ANAK Creates Podcast | Coffee with Creators

Releases are the most important thing to get people to hear your music, and weather you’re an artist, or producer helping artists, you should listen to this to hear how you can make releases better. There really is no “Perfect” way to release music, but this is some of our findings and different things to think about when it comes to planning your releases and promotional packages. Having been apa...

We all have dumb purchases that we thought would be a great idea but weren’t quite worth it, and we also have those purchases we wish we had all along! That’s what we’re chatting about today! Plus I discuss my new laptop, what the Junos sent me, and of course the latest news about AVID getting purchased and why that’s kinda worrisome for creators. Pkew: Dumbest thing i ever done - https://youtu.be...

Here are 3 things that I feel need to be a regular reminder for creators in general, things I need to constantly remind myself and others. When we're so passionate about what we do, sometimes these can fall by the wayside. LINKS: Barely Holding On - https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/alexkrotz/barely-holding-on-feat-sons-of-horus SoundToys Superplate - https://www.soundtoys.com/product/superpla...

Artist, Musician and Creator Ethan Maac joins me today to discuss his creative process, how he got into production and how he thinks about everything creative that surrounds his music. He’s not only a talented musician and producer of his own music, but is heavily involved in the making of music videos and developing the visual identity of his music. We also dive into his latest Release Light Swit...

This week we discuss Apple’s latest releases (and if they really are worth keeping an eye on for music production) company consolidation and news about Native Instruments and Moog Audio. I talk about Waves StudioVerse and what I think it’s all about, and then we dive into my feeling about AI in music production, 3 ways I think it could really help our current tools and help us with creation. LINKS...

This week we’re talking about an exciting new launch for ANAK Creates, some news coming from the Pro Tools world and some awesome new releases from friends of the channel. I also talk about my production method where I feel like I’m sampling my own stuff, chopping things up in a session and playing with them and using that as a method of inspiration to see what I can create with what I have. Then...

This episode of Ear Break we're joined by Malcolm Cottle to chat about the "fast fashion" of YouTube Covers and the usage of templates to enhance your workflow, and not to be a box for creativity. We also dive into our Top 5 Mixes, which is a question Malcolm approached me with months ago. It's a fun filled episode with lots of good insight and creative lessons as well. Of course...

Welcome to the first episode of Ear Break! I series on the show that's more casual, answering questions and chatting about things around music creation, the music industry. This episode I'm chatting about my latest youtube video and the creative process behind it's creation and how it feels to be back on YouTube, Peter Gabriels new double mix, and a segment called Over Under.. Take a guess what th...

This episode I am joined by Dr. Jay Hodgson. He is an accomplished musician and songwriter, and a fantastic mastering engineer. He also has his PHD and is a professor at Western University, a published author with a number of academic books on topics in the world of music production and mastering (I am proud to say that I have been a contributing author to a few of his works). To top it all off, h...

In this episode I’m joined by Emmett O’Reilly and Malcolm Cottle to chat about their latest (and most ambitious) release Anxious Attachement. This is no ordinary project, this is a full cinematic shortfilm stringing together the music videos for Emmetts new record My Vacation. On top of that, the songs were also re-recorded live off the floor for the filming! A crazy ambitious project that’s been...

There's really no such thing as "the perfect DAW" (Digital Audio Workstation), however, there is a great DAW to suit everyone. A DAW needs to fit your needs and your workflow, and above all else, it needs to help you create your best, fastest, and easiest. For every person, those needs are different. In today's episode, I talk about this, since there is so much miss-information out there from peop...

Here are some tips for programming drums, both for drummers and non-drummers! Malcolm Cottle and myself talk about things to pay attention to as well as some techniques to improve the authenticity and realism of programmed drums. Malcolm, a proficient drummer and programmer himself, discusses from a drummer perspective why learning to program is such a great skill for drummers in general to have a...

This is a problem that hurts more people than you think. Plugin cracks and software piracy is something that plagues the music industry, and piracy of the music in general. I felt I needed to talk about it, discourage it, and explain why it hurts everyone. Please do your part, don't be part of the issue, and don't be a hypocrite. This is my little PSA about software Piracy, who it hurts and why it...

We don't really think about the different factors that influence how we perceive music, such as our upbringing, life experiences, emotions associated with different aspects of the genre, artist or listening environment, age, and many more things.  In this episode, Jay Riehl and I discuss how that influences music creators and music listeners, and how you can't appeal to everyone. The only rea...

Modern Music Production Techniques aren’t hurting music, modern consumption is demanding to much and not allowing artists to write properly, as much was meant to be written. This is most obvious and easy to talk about in many modern metal and rock productions where drummers aren’t given the time to really write their parts along the way and are instead brought in at the end of a production just to...

Mix notes are something that all producers, engineers, and artists have to deal with, wether giving or receiving them, they are part of music creation. However, it seems like many people don't totally know what to expect from mix notes, or what the processes and protocols around them are, especially newer artists. In today's episode, that's what we discuss, 10 of my top tips for dealing tip mix no...

2021 was a great year! This episode I wanted to do a bit of a recap of the highlights of the year for ANAK Creates, and a look into what next year is going to bring! What are some of your top accomplishments creatively of the last year?

In this episode I discuss the most common mistakes or oversights that I find people make in their mixes and productions. When giving my mix feedback, these are some of the most common threads of advice I keep giving. There's so much to cover, but this is a good overview of some common things to keep in mind while working on improving  your mixes and productions! Check out my mix feedback! - a...

In this episode, I'm joined by our friend Malcolm Cottle to discuss the ups, the downs, and the technicals of confidently recording yourself as a one person show - the artist, producer, engineer or any combination thereof.  Both Malcolm and I have been doing our own projects for years, where we need to be the creative brain as well as the technical brain in the project. While this is possible...

Giving Feedback, Mix Notes, Production Notes, basically giving your thoughts on someone’s creative outlet, is something that happens often, but need to be given in the right way. Well delivered thoughts, feedback or notes can go a long way to improve the project, and achieve the best outcome result, but can get there faster and strengthen the working relationship between those involved at the same...

When it comes to making a record, and more importantly the budgeting of the record, many new artists are unsure where to start. There are many questions, without a lot of honest answers out there. Every audio professional is out there trying to convince you that their services are needed and essential and worth the price. As an artist, you need to sift through the noise and figure out what you, an...

Welcome to The ANAK Creates Podcast! I'm your host, Alex Krotz. My podcast is all about exploring the art of engineering and music production, what that means to different artists, producers and engineers and how it affects the creation process. Oh, and with a healthy dose of music business thrown in.  We talk about all things related to music production, audio engineering, editing and mixing...

In this week’s episode, I’m joined once again by Malcolm Cottle to talk about plugins, one of our favorite things. We discuss how lazy engineering can result from purchasing plugins without learning how to use them. To further knowledge growth, using a plugin need go beyond picking a preset, and dive into actually understand the fundamentals of why the plugin is doing what it’s doing, and how it n...

Someones name attached to your project is not the one reason that's going to push your songs to the next level. You need a great production and a team willing to help achieve that. Sometimes artists get blinded by the though of having someones name attached to their project, they miss out that it may not actually be the best thing for their project, and they often overlook far better options that...

Music Production, audio engineering, mixing, songwriting, basically any form of musical creativity has NO RULES and no Step by Step Processes that are set in stone. Yes, there are guidelines, and there and step by step instructions for certain processes to get you going in a general direction or a general sound, but they are fluid, always changing and meant to be bent and broken. When you push the...