How to create IDM | It's never been easier | Thomann

Today we're digging into IDM production. While this guide is not a comprehensive look at the totality of the genre, it should give you a basic starting point, if you wanna start expressing yourself through some of the common genre-tropes in terms of sound design and rhythm programming.
Gear used:
Recorded in Presonus Studio One: bit.ly/3O5OwXL
We use Triad-Orbit stands for our cameras, lights and mics: tho.mn/triad
Recorded and mixed with Universal Audio: tho.mn/uadx
Monitors optimised through Sonarworks: tho.mn/sonar
Interesting bits and pieces:
0:00 Intro
1:32 Synth Sound Design & Sequencing
4:13 Drum Sound Design
13:36 Drum Processing
17:27 Drum Glitches
23:26 Outro
Webshop: www.thomann.de
Facebook: / thomanninternational
Twitter: @thomann / thomann
Instagram: @thomann.music / thomann.music
Pinterest: / thomannde

[@MrOuija-rr8kq]

Rick and Morty IQ music is the only music I listen to

[@GrantThomas-fm7fx]

I prefer Snake Jazz

[@earthwokker]

I feel like i've been listening to Jerry music for a while

[@GEMSofGOD_com]

I did not like the intro, at all, and I love music, and I think that this "idm" is of pre-school level

[@aopaul]

@@GEMSofGOD_com Religion, music, politics and pineapple on pizza. Everyone has their own subjective tastes.

[@GEMSofGOD_com]

@@aopaul It is never to each their own. You either have taste or you don't.

[@pass9786]

bro got saw 85-92, mezzanine, dummy, and tommorows harvest in his vinyl collection. immediately subscribed

[@syntheticErik]

Lots of good practical tips here, even for sound design outside the IDM realm. Watching how the percussion loop was built up was definitely interesting; there's a lot less going in reality than what the total sound would have you believe.

[@samhein321]

Great that Thomann is spreading awareness of IDM and getting producers to make tutorials for weird Glitch type music, really appreciate it

[@LordHando]

spreading awareness for idm.....ffs m8

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Yes, they do a much better job than labels like Warp in getting producers to make 'tutorials' for 'weird glitch...' it's all about the tutorials, isn't it m8, lol.

[@jnnx]

I’m old enough to remember when producers HATED the term “IDM” and did ANYTHING they could to avoid it. . .

[@LordHando]

@@jnnx YES BRO... thats what IDM is all about. You don't even say IDM... you let people call your music IDM. The internet has made the electronic music so visible and repeatable. I literally don't even want people to see what gear I use anymore.

[@screamingstrings76]

AWARENESS HAHAHAHAHA

[@timoed]

I love this guy, more from him please!

[@JophisJoe]

Come back to this every so often cause that melody/progression is so beautiful!

[@numa.records]

Friend! From Argentina I say thank you very much! Your teachings are an inspiration to me and my music! I hope you have a lot of success in your projects and in the projects of everyone here! Blessings for all!!

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

❤️❤️❤️🙏

[@numa.records]

​@@ThomannSynthesizers😊😊😊❤❤

[@tylertucker7820]

finally ive been scouring the internet for something of this nature. great timing

[@acidporn]

This dude always delivers, love him!

[@bubblegum7489]

Bro this video is so well put together. Well done

[@sclitchmusic]

Awesome tutorial!! This really opened my eyes and made me realise what I was missing in my music, and if I make some really cool music this year, part of it is credited to you :)

[@airfixx_8952]

Nice video, mate...... Little tip: Put the in-screen video of yourself on the right hand side of the screen because you were blocking some of the plug-ins and processing you were explaining. Also; great to hear you pay respect to the fact that the OG artists had to work so much harder to achieve this kind of music/sound compared to the 'all in the box'/DAW generation. They really were innovators and influenced not only future generations of fellow IDM producers, but also established processes and aesthetics that have since become common in more popular genres too. They also inspired the production of a lot of DSP tools that various genres now take for granted. ........And lets be honest; 25-30 years later the likes of AFX and Ae still have not been surpassed within their field. "We are the music makers..... We are the dreamers of the dream" :)

[@TMOFD]

Thanks again Felix for your tips. I always forget to sample stuff or resample stuff. It's so easy this way instead of automate everything. Thanks for reminding me again.

[@CardfightVanja]

wow infiltrator is basically just dblue glitch but with more broadly usable and less cheesy processing. amazing. Great video by the way, especially the insight into your thought process on the arrangement

[@Rokushiiki]

tbh pls release a full version if you have time. i love that thing you made for the tutorial. love the melodic progression and soundselection.

[@user-cy3do4xc2c]

...or in case the tutorial released maybe we should make full versions by ourselves?

[@Rokushiiki]

maybe we should like something? i mean i like pizza and i know i can make a pizza. but i still sometimes want to order a pizza and give probs to the creator?

[@user-cy3do4xc2c]

@@Rokushiiki yeah, sure it's legal to just order your pizza. I mean your attempt to order pizza from guy who teach you how to make your own is something different

[@patrickhewitt14]

Fantastic stuff Felix, really appreciate this!

[@nsjx]

Really rad stuff... this was my highschool yrs ✌️ i worked in a music store and was ordering stuff constantly ha. Thanks for the insights Felix. Nice track

[@dijjidog]

I love the aesthetic of these videos, there's an art to them and the actual music is so good and I keep coming back for more, I'm so glad you're covering I.D.M., very inspiring

[@HeIsMe1978]

Excellent sound and useful tips

[@blackholestudios9284]

Next to metal and rap/hip hop, THIS is my favorite genre of music. Thanks for this video :)

[@earlgrey2130]

Someone has good taste

[@s8v1]

listening to hip hop and idm equals 'good taste'

[@DickRobinson-qv8no]

​@@s8v1 alright bach

[@viridian_calx]

great example track and thoughtful, concise explanations for each decision being demonstrated

[@craigburton4447]

The break is Roni Size and DJ Die = 'Music box' which is a combination of James Brown Soul Pride and a second or third generation hip hop beat

[@muitosabao]

Great job, Thomann. These are awesome. Have more videos featuring him. Well done. Also, poor space key of his laptop: SLAM SLAM SLAM :D

[@tsuobachi]

I started making stuff like this in 1997 on an Akai MPC-2000 with 32 seconds of sampling, very limited effects, and only a step filter. I probably put in over 10k hours manually doing edits like this over the years, and I'm sure I've done literally millions of cut/paste actions in various programs since I started using DAWs in 2003. I can tell you this: when you do 100% of your edits manually, they turn out better and you learn all kinds of amazing tricks and techniques to use for the rest of your life, but it's still not worth it. I love stuff like dblue glitch and infiltrator for saving me so much time. I put in over 20 years doing it manually and still do some of it that way, but it sure is nice to have the option to automate more of it now. Using trackers was the old way to "cheat" to make beats like that, but not everyone enjoys that workflow.

[@ForbiddenDuke]

Beautiful synth lines

[@dpcaw]

more production videos please!:)

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

On the way!

[@spacey_jones]

Agree! ❤🎉

[@user-np4lo4rv2u]

It's so much interesting! Do you wanna make in future video about trip-hop?

[@Winterdagen]

Really cool and simple tutorial! And I have to say that even with a very simple sound I dooooo love that Super 6 Tiny piece of advise: you could make use of RX to get rid of that hiss in your voice over recording. the noise gating gets a little distracting:) Thanks again for all the lovely videos, keep it up!

[@allehooop]

The UDO sounds great!

[@LucasDegen]

Really really thankfull for sharing this with us. I love IDM and these Glitchy percussions. There is always Stutter Edit 2, Glitch 2 but Infiltrator 2 is master.

[@tovi3280]

8:41 just a replay button bc how this fades out is beautiful

[@ElectronisoundsAudio]

Nice one ! 😁👊

[@nsjx]

Felix, just a note from one who enjoys a crazy seq to another. DO sit down to a Minifreak when you have an opportunity. There are some intricacies on here you will fin' love. This board is made for jiggy-ness. I've owned a good many boards and this one just keeps me coming back. Talk about variety. One of the best polys I've laid hands on. Do try it on. ☕️😌 Powerful sequencer/arp

[@sheateeley1]

I know it’ll probably never happen, but I’d love to see a video on old IDM production techniques from the late 90s, circa RDJ Album 😉

[@tsuobachi]

Mostly it's a lot of cutting and pasting if in a DAW. If on hardware only, you need a lot of drum machines/samplers so that you can treat each one as a limited part of the drum loop. The same way he multitracks many fragments of breakbeats, we did it the same way by sampling or making our own breaks, then cutting all of the bass out so there's only one dominant kick (there wasn't much slicing going on back then, you mostly just used an entire breakbeat and then played one-shot samples over it). We also would "juggle" pieces of breakbeats on samplers switching between 2-6 pieces cut to work together like a loop, just triggering them via midi or manually on the sampler. Luke Vibert has an album Drum N Bass for Papa where he used gear with the same limitations I had back then: 32 seconds of sampling time total. It's amazing what he was able to do with just 32 seconds of sampling. It's a good example from its time and still a great record. Omni Trio did amazing work with just 32 seconds of sampling as well. I did my fair share as well but back then I was mostly making digital hardcore at that point. I got into making IDM and illbient/broken beat stuff around the time I Care Because You Do came out. Filters were expensive so you'd generally use them more for the synths, but samplers would generally have a filter you could use and maybe a guitar pedal for one or two of your drum machines. Of course everyone had their own way of doing things, but people weren't very helpful because everyone thought other producers were going to steal their secret sauce. It was really hard to learn back then too, because it was not really normal to be on the internet much so it was down to magazines, books, and what you heard from people you met or jammed with. I had this Yamaha midi data filer MDF2 that was a bit of a secret weapon for me because it had a midi record/playback function and I don't know how many people knew about them because I never met anyone else that had one, but it let me put some things on autopilot which was especially useful for live shows. I have some screenshots somewhere from when I first started working on ACID, my first DAW where the whole arrangement is black because of all the little cut/paste slices. I never counted them, but it was definitely thousands per track all done manually, often resampling 1/16th note all the way down to 1/64th note and repasting it 8 times in a row or whatever because beat repeat didn't exist back then. Then each little section would need effects, pitching, etc. then resampling again to make new loops/one-shots to use in the track. It's way better doing it nowadays, way less of a hassle. I used to put in approximately 1-2 hours per minute of drums just on editing, now I can do the whole track in a couple hours so it's quite nice. As I said, everyone had their own style, that was just mostly what I did, hopefully of some small interest to you.

[@limeflashlight4101]

​@@tsuobachiwow😊

[@underlightmusic]

Hey thanks for elucidating like this. I was just a kid when those awesome albums were coming out in the early 90s so I didn't get into them till Napster came around, and I didn't start making my own music till I got FL Studio a few years back. It's great to hear about how the technical limitations back in the day led to such explosive creativity. Have you got any of your music you can share? I'd love to hear.

[@Kaje05]

I really appreciate your production videos. I always learn so many little tricks. Respect! 🙏

[@lasideasfugazes]

Me too! Felix's videos are so great. He's such a sensitive human with a pretty refined taste.

[@ghostsinthesnow_makes_music]

it had been a while since i came back to this channel but im all here for production videos !! def gonna be ripping these

[@9877joseph]

Thanks for the video!

[@macinead7]

At last. Someone who is into the masters of IDM. And breaking it down. Going binge all his vids. 😁😁😁😁😁👍 Cool guy 😎

[@spacey_jones]

Awesome vid, having a Rhodes and not using it on absolutely everything I created would be an impossibility for me 😅 Ty for the vid!

[@perka6403]

very sophisticated sound, cheers good man 🧐👏

[@bordigergely7407]

Using a tracker is also a good substitute for the Infiltrator plugin, nice video as always, keep em' coming.

[@harveytherobot]

The Polyend Play as well.

[@Proximate99]

could you elaborate? what is a tracker?

[@yaggayaggaya9918]

@@Proximate99 it’s the old school DAWs, they work vertically, you input data into columns and rows to indicate notes, accents, pitch etc, very old school

[@cyberianrelic2979]

Very useful video! Thx 👍

[@carlix8035]

Infiltrator is one of those plugins that can really fvck up and dominate the mix without care and attention. Subtlety is key when using it. It’s like a wild stallion that needs reining in. I kinda prefer triad and byome by plug-in alliance as you can split the glitching/fx processing into frequency bands all within the plug-in’s interface. The only downside (for a beginner anyway) is that it uses a modular patching structure.

[@pvthfindxr]

bro that kick sample HITS like crazy 🤯

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

Erica Synths LXR-02 💪

[@Lance_G]

These are great ideas 💡

[@mmckmusic]

Great breakdown, thanks. What was the pack you reference that the breakbeats are from? Thanks

[@Povilaz]

Very interesting!

[@maxceelen2202]

Wow that Super 6 sounds amazing.

[@2pandaemonium2]

Great video! From where are the drum samples taken?

[@volsteh]

this is awesome

[@theperformancelocker744]

Ross from friends vibes. Love it

[@ZenShaman]

could you please address perhaps some early EBM, funker vogt, front242? ive watched several of your vids now, and youre such a natural, id love to see how you approach my favorite genre, which im attempting my own interpretation, but i seem to be failing miserably.

[@mclovin_69_]

please make crazy breakbeat tutorial, Venetian Snares type of stuff :)

[@MetroCounterColl]

That'd be insane.

[@SL-nh6mn]

I think this track already takes inspiration from Defluxion.

[@Oceanix__]

where can i get this song you made in this tutorial? i have fallen in love with it! 😌

[@troyouttram]

Super 6 deep dive videos please 🙏. Felix you’re awesome 😎

[@cymbolic_space1832]

excellent. god bless. 🦊🤙

[@mountp1391]

Thank you

[@Knasterblem]

a tutorial on how to do similar drums on the octatrack would be nice

[@rodrigolopezportillo9225]

Definitely! Octatrack + Analog Rytm would be amazing

[@everpuremusic]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ7Qh5ikobKrsLM

[@rodrigolopezportillo9225]

@@everpuremusic Amazing, thanks a lot!

[@Arron_Mottram]

Can anyone help me with an infiltrator? When I export a melody, the effects either don't sound, or they sound partially, like the mix is set to somewhere around 30%. When playing sound in a sequencer, this problem does not occur. I use FL Studio.

[@firnwald]

Guter Mann.

[@Krung0401]

Yo where’s the video you mention about making drum loops. Them shits didn’t pop up on the screen. Thanks.

[@hiparik1]

Nice tutorial Man! BTW...what is bpm in this project?

[@felixfleer4507]

Thanks, glad you like it. It’s 160bpm

[@masaltzero]

can i find an extended/finished version of this song anywhere?

[@mandable]

is that an Intel mac you're running blackhole on? I can't get it to run on my ARM mac

[@kamilkowalski5167]

amazing how many people want to be like elvis, some are so content, they try to better elvis :) whats creativity? just some basic thoughts for sharing

[@ElPesimista01]

what’s the video you mention at 9:45?

[@biokode]

Where does IDM producers on the Internet gather to share stuff, any good Discords?

[@5imian]

Braindance commune

[@ivanvaraschin657]

Reminds me of Datach'i

[@ForbiddenDuke]

If you like this style check out Virtual Urban Records

[@fully_privatized_mass_medium]

shouldn't have watched this now i'm buying infiltrator

[@Unifono2012]

Me too 😂

[@casspirburns]

It’s worth buying

[@schermanism]

Intelligent or not - doesnt matter, i really like this song

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

❤️

[@cheeselord6090]

now this is not bad but it honestly sound like just aphex twin and BoC so i think the story is produce your own sound and use the production advice lightly

[@albertobalsalm3473]

Where the bass at tho?!

[@ImmersedInTheRiver]

Hi

[@frankiee.1747]

It sounds like the jingle of arte karambolage. For reference: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gH3QaWipZ5x2mKs

[@tylersrevenge]

Step one: be hella talented

[@grimmsundae1954]

Renoise and have fun

[@AboveEmAllProduction]

What mean an idm for a something pls?

[@metallsnubben]

Apparently, "intelligent dance music" (where EDM is "electronic dance music")

[@MrArpSolina]

"Intelligent Dance Music". In the past, it was also known as "Intelligent Techno".

[@AboveEmAllProduction]

Do I become more smarter if listen to it or

[@harveytherobot]

@@AboveEmAllProduction Yes. Much more smarterer.

[@rollinwood9453]

@@MaulwurfBuddelflink I had a CD around 2001 that had “IDM” on it. The term predates EDM as far as I know.

[@eddy_sonik]

👍I LOVE ! 💙⚪❤

[@XRN1080]

How to create IDM like is 2003.

[@AguaMineralNatural]

Now with hardware. xD

[@OkMiracle]

I need a label to release this - kzbin.info/aero/PLsYWGya6x-CZnmkTD9zG0fz1bdAV7-96o

[@ChiefExecutiveOrbiter]

IBS

[@user-no3bg5hn5y]

technologie of 90' : Akai mpc3000 and Akais950 ;)

[@tourdesource]

Why even make IDM if you're just going to randomly generate the glitches?

[@samuelsundinwaldenstrom8973]

IDM is what americans callled it. Braindance is it's original name. Good tutorial though!

[@nomad1517]

How to create IDM: give a 8 year old a bag of candy. Wait 15 minutes, and then proceed to give him a laptop decked out with ableton suite. And kachow, you have a legend ladies and gentlemen.

[@ElPesimista01]

why are germans so damn good at making electronic music?

[@nottieru]

infiltrator is precisely the kind of plugin that AI will use to kick human composers out of business-)

[@TheZarala]

AI will never be able to express emotions 😊

[@PDJMDS]

@@artisans8521 he's right you know

[@phelper4554]

Maybe you 😂

[@nottieru]

@@phelper4554 that’s what they all say 😂

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Kinda cool, but the biggest difference in production between then and now was - they made this music using relatively cheap hardware, which at the time was mind-blowing, always raising questions - HOW ?? Mostly everything was based in arrangement.. Not so much about processing.. With computers, you take all the magic away, because you can do pretty much everything on a laptop these days. The only and main difference I find is the sound itself.. Computer music always sounds like a computer music - a game.. No matter how much dirt processing you'll do, it will still sound computer-ish. Another difference was - most of the stuff back then was mixed on an analog desk with hardware FX, using mono sources, and the stereo field was coming from panning stuff right / left and / or adding stereo effects like reverb / delay via sends .. Plugins , on the other hand, have lots of unnatural stereo widening, which kinda kill the vibe, to me personally. The more stereo you have, the less impact you have, especially with percussive sounds.. Since most of the stuff was released on vinyl, vinyl in it self doesn't love stereo images, so everything below 200Kz is mono anyway.. Also, sound systems in clubs are mostly mono too.. And final note - analog doesn't have much happening in higher frequencies, so the old stuff sounds less bright, which in my opinion is a lot more natural sounding.. So that's just my 2 cents in terms of how music was made then :)

[@tutubism]

they were using only cheap gear/equipment and hardware back then? that's interesting, sounds like real working class music to me!

[@JohnPaulBuce]

i thought youre richard

[@peko1967]

I think RDJ is safe.

[@atommachine]

Bodmin did not even flinch.

[@patefongie3241]

U trying to make IDM with regular loops "programmed" in 1/4 grid with no automation ? .. lol

[@HealyHQ]

Ah, human music.

[@disectormusic]

you into this? should like my music too.

[@flomoller6096]

😂😂😂

[@croay]

its still not easy to make a good track

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

First buy a 4 grand synth.

[@thomas.moerman]

A lot more "effective". LOL epic pun.

[@Kablehead]

It's never been easier to do shitty idm. But it still takes the same amount of time as in the 90's to learn how to create good music.

[@pedrocoelho6344]

☝

[@CASSIUSleedy]

Did he just say “high IQ” unironically?

[@ThomannSynthesizers]

No he said it ironically