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Producing raw techno with this issue’s Loopmasters samples

1 To put this issue’s 1GB Loopmasters sample pack to the test, let’s dive into a freeform session. Our DAW is Ableton Live 10. To begin, we set tempo to 124bpm and load some hi-hat samples in a Drum Rack. Three layered hats fire on the offbeat, and a woody closed hat plays 16th-notes between.

2 On a new MIDI track, we load a thuddy kick sample into a new Drum Rack, and lay down a note on every beat to give us a stomping 4/4 pattern. After that, on a third MIDI track, we throw two percussion samples onto new pads: a metallic hit is interplayed against machine-gun-like 909 clap flourishes.

3 Next, to generate a bit of inspiration. On another new MIDI track, we draw in 8th-notes and then audition through loops to find something repetitively interesting. We scan the sampler’s start point throughout, and discover a chunky bass note with plenty of sub weight. This is lowpass-filtered in the sampler, and sidechain-compressed against our 4/4 kick.

4 Now we have a few parts on the go, our kick drum sounds a little flat and lifeless in the mix. To remedy this, we reach for Live’s onboard Glue Compressor, and compress the kick with a slow attack to bring out front-end snap.

5 Time for some more percussion. We select a cowbell loop from our sample pack, load it into a fresh Simpler on a new MIDI track, and flip Simpler into Slice mode. Drawing in various MIDI notes places small chunks of percussion throughout, to fill in gaps in the groove.

6 Time for a hypnotic techno hook. On yet another MIDI track, we load a synth loop into a new Simpler, and then draw in a three-note riff over half a bar. After that, on another new MIDI track, we fire off a ‘whoosh’ sample that’s been pitched up by two octaves, creating a club-ready FX crash.

7 Instead of adding a rolling snare fill at the end of eight bars, we place 16th-notes at the start of every eight-bar section for a modern sense of pace and progression. A rudimentary 32nd-note ‘flam’ then leads into this.

8 Now seems like a good time to process some of our sounds, to sweeten the mix and give us more of a pro sound. We brighten our initial hi-hat with a top-end high-shelf EQ boost, then we bus our drum channels to a single group and collectively beef them up with Live’s Drum Buss (with Mix set to a very subtle 1.6%).

9 Instead of dropping a generic crash cymbal on the downbeat, we use the front end of a drum loop, then alternate between the original sound and the same sound pitched down an octave. And for a finishing touch of pace, we mix in a heavily EQed loop that’s been tuned to fit the track’s key. It’s now time to start arranging our loop into a full track!