Showcase - Life Light

Bringing a mixture of soul enlightening sounds and heavy rockin’ bass lines to the dance floor, he has been a refreshing addition to the Atlanta EDM scene. Life Light has played over 100 individual gigs and has opened for Anjunabeats’ artist Arty. Life Light will continue to produce and perform for years to come.

1) Tell us a bit about your music (genre, inspiration source, goals):

It all started back in 2005 when I was approached by a friend at my Jr. High in Atlanta, GA who was trying to put a band together. We wanted to go for a Linkin Park-ish sound, so I went out and got an Ion iCD04FX which is basically just a box with two cd decks and a wheel that makes fake scratching noises. I got more into Dj-ing over the years and began buying more equipment and playing sweet 16 parties every other weekend. One Monday night I was riding with my friend and he put on Tiesto’s “Adagio for Strings”. I was hooked on Trance music and EDM in general from that day forward.
I began to get into FL Studio, making small loops and recordings. I decided that I wanted to pursue Audio Engineering and enrolled at SAE Institute Atlanta in 2009. I received a 13 inch macbook, Logic Pro 9 and Native Instruments Komplete 5 Bundle among gear.

My inspiration has fluctuated over the years, but as of now my favorite producers would have to be Above & Beyond. Pretty much anything from Anjunabeats blows my mind. I was lucky enough to open for Anjunabeats’ artist Arty last fall and I really love the energy that comes from that label’s artists. I’m hoping to continue producing for as long as I have ears that work. I’d like to tour the world and play the music that I invest my heart into.

2) How do you use Massive in your productions?:

Massive has become my absolute favorite VSTi. We all would love our very own Access Virus TI or Moog Voyager but Massive isn’t too far off in quality and can achieve very similar sounds. I use Massive on at least 10-15 tracks within a production. The bass, leads and fx are all powered by this great instrument.

3) Can you tell us about the creation of a specific sound in one of your tracks?

For the sub bass in “Rise & Shine”, I used a sine wave on oscillator 1 tuned down 12 semitones in pitch and a triangle wave on oscillator 2. I routed oscillator 2 through the Tele Tube FX for tone. Also both of these oscillators we’re routed through a low pass filter with an envelope on the cutoff.

4) Tell us a technique in Massive you use not many know about?

For some of my FX I want a really spacious sound. Essentially you can take any patch and drown it in reverb, and then use an external compressor to side chain it to the kick. You can create the pumping and breathing effect that is huge and dynamic depending on the type of patch you use. Just make sure to keep the reverb’s density and color in control or it will sound muddy. Also, a bit of phaser on top is always nice.

5) How has MassiveSynth.com helped you on your production journey?

I’ve been using NI’s Massive since 2009 and I was blown away by some of the tricks that we’re in the Sound Design Tutorial Course. Steve’s really got some great knowledge to share. I really learned a good bit on creating dynamic bass patches, I’ll let you look into it for yourself. You will not be disappointed! To master anything you must know it inside and out, so check out all the tutorials on this website.