David Penn (@djdavidpenn) has spent over three decades making house music, yet one detail in his production process has remained consistent: he wants to move quickly when an idea appears. That explains why his production setup for “Talk To Me” centers on software that lets him get ideas into the DAW without spending unnecessary time setting up complicated chains.
Released alongside UK producer-vocalist duo House Of Molly, “Talk To Me” lands today on Cr2 Records on August 21. The record takes its lyrical idea from the point in a relationship where communication starts disappearing, while its production keeps things firmly aimed at the club. House Of Molly also drew on early East Coast hip house during the writing process, giving the vocal an influence that extends beyond contemporary house.
That combination puts plenty of responsibility on the production underneath it.
Penn has to leave enough room for the vocal while keeping the low end and percussion moving, then use processing and automation to create changes without crowding the arrangement. His setup includes Studio One 7, Rob Papen SubBoomBass 2, Arturia CS-80 V, AIR Stutter, Endless Smile and several longtime mixing choices.
Below, David Penn explains the production setup behind “Talk To Me.”
PreSonus Studio One 7
I was using Logic Audio until 2014, when a good friend of mine, Hosse, recommended Studio One to me to make a track called “Con Son”. I wasnt so excited to change but i gave it a try.
Since then, I never used Logic Audio again. The way you can work with it, listening to audio libraries in real time, was something that Logic wasn´t able to do, and it saved a lot of time. I always say that the inspiration can be a couple of hours and you need to insert all your ideas realy fast and later decide which ones are good or not.
This DAW accelerated the process and has many features that make the workflow easy: automation, compatibility with all plugins, and stability. Also, the audio quality is so good, so since then I use it in all my productions. Actually, Studio One was bought by Fender, and now they named Fender Studio Pro as Studio One 8, but I am still with version 7.
Rob Papen SubBoomBass 2
Its the synth plugin I normally use for Bass sounds, it have an extense library and the sound quality is perfect. I used it on the bassline of the track. I also distorted it with an old plugin called Camelphat, and I used Shaperbox 3 to make the sound chain with the kick so the frequencies of the kick and bass are smooth. I also use a plugin called Bass Fingers from Waves when I want a more real bass sound and other one that I like is Trillian from Spectrasonics.
Check out SubBoomBass 2 on Plugin Boutique
Arturia CS-80 V
Arturia synths are really good; in this track, I wanted to emulate a siren using the preset “4 notes unison” and applying pitch automation to achieve that effect. In some parts you can feel that the sound is like cut in a rhythmic pattern using the plugin Air Stutter.
Check out Arturia CS-80 V on Plugin Boutique
AIR Stutter
AIR Stutter is a rhythmic effects plugin by AIR Music Tech designed to slice, stutter, and glitch audio with precise rhythmic control. It functions as a linear rhythmic gate that divides incoming audio into repetitive steps, allowing me to create complex textures, glitchy patterns, and dynamic rhythmic layering.
I also use it on the vocals at the end of the break and its very used lately for many producers to create that fx. In the past, I had to cut the audio into many pieces and it was more complicated to create this kind of FX; now with this plugin, it’s so easy and effective.
Endless Smile
Endless Smile is a multi-effect audio plugin developed by Dada Life, designed specifically to create tension, build-ups, and risers in music tracks. I use it in many of my productions, filtering the frequencies and adding a reverb. Before this plugin I was needing to automate 2 plugins (filter & reverb) and with this one its much easier and faster.
Breverb 2 by Overloud
Its a recurrent reverb I use a lot in my productions, it gets me many options and the quality is pro.
True Pianos by 4Front and M1 Piano
I didn´t used a piano in this production but I want to mention it as many producers asked me which piano plugins I use on my productions. I normally use one from True Pianos that gives me the low frequency and I mix it with M1 piano that its more mid sound and I get a bigger piano sound.
Monitoring With ATC SCM45A
For monitoring I used Event Opal for many years, but few years ago I bought the ATC SMC45A and its one of my best investments. Its a mid range monitor made by hand in the UK and the sound its just perfect to find the frequencies that
Tips and Trick From David Penn
Hot Take #1 – As I started my career more than 30 years ago, I lived through the evolution of electronic music, from pressing vinyl and putting stickers one by one to now needing to do much more to be relevant. Honestly, I love to make music and play it out, but social media gets me bored. Now I feel that it’s more important to be known than to make good music, but in my case I keep myself doing what I need to express instead of following trends…
Hot Take #2 – I think today many producers are not demanding enough of their productions. When I started in 1993, we had to press the vinyls, spend the money, try to sell them, and be demanding, as we would lose our investment. Now I feel that it’s a lot of unfinished music that can´t stand the test of time, and the worst part is that it’s more complicated to find good music among the amount of bad music that is released.
Hot Take #3 – KPD, Spanish producer and one of my best friends. I made many productions with him, such as “Ain´t Got No” or “Get Yourself Together,” to name a few. And he is releasing a lot of music that i reccomend djs to watch out.
Milton Shadow is another producer that impressed me actually and its another name that its bouliding a great catalog of good music.
Hot Take #4 – Its a recurrent conversation about the use of AI actually, I think it helps for ideas but I don’t like how big companies can use it to saturate the market and make everything similar. I checked on internet that Suno had scanned about 178 tracks from me and I didn’t get any permission. So we have to see where this is going but I think needs to be clear.
Hot Take #5 – As I said before, I try to go my way, I don´t look much about trends because I am in the music to express what I feel, I do mainly house music and I want to keep myself enjoying doing what I like to do. EDM was a trend years ago but I kept myself on my way and I am still here doing the music I want to do.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
