Bixx (Five Questions with...) Exclusive Interview & Guest Mix
Bob Bickert better known as Bixx is a producer who has released tracks on such labels as Reason II Rise, Nocturnal Knights Music, Abora Recordings, Monster Tunes and others. Bob shared a few points about his work. I invite you to read the 58th interview conducted only for Visions Of Trance.
1. What are your goals in producing trance music?
A. My number one goal is to create an emotional experience that will take the listener to an escape from reality and into an emotional and euphoric state.
B. Many producers create their tracks with the technical production in mind. I create tracks from the listener experience in mind. It is all about the feelings.
C. Another goal I have is to break down the walls of the listener. To put them in a state to where they will relax and open their heart. So they are only thinking of the beauty of the moment. Break down their walls of defense. Then with a very melodic build up and powerful drop, to pick them back up into a very happy state of mind.
D. Another goal I have is each track has a plan which comes from an idea. The track should have a unique sound and a unique idea. Each track has a message that I want to convey to the listener. This is often done through the title of the track, the style and energy of the music or with some vocals or spoken words in the track.
E. I stay within my own goals of creating uplifting trance music. I don’t create music to satisfy a label or somebody else’s guidelines. Only mine. The message here is I want to live my life according to my own rules.
2. Who was your inspiration to start producing trance music?
A. This really started during a period of my life to where I had a lot of time to look inside myself. I needed to discover what I wanted to do during the latter part of my life. I had recently sold the company I built and I left the stressful business world. I needed to do something that met the following goals.
-To constantly use my very creative mind.
-To collaborate with other creative people.
-To reinvent myself into a brand new industry so I would always be learning. To become a student again.
-To travel the world
-To build a team of great people around me to make me better. To leverage the assets of other people.
-To mentor and help other people that I would meet along the way. Use my experiences in life to help others
-To create beautiful energetic and uplifting emotional music that makes people happy and inspired.
3. Which song are you most proud of and why?
That is a very difficult question. Sort of like asking which of your children is your favorite. Hopefully, we love all of our children equally. But if I had to pick one, it would be Yes I Can for many reasons. First, this track put me on the map. If there is a track people think of when they hear the word BiXX, it is Yes I Can. Second, the track has a very catchy melody that gets stuck in your mind. Third, my wife created the choir melody. She hummed it to me while listening to the first version of the track. This makes her feel part of this new music journey. It is important to have the support of your family. And fourth, the title delivers a very power positive state of mind message. If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right. Yes I Can.
4. What inspires you to create trance music?
I am going to answer this from the standpoint of what inspires to create new trance music. In a quick answer, life’s daily experiences. I get ideas nearly every day for a new trance track. From experiencing life, I have about 50-75 new track ideas written down that I have not had time to start on yet. Mostly it starts with the title. What life experience just happened to me or did I get exposed to? I write down the idea and the title. I also get inspired from other trance artists music. Will Rees, Darren Porter, Sean Tyas, Yoshi and Razner, Simon O’Shine, Metta & Glyde, Xijaro & Pitch and many other uplifting producers. I hear certain sounds or concepts that I want to change or combine and put in a new track. There are also life experiences that I want to put into a new track. For me, it mostly inspirational life experiences. Or experiences that capture a moment in time. The process of taking an idea and putting it into music is a wonderful thing. I listen to a lot of Movie scores for ideas, mainly for breakdowns. Movie scores are great for describing and creating human emotions.
5. What hardware and software do you use to create trance music?
A. Hardware – I use a Mac computer. Scarlett 2i2 Interface, Impact LX49+ MIDI Controller Keyboard, Adam A5X studio monitors.
B. Software-Mac based. Logic Pro X is the DAW software I use. The main Synth Plugins and VSTs: Spire, Sylenth1, Serum. Audio VST’s: Waves Bundle, Fabfilter Bundle, Native Instruments Kontakt. I don’t disclose which specific sample libraries I use. I try to buy new sample libraries when they are released to constantly have new sounds. It is important to constantly look for new sounds to stay innovative. Nobody likes cookie cutter trance tracks with the same sounds.
