Producing Techno music is by no means as simple as it is believed. The Techno genre requires a lot of experimentation, perseverance and constant commitment. In the category of electronic genres, Techno music is currently the best-selling and most played in clubs. He is the king of charts and music festivals. Learning to produce Techno is essential for those who want to emerge as a manufacturer and promote themselves on the market. In this article, I’ll give you some interesting insights to apply right away in your tunes, and help you discover how to produce professional-quality Techno music.
1. Enjoy what you do
It might seem a little obvious, but if you don’t like what you do, the end result won’t be much. If you don’t like the genre, if you are not convinced by Lead’s sound, or the arrangement seems trivial to you, your sixth sense is probably telling you that you are not going in the right direction.
Make music because you like it, and make Techno music if you like it. Especially when you feel inspired, you have an idea in mind, and you have enough time to record it, start working on it. Sometimes people will tell you that you should do one thing or another, but if you don’t like it, don’t do it.
2. Kick and Bass
Techno music is made for clubs, and clubs are made for dancing. The most important frequencies for dancing are the low frequencies , in other words: Kick and Bass.
Often only with the right kick and a deep and interesting bass, your track is already able to express its potential. Try to get them moving together in the best possible way. From there on, start adding more elements to the track, to make it more eye-catching.
The best way to get Kick and Bass sounds that fit together at the rhythmic level and at the frequency level, is to experiment a lot and, of course, use effects like Sidechain compression. This way, you will give your Kick more space and the low frequencies will not interfere with each other.
These techniques, and many others, are extensively explored in the course How to Produce Techno Music with Ableton Live.
3. Mono the low frequencies
One important thing is to always keep your low frequencies in Mono. You will ensure your track has its energy, so that the song is more stable. The dance floor will thank you. You can mono the frequency spectrum from 150-200Hz downwards .
In addition, some PA systems in clubs or festivals make the tracks mono for greater distribution of sound in large rooms. If you’ve done a stereo broadening of the low frequencies, they might sound inconsistent, and that wouldn’t be a good result.
In the end, Test your track
Now that your Techno song is finished, you should test it on different systems, and hear the overall sonic rendition. I recommend that you always listen to your records in headphones, on studio monitors, in the car and on a bluetooth speaker. By testing it on different speakers, you will understand how your track really sounds in any situation. You may notice something you want to change. After this step, the best test is always the club, because your track is bound to sound good on the dance floor. Now that we have come to the end of this short guide, if you really want to learn how to produce Techno music, we have created the Techno course with Ableton Live , where we explain in detail all the techniques to produce your Techno tracks independently, and in professional quality. Do you want a taste?
Author: Angelo Raguso
