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How to make The Chemical Brothers 'Wide Open' synth and keys sounds in DRC...

Published on 12 Oct 2018

In 2015 The Chemical Brothers released their 8th studio album ‘Born in the Echoes’ with several tracks featuring guest vocals from a diverse selection of artists. The English duo defied common collaboration conventions however, by omitting the artist credit in each case. Whilst the pitched up vocal on the album’s second single ‘Go’ is not too difficult to identify as Q-Tip (having previously worked together on the 2004 hit single ‘Galvanize’) the singer of the album’s closing track ‘Wide open’ can be a little trickier to place.The artist in question is of course Beck, who was eventually named as a featured artist when The Chemical Brothers released the beautiful and visually stunning music video ‘Wide Open Ft. Beck’ in January 2016. Featuring a solo dance choreographed by Wayne McGregor and performed by Sonoya Mizuno, the cutting edge CGI effects are made even more impressive by the use of one, long, continuous shot - a single take, no edits.The Chemical Brothers have a bit of a passion for creating interesting and unique videos for their tracks, working with directorial partnership Dom & Nic for other tracks such as ‘Believe’ and ‘The Salmon Dance’, and teaming up with Michel Gondry for the subtly synced audio visuals of ‘Star Guitar.’Making another audio and visual appearance in our video this week is DLYM Delay Modulator - our free effects plugin. Click here to find out more and download your copy of DLYM!Click here to download the Ableton project file.Beck with another one of those block rockin’ beats,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass and laser sounds from Todd Terje 'Inspector Norse' in DRC...

Published on 8 Oct 2018

Of the many sub-genres of electronic dance music, it’s probably fair to say that ‘Norwegian disco’ (also known as ‘space disco’ or even ‘cosmic disco’) is a style that is not yet familiar to the masses. If asked to name several popular types of dance music, we don’t think regular disco would be anywhere near the top of list, let alone Norwegian disco.In the cold of the Arctic circle, Norway has historically been somewhat culturally cut off from outside influences, which in part has led to the steady rise of its home grown party scene and soundtrack. As chronicled in the fantastic 2017 documentary ‘Northern Disco Lights’ (highly recommended - well worth a watch!) one of the country’s driving forces of this kind of music is Terje Olsen, better known as the artist Todd Terje.A long time collaborator with fellow Norwegian producer Lindstrøm, the use of Todd Terje as his chosen artist name is a nod to prolific American house DJ Todd Terry. A playfulness that carries over into Terje’s work, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, describing his aim to make his music ‘fruity’ by injecting personality and a silly sense of humour into his tracks.In this week’s video we take on his big breakthrough hit ‘Inspector Norse’, by covering the tune’s bass sound and laser sound with DRC.Click here to download the Ableton project fileThere’s Norway back for us now,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass and arpeggio sounds from Kavinsky 'Nightcall' in DRC...

Published on 28 Sep 2018

Whilst some artists are content with purely having music be their artform, Vincent Belorgey is not one of them. If that name is unfamiliar to you, it’s because he is more commonly known as ‘Kavinsky.’ More than just a stage name, it’s a whole character, complete with a backstory carved out of the science fiction and zombie movies of the 80’s.The influence of 80’s culture is recognisable in all of Kavinsky’s creative facets; the retro styling of the music videos, the oldskool action film narratives contained within, and of course the glorious sound of classic synthesizers creating an atmosphere of pure nostalgia.The premise of the Kavinsky character’s history is certainly interesting; in 1986 he crashes his red Ferrari Testarossa, (the same car as the 80’s arcade racing game ‘Out Run’) he then reappears 20 years later as an electronic music creating zombie. Nightcall tells the story of Kavinsky’s quest to find his girlfriend at the time of the crash, only to discover that she has already moved on from him.Originally released in 2010, the track received a boost of mainstream exposure and popularity after it was used in the opening sequence of the 2011 movie ‘Drive.’ In 2013, the English group ‘London Grammar’ took the song in a totally different direction, featuring haunting piano and vocals, their cover version almost feels like a completely different song.If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our free effects plugin DLYM Delay Modulator that we used in this week’s video - it could be that extra little bit of sonic seasoning you are looking for!Click here to download the Ableton project fileWe’ll go all night long,Team Imaginando...

How to make the bass and lead sounds from 'Nova' by Tale Of Us with DRC...

Published on 21 Sep 2018

Have we mentioned before how much we love techno? Having featured several of our own favourite artists from the genre, this week’s tutorial track is actually another viewer suggestion, one we were happy to oblige and indulge our ears in the process. The track in question is ‘Nova’ by Tale Of Us, the DJ and producer partnership of Carmine ‘Karm’ Conte & Matteo Milleri.Since their debut release ‘Dark Song’ back in 2011, Tale Of Us have not only been releasing a steady stream of underground hits, but also creating and building their now huge ‘Afterlife’ brand, with Ibiza residencies and of course the Afterlife Recordings label.Residing in the techno rich club scene of Berlin, the duo describe their sound as being filled with ‘emotion and drama’, saying ‘We don't make Berlin techno and we never will, because we're Italian.’Recently, the pair were immortalised in videogame form, appearing in the massively successful Grand Theft Auto Online, as part of the nightclub based expansion ‘After hours’. Inside a selection of virtual nightclubs, players can enjoy a full DJ set featuring brand new remixes and productions, created especially for the game.If you are an Ableton user, you won’t want to miss this week’s free project file too - it has all of the automation and track routings for you to check out and explore.If you enjoy any of the DRC Sound Design Tutorial videos, be sure to let us know in the comments, and feel free to ‘smash that like button!’Click here to download the Ableton Live projectLike a champagne supernova,Team Imaginando...

How to make Prince 'Little Red Corvette' bass, pad and lead in DRC...

Published on 18 Sep 2018

Hi everyone,This week sees the return of our DRC sound design tutorial series, with a brand new video, from a brand new location! Imaginando now has a bigger and better head office to call home; a large, creative space full of light, which will allow us to grow into a bright future.Moving house is never easy, and moving a business can be even tougher, but after a few weeks and a lot of boxes (including our Digital Music Box of course!) we’re pleased to say that we are finally settled, ready to take on the next exciting stage of the Imaginando journey.Our infamous red curtain returns to provide a rather fitting background for this week’s featured track ‘Little Red Corvette’ by none other than the late, great Prince. Another great viewer suggestion following the popular format of creating several sounds from the same song - a triple treat this time: Bass, Pad and Lead.Let us know what you think in the comments, and feel free to suggest tracks you’d like to see in future episodes! As always, we’ve uploaded the Ableton project from the video, which you can get via the link below.Click here to download the Ableton Live projectStill partying like it’s 1999,Team Imaginando...

40% Off DRC - Mobile and Desktop!...

Published on 27 Aug 2018

It’s time for our final summer sale with an amazing saving on our awesome analog emulation synth DRC!We’re giving you 40% off all DRC purchases from Monday 27th August to Sunday 2nd September! Mobile and desktop included!This means a super price to put the power of DRC Polyphonic Synthesizer in both your desktop DAW and your pocket and start creating tunes wherever you are. Or if you already own DRC iOS or Android app, then why not grab the chance to get any of the awesome add-on sound banks at a bargain price?!As well as the ‘Factory Expansion’ and ‘Sounds From Outer Space’, there’s the phenomenally popular ‘Iconic Sounds Vol. 1’ featuring tons of anthemic sounds from our YouTube sound design tutorial series!Remember, this is the last sale of the summer - don’t miss out!Still raving with the savings,Team ImaginandoTerms: Discount applies to all DRC in-app purchases on Android and iOS devices, plus licences for DRC desktop from our website made during the promotion period 27/08/2018 to 02/09/2018. Discount is automatically applied to all prices during this period - the price you see is the price you pay....

40% off LK - Summer Sale...

Published on 20 Aug 2018

We have another great promotion this week as part of our summer sales, this time it's big savings on LK.This one’s for the music makers. With 6 feature packed modules, there’s something for everyone inside LK - especially when there’s 40% off all modules from Monday 20th to Sunday 26th August!LK is the ultimate, portable, productivity tool for producers and musicians, with a plethora of creative uses:MATRIX - Take control of Ableton just like a Launchpad, launch clips, arm tracks, mix levels and more, all from your smartphone/tablet.MIDI PADS - MPC style pads in your pocket. Lay down a beat with ease or even a melody too with automatic chord options as well.MIDI CONTROLLER - tweak knobs, faders and buttons and take control of any MIDI parameters you wish.X/Y PAD - Cause some ‘chaos’ in your effects with a triple-axis, expressive pad controller you can assign to anything.CHORDER - Complex chords in an instant, CHORDER makes it easy to play all variants.KEYBOARD - take a piano wherever you go. Why struggle using your laptop keys to play a synth? KEYBOARD gives you a piano layout you can customise.So that’s 40% off all LK modules, only from Monday 20th August to Sunday 26th August.Sunshine and savings,Team ImaginandoTerms: Discount applies to all LK in-app purchases on Android and iOS devices made during the promotion period 20/08/2018 to 26/08/2018. Discount is automatically applied to all prices during this period - the price you see is the price you pay....

How to make Agoria 'Les Violons Ivres' arpeggiator in DRC...

Published on 9 Aug 2018

When considering the geography of modern electronic dance music in Europe, If Germany pitches the tents of techno, then it’s nextdoor neighbour France is where house calls home. There is a staggering amount of big name DJ’s and artists, proudly flying the french flag all over the world: David Guetta, Bob Sinclar, Justice, Martin Solveig, oh and a little known parisian pair of robots, who go by the name of Daft Punk!Citing Laurent Garnier, another heavyweight of the French house scene, as a source of inspiration, our chosen artist this episode is ‘Agoria’ with his 2006 track ‘Les Violons Ivres’ from the album ‘The Green Armchair’.Whilst the standout feature/element of the track is the glorious string section, our tutorial focuses on recreating the arpeggiated bass sound, which rhythmically punctuates the orchestral proceedings.As part of the tutorial, Lucas shows the full effects processing chain, which includes our very own DLYM Delay Modulator plugin. DLYM is available from our website for free; click here to download your copy now!Also, click here to download the free Ableton Live project for this track, which contains the full effects rack pre-built for your convenience!France music and dance music,Team Imaginando...