Producer guides
Short, practical guides to common mixing, mastering and sound-design jobs, each showing the exact controls to reach for in a Sequoia plugin.
Guides for AURA-8
How to make ambient pads with a wavetable synthMake slow, evolving ambient pads with a wavetable synth: soft wavetables, slow envelopes, wavetable scanning, a vowel filter and tape. AURA-8 settings to try.How to make a wavetable from any soundTurn a voice, a guitar note or a field recording into a playable wavetable. What makes a good source sound, and how AURA-8 builds a 64-frame table from audio.Evolving arpeggios: patterns that keep changingMake arpeggios that keep evolving: Euclidean rhythms, lanes of different lengths, accents, ratchets, ghost notes and scale lock. With AURA-8 settings to try.
Guides for TENFOLD
How to layer samples into one playable instrumentHow to layer several of your own samples on one note into a playable instrument: tuning, start points, filters and analog-style drift, step by step in TENFOLD.Granular synthesis: pads and textures from any sampleHow granular synthesis turns any sample into pads, clouds and textures: grain size, density, spray, freeze and pitch explained, with TENFOLD settings to try.
Guides for FURROW
How to generate techno drum groovesGenerate peak-time techno, hardgroove and melodic techno drum grooves from your own sample library, then shape them from intro to peak. A guide using FURROW.Minimal techno drum patterns: swing, ghost notes and polymeterThe ingredients of minimal techno drums: space, swing, late ghost kicks and rolling polymeter percussion. How to program them, with FURROW settings to try.Turn your sample library into drum groovesHow to organize a messy drum sample library and turn it into grooves: FURROW sorts your samples, builds kits at random and writes patterns, or slices a loop.
Guides for CLEARING
Mastering EQ for techno: a practical guideHow to use a mastering EQ on a techno track: a solid mono low end, a tidy kick and bass, controlled resonance and open top end, with CLEARING settings to start.How to remove mud from a mixMuddy mix? Find the build-up between 200 and 500 Hz, cut it only when it gets thick and keep the warmth. A step-by-step EQ guide using CLEARING HIGHLIGHT.How to duck the bass under the kick with a dynamic EQMake room for the kick without pumping the whole bass: a sidechain dynamic EQ dips only the kick frequency while the kick plays. Step-by-step with CLEARING.How to find frequency clashes in a mixLearn to spot frequency masking, stereo lows, resonances and build-ups, and fix each with the right kind of EQ band. With CLEARING FIND CLASHES and HIGHLIGHT.LUFS and true peak: mastering for streamingWhat integrated LUFS, short-term loudness and true peak mean, why streaming services turn loud masters down, and how to check a master with CLEARING meters.
Guides for DEEPFIELD
Ambient reverb for pads: huge, smooth spacesHow to set up a long ambient reverb for pads and drones: decay, damping, diffusion, movement, freeze and two reverbs in series. With DEEPFIELD settings to try.Reverb without mud: clear vocals and drums in a real spaceKeep vocals and drums clear under reverb: low cut, pre-delay, ducking, mid/side and decay explained, with DEEPFIELD recipes for a vocal plate and a drum room.
Guides for SILTH
How to get a lo-fi sound: tape, vinyl and bitcrushingGive beats, keys and vocals lo-fi character without losing clarity: tape saturation and flutter, vinyl dust and wow, sample-rate and bit reduction. With SILTH.Lo-fi drums: the 12-bit sampler sound, step by stepHow to make lo-fi drums with the crunch of a 12-bit sampler: sample rate, bit depth, aliasing and filtering explained, and how to keep the punch. With SILTH.
Guides for EMBER
Guides for RESONA
Modal synthesis explained: bells, mallets and ringing texturesWhat modal synthesis is and how to design bells, mallets, plucked strings and bowed drones: exciters, structure, damping and strike position, with RESONA.How to play full chords with one keyPlay full chords with one finger: fixed chord shapes for stabs, diatonic chords that follow your key, scale snapping and your own scale. With RESONA settings.