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Upcoming Decloak Music x Pirate Studios Online Workshops: Boost Your Music Production Skills with Ableton

Join Decloak Music for Two Exclusive Online Sessions This October

Decloak Music, in collaboration with Pirate Studios, is hosting two online Ableton Live workshops this October, led by seasoned production tutor and Decloak founder, Jack Barton . These workshops are designed to help both beginners and intermediate users unlock the full potential of Ableton Live, one of the most powerful digital audio workstations (DAWs) available today.  


Workshop 1: Your First Day in Ableton Live 

Date & Time: Sunday, 6 October 2024 | 19:00 - 21:00 CEST  

Loction: Online (Hosted by Pirate Studios)

Capacity: 100 Person Limit

This 2-hour session kicks off the Ableton Online Workshop Series by offering a comprehensive introduction to Ableton Live. Perfect for newcomers, this seminar will cover everything you need to know to start producing music. From navigating the software's interface to building your first beat, this session lays the foundation for your music production journey.

What You’ll Learn: 

- Introduction to Ableton’s interface and basic workflow  

- Understanding Session View and Arrangement View  

- Overview of instruments, MIDI, and audio effects  

- Step-by-step guide to creating a basic track  

- Q&A session with Jack Barton, who brings 20 years of Ableton experience  

Whether you’re new to music production or looking to refine your basics, this class is the perfect entry point into the world of Ableton Live.  

To book your place



Workshop 2: Creative Sound Design with Ableton Live

Date & Time: Sunday, 13 October 2024 | 19:00 - 21:00 CEST  

Location: Online (Hosted by Pirate Studios)

Capacity: 100 Person Limit

The second workshop in the series dives into the creative side of production, focusing on sound design using Ableton Live Suite’s powerful audio effects. This 2-hour session is all about transforming your samples into immersive soundscapes using effects like delay, reverb, and saturation.

What You’ll Learn:

- Understanding EQ and manipulating the frequency spectrum  

- Techniques for creating unique soundscapes and textures  

- Using delay, reverb, and other effects to add depth  

- Working with return channels and effects racks  

- Advanced resampling techniques for unique sound manipulation  


This session is ideal for those wanting to enhance their sound design abilities, whether you’re a producer looking to explore new textures or an artist developing your sonic identity.

Spaces are limited to 100 people, so be sure to sign up and secure your spot for these exclusive online workshops with Decloak Music and Pirate Studios. 

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Decloak Deep-Tech Sample Pack In Association With Zonal Audio

Tales Of The Deep Sample Pack In Association With Zonal Audio

In recent months we have been working away on a Sample Pack in association with Zonal Audio. The sound of the pack is inspired by Jack Barton’s Notraab alias, and works superbly well for a variety of House and Techno Sub-genres. Read on for a juicy discount code!!

It’s Time To Get Deep…

Dive into a world of mesmerising melodies, groovy basslines, soulful chords, atmospheric pads, crisp drum loops, and a wealth of unique one-shots. Each sound has been carefully created and processed to deliver the authentic essence of House Music, allowing you to produce tracks that will captivate audiences worldwide.

Specialist Samples For Serious House Music Producers…

Tales Of The Deep features some extraordinary samples, check out the FX and atmosphere loops that take inspiration from glitchy sounds of Romanian minimal house, and a specially crafted set of perc and foley one shots that will give your productions a warm, organic feeling. 

There’s a total of 240 Loops and 115 One shots. You can see the full contents here. We've also added some bonus content in the form of raw, unprocessed 909 drum loops, MIDI files and Ableton Live Instrument racks. This pack is not to be missed!

Like what you hear? There is a limited time 70% discount code when you sign up to the Zonal Audio mailing list which you can do here.

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Zonal Studios Opens In Manchester, Our New Base For 1-2-1 Tuition in the City

Clean, Modern, Professional Production Suites

Zonal Studios is a brand new facility with Four brand new Productions Suites In The Heart Of Manchester. They offer Clean, Professional and Acoustically Treated Studios, plus a selection of Synths, Mic’s and Amps at no extra charge. They are based in Ardwick, just ten minutes walk from Piccadilly station.

Studios start at £9p/h, with discounts for longer bookings and also some semi-permanent residencies. Contact info@zonalstudios.co.uk or head over to the Zonal Studios Website for more information or to make a booking. You can also reach out on Instagram @zonal.studios.

Zonal Studios is the partner company of Habitat Studios, who provide professional and acoustically treated Rehearsal Rooms and a Recording Suite. They pride themselves on having a personal approach as well as clean, affordable and modern facilities.

Their rehearsal prices start at just £28 per hour, and the rooms are suitable for up to eight people, so if you are in need of a rehearsal space for bands or live electronic acts please get in touch at info@habitatstudio.co.uk or book now at habitatstudio.co.uk. You can also check out their recording packages here.

DECLOAK COURSES, 1-2-1 AT ZONAL STUDIOS
We are delighted to have teamed up with Zonal Studios, and this great facility will now double up as our base for 1-2-1 Tuition in Manchester. Courses on offer include bespoke Ableton Live Tuition, Full Masterclasses, Attended Mixing and Mastering, Ableton Live based Synthesis & Sound Design Courses, as well as Our Elektron Digitakt Courses, with Digitone and Analogue RYTM coming soon. Get in touch if any of these are of interest, either online or in person.

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ZonalAudio.com - Inspirational Soundpacks to take your productions to the next level

ZonalAudio.com - a place for producers to get inspired...

Zonal Audio has a growing selection of resources in the forms of Sample Packs and Ableton Live Templates, and will soon be adding preset packs for both hardware and soft synths. Their focus is on the the deeper, edgier and darker side of electronic music, and there are forthcoming packs from several talented artists.

One of the packs we decided to take a closer look at is the “Weird & Wonderful Textures” pack which has loads of mind bending textures and drones which really are inspiring and can be used in so many ways. We tried dropping in some full samples length and keeping them low in the mix for some unique atmosphere and depth, and we also decided to throw them into Ableton’s sampler then using the slice mode in conjunction with a sequencer and it yielded some very interesting results indeed! They have even included some presets that were used to create these samples which we had a play with - you could see these sounds fitting into cinematic sound design pieces just as well as almost any genre of music.

Zonal Audio have kindly offered a discount code for Decloak students and associates - just enter the code “decloak20” when checking out for a full 20% off your cart total, this code will be live for all of 2022.

If you’re not yet ready to take the plunge there are several taster packs that you can check out for free today, including for the first fully featured pack “Driving Techno Essentials” - this really is a high quality sample pack! It has all the necessary building blocks needed for any sub-genre of techno. There’s an abundance of one shots, kick and rumble loops, ride loops, top loops etc. Further to this there is a dozens of lead, bass and pad loops that even have the exact MIDI used to create them. This is really great if you want to quickly access the notes for layering up with your own synth, or maybe get the route notes of a lead to create a bass lines, top work ZA on that one! There is even an Ableton Live template included in the pack which show’s off beautifully just some ways that the samples can be utilised. This also give great insight for new producers of how to organise, mix and master you Live sessions.

What’s more is that Zonal Audio have a unique opportunity for Decloak alumni by offering a stepping stone into the world of professional audio. If you have ever thought about making sample packs but daunted by the scale and size of the task, the guys at Zonal Audio are offering free 1-2-1 seminars that will help you understand the process of making sample packs. From utilising your current creative process to efficient rendering workflows and tricks and tips to make the admin side of things quick and smooth. If this sounds of interest then check out the link here and quote “decloak” when making your enquiry to see if you have the skills and drive required to earn passive income doing what you love.

As you will most likely know if you are reading this we are kinda crazy about Ableton Live, and how inspiring and creative it is a DAW. Below are some examples of the Ableton Live Templates offered by Zonal Audio. These are a great and cost effective way to enhance your learning and see how sessions are organised, mixed and mastered by the Pro’s…

In summary, Zonal Audio are pushing the boundaries of sound design and music production. These aren’t ‘stock’ sample packs that will just sit on your hard drive doing nothing, they are well thought out and with the producer and creativity in mind. The fact they actually include presets in some of the sample packs is a great idea and definitely allows you to get more creative than just warping and chopping up samples, and both new and experienced producers can learn a lot from taking a deeper dive into the patches and processing chains used.

Check out ZonalAudio.com today and don’t forget to use the code “decloak20” for a juicy discount!


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One Night Collective Podcast Series w/ Phil Denton

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One Night Collective is an event, podcast series and soon to be record label run by former Decloak student, Renwick. Having also featured another Decloak alumni in the form of a belting mix from Josh Reeves, this instalment sees Phil Denton lay down a heavy slab of his trademark hard hitting techno.


The mix features unreleased tracks from Phil’s production alias, Zonal, as well as one from One Night label boss Renwick called “To Follow The Worms”. This track was mastered at Decloak studios so we have had a nice sneak preview, and we expect it to be big when it drops!

The mix also includes tracks from artists such as Eric Axelsson, Keikari, Phara, Stef Mendesidis, Callum Plant, Vinicius Honorio, Michal Jablonski, Blawan and Berg Jaar. Labels featured include several British imprints such as Ear To Ground, Platform 22, Zeca Records and DeadCERT as well as plenty of tackle from over the water from the likes of Klokworks, Planet Rhythm, Subsist and RAW plus others.

This is a heavy mix that should help you forget about lockdown, whilst also evoking imagery of dark dirty basements, to large warehouses reappropriated for no-nonsense raving. We will be back on the dance floors soon! Enough chat about it now, take a listen for yourself…

Follow One Night Collective on Facebook

Follow Phil on Bandcamp, Instagram and Soundcloud

For more information on our Mixing & Mastering services click here, or for Ableton Lessons click here

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Decloak x MIF - Getting Started With Ableton Free Webinar

Decloak x MIF - Ableton Live webinar for musicians and producers looking to keep creating during the pandemic

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Decloak Music Studio's are excited to bring you this free online Ableton Live training event, supported by Manchester International Festival's "Get Creative" strand of online events. To register go to the Evenbrite Event Page

Live is a beast, and an amazing tool for songwriters and producers alike, with a focus on being able to create and capture your idea's and performances with ease. This event is for musicians or producers who are new to Ableton Live and would like a helping hand to using the software as to easily realise your creative ideas. Perfect if if you are unable to get to your normal studios or recording spaces, or just fancy starting out in your bedroom. We will be providing a thorough overview of the software and its functionality, plus providing advice on any other equipment you might need depending on the instruments and microphones you may already own. We will also be catering for new producers that only have a computer for making music but not already familiar with Ableton Live.

During this 2 hour session we will be taking questions related to Live and other equipment, therefore this event will be limited to 30 people, so please book your place at the Evenbrite Event Page straight away!

Ableton live are offering a free 90 day trial during the Lockdown period, as well as 30% off all packages so this is a great time to get creative! Further to this event we are offering all attendees 50% off our online courses. These can be done as full courses or taken in smaller sections. See here for more information https://www.decloakmusic.com/onetoone-online-tuition/ableton-live-one-to-one-online-tuition

We hope you can join us for a fun and informative session that will help you keep creating and realise your ideas and inspirations during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The event will be hosted on Zoom, and the meeting link and password will be emailed to attendees after registration on Eventbrite - Evenbrite Event Page  

https://www.facebook.com/DecloakStudios/

https://www.instagram.com/decloakstudios/

Supported by Manchester International Festival #MIFCreatives2020

Facebook – /mcrintfestival

Instagram – @mifestival

Twitter – @MIFestival

Website – mif.co.uk 

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Phil Denton Releases 'Disambiguation' Free on Bandcamp and all streaming services.

Charlotte De Witte chart’s Phil’s first release in 4 years - https://www.beatport.com/chart/liquid-slow-chart/587163

Charlotte De Witte chart’s Phil’s first release in 4 years - https://www.beatport.com/chart/liquid-slow-chart/587163

After a significant hiatus Decloak Tutor Phil Denton released “Martinet” on the DEADcert Black Mail series in late 2019. This track got great support from Techno stalwarts such as Tom Hades, Takaaki Itoh and Thomas P. Heckman. The track was also included in Charlotte De Witte’s Liquid Slow Beatport Chart, sandwiched nicely between a track from fellow Manc producer Setaoc Maas and one on Tronic Soundz from Strobe.

Phil is now releasing an independent single track EP, which will be available on all streaming platforms and also as a free download on Bandcamp.

The track is Phil’s usual fast and frantic industrial UK techno sound with subtle notes of Detroit and Berlin throughout. There is a great mixture of darkness and energy that will take over your brain and body in a dark club or warehouse that would make time seem irrelevant.

Use the pre-save link to be the first to know as soon as it hits the streaming services or direct download from Bandcamp as of Friday 27th March.

Next up from Phil we will be seeing more industrial bangers in a collaboration with J.Barton on the new Decloak Records which will feature 3 cuts taken from the recent Decloak Jams 002 session which you can check out here to get a taste of what the release will feature.

You can follow Phil and keep up to date with his upcoming releases on the following platforms;
Soundcloud / Spotify / Deezer / Tidal / Facebook / Instagram / @phildenton_techno
And also check out his new mastering service at philipdenton.com

Free download available at https://phildenton.bandcamp.com/track/phil-denton-disambiguation

Free download available at https://phildenton.bandcamp.com/track/phil-denton-disambiguation

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Decloak Tutor Phil Denton Releases "Martinet" on DeadCERT.

Decloak Tutor releases “Martinet” as part of VA on DeadCert.

After Several years of focussing on other alias’ and non-techno projects, Decloak tutor Phil Denton is easing himself back into the techno scene with one track as part of a VA on the highly reputable UK based label DeadCERT also featuring Alex Dolby, Stephan Krus & Anthis and A4.

Phil has shown that all the time burrowed away in the bunker and the studios at Futureworks has really paid off, with the track “Martinet” being charted by Charlotte De Witte at no.4 in her Liquid Slow chart along side fellow Mancunian Setoac Mass. The track has gained support from other techno Stalwarts such as Tom Hades, Takaaki Itoh, A.Morgan, Stephanie Sykes and Thomas P. Heckmann.

Look out for more from Phil as well as plenty other Decloak alumni making waves in there respective scenes.

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Zonal - Delay Control EP out now on Basement Reborn

Earlier this year we saw another in a string of releases emerging out of the depths of the Decloak bunker. This time Zonal drops another EP on French label Basement Reborn, who’s recent releases feature the likes of Marla Singer and Ket Robinson, the latter of which is also propped up by a remix from Manchester based, A.Morgan.

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The first track Delay Control is defined by dark rolling low ends, infused with powerful chord stabs, evoking a peak-time warehouse-rave feel, with Control Delay being a more stripped back and dubbed out affair, whilst still maintaining the driving low ends and high energy techno percussion. Detright is a more synth laden track, with a little more funk in the bass and organic leads. The EP has elements of both US and UK techno with European vibes through out, and is supported by Alex.Do (Dystopian), Juan Trujillo (Simplecoding), Juho Kusti (Deep Space Helsinki), Marco Raineri, Patrick DSP and Raymundo Rodriguez (Jaded) plus many more respectable Techno artists. Available now at all decent download stores!

https://www.traxsource.com/title/1082704/delay-control

https://www.beatport.com/release/delay-control/2475260

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Zonal - Xone VIII EP [Convolution Records]

Today see's the third release of 2018 from Decloak Music patron, Zonal on London based label Convolution Records.

Today see's the third release of 2018 from Decloak Music patron, Zonal. Convolution Records is a new London based label delivering fresh techno, and they welcome Zonal to the label for their second release.

The release see's four club ready techno cuts. All tracks are tough with heavy, driving low ends, but nice variations of groove. From the tight rhythmic percussion and twisted lead line in Zone T to the downright obnoxious and wonky synths in title track Xone VIII this release is deep and varied whilst keeping the pounding warehouse techno vibe at the forefront throughout. 

You Can check out previews here; https://soundcloud.com/zonal_mcr/sets/zonal-xone-vii-ep

and buy the EP from the usual download stores;
https://www.junodownload.com/products/zonal-xone-viii/3862846-02/
https://www.traxsource.com/title/1011500/xone-viii
https://itunes.apple.com/lv/album/xone-viii-ep/1413144836

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