14 Tips For Producing Better Techno: "Automate The Lowpass Filter Frequency To Create A Rhythmic Pattern On Your Bassline"
Yesterday we published our in-depth guide to making techno in 2023 , covering everything from structure and layout to plugins and sound design. Today we'll continue with 14 quick and easy tips to help you create techno bumpers for floor filler.
1. Add reverb to the kick drum
There are many ways to care for a kick drum depending on the type of sound you are looking for. Add a reverb plugin directly to your beat and it will add a special atmosphere. Use EQ or filter after reverb and high frequency filter to darken the sound.
Try adding a distortion or saturation plugin like FabFilter Saturn 2 after the EQ. If you decide to use processed reverb as a layer over the main kick, try adding a volume sidechain like the Kickstart 2 so that the reverb plays after the main kick.
2. Parallel batteries
Once you've finished building the drums, group them and send them to the Aux/Bus path with a parallel compressor. Use a compressor like the Arturia Comp FET-76 for parallel compression with fast attack, fast release and ALL ratio.
Add an EQ, cut out all the low frequencies, and include the computer's auxiliary/parallel bus sound in the mix. Parallel composition will help ensure that the elements of your drum kit combine well.
3. Automation Settings
Since techno is built on grooves, it's important to use automation to give movement to the sounds so they sound smooth and natural. Automates filter disconnection on synthesizers when entering a track and during pauses.
Other important parameters for synthesizer automation are attack, release, maintain, and release. For example, you can automate the decay and release before the break and reject the release.
4. Shadow Hills Mastery Compressor
Try placing the Shadow Hills Mastering compressor on the main bus at the start of the session. Techno should sound compressed and compressed, and this plugin will help you achieve that sound.
5. Slap on the Layers
To add percussive movement, try aligning each second or quarter stroke with the rhythm. Choose a cotton that will complement your main cotton. Try turning off the pop level or using zplane Elastic Pitch to reduce it. Add the BitCrushing plugin above or FabFilter Saturn 2 to add richness to the sound.
6. Drums
Create a simple drum bus by sending multiple drum parts (such as open hi-hat, closed hi-hat, cymbals, ride and/or top loop) and sending them to the aux bus. Treat them with tape (like Universal Audio's Studer A800 or Abbey Road's Vinyl Waves Add-on), then with an equalizer like the API-2500.
Next, use Slate Digital's VBC FG-MU or a similar bus compressor, followed by an EQ that can add air to the high notes, such as the Maag Audio EQ4. The idea to complement this scheme is with a plugin like SPL TwinTube to add character.
7. Run less
Lower the ride (or hi-hat) and flatten. This is a simple trick that can be used during transitions, for example at the end of a building section. For four or eight string periods, use the zplane Elastique Pitch V2 app and automate your hi-hat or walk pitch.
You can also use tone automation in your DAW. In Ableton, open the clip and navigate to the envelope section. Select Clip, then Transpose and automate the note. After the transition, the height returns to normal (zero).
8. Add Movement to Your Bassline
Make your basslines more interesting by using a Tremolo app like Goodhertz Trem Control, Ableton's Auto Pan or similar and automate the modulation. Then add a filter like the Simplon above for automation and automate the low pass filter frequencies to create a rhythmic pattern in your bassline.
9. Research methods
Many producers can create great-sounding loops, but entire songs require different skills. Listen to other producers' arrangements to learn how to tell a song's story and create tension and release using contrast and automation. A good exercise is to listen to the arrangement and note the elements you play in each eight-bar sequence.
10. Echo Automation
Automate synthesizers with support for melody lines or reverb effects. Create an Aux/Bus track and put your favorite reverb on it. Expand the response by setting the initial delay to around 7.5 or 8 ms and the decay time to six seconds or more.
Add rhythm-inspired tools like Cableguys ShaperBox to the circuit to create new grooves, and finally add an EQ or filter to remove treble and darken the sound. When building, try automating the send to the aux/bus in the reverb chain and returning it to normal before dropping it.
11. Make your traps more interesting
Make your traps more interesting by making each one a little different. In a sampler like Battery or Drum Rack in Ableton, you place the same snare drum on three different MIDI notes and EQ them, each slightly different. This way, every time the snare drum is played, its sound changes.
Program the snare pattern in 1/16th pitch and assign different speeds to the first six notes. This will create more polyrhythmic beats on top of the drum patterns on all four floors. Doubles the length of a pattern and transposes a MIDI note to another note.
12. Use delays to add movement
You can add more movement to the main synthesizer line or backing track by using delays. Copy the part you want to work on into a new track and add a delay such as Soundtoys Echoboy or Waves H Delay. Moves the original channel to the left and the delayed channel to the right. Now that the tracks are duplicated, adjust the volume of both tracks in the mix.
13. Working with links
When creating a song, it is recommended to use reference tracks, be it sound design, melodic or percussive ideas, or arrangements. Download an app called ADPTR Audio Metric AB to your main bus. This plugin allows you to upload multiple links and A/B mix with your link path. For example, if you want to use a kick drum or similar bass for a reference sound, Metric AB will let you quickly check how far you are from the desired sound.
14. Boat trip
One element that works well in techno is a smooth track. Add an EQ like the Pultec MEQ-5 to your tracks to create this sound. Set Peak to 500 Hz, add 3 dB gain and reduce the 5 kHz frequency by 5 dB. Add a Goodhertz Vulf compressor and use the 2-Bus Glue Parallel preset. Send peaks to the auxiliary bus containing the main reverb. Create another aux/bus, add a saturation plugin like Waves Abbey Road Vinyl Tape and EQ to cut the bass and boost frequencies around 2700 Hz.
Add a Universal Audio Cooper Time Cube MkII delay to another aux/bus and try the Pseudo Spring preset with the Echo. Hop aboard the optional Cooper Time Cube bus and customize it to your liking.
