Two industrial approaches to production

Processing

Musicians working in all genres can take a cue from industrial in terms of sound design and production techniques. Processing is an obvious starting point, encompassing a huge range of approaches but fundamentally rooted in experimentation. Vocal processing in particular has been a mainstay of industrial since the very early days, with vocalists employing a range of techniques for live performance and studio recording.

Perhaps take distortion as a starting point, but the main point is to think outside the box: could your synth go through a guitar pedal? What would a guitar sound like through a cheap speaker and microphone? Why not try introducing some of the classic ’70s industrial techniques to your music, like DIY tape loops?

Lo-fi sampling

Low-resolution samplers are always a good choice in any style of music, whether you’re channelling the authentically gritty sound of ’80s industrial or just looking to inject character into your productions. Prices of the more sought-after models like E-mu Emulators have risen substantially in recent years, but something like the Emax – used extensively by Trent Reznor and KMFDM – is more affordable. Or you can achieve similarly gritty results with software. We like D16’s Decimort for bit-crushing and Togu Audio Line’s TAL-Sampler for a slightly more advanced option, with the ability to recreate the artefacts and character of

’80s samplers.