This is a quick guide to how to make a Jeff Mills style ‘alien’ Detroit techno sequence in Ableton, with a free Ableton Rack. I really like his Something in the Sky series with it’s off-key FM sequences. Here I tried to get as close as possible to that sound using Ableton stock plugins. I hope you find it useful.
You can get the Ableton rack for this in the Downloads section below. And you can hear what this patch sounds like in the embedded video below too…
See also: all our Techno Technique, Hypnotic Techno, and Detroit Techno articles. You can find all the free Ableton presets here. See here for a full guide to Ableton’s Step Sequencers.
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How To Make Jeff Mills Style Detroit 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 alien techno sequence…
As I said in the intro I really like the Jeff Mills Something In The Sky records that use detuned FM sequences. I tried to get something in a similar vein here using Ableton stock plugins. The key here is using a step sequencer, then converting every note to a chord and then pulling the FM out of tune. Then using the sequencer to modulate the filter and FM even more for a moving, alien techno chord sequence.

How I made the patch: I set up the SQ Sequencer with a 7 note sequence so it has rolling polyrhythmic feel as the loop is shorter than the bar. I use the Octave row to raise up some of the notes 1 or 2 octaves as this will give the sequence a more bleepy feel.
After the sequencer I use a Pitch unit to drag the pitch down 2 octaves. Then I add a Chord unit to make a minor techno chord (0,+3,+7), then I add +1 which will make the chord a bit off and out of tune, which is what you want for that weird alien feel. Then I add +12 which is the root note but an octave up so the chord has more high end. I also add Strum to the Chord unit as it makes the pitch wobble a bit.

In Operator I use 4 sinewaves, which sounds great in this type of techno and I detune them all off a bit. I use the analogue modeling routing set up with the horizontal four bar Tetris icon thing, you know what I mean! I also add Feedback to some oscillators, which makes them frequency modulate themselves and you get a thicker tone.
In the filter section I set a tight decay and turn the cut off down so only a small stab or bleep will come through the filter. I then make sure velocity is modulating some parameters in the synth so I can modulate them from the SQ sequencer…
The velocity modulations are: OSC<Vel on Oscillators A and D, so they go out of tune in opposite directions depending on the Velocity row in the sequencer. And I use Time<Vel and Freq<Vel settings on the filter so the cut off and filter envelope length change for each note too.

Once these are set up I can go back and tweak the sequencer and get a really moving sequence as the FM and filter changes for each note.
After Operator I add a Chorus with loads of feedback for an added alien effect (turn up the feedback and you’ll notice what it is doing, you can adjust the Rate to taste).
Then there’s a Delay unit for rhythmic delays. And a Hybrid Reverb. The Feedback on the hybrid reverb is a great effect too – try turning it up for more alien effects.
Some Other Things To Try…
Try changing all the velocity modulation settings and the Velocity row on the sequencer. You could add some LFO tools too modulate the ‘alien’ effects on the Chorus and hybrid reverb too.
The Macro Controls For The Jeff Mills Style Detroit Techno
Here’s the Macro controls in the rack and what they do….
Time – turn it down to gate the sound short and turn it up to elongate them. This controls the time of all all envelopes in Operator.
Filter Freq – Turns up the cutoff to reveal the whole chord.
Filter Res – turn it up for a bit of hi end resonance on the filter.
Osc D Fine Tn – This changes the fine tuning on the FM source so changing this will drag the FM out of tune, you get a nice alien FM effect like the Jeff Mills Something in the Sky records.
Filter Drive – Distortion at the filter.
Delay Feedback – turn it up to add tension and create builds.
Delay Mix – Wet/dry mix of the delay.
Reverb Decay – the length of the reverb – turn it up to add tension and create builds.
Jeff Mills Style Detroit Techno In Ableton Live – 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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