In this tutorial we're focusing on two important issues when it comes to score music. Whether it is in film or game music, the drums are very dominant. They induce power, drama, mystery. So it is important; they have to sound authentic. I want to show you a technique that makes your single drum element (snare, hi-hat etc.) sound more varied using Ableton's Sampler. The second main topic is how to deal with orchestra instruments/libraries. We will talk in depth about eqing, panning and more. Have a look at the timeline I posted in the comment section.  

Hi! I'm Fabian Russ. I'm a composer and sound designer mostly working with symphony orchestras and electronic music. I am also an Ableton Artist and I give Ableton lessons through Skype. You might be a beginner or maybe even an intermediate producer, there is always something to learn about Ableton and how to get the best results out of it. I am working together with PML on the score templates and if you like those works, you’ll enjoy spending time together on Skype. To book a lesson or to find out more get in touch with me at info@fabianruss.de If...

Mastering Chain Setup: Lets set up a powerful mastering chain in Ableton with the goal of only using built-in audio effects. When “mastering” on this basic level, we are trying to accomplish 3 things: balance the mix clean up resonance add loudness (punch) to the track Of course there are different definitions of mastering and many philosophies on the order of your effects used. For example, one could perfectly argue, that the multiband dynamics should go in front of the Glue compressor. Chain Layout: But lets go ahead and lay down our chain as we are using it inside of the...

In this Sound Design tutorial, Francois shows you how to make the Innerbloom (Rüfüs) style Pad sound with Arturia Mini V3 in Ableton from start to finish. This free session is taken out of our Sound Design course for the Arturia Mini V3   Resources / Files:  Join our Sound Design course for Arturia MINI V3 Get our Melodic Techno Sound Pack for Arturia Mini V3    Learn more about producing melodic techno: 5h+ Course: Producing an Analog Melodic Techno Track from Start to Finish in Ableton     Keywords: melodic techno session ableton live, massive, francois, techno production, deep house lead...

  Sometimes you simply have a melody on your mind and your trying to figure out what chords to play along with it. Now this tutorial offers a simple approach taken from our MELODY Course, showing you how to do that: Finding chords for your melody, steps to follow: Try to transpose the melody to a scale you know well. Try to find your bass notes first. Start with the root note (of the scale). Many progressions start or end with the root note (tonic). After finding a fitting bass progression, build chords on it. A basic chord is built from the...

In this production session, we are going through the drum programming around a melodic deep / berlin techno style track with low reverbed kick elements, sub kicks, percussive elements, tonal clave's and driving shakers. You might be familiar with such a drumming from artists like Rodriguez Jr., Moderat and Djs/Producers from the Berlin Techno scene. Contents: 02:00 Kick Part 03:35 Reverb Kick 07:13 Sub Kick 09:34 808 Element (Side Chaining Technique) 11:47 “Brk” Element 13:40 Processing on Drums Group 15:11 Claps 15:53 Shakers 18:53 Clave 20:36 Percussive Element 22:12 Tonal Clave Element 2 22:29 Hihats 24:10 Ride 25:12 Info 25:48 Playback   Resources...

In this session, Francois shows how to recreate the sound of Stephan Bodzin "Zulu" with the Arturia Mini V3 and Ableton and goes through different production and sound design techniques. Contents: 00:00 Play Presentation Version 01:30 Zulu Version 04:21 Sound Design Bass 05:45 Main Bass Sound (powered by Sound Pack: Melodic Techno for Arturia Mini) 10:00 Main Lead Sound 13:55 Fifths Lead 15:03 Drums 22:13 Long Playback   Resources / Files:  You can buy the Ableton Live Project file here Check out: Analog Deep Techno Bundle If you'd like to dig deeper into Harmony Theory, check out our course: Harmony & Chord...

In this Ableton Live + Arturia MINI (only) session, Francois is loading up an Ableton project from our Arturia MINI Sound Pack, cleans up and works on harmonies, melodies (in the d# minor scale) and sound design without commenting too much. Sit back, get a beer and feel free to follow along. Contents: Playing the project Adding harmonies / chords / melodies (D# Minor scale) Tweaking some Lead sounds in the Arturia MINI V3 Arrangement Playback of result If you'd like to dig deeper into Harmony Theory, check out our course: Harmony & Chord Progressions   Learn more about producing melodic deep, melodic techno:...

Here’s how you can sample the kick drum from any track, even if there’s some elements playing at the same time: Step 1 of 4 Put the track inside Ableton and find a kick with as little elements playing at the same time as you can. Drum intros or outros are perfect for this. To precisely select the kick zoom in in the Clip View & move the Start Marker to the kick position. You’ll be able to move the Start Marker more freely if the Warp button is off. Here’s the kick I chose:   Step 2 of 4...

Did you know that the mixing engineer behind Kendrick Lamar’s breakout album, Derek Ali, mixes in mono for the first 80% of his process? Today we’re going to discuss what pros and cons of this approach. Why mix in mono? 1. Because it’s better for achieving the right EQ balance When you mix in stereo, you have some elements coming from the sides, some coming from the center. That may fool you into thinking that your frequencies are not clashing, when in fact they are. When you mono your track it’s easier to spot the mistake because you don’t have...