Studio Essentials: Rudosa

Manchester-based DJ, producer, and label owner Rudosa has been one of the cities most exciting techno artists for sometime now, releasing a consistent stream of heavy-set club tracks on record labels such as Soma, Terminal M, and 1605.

He also owns a successful label of his own in Moments In Time, where since its launch in 2019, he has hosted productions from names like Analect, Sara Landry, Alt8, and Hadone.

Rudosa joins us for our first Studio Essentials feature of 2023, where he highlights some of his most important bits of studio gear, including plugins from Ableton, soft-synths from DS Audio, and more.

ML-185 Sequencer

Max for Live’s ML-185 sequencer, I use this to create complex sequences I wouldn’t be able to program live due to not having the finger speed to hit all the offbeats. I then use the sequencers pattern I’ve drawn to build the groove, and I use it to create everything from the low end elements to lead sounds.

D16 Group Punchbox

D16 Group’s Punchbox is a great tool that I use to get the perfect sounding kick drum. I often layer the Punchbox with other samples, but this bit of equipment pitches the tone of my kick to match the major or minor scale I’m working in. Percussion might not play melodies, but it still has a tone similar to the note from a scale, so having the percussion pitched correctly can really help glue the parts of a track together.

DS Audio Thorn

Thorn from DS Audio is a synth that’s a good all-rounder for digital sounding leads and fills. It’s especially good for the short, stabbing sounds that fit nicely within the groove of fast-paced music without the notes overlapping. It’s good for lots of stuff, but I’d especially recommend it to those who want to make hard techno.

DS Audio Tantra 2

Tantra 2 is a multi-effect software plugin that I use for messing around with percussive elements and synth leads. It’s a great way to keep things modulating with subtle changes that stop a loop from sounding overly repetitive. It keeps the music interesting and works for all styles of electronic music, but it’s especially good if you want to make hard groove techno where the percussion is the main focus. It adds some really amazing effects and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Ableton Chord

Ableton Chord is probably the most simple of my selections, but it’s really useful for making hard groove techno. It can be used for thickening up stabbing synth sounds, but I’ve also added it to bongo drums and some other percussive sounds, as it’s an easy way to give the drums a thicker sound with more tone and texture. When using it on percussion, I often pitch one sound up 6 semitones and the other down 5 semitones, or vice versa. Those settings are a slight contradiction to where I previously mentioned it’s important to pitch the drums so they are in the same scale, as if you also make them too perfect it can sound overly polished. So, I use Ableton Chord to add a subtle dissonant to the tone, as hard groove techno needs to have some rough edges.

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Rudosa – Back In The Day EP drops February 17th on We Are The Brave.