Monthly Archives: May 2020

Producer’s Guide to Scaler TUTORIAL

Scaler is a unique and inspirational MIDI effect that makes finding chords and progressions intuitive and fun! With note detection, scale selection and chord suggestions, Scaler is a comprehensive but easy-to-use toolbox that will help anyone make better music.

A first of its kind, Scaler can determine what key and scale you’re in and suggest chords that match your music, or it can inspire a tune from scratch by providing a set of initial chords in an unexplored key. With the onboard bank of over 2,000 scales and modes including genre and artist presets, there’s more than enough to keep the juices flowing.

In this course, you will learn how to use this fantastic tool in a variety of scenarios so that you can start including it into your creative workflow right away.

Course Breakdown

Module 1 – Jazzy Hip Hop Groove 

In the first groove, on a jazzy Hip Hop tip, Producertech Senior Tutor Rob Jones introduces some of the fundamentals of the plugin, such as how to choose a scale and then lock notes to the keyboard to enable easy playing of melodies using instruments in the DAW. He then moves on to Scaler’s Arpeggiator and Strummer facilities, before showing how chords sequences are made using the Songs presets as well as entirely from scratch.

• Lesson 1 – Playing Melodies in Key – 5.21
• Lesson 2 – Playing Arpeggios and Strummed Chords – 3.58
• Lesson 3 – Editing & Recording a Song Preset Chords Sequence – 7.35
• Lesson 4 – Creating & Recording your own Chords Sequence – 4.55

Module 2 – Liquid DnB Groove 

The next module then guides students through the making of a Liquid DnB groove, inspired initially by a moody chords sample, which is converted to MIDI and then run into Scaler’s Detection section to work out the harmony involved. This allows a variation on the theme to be explored, sequenced into a fast arp pattern and accompanied by a rolling bass. Rob then shows how to reincorporate the original sample back into the groove to go in an alternative direction, by transposing each of the parts in the required way.

• Lesson 1 – Detecting MIDI & Audio to build a Chords Sequence – 5.09
• Lesson 2 – Voicing Chords Customisation & Arpeggiated Chords Exporting – 6.52
• Lesson 3 – Additional Chords Manipulation & Bassline Creation – 4.38
• Lesson 4 – Involving Original Chords Sample & Modifying Arp Sequence – 5.49

Module 3 – Deep House Groove 

Combining a variety of techniques for the last module, Rob builds up a pounding Deep House groove, by playing in a bassline with a MIDI keyboard, then using Scaler to work out chords and arpeggios to accompany it, along with a breakdown bassline that modulates to a different key.

• Lesson 1 – Playing in the Bass & Picking a Scale – 3.50
• Lesson 2 – Creating the Main Chords Sequence – 7.47
• Lesson 3 – Recording the Arp Lead with a Cross Rhythm – 5.21
• Lesson 4 – Working with the Breakdown Bass in a New Key – 7.50
• Lesson 5 – Bonus Pluck Sequence from Loopcloud – 3.20

Features

• 90 mins of streamed tutorials
• Access 24/7/365
• Theory Tips & Tricks
• Included Live Projects & Samples

Download Link

Tribal & Tech House Production in Live TUTORIAL

With almost thirty years in the UK’s dance music scene, Ian Bland a.k.a Blandy has an incredible wealth of knowledge in all things music and production. Blandy, who now owns Maison Records which releases House and Prog House bangers, is here to take you through the production of a huge Tribal/Tech House track in this superb course that spans almost four hours. Blandy has had a glittering career, spanning over 20 years – he’s had top 40 hits as legendary rave outfit Dream Frequency and has remixed the likes of Queen and Prince,

The course is available immediately after purchase and comes complete with the Live project and 100MB of bonus samples, courtesy of Loopmasters. To learn more about the course and Blandy’s high-energy teaching style, check out the trailer and sample module now!

Module 1: Course Introduction

In the first module, Blandy introduces the course and discusses the completed track.

Module 2: Drums Part 1

In module 2, Blandy starts designing the drum parts, beginning with the kick drum, clap sounds and hi-hat.

Module 3: Drums Part 2

In the next module, Blandy continues by adding percussion loops and applying processing to fit the different parts together before using his drum fx secret weapons!

Module 4: Creating the Bass

In module 4, Blandy starts on the bass, using resampling and MIDI to create a driving bassline to underpin the track.

Module 5: Adding 909 Percussion

A stalwart of house and techno, Roland 909 drum sounds can be heard on countless records. In this module, Blandy adds some 909 percussion samples and then processes them to fill out the track.

Module 6: Adding Vocals

In this module, Blandy adds some glitchy vocal parts which add excitement to the track. He processes them and applies FX to fit them in the mix.

Module 7: Synths 1

In Module 7, Blandy introduces a free third party synth, then gives a walkthrough of its features. He then creates a fat synth line and applies processing and FX.

Module 8: Synths 2

In the second synths module, Blandy designs more synth parts, building up different riffs and stabs, before working on the breakdown.

Module 9: FX Sweeps and Stabs

In the next module, Blandy begins to add stabs and sweeps to the track, creating a rich and exciting texture. He builds up additional layers and processes them to sit together.

Module 10: Arrangement 1

In Module 10, Blandy begins the arrangement. He starts by tidying up the project and then starts work on the intro. Using automation, he sculpts the initial section of the track, building the excitement into the first break.

Module 11: Arrangement 2

In the second arrangement module, Blandy continues to construct the track, progressing the melodic themes that are introduced at the start of the track. He sets out the sections of the track in bars and then adds fills and vocal parts in a methodical manner.

Module 12: Arranging the Breakdown

In Module 12, Blandy creates the breakdown and describes how a breakdown in a tech house track differs to EDM style breakdowns. He changes the texture then adds filters and other processing and keeps the energy high throughout.

Module 13: Final Arrangement

In this module, Blandy completes the arrangement, building a middle section, mini-breakdown, additional variations and an outro. He adds new elements, automation and maintains the high energy feel.

Module 14: Mixdown

In the penultimate module, Blandy walks you through his mixdown process. He describes the tools that he uses on all of his tracks and discusses his mixing workflow, tips and tricks

Module 15: Mastering

In the conclusion to the course, Blandy describes his mastering process and the workflow he’s refined over decades in production. He compares the track to commercial releases and demonstrates how to tweak the Ableton stock parameters to great effect.

Download Link

Demo Preview:

Creative Sampling Techniques TUTORIAL

Following on from his beginner’s guide ‘The Art of Sampling’, which covers all of the fundamentals of how to sample, ‘Creative Sampling Techniques’ sees certified trainer Rob Jones applying different sampling methodology in original ways to produce all of the musical parts in a Glitch Electronica track within Ableton Live. Whilst the 2 courses work together well as a sequence, producers with sampling experience already may prefer to dive straight in with this set of tutorials, offering more advanced inspiration and tips to develop their workflow.

Starting proceedings with a kick and snare groove, powerful drums are constructed using various layering techniques, with unusual foley incorporated to add unique textures to an otherwise simplistic break. To this, Rob adds undulating bass, created from a single sample, shaped and modulated in differing ways to show how many possibilities can arise from a basic oneshot. Similarly, a vocal is taken in several directions, with one featuring tempo-locked stuttering whilst another employs more drastic time-stretching envelopes.

Multiple velocity-modulation assignments are then used to create a melodic groove from a complex orchestral sample, whilst other acoustic and synthesised samples are woven together to make pulsing pads and syncopated, arpeggiated leads. After switching to the arrangement area to start laying out parts, Rob introduces two additional samples, showing how to convert one to MIDI for stacking up other samples on top, and how to transform and resample another, for creating more experimental vocal phrases to sing along to the groove.

Included with the 2 hours of streamed tutorials are the Ableton Live project from the course and a bonus 100 MB pack of samples, allowing students to more closely inspect the track and try out techniques with a new collection of sounds. Check out the free sample module from the course and listen to Producertech’s arrangement below.

DnB Melodies & FX Masterclass TUTORIAL

The third part in this trilogy of courses from one of DnB’s most talented producers and educators, Reso, sees him giving a masterclass on arranging, with a focus on melodic elements and FX. The 90 mins of streamed tutorials come complete with the Logic project from the course and a bonus 100MB pack of DnB samples from Loopmasters.

The course begins with a wealth of tips for how to build the foundations of an intro and breakdown, using mostly existing drums and bass elements from the drop, edited and processed in various ways. Reso then provides a detailed guide to creating, sequencing and processing different melodic phrases and FX, in order to produce a harmonious progression that develops musical themes whilst adding the necessary suspense and growing tension. As well as learning an abundance of sound design, mixing and arranging techniques, entirely with Logic’s instruments and effects, Reso even imparts his process for setting up the master bus, to create a mix-ready track for playing out.

Signing up to the course provides immediate access to well over 90 minutes of streamed tutorials, whilst the completed Logic project from the course can be downloaded for further scrutiny, or to use as a template for producing your own tracks. Furthermore, there are additional samples with the course, so you have not just the knowledge to create professional arrangements of your own, but a number of instant materials to use to do so. Before signing up, listen to the arrangement from the course on Producertech’s SoundCloud page, embedded below.