(Trance) Production technique study/showcase

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eXode
Posts: 838
Joined: 11 Feb 2015

25 Feb 2020



I've taken an interest into production techniques lately, and learning more about processing etc and came up with this little technique study.

The drums were made with ReDrum using mostly factory samples, with some help from BeatMap for the hihat and rim. The kick was programmed in Europa and then bounced to sample. The main pluck was made with the blamsoft VK-2 Viking Synthesizer, all the other synths were made with Europa.

I used Sweeper for sidechaining. The kick channel gate out in Redrum was routed to the Sweepers trig input, and I then used the envelope, controlling the volume, for achieving the pumping effect. All instruments except for the main pluck ran through a sidechain bus.

I used one of the mid/side mastering combinators as master insert FX.

This is not meant to be a complete song and there are some details, especially pertaining to the rhythm section, that could be improved.

sweeper.png
sweeper.png (178.55 KiB) Viewed 1375 times
Last edited by eXode on 25 Oct 2020, edited 1 time in total.

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aeox
Competition Winner
Posts: 3222
Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

25 Feb 2020

I've heard trance before of course but have no idea of the techniques used to make it.

Sounds nice!

Is it typical for trance productions to have that much low end in the stereo field? Maybe try a 200hz low cut on the "sides" of those low frequencies. It sounds like the bass is leaning on the left a bit.

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riemac
Posts: 572
Joined: 21 Jan 2015
Location: Germany

25 Feb 2020

Very nice tune, I like the synth sounds and the Viking2 pluck.
I would like to see more studies from you in the future!

I had the same impression as aeox, that the kick is very wide in the stereo field, which sounds odd.

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eXode
Posts: 838
Joined: 11 Feb 2015

25 Feb 2020

aeox wrote:
25 Feb 2020
I've heard trance before of course but have no idea of the techniques used to make it.

Sounds nice!

Is it typical for trance productions to have that much low end in the stereo field? Maybe try a 200hz low cut on the "sides" of those low frequencies. It sounds like the bass is leaning on the left a bit.
Thanks, yeah I haven't really tweaked the mix, but I'll have a go at it, thanks for checking it out!
riemac wrote:
25 Feb 2020
I had the same impression as aeox, that the kick is very wide in the stereo field, which sounds odd.
Haha, yeah I experimented with a stereo kick. Not sure if I'll re-upload the track but I've edited my own version to a mono kick instead! :)

DrGOA®
Posts: 618
Joined: 26 Aug 2018

26 Feb 2020

For me - it's a good track! 👌

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FLVZ
Posts: 519
Joined: 17 Aug 2016
Location: ZW | GB

17 Mar 2020

eXode wrote:
25 Feb 2020
aeox wrote:
25 Feb 2020
I've heard trance before of course but have no idea of the techniques used to make it.

Sounds nice!

Is it typical for trance productions to have that much low end in the stereo field? Maybe try a 200hz low cut on the "sides" of those low frequencies. It sounds like the bass is leaning on the left a bit.
Thanks, yeah I haven't really tweaked the mix, but I'll have a go at it, thanks for checking it out!
riemac wrote:
25 Feb 2020
I had the same impression as aeox, that the kick is very wide in the stereo field, which sounds odd.
Haha, yeah I experimented with a stereo kick. Not sure if I'll re-upload the track but I've edited my own version to a mono kick instead! :)
I really like the sound of stereo kicks actually particularly layered with a bass. They create an illusion the bass spreading open like an explosion. Stereo kicks can be tricky but its definitely possible to make the sound good in mono and stereo at the same time. I tend to use a phase meter while I adjust the spread. Typically use 2 instances a DDL-1 to create the effect then mess with the delay times until phase is between 0 & 1 but you're hearing the width aswell.

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