How to record vocals on your phone and mix them to perfectionIt’s now common practice for music-makers to capture their creative sparks and ideas with their smartphones. Many voice notes and quick recordings become the guidepost for fully realised records later on — even Skrillex is using an iPhone to capture final vocal takes in his productions.
Your phone may be the only microphone you’ll ever need for your next song, but you might find that the recording itself is full of noise, plosives, and generally feels unfit for a final track. Thankfully, there are a few production techniques you can use to clean up your smartphone recordings and make them sound professional. Let’s get into it.
READ MORE: Clive From Accounts: “Give me a phone and I’ll happily make you tunes all day”
The recording process
I’m recording a single vocal performance straight into my Apple iPhone 13 Pro and mixing it into a track.
I’m using BandLab so I can type the lyrics into the project file, but you can use any recording app on your phone, like Voice Memos on an iPhone. If you decide to record into the Voice Memos app, make sure that the Audio Quality is set to Lossless. You can find this option on your iPhone under Settings > Apps > Voice Memos > Audio Quality.
I’ll be recording in a place that doesn’t cause too many reflections, so I can have more control over the mix. Singing close to my phone’s built-in microphone leads to a cleaner, more focused recording. However, it also generates harsh plosives — the louder moments in my performance are nearly clipping, for example. It’s important to find an ideal distance between your mouth and the phone, which will take some trial and error.
Now that your phone is a handheld microphone, try singing without too much movement so that the microphone doesn’t pick up additional noise.

Exporting, importing
After recording a take I’m happy with, I export the audio file out of BandLab and import it into a new session in Ableton Live 12 — you can use your DAW of choice.
Since I had recorded my performance in free tempo, I’ll switch off the Warp and Snap to Grid functions. If you already have a tempo-locked track you want to pair your vocal with, feel free to keep these features on in your DAW.
Editing and cleaning
Ideally, a vocal recording will be clean so you can manipulate it to fit your song. However, recording with your smartphone, not in a studio, might mean your vocal take will need some cleaning up. Your first goal is to eliminate any hiss, rumbling sounds, excessive sibilance, and mouth clicks from the recording.
Insert a parametric EQ plugin and cut all frequencies below 100Hz — this will quickly address any issues in the sub range. Next, cut and remove silent sections of the recording and insert fades for a seamless edit.
You can also insert large fade-ins to control the volume of the breaths and cut the sibilant and plosive moments into separate clips to reduce their gain.
Next, insert a gate plugin on your chain — I’m using FabFilter Pro-G. After selecting the Smooth Vocal MTK preset, I tweak the threshold, attack, and release parameters.
Aim to minimise environmental sounds while preserving the integrity of your performance. iZotope’s RX Voice De-noise plugin is particularly useful for me. The Dialogue and Surgical settings work best for my recording, but I turn down the reduction amount to establish a gentle denoising balance.
Another iZotope plugin that comes in handy is the RX Mouth De-click. With it, I can clean up most of the undesirable mouth sounds automatically.

Tuning
In my recording, there are a couple of moments where I sounded slightly flat or sharp, so I’ll use the Antares Autotune Pro effect in Auto Mode. I select E minor as the key and turn the Retune Speed down to 50 for subtle tuning. You might want to try a similar pitch correction process if any parts of your performance sound a little off.

Shaping the dynamics and tone
To even out the volume fluctuations in the performance, try applying a double compression strategy.
The first compressor has a fast attack and release setting to keep transients under control. The second compressor is much gentler in comparison, with a built-in de-esser and EQ panel — you can use this to shape the tone.
After adding harmonic excitement with a saturation plugin, Soundtoys Decapitator, insert another EQ to reduce the volume of low and low-mid frequencies.

Adding reverb and delay
Time to create an ethereal space for your vocals to resonate in. By keeping each reverb and delay plugin in separate return channels, you can make low-cut and high-shelf EQ adjustments as needed.
The first time-based effect I’m using is the free reverb plugin, Valhalla Supermassive. Start with the SeaBeams preset but tweak the mix, feedback, and EQ parameters to your liking.

Next up is Soundtoys EchoBoy. Keeping it in default mode, tweak the low-cut, high cut, feedback, and echo time knobs. You should be aiming to add dimension without drawing attention away from the vocal.
To infuse my vocal mix with immediate and short reflections, I choose the Vocal Gloss preset in FabFilter Pro-R.

The last plugin in the chain is Ableton Live’s Hybrid Reverb — you can replicate this step with similar reverbs.
Set the Algorithm to Shimmer and set the Pitch to +12 semitones to hear your vocals reverberate an octave higher than their original pitch. Under Convolution IR, select Textures and Chains, and add some grit with the Vintage mode in Subtle.
By this point, you should barely be able to tell that this vocal performance was recorded with a phone.

 
Learn more music production tips in our MusicTech tutorials. 
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Best free software and apps for music-making: Top free DAWs, plugins, instruments and moreMaking music for free has never been easier. All you need is a computer – or even just your phone – to start cutting tracks using nothing but freeware. Here, we compile our roundups of the best freeware music-making software, apps, instruments and plug-ins that every producer, musician, beatmaker and DJ needs.

READ MORE: The best sample packs, updated every month

Your first step should be to bookmark our regularly updated list of the best freeware of the month. There, you’ll find a selection of tools, instruments, plug-ins, loops and samples which won’t cost you a cent.
What are the best free DAWs?
A digital audio workstation – or DAW – is your primary software for making music. It’s the hub where you record and arrange tracks, add effects, mix, and even master your music. Most professional studios and producers use software whose names you might be familiar with: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, for instance. Some of these have ‘Lite’ or ‘Intro’ versions that give you a taste of the DAW with limited features — these are superb for familiarising yourself with music production, but you can find fully-fledged DAWs, free of charge, elsewhere.
Thankfully, there are many free DAWs to choose from. Check out our full list of the best freeware DAWs, including those you can score a free trial of, to see which works for the music you want to make. Here’s a preview:

Tracktion Waveform Free
Apple GarageBand
Pro Tools First
Studio One Prime
Cakewalk Sonar
Cakewalk Next

What are the best free music-making phone apps?
There are plenty. From standalone synths to drum machines to robust DAWs, you can find all manner of music-making and production apps for your iPhone or Android device. Here’s our list of the top freeware music apps to get started.
Where can I get the best free samples?
We’ve compiled a list of the best websites that offer free samples this year. For a library that we can stand behind, MusicTech has partnered BandLab Sounds to offer over a dozen royalty-free sample packs at no cost. These range from synths to FX to beats, and the samples come as uncompressed WAVs and are downloadable via web or mobile.
I don’t own a guitar, synth or drums. Is there free software or virtual instruments?
Of course. While actually playing those instruments with your computer mouse and keyboard can be finicky, it’s a viable and popular alternative to spending thousands on a full recording setup. There are hundreds of freeware virtual instruments out there – here’s what we consider the best:

Best freeware software synthesizers
Best free orchestral plug-ins
Best freeware drum machines
Best freeware rock instruments

And, while not technically instruments themselves, there are scores of free plug-ins that augment and enhance your existing instruments:

Best freeware plug-ins for guitarists
Best free software tools for live performance
Best free software tools for DJs

What are the best free effect and utility plug-ins?
Not all plug-ins make beautiful noise. You’ll need utility tools to EQ and mix your tracks, while effects can come in the form of reverb, delay, distortion and so on. Here are our picks of the best freeware plug-ins every aspiring producer needs:

Best freeware reverb plug-ins
Best free mastering tools
Best free utilities plug-ins
Best freeware creative effects
Best freeware mix effects
Best free experimental plug-ins
Best free plug-ins for pop production
Best free plug-ins for dance music production
Best free vocal plug-ins
Best freeware mobile apps 

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Moby at Cercle Odyssey: The closest I ever came to floating through spaceAs I walked the floors of a pop-up music venue within the LA Convention Center, pristine images of magenta-hued nebulas were projected on all four walls and the ceiling. The legendary recording artist, Moby, and his six-piece band were performing atmospheric electronic music on a stage in the center of the space. And the sound was being emitted evenly from every angle by L-Acoustics’ state-of-the-art L-Series speakers.

READ MORE: In 3 hours, Hans Zimmer Live reminds you why AI won’t replace real musicians

The word “immersive” gets thrown around a lot these days. However, after attending live music events constantly for the past 18 years, Cercle Odyssey was my first live music experience that actually fit that description.
This masterful and legitimate execution was to be expected from Cercle. Over the past decade, the innovative event brand has brought artists to perform among the most iconic and historic places in the world. From a modular synthesizer show in front of the Pyramids of Giza, to an elegant piano concert under the Northern Lights in Finland, and a bangin’ tech house track in the middle of Plaza de España in Sevilla, Spain.
Cercle Odyssey is the touring version of this concept. By building temporary spaces in different cities (so far, Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Paris), Cercle can now invite 5,000 people to be enveloped by beautiful visuals and music.
Image: Press
To best mirror the epic locations of their traditional events, Cercle called upon esteemed director Neels Castillon to capture footage throughout the globe to project at the show. But Cercle’s founder, Derek Barbolla, is clear that the visuals are there to support the sound, and has used L-Acoustics systems since the beginning of Cercle.
“[Cercle Odyssey] is a combination of visuals, lights, and sound, but the most important thing is the sound,” Barbolla told a select few journalists before giving us a tour of the venue.
For Cercle to succeed as a touring concept, the visuals had to go from 3D to 2D. But the expansive nature of its events lives on in the sound presentation. A traditional Cercle event uses standard stereo, but Cercle Odyssey expands to 360 audio.
“How do you recreate an experience of something that’s as beautiful as doing a set in front of the Pyramids in Egypt?” When L-Acoustics’ CEO, Laurent Vassié, poses the question, he remarks on the visuals being projected on all the walls and the ceiling. He also mentions that Cercle is filling the room with curated scents to capture as many senses as possible. But the true 360 aspect of Cercle Odyssey is the audio.
Image: Press
L-Acoustics was fully equipped to create a 360 audio landscape because of its prominent L-ISA (L-Acoustics Immersive Sound Art) system. It’s been used in many different environments, including Janet Jackson’s residency at Resorts World in Las Vegas and Max Cooper’s Immersive Audio Spatial Performance at Polygon Live Festival in London.
“The goal is to bring the idea of spatial audio, or immersive audio, or hyper-real audio to the live event at all scales,” says Scott Sugden, director of product management, solutions, at L-Acoustics.
Moby performed with a band, so Cercle’s engineer took full advantage of the agency provided to him through the spatial mixing software. More than once during the evening, different sonic elements would take sharp turns throughout the system. These moves drew my focus to different areas of the venue, which, due to its completely immersive nature, revealed imagery that I may have missed otherwise.

When it comes to the specific design of the L-ISA system at Cercle Odyssey, it is technically 16.1. All 16 channels are line arrays, the universally adopted speaker configuration that L-Acoustics invented in 1992. In total, 72 speakers are outputting 500,000 watts. There are 12 channels of immersive surround hanging around the perimeter, four main line arrays above the stage facing into the crowd, and a subwoofer unit suspended in the center point above the stage.
To prepare for this unique configuration, Moby’s team visited L-Acoustics’ studio in Los Angeles, where they have the facilities to virtually model exactly how the space will sound in advance. The sessions were vital to the success of the show because, in truth, immersive systems present choices that have never existed in live sound. Seasoned artists like Moby and his team have to completely reimagine what they’ve been doing for decades.
“You see artists’ eyes light up when they see this for the first time — ‘Holy cow, I never thought I could do this,’” Sugden says.
Image: Press
“There’s been a lot of evolutions of technology in the last 30 years. Most of them, the audience would never be aware of. Digital networks of audio. It makes it easier for us working at the show. I don’t think the audience knows the difference,” Sugden says. “I know the audience experienced a difference when the line array came out because it sounded better. Immersive audio, what L-ISA is doing, absolutely, the audience goes, ‘Something is different. Something is better.’”
I certainly knew something was better during Moby’s performance. No matter where I stood within the temporary venue, the audio was clear and even. While in reality, there is no sound in space — if the cosmos did produce natural music like deserts and jungles (two other environments projected during Moby’s set), it wouldn’t come from a singular point. It would surround me just as it did at Cercle Odyssey.
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Top 30 startups announced for VivaTech 2025 Innovation of the Year AwardThe Innovation of the Year Award celebrates the boldest and most visionary startups exhibiting at VivaTech 2025. Open to all exhibiting companies, the award honors those pushing boundaries and redefining industries. Startups were scored on Innovation & Creativity, Market Disruption, and Scalability. From hundreds of applicants, 30 made the short list. The top five will […]

Guitar Center Adds Powerhouse Duo to Ignite a New Era in Music EducationGiovanni “John” Bianchette, Guitar Center Vice President of Music EducationGuitar Center has announced the the addition of two "high-impact leaders to its Lessons team: celebrated educator Giovanni 'John' Bianchette as Vice President of Music Education, and GRAMMY® Award-winning rock guitarist Dave Kushner as Senior Director of Music Education Experience.""With this powerhouse duo at the helm, Guitar Center is charting an electrifying course toward 50,000 active students – redefining how music is taught, experienced, and shared across its nationwide store network," they say in a statement.“This is a game-changer and showcases our commitment to the future of music education,” said Mike Schultheis, EVP and Chief Stores Officer at Guitar Center. “John is a strategic powerhouse in education, and Dave is a literal rock legend. Together, they bring unmatched energy, creativity, and credibility to our Lessons Program that will inspire a whole new generation of lifelong musicians.”"John Bianchette is a respected educator and brings public and private sector experience from leadership roles at Mathnasium, including Vice President of Education and Training," they add. "He has led instructional strategy, driven talent development, and shaped innovative, student-centered learning models. Focused on impact, Bianchette builds high-performing teams, broadens access, and redefines quality instruction. As Vice President of Music Education, he’ll oversee the expansion, innovation, and quality of Guitar Center’s music education offerings – building a scalable, inclusive experience that keeps students progressing, engaged and excited."“I couldn’t be more thrilled to join a brand that lives and breathes music,” said Bianchette. “Guitar Center gives us the platform to reach tens of thousands of aspiring musicians, and we’re just getting started. It’s time to put music education back where it belongs – at the center of culture, creativity and community.”"Dave Kushner is best known as a founding member of rock supergroup Velvet Revolver and brings decades of stage, studio and education experience to his new role as Senior Director of Music Education Experience at Guitar Center," they add. :Kushner has composed music for film and television, collaborated with icons like Elton John and Stevie Wonder, and developed popular online guitar courses. In his new role, Kushner will bring the magic of performance to every lesson – energizing curriculum and content for students online and in-store."“From the stage to the classroom, music has the power to change lives,” said Kushner. “As a musician who grew up in Hollywood, Guitar Center has been a part of my DNA for decades. With this new role, I plan to marry the ‘glory’ of the past culture with an educational experience rooted in the present and drive it all into the future.”“The future of music education starts now,” said Schultheis. “And it’s louder, bolder, and more inspiring than ever!”The post Guitar Center Adds Powerhouse Duo to Ignite a New Era in Music Education first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Stablecoin payment volume reaches $94B, driven by B2B TransfersBusiness-to-business transactions and card-linked stablecoin payments have grown, while Tether’s USDt has established dominance.

You Can Make Your Own Ribbon Mic With A Gum WrapperThere are lots of different types of microphone, with the ribbon microphone being one of the rarer ones. Commercial versions are often prized for their tone and frequency response. You can make your own too, as [Something Physical] demonstrates using a packet of chewing gum.
Yes, the ribbon in this microphone was literally gained from Airwaves Extreme gum. It’s got nothing to do with freshness or the special mintiness quotient of the material, though; just that it’s a conductive foil and it makes the YouTube video more interesting to watch.
The gum wrapper is first soaked in hot water and then acetone, such that the paper backing can be removed. The foil is then corrugated with a tube press with some baking paper used for protection during this delicate process. The “motor” of the ribbon microphone is then produced out of plexiglass, copper tape, and a pair of powerful magnets. The ribbon is then stretched between the magnets and clamped in place, acting as the part of the microphone that will actually vibrate in response to sound. As it vibrates in the magnetic field, a current is generated in response to the sound. From there, it’s just a matter of hooking up a custom-wound transformer to the wires leading to the “motor” and it’s ready to test. It works off the bat, but there is some noise. Adding shielding over the transformer and a proper enclosure helps to make the microphone more fit for purpose.
If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with microphone construction, it’s hard to go past the joy of building a simple ribbon mic. You can experiment at will with different sizes and materials, too; you needn’t just limit yourself to different brands of gum!
We’ve featured some other great mic builds over the years, too. Video after the break.

Too Lost unveils a new mobile platform to empower artistsJust how much distribution can be done on a phone? According to Too Lost, the answer is pretty much everything.

DamyFx HellsBass Bass Amp SimulatorHellsbass is an Electric Bass VST3 Plugin amplifier simulator, designed to obtain an extremely powerful Bass sound (ideal for Rock and Metal sounds but at the same time it can be used for any musical genre having an extremely warm tube sound) with Hellsbass you will obtain sounds ranging from Jaco Pastorius to Pantera, Hellsbass is the Ultimate bass amplifier simulator. Inside the plugin you will find: Authentic visual design inspired by iconic bass amplifiers. Bass, mid and high EQ section and Presence. Dedicated On/Off switch to activate the Overdrive control called "Hells". Separate volume and master controls for gain staging. True pure tube amplifier sound. Read More

HYBE launches subsidiary in China, as K-Pop giant’s global expansion continuesChina is the world's fifth-largest recorded music market
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LANDR and Synchro Arts will give you a free plugin if you trial their subscription plansLANDR is hosting two plugin giveaways in collaboration with Synchro Arts for those who sign up to a free trial of either LANDR Studio or Synchro Arts subscriptions.
The LANDR Synth X and Synchro Arts’ RePitch Elements premium plugins are available free of charge for those who start a trial on either platform. These plugins are valued at $99 each.

READ MORE: LANDR Sampler uses AI to organise your sample library – could this be a godsend for producers?

LANDR Synth X is described as “a powerhouse synth plugin to elevate your tracks”, and you can redeem it for free with a trial LANDR Studio – its all-in-one subscription service offering plugins, software and other tools to help producers create, edit, share and monetise their music, which was launched back in 2022.
Synth X is a wavetable synth that has a multi-oscillator engine for rich tones, 400 “expertly crafted” presets, and integrated studio-grade effects. You’ll be eligible for this when you trial any LANDR Studio plan – Essentials, Standard, or Pro (monthly or yearly) – and it’s yours to keep forever.

As for RePitch Elements, this tool helps you achieve natural vocal tuning, and according to Synchro Arts, is trusted by top vocal producers. It hosts easy controls over pitch and timing, and can “seamlessly integrate” with DAWs. Again, this offer is available with any Synchro Arts plan (Artist or Pro, monthly or yearly).

And speaking of subscription plans, Waves has just launched an AI-powered text-to-sound engine called ILLUGEN, available through three plan tiers with prices starting at $7.99 per month. Users can simply feed ILLUGEN a text prompt – which can be pretty specific or weird – pick from their favourite of three generated sounds, and then simply drag and drop it into their DAW.
To start a trial and redeem a free plugin, you’ll need to head over to LANDR or Synchro Arts. You’ll receive a code via onboarding or email and further instructions.
The post LANDR and Synchro Arts will give you a free plugin if you trial their subscription plans appeared first on MusicTech.

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How to use sound design to turn a vocal take into a creative instrumentHave you been spending hours searching for samples and synth presets to inspire your next track? Getting creative with a single sound source can help you break the cycle.

READ MORE: How to record vocals on your phone and mix them to perfection

You can grab a phone-recorded vocal today and produce a full track with it. Here’s how.
Start with the bass
I’ve already captured a song idea on my iPhone in free tempo, so I’ll import it into a new session in Ableton Live 12. Find or record a vocal that suits your style, and follow along.

Drag a copy of the recording into Simpler or another sampler instrument. Here, you’ll cut, stretch and manipulate the pitch of your vocal.
Find a part in the clip that works well, even when playing the lowest notes on your MIDI keyboard. In the Controls window, transpose the pitch up a semitone, so that the notes on your keyboard match the pitch of the sample. Here, I compose a bass line that follows the rhythm of the vocal — you can try something similar.
Most sampler instruments come with sound design tools. In Simpler, I’ll use the MS2 low-pass filter and adjust the frequency, resonance, and drive. I want each note to come in and out gradually, so I tweak the attack, decay and release controls.
To ensure the bass cuts through on small speakers, try adding a clipper effect. The Bass Shaper setting in Live’s Analog Clip plugin is useful here, with some tweaking of the Drive and Dry/Wet knobs in Hard Clip mode.

Next, use a compressor to tame the dynamics a little. At this point, I also duplicate the bass and transpose it an octave down to enrich the sub register. Cut the frequencies below 25Hz and above 200Hz on the new Vocal Sub channel, and add the same EQ to my original Vocal Bass channel as well.

Cutting frequencies below 100 Hz and above 500 Hz gives you more freedom to process the Vocal Bass pad. I apply reverb with a low-cut EQ, turn the chorus on and increase the wetness to 95 per cent. A bit crusher can help make the pad sound brighter and dirtier, and you can shape the the dynamics and tone with compression and EQ. And finally, thanks to the drive module in the Cableguys ShaperBox 2, my bass is no longer static.

Build the synth pads
With the melody and bass in place, start writing the chords. In my session, I want to create some of the midrange elements with Simpler, treating each layer purposefully.
Using the same sample, design the first synth pad. First, I select the high-pass PRD filter in Simpler. For the pad to swell, increase the attack time and toggle the Portamento setting from the Glide menu.
Trap the sound with a band-pass EQ and use some saturation — I used Klanghelm’s free saturation plugin IVGI2. Other free plugins that come in handy are the TENSjr and Valhalla’s FreqEcho, injecting depth and width to the sound.

I’ll follow a similar strategy with three other sampler instruments that I’ve built out of different portions of the same recording. As you design each layer, try to pay attention to what’s missing in the frequency spectrum.

By transposing and processing short audio samples from the performance, you can create deep background vocal textures. You can try plugins like the Antares Harmony Engine to create vocoder-type layers, increasing the density of the production.

Design drum sounds with transients and sibilance
I want to implement some impact drum elements and light percussion, so I search for moments in the vocal take that can be repurposed through pitch shifting and effects processing.
First, I sample a particularly sibilant “s” and transform it into a hi-hat. Some Ableton Live stock plugins like Spectral Resonator, Vinyl Distortion, EQ Eight, Echo, and Hybrid Reverb will help give it some extra character.

The same clip easily becomes a rainstick-like texture when I slow it down. With Grain Delay, iZotope’s free Vinyl plugin, Valhalla FreqEcho and Hybrid Reverb, I can make it longer and smoother.

The “c” of the lyric, “coming down,” turns into a deep impact sound with a couple of transient shapers, Soundtoys’ Devil-Loc distortion, Ableton’s Spectral Resonator and tons of reverb. I dial the sound in with EQ and compression.
Unfortunately, my clip doesn’t have much of a transient tail. To imitate the natural decay of a kick drum, I’ll copy it, pitch it down 13 semitones, and paste it 5 times back to back in decreasing volumes.

To design the snare sample, I cut out the “p” at the end of the word “wipe”. Transient shaper, distortion, and reverb effects like Valhalla’s free Supermassive plugin play key roles in shaping the sound here.

Final touches
After some volume, panning and effects automation, it’s time to clean up the mix.
A sidechain compressor on the Vocal Sub channel, routed to the Vocal Impact drum, resolves masking issues. I’ll also group the impact and snare to compress, saturate and EQ them together for a tighter mix.
Next, I group all the layers in the midrange and employ FabFilter’s dynamic EQ, the Pro-Q 3. By sidechaining a smile curve band to the lead vocal, I can carve out enough space in the mix for the performance to shine.
With some light mastering, everything sounds even more glued together.

The post How to use sound design to turn a vocal take into a creative instrument appeared first on MusicTech.

Stimming breaks down the production techniques on his new single, ‘Lucky Me’Beloved for his delicate, detailed, and highly emotive production style, Martin Stimming has carved out a niche in the world of experimental IDM. Based in Harmburg, Germany, the producer is currently on part two of a trilogy of albums; each one dedicated to his three sons. 2021 brought us Ludwig; a glorious subversion of the artist’s more club-centric work, while the recently released Friedrich retains that sonic freedom but arguably dives even deeper into the emotional resonance that electronic music can offer.

READ MORE: Who is the next Aphex Twin? Meet the producers warping the future of electronic music

We catch up with Stimming to get the inside story on how he produced his recent single, Lucky Me.

Finding the feeling
A big part of Stimming’s creative process involves building up an archive of melodies, tones, beats, and field recordings, which might then chime with an experience or emotion he wants to explore on a track.
In the case of Lucky Me, the original musical material came from a small family pump organ situated under the staircase of his parents’ home. Having kicked everyone else out of the house so he could get a clean, ultra-close recording using a pair of LOM microphones, Stimming says he started performing with no clear idea of where the audio would eventually end up. “I knew what I wanted to capture,” he recalls of the process. “But, when I do a recording like this, I just think of it as sampling material; I know I will use it somewhere, but I don’t know where.”
The next element grew out of a jam session on Erica Synths’ PĒRKONS HD-01 drum machine. “It’s four voices of digital synth,” Stimming says of the instrument. “The special thing is the UI and the sequencer – the sequencer can change the patterns and the sound settings independently, and you can jump between snapshots seamlessly in an instant, which is crazy.” However, rather than use it for percussion, Stimming says the PĒRKONS HD-01 instead provided Lucky Me’s bass tones: “Drum synths are very good at baselines because they have this punch. So, I found a way of creating this ‘whoof whoof’ sort of dubstep bassline.”
Once Stimming brought together those organ recordings with his drum machine baseline, it resulted not only in great music but also produced a sound and a feeling that spoke to a deeply personal time in Stimming’s own life.
Two years ago, the producer received a cancer diagnosis — the treatment was successful, but it left an undeniable impact on him:
“Especially after I was first diagnosed, there was a feeling of being frightened but also of being challenged. After the surgery, it was like being released from it. I recognised that if I combed the pump organ recordings that I did at my parents, those tones together with this very deep bassline… it got very close to expressing what I really felt at that time.”
Image: Press
Pragmatic percussion
When it comes to percussion, rather than overthink it, Stimming’s approach is much more pragmatic – if it sounds good, use it.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the drum sounds in Lucky Me come from the OP-1 Field,” he admits with a laugh. “Teenage Engineering really put great sounds in there. This other track from the album, Sugar and Lemon, the main chord is just a preset from the OP-1 Field, which I combined with the Behringer TORO. To have this €2,000, tiny, high-tech thing alongside a cheap clone from a German company made in China, I did it just for fun.”
Of course, he didn’t stop there. The next step was to add in some real hand claps and run the percussion bus through some outboard gear. “I layer things up,” he says. “And then it’s going to be sidechain compressed. I think the whole groove on Lucky Me went through the API 2500 compressor, for that old school glue.”

Avoid Anything Annoying
Stimming says one of the biggest and most time-consuming challenges in production is figuring out how to develop musical ideas. “Let’s say, theoretically, the whole time to create a track is twenty hours,” offers Stimming.
“Fifteen of those hours are spent trying to grasp how to proceed. While the actual procession, the improvements or expansions actually happen very fast. On Lucky Me, the two and a half minutes which are the really important moments came out naturally. Then, of course, there’s lots of work needed to make it into a five-minute track.”
His trick for knowing when a section is finished and it’s time to move on? Repeated listening.
“It’s a technique that I heard Kraftwerk also use,” says Stimming. “I listen to the loop for ages — sometimes it feels like four, six, seven hours—and if there’s nothing popping out that annoys me, then I’m good to go.”
Image: Press
Jamming, recording, and compiling
Stimming is known for the intricate sonic details that fill up his productions. On Lucky Me, there are a number of musical elements that gradually shift their tone and timbre as the song unfolds. Rather than automating changes after the fact, Stimming says he performs those evolutions live and then listens back to find moments of magic. “I record quite a lot of material,” Stimming emphasises. “For the bass, it’s just one jam, which I was going crazy with. Then, afterwards, I listen to it and cut all the parts that I like. All the sections I find have a meaning or they play into the story that I want to tell.
“I’m not sure if it’s the most clever way to do it,” he continues. “It’s very time consuming to listen to it afterwards. It’s just like a vocal session – and I hate vocal sessions so much. Not the session itself, but choosing which take to use afterwards is the hardest part.”
Stimming uses a similar process—capturing long sections of audio and then comping—in his field recordings. Throughout his career, found sound, nature recordings, and sonic oddities have been a mainstay of his production style. Lucky Me is no exception, featuring watery clicks, chirps, and thuds.
“Every so often, I have a phase where my ears open up to all the surrounding sounds, and I start recording them,” Stimming says of his love of field recording. These days, however, he’s not content to present those field recordings in their natural state. “I feel like using field recordings on their own isn’t that interesting anymore,” he muses. “It’s like… here’s a sound from the city, yeah, we get it. So, the way I use it right now is to throw it in a granular synth, for example, and all of a sudden it becomes an interesting texture. The GR1 is an incredible synth for that: it can handle really loud impulses, and, if they’re even a little bit atonal, you can use that tonal element to morph it into a pad or a chord.”

Playing with space
The details of Stimming’s sonic creations are easily matched by the nuances of his stereo mix. Spreading out across the stereo field, Lucky Me blends distant and close sounds to achieve a highly dynamic result.
Though he now mixes on a pair of Kii Threes at home, Stimming says his approach to space was shaped by his experiences using 4DSOUND, a spatial audio system, back in 2013. “I was playing on the 4DSOUND system for quite some time,” says Stimming. “It gives you these 3-dimensional containers for mono signals and you can move those containers around. Working with that system, using that dimensionality as part of the musical expression, it really helped me a lot even when moving back to 2D sound.
“On the one hand, the mixing happens quite intuitively,” Stimming continues. “But at the same time I do have some strict rules about what I put where – for example, if you want to open up a space, you have to close it beforehand, or if you want to make something appear louder then you have to remove the loud sound so that you can then jump back to it. This thinking is something I learned working with the 4DSOUND system.”

Keep pushing yourself
Perhaps more than anything, Lucky Me is a track that shows how important it is to challenge ourselves as producers and songwriters. After years spent perfecting his house and IDM skills and having built a dedicated following, it would have been easy for Stimming to stick to tried and true approaches. Instead, he chose to eschew formula in favour of experimentation – and the results speak for themselves. “This album came out of a desperate need to get rid of the strict 4/4 formula,” he states. “Once you get rid of the straight bassline, everything gets shaken up and pretty soon you’re in uncharted territory.”
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Excite Audio’s new Motion: Fractal plugin gives audio “endless motion” and textureExcite Audio has released Motion: Fractal, a granular plugin that can transform and manipulate audio in real time through dual granular engines and rhythmic effects.
The launch marks the third plugin within its Motion series, joining Motion: Dimension (space and time modulation) and Motion: Harmonic (dynamic distortion modulation). Excite Audio says Fractal can offer “endless motion, texture, and modern sonic transformation”.

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Just like its Motion siblings, Fractal offers a unique UI with a hexagon controller – an upgrade to the traditional XY pad. Here you can assign and morph between granular parameters, gated rhythms, and loop behaviours in real­time.
Users can also experiment with Fractal’s trance gate and beat-­repeat engines. Customise intricate patterns via a 32 ­step trance gate sequencer, sync rates to the tempo of your project, and shape dropouts smoothly or sharply with envelope controls.
The Repeater can also assist in crafting “complex, dynamic stutters” using adjustable repetition counts, interval triggers, and sync or free timing. Hear it in action in the video below:

For plugin recommendations selected by the MusicTech team, you can check out our rolling guide of the best free and paid-for plugins on the market. If you want more from Excite Audio, Plugin Boutique is currently selling its Lifeline Space reverb for only $5. You will have to act fast though, as the offer ends on 31 May at 09:59 BST.
Motion: Fractal is priced at £79, but is currently available for an introductory price of £39 – running until 30 June. You can also purchase it as part of a wider Motion or Excite Audio bundle. Find out more via Excite Audio, or purchase now via Plugin Boutique.
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