My question goes mostly to folks who are focusing on DUB TECHNO.
I still consider myself a beginner, however I do know the Elektron sequencer quite a bit and am doing techno/house for a while now.
I have A4/OT/DT/DN.
Since last year I am moving into Dub Techno more and more (which I have DJ’d a lot in the early 2000s). However, do not have much experience writing it.
First it may seem simple but ofc it isn’t. The major thing that Dubtech artists use a lot is delay. A LOT. And reverb, but the former is key.
My issue is that normally Elektron machines have a general delay or fx section and you can only P-lock the sends.
I have ideas about a stab let’s say delaying significantly but want to change its delay time on different parts of the song. How can I achieve this the best? How would you “spice” up your delay om general with Elektron boxes? What else would you suggest?
Thinking about a Boss RE-202 to buy, but if possible I always try to stick with Elektron boxes only, keep things simple.
Dub chords are well known and I have done several with DN and A4. But there are also other “noises” in many tracks, percs and metallic stuff that seem like a stabby-chordish elements but are quite unrecognizable. What machine do u use to get these?
Regarding your first thought, don’t forget that you can independently sequence your A4’s effects track.
Edit: Also, any of the MIDI tracks on your OT/DT/DN can be configured to control the effects settings on any other box. So, for example, you could set up a DT MIDI track to control delay feedback on your DN, and either PLock values on a per-trig basis or use the LFO.
You can listen to my music on Apple, Spotify, YouTube under VAPNIK and if you like what you hear, feel free to ask me questions about any specific track.
@kilroy.was this means you can apply different delay times to individual steps. The steps also don’t need to fall where the synth steps are.
You can create very interesting patterns this way.
There are also LFOs for the effects tracks…
I hope we opened Pandora Box of ideas and sparked some inspiration
I think you could already do this with the gear you have. Just a few ideas:
The Octatrack can have independent delays on each track, which can be p-locked or LFO’d. The delay can be changed per step, per pattern or per part.
Another option is resampling! Either on the Digitakt or the Octatrack. You can sample a bar or two at one delay setting and then combine it with another track with different delay settings.
You could also use all those boxes together with different delay settings.
You could also route them to each other! Send them all into the OT as thru machines, and even using the OT Cue as sends to route to the other Elektrons if you want to get fancy.
Not trying to discourage the Boss RE-202 or anything, but I think you have plenty of firepower there. Now just make some dub techno!
Hi there! I’m a huge fan of dub techno as well. I really enjoy the Erica Synths/ Ninja Tune Zen Delay for the dub sound. It’s super hands-on with several different delay configurations (Ping Pong, Digital, Vintage, Tape) and a silky smooth multi-mode filter. It also has an analog tube drive for crunchiness/ drive. The MIDI sync on it is solid and it’s a very sturdy piece of HW. I can’t recommend it enough.
I use Elektron boxes for dub techno. I love them. The Aanlog Four does really nice chords. Combined with its reverb and delays they are typically very crisp and wide. The fitlers on the A4 are excellent, especially F2 as band pass. A big disadvantage of the A4 is that the LFO does not sync across voices, meaning if you have a random LFO modulating the filter every voice will have a different filter level. Resulting is weird filtered chords. The Digitone does not have that since it has a setting in the sound menu to sync the LFO across voices (POLY LFO)
Together with the A4 I use the Digitone for dub chords. Really nice as well and different. From glassy stabs to lush classic dub pads.
Currently I run the Digitone through the Syntakt analog FX block. There I apply delay and reverb on top of delay and reverb of the Digitone. Subtle but present. I modulate the delay send and reverb, so not every stab has delay and or reverb. Also on the Syntakt I modulate the filters. Mostly a BP filter. Adds those nice BP filtered delays.
At the moment I use Syntakt for bass as well. Basically a 808-kinda kick with slow attack. On an analog track. Very deep.
I use the Digitakt for the kick, noises, crackles and other fx.
An important part of dub techno is the processing. I use an analog compressor, The Elysia Xpressor Neo. All devices end up in the Akai Force where I have additional delay lines set up. Both delays have filters. On the master I do some EQ and limiting.
I record everything in one take on the Akai Force. I love the the sound quality of the Force. It has a high dynamic range. It captures all the details really well.
Here a playlist of the dub techno tracks I did with Elektron gear.
I sure do, lol. The Force tempts but I do not need another radical approach right now.
Processingwise, I may still need development in compression as a concept. I get sidechaining and what compressors literally do, but can you describe how it is integrated as whatever layer of the sound and sculpting tool?
Describing what you’re tuning into with the behavior of the Neo and the master buss, if that makes sense.
This question makes a lot of sense and the video you link to is amazing. It covers it for me 100%. Choosing the right one is a personal journey. Choosing the default Ableton compressor or a $3000 analog compressor is both fine. For me I stumbled upon the Elysia and it sounds great.
What I look for is exactly what compressing essentially does, reducing dynamic range. After reducing dynamic range I am able to boost the gain and as a result the quieter parts stand out more. For me the kick and bass play a central role in compression. EQ’ing them to the point they sit nice together is where it starts. Compression can further balance them to the point where they start to “groove”. I use compression also to shape the transient of the kick. Making it round but punchy. The result for me should be a track that plays well on studio monitors and headphones but also on laptop speakers. In fact I use my Macbook Pro as reference speakers. If it fails there I did something wrong.
