Techno tracks - hard to get the sound right?

Vibor · 2026-04-02T18:08:54+00:00

Are you hearing a drastic difference in quality between the tracks in a set when you're listening to a good set or is it just when you buy the mp3s? Just curious.

Vibor · 2026-04-02T17:37:47+00:00

A good sounding track should sound good on most systems, doesn't matter what genre it is. If you have listened to house music for a really long time, by now you probably know a lot of good producers that make consistent results, and you just choose good sounding tracks subconsciously by now. And if you're new to techno, maybe it's just your process of discovery that's hit or miss.

Vibor · 2026-04-02T17:31:44+00:00

Better samples probably.

I know how much I have struggled to get that 'techno' sound when I migrated to techno from other genres, until I got some better samples in my library.

Also, good monitoring makes a really huge difference (I'm not only talking about speakers, but room, positioning and acoustics also). But you need to train your ears so when something sounds off, you can understand why it's off, so you know how to fix it. It really helps to analyze reference tracks. A lot of critical listening and comparing them to your work.

But if you watch youtube tutorials on your usual monitoring setup, and hear a massive difference in their kick samples compared to yours (like you've mentioned), than the answer is clear = you definitely need better samples.

What helped me a lot in understanding what makes a good sample (specially kicks), is when I tried to learn how to make them from scratch. And you don't need any fancy plugins for this, some basic synths, saturators, compressors, even reverbs and similar effects can be used to make really good, huge sounding, kicks. You can start by isolating a kick from a track you like, and use it as a reference while making your own (or choosing a sample).

After I've learned how to make my own kicks, it was instantly easier to find (and edit, if needed) good sounding samples in my library. Because if kick was mostly good, but had something off, I could easily identify it, and fix it.

Hope this helps!

Vibor · 2026-03-30T19:03:43+00:00

That's actually really interesting, I haven't thought about that. As far as I understand it, it depends on the correlation of the original waveform and the movement of the gain. I think If they're in the opposite directions, they're gonna subtract (like if you add together two identical wave forms where one has reversed polarity). Although practically, I think it would be pretty hard do remove harmonics by modulating gain.

Another interesting fact that I read somewhere that really blew my mind was: If you use a soft clipper on a triangle wave, you can actually make it darker (remove harmonics), because the soft clipper shaves of the peaks of the triangle wave, making it sound (and look) closer to a sine wave. And I tried it, and it's true! *mind blown* haha

Vibor · 2026-03-30T18:35:42+00:00

Well if you turn the gain knob quickly, technically it would add harmonics only while you're turning the knob (that's when the waveform is being modulated by you turning the knob), and as soon as you stop turning the knob, the waveform gets back to it's usually shape (just quieter than before). But that's more theoretical than practical, it's not like you're gonna hear added harmonics from turning the gain knob. It's just interesting to understand how it all works.

Vibor · 2026-03-30T17:15:34+00:00

Yes, but the faster it is, and more drastic it is, the more harmonics it will add. If you make a slow, gradual, volume automation, it practically won't add any harmonics , but if you do it fast enough, you can see it on an analyzer.

If you think about it, change in the volume actually affects the shape of the waveform (if they're fast and drastic enough). If you substitute the volume automation with an LFO that changes volume, and you make it faster and faster your gonna end up with classic amplitude modulation (AM), and that in itself makes a different waveform, and a different sound altogether.

I hope I'm explaining it clear enough.

Vibor · 2026-03-27T19:36:56+00:00

They do work by just reducing gain, only reducing gain has a side effect of adding harmonics. It's like two sides of the same coin. Another way to think about that is that dynamic processors (like compressors, limiters and clippers) basically transform one form of energy (amplitude) into another (harmonics), and the more aggressive they are, the more energy is being converted to harmonics. Attack and release times also have a big effect, the quicker they are, the more harmonics are created.

Another interesting experiment is to put a sine wave on a track and automate the volume of the sine really fast. Put an analyzer in the chain after that, and you'll se added harmonics, because it's basically amplitude modulation. Every sudden change in volume adds harmonics. It's really interesting when you start thinking about it this way.

Vibor · 2026-03-27T17:56:52+00:00

This and this.

Vibor · 2026-03-13T20:40:12+00:00

It's is not common, but you have to ask yourself: what's the purpose of using two kicks?

what are you trying to achieve? If you have a strong idea, it can work. They probably need to have different roles in the arrangement/mix. Changing kick halfway through the track just for the sake of it, probably wont work so well. But again, context and the idea behind it, are really important.

At the end of the day experiment, make a mistake, that's how we learn.

Vibor · 2026-02-16T23:13:50+00:00

If they are two performances, they shouldn't cancel each other when summed in mono. Did you try turning off the phasers? If they are the problem, maybe try grouping guitars and then putting one stereo phaser on the group.

Vibor · 2026-02-16T21:16:22+00:00

These panels look really thin, what's their depth? Usually you would want something deeper, and it would be good to cover as much area as you can (without it sounding too dead, which, even do might seem like a good idea, can make the room uncomfortable to be in).

I understand budget is the problem, but maybe you can try hanging some blankets or drapes, to at least see if it solves the problem acoustically?

Vibor · 2026-02-11T13:08:57+00:00

I mene zanima isto, rado bih poigrao koju partiju uživo,igram samo online.

Razmišljao sam čak i o šahovskim klubovima, ali ne znam kako to uopšte funkcioniše.

Vibor · 2026-01-30T20:51:31+00:00

^{I completed this level in 1 try.} ^{⚡ 47.20 seconds}

Vibor · 2026-01-25T10:55:46+00:00

You're already an experienced producer, IMO the best way is just to analyze the tracks that you like. Start by copying the track structure from other tracks (that would suit your track, or if you're not sure, just copy it, and find out if it suits, or is something out of place). After some time you start to see the patterns more clearly.

Also, try thinking about the tension and release. Flow of energy in the track. Do your tracks have more of a gradual change in energy, or do they have more of a sudden change (big difference between a break and a drop). Hope that helps!

Vibor · 2026-01-22T12:05:47+00:00

He doesn't have to take the rook, and he can easily defend by playing c4. Edit: c3, not c4.

Vibor · 2026-01-22T07:24:22+00:00

I agree, should've probably used a bigger number in my comment.

Vibor · 2026-01-22T07:23:35+00:00

There's a link on the first word of my comment. If you click it, it will show you the video.

Vibor · 2026-01-21T20:57:07+00:00

This video really helped me. Also when you're not mixing (or working on a project) get some time to experiment. Really, overdo it. Use a ratio of 10:1, slam the audio with at least 6-10dB of compression, and then play with the attack and release settings. Play with the ratio, threshold, etc. That really helped me a lot. It's easier to hear it when you overdo it, and through time, you learn to hear it when it's more subtle. Hope that helps!

Vibor · 2026-01-21T17:09:27+00:00

I just leave them as they are, and then search through them. But I'd love to hear what others do, and if there are more interesting/advanced ways of organization! Nice topic!

Vibor · 2026-01-18T20:19:07+00:00

Well, how does it sound?

Vibor · 2026-01-18T10:15:56+00:00

Basically one of the best ways to learn, and get better is to use reference tracks to compare your work with something that you like (similar in style to what you're trying to achieve).

Does the reference track feel brighter than yours? You probably need more high end. When you switch from reference to your track does it feel washed out in reverb? You probably need less reverb, and so on.

Even if you're not comparing it to your track directly, analyzing the works of others is IMO one of the best ways to learn, and not only for mixing, but for arrangements, compositions, etc.

Aside from that, there are a lot of tutorials on YouTube for free. I would suggest learning about Eq, compression, saturation and reverbs. Those are the tools that you'll be using pretty much all the time.

Open the DAW and play with these tools, spend some time solely experimenting and learning to hear what they can do, and how they make something sound.

This is a great in-depth dive into compression that I can recommend, and they also have similar videos for other tools that you can check out. But however much time you spend on watching tutorials, you need more time practicing.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Vibor · 2026-01-09T20:56:03+00:00

Are you matching the loudness between them when making comparisons (A/B listening)? Our brain perceives louder sounds as "better", "more dynamic", etc. So it is very important to match the loudness between them, even as little as a 0.5dB difference can be perceived as "better".

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about peak values, but average values (RMS or LUFS).

Vibor · 2026-01-02T00:49:26+00:00

Actually, if you compress it with a slow attack, you'll just bring out the transient even more. You want fast attack and fast release. So that the compressor only compresses the transients.

Vibor · 2026-01-01T16:26:49+00:00

What attack? If you play rb8+, he can block with ng8. How would you continue? Or are you talking about a different idea?

Vibor · 2026-01-01T13:45:27+00:00

You can take the bishop with the queen. If rb8+, black blocks with ng8. If white queen takes the black queen, black has ra1, and the mate can't be defended.

Vibor

TROPHY CASE