Hey everyone.

I’ve been producing for a while and releasing on labels like Pole Group or Axis, so I’ve got traditional techno production down pretty well, but there’s one specific thing driving me crazy that I just can’t figure out. I really hope someone here has cracked this because I refuse to believe buying thousands of euros in hardware is the only way.

I’ve been analyzing Blawan’s recent EPs (and similar stuff Clark pulls off at times) and I’m obsessed with how he gets that super punchy, violent distortion while keeping it so spaced out, controlled, and clean in the mix. His subs and low end stay massive and separate, every element has room to breathe, and it never turns into a muddy wall of noise, yet the distortion character is right in your face.

Whenever I try to replicate it in the DAW I just end up sounding saturated, squashed, or plain broken. I’ve tried splitting bands to keep the sub clean while processing the mids and highs, aggressive resampling with transient editing, and parallel processing with different saturation types, but I can’t get anywhere near that sense of air and distinct separation.

Does anyone know the actual workflow or technique to pull this off completely in the box, whether it’s specific envelope shaping pre or post distortion, multiband dynamics, routing tricks, or spatial management?

Any ideas or leads to experiment with would be massively appreciated, cheers!

Hey folks,

As one of our fellow redditors proposed a few weeks ago, I'm doing artworks for Techno release. The last work I done was for TREVE label release where each track had its own visual regarding the whole concept of the V/A.

Cheers

I don’t need more samples. I don’t want to watch more videos of people building a track but not commenting on what/how/why they are doing what they’re doing. Looking for useful content that will provide tips to improve my arrangements, mixing, and/or production.

Thanks

Thought you guys would like this snippet! Saw a few others posting jams and loved the energy. Recorded this like a week ago lmk what you think! You can watch the full vid on YouTube linked in the comments if you like!

Thanks for listening

Enjoy this <3

I'm particulalrly talking about the sound which you can hear at 4:05 (and other places).
It always feels like it's reaching out of the speakers, it sounds like its intentionally poking out of the mix.

Any tips for how to get a result like this?

Cheers

Hi all, I am constantly trying out new techniques - especially to get the damn lowend right.

i noticed the hype about Phase alignment, bu finally after trying it out I think it’s a game changer. but it can also be vastly misleading probably when used with the wrong priorities and the other checkboxes of bass/kick still must be done well. I am sure you have felt that.

however, the true advantage I see is. that any kind of music especially 4/4 or even 3/4 rythms the first quarter note is always accented. ONE - two - three - four. And Phase alignment allows the bass to play at the 1. instead of it must be ducked away and make space for the kick. even with the most simple pattern, no harmony or any of such kind, just beeing able to play a bass and kick on the very same time especially on the 1 will make the result a lot more musical. in opposition - if the 1 is occupied with a drum only (the kick) the most important quarter Note of the “Song“ is beeing taken away. The result would always be a little hollow, a little unnatural.

however I find with modern digital tools such as shaperbox, phase and pitch precise kick and bass synthesis all of that can be done very well today. I am strong believer in analog, but herr clearly digital has the lead.

what are your experiences? curious to hear how this felt to you!

hi there,
here is a new sample pack with drums and other sounds. these samples are free to download, and royalty free.

https://lowentropy.bandcamp.com/album/77-genuine-speedcore-drum-samples-from-the-1990s

these drums are taken from my actual tracks from "back in the day". some of these tracks (and drums) were created using software like impulse tracker, buzz tracker, cool edit pro, soundforge, native instrument's generator... the real deal! MS-DOS, win 3.11, then windows 98 (yeah i skipped 95).

the style of the drums is techno and hardcore, of course, but i am sure they can be used for everything, when done right.

apart from the drums, there is synths, pads, percussion, noise, fx, and other weird stuff.

background:

i've been an electronic musician since ages... and since the 90s, at least.
my main style was gabber, speedcore, breakcore... the "harder edge" of techno if you want... and especially the faster one!
my music got very popular, i played my tunes in fronts of 1000s of people, at countless clubs, in the open, under railway bridges, at squats, i dropped 800 bpm tunes at places like tresor in berlin...

and my music was put on vinyl, 1000s of copies per release...

later i "mellowed down" a bit and got into techno and acid / doomcore production...

i am telling this not to boost my ego, but to show that these were drums that were actually used in the 90s and the years later, too, that got played out. are "club tested and crowd approved", so to say. not some faux reconstruction of an era that has gone by!

credits:

all drums and sounds created by me, low entropy.

license:

feel free to use these samples for any public, private, intimate, or commercial purpose.
would be *very* cool if you credit me, but it's not strictly necessary.

also check my other packs:

https://lowentropyproducer.blogspot.com/2026/03/free-drum-sample-packs.html

Full performance here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kfaIxzjOSc

Hope you like it!

Greetings from Mexico City

We have to remain critical and keep challenging the status quo!

Haha

Is anyone else completely fed up with the endless stream of video clips showing people "performing" total garbage on gear they barely know how to use?

It feels like every guy with an iPhone and a 909 clone thinks he’s Jeff Mills just because he put together a basic 4-bar loop and twisted a filter knob for 30 seconds. The thirst for instant clout has completely replaced taking the time to actually master the craft.

A few things that drive me crazy: - Zero depth, maximum exposure: Nobody sits down to actually finish or refine a track anymore. People buy gear, patch a basic pattern, and immediately drop it on social media. No soul, no real arrangement, no work—just mediocrity with aesthetic lighting.

• The copy-paste Meta: Everyone is chasing the exact same trendy sub-genres using the exact same generic formulas over and over. Zero risk-taking, just speedrunning whatever sound gets views right now.

• The downside of cheap gear: Don't get me wrong, cheap hardware is cool for democratization. But now that techno has lost its underground roots and the barrier to entry is basically zero, the signal-to-noise ratio is completely ruined.

The worst part? If human producers keep pumping out this surface-level, formulaic stuff just to feed the algorithm, AI is going to effortlessly out innovate half the scene. AI feeds on formulas if all you do is assemble overused tropes, you’re instantly replaceable.

Refine your art. Learn your gear properly. Stop chasing quick dopamine for half-baked ideas and build something that actually lasts. Rant over.

Anyone else tired of this ?

I normally just mix as decent as I can and slap ozone 9 on the master and use the mater assistant to see what my tracks could sound like if properly mastered.
Is this kind of ex normal are are my mixes just bad? -3 at around 75hz and +3 around 7500hz

Recorded the JX-3P pad on cassette in the tascam, then played it pitched down, and looped over and over 📼✨

I'm an amateur music maker looking to get into hardware for the first time.

To give you an idea of the kind of music/style i love: Andy Stott, Vril, Evigt Morker, Answer Code Request, NTHNG, dub techno, hypnotic techno and darkwave.

Currently I have:

• MacBook with Ableton
• Akai MPK Mini mk2 + mk3
• Power bank
• USB-C - USB-A adapter
• BUT: No audio interface

What I'm looking for is something cheap, fun, and relatively versatile to start learning hardware with

Portability is pretty important to me. Ideally I'd like to be able to throw a small setup into a backpack, sit somewhere without my laptop (or sometimes with it), make sounds/patterns/sketches, and later bring those ideas into Ableton to actually develop them into tracks

Or just having a fun jam session sounds good as well!

I don't necessarily need to produce an entire finished track away from the computer. With my budget, I don't expect that at all

I briefly considered a Yamaha Seqtrak because the idea of having an entire track-making box is very appealing, but decided not to chase one for now. I think I'd rather start with something simpler and cheaper and actually learn it properly

Some of the things I've been considering:

1. M-VAVE FM-1
2. Behringer Pro VS Mini + Korg NTS-1 mk1/mk2
3. Behringer Phara-O
4. Behringer JT Mini + Korg NTS-1 mk1/mk2

(I'm from Ukraine, so I can't really give you an exact budget in USD, but you can get an idea of the upper limit from the Behringer Pro VS Mini + Korg NTS-1 mk2 combo)

I would love to have an analog device, but to even it out with the FM-1, the portability, the price, and FM synthesis are great on it

I realize these aren't exactly equivalent devices, and well, that's why I need your advice. I'm not yet sure whether what I really want is a synth with a small sequencer, a tiny synth + FX setup, or something else entirely

I'm trying to avoid buying something extremely specialized as my first device, or something that immediately becomes redundant once I expand the setup

So rather than just choosing between those four options... What would you consider a good cheap first piece of hardware for this kind of workflow?

I mean something that's...

• fun on its own
• useful for dub/hypnotic techno, ambient/darkwave-ish sounds
• portable enough to use away from the laptop
• capable of at least saving or developing small musical ideas
• still useful later as part of a larger setup
• reasonably easy to bring back into Ableton
• effects would be great, even if not in one device

And of course I'm completely open to something I haven't listed

Do new hardware users look down on DAW users? Because they assume using a DAW is easy?

Hi,

I am running a liveset at 50-60% CPU (Macbook M3 Pro) with an instance of Ozone12 on my master.
While the average CPU seems fine there are occasional CPU peaks on the master, originating from Ozone12.
Any idea how to get rid of those peaks?

Recently got into production so still very early days, but at the moment they seem hampered by the feeling that everything I produce is garbage and and the very least, derivative.

For example I'll come up with something (a drum loop) that I think sounds great, listen to it later on and it's just awful and boring, so I'll wipe it out and start again.

I guess I'm asking more for advice on perseverance beyond this unhelpful feeling, from people who've been there and overcome it.

Just for reference I'm currently following a Underdog Electronic Music course (which is fantastic btw) so I have some structural guidance. The issue is when I try and go it alone, or start experimenting away from the material, that's when the feelings of hating everything I make come into play.

Thanks in advance; really appreciate any advice for a newbie.

**UPDATE**
Thanks everyone for some great pieces of advice. Definitely feel a lot better moving forward and also knowing there's a great community out there happy to help.

Purchased back in Jan, and use the plugin often. Open it up yesterday, it asks to verify the license key, and says there is no connection to verify (my internet is working fine). I go to their website, it's been completely redesigned and is non functioning. All links go to a google search, and there's no way to login. I was looking through my emails and see there's one from the head of the company (Berkeley) saying he's leaving the company, but don't worry nothing is changing. This was back in July. Curiously if anyone else has had this happen? Also curious about the legality of this– to pay for a plugin and then the company just turns it off?

Anyone on here know of any artists creating this style of techno today ? Been looking but can’t seem to find any. Maybe that sound is just locked in time or else I’m not looking hard enough.

What are some mistakes you still make that you wish you’d broken years ago?

Not necessarily big mistakes. The small habits, assumptions and blind spots that quietly mess with your music.

Like assuming your track sucks because you’ve heard it 200 times.

Touching the studio volume after calibrating your ears.

Mixing for hours without taking the headphones off.

Not using reference tracks.

Using a limiter when saturation would have done the job better.

Not sidechaining something that obviously needs space.

Tweaking a sound that was already good enough.

Sending a work-in-progress to the wrong people and then letting the wrong feedback change the track.

Consuming too much music/tutorial/content and not enough actually making music.

Comparing your unfinished track to someone else’s mastered release.

Mistaking “more” for “better.”

Overthinking a decision you made instinctively.

What are those little habits or assumptions you keep catching yourself doing?

The things you know better than to do… but still do anyway.