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Laidback Luke is often seen as a guru, a bastion of levelheaded-ness and wisdom in a scene which invites hundreds of new “producers” daily to try their hand at being the next big thing. His VLOGs are educational and often provide a level of insight not often seen from pillar producers like himself.


That being said, even Luke isn’t immune from criticism for his opinions. Tweeting out yesterday evening, Luke responded to producers asking him to make a VLOG entry about “sound design.” Sound design in production refers to “the creation of your own sounds (and possibly presets),” as well as perhaps the manipulation of presets and existing sounds. Think about artists like Noisia, Tipper, Culprate, KOAN Sound, Isqa, and Amon Tobin as professionals in sound design.

In his tweets, Luke writes, “[Sound design is] really not that important! Learn how to program beats, put things in key, how melodies work, arranging and FINISHING tracks first! Sound design will come much much later.

“Knowing how to design sound is a luxury, not a necessity. It’s fun, but you’ll always suck compared to the professionals that design presets. As a living. For you to readily use.”

This sort of inflammatory language, though true if read between the lines, caused many producers including Sullivan King, Habstrakt, and San Holo to respond.

To his credit, Luke has spent the last five hours (at time of publishing) steadily replying to people who take issue with his particular wording, and he owns up to his own words and isn’t likely to back down.

There’s no real “ending” to this discussion as it’s an ongoing one that will always invite different opinions and teachings into the mix, but it’s worth mentioning. Laidback Luke is continuing to answer producers and DJs on Twitter at @LaidbackLuke.