back To The Stars' gained massive support from Markus Schulz,Aly & Fila and also Dave Pearce,on his BBC Radio 'Dance Anthems' show.



2009

Had more Aly & Fila support with 'Second Universe' and i appeared on the very first Defcon Recordings release,with a remix of 'Trailblazer'.

I moved from Logic Express to Logic Pro.

Meanwhile my radio show moved to Afterhours FM.

Created a Youtube channel.


2010

'The Thoughts EP' was released on Digitized Recordings - Aly & Fila supported ''Forever More'' from that record.

I started producing more Chilled Trance versions of tracks,my remix of 'Med & Phil Metcalfe - January' on Defcon being one of them.


2011

Released my single 'Hope Still In Your Heart' - the A & Z remix had Aly & Fila support.


2012

Aly & Fila played my remake of 'Transa - Supernova' live at club Eden,Ibiza as part of a FSOE show.


2013

Signed to Abora Recordings and went on to make a lot of Chilled Trance remakes,including a remix of iconic gatecrasher anthem 'Mea Culpa - Spiritual Light' which had a release on iTunes.


2014

Recorded a vocal track with Clare Stagg - also had support of my chillout material from Solarstone & Chicane.

Was one of the winners of 'The Thrillseekers - Find You' remix competition - getting a release on the Adjusted label.



2015

My remix of 'Find You' was released on Adjusted in the early part of the year.

I gave iconic tracks 'The Message' & 'Whispers' a chilled interpretation, which earned support from Solarstone.

My Chilled version of classic track 'As the Rush Comes' won a remix competition on Trancefix.

My single 'Accessing Your Memories' was released on the label tranceform Recordings - this had support from Gatecrasher legend Scott Bond and also won the 'single of the month' in December on the Trancefix forum.

The landmark 100th episode of 'Moments Of Energy' aired in December on Afterhours FM.

I released my artist mix album 'Anthology' - this featured the last decade of my original work.


2016

My chilled remake of Gouryella's 'Anahera' drew massive praise - even from Ferry himself,describing it as a 'Beautiful Rework'.

Chicane supported my chilled rework of 'Fragments Of Bliss' on his ''Sun:Sets radio show.

Triple support from Solarstone,including my chilled remake of Trance classic 'Rank 1 - Airwave'. A track he closed with in San Francisco,on a 6 hour extended set.

My chilled remix of Tom Forde's 'Im Free' was released on Defcon.

Reached 500,000 plays on my Youtube channel.

Reached 25,000 total downloads on Soundcloud.



2017

My radio show 'Moments Of Energy' reached its 10th anniversary,with a 3 hour special mix.

More Chicane support on his Sun:Sets show.

Original tracks 'Remember' & 'Lunar Totality' released myself on Bandcamp.

Made a 22 minute concept track at 30BPM - entitled 'Suspended In Trance'.


2018

My remix of 'Fragments Of Bliss' appeared on Chicane's 'Sun:Sets' compilation CD - released on Armada.

My radio show 'Moments Of Energy' finished broadcasting on Afterhours.FM - after 9 years on the station.

My remix of 'Whispers' was released on the Electrovoya 'Time Passes' EP.

Played at Luminosity Beach Festival,on the Sunset stage - my worldwide live DJ debut.

Reached a Million plays on my Youtube channel.



2019

Won the Neptune Project 'Pulse' remix competition,released on Mythology.

Won the Push 'No Borders' remix competition,released on Mostiko.

My remix of 'Airwave - Save Me' appeared on his landmark 20 Years CD album.

Also my remixes of Airwave's 'Sunspot' & 'Alone In The Dark' released on Bonzai.

Collaboration with Altitude (Steve Gibbs) on 'We Are One'.

My remix of 'Stage One' was released on Lost Language.

Reached 10 Million plays on Youtube.


2020

Reached 25 Million plays on Youtube.

Reached 30,000 subscribers on my Youtube channel.

Released my artist album 'Anthology II' on Bandcamp.

Solarstone & Scott Bond support on various tracks.

My remix of 'Now We Are Free' reached 15 Million plays.


2021

Reached 60,000 Subscribers on my Youtube channel.

Reached 40 Million plays on my Youtube channel.

My remix of 'Now We Are Free' reached 25 Million plays.

Solarstone support.

Started a 'Retrospective' DJ mix series,playing all my discography from each seperate year.

Started a 'Expeditions' DJ mix series,shying away from Trance a little - more Techno/Progressive based.


2022

Played at the Anomaly 'Summer Of Love' festival - my UK DJ debut.

Reached 45 Million plays on my Youtube channel - plays took a big hit this year,due to the double whammy of the end of lockdowns and also the war in Ukraine.


2023

Reached 50 Million plays on my Youtube channel.

Reached 70,000 Subscribers on my Youtube channel

My remix of 'Now We Are Free' reached 30 Million Plays.

My remix of 'Feeling This Way' was supported by Solarstone and signed to Pure Trance - my debut on the label.
 
Last edited:

Hensmon

Admin
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,109 Posts
2,606 Thanked
UK
Reached 10 Million plays on Youtube.

Thats pretty cool. Hans Zimmer remix the big one for you yes?I assume you cant earn any money from that one, but bet it's been great for exposure and getting new fans. Enjoyed reading that. Getting a track on Airwave - Save Me pretty sick as well. Is your set-up literally just a computer?
 

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
1,217 Thanked
West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
Thats pretty cool. Hans Zimmer remix the big one for you yes?I assume you cant earn any money from that one, but bet it's been great for exposure and getting new fans. Enjoyed reading that. Getting a track on Airwave - Save Me pretty sick as well. Is your set-up literally just a computer?

Im nearly on 20 million plays now..during this lockdown my plays have quadrupled..i think my peak was 90k plays a day which is crazy!! Yeah my set-up is literally just Logic Pro and a mouse.
 

Jetflag

Elite Member
Jul 17, 2020
2,701 Posts
2,168 Thanked
"My first remix release was on Bonzai with 'Aerium & Krivi - Forever Playing' this got my first major support from Aly & Fila. "

and still a great one it is at that m8 (y)
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Magdelayna

deVOID

Member
Jul 21, 2020
40 Posts
24 Thanked
Bristol, United Kingdom
Really interesting stuff and well done for all your achievements.

Out of curiosity, in your opinion how long do you think it would take from a standing start to learn Logic Pro and make a tune of a suitable standard for release on a decent label?
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Magdelayna

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
1,217 Thanked
West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
Really interesting stuff and well done for all your achievements.

Out of curiosity, in your opinion how long do you think it would take from a standing start to learn Logic Pro and make a tune of a suitable standard for release on a decent label?

It depends on a number of things,but back then when i started in 2004 with Logic,learning it from scratch with a blank canvas - it took me around 3 years before a proper release. But nowadays anyone can get a DAW,download a template or producer sound pack and have a pro sounding track in no time - but the real talent comes with melody making and creating your own unique sound...and youll never do that with a generic template pack. Im strongly against them.
 

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
1,217 Thanked
West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
It all depends on 3 things:
- the amount of time you invest
- the amount of money you invest
- the amount of talent you have

It can be anywhere between just a couple of months, or multiple years.

Ive never really invested any money for production - apart from the copy of Logic. You really need very little to make good music.
 

Julian Del Agranda

Elite Member
Jul 3, 2020
1,583 Posts
1,824 Thanked
Well you don't need much indeed. It's not like in the hardware days, which must have cost fortunes.

But I would say, investing in semi-pro studio monitors is almost a must. Maybe an external audio interface to get the max out of your monitors. Creating music on basic headphones or PC speakers is a bad idea. If you purchase a good PC, legal software, legal plugins, legal packs, and mediocre studio monitors, it's still quite expensive.

For a starter, I wouldn't advice all that. It's just that the question was specifically towards 'professional' sounding tracks.
 

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
1,217 Thanked
West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
Well you don't need much indeed. It's not like in the hardware days, which must have cost fortunes.

But I would say, investing in semi-pro studio monitors is almost a must. Maybe an external audio interface to get the max out of your monitors. Creating music on basic headphones or PC speakers is a bad idea. If you purchase a good PC, legal software, legal plugins, legal packs, and mediocre studio monitors, it's still quite expensive.

For a starter, I wouldn't advice all that. It's just that the question was specifically towards 'professional' sounding tracks.

Oh yeah,i bought Yamaha monitors and a USB audio interface...i was thinking more production hardware like synths hehe.

And ive never had a keyboard even.
 

Nerio

Member
Aug 2, 2020
140 Posts
85 Thanked
Bedroom Producer?
You Should be a normal producer your remixes are GENIAL .
Damn look on some producers they do not even know notes, and make all music through software, and what hits are they now?
Try to make living from this.
If not DJ/Producer atleast make music for movies/games.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Magdelayna

Propeller

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2020
686 Posts
428 Thanked
UK
Yeah ive probably made more money on BC recently than i wouldve done in 10 years of digital labels haha

Approximately what percentage of the revenue goes to the producer for a sale of a track on Beatport/Juno/iTunes, etc?

I've read that on Bandcamp around 80% of the revenue goes to the artist.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Magdelayna

Julian Del Agranda

Elite Member
Jul 3, 2020
1,583 Posts
1,824 Thanked
Beatport takes 50% I think.

But thats not all. Dont forget the labels that released it. Lots of small labels only pay out royalties once a certain amount is reached. For example, the first 100 euro is for the label, and only after that, you get 50% (or whatever).

The thing is, trance sales are very low. Most tracks don’t get 100 sales. You only need a few dozens to get into the top 100 (for trance).