Welcome to our EBM Techno tutorial for Ableton Live, influenced by artists like Schwefelgelb, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and Phase Fatale. There is also a free EBM techno rack for Ableton Live to download below in the Downloads section below.
You can hear how this patch sounds in the video below.
See also: all our Techno Technique, and EBM articles. You can find all the free Ableton presets here.
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How To Make EBM Techno In Ableton Live
Here’s a run down of the patch from left to right of the midi effects, instruments and audio effects I’ve used to make this patch:

This patch is made from Wavetable and stock plugins from Ableton 12. You can get the Ableton rack for free in the comments section below.
For an EBM sound like this you want the filter really low and a very short filter envelope so each note is a really short and percussive stab. You want the sound to be almost too industrial and harsh, then cut it short with the filter which will tame it down a bit.
In Wavetable I select the ‘Sub 2’ waveforms for both oscillators, I detuned them a for a thicker sound, one up 30 cents and one down 30 cents. I put the Oscillator effects on to FM and change the tune and amount until I get something really distorted and harmonically rich. Then I add the sub oscillator too.
I add Unison as well with 4 voices. Then I add Drive at the filter. And I make sure the Filter Freq is modulated by Envelope 3 in the Mod Matrix. I tweak Envelope 3 so it has a really short decay for that tight percussive bass stab.
For some movement I make LFO 2 modulate the Oscillator Effects of Oscillator 2, with a long LFO rate of 4 so it changes slightly throughout a 4 bar loop.
I process the stab with loads of distortion using Roar, Amp, Overdrive. I set up Roar to have the multi band settings so I can distort the bass, mid and highs differently. As you can see in the image below, I put a bit of Diode Shaper on the Low and Top end, and then put a lot of Digital Shaper on the mids. I turn the Shaper levels up for the high end so it cuts through more.

Then there’s the Amp on Blues driver mode and Overdrive, you can add these in to taste.
Then I add an Echo unit for a synched, pumping rhythmic delay, and you can add in some Reverb here too. Then there’s another Overdrive to bring out the delays and Reverb. Then it’s EQ’d with and EQ Eight.
I add a second chain to the group which has a pitched down Operator in it playing a sinewave patch under the main patch to add in a big sub bass low end. It is processed with Drum Buss to give it a bit of distortion. There’s a also a Sidechain compressor, you should select your Kick channel in the dropdown menu on it, so the sub bass it ducks when there’s a kick drum playing.
Some Other Things To Try…
Tweaking the distortions will have a big effect on this sound. You can try different wavetables and different wavetable effects too. Changing the shape of the main modulation envelope will change the feeling of the stab too. If you can use a step sequencer (the Ableton 12 or and MaxforLive sequencer will do) to sequence the synth patch and modulate some parameters too.
The Macro Controls For The EBM Techno Rack For Ableton
What the Macros do:
Sub Bass Volume – the volume of the sub bass layer
Time – increases or decreases the length of all the envelopes in Wavetable
Global Mod – increases or decreases all the modulation amounts of anything modulated in Wavetable.
Filter 1 Freq – the cut-off of the low pass filter in Wavetable
Filter 1 Res – the cut-resonance of the low pass filter in Wavetable
Env 3 Decay – The filter envelope decay – this will make the stab longer or shorter.
Osc 2 Effect 1 -Changes the wavetable effect in Oscillator 2.
Osc 3 Gain – The tune of oscillator 2’s FM effect
Early Roar Drv – Drive distortion level in Roar – use it to add distortion to the middle of the effect chain.
Roar Fb Amt – Feedback level in Roar – turn it up for crazy feedback tones.
Amp – the wet/dry mix of the Amp distortion – use it to add distortion to the middle of the effect chain.
Over Drive – The drive amount on the overdrive – use it to add distortion to the middle of the effect chain.
Echo Fdbck – delay feedback – use it for a build up by turning it to max to get loads of feedback.
Echo Rvrb Mix – The reverb level in the Echo unit.
Echo Dry/Wet – The overall mix of the Echo unit’s delay and reverb
Final Ovrdrv – One final distortion at the end of the chain
EBM Techno Tutorial Video:
Here’s a video tutorial and run down of the rack on our Youtube channel….
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Downloads
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