Recording to Lo-Fi Mediums Tutorial and Free Ableton Live Pack #201

One of my favorite ways to go lo-fi and add a little character to my sounds is to record them to old mediums. For a recent meeting of the Philadelphia Ableton Live User Group, I created some unique sounds by recording them to MicroCassette and VHS tapes.

Synthesizer recorded to VHS Tape

808 Drums recorded to MicroCassette

Synthesizer recorded to MicroCassette

Hear all three instruments in action in the demo below:

Each of these sounds has its own distinct character, thanks to the lower quality of these old recording mediums. There’s two synths, one from a MicroCassette and the other from the VCR. There’s also a really cool 808 drum kit that was recorded to MicroCassette. Download them for free and use them in your own music!

Check out the full Ableton User Group Meeting, featuring doll tr!ck, who gives an intro to Max for Live, and Banginclude, who walks us through synthesis with Ableton’s Analog instrument. My presentation on recording to lo-fi mediums starts around 2 and a half minutes in.

Need More Lo-Fi?

If you like the sounds in the free Live Pack, then you will love these lo-fi collections!