Processing & Mixing
Sidechain, saturation, parallel chains, M/S, resampling, spectral tools, loudness.
Filter Techniques for Deep Techno — The Complete Chapter
Every filter technique a deep and dub techno producer needs in Live 12: theory (slopes, resonance, keytracking, drive, models), a full inventory of Live’s filters, 28 techniques from the 64-bar chord opening to filters in delay feedback, odd-division LFOs, kick-triggered followers, M/S filtering and modular VCFs, plus per-element recipes and a 224-bar automation map.
Sidechain & Ducking
Every way to make one signal push another out of the way in Live 12 — Compressor/Glue/Gate sidechains, Auto Filter and Roar sidechains, Echo Duck, LFO/Shaper fake sidechain, ghost kicks, multiband ducking, and per-genre pump shapes.
Compression & Glue
Compressor (Peak/RMS/Expand, knee, lookahead), Glue Compressor on buses, Multiband Dynamics upward and downward, parallel and serial compression, limiter-as-compressor, and ratio/attack/release tables per source and genre.
Saturation & Distortion
Harmonics explained, then every Live 12 way to add them — Saturator 12.1 modes and waveshaper, Roar routings (Multiband, Mid-Side, Feedback), Drum Buss, Overdrive, Pedal, Amp/Cabinet, Erosion, Redux, Vinyl Distortion, Dynamic Tube, soft clipping, gain staging, and a distortion-per-source table.
Parallel Processing
Audio Effect Rack chains in parallel, phase and latency with Align Delay, parallel distortion and reverb, three ways to go multiband (racks + EQ, Multiband Dynamics, Roar Multiband), returns vs rack parallel, and wet/dry rules.
Mid/Side & Stereo
Controlling width in Live 12 — Utility width/mono/bass mono, EQ Eight M/S, Roar Mid-Side, Saturator in M/S via racks, Hybrid Reverb and Chorus-Ensemble stereo, Auto Pan-Tremolo width, Haas with Align Delay, mono-compatibility checks and a per-element width map.
EQ Strategies
How to EQ in Live 12 — EQ Eight modes, slopes, oversampling and M/S, Channel EQ, EQ Three kills, carving vs boosting, dynamic EQ with Multiband Dynamics, resonance hunting, and per-element EQ curves for kick, sub, bass, vocal, pad, hats and the mix bus.
Resampling Workflow
Turning what you have into raw material again — Resampling input, Freeze/Flatten, Bounce in Place, Bounce Group, Stem Separation, Looper, warp modes and the resample cascade.
Reverb & Space
Hybrid Reverb algorithms and convolution (including custom IRs), the legacy Reverb, returns vs inserts, sidechained, gated, reverse and shimmer reverbs, techno rumble, freeze, and a depth-placement table.
Delay Design
Echo deep-dive (modes, dual times, feedback, Reverb/Modulation/Character), the Delay device, Grain Delay, ping-pong, filtered dub throws, Haas, delay as rhythm generator, Note Echo, sends vs inserts and feedback safety.
Spectral Processing
Spectral Resonator and Spectral Time in depth (modes, MIDI mode, freeze, delay, tilt), plus Vocoder, Corpus, Resonators, Shifter ring-mod and frequency shift, Auto Shift — with recipes for pads from drums, tonal textures from noise, drones and sidechain-controlled spectral freeze.
Transient Design
Shaping the first 20 ms of a sound in Live 12 — Drum Buss Transients, Compressor and Gate as transient shapers, Envelope Follower-driven Utility, the Warp/Simpler transient envelope, click/body layering with Align Delay, Multiband Dynamics on the attack band, and Erosion sizzle.
Layering Rules
How to stack sounds in Live 12 without mud or cancellation — frequency band ownership, sub/mid/top splits, polarity and Align Delay checks, mono vs stereo per layer, envelope agreement, tuning, Drum Rack and Instrument Rack zone layering, and sample-plus-synth hybrids.
Tape, Lo-Fi & Analog Character
Every way to fake (or print) tape, vinyl, cassette, old samplers and analog instability in Live 12 — saturation curves, wow & flutter, hiss, crackle, bit and sample-rate reduction, SP-1200/MPC/S950 character, tape stops, varispeed, Eno-style unequal loops, 4-track bounce generation loss, analog drift, and how much is too much.
Loudness & Limiting
Gain staging, Glue + Limiter staging, soft clipping before the ceiling, true peak, LUFS targets per genre and platform, and when clipping beats limiting.
Mix Templates
Template sets for techno, dubstep/bass, trip-hop/dub, DnB and house — track, group and return structure, colour coding, sends map, bus racks, CPU strategy and Live 12 browser tags.
Automation & Modulation
Arrangement automation vs clip modulation, macro automation, the M4L modulators (LFO, Shaper, Envelope Follower, Expression Control), Macro Variations, Follow Actions, modulation hierarchies, tempo-synced divisions, the 12.1 MIDI LFO tool, CV Tools and humanising.
Performance & Live Set
Building a Session-view live set in Live 12 for a dark dub / trip-hop or techno show — scene design, launch modes and quantization, follow actions, Looper, dummy clips, Push macro racks, External Instrument and External Audio Effect for a TD-3 and eurorack, latency, crossfader and kill-EQ racks, a performance FX return, safety limiting, dub mixing moves, sync, set organisation and backups.