Ableton Forum

Hello,

I’m a big fan of Tal Fussman and Skatman, especially the way they blur the line between house and techno.

What I’m trying to recreate is that very specific “piano stab” territory they use: harmonically simple, groovy, clearly rooted in house, but with a much more techno feel in the final result.

That’s exactly where I’m stuck.

I don’t think the issue is the chords themselves. I can get the harmony and rhythm where I want them, but the end result still sounds too organic, too natural, and too “90s piano house.” It sounds like piano chords, not techno stabs.

I’ve been using the Korg M1 VST as a starting point, since it seems like an obvious reference for this kind of sound, but I suspect the real magic is in the processing rather than in the source patch itself.

So my question is: what kind of processing turns a piano-house style chord into something tighter, harder, and more “techno”?

If possible, I’d love to stay within Ableton Suite native devices, since I also use Push 3 Standalone, but any production tips are welcome.

A few examples of the sound I mean:

https://youtu.be/geNwJMvT-fs?si=TbpUEBGbiF0Wybzu
https://youtu.be/pWcump0I5Kw?si=p9Lx_8uIYkcYW9cK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO_X_k-bDQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U9qAzTqb80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6qa-qux_V4

Thanks in advance.

Sometimes something as simple as note length.

There are the am or filter envelopes, adsr can each have a hand in tightening a sound. There are dynamics processing possibilities whether gating or compressing. Also context.. so sometimes if an effect like reverb or delay are there, you might push those out of the way during or slightly after the hit.

I did not listen to examples. But that’s what I could think of after reading. Also doubling via octaves (though careful with velocity of one of the layers to make it less obvious)