You may not be very familiar with the name Maarten Verwork. In fact, you’ve probably never even heard this name at all. Chances are you’ve skipped over this article the first time you read it all together because his name hasn’t graced the DJMAG top 100 or any mainstream recognition for musical talent. Again, you might not know who he is, but you’ve certainly heard his work, and there’s a good chance it’s changed your life.
Maarten Verwork is a ghost producer. While not quite as spooky as it sounds, a ghost producer is an apparition in the music world that creates the tunes behind some of the largest names in the business. A ghost producer gets contracted (or works directly) with other producers to create the tracks you know and love. Occasionally they get credit for their contributions but more often than not, you’ll never know when they’ve worked their magic with an artist. Before you jump to the “unfair” conclusion for the job of a ghost producer, please understand this is a business in itself. There are ghost writers in the world of books, and even movie scripts/screenwriters have silent partners working alongside (see Evan Goldberg, the writer/partner behind most of Seth Rogan’s work),
Why has this name surfaced everywhere lately for producers? Vorwerk has recently compiled one of the best gifts that aspiring producers could hope to recieve from one of the greats. On December 23rd, Maarten uploaded a PDF that consisted of over 100 pages of production tips. They range from “how to widen your drums (#11),” to “Principles for layering your Synths (#16), and our personal favorite for you theory guys, “How to pick the Key of a track (#23).”‘ While you should take time to go through all of them, here are our top 5 from the first half:
5. Key of a Track – #23: Picking a key is arguable step 1 for creating a track, We could put this as the most important, but we felt that it’s a good parallel – starting a list and starting a track.4. Workflow – #28: “Take the first thing that inspires you… and always make that as finished as possible.” Maarten walks us through his brief thoughts on starting a track. Everyone has their own process, but this is Maarten’s approach.3. Widening your sound – #43: Maarten gives you 10 examples to open up your track. This includes split equalizing (left and right shifts), adding delays, and adjusting reverbs.2. Mastering – #35: Maarten goes over what you typically find on a mastering channel for dance music. It’s a very high-level overview of the compressors, equalizers, and limiters. Again, it’s not a deep dive, but a good quick reference.1. Writers Block and Creativity – #38: We put this at the top because it’s not techy advice. Wne put this tip as the most important because it ends with the exact course of action Maarten took. “If nothing of this helps, it’s better to go to the beach and try the next day.” You might not olive in Aruba, but know that all producers need to take a break to get inspired.
Take the time to really go through all of this guide. If you’re like me, make a physical copy and start tabbing pages. Run to your local FedEx/Kinkos and get this thing printed and bound. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more useful quick-reference guide, and this one is worth having a physical copy to refer to. There are a few times where Maarten states that a lot of things mentioned are, “… based on my opinion,” which might concern you for half a second. You’ll then realize that this is the opinion of one of the biggest producers can essentially be taken as EDM gospel.
At the end of the day, when it comes to being a great producer practice makes perfect. You won’t get there unless you put in the hours. You can’t win a game if you never practice, but it definitely helps to get a head start. Get back to the studio and keep this guide at the ready. We wish you the best and if you make it to Aruba, make sure you thank Maarten Verwork for helping you get there.
Check out the guide, here.