How to Make Techno with Tom Hades at ADE 2018

We hooked up with techno legend, Tom Hades, at ADE this year and he showed us how to make an epic track from scratch. Find out more about our online music production course :: bit.ly/2sXlAfW
Tom Hades
Instagram: / tomhades
Soundcloud: / tomhades
Spotify: open.spotify.c...
Point Blank is an award-winning music school with courses in London, Los Angeles, Ibiza, Mumbai and Online. Voted 'Best Music Production & DJ School' by DJ Mag, you can learn music production, sound engineering, DJ'ing and much more via our online courses or in our state-of-the-art studios:: www.pointblankm...
Filmed by Stanley L.
Edited by Tony H.

[@tomhades]

Thanks for having me guys! Hope you enjoy it :)

[@wardy457]

Tom Hades what where the plugins use in the creation of the melody please mate

[@MauricioMaisterrena]

Tom Hades, great video, you say you limit yourself with ableton for just the creative process, do you then mix-master in protools or something like that?

[@siddharthsharma3128]

This is one of the best tutorial I've seen. So much information in there. Thanks Tom for sharing your knowledge and point blank for sharing this🙏

[@cyrusjulian187]

Hi Tom, thank you for this! It would also be great to hear your thoughts on performing live. Thanks

[@Pa-ow1nj]

learned sooo much, Thank You !!

[@hdslave]

1:58 -use sequencer on chopped synth loop to create unique synth melodies in key 5:24 - use ml 185 (based on system 100 seq) on chopped synth loop to create other melody 6:05 - use ableton pitch device to tune your sequence in key 8:10 - use resonator on percs w/ reverb & modulated filters to create ambient pads (crowd seems to be somewhat perplexed at how seemingly computer generated techno music really is xD) 13:07 - use apulsoft apQualizer modular eq plugin to make creative evolving modulated filter fx 15:40 - use polypin, a euclidian sequencer, to create euclidian sequences for *closed* hit hats 18:09 - use delay to create dynamic, creative *closed *hihat fx 18:52 - use soundtoys magnetic space echo effect to go even crazier with the closed hats 20:23 - use vocoder with lfo on dry/wet in near audio rate speed on *open hats to fill in the weaker frequncies and create a differing sound per open hat trigger 22:50 - distort the kick a lil for different techno tones 24:31 - passive eq the kick for relational eq shaping for the kick tone to sit right in the mix 26:10 - comp the kick with db160 style compressor 27:08 - use utility device to mono the kick etc 31:05 - use dub delay on pad and shape to hear effect better for subtle rolling dub delay effect on pad 36:37 - use granular samplers as another way to make creative pad sounds just like the seq'd resonantor made this for myself because I reference this video way too much. this and yan cooks videos are changing the way i write music

[@abbasgapuri]

store.sanhaji-music.com/collections/sample-packs

[@elvoj5245]

I'm now referencing to both the info and your reference. Thank you very much for sharing this.

[@user-in8wg6jm5u]

thank you

[@johnnyyoung8460]

Thanks! I have a newbie question I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to help me with. At 08:46 he starts playing session but the sample he dropped in midi track with his drone creator rack is not playing, then he clicks something around 08:47 and it is added/the track volume starts to come in? I am trying to follow along but I cannot get the channel with sample and drone creator rack to play. Thanks in advance!

[@perfectdeal100]

@@johnnyyoung8460 I think he plays a key on his keyboard to preview the sound at that moment. later he creates a clip a 9:38.

[@chrisapostolidis3889]

this guy is not only a genius and master at his craft , but the way he laughs and gets excited everytime he reveals a technique to the audience shows how passionate he is about his music and how willing he is to teach people things .. cheers to this man ..

[@DawnrzHicksky]

exactly

[@subfields8695]

This video is legendary.

[@urbanman1516]

So kind of you Tom to offer your top secrets. Thank you for not being selfish like so many producers who never share anything. We, in the less pro community, appreciate it.

[@tetramusic4408]

Truer words never spoken 🙌

[@OfoeNelson]

They don't share much because most people are lazy and would just copy their style and their sound, something they've spent years creating. Is that fair? Lol. The producers that share constantly evolve and are more versatile and experimental in their productions.

[@tommymai3062]

Yes he spent hour or years finding these tricks out. You don’t be selfish and spend more time in the studio.

[@tetramusic4408]

Alright so a doctor should just kill a few people before doing a heart surgery properly? No he asks for advice... This is what I'm taking it as advice as there are a lot of things in this that are helpful to my music production 🙌

[@tetramusic4408]

And furthermore you know we're not all young making music and some don't have that much years to spend in the studio so these videos help a lot 🙌

[@6884]

Bah, everybody complaining about how "this is not original enough" or "you should make your own samples!!" should, and hopefully will, realize that they are stuck at the masturbatory phase of making music. Don't make it a competition on who is the purest, what matters is ending up with some great new track! What @tomhades is doing here is showing a few tricks and tools that personally I find amazing, and in so little time the result is really interesting. It's more than I was hoping for

[@paparas888]

Whatt ??!! That's exactly why all techno sounds the same nowadays. If you cannot make a simple sound yourself, then leave it to the ones who spend time learning ! Sample packs are destroying creativity. Full stop.

[@6884]

@@paparas888 you can take a sample pack and make it sound like nothing before just as much as you can take a thousand $ equipment and make a boring as hell track. Personally I blame the low quality to the lack of any filtering from digital labels and stores: since publishing and selling bad music is free, who cares!

[@sannamati4571]

Indeed, like if u make 1000000000x decision and still in the end u make it sound how u wanted, use whatever options we have, combiningthem

[@Gabriel______]

@@paparas888 that´s exactly the kind of speech solo guitarists had about synthesizers. don´t forget that a lot of techno also sounded the same back in the days and even then people were complaining about it. and they will live happily forever complaining about the next generation.

[@matthewthechalk]

"I thought using loops was cheating, so I programmed my own using samples. I then thought using samples was cheating, so I recorded real drums. I then thought that programming it was cheating, so I learned to play drums for real. I then thought using bought drums was cheating, so I learned to make my own. I then thought using premade skins was cheating, so I killed a goat and skinned it. I then thought that that was cheating too, so I grew my own goat from a baby goat. I also think that is cheating, but I’m not sure where to go from here. I haven’t made any music lately, what with the goat farming and all."

[@theinfideluk]

Quite probably the best Ableton tutorial I've ever seen. Many thanks for this Tom

[@ResonanceRebel]

In this "short" presentation I learned so much more as in the last 6 month. Thank you for sharing @Tom Hades

[@DMS198526]

Such a cool dude. Have come back to this over the years, hes very inspiring ;)

[@RussianVideoClips]

Tom Hades realy cool stuff... i THANK for... MAX for LIVE 🥰🙏

[@dj_idja]

One of the best sessions I've seen, and I've seen quite a lot of tutorials over the years. Thanks for sharing!!

[@honigtamara]

Thanks, Tom Hades, great sport. :)

[@o.Silex.o]

Truly one of the best Techno Tutorials ever.

[@stasheAUS]

he explains things really well :D not afraid to share like many others

[@hodsonnn]

@Tom Hades, its a pleasure to watch a master at work, i copied your methods for the first 1/4 of this vid and created a beautiful pad sound with those slight changing frequencies, fucking genius!

[@DatAnydeks]

What I like is Tom smiling through the whole process. Enjoyment 😊 with experimenting with sounds. Nice, friendly guy.

[@nicholasmontano7172]

Using the Ableton resonator for drones like that was fantastic, such a cool technique.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

One thing to note is that the Roland System 100 sequencer he mentions wasn‘t actually an original Roland module from the 1970s, but a passion project done by a guy in the 2000s, which later was the inspiration for the Intellijel Metropolis sequencer. Later on the same guy founded his own company RYK Modular and now builds a Eurorack version of his 185 Sequencer.

[@i.f.2535]

Thank you, I learned a lot!

[@anonandon71]

Techno legend indeed.

[@auxlen]

Good stuff..a lot of 'masterclasses' spend 30 minutes mastering kick drums...this was a refreshing change...

[@HAZARDOUS88]

I loved the use of the Resonator in this.

[@clearwavepro100]

I have never before seen someone revealing themselves as the producer, in front of a live group...amazing! gives so much perspective :)

[@jdstarek]

This session is gold

[@markkelvisar9544]

He realy makes music with hearth u can see the happines on his face ..recpect bro

[@TheMensCurlingChamp]

this is actually insane

[@marcosrotllan]

Tom was kidnapped after recording this video and nobody has seen him since that day. One of the best techno tutorials on yt, easily top 10.

[@loma-uu5mg]

I laughed at loud when he made the joke about the open hi-hat being his "next trick" . Refreshing tutorial here.

[@mighty233long]

Amazing. Thank you for the knowledge !

[@strongocho]

11:29 this is amazing advice. one of the things that seriously makes an improvement in your electronic music is to get "off the grid" a bit. when everything is synced perfect all the time it is nice, but a beautiful thing in techno is when it periodically comes in and out of perfection or something finds its way into the mix.

[@caballoloco1]

Muchas gracias por la clase Tom!!!!

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

De nada!

[@johnmiller19925]

That’s a really cool session! Thanks for putting it out!

[@paradiddle16]

Yes it is. Lots of great tips. At least it sounds like actual techno compared to other ones I've seen. Definitely someone who's into the scene for real. 2 thumbs up!

[@ghostinplainsight4803]

Tell me this wasn't the best techno tutorial you have ever seen!

[@FlintSL]

This is so satisfying to listen to

[@mikegiova997]

this is awesome! The problem for me is where to get all those plugins :D

[@Luckyball8]

Pure gold masterclass

[@adamqueenan4101]

This has changed the way I make music. Much more enjoyable process, just relax and experiment. Great.

[@ClayF403]

That trick with the resonator.....TO DIE FOR!!! Thanks Tom, I know there's a reason I've been buying your tracks for so many years haha

[@bootlegsmatter9203]

what a great guy..

[@Pa-ow1nj]

such a nice person... hopefully I meet him once ! thank you, learned a lot

[@schoebelski6602]

Wow, I didn't know, how much thought is going into this type of music. Very inspiring way of working with Ableton Live, many thanks for sharing. I will come back and watch it a few times more, to grasp all the tricks :D

[@franzwilhelm9682]

Great look into production!

[@Junotheoriginal]

That vocoder on the hat with the lfo is actually a pretty cool trick!

[@KazmaHD]

We love variations 🙏🏼

[@lielianjie484]

Fantastic!

[@DAMATRIX]

One of the best how to make techno videos I've seen so far. Thanks PB & TH!

[@oswaldopuentesgonzalez2172]

Thank you Tom ! great tips

[@santiagoblas8214]

Thanks!! greetings from Argentina

[@svenverdickt697]

Of course he is amazing, he comes from Belgium :) . Thx for sharing your knowledgeTom.

[@AL-zo4pu]

Tom Hades is more of a Wizard of Techno, rather than a producer... such a cool guy I wish I could participate in a private class on-line with him!

[@AL-zo4pu]

@Elusive 1996 His talent makes me say that..what makes you say the contrary?

[@PepperoniSandwhichFan]

This tutorial: 'fantastic'

[@EchterBonito]

So humble. Fantastic! :D

[@jackarts6901]

Wow this was amazing. Very different from the other tutorials on KZbin. Learned parts of ableton I never knew even existed

[@hunnersahings7375]

Class!

[@michaelcolling5748]

love Hades! massive inspiration. ofcourse I now have permanent ear fatigue from listening to this particular track so much but i could not give a shit about that :) his teaching here has been key to a massive milestone for me. I have procrastinated on creating which should never have happened in creativity, but trying to hand craft every single nuanced rim/hit/stab so that its always interestnig as he points out, is completely gruelling and soul destroying at times. its like a master has validated cutting a few corners for me and i've progressed loads since lol. I think he unstuck me. Totally have creative flow back cos of this man. What a brother!

[@michaelcolling5748]

well actually its not really cutting corners. its being creative and smart in another way.

[@figitaltechno1699]

Absolutely incredible video. Thanks!!

[@pdrgallo]

so many great things to try out!! thanks a lot Tom!!!

[@will_silvano]

That was fun! Sometimes I wish I could just sit in the studio with one of these guys, mouth shut, just watching the process unfold with no real planning. I'd get all hyped from what's coming out of the speakers!

[@PeterB95]

10 minutes in and all I will say is wow. How can I get on the shortlist to get an invite to these sessions in the future?

[@SebastianBeyer]

this song is so good. its worth a release.really !!!!

[@pablostruff425]

Awesome class! Thanks a lot

[@mixflame9078]

Great tutorial! Thanks, Tom Hades!

[@Magneticartgallery]

Really great session here.

[@Dettol68]

What a great lesson - I learnt so much and managed to get copies of most of the plug-in's - Organic Techno

[@Stacity]

So kind of you to share and help us Techno producers it is always inspirational to watch and learn how you work.

[@magicmoo]

This was a shockingly good class

[@clarkflavor]

Best class on techno production I've ever seen, and I've seen many! Please, if you know of something just as good - don't be shy :P But this was fucking great, thanks Tom and thanks Point Blank!

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

Stimming is a great guy too - and he's "fully organic" too:) Very inspirational. Highly recommend looking up the various video features about him, here on YT.

[@PedroTamietti0]

Check some of Spektre stuff

[@igaodojk]

i agree with you

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

There is a good video here on youtube by the Stay Up Forever Records/WahWah guys, The Liberator Crew, (mainly D.A.V.E. The Drummer) who do very hard punky rockin Acid-Techno who do a good grass-rootsy techno production interview, with examples thrown in which i found pretty good

[@Psyhoduck]

@@deejannemeiurffnicht1791 do you have a link? love that guy/ crew

[@ElSWVisitor]

Ableton aficionado, great producer and nice guy. This is probably my favourite tutorial to date 👍

[@hermarion]

Phantastik

[@SYnthFeel]

A guy who knows what he do and know the tools that he use, simple and efficient! I don´t use to watch techno masterclasses but this one its so interesting!!

[@davidbrown8600]

Thank you Tom and Point Blank. This stuff is really great.

[@Techy1210]

This is great! Always liked Tom Hades music. I'm about to learn Ableton and want to make this kind of techno. This will be very useful 🙌

[@MrYazbo]

Some seriously cool production tricks on this.

[@Aneladj]

Well done! :)

[@dicasdoanthony]

Very good session, I didn't know this Tom Hades guy but now I'm his fan, I liked his creativity and he is fun. Short and objective video.

[@robertroberts9115]

I don't to comment on here, but my god, superb. Looking forward to ADE in October.

[@acronym6155]

Tom "a dub doesn´t know a pingpong" Hades!...Annnnnd sampled! ;) Cool session!

[@TCommando]

Tom Hades is such a nice guy. :)

[@WesleyLutz3D]

I really appreciate the emphasis on doing what inspires you. Rather than specific techniques and tools, he's telling what he likes and what feels right and different ways to think about getting there. Very organic

[@Biosynth]

"you don't have to hear it, you have to feel it" ;)

[@alperarslan3707]

U need a knowledge and experience to understand, appreciate and respect this masterclass. Thanks Tom Hades, amazing job

[@mixflame9078]

Wonderful tutorial! Thanks Tom Hades!

[@djremotion]

Excellent. Logic Pro X really starts to show it's age.

[@uriels4097]

I'm not into techno but all those tips are super usefull

[@TJ-hs1qm]

@6:46 Actually the ML-185 m4l device mimics the RYK M185 sequencer. The original sequencer of the System 100 was much simpler.. (the M185 was created by RYK as a DIY hardware sequencer project in 2008) www.defectiverecords.com/m185/index2.html www.defectiverecords.com/m185/M185Documentation.pdf

[@DeeG7]

Man the amount of custom FX/Racks he has built is insane, really like his no nonsense approach just so much great advice here!

[@radiocabea]

there are some wrong information here, when Tom says polyrythm, he actually means polymeter! polyrythm uses the same bars, polymeters is the one where it goes "out of bars" and connects at a later time

[@inf0tr8r]

with utility, setting it to left or right is better than setting it to mono because the mono setting will sum the left & right channels which can result in phasing in your kick

[@1pauluzz1]

8:24 incorrect translation, should be "it takes the root, right?" As in root note.

[@nothinguploaded]

@@Heden00 lol

[@Barefoot_Joe]

Exactly, a Route note would be something to help find directions, not the correct key in music.

[@vladdubos6330]

Billion thanks tom Hades !!! for your music , and for this class !

[@blags2]

incredible

[@connorflis]

Incredible demonstration!

[@256k_]

this was really cool for 2 reasons: 1. it was very informative and very well explained! 2. it made me feel good about my own productions coz a lot of the tips here are stuff i already use!

[@botany500kojak]

How does he run a kick into Equilibrium (as he says) with routing Mid and Side? Every kick I try - which are in Mono don't show in the side for Equilibrium. Is there a way to change the mono kick? Just making the output of it stereo doesn't work.

[@jm6734]

Creative! Would kill for Mr. Hades Ableton made racks. And I wouldn’t even use them for Techno 🙃

[@bboygurhan]

Tom hades is the man

[@Eggman610]

One of the best tutorials i've seen! I felt like I was there and even started clapping with everyone hahaha. Thank you!!!

[@Tx290]

How do you get that string effect at 10:09? I don't use ableton so not sure what effects you need. Are the effects working on just one part of a chopped sample?

[@salvadorroibon]

I've started making techno music for more than 10 years, I was a jazz double bass player and folk guitar player. And "when I go to Ableton I limit myself to only make music. Mixing and mastering are different sessions" is the best piece of advice that someone could have. Thank you so much Tom Hades!

[@hectorjelly]

Great video.