Decibel Festival X

For the last 9 years, Seattle has been host to one of the biggest and most anticipated electronic music festivals in the world, ranking #8 in Beatport’s 20 most-anticipated dance-music festivals of 2013. Rane is very excited to once again be part of Decibel Festival, Seattle’s premier underground electronic music festival!

what is the decibel festival?

Who better to tell you about the Decibel Festival than the Founder, Curator and friend, Sean Horton.

"Founded in 2003, Decibel has become a unique platform for exposing attendees to leading-edge multimedia art from around the globe.

With a focus on live performance, interactive multimedia art, state-of-the-art sound and technology based education, Decibel has solidified itself as one of the premier electronic music festivals and promotional organizations in the world.

2012 marked Decibel’s largest edition to date, bringing in over 26,000 attendees across 50 unique events. As curator and founder, I am proud to report that though the magnitude of Decibel has changed over the years, the integrity and creative vision of the festival has not. After 10 years, Decibel remains a grassroots, volunteer-run festival focusing on underground and experimental forms of electronic music and visual art from around the globe. We also continue to offer a free educational forum, for what is now a well established community of producers, deejays, visual artists, writers and professionals looking to interact with artists, companies and media outlets that share their common interests."

Rane at decibel festival X – the dB conference

Looking for daytime activities in Seattle while waiting for the nighttime festivities to start? Check out the Decibel Festival Conference and learn more about music production, DJing and hardware from top professionals in the business  You can also participate in open panel discussions with your favorite artists. The conference has a lot to offer, and it's free, so be sure to take advantage everyone! 

Speaking of the dB Conference, this year Dubspot and Rane have joined forces to bring you an interesting workshop, conveniently located at the center of it all at the Broadway Performance Hall.

Beyond EQs and Filters: The DJ Mixer effects processor with Shaun Whitcher (Rane) and James Patrick (Dubspot).

  • Thursday, September 26th at 3:00 PM

DJ Mixer effects have matured greatly in the past decade, yet their inner workings remain a mystery. In this workshop, we'll pop under the hood of the effects processor in Rane's Sixty-Four, their new four-channel flagship club mixer. 

  • DJ mixer effects showcase in the context of live performance and music production. With Rane's Shaun Whitcher, we'll dissect the effects engine, analyzing the unique way it colors sound via spectrum analysis and A-B testing. We'll also discuss the kinds of design decisions required to insert professional effects into a DJ mixer form factor.
  • Then Dubspot's James Patrick will connect the DJ world and the production world by (literally) connecting the Sixty-Four to a DAW via the mixer's 22-channel audio interface. From there, James will show how these effects could be de-constructed from scratch and modified for music production workflows.


Be sure to show up early for your chance to win a pair of TMA-1 headphones courtesy of AIAIAI.

what is the decibel festival conference?

Taken from decibelfestival.com: 

From inception, Decibel as an organization has prided itself on providing technology-based arts education to the public. Over the past decade, the dB Conference has played a significant role in fostering emerging talent while bridging the gap between the music industry and festival attendees.

The 2013 dB Conference will be taking place at the Broadway Performance Hall, which will also be the home of dB Will Call/Ticketing and the beloved dB in the Park event. Happening September 25th through the 27th (noon until 6PM), this year’s conference will be increasing its focus on workshops, product demos and hands on interaction with hardware and software companies looking to educate and expand their audience. In addition, we’ll be hosting several lectures featuring artists performing at the 2013 Decibel Festival. The three room program will feature a classroom, conference room and auditorium all running simultaneously with unique content.

decibel festival X – the lineup

This year’s Decibel Festival lineup is nothing short of amazing. Whether you’re into techno, house, ambient, hip-hop or live bands, the Decibel Festival has something for everybody.

There's too many artists to mention them all, so we’ll highlight a couple of our personal favorites:

  • Peter Hook & The Light – Peter Hook is the legendary bass guitarist of Joy Division and New Order, performing New Order’s Power, Corruption & Lies and Movement. If you’ve never seen New Order play live, this may be the closest you’ll ever get.  
  • The Orb – This genre defining—and defying—group are one of the greatest electronic music pioneers of our time. Since 1988, The Orb have been warping the minds and elevating the souls of music lovers around the world. This one is definitely not to be missed.
 Decibel Festival 10 Full Lineup

Decibel Festival 10 Venues

One of the best aspects of every Decibel Festival is the diverse and amazing venues. During the day, you can climb aboard a yacht and watch your favorite artist while cruising around Seattle. At night, there are several amazing club and underground warehouse events to get lost in. It’s like a Disneyland for adults for underground music lovers! The best part, almost every venue is within walking distance from one another. If you have a Decibel Pass, you can easily jump from one showcase to the next until the sun comes up. 

If you’ve never been able to attend, this is the year to do so. The lineup is absolutely insane, the conference is a lot of fun and the venues are sure to please even the most experienced of party-goers. See you there!

2013 Decibel Festival X teaser: