ableton, Dark Techno, Techno, production Michael L Penman ableton, Dark Techno, Techno, production Michael L Penman

Generating Techno Beats with XO

In our latest video, we are going to look at using XLN audio’s amazing drum machine XO. With XO, we will be looking at loading our own samples, editing samples, routing and most importantly generating our own techno beats.

We will also look at setting up XO so you can quickly load it into any session and have a beat going in minutes which is perfect for people with little time on their hands.


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ableton, production, work flow tips Michael L Penman ableton, production, work flow tips Michael L Penman

5 Ableton Tips You May Not Know

What we aim to do in the blog post is outline 5 Ableton Tips, that are either overlooked or just so hidden we would never find them without someone lighten the way for us. These Ableton tips are not just for the beginner producer but also the advance producers among us. There are tips to help make your bass sounds beefier, new chord techniques and a few gems to help speed up your workflow. First up, let’s take a look at follow actions.

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ableton, production Michael L Penman ableton, production Michael L Penman

How To Create A 4 Note Chord With Ableton's Operator

FM synthesis can seem a very mysterious beast and via a series of tutorials we are going to help demystify this for you, so you can take full control over your FM synths and make all the sounds you desire. 

In this how-to tutorial, we are going to look at creating a four-note chord only using operator from Ableton. The huge advantage of using this technique over programming your chord in a midi clip or via a chord midi effect is that you get full control over each note. Meaning you can have say, a different waveform, envelope and volume (just to name a few) per note. 

So, if you would like to learn more about FM synthesis keep reading

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ableton, how to, work flow tips, production Michael L Penman ableton, how to, work flow tips, production Michael L Penman

How To Make Your Own Dry/Wet Control In Ableton

With the invention of the modern daw which is an all-encompassing workstation with a whole of host of controls, instruments and audio effects (plus so much more) it has never been easier to start making music. Almost all the effects have the parameter controls you could ever wish for. But sadly some do not (like redux), but for the Ableton user this is never a worry, we can simply make them ourself. 

How do we do this I hear you ask, well in this how-to tutorial we are going to be showing you how to make a Dry/Wet control for redux. This is hugely important in the sound design, production and even the mixing stage. It allows you to be able to dial in the exact amount of your chosen effect.

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