- Kins
- Posts
- 🎛️ EDM.com class of 2025
🎛️ EDM.com class of 2025
Plus recent Boiler Room sets
The Hidden Frequency
May 14, 2025
Welcome to the Hidden Frequency — your go-to source for the latest news on synths, industry trends, production techniques, and new music. Whether you’re a seasoned producer or just starting out, we provide the best tools to help you level up your music. If you were forwarded this email, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a thing!
What’s included this week:
🔦 SPOTLIGHT: EDM.com class of 2025
🎛️ WHAT'S MOVING THE NEEDLE: Boiler Room Sets
🎚️ SHAPING THE SOUND: Creating Theme & Variation
🎵 NEW MUSIC: Jake Shepard, SHINE CHILD, & More
🔥 WHAT'S BUZZING: Brooklyn Mirage delays, EDC Las Vegas, & More
🧰 THE ESSENTIALS: Must have tools for your bag
TOP TRACKS
Every week, we bring you gems from indie labels and unsigned artists that deserve to be heard.
Got a track that you want shared with the community?
Email us at [email protected] with the title “SUBMISSION” and include a link to your track!
SPOTLIGHT
EDM.com Class of 2025
Each year, EDM.com curates a list of artists poised to shape the future of electronic music. The Class of 2025 is a testament to the genre's evolving landscape, highlighting talents who are redefining sounds and pushing boundaries.
🎶 Featured Artists:
ALLEYCVT: Known for her dynamic performances and genre-blending tracks, ALLEYCVT has been making waves with her unique sound.
Beltran: Bringing fresh energy to the scene, Beltran's innovative productions have garnered attention from both fans and industry veterans.
Champion: With a knack for crafting infectious beats, Champion is quickly becoming a staple in electronic playlists.
Jessica Audiffred: A powerhouse in the bass music realm, Jessica's high-octane sets and releases have solidified her reputation as a force to be reckoned with.
Layton Giordani: Melding techno rhythms with melodic elements, Layton's tracks resonate on dancefloors worldwide.
Linney: Her ethereal vocals and emotive songwriting have made Linney a sought-after collaborator in the electronic community
Max Styler: Continuously evolving his sound, Max Styler's recent works showcase a blend of house grooves and experimental textures.
Oppidan: Emerging from the UK scene, Oppidan's fusion of garage and bass elements offers a fresh take on classic sounds.
Tape B: Known for his nostalgic yet forward-thinking approach, Tape B's productions bridge the gap between past and present electronic music trends.
Wakyin: carving out a space at the intersection of cinematic bass and percussive tribal rhythms. Known for fusing heavy low-end design with ethereal atmospheres and field-recorded textures.
For a deeper dive into the full list and to explore the sounds of these rising stars, visit EDM.com's official announcement.
WHAT’S MOVING THE NEEDLE
Recent Boiler Room Sets
🎧 Polygonia | Boiler Room: Rotterdam
Polygonia's set in Rotterdam showcased her signature blend of hypnotic techno and ambient textures. Her intricate layering and seamless transitions created an immersive experience, though at times, the set leaned heavily into experimental territories that might not resonate with all listeners. Nonetheless, her ability to craft a cohesive journey through sound was evident.
🎛️ Koboyo | Boiler Room: Rotterdam
Koboyo delivered a dynamic set characterized by pulsating rhythms and a fusion of techno sub-genres. His track selection kept the energy high, and his mixing was tight. However, the set occasionally lacked the unexpected twists that can elevate a performance from good to unforgettable.
🌴 I. JORDAN | Boiler Room: Goa
I. JORDAN's performance in Goa was a high-energy affair, weaving together elements of house, techno, and breakbeat. Their track selection was eclectic, and the crowd's enthusiasm was palpable. However, the set occasionally felt disjointed, with some transitions lacking fluidity. Despite this, the overall vibe was infectious and kept the dance floor moving.
SHAPING THE SOUND
Creating Theme & Variation in Arrangement
How to evolve your track every 8–16 bars using micro-edits, subtle shifts, and sonic sleight of hand.
A truly captivating track doesn’t rely on constant “newness.” It uses evolution — unfolding gradually while building tension and emotional weight. The secret isn’t in stacking more sounds. It’s in what changes, when it changes, and how it changes.
Producers like Anyma, Bicep, Bonobo, Fred again.., and Kiasmos are masters of this. Their tracks feel alive — each phrase nudges the narrative forward with clever shifts, ghost edits, and space-aware movement.
This is how to create that same hypnotic variation in your arrangement — without adding clutter or killing the groove.
🎯 1. What’s a Motif? Why It Matters
A motif is a short, recurring musical idea — a rhythm, melody, bassline, or texture that gives your track its identity. It’s not the entire loop… it’s the essence inside it.
In techno, it might be a pulsing off-beat hat or a stuttering vocal chop. In melodic house, it could be a 4-note arpeggio that weaves through the entire arrangement. In breaks, it’s often a syncopated drum swing or one sample flipped in different directions.
🧠 Your job as a producer isn’t to constantly introduce new elements — it’s to reinterpret your motif in fresh ways across time.
Think of it as a sentence you keep rephrasing: the words shift, the tone changes, but the meaning stays true.
🧬 2. Evolve the Motif Every 8–16 Bars
Once your motif is in place, resist the urge to loop it endlessly. Instead, ask:
“What’s the next emotional step this phrase should take?”
Here’s a simple arc:
Bars 1–8: Introduce the clean motif (hook, groove, atmosphere).
Bars 9–16: Add motion — a harmony layer, extra percussion, or filter rise.
Bars 17–24: Subtract something. Create space. Let it breathe.
Bars 25–32: Bring the motif back with variation — pitch shift, panning delay, new layer reinforcement.
These subtle shifts make your track feel alive, not looped. They don’t break the groove — they deepen it.
🧂 3. Micro-edits = Macro Energy
Big energy doesn’t require big changes. The trick is to use micro-edits that inject movement without interrupting the flow.
Tactics to experiment with:
🌀 Random Modulation: Send an LFO to the filter cutoff of your lead, with low depth and a slow rate. Let it drift.
🎚️ Perc Rebalancing: Shift levels of your hats and tops every 8 bars — slightly louder, then tucked back in.
🧨 Transient Edits: Tame the transients of claps in early bars, then slowly bring the snap back for impact.
🌪 FX Sprinkles: Drop a single reversed snare or glitchy one-shot at the tail of bar 7 or 15. Make it feel like a surprise.
These aren’t arrangement changes. They’re perception tricks. And they work.
🔁 4. Rotate Layers to Loop Without Looping
Even if your bassline and chords stay the same, rotating the textures behind them keeps the mix breathing.
Ideas:
🌫 3 Textures Max: Pick three ambient or pad layers and rotate them — never all at once. Let them drift in and out.
🎹 Motif Doubling: Introduce a ghost version of your lead — maybe distorted, maybe wet with delay — but only for one phrase.
🥁 Drum Shadowing: Shadow your main loop with a filtered break or percussive loop tucked -15 dB beneath it. Bring it forward only when needed.
This is where tension lives. You don’t change the notes — you change the weight and framing of those notes.
🧠 5. Play the Listener's Expectations
Most listeners don’t notice every synth tweak. But they feel when something is building — or when something’s overstayed its welcome.
To build that subconscious progression:
🧘 Let something go silent every 16 bars. Maybe it’s the shaker. Maybe the chord pad. When it returns, it feels bigger.
🎭 Mirror your structure. If bars 1–16 built slowly, let bars 17–32 resolve quickly. Repetition and contrast must dance together.
🔄 Reuse FX tails. Take the reverb tail from a previous section and reverse it into the next drop. Psychological glue.
You build trust with the listener: by surprising them in ways they didn’t know they wanted.
🗺️ Final Thought: Less Parts, More Story
Instead of asking “What can I add next?” ask:
“How can I retell the story I’ve already written… from a new angle?”
That’s how artists like Fred again.. or Rampa can make a four-bar loop feel like it stretches into an entire world.
Your track doesn’t need more elements.
It needs more moments.
Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.
Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.
WHATS BUZZING THIS WEEK
THE ESSENTIALS
Must have tools to add to your collection
🧠 DAWs & Core Tools
🎹 Synths & Samplers
🎛️ Effects & Processing
🔧 Utility & Resources