Producertech’s resident House and Techno guru Paul Maddox returns to teach some of the most fundamental sound design techniques for creating melodic, rhythmic and atmospheric parts in your tracks. Using entirely Ableton instruments and effects, including many devices brand new to Live 10, Paul makes basslines, leads, percussion, FX and other essential components for producing high quality Techno or House.

Paul has been producing and DJing for nearly 20 years, under his own name and as part of duo Spektre, with his music receiving recognition from revered DJs such as Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and James Zabiela. Alongside his professional music career, he has also worked tirelessly to pass on his production knowledge by teaching in both physical institutions and online in his highly acclaimed courses for Producertech.

In this course, Paul focuses solely on sound design, showing how the instruments and effects in Live can be used to make the main musical or textural parts in a track. Lesson subjects include how to make a classic drone bass, synth arp and percussive FM leads, polyrhythmic vocals, ambience atmos FX and much more. As well as utilising longtime favourites in the Ableton factory library like Operator and Sampler, Paul also delves into some of the brand new devices in Live, like the Wavetable synth, and Echo and Pedal effects.

Before signing up to the course, which entitles you to unrestricted 24/7 access to the streamed tutorials, the Live projects from the course and 100MB of bonus Techno samples, check out the free sample module below, so you have a good idea of the style and content of the lessons, which will get you well on your way to producing your own slamming Techno today!

Sample Module

Course Breakdown

Module 0 - Delayed Kick Bassline

An effective bassline is made simply by delaying the kick drum, then mixing and processing with effects.

Module 1 - Module 1 - Drone Bass

Paul designs a classic drone bass patch using Live 10’s new Wavetable Synth. The patch is then sequenced, appropriate global settings applied and a number of insert effects utilised for additional sound sculpting and fixing.

Module 2 - Synth Arp

The next main melodic sound is a synth lead, made with Operator and then arpeggiated, to create an interesting rhythmic line. Reverb and Echo are then both applied, as well as some additional dirt using Operator’s fourth oscillator, and finally the global timing brought under control.

Module 3 - Percussive FM

To contrast with the bright, melodic arp sound, a punchier, more percussive lead in a lower register is created, again with Operator. Once the patch is made, reverb is added and tips for how to develop and work the sound in the arrangement are given.

Module 4 - Ambience Atmos

Paul shows how to source and add ambience to your track, creating width out of mono samples and then using a number of effects to add movement and help bed the sound in the mix.

Module 5 - Keytracked Percussion

A pair of lessons showing how to produce rhythmic, modulating percussion lines from single drum samples. After setting up Sampler in the required way, including applying the necessary keytracking, the sound is sequenced and processed with effects.

Module 6 - Polyrhythmic Vocals

Another classic Techno sound is covered, with Paul taking a random vocal sample and turning it into an engaging melodic pattern, with tips on different approaches to timing and sampler settings.

Module 7 - Foley Impacts

Some advice for how to make your own foley samples and then add them to your track, to punctuate transitions and add extra character. Paul shows some useful techniques for adding stereo information and bedding the sample in the mix.

Module 8 - White Noise

Two final lessons showing how to make a noise-generating instrument rack preset, complete with effects to add movement and depth, which can be used as a subtle energy builder or louder FX creation tool.