I’ve been involved in dance music for over a decade, and in that time, there have been very few labels that have successfully transitioned from being a smaller, artist-run independent label to becoming a real heavyweight in the industry. Nora Impure’s Purified is definitely one of the few that have achieved this ambitious goal. Nora Impure’s career has skyrocketed, and she’s used that platform not only to build the label but also to elevate the artists she signs, consistently prioritizing the quality of the music over simply chasing big names or trends.

This commitment to excellence means that everything released on Purified is top-notch.

One of the latest releases, a track by Return of the Jaded titled “Attila,” perfectly exemplifies this. With warm synths, intricate details, and a compelling build-up and release of tension, it checks all the boxes for a masterfully crafted melodic house track. In the latest edition of “How It Was Made,” we invited Return of the Jaded to discuss the plugins they used, share some tips for producing music at this level and in this genre, and much more. So, give the track a few listens to get familiar with the magic this producer is about to reveal before we dive into the latest edition of “How It Was Made,” featuring Return of the Jaded’s “Attila,” out now on Purified.

DIVA

Diva by uh-e is a virtual analog synth emulator. It is very versatile and offers a lot of features that you can nerd out on. The sound it make is very llush and deep. It also captures the imperfection of analog synthesizers. Sometimes you get the random artefact or the LFO’s are not always perfectly on time and you also get the occasional phasing issue that cancels out the bass. I personally like these imperfections because it adds that real world spontaneity to your sounds.

I used Diva for my main lead. The sound is a modified version of “PL 002 MJ Crimson” preset. I automated Env 1: sustain, decay, VCF1: frequency and VCC: glide throughout the track to create tension and movement. I’m also using the built-in plate reverb and delay for wetness.

If you make anything from deep house to trance, Diva is a must have plugin. You will get the rich analog sounds without owning an expensive hard synthesizers. And something people don’t mention enough is the availability of the huge amount of third party presets to choose from.

Fabfilter Pro-Q3 

fabfilter Pro-Q3 to me is the ultimate equalizer plugin that offers so much more than what a traditional EQ is. I love the dynamic eq feature to cut out the pesky resonant peaks without affecting the overall tone of a sound. The linear phase feature is super important when using it on the lower frequencies as well. And if you want to sidechain a specific frequency, it also lets you do that! 

I use this plugin religiously on almost every channel and it doesn’t kill my CPU. I use the spectrum grab feature to visually see problem areas on any sound and attenuate the harsh frequencies. This tool alone will massively improve your mixing game. The cherry on top is the ease with which you can use mid/side EQ and stereo EQ in the same window. 

Everyone making any genre of music uses equalizers. Do yourself a favor and make your life easy by grabbing the Q3. You will fix mixing problems more easily so you can focus and the creative side of production.

Ableton Live Vinyl Distortion 

Vinyl Distortion is a Live native plugin that emulates distortion that normally happens during a vinyl record playback. It basically lets you add harmonics and noise to any sound. 

I take advantage of the pinch effect to add harmonics to the stereo image. In my track, I use it to beef up the stereo image of my bass sounds by adding harmonics and distortion to it. I play around with the Drive knob to get the right amount of distortion. Use the settings in the image above to set it exactly like I did.

I normally would use something like Ozone Imager or Wider to widen my bass sound, but they don’t add “fatness” to the sound. Using this effect adds that extra richness that often lacks from a bass sound.

4 quick tips for making melodic techno

Tip #1: Put a limiter or a soft clipper on your bus channels to flatten the peaks for a louder mix.

Tip #2: Layer, layer, layer to add texture, richness and create unique timbre for your sounds.

Tip #3: Add reverb to a lead sound, sample it and add more effects to create atmospheric elements that sound similar to your lead.

Tip #4: Most melodies today most likely have already been written by someone. Stand out by manipulating your sounds in a unique way. Example: automate glide.

The post How It Was Made: Return of the Jaded – Attila (Purified) appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.