How To Make Melodic Techno like Massano (Afterlife)

Massano built his reputation through a series of releases that immediately drew attention from major artists in the scene, leading to his signing with Afterlife - one of the most respected melodic techno labels in the world. His sound is defined by heavy bass shots, transient-heavy hits, and a driving, punchy energy that fills dance floors. In this tutorial, Niek breaks down all the key elements you need to replicate this style: the layered kick and bass foundation, the signature harsh bass step, the chord-based lead, drum arrangement, and a full arrangement overview. All sounds come from the Voyage melodic techno producer pack.

How to Build the Kick and Bass Foundation in the Massano Style

The foundation of a Massano-style track consists of three interlocking layers: the kick, a sub bass, and a top bass. Start with the kick - look for something with strong punch and a deep tail. The Voyage kick preset used in this tutorial has exactly those qualities and closely resembles the percussive character of his productions. For the sub bass, program a simple 1/16 rolling pattern - this is the most common bass rhythm in melodic techno and it drives the groove without drawing attention to itself. The preset used here is called Base Arch from the Voyage pack, which uses a sampled Moog saw wave table layered with a Uno square wave, both pitched down two and three octaves respectively, run through a filter that opens only halfway to give a filtered, controlled sub sound. In the effects chain, apply slight Destructor overdrive distortion subtly and set Kickstart sidechain to 100% with a steep curve, leaving plenty of room in the low end for the kick to punch through cleanly. A top bass (using the Deserted preset) then adds a rhythmic accent layer with its own shorter envelope and a low-cut filter to keep only the mid-frequency body present.

What Makes the Massano Bass Step Sound So Harsh and Punchy?

The bass step is arguably the most distinctive element of Massano's sound - a harsh, bright, aggressive stab that is pushed close to its limits while still sounding controlled and musical. In Serum, the patch uses two oscillators: oscillator A is a basic Moog saw wave table pitched down two octaves, and oscillator B is the same wave table at zero octaves. Oscillator B applies FM modulation onto oscillator A at a high level, which generates that metallic, bright, gritty edge. Envelope 2 is routed to the Moog 12 filter cutoff opening it from a high starting frequency, and there is also a very short attack envelope routed to oscillator B's coarse pitch - this is a classic trick for adding punch and transient impact. The post-processing chain includes an EQ boosting lows and treble while cutting sub frequencies, an OTT multiband compressor to crunch the sound further, Vintage Chorus for stereo widening, a reverb with the wet level at 50% and 1.6 seconds of decay, and a sidechain set to 60%. To further strengthen the transient attack, a short, noisy percussion hit is layered on top of every bass step hit - this extra layer adds the snap and attack that makes each step feel like it has real physical impact on the dance floor.

How to Design the Top Lead and Chord Layer

The top lead playing chords is the element that makes or breaks a Massano-style track - it fills the harmonic space, adds the emotional depth, and ties together all the rhythmic elements underneath. The lead patch in Serum uses two Moog saw wave tables at zero octaves, with oscillator B slightly detuned using the analog parameter for natural movement. Envelope 2 is routed to the cutoff, opening from 10,000 Hz to the full 22 kHz with a short attack, which gives each note a punchy, percussive quality. Envelope 3 is routed to coarse pitch on both oscillators, again adding transient punch on the attack of every note. A noise layer and a short delay round out the patch. For MIDI, copy the bass step rhythm to this lead layer as the core pattern, then add harmonies by layering a perfect fifth above each note. You can also add a third above or below. For variation, small melodic deviations on top of the rhythm - particularly at the ends of phrases - add movement without losing the driving feel. A sidechain reverb (using a Peak Controller to automate the reverb's mix level) lets the reverb open up when the lead is not playing, adding depth without washing out the attack of the notes.

How to Set Up the Drums for a Massano Track

Because there is already so much happening in the bass and lead layers, the drum arrangement in a Massano-style drop should stay lean and purposeful. The drum kit in this tutorial consists of:

• The main kick as the foundation
• A closed hi-hat layered directly on the kick to add crunchiness to the attack
• A texture loop running alongside the kick for rhythmic groove
• A short, hard-hitting snare in the style of a TR drum machine - Massano regularly uses this type of sharp, noisy snare
• A noise effect in the space between snare hits
• An open hi-hat appearing on the offbeats later in the arrangement
• A head loop for additional variation as the track progresses

Keep the drum programming simple. The bass steps and transient-heavy leads already supply most of the rhythmic energy in the arrangement, so the drums only need to anchor the groove rather than add complexity.

How to Arrange a Full Melodic Techno Track Like Massano

The arrangement structure of a Massano-style track follows a clear logic built around tension, release, and the strategic use of silence. A complete arrangement generally follows this structure:

1. A long intro that starts with filtered kick and bass only, gradually removing the filter to reveal the full frequency content
2. A breakdown section that introduces a pad for harmonic context and emotional depth - use chord variations here and layer notes to build tension toward the drop
3. A pre-drop moment where the main lead and bass step are introduced in a filtered state - giving listeners a preview without fully revealing the drop
4. A brief vocal sample before the drop for dramatic impact - Massano uses vocoder-type effects on vocals frequently, so a vocoder preset on spoken text works well here
5. The drop itself with all elements playing in full
6. FX sounds throughout: ambient pads, sweep effects, downfilters for transitions, and impact sounds to smooth the energy flow between sections

Silence used intentionally in the breakdown is a powerful tool in this style - a moment of quiet before elements return makes the drop feel much more impactful.

What Top Lead Melody Techniques Define This Style?

Beyond the bass step, Massano's tracks typically include a top melody loop that floats above the main elements with a more mysterious, filtered quality. In this tutorial, the top loop uses two saw waves in Serum with oscillator B having two voices of Unison, creating a slightly wider filtered saw sound - essentially a filtered saw bass played in a higher register for melodic effect. The rhythmic variations used in the MIDI pattern are important: rather than a perfectly quantized sequence, small rhythmic offsets and syncopations in the melody keep the loop feeling organic and less mechanical. The melody itself stays simple - this is not the focal point of the track but rather a supporting layer that adds harmonic interest. Keep the notes in key and keep the pattern repetitive enough to create a hypnotic effect while still including small variations every 4 or 8 bars to maintain listener engagement throughout a long DJ set context where the track may play for several minutes.

All sounds, Serum presets, drum samples, and the complete project file featured in this tutorial are included in the Voyage melodic techno producer pack from The Producer School, available at the link above.

Tutorial by Niek, co-founder of The Producer School. For more production tutorials, subscribe to The Producer School on YouTube (280K+ subscribers).