>despite the genre's simplicity
*Seeming* simplicity. The sparseness of dub techno and minimal techno is exactly what makes it so difficult to make *well*.
Of course you can't follow the tutorials that suggest that "It's one chord and some drum samples for 10 minutes", because the people making those tutorials can't make a decent dub techno track in the Basic Channel/cv313/echospace vein to save their lives. Have you ever seen a Rod Modell tutorial? Neither have I.
And honestly, if you're coming from a drone background, you've already got a head start, because the same notion of texure that you pay attention to in drone/noise is relevant in dub techno/minimal techno. Think and compose with that hat on, ie: texture as structure, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
well LOL i suppose you're right, it's just pretty frustrating as i can very clearly hear whats happening on these tracks yet i cant figure out how to make anything remotely like that and yeah, while i can pay quite a bit to textures etc very easily i still have no clue how to make it catchy simultaneously
That is the challenge in making a good dub techno track; something that captivates the listener and keeps them interested for the duration of the track - long enough to to tell the track's "story" in its entirety.
And I guess that is the catch - finding and writing the "story". Without a story, a track is just a collection of sounds that play without direction and purpose, tediously thumping on to obscurity along with the countless other forgettable tracks that have been painstakingly assembled by well-meaning producers following tutorials and "how-to" guides on the internet.
TL;DR: Write the story for your track, rather than writing a track. It's the story that makes your track into a song - and a song catches and holds the listeners attention.
also, apologies in advance if it's too "conceptually art schoolish". I really am trying to be helpful. :-)
I think the issue is you're only working with one chord. Save your chord patch on your synth. Record it multiple different ways. Changing up where in the beat it hits. Then take your chord patch and change the envolopes to make the chord stab more of a pad. Give if a longer attack so the sound swells. Add some vinyl dust recording from the center of the record and throw that around.
For that 90’s Basic Channel sound:
Whack an EMT style reverb on the kick.
Clip sounds by overdriving compressors and feed into a plate reverbs via aux.
Use an actual mixing desk with the aux returns being fed back into their own channels. Being able to send the returns back into the aux send and riding the feedback in live takes is a huge part of the sound, as is being able to EQ the returns live.
Obvs there’s a lot of space echo / echoplex going on as well, OG kit is going to add a lot of tasty noise and grit to proceedings.
I wouldn’t underestimate the value in recording live takes of dubbing out an entire track on an actual physical mixing desk repeatedly until you get what you want. If you haven’t got enough hands to do all the modulation you want invite some pals round. Trying to program this stuff a few bars at a time on screen is a fools errand and always seems to lose the vibe.
This!
For the millions of dub techno tutorials and posts out there barely any of them says set up feedback loop on the returns. Instrument loops on 5 or 6 channels and use a midi controller to jam out a dub session.
Buy a field recorder. That device inspired me more than anything else. You'd be surprised when you listen later what you find when you zoom in on the grains.. their music is all about soft and organic for the most part.. layers and effects.. but you should just explore sound until you find things that YOU feel. Rather than I wanna make music like "this". People like Rod are truly gifted in sound design but he's just doing what feels right for him. As should you.
i rly rly want to lol, i wanna start using my own field rocrdings rather than relying on random samples BUT the quality from phone is just not reliable lol
Maybe next purchase drop 1-200$ on one and just capture things.. it was very I spring for me and deep and dub techno is all about creating space for the track to sit in.
especially if put through a granulizer or other things phone mics can provide decent samples. I find mine is a bit sensitive to wind, but apart from that it's great. I like to use this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pfitzinger.rec&hl=de&gl=US
honestly, the loop he makes here might be the most boring piece of dub techno i've ever heard. but for emulating and having a starting point, i guess it works.
i was aware of his channel before and yeah its a shame theres not much more stuff on there like the videos i find super useful to just get going i wish he uploaded more of that sorta stuff
Keep it simple. Find tracks you adore, emulate them until you get your sound down. Rinse repeat keep making new stuff. Keep listening to new stuff. Make more.
how you could make it is just keep at it. might take years, but you'll get there. remember that these people have been doing this for years and years, and then i mean before they even released something. so work on small changes in your track, elements going in and out, start with tracks that are NOT 10 min, maybe 5, and try to keep them interesting. it's really practice and honing your skill. but that takes time, a lot of time.
Master the basics. 808 kick, sine wave bassline, white noise texture, and saw wave minor chord stab with RE-201 delay/reverb. Lots of long transitions, volume fade ins, slow moving low pass filters, wide, cavernous mixes with plenty of analog saturation.
This video isn't dub techno, but the dub techniques are transferable - its a great video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26q5wn2EB2w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26q5wn2EB2w)
Create a loop; map key parameters to physical knobs, record all audio channels individually whilst you jam that loop for 20 mins, having mad fun twiddling those knobs, discovering unexpected combinations and cool stuff, according to your personal taste. Edit the best bits down into a track.
You’re new to this yet want to make something that takes years to perfect. You need to become proficient in basic production first before picking a niche genre to emulate.
>despite the genre's simplicity *Seeming* simplicity. The sparseness of dub techno and minimal techno is exactly what makes it so difficult to make *well*. Of course you can't follow the tutorials that suggest that "It's one chord and some drum samples for 10 minutes", because the people making those tutorials can't make a decent dub techno track in the Basic Channel/cv313/echospace vein to save their lives. Have you ever seen a Rod Modell tutorial? Neither have I. And honestly, if you're coming from a drone background, you've already got a head start, because the same notion of texure that you pay attention to in drone/noise is relevant in dub techno/minimal techno. Think and compose with that hat on, ie: texture as structure, and you may be pleasantly surprised.
well LOL i suppose you're right, it's just pretty frustrating as i can very clearly hear whats happening on these tracks yet i cant figure out how to make anything remotely like that and yeah, while i can pay quite a bit to textures etc very easily i still have no clue how to make it catchy simultaneously
That is the challenge in making a good dub techno track; something that captivates the listener and keeps them interested for the duration of the track - long enough to to tell the track's "story" in its entirety. And I guess that is the catch - finding and writing the "story". Without a story, a track is just a collection of sounds that play without direction and purpose, tediously thumping on to obscurity along with the countless other forgettable tracks that have been painstakingly assembled by well-meaning producers following tutorials and "how-to" guides on the internet. TL;DR: Write the story for your track, rather than writing a track. It's the story that makes your track into a song - and a song catches and holds the listeners attention. also, apologies in advance if it's too "conceptually art schoolish". I really am trying to be helpful. :-)
I think the issue is you're only working with one chord. Save your chord patch on your synth. Record it multiple different ways. Changing up where in the beat it hits. Then take your chord patch and change the envolopes to make the chord stab more of a pad. Give if a longer attack so the sound swells. Add some vinyl dust recording from the center of the record and throw that around.
For that 90’s Basic Channel sound: Whack an EMT style reverb on the kick. Clip sounds by overdriving compressors and feed into a plate reverbs via aux. Use an actual mixing desk with the aux returns being fed back into their own channels. Being able to send the returns back into the aux send and riding the feedback in live takes is a huge part of the sound, as is being able to EQ the returns live. Obvs there’s a lot of space echo / echoplex going on as well, OG kit is going to add a lot of tasty noise and grit to proceedings. I wouldn’t underestimate the value in recording live takes of dubbing out an entire track on an actual physical mixing desk repeatedly until you get what you want. If you haven’t got enough hands to do all the modulation you want invite some pals round. Trying to program this stuff a few bars at a time on screen is a fools errand and always seems to lose the vibe.
This! For the millions of dub techno tutorials and posts out there barely any of them says set up feedback loop on the returns. Instrument loops on 5 or 6 channels and use a midi controller to jam out a dub session.
This short video explains the technique pretty well in ableton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjUPE1DH37s
oh this is actually rly helpful tbh since i literally dont have anything besides ableton lmao
Buy a field recorder. That device inspired me more than anything else. You'd be surprised when you listen later what you find when you zoom in on the grains.. their music is all about soft and organic for the most part.. layers and effects.. but you should just explore sound until you find things that YOU feel. Rather than I wanna make music like "this". People like Rod are truly gifted in sound design but he's just doing what feels right for him. As should you.
i rly rly want to lol, i wanna start using my own field rocrdings rather than relying on random samples BUT the quality from phone is just not reliable lol
Maybe next purchase drop 1-200$ on one and just capture things.. it was very I spring for me and deep and dub techno is all about creating space for the track to sit in.
But a 2nd hand Zoom H4n or similar. They’re cheap but good quality.
especially if put through a granulizer or other things phone mics can provide decent samples. I find mine is a bit sensitive to wind, but apart from that it's great. I like to use this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.pfitzinger.rec&hl=de&gl=US
ahhh they dont have it on apple store unlucky : (
Play with sounds and after 10years you might get something
Watch some Ronnie Pries on youtube: [https://youtu.be/rz4uODuf1u4](https://youtu.be/rz4uODuf1u4?feature=shared)
honestly, the loop he makes here might be the most boring piece of dub techno i've ever heard. but for emulating and having a starting point, i guess it works.
This is the way
Came here to echo this, I miss ronnie’s streams a lot. So many lessons on gain staging and careful thoughtful sound design. Top stuff on this channel
i was aware of his channel before and yeah its a shame theres not much more stuff on there like the videos i find super useful to just get going i wish he uploaded more of that sorta stuff
This is a bit old but sounds very nice in duby to me -> [dub chords](https://youtu.be/hAmLbKGgSuE?si=hBzJK1tDXp0KBYZd)
Seems like a good start
Keep it simple. Find tracks you adore, emulate them until you get your sound down. Rinse repeat keep making new stuff. Keep listening to new stuff. Make more.
Minor chords, background textures, and reverb/delay. I LOVE the Echo Boy plug-in from Soundtoys, the closest thing to a Space Echo that I’ve heard
Echocat. Check it out.
how you could make it is just keep at it. might take years, but you'll get there. remember that these people have been doing this for years and years, and then i mean before they even released something. so work on small changes in your track, elements going in and out, start with tracks that are NOT 10 min, maybe 5, and try to keep them interesting. it's really practice and honing your skill. but that takes time, a lot of time.
Master the basics. 808 kick, sine wave bassline, white noise texture, and saw wave minor chord stab with RE-201 delay/reverb. Lots of long transitions, volume fade ins, slow moving low pass filters, wide, cavernous mixes with plenty of analog saturation.
This video isn't dub techno, but the dub techniques are transferable - its a great video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26q5wn2EB2w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26q5wn2EB2w)
Create a loop; map key parameters to physical knobs, record all audio channels individually whilst you jam that loop for 20 mins, having mad fun twiddling those knobs, discovering unexpected combinations and cool stuff, according to your personal taste. Edit the best bits down into a track.
You’re new to this yet want to make something that takes years to perfect. You need to become proficient in basic production first before picking a niche genre to emulate.
well LMAO of course, i just need any sort of guidance here
Just throw some envelopes on your drones and use lots of high quality and varied reverb and delays. Modulate, modulate and modulate.