How to make the arpeggio sound for Nils Frahm 'Says' in DRC

So much of electronic music is dominated by the kick drum. It commands control of a club with its pumping pulse, a bass fueled metronome for the crowd to coordinate their dance moves. Depending on your workflow, (and genre of course) it might very well be the first note you lay down for every single track you create, and ultimately influence the development of the piece thereafter.

This week for our DRC Sound Design Tutorial however, we’re delving into a different side of electronic music, breaking free from the restraints of dance/club oriented records and into the beautiful world of modern classical/contemporary.

The concept of mixing symphonies and synthesizers dates back to the birth of some of the machines themselves; a notable example being Wendy Carlos’ iconic soundtrack for the 1971 film ‘A Clockwork Orange’ featuring some very haunting versions of Purcell, Rossini and Beethoven within.

Our focus today is on original compositions though, specifically the 2013 track ‘Says’ by German musician, composer and producer Nils Frahm. A classically trained pianist with a love of vintage synths, drum machines and effects units, his performances see him surrounded by the likes of Roland and Moog.

To create the arpeggio sound from the track with its modulated movements and ambient delay, in addition to DRC we also use our free effects plugin ‘DLYM Delay Modulator’ which you can 'download here'.

In the video Lucas plays the notes for the arpeggio part live, but you don’t need to of course, just grab the free Ableton Live session from the link below!

Click here to download the Ableton project file

Lovers of both classical and techno,
Team Imaginando

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