Hey

Ever heard a sound that makes you stop dead?

I was sitting in a park one summer, tunes on, when Emerald Rush by John Hopkins came on. The main synth line… mate, it blew my head clean off. Glitchy, weird, gorgeous.

Turns out he had a custom plugin built for him. Not for sale. Dead end, right? Nope. I found a way to nail that sound with only Ableton stock plugins—and you can do it in under 10 minutes.

Here’s the gist:

Start with a sustained synth – two saw waves, detuned, filtered down, long sustain.
Gate with a sidechain rhythm – not your boring 4/4 pump, an actual groove you program yourself.
Flip the gate – makes the rhythm even weirder and more musical.
Tweak attack/hold/release – this is where the glitch magic happens.
Add sidechain compression – glue it into the beat.
Finish with reverb – Valhalla sounds lush, but Ableton’s own will do fine.

✅ Key picks:

Ableton’s Gate (sidechained to your custom rhythm)
Ableton’s Compressor (sidechain to kick)
Optional reverb for polish

Why it matters:
You don’t need fancy plugins to get pro-level, brain-melting textures. Half the fun is bending the “boring” stock stuff until it does something unexpected.

Watch me build it step-by-step:

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Black Friday 70% off all my Ableton courses

Honestly… this is getting ridiculous

I tested the cheapest Ableton controller against Push 3

Problem fixed! I’m going live today (and giving stuff away)

Sorry...

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