Before you start to tackle a new production, it’s best to understand your goals; to make a no-frills, straight to the point club weapon, that has a focus on delivering creative, unique ideas. Siege makes sure that we do not get distracted by the technical side of production too soon in the process, keeping you focused with your eyes on the prize.

At the core of every club track is a great drumbeat, and Big Room Tech House is no different. Although relatively sparse, a good track in this genre consists of strong, powerful drum sounds that cut through the speakers and keep the audience anchored on the dancefloor. Siege shows you all the secrets to designing a floor-filling kick drum, snappy hats, and beefy percussion.

There’s more than one way to make a bassline, and Siege covers four different methods in this chapter. Looking at the classic rolling techno bass, to using synthesizers, manipulating colourful samples, and even using percussion to fill out the bottom end.

In this chapter, Siege explores how to give your track it’s unique identity using mid-range synths and other melodic instruments to develop a unique finger-print that’s going to hook in the crowd. He explains the essential theory behind synthesizers, rave stabs, textural atmospheric pads, and other hook-related elements using samples, synths and more.

Every great track has a great vocal. In this chapter Siege de-mystifies the often intimidating process of finding a unique vocal idea, by using tools like Splice and Youtube alongside creative sampling techniques and interesting processing chains, to bring the best out of any vocal you find.

Nobody wants to listen to a four-bar loop and getting out of that infamous stage can be one of the biggest challenges for fledgling producers. But when you have a grasp of arrangement, it becomes one of the easiest parts of the production process. Siege explains his formula for taking a loop and expanding it into a 6-minute track with adrenalin-fuelled build ups and hypnotic breakdowns that keep the crowd engaged from start to finish.

The intensely deep and complicated world of mixing is made clear in this chapter, with Siege explaining all the industry secrets used by the pros to turn a rough demo into a competitive club-ready weapon. Looking at everything from good housekeeping of pre-production, through to parallel processing, compression, EQ and even mastering.

‘Forget’ was released on the iconic Saved imprint in 2020, and is one of Siege’s most-loved tracks. In this chapter, he gives a full inside look at how he made the track in Ableton, highlighting all the elements from drums, bass, hook and vocal. He explains his creative process from start to finish.

It’s time to get creative. In this chapter, we see all of the techniques covered so far in a real-life context, as he puts on his producer cap and makes a track in 90 minutes. This very track was signed to Toolroom Trax shortly after the course was filmed – and you get to access the stems as a student!

Siege is joined by Toolroom A&R and Academy mentor Pete Griffiths, as they discuss his journey as an artist in the scene. You’ll learn about his tips for social media and networking, and how he build relationships with leading labels. Pete analyses Siege’s sound from an A&R perspective, giving a label’s perspective on why his sound has been so captivating.