DIXL Studio by D•IXL

Get your tracks out of the loop.

A studio notebook for producers who start more tracks than they finish. Two things in one: a tracker that takes every track from first loop to finished, in timed blocks, and guides you can play, where every scale, chord and groove sounds when you tap it.

Get early access

Private for now, opening to a few producers at a time.

The home screen: a block running on a track called Night Swim, the next planned session, and the track list

The tracker

One track at a time, until it's done. On your phone in the studio and on your laptop at night: it installs like an app and keeps the two in sync.

  1. 1

    Work in timed blocks

    Give the session a goal and a target, then work in 25, 45 or 50-minute blocks. The timer stays on the track you chose, tells you when you've reached the target, and, with notifications on, pings when a block ends. What the track is meant to be stays in view.

    A session: the goal, the track's anchor, notes and the block timer at 28:00
  2. 2

    Every bounce is a version

    v1, v2, v3, each with its SoundCloud link, the date and what changed. Mark the one that crosses the stage's finish line and the track moves on.

    A track’s versions, v1 to v4, each with a SoundCloud link, a date and a comment
  3. 3

    EPs, albums and sets that flow

    Group finished tracks into a release. BPM and key on every track, and a badge on each join: same notes, smooth, stretch, lift or clash.

    An EP tracklist with BPM, key and rating per track, and a key-fit badge between each pair

Four stages. Each one ends with something that exists.

A track moves on when a version crosses its stage's finish line. Finished means it exists, not that it's perfect; what you'd still change goes in the notes for the next version.

  1. Idea → a finished loop

    One loop with everything in, bounced.

  2. Arrangement → the whole track

    It plays from the first bar to the last.

  3. Detail → arrangement locked

    Every change lands. No new sounds after this.

  4. Mix & Master → shipped for feedback

    A master someone else has heard.

After Mix & Master the track is finished. Put it on an EP, an album or a set.

The guides

Theory you can hear. Short, visual guides written for producers: tap a scale, a chord or a groove and it plays, on a piano or a Push grid docked at the bottom of the screen.

Try it in G minor Tap a key or a chord, or play the loop.
The real keyboard docks under the Theory, Keys and Push guides, and lights up whatever plays.

  1. Every key as a writing kit

    Pick a minor key: its chords and three loops that suit it. Every chord and loop plays, in the voicing you choose, and the keyboard lights the notes.

    The Keys guide: G minor's chord family and a loop playing, with the docked keyboard lighting its notes

  2. Shapes for the Push

    A progression library for the 8×8 grid. Learn a shape once and play it in all twelve keys; the pads light as it plays.

    The Push guide: a progression playing in B minor, its pads lit on the docked 8 by 8 grid

  3. Grooves you can hear

    House, afro, deep tech and more, as step lanes that play, with the swing that makes each one move.

    The Rhythm guide: an afro house groove as kick, shaker, conga and clap lanes

Eight guides in all

Theory
Scales, chords and why a progression pulls, on the keys.
Keys
Every minor key as a writing kit: its chords and three loops that suit it.
Push
A progression library for the 8×8 grid. Learn the shape once, play it in all twelve keys.
Instruments
Live's own instruments by the job they do, and which one to reach for.
Rhythm
Groove, swing and the afro roll, as step lanes you can hear.
Structure
Phrasing, energy and arrangements DJs can mix.
Lyrics
Hooks, prosody and lines people sing back.
Mindset
The habits that make finishing tracks repeatable.

Want in?

DIXL Studio is my own studio for now. I'm letting producers in a few at a time, starting with the people who ask.

Would you pay for it? Optional

Diego d'Ursel (D•IXL) uses your email only to let you in and to tell you when. It's stored in the EU, with Google Firebase, and kept until you're in or you ask for it to be deleted: diego.dixelles@gmail.com. More in the privacy page.