How to make TECHNO like [CHARLOTTE DE WITTE] [Amelie Lens] and [ANNA] Pt.1

The producer was inspired by Charlotte De Witte's latest remix album and received many questions about her signature style, prompting a detailed breakdown video.

• Part 1: Rumble low end and rumble kick with bass artifacts • Part 2: Driving high end with high hats and 16 percussions • Part 3: Layering synthesizers, distorted synth sounds, and trance chords

Ableton Live 10 with mostly stock plugins, Pigments for synthesis, and all techniques are replicable in other DAWs.

New editing style designed to make it easier to follow each step without distraction, with feedback welcome in the comments.

The sub kick features a fat waveform with low reproduction and an empty beginning that fills the distorted body of the kick, creating the rumble foundation.

• Cut high ends to focus on low-end reproduction • Boost high frequencies slightly for presence • Cut super lows to avoid self-interference • Cut super highs to make room for transient layering

Apply saturation to add more harmonics and character to the kick, creating a more distorted body sound.

Add a super-short click on top of the kick using a raised slightly distorted transient to introduce harmonics and complete the kick character.

Create a sub pattern that fills the gaps between kick hits by using the same sub but slightly lower in volume to maintain a rumbling low-end without blocking the kick's breathing room.

• Keep the beginning part not too loud to allow the kick to breathe • Vary volume up and down with a slightly staggered approach • Avoid copying and pasting identically everywhere

Introduce slight changes to the sub pattern by offset placement rather than exact repetition, creating groove and movement in the low-end rumble.

Use the kick body with a different pattern to fill the mid-range and add groove on top of the sub, similar to a horse-riding rhythm.

Create a new channel for the kick body to add a different rhythm pattern that supports and complements the sub-bass foundation.

Develop a pattern like 'dum de dum de dum dum dum' that creates groove and movement, keeping the initial attack to maintain clarity of where the hits occur.

Adjust the kick body volume down to ensure it complements rather than overpowers the sub-bass layer and maintains the overall balance.

Apply effects like EQ to clean up high and low frequencies, frequency shifter for variation, and saturation to refine the mid-range layer.

• Clean up the low-end to remove unwanted frequencies • Clean up the high-end to reduce harshness • Use frequency shifter to create variation and avoid static repetition

Apply saturation to add harmonics and create coherence across all kick layers, making the overall low-end sound more unified and punchy.

Introduce delay to the transient to create space and depth, allowing the click to echo slightly rather than appearing on every beat.

Emphasize transients selectively rather than on every hit, avoiding a continuous clicking sound that becomes fatiguing while maintaining rhythmic interest.

Add ambient sounds and machine-like noise textures to fill the space in the track and create a more immersive low-end atmosphere typical of techno.

• Use fan sound or weird machine sounds for ambient effect • Side-chain the fan sound to the kick and sub for rhythmic cohesion • Adjust and mix to blend with the overall track

Layer an ambient white noise using Pigments to add texture and fill the stereo field, providing a bed under the rhythmic elements.

Use different noise types from Pigments analog oscillator to find the right character, then apply effects like side-chain and LFO modulation for movement.

Use Ozone Imager to control the stereo width of the white noise, making some frequency ranges mono and others stereo for a cohesive spatial image.

• Keep frequencies up to 1000 Hz controlled based on polar sample visualization • Manage stereo imaging to prevent phase issues in the low-end • Create different imaging treatments for different frequency ranges

Apply side-chain effects to the white noise to create rhythmic movement that reacts to the kick, using both simple side-chain and LFO Tool for variation.

Use LFO to draw custom modulation patterns rather than simple automation, creating a rising and varied feel that keeps the texture moving.

Create a zippy resonance sound using filter sweeps with Pigments analog oscillator, creating a resonant wobbling texture typical of reference tracks.

• Boost filter resonance significantly to create the characteristic zipper sound • Adjust filter cutoff to find the sweet spot in the frequency range • Layer filter automation with LFO for movement and variation

Use LFO to modulate the noise type itself, allowing fast movement between different noise characteristics and creating dynamic texture changes.

Apply EQ to the zipper sound so it fits cohesively with the rest of the track, completing the authentic low-end foundation before moving to the high-end.