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As we were talking about atmospheres a few posts back here's one for you. If you want a cold/shrill/dark sounding atmospheric sound start by making a growly, nasty sounding synth, i'm not going to give specifics just giving an idea, you can make it to taste. Resample it do whatever you please, then add reverb and set the dry signal to 0% so your just left with the reverb. Add delays, saturators whatever you like, experiment. Bounce the 100% reverb signal, time stretch it, add more effects be creative, EQ it to fit/taste. Having started with quite a nasty abrasive synth the 100% wet signal your left with results in a cold/moody atmospheric sounds.

^ur sig is one of my favourite so far on this forum... uve got a keen production sense m8

Ldizzy wrote:^ur sig is one of my favourite so far on this forum... uve got a keen production sense m8

That mix? Cheers mate that's a good compliment, what do you mean by keen production sense exactly?

its tasty... everything falls into place like it should

true groove

Agree, also I need that tune that comes in at 20:50.

Ldizzy wrote:its tasty... everything falls into place like it should

true groove

Cheers mate, appreciated.

AxeD wrote:Agree, also I need that tune that comes in at 20:50.

It's Conforce - Vulcan of the state of mind ep

Does anybody know how to get that bass sounding as good as it does in this track? I just cant get it right. Also does anybody know how to get that sound that comes in around 1:00 minute, its pretty reminiscent to the synth in Julio Bashmores Into the Valley remix. Any help appreciated

Does anybody know how to get that bass sounding as good as it does in this track? I just cant get it right. Also does anybody know how to get that sound that comes in around 1:00 minute, its pretty reminiscent to the synth in Julio Bashmores Into the Valley remix. Any help appreciated

dublerium wrote:

Ldizzy wrote:its tasty... everything falls into place like it should

true groove

Cheers mate, appreciated.

AxeD wrote:Agree, also I need that tune that comes in at 20:50.

It's Conforce - Vulcan of the state of mind ep

Thanks, good sir.

Let's get this thread going again.

So I've got this Ben Klockish thing going.. does anyone have some tips on how to keep it interesting?
I'd like to keep the same 4 note bass progression going throughout the tune. I already have some delayed percussion
going on the background.

I keep listening to tunes like it to get ideas but I find it hard to understand how it keeps the listener 'interested'.

AxeD wrote:Let's get this thread going again.

So I've got this Ben Klockish thing going.. does anyone have some tips on how to keep it interesting?
I'd like to keep the same 4 note bass progression going throughout the tune. I already have some delayed percussion
going on the background.

I keep listening to tunes like it to get ideas but I find it hard to understand how it keeps the listener 'interested'.

Techno isn't as evolving or "interesting" in terms of arrangement as many other electronic genres. It is repetitive by nature and many times it's only yourself finding it boring because your used to produce other kinds of music. I usually feel the same.
Some basic things you could try though:
- Take things in and out of the arrangement. Off beat hi-hats being standard.
- Add high pitched strings during climax section.
- Automate stereo movement on lead and percussion. Going from mono to wide chorus or crazy panning can add interest.
- Automate EQ settings of synths. Only works if they cover a large part of the frequency spectrum, preferably mids or highs.
- Band pass a key element of the tune during a section.
- Automate reverb size.
- Slowly change rhythm emphasis through changing velocity on some percussion. For instance, increasing velocity on the 16th note hi-hat just before the kick.
- Have a drone sound in the background throughout the whole song and automate it's filter frequency. White noise, dense vinyl sparkle, low pitched ambience, etc...

Generally, I feel build ups and automation works really well over long sections in techno. Whereas you might automate a high pass filter over your lead over 16 bars in a dubstep track, in techno you can easily automate it over 32 or 48 without it sounding wrong. Since it's usually repetitive, having small but constant changes can help the track staying interesting.

q-t wrote:

AxeD wrote:Let's get this thread going again.

So I've got this Ben Klockish thing going.. does anyone have some tips on how to keep it interesting?
I'd like to keep the same 4 note bass progression going throughout the tune. I already have some delayed percussion
going on the background.

I keep listening to tunes like it to get ideas but I find it hard to understand how it keeps the listener 'interested'.

Techno isn't as evolving or "interesting" in terms of arrangement as many other electronic genres. It is repetitive by nature and many times it's only yourself finding it boring because your used to produce other kinds of music. I usually feel the same.
Some basic things you could try though:
- Take things in and out of the arrangement. Off beat hi-hats being standard.
- Add high pitched strings during climax section.
- Automate stereo movement on lead and percussion. Going from mono to wide chorus or crazy panning can add interest.
- Automate EQ settings of synths. Only works if they cover a large part of the frequency spectrum, preferably mids or highs.
- Band pass a key element of the tune during a section.
- Automate reverb size.
- Slowly change rhythm emphasis through changing velocity on some percussion. For instance, increasing velocity on the 16th note hi-hat just before the kick.
- Have a drone sound in the background throughout the whole song and automate it's filter frequency. White noise, dense vinyl sparkle, low pitched ambience, etc...

Generally, I feel build ups and automation works really well over long sections in techno. Whereas you might automate a high pass filter over your lead over 16 bars in a dubstep track, in techno you can easily automate it over 32 or 48 without it sounding wrong. Since it's usually repetitive, having small but constant changes can help the track staying interesting.

Yeah, I kind of struggle a little bit with this, like I can listen to repetitive techno and not get bored of it, but when I make it, it sounds boring, obviously cos I'm not gonna find my own stuff as interesting as others unless its banging!

I can see what you mea by these techniques though, and I probably do use some myself, changing subtle things so that you dont really notice anything in the track changing unless you concentrate hard on it, but it stops it from sounding like a loop over and over.

AxeD wrote:Let's get this thread going again.

So I've got this Ben Klockish thing going.. does anyone have some tips on how to keep it interesting?
I'd like to keep the same 4 note bass progression going throughout the tune. I already have some delayed percussion
going on the background.

I keep listening to tunes like it to get ideas but I find it hard to understand how it keeps the listener 'interested'.

mess around with white noise and panning the delayed percussion

Thanks for the tips!

Yea maybe it's just because I produced the bit, I'll leave it alone for a day or two and check it then.

I wanted to say this earlier, but a lot of techno is really stripped down by design because it really is meant to be worked by a DJ. It has since the very beginning always been DJ driven music, a lot of the times the DJ is working 3 decks.

But yeah, as far as keeping it interesting on the production side, a lot of subtle shifts and changes in the arrangement.

there really should be more contribution to this thread it's one of the few decent things on this forum.

I got one for you people, give some tips on layering synths with sub bass. I can generally make layered bass sounds to taste, but i'd like some advice on some things you lot consider to be more advanced than just simply basic layering. I appreciate there are unlimited ways of going about this so to slim it down (a bit) keep it techno/house orientated.. The current tune i'm working on i've got a high passed detuned square synth layered on top of my sub bass, but I wan't it to be a bit more subtle, high passing it more just looses the character I liked in the first place.

So how would you go about getting a bass sound like the following, I don't intend to rip it off just I'd like to know the techniques used.



And also just discuss production techniques/elements in this tune

I think I have a project with a really 'thin' and subtle lead on it, just have to find it now

What a tune btw, too bad I don't know anyone into the more experimental bits like this. Out here everyone is just pushing
the same synth heavy minimal sounds (or progressive as they call it).

AxeD wrote:I think I have a project with a really 'thin' and subtle lead on it, just have to find it now

What a tune btw, too bad I don't know anyone into the more experimental bits like this. Out here everyone is just pushing
the same synth heavy minimal sounds (or progressive as they call it).

To be honest, through my life i've met very few people that are into a similar vein of music as myself and when i've spoken to them they've said the same thing. I know theres a wide audience for some music like this, I know AMUS gets a lot of listeners but it seems to me the people into it a few and far apart. Not saying that's a bad thing though.

Yeah this is such a great tune,

dublerium wrote:there really should be more contribution to this thread it's one of the few decent things on this forum.

I got one for you people, give some tips on layering synths with sub bass. I can generally make layered bass sounds to taste, but i'd like some advice on some things you lot consider to be more advanced than just simply basic layering. I appreciate there are unlimited ways of going about this so to slim it down (a bit) keep it techno/house orientated.. The current tune i'm working on i've got a high passed detuned square synth layered on top of my sub bass, but I wan't it to be a bit more subtle, high passing it more just looses the character I liked in the first place.

So how would you go about getting a bass sound like the following, I don't intend to rip it off just I'd like to know the techniques used.



And also just discuss production techniques/elements in this tune

in that tune it doesnt really sound like a square lead, more like he duplicated the sub, saturated/clipped it a bit and then removed the lowend and highend so you just have these slighly overdriven harmonics on top of the bass. either that or he's doing analog saturation via tapes or mixing desks or w/e.

liking the tune really, needed some time til i got the rhythm but after that it really made me want to dance

i'll be back with questions once i find proper example tunes

i've getting more into techno lately to be honest i've been drifting away from half time the last few months
but this is some techno / house vibes i been making
Soundcloud

this one is dark
Soundcloud

was aiming a garage kind of vibe for this one
Soundcloud

let me know what are your thoughs!