Recommendations for producing Techno. So far I chose DAW.

Discussion in 'DAW' started by Tini, Feb 8, 2019.

  1. mrpsanter

    mrpsanter Audiosexual

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  2. Boosire

    Boosire Producer

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    Oh true i didn't really participate otherwise.

    OP for techno, sound design is the thing that makes or brakes a track in my opinion. I mean you definitely are gonna have fun fairly quick with regular beats you learn as a beginner even if it's muddy amateur you can bounce your butt on your own creations fairly fast and actually be proud of you. I found it easier to find my own personal print on techno than i did with other genres. I think first of all, have fun, don't dig too deep too fast, get acquainted with the daw and the whole process of making a track, don't spit on loops and presets, for now you're just dabbing it doesn't matter if the sound wasn't really made from scratch from your own fingers, just get a feel for what style of techno you love doing, don't put an etiquette on anything you're doing, actually don't think too much for starters, try different synths in ableton, find drum kits you think sound good and let the magic happen, you'll naturally end up doing the style you want to hear obviously. DOn't go into it thinking "i want to make minimal or dark techno" just see where your instinct and where the vibes takes you.

    Also the vibe is never settled, sometimes you're gonna work on a really mellow synth and go towards something bouncy and quiet for hours or days and one other day you'll just find another or fat drum hits and go a completely different direction with the same melody or pattern included.

    Just enjoy and look at the basics for now, EQing (wisely and lightly), how basic effects work, basic mixing (panning properly, levels of each tracks not too loud, never pass the red in your levels). Maybe get acquainted with compressors later though.

    When you feel like ableton becomes instinctive to use and you start to feel like your process becomes a bit stuck or repetitive start to dig into the lake : synthesis, advanced mixing, music theory maybe, complex sampling techniques and recording (sampling is such a cool thing for techno, you can make an infinity of stuff using samples for ALL sort of stuff it's gonna become a drug, pretty sure you can also do basic sampling even now, just find sounds you like learn how to sample a sound and put it in ableton and then put them in to cut and pitch to suit your feels).
    When you become more advanced you'll realize how important it is to make a balanced techno tune, to refine the design of basically everything perfectly, the sound design in general. Even dirty and gritty techno isn't random, you control, you create the grit and the dirt or at least you control the conditions and the outcome.

    And please, be patient as fuck, making good tunes takes taste of course but hell lot of time, every new year of experience is gonna be a whole other world when you listen to your tracks from the previous one, and this is gonna last quite a bit. After almost 12years of it i make leaps forward in some blind zones.


    Just sit behind that screen and make the stuff you want to hear and can't find in others ! cheers
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2019
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  3. wasgedn

    wasgedn Banned

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    dont install any effects just use stock plugz....but instal uhe zebra,tal bassline,arturia pigment and Audio Damage AD046 Quanta v1.0.14
    thats my advice on synth..ableton ones are good too but are tiny bit more complicated to learn at start...when you kno a bit watch a tut bout operator and it wont look that complicated anymore...fck the hell out of them before you move on..in fact you dont need too if you raise proper soundesign knowledge , then u dont need 50 synth and scolling thru presets of others work

    you need a good controller too...
    buy an old novation mk2 or akai mpk 25 from ebay...round 100...novation is expensiver...but more options...
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2019
  4. wasgedn

    wasgedn Banned

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    not really contrast there...and just use one wavetable ...he is beginning..this is elemtal...dont install more then 4-5 synth...
    youre list missing some other concept synths..3 times wavetable make it big listl....mono synth eg is missing, granular synth
     
  5. Satai

    Satai Rock Star

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    Work in ableton, using only samples and some of the built in synths. But mainly use Ableton Simpler/Sampler to mangle sound.

    Simplify everything down. Don't download any synths or effects. Explore your taste instead and build grooves out of cuts from samples.
    Do a lot of resampling (recording audio into a clip then putting that clip into Simpler for more mangling).

    Stay away from trying to create your own punchy kicks or stuff like that, you can spend your whole life doing just that and you will produce 0 songs as a result. Explore sample packs, discover which ones are the best for you.

    Analyze in detail how your favorite techno songs are put together and try to recreate the same structure but using your own sounds that you have at hand. You have lot of work to do, simplify everything so that you can be fast, efficient, and creative.
     
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  6. mrpsanter

    mrpsanter Audiosexual

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    I just listed the ones I believe to be the most relevant, I never (and wouldn't) advised to install them all. I agree that only one of those might be enough at the beginning.
    But since he wanted to have an idea and is a complete beginner, I thought it would be good to know what's available.
    In the end, it's also possible to only use the synths available in the DAW as someone suggested previously, without installing additional Vsti but I wouldn't go that route personally.
     
  7. Raddler777

    Raddler777 Guest

    Ace :wink:
     
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  8. Tini

    Tini Noisemaker

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    Thank you people for your amazing guidance !
    Now let's start learning !!!
     
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  9. PartyShit

    PartyShit Producer

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    Yepp stay with Ableton the easiest way to make Techno the fastest way even with built in stuff.
    Watch how fast you can make an entire track which sounds ok after you can mastering it...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SXLDNOrYQQ&t=
     
  10. Haliax

    Haliax Guest

    Listen to your favourite track, over and over again. Get to know it, understand it, live it and breathe it.

    Then zone in on acoustics, concrete on the drum. What patterns are used, how do they change, what effects are used. Then move on to the bass, pads, synth leads.

    By this time you will understand the structure of the genre you want to master
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 10, 2019
  11. wasgedn

    wasgedn Banned

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    a lot of good advice...i agree dont go into drum soundesign...
    what i had forgot is resampling....yes...do that..in ableton...
    ableton synth can be shizzly if new to that...i was getting headache just looking at them as i was new to live...still a bit..heh heh..but there not as complicated as others its just the interface..

    i wouldnt say dont go into soundesign at all since its techno he wanna do...you may not know what you do but you can get crazy stuff as clueless tweaker...i never did read any content on music no pdf's no manuals just tweaking for hours getting something great just to lose it cause not stopped tweaking heh heh...

    but my big mistake back then was to get into warez to much and compared endless dynamic processors...dont do that...train arrangment at most at start.....and read manuals from time to time but not to much :rofl:

    get into sequencers and appreciators...put filters on stuff and find out what they do..

    https://audiosex.pro/threads/intro-...-blocks-of-sound-synthesis.42116/#post-366293
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2019
  12. hayabusa

    hayabusa Producer

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    Really interesting thread....as mentioned above, check on Youtube, that's a really great source of knowledge...
    but of course, you have to find someone teaching techno slowly and in the meantime the way of using Ableton...
    This guy is really a king for that matter :
    SadowickProduction
    https://www.youtube.com/user/SadowickProduction/videos
    Of course, others are also awesome but it needs a bit of practice to follow them...on the German side, you have absolute jewel...
     
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  13. mrpsanter

    mrpsanter Audiosexual

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    Welcome to a new world, I'm sure you will enjoy your stay.
    Feel free to ask any question and we will do our best to assist.
     
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  14. wasgedn

    wasgedn Banned

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    sadowick is great for individiual insides but he produce more trance like
    also bit to much main room for my taste...but its good tutorial maker indeed
     
  15. Raddler777

    Raddler777 Guest

    What's the rush?
     
  16. Boosire

    Boosire Producer

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    Ghostly International, what a great indie label
     
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  17. G String

    G String Rock Star

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    Even better! Why learn "techno" when u could learn Trance? :D

    ------------

    One thing I would add to the general thing of learning music production is this: it's a great undertaking by which to "learn about learning" - and to do it, pursue it, implement it, of course.

    Something important that music taught me is that persistence pays off, and one gets better so long as one continues at it. (I could/should have learned that some other way, perhaps, but only music has really taught me that.) Most people give up, especially at the start because one is not very good and the results can be very disappointing, especially compared to what one is used to hearing (a ridiculously high-bar to aspire to, btw - we are used to hearing the "best in the business" - and it just isn't easy to get there.)

    Self-directed learning can be very powerful, fast, rewarding and fascinating. But it takes a certain set of qualities and discipline - such as self-awareness, self-criticism and an *appropriate* positivity. It's very difficult to hear one's own music as others might (although with time, when one has forgotten making the tune, one gets a more accurate picture of one's own stuff).

    In a lot of ways nobody can know better what one needs to learn than one's self. But it needs to be more than a mere aspiration. Saying "Techno" and asking "How do I....?" is a good start. But then what?

    I like Trance and I set out to emulate all the sorts of sounds and defining cliches of the genre. 4x4 kicks, and off beat bass, gated pads, arps........and as I went along issues showed up, complexity starts increasing, feedback from friends enduring my rubbish.......it all starts to propel itself.

    There isn't enough movement........how do I do that? The sound quality isn't up to snuff......how do I improve it? It's too repetitive....how do I? What's sidechaining? How do I vocode? What's an exciter? Slicing? Re-sampling? FM? Additive? How does melody relate to the bass? How do I make a massive pad? What's New York compression?

    There are obviously an infinity of ways through all this stuff and everyone has their own route through. The journey is a big thing in itself, and it's easy to lose sight of that as one can get lost by focusing on the destination ("a song I have done!" - which likely won't astonish the world.)

    Setting off on such a journey is a big task, it's an infinite journey as there is always more to learn. That's part of the attraction but it can also be overwhelming and off-putting. Most everyone I have known says they would love to play guitar, or whatever, but they never do - at least not for long. How will you learn if you give up?!! Persistence is a big deal and so is knowing what you need to learn. That's a bit paradoxical I guess - how do you know what you need to know if you don't know? :D One finds out by actually trying, being self-aware enough to know what one needs/wants to learn next, and by being disciplined enough to carry it through. And to persist.

    Likewise, taking breaks (even significant ones of 6 or 12 months) is valuable too. Somehow when not doing music (or whatever), stuff sinks into the subconscious, better understanding develops, the creative juices are renewed and energy and inspiration can be replenished. One shouldn't be too frightened of "giving up"......sometimes that is just what is needed to renew one's self.

    blah blah woof woof
     
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  18. Tini

    Tini Noisemaker

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    Amazing Amazing Amazing !!!

    I love you guys !

    You really opened my eyes !

    <3

    Special thanks to @Boosire & @G String for taking the time to write such rich posts :)
     
  19. wasgedn

    wasgedn Banned

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    techno has many under genres...
    this is techno to me..oldskool..but some call it trance...there was harthouse...hardtrance too..
     
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