Virtual Riot Masterclass: Advanced EDM Production at Slam Academy
Jun 12
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Slam Academy
Virtual Riot visited Slam Academy to reveal how saw-waves, randomization, and smart workflows fuel his signature dubstep sound. Get his best Ableton tricks, arrangement hacks, and creative insights—then watch the full workshop video and start leveling up your own tracks.
Virtual Riot’s Advanced EDM Masterclass: Sound Art Recap
How a saw-wave, some randomization, and a room full of curious producers turned into pure inspiration at Slam Academy.
Meet the Mentor: Virtual Riot
Valentin “Virtual Riot” Brunn kicked off the workshop with two promises:
Alongside teaching Slam Academy’s new Advanced EDM Production course, he stressed the importance of mental health: getting out of the studio, collaborating, and “touching grass” now and then.
- Share every trick he knows about heavy electronic music production.
- Keep it fun—because learning should spark as much dopamine as a filthy drop.
Alongside teaching Slam Academy’s new Advanced EDM Production course, he stressed the importance of mental health: getting out of the studio, collaborating, and “touching grass” now and then.
From Pure Tone to Poly-Rhythm
“A saw-wave pitched down becomes rhythm.”
Valentin demonstrated how slowing a saw-wave reveals a natural polyrhythm. Drop the interval to a fourth or fifth and you’ll hear musical ratios (2:3, 3:4) your ears instantly love.
Fun fact: those same intervals translate to complementary colors—orange and blue—in the light spectrum. Physics + art = magic.
Valentin demonstrated how slowing a saw-wave reveals a natural polyrhythm. Drop the interval to a fourth or fifth and you’ll hear musical ratios (2:3, 3:4) your ears instantly love.
Fun fact: those same intervals translate to complementary colors—orange and blue—in the light spectrum. Physics + art = magic.
Randomization & AI: Your Secret Co-Producers
- Sonic Plant 2 (the revamped “plant synthesizer”) now clones any sample into a playable patch with AI-powered knob-tweaks.
- Massive’s old-school Randomize All button is still gold—just lock oscillator pitch, smash the dice icon, and save the gems.
- Rule of Thumb: Surprising yourself often leads to more excitement—and better tracks—than slavishly reproducing sounds already in your head.
Ableton Stock FX Hacks
Valentin turned a raw saw-wave into a dubstep growl using only built-ins:
| Step | Device | Purpose |
| 1 | Band-Pass Filter | Carve a tight 1 kHz band |
| 2 | OTT x 3 | Crush & bring back the lost tone (three is the sweet spot) |
| 3 | Corpus / Frequency Shifter | Add aliasing grit |
| 4 | Erosion | Inject controllable noise for extra bite |
Pro Tip: Stack 20+ instances of Chorus in a rack, map one macro to every rate knob, and you’ve created a new instrument—“Hyper-Chorus.”
Building a Personal Sound Library
Long flights + no headphones? Organize your samples.
A tidy library means you can sketch ideas fast without diving into sound design rabbit holes mid-session.
- Curate favorite Splice files into clear folders (Kicks, Claps, Vocal Chops).
- Save randomized synth patches as presets.
- Collect “signature” transitional FX (reverse swooshes, dolphin squeaks—yes, really).
A tidy library means you can sketch ideas fast without diving into sound design rabbit holes mid-session.
Arrangement Philosophy: A B A C
Great drops balance repetition and variation:
Listeners stay hooked because the motif is familiar, but each cycle delivers a fresh payoff.
- A (call) – B (response) – repeat A – twist into C
- Next pass: A – B – A – bigger twist D
Listeners stay hooked because the motif is familiar, but each cycle delivers a fresh payoff.
Workflow in Action
Valentin’s live demo:
Result? A club-ready dubstep riff born in minutes.
- Simpler slices a vocal hit → pitched, looped, resampled.
- Side-chain rack auto-ducks everything but drums (MIDI trigger on C1).
- Quick drum groove: trusty “Janet” hi-hat + Decap kick/snare.
- Layer clean sine sub under the distorted mid bass (grouped tracks).
- Texture plugin sprinkles airy noise that tracks input volume.
Result? A club-ready dubstep riff born in minutes.
Takeaways for Your Next Session
- Experiment playfully. Turn mistakes into textures.
- Use AI and randomizers as inspiration engines, not crutches.
- Protect momentum. Separate writing from deep sound design—swap later.
- Keep learning. Slam Academy’s courses (Ableton Live, Mixing & Mastering, Music Business, and more) expand every angle of your craft.
Ready to dive deeper? Become a member to get full breakdowns, project files, and weekly live Q&A.
Watch the Full Workshop
Get in touch
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1121 Jackson Street NE Suite #142 Minneapolis, MN 55413
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Michaelton
(Michael Johnson)
Michaelton (Michael Johnson) is a musician, sound artist, educator, and music technologist. While he wears many hats—both figuratively and literally—his mission is clear: to serve music and those who create it.
With extensive teaching experience at Slam Academy and the University of St. Thomas, Michael guides music producers through both one-on-one mentoring and classroom instruction in production techniques and music business.
As founder of Grove Music Group, Michael helps artists overcome challenges in branding, marketing, release strategy, and royalty collection, while recently expanding into artist therapy to help creators break through creative blocks and reconnect with their authentic voice.
As founder of Grove Music Group, Michael helps artists overcome challenges in branding, marketing, release strategy, and royalty collection, while recently expanding into artist therapy to help creators break through creative blocks and reconnect with their authentic voice.
Write your awesome label here.
Specks
(Michael Rieckenberg)
Inspired by the sound of dance music from the turn of the millennium, Specks is a Minneapolis based producer songwriter and DJ; combining the sounds from the golden era of electro-house, progressive house, UK garage, and techno.
Specks made his way into the DJ scene at the young age of 13-years-old. And nearly a decade later is regularly playing numerous shows and festivals in and around the twin cities.
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Abstrakt Sonance
(Tyler Myroon)
Bursting from the rugged wilds of Western Canada, Abstrakt Sonance fuses the primal pulse of nature with gritty urban basslines that are revolutionizing music. Operating from his secluded forest sanctuary, he's
struck sound gold with industry titans like D Double E and Flowdan, while also resurrecting the classic vibes of funk phenoms, Skyler Jett and Ronald LaPread from The Commodores with his diversity of production skills.
With a performance resume spanning the iconic stages of Outlook, Shambhala, and Red Rocks, Abstrakt Sonance has painted his unique sonic signature across four continents, gathering a following that is as raw and compelling as his sounds.
With a performance resume spanning the iconic stages of Outlook, Shambhala, and Red Rocks, Abstrakt Sonance has painted his unique sonic signature across four continents, gathering a following that is as raw and compelling as his sounds.