Keeping it lo-fi
> As with so much in music, the term lo-fi means different things to different people, but no matter what angle you take, there’s crossover, of expression as well as terminology and techniques. For most, lo-fi will elicit thoughts of slower tempo beats, retro voicings and, in many cases, less space in the mix. Whether it’s casually arpeggiated or loosely strummed guitar chords, velvety Rhodes tones, or ’80s synth pads, they will most likely occupy a wider frequency range, adding to the lushness of the end result. That doesn’t, however, mean that they aren’t ‘produced’; just that the goal isn’t the same as a modern pop song.
Over the next few pages, we’ll take a look at some of the core sounds, tools and techniques that can form the heart of a lo-fi session, using your DAW, plugins and some analogue gear from classic synths to tape decks and even a little modular too. There is no right or wrong method to this but hopefully you’ll pick up a few tricks to inject some lo-fi goodness into your own projects.
Much of this can be achieved with simulations and digital recreations in the box (in this case we’re using Logic, but any DAW will work), so don’t be put off if you don’t have access to hardware versions. In some cases you can get creative with automation and drawing curves, so you won’t even need plugins… but more on that later.
Capturing a ‘lo-fi’ vibe can be about more than just gear though. As much as it can be hugely rewarding to bounce a track to tape, warp it and send it back to your DAW, you might end up feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the results. This isn’t likely to do with your own abilities but could be to do with aspects like chord progressions. The nature of genres becomes somewhat distilled, training our ears to expect certain voicings. Lo-fi often has strong connections to jazz and hip-hop or trip-hop, which informs our choices here, so aim for progressions with a sprinkling of minor 7ths and maybe an add9, for an easy start.
What we’re looking for is a sense of relaxed playing, with a mellowness often associated with analogue gear, without too much of the fizz and sparkle you’d often associate with other genres. This means we will be rolling off a lot of top end, adding breadth and space but also using some motion to create that slightly dreamy sound that is so often heard in chillwave and other lo-fi subgenres.
With that in mind, break out the tape deck, grab the electric piano (or a grand if you want that chill ghibli vibe) and we will get started.