I've been asked quite a few times to do a Blueprint on MicroHertz so here's your first look behind the scenes on how I manage the content for the label and how I brief them with what I want.
Scroll down to find examples of the MicroHertz Studio Breakdown.
Disclaimer: if you are new here, you may not know but Socially Sound has managed MicroHertz label socials since October 2021.
Knowing Your Audience
The MicroHertz studio breakdown is one of the flagship pieces of content we release on social media. The label's core audience is DJs and producers. I know this as all I have to do is look at the users engaging with our content on Instagram and see the handles. Pretty much every user who regularly engages with the label has 'dj' or 'music' in their handle.
The MicroHertz audience knows each other
The core interest of producers is 'how music is made', therefore making a studio breakdown for the releases on the label appeals to the core interest of our audience.
This is a key part of the MicroHertz strategy. Whenever we release any music on the label, we trust our audience to know the producer. We don't need to introduce these artists with bios or press pics, we can just focus 100% on the music.
The label is lucky to have a community of artists who want other artists to do well and be successful. This is all tied into the relationship they have with each other and with label boss Archie Hamilton.
More from The Blueprint…
The Studio Breakdown Brief
The Studio Breakdown video is split into three core parts:
The Intro
How the artist made the track
The outro - the complete track
Part 1 - The Intro
The first part of the video always features the MicroHertz logo, the artist and the name of the track and the EP title. It's not possible to do this over parts of the breakdown so we brief artists to film a short intro - no more than 4-5 seconds.
This can be done in three ways:
Opening the studio door, walking in and switching on a light
Turning on your equipment/computer screen
DO ✅
Film it in the daylight
Show us your studio and the equipment in the shot
Have someone help film you if you are not 100% confident to do it yourself
DON'T ❌
Make this clip too long
Film it at night
Hold the camera yourself (I'll explain why and how to film later)
Part 2 - How you made the track
The idea of the breakdown is to strip your track and show us how you created it.
The Studio Breakdown MicroHertz shared yesterday from ZYNK goes in this order:
Kick > Hi-hats > Bass > Acid 303 > Percussion > Rave Organ > M1 Organ > Synths
Music is made in 4/4 time signatures - for the final cut of the video we want each clip to be no more than 4 seconds. When you are filming this, give the creator of the video lead time on either side so we can cut it down and make it a good experience for the viewer. Creating video content is the same as mixing tracks with DJs.
DO ✅
Record the clips from the side
Make sure you have good lighting in your studio
Upload the videos into a Dropbox folder titled in the order you want them in the video with the name of the studio element
Example - 1. Intro 2. Bass 3. Synth etc
DON'T ❌
Record the breakdown clips from behind
Part 3 - The Outro
Now you have shown us how you have made the track, we now need to hear it in full.
We need this video to be a minimum of 8 seconds so we can hear all of the elements come together. We encourage artists to make this part fun. It's impossible as a producer to sit there and not dance to your own music - we're not after a TikTok dance routine, just be yourself and engage with the camera.
The Studio Breakdown - Examples
Here are 9 examples of the MicroHertz studio breakdown for you to watch and get inspiration from. Each video is different and it shows how artists put their own twists on things in the studio.
That's it for this week's Blueprint. If you want to know more about my secrets, hit me up in those DMs.
You can follow MicroHertz on Instagram and listen to the label's releases on Spotify.
Peace ✌️
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