TestPress

International Electronic Music Competition

Hosted by Pyramind in San Francisco

Accepting Entries Worldwide!

Next Event: May 30th. More info // submit here.

S
tarted in 2005 by the Electronic and Dance Music Committee of the San Francisco Chapter of The Recording Academy, TestPress was created by a handful of industry insiders with a grassroots mentality designed to bring DJs, musicians, vocalists, and producers together to present new music to the community.

These FREE quarterly events give local producers an opportunity to have their music heard and critiqued by respected industry leaders, and for the fans and attendees to discover new music and vote on their favorites.

Each TestPress event features a different 3-person panel of accomplished DJ’s and producers. Before the event, members of the international community upload their tracks to the Epiphyte website, and after being screened by the TestPress Committee, the best tracks are then played live for the panel and audience.

Due to time restrictions a maximum of 16 tracks are presented at each event. After listening, the audience applause level is measured and then the panelists give immediate feedback and score each submission on a variety of factors including: Originality, Arrangement & Transitions, Production Quality & Sound Palette, Groove/Dance-ability, Drums & Rhythmic Elements, Synthesis, Melody & Chord Changes, and Mix & Mastering.

The combined tally of the audience applause meter and the panelists rating determine the finalists for each event. The finalists of each event will be released exclusively on Beatport the very following month. If your track isn’t selected you’ll still have a chance of getting on the release if you can deliver a kick-ass re-mix of any of the finalists!

Greg Gordon (Pyramind, Epiphyte Records):

Greg Gordon

Greg is one of the founders of Test Press and the CEO of Pyramind. He has over twenty years of experience as a producer, mix and mastering engineer, educator and studio owner and has many diverse credits to his name including: Mixing and mastering the scores for Halo Anniversary Combat Evolved and Iron Man II and producing EDM tracks for Native, JKind, Rocker T, and BishopeMagnetic. Greg’s vision for TestPress is to build community and create opportunity for the many talented EDM producers in the SF Bay Area and beyond.

Jeff Straw (Ingrooves/Breakshop Studios):

Jeff Straw

Jeff Straw has worked as a DJ, saxophonist, retail music buyer, producer, remixer, and marketing director. He is currently the Director of Music Licensing and Strategic Partnerships at the digital powerhouse INgrooves. He acts as music supervisor for interactive games and pitches music for film and TV placements, ad campaigns, and Internet projects. Jeff is one of the founding members of TestPress San Francisco.

Dheeraj Sareen (Pyramind/Mak.Tub/Kaato Music):

Jeff Straw

A resident of New Delhi, India, Dheeraj made the move to San Francisco to learn the art of music production at Pyramind. Through the education he received at Pyramind, He has gone on to produce tracks that have been signed to the likes of MakTub and Kaato Music, as well as supported by the heavy weights in the DJ community the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Ricardo Villalobos and more.

Mal Harper (Malabel Music):

Jeff Straw

Mal Harper is the owner and head of MalLabel Music MalLabel is a SF -based music label and production crew whose goal is to promote next level music in creative non-traditional event environments. Leading the bass music scene in the Bay Area, MalLabel hosts large scale underground events with some of the biggest names in bass.

DJ Denise (Mizumo Music):

DJ Denise

DJ Denise cut her teeth in the San Francisco underground scene of the late-90s. A natural talent behind the decks she was instantaneously recognized for both her technical abilities and her unique energy. Word of her success spread quickly and soon she was being booked for gigs across the USA and Canada. In the early 2000s she worked as a house music buyer for Skills DJ Workshop, now one of the most successful EDM production companies on the West Coast.

Soundcloud

SoundCloud is a sound platform that enables anyone to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds across the web, in a simple, accessible and feature-rich way. Its open platform that supports a wide range of applications built on the SoundCloud API, enabling everything from mobile voice recording, online mastering, sharing to Facebook artist profiles and iPad music making SoundCloud offers free accounts to sound creators, with more advanced users able to upgrade to premium accounts for advanced features like statistics, controlled distribution and custom branding. In addition, Soundcloud also provides premium accounts for our students.

Native Instruments (NI)

Often referred to as the Mercedes Benz of software synthesis, NI is the industry leader in software synthesis tools. Pyramind uses these tools regularly and use Native’s highest-end tools FM8, Absynth and Reaktor as the basis of our advanced synthesis classes.

Ableton

New to the DAW pack, Ableton has turned the industry on its ear with its incredible tool LIVE. Pyramind has been teaching Ableton for years and we’ve published training videos on Ableton’s website. We host two Certified instructors and were host to the Certification testing performed in June of 2009. Ableton are sponsors of Epiphyte Records’ Test Press, as well, which featured tracks from five Pyramind graduates and instructors.

PreSonus

PreSonus Audio Electronics has become known for delivering professional quality audio products at affordable prices to audio professionals, musicians and hobbyists around the world. The PreSonus staff in the sales, engineering, and customer service departments all have years of experience in professional audio as musicians and sound engineers which brings passion for music-making to every facet of the company.

Past TestPress Panelists Have Included…