I'm Stefan Erhalder, a Basel based sound engineer and composer, specialized in jacking techno, acid and classic electro. I share random insights into my jam sessions and production techniques and run Chip Stress, a music label focused on classic electro. I like to play around with cameras and synths, used to play the drums, hosting the fm radio show «SlackJackerz - The Rave Channel» on Channel K together with Nenad J., Sebastian Lindau and Stahl. I'm one half of Aux Couture, together with Nenad J., who runs Aerobik records.
@@Erhalder no worries, but seriously, this was amazing - different to the normal "how to" videos I see, not to say they are bad, cos they aren't, but i really liked this style here and the sounds you made, and then finished! Gold star ⭐
well yeah i might cover this in a video, but i'm not the expert concerning music theory. i'm usually just sticking to what i believe is some kind of minor blues scale. for the main melodic stuff it's ususally just c, c#, d#, f, f# and a# - no idea what scale this is, but i'm using it since 1999 for pretty much everything i write. of course i change the root note some times, but these are the spacings i use.
and i never ever use a daws scale features - as it prevents you from putting in the interesting «wrong» notes, that sometimes give the melody the certain extra.
Nice stuff! I have been studying and making electro for the last two years. I just about have a full album to release but I feel like an imposter because I used to make techno and now I want to make this amazing electro music. To be true to electro do I need to record the whole track as a jam? I know that is historically how it was done and I fully respect that but my process is more like I make a 16-32 bar sequence(and jam out on it) and then record in all the parts at once from hardware and arrange mix and master from there. I'm thinking who cares how its done as long as it sounds cool but I know genre die hards can be scrutinizing at times. It kinda seems you do it fairly similar to that. I do like to overdub synths on top too after that as well sometimes even playing by hand. Also cool insight to your process and sounds great! Another thing that is funny is that I gravitate towards the EXACT same 808 kick sound on my tr8s lol with that nice overdrive on it. Sounds so good. Good stuff guys.
I am a Techno producer, but I really do enjoy listening to Elektro made my Anthony Rother or Erhalder. So much that I bought an 808 some years ago. Just because I wanted those drums so bad. Anyways, I think you are on the right route. Really! So far, I do everything live, too. In one single pass, direct to two track. When I f*ck up, I'll redo the whole thing. Just like a musician would do with any acoustic instrument. Or any ensemble like an orchestra or band back in the glory days. That being said, there is this "hybrid" approach, what Stefan shows here for the first track. Me also being an Ableton Live user since the first betas saw the light of the day, I certainly see the advanced possibilities of using a computer (again). Since I am not an 🐙, so what you can control live is limited. I do make use of "macro-controllers" like controlling multiple things at once with wheels, knobs or pedals. But at some point you certainly reach the limit of what's possible as a single person in real time. Even though I practise daily. Cheers and all the best with your creations 😊
@@wackerburg yeah im hybrid all the way. Its the best. Tons of hardware though haha. Enjoy making your techno! And yeah Rother is the GOD of electro. Absolutely worship that dude!
This is SICK. I'd love to know, is your mixer itself sending the individual tracks into your daw? If so, what mixer are you using? I've always wanted to capture individual tracks during tinkering sessions for individual processing
thanks. im using a mixwizard wz4 16:2 analog mixer. the mixer has a direct out for every single input channel. i wired all direct outs to individual inputs on the audio interface, which is a motu 16a. what you actually need to do multitracking is basically a mixer with direct outs and a multi channel audio interface. there are several options, however some (cheaper) mixers have the direct out wired always pre eq. my mixer can be configured to allow post EQ and also post fader direct outs. this way i can record exactly the sound and levels i had during the jam which is what fits my workflow very good. before i had a mixer with buit in usb interface, but it the USB interface stopped working and thats why i moved to separate mixer and separate audio interface. because a high quality mixer will probably last much longer than the interface, which i can easily replace if i want to upgrade.
amazing work as always; impossible to choose just one! So my top: 1- Erhalder - Space Trip For Gretchen (Original Mix) 2- Erhalder - Space Trip For Clara (Original Mix) 3- Erhalder - 221229 EL TTest0star V3 4- Erhalder - 220701 ABL EL 135 PolyEndJBStab Ed2.4 RM And I don't say anything about chip stress 13 because it's already released haha, thanks for your music 💙
thanks! yeah i didn't show the hat pattern, but it's a pretty simple pattern. there are 3 different closed hihat samples used for the hihat pattern, no automation or modulation involved, and theres is always only one sample playing at the time, like a real drummer, and different velocities. the hihat samples are from the free "808 tape" collection you can download from wave alchemy. the kick and clap samples are also from the same collection.
hey mat, yeah, really glad a track of mine found its way into daves show 🍻thanks for letting me know 🙏 someone else informed me about it in a comment on another video 💪 cheers mate
