As you guys might notice, I'm not the kind of guy who's using 45 plugins on every tracks. My music production motto is ''Less is more''. I know my strengths as well as my weaknesses and I work according to them. I rather take my time and choose well my drum samples. THEN design my synths around them. Instead of designing cool sounds and taking 5 hours to find drums that fits or using 20 plugins to make them fit my sounds. If you design well your sounds you don't need to add many plugins or crazy EQs. Unless you're sound designing which is a different story.
And EBM has its "minimalist complexity." An oldschool concept full of analog textures and lofi samples. It may have a lot of layers, but the processing is basically minimal and the most important thing is the mixing.
when i was younger, i used to play a game where Frontline Assembly made the music called Airmechs, and i'm only discovering the name of this genre now and i feel the nostalgia, instantly subscribed and thanks for the tutorial
Hey thanks!! yeah that soundtrack is phenomenal. I love the track ''Arise''. That bass line is perfect hehe Still today I re-discover albums from them. Such a rich heritage. And the new albums are as good as the old ones.
@@Tonepusher 'Airmech' is definitely my favourite one, I still imagine it playing everytime I look at the game. I was also wondering if you have any kind of insight on that drum effect 1:10min into 'prep for combat', I've heard this kind of sound in 2 songs including this and I've been obsessing over how it's done and I thought you may know
I forgot to say thanks and that I enjoyed the vid. I sincerely hope you investigate this much more through a few more eras and styles of the genre! Cheers!
As I need to prepare a few EBM tracks, your videos saved me a looot of time today! Thanks dude, good job! I listened a lot of EBM, from Funker Vogt to Eisenfunk, but never tried to create anything in this style. Now it seems like very easy :).
I was only looking for a dark ambient playlist to jam while I work. Now I've ended up going down a rabbit hole of your videos and just realised I've been using your serum presets for years.
_"This is the snare without processing":_ synth talk for "without any _further_ processing in addition to the heavy compression, EQ and transient shaping that is baked into the sample".
Great video. Fellow EBM, Industrial and Dark Electro freak here. I have a Korg Wavestate arriving next Monday and would like to create similar music. I would need your wise advice for some plug ins and patches as I am a newbie at making sound. ☺
@@TonepusherNice! If you release anything similar to what you make on your channel, please reply to my comment with a link. What you do on your channel is what I look to buy but albums seem to have space fillers. Like they made 5 great songs and the rest were just to get it done.
Would also be great if you could give some tips on the harmonic part of this. Which scales fit for EBM, which intervals work better? Seems like you're using mostly octaves and a couple seconds here, is that right? Is that a minor scale, or some phrygian or something?
I'm not the best Music Theory guy around tbh. I mostly trust my ears hehe I believe this track is in the F minor scale. Most EBM artists were using hardware sequencer at the time. So very often, they were modulating the WHOLE track up or down in semitones as choruses or bridges...as it was MUCH easier than writing a completely new part. So if you want to try it. Just write a cool bass riff, then take the whole thing and move it up or down randomly where you think it sounds good. It really makes that EBM modulation vibe.
@@Tonepusher yeah, well, that's the thing - I want to understand how to write a cool bass riff :) And I run into so many sound design videos, but barely anything about music theory as applied to a certain genre - such as EBM. I keep trying by myself, but everything ends up just the same - 16th through couple bars with occasional minor and major seconds around. And I do not see how I can escape it and stop making the very same loop again and again
@@IuriiPlevako haha ok yeah I understand your pain. Well maybe I could make some videos about that. There's so many ways of writing ebm or industrial basslines. Right now I'm thinking that you should use fast BPMs (160 and higher) and 1/8th patterns. Think about Rammstein's guitar riffs but on synths.
@@Tonepusher cool. Thanks, I'll be looking forward to such videos if you end up making them! Sure, industrial is such a broad genre, and I'd love to understand the structure of its various kinds.
I’d wager some lower tech or lower budget or otherwise lower-end bands of the era….such as Klinik (with their single Casio CZ-101 and their cheap Tascam digital drums) even did this much work! Heh But it still sounds cool and fun. Indeed, early Ministry had use of a Fairlight CMI and only just barely scratched the surface of its capabilities on Twitch and Land of Rape and Honey. Same with Chemlab and their one EMax. Or 16 Volt having nothing but an EPS16 but creating a great debut with the album Wisdom. Meanwhile Skinny Puppy and Front 242 were going crazy and out of bounds extremely with their few digital and FM/PM synths, so….yeah. That’s the other side. Heheh
Good thing about making drum samples from scratch is you can come up with some awesome stuff, but if all your songs are like that then some kits are gonna age like milk and you're gonna hate them later when comparing to latest stuff lol
Wait a minute....so Laibach and 242 are EBM? What is the difference of Industrial Dance, EBM (I've heard it called Electronic Body Movement as well as Electronic Bass Movement ) and Aggro tech? It gets so confusing. Help!
hey thanks man. Yeah there's close to nothing on youtube about industrial...I've been doing this for 20 years so I figured I should share. Thanks for commenting man 🤘🏻
As you guys might notice, I'm not the kind of guy who's using 45 plugins on every tracks. My music production motto is ''Less is more''.
I know my strengths as well as my weaknesses and I work according to them. I rather take my time and choose well my drum samples. THEN design my synths around them. Instead of designing cool sounds and taking 5 hours to find drums that fits or using 20 plugins to make them fit my sounds.
If you design well your sounds you don't need to add many plugins or crazy EQs. Unless you're sound designing which is a different story.
And EBM has its "minimalist complexity." An oldschool concept full of analog textures and lofi samples. It may have a lot of layers, but the processing is basically minimal and the most important thing is the mixing.
Exactly, and tbh minimalist tracks/music is probably the hardest to produce. It requires a lot of maturity and knowledge of what you're doing.
In my opinion, EBM sounds most lively when you work with real analog devices and not with software plugins.
when i was younger, i used to play a game where Frontline Assembly made the music called Airmechs, and i'm only discovering the name of this genre now and i feel the nostalgia, instantly subscribed and thanks for the tutorial
Hey thanks!! yeah that soundtrack is phenomenal. I love the track ''Arise''. That bass line is perfect hehe Still today I re-discover albums from them. Such a rich heritage. And the new albums are as good as the old ones.
@@Tonepusher 'Airmech' is definitely my favourite one, I still imagine it playing everytime I look at the game.
I was also wondering if you have any kind of insight on that drum effect 1:10min into 'prep for combat', I've heard this kind of sound in 2 songs including this and I've been obsessing over how it's done and I thought you may know
@@sw5l It's a distorted drum loop with a lowpass filter automation (with a good amount of resonance). You can replicate that in any DAW. :)
@@Tonepusher awesome, I'll have to experiment way more, thanks again
@@sw5l no problem man :) don't hesitate if you have questions! 🤘
Yeeeeees!! this tutorial should be called "Let your body learn" 👍🔥🔥
hahaha !! good one!
Cubase I'm Here!
I forgot to say thanks and that I enjoyed the vid.
I sincerely hope you investigate this much more through a few more eras and styles of the genre!
Cheers!
As I need to prepare a few EBM tracks, your videos saved me a looot of time today! Thanks dude, good job! I listened a lot of EBM, from Funker Vogt to Eisenfunk, but never tried to create anything in this style. Now it seems like very easy :).
haha np man I hope it'll help you 🤘🏻
I was there, when it was written... front 242 changed my musical taste (slightly) in 1984 when I heard "take one" for the first time. 😊
Awesome tutorial! Something like "how to DE" and "how to Aggrotech" would be also cool to see, keep it up! 🙂
thanks! yeah aggrotech is definitely on the list 👌🏻
A very clear and concise tutorial! Great job!
@VultureCulture Hey thanks a lot man, love your content :) Was watching the Kawai R50-E video last week. Such a classic hehe 🤘
I'm not even surprised to find you here : 😁😁
EBM NOT DEAD
Cheers Brother 🍻🍻
Not dead at all, you can hear ebm everywhere. That new Gesaffelstein album has ebm basses all over it! hehe
I was only looking for a dark ambient playlist to jam while I work. Now I've ended up going down a rabbit hole of your videos and just realised I've been using your serum presets for years.
Making music like Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 and lay back ... 😀. Love you videos
great taste! hehe thanks :)
The Techno Viking at the end 😂!
lol! I had to
comprehensive and useful, tnx a lot for this!
hey thanks again for your comment, always appreciated 🤘
Awesome tutorial, my man! Very good insights here and zero BS.
haha thanks man! yeah no secrets here, choose the right sounds, good sound design, eq compression. No secret plugins lol
@@Tonepusher That's it! Cool stuff!
That was a really nice guide. Thanks :)
hey thanks to you 🤘🏻😊
You are master of EBM Universe :D
The He-Man of EBM! 💪🏻🤣 haha thanks man🤘🏻
_"This is the snare without processing":_ synth talk for "without any _further_ processing in addition to the heavy compression, EQ and transient shaping that is baked into the sample".
lol you're right thats why you dont need to add much...
Seen F242 and Laibach live (Aachen and Bonn).
never seen Laibach live yet :(
I, too, also like dirty things. \m/ Awesome video, dude!
haha 🤣 dirty but not muddy please.
Great video. Fellow EBM, Industrial and Dark Electro freak here. I have a Korg Wavestate arriving next Monday and would like to create similar music. I would need your wise advice for some plug ins and patches as I am a newbie at making sound. ☺
hey I'd be happy to help :)
If you have music on Apple Music, I’d be happy to buy it. All your videos have sweet sounds and great music you make.
Well I have some old stuff released. Productions I did back in 2017. I don't have anything recent (yet) lol I'm working on stuff right now :)🤘
@@TonepusherNice! If you release anything similar to what you make on your channel, please reply to my comment with a link. What you do on your channel is what I look to buy but albums seem to have space fillers. Like they made 5 great songs and the rest were just to get it done.
Would also be great if you could give some tips on the harmonic part of this. Which scales fit for EBM, which intervals work better? Seems like you're using mostly octaves and a couple seconds here, is that right? Is that a minor scale, or some phrygian or something?
I'm not the best Music Theory guy around tbh. I mostly trust my ears hehe I believe this track is in the F minor scale.
Most EBM artists were using hardware sequencer at the time. So very often, they were modulating the WHOLE track up or down in semitones as choruses or bridges...as it was MUCH easier than writing a completely new part.
So if you want to try it. Just write a cool bass riff, then take the whole thing and move it up or down randomly where you think it sounds good. It really makes that EBM modulation vibe.
@@Tonepusher yeah, well, that's the thing - I want to understand how to write a cool bass riff :) And I run into so many sound design videos, but barely anything about music theory as applied to a certain genre - such as EBM.
I keep trying by myself, but everything ends up just the same - 16th through couple bars with occasional minor and major seconds around. And I do not see how I can escape it and stop making the very same loop again and again
@@IuriiPlevako haha ok yeah I understand your pain. Well maybe I could make some videos about that. There's so many ways of writing ebm or industrial basslines.
Right now I'm thinking that you should use fast BPMs (160 and higher) and 1/8th patterns. Think about Rammstein's guitar riffs but on synths.
@@Tonepusher cool. Thanks, I'll be looking forward to such videos if you end up making them! Sure, industrial is such a broad genre, and I'd love to understand the structure of its various kinds.
Octaves, pentatonic minor, Phrygian, and Phrygian dominant all work well.
this track is too aggressive for the Techno Viking!🔥
loll nothing is too aggressive for the Techno Viking!! haha
I need that 90s Hit. Where is it from. Love it
I’d wager some lower tech or lower budget or otherwise lower-end bands of the era….such as Klinik (with their single Casio CZ-101 and their cheap Tascam digital drums) even did this much work! Heh
But it still sounds cool and fun.
Indeed, early Ministry had use of a Fairlight CMI and only just barely scratched the surface of its capabilities on Twitch and Land of Rape and Honey. Same with Chemlab and their one EMax. Or 16 Volt having nothing but an EPS16 but creating a great debut with the album Wisdom.
Meanwhile Skinny Puppy and Front 242 were going crazy and out of bounds extremely with their few digital and FM/PM synths, so….yeah. That’s the other side. Heheh
Good thing about making drum samples from scratch is you can come up with some awesome stuff, but if all your songs are like that then some kits are gonna age like milk and you're gonna hate them later when comparing to latest stuff lol
thanks a lot!!
thanks to you for commenting man, helps a lot the gods of the algorithm 🤘🏻
Wait a minute....so Laibach and 242 are EBM? What is the difference of Industrial Dance, EBM (I've heard it called Electronic Body Movement as well as Electronic Bass Movement ) and Aggro tech? It gets so confusing. Help!
Good tutorial, but i am missing the piano roll. Would love to see the midi notes...
Noted!
A great tutorial!
Just one minor thing: Laibach has never played EBM. 🙂
I understand what you mean but two of their most famous tracks, "Tanz mit Laibach" and "Achtung" are 100% ebm tracks... 🤷🏻♂️
Where do I get Steinberg Imager? Even steinberg seem to deny its existence
I have Cubase 12 pro, and it's a stock plugin. You don't have it?
Awesome
What program are you using?
DAW: Cubase
Main synth: Serum using my presets (www.tonepusher.com)
Drums: Splice
I kept it simple so anyone can replicate that sound!
I would like to know how to make a sound as Centhron has. So powerful
Yeah Centhron is very very well produced. I might make an "aggrotech" tutorial sometime soon 👌🏻
@@Tonepusher thanks, would be great :)
What’s with the easy listening piano jn the background?
It's for you to relax and leave a comment.
Do you sell midi files?
Not yet, but it's on my to-do list. I want to make some EBM basslines midi files.
😎👍
EBM ftw ! 🤘
I like making cyberpunk themed music
Which pack is the FMFM bass from?
It's from the "electronic body music" pack. This one:
www.tonepusher.com/product-page/electronic-body-music
@@Tonepusher Bought 2 packs 🤙
thanks for the support 😊
The stompers are cumming with this video. LOL🥾⚙⛓
It's so hard to find anybody remotely interested in making EBM
Lots of Industrial Techno : mehhh
Cheers 🥂
hey thanks man. Yeah there's close to nothing on youtube about industrial...I've been doing this for 20 years so I figured I should share. Thanks for commenting man 🤘🏻
This is not EBM, but EPM (Electronic Plugin Music)
Haha ok, so we should rename 90% of modern music?
@@Tonepusher I better not respond to that.
Just keep doing what you're doin'
Gotta know what key you're writing this in, man.
It's in F ! I'll leave the project on my Patreon if you ever want to dig deeper hehe