(Photo by MOCHILLA)

It’s time for the latest Community Spotlight: a showcase of some of the best and most unique servers across Discord.

This time we’re checking in with the community built around musicians Domi Louna and JD Beck, a duo lauded by Vice as “freakishly talented jazz wizards.” While not preparing for the release of their first album, the two take to Discord to talk music, games, and basically everything else with more than six thousand members of their community.

Banding Together

Domi and JD Beck kicked off their server in the Summer of 2020, not long after COVID-19 made in-person performances and meetups difficult for musicians all over. The two were already using Discord to keep in touch and play games with their friends, so their manager suggested they start up a public server for their growing fanbase. But as the community grew, Domi and JD began to realize they hadn’t just made a fan server: they’d created a thriving, vibrant community for musicians and music-lovers of all kinds.

“We thought users would have to know about us to join the server, but as soon as we launched it had a few thousand people joined all with different backgrounds, cultures, tastes in music, and relationships with the artistic field. It’s become more of a platform where people recognize creativity and love to open their minds to other sources of inspiration as well as listening to music.”

From the moment new users arrive in “domi + jd beck,” it’s clear that the server is as much for music makers as fans of the duo. As soon as you join you’re presented with a wide array of roles to represent ways you might make music, from drums and guitars to the Digital Audio Workstation. There’s even a role available if your at-home meditation sessions include singing bowls.

Once you’re all set up, don’t feel shy about jumping into a conversation: the server works hard to make sure the latest arrivals aren’t singled out. As the duo explains it, “I feel welcome somewhere new if I’m not targeted or treated weirdly because I’m new. So on our Discord, a lot of new users just hop on a discussion already going on and nobody cares to know if they’re new or not! And our mods are very helpful with easing discussions. We also like to chat with people so don’t be scared to type.”

The longer you stick around, the more thoughtful features you’ll come across. The moderation team has set up a music bot in three dedicated channels so the community always has things to listen to. A custom bot integrates directly with Spotify’s API, letting you examine the finest details about any song: the tempo, the key it’s played in, even the exact time signature. From off-the-cuff chats to detail-oriented deep-dives, it’s a music-lover’s paradise.

Learning from the Community

But there’s more to the community than talking shop and sharing your favorite tunes. If you’re interested in really taking your own music to the next level, the Domi + JD Beck server has you covered with their in-depth workshops.

Workshops are a place for aspiring and experienced musicians alike to learn something new, brush up their techniques, and get into the finer points of their favored instruments. So far, there have been two labs for the Synthesizer and one for mastering the Guitar and Bass, both of which were smash hits.

You may be asking yourself: “Live labs? In a big Discord server? How do dozens of people in a single voice channel manage to run a workshop? Wouldn’t everyone talk over each other?”

Turns out: nope! As Domi + JD point out, when the speaker starts talking, everyone mutes themselves until it’s time for questions. No snags, no need for a moderator to step in: just common courtesy and the desire to learn. That’s how you know you’ve got a great community on your hands.

“I think it’s good to have personal elements like workshops and labs because it’s really specific to what we do as musicians. Not a lot of Discord servers use their platform as a free knowledge resource with voice chat, video channels, and techy visualizations.”

Join the Chorus

It’s an incredible feat to make a community with 6,000 members feel just as close as a hangout with your best friends, and even more amazing to handle it while putting together your hotly-anticipated debut album, but Domi and JD have pulled it off. Pretty dang well, in fact.

Even though their server is great for hardcore music-lovers, you don’t have to be a musician or even know anything about music to become part of the community. Anyone’s welcome to hang out and chat. As Domi and JD themselves put it:

"Watch, read, type, answer, and talk as much as you want. It’s your space. Don’t be shy. :)"

You can join their community at discord.gg/domiandjdbeck. Their first album is set to release in 2021. (But you can’t rush perfection.)

Psst: Before we go, the server’s mod team gave us the inside scoop on a big giveaway planned for next year with some help from Nord, makers of Domi’s keyboard! Keep an eye out for something in January 2021.

The Community Spotlight is an ongoing series showcasing the coolest, most unique communities on Discord. If you run a great community or know someone who does, we’d love to speak with them.

Reach out to the blog team using our submission form and we’ll be in touch.