media

all
youtube
news
clipping

How to make the pad and lead for Mac DeMarco - 'Chamber Of Reflection' in DRC...

Published on 14 Dec 2018

For many of us, the dream of becoming a professional musician in any capacity is an illusive one. The path to ‘making it big’ is certainly a road filled with hard work and perseverance. For this week’s guest artist, the road of hard work was actually a literal one, as a struggling backing musician Mac DeMarco paid the bills by working as part of a road paving crew, and even participating in medical experiments for money. (That’s the kind of dedication we don’t fancy doing!)Listening to DeMarco’s music, you get the sense that this is all taken in his stride, an easy going, relaxed approach, living life as it happens and not stopping to worry about it. DeMarco’s choice of retro instruments and equipment further such an organic and casual take on recording, quite a refreshing change to most of today’s digital obsessed creatives. (Yes, we are aware of the irony/hypocrisy of a music tech company saying this!)In DeMarco’s case, the oldskool aesthetic cries out for beat-up old guitars, reel-to-reel tape recorders and more than a handful of authentic vintage synths to make us drool. Yamaha DX7, Prophet 5, and Roland Juno 60 to name a few.Get ready to lose yourself in the gorgeous analog pitch drifting of this one, as we take on Mac DeMarco - ‘Chamber of Reflection’Click here to download the Ableton project fileDRC is the only analog we need,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass from SBTRKT 'Wildfire' in DRC...

Published on 10 Dec 2018

Throughout the history of dance music the concept of anonymity has played many different roles. Back in the glory days of vinyl, to prevent others from discovering their killer tracks, some DJ’s hid the identity of the records they were playing, by covering up the artist and track name with stickers. Anonymity is also one of the most powerful tools for defense and protection in the ‘free party’ scene, more commonly known as illegal raves. Producers themselves can also use the power of anonymity to try new directions in music, by releasing experimental material under a fake name, or pseudonym, in case it isn’t well received by their usual audience.Whilst English DJ and producer SBTRKT doesn’t deny the last example, his spin on the reason for attempting to stay anonymous goes a little deeper into his mindset and work ethic. This ties into the artist name too, with SBTRKT being a reference to subtracting himself from his music, to ‘let the music speak for itself’.When performing, SBTRKT wears native ceremonial inspired masks, which come from the designer and artist ‘A Hidden Place’ who also prides themselves on being anonymous. At Bestival in 2011, cardboard recreations of one mask were handed out to the crowd - a spectacular and novel visual for a DJ to look out on!This week we take an in-depth look at the hot bass line sound from SBTRKT’s 2011 track ‘Wildfire’Click here to download the Ableton project fileThere’s no vowels in our product names either,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass, keys and lead for Gui Boratto - 'Take My Breath Away'...

Published on 3 Dec 2018

This week we’re attempting to sonically take your breath away, with our DRC sound design tutorial for Gui Boratto’s 2009 smash ‘Take My Breath Away’.Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1974, Gui Boratto released his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Chromophobia’ in 2007 on well established german label Kompakt. Featuring tight production skills, driving rhythms and a clear love of melody, it’s easy to attribute such fine technical craftsmanship to Boratto’s many years working as a studio engineer for some of the biggest record labels worldwide.Fast forward to June of this year, Boratto proudly released his 5th studio album on Kompakt, whilst seeking out talent to put out on his very own D.O.C brand imprint, (conveniently distributed by Kompakt!) which he created in 2013.As evident in Gui’s final productions, he is inspired by the whole spectrum of life’s emotions and feelings, to create a diverse range of moods. Speaking about the creative process behind his 2018 album Pentagram he explains ‘It’s good to be happy, but also good to be sad, fragile or strong’.Aside from his own original production work, Gui has also had a steady stream of remix work for a suitably diverse selection of artists, including Pet Shop Boys, London Grammar and even made an appearance on the Halo 4 OST remix album. (Yes that is a real thing and no, we had no idea either!)Click here to download the Ableton project fileExhale, exhale, exhale…Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass and keys sounds from Nathan Fake - 'The Sky Was Pink' in DRC...

Published on 23 Nov 2018

Following on from last week’s Border Community label smash hit ‘Soopertrack’ by Extrawelt, this week we bring you another friend of the label, Nathan Fake, with his track ‘The Sky Was Pink’ with a little help from label owner James Holden for the remix.From the Norfolk town of Kings Lynn, England, Nathan Fake released his debut album ‘Drowning in a Sea of Love’ in 2006, unsurprisingly this was on the Border Community record label. Nestled in amongst the 11 tracks, is ‘The Sky Was Pink’ - a full on automation fest, which Lucas lovingly and painstakingly recreates for your amusement and educational fun!This 16 minute video is packed with passion as we show you the bass, the keys and the pads from one of our favourite techno masterpieces of the last 20 years, and do our very best to do the track justice whilst showing the power and flexibility of DRC in the process.We strongly urge you (if you are an Ableton user!) to download and check out the Ableton session which accompanies the video, it contains all the automation for the evolution of each of the track’s sounds - something you won’t want to miss!As always, let us know in the comments what you think, and what you want us to take on next!Click here to download the Ableton project fileWe don’t do fake news,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass and lead sounds from Extrawelt - 'Soopertrack' in DRC...

Published on 15 Nov 2018

Arne Schaffhausen and Wayan Raabe first met in the early 90s, born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, they both shared a passion for DJing and electronic music and both frequented record stores and parties, which brought them together. After some time together the natural progression was to want to make their own mark on the scene and start producing their own music, armed with a sampler and computer they set to work.Their big break happened in 2005 when 6 months after sending a demo to James Holden’s Border Community record label, James wrote back, eager to sign the track ‘Soopertrack’. The duo saw this as an opportunity to define a new period of their creative partnership by adopting a new artist name ‘Extrawelt’. Extrawelt’s Soopertrack was indeed a great signing for Border Community, a seamingly perfect fit for the track’s haunting sound and atmospheric production.Extrawelt are now also a fully fledged live act too, taking to the stage with dual laptops and an array of hardware like a Roland SH-101 and Elektron Machine Drum feeding a 24 channel mixer full of moods and emotion, delivering maximum movement of dance floors.Join us this week as we show you how to make the bass and lead sounds featured in Soopertrack, with of course the featured Ableton session available for you to download as usual!Click here to download the Ableton project file.Tonight’s a sooper trooper,Team Imaginando...

M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade - ‘Body Language’ - Make the bass and keys in DRC...

Published on 12 Nov 2018

Arguably the record which single handedly brought mass attention to the record label ‘Get Physical’, M.A.N.D.Y. vs Booka Shade - ‘Body Language’ was a summer sensation back in 2005, and was even crowned ‘Ibiza Song of the Season’ at the 20th annual DJ Awards that year. In fact it turned out to be a very good year indeed for Get Physical, becoming the best selling label across all genres on Beatport at the time; a worthy winner of DJ Magazine’s ‘Label Of The Year’ award.Founded just 3 years earlier as a joint venture between Patrick Bodmer & Philipp Jung (M.A.N.D.Y.), Walter Merziger, Arno Kammermeier & Peter Hayo (Booka Shade) and Thomas Koch (DJ T) with the powerhouse of modern electronic music Berlin as their base.Body Language received a couple of post-release remixes, and in 2007 was sampled by Will.I.Am for ‘Get Your Money’ - it was actually released as a single, but it’s hardly the most memorable reworking of the instrumental into a vocal, that prize goes to Jax Jones - You Don't Know Me ft. RAYE from 2016. Infinitely more catchy, it was well received and saw chart success across many parts of europe, making it inside the top 5 in several countries.Click here to download the Ableton project fileLet’s get physical,Team Imaginando...

Review: Imaginando DRC Synth...

Published on 2 Nov 2018

An elegantly designed, great sounding first product...

How to make Depeche Mode 'Just Can't Get Enough with DRC...

Published on 22 Oct 2018

The 1980’s was the decade that really helped defined synth-pop; it was new, exciting, futuristic and most importantly, it was cool. A whole host of electronic artists emerged, the UK providing a good proportion of the talent with bands such as New Order, Soft Cell and Erasure. Today’s track was actually written by one half of Erasure, Vince Clarke, during his brief time writing and performing with his previous band Depeche Mode. It was the final single Clarke wrote for the group, leaving the band in November 1981 just 2 months after it was released.‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ was the second single taken from the band’s debut album ‘Speak and Spell’ and the first of theirs to reach the top 10 in the UK singles chart. Reportedly inspired by ‘To Cut a Long Story Short’ by Spandau Ballet, it was Clarke’s desire to write fundamentally pop driven songs, as opposed to fellow band song writer Martin Gore who had much more of an interest in rock music, that fueled the decision to leave so early on.As a pop song, ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’ ticks a lot of boxes in terms of structure and content. A simple but catchy synth hook and plenty of ‘call and response’ karaoke participation of the track’s title throughout, leads to a classic, memorable hit.As always, you can check out the Ableton project file from the video using the link below.Click here to download the Ableton project fileReach out and touch faith,Team Imaginando...