I want to completely start fresh in a genre I know little about on the production end

I’m a musician that performs/ tours with music that is miles away from EDM but I do have a solid knowledge of theory and some DAWs like protools (although still learning coz protools is awkward sometimes)

Looking at FL studio or Ableton for making techno.

In terms of Techno I listen to a lot of Winson, holy priest and a few others

Also love other styles of edm - Fisher, the prodigy, astrix and other styles and artists but I want to get into making techno as I’ve been going to a lot more raves recently like Teletech

I’ve been leaning towards FL studios as I’ve just heard more about them over the years although I will go Ableton if it’s just better in general for techno.

Have a lot of equipment already - Krk monitors with sub, good balanced headphones for mixing, midi keyboard etc

I mainly need help on what daw to get and where to start (other than learning that daw). Need help on what people normally start with - opening melody/ main melody/ kick,s / bass / sub Bass / finding FX and samples first etc etc. haven t a clue what to start with. I would guess make an opening melody that will be somewhat similar or that goes well with the main melody/ melody at the drop? But honestly that’s a guess

Also worried about using samples and if they are frowned upon (other than if remixing obvs), just from the music that I normally play, it’s all about making your own stuff so using samples will feel strange to me

As someone who is perpetually just one soundpack away from the perfect idea, I often find myself heading for the oneshots / pads, but reluctant to use the more "readymade" loops, unless I can find some esoteric / slicing way of disguising the fact I used a loop. Percussion loops are borderline. But all those full arps / chord progression loops I struggle to find a use for, if they can't be chopped into a oneshot, or altered easily.

Has anyone here just given in and thought "f-it, I'm just going to barely modify this synth line, because I like how it sounds". Instead of the usual "I like it, but I'm going to design my own version, even if it kills me".

What's your stance on using loops?

Hello swarm intelligence,

for a theatre project I'm working on, I'm looking for (as said in the title) techno incorporating scales / sounds from non-western musical cultures. I'm especially interested in Japanese, eastern european and russian / baltic sounds, but not exclusively.

And I thought maybe some of you folks on here have some music to share? I would be super grateful. And maybe this way some great songs find a wider audience <3

Examples of what I *don't* mean:

- Music by artists from the said areas who still make 'regular' techno, e.g. Takaaki Itoh from Japan or Nastia from Ukraine (no disrespect at all, I love these folks' music a lot; just not what I'm looking for here)

- 'Tr*shy' 'ethno' stuff (I think you all know what I mean: Blueprint Big Room Tech House or Downtempo by your regular white middle european producer / DJ guy with some seemingly 'esoteric' vocal samples from splice sprinkled on top of the mix for extra 'world music' vibe

Examples of what I *do* mean / what I found during my recent research already:

- Introversion - Unmarried Old Man (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3scipaiTX8&themeRefresh=1) --> Sampling "Erghen Diado (Chanson De Schopsko Avec Tapan Et Cuillères)", a bulgarian folk song from the Shop region which uses the distinct diaphonic singing and (i guess?) some mixolydian magic

- Exile-russian band AIGEL, who has a lot of songs sung entirely in Tartar, e.g. on their album Killer qiz (https://aigel.bandcamp.com/album/killer-q-z)

I have a TR-8S, and I have a few old mixing boards including the classic Mackie 1202 a lot of people credit for the tone of a lot of saturated 909 sounds in classic techno and hardcore. I haven't had much success replicating the sound close enough and it seems like the particular clap you'll hear in a lot of Robert Armani and other Dance Mania etc tracks have something else going on that must be essential, my best guesses are some compression techniques and/or bus saturation, maybe has something to do with the clap usually occurring alongside the kick. I've heard of some routing/processing trick where you can get the same tonal effect on drum hit fighting the kick for headroom while the kick isn't actually audibly playing, could I do something like that?

I appreciate any ideas, the more detail the better, and specificity is appreciated if anyone was around in the studios at the time and remembers gear, routing, workflow etc

After having an Octatrack mk1 for 10 years and using it sparingly, I think I'm ready to move on. When I say sparingly, I mean that I would use it a lot for several weeks, then put it away for long periods. But every time I came back to it, it always feels like I'm almost starting over again. I mostly used to use it for playing live techno and ambient music 2017-2021, but I stopped playing live shows and doubt I will ever go back to it. I mostly used it as a performance mixer, arpeggiator for external gear and playing long backing track stems. I never liked using it as a sampler or a drum machine. I've held onto it five years later because so many in electronic music swear by it, but outside of life performance, l've realized that this machine is simply not fun or intuitive for me. I feel I would have been much more productive on gear with better workflow or just sticking to Ableton.

Right now my studio consists of a Digitakt mk1, Digitone mk1, Arturia MiniFreak, CME Xkey 25 MIDI controller, and Ableton Live 11 + Push 2. My audio interface is a MOTU M4. I've been tempted to use some of the money from selling the Octatrack for either a Waldorf Protein or Hapax sequencer or Tonverk. Would the Hapax sequencer be overkill considering I already have a Push 2 and I don't have a ton of outboard gear anf no modular? The Tonverk interests me as a sampler but it also might be too deep and complex. So I'm leaning toward the Protein as I love the original Microwave sounds.

What do y'all recommend? Should I instead use the money from selling the Octatrack to upgrade to mk2 versions of the Digitakt and Digitone? Supposedly the Digitakt mk2 is a proper sampler and drum machine.

Hi guys absolute new guy here on an absolute strict budget for the next new months I’m just wondering if BandLab could be enough too start with before I start a college course. like I said I am a beginner with not a clue so please let me know thanks

I’m still wrapping my head around the different kinds of bass sounds in techno, and this one especially I really love but can’t really find any tutorials on how to make something similar. It reminds me of some groovy low-end I’ve heard made with filtered Tom’s and kicks, but it also has more of a sustained sound to my ear that makes me wonder if it’s synthesized?

Would love if anyone has the vocab to help me search for resources, or ideas on how to recreate the sound.

I’ve got a pair of Hifimans, 990s, LP-UNFs at home and HS8s with a sub in the studio. But I’m a hobby producer and do a lot of my music making on the move, and most of my listen-backs while traveling or dog-walking. So probably 90% of the time I’m producing on AirPods. Guess what? All my draft mixes are muddy and shrill.

I was thinking of getting some wired IEMs for those situations. I’m not talking mastering quality, but to get nearer to a flat response so I can do final mixes, on proper gear, from a better baseline.

Also, I’m on an iPhone, so can’t run sonarworks or even EQ. They’d need to be good out of the box.

Is this realistic? What are the watch-outs? And any reccs? Can spend up to around £250, but less is better, naturally.

Something like Sera J for example. Usually I use Splice for that but it sucks later to scroll through downloads folder just to find a damn snare lol

Hoi! I'm looking for a podcast (or a YouTube channel or whatever) that guides me into the critical listening of pivotal techno tracks that made the history of techno. E.g. "this is the first track to use a 303, it achieves effect X through Y".

I have found a lot of podcasts that tell the story of techno, how it was born in Detroit and became popular in Berlin etc etc. I'm looking for something different: something to help me learn about the technical features of techno, the composition of a track, how certain choices determine a specific mood, the technical differences between subgenres...

Is there anything like that?

Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m having a hard time deciding which compromises to make, so I’d really appreciate some advice.

I’m looking for one device that I can use across all three of my projects, but each project has quite different requirements.

First of all, all three projects are super minimal techno. When writing music in Ableton, I rarely use more than 4–5 tracks.

1) Playing techno live using multitrack stems

Basically, I want to load stems from my tracks — usually 2 or 3 WAV/AIFF files, for example drums separately and melody separately — and switch from one track to another and back, while applying effects and making variations.

2) A series of live techno sets focused on a minimum number of elements

The idea here is very stripped down: one drum machine track, one monophonic synth playing bass, and either a chord track or some samples on top.

I put a lot of emphasis on the bass sound. Ideally, I want that old-school SH-101-style bass.

3) A third project that is still only an idea

I’d like to eventually make a completely hardware-based old-school electro project. Ideally, I’d like to make entire tracks on a single device and then transfer them to Ableton only for mastering.

There are a few things that are particularly important to me:

Step sequencing. I rarely play things live and record them. Quite often it’s much easier for me to program a sequence in advance and then modify it while the loop is playing.

For live performance, I also need seamless switching between stems, channels and projects, and loading samples without interrupting playback. I think you get the idea.

I understand that the Roland MC-101 isn’t really a sampler, but from what I’ve read, it can actually play samples, including relatively long ones.

Another important thing for me is not having to dive through huge menus just to access basic parameters like ADSR or filter controls.

I already have a separate mono synth — a simple Behringer Crave — but it would be great if I could integrate it into the setup as a second device and send sequences to it.

Right now I’m mainly considering three devices. I’m also looking at the 1010music Blackbox and Korg Electribe 2/S. I understand that these are quite different devices, but honestly, I’m still trying to figure out which one would cover the largest number of my requirements in a single hardware device.

I actually like making music on a computer, in Ableton. I just don’t like performing with a laptop, carrying a Push, etc.

P.S. One important caveat: I live outside the EU and US. Some newer stuff, like the Casio sampler, simply isn’t available in my country. The Digitakt II is also out of my reach, both in terms of availability and price.

I’m only looking at the used market.

So, given all of this — MC-101 vs Digitakt Mk1 vs Elektron Model:Samples, and possibly Blackbox or Electribe — which one would you choose if you had to cover the largest number of these use cases with a single device?

sorry for ai translation

Hello, i'm more into dark hypnotic techno, and i'm working on a track.

The mix is ok, no phase issues, but when i try to make it wider, some instruments focus gets way too loose.

And, also on ear buds don't sound so good as some tracks from the same sub genre, tracks from Alarico, Voicex, Capon etc.

Or this is maybe because I work 100% in the box and no hardwere gear?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AOBiVUuv9nk&list=RDAOBiVUuv9nk&start_radio=1&pp=ygUbb2JzY3VyIG92ZXJ0dW1lIGNvbnRpbmdlbmN5oAcB0gcJCRMMAYcqIYzv

It seems as though he’s creating a groovy low-end foundation and weaving the kick drum into it without letting the kick take too much focus in the low end. The midrange and highs of the kick drum are more prominent than the lower frequencies. But the root note around 50 Hz is still significantly larger in the analyzer than the rest of the track.

How do you achieve this soft yet still crisp low end? I think he uses a combination of rumble and/or toms to create the groove in the low end. But when I use toms to create a groove, it sounds very dry, and the low frequencies boom heavily through the speakers. How do you make it smoother? Any effect chain?

How many layers do you hear? Im trying to make something similar but no idea how to go about it. Im using serum 2. Any suggestions would be great!

Honestly, there are so many distributors, I don't know which one to choose.

I produce music on and off for over 20 years, no releases yet and don't expect to make money or a career, just want to get my music on platforms for fun, don't care if it ends up with 10 or 50 views.

Just came across Triple Vision Distribution and they take only 7.50€ for delivery and 7% royalties, which seems to be A LOT better then basically every other distributors I believe. Tracks will stay online forever. Are there any reasons not to use this distributor? Are they curated and only take high quality artist (I won't qualify I'm afraid haha) or what is the catch? Their homepage kind of makes it seem like a deal top good to be true..

And "Triple Vision" sounds way cooler then all the other services.

Here’s the corrected version:

Good morning all!
So I’ve been playing around with music production for a little over a year now, I have fallen in love with techno — mostly subgenres like hard techno, industrial, jumpstyle, and hardstyle, with a bit of psytrance and driving techno mixed in.

Some of my favorite artists include Sara Landry, Samuel Moriero, Nicholas Julian, Charlotte de Witte, Mr. Polska, and Zastrava just to name a few.

I use Ableton Live Suite and put in around 4-6 hours a day, depending on the day, but I can’t seem to finish a song. And when I do finish one, it’s hard for me to label what subgenre it falls into.

Making an EP has been a goal of mine since I started, but I’m having a hard time finding my sound/style.

For those who’ve had success finishing projects and songs: how did you know when a track felt good and complete? And how long did it take you to find your own unique style?

Hi everyone, I’ve just released a new Max for Live device called Halo.

It’s an atmospheric effect that adds space, width, shimmer and octave harmonics, ranging from subtle ambience to expansive, evolving washes while keeping the original sound present.

Works particularly well on synths, stabs, pads, melodic loops and other elements you want to push further into the atmosphere of a track.

It’s completely free and the download link is on my profile. Hope some of you find it useful!

Since Midi 2.0 now supports also ethernet, Ive been creating a digital audio protocol to send digital audio between synths:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MidiNet/comments/1vvbb4o/midinet_v01_for_digital_audio/

Heya everyone. Hope you are well. Been listening to EDM and techno since the early 2000s, and am just now thinking of getting into it and making my own tracks. This is more just a hobby thing to start with, though if people like my stuff, it would be neat to do a local gig or two way in the future.

To start with, the DAW, I've chosen Ableton. From everything I've seen, it's a little harder to learn, but gives more functionality no matter what you want to do. Is that a correct presumption?

Secondly, sample packs. I want to start with a smaller set of good samples that I can't go wrong with. I feel like if I swamp myself with thousands of samples, I'm just going to get overwhelmed and give up. Imagine a "training wheels" package so that I can make some tracks to learn the structure without huge cost, steep learning curve, or numbers of samples. What would you suggest?

My favourite sub-genre is 155-170 BPM Hard Techno and Schranz that has a lot going on, in terms of sound. Think Kobosil, Viper XXL, Svetec. Would this be a bit ambitious to start with, or is there no real reason not to just start with the sounds that I love and run with them?

Hey all. Throughout my music production journey, i ran into the same problem a lot of times now.
Basically i produce my track and everything sounds fine to me. After the mix is finished i realize that the buildups are louder than the drops, because there are alot of elements playing at the same time. Therefore i want to get the buildups quieter than the drops to master the track properly. I try to decrease the loudness of the elements etc., but then the buildup looses its power and doesnt sound like its a part of the rest of the song anymore. I also tried it with a volume automation for everything, but the range which is used for that (i learned decreasing the volume around something from 0 to 3 db, to make the drop hit harder) is too small to balance everything out.
I would be happy if someone got advices or a solucion to this :)
Greetings Art3mos

https://reddit.com/link/1vzpza5/video/7d413j69o2mh1/player

Here is the mix :)

Hallöchen,

Bin auf der Suche nach jemandem der mir für längerfristige Kooperation meine Tracks Abmischt und Mastert.

Kennt ihr Leute die ihr empfehlen würdet ?

Musikrichtung ist Schranz.

i know hes an sound design magician so any help is appreciated.
i tried vocoding some noise and added phaser + shaperbox for the chops but didnt seem to work :/

Hey Guys, trying to wrap my head around how to produce a bass like in "Alarico - Boiler" https://soundcloud.com/hate_music/premiere-alarico-boiler-pi06 you can hear it almost solo at the 24sec mark. I tried slow attack square with PM, LPF and lots of reverb but can't get close. Any ideas?