How To Create a Lofi Piano
In this tutorial we are going to use the stock Ableton Grand Piano and transform it into a lofi piano sound using stock Ableton plugins. Here's an Audio example of the patch we made:
To find this got to the Browser on the left hand side , then go to Instruments -> Instrument Racks -> Pianos & Keys. You’ll see a preset simply called “Grand Piano.adg”, this is standard vanilla grand piano sound.
The Redux device is useful for downsampling/distorting a sound. To give the clean Ableton Grand Piano some initial grit, drop the Redux on the piano track and set the downsampling to Soft. Take the Downsample parameter up ever so slightly and you’ll start to hear a noisy shimmer to the piano sound, the upper frequencies will start too sound aliased/noisy. Downsampling essentially changes the sample rate and is great for making any sound “lofi”.
The frequency shifter device is going to give a slight wobble to the pitch, this is important in conveying the aged tape feeling of a lofi piano. Increase the LFO Amount to around 5 Hz and the Rate to around 2-3 Hz. Lastly take the spread up just a bit to desired taste.
Vinyl distortion will provide a nice background noise with the crackle parameter, but it's important not to over do it. It’s also nice to adjust the frequency of the Pinch engine, this will add more color/distortion to different parts of the piano sound.
5) Add Reverb
Finally add some reverb to create some atmosphere / sustain to the sound. The important parameters to adjust are the Size (make it a smaller value to get a smaller space like a bathroom) , Decay Time (adjust to taste) , and Dry/Wet.
Finally, use a compressor to glue the effects together. We recommend checking out the video walkthrough to see how to turn these effects into an Effect Rack.
The chords we used for this example:
Are there are any effect combinations you like using to achieve that Lofi sound? Let us know in the comments.
