Carlo Whale builds a warm techno-style groove

Classically-trained Italian producer Carlos Whale is known for his emotive, melodic take on leftfield techno. In his Sample Challenge, he flips simple drum hits and found sounds into a drifting, atmospheric club rhythm.

01 >

Flipping through the sample pack, Carlo is drawn to the percussive sounds more than the melodic loops and chords: “I don’t think I’ll ever used a major chord in my whole life,” he says. The found sounds hits, such as the Drill and Grill Pan also appeal to him.

02 >

He starts with the 808 Kick sample loaded into Simpler in Ableton, which he compresses with the Glue Compressor and EQs to remove the top end. He layers the bell sample on top to give it some top-end punch. To add extra groove, he takes the kick sample, pitches it up and EQs it to sound more like a tom. He then programs two lines, adding extra groove to each bar of the beat.

03 >

To make a bassline he uses the Synth Bassline loop and loads it into Simpler to isolate just the first note. He then adds an effect chain with Echo, Saturator, an Auto-Filter set to low pass, and finally an EQ cutting out the lowest sub frequencies. This adds depth and movement to his simple techno bass riff.

04 >

Rather than use the traditional hats, he turns to the 808 Rim sample, using Live’s Vocoder with its white noise mode and a high-pass EQ to give it a hat-like quality. A single transient from the Grill Pan one-shot becomes a 16th beat groove. The Shaker one-shot is also added on every 16th to flesh-out the groove. Subtle velocity edits and amp envelope tweaks help these elements sit in the mix.

05 >

A hit isolated from the Radio Scan loop becomes a clap, again sliced in Ableton’s Simpler and using bandpass EQ to isolate just the mids. Finally, the Rolling Marbles sound is used like an additional hi-hat to break up the 16th note patterns. It’s added directly to Live’s timeline with reverb and delay for atmosphere.

06

To add a melodic element he uses the Synth Ping one-shot to make another Simpler instrument, removing the attack portion and using a high-pass EQ and reverb. He adds a pad from the Prophet-08. For melodic interest, he returns to the Synth Ping sample for a pluck sound. The Saturator device’s Waveshaper mode helps add grit; reverb and delay let it sit ‘behind’ the other sounds.