Ableton Forum

Hi Forum,

I'm a long time lurker first time poster so this might seem like a stupid question.

I really dig the micro-sampling style of production especially with artists like BreakBot, SebastiAn and LBCK. I've been trying to re-create it but it sometimes gets a little overwhelming so I was interested to see how others approach it.

So in my case I have Ableton and Maschine. Usually I just grab an old funk record and take a 4-8 bar loop. Warp it in Ableton and then bounce the audio to Maschine to where I chop it to either 1/4, 1/8 or 1/16 notes and then play pads to try and a sort of re-arranged loop. Once I got all the loops I bounce it back to Ableton for effects and mix down.

What I find is I'm lacking that sort of glitchy effect or vibe and i'm struggling to find different methods to achieve this. Here's one of my tracks as an example:
http://soundcloud.com/kid_koma/piano-chic

nice track, really satisfying kick/bass sound. there's a really jumpy/switchy section around 2.11 which I like. when you say 'not glitched enough' I'm guessing that you mean too regular. the repeating sections are fairly short.. maybe 2 bars/4bars? so - perhaps longer, more variable repeating sections.. . perhaps get more swung and syncopated/ off grid in the cuts as well.. triplets rather 1/8, 1/16 etc,

I think your approach to microsampling is solid.

I dunno, its a nice sounding track - my brain started to switch off at times - cause of the repetition; but its been so long since I've listened to house that maybe thats simply aesthetics rather than a value judgement

This is the least stupid first post I've seen in a while. No need to self-flagellate.

I really liked your track. It started to drag a bit at the end, but overall I thought it was catchy, danceable, and just generally enjoyable to listen to. I'll be following you on Soundcloud, keep it up.

I'm going to respond to this when I have a bit more time to compose a thorough response, but I definitely think you're on the right track. As a Live+Maschine user myself, I definitely understand why you're using each tool in the manner you are. Some of what I'll end up recommending will involve shifting some of the compositional tasks back to Live, YMMV.

In the meantime, see if you can turn up some (preferably acapella) vocal samples you'd like to use, you'll need them later.

Hey Guys,

Really appreciate the feedback. It helps to know that I've got the right idea.

@oddstep - Im definitely going to try using triplet samples. That swing I feel is what I'm lacking. Thanks for tip.

@Ryanmf- Thanks heaps for the props. Look forward to your detailed response and tips for Maschine+Ableton Usage

Thanks again!