Hardtekk · FL Studio · Electribe

Loud. Hard. Clean.

Hardtekk tutorials for beginners. No jargon, with pictures and demos you can play with: how to build a kick, why your track is quieter than the pros' and how to make it loud without breaking it.

One beat, 180 BPMPush – air – push

Sub (pressure)CrunchCeiling 0 dB

Three topics

Pick your topic

Kicks

The heart of every Hardtekk track – built layer by layer.

Sub, punch, crunch, click
Pitch drop and tuning
The gap: push – air – push

Build a kick → M

Mastering

Every plugin explained simply – to try out.

EQ, compressor, clipper, limiter
Measuring loudness (LUFS)
A recipe with 2 plugins

Get louder → E

Electribe

Kicks, mixing and mastering on the Korg electribe sampler.

Signal flow inside the device
Importing and shaping a kick
Levels for live and release

To the Electribe →

Order

Where do I start?

In short

Kick first, then a mix with room to spare, mastering at the very end. Mastering does not fix a bad mix – it makes a good mix loud.

Build the kick

The kick carries the whole track. Get it right and everything else sounds good more easily.

To the kicks →

Mix with headroom

Set every track so the sum peaks at about −6 to −3 dB. That is the room mastering needs later.

What is headroom? →

Master

Clipper and limiter make the track loud. A meter tells you when it is enough.

To mastering →

Look it up

Glossary

dB (decibel): A measure of "how much louder or quieter". +6 dB is roughly double the signal height.
dBFS: Level inside the computer. 0 dBFS is the ceiling – nothing goes above it, it gets cut off.
LUFS: How loud a track feels to the ear, averaged. Hardtekk usually sits at −7 to −4 LUFS.
True peak: The real peak, including between samples. Keep it below −0.3 dB (MP3: −1 dB).
Headroom: Free space up to the ceiling. Like a suitcase that is not packed to the brim.
Transient: The short, hard start of a sound – for a kick, the "hit".
Sub: The deep bass below about 65 Hz. Felt more than heard.
Clipping: Peaks get cut off. On purpose (clipper) it is a tool, by accident a mistake.
Sidechain: One signal (usually the kick) controls how much quieter another gets. Makes room for the kick.
Crest factor: The distance between peak and average. Small = dense and loud, large = airy and dynamic.
Mono compatibility: The track also sounds good on a single speaker. That is why bass below 120 Hz is always mono.