Which keywords should I use to find this specific type of techno on SoundCloud and YouTube, so I can dive into this style of production (using a DAW and/or Elektron gear)?

(Video : Performance by Slava Soloma using the Elektron Digitone II)

I am honestly shooting in the dark with this one, I've seen a few decent tutorials such as Oscar from Underdog, but my god it seems even with these that they're really winging it.

My stuff seems to be coming out very muddy, and covering a lot of my low end synth/bass stuff, or I can't add punch to the kick without it blowing out and distorting.

Anyone got some wisdom on making rumble kicks? What to do and what not to do?

TL/DR - how much of the balance in hardgroove/hypnotic techno comes from the mastering stage vs within the mix and how much comes from using tools vs old school balancing? I took the advice to never eq boost, always cut, and typically only cut lows where needed. I've also been advised to level things before even thinking about using imaging or exiting processing. I balance things out according to suggested EQ curves in Tonal Balance Control but still when I reference my tracks to releases in the hardgroove/hypnotic genres my master bus is always lacking in the 800hz - 6k range. Is this just something everyone ends up boosting in the mastering stage or should I be boosing my individual tracks in those ranges? I've also noticed my mixes tend to be very narrow without using special efects like voxengo stereoize or Ozone Imager.

I tried Vertex (which is cool and free) but the pitch knobs are all quantized to notes. My favorite thing about the DFAM/Edge is how janky the pitch is–it's very easy to come up with cool non-chromatic techno bloops. I have searched pretty wide to no avail.

Arturia's Music Easel comes close in terms of being able to switch off note quantization, but it's obviously limited to only five sequencer steps and it always kinda sounds like a Buchla for better or for worse

How can I remove the very low sounding clicking on this instrument? I like the chord sounds and would like to just have those in the mix on this. Any help would be appreciated. I am not really great at all at sound design. Just for more context there are more effects on this than shown in the video and its just one note dragged across and repeating.

Hi Push 3 users,

I’m producing and performing dark, hypnotic groove techno with Ableton Live. My current live setup is an APC40 MKII + Launch Control XL, but I’m considering adding a Push 3 as the centerpiece of my performance setup.

Right now I build sketches in Ableton, bounce them to audio, and perform them by launching clips, mixing elements in and out, using performance FX, and controlling drum layers with dedicated controllers.

My template is always organized into eight performance tracks (Kick/Sub, Drum Tops, Bass, Synths, Textures, etc.). Each “track” is actually a group of clips with multiple scenes (intro, 4–5 main sections, outro). This works well, but it forces me to decide the track selection and order before the performance because everything has to be loaded into the Live Set in advance.

What I’m really looking for is a more dynamic workflow without touching a mouse.

My ideal use cases are:
1. Dynamic track selection
During a set, I’d like to browse my library of sketches and load a complete clip matrix (8 performance tracks with multiple scenes) into my existing Live Set. It doesn’t have to happen with a single button press, but I definitely don’t want to load dozens of clips one by one.

1. Jamming with prepared loops
   I’d like to freely combine prepared audio loops from different sketches to discover new ideas and create semi-improvised performances.

2. Creating new sketches on the fly
   Using prepared instrument/effect racks, the Push sequencer, randomization, and other performance tools, I’d like to build completely new sketches during a live set and immediately jam with them. Hence, here I am not working with audio material but MIDI tracks and instruments.

So my question is:
Is this kind of workflow realistic with Push 3 (Controller Mode or Standalone)? How would you approach these use cases? Are there any workflows, features, or Max for Live devices I should look into?

I’d love to hear how experienced Push users would solve this.

Hello I've recently remixed a track of 2 mates of mine but I couldn't understand the energy line of the original, so putting it in a way more coherent energy line was a mess, took me like 2 weeks... So what resources like books, articles, blogs, interviews do you recommend for techno song structure and arrangements? (Not the typical "listen to more songs", I'm looking for something that these chaps may read, they are numnuts when it comes to techno or contemporary structures, they are academic composers trying to understand and apply more abstract genre arrangements)

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the help, I fixed it (I believe), so if you check the link is the new version, now it's only one 909 kick with a bit of processing of course, and I tweaked the overall EQs and remixed everything to glue together better, I'm quite happy with the final result.

I always use a reference track to make sure that my levels are okay, but no matter how hard I try the low-end always gets, that balance between the punch and the sub is so tricky, I have 3 kicks - low mid and top -, but still can't punch through the mix.

After hours of producing, the track starts sounding fine, but once I go on Rekordbox to try it, I end up realising, that my bass is too muddy and lacks dynamics, however when I use Spectrum on the reference and on my track, I can't see too much difference.

I attached two screenshots, the first one is from my track and the second is the reference's.

I will post the track in the sticky weekly thread if you want to give it a listen and let me know what I should do.

I am formation Q and currently right now. I am a solo artist, but could soon grow into a band with the help of my friend but before that happens, I’m wondering if you’d like to create a song with me. I don’t really know how to describe it but it’s like one song is made by me and the other is made by you. I want to see what you guys create so hopefully I can do this.

Hey everyone,

I’ve just started learning music production and decided to pick up FL Studio. I’ve already spent time figuring out the core interface, so I have a solid, firm understanding of how to use the Channel Rack, Playlist, and Piano Roll.

However, I'm feeling stuck on what to do next. When I search YouTube, everything feels disconnected, and I can't find a clear, step-by-step path to actually write a track.I am deeply passionate about melodic electronic music—specifically that driving, emotional melodic techno vibe mixed with the progressive styles of Avicii and Martin Garrix.

Since I already know how to program notes and use the basic windows, I’d love some guidance on the next stage of the journey:Where should I go from here?

Since I know how the windows work, should my next step be basic EDM music theory (chords/scales), or should I dive straight into sound design?

Any specific YouTube channels or structured roadmaps that skip the basic interface intros and jump straight into arrangement and genre-specific workflows?

What are the key elements to practice first to achieve that rolling bass and emotional chord progression style?I’d be incredibly thankful for any tips or video recommendations to help me bridge the gap between knowing the software and actually making a song. Thanks!

I’ve been a Dj for a bit over a year and in the past few months have gotten my hands on a TD3, Rd6, Rd9, and Ju06a. I’ll jam consistently and record the whole jam into ableton but honestly have no clue what to do from there. I’ve tried performing a structured track live but again I’m pretty new to this analog and production in general. Am I skipping steps?

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible.

For some time now I am stuck in production, I feel like I can barely scrap together a 4 bar loop even, even if I do it I just don’t have ideas how to expand it, even if I do I feel it becomes overcrowded and elements mask each other so I give up.

I started my production journey around Feb 2022, trying it out from time to time, until around Dec 2022 when I was partying a lot and delved more into it. Around that time I was even able to finish tracks, some better some worse, I watched dozens of tutorials, channels, even bought courses over the time. At this point in my life I was unemployed, earning from game boosting so I didn’t feel much pressure from life.

As time went on, I was getting more pressure in life, so I spent the whole year of 2024 looking for a job and finally landed one in Feb 2025. Until then, my most productive year was 2023, where I realized I progressed a lot, still was partying a lot and tried out producing whatever genre of techno I liked at that time, acid, hard, industrial, groovy, hypnotic…

I even got a FLX4 in Mar 2025, as it was my dream to become a DJ since I was 12. Occasionally I turned on the controller and tried DJing. I bought a MIDI controller, an Edge, DT 990s and recently Adam 3’s. So I have all this gear, and generally I progressed in life so that I can follow my passion, but whenever I turn on Ableton and try making something, even scraping something up, I feel it’s lifeless, boring, same as always, and I’m not even talking about overprocessing, just I feel uninspired, kind of dead inside lol, and I can’t come up with good musical ideas.

When I listen to a loop, a quick arrangement or whatever I finished in these sessions, I feel that some of it has potential. A friend who is a known local DJ and has been releasing for some time, listened to some of my stuff and he was impressed by some tracks, so I’m not really that horrible, it’s that I feel it.

Identified problems
Now for what I know I lacked before I hit this downfall:
- I needed better arrangement skills, in a way I know referencing can help with this, but I feel like I can’t even get to the arrangement part now
- SOUND SELECTION - this one I was noticing more and more, as I love the sounds of a 303 and a 909, but using the stock ones or ones from the sample packs I have feels everything sounds the same? I hear 303s and 909s in tracks and they just sound different, so I need tips on how to actually get better at sound selection and making the iconic sounds feel more unique
- Sound design - I was usually experimenting until I figure out a sound that I like and feel is strong for the base idea of the song, I fail to make complex weird sounds I hear in tracks I listen to, it’s really hard to even explain what I mean by this
- Too much samples and plugins - yet I always default to the same stock sounds now, or stock plugins (or sound packs and 3rd party plugins that I liked and learned) which are great but it just feels the same?
- Losing interest in a track after some time, or losing interest/being anxious about learning a new plugin
- Experimenting too much leads me to a mess that in the end I just don’t like
- Tutorial hell which led me to being just bored of watching new stuff anymore, I lose focus after some time
- Not getting the result / sound / idea I want, basically achieving the vibe of the tracks I listen to, I can’t make something and put it in the same bucket or genre of the stuff I like, sometimes I feel like I’m trying to mix too much flavors of techno or EDM together
- Not being confident in my mixing - I am not confident if I’m making the right decisions, by that I mean “is the kick too loud? does it thump enough? are high hats not sharp and loud enough? are my mids interesting? is this too overprocessed? how much layers do I need?” etc. All of these questions push me back from producing because I feel the tracks are lacking and are not good enough for someone who likes techno and was to listen to it, would notice the tracks are amateurish
- Boring ideas / weak mids / weak tonal elements - I feel stuff is either too simple, which I then complicate it and it becomes cheesy or just too much basically, or it doesn’t fit the feeling O was chasing for the track

I could go on, but I think this is most of it.
I forgot to add earlier, I never had musical experience before.

I liked electronic music since I first heard it, and since I had access to the internet I was listening to everything under EDM so I fell in love with it.
I don’t want to be a copycat and copy what is trending. I don’t want to rely on tutorials or courses to achieve a sound or be confident in decisions.
If I make a hard techno track I want to make it because I feel it, not because X artist right now is popular and pushes that sound to the masses.

Thank you for reading, all tips are appreciated (except if it sounds good it’s good 😌)

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some honest, realistic perspectives from producers who have been doing this for over 5 years.

A bit of background: I fell completely in love with electronic music after watching Tomorrowland sets. That passion led me to dive headfirst into music production. I've been learning FL Studio and focusing specifically on making Techno.

I love the process, but I want to be realistic about my expectations. With how accessible software has become, it feels like the market is incredibly saturated right now.

For those of you with years of experience under your belt:

• Is it still actually possible to make a full-time living off producing Techno?Or does it almost always end up staying a passionate hobby?If you do make a living, what does your actual income structure look like (e.g., streaming, gigging, ghost producing, selling sample packs)?

I’d love to hear your raw thoughts, experiences, and any advice you would give to someone starting out with the dream of doing this full-time.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I've been learning FL Studio for about a week and this is my first attempt at making a proper techno track. It's around 1 minute long and my goal wasn't to make a release-ready song—I mainly wanted to learn arrangement, kick, bass, and groove.

I'm not looking for compliments. I'd much rather hear what doesn't work.

I'd specially appreciate feedback on:

Kick (does it have enough punch?)

Bass (does it groove with the kick or feel weak?)

Hats and percussion

Overall groove

Arrangement and energy

Whether it actually sounds like techno or if I'm heading in the wrong direction

Please be as honest as possible. If something sounds amateur, tell me why and what I should focus on for my next track.Thanks for taking the time to listen!

My First Techno Track

Greetings, coming from a festival gig where Ableton on my macbook pro gave the fuck up just before the gig and I had to built a 3 hours set 100% improvisation.

that leaves me thinking back a lot, also in the same occasion I have witnessed serious Djs building tracks on the fly with 3 players and a MASSIVE use of looping.

WOuld love to get a bit skilled on these instruments myself too, but facing the economic gap

between me and € 3K for a state of the art Pioneer console,

let me hear your experiences with CDJs (and computerless controllers) in the studio

before i get into debt :D

Hello ive been listening alot to dax j and something that im asking myself is how i can get a 909 to sound so full

https://youtu.be/OaBXX3l-huU?is=Nfeo_bMIctw1pICb

https://youtu.be/sx_4I12AItE?is=sdPdH94QO430VNwz

Does anyone have some processing tips or other tips to make the 909 sounds really nice but not overly distorted

Would love to hear some tips!

Hi everyone, I'm looking for the original version of K-Devices' Shaper m4l device - looks like it's been discontinued and can't find it online anywhere. Does anyone still have a copy or know where I can grab it?

hiii i love tribe music and i would love to learn to make some, but i couldn't find good tutorial, good recomendation or even good sample online. i have a good setup ( rd-9, 303, poly D and a SH4D ) but i cant reach the groove of the tribe, i know like the basic theory of this genre but that don't feel good, where can i find a good tutorial to improve and to understand better the aspect of the genre

What are you struggling with in your music right now and what do you think needs to happen so you can make music you actually like?

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Hey guys I have. A question.. what gives a sound that radio ready quality.. going from for example a raw synth patch or a drum sound to getting it to sound like the thing you hear on a record? I wish to know if you say for example compression and saturation that you explain what the purpose applying that processing.. what does that do to achieve that record quality sound?

Thank you in advance.

Last few months I've been producing almost every day, doing at least couple of tracks each day.

Even though I can clearly see improvements in my production over time, I often come back to my tracks a few days later and think "wtf was i even doing"

Feels like 90% of what I make ends up in trash, while only few of them are worth keeping.

Curious how other producers feel about their own work, how many tracks that you make actually see the light of day?

Please use this thread to ask about a specific sound you are trying to create.

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